Things You'll Need:
- Paranoia RPG Book
- Players
- Character Sheets
- Dice
- Pencils
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Step 1
Set up any materials you may need for the session ahead of time. The "classic" style of Paranoia gaming is more likely to have props or maps than the more free form "zap" style. Make copies of pre-built characters if you are using a published adventure or print off blank character sheets if you are running your own game.
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Step 2
Frame the player's expectations of the tone of the game early on. In the "classic" style of play, characters will still be incredibly paranoid that their companions are all traitors and will have internal conflict, but these conflicts should infrequently lead to direct combat or character death. The easiest way to let the players know how their character's should be acting is to let one of the players get out of hand, and then have the Computer show up to immediately punish them and explain that traitors can only be executed once the proper evidence has been filed and approved.
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Step 3
Act out the role of the Computer as an insane paranoid megalomaniac instead of as an over the top psychotically happy child. The Computer can still be humorously crazy, but the emphasis should be more on that fact that he's always watching the players every move instead of how silly it can be.
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Step 4
Stress the importance of each player's individual role in the group and any mission they may have been given by their secret society. Because the characters will be killing each other less frequently they will have more time to focus on actually completing their missions and advancing the cause of their secret society. Leave the wacky aspects of each society in place but tone down the importance of their more funny beliefs and practices. One of the best ways to increase player paranoia is to have each character's mission rely on finding another character within the group who will help them, but make them have to find out on their own who is friend and who is foe through things like key words, secret handshakes, or just simply watching one another until they find someone who appears to be sympathetic to their cause.
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Step 5
Depict Alpha Complex in much the same way as you would a "zap" style game, with the world in a near constant state of mayhem and disorder as pretty much everything goes wrong at the worst possible moment. While the tone is almost the same, it's the reason behind the tone that is different. Alpha Complex should be chaotic and deadly because everyone is paranoid due to the oppressive scrutiny they are constantly subjected to, and not because they are in a cartoon world of comic mischief.
