Eric writes, "Paranoia is a cult classic tabletop roleplaying game that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide, won the Best Role Playing Game of the Year award, and been inducted into the Origins Award Hall of Fame."
Paranoia is light-hearted game of terror, death, bureaucracies, mad scientists, mutants, dangerous weapons, and insane robots, which encourages players to lie, to cheat, and backstab each other at every turn.
Paranoia is a darkly humorous roleplaying game set in Alpha Complex, a dystopian underground city of the future, ruled by The Computer. Alpha Complex is, according to The Computer, a Utopian society, but one threatened by all kinds of real (and imagined) traitors: mutants, members of treasonous secret societies, and terrorists. The players are Troubleshooters, agents of The Computer, whose job it is to uncover these enemies, and, well, shoot trouble. Each player is a mutant, and a member of a treasonous secret society, so each has a reason to discover the treasons of their co-workers — and execute them, the better to convince The Computer of their own fervent loyalty.
Paranoia, originally published in 1984, was a product of, well, Cold War paranoia, but it is even more relevant in an era when the NSA and GCHQ work tirelessly to ensure that we are all safe and secure against the pervasive threat of Commie mutant trai…. Uh, I mean, evil, crazed terrorists. When we are all subject to constant surveillance by both government and private entities — and when the kind of hard AI that might lead to The Computer seems just over the horizon.
This new edition of Paranoia…
…will include cards, special dice, reusable character sheets and other devices to promote fast play, a Paranoia state of mind, and a minimum of 'old school' paper-and-pencil logistics a la Dungeons & Dragons.
…will double down on the original darkly humorous premise built around a 24/7 full-surveillance police state (e.g., the cover of the 1984 edition showed a low-level guy's every move being watched from several different angles by The Computer and several of its Internal Security troopers).
…is being developed under the auspices of Mongoose Publishing, Britain's largest RPG publisher, which has run several successful Kickstarters before. It is being designed by James Wallis, a World Famous Game Designer (Baron Munchausen, Once Upon a Time), with assistance from the original game designers (Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan), as well as Grant Howitt and Paul Dean.
All good Citizens should show their fervent loyalty to The Computer by pledging eagerly. Those who fail to do so may receive an all expenses paid vacation in the HEL Sector Recreational Gulag & Reeducation Center. Trust The Computer! The Computer is Your Friend!
(Thanks, Eric!)
