A Straighter Game

We haven't gathered since my last blog entry, but some of my players have talked to me about the game and their opinions about it. The general concensus is that players die too easily and with too little flourish. It's too easy to just get shot and that's the end of it. In other words, the game is too "Zap".

For those of you who aren't aware, the game can be played in three different ways: "Zap", "Classic", and "Straight". Zap involves random shooting, dying, and absolute silliness. As in, Yosemite Sam find a job working at an explosives and china figurines factory kind of ridiculous. "Straight", the other end of the spectrum, is absolutely serious and focuses more on the mood of a dystopian future. As in, George Orwell finds a job at the Ministry of Truth. "Classic", the middle ground, is a mixture of fun, gunplay, and a serious mood. My efforts were towards classic, but apparently it's been too silly. So, I strive for a more somber game.

First of all, I've decided to change the system for eliminating traitors. Now, instead of the Dirty Harry style of shoot-first ask-questions-later, players must get a warrant and prove their teammate is a traitor first. This will keep players on each other, gathering evidence until someone manages to get a warrant first. Things become less about who can pull the trigger fastest and more about who can outthink the others first.

Secondly, I must BE EXPLICIT IN MY MISSION. While keeping the players in complete misinformation and sending them on a wild snipe hunt is great for the mood of Paranoia, people get discouraged if the don't have a clear goal. I need to make the goal explicit enough to be attainable, and lead the players along some sort of track to keep them focused on a goal.

Also, on that note, two explicit missions must be available. The first is the computer's mission, which the team has to work together (generally) towards. The second is a secret society mission, which should dissent and conflict with each other. However, they should STILL BE EXPLICIT. I'll see how the players respond to having two explicit missions. Hopefully that'll make things faster and easier.

Finally, one of my players has asked that I focus more on spreading challenges out to cover all six categories. And he's right. In zap games, violence and stealth reign supreme. Management is okay, but all of the knowledge skills are mostly neglected. I'll have to brainstorm some ways to make these skills more useful, and I'll report back to you whatever I do in-game.

All hail the computer!
-The GM (Flare)