Exactly why Spam-R wanted to shoot himself, I don't know, but he succeeded thanks to his ability to outmuscle ArrMatee-R.

Quote from: BlueBardArrMatee and Spyd wind up wrestling over the laser pistol; neither is able to wrest it from the other's grasp and, fortunately, nobody accidently fires it which might be very, very bad.

Someone want to yield?  Or do we enter the realm of dirty tricks?

Dirty tricks!  Dirty tricks!  :D

line from Knights of The Dinner Table

sara: i use my registered mutant power of future sight to gain any insight as to the outcome of this battle

BM: you see a trail of ashes coming out of a red boot.

sara: oh no, that means one of us will die.

shortly, brian fires up his unregistered flame powers and is blown to bits by dave with a mortar

BM: all that is left is a pile of ashes ontop of a red boot.

sara: my future vision came true!

I don't know about the rest of you... maybe my Paranoia GM style just sucks... but does it seem to any of you that the humor factor is sort of getting lost through the mechanics of posting?  The slow pace of posting does somewhat interfere with setting up an atmosphere of fast-paced desperation.

I want this to be funny, not just the GM bashing the PC's.  Any suggestions as to what I/we can do differently?

Contrary though it sounds, maybe I need to actually be harsher on the characters than I have been.  Maybe it will take more extremely outrageous situations to bring out extremely outrageous behavior from the players.

Quote from: BlueBard on August 16, 2007, 10:29:49 AMMaybe it will take more extremely outrageous situations to bring out extremely outrageous behavior from the players.

And scrubbing out Spam's mouth *wasn't* extremely outrageous???

And, no, that was *not* a long-time fantasy fulfillment in action.  At least, as far as *you* know.  :D

First off, your style of Paranoia GMing does not suck.  I've been enjoying it quite thoroughly.

I think that part of the problem may come from the comparatively slow rate of player posts.  Much of Paranoia relies on what players do to one another.  Hence, if I say that I'm grabbing something away from Player X, and Player X doesn't respond with an immediate action, things kinda fizzle.

Now, apart from that, you may wish to be clear about how you envision things happening, in a broad scale.  There are definitely different styles to running Paranoia, with differing levels of clone death factor.  At one extreme end is the philosophy that it's not a real Paranoia game unless at least two players have suffered clone deaths before getting to PLC.  At the other end, clone death is only the most extreme form of punishment, because various infractions can be punished by a wide variety of means.  (Demerits, extra Mandatory Bonus duties, reporting to Internal Security for brain-scrubbing, etc.)

In general, I think that desperate actions come about when the alternative to not doing desperate actions is worse.  Even with high-accuracy cloning technology, I can't imagine clones wanting to die.  Hence, ludicrous and outrageous actions will result when clones are forced between choosing one of several treasonous actions, or dying.

Example:

Troubleshooters must report to Mission Briefing.  However, the Mission Briefing Room's entrance is down a Green-level corridor.

The Computer: Report to Mission Briefing immediately, Citizens!  Do not proceed down the Green-level corridor!

In the above situation, there's no way for the players to avoid treasonous activity.  Not traveling down the corridor means that the Troubleshooters are failing to obey orders - reporting to Mission Briefing means that they're violating Security Clearances. 

In a Paranoia game, I expect that players will try to keep juggling as many difficulties as they can before juggling further difficulties is simply impossible.  That's when true ludicrousness results.

What might you have expected to see happen by now, BB?  If I had a clearer picture of what you're not seeing happen, I could better offer suggestions of how to make it happen.

You're doing a fine job BB.  From my own point of view I can only apologise for not posting regularly enough. 

I don't really know Paranoia the game but perhaps you are being too nice to us.  I was full sure that my head was going to be crushed like a pumpkin back there.  Not that I'm advocating killing us TOO easily...  ^_^

RE: The head/smashed pumpkin thing...

Honestly, I'd kind of forgotten about the exoskeleton when I told you that everyone had covered their ears.  But never let it be said that I won't exploit a player who volunteers suggestions for Bad Things To Happen.  I aim to please.

However, the SPE doesn't cover the user's hands, so that's only flesh and bone smacking against a skull ultimately.  I reluctantly decided it wouldn't kill Numb, but I figured a KO would be OK.

I can't really put my finger on what's not working for me.  I'll have to give it some thought.

Quote from: gdaybloke on August 16, 2007, 12:13:41 PM
Spyd graciously offers to compose an impromptu sonnet in honour of Shoot-O's strong leadership, and flicks on the PMB in preparation...

Flick on the PMB to do what, exactly?  The PMB has a number of functions; I might point out that you've only tested one of them so far.  A shameful lack of efficiency on your part.

Quote from: Panther_Gunn on August 16, 2007, 11:18:05 AM

Quote from: BlueBard on August 16, 2007, 10:29:49 AMMaybe it will take more extremely outrageous situations to bring out extremely outrageous behavior from the players.

And scrubbing out Spam's mouth *wasn't* extremely outrageous???

And, no, that was *not* a long-time fantasy fulfillment in action.  At least, as far as *you* know.  :D

Good times... good times...

RE: G'day Bloke's Song.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

and what is going on here?

Quote from: Mitanker on August 28, 2007, 05:14:48 PM
and what is going on here?

In reference to what?

This is actually the Out-Of-Character and Kibbitzing thread, the real game is in a different thread.  Not sure if you were asking about the activity in this thread or what.  This is a good place for out-of-character interactions that would just clutter up the game thread.

However, if you aren't a player and you have a comment, this is the perfect place for it.

So... How may I help you today, Friend Non-Citizen?

QuoteSuddenly, a heavily armored barrier slams down at either end of the corridor.  Additionally, a reinforced door slides into place across the entrance to the stairwell, trapping everyone (except ArrMatee) in the corridor.  As this realization sinks in, you all begin to hear a loud hissing noise within the corridor.

And thus begins our gentle introduction in the topic of 'Dealing With The Computer - 101'...

Lesson Number One: Always consider the practical effects of Murphy's Law.

Lesson Number Two: Something always happens, but it's rarely what you thought would happen.  Unless you're taking Lesson Number One into account.

Lesson Number Three: This information is not available at your security clearance.

I always expect to be Terminated when dealing with the Computer.  Anything else is a bonus.

Lesson Number Four: You are in error citizen, the duck is not on fire.

yanno, i never expected to, but i ran across a copy of Paranoia, 5th edition that belongs to a friend of mine. now this game makes a lot more sence... to the extent that it 'can' make sence, anyway. --procedes to the nearest termination booth for possesion of information above his clearence level--

Quote from: Lord Elcorion on September 10, 2007, 05:36:42 PM
yanno, i never expected to, but i ran across a copy of Paranoia, 5th edition that belongs to a friend of mine. now this game makes a lot more sence... to the extent that it 'can' make sence, anyway. --procedes to the nearest termination booth for possesion of information above his clearence level--

Thank you for your cooperation, Commie Mutant Scum!  Have a nice daycycle!

 ^_^ Heh, now that's more like what I was expecting from a game like this!  However, I will point out in mitigation that I did request water or foam suppression systems...

Quote from: The Phantom Eyebrow on September 11, 2007, 12:03:08 PM
^_^ Heh, now that's more like what I was expecting from a game like this!  However, I will point out in mitigation that I did request water or foam suppression systems...

The Computer likes to be helpful like that.

Just curious to know a player's (or observer's) perspective on what's going on in the Paranoia game.

From my perspective, the chaos level is ramping up nicely.  I'm probably going to have to drastically change my outline due to unfolding events, but that's okay.  I hope to be able to be creatively chaotic.

If there are any misclarifications and misdirections needed, comments to be taken out of context and used against you, suggestions to be sadistically twisted into something creatively outrageous, etc, please feel free to share.

It inspires me.

;)

Oh, I'm just happy to help contribute to the level of all-consuming chaos that is about to descend on this sector of Beta Complex.  Things have officially reached a level of chaos where dying doesn't seem like all that bad an option.

Not that my clone is going to commit suicide, mind you.  His tactics are just going to get a lot more desperate.  Which is kind of the point, in a Paranoia game.

At some point, when this Paranoia game finally winds down, I'd be extremely interested in finding out what all the PMs have been about.  In hindsight, much of the fun comes from being able to see what everyone was independently trying to do...

Paranoia isn't about completing missions, it's about surviving, or conversely, dying in the coolest was possible. The fact that we've been stuck in a corridor for over a week of RL time is right on schedule!

QuoteSpyd begins scuffling around on the floor in the dark, in an effort to fund the downed infrared

"Excuse me, can I offer you a small loan at 18.9 percent interest?"

Quote from: BlueBard on October 04, 2007, 11:28:23 AM

QuoteSpyd begins scuffling around on the floor in the dark, in an effort to fund the downed infrared

"Excuse me, can I offer you a small loan at 18.9 percent interest?"

"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Gday sure does make the entertaining typos.  I still remember when he left the letter "L" out of "The Clockwork King"...

Sometimes, even infrareds need a payday loan!

Quote from: BlueBard on November 06, 2007, 10:43:30 AM
"Light! Light! LIGHT! GET LIGHT!" the clones voices rise to a shriek as they scramble forward toward ArrMatee.

Quote from: Viking on November 06, 2007, 11:34:48 AM
ArrMatee turns off the hottorch.  And then moves against a wall.

oh, this is *not* going to end well.......

:roll:

Quote from: BlueBard on November 12, 2007, 11:57:30 AMBeing a Troubleshooter, your psyche is strong enough to cope with such things.  Theoretically.

Obviously, the Orange-level Citizen went to the wrong bunk when he roused Spam from his sleep.  That can be the only explanation.....because the Computer always knows what it's doing.  :thumbup: