Loving your dive into Paranoia! The game has always interested me but I've never got it to table. I know some GMs use similar secret-missions for players in games like Mothership, and I think they'd work well in other games like Swyvers too to foster that sense of... err... paranoia. Good write up!
Paranoia made a big splash when my friends and I were devouring RPGs in the 80s. But the game never satisfied me. I never GMed the game and as a player I always felt left out of the joke, as if the game was incredibly entertaining for the GM but all that humor was largely obscured from the players. It was as though we were expected to bicker and backstab like puppets for the GMs amusement.
Of course, teenage role-players in those early days of RPGs didn't have resources to understand what makes a game fun or not, and your experience is much greater, but I offer this anecdote by way of advice. Really think hard about the player experience, what they are allowed to know (because conventional Paranoia scenarios hide a lot from the players) and how to make it fun or satisfying for them.
Loving your dive into Paranoia! The game has always interested me but I've never got it to table. I know some GMs use similar secret-missions for players in games like Mothership, and I think they'd work well in other games like Swyvers too to foster that sense of... err... paranoia. Good write up!
Paranoia made a big splash when my friends and I were devouring RPGs in the 80s. But the game never satisfied me. I never GMed the game and as a player I always felt left out of the joke, as if the game was incredibly entertaining for the GM but all that humor was largely obscured from the players. It was as though we were expected to bicker and backstab like puppets for the GMs amusement.
Of course, teenage role-players in those early days of RPGs didn't have resources to understand what makes a game fun or not, and your experience is much greater, but I offer this anecdote by way of advice. Really think hard about the player experience, what they are allowed to know (because conventional Paranoia scenarios hide a lot from the players) and how to make it fun or satisfying for them.
I'm interested to hear how it turns out for you!