Do you even need rules in order to play Paranoia?I vaguely remembered my long ago sessions of Paranoia 2E, did some research and bought the PDF version of Paranoia XP, which many seem to think is the "best" version. It brought back my memories of the zaniness of the Alpha Complex, which I appreciate and already makes it worth buying the PDF.
But as I was reading the rules, with the frequent and sensible suggestions for the GM to "ignore all of this stuff if it runs contrary to what you want to happen in the game", I started to wonder: are all these rules, stats and charts
really necessary? Some of the game mechanics, while "lite" by RPG standards, still seem too convoluted for the fast pace of a Paranoia session. I get
some rules are necessary, otherwise this is just an improv session rather than an RPG. But do you need something like Paranoia XP, with credits, and weapon stats, and treason damage, this or that -- or could you run a Paranoia game using something
extremely lite like, say, Risus the Anything RPG, some clichés, and off you go?
If the answer is "yes", why keep buying new editions of Paranoia at all? As long as you more or less know the background lore -- yes, yes, knowing is treason -- for which any existing Paranoia edition is good, and more or less the tone you want, you barely need any rules at all, right? After all, "the Alpha Complex is a state of mind".
Is this a fair assessment?
PS: any answers, please avoid the typical in-universe Friend Computer answers. I get it, it's funny. But I really am interested in actual answers.
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