The computer is your friend. The computer wants you to be happy. Friend computer says the last Paranoia entry in the challenge was in 2022. So for Day 16 of the 2026 #Character Creation Challenge I’m instructed by friend computer to use Paranoia “Perfect Edition” (aka The All New Shiny Edition) that was released by Mongoose Publishing in 2023.
For those of you not familiar with Paranoia, it is a role-playing game that is set in the future where humanity lives in a computer controlled Alpha Complex. No, this is about the future not about today. The central computer controls everything and is trying to keep you safe from conspiracies, communist plots, secret societies and enemies of the computer. Why do you keep asking if this is a game set in modern times? Your character is a troubleshooter for the computer trying to discover the hidden fiendish plot that is about to be sprung upon your paradise-utopian society. All while trying to hide the deep dark secret that you harbor from other troubleshooters. No, I’m tired of that question. The computer says we should move onto character creation.
Of the 146 page PDF that friend computer instructed me to purchase last year, the character creation can be found on page 20. It is broken up into four steps (A-D) with sub-steps in each one. Friend computer is organized very well.
In Step A we are instructed by friend computer to create some PII (Personally Identifiable Information). This includes a punny name which is based upon the character’s clearance level (R for Red) and where they are from TOT section of the Alpha Complex and what clone this character is (starting is 1), so his name is Todd-R-TOT-1. Friend computer gave me a traitor star saying that if I have to explain the joke, it’s not very funny. Next I have to select the Service Group for Todd-R-TOT-1. After looking over the computer approved list, I selected PLC, which has the glorious purpose to create and distribute items including food. Button, button, who’s got the button. Each character has two buttons for Violence and Treason that is observable. I looked at the ideas that was presented in the book and selected two that I think would make friend computer happy, because I want him to be happy as well. Sub-step 4 are items that will be assigned by the GM at the start of the mission (Team Name and MBD).
Step B according to friend computer is to set the skills and stats for Todd-R-TOT-1. Gun Skills is an automatic +2 to hit the fleeing Commie Mutant Traitor. However on sub-step six, I run into a problem. I tried to tell friend computer that I was creating the character by myself, but friend computer states that we should stick to the rules. Because without rules, everything would descend into chaos. So one player (me) picks a skill (not guns) and assigns a +1 to it, the player clockwise to them takes a -1 in that same skill. This continues clockwise until all players have a single +1 and -1 skill listed. I picked a skill for Todd-R-TOT-1 and then since I was clockwise to myself, I picked a different skill to be a -1. I think friend computer is happy with me? I didn’t get any additional traitor stars or zapped with a laser. Next another player (uh, me again) picks a skill and makes it a +2 and the character that is clockwise gets a -2 in the same skill. This will continue up to +5/-5. I randomly rolled 2d4 to come up with the rest of the skills to simulate a group of players at the table. Once this was done, friend computer said to generate the four stats of the character (Brains, Chutzpah, Mechanics and Violence) look at the skills under each category and give it a +1 for each positive skill.
We are being naughty for Step C and we focus on the other character sheet. Not that we would do anything like that to our friend computer. But when he’s not looking, we pick a Secret Society from the list. Any of them sound dastardly, and since there are twelve of them, I secretly rolled a d12 and let fate decide Todd-R-TOT-1’s Secret Society which is [REDACTED]. Todd-R-TOT-1 also has a mutant power according to a table of 15 choices. No, I did not make a random roll and I did not write down [REDACTED]. The next two sub-steps apply the Service Group skill modifiers then the Secret Society skill modifiers.
Friend computer is wise because Step D is titled “Finish Up Already” and provides the final details to write down on the character sheets. This includes Moxie, XP, and gear. Everything that I’ve been instructed to write down is now on the sheets. But if I scan them, then friend computer can see my naughty side. Ah, friend computer says that the user agreement confirms that my naughty side will remain hidden and not fed into the AI learning module by a large corporation. I trust friend computer and scanned the character sheets.
Afterthoughts:
I loved how the four sections of the public character sheet had different ways of displaying the part numbers. Little details like that made me smile.
After re-reading my 2022 entry for the 2nd edition of this game, I can see where I got frustrated. Here the only snag was trying to do this by myself. This sounds like a perfect pick-up game or a one-shot played at a convention. I’d love to play in one for this edition at a con (hint, hint).
Additional Notes:
In response to my blog entry for Worlds Without Number, Sharrow on RPGPub responded with this helpful information. “For what it’s worth, focus picks are from the foci list (foci being the plural). Also, your dude should have gotten three: One ‘Any’, one ‘warrior’, and one ‘expert’. ‘Warrior’ means any that the GM agrees should count for a warrior, and ‘Expert’ means any non-combat, pretty much. In my experience, Adventurers who are Expert/Warriors start very strong, but drop back compared to pure Warriors at fighting over time (the Warrior’s Killing Blow ability get really nasty, as it also applies to shock damage). I’m not sure how a pure Expert would compare, as Masterful Expertise doesn’t seem as strong as the Warrior’s two abilities.” So I did mess up on the character. Good to know.
To the person who ordered something from one of my DriveThruRPG sponsored links, thank you. The credits earned will be used to pick up games for future challenges.
Coming Up Next:
FTL Nomad
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