Thursday Paranoia SIEGE (finished)

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:36 am

Welcome Troubleshooter!

Your Service to the Computer is rewarded! Congratulations! You are now of RED security clearance. This is evidence of the Computer's love and trust in you

You are hereby assigned to your first mission with your brother troubleshooters. Beware! Traitors are everywhere! You must immediately report any treasonous behaviour or any suspicion of treasonous behaviour to the Computer. Failure to do so is treason.

Some of your brother troubleshooters may serve the Computer as undercover guardians of internal security. They are present for your protection. Like you, they love the Computer and want it protected. They will report any treasonous behaviour to the computer. Rejoice that such traitors will be punished

Devote your service to the Computer. Your loyalty will be generously rewarded

You must fulfill your mission. The safety of Alpha Complex depends on it. Failure to fulfill your mission is treason

You have been assigned equiptment. Give thanks for the Computer's bountiful generosity! Preserve this equiptment from harm or theft. Destruction of the Computer's valuable devices and resources is treason

Alpha Complex is a glorious beacon of freedom and order. But there are those who wish to destroy our beacon, and who fear our ordered society. Some are Commies, some mutants, others are invaders from other complexes.

Be prepared. Guard against treason. Serve the Computer. The Computer is your friend!

Stay Alert!

Trust No One!

Keep your Laser Handy!

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:41 am

OK- the first thing to get out of the way is: are we playing Thursday? I did not get a response in the General Thursday Thread . Perhaps not surprising if they did not know to look in that thread.

I do think that it would be best to have all available for the first session, as that sets the tone for the whole shambles

Thoughts from the original Irregulars? Perhaps Adaen and Jared might chime in so we know they are set to go

Or we can wait a week

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:45 am

Here are some character ideas. None are set in stone. Unlike in C&C, character will be fairly similar. They will have different technical skills, but all will be roughly equal as "fighters"

Pep-R-Mint-1. Recently transferred from Production, Logistics, and Comissary from her position as a vat labourer after a mysterious incident where a coworker fell into a vat. This incident is under investigation by Internal Security.

Tois-R-Us-1. Tois is a giant of a man. He served proudly in the Armed Forces and had expected to receive a commendation for his last commando raid but this has not arrived. (This is because the computer terminals he destroyed in the dark, chasing commies, were actually the valuable property of Alpha Complex).

Rub-R-Band-1 Recently on leave from her post at Research and Design as a weapons designer, Rub-R-Band-1 has spent her recent time experimenting with increasing quantities of blue, red, and green pills. Ooooh, shiny!

Aft-R-Shave-1. An engineer with power services until a commie attack made him crack up. The Computer has treated him with wonderful drugs but he still has flashbacks and other effects

Vund-R-Bar-1 A typical representative of Central Processing: arrogant and mysterious. Unlikely to let on he acted merely as a door guard at Technology Centre #4

Mem-R-Exx-1 A repairwoman for technical services. Bot Repair Hangar EF-4 claims to have been reluctant to let her go. But there have been reports of mysterious malfunctions in that sector

Puck-R-Upp-1. employed by Housing Preservation and Development and Mind Control as an actor in propaganda films. Has a melodious voice and a commanding screen presence. Looks like a someone who can be trusted. Looks can be deceiving

(Note, characters were given random genders. Change to suit)

The format is Name-Clearance-Name-Clone number. So Puck-R-Upp-1 has Red Clearance, and is the first clone from his batch of six

You will note none of them sound particularly heroic. It ain't that kind of game
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:50 am

Warning! The following Discussion is for those with VIOLET clearance and above.

What is your clearance?

(Just Kidding!)

Here are some things to keep in mind as we set sail on the good ship S.S. Paranoia SIEGE

After reading the rules and some adventures, some things have become clear. This game will be quite a bit different than all of our previous games

First, this game is set up to be "darkly humorous". I think what they mean by that is: everything is so crazy and impossible the players try to beat each other in finding cinematic and exciting ways to be killed
So, first, unlike pretty much every game we have played, don't be too bothered when you "fail" to figure out a problem in game. This is because, often, there is no good solution. In fact, the modules try to cover each eventuality that players might choose so you can screw them over a bit no matter which way they go!

Don't expect to know or understand too many of the rules. I don't think this game will be at all rule intensive, even in combats, but expect things to be unclear and to be often just "trying" things. Many things will be resolved with SIEGE rolls.

Regarding SIEGE rules, for some things, the amount you beat, or fail to beat the TN (Target number, composed of Challenge Base+ Challenge level+miscellaneous modifiers) will affect the outcome. E.g., if you need an 18 and get a 26, you will really succeed, 18 will barely succeed, 17 will barely fail and 3 will hugely fail

Combat will be vastly simplified. But some elements I do want to maintain from the original Paranoia is that shooters miss alot, but when they hit, bad things happen in a hurry. So, kind of the opposite of Go For Your Gun where one could be hit many times. Not sure how to do this. I was thinking maybe having exploding damage dice. Literally! No, but if a laser pistol did 2d6. If you roll a 6 it explodes, if you roll 2 6s they both explode.

Keep in mind, each player has 5 identical clones back in the vats, so death is not that serious. (Note- you will die. Often, you will do something and just be dead. There will not be too much rolling involved. Try not to let it get you down! )

One other thing to be clear about. Unlike every game we play, and contrary to what I generally prefer in games, not only is player vs player combat permitted, it can sometimes be required.

To prevent that turning into a continuous daisy chain of player on player shoot outs, try to keep these rules in mind

1) Most important: Do not shoot another player unless a) there is an in game role play reason for it (e.g. you saw them use a mutation power, or you know they are a commie, etc.) and b) it would be funny . Actually, that is serious, because what I mean by funny is, both you and the player you are shooting would find it funny

2) When you die and your new clone joins the party, he has no memory of being killed, so no tag backs!

Many many other issues will come up as we go through it. Onward, troubleshooters

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:19 am

Ill call jarred after work today and post as soon as I know for sure, but as of tha last time I talked to him (tuesday) hes still on for tonight

-Andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:33 pm

I should be good for tonight. Sorry for the radio silence....its been a hell of a week at work.

~AoB
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

jaybird216 · Post by **jaybird216** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:46 pm

I should be able to set up a maptools server for you tonight if you need me to.
_________________
Jason Braun
Art Monkey for Hire
Three-Headed Troll Art Wurks

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:06 pm

jaybird216 wrote:
I should be able to set up a maptools server for you tonight if you need me to.

Thanks for the kind offer, Jaybird. I thought we were going to try having Spak man host both and see if he can carry the load? Maybe wait for spakman to weigh in if he wants to try that

I think we are using dev. ver 35

Of course, once spak man crashes out, at 6:04 pm PST you will get a PM from me. Contents: Jaaaaaaaaaybiiiiird!
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:11 pm

Another idea I had for the game. All communications with the Computer must be typed into the chat window, not spoken aloud. Hopefully, I will remember to type all Computer comments

I was going to suggest having _all_ communications typed, That is, everything people say to each other, the Computer, or NPCs would be typed. Everything else: Out of Character talk, description clarifications, rules discussion (hah!) etc. would be spoken as normal on Voice

But I think Treebore does not like too much typing. I just though the advantages of that are: a) maybe people will feel liberated a bit by typing and "speak" as their crazy characters and b) we would have a full log of all comments which could make for an amusing read

Regardless, all Computer-player communications at least will be typed
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:11 pm

Yeah I'll try hosting it. If its not too much trouble I think jay should set up a fall back server in case I cant handle both vent and maptools.

What version did we use last week? I thought it was .37 anyways, I have them both downloaded so Either one is good for me. With all this version swapping, I've decided to just download the non-webstart version and keep them all installed in separate folders

-Andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:20 pm

Also, really give that first post a good read. There is alot of information there that, later in the game, when you look to me with tears welling in your eyes, "but, but, why..." is explained in that first missive

The short form is: many, many things are treason. Treason is punishable by death
My first post there is what greets you on your vid screen early on the first morning of our great adventure
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:26 pm

spak_man wrote:
Yeah I'll try hosting it. If its not too much trouble I think jay should set up a fall back server in case I cant handle both vent and maptools.

What version did we use last week? I thought it was .37 anyways, I have them both downloaded so Either one is good for me. With all this version swapping, I've decided to just download the non-webstart version and keep them all installed in separate folders

-Andre

Ok good idea. I can't recall what version it was (there are so many) but one had a problem so there was a general reversion. Cant recall the numbers

This might even cause us not to be able to start at 6:00 sharp, if you can believe it!
Also, remember I have never DMed with maptools, so there may be a few glitches and slow downs.

(Impossible! The computer is perfect, citizen! To think otherwise is treason)

There should not be too much map specific stuff at the start, but as mentioned above, we will be using the chat window (and dice roller)

The map stuff depends on how many combats you guys initiate. Oh, who am I kidding, we are going to be using combat maps rights from the beginning
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:35 pm

Aramis wrote:
Also, remember I have never DMed with maptools, so there may be a few glitches and slow downs.

(Impossible! The computer is perfect, citizen! To think otherwise is treason)

There should not be too much map specific stuff at the start, but as mentioned above, we will be using the chat window (and dice roller)

The map stuff depends on how many combats you guys initiate. Oh, who am I kidding, we are going to be using combat maps rights from the beginning

meh, I hadn't used it when we started GW, its easy enough to pick up.

And the ability to have multiple maps preloaded in the background is golden.

Depending on how tactical you want to make combat, I'd suggest making a few generic Alpha complex corridor/room maps for when IF, i of course meant to say IF we pick an unexpected fight
-Andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

jaybird216 · Post by **jaybird216** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:35 pm

Last week we tried b37, but reverted to b35 because of connection issues. We did the same in my Sunday game - used b35. So, I'll launch a b35 server for you when I get home from work. If you don't need it, great! If you do, it'll be there for you.

Or is it treasonous to have more than one server?
I'll make the name Paranoia SIEGE and player passwords will be player (gm will be gm).

I was up insanely late last night (damn you Medieval II: Total War!!!), so chances are that I'll be asleep at game time, but I'll make sure it's all running smoothly before my eventual sack-out.
_________________
Jason Braun
Art Monkey for Hire
Three-Headed Troll Art Wurks

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:57 pm

We are home from picking up my nephew from the airport in Tucson, so we will be playing/dying tonight.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:50 pm

any news on server info, Andre?
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:52 pm

OK. Now which program are we using and what are the logins?
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:53 pm

vent 70.55.54.158
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:55 pm

and there is a new version of maptools, b.38, i guess well try that one
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:56 pm

maybe we should go with b35

i think everyone has that

i dont want us to go to b38 and then someone cant get on

what do you think?
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:58 pm

Just as another alternative (for future games), I do have a copy of ScreenMonkey....

AoB
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:01 am

I'll check back in 10
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:11 am

its up with b35 adaen

server name Paranoia

Password player
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:15 am

On which platform?
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:38 am

Well, that was most enjoyable, citizens
Now that we play it, I think I see how Paranoia works. Paranoia is a game where the DM gets to chortle to himself, rather than the more normal games where the players do!

Some issues for discussion:

1) Armor and Weapons rules- too confusing, number finicky?

I forgot to mention, or maybe I did earlier, after the combat you can make weapon repair rolls to repair both your armour and the broken lasers. Unfortunately, with the lasers who "fumbled", i roll a d10 to see when they explode. Spakman's was a 1, Titania's was a 4 from a while back, so they both went kablooie

2) One thing I noticed is the combat is nowhere near deadly enough. When Pep R Mint did the first attack and got al those 6s, I thought, this is working perfectly, but after that it wasn't quite as deadly. What did you think? Make the weapons a bit more powerful?

3) At certain points of the mission I did not like that I had to limit your guys attempts to extricate yourselves from your predicaments. I like problem solving in games, so it would annoy me a bit not to be able to think my way out of some of these situations.

But you have to remember it is a top-down, authoritarian, anti-individualist "paradise" so certain attempts at persuasion are simply not going to work because the negatives to them for not doing their job (being terminated) far outweigh whatever baffling bull you guys are trying for. The NPCs combine a strong fear of being found treasonous by the computer with a disdain for the interests and lives of those of a lower colour than them. That's very important to understand

4) Jared had a good point on the social rolls. It makes it too difficult to have the PCs come up with some wonder story every time. We will rely more on the pure rolls in the future. I like to emphasise the role play angle of such things, as the Dead Mule participants will be aware of, but we have to have some flow too. One thing I mentioned above is, don't over rely on persuasion. These people face treason if they do not follow the Computer's dictates. What does ignoring you get them, in comparison ?

5) I thought some of those scenes worked great. Especially when Spak Man pulled out the big box of forbidden weapons and innocently said "of course I have my authorization, it's in that box over there."

Or when you realised that the sewer entrance was _in_ the forbidden zone

You seemed a bit surprised too when, after just leaving the briefing you arrived late for, your briefer met you in the hall and said "oh, you're early!"
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:00 am

Let me add that, on the persuading people side of things, of which there was a lot today, there are some other options on your character sheets (I think)

For example, if someone has forgery skill, maybe they could try forging orders. Theses orders would have to conform to what the computer normally does, but it might be some use

Or what about combining a bribe with persuasion (doesn't work right now, as you are all poor, but in future). Or with innate charm.

Or maybe someone has a forbidden skill at manipulating robots or the computer himself. Again, you wont be able to make the computer turn you VIOLET, but you could get it to change some warrant to someone else, or grant an authorization for something. Then again, others have computer skill too, and they may find your handi-work

Maybe create some kind of Emergency style distraction that would make someone hurry through their interaction with you to escape or whatnot. Again, that won't work often, but once in awhile you could maybe fool them

Keep at it Troubleshooters!
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:42 pm

Aramis wrote:
Well, that was most enjoyable, citizens
Now that we play it, I think I see how Paranoia works. Paranoia is a game where the DM gets to chortle to himself, rather than the more normal games where the players do!

Some issues for discussion:

1) Armor and Weapons rules- too confusing, number finicky?

I forgot to mention, or maybe I did earlier, after the combat you can make weapon repair rolls to repair both your armour and the broken lasers. Unfortunately, with the lasers who "fumbled", i roll a d10 to see when they explode. Spakman's was a 1, Titania's was a 4 from a while back, so they both went kablooie

It doesn't seem too finicky to me, its just alot of extra book keeping for you, not only do you have to keep track of the Armor and Weapon status of the NPCs, but you have to keep an eye on us as well. For about half my attacks I forgot to add the penalty for my weapon heating, of course, it didnt make any difference since Jarred stole all the Die rolling mojo for the night. Maybe when we have our minis set up we can figure out a way to keep better track of it, but until then my verdict is, I like it the way it is, but if its too much book keeping for you, I understand you scrapping it

Aramis wrote:
2) One thing I noticed is the combat is nowhere near deadly enough. When Pep R Mint did the first attack and got al those 6s, I thought, this is working perfectly, but after that it wasn't quite as deadly. What did you think? Make the weapons a bit more powerful?

Yeah I think combat should be ramped up a bit (says the guy who only has 4 HP left after our first combat) Lasers Hurt.

Aramis wrote:
3) At certain points of the mission I did not like that I had to limit your guys attempts to extricate yourselves from your predicaments. I like problem solving in games, so it would annoy me a bit not to be able to think my way out of some of these situations.

But you have to remember it is a top-down, authoritarian, anti-individualist "paradise" so certain attempts at persuasion are simply not going to work because the negatives to them for not doing their job (being terminated) far outweigh whatever baffling bull you guys are trying for. The NPCs combine a strong fear of being found treasonous by the computer with a disdain for the interests and lives of those of a lower colour than them. That's very important to understand

Hmm, this is a tricky problem. I agree that there should be some situations we cannot BS our way out of. But there were some points where I felt like I was trying to break down a brick wall with a screwdriver. A very clever screwdriver, but still far from the jackhammer I needed. The only advice I can think of is you could try be a little more heavy handed with us when we're obviously barking up the wrong tree. Have the Vultures club/shoot us to get us moving, we have 5 clones each in the waiting, and after we loose a couple for not jumping fast enough we will learn our lesson.

Im sure once we get a little more used to the conventions of Alpha Complex we will be better at choosing the proper tool for the job. And getting written copies of everything, in triplicate, signed, stamped, and sealed

Aramis wrote:
4) Jared had a good point on the social rolls. It makes it too difficult to have the PCs come up with some wonder story every time. We will rely more on the pure rolls in the future. I like to emphasise the role play angle of such things, as the Dead Mule participants will be aware of, but we have to have some flow too. One thing I mentioned above is, don't over rely on persuasion. These people face treason if they do not follow the Computer's dictates. What does ignoring you get them, in comparison ?

I think we should keep the idea of having to explain what you are doing. Perhaps not quite as verbose as we were in the first session, but at least a brief explanation of how we're planning on using our social skill

to use an example from last night: instead of saying "I use my boot licking skill to convince him to let me take the scrub bot" I said "I use my boot licking skill to try to build up his ego then tell him that arranging for the removal of the scrub bot would be a waste of such an important persons time"

Not too much more verbose, and doesn't require a speech writer to pull it off, but lets the GM know how your going about groveling to him, without having to spell it out, word for word.

I guess if someone is REALLY stuck on coming up with something

GUARD:"alright citizen, let me see your written authorization"

ME:"uuhhhhhhhh... ... ... ... crap"

you could let them just roll against their skill without making anything up , with a penalty perhaps, or maybe let the other players help them out if their character is very skilled at for example Fast Talking, but as a player they aren't.

Aramis wrote:
5) I thought some of those scenes worked great. Especially when Spak Man pulled out the big box of forbidden weapons and innocently said "of course I have my authorization, it's in that box over there."

Yeah, that probably would have been much more slick if I had done that about 3 minutes earlier, when he actually ASKED me for my papers

Aramis wrote:
Or when you realised that the sewer entrance was _in_ the forbidden zone

You seemed a bit surprised too when, after just leaving the briefing you arrived late for, your briefer met you in the hall and said "oh, you're early!"

Yep there were lots of fun moments like that.. It almost seems like there is some omniscient, omnipotent power out there plotting against us..

But that of course is crazy commie talk, the only power is Friend Computer, who loves and protects us. Thinking anything else would be treason!

*arrests himself*

Great game Kurt, I love how everyone jumped right into character from the get go, and if mankind ever "advances" to a society like Alpha Complex.. we can only hope that Kurt UV Rivers isn't at the helm
-Andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

adaen · Post by **adaen** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:36 pm

Is there a game tonight?
_________________
~Adaen of Bridgewater, www.highadventuregames.com

spak_man · Post by **spak_man** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:54 pm

As far as I know, yes

-andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

Aramis · Post by **Aramis** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:32 pm

adaen wrote:
Is there a game tonight?

Well, "game" might be overstating it. A perverse Orwellian nightmare with obtuse NPCs, contradictory mission goals, PC back stabbing, and commies?

Oh yes
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson