› Straighten It Out
There's a reason they call it a play style.
One of the many, many great things about PARANOIA is having three different play styles: Classic, Straight, and Zap. While my tastes run somewhere between Classic and Zap, I have played and GMed many Straight missions and have really appreciated the different tone, feel and ... well, style inherent in a Straight mission.
What makes this style different from the others? Do players still try to terminate each other's characters? And what does a GM need to know in order to run a Straight mission? The difference is not in the body count per se. It's in how those bodies are racked up.
Some people think Straight missions are less deadly, and that you can always tell a Straight mission because the players are still on their first clones after briefing. Not quite. The situations in a Straight mission are not less deadly--they are only less likely to erupt in a no-holds-barred firefight.
You want specific tips? You got 'em.
PC's in a Straight mission are encouraged to find alternative solutions to problems, ones that doesn't require shooting someone. You can still shoot people; afterall, this is PARANOIA. But every shot fired in a Straight mission is accounted for. For example, if you fire your laser at your Team Leader in a Straight mission, sensors in the walls will record a laser discharge and someone will call that PC to find out why a gun was fired. Having to explain such behavior turns many players off from the fire-happy laserfests found in Zap games.
Here are some suggestions for making a Straight mission more straight. Please note I am not affiliated with Mongoose Publishing and these are not official rules or anything. You are the GM--do what you want.
- Less FC, more flunkie: In Classic and Zap games, The Computer is alwasy just a call away. Use your PDC, a public terminal, or just shout and The Computer asks what is the emergency. In a Straight game, The Big C isn't so available; there is an army of clerks, bureaucrats, and gatekeepers between the players and The Computer. Did the PC call about their mission? The call is routed to an ORANGE dispatcher at Troubleshooter Headquarters. Request for a map? Say hello to a YELLOW clerk at CPU's Directions Clearinghouse. Accusation of treason? A GREEN IntSec goon is happy to take your call.
- More reality, less cartoon: Physics in a Zap game is a joke (and a good one at that). Physics in Classic can be anything from kinda realistic to kinda wild. So in a Straight mission, physics should be more realistic. That said, don't worry about calculating the distance a body would roll when thrown from an autocar moving at 40 kph--that's for other (non-fun) games. Just make sure the body doesn't make a clone-shaped hole in a wall.
- Every shot is heard: No more quiet laser shots in the back. Alpha Complex is riddled with all kinds of sensor equipment, so every shot is noticed and followed up. 'Is this Team 77/4C? We have a record of three laser shots in quick succession at your present location. Please explain why shots were fired.' You don't want to stop PC's from killing characters, but you do want to tone down such obvious violence in favor of more sublte violence, such as getting someone else to kill the character.
- No puns: So simple, yet so hard to follow. There shouldn't be anyone named You-R-DED. Keep it simple and use real names instead.
- The higher-ups are rare: How often are you likely to see the Board of Directors of whatever company you work for? Unless you're already high up on the authority flowchart, not often at all. So resist using high-clearance citizens in a Straight mission. Use a YELLOW clerk in debriefing in place of a VIOLET citizen. Calls for help are answered by ORANGE clerks. And never bring an ULTRAVIOLET onto the stage unless you absolutely, positively, really really really must have him there. Someone with that much power would not stoop so low as to speak directly with Troubleshooters unless it was unaviodable.
- Jokes and humor: This is Straight, not Stale. Jokes, funny situations and humor should be present in every mission regardless of style. They just take a slightly different form in a Straight mission. Compare the Three Stooges with Brazil. (If you don't know either then stop right now and rent some from your local video store.) Both are really funny but in entirely different ways. The humor in The Three Stooges is manic, slapstick and very Zap. The humor in Brazil is dark, sarcastic and very Straight.
It's Straight, not Dull. Get it right.
But there are some things that should remain in a Straight game no matter what. These include:
- Catch-22's: This is the bread and butter of PARANOIA missions and should be present in every single mission regardless of style, length or whatever. Let the players face an impossible scenario and force them to figure out a solution.
- Backstabbing: If Catch-22's are the bread and butter, then this is the luncheon meat that goes in between the bread. You must always allow your players a chance to scheme, plot and generally behave quite badly. Otherwise, you risk turning PARANOIA into another (non-fun) RPG.
- Fun: There is no Boring game style, and it should stay that way. Make sure your players are enjoying themselves in a Straight mission. Just remember that enjoying is seperate from acting goofy; just because the players aren't going nuts like in a Zap mission doesn't mean they aren't enjoying it.
Which brings me to my last point. Zap is a lot of fun, especially when you just want to cool down after a rough week and cut loose. There is something undeniably cathartic about ignoring plots, cohesion and cause-and-effect in favor of shooting some character until you feel a strong breeze blowing through them.
But that's like fast food--it's mighty tasty but not deeply satisfying. When done well, Straight missions are quieter, less manic, and much more satisfying that other styles. The dark humor and more realistic setting make for a more deeply satisfying experience in the end. So go give Straight style a try. I think you'll be surprised at how much fun it can be. ^ TOP