1984: Paranoia

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary, and the new edition of that, Dungeons & Dragons, 2024, in the year of the game’s fiftieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

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1984 produced two of greatest roleplaying games designed in response to the Cold War and two of the greatest humour roleplaying games. One of the Cold War roleplaying games was Twilight 2000, whilst one of the humour roleplaying games was Toon. In both cases, the other roleplaying game was Paranoia. Published by West End Games, previously known for its wargames, Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future is a Science Fiction post-apocalyptic dystopian satire inspired by classics of the genre, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, Logan’s Run, and THX 1138. It is both a satire on capitalism and communism, a roleplaying game of trust and distrust—mostly the latter, laced with black humour, drenched in irony, and if it was not the first roleplaying game that specifically pitted the players and their characters against one another, it was certainly, the roleplaying game to not only embrace it wholeheartedly, but also to actively encourage it. What it was though, was the first roleplaying game in which the Game Master was as much an adversary to the Player Characters as they were to each other, and it was the first roleplaying game in which knowledge or possession of the rules was punishable by death. The play and the setting of Paranoia is one of ignorance and fear built on a series of contradictions which the players and their characters attempt to navigate, rarely with any success, and generally, with consequences both disastrous and funny for all concerned.

The setting for Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future is Alpha Complex, a vast underground city where the last of humanity survives thanks to the protection and facilities provided by the Computer. The Computer is their friend. Citizens of Alpha Complex are decanted into Clone Families of six identical clones and raised to serve meaningful and satisfying lives in service to Alpha Complex and in return be provided with nutritious food and enjoyable entertainment. Most clones and their families possess a Security Clearance of Infrared. Depending upon the role and assignment of a Citizen, he may achieve a higher Security Clearance (if he is not executed first). This is based on the colour spectrum, so in ascending order is RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, VIOLET, and ULTRAVIOLET, the latter clearance only available to High Programmers and (on a temporary basis) Game Masters. Unfortunately, Alpha Complex is at war and has been ever since it was established. Three are forces outside of Alpha Complex which want to see it and its way of life it provides its friends with destroyed. Worse though are those who would destroy it from within. First and foremost, Commies. Commies are Traitors. Commies are everywhere. Then there are Mutants and members of Secret Societies. Mutants and members of Secret Societies are Traitors. It is the duty of every Citizen of Alpha Complex to report all signs of treasonous activities, including being a Commie, a Mutant, or a Member of a Secret Society. Not reporting signs of treasonous activities, including being a Commie, a Mutant, or a Member of a Secret Society is treasonous.

Fortunately, Alpha Complex has a solution: Troubleshooters. Troubleshooters are carefully selected Infrared Clones trained and equipped to further serve the Computer, including spotting Traitors and signs of treason. To reflect their training, equipment, and responsibilities, they are promoted to RED Security Clearance level and assigned to a Service Group that can be the Armed Forces, Central Processing Unit, Housing Preservation & Development and Mind Control, Internal Security, Power Services, Production, Logistics, and Commissary, and Research & Design. Unfortunately, each Troubleshooter has a secret. He is a Traitor. He is a Traitor because he is a Member of a Secret Society. So, he has to keep this a secret. Unfortunately, each Troubleshooter has another secret. He is a Traitor. He is a Traitor because he is a Mutant. So, he has to keep this a secret. Guess which roles the players roleplay in Paranoia? And the good news is that in event of a Troubleshooter’s death, whether in the patriotic and glorious service of the Computer or because he has been identified as a Traitor and dutifully reported for Self-Termination, his current assignment and duties will be immediately undertaken by the next member of the Troubleshooter’s Clone Family, who is fully trusted by the Computer and is not a Traitor.

Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future was published as a boxed set. It contained three books and a pair of two twenty-sided dice, marked one to ten twice. The three books are the twenty-four-page ‘Player Handbook’, the sixty-four-page ‘Gamemaster Handbook’, and the fifty-two-page ‘Adventure Handbook’. Notably, the ‘Adventure Handbook’ is actually the scenario booklet and done as a then traditional module format and the page numbers actually run concurrently from the ‘Player Handbook’ through the ‘Gamemaster Handbook’ to the ‘Adventure Handbook’.

A Troubleshooter in Paranoia has eight primary attributes. These are Strength, Agility, Manual Dexterity, Endurance, Moxie, Chutzpah, Mechanical Aptitude, and Power Index. These are range in value between two and twenty, with Chutzpah being defined as, “…[T]he quality of a man who kills both his parents and then pleads for mercy because he is an orphan.”; Moxie as the ability to comprehend the unusual; and Power Index the strength of a Troubleshooter’s mutant power. He belongs to a Service Group and a Mutant Power, and he belongs to a Secret Society. He also has several skills, which are represented as percentages. Skills are organised into skill trees with the lower the skill is down a skill tree, the more specialised it is and the higher the skill bonus it grants. To create a Troubleshooter, a player rolls for everything bar the skills which he assigns points to with the few points a beginning Troubleshooter is given. He is given some mandatory equipment and 100 credits with which to purchase more. The skills are not written down on the Troubleshooter sheet as a list, but drawn as a skill tree.

Name: Budd-R-FLY-1

Clone Number: 1

Security Clearance: Red

Service Group: Research & Design

Secret Society: Spy for Armed Forces

Mutant Power: Extraordinary Power – Mental Blast

Commendation Points: 0

Treason Points: 0

Credit: 100

Strength 13 Agility 18 Manual Dexterity 14 Endurance 11

Moxie 06 Chutzpah 08 Mechanical Aptitude 13 Power Index 14

Carrying Capacity: 30 Damage Bonus: —

Macho Bonus: — Melee Bonus: +17%

Aimed Weapon Bonus: +07% Comprehension Bonus: -10%

Believability Bonus: -05% Repair Bonus: +04%

SKILLS

Basic Operations 1 (20%); Melee Combat 2 (25%); Aimed Combat 2 (25%)

Technical Services 1 (20%); Robotics 2 (25%)

EQUIPMENT

red reflec armour, laser pistol, laser barrel (red stripe), jump suit, utility belt & pouches, Com Unit I, knife, notebook & stylus

The ‘Player Handbook’ does not explain the rules to the game, because, after all, that requires ULTRAVIOLET Security Clearance, but it does have details of bookkeeping, how a typical mission and how combat works, the etiquette to playing Paranoia, and so on. Bookkeeping involves the tracking of several types of points. Credits can be rewarded to spend on more equipment. Commendation Points are earned for completing missions, distinguished service, and eliminating Traitors and will go towards a Troubleshooter being promoted. Treason Points are earned by failing to follow or complete orders, doubting or acting or speaking against the Computer, being a member of a Secret Society or a Mutants, and so on, if at any time they exceed Commendation Points by ten or more, the Computer will issue a Termination Order for treason. Secret Society Points are earned for fulfilling a Secret Society’s aims and will reward a Troubleshooter with promotion and access to information, equipment, and help, some of which might be useful.

A typical mission will begin with a briefing from the Computer and the assignment of useful equipment that will want testing. A Troubleshooter may also receive a private briefing from the Computer, from Internal Security, or from his Service Group. However, because he is also a Traitor, he receive an additional private briefing from his Secret Society. Throughout the mission, a Troubleshooter is expected to route out and eliminate Traitors, complete the mission, and keep safe the lives of the Computer’s valuable agents (including himself). Actual play exacerbates all of the tensions that this sets up because Paranoia is a game of secrets. A Troubleshooter’s character sheet is a secret, the contents of the ‘Gamemaster Handbook’ are secret, and all of the notes passed and the private asides between the Game Master and her players are secret. Consequently, separation of player knowledge and Troubleshooter knowledge is a necessity and some cases, failure to separate the two is treasonous. For example, demonstrating knowledge of the ‘Gamemaster Handbook’ is treasonous. Further, in play, the Game Master is encouraged—and shown in an example of play—to watch and listen for player knowledge being expressed by his Troubleshooter. So, for example, when a Troubleshooter on a mission to the Outside calls the small fluffy humanoid with tiny arms and legs, a tiny nose, and a rearward facing, long and very fluffy arm without a visible hand a ‘squirrel’, the first question on the mind of Game Master as the Computer (and also on the mind of his fellow Troubleshooters), is how does the Troubleshooter know it is called a ‘squirrel’? Followed by, ‘Where did he get such treasonous knowledge?’ Even if the Troubleshooter is a member of the Sierra Club Secret Society and actually does know what a squirrel is, knowledge of what a squirrel is treasonous, as is, of course, being a member of a Secret Society.

Mechanically, the ‘Player Handbook’ does not teach the player the rules of Paranoia because he does not have sufficient Security Clearance. What it does do is show him with a solitaire adventure. It is short at fifty-four entries and three pages long, but it nicely demonstrates the tone and style of play in Paranoia. As the player reads through it, he will earn letter codes, each of which determines whether he has earned Commendation Points, Treason Points, and so on. It will not take a player very long to play through it, but it is short enough for a player to explore the untaken storylines within it to see the consequences of other actions. Doubtless, this is treasonous behaviour, but it gives a player an idea of what to expect.

The ‘Gamemaster Handbook’ does explain the background, setting, and rules to Paranoia. The background is quite slight, almost inconsequential given the post-apocalyptic nature of setting. The setting description covers everyday life in Alpha Complex, the Service Groups, Security Clearances, and so on. All seventeen of the Secret Societies are described—Anti-Mutant, Communists, Computer Phreaks, Corpore Metal, Death leopard, First Church of Christ Computer-Programmer, Frankenstein Destroyers, Free Enterprise, Humanists, Illuminati, Mystics, Pro Tech, Programs Group, Psion, Purge, Romantics, and Sierra Club. In addition, a Troubleshooter can also be a spy for another Service Group or even another Alpha Complex! In each case, their objectives, doctrines, friends, and enemies are listed along with a general description and means of advancement. Special rules cover what a Secret Group might actually teach a member if he survives long enough. Mutant Powers are given a similar treatment.

In terms of mechanics, Paranoia looks more complex than it actually is. The roleplaying game uses ten-sided dice. For an attribute check, a player rolls a number of ten-sided dice and attempts to roll equal to or less than the attribute to succeed. The difficulty is measured in terms of the number of dice a player has to roll, from one for Extremely easy to five for Outrageous. Otherwise, Paranoia is a percentile system and skill-based. The aim is to roll equal to, or lower, than the skill to succeed, with a Troubleshooter always having a minimum chance of success of 5%. A skill is modified by an appropriate Troubleshooter’s Attribute Modifier and by the circumstances. It is the latter where Paranoia does get more complex. The skill categories are described in some detail and there are a lot of modifiers, which vary from skill or skill, and can result in a skill rating being divided or multiplied or simply added to or detracted from.

When it comes to combat, the ‘Player Handbook’ states that it eschews the, “…[E]laborate movement and combat systems reflecting their ancestral wargame heritage.” of other roleplaying games and instead aims for a ‘dramatic tactical system’—“[A] sort of unsystem – to encourage fast and flamboyant action.” Thus, it was writing against what had come before in terms of roleplaying games and their combat systems and what West End Games, the publisher of Paranoia, was best known for doing at the time, which was wargames. It was wholly reliant upon the Game Master, as she of course, had the Security Clearance to know how the rules—fully explained in the ‘Gamemaster Handbook’—worked, and today, the ‘dramatic tactical system’ of Paranoia would be best described as theatre of the mind style play, since it did not rely on maps or miniatures. (The irony here being that miniatures have since been released for subsequent editions of Paranoia.) Some of this seen in how damage is handled in that a Troubleshooter does not have Hit Points, but weapons instead inflict effects such as stun, wound, incapacitate, kill, and so on. If combat is meant to be dramatic and exciting for all, there is still a set of combat mechanics that need to be learned by the Game Master. These are not complex, but the Game Master still needs to know them to apply them to the ‘dramatic tactical system’ that Paranoia wants her to run the game as and there are quite a lot of weapon special effects, such as the various ammunition types of slug throwers and cone rifles, ice guns, and tanglers, which she needs to be aware of. Not necessarily in every mission, but they are there in the rules.

Perhaps the most important section in the ‘Gamemaster Handbook’ is on ‘Gamemastering Paranoia’. This is because Paranoia was—and in some ways, still is—different to any other roleplaying game, certainly in comparison to the ones that came before it. The Game Master has many roles in Paranoia. Like any other roleplaying game, the first was to portray the world and act as the eyes and ears of the players and their characters. After that? All bets are off. The Game Master has to portray an NPC, the Computer that both cares about the Citizens of Alpha Complex and thus the Troubleshooter, and loves them. It even trusts them. It also does not trust them. It also fears that one of them, if not all of them are Traitors. It is a mass of contradictions that builds tension and distrust and instils fear and ignorance with the Game Master knowing everything and the players and their Troubleshooters knowing nothing. As a representative of a nasty, totalitarian enclosed society, the Game Master may not be actively trying to kill the Troubleshooters—though she very probably is—but she is definitely looking for reasons to kill the Troubleshooters.

The advice for running Paranoia is excellent throughout. It amounts to controlling information and rationing it with a miserly reluctance, killing the bastards, fighting dirty, accepting that sometimes situations are hopeless, and letting the players feel that bad luck or idiocy is responsible for their Troubleshooters’ fate, rather than maliciousness upon the part of the Game Master. Similarly, the advice for running combat is to keep things moving, never give the players and their Troubleshooters the time to think, reward flamboyance and strange ideas, to kill the bastards, and to really, really keep things moving. Topped by the fact that the Game Master should ‘Sound Impartial’, despite the fact that she probably being anything other than that. All of which is supported by examples of play that showcase how Paranoia is intended to be run and played. Combined with advice on writing adventures—though the designers admit to liking pre-written packaged adventures for various reasons, and beginning, running, and ending adventures, the advice throughout Paranoia is excellent.

The Game Master is further supported with the ‘Adventure Handbook’. It begins a little oddly with the first ten pages devoted to detailing bots (or robots) and vehicles, before presenting a full, pre-packaged, adventure. ‘Destination: CBI Sector’ is designed as a starting adventure and sample of what a Paranoia adventure is intended to look like. This is for both the Game Master new to Paranoia and her players who are new to Paranoia, and the scenario includes a set of six pre-generated Troubleshooters, each of which comes complete with a ‘Mission Report Form’ to fill in and return to the Computer at the end of the mission. The mission involves the recovery of a robot from a previously abandoned industrial sector and will be complicated by whatever the Troubleshooters find there, their duplicitous group leader, and of course, each other. It is a fun, silly, and infuriatingly absurd affair that captures the tone of Paranoia to a tee.

Physically, Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future is Alpha Complex is well presented and wonderfully embraces its black humour. There are constant messages and interactions with the Computer, there are very examples of play, and Jim Holloway’s artwork perfectly captures the absurdities of life in Alpha Complex and the irreconcilable situations that the Troubleshooters will face. Best of all are the covers to the roleplaying game’s three books in the box. Each cover depicts a scene in which those present are being watched by someone else on another cover so that there is a sense of constant sense of surveillance and mistrust even on who the roleplaying game looks. If perhaps there is an oddity in the look of the roleplaying game, it is that Paranoia looks like and it laid out like the rules for wargame rather than a roleplaying game, irony being that this was everything that it was against!

In 1984, Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future is Alpha Complex was a shockingly radical design that stuck two fingers up and sneered at every roleplaying game that had become before it. It was blatantly uncooperative and adversarial in its play, embracing death in the fragility of its Troubleshooters and almost a nihilism in their uselessness, and possessing a lack of hope given that despite the roleplaying game presenting a means of progression, the actual play was actively obstructive to such progression. This meant the roleplaying game was suited to one-shots and short play rather than campaigns. Lastly, it was the most American and the most anti-American of roleplaying games, especially considering that it was released at the height of the Cold War and the Presidency of Ronald Reagan. It was the most American of roleplaying games because it was rabidly anti-Communist and it fully embraced McCarthyism and pushed the fears that McCarthyism espoused to their fullest extremes—and beyond. It was the most anti-American of roleplaying games because it made every Troubleshooter, every Player Character, what McCarthyism feared—a traitor, effectively a Commie and the enemy within. Of course, that included the Computer and thus Game Master because everyone in Paranoia is the true enemy within. And then the designers of Paranoia effectively turned it into a horrifyingly funny cartoon.

Paranoia: A Role-Playing Game of a Darkly Humorous Future is a brilliant piece of design, a savage satire on roleplaying, politics, and social attitudes at the height of Cold War that set player against player, Game Master against the players, and forced everyone at the table to play differently. All of which it hides behind the blackest of humour and the bleakest of futures, whilst presenting a genuinely different and challenging roleplaying experience.