I'm interested in getting into the game Paranoia. However, there appears to be a lit of division between editions of the game. I have been told to stay away from "5th Edition", but otherwise, what edition should I pursue?

What edition do you prefer, and why?

//Panjumanju

The edition is irrelevant.  What's important is that the characters all die in hilarious ways.

Use some of the rules.  Use all of the rules.  Use none of the rules.  What matters is that everyone dies.

2nd edition. Cleanest rules, most amusing text, and best cover art.

Otherwise , all othe reditions are just fine, except 3rd: avoid it like the plague.

Quote from: TristramEvans;5908672nd edition. Cleanest rules, most amusing text, and best cover art.

Otherwise , all othe reditions are just fine, except 3rd: avoid it like the plague.

You're a Communist, aren't you?

Quote from: thedungeondelver;590872You're a Communist, aren't you?

Those are treasonous words, my friend. The computer would not look kindly on you calling his faithful devotee and advocate of the Computer's sweet and fair justice a dirty commie. Why, you must be one of those "mutants" I hear people talking about.

Quote from: TristramEvans;590881Those are treasonous words, my friend. The computer would not look kindly on you calling his faithful devotee and advocate of the Computer's sweet and fair justice a dirty commie. Why, you must be one of those "mutants" I hear people talking about.

Knowledge of mutants is treason, Citizen.

This thread is getting pretty paranoid, already...

//Panjumanju

Quote from: TristramEvans;5908672nd edition. Cleanest rules, most amusing text, and best cover art.

Otherwise , all othe reditions are just fine, except 3rd: avoid it like the plague.

The 2e rules are nice (Er, or so I once heard a communist mutant traitor once say, before I shot him for being a communist mutant traitor), but the setting is basically the cold war; if you weren't alive for that, it might not be as entertaining for you. The Paranoia setting is a grim satire, and if you don't know what is being satired, it won't work for you.

The modern editions move the setting... along a bit, so the jokes are going for 21st century life, and it does that pretty well. I'd probably recommend XP, due to the setting, but if you and your group remember the cold war, you'll get a lot out of 2e[/COLOR]

In all seriousness, though; Paranoia depends on the group even more than most RPG's. If everyone is playing it the same way, you'll have a lot of fun, regardless of how you choose to play it. Paranoia is a PvP game at heart, and that really magnifies the difference between experienced players and newbies, or ZAPZAPZAP and hardcore-grim-satire players. With the right group, it is brilliant fun, and with the wrong group, it will be a tedious mess.

Myself and my group are more interested in serious play than zap-zap-pew. The sense I'm getting here is that the edition does not really matter, so long as it's not 3rd/5th edition.

//Panjumanju

Quote from: Panjumanju;590849What edition do you prefer, and why?

Tough choice.

1st Edition is the best presentation of the setting: It's a dark, vicious, funny satire. Subsequent veered into cheap slapstick and other humor that, IMO, missed the point while aping only the surface qualities of the original. (5th Edition was the worst for this. But even 2nd Edition had issues.)

There are two analogies that I use for this: 1st Edition is like Monty Python; the other editions feel like someone quoting Monty Python. Or: 1st edition feels like the manga for Ranma 1/2; the other editions feel like the anime adaptations of Ranma 1/2 (which greatly emphasize the "Akane beats the crap out of Ranma" slapstick while often missing the heart of the material).

OTOH, 1st Edition also features a completely mismatched mechanical system featuring the early '80s aesthetic of "everything must be a reality simulator".

Last time I ran Paranoia I used the 1st Edition setting material, but ran the game using BESM 2nd Edition.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;590890Knowledge of mutants is treason, Citizen.

Oh, you must not have the security clearance for that knowledge. I'm afraid I must terminate you now.

Quote from: Justin Alexander;591088Last time I ran Paranoia I used the 1st Edition setting material, but ran the game using BESM 2nd Edition.

That sounds like a plan!

Quote from: Justin Alexander;591088Last time I ran Paranoia I used the 1st Edition setting material, but ran the game using BESM 2nd Edition.

I ran it using Teenagers From Outer Space once, coincidentally.

The rules don't matter. In fact, knowing the rules is Treason, so the players can't call you on it.

Last time I ran it, I allegedly used Paranoia XP, but in all honestly, I just usually had players roll a die and add something off their sheet and then decided if the result meant they failed and suffered some hilarious and probably fatal consequence or if they succeeded and suffered some hilarious and probably fatal consequence.

So the game works best if the players don't, in fact, know the rules.

The whole joke of Paranoia is that the whole thing is a hose job from end to end. The goal of the players is to try to deflect as many hilarious and probably fatal consequences off themselves and onto their fellow players as possible. The one who does this most effectively "wins". The prize is to serve the computer in an exciting new capacity to test new experimental reactor shielding. Won't that be fun, Citizen?

There was a series of supplements for 2nd edition that followed a large metaplot in which the players actually get the chance to shut down The Computer and "win".

If that sounds like fun to you, then you are obviously a Commie Mutant Traitor!