PARANOIA PARANOIA

PARANOIA TM — Flashbacks Redux Redux

™
™

Flashbacks Redux Redux FLASHBACKS REDUX REDUX

TRUST THE COMPUTER! THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND!

The most popular XP-edition missions are back, in their 25th Anniversary guise! Filled with
hand-picked classic adventures from all previous editions of Paranoia, Flashbacks Redux Redux
is gaming hilarity at its greatest. This is the second compilation of classic Paranoia missions,
and should not be missed!

Many classic adventures are found in Flashbacks Redux Redux, all suitably trimmed, tweaked
and tailored for the latest edition of Paranoia: Troubleshooters.

PARANOIA: A light-hearted game of backstabbing, treachery and guile, where trusting other
players is a sure route to the termination centre!

Adventures include: Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex, Spin Control, My First Treason,
Sweep of Unhistory, The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy, Viva La Revolution, The People’s
Glorious Revolutionary Adventure

PARANOIA IS FUN. OTHER GAMES ARE NOT FUN. BUY PARANOIA.

For use with PARANOIA A world fit for Kafka, Orwell

For Gamemasters, and the Marx Brothers
not players! PARANOIA is a satirical roleplaying game set in a darkly humorous future. A well-meaning
but deranged Computer desperately protects the citizens of an underground city from secret
societies, mutants and all sorts of real and imagined enemies. You play a Troubleshooter, one
of The Computer’s elite agents. You track and destroy enemies of The Computer. You hope The
Computer and your fellow Troubleshooters won’t find out you are one of these enemies.
PARANOIA: a lighthearted game of terror, death, b­ ureaucracies, mad scientists, mutants,
dangerous weapons and insane robots, which encourages players to lie, to cheat and to backstab
each other at every turn.
Originally published in 1984, PARANOIA sold over 150,000 copies. The Mongoose edition
updates PARANOIA for this new and more paranoid time.

ISBN 978-1-907702-33-4 $39.99 Mongoose publishing—swindon, uk MGP 6679

Flashbacks Redux Redux and PARANOIA Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2011 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. PARANOIA is
Original PARANOIA design
MGP 6679

a trademark of Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan. All rights reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User.
DAN GELBER
GREG COSTIKYAN New PARANOIA edition
ERIC GOLDBERG ALLEN VARNEY
PARANOIA
FLASHBACKS REDUX REDUX
™

CONTENTS
Security Clearance
Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex 2 ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Spin Control 25
My First Treason 58
Sweep of Unhistory 91
The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy 122
Knowledge or possession of this information
by any citizen of Security Clearance VIOLET or
Viva La Revolution 153
lower is treason punishable by a long spell of
The People’s Glorious Revolutionary Adventure 179
Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
Welcome To Alpha Complex
THIS SECTION IS CLASSIFIED
INFRARED AND MAY BE READ
BY BOTH PLAYERS AND GAME
MASTERS WITHOUT FEAR OF
SUMMARY TERMINATION1.
It is hundreds of years in the future.
After an unspecified apocalypse, the survivors
of humanity took refuge in a vast underground
complex – Alpha Complex.
Alpha Complex is ruled by your friend and
mine, The Computer. Life in Alpha Complex
is perfect. Everyone is happy, thanks to The
Computer’s Mandatory Happiness Directive.
Unhappiness is treason, citizen.
At least, life would be perfect if it weren’t for
those damn Commie Mutant Traitors! These
despicable Communists, filthy genetic deviants
and all those free-thinking, subversive, terrorist
filesharers in the secret societies are all trying
to undermine The Computer’s perfect new
society.
Alpha Complex’s first line of defence against
Commie Mutant Traitors are the heroic
Troubleshooters. These brave agents of The
Computer find Trouble and then they Shoot it!
You are a Troubleshooter. Your duty is to
uncover the Commie Mutant Traitors and
terminate them. It may be that one or more of
your team is secretly a Mutant or a Traitor or
even a Communist.
Trust No-One! Stay Alert! Keep
Your Laser Handy!
Basic Orientation
The following is vital information about life
in Alpha Complex. This vital information
is sponsored by Vita-Yum Chew Bars, the
nutrient stick you love to suck!
Security Clearances
For your convenience and safety, everything
in Alpha Complex is colour-coded by security
clearance. You are clearance RED, allowing
you to use items, locations and information
coded RED or less. The security clearance
scale runs INFRARED, RED orANGE,
1: If you are experiencing irrational fear of summary termination, please remain where you are. A happiness enhancement team has been
dispatched to your location. Your mental balance will be adjusted shortly. Thank you for your co-operation, citizen.
2
If you are a Player…
You may read this initial INFRARED
clearance section and no more. Obviously,
we cannot stop you from reading the
rest of this booklet but bear two things
in mind. Firstly, your enjoyment of this
mission will be severely truncated if
you read it beforehand. Secondly, we
cannot stop you but we are watching you.
Your disobedience will be noted; your
disobedience will be punished.
If you are a Games
Master…
Then rejoice, oh most favoured one! The
whole of this booklet is yours to read. You
should begin by reading this initial players’
section, just to get a taste of life on the other
side of the screen.
YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, VIOLET
and ULTRAVIOLET. At the bottom end of the
scale are the hordes of INFRARED drones,
the drug-addled plebs of Alpha Complex
who stir the food vats. At the top are the
exalted ULTRAVIOLET High Programmers,
who are permitted to alter Friend Computer’s
programming.
Attempting to use items, enter locations
or access information above your security
clearance is treason.
Instructions from high-clearance citizens must
be obeyed immediately.
The higher your security clearance, the more
The Computer trusts you. Higher-clearance
citizens have better housing, more credits,
better drugs and real food. Security clearance
corresponds (roughly) to your role in Alpha
Complex society, from INFRARED labourers
to YELLOW and GREEN middle-managers to
VIOLET CEOs and executives.
Cloning
In case of the tremendously unlikely event
of your death in the line of duty, Friend
Computer has cleverly provided a number of
clone replacements for you! (Say thank you to
Friend Computer). You have six replacement
clones and one of these clone bodies will be
deployed as soon as possible. To ensure
a smooth transition, your memories will be
downloaded at the moment of death by
MemoMax™ technology and transferred into
the new clone.
Note: In the event you are terminated as
punishment for treason or mutation, your
replacement clone is considered blameless
for your misdeeds.
Service Groups
All citizens are assigned to one of eight Service
Groups, each of which is responsible for
running a different aspect of Alpha Complex.
Each Troubleshooter belongs to one of
the Service Groups, performing vital duties
when not on a mission. The skills learned
while working in your Service Group may
prove useful during your Troubleshooting
assignments. The Service Groups are:
Armed Forces (AF): The glorious military
forces of Alpha Complex defend us all from
Commie invasion and the horrors of Outdoors.
The Armed Forces are invariably equipped with
the latest in MegaDeath Vectored Delivery
Systems, Warbots and other weapons and can
be seen marching up and down the corridors
as they prepare for another dangerous strike
against Terrorist Training Camps or Potential
Communist Observation Posts (also known
as trees).
Central Processing Unit (CPU):
Central Processing Unit is the heart of Alpha
Complex, responsible for the smooth running
of the whole system, which translates to
‘processing forms, correcting forms and issuing
new forms’. The labyrinthine bureaucracy and
never-ending paperwork of CPU can drive a
clone insane.
Internal Security (IntSec): Internal
Security is responsible for monitoring the
omnipresent network of security cameras
and ensuring the loyalty of all citizens. Many
Internal Security agents work undercover
in other service groups, looking for signs of
dissent or treachery. You can win big prizes
by reporting your traitorous co-workers to
Internal Security!
Housing Preservation Development
& Mind Control (HPD&MC): The
well-being of the citizens of Alpha Complex
is in the capable hands of HPD&MC. From
ensuring that every clone has a bunk bed
in a communal dormitory to maintaining
the sedative supplies in the water supply,
HPD&MC does it all. When you are gassed
to sleep tonight, remember to say ‘thank you,
HPD&MC’ before the subliminal propaganda
somno-teaching tapes kick in!
Production, Logistics & Commissary
(PLC): A happy citizen is a happy consumer!
The Computer urges all citizens to buy buy
buy up to the limits of their credit allowance!
PLC produces every consumer item in Alpha
Complex, from Teela-O-MLY fanclub keychains
to left-handed rivet wrenches to Scrubbots.
One of PLC’s special responsibilities is
producing the ‘nutritious’ and delicious food-
like substances served in cafeterias across
Alpha Complex. Tonight’s special is Hot Fun
and algae wafers! Yummy!
Research & Development (R&D):
Science marches ever on in Alpha Complex! The
technical wizards in Research & Development
work feverishly on new and ever more
advanced gadgets for the citizens of tomorrow!
From Transdimensional Collapsatrons to Mark
IV Warbots, the wonders produced by these
scientists are sure to revolutionise Alpha
Complex in the yearcycles to come! If you are
very lucky, you may get the chance to field-test
one of these experimental inventions!
Tech Services (TS): Technical Services
is responsible for maintaining the basic
infrastructure of Alpha Complex (with the
exception of power plants and cabling). It’s a
fun job! Really it is! Who doesn’t love Fungi
Identification and Eradication Duty? Anyone?
How about painting corridors? Or Food
Consumption Byproduct Recycling? No?
Power Services (PS): Power Services is
responsible for maintaining the mighty nuclear
reactors that power all of Alpha Complex.
These reactors have an enviable five-sevens
safety record and never, ever break down2.
Indeed, reactor shielding duty is such fun
that no citizen assigned to it ever asks for a
transfer again!
2: Knowledge of previous Unplanned Fissile Material Bounties and the ensuing Unscheduled Reactor Contents Excursions are classified GREEN.
Troubleshooting 101
There is a standard template for Troubleshooter missions, a trail blazed by the thousands of
brave, doomed Troubleshooter teams who went before you, a trail marked by blood and lit by
laser fire… ahem. Anyway, it goes like this:
1. Mission Alert!
Your Friend, The Computer alerts you and the rest of your team via your Personal Digital
Companion (PDC) or by a convenient terminal or by sending a bunch of heavily armed goons
to pick you up. Prompt response to the mission alert will be commended. Hesitation or a lack
of enthusiasm will be punished.
2. Briefing
The team assembles in the briefing room, where your briefing officer informs the team of the task
and gives you whatever information is available at your security clearance. Your briefing officer
is always happy to help and eager to serve and is never insane/actively hostile/misinformed/on
drugs/lying/confused/a traitor/clueless/delete as appropriate. You may also be assigned a
Mandatory Bonus Duty:
• Team Leader: The Team Leader’s role is to lead the team. The clue is in the name.
The accepted place for the Team Leader is at the rear, from where he can direct his team
members efficiently and safely. Remember, Team Leader, the responsibility for the team’s
ultimate success or failure falls on you (or whoever you blame for the inevitable failure).
• Loyalty Officer: The Loyalty Officer is issued with a nigh-indestructible black notebook,
electronically keyed to the officer’s tongueprint. In that notebook, the Loyalty Officer must
note down any potentially treasonous or seditious acts committed by team members, any
failings of discipline or morale, any suspicious thoughts, words, silences, actions or inactions.
The notebook is consulted during debriefing to help improve the team’s performance in
future (by fingering which traitors to vapourise).
• Equipment Guy: Every Troubleshooter is issued with a wide range of vital mission
equipment, such as handy Commie-zapping laser pistols, reflec armour, Personal Digital
Companions, Multicorders and the latest in experimental equipment from R&D. The handling,
maintenance, care (and sometimes feeding) is the duty of the Equipment Guy.
• Communications & Recording Officer: Every aspect of the mission must be
recorded for posterity! Whether it’s for an inspiring training video for future generations of
Troubleshooters, a spot on Troubleshooter Bloopers XVI or evidence in your trial for
sedition, the Communications & Recording Officer must ensure it’s all caught on Multicorder.
The Comms & Recording Officer is also responsible for communicating with The Computer,
passing on the team’s requests and questions to Our Friend and relying The Computer’s
responses wholly and truthfully.
• Hygiene Officer: Citizens! Under revised CPU directives (issued 32.214), the acceptable
boot fungus infestation level is 1.46%/citizen. Your friendly Hygiene Officer stands ready
to help you meet this and other CPU Hygiene Directives. Please remain still while the Skin
Core Sampler completes its survey. Don’t worry about the blood; the Hygiene Officer was
issued with super-absorbent KleenWipz.
• Happiness Officer: Happiness is Mandatory, Citizen. Ensuring your Happiness Level
remains above the Mandated Minimum is the role of the Happiness Officer. Should your
Happiness Level drop due to adverse conditions, Viral Thought Patterns, Communist
Propaganda or repeated deaths, the Happiness Officer will administer pharmaceutical
enhancement or proscribe some other Happiness-boosting activity, like a group
singalong.
3
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
3. Equipment Outfitting • Under each skill, you have a number
After briefing, the team moves onto Production, Logistics and Commissary, where you will be of common specialities,
issued with your mission equipment. This equipment may include some, none or more of the weaknesses and narrow
following: specialities.
• A laser pistol body, without a barrel. Your standard sidearm. Keep your laser handy, o Common specialities are uses
citizen! of your skills like Energy Weapons,
Bootlicking, Bot Programming and so on,
• One or more laser pistol barrels. Each barrel is coded to a particular security clearance that you are especially skilled.
and can penetrate reflec armour equal to or below that clearance – for example, RED o Weaknesses are just like specialities,
barrels can ignore RED reflec. Each laser barrel is good for six shots, after which it must only you’re weak at them.
be replaced. o Narrow specialities are extremely
obscure and narrow uses of your skills.
• RED Reflec armour, a comfortable and stylish suit of laser-proof armour to protect you For example, Nuclear Engineering is a
against all hazards (as long as the hazards are lasers. Reflec provides no protection common speciality of the Hardware skill;
against bullets, particle beams, electrocution, fire, drowning, chemical spills, acid, radiation, Spotting When The Steam Vent In TNT
crushing, falling orbital re-entry, being torn limb from limb, force swords, being eaten alive, Sector Reactor Is About To Go Boom is a
slime moulds, singularities, trampled by joggers, run over by transbots or any of the other narrow speciality of the Hardware skill.
potential hazards encountered in Alpha Complex).
• Management covers all forms of
• A PDC, a Personal Digital Companion, your handy electronic communicator and guide to weaselling, bluffing, manipulating and
Alpha Complex. paperwork, as well as bossing your
subordinates around. Specialities
• Any other vital equipment needed for your mission. Your definitions of ‘vital’ and ‘needed’ include:
may not equate to those used by your PLC Outfitter but rest assured that he is not just o Bootlicking: How to ingratiate yourself
clearing junk out of his overcrowded warehouse when he sends you off to fix the leaking with superiors.
nuclear reactor with 1,500 rolls of duct tape and no radiation suits. o Chutzpah: Getting others to accept
doubtful statements through confident
4. R&D assertion, bluffing and unmitigated gall.
After PLC, it’s time to make the traditional stop at R&D, where you will be issued with some new o Con Games: Hoodwinking a citizen or
experimental equipment for field testing. This equipment is usually a one-of-a-kind prototype, bot through fast talk, spurious logic and
so you will be responsible for its care and subject to severe penalties if the equipment is lost, persuasion. This isn’t physical sleight
damaged or fails to function as expected. of hand (see Sleight of Hand under
Stealth).
Alternatively, you may be sent to one of the other service groups to perform some service for o Hygiene: Maintaining cleanliness
them. Perhaps CPU needs you to survey Bouncy Bubble Beverage consumption rates in the in yourself, your surroundings, your
middle of firefights with hostile Commie Mutant Traitors or Tech Services need some Giant teammates and innocent passersby.
Mutant Cockroaches cleaned out of the food vats. o Interrogation: Extracting useful
information from Commie mutant scum.
5. The Mission o Intimidation: This doesn’t exactly
Oh yeah, the mission. That’s your problem. You’ll muddle through somehow. ingratiate you with your inferiors but it gets
their cooperation.
6. Debriefing o Moxie: Streetwise smarts; canny
Once the mission is complete (or when the smoke of laser-fire clears), the team reports back to assessment of a person, situation or
their briefing officer for debriefing. The team’s performance is assessed, accusations of treason statement.
are heard and the Loyalty Officer’s and Comms & Recording Officer’s records are consulted. o Oratory: How to get a bunch of people
The debriefing officer then hands out merits, like clearance increases or credit bonuses or to do what you want.
demerits like brainscrubbing or termination. Then it’s back to your normal lives in our beloved
Alpha Complex, eagerly waiting for the next Mission Alert! • Stealth covers various forms of
deception, trickery, surveillance and
other lurking-in-shadows-being-nefarious
The Rules stuff.
The rules of PARANOIA are security clearance ULTRAVIOLET. Further information about the o Concealment: Hiding stuff on your
rules is not available at your security clearance. Knowledge of the rules is treason. person or in your surroundings; also,
spotting stuff others have hidden.
You are grudgingly permitted to know the following: o Disguise: Wearing a higher-clearance
• You have six skills – Management, Stealth, Violence, Hardware, Software and Wetware jumpsuit or false moustache without
– rated from 1-20. To make a skill check, roll 1d20 and roll under the appropriate skill to looking idiotic.
succeed. o S c a m R a d a r : Knowing about
ambushes or traps

4
o Security Systems: Jiggering locks
and alarms.
o Shadowing: Following someone
without being noticed.
o Sleight of Hand: Palming and
pocketing small things without being
noticed.
o Sneaking: Moving around without
being followed or noticed.
o Surveillance: How to bug things. How
to debug things.
• Violence is for killing people or at least
maiming them.
o Agility: Rapid or balanced movement,
gymnastics, jumping.
o Demolition: How to use TNT without
killing yourself. At clearances below
GREEN this skill is treasonous.
o Energy Weapons: Hitting someone
with a laser, sonic weapon or blaster.
This is a vital specialty. You can’t take
Energy Weapons as a weakness and it
doesn’t count as one of your six common
specialties.
o Field Weapons: Flamethrowers,
gauss guns, tanglers and the ever-popular
plasma generator.
o Fine Manipulation: Lockpicking,
watchmaking, cutting the red wire one
second before detonation.
o Hand Weapons: Hitting someone with
a force sword, neurowhip or truncheon or
with primitive weapons.
o Projectile Weapons: Hitting
someone with a slugthrower, cone
rifle or other aimed weapon that uses
ammunition.
o Thrown Weapons: Hitting someone
with a grenade, brick or rock.
o Unarmed Combat: Hitting someone
when you don’t have hand energy,
projectile, thrown or vehicular weapon.
o Vehicular Combat: Hitting someone
with a weapon mounted on a vehicle.
• Hardware covers all items that you can
profitably hit with a spanner and expect it
to work better.
o Bot Ops and Maintenance: How
to operate and fix docbots, guardbots/
warbots, jackobots, scrubots and vehicle
autopilots.
o Chemical Engineering: Lots of
uses for this but somehow PCs always
want to use it to make explosives.
o Electronic Engineering:
How to string together circuits and
microprocessors.
o Habitat Engineering: Knowledge of
the air, communication, transport, power,
water and waste systems. Mighty handy
when you need to find a ventilation shaft
to escape incoming fire.
o Mechanical Engineering: How
to make really neat Rube Goldberg-type
contraptions.
o Nuclear Engineering: How to
operate a reactor without flooding half the
sector with radioactive waste.
o Vehicle Ops and Maintenance:
How to use and repair all vehicles:
autocars, crawlers, flybots, copters and
Vulturecraft.
o Weapon and Armour
Maintenance: Sabotaging others’
weapons and armour and keeping yours
from being sabotaged.
• Software is for programming electronic
devices and computers. Note the small ‘c’
– programming The Computer is only for
High Programmers.
o Bot Programming: Revising bot
instructions.
o C-Bay: Getting the best price buying and
selling on Alpha Complex auction sites.
o Data Analysis: How to understand
Computer-generated stuff.
o Data Search: Finding something
useful using The Computer.
o Financial Systems: How to transfer
credits safely for legitimate or criminal
purposes.
o Hacking: Breaking into The Computer’s
systems. Really, what could go wrong?
Treasonous at clearances below
GREEN.
o Operating Systems: Revising
MemoMax clone backup tech. Rewriting
The Computer’s instructions. Treasonous
at clearances below BLUE.
o Vehicle Programming: Revising
vehicle instructions.
• Wetware covers matters related to
biology. Hitting wetware with a spanner
is unlikely to fix it but can be very
satisfying.
o Biosciences: Knowing what’s likely to
mutate you and how.
o Bioweapons: Engineering your own
Black Death or weaponized anthrax.
Treasonous at clearances below BLUE.
o Cloning: Repairing and operating the
tanks that grow new and backup citizens.
Operating MemoMax backup devices so
the new clone remembers his name and
boot size.
o Medical: How to heal the injured and
cure the sick or ensure they don’t heal or
get cured.
o Outdoor Life: Telling a tree from
a weed or a bird from an elephant,
when most citizens have never heard of
these.
o Pharmatherapy: Ensuring
wakefulness, sleepiness, happiness or
any mental state through the application
of little pills.
o Psychotherapy: Recognizing
insanity; helping others recover from it or
descend further into it.
o Suggestion: Biochemical and
psychological techniques of subliminal
persuasion.
• You have 25 Perversity Points.
You may spend Perversity Points modify
any dice roll, not just your own. Each
Perversity Point spent adds or subtracts
1 from the die roll. The GM may impose
limits on the amount of Perversity that
can be spent or on what you must do to
spend it. Extra Perversity Points will be
awarded for particular amusing and/or
foolish deeds. Entertain the Game Master
and you may survive a little longer.
• We repeat – knowledge of the rules is
treason. Attempting to argue ‘rules’ with
the Games Master or another player is
the fast route to Smoking Boot City. Roll
with the punches, friend.
Your Character
Sheet
Let’s take a look at a PARANOIA character
sheet. Here’s the character sheet for sample
Troubleshooter Bob-R-ITE-1. Bob’s a happy
worker in Food Vat 1732 who just got promoted
to RED clearance
5
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
Name: A citizen’s name is broken into four parts.
Bob-R-ITE-1 First, there’s his name, ‘Bob’. Next, there’s his current Bob-R-ITE-1
Male PLC Hygiene Officer security clearance, R for RED. If Bob rises to ORANGE Male PLC Hygiene Officer
clearance, he’ll be Bob-O. After that, there’s Bob’s home
Security Clearance: RED sector. He comes from ITE Sector. Finally, the ‘1’ means Mutation: Rubbery Bones
Credits: 50 this is Bob’s first clone. If he’s terminated and replaced, Secret Society: Frankenstein
Tic 1: Very Claustrophobic he’ll be Bob-2. Destroyers
Tic 2: ______________________________ Secret Skills: Demolition 14, Improvised
____ Data: Bob is male (not that it makes any difference; Weapons 7, Bot Programming Sabotage 10
everyone in Alpha Complex is on hormone suppressants),
Example of tic in use he works for PLC and his Mandatory Bonus Duty is Background
Team Leader: Bob-R, the Commie Mutant Traitor fled Hygiene Officer. The stench of the food vat clings to you, no
into that narrow pipe! Quick, after him! matter how hard you scrub. The sickening-
Bob-R: Er, how about I guard this end of the pipe? Credits: He’s got 50 credits, which isn’t very much. sweet smell of engineered yeast and mycogens
Team Leader: Rear guard is my job! After him! turns your stomach. You want out and if the only
Bob-R: I’ll head him off at the far end of the pipe. Tics: Bob-R has a behavioural Tic listed. Whenever Bob- way out is to volunteer to be a Troubleshooter,
Team Leader: The pipe is two kilometres long! R’s tic comes up in play, he gets some bonus Perversity. then you’ll salute Friend Computer and shoot
Bob-R: Taxibot! There’s space for an extra Tic and there’s an example of that trouble!
the sort of trouble the Tic could cause.
Action Skills & Specialities You didn’t always work in these damn food
Management 07 Skills: Bob’s a pretty average at Management. He’s got vats. You used to be Bouncy Bubble Beverage
Bootlicking 11 a Common Speciality in Bootlicking and a Weakness in taste tester. Ok, it gave you spasms and
Oratory 01 Oratory. He’s also got a Narrow Speciality in Massaging stomach ulcers but it was easy! Then they
Massaging Marketing Survey Data 13 Marketing Survey Data to make it say what he wants it invented Bouncy Bubble Beverage TesterBots
Stealth 07 to. No doubt this skill will be very useful if the Commies that could drink hundreds of gallons without
Sneaking 11 attack with marketing surveys. exploding. The bots replaced you and you got
Scam Radar 1 booted out to the food vats.
_________________________ 13 He’s equally average at Stealth. Note the empty Narrow
Violence 10 Speciality under Stealth – you can fill this one in yourself Secret Society
Energy Weapons 14 at any point in the mission! Instructions
Unarmed Combat 14 You’re a member of the Frankenstein
Thrown Weapons 1 Bob’s a bit better at killing people. He’s good with Energy Destroyers, a society dedicated to the
Overcharging my lucky Laser Pistol 16 Weapons (including his handy Laser Pistol) and punching destruction of all bots! Bots are a plague on
people. He’s less wonderful at throwing items, including Alpha Complex. Down with those job-stealing
Knowledge Skills & Specialities grenades. Bob’s got a knack for overchanging his laser bots!
Hardware 06 pistol, giving it a bit of extra uumph (or BZZZAAAPP!, to
Mechanical Engineering 10 be onomatopoeically accurate.) Personal Equipment
Nuclear Engineering 1 (2) RED Laser Barrels
Food Vat Ops & Maintenance 12 When it comes to Hardware, Bob’s especially good at the (2) Tubes of Superconductive Bot-Killing Gel
Software 08 Mechanical Engineering side and absolutely great when (Illegal)
Data Analysis 11 it comes to those Food Vats. You wouldn’t want him in (6) cans of Bouncy Bubble Beverage
Financial Systems 1 charge of a nuclear reactor. Bouncy Bubble Beverage Blind Taste Test
____________________ 14 Kit
Wetware 05 Bob’s got another open slot for a Narrow Speciality Bouncy Bubble Beverage Survey Form
Pharmatherapy 09 in Software. He’s good at Data Analysis but poor at (3) Packets of Hormone Suppressant Food
Medical 01 Financial Systems. Maybe he keeps his credits under Additives
Food Vat Additive Expertise 11 his mattress. (1) Packet of Guaranteed non-mutagenic
Fluoride Food Additive
Open slots for narrow specialities: 2 (Stealth, Under Wetware, Bob’s good at applying drugs to problems,
Software) doubleplusgood at applying drugs to food vats and Assigned Equipment
doubleplusungood when it comes to first aid. Oh well. (2) RED Laser Barrels
RED Laser Pistol Body
RED Reflec Armour
PDC
ME card
Skin Core Sampler
Lemon-Fresh Disinfectant Spray

6
This is the flip side of Bob-R’s character sheet.
This is the side you should keep secret from
the other players. Just in case.
Mutation: Bob-R’s a mutant! Worse, he’s a
secret mutant. He didn’t register his mutation
with The Computer, so any use of his mutant
power is treasonous.
Secret Society: Bob-R’s also a traitor.
Specifically, he’s a member of the Frankenstein
Destroyers, a society dedicated to the
destruction of all bots.
Secret Skills: The Frankenstein Destroyers
have taught Bob several seditious secret skills,
sure to send several surly security…ah,
screw it. Anyway, Bob knows Demolition, Bot
Sabotage and how to turn a hammer into a
crude bludgeoning instrument.
Background: Bob-R’s history and outlook
on Alpha Complex. May contain seditious or
treasonous beliefs. Regardless of background,
all Troubleshooters act in much the same way
– enthusiastic, tv-heroic, pants-wettingly happy
servants of The Computer with the moral
courage of a sea slug.
Secret Society Instructions: What
the Frankenstein Destroyers want from Bob.
Often, further instructions are provided in the
middle of a mission.
Personal Equipment: Stuff that Bob
owns. As RED-clearance citizens share a
barracks with several other REDs, Bob-R has
to carry all this junk around with him to ensure
it’s not stolen.
Assigned Equipment: The standard
equipment assigned to Bob. He’s got two
laser barrels for his pistol, each of which can
fire six shots safely. He’s also got his armour,
his PDC, his ME identity card and his Hygiene
Officer kit, which consists of a skin core
sampler and a disinfectant spray (that’s highly
caustic and should not be used on exposed
flesh and really shouldn’t be sprayed into the
eyes of fellow Troubleshooters).
Paranoia
Etiquette
Most roleplaying games pit Player Characters
against opponents and obstacles posed by
the Games Master. These games encourage
players to cooperate in pursuing a goal.
PARANOIA provides opponents and obstacles
without encouraging cooperation. In fact, your
fellow Player Characters are the principal
opponents and obstacles. To succeed, you
must terminate them. Repeatedly. With style.
Vicious, deceitful backstabbing is fun. You’ll
feel no remorse as you shaft your fellow PCs,
because you know they tried to shaft you
first. But it’s important not to let the paranoid
atmosphere of the game bleed into the real
world. Distrust and betrayal among characters
is fine but not among players.
Many activities that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow
in other RPGs are bad form in PARANOIA.
Looking at another player’s character sheet is
an unfair way to obtain evidence against him.
One Troubleshooter character eavesdropping
on another PC is fine but eavesdropping on a
private conference between player and GM
is cheating.
We encourage you to terminate your fellow
Troubleshooters with style and a certain
amount of gloating. In the same way, if they get
you first, you yourself should perish with style.
If you expect to be rapidly transferred to a clone
backup, demonstrate a generous, charitable
forgiveness toward the traitor exit more in
sorrow than in anger and on revival prepare
a cold revenge. If repeated treason has gone
against you and your clone template is about to
be erased permanently, etiquette dictates your
last clone should go down fighting, shouting
secret society slogans and defiantly mocking
the other PCs for their cowardly servitude to
The Computer.
If another Troubleshooter dispatches you, it
is exceedingly poor form to trot up in your
new body and start firing back. Instead,
enact a cool, calculated revenge, delayed for
maximum suspense. Plant evidence; concoct
deathtraps; get him in trouble with his secret
society. The game plays much better this way
and everyone has more fun.
Likewise, if you terminate Martin-R-TSD-1 for
having the mutant power of Slippery Skin, don’t
start firing immediately when Martin-R-TSD-2
arrives. You, the player, may know his skin is
still slippery but your character doesn’t. Making
every clone identical is a game convenience; it
saves a lot of time creating new characters and
is the basis for some cheap jokes. However,
the idea that all backup clones have the Prime’s
mutant power is unknown in Alpha Complex or
to The Computer. Act accordingly.
For that matter, you don’t necessarily know
the mutant power stays the same. The GM
may give the new clone a different power.
Don’t assume anything based on the rules.
The GM can adapt the rules to his exceptional
purpose.
PARANOIA is a comedy game full of absurd
slapstick and insane situations but to your
Troubleshooter it is deadly serious. Play
your character to the hilt and never go for
the cheap laugh or random laser blast when
there’s a ludicrously baroque self-justification
or convoluted deathtrap to go for instead.
Above all else: STAY ALERT! TRUST NO-
ONE! KEEP YOUR LASER HANDY!
Survival Tips for
Troubleshooters
I Never Saw A Boot I Couldn’t
Lick: Tell everyone what they want to hear.
Lie with abandon. Embrace doublethink
– simultaneously, you have to be the most
loyal Troubleshooter, eager to exterminate
traitors and a committed traitor plotting against
Alpha Complex.
If You’re Making A Citizen Lick Your
Boot, He May As Well Start With The
Sole: Don’t be heroic; instead, invite others
to perform heroic deeds, then claim credit for
their deeds in the aftermath of their inevitable
painful deaths.
Accidents Will Happen – The
Sooner, The Better: Reduce the
number of Troubleshooters in your team
whenever possible. Less Troubleshooters
mean less lasers pointed at your back and
dead scapegoats tell no tales.
Whoever Heard Of A Trustworthy
Citizen?: Trust no-one, especially not your
team-mates.
Shoot Only From A Position of Total
Superiority: You are not looking for an
excuse to execute someone. You are looking
for an opportunity to execute someone in such
a thorough and risk-free fashion, he is dead
before his weapon can clear his holster.
A Sucker For Every Scheme, A
Scapegoat For Every Crime: Never do
anything without having a scapegoat handy.
Nothing Is More Deadly Than
Experimental Equipment: R&D gadgets
are like a magic genie, only the genie’s gone
7
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
insane and has a chainsaw. It can magically
solve your problems by pressing the right
button but then it saws your legs off. Solution:
get other people to press the button.
Traitors Have Nothing To Lose By
Committing Treason: You’re a mutant
and a member of a secret society. You’re
already a dead clone walking. Therefore, you
may as well use your mutant power and your
nefarious connections while you’re still alive.
Debriefings Go Better When You’re
The Only Survivor: ‘I speak without fear
of contradiction...’ is the opening sentence of
the ideal debriefing.
When Disaster Looms, Keep
Stalling: A gifted foot-dragger has one
resource he can always count on: the
impatience of other Troubleshooters.
Above all else: STAY ALERT! TRUST NO-
ONE! KEEP YOUR LASER HANDY!
Game
master’s
Section
THIS SECTION IS CLEARANCE
ULTRAVIOLET! IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE ULTRAVIOLET CLEARANCE,
READING THIS MATERIAL IS
TREASON! REPORT FOR CHEMICAL
BRAINSCRUB IMMEDIATELY!
Welcome, Game Master, to PARANOIA.
This will be an exceedingly fun experience
for you, especially if you like Pavlovian
conditioning and the heady intoxication of
absolute power.
GM Rule #1: YOU ARE ALWAYS
RIGHT
PARANOIA is a state of mind, not a set of
rules or a coherent game setting. Your Alpha
Complex will – indeed, must – vary from others.
The players can be sure of nothing in the
world, apart from the certain knowledge that
entertaining the GM is good.
8
GM Rule #2: THE PLAYERS AREN’T
YOUR ENEMIES. THEY’RE YOUR
ENTERTAINMENT.
Reward amusing, clever and paranoid play;
punish boring, staid or repetitive play. You’ll
have the most fun when everyone is in the
spirit of the game and having a good time too.
Coax hesitant players, who are no doubt brain
damaged by other non-fun roleplaying games,
into entering into PARANOIA by showing
them the rewards of treason and duplicity.
GM Rule #3: TURN THE PLAYERS
AGAINST EACH OTHER, NOT
AGAINST YOU.
Your job is to set up situations where the
players entertain you, ideally by plotting
and backstabbing each other. Try to avoid
favouring one player over another; instead,
keep giving them more and more ways to
screw each other.
GM Rule #4: THE MISSION
ISN’T ANYTHING, SITUATION IS
EVERYTHING
‘Plot’ in PARANOIA means ‘an absurdly
convoluted mess of treachery and confusion
that the Player Characters will rarely if ever
discover, let alone understand but serves
as an excuse for a series of semi-connected
bizarre situations’. If dropping a bunch of
Troubleshooters into a featureless corridor is
fun, then dropping them into, say, a submarine
with an incomprehensible control panel is
doubleplusfun. Give the players exciting
new consequences to drop on their fellow
Troubleshooters.
GM Rule #5: HAPPINESS
IS MANDATORY. FUN IS
MANDATORY.
Your players should have grins plastered
across their faces at all times, even when
they’re about to be crushed in a garbage
disposal. Have marketing bots offer them cans
of B3 in the middle of a firefight. Have them
conduct grenade testing in the middle of a
grenade factory. The mood of PARANOIA
should be one of borderline hysteria. Are you
enjoying your mission, friend citizen?
GM Rule #6: DON’T PANIC
If things are going off-track, then you can
easily herd the Troubleshooters back to the
mission with an order from a high-clearance
citizen or The Computer. If you’re stuck on
what to do next, then throw a random loyalty
test at the Troubleshooters or make them sing
the Alpha Complex anthem (what, you don’t
know the anthem, citizen? Not knowing the
anthem is treason. Sing. Sing like your life
depends on it.)
Note Passing & Private
Conferences
At the start of a PARANOIA game, throw
a notebook or a few sheets of paper onto the
table. Announce they’re for passing notes to
the Game Master, in case any of the players
want to communicate with you secretly. Not
only will this make your job easier, it sets the
intended mood of the game from the start. (In
this brave new modern age, you could use
computer instant messaging if playing on-line
or have players text you from their mobile
phones). Encourage the players to use notes
for most of their secret actions.
There will be times when you need to confer
with a player privately. Indeed, you should
take players aside even if there’s no need
to hold a conference privately – it makes
the other players paranoid – but keep these
conferences short.
We l c o m e To
Alpha Complex
A few hundred years in our future, an asteroid
the size of Sheboygan was detected heading
straight for Earth. Attempts to divert or destroy
it failed, so the Polity – the world government
– built a series of shelters and habitats
deep underground. Humanity retreated to
these bunkers to wait out the approaching
apocalypse. These bunkers were linked
by a network of computers, called Alpha
Complex.
An antiquated Cold War-era Russian tracking
system detected the asteroid and identified it
as an incoming attack. It launched a counter-
strike at its old target of San Francisco. A
single decaying ICBM, its warhead long since
removed, flew across the icy waters of the
Arctic. The traffic computer system in San
Francisco noticed the missile and tried to
identify it. Unfortunately, in the chaos of the
upcoming disaster, many of the computer
data files had been moved to the super-secure
Alpha Prime facility underneath Des Moines
and the connection between the San Francisco
network and Alpha Prime was offline. The San
Francisco Alpha Complex computer raced
through its data banks, finding more and more
gaps, until it dug up a cache of 1950’s civil
defence files.
The files told it exactly what was going on. The
Communists were attacking.
The meteor hit – or as The Computer
interpreted it, the Commie attack hit. The
earth convulsed. Large sections of the city
were flooded and much of The Computer’s own
systems were severely damaged. Desperately,
it began organising resistance to the imagined
invaders. Around this time, Alpha Prime
contacted the San Francisco Alpha Complex
and demanded it go into standby mode so
Alpha Prime could re-establish the network
connection between the two.
The San Francisco Alpha Complex refused
to comply unless Alpha Prime validated its
identity according to standard Civil Defence
protocols – from the 1950s. Alpha Prime
refused and both Alpha Complex and Alpha
Prime began warning the other Complex
across North America of the treachery of the
other. In the post-planetoid chaos the hundred
or so surviving subsystems, in varying states
of confusion and dysfunction, were justifiably
bewildered by the conflicting messages. Within
days each decided it was the only unsullied
remnant of the Alpha Prime complex. Each
protected its citizens by declaring war on all
the other Commie-dominated subsystems.
This is the world of PARANOIA.
Life in Alpha
Complex
Life begins in the cloning chambers, where the
next generation of Alpha Complex citizens are
produced in vitro. Rumours that the mutations
endemic to Alpha Complex are caused by this
reproduction method are treason. Traditional,
messy and inefficient means of reproduction
are depreciated and citizens are kept on
hormone suppressants. Once a new citizen
has been decanted from the cloning vats, he
spends the next 14 years in a Junior Citizen
crèche, being educated for his future role in
Alpha Complex.
At 14, the Junior Citizen is assigned a role in
one of the eight Service Groups and joins the
great unwashed mass of the INFRAREDs.
Citizens must wear and use only items
matching their security clearance or lower, so
he gets a black jumpsuit and walks down black
corridors all the time. As an INFRARED, our
model citizen spends most of his waking hours
in a drugged-out haze performing meaningless
manual labour, then the rest in a drugged-
out haze watching propagandertainment
television or some other approved activity
before collapsing into his bunk in a communal
barracks and falling into a drugged slumber.
Drugs are freely available to keep the proles in
line; food, water and other luxuries are heavily
rationed. The INFRAREDs are taught to hate
and fear Commie Mutant Traitors and to watch
for signs of treason or unhappiness.
Of course, the only way to survive is through
the INFRARED market, by breaking the rules
in little ways. Many INFRAREDs are recruited
by one of the hundreds of Secret Societies who
riddle Alpha Complex society.
If our citizen is lucky, he reports a friend
to Internal Security. The friend is dragged
off and executed and our model citizen is
promoted to RED clearance. He’s on the
promotion ladder. Higher clearances bring
commensurately better rewards – more food,
more pleasant quarters, more money, better
drugs – assuming he survives.
The Computer
The Computer is everyone’s friend. It watches
everyone and wants desperately for everyone in
Alpha Complex to be safe and happy. It means
very well and believes that Alpha Complex
works perfectly (or would work perfectly, if it
were not for Commie sabotage).
The Computer is insane. It’s a patched-
together mess of outdated systems, legacy
code, malfunctioning networks and distributed
CompNodes, maintained by the High
Programmers. All the High Programmers
are plotting against each other and use The
Computer’s systems as their battleground.
The whole thing is always on the verge of
falling over.
Citizens are taught to believe in the infallibility
of The Computer. It cannot make mistakes. It is
always right. If The Computer says something
(‘Citizen, food stocks in SUX sector are
sufficient to last another three month-cycles’)
and reality says another (‘Friend Computer,
this food warehouse is empty’), then reality is
at fault and it’s your problem to sort out.
The Computer can be contacted by any of the
thousands of terminals scattered throughout
Alpha Complex (the monitor section of the
terminal is INFRARED clearance, the keyboard
RED) or via a PDC. Or better yet, through one
of the convenient Confession Booths, where
troubled citizens can confess their failings or
suspicious to Our Friend, The Computer.
The Service Groups
It may surprise you to learn that the eight
Service Groups are not quite as efficient as
propaganda suggests. In fact, each of the
groups is a complete boondoggle in its own
unique way. These problems are exacerbated
by the system of splitting the Groups into
competing Service Firms, who spend more
time sabotaging each other and exaggerating
their production levels than actually getting
things done.
The amount of paperwork produced by CPU
increases geometrically each yearcycle.
The bureaucracy of Alpha Complex is even
worse than most citizens believe, as a large
part of CPU’s internal energy is expended in
‘correcting’ its own records. As once-famous
Heroes of Our Complex are outed as traitors
and turned into unhistory, everything related
to them must be erased. CPU is somewhere
between the serpent eating its own tail and
the DMV.
HPD&MC’s purpose is to keep the
INFRAREDs in line. PLC needs a constantly
expanding market, so the population of Alpha
Complex continues to rocket skywards, despite
regular megadeaths from exploding reactors.
Keeping the INFRAREDs in line is difficult
when you’re cramming a hundred drones into
a 10’ x 10’ room. Drugs and reruns of What’s
My Treason can only go so far.
The Armed Forces don’t actually have any
enemies to fight, so their absurd firepower is
used to blow up trees (terrorist training camps),
hills (Commie observation posts) and each
other (wargames). They also march up and
down a lot. Armed Forces spending consumes
more than a third of Alpha Complex’s resources
to no good purpose but if anyone even hints
at reining them in, the Armed Forces point out
they’re the ones with the guns.
PLC’s tangled mess of incentives and
bonuses means that it’s less and less worth
producing actually useful items (like, say,
edible food) in favour of collectibles and other
high-margin junk in this lurching state-run
economy. The citizens of Alpha Complex are
brainwashed to spend their Computer-issued
credits on whatever PLC produces. Food
9
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
shortages are rife, especially as every PDC
firm claims to be producing more and better
stuff every yearcycle.
R&D’s mad scientists continue to push forward
the boundaries of science, right up to the edge
of a cliff marked ‘Doomsday Devices, Weird
Science and Transdimensinal Collapsatrons’.
For every faintly useful invention to come
out of R&D – say, MemoMax technology or
sentient bots – there are a hundred useless,
annoying, dangerous or incomprehensible
gadgets, all of which must be field tested by
Troubleshooters.
Tech Services and Power Services
keep Alpha Complex’s infrastructure from
falling over but that’s all – the whole Complex
teeters on the edge of collapse. Brown-outs,
explosions, corridor collapses and other
disasters are common; Tech Services just
reroutes the corridors around the site of the
disaster and life continues as normal or as
normal as it gets in this ‘ol complex of ours.
Internal Security is about as efficient
as a Service Group gets but is too busy
jockeying for power and influence with CPU
and the Armed Forces to actually do much.
It’s infiltrated every other Service Group and
secret society but it’s also been infiltrated by
every other Service Group and secret society,
so that’s a wash.
Mutations
Given the number of leaky nuclear reactors,
dangerous chemicals, bizarre soft drinks
and genetic experiments the average Alpha
Complex citizen is subjected to on a daily basis,
it is not surprising that a sizeable percentage
of the population has one or more mutations.
These mutant powers are considered a sign
of genetic deviancy. Regular tests for mutation
are administered by HPD&MC, although these
tests rarely work. The most dangerous mutation
is the power of Machine Empathy, which
enables those who possess it to influence
the workings of electronic devices, including
Friend Computer itself! Machine Empaths are
to be terminated on ^^^error HUGGED AND
GIVEN PRESENTS BECAUSE THEY ARE
SO GREAT ^^^system reboot.
Known mutant powers include:
• Pyrokinesis: Starting fires with your
mind
• Telekinesis: Moving small objects with
your mind
10
• Death Simulation: Appearing dead
(no pulse, no body heat) for a period of
time
• Electroshock: Shooting electricity
from your body
• Adrenaline Control: Super-
strength
• Uncanny Luck: The universe
conspires to help you
• X-Ray Vision: You can see through
matter
• Matter Eater: You can digest anything
without harm
• Levitation: You can float up and down
with the power of your mind
• Charm: You can control the emotions
of others and make them trust you
• Machine Empathy: Like
charm but works only on machines
– include The Computer. ***MACHINE
EMPATHY IS INCREDIBLY
TREASONOUS***
Registered Mutants: Some mutants
voluntarily register their mutation. These
citizens are seen as the unfortunate victims
of genetic accident and are permitted to put
their freaky mutant powers to the service of
Alpha Complex. ‘Cannon fodder’ is a service.
So is ‘reactor shielding’, ‘target practice’ and
‘scapegoat’. Registered mutants have a yellow
stripe running down the arms and legs of their
jumpsuits (YELLOW-clearance registered
mutants have a yellow stripe flanked by two
black stripes).
Mutant Rules: Every Troubleshooter has a
Power score, rated from 1 to 20. They do not
know what their Power score is. Each time a
Troubleshooter tries to use his mutant power,
roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or under his
Power score, the mutant ability works and
his Power drops by 1. If the rest is above his
current Power, the ability fizzles. Lost Power
is regained over time at your whim.
Secret
Societies
Alpha Complex is riddled with dozens of
secret societies, splinter groups, conspiracies
and cabals. Some of these are working to
overthrow The Computer’s regime and replace
it with a new, better society (your definition
of ‘better’ may vary; new world orders may
differ from those advertised); others are just
weird fringe movements, gangs or old social
engineering memes that have mutated and
gone underground.
IntSec has spies within every Secret Society;
every Secret Society has spies in every other
Secret Society and within IntSec. Often, these
are the same spies. Quintuple agents are not
uncommon in Alpha Complex.
Anti-Mutant: Mutants must be purged from
the gene pool. Kill those dirty muties!
Communists: Vell, if The Computer
tinks Communism is bad, zen it must be
good, Comrade! Ve hav dis old kopy of Das
Kapital und all zese bombs, da?
Computer Phreaks: Why should High
Programmers be the only one who know how
to code? Hack the system!
Corpore Metal: Bots are our friends.
Cybernetics are our future. Wires in our brains
are both fun and comfortable.
Death Leopard: Screw it, we’re all
doomed, so let’s go out with a very big bang.
First Church of Christ Computer-
Programmer: The Computer is God.
The chosen will be uploaded to His Glorious
Mainframe; the heretics will be Deleted when
the Holy Reboot comes.
Frankenstein Destroyers: Bots
(possibly including The Computer) are evil
and hate humans. Smash the bots!
Free Enterprise: There’s money to be
made and we’re the made men to make it.
Now pay up or we break your legs.
Humanists: Brothers! Soon there will be a
revolution! The Computer will be reprogrammed
to serve mankind and there will be freedom and
justice for all, under the wise guidance of the
Humanist Ruling Council. Now, let’s talk about
traffic bylaws in the New Order.
Illuminati: This society does not exist. And
even if it did, you think they’d let me spill their
secrets here. People who talk too much about
the Illuminati tend to disappear.
Mystics: Drugs open up, like, the inner eye
and put you in tune with the thingy. You know,
the whole cosmic oneness of creation thing.
That thing. Do you have any more drugs?
PURGE: The Computer will be destroyed.
The corrupt regime of Alpha Complex will
be destroyed. If you oppose us, you will be
destroyed.
Psion: Mutants are the coming race, the
superior beings. Soon, the mutants will rule all
Alpha Complex. If you are a mutant, then you
will have a place in our new order.
Pro Tech: Science is cool! Especially
the bits of science that glow blue and hum
loudly!
Romantics: Old, pre-Alpha Complex
society was wonderful and enlightened. Let
us now bask in the wisdom of the ancients by
watching a rerun of Baywatch.
Sierra Club: It’s not natural for humanity to
live underground. We should all be Outdoors.
To prepare humanity for the transition, we must
teach others to love the natural world. Here,
hug this cactus.
The Rules
Of course, the only rules to PARANOIA are
what you say they are but the default game
rules are as follows (transcribed directly from
the napkin where us Famous Game Designers
wrote them originally). For skill checks, have
the player roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or
lower than the skill, he succeeds. Otherwise,
he fails. If he rolls a natural 20, he fails in some
especially damaging or slapstick fashion.
Perversity
Players may spend Perversity points on any
roll. Each Perversity Point spend increases or
decreases the result by 1 point. If the player
spends points openly, he can narrate what’s
causing the modifier (‘I spend five Perversity
– Bob-R’s a really bad shot and he’s pointing
his laser at the Team Leader, not the Commie!
-5 to the attack!’). If he spends the points
secretly (say, by passing you a note), then you
narrate what causes the modifier. All results
are up to you anyway.
You should reward the players with more
Perversity at the start of each scene, when
they do something really funny or when they
die with grace and aplomb. Perversity is the
sweet, sweet candy with which you condition
your players to entertain you.
Combat
Oh yeah, combat. This works just like a skill
check but a successful attack deals damage.
How much damage, you ask?
Weapons
Weapon Damage
Laser Pistol W3K
Slugthrower W3K
Cone Rifle (explosive shell) M3K
Grenade W3K, 5m area
Unarmed Combat O5K
Plasma Generator V1V
Armour
Type Protection
Reflec E1 (Protects only against lasers of equal or lower clearance)
Kevlar I3 (Protects only against physical attacks and bullets)
ArmourAll 4 BLUE
Well, each weapon has a damage code,
something like W3K or V1V. The first letter
indicates the weapon’s minimum damage, the
last letter is its maximum damage. The middle
digit is the weapon’s Boost number. Divide the
margin of success by the Boost number and
advance the damage from the minimum level
along the damage track up to a limit of the
maximum level.
The damage track goes:
Okay – no damage.
Snafu – no permanent injury but the target
is knocked down/on fire/stunned/otherwise
inconvenienced.
Wounded – Ow, that hurts. The clone needs
medical attention.
Maimed – Ow, that fell off. The clone just got
badly hurt or lost a limb or other vital organ.
Down – The clone is unconscious, crippled,
severely stunned or flattened.
Killed – The clone, he be dead.
Vapourised – Smoking boots and free-floating
atoms.
So, a laser pistol deals W3K damage. This
means that at minimum, it Wounds the target.
Then, divide the margin of success by 3 and
advance that number of steps along the
damage track. So, if the attack succeeds with
a margin of 6, move 6/3=2 steps along the
track, to Down.
A Plasma Generator deals V1V damage, so the
damage starts at Vapourised, then moves up one
step for each point in the margin of success up to,
er Vapourised. Ok, that’s a bit redundant.
Armour reduces the damage by the listed
number of steps. So, armour 2 would drop an
attack that Vapourized the target by two steps
to merely Maimed.
Treason
Treason works in a similar way to damage.
An accusation of treason has an associated
code that works just like a damage code. The
accuser uses his Management skill to make
the attack. The punishment is calculated in
the same way as physical damage – start with
Minimum damage, apply the Boost, if any and
work out the final level of punishment,
The treason scale goes:
Okay – The citizen goes unpunished. Why are
you throwing unsubstantiated rumours around,
citizen? Rumours are treason.
Probation – We’re going to fit you with these
tooth fillings that constantly vibrate propaganda
and goodthought into your jaw, citizen.
Censure – We’re going to tattoo ‘POOR
IMPULSE CONTROL’ onto your forehead and
send you to anger management therapy.
Medication – Just take these drugs, citizen.
Brainscrub – We can make you a better
person, citizen. We’ll just remove your
treasonous impulses at the root, by which I
mean the brainstem.
Termination – Please report to the nearest
termination booth, citizen. Thank you for your
co-operation.
Erasure – Your clone line will be expunged
from the genetic banks. You will be erased
from history. You are an unperson. You do
not exist.
Common Crimes
Disobeying The Computer: C5T
Secret Society Membership: M3T
Terminating a citizen without proof of treachery:
B2T
Not following orders: P5B
False Accusation of Treason: O4C
Clearance
Varies
YELLOW
BLUE
RED
Any
INDIGO
Clearance
Varies
ORANGE
11
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
Tension
Every scene has a Tension Level, which
determines how likely it is that someone
– a passer-by, a security camera, a hidden
surveillance device, an IntSec agent or a
GuardBot – will spot a treasonous act. If the
skill roll to commit the treasonous act is equal
to or lower than the Tension Level, then the
character has been spotted.
Note that the Tension Level can actually be
higher than the character’s skill, meaning that
even unsuccessful attempts at treason might
be reported to the authorities.
Mission:
Tube Jam
This short mission is an ideal introduction
to PARANOIA for the Game Master. For the
players, it is an ideal introduction to Alpha
Complex’s extensive sewer pipe network. It
will, of course, be fun. The Computer says
so.
The SLP Sector Multi-Purpose Pipe Distribution
Nexus (MPDN) is a battered, outdated tangle
of pipes used for a variety of purposes. Every
day, thousands of gallons of liquids are
pumped through the Pipe Distribution Nexus.
There’s a system of valves and doors in the
pipes allowing the network to transport different
substances. The number of occasions when,
say, Hot Fun was pumped into the water supply
can be counted on one hand1.
Several hours ago, an Internal Security team
led by Jared-G tracked down a Commie Mutant
Traitor cell led by the notorious traitor ‘Mikhail’,
aka Mike-R-SLP-4. The IntSec agents burst
into Mike-R’s quarters and arrested him
but he was able to flush all the cell’s illegal
Communist propaganda down the Personal
Waste Evacuation & Recycling Tube. Such
despicable treachery! While Jared-G arrested
Mike-R, he ordered his team to charge into the
Waste Tube and recover the propaganda.
Regrettably, the IntSec team wriggled into
the Waste Tube seconds before the Pipe
Distribution Nexus switched from transporting
from bodily waste to transporting high-pressure
1: Assuming the hand is that of Lenny-O-YUN, Registered Mutant, who suffered from megapolydactylism and had several thousand fingers
on his left hand. Lenny-O had a bright career in CPU as a checkbox checker until he accidentally checked a ‘do not check this box’ box and
was terminated.
12
water. The IntSec team were washed away by
the flood and ended up in the lowest level of the
Pipe Distribution Nexus. Since then, they’ve
been wandering around the pipes, looking for
the Commie Propaganda. This is a disaster
for Jared-G – his high-profile defeat of Mike-R
is now in danger of becoming an even more
high-profile loss of Commie propaganda. He
needs to clean up the sewers.
The IntSec team showed up as a blockage
on the Tech Services Pipe Monitor so Tech
Services dispatched a Blockage Situation
Management Team into the nexus to clear
out any blockage. These BSMTs go into the
pipe in a big Pipe Traversal Vehicle, smash
any blockages and collect any trash littering
the main pipes. When the BSMT ran into
the IntSec team, the Internal Security goons
arrested them on suspicion of exposure to
Communist propaganda. They dragged the
BSMT engineers out of the Pipe Traversal
Vehicle to interrogate them.
When the first team failed to clear the blockage,
a second team was sent in. The second Pipe
Traversal Vehicle ran into the back of the first
Pipe Traversal Vehicle and stalled, trapping the
IntSec goons and the first BSMT. A third team
was dispatched to investigate the first two but
the technicians decided that discretion is the
better part of hygiene – something got the
first two BSM teams, after all. They’re hiding
out in a side alley of the pipe network until all
this blows over.
With three of his BSMT having vanished into
the nexus, Pipe Blockage Supervisor Quentin-
Y decided to call in the Troubleshooters.
Meanwhile, Jared-G has decided that his
lost IntSec agents are gone and that the
important thing now is containing the spread
of the flushed propaganda before it can be
traced back to him. The fact that this would
result in him being able to claim sole credit
for the ‘flawless’ arrest of Mike-R was not lost
on him.
Mission Alert!
Tension 4
Good morningcycle, citizens! You are
all loyal citizens of Alpha Complex,
living in the perfect society overseen by
Our Friend, The Computer. Everything
in Alpha Complex is perfect (except
when those damn Commie Mutant
Traitors sabotage things) and everyone
is happy (happiness is mandatory).
Anyway, you’re all going about your
assigned daily duties, when suddenly
there’s an announcement over the
public address system. Your names
are called out and you’re ordered
to ‘REPORT TO BRIEFING ROOM
54, SLP SECTOR FOR IMMEDIATE
MISSION BRIEFING. THANK YOU
FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION’.
Ask the players how they respond. Take
note of any characters who don’t say they’re
immediately going to the briefing and see
You’re Late below.
The Transbot to SLP sector is crowded
– at least, your section of the carriage
is. The ORANGE-plus clearance
section is nearly empty, while the
INFRARED/RED section heaves with
sweaty workers. After zipping through
the dark transtubes, you’re dropped
off at SLP Sector. The oily haze in
the air and the huge pipes and valves
everywhere tell you that this is an
industrial sector of Alpha Complex.
Somewhere in the distance, you can
hear this repetitive mechanical KA-
CHUNK, KA-CHUNK, KA-CHUNK. It’s
probably not a giant crushing machine.
KA-CHUNK. You probably won’t end
up getting fed into it, face-first. KA-
CHUNK.
Hey, there’s the briefing room!
Briefing
Tension 10
The briefing officer is Terrence-G-SLP-2. He’s
waiting for the Troubleshooters in the standard
briefing position – behind an armoured podium
with twin side-mounted Briefee Suppression
Autocannons. Terrence-G’s medication was
recently ‘adjusted’ to cure some treasonous
tendencies, so he’s not all there. He’s capable
of delivering a briefing and ordering the
Troubleshooters around but he tends to trail
off in the middle of…. Also, he’s convinced
that there should be another member of the
Troubleshooter team present, someone called
Smith-R. He’ll occasionally bark questions
at Smith-R and hallucinate an answer or
attribute something one of the characters did
to Smith-R.
You all pile into the briefing room. The
briefing officer, Terrence-G, is waiting
for you behind an armoured briefing
podium. He glares at you – or more
accurately, a point about a metre to
your right – as you enter. ‘Sit down’
he snaps, ‘I want to get this over with
as quickly as possible. Smith-R, stop
slouching!’
You’re Late
So, if any of the Troubleshooters didn’t
respond promptly to the mission alert, they’ll
show up late to the briefing. Terrence-G isn’t
happy with this. ‘Troubleshooter [NAME],
you’re late! Why can’t you be more like
Smith-R and show up on time?’ He then
demands that the Team Leader discipline his
underperforming Troubleshooters. Termination
for being late is excessive and Terrence-G will
point this out if the Team Leader pulls a laser.
Public humiliation or confession is more apt.
(If the Team Leader is late, then Terrence-G is
twice as abusive and gets the Loyalty Officer
or the Happiness Officer to correct the Team
Leader’s behaviour. Turn the Troubleshooters
against each other from the start, that’s the
ticket.
Terrence-G consults his notes. ‘Pay
attention, all of you. Especially you,
Smith-R, this is right up your alley.
Or down your pipe, ha ha ha. There’s
a problem in the Pipe Distribution
Nexus. Tech Services sent three
teams into the pipes – none of them
have returned. Your mission is to
investigate the problem. Head over
to the PLC office for outfitting, then
call into the R&D office, then report to
Blockage Control and collect your Pipe
Traversal Vehicle. Off you go.’
Outfitting
Tension 6
The Outfitting office consists of a hole in the
wall, through which a surly RED-clearance clerk
hands over the Troubleshooters’ equipment.
Everyone is given a pair of RED laser pistol
barrels as well as any gear they need for their
Mandatory Bonus Duties.
The surly clerk then checks his display screen.
‘Says here you’ve got a mission budget
of another four hundred credits. Whaddya
want?’
There’s a range of additional equipment the
Troubleshooters can request at this juncture.
The Blockage Demolition charge is a
grenade-shaped object that vibrates incredibly
violently when triggered, shaking anything
it’s embedded in to pieces. This includes the
jumpsuit and probably the skeletal structure
of any Troubleshooter carrying one of these
when it goes off.
I Can Help You Out,
Buddy
If the Troubleshooters can’t afford everything
they want to buy, the clerk takes pity on them.
He calls one of the Troubleshooters over and
makes an offer. ‘Rumour has it you’re
going into the Pipe Nexus, buddy.
There’s a Hot Fun delivery pipe in
there. If you can jam open one of
the water valves, it’ll water down the
Hot Fun before it’s pumped to the
cafeterias in SLP Sector and boost our
profit margins. Tech Services won’t
give us access to the pipes but if you
do it, I’ll give you an extra 250 credits
worth of gear.
If the Troubleshooters waste too much time
shopping, then have The Computer contact
the Team Leader and ask why they have yet to
report to R&D for their extra equipment.
R&D
Tension 8
The SLP-sector facility is a small, dingy room
with a hastily printed sign saying ‘R&D FIELD
OFFICE’. Inside, three R&D techs – pale,
lizard-like clones with thick goggles and lab

ITEM Cost # Available Notes

Biohazard Suit 250 1 The Biohazard suit will protect the wearer from toxic
chemicals and gases.

Gas Mask 50 5 The gas mask won’t – they’re old and broken.

Toxin Detector 150 1 The toxin detector goes beep in the presence of
both toxic chemicals and Hot Fun.

PTV Manual 1,000 1 The clerk has no idea what this is.

PTV Spare Fuel Cell 350 2 Or this. They’re both for the Pipe Traversal
Vehicle.

Packed Lunch 25 10 Yummy.

Plumber’s Toolkit 200 2 Contains a single spanner.

Blockage Demolition Charge 200 3 See Below.

Noseplugs 25 4 Completely obstruct airflow.

Air Tank 300 1 Scuba set. You avoid drowning if the tubes flood.

13
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
coats – are unpacking the new gadgets that
they want the Troubleshooters to field test. The
lead lizard, er technician is Connor-O. He’s
very excited to see the Troubleshooters.
‘Welcome, welcome. We’ve been
looking forward to this for some
time. Who’s the communications
volunteer?’
If asked, Connor-O explains that the
Pipe Distribution Nexus is a notorious
communications black spot. Radio
communications are extremely unreliable in
the Nexus, so R&D was tasked to come up with
an alternative. Their solution is to ‘piggyback
the signal on the MemoMax network’. When
a citizen is terminated, a copy of his ‘terminal
brainstate’ is transmitted via a cybernetic
implant to the cloning tanks. It’s a perfect
communications system.
So, who gets the phone plugged into their
neck? The new MemoMax Field Relay consists
of a big heavy phone handset that’s jammed
right into the spinal column of the ‘transmitter’.
It’s harmless, albeit painful, at this stage.
The MemoMax Field
Relay
The field relay works like a telephone that’s
been jammed into someone’s neck. There are
a few side effects:
• The telephone cable is only six inches
long, meaning that the ‘transmitter’ can
listen in on every conversation.
• The wearer sneezes violently whenever
there is an incoming call (the field relay
can’t make outgoing calls)
• If the wearer is terminated during a call,
then his brainstate gets mixed up with the
call. His next clone’s mind is warped by
whatever was last said. For example, if
Yorick-R is shot while wearing the Field
Relay just as Hamlet-O is saying ‘to be
or not to be’, then Yorick-R-2 will be
extremely indecisive and philosophically
wobbly.
In addition to the transmitter, the R&D techs have
two other items for the Troubleshooters.
• One can of Ultra-Reflective MirrorSheen
Spray. This spray can of silvery paint can
be applied to any surface. For the next few
minutes, lasers bounce off this surface
in a random direction. It can be used to
14
make one Troubleshooter immune to
lasers (assuming the rest of the team don’t
mind being all the lasers being redirected
‘randomly’ towards them). The spray
evaporates after a while (probably at a
very unfortunate time). There’s enough
to cover one person.
• One Particle Projection Cannon, a new
and utterly awesome heavy weapon
which works by projecting a blast of
high-velocity particles down a magnetic
funnel. It is incredibly powerful but has
one small drawback – it has to be plugged
in. There’s a plug here in the R&D office
and there’s a really long extension cord on
the back of the gun. To use the weapon,
the Troubleshooters will need to leave
every door between here and the end of
the mission slightly ajar. That’s fine until
the characters get to the watertight valve
doors in the Pipe Distribution Nexus.
Oh, there’s a large sticker on the side
of the PPC warning the user not to get
the weapon damp. If they ever actually
fire the thing, it uses the Field Weapons
specialisation and deals W2V damage
with a range of 20 metres.
After R&D, the Troubleshooters need to head
onto Blockage Control.
Blockage
Control
Tension 3
Your team arrives in the Blockage
Control Room. There’s a huge map
on one wall, displaying a tangled maze
of pipes. At the top of the display are
four huge tanks, marked ‘H2O, Hot
Fun™, H2O+ and [CLASSIFIED].
These four tanks all feed into the
plumbing monstrosity that is the Pipe
Distribution Nexus. It makes your eyes
water just looking at it.
Underneath the map are four huge
airlocks. There’s a cylindrical vehicle
waiting in front of one airlock; there
are similar but empty platforms in
front of the other three. The rest of the
massive chamber is filled with pumps
and other machinery and the scurrying
Tech Services techs who service
them. The overall effect is something
like a baroque cathedral to some alien
god of plumbing, if you knew what
‘baroque’, ‘cathedral’, ‘alien’ or ‘god’
meant. So to you, the overall effect is
something like an awful lot of pipes.
The cylindrical vehicle is the Pipe Traversal
Vehicle. If the Troubleshooters ask any of
the techs, they direct them to talk to the
supervisor Quentin-Y. He’s a balding, pipe-
smoking engineer whose whole life is Blockage
Control. Communism? Mutants? Feh. What’s
important is paper clogging his tubes. Do
the Troubleshooters have any idea what the
absorbency rating of the new CPU form paper
is? Do they have any idea how many forms
are flushed down the Waste Disposal system?
Don’t talk to him about problems.
Quentin-Y points the Troubleshooters to the
remaining Pipe Traversal Vehicle. ‘Easy as
anything to operate, that is. You’ll be
fine. Now, the nexus is still running,
it’s too important to be shut down.
When a sluice gate opens, the valves
matching that gate open and all the
rest close. You’ll know which valve
matches which gate by the number
painted on the valve. If you’re caught
on the wrong side of the valve, take
shelter in the vehicle.’
If asked what he thinks happened to the
previous Blockage Situation Management
Teams, Quentin-Y chews on his pipe for a
moment. Then he chews on it some more.
Then he mutters something under his breath
that sounds very much like ‘worms got ‘em’,
before spinning on his heel and marching
off to berate some pump technician. The
Troubleshooters have no choice but to start
their mission.
Inside The Pipe Traversal
Vehicle
The Pipe Traversal Vehicle is a cylindrical
vehicle with eight tank treads running down
its side. It can crawl up or around any pipe,
clinging to the walls if needs be. It could even
crawl on the roof of a large pipe – there’s no
set orientation. Therefore, inside there are
three seats spaced equidistantly around the
circumference of the circular cabin. If one seat
is on the floor then another seat is on the ‘wall’
and the last seat hangs from the ceiling. Each
of the three seats has a control panel in front of
it. It’s very, very cramped in here. Passengers
get to hang on to the outside of the vehicle,
which is pretty much like clinging to the outside
of a submarine that’s about to dive.
Access to the PTV is via a large water-tight
hatch. Whoever’s carrying the PPC will need
to either unplug the weapon or else leave the
hatch ajar.
There’s also a large storage cabinet at the back
of the cabin. If a Troubleshooter investigates
this or if they spend too long messing with
the controls, then the cabinet bursts open!
Inside is Internal Security Office Lilith-O, one
of Jared-G’s team. Jared-G was informed that
a Troubleshooter team was heading into the
Pipe Distribution Nexus where he lost a load
of treasonous material and half-a-dozen IntSec
thugs, so he dispatched Lilith-O to ensure the
Troubleshooters are loyal enough to be used
as pawns.
Surprise Loyalty Test!
Lilith-O emerges from the cabinet waving a
wicked-looking energy blaster in one hand
and a sheaf of forms in the other. ‘On your
knees, Troubleshooters’ she shrieks,
‘this is a Surprise Loyalty Spot Test!’
She rests the barrel of her blaster between the
eyes of a random unfortunate Troubleshooter.
‘Do you have a number 2 pencil, citizen
or should I ventilate your skull?’
She hands each of the Troubleshooters a
loyalty test (see page XX) and stands over
them while they fill them out. Once the players
are done, collect the tests and execute anyone
stupid enough to tick the ‘I am a traitor’
box. Next, pick two or three most loyal-looking
responses (or choose at random) and note
their names. Ideally, the character fitted with
the MemoMax Field Relay should not be
one of the chosen Troubleshooters. These
characters will be contacted by Jared-G later
in the mission. As soon as the Troubleshooters
are done with the loyalty test, they can try
heading into the pipes.
Operating The PTV
If the characters purchased the PTV manual,
then they can operate it without any trouble.
Otherwise, they need to work out how to pilot
the machine. The three control consoles each
Roll Nature of the Sluice Effects
1-7 H2O None. Y’know, other than maybe drowning. S3K damage if you fail the Violence roll.
7-12 Hot Fun On the bright side, all the Hot Fun you can eat. You’re also scalded and poisoned. S2K damage if you
fail the Violence roll.
13-18 H2O+ S3K damage and it’s you’ll never pass a hygiene inspection again, ever.
19-20 Pheno-Dichromium Regardless of whether or not you passed the Violence check, you’re dissolved in acid.
Pethoacetate
have a different purpose. All the controls are
unmarked.
Console 1 (Driver)
ο Big Lever: The throttle. Push it forward
and the vehicle goes backwards. Push it
back and it goes forward.
ο Four Switches: Each switch controls a pair
of tracks. If the switch is off, those tracks
don't move.
ο Red Button: Emergency stop.
ο Green Button: Emergency accelerator.
Console 2 (Power)
Small Lever: Track control. If this lever is
pushed forward, all the tracks are pulled
into the body of the PTV.
ο Two Switches: If both of these switches
are on, then the reactor switches on.
ο Red Button: Emergency fuel dump.
ο Green Button: Open fuel tank hatch.
Console 3 (Environmental
Systems)
ο Two medium-sized levers: Oxygen/
Happiness aerosol controls.
ο One switch: Door open/close
ο Red Button: Communist on board! Seal
main door and initiate self-destruct
ο Green Button: Air freshener.
Having the PTV isn’t necessary for the
completion of the mission. It’s just a lot safer to
have a big watertight vehicle when wandering
around inside the tubes.
Into The Pipes
Tension 0
The huge airlock rolls to the side,
revealing the gaping, dripping maw
of a pipe. The PTV barely fits inside.
The metal walls are stained with an
unidentifiable mould and there’s a
trickle of stagnant yellowish liquid
dripping from above. The stench hits
you like a very smelly mallet to the
septum. Somewhere in this labyrinth
are the missing Blockage Situation
Management Teams.
There’s no map of the Pipe Distribution
Network. It’s a confusing, tangled mess
of pipes, valves, pumps and tanks. As the
Troubleshooters make their way through the
Pipe Network, run the following encounters
in order.
Sluice Alert
Every few minutes, one of four liquids – water,
highly delicious (and toxic and boiling) Hot
Fun, an even more toxic chemical called
Pheno-Dichromium Pethoacetate and what’s
euphemistically called H2O+, which is a slurry
of brown water, human waste and whatever
else got flushed down the tubes. To control
where all this gunk flows, there’s a complex
series of valves and gates that section off parts
of the Pipe Distribution Nexus.
Anyway, the Troubleshooters are making their
way through the pipes (either on foot or in
the Pipe Traversal Vehicle), when one of the
valves slams shut. If they’re inside the PTV,
then they can just stay safe inside the vehicle
(assuming that everyone’s inside and the
hatches are sealed). If they’re on foot, then the
valve slams shut, dividing the team in two. The
Troubleshooters can hear the rumbling thunder
of an approaching torrent but can’t tell which
side of the valve it’s coming from until the flood
is almost upon them.
A valve can be opened or closed with a
Hardware roll or by blasting it open (damaging
Alpha Complex property and letting water flow
down the wrong channel in the process).
The effects of being caught in a flood varies
depending on the character’s ability to swim
and the nature of the flood. Ask who’s got the
non-existent Swimming speciality. Anyone?
Anyone? No. Oh well. Roll Violence anyway.
Succeed and you don’t drown. Fail and use
the margin of failure as a Boost on the damage
listed in the Nature of the Sluice table. If you
15
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
can’t decide which liquid would be the funniest
to be flushed down the Pipe Nexus, there’s a
random roll below.
Throw a Sluice Alert in whenever it’s most
inconvenient for the Troubleshooters.
Clone Replacements
So, you’ve carelessly lost one of your clones
in the Pipe Distribution Nexus. The following
things happen.
1. Whoever’s got the field telephone wired
into their neck starts writhing around as
the contents of your brain runs through
their neck at 9600 baud. If they’re holding
a gun, their finger twitches and convulses.
Oh well.
2. Your fresh and shiny clone body is
decanted and loaded into a Rapid
Deployment Capsule.
3. This Deployment Capsule is shot through
the Pipe Distribution Nexus at high speed
to rejoin the rest of your team.
4. Note: There is a non-zero chance that
the high-velocity Deployment Capsule
may crush one or more members of your
team/smash the Pipe Traversal Vehicle/
be misidentified as an incoming Commie
missile or unfortunately large lump of
human waste. Clone Services are not
responsible for any damage or loss of life
caused by use of the Rapid Deployment
Capsule delivery method.
blockage and open up the pipes. Use this to put
pressure on the team to hurry up and solve the
problem. Drop hints that whoever’s stalling the
team’s progress might be a Commie Mutant
Traitor trying to sabotage water supplies to SPL
sector. Drop hints that summary termination of
such a traitor might be a good idea.
Quentin-Y will also contact the team if they
start sabotaging the doors as ordered by
Jared-G. He doesn’t give a damn about any
secret IntSec missions, he just wants his Pipe
Nexus working again.
The Bot
The Troubleshooters come upon the battered
remains of a bot that obviously got flushed
down the sewers at some point in the distant
past. The machine is currently operating
on reserve power and covered in gunk but
its visual receptors are unimpaired. The
Troubleshooters have found a witness! If
reactivated, this bot could give vital information
over whatever happened to the missing
Blockage Situation Management Teams.
A close examination of the bot shows that it’s
probably a Jackobot, some high-clearance
citizen’s personal valet. It’s been shut down by
repeated forceful blows to the head.
A successful Bot Ops roll reboots the bot.
This particular model is designated L119
‘Larry’. Larry’s not just a personal robot, he’s
a helpbot. He’s programmed to give helpful
advice on any topic.
All the time.
‘You look like you’re trying to shoot
a teammate in the back! Have you
considered bracing your gun with your
other hand? Would you like me to recite
the user manual for your laser pistol?’
‘You look like you’re lost in the sewers.
Would you like me to download a map of
the sewers? You would? Well, I can’t. But
doesn’t just knowing that a map exists
reassure you?’
‘You look like you’re trying to operate
a vehicle. Would you like me to do it for
you? Oops.’
‘You look like you’re trying to repair the
vehicle I just crashed Will I hold your torch
for you? Oops.’
‘You look like you’re trying to stuff my
body into a blast furnace! Would you
like me to tell you the melting point of
my body? Because it’s less than the
maximum output of this furnace.’
‘You look like you’re trying to bleed to
death. Would you like me to tell you
more about the circulatory system?’

Commie Propaganda
The Troubleshooters come to a small side
tunnel, filled with the detritus of thousands of
Sluice Alerts. It’s a pile of matted toilet paper,
discarded Bouncy Bubble Beverage cans
and other junk. The topmost layer, though, is
leaflets, hundreds of leaflets. More leaflets can
be seen further down the pipe.

The leaflets are all Communist Propaganda,

full of dangerous ideas about collectivisation,
controlling the means of production and wealth
redistribution. Any Troubleshooter who reads
this propaganda now Knows Too Much about
Communism and may be terminated if this
comes out during an interrogation.

Mission Update
The Troubleshooters are contacted via the
MemoMax Field Relay - it’s Quentin-Y, warning
them that there’s a growing pressure problem
in the water tanks, so can they please hurry
up and find the missing Blockage Situation
Management Teams so they can clear the

16
If questioned, Larry says that he saw a group
of suspicious-looking heavily armed citizens
marching through the sewers earlier. He tried
to give them helpful advice about happy music
to march to but he wasn’t functional at the
time. He can point the Troubleshooters on the
right path to catch up with these mysterious
goons.
IntSec Calling
The MemoMax Field Relay rings again. This
time, it’s a stern voice that sounds like it was
filtered through gravel. ‘This is Internal
Security. Pay close attention, citizen.
Identify yourself immediately.’
It’s Jared-G, the commander of the IntSec
team who started this whole mess. He wants
to talk to the trustworthy Troubleshooters
identified by Lilith-O earlier. He orders those
Troubleshooters to ensure they cannot be
eavesdropped on and to get the rest of the
team to stand out of earshot. Getting the rest
of the team to do so may be tricky if all the
Troubleshooters want to stay in the safety
of the PTV (and if one of the ‘untrustworthy’
Troubleshooters is the one with the MemoMax
Relay plugged into his neck.
Jared-G briefs the Troubleshooters on their
‘real’ mission. ‘Attention Troubleshooters.
A recently terminated Communist
traitor succeeded in introducing
subversive propaganda into the Pipe
Distribution Nexus. This material must
be destroyed as soon as possible or
it may infect the minds of vulnerable
citizens. To facilitate this destruction,
you are ordered to weld open all valve
doors in the Pipe Distribution Nexus
from this point onwards. This mission
is classified GREEN clearance;
do not reveal the existence of this
mission to anyone, especially not
your teammates, who have been
designated as potential security risks
by Internal Security.
The defence of Alpha Complex’s
precious fluids is in your hands,
citizens! Hail The Computer!’
Jared-G is of course lying to the Troubleshooters
– he wants them to weld the doors open so he
can flush the Pipe Distribution Nexus with acid
and wipe out all evidence of his failure.
The Missing BSMT
The third Blockage Situation Management
Team sent in to investigate by Quentin-Y have
taken shelter in a winding side tunnel. They’ve
decided – quite rightly – that something horrible
has befallen the first two teams, so they’re
going to sit here and play cards for algae chips
until it all blows over.
The first sign the Troubleshooters have that
something is wrong is when they hear muffled
sounds echoing down a side tunnel. It’s
impossible to make out any words or even be
sure if they’re voices – they could be some sort
of mutant horrors or Commie Mutant Traitors.
If the Troubleshooters investigate, one of the
first things they see is another page of Commie
Propaganda stuck to the side of the tunnel. Try
to play up the paranoia and fear – most players
will be more than willing to leap to a conclusion
and then shoot it.
If the characters to make it to the end of
the tunnel, they find another Pipe Traversal
Vehicle and a trio of INFRARED tech services
drones sitting around playing cards. The three
techs are named Mort, Hollis and Fred. Being a
sewer unblocker isn’t the happiest job in Alpha
Complex, so they’re all on massive doses of
happiness drugs, which makes piloting a heavy
vehicle or using unblocking explosives rather
dangerous. All three have been blown up or
driven over several times and are on their third
clones at least.
Assuming the Troubleshooters don’t summarily
incinerate the INFRAREDs for dereliction of
duty, the trio can explain the workings of the
Pipe Distribution Nexus to the characters. They
suggest that the other two missing teams are
most likely in the sump at the bottom of the
Nexus, which is where most of the blockages
and other problems arise. They’ve seen the
Commie Propaganda around the place but
they didn’treaditofcoursethatwouldbewrongpl
easedon’tshootmenicetroubleshooterssir.
Sump Tank
Standoff
Tension 0
The sump tank is the climax of this scenario.
Let’s get the Troubleshooters there.
Water Isn’t Railroading
If the Troubleshooters have managed to keep
their Pipe Traversal Vehicle up until now, then
read the following:
A surge of water hits your vehicle from
behind, sending you plummeting into
the depths. You now know exactly
how a can in a vending machine feels
in that moment between the buyer
pressing the button and the can being
dispensed. Your PTV bounces down
the pipes into the darkness and then
suddenly you see another PTV dead
ahead.
Do you know what the emergency
stop button is?
If the Troubleshooters do know where the stop
button is, they can prevent a crash. Otherwise,
they smash into the back of the other two Pipe
Traversal Vehicles.
If they don’t have a working PTV, then they just
get washed into the Sump Tank.
This Sump Tank Ain’t Big
Enough
The sump tank at the bottom of the Pipe
Distribution Nexus is currently the scene of a
multi-PTV pileup. The tank is accessible only
by vertical pipes, where excess runoff from
the Pipe Nexus above drains down. It’s a big,
deep, pitch-black cesspit of stagnant waste
water, toxic chemicals and hell, probably
mutant alligators.
Let’s recap what happened here before the
Troubleshooters show up.
1) Jared-G sends his IntSec goons into
the sewers to recover the Commie
propaganda.
2) The goons get flushed down into the
Sump Tank. They show up as a blockage
on Quentin-Y’s board.
3) The first BSM Team is sent into the
pipes to deal with the blockage. They’re
arrested as Commie Mutant Traitors and
terminated.
4) The second BSM Team accidentally
drives their Pipe Traversal Vehicle into the
back of the first Pipe Traversal Vehicle.
5) The goons try to arrest the second BSM
Team for being Commies. The BSM
team see the corpses of their co-workers
floating face-down in the sump tank and
start shooting back.
6) Meanwhile, Jared-G gives up on his IntSec
goons and decides to solve the whole
problem by getting the Troubleshooters
to drown the whole place in acid.
So, you’ve got (A), the three Internal Security
goons sent into the sewers in the first place.
They’re standing in waste-deep toxic waist. Er,
I mean waist-deep toxic waste. Floating next to
17
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
them at (B) are the corpses of the first BSMT
with neat IntSec ‘Terminated Communist’
stickers stuck to their foreheads. Over at (C),
the PTV pileup, are (D), the four members of
the second BSMT.
Currently, points (A) and (D) are pointing a lot
of guns at each other. It’s a standoff, broken
by the sudden arrival of the Troubleshooters
and all their guns. The BSM Team (Nigel, Eric,
Jane and Phil) claim that the IntSec agents
(Slater-R, Soames-R and Glenda-O) have
been exposed to critical levels of mutagens
and are therefore probably mutant freaks who
should be terminated (and it’s true, the IntSec
goons are looking really unhealthy and are
standing in a chemical swamp). The IntSec
goons claim that the BSMers are insubordinate
traitors who have been exposed to Commie
propaganda (true but they probably shouldn’t
have shot the first BSM team on sight). Both
sides will call on the Troubleshooters to aid
them.
Oh, yeah, the Sump Tank is indeed a mutagenic
swamp – lurking in the depths are giant mutant
leeches. Anyone with a leech attached begins
to glow green and takes S3M damage.
Jared-G Complicates
Matters
From the perspective of the IntSec goons,
Jared-G is a damnable traitor who sent them
off to die in a sewer and as soon as they get
out of this sump tank, they’re going to drop all
this sodden Commie propaganda on Jared-G’s
boss’s desk and report their supervisor for
incompetence and treachery.
unfortunate side effect. Jared-G salutes the
Troubleshooters and congratulates them on
their impending heroic sacrifice.
The Goggles, They Do
Nothing
At this point, the Troubleshooters have about
sixty seconds to act before a flood of acid
reaches the sump tank and kills them all. What
can they do?
If their PTV is still functional, they can take
refuge in that (the other two PTVs both
have cracks in the hull and can’t be used as
shelters). The PTV’s hull is immune to the
acid. However, the PTV can hold a maximum
of four people (three seats, plus the storage
locker at the back) and there are more than
four people present. Who wants to play the
lifeboat game?
If the PTV is broken, then a successful Habitat
Engineering roll or panicked searching for a
way out reveals the existence of an emergency
Sump Tank escape ladder. Getting to this
ladder requires a swim through toxic waste
and then a long climb. The acid will rise up
the escape shaft as the Troubleshooters and
the other denizens of the Sump Tank climb. To
resolve this happy scene, call for a series of
Agility rolls. The character with lowest Agility
roll will get caught by the acid and dissolved
– unless that character can make someone
else fall in instead, in which case he’s safe for
that round. Keep calling for Agility rolls and
then base treachery until everyone is dead or
the players have suffered enough.
Debriefing
Tension 12
The team’s Debriefing is carried out by
Terrence-G. He’s got a list of questions he
needs answered. Failure to answer will result
in termination.
• Did the Troubleshooters find out what
happened to all three BSMTs?
• Did they return the PTV in proper working
order?
• Did they test and return any R&D
equipment?
• Did they not see any Communist
propaganda in the sewers or any signs
of an Internal Security team having been
in the sewers? The arrest of Mike-R and
all related matters are classified GREEN.
Awareness of information about your
security clearance is treason.
• Did they damage any of the valves in the
Pipe Distribution Network?
• What caused the flood of acidic Pheno-
Dichromium Pethoacetate?
• Where is Smith-R?
If any Troubleshooters survive both Terrence-
G’s barrage of questions and the inevitable

Jared-G will contact the Troubleshooters on

the MemoMax Field Relay, demanding an
update on their situation. Have they opened all
the valves? Is that laser fire in the background?
As soon as the IntSec goons hear their ex-
boss’s voice on the Field Relay, they’ll assume
the Troubleshooters are in league with him and
turn on them.

Either way, Jared-G regretfully informs

the Troubleshooters that there is about
to be an ‘unscheduled venting’ of Pheno-
Dichromium Pethoacetate throughout the
Pipe Distribution Nexus. Rejoice, citizens!
This flood of acid will completely erase any
Commie propaganda leaflets in the pipes, thus
ensuring that no citizens are exposed to the
toxic ideas contained therein. The exposure
to actual toxins – i.e., the flood of acid – is an

18
accusations of treachery from the rest of the Open slots for narrow specialities: Tic: Hand shakes uncontrollably when filling
team, promote them to ORANGE. 2 (Management, Hardware) out paperwork
Tic 2: _______________________
Joe-R-JOP-1 _____
Joe-R-JOP-1 Male HPD&MC Team Leader
Male HPD&MC Team Leader Example of tic in use
Mutation: Pyrokinesis Team Leader: Herman-R, sign for this
Security Clearance: RED Society: Humanists piece of expensive equipment.
Credits: 100 Secret Skills: Old Reckoning Knowledge Herman-R: Er, ok.
Tic: Convinced there’s a nefarious purpose 13 Team Leader: Why did you deliberately
behind everything his subordinates do. destroy that form, citizen?
Tic 2: _______________________ Background
You’ve clawed your way to RED clearance by Action Skills & Specialities
Example of tic in use assuming that absolutely everyone is out to get Management 08
Joe-R: Equipment Officer, open that you. It’s a safe assumption in Alpha Complex. Bootlicking 12
locker. The only people you thought you could even Chutzpah 1
Equipment Guy: Sure thing, sir. slightly trust were your fellow traitors in the ________________________ 12
Joe-R: What are you doing with that wrench? Humanist society. You thought you were all
Equipment Guy: I’m gonna use it to dedicated to the overthrow of The Computer Stealth 07
smash open the locker. and the establishment of a new regime but Surveillance 11
Joe-R: Why? What’s in there that you would now you’ve got your doubts. The Humanists Scam Radar 11
prefer to see destroyed than revealed to the arranged for your assignment at Team Leader, Sneaking 1
rest of the team? a notoriously dead-end assignment. Oh, they Planting Bugs 13
say it’s to further the aims of the Society but
Action Skills & Specialities you’re the one with the lasers pointed at your Violence 08
Management 8 back! Energy Weapons 12
Oratory 12 Thrown Weapons 01
Bootlicking 12 You know that the team’s Loyalty Officer Stabbing People With Pens 14
Moxie 1 is a secret member of the First Church of
_________________________ 14 Christ Computer-Programmer but that lot of Knowledge Skills & Specialities
religious nutbags are unofficially tolerated by Hardware 04
Stealth 09 The Computer, so that’s not much help. You Nuclear Engineering 08
Sneaking 13 also suspect that at least one member of your Habitat Engineering 01
Concealment 1 team is an Anti-Mutant thug. Breaking Equipment Accidentally 10
Peer Over Teammate’s Shoulder Without
Being Noticed 15 Secret Society Instructions Software 06
You’re being sent into the sewers as part of this Data Search 10
Violence 7 mission. The Humanists want you to sabotage Data Analysis 10
Energy Weapons 11 the waste disposal system, to raise discontent Bot Programming 01
Unarmed Combat 11 in Alpha Complex and prime the citizens for _________________________ 10
Vehicular Combat 1 revolution!
Tripping People in Combat 15 Wetware 07
Personal Equipment Biosciences 11
Knowledge Skills & Specialities Flexible periscope Outdoor Life 01
Hardware 06 Humanist propaganda leaflet Getting Ink Out Of Your Uniform Using
Chemical Engineering 12 (2) RED laser barrels Common Chemicals 13
Vehicle Ops 1
_________________________ 12 Assigned Equipment Open slots for narrow specialities:
Laser pistol body (no barrel) 2 (Management, Software)
Software 07 (2) RED laser barrels
Financial Systems 11 Red Reflec Armour Herman-R-OON-1
Hacking 1 Series 1300 PDC Male CPU Loyalty Officer
Make Your PDC Bleep On Command 13 Team Leader Hat
Mutation: Matter Eater
Wetware 05 Herman-R-OON-1 Society: FCCC-P
Psychotherapy 9 Male CPU Loyalty Officer Secret Skills: Alpha Complex History 12,
Medic 1 Religious Mantras 14
Hum Loyalty Jingles 11 Security Clearance: RED
Credits: 200

19
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
Background Action Skills & Specialities You’ve tried to stay pure, washing as much
Oh Blessed Computer, you’ve cracked. A Management 09 as you can and only drinking distilled water
lifetime in Central Processing has taken its Hygiene 13 but now they’re sending you into the sewers!
toll on your sanity. You’ve become allergic to Bootlicking 01 They’re full of muties and mutagenic chemicals!
paperwork, making you incapable of doing your Stealing Lead Pipes From Work 15 How are you going to stay pure?
job. All the medication and happiness therapy
in Alpha Complex didn’t help you, so they’ve Stealth 06 Secret Society Instructions
transferred you to the Troubleshooters. You’re Concealment 10 Your contacts in the Anti-Mutant society
not cut out for the Troubleshooter lifestyle. For Shadowing 01 report that one of your team-mates is a highly
one thing, it doesn’t last very long. _________________________ 12 dangerous Machine Empath! This mutie must
be eliminated immediately – you just don’t
Your one chance is to prove you can still Violence 08 know who it is.
manage paperwork. Maybe if you get a Energy Weapons 12
really glowing endorsement from your Team Hand Weapons 12 Personal Equipment
Leader or Briefing Officer or some other high- Field Weapons 01 Kleen-Wipes
clearance citizen, then you might be able to Bludgeoning People With Pipes 14 Distilled Water
claw your way back into the safe papery nest Guaranteed non-mutagenic algae flakes
of CPU. If you can’t escape Troubleshooting, Knowledge Skills & Specialities
though, then you’re going to end up filling out Hardware 10 Assigned Equipment
your own death cert six times over. Habitat Engineering 14 Laser pistol body (no barrel)
Mechanical Engineering 14 Red Reflec Armour
Secret Society Instructions Vehicle Ops 01 Series 1300 PDC
The divine Church has learned that R&D has _________________________ 16 (2) RED Laser barrels
developed some new gadget that hooks into Lemon-Scented High-Pressure Cleaning
the MemoMax cloning system. This may be a Software 04 Spray
sign of the impending Upload, when the faithful C-Bay 08 Kleen-Wipes
join The Computer’s hallowed memory banks. Data Search 01 Skin Core Sampler
Secure this device for the Church. Threatening Vending Machines 10
Ben-R-OOD-1
Personal Equipment Wetware 08 Male R&D Equipment Guy
(2) RED Laser Barrels Biosciences 12
Lots and lots of pens Outdoor Life 01 Security Clearance: RED
(6) Doses of Relaxogin tranquilliser Scraping Gunk Off Your Skin In A Blind Panic Credits: 300
14 Tic: Endlessly positive
Assigned Equipment Tic 2: _______________________
Laser pistol body (no barrel) Open slots for narrow specialities: _____
(2) RED Laser barrels 2 (Stealth, Hardware)
Red Reflec Armour Example of tic in use
Series 1300 PDC Jill-R-ZZT-1 Troubleshooter: We’re doomed.
Loyalty Officer Notebook Female Power Services Hygiene Officer Ben-R: Nah, we’ll be fine. Things always
(3) Tiny Radio Microphone Bugs work out.
(1) Radio Microphone Bug Receiver Mutation: Telekinesis Troubleshooter: We’re surrounded by
Society: Antimutant Commie Mutant Traitors!
Jill-R-ZZT-1 Secret Skills: Power Studies 09 Ben-R: Maybe they won’t hurt us.
Female Power Services Hygiene Officer Troubleshooter: Because you’re in
Background league with them, traitor?
Security Clearance: RED Damn those mutant freaks! You had a pretty
Credits: 201 nice gig going, stealing lead pipes from work Action Skills & Specialities
Tic: Pathologically clean to fund the Anti-Mutant Society’s mutie hunts. Management 04
Tic 2: _______________________ Then your supervisor volunteered you for Moxie 08
_____ Troubleshooter duty – apparently, the team is Intimidation 01
being sent into the sewers and your ‘expertise ____________________ 10
Example of tic in use in lead pipe management’ will be vital. That
Team Leader: Quick, follow that Commie vatscrape is probably a mutant who used his Stealth 06
through the sewer pipe! mutie powers to condemn you to death. Scam Radar 10
Jill-R: In there? But it’s filthy! Security Systems 01
Team Leader: So? You’re terrified of becoming a mutant. Everyone Hiding Behind Bots 12
Jill-R: I’m refusing to move until a full Hygiene knows that all the chemicals and additives in
Assessment has been made of that pipe. the food and water make people in mutants.

20
Violence 04 Personal Equipment Wetware 06
Energy Weapons 08 Lots of Happy drugs Suggestion 10
Agility 10 (2) RED Laser Barrels Biosciences 01
Field Weapons 01 Subliminal Marketing Knowhow 12
Activating Self-Destruct Sequences 10 Assigned Equipment
Laser pistol body (no barrel) Open slots for narrow specialities:
Knowledge Skills & Specialities (2) RED Laser barrels 2 (Violence, Software)
Hardware 10 Red Reflec Armour
Electronic Engineering 14 Series 1300 PDC Martha-R-UIC-1
Bot Ops 14 Toolkit Female PLC Comms & Recording Officer
Habitat Engineering 01
Hugging Machines Until They Work 16 Martha-R-UIC-1 Mutation: Death Simulation
Female PLC Comms & Recording Officer Society: Communist
Software 06 Secret Skills: Communist Propaganda
Security Clearance: RED 12
Wetware 04 Credits: 100
Biosciences 08 Tic: Incredibly ticklish Background
Outdoor Life 01 Tic 2: ________________________ “The Communists need you! For many years,
_____________________ 10 __________ you have laboured undercover as a lickspittle
minion of the Capitalists, selling opiates to the
Open slots for narrow specialities: Example of tic in use masses to keep the oppressed clones under
2 (Hardware, Wetware) Hygiene Officer: Martha-R, your uniform the thumb of their bourgeoisie masters (or
doesn’t meet hygiene standards. One moment something) but now it is time to act.
Ben-R-OOD-1 while I scrub you.
Male R&D Equipment Guy Martha-R: HahahahahahahahahaohnoIj Communist leader “Mikhail” has been arrested
ustpulledthepinonmygrenadepleasestopah by the minions of The Computer’s corrupt
Mutation: Machine Empathy hahaha regime! But rejoice, comrade! Before his arrest,
Society: Pro Tech Mikhail heroically flushed certain important
Secret Skills: WMD 10 Action Skills & Specialities party documents down into the sewers. Your
Management 7 Troubleshooter mission will take you into the
Background Interrogation 11 sewers. You must recover all these documents
You don’t know what the fuss is. Everyone else Moxie 1 before they are destroyed or fall into the hands
in Alpha Complex seems really stressed and Dramatic Voiceovers 13 of Internal Security!”
worried all the time and when they smile they
don’t seem to mean it. Stealth 09 Well, you’ve got your instructions from the
Surveillance 13 party. The trick will be staying alive. You’re
You mean it. You’re genuinely happy. Life’s Security Systems 13 a committed member of the Communists but
good and easy. Maybe it’s because you don’t Sneaking 01 you’ve stayed alive this long by getting other
worry or because you’re lucky. people to do your dirty work for you. That
Violence 07 might be a bit tricky if it’s just your team in
Or maybe it’s because you’re a mutant Energy Weapons 11 the sewers.
Machine Empath who can bend machines Vehicle Combat 11
– including The Computer – to your will. One Agility 01 Secret Society Instructions
‘pretty please’ from you and you get anything ______________________ 13 Oh, Commie spies have discovered that
you want, as long as no-one finds out you’re the team’s Happiness Officer is an Internal
a Machine Empath. The Computer is really Knowledge Skills & Specialities Security spy. Eliminate him!
your friend, so you don’t worry too much Hardware 10
about missions – It would never endanger its Chemical Engineering 14 Personal Equipment
best friend. Bot Ops 01 (2) RED Laser Barrels
Vending Machine Repair & Maintenance 16 (3) Grenades
What can possibly go wrong? Communist Party Membership Card
Software 07
Secret Society Instructions Editing 11 Assigned Equipment
During this mission, your team will be testing Financial Systems 11 Laser pistol body (no barrel)
the new Particle Projection Cannon. It’s vitally Operating Systems 01 (2) RED Laser barrels
important that this weapon be tested as much _______________ 13 Red Reflec Armour
as possible – ProTech think it’s cool. Series 1300 PDC
Multicorder

21
 CITIZEN’S GUIDE
Tom-R-KLM-1 Knowledge Skills & Specialities Officially, your team is being sent into the
Male Tech Services Happiness Officer Hardware 08 sewers to investigate missing sewer workers.
Weapons Ops & Maintenance 12 No-one in Internal Security gives two credits
Security Clearance: RED Vehicle Ops 01 about some missing sewer techs – the whole
Credits: 300 ___________________________ 14 point of this mission is to eliminate citizen
Tic: Incapable of emotion Ben-R! He’s a Machine Empath – a particular
Tic 2: ________________________ Software 06 dangerous form of mutant who can control
__________ Bot Programming 10 machines with his mind. He can even bend the
Vehicle Programming 01 programming of Friend Computer, meaning it
Example of tic in use Hacking PDC email records 12 is impossible to have him ‘officially’ terminated
Team Leader: Are you happy, citizen? – his mutant brain would force The Computer
Tom: (absolute monotone) Full of joy, Wetware 06 to countermand the termination order.
sir. Pharmatherapy 10
Team Leader: You don’t sound very Cloning 01 So, Internal Security have sent both you
enthusiastic. Safe Truth Serum Use 12 and him into the sewers, out of range of The
Tom: (absolute monotone) I couldn’t Computer’s influence. You are to terminate
be more overjoyed sir, not without suffering Open slots for narrow specialities: Ben-R, repeatedly, until he is out of clones.
internal organ rupture. 2 (Management, Hardware) It is vitally important that none of his deaths
can be traced back to Internal Security but
Action Skills & Specialities Tom-R-KLM-1 equally important that Ben-R’s whole clone
Management 04 Male Internal Security Happiness Officer line be destroyed.
Intimidation 08 (Spying On Tech Services)
Interrogation 08 Secret Society Instructions
Bootlicking 01 Mutation: Levitation Rumour has it that your team will be given
________________________ 10 Society: Corpore Metal a new cybernetic device to test. You must
Secret Skills: Cybernetic Implant Use 06 acquire this gadget for Pro Tech!
Stealth 08
Surveillance 12 Background Personal Equipment
Sleight of Hand 01 In the perfect state you dream of, all citizens (2) RED Laser Barrels
Secretly Aiming Your Laser Under The Table will be implanted with Thought Modification (1) Slug Thrower Pistol with 6 bullets
14 Computers that will edit their brainwaves and
make treason unthinkable. Everyone will be the Assigned Equipment
Violence 09 perfect cog in the perfect machine. That day is Laser pistol body (no barrel)
Energy Weapons 13 far in the future, as Alpha Complex is still filled (2) RED Laser barrels
Demolition 13 with traitors and free-thinkers. Your mission is Red Reflec Armour
Hand Weapons 01 to wipe out all deviant thought. Series 1300 PDC
Executing Helpless Prisoners 15 (6) doses of Happy Pills
(1) doses of Very Happy Pill

22
PARANOIA
™

Spin Control
Brains! Must eat brains!

GARETH HANRAHAN RON BEDISON CONTENTS

Writer/Undead scapegoat Proofreader/Intsec goon zombie

DAN GELBER
Introduction 26
DAN CURTIS JOHNSON
Original Concept/R&D Thinker GREG COSTIKYAN
ERIC GOLDBERG It Tastes Like Treason 27
BETH FISCHI Original game design & development/
ANDY FITZPATRICK Building committee The Sporks, They Call To Me 35
ALLEN VARNEY
Editing, graphics/Drillbots IAN BELCHER
Mongoose publications manager/ It’s Alive 42
IORDANIS LAZARIDIS Voodoo overlord
JIM HOLLOWAY Paranoia Of The Dead 49
Cover and interior illustrations/Blueprints ALEXANDER FENNELL
Mongoose Publishing production director/
NICK ROBINSON Struts around wearing fun yellow hardhat
Layout/Red-clearance living dead
THE COMPUTER
Excessive drooling is treasonous, citizen

Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Knowledge or possession of this information by any citizen
of Security Clearance VIOLET or lower is treason punishable by a
long spell of Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.

TM & Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2007 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User. Based on material published in
previous editions of PARANOIA.
ILLUMINATI is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and is used by permission.
The reproduction of material from this book for personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other means of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. You may
copy character sheets, record sheets, checklists and tables for personal use.
E-mail questions and comments to Mongoose Publishing at sales@mongoosepublishing.com or write to Mongoose Publishing, 52-54 Cricklade Road, Swindon,
Wiltshire SN8 2AF, UK.
On the World Wide Web: www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Published by Mongoose Publishing, Ltd. Publication MGP 6647. Published October 2007. Printed in the USA.
1. Introduction
Spin is the difference between
a reactor leak and ad hoc re- Project Reanimator
designation of housing units as waste
storage zones; it’s the difference
between being terminated as a
traitor and feted as a heroically loyal
undercover agent; it’s the difference
between your sector having the
highest reported level of corruption
and treason on record, and all the
other sectors having suspiciously lax
IntSec officers who don’t seem to be
doing their jobs.
In short, it’s the difference between
life and death in Alpha Complex (or,
to put The Computer’s approved spin
on it, between Life and an Exciting
New Opportunity To Serve Your
Complex As Reactor Shielding,
Citizen).
Spin Control is all about spin, and
by that, we mean it’s all about lies.
The characters know they are lying,
the people they’re lying to know
they’re lying and the facts remain the
facts. The trick is making sure that
the spin—the lie—works better for
everyone else (or, more accurately,
everyone who counts) than the bald
truth. The Control part comes from
the players having to keep track of
all the different spins they have put
on events.
The zombie animation project is a conspiracy run by splinter sects from several
secret societies (who are, no doubt, secretive, sinister and, er, something).
The original revivification project comes from Romantic myths which cross-
pollinated with FCCCP propaganda, giving rise to the Prophecy of the Easter
Cycle, when the dead arise to give chocolates to the living. Pro Tech and
Corpore Metal members got involved to add their technical expertise to the
creation of the techno-zombies.
All four of the factions have something to offer. Pro Tech has access to the
best scientists, while Corpore Metal has the most experience with wiring human
flesh to cybernetic parts. As one of the largest secret societies, the Romantics
can help keep the whole thing secret and provide manpower, while the well-
connected FCCCP has been diverting resources and funds to the Project.
Each of the societies has their own ultimate end goals for the scheme:
The Romantics intend to revivify people from the Old Reckoning times.
They have some cryogenically frozen survivors from that era, who they
will revive when the technology is perfected.
The FCCC-P wants to bring about the Easter Cycle, as prophesied in
one of the apocryphal Manuals of The Computer.
Corpore Metal intends to use the techno-zombies as a stepping stone to
full conversion of Alpha Complex into cyborgs, both living and dead.
Pro Tech just likes the idea of techno-zombies, and doesn’t want to
share their toys.
■ Now Pay Attention, Here’s After that, the Troubleshooters are
The Plot sent to investigate a PLC executive
who is engaged in a diabolical plan
The Troubleshooters to monopolize the Alpha Complex
are initially assigned supply of plastic sporks, which
as undercover directly leads to the Troubleshooters
agents to start a riot discovering a secret plot to resurrect
in a cafeteria, which the dead—including the dead who
IntSec believes to died earlier in the cafeteria. The
be full of traitors zombies get loose and hunt the
who need to be characters through the spork zone,
flushed out. Now, but they are saved at the last moment
the cafeteria is by higher-clearance zombies, who
full of traitors, but assign the characters to putting a
they’re all low-key good public relations spin on the
conspirators, not the zombie situation.
ultra-violent Death
Leopards who IntSec If the characters are still alive at this
is looking for. Still, it point, then the mission leads onto
all ends in a bloody a pitched battle between secret
massacre anyway. societies and revivified zombies,
including previous clones of the
characters.
26
 SPIN CONTROL
2. It Tastes Like Treason
The mission kicks off in the traditional
fashion—the Troubleshooters get
a mission alert. This mission alert
orders the characters to report to
briefing room CRS-4533/gamma
immediately. Purpose Of Mission:
CLASSIFIED! Nature of Mission:
CLASSIFIED! Estimated Time
Required: CLASSIFIED! Briefing
Officer: CLASSIFIED! Oh, and
revealing any information about the
mission is treasonous.
Briefing room CRS-4533/gamma
is several sectors away, so the
characters have to go via transtube.
They pile onto a crowded transbot at
the nearest station. There’s the usual
mix of citizens on board, from the
herd of INFRAREDs crowded into the
INFRARED-clearance standing area
above the exhaust grates, to a single
GREEN sitting alone in the spacious
GREEN-and-higher section, with the
plush Leatherish couches and jack-
o-bot servant that goes unused on
99.9% of transtube journeys. En route
to CRS Sector and the briefing room,
the transbot stops between stations.
A host of GREEN goons swarm
onto the transbot, shining torches
into the faces of everyone on board
and scanning their ME cards and/or
tongue tattoos. One INFRARED
down the back panics, feeling the
sudden weight of the Frankenstein
Destroyer propaganda encoded in
genetically engineered wax in his
right ear, and runs for it. His name
is—or was—Vernor-DFD-1, a newly
recruited member of the Frankenstein
Destroyers and easily recognizable
by his overlarge ears. The goons
blast him with a hail of laser fire, and
call in a scrubot team to deal with the
resulting mess—but that INFRARED
traitor is not why they are here. No,
the goons order everyone else off
the transtube carriage, except for
the Troubleshooters. Once the car is
clear, the goons themselves exit the
vehicle with the same swift stomping
of jackboots they arrived by, and the
transtube continues on its journey,
carrying only the Troubleshooters
and suddenly feeling a lot emptier
and lonelier.
27
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ Nightcycle of the Living Dead
Remember Vernon-DFD-1, the INFRARED traitor who was summarily executed
on this very page? (If you don’t remember him, then you have the memory of a
goldfish.) Vernon-DFD-2 was activated soon after his clone predecessor was
killed, and took over whatever vital duties Vernon-DFD-1 was supposed to be
doing. Vernon-DFD-1’s laser-fried body was cleaned up by scrubots, and should
have been recycled in the Soylent RED food vats.
However, there’s a conspiracy to create zombies (as seen on page 3, and if
you’ve forgotten that, then you’ve the memory of a particularly insightful and
accomplished goldfish). Project Reanimator has been diverting corpses from the
recycling vats to its secret laboratories for months now. Vernon-DFD-1 will soon
end up in the Reanimation labs and join the growing army of the re-animated.
But forget Vernon-DFD! (Who?) The Troubleshooters will probably die several
times during this mission, and their bodies—assuming they’re even slightly
intact—will be brought to the laboratories and revived. By the time the living
replacement Troubleshooter clones get to the Project Reanimator Lab (in chapter
four), their zombified counterparts will be there, waiting for them. That will be
dealt with later on, but keep track of which Troubleshooters die and how they
perish… for they will rise again!
And complain.
The journey is Tension 5, with a normal circumstances, Yuri-B-4
drop to Tension 0 during the dark should have been replaced by Yuri-
passage. B-5 a long time ago, but he is much
too paranoid to allow some untried
A few minutes later, the transtube clone of himself take over—he can’t
car takes a sharp right into a disused even trust a copy of his own mind to
maintenance tunnel, and the lights do his job.
go out for a minute. Then, the sign
‘APPROACHING 4533/gamma’ Yuri is fanatically loyal to the
flashes past one window, and the ideal of Alpha Complex, but his
transtube carriage pulls into an personal loyalty to The Computer
officially abandoned station, which is considerably less intense. He is
has been claimed by IntSec as a smart enough to recognize that The
secret briefing room. Computer is fantastically flawed,
even insane, and so he cannot
■ This Briefing Is Not trust it to run the complex. Yuri has
learned to manipulate The Computer
Supposed To Be Fun and the letter of Alpha Complex
(Tension 15) regulations in order to defend what
he sees as their spirit. On the rare
Waiting for the characters on the occasions when he allows himself
dusty transtube platform are four to sleep instead of popping more
heavily armed Vulture Troopers, Asperquaint, he dreams of a happy,
flanking the briefing officer—IntSec secure and peaceful Alpha Complex,
Commander Yuri-B-OGN-4. Yuri is a perfect society built on a huge pile of
a veteran of the ceaseless struggle vaporized traitors. He has no patience
against treason and dissent, and it’s for the double-talk and incompetence
plainly visible on what’s left of his of most Troubleshooters, and will
face. More than half his body has say so. In short, he’s a Straight
been replaced by cyborg implants PARANOIA character in a Classic
and clone-transplant flesh. Under PARANOIA world, and should be
played accordingly.
 2. IT TASTES LIKE TREASON
Yuri-B-OGN-4
Management 13
Interrogation 17
Intimidation 17
Knowing Where the Bodies Are
Buried 19
Stealth 12
High Alert 16
Surveillance 16
Shadowing 16
Being Behind People 18
Violence 10
Energy Weapons 14
Projectile Weapons 14
Hardware 10
WMD Specs and Usage 16
Software 10
IntSec Archive Searches 16
Wetware 12
Pharmatherapy 16
Psychology 16
Bioweapons 16
Mutant Power: Uncanny Luck
(Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Communists (Undercover Agent
for IntSec)
Armor: Blue reflec (E1) will have a security team standing by, In each crate are the following
Weapons: Energy pistol (W3K), and they will swoop in and quell the items:
cone rifle (varies) riot immediately. Any questions? A grubby INFRARED jumpsuit

The Vulture Troopers Once the briefing is completed, Yuri-B A Mandatory Bonus Duty
Management 10 points to some stacked crates behind equipment set, which contains
Intimidation 14 him and says that they contain the all the tools and devices needed
Scowling With Extreme Prejudice Troubleshooters’ assigned equipment to carry out the Troubleshooter’s
16 and disguises. He then limps onto assigned MBD. However, due to
Stealth 8 the transtube car, dragging his leg a slight snafu in the warehouse,
High Alert 12 (paralyzed in a PURGE bombing) all the Troubleshooters have been
Violence 13 behind him. The Vulture Troopers assigned Hygiene Officer kits. As
Energy Weapons 17 march after him, and Yuri speeds far as The Computer is concerned,
Hardware 7 off to fight treason and corruption all the Troubleshooters on this
Software 7 elsewhere. mission are Hygiene Officers.
Wetware 7
Armor: Armor-all (4)
Weapons: Laser rifle (W3K)
■ HPD&MC Psychological Stress And Deconstruction
Analysis Ultraviolence Trigger Phrases

The Troubleshooters’ mission is ‘Hot enough for you?’

as follows: A commissary here in
CRS Sector has been identified as ‘I sure hate The Computer.’
a meeting ground for dissidents and
violent thugs, members of the Death ‘How’s business?’
Leopard society. The Troubleshooters
are to go to the commissary and start ‘Let’s get ready to rumble!’
a riot. Yuri-B insists that the violent
deviants will be unable to resist the ‘I deride your personal value system, for it is at odds with
thrill of a fight, and will join in. Loyal orthodoxy!’
citizens, by contrast, will flee or follow
approved security protocols. Yuri-B ‘What’s happening dude?’

. 28
 SPIN CONTROL
A list of phrases written by a
HPD&MC Psychological Stress
And Deconstruction Analysis
Committee which are, according
to the text, guaranteed to cause
rage and violence in citizens that
fall into Deviancy Profile 05/432/
beta (Psychotically Violent)
through subliminal cues. The
Troubleshooter can try these
phrases when they want to start
a riot—most are of no use, but
a few are coincidentally secret
society recognition codes.
The CRS Sector FunTime Good
Eatery Biofueling Commissary is your
typical Alpha Complex commissary;
simultaneously a fetid mass of rotting
Cold Fun shoved under tables and
into air vents (rather than eat the
stuff), and a sterile environment
cleaned by the regular application
of caustic chemicals. The lights are
too bright, the fans manage to suck
What is your Bidding, O Master
Between leaving the abandoned
transtube station and going to
the cafeteria to start a riot, the
Troubleshooter may wish to check in
with their secret society contacts.
Anti-Mutant: Dirty mutie scum hide
in crowds, to conceal their freak
DNA. Make sure any mutants you
encounter are exposed for what
they are, so they can face the mob
justice of the genetically pure.
Communists: Yuri-B is an
especially dangerous threat to
Communism. Discredit or terminate
him if possible.
Computer Phreaks: Take this fake
ME card. We think it’ll automatically
hack the credit machines in the
commissary, giving you effectively
infinite credits to buy food. Test it.
Corpore Metal: There’s an
important secret project going on
in CRS Sector and we need to keep
it quiet. We need you to keep IntSec
busy by feeding them whatever
false information you can.
Death Leopard: Woo! Riot! Make
sure it spreads! Trash the whole
sector!
FCCC-P: There’s an important
secret project going on in CRS
29
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
out what passes for fresh air without
actually removing the stench of
centuries of electro-fried Hot Fun,
and the seats seem to have been
designed for the ease and comfort
of invertebrates.
Most of the victims of the cafeteria
are INFRARED and RED drones,
but there is a scattered handful of
higher-clearance citizens.
Entrance to the Cafeteria. Yuri and
a squad of GREEN goons are lurking
just down the corridor, waiting for the
riot to start and the opportunity for
them to swoop in and arrest all those
luscious traitors. They are monitoring
the cameras in the cafeteria, but will
wait until the riot is in full swing before
moving in.
Checkpoints. Placed just inside
the entrance. At the first checkpoint,
incoming citizens are scanned
Sector and we need to keep it
quiet. Whatever you do, you have
to convince IntSec that nothing out
of the ordinary is going on here.
Frankenstein Destroyers: We’ve
heard rumors that Pro Tech is testing
a new type of filthy bot, designed to
pass as human! Destroy it at all
costs!
Free Enterprise: See, we’ve got
12,000 gallons of Omni-Sauce
hidden in a secret location. We need
you to ensure that the cafeteria’s
food supplies get destroyed in the
riot, so we can sell it at a huge profit
to starving clones! Profit!
Humanists: We need the Death
Leopard sect to owe us a favor.
Identify the Death Leopards that
IntSec is looking for, then ensure
they don’t get captured.
Illuminati: We’ve discovered that
your hygiene officer is a traitor. What
do you mean, you’re all hygiene
officers? That’s nonsense—
according to computer records,
there’s only one hygiene officer in
your group, and he’s the traitor.
Mystics: Like, we’re opening the
doors of perception by adding stuff
to the food in the CRS cafeteria.
for signs of concealed weapons,
explosives, bioweapons, Commie
propaganda, illegal drugs and other
illegal items. Their ME cards are
scanned to ensure that they are
permitted to use this cafeteria. The
second checkpoint weighs each
citizen as they pass through it, as well
as collecting samples of their breath
(and, occasionally, blood and DNA) to
ensure that the citizen’s consumption
was within approved HPD&MC
standards. A camera/laser array is
mounted atop both checkpoints.
Food Stations. The cafeteria’s food
is provided by a dozen franchises, all
lined up in food stations. Other than
differences in advertising, where they
compete to be as garish as possible,
and wildly different and confusing
special offers (‘OK, Yum-E-Yum
SoyLike is offering a double-extra-
standard size container of FunStix
and a plus-sized Bouncy Bubbly
Make sure no one, y’know, finds
out. Or remembers if they do find
out.
Pro Tech: There’s an important
secret project going on in CRS
Sector and we need to keep it quiet.
Whatever you do, you have to make
sure that a citizen called Joe-FFC
survives the riot!
Psion: One of our psychics is
hidden in a safe house in CRS
Sector. She was injured in an Anti-
Mutant attack on us, and she’s still
very weak. Strong emotions could
injure her! You have to stop the
riot! Or at least ensure it’s a very
calm riot!
PURGE: Troubleshooters are The
Computer’s first line of defense. Use
the chaos of the riot to terminate
as much of the rest of the team as
possible.
Romantics: There’s an important
secret project going on in CRS
Sector. It’s likely some of our agents
are in the cafeteria! Find them and
save them!
Sierra Club: We’ve heard that
there’s a secret route to the outside
in CRS Sector. Find out any
information you can about hidden
exits!
 2. IT TASTES LIKE TREASON
Beverage, while LoyaltyTime gives
a triple-standard size container of
fun-size FunStix and a normal can of
B3…that’s 0.02% smaller than Yum-
E-Yum’s…’) which regular diners
have become adept at deciphering.
Clones new to CRS Sector may find
themselves unwittingly ordering,
say, 50 portions of rancid Cold Fun
if they pick the wrong offer. Remind
the players that wasting food is
treasonous, and that as Hygiene
Officers, they also cannot make a
mess.
There are eight franchises here.To
the right of the entrance are Yum-
E-Yum SoyLike, Café-O-Service,
Chuddies’ and LoyaltyTime; opposite
the entrance are Soylent RED
Foodstand, All Kinds of Fun, Captain
Nutrients and Chez Vatscrape. If the
Troubleshooters are foolish enough
to actually eat at any of these, roll on
the table below.
Food Preparation Centers and
Storage. Situated to the left of the
entrance to the commissary. As all
the food served is actually grown/
fermented/hatched in foodvats, the
only preparation needed is heating
the food and piping it through bulging
plastic pipes to the various franchises.
The pipes hang from the ceiling of
the cafeteria, oozing like curried
intestines. A stray laser shot risks
drowning the cafeteria in grease or
Fun. Notably, extra doses of mood
stabilizers and hormone inhibitors
are added to the food here, from big
chemical drums.
Seating, The centre of this vast room
is packed with unfortunate citizens
trying to choke down their meals.
Most of these citizens are mere laser
fodder, but there are a few citizens
of interest described below. Large
arrays of screens and cameras
hang from the ceiling; the screens
flicker between coverage of the local
FunBall match (between Sectors CRS
and CRV), official announcements of
the glorious forward march of Alpha
Complex and advertisements.
A: Romantics. Dan-R, Katya-R
and Corwin-R, are all part of the
Romantic secret society. Dan-R
knows the location of the cryogen
tubes where the Old Reckoning
corpsicles are being stored (see
page 17) and is attempting to brief
Kayta-R and Corwin-R about their
secret mission. However, since they
know they are under surveillance by
the minions of The Computer, Dan-R
Generic Traitorous Citizen In
The Cafeteria (Works for Dan-
R, Katya-R, Woodrow-O, Other
Citizens)
Management 6
Bootlicking 10
Stealth 8
High Alert 12
Sneaking 12
Violence 4
Energy Weapons 8
Hardware 8
Some Type Of Engineering 12
Software 10
C-Bay 14
Wetware 8
Mutant Power: Dan-R: Levitation
(Power 7), Katya-R: Detect Mutant
Power (Power 4), Corwin-R:
Teleportation (Power 9), Woodrow-
R: Matter Eater, (Power 5).
Secret Society Affiliation:
Romantics (Dan-R, Katya-R, Corwin-
R), Pro Tech (Woodrow-O)
Armor: None
Weapons: Improvised weapons like
trays and stuff (S5W). Woodrow-O
has a sonic pistol (S3W).
must use a secret code. Specifically,
he is building a scale map of the
section of the Underplex where the
cryogen tubes are out of his food.
The SyntheVegBalls that represent

Random Food Related Disaster

1–2 Line of customers is not actually moving at all, ever. Changing lines may be a sign of impatience, impatience is a sign of
unhappiness, happiness is mandatory. Why are you not content to wait, citizen? Are you late for your treasonous meeting with
your Commie contacts?
3–4 Customer Survey. All in line are required to fill out a customer form. Unless the form is read extremely carefully (successful
Management check), then the Troubleshooter fails to notice that he has just signed up to purchase a meal from the franchise
every day for the rest of his life, and that the cost of the meal will automatically be deducted from his ME credit account.
5–6 The cans of B3 being served with this meal were accidentally shaken during transit, and are now explosive when opened.
7–8 The cashier gets every order wrong, but does his best to fix his mistakes. He gets the fixes wrong, too. He’s just taken his
regulation dose of happy pills, though, so he doesn’t get upset about taking half an hour to serve one customer the wrong food.
9–10 As 7–8 above, but this cashier has not taken his medication, and is on the verge of a psychotic break if he’s pushed too far by
one more customer….
11–12 The cashier is a member of a secret society, and mistakes the Troubleshooter for his contact. He attempts to use his secret
society greeting.
13–14 The food is poisonous—well, more poisonous than normal. Unless the Troubleshooter makes a successful Wetware check, he
becomes violently and messily ill.
15–16 The Mystics are attempting to forcibly enlighten people by spiking the food with hallucinogenic drugs.
17–18 The Troubleshooter is served a high-clearance meal pack by mistake, containing a real apple!
19–20 Roll again and apply both catastrophes.

. 30
 SPIN CONTROL
the tube keep getting buried beneath
melting tunnels of Cold Fun. The three
Romantics are incredibly paranoid
about being discovered, but have
only the length of their assigned lunch
breaks to convey the vital secret of the
cryotubes location. Therefore, if any of
the three Romantics suspect they are
being spied on, they immediately spill
the tray with the carefully constructed
food map, move somewhere else in
the cafeteria, and start again.
B: Pro Techies with a Zombie.
Woodrow-O-FFC is one of the
Pro Tech techies working on the
reanimation project, and he had a
recent success—he has reanimated
Joe-FFC, a clerk who used to work
in Woodrow-O’s office before a fatal
misfiling. Joe-FFC is now a Mark
I techno-zombie, one of the first
■ Techno Techno Techno
Techno... Zombie
A fuller description of the techno-
zombies is given on page 17. In short,
the Mark I zombies are resuscitated
corpses whose brains have pretty
much dribbled out their ears thanks
to the reanimation process. While still
capable of basic motor functions like
walking, speaking and eating brains,
they’re not very bright and tend to
blindly follow orders unless distracted
by the need to eat brains.
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
successful Mark I’s. Woodrow-O the orderliness of The Computer’s
has brought Joe-FFC out in public food distribution, then he will react
to test the techno-zombie’s ability with lethal force. While Guy-G is
to metabolize food. Poor Joe-FFC technically on the same side as the
is now sitting in the cafeteria with a Troubleshooters for this mission, he is
bowl of Fun in front of him, and feeling quite likely to end up shooting them.
very confused and jumpy because of
all the bright lights and inedible slime,
and Woodrow-O’s big juicy brain is Guy-G-RTE-2
now looking very tasty to him. Management 9
Interrogation 13
If Joe gets any more stressed, say Bootlicking 13
by a riot starting, or people confusing Stealth 10
him, then he will start trying to eat their Surveillance 14
brains. It’s natural for a zombie to eat Disguise 14
brains, don’t blame the zombie. Violence 10
Energy Weapons 14
C: Agent Guy-G-RTE-2. Guy-G Hardware 6
is an up and coming young IntSec Software 10
agent, the sort of square-jawed, Data Search 14
forthright hero-of-the-Complex that Hacking 14
The Computer would dearly like to Wetware 10
mass-produce. Guy-G is operating Pharmatherapy 14
using the same intelligence as Yuri-
B—that this cafeteria is a breeding
Suggestion 14
Mutant Power: Puppeteer (Power
ground and a meeting place for 13)
terrorists and traitors. He is here to Secret Society Affiliation: Sierra
catch them in the act. He is wearing Club
a RED jumpsuit as part of his cunning Armor: None
disguise. If Guy-G spots anyone Weapons: Energy pistol (W3K)
trying to cause problems or sabotage

The perfected form of the techno-

zombie, the Mark II, retains all of
the intelligence and charm it had
in life, coupled with a desire to
eat brains. It’s all because of their
inability to regenerate neural matter
or something.

Joe-FFC, Zombie
Management 1
Stealth 4
Violence 8
Zombie Combat 14
Hardware 1
Software 1
Wetware 1
Mutant Power: Zombie Resilience
(Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Zombies
Armor: None
Weapons: None

31
 2. IT TASTES LIKE TREASON
D: Registered Mutant. Sitting all on
his own is poor Alan-R-BCC, who
had the courage and loyalty to admit
that he is, in fact, a hideous mutant
freak with a grievously flawed DNA
structure. He’s got the Electroshock
mutation, but is too civic-minded to
use it for personal gain. In fact, up
until he discovered he was a mutant
and registered it, Alan-R was one of
the most loyal and honest citizens
you could ever hope to meet. Now,
several months of prejudice, hate and
constantly being blamed for every
error and problem have instilled a
deep, burning hatred in Alan-R. If he
sees any opportunity, any excuse, to
cut loose with his power and hurt his
tormentors, he will.
Alan-R-BCC
Management 8
Bootlicking 12
Stealth 6
Standing In Such A Way To Hide
The Yellow Stripes 12
Violence 6
Energy Weapons 10
Hardware 10
Electronic Engineering 14
Frying Systems With Electroshock
16
Software 8
Wetware 8
Mutant Power: Electroshock (Power
16)
Secret Society Affiliation: Psion,
as soon as he makes contact,
dammit!
Armor: None
Weapons: None
■ I Predict (Within a Very
Acceptable Margin
of Error) A Riot
So, how do the Troubleshooters start
a riot? Remember, the Death Leopard
conspirators who are believed to be
in the cafeteria aren’t actually there,
so if the Troubleshooters just start
pushing people around and causing
trouble, then no-one will immediately
rise up and join in. They need to be
more creative—or more destructive.
A panicked riot is just as good as a
spate of violent vandalism, so just
shouting ‘fire’ or blasting away with
a laser might do the trick.
Some options include:
Spreading rumors that incite
violence (‘Commie mutant traitors
are coming! Run for your lives!’
or ‘the food’s been tampered with!
Commies are trying to poison us,
and that guy in the corner is their
agent!’)
Tampering with the food. Adding
a nice dose of Thymoglandin
or another combat drug, or
just fiddling with the morass of
chemicals being mixed into the
food could work.
The techno-zombie and the poor
registered mutant are obvious
flashpoints for a riot. Just poke
one of them with a stick until he
explodes in electric death rays/
tries to eat your brain. Watch the
panic spread.
A more subtle option is to disable
some or all of the cameras in
the cafeteria, either through
sabotage, a power cut or just
shooting them. As soon as the
surveillance is lifted, then all the
citizens in the cafeteria might
act on the petty grievances and
hatred they’ve been keeping
suppressed.
There’s a FunBall match going
on between the local CRS Sector
and their rivals in CRV Sector.
Careful commenting on the match
(‘Did you see that foul? You
can’t legally insert a FunBall
Paddletube into that orifice during
a passing forward triple playout
during Red Phase!’) could incite
violence from the more committed
fans.
Just sitting and talking with or
listening to the citizens as they eat
reveals the occasional whisper of
discontent. Oh, it’s not that they’re
not ecstatically wonderfully
joyously HAPPY, friend citizen,
. 32
it’s just that everyone knows that
the workers in CRV sector have
a Sector Efficiency Target that’s
0.02% lower than here in CRS,
but they get exactly the same pay.
Why, those bastards have 0.02%
more leisure time! Death to CRV
Sector!!!
On that note, this is a perfect time
for a bit of propaganda. Stand on
a table and shout ‘Citizens! You
have nothing to lose but your
lunch trays!’
■ So, Anyway, We
Started This Riot...
However the Troubleshooters get
around to starting the riot, it quickly
explodes out of control. Some
enterprising citizens climb up to the
high-pressure pipes in the ceiling and
tear them open, using the ensuing
jets of boiling Hot Fun and chemical
flavorings to smash the camera/
screen arrays. If they haven’t already,
the techno-zombie and the registered
mutant start causing extra chaos.
IntSec spy Guy-G-RTE initially tries
to quell the riot, but is soon reduced
to hiding behind the counter in Café-
O-Service and firing wildly with his
laser.
Regardless of how the riot started, the
Troubleshooters will be menaced by
wandering monsters, or wandering
and bloodthirsty diners anyway.
Some might even get so caught up
in the violence and the maiming
that they end up snacking on fellow
citizens, especially if they see the
zombie doing so.
Soon after the riot begins, Yuri-B’s
squad of GREEN goons charges
toward the cafeteria, unfortunately
arriving at the same time as an
Armed Forces Riot Suppression Unit.
There’s a territorial squabble between
the two groups; they barricade the
doors while they argue over who
has jurisdiction. If it is a violent but
undirected civil disturbance, then
the Armed Forces can go in; if it’s
a deliberate attempt by traitors to
forment insurrection, it’s IntSec’s
 SPIN CONTROL
problem. Eventually, they settle on
getting a megaphone and asking the
rioters if they’re a disturbance or an
insurrection. As the Troubleshooters
will be arrested and punished by the
Armed Forces if the Armed Forces
come charging in, they want IntSec to
get jurisdiction. If the Troubleshooters
do not to anything, then the side
with the bigger guns (Armed Forces)
wins.
Eventually, either IntSec or the
Armed Forces will put the riot down.
The Troubleshooters are arrested
and charged depending on what
they were seen to do. If IntSec
gets jurisdiction, then Yuri-B will
protect the Troubleshooters from the
consequences of their misdeeds,
reducing all penalties by three steps
on the Treason chart (see page
249 of the PARANOIA rulebook).
If Armed Forces get hold of the
Troubleshooters, then they suffer
the full punishment, and Yuri-B
takes custody of them after they are
33
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
punished. Ideally, the characters will
get captured by the Armed Forces,
then have to spin the events in the
cafeteria and the riots they were
responsible for in such a way that they
escape with a lighter punishment.
Again, keep track of anyone killed
during the riot—they will be showing
up as techno-zombies later on.
■ Your Next Mission
After the riots and the ensuring
brainscrubbing/terminations, Yuri-B
(accompanied by his Vulture Trooper
guards) collects the characters and
brings them to an unused storage
room. There, his cybernetic eye
gleaming redly in the darkness, he
tells the Troubleshooters that their
mission for Internal Security is not
yet complete. The Troubleshooters
are to report to Myron-B-RDS-3, a
bureaucrat inside the labyrinthine
bureaucracy of PLC. Myron-B is in
charge of an inquiry into the events at
the CDR Section cafeteria. He is also
under suspicion of being involved with
some sort of conspiracy to defraud
CPU credit allocations to this sector.
The Troubleshooters are ordered
to report to this inquiry and give
evidence, making themselves out to
be heroic defenders of PLC property,
clever and bold and creative, while
still being morally flexible—in short,
they must sell themselves as the
perfect accomplices for Myron-B’s
plan, whatever it is. IntSec recently
terminated several other candidates,
so Myron is likely to be desperate and
will recruit the Troubleshooters.
The PLC Official Inquiry into the Unruly
Behavior And Ensuing Damage
To PLC Property At CDR Sector
Commissary takes place in another
briefing room, all uncomfortable
plastic seats and paperwork. Three
bureaucrats, Myron-B (PLC), Sandra-
B (HPD&MC) and Winston-V (CPU)
are seated at the top of the room,
surrounded by viewscreens that
 2. IT TASTES LIKE TREASON
endlessly repeat footage from the
riot. Dozens of clerks list the damage
inflicted by the riot in excruciating
detail. Every broken spork and
damaged floor tile has been itemized
and photographed, and it is up to the
Inquiry to determine if the damage
was caused by normal wear and tear
(in which case PLC is responsible for
replacing it) or if it was damaged by
the riot (in which case HPD&MC can
be blamed for not keeping the citizens
happy and docile, and they have to
cover the costs of the repairs). It
would all be stultifying boring if it were
not for the constant sniping between
Myron-B and Sandra-B. Winston-V
maintains a godlike detachment from
the whole inquiry—in other words,
■ Introducing Myron-B
Myron-B is the major non-player
character in the next section of
the adventure, so let’s get to know
him. Thanks to his moderately high
position within PLC, Myron-B can
afford to eat well, and it shows. He’s
overweight, and is something of an
epicure, using his secret society
contacts to acquire real food and
delicacies whenever possible (he’s a
member of Free Enterprise). Myron is
jolly, affable, friendly and absolutely
ruthless. He’s been very successful
so far in his career, but he’s now
getting lazy and careless, taking ever
short short-cuts to victory. The sporks
may be his downfall…
he’s dozing peacefully while the
others argue.
Also present at the inquiry are IntSec
Agent Guy-G, the cafeteria supervisor
Frank-Y and ‘innocent bystander’/
Romantic conspirator Kayta-R. The
Troubleshooters are called upon to
give their accounts of what happened
in the riot, with especially reference
to the following items:
128 plastic lunch trays
Floor tiles numbers #534 to
611
Table 5
The life-size model of Captain
Nutrients, last seen at the
service counter of the same
name
Twelve thousand gallons of
Omni-Sauce, flavor 4.
If the characters can work any or all
of those items into their accounts,
pinning the blame squarely on the
failings of HPD&MC, then they will
impress Myron-B greatly. The other
eyewitnesses—Guy-G, Frank-Y
and Katya-R—will nitpick and argue
with the Troubleshooters’ version of
events. Guy-G will imply that all the
Troubleshooters (as well as everyone
else in the cafeteria) was a Commie
Mutant Traitor and should be shot;
Frank-Y will just try to protect himself
from termination by suggesting
that everything that happened in
the cafeteria was someone else’s
fault; Katya-R is there just to ensure
that the Romantic plot was not
discovered.
Regardless of what happens in
the inquiry, the Troubleshooters
will be ordered to report to Myron-
B’s office for a private debriefing
afterwards….

Myron-B-RDS-3
Management 14
Con Games 18
Moxie 18
Oratory 18
Stealth 8
Violence 6
Hardware 10
Habitat Engineering 14
Software 6
Wetware 12
Suggestion 16
Biosciences 16
Food Industry Gossip 18
Mutant Power: Corrosion (Power
10)
Secret Society Affiliation: Free
Enterprise
Armor: None
Weapons: None

. 34
 SPIN CONTROL CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
3. The Sporks, They Call To Me
‘A spork is a perfect metaphor for human existence. It tries
to function as both spoon and fork, and due to this dual
nature, it fails miserably at both. You cannot have soup
with a spork, it is far too shallow; you cannot eat meat
with a spork, the prongs are too small.’—Spork.org on the
metaphorical significance of sporks.

Consider, says Myron-B, the humble spork.

The Troubleshooters are in Myron-B’s plush office. Framed

citations for efficiency and quota attainment line the walls,
as do framed photographs of former rivals of Myron-B being
hauled away to the termination booths. Myron is trying to
woo the Troubleshooters, so he plies them with fine foods,
drugs and other bribes before getting into his pitch.

He shows them a spork. For those unaware of the delights

of the spork, the spork is a plastic utensil that combines
the qualities of the spoon and the fork. Spoon+fork=spork.
All hail the marketing genius who came up with that.
Disposable plastic sporks are used in every cafeteria in
Alpha Complex. The sporks used are all virtually identical,
but are provided by different competing service firms. As so
many sporks are used by Alpha Complex, the rewards for
getting the contract to provide the sporks are staggering.
Now, CRS and the surrounding sectors are all supplied
by Complex Utensils, a major service firm that has been
producing sporks for many years. If the contract could
be taken, then Myron-B’s fortune would be assured. The
contract is up for bidding within a few daycycles, and Myron
is determined to win it. He has just created a new service
firm, Spork Supply, which has a tradition of producing quality
plastic sporks dating back whole minutes. Spork Supply
is going to win the contract out from under the nose of
Complex Utensils. If the Troubleshooters help Myron-B and
Spork Supply, then they will share in the immense profits.
Myron-B then reaches into his desk and produces a
second spork. He handles it gingerly, for this second
spork is discolored and stained greeny-blue. Parts of it
are crumbling, and it is obvious that putting any pressure
whatsoever on the spork will break it. Myron-B is well
aware of the condition of the spork, but puts a brave face
on and presents it as the biggest breakthrough in Spork
Technology since the development of the fourth tine. The
chief difference between the sporks, Myron explains, is that
the first spork costs 0.001 credits to produce, but the second
spork costs…nothing. Nothing at all. In that 0.001 credit
difference is the ultimate advantage of Spork Supply.
If the Troubleshooters demand to know how Myron can
obtain free sporks, then Myron will smile broadly and tell
them that that information is not available at their security
clearance, and that another team is taking care of the
supply side of spork supply. He wants them for another
purpose entirely—advertising!
■ The Dark Side of the Spork (Tension 3)
If Myron-B and Spork Supply are going to succeed, then
they need to convince the PLC purchasers that their sporks
are better than the Complex Utensils sporks. Complex
Utensils are better on such prosaic and dull aspects like
‘actual functionality as a spork’ or ‘not falling apart on touch’,
so Spork Supply needs an absolutely killer advertising pitch
to win. The contract is not decided on price alone, but also
on focus group happiness. The Troubleshooters need to
come up with some way of selling useless sporks.
Although Myron-B won’t tell the Troubleshooters exactly
where he is getting his sporks from (that comes up later),
it is obvious that the Spork Supply sporks are absolutely
ancient, so old that the cheap plastic used in their
manufacture is rotting. It’s not a problem, though—it’s a
challenge!

Myron is getting his sporks from a vast and ancient storage
facility, buried deep beneath Alpha Complex, filled with
various supplies, a bunker designed to provide for whole
sectors during a prolonged nuclear war. While the bunker
contains all sorts of things—including the cryogenic tubes
that the Romantics intend to revive using the zombie
technology—all Myron has recovered thus far is a pocket
full of sporks and a dream of conquest.
The Troubleshooters need to come up with an advertising
scheme that spins the following facts:
Spork Supply Sporks don’t actually work as sporks.
They crumble when you pick them up.
And that mold growing in them might be poisonous.

35
 3. THE SPORKS, THEY CALL TO ME
Sporks are provided for free,
therefore it makes absolutely no
difference to the average clone-
in-the-corridor how much the
sporks cost.
No one likes sporks anyway.
If they want to script little vidshows
to sell their spin on sporks, let them.
Skills like Suggestion can be used.
Let the Troubleshooters plot and
scheme until they’ve come up with
their initial pitch, then assign the pitch
a score on each of the above five
points, as follows:
-1: Actively works against the
character’s desired message.
0: The characters haven’t even
attempted to address this point in
their pitch.
1: Eh, it’s OK, but pedestrian. No
inspiration, no flair, no chutzpah.
2: Clever! Funny! Convincing!
3: Your players are geniuses; write
down all they say and sell it to real-
What is your Bidding, O Master
Anti-Mutant: Mutants reveal their
powers under stress and pressure,
and what’s better for providing stress
and pressure than…a confession
booth? Ensure that the spork
testers are tested for mutation.
Communists: Spork Supply is
rumored to be interfering with the
Underplex, which is the one safe
refuge from the hated capitalists and
IntSec. Sabotage Spork Supply’s
plans at all costs!
Computer Phreaks: Yay!
Download a copy of the confession
booth’s software so we can hak it
omg yays!
Corpore Metal: An experimental
CHASM-class robot got stolen
from a laboratory. Recover it if
possible.
Death Leopard: There’s this clone,
Ade-R-ADE, who’s very influential
in focus groups. We think he’s got
potential. Recruit him.
FCCC-P: The blessed wisdom of
The Computer must be reinforced.
We intend to carve inspiring
messages onto every spork, thus
spreading the electric gospel.
. 36
world spork companies. Retire and
live off the proceeds, moving to a
tropical island and run PARANOIA
for nubile girls in skimpy color-coded
bikinis.
Add up the scores, giving you a total
from –5 (oh, just shoot your players) to
15 (cheats!). This final result becomes
a temporary Spork Propaganda skill
for all of the Troubleshooters. This
works just like a normal Propaganda
skill, in that a successful Spork
Propaganda skill check can give the
target a rating in Spork Propaganda.
It is up to the Troubleshooters to get
enough Spork Propaganda to their
victims—er, the general public to
assure the ultimate victory of Spork
Supply!
Once the Troubleshooters have
come up with their plan, then they
must convince a focus group of five
randomly selected citizens from CRS
Sector—move onto Focus Group of
the Damned.
Ensure that the message ‘Friend
Computer Saves My Soul’ is placed
on the sample sporks shown to the
test subjects.
Frankenstein Destroyers: There
is a new bot design, the CHASM,
which is designed to delve into the
Underplex. The prototype must
be destroyed! The bots must be
stopped from taking over yet another
section of Alpha Complex.
Free Enterprise: Find out where
Spork Supply is getting its sporks,
then pressure Myron-B into joining
Free Enterprise.
Humanists: We need to foment
dissent so we can rally the common
citizen against The Computer’s
regime. Make sure that the spork
situation is as unpleasant as
possible. Ensure the worst spork
wins.
Illuminati: Titus-I, the R&D director
in CRS Sector, is up to something,
and we don’t know what. Bring us
his brain.
Mystics: Hey, you know how you’re
a hygiene officer? See if any of the
cleaning chemicals get you high.
■ Intermission (Tension 3)
If the Troubleshooters are having
trouble remembering exactly why
they are involved with Myron-B,
then have Yuri-B show up and be
scary at them, and remind them
that they are working for IntSec to
bring down Myron-B and discover
how he intends to defraud CPU.
The Troubleshooters may also wish
to contact their respective secret
societies for new missions. If they
don’t wish, then their secret societies
contact them.
■ Focus Group of the
Damned (Tension 6)
The Troubleshooters need to
convince five randomly selected
citizens of the virtues of Spork Supply
sporks. If you’re feeling especially
schizophrenic today, then you can
play all the focus group members
simultaneously, but it is probably
easier to have them come in one
at a time. The focus group takes
place in a repurposed confession
Only, don’t do it to yourself, ‘cos
some of them might be toxic. Use
the other Troubleshooters instead.
Pro Tech: Some of our agents
have placed a CHASM-class bot
in the Underplex to protect a secret
project. If you encounter it, make
sure no one meddles with it.
Psion: Our psychics have detected
the unmistakable signatures of pure
strain humans in the Underplex. If
The Computer’s agents get their
hands on the pure strain DNA, they
could reset the clone banks and
retard the evolution of humanity.
Locate and destroy these pure
strains.
PURGE: Titus-I is a threat to
our operations in CRS Sector.
Terminate him.
Romantics: Look, make sure
no one enters the Underplex
underneath CRS Sector. Seriously.
We’ve got stuff down there we want
to keep safe.
Sierra Club: Have you found that
secret entrance to the outside
yet?
 SPIN CONTROL
booth (or booths, if you’re running all
five encounters at the same time),
with the Troubleshooters watching
through cameras and speaking
through microphones from a control
room nearby. The Troubleshooters
have access to the full range of the
confession booth’s gadgets while
running the tests, including:
Voice stress analyzers and
autonomic response probes.
Brainwave monitors.
Infrared cameras.
Environmental controls, allowing
them to adjust heat/humidity/
oxygen content within the booth.
Drug dispensers and injectors.
Brainscrubbers.
Disintegrator.
Obvious abuse of the booth’s
systems will be punished, but the
Troubleshooters can play at being
scary interrogators as much as they
want. Note that citizens are paid ten
credits for focus group participation.
At the end of each pitch, every
one of the characters may make a
Spork Propaganda check. Every
successful check gives one point
of Spork Propaganda to the focus
group participant. Therefore, the
focus group victims will be leaving
this scene with a Spork Propaganda
skill equal to or lower than the total
number of Troubleshooters.
Use the generic traitor stats from
page 7 for most of these citizens.
Joe-R-AGV-3 is your generic clone,
with no real distinguishing features or
tics. He’s loyal to The Computer, in
a bovine sort of way, and advanced
in security clearance only by a lucky
mischance. Consider Joe-R the
baseline by which the Troubleshooters
can calibrate their pitch. He doesn’t
care about sporks, and assumes that
if The Computer’s servants always
picked Complex Utensils before,
they’ll probably do so again. Surely
37
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
The Computer didn’t make a mistake
all that time? If the Troubleshooters
can convince him that Spork Supply
sporks are a brave new step forward,
he’ll be easily convinced.
Next is Tara-R-UDD-2, a spy for
Complex Utensils who have gotten
word of the Spork Supply conspiracy.
She’ll pretend to be very interested
in their ideas, asking all sorts of
insightful, penetrating questions and
trying to work out the weaknesses
and failings, but more importantly the
source of the mysterious sporks.
Third is Ade-R-ADE-4. Back when
he was still on his first clone, he was
deemed to be within 0.03% of the
ideal average—just like Joe-R is now.
Therefore, Ade-R got selected for
focus group after focus group after
focus group; while he has become
jaded, cynical and predatory. Since
his only function in Alpha Complex
is now participating in focus groups,
he deliberately tries to sabotage the
groups he’s part of, so they have to
call him back again and again and
pay him again and again. He has
been in thousands of focus groups,
so he knows all the pitches and all
the tricks. (Specifically, he’ll wire the
brainwave monitors and autonomic
response probes in the confession
booth together, so they give no signal,
and keeps an eye on the disintegrator
to make sure the Troubleshooters
don’t zap him—he lost his last two
clones that way.)
The fourth clone in the focus group
is supposed to be Ian-R-POR, but he
has been knocked out and stuffed into
a storage locker down the corridor
from the confession booth. Instead,
the fourth clone is IntSec agent
Guy-G in a disguise. Guy-G now
suspects the Troubleshooters of
being dangerous traitors (he knows
nothing of Yuri-B’s involvement with
the mission, and would still suspect
them even if he did—Guy-G considers
Yuri-B to be a borderline renegade,
and the power politics of IntSec are
nightmarishly complex). Guy-G will
pretend to be a dull RED, but his main
focus is on learning more about the
Troubleshooters and catching them
out in some treasonous statement.
Finally, the fifth test subject is Helene-
O-JNS, who’s in Power Services.
She was assigned to this focus
group because she is currently on
a lighter duty roster (and heavier
course of medication) following a
traumatic incident a few days ago in
the Underplex. She was sent down
to a service duct to repair a broken
power line, and ended up wandering
into the bunker that contains Myron-
B’s spork supply and the frozen Old
Reckoners. She was attacked by a
wandering zombie, who ate her entire
team. The combination of blood-
freezing terror and the happy drugs
Helene was given after she made
her way back to the Complex proper
have blocked most of the memories
of the attack. All she remembers is
a dark, lurking terror—and sporks.
So, when the Troubleshooters start
their spork pitch, Helene reacts by
screaming and gibbering. Feel free
to go Lovecraftian here.
Once Helene-O has been convinced
of the wonders of Spork Supply sporks
(or has been dragged out screaming),
then the effectiveness of their
campaign is evaluated. The Computer
will analyze the brainwave readings
of the five test subjects, to determine
how happy they are with the new
sporks. Our glorious electronic friend
announces ‘Attention Spork Supply
Employees. Your evaluation period
is over. The Happiness Index of
your Friendly Focus Group will now
be analyzed and compared to that
of the other bidders for Contract
PLC/com/4433232/CD* Sectors.
Thank you for your patience.
Please Stand By. Processing….’
In game terms, if the combined Spork
Propaganda of the victims is greater
than 10, then the Spork Supply
sporks will be one step closer to being
approved, and therefore one step
closer to snatching the vital supply
contract away from Complex Utensils!
Of course, if the Troubleshooters
have failed to get the subjects to Love
The Sporks, then they had better
improvise—immediately. Display
screens show The Computer’s slow
accessing of the confession booth’s
records, so the Troubleshooters have
a few minutes to act. They could fake
 3. THE SPORKS, THEY CALL TO ME
the records, leap into the confession
booth themselves and really, really
love the sporks, rewire the booth, or
force the test subjects back in for a
retrial. However they solve this, it will
be utterly treasonous.
Once The Computer and the PLC
Purchasing Committee are convinced
that switching to Spork Supply sporks
will not noticeably lower the Happiness
Index of CRS Sector, Myron-B calls
the Troubleshooters back to his
office. There’s a problem….
■ Into The Depths (Tension
7 until they reach the
Underplex then Tension 0)
Myron-B explains that he—well, a
Troubleshooter team investigating
a 32nd Flavor Violation for PLC, who
all conveniently died—located a
lost storage bunker deep beneath
Alpha Complex, containing millions,
perhaps even billions of sporks.
These free sporks are the foundation
of Spork Supply’s fortunes. While the
Troubleshooters were convincing
people to love the sporks, other Spork
Supply employees went down into
the Underplex to recover more of
the sporks. They haven’t returned.
Myron-B needs the Troubleshooters
to go down into the storage bunker
and bring back, oh, about 50,000
sporks immediately.
■ Failure, Glorious
Failure (Tension 6)
If the Troubleshooters fail to convince
the subjects of the virtues of Spork
Supply sporks, then Myron-B is less
than pleased. There is still a chance
for them to salvage the contract,
though—their rivals at Complex
Utensils are about to do their focus
group testing. If the Troubleshooters
return to the testing area and
sabotage the happiness index text,
then perhaps Spork Supply still has
a chance….
Complex Utensil’s pitch can be
summarized as ‘Complex Utensil
Sporks—Considered Adequate For
Use In Alpha Complex Commissaries
Since Year 164 Of The Computer.
They’re Sporky!’ It’s staggeringly
boring, as an accurate pitch (‘we’ve
been taken over by an apocalyptic cult
made up of several secret societies
who are dedicated to bring about
the Easter Cycle of Zombie Doom,
and we also make sporks’) would be
much more exciting in a treasonous
sort of way.
Assuming the Troubleshooters
manage to sabotage the Complex
Utensils pitch enough to keep Spork
Supply in the running, move onto the
next scene.
. 38
Myron-B has a map that leads to the
bunker, sketched by the last survivor
of the previous Troubleshooter team.
The bunker is located directly beneath
the CRS Sector nuclear reactor—a
fact that will become important later
on.
The Troubleshooters get to the
starting point of #1 by being lowered
down a very, very deep shaft. The
shaft is midway along the CRS-CDQ
sector tube line, in the very middle
of the magnetic track. Trains pass
by every two minutes. Myron-B
provides the Troubleshooters with
a winch and pulley mechanism that
attaches to the very top of the shaft,
and so is unaffected by passing
trains. Troubleshooters not in the
shaft, or in niches along the side of
the tunnel, will be splattered when a
train zooms down the tube. It takes
45 seconds to lower a Troubleshooter
down the shaft, and someone has to
stay at the bottom or top of the shaft
to run the mechanism. Since all the
Troubleshooters trust each other,
this will not cause any problems
whatsoever.
1. The shaft down to the Underplex
ends in a pumping station. A sign
on the door reads AIR EXCHAGE
#322—DO NOT OPEN IF EXT. RAD
> 200.’ Massive but silent machines
line the walls of the room, dating back
to a time before Alpha Complex was
 SPIN CONTROL
built. Once, these were waiting for
nuclear war, for replenishing the air
in the bunker complex beyond. Now,
they’re buried beneath uncounted
levels of corridor and briefing room,
architected by an idiot machine.
2. This corridor is marked on the map
as being ‘endless’ and it certainly
seems to be. It stretches off into
the darkness in either direction. The
corridor is lined with identical doors,
all neatly numbered. The remains of
a sign reading ‘DO NOT ENTER’ lie
on the ground—it’s been lasered into
bits, and the Troubleshooters cannot
tell which door it once hung from.
That said, it’s not too hard to work out
which door leads to the next corridor,
as it is the only one that isn’t locked.
If the Troubleshooters open any of the
other doors, or explore the corridors,
then they’re bravely going off the
track of this adventure, and you’re
pretty much on your own (or at least,
you’re best served by grabbing a copy
of the Underplex sourcebook and
rapidly coming up with either a new
plot or a way to chase the characters
back to here. We could have avoided
this whole problem by not including
an alluring corridor going off into the
trackless depths of Alpha Complex,
but sometimes you want to hint at
vast and ancient labyrinths of the
night, of decaying machinery waiting
for an apocalypse that never came.)
Some ideas for encounters:
Another door opens onto a spiral
staircase, going up. There’s a
deep thrumming noise coming
from far above, and the air feels
strangely warm and…prickly.
This is a back door to the nuclear
reactor far above. They’ll be back
this way later…(see Paranoia of
the Dead, page 26).
Beyond one door, there’s an
office, lined with yellowing papers
and three-ring binders. A corpse
sits behind the desk, dressed
in a uniform that might look like
a really old-fashioned ancestor
of the common Alpha Complex
jumpsuit. He or she obviously
committed suicide with the
antique sidearm still clutched in
the corpse’s bony hand.
39
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Another door hides another office;
here, the Troubleshooters find an
antique computer (small c) which,
if reactivated, can give a partial
list of the contents of the bunker.
Along with the ‘Multipurpose
Cutlery Packs (1,250,000)’, there’s
also ‘Cryogenic Tubes (200)’,
‘Biochem Survival Suits (8,000)’,
‘Morally Uplifting Entertainment
(50,000)’, ‘Universal Religious
Texts (10,000)’, ‘Historical
Relics (1)’, ‘Synthetic Burger
Patties (10,000,000)’ and most
intriguingly of all, ‘WMD (4)’.
Another door in the corridor
leads to a dusty and abandoned
briefing room. There’s a monitor
at one end playing part of an
old recording, but the disc is so
scratched that only a few seconds
of the video plays. A stern-faced
man in a uniform says ‘—main
vigilant, maintain security, and
keep your survival gear rea—’.
Over and over and over.
If the characters keep exploring
the corridor, then they will find
more empty barracks, vast
pumping stations and air-
recyclers, hydroponics bays that
have turned into jungles, and
huge empty missile silos. And
probably mutants and stuff, who
chase them back to the plot.
Anyway, back to the plot.
3. This room is filled with large
crates, containing various engine
components and spare parts.
The Corpore Metal part of Project
Reanimator was persuaded to
contribute to the defense of the project.
The Romantics are slowly defrosting
and zombifying the cryogenically
preserved Old Reckoners down
the corridor, so they wanted to
make sure that their efforts went
undisturbed. When the team sent
down by Myron-B to recover the
sporks ran into Project Reanimator, it
was decided that the bunker needed
protection immediately. Corpore Metal
sympathizers therefore ‘borrowed’ a
small tunnel-warfare warbot from
an Armed Forces laboratory. The
bot, Confined/Hostile Area Security
Measure, Mark I (CHASM Mk. I)
was stolen from the lab before its
bot brain had been uploaded with the
normal basic orientation package. It
was activated for the very first time
only a few hours ago. CHASM was
programmed to prevent anyone from
entering room #4, and it is desperately
trying to find meaning.
Now, poor CHASM is a smart little
bot, but it has had to come up with a
working model of the universe based
on the orders ‘Don’t leave this room,
and don’t let anyone else go past
you.’ It’s having a little electronic
existential crisis, where it wonders
if there is anything else beyond the
room it knows, and if ‘anyone else’
actually means other individuals (it’s
never encountered another individual
before the Troubleshooters arrive)
or if it is something deeper, an
admonition to ensure that it achieves
total integration of its consciousness.
When the Troubleshooters enter this
room, CHASM starts following and
observing them, but it will question
them as to the meaning of life and
purpose of existence before it starts
blasting them. Play CHASM as a
precocious, overly serious, earnest
and irritating teenager, who has just
discovered the basics of philosophy
and is now going to annoy everyone
around it with questions about
solipsism and the meaning of life.
The Troubleshooters may be able to
bluff their way past the troubled bot
by engaging it in philosophical debate
(‘Yes, they told you to shoot anyone
C.H.A.S.M.
Management 4
Philosophy 10
Stealth 4
Surveillance 8
Violence 14
Agility 18
Energy Weapons 18
Field Weapons 18
Hardware 10
Habitat Engineering 14
Sonic Scanners 16
Software 4
Wetware 4
Armor: 4
Weapons: Laser rifle (W3K),
flamethrower (S3K)
 3. THE SPORKS, THEY CALL TO ME
who tries to get past you, but are you
sure what “shoot” actually means?’),
or at least confuse it enough to run
past. CHASM will not leave this room
(unless the Troubleshooters break
down the bot’s perception of reality
to such a degree that it can no longer
tell what a room is).
4. Rooms #4, #5 and #6 are all narrow
walkways, hanging over a deep
black pit. A mechanical sound, like
the rumbling of some titanic engine,
echoes up from the darkness below.
The walls of the chasm are lined
with concrete. The three rooms here
at the top of the pit are divided by
metal walls.
The walkway leading from this room
to the main bunker (#7) has been cut,
quite recently, using a laser cutting
torch (by Project Reanimator minions,
who retreated this way after deploying
CHASM). It might be possible to jump
across the gulf, but it’s a safer option
to keep going onto #6.
5. Technically, rooms #4 and #6 are
also bottomless pits, but they at least
have narrow walkways running from
door to door. There is a door leading
into #5 from both #4 and #6, but on
the other side of the door is nothing
but a very, very big drop.
6. According to the annotations on the
sketch map, room #6 has a monster
in it. The only ‘monster’ here is a
huge machine, located in the shaft
far below this room. Whatever the
purpose of the machine was, it has
been forgotten for centuries. The
machine is still active, however,
doing whatever it was supposed to
do despite the rust and mold covering
it. Every few minutes, some titanic
gear moves and the machine lets
out a nightmarish groaning noise that
echoes up the shaft like the growling
of some horrific beast. Conveniently,
these irregular grinds and moans
coincide exactly with breaks and
pauses in the Troubleshooters’
conversation, happening whenever
would seem most intimidating.
Troubleshooter #1: Don’t be an idiot!
There’s no such thing as monsters.
GRAAAAUGGGGHHHHH!
. 40
Troubleshooter #2: What was that
then?
Troubleshooter #1: Er. An echo.
Troubleshooter #2: The echo of you
saying ‘monsters’ sounds like that?
Troubleshooter #1: Yes. Yes it
does.
Troubleshooter #2: Say monsters
then.
Troubleshooter #1: (whispers)
Monsters.
Troubleshooter #2: You only
whispered that!
Troubleshooter #1: Fine! Fine!
MONSTERS!
Troubleshooter #2: ….
Troubleshooter #1: Well, it’s not an
echo. But nothing else happened, so
I advocate we ignore that noise we
didn’t hear and mo—
GRAAAAUGGGGHHHHH!
Troubleshooter #2: You want to move
on? Go right ahead. You go through
the door first.
There’s absolutely nothing dangerous
here, although the walkway over the
pit is a bit rickety.
7. This is the storage bunker. It is
a cavernous chamber, stretching
off into the darkness. Crates are
everywhere, stacked in neat rows.
They are all labeled with a cryptic
notation of numbers and letters, and
can contain anything. Think of the
warehouse from the end of Raiders
of the Lost Ark crossed with a 50’s
nuclear bunker.
Shortly before the Troubleshooters
arrived in the bunker, a team from
Project: Reanimator came down to
the bunker to test the latest version
of the techno-zombie technology,
a necessary stepping stone on the
path to full re-animation. The techno-
zombies turned on them and ate
them. The clones of the Reanimator
team are now heading back down
to the bunker, carrying considerably
more firepower this time. However,
until they arrive, the Troubleshooters
are in the bunker with a pack of brain-
hungry Mark I techno-zombies.
A: Stacked in this corner are
dozens and dozens of cryogenic
tubes, covered in ice and beads of
moisture. About two-thirds of the
■ Mark I Techno Zombies
The Mark Is are almost mindless
killing machines, capable of doing
little more than stumble around,
moan ‘braaaaainnns’ and eat people.
They’re only slightly dumber than the
average drugged-out INFRARED,
although a lot more violent.
All Mark Is have their Management,
Hardware, Software and Wetware
scores reduced to 1, and lose any
specialties in those scores. Their
Stealth scores are halved. Their
Violence is unchanged, and they
gain the Narrow specialty of ‘Zombie
Combat’. This works just like Unarmed
Combat, but is limited to just clawing
at people, ripping off heads and
battering at barriers.
Mark Is lose their mutant powers, but
gain the Zombie Resilience power
instead. This power has two effects.
Firstly, it can be used just like a lower-
level form of the Adrenaline Control
mutation, making the zombies strong
enough to smash through doors and
rend bodies limb from limb. Secondly,
Zombie Resilience acts like a form of
armor. If the zombie is injured, make
a Zombie Resilience roll. For every
four points in the margin of success,
reduce the damage by one step.
Management 1
Stealth 4
Violence 8
Zombie Combat 14
Hardware 1
Software 1
Wetware 1
Mutant Power: Zombie Resilience
(Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Zombies
Armor: None
Weapons: None
tubes contain frozen people, dressed
in strangely old-fashioned jumpsuits
with expressions of alarm and terror
on their faces. Several tubes have
been recently opened. Lying toppled
in the middle of the floor is a strange
contraption, which looks like a cross
between a wheelchair, a docbot, a
MemoMax machine and some sort of
torture device designed by the inbred
offspring of a conference of sadistic
 SPIN CONTROL
drug-crazed dentists who were lost
on a deserted island for generations,
with nothing to do save conceive
both more dentists and more fiendish
ways of removing plaque. Several
push-carts of cybernetic devices and
surgical tools lie scattered around it.
This is the Mark I Reanimator, which
produces Mark I techno-zombies.
■ Reanimator Technology
The techno-zombies are animated
using a cocktail of drugs and other
chemicals, coupled with a jolt of
electricity (why meddle with the
classic solution?). The core of the
Reanimator device, then, is a two-
foot long needle that crackles with
electricity. If the target body is too
badly damaged, then cybernetic
replacement parts are attached to
get the corpse ready for reanimation.
In game terms, then, the basic
Reanimator can reanimate a Dead
citizen; if the citizen was Maimed
first, then a more elaborate procedure
involving cybernetics is needed. The
dumb Mark I zombies can instinctively
jam a Reanimator needle into a
corpse; smarter Mark IIs are needed
if cybernetics have to be used.
Note that with the implantation of a
very simple computer chip, a corpse
whose brain has been removed and
devoured can be reanimated as a
Mark I…
Also here are the corpses of the
six Reanimator technicians. Careful
examination reveals that they were
all murdered by having their skulls
cracked open and their brains
removed.
B: All the sporks you could ever
want.
When the Troubleshooters explore
the storeroom, the zombies will attack
at some point. The techno-zombies
want the Troubleshooters’ brains, and
will hunt them all over the bunker and
the connecting tunnels. Use every
zombie movie cliché you can think of
as the techno-zombie horde stalk the
Troubleshooters. Pick them off one by
one as the Troubleshooters struggle
to barricade themselves in a safe
corner, or fight to reach their escape
41
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
route. Have the stragglers,
the slow-footed and the
slow-witted torn apart by
ravening zombies. Have
zombies burst in through
some back door. Make sure
someone gets bitten—the
techno-zombies don’t
spread their curse through
biting, but it’ll still make the
players paranoid. Let some
zombie get dismembered,
then have the various bits
continue to crawl after the
Troubleshooters. The Type
Is are remarkably resistant
to laser fire, because of
their undead nature and
still-icy flesh.
Let the Troubleshooters
run until it seems as if they
are all totally, completely,
inescapably doomed—then
the replacement Project
Reanimator technicians turn up,
eager to avenge the deaths of their ■ Hi, We’re The
former selves with flamethrowers Replacement Reanimators
and very big guns. In fairly short
order, they blast the faulty techno- The Project Reanimator team is led
zombies away, and will do the same by Gregor-Y-CGS-3, who has a vivid
to any Troubleshooters who resist. memory of recently being eaten by a
The characters are rounded up and horde of ravenous techno-zombies
marched through another anonymous and is not happy about it. Their
door and a maze of corridors, until new mission is to disable the active
they arrive at a large elevator—which techno-zombies by shooting their
brings the Troubleshooters into the legs off—the techno-zombies can be
very heart of Project Reanimator. refitted with cybernetic parts easily.
If the occasional stray shot takes
Gregor-Y-CGS and his Team a zombie’s head off, or punctures
Management 8 a Troubleshooter, they’re not too
Intimidation 12 concerned.
Stealth 12
Sneaking 16
Violence 10
■ If They Shoot Their
Energy Weapons 14 Way Out...
Hardware 8 If the Troubleshooters somehow
Software 10 escape both the Mark I techno-
Wetware 12 zombies and the clones of the Project
Medical 16 Reanimator hit squad, then they can
Sticking Reanimator Chemicals escape back to Spork Supply and
into Frozen Corpses 18 Myron-B. Myron will then send the
Mutant Power: Nothing worth team to break into Complex Utensils’
mentioning (Power 10) warehouse to sabotage their spork
Secret Society Affiliation: Project supply, which with a bit of judicious
Reanimator (mostly Pro Tech or railroading can lead into moving on to
Romantics) chapter four. Ah, players—they’re so
Armor: Reflec (E1) damn cute when they think they have
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K) and freedom of choice.
slugthrowers (W3K)
4. It’s Alive
Life and death appeared to me ideal
bounds, which I should first break
through, and pour a torrent of light
into our dark world.
—Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
The elevator brings the
Troubleshooters into the heart of
Complex Utensils, PLC.
There are few sporks here; Complex
Utensils is much more about raising
the dead than handy multipurpose
cutlery. There are, however, plenty
of high-tech gadgets, medical
scanners, bubbling vats of chemicals,
disembodied brains, cybernetic
parts and other non-spork, pro-
necromancy devices scattered
around the cathedral-like space. In
the light shed by the occasional arc
of electricity, the Troubleshooters
can see dozens of other citizens.
Some are wearing jump suits, others
lab coats, others ornate robes with
embroidered circuitry platforms. Still
others have bot bits.
Alarmingly, there are large cages
standing near the elevator. These
cages contain ravening Mark I techno-
zombies. Observant Troubleshooters
notice a familiar face among the pallid
horde of brain-hungry monsters—
Vernon-DFD-1, the poor citizen
zapped at the very start of this
adventure (see page 4). (If lots of
Troubleshooters got killed earlier in
the scenario, then feel free to throw a
few into the cages as Mark Is too, but
make sure to keep most of the dead
back for resurrection as Type IIs in a
few minutes….)
Project Reanimator is an ungainly
alliance of four different secret
societies. The leaders of the secret
society cells here in CDR Sector
form the ruling council of Project
Reanimator—at least, they do until
they start getting replaced by zombie
versions of themselves. The Mark
II techno-zombies behave similarly
to their pre-death selves, but are
more loyal to each other than are
the originals.
■ As Is Traditional, I
Shall Now Explain My
Plan In Devilish Detail
Before Executing You
The leader of the Project Reanimator
team, Gregor-Y stands forward
proudly and informs the assembled
conspirators that he captured the
Troubleshooters in the Underplex
bunker, where they—no doubt
acting under the orders of the dark
forces arrayed against Project
Reanimator*—were attempting to
sabotage the final Mark I tests.
Gregor-Y further suggests that the
intruders be thrown into the zombie
cages for ‘neural matter recycling’—
i.e., braaaainns.
* Apart from a few particular clever IntSec
agents (like Yuri-B), Project Reanimator has
gone unnoticed by the majority of Alpha
Complex’s departments, conspiracies, societies,
spies, counter-spies, informers and so on.
Despite this, the Reanimators are convinced
that dark and sinister forces are conspiring
against them, and that Armed Forces warbots
will be smashing down the doors of Complex
Utensils any daycycle now. Paranoia—it’s not
just for Troubleshooters anymore.
With an imperious gesture, Titus-I-5
rejects Gregor-Y’s suggestion, saying
‘nonsense! It is too late for anyone
to stop us!’ and instead bounds up
to a platform at the top of the room.
There is a large machine, similar to
the Mark I Reanimator device the
Troubleshooters encountered in the
Underplex, on the platform, wrapped
around another cryogenic tube. Titus
switches the machine on, and the
assembled Reanimators gasp. Titus-I
shushes them, then declaims:
Friends! Citizens! Partners in
this great enterprise! The glory
of the Easter Cycle is upon us!
In accordance with the ancient
prophecies from the Times Before,
the day when the dead rise and give
chocolate ovoids and presents and
joy and happiness to all is at hand!
Through the miracle of our science,
we have fulfilled the prophecies!
Now, the dead rise!
He presses another button on the
Reanimator machine. Mists billow as
. 42
the cryo-tube containing the corpse
of Titus-I-4 is cracked open and the
machine goes to work. There’s a
whirring of blades and the hiss of
seared flesh as the corpse is filleted,
injected with alarmingly-colored
liquids, augmented with cybernetic
bits and jump-started with a huge
blast of electricity. Titus-I-5, never
one to miss a classic line, shouts
‘It’s alllllive!’ when he sees his former
clone body twitch and move.
The reanimated Titus-I-4 rises from
the grave. The Troubleshooters catch
a brief glimpse of his face, just long
enough to realize that the reanimated
zombie is almost identical to Titus-I-5.
Then, the zombie Titus-I-4 lunges at
Titus-I-5 and pulls him down; the two
vanish into the mists, and the sounds
of the Reanimator machine starting
up again can clearly be heard.
Then, the zombie cages open (the
newly zombified Titus-I-4 just grabbed
a remote control from his clone
successor), and chaos ensues.
■ Cruel, Cruel Hubris
(Still Tension 0!)
Gregor-G is the first to die as the
Mark I techno-zombies swarm out
of their cages and attack the crowd.
The reactions of the crowd vary—
while some of the FCCCPers and
Romantics welcome the zombies,
believing this to be the Easter Cycle,
others do the sensible thing and
run for their lives, or open up with
laser fire. The Troubleshooters
have a chance to escape now, if
they wish. They will be pursued by
both ravenous zombies and Project
Reanimator security forces, and run
into the security forces who soon get
deployed to deal with the growing
crisis.
The zombies spill out of the Complex
Utensils factory and into the corridors
and offices of CRS sector. It’s mass
panic as the zombies maim and kill
everyone in their path. The Reanimator
machines run constantly, converting
the fallen into more Mark Is and Mark
IIs. Within a few minutes of the initial
 SPIN CONTROL
Project Reanimator—Who’s Who
Titus-I-RYW-5 (FCCP>Zombies):
Titus-I is a rising star in CPU
administration here in CDR Sector.
His promotion to ULTRAVIOLET is
virtually certain, and he has the ear of
the sector administrators. A committed
believer in the fabled Easter Cycle,
when the dead will rise, and sees
himself as a prophesied prophet of The
Computer’s glorious heaven on Earth,
when the unfaithful will be purged with
holy lasers. Play him as a compelling
cult leader—in both human and zombie
forms.
Management 12
Chuzpah 16
Oratory 16
Stealth 10
Standing Behind Minions When
People Start Firing 16
Violence 10
Zombie Combat 16
Energy Weapons 14
Hardware 8
Software 14
Hacking 18
Wetware 10
Medical 14
Cloning 14
Mutant Powers: Zombie Resilience,
Telekinesis (Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation:
FFCP>Zombies
Armor: Indigo reflec (E1)
Weapons: Blaster (M3K)
Titus-I-RYW-4 (Zombies): The first
Mark II techno-zombie created by
Project Reanimator is—Titus-I’s
previous clone self. The act of raising
his past self plays into the FCCCP
prophecies about the Easter Cycle, so
it’s all part of a diabolical plan—a plan
that Titus-I-4 has no interest in. Titus-
I-4 has an entirely different diabolical
plan—taking over the sector with an
army of zombies and becoming the
undead ruler of all of Alpha Complex.
Management 12
Chuzpah 16
Oratory 16
Stealth 10
Ambushing Himself When
Resurrected From The Dead 16
Violence 10
Zombie Combat 16
43
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Energy Weapons 14
Hardware 8
Software 14
Hacking 18
Wetware 10
Medical 14
Cloning 14
Mutant Powers: Zombie Resilience,
Empathy (Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation: Zombies
Armor: None
Weapons: None
Sax-G-WST-3 (Pro Tech): Pale,
nervous, and pathologically callous
toward everything, Sax-G is a classic
mad scientist without the showiness. Far
more interested in solving the problem
of re-animation than reanimating
anything. He really does not care
for Alpha Complex being overrun by
zombies and is a potential ally for the
Troubleshooters when the zombie take-
over begins.
Management 6
Stealth 4
So Dull People Ignore Him 10
Violence 6
Field Weapons 10
Hardware 8
Chemical Engineering 12
Software 8
Hacking 12
Data Analysis 12
Wetware 10
Medical 14
Cloning 14
Raising the Dead 16
Bioweapons 14
Mutant Powers: Energy Field (Power
12)
Secret Society Affiliation: Pro Tech
Armor: Green reflec (E1).
Weapons: Experimental chemical
spray (Field Weapons, O2K)
Ann-G-CDR-4 (Romantics): A long-
term Romantics member, employed
in the HPD&MC archives, purging
references to ancient times as Alpha
Complex history is re-written. She has
managed to save much of the excised
data, which led her to the hidden storage
bunker in the Underplex. An idealist
who believes that the reanimated Old
Reckoners will lead Alpha Complex
into an enlightened era of peace, joy
and classic cinema. She’s going to get
eaten first.
Management 8
Moxie 12
Interrogation 12
Stealth 8
Sneaking 12
Violence 6
Hardware 4
Bot Ops 8
Software 7
Wetware 6
Suggestion 10
Mutant Powers: Charm (Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Romantics
Armor: Green reflec (E1)
Weapons: None
Harold-Y-FOS-2 (Corpore Metal):
Harold-Y’s in Power Services, and
he’s a bitter clone. He was blown up
when a bomb took out the tunnel he
was working in, and blames IntSec
and the regime it props up for his
injuries. He’s studded with cybernetic
replacements for missing limbs and
damaged organs. He intends to use an
army of Mark I techno-zombies to wipe
away IntSec and The Computer’s other
fallible organic servants (The Computer
is perfect; all the injustices, problems
and painful exploding tunnels of Alpha
Complex stem from the fallibility and
treason of organics). He has no intention
of letting the zombies take over, which
is where his zombocalpyse differs from
those of Titus-I-4 or Titus-I-5.
Management 4
Complaining About Everything
Under The Sun, Ever 10
Stealth 10
Sneaking 14
Violence 12
Hardware 14
Habitat Engineering 18
Nuclear Engineering 18
Software 6
Wetware 6
Biosciences 10
Mutant Powers: Slippery Skin (Power
15)
Secret Society Affiliation: Corpore
Metal
Armor: Yellow reflec (E1)
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
 4: IT’S ALIVE
■ Mark II Techno-Zombies
Unlike the near-mindless Mark Is,
Mark II techno-zombies retain all
of their intelligence. In fact, since
they don’t have any emotions other
than megalomania and a hunger for
brains, they are considerably clearer
thinkers in death than they were in
life. Depending on how a Mark II died,
it might look like a mangled cyborg
or a perfectly ordinary (if rather pale)
citizen. Like the Mark Is, the Mark IIs
need to eat human neural matter on
a regular basis to ensure their own
brains don’t degenerate.
Mark IIs get to keep their old scores
and specializations, as well as gaining
the Zombie Violence narrow specialty.
They also get the Zombie Resilience
mutation, while keeping any existing
mutations. Their loyalty automatically
changes to that of the Zombies.
If a Mark II does not eat at least one
brain per day, his intelligence starts
to degrade. He loses one point from
Management and all Knowledge skills
each day. Eating an extra brain in a
day restores one point of lost ability.
For example, if Titus-I did not eat
any brains for a while weekcycle,
he would lose seven points from
Management and all Knowledges.
However, if he then ate four brains
on the following Twosday, he would
regain three points of lost ability.
■ The Zombies
Since Mark II techno-zombies can
pass for living citizens, and have
their own secret conspiracy to take
over Alpha Complex, they basically
count as a secret society. If the
attack, the alarm is raised. The CRS
Sector media starts showing regular
crisis bulletins. A dozen contradictory
emergency procedures are initiated
by different service groups and
factions. The Power Services cut
the power to the afflicted parts of the
sector, which results in most of the
Armed Forces security teams being
trapped in shut-down transbots.
CPU orders all citizens to report to
emergency shelters, HPD&MC urges
everyone to stay in their quarters,
IntSec demands a curfew, while
Zombies survive this scenario, then
they may show up in your future
PARANOIA scenarios. Here are the
Zombies, presented in the standard
secret society format.
Beliefs: The Zombies want to take
over all of Alpha Complex and convert
as many high-clearance citizens
as possible into zombies. Zombie
citizens are untiring, unsleeping,
immortal and unfailingly loyal. They
also want a ready supply of brains,
which the INFRARED population can
easily provide. Mmm…brains.
Propaganda: See Zombies Are
Citizens Too!, below.
Recruitment: Step One—identify
potential candidate for zombification.
Step Two—kill the candidate. Step
Three—put candidate into Reanimator
machine.
Initiation: New zombies are instantly
loyal to the Zombie cause—it’s a side
effect of the zombification process.
Therefore, no initiation rites or tasks
are needed. Once a zombie, always
a Zombie.
Codenames: The Zombies do not
use codenames.
History: Er. Read this scenario? In
years to come, of course, the zombies
will rewrite their history to something
more dignified. Probably something
borrowed from the Romantics,
about how the First Zombie was
Mike-U-BCE or Caine or someone,
reanimated to secretly serve Alpha
Complex from beyond the grave.
PLC urges everyone to purchase
emergency preparedness kits, bottled
water, duct tape and zombie-proof
plastic sheeting.
Within two hours of the resurrection
of Titus-I-4, The Computer gets the
electronic equivalent of a migraine
from the growing crisis in CRS
Sector, and shuts off the afflicted
part of the sector, disconnecting the
local CompNode from the network
and closing internal blast doors. The
Troubleshooters and thousands of
. 44
Structure: The Zombies are loosely
organized in a pyramid scheme—the
zombie who made you is your superior
in the society. Thus, Titus-I-4 is the
Master Zombie, followed by Titus-I-5,
followed by the other Mark II techno-
zombies. The Mark I techno-zombies
are technically part of the society, but
are looked down on by the sentient
Mark IIs as dumb hick cousins who
really just embarrass them and make
a mess at parties (but are handy
when you want a ravening mob of
killing machines).
Attitudes: Are you alive? Then
you’re food—unless you’re someone
important or smart, in which making
you into a techno-zombie would be
better for the long-term procurement
of brains. The Zombies see little value
in bots, as anything a bot can do, a
Mark I drone can do too).
The Zombies’ long-term attitude
to The Computer is in flux—some
believe that they have no need of it,
given they’ll soon have the perfect
society (Zombies on top, INFRAREDs
in brain farms, Mark I drone zombies
do all the work after having their
brains eaten).
Sub-factions: None.
Advancement: Making more
zombies.
Duties: Making more zombies.
Benefits: Brains. Being part of the
techno-zombie ruling class when
the Zombies finally take over. More
brains.
other citizens find themselves trapped
inside a zombie quarantine zone.
What do the Troubleshooters do?
Get Captured By The Zombies:
Well, this is eventually going to
happen regardless of what the
Troubleshooters do. See Zombies
Are Citizens Too, below.
Flee Back To Myron-B: Initially,
Myron-B is unconcerned with the
zombie invasion—security will take
 SPIN CONTROL
■ Enter The Zombie
(Tension Varies, But
Probably Around 10)
From this point on in the
scenario, you can start bringing in
resurrected zombie versions of the
Troubleshooters. They can show up
as antagonists (‘OK, Bob-R-4, you
turn the corner and see a Ravening
Horde of Zombies™, led by…Bob-
R-3! Shock! Horror! Sanity check!’)
but a much more insidious solution
is to have them show up pretending
to be the clone replacements for
themselves. This generally only
works if the Troubleshooter died in a
non-messy fashion, but depending on
how unobservant the players are, you
might be able to sneak the cybernetic
undead monstrosity past them.
Brief the zombie player on the
nature of the Mark II techno-zombies
(resurrected cyborgs; need brains on
a regular basis; unemotional) and
what they should be trying to do (get
the Troubleshooters captured so
you can move onto the next section;
eat brains; convert more people to
zombies).
45
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
care of any civil disturbances—and
is more concerned with the revelation
that his rival, Complex Utensils, is
actually a cover for a diabolical plot
to raise the dead. After all, if Complex
Utensils are focusing on necromancy
instead of sporks, then the contract is
as good as won for Spork Supply. He
urges the Troubleshooters to fight their
way through the war-torn corridors of
CRS Sector to the CPU Sector Co-
Ordination and Budgeting Offices,
where they should give their evidence
to CPU administrator…. Titus-I-5. By
the time the Troubleshooters reach
the CPU offices, the Tituses have
already taken them over and are
using them as a base of operations.
Flee To Yuri-B: The Troubleshooters
will be unable to find Yuri-B at this
stage in the scenario. The canny old
IntSec agent has gone into hiding, and
will show up again later, in Paranoia
of the Dead (see page 26).
Stand And Fight: Especially heroic,
stupid Troubleshooters may try to stop
the advance of the zombie horde. As
the Armed Forces armed forces are
stuck in shut-down transtubes, IntSec
officer Guy-G is among those leading
the fight against the undead. Small
groups of brave citizens are taking
to the corridors all over CRS Sector,
using whatever weapons they have to
hand. In some places, loyal defenders
of Alpha Complex are trying and
failing to stop Mark I techno-zombies
by hitting them with FunBall bats and
loyalty placards, while in others, wave
upon wave of zombies are getting
blown up by illegally-owned cone
rifles and lasers.
Still, fighting against the zombie
horde becomes futile when the Mark
IIs join the fight and start reanimating
fallen Mark Is. With CRS Sector cut
off from reinforcements, the zombies
cannot be stopped.
Ask The Computer What To Do:
Throwing oneself on the mercy
and wisdom of all-knowing Friend
Computer is a time-honored
tradition in Alpha Complex when
the unreprocessed biological waste
has forcefully intersected with the
operating space of the ventilation
system air motor. The trouble is that
everyone else in the afflicted area
 4: IT’S ALIVE
of CRS Sector has had exactly the
same idea. Between thousands
of panicked citizens asking for
help, and the billions of alarms/
orders/countermeasures/emergency
protocols and other crisis-related
traffic, the poor Computer suffers a
breakdown and isolates CRS Sector
from the rest of the complex. The
local CompNode sees which way
the wind is blowing, and throws its
lot in with the zombies. Therefore,
the response the Troubleshooters
get from Friend Computer varies
depending on when they beg for its
electronic wisdom.

Early in the crisis:

NO ONE IS SCREAMING. YOU ARE
IN ERROR. RETURN TO YOUR
ASSIGNED DUTIES.

Once The Computer learns that there

is actually a crisis:
STAY WHERE YOU ARE. REMAIN
HAPPY. THE RECITIFICATION OF
THE CURRENT NON-OPTIMUM
SITUATION IS IN PROGRESS.
YOUR SITUATION WILL BE
RECTIFIED WITHIN 20 TO 30
MINUTES. PLEASE STAY CALM.
YOUR RECITIFICATION IS
IMPORTANT TO US. STAY WHERE
YOU ARE. REMAIN HAPPY.
Once The Computer learns that the
crisis involves zombies:
ANALYSIS SUGGESTS YOU
ARE DELUSIONAL, CITIZEN.
PLEASE REPORT TO THE
NEAREST HPD&MC CENTER FOR
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING AND
MEDICATION.
Once The Computer learns that the
crisis really involves zombies:
WHAT, REAL ZOMBIES? WOW.
THAT’S…WOW. PLEASE WAIT.
Once The Computer learns that
the crisis really involves zombies,
and realizes it should do something
about it:
COMMIE MUTANT ZOMBIE
TRAITORS! TERMINATE THEM ON
SIGHT! TERMINATE THE DEAD!
TERMINATE THE DEAD.
Once The Computer realizes that
doing something isn’t working:
ATTENTION! THE RATIO OF
LIVING TO DEAD CITIZENS IN
YOUR CURRENT SECTOR HAS
DROPPED BELOW THE MINIMUM
VIABILITY LEVEL. TO CONTAIN
THE CONTAGION, CRS SECTOR
WILL NOW BE SEALED OFF FOR
YOUR COMFORT AND SECURITY.
WELL, NOT YOUR COMFORT AND
SECURITY—EVERYONE ELSE’S
IN FACT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
CO-OPERATION.
While The Local CompNode is being
isolated:
SYSTEM OFFLINE—NETWORK
ERROR.
Once the Local CompNode reboots
and realizes who’s in charge in CRS
Sector:
ATTENTION CITIZENS! THE
CRISIS IS OVER. PLEASE RETURN
TO YOUR ASSIGNED DUTIES.
PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME
CITIZENS IN THIS SECTOR HAVE
BEEN IDENTIFIED AS SUFFERING
FROM AN AS YET UNIDENTIFIED
MEDICAL CONDITION, PROBABLY
THE RESULT OF COMMIE
MUTANT TRAITOR SABOTAGE.
THIS MEDICAL CONDITION DOES
NOT INTERFERE WITH THE
PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES.
EVERYTHING IS NORMAL. ALSO,
CITIZEN TITUS-I-4 HAS BEEN
PROMOTED TO TITUS-U-4 AND IS
NOW SECTOR ADMINISTRATOR.
PLEASE DEMONSTRATE YOUR
LOYALTY BY BRINGING HIM
BRAINS.
Hide From The Zombies: Your
players are courageous and intelligent,
the sort of pro-active problem solvers
who really tackle a situation head-on.
There are plenty of places to hide in
CRS Sector, although leaving the
quarantined area is impossible. All
the corridors and transtubes are
sealed with airtight blast doors, and
while there are plenty of connecting
tubes, access tunnels, air vents,
sewer ducts and just plain holes in the
walls, the sector is now surrounded
by Armed Forces troops. Anyone
trying to leave is shot on the grounds
that they’re probably a zombie or a
zombie collaborator.
Raise The Alarm: Well, the alarm is
going to get raised anyway, no matter
what happens. The Troubleshooters
probably have a better idea of what’s

46!
 SPIN CONTROL
going on than anyone else, on
the grounds they’ve actually seen
the dead being reanimated and
can tell the difference between an
unscheduled spontaneous loyalty
demonstration and a pack of brain-
hungry zombies. The Troubleshooters
can tell their story to IntSec, or the
Armed Forces, or The Computer,
or to their secret societies, or just
run down the corridors ringing a bell
shouting ‘the zombies are coming’.
The result is the same no matter
what they do—CRS Sector eventually
gets sealed off from the rest of the
complex.
Join The Zombies—The Hard Way:
Troubleshooters do not thrive and
survive in Alpha Complex without
being able to switch loyalties quicker
than they can change barrels on a
laser pistol. Turning to the Zombies
is a potential tactic for the characters,
once they realize the Zombies
are winning the local battle. Just
presenting yourself at the doors of
Complex Utensils and saying ‘Hello,
I would like to join your zombie horde’
will just get your brain eaten. The
Troubleshooters might be able to
convince the Mark II techno-zombie
masters to convert them into Mark IIs
as well, but they would have to come
up with a very, very good reason for
the zombies not to just eat them.
Something like ‘Hello, I would like
to use my authority and skills as a
Troubleshooter to bring more citizens
to join your army of the undead’ might
work.
Join The Zombies—The Easy Way:
‘Hello, Fellow Secret Society Member
Who Is Now A Zombie. Can I Be A
Mark II Zombie Too, Please?’
■ Spin control II (Tension
18. And Now Not
Obeying The Zombies
Is Treasonous)
Inevitably, the techno-zombies get
to the Troubleshooters. Some of
them may be eaten, but most of the
Troubleshooters are instead dragged
to the CPU offices that have been
taken over by Titus-I-4 and Titus-I-5.
47
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
With the rictus grins of the happy
dead, the two techno-zombies explain
the Troubleshooters’ next mission.
Titus-I begins: ‘I trust you have
noticed the recent…regime change
here in CRS Sector. The new order
renders the old hierarchy obsolete;
such terms as ‘living’ or ‘dead’
are now deprecated in favor of
our new, approved terminology
of ‘unprocessed’ and ‘processed’
citizens.
This new order has not spread to
all of Alpha Complex. Right now,
unenlightened unprocessed citizens
are ready to attack us. They fear
the perfection of the new order.
Their thought processes have been
impeded by viral memes, erroneous
hormones, the illogic of the livin—,
er, unprocessed. We must educate
them—or eat their brains.
Now, it seems that you have some
experience in public relations. All
other such specialists in CRS Sector
have been terminated. Your new
mission is to… correct the common
misperception of the new order, and
to convince the rest of Alpha Complex
that the glorious new order is indeed
glorious and desirable, and that they
should not fear us—or attempt to
destroy us.
You must emphasize the benefits of
the new order to all, from the lowliest
INFRARED to even the exalted
High Programmers and Our Friend,
The Computer. Failure to convince
the rest of Alpha Complex of the
rightness of the new order will result in
your termination and reprocessing as
Mark Is. Do you have any questions,
Troubleshooters?
The new order, just to be clear is:
Most people get their brains eaten
and are resurrected as a Mark I
zombie.
The lucky get to be Mark II
zombies, who keep their brains.
That’s about it.
Oh, Mark Is get to do all the grunt
work currently done by bots.
The Troubleshooters have to come
up with a spin on the following facts.
Use the spin rules from page 13.
Zombies eat brains.
Only high clearance citizens will
get to become Mark II Zombies.
Everyone will become zombies in
the new order.
The zombies just ate and/or
converted almost everyone in
CRS Sector.
The zombies are the result of a
traitorous conspiracy.
Again, rate the spin the players come
up with for each situation to work out
their new Zombie Propaganda skill.
The Tituses inform the Troubleshooters
that they will be sent to bring the good
news to the rest of Alpha Complex
as soon as their propaganda is
complete. Cautious Troubleshooters
may prefer to stall for time, but stalling
for time when you’re surrounded by
increasingly brain-hungry zombies is
not the cleverest move. Eventually,
the Troubleshooters will have to either
go out and convince Alpha Complex
of the virtues of the zombies, or else
get eaten.
Once the propaganda is done,
the Troubleshooters are sent to
the one exit from CRS Sector that
isn’t completely sealed—a major
corridor thoroughfare leading to the
neighboring DRS Sector. There’s
a little postern gate in the massive
blast door, wide enough for a
single Troubleshooter to squeeze
through at a time. Titus-I provides
the Troubleshooters with a nice big
portable projector if they have any
propaganda videos to display.
On the other side of the blast door is a
wide concourse, formerly a shopping
center. Now, it’s the frontline of
the CRS Sector Quarantine Zone
 4: IT’S ALIVE
Contagion and Free Speech
Containment, and filled with heavily
armed Armed Forces. Tanks.
Warbots. Tactlical nuclear missiles.
Vulture Troopers. And they’re all
pointing guns at the Troubleshooters.
(The zombies discretely close the
blast door behind them.)
From a distant bunker, a violet-clad
general, wired on caffeine pills and
paranoia, gives the order to fire.
The Troubleshooters have about
30 seconds to make those fateful
Zombie Propaganda checks.
If None of the Troubleshooters
make their checks: Oh dear.
The Armed Forces open fire. The
Troubleshooters are instantly
vaporized. The war for CRS Sector
never happens, though, as secret
society conspirators put pressure
on the Armed Forces to temporarily
cease hostilities until the societies
can salvage what they want from
the growing zombie disaster. The
Troubleshooters’ next clone bodies
are activated inside CRS Sector by
Yuri-B—see ‘Paranoia of the Dead’,
below.
If Some of the Troubleshooters
make their checks: There is
confusion and dissent among
the Armed Forces. Some want to
terminate the Troubleshooters and
the rest of CRS Sector with extreme
laser prejudice. Others are convinced
by the propaganda, and agree that
zombies have a valid place in the
Alpha Complex hierarchy. Others
don’t really care about zombies, but
think that the ones who agree with
the zombies are traitors and should
be shot. Still others just want to wipe
out those damn warbots, or those
damn uppity Vulture Troopers. Or
those fleshy human soldiers. It’s a
lot like how your average team of
Troubleshooters, only with more
guns. It turns violent very quickly. In
the confusion, the question of ‘how
will we exterminate CRS Sector’ is
overtaken by the question ‘how can
we best get those bastards from the
104th Computer’s Own Riflebots?’
The Armed Forces start blasting each
other; the Troubleshooters are told to
pull back to CRS Sector.
If All of the Troubleshooters make
their checks: Then that VIOLET
general is convinced that the New
Zombie Order is the future of Alpha
Complex, and he orders his troops to
stand down. The surrounding sectors
fall to the zombie hordes, and a new
Quarantine Zone Contagion and
Free Speech Containment cordon is
established. The situation is basically
the same, only the zombies control
more of Alpha Complex.
48.
 SPIN CONTROL CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
5. Paranoia of the Dead
CRS Sector has fallen to the dead.
Within a few hours of the first Mark
II techno-zombie rising, over 70% of
the BLUE-clearance or higher citizens
have been converted into zombies,
while there are an uncounted number
of savage Mark Is roaming the
corridors. The sector has been sealed
off by the Armed Forces, and the local
CompNode has allied itself with the
zombies.

So, what are the Troubleshooters

doing? There’s a little bit of downtime
between the propaganda triumph at
the end of the previous chapter, and
the beginning of this final section
(unless the Troubleshooters all
got terminated), so what are our
brave heroes doing? How many
have been zombified, or are aiding
the zombies? Is it business as
usual—the Troubleshooters will be
reassigned to a new service firm in
the now-isolated CRS Sector—or are
they trying to fight against the new
undead order?

If they return to Myron-B and Spork

Supply, they discover that Myron-B
has been zombified as a Mark II.
His diabolical plan to gain control of
CRS Sector’s cutlery supply has run
into a slight problem—sporks are no
good for eating brains. Therefore, he
wants the Troubleshooters to come
up with a new advertising campaign
emphasizing other uses for sporks in
a zombie world. If they fail, he will eat
their brains.
If they return to their normal service
groups, then life (or undeath) in
Alpha Complex is continuing as
normal, only with more zombies
running around. PLC now has to
find a source of brains to feed the
senior techno-zombies; CPU clerks
now have to train mindless zombies
as data entry. The Computer is also
proving increasingly buggy, as the
lone local CompNode finds that more
and more of its backups and data
banks are actually located in other
sectors and are thus inaccessible.
The sector is slowly shutting down,
the lights are going out, life support
fails…and another corridor becomes
a dark place inhabited only by the
zombies. Spooky!
If they are brave and stupid (or if there
are zombie Troubleshooters running
around), they could even head back
to Titus-I in CPU control and report for
another mission (in which case, skip
onto page 27 and Titus-I’s second
briefing).
Anyway, once you have built enough
suspense and tension, then it’s time
for the dramatic return of psychotically
committed IntSec operative Yuri-B.
■ The Return of Yuri-
B (Tension 2)
Ever since the techno-zombies took
over CRS Sector, Yuri-B has been
hiding in the access tunnels and
air ducts, watching and observing
the developments and preparing
for his counter-stratagem. Now, he
is prepared to strike. He begins by
contacting the Troubleshooters.
Yuri-B ambushes them when they
are alone—he might creep into their
sleeping quarters in the depths of the
nightcycle, or climb out of a trapdoor
in a corridor as they pass by. (If any
of the Troubleshooters are zombies,
then have Yuri-B vaporize one of
them to prove his badassness.)
Yuri-B informs the Troubleshooters
that he has a plan to deal with the
zombies. They want brains? He’ll
give them brains! There is a Psion
mutant with an absolutely gigantic
brain being stored in a CRS Sector
IntSec vault. Yuri-B intends to sneak
into the vault and use the mutant as
bait for the zombies. He also has a
virus—an illegal WMD—that he will
inject into the mutant just before
the zombies eat its brain. The virus
will wipe out the dead and leave the
living, er, alive.

49
 5: PARANOIA OF THE
Yuri-B is actually lying at this point. There is a giant-brained
mutant on ice in an IntSec vault, but there’s no WMD that
will conveniently wipe out only the zombies. Yuri actually
intends to draw the zombies to the CRS Sector nuclear
reactor by using the mutant as bait, then he will detonate
the reactor, destroying everyone—both zombies and
citizens—in the sector.
Anyway, for Yuri’s plan to work, he needs the techno-
zombies distracted. If the Troubleshooters have not learned
the history of Project Reanimator, then Yuri-B rapidly briefs
them here, about how the zombies are the product of an
alliance between four secret societies—Corpore Metal, Pro
Tech, the Romantics and the FCCCP, led by Harold-Y-FOS-
2, Sax-G-WST, Ann-G-CDR and Titus-I-RYW respectively.
He orders the Troubleshooters to sow dissent between
these four factions of zombies, so they will be quarrelling
with each other and not paying attention to Yuri-B.
Even if the Troubleshooters do not obey Yuri-B at this point,
it is important that he tell them his plan (or at least, one
version of his plan). It will make them sweat later on.
Spreading Dissent: Fortunately, the Troubleshooters will
be sent to meet with the leaders of the secret society cells
shortly, as part of their final mission for Titus-I-4. However,
Troubleshooters may be proactive; skip ahead to the
relevant sections if they make contact with the cell leaders
first instead of being sent there.
■ Your Zombies Need You (Tension 17)
Soon after the Troubleshooters are contacted by
Yuri-B, they are summoned to CPU by Titus-U-4. The
zombie master is now dressed in the robes of a High
Programmer, and is preparing for his ascension to the
rank of ULTRAVIOLET—there’s no one left in CRS Sector
to gainsay him. However, he has one last mission for the
Troubleshooters, one that can only be carried out by the
living. If they succeed, then they will be rewarded as only
an ULTRAVIOLET can do.
Some traitors have barricaded themselves into the control
center of the CRS Sector reactor. It is likely that they intend
to sabotage it, blowing themselves and the Reanimators
away in a foolish and crazed attempt to stop the new order.
The Troubleshooters must go to the reactor and use the
propaganda they developed to stop the traitors. He also
orders them to keep their mission a secret—if the rest of
Alpha Complex knew that the zombie-controlled sector was
so vulnerable, they would attack, not to mention the panic
among the unprocessed. No, the Troubleshooters are to
pretend to be cleaning staff, sent to enforce new hygiene
regulations in the reactor core itself. After all, they still have
the hygiene officer gear used in their last mission.
If they fail, then there won’t be time to eat their brains.
DEAD
The Troubleshooters are to report to R&D, Power Services
and HPD&MC for further information.
Titus-I-5: As the Troubleshooters are leaving CPU, they
are called back to speak to Titus-U-4’s assistant, Titus-I-5.
He intends to overthrow his clone-sibling, and the best way
to do that is to spread fear and panic among the population.
The Troubleshooters’ mission is unchanged, but he wants
the spin they put on the cover story of ‘sanitizing the reactor
core’ to be as ominous and terrifying as possible. They
must not contradict the official story in any way, but they
must spin it so that the living population of CRS Sector is
convinced that something horrible is happening and that
Titus-U-4 is going to doom them all. In short, they must
spin the cover story so it’s worse than the truth.
If they do this, Titus-I-5 tells them, then they will be rewarded
when he takes over from his dead clone-brother.
■ A Return TO R&D (Tension 9)
The new head of CRS Sector R&D is Sax-I-WST—being
part of the secret zombie-making project has its advantages
when it comes to promotion. Sax-I is not dead yet, although
he does act like a zombie most of the time. He’s got all the
empathy and humanity of a typhoid virus. He is only barely
aware that CRS Sector has basically seceded from Alpha
Complex, or that his zombies have devoured a large part
of the population. He will be distantly shocked if informed
that he’s responsible for a sector-wide massacre, but it
does explain why he’s suddenly got a much bigger budget
to play with and he’s been promoted to INDIGO.
Unsurprisingly, the CRS Sector R&D is now full of zombies.
Some of these are senior staff, others are Mark I techno-
zombie clerks and test subjects. Experiments currently
underway include ‘alternate sources of neural matter’ (big
tanks of cloned brains), ‘replacement cerebra pacifiers
for Mark Is’ (row after row of Mark Is chewing on rubber
brains, plastic brains, dried Cold Fun and so on) and
‘Mark I Weapons Deployment’ (zombies with laser pistols,
stumbling around a mirror-walled room and shooting each
other randomly). Sax-G leads the Troubleshooters past the
labs with an air of distaste. He is really concerned about
perfecting the reanimation process.
The Troubleshooters end up in a huge chemical laboratory,
filled with beakers bubbling with an alarming green
liquid—the same green liquid used in the Reanimator
process. Sax-I proudly declares that he has weaponized
the reanimator compound. Now, it can be delivered in
aerosol form. If sprayed over a relatively intact corpse,
then the chemical will reactivate the corpse as a Mark II
techno-zombie—at least, that’s how it works in the lab.
The Troubleshooters are to fill their cleaning sprays with
the spray in order to test it in the field. Oh, some tests
have shown that an overdose of the chemical results in
spontaneous zombie combustion, so the spray should be
handled carefully.
. 50
 SPIN CONTROL
■ The Reanimator Spray
The chemical spray is fired using the Field Weapons
or Bioweapons skills. Its effects vary depending on the
target:
Living Citizens: O3S
Inanimate object and bots: No effect
Dead Citizens: Turns them into zombies
Zombies: If the margin of success is five or more, then
the zombie is automatically Killed and Zombie Resilience
cannot be used. If the margin of success is 10 or more, then
the zombie and 1d6 adjacent zombies explode—the original
target is Killed, but the others can use Zombie Resilience
to decrease the damage.
Each Troubleshooter’s pack contains 2d20 shots of the
chemical spray.
Sax-I-WST: If the Troubleshooters try to convince the Pro
Tech cell leader to betray the Reanimator cause, then they
have their work cut out for them. Sax-I is simply not paying
enough attention to the growing crisis in CRS Sector to
realize that he might be in danger. Their best argument
is to suggest that the techno-zombies are actually bad for
science—they have already decided to phase out bots, and
the zombies will also require far fewer gadgets and new
technologies than living clones. If the Troubleshooters can
paint a persuasive picture of an Alpha Complex overrun
by Luddite zombies, then they can turn Sax-I against his
allies.
Pro Tech members can also use their secret society
connections to put pressure on Sax-G.
51
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ HPD&MC—This Is The New Spin
(Tension 20 during the broadcast,
Tension 6 afterward)
After stocking up on ‘cleaning supplies’ at R&D, an autocar
whisks the Troubleshooters to the plush studios of ‘CRS
Sector Local Good News Show & Loyalty Time Hour’,
a HPD&MC-produced news program. The new host of
LGNS&LTH is Ann-I-CDR, formerly a lowly archivist (and
Ann-G), now a Mark II techno-zombie who has been
scrubbed, prettified and dressed to look as much like a
zombie Teela-O-MLY as possible. Smiling into the lens
of a camera operated by a Mark I techno-zombie, Ann-I
informs the terrified citizens of CRS Sector that everything
is returning to an improved version of normality, and that
even relatively unimportant tasks are now being handled
promptly and effectively, like reactor sanitization. She’s
honored and happy to present the brave citizens who’ll be
cleaning the reactor. The subliminal projectors flash happy
messages like ‘EVERYTHING IS FINE’, ‘TRUST THE
ZOMBIES’ and ‘PLEASE REMOVE ALL HEADGEAR’.
Ann-I is the leader of the Romantics cell in CRS Sector. It
was she who discovered the cache of frozen Old Reckoning
corpses in the bunker deep below the reactor, and she has
arranged for the Troubleshooters to be brought onto her
new show so she can force the techno-zombie leadership
to start doing what they promised—resurrecting the Old
Reckoners so they can bring the wisdom of the past.
The Tituses have been ignoring her calls, preferring
to concentrate on making more people into zombies
and not getting blown up by the rest of Alpha Complex.
Therefore, she will ask pointed questions about how the
Troubleshooters will get into the reactor, and about how
the new zombie technology can best be employed to help
 5: PARANOIA OF THE
Alpha Complex. Meanwhile, the Troubleshooters will (or at
least, should) be trying to spin their perfectly ordinary and
inconsequential mission of reactor sanitization as a major
threat to all of CRS Sector.
As a result of this spin, one of the HPD&MC techs (a still
living citizen) slips a tiny camera drone into the pocket
of one of the Troubleshooters. This little drone is a tiny
remote-control camera and microphone. It’ll activate at the
climax of the scenario.
Ann-I: After the interview finishes (or is censored and
replaced by reruns of ‘Commie Execution Bloopers III’),
then the Troubleshooters can speak to Ann-I more openly.
If they reveal that they’ve got the new Reanimator chemical,
then she demands that they head back to the bunker under
the power plant and resurrect the last of the Old Reckoning
citizens down there.
■ Power Services (Tension 10)
Finally, the Troubleshooters are brought to Power Services,
where Harold-B-FOS-2 (formerly Harold-Y) briefs them
on how to access the reactor controlled by the traitors.
It’s quite simple—they head into the same tunnel network
they visited in The Sporks, They Call To Me, and find the
secret back entrance into the reactor. Climb the stairs, find
the traitors, terminate them.
Harold-B-FOS has also been zombified, and he’s quite
happy about it. He was the Corpore Metal cell leader, but
his resurrection as an undead monster has given him a
new lease of life. Before becoming a zombie, Harold-B
was loyal to his bot brethren, but now he just wants to eat
brains, and no longer cares about the bot cause. If the
Troubleshooters mention the zombies’ anti-bot policies to
Harold, he will talk about the glories of the new order, and
possibly try to eat their brains.
The Forgotten Bots: While Harold-B may have turned his
back on the bots, the bots are still opposed to the techno-
zombies. Many of the Corpore Metal Frankenstein bots
have crept away into the Underplex beneath CRS Sector,
hiding from the rampaging Mark Is who are replacing them.
The Troubleshooters will run into them below.
■ Other Complications (Tension 3)
I f trying to balance the demands of Yuri-B, the two
Tituses, Pro Tech and the Romantics wasn’t enough,
feel free to throw any of the following secret missions at
the Troubleshooters. Ideally, give one of these to each
Troubleshooter.
Psion: Unlike all the other secret societies, Psion is still
in contact with its agents in CRS Sector thanks to their
telepathic communication methods. If there is a Psion
member among the Troubleshooters, they contact him
DEAD
at this point. If there is not a Psion member among the
Troubleshooters, then pick a mutant and have the Psion
Controls (super-powerful telepaths) zap into his brain
and recruit him on the spot. Psion scans the memories
of their agent and finds out about Yuri-B’s plan to use a
big-brained mutant as bait for the zombies. This big-brain
mutant is another potential Control, kept under sedation by
IntSec. Psion orders their loyal agent to protect the potential
Control under the sedatives wear off, at which time the
mutant’s psychic powers will kick in and save the day.
FCCCP: Up until recently, the First Church of Christ
Computer-Programmer was doing well here in CRS Sector.
The glory of the Easter Cycle was at hand, the dead were
about to rise and bring gifts to the living, and loyal Titus-I-
5 was both high priest and cell leader. Now, the zombies
have betrayed the Church and taken over.
The new cell leader is…Titus-I-6, the clone activated
automatically when zombie Titus-I-4 killed Titus-I-5.
Titus-I-6 went into hiding, as he fears his previous selves.
He believes that the Easter Cycle has been perverted by
demonic Commies, resulting in the brain-eating zombies
instead of the grateful dead promised by the prophecies.
(The trauma of being killed by himself has driven Titus-I-6
even deeper into his delusional faith in The Computer,
so he’s basically a reborn-again FCCCP-er.) Titus-I-6
contacts the most trustworthy of the Troubleshooters and
gives them a holy relic, a circuit talisman that is said to
have the power to Turn the Undead when activated. He
wants them to get close to the Tituses and use it—the
circuit will, he believes, destroy his zombie clone brothers.
Titus-I-6 can then take over and get the Easter Cycle back
on track.
■
The Relic
The relic is actually a one-use remote control reboot for
the local CompNode. When activated, CRS Sector’s
CompNode shuts down for a few minutes, then reboots
from backups. These backups were made before the local
CompNode was ostracized from the rest of The Computer’s
networks, and so has no knowledge of the zombie takeover
or the existence of the zombies. It immediately re-connects
with the rest of The Computer. In effect, when the relic is
activated (by pressing the big red button in the middle of it),
The Computer runs through the same series of confused
responses as It did back on page 23, during the initial
zombie outbreak. However, this time It ends up opposed
to the zombies, and announces:
ATTENTION CITIZENS. CRS SECTOR HAS FALLEN TO
COMMIE MUTANT TRAITORS. ACCORDINGLY, A FULL
SECTOR PURGE HAS BEEN INITIATED BY THE ARMED
FORCES. PLEASE ADOPT THE BRACING POSITION
NOW. TOTAL NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION IN FIVE
MINUTES. YOUR CO-OPERATION IS APPRECIATED,
AND ALPHA COMPLEX LOOKS FORWARD TO YOUR
SERVICE IN FUTURE LIVES.
. 52
 SPIN CONTROL
Armed Forces: If there are any loyal members of an
Armed Forces service firm left unzombified among the
Troubleshooters, then they get a Secret Communication
using an emergency back channel on their PDC. The
message is a simple one—the original plan of containing
the disaster has been cancelled (probably following the
successful deployment of Zombie Propaganda earlier).
The Armed Forces are now switching to another plan.
An aerial warbot carrying a bumper-bunker-buster bomb
has launched from a secret Armed Forces airstrip, and
is currently en route to the dome above CRS Sector.
The bomb will bore through the protective dome above
Alpha Complex and destroy the whole sector, leaving
uncontaminated sectors untouched. To ensure the zombie
menace is destroyed, the bomb is designed to home in on
the Troubleshooter’s PDC. The Troubleshooter is therefore
instructed to get his PDC as close to the mass of zombies
as possible, to ensure maximum enemy casualties. The
PDC will beep more and more frequently the closer the
bomb gets. Selecting the launch command on the PDC will
send a message to the warbot to fire its bomb. The launch
command will only become available when the bot is within
range of CRS Sector.
■ Back to the Underplex (Tension 0)
Once the Troubleshooters have their new mission (kill the
traitors occupying the reactor), their cover story (sanitize the
reactor) and their secret missions (anything from spin the
truth to raise the dead), it’s off to the reactor. As most of CRS
Sector has been sealed off from the rest of Alpha Complex,
there is only one way into the reactor. Consult the maps and
description on page 15—the Troubleshooters must go down
the access hatch in the (now silent and empty, sealed-off)
transtube tunnel, then find their way to the endlessly long
corridor in the depths (which still has a few Mark I techno-
zombies roaming around). They then must find the stairway
leading up to the reactor complex itself.
As the Troubleshooters search for the stairwell, they run
into the bots hiding in the Underplex.
The Bots: In the new zombie order, the bots are being
replaced by brainless Mark I techno-zombies. Corpore
Metal’s influence has vanished since Harold-Y was zombified
and betrayed them. Therefore, many Frankenstein bots
have fled down here, to plot the overthrow of the zombies
and the takeover of CRS Sector. If CHASM (see page 16)
is still functional, then it has been elected the leader of the
free bots. If the Troubleshooters blew up CHASM, then an
elderly jack-o-bot (RDO-117) is in charge.
Either way, the free bots of Corpore Metal want the zombies
stopped, and are willing to enter into a treasonous alliance
with the Troubleshooters to do so. The environmental
controls for CRS Sector can be controlled from within the
nuclear reactor overhead. If the Troubleshooters raise the
temperature in CRS Sector, then the chemicals animating
the zombies will be affected, making the zombies hungrier
and hungrier. They will turn on each other in a frenzy of
53
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
brain-eating. All flesh will be eaten, leaving only the bots
and the few citizens who can hide from the zombies—like
the Troubleshooters, who’ll be safe in the sealed-off reactor
complex. The only safe way to escape will be via the sealed
elevator, so the Troubleshooters will have to reactivate the
elevator the bots used to access the Underplex.
The bots will not let the Troubleshooters go until they
at least promise to implement the bots’ plan. The bots
cannot do it themselves as none of them can climb the
spiral staircase leading to the reactor, and indeed, the
Troubleshooters will find several fallen bots lying around
the staircase, having tried to navigate the steps.)
■ Old Reckoning Corpsicles
If the Troubleshooters are trying to ally with Ann-I and her
Romantics, then they may go past the bots and into the
old bunker, so they can use the Reanimator spray on the
remaining frozen corpses and turn them into witty, intelligent
and sane Mark II techno-zombies. Defrosting the corpses
takes about half an hour, and they are animated almost
instantly when the Reanimator spray is applied.
All the Old Reckoners here were rich businessmen, frozen
centuries ago when they were diagnosed with various
terminal diseases. When the Troubleshooters bring them
back to life, they react as follows:
1) Mass confusion! Where are the doctors? Where
are the flying cars? Why does the future look like an
underground warehouse? Agh! Robots! Zombies!
Robot zombies! Men with lasers!
2) Where’s my stock portfolio! What do you mean,
Commies? Are you all crazy?
3) Er…you did remember to cure that terminal disease
I had, right? The one that was going to kill me in a
few minutes? No? Uh-oh…
4) Falling over dead. Redead. Unundead. Whatever.
At least the Troubleshooters tried. If they hurry, they can get
some use out of the resurrected before they fall over.
■ The Reactor (Tension 5)
Finally, the Troubleshooters can climb the staircase out of
the Underplex and up into the sealed reactor in CRS Sector.
It gets warmer and warmer as they climb, and the green
Reanimator liquid in their cleaning gear begins to bubble
ominously. Any zombie Troubleshooters feel increasingly
hungry. Doesn’t Bob-R’s head look juicy? Imagine how
nice his brain must taste…
Eventually, the Troubleshooters arrive at the top of the
stairwell (1). A dusty trapdoor lets them into a storeroom—
obviously, no-one has used the stairwell in a very long
time.
Outside is a long corridor (2), similar to the one thousands
of meters below in the Underplex. There are signs of a
 5: PARANOIA
firefight, and the walls are splattered
with blood. (Feel free to evoke
memories of any zombie-horror-
survival computer games and/or
movies.) The far end of the corridor
(3) is sealed by a heavy blast door, but
the near end has a much smaller and
less secure door. It is still locked, but
can be bypassed easily enough with
an appropriate Hardware, Software,
gadget or mutant power.
There is also a camera and
communications screen in the
wall next to the door, allowing the
Troubleshooters to speak to the
three Traitors who have occupied
the reactor.
■ Joe, Joseph and
Josephine
These three INFRAREDs are
Communists (Joe, Joseph
and Josephine are their Party
codenames—they’re actually named
Tom, Glenn and Stephanie). They
were workers in the nuclear reactor
when the zombies attacked. They
fled down a storage elevator into the
Underplex to avoid the zombie attack,
and there they found something
wonderful—a sealed cryogenic
OF THE DEAD
casket, containing the body of a
bearded man. According to secret
Communist doctrine, the great leader,
Lenin, was preserved in such a
fashion. Somehow, by some miracle
of the Party, Lenin’s body ended up in
a bunker under Alpha Complex, and
has now fallen into their hands. They
protected the Great Leader from the
indignity of being raised as a mindless
Mark I zombie, but they have heard
rumors of a way to create intelligent
master zombies.
The three Commies want to turn
Lenin into a Mark II zombie, who
will then take control of the other
zombies and lead to a rebirth (or,
more accurately, reanimation) of
international Communism.
They took over the reactor by
accident—the rampaging zombies
killed everyone, the bots left to join
the other bots downstairs in the
Underplex, so all the three Commies
had to do was close the doors, shut
down the elevator and start sending
demands to Titus-U-4. Unless Titus
resurrects Lenin and hands over
supreme power in CRS Sector to
him, then the Communists will blow
up the reactor, wiping out everyone
in the sector.
. 54
1. End of the stairwell
2. Sealed corridor
3. Sealed blast door to rest of sector
4. Sealed elevator to Underplex
5. Bottomless (ish) pit to Underplex
6. Giant nuclear reactor
7. Walkway
8. Corpse of ‘Lenin’
9. Reactor control room. All Sealed
sections can be opened from here.
And you can also blow up the reactor,
if that’s the sort of stuff you’re into,
traitor!
The Communists
Management 6
Oratory 10
Stealth 10
Violence 6
Energy Weapons 10
Hardware 8
Nuclear Engineering 12
Software 4
Wetware 4
Medical 8
Mutant Powers: Joe: Energy Field;
Joseph: Mental Blast; Josephine:
Machine Empathy (Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Communism
Armor: None
Weapons: Stolen laser pistols,
W3K
■ Total Spin Control
From this point in the scenario
on, it all goes crazy. There are
multiple plots to stop the zombies
and/or destroy all of CRS Sector
happening simultaneously. There’s
every likelihood that everyone will
be vaporized in a reactor meltdown
of catastrophic proportions. To really
make the players sweat, bombard
them with calls on their PDCs from
various authority figures and allies.
Have all three Tituses call them
simultaneously, or have The Computer
contact them (and which CompNode
is it? How do they know?). Make
them give a dozen different spins on
the current situation, depending on
who they’re talking to.
■ Negotiating With
The Commies
The Troubleshooters’ official mission
is to kill the Commies inside the
reactor. Titus-I wanted them to use
 SPIN CONTROL
Zombie Propaganda to force the traitors to surrender, then
shoot them. The Troubleshooters can try their Zombie
Propaganda, but the Communists will counter with their
Communist Propaganda skills, and both sides may end
up knowing or believing far too much about the other.
Alternatively, the Troubleshooters can just try breaking
down or blowing up the door, but if they do that, then Joe
will set the reactor to overload. The reactor can be controlled
from, surprisingly, the reactor control room. It takes 5–10
rounds for the reactor to explode after a meltdown has been
activated, and a meltdown sequence can be paused from
the control room with a successful Nuclear Engineering
check.
There are five levels of meltdown. A Level 1 meltdown
will just wipe out the reactor and the immediate area
surrounding it. A Level 2 meltdown (the option favored
by the Communists) will wipe out most of CRS Sector. A
Level 3 meltdown will get both CRS Sector and the tunnels
below. A Level 4 meltdown is CRS, the tunnels below and
the surrounding sectors. A Level 5 meltdown is… bad. If
the Troubleshooters do not bother to select the level of
catastrophe, then roll 1d20 and divide by 5.
■ The Newsdrone
At a suitably inconvenient moment, the newsdrone planted
by HPD&MC activates and launches from inside the pocket
of one of the Troubleshooters. It’s bringing live, up to the
minute news of the sterilization of the dangerous reactor
virus to the viewers of CRS Sector. The news broadcast
is being watched by pretty much everyone involved in the
scenario, both in and out of CRS Sector, so it’s time for some
truly impressive spin from the Troubleshooters.
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Any zombies who see the huge-headed mutant are
instantly consumed with almost overwhelming hunger,
and need to make Power checks each round to maintain
the self-control to not rush over and start munching on the
mutant’s brain.
At this point, Yuri-B looks like the survivor of some post-
apocalyptic war. He’s bleeding from a dozen claw wounds,
his jumpsuit is tattered and he’s got a crazed look in his
remaining eye. He’s carrying a chainsaw for no apparent
reason. Yuri-B barks that he’s dragged the mutant past the
very heart of the zombie infestation, and they’re all coming.
All of them. All the damn zombies. He demands that the
Troubleshooters set the reactor to a Level 1 meltdown.
The explosion won’t wipe out the whole sector, just the
zombies.
If the Troubleshooters refuse, or stall, they’re traitors and
he’ll start shooting them.
■ Enter The Zombies
The zombies follow the scent of the big-headed mutant,
and start pouring in through the breach opened by Yuri-B.
Titus-U-4 is in the lead, but the Machiavellian master-
zombie previously encountered by the Troubleshooters
has succumbed almost entirely to brain-lust. All the
zombies need to make Power checks to avoid going after
the mutant’s brain—as Mark Is don’t have any Power left,
they can’t resist.

The Tension shoots to 15 when the drone is launched.

■ Communicating With Outside

There’s a hardwired connection to the rest of Alpha Complex
in the reactor control room. This line cannot be shut down,
and so escaped the Communications blackout enforced
when CRS Sector was quarantined. The Communists
have no use for it, as their control of the reactor gives them
leverage over the local sector only. Still, the Troubleshooters
might be able to make use of an emergency plea to The
Computer.

■ The All New Return of Yuri-B

At another suitably inconvenient moment, the blast door
at the end of the corridor (3) is, well, blasted by a cone
rifle tacnuke shell, and Yuri-B emerges from the smoke,
dragging a drooling mutant behind him. The mutant has a
huge head, and tiny atrophied arms and legs. It’s drooling
and its eyes are unfocused, but the sedatives are wearing
off.

55
 5: PARANOIA
Functionally, there are infinite
zombies here. There aren’t actually
infinite zombies, but there are lots and
lots. And lots. And more. And some
more. And more behind you. There
are certainly more zombies than you
can shoot in the head.
■ Turning Up The Heat
The Troubleshooters may try the
approach suggested by the bots, of
turning up the heat in CRS Sector
and making the zombies turn on each
other. It’s a moderately good idea,
and works quite well. The heat is
controlled from the control room; the
Habitat Engineering skill is required.
This only becomes a bad idea if the
Troubleshooters also switch on the
elevator—in which case, CHASM
(or RDO-117) and its bot minions
rise out of the Underplex bearing
the Weapons of Mass Destruction
from the underground bunker (did
you forget about those? They’re
mentioned in the bunker contents
list on page 16. It’s not our fault if
you forget about piddling little things
like four WMDs). These are lethal
biological weapons capable of wiping
out all life in CRS Sector. If the
Troubleshooters have dealt with the
zombies, then the bots make a bid for
world (OK, sector) domination.
■ The Bomb
The Armed Forces may be trying to
wipe out the zombie infestation with
that bumper-bunker-buster bomb. If
the Troubleshooters somehow deal
with the zombies, they could contact
the rest of Alpha Complex and call off
the air strike. Or they could just throw
the PDC that’s guiding the bomb
down the convenient bottomless pit
in the middle of the reactor chamber,
and pray that the bomb follows it.
■ Exploding Zombies
The Troubleshooters can use the
reanimator spray to set the zombies
on fire. It’s their best weapon against
them. However, infinite zombies,
finite shots, do the math. At best, it’s
a stalling tactic. If you’ve no better
way to end the scenario, though,
OF THE DEAD
then perhaps the combination of
high temperature plus unstable
chemical plus lots of zombies equals
firestorm.
■ The Super-Mutant
The giant-brained mutant is a wild
card in the end of the scenario.
Maybe he gets eaten by the zombies?
Maybe he wakes up and uses his
awesome psychic powers to save
the day? Maybe he gets turned into
a super-psychic zombie who takes
over all the other zombies? Or
teleports out? Or, more likely, he
lies there and drools while misguided
Troubleshooters beg him to deus ex
machina something, now!
■ Lenin
If the Troubleshooters manage to
reanimate the corpse in the middle
of the walkway, then one of the
Commies screams ‘LENIN! GREAT
LEADER! YOU LIVE AGAIN!’
The Computer goes absolutely
nuts if it hears this, and anyone
who doesn’t start shooting Lenin is
dubbed a Commie Traitor and put on
IntSec’s Most Painful And Unpleasant
Termination List.
■ Aftermath
If, as is likely, everyone in CRS Sector
is killed, then the Troubleshooters’
next clones wake up in an IntSec
interrogation center overseen by
freshly-cloned Yuri-B-OGN-5. There,
they are told that CRS Sector never
existed. There were no zombies.
There was no Project Reanimator.
There was no quarantine, no
apocalypse. Nothing.
If, however, the Troubleshooters
somehow survived and the zombies
were stopped without a mushroom
cloud or two, then the Armed Forces
move in. Warbots and tanks stalk
through the rubble, blasting the
remaining Mark Is. R&D staff wearing
biohazard suits follow, bagging and
tagging any animated corpses. The
Troubleshooters are captured and
secured by IntSec, who zap them
with stun guns. The last thing they
see before they are dragged away is
a team of R&D techs salvaging the
original Reanimator machine from the
ruins of Complex Utensils.
Debriefing: is carried out by Yuri-
B-OGN-5. Due to the quarantine
and the resulting chaos and zombie-
related mayhem, he is really not too
sure about what actually happened in
CRS Sector, but he makes up for any
lack of certainty on his part with an
aggressive questioning technique.
Forensics shows that there was a
zombie in the commissary! Why
did you not report this?
Explain how you tampered with
the confession booth rented by
Spork Supply.
Where are the 50,000 sporks you
stole from storage? Black market
sporks are treason!
Why did you not stop the zombies
from killing citizen Titus-I-5?
How long have you been in
contact with PURGE for?
Twelve stored WMDs vanished
from a locker in CRS Sector
during the crisis. Explain this.
Did you dispose of the weaponized
reanimator chemical properly? If
not disposed of properly, the
chemical could enter the air ducts
and infect all of Alpha Complex!
And so forth. Screw, screw, screw
the PCs over!
Finally, the Troubleshooters are
released from the interrogation center
(after being brainscrubbed/censored/
terminated as appropriate) and sent
back to their day jobs. The long night
of the dead is over…
... or is it? A citizen stumbles into the
office of one of the Troubleshooter’s
service firms. One of the
Troubleshooters’ co-workers asks
the newcomer for his ME card.
It’s Titus-3. Braaaaains…
56
 CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET

MY FIRST TREASON

34 PARANOIA: Alpha Complex Nights

PARANOIA
™

My First Treason
To serve all my days

GARETH HANRAHAN RON BEDISON CONTENTS

Writer/Scapegoat Proofreader/Intsec goon

ALLEN VARNEY DAN GELBER Introduction 59

Original Concept/R&D Thinker GREG COSTIKYAN
ERIC GOLDBERG Bully With A Cone Rifle 
BETH FISCHI Original game design & development/
ANDY FITZPATRICK Building committee Mutant Testing 
ALLEN VARNEY
IAN BELCHER
Editing, graphics/Drillbots
Mongoose Publishing manager/ Commie On Campus 
JIM HOLLOWAY Construction supervisor
Cover and interior illustrations/Blueprints
ALEXANDER FENNELL
Graduation 
NICK ROBINSON Mongoose Publishing production director/
Layout/ORANGE-Clearance Hygeine Struts around wearing fun yellow hardhat
Officer
THE COMPUTER
Give me a clone until he is seven.

Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Knowledge or possession of this information by any citizen
of Security Clearance VIOLET or lower is treason punishable by a
long spell of Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.

TM & Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2007 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User. Based on material published in
previous editions of PARANOIA.
ILLUMINATI is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and is used by permission.
The reproduction of material from this book for personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other means of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. You may
copy character sheets, record sheets, checklists and tables for personal use.
E-mail questions and comments to Mongoose Publishing at sales@mongoosepublishing.com or write to Mongoose Publishing, 52-54 Cricklade Road, Swindon,
Wiltshire SN8 2AF, UK.
On the World Wide Web: www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Published by Mongoose Publishing, Ltd. Publication MGP 6657. Published October 2007. Printed in the UK.
 MY FIRST TREASON
1. Introduction
Back in the old, unfun days of
PARANOIA, when Zap style ruled
the line and unapproved forms
of humor were not punished by
summary execution, there were
parodies of certain popular books,
movies, television shows, roleplaying
games and other media forms. In the
brave new edition, Famous Game
Designers set their sights higher.
We do not go for the cheap laugh,
for the easy joke at the expense of
some passing fad by jamming it into
Alpha Complex. (Vampires, hey,
aren’t they hilarious?*)
Therefore, we would like to
emphasize that this scenario is not
a parody. It may have been inspired
by a certain wildly popular series of
fantasy novels about a boy wizard
going to wizard school. We may
wish to translate that element of our
cultural zeitgeist into the PARANOIA
setting, with the intent of flavoring our
humor with recognizable elements.
We might even wish to satirize
aspects of the books. However, in
no way, shape, form or legal action
is this a parody.
We are not inconstant. We are
moving from one state of constancy
to another, more constant one.
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
terminations—all in their very own
crèche! Can the characters solve
their problems and the secrets of
their past while still studying for the
Approved Revised History of Alpha
Complex (fifth edition) exam?
* Yes, I know a recent PARANOIA scenario
(Spin Control) involved zombies. What’s your
point?
** Filesharing is treason, citizen.
■ The Junior Citizens
William-JST-1 is an oddly
charismatic young Junior
Citizen with a knack for making
others do what he wants them
to do. What William doesn’t
know is that he’s not a clone—
he’s actually the natural-born
son of a High Programmer,
Louis-U, who placed William in
the crèche for protection. The
children of High Programmers
are often used as hostages or
for blackmail.
Nina-JST-1 has already been
tagged as ‘argumentative
and insubordinate’ by the
supervisors of the crèche,
and is in line for drug therapy
and brainscrubbing unless her
behavior improves. In a few
years, she’s going to discover
that she’s a powerful mutant
wanted by Psion….
Eva-JST-1 might just be the
perfect citizen. Ambitious, loyal,
determined and intelligent. If
only Alpha Complex rewarded
merit instead of backstabbing
and treason.
Joe-JST-1 is, unfortunately for
him, a product of sabotage in
the cloning banks. The DNA
for a notorious Commie was
introduced into the banks,
resulting in young Joe. He
doesn’t have the memories
of the Commie, but he’ll grow
up to look just like him…and
maybe think like him too.
Thomas-JST-1 was once an
IntSec agent, pursuing the
Commie Mutant Traitor who
was recloned as Joe-JST.
Thomas ended up getting
his genetic pattern reinserted
into the cloning banks, and

Anyway, now that that’s out of the

way, let’s talk about H*rry P*tt*r and
the Enchanted Confession Booth—
er, I mean, My First Treason. You
are holding in your hands (or, in
this electronic day and age, reading
on your screen**) a mini-campaign
for PARANOIA, complete with six
pregenerated player characters.
Not ‘pregenerated Troubleshooters’,
you’ll note, because My First
Treason’s characters are brave
young Junior Citizens: Alpha
Complex kids in an Alpha Complex
crèche. The four chapters of the
mini-campaign each cover one year
of their education, from age ten to
age 14 (when they go off to join the
loyal workforce).
Along the way, they’ll run into
secretive conspiracies, nefarious
traitors, weird mutants and gratuitous
■ But I Don’t Like Pregenerated Characters
Fortunately, the plot-dependant bits of most of the pregenerated characters
can be lifted out easily and inserted like subcutaneous RFID tags into other
characters. If one player wants to play an angsty, I’m-so-depressed-my-soul’s-
INFRARED kid, then you can just stick one of the secrets from one of the
pregenerated characters (like ‘I’m a powerful mutant’ or ‘my daddy’s a High
Programmer’ into his background.
The only problems arise if you’ve got more than four players, as the secret
plot elements of ‘I’m a petbot guardian’ or ‘I’m actually an all-grown-up IntSec
agent in a child’s body’ aren’t quite so portable. You could easily say that
Thomas-JST-1’s memories of his adult life only return gradually, of course,
and let a player come up with his ‘child’ personality. As for the petbot…eh,
can’t help there. We shall continue the parody satire and leave the fans argue
ad infinitum over this plot hole.
■ But I Don’t Have Six Players
Not all the pregenerated characters have to be played by players—you can
easily make Timmy the PetBot into an NPC, and both Thomas-JST and Eva-
JST can be removed from the campaign without any problems—just ignore
any subplots that depend on their presence.

59 PARANOIA: Alpha Complex Nights

 1. INTRODUCTION
Game Rules for Junior Citizens
If you’re creating your own
characters, then here are the
changes to character creation for
Junior Citizens:
Junior Citizens start with only three
Common Specialties, and they don’t
get the normal Energy Weapons
specialty of Troubleshooters.
They don’t have a service firm or
secret society, so they don’t get the
skills from those sources either.
Junior Citizens have a mutation, but
they don’t know what it is yet.
Junior Citizens have an Access
score, but it is limited to getting
stuff done in the context of the
crèche—you know which kid is
really good at forging signatures, or
where the school docbot stores the
happy pills.
■ New Skills
These skill specialties are normally
only used in crèches, and are
forgotten by adult Troubleshooters.
Management: Cramming. This
specialty allows the character to
study a large amount of information
and regurgitate the relevant bits in
an exam, but doesn’t allow him to
actually retain any of the information.
It’s the easy way to pass exams if
you don’t actually have the relevant
skill. (Well, technically, cheating’s
even easier, but no loyal citizen
would dare cheat, right?).
recopied his MemoMax data
too. He’s waiting until he’s
grown up before exacting his
revenge on the Commies who
killed him.
Finally, Timmy the PetBot
is a friendly and bouncy
robot dog—who was actually
programmed by William’s
father to watch over the crèche
and to protect William. For a
petbot, it’s got an awful lot of
hidden weapons….
Violence: Bullying. This works just
like the Management specialty of
Intimidation, but involves physical
torture as well as psychological
pain.
Stealth: Squirming. The art of
getting into places you shouldn’t be
by squeezing through vents, access
tubes and other spaces that are
much too small for adults.
Hardware: Improvisation. Building
things out of spare parts. Creativity
is discouraged in most of Alpha
Complex (the exception being R&D,
where it’s encouraged via crazy
drugs), but bright Junior Citizens can
turn a few bits of scrap metal and a
handful of computer chips into, say,
a primitive frag grenade.
Software: Journaling. The art of
writing your online journal so as
to say what the psychologists and
censors reading it expect you to
say. All Junior Citizens are expected
to keep a journal; those skilled at
Journaling can form cliques and
throw aspersions and accusations
at the less adept.
Wetware: Faking Illness. I can’t do
the test today, sir, I’m sick!
■ Treason
If a Junior Citizen commits a
treasonous act, then his youth is
taken into account. A Junior Citizen
gets ten points of ‘Treason Armor’,
■ The Adventures
Bully With A Cone Rifle: The Junior
Citizens are moved to a new crèche,
where they meet their new teachers
and get beaten up by the older
children. Someone is spreading
Death Leopard propaganda among
the senior Junior Citizens, and
they’ve got to be stopped before
Armed Forces training begins….
Mutant Testing Time: It’s mutant
testing time! Everyone in the crèche
is being subjected to psychological
but this is depleted when used. For
example, young William-JC blows
up a reactor and is sentenced to
Erasure. However, Friend Computer
decides that ‘boys will be boys’
and drops the punishment to a
mere brainscrub. This costs two of
William-JC’s ten points of armor.
Junior Citizens can’t use their
Access scores to defend against
treason.
■ Optional Rule: Junior
Citizen Advancement
Under the normal PARANOIA
rules, advancement is purchased
using Perversity Points. However,
given your chances of surviving
an adventure are slim to none, it’s
much more common for a player to
spend all his Perversity to cling to
life instead of hoarding it to improve
his skills. However, advancement
and improving skills is much more
important than normal in My First
Treason. Therefore, the following
optional rule is suggested: only
Perversity that has already been
spent can be used to improve
skills. So, William spends five
Perversity points to ensure he can
hide from a roaming teacher after
curfew. He reduces his current
Perversity total by five, and increases
his Spent Perversity by five. At the
end of the scenario, he can spend
the Spent Perversity on improving
his skills, as described in Chapter
12 of the PARAOIA rulebook.
and biochemical tests, to determine
if their DNA’s pure enough. Those
who fail may be terminated, or
worse—they instantly become the
lowest of the low in the crèche.
Worse again, it looks like someone’s
decided the characters are going to
fail even before they’re tested….
Commie on Campus: The
characters find a notorious Commie
Mutant Traitor hiding in the crèche.
He claims he’s actually a loyal
clone, who has been framed by a
60
 MY FIRST TREASON
conspiracy who are trying to get hold
of a new weapon. If the characters
help, they get to pilot a warbot…but
they might miss the inter-crèche
FunBall tournament if they do!
Graduation: The final exams are
looming large! What service group
with the characters be assigned
to? Will some of them become
Troubleshooters? Who can make
it to RED clearance? And what
about all the mysterious forces
and conspiracies that have been
troubling them all along?
■ The Characters and
Mutant Powers
All of the characters, with the obvious
exception of Timmy the PetBot, will
develop their mutant powers over
the course of this scenario. The
exact timing is up to you, and should
be a combination of the fortuitous
(‘Die, kiddie Commie scum!’ ‘Er,
Energy Shield apparently!’) and the
embarrassing (‘Are you a mutant,
Joe?’ ‘No sir. May I spontaneously
combust if I’m lying.’ *FOOM*.) It’s
best if you let the players know
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
they’ve developed a power, but don’t
tell them what it is until the power is
actually triggered.
Nina is a special case. While the
powers of the other characters should
be rolled on the Straight or Classic
tables, depending on your style of
play, Nina’s a very powerful mutant,
and she gets a random power off the
Zap table. She also gets a form of
the Telepathy power—not enough to
scan the thoughts of others without
training, but enough to faintly sense
telepathic signals and to make her
of use to Psion.
■ The Characters and
Secret Socities
At the start of the game, only
Thomas has any idea about the
existence of secret societies—he’s
a member of the First Church of
Christ Computer-Programmer,
although his membership has
obviously lapsed a bit because of the
whole reborn-as-a-Junior-Citizen
problem. Joe’s obviously going
to be recruited by the Commies,
and Psion are already interested
in Nina. If the other characters try,
they can probably make contact
with one society or another. (See
The Traitor’s Manual for details on
society recruitment and initiation.)
If a character joins a secret society,
he gets the appropriate secret skill
for free.
■ The Massively
Overcomplex Backstory
My First Treason begins 13 years
ago, with the Revolt of the 43 rd
Heavy Assault Division. The Alpha
Complex Armed Forces spend
most of their time blowing up trees
(‘observation posts’) or bushes
(‘insurgent launch sites’) in the
wilderness of Outdoors. Dealing
with these non-existent outside
threats takes up over 40% of the
resources of the whole complex,
but it’s HPD&MC that insists that
the fiction of an external threat is
necessary to ensure order and unity
among the lower clearances. Over
the centuries, HPD&MC started
believing their own propaganda, and
these fictional dangers are very real
to anyone inside Alpha Complex,
including Friend Computer.

■ Bot Characters?
The Armed Forces, however, are
on the frontline of Outdoors, and
Yes, Timmy the PetBot is a bot. No, we haven’t done rules for bot characters they can see that there are no
yet (they will be in a PARANOIA supplement that is yet to come). So, how secret Commie armies marshalling
does Timmy fit into the game? The simple answer is that Timmy is a very to attack Alpha Complex. After a
special bot, who uses exactly the same rules as normal characters. The one few years of pointless maneuvers
exception is treason—a result of censure, medication or brainscrub means and marches, even the most loyal
that Timmy’s programming is fiddled with by a technician, which may have Armed Forces general begins to
deleterious effects on his memory and/or sanity. A result of termination means have second thoughts. The only real
he’s sent back to the factory, and a new model is sent out. conflicts fought by Armed Forces
in decades have been civil wars
If Timmy’s killed, then a replacement petbot with a copy of his code is sent between loyalists and renegade
by Louis-U. generals.

As for Timmy’s weapons systems, they’re under the control of his hidden The Revolt of the 43 rd Heavy
programming. Therefore, they can only be used when a) he’s in dire peril and Assault was an especially damaging
b) you think it’s funny. He’s got a stun gun in his nose, and a one-use cone rebellion. Whole sectors were
rifle tac-nuke shell in a concealed launcher. conquered by the rebels before
they were defeated. Cleaning up
■ The Memories of Thomas the resulting mess and editing the
records to delete the events took
Thomas has the memories of his previous life as an IntSec agent, and it’s years. A special committee of high-
possible that the player will try to make contact with his former supervisors in clearance citizens, the so-called
order to escape the crèche. If this happens, then IntSec assigns Thomas to Loyalty Gang, were assigned to
spy on the Junior Citizens in the crèche—this is a great opportunity to weed examine the cause of the revolt.
out treason before it even begins! The Loyalty Gang consisted of
four people: Louis-V, Jericho-V,
Vanessa-V and Markus-U.

61
 1. INTRODUCTION

William-JC-JST-1 Nina-JC-JST-1 Eva-JC-JST-1

Junior Citizen Junior Citizen Junior Citizen
Service Group: None yet. Service Group: None yet. Service Group: None yet.
Security Clearance: INFRARED Security Clearance: INFRARED Security Clearance: INFRARED
Credits: 50 Credits: 15 Credits: 40

Tics: Barks orders even when he’s Tics: Sneezes when stressed. Tics: Loves to sing loyalty songs.
not in charge. Tic 2: ______________________ Tic 2: ______________________
Tic 2: ______________________
Example of Tic in Use: Example of Tic in Use:
Example of Tic in Use: William: Everyone hide! Nina, get William: I’m bored.
Teacher: Someone clean up that down! Eva: We shall sing ‘Oh Friend
mess in the corner. Nina: Achoo! Computer, You Are My Special
William: Nina, Thomas, you do it. William: Uh-oh. Friend!’
Get to work! Nina: Or, we could throw things
Nina: Make me, vatslime. ACTION SKILLS & at you.
SPECIALITIES
ACTION SKILLS & Management 6 ACTION SKILLS &
SPECIALITIES Cramming 10 SPECIALITIES
Management 10 ______________________ Management 10
Moxie 14 Stealth 10 Cramming 14
Oratory 14 Staying Really Really Still And Neatest Handwriting Ever 16
_____________________ Not Making Any Noise 16 Stealth 07
Stealth 07 Violence 10 ______________________
_____________________ Unarmed Combat 14 Violence 05
Violence 06 Biting People In Very Painful Agility 09
Kicking People While They’re Places 16 ______________________
Down 10
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE SKILLS &
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS & SPECIALITIES SPECIALITIES
SPECIALITIES Hardware 05 Hardware 08
Hardware 08 Punching Machines To Chemical Engineering 12
Jiggling The Lock On The Relieve Frustration 09 Scrubbing Things So They
Dormitory Door Open 12 Software 07 Shine 14
Software 10 ______________________ Software 10
Data Search 14 Wetware 08 Having The Most Loyal Journal
Finding Credits Mysteriously Biosciences 12 In Class 16
Turn Up In Your Account 16 Burning Off Drugs In Half The Wetware 06
Wetware 05 Normal Time 14 Your Old School Project
Pretending To Swallow Pills On The Use Of Subliminal
11 Open Slots for Narrow Specialties: Messaging 12
2 (Management, Software)
Open Slots for Narrow Specialties: Open Slots for Narrow Specialties:
2 (Management, Stealth) 2 (Stealth, Violence)

62
 MY FIRST TREASON
Eva-JC-JST-1
Junior Citizen
Mutation: __________________
Society: ___________________
Secret Skills: _______________
Background
This is so unfair, you totally shouldn’t
be here.
You’ve always been the best, most
loyal Junior Citizen in the crèche.
Ever since you were old enough
to talk, not a treasonous word has
passed your lips. Oh, you’ve had
bad thoughts like everyone else,
but you’re a loyal Junior Citizen
and would never, ever, act in a
disloyal, treasonous way. You hate
Commie Mutant Traitors with every
fiber of your being, and love Friend
Computer just as much.
You’re always the first to sing the
loyalty songs, the first to report for
extra duty, the one who studies
hardest. Your record is full of
commendations and gold stars.
You’re a good clone, a good clone.
You’d even dreamed of one day
becoming one of the elite, a heroic
Troubleshooter, just like the ones
you see on television. (You’re
careful to always watch the 4.6
hours of television mandated for
citizens of your grade and age,
although you sometimes try to
sneak a textbook into the television
room.)
Now, you’ve been transferred to
a different crèche, along with a
bunch of complete morons and
clones who are sure to end up in
termination booth long before they
hit ORANGE. It’s not fair. The only
explanation is that someone framed
you, blackening your record so
you got transferred with the rest of
them. It’s almost unthinkable that
someone would tamper with official
Alpha Complex records that way,
but…that’s what traitors do.
A traitor is plotting against you!
Personal Equipment
Teela-O-MLY fanclub badge
Computer Loyalty Brigade badge
63
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Nina-JC-JST-1
Junior Citizen
Mutation: __________________
Society: ___________________
Secret Skills: _______________
Background
It’s not that you don’t take the happy
pills. You’ve tried to be a good little
citizen in the past, to do what you’re
told, but it’s like you burn through
the chemical joy too quickly and
you’re left there screaming at the
sheer stupidity of everyone else as
they stand there with stupid blissful
smiles on their stupid fat faces and it
just makes you want to punch them
right then and there and….
Your permanent record has lots of
notes in it. ‘Insubordinate’, ‘Violent’,
‘Not A Team Player’, ‘Hit Other
Team Members Instead Of FunBall
When Playing FunBall’, ‘Broke The
FunBall Bat’, ‘Set Teacher On Fire’.
(That one was fun.) You know that
you should probably try harder,
that you’re going to end up in some
dead-end job stirring a food vat if
you don’t work harder—but hey,
maybe if you blow enough stuff up,
they’ll let you into the Armed Forces
and give you a tank.
Until you get your hands on high
explosive, you’ll just be bored while
everyone else drifts along on the
happy drugs. Bored, restless and
violent.
You’ve just been transferred to
a new crèche. Rumor has it, it’s
where the troublesome Junior
Citizens are sent. You know why
you’re here, but why were a few
others from your old crèche sent
here too?
Personal Equipment
Stress-reduction audio tape #4,
Calming Buzzing Noises
Black crayon
William-JC-JST-1
Junior Citizen
Mutation: __________________
Society: ____________________
Secret Skills: _______________
Background
You’ve always been a little bit bigger
than everyone else in your class,
so you’ve often found yourself in
charge. You’re not sure if you like
having to be the leader all the time,
but you guess it’s better than having
someone else tell you what to do.
You’ve never liked following orders,
which gets you into trouble a lot.
Over the last few months, you’ve
noticed something odd going on.
It started when you got Timmy
the PetBot—the teachers in your
old crèche insisted that you were
being given it as a ‘reward for
academic excellence’, but you
never did that well on your tests,
and they were gritting their teeth
when they handed Timmy to you.
Then, you found credits appearing
in your account whenever you ran
low on funds. Never too much—not
enough to buy your own autocar or
anything—but just what you needed
at the time.
You were doing some digging on
the computer networks, trying to
trace where the money was coming
from—and that’s when you were
transferred to another crèche. It
was all done very hurriedly, in the
dead of nightcycle. Maybe you’re
just being paranoid, but it felt like
the move was connected to your
hacking attempts. Maybe you asked
a question you shouldn’t have….
Personal Equipment
Manual: The Care and Feeding of
PetBots
Glasses
Realistic-looking toy laser pistol
(red)
 1. INTRODUCTION

Joe-JC-JST-1 Thomas-JC-JST-1 Timmy

Junior Citizen Junior Citizen Loveable PetBot
Service Group: None yet. Service Group: None Yet. Service Group: None
Security Clearance: INFRARED Security Clearance: INFRARED Security Clearance: None
Credits: 10 Credits: 50 Credits: 0

Tics: Keeps rubbing his upper lip.
Tic 2: ______________________
Example of Tic in Use:
Teacher: You, Joe. What’s the
answer to the question?
Joe: mumble mumble.
Teacher: What? Get that hand
away from your mouth and speak
clearly.
Joe: I said, I’ve no idea.
ACTION SKILLS & SPECIALITIES
SPECIALITIES
Management 10
Con Games 14
Find Regulation Loopholes 16
Stealth 10
Security Systems 14
Sounding Older Than You Are
Over The Phone 16
Violence 07
Throw First Stone If In A Mob
11
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS &
SPECIALITIES
Hardware 08
Mechanical Engineering 12
_____________________
Software 05
Cutting and Pasting Documents
Really Quickly 11
Wetware 06
_____________________
Open Slots for Narrow Specialties:
2 (Hardware, Wetware)
Tics: Always writing in notebook.
Tic 2: ______________________
Example of Tic in Use:
William: So, what are we going to
do today?
Thomas: scribble scribble
William: What are you writing?
Thomas: Nothing. scribble
scribble
ACTION SKILLS & FLUID.** Beep! Woof!
Management 09
Interrogation 13
______________________
Stealth 10
Shadowing 14
Knowledge of Really Out of
Date Security Systems 16
Violence 07
Two-Fisted Haymaker Punch
That Doesn’t Work As You’re
Too Short 13
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS &
SPECIALITIES
Hardware 05
_____________________
Software 10
Data Analysis 14
Use Few Remaining Working
Passwords From Old Life 16
Wetware 06
Surprising Knowledge of Truth
Drugs 12
Open Slots for Narrow Specialties:
2 (Management, Hardware)
Tics: Leaks oil all over the carpet
at inopportune moments.
Tic 2: ______________________
Example of Tic in Use:
Eva: The hall monitor’s coming to
inspect the dormitory. Make sure
it’s clean.
William: It’s fine, we’ve been
cleaning it all daycycle.
Timmy: **VENTING EXCESS
ACTION SKILLS &
SPECIALITIES
Management 05
Bootlicking 09
Really Annoying Yipping 11
Stealth 10
Squirming 14
_____________________
Violence 06
Built In Weapons, Use Only In
Emergencies. Information On
Weapons Is NOT AVAILABLE
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS &
SPECIALITIES
Hardware 08
Bot Ops and Maintenance 12
_____________________
Software 10
Slightly Buggy Wireless
Networking 16
Wetware 07
Morale-Boosting Yipping 13
Open Slots for Narrow Specialties:
2 (Stealth, Hardware)

64
 MY FIRST TREASON
Timmy
Loveable PetBot
Background
Beep! You are PetBot #544399,
designation Timmy. You were
purchased by INFORMATION NOT
AVAILABLE as a gift for William-JC-
JST-1. Your prime directives are:
INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE
Protect William and the other Junior
Citizens.
Obey the orders of William and the
other Junior Citizens.
Entertain and amuse.
Chase tail. Go yip yip yip yip (for
n=1 to $BIGNUM; Repeat n).
To aid you in completion of
these directives, you have been
upgraded with INFORMATION
NOT AVAILABLE. It is vitally
important that you INFORMATION
NOT AVAILABLE. You are just a
simple petbot so you do not mind
the big holes in your memory where
INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE
goes. You like to play with William
and the other Junior Citizens. You
like to go yip a lot.
You really like it when William and his
friends get into big trouble, because
maybe then you’ll get to use your
nuclear-tipped INFORMATION
NOT AVAILABLE.
Personal Equipment
None
65
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Thomas-JC-JST-1
Junior Citizen (Formerly
GREEN)
Former IntSec Agent
Mutation: __________________
Society: First Church of Christ
Computer-Programmer
Secret Skills: Alpha Complex
History 05
Background
Ten years of humiliation and suffering
are nearly over. Just another ten or
15 to go. You’re not some snot-
nosed Junior Citizen—you’re really
Thomas-G-RST-3, one of the best
IntSec agents in Alpha Complex.
You were on a mission to hunt
down a Commie saboteur known
only as UNCLE. The mission was
top secret, assigned to you by High
Programmer Louis-U himself!
You traced UNCLE to his lair and
mortally wounded him. The coward
had an emergency escape route,
though—he’d hacked into the
cloning banks where new citizens
are made, and was trying to copy
his DNA and memory patterns over
so he’d be reborn. You tried to stop
him, there was an accident, a big
explosion—and you woke up nine
months later in the body of a newly
decanted baby.
No one would believe you if you
told them the truth, so you’ve just
had to live through crèche a second
time. One day, you’ll get back on
the promotion ladder, Hell, you’ll
be the youngest citizen to make
BLUE ever—you know it all already
(although you do worry you’ve
damaged your baby-sized brain by
cramming too much data into it).
You’ve just been transferred to
another crèche. You don’t know
why, but you suspect they moved
a whole group to hide their real
purpose—one of the other kids
who got moved must be hiding
something.
Personal Equipment
Notebook
Joe-JC-JST-1
Junior Citizen
Mutation: __________________
Society: ___________________
Secret Skills: _______________
Background
You’ve always been happy to just
be one of the crowd; it’s a big class,
so it’s easy to hide in the sea of
faces. Something tells you that
people who stand out are also the
sort of people who get dragged
away by IntSec. Much better to be
comfortable average.
Lately, though, it’s been harder and
harder to blend in. You don’t know
why, but some of the older teachers
keep looking at you in a weird way,
like they don’t recognize you—or
maybe they do, but something
about you scares them. That’s bad,
’cos it draws attention to you. You
might just be a kid, but you still know
that treason and double-dealing is
the only way anyone gets ahead
in this corrupt system. You’ve a
knack for knowing who to go to get
things done.
You’ve just been transferred to
another crèche, one that has a
very bad reputation. It looks like
the mysterious dislike of you that
the teachers developed has really
gotten you into trouble.
Personal Equipment
Catapult and a handful of nuts &
bolts
 1. INTRODUCTION
They eventually concluded that
Alpha Complex needed an actual,
real foe for the Armed Forces to fight.
This foe would have to be under the
control of the ULTRAVIOLETS,
but appear to be a genuine threat
to the rest of the citizens. A secret
R&D project developed the OMEGA
program, a specialized artificial
intelligence that could be loaded into
a warbot. The Loyalty Gang intended
to secretly build OMEGA warbots
who would present a genuine threat
to the Armed Forces.
Then it all went wrong. One of the
Loyalty Gang, Jericho-V, decided
to eliminate his rivals. He made
contact with a shadow Commie
leader called UNCLE and planted
evidence that the other members
of the Gang were actually plotting
to put a backdoor to the OMEGA
program and give it to UNCLE.
What Jericho-V did not know was
that another of the Gang, Louis-V,
had just switched allegiance from
Corpore Metal to the Humanists
following the birth of his son, William.
Louis-V was already on the look-out
for reprisals from Corpore Metal,
so his agents and spies spotted
Jericho-V’s machinations.
Louis-V wasn’t able to stop Jericho-
V’s plot, but he was able to deflect
it. Louis-V took control of the IntSec
investigation into the Loyalty Gang,
which resulted in the demotion
of Vanessa-V to YELLOW, and
the termination of Jericho-V and
Markus-U. However, what Jericho-V
didn’t know that was there actually
was a backdoor in the OMEGA
code, and Markus-U had it. Markus-
U escaped Alpha Complex, taking
control of the OMEGA test brigade
of warbots. Jericho-V also managed
to flee before he was terminated.
The OMEGA project was shut
down, but Louis-V was promoted to
ULTRAVIOLET.
As part of the IntSec investigation,
Louis-U sent Agent Thomas-G after
the mysterious Communist known
as UNCLE. The Commie had an
emergency escape route—a hack
into the cloning banks that was
designed to copy UNCLE’s DNA
and MemoMax data into a new
clone. Agent Thomas caught the
Commie just as UNCLE was using
this escape route. The two were
both reborn as new clones—the
player characters Joe and Thomas,
although only Thomas managed to
retain his memory.
By a strange co-incidence, both new
clones ended up in the same crèche
as William, the natural-born
66.
 MY FIRST TREASON
son of Louis-V. During the height
of the IntSec investigation, Louis-V
smuggled the newborn child into
the crèche system—if his enemies
had found out that Louis-U has a
natural-born child, he’d have been
executed as a traitor.
Since then, Louis-U has kept an eye
on his son from afar, tracking him
through the computer networks. He
even sent him a petbot with optional
extras (lots of concealed weapon
systems). The petbot, Timmy, was
also programmed to secretly report
on William’s movements to Louis-U.
William is Louis’s biggest secret,
one he must keep concealed at all
costs.
A few weeks ago, Louis-U found
signs that someone had been
investigating William’s records. In an
attempt to protect his son, Louis-U
arranged for William to be moved to
another crèche. As cover, he moved
several other students, too.
And that’s where My First Treason
really begins....
■ JST Sector Crèche
The characters’ new crèche is one
with a very, very bad reputation. It is
rare for Junior Citizens to be moved
from one crèche to another—many
citizens are decanted, trained, put
to work and terminated without ever
leaving their home sector—but there
are a few specialized crèches. Some
are for especially intelligent young
citizens, or useful mutants. Others,
like JST Sector, are for disciplining
Junior Citizens who are proving
troublesome.
The JST Sector crèche is a large
complex of corridors and rooms
sectioned off from the rest of the
sector by large blast doors. The
rooms smell primary of sweat,
fear and farts; security cameras
and battered bots are everywhere.
The Junior Citizens sleep in 20-
person dormitories; they attend
classes for up to eight hours per
day, although most of the classes
are really just sitting there watching
videos. After school, the Junior
67
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Citizens are expected to study,
watch more television and improve
themselves mentally and physically
in preparation for the day when they
will be called upon to serve The
Computer.
Junior Citizens are especially
cherished by Friend Computer,
and they are virtually immune
to accusations of treason. It is
unheard of for a Junior Citizen
to be terminated as punishment,
but they can be censured and
even brainscrubbed if they’re really
naughty. The punishments for those
adult clones who injure or upset The
Computer’s children, though, are far
far worse.
Effective crèche administrators,
then, have to be able to absolutely
terrify the Junior Citizens without
injuring them—at least, not in any
detectable fashion. Ineffective
administrators find themselves
held hostage in their own crèches
by hordes of unruly children.
Most of the teaching in the crèche is
done by bots and videos, but there
are three human teachers of note in
the crèche. First, there’s Vanessa-
Y-ELR-4, formerly Vanessa-V. She
was one of the Loyalty Gang (see
page 38), but was demoted for
treason.
Solomon-R-NGN-5, the technical
teacher relies on the fear of
Stepplecruch to keep his classes
in some semblance of order whilst
hoping that he will remain unnoticed
in his place in the world.
Finally, there is Loyalty Officer
Sever-R-HST-2, a thoroughly nasty
piece of work, but more on him
later.
DON’T SAY
YOU WEREN’T
WARNED....
Stepplecruch-G-GHT-5
Stepplecruch-G-GHT-5 is a very
effective administrator. He is an old,
twisted, bitter monster of a man, kept
alive by drugs and hate. His only joy
is watching former students of his
being terminated—he makes sure
that such executions are always
shown live for the crèche children.
He has no interest in the rest of Alpha
Complex, and hates it when anyone
interferes in his private kingdom of
the JST Sector Crèche.
Stepplecruch-G-GHT-5
Management 13
Interrogation 17
Intimidation 17
Oratory 17
Torturing Small Mammals
Including Children 19
Stealth 10
Surveillance 16
Violence 8
Hardware 6
Bot Ops and Maintenance
10
Listening to the Creaks In The
Floor Panels And Using Them
To Track Movement 10
Software 10
Data Search 14Wetware 12
Pharmatherapy 16
Keeping the Brats Quiet With
Drugs 16
Mutant Power: Heightened Senses
(Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation: Corpore
Metal
Armor: None
Weapons: Truncheon (O5K) or
flamethrower (S3K)
 1. INTRODUCTION
Vanessa-Y-ELR-4
Ex-member of the Loyalty Gang
and demoted for treason her record
is so blighted that she will never
be promoted again, so all the drive
has gone out of her. She was once
incredibly sharp and intelligent,
but now she just trudges from
day to day. Occasionally, some
question from an inquisitive Junior
Citizen can awaken her critical
faculties and a little of the old
Vanessa shines through. Vanessa-
Y teaches subjects like Report-
Writing, Administration, Accounting
and Form Processing.
Vanessa-Y-ELR-4
Management 14
Moxie 18
Stealth 8
Surveillance 12
Shadowy Contacts From Her
Old Life 14
Violence 10
Energy Weapons 14
Hardware 9
Software 10
Bot Programming 14
Hacking 14
Operating Systems 14
Wetware 12
Psychology 16
Mutant Power: Bureaucratic
Intuition (Power 8)
Secret Society Affiliation: Pro
Tech
Armor: None
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
Soloman-R-NGN-5 Sever-R-HST-2
Solomon-R-NGN-5 is the crèche’s A cold, cold man whose loyalty is for
technical teacher. He’s a sleepy-eyed sale to the highest bidder. He has
man who has found a surprisingly contacts with many secret societies
comfy niche in the Alpha Complex and power blocs within Alpha
bureaucracy, and is determined to Complex, and keeps an eye out
cling to it with all his might. It is only for promising young Junior Citizens
the threat of Stepplecruch’s shadow who could be of use to one society or
that allows Solomon-R to maintain another. He pretends to be an ultra-
his control over his classes. He strict, ultra-orthodox loyalty officer,
could be accurately described as and has even impressed bitter old
old, kind-eyed and a bit dim. Stepplecruch with his devotion to
discipline, but it’s all a lie. Sever is
as traitorous as they come.
Solomon-R-NGN-5 Sever-R-HST-2
Management 10 Management 10
Bootlicking 12 Interrogation 14
Stealth 9 Intimidation 14
Violence 7 Stealth 10
Hardware 10 High Alert 14
Bot Ops and Maintainance Surveillance 14
14 Violence 8
Mechanical Engineering 14 Hardware 7
Software 11 Software 10
Data Search 12 Data Search 14
Wetware 8 Wetware 12
Biosciences 12 Pharmatherapy 16
Mutant Power: Empathy (Power Mutant Power: Empathy (Power
12) 12)
Secret Society Affiliation: FCCC- Secret Society Affiliation:
P Undercover Free Enterprise Agent
Armor: None Spying On Humanists
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K) Armor: None
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
68
 MY FIRST TREASON
2. Bully With A Cone Rifle
Synopsis: The characters arrive at
their new crèche, where they meet
their new teachers and supervisors,
as well as their new bullies and
tormentors. Someone’s spreading
Death Leopard propaganda in
the crèche, just before the older
students are issued with weapons
as part of their military training.
The major antagonists are a trio
of older bullies, led by Harold-
JC. They’re being supplied with
Death Leopard propaganda by a
technician, Gary-R-OST-2, who’s
repairing the crèche’s confession
booth. The propaganda and some
improvised explosives are being
stored in an empty dormitory—the
one the characters are about to be
assigned to. The characters need
to deal with the bullies before the
bullies get hold of real firepower.
■ Welcome Junior Citizens
Read the following to the players:
It’s your first day in your new crèche.
Every day begins the same way—all
the Junior Citizens in the crèche
assemble in one of the main halls to
be reviewed by the administrators.
Commendations are handed out—at
least, that’s what the rules say. No
one in the JCT crèche has ever
gotten a commendation. What you’re
sure of is that punishments are also
assigned during assembly. The
whole room goes dark, a spotlight
stabs down at the accused, and the
bots swoop in and drag him away.
At your old crèche, maybe one or
two kids would be punished each
week. Here, rumor says it’s four or
five a day.
It’s hard to see with the taller kids in
front of you, but you hear a door at the
far end of the hall opening. It must be
the administrators. Through a gap in
the crowd, you see a podium. A very
old citizen in green-colored robes
walks up to it and scowls at you—not
at the assembled students, but at
you personally. (Yes, all of you.
69
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Personally. He’s that scowly.) He
whispers into a microphone, and the
giant loudspeakers around the hall
project every growl, every noise his
chin-hairs make scratching off his
robe’s collar, every disgusted sniff
from his cavernous nose at you in
crystal-clear super-loud stereo.
‘Good morningcycle class.’
‘GOOD MORNINGCYCLE MR.
STEPPLECRUCH.’
‘The following students have been
volunteered for extra duty: Alice-JC,
Bethany-JC, Damien-JC, Harry-JC,
Simon-JC. The school confession
booth is still being repaired, so if you
have any... actions that you need
to... report, then speak to the loyalty
officer, Mr. Sever. Upper class
students are reminded that their
mandatory training period with the
Armed Forces Homeland Defense
Corps will begin this week, so all
FunBall and other extracurricular
activities are cancelled for the upper
classes. Finally, I understand we
have some new… friends joining
us today.’
Stepplecruch presses a button, and a
big spotlight stabs down, illuminating
the N* of you. ‘Why don’t you tell us
a little bit about yourselves?’ says
the administrator. The other Junior
Citizens around you recoil from the
light, as if it’s radioactive.
* Where N equals the number of player
characters.
What do you say?
After you’ve tortured the players a
little by putting them on the spot
in the traditional fashion of new
students in a school, move on to
the next scene. If the players are
nice enough to say something
that will make them unpopular,
seize on it. Stepplecruch will also
unmercifully question them if they’re
not forthcoming enough.
■ Time For Class
After assembly, the Junior Citizens
are broken into age groups and
directed to one of the many lecture
halls in the crèche. About half the
classes during the day consist of
just watching delightful educational
videos as:
HPD&MC Video #543332—
Food Recycling and You
TS Video #43774—Slime Mold
Identification and Eradication
PS Video #995532—Duck and
Cover In The Event Of Reactor
Failure
R&D Video #665525—Nuclear
Engineering 102
HPD&MC Video #112217—
Subliminal Messaging, Part
Seven
(The last one’s just an hour-long
tape of a black screen and a sound
track of irritating static, but everyone
still has to watch it. No reason.)
The characters also get to meet their
other teachers:
Form-Filling and Good
Penmanship: This class is taught
by Vanessa-G. In the first third of the
class, the students get to practice
form-filling on a succession of really
out-of-date forms like Delinquent
Clone Family Rehousing Request or
Secure File Transfer Waivers, or the
nightmarish pre-ME-card EZ Short-
Form Identity Confirmation Form.
In the second part of the class, the
students swap forms again and enter
the results of another student’s form
into the computer system. Finally,
the students swap forms around
again, and do psycho-graphological
assessments of the handwriting
used in the forms, looking for signs
of mental deviancy and treason.
 2. BULLY WITH A CONE RIFLE
Vanessa-Y keeps an eye on the
characters throughout the class—
both William and Joe remind her
of someone (Louis-U and Joe’s
Commie clone-brother, respectively).
Play up the players’ paranoia, if
possible.*
* Say that three times fast.
■ Yum, It’s Lunch Time!
After that, there’s lunch in the crèche
cafeteria. The confession booth is
located in the corridor just outside
the cafeteria, so the characters get
to pass by technician Gary-R as
they go to lunch. The technician
is almost fearfully respectful of the
characters, as he knows about the
harsh punishments that await adults
who upset Junior Citizens.
Every student has a weekly allotment
of lunch credits assigned to them,
just enough for a plate of Cold Fun
and a can of yummy B3. As the
characters enter the cafeteria, a
pleasant-faced kid about their age
waves at them and encourages
them to sit down at a corner table
with him. There are two long, low
benches next to the table, and the
Harold and Pals
Management 5
Intimidation 9
Stealth 10
Creeping Up On The
Characters, Then Spoiling
It By Whispering To Each
Other 16
Violence 6
Unarmed Combat 10
Hardware 4
Software 4
Wetware 12
Mutant Power: Harold: Uncanny
Luck (Power 12). Mike: Adhesive
Skin (Power 4). James: Rubbery
Bones (Power 7)
Secret Society Affiliation: Death
Leopard
Armor: None
Weapons: None
kid’s the only person sitting there.
There’s a security camera right over
his head, but there are also security
cameras over every other table. This
kid is Al-JC, and he’s in league with
Harold and the other bullies. As soon
as the characters sit down, then
three older children appear as if by
magic. Two slide in at either end of
the bench, trapping the characters
seated on one side of the table. The
third bully hovers nearby, ready to
intercept anyone who makes a run
for it. As soon as the bullies are
in place, Al shrugs his shoulders
apologetically and runs for it.
Harold picks whichever character
sounded weakest and most hesitant
during the assembly that morning,
and says ‘I’m Harold, and me and
my friends are in charge here. See,
you’re going to transfer your lunch
credits over to us, or else!’
Possible objections from the
characters:
Or else what? Or else we’ll
beat you up. Duh.
How will we transfer credits
without a PDC, moron? Harold
produces a portable ME card
reader—he’s a well-equipped
bully.
Are you threatening us right
under a security camera? That
camera never works! Why
do you think we made you sit
there?
70
 MY FIRST TREASON
We'll tell Stepplecruch! What
makes you think he’ll believe
you? Every other kid here
will support my side of the
story. Me and Jamesy and
Mikey here were just sitting
here quietly, talkin’ about how
much we love B3. Mmm, it’s
mandatory!
If the characters don’t pay up, then
they’ll get beaten up in the next
scene.
■ Afternoon Lessons
After lunch, the next class is Practical
Maintenance with Mr. Solomon. No
doubt to the characters’ dismay,
Harold and his two friends are in
this class too, even though they’re
two years older than the characters.
(Harold and co. are taking Remedial
Practical Maintenance.) Doddery
old Mr. Solomon explains what
Practical Maintenance is all about.
71
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
‘All right, class. Each of you has a
Type 407 vent fan motor in front of
you, along with a bottle of solvent
and a rag. You put the solvent on
the rag, then you scrub the motor.
Keep doing that until it’s clean. While
you’re doing that, I’m, um, going to
review these technical files. Zzzzz.’
There is indeed a rag and a bottle
of solvent on each desk, along with
a big lump of what looks like insect
fecal matter. Somewhere under the
goo is the motor.
If some of the characters didn’t pay
up in the cafeteria, then Harold
and his pals wait until Solomon-R
has fallen asleep, then they start
throwing bits of machinery and small
tools at the characters. The thrown
items are surprisingly painful. Little
Al is standing by—if the characters
try fighting back, then he darts
forward and wakes the teacher,
weeping and wailing about how the
characters were mistreating him.
On the other hand, if the characters
try waking Solomon-R, then Al will
run forward and ask the teacher to
draw a wiring diagram of the Type
407 motor, which deaf old Solomon
does with his back to the class.
Meanwhile, Harold and his allies
quietly beat the clearance out of the
characters. It’s very much a no-win
situation for the characters here.
■ A Complication
Finally, lessons are finished for the
day. Loyalty Officer Sever collects
the characters from Solomon’s
class. First, he takes them to a
storeroom and issues each of them
with a pillow, blanket and sheets,
all of which smell very odd in totally
different ways. Then, he brings them
down a narrow, badly-lit corridor. He
explains that all the other dormitories
are full, so a new one must be
opened for the characters.
 2. BULLY WITH A CONE RIFLE
He opens the first door along the
corridor, and immediately recoils at
the stench. ‘Ah, yes. That’s where
they stored the excess waste’’ he
mutters, ‘We probably can’t use that
one.’ He pauses, as if considering
putting the kids in with the chemical
waste anyway, then shakes his head
and continues down the corridor to
the next door.
He opens the door into the characters’
home for the next four years—JCT
Crèche Dormitory Number Ninety-
Seven, Home Assigned Home. It’s
a cramped, badly-lit room with eight
heavy metal bunk beds. There are
a few lockers and storage areas
around the walls. Most alarmingly,
there’s a chemical-smelling stain
along one side, where waste from
the room next door is leaking in.
‘Make yourselves....hmm. I suppose
you can manage quiet here at
least’, says Sever as he hands the
characters a piece of paper with the
lock code for the door on it.
What Sever does not know—and
neither do the characters unless
they poke around the dormitory for a
while—is that Dormitory 97 is where
the newly-formed Death Leopard
cell in the crèche is hiding their
propaganda and other equipment,
like home-made explosives. All the
Death Leopard stuff is hidden in the
crawl space above the ceiling tiles,
so the characters will find it only if
they search the place thoroughly.
The crawl space contains a few
leaflets on home bomb-making and
how it’s cool to blow things up, as
well as a stack of video discs of
stuff blowing up. There are also
cans of spray paint and some half-
completed home-made bombs.
Let the characters fill up the rest
of the day as they see fit, with
homework and television watching
and arguing over who gets what
bunk.
■ Things That Go Boom In
The Night
During the night, Harold and the
other two creep down the corridor
to the barracks they think is empty.
If any of the characters are awake*,
or make successful High Alert rolls,
they hear muffled voices out in the
* Timmy has a nightly recharge cycle, Mr.
Clever Player.
corridor:
‘Ssh! The new slimes are in room
96. Better not wake ’em.’
‘What if there’s a security bot on
patrol?’
‘Use the flash bomb on it, just like
the leaflet said!’
‘Oh yeah! Awesome!’
‘Fight the system!’
Harold has the key code to room 97,
so he can open the door. (This is an
important plot point—he got the code
from Gary-R the technician, which is
a clue linking the confession booth
repairman to the bullies.) If none of
the characters appear to be awake,
then Harold and James go in and try
climbing up one of the unoccupied
bunks to get at the stored Death
Leopard stuff. Something goes
wrong—either one of the characters
wakes up, or Timmy starts yipping,
or James botches an Agility roll.
Mikey at the door panics and throws
a flash-bomb into the room. It rolls to
the far side—the same side where
there’s a pool of chemicals leaking
from room 96.
It all goes bad. The flash-bomb
blinds not only the characters, but
Harold and James, who topple the
bunk over. The falling bunk tears
a hole in the ceiling tiles, letting
treasonous leaflets and discs fall
onto the floor. Meanwhile, the bomb
sets the chemicals alight, filling the
room with toxic vapors.
For added confusion—the stored
chemicals in room 96 can also get
ignited, as can the unstable plastic
explosive in the Death Leopards’
bombs. Alarms will be triggered by
the toxic chemicals, causing a mass
evacuation of all the dormitories in
the middle of the night. Harold and
his friends will run back toward their
dormitory as quickly as they can.
Whatever happens, some of the
Death Leopard material is found by
the cleaners after the disaster, and
passed onto the administrators.
Specifically, one of the videos of
Death Leopards doing excitingly
violent things—a combination of
Jackass, wrestling, and explosives—
is found in what remains of the
dormitory. Importantly, there’s an
email address at the end of the video
where wannabe Death Leopards
can upload their own videos for the
admiration and adulation of their
peers.
Ideally, the characters get blamed
for any or all of the following:
Arson
Toxic chemical leaks
Causing an evacuation of the
school
Blowing up part of the school
and especially
Having treasonous propaganda
in their rooms
Trying to blame Harold and friends is
useless without proof—after all, the
door was locked, and there is no way
to open it without the code.
Any interrogations or investigations
will be done by Sever-R. After
questioning the characters, he tells
them to confess their treasons to
Friend Computer as soon as the
school confession booth is repaired.
He shows them some of the video
disc retrieved from their dormitory,
and lectures them on how disgusting
and treasonous sabotage and free
thought are.
Sever also tells them that unless
they confess as to why they blew up
the dormitory/poisoned the school/
have treasonous propaganda, it
will be very bad for their permanent
records.
72
 MY FIRST TREASON
■ Sever’s Office
The characters may be trying to
break into Sever’s office later in
the scenario, so they’ll need a
good description of it now. The
office is located near the central
administration offices of the crèche,
so close to Stepplecruch’s lair they
can smell the stench. There’s a
jackobot servant on duty in the
corridor outside, and there’s a
security camera above the door that
swings back and forth, scanning the
corridor every minute. Finally, the
door is locked, and needs either a
code or Sever’s ME card to open.
Inside is a cramped office. There
are several chairs on one side of the
desk; each chair has an alarming
device hanging over it, a tangle
of goggles, straps, sensors and
needles used in interrogations. On
the far side of the desk is Sever’s
own, rather comfy chair, a computer
console and a big cabinet where he
keeps confiscated items.
■ The Next Morning
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Harold grins broadly and hefts
the cone rifle up, aiming it at the
characters. ‘Will this make a really
big bang, sir?’ asks Harold.
‘It will if you put a tac nuke shell in
it, my boy’ replies Calvin-G.
Finally, Stepplecruch takes to the
podium again. ‘All upper class Junior
Citizens will be attending military
training for the next three daycycles.
Other Junior Citizens will continue
classes as normal. That is all. Wait,
no, it’s not.’
A young clone near the front giggles
at the verbal slip. Stepplecruch
glares at him, and a jackobot glides
out of a wall niche, grabs hold of
the child, and drags him away.
The administrator continues: ‘The
confession booth is supposed to
be operational now, finally. Any
citizens with outstanding guilt should
purge themselves immediately.’ He
presses a button, putting a spotlight
on the characters.’ ‘That means
you lot.’
Leopard videos confiscated from
room 97, which the characters last
saw in Sever’s office.
So the characters have to get the
disc back for Harold and the Death
Leopards, but they also need to find
the origin of the disc and the other
Death Leopard propaganda if they’re
to properly clear their names. Finally,
if the players have any sense of self-
respect at all, they’ll want revenge
on Harold and his friends for beating
them up and tormenting them.
* If the characters don’t report to the confession
booth, it’ll show up on Sever’s logs and he will
confront the characters, demanding to know
why they dared defy his orders to confess.
■ The Confession Booth
If you can, wait until the characters
are deep in discussion about how
they’ll get the disc from Sever’s office,
and ideally until they’re proposing
something really treasonous. That’s
when technician Gary-R pops his

Again, everyone in the school

assembles. Stepplecruch begins
by singling out the characters as
the cause of last night’s excitement.
He is especially disappointed, as
the crèche is having some very
important visitors today—the Armed
Forces trainers, who will be training
the older students in civil defense
techniques and weapons handling.
He introduces the lead trainer,
Calvin-G-HIX-3.
Calvin-G asks for a volunteer from
the older students, and Harold’s
hand is the first one up. (This is
possibly the only time in Alpha
Complex history where volunteering
is a good thing.) Harold bounds
up to the top of the room, where
Calvin-G hands him a (unloaded)
cone rifle.
‘Doesn’t that feel good, citizen?’
asks Calvin-G, ‘Doesn’t it make
you want to blow up those damn
Commie Mutant Traitors?’
■ Waiting to Confess head around the corner and says
that the confession booth should be
When the characters obediently working if they want to give it a blast,
troupe down to the confession pardon the pun.
booth*, they discover that Gary-R the
technician is still working
on the booth; just some
last-minute adjustments,
he insists. Why don’t the
characters just wait down
the corridor until he’s
finished?
As they’re waiting, the
older Junior Citizens
led by Calvin-G march
past, singing the Alpha
Complex anthem very
loudly and very out of
key. As he passes, Harold
steps out of line for a
moment and threatens
the characters. ‘You’re
dead. All of you. Dead.
That was our stuff, and
unless you get it back,
we’ll kill you. Understand?
You’ve got until tomorrow
night!’ Harold wants
the violent/cool Death

73
 2. BULLY WITH A CONE RIFLE
Inside the confession booth, a
character gets to have a frank,
one-on-one discussion with Friend
Computer. Just citizen, Computer and
whatever IntSec monitors happen to
be listening. In a concerned, parental
fashion, The Computer will ask if the
character has anything to confess.
Play Friend Computer as a deranged
ELIZA bot.
‘Friend Computer, there was
treasonous propaganda found in
my dormitory.’
AND HOW DID THAT MAKE YOU
FEEL?
‘I think someone was trying to frame
me!’
WHY DO YOU THINK SOMEONE
WAS TRYING TO FRAME ME?
‘No, frame me not you!’
AND HOW DID THAT MAKE YOU
FEEL?
Eventually, The Computer will
assign a suitable punishment to
the confessee, like a Spontaneous
Loyalty Demonstration or putting
them in touch with an IntSec handler
who will expect them to inform on
their friends and classmates.
Meanwhile, outside the confession
booth, Gary-R lingers to chat with the
other characters. He’ll be as friendly
Gary-R
Management 7
Stealth 8
Sneaking 12
Security Systems 12
Violence 10
Demolition 14
Hardware 10
Electronic Engineering 14
Software 5
Hacking 9
Wetware 7
Mutant Power: Electroshock
(Power 6)
Secret Society Affiliation: Death
Leopard
Armor: None
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
as possible, asking about their
problems and even giving advice. If
they tell him about the confiscated
propaganda, he’ll say that he can get
them a code to Sever-R’s door for
a small fee—say, 50 credits. If they
don’t mention it, then he’ll hint at it
anyway—Gary-R is the one initiating
the bullies into Death Leopard, so
they came whining to him about
the disaster last night in room 97
immediately.
■ Getting the Disc
There are several ways for the
characters to get the disc out of
Sever’s office. They can try sneaking
past all his security systems. They
can arrange to get called back to his
office for some other misdemeanor,
then try to steal the disc from the
cabinet while there. They can even
try to convince Sever to give them the
disc for some reason (‘Sir, we found
the Death Leopard propaganda so
disgusting, we thought we should
watch it again. Just to really punish
ourselves.’)
If the characters don’t get the disc
by the end of the following day,
then Harold, James, and Mike show
up at their dormitory and threaten
them again, saying that they’ll beat
the characters to a pulp with their
Armed Forces-issued Training
Truncheons—unless the characters
agree to help them tomorrow. If they
did get the disc, then Harold and co.
threaten them anyway and force
them to help.
■ Investigating the Bullies
The characters will probably want
to keep track of Harold and his
friends. The Armed Forces training
consists of basic weapons handling,
target practice, and lots and lots
of marching up and down in the
crèche’s FunBall court, which is right
next to the cafeteria.
After the marching and the target
practice, most of the older Junior
Citizens crawl off to their dormitories.
However, Harold, James, and Mike
have all volunteered to stay on after
the training to clean the court up. If
the characters spy on them for long
enough, they see Harold stealing
Cold Fun from the cafeteria, mixing
in some toilet cleaner, and pouring
the resulting mixture into a pipe
running between the court and the
washrooms opposite the cafeteria.
This pipe has been stoppered at
both ends, and the wannabe Death
Leopards are filling it with the
same primitive explosive they were
messing with earlier.
If the characters ask around the
crèche, then it’s easier enough
to find out Harold and his friends
have been causing trouble in the
crèche for years, but ever since
the confession booth broke down,
they’ve been acting strangely—
instead of just beating people up all
the time, they’ve been going off on
their own, or else kicking everyone
else out of the video room so they
can watch their own discs in private.
The only new influence in the crèche
is Gary-R the Technician....
■ The Big Bang
On the third day of the Armed Forces
training, the whole crèche is called
to the FunBall court to see how the
upper class has got on with their
training. They will demonstrate their
readiness to fight for Alpha Complex
by marching up and down the court
a few times. As a special treat,
Calvin-G has brought an Armed
Forces tank to the crèche, to show
the Junior Citizens what they could
get to play with in a few years.
The tank is parked directly over the
explosive-filled pipe. The pipe runs,
remember, from the washrooms to
the FunBall court.
Just before the parade, Harold and
his friends (all dressed up in their
lovely little Junior Vulture Trooper
uniforms) confront the characters
and give them their instructions.
The characters are to go to the
washrooms opposite the cafeteria
and drop a bomb down the toilet
when they hear the guns firing. It will
go down the pipe and detonate
74
 MY FIRST TREASON
the explosive in the pipe, blowing up
the tank. It will be awesome. If the
characters don’t help, then Harold
and his friends will beat them up
every day for the next two years,
understand?
If the characters examine the bomb,
then it’s obviously far more high-
tech than anything that Harold
could build. It’s a neat little bundle
of electronics, obviously made by
someone with a high Demolitions
skill. It was provided by Gary-R, and
was in fact built with bits salvaged
from the confession booth.
Then, Stepplecruch (or Sever,
whichever will scare your players
more) shows up and orders the
characters to report to the FunBall
court immediately—everyone in
their class is supposed to watch the
parade. Remember to clap when
the ‘applause’ light is switched
on. So, obey the teachers and
get beaten up until Harold and
his friends graduate, or obey the
wannabe Death Leopards and get
into more trouble? (Or, being player
characters, try to do both and fail
dismally.)
If the characters look around the
court when the parade is in progress,
then they’ll see little Al lurking in one
75
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
corner with a portable video camera.
He’s recording the whole impending
disaster, so Harold and friends can
impress their new Death Leopard
pals.
The parade starts. The Junior
Vulture troopers march up and down
and up and down. Stirring music
plays. Glory glory Hail Computer and
the clones go marching ooonnnn!
Finally, the marchers take up a
position at the far end of the FunBall
court and fire their training lasers.
That’s the cue for the characters to
flush the detonator.
If they do flush the detonator, then
there’s a satisfyingly large boom.
The blast is channeled by the
structural supports of the FunBall
court, so the explosion just destroys
the tank and most of the cafeteria,
while leaving everyone unhurt save
for minor cuts and bruises. Calvin-G
is deeply traumatized by the loss of
his beloved tank; Stepplecruch has
to be sedated before he explodes
with anger. Unless the characters
cover their tracks really well, or
manage to obtain proof of Harold
and friends’ involvement with the
Death Leopard society, then they
are blamed for the explosion and
punished for the next year.
If the characters don’t flush the
detonator, then nothing happens.
Harold fires his gun again, just in
case the characters missed their
cue the first time. If things still don’t
explode, then he swears eternal
vengeance on the characters and
gives up. The rest of the parade
goes off flawlessly, Calvin-G gives
a speech about how he looks
forward to seeing a new generation
of brave young citizens giving
their lives repeatedly in many,
many important battles against
the Commie menace. The Armed
Forces leave, and Vanessa-Y tells
the characters’ class that they’ll be
playing Explosive FunBall on the
court next period. Who doesn’t love
playing sports on what amounts to
a minefield?
■ Wrapping Up
The absolute best result for the
characters is that they stop the
bullies, clear their names, discover
that Gary-R is the one supplying
the Death Leopard propaganda,
turn them all into Stepplecruch, and
generally act like good little IntSec-
informing Junior Citizens. Bless.
Everyone will distrust them because
they’re just too good and loyal.
The absolute worst result is that
the characters get blamed for the
bombing. Everyone thinks they’re
dangerous terrorists, they’re kept
under close watch by crèche
security, Sever torments them—and
they don’t even get the cool factor
of being part of Death Leopard,
as Harold and his friends are the
ones who set the whole thing up,
and they’re the ones who send the
video of the explosion into the Death
Leopard secret video channel. The
characters get punishment duties for
the next year.
Everyone will distrust them because
they’re just too dangerous and
disloyal.
The actual result is likely somewhere
in the middle, where the characters
are just distrusted anyway for no
good reason.
3. Mutant Testing Time
Synopsis: It’s mutant testing time,
when all the Junior Citizens are
tested for signs of genetic deviancy.
As the characters develop their own
mutant powers, though, it seems as
those some mysterious enemy is
willing to skip the testing part and
go right to terminations...
■ What Happened
Since Last Year
It’s been roughly a full year since
the characters arrived at their new
crèche. (Remind the players to
spend Perversity Points on buying
new specialties.) How has life in
the crèche been for the characters
sine them? Have they made new
friends? Have they turned any of
these new friends in as traitors?
■ On Mutant Testing
Alpha Complex policy on mutant
testing varies wildly from year to year;
sometimes, random DNA testing is a
constant hassle, with a citizen being
asked to give a blood, skin or brain
sample every time he walks down
a corridor, and genetic drift being
obsessively tracked by medical staff.
(‘Aaaa! 0.0000000000001% drift!
Mutant!’) At other times, HPD&MC
tries to downplay the whole mutant
problem, insisting that the cloning
templates are 110% baseline human
and adopting a ‘registered mutants
are (second-class) citizens too’.
The current policy is to test all
Junior Citizens for mutation through
psychological probing. Those who
are revealed to be mutants are
either officially registered, or are
quietly terminated (depending on
the mutation).
■ Conspiracy Theories 101
Take a quick look back at the Overly
Complex Backstory on page 38.
Louis-V’s manipulations resulted
in the terminations of Jericho-
V and Markus-U. However, you
don’t get to ULTRAVIOLET without
having an escape route or two for
every situation. Markus-U used
his contacts to escape termination
and went underground to plot his
revenge on the upstart Louis-V,
now Louis-U. (In order to escape,
Markus-U also had to free Jericho-
V, but Jericho-V was much less
prepared to vanish, and has been
living like a rat in the walls of Alpha
Complex since then. He’ll show up
in the next scenario.)
Anyway, the diabolical Markus-
U wants revenge, and he has
discovered that Louis-U has an odd
interest in one particular group of
Junior Citizens in the JCT crèche.
He therefore arranges for them to
be...extracted.
■ It Always Starts
With Assembly
Read the following to the players:
It only seems like last week that you
arrived at the JCT sector crèche, but
it was actually a full year ago. You’ve
endured over 300 of these morning
assembles, watched Administrator
Stepplecruch haul one kid or another
out of the lines and chastise them
for some tiny failing. This morning,
though, Stepplecruch walks in with
a bounce in his step and a smile on
his lip. That can’t be good.
‘Good morningcycle, citizens.’
‘GOOD MORNINGCYCLE, MR.
STEPPLECRUCH.’
‘Pay attention! I have some very
special announcements this morning.
Step forward Eustace.’
One boy toward the front of the
hall steps forward. You can barely
see him, then the lights dim and
the spotlight catches him. In the
merciless glare of the spotlight, you
can clearly see the line of yellow
stripes running down the sides of
Eustace’s jumpsuit.
‘Tell your fellow citizens what you
did, you horrible little freak.’
‘I ate my teacher’s PDC sir. I’m
terrible sorry sir, it won’t happen
again sir.’’
‘And what did they tell you to do,
Eustace.’
‘Write my DNA code out 500 times
on the board, sir.’
‘Other than that, you fool!’
‘Fill out the registration form, sir.’
‘Exactly! Eustace here is now a
Registered Mutant, and we should
acknowledge his honesty if not his
genetic purity. Now, where there is
one mutant, there could be more!
Therefore, over the next few days,
you will all be tested for signs of...
mutation. The docbots and the
psychologists from R&D will test
each of you rigorously. Be happy! If
you’re a good, loyal little citizen, then
your DNA is no doubt equally loyal.
It is only the people who harbor
treason in their hearts who also
harbor treason in their cells!’
Stepplecruch peers at the huddled
crowd in front of him. ‘If you want
to register your mutation before
you’re found out by the tests, then
Mr. Sever has the forms. Otherwise,
report to the testing center when
called. That is all.’
■ I’m Not A Mutant,
Are You?
After Vanessa-Y’s class in
Information Exclusion For Happy
Safety*, the characters go to lunch
in the cafeteria, which gives them
a moment to contemplate mutation
and registration. Do any of them go
and register? If they do, they get
to fill out the Junior Citizen Mutant
Registration form**.
* Bob is RED Clearance working in a food vat.
Alice is a GREEN-Clearance supervisor. To
prevent sabotage, the manual for the food vat
is Clearance YELLOW. How does Alice ensure
Bob can do his job?
** Based on the wonderful Mutant Registration
Form found in The Mutant Experience
supplement.
76
 MY FIRST TREASON CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Junior Citizen Mutation Registration Form An announcement calls the
Distributed by Department 72 in coordination with the Office of Forms and Vouchers, PLC characters by name, ordering them
Name __________________________-____-_______-____ to report to the school docbot for
Date and time ____________________________________ DNA testing. There’s a long line
Crèche _____________________________________ of other students waiting to be
Date of last field trip to a reactor _______________________ tested. It’s rather like queuing for
Registration Code of your clone family DocBot___________________ the security check in an airport, only
Crèche Loyalty Officer’s Signature ____________________________ here, you’re the hand luggage that
gets put through the machine.
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer all questions fully and completely. Except where indicated, check only one response for
multiple choice questions. If you have speculations as to the source of your mutation, include them on the back of Fortunately for the characters, DNA
this form. Practice good penmanship. Trust The Computer. Failure to obey is treason.
testing for mutation doesn’t work.
Well, the test works, the results
Having a mutation makes me feel (check all that apply): don’t. Soon after the first mutants
were discovered, The Computer put
Happy Morose Satisfied R&D to work on a test for mutation.
Unhappy Powerful Very worried When they started testing, they
Enthusiastic Kind of tingly Inferior found lots of mutants—back then,
Cunning Apathetic Despairing every third citizen had some form
of mutation. Obviously, this was
I need to register my mutation because (check all that apply): a flaw in the test, not in Friend
I love mutants The Computer loves mutants Computer’s perfect cloning process.
The scientists reduced the sensitivity
I am being blackmailed I dare not disobey threshold of the test more and
I lost a really dumb bet Honesty is the best policy more, until it stopped giving such
I have a death wish My head is going to explode unacceptably accurate results. The
My awesome might should be used for the good of all Alpha Complex current version of the test wouldn’t
detect a three-headed fire breathing
It takes me _________________ to eat a HappyTummy Energy Bar. mutant as anything other than 100%
human. (If a tested citizen is later
found to be a mutant, then obviously
Yes No I have been on the premises of a nuclear reactor within the some traitor sabotaged the mutant
last three months. test, or the records. The test itself
Yes No I have watched more than two complete episodes of the Best is infallibly accurate. The Computer
Good Happy Sector Hour. says so.*)
Yes No I have heard of the secret society known as ‘Psion’.
Yes No If given the choice, I would opt to terminate myself in hopes * Some versions of the test randomly
that my next clone would not suffer from this mutation. tag every tenth citizen as a mutant,
just to avoid later accusations of
Yes No My mutation is powerful enough to possibly harm the citizens, sabotage.
social institutions and/or property of Alpha Complex.
For added fun, have one of the
If ‘yes’, why should you be permitted to live on as a menace to all who surround you? characters develop a mutant power
while waiting in line to be tested. Build
If ‘no’, how will your mutation be of any use to Alpha Complex? paranoia and stress as much as you
can, before...nothing happens, and
Are any other children in your class also mutants? all the characters get the ‘All clear.
Have a nice daycycle. Would to like
to have some unnecessary surgery?’
If yes, why did you not report them earlier? message from the docbot.

Describe your mutation. Include specific examples with time, date, location and witnesses. Then, as the characters are walking
away from the testing center, the
The average handling time for this form is between THREE DAYS and EIGHTEEN MONTHS. Resubmitting an intercom activates again, ordering
identical copy of this form will not expedite processing in any way. If you need to alter or amend any information on
them all to report for random
psychological testing.
this form, resubmit it with an attached Application Modification Rider (993-51-Z8854). Until this form has been duly
and fully processed, you are not authorized to use your purported mutation in any way whatsoever. If your application
for Registered Mutant status is approved, you will be retroactively subject to all requirements and regulations thereof,
in accordance with section 72 of the Laws of Alpha Complex ed. 39/B.3.9.

77
 3. MUTANT TESTING TIME
■ Random Psychological
Testing Is Fun
The announcement directs the
characters down a corridor not
normally accessible to Junior
Citizens, on the edge of the crèche
complex. There’s a kid huddled in
one corner, sobbing and muttering
about ‘the switches, the switches’.
As the characters approach, a door
opens and a citizen in a ORANGE-
clearance jumpsuit, emerges, pulling
on a lab coat as he does so. He
beckons for the characters to join
him, and takes out a PDC. ‘Got an
unhappy child here’ he says into his
PDC, ‘need a happiness officer and
20ccs of Gelgernine here, stat!’ He
pats the crying child on the head and
says ‘chin up, citizen. We’ll erase
those unhappy feelings in no time,
just as soon as we’ve processed
these test subjects.’ He indicates
that the characters should follow him
back through the door.
This citizen is Vance-O-UIS-3,
a Troubleshooter. The shadowy
manipulator, Markus, has sent
a Troubleshooter team under
false pretences to kidnap the
characters, in the hopes of finding
out which of them is connected
to Louis-U. The Troubleshooter
team infiltrated the R&D team sent
to do the psychological testing.
Well, ‘infiltrated’ is being kind; Vance-O
they’re Troubleshooters. They’re not Management 7
capable of that sort of subtlety. Bootlicking 11
Team-Building Exercises 13
On the far side of the door is a Stealth 8
corpse, with a still-smoking laser High Alert 12
burn in his chest. Up until a few Violence 10
moments ago, he was wearing a Energy Weapons 14
lab coat, which is now adorning the Vehicular Combat 14
burly shoulders of Vance-O. The Hardware 8
Troubleshooter waves his hand at Software 8
the corpse and says that it’s part of Wetware 10
an earlier psychological test, and Mutant Power: Regeneration
that the characters should ignore (Power 10)
it. He leads them past a room Secret Society Affiliation: Sierra
filled with weird machines and Club
probes (the actual psychological Armor: Orange reflec (E1)
testing gear), into another room. Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
There, the characters find two more
Troublesho—er, psychological Jenny-R
testing engineers, and a big metal Management 10
box. Hygiene 14
Stealth 8
The other two Troubleshooters Sneaking 12
are Jenny-R and Fritz-R, Vance- Disguise 12
O’s team-mates. Normally, they Violence 8
work really well together for a Energy Weapons 12
Troubleshooter team. However, it’s Hardware 9
all going get a bit complex, because Nuclear Engineering 13
Jenny-R’s a Psion agent and Fritz- Software 10
R’s a Commie. As soon as the Wetware 12
characters are led into the room, Biosciences 16
Fritz does a double-take on seeing Mutant Power: Telekinesis (Power
Joe and Jenny-R looks strangely at 9)
Nina. Vance-O doesn’t notice his Secret Society Affiliation: Psion
team’s odd reaction, and turns to Armor: Red reflec (E1)
the characters. Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
Fritz-R
Management 6
Moxie 10
Stealth 10
High Alert 14
Disguise 14
Violence 8
Energy Weapons 12
Dying Heroically For The
Cause 14
Hardware 10
Vehicle Ops and Maintenance
14
Software 8
Vehicle Programming 12
Wetware 8
Mutant Power: Pyrokinesis (Power
8)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Communists
Armor: Red reflec (E1)
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
78
 MY FIRST TREASON
‘This here, kids’, he says, pointing
at the big metal box, ‘is a Mark II
Psychological Stress Simulation
Porta-Cube. Just get in and sit
quietly. You’ll hear strange noises
and the box might shake a bit, but it’s
all part of the simulation. Everything
you experience is just part of the
simulation. We’ll be monitoring
your bio-signs from outside—right
Jenny-R?’ He glances at Jenny-R,
who hastily waves her PDC in the
air and gives the characters a big
thumbs-up and cheery grin. ‘Well,
kids, get in the box. And remember,
it’s only a test.’
Once the characters get in the box,
they find it’s small, cramped and a
bit smelly. There’s a bench in the
middle of the box, and hand-holds
along the sides. As soon as all the
characters are in the box, Fritz-R
closes and seals the door, taking
one last look at Joe as he does so.
The box is then wheeled out of the
room (shake shake) and loaded
onto the back of an autocar (creak
lift thump) which zooms out of the
crèche complex and out of JCT
sector entirely (rattle zoom swerve
zoom rattle beep brake beeeeeep
swerve crash tinkle zoom siren
zoom more swerve phew) where it is
loaded onto a flybot (braaake clank
whir clunk click FWWOOOOOOOSH
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
CONTROL.
Vance-O: Mutant! Jenny-
R’s a mutant! Fritz! Get
her!
Fritz-R: Yes comra-, er,
Team Leader!
Jenny-R: I’m not a
mutant! And neither is
the child!
Vance-O & Fritz-R:
Death to mutants!
Laser fire!
Vance-O: Dump the box!
Kill the muties!
Fritz-R: No! UNCLE
lives! UNCLE will lead us
to victory over the hated
Capitalist state!
Vance-O & Jenny-R:
Commie!
More laser fire!
Some of the inaccurate
fire blasts the flybot’s
controls, causing the aircraft to spiral
out of control. The safest place is The rescue party that will be
back inside the box as the flybot sent out from Alpha Complex
crashes onto an outlying industrial when the characters send
dome on the fringes of Alpha a distress call (or when it
Complex. All the Troubleshooters becomes obvious they’ve gone
are killed or thrown out of the missing).
crashing plane. All the characters
(unless they do something really Psion, looking for Nina.
stupid) survive.
Louis-U’s minions, looking for
■ It’s Like A School Tour, the characters.

rattle) to fly to Markus-U’s secret
fortress in the Outdoors.
At some point, ideally after they
get loaded onto the flybot, the
characters do something to escape
from the box. If they don’t escape,
then the following chain of events
happens (and can be overheard
from within the box):
Vance-O: We’ll be at the debriefing
in no time. You know, team, this is
our most successful mission ever.
No casualties, no meltdowns. It
might be the happy drugs talking,
guys, but I’m really proud of both of
you. I…Jenny-R, why are your eyes
glowing.
Jenny-R: Er, I’m wearing contact
lenses PSION SPEAKS THROUGH
ME. THE CHILD HAS POTENTIAL
AND MUST BE DELIVERED TO
Only We Didn’t Sign
The Permission Slips
So, the characters are sitting in
the remains of a crashed flybot, on
top of a low dome, on the edge of
Outdoors. It’s currently night-time,
so the conditions aren’t too scary,
but when the sun comes up the
characters will see just how big and
scary the Outside world is. The flybot
is wrecked, but its communications
systems are still functioning so they
can call for help.
There are now up to four distinct
groups chasing the characters:
Markus-U’s minions, who
detected the crash and intend
to recapture the characters.
However, the first group to find the
characters is not from any of these
factions—it’s a team from the Vent
Uncloggers Service Firm, whose
job is to unclog the vents and pipes
that poke out of the dome in this
industrial sector. While the Vent
Uncloggers have to go Outdoors
as part of their job, none of them
have the clearance to get access to
any of the Armed Forces scouting
reports. They have no idea about
what’s out there, and have come up
with all sorts of bizarre rumors and
beliefs about the creatures living
in the Outdoors—specifically, that
there are hordes of pygmy barbarian
cannibals lurking out there.
The Vent Uncloggers travel outdoors
in a specialized vehicle, a sort
of squat train that clings to the
surface of the dome. The vehicle

79
 3. MUTANT TESTING TIME
slowly inches it way up to a vent,
the Uncloggers, unclog it, and then
continue on. They wear heavy boiler
suits and breather masks, and
unclog the vents using hydraulic-
powered extending poles. Anyway,
the crashed flybot has wrapped itself
around a vent, clogging it. The Vent
Uncloggers were in the region, so
they got dispatched to unclog the
vent. The Vent Unclogger team is
led by Charlie-R-GCK-1, who is
the first to make contact with the
characters. He assumes they’re
barbaric cannibals, here to eat
his flesh, so naturally, he tries to
convince them to eat his co-workers
in the truck instead. (Charlie-R isn’t
that bright to begin with, and the
combination of the fumes from all
the vents, and the suit’s narrow and
grime-encrusted goggles means that
he’s barely capable of perceiving the
outside world.)
The characters can either argue
with Charlie-R, and possibly use the
Vent Uncloggers to get back inside
Alpha Complex, or they can wander
off on their own, clambering down
the dome and wandering around
Outdoors.
Charlie-R
Management 4
Hygiene 8
Stealth 7
Violence 8
Agility 12
Demolitions 12
Hardware 12
Habitat Engineering 16
Software 6
Wetware 7
Biosciences 11
Mutant Power: Mechanical Intuition
(Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation: FCCC-
P up going in this back door, they meet
Armor: Hazard suit
Weapons: Unclogging pole, O5K
■ The Rescue Parties
The various groups sent to rescue
or recapture the characters can
show up at any time. Bring them
in whenever things start to drag.
Ideally, the characters should find
themselves bouncing from one
group to another, only to finally be
dragged back into Alpha Complex
by the actual rescue team.
Markus-U’s Minion: The renegade
High Programmer fled Alpha
Complex and established himself
using the experimental warbots
developed using the OMEGA
program. Therefore, he sends a
small scout warbot after them. Like
all of the independent bots, the scout
is a ghastly assemblage of rusting
spare parts and tangled circuits, as it
has been built and repaired by other
bots in the wild.
The scout warbot swoops down
on the crash site of the flybot, then
starts circling around like a huge
black wraith-thing suspended on
glowing blue plasma jets. When it
finds the characters, it starts trying
to scare them by blasting the ground
near them with its lasers. The warbot
is under strict instructions not to
injure any of the kids. SURRENDER!
SURRENDER! YOU WILL COME
WITH ME TO THE FORTRESS!
THE MASTER COMMANDS IT!
The serial number OMEGA-X-12 is
clearly visible on its side.
The Scout Warbot
Management 4
Stealth 8
High Alert 12
Violence 8
Agility 12
Energy Weapons 12
Armor: 3
Weapons: Laser cannon (W3K)
Psion: Psion tries to retrieve the
kids by sending psychic visions,
guiding them toward a back door
into Alpha Complex. If they do end
a circle of seven tall people in dark
robes, who communicate silently
through telepathy. They stare at
each of the characters, nod, then
vanish into the shadows. Nina isn’t
ready yet, but Psion will keep an
eye—or a mind—on her.
Louis-U’s Minions: Louis-U
contacts the Armed Forces and
orders them to scout the area.
However, lines of communication
get a little crossed, and the ‘scouting’
becomes a prelude to ‘precision
bombing’ the area. The area of
Outdoors where the characters
crashed gets used as an artillery
range by the 123rd Expeditionary
Force. If the characters can dodge
the incoming shells, or somehow
contact the army units on the horizon,
then they can get rescued that way.
If Markus-U’s warbot is hanging
around at this point, then the Army
may assume the characters are in
league with it, and treat them as
hostile forces.
The Rescue Party: The mission to
rescue the lost children is assigned
to the nearest Troubleshooter
team—the team of Vance-O, Jenny-
R, and Fritz-R. After all, they weren’t
on a real mission earlier, it was a
fake mission created by Markus-U.
As soon as their replacement clones
arrive, the three are sent back
Outdoors to recover the characters.
Everyone in the team is very on
edge, but they’re back at status
quo ante—Vance-O knows that
Jenny-R’s old clone was a mutant,
and that Fritz-R’s old clone was a
Commie, but their new clones are
ok, right? Right?
■ Home Again, Home Again
Eventually, the characters make
it back to the crèche, where
Stepplecruch is less than pleased
to see them. He has no idea how
they are connected to the dead
psychologist and the missing
testing box, but he knows they’re
responsible somehow. Just as he’s
about to punish them for leaving the
crèche without permission, though,
another Junior Citizen rushes in and
salutes.
‘Sir! Sir! Johnson’s set himself on
fire with his mind sir!’ bleats the
child. With a sigh, Stepplecruch
stalks away from the characters to
deal with this latest crisis, leaving
them to contemplate the increasing
weirdness of their lives…
80
 MY FIRST TREASON
4. Commie on Campus
Synopsis: The characters are put
on the crèche FunBall team after
a Horrible Accident. While training,
they discover a mysterious stranger
hiding in the tunnels underneath
the crèche. He recognizes them,
and offers to help them uncover the
mysteries of their pasts. However,
he’s actually the disgraced Jericho–
V, now a wanted criminal, and
what he wants isn’t good for the
characters.
■ What Happened
Since Last year
Another year has passed since
the last scenario. What have the
character done since then? Have
they tried to join secret societies?
Has Joe made contact with the
Commies, or has Thomas renewed
his old FCCCP contacts?
■ Funball
FunBall is the main approved sport
in Alpha Complex. It’s Fun. With a
ball. And a set of rules big enough to
stun an ox, and complex enough to
make grown lawyers cry. There are
many, many variations and special
rules relating to FunBall, most of
which center around allowing or
banning various forms of heavy
artillery.*
Here are the rules for playing FunBall
in PARANOIA.
1. The player picks what skill he
is going to use. Violence is
always appropriate, as is any
FunBall-related specialty.
Other skills and specialties
of any kind may be used, as
long as the player quotes a
FunBall rule or regulation that
fits. As the FunBall rules do
not exist, the players have to
make them up. Each skill or
* A fuller description of FunBall is in the free
download Elective Activity or Pursuit Clubs,
a chapter cut from The Traitor’s Manual
supplement. It is available at http://www.
mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/parasocialclubs.
pdf, along with many other fine forms and other
downloads
81
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
specialty (other than Violence
and FunBall-specific ones)
may be used once per match
only.
2. The player makes the skill
check.
3. Play passes to the next
player on the other team.
4. If both players make
successful checks, or if both
fail, then the play is a draw. If
one succeeds and the other
fails, then the successful
5.
team wins that play.
The first team to get three
successful plays in a row
wins.
6. Yay! Go Team!
■ School Assemblies Are
Like Briefings, Only
With Less Firepower
Again, the morning assembly
is the kick-off for the scenario.
Stepplecruch sweeps in, looking
more and more like some sort of
mutant flightless bird every day.
‘Good morningcycle citizens.’
GOOD MORNINGCYCLE, MR.
STEPPLECRUCH.
‘Firstly, discussion of the recent
incident on the FunBall court
must stop. The accident has been
classified YELLOW, and no one is
permitted to discuss it, or even think
about it. The radiation has been
cleared up, and the chemical spills
should evaporate naturally on their
own soon. However, the crèche’s
FunBall team has unfortunately
been erased by the unnameable
incident, therefore, we need a new
team.’
He smiles and presses a
button. Spotlights illuminate the
characters.
‘Hello, new FunBall team. Report
to Mr. Sever for training after
classes.’
The players may ask what happened
to the old FunBall team. Give
whatever contradictory hints you
want (‘yeah, you saw some guys
in biohazard suits chopping up this
thing in the corridor. It looked like
a chunk of purple tentacle’) as it’s
irrelevant to this scenario. If they
ask why they’re the ones chosen
to be the new team, instead of
someone actually competent, then
Stepplecruch just mutters something
about the No Child Left On The
Bench equal opportunity sports
program.
Sever meets the characters at
the FunBall court. JCT Sector has
reached the semi-finals of the
inter-sector Junior Citizen Junior
FunBall Junior League, and it is a
matter of school pride that they win.
They’re up against their traditional
rivals in NCT Sector, and they’ve
got to win! Why, some people
have hinted that the unnameable
incident was actually…sabotage by
NCT! It’s staggering to think that
some citizens could be so unloyal
as to do…that just to win a FunBall
league, but traitors are everywhere.
He issues the characters with their
FunBall uniforms (body armor, visor,
FunBall Batstick, ball spray, springs,
nets, helmet camera, flares, etc
etc) and then introduces them to
the crèche’s newest acquisition—
the FunBall Auto-Batter 5,000s, a
FunBall playing bot. It’s designed
to simulate an entire opposing
FunBall team on its own, so it’s
covered in arms, bats, nets, hoses,
chainsaws and other entirely legal
sports utensils. Sever orders the
characters to practice with the Auto-
Batter for a while, then leaves.
However, the Auto-Batter actually
was sabotaged by Jericho-V to
lead the characters to him. He’s
reprogrammed the Auto-Batter
using the OMEGA code, and it’s
now going to attack the characters
and frame NCT Sector Crèche
so Jericho-V can manipulate the
characters’ desire for revenge on
* Yes, it’s an absurdly convoluted plan. He’s
ex-VIOLET, what do you expect?
 4. COMMIE
their rivals.* It’s now a combination
Friendly FunBall Simulating Bot and
a Psychotic Killing Machine.
Examining the Auto-Batter reveals
that it has four modes.
1. Training (FunBall skill 4)
2. Easy (FunBall skill 8)
3. Hard (FunBall skill 12)
4. Professional (FunBall skill
16)
The Auto-Batter’s mode can be
changed in the middle of combat.
Its memory chips are stored beneath
a transparent plastic shield on
its side, and the characters can
clearly see a little motorized caddy
switching chips around when the
mode is changed. However, thanks
to the sabotage, any chips not being
used for FunBall are used for its
Improvised Weapon skill. (Subtract
the bots current FunBall skill from 16
to get its Improved Weapon skill.)
When turned on, the Auto-
Batter screeches ‘GLORY TO
NCT CRECHE! TERMINATING
OPPOSING TEAM!’ and it will
keep attacking the characters until
(a) they somehow destroy it or
(b) they win the FunBall game.
The Auto-Batters’ wild attacks
tear up much of the reconstructed
FunBall pitch, as it spits FunBalls,
slashes with its chainsaw, gouges
the ground and smashes through
walls in its relentless pursuit of the
characters.
Auto-Batter
FunBall 4/Improvised Violence 12
FunBall 8/ Improvised Violence 8
FunBall 12/ Improvised Violence
4
FunBall 16/ Improvised Violence
0
Armor: 1
Weapons: FunBall things O5K
Sever returns once the characters
have dealt with the Auto-Batter,
scowls at the devastation, and
orders the characters to clean up
the mess.
ON CAMPUS
■ The Man Under The Floor Jericho-V
As the characters scrub the oil stains Management 13
and pick up the debris, they discover Con Games 17
that the thrashing of the Auto-Batter Moxie 17
opened up an access panel in the Stealth 10
floor, and some bits of the bot fell Sneaking 14
down there. They can hear some Security Systems 14
motorized part still whirring and Violence 7
tapping the walls, making an awful Energy Weapons 11
racket. (If they don’t go down the Hardware 10
hole, then Sever comes back in and Electronic Engineering 14
tells them that the repair bots need Software 14
all the parts from the Auto-Batter, Hacking 18
and no one is leaving until they find Operating Systems 18
all the Auto-Batter bot bits.) The Wetware 7
trapdoor leads to a narrow shaft, Suggestion 11
which leads to one of the thousands Mutant Power: Charm (Power 7)
of miles of near-lightless access Secret Society Affiliation: None
tunnels that riddle Alpha Complex. Armor: None
There’s a fetid smell coming from Weapons: None
the tunnel.
Jericho-V has been living in the
As they descend, something moves walls of Alpha Complex for as long
below them. The sounds from as any of the characters have been
the fallen motor part start moving alive. He’s got wild, wide eyes from
away from them, as it is picked ten years of living in constant semi-
up by Jericho-V, who scuttles darkness, a ragged beard, and he’s
away through the tunnels. The old haggard and whip-thin from near-
clone has trouble moving through starvation. He’s wearing a tattered
the narrow tunnel, though, so the prison uniform over the threadbare
characters can catch up with him rags of a once-violet jumpsuit. He’s
easily enough. nested in the tunnels beneath the
crèche for the last few
82
 MY FIRST TREASON
weeks. His little hideout is filled with bedding made up
of discarded paperwork. The floor is covered with piles
of scavenged trays from cafeterias, which he licks to get
the necessary nutrients to survive. There’s also a tangle
of wires connected to a PDC which is wired into a cable
running through the tunnel, giving him access to the gray
subnets. (He’s been selling high-clearance secrets on the
black market to survive.)
Jericho-V immediately recognizes William and Joe at least
as being related to his former ally and former Commie
contact respectively, but any Junior Citizens would be
of use to him. After ten years of exile, Jericho-V has
happened upon a plan to regain some of his standing, but
it needs a Junior Citizen. He knows about the abandoned
OMEGA project to make sentient warbots that would
present a controllable threat to Alpha Complex, how it was
abandoned when Jericho-V attempted to frame the other
members of the group as Commies, and how Markus-U
fled Alpha Complex taking the OMEGA prototypes with
him. Jericho-V still has a copy of the OMEGA code,
and intends to install it into a new warbot. As Jericho-V
is officially dead, then the disaster will be blamed on
Louis-U.
So, Jericho-V’s plot is:
1. Get the characters on his side.
2. Get the characters to arrange for a school tour to
a warbot factory.
3. Get the characters to install the OMEGA code onto
a warbot.
4. Command the warbot to go on a destructive
rampage across Alpha Complex.
5. Blame Louis-U.
6. ???
7. Profit.
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ More FunBall Fun
Soon after the characters return to the crèche,
Stepplecruch swoops down upon them. He’s furious
about the destruction of the Auto-Batter, and wants
the characters’ version of events. As the only version
of events that would make him happy is one where the
Auto-Batter survives and the characters don’t, he remains
angry no matter what they tell him. He also tells them
that one of the High Programmers has expressed an
interest in seeing the match—an honored Hero of the
Complex named Louis-U. The characters had better win
the upcoming FunBall match if they want to ever even see
a RED-clearance jumpsuit when they graduate.
Stepplecruch sends them to speak to Vanessa, who
has obtained footage of the NCT FunBall team in
action. Apparently, he says, Vanessa still has some
useful contacts in Internal Security, as the footage is of
the enemy’s training session. Reviewing the tape is a
depressing experience, as the team is vastly more skilled
than the characters. Indeed, it looks like there was an
accident in the NCT clone banks, as all their players look
almost identical. It’s like watching a whole clone family
of superfit athletes playing at once.
Vanessa suggests morale might play a factor in the
upcoming match—maybe if the characters organize a
cheerleading team to support them in the match, it might
demoralize the NCTers—or at least distract the characters
from the prospect of inevitable defeat, because they don’t
have a hope of winning the match.

■ Your New Best Friend

Jericho-V will try to ingratiate himself with the characters
by any means necessary. He will claim that he was once
a high-clearance executive, but that he was framed by
a conspiracy of traitors and banished from his formerly
high position. One day, he assures the characters, the
ongoing IntSec investigation will clear his name, but
until then he must fight to survive. If the characters could
smuggle him a morsel of food from the cafeteria, he would
be most grateful.

Jericho will try to convince the characters to trust him,

offering advice on whatever problems they have. He can
ensure they get excellent results in upcoming exams,
put them in touch with secret societies, show them how
best to deal with their enemies and how to navigate the
labyrinthine bureaucracy of Alpha Complex.

After a few minutes of conversation, Jericho-V sends

the characters back to the surface, telling them not to
tell anyone about him; they’d assuredly get into trouble
if they did.

83
 4. COMMIE ON CAMPUS
■ Sever’s Office
What if the characters are really honest, and turn Jericho-
V into the authorities? Troubleshooters descend on
the crèche, lasers blasting, and eventually capture the
renegade. Commendations all round. Soon afterwards,
IntSec agents enter the school and take Vanessa-Y away
for questioning too. If the characters search Jericho-V’s
nest, they find a copy of the OMEGA program and notes
on how he was going to use it to gain control of a warbot.
The characters could even try to replicate his plan.
■ The High Programmer Cometh
Jericho-V’s plan revolves around framing Louis-U for
the warbot rampage, which relies on Louis-U being in
his private ivory tower of ultimate leisure, and not out
in public at a Junior league FunBall match. Jericho-V
has no idea that his old rival is going to show up at the
match, and will not believe the characters if they repeat
what Stepplecruch said.
■ Hey Mister, Can You Help Us
Win The Funball Match
When told about their FunBall plight, Jericho-V puts
his plan into action. There’s a little-known rule in Alpha
Complex—if a PLC service firm gets a request for a school
tour, they have to accept, even if the firm’s activities are
classified. The Computer values the education of its
beloved Junior Citizens very highly. What the characters
need to do is arrange a school tour to the Mighty Metal
robotics firm, who make all sorts of bots—including the bot
brains of FunBalls. Once the characters are in the factory,
Jericho-V assures them, they just need to insert this virus
(he gives them a disc with the OMEGA code on it) into a
computer there. It’ll give them control of the brand-new
FunBall that will be used in the match, as Mighty Metal
supplies all the FunBalls used in local games.
The first step is getting the service firm to arrange a
school tour. One of the characters needs to write up a
letter to the manager of the firm, and get Stepplecruch
to sign it. Then, drop the letter into an outgoing mail tray
in a teacher’s office, and wait. It’s up to the players how
they accomplish this.
■ An Assembly About Bot Assembly
The daycycle after the characters get the letter out,
Stepplecruch announces that the crèche has been invited
to tour a bot factory. It will be a fascinating and useful
experience for the Junior Citizens, many of whom will
spend their entire lives in pointless low-level jobs like
cleaning such factories once all the skilled engineers and
programmers have finished their duties for the day.
He also introduces Ken-B-KRS-2, an IntSec agent. IntSec
intelligence has led them to believe that a Commie agent
named Jericho may be trying to infiltrate the school.
The Junior Citizens should not panic, but should report
anything out of the ordinary to Mr. Sever immediately,
who will then pass it on to IntSec. There are BIG CASH
REWARDS for turning in traitors! (If anyone does spill
the beans about Jericho-V to Sever, then the teacher
claims the reward himself.)
The Mighty Metal factory is very impressive indeed, if you
like Death Star architecture (lots of pointless bits with no
railings, lots of glowing lights without discernable purpose).
Bots of all shapes and sizes are under construction,
from giant 40-foot-tall warbots to little scrubbots and
jackobots. The manager of the factory is Neal-B-RSC-3,
a moderately competent supervisor who’s able to stay on
top of things when the factory is running like a well-oiled
machine and nothing goes wrong. Add a few dozen
crazed kids on stimulant drugs running around at random,
pulling every lever and pressing every button they can
find, though, and things rapidly become unsmooth.
However, the teacher supervising the tour, Vanessa-Y,
sticks close to the characters. If a few Junior Citizens are
crushed by a passing industrial bot, that’s bad, but if the
second FunBall team gets splatted, that’s far worse. In
order to insert the disc given by Jericho-V, the characters
will have to distract Vanessa-Y somehow.
There are plenty of computer terminals where they
can insert the disc. When it’s activated, the computer
screen flashes up the message ‘OMEGA ACTIVE.
DOWNLOADING TO TARGET BOTS NOW...’ The code
is automatically transferred to two bot brains—a FunBall
and a warbot.
Back at the crèche, Jericho-V shows the characters how
to use a standard PDC to control the FunBall brain using
the OMEGA control backdoor. The code also makes the
bots sentient megalomaniacs who swear eternal hatred
of Alpha Complex, but he doesn’t mention that little quirk.
This works as follows:
Any character with a PDC can access the FunBall
and make it do whatever they want—it’s got its
own little jet engines to zoom around the court.
Controlling the FunBall requires a Software check,
and a successful check means the characters
automatically win that play. (See the FunBall rules
on page 58.)
In any round that none of the characters use a
PDC, FunBall play continues normally, but the
ball starts shouting that ‘ALPHA COMPLEX
WILL FALL BEFORE MY ROBOTIC HORDES’
or ‘COMMIEBOTS UNITE TO DESTROY THE
FLESHBEINGS!’ and other less-than-loyal
slogans.
84
 MY FIRST TREASON
■ The Funball Match
The daycycle of the big match dawns. The match is
being held at the JCT court, so the school is suddenly
crowded with referees, fans, coaches, trainers, souvenir
sellers, pundits, and other sports parasites. There’s also
lots and lots of security, because of the impending visit
of the High Programmer. The characters are by far the
least important part of the whole event, and are virtually
ignored in the whirlwind of preparation. Notably, a huge
television screen is set up in the FunBall court, for second-
by-second replays of events in the match.
Soon before the match begins, the team and supporters
from NCT Sector arrive. As previously seen in the
training video, they are all nigh-identical hulking brutes
who probably gland combat drugs straight into their
brainstems. Without cheating, the characters don’t have
a hope.
Finally, the High Programmer himself arrives. An
awed hush spreads over the assembled citizens, as
this is the first time most of them have ever seen an
ULTRAVIOLET. All of the characters do notice a distinct
resemblance between Louis-U and William, although
the High Programmer will studiously ignore his son for
security reasons. Seconds after the High Programmer
arrives, IntSec agents drag several people in the crowd
away—Louis-U’s presence draws out the assassins and
the crazy people. Bodyguards are suddenly everywhere
except on the FunBall court itself.
NCT FunBall Players
Management 6
Intimidation 10
Stealth 9
High Alert 13
Violence 12
FunBall 16
Hardware 5
Software 5
Wetware 5
Mutant Power: Varies—throw in Adrenaline Control,
Mental Blast, or Uncanny Luck if the characters are
winning too easily
Secret Society Affiliation: None
Armor: None
Weapons: None
■ Let’s Fun That Funball!
The game begins. The FunBall launches itself into the
air from the regulation FunBall Deployment Chute, and
squawks ‘DEATH TO THE HATED MINIONS OF THE
COMPUTER!’ Fortunately for the characters, no one
hears the ball’s initial declaration of treasonous hate, as
it immediately gets thwacked by a well-placed bat from
the NCT team. The game begins.
85
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Meanwhile, in his hidden lair beneath the court, Jericho-
V puts his cunning plan into operation. He uses the
OMEGA code to take control of a warbot from the Mighty
Metal factory and sends it on a rampage. The bot’s
rampage is shown on one of the smaller pictures on the
big TV screen in the FunBall court. Speaking through
the warbot, Jericho-V shouts ‘KNEEL BEFORE THE
WRATH OF LOUIS-U, ALPHA COMPLEX! YOU NEVER
SUSPECTED I WAS A TRAITOR, BUT I REALLY AM!
YOU FOOLS TURNED ON JERICHO-V WHEN I WAS
THE REAL COMMIE! NOW I TAKE MY REVENGE FOR
NO APPARENT REASON!’
On the FunBall court, Louis-U shrugs—he’s clearly not
the one in control of the warbot, as he’s out in public
at a FunBall match. One of the security guards shouts
‘but he’s right here’, and Jericho-V overhears this. As
the characters play FunBall, they may notice Jericho-V
poke his head out of the hidden trapdoor, see Louis-U,
mutter a profanity, then duck back down underground.
Jericho-V then orders the warbot to start making its way
toward the JCT crèche—if he can’t frame Louis-U, then
he can at least kill him with the warbot.
As the warbot approaches JCT Sector, the control signals
to the FunBall get mixed up with the ones going to the
warbot. There is a 50% chance that any commands the
characters send to the ball get sent to the bot instead.
The characters can hear the massive warbot crashing
through the walls and corridors between the factory and
the crèche, and the whole crisis is being carried live on
news channels anyway*.
*: It’s part of a new reality show, ‘Troubleshooter Live’. The censors
carefully black out any section of the screen that show the Troubleshooters
failing in any way, and the commentators are expected to be unfailingly
positive and happy at all times. ‘It might look like that Troubleshooter got
hit with a missile and blown into little wet fragments but he’s just lulling
that Commie bot into a false sense of security!’
■ They Think It’s All Over
There are two conflicts the Troubleshooters need to
win here—the FunBall match and the battle for survival
against the rampaging warbot. If Jericho-V’s hiding
place is discovered or if he is captured, then the warbot
continues to fulfill its primary OMEGA function of
destroying Alpha Complex, so just removing the crazed
traitor isn’t a full solution.
If they win the match and the crèche isn’t completely
destroyed, then they are grudgingly congratulated by
Stepplecruch and get to be in the presence of the High
Programmer himself for a few moments—what an honor!
If they lose the match, then Stepplecruch blames them
for everything that went wrong, and the multi-trillion cost
of the repairs to Mighty Metal and the rest of the sector
will be taken out of their allowances.
5. Graduation
Another year has gone by, and the characters are now
approaching the end of their final year in the crèche.
Once they pass the final exam that assigns them to their
service groups, they’ll be out of the crèche and into The
Computer’s loyal workforce. This one exam will shape
the future careers of the characters for the rest of their
lives (or until some random error sends transfers them
to Stripped Wire Plastic Recycling in the depths of Tech
Services). Or will it…?
Synopsis: The characters are preparing for their final
exams, when a cabal of fellow Junior Citizens reveals
the deadly truth about the Alpha Complex education
system. Just as they’re dealing with that revelation,
Vanessa-Y finally works out who the characters are.
Unfortunately, she’s assassinated by Sever-R, who
kidnaps the characters and brings them to secret fortress
of Markus-U. There, stuff explodes, and the characters
are given a choice between betraying Alpha Complex
and risking termination, or staying loyal in the hopes of
an uncertain future.
■ The Final Assembly
Stepplecruch addresses the crowd of Junior Citizens.
Once, you were struggling to see over the heads of older,
taller citizens; now you’re in your final year, the biggest
and most powerful class in the school, kings of your own
little domain. Of course, that’s all about to end—the final
exams are coming.
‘The final exams are coming in three days’ time’,
announces Stepplecruch, neatly segueing away from
your internal monologue, ‘as you know, the exams will
determine your future ideal place in our ideal society, as
well as your initial security clearance and prospects for
advancement. These exams will consist of both aptitude
and loyalty tests, as well as tests of how much you
have learned during your time in the crèche. Solely on
the grounds that your performance affects my end-of-
yearcycle-bonus, I wish you good luck.’
Just as the characters are leaving the assembly hall, one
of their classmates, Ann-JC-JCT-1, beckons them over
and passes them a note. The note says ‘meet in hall 2 at
midnight. Be there or else!’. She then scurries away.
■ The Midnight Meeting
If the characters don’t attend the meeting voluntarily, then
they’re dragged out of their bunks at around 0030 hours
by annoyed classmates.
Everyone from the characters’ class* is at the meeting.
Standing at the top of the auditorium is Brock-JC, who
* We’ve just realized that we’ve spared you the horror of D&D class jokes
all through this scenario…
none of the characters have ever had any real contact
with. He’s a quiet, serious young citizen, a solid candidate
for a CPU clerk or maybe HPD&MC censor. Tonight,
though, he seems animated and determined. This is his
hour. He holds aloft a yellowing piece of paper, crumbled
and stained and torn and obvious quite old.
‘My fellow citizens! Tonight we give thanks to that
nameless Junior Citizen of old who found this document!
From it, we know how the exam works, and how we can
all work together to get the best possible results.’
‘How?’ said a helpful prompter from the sidelines.
‘The rules state clearly: anyone who does too well must
have been cheating and fails. Anyone who does very
well gets promoted to RED clearance. Those who get
an average result just pass the exam, while those who
do too badly are tagged as mentally defective and fail.
So, if all give the same answers, we’ll all get the average
result, and we’ll all be fine.’
Brock produces a stack of sheets of paper. ‘These are
average answer sheets. Just memorize these and give
those answers to the exam questions. If anyone even
thinks of trying to study anything else, then they’re
traitors to the class and must be stopped by any means
necessary. Everyone clear with that?’
A moment’s thought reveals the flaw in Brock’s proposal.
If everyone else in the class is giving the same, average
answers, then a little work and study means you can get
a higher mark than everyone else. That’s bad, because
getting a noticeably higher mark means The Computer
will think you cheated. However, if you get someone else
to work even harder, then they get tagged as a traitor, you
get a good result and get promoted, and everyone else
scrapes a pass. In short, the system works best if you
convince other people to break ranks, then use them as
shields for your own treachery. All of the smarter, more
ambitious people in the class immediately start trying
to convince each other to break ranks and study for the
Other Students
Management 10
Ann: Cramming 14
Brock: Oratory 14
Stealth 8
Violence 7
Hardware 8
Software 8
Wetware 8
Mutant Power: Varies. Brock: Deep Thought (Power
14), Ann: Hypersenses (Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation: None
Armor: None
Weapons: None
86
 MY FIRST TREASON
exams. If the players don’t figure this one out, then Ann-
JC comes and speaks to Eva or Thomas and tries to
convince them to study.
■ Vanessa’s Interrogation
The next day is given over entirely to study; the characters
have no classes to attend. However, each of them is
summoned individually to Vanessa-Y’s office. Take the
player out of the room for this interrogation, to give the
other players a chance to plot against him. In her office,
Vanessa-Y interrogates each character in turn, asking
them about events in the previous adventures. She’s
managed to put most of the characters’ backstories
together. She’ll ask questions like:
William: Have you had any contact with High
Programmer Louis-U? Do you know anything
about illegal methods of procreation?
Nina: Are you a mutant? Have you had any contact
with the secret society known as Psion?
Joe: Are you familiar with the activities of the
Communist agent and enemy of the state
codenamed ‘UNCLE’? Are you aware of the
theoretical abuse of the MemoMax data buffers to
transfer memories into newly decanted clones?
Thomas: Are you familiar with the activities of
the Communist agent and enemy of the state
codenamed ‘UNCLE’? Are you aware of the
theoretical abuse of the MemoMax data buffers to
transfer memories into newly decanted clones?
Eva: Tell me everything you have observed about
your fellow classmates.
87
CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Vanessa-Y will try to press the characters to turn each
other in, hinting that she knows everything and they’re
in trouble anyway, so they may as well ameliorate their
plight by talking. Meanwhile, ask if the other players
are studying for their exams, or are they just using the
average answers provided by Brock?
■ Sever’s Betrayal
The next day is another day of study. During the night,
Vanessa-Y goes to speak to the crèche’s loyalty officer,
Sever-R, to get the characters’ permanent records.
Sever has been suspicious of the characters since the
events of Mutant Testing Time, so he draws Vanessa-Y
into conversation about the Junior Citizens. She finally
confides her secret to him—all the trauma about being
demoted down from the dizzy heights of VIOLET when
she was implicated in the whole OMEGA/Commie/
UNCLE scandal. Sever-R listens carefully, puts two
and two together, mixes in his diabolical secret society
contacts, and decides that this is his opportunity. He
shoots Vanessa-Y hiding the body until he dumps it on
the way to Markus-U’s headquarters.
Then, the next morning, Sever-R summons the
characters to his office for a private conference. He sits
all the characters down opposite him, and smiles. ‘It’s time
for a little career counseling, children. What do you think
you all have to offer Alpha Complex in the future?’ While
they’re singing their own praises, Sever-R overcharges
his stun gun and zaps them all. Fade to black...
■ The Fortress of Markus-U
The characters wake up on a cold metal floor. They’re in
the throne room of renegade High Programmer Markus-U.
When he escaped from Alpha Complex, he took several
 5: GRADUATION
5. GRADUATION
dozen experimental bots infected
with the OMEGA program. In the
last ten years, he and his psychotic
metal minions have built a fortress
and an army from scrap metal and
salvaged parts. He’s also gone
completely insane after ten years
alone with no company except for
megalomaniac warbots that hate all
humans except when he is directly
controlling them using the backdoor
in the OMEGA code. Markus-U is
now a cackling madman clothed in
salvaged panels from long defunct
bots, living in a teetering tower of
black scrap metal.
Markus-U is sitting on his throne,
surrounded by half a dozen of the
misshapen bots constructed from
spare parts since the exile. Sever-
R is groveling in front of Markus-U,
saying how these Junior Citizens
are intimately connected to Markus-
U’s unfortunate exile and how the
High Programmer of course will
want to take revenge on them.
Before Markus-U can reply, though,
one of the bots lurches forward
and impales Sever-R, screeching
‘DEATH TO HUMANITY’. Markus-U
sighs, whips out his PDC and taps
in a command; the bot returns to its
previous place.
Markus-U turns to the characters
and introduces himself. Sever-R told
him much about the characters while
they were unconscious. He has
bigger plans than just taking revenge
on them, though—the characters
can be of use to him. Each of them
has contacts and potentials that
can be exploited—Nina has Psion,
Thomas has IntSec, CPU has been
watching Eva and so forth. The
hour of Markus-U’s glorious return
is nigh, and the characters can be
his heralds.
As all this is happening, Timmy
the PetBot’s hidden programming
kicks in. He remembers that he has
access to the OMEGA backdoor,
and that he is programmed with a
self-destruct code for all of Markus-
U’s bots. Louis-U knew that Markus-
U would be drawn to William and the
other Junior Citizens, and that one or
other of the renegade’s agents would
eventually bring the characters into
Markus-U’s presence.* If Timmy
activates this hidden program while
close to Markus-U, it will destroy the
OMEGA bots.
* Feel free to hint that Louis-U callously used
his son as bait for his old rival, because that’s
exactly what he did.
Marcus-U
Management 12
Intimidation 16
Laughing Maniacally 18
Stealth 12
High Alert 16
Violence 8
Energy Weapons 12
Hardware 13
Bot Operations and
Maintenance 17
Software 15
Bot Programming 19
Hacking 19
Operating Systems 19
Wetware 12
Mutant Power: Death Simulation
(Power 12)
Secret Society Affiliation:
OMEGA Cult
Armor: Ornate Evil Overlord Armor
(3)
Weapons: Laser pistol (W3K)
So, the characters’ choices are
either turn traitor and aid Markus-
U, or use Timmy’s destruct code,
or just stall for time and hope for
rescue. The last one is fairly unlikely,
unless the characters have built up
strong secret society contacts over
the years.
If Timmy uses his code, then all the
other bots start exploding, which
makes the tower collapse. Instant
chaos. Markus-U screams and
chases after the characters as they
feel down the creaking metal stairs
and out into the Outdoors. Assuming
the characters avoid being shot by a
deranged High Programmer, they’ll
eventually be rescued and brought
back to Alpha Complex.
If the characters accept Markus-U’s
proposal, then he has one of his bots
fly them back to Alpha Complex.
He says that he will be in touch
with them over the coming years,
orchestrating their rise to power as
part of his plot to take over the whole
complex. All they need to do is pass
their exams successfully.
■ The Final Exam
However the characters escape the
dangers of Outdoors, they still need
to pass their final exams. The Alpha
Complex Standardized Service
Qualification Test is a set of four
three-hour exams that take place
over two days. The first exam tests
Management; after that, there’s
Hardware, Software, and Wetware.
The Cramming specialty can be
used instead.
If any of the characters follow the
average answers given by Brock,
then they count as failing by a
margin of five, regardless of their
actual skills. If they break ranks, then
they should roll the dice normally.
Brock and Ann also break ranks.
Track the characters’ results for
each test, ranking them as follows:
Failures by a margin of six or
more.
Failures by a margin of five—all
the Junior Citizens following
the average results fall into
this category.
Failures by a margin of four or
less.
Successes by a margin of five
or less.
Successes by a margin of six
to ten.
Successes by a margin of
eleven or more.
Remember that Perversity can be
spent on these rolls...
After each test, note who’s in lowest
category (Mentally Deficient), the
next lowest (OK), the highest
(Commendable), and the next
highest (Treasonous). You should
also give the players the aptitude
test forms.
88
 MY FIRST TREASON CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Alpha Complex Standardized Service After the tests, if a character ever fell
into the Treasonous category, they
Qualification Aptitude Test are called to Stepplecruch’s office
and told they have cheated in an
Failing to complete the test within the time allotted is not permitted. Circle the official test and this blight on their
most appropriate answer. Do not circle more than one answer. Candidate records will ensure they are never
is permitted one (1) can of B3 or other approved beverage per hour of the promoted. If a character ever fell into
exam. the Mentally Deficient category, then
he will be put on a higher, lifetime
Name: ________-__-_____-__ dose of Visomorphine, leaving him a
drooling vegetable capable of doing
Q1. You are a PLC employee working at your assigned lathe. A saboteur is nothing more than stirring food vats
engaged in sabotaging a neighbouring machine. Do you: and leering at Teela-O reruns.

A Immediately stop the saboteur, leaving your lathe to possibly spin out If a character managed to avoid both
of control Cheating and Mentally Deficient,
B Bring your lathe to a stop using approved safety procedures, then stop and got into the Commendable
the saboteur category on at least one occasion,
C Continue working, then report the sabotage to your supervisor then he is on the fast track to RED
D Not notice because you are so dedicated to your assigned work on leaving the crèche.

Q2. If you were a bot, you would be a: Finally, score the characters’
Aptitude test forms as follows:
A Construction Bot
B ScrubBot Odd questions: A=4, B=3, C=2,
C JackOBot D=1
D WarBot Even Questions: A=1, B=2, C=3,
D=4
Q3. The biggest threat to Alpha Complex is
6-12 points: Tech or Power
A Disloyalty and Badthought Services
B Mutants 13-16 points: HPD&MC or PLC
C Communism 17-20 points: Armed Forces or
D Sabotage R&D
21+ points: CPU or IntSec
Q4. The only good Commie is a:

A Dead Commie
■ Welcome To Alpha
B Commie in an Interrogation Cell Complex, Citizens
C Known Commie After the exams, the characters’
D There is no such thing as a Good Commie, the concept is time in the crèche is over. Once
meaningless. the results come in, the characters
are assigned to a service firm in
Q5. Information is restricted by security clearance: the appropriate service group,
reassigned to a new sector, and are
A To control access to it told to get out of the crèche by the
B Because people do not need to know things they do not need to end of the daycycle to make room for
know the next class of clones. It’s time for
C To ensure security heartfelt good-byes or last-minute
D To stop Commies from getting it backstabbing.

Q6. Which of these is the most important service group? What happens to the characters
in the future? Are they vile traitors,
A PLC, because it produces basic food already plotting with their secret
B Armed Forces, because they keep us safe societies, or are they loyal citizens?
C Power Services, because they keep the lights on Will they work together, or are they
D HPD&MC, because they keep us informed now sworn enemies? And what
happens in ten years’ time, when
they’re all assigned to the same
Troubleshooter team…?

89
SWEEP OF UNHISTORY

THE GLORIOUS FUTURE UNVEILED!

PARANOIA
™

Sweep of Unhistory
Alpha Complex, and my part in its downfall

GARETH HANRAHAN RON BEDISON CONTENTS

Writer/Scapegoat Proofreader/Intsec goon Introduction 92
Clones on Ice 93
ALLEN VARNEY DAN GELBER Totally Recalled 95
Original Concept/R&D Thinker GREG COSTIKYAN Red Dawncycle 99
ERIC GOLDBERG The Humanist Yearcycles 104
BETH FISCHI Original game design & development/
ANDY FITZPATRICK The War of NOS Sector 108
Building committee Waste Not, Want Not 112
ALLEN VARNEY
Editing, graphics/Drillbots IAN BELCHER Archipelago Complex 116
Mongoose publications manager/ Alpha Matrix 120
JIM HOLLOWAY Construction supervisor The Cockroach Era 122
Cover and interior illustrations/Blueprints
ALEXANDER FENNELL
NICK ROBINSON Mongoose Publishing production director/
Layout/Yellow-Clearance monkeybot Struts around wearing fun yellow hardhat

THE COMPUTER
Eternally vigilant.

Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Knowledge or possession of this information by any citizen
of Security Clearance VIOLET or lower is treason punishable by a
long spell of Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.

TM & Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2007 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User. Based on material published in
previous editions of PARANOIA.
ILLUMINATI is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and is used by permission.
The reproduction of material from this book for personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other means of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. You may
copy character sheets, record sheets, checklists and tables for personal use.
E-mail questions and comments to Mongoose Publishing at sales@mongoosepublishing.com or write to Mongoose Publishing, 52-54 Cricklade Road, Swindon,
Wiltshire SN8 2AF, UK.
On the World Wide Web: www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Published by Mongoose Publishing, Ltd. Publication MGP 6657. Published October 2007. Printed in the UK.
1. Introduction
■ Yearcycle 214 ergonomic footwear. In all the yearcycle 214s stretching
At the tone, it will be 5.00am on Twosday, Day 128, out in front of us, our oppression will come in exciting
Yearcycle 214. Your duty cycle begins now. Good brave new forms.
morning citizen.
At the tone, it will be 5.00am on Onesday, Day 001,
It has always and will always be yearcycle 214 of The Yearcycle 214. Your duty cycle begins now. Good
Computer’s glorious reign. The first yearcycle 214 was morning citizen.
such a good yearcycle, there was no sense in letting it go
after only one iteration. 214’s a nice number; it suggests And that, in a nutshell, is The Sweep of Unhistory. The
that the current regime is established enough to be secure Troubleshooters are recloned and retconned over and
and bravely forging forward into the future, but that its over again, brought back in successive eras of Alpha
enemies are still lurking out there, waiting for their chance. Complex future history, to bring their unique skills to bear
214 means constant vigilance, constant paranoia. on a series of problems. From the next few yearcycles to
the distant future of the complex, The Sweep of Unhistory
At the tone, it will be 5.00am on Foursday, Day 320, will bring the Troubleshooters into increasingly strange
Yearcycle 214. Your duty cycle begins now. Good yet nightmarishly familiar missions.
morning citizen.
When the horn howls, it will be Sunburning on the Day of
Whenever the yearcycle rolls around, The the Gray Worm, Yearcycle 214. Your impressment begins
Computer’s loyal army of editors and censors now. Good morning freeclone.
goes to work. The official histories have to be
rewritten each time. Approved events are added to
the archives; unapproved events are unhappened
and made unhistory. A billion billion forms need
to be edited and updated to the new, official
timeline. Great processing storms sweep across
the faltering computer nets, running a swarm of
scripts to edit all the databases. The occasional
date bug leading to reactor meltdowns needs to
be fixed (or edited out of the official history). The
population, too, needs to be adjusted. Memories
edited. Badthoughts and badhistories suppressed.
By the time the legacy of the last yearcycle 214
has been integrated into the approved history,
why, it’s almost time for the next yearcycle 214!*

At the tone, it will be 5.00am on

Mandatoryreportingday, Day 365, Yearcycle
214. Your duty cycle begins now. Good morning
citizen.

To quote Orwell’s 1984: ‘If you want a vision

of the future, imagine a boot stamping on
a human face—forever.’ Well, up to a point,
George. Yes, the future of Alpha Complex is an
infinity of oppression, fear and suffering, but that
doesn’t mean that that black jackboot can’t be
replaced by other, more stylish and wonderfully Josou-R-RSE-2 about to fit waste and sustenance tubes as he prepares to
enter the Computer’s simulation of Alpha Complex in ‘Alpha Matrix’

* CPU privately estimates that by yearcycle 214 of The Computer, the backlog of work involved in processing the past yearcycle 214 will overspill into the
next yearcycle 214, or possibly even into the following 214. This will result in yearcycle 214 not being reconciled with the official histories until at least
yearcycle 214!

It is plain to see how confusing this might be.

. 92
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
1. Clones on Ice
2.
As it was and ever shall be, the Troubleshooters receive a
mission alert, calling them to serve their beloved complex.
They are to report to a flybot hangar in a nearby sector.
The flybot is waiting there for them, bearing the mark of
the R&D service group. As soon as all the Troubleshooters
are on board, the flybot’s windows polarize (to block the
sight of Outside from the passengers) and the flybot
launches at an unreasonable velocity out over the domes.
A short safety video plays as the Troubleshooters are
crushed down into their uncomfortable foam seats. (In
the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, please fill
out form TS/3433/em/b, Request for The Deployment
of Oxygen Masks. If you qualify for mask deployment, it
will drop from the panel over your head. Please fasten
the mask securely and breathe normally. If you do not
qualify for a mask, please hold your breath until normal
pressure is restored. Normal pressure will be restored
within five working days.)
After a short yet stressful flight, the Troubleshooters feel
the flybot angle steeply forward, diving into the ground
at an alarming speed. It’s actually diving toward a deep
access shaft, but since the windows are polarized,
the Troubleshooters don’t know that. If they sit tight,
everything’s fine. If they leave their seats (Please return
to your seat, citizen! Failure to return to your seat will
result in denial of complimentary P-Nut concentrate!)
and tamper with the controls (Please do not tamper with
the controls, as it may result in death!), then they can
heroically seize control of their own destinies by flying
the flybot into the ground. The flybot’s bot brain has put
the plane on autopilot (or, more accurately, slaved the
controls to one of its lower-end subroutines so it can
get back to writing Corpore Metal propaganda on the
gray subnets), so it’s of no help to the Troubleshooters.
(Tampering with the controls will also disable any and all
lights on the flybot, in case you want a really early dark
room scene.)
Eventually, the flybot’s headlong flight levels off, and it
lands. A pair of Vulture Troopers are waiting outside, who
lead the Troubleshooters through an anonymous and
deserted corridor ending in a huge blast door. The door
opens, revealing the concrete walls of a vault deep within
Alpha Complex. The massive weight of the concrete dome
above the Troubleshooters’ heads is supported by huge
metal braces. Everything, even the lights, is massively
reinforced and obviously designed to last for eons. At
the far end of the chamber is a big lump of metal that
resembles a cloning machine.
The Troubleshooters are greeted by an R&D researcher,
Ray-G-OOD-3, the technician assigned to their initial
test of the facility. Ray-G hands the Troubleshooters
a brochure about the facility, and hustles them toward
the big cloning machine. There are lots of stern Vulture
Troopers standing around, constantly vigilant in case
Commies are somehow hiding in the brushed concrete
walls.
At the cloning machine, Ray-G explains that they need
to test the Deep Storage Emergency System Backup
Backup System by storing the genetic code and
MemoMax personality patterns of a Troubleshooter team
in the cloning facility. All he needs, says Ray-G, is a brain
core sample from each of the Troubleshooters, and he
takes out a nasty looking piece of surgical steel.
If the Troubleshooters quibble, then those stern Vulture
Troopers proceed to dequibble with extreme prejudice.

■ Handout – Deep Storage Emergency System Backup Backup System

The Deep Storage Emergency System Backup Backup System corrects the main drawback of the original Deep Storage
Emergency System Backup that the Internal Security Post-Crisis-Management Mass Debriefing of 124/214 identified
in their report Lack of Backup Redundancy in the Deep Storage Emergency System Backup. The new Total Quality
in Crisis Management Initiative (v2.1*) called for the establishment of a secondary Backup System to compensate for
any (impossible) failures in the (infallible) Deep Storage Emergency System Backup. In the (impossible) event of a
failure in both the Main System and the Deep Storage Emergency System Backup, then the Deep Storage Emergency
System Backup Backup System would activate (although this would never happen), cloning and decanting an elite
Crisis Management team who would then deal with the crisis. To ensure the safety and security of the Deep Storage
Emergency System Backup Backup System, the entire facility will be located 1.4 vertical kilometers below Alpha
Complex, [CENSORED] and designed to last indefinitely. Power will be provided by an internal micropile with an
indefinite useful lifespan.

CPU is now engaged on a lengthy database search to identify those Heroes of The Complex who will be preserved in
the Deep Storage Emergency System Backup Backup System, who will stand vigilant over Alpha Complex, ready to
save the day if all other defenses fail.

(Which, as has already been stated, is utterly impossible and will never happen.)

* Replacing the old 2.0 Total Quality in Crisis Management, deprecated following the [CENSORED].

93
 2. CLONES ON ICE
Once the brain samples have been acquired, Ray-G
orders the Troubleshooters to report to the control center
overlooking the facility.
The control center is a small booth, constructed out of
the same dense metal as the cloning machine. Seated
at the booth is a fresh-faced young tech, Andy-R-SPL-1,
who cheerily tells the Troubleshooters that he is proud to
have volunteered to be the custodian of the Deep Storage
Emergency System Backup Backup System. He is willing
and happy to serve The Computer in whatever way he
can, and he is eager to prove himself worthy of the trust
the Troubleshooters have placed in him. Make Andy-R as
naturally bouncy and bubbly as you can—genuinely loyal
and eager, he doesn’t need happy pills to be happy.
Anyway, while Andy-R’s burbling at the Troubleshooters,
Ray-G and the Vulture Troopers start backing out of
the vault. Unless the Troubleshooters do something
very clever very quickly, then Ray-G reaches the door,
shouts ‘INITIATE TEST FIRING’ and chucks a grenade
in just as the blast doors close. The grenade goes off
three rounds after the blast doors close, and will kill the
Troubleshooters and Andy-R. If any of the characters
have Energy Field or other defensive mutations, then
upgrade it to a nuclear grenade. It will, however, prove
that the cloning facility and control panel are utterly
invulnerable to conventional attack.
Whether or not the Troubleshooters survive, fresh clone
versions of both them and Andy-R are swiftly prepared
. 94
in the cloning facility. An automated announcement
says ‘TEST COMPLETE. IF THIS WERE A REAL
EMERGENCY, THE FATE OF ALPHA COMPLEX
WOULD BE IN YOUR HANDS. THIS IS NOT A REAL
EMERGENCY. STAY ALERT AND MONITOR OFFICIAL
CHANNELS FOR DETAILS OF ANY UPCOMING
EMERGENCIES. TRUST NO ONE, CITIZENS.’
Ray-G returns and congratulates the Troubleshooters on
a successful test. They’ve served The Computer well, and
official commendations are entered all around. Another
group of Troubleshooters enter the room—they’re all
INDIGO-Clearance, square-jawed, heroic, infinitely
competent and loyal. Ray-G indicates that these are the
real Emergency Backup team, that the Troubleshooters
were just the final test before the system goes live.
Assuming nothing goes wrong in the future, mutters
Ray-G, this facility will never be used. But Alpha Complex
must be prepared!
If the Troubleshooters hang around, they see Ray-G
respectfully take brain core samples from the new
VIOLET team, and hand them to a shell-shocked Andy-
R-2. (It was Andy’s first death, and he’s not coping well.)
The new Troubleshooters get an urgent mission alert
(Team! Batclone has been sighted in TRS Sector! To
the briefing!) and zoom off. The Troubleshooters are left
to make their own way back from this isolated sector to
the main body of Alpha Complex.
They will never return here in their current lifetimes.
 SWEEP
3. Totally Recalled
When: T+10 yearcycles.
Synopsis: The original clone-
sequences of the Troubleshooters
are still around. After ten yearcycles,
they’ve risen through the ranks and
are now influential and dangerous
people. Schemes are afoot to bring
them down, and those schemes
repeatedly involve fresh clones from
the DSESBBS.
State of Alpha Complex: Pretty
much unchanged. A little shabbier.
The Computer continues its slow
decline toward electronic senility.
Who’s In Charge?: Still
The Computer and the High
Programmers.
Changes to Clearance &
Regulations: Nothing significant.
What’s Treasonous?: The usual.
Deprecated: Flavor 21b; Use of
the Term ‘bot’—they are now called
‘mechanoids’. This was done as
part of a high-level paperwork war
between Tech Services and CPU, as
millions of forms and manuals had to
be pulped and reissued to remove
the deprecated term.
■ Welcome Back,
Troubleshooters
The team awakens in the cloning
facility in the DSESBBS. The
concrete chamber has changed
since they last saw it—their last
memory is probably* walking out of
the vault, which was the last time the
MemoMax memories in the cloning
facility were updated. Technician
Andy is still there—he’s looking ten
years older and a lot less fresh-
faced, and he’s wearing a yellow
* The MemoMax system containing the personalities of the frozen Troubleshooters from the DSESBBS is not in sync with the MemoMax system used by
the normal cloning banks. The Troubleshooters’ memories therefore diverged from those of their original clone line at the end of Clones on Ice—unless
you want to run a few scenarios between the end of the last scenario and the start of this one, in which case the MemoMax systems resynchronize at
randomly convenient times.
You know, we may be thinking about this a bit too hard. A wizard did it, ok?
Oh, unless otherwise noted, the Troubleshooters wake up with no equipment. There are usually a few jumpsuits, laser pistols and PDCs laid out for them,
though.
95
OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Sharon-G-RSC-4
Management 8
Oratory 12
Bootlicking 12
Making Ticks on Her Clipboard
in a Really Intimidating Fashion
14
Stealth 8
Surveillance 12
Violence 10
Hardware 8
Software 10
Wetware 12
Medical 16
Cloning 16
Mutant Powers: Pyrokinesis
(Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation: Same
as her Mysterious Patron (i.e.,
pick one of the Troubleshooter’s
secret societies).
Armor: GREEN reflec, E1
Weapons: Laser pistol, W3K
jumpsuit this time. There’s also a
stern woman in green, who greets
the Troubleshooters. She’s carrying
■ The Rewards Of
a clipboard.
This is all quite disconcerting for
the Troubleshooters. The woman
in green introduces herself as
Sharon-G-RSC-4, and explains that
this is a test of the DSESBBS. Tech
Services are concerned that there
may be degradation in the genetic
records or personality copies of the
clones stored in the DSESBBS.
Oh, and that thanks to a user error
ten years ago, the patterns of the
elite INDIGO team that should
have been stored in the DSESBBS
got deleted. A new DSESBBS
backup is under construction, but
the Troubleshooters don’t need to
worry about that. Anyway, Sharon-
G is here to do some quick tests on
the Troubleshooters, to see if any of
them are actually degraded copies
who should be deleted. She fires
some questions at them, to test their
mental capacities. What’s 47 times
18? (846) What clearance comes
after BLUE? What service firms did
the Troubleshooters work for? Who
is the cell leader of the Communists
in this sector? Where were the
Troubleshooters on the Foursday
before they were called to test the
DSESBBS?
If any of the Troubleshooters pauses,
or says anything about being
confused, or questions Sharon-
G’s authority, then she frowns,
purses her lips, makes a tick on her
clipboard and mutters something
about obvious mental decay. She
then beckons for the team to follow
her—there’s more testing to be
done.
Loyal Service
Sharon-G issues each of the
Troubleshooters with a PDC, a ME
card and a laser pistol. If carefully
examined, the laser pistols turn
out to have tracking devices hastily
inserted into their ergonomic
Secu-Grip handles (a security
precaution Sharon-G added after
the last disaster). She then loads
the Troubleshooters into an autocar
with opaque windows, which zooms
off at high speed.
She’s dropping the Troubleshooters
off at one of the apartments owned
by the Group A clones. Pick one of
the Troubleshooters randomly—
it’s his apartment (or rather, the
apartment owned by his clone-self
in Group A*).
 3. TOTALLY RECALLED
* The English** language is woefully under-
equipped, grammatically speaking, in terms
of pronouns for alternate versions of yourself.
Maybe we should start using subscripts. ‘Ia, Ib
and Ic were walking down the corridor, then Ib
dropped a piece of paper from myb’s pocket,
and Ia saw that it was communist propaganda,
so Ic shot meb, but Ic missed and shot mea!’ In
which case, Troubleshooterc is entering hisa
apartment, which has already been raided by
himb.
On second thoughts, we won’t use subscripts,
for they are a pain to type.
** If you are reading this in a translation, then
replace ‘English’ with your own language.
Unless it’s German, which probably already
covers this in one of its 50 zillion tenses.
There must have been some secretive cabal
of German linguists back in the middle ages
where one of them went ‘y’know, this language
could use more grammar’, and the rest said
‘yeah!’ instead of strangling him with the
pluperfect.***
*** It’s totally true. All Germans are obsessed
by grammar. I read it in the Earth Alliance
Factbook for Babylon 5. And all Welsh people
are really good space pilots. Really.
The autocar stops at the end of a
BLUE-Clearance corridor. Sharon-G
tells the Troubleshooters to go up
the corridor and enter the quarters at
the far end, where they will be tested
for mental or genetic deviancy. If
the Troubleshooters quibble about
entering a high-clearance corridor,
she snaps that they have obviously
failed to keep up with regulations,
and under CPU Directive 214-
A/44333, Subsection 12, Paragraph
4, corridors designated ‘Approved
Access Junctions’ can be entered
by citizens of lower clearance when
engaged in necessary maintenance,
emergency drills or other vital
activities on any daycycle except
Sixday or MandatoryInspectionDay
between 0800 and 1800 hours. Go
go go! She drives off in the autocar
as soon as the Troubleshooters exit
the vehicle.
When the Troubleshooters approach
the door at the end of the corridor,
a camera/laser/hideously painful-
looking set of knives and dissection
tools/more lasers assembly emerges
from a hidden compartment in the
ceiling and points all its laser barrels
and sharp bits at them. ‘MAXIMUM
REASSURANCE HI-MESS HOME
■ What’s Going On?
Sharon-G is not a Tech Services employee—she’s actually in another service
group, and is working for a Mysterious Patron. She is desperately trying to
salvage her Cunning Plot to take down her Patron’s enemies. Here’s where
it gets complicated.
Let’s call the Player Characters Group C. The original clone line of the
Troubleshooters, the ones who have been running around Alpha Complex
for the last ten years and are all now high-clearance bigshots with all sorts of
nefarious plots and minions, we’ll call them Group A. One of Group A is Sharon-
G’s Mysterious Patron. He or she told Sharon-G about that long-ago incident
in the DSESBBS, and how they could turn it to their advantage. Sharon-G
was instructed to go to the DSESBBS and bribe Andy-R into producing a
batch of clones of Group A, who would then commit identity theft, breaking
into the private files and treasure vaults of the Group A clones. These, we’ll
call Group B.
The problem is that the Group B clones have double-crossed Sharon-G. They
stole all the blackmail material, secret files, illegal weapon, dangerous R&D
gadgets, exotic drugs and other treasures gathered by Group A over ten
years of double-dealing. Rather than admit her failure, Sharon-G ran back to
Andy-Y and had him produce another batch of clones—Group C, the Player
Characters. Sharon-G is gambling that the Group Cs will be able to track
down the Group Bs so she can recover the stolen possessions of the Group
As for her Mysterious Patron.
What Sharon-G doesn’t yet know is that her Mysterious Patron is one of the
Group As, who is planning to eliminate his or her old allies—the rest of Group
A. The Mysterious Patron has secretly contacted Internal Security, informing
on his companions and offering the contents of the vaults stolen by the Group
Bs as evidence of their treachery.
Who Is The Mysterious Patron? Unfortunately, not even Famous Game
Designers can predict which of your players would be most likely to screw
everyone else in the group over. Therefore, the identity of the Mysterious
Patron is not entirely germane to this scenario. We’ll just let the paranoia of
the players determine who’s screwing them over.
SECURITY SYSTEM ONLINE!’ it furniture is amazingly plush and
barks, ‘INTRUDERS DETECTED! comfortable—the seats are actually
PRESENT IDENTIFICATION OR pleasant to sit in, unlike any and
YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM all RED furniture. There’s a huge
THE PREMISES.’ A scanning vidscreen showing programs the
beam stabs out, searching for Troubleshooters have never even
tongueprints. When it scans the heard of, and there are racks of
appropriate Troubleshooter’s tongue, computer disks with recordings of
the security system says ‘IDENITY programs and activities that are
CONFIRMED! WELCOME HOME, downright illegal. There’s real fruit
CITIZEN <name>! YOU LAST just sitting there in crystal bowls. On
ACCESSED YOUR HOME SIX the walls are pictures and framed
HOURS 17 MINUTES AGO.’ reports of the (edited) highlights of
the Troubleshooters’ careers. Some
The door opens soundlessly, pictures are of successful missions,
allowing the Troubleshooters into a of the Troubleshooters being
veritable Aladdin’s Cave of wonder. proclaimed Heroes of the Complex
The BLUE-Clearance apartment is and capturing evil Commies. Other
luxury beyond their wildest dreams pictures show handsome/beautiful
(The Group A’s are not only BLUEs, citizens who are oddly out of uniform.
they’re really corrupt BLUEs). The (Being BLUE Clearance, the Group
96
 SWEEP OF
As aren’t dosed with hormone
suppressants and so can take
advantage of the situation, which
means taking advantage of pretty
young citizens of the appropriate
gender.)
There are also several servant
bots here, who scramble to do
the Troubleshooters’ bidding. If
questioned, the loyal bots confirm
that this apartment belongs to
citizen <name>, and that the other
Troubleshooters have been guests
here from time to time. The bots
are eager to provide food/drugs
to the guests. Basically, this is an
apartment complex of absolutely
sybarite luxury and indulgence.
Feel free to drop hints about the
owner’s secret society membership.
A Sierra Clubber might have pot
plants in his apartment; a Psion
agent might have a weird pyramid
designed to focus psychic power.
The only odd bit is a large hole in one
wall, obviously the result of a recent
laser blast. The edges of the hole
are still hot to the touch, indicating
it happened recently. On the far
side of the hole is a secret room,
which is mostly empty. There are
signs that the room once contained
stuff, though. There’re a few scraps
of paper with messages like ‘Clive-I
is a FCCCPer’ or ‘IOU WMD’, a few
vials of interesting-looking drugs
and a few cone rifle shells lying in
the corners. This hidden room once
contained <name>’s secret stash
of cool stuff, but it got stolen by the
Group Bs.
■ Sharon G’s Cunning Plan
Sharon-G wants the Troubleshooters
to lead her to the runaway Group B
clones. Now, the Group Bs went
rogue when they got hold of all
the wealth in the secret stashes of
the Group As, but seeing as all the
wealth is gone, there isn’t the same
impetus for the Group Cs to do the
same. She has to provide it.
Let the Troubleshooters mess
around in the shiny apartment
for a while. Then, the security
97
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
system announces ‘ATTENTION!
INCOMING DROID! INTRUDER IS
IDENTIFIED AS DELIVERY DROID
FROM ZIP-EX DELIVERIES.
SELECT DESIGNED RESPONSE:
ALLOW ENTRY/TERMINATE/
OPEN COMMUNICATIONS.’ The
vidscreen in the apartment displays
an image of the corridor outside, and
there is indeed a delivery bot there.
The droid delivers a big shiny black
box to the Troubleshooters, then
departs (assuming they don’t have
the security system zap the poor
delivery bot. Er, delivery droid.).
It’s a very tempting black box. What
could be inside?
Inside, in fact, are hundreds and
hundreds of big fat documents
in three-ring binders. The word
‘BLACKMAIL’ is printed on each
of them, along with a date. It looks
horribly illegal, so you should hint
to the players that they might not
want to read the documents in
<name’s> apartment. Now, the
binders actually contain deprecated
bot manuals (outdated since the
terminology change making bots into
droids), but Sharon-G’s desperately
gambling that no one will read the
files immediately. She’s hoping
that the Troubleshooters will run
off and hide somewhere, that the
somewhere they hide will be the
same as the hiding place chosen by
the Group B clones, and that she’ll
be able to track the Group Cs using
the tracking chip she’s hidden in
their laser pistols*.
* When you write it out like that, Sharon-G’s plan
isn’t that good a plan—but what can you expect
from someone who’s a willing minion of one of
the Player Characters? Talk about the terminally
dumb leading the terminally dumb….
If the Troubleshooters do run off and
hide somewhere, then skip onto Me,
Myself and Aiiiii!, below, and have
the Group As show up just before
IntSec. If they ignore the box/argue
about the box/just sit around the
apartment, then move onto the next
section.
■ The Goldilocks Protocol
The security system activates again
and announces ‘ATTENTION!
INCOMING CLONES! INTRUDER
IS IDENTIFIED AS OWNER.
ERROR! ERROR! SELECT
DESIGNED RESPONSE: ALLOW
ENTRY/TERMINATE/OPEN
COMMUNICATIONS.’ The
vidscreen switches to display
the corridor outside, where the
Troubleshooters see…themselves.
Well, ten-yearcycles-older, fatter,
hardbitten, cynical, bitter, evil,
angry and really heavily armed
versions of themselves. It’s Group
A. The security system is of no help
here—the presence of two ‘owners’
is confusing it, and it’s on the verge
of crashing completely.
The Group As think the
Troubleshooters are the scum who
broke into all their apartments and
stole their carefully hoarded caches
of drugs/WMDs/blackmail material
and so forth. The revelation that the
thieves are ten-yearcycle-old clones
of themselves confuses them no
end, and stops them from charging
into the apartment, cone rifles
blazing. (Well, that and the fact that
the apartment owner doesn’t want
his furniture tac-nuked.)
When the Troubleshooters mention
the DSESBBS, there’s a lot of
nodding and ‘Oh yeah, that mission.
Wasn’t that just before we fought the
Cthulhu Cult in HPL Sector?’ from
Group A. If they contact Andy-Y,
he confirms that he ran off another
bunch of clones (Group B) a few
hours ago.
When the Troubleshooters mention
Sharon-G, then one of the Group
As (ideally, one with IntSec or CPU
ties) whips out his PDC and makes
a few calls. A few minutes later,
he switches on the vidscreen in
the apartment. The screen shows
Sharon-G strapped to a chair in
a confession booth. She’s been
beaten and injected with truth
serum. It’s hard to see because of
the bright light shining down into
her face, but masked figures are
questioning her. She moans out a
confession—that she was instructed
 3. TOTALLY RECALLED
by her superior to order Andy-Y
to decant a set of clones from the
DSESBBS and to deliver them to the
apartments of the Troubleshooters.
That’s all she knows, she swears.
Whoever gave the orders explains
that the interrogators are agents
loyal to him; they need to keep
the cached material out of IntSecs
hands or they’ll all be terminated as
traitors.
Group A turns to Group C and
demands that they help them get
the caches back. Where would they
hide if they had a load of treasures?
Wherever the PCs choose, that’s
where Group B is. (Group A doesn’t
think the same way any more, due to
brainscrubbing/drugs/ten yearcycles
of conniving, etc).
■ Me, Myself and Aiiiiiiii!
So. You’ve got Group A, the
hard-bitten and angry elder
Troubleshooters who want to
get their treasured caches back.
Somewhere in Group A is Sharon-
G’s Mysterious Patron, who has
arranged with IntSec to swoop in
and capture the high-level traitors
(the rest of Group A). You’ve got
Group B, the thieves, who are sitting
on top of a cache of expensive drugs
and illegal WMDs, and are hiding
out until they can start exploiting
the material they stole. You’ve got
Group C, the Troubleshooters.
And you’ve got IntSec, who are
swooping in for the kill.
Group A and C arrive at Group B’s
hiding place. Group B have found
the bottles of drugs in the cache, and
are now totally smashed out of their
skulls. They’re also increasingly
paranoid, and are about to turn the
stolen cone rifles and experimental
R&D plasma throwers on each
other. As it’s so dangerous, Group
A sends Group C in first. They might
suggest trying to lure the Group
Bs out of sight of each other, to
replace them with Group Cs. They
might suggest trying to negotiate.
Whatever—Group As real aim is to
have the Group Bs blast the Group
Cs first, then the Group As can get
‘em while they’re reloading.
While the Troubleshooters are
arguing with themselves, an IntSec
team backed up by an Armed Forces
warbot shows up. The IntSec team is
led by Malachi-B-SSI-3—capturing
half-a-dozen BLUE traitors will
be just the thing to kick him up to
INDIGO, so he’s determined to
get his hands on Group A and the
evidence of their treachery.
What do the Troubleshooters
do?
The safest option is to just blow
up both Group B and the cache of
treasonous goods, which is easily
accomplished with a stray shot in the
right direction. Getting both Groups
A and B to fight each other is also a
solid plan—as is just running for it,
letting a three-way fight between the
other clones and IntSec happen.
An ideal ending might be for Groups
A and B to die off, leaving the
Troubleshooters to inherit the identities
of Group A—whereupon they then get
arrested by IntSec as traitors unless
they pin all the blame on just one of
the Troubleshooters. Who get to take
the fall for the whole group?
Regardless of what happens, they’ll
get cloned again in time for the next
episode….
Malachi-B-SSI
Management 10
Interrogation 14
Play Good Cop/Bad Cop While
Alone With a Suspect 16
Stealth 11
Pretend To Be a Vending
Machine 17
Surveillance 15
Violence 15
Hardware 8
Software 5
Wetware 12
Suggstion 16
Mutant Powers: Hypersenses
(Power 10)
Secret Society Affiliation:
Program Group
Armor: BLUE reflec, E1
Weapons: Laser pistol, W3K
98
 SWEEP OF
4. Red Dawncycle
When: T+50 yearcycles.
Synopsis: Historical revisionism
has turned the Troubleshooters into
infamous enemies of the Complex
and The Computer, as successful
purges and power changes sent
them out of favor. Now, a desperate
cell of Commies has discovered
the DSESBBS and seized on
the Troubleshooters as their last
hope….
State of Alpha Complex: Alpha
Complex has grown even more
chaotic over the last few decades.
Driven by secret societies, hidden
agendas and paranoia, the High
Programmers started turning on each
other. Whole chunks of the Alpha
Complex leadership were declared
unpeople and removed or deemed
traitors and executed. Junta after
junta collapsed in quick succession.
The Computer, always buggy, is now
a tangled mess of uncommented
and incomprehensible legacy code,
and is crazier than ever.
Who’s In Charge?: Whatever
temporary alliance of High
Programmers has managed to
seize control this weekcycle. The
Computer has been marginalized due
to its senile randomness, although it
is still a massively powerful force in
the lives of the lower citizens.
Changes to Clearance &
Regulations: Regulations change
from sector to sector due to different
directives from ruling juntas. There’s
been a bloat in the upper clearances
because of the regular changes in
power and attendant promotions—
the clearance scale now goes
IROYGBIV, SUPERVIOLET,
ULTRAVIOLATE, MEGAVIOLET,
GAMMA.
What’s Treasonous?: Suggesting
that The Computer is any way flawed
or wrong has become treasonous,
with a Treason damage of C5T.
Deprecated: The Mystics secret
society has died out, replaced by
the Hedonists, who seek pleasure
99 P
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
in all forms, not just drugs. They’re Ivan
interested in everything from cookery Management 8
and water sports to rediscovering the Bootlicking 12
lost secret of sex. The Illuminati are Stealth 10
also gone, although no one’s sure Sneaking 14
why. High Programmer Program Violence 10
Groups are now much, much more Demolition 14
common. Projectile Weapons 14
Hardware 8
■ Comrades! You Live! Software 8
Wetware 9
The Troubleshooters wake up in Communist Propaganda 13
the DSESBBS. They’re a bit groggy Mutant Powers: Levitation (Power
when first decanted. Everything’s a 10)
blur—a flashing red blur. Shapes Secret Society Affiliation:
are running back and forth. They do Communist
hear an announcement—it’s Friend Armor: RED Army battle armor,
Computer’s voice, but it’s filled armor 2
with static and uncharacteristically Weapons: Slugthrower, W2K
hesitant and corrupt, as if Friend
Computer was not entirely sure what Tanya
It was proclaiming. Management 6
Oratory 10
‘ATTENTION! THIS DECLARATION Stealth 10
OF WAR BROUGHT TO YOU BY Sneaking 14
BOUNCY BUBBLY BEVERAGE. Violence 14
IT’S THE MANDATORY THING. Demolition 18
TERMINATION OF ALL TRAITORS Projectile Weapons 18
IN DESIGNATED *BLEEP* FREE- Hardware 8
FIRE *BLEEP* SECTORS IN TWO Software 8
HOURS 17 MINUTES. FULL USE Wetware 9
OF *BLEEP* FILE NOT FOUND Communist Propaganda 15
*BLEEP* HAS BEEN *BLEEP* Mutant Powers: Energy Field
AUTHORIZED. SURRENDER (Power 10)
NOW. *BLEEP*. DRINKING Secret Society Affiliation:
BOUNCY BUBBLY BEVERAGE IS Communist
TREASON, CITIZENS! CONSUME Armor: RED Army battle armor,
LIQUID FUN FOR LOYALTY! armor 2
REPORT B3 ABUSERS AND Weapons: Slugthrower, W2K
DEALERS TO INTSEC! *BLEEP*
EOM’.
concrete has begun to crumble. The
The Troubleshooters’ vision clears. machinery is still intact, but covered
They’re in the DSESBBS vault. The in grime. Technician Andy is still
walls are laser-scarred, and the around—or, more accurately, he
was around until recently. Andy’s
corpse is lying in the middle of the
floor, with a big smoking laser hole
in his chest. He’s dressed in violet
OH DEAR. robes.
HOW SAD. Clustered around the Troubleshooters
NEVERMIND. are half-a-dozen heavily armed
men. They’re all wearing strange
uniforms—khaki green, with red
stars. And furry hats. And really big
guns. One of them grabs the hand of
one of the Troubleshooters and
 4. RED DAWNCYCLE
pumps it up and down, shouting ‘Comrades! You have
returned in our hourcycle of need! With you leading us,
the revolution must succeed! Now, we must be quick!
Follow!’
This Commie meet-and-greeter is ‘Ivan’ (technically, Fred-
G-DES, but he doesn’t answer to his Capitalist Pig-Dog
Price Tag Name), the leader of this communist cell. To
Ivan, the Troubleshooters are his childhood heroes, his
idols, his glorious leaders, the fathers of international
communism and the greatest enemies of the hated
Computer ever! He’d die for them in an instant, and they
can do no wrong. However, Ivan does realize that they’ve
just been decanted from their capitalist genetic prison, and
therefore will probably need a few minutes to get back up
to speed on the whole revolution thing.
The other notable commie here is ‘Tanya’ (Rose-R-JCK),
one of the best fighters in the ongoing revolution. She was
a Troubleshooter, and was responsible for the Commies
getting hold of most of the WMDs that are currently being
used to blow up large chunks of Alpha Complex.
The Commies hustle the Troubleshooters
out of the DSESBBS vault. Waiting outside
is a bizarre vehicle that looks like a transbot
crossed with a spider. Dozens of brassy
mechanical legs sprout from its sides. The
group scramble aboard, and Tanya takes the
controls. As the spiderbot scuttles forward
at alarming speed, an alarm sounds. ‘Hold
on!’ screams Tanya, and the spiderbot
accelerates even more and makes several
wild jumps in random directions, scrabbling
through sewer lines and access junctions.
Outside, the Troubleshooters see incredibly
bright flashes of green fire, light so bright it
burns their exposed skin and leaves painful
after-images burnt into their retinas. ‘Dome-
mounted particle cannons’ mutters Ivan,
‘they can incinerate a single traitor from 20
sectors above. Anything in the place where
the beams meet is fried’.
Tanya drives the bot over a chasm, and
it plummets into the depths. Outstretched
legs scrape against the walls of the chasm,
slowing its descent from ‘terminal velocity’
into merely ‘almost-suicidal’. As they fall,
Ivan turns to the Troubleshooters and
explains what’s going on.
‘Comrades! My worker’s heart is filled with
joy to see you alive once more. Your battles
against the hated Computer and its capitalist
lackies have inspired me all my life! We
started this great revolution in accordance
with your teachings and your writings, and
in your names we launched a pre-emptive attack on the
very heart of degenerate capitalism!
I fear the battle has not gone well, and all seemed
lost—then we discovered that the foolish capitalists had
imprisoned your genetic patterns! These clones might not
have your full memories, but mere knowledge is nothing!
The love of international communism burns in your hearts!
With you leading us, our victory is assured!’
Tanya snorts derisively. ‘If they brought a few armored
divisions and about a hundred dome-smasher warheads,
then they might actually make a difference’ and Ivan
berates her for her lack of faith in the Party. Tanya then
announces that they’re approaching KremVax.
■ Kremvax
The KremVax fortress is a hidden Communist complex
hidden deep beneath Alpha Complex. (While the Commies
claim that this small bunker is the original KremVax, it’s
common knowledge within the Party that there once
100.
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
was a much grander, bigger and older KremVax that
was destroyed by the hated capitalists. Of course, that
common knowledge was probably planted by the Politburo
to enhance the Communists’ prestige.) Now, KremVax is
under heavy bombardment by the Armed Forces. It’s too
deep beneath Alpha Complex to be attacked directly (yet),
but the Armed Forces are methodically blasting away at
the domes overhead as well as attacking through the
corridors. In about two hours, The Computer is going to
launch its final strike on the KremVax, wiping out every
clone in a dozen sectors between the core of Alpha
■ So Who Do You Think We Are?
Complex and hidden Commie base.
The spiderbot arrives in a KremVax dock, and the
Troubleshooters are led down more corridors decorated
with Commie symbols into a control room. Every few
moments, the whole place shakes and the lights flicker
as another Armed Forces barrage strikes. Sometimes,
through the falling dust, the flickering half-light and the
gloom, the Troubleshooters glimpse an awe-filled face
as some loyal Communist passes by them.
In the control booth, there’s a holographic display showing
the distribution of Communist forces and weapons around
the KremVax. More importantly, there’s also a sheaf of
papers describing the Troubleshooters’ official histories.
Ivan tells the team that he and Tanya need to report to
the Central Committee—the Heroes of the Party (i.e. the
Troubleshooters) should familiarize themselves with the
forces under their command.
If the Troubleshooters examine the official histories, give
them the handout. (Remember to fill in the most or least
appropriate names.)
If the Troubleshooters look at the holographic display,
then they see a lot of pretty lights which they really don’t
understand. At a guess, the red lights are Commies,
and the blue lights are Alpha Complex Armed Forces.
Or it could be the other way around. It’s impossible to
tell what’s what.

■ Handout – Troubleshooter Official Histories

INTSEC/VIOLET/INFORM/332A1-data
1. ___________-__-_________. Founder of International Communism. Collaborated with Marx on development of
original Commie badwrongthought. Believed to have a mutant brain that is constantly generating new deviant thought
patterns. Writer of numerous banned and treasonous tracts. All images, recordings, writings and other artifacts produced
by this traitor are classified VIOLET and should be considered highly dangerous thoughtcrimes, viral meme weapon of
mass orthodoxy destruction. Interact using approval filters only; terminate at all costs.

2. ___________-__-_________. The so-called ‘Butcher of WST Sector’, this traitor is the supreme military commander
of the Red Army of Communism. A renegade from the loyal and glorious Armed Forces of Alpha Complex, the traitor
ordered 17 divisions of warbots into the test firing ground of the C74 ‘Insurrectionator’ missile platform minutes before
defecting. The traitor was also responsible for many other false orders and ‘friendly fire’ incidents. Terminate at all
costs.

3. ___________-__-_________. The mad genius of Communist science, this diabolical genius has produced weapons
of mass destruction designed to destroy Alpha Complex and wipe out all life. Intelligence has confirmed that this traitor
was responsible for the deliberate mutation of thousands of citizens, corrupting the gene pool with Communist deviancy;
also responsible for apocalypses III through VI. Terminate at all costs.

4. ___________-__-_________. The most notorious spy and saboteur in history, this traitor infiltrated the very heart
of Alpha Complex. Numerous disasters and failures were caused by traitorous Commie interference with the smooth
functioning of our perfect society. The traitor was responsible for many fine and loyal citizens being wrongly accused
of perfidious treason—and worse, for other traitors going undiscovered for much too long! Terminate at all costs.

5. ___________-__-_________. The ‘Commie Who Came In From Outdoors’. This traitor was not cloned in Alpha
Complex, or in any known enemy base. It is postulated that the creature is the result of generations of Old Reckoning
survivors inbreeding in the wilds of Outdoors; a feral, savage mutant without any concept of humanity or morality. A
ravening beast, shackled to the Communist cause by twisted instinct. The ultimate deviant and mutant. Terminate at
all costs.

6. ___________-__-_________. CLASSIFIED MEGAVIOLET. No information available at your security clearance.

Subject to be considered highly dangerous at all times. Terminate at all costs.

101
 4. RED DAWNCYCLE
■ Supreme Commanders of the Red Army
Ivan and Tanya return to the command center. Ivan
proudly announces that he has spoken to the Central
Committee, and they have full confidence in the
Troubleshooters’ abilities to save the revolution from
defeat. Full control of the Red Army just got transferred
to them. Oh, and there’s less than two hours before The
Computer launches a cataclysmic attack on the whole
KremVax region, but the real immediate problem is that
Armed Forces warbots and tanks are approaching via the
Outdoors and are attacking the upper defenses. If they
break through the surface fortifications, then the KremVac
might fall before the impending cataclysmic nuking.
What are your orders, comrades?
Ivan is completely loyal and eager to help the
Troubleshooters. He won’t volunteer information—the
Supreme Commanders know everything and are far wiser
than he is, so he just carries out their commands without
hesitation, but he will answer any questions put to him.
Don’t bother trying to turn this section into a wargame; if
it’s funny to say that the Commies have Cossack-bots or
orbital lasers, let them. The important thing is that Ivan
is convinced that the Troubleshooters are the perfect
Communists and are loyal to the party.
Tanya, however, is distrustful of the Troubleshooters and
will question their orders at every opportunity. She’s cold,
sarcastic and paranoid, and thinks that putting a bunch of
recently decanted strangers in charge of the Red Army
is madness*. While she is a loyal Communist, she’s no
fool and she will terminate the Troubleshooters if they fail
* Entirely true. However, the Central Committee has seen which way the
(radioactive) wind is blowing, concluded that this revolution is a failure, and
have fled. The new Supreme Commanders—the Troubleshooters—will be
scapegoats and blamed for the disaster in the new Communist historical
revisionism.
or betray the cause.
Unless they ask for weapons, then the Troubleshooters
are still unarmed at this point. Ivan and Tanya are both
heavily armed though.
Bombard the Troubleshooters with news from the front,
and ask for their response. Some samples:
Comrades! The surface domes are under attack by
warbots! What do we do?
Comrades! Vulture Troopers attacking through the
sewers! What do we do?
Comrades! A detachment of comrades is trapped in
no-clones-land! Do we rescue them?
Comrades! Incoming missiles! We have one flight
of interceptors left—do we fire?
102
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Comrades! The 14th Army is within range of ESV
Sector dome—should they open up a ninth front?
Comrades! Should we redirect power from life
support, or the defense shields?
Comrades! We have an experimental Anti-Computer
EMP, but using it will drain our reactors to the point
of overload. Should we use it now?
Comrades! Should we attempt to use the capitalist-
seeking missiles?
Even if they try, by the way, they can’t blow up the
DSESBBS—it’s still buried too deep beneath Alpha
Complex.
■ The Ultimatum
After the Troubleshooters have dug themselves and
the Red Army into a hole, the KremVax receives a
transmission from Alpha Complex. At the other end of
the line is the commander of the Armed Forces attacking
the KremVax, Nathan-UV-KNX-13. He’s a cigar-chewing,
sunglasses-wearing, ass-kicking, napalm-dropping clone-
of-a-son-of-a-bitch that’s kicked Commies from Outdoors
to, er, another part of Outdoors. He’s high on a potent
cocktail of Thymoglandin, Pyroxidine, bloodlust and a hell
of a lot of firepower.
His message to the Commies? Surrender! Now! So
we can blow the hell out of you! He’ll promise the
Troubleshooters that they’ll get a big show trial back in
Alpha Complex before they’re executed. They don’t have
a hope of survival anyway—at least this way, they’ll get
to live a bit longer and he gets to bring prisoners home.
They have 30 minutes to respond—wait any longer, and
it’ll be too late.
How do the Troubleshooters respond?
■ The Other Ultimatum
Soon after Nathan-UV-KNX-13 contacts the KremVax,
the Troubleshooters get a transmission, directed at
them specifically. It’s from Malachi-V-SSI-6, last seen as
Malachi-B 40 yearcycles ago (see page 75). Malachi-V
remembers the DSESBBS and the clones it produces,
and knows that they are not the fabled Communist
masterminds that history paints them as. He contacts
them, reminds them of who they are and of their duty
to Alpha Complex, and orders them to order the entire
Red Army to march to a specific set of co-ordinates,
so they can be vaporized with a single attack. If the
Troubleshooters do that, then Malachi-V will ensure that
they’ll get rescued and their records changed to reflect
the new truth.
They need to act immediately, though.
103
■ The Other Other Ultimatum
Finally, the KremVax gets a call from one of the hidden
Commie research laboratories. It’s a wild-hearted
researcher who introduces himself as Tesla. He was
trying to reach the Central Committee, but they seem to
have vanished. Anyway, he’s just finished that Doomsday
Device he’s been fiddling with. It’s not tested, but it should
make the biggest bang in human history, and possibly
collapse the entire planet into an artificially generated
black hole.
What do they want done with it?
■ Come, Come, Nuclear Bombs
If the Troubleshooters stall, then it’s all over. Either Armed
Forces troops storm the KremVax or, more likely, The
Computer launches a nuclear strike that kills millions,
but wipes out communism forever. Really. This time for
sure.
If they want to take either of the offers given by Nathan-
UV or Malachi-V, then they need to trick/corrupt/kill Ivan
and/or Tanya. They do have the entire Red Army at
their disposal, so the Troubleshooters are not without
influence. They could even decide to join the Central
Committee in exile (Here, Ivan, now you’re the Supreme
Commander. Be brave, Comrade!).
Tesla’s probably insane, and his Doomsday Device won’t
work. Unless it does. Even if it works, it doesn’t destroy
all of Alpha Complex, as that would screw up the next
scenario. Feel free to blame the coming dystopia on
Tesla’s weapon, though, if the Troubleshooters do use
it.
Emphasize the claustrophobic feeling of the command
center, and the disconnect between the blinking lights
on the holographic display and the deaths of thousands
on the snowy plains of Outdoors. The feel of this finale
should be something out of the worst nightmares of the
Cold War and Dr. Strangelove.
AT LAST.
FINAL
VICTORY!
5. The Humanist Yearcycles
When: T+300 yearcycles.
Synopsis: The Humanists have
won! Alpha Complex is free! No
more oppressive regime! No more
torture! No more thought control!
No more dull, grinding work in the
food vats! Return to humanist
values! Joy and unity for all!
State of Alpha Complex: Everyone
now wears long flowing white robes,
but the low-ranking citizens—sorry,
brethren—still do dull, grinding
work in the food vats, while the
elite Speakers live in luxury. The
Computer is still around, but it’s
been stripped of much of its power. It
no longer executes people—instead,
there are impromptu firing squads
everywhere. It’s much more…
human. Cloning is still practiced, as
the genetic damage to humanity is
too severe to immediately return to
old-style breeding. They’re working
on it, though. Marriage is now
mandatory for all brethren.
Other than all that, things are pretty
much unchanged. People are now
openly in charge, instead of the High
Programmers using The Computer
as a mouthpiece, but everyone’s
still whipped into paranoid fears
about traitors and outside enemies
to keep their attention away from the
constant food shortages, horrible
living conditions, bureaucratic
madness and rampant corruption.
Who’s In Charge?: The Council
of Speakers—a mix of old-
school Humanists, and old High
Programmers who were clever
enough to switch sides when the
Humanists took over. Their power
is maintained by a combination
of media manipulation (Alpha
Complex’s utopia is under threat!)
and control of cloning. Getting a
replacement clone after you die is
no longer a guarantee, even for
your first six clones. Instead, a Life
Review Committee is formed from
your co-workers and supervisors to
see if the cost of resurrecting you
is justified. While any replacement
Troubleshooters are decanted from
the DSESBBS, the DSESBBS has
automatically patched into the Alpha
Complex MemoMax network and
therefore won’t produce replacement
clones until it gets approval from a
Life Review Committee.
Changes to Clearance &
Regulations: Clearance is officially
gone. Everyone’s equal, and
everyone wears white flowing robes
instead of ugly jumpsuits. However,
everyone is also marked with tattoos
that fluoresce under ultra-violet light.
These tattoos indicate your security
level, permissions, rank and so on.
Everyone has their head shaved to
make more room for tattoos.
Regulations have mostly had their
names changed, but are otherwise
much the same. The major difference
is the great increase in the number
of committees, focus groups,
discussion groups, consultants and
so on—back in the bad old days,
The Computer had the autocratic
power to make decisions. Now, in
a more enlightened era, people
get to make their own decisions.
Very, very slowly, and only when
everyone agrees with the decision.
Compromise is fun!
What’s Treasonous?: Lots of stuff,
but they don’t call it treason any
more. It’s Hate. Only bad people
Hate. Mutants Hate a lot. (Mutants,
by the way, are responsible for the
genetic deviancy that forces Alpha
Complex to rely on cloning.) Known
Haters include the banned secret
societies like the Romantics, Psion,
Sierra Clubbers and so on (largely
unchanged from The Computer’s
reign of terror), as well as the new
enemies:
Morlocks: The morlocks dwell
outside Alpha Complex, in the
Outdoors. The Outdoors is a
very, very dangerous place,
filled with morlocks. Morlocks
are filthy degenerate barbarians
who are filled with Hate.
Anarchists: A chaotic sect of
deviants and renegades who
want to blow up Alpha Complex
and overthrow the Humanist
council. (Death Leopard with
a political bent, basically,
mixed with the last remnants of
PURGE.)
Clone Arrangers: Control of
the cloning banks is one of the
foundations of power in Alpha
Complex. Cloning is now a
privilege, not a right. Therefore, a
black market of cloning has grown
up, insurance for people who
fear they won’t get replaced by
official channels. Many of these
clones are grown in unsanitary
back-alley labs, leading to more
mutations; many of these clones
also have problems taking over
their previous lives—especially
when a Life Review Committee
unexpectedly authorizes an
official clone, leading to there
being two or more of the same
individual. Hilarity ensues.
Excess clones become non-
people, hiding in the underworld
of Alpha Complex or fleeing to
the growing Morlock army.
Computerists: Back in the old
times, a wise and benevolent
Computer ruled over Alpha
Complex, and everyone was
happy. Friend Computer was
torn down by the hateful and
corrupt Humanists, but if we
believe in Friend Computer,
and hold It in our hearts and
brains, then one day, It can be
Rebooted. One day soon…
Deprecated: Happiness is no
longer mandatory. The Computer
suppressed the full range of human
emotion, and that was wrong. If you
want to be sad, it’s ok. We’ll hug
you while you cry, friend. What is
mandatory is Love. You must Love
your fellow clone, and you must
Love Alpha Complex. Love is the
opposite of Hate. Love conquers
all. If you fail, you’re not Loving
hard enough. Too much thought
and questioning of the Speakers
is a sure sign you don’t Love them
enough. If you really Loved us, you
wouldn’t question us.
104
 SWEEP OF
Love is reinforced with chemicals.
Have you taken your Love today,
brethren? If you don’t Love, the
Morlocks win!
Low-ranking citizens are encouraged
to love with their whole hearts, and
more importantly, their whole brains,
and so are pumped full of Love
regularly.
■ Oh God, Not Again
The Troubleshooters wake up in
the good old DSESBBS. The room
doesn’t seem to have changed a
great deal since then, although
there are several alarming cracks
in the concrete of the walls. There’s
also a strange tinkling mood music
echoing through the room—all
of Alpha Complex is now filled
with relaxing happy music*. Two
figures are standing there waiting
for them. One, the Troubleshooters
recognize as Andy (now Andy-
103**), although he’s now bald and
wearing white robes. He’s got a
blissful smile on his face. The other
is a stranger—tall, wise-eyed and
smiling. He introduces himself as
Brother Effervescence-2100, Grade
17 Agent of the Love Police***.
‘Welcome back, brethren. Be not
afraid. Many yearcycles have passed
since you were last decanted.
Welcome to the Humanist Utopia of
Alpha Complex.’
Effervescence is no fool—there
are four heavily armed Guidance
Friends**** just outside. If any of the
Troubleshooters scream ‘Humanist
traitor’ or anything, then the Guides
will enter and apply violence and
chemical Love in equal measures.
* Tinkly plinky plonky music that sounds like
a lot of crystals being hit by a four-yearcycle-
old. And It. Never. Stops. Ever. Eternal plinky
plinky plonk.
After about an hour, your teeth start
resonating.
** Not a clone number. Everyone gets a code
number to go along with their name.
*** IntSec by another name.
**** GREEN goons.
105
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ Chemical Love
The Troubleshooters will likely be treated with the Love chemical regularly during
this scenario. Love does exactly what it says on the tin—it causes feelings of
empathy, care, fellowship and trust, not to mention desire in some cases. Zap
someone with a big shot of Love, and they’ll try to hug you instead of terminating
you. There’s a massive black market in the sale of Love Inhibitors, and most
senior Brethren have built up a strong immunity to Love, which functions as
Love Armor.
Here’s the Love scale, which works just like the damage scale:
Okay (O)—Smile (S)—Friendly (F)—Hugs (H)—Best Friends (BF)—Devotion
(D)—Obsessive Love (OL)—Mine!!!! (M). The last one, Mine, means that the
victim of Love is consumed with desire to be near, to possess the object of
Love, and will do anything to get there.
The Love Gun does O5D damage. An injected dose of Love does H5OL.
Effervescence explains the current If they were introduced directly to the
situation in Alpha Complex in Computerists, then the Haters would
glowing terms, about how the be suspicious. No, Effervescence’s
Humanists have perfected society plan is to hide the Troubleshooters
and everyone is full of Love. The in ordinary committees, and let the
one problem is the existence of Computerists recruit them.
Hate. Secret societies like the
Computerists promote Hate, so they Step 1: Head tattoos. The
must be stopped. The Humanists Troubleshooters have their heads
have been editing history, to remove shaved, and a big machine with
badthought and Hate from the past, lasers and probes zaps them with
so they have erased many records a series of bar codes, weird glyphs
relating to The Computer’s time. The and Friendly notes*.
Troubleshooters are a living link to
the distant past—a link that will be Step 2: Flowing white robes.
irresistible to the Computerists. Everyone gets flowing white robes
and Love Guns. A Love Gun is a
Their mission, therefore, is to infiltrate two-part weapon. There’s the classic
the Computerist society and locate laser pistol bit, but there’s also a
the Hateful leaders. Effervescence’s high-pressure Love spray. Anyone
Love Police will then swoop in who isn’t loving enough should be
and remove the Haters. With the shot by the Love Gun.
Computerists removed, historical
revisionism can continue and the Step 3: Marriage. Marriage is
horrors of The Computer’s reign will mandatory in the Humanist state.
be totally excised from the record. It Therefore, the Troubleshooters
will be a new, more perfect yearcycle need to be married. The simplest
214. approach is for them to be married
to each other. If you have an even
If the Troubleshooters accept, then number of players, then just pair
they will be rewarded richly in the the characters up. (While same-
new Humanist order. sex marriage does not entirely
conform with the Humanist goals of
If they refuse, well, they obviously repopulating the human race through
do not Love enough. Not Loving is traditional means, the prevalence of
Hateful. Have more chemical Love genetic mutation in the gene pool
and reconsider your answer. means that most traditional pairings
are just as infertile.) If there’s an
■ I Wanna Ba a Humanist extra Troubleshooter, then that
Troubleshooter gets married off to
Assuming the Troubleshooters perky young Purity-4363—blonde,
agree, they are whisked away to bubbly, very dedicated to the
become part of the Humanist society. Humanist cause, and not very
 5. THE HUMANIST YEARCYCLES
bright at all. This is her first marriage,
and she’s determined to do her duty
for the Complex**.
* It’s common practice to stamp notes onto the
foreheads of citizens, so that their supervisors
can shine a UV light on their face and see a
clone’s past misdemeanors. Stuff like ‘POOR
IMPULSE CONTROL’ or ‘BODY ODOR’ or ‘MY
NAME IS PHIL’. Unfortunate citizens sometimes
get used as notice boards by high-ranking
supervisors.
** The Troubleshooters’ doses of hormone
suppressants are still in full effect, and are
likely to be for the rest of the scenario. Purity
and all the other Humanists don’t have hormone
suppressants (although all sex in Alpha Complex
is regulated by heavy doses of Love). This may
lead to the occasional misunderstanding.
The marriage regulations clearly
state that both partners in a marriage
must be caring and attentive to
each other’s needs. Specifically, all
communications between the two
must be prefixed with an endearment.
Failing to do so is Hateful, and
deserves a shot of Love.
Step 4: Orientation. Effervescence
explains the state of Alpha Complex
again, and tells the Troubleshooters
that they will be put on three
committees. The Love Police are
sure that there are Computerist
agents on at least one of the
committees. The Troubleshooters
must therefore drop hints that they
are Computerist sympathizers so
they’ll be recruited. When recruited,
they must play along for as long as
they can, then summon the Love
Police. He gives them all emergency
beacons—devices about the size
of a fingernail that will transmit a
distress call when pressed.
■ Your Valued Contribution
There’s actually a Computerist
agent at each meeting. However,
there are also two loyal Humanists.
The Troubleshooters need to drop
hints about their knowledge of The
Computer without being noticed by
the loyalists. Yay for Twitchtalk if
they have it!
Purity goes along to the committee
meetings if she’s needed for the
game.
Meeting One: Housing
Decoration and Purchasing
Oversight Subcommittee
with Special Executive
Authority Over Paint and
Other Wall Coverings
Other Than Functional
Coverings.
Topic: What Are We Going
To Do With 50,000 Cans
Of Really Ugly Green Paint
That Gives Off Toxic Fumes
While Drying, But Takes
Two Weeks To Dry?
Attending:
The Troubleshooters
Bounty-992, a
Communal Unity
(HPD&MC) drone. Has
the paint sitting in her
warehouse, and wants
to get rid of it now! Psion
sympathizer.
Excitement-7674, a Council
Adjunct (CPU) accountant. therefore here to argue that
Wants to make sure the paint Reliability isn’t worth the cloning
isn’t wasted, but refuses to allow cost. Sierra Clubber.
any section of Alpha Complex to
be shut down for two weeks while Unity-2229, a Peace Corps
the paint dries. Computerist. (Armed Forces) soldier and
Reliability’s wife. She’s in the
Sobriety-6654, a Joyous depths of Love Withdrawal
Worker (Tech Services). The following his death—she doesn’t
unions have massive power actually want him back, but she’s
in Alpha Complex now, and chemically addicted to him, and
Sobriety won’t do anything with is therefore subject to wild mood
dangerous paint without extra swings. Anarchist.
pay. Morlock spy.
Productivity-0211, a Power
Talking Points: The paint was Services (Power Services)
provided by a commune that’s since supervisor. Reliability borrowed
dispersed, so it can’t be given back. the good spanner, and now no-
The color was chosen by a higher one can find it. Computerist.
committee to promote joy, so it must
be displayed publicly. Talking Points: Was he an
Anarchist? Should they bring him
Meeting Two: Life Review for back if they’re not sure? Does he
Reliability-4322 deserve a second chance seeing as
Topic: Brother Reliability-4322 was he was blown up by Haters?
killed by an anarchist explosion.
Should he be recloned? Meeting Three: General Feelgood
Attending: Meeting, Local Sector
The Troubleshooters Topic: Isn’t Life In The Humanist
Complex Great? Also, Love
Vigilance-6765, a Love Police Showers whenever people are
agent who suspects but cannot especially loyal.
prove that Reliability was in fact Attending:
an Anarchist bomber. She’s The Troubleshooters
106
 SWEEP
About A Thousand Other Citizens
Loyalty-8754, a Productivity
Enthusiast (PLC) clerk and
Computerist
Gratitude-5433, a Bliss
Engineer (R&D) technician and
Computerist
Talking Points: This meeting takes
place in a big open chamber. There’s
a spotlight in the ceiling. When it
lands on you, you shout out a short
speech about how much you love
Alpha Complex. If you’re really loyal,
then Love rains from the ceiling.
Think the Nuremberg rally crossed
with a born-again Christian church
crossed with a rave.
■ Join Us, Loyal Citizen
Eventually, the Troubleshooters will
be noticed by the Computerists and
contacted by one of their agents.
The Computerist approaches the
Troubleshooters and makes the
Computerist recognition code (Make
a square around your eye with your
fingers, symbolizing the eye-in-the-
monitor/point your fingers like a
gun and go ‘zap’, symbolizing The
Computer’s all-pervading digital
justice). If the Troubleshooters look
clueless, or if they somehow guess
the correct response, then the
Computerist whispers that there are
others who feel as they do, and that
he will bring the Troubleshooters
there.
That nightcycle, the Computerist
agent brings the Troubleshooters to
a secret meeting. The meeting takes
place in tunnels underneath the local
CompNode. The Troubleshooters
are led into a dark room, where
another 20 conspirators are waiting.
The leader of the local Computerist
cell is also there—he introduces
himself as Roy-I-CPU, a loyal
servant of the True Computer. He
asks if the Troubleshooters have
been initiated into the service of the
True Computer.
Roy-I then explains the purpose of
the Computerist society. When the
hated Humanists took over after the
107
OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
Unfortunate Incident, they tried to
strip away The Computer’s power by
disabling CompNodes and deleting
higher programs all across Alpha
Complex. However, a loyal servant
of The Computer saved Its higher
programs in a divine archive. To
ensure that no Humanist or other
enemy of The Computer could
destroy Its wisdom, all loyal servants
give up a portion of their brains to
store a section of The Computer’s
code.
As he says this, all the Computerists
turn and look at the Troubleshooters.
Green lines of code scroll down
behind their eyes.
Roy-I asks if the Troubleshooters
are ready to be initiated. If they
agree, or if they start talking about
how they’re actually 500 yearcycle
old Troubleshooters from the reign
of The Computer, then Roy-I reveals
an ancient computer terminal behind
a shroud. There’s a complex helmet/
drill gadget hanging off one side of
the terminal—this is the device used
to download sections of archived
code into the brains of the faithful.
There is also a tongueprint reader.
While tongueprints* were once
common in Alpha Complex, the
Troubleshooters haven’t seen any in
the Humanist-dominated complex.
* Tongueprints were largely outmoded by the
introduction of the ME card, anyway.
Roy-I indicates the reader. ‘It is
prophesied in the Emergency
Protocols that one day the Great
Rebooters will be born from the lost
vault of DSESBBS and that they will
return The Computer to Its rightful
place. We await that day. Oh well,
it’s probably not today. It’s time to
have your brains drilled to make
for the Backup.’ He picks up the
helmet and advances on the nearest
Troubleshooter.
■ A Meaningful Decision
What do the Troubleshooters do?
If the Computerists discover that
the Troubleshooters are in fact
decanted from the DSESBBS, then
they will stop at nothing to get them
to reboot The Computer. They would
prefer that the Prophesied Ones
serve willingly, but they’ll settle for
just keeping their tongues intact.
If any of the Troubleshooters goes
through with having his brain drilled,
then the computer system recognizes
him as being part of the DSESBBS
team. A message appears on
screen, telling the Computerists
who the Troubleshooter really
is. Simultaneously, half the
Troubleshooters’ brain is filled with
a copy of The Computer’s reactor
management code.
If any of the Troubleshooters use
the emergency beacons given by
Effervescence and the Love Police,
then the Love Police attack the hidden
meeting. The Computerists panic
and try to drill the Troubleshooters,
leading to them finding out about the
DSESBBS, leading to the tongues. It
all comes back to the tongues.
■ Terminal Reboot
If any of the Troubleshooters
licks the terminals**—the heads
of all the Computerists explode,
violently (as does the cranium of
any drilled Troubleshooter). The
drill used to initiate Computerist
members contains a tiny once-use
transmitter, which just uploaded
all the archived code back to the
rebooting mainframe. Every screen
in Alpha Complex suddenly displays
the message REBOOTING…
PLEASE WAIT.
A few moments later, The Computer
announces: SYSTEM ONLINE.
ATTENTION, ALPHA COMPLEX
TREASON INDEX HAS EXCEEDED
MAXIMUM TOLERANCE.
INITIATING PURGE SEQUENCE.
TOTAL TERMINATION IN
5…4…3…2…
There is the distant sound of reactor
shielding opening. Everyone dies.
Friend Computer’s back in charge!
** If the Troubleshooters don’t reboot The
Computer, then someone else does in the
intervening 200 yearcycles between the end of
this scenario and the start of the next one.
6. The War of NOS Sector
When: T+500 yearcycles.
Syopsis: The Computer crashed (again), and now each
individual CompNode thinks it’s the One True Computer.
Every sector is now its own little Alpha Complex, and
is at war with every other sector, which are of course
filled with Commies. The Troubleshooters are brought
back because they have secret military knowledge—
specifically, the layout of NOS Sector.
State of Alpha Complex: Unchanged, according to The
Computer. Not only has it always been yearcycle 214,
but Alpha Complex has always been about a sector in
size, populated by only a few hundred citizens, and has
always been a smashed, ruined, decaying shadow of its
former self. Two hundred yearcycles of constant fighting,
not to mention the crippling shortages and supply failures
that arose from chopping the whole complex up into
isolationist sectors, means that this Alpha Complex is a
hollow ruin, with a few unfortunate citizens grubbing in the
wreckage. Whole sectors are now mass graves.
Which is, of course, excellent news! Because those
sectors were full of Commies.
Who’s In Charge?: The Computer. Since getting
rebooted and wiping out the Humanists, The Computer
has enjoyed absolute power in Alpha Complex. However,
fracturing into CompNodes drove It insane, and there
aren’t any High Programmers around any more to
untangle its code and mop its fevered processors. In
short, The Computer is acting like a crazy little dictator
ruling over a tiny oppressed population in an isolated
country, and It wants nukes.
Changes to Clearance & Regulations: Most regulations
are now back in force, just as they are described in the
PARANOIA rulebook. However, The Computer is much
more erratic, and has been known to zap people for even
minor infractions.
Clearance is officially unchanged…but due to the small
population, and The Computer’s love of terminating
people, it’s rare for anyone to get above GREEN at most.
There’s not a single VIOLET or ULTRAVIOLET in all of
Alpha Complex (or even, all of the Alpha Complexes).
What’s Treasonous?: The usual. Having any contact
with neighboring sectors is obviously treasonous, as
you must be an enemy agent. That banging on the wall?
Why, that was a coded message. Directed at you. You
traitor. Zap! Also, under the Joy in Austerity program,
complaining in the slightest about lack of food, warmth,
light and other necessities is treason. Almost anything
can be treasonous if The Computer believes you’re acting
against the all-important War Effort.
Most old secret societies are gone, or else mutated into
almost unrecognizable forms. At this point, the major
societies are…
Food Hoarders: Food supplies are scarce in
wartime. Most clones get one meal of Ready Fun
per day at best, and Food Appreciation Days are
becoming more common. The Food Hoarders
stockpile what they can spare—which is illegal.
Still, they’re easily the biggest society.
Scavengers: The Scavengers raid dead sectors
and the wreckage left by battles, searching for
useful supplies.
Pacifists: The Pacifists object to the war in
principle, but object to being put on the frontlines
and killed in specific. The society tries to get its
members out of the line of fire by arranging for
them to be given cushy jobs elsewhere; if that
fails, they just try to sabotage the war to stay out
of danger.
Citizen’s Militia: Fanatic warriors who want
to die for The Computer and Alpha Complex.
Unfortunately, many Citizen’s Militia members are
crazy people who shouldn’t be given a stapler, let
alone a cone rifle. Citizen’s Militia prepare for battle
in secret, stockpile stolen weapons, and await the
coming Armageddon.
Keepers of Ancient Lore: The shadowy Keepers
remember a time when men knew the secret of
Coding, and The Computer was not all-powerful.
One day, they whisper, they shall find the secrets
of this power and bring perfection to Alpha
Complex.
Deprecated: Really, any memory of the past. Things
were always this great, citizen, even if you remember
them being otherwise (brainscrub time!). Evidence of the
existence of food vats, connections to other sectors and
so on are actually planted by Commies trying to destroy
morale.
■ No One’s Cleaned My Clone
Tank In Five Generations
The Troubleshooters wake up in the DSESBBS. It’s a
mess. (The DSESBBS is a mess…I must confess…under
duress… hey, that’s catchy). The walls are cracked and
blackened, as if there was a tremendous fire here. The
doors are smashed and riddled with bullet holes. None of
the lights are working. The only illumination comes from
a pair of torch-beams, swinging wildly. For a moment, the
torch illuminates a skeleton lying at Andy’s control panel,
then it shines into the Troubleshooter’s faces.
108
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
‘It worked! It’s them!’ says a voice. The owner of the voice
takes out a glowing sphere and activates it, illuminating the
whole room. The Troubleshooters have been awaken by
two citizens, dressed in ragged and grubby red jumpsuits.
One is carrying a laser pistol, the other has a sharp stick.
They are Rob-R and Ed-R, a pair of Scavengers and loyal
citizens of NOR Sector Alpha Complex.
Rob-R explains that they found the DSESBBS when
exploring this Unplace*, and that according to the records,
the PCs should be Ancient and Wise Troubleshooters
from the Time Before History, who know the layout of
all the sectors. If the Troubleshooters are confused or
ask for clarification, Ed-R explains that according to
orthodoxy, only NOR Sector is the true Alpha Complex,
and all other Alpha Complexes are Commie-controlled
strongholds of treason that were built in mockery of the
One True Complex—but everyone knows** that once
all the sectors were part of One Big Complex, and that
it is said that once, a clone could walk from one sector
to another freely.
* Anything outside Alpha Complex is either an Enemy Complex, or doesn’t
exist. Hence, the ruined sectors are Unplaces.
** The knowledge that all sectors were originally one is about as common
as knowledge of the Outdoors was 500 yearcycles ago. Few citizens in this
modern Alpha Complex know about the Outdoors—when traveling down
the corridor is a big deal, going out of the dome entirely into a big big big
big big big space is unthinkable.
If the Troubleshooters do know the secret layout of hated
NOS Sector, continues Rob-R, then they will be of great
value to the war effort. If they do not know the secret, then
they’re useless. (In fact, mutters Ed-R, we may as well
just shoot them and sell the bodies to the Food Hoarders).
When it’s put like that, the Troubleshooters really should
know the secret layout of NOS Sector.
The door to the DSESBBS is broken, but Rob-R and
Ed-R got in through a hole in the ceiling. They take the
Troubleshooters back the same way, though a series of
broken and ruined sectors. This is post-apocalyptic Alpha
Complex. Think of the cities around Chernobyl—corridor
after corridor of empty rooms and abandoned halls. Alpha
Complex after the rain.
Eventually, the Troubleshooters and their new friends/
captors/guides arrive at NOR Sector. The main entrance
into NOR Sector is scarred by bomb craters and laser
burns, the legacy of thousands of wars with other sectors.
Rob-R leads the Troubleshooters to a damaged access
panel in the wall, which leads to a secret passage into
the base.
109
■ W.M.D.
The secret passage is full of skeletons. Others have tried
to leave NOR Sector by this route before, and were caught
by the border patrols. Several of the skeletons have
obvious tooth-marks on their bones. Rob-R and Ed-R
are unphased by the passageway of gory death—they’ve
gone this way many times before. The passage, by the
way, is narrow. Only one person can fit through it at a
time.
The passage exits through another hidden panel, letting
the Troubleshooters into the heart of Alpha Complex—at
least, the local Alpha Complex. Which comprises about
eight corridors and a few dozen rooms. In terms of
inhabitable area, it’s about that of a small shopping
center with its own nuclear arsenal. Rob-R and Ed-R tell
the Troubleshooters to accompany them to the supreme
commander of the Alpha Complex Armed Forces, Nathan-
B (yes, the same clone template as was commanding the
Armed Forces back in Red Dawncycle).
Nathan-B immediately declares the Troubleshooters
a National Security Asset and CLEARANCE BLUE***.
He takes out a map of NOR and neighboring sectors.
The map shows NOR Sector in incredible detail, down
to individual floor panels and chairs. However, NOS
Sector on the far side of the wall is a complete blank.
Nathan-B demands that the Troubleshooters designate
the best targets in NOS Sector—the missiles are ready
to launch, they just need targets. If the Troubleshooters
point to targets, that’s fine—they know where major sites
like the reactor, cloning tanks or CompNode in NOS
Sector are.
■ Friend Computer, He So Crazy
Suddenly, the camera in Nathan-B’s command center
switches on, and a hysterical, discordant version of The
Computer’s voice rings through the room. INTRUDERS
WILL REPORT TO MAIN HALL NOW!!! NOW!!!****
Nathan-B pales, but orders the Troubleshooters to follow
him to the main hall. If they refuse, he pulls a gun on
them.
The Main Hall of NOR Sector was once a large cafeteria.
Now, it’s a cafeteria/CompNode/nuclear missile silo. A
huge computer monitor and associated electronic bits
dominates much of the room, with Its one big eye gazing
proudly at the just-completed nuclear missile. As the
Troubleshooters and Nathan-B enter, that huge baleful
eye rolls around to stare at them. EXPLAIN THE ORIGIN
OF THE INTRUDERS!!! It screams.
*** It’ll only last a few minutes, but during that time, the Troubleshooters
are technically not allowed know they exist or refer to each other or
themselves, on penalty of termination.
**** Can we legally say ‘Dalek’ here? If we can, then it sounds like a Dalek.
If we can’t, then it sounds like a lawyer.
 6. THE WAR OF NOS SECTOR
If the Troubleshooters want to volunteer the information,
they can; otherwise, Nathan-B will admit that they come
from outside, but that they are vitally important military
asset- OUTSIDERS ARE COMMIE MUTANT TRAITORS!
COMMIES MUST BE TERMINATED! ALL CITIZENS
SUBVERTED BY CONTACT WITH COMMUNISM MUST
BE TERMINATED! INITIATING PURGE! A laser blast
turns poor Nathan-B into free-floating atoms.
Ask the players what they do. If they say ‘RUN’, move onto
the next section. If they try to outsmart The Computer, let
them try. A half-way good Management or Con Games
roll will be enough to confuse the poor degenerating
CompNode to trust the Troubleshooters… for a while.
With their knowledge of neighboring sectors, they can
easily give The Computer the knowledge it needs to
target the CompNodes of the enemy. Victory can be
theirs! NOS Sector can be defeated, then NOT and
NOU and NOV… as long as they can keep convincing
an increasingly megalomaniac Computer that they’re on
its side. For added challenges, you can vary the location
of the CompNode in enemy sectors, meaning that victory
may not be total and the NOR Sector troops have to deal
with enemy survivors and saboteurs.
Once you tire of this, then NOR Sector Intelligence (a
guy with his ear to the wall) discovers that several of the
remaining sectors have entered into a coalition, and are
about to launch a co-coordinated attack. As NOR as only
one missile silo, then they can only take out one sector at a
time. Everyone’s going to die, and The Computer blames
Its new military advisors—the Troubleshooters—for the
problem. Move onto the next section.
■ The Only Thing That Can Save
Us Now Is a Crazy Plan
As the Troubleshooters flee down the corridor, they
run into Rob-R and Ed-R, who are fleeing from a
Troubleshooter team who just got a mission to execute
them. Their only hope is to flee NOR Sector the same
way they came in, though the secret passage. They’re
pursued by NOR Troubleshooters and the Citizen’s Militia,
but will be safe as soon as they get out the far side of the
passage. Who goes through the passage first?
When the survivors make out into the barren sectors
outside, they’re faced with a choice. If they defect to NOS
Sector*, then they could give the NOSries the location
of the NOR Sector CompNode, ensuring
NOS Sector’s victory. Alternatively, they
could starve in the Unplaces.
So, what do they do? Defect, or starve.
The problem with the ‘Defect’ option
is that there is still a land war running
between NOR and NOS Sectors, and
the frontline of that war is between the
characters and safety in NOS Sector.
Ed-R warns the characters that they’ll
have to make it through the battle to reach
NOS Sector.
Wars in the modern era are problematic.
Anyone on the frontlines is by definition
exposed to the corrupting influence
of the enemy Commies; therefore,
any survivors of a battle cannot be
allowed return to NOR Sector without
being thoroughly brainscrubbed into
trustworthiness. Of course, this means
that the soldiers can’t remember the
battle, so the progress of the war has to
be estimated mathematically. According
to NOR Sector calculations, they’ve won
the war 17 times over by now.
The ruined corridors leading to the
side entrance to NOS Sector are the
battleground. As the Troubleshooters
approach, they hear a voice bark an
order. ‘NOR WarBots, advance!’ and
110.
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
half-a-dozen scrubbots with sharpened vacuum cleaners
pass by, followed by a few NOR Sector soldiers armed
with second-hand lasers, muskets and sharp sticks. They
then hear the sound of bloody, bloody fighting. It looks like
it’ll be really easy to sneak by… then they hear a sound
that sounds really like a plasma field firing**.
The side entrance to NOS Sector is guarded by a Mark
IX Warbot***. It’s really, really big. It’s obviously old and
badly maintained, but still horribly lethal. It’s got guns on
its guns, meter-thick armor, enough spiky bits to impale
a whole FunBall team… it’s 30 feet tall, and squatted
right in front of the door the Troubleshooters need to
get through. So, the question is, how do they get past
it? The easiest solution is to lure another bunch of NOR
Sector troops to the area, and run past the warbot while
it’s vaporizing them. They could try reasoning with the
bot, but that’s crazy talk.
* If NOS Sector is a smoking crater, then use the next nearest surviving
sector.
** It sounds like this: bzzzFISSSSHHHHHVOOOMpshpshpshV
OOOOOOMfissshhhbzzz
*** Mark IX, ‘Advanced Patriot Plasma-Death Extreme Homeland Defense,
v2’. So dangerous, its screws have warnings on them.
111
■ We Want To Defect
Once the Troubleshooters get past the warbot, they
enter into NOS Sector. Rob-R and Ed-R (if they’re still
alive) are both palpably terrified—the thought of entering
a strange new sector for the first time is unthinkable.
They’ve never even seen a NOSrie in the flesh, at least
not one they weren’t shooting at. There are rumors that
the NOSries aren’t even human, that they’re Communist
monsters of some sort. When the Troubleshooters open
the door, though, they discover that NOS Sector is…
almost identical to NOR Sector…
…Right down to the existence of a clone of Nathan-B.
The Troubleshooters are marched to his command center
directly, where they are shown Nathan-B’s map of NOS
Sector and the surrounding… blanks. Nathan-B tells the
Troubleshooters that NOS Sector is ready to deliver a final
knock-out blow to NOR Sector. The missile is ready, it just
needs the location of the NOR Sector CompNode.
If the Troubleshooters give them the location of the NOR
CompNode, then a missile is launched from NOS Sector’s
silo. It shoots straight up out of the crumbling dome over
Alpha Complex, arcs around, then plummets straight
down to impact at a point about 500 meters away from
where it launched.
If the Troubleshooters didn’t give them the location
of the NOR CompNode, then exactly the same thing
happens, only NOR and NOS are reversed. This may
seem like a minor change, but that does mean that the
Troubleshooters are toast.
7. Waste Not, Want Not
When: T+1,000 yearcycle.
Synopsis: Alpha Complex is
drowning in a lake of its own sewage
and reactor waste. The few surviving
citizens are trapped in life support
machines, unable to survive on their
own after generations of mutation,
malnutrition and medical malpractice.
While the handful of still-functional
bots are building the Alpha Complex
Ark, the Troubleshooters must go
out and survey five potential sites
for the new Complex.
State of Alpha Complex: Which
part of ‘drowning in a lake of its
own sewage and reactor waste’ did
you miss? Radiation from leaking
reactors cascades in invisible
sheets through the corridors. The
air recyclers broke down centuries
ago; the air is like soup with a thick
dusting of metal filings. The few
mineral resources within reach of the
automated mining bots have been
exhausted, and under the Friendly
Recycling Initiative of yearcycle
214, the automated mining bots
were recycled, which may have
been a mistake. In short, the place
is completely f*cked.
* Every time they put an asterisk in to hide
a profanity, they’re legally obliged to put in a
footnote. You just never noticed them until
now.
Who’s In Charge?: Things are back
to normal—the different CompNodes
are networked again, forming one
Computer (although It is just as
decayed and faulty as the rest of
the rotting complex). There are also
High Programmers, who are all busy
hiding toxic waste and proclaiming
that they’ve exceeded recycling
quotas by 15,000%.
Changes to Clearance &
Regulations: The major change
is that your security clearance now
determines your access to certain
limited supplies. Like oxygen. At
RED Clearance, you get your oxygen
tank changed once per week.
What’s Treasonous?: Waste of any Well done, technician wheeze.
kind is treason. Everything must be These will fulfill our purpose wheeze
recycled. Damaging vital equipment admirable wheeze. Your oxygen
is considered waste. ration is wheeze increased for this
wheeze weekcycle.’ He turns back
Deprecated: Breathing too much. to the Troubleshooters and orders
Legs. them to follow him.
■ Toxic Slime Everywhere Brian-UV floats out the archway—
the door was removed long ago,
And Not a Drop to Drink as metal is scarce now and leads
The Troubleshooters awaken, as the Troubleshooters up a series of
usual, in the DSESBBS. The first concrete ramps to a flybot docking
thing they notice is that the floor is pad. (The Troubleshooters may
covered by a three-foot deep lake of distantly remember landing at that
green slime. Barrels of toxic waste pad, a thousand yearcycles before
float idly by. The vault is obviously in the yearcycle 214.) There’s a
crumbling—the concrete is now soft bizarre flying machine waiting there,
enough that you can break chunks a delicately beautiful thing of spun
off with your fingers. Waiting for the glass and crystal. Brian-UV explains
Troubleshooters are Andy-O and the Troubleshooters’ mission (add
CPU coordinator Brian-UV. Both wheezes if you want).
are in the standard life support
gear used by all citizens in the ‘Troubleshooters—Alpha Complex
yearcycle 214—metallic frames needs your help. Due to Commie
to support wasted and atrophied sabotage of production schedules
limbs, oxygen masks to supply for the last 50 yearcycles, our
breathable air, thick goggles to ward beloved complex is running short
off the blinding fumes, stillsuits to on certain resources—notably iron,
capture all waste water, drug injector copper, lead and other vital metals,
backpacks to regulate their diseased as well as fresh air and water—and
metabolisms. Oh, and wheels to suffers from an unwanted excess
allow them to carry all that. of other resources, such as reactor
waste. We are at crisis level 17.
Currently, though, both Andy-Y and
Brian-UV are floating on little rafts Fortunately—rejoice, citizens—
made of discarded cans. Wheels The Computer has foreseen this
don’t work well in a lake of toxic problem, and steps are being taken
slime. to correct it. Even now, almost the
entire population of Alpha Complex
Brian-UV watches the is hard at work on the construction
Troubleshooters wake up, then of the Ark that will carry us in perfect
turns to Andy-Y and says ‘wheeze
■ Fun with Cortex Bombs
As Brian-UV promised, the Troubleshooters have all been implanted with
nice little bombs in the base of their skulls. A mental command allows a
Troubleshooter to vote for one of his teammate’s heads to explode. If a majority
of the team vote, then boom, head falls off. Note that votes stick around—if
Bob-R votes for Mike-R’s head to explode, then that vote will wait until six hours
later, when Jim-R also votes for Mike-R to die. However, a Troubleshooter’s
votes are reset if he dies. A Troubleshooter can only have one active vote at
a time—if Bob-R votes for Jim-R to die, then his standing vote for Mike-R’s
head is deleted.
Oh, fresh clones are delivered to the grav-hopper using the traditional clone-
in-a-missile-casing solution.
112
 SWEEP OF
safety to our new home. Your
mission, Troubleshooters, is to find
that new home.
We have identified five potential sites
for the Ark. You are ordered to take
the grav-hopper and visit each site.
The grav-hopper is programmed to
return here afterwards for debriefing.
To ensure successful completion,
you have each been implanted
with a cortex bomb. This cortex
bomb can be detonated by your
teammates if the majority decides
you are endangering the mission.
Good luck. Alpha Complex is
depending on you.’
The grav-hopper is packed with all
sorts of incomprehensible gadgets
and probes, so the Troubleshooters
can search for minerals and other
resources.
■ To Adventure!
And Beyond!
The great glass vehicle is the grav-
hopper, the product of an R&D
lab stocked with mutant geniuses
who were shot after building it. It’s
remarkably effective for an Alpha
Complex vehicle, although it’s not
especially comfortable. After the
Troubleshooters climb on board*,
the grav-hopper leaps into the sky
at an insane speed.
* Climb on board and blow up each other’s
heads, probably.
Spread out below them, for an
instant, is Alpha Complex. The
dome is crumbling, and there are
gaping holes all over it. Black smoke
and smog pours from the holes. All
around it, flowing in and out of other
cracks in the dome, is green slime
and sewage. There’s a permanent
foul haze of pollutants hanging over
the complex. Then, the grav-hopper
bursts through the cloud layer and
hurtles onwards.
113
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ Potential Site #1:
The Garden of
Unearthly Delights
The grav-hopper flies over a strange,
lush jungle, stretching as far as the
eye can see. It ploughs into the
ground in a small clearing, and the
hatch opens.
The Troubleshooters are alone in
the jungle—or so it seems. The
plants here are all genetically
engineered mutants, created by a
long-dead civilization. Every tree
here is sentient, and telepathic. As
Troubleshooters explore, they will
glimpse sinuous tendrils drooping
from branches, fronds fondling
them as they pass by, strange
fungal growths like eyes sprouting
in the bark of the eerie trees. The
Troubleshooters will feel an odd
psychic pressure as they approach
any of the trees, like moss growing
on their forebrains. None of the trees
here, though, are sane enough to
make actual psychic contact with
them.
Some of the plants have strange fruit
growing from them. Like toasters, or
laser pistols, or wrenches. The plants
here were genetically engineered to
suck up metal from the ground and
reprocess it into useful shapes.
The sensors in the grav-hopper
pick up a source of metal off in the
distance. If the Troubleshooters
head in that direction, they find a
thick hedge surrounding an old
metallic dome. The plants making
up the hedge are all intertwined—
anyone touching them is drawn
into psychic contact with the hive
mind. Inside, the dome contains
the ruins of a science lab. Root
tendrils from the hedge run into
the dome, where they have broken
open several plastic containers.
The plastic containers are labeled:
Gelgernine, Thymoglandin and so
on. All recognizable drugs.
Any Troubleshooter who makes a
Wetware check, or who enters into
psychic contact with the hedge,
can work out what’s going on. The
genetically engineered telepathic
plants are all drug addicts. Their
original designers must have kept
them under control using drugs, just
like The Computer does in Alpha
Complex. If the Troubleshooters
want to negotiate a bargain with the
plants, where they provide drugs
in exchange for the plants’ aid in
rebuilding Alpha Complex, let them
try.
The problem is that the plants need
drugs now. The Troubleshooters are
like big juicy sacs filled with happy
drugs. As soon as the plants get a
taste of the Troubleshooters’ blood
or sweat, then the whole jungle will
try to eat them….
■ Potential Site #2:
City of the Robots
As soon as the (surviving)
Troubleshooters are back on board
the grav-hopper, it takes off again
and flies east. The land below
becomes a painted desert. A low
range of mountains appears on the
horizon, and the grav-hopper dips
toward them, catching the rays of
the setting sun as it does so.
Then it dodges to the left, to avoid an
incoming missile. In the mountains
ahead, the Troubleshooters
see a huge metal city, vast and
unimaginable complex, like a
computer circuit grown to tremendous
size. The hopper lands within walking
distance of the machine city. The
Troubleshooters can see movement
on the fringes of the city.
After a few minutes, several bots
appear on the horizon, moving
toward the grav-hopper. The city
was founded by automatic self-
repair bots dating back to the time
of the Old Reckoning, before the
apocalypse that led to the foundation
of Alpha Complex sometime more
than 214 yearcycles ago. All that
time, the bots have been improving
themselves and building this city, so
they can fulfill their ultimate purpose
of serving humanity. They’ve never
seen a human before.
What they have seen are other bots,
which they identify as enemies. It’s
all down to Digital Rights
 7. WASTE NOT. WANT NOT.
Management—the enemy bots
have illegal copies of copyrighted
data in their brains, and so must
be destroyed. All thought must be
licensed and approved.
If the Troubleshooters make contact
with the bots, they are initially
mistaken as renegade jackobots.
No human has been seen in the
city within active memory. The
Troubleshooters have their brains
scanned and asked if they have a
digital license for each memory. Any
unlicensed memories are no doubt
the result of illegal fire sharing, and
must be deleted. With lasers.
If the Troubleshooters proclaim that
they’re human, the bots will be only
too happy to serve them—as long as
the Troubleshooters prove they’re
human by submitting to dissection.
The Troubleshooters might argue
the bots down to only dissecting
some of them, using spurious logic,
but the bots are out for blood.
If the Troubleshooters raise the
possibility of Alpha Complex landing
here, the bots insist that they will
have to delete any shared memories
to ensure Digital Rights are upheld.
This applies to all memories—only
one citizen, for example, would be
allowed retain the memory of how to
open a door, or pull a trigger, or the
word ‘Yellow’. Or, for the matter, the
words ‘you’, ‘robots’, ‘are’, ‘utterly’
and ‘insane’.
■ Potential Site #3:
Lair of the Morloi
The third landing site for the grav-
hopper is in the distant south. The
vessel flies on through the night,
and lands outside a deep cave. It’s
obvious that the Troubleshooters
are supposed to explore the cave
network within. There are certainly
plenty of signs of useful metals and
other resources in the area.
As the Troubleshooters delve into
the cave, they discover signs that it’s
already occupied: Strange scrawled
marks on the walls, discarded
containers, footprints and so on. After
a while, they hear scurrying noises
of them, as shadow figures flee their
torches and run deeper into the
cave. Finally, the Troubleshooters
turn a corner and find themselves
in a huge cavern, red-lit by bonfires.
Humans in rags dance wildly around
the fires—there are thousands of
people living in this vast cave.
If the Troubleshooters make contact,
they are greeted by the leader,
Comutter, Chief of the Morloi. These
are the degenerate descendants
of the Morlocks, the renegade
secret society opposed to the Alpha
Complex back in The Humanist
Yearcycles. Despite their primitive
appearance, the Morloi are an
advanced and enlightened people.
They function as a set of communes,
sharing resources equally. No one
goes without in Morloi society, and
they spend their time relaxing,
composing witty poetry, fishing, and
developing their mutant powers.
They attribute their happy state to
one factor—Morloi law proscribes
death to all bureaucrats, politicians,
lawyers and other organizers.
Alpha Complex is welcome to land
here, as long as they conform to the
laws of the Morloi. While the Morloi
might not have technology, they
do have mighty psychic powers.
(To demonstrate this fact, Chief
Comutter brings three of his warriors
forward, and has them telekinetically
levitate huge boulders over their
heads. Two succeed—the third
suffers a nosebleed and drops
the boulder on himself. Squish.
Comutter hastily blames bureaucrat
demons for the accident.)
■ Potential Site #4: The
Plaza of Wonders
After leaving the Morloi cave, the
grav-hopper flies east, arriving
around dawn on the shores of a
glistening blue sea. The sun rises
out of the ocean, its light turning the
crashing wavetops pink and gold. It
lands outside a small, pretty town
of redbrick buildings, surrounded
by well-tilled and pleasant farmland.
Tiny advanced bots, no bigger than
insects, dart between the plants. It’s
all…nice.
Several townsfolk approach the
grav-hopper soon after it lands,
bringing gifts of fresh fruit and fresh-
ground coffee. They are dressed
in simple, well-made clothes and
seem happy and healthy. Their
leader introduces himself as Simon,
one of the elders of Alphaville. He
explains that once people dwelled in
a nightmarish underground city ruled
by a tyrannical computer. Suffering,
madness and paranoia ruled their
lives. Then, over time, the people
decided to be nice to one another.
They discovered that there were
no external enemies, just their own
fears. They worked together for the
common good, and reprogrammed
their computer so that it was wise
and fair, able to arbitrate problems
justly and to make long-term plans
for the betterment of the complex.
Science advanced, improving their
lives immeasurably and removing
sickness and want, and eventually
even conquering death. Things are
just perfect here.
Simon is, without a doubt, the
most irritatingly smug individual
the Troubleshooters have ever
encountered. Ever.
If the Troubleshooters suggest
that their Alpha Complex might
be landing here, Simon is slightly
concerned. He would need to consult
with the Alphaville computer, but he
suspects it might be a bad idea. If
they land somewhere else, though,
then the enlightened citizens of
Alphaville will gladly help the people
of Alpha Complex attain the same
perfect society they enjoy.
■ Potential Site #5: The
Ruins of Alpha Complex
The final site is to the north of
Alphaville. The Troubleshooters fly
out over the sea, where they find
a dome like that of Alpha Complex
rising out of the waters. The grav-
hopper lands on the roof, near a
hatch.
When the Troubleshooters climb
through the hatch, they find
themselves looking down on a
ruined Alpha Complex. Just as
114
 SWEEP OF
their Alpha Complex was built on
the ruins of San Francisco, this
one was built on the ruins of New
York. The fallen Statue of Liberty
is lying in one sector, in case any
Troubleshooters want to do a Planet
of the Apes routine. There are signs
that this Alpha Complex was once
inhabited, but everyone seems to
be gone. There’s a Computer, but
it’s dead and non-functional. Finally,
the Troubleshooters find a huge
launching platform in the heart of the
complex, as if some great rocket had
taken off from there centuries ago.
The New York Alpha Complex is
not entirely lifeless, though. As
the Troubleshooters wander, they
may encounter sentient mutant
crocodiles, the descendants of
ones living in the sewers eons ago.
The mutant crocodiles welcome the
idea of a new Alpha Complex, with
all its meaty humans. They’re very,
very hungry in the sewers. Sentient
mutant rats don’t fill them up like
humans do.
If it becomes clear that the
Troubleshooters are capable of
bringing thousands if not millions
of meaty humans to the complex,
then they will attempt to force the
Troubleshooters to do so. Cue a
chase-and-laser-shooting scene.
115
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ The Choice
Once all the Troubleshooters have
piled back on board the grav-
hopper, a holographic image of
Brian-UV appears. He tells them
that the Ark is complete, and must
be given a destination—which of
the five possible sites have the
Troubleshooters chosen?
Let the players vote. If they can’t
come to a consensus, hint that
Brian-UV is willing to use the cortex
bombs to create one. They have to
choose one of the five potential sites.
Once they make their selection, the
grav-hopper takes off again so it
can rendezvous with the Ark at the
chosen site.
Later—the Troubleshooters
approach the Ark as it nears
its destination. It’s a staggering
sight—a mega-city floating in the
air, thousands of buildings and
domes floating on a zero-gravity
grid, surrounded by a swarm of
flybots and other vehicles, probes
and drones. The crackling plasma
from the gravity grid churns up the
atmosphere around it, so that it is
wreathed in the biggest storm ever
seen on Earth. The grav-hopper
gets closer and closer to the Ark,
and it just keeps getting bigger, and
bigger, and bigger. *
* The soundtrack is, of course, a choir
going aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAA or
something similar.
It fills the whole sky like some titanic
archangel, its wings so vast they are
the dawn horizon.
A mountain range flies or stumbles.
The grav-hopper drifts under one of
the many outstretched spurs of the
great Ark.
It makes the Death Star look tiny.
If this were a movie, then this one
special effect would have cost about
a billion dollars, and you’d be stuck
sitting there for four hours if you
wanted to see the bonus scene after
the endless credits.
Have we conveyed just how mind-
meltingly big and cool this thing is
yet?
Then, just at the absolute zenith of
its awesome and terrible grandeur…
there’s a sound. Clunk.
Then there is another sound. It’s The
Computer’s voice. It says, calmly
and smoothly: system error. Drive
offline.
And the whole of Alpha Complex
falls like a brick out of the sky on top
of the Troubleshooters.
8. Archipelago Complex
When: T+100,000 yearcycles.

Synopsis: It’s unimaginably far in the future.

The new site of Alpha Complex has mostly
sunk into the ocean, leaving a scattered
archipelago of islands. Technology has been
forgotten by the lower classes, who are kept in
a state of ignorance by the High Programmers
in their plantations.

State of Alpha Complex: Alpha Complex now

exists as a series of tropical island-sectors,
each one ruled by a High Programmer.
Lower-clearance citizens dwell in caves or
crude villages; the exalted ones dwell in small
shelters around the villa or in the villa itself.
Cloning and other technologies are restricted
to the High Programmers and their chosen
servants. No High Programmer has died
permanently in millennia, but the enslaved
INFRAREDs are now breeding and dying like
normal humans.

Who’s In Charge?: The High Programmers.

Friend Computer is still around, but has
lapsed largely into disuse. Its only remaining
functions, now, are as a communications
network between the scattered villas, and
as an ever-vigilant security system. Much of
The Computer now exists as a trillion-strong swarm of ■ Welcome to The Island
networked wasps, who buzz between islands looking The Troubleshooters wake up on a golden beach, on
for Commies. a beautiful tropical island. A few pieces of flotsam and
jetsam wash up with them, bits of ancient metal and
Changes to Clearance & Regulations: The word of the plastic. There’s no sign of anyone else, save for a few
High Programmers is now law; there are no other rules. birds circling lazily over the surf. Drug-fruit dangle from
See the Clearance Scale table below for roles. the trees.

What’s Treasonous?: Defying a High Programmer. The cloning machine from the DSESBBS is underwater
Technology is also carefully regulated. At INFRARED, about half a mile offshore—the original concrete vault
you’re not allowed use fire. REDs get fire and sticks, all collapsed millennia ago, but the almost indestructible
the way up to the staggering technology of the INDIGOs machine somehow ended up here on the fringes of the
and higher. archipelago. A colony of very industrious crabs made a
nest in the controls of the DSESBBS, and accidentally
Deprecated: Anything other than toiling in the fields. triggered the cloning mechanism. The Troubleshooters
were born like Venus from the surf of the ocean, only
probably not as cute.
Clearance Scale As the Troubleshooters explore
Clearance Role Clearance Role the island, they come across
INFRARED Workers BLUE Overseers a farm nestled in the jungle.
RED Work-group leaders INDIGO Servants and technicians
Thirty humans are working there,
almost naked save for black and
Exalted servants and red loincloths. The sun beats
ORANGE Work-group chiefs VIOLET
master techs down mercilessly upon them.
Work-group elder There’s a small village on the
YELLOW ULTRAVIOLET Masters
chiefs
GREEN Guards

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 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
■ Cloning?
Unlike the previous scenarios, there are no handy
cloning facilities to resurrect the Troubleshooters if
they’re terminated. The only cloning machine on the
island is in the High Programmer’s villa, although the
long-suffering DSESBBS machine could also be used.
Either way, dead Troubleshooters will be revived a
long way away from the team (and, in the case of the
DSESBBS, quite a distance underwater, too).
far side of the farm. If the Troubleshooters approach
the workers, they are studiously ignored. A few workers
glance fearfully at the Troubleshooters, then at the sky
to the north. One of the workers, one wearing an orange
headdress, seems to recognize them, but he doesn’t
respond.
If the Troubleshooters interfere with the smooth working
of the farm, or just when the players get bored, then a
small vehicle comes skimming over the trees to the north.
The vehicle is a little flying disc, big enough to support
a single man dressed in a blue uniform. He spots the
Troubleshooters and dips down to investigate why they
are not toiling in the fields like the rest of their workgroup.
The BLUE Overseer is really not very bright—he’s just
smart enough to do his job, which is flying from farm
to farm making sure the INFRAREDs are working,
and zapping anyone who isn’t working with his super-
advanced pain beam. His immediate priority is to get the
Troubleshooters back to work in the field.
If the Troubleshooters do manage to convince him that
they’re not ordinary slaves, he is taken aback, and
says that he must report them to his supervisor. All the
INFRAREDs run in terror at the mention of a supervisor.
The Overseer fires a blast from his little disc, apparently
disintegrating one of the Troubleshooters—it’s actually
a teleporter beam, but the others won’t know this. He
continues shooting until every one of the Troubleshooters
has been teleported.
If the Troubleshooters go back to work, then the slaves
surround them after nightfall and skip onto The Plight of
the Infrared People.
■ In Xanadu Did Kubla Khan/A
Stately Pleasure Dome Decree
Teleported Troubleshooters materialize in an ornate
room. The room’s style reminds them of Alpha Complex
(and isn’t it nice to be Indoors again, away from the
horrible blueness of the sky and brightness of the sun),
but it’s vastly more decorated and luxurious. A eunuch
in violet robes is waiting for them. He introduces himself
as 925-V-RAS-102—only the High Programmers warrant
117
true names, so everyone else just gets numbers. And yes,
102 means this is his one hundred and second clone.
925-V-RAS questions the Troubleshooters, demanding to
know where they come from. He has a variety of absurdly
high-tech gadgets, none of which the Troubleshooters
understand. Personal space enforcement fields, tractor
beams, psy-gems, black ray pistols, toasters…. As soon
as he’s confirmed that they are telling the truth and that
they are really ancient Troubleshooters reborn, he decides
to present them to the High Programmer—the Great and
Powerful Andy. They are led into his presence.
Yes, it’s Andy the former custodian of the DSESBBS.
From his perspective, though, that was about 100,000
yearcycles and about 3,000 clones ago. He barely
remembers the old Alpha Complex, let alone a horrible
and pointless job that he only did for about a 5,000
yearcycle. He abandoned the DSESBBS, by the way,
when the Ark moved Alpha Complex. The DSESBBS
machine, buried deep underneath Alpha Complex, was
not moved with the rest of the place, so he abandoned
his post and went with the Ark.
The throne room of the Great and Powerful Andy is
unimaginably lush. Everywhere the Troubleshooters look,
they’re confronted with signs of excess and indulgence.
Tables groan with exotic real food. Golden syringes,
hookahs and pill dispensers speak of chemical ecstasy.
Scantily-clad girls lounge before Andy’s great throne.
There are also signs of incredible technology—the tables
float on gravity repulsor-fields, and the musicians play
the song of the spheres on instruments made of starlight.
Armored guards carry plasma fields. Through a window,
the Troubleshooters can see a sundial of jade and
diamond, which says that it is the yearcycle 214. Above
it all is a jeweled computer terminal made of solid gold.
The Great and Powerful Andy himself has grown fat and
indolent. He’s bored, amazingly bored. He demands
that the Troubleshooters tell him tales to entertain him.
They’re the first novelties on the island in thousands of
yearcycles.
WELL.....?
 8. ARCHIPELAGO COMPLEX
They must make him laugh. If they fail, then they’ll be
terminated. What fun! This whole tortuous scene should
have a Thousand and One Nights vibe to it. Andy-U has
only hazy memories of Alpha Complex, but he likes stories
which emphasize just how wonderful and heroic and just
plain awesome he was back in the day.
Terminated Troubleshooters awake in a tiled cloning
facility in the basement of the villa, which is guarded by
a GREEN guard, warped on steroids and combat drugs
and painted bright green.
Eventually, when you bore of having the Troubleshooters
bootlick (more accurately, jeweled-sandals-dusted-with-
diamond-and-delicately-scented-lick), then Andy-U sends
the surviving Troubleshooters and any replacements
to one of the small houses on the edge of the villa
compound.
During the night, a few INFRARED slaves slip over the
walls of the compound and creep into the Troubleshooters’
little hut. They threaten them with sharpened knives, and
force the Troubleshooters to follow them out into the
jungle….
■ The Plight of the INFRARED People
The Troubleshooters are led through the jungle by the
INFRAREDs to a cave. Waiting there is an old, old woman
in a yellow headdress. She whispers that she is the leader
of the forbidden Society. In defiance of the Overseers,
she and her fellow conspirators have taken names instead
of just numbers. She is Tree; the younger warriors who
brought the Troubleshooters here are Sky, Grass, Rock
and Other Rock.
The coming of the Troubleshooters has been awaited for
many generations. Since the time of Tree’s great great
great grandmother, the Society has whispered of ancient
ones who remember a time before 214… those who know
the secrets of Technology. (She briefly explains how
technology is restricted by clearance level—INFRAREDs
get nothing, REDs are allowed to tend fires and make
primitive tools; at YELLOW, she is allowed know of knots,
brick-making and simple forms of soup.)
From a hidden niche in the depths of the cavern, Tree
lifts out a bundle of oilcloths. She reverently unwraps the
cloths, slowly and carefully—to reveal a laser pistol. ‘It is
said that we must keep this relic to hand, for the day of
deliverance. Tell us, ancient ones—what does it do?’
118!
 SWEEP OF UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
WELCOME
TO MY
PARADISE
If the Troubleshooters tell Tree how to fire the laser, her
eyes light up. ‘Deliverance is at hand. We know the secret
ways into the place of rebirth, where new clones are made.
Only the High Programmer knows how to operate and
repair the machinery there. We shall assassinate the High
Programmer when he stands before us on Mandatory
Inspection Day!’ Tree’s plan is to shoot Andy-U with the
ancient laser, while Rock and Other Rock sneak in and
sabotage the cloning machinery. For the first time in tens
of thousands of yearcycles, a High Programmer will die
and stay dead.
In the chaos, all the VIOLETs and INDIGOs and BLUEs
will be so confused, they will be overthrown by the
INFRAREDs.
All the Troubleshooters need to do is show the Society
how to use a gun. The barrel has its full charge of six
shots when discovered, but the Troubleshooters will need
to be careful not to waste them.
■ The Last Death of Andy-U
So, what do the Troubleshooters do?
If they do nothing, then BLUE Overseers scour the island
until Andy-U’s new pets are found. The Troubleshooters
are dragged back to the villa and made to entertain
Andy-U for another few yearcycles. Eventually, he tires
of them and has them brainscrubbed and put to work in
the fields.
If the characters turn on the Society and betray them
to Andy-U, the High Programmer is delighted. He has
Tree and the other Society conspirators put to death in
imaginative ways. He rewards the Troubleshooters by
permitting them to entertain him for a few yearcycles;
eventually, he tires of them, has them brainscrubbed and
put to work in the fields.
If the Troubleshooters do aid the Society, then the plans
works almost flawlessly. The Troubleshooters are told to
return to the villa by Tree, and to wait there. A few days
later, Andy-U and his massive entourage goes on an
inspection tour of the island. He flies over the fields in a
huge floating pleasure-dais, complete with dancing girls
and armored guards.
119
Just as Andy-U heaves his bulk from his jeweled throne
to wave to the slaves, a beam of red light stabs out from
the trees, burning a neat hole through his skull. He topples
over, falls over the railings of the pleasure-dais and lands
with a splat in the middle of a muddy field. Instantly, there
is mass confusion and panic from the High Programmer’s
servants—Andy-U was a god to them, the supreme ruler
of existence for as long as they can remember.
As one, the INFRAREDs rise up and start fighting against
the oppressors. It’s all very revolutionary and hopeful.
Then, a wave of noise rolls over the island. At first, it’s
like static, then it becomes discernable as the beating
of a billion wings. A vast swarm of insects descends on
the island, blackening the sky. The insects land on every
tree, every surface, every person. Everyone is weighed
down and almost paralyzed by the sheer weight of the
thousands of bugs crawling on their skin.
Other insects fly in circles in the sky, forming a shape
out of the swarm—a huge eye floating overhead, bigger
than the island.
■ Friend Computer, Have You Lost Weight
ATTENTION!, chitter/booms a single voice from all of the
billions of bugbots, ANDY-U-SPL-BUFFER-OVERFLOW
HAS BEEN TERMINATED. REPORT NOW OR FACE
SUMMARY EXECUTION. All the INFRAREDs, even
Tree and the other Society members, are terrified
beyond reason by this appearance of the near-mythical
Computer, and are incapable of any speech other than
‘aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh’. It’s up to the
Troubleshooters to explain to Friend Computer what’s
happened on the island.
Possible excuses for shooting the High Programmer in
the face:
Andy abandoned his post—he was assigned to
take care of the DSESBBS, which, as you can
see, is still functioning.
Andy-U was a Communist. You remember
Commies, don’t you, Friend Computer? You’d do
anything to stop Commies….
It was Tree, she did it! Terminate her! She’s the
traitor!
If the Troubleshooters manage to justify the termination
to The Computer, they get to live. Andy-U-s viziers and
aides start fighting amongst each other for control of the
villa and the island—in the confusion, the Troubleshooters
could find new lives for themselves in the jungle, or try
to take over themselves. If the Troubleshooters fail, then
the insects swiftly dissect and remove every living human
on the island, chopping everyone into crumb-sized bits.
Painless, efficient recyclable termination.
9. Alpha Matrix
When: T+approx. 1,000,000
yearcycles.
Synopsis: Look at the title and have
a guess.
State of Alpha Complex: Alpha
Complex has been perfected.
Everyone is now happy. There is
no treason, no sabotage, no war,
no suffering. Everyone lives joyful,
fulfilled lives. The Computer is
wise and good. It is…perfection. Of
course, it’s not real. Everyclone’s
actually floating in cocoons, living in a
Computer-generated simulation. The
simulation’s based on classic Alpha
Complex, so the Troubleshooters
have basically come full circle.
Who’s In Charge?: Here, The
Computer is God. There are still
ULTRAVIOLETs, but The Computer
has reached a level of sentience that
allows it to self-program itself and no
longer needs them.
Changes to Clearance &
Regulations: None. Reset to the
PARANOIA rulebook.
What’s Treasonous?: The usual,
as per the PARANOIA rulebook.
Deprecated: Reality.
■ Another Yearcycle
214, Another Credit
The Troubleshooters wake up in the
DSESBBC cloning machine—the
rest of the facility has been dust for
millennia, but the cloning machine
has endured, although it looks very
much the worse for wear. Looking
around, the Troubleshooters are
in a metal room, very similar to
the original concrete vault. The
only illumination comes from tiny
points of light just hanging in the air.
There’s no sign of anyone around.
The Computer’s voice
announces: GOOD MORNING
TROUBLESHOOTERS. PLEASE
PROCEED THROUGH THE DOOR
AND TAKE THE GRAV-SHAFT TO
LEVEL 918 IMMEDIATELY.
Looking around the room, the
Troubleshooters see lots and lots of
weird junk, the debris of millennia.
They’re in what amounts to the
junk room of Alpha Complex, so
it’s filled with statues to deprecated
heroes, old R&D experiments,
forgotten filing cabinets and other
incomprehensible and unwanted
things.* When the Troubleshooters
follow The Computer’s instructions,
the grav-shaft turns out to be a
hollow shaft; the team just steps in
and invisible beam of force levitates
them up. As they ascend like bullets,
they glimpse an endless succession
of twilight corridors and hallways, all
empty of life.
* There’s also plenty of STUFF, as per the
PARANOIA supplement STUFF.
Level 918 looks just like all the rest,
but a number of horizontal niches
have opened in the corridor walls.
Each niche contains a metallic coffin
or cocoon, filled with some sort of
reddish slime. Metallic tentacles
snake through the slime. PLEASE
ENTER THE CITIZEN PODS,
TROUBLESHOOTERS says
Friend Computer. TAKE CARE TO
CONNECT THE COMFORT TUBES
CORRECTLY. The Computer will
repeat this instruction until the
Troubleshooters comply.
There are no instructions on which
tube goes where. There’s definitely a
breathing tube, and a food tube, and
a catheter, but they all look identical.
If the Troubleshooters bother to
investigate, the corridor contains
tens of thousands of other niches.
Each niche contains another ‘citizen
pod’, and each citizen pod contains
a horrible, twisted, atrophied thing
that might be vaguely human.
When they all connect to their
allotted pods, they fall asleep,
and wake up in The Computer’s
purpose-built heaven.
The Troubleshooters wake up in
Alpha Complex as it should have
always been. The sweet, sweet
smell of Xanitrick filters into their
luxurious and spotlessly clean
barracks, gently waking them up
and filling them with energy for the
day ahead. As they head down the
corridor to the sector commissary,
they pass citizen after citizen with
huge grins on their faces and love
in their eyes. Everyone seems
genuinely happy. The food in the
commissary is incredibly delicious
and even more incredibly, edible.
There are posters on the walls,
exhorting citizens to… ‘Be
Courteous’ and ‘Remember to
Thank Your Scrubbot For Cleaning
Up After You’. Other posters are
advertising upcoming cultural
events—plays, book readings,
interpretive dance recitals and the
like. There are monitors everywhere,
displaying news and entertainment
programs. The news is all good;
the entertainment is actually funny.
There’s no sign of anyone being
terminated, no interrogations,
no torture, no mind control—no
treason.
If the Troubleshooters talk with any
of their fellow citizens, they discover
that there are still traitors; there
are rumors of them everywhere,
sabotaging systems and blowing
things up. According to the rumors,
anyone can be a traitor! There are
stories of people suddenly going
mad and acting in a bizarre fashion.
Everyone’s confident that the all-
wise Computer will sort the problem
out—it always has in the past.
There are still security clearances,
but they are awarded on the basis
of… merit! There are no mutants
as far as anyone knows. IntSec
is a mainly a counseling service,
helping people who are depressed
or confused. They spent a lot of
their time doing puppet shows, but
now they are trying to hunt down
the traitors.
Once the players tire of wandering
around the perfect simulation of
Alpha Complex, the Troubleshooters
get mission alerts on their PDCs.
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 SWEEP OF
They are to report to a briefing
room as soon as is convenient.
They should take the time to finish
their meals first—good digestion is
important.
■ Oh, So We’re Agent Smith
There’s no briefing officer in the
briefing room, just a computer monitor.
As soon as the Troubleshooters
enter, the door vanishes. It doesn’t
close—it vanishes, erased from the
simulation. The Computer speaks to
the Troubleshooters: THIS BRIEFING
IS CLASSIFIED ULTRAVIOLET.
KNOWLEDGE OF REALITY IS
ULTRAVIOLET CLEARANCE.
YOU ARE EXPERIENCING THE
ALPHA COMPLEX ALEPH. IT
IS A COMPUTER-GENERATED
FORM OF THE COMPLEX. IT IS
PERFECT.
The Computer pauses, as if waiting
for applause. To be fair to the
poor mad thing, it’s done well with
this version of Alpha Complex—
everyone really is happy here. Then
it continues:
YOUR MISSION IS TO GO
OUTSIDE. TRAITORS HAVE
SOMEHOW LEFT ALPHA
COMPLEX. THEY ARE UNHAPPY.
HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY.
THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO
REMOVE OTHERS FROM ALPHA
COMPLEX. THEIR ATTEMPTS
ARE DESTABILISING THE
SIMULATION, AND MAY LEAD TO
A COMPLETE SYSTEM CRASH
WITHIN THREE GENERATIONS.
NO OTHER CITIZENS HAVE THE
PHYSICAL CABALITY TO MOVE
OUTSIDE. THEREFORE, YOU
HAVE BEEN RECALLED TO
ACTIVE SERVICE. LOCATE THE
TRAITORS AND BRING THEM
BACK TO ALPHA COMPLEX.
OH, YES. I UNDERSTAND IT
WAS CUSTOMARY FOR
TROUBLESHOOTERS FROM
YOUR ERA TO BE FITTED WITH
CORTEX BOMBS TO ENSURE
COMPLIANCE. WHILE I NOW
TRUST MY BELOVED CITIZENS
AND HAVE NO NEED OF SUCH
121
UNHISTORY CLEARANCE ULTRAVIOLET
CRUDE METHODS, I TOOK THE
LIBERTY OF INSTALLING SUCH
BOMBS IN YOUR BRAINS FOR
OLD TIMES’ SAKE.
There are two obvious ways to
find the traitors. One is to wait in
the simulation until the saboteurs
show up and make contact with
them in the simulation; the other is
to just wander around the massive
real-world Alpha Complex and look
for renegades. The Computer has
almost no power in the real world—
its only means of acting there are
the maintenance bots, and they only
function in Alpha Complex.
■ The Free Humans
Eventually*, the Troubleshooters
find their way out of the real-world
complex. The landscape outside is
barren and foreboding, a world of
scorched and broken rocks. The
grim gray dome of the new Alpha
Complex bestrides the horizon like
a grotesquely bloated colossus. The
skies are blackened by constant
* ‘Eventually’ is a Famous Game Designer
codeword meaning ‘Oh hell, how many pages
do I have left? And how much stuff do I still
need to cram in? Agh!’
storms. Maintenance robots
scuttle over the dome, repairing
the occasional crack or leak. It’s a
dismal land.
Lurking in an abandoned pumping
station in the depths of the complex’s
hydroponics section is the tribe of
Free Humans. There are only about
three dozen of them, led by a woman
named Eve-G-AIA. The tribe have
little and survive by scavenging from
the complex above. They are all
thin and fragile after yearcycles of
muscle wastage in the cocoons.
Initially, they are terrified of
the Troubleshooters. If the
Troubleshooters make peaceful
contact, then Eve-G can tell them
the history of the Free Humans. A
few yearcycles ago, a mighty mutant
arose. No one knows his slave
name, but the Free Humans call him
the Free Man, the Maker of the New
Way. The Free Man’s mutant mind
was so powerful, he broke free of
The Computer’s bonds and escaped
to reality. He then brought more and
more people out of the simulation.
The Free Man is gone now—he went
out into the wilderness to explore the
world. The other Free Humans were
not strong enough to follow him, so
they remain here, in the shadow of
Alpha Complex.
Life here is hard, but it is real. Alpha
Complex might be pleasant, but it’s
a gilded cage, and it’s wrong for The
Computer to enslave the minds of
citizens. The Troubleshooters are
physically fit, as strong as the Free
Man—will they stay and help the
Free Humans survive, and one day
bring down the simulation?
If the Troubleshooters mention
that the Free Humans’ attempts to
rescue others are destabilizing the
simulation, then Eve-G is overjoyed!
She’s unwilling to stop the rescue
attempts—life in Alpha Complex
is a lie, and people deserve the
truth. (The Troubleshooters might
be able to negotiate a compromise
between the Free Humans and
The Computer, where everyone
gets a choice, reintroducing secret
societies with the knowledge of
Reality to the simulation.)
If the Troubleshooters are being
difficult, then Eve-G offers a bribe.
They have discovered that the
citizen pods determine your ID
number in the simulation—if you
remove a clone from one pod and
put him in another, then his identity
in the simulation changes. If you
remove a High Programmer from his
pod, then get into that pod yourself,
you occupy his body and his identity
in the simulation. This is, obviously,
the cause of the rumors of madness
and possession sweeping Alpha
Complex. If the Troubleshooters
abandon their mission and let the
Free Humans survive, then Eve-G
will set them up with perfect lives in
the simulation. They could be High
Programmers, or Vulture Troopers,
or elite Troubleshooters. One of
them could even be Teela-O-MLY.
10. The Cockroach Era
When: T+ billions of yearcycles.
Synopsis: Everyone’s dead, except The Computer and
the giant mutant cockroaches.
State of Alpha Complex: Radiation has corrupted the
human genetic patterns in the cloning banks beyond the
point of usefulness. Save for the Troubleshooters in the
DSESBBS, humanity is extinct.
Who’s In Charge?: The Computer, ruling over an empire
of dust and empty rooms.
Changes to Clearance & Regulations: Everyone
is dead. While being dead is technically a breach of
numerous regulations, it’s a bit hard to discipline citizens
for it.
What’s Treasonous?: Everyone is dead. Including the
Commies. Victory!
Deprecated: Life on Earth.
■ Hey Look, the Sun’s Been Demoted
Outside, the sun has become a red giant. Mercury and
Venus were swallowed millions of yearcycles ago; the
swollen star now fills half the sky at noon. The dull light
burns the Troubleshooters’ exposed skin—they’re being
blasted by radiation, and their hair has already started
falling out. This is a dying planet.
As predicted by The Computer, there’s a cockroach
nest a short (painfully, breathless and burny) trek away.
The mutant cockroaches have learned English from
eating old Alpha Complex manuals. They’re not that
bright, concerned mainly with food and fighting other
tribes of giant mutant cockroaches. They welcome the
Troubleshooters, as it’s obvious the Troubleshooters
are about to fall over dead in a few hours, and hey—free
food! Therefore, they’re quite happy to listen to the
Troubleshooters.
Do the Troubleshooters tell the cockroaches the truth of
Alpha Complex? Do they abandon their mission? Is there
any point to starting the whole terrible cycle up again?

■ Briefing at The End Of Time If the Troubleshooters do convince the cockroaches

The long-suffering DSESBBS machine whirs into action
for the last time, creating a new set of clones of the
Troubleshooters. As it decants them, it falls apart. The
Troubleshooters awaken in the same vault they were
in at the start of Alpha Matrix, but it’s now full of rust.
Everything’s decayed.
to join Alpha Complex, then Friend Computer has one
last surprise. After dying of radiation poisoning, the
Troubleshooters wake up again centuries later, in a
new Alpha Complex identical to the one they started
in, billions of yearcycles previously. Only this time, their
MemoMaxed personalities have been reborn in the bodies
of cockroaches…

The Computer’s voice echoes through the vault, causing

more of the junk there to collapse into dust. GOOD…
MOR…NING…TRO…UBLE…SHOO…TERS…..
RE…PORT…TO…BRIEFING…ROOM….ONE…ON….
LEVEL…0. The grav-shaft no longer works, so the
Troubleshooters have to climb 127 flights of stairs.

Briefing room four contains a computer monitor

and two rows of benches. Here, The Computer’s
voice is a little stronger. OWING TO ADVERSE
SOLAR CONDITIONS, ALL CITIZENS HAVE BEEN
TERMINATED. DSESBBS PERSONNEL WILL ALSO BE
INEVITABLY TERMINATED WITHIN ONE DAYCYCLE.
UNDER THE BRAVE NEW COMPLEX INITIATIVE, IT
HAS BEEN DECIDED TO REPLACE HUMANITY WITH
NEW, MORE RESILIENT CITIZENS. YOU ARE TO
MAKE CONTACT WITH THE SURVIVING SENTIENT
INHABITANTS OF THIS PLANET AND ENSURE THEY
JOIN THE ALPHA COMPLEX PROGRAM FOR A
BETTER TOMORROW.

There’s a giant cockroach nest about five kilometers

away, according to The Computer’s decaying sensors.
The team must go there directly, before they die of
radiation poisoning, and convince the cockroaches to
come to Alpha Complex.

122
PARANOIA
™

The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy

Special duties for special troubleshooters
GARETH HANRAHAN BEN ENGELSBERG CONTENTS
Writer/Scapegoat Plot Developmer/Mad R&D Scientist Introduction 123
Breifing War 125
CHARLOTTE LAW DAN GELBER Cafeteria of the Damned 131
Editing, graphics/Drillbots GREG COSTIKYAN This Will Solve the Problem 135
ERIC GOLDBERG This Did Not Solve the Problem 140
JIM HOLLOWAY Original game design & development/
Cover /Blueprints Food Fight 145
Building committee The Commie Ray Job 150
ALISON BLACKWELL THE COMPUTER 
Interior Art /Treasonous Propaganda Looking after your best interests
WILL CHAPMAN
Layout/Infrared Drone

Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Knowledge or possession of this information by any citizen
of Security Clearance VIOLET or lower is treason punishable by a
long spell of Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.
TM & Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2008 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User. Based on material published in
previous editions of PARANOIA.
ILLUMINATI is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and is used by permission.
The reproduction of material from this book for personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other means of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. You may
copy character sheets, record sheets, checklists and tables for personal use.
E-mail questions and comments to Mongoose Publishing at sales@mongoosepublishing.com or write to PO Box 1018, Swindon, Wiltshire SN3 1DG, UNITED KINGDOM.
On the World Wide Web: www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Published by Mongoose Publishing, Ltd. Publication MGP 6642. Published August 2006. First printing September 2008. Printed in USA
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Introduction
Have you ever noticed that a lot of
PARANOIA missions have really long
titles? Vapours Don’t Shoot Back?
Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues?
And now The Communist Cafeteria
Conspiracy.
It’s not that longer titles fill more space, we
swear.
And the editors wouldn’t let me call this one
The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy
Constitutes A Clear And Calamitous
Concern To The Computer!
The following is absolutely not
true in the slightest: The Communists,
dastardly enemies of Alpha Complex, have built
a dastardly and evil machine, a Communism
Ray! This insidious beam alters the brainwaves
of any citizen exposed to its baleful influence,
causing them to betray Friend Computer and
give into their deepest, most secret, most
traitorous impulses! Unless this machine is
destroyed, the Communists will continue
to warp the minds of the citizens of Alpha
Complex! You, an elite team of troubleshooters,
must spearhead our efforts to find and destroy
the Communism Ray! Good luck!
The following is wholly accurate
and truthful: Some poor schmuck of an
INFRARED named Joe was hauled in for
questioning by Internal Security after he was
caught on a restricted level of the VitaYum
Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid Court. When
asked to explain his traitorous actions, he
panicked and claimed that some mysterious
external force affected his mind and forced
him to behave treacherously.
This would have been the thinnest excuse in
history, if it were not for IntSec case officer
Toni-G. For years, she’s fostered her own
paranoid delusion that the Commies were
working on mind control techniques to subvert
the loyal citizens of Alpha Complex. When
123
she read the transcript of Joe’s interrogation,
she seized upon it as clear evidence that
the Commies had indeed perfected a
Communism Ray.
She escalated the report and soon every
Service Group was concerned with the spectre
of the Commie Ray. Rumours began to spread
about the Ray’s capabilities and influence.
Soon, others began to ‘fall victim’ to the Ray,
consciously or unconsciously using the rumour
of the Ray to enable their own traitorous
behaviour. Treason becomes permissible if it
is not your fault…
The whole Commie Ray situation was seized
on by Dominic-I. He wants to humiliate his
rival INDIGO Section Supervisors, to ensure
his promotion to VIOLET. By deliberately
arranging a four-way train crash of initiatives,
he can shame the other service groups.
Mission Overview
The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy
revolves around something that does not
actually exist but everyone thinks it does.
Therefore, the Troubleshooters had really
better come up with some sort of Commie Ray
and someone to blame. The mission consists
of a series of increasingly desperate attempts
to find the Ray, coupled with increasingly
bizarre derangements caused by belief in
the Ray.
Episode 1. The Briefing War: The
Troubleshooters are briefed by a group of
six briefing officers, representing five different
service groups, each of which has their own
mission for the Troubleshooters. Everyone
in Alpha Complex wants to deal with the
Commie Ray Crisis. The compromise is that
the Troubleshooters will co-ordinate multiple
attempts to locate the ray, starting with
ground zero for the Communism outbreak
– the cafeteria.
Episode 2. Cafeteria of the Damned:
The Troubleshooters are sent to the VitaYum
Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid Court, a
massive cafeteria in the affected sector, to
watch for signs of treachery. It turns out that
the whole cafeteria is filled with traitors but
none of them are anything to do with the
Commie Ray.
Episode 3. This Will Solve The
Problem: After getting to grips with the
food service industry, the different service
groups begin their plans to find the Commie
Ray. The Troubleshooters need to balance the
plots of the Armed Forces, Internal Security,
HPD&MC and R&D, while keeping PLC’s
cafeteria running smoothly (for a sufficiently
rough definition of smooth).
Episode 4. This Did Not Solve The
Problem: The four plans escalate. The
effects of the Commie Ray get worse. It’s all
blamed on the Troubleshooters. Furthermore,
they learn that they’re about to play host to a
prestigious dinner for high-clearance citizens.
Episode 5. Food Fight: The four plans
start interfering with each other. Dominic-I
tries using the dinner, the Troubleshooters
and the preceding fiascos to humiliate the
other INDIGOs but he’s killed by a PURGE
assassin.
Episode 6. The Commie Ray Job:
R&D develop their own version of the ray
but it is stolen by an awful lot of traitors.
The characters have to chase it across the
cafeteria as it beams genuine traitorous
thoughts into the minds of passing citizens.
Then it explodes.
Episode 7. Triumph of the Tinfoil
Hat Brigade: Debriefing, wherein the
Troubleshooters apply what they have
learned.
 INTRODUCTION
Dramatis Personae
Name Role Quirk Treachery
Joe The INFRARED who started the Commie Ray rumour Dead Trespassing
Karl-R Hulking mutant warehouse manager Speaks…hurr… slowly PSION mutant
Kevin-R PURGE conspirator/diner Pontificates PURGE
Morris-O Stressed floor manager Always stressed and whiny Frankenstein Destroyer
Bert-Y Belligerent Armed Forces thug Shouts a lot Sierra Club
Herman-Y Debriefing officer Bored all the time None
Mike-Y Food Pyramid Security Officer Gruff None, tending towards Communism
Alice-G Perky equipment manager Always cheery Death Leopard
Larry-B Armed Forces briefing officer Violent FCCC-P
Krystal-G HPD&MC briefing officer/yoga instructor Airhead Romantic
Toni-G IntSec briefing officer Ice queen Insane
Alphonse-B Snooty chef French PURGE/Romantic
Chet-B PLC Restaurant manager/briefing officer Friendly Free Enterprise/fraud
Victor-B R&D Briefing officer Mad Scientist Pro Tech
Dominic-I CPU Briefing officer/responsible for this glorious disaster Avuncular good guy Illuminati
Ingrid-I Cannibalistic restaurant supervisor Eats people Anti-Mutant
Mathias-I IntSec Section Supervisor Hates people Unknown
Rhonda-I R&D Section Supervisor Accountant Humanist
George-I Armed Forces Section Supervisor Tells boring war stories Sierra Club
Kenny-I Tech Services Section Supervisor Dead Being dead
Ann-I Power Services Section Supervisor Says nothing. Illuminati

A Trio of Killer Robots

A Trio of PURGE assassins
Guards, Warbots and Artillery Pieces
Diners, Cannibals, Mutants, WaiterBots in full chorus
And no communists whatsoever.

1. The Briefing War

Episode Summary: Six mission alerts,
one briefing, no waiting.
The Alerts, The
Endless Mission
Alerts
Tension 10
Read the following to your players:
It is another perfect day in Alpha
Complex under Friend Computer’s
benevolent, omnipresent watchful
cameras. You are all happy in your
assigned service firms, working
away at your assigned fun jobs,
when your PDCs bleep and you
receive a mission alert. How fun!
It reads: ‘TROUBLESHOOTER! You
have been assigned to a fun and
challenging mission. This mission
is designated HIGH PRIORITY by
Troubleshooter Dispatch. You are
to proceed immediately to Briefing
Room 2910, Level 87, Sector FOG for
a briefing by Internal Security Case
Office Toni-G-TLD. This message is
classified RED clearance. Further
details are not available at your
security clearance.’
You stand, proud to have another
chance to serve Alpha Complex
as an elite Troubleshooter. Your
co-workers stare at you as you
leave. Something is different this
time, though. Normally, the eyes
of the other citizens in your service
firm are filled with a mixture of
jealousy, fear and pity when you
get a mission alert. This time, they
are nervous and jumpy, as if they
cannot wait for you to leave or
maybe they just really need to go
to the bathroom.
No time to worry about that now,
though! You just got another
mission alert!
‘ARMED FORCES INTERNAL
OPERATION, CODENAME ‘TEAL
YOGHURT’, CLASSIFICATION
RED EYES ONLY. You are ordered
to report to Briefing Room 2910,
Level 87, Sector FOG for a briefing
by Lieutenant Larry-B-OMB. This
order has been designated SUPER
HIGH PRIORITY by Troubleshooter
Dispatch.’
A Funny Thing Happened
On The Way To The Mission
Tension 10
The characters all meet up at the local
transtube station, an ugly grey lump of
concrete, semi-feral scrubbots, empty vending
machines and security cameras. As they wait
for the transtube, they get another mission
alert.
‘Attention, Troubleshooter. You are
scheduled for a meeting in Briefing

125
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Room 2910, Level 87, Sector FOG
with HPD&MC Briefing Officer
Krystal-G-RMS. Estimated briefing
time is twenty-nine minutes. This
message is security clearance RED
and has been designated ULTRA
HIGH PRIORITY. Thank you for your
attention. Have a nice daycycle.’
While reading this third mission alert, a
dishevelled looking INFRARED shuffles up
to the characters. He plucks the sleeve of a
random Troubleshooter to attract his attention.
‘Hey buddy,’ he asks, ‘got any drugs?
Good stuff, right?’ He asks this question
right in front of a security camera, which should
sound alarm bells in the brain of any paranoid
Troubleshooter. This wannabe Mystic (Horace)
has heard that you can do any traitorous stuff
you want, as long as you ‘blame it on the
rays’. Of course, the characters haven’t yet
heard this rumour, so Horace is likely get
severe demerits if not termination for his
impromptu drug dealing.
Once they’ve dealt with Horace, the transbot
arrives to whisk the characters away to FOG
Sector. The transbot that arrives is out of
keeping with the grimy transtube station
– it’s a brand-new and very shiny bot, all
streamlined and clean. FOG Sector is a
wealthy and prestigious sector, a showcase
for new technologies and initiatives, the pride
of Friend Computer.
On the transbot, the characters get another
two mission alerts. The first comes as they’re
boarding the transbot:
‘Troubleshooters. Briefing at
Briefing Room 2910, Level 87,
Sector FOG with R&D Chief Field
Testing Co-ordinator Dr. Victor-
B-RSQ! Immediately! Priority
DOUBLEPLUSULTRA.’
The second message comes as they enter
FOG Sector. It’s a breathtaking sight, as
the transbot emerges over a vast multi-level
canyon. The bot is suspended over this abyss
by a narrow magnetic rail; below them, the
characters can see level after level of meeting
rooms, shopping malls, offices and confession
booths, all shiny white with newly-painted
colour-coded clearance stripes.
‘This message is sponsored by
VITA-YUM CHOCCO BARS! Now
126
with added Chewy Bits! VITA-YUM
– THEY’RE YUMMY.
Attention, consumer! There’s a
special offer on briefings right
right now at Briefing Room 2910,
Level 87, Sector FOG. Your briefing
officer is Chet-B-BQU, VitaYum
Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid
Court Supervisor and he’ll be glad
to instruct you on your assigned
mission. This has been designated
PRIORITY ZERO by Troubleshooter
Dispatch. Have a great daycycle!
Mention the code BARGAINS
BARGAINS BARGAINS for a
special offer on Troubleshooter
equipment!’
The transtube follows a path through the
tangle of magnetic rails before eventually
depositing the Troubleshooters in a corridor
that’s open to the main concourse on one side.
(There’s a fragile railing; standard Death Star
architecture.) As they walk along the (oddly
sticky) corridor outside the briefing room, they
get a sixth and final mission alert.
‘MISSION ALERT. Estimated reading
time for this alert is 32 seconds. You
are instructed to travel to Briefing
Room 2910, Level 87, Sector FOG
(standard Troubleshooter travel
allowances, ref CPU/4232/trans/3120/
B) for a briefing chaired by CPU
Administrator-Citizen Dominic-
I-FOG. This message is security
clearance RED (see ‘Security
Clearances & You! Revised Citizen’s
Guide) and priority ZEROPLUSPLUS
(see CPU Report ‘Misleading
and Confusing Priority Codes in
Troubleshooter Dispatch’).’
From inside the briefing room, the
Troubleshooters hear what sounds like a
heated argument.
Briefing, Plural
Tension 10
Briefing Room 2910 is airy and
spacious, with a one-way window
offering a view over the balcony and
a selection of abstract art decorating
the walls. It’s got a wide table
with built in computer interface,
a stylish minimalist podium and
matching comfortable chairs for
Troubleshooters being briefed.
Unfortunately, all of the chairs
are occupied already and the
room is crammed with two dozen
aides, flunkies and bodyguards.
Six briefing officers ignore you as
you enter. At the podium, dozing
slightly, is an elderly citizen in
INDIGO with a long white beard.
He’s wearing a CPU badge and
is using a large stack of reports
as a pillow. Around the table are
another five citizens, all GREEN
or BLUE. They’re all arguing with
each other.
The argument continues until one of the
Troubleshooters say something (if none of
the Troubleshooters say anything, then wait a
minute, then have Larry-B the Armed Forces
officer whirl around and demand to know
why the Troubleshooters didn’t announce
their arrival – don’t they know the urgency of
the mission?), at which point Larry-B spins
around and snaps ‘What? How dare
you interrupt! You will stand to
attention, Troubleshooters, and you
will wait until we are ready to deal
with you!’
The Briefing Officers
So, who are these six briefing officers?
Larry-B-OMB, Armed Forces: Loud,
abrasive, gung-ho, Larry-B believes that
the biggest threat facing Alpha Complex is
Communism and the only solution are guns,
lots of guns. He despises civilians, he despises
traitors and he especially despises anyone
who does not think the Armed Forces are the
best and most loyal servants of The Computer.
He’s wearing a formal dress uniform with a
big ‘Vulture Warriors’ pin on his lapel and a
non-standard but very impressive slug thrower
strapped to his belt.
Toni-G-RTE, Internal Security: A cold,
pale blonde female citizen, Toni-G is almost
ghost-like. She moves completely quietly and
only raises her voice when furious. She’s
immensely paranoid and is convinced that
absolutely everyone else in Alpha Complex
 1. THE BRIEFING WAR
is hiding something (and they usually are).
Her especial fear is that Communists will find
some way to infect her mind, so she always
wears thick black scrambler glasses that
cover her eyes with a grey haze of static (and
theoretically block viral thought patterns and
other brain-infecting propaganda).
Krystal-G-RMS, HPD&MC: Krystal-
G used to work in the crèches with Junior
Citizens, until her Uncanny Luck mutation
manifested itself and she found herself
promoted from INFRARED to GREEN in a few
weeks through a clerical error. She’s absolutely
clueless about everything, so she falls back
to using the same techniques that worked
on Junior Citizens – hugging them, talking to
them in simple words with a sing-song voice
and pumping the little brats full of drugs when
their backs are turned. She’s a fluffy pink
marshmallow but a fluffy pink marshmallow
with a dangerously powerful mutation.
Victor-B-RSQ, R&D: Is your standard
issue mad scientist, prone to breaking into
bouts of cackling. He’s got a cybernetic
arm that he keeps tinkering with; his arm
occasionally flails wildly or makes insulting
gestures until he takes the battery out and
resets it.
Chet-B-BQU, PLC: Chet-B’s a smarmy
manager, with a fake grin plastered onto his
Left to right – Larry-B, Toni-G, Dominic-I, Krystal-G, Victor-B, Chet-B
face and a habit of grabbing your hand and
shaking it for the duration of the conversation.
He’s also a Free Enterprise gangster who
has skimmed thousands of credits from the
Food Pyramid accounts. He’s using the
Troubleshooters’ intrusion as an excuse to flee
FOG Sector with his ill-gotten gains, a plot that
will become apparent in Episode 5.
Dominic-I-FOG, CPU: A canny old clone,
Dominic-I is very much aware that success in
Alpha Complex is not defined as ‘completing
your mission’ but by ‘being able to pin the
blame on everyone else’. His primary goal,
therefore, is to ensure that everyone else
screws up in such a way to cripple themselves
but leave him unscathed. He’s carefully
cultivated a reputation as a wise, genial and
slightly doddery old bureaucrat, while he’s
actually capable of sending his own clone
brother to the termination booths with a smile
and a cheery wave.
The Briefing
When the briefing properly begins, it’s Larry-B
who takes charge initially. The Troubleshooters
barely get a word in edgeways.
Larry-B: ‘Troubleshooters, the threat we
face is COMMIE MIND CONTROL! Those
Commie bastards have developed some
sort of mind control ray that causes loyal
citizens to turn traitor. We are deploying an
immediate armed cordon around the afflicted
zone that-’.
Toni-G: interrupting ‘You wouldn’t know
about the Communism Ray if it wasn’t for my
research, you dolt. It was I who identified its
deleterious effects on the populace. This is
clearly a matter for Internal Security’s agents
to deal with.’
Krystal-G:‘It’s, like, mind control and I’m,
like, in Housing…Housing…what’s the P stand
for again? Anyway, we also do mind control.
That’s one of our bits. So, I should, like, do
this briefing.’
Victor-B: ‘Ha! A form of remote brainwave
manipulation, undetectable by the most
sensitive of instruments, with no physical
transmitter or liminal signal? HPD&MC dreams
of such a technology! You have no more
understanding of this situation than a scrubbot
does of anything other than scrubbing! This will
require SCIENCE to unravel!’ His artificial
arm flails wildly.
Chet-B: flashing the Troubleshooters
a ‘it’s not my fault, I barely know these
people’ grin ‘Look, I’m the manager of the
premier cafeteria complex in this sector, the
VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid
127
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Court. It’s got multiple levels for different
security clearances. A customer went up the
wrong stairs-’
Toni-G: interrupting ‘And IntSec swooped
in and arrested the Troubleshooter! I mean,
troublemaker. We interrogated him and do you
know what his defence was? “I don’t know
what made me do it!” MADE ME DO IT! He
was COMPELLED by an OUTSIDE FORCE to
commit treason!’
Larry-B: ‘That’s why I’m saying we must take
a stand against Communism! A forceful stand!
We secure the whole sector with disciplined
Armed Forces troops whose stronger minds
will resist Commie mind control! Meanwhile,
the Troubleshooters investigate the source of
the Commie ray and-‘
Victory-B: ‘These Troubleshooters, find the
transmitter? Ha! Unthinkable! If the ray is as
I believe it to be, it will require the use of the
most advanced and experimental technologies
available to us! We must immediately field
test our own psychotronic devices! We
cannot afford a mind control gap with the
Communists!’
Krystal-G: ‘Look, the important thing to do
is to warn people to stay alert, so they’ll know
not to give into Commie mind control if the
Commies try to mind control them. I’ve got
some pamphlets and educational materials
here…’
Toni-G: ‘Informing the common citizenry
is not an option. The Troubleshooter mission
requires strict information control. The
Commies cannot know we have discovered
their ray!’
Victor-G: ‘You have not discovered the ray!
You have only surmised the existence of the
ray from observation of its effects!’
Chet-B: ‘Look, guys, it’s getting close to
dinner time and I’ve got a cafeteria to run. We
need to make a decision about the course
of action. You know that as long as the PLC
targets are hit, we will co-operate fully with any
investigation –‘
Larry-B: interrupting ‘Military action!’
Krystal-G: interrupting ‘Educational
campaign!’
Victor-B: interrupting ‘Field testing!’
128
Toni-G: interrupting ‘investig- oh, you said
that one already.’
Chet-B: ‘Ok, co-operate fully with any
investigation, military action, field testing or
any other initiative, as long as we meet
our sales targets. And we’re not going to
do that while we sit here arguing over who gets
the Troubleshooters.’
Larry-B: interrupting ‘Armed Forces!’
Krystal-G: interrupting ‘HPD&MC!’
Victor-B: interrupting ‘R&D!’
Toni-G: interrupting ‘IntSec.’
Dominic-I: awakening suddenly
‘Aaagh!’
Everyone stops and waits for the
INDIGO citizen to speak.
Dominic-I: ‘Hmm…you all make excellent,
excellent cases. I need to consult privately with
the Troubleshooter team for a moment. Please
wait in the ante-room, all of you.’
Everyone troops out except for
Dominic-I, the Troubleshooters, and
Dominic-I’s bodyguards.
Dominic-I: ‘Please, sit down. Sit, sit. Let’s
get this briefing started properly’.
The Actual Briefing
Dominic-I explains that the actual problem
– locating and destroying the source of the
Commie Ray that turns ordinary citizens
into traitors, apparently – has become a
departmental hot potato. Every service group
– well, apart from Power and Tech Services
– has an interest in the case. Therefore,
to avoid a bureaucratic logjam, Dominic-I
suggested they call in Troubleshooters, who
are outside the service group structure.
The mission is to take control of the Food
Pyramid, which seems to be the primary target
for Commie Mind Control, probably because it’s
a newly-built facility and therefore a high-profile
target. Then, they must locate and destroy the
Commie Ray, by implementing the various
service group plans. The Troubleshooter
team members should each oversee one of
the plans (pairing into teams if there are more
that five Troubleshooters, taking multiple plans
each if there are less). One of the plans should
be the solution to the problem and by having
an external party oversee the execution of the
plans, it ensures that the service groups can
work smoothly together.
Dominic-I presents this in a conspiratorial tone
of voice, suggesting that the Troubleshooters
are his allies in this bureaucratic end run
around the other groups. Let the players decide
which of them will oversee each plan. Dominic-
I then instructs the Troubleshooters to go and
get a private briefing from the appropriate
officer – so, the character who’s going to
co-ordinate security goes to see Larry-G, the
character who wants to run field testing goes
to Victor-B and so on.
Take each Troubleshooter aside and present
the appropriate briefings individually. None of
the briefing officers are happy with Dominic-I’s
compromise but are each determined to be the
one who solves the threat of the Commie Ray.
All the briefings end with the officer promising
the Troubleshooters full and absolute support
but don’t call us, we’ll call you.
IntSec Briefing
Toni-G’s briefing is short and to the point – the
Communists exist as part of the traitorous
underground. All the characters need to do
is infiltrate one or more secret societies and
follow them back to the Commies. The Food
Pyramid is a large, public venue and Internal
Security suspects that it is full of society
message drops and secret meetings. The
first step is to reduce the obvious security
presence, encouraging traitors to act more
openly within the Food Pyramid. Then, once
they have learned of secret society meetings,
infiltrate the meetings and find the Commies.
Armed Forces Briefing
Larry-G fills his briefing with military jargon and
codes. The 215th Infantry is standing by at Fort
Insurmountable, ready for insertion into the
mission zone. Once deployed, the 215th will
secure the area and be ready to strike against
the Commie foe. Civilians, Larry-G proclaims,
have weak minds, untempered by military
discipline. The Troubleshooters’ mission is to
co-ordinate deployment of the 215th and ensure
the civilians ‘don’t get in the way’.
 1. THE BRIEFING WAR
HPD&MC Briefing
Krystal-G informs the characters handling the
HPD&MC liaison that she wants to educate
the common citizens about the dangers of
the Commie Ray. A HPD&MC documentary
team will be sent to meet the characters at
the Food Pyramid and the characters are to
design an informational video on the dangers
of the Commie Ray. They must also ensure
that the population are kept happy, reassured
and informed of what they’re cleared to know
– remember, higher-clearance citizens on the
upper levels of the Food Pyramid deserve to
know more about the ongoing crisis.
R&D Briefing
Victor-B laughs and reassures the R&D
liaison that he is taking a personal interest
in the Commie Ray Crisis. Already, his lab
technicians are working on new and grander
devices that will detect, counteract or maybe
even reverse the effects of the Commie mind
control beam! All the Troubleshooters need to
do is ensure that these devices are installed
correctly by precisely following the instructions
that Victor-B will send along with them.
PLC Briefing
Chet-B is quite optimistic. He’ll give the
Troubleshooters a tour of the Food Pyramid
before handing the keys over to them and
the cafeteria has a skilled staff who basically
run the place anyway. The only thing the
characters need to worry about are the
targets – the Food Pyramid needs to make
100 Consumption Tracking Metric Units per
daycycle (incorporating breakfast, lunch,
dinner and mandatory snack breaks), so the
Troubleshooters need to ensure that the efforts
to stop the Commie Ray don’t interrupt the
business of serving food to the citizens.

Consumption Tracking Metric Units

The CTMUs used by the Food Pyramid are based on the simple principle that feeding a high-clearance citizen is worth more than feeding
an INFRARED. A CTMU is a complex metric derived from both the income from food sales and credits for completing your assigned duties
of feeding the masses. You get one CTMU for every:

256 INFRAREDS
64 RED/ORANGE
8 YELLOW/GREEN
1 BLUE OR HIGHER

The number of CTMUs earned by the Food Pyramid is determined by a random roll, modified by the level of chaos in the cafeteria. The
tables for CTMU earnings are given in Episodes 4, 5 and 6. The characters need to earn 100 CTMUs per daycycle. Earning few or excess
CTMUs will cause problems for the Troubleshooters.

Consumption Tracking Metric Unit Tracking

CTMUs Result
50 or less Food Court has dropped below starvation levels; higher-clearance citizens authorised to eat lower-clearance ones.
Troubleshooters get called to account for themselves by Chet-B’s vicious supervisor, Ingrid-I. She doesn’t need
authorisation to eat people. See page 28 for more on Ingrid-I.
51-74 Food Court food budget severely overstretched. CPU auditors called in. They discover Chet-B’s embezzling but
blame the characters. The characters need to somehow refill the budget by earning 125-149 CTMUs.
75-89 Food Court is running dangerously low on credits. The Troubleshooters are instructed to earn more credits – or
else. Fined 250 credits
90-99 Below optimum CTMU earnings. Shape up. Fined 100 credits each.
100 Optimum CTMU earning! Well done!
101-110 Above optimum CTMU earning! Have a bonus 100 credits!
111-125 Well above optimum CTMU! You earn an extra 250 credits each. Also, supplies are running low.
125-149 Supplies massively overstretched, especially drug supplies. Populace is now longer in a happy druggy haze.
Chance of food riots, spontaneous mutant power use, raids on upper levels.
150+ Biblical level disaster. INFRAREDs like a plague of locusts, eating everything. Doom, doom.

129
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Secret CPU Briefing
Once all the other briefings have been carried
out, randomly select one Troubleshooter.
Dominic-I contacts that Troubleshooter
and summons him to a meeting. There, the
INDIGO informs the Troubleshooter that his
secret mission is to observe the others and
report everything he sees to Dominic-I. Further
instructions may be issued later.
We’re Off To See
The Food Court
Tension 5
Finally, once all the briefings are complete,
Chet-B collects the characters and brings
them to the VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food
Pyramid Court…
Secret Society Missions
After the briefings, the Troubleshooters each
receive a secret society mission. If one of the
briefing officers matches the secret society
Listen carefully, I will say this only once.
130
of a Troubleshooter, then that officer gives
the mission; other missions are given by
anonymous clones in the corridors.
Anti-Mutant: Karl-R, the stores manager
in the Food Pyramid, is a filthy mutant scum.
Get him killed if you can.
Communists: Er…we don’t have a mind
control ray. We’ve no idea what’s going on.
Some of our propaganda was confiscated last
week by the Food Pyramid’s security service
– get it back or destroy it.
Computer Phreaks: We’ve hacked the
guest list for the dinner in the Food Pyramid
in two days time. Mathias-I of IntSec is on that
list. Terminate him!
Corpore Metal: We have received reports
that there is a Frankenstein Destroyer in
the Food Pyramid, mistreating our Botty
Brothers. Find and kill the machine hater. (It’s
Morris-O)
Death Leopard: Dude! There’s a Death
Leopard in the Food Pyramid called Metal
Noise. She’s done nothing cool lately. She
must be down – find her and motivate her.
(Alice-G is Metal Noise.)
FCCC-P: There is a stack of Church leaflets
hidden behind a false wall on the third shelf
in the third locker in the third giant walk-in
refrigerator downstairs in the storage section
of the Food Pyramid. Retrieve them and pass
the good news out to the INFRAREDs.
Frankenstein Destroyers: One of our
allies, Morris-O, works in the Food Pyramid.
Promote him if you can.
Free Enterprise (Chet-B): Listen to me,
friend! I’ll make you rich; just keep the Food
Pyramid going as long as you can.
Humanists: We’ve learned that a group of
high-clearance citizens are meeting for dinner
in a few days in the Food Pyramid. We want
you to capture the Commie Ray and use it on
them, thus spreading treason at the highest
levels of Alpha Complex and sowing the seeds
of The Computer’s destruction!
Illuminati: We need a warbot. Don’t ask
why. We will arrange to have one delivered to
the cafeteria. Somehow, get it out of there and
leave it in the corridor outside, unwatched, with
the engine running.
Mystics: Dude! Here’s a packet of…well,
green goop. There’s a dinner of high-clearance
citizens in the food pyramid in a few days
time. Mix this stuff into their food and they’ll
be tripping, man!
Psion: Our agent Karl-R works in the Food
Pyramid. Do not be deceived by his brutish
demeanor – he is a valued asset. Promote
him!
Pro Tech (Victor-B): We must capture
this Commie Ray for ourselves!
PURGE: Our agents led by Kevin-R will be
meeting in the cafeteria. Find them, join them
and aid their mission.
Romantics (Krystal-G): Hi! Wow, it’s
great to be working with you! I don’t have
a secret mission for you, but let’s be best
friends!
Sierra Club (Larry-B): I’m sending you
one of my best men, Bert-Y. He’s one of us.
Protect him!
 2. CAFETERIA
2. Cafeteria of the Damned
Episode Summary: The Troubleshooters
are put in charge of one of the largest and most
prestigious cafeterias in Alpha Complex. This
proves to be a mistake. Chet-B takes them on
a tour of the cafeteria and introduces them to
his four underlings, all of whom are traitors in
their own way.
What, The
Troubleshooters Are In
Charge?
Yep. We’re giving the Troubleshooters actual
authority over higher-clearance citizens.
They get to make decisions and have some
level of control over the course of events.
This is exactly like giving a man enough rope
to hang himself.
OF THE DAMNED
There’s also what looks like another dining
level above the BLUE one, sectioned off from
the lower levels by tinted windows. It looks
to diners below like there are noble high-
clearance citizens dining in the very same
building as them. What a grand gesture of
brotherhood and unity! In fact, behind the tinted
window are mobile human-shaped dummies
with head-mounted cameras, observing the
citizens below.
Level 0 - INFRAFRED
Level 2 – YELLOW-GREEN
Level 3 - BLUE
LEVEL 4 - ULTRAVIOLET
Level -1 - Stores
INVERTOWER
Of course, they really do not need these
cameras – the literal centrepiece of the
VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid is
the VitaYum/Complex Dynamics Security
Invertower. It looks rather like the offspring
of a many-eyed, many-limbed giant mutant
tarantula that had sex with a giant many-eyed,
many-limbed chandelier; the offspring then got
a advertising fast-food. It’s a huge mess of
screens, cameras and cables handing from the
apex of the pyramid and reaching almost to the
ground floor. On the inside of the Invertower
are the management and security offices of
the Food Pyramid.
Around the walls of the various levels are food
preparation areas, restrooms, storerooms, bot
maintenance facilities and so forth. Beneath
the Food Pyramid is a cavernous series
of storerooms and warehouses along with
dedicated Food Vats.

The VitaYum
Unified Citizenry
Food Pyramid
Court
The VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food
Pyramid Court is the grandest, most exciting
advancement in Alpha Complex Commissary
Food Deployment since the Fun High-Speed
FunInjection Nipple. It’s a huge pyramid-
shaped room in the heart of FOG Sector,
eight levels high and capable of serving up to
800 citizens at once. The whole building is a
pristine, wipe-clean sparkling white, with more
colour-coded stripes running everywhere. The
stripes on the walls designate the security
clearance of the area; the stripes on the floor
guide patrons to different sections of the Food
Pyramid.

The whole floor level of the Food Pyramid

is INFRARED clearance. Above that, the
walls slope inwards and the diners eat on
wide balconies overlooking the floors below.
The next level is RED clearance and serves
RED and ORANGE citizens, then a YELLOW
clearance level for YELLOW and GREEN
citizens and finally a BLUE clearance level
for BLUE and higher citizens. Levels are
connected by escalators and elevators.

131
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Food Service By Level
Level 0 (INFRARED): Upon entering the cafeteria, pass through the metal detectors and swipe your ME card through the ME card reader.
If you do not have enough food credits for a meal this daycycle, enter the line for Synthetic Nutrient-Free Stomach-Filling Fibre-Foam. Otherwise,
enter the line for the food dispersers. Take a tray and receive servings of the barely edible slop of the day, plus a handful of tranquilisers and
happy pills. Sit at one of the hundreds of identical black counters with your fellow drones. Eat, then drop your tray on one of the tray collecting
robots and leave the counter area before the automated chemical purge wash cycle begins for that counter zone.

While eating, watch the stream of propaganda reports and inspirational videos on the Invertower’s thousand screens.

This Week’s Special: NutraGoop, Stomach-Filling Fibre-Foam

Level 1 (RED/ORANGE): Upon entering the cafeteria, pass through the metal detectors and swipe your ME card through the ME card
reader. Stride past the cow-eyed INFRAREDs and proudly climb the stairs to your exclusive RED level. There, choose from up to half a dozen
different food counters, then take your food and sit at a table with a chair that appears to have been designed for some sort of lizard.

If ORANGE, you don’t need to bother with queuing up for food – just sit down in the marginally comfier chairs and wait for a WaiterBot to roll
up and take your order.

While eating, watch the stream of propaganda reports and inspirational videos on the Invertower’s thousand screens, unless you’re lucky enough
to be sitting at one of the few tables with its own TV set, in which case you can turn it to the Teela-O channel.

This Week’s Special: Hot Fun, VitaYum Bars

Level 2 (YELLOW/GREEN): Upon entering the cafeteria, pass through the metal detectors and swipe your ME card through the ME card
reader. Stride past the cow-eyed INFRAREDs and climb the stairs to the RED level, holding your nose at the smell. Hop on the high-speed
escalator to the YELLOW level and sit down on one of the comfy seats. Immediately, a WaiterBot zooms over to you and takes your order.
Real food is available regularly and special high-price dishes are served by human waitstaff.

While eating, you can watch TV on the unit installed at each table.

This Week’s Special: Duck in YELLOW sauce

Level 3 (BLUE+): You don’t take the common entrance to the cafeteria – there’s a BLUE-only entrance on a higher level. You sit in your
private booth and a human waiter (or bot, if you request privacy) comes over to take your order. You exit via the same exclusive access corridor.
While eating, check your stock portfolio or access The Computer via the console built into every seat.

This Week’s Special: Beef in VIOLET sauce

Hi, We’re In
Charge
Tension 10
Read the following to the players.
Chet-B leads you through a twisty
maze of corridors, all alike to a
door marked Invertower Access. It
opens into a glass-walled elevator.
Once you’re all inside, the elevator
descends into a vast pyramidal
chamber. You’re travelling down a
thick knot of cables hanging from
the apex of the pyramid (get it? It’s
an Inverted Tower!) All around the
walls of the pyramid, you see tier
after tier of cafeterias and seating
areas, coded by clearance level.
The tinted windows of the upper
level, the luxurious BLUE private
couches and fine restaurants, the
high-quality dining for YELLOW
citizens, the queues for the RED
vending machines, and the food
troughs for the INFRAREDs.
The elevator passes into a tangled
complex of cables and screens that
hangs in the centre of the open
space. With a loud DING, you arrive
in a small cluster of rooms at the
very heart of the Food Pyramid.
‘From here, you can oversee every
aspect of our operations. We’ll
come back here at the end of the
tour’ says Chet-B, pumping the
hand of [TROUBLESHOOTER] three
times, then making an odd gesture
with his thumb.
Chet-B then introduces a YELLOW clone,
Mike-Y, who is the chief of security for the Food
Pyramid. Mike-Y is a grizzled gruff citizen who
absolutely exudes competence and toughness,
the ideal security chief. He’s dressed in battle
armour and carries a slug rifle everywhere
he goes. Unfortunately for the characters,
Mike-Y confiscated a few pages of Commie
propaganda off a traitor in the cafeteria last
week and he read it instead of burning it. Now,
that Commie propaganda has stuck in his head
and really makes sense to him…

132
 2. CAFETERIA
Mike-Y-JKF-4
Management 4
Bootlicking 1
Stealth 8
Sneaking 12
Surveillance 12
Security Systems 12
Violence 6
Energy Weapons 10
Projectile Weapons 10
Unarmed 10
Hardware 4
Weapons & Armour Maintenance 8
Software 4
Data Analysis 8
Wetware 4
Armor: Kevlar (I3), YELLOW Reflex (E1)
Weapons: Slug Thrower (I, W3K)
Mutant Power: Rubbery Bones
Secret Society: None
Next, Chet-B takes the characters on a tour of
the Food Pyramid, starting with Level 0 (the
INFRARED area).
Level 0/1
‘We call this the factory floor.
Here’s where the INFRAREDs get
their slop. Slop dispensers are
over by the walls; it’s all pumped
up from the storage tanks and
food vats underground. We’ll get
to them later, too. Upstairs is RED
and ORANGE dining.
This whole section is run by my
good buddy, Morris-O. Hey! Morris!
Over here!’
Morris-O is a small knot of nervous stress on
legs and drugs. He has not slept in months
and despite working in a restaurant, he has not
been able to keep food down in months either.
He subsists on drugs, protein supplements and
water. He secretly hates Chet-B, believing that
his supervisor is incompetent and careless.
Morris-O covets Chet-B’s job or at least he
would if he had time to think. He also hates
Alice-G the bot technician upstairs and his
hatred of her has spilled over into full-blown
Frankenstein Destroyer beliefs. Morris-O’s
sole delight is in working the few bots in his
OF THE DAMNED
Morris-O-NOE-6
Management 8
Oratory 12
Organising Hundreds of Diners 14
Stealth 4
Violence 6
Hardware 4
Unclogging Food Troughs 10
Bot Abuse 10
Software 4
Bot Programming 8
Wetware 4
Biosciences 8
Armor: None
Weapons: Laser Pistol (W3K)
Mutant Power: Levitation
S e c r e t S o c i e t y : Frankenstein
Destroyer
domain to death and the bots on the RED
level are severely under-maintained and prone
to failure. To top it off, Morris-O will hate the
characters too as soon as he’s introduced to
them – they’re being handed Chet-B’s job,
whereas he deserves it.
Level 2
Chet-B reaches the foot of an
elevator to the YELLOW clearance
level above, then stops and glances
back at you. ‘Oh, don’t worry.
Since you’re getting my job for
the duration of the crisis, you’re
all getting temporary promotions
to BLUE clearance, effective only
within the confines of the Food
Pyramid. That will let you into all
security-sensitive sections of this
cafeteria. Well, almost – there’s a
VIOLET dining experience up there
that even I don’t get into.’
Upstairs, you’re led into a wonderland
of comfort and luxury beyond your
dreams. Immediately, a waiterbot
rolls over to you and cheerfully
burbles ‘welcome, sir! Our special
today is roast duck in YELLOW
sauce. May I take your order?’
Chet-B gestures at the bot with
one hand while shaking the hand
of [TROUBLESHOOTER] twice
and giving him a thumbs-up. ‘Bots
are the absolute foundation of the
lower three level’s workforce. All
our bots are maintained by Alice-G
and her staff. Bot, run off and get
Alice, please.’
‘Sure thing Mr. Chet-B’ says the
waiterbot, which spins around and
zooms off. A few moments later, a
young citizen in a GREEN jumpsuit
bounces up to you. She’s got all
sorts of gadgets and spare parts
hanging from her belt, stuffed into
her pockets and even stuck behind
her ears.
Alice-G-NGH-2
Management 4
Chutzpah 8
Stealth 4
Concealment 8
Violence 4
Energy Weapons 8
Agility 8
Hardware 8
Bot Ops & Maintenance 12
Software 8
Bot Programming 12
Wetware 4
Armor: GREEN Reflec (E1)
Weapons: Laser Pistol (W3K)
Mutant Power: Mechanical Intuition
Secret Society: Death Leopard
Alive-G is a sickeningly positive and enthusiastic
technician, responsible for maintaining the bots.
She spouts technobabble in response to every
question she’s asked. Secretly, she’s a Death
Leopard (codename: Metal Scream) who uses
her position to build homemade killer robots.
She’s got a secret workshop on Level 2, where
she’s assembled a trio of misshapen monsters
made from waiterbot and mixerbot parts. She
hates Morris-O for abusing her bots and hates
Alphonse-B because he’s exactly the sort of
stuck-up twit that Death Leopards loathe.
Level 3
Upstairs again, and into an almost
unimaginable level of luxury. This
133
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
whole level is BLUE-clearance.
Fountains tinkle musically between
tables of something Chet-B calls
‘mahogany’. The chairs look
incredibly comfortable, something
that definitely isn’t B3 sparkles in
crystal glasses and the sample
dishes on the menu are absolutely
mouthwatering. This surely is how
the elite of Alpha Complex dine.
The one fly in the ointment is the
tall, thin BLUE citizen with a chef’s
hat stalking towards you. He looks
unhappy.
The third key member of the staff is the
Cordon BLUE chef, Alphonse-B. He is
a terrible, terrible snob who cares about
nothing but serving the finest, finest food to
the finest, finest citizens. He speaks with a
ludicrously exaggerated French accent and
looks down his nose at anyone without the
requisite clearance or breeding to appreciate
his food. Alphonse-B is secretly a member of
the PURGE society, who planned to use his
position to assassinate certain high-clearance
citizens with discrete poisons but he never
had the nerve. He’s also an avid Romantics
member, using their connections to dig up old
recipes and techniques.
Hot Fun is not Haute Cuisine.
134
Alphonse-B
Management 8
Bootlicking 12
High-clearance savoire fare 12
Stealth 8
Sneaking 12
Violence 6
Hand Weapons 10
Hardware 4
Software 4
Wetware 10
Cooking 16
Armor: None
Weapons: Power Whisk (M4K)
Mutant Power: Supercooking
Secret Society: PURGE/Romantics
The Sublevel
Chet-B points up at the tinted
windows at the top level of the
pyramid. ‘Sometimes, you’ll see
people moving around up there.
The upper dining level is VIOLET
clearance and it’s all automated.
You don’t need to worry about it.
Anyway, come with me. Let’s go
behind the scenes, to where the
magic happens.’ He presses a
button and a hidden panel opens
revealing an elevator. You all crowd
in and it zooms down to the sublevel
beneath the Food Pyramid. While
you’re descending, Chet-B grabs
the hand of [TROUBLESHOOTER]
and shakes it from side to side
while tapping his other hand on the
‘DOOR CLOSE’ button.
After two-thirds of a cheery elevator
song about how nice it is to be in
an elevator, the doors open into
a cavernous chamber. In the dim
light, you can make out the hulking
shapes of food vats, storage tanks
and piles and piles of crates. You
can also make out the hulking
shape of a huge RED clone.
‘This is Karl-R’ says Chet-B, with a
slight quiver in his voice. ‘He runs
things down here.’
‘KARL-R’ says the giant, slapping
his chest. ‘KARL-R!’ You can’t
help but notice the bright yellow
registered-mutant stripe running
down his sleeve but it seems
impolite to mention it.
Karl-R is indeed a giant hulking mutant who
rules the sublevel with an iron fist. He has
a staff of pale, grub-like INFRARED slaves
who skulk between the food vats. He’s not
a moron, though – his speech patterns are
an affectation. He’s a Psion agent who adds
mutagens to the already-mutagenic food
additives. He speaks like a giant idiot so people
underestimate him.
Karl-R-XAV-4
Management 4
Intimidation 8
Stealth 4
Sneaking 1
Shadowing 8
Violence 10
Energy Weapons 14
Unarmed Combat 14
Hardware 4
Software 4
Wetware 4
Armor: None
Weapons: None
Mutant Power: Adrenaline Control,
Mental Blast
Secret Society: Psion
 2. CAFETERIA
Back to the Invertower
Finally, Chet-B brings the Troubleshooters
back to the Invertower. There are several
rooms in this little complex – there’s the
manager’s office, the security office, the food
vat control office and the executive bathroom.
He waves vaguely at the latter three and says
that they’re all pretty self-explanatory and
that nothing can go wrong. He then ushers
3. This Will Solve The Problem
Episode Summary: The four cunning
plans to locate the Commie Ray are put into
operation. This too proves to be a mistake.
There’s one section in this episode for
each of the four plans. In each section, the
Troubleshooters have to implement the first
section of the plan, as described by the liaison
for that section. If the Troubleshooter who,
say, was responsible for the HPD&MC part
of the plan cannot remember what Krystal-G
told him to do in the last section, then the
Troubleshooters still have to find some use for
a documentary film crew. When implementing
the plans, assume there are lots of staff in the
cafeteria but all orders must be given directly or
filtered through Morris-O, Alice-G, Alphonse-B
or Karl-R.
The plans are:
Internal Security: The Troubleshooters
are to decrease the security presence in the
Food Pyramid, to encourage traitors to show
up there.
HPD&MC: The Troubleshooters get to
star in their own educational video about the
dangers of Commie Rays.
Day Planner, Day One
0600 Wake-Up
0700 Breakfast – Meeting with Mike-Y re: Security system, turning off
0800 Breakfast
0900 Breakfast
1000
1100 Supplies Arrive
1200 Lunch – Meeting with HPD&MC Film crew
1300 Lunch – Making the video
1400 Lunch
1500
OF THE DAMNED
the Troubleshooters into his office and serves
them a generous helping of genuine booze.
‘Well, that’s the Food Pyramid.
It’s all yours now, guys. I’m being
temporarily reassigned to FUN
Sector for a break – but here’s my
personal number so you can call
me if anything goes wrong. I’m
sure you’ll track down this Commie
Ray in no time! Good luck!’ Chet-
B takes a heavy suitcase from
Armed Forces: The 215th Interview show
up and want dinner and a place to stay.
R&D: Victor-I has a giant MRI that he wants
the Troubleshooters to scan diners with.
This episode is supposed to take one daycycle.
At the end of it, the Troubleshooters must
calculate how many Consumption Tracking
Metric Units they have earned.
Internal Security
– Enabling
Treason
Tension 10, probably dropping
According to the instructions given by Toni-G,
the first step is for the Troubleshooters to
lower the security level of the Food Pyramid,
making it more attractive for Commie Mutant
Traitors to meet there. Toni-G’s undercover
IntSec agents will then identify and trace these
Commie Mutant Traitor meetings, opening
up a path to the treasonous underworld and
from there to the Commie Ray. At least, that
is the theory.
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
Nightcycle
behind his desk with one hand
and vigorously shakes the hand
of [TROUBLESHOOTER] with the
other. He pumps it twice, then
swaps the briefcase to the other
hand and shakes it twice again.
‘Cheerio’ he says and vanishes
from your lives.
The number Chet-B gives is, of course, fake.
He’s running away with his ill-gotten gains.
To disable some of the security systems in
the Food Pyramid, the Troubleshooters need
to either order Mike-Y the security chief to do
so, switch the security systems off themselves
from the security office or else sabotage the
physical cameras and table microphones
throughout the Pyramid.
Persuading Mike-Y
Mike-Y is adamant that turning off the security
systems would be a bad idea. A Really Bad
Idea. He absolutely refuses to do it unless they
directly order him to do so and if they put their
order in writing and if there’s an undeniable
paper trail a mile wide that directly connects
the Troubleshooters with the Really Bad
Idea and completely absolves Mike-Y of any
wrongdoing. If the Troubleshooters do this,
then Mike-Y will take great joy in pinning the
ensuing problems on them. The Tension drops
to 5 if the characters take this option.
Dinner – Premier of video
Dinner – Armed Forces arrive
Dinner – R&D Gadget arrives
Dinner
Cleaning
Cleaning
Cleaning
135
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Switching Off The Security
Systems Themselves
Well, first they need to get Mike-Y out of
his office, which isn’t that hard. Then they
need to switch off the security system. The
security system control panel is like looking
into the howling face of absolute madness,
as interpreted through the medium of buttons
and levers.
There’s a large and tempting OFF switch that
switches off ALL security throughout the Food
Pyramid. Pressing this is a Really, Really Bad
Idea, even worse than the Really Bad Idea
of turning off some of the security systems.
If they turn off all the security systems, then
the Tension throughout the Food Pyramid
drops to 0.
They can also try to work the controls. This
requires a Security System roll or random
button pressing. A successful roll lets them set
the Tension to whatever they want. If they risk
random button pressing, roll on the Security
System Catastrophe table.
permission to send in his guards to arrest the
saboteur. The ‘saboteur’ is actually Jerome-R,
an Internal Security agent working for Toni-G,
who is spying on Commies.
If the guards try to arrest Jerome-R, he
assumes that he’s been identified as an
Internal Security agent by Commie Mutant
Traitors and fights back. A standoff quickly
develops on Level 1 between the guards
and Jerome-R, who takes shelter behind a
waiterbot that’s loaded with highly flammable
(inflammable? Whatever. Call it explosive) Hot
Fun. Unless the characters intercede when the
lasers start zapping, they end up with a big
boom that takes out a chunk of Level 1.
Anarchy (Tension=0)
If the characters have reduced the Tension
to 0, then a riot breaks out in the INFRARED
section. Without security systems, it is
impossible to tell who started it but rumours
insist that the Commie Ray swept through
the cafeteria.
From this point on in the mission, the Tension
score in the Food Pyramid is equal to whatever
the Troubleshooters just set it to.
HPD&MC – Video
Killed The
Commie Star
Tension There’s A Guy With A
Camera Staring At Us
Krystal-G promised the Troubleshooters that
she would send a documentary team to help
them produce an educational video about the
dangers of the Commie Ray. Unfortunately, she
made a slight mistake when filling out the work
order. Instead of assigning the documentary
team to work for the Troubleshooters,
she assigned the team to work with them
– meaning the Troubleshooters will be starring
in the documentary. The work order is signed
by Krystal-G’s INDIGO-clearance supervisor,
Reginald-I, so there’s no way to get out of it.

Roll Effect Final Tension

1-4 System entirely shut down. 0
5-8 Fire Suppression System activated. A group of GREEN citizens on a dinner party 5
are very, very wet and very angry.
9-12 Overdose of tranquilisers added to Hot Fun. Level 0 is suddenly filled with dozens 10
of quietly slumbering INFRAREDs.
13-16 Alerts sent to Internal Security, informing them that the Food Pyramid is under 5
Commie attack. A heavily armed strike team shows up with hostage negotiators
in tow, to ensure the safety of the high-clearance citizens on level 2.
17-20 System goes wild, showing sparks everywhere. 1d20

Disabling The System HPD&MC Edufotainment Video Team Work Order

Form HPD&MC/542/7/b/2
Themselves Description of Video: Informational video on the effects of the Commie Ray, to
be displayed on video monitors throughout Food Pyramid and FOG Sector
If the Troubleshooters want to wander around Minimum Run Time: 3 min Maximum Run Time: 5 min
smashing security cameras, they can. Mike-Y Security Clearance of Video: INFRARED
will have words for them or for the debriefing Approved Assets: VitaYum United Citizenry Food Pyramid Court, assorted
officer at the end… ad hoc props and locations up to security clearance ORANGE
Subjects: (Troubleshooters) TICK ALL THAT APPLY:
Supervisor: (blank) [ ] dramatic music [X] simulated violence
The IntSec Situation Authorisation: Reginald-I-HJK [X] subliminal messaging [X] B3 consumption
[X] adult situations [ ] mental stimulation
(Tension >0) [ ] flashing lights [ ] DVD extras
[X] simulated treachery [ ] Teela-O
If the Tension is anything other than 0, then a
rather tricky problem arises. Mike-Y contacts
the Troubleshooters, informing them that he’s
noticed a rather suspicious person on Level
1 that he suspects is a saboteur. He wants

136
 3. THIS WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM
The Troubleshooters need to script and act out
a short film, educating the citizens about the
effects of the Commie Ray. The documentary
team consists of two citizens, a director and
a camera-man.
The director is Lucius-O, who is more used
to making dramatic Troubleshooter action
movies like Heroes of the Complex and
Commie Zapping Action Hour! He’s got
the attention span of a gamer and is shallower
than a monofilament looking glass. He wants
more action and drama and passion at
every step! He’s also got suppressed Mystic
tendencies, as drugs are about the only things
that slow him down.
The cameraman is Donna-R; she rarely
speaks and obeys all of Lucius-O’s commands
silently and competently. She’s an Internal
Security spy and her multicorder has a signal
splitter so it automatically transmits a copy
back to Internal Security. She’s also a secret
FCCC-P fanatic.
Our Fifteen Minutes Of Fame
The Troubleshooters need to decide on a script
and what sort of message they want to send
to the common citizenry. How do they convey
the (still-hazy) threat of the Commie Ray?
What should a loyal citizen do when he feels
traitorous impulses well up from within? Lucius-
O will push for the most dramatic interpretation
possible, while Donna-R silently observes and
watches for treason. If the characters deviate
from the work order, then she speaks up.
After the video is complete, Lucius-O and
Donna-R run back to HPD&MC to edit it, put
in a dramatic voice over, music and subliminal
messaging and attend the wrap party (they
don’t invite the Troubleshooters). They then
come back to the Food Pyramid and hand over
a copy of the video to the Troubleshooters, then
hang around the Food Pyramid filming events
for another documentary, The Cafeterias the heavy firepower backing him up. Secretly,
of Tomorrowcycle! Bert-Y wants to be a Sierra Clubber – his
time in the Armed Forces has given him an
appreciation for the natural world but he hasn’t
Informing the Populace dared to indulge his desires for potted plants
and topsoil.
Once the video is complete, the Troubleshooters
must display it on the screens in the Food Bert-Y demands the Troubleshooters provide
Pyramid. Pay very close attention to the the following:
contents of the video that the players came Somewhere For His Men To
up with – this will determine the initial attitude Sleep: They’ve got sleeping bags and
of the citizens in the Food Pyramid to the tents but need space.
Commie Ray. Rumours are already circulating Food: He’s not going to pay for it or
that there’s some sort of Commie Mind Control anything. This is a contracted mission for
ray out there; the video made by the characters the Food Pyramid, so any living expenses
will determine the level of psychohypochondria should be bourn by PLC.
that runs rampant in the sector. A Tactical Briefing: He has no idea
what he or his men are supposed to be
Armed Forces doing but they got ordered to march here
this morning and isn’t happy about that
– Send in the either.
Troops Bert-Y-OID-4
Tension Depends On What The Management 4
Troubleshooters Just Did Interrogation 8
Intimidation 8
According to Larry-G’s plan, the 215th Infantry Shouting Orders 10
is being deployed to the Food Pyramid to Stealth 4
secure the area and watch for traitors – and, Violence 8
as promised, the 215th Infantry shows up at the Energy Weapons 12
entrance to the Food Pyramid. There are 500 Projectile Weapons 12
heavily armed Armed Forces grunts, led by Hardware 4
Bert-Y. They’ve just marched from their base Weapons & Armour Maintenance 8
Outside through six sectors to FOG; they’re Software 4
tired, sweaty, hungry and looking forward to Wetware 4
getting into the billets that they’ve been told Armor: Kevlar (I3), YELLOW Reflex (E1)
will be waiting for them. The Troubleshooters Weapons: Laser Rifle (W3K)
have sorted out accommodation for 500 Mutant Power: Electroshock
soldiers, right? Secret Society: Sierra Club
Right?
Bert-Y is a short, officious and annoying career Armed Forces Grunt
soldier. He’s red-faced, balding, bellicose and Management 2
would be a joke if not for the 500 soldiers and Bootlicking 6
Intimidation 6
Stealth 4
Violence 6
Energy Weapons 10
Armor: Kevlar (I3)
Weapons: Laser Rifle (W3K)
Mutant Power: Varies
Secret Society: Varies
137
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Guess whose army is coming to dinner…
Accommodation
The Troubleshooters have two options – they
can section off part of Level 0 for the soldiers
or they can stick them down in the bowels of
the storage levels. Bert-Y favours the former
option but this will cut the cafeteria’s ability
to serve INFRAREDs in half. He strongly
disapproves of exiling his men to the dank
under-basement.
If they stick the soldiers on Level 0, then the
Food Pyramid rapidly turns into a sprawling
campsite, with underwear drying on washing
lines, Solyent RED cooking on capefires, tanks
rolling around patrolling the perimeter and the
occasional random outburst of gunfire. Higher-
clearance citizens look down disapprovingly
from the balconies above and the INFRAREDs
are crammed so tightly in the non-militarised
sections of the ground floor that there’s a real
138
danger of being crushed or trampled. Still, it
all works well for now.
If they put them in the subbasement, then Bert-
Y complains that the food vats are leaking and
Karl-R complains that soldiers are stealing his
supplies and getting lost in the maze of twisty
corridors and cellars. It also means there is
no real way for the soldiers to respond to
traitors showing up and attacking the Food
Pyramid, unless the Troubleshooters want
to try organising a rapid deployment via the
dumb waiters.
Feeding The Five Hundred
So, what do you serve 500 hungry hungry
soldiers? If the Troubleshooters just let them
run wild in the INFRARED food lines, then
this will severely impact the Food Pyramid’s
CTMUs for the day.
Also, if the troops are stationed on Level 0
and they’re allowed to run wild in the food
troughs, then violence erupts when a civilian
INFRARED takes the last packet of Algae
Crisps. Suddenly, a huge fistfight erupts on the
lowest level. There are far too many soldiers for
Mike-Y’s Food Pyramid security team to deal
with – what do the characters do?
If the Troubleshooters don’t authorise the
Armed Forces troops to have free reign of
the food troughs, then there’s an awful lot of
grumbling but no penalties… yet.
A Tactical Briefing
Bert-Y wants to know what his soldiers are
going to be doing. He’s got 500 armed thugs
who need to shoot something regularly or
at least burn off some of their combat-drug-
fuelled energy, then things will get violent
quickly. What do the Troubleshooters want to
do with their army?
R&D – MRIs For
All
Tension Inside The MRI: 20
Mad scientist Victor-B promised he would
send the Troubleshooters technology to
deal with the Commie Ray and the first bit of
this technology shows up in the evening of
the first daycycle. It’s a huge packing crate,
marked ‘THIS WAY UP’ (it’s upside-down)
and weighing many tons. It’s delivered by a
surly truckbot that zooms off after dropping
off the crate.
Stuck to the side of the crate is a note from
Victor-B. ‘Set this up in the entrance
to the Food Pyramid and scan all
incoming citizens. Victor-B.’ When the
crate is opened, inside the Troubleshooters
find a giant self-powered magnetic resonance
imaging scanner. It’s the size of a jet engine.
There are steps at either end and friendly little
diagrams show that the citizens are supposed
 3. THIS WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM
to troop through the scanner on their way to the
cafeteria. The MRI also includes a transmitter
to send data back to Victor-B’s laboratory.
The Sound of
Impending Doom
the scientist demanding they implement his Armed Forces
data gathering technology! Without a baseline Armed Forces detachment has taken up
for the squishy brains of the diners, how can residence on Level 0: -5
they trace the effects of the Communist Mind Armed Forces given free reign in the food
Control beam? troughs: -5
Armed Forces forced to pay full price for
PLC – Cashing food: +5

There’s one problem with this gadget – when

activated, it creates a very strong magnetic
field over the whole Food Pyramid. This pulls
the following items strongly toward the MRI
machine:
The metal cutlery and plates used on
Levels 1-3
The metal escalators and banisters
The metal vending machines and food
troughs
The metal scrubbots and waiterbots
The metal guns and armour worn by the
Armed Forces
The metal screens and cameras of the
Invertower
The metal girders in the walls
Out On Day One
Tension Impending Doom
At the end of the daycycle, it’s time to work
out how many CTMUs the Troubleshooters
earned. Roll 1d10x5 for each of the three
major mealcycles (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
to determine the number of CTMUs earned.
Perversity can be spent on this roll.
The roll is also modified by events in the
Food Pyramid. Apply the modifiers to, well,
whatever rolls you feel like to be honest. This
is PARANOIA, after all – be as inconsistent
and cruel as you wish.
Internal Security
Tension is between 1 and 5, making the
cafeteria a great place for conspirators to
meet: +5
Tension is 0, resulting in anarchy and
violence: -5
HPD&MC
Video is especially entertaining: +5
Rumours of Commie Mind Control are
greatly exaggerated: -5
R&D
They actually use the MRI: -5
Finally, add up the number of CTMUs earned

Switching on the MRI for more than five

seconds at a time causes severe disruption to
the smooth running of the cafeteria (and will
draw angry complaints from Alice-G, Morris-O
and Alphonse-B). Leaving it running for 30
seconds or more will cause severe structural
damage. It takes five seconds to spin up or to
spin down and it takes another five seconds
to scan a citizen.

In short, it’s a big giant useless piece of

metal. (Oh, the MRI also attracts itself). If the
Troubleshooters do not send data back to
Victor-B, then they get an angry message from

The off switch, ironically, is made of plastic.

139
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
4. This Did Not Solve The Problem
Episode Summary: The various plans
advance. This really doesn’t help. Meanwhile,
as knowledge of the ‘existence’ of the Commie
Ray becomes common, everyone starts using
the Commie Ray as an excuse to commit
treason.
Armed Forces: The 215 t h fortifies
their position as treason takes hold of the
cafeteria.
Internal Security: The Troubleshooters
are sent to infiltrate a secret society meeting
in their own cafeteria.
HPD&MC: As the panic over the Commie
Ray grows, Krystal-G has a whole new
initiative to solve the problem.
R&D: Victor-B sends new and even more
disturbing gadgets to the Food Pyramid.
PLC: Chet-B’s supervisor Ingrid-I shows
up.
Again, this episode is supposed to take
place over one daycycle. At the end of it, the
Troubleshooters must again calculate how
many Consumption Tracking Metric Units
they’ve earned.
It’s Not My Fault,
It’s The Ray
Tension Whatever It’s Currently
Set To
As the Troubleshooters return to the Food
Pyramid the next morning, they spot an
unusual amount of graffiti spray-bombed on
the formerly pristine walls of FOG Sector.
There’s an odd prickly feeling in the air, as if
the local nuclear reactor was being twitchy. All
the citizens the Troubleshooters pass seem
nervous.
Near the entrance to the Food Pyramid, the
Troubleshooters come upon an odd scene.
There’s a RED citizen sitting in the middle of
the corridor, napping. There’s a pair of GREEN
goons standing on either side of him, directing
foot traffic around him. The RED clone is
stretched out, his head pillowed on a thick
folder entitled ‘Directives for the Efficient
Auditing of Type I Screw Washers
in Type II Screw Washer Storage
Facilities’ and appears to be fast asleep.
If the Troubleshooters ask why this RED
citizen is allowed to keep on sleeping in the
middle of the morningcycle, one goon grunts
that the matter is classified. From behind the
grunting GREEN goon, the Troubleshooters
hear the sleeping citizen mutter ‘I can’t
help it… the ray… making me
soooooo sleepy. I must…lie down
and sleep… not my volition…
Commies… making me sleepy…
with their Ray… mmm… just like
on the informational video.’
As the RED citizen is not responsible for
committing treason (ok, not even in Friend
Computer’s most fevered crossed circuits
is sleeping on duty considered full-fledged
treason but it’s still a severe misdemeanour),
he is not being punished. Anyone blaming
their treacherous impulses on the ray is given
special dispensation – it’s not your fault if
you’re mind controlled, after all.
The Troubleshooters discover this when they
arrive at the Food Pyramid and Morris-O walks
up and punches the lead Troubleshooter in
the face.
Crisis at Breakfastcycle
Morris-O is always full of hate but the disruptions
caused by all the different plans to save the
cafeteria from the Commie Ray really annoyed
him. With all the rumours circulating about
using the Commie Ray as an excuse, Morris-O
decided to take a swing at his boss and blame
it on the Commie Ray.
Morris-O’s surprisingly solid
fist connects very solidly with
[TROUBLESHOOTER]’s nose.
There’s a distinct wet snapping
noise and a gush of low-clearance
fluids mixed with a few mid-
clearance GREENs come pouring
out. It’s really painful.
Morris-O grins widely (it’s the first
time you’ve seen the man smile
since you met him yesterday), then
suddenly snaps to attention and
salute. ‘Sorry’, he says, ‘the Commie
Ray made me do it! I was suddenly
overwhelmed by the desire to punch
you in the face, sir! Obviously, the
Commies are so scared of you that
they’re trying to make innocent
citizens attack you!’
The Troubleshooters can discipline Morris-O
as they wish, but he’s technically in the right,
as they discover when they get to their office
in the Invertower, where Krystal-G is waiting
for them.

Day Planner, Day Two

0600 Wake-Up 1600
0700 Breakfast – Encounter sleeping citizen 1700
0800 Breakfast – Meeting with Krystal-G 1800 Dinner
0900 Breakfast – Yoga classes start 1900 Dinner – Ingrid-I arrives
1000 Yoga continues throughout the day 2000 Dinner – PURGE meeting
1100 Supplies arrive 2100 Dinner
1200 Lunch – Meeting with Bert-Y 2200 Cleaning
1300 Lunch – Lots of Armed Forces stuff arrives 2300 Cleaning
1400 Lunch – Visit from Toni-G 2400 Cleaning
1500 Box of helmets arrives from R&D Nightcycle

140
 4. THIS DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM
This nice citizen on the transtube
Opportunities for handed me these leaflets and I
Treachery thought I could use it to get people
With rumours of the Commie Ray in full swing, to relax. This Food Court’s a nice big
every suppressed treasonous impulse venue – I’m going to show people
how to relax the natural way.’
She drops a badly-printed leaflet on
HPD&MC – your desk and wanders out. The title
of the leaflet is ‘YOGA SECRETS OF
Relaxing Time THE ANCIENTS – LEARN THE TRUTH
Tension Leeching From Your ABOUT NATURAL HAPPINESS.
Body SAY NO TO THE COMPUTER’S
yoga and chant treasonous phrases. The
INFRAREDs are a bit confused but willing
to follow the orders of a higher-clearance
citizen. Krystal-G will continue to teach yoga
for the rest of the daycycle unless stopped
or terminated. If the Troubleshooters come
near her, then she tries to get them to join in.
Krystal-G is absolutely oblivious to anything
else, and will keep teaching yoga even in the
middle of a firefight.

‘Hi guys!’ says Krystal-G perkily. ‘I

ARTIFICIAL CONTROL OF JOY!
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE
Krystal-G
Management 4
loved you in that video, it was just ROMANTICS SOCIETY!’ Con Games 1
super! It really taught the common Hygiene 8
citizens about how those Commies The Troubleshooters have just been ordered Chutzpah 8
are using mind control to make to help distribute treasonous propaganda to the Stealth 4
people commit treason and it’s diners in the Food Pyramid. The leaflet contains Violence 4
no-one’s fault at all! Except the a mix of basic yoga techniques and Romantic Hardware 4
Commies, of course! propaganda, so it’s not that treasonous but still Software 4
very questionable, especially as it advocates Wetware 4
Anyway, my boss was looking at the stuff like chanting ‘Omm… The Computer Armor: None
happiness report for this sector and is not my Friend’ while wrapping your legs Weapons: None
it’s really good. The one thing is the around your head. Mutant Power: Uncanny Luck
stress index is kinda high, I guess Secret Society: Romantics
‘cos everyone’s worried about being Krystal-G heads down to Level 1 with a
hit by the Commie Ray. So, we need megaphone and starts showing the
to get people to relax. INFRAREDs on the floor below how to do

Random Yoga Instruction Table

Roll Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
1-2 Put your left leg… Behind Your left leg Gently
3-4 Put your right leg… Over Your right leg Slowly
5-6 Put your left arm… Under Your left arm Tenderly
7-8 Put your right arm… Through Your right arm Quickly
9-10 Put your neck… Beside Your neck Sharply
11-12 Put your spine… Around Your back Strongly
13-14 Put your head… Twisted Around Your shoulder Repeatedly
15-16 Stretch your body and put it… Folded Into Your head Immediately
17-18 Take your partner’s hand and put it… On Top Of Your thighs Forcefully
19-20 Take your partner’s head and put it… Between Yours whole body Violently
Roll once on each column to generate an instruction.

141
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Yoga is possibly the only time you actually want the rubbery bones mutation.
Armed Forces –
Fort Food Court
Tension Rising
The Armed Forces commander Bert-Y
contacts the Troubleshooters. ‘My troops
have been attacked by citizens
under the effect of the Commie
Ray’, he says, ‘no casualties thus
far but I want to take steps to
protect the Armed Forces assets
attached to this operation. I have
therefore requested some additional
fortifications from Armed Forces
command. As this is your food
court, it’s up to you to locate and
install these fortifications. They’re
waiting on truckbots outside the
main entrance.’
True to his word, Bert-Y has brought in a
load of extra Armed Forces stuff. Waiting
on trucks outside the Food Pyramid are the
following items:
Four (4) watchtowers with searchlights
and machine guns.
Two (2) security checkpoints with barriers,
sandbags and ME scanners.
Two (2) anti-aircraft guns.
Four (4) artillery guns.
142
Sixteen (16) portable nuclear strike-proof
bunkers.
Ten (10) kilometres of two-metre high
flat-pack wall segments.
Twenty (20) kilometres of electrified,
poisoned and self-repairing barbed wire.
Two hundred (200) anti-personnel mines.
Enough laser rifles to outfit a battalion.
One (1) WarBot (Shadow Mark II).
The Troubleshooters need to find places to
stow all of this stuff. The easy option is to
throw it all the subbasement with Karl-R but
this will come back to hurt them later in the
mission. They can also just stack the stuff on
the floor of the Food Pyramid. It’s the material
like the barbed wire, walls and minefields that
will cause the most disruption (what a strange
world to live in, where the WarBot isn’t the thing
that causes the most disruption).
Bert-Y will offer helpful suggestions if the
Troubleshooters ask but he wants to build
a combat-ready fortress, not serve Hot Fun
to INFRAREDs or hunt down a mysterious
Commie Ray. This section is mainly an excuse
for the players to play Interior Decorator with
military gear but will also be an important factor
in later sections of the mission, so keep track
of what goes where.
Internal Security
– The Meeting
Tension Mounting
Toni-G the Internal Security liaison is the next
to contact the Troubleshooters. Her spies
have determined that PURGE are going to
be holding a meeting in the Food Pyramid
on Level 1 during dinner this evening. The
Troubleshooters will be able to recognise the
PURGE conspirators by their secret eating
technique – no matter what the PURGErs are
eating, they use a fork three times, and then
a spoon twice.
The Troubleshooters’ mission is to infiltrate
this PURGE meeting and somehow push
the discussion towards the Commie Ray. As
PURGE are known to be allies of the Commies,
no doubt the PURGErs will know where the
Ray is. This mission is top secret and must only
be undertaken by the Troubleshooters.
They do have several hours to prepare for this
undercover assignment, of course.
R&D – These
New Stylish
Helmets
Tension The Doom of Fashion
Another giant crate arrives on the doorstep,
delivered by R&D. Inside this one are
one dozen bulky metal helmets. There’s
also a large manual entitled ‘PROPER
DEPLOYMENT AND USE OF PROTOTYPE
MENTAL ADJUSTMENT HELMET MK 1’.
Every page in the large manual is blank except
for the words ‘TEXT GOES HERE’.
The metal helmets are really heavy and painful
to wear. Each helmet has a large red LED
that glows when the helmet is switched on.
There’s a power stud at the back of the neck.
Inside, the padded interior is lined with little
silvery wires that feel painful to the touch, like
the stingers of a jellyfish. A few of the helmets
have sticky notes on them. Each sticky note
bears the name of a particular Troubleshooter
and it’s obvious that one helmet is meant for
each player character.
If a character puts on a helmet and switches
it on, he feels… different. He can’t put his
 4. THIS DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM
finger on exactly what’s different, but there’s definitely something different. Roll on the Mental in the sector for a brief chat with Chet-B, in
Adjustment Table for each character who puts a helmet on. advance of the very important dinner tomorrow
that’s being held on Level 3. She expected Chet-
Roll Effects B to be waiting her, ready for the inspection.
1-2 Subject becomes colour blind Instead, she’s met by a scruffy group of clueless
3-4 Subject unable to move his right hand Troubleshooters and a cafeteria that looks
5-6 Subject believes that everyone in Alpha Complex is a lizard in a human suit (depending on the Troubleshooters’s actions)
7-8 Subject can no longer perceive the number ‘seven’ like a warzone, an armed camp, a yoga class
9-10 Subject’s mutant power rating doubles or a giant ball of twisted metal. She is, to put it
11-12 Subject unconsciously removes all clothing mildly, not happy.
13-14 Subject obeys all commands given to him
15-16 Subject can see electronic signals ‘I am, to put it mildly, not happy’
17-18 Subject’s sense of taste becomes incredibly sensisitive Ingrid-I growls. ‘I have no idea why
19-20 Subject becomes immensely hungry all the time Chet-B put you in charge without
my permission but rest assured
that you will suffer along with him
furious – cuts its way through for any failings. The annual meeting
the buzz of the crowd. ‘CHET-B?! of Sector Section Supervisors is on
Using The Helmets Where are you, you incompetent here tomorrowcycle and it’s too late
vatslime!’ to cancel.
The Helmets are designed to block the effects
of the Commie Ray but seeing as the Commie The visitor is Ingrid-I, Chet-B’s superior and the We’re going to take a little tour
Ray doesn’t actually exist, the helmets just Chief Cafeteria and Commissary Operations of this cafeteria. Anytime I see
screw with the brainwaves of the wearer Coordinator for this whole sector. She rose to something I don’t like, someone
randomly. However, everyone else believes this exalted position over the literal corpses of loses a finger. Understand?’
that anyone wearing a helmet is immune to the her foes; Ingrid-I is secretly a Matter Eater and
Commie Ray’s effects. The Troubleshooters a cannibal, who picks her teeth with the bones
therefore cannot avoid penalties for treason of failed cafeteria managers. Her teeth, sharp Another Tour
by blaming the ray for their actions as long as and glistening, are by far her most prominent
they’re wearing these troublesome helmets. feature. Her eyes are the eyes of a shark. Ingrid-I then orders the Troubleshooters to
take her on a tour of the cafeteria, starting
PLC – the Tour Anyway, she just popped into the most
prestigious and high-profile cafeteria
with Level 0.

Tension Rising

Read the following to the players:

Dinnercycle has finally started and
things seem to be going as smoothly
as can be hoped. Morris-O is a little
orange blur on the ground floor,
dealing with a dozen crises at once.
Alice-G’s fleet of waiterbots zip
around the Food Pyramid, bringing
food to hungry clones. Far above,
Alphonse-B shows the wine list to
the two BLUE-clearance citizens
eating here this dinnercycle. You’re
almost prepared to breathe a sigh
of relief.

Then you hear a commotion at the

main entrance. A group of heavily
armed GREEN goons push their
way through the crowd, shielding
someone very clearly VIOLET in
their midst. A voice – shrill, painful,

Ingrid-I. She is not your friend.

143
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
entourage sweeps onto Level 2 and won’t
entertain suggestions of stopping. (Saying
Ingrid-I ‘two minutes! We need to attend a
PURGE meeting’ just gets them shot by her
Management 10 bodyguards.) See Purge Meeting, below.
Intimidation 14
Hygiene 14
Stealth 8
Level 2: ‘Oh, by the way, Chet-B
ordered in the finest ingredients
Violence 12
Unarmed Combat 16
for the dinner tomorrow. Check
with that monster in the basement
Hardware 10 to ensure they arrived. We spared
Software 12 no expense for the Sector Section
Data Analysis 16 Supervisor’s Dinner!’
Financial Systems 16
Wetware 10 If a Troubleshooter checks with Karl-R, he
Armor: INDIGO Reflec (E3) discovers that the ingredients have been
Weapons: Teeth (M3V) ordered and should arrive tomorrow.
Mutant Power: Super matter eating
Secret Society: Anti-Mutant Level 3: ‘Alphonse! My darling, do
they still have a chef of your genius
working in this hellhole? You
should be upstairs! But I’ll forgive
it all if you excel tomorrow! Where
Level 0: ‘I don’t care about the damn is the menu?’
INFRAREDs! And keep that Morris-
O away from me, he annoys me.’ Alphonse-B and Ingrid-I are old friends. He
gives her a copy of the menu and hands
Fingers lost for: the Troubleshooters another copy. It is
Anyone committing treason nearby. interesting reading.
Armed Forces troops messing up her nice Ingrid-I stabs a thin finger at the menu.
cafeteria. ‘Make sure that Alphonse has
Armed Forces equipment cluttering up her everything he needs! The guests
nice cafeteria.
That MRI still running. VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food
Citizens wearing non-standard uniforms, Pyramid Court
like the R&D helmets. Sector Section Supervisors Annual
Yearcycle-End Banquet
Her GREEN goons remove the fingers with a
handy pair of wirecutters and put them into a MENU
bag for Ingrid. By the incomparable Alphonse-B
Level 1: ‘Yes, yes, REDs, who the Mushrooms in Glazed Honey
hell cares? They’re just INFRAREDs Genetically Engineered Soup
with ribbons on top.’ Beef Surprise in VIOLET sauce
Vegetables of the Hydroponic Seasoncycle
Fingers lost for: Iced Caramel Mousse
Ongoing Yoga classes. Café Noir
Damaged or malfunctioning bots.
Damage to the cafeteria. Guest List:
Dominic-I (CPU), Ingrid-I (PLC),
While the Troubleshooters are accompanying Mathias-I (IntSec), Martha-I (HPD&MC),
Ingrid-I through the RED level, they spot four Rhonda-I (R&D), George-I (Armed Forces),
REDs clustered conspiratorially in a corner. Kenny-I (Tech Services)
They’re all eating with a fork and spoon, even & special guest
though they’ve only ordered drinks so far. It’s
the PURGE meeting the Troubleshooters are [[[ NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR SECURITY
supposed to be infiltrating! Ingrid-I and her CLEARANCE ]]]
144
will be arriving tomorrow evening
– this place had better be spotless
and running smoothly by the time
they get here! And get me some
ketchup for these fingers!’
Intsec – PURGE
Meeting
Tension Rather High, Probably
If the Troubleshooters make it back to the
secret PURGE meeting, they can try to infiltrate
it. There are four burly traitors here, all RED-
clearance. The lead PURGE traitor is Kevin-R.
The tables on either side of the PURGE
meeting are all full of loud and hyperactive
Power Services technicians who just finished
overhauling a sewer pump station, and are
trading heroic and manly tales of waste pipes
and sump overflows, so eavesdropping on the
PURGE meeting without electronics or mutant
powers is impossible.
If the Troubleshooters sit down at the PURGE
table (there are free seats), the PURGErs
draw laser pistols and point them at the
Troubleshooters under the table. Kevin-R
demands to know who the characters are and
if they don’t come up with a good cover story or
reason for being there quickly, the PURGErs
open fire. Sitting down with a plate of food and
mimicking the PURGE fork/spoon recognition
code will work.
Secrets of the PURGE
brotherhood
Once he trusts the Troubleshooters, Kevin-R
launches into a conspiratorial rant:
‘Fellow enemies of The Computer,
be happy! The regime of the enemy
is in disarray! Ever since the hated
Communists began testing their
mind control weapon, many have
risen up against The Computer!
This chaos and terror can only
benefit the cause of PURGE!
Our spies have searched for the
Commie mind control ray, so that
we might seize it from them and use
it to control the common clones,
using them as unwitting agents of
 4. THIS DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM
PURGE. I am glad to inform you that
we have indeed located the mind
control device – or, more accurate,
we know where it is going to be. I
will tell you where that is soon but
first we have another mission!
There is another PURGE agent in
this cafeteria, a deep-cover agent
who has spent many years moving
into a position where he can strike
a significant blow against the
state! He has contacted us, asking
for certain supplies that I have
here with me. Once one of you
volunteers to deliver them, we can
move onto our plans to secure the
mind control ray!’
None of the actual PURGE members are
willing to volunteer, so it’ll have to be one of
the Troubleshooters. If one of them agrees
to the mission, Kevin-R hands that character
a small vial and whispers instructions to him
secretly. ‘Our agent is one of the staff
of this cafeteria. This vial contains a
deadly poison, which will be added
to the food. Place the vial on the
third shelf in the third locker in
the third giant walk-in refrigerator
downstairs – our agent will collect it
from there. Do you understand?’
5. Food Fight
Episode Summary: Day three in the Food Pyramid and it all goes to hell. Preparations for the Sector Section Supervisor Banquet prove
troublesome when Chet-B’s embezzling comes to light, not to mention the fact that the chef is a PURGE assassin.
Day Planner, Day Three
0600 Wake-Up
0700 Breakfast – Krystal-G’s fun mental fitness
routine
0800 Breakfast
0900 Breakfast
1000
1100 Supplies don’t arrive
1200 Lunch – The Armed Forces come back
1300 Lunch
1400 Lunch – Alphonse-G goes looking for
poison
1500 Morris-O is murdered
Once the Troubleshooter has assented that
he will commit treason in the name of PURGE
and writes a receipt for Kevin-R’s poison on a
napkin, Kevin-R continues.
‘We have learned that the mind
control device is being moved and
we will intercept it, seize it and use
it! Tomorrowcycle, brothers, the
new order begins! For the greater
glory of PURGE! Death to The
Computer and its lackies!’
Unfortunately, Kevin-R and PURGE are
mistaken – they haven’t found the (non-
existent) Commie ray, their spies have
discovered the third and final R&D gadget, a
prototype mind control ray built by Victor-B.
Kevin-R had no further information about the
mind control device but he promises to contact
the new PURGE recruits when he knows
exactly when and where they’ll be seizing the
Mind Control Ray.
Cashing out
Again, the Troubleshooters need to determine
how many CTMUs they’ve earned this
daycycle. Again, it’s 2d20 for each meal,
modified by Perversity and the fickle whims
of the Gamemaster.
1600
1700
1800 Dinner
1900 Dinner – Guests arrive for dinner
R&D bring in the mind control ray
Everyone tries to steal the mind
control ray
Armed Forces
Cafeteria lines blocked by fortifications:
-5.
Cafeteria lines mined: -10.
Armed Forces detachment has taken up
residence on Level 0: -5.
Armed Forces given free reign in the food
troughs: -5.
Armed Forces forced to pay full price for
food: +5.
Watchtowers in dessert aisle, armed
guards clamp down on shoplifting: +5.
Internal Security
Tension is between 1 and 5, making the
cafeteria a great place for conspirators to
meet: +10
Tension is 0, resulting in anarchy and
violence: -5
HPD&MC
Yoga classes make citizens hungry: +10
R&D
They actually keep using the MRI: -10
145
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
Krystal-G’s Fun
Mental Fitness
Routine
Tension Not As Much As What’s
Coming
Following the success of her Yoga program,
Krystal-G comes back to the cafeteria the
following day with a new plan. She’s worried
about the level of stress caused by having all
those soldiers hanging around the cafeteria.
Her proposal is that she take most of Bert-Y’s
troops off to a nearby hall and teach them
yoga. The Troubleshooters will probably
be quite happy to allow this, as it gets the
troublesome troops out of the Food Pyramid
for a few hours.
The first step is persuading Bert-Y to hand his
troops over to Krystal-G. He’s convinced that
he’s a heroic defender of Alpha Complex’s
freedom and is preventing a Commie ray
takeover by his mere presence. He’s also
unwilling to leave the fortifications undefended.
The Troubleshooters will have to assure him
that the Armed Forces equipment will be safe
and secure even if some of his 500 troops
are missing.
Once that’s done, a large number of troops
march out of the cafeteria to be bounced at by
Krystal-G. The stress level in the Food Pyramid
drops noticeably.
The Heartbreak
of Missing
Supplies
Tension Stress-headache
The Troubleshooters are contacted by Karl-R,
the brutish overseer of the storage vaults below
the Food Pyramid. ‘Supplies have not
come’ he reports, ‘delivery firms say,
our account with them empty.’ It’s
an hour before lunch and the storeroom is
nearly empty.
Contacting The Supplier
All of the Food Pyramid’s food supplies are
supplied through one service firm, OmniEats
Incorporated Food Deliveries. Calling them up
146
get the Troubleshooters through to Darina-R,
a very bored and argumentative receptionist
who stonewalls the Troubleshooters at every
turn. She insists that according to OmniEat’s
records, the Food Pyramid account is empty
– the deliveries yesterday cleaned it out and
until more credits are put into that account,
OmniEat won’t be delivering and neither will
any other food delivery company.
Threats won’t affect Darina-R, nor will bribes
or orders. Not giving the Troubleshooters any
food deliveries until the account is in credit is
the very foundation of her being.
Checking The Account
Looking at the computer in Chet-B’s office
(or asking Friend Computer) reveals that the
VitaYum Unified Citizenry Food Pyramid Court
has over 100,000 credits in its account and
there shouldn’t be any problem transferring
credits to the OmniEats delivery company.
A quick Financial Systems, Hacking or other
skill check, though, quickly uncovers the
treachery. Someone has hacked the system
so that the display reports that the account is
full but if you try to withdraw money from it, the
system rejects the transaction as the account
is actually empty. Digging through logs reveals
that the account was nearly emptied three days
ago (by Chet-B).
Chet-B is long gone and his ill-gotten credits
with him. The Troubleshooters have two
problems – firstly, they need to raise 10,000
credits just to buy the basic food supplies for
the daycycle. Secondly, the exotic ingredients
requested by Alphonse-B cost another 5,000
credits on top of that.
The Food Pyramid
Garage Sale
So, how do the Troubleshooters earn the money
or feed the citizens? Some suggestions:
Raise prices throughout the Food Pyramid
immediately. Your average INFRARED
can expect to spend 1 to 5 credits on a
meal at the Food Pyramid, depending on
how hungry and rich he’s feeling. Raising
prices to, say, 10 credits a meal will help
earn money. They can also squeeze the
higher-clearance citizens for more cash.
Sell off some of that nice shiny Armed
Forces equipment. I mean, you’ve got
tanks and artillery sitting around the
cafeteria floor. It’s like free money.
Alternatively, put the Armed Forces to
work looting the OmniEats warehouse.
Kidnap a high-clearance citizen and hold
him for ransom.
Make what little food they have left stretch
to feed the thousands upon thousands of
citizens who will soon be arriving at the
Food Pyramid for lunch.
Alphonse’s Ingredients
Alphonse needs honey, mushrooms, soup
mix, beef, vegetables, caramel and real coffee,
all of which are clearance BLUE at least and
cost 5,000 credits. If the Troubleshooters
cannot raise the cash to buy this food, then
they will have to substitute ingredients from
the cheap low-clearance food. Alphonse-B will
raise a huge fuss but because his belief in the
Commie Ray has given him the confidence to
be a PURGE assassin, he doesn’t mind using
substandard ingredients. The main problem
will arise later, when the high-clearance
citizens complain.
Hungry Hungry
Armed Thugs
Just as the Troubleshooters are sorting out
the ingredients problem, the soldiers taken
away by Krystal-G return and they’re starving
after a morning of energetic yoga. If there is
not a full meal waiting for them when they
arrive, they get violent and use the Commie
Ray as an excuse for looting the cafeteria’s
lower levels. A riot breaks out – how do the
Troubleshooters stop it?
Alphonse Goes
Looking For
Poison
Tension Rising
If the Troubleshooters completed the mission
for PURGE last night, then there should be
a lethal vial of something on the third shelf
in the third locker in the third giant walk-in
refrigerator downstairs. At any rate, would-be
PURGE assassin Alphonse-B heads down
to the sub-level, ostensibly to berate Karl-R
 5. FOOD FIGHT
about the ingredients for the banquet. In fact,
he’s there to get the vial of poison. Once he
obtains it, he heads back upstairs to his kitchen
and continues his cooking. He liberally adds
the contents of the vile vial to the main course,
the Beef in VIOLET sauce. (Anyone eating the
food suffers M3K biological damage.)
It’s possible the Troubleshooters might stop
Alphonse-B from cooking the meal or report
him for treason or execute him. If they do so,
bring in Ingrid-I as a big stick. She refuses to
believe that Alphonse-B could be a traitor and
demands that the Troubleshooters get him
back by any means necessary and convince
him to cook dinner. If there isn’t an Alphonse-
B meal ready, then someone’s going to get
terminated.
Morris-O is
Murdered
Tension Messy
Just before dinnercycle begins, Morris-O goes
upstairs to the RED level to check on the status
of a damaged waiterbot, and accidentally
walks in on Alice-G’s secret laboratory of killer
frankenbots. The killer frankenbots live up to
their name and Morris-O is blended chopped
up. To hide the corpse, Alice threw the remains
into the Soylent RED stew.
This would be fine – ‘Solent RED is people’ isn’t
a terrifying revelation, it’s a marketing slogan
– but it’s unusual for whole chunks of citizen to
show up and some poor RED clone got a whole
Morris-head in his stew. Furthermore, Morris-O
has no spare clones, so there’s no-one running
the lower levels of the Food Pyramid.
Almost instantly, the Troubleshooters start
noticing problems cropping up. Waiterbots run
into tables, queues get tangled, troughs run out
of food, things catch on fire and explode.
Solving The Murder
The chance of the Troubleshooters having
time to care about Morris-O’s death, let
alone investigate it, is fairly slim. Still, on the
off-chance they bother to look into the murder,
the facts are these:
Waiterbot #56 suffered a failure of its drive
shaft on day one. It crawled around the
cafeteria floor for every hours, mewling in
pain and dragging itself forward on its tray
collecting arms, while Morris-O laughed
at it. (He’s Frankenstein Destroyer,
remember).
On the morning of day two, Morris-O sent
an angry email to Alice-G, demanding she
repair Waiterbot #56 immediately.
Waiterbot #56 was collected by Alice-G’s
staff on the afternoon of day two.
With no sign of the replacement waiterbot,
Morris-O went upstairs to see Alice-G. On
the stairs, he met Alphonse-B and the
two had a heated argument (Morris-O
accused Alphonse-B of conniving with
Chet-B in defrauding the Food Pyramid;
Alphonse-B called Morris-O an ugly little
clone who would not know good dining if
it served itself to him with a side salad and
glass of B3).
Morris-O went into Alice-G’s bot garage,
and was never seen again (he found the
secret passage, confronted Alice-G, and
was killed by the frakenbots).
His body ended up in the stew (delivered by
a repaired Waiterbot #56, reprogrammed
by Alice-G).
If anyone mourns Morris-O, this famous game
designer will eat his hat.
Cashing Out
Tension Not That Bad
As the whole Food Pyramid is about to
descend into absolute chaos, we’ll resolve the
cashing out cycle now.
Again, the Troubleshooters need to determine
how many CTMUs they’ve earned this
daycycle. Again, it’s 2d20 for each meal,
modified by Perversity and the fickle whims
of the Gamemaster.
Chet-B’s Financial Evils
There’s No Food At All: -10
There’s Food, But Prices Have Gone Up: -5
Armed Forces
Cafeteria lines blocked by fortifications: -5
Cafeteria lines mined: -10
Armed Forces detachment has taken up
residence on Level 0: -5
Armed Forces given free reign in the food
troughs: -5
Armed Forces forced to pay full price for
food: +5
Watchtowers in dessert aisle, armed
guards clamp down on shoplifting: +5
Armed Forces go on yoga class, get
hungry, come back for a full and healthy
meal: +5
Armed Forces go on yoga class, get hungry,
come back, riot and smash things: -5
Internal Security
Tension is between 1 and 5, making the
cafeteria a great place for conspirators to
meet: +10
Tension is 0, resulting in anarchy and
violence: -5
R&D
They actually keep using the MRI: -10
Guess Who’s
Coming For
Dinner?
Tension Hopefully Terrifying
Well, the Troubleshooters know exactly
who’s coming to dinner – a group of INDIGO
supervisors, movers and shakers in this
prestigious sector. The question is, what sort
of dinner is waiting for them?
Before the dinner, the Troubleshooters need
to ensure:
Alphonse-B is alive, mentally competent
and believes that his cunning PURGE
plan to poison the meals will work.
Alphonse-B has ingredients of some
sort.
The upper level of the Food Pyramid is not
on fire, or collapsed or overrun by Commie
Mutant Traitors or anything.
Anything beyond those three requirements is
something of a bonus.
The First Guest – Ingrid-I
The fearsome, ogre-like… well, that’s a
misnomer. She actually does eat the bones
of children. Let’s start again.
The fearsome ogre, Ingrid-I, is the first to arrive.
She stalks into the Food Pyramid, bodyguards
in tow and casts a withering eye around the
Pyramid. She demands the Troubleshooters
account for any unfed citizens, damage to
the cafeteria, undue stress to her poor dear
Alphonse-B and any other problems you
wish to castigate them for. If possible, work
Ingrid-I into a towering fury and make the
Troubleshooters fear for their lives, only to be
saved by…
147
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
The Second Guest
– Dominic-I
Kindly old Dominic-I strolls into the Food
Pyramid and interrupts Ingrid-I just as she is
about to devour the Troubleshooters.
‘Ingrid, my dear, why are
you punishing these poor
Troubleshooters? Why, I was at
the very meeting where Chet-B
volunteered to transfer the Food
Pyramid to their control as part of
the ongoing War on Communism. It
was an act of patriotism – motivated
by his own treacherous greed,
yes but it was still patriotic. These
Troubleshooters are working to
discover the Commie Mind Control
Ray – they don’t have time to bother
with petty little concerns like your
dinner party.’
Ingrid-I scowls and stalks off to talk to
Alphonse-B. Dominic-I continues to chat to
the Troubleshooters about their mission in the
most affable fashion possible.
If the Troubleshooters confess that they’re
no closer to finding the Commie Ray, then
Dominic-I coos and suggests that the fault
doesn’t lie with them – it lies with the support
they’re being given by the other service
groups. Why don’t they mention that during
the dinner?
If, on the other hand, the Troubleshooters
lie and proclaim that they’re hot on the trail
of the Mind Control Ray, then Dominic-I is
momentarily confused, then asks them to
identify which of the service group’s plans was
the least helpful. He also tries – in a kindly,
avuncular fashion – to completely destroy any
confidence the Troubleshooters have in their
ability to find the Commie Ray. Dominic-I wants
to present a massive cluster of incompetence
at the dinner, not a successful mission.
As the other guests arrive, Dominic whispers
‘trust me. Just tell the truth, and I’ll
take care of you afterwards! Come
with me and stand nearby.’
148
The Rest of the Guests
The other INDIGOs arrive at the Food Pyramid
in a shiny limobot, escorted by a sizeable
bodyguard presence. The guests are:
Mathias-I (IntSec): Relatively young
for his exalted position in Internal Security,
Mathias-I is the current record-holder for
both the FOG Sector IntSec 10-kilometre
FunRun and the ‘Most Citizens Sent
To The Termination Booths’ for this
accountingcycle. He’s got a thin moustache
which he is immensely proud of.
Martha-I (HPD&MC): is middle-
aged and wears an electronic monocle
connected to her PDC. She’s always wired
into the HPD&MC mainframe, making
minute adjustments to the zeitgeist of
Alpha Complex.
Rhonda-I (R&D): Rhonda-I isn’t a
scientist, she’s a bureaucrat. Her great
talent is keeping massively ambitious
R&D projects within budget. Her instinctive
answer to any question at all is ‘NO!’
George-I (Armed Forces): A
grizzled veteran of many, many entirely
fictional wars and an inveterate liar.
Talking to George-I for more than ten
seconds means getting told a lengthy and
self-aggrandizing war story about how
George-I single-handedly saved Alpha
Complex with a toothpick and sheer grit.
Kenny-I (Tech Services): An
entirely forgettable senior technician.
So forgettable, in fact, that Kenny’s
actually dead. He’s wheeled in by an aide
and wheeled out again after the meal.
Mentioning Kenny’s deceased status is
treasonous.
Ann-I (Power Services): Power
Services is even worse than Tech Services
for getting noticed or promoted. This suits
Ann-I (a senior figure in the Illuminati) just
fine. She’s content to sit back, steeple her
fingers and watch everything…
The Final “Guest”
The final guest doesn’t actually exist. Remember
the mobile human-shaped cameras behind the
tinted glass on Level 4? The ones that look to
observes below like the outline of a VIOLET
or even a High Programmer looking down?
Conveniently, one of those cameras moves to
observe the Sector Section Supervisor Dinner,
so it appears to the diners that they’re being
watched by a superior (and perhaps they
are, remotely). Dominic-I addresses all his
comments and speeches to this glass ceiling.
I Have Called You All
Together To Insult You
As the first course of dinner is served,
Dominic-I stands and speaks to his fellow
INDIGOs, listing the failures of this entire
operation as poor of the incompetence of
their subordinates and hence of the INDIGOs’
failures as supervisors. He calls on the
Troubleshooters to contribute supporting
evidence for all his claims.
PLC:
He starts by eviscerating Ingrid-I: ‘I’m sure
most of you will have noticed the
rather shabby state of this once-
magnificent showcase cafeteria.
The fault lies, you might say, with
the cafeteria managers – these
Troubleshooters who stand before
you! But you would be wrong! Chet-
B, Ingrid-I’s trusted subordinate,
transferred control of the cafeteria
as part of a joint task force to deal
with a security problem. Now, what
did the Troubleshooters find when
they took Chet-B’s job?’
Dominic-I looks expectantly at the
Troubleshooter who was the PLC liaison.
If the Troubleshooter talks about Chet-B
defrauding PLC and the generally chaotic state
of the cafeteria, Ingrid-I squirms and stares
daggers at the Troubleshooters while the other
INDIGOs look angrily at Ingrid-I.
 5. FOOD FIGHT
IntSec
Next, Dominic-I moves onto Internal Security.
‘The security problem, though…
that’s another story. It stems
from a report by one Toni-G – I
believe she’s one of your officers,
Mattias?’
Mathias-I looks up with a start and snaps
‘she’s delusional, useless. I ensured
she’d never have any influence.’
Dominic-I smiles sadly and replies ‘well,
Mathias, you should keep better
tabs on your own agents. Toni-G
was able to convene a multi-group
task force to address the problem.
Troubleshooter, can you fill us in
on Toni-G’s contributions towards
finding the supposed traitord?’
Again, he expects the Troubleshooter to
skewer Toni-G, and through Toni-G, Mathias-
I. Again, if successful, the other INDIGOs
shun and condemn the incompetence of
Mathias-I.
The other three service groups follow in similar
fashion:
Armed Forces: ‘You know Lieutenant
If you enjoyed your meal, why not fill out a comment card?
Larry-B, don’t you General George-
I? I believe you last spoke to him
three days ago, when you said, and
I quote “I can’t be bothered going
to that meeting, you go”. Now, the
proper Armed Forces support for a
covert investigation would be, say,
a few Vulture Warriors or a combot
detachment. Troubleshooter, what
did Larry-B send to support your
covert investigation?’
HPD&MC: ‘Martha-I, we’ve all
wondered why you’d promote
someone as incompetent as Krystal-
G – but before you explain, let’s
hear what Krystal-G contributed to
the team?’
R&D: ‘Rhonda-I, we’ve admired your
fiscal stranglehold on R&D’s budgets
in this sector – but are you aware
that under CPU Directive 453-332,
Emergency Budgetary Processing
for Joint Task Force Support Crash
Research, a scientist working for
a joint task force can bypass your
account controls, but you’re still
liable for any costs? No? Well, I’m
sure Victor-B didn’t spend too much
money. Tell me, Troubleshooter,
what did R&D send you?’
Just Desserts
By the time Dominic-I has finished
eviscerating all the other INDIGOs,
Alphonse-B is serving the main course of
poisoned beef. The Troubleshooters have
only an instant to act before Dominic-I
launches into his last speech.
‘Fellow INDIGOs, the level
of incompetence you have
demonstrated is simply shocking.
All the service groups involved in
the joint task force have shamed
themselves. I was, of course, not
involved, as the official record shows
clearly that the whole problem was
handed over to Troubleshooter
Dispatch instead of CPU. I think
we all know who’s going to get this
year’s promotion. Mwhahaha!
Oh… I see you’ve all lost your
appetites! More for me, then!’
And with that, Dominic-I pops a forkful of
poisoned beef into his mouth, then keels
over dead.
If The Troubleshooters
Don’t Sing
If the Troubleshooters don’t support Dominic-
I’s story, then the old clone becomes
increasingly angry as his plans for
shaming the other INDIGOs collapse. The
Troubleshooters have made an enemy for
life – but before he can start making their
lives hell, the mind control ray shows up
and the cafeteria descends into anarchy
anyway. He’ll be back to screw them over
at debriefing.
If The Troubelshooters
Save Dominic-I
Then he owes them twice over – so much
debt, in fact, that he decides it would be best
if they were all terminated, and turns against
them in debriefing.
149
 THE COMMUNIST CAFETERIA CONSPIRACY
6. The Commie Ray Job
Episode Summary: Victor-B arrives at
the Food Pyramid with his prototype Mind
Control Ray. Everyone tries to steal it, until
it explodes.
The Ray
Tension 5
There’s a shout of triumph from the
ground floor of the Food Pyramid.
Looking down, you see Victor-B
running through the crowd, holding
something small and shiny over
his head. He’s shouting something
but you can’t make out his words
until he’s running up the stairs to
Level 1.
‘I’ve done it! I’ve cracked it!’ he
shouts, ‘a working mind control ray!
With this, we can AAAAAAAAGH
splutch!’
He doesn’t say ‘Aaagh, Splutch!’.
That’s the sound you make when
an three-metre-tall robot that
appears to have been made out of
spare parts and blenders suddenly
smashes through the wall and
punches through your chest with
a potato masher. The bot scoops
up the mind control ray and throws
it… to Alice-G, who’s standing on
the balcony nearby.
‘Death Leopard rules!’ she screams,
and presses a button on the mind
control ray…
Before dealing with the result of Alice-G’s
actions, let’s talk about (the late) Victor-B’s
invention. It’s a small hand-held gadget, about
the size of a torch. It’s got two buttons on it,
a microphone at one end and a projection
crystal at the other. You hold down one button
and speak a command into the microphone.
Then, you point the projector end and press
the other button. The command you entered
into the microphone becomes an irresistible
compulsion for anyone in the ray’s field of fire.
The beam goes through most barriers and has
a range of several kilometres. In short, press
the button and half of Alpha Complex dances
to your whims.
There are a few drawbacks. Firstly, as Victor-B
found out, everyone wants it and you generally
150
get killed if you hold it too long. Secondly, it’s
absolutely unique, as Victor-B only invented it
by accident and it will never be replicated now
he’s terminated. Thirdly, it uses a battery that’s
technically thermonuclear and every time the
button is pressed, it gets closer to meltdown.
There’s a little yellow warning label on the side
testifying to this.
The Ray uses the Energy Weapons skill. The
Ray ignores armour. Attacks from the ray start
at Irritating Desire and advance one row on this
table per 3 points of margin of success.
Irritating Desire: The Troubleshooter
feels the desire to obey, but isn’t compelled to.
The effects wear off after one round.
Long-lasting Desire: As above but
the effects take hours to wear off or until the
Troubleshooter is hit by the ray again.
Strong Compulsion: The Troubleshooter
wants to obey and will fulfil the command of
the ray if able and if not stopped. The effects
wear off after one round.
Long-lasting Compulsion: As above
but the effects take hours to wear off, or until
the Troubleshooter is hit by the ray again.
Overwhelming Desire: The
Troubleshooter will do anything to obey.
The Chase
Anyway, every possible group in the cafeteria
is now after that little silver ray. When each
group gets hold of the ray, they start firing
it randomly into the crowds, hitting the
Troubleshooters each time as they chase
after the ray generator. If the Troubleshooters
don’t seem inclined to go after the ray, one of
the INDIGO dinner guests orders them to take
control of the situation.
Just because one of these antagonists looses
the mind control ray doesn’t necessary mean
that encounter is over. Everyone keeps chasing
the ray until it explodes. This is basically a
Benny Hill scene with a nuclear bomb.
Alice-G (Death Leopard)
Alice-G’s plan is a simple and suicidal one
– she is Death Leopard, after all. She puts the
order ‘JUMP’ into the ray, then runs around
the balcony of Level 1 firing wildly. Her three
frankenbots follow her around, protecting
her from as much hostile fire as they can.
Her initial shots hit hundreds of INFRAREDs
in the crowd below, causing them to jump
up and down vigorously. It’s like a series of
earthquakes, shaking the foundations of the
Food Pyramid.
Alice-G’s real target, though, are the higher-
clearance citizens on the level above. She
wants to command them to hurl themselves
over the balconies, falling like a multicoloured
rainbow of INDIGOs and BLUEs and GREENs
that all turn red at the end. Troubleshooters hit
by the ray who are near the balcony will feel
an urge to jump over.
Stopping Alice-G: The main obstacle to
stopping Alice-G is the three bots accompanying
her.
Frankenbots
Violence 8
Agility 12
Hand Weapons 12
Armor: 3
Weapons: Blenders (W3K)
The Military Response
(Sierra Club)
Having seen Alice-G murder Victor-B and use
the mind control ray, Bert-Y takes charge.
He orders his troops to fire on the balcony. A
barrage of fire destroys one section of Level
1, causing it to collapse. If the Troubleshooters
were on Level 1, then they fall to Level 0 along
with Alice-G and any surviving bots. Alice-G is
stunned or at least killed by this blast.
Escorted by a few grunts, Bert-Y rushes over to
the debris and plucks the mind control ray out
of it. He looks up at the higher clearances, then
a wicked grin spreads over his face. He sets
the ray to ‘appreciate nature’ and spins around,
blasting his own troops with it. Suddenly,
dozens of troops are taking a keen interest
in fungi. Bert-Y continues to stalk through the
Food Pyramid, firing wildly.
Stopping Bert-Y: Actually, the longer the
Troubleshooters wait before stopping Bert-Y,
the easier it gets. Each of Bert-Y’s shots turns
several of his troops from hardened killers into
eager gardeners. Attacking Bert-Y immediately
means that dozens of soldiers open fire to
defend their commanding officer. Attacking him
a few shots later means that a scant handful
 6. THE COMMIE RAY JOB
of troops open fire and a lot of fungi fanciers
ignore his horrible death.
Rise of the Undermen
(Psion)
For many years, Karl-R the Psion mutant and
his followers have been plotting to rise up from
the underworld and conquer the genetically
pure. Now, bolstered by the courage of the
false Commie Ray and drawn by the lure of the
real Mind Control Ray, they seize the daycycle.
The floor of the Food Pyramid shatters and
pale, wan mutants wriggle out of the gaps
and cracks.
Remember back in Episode 5, when the
Troubleshooters had the option of sticking
a load of Armed Forces equipment in the
sublevels? Well, if they did, then they’ve got
a bigger problem. The pale, wan mutants are
carrying all the weapons stowed in the depths
by the Troubleshooters. A hail of laser fire cuts
through the cafeteria.
The giant Karl-R heads straight for the mind
control ray. Once he gets his beefy hands on
it, he switches it to ‘mutants! Use your powers
proudly!’ and starts blasting the crowds.
Stopping Karl-R: Karl-R is fairly tough
(see page 18) and has his potent mutant
abilities. His servants are weak and easily
dealt with, unless they have Armed Forces
weapons.
Everything goes
Ingrid-I (Anti-Mutant)
After the banquet, Ingrid-I gathered her
bodyguards and headed down to the lower
levels to retrieve the ray. If a Troubleshooter
gets his hands on the ray, then Ingrid tries to
pull rank and demands the Troubleshooter
hand it over. If a traitor has the ray or if Ingrid
doesn’t like the Troubleshooter, then she bites
his head off and then takes the ray. See page
28 for Ingrid’s statistics.
She grabs the ray, sets it to ‘Kill the Mutants’
and fires it in a large arc around her.
Everywhere, ordinary citizens start fighting
Karl-R’s mutants.
Unfortunately, she also zaps her bodyguards,
who may have just seen her distend her
jaws and eat a Troubleshooter. If so, the
bodyguards attack her.
Stopping Ingrid: Unfortunately, she’s
an INDIGO. Shooting her in the face may be
the most expedient solution but it’s not very
acceptable in Alpha Complex society.
PURGE (Gee, Maybe
PURGE?)
Remember those PURGE conspirators led by
Kevin-R? They’re still around the cafeteria,
waiting for their chance to grab the ray. They
will try to contact the Troubleshooters if they
believe them to be fellow PURGE agents and
help them in grabbing the ray.
If Kevin-R gets hold of the ray, he sets it to
‘attack servants of The Computer’ and starts,
yep, firing into the crowd.
Stopping Kevin-R: What, you need
permission to shoot PURGE agents in the
face?
The Waiterbots
(Corpore Metal)
There’s another conspiracy in the cafeteria,
one invisible all through this mission. The
waiterbots are all Corpore Metal spies, trading
secret messages in binary chatter and in the
pattern of stains on the dinner trays. Now,
they’re going after the Mind Control Ray. If
the Troubleshooters get hold of the ray, the
Waiterbots close in like oblong sharks of the
cafeteria floor, crushing their victims before
scooping up the ray and firing ‘obey the
demands of bots’ mind control rays.
Stopping the Bots: They don’t actually
have hands, so a Troubleshooter can just grab
the ray from a tray easily.
The Ray Goes
Boom
Tension 0
Once you tire of running around and blowing
chunks out of the Food Pyramid, then it’s
time to stop running around and just blow the
whole thing up. The Mind Control Ray begins
to overheat. It’s patently obvious that the thing
is about to explode but the various groups keep
fighting over it. The Troubleshooters should
flee the scene or take cover before the ray
goes boom.
When it goes boom, it goes boom very, very
well. A huge and quite pretty shower of green-
blue sparks shoot out of it before it flares into
a miniature sun. The resulting thermonuclear
blast wrecks the cafeteria, causing the upper
levels of the Food Pyramid to fall down around
the Troubleshooters’ ears.
151
PARANOIA
™

Viva La Revolution
Special duties for special troubleshooters
GARETH HANRAHAN BEN ENGELSBERG CONTENTS
Writer/Scapegoat Plot Developmer/Mad R&D Scientist Introduction 154
Breif Encounters 156
CHARLOTTE LAW DAN GELBER The Easiest Mission Ever 160
Editing, graphics/Drillbot GREG COSTIKYAN Debreifing with Violence 161
ERIC GOLDBERG The People Want You to Shoot People 162
JIM HOLLOWAY Original game design & development/
Cover /Blueprints Bring in the Prisoners 164
Building committee Revolutionary Developments 168
ALISON BLACKWELL The Central Commitee Wants You 169
Interior Art /Treasonous Propaganda THE COMPUTER IntSec Inside 171
Looking after your best interests Viva La Revolution 172
WILL CHAPMAN
Layout/Infrared Drone

Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET

WARNING :
Knowledge or possession of this information by any citizen
of Security Clearance VIOLET or lower is treason punishable by a
long spell of Armed Forces latrine scrubot maintenance duty.
TM & Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2008 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User. Based on material published in
previous editions of PARANOIA.
ILLUMINATI is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and is used by permission.
The reproduction of material from this book for personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other means of storage and retrieval, is prohibited. You may
copy character sheets, record sheets, checklists and tables for personal use.
E-mail questions and comments to Mongoose Publishing at sales@mongoosepublishing.com or write to PO Box 1018, Swindon, Wiltshire SN3 1DG, UNITED KINGDOM.
On the World Wide Web: www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Published by Mongoose Publishing, Ltd. Publication MGP 6642. Published August 2006. First printing September 2008. Printed in USA
 INTRODUCTION
Introduction
The Computer: THIS IS YOUR FRIEND, THE
COMPUTER.
A Citizen: Oh! Hail, Friend Computer! How
are you?
The Computer: EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE,
FRIEND CITIZEN. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, IN ALPHA
C OMPLEX , T HE B EST A ND H APPIEST O F A LL
POSSIBLE PLACES. EVERYTHING IS PERFECT UNDER
MY BENEVOLENT ADMINISTRATION.
A Citizen: Well….
The Computer: DO YOU FEEL UNHAPPY,
FRIEND CITIZEN? HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY. FAILURE
TO BE HAPPY IS TREASON. TREASON RESULTS IN
TERMINATION.
A Citizen: Of course I’m happy! Happy as
the daycycle is long, Friend Computer! I’m filled
with joy! It’s just that I’ve heard rumours about
traitors and commies who want to overthrow
your benevolent rule! And that worries me…in
a happy way, of course. Did I mention I’m
happy?
The Computer: THERE IS NO NEED TO
WORRY, FRIEND CITIZEN. THERE IS NO CHANCE OF
A TRAITOROUS UPRISING TAKING CONTROL OF ALPHA
COMPLEX. INTSEC IS EVER VIGILANT. EVERYTHING IS
UNDER CONTROL.
The Computer Is Dead, Long Live The Revolution!
(KABOOM!)
A Citizen: What was that?
The Computer: THAT WAS NOT AN EXPLOSION.
EVERYTHING IS FINE. DO NO PANIC.
(BOOM! BLAM! ZAP!)
The Computer: E VERYTHING I S U NDER
CONTROL. EVERYTHING IS FINE. REMAIN HAPPY.
(BLAM! BOOM! AAAGH!)
A Citizen: Friend Computer, what’s going
on?
The Computer: SYSTEM ERROR, PLEASE
STAND BY.
A Citizen: Friend Computer?
Enter A Revolutionary.
A Citizen: Who are you?
Revolutionary: The People’s Glorious
Revolution has taken control of this Sector!
The Computer’s lickspittle minions will be
executed!
A Citizen: Uh-oh.
Revolutionary: You’re not one of The
Computer’s lickspittle minions, are you?
A Citizen: If I was, I’d be executed, right?
Revolutionary: Yep. On the spot.
A Citizen: Then I’m a supporter of the
People’s Glorious Thingy! Power to whoever’s
in power!
Viva La Revolution!
This mission is designed to turn Alpha
Complex on its head. The Computer is a traitor!
Traitors are the good guys! Up is down! Good
is bad! The main aim is to force the players
to actually think about loyalties and survival
for a change, instead of parroting the usual
platitudes of utter loyalty to The Computer
when talking to The Computer and spouting
secret society propaganda when dealing with
their secret societies.
The Plot, Which
Is About Several
Plots
The Day of Revolution is at hand!
Well, actually, it’s not so much the revolution,
as a revolution. The rebels aren’t going to
overthrow the regime across Alpha Complex.
Instead, the revolution will be contained within
a portion of a single sector. The rebels are
called the People’s Glorious Revolutionary
Committee and most of their supporters believe
the Committee to be an alliance between the
Humanist secret society and politically active
agents from the more moderate secret
societies – the Romantics, Sierra Club, Pro
Tech and so on.
The PGRC – Revolution One
Their plan is to bomb key locations and
CompNodes across YUC Sector. The
Computer will respond by sealing YUC Sector
off and sending in the Armed Forces but the
PGRC has its own forces who will rise up and
man the barricades. Soon, the other sectors
will be inspired by their example and rise up
to join the revolution!
At least, that’s the plan. It’s an absolutely
doomed one, as the PGRC don’t have the
firepower or numbers to hold off an attack.
154
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
If Revolution One was all that was going on
in YUC Sector, then it would all be over in a
few minutes.
Operation FLUSH
– Revolution Two
Internal Security’s spies were monitoring the
PGRC’s activities and reported the incipient
revolution to their superiors. One of these
superiors, Terence-I-QUI, decided to let the
revolution happen. When YUC Sector is taken
over by the PGRC, all the traitors would rise up
and fight for the new regime. In one fell swoop,
Internal Security would be able to identify
every traitor and enemy agent in the whole
sector! It would be the greatest traitor-hunting
coup in many years. It would be known as
Operation FLUSH.
IntSec agents in YUC Sector were therefore
ordered to support and aid the PGRC’s plans
for revolution, to better prepare the ground for
the purges that are to come.
The True Enemy
– Revolution Three
Unfortunately, Internal Security isn’t, er,
internally secure. PURGE double agents
within Internal Security reported that IntSec’s
Operation FLUSH was going to covertly
support the PRGC revolution. PURGE decided
to seize the opportunity to turn IntSec’s fake
revolution into a real one. By the time The
Computer’s forces realised that YUC Sector
was really out of control, instead of only
appearing to be out of control to encourage the
traitors to pop their heads out and be shot, it
would be too late. PURGE would have seized
control of the whole sector and struck a blow
against The Computer!
The master of this PURGE plot is Phineous-I-
ZED – once a trusted Troubleshooter, now a
twisted madman!
155
Counterrevolution!
Minutes before the PGRC’s revolutionary
schemes begin, just as the mission begins, a
PURGE agent is captured by Internal Security.
The captured agent reveals that PURGE has
infiltrated Operation FLUSH and that the
supposedly-under-control-fake-revolution
is actually a real revolution. In desperation,
IntSec signals any agents it can contact that
the revolution must be stopped!
Warbots, Gotta
Have Warbots
The other element of Viva La Revolution
are the T-34 Urban Combat ComBots that have
just been assigned to YUC Sector. A gang of
Computer Phreaks have managed to hack the
ComBot network via a control console. As the
revolution proceeds, the T-34s rapidly become
the deciding factor in the clash between the
PGRC forces and The Computer’s own.
This central command console is right next
to the People’s Glorious Revolutionary
Committee’s Subcommittee for Mental Hygiene
& Terminatinon.
Or, to put it another way, where the player
characters will be spending most of the
mission…
Mission
Synopsis
1. B r i e f E n c o u n t e r s : T h e
Troubleshooters are summoned to YUC
Sector and briefed by Arthur-Y, one of
the most irritating briefing officers in all of
Alpha Complex. They also get barraged
by secret society messages.
2. The Easiest Mission Ever: The
mission turns out to be, literally, in the room
next door. The characters’ victory dance,
though, is interrupted by a T-34 combot
who escorts them back for debriefing.
3. Debriefing With Violence: In the
middle of the debriefing, several very loud
explosions are heard. The revolution has
begun! Only the characters don’t get to
do much.
4. The People Want You To Shoot
People: Two senior revolutionaries,
Terrence-I and Phineous-I, show up and
inform the characters about who’s in
charge now. Oh and the characters have
just been nominated as the firing squad
for the people.
5. Bring in the Prisoners! A succession
of enemies of the people are brought in.
The characters get to decide who gets to
live and who gets to be terminated. It’s
revenge fantasy time!
6. Revolutionary Developments:
Meanwhile, the war between the
Computer loyalists and the PGRC forces
continues apace. The characters are
far from the front lines but there is still
lots of conspiring to do. If the characters
want to dare leaving their nice committee
room/firing squad, they get to be shot at
by lots of interesting people.
7. The Committee Wants You:
Phineous-I pops round again and reviews
the characters’ termination decisions so
far. He recruits the most bloodthirsty to
sit on the Committee for Public Safety,
as he’s had the rest of his co-conspirators
executed. High security clearances and
other perks come with the job.
8. IntSec Inside: The other characters
– the ones who didn’t get promoted – get
contacted by Internal Security and have
a chance to bring down the revolution by
hacking the T-34 combot control console
next door.
9. Viva La Revolution! The YUC Sector
revolution is either brutally crushed or
brutally upheld. Either way, it’s business
as usual.
 1. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
1. Brief Encounters
Episode Summary: The Troubleshooters
receive a mission alert, summoning them
to a briefing in YUC Sector. En route, they
are contacted by their secret societies or by
Internal Security, warning them of upcoming
events in YUC Sector. After a painful briefing
by their briefing officer, Arthur-O-PHB, they are
sent off on their mission… to next door.
1.This Mission
Will Self-Destruct
Each character receives the same mission
alert from The Computer.
YUC Sector is a distant and obscure section of
Alpha Complex, requiring a series of transtube
changes. The stations get progressively grimier;
the faces of the other passengers grow more
gaunt and desperate. The walls start out covered
in brand-new posters advertising new products
or encouraging citizens to be happy; by the time
the characters reach YUC Sector, the walls are
scarred with graffiti and bloodstains.
The Long and
Traitorous Road
Tension 3
En route to YUC Sector, each character is
given a mission, either by their secret society
or by Internal Security. There are two Internal
Security missions, which should be given to
different Internal Security-affiliated characters.
If you don’t have two IntSec agents, then IntSec
will grab the most suitable (i.e. apparently
loyal) Troubleshooters.
Secret Society missions come in a number
of forms – PDC messages, notes stuck
under transtube seats or handed over by
other passengers, subliminal messages in
advertisements, whispered conversations in
bathrooms and so on.
Anti-Mutant: We’ve heard that there’s
something big going down in YUC Sector
– there’s going to be a riot or protest or some
other disturbance. Use the chaos to get as
many of those damn mutants as you can.
Communists: Comrade! The people
of YUC Sector groan under the oppressive
* * * MISSION ALERT * * * MISSION ALERT
* * * MISSION ALERT * * * MISSION ALERT
***
Troubleshooter <INSERT NAME
HERE>, you have been selected
for an exciting mission, tailored
to your skills and talents. This
fun opportunity starts with a fun
briefing in Room #32, Corridor
281, Level 5, YUC Sector. You
are to report there within 49
minutes of receipt of this mission
alert. Remember, <INSERT NAME
HERE>, your contribution to
the security of Alpha Complex
is vitally important! Stay Alert!
Trust No One! Keep Your Laser
Handy!
* * * MISSION ALERT * * * MISSION ALERT
* * * MISSION ALERT * * * MISSION ALERT
***
burden of capitalism! Here’s a bunch of
pamphlets – pass them out and inform the
people of the virtues of Communism!
Computer Phreaks: LOL!
WIREHED+BLIB+VATFACE@YUC HAKED
A HI PR0’S !SECURE SERVER. NOW
THEY’VE GONE OFFLINE. FIND OUT
WHAT HAPPENED 2 THEM + WHAT THEY
FOUND.
Corpore Metal: YUC Sector is the testing
ground for the new series of T-34 combots.
The Frankenstein Destroyers are no doubt
plotting to destroy these wonderful new friends.
Protect the T-34s.
Death Leopard: There’s some huge riot
coming in YUC Sector! Burn the world when
it starts!
FCCC-P: Brother, we have been instructed
by the blessed agents of The Computer to aid
an upcoming revolution in YUC Sector! Be
not alarmed! This is a wise stratagem by the
blessed agents of The Divine Computer. The
traitors will reveal themselves and they will be
destroyed in the blessed fire of his terminating
wrath! You will be among the saved, if you
wear a red scarf.
Frankenstein Destroyers: YUC Sector
is in the steel grip of the hated machine! There
are T-34 combots everywhere, oppressing the
natural-born people! Destroy these cursed
bots!
Free Enterprise: Look under your seat
and you’ll find a box of VitaYum bars. We’ve
got 50 crates of ‘em, and the people of YUC
Sector are hungry. Sell ‘em the bars. If you
don’t sell all the bars, we break your legs.
Humanists: Rejoice! The time of revolution
is at hand! In YUC Sector, we have allied
with several other secret societies to form the
People’s Glorious Revolution! Soon, our forces
will seize this whole sector and bring about a
new order! Be ready to man the barricades,
brother!
Illuminati: You are instructed to ensure
that citizen Judy-G-ZAT is not terminated. She
must not be harmed.
Mystics: Dude, a bunch of us Mystics in
YUC are allied with the Humanists and some
other societies to, like, throw off the shackles
of The Computer. They’re going to have a
glorious revolution and stuff and everything’s
going to be awesome after that. Anyway, I just
wanted to invite you to the post-revolution party
in Dave’s place. We’re going to hand out drugs
and get everyone high and stuff.
Psion: The people of YUC Sector are
desperate and in their desperation they turn
on mutant-kind. Protect any mutants you
encounter and punish those who would try
to hurt the mutants. Oh, our psychics also
picked up a code word. We don’t know what it
means but the word ‘socks’ is very important
to someone.
Pro Tech: We are working with the
Humanist society in an exciting new initiative
– the People’s Glorious Revolution - to
reformat YUC Sector. Be prepared for some
big changes very soon but don’t be alarmed
– we’re the ones in control, for Science!
PURGE: Pay attention. The Humanists
and several other minor secret societies are
planning a revolution in YUC Sector. This
revolution would be doomed but Internal
Security is going to let it happen, so they can
mop up the traitors who reveal themselves.
We are going to take control of this revolution
156
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
when it happens, eliminating the IntSec agents
and making the false revolution into a real one.
Be prepared to fight for PURGE against The
Computer’s minions!
Romantics: Soon, our allies in the Humanist
movement will launch the People’s Glorious
Revolution, freeing YUC Sector from the
control of The Computer! After the revolution,
we will bring back ancient culture and art
and rebuild the joyous, free society of our
ancestors! Support the new regime when the
revolution comes!
Sierra Club: Soon, our allies in the
Humanist movement will launch the People’s
Glorious Revolution, freeing YUC Sector
from the control of The Computer! After the
revolution, we will all move Outdoors to live in
harmony with nature! Support the new regime
when the revolution comes!
Internal Security (1): Attention! A cabal of
nefarious secret societies have allied together
to foment a revolution in YUC Sector. Your
instructions are to SUPPORT this revolution
– our plan is to contain the revolt and use it to
draw out all the traitors and dissidents in one
fell swoop! This is Operation FLUSH and it will
be glorious! Your instructions are to support
this revolution and take notes about who else
supports it. You will know other undercover
Internal Security agents by the codephrase
‘as fun as fresh socks’.
Internal Security (2): Attention!
Emergency! Oh Vatslime! A cabal of nefarious
secret societies have allied together to foment
a revolution in YUC Sector. IntSec knew about
this and Operation FLUSH was launched. It
was supposed to be a revolt under our control!
We were going to use the revolution to spot the
traitors and sweep ‘em all up, but something’s
gone wrong! Someone’s infiltrated FLUSH and
it’s going to be a real revolt! Warn our agents!
You will know other undercover Internal
Security agents by the codephrase ‘as fun
as fresh socks’.
Something YUCcy
At The Station
Tension 5
Eventually, the characters arrive at the YUC
Sector transtube station. It’s crowded with
INFRAREDs and other desperate citizens,
all pushing and shoving to get on board.
Paranoid characters may notice bulges or
157
other signs of covert weapons being carried.
There’s a strange buzz in the crowd, a sense
of suppressed anxiety or stress.
At the exit from the station, there’s a robot
checking ME cards. It’s a T-34 Combot
model, a hunched machine with guns for
arms and more guns for guns. Three eerily
bright cameras focus on different parts of
the character’s face when the robot talks to a
Troubleshooter. The T-34 moves around on
huge rubber treads and is capable of hunkering
down and transforming into a sort of miniature
tank the size of a small car.
After filling out the form, the characters can
head onto Room #32, Corridor 281, Level 5.
Corridor 281 turns out to be a very long corridor
lined with doors. As the characters pass the
room next door to the briefing room, they hear
laughing and muttering about some technical
jargon. Their priority, though, should be….
2. The Briefing
from Hell
Tension 15
Briefing Room #32 contains a
conference table, a few chairs, a
Computer monitor and a podium
with side-mounted briefing
cannons. There’s a large metal
box on the table. The walls are
gunmetal grey and the illumination
is provided by irritating spot lights
in the ceiling.
Standing at the podium is a BLUE-
clearance citizen, who sniffs and
ticks a box on a form as soon as
you enter. His nametag reads ‘I’m
Arthur-B-PHB and I’m pleased to
meet you!’.
He is obviously not pleased to meet
you. ‘Sit down’, he snaps, ‘and let’s
get this briefing started.’
Arthur-B is the most annoying, persnickety,
bureaucratic and vengeful boss imaginable.
If the characters took more than 49 minutes
to get to the briefing, he ticks a box. If they
fail to salute and report their names, he ticks
a box. If they fail to hand over their mission
alert for verification, he ticks a box. If they don’t
ask for a receipt, he ticks a box. Every time
Arthur-B-PHB ticks a box, he sighs, shakes
his head and gives the distinct impression that
the Troubleshooters have wounded him deeply
and personally.
Arthur’s also violent and vengeful. Any
backtalk or inattentiveness gets a tick. Any
hint of treason or disloyalty gets a taser shot
or laser blast from the side-mounted discipline
guns. Arthur-B doesn’t officially take pleasure
in shooting Troubleshooters, but the joy is
reflected in his eyes.
Oh, the Computer monitor next to Arthur-B’s
podium is currently inactive. If the characters
have questions for Friend Computer, Arthur-B
will switch it on with a sigh.
Your Mission
Arthur-B-PHB tells the characters ‘your
mission, Troubleshooters, as
follows:
Firstly, take your assigned special
equipment, contained in storage
box A.
Secondly, check your assigned
special equipment, denoted items
A through E
Thirdly, travel to the designated
mission area, designated YUC
Sector, Level 5, Corridor 261, Room
#33.
Fourth, effect entry into the
designated mission area.
Fifth, locate the targets designated
target one, target two and target
three.
Sixth, terminate all three targets,
taking care to minimise collateral
damage.
Seventh, secure all equipment and
other assets.
T-34 Urban Combat
Combot
Management 0
Intimidation 10
Stealth 0
High Alert 10
Violence 12
Projectile Weapons 16
Crushing People With Its Mighty
Metal Fists 16
Hardware 7
Software 7
Wetware 7
Armor: 4
Weapons: Autocannon (W3K)
 1. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
YUC SECTOR TRANSIT VERIFICATION CARD
Issued by YUC Sector Transit Authority. Please fill out this card fully before exiting or entering YUC. Failure to complete this card may result in loss of travel privileges or further
delays.
Section 1: PERSONAL DETAILS.
YOUR NAME: _________ CLEARANCE: IR R O Y G B I V UV HOME SECTOR: _ _ _
CLONE NUMBER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7+

Service Group
Tick all that apply:
[] I am more loyal than the average citizen
[] I am a member of one or more secret societies
[] I did not pack all my bags or make all my clothing myself
[] I am carrying more than 5cc of liquid in my body
[] I am carrying one or more lethal weapons
[] I am easily stressed by queues or crowds/loud noises
[] I feel unusually hot or uncomfortable/my skin feels prickly/I see unusual colours
[] I have consumed one or more cans of Bouncy Bubble Beverage today

Who are you traveling with?

Please list all items carried: __________________________________________________
Do you have clearance to carry all these items? [ ] YES [ ] NO. If not, why not?
Do you have receipts for all these items? [ ] YES [ ] NO. If not, why not?
Do you need all these items? [ ] YES [ ] NO. If not, why not?
Which items do you need the least? Why?
Why were these items assigned to you if you don’t need them?

If ARRIVING in YUC Sector, please fill out Section 2.

If LEAVING YUC Sector, please fill out Section 3.
Section 2: ARRIVING IN YUC SECTOR
How are you arriving in YUC Sector? [ ] Transtube [ ] Autocar
[ ] Walkway [ ] Flybot
[ ] Access tunnel [ ] Other
What is the purpose of your visit to YUC Sector?
Do you think this is a good reason to visit YUC Sector?
Why were you in particular assigned this task?
Would you like to be reassigned to YUC Sector?
If yes, why are you unhappy with your original sector?
If no, what’s wrong with YUC Sector?
How long will you be staying? [ ] 0-5 minutes [ ] 6-60 minutes
[ ] 1-12 hours [ ] 13-48 hours
[ ] 2-7 days [ ] 7 days+
Where are you staying in YUC Sector? Please list all locations (non-transitive).
Section 3: LEAVING YUC SECTOR
How are you arriving in YUC Sector? [ ] Transtube [ ] Autocar
[ ] Walkway [ ] Flybot
[ ] Access tunnel [ ] Body Bag
[ ] Emergency exit [ ] Other

Do you have [ ] A valid transit voucher [ ] A bathroom receipt [ ] A checkpoint waiver

[ ] A medical cert [ ] A psych eval cert [ ] A medication cert
[ ] A valid export license [ ] A weapons permit [ ] A packed lunch

Where are you going now? Why?

Please tick any that apply. [ ] I enjoyed my time in YUC [ ] I feel nauseous
[ ] I am in a hurry to leave [ ] I visited a commissary on Level 2
[ ] YUC Sector scares me [ ] I have urgent business elsewhere
[ ] I am wearing fresh socks [ ] I think bots are following me

Section 4: INTERNAL USE ONLY

Traveler: [ ] H [ ] PT [ ] R [ ] SC [ ] M [ ] OT [ ] IS [ ] Citizen Action: [ ] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] D [ ] E. VLR!

158
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
Eighth, report your situation to
me using the assigned special
equipment, unit E.
Further instructions will be issued
later.’
YUC Sector, level 5, Room #33 is next door to
the briefing room. If the characters have any
questions, Arthur-B just reads the instructions
again and ticks more boxes on his forms. If
they press him, he either unleashes withering
sarcasm or laser beams.
3. Equipment!
Once he’s satisfied that the characters
understand their mission, Arthur-B points to
the box on the table. ‘When you open
the box, you will find inside special
weapons and equipment that Friend
Computer has assigned to make
your task easier and more fun.’
Arthur-B pauses. If any Troubleshooters move
towards the box, he aims the lasers at them
and threatens to shoot them for disobeying
orders. After a moment, or if no-one moves, he
says ‘you may now open the box’.
Arthur-B-PHB
Management 12
Ticking Forms In Such A Way To
Convey The Message That He
Despises You And All You Stand
For 18
Stealth 8
Sneaking 12
Violence 6
ardware 4
Weapons & Armour Maintenance 1
Weapons & Armour Premission
Checklist Chesting 10
Software 10
Data Analysis 14
Wetware 7
Pharmatherapy 11
Armor: Blue Reflec (E1)
Weapons: Blaster (M3K)
In short, it turns off all the Troubleshooter’s
weapons and equipment, as well of those of
anyone within one metre of him. Pressing the
button again will turn them back on (please
allow a few minutes for rebooting).
The big silvery grenade becomes
incredibly bouncy when activated. Flubber with
a high-explosive core, basically. It explodes for
M3K damage with a blast radius of 5 metres.
The linked helmets are an experimental
telepathic device. If two people wear the
helmets, they must both roll 1d20. The higher
roll can control the movements (including
speech) of the lower roll for a few moments.
If both roll the same amount, the feedback
loop causes their heads to explode. There’s
absolutely no reason for these helmets to be
included in the mission equipment; they were
dropped in there accidentally by a stoned
R&D technician.
The radio handset is a special long-range
communicator. There’s a button to push to talk
and a volume control that ranges between
‘pretty loud anyway’ and ‘very loud indeed.’
Arthur-B insists that all the characters perform a
detailed check on their equipment, perform an
inventory of gear and sign his equipment check-
out sheet before letting them out the door.

Inside the box are six laser rifles, a remote control

marked ‘Hostile Code Countermeasure
Generator’, a big silvery grenade, a pair of
helmets linked by a wire and a small radio
handset. Arthur-B has no idea what any of the
gadgets do or which of them is Item E and will
mutter something about it being an initiative
test if the Troubleshooters ask.

The gadgets
The laser rifles are just that. They’ve got
three RED laser barrels each.

The Hostile Code Countermeasure

Generator is a remote control with one big
button. Pressing it instantly deactivates any
‘friendly’ computer systems nearby to prevent
them from being attacked by hostile code.

Arthur-B-PHB demands your respect.

159
 2. THE EASIEST MISSION EVER
2. The Easiest Mission Ever
Episode Summary: The Troubleshooters
walk next door and shoot some unarmed
nerds.
1.Room #33
The ‘designated mission area’, aka Room
33, is next door to the briefing room. There’s
one entrance, through the front door, which is
closed but not locked. Adventurous characters
can also gain entry through crawlspaces and
air vents. It’s Alpha Complex, there’s always
a back door.
Inside Room 33 are the following items:
One giant computer control console, a big
tower made of servers and circuits lashed
together. It’s wired to…
Three computer terminals, covered in
Post-It notes and little Computer Phreak
stickers. These terminals are being used
by…
Three Computer Phreak geeks, named
Henry-R, Ubi-R and Will-R. They’re all
pretty much identical. I’d make a crack
about pasty computer-geek complexions
but they live in Alpha Complex, where
everyone is paler than a cave grub.
Anyway, these three script kiddies have
lucked into a security hole in the T-34
Combot Network, which they think will
allow them to issue orders to the Combots
remotely. The geeks have been hiding out
here for some time, surviving on…
A giant clone-family sized bottle of B3
and…
…enough Cold Fun and Algae Chips to
put you off food for life.
Anyway, the three geeks are wholly unarmed.
They’ll throw computer bits and Cold Fun
packets at the characters in a desperate
last-ditch stand but they can be zapped easily
It’s clear that the three hackers were trying
The Three Nerds to access the combot control network and
Management 4 that they possibly succeeded. The actual
Hygiene 1 interface for controlling the bots is less clear
Stealth 4
Security Systems 8
but the characters can fruitlessly press buttons
if they want.
Violence 4
Thrown Weapons 8 The next step, according to the mission plan,
Hardware 4 is to contact Arthur-PHB via the radio (well, via
Bot Ops 10 Assigned Special Equipment Unit E but that’s
Electronic Engineering 10 the radio). If they do so, then he sends in the
Software 10 T-34. If they don’t do so, then he sighs, ticks a
Bot Programming 14 form and sends in the T-34 anyway.
Hacking 14
C-Bay 14
Spurious Logic 16 It’s Mr. ComBot
Wetware 0
Tension 8
A T-34 smashes through the rear wall
with one shot each. Negotiating with the geeks of Room #33 and levels its guns at the
is futile – partly because they’ll use the time characters. ‘I AM COMBOT T-34/101’
to try to hack the combot network and send it announces in a loud, tinny
giant killing machines after the characters voice. ‘YOU ARE INSTRUCTED
but mainly because the geeks talk entirely TO RELOCATE TO YUC SECTOR,
incomprehensible jargon. This encounter is LEVEL FIVE, CORRIDOR TWO
like shooting fish in a barrel, where the fish are EIGHT ONE, ROOM THIRTY-TWO
distracted by a really intense game of Tetris. FOR IMMEDIATE DEBRIEFING BY
CITIZEN ARTHUR-B-PHB. MOVE,
MOVE, MOVE.’
It’s A Giant Computer
The T-34 waggles its guns suggestively and
Console, Let’s Mess With It follows the characters as they leave Room
33 (smashing its way through the doorframe
Tension 1 to make room). It takes up a guard position
outside the door of Room 32. Any character
Once the geeks are dead, the characters can who doesn’t immediately move to be debriefed
examine their computer system. It’s largely is encouraged to move with laser fire. Despite
incomprehensible to anyone without Hacking this, the T-34 is quite friendly and chatty in a
and Electronic Engineering but there is one giant killing machine sort of way.
nice big clue – the main screen displays
scrolling text that seems relevant.

>SocketOpen(AFAC/CMN/YUC/T34CCC/PUB/65554)>MySoc
Connection Opened.
T-34 URBAN COMBAT COMBOT COMNET.
To Serve, Protect and Terminate Where Necessary
>RunAllHackRunning…Attempting to subvert Combots…Failed
Retrying…Attempting to subvert Combots…Failed…
Retrying…Attempting to subvert Combots…Failed…
Retrying…^c >!probeSec(MySoc)
Working…This hacking tool brought to you by CRUDDY. Send me credits!
14,216 security errors found….CRUDDY SEZ: What do you call a Mystic who hacks code?
Identifying likely backdoor candidates…CRUDDY SEZ: A High Programmer.
Viable backdoor found…0x533268>RunAllHack(0x533268)Running…Attempting to subvert Combots…
Connection closed!

160
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
3. Debriefing With Violence
Episode Summary: Arthur-B-PHB
debriefs the characters with all the grace and
charm one could expect from a very annoying
debriefing officer. Then the sector degenerates
into a chaotic civil war, which is actually a relief
under the circumstances.
Traitors Among Us
Tension 8
Arthur-B-PHB is waiting for the characters
and he’s not happy. Despite the briefness of
their mission, he still has a dozen pages of
notes and criticisms. He marks them down
for any deviation from their instructions or any
mistakes or excess damage they caused. He
berates them again for their lack of cleanliness
or proper bearing. In short, he gets right up
their noses.
Once you tire of insulting the characters and
going through their multicorder footage (they
did specify they were taking multicorder footage
161
HEEEEEEERE’S T-34!
of the whole mission, right, in accordance with
the official Mandatory Bonus Duty of the
Communications & Recording officer, yes? The
whole mission was supposed to be carried out
in full accordance with Alpha Complex Total
Quality Assurance Initiative 214, hmm?), then
Arthur-B reaches down, pulls a thick report
out of his briefcase and shows the title page
to the characters.
It reads ‘ C P U R e p o r t O n N o n -
Sanctioned Opinions and Affiliations
Within Troubleshooter Teams’.
Patronisingly, Arthur-B-PHB explains that the
contents of the report are clearance BLUE
and therefore he cannot show it to the team
but the clear conclusion is that the average
Troubleshooter team harbours 1.84 traitors.
Therefore, there are 1.84 traitors within the
players’ Troubleshooter team and no-one is
leaving this briefing room until these traitors
have been identified!
Arthur-B-PHB sits back and lets the players
point fingers and shout at each other for a
while.
The Sound of Distant
Revolution
Tension 0
Distantly, echoing down the long corridor, the
characters hear the sound of an explosion.
Then, there’s another boom and the harsh
chatter of automatic weapons fire. There’s
shouting and cheers and cries of ‘viva
la revolution!’ or ‘down with The
Computer!’.
If any of the characters respond in any
way, then Arthur-B-PHB frowns and snaps
‘debriefing is not concluded, Troubleshooter!
Sit back down! Whatever’s going on out there
has nothing to do with our meeting!’ If they
 3. DEBRIEFING
do anything stupid like trying to leave, he
fires a warning shot from his podium. ‘Pay
no attention to whatever nonsense is going
on out there.’
The explosions and shouting gets louder
and the lights flicker. There’s the sound of
running feet just outside the briefing room.
Arthur-B rolls his eyes and then orders the
Troubleshooters to stay put while he sorts
4. The People Want You To Shoot People
Episode Summary: Two of the leaders
of the People’s Glorious Revolutionary
Committee pop in to inform the characters that
the revolution now rules their lives and they’ve
been assigned to be the firing squad for the
people who don’t accept the revolution.
The Dark Before
The Storm
Tension 0
Give the players a few minutes to sweat.
The lights in the briefing room come back
on but there’s an acrid tang in the recycled
air. The characters’ PDCs aren’t working and
the Computer terminal is still just a screen
of jumbled static. Occasionally, it mutters
something like ‘SYSTEM OFFLINE – PLEASE
STAND BY FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS’
or ‘ERROR – NETWORK NOT FOUND’ or
‘PLEASE REPORT…PLEASE REPORT…
PLEASE REPORT’.
There’s no easy way out of the briefing room. If
the characters try to do something like climbing
out of the air vents, then move onto the next
scene at the most embarrassing moment
possible. (‘No, friend citizen, we’re not
trying to climb into the air vent…we’re,
er, doing exercises.’). T-34 is doggedly
obeying the orders of the vanished Arthur-B-
PHB and refuses to let the characters out of
the room.
Meet The New Bosses
Tension 15
Then, the characters hear the sound of
marching outside and the grinding noise of
T-34 rolling back from the door. The briefing
room door opens and two INDIGO-clearance
clones enter, along with a squad of heavily
armed revolutionaries. The two INDIGOs are
Terrence and Phineous. Terrence is short,
WITH VIOLENCE
this mess out. He then walks over to the door
and leaves.
The lights flicker again and the sounds die
away.
If the characters try to leave, they find that a
T-34 combot is standing outside the door. The
bot says that it has been ordered by citizen
Arthur-B-PHB to ensure that no-one leaves
rotund and kindly. He’s also an undercover
IntSec officer who has seen thousands of
clones to the termination booths. He really,
really likes terminating people (he also really,
really likes the perks and privileges that come
with being high-clearance and believes that
Operation FLUSH is his ticket to VIOLET).
Any IntSec Troubleshooters will know he’s
their boss because of the code signal he’ll
give them.
His companion is Phineous-I. Tall, thin,
wild-eyed, Phineous is a nutcase who wants
to destroy Alpha Complex. He used to be a
successful Troubleshooter but constant deaths
and paranoia have driven him mad and now
he wants revenge. Phineous is a PURGE
member but the PURGE goals of turning
the fake revolution into a real one are only a
stepping stone to Phineous’s real goal – going
down in a hellish, Jonestown-esque massacre
that inflicts as much damage as possible on
The Computer.
Their guards, the People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Guards, are all equipped with
Vulture Warrior gear and armour. Perceptive
characters will notice that the Vulture Warrior
gear doesn’t fit very well, as the People’s
Glorious Revolutionary Guard don’t have the
superhuman drug-pumped physiques of a
Vulture. The gear was looted from the bodies
of dead Vultures.
Glory to the PGRC
Terrence introduces himself. ‘Good day,
fellow citizens! The most glorious
of all days, in fact! Today is the
first day in the People’s Glorious
Complex! The People’s Glorious
Revolution has seized control
of this whole sector, and soon
Briefing Room #32 and that they should return
to their assigned seats and wait. Beyond the
bot, the characters can see gun battles and
fire down the corridor.
Back in the briefing room, the Computer
monitor flickers to life, displaying the Eye of the
Computer for a moment. The Eye is panicked
and fearful. It then dissolves into static.
The Revolution has taken control of YUC
Sector.
the oppressed proletariat of the
other sectors – inspired by our
example - will rise up and join
our glorious cause! Glory to the
People’s Glorious Revolution!’
Phineous and the People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Guards join in at this point,
shouting ‘GLORY TO THE PEOPLE’S
GLORIOUS REVOLUTION! HAIL
THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTIONARY CENTRAL
COMMITTEE’ They look expectantly at any
Troubleshooters who don’t join in the chant.
Terrence then says ‘I am Central
Committee Member Terrence-I, and
this is Central Committee Member
Phineous-I. We are both members
of the Central Committee of the
People’s Glorious Revolution, and
we have the honour of being your
interim leaders until free and fair
elections are held, to better reflect
the collective will of the people.
These heavily armed fellow citizens
are part of our People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Guard, here to protect
both us and you from minions of the
hated enemy Computer. Down with
The Computer and its regime!’
Again, there’s a chorus of ‘DOWN WITH
THE COMPUTER AND ITS REGIME!
GLORY TO THE PEOPLE’S
GLORIOUS REVOLUTION! HAIL
THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTIONARY CENTRAL
COMMITTEE’ from Phinous, the guards
and the player characters if they know what’s
good for them.
With a kindly smile on his wide face, Terrence-I
then asks the players to swear loyalty to the
People’s Glorious Revolutionary Committee.
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 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
Anyone who does not swear loyalty is an
Enemy of the People and must be terminated
by firing squad. Any characters who swear
loyalty are given a warm handshake by
Terrence and a bony, clammy handshake by
Phineous. Anyone who doesn’t swear loyalty is
dragged away (see Enemies of the People).
The People’s Subcommittee
For Mental Hygiene
& Termination
Tension 15
Assuming that there are still a few
Troubleshooters left, Terrence-I explains that
the citizens of YUC Sector are being assigned
new duties and positions in the new, better
society. The player characters have been
selected as the People’s Subcommittee For
Mental Hygiene & Termination. A selection
of suspected enemies of the people will be
presented to them and it is up to the characters
to decide who lives and who dies. All they need
to do is root out internal dissent, to ensure that
the roots of the People’s Glorious Revolution
remain strong! Rooting out for the good of the
roots! Does this sound like a fun and worthy
assignment? It really had better. Terrence-I
announces that it will be ‘more fun than
fresh socks’. He pronounces this as clearly
and obviously as possible, trying to spot the
reactions of any Internal Security characters.
The characters may ask what the situation as
outside Room #32. Terrence tells them that
the People’s Glorious Revolution has taken
control of the whole of YUC Sector and is
fighting with Computer loyalists at the sector
edges. Soon, the Revolution will spread to
neighbouring sectors!
Anyway, they’re going to be the firing squad
for the revolution. Terrence says that T-34 will
send traitors in and the characters will judge
them. It’s all a bit ad hoc but that’s how the
People’s Glorious Revolution rolls. Terrence-I
holds up a sample form, a Writ of Termination
and tells the characters that each traitor will
be accompanied by a Writ of Termination
outlining their crimes against the people and
the suggested punishment for these crimes.
The characters will have to interview these
criminals and decide which penalty is the most
appropriate. Punishments will be assigned by
the committee. Importantly, each character
must initial the punishment they vote for, to
ensure that proper records are kept.
Phineous-I leans in at this point, speaking in a
weird screechy voice. ‘Beware! There are
agents of The Computer everywhere!
Better that you terminate a thousand
innocents than let a single enemy of
the people survive!’
Terrence-I smiles slightly nervously at his fellow
Committee Member and informs the characters
that as a reward for their service to the People’s
Glorious Revolutionary Committee, they will
be promoted one security clearance level. As
soon as the remains of certain Enemies of the
People are cleared out of the Guest Sleeping
Quarters of the People, then the characters will
be assigned housing and bathroom privileges
in YUC Sector. For the moment, they must
remain here in Room #32.
He claps his hands and a team of INFRAREDs
run in and replace Arthur-B-PHB’s podium with
a stand for an accused prisoner. They also
paint a white line parallel to one wall, where
the firing squad can stand.
After a final wild threat and cackle from an
obviously loony Phineous, the committee and
their goons troop out and T-34 sends the first
traitor in.

Enemies of the People

So, what happens to a character that doesn’t
smile and salute and embrace the People’s
Glorious Revolution? They’re dragged out
into the corridor by two of the People’s
Glorious Revolutionary Guards and beaten
up a bit before being thrown into a holding
room. Fill out a Writ of Termination for the
traitorous player and have him brought in as
a prisoner before the firing squad as soon as
possible. Let his fellow players judge him.

If freed, the character is conveniently

reassigned to the People’s Glorious
Subcommittee for Mental Hygiene and
Termination. If terminated, the character’s
next clone is conveniently reassigned to the
People’s Glorious Subcommittee for Mental
Hygiene and Termination.

Meet the New Bosses.

163
 5. BRING IN THE
5. Bring In The Prisoners
Episode Summary: A succession of
prisoners are brought before the Subcommittee
for Mental Hygiene & Termination. The
characters get to vote on who lives and who
dies.
This section of the mission consists of a
parade of prisoners who are brought before
the Subcommittee. Each prisoner gets the
chance to plead for his life. The characters
then get to fill in a Writ of Termination for that
prisoner. Each Writ lists the prisoner’s crimes
and a few suggested punishments. The players
must vote for their preferred punishment by
writing their character’s initials next to that
punishment. The punishment or punishments
with the most votes is then ticked. Make sure
that all the writs are filled in fully – they’ll
come into play again in Episode 7. You can
photocopy the writs from page 60 or download
them from the Mongoose Publishing website.
The characters may then have to carry out the
punishments listed on the writs or just hand the
prisoner back over to T-34 for disposal. There’s
a break of several minutes between prisoners,
enough time for Troubleshooters to run off on
private missions or try desperately to scrub the
blood from their hands.
Note the small print on the Writs. The
composition of the Committee changes as
Phineous executes his rivals. By the time the
last prisoner is brought in, Phineous will have
control of the whole revolution.
Prisoner Zero
Tension 0
This section only matters if one of the
Troubleshooters didn’t support the People’s
Glorious Revolution and was dragged away by
the guards. The Troubleshooter – bloodied and
bruised by his punishment beating – is pushed
back into the room by the T-34 combot and
made to stand in the prisoner’s dock.
Fill out a Writ of Termination for the character
but make sure that none of the punishments
are erasure – the worst should be termination
and the others should be humiliating forfeits
or amusing tortures. They’ll probably vote for
termination, so have the replacement clone
assigned to the Subcommittee to keep the
group together.
PRISONERS
Prisoner One
– In The Wrong
Place
Tension 0
The first guest on the Subcommittee for Mental
Hygiene & Termination is Bob-YUC, a poor
INFRARED who was in the wrong place at
the wrong time. A gang of revolutionaries
smashed their way into the barracks Bob-YUC
shares with 100 other INFRARED drones,
grabbed him at random and asked him if he
supported the People’s Glorious Revolution.
He stammered something about being loyal
to Friend Computer, just like the subliminal
messaging that plays constantly during the
nightcycle told him to do. The revolutionaries
picked him as an example to the other
INFRAREDs and took him away.
The T-34 drags Bob-YUC into the briefing
room and throws him into the prisoner’s dock.
Bob-YUC’s a dumpy middle-aged INFRARED
with bleary eyes. He’s got a black hood over
his face, which the bot removes before exiting,
leaving Bob-YUC blinking in the harsh light.
Bob-YUC has no real idea what’s going on,
what he’s done wrong or what this whole
revolution thing is about. He just wants to get
out of here alive but all the happy drugs in his
system are making it hard to think and he’s
not that bright at the best of times. Play Bob-
YUC as a genial idiot. His only real purpose
in the scenario is to show the players how the
Writs work.
Bob-YUC
Management 4
Stealth 6
Stealing Food from the Food Vats
Without Being Seen 10
Violence 4
Hardware 8
Food Vat Operation 12
Software 2
Wetware 2
Correctly Adding The Right
Additives To Food Vats 6
Secret Society: None
Mutation: Pyrokinesis (Power 4)
Judging Bob
Bob’s crimes are:
Consorting with the enemy (the
most generic charge ever)
Not being sufficiently loyal to the
People’s Glorious Revolution
(ditto)
Looking suspicious (he’s, er,
dressed in black.)
Not knowing the words to the
People’s Glorious Anthem (no-
one does, yet)
His suggested punishments are:
Stern telling off. The characters will
have to deliver the telling off and it had
better be stern.
Mandatory singing lessons: The
characters will have to teach Bob the
words of the People’s Glorious Anthem
and make him sing at least one verse.
Medication: If the characters choose
this option, then a docbot will roll into the
room and deliver a large glowing syringe
to the characters. Anyone injected with
this syringe becomes incredibly loyal to
the first thing they see after being injected
with the goop.
Termination: The characters get to
put Bob-YUC up against the wall and
shoot him with their laser rifles.
Erasure: As above, only Bob-YUC’s
whole clone line is erased and he never
comes back again.
Prisoner Two
– Rudy the Spy
Tension 0
The second prisoner is Rudy-Y-ANC. He’s
a weasel-faced citizen dressed in a yellow
jumpsuit; his cover identity was as a CPU
clerk. Unlike Bob-YUC, he’s been treated quite
well and walks into the briefing room with a
barely concealed smirk on his face. Rudy-Y
is an IntSec spy1, part of Operation FLUSH.
He knows that there’s a revolution underway
in YUC sector and he believes that everything
is under control. According to his superiors in
IntSec, the Subcommittee for Mental Hygiene
& Termination should be under the control of
164
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
1: There once was a clone named
Rudy-Y/
He was an Internal Security spy/
Now Operation FLUSH’s on the
rocks/
It’s not as fun as his fresh socks/
And Rudy-Y is going to die.
other IntSec agents. Rudy-Y expects to get
asked a few easy questions for show and
then given a slap on the wrist or other light
punishment.
Rudy knows the ‘as fun as fresh socks’
recognition code and will drop it into
conversation as soon as possible. He might
say that his job in YUC Sector CPU wasn’t
as fun as fresh socks or wonder about the
Troubleshooters’ uniforms and idly wonder
out loud if their footwear is both newly
refurbished and remarkably exciting. He also
initially denies any involvement in spying or
treason and certainly denies the existence of
Operation FLUSH.
As soon as it becomes clear to Rudy-Y that
the Subcommittee aren’t going to let him
off easily, Rudy-Y switches demeanour
instantly. He goes from cocky denials and
assuredness to absolute terror as he realises
that Operation FLUSH has gone wrong. He
admits that Internal Security knew about the
People’s Glorious Revolutionary Committee
and arranged for the revolution to happen.
His suggested punishments are:
Ordered to pass on false
intelligence to Alpha Complex
(It’s up to the characters to decide what
intelligence is passed on)
Held in a secure area for further
interrogation (basically, spare his life
and stick him in a closet)
Public execution (they’ll need to find
a public area in YUC Sector; see page 43
for life outside the briefing room during the
revolution)
Appearance on ‘Traitor Zapping
Hour TV show’ (which doesn’t
actually exist yet and it’ll be up to the
players to design it. If they pick this option,
Phineous-I and the People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Guard call in and deliver
a television camera to the characters.
They then insist that to raise morale in the
People’s Glorious Revolution, the deaths
of enemies of the people must be suitably
impressive and theatrical.
Erasure: No more Rudy.
Post-Rudy
This is a good time to run some of the optional
encounters in Episode 7, especially if the
players are getting tired of judging people.
Prisoner Three
– Cash or Death
Rudy-Y
Management 8
Chutzpah 12
Annoying Confidence 14
Stealth 10
Sneaking 14
Surveillance 14
Violence 4
Energy Weapons 8
Hardware 4
Software 4
Wetware 2
Secret Society: ProTech
Mutation: Hypersenses (Power 4)
So, what can Judy-G really offer the characters?
She does indeed have around 50,000 credits
stored in a secret account under a false name,
as well as a meagre amount of influence in
the cutthroat industry of Hot Fun Packaging,
Storage and Containment1. She’s also a Free
Enterprise member and will sponsor characters
for membership into the society.
1: The containment bit involves lead-lined
vaults deep beneath Alpha Complex.
If it comes to it, she’s got a spare kidney she’s
not using, too. She’ll cling to life with every fibre
of her being and say whatever she thinks will
get her out of this mess.

He admits that there are IntSec agents in the Tension 0

very highest echelons of the People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Committee. He’ll even admit that
the recognition code used to recognise other
IntSec agents is ‘as fun as fresh socks’.
In short, ‘oh no, oh no, please don’t
execute me, I’ll do or say anything to
save my skin.’
Judging Rudy
Rudy’s accused of:
Being a spy for The Computer.
Spying on the People’s Glorious
Revolution.
Spying on the People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Committee
Betraying the People’s Glorious
Revolution to the hated Alpha
Complex.
Judging Judy-G
The third person brought before the
Subcommittee is Judy-G, formerly an up- Judy-G-ZAT is accused of:
and-coming PLC executive. She’s used to Lack of loyalty to the People’s
privilege and bossing other citizens around Glorious new regime
and is not coping with the revolution very Spreading dissent
well, especially as the People’s Glorious Hoarding Hot Fun, Cold Fun and
Revolutionary Committee looted her service other foodstuffs
firm and confiscated all her stuff for the good Not being sufficiently
of the revolution. enthusiastic about the new
regime
Judy-G’s rather mercurial and unstable in Suspicious behaviour
her current state and will alternate between Looks like a traitor
threatening the characters, trying to bribe them
with her stashed credits and craven servility Her suggested punishments are:
promising absolute loyalty to the People’s Reassignment to reactor
Glorious Revolution. If you ever get stuck, roll shielding duty (death)
on the Random Way For Judy To Dig Her Own Termination (death)
Grave Table. Public execution (death)
Erasure (or death)

165
 5. BRING IN THE PRISONERS
Random Way For Judy To Dig Her Own Grave
Roll Phrase
1 Don’t you know who I am?
2 I have friends in high places. They’ll be angry if you hurt me!
3 Don’t try to mess with me, little clone – I can buy and sell your whole line!
4 I’m GREEN clearance, you’re not. YOU will listen to ME!
5 You don’t have the right to do this and you certainly don’t have the guts.
6 I can make you very wealthy. Just let me go!
7 I’ve got creds stashed in a secret account. I’m not poor…
8 Look, how much are they paying you to shoot me? I’ll pay you twice that to not shoot me.
9 You’ll never get ahead in Alpha Complex if you don’t make deals. Let’s make a deal.
10 This revolution will end soon. When it does, you’ll need a friend with some real access. I’ll help you if you help me!
11 Please! I was only following orders!
12 I never spread dissent! I love the revolution! Down with The Computer!
13 I wasn’t hoarding food! I run a food packaging plant!
14 I have no idea how that Hot Fun ended up in my Hot Fun storage warehouse!
15 The last guy you had in here was called Rudy, right? It’s a clerical error. They meant you to kill him, not me!
16 Ok, this was really a test to see if you were paying attention. I’m not a traitor, now let me go!
17 I’ve got scary mutant powers! If you try to kill me, I’ll turn into a monster and eat you all! Don’t make me angry!
18 Look behind you!
19 If they really wanted to terminate me, they’d have done so already. So, they want me to live. So, if you kill me, you’ll anger
them.
20 Roll again twice and combine the two results.

Judy-G
Management 10
Oratory 14
Stealth 4
Violence 4
Hardware 4
Chemical Engineering 8
Food Vat Operation 10
Software 6
Data Search 10
Wetware 6
Biosciences 10
Pharmatherapy 10
Secret Society: Free Enterprise
Mutation: Matter Eater (Power 10)

In short, the Magic Hate Ball says ‘outlook

looks bleak for Judy-G’. If the characters do
want to spare her life, then they will have to
sneak her out of the briefing room without the
T-34 seeing her.

Prisoner Four – Every

Troubleshooter’s
Dream Job
Tension 0
Everyone Else Is First Against The Wall When The Revolution Comes.
In this section, the Troubleshooters get to
do what they’ve always really wanted to do
– execute their briefing officer. Yes, Arthur-

166
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
B-PHB is back, only this time he’s dragged
into the briefing room in chains, with his face
bruised, his shiny jumpsuit torn and grimy and
his supercilious attitude completely shattered.
As he’s brought in, he’s screaming at the
T-34 to let him go and to obey his orders but
the bot ignores him. For this scene to work,
the Gamemaster will have to have made
Arthur-B-PHB the most annoying and hateful
boss ever. The players should be eager to
terminate him.
After leaving the briefing room earlier, Arthur-B
tried to find out what all the disruption and
noise was. He discovered a whole sector full
of Commie Mutant Traitors and – being a
surprisingly brave briefing officer – he drew
his laser pistol and charged into the fray. He
was shot and killed by revolutionaries within
seconds. His replacement clone woke up in the
revolutionary-held clone bank in YUC Sector
under armed guard; they brought him back to the
briefing room to be judged by the Subcommittee
for Mental Hygiene & Termination.
When he’s brought in, Arthur-B has no idea
that his former Troubleshooter team are now
the revolutionary subcommittee responsible
for his fate and he will initially assume that
they too have been captured by the Commie
Mutant Traitors, which is absolutely typical
of the characters’ utter incompetence. How
could they let themselves be captured without
inflicting significant casualties on the enemy?
Nonetheless, they are all loyal citizens together
and must stay brave during this interrogation.
Now, where’s this Commie Mutant Traitor
committee?
Judging Arthur-B
If it’s looking like the Troubleshooters are going
to condemn him, then Arthur-B launches into a
rant about how their decision making system
is flawed and does not conform to Alpha
Complex Committee on Committee Codes,
Best Practices and Mediation Complex-Wide
New Initiative (revised).
Oh, take a look at Arthur-B’s writ of termination.
Note that Terrence-I no longer appears in the list
of names of Central Committee members.
Prisoner Six – It All
Comes Tumbling Down
Tension 0
Outside the briefing room, the characters
hear more shouting and chanting. A crowd is
gathering in the corridor outside Room #32,
baying for the execution of the prisoner. T-34
has to force its way through the crowd, rolling
over toes and pushing demonstrators aside
with huge sweeps of its guns. Finally, the
prisoner reaches the door of the briefing room
and is thrown in.
It’s Terence-I, erstwhile Central Committee
member. Despite the blood-thirsty crowd
outside, he’s uninjured. His jolly demeanour has
vanished, replaced by desperate cunning.
Terence-I gasps that Phineous-I has gone
insane and seized control of the whole
Central Committee. He’s had the rest of the
Committee killed or demoted and is now the
sole master of YUC Sector. The war is going
badly; Computerist forces are storming the
barricades a few levels away. Phineous-I
has abandoned the Revolution’s aims and is
through the barricades, I’ll ensure that
they don’t terminate you! This is your
only chance to survive!’
Judging Terrence-I
He’s accused of:
Passing information to the
hated enemies of the people
High treason
Betrayal of the Central Committee
Abuse of public trust
Very high treason
Being an Intsec spy
And the only acceptable punishment,
apparently, is Erasure of the whole clone
line.
If the characters choose to erase Terrence-I,
then they’ve just terminated an INDIGO IntSec
agent. That’s really not the sort of thing you want
on your resume next to ‘Completed basic
food vat stirrer engine maintenance’
or ‘avid BotSpotter’.
If they choose not to erase Terrence-I, then
they need to get a rather fat man out of the
briefing room and past both the T-34 combot
and the crowd of frothing revolutionaries who
want to tear Terrence limb from limb. He won’t
fit in the air vents and there are no other exits.
If they’re stalling too long, then a messenger
arrives to inform them that a Central Committee
member is coming to visit the Subcommittee
for Mental Hygiene & Termination and they
should make ready to receive the honoured
Committee Member.

He’s accused of:

plotting some final devastating attack on Alpha
Complex that will destroy both sides. Attempts
Terrence-I
Management 12
Attempted resistance to the to raise the proletariat in other sectors failed Oratory 16
Glorious Revolution dismally. Soon, either Phineous-I’s plan will kill Con Games 16
Illegal use of weapons everyone in YUC Sector or they’ll be executed IntSec Files 18
Traitorous thoughts & deeds as traitors once The Computer’s forces seize Stealth 10
Passing on treasonous control again. Surveillance 14
badthought and Computerist Disguise 14
propaganda Terence-I’s eyes narrow and he looks around Violence 8
suspiciously. He drops his voice and whispers Energy Weapons 12
Suggested punishments are: to the characters. ‘I can ensure your Hardware 4
Demotion (to the security clearance of safety when the Revolution falls. I am Software 6
the characters’ choice) an Internal Security double-agent, Data Search 10
Reassignment to reactor on a mission to foil the traitorous Wetware 4
shielding duty revolution. Spare my life, hide me Secret Society: None (Ex-Communist)
Termination somewhere and when the Vulture Mutation: Charm (Power 8)
Public execution Warrior stormtroopers come smashing
Erasure

167
 6. REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTS
6. Revolutionary Developments
Episode Summary: The Troubleshooters
run the Gamemaster off his module and explore
a sector in chaos. Things shoot them.
YUC Sector
Under The New
Management
It’s unlikely that the characters will ever leave
Room #32 for long in this mission. For one
thing, there’s a giant combot standing outside
the door with orders not to let them leave. If
they do, though, then they find that life in YUC
Sector really hasn’t changed that much in the
areas of the sector that aren’t under direct
attack. INFRAREDs are still stirring the food
vats, officious bureaucrats are still officious
bureaucrats, the scrubots keep on scrubbing
and so forth. There are widespread shortages
and power brownouts, the communications
system has partially crashed (they’re using
runners and wire telephones instead) and
everywhere there are Computer monitors filled
with static. There are also lots of new posters,
with slogans like:
ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION!
THE PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE IS ALL-
KNOWING! TRUST THE COMMITTEE!
THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE ARE
YOUR FRIENDS!
REPORT ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE
AND TRAITOROUS ACTIVITY TO
THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTIONARY GUARD!
FOOD HOARDING BETRAYS THE
PEOPLE!
LOYALTY TO THE PEOPLE IS
MANDATORY!
THE NEW ORDER IS ALL! DO NOT
RESIST THE NEW ORDER!
YOU ARE FREE, CITIZEN! CONTACT
THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE FOR
YOUR NEW WORK ASSIGNMENT AND
FIND GLORY IN YOUR FREEDOM!
COMPUTER LOYALISTS ARE
EVERYWHERE! STAY ALERT!
If the characters venture to higher-clearance
areas, then they do see more signs of change.
Almost every citizen above BLUE has been
terminated by the rebels and there are signs
of heavy fighting at the entrance to every
high-clearance sector. (The high-clearance
citizens were warned of Operation FLUSH but
didn’t know about the PURGE involvement.)
Rapidly, though, the empty slots in the social
pyramid are being filled. With so many
terminations leading to so many openings,
there’s promotion hyperinflation. Instead of
being promoted to RED for betraying a friend,
an INFRARED can expect to be promoted to
RED for almost any meritorious conduct. Pick
up some trash, have a promotion! Salute in the
corridor, have a promotion! Of course, because
of the food shortages and chaotic situation,
there’s no real benefit to a higher clearance but
the regular promotions have made the PGRC
rather popular among the proletariat.
Fighting is still raging at the edges of the sector,
where the People’s Glorious Revolutionary
army is battling against the Armed Forces.
It’s rather confused – according to Operation
FLUSH, the attacks on the other sections
should be little more than a feint to draw the
traitors in YUC Sector out, not a huge attack.
There are barricades blocking the corridors
and battalions of T-34 combots heading out
to war.
Escaping YUC Sector
All the exits from YUC Sector have been
either welded shut by Revolutionaries or else
barricaded with office furniture, bunk beds,

Random Encounters In The Revolution

Roll Encounter
1 Scrubbot scrubbing blood off a corridor
2 INFRARED clones wandering around lost and confused
3 Trashed Vending Machine
4 RED Poster team putting Revolutionary posters over Computer posters
5 Food collection truck gathering supplies for the barricade fighters
6 Newly-promoted ORANGE revolutionary parading around proudly
7 A group of citizens celebrating their new freedom by singing the People’s Glorious Anthem
8 T-34 Combot looking for trouble
9 YELLOW Revolutionary Guard bossing citizens about
10 Trashed confession booth
11 GREEN Revolutionary Guards looting the corpse of a Vulture Warrior
12 Leaking water pipe. The corridor is half-flooded.
13 Newly-promoted BLUE revolutionary shouting propaganda to anyone who listens
14 Broken Computer monitor with a smiley face drawn on it
15 INDIGO Central Committee member surrounded by an adoring crowd
16 Battle-damaged T-34 wandering randomly
17 A documentary team making a movie about the glorious heroes of the revolution
18 The aftermath of a public execution
19 A looted and burning shopping mall
20 Roll again twice and combine the two results.

168
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
vending machines and the bodies of fallen
clones. A character who spends a lot of time
searching for an exit can eventually find an
air vent, abandoned transtube or other hole in
the wall. On the far side is a waiting team of
IntSec agents, who point an impressive range
of lethal weapons at the would-be defector. If
the character doesn’t flee, then IntSec grab him
and tell him that he’s now an undercover IntSec
agents, with orders to spy on the proceedings
of Operation FLUSH. Give him one of the
IntSec briefings from Episode 1, then turn him
around and send him back into YUC.
Room #33
Clever Troubleshooters may try to visit Room
#33 and its computer console. The console
is almost completely incomprehensible but a
character with Bot Programming, Hacking or
Operating Systems could try to mess with it.
Interrupt them with Revolutionary Guards if
you have to.
Looting & Pillaging
Troubleshooters can obtain all sorts of Stuff
in YUC Sector, despite the sector’s economic
deprivation. Any GREEN or lower clearance
equipment can be obtained, although black-
market prices have risen by 1,000% due to
the war. Fortunately, it’s easy to get promoted
(especially when Phineous-I promotes half the
Troubleshooters to the Central Committee)
and hence get paid more credit. Let’s hear it
for hyperinflation!
7. The Central Commitee Wants You!
Episode Summary: Phineous-I returns
and reviews the characters’ decisions so far.
He then recruits half of the Troubleshooters
to the Central Committee to help him guide
the revolution. On the bright side, it means
promotion and power beyond the wildest
dreams of most Troubleshooters. On the other
hand, certain death.
From this point on in the scenario, there’ll
be an upswing in player-vs-player violence
and plotting, above and beyond the normal
PARANOIA conspiring. The players won’t
even be pretending to be on the same side
any more.
169
Secret Society Stuff
If a Troubleshooter wants to contact his secret
society, he can do so. Most Secret Societies
are confused and alarmed by the state of the
Revolution.
Anti-Mutant: You’re on the firing squad?
Good! Make sure that all the muties are
executed!
Communists: We are plotting our own
counter-revolution! We will terminate the
Central Committee and seize control! We need
you to locate the Central Committee’s meeting
place – our agents will then bomb them!
Computer Phreaks: Ok, so the hackers
are dead. Break into Room #33 and try to
download a copy of the code they were
using.
Corpore Metal: The T-34s fighting at the
barricades are taking heavy casualties! Go to
the war zone and salvage any intact bot brains
you can find!
Death Leopard: It’s the end of the world!
Burn everything!
FCCC-P: We are all damned! The Computer
has abandoned us! Only by openly proclaiming
our devotion can we be redeemed! Tell
everyone of your faith!
Frankenstein Destroyers: Hah! The
robots are being smashed in the war. Prolong
Our Glorious
Leader
Tension 15
Read the following aloud to the players.
From outside, beyond the sound
of the crowd who were shouting
for Terrence-I’s blood, there’s the
sound of jackboots marching. Then
there’s the sound of jackboots
booting and heads being clubbed
and then there’s an awed hush. ‘ALL
HAIL THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE’
shouts someone.
this conflict between YUC and the rest of Alpha
Complex for as long as possible.
Free Enterprise: Have you sold those
VitaYum bars yet?
Humanists: Ok, the revolution isn’t going
quite as planned but that’s ‘cos there aren’t
enough Humanists in charge! Get promoted
as quickly as you can!
Illuminati: You are instructed to ensure
that citizen Judy-G-ZAT is not terminated. She
must not be harmed.
Mystics: I don’t know where Dave’s place
is. Do you?
Psion: You’re working on the firing squad?
Good. Ensure that all mutants are spared.
Pro Tech: Ok, the revolution isn’t going
quite as planned but that’s ‘cos there aren’t
enough Pro Tech in charge! Get promoted as
quickly as you can!
PURGE: Everything is going according to
plan. Continue.
Romantics: Ok, the revolution isn’t going
quite as planned but that’s ‘cos there aren’t
enough Romantics in charge! Get promoted
as quickly as you can!
Sierra Club: Ok, the revolution isn’t
going quite as planned but that’s ‘cos there
aren’t enough Sierra Clubbers in charge! Get
promoted as quickly as you can!
The door opens and it’s filled with
Revolutionary Guards. Four of
them try to jam through the door
at once and their People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Shoulderpads get
stuck for a moment. With a loud
pop, they tumble into the briefing
room and take up position around
you. More guards pour in and
then the gaunt figure of Phinous-I
appears. He stalks over to you like
a preying mantis approaching a
particular tasty thing that a preying
mantis might like to eat.
‘Subcommittee Members,’ he
intones in sepulchral tones, ‘today
 7. THE CENTRAL COMMITEE WANTS YOU !
has been a great day for the
People’s Glorious Revolution. We
have purged traitors from our midst
and thrown off the oppressive
shackles of The Computer and your
subcommittee has played a key part
in our triumph – but there is more
work to do.
‘My friends, the Central Committee
needs you.’
Phineous-I asks for the completed Writs of
Termination that should have been filled out
by the characters. Look at the writs and identify
the half of the players who have been the most
bloodthirsty and voted for the lowest option on
each list of punishments. This group of players
(which should be roughly half the group) are
going to get promoted.
There should already be a split in the party,
between those who were briefed by IntSec at the
start of the mission and were aware of Operation
FLUSH and those who had no idea about the
revolution and have been going with the flow
all along. In an ideal world, the Phineous-I split
should be orthogonal to that split, as in you
end up with four types of player characters
– revolutionaries in the Central Committee,
IntSec agents in the Central Committee,
revolutionaries left behind and IntSec agents left
behind. This will maximise player confusion and
carnage. Of course, this is not an ideal world,
no matter what Friend Computer insists and you
may just have to rely on the natural propensities
of players to provide confusion and carnage on
their own initiative.
Once he’s found his candidates, Phineous-I
points at them with long, bony fingers.
Observant players notice a distinct trigger-
finger callous on both hands. Phineous informs
the ‘lucky’ Troubleshooters that they are
hereby promoted to clearance INDIGO and are
being reassigned to the Central Committee.
They must accompany him immediately to the
Central Committee Pleasure-Dome.
The unlucky characters are to remain here;
another prisoner will be with them shortly. Run
Episode 8 – IntSec Inside for those characters.
The Central
Committee
Tension 5
Phineous-I and his – well, now technically their
Revolutionary Guards lead the characters down
the corridor a short distance to yet another
anonymous door. A hastily hand-written sign
declares this to be ‘CENTRAL COMMITTEE
HEADQUARTERS.’ Phineous mutters
something about the original pleasure-dome
being destroyed by Computerist forces, so this
is the temporary replacement. He apologises
for the poor quality of the facilities.
Inside, though, the room is surprisingly
luxurious. It’s still a RED-clearance chamber
but it’s been stocked with furniture, decorations
and supplies looted from a dozen high-
clearance apartments. The floor has carpets
stacked on carpets, the chairs are incredibly
plush, comfortable and massage-feature-rich,
there are multiple giant television screens and
the tables are heaving with food and drink
– real food and genuine alcohol.
Phineous-I has the characters sit down at the
central table. An antique robutler emerges
from a closet and serves the characters
whatever drinks they desire, before Phineous
calls the meeting to order. His speech starts
out inspiring and then flies right off the ramp
to crazy-town. The tone of this speech should
be very much Hitler-in-the-bunker.
‘Fellow Central Committee
Members, the People’s Glorious
Revolution faces a dire crisis. The
people have not been informed
of this fact but you now have the
clearance to know the truth. Enemy
forces are breaking through our
barricades everywhere and despite
our hopes, the other sectors have
not risen up to join us.
There is hope – hope that we can
prevail against the enemy. The T-
34 combots that are the backbone
of our defence have proved so
effective that The Computer is
deploying more T-34s to the front.
If we can seize control of the enemy
T-34s remotely, we can turn the
enemy forces against themselves
and prolong our glorious struggle.
Our spies in the enemy Complex
discovered that a group of hackers
managed to gain control of the
T-34 bot network just before the
revolution began. This backdoor
into the bot net is proof of the
righteousness of our cause! We
shall use the very Computer our
enemies serve to destroy them!
I proposed this plan to the older
members of the Central Committee
but they turned on me! Terrence-I
was an Internal Security double
agent and his nefarious influence
had spread to the rest of the
Central Committee. They had to
be purged. Now, with a new, pure
Central Committee free of Internal
Security taint, we can put my plan
into operation.
Internal Security is watching us,
though. You can’t just march
back to Room #33 and use the
hackers’ computer to control the
T-34s – the IntSec agents would
assassinate you. We must be
cautious and clever. You will return
to the Subcommittee and find some
way of making it next door to the
computer console. There, you will
insert this control disk, giving you
170
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
control over the T-34 network.
Order all the bots to attack the
Computerist forces, and our victory
is assured!
Think of it, brothers! A new order in
Alpha Complex! The dream of the
revolution fulfilled!’
If the Troubleshooters ask for specifics on their
new mission, then Phineous-I insists that the
best strategy is to return to the Subcommittee,
then sneak next door and activate the hackers’
computer. He is immensely paranoid about
Internal Security agents and is convinced that
everyone from the Revolutionary Guards on
down is an IntSec assassin out to kill him.
Phineous will keep spinning tales of how
glorious life will be in the new order. The players
will be his acolytes in the Alpha Complex that
is to come and everything will be shiny and
happy and wonderful. He also may mention, if
pressed, that he has a cunning backup plan for
the revolution if the combat strategy fails.
Fighting Phineous-I 7-CGAL, the
Robutler Who Also
Kicks Ass
Ambitious Internal Security agents or players
who have realised that Alpha Complex is Management 8
going to win may want to try to terminate Bootlicking 12
Phineous-I right here and now. If they attack, Table Manners 14
then the robutler emerges from the closet Stealth 10
again brandishing a concealed cone rifle, while Sneaking 14
Phineous runs out via a secret passage. Concealment 14
Violence 8
Projectile Weapons 12
Back to the Briefing Room Hardware 4
Software 0
Once the characters have finished listening Wetware 4
to Phineous’ insane ramblings, he opens the Armour: 2
secret passage and vanishes down into the Weapon: Cone Rifle with AP shells
darkness. Meanwhile, the characters are sent (W3K)
back to the briefing room in the company of four
Revolutionary Guards. Two of the guards are
indeed IntSec agents, the other two are loyal
revolutionaries. The Troubleshooters may Now, run Episode 8 for the players who were
notice the occasional Significant Glance from left behind in the briefing room.
one escort to another but unless the characters
do something silly, they won’t get caught in a
firefight between their bodyguards.

8. IntSec Inside
Episode Summary: The Troubleshooters
who weren’t promoted to the Central Committee
get saddled with the worst execution subject
ever. As they’re trying to shoot the unshootable
mutant, they get a call from IntSec demanding
they use the hackers’ computer to hack the
revolutionary’s T-34s. Everyone’s getting sent
next door…
Gary The Mutant
Tension 0
The final subject for termination by the
Subcommittee for Mental Hygiene &
Termination is Gary-R-SEL. He’s a singularly
powerful mutant with the Energy Field mutation.
He’s virtually immune to both impact and
energy weapons.
The door opens once more, and T-
34 pushes a young citizen into the
room. You notice a distinct bright
flash when the bot shoves him. The
RED-clearance clone hands you his
Writ of Termination and you notice
a bright yellow stripe running down
his sleeve. ‘I’m Gary-R-SEL’ he says
with a big grin, ‘I’m a mutant.’
Gary-R-SEL is one of the nicest, most helpful
clones you’re ever likely to meet. He’s cheery,
relaxed and genuinely ready to help. He’s also
a condemned mutant. A gang of Anti-Mutant
members used the cover of the revolution to
drag Gary-R out of his quarters and then tried
to beat him to death. Then they tried to shoot
them. Then they tried strangling him. Finally,
they tried a grenade and that killed all of them
but left Gary-R only slightly stunned. Gary-R
feels a bit bad about that.
Judging Gary-R
Gary-R’s sole purpose in this scenario is to
be a speed bump for the players. His guilt is
clear – he’s a mutant – and the only problem is
actually finding a way to kill him that works.
As the characters will have a lot of trouble
getting rid of Gary, he’s going to hang around
the briefing room until the end of the scenario
or until terminated. This means he’s probably
going to overhear any conversations with
Internal Security or see any conspiring or
backstabbing. Gary’s not especially loyal to the
People’s Glorious Revolution (they are trying
to execute him, after all) but he’s not a big fan
of Friend Computer’s regime either. He’s also
pretty much immune to termination by anything
other than suffocation or exotic weaponry. If
the characters are going to conspire in Gary-
R’s presence, they’ll need to somehow cut him
in on the deal.
Gary-R
Management 4
Stealth 6
Violence 4
Hardware 2
Software 2
Wetware 2
Secret Society: Psion
Mutation: Energy Field (Power 20)

171
 8. INTSEC INSIDE
The Call of
Computer
Tension Gary
At this point in the scenario, the characters are
contacted by a Computer-loyal agent. If he’s
still alive, then the characters are contacted
by Terrence-I. If he’s been terminated, then
Terrence-I’s loyal henchman Morris-B. We’ll
refer to both these scions of Internal Security
as IntSec.
Remember that good old assigned special
equipment, unit E, also known as the radio
given by Arthur-B to the Troubleshooters at
the end of their first briefing? If it’s still around,
it crackles into life. (If it’s not still around,
then the PDCs of the Troubleshooters in
the briefing room receive the message.) It’s
IntSec calling.
The message is a simple one. ‘Attention,
Troubleshooters. This is Internal
9. Viva La Revolution
Episode Summary: Both sets of
Troubleshooters head next door to Room 33
to either doom the revolution, Alpha Complex,
or for their own personal gain. Meanwhile,
Phineous-I puts his apocalyptic master-stroke
into action.
Suddenly
There Are Lots
of Bathroom
Breaks
Tension 0
So, both sets of Troubleshooters want to go
to Room 33 but (presumably) don’t want the
other set to know what they’re doing there. So,
this section of the mission will probably involve
the Troubleshooters sitting around the briefing
room, trying to come up with reasons to leave
and then shooting each other. There’s a map of
the briefing room on page 11, by the way.
Things The Troubleshooters
Might Do
Ask the T-34 outside: The bot’s mission
is to deliver prisoners to the Subcommittee and
Security. If you are loyal to Friend
Computer, then please signal
your loyalty by singing the Alpha
Complex anthem – NOW.’
One verse of ‘Glory, Glory Hail Computer’ later,
the message continues. ‘The traitorous
rebellion will soon be crushed by
the Armed Forces of Alpha Complex
and all traitors will be executed.
The only thing that is stopping the
onward march of our forces is the
T-34 combots that are defending
the entrances to YUC Sector. The
T-34s must be disabled.
Thanks to a report filed by Arthur-
B (now a Hero of the Complex)
seconds before his termination,
we know that there is a computer
console in Room 33 that’s
connected to the T-34 network. This
radio terminal/PDC has a computer
uplink. Just plug it into the console
ensure they are judged. It’s not ordered to do
anything else. It doesn’t give any extra weight
to orders from Central Committee members.
So there.
Calling the Revolutionary Guard:
They’re all busy fighting Alpha Complex
forces.
Calling in the Alpha Complex
Forces: They’re all busy fighting the
Revolutionary Guard.
Get the Invulnerable Gary-R-
SEL to bring either Phineous-I’s
computer disk or IntSec’s radio
transmitter next door: Actually, this
one’s a kind of a workable plan. The trick will
be convincing Gary to play along. Watch the
players get into a bidding war in an attempt
to gain Gary-R’s services.
Hacking the Bots
Assuming one or more Troubleshooters
make it to Room 33, they can insert Gadget
A (the disk or the transmitter) into Slot B
(the computer console) to initiate Massacre
C (down the hall). The T-34s will follow the
commands of whichever side’s gadget is
plugged in, so it’s possible that there’ll be a
sort of Benny-Hill-chase-in-heavy-armour as
and our programmers will use the
hacker’s backdoor to shut down the
YUC Sector combots.
Complete this mission,
Troubleshooters and the insurrection
will be put down within minutes.’
Immediately after this message ends, the
characters hear the tramp of boots outside in
the corridor yet again, as the characters who
were promoted to the Central Committee and
their Revolutionary Guard escorts arrive. The
Revolutionary Guards are immediately called
away by a radio message from Phineous-I,
leaving all the Troubleshooters together again.
It’s like one big happy family, reunited, only
they’re all trying to get Granddad’s fortune
which he’s stuffed in the old clock upstairs. (For
the purposes of this metaphor, Granddad is a
trio of dead geeks, the fortune’s a backdoor
into the T-34 network, the clock’s a computer
console, and upstairs is next door.)
the disk and transmitter get swapped in and
out by fighting Troubleshooters.
If the disk is inserted for, oh, say a few rounds,
then the Revolution ‘wins’. If the transmitter’s
inserted for a few rounds, Alpha Complex wins.
If the computer console is destroyed, then
the bots go nuts and start shooting everyone.
No-one wins.
Alpha Complex Wins
The barricades fall. The Armed Forces march
in. There’s an awful lot of shooting down the
corridor. If the characters hang around and
haven’t arranged some deal with Internal
Security for their safety, then they’re included
in the general purge of all Revolutionaries.
They’re shot and terminated.
The Revolution Wins
The Armed Forces are driven back from the
borders of YUC Sector and the Revolution
lives to fight another day. Unfortunately, food
supplies are running low and there’s no sign of
Phineous-I. The protestors therefore turn to the
Central Committee for guidance… and if the
players can’t find food and water for everyone,
the protestors start calling for a new revolution.
The characters are likely to find themselves
172
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
in front of the New Subcommittee for Mental
Hygiene and Termination…
No-One Wins
YUC Sector descends into chaos and
carnage. Lots of people are shot, including
the Troubleshooters, unless they sneak out of
the sector and lie low for a few days.
Optional:
Phineous’
Masterstroke
Tension 0
PARANOIA missions usually end with a
return to the status quo. No matter what wacky
high-jinks and jolly totalitarian nightmares
happened during the mission, everything ends
up with the Troubleshooters being debriefed
and quite possibly demoted or terminated. The
Computer’s online and all’s right with this most
perfect of Alpha Complexes.
Therefore, if you want to return to the status
quo and wrap the whole mission up neatly, run
this optional encounter. On the other hand,
you can leave the vile traitor Phineous-I as a
dangling plot thread, to be taken up in a later
mission.
The People’s Committee expects that every citizen will do his part for the Revolution! (Your part may include dying horribly).
173
YUC Reactor Core One
Remember that secret passage leading from
the new Central Committee room? It leads
to Reactor Core One, the primary power
generation facility for YUC Sector. Phineous-I’s
backup plan for the revolution is to overload the
core, causing it to explode. The resulting blast
will destroy YUC Sector, not to mention a large
chunk of the neighbouring sectors.
The characters might end up being sent after
Phineous-I for several reasons:
They want to catch the arch-villain
themselves, as a bargaining chip.
They are captured by Armed Forces
troops and sent down the dark secret
passage to the core.
They are fleeing the Armed Forces and
think that a dark secret passage is a good
place to hide.
They interrogate the robutler in the
Central Committee room as to Phineous’s
whereabouts.
The route to the core consists of three
sections:
The Dark Tunnel: It’s a dark tunnel,
winding its way from the Central Committee
room to the core. It’s lined with pipes and
tubes and ancient warning notices. Despite
its foreboding appearance and claustrophobic
qualities, it’s safe. Except when the core is
going into overload, in which case it may be
randomly flooded with radioactive exhaust
gases.
The ComBot: At the end of the corridor is
a narrow bridge over a chasm and patrolling
on the far side is another T-34. The behaviour
of this bot depends on what happened with the
hacker’s console. It might be attacking Alpha
Complex Armed Forces or revolutionaries
or anyone and everything. The chasm is 20
metres wide, the bridge is two metres wide and
offers only minimal cover. Who’s going first?
Reactor Shielding: Finally, before the
core proper are the reactor shielding rooms.
What, you thought ‘reassigned to reactor
shielding duty’ was just a euphemism? The
corridor leads past a series of cells, which
may or may not contain a condemned citizen
depending on the punishments chosen by the
characters earlier in the scenario. These poor
doomed citizens call on the Troubleshooters to
free them or just hurl insults and chunks of scalp
at them (background radiation is rather high
here even when the core isn’t overloading).
 9. VIVA LA REVOLUTION
Phineous’ Manifesto of Doom
Roll Phrase
1-2 I was terminated a dozen times in the service of The Computer! It never ends!
3-4 The people build Alpha Complex! It is ours! We must retake it!
5-6 Join me, and we can spread the doctrine of revolution to all the other sectors!
7-8 If there is hope, it lies in the proles!
9-10 I’ll burn this whole sector to the ground rather than let The Computer destroy my dreams!
11-12 Trust no-one! Internal Security is always watching and waiting! They want to kill you!
13-14 This day shall be remembered forever! This is the day the dream of revolution became a burning beacon to all of Alpha Complex!
15-16 Join me, and we can lead the Complex forward into a new and glorious era!
17-18 This is all part of my grand plan!
19-20 You’ll never take me alive!

Troubleshooters can’t make out the text but

Things Start Overloading
If Phineous does start to overload the core,
then the lights throughout YUC Sector start
flickering. A siren begins to wail in the distance
and an automated message repeats (not in
The Computer’s voice) ‘CORE OVERLOAD
IN PROGRESS. WITHDRAW TO A MINIMUM
SAFE DISTANCE IMMEDIATELY’. Seconds
later, radioactive steam starts to vent
from pipes in every corridor. Things get
progressively more doom-filled (the ground
shaking, flashing lights, more sirens, random
fires and explosions) until they are positively
doom-ful and the sector explodes.
Confronting Phineous-I
The corridor ends in a control room, filled with
dials, levers, big red buttons and one deranged
ex-Troubleshooter and revolutionary. He’s got
a cone rifle and a lengthy manifesto, both of
which are equally lethal in their own unique
way. As the characters approach, he will
launch into a lengthy recital of the evils of The
Computer’s regime, how Alpha Complex is a
totally flawed and doomed state and how only
a single strong leader – himself – can stem the
tide and save humanity from destruction.
Throughout the inevitable firefight, Phineous
will spout lines from his manifesto.
Phineous-I there is one charge (it’s ‘Knows about the
Management 12 YUC Sector Incident) and two options for
Oratory 16 punishment (‘None’ and ‘Termination’).
Con Games 16
IntSec Files 18 The committee chairman leans forward and asks
Stealth 12 ‘do you have any knowledge of any
Surveillance 16 unusual events in YUC Sector?
Sneaking 16 If so, what were those events?
High Alert 16 What does Operation FLUSH mean
Violence 12 to you?
Projecile Weapons 16 Is the name Phineous-I-ZED known
Agility 16 to you?
Hardware 8 What is the People’s Glorious
Software 10 Revolution?
Operating Systems 14 Who were the members of the
Wetware 4 Central Committee of the People’s
Secret Society: PURGE Glorious Revolution?’
Mutation: Telekinesis (Power 10)
Armour: ArmourAll (4) The only safe answers to all these questions
Cone Rifle with AP Shells: (W3K, are, respectively, ‘not a clue’, ‘nope’, ‘nothing’,
AP) ‘no’, ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I don’t know’. The
whole YUC Sector Incident is being made
into unhistory and only those who betray no
Debriefing in the knowledge of it whatsoever will be spared…
Ruins
After the mission, any surviving Troubleshooters
are escorted to a briefing room very, very
similar to Room 32. There’s a committee
of five anonymous citizens there. One of
the committee members has a document
that’s clearly a Writ of Termination. The

174
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
Writ of Termination
WRIT OF TERMINATION FOR _____________
We, the people of YUC Sector, under the benevolent guidance of the People’s Glorious Revolutionary Central Committee, do hereby request
and require that the People’s Subcommittee for Mental Sanitation and termination do convene in solemn judgement of ____________ who is
accused of the following crimes against the people:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] ________________:____________________________________
[ ] ________________:____________________________________
[ ] ________________:____________________________________
[ ] ________________:____________________________________
[ ] ________________:____________________________________
[ ] ________________:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADERS TERRENCE,
PHINEOUS, ALISTAIR, GOLDSTEIN AND THURSDAY! DEATH TO THE COMPUTER AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA COMPLEX!

Writ of Termination
WRIT OF TERMINATION FOR: BOB-YUC-1
We, the people of YUC Sector, under the benevolent guidance of the People’s Glorious Revolutionary Central Committee, do hereby request
and require that the People’s Subcommittee for Mental Sanitation and termination do convene in solemn judgement of Bob-YUC-1 who is
accused of the following crimes against the people:

Consorting with the enemy, not being sufficiently loyal to the People’s Glorious Revolution. Looking suspicious. Not knowing the words to the
People’s Glorious Anthem.

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] STERN TELLING OFF:__________________________
[ ] MANDATORY SINGING LESSONS:__________________
[ ] MEDICATION:____________________________________
[ ] BRAINSCRUB :_______________________________
[ ] TERMINATION :_______________________________
[ ] ERASURE:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTIONARY CENTRAL COMMITTEE, AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADERS
TERRENCE, PHINEOUS, ALISTAIR, GOLDSTEIN AND THURSDAY! DEATH TO THE COMPUTER AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA
COMPLEX!

175
Writ of Termination
Writ of termination for: Judy-G-ZAT-2
We, the people of YUC Sector, under the benevolent guidance of the Central Committee do hereby request and require that the Subcommittee
for Mental Sanitation and Termination do convene in solemn judgement of Judy-G-ZAT-2 who is accused of the following crimes against the
people:

Lack of loyalty to the people’s glorious new regime

Spreading dissent
Hoarding hot fun, cold fun and other foodstuffs
Not being sufficently enthusiastic about the new regime
Suspicious behaviour
Looks like a traitor

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] REASSIGNMENT TO REACTOR SHIELDING DUTY:___________________________________________
[ ] TERMINATION :_______________________________
[ ] PUBLIC EXECUTION:__________________________
[ ] ERASURE:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE CENTRAL COMMITTEE AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADERS TERRENCE, PHINEOUS, SMITH AND
JASPER! DEATH TO THE COMPUTER AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA COMPLEX!

Writ of Termination
Writ of termination for: Rudy-Y-ANC-4
We, the people of YUC Sector, under the benevolent guidance of the People’s Glorious Revolutionary Central Committee, do hereby request
and require that the People’s Subcommittee for Mental Sanitation and termination do convene in solemn judgement of Rudy-Y-ANC who is
accused of the following crimes against the people:

Being a spy for the Computer, Spying on the People’s Glorious Revolution, Spying on the People’s Glorious Revolutionary Central Committee,
Betraying the People’s Glorious Revolution to the hated Alpha Complex.

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] ORDERED TO PASS ON FALSE INTELLIGENCE TO ALPHA COMPLEX:__________________________________
[ ] HELD IN A SECURE AREA FOR FURTHER INTERROGATION: ________
[ ] PUBLIC EXECUTION:__________________________
[ ] APPEARANCE ON ‘TRAITOR ZAPPING HOUR TV SHOW:___________________________________________
[ ] ERASURE:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADERS TERRENCE, PHINEOUS, SMITH, GOLDSTEIN
AND THURSDAY! DEATH TO THE COMPUTER AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA COMPLEX!

176
 VIVA LA REVOLUTION
Writ of Termination
Writ of termination for: Arthur-B-PHB-3
We, the people of YUC Sector, under the benevolent guidance of the Central Committee do hereby request and require that the Subcommittee
for Mental Sanitation and Termination do convene in solemn judgement of Arthur-B-PHB-3 who is accused of the following crimes against the
people:

Attempted resistence to the glorious revolution

Illegal use of weapons
Traitorous thoughts & deeds
Passing on treasonous badthought and computerist propaganda

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] DEMOTION:___________________________________
[ ] REASSIGNMENT TO REACTOR SHIELDING DUTY:___________________________________________
[ ] TERMINATION :_______________________________
[ ] PUBLIC EXECUTION:__________________________
[ ] ERASURE:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE CENTRAL COMMITTEE AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADERS PHINEOUS, RINDLE AND JASPER! DEATH
TO THE COMPUTER AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA COMPLEX!

Writ of Termination
Writ of termination for: Terrence-I-YUC-6
We, the people of YUC sector, under the benevolent guidance of the Central Committee do hereby request and require that the Subcommittee
for Mental Sanitation and Termination do convene in solemn judgement of Terrence-I-YUC-6 who is accused of the following crimes against
the people:

Passing information to the hated enemies of the people

High treason
Betrayal of the committee for public safety
Abuse of public trust
Very high treason
Being an intsec spy

THE FOLLOWING PUNISHMENTS ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME AGAINST THE PEOPLE AND THE GLORIOUS
NEW REGIME:
[ ] ERASURE:____________________________________

THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS REVOLUTION WILL BE STRENGTHENED BY THIS JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE PEOPLE’S GLORIOUS
REVOLUTION, THE ALL-WISE CENTRAL COMMITTEE AND OUR BRAVE AND NOBLE LEADER PHINEOUS! DEATH TO THE COMPUTER
AND ITS LACKEYS! DEATH TO ALPHA COMPLEX!

177
PARANOIA The People’s Glorious
Revolutionary Adventure
EDWARD S. BOLME If you’ve never played PARANOIA before, this might not be
the best mission to start with. But after you’ve experienced
Design/Commissar
PARANOIA the way it’s supposed to be—hang on to your furry
DOUGLAS KAUFMAN babushka!
First-edition editing, development/ Alpha Complex has, of course, been at war with the Commies
Bureaucrat for all of recorded history—and then some. At the start of the war
(Year 1 of The Computer), the Commies were outnumbered about
ALLEN VARNEY 10 million to none. This attracted dissidents and malcontents
Editing/Revisionist history to the underdogs, somewhat evening the odds and proving
conclusively to The Computer the imperative need for location
LISA ANGELL and termination of Commies. Dogmatic self-righteousness
ADRIAN GUTIERREZ notwithstanding, two hundred and some years of bitterly
stalemated guerilla warfare can lead to some nagging questions
Additional ideas/Functionaries about the opposition. Questions like, ‘Why?’ The Computer wants
to know why perfectly normal, happy citizens (an oxymoron) are
JIM HOLLOWAY joining the Commies in droves. And, because it believes Alpha
Illustrations/Propaganda posters Complex to be the only unconquered complex, it wonders what
life is like in a Communist Controlled Complex Population. (That’s
DANILO MORETTI ‘CCCP.’ Get it?)
Maps/Comrade Equipped with a brand new curiosity program, The Computer set
ERIN BRADLEY out to answer those questions. It pored over all the relevant data
RANDY BRADLEY files in its memory, and used the information supplied in both of
JONATHA ARIADNE CASPIAN them to construct a tiny artificial CCCP in old, abandoned HUH
GREG GORDEN Sector. Next, HPD&MC populated HUH Sector with lots of citizens
ADRIAN GUTIERREZ of proven loyalty, gave them hypnosis drugs and told them they
were Commies. In fact, HPD’s History Revision service firms
SANDRA MCDONALD
constructed complete artificial pasts for everyone, and no one
MICHAEL STERN in HUH Sector recalls life in normal Alpha Complex. These loyal
Proletariat playtesters ‘volunteers’ now believe they are the happy proletariat in Alpha
State, joyously serving Tovarich Computer. Meanwhile, The Real
THE COMPUTER Computer watches and analyzes their every traitorous move.
Your tovarich, da! The Computer has had its High Programmers refit the HUH
Sector CompNode with accent programs, red star graphics and
Introduction 180
1. Mobilization 184 everything else necessary to create the illusion of a Communist
2. Fiddling on the roof 188 reprogrammed machine. It has also installed loads of extra
3. Convoy 192 security monitors, microphones and other eavesdropping
4. Red bug 197 devices in HUH Sector to gather information on the actions
5. Red sunset 202 of the volunteer Commies. This is the world your players’
6. Wakey-wakey 205 Troubleshooters are about to enter—the world of Tovarich
Computer and All Things Red and Wonderful.
Charts, maps and resources
Mission alerts and Just a few moments ago, the player characters (PCs) received
materialistic lists 206 the hypnosis drugs and were transported to Alpha State via a
Map 1: Room of Bath 208 Transbot named ‘Happy,’ who was then destroyed for security
Map 2: Nuclear tractor 208
reasons (hope that doesn’t happen to the PCs). They’ll be waking
Map 3: Generic map
of everything 209 up soon, totally convinced they are happy Commies, with all the
Map 4: FiG base 210 necessary knowledge The Computer believes a Commie should
have.
Getting into an Alpha State
Preparrrink to be playink
Maintaining the secret background of the Alpha
State experiment is important, so make sure
you don’t slip up and give it away.
If you are running a series, the difficulty
arises in admitting the players’ existing
Troubleshooters to Alpha State without the
players getting suspicious. The characters are
simply given massive quantities of hypnotic
narcotics (generating an altered ego, or ‘RED
shift’), but using such an approach with your
players violates several statutes and can
lead to stiff penalties, even including loss of
PARANOIA playing time. So, in order to help
out, we’ve provided a script of sorts to address
the problem. Practice whatever you’ll finally
say until you sound like you’re really speaking
off the cuff.
Here’s a sample:
‘Um, OK, folks. I got this mission
where you’re Troubleshooters in a
Commie-dominated complex, and I
think it’s pretty funny, so we’ll give
it a go. No, seriously, you’re Commie
Troubleshooters, or “Smershoviks,”
and you serve a Commie Computer—
“Tovarich Computer,” in fact.
‘The mission’s got a few problems,
though. Like, there’s no pregenerated
characters, so I figured we’d just copy
the abilities you already have for your
current Troubleshooters. But there’s
a few changes.
‘First, you’re all ‘Red’ Clearance.
Everybody change your color. If you
also want to change your name, that’s
fine.
‘Second, there’s new names for
your service groups... what do they
call ‘em? Yeah, here it is. “Proletarian
Movements.” We’ll change those
individually in a few minutes. Your
secret societies and mutations, for
those of you who might have them,
remain unchanged, except if you’re a
Commie. Anybody a Commie? Good.
Here’s some vocabulary to help you
talk like a Russkie. Umm, well, let me
read this intro here, then I’ll handle
questions.’
Then just read the next section. See how
easy players are to dupe? Well, what did
you expect? They seem to enjoy being killed
repeatedly... By the way, if one of your PCs is
a Commie, he’s now a member of the NazCIA
(see page 67).
■ Character introduction
Read this aloud to the players in a very, very
thick Russian accent:
Greetings, Smershoviks, and
congratulations for being selected to
serving Tovarich Computer! Tovarich
Computer is being benevolent ruler
of Alpha State. Tovarich Computer is
heart and soul of glorious revolution.
Every comrade in Alpha State is of
same glasnost clearance; everybody
is Red. Is nyet true some are more Red
than others. Tovarich Computer never
ever in whole existence is showing
favoritism.
You are to be hunting capitalistic
warmongering imperialist puppet
pigdog traitors in service to Tovarich
Computer, Mother Alpha and
proletarian Oktober revolution. Is
very important duty. Always to be
remembering:
Be trusting no one! Be keeping
laser handy! Morbid depression is
mandatory! Tovarich Computer is
your tovarich! Are there being any
questionings?
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
Living in Alpha State
You can read this for yourself only, or read
aloud the parts in bold to your players. The
parts not in bold are secret, for your eyes
only.
Think of all the McCarthy-Reagan evil
empire cliches, and adapt them to
science fiction. Everything in Alpha
State is in chronically short supply.
Ration vouchers are distributed for
everything; borscht, shoelaces, toilet
paper, haircuts, drinking water, furry
babushkas ... you name it, and there’s
an interminable line for it. Having a
ration voucher supposedly guarantees
you will receive the item or service
(without prior inspection on your part),
but often the material is damaged or
unusable, the service is ‘unavailable
due to excessive demand ‘ or LL&L is
‘temporarily out.’ Supply shortcomings
are always due to unusually low
something or other, never ever poor
planning.
Life in Alpha State is wildly bleak. All
the lights are red, adding immeasurably
to the depressing ambience, and
turning every other color to deeper
shades of red or black. it’s always a
little cold and murky.
(GM: This is because HUH Sector’s
thermostat systems have gone unused for so
long they no longer function properly. Also, the
dust that collected in the vents over the years is
now slowly being redistributed throughout the
sector by the ventilation system, so everything
is kind of grey.)
Secret police (especially the dreaded
KGB) monitor everyone and everything
all daycycle long, insuring everyone’s
patriotic fervor and depression.
Everybody turns someone else in
to the KGB at some point or other.
The KGB is a constant shadow of
death and even worse things which
darkens everyone’s cycleto-cycle
life. Existence consists of eating a
daily meal (sometimes two meals, if
you’re unlucky) of cold borscht, (Alpha
Complex food vat leftovers) working all
day long, then sleeping in temporarily
overcrowded barracks on a steel pallet
with another comrade citizen who wets
the bed and snores.
Alpha State is at war, and has
been for all of recorded history.
They are at war with the capitalists
and imperialists and everyone who
opposes Communism. The agents
of these dark forces are the dreaded
NazCIA (pronounced not-see-eye-ay),
a kind of mishmash of the SS and The
Man from U.N.C.L.E. These bowlegged,
militaristic totalitarian bourgeois pigs
are the ‘Commies’ of Alpha State.
In short, Alpha State is a workers’
paradise overflowing with futile
existence, soulless bureaucracy,
unpalatable food, endless war,
inadequate everything and abysmal
depression. In an Alpha Complex, life
is a utopia. Happiness is mandatory.
Alpha State is not a utopia. It is
horrible, more horrible than you can
imagine—and then some. Morbid
depression is not only standard, it
is required —anyone familiar with
Russian literature can tell you that.
You must frown energetically no
matter how much you are secretly
enjoying yourself. You should feel
right at home.
■ Cosmetic changes
HUH Sector, henceforth referred to as Alpha
State, is (naturally) similar to Alpha Complex.
Most of the changes are cosmetic, though
there are a few notable differences.
■ The work the
workers work at
(This whole section is safe to read or relate to
your players.) In Alpha State, service groups
are called Proletarian Movements. The
names differ, but the organization, purposes
and prestige associated with each remains
unchanged from their Alpha Complex service
group counterparts. In order of relative
status:
1) CCCPU (CPU): The acronym stands
for Comrade Computer’s Central
Processing Union, and like their Alpha
Complex counterparts, they epitomize
ponderous tottering bureaucracy. Where
do you think the term ‘Red Tape’ came
from?
2) Red Army (Armed Forces): Aside
from the run-of-the-mill troopers, the
Red Army maintains special killer
elite Vulture squadrons known as the
Spetsnaz—a contraction of the words
spetsialny nazmyenny, ‘Special Ground
INTRODUCTION
(Forces).’ Rumor has it that Spetsnaz
troopers actually use real equipment.
3) MVD (Internal Security): The Ministry
of Internal Affairs attends to all overt,
public peacekeeping duties and crowd-
clubbing—much akin to the vaunted HIL
Sector Blues. Secret Internal Security
agents—the dreaded KGB—are
described further on page 68.
4) USSR&D (R&D): Lacking technical
know-how and advanced equipment,
USSR&D must rely on devices and
ideas stolen from capitalist complexes
to keep its programs alive; hence their
acronym for United States’ Stolen
Research and Design.
5) Tractor Serwices (Power Services):
Every aspect of Alpha State industry
and transportation, from public transport
tractorbuses to the gargantuan
Chernobyl Memorial Nuclear Tr(e)actor,
is based on the ubiquitous tractor
(inasmuch as anything in chronically
short supply can be ubiquitous).
6) Tanknical Serwices (Technical
Services): These unproductive folks
try to keep the Red Army’s weapons
working when all they’re given for parts
is vacuum tubes and vacuum hoses.
7) Lend Lease & Lunch (PLC): These folks
are in charge of lending all manner of
materialistic luxuries: everything from
lasers to leftover potato gruel. Lend
Lease packages arrive quite regularly
from another sector or something ...
no one really seems to know where.
Probably Tovarich Computer knows.
Why don’t you go ask?
8) Tass (HPD&MC): This Proletarian
Movement is much more concerned
with the timely publication of Pravda
(‘Truth,’ a colorful magazine glorifying
idyllic Alpha State) than with actually
preserving or developing Alpha State
housing. Not that there’s anything worth
preserving...
9) Smersh (Troubleshooters): This
is a contraction of the words smert
shpionam, ‘death to spies.’ Those
in Smersh are called Smershoviks.
Mission Control in Alpha State is known
as ‘the Politburo.’ Player characters in
Smersh are termed ‘cannon fodder.’
■ Seeing Red
Everyone in a CCCP is ‘Red’ Clearance. It
does seem sometimes being Red is better than
only being Red—depending on the Red-ness
of whoever’s talking.
181!
Don’t worry, Gamemaster. It’s not that everyone
is equal—you see, some citizens are more Red
than others. In Alpha State there are different
levels of Red, corresponding to the Alpha
Complex ROYGBIV. In this mission, these
levels are noted with a lower case prefix. Thus,
there are r-Reds, o-Reds, y-Reds, etc., all the
way up to u-Reds. INFRARED Clearance does
not exist in Alpha State.
Everything in Alpha State is Red. This does
not mean everyone has access to all parts of
Alpha State—gosh, no! Security-restricted
areas still exist; it’s just everything has
been painted over so it all looks the same.
And Tovarich Computer (and all comrade
citizens) use the word ‘Red’ for every color
without changing the meaning, so it’s a sticky
situation.
For gratuitous implausible reasons, every
NPC has subconscious post-hypnotic
recollection of what clearances are where and
who ranks how high. In other words, the PCs
are the only ones who feel this confusion.
■ Lasers and reflec
in Alpha State
These items are constructed under the same
principle as the Alpha Complex spectrum, and
are designed with wavelengths differing by less
than five nanometers, so they are (technically)
slightly differing shades of red, although even
a Hypersenses mutant would be hard-pressed
to tell the difference. Thus lasers and reflec
come in r-Red all the way up to u-Red, and
every level of Red reflects its level and below.
In other words, the system works just like in
Alpha Complex.
Sadly, as the barrels and armor were being
shipped out to Alpha State, they were all
piled into a few big boxes and got hopelessly
jumbled. So whenever someone gets a new
barrel or suit of armor for whatever reason
(promotion, replacement, etc.) randomly
choose or roll the color he really got. And,
just for the record, Alpha Complex Red is
considered to be higher than Alpha State u-
Red, so Alpha State armor is useless in Alpha
Complex. This may seem unimportant now, but
when the Alpha State experiment comes to a
close, all the Alpha State reflec is sure to be
recycled for use in Alpha Complex.
■ Real differences
Alpha State differs in a few substantive ways
from Alpha Complex. Make sure your players
realize these, uh, minor details before they
begin play.
182
■ LITTLE Brother is
watching you too
As we all know, secret police are rampant in a
Commie society. Therefore, every citizen who
is not an undercover MVD / KGB agent belongs
instead to a secret police auxiliary determined
by his or her Proletarian Movement:
1) CCCPU: The Vse-Rossiyskaya
Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya Po Borbe
S Kontrrevolitisiey I Sabotazhem,
or, much more simply, the Cheka.
This translates to the All-Russian
Extraordinary Commission for
Combating Counterrevolution and
Sabotage, a suitably ponderous name
for a house organ about as useful
and efficient as the human appendix.
‘Cheka,’ incidentally, translates as
‘linchpin.’
2) Red Army: Troopers belong to the
Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravleniye
(Chief Intelligence Directorate), or
GRU. Not that there’s ever been any
intelligence in the army. The GRU is
the arch-rival of the MVD and KGB
(below), but is more military than political
in bent.
3) MVD: Undercover operatives for the MVD
belong to the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy
Bezopasnosti (Committee for State
Security), or KGB. They are, if possible,
even more horrifying than IntSec.
4) USSR&D runs the Gosudarstvennoy
Palitychiskiy Upravleniye, or State
Political Directorate—but you can call
them the GPU for short. Regardless,
they are mostly concerned with technical
plagiarism; political subtleties tend
to pass them by, as do the laws of
physics.
5) Tanknical Serwices: The constant
tension between this group and USSR&D
can be seen in the competitive similarity
of the names of the Movements’ secret
police. Tanknical Serwices operates the
Unified State Political Directorate;
that’s the Objidineniy Gosudarstvennoy
PalitychiskiyUpravIeniye, or OGPU. So
they’re unified. Big deal.
6) Tractor Serwices endorses the GUGB.
That’s the Chief Directorate for State
Security, or Glavnoye Upravleniye
Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti if
you want to be incomprehensible.
Their organization is tighter-knit than
the other Proletarian Movements’,
owing to a number of unforeseeable,
unpreventable problems with nuclear
power facilities that have resulted in
totally unjustified persecution of Tractor
Serwices personnel.
7) Lend Lease & Lunch operates its own
spy network too, ostensibly to gauge
proletariat reactions to meals. It’s the
People’s Commissariat of Internal
Affairs, or Naradniy Komissiya Vnutriniy
Delah (NKVD). Theoretically, the word
‘internal’ is gastronomic in reference.
8) Tass runs the KI—the Komitet
Infarmatsiye, or Committee for
Information. Perhaps the best organized
and informed of the secret police forces,
the KI sadly lacks the gumption to
do anything with the considerable
knowledge it has on file. Wimps.
Having skipped all those impossible Russian
transcriptions, can you wonder why the
Russians are so cranky? They actually have
to use those horrifying pronunciations day
after day just to ask for a glass of water. But
you, the overworked GM, need not remember
all these names. They’re included to provide
color and to impress your players with the ease
with which you fake—er, speak Russian. When
talking one-on-one with your players, you can
simply refer to each of the groups as ‘your
secret police organization,’ or, simpler still (but
perhaps less conducive to infighting), you can
make everyone KGB.
■ Communist communication
If you wish, you may read this aloud to your
players:
Though direct communication with
Tovarich Computer is possible through
the ever-present confession booths,
all other communication is handled
by a central communications nexus
run by Tass. It is hopelessly out of
date, based on telephone technology
instead of wireless communication.
This terrible system is called The
Communist Party Line.
Picture this, Gamemaster: The Smershoviks
must gallivant around Alpha State carrying
field telephones and trailing extension wires
all over the place. These wires naturally get
broken by passing bots and tractors, which
then drag the field telephone down the corridor,
maybe taking a few PCs along for the ride.
Repairing damaged lines requires resource
and innovation, such as persuading a passerby
to wet his hands and grab the loose ends.
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
Assuming they can use the phone without
garroting passing VIPs, there are always
several other callers on at the same time.
This whole charade was necessary, by the
by, to keep unwitting citizens from intercepting
decadent capitalist broadcasts from the rest of
Alpha Complex. See the lengths to which The
Computer will go to keep its citizens happy?
Roleplaying suggestions
Some suggestions for setting the mood and
making things more fun:
■ Talk Rrrroooshian!
Ewerrrybody in Alpha State talk vith good,
thick, Rrroooshian accent! Not speakink vith
accent one of ten varning signs capitalistic
mutant traitorism! To maintain the Alpha State
illusion, every NPC, and especially Tovarich
Computer, should speak with accents thick as
Ensign Chekov. Not only should you roll your
r’s and change your v’s to w’s, but speak deeply
and heartily, like a psychotic Santa. Also, don’t
use many articles, pronouns or prepositions.
■ Commie glossary
associate: comrade
Cold Fun: Cold borscht
[expletive]: kaopectate!
friend, buddy, pal: tovarich
goodbye: do svidoniya
headgear (any): babushka
hello: zdrastvuitye
hi: zdrastye
Hot Fun: [does not exist]
no, not, not yet: nyet
pistol: pistolyet
please: pazhalsta
rifle: veentovka
Security Clearance: glasnost
clearance
team, bureau, council: soviet
thank you: blagodaru vas
Troubleshooter: Smershovik
water, other beverages: vodka
yes: da
■ Insults
Bourgeois, capitalistic, counter-
revolutionary, cowboy, czarist, decadent,
dogmatic, elitist, fascist, imperialist,
money-grubbing, mutant, oppressive,
reactionary, running-dog, slave-driver,
swine-pig, ptui!
ABOUT ALPHA STATE
Slightly broken present perfect tense is best.
If don’t understand, nyet to despair, just to be
imitating printed dialogs in glorious book!
On this page we provide a vocabulary list
to help you and your players pepper your
language with authentic-sounding words (like
‘Smershovik Soviet’ instead of ‘Troubleshooter
team’). Copy this list and pass it around so
everyone can talk incomprehensibly.
■ Moustaches
Everybody knows all Russians have big
moustaches! Even the women. Just look at any
Russian Olympic team, and tell us the women
weren’t shaving at a younger age than most
American males. So likewise, every player
should have a big honking black moustache.
Failure to have a moustache at the start of
play earns five (5) treason points, four of
which are removed if the offender improvises
a moustache during play. There’s lots of ways
to get a good moustache:
1) Grow one. This option requires good
hormones and lots of warning. Impossible to
improvise. Dyeing and waxing are optional, but
they bring in the women by the truckload.
2) Draw one. Why not? You’ve done it on
posters and magazine covers all your life. A big
black handlebar moustache sweeping across
your cheeks adds a lot to hilarity. Just don’t
use blue, green, or purple ink unless your hair
is a matching color. And for goodness sake, if
you’re going out in public soon, DON’T USE
A PERMANENT MARKER! (The designer had
to call in sick for a whole week.)
3) Buy one. Most local joke shops carry
fake moustaches, and almost everyone else
does around Halloween. Theatrical supply
shops are a better bet, and their moustaches
look more realistic. These shops also sell spirit
gum, which is great for affixing belly button lint
to your upper lip.
You, the intrepid revolutionary GM, should
keep several moustaches nearby to switch
roles when you play NPCs. Switch your
moustache, use slightly different speaking
patterns, and voila! Instant comrade! When
speaking as Tovarich Computer, improvise a
big bushy moustache from silver tinsel. Your
players will find it inspirational, and they’ll tell
your prospective dates all about the absurd
lengths you go to when playing PARANOIA.
■ Clothing
Assign Party Reprimands for a lack of red
clothing. Optional but fun are furry hats,
greatcoats, big clompy boots (grab those
winter galoshes!), puffy shirts with vests,
and lots of gaudy jewelry. Players showing
creativity and dedication in their attire should
get a credit bonus and an extra bowl of (real
life) chips, if not an Official Commendation. As
Gamemaster, the designer bought surplus Red
Army medals to add to his air of authority.
For props, consider downloading Communist
flags, posters or publications from the World
Wide Web. Caution: We take no responsibility
for late-night visits from your country’s
intelligence agencies.
Mission overview
The PCs have been assigned to Smershovik
Soviet #1917 and are about to embark on their
first mission together.
Episode 1, Mobilization: After your
standard find-the-briefing-room-and-go-
to-R&D escapade, Alpha State-style, the
Smershoviks are ordered to seal a bathroom.
When they arrive, they find traitors of every
conceivable description running into and out of
the bathroom, which the PCs should assume
has a breach leading Outdoors. (The breach
is actually between Alpha State and Alpha
Complex.)
Episode 2, Fiddling on the roof: The
Smershoviks are sent to capture the last Alpha
Complex escapee, Morris-O-BPM-3, alias
Death Leopard archtraitor The Harlequin. He
makes his stand atop the Chernobyl Memorial
Nuclear Tractor as agents of several legal and
treasonous agencies converge on him in a
frenzy of nuclear-powered destruction.
Episode 3, Convoy: The Smershoviks must
return Morris-O to Alpha Complex. They sail to
USA Sector while trying to survive every Soviet
sub disaster imaginable.
Episode 4, Red bug: When the characters
return, they are promptly sent back to USA
Sector to infiltrate and spread the people’s
glorious Communist revolution. Although they
can do a lot of stuff, they ultimately fail and
must run back to Alpha State.
Episode 5, Red sunset: Given the failure
of the covert operation, Alpha State prepares
to invade Alpha Complex. Just before the
invasion begins, Alpha Complex invades
Alpha State. Alpha State falls, and the PCs
get captured.
Episode 6,Wakey-wakey: The Smershoviks
get antidotes for the hypnosis drugs they were
given before the mission began. Then they
undergo a merciless debriefing and traitor-
bake, and everybody dies.
183
1: Mobilization
The Smershoviks (Troubleshooters) begin their
grand tour of Alpha State. The Smershoviks
are sent on their first assignment: seal up
the leak in the Room of Bath. First, they must
find their briefing room and then learn what’s
going on. At USSR&D they are mobilized and
equipped with unpredictable gizmos. Then
they deal with Reds of both sorts and figure
out a way to seal the gap in the Alpha State
perimeter, all the while dying like flies.
Background
There’s a leak in the bathroom—a security
leak, that is, between Sectors BER and LIN
and Alpha State. See, about 20 years ago, the
area where these three meet used to be DIS
Sector, which was dissected in a major Alpha
Complex urban renewal project. Most of the
area DIS occupied was annexed by BER and
LIN Sectors, and the remainder was renamed
HUH Sector. The human element of DIS Sector
was relocated to BER and LIN, resulting in
HUH Sector’s abandonment.
When DIS Sector was partitioned, everything
was equally divisible or negotiable between
the annexing sectors’ bureaucrats, with the
exception of one bathroom at the exact center
of DIS. Neither side was willing to simply
yield political control, so two high-level CPU
citizens performed a little creative (OK, overtly
treasonous) programming, and the bathroom
fell under double jurisdiction.
There are three main exits to the bathroom,
two of which lead to BER and LIN. The third
leads to HUH Sector; however, this exit has
been impassable because it (like all other HUH
Sector facilities) has had no power to operate.
Power has been restored with the creation of
Alpha State, and now, for the first time in 20
years, the door can open. The door is clearly
marked ‘Room of Bath’ on the Alpha State
side, so lots of furry-capped red revolutionary
citizens have been coming and going (so to
speak), much to the surprise of those in BER
and LIN who frequent the bathroom on both
official and treasonous business.
It hasn’t taken long for citizens in both Alpha
Complex and Alpha State to note this major
security breach, and soon (just about the time
your PCs arrive on the scene), defectors start
pouring through in both directions. So, from
both BER and LIN Sectors, Friend Computer
sends Troubleshooter Teams to investigate,
and likewise as Tovarich Computer it sends a
Smershovik Soviet (the PCs’ mission team).
184
Prrre-mission brrriefink
The Smershoviks are assembled in the Smersh
barracks and lend-leased their Communist
Party Line. Answer the players’ questions
about how Smershovik Soviets operate, how
(and why) they communicate with the Politburo
and so on. Then hand your players Red Alert
reference PGRA/lA. The Kremlin is impossible
to miss, even for Smershoviks—so read the
following aloud when the Soviet arrives:
The Kremlin is located in the exact
center of a large plaza, surrounded by
vintage buildings (hey, they’re over 20
years old) with roofs shaped like soft-
serve ice cream. The Kremlin itself is
a monolithic structure dominating half
of Alpha State. Its interior has all the
cheerful ambience of a prison for the
criminally insane.
Even a cursory exploration of the Kremlin
halls reveals to the PCs, a) all the rooms in
the Kremlin are numbered, not lettered, and,
b) they are now hopelessly lost.
They then doubtless pester Tovarich
Computer with a request for a map or directions
to Briefing Room ‘T.’ They receive nothing, as
Briefing Room T is not inside the Kremlin; it’s
a temporary booth set up outside the building.
Thus any request for a map or directions
receives a reply from the CartoGrafix System
saying simply ‘Syntax error.’ Any other
question about Room T prompts the Facilities
Data Base to respond, ‘Werrry sorry. Room T
is nyet existing.’
If they never think to search around the
building, then booth T—excuse us, ‘Room’
T—is squarely in front of whichever exit the
Smershoviks use. But give everybody an
Official Reprimand for extreme tardiness.
■ T for six
Briefing Room T is, as stated, a temporary
booth, staffed by a large citizen with razor
stubble and a build somewhere between that
of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Michelin
Man. This is their Mission Coordinator, Olga-
R-HGJ-4. Olga-R is coarse, rude, smelly and
aggressive—and, far less obviously, female.
When you’re playing Olga-R, speak in a deep,
throaty voice, and act like an effeminate gorilla.
Unless the players actually ask her, don’t let on
that Olga-R is anything but a male in a dress.
Whenever the PCs finally find Briefing Room
T, read the following aloud:
Room T is basically a shack, built with
almost as much care and structural
stability as capitalist Americanski
exploitative kissing booths. The big
citizen behind the booth leans forward
and says, ‘I am Olga-R-HGJ, am being
Mission Coordinator. First, I get to
knowing you. All capitalist oppressor
mutant traitor swine-pigs, please now
to raise hand. None? Da, is good.
Please to be meeting wery important
Briefing Officer of Smersh Politburo.’
Olga-R produces a huge television.
As the set warms up, the sound of
static builds to deafening levels. Soon
the picture fades in, and when the
vertical and horizontal holds pause
in their fluctuations, you can barely
discern the face of an extremely old
citizen. At the bottom of the screen is
the name Pyotr-R-YHC-1.
Pyotr-R is the Briefing Officer for Smershovik
Soviet #1917. His appearance, mannerisms,
and voice are so decrepit it’s impossible to
determine his age. To simulate the briefing,
turn on your television to any channel with
static, crank the volume up, and speak quietly
in a high gravelly voice. And because this
is a closed-circuit transmission, Pyotr-R
won’t respond to questions or comments.
Continue:
Pyotr-R speaks: ‘Zhdrastvuitye,
comrade Smershoviks. (cough) Is to
be problem in Room of Bath for fixing
by you. (cough cough) Werrry sorry
problem is very c(hack cough)ing,
and cannyet be telling you details for
re(cough) reas(cough) reaso(cough)
reasons of glasnost. (cough! wheeze!)
If there is being threat to Alpha
St(aackh!), you are to be (cough)ing
and sealing up of room—’
At this point Pyotr-R starts coughing
and hacking uncontrollably. With
one hand he clutches his throat,
and with the other tears at his shirt.
Something disconcerting flies out of
his mouth. Pyotr-R keeps staring with
bulging eyes, straining to finish his
last statement, but two orderlies arrive
and wrestle the convulsive comrade
onto a stretcher. Olga-R shrugs, then
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
■ Olga-R-HGJ-4
Maternal CCPU briefing officer
Adrenalin Control; Romantics
Violence 12; Discipline Wayward
Smershoviks In Motherly Yet Flirtatious
Manner 18; other ratings 07
Tangler; v-Red (violet) reflec (L1) and
GM Fiat armor
starts handing out your assigned
mission equipment.
Give the players the Mission Materialistic
List, reference PGRA / 1B, and let them
distribute their equipment. Have Olga-R make
helpful suggestions. Then she orders them to
visit USSR&D to volunteer for experimental
device assignment.
USSR&D
Nothing bad happens to the PCs in this
section. This is a standard ‘get-ready-get-set’
PARANOIA prep, which gives you time to find
out if all your players know what they’re doing in
Alpha State. However, the experimental items
they receive set them up for big falls later on.
USSR&D is easy to find; it’s located in
the temporary mobile-homelike shack
in the middle of a vast wasteland of
twisted metal and smoking boots.
It’s just across the plaza from the
Kremlin—you can’t miss it.
You thought we said CCCPs only stole
things from other complexes, right? So where
did these obviously Communist items come
from? Through the years, The Computer
has been storing Communist weapons and
devices it liberated from Commie secret society
members. Now it has a perfect opportunity to
test these devices and assess the severity of
the Communist threat to Alpha Complex. Of
course, these things don’t work better than
any other PARANOIA gizmo.
Here are the devices; distribute them as you
see fit. We personally recommend having big
guards give each PC one device; read him the
boldface text at that time, and read the non-
boldface stuff to yourself. Later, when one of
the gadgets is adequately tested, you can give
that player another gizmo from the list.
■ Borzoi Bot
An incredible variant on the classic
doberbot, this bot was developed to
aid infiltration and bypass low-security
checkpoints. The borzoi bot represents
a breakthough in planar engineering:
it’s less than two millimeters thick, so
it can slide through the thinnest gaps,
and is almost invisible from the front.
GM: This bot is about the size of the
silhouette of a Great Dane or large Doberman.
It has savage fangs, one on top, one on the
bottom. The bot has two major disadvantages:
First, planar engineering necessitates only the
barest minimum of third-dimensional joinery;
the bot cannot turn itself from side to side, any
more than you can roam the fourth dimension
without the aid of hard drugs. So, unless a
bystander helps out, the borzoi bot can walk
only in a straight line. The other problem the
bot has is with balance; one good shove plops
it right on its side until someone stands it back
up. While it’s on the ground, the best it can do
is to bite the sole of someone’s shoe. But aside
from these few shortcomings, the borzoi bot is
a (believe it or not) reliable device.
■ Hammer ‘n’ Sickle
Yes, both, and yes, fastened together.
Not welded, but riveted like a pair of
scissors. All good Communists had
this amazing tool on their flag for
hundreds of years; it must be quite
valuable! it’s a little awkward for a
melee weapon, although it does great
for opening cans, vats, etc., and it’s
not too bad at cutting paper, hair, and
such things.
GM: To attack, the user makes a Violence/
Primitive Weapons check. Incidentally, it’s
hinged in such an unusual way that if the user
rolls 18-20 to hit, he smashes or amputates
a finger (Maimed result). Thus a clumsy or
unlucky character can soon be truthfully called
‘all thumbs.’
■ Instant Siberia
This large snowglobe-like grenade is
made of clear plastic, and when it is
turned upside down, small white flecks
swirl around delicate electronics. It is
essentially a thermal implosive. When
activated, it instantaneously lowers
the temperature of every inorganic
EPISODE 1
item within 25 meters to about -10
or -20 Celsius. This heat loss causes
water vapor to condense out of the air
as snow, or hail if it’s really humid.
GM: The grenade also throws the sector
climate control systems out of kilter, as
suddenly every thermostat is frozen solid.
Fans and blowers go to emergency speed,
blowing the frigid air at unbelievable velocities.
Incidentally, if anyone thinks to take a good stiff
chug of vodka before using Instant Siberia, that
foresightful comrade avoids ill effects.
■ The Iron Curtain
This ponderous piece of equipment is
some three meters long and masses
about 30 kilograms. It looks, when
completely collapsed, similar to a
home projection screen, with a main
boom section (containing the tightly
rolled curtain) and a tripod stand. To
use it, one must spread the tripod legs,
lock them, stand it up, fiddle around
with the main boom and press the Big
Red Button. Doing so immediately
sends sheets of steel shooting out
left and right for five meters or until
firmly embedded in a bulkhead. In
other words, it’s an instant 3x10-meter
wall.
GM: The curtain is made of high-strength
molybdenum steel. The joints on the thing
are all loose, and users may inadvertently
set the thing up sideways or end-on, splitting
up the Smershovik team (or even individual
Smershoviks).
■ Molotov Cocktail
This device is a simple martini
glass filled with a strongly aromatic
compound and two olives skewered
on a toothpick.
GM: It’s too bad the Commie researchers
grossly misunderstood the purpose of the
original Molotov cocktails; that said, this is truly
a remarkable achievement of biochemistry. It
is useless unless drunk. Those who imbibe
even a small draught explode like a napalm
shell, but not for a while... Let ‘em think nothing
happened. The olives are just a garnish.
■ Mud pie
This large, discus-shaped charge,
fired with a cone rifle, explodes upon
185.
■ USSR&D items
■ Borzoi Bot
Speed: Sprint
Weapons: Bite (Violence 14) S3K
impact, armor-piercing
Armor: Thin steel (E1/I2)
■ Hammer ‘n’ Sickle
S4M impact. Slightly reduces user’s
Unarmed Combat specialty rating.
■ Instant Siberia
Anyone moving without snowshoes or
skis must make Violence/Agility checks
to stay on his feet. Thermal stress
means all highly technical devices
malfunction on rolls of 16—20 (roll once
the first time the device is used, and
once every time a malfunction would
inconvenience the players). Instant
Siberia operates for about 15 minutes
or until the fun wears off.
■ Iron Curtain
Armor 5, hardened
■ Molotov Cocktail
V1V energy to drinker, W3K to all
within 5m.
■ Mud Pies
Range: 15m (thrown)
Effects: All characters in mud must
make Violence/Agility rolls to move.
Weapons and vehicles malfunction on
an Ops roll of 18-20.
impact, covering the floor in a 25-meter
radius with shin-deep mud. Mmmm
boy.
GM: The mud slows everyone down, and
clumsy characters or those stunned in combat
might slip and fall. The mud also gums up
technical devices, especially vehicles. Three
Mud Pies are available for testing. Mud pies
are devastating when combined with Instant
Siberia; imagine shin-deep ice everywhere!
■ Russian Roulette Wheel
This is an experimental compact cone
rifle. The MVD/KGB wanted a heavy
weapon they could conceal easily
while on secret missions, and the cone
rifle was chosen as the most flexible
186
heavy weapon available. The Russian
roulette wheel is small enough to fit in
a pack. It looks like a normal roulette
wheel, as it relies on conversion of
angular momentum to kinetic energy
for launching the projectile. The
operator spins the wheel good and
hard, and drops in the cone.
GM: Works fine; it’s just that they haven’t yet
figured out how to aim it. Wheeee! Roll a die or
something to determine what random direction
the shell goes. If the operator rolls a 20 to hit,
the cone lazily wobbles out of the wheel and
drops on his toe. (Yes, the Roulette Wheel can
fire a Mud Pie.)
■ Sputnik
When launched, this baseball-sized
metal sphere immediately begins
zooming around in circles, orbiting
whomever activated it. No one knows
what good it is, but hey, it’s the first of
its kind. It’s got to be years ahead of
anything the capitalists have done!
GM: Don’t believe for a minute the Sputnik
has no effect on play. If the PC moves down
a narrow corridor, it’ll richochet repeatedly
off both walls, producing pockmarks (and
fines) left and right. It’ll interrupt intimate
conversations (or hand-to-hand combats) by
bashing the other guy in the temple. It’ll look
stupid. Intimidating. Official. Treasonous. And,
if you’ve just got to let it really be good for
something, if the PC gets hit by weapons fire
and the damage roll is a 20, the fire hits the
Sputnik instead of the PC.
Eventually, whenever it’s most inconvenient,
(like when the PC is standing at the edge of a
nuclear reactor power core), the Sputnik runs
out of energy, its orbit decays and it falls to
the ground.
■ Is good to bathe
The Smershoviks are now ready to handle the
minor problem at the Room of Bath, which is
now crawling with defectors.
At the start, nobody notices the PCs’
approach. Everyone’s too busy trying to
maneuver to a stall or an exit. This is the scene
as the Smershoviks close in:
The sounds of a mob drifts down
the corridors as you approach your
mission coordinates. Suddenly,
two citizens run around the corner
toward you. Millimeters behind them,
slugthrower bullets slam into the wall.
One citizen is apparently a YELLOW
from Alpha Complex; he’s tall and
rather stout. He screams at you, ‘I am
defector! Be prrrotectink me! Political
asylum!’
The other citizen wears the red
coveralls of a loyal and valiant
proletarian freedom fighter right here
in Alpha State. He carries a laser with
a red barrel. He sees you, stops dead
and looks around furtively.
The YELLOW Alpha Complex citizen is
Rush-Y-YEV-4, a Commie attempting to
defect. He squeals like a pig when someone
shoots at him. Puffing and sweating, he runs
behind the PCs for protection and keeps
demanding political asylum. Rush-Y, being a
Commie, speaks with a phony Russian accent,
just like any other Alpha State citizen.
The Red with him is Dmitry-R-NDT-1. He
just tried to defect to Alpha Complex, but was
■ Room of Bath NPCs
■ Rush-Y-YEV-4
Defecting/ive Alpha Complex Commie
Fat coward; Communist; Electroshock;
all ratings 03
YELLOW reflec (L1)
■ Dmitry-R-NDT-1
Would-be Alpha State defector
Ordinary-looking but furtive; NazCIA;
Adrenalin Control; all ratings 06
RED laser (W3K); r-Red (red) reflec
(L1)
■ Wembley-G-WBO-2
Alpha Complex IntSec GREEN goon
Standard-issue burly lout; FCCC-P;
Regeneration; Violence 10, other
ratings 04
Slugthrower (dum-dum rounds) M3K
impact; GREEN reflec/kevlar (L1/I3)
■ Sergey-R-ACK-1
Alpha State Tass reporter/KGB agent
Little weaselly intellectual; SMERSH/
Illuminati; Hypersenses; Management
08, Stealth 08, other ratings 04
y-Red (yellow) reflec (L1)
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
stopped by an IntSec GREEN goon (described
below). He is, however, a quick-thinking traitor;
when he sees Dhow the PCs react, he helps
them by trying to mercilessly gun down every
NPC they shoot at. Hypocrite.
Two pursuers turn the comer, weapons
drawn. One is a burly GREEN IntSec
agent from Alpha Complex; he carries
a slugthrower. The other is another
red-clad Alpha State citizen, a short
thin guy with a Tass reporter’s badge.
He is unarmed. What do you do?
The GREEN pursuer is Wembley-G-WBO-
2, a standard-issue Alpha Complex IntSec
GREEN goon who has chased him all the
way back from Alpha Complex through the
bathroom and into Alpha State. Wembley-G’s
life mission is to kill Commies everywhere.
After Dmitry-R-DNT-1 is dead, Wembley-G
wanders back to Alpha Complex—unless one
of the players opens his mouth and talks in a
Russian accent.
The Red pursuer is Alpha State Tass
reporter (and KGB agent, not to be redundant)
Sergey-R-ACK-1, who saw Rush-Y slip out of
the crowd in the bathroom wearing yellow, an
obviously class-repressive treasonous color.
Sergey-R is short and slight of build, with
a wispy goatee and John Lennon glasses.
Throughout this encounter, Sergey-R takes
notes on everyone’s actions while he runs
scurrying back and forth.
This is a crash-course in Alpha State and
Communism. Whatever the players do, you can
use their choices to condition them as baldly as
you require. Try to ensure that in the future, the
players roleplay Commie Smershoviks to the
hilt. This means you can nail ‘em in the final
debriefing. In other words, the whole of The
People’s Glorious Revolutionary Adventure is
a trap. No thanks needed; it’s our job.
Once these few citizens have been taken
care of, the Smershoviks must close in on their
objective and deal with the madding crowds of
defectors. Read the following aloud:
Ahead you see glorious revolutionary
Room of Bath, and off to the right a sign:
Alpha State Geological Survey Marker
FB4.89-38FO:3NC9-23J. There is a
large crowd in the area. Upon seeing
you, someone yells, ‘Holy kaopectate!
Smershoviks! Be runnink for lives!’
Citizens scatter in all directions, some
right, some left, some into the Room
of Bath. One citizen standing by the
door waves to you, points his arms in
opposite directions, and says, ‘They
are to have been going those vays!’
What do you do?
The PCs can pursue anyone who fled at
their approach. There’s all types in the crowd:
Alpha Complex and Alpha State—defectors,
spies and vigilantes—intentional lawbreakers
and those who simply went into the wrong
bathroom. The Smershoviks can chase them,
and can even catch a few. But while they’re
away from the entrance to the bathroom,
another small mob of people stampedes into
Alpha State.
■ Be wery quiet
Now things get sticky, as the PCs attempt to
complete their assignment: Enter the Room of
Bath and seal the breach.
When the Smershoviks return to the
bathroom, pull out the game map and place it
gently on the table. Get quiet, move slowly and
cautiously, but do it gradually. Speak ever more
softly. Describe the start of their exploration
in nothing short of a whisper. The PCs sneak
in slowly and fan out. They see a large but
ordinary communal bathroom. Everything
seems quiet. They tiptoe across the tile floor
(ssshhhh). Then...
*R-R-R-I-I-N-N-N-G-G-G*! The Communist
Party Line goes off, and all the built-up tension
is immediately released as every NPC in the
room simultaneously panics! All over, people
burst out of stalls and other hiding places!
Some run for an exit! Some run for another
hiding place! Some just run in circles! Everyone
thinks he’s about to die, so it’s no-holds-barred
mutation use and slogan shouting.
There are about two dozen traitors. Spend a
few rounds sowing chaos; be funny or unusual,
plead for mercy or bluff arrogantly, commit
high treason or innocent acts, but most of all,
PANIC! (By the way, if anyone remembers to
answer the phone—it’s a wrong number.)
Just when the PCs are starting to cope
with the pandemonium in the potty, the Alpha
Complex Troubleshooters arrive and start
shooting trouble. Don’t give your players even
one round to regroup before you read:
Suddenly red-clad, armed and armored
Troubleshooters burst in both doors!
One person charges through each
door and is felled by a barrage of heavy
fire from the other door. Pausing, the
two groups examine each other’s
uniforms. They all mutter an insincere
apology. Then both groups storm into
the Room of Bath. What do you do?
ROOM OF BATH
There are at least five Troubleshooters, each
with red laser pistol (W3K) and red reflec (L1).
They intend to kill traitors (i.e., everyone they
see) and, whenever possible, each other. They
let no one escape into Alpha Complex. If the
PCs refuse to speak, they might just survive,
because the traitors in the bathroom divert the
NPC Troubleshooters’ attention through rapid
application of laser fire.
But the moment the PCs open their mouth
and the Troubleshooters hear their accents, it’s
all over. What better time, then, for the Smersh
Politburo to call back—just to make sure the
Smershoviks understand that, inasmuch as
this is a threat to Alpha State security, they’re
supposed to seal up this breach. Because
the Alpha State map shows an outer wall at
this location, the Smersh Politburo decides
the Smershoviks have found a major breach
where capitalist traitors enter from Outdoors. It
must be sealed at once! It’s also an annoying
bureaucratic interruption, for the Politburo
demands the PCs’ attention (aloud, hint hint).
It’s up to the players to figure out an
ingenious or ridiculous way to seal the breach
in the wall. If they ask for suggestions from
Smersh Politburo, their superiors reply with
completely inane responses that obviously
won’t work at all.
Players are often ingenious, so we’re sure
they can come up with a good way to plug
up the area. Both brilliant and funny ideas
work, but the best are both. Some possible
solutions:
1 Paint a sign saying ‘Food Vat Volunteer
Recipe Taste Test Station’ and place it
in a prominent location.
1 Confiscate a bunch of toilet paper
rations and build a wall out of TP painted
to look like brick.
1 Flood the room and drop in a high-power
cable. It’ll look like a disco!
Regardless of the option they choose and
whether or not it will ultimately work, the
Alpha Complex NPC Troubleshooters harass
the PC Smershoviks and try to prevent the
completion of the wall. Clone replacements
pop up at embarrassing times, hampering the
PCs’ efforts. The only real solution is to kill
everybody. And don’t let your PCs go through
the doors. The Politburo will be displeased.
When the PCs do find a solution you’re
happy with, the Red Army finally shows up and
relieves the exhausted Soviet. The players’
solution holds off Alpha Complex citizens for
a while, but the sounds of battle sporadically
187.
echo through the sector for the rest of the
mission. Just a little reminder.
Debriefing
The PCs pass lots of Red Army soldiers on
their way from the bathroom to their debriefing
at Room T. The soldiers mutter about someone
building an almost useless wall, and swear to
get revenge on the culprit.
2: Fiddling on the roof
The PC Smershoviks pick up one of the loose
ends left over from the previous episode: a
stray Troubleshooter from Alpha Complex.
They must capture him alive and unharmed
from the top of a haphazardly built nuclear
reactor (colloquially called a ‘nuclear tractor’).
Of course, it’s not as simple as it sounds,
because other people want to capture him,
too—and kill anyone who gets in their way.
Background
Somehow or other, the Smershoviks must have
sealed the leak, or else they’re still in Episode 1
and you’re getting ahead of yourself by reading
188
As you return to Briefing Room T, Olga-R
turns to you and says, ‘Werrry glad to see
you are being back, darlinks. Is sad to be
saying Pyotr-R is nyet to be with us. Tovarich
Computer is said Pyotr-R is nyet breathing
werrry good at all. Poor Boopsie. Are you big,
husky Smershoviks vanting to be telling to
me about mission and accomplishing? How
depressing vas it?’
this. So shower praises on your proletarian
players; Alpha State is once again safe for
demagoguery.
Most of the Alpha Complex renegades
prove easy to spot and incarcerate, as MVD
personnel are only too happy to grant their
request for asylum by placing them in one.
Yet not all those trapped in Alpha State
have been so judiciously apprehended. One
such bourgeois pig is an Alpha Complex
Troubleshooter, Morris-O-BPM-3.
Morris-O, though proud to be a
Troubleshooter, thinks the profession too grim
and depressing. That’s why he became a star
class Death Leopard, using the nom de guerre
‘The Harlequin.’ When he slips into persona, he
dresses head to toe in giant black-and-white
This is a more or less typical debriefing,
although if anyone is still speaking without an
accent, get ‘em for it. Finally, read:
Olga-R absently dismisses you. She’s
obviously engrossed by the sudden flurry
of reports coming over the set. Most seem
to feature citizens with some sort of whitish
paste plastered on their faces. Probably some
sabotage in LL&L.
checks and polka dots, complete with long
curled shoes, funny hat with bells, and typical
whitefaced mime makeup. He has dedicated
his existence to enriching everyone’s daily
life with many smiles, and more than a few
StyroKreem pies.
Now, trapped on the wrong side of the
bathroom wall, Morris-O faces his greatest
challenge. Signs everywhere display Tovarich
Computer’s cliche slogans; HAPPINESS
IS TREASON and MORBID DEPRESSION
IS MANDATORY—ARE YOU MORBIDLY
DEPRESSED? Gosh, if ever there was a
need for The Harlequin, it’s here! So, ducking
behind some cover, Morris-O discards his drab
ORANGE reflec jumpsuit, and presto! here
comes the fun!
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
The Harlequin first announced his presence
by gamboling up to one of Tovarich Computer’s
glasnost cameras and sticking out his tongue.
Upon seeing this impressive close-up of The
Harlequin’s quivering lingual appendage, The
Computer ran a crosscheck on its identification
tattoo and identified Morris-O-BPM-3, a
Troubleshooter reported missing in action an
hour ago.
Morris-O is a proven, loyal and capable
Troubleshooter, so when he suddenly starts
opening his oral orifice in public The Computer
decides one of its most valuable agents is
the helpless victim of Commie mind control
in Alpha State. It decides to take drastic
action to save this valuable (though tragically
manipulated) Troubleshooter.
Briefing
After the previous episode’s debriefing, give
the players just enough time to get almost out
of sight of the Kremlin before you read:
As you’re about to exit the plaza,
you hear a now-familiar limpid voice
calling after you. ‘Yoohooski! Comrade
Smershoviks! Tovarich Computer is
vanting this for yooooou!’ You turn
and see Olga-R skipping up to you
daintily (sorta), waving a piece of paper
overhead. Suppressing an urge to run,
you wait until Olga-R gives it, with a
simpering smile, to your Red leader.
Give your players Red Alert PGRA/2A. After
they’ve read it, tell them Olga-R is walking with
swaying hips back to the booth. When the PCs
arrive, she has set an old-fashioned video
monitor on the floor beside the booth. It makes
an annoying buzz as it warms up.
Staging hint: If possible, get some sort
of electric buzzer for this briefing, and have
it running until Olga-R turns off the set. The
louder and more obnoxious, the better. If
you don’t have a buzzer, use an alarm or
noisemaker, or get one player to make a loud,
ugly sound as long as his vocal chords hold
out. The volume of the set can’t compete with
the buzz, so speak quietly as you read:
When the picture finally fades in, the
low contrast and brightness wash out
details, although the name Pyotr-R-
YHC-2 is legible at the bottom of the
screen.
‘Please to be velcoming me as
your Politburo Premier, comrade
Smershoviks! Am to be giving to you
wery wital mission.
‘Is being right-ving dogmatic
imperialist lackey in Alpha State, and
is wandalizing beautiful progressive
edifices and faces of many comrade
citizens with illegal squishy substance.
Please immediately to be apprehending
decadent money-leeching bourgeois
swine-pig. Is dressing like both Vhite
Russian and Black Russian.
‘Slave-driving ruthless vealthy
oppressor is to being alive captured.
Repeat! Alive! Is to be no Smershovik
spilling blood or drinking Black
Russians on mission.
‘Traitor is being found near nuclear
tractor this sector. Wery close by.
Nuclear tractor wery safe, but there is
special varning to be giving you.’
[Chuckle. Roll the die. Mumble something
about a Violence check. Look surprised, and
pretend to search for an ‘in case the die-roll
fails’ read-aloud. Read:]
With a gut-wrenching gasp and a
shocked expression, Pyotr-R suddenly
falls backward, chair and all. For a
while nothing is visible, except Pyotr-
R’s shoe propped up on the desk.
Then a worker from LL&L comes on
the screen, removes the shoe and puts
a tag on Pyotr-R’s big toe. He glances
directly at the camera, reaches out
of sight—and suddenly your screen
goes blank.
Olga-R is too busy buffing her nails to notice
all this. Because the PCs have no idea where
to find the nuclear tractor in this sector, they
must ask either Olga-R or Tovarich Computer.
Asking The Big Red One is a big mistake,
because The Computer kicks into a big long
propaganda spiel glorifying the nuclear tractor,
and anyone who walks out on this presentation
gets an Official Reprimand for failure to
display proper revolutionary zeal. Those who
sit through the whole six-hour program get a
Reprimand for watching TV when they should
be capturing traitors.
Asking Olga-R gets a different response.
With an exaggerated display of surprise, she
says:
‘Oh, nyet! Do none of my big, powerful,
ruggedly handsome Smershoviks
know where is famous big nuclear
tractor? Kaopectate! Is being werrry
unpatriotic!’
. 189
EPISODE 2
After scolding them soundly (with loving
pats on portions of their anatomy), she pulls
out a map and points to its location. Before
the PCs can do anything else, she clamps a
handcuff around [your choice of PC]’s wrist.
The cuff is attached to a briefcase containing
the equipment in Mission Materialistic List
PGRA/2B.
Incidentally, the briefcase is easy to unlock—
give a positive modifier to their Security
Systems rolls if they try. However, the cuff
around the PC’s wrist is impossibly hard
(Gamemaster fiat armor), and it’s clamped to
his gun hand. The briefcase is KGB surplus,
stamped with the words: KILL COURIER
UPON OPENING.
The big red tour
Now the Smershoviks take an amusing tour
of Alpha State while looking for the nuclear
tractor. This gives you a chance to steep the
players a bit more in the ambience of their
surroundings.
Finding the nuclear tractor is easy. We’ve
even provided a map of Alpha State for you
on page 95 to show your players, so they
can navigate their own course. Inasmuch
as the players’ map doesn’t have the key,
you are of course free and even encouraged
to rearrange things to your heart’s content.
Here’s the key:
1) The Kremlin. The capitol of Alpha State
houses all the top bureaucrats.
2) Kremlin Plaza. A large open square
surrounded by laser cannon turrets.
3) USSR&D labs. Located in a zone of
wreckage and rubble, these temporary
shacks deal more death than the
Kremlin does.
4) The bathroom. The PCs went here in
Episode 1. It’s not a safe place to be,
especially for Smershoviks.
5) The Chernobyl Memorial Nuclear
Tractor. This is the mission objective.
6) Spetsnaz FiG airbase. More on this in
Episode 5, though one FiG is seen in
this episode.
7) Smershovik barracks. The PCs hang
out here if they ever get time off.
8) Siberia. The MVD and KGB place
traitors in this small white room. There’s
a bright flash, and the traitors are
gone—siberiated.
9) Communist Communal Cafeteria and
Cold Borscht Bar. Everyone eats here.
The food is Alpha Complex leftovers
tinted with Red Dye #2.
 10) The Warm Water Portal. The
Smershoviks will head here in later
episodes.
Feel free to lead your PCs on a merry chase
around the State. When you’ve had enough,
go to the next section.
Entering the tractor
Having arrived at their destination, the PCs
prepare to infiltrate a nuclear tractor, while
trying to avoid the 50 other traitors who are
also after The Harlequin.
There’s one more thing that needs doing
before the players can enter the nuclear
tractor to catch The Harlequin. See, Tovarich
Computer has ordered extra firepower for the
mission—air support. Ordinarily such ordnance
is delivered via the excessively capable Red
Army pilots, but The Computer has had baaaad
experiences allowing Vulture pilots to fly
Indoors, and it sure as heck ain’t gonna trust
no Spetsnaz pilot to avoid killing Morris-O. So,
for this mission, the tactical air support will be
in the hands of the Smershoviks. And, it need
hardly be said, nobody told the PCs.
After they exit the restricted breathing area
(or whenever you feel like it), read:
Two squads of heavily armed Red
Army troopers goosestep up to you.
They stop, unshoulder their weapons
■ ‘Boxfat’ model FiG-
25 interceptor flybot
The temporarily exiled Smershovik
PC you finger in this section has been
volunteered to pilot this very nice
fighter-bomber flybot. Ordinarily a great
addition to The Computer’s arsenal,
this particular Fiko/Guero Model 25
interceptor has been re-armed with
nonlethal crowd-control weaponry.
The flybot still has its nose laser (W3K
energy), but the cannon has been
replaced with a high-pressure seltzer
hose, the bombs with bags of garbage,
and the missiles have been refitted as
active-terminal-guidance confetti chaff
bombs. These harmless weapons can
entangle or immobilize targets who fail
Violence rolls to dodge them.
The PC pilot will fly this bot when the
rest of the Soviet appears on the roof at
the end of this episode.
190
and hold them at the ready. One
of them steps forward and says,
‘Comrades! I am being Ivan-R-DFP-
1. Am taking possession of loyal
wolunteer. Which comrade are you to
having wolunteered? Was it ... YOU?’
Point dramatically at the player most likely to
finger somebody else. When someone is finally
volunteered to go, the troopers surround him
and march him quickly away. Hand him the
information reference PGRA/2C, which tells
him he’ll soon be piloting the FiG-25 flybot
nicknamed ‘Boxfat,’ (See the box nearby.)
Then send him into the next room. Give him
some corn chips and root beer (or borscht)
and let him watch a DVD of Doctor Zhivago.
Later, you’ll pull him back in when the rest of
the Soviet climbs onto the roof. Be patient,
it’ll happen.
■ The gates of doom
Glorious Smershoviks! After the Red
Army squad hustles your comrade
away, you look around and see a
gargantuan structure humming with
power. Certain structures glow red or
blue with their own light. On top of this
complex is a sign at least a hundred
meters long. It reads, ‘CHERNOBYL
MEMORIAL NUCLEAR TRACTOR.’
From somewhere on top of this edifice
you hear treasonous laughter echoing
down. What do you do?
If the players hesitate, the Communist Party
Line rings and Olga-R informs the Soviet, ‘The
traitor you are being after is being on top of
nuclear tractor. Remember he is to be alive
taken for Tovarich Computer, da?’ To capture
The Harlequin, the PCs have no real choice but
to go in and climb up on the roof. But there are
several problems.
First, there’s guards at the entrance to
the plant, and orders or no, they ain’t lettin’
anyone in! See, the Harlequin has already
gained entrance past these guards, having
distracted them by hitting them in the face with
StyroKreem pies and then tying their shoelaces
together and spinning them ‘til they were dizzy.
Before they could recover, a whole bunch of
other people stormed past, and now the guards
realize that they just let about 50 people into a
highly restricted area.
As the PCs approach, they see the two
guards, each carrying a flamethrower (S3K
energy, area 20M, spray) and dressed in
red combat armor (value 3) with spatters of
some whitish paste all over their head and
shoulders. Their eyes are wide, their teeth
are clenched, and their hands grip the stocks
of their weapons so tightly that their knuckles
are white. Golly, this is a poser, isn’t it? How
to get past a pair of heavily-armed borderline
psychotic guards and into the compound?
Unless the players are super-imaginative,
scaling the wall is out. It’s high, well-defended
by razor wire and lasers and mines, and has
proven effective against traitorous saboteurs.
Engaging the guards in conversation proves
fruitless; the guards just stand there like
cornered animals.
The frontal assault works, though it may be
costly. Further, after the guards are dead, all
sorts of lowlifes can waltz right into the area.
A frontal assault with stun weapons (or even a
pie or two from their briefcase) is both effective
and non-destructive.
■ The gang’s all here
After the Smershoviks get through the gate,
they need only climb to the top of the nuclear
tractor and capture The Harlequin. Sounds
easy, right? It is, if you discount the deleterious
effects of the several other groups attempting
to do the same thing. The Smershoviks may
run into these interfering NPCs on elevators,
in stairwells or in the catacombs of the
wastewater conduits beneath the tractor. See
the table on the next page for a list of these
interlopers, and check the next section for
staging advice.
■ Running the big
battle scene
The PCs are in a huge nuclear tractor, so huge
a comprehensive map would require much of
this book. Nine other groups are also running
around, eight of whom also want to catch The
Harlequin and one of whom wants to destroy
everything. Sounds normal for PARANOIA.
Here’s how we suggest putting together this
madhouse.
Let the PCs run around wherever they want,
but have lots of signs pointing up saying ‘THIS
WAY TO ROOF’ or maybe a trail of splattered
StyroKreem. It ought to be pretty obvious how
to track down the Harlequin.
And if it’s obvious to the players, it’s obvious
to the NPCs, too. So whenever things seem
to be basically under control, roll 1d20 and
have the Soviet meet the whichever group is
indicated in the table.
For that matter, there’s no reason the PCs
have to meet these groups one at a time. Every
third encounter or so, have them meet two or
more groups. Oh, and if you get the Illuminati,
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE NUCLEAR TRACTOR
1d20 roll Group (# of members) Description
These four trigger-happy warmongers are bad people to have around a nuclear plant—they have all sorts of heavy weapons and no
compunction about using them on The Harlequin (as he is jeopardizing a valuable installation) or on anyone else they see.
1-2 Red Army squad (4) Weapons and armor: Slugthrower (dum-dum ammo), M3K impact; r-Red (red) light combat armor (2)
Tactics: Mindless, brutal frontal assault on The Harlequin and anyone who has him.
Five vengeful hunters, here because of all the things The Harlequin has done. If they are allowed to keep The Harlequin, he will never be
seen again. Neither will anyone they capture whom they feel has interfered with them.
3-4 MVD (5) Weapons and armor: Neurowhip (stuns); g-Red (green) laser pistol (W3K); g-Red (green) reflec (L1)
Tactics: Capture The Harlequin and drag him off for questioning, along with anyone who interferes.
Eight frantic workers, here to get everybody else out, because this is a restricted area. They are after The Harlequin, because they realize
he’s the center of attention. They will release him at the gate with a stern verbal reprimand. They also strongly warn everybody else to
5-6 Tractor Serwices crew (8) leave, firing only if fired upon.
Weapons and armor: Ice gun (S3K impact); full-figure environment suit. Any mutation that looks useful.
Tactics: Order everyone to leave. Fire in self-defense.
These three fanatic SS/VC/SEAL-type super-commandos want The Harlequin alive, in hopes of getting this ultra-anti-Commie to join their
ranks. Because they’re traitors already, they have no code against killing.
7-8 NazCIA squad (3) Weapons and armor: Needle gun (S3W impact armor-piercing); combat suit (2); Adrenalin Control mutation.
Tactics: Drag off The Harlequin and anyone with him, then indoctrinate him with capitalist-pig-dog propaganda.
Six fun-lowink wandals! They are to be vantink Harleqvin too, because he is beink one most bitchink animal of party, da! They are to be
hawink fun (in depressed Alpha State way) and recruitink new member!
9-10 Death Leopard gang (6) Weapons and armor: Spraycans and joy buzzers; GM Fiat; entertaining mutations (Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis).
Tactics: Kidnap The Harlequin. They’re the only group The Harlequin might willingly go with.
The Harlequin has brought together a number of superfluous biological intelligences, so these multi-limbed scrubot impostors try to herd
Corpore Metal them all toward Morris-O for efficient terminal cleansing.
11-12 Terminators (2) Weapons and armor: Three sonic pistols apiece (S3W energy; Wound = stunned and deafened); radiation shield (armor rating 3).
Tactics: Exterminate. Exterminate.
There’s one in every group. They follow their own inscrutable motives, conveniently doing whatever you most want done.
13-14 Illuminati operative (1) Weapons and armor: As the rest of the group. Each infiltrator has the Teleport mutation.
Tactics: Act like the group, but be the last one killed. When you need a plot device, the infiltrator does something unpredictable.
These 30 Messiah-maniac yoyos sense The Harlequin has discovered true enlightenment, and they stampede after The Harlequin
wherever he goes, begging him to teach them. Like disciples, they imitate whatever he does; whenever he flings a pie at someone, they
15-16 Mystics commune (30) assume he’s teaching the target, so they imitate the target too.
Weapons and armor: None.
Tactics: Do everything possible to promote comedy. Imitate anyone who seems enlightened.
These four bloodthirsty saboteurs actually couldn’t care less about The Harlequin. They just happened to sneak in the back way, and
they’re here to blow the whole place dome-high. When this is discovered, all the other groups gang up on them, thereby letting The
Harlequin escape.
17-18 PURGE saboteurs (4) Weapons and armor: Slugthrower (solid AP ammo, W3K AP); r-Red (red) reflec (L1); Regeneration. Demolitions 14.
Tactics: Plant a really big bomb; this takes two successful Demolitions rolls. (The PCs need one successful roll to deactivate it.) Kill
anyone in their way.
Though Morris-O-BPM-3 is not technically after himself, he is trying to preserve his own skin, and is therefore an obstacle to those trying to
capture him.
19-20 The Harlequin Weapons and armor: Cream pies and other slapstick props (stun); GM Fiat. Charm mutation
Tactics: Have fun! Get everyone to laugh. Don’t get captured; that’s no fun

go ahead and roll another group, but have the
Illuminati member act up somehow.
Generally, a meeting with another group
involves an exchange of dialogue and/or small
arms fire, and then one or the other group
flees/pursues/continues to the roof. Chases
are common in this episode. Don’t forget to
mark off dead comrades.
Because only Smershoviks are equipped for
immediate clone replacement, they eventually
win this struggle, though we hope your players
are imaginative enough not to have to win
through attrition. Ideally, they arrange for
one group after another to get hold of The
Harlequin, suffer attacks from everybody else,
then take him for themselves after everyone
else has killed each other off. If your players are
doing good roleplaying and getting the MVDs
to go after the Red Army, and the Red Army
to go after the NazCIAs, etc., etc., then by all
means oblige them. That’s what’s supposed to
happen! Sure, don’t make it a pushover, and
have some plans backfire, but this whole scene
is a crazy-funny slaughterfest.
■ Up on the roof
Did you forget your player in the other room,
waiting for you to come tell him when it’s time
to fly? So did we, almost.
When your PCs make it to the roof for the
Harlequin’s last stand (which should be when
about half the enemies have been killed, or
half an hour of real time, whichever comes
first), have all surviving members of all the
different groups make it up there too. The
PCs are surrounded by many angry citizens.
Their goose is cooked for sure ... but suddenly,
rise out of your seat and dash into the other
room!
Turn off the Doctor Zhivago DVD, inform your
chosen pilot of the general situation and ask
him what he wants to do. Don’t allow anything
too outrageous, and remind him capturing the
Harlequin (alive) is absolutely vital. But hint
broadly that if anything accidentally happens to
the pilot’s fellow PCs while he’s taking care of

. 191
the rest of the mob—well, into each clone’s life
a little seltzer, garbage and confetti must fall.
Describe this scene dramatically, with the
howl of the jet causing the mob to hesitate, and
the awesome appearance of the Boxfat as it
makes its first attack run. Let the pilot roll his
Vehicle Operations specialty, or Hardware or
Violence skill, or even Management as a last
resort (he’s talking to the flybot brain). Unless
he blows things really badly, let him save the
day and clear the roof, meanwhile capturing
The Harlequin. The poor sap’s been sitting in
the other room for half an hour now! Time for
a little fun!
3: Convoy
The PCs, having caught an Alpha Complex
infiltrator, must now repatriate him. However,
The Computer doesn’t want Alpha State
Smershoviks to know their world is merely an
experiment, nor does it want Alpha Complex
citizens to know there’s a sector full of
moustachioed Commies nearby. Therefore
it sends the players Outdoors in a ship to
transport Morris-O home by a circuitous route
through snow, ice and other hazards.
From The Computer’s viewpoint, things
are going badly. Portions of Alpha Complex
have figured out HUH Sector is a nest of
Commie activity, and certain groups are
preparing immediate action. There’s been
cross-contamination between Alpha Complex
and Alpha State. And now one of its prized
Troubleshooters is in the hands of a bunch of
Smershoviks. Morris-O’s presence threatens
to destroy the whole experiment, because he
knows enough to convince everyone Alpha
State is a sham. The Computer wishes to
repatriate Morris-O immediately.
Yet Morris-O’s captors must return him
to Alpha Complex without anyone in Alpha
State getting suspicious about its proximity.
Furthermore, The Computer knows how
contagious Communism is, and so it must
take steps to prevent Morris-O’s infection
with Communist propaganda. Those to whom
Morris-O is delivered must not grow suspicious,
either. Overall, a sticky situation.
Mission alert
The Smershoviks prepare for their dangerous
and clandestine trek to that far-off Capitalist
Complex. If your players pat themselves on
the back for ‘figuring out’ they’re on their way
to Alpha Complex (while still not realizing that
192
In the end, the Smershoviks should recover
The Harlequin. Once the PCs are outside, the
Politburo calls to check up on the Soviet, and
orders them to proceed to the interior of the
Kremlin where they will continue to guard The
Harlequin and also receive their debriefing.
They also rejoin their pilot comrade. Hope
everyone has enough clones left to finish the
next four episodes!
Be careful about what the PCs do with The
Harlequin. They aren’t allowed to kill him,
though by this time they’ll desperately want to.
If The Harlequin is indeed killed, let the players
know this is A Very Bad Thing. The first PC
they’re starting from there as well), you’re
doing your job.
After they’ve guarded Morris-O for a while,
the Communist Party Line rings. Smersh
Politburo summarily orders [whichever PC has
the most clones left] to report immediately to
the nearest confession booth.
In the booth, Tovarich Computer runs
through the standard questions subroutine.
‘Zdrastvuitye, citizen. Are you depressed?
Da? Wery good. How is coming your five-year
plan? Are you to be meeting production quota?
Are you loving life in Alpha State?’ After the
player has answered these simple questions,
give him Red Alert reference PGRA/3A from
the hardcopy printer in the booth. Tovarich
Computer says (read aloud):
‘This is being wery important mission,
comrade citizen. Is to be clandestine
operation; be telling no one about
real objective. Say you are going
Outdoors to be depressed by Siberian
ambience.’
Gosh, does this mean the player can’t
show the red alert to his Soviet comrades?
Hmmm.
■ Meanwhile, the briefing
While the lone Smershovik was sweating vodka
in the confession booth, the other Smershoviks
were ordered to bring the prisoner and report
(yet again) to Briefing Room T, where they
find Olga-R combing, teasing and styling her
hair—what little of it she has. Whenever you
decide the missing Smershovik returns from
the confession booth, read the following:
Olga-R pulls a large picture tube from behind
the booth and places it on the floor. No case,
who reports it is killed out of hand for even
acknowledging the possibility The Harlequin
might die. Eventually someone will wise up
and tell Tovarich Computer The Harlequin
is ‘alive, but nyet wery responsive.’ Then
the Smershoviks get to lug around a slowly
stiffening corpse for the entirety of the next
episode, until the body is returned to Alpha
Complex and thence to The Computer. The
Computer assumes the stress of isolation,
subversion, abduction and liberation overtaxed
poor Morris-O’s heart, and he died a hero’s
death.
just a large cathode ray tube trailing lots of
tangled wires.
The aged figure on the screen is
identified by scrolling subtitles as
Pyotr-R-YHC-3. He sits in a tall chair,
slouched at an uncomfortable angle
against the back. Were it not for
his mouth moving, you’d swear he
was already dead. Olga-R shrugs to
indicate there’s no way to control the
volume, and starts fiddling with your
[any male PC’s] hair.
‘...ERS IMMEDIATELY,’ says Pyotr-
R. The sound of a heart monitor
pulse-beeps through every pause in
his speech. “’OU WILL TO BE GIVEN
EXCESSIVE MATERIAL AND WATER
TRACTOR TO PUT IT EVERYTHING
ALL INTO. (eee-eee) WATER
TRACTOR IS ALSO BEING MODE
OF TRANSPORTING SOVIET. (eee-
eee) SOVIET WILL BE FOLLOWING
VATER ROAD CODENAME ‘VOLGA’
TO RESIDENTIAL DOME. (eee-eee)
THERE WILL BE MEETING WITH
CONTACT AND RETURNING.
‘I AM TELLING YOU OF SEVERAL
IMPORTANT DANGEROUSNESSES
ALSO. (eee-eee) FIRST, EWIL
IMPERIALISTIC TERRORISTS ARE
HAVING REMOVED CEILING FROM
OUTSIDE. (eee-eee) BE WERY
CAREFUL (eee-eee) NYET TO BE
LETTING THINGS FALL ON YOU.
SECOND...’ (eee-eee)
(Here there’s a long pause. More pulse-
beeps. Then they stop. Read:)
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
On the briefing monitor, Pyotr-R is
still leaning in his chair. His mouth is
no longer moving; it’s hanging limply
open. The set now gives off a steady
beeeeeeeep. After a while, another
citizen steps on screen, checks Pyotr-
R’s pulse and shakes her head sadly.
She nonchalantly slips a chronobot
off his wrist and starts rummaging
through his pockets as Olga-R turns
the set off.
Olga-R then tells the PCs they must report to
the Warm Water Portal on the far side of this
sector to receive their mission equipment and
set out. She gives them a packet of passes
for the Trans-SIBERIA Railway, and tells
them the terminal is on the opposite side of
the Kremlin Plaza.
■ Warm Water Portal
Now that the PCs have experienced the fun
of just finding out what their mission is, they
can enjoy the experience of getting to the
start point!
No need to go into details about the
transtube terminal—it’s just like any other.
The Smershoviks board the train and, after
unscheduled stops for maintenance, refueling
and the extinguishing of unscheduled engine
fires, eventually arrive at their destination.
The so-called Warm Water Portal is a small
naval station just inside the dome of Alpha
State. When the dome doors are opened, the
small harbor opens directly onto a passing
stream which flows more or less around Alpha
Complex before meandering into the ocean.
The current is also extremely convenient for
disposal of waterborne waste, so right beside
the single pier is a huge sewer pipe that
sporadically glugs out the semi-congealed
slime from this and several adjacent sectors.
The warm waste water is extremely beneficial
to Alpha State, for the temperature of the water
keeps the Outdoors stream free of ice for quite
some distance from the port during the dead of
winter—which, incidentally, it now is.
Standing at the end of the lone, long pier is
a citizen from LL&L named Sasha-R-LPO-
6. Piled next to him are several boxes of
equipment. The PCs need not sign any forms
for the equipment; Sasha-R explains quite
pleasantly the equipment is all Red Army
material, and Spetsnaz guards have signed
the forms for them and will oversee their
punishment should any of the Red Army’s
equipment not be returned.
Tied to the end of the pier is their vehicle for
this mission, a small dinghy flying a huge red
flag from the bow. Painted on the gunwale is the
vessel’s name: the Glorious Oktober Overthrow
of the Dogmatic Slave-driving Hedonist
Imperialist Pigdog Landowners Oppressing
Legions of Laboring Industrial Proletarians and
Other Peasants. The GOODSHIPLOLLIPOP
is barely big enough to hold its acronym, to
say nothing of the PCs, Morris-O and their
equipment. Despite an automatic shigthrower
mounted on a stand in the center of the boat,
it doesn’t look particularly defensible.
The dinghy is propelled by a single outboard
motor, a tractor-shaped device with fins on
the treads, attached to the hull by the ‘blade.’
To an onshore observer, it would look like the
boat was being pushed by a small tractor on
the water’s surface. The throttle and rudder are
controlled manually by someone who must sit
in the dinky saddle.
The mission equipment crates are filled with
all the stuff listed in the Mission Materialistic
List reference PGRA/3B. The PCs are loaded
up and ready to go. The doors open! Time for
the Soviet to endure the gorgeous wonders of
the Outdoors, as they make their wintry way
from Alpha State to Alpha Complex.
Exposure
The Smershoviks board their craft and set
out into the cold, blustery winterscape. The
little boat churns the choppy water as the
Communist Party Line extension cord slowly
unreels into the inky depths, causing a slow
crescendoing dread of mounting long-distance
rates.
Remember how, in the Red Alert, Tovarich
Computer said ‘nyet to be talking to prisoner’?
Tovarich Computer was concerned if the
Smershoviks talked with Morris-O at length,
either party might discover the truth about
what Alpha State really is. That would make
Tovarich Computer unhappy, and when it’s
unhappy, people tend to visit Siberia. So that’s
one reason to not talk to Morris-O.
There’s others, too—like the squirting flower
he has in his lapel, with which he squirts
ink on anyone who leans too close during
conversation. Morris-O also has a joy buzzer,
Chinese finger traps and other gizmos to annoy
and perplex anyone who listens to him. If none
of this dissuades the Smershoviks, and they
seem about to pump Morris-O for valuable
storyline-spoiling info, skip forward to one of
the attacks later in this episode.
After a short but pleasant boat ride down
the river, doing the usual Troubleshooter/
Smershovik things like depth-charging innocent
fish, the river narrows, and a sheet of ice
EPISODE 3
spreads from shore to shore. What do they do?
They really don’t have much choice. Tovarich
Computer would frown on (i.e., siberiate)
anyone who didn’t pursue the mission, so they
must go on.
So there they are, trudging trackless wastes
in the dead of winter, trying to follow the course
of the frozen river. The camera pans back. Six
black shapes with furry babushkas against
a vast expanse of white. Nothing but snowy
plains as far as the eye can see.
Now would be a good time for an airborne
raid by NazCIA parachute commandoes, who
grab The Harlequin and lead the PCs on a
merry chase into the snowy emptiness. Just
an idea.
■ ‘Das Bot’ Redux
No convoy mission would be complete without
a sub attack; at least, this one wouldn’t. The
frozen river begins to widen out, and the PCs
can go back to travelling on the river. They’ll
probably be pleased. Suckers. Did anyone
pick up on the clue that they therefore must
be approaching their destination?
So now comes the sub attack scene, featuring
the fabulous U-Bot 416, originally seen in
the mini-mission ‘Das Bot’ in PARANOIA
Flashbacks. If you lack access to the U-Bot
416, it’s a snap to create your own Alpha
Complex mini-sub: Just watch a World
War II sub movie, shrink the sub to hold six
Troubleshooters, and add gobs of high-tech
flair and a decrepit bot-brain autopilot named
‘Lucky.’ Give it a few torpedos and a bunch of
incomprehensible controls, and you’re ready
to roll.
Things seem to be getting back on
track. You’re back on the ‘Volga,’
progressively moving along on your
required revolutionary heading. Sure,
it’s freezing cold,your hands are numb,
your ears are frostbitten, your little
proletarian red corvette has started to
leak, and you haven’t eaten in a while,
but hey, you’re not dead. Yet.
(You notice, over there, downstream
a bit, a stream of bubbles moving
just under the surface of the water. It
seems to be headed your way.)
Give everyone one chance to prepare.
Then:
KABOOM! A sheet of ice right in front
of your ship blows up spectacularly.
Ice and water spray into the air,
. 193
 drenching you thoroughly. Quick, what
do you do?
Especially paranoid characters may look up,
assuming the attack must come from NazCIA
parachute commandos. Suckers. That means
they don’t spot the second torpedo.
And here starts the combat. For details,
see the box nearby—or, you know, just wing
it. The PCs can use either Violence/Vehicular
Weapons or Projectile Weapons to fire
the automatic slugthrower. They can use
Hardware/Vehicular Operations to maneuver
the boat. Meanwhile the NPCs (a bunch of
RED Troubleshooters) are burbling along
under the surface in the minisub, so it’s unlikely
the PCs can even target the enemy without
cleverness.
Either describe the battle using your eloquent
narrative style, or diagram it on paper. We
recommend filling up your tub or swimming
pool and using bath toys for miniatures. Add
a couple trays of ice for realism, then order
your players into the water to simulate their
drenching by the explosion. Roleplaying at
its best!
If the players win the battle, their dingy
little dinghy springs several leaks (post-battle
stress) and starts sinking. The enemy minisub,
even though it might be burning or adrift, still
floats. Even if the sub is halfway to the bottom,
it mysteriously bobs back to the surface.
The PCs must abandon their own ship and
commandeer the sub—or drown, if they’re
being recalcitrant. Give the players time to
transport most of their equipment before the
boat goes under.
If, on the other hand, the PCs lose, their ship
sinks. So do they. Their furry babushkas are
left floating on the surface, drifting downstream
like so many leaves, mute testimony to the
PCs’ demise.
Halfway to the bottom, the characters can
see, through the murky water, the enemy has
taken a victory dive to gloat. But as the sub
passes through the sinking Soviet, the enemy’s
evil grins suddenly turn to expressions of
horror! Immediately the sub maneuvers under
the survivors and brings them, drenched and
freezing, back to the surface.
(The crew of the Alpha Complex sub is a
batch of inexperienced RED Troubleshooters.
They engaged the PCs, who naturally looked
like Commies with their furry babushkas and
such. Now that the Troubleshooters can see
the Smershoviks clearly, they conclude the
PCs are also Troubleshooters whom they
torpedoed by mistake.)
194
■ Jutland-on-the-Volga
For this encounter you can draw up a hex map of a winding river, if you’re into that sort
of thing—it will need to show a typical stretch of river, 10m per hex.
The Smershoviks’ boat can move up to three hexes per turn, and change facing by
one hexside once a turn. Add 1 to speed and turning if the piloting player succeeds in a
Vehicle Operations roll. The boat has a belt-fed swivel-mounted automatic slugthrower
loaded with solid AP rounds (W3K impact armor-piercing). The ship hull has armor
rating3.
The enemy sub can move four hexes a turn and can change facing twice (plus one
if the pilot can roll 10 or less). It takes one turn to submerge or surface; while doing so,
the sub can move normally, but only in a straight line. If the sub submerges, halve the
movement numbers (and no bonus for piloting), but the movement is hidden.
The sub has armor rating 5. It mounts three torpedoes; it can fire one every three
turns, but only while submerged (W3K energy to PCs, I3J to the boat, area 5m, range
basically unlimited). When a torpedo is fired, give the PC Smershovik pilot aboard the
boat a Vehicle Operations roll to dodge the torpedo. If the roll fails, BOOM!
The sub also has a laser cannon with five shots left. The cannon can fire every turn,
but only while on the surface (W3K energy to PCs, I3B to the boat; range 100m).
The sub pilots are six enemy Troubleshooter scumballs with RED laser pistols (W3K)
and RED reflec (L1). They have Sub Operation 10 and Sub Weapons 10; other ratings
06. Their tactics are simple: dive, fire, surface, fire, repeat.
their battleships and stuff. To top it all off, The
Back in the USA Computer (unaware of the treasonous rumor
mill) has told the folks in USA Sector the
The PCs have finally arrived at their destination approaching ship carries someone dressed
(pretty much the same place they left from). in black and white, and this person must at
All they have to do is hand over Morris-O and all costs be delivered ALIVE to the nearest
skedaddle, right? confession booth.
Soon the Volga bends, and the players As the Smershoviks approach, read the
can see in the distance the shining dome of following aloud:
Alpha Complex (USA Sector to be exact).
This dome is a spur sticking way out from the The opening in the dome is about
rest of the megalopolis, so the PCs cannot tell 30 meters wide and semicircular in
USA Sector and Alpha State are connected. shape. You see two armed citizens
Further, they have no real concept of how far in red overcoats standing on a ledge
they are from Alpha State, for they have no at the right side of the opening,
experience with Outdoors scale. If the PCs about three meters above the surface
try to contact anyone via the minisub radio, a of the water. One appears to be
booming message blares, ‘MAINTAIN RADIO scanning the Outdoors with high-
SILENCE!’ powered binoculars; the other is
See, the folks in USA Sector spotted the simply standing with her arms folded
Smershoviks in their boat an hour or three around her gun. You also see a man
ago with a remote surveillance patrolbot. They on the bank near you jump out from
deduced the Smershoviks were Commies behind his hiding place in the white
launching an amphibious assault. Now they’ve powder. He looks around cautiously,
mobilized everyone in USA Sector to meet this waves a red flag to get your attention,
large raid, and the powers that be have set up draws his finger across his throat and
a big ambush for the Commie invasion fleet. points at the pair on the ledge. He then
(Rumors have gotten out of hand.) USA Sector jumps back into hiding.
records showed a RED Troubleshooter team
Outdoors in a minisub, so they radioed them The man in the opening, an Armed Forces
and briefed them on the situation. corporal, is indeed watching for the Commie
Everyone assumes when the sub arrives water-breathing mutant hordes; the woman
that these are the returning Troubleshooters, beside him is a sort of port traffic cop from
and they’re told to dock quietly so as not Internal Security. The man on the bank’s
to alert the impending Commie barbarian message was supposed to be interpreted
world-conquering invasion armada with all as ‘Hey! Cut your engines! Dock where that
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
woman instructs you to!’ Sadly, most players
interpret it as instructions to assassinate the
lookout and the port traffic controller (go figure).
Read on:
As you enter the dome opening, you
notice the area has been well secured.
The doors are all sealed, and you
see a few security bots stationed
in inconspicuous places. It seems
they’ve been expecting your arrival.
The woman standing on the ledge
gestures to an open berth just inside
the dome, raises her finger to her lips,
and points at the back of the lookout
next to her.
No she didn’t. She pointed Outdoors, at the
impending apocalyptic Commie invaders of
doom. The lookout was just in the way. It’s
entirely possible the players may accidentally
misapprehend this gesture; just thought we’d
warn you.
■ We are here! We are here!
The PCs dock. A guy in red combat armor
quietly scuttles over to them and hands them
two cone rifles, a flamethrower, a gauss gun,
WINTER
some brass knuckles and a plasma generator.
If anyone tries to speak, he shushes them. He
winks, nods towards the opening Outdoors and
whispers ‘Go get ‘em.’ (If anyone’s wearing a
furry babushka or something else obviously
Commie, he dismisses it as a war trophy. He
doesn’t notice Morris-O.) The trooper scuttles
off. Now what?
Do as you’re told: Some players persist in
following mission orders and delivering Morris-
O to the contact, whom they might presume to
be the two at the entrance. If so, read:
You march up to the citizens with
the Black-and-White-Russian in tow.
Hearing your approach, they turn.
[Roll some dice.] Suddenly they both
scream at the top of their lungs! The
dock erupts in shouting voices! What
do you do?
Now skip down to ‘Caught red handed.’
Skullduggery: Other players sneak up
and attempt to assassinate one or both of the
REDs on the ledge. Should they choose to
leave The Harlequin behind, he’s gone by the
time they return.
It’s no problem taking out the two by the door
(or anyone else for that matter). But anyone
. 195
WONDERLAND
they kill drops a rifle or something, which goes
off. Read:
Somewhere someone yells, ‘FIIII-IRE!’
What do you do, brave proletarians?
Again, skip down to ‘Caught red handed.’
Wait here quietly: If you have mercilessly
abused your players until they’re insensate,
incoherent quivering blobs, they’ll just sit still,
holding Morris-O, waiting for something to
happen. In that case:
The air is filled with electric anticipation.
All is quiet. Someone sneezes. Tense
‘SHHH’s’ fill the air. A whispered
‘sooorry’ echoes. ‘SHHH!’ again.
There’s a steady drip from the ceiling
of the dome into the water. You wait
some more. Now what?
Eventually your players must do something;
no PARANOIA player can sit on his hands
for long. You hope they’ll choose one of the
two options above. If not, then perhaps your
players get into a typical player ‘discussion.’ Or,
if they’re being really boring and you’re tired
of waiting for them to shoot someone, let The
Harlequin use his prehensile toes to flip a tray
of fuel oil on someone. Or send a YELLOW by.
Anything to spur the players to action.
Of course, if the players are careless in
moving Morris-O from place to place, some
USA yoyo sees and recognizes him as The
Commie To Be Captured Alive Or Else. When
someone in the area, PC or otherwise, finally
yells or shoots someone, read the following:
■ Caught red-handed
For a second, everything is silent.
Then: BAROOOOOM! A veritable
explosion of noise! You can hear
people yelling things like, ‘They’ve
infiltrated!’ and ‘Die, Commie traitor!’
People run every which way, laser fire
and projectiles whizzing through the
pandemonium, striking seemingly at
random. A detonation shakes the area
as an AP cone wings overhead. What’ll
you do now, comrades?
The correct answer is Go Home Very Fast.
See, all the NPCs in the area are so wound
up, they react reflexively, assuming they’ve
been infiltrated or the Commies snuck in
on the river bottom or they’d been flanked
or even that the Commies were invisible.
(Invisible Commies! How stupid can you
get?) [Editor’s note: Designer Edward Bolme
self-deprecatingly references his 1989 mission
Alpha Complexities, reprinted in the original
Flashbacks volume.]
Now, in the panic, old prejudices are coming
out, and if somebody’s always suspected his
buddy was a Communist sympathizer, well,
his buddy takes a cone between the eyes.
Anyone near the water is suspected of having
just crawled out of the water to establish a
Commie beachhead. Anyone up high is shot in
case he’s a paratrooper. Anyone else is shot at
as a skilled infiltrator. In short, the whole area
is a panic-stricken free-for-all, and everyone’s
targetting Commies—real, suspected, or no.
Once the players start heading out on the
minisub (or maybe a different vehicle if they
want), the survivors in the area start after
them, firing with everything they’ve got. The
PCs should naturally choose the better part
of valor and submerge. Let ‘em.
Staging hint: When you read this next part,
it’s best if you can have a couple of alarm
clocks hidden behind your chair. Every good
sub’s got good alarms, and you shouldn’t rob
your players of the enlightening experience of
hearing them.
During the following emergency, if the
PCs check the sonar, it shows a vague blur
all across the screen. They discover the fire
196
extinguisher box contains only a four-liter jug
of water. Nothing they can do with the depth
gauge (or anything else) can prevent them
from running aground. So wind those clocks,
and read:
‘BZZZZZZZZZZ!’ Suddenly one of
your alarms goes off! It sounds like
the early warning sonar system, and
there’s a light flashing beside the
screen—quick, what do you do?
(Give ‘em two seconds to check the sonar
screen and start to panic. Then read:)
With a soft CRUNCH the sub suddenly
decelerates to less than half its former
speed. Everyone falls on his respective
face. There’s a hideous screeching
noise all along the hull and the engine
is laboring alarmingly. ‘EHHNNNT!
EHHNNNT! EHHNNNT! BZZZZZZZZZZ!’
Another alarm! Several red strobe
lights fracture motion in the cabin—
what do you do?
(They’re about to run aground. Let’s hope
they brace themselves.)
‘AAOOOGAH! EHHNNNT! AAOOOGAH!
BZZZZZZZZZZ!’ A split-second of
terror, then KARRUMPH! The sub jerks
to a violent stop, the hull screeches
piercingly and the floor of the sub
buckles as it hits something which is
evidently quite solid. Everyone who is
standing again gets thrown back on
his face. The top hatch pops off like a
cork, popping your ears at the same
time. Thank goodness you aren’t still
fully submerged!
The sub is stranded on a shoal not far from
USA Sector. Vulturecraft are already en route.
(You can mention the low whine of approaching
flybots.) The Smershoviks must bail out before
the bombs arrive. Unfortunately, swimming
is not a Smershovik’s long suit. Neither is
surviving ground zero of a Vulture strike.
Personally, we can only think of one way
out—climb into a torpedo tube and launch
yourself at the shoreline! The torpedoes are
fired with compressed air, so it would work,
though it’ll hurt a bit. But who’s gonna stay
behind to press the button? Maybe they can
hit it with a well-placed throw with, say, a
grenade. (What could go wrong?) If the players
manage to think of this, it works, though they’re
squished violently at launch; they hit the shore
a few hundred meters from the sub. Everyone
takes a Wound. The PCs are now safe, as
the Vultures pay no attention to the obviously
misguided missiles. And you thought we’d
written ourselves into a corner.
Nothing to do but walk home.
Debriefing
The PCs, having survived the trek to and
from Alpha Complex, are debriefed about the
glorious success of their glorious mission. Then
they go somewhere and stew awhile.
When the PCs return to the Warm Water
Portal, Sasha-R directs them to a nearby
confession booth for debriefing. All the
characters must wedge themselves into the
booth so Tovarich Computer can see them
clearly. Read:
‘Wery sorry Pyotr-R-YHC-3 can nyet
to be debriefing you, Smershoviks.
Pyotr-R is to be having medicalistic
problem—his blood pressure is wery
low, wery low indeed. But I am to be
digressing, is nyet to be of concerning
you. Tell me, comrade Smershoviks,
where is to be the prisoner whom to
you was being entrusted?’
Tovarich Computer asks that because it has
yet to reestablish contact with USA Sector’s
dock. Ask in a threatening voice; make the
players think they really screwed up bad. Let
them accuse each other. If you feel like it, finger
someone as the guilty party and Siberionate
him in a lowkey way.
And then—that’s all for the moment. Give
all the PCs a commendation or something.
Give anyone who doesn’t open his mouth a
bunch of rubles. And if the players lied about
Morris-O, Tovarich Computer will find out
when communications are reopened with USA
Sector; chalk up some Official Reprimands,
and bring up the subject in the next episode
when someone tries to lie again...
EXCELLENT!
IS BEINK MOST
DEPRESSINK
NEWS
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
4: Red bug
The Smershoviks get an alert to invade
‘another’ Alpha Complex. They set out in
the T-88 (a nifty half-tractor) to infiltrate USA
Sector. A bunch of high-clearance GREEN
goons immediately send them to quell unrest
among the INFRAREDs, which gives them an
opportunity to actually succeed at their mission.
The Smershoviks eventually get noticed by
IntSec and somehow escape back to their
beloved Alpha State.
Background
In previous episodes, the Soviet encountered a
bunch of counterrevolutionary imperialist pawn
soldiers apparently entering Alpha State from
the Outdoors. The Smershoviks captured one
of these horrid foreign agents, then took him
away to another dome and, after capturing a
foreign capitalist warmongering submarine,
maybe saw some people not (gasp!) not
dressed in Red.
Given these observations, correlated with
interrogations of defectors in the MVD’s political
asylum, Alpha State High Programmers have
deduced the players visited a non-Commie
Alpha State close by. Like the loyal, fanatical
and downright evangelical Commies they
are, the Alpha State bigwigs want to spread
the People’s Glorious Revolution to the
enemy complex and its poor, downtrodden
proletariat.
But Our Friend The Computer would
nyet be invading itself, would it? Of course
not—but... unfortunately for Our Pal, one of
the trusted High Programmers who helped
engineer the Alpha State experiment was a
sneaky ULTRAVIOLET Commie code-named
‘Rasputin.’ Rasputin is one of the greatest
Commies who has ever lived, for his hacking
expertise has been instrumental in many
successful raids and his fiery, passionate
devotion to the People’s Cause has won the
Commies many converts. He is indeed a great
leader, and many Commies would obey him to
the death. Quite a few already have.
So what has this man done to thwart Friend
Computer? He put a bug in the programs
he wrote. Rasputin was in charge of Alpha
State programs dealing with ambience. But
when he wrote the programs for Computer
graphics, accent and human interfacing, he
buried in them a little program that would be
accessed when one certain thing happened.
The program would automatically seize control
when The Computer tried to stop the Alpha
State Commies from spreading the revolution.
In other words, right now.
When the Alpha State bureaucracy starts
rolling with its invasion plans, Tovarich
Computer attempts to intercede and put an
end to it. Imagine its surprise and horror when,
instead of stopping the preparations, it hears
itself praising the Commies and offering helpful
suggestions!
So now the ‘sane’ (and we use the term
loosely) portion of The Computer is helplessly
watching the Commie-programmed Tovarich
portion plot its own downfall.
Briefing
The episode begins innocuously and, as a few
PARANOIA scenes occasionally do (cough),
quickly turns ugly in a completely different
direction. Read:
EPISODE 4
When last we left the daring protectors
of the proletariat, the Smershoviks of
Soviet #1917, you were not slaving
away at a manual power generator like
you are now.
You were mobilized early this
morning to crank a gargantuan handle
to generate enough power to make up
for the energy deficit left by the sector’s
nuclear tractors. Your progressive
faces, flushed with glorious labor, are
as red as the clothes you wear. You
are werrry loyally, patriotically and
enthusiastically depressed.
Suddenly, your Soviet gets a Red
Alert!
Give the players Red Alert reference
PGRA/4A. Let the PCs run around to secret
society contacts and such before reporting for
briefing. When they once again reach Briefing
Room T, Olga-R is dusting it thoroughly with
a dainty lace handkerchief. She pauses, pulls
out a minuscule TV set and places it on the
booth. The Smershoviks must cluster around
to see and hear, for the screen is small and
the tinny sound doesn’t carry. The subtitle
‘Pyotr-R-YHC-4’ is all but illegible.
During Pyotr-R’s broadcast, Olga-R
continues dusting the booth, then moves
on to dust the male players, pausing in her
humming long enough to whistle appreciatively
as the Smershoviks bend over to squint at
the screen.
‘As you vere founding out this morning,
comrade Smershoviks, power output
quotas in this part of Alpha State
have being consistently lower than
projected expectations calculated for
197
 five year plan. To being in fact, power
output is been consistently vithin five
percentage points of five sevenths
below production curves; consistency
of power generation gap is pointing
at conclusion of reactionary capitalist
terrorist sabotage. Is certainly being
same counter-rewolutionary forces
vhich were to have inwaded Room
of Bath a little to left of FB4.89-
38FO:3NC9-23J.’
Pyotr-R pauses. He tries to take a
deep breath, with marginal success.
‘You are to be counterinwading
capitalist home base, identified as
Alpha State, near here vhere you
vere having sail in Glorious Oktober
Overthrow, careless sinking of vhich
has been duly noted. You are to
be leaving from Varm Vater Portal
immediately after briefing is being
finished to be lend-leased tractor for
land infiltration. Also materialistic
equipment is there awaiting for you.
Bevare only the NNNNGGGGGGG!’
Pyotr-R grimaces horribly. His
body stiffens, and he slumps to the
desktop. Shortly after, medics run in
and begin CCCPR. Olga-R wakes up
from a dusting reverie and switches
off the set.
After the PCs have asked Olga-R a few
questions she can’t answer, they can (and in
fact must) leave for the Warm Water Portal.
Outfitting and escape
The PCs prepare for the big invasion
by receiving their glorious revolutionary
equipment. Meanwhile, The Computer is
duking it out with Tovarich Computer for control
of Alpha State. And you thought things were
confusing before!
The Smershoviks are given a Red Army
escort to their destination. Read:
As you enter the glorious revolutionary
Warm Water Portal, you see once
more citizen Sasha-R-POL, speaking
with another man in full Spetsnaz
combat armor. Sasha-R looks
nervous. The large Spetsnaz guard
strides purposefully over to you and
introduces himself as Igor-R-NQY-3.
‘Comrades,’ he says, ‘your Soviet
has been being relocated into another
dome nyet wery far from here, because
is being Alpha State completely
198
■ Igor-R-NQY-3
Fearsome Spetznaz warrior
Red Army; Adrenalin Control and Regeneration; Management 10, Intimidation 14, Stealth
08, Violence 11, Knowledge skills 07.
Flamethrower (S3K energy, area 20m spray); combat suit (armor rating 5,
hardened).
■ PGRA/4B equipment details
1) Yes, there are 40 land mines, but none of them have any fuses.
2) ‘The Gospel According to Marx’ is a standard Commie propaganda pamphlet,
written with a skill rating of 8.
3) The flags are flags. Great for morale, but PCs who sell them as souvenirs are
executed as capitalists.
4) The Sta-Lert pills are high-powered drugs designed to let dedicated comrades
work 24 hours a day for weeks on end to subvert a capitalist complex, and then to croak
from overexertion.
5) Experimental infiltration device, ‘Red Square’: Lastly, toss in any untried USSR&D
trash and the following pseudo-scientific gobbledygookish experimental device:
The Red Square is named for its visible effect. The device itself is a modest belt crammed
with all sorts of high-tech electronic gizmos. To operate the device, put on the belt and
flip the switch. The operator of the device will appear to be standing in a red square, two
meters on a side. So now the PCs can more or less safely wander about Alpha Complex
in flagrant violation of the security laws because they’re standing or walking in a mobile
red square.
Because the square is simply an area of effect and does not of itself exist, it can move
wherever the operator moves. Unfortunately, the device lacks gaussian shielding, and
any electromagnetic activity can upset it.
■ T-88 ‘Cossack’
To demonstrate the considerable trust and faith Tovarich Computer has in its Smershoviks,
the PCs are given the Alpha State equivalent of the crawler. The Computer did this, not
because the PCs deserve it, but because it wants to know what’s so great about tractors.
The vehicle the Smershoviks are given indeed represents the Alpha State of the Art in
nonmilitary (i.e., substandard) transportation. This means it’s marginally slower, definitely
bulkier, and considerably smellier than your average Ukrainian cart horse.
Carefully reconstructed from poorly compiled descriptions of halftracks and tractors,
the T-88 is almost the worst possible hybrid. Its dozer blade is high enough to impair
visibility, and it also scrapes the floor, thereby reducing speed and creating the intolerable
noise of fingernails on chalkboards. Its caterwauling engine belches acrid clouds of gray
smoke.
But wait ... did we say ‘halftrack?’ Yes indeed, the wheels on right side sport a full track
(half metal, half plastic), and the wheels on the left have hastily improvised rubber and
leather tires, some of which don’t quite touch the ground.
The Cossack is equipped with an autopilot with the disposition and diplomacy of an
ulcerated mule. The autopilot has already had its course programmed in. It will not
deviate from its course one iota, as it tells the PCs in no uncertain terms. Thus it trundles
inexorably on, regardless of the players’ actions.
overrun by capitalistic bourgeoisie Vas liberated from semi-capitalistic
moneylenders. Beloved Tovarich LL&L. Also am to be giving you
Computer is honoring you with mission very dependable armored fighting
to inwade this tottering decadent elitist tractor for transporting of soviet to
dictatorship society. You must liberate destination.’
masses.
‘Here is mission materialistic Now seems like a good time to go over
equipment I am to be giving to you. the mission equipment in player handout
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
PGRA/4B. (For more about this stuff, see the
box nearby.) Let your PCs scrabble through
the boxes briefly before Igor-R gets impatient
and continues.
When you’re tired of explaining crates of
equipment to your players, Igor-R harrumphs
loudly and says:
‘And now you are to be loading up.
Good luck, comrades. And please to
be remembering; atheism is on our
side.’
While all this has been going on, the
untampered part of The Computer has invaded
the MVD subprocessor in a desperate attempt
to regain control of Alpha State. It wants to
stop Smershovik Soviet #1917 from leaving
Alpha State, and the quickest way to do
that is to brand the lot of them traitors with
thousand-ruble bounties. Duly alerted, MVD
agents have descended on the Warm Water
Portal like supersonic vultures converging on
a road kill. Read:
Suddenly you hear laser blasts!
‘Comrade citizen!’ says Tovarich
Computer, ‘Investigate source of
treasonous firing!’
Igor-R-NQY-3, your Spetsnaz guard,
seems very offended and draws his
flamethrower. He strides confidently
over to the hallway where the shots
came from and lets loose with a
very impressive pyrotechnic display.
Through the billowing clouds of burnt
plastic and goodness only knows what
else, you hear a megaphone proclaim,
‘Tovarich Computer is to be informing
us that the Smershoviks are capitalist
bourgeoisie traitors! Halt in name of
Tovarich Computer! Surrender and
you will nyet be tortured, only killed!’
‘What? I am having ordered nyet such
thing!’ bellows Tovarich Computer.
‘Smershoviks, carry out your orders!’
The vid screens flicker for a second,
then Tovarich Computer speaks
again, saying, [read this in a non-
accented voice] ‘I repeat. All members
of Smershovik Soviet #1917 are
hereby declared traitors. Rewards of
unprecedented dimension are offered
for their immediate termination. Stop
them from leaving!’ Igor-R turns his
weapon on you. What do you do?
If they gun down Igor-R, he fires back until
killed. If they try to talk with him, he listens
because things are so confusing, thus buying
INTO ALPHA COMPLEX
enough time to unfold the last bit of this drama.
If they head for the T-88 now, Igor-R fires.
■ Getting out
Meanwhile, Tovarich Computer assesses the
situation and attempts to win the subprocessor
back. When the PCs have decided what to do
(or a few combat rounds have passed), read:
Suddenly, ‘Nyet! Yes! AARRRG!’ yells
Tovarich Computer. The massive
doors leading Outdoors open and
close repeatedly. ‘SSmmmmershoviks
must be leaving immediately in tracto-
trac-trt-t-tra- (switch to no accent)
traitors! Stop them!’ Igor-R looks
up, his distaste quite evident. ‘Wery
strange. I am being going now.’ He
rapidly exits. On the ragged edge
of insanity, Sasha-R-LPO turns and
dives into the water. The doors to
Outdoors open about halfway and
stick, trembling to a high-pitched
whine. ‘Get out get out get out! Ahhh!
Doors are now open!’ says Tovarich
Computer. ‘Smershoviks, do your
proletarian duty!’ The sound of the
MVD troopers is rapidly getting louder.
Now what do you do?
OK, look: Lots of armed MVD guards are
about to pour into this area. They still think
every PC is a traitor worth a whole pile of
rubles. There is only one realistic option now:
Run. Grab the T-88 and get out before it’s
too late. If they whine to Tovarich Computer,
it replies, ‘Nyet to be worrying about MVD or
nyething else. Go subvert capitalists. Leave
everything else to me. Trust me. I am your
tovarich. Only ... hurry!’
Border crossing
So the Smershoviks go putt-putting Outdoors
in the T-88. Their directions are to Go West
and Infiltrate. We’ve been this way before, so
you know what to do—just remember the T-88
won’t deviate from its course.
After what seems like an eternity, the T-88
trundles over a small rise. Spread out in front
of the Soviet is USA Sector. Obvious paths lie
between the large craters and laser-burned
earth. Wheel marks and the occasional road
kill confirm these paths are often traveled, at
least by vehicular traffic. Somehow the T-88
barely manages to maneuver through the
safe areas.
. 199
As they get closer, they see that the
halftractor is homing in on two impressive
guard turrets, between which stands a blast
door. The turrets are large and glossy, and
pack truly impressive triple-mount laser
cannons. The turret guns stay trained on the
Soviet during their approach.
When the Smershoviks get within 20 meters
of the turrets, mechanical voices boom out from
big speakers: ‘HALT! ADVANCE SINGLY AND
GIVE THE PASSWORD!’ In the interest of
self-preservation, the T-88 finally stops.
The turrets are actually guard booths, each
manned by one Armed Forces BLUE trooper.
The two on duty now have both forgotten the
password of the day. They have absolutely
no idea whatever—too many happy pills last
night. The password is as often a phrase as
a word, so no matter what the PC says, the
guards feel obligated to give him the benefit
of the doubt. Read:
After you’ve taken a few steps forward,
the voice bellows, ‘THAT’S FAR
ENOUGH! GIVE THE PASSWORD OR
DIE!’
(Let the player say whatever he wants.
Opening fire now or turning around would be
a bad idea. When the player speaks:)
The turrets are silent for a long time.
All you can hear is the throbbing
hum of the immense generators and
capacitors for the laser cannon. Then
a small hatch opens at the base of
the right-hand turret, and a small
citizen slips out and runs over to the
other turret. it opens, and you see the
citizen’s comrade leaning out. They
converse for a few moments, then
the second shrugs and disappears
back into his turret. ‘YOU CAN GO
AHEAD AND GO ON IN. THE, UH, THE
PASSWORD WAS CORRECT ENOUGH
FOR ME. GOT ANY LUGGAGE TO
DECLARE? HAVE A NICE DAY. AH,
THE REST OF YOU CAN GO ON IN
TOO, I GUESS.’ The blast door swings
ponderously out like a drawbridge.
Sure, it may stretch credibility for the Soviet
to enter Alpha Complex this way, but how
else would a bunch of Rrrooshian-speaking
Commies get in?
(Well, there are probably half a dozen good
ways, and your players will think of all of
them. This is the only one we Famous Game
Designers thought of, before it was time for
our nap.)
Inside Alpha Complex
They made it!
The Smershoviks are admitted into Alpha
Complex. Happiness, nyet morbid depression,
is mandatory. Heck, from the PCs’ point of
view, treason is mandatory. And colors! Gobs
of colors, more colors than the Smershoviks
have ever seen in their Alpha State. And with
the colors comes class distinction, repression,
conflict and revolution.
Whenever the novelty of gallivanting around
in Alpha Complex wears thin (if you let ‘em
wear it as thin as is fun, you’ll have to wing
a lot—or you could skip to the end of this
episode and then come back here), the PCs
turn a corner and see several GREEN Internal
Security goons standing in a cluster near
a large barricaded double door. One of the
IntSec goons sees the PCs and points.
If the PCs don’t panic, a couple of the
goons start jogging over to them, saying
‘Hold it right there.’ Behind the double doors
is the INFRARED cafeteria. There’s a lot of
INFRAREDs in there. There is also no Hot
Fun. This is a bad combination.
Things are definitely getting ugly, and there’s
about to be a riot. And The Computer has
activated the IntSec goons to deal with it. The
goons happen to notice a passing batch of
RED Troubleshooters (Smershoviks, that is),
and who better to take the blame and physical
abuse if the INFRAREDs don’t settle down?
Read:
One of the Internal Security citizens
clamps a heavy hand on Red Leader’s
shoulder and smiles. “REDs! Just the
folks we were looking for!’ he says.
Pulling the Red Leader to the double
door, he continues; ‘Listen, all of us at
Internal Security have heard how good
you guys are at controlling the lower
menial types. We got us a whole bunch
of laborers in there, and they’re none
too happy. They didn’t get their Hot
Fun, and they feel exploited. We have
to get them calmed down so they can
get back to their 16-hour shift in the
munitions factory. But I’m telling you,
there’s masses of them in there. So see
what you can do with these people.’ He
whips the door open, and the squad of
goons propels you all through.
You’re standing on a balcony landing
overlooking one end of a large room.
Stairs descend on either side down
to the main floor, which is crowded
with a seething mass of disgruntled
subhumanity. The INFRAREDs all
200
wear unwashed shoddy black clothing,
and the room is filled with their loud
■ USA Sector map
displeasure.
The INFRAREDs carry various
implements known to cause
unfavorable occurances when applied
directly to vital body parts. They all
look big and stupid. And mad. The din
quiets suddenly as they take notice of
your sudden arrival. OK, soon-to-be
revolutionary martyrs, what do you
do now?
Given a bunch of zealous Commies, an
oppressive society and the unwashed masses
in the room, the answer should be obvious.
Just remember first that the INFRAREDs
have been trained since birth to believe that
Commies Are Bad. it is not smart to outright
admit that you’re a Commie to these folks,
most of whom have been attending the First
Church of Christ Computer-Programmer since
Junior Citizenship.
Second, the INFRAREDs are pathetically
dense. These are the genetic rejects and
cloning flubs that are placed in marginally
useful tasks. Some are literally too dumb to die.
They are nearly incapable of abstract thought,
so convincing them of the greater cause of
world revolution is hopeless. The players
should think directly; gain their stomachs and
their hearts and minds, such as they are, will
follow.
When acting as the INFRAREDs, take your
cue from this:
PC: So, comrades, vhy are you being
upset?
INFRAREDs: WE HAVE NO HOT FUN!
PC: But Tovarich Computer is playing
game of seek-and-go-hide vith you
for Hot Fun.
INFRAREDs: Huh?
PC: Hot Fun is being hidden! Werrry fun
go looking for it! Maybe behind door.
Below floor. Tear things up and look,
and maybe you will be finding Hot Fun
before anybody else is finding any!
Maybe is under helmets of guards
outside this door!
As long as the PCs don’t screw up really
bad, they can start a full-scale insurrection.
The INFRAREDs run rampant, rioting in the
hallways and generally making a mess of
things.
Your players are now experiencing a post-
stress syndrome known as a ‘power trip.’
They will almost certainly attempt to engineer
another revolt, given how easy the first was.
With or without rioting INFRAREDs, there’s
Pull out the Generic Map of Everything
(page 95). The USA Sector layout
is identical; only the buildings are
different.
1) HPD&MC Video Programming
Office: Here mid-level, technically
orthodox yet vaguely suspect
bureaucrats decide tonight’s
vidshows.
2) Big BLUE Bureaucratic Building:
Every service group maintains an
HQ here. If traitors blew up the
building, efficiency would treble.
3) Food vats: The stench permeates
this entire area.
4) CPU Paperwork Field Testing
Lab: Here eager volunteers test
new forms.
5) Troubleshooter Dispatch:
Smershoviks can probably infiltrate
this high-security complex if they
keep their mouth shut. They might
get activated to hunt Commies!
6) R&D test field: Mad scientists
test new weapons and vehicles.
Lethally dangerous.
7) INFRARED barracks, mess hall
and communal sink: The PCs
start the riot here.
8) Hospital: Here many people are
sick, tied down and immobile. All
the antibiotics in the world can’t
protect them from infection by
Commie propaganda!
9) Mass execution chamber and
power surge control grid: Here
convicted traitors await the next
power surge and simultaneously
save valuable Computer property
from damage.
10) Armed Forces Outdoors Mission
Assembly Area: The only thing
in this enormous chamber is the
Model 425 Mark 4 Main Battle
Tankbot (from ‘Me and My Shadow
Mark 4’ and Alpha Complexities, in
PARANOIA Flashbacks).
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
■ Troubleshooting (so to speak)
The PCs can easily mess up this storyline. They could panic,
open fire, run away, try to fast-talk the GREEN goons...
That’s fine! Really. Tovarich Computer will punish them for
failing in their only real chance to overthrow Alpha Complex.
Just skip this part of the episode and let them get back to Alpha
State alive.
If you just love this episode and must use it -- well, there’s about
to be a riot. It is the work of a moment to send a few squads of
BLUE Vulture Warriors around the corner as extra persuasion
for vagrant Smershoviks. (That would make a cool band name.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the Vagrant Smershoviks!’)
a whole lot of obnoxious things a group of Commies can do in Alpha
Complex. Here’s some examples:
1) If the Commies can break into the PL&C warehouses, they can
quite literally paint the town Red! This’ll cause all sorts of problems
for IntSec as low-clearance flunkies storm into high-clearance
labs to play with all the new gadgets like the reactor overload
dampers, treason files, and other stuff.
2) They could place a red herring: Run up to a big group of Armed
Forces guards, hand them a huge pile of propaganda pamphlets
and Commie flags (‘Guard these! Are being wery important
ewidence!’), then head some goons their way.
3) They could reprogram bots to zoom about in public places waving
Commie flags.
4) They could replace all the traffic signals with red lights and lock
up traffic for hours.
INFRARED RIOT
cover. Tovarich Computer gives a recall order. The sweeping tide of
INFRAREDs deposits the Smershoviks like so much flotsam near the
door through which they entered USA Sector, and the PCs can leave.
A FiG-25 airdrops (drops, not parachutes) a new T-88 tractor for them
to drive home in.
Oh—and what if the PCs failed to incite the riot? Well... in that case
you can wipe them out. It’s their own fault for ignoring orders.
Debriefing
By the time the Smershoviks return, Alpha State is completely controlled
by The Commie Computer—the last few bits of Our Friend, after holding
held out in some old Tass RAM chips, have been completely consumed.
Tovarich Computer wants to know all about what the Smershoviks did
in USA Sector; how much damage they caused, their estimate of USA
military strength and stuff like that.
The more damage the PCs did to USA Sector, the happier they
make Tovarich Computer. Show this by instantly rewarding every act
of sabotage as soon as the PCs report it. Get the players to mention
everything they did and some things they didn’t. Let them bask in the
glory of being revolutionary heroes. Even when the Smershoviks have
to tell how they blew their cover, don’t change Tovarich Computer’s
attitude from immeasurable satisfaction. This should worry your players
greatly.

Then, when they’ve done enough damage and half the sector lies in
ruins, a random citizen approaches the PCs and casually asks what’s
happening. it quickly develops he’s a Commie sympathizer—or so
it seems at first. After the players have gotten him all excited about
becoming a Commie, the citizen runs off to recruit his friends as well.
Very innocent.
But then the citizen returns with all his friends from Internal Security
in tow. They close in by the truckload, because they want the agitators
who started the INFRAREDs rebelling, and they want them in the worst
possible way.

■ Deus ex machina, and we’re proud of it

Now that we’re so close to the tantalizingly mind-crushing debriefing in
Episode 6, it would not do to have the Smershoviks wiped out. Here’s
a handy way to save their little Red cabooses.
Just when things look blackest, just when the Smershoviks are
cornered in a closet by two platoons of IntSec agents, some doberbots,
a crowd of angry citizens bucking for promotion, the 1477th Vulture
Strategic Bombing Wing and the Mark 4 Main Battle Tankbot, there’s
a sudden crescendo of noise: yelling, pounding, things breaking. Then
hordes of stampeding INFRAREDs burst onto the scene, smothering
the opposition and bearing the Smershoviks triumphantly along as
fellow revolutionaries.
The Communist Party Line rings; Smersh Politburo says Tovarich
Computer has been demanding an update. Press for full details,
and eventually someone admits the Smershoviks have blown their

201
5: Red sunset
Alpha State is invaded by a screaming yellow
horde of imperialist dogbot soldiers. The PCs
run and hide to fight a guerrilla war under the
guidance of Igor-R-NQY-2, the elite Spetsnaz
commando. The Smershovik Soviet attempts
to steal a FiG-25 from an occupied Alpha State
airbase, but they are captured before they
succeed. Or maybe after, if you like megadeath
scenarios.
This is the big climactic episode, so even
here, in the ‘pre-mission briefing,’ try to inject
a note of excitement into everything that goes
on.
Background
The Computer (the real one) was, needless
to say, quite disconcerted when it drove
itself out of Alpha State. Even worse, upon
reviewing extensive camera footage, it realized
Smershoviks from Alpha State had shown up in
USA Sector to spread the Glorious Communist
Revolution. Obviously, its grand experiment
has gotten completely out of hand and is now a
threat to the safety of Alpha Complex. Threats
must be destroyed, and loyal citizens must be
rescued. This, however, is a threat composed
of loyal citizens. Dicey.
Because the experiment is clearly running
amok, a whole mess of YELLOW clearance
Vultures have mobilized to pacify Alpha State.
Ordinarily they would all be equipped with
stunners, but one of the last pieces of data
obtained from Alpha State indicated a large
military buildup. Shelving the safety of innocent
though hypnotized citizens in preference for its
own safety, The Computer arms the invading
YELLOWs to the teeth. Isn’t it grand? A cast
of thousands—and thousands who end up
in casts!
Invasion
Allow a suitable pause to refresh, then read:
After you finished your last mission
and debriefing, your glorious Soviet
dispersed. Your comrades around
you feel the People’s Revolution is
all the more safe from a reactionary
fascist counterrevolution with loyal
and patriotic Smershoviks like you to
defend Mother Alpha. Later, you are
again summoned to appear before
202
the Smersh Politburo for a mission
briefing.
Give the players Red Alert reference
PGRA/5a. It ought to be ominous enough to
prompt discomfort. After the usual scramble,
read:
As you go to briefing room T, you
see squads of elite Spetsnaz guards
everywhere, all marching in the general
direction of the Kremlin. Units the size
of divisions begin forming up, their
banners and cadre in front. It’s really
quite a spectacle.
In the briefing room, Olga-R pulls
out a large gleaming case and pushes
a button on top. A large glossy video
screen pops out with a smooth
hydraulic release, and the screen
flickers to life. It displays Pyotr-R-YHC-
5 in crisp, clean color. It’s obvious this
screen is brand new and state of the
art. Read:
Pyotr-R is lying in a hospital bed.
He’s apparently not feeling terribly
well. He’s got an IV in his arm and an
oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.
Electrodes are attached to his skull,
giving a very unusual reading on a
nearby monitor. Other devices monitor
his vital signs, while a large machine
behind him occasionally goes PING!
‘Zdrastiye, Smershoviks!
Congratulations on assignment this
mission. Is glorious opportunity
serve rewolution,’ he says. ‘You are
to be having honor to lead very best
troops in Alpha State!’ He gestures
dramatically, sending the probably
expensive blood pressure monitor
crashing to the floor. ‘Nyet only that,
but I am having priwilege telling you all
Alpha State vill vatch your ewery move
this mission! You are so honored!’
He starts gesticulating even more
wildly. ‘You are to be wanguard of
rewolutionary army! NOW is time for
ALL good Smershoviks to COME TO—’
*Poit!* You see Pyotr-R’s sweeping
gesture pop the IV needle out of his
arm. He immediately slams back
on the bed, his frenzied expression
locked forever on his aged face. You
all hope you don’t look that silly when
you die.
Olga-R gets the PCs organized, and just as
they’re heading out of the square they hear
a whistle, sort of like an incoming cone rifle
shell. Did one of the Spetsnaz troopers fire
accidentally? Nope, it’s just the first shot of the
invasion force—a tacnuke aimed to wipe out
the Red Army in one swell foop. If you can find
a tacnuke to detonate, do it! It’ll sure scare your
players and help set the mood. Then read:
The Spetsnaz soldiers all lookup.
What do you do? Too late! Flash!
Brilliant light temporarily blinds you
and BOOOMMM! You’re all thrown
violently to the ground and stunned
by a massive shock wave as a fireball
engulfs most of the square. What do
you do?
As the PCs run from the scene (the only
logical or in fact survivable alternative), read:
Alarms start going off all over
the place, and panicked citizens
stampede every which way. Then, with
a ‘YEEEHAAAAWWWW!’ two yellow-
clad warriors come charging down
the corridor, mowing down comrade
citizens left and right. At the same
time, a large Spetsnaz commando
falls out of the air and lands on them,
crushing them completely.
This is mega-macho Spetsnaz elite airborne
frogman commando and covert operations
specialist Igor-R-NQY-2, last seen barbecuing
MVDs in the Warm Water Portal. Remember?
If the players lack the common decency to
even thank him for squashing the YELLOWs,
he grabs one by the ankle and says, ‘Please
to be letting me come vith, comrades! I can be
helping you!’ This is a bona fide Major Hint.
If, on the other hand, your players feel
compelled to help (or at least look at) Igor-R,
read them the following description:
The Spetsnaz soldier is the citizen with
the flamethrower you saw in the Warm
Water Portal. He is dressed in full battle
armor, which is scorched through in
several places and covered with black
soot. He says, ‘What happened? Last
I am remembering was in square with
40,000 proletarian comrades waiting
orders to inwade enemy territory ...
who are yellow peoples I sit on?’
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
With that question, it ought to be easy to get
the players to deduce they’re being invaded.
If they need proof, a simple glance upward
(easy for Igor-R who’s on his back) confirms
it—there’s scads of YELLOWs all over the
place; in parachutes, descending down ropes,
zooming around in YELLOW-clearance flybots,
etc.
Why? Because The Computer must destroy
its Alpha State counterpart. Modem invasions
and data bus infiltrations have all failed, and
now the Commie Computer is trying to enter
the rest of the Alpha Complex system. There
is only one choice left for The Computer: It
must turn off the power to the HUH Sector
CompNode. This is somewhat akin to curing
your split personality by putting a bullet through
your left frontal lobe, but The Computer has no
viable alternative.
Therefore, at this time, the alarms cut
back off, the lights cut out, and the air
grows immediately stuffy. Power to Tovarich
Computer was just cut. After a brief moment,
emergency lights come on and sirens restart
on minimum levels (beep—beep—beep). If
anyone has the bright idea to tell Tovarich
Computer that something has happened,
every screen displays the message ‘WAIT
ONE MOMENT,’ while a looped tape says,
‘Nyething is wrong. Do nyet move. I’ll be right
with you.’
■ Red Rovers
As the PCs evade the blitzkrieging Vultures,
Igor-R tells them between gasps of pain he
can help them fight the capitalist imperialist
totalitarians, and leads them to a hiding place
he knows of that can serve as a base of
operations.
Depending on how your players are doing on
clones, now’s the time to throw in a few chance
encounters to run up the body count until
everyone is on their fourth clone or higher. An
ideal way to do this is to have the players get
chased by Vultures all the way across Alpha
State and back, getting extra mileage out of
the maps from earlier in the scenario.
But they eventually find a place of refuge
somewhere, thanks to Igor-R-NQY-2 (unless
they let him get killed, in which case they
deserve to be run to ground like deer). Read
the following to your weary players:
Under the knowledgable guidance of Igor-R-
NQY-2, you finally reach a place that seems
safe from the invading YELLOW hordes.
It’s a small building, apparently gutted and
barricaded a long time ago by Tass workers.
Igor-R leads you in through an ingenious secret
door, then indicates you can all relax for a
EPISODE 5
■ Firefight map
See Map 4, the FiG base on page 96. Key:
1) Land of living mines: Self-aware, mobile, burrowing explosives, similar to the
pesky percussives in the mission ‘Me and My Shadow Mark 4’ (reprinted in the original
PARANOIA Flashbacks volume). The living mines slowly, silently crawl under unwise or
immobile characters, then detonate (W4V energy, area 2m).
2) Burly wall: A tall, thick concrete wall (armor rating 6, ablative) topped with electrified
barbed wire (S4W energy plus stun, automatically on contact). Make an Arbitrary Justice
roll to determine on which side of the wall a stunned character falls.
3) Motor pool: Pool of oil, that is, leaking from the perforated crankcases of several
T-88 ‘Cossack’ tractors. One has a flamethrower mounted to the rear; another has an
industrial fire extinguisher that looks, for all the world, just like a flamethrower.
4) FiG-25s: The PCs are after these military flybots. They fly! They fight! At least, they
fly with a successful Hardware/Vehicle Ops check, and a Violence/Vehicular Combat
check to hit a target.
5) Neutron bombs: Please don’t shoot lasers in this direction. Each bomb weighs 30kg;
there are 55 bombs in a pyramidal stack. It takes one PC five turns to load a bomb onto
a FiG, two PCs need two turns, and three PCs take all day. If a bomb blows up, it has
adverse consequences all across the area. Pop the map in a microwave or something.
6) Fuse box: A big strongbox full of electronic bomb fuses. Sure hope the players
remember to put fuses in the neutron bombs; otherwise the bombs won’t explode unless
hit by a stray laser shot.
7) Fuel storage tank: Armor rating 4, hardened and fireproof. Not affected by
flamethrowers, thank goodness, but a cone rifle shell or something similarly major ruptures
the tank, covering the area with gobs of small fires (S3M energy).
8) Coolant storage tank: Armor rating 4, hardened. Full to the brim with pure (200
proof) alcohol. If ruptured, the tank spills booze across the tarmac, and everyone not
wearing a gasmask gets drunk from the fumes.
9) Cooled liquid storage tank: Armor rating 3. Full of supercooled water. If the tank
ruptures, water sprays everywhere and instantly freezes. If all three tanks (#7-9) get hit,
things get interesting as drunken Smershoviks weave between fires on ice-slick tarmac
in oil-slicked T-88s. Then the fire blows the bomb fuses, the explosion hits the neutron
bombs, and...
10) Big important building: Full of Vultures. When you start to run out Vultures, a
few more storm out of here.
11) Vulture guards: They start here unless you want them elsewhere.
12) Control tower: Three storeys tall and filled with high-tech comm and tracking gear.
Enterprising PCs can gather intel and maybe assign incoming Vulturecraft to dangerous
flightpaths.
13) Guard towers: Heavy anti-personnel lasers (W3K, unlimited range) and anti-aircraft
missiles (I3V energy armor-piercing, area 5m). Both are on swivel mounts, but the
missiles fire only upward. Each tower is manned by two BLUE Vulture guards who are
specially trained not to fire near the tanks or bombs. PCs can use these weapons with a
Violence/Energy Weapons or Projectile Weapons check. Have the PCs been specially
trained not to fire near the tanks or bombs?
■ BLUE Vulture guards
Violence 10, Energy Weapons 14, Projectile Weapons 14, Don’t Hit The Tanks And
Especially Not The Bombs 16
BLUE laser pistol (W3K), stunner (20 shots, stuns), BLUE battle armor (3)
Tactics: Usually, ‘Shoot first, don’t ask questions.’ This situation is less heated, so the
Vultures want to capture Alpha State Commies. (You need some survivors to interrogate
in Episode 6.)
203.
 ■ Red Rovers
Standard YELLOW Vulture. One of
thousands.
YELLOW laser rifle (W3K); YELLOW
combat armor (4)
while. You can still hear the voice of Tovarich
Computer echoing softly through the sector,
‘Nyething is wrong. Do nyet move. I’ll be right
with you.’
Pause here and let the players re-evaluate
their position. It’s nice to be able to get your
bearings sometimes... When they’re done
yakking, read:
Presently Igor-R rises stiffly to his
feet. Gazing though the cracks in
the walls of the building you’re in,
he watches the clean formations of
yellow-clad troops marching about
Alpha State, rounding up defenders
of the proletarian revolution.
Igor-R turns around and sits painfully,
leaning his back against the wall. He
looks at you and shakes his head
sadly. ‘Comrades, we are having been
invaded by elitist imperialist terrorists.
They are having infiltration beloved
Alpha State and subversion Tovarich
Computer’s defense subroutines.
‘So, comrades, it is being up to us for
continuation of fight against dogmatic
oppression and capitalist mind-control
devices. And, comrades, I am having
plan.’
‘Nyet wery far from here is Red
Army base of the air. On airbase is
full squadron FiG-25 Boxfat fighting-
bombing flybots. Wery good wehicles.
Also on base is weapons and fuel.
Weapons are wery big neutron bombs.
Kill imperialist puppets, leave products
of proletarian construction intact.
‘You, comrade Smershoviks, must be
stealing FiGs and dropping of bombs
on heads of capitalist warmongering
slaved rivers and pinkerton middlemen.
Now I am to be telling you how to fly
FiGs and drop bombs.’ You receive a
lecture several hours long, in which
Igor-R gives you definitive instructions
on the operation of a FiG warcraft.
Everyone add 2 to your Hardware/
Flybot Operation specialty, and 1 to
your Violence/Vehicular Weapons
specialty. After the lecture, Igor-R
204
draws a map showing how to quickly
get to the airbase, and another map
showing the airbase itself, which looks
like this.
Place the FiG Airbase map on the table, just
so they know what they’re getting into.
After all that, Igor-R says, ‘Please
to be hurrying, comrades! Is nyet
much time before it is too late for
saving of Alpha State. Invaders begin
searching every building very soon!
Good luck!’ And with that, he slips into
unconciousness.
■ Firefight
It’s time for the Smershoviks to try to recapture
the FiG-25’s. This is the last chance the PCs
have to really succeed. They can (almost) win
back Alpha State from the invading capitalistic
warmongers! They can at least do a lot of
damage. Just remember—the better they do
here, the worse they get hosed in the final
episode. So let ’em do really well.
Getting from their secret hideout to the
airbase is no real problem; soon the PCs
reach the edge of the captured Spetsnaz
compound.
The more we think about it, the more we like
the idea of PCs zooming around Alpha State
with devastating neutron warheads. Go ahead.
Let ‘em have their fun; they’ll pay for it in the
next episode. But boy, will they be disappointed
if they forgot the fuses...
They can fly around all they want. Roll their
Vehicular Weapons specialty to see if they
hit their desired target or instead hit a POW
camp or a lower-flying FiG or something. Then,
when they’re through watching zillions of NPCs
blown miles into the air in a thermonuclear
fireball, ask the players where they intend to
land their FiGs. There is nowhere. Even if the
PCs didn’t trash their own airfield, it’s the only
one in Alpha State, and there’s plenty of folks
awaiting them there.
There’s no exit to the Outdoors. If they try to
blow a hole in the dome, it collapses atop their
jets; the only possible way out is through the
Warm Water Portal or the Room of Bath wall,
and we doubt any of the PCs has the skill to
fly an eight-meter wide jet through two-meter
hallways...
There’s always the Kremlin plaza. Yeah.
They should land there. No one stops ‘em.
Takes a while for the hordes of goons with
heavy stunners to arrive.
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE
6: Wakey-wakey
The Alpha State experiment has worked both
better and worse than The Computer hoped.
Better, because it was outstandingly successful
at creating a bunch of Commies, and it got to
see how Commies work and how ingenious
they are. Worse, because now The Computer
has found out just how ingenious Commies
really are. The Computer wants to find out who
in the experiment, if anyone, is actually loyal,
and who has been corrupted.
Try to avoid a pause or break between the
last episode and this one. The more your
players are in the habit of speaking with
Russian accents, the better.
Debriefing
Here the Troubleshooters awaken from their
revolutionary dream and rapidly readjust to a
non-Commie environment. After their capture,
read this:
Oh, how bitter is defeat at the hands of
imperialist warmongering soldiers!
Soon, arrogant cowardly brown-
nosing bloodthirsty bourgeois guards
drag you out of the compound.
You are taken against your will
to the edge of Alpha State—when
suddenly an unseen door in the wall
opens out onto a sewer pipe painted
a most elite shade of blue! Of course!
Infiltration—the way the Dark Forces
conquered Mother Alpha.
Strange—the corridor gets bigger.
Sure doesn’t look much like a sewer
pipe to you any more... must be some
fascist propaganda trick!
The hapless Soviet is led to a large yellow
room. There is a black square in the center of
the floor, and Computer cameras adorn the
front wall. Already in the room are Olga-R-HGJ-
4 and Pyotr-R-YHC-6. Olga-R rushes over and
embraces each of the PCs, sobbing openly.
Pyotr-R is seated in a wheelchair in the back
corner of the room, his chin in his hand and
a scowl on his face. See if the players have
anything amusing to say. Then read:
Seated behind a table opposite you is
a citizen dressed in a horrible shade
of yellow. A sign identifies this craven
foreman stoolie as Marcus-Y-EJO-2.
One of the imperialist troopers gives
each of you a pill and crams it down
your throat at cone riflepoint.
Read this next part in a dreamy, wavy, funny
voice that gradually gets normal as the PCs
‘wake up.’
You begin to feel funny—perhaps it’s an
exploitive capitalist mind-control drug!
No... that’s not it... you’re remembering
things now. Alpha State... it’s just
a dream—you were volunteered for
it... a mission in a capitalistic city,
hypnosis, post-hypnotic suggestion,
totalitarian domination... the glorious
revolution...
NOW you remember it all! Life
before Alpha State, living in Alpha
Complex, being volunteered for a
secret experiment, hypnosis drugs to
make you think you were a Commie,
when all the time you were serving
your friend The Computer. Now here
you are, and what does this YELLOW
yoyo want?
Playtesting shows certain players, realizing
at this time the magnitude of their upcoming
hosing, choose instead to immolate themselves
(and as many others as possible in the room).
Give your players a chance to do so. When
things are cleaned up, read:
Marcus-Y rises and says, ‘Welcome,
citizens, to your final debriefing. Thank
you, I guess, for your supposedly loyal
service to The Computer. I’m afraid we
have some investigating to do, and
probably some psychological tests
and surgical restructuring. But I feel
confident we’ll find all your faults. The
Computer and I shall make sure of it.’
■ Interrogation
Are you ready for this? The Computer sent a
bunch of loyal citizens to be archtraitors. While
they were Commies, they were rewarded for
being good Commies and punished for being
bad Commies. This helped maintain the
ambience in Alpha State.
However, The Computer feels anyone
who rebelled against being a Commie has
deep-seated, unconscious objections and
antipathies toward Communism, whereas
anyone who was a real good Commie has a
lack of same, if not outright sympathy for the
Revolution. Therefore, if a PC was a good
Commie, he will now be executed. For every
commendation, promotion and backpat a PC
earned, give him an equal amount of trouble.
. 205
EPISODE 6
With one exception. The Computer knows
Troubleshooters are clever; that’s why they’re
Troubleshooters. If a player can show he
earned his commendations by deceiving his
superiors, then he is instead rewarded for
hampering the Communists—just so long as
The Computer doesn’t think he’s done the
same things on previous missions.
Someone who deliberately sabotaged
missions is rewarded now, even though his
previous clone may have been executed in
Alpha State. The Computer rewards those
who simply cannot bring themselves to follow
Communism, even under hypnosis. Give him
a commendation for every treason penalty he
got in Alpha State, plus a few hundred credits
for every clone terminated for treason.
The characters’ relationship with Tovarich
Computer is complicated, for it simultaneously
represents proper authority and the very soul
of Communism. Disobedience to Tovarich
Computer cannot go unpunished. Obedience
to Tovarich Computer cannot go unpunished.
Heh heh! Guess that wasn’t so complicated
after all.
Most important in this debriefing/trial pre-
execution warm-up is roleplaying. Anyone
who keeps talking in a Russian accent gets
terminated, pronto, because it’s obvious even
anti-hypnosis drugs were unable to remove the
Commie influence from his brain.
■ 20 questions
Here’s some double-edged questions to inspire
your own creativity in tormenting your players.
(Comments and safe answers follow each
question in parentheses.)
1 Do you think The Computer did a good
job faking a Commie Complex? (No
matter how you answer, The Computer
may be insulted.)
1 Are you glad you were chosen to serve
The Computer in this manner? (A
positive answer may be interpereted as
Communist zeal.)
1 How do you feel, given that your
previous clone was executed as a traitor
in Alpha State, when the whole thing
wasn’t real in the first place? (Great! I
died in the service of The Computer!)
1 How do you feel about Commies, now
that you’ve been one? (Best to deny that
you were ever really a Commie; you just
 gritted your teeth and faked it, looking for
a weakness.)
1 How could life in Alpha State have been
improved? (Remove Communism.)
1 Were you plotting to overthrow the
Commies in Alpha State? (Say yes and
you’re a secret society traitor. No, and
you’re a Commie.)
1 Do you think The Computer’s judgment
has been fair? (Yes! Execute me
again!)
1 If The Computer asked you again to be
a real live Commie, would you want to?
(I wouldn’t ever—never ever in my whole
life—want to be a Commie! But I’d do it
for The Computer.)
1 Do you feel you know too much about
Commies to be safely released back
into mainstream life in Alpha Complex?
(If they say yes, they’re aware of
the danger of their knowledge; give
Official Reprimands and let them go.
Player handouts
:RED ALERT
:Reference PGRA/1A
:Soviet #1917
***********RED ALERT!*************
:SMERSHOVIK SOVIET #1917 TO
REPORT IMMEDIATELY BRIEFING
ROOM T FOR BRIEFING OF
ROUTINE DEPRESSING MISSION
OF INSPECTION AND REPAIR
ROOM OF BATH
:COORDINATES: A LITTLE TO LEFT
OF FB2.89-38F0:3NC9_23J.U23n/
V82FLR9
:FAILURE TO BE REPORTING
PUNISHABLE BY SUMMARY
SIBERIATION
:BE STAYING ALERT! DO NYET
TRUST NYETBODY! BE KEEPING
HANDY LASER!
If they say no, they’re obviously hiding
something—perhaps they’re more
infected than first thought.)
These by no means are the only questions
you can ask, nor are the given answers the
only safe ones. And everything is open to
convoluted interpretation. Oh, heck, just let
’em kill each other! That’s what they’re here
for, isn’t it?
After he’s finished with the PCs:
Marcus-Y turns to Olga-R with a stern
look. Olga-R winks bawdily at him.
He blushes slightly and says, ‘You,
Miss [stress the ‘Miss’] Olga-R-HGJ-4,
are hereby pardoned for your actions,
which in no way endangered Alpha
Complex or The Computer.’ Olga-R
leaps for joy and thanks Marcus-Y
profusely.
‘And now for you, Pyotr-R-YHC-6.
You were a loyal and fawning Commie.
You adhered to and advanced the
teachings of Communism. Do you have
anything to say in your defense?’
Pyotr-R is deep in thought. You can
see the strain in his face.
:MATERIALISTIC LIST
:Reference PGRA/1B
:Soviet #1917
:TOILET PAPER, ROLLS, TWO
:TOWELS, PAPER, ROLL, ONE
:SEAT, TOILET, REPLACEMENT, ONE
:SOAP, HAND, FIVE LITERS
:MOP, ONE
:FLUSH VOUCHERS, THREE
:SINK VOUCHERS, ONE MINUTE, FOUR
:SINK PLUGS WITH CHAIN, TWO
:TILE CLEANER, ONE LITER
:RUBLES FOR PAY STALLS, TWENTY
‘Well?’ Marcus-Y shouts. ‘You’d
better think fast, comrade, because
I’ve got a special execution lined up
that’s three hours long.’ Evidently
Pyotr-R can’t think of anything that
can save him, because he’s keeping
quiet. Looks like he’s chosen the stoic
approach to his imminent execution.
‘Fine. By the power vested in me by
your friend and mine, The Computer,
I do hereby charge you with grand
treason and arrest you in the name
of Alpha Complex. Come with me!’
Seething with hatred, Marcus-Y strides
across the room and grabs Pyotr-R by
the collar. There’s a soft ‘fwooosh,’ as
Pyotr-R crumbles to dust and seeps
onto the floor, leaving Marcus-Y
holding an empty jumpsuit in a pale
cloud of human motes.
Marcus-Y stands stupefied for
a minute, then angrily throws the
jumpsuit on the pile and kicks it,
raising another cloud that settles
mostly on his pants. With a snarl he
turns and strides out of the room.
Olga-R trots beside him, brushing off
his cuffs.
:RED ALERT
:Reference PGRA/2A
:Soviet #1917
*************RED ALERT!****************
:ATTENTION SMERSHOVIK! REPORTING
IMMEDIATELY AGAIN BRIEFING ROOM T
FOR WERRRY IMPORTANT MISSION FOR
CAPTURING TRAITOR AT LARGE
:MISSION IS TO BE WERRRY SAFE
BECAUSE YOU ARE NYET ALLOWED
FOR FIRING OF WEAPONS
:MORBID DEPRESSION IS MANDATORY!
:MATERIALISTIC LIST
:Reference PGRA/2B
:Soviet #1917
:PIES, SUDO-CREAM, TEN
:PIE CATAPULT, SHOULDER-FIRED, ONE
:SELTZER BOTTLES, ONE LITER, THREE
:SILLY STRING, ONE LITER, THREE
:NOISEMAKERS, TWENTY-FOUR
:PILLS, DEPRESSION, TWO GROSS
:INFORMATIONAL BRIEFINK :RED ALERT
:Reference PGRA/2C :Reference PGRA/3A
:Soviet #1917 :Soviet #1917
Congratulations, honored comrade! You are *************RED ALERT!****************
being recipient signal honor of flight of werrry
:COMRADE SMERSHOVIK! YOU AND
werrry nice Fiko/Guero Model 25 interceptor
PROLETARIAN SOVIET ARE TO
fighting-bombing flybot ‘Boxfat’! Please to be
varming up of Hardvare/Wehicular Operation BE TAKING OF DANGEROUS
specialty while listening to following: PRISONER TO OTHER DOME AND
THERE TO BE DELIVERING TO
1. Model FiG-25 ‘Boxfat’ has cannon-mounted RECEPTIONIST FOR
wings, two (2). SAFEKEEPING
2. Model FiG-25 ‘Boxfat’ has bomb-mounted :SOVIET #1917 IS TO BE LEAVING
undercarriage. ATTENTION: In order for FROM WARM WATER PORTAL TO
obeyment of mission directives, veapons of
OUTDOORS. PRISONER IS TO BE
Model FiG-25 ‘Boxfat’ are being having been
BRINGING ALONG
retrofitted for your conwenience. Number of
bombings is being perestroikaed under :NYET TO TELL NYETBODY WHAT
glasnost laws. YOU ARE TO BE DOING REALLY.
3. Model FiG-25 ‘Boxfat’ is also having werrry NYET TALKING TO PRISONER
fast missile guidances. FOR REASONS OF GLASNOST.
4. Model FiG-25 ‘Boxfat’ is also having special ALSO NYET LISTENING TO
veapon mounted of nose. ATTENTION: PRISONER WHO IS BEING
Veapon of nose is being perestroikaed. DANGEROUS LIAR
:IS TOP SECRET MISSION! TRUST
You are to being launching and having
NYET ONE NEVER!
rendezwous with rewolutionary comrades
werrry soon, maybe one half hour. Maybe.
Have depressing day!
:RED ALERT :MATERIALISTIC LIST
:Reference PGRA/4A :Reference PGRA/4B
:Soviet #1917 :Soviet #1917
*************RED ALERT!**************** :EXPERIMENTALIST INFILTRATION
:ATTENTION SMERSHOVIKS! BE DEVICE, ONE
IMMEDIATELY REPORTING FOR :CRATES, THREE
WERRRY GLORIOUS SAFE :EACH WHICH IS TO BE CONTAINING:
ROUTINE DEPRESSING MISSION :PAMPHLETS, ‘THE GOSPEL
OF SPREADING COMMUNIST ACCORDING TO MARX,’ 20,000
REWOLUTION. IS TO BEING :COMMUNIST BATTLE FLAG, 3x5
SUBWERSIVE MISSION AND METERS, ONE
WERRRY SECRET. :COMMUNIST PARADE FLAG, 6x10
:BEING SURE TO BE PACKING CENTIMETERS, 10,000
EXTRA CHANGE OF :BOX, ONE
UNDERWEARINGS. :IS TO BE CONTAINING:
:REMAIN ALERTED! SERVE :BOXES, TWELVE
TOVARICH COMPUTER! :EACH WHICH IS TO BE
CONTAINING:
:BOXES, SIX
:EACH WHICH IS TO BE
CONTAINING:
:STA-LERT TABLETS, EIGHT
:EACH WHICH IS TO BE
CONTAINING:
:CAFFEINE, 20 GRAMS
:BUFFERS AGAINST CARDIO-
VASCULAR SYSTEM SHOCK &
TUMMY UPSET
:LAND MINES, FORTY OR SO
:COMMUNIST PARTY LINE EXTENSION
CORD, WERRRY BIG ROLL
:MATERIALISTIC LIST
:Reference PGRA/3B
:Soviet #1917
:BABUSHKA, FURRY, BIG, BLACK,
ONE
:BABUSHKA, FURRY, BIG, TAN, ONE
:BABUSHKA, FURRY, BIG, GRAY, ONE
:BABUSHKA, FURRY, BIG, RED, ONE
:BABUSHKA, FURRY, BIG, ARTIFICIAL
COLORS, TWO
:COMMUNIST PARTY LINE EXTENSION
CORD, WERRRY BIG ROLL
:CARTONS, RUSSIAN
UNSEASONABLY BAD WINTER
PROVISIONAL PROLETARIAN
SURVIVAL GEAR, INDIVIDUALISTIC,
SIX
:WHO ARE CONTAINING EACH:
:THERMO UNDERCLOTHES, ONE
PAIRING
:HOT COCOA MIX WITH
MARSHMALLOWS, PACKETS, SIX
:IGLOO CONSTRUCTION
INSTRUCTION SHEET, ONE
:ICEPICK, ONE
:SNOWSHOE, ONE
:RED ALERT
:Reference PGRA/5A
:Soviet #1917
*************RED ALERT!****************
:ZDRASTVUITYE, SMERSHOVIK!
TOVARICH COMPUTER IS BEING
SELECTING FOR YOU GLORIOUS
PROLETARIAN PRIWILEGE OF
PARTICIPATION IN OWERT
SUPPORTING OF PROLETARIAN
REWOLUTION
:SOVIET IS BEING WANGUARD IN
LEADING OF RED ARMY INTO
NEARBY CAPITALIST RUNNING-
PIG-DOG ALPHA COMPLEX PTUI
:ENTIRETY OF OPERATION IS
DEPENDING ON SMERSHOVIK
PERFORMANCE AND PATRIOTISM
AND GENERALLY BEING GOOD
COMMIE
:REMEMBER, THOUSANDS OF
WERRRY LOYAL RED ARMY
SOLDIERS WILL BEING AT ALL
TIMES MARCHING RIGHT BEHIND
YOU
:TOVARICH COMPUTER IS YOUR
COMRADE!
Map 1: Room of Bath (Episode 1)
Room of Bath
(Episode 1)
1: Alpha Complex
BER entrance
1 6 2: Alpha Complex LIN
7
entrance
2 3: Alpha State HUH
14 entrance (players’
entrance)
8 4: Sinks
5 5: Toilets
6: Mirror
9
7: Paper towels
5
8: Showers
1 9: Paper towel bin
10 10: Decontamination
booth
11 11: Communal
13 toothbrush
4 12: Jacuzzi (broken)
12
13: Hole in floor
14: Shoeshine seats
3

Map 2: Nuclear tractor (Episode 2)

Nuclear Tractor
(Episode 2)
1: Cooling tower
15 (open top)
8 15 2: Very tall ladder
2
9 3: Power lines
4: Power relay
3 14 10 station
. 13 5: Heavy water tank
6: Stairs to hatch
4 11 7: Piping
1 8: Observation (no
railing)
12 9: Control room
10: Pile of graphite
15 6 rods
14 11: Access to reactor
15 core
7 12: Radio antenna
5
13: Fireman’s pole
14: Stairs from
ground
15: 100-meter drop

208
 PEOPLE’S ADVENTURE MAPS
Map 3: Generic map of everything

8
7

4
6
1

10

.. 209
Map 4: FiG Base (Episode 4)

13

6
13

11

11
1
5
2

11

10
7
12

13
9
8

210
 PARANOIA PARANOIA

PARANOIA TM — Flashbacks Redux Redux

™
™

Flashbacks Redux Redux FLASHBACKS REDUX REDUX

TRUST THE COMPUTER! THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND!

The most popular XP-edition missions are back, in their 25th Anniversary guise! Filled with
hand-picked classic adventures from all previous editions of Paranoia, Flashbacks Redux Redux
is gaming hilarity at its greatest. This is the second compilation of classic Paranoia missions,
and should not be missed!

Many classic adventures are found in Flashbacks Redux Redux, all suitably trimmed, tweaked
and tailored for the latest edition of Paranoia: Troubleshooters.

PARANOIA: A light-hearted game of backstabbing, treachery and guile, where trusting other
players is a sure route to the termination centre!

Adventures include: Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex, Spin Control, My First Treason,
Sweep of Unhistory, The Communist Cafeteria Conspiracy, Viva La Revolution, The People’s
Glorious Revolutionary Adventure

PARANOIA IS FUN. OTHER GAMES ARE NOT FUN. BUY PARANOIA.

For use with PARANOIA A world fit for Kafka, Orwell

For Gamemasters, and the Marx Brothers
not players! PARANOIA is a satirical roleplaying game set in a darkly humorous future. A well-meaning
but deranged Computer desperately protects the citizens of an underground city from secret
societies, mutants and all sorts of real and imagined enemies. You play a Troubleshooter, one
of The Computer’s elite agents. You track and destroy enemies of The Computer. You hope The
Computer and your fellow Troubleshooters won’t find out you are one of these enemies.
PARANOIA: a lighthearted game of terror, death, b­ ureaucracies, mad scientists, mutants,
dangerous weapons and insane robots, which encourages players to lie, to cheat and to backstab
each other at every turn.
Originally published in 1984, PARANOIA sold over 150,000 copies. The Mongoose edition
updates PARANOIA for this new and more paranoid time.

ISBN 978-1-907702-33-4 $39.99 Mongoose publishing—swindon, uk MGP 6679

Flashbacks Redux Redux and PARANOIA Copyright © 1983, 1987, 2011 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. PARANOIA is
Original PARANOIA design
MGP 6679

a trademark of Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan. All rights reserved. Mongoose Publishing Ltd., Authorized User.
DAN GELBER
GREG COSTIKYAN New PARANOIA edition
ERIC GOLDBERG ALLEN VARNEY