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| Eric the Darker |
 Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:07 pm Post subject: The Mutant Experience |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Posts: 33
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Greetings, citizens!
I haven't posted much on Paranoia-Live before, though I have been lurking. (Routine surveillance; no need for alarm.) Most of my suggestions/feedback on the core rules were done through the blog at costik.com and via direct email...plus the critical investigation into the Toothpaste Disaster, of course.
Now, Mongoose Publishing has me under contract to create The Mutant Experience - a sourcebook covering all things mutant-related. Rejoice at their support and cultivation of the PARANOIA line!
While I could certainly go off in a closet and write The Mutant Experience with no feedback or community contribution, it strikes me as a pretty dim idea, given the rabid enthusiasm prevalent on these boards. So I'm going to shamelessly follow in the footsteps of others and use Paranoia-Live to sound out notions, solicit ideas, etc.
(As a probably-unnecessary but mandatory reminder: the disclaimer/warning in Paranoia XP Ideas - Read Before Posting! remains in effect. Any ideas posted may be ignored, used verbatim, or turned into something completely different...but regardless, you're not going to get paid.)
I'll be going into high-gear on writing in mid-July, when I get back from a bit of vacation. For now, I just wanted to introduce myself, say 'hello', and ask: What sorts of things would people like to see in the sourcebook? While I already have a working outline, there's certainly room for some change.
I'll also take questions, if folks have any.
Last edited by Eric the Darker on Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Services Supreme Nut Tightener
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 667
Service Group: Technical Services
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How much space are you filling? What sort of structure are you looking at currently? Are you looking to investigate the reason for the existence of mutant powers? Ways to enhance and suppress mutant powers? How secret society's and citizens of Alpha Complex view mutants? What mutants get up to down in the Dungeon?
Whut stuph? 
Oh... Hi, by the way.
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| Eric the Darker |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Posts: 33
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 wrote: |
How much space are you filling? What sort of structure are you looking at currently? Are you looking to investigate the reason for the existence of mutant powers? Ways to enhance and suppress mutant powers? How secret society's and citizens of Alpha Complex view mutants? What mutants get up to down in the Dungeon?
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Ahem:
64 pages. I'll give a more detailed answer in another post. Yes, though in the "here are some options" sense; as usual, there will be no Definitive Answer. Yes. Yes, though more the complex at large and less Secret Societies. Remind me what the Dungeon is and I'll tell you.
(Oh, and on the subject of Secret Societies: I'm not planning on delving into the details of Psion/Anti-Mutant. While they're certainly relevant to the topic, and will undoubtedly come up, they're still Secret Societies, and in-depth looks at them probably ought to go in The Traitor's Manual...which also happens to have more space.) |
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Services Supreme Nut Tightener
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 667
Service Group: Technical Services
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The Dungeon... don't worry about it. Old PARANOIA... late PARANOIA... and therefore not necessarily good PARANOIA (plus, I'm kind of happy to cover it in a piece I'm working on in the hope of including it in a future supplement or Signs & Portents...)
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| Eric the Darker |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Posts: 33
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| *nod* I remembered the term, but not any details about it - and it was easier to ask rather than to dig through all my old sourcebooks. |
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| Allen Varney |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 996
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Welcome, Eric! I saw a sample from Eric's proposal for The Mutant Experience, and my heart warmed to see his clear grasp of the proper tone and approach. I expect this will be a worthy supplement.
| Quote: |
| regardless, you're not going to get paid, and Mongoose will end up owning the rights to it all. |
This is not quite how I understand the "Discuss Here or Else" rules. True, Mongoose won't pay anyone for the contributions they post in this forum, nor give anyone a free copy of anything, and Mongoose gets the right to use the material without limitation in published PARANOIA supplements. But I don't think Mongoose actually gets, or even seeks, all rights to the material. The poster could still sell the material elsewhere, as I interpret the text:
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| we reserve the right to use whatever material they post here, and/or derivative works therefrom, in Paranoia XP, supplementary products, licensed products, or derivative work, without any compensation whatsoever |
Doesn't say anything about acquiring all rights. However, I am not a lawyer, and in particular I am a freelancer unassociated with Mongoose, and I speak only in my own person and not for them. |
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| Eric the Darker |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Posts: 33
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Hmm, yes - my paraphrasing seems to have been somewhat inaccurate. I've corrected the initial post.
Thanks for the clarification!
(I, also, am not a lawyer.) |
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| Allen Varney |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 996
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| One random thought: It may occur to some fans to seek an answer to the question "Is every citizen in Alpha Complex a mutant?" I advise against addressing this question in your supplement. This, I think, should remain an openly unanswered matter, for each GM to decide individually. |
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Services Supreme Nut Tightener
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 667
Service Group: Technical Services
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It would be nice, perhaps, to have a VoxPop type view from various standpoints as to where the mutant strain is coming from - from an Infrared, a Tech Services operator, an Anti-Mutant member, an Internal Security member, and The Computer itself ('Mutant problem? What mutant problem would that be, citizen?').
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| Eric the Darker |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Posts: 33
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| Quote: |
| One random thought: It may occur to some fans to seek an answer to the question "Is every citizen in Alpha Complex a mutant?" I advise against addressing this question in your supplement. This, I think, should remain an openly unanswered matter, for each GM to decide individually. |
I'd planned on posing that question, actually, rather than answering it. The chapter on how mutants fit into Alpha Complex will not be a Definitive Guide, but rather a presentation of a number of questions to think about, along with discussion of different possibilities. Some of the questions might include: * How widespread are mutations?
* Are all mutations as "useful" as the ones in the core rules?
* Where did mutations come from?
* What is the average citizen's view of mutants?
* Why are Alpha Complex society's attitudes towards mutants the way they are?
(etc) Of course, question #1 will be "Do you care about internal consistency?", and if the answer is "No", then the rest of the questions can be skipped & it all made up as one goes along.
IMHO, PARANOIA benefits even more than most RPGs from the "Here are a number of ways you can do things; pick one or make up your own" approach. That way, even if a player's read all the rules, they still don't know how things are being run...and it reinforces "whatever the GM chooses is How It Is" rather than exalting a sourcebook as Canon Material which May Not Be Overturned. |
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Services Supreme Nut Tightener
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 667
Service Group: Technical Services
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| Eric the Darker wrote: |
| * Are all mutations as "useful" as the ones in the core rules? |
That little poser certainly links in to the whole question of where the mutations are coming from. If all mutations are helpful, it would seem they are all engineered to be that way, as coincidence would suggest that some mutations should not be helpful. On the other hand, if all mutations are not helpful, then how has this propensity for mutation crept into the DNA templates of Alpha Complex cloning and why isn't someone doing something about it?
I also remembered the Para-Military approach of forced mutation being used by the Armed Forces to provide expendable superheroes to help right wrong against the Commie Threat. Got a Commie nuke that might go off any second and wipe out half of Alpha Complex... OK, force mutate a willing citizen with something handy like Omniresilence or a telepathic force screen and they can go out and either disarm it or lie down on top of it when it blows. Mutants serving the rightful cause of The Computer.
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| Kwil |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:56 pm Post subject: Variant View |
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YELLOW
Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 367
Service Group: CPU
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I know a lot of folks disagree, but I've always taken the viewpoint that The Computer doesn't mind mutants at all. What the computer doesn't like is a citizen having something that could be used to benefit alpha complex, and not reporting it.
This is why mutants that register are allowed to live, while mutants that don't are executed.. it's not because they're mutants, but because if you're a citizen that has such a valuable commodity and you don't share that with the rest of the complex, you're a lousy citizen.
So to The Computer, that yellow stripe isn't a badge of honor or a scarlet letter, it's just an indication to other citizens that here's someone with a very unique skill that might be able to help you out.
Unfortunately, how things appear to The Computer isn't necessarily how things appear to the average citizen of Alpha Complex. To the unwashed and/or loyal masses, since The Computer only terminates treasonous things, and since all of the unregistered mutants it terminates are.. well.. mutants.. it must be that being a mutant is the bad thing they're being terminated for. Most of them just don't get that it's the "unregistered" part that's the bad thing. |
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| El-R-KIN |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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YELLOW
Joined: 17 Dec 2003
Posts: 458
Service Group: HPD&MC
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When Allen was working on the XP rulebook, I sent him a new Classic/Zap power to replace Paralysis, which ended up being replaced by Puppeteer. I don't have a copy of it anywhere, but if Allen sent it to you, you're welcome to use it.
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Clone number: 1
Status: Doing some final arrangements to the shootings of the new season of Teela-O-MLY. |
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| Allen Varney |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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Gamma Very High Programmer
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 996
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| I think I still have that power somewhere... If you don't still have it, El-R, then I'll look into it. |
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| Costin-U-MOR-6 |
| Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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Tech Services Supreme Nut Tightener
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 667
Service Group: Technical Services
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Are we open to new mutant power suggestions here? I've got an idea or two... Mind, don't want this supplement turning into one of those nasty supplements for Other Games where you end up with a squillion and one new powers, and a GM with a migraine.
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