Troubleshooters: Black Missions (Paranoia) [Hardcover]

Gareth Hanrahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2009 | Series: Paranoia

The Black Missions edition, limited to 1,000 copies, has an all new cover, plus a Bonus Mandatory Fun DVD, which includes material streamed straight from the grey subnets - electronic copies of classic Paranoia supplements, Computer Voice Control, Traitorous Sound Effects, and much more!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Mongoose Publishing; Har/Com edition (August 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906508623
• ISBN-13: 978-1906508623
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gareth Hanrahan is a writer and game designer. He's written more than fifty roleplaying games and supplements, including the award-winning adaptation of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series. He's also written for comics and computer games. He lives in Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value for a Paranoia GM, April 13, 2011

By 

Stephen Mann (NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Troubleshooters: Black Missions (Paranoia) (Hardcover)

A bit puzzling at first, on account of the print material seems to be an older version of the rules but a newer printing. The latest version has an older copyright date than this book. Which is an older version.

Of course, this is Paranoia we're talking about so it all sort of fits.

The book itself is hardback and contains glossy pages stitched to a cloth binding. this means you can open the book flat while GMing without breaking the spine of the book. The cover is black, and I'm sure there are secret messages hidden in the blackness. Invisible, treasonous messages. What?

Best of all: glued to the inside of the back cover is an envelope containing a CD-ROM comprising a dozen prior publications, scenario books and so forth, in pdf format along with a couple of hundred sound clips that could be played at appropriate moments in a game - explosions, screams and the computer demanding information at exactly the most inconvenient time. This isn't one book, it's all of them (just about, anyway). A Paranoia GM would never need to buy anything else after this. Well, except for a single D20.

Well worth the cover price.

Never heard of Paranoia?

Paranoia is an RPG that turns the preconceptions you may have about how RPGs "should" be played on their head. The idea is that everyone is living in a strictly controlled environment mediated by a super-intelligent computer, and the people are classified into color-coded security clearances. Knowledge outside your security clearance is treason. Report all such knowledge to your nearest security officer. Failure to report treasonous knowledge is treason.

Players take the part of troubleshooters who range far and wide at the behest of the computer to address problems. Problems cannot exist in the world because the computer does not permit them. Belief in the fallibility of the computer is treason.

Each player has six clone bodies which through an unlikely series of justifications are available should a Troubleshooter be killed. This happens. A lot.

Player characters are always members of secret societies. Membership in a secret society is treason. They are also mutants. Unregistered mutations are treason (registration can involve the death of the PC).

The game system is ultra simple, and can be tuned to three styles of play: Cartoonish "Zap", a more restrained "Classic" and an Orwellian "Straight".

Players must balance their official mission directives with the unofficial agendas of their secret society while avoiding the treacherous accusations, machinations and denunciations of their fellow players.

It is great fun for all.