[RPG]: Paranoia - The Underplex, reviewed by Travire (3/3)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12294.phtml

Neil Lennon's Summary:

Crammed full of ideas, in no particular order. A new setting for Paranoia where players can explore the unknown without even going outside. Fresh and original but it could have been better.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Dan Davenport]

Good job, Neil!

One question: given the nature of the area covered, are there any weird mutant beasties included in the book?

[Travire]

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

Good job, Neil!

One question: given the nature of the area covered, are there any weird mutant beasties included in the book?

There is plenty of discussion about the types of Weird Mutant Beasties ( WMB's ) that could be encountered, but a lot is left to the GM's imagination. Some statistics are included as examples but there is no Underplex style monster manual. Essentially as the Underplex is outside of Alpha Complex proper the troubleshooters could meet anything you want them to meet - from oompa loompa's to giant radioactive commie mutant cockroaches.

[Paul Baldowski]

Thanks for the honest and thorough review, Neil.

I appreciate your comments and, while not a defence, have to say the material sort of got compacted down at the last moment - due to a 25% reduction in the size of the book... thus the explosive scatter of boxed text and sidebars.

Of the humour, I have to admit that sometimes other people's funnies work for me, sometimes they don't. So, rather than go for hit-or-miss funny throughout, I opted to play to the Straighter-style and allow the Gamemaster to inject his own humour.

Of stating the obvious, I wouldn't want to write on the assumption that everyone reading knows PARANOIA like their own backyard. If you haven't played a lot of PARANOIA or read The Traitor's Manual, you might well have less of an automatic instinct for Secret Society intentions. I aimed at that level.

Anyway - thanks again for the feedback and keep playing PARANOIA!

[Travire]

Originally Posted by Paul Baldowski

Thanks for the honest and thorough review, Neil.

I appreciate your comments and, while not a defence, have to say the material sort of got compacted down at the last moment - due to a 25% reduction in the size of the book... thus the explosive scatter of boxed text and sidebars.

Of the humour, I have to admit that sometimes other people's funnies work for me, sometimes they don't. So, rather than go for hit-or-miss funny throughout, I opted to play to the Straighter-style and allow the Gamemaster to inject his own humour.

Of stating the obvious, I wouldn't want to write on the assumption that everyone reading knows PARANOIA like their own backyard. If you haven't played a lot of PARANOIA or read The Traitor's Manual, you might well have less of an automatic instinct for Secret Society intentions. I aimed at that level.

Anyway - thanks again for the feedback and keep playing PARANOIA!

Thanks Paul,

Greatly appreciate the work you are doing for the Paranoia line, and while I do have a few criticisms about the Underplex supplement, its still crammed full of useful ideas for Paranoia games. While earlier editions of Paranoia made the mistake of sending troubleshooters outside every other mission, I'm glad that the Underplex provides something a little different while maintaining that urban environment. I look forward to seeing whats coming next for Paranoia !