Paranoia (Game)

Paranoia in one form or another has been around since the late 1980's and was a novel Role Playing game published by West End Games. The writer of the game was Greg Costikyan, a prolific RPG designer who also had a hand in the writing of the popular off beat Toon game.

Paranoia's setting was the Alpha Complex, a deep subterranean underground city ruled over by a supposedly benevolent computer. The origins of this are supposed to be a nuclear war (the game was written during the height of the Cold War and the times of Reaganism). Humans in Alpha Complex were clones, each having their place in a designated security clearance. The Computer ruling over Alpha Complex was, as the title of the game suggests, paranoid, fearing infiltration from 'Commie Mutant Traitors'.

The whole idea of the game was basically to see how long a traditional party could survive. Unlike other RPG's like Dungeons and Dragons where Players co-operated, the players in this game were usually out to backstab each other. Even then, you had to follow correct procedures and find a reason to terminate other players.

Each player also had a mutant power, which was ironic as having mutant powers was itself deemed as traitorous by the Computer.

Paranoia could be a difficult system to play as many players used to the more 'normal' games found its humour a bit difficult to take to. Nevertheless, under its old publisher, West End Games, the system manage to survive into a Fourth Edition. After WEG's demise, the game disappeared for some years and was later resurrected as Paranoia XP by Mongoose Publishing.

Record 834 - other game - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:09:05

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