Paranoia (game)

(For other uses of the term "Paranoia", click here)

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Paranoia takes many forms: A mental condition characterized by extreme and irrational suspicion. A 2004 industrial-espionage thriller by Joseph Finder. A print magazine dealing in conspiracy theories. A 2011 film starring Brad Jones. In this particular case, however, we travel to a world designed by Kafka, Stalin, Orwell, Huxley, Sartre, the Marx Brothers and that crazy old man at the airport bar at 2am...

Paranoia is a darkly humorous Tabletop Game which takes place After the End, in Alpha Complex, an underground and/or domed city run by a supercomputer known variously as The Computer and "Friend Computer". After most of the human race was wiped out by some freak accident, The Computer tried to figure out what went wrong. Unfortunately, The Computers databases had been corrupted, and after finding some Cold War propaganda, it came to the conclusion that Communists caused the disaster. Or possibly some other nebulous threat; no one is quite sure what happened any more, because what little true history of the world is left is heavily controlled.

Already bonkers, following decades of successive subversion and reprogramming by various conflicting groups (High Programmers, Secret Societies, aliens from Pluto and/or Dimension 2Q4B), "Friend Computer" has only gotten more paranoid, schizophrenic and insane. Neverthless, it still rules Alpha Complex with an iron fist, its dystopian society organized in a hierarchy of "security clearances" based on the electromagnetic spectrum (specifically Isaac Newton's version), from lowly Infrared worker drones, through Red Shirt grunts and Yellow managers, all the way up the rainbow to the Violet and Ultraviolet elite.

This society is supported by swarms of robots and spies, omnipresent surveillance, and a bureaucracy so huge and convoluted no one's quite sure who's in charge of what any more.

Problems in Alpha Complex are solved by teams of Troubleshooters, whose job is to find trouble and shoot it. Threats include Traitors, Communists and other secret societies, unregistered Mutants, and Commie Mutant Traitors. This mission is complicated by the facts that Alpha Complex is a Communist state, and, thanks to years of clone breeding, overexposure to radiation and other snafus, every last one of its inhabitants is a mutant. Everyone is also a member of one or more secret societies (mostly) plotting to overthrow the order of Alpha Complex. These groups include, but are not limted to:


 * Anti-Mutants, who (as the name suggests) despise all mutants, including registered ones. Their goal is doomed to inevitable failure because, like everyone else, they are mutants, just ignorant or in denial about it.
 * Communists, who are around mainly because of the Computer's crackdown on communism, and are rather confused about actual communist ideology. (For examples, they are proud to follow the ideals of Groucho Marx and John Lennon.)
 * Computer Phreaks, a cabal of Playful Hackers, who particularly enjoy subverting Friend Computer's omnipresent (and nearly literal) Propaganda Machine.
 * Corpore Metal, who strive to create a world where robots and cyborgs rule. Which seems silly for a society run by a super-computer, but actually makes sense because all the mechanical intelligences have Asimov circuits that force them to obey an insane computer.
 * Death Leopard, a loose coalition of gangs whose philosophy is part anarchism, part Wacky Fratboy Hijinx.
 * First Church of Christ, Computer Programmer, a quasi-underground church that reveres the Computer as an aspect of God. Tend to get a slap on the wrist at worst, as The Computer is more bewildered at the idea than anything else.
 * Frankenstein Destroyers, a band of robot and cyborg-hating Luddites. Whether The Computer counts as "a really big robot that can't move" is sometimes a point of contention.
 * Free Enterprise, a Mafiaesque organization that runs the "Infrared Market."
 * Humanists, who want the Computer to be subordinate to human governance, and would have gotten somewhere if they weren't constantly bogged own by infighting and red tape.
 * The Illuminati, a secret society so secret, most of its members don't even know its true purpose. They're not a conventional society in the sense that they plant their members in other secret societies.
 * Mystics, hippie stereotypes who largely use their pursuit of oneness with the cosmos as an excuse to take recreational drugs, even above and beyond what Friend Computer already assigns.
 * Pro Tech, a group of technology lovers who steal (and fiddle with) technology any chance they get. Members can frequently be identified due to the sheer number of blinking gadgets on their person.
 * Psion, a secret society devoted to mutant supremacy.
 * PURGE, a terrorist organization devoted to overthrowing The Computer violently, but hasn't put much thought into what will come after. Naturally, their terrorist actions are always blamed on the Communists.
 * Trekkies, about what you think. They all wear pointy rubber ears and jerry-rig their lasers to look like phasers. Ironically, despite membership in the Trekkies being obvious, it's the only society never punished by The Computer because it's so obviously harmless.
 * The Romantics, who idolize the virtues of the "Golden Age", a piecemeal reconstruction of Earth history.
 * The Sierra Club, who are obsessed with the environment and the mysterious "Outdoors", access to which is strictly limited by The Computer.
 * The International Workers of the World (Wobblies), described in the first edition supplement Acute Paranoia. The Computer heard about this society and sent Troubleshooters to spy on it. The problem was that it did not exist (the Real Life Wobblies fell apart before Alpha Complex was created), and when the Troubleshooters returned with no information they were quickly executed for insubordination. A dozen or so teams later, one set of Troubleshooters got wise and founded the society solely so they could spy on it. The other societies sent spies to infiltrate this new group, and the end result is a group composed entirely of spies for other groups.

The PCs are (usually) Red-level Troubleshooters working for Friend Computer, grudgingly assigned useless, backfiring equipment and weapons, and dispatched on (often impossible) Suicide Missions, all while navigating the endless deathtrap which is Alpha Complex, keeping their mutant powers a secret, advancing the cause of their secret society, and trying to earn promotion to higher color grades. The over-the-top darkly satiric tone of the game ensures that Hilarity Ensues as the player characters try to juggle their responsibilities, or at least survive for a while. Player infighting is encouraged, to the point that some editions recommend that there should never be a greater danger than each other, and turnover is so high each player gets several backup clones with which to replace themselves if, or rather when they die. And after all that comes the truly dangerous part: the mission debriefing. Just remember, Citizen, Happiness Is Mandatory! Insufficient happiness will be punished by termination!

Beyond the back stabbing and Giant Radioactive Mutant Cockroaches, Paranoia was quite an innovative RPG when introduced in 1984. It was either the first RPG or first widely played RPG to:


 * Adopt the videogame approach to character lives, with clone replacements each time a player died. Until Paranoia, the death of a player character was Very Serious.
 * Even more so than most RPGs, consider the rules and setting to be a collection of possibly-useful suggestions which can be cheerfully ignored when they get in the way of having fun.
 * The characters were not a team, and as stated above were actively encouraged to backstab each other. This required a certain amount of maturity from the players and a willingness to forget about the "mission" in favour of roleplaying and chaos.
 * Players, in theory, had no knowledge of the rules, so anyone metagaming ("I get plus one for being behind cover") could be executed for it. (If they did look, they should simply factor the rules into their schemes without admitting they know, because it's Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught)

Be aware that if you make any mention of a published-in-1995 "Fifth Edition" of the game, you are referring to an Official UnProduct, and Friend Computer does not like people referring to things which never existed.

Anyone interested in RPG design should have a look at the brilliant concept of Perversity Points, first introduced in the "XP" edition of the game. Basically, they're given out for being entertaining when playing your character instead of just boringly efficient, and spent to improve your dice rolls or (this being Paranoia) screw up someone else's, with the GM handwaving some appropriate in-character circumstance.

With the latest edition, the game can now be played in three forms: as a Troubleshooter, an Internal Security agent, or a High Programmer. In the latter cases, The Computer progressively shifts from "That information is not available at your security clearance" to "That information is not available at this time". (Other times, High Programmers get lots of information, but most of it is garbage.) The equipment also beefs up; Troubleshooters have laser pistols, IntSec agents have cone rifles (basically bazookas), High Programmers hang out in the Situation Room and manipulate teams of lower-clearance citizens working for service groups or secret societies or the Troubleshooters.


 * The Computer Is Your Friend
 * Happiness Is Mandatory

tropelist "Radiation meter: Citizen! Are you Blue clearance or higher? Red clearance Troubleshooter: No... Radiation meter: Good! Then you are experiencing an acceptable level of radiation."
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The world of Paranoia is an underground bomb shelter built to withstand nuclear Armageddon. Missions often involve searching vast sewers or labyrinthine tunnel systems.
 * After the End
 * AI Is a Crapshoot
 * Aliens and Monsters
 * All Crimes Are Equal: In a "Zap" game, just about everything is punishable by summary execution.
 * The Alleged Everything: If anything works as it logically should in Paranoia, the GM's a creampuff. The rules even helpfully suggest amusing ways for things to go wrong and kill a clone or two in the process.
 * Alternative Calendar
 * Amazing Technicolor World
 * Ancient Conspiracy
 * And That Would Be Wrong
 * Attack Pattern Alpha
 * Back Stab
 * Bad Boss
 * Bald of Evil: The Ultraviolets. Also, some depictions of the GMs in the rulebook.
 * Being Watched
 * Beleaguered Bureaucrat / Corrupt Bureaucrat / Obstructive Bureaucrat: And it's entirely possible that you'll encounter them all sitting behind the same desk.
 * Beneath Suspicion
 * Berserk Button: Avoid being a Communist. Friend Computer will allow mutants to register their powers, and may even be lenient on traitors. But if you are a Commie (or made to look like one), you WILL be terminated.
 * While Friend Computer is merciful to those who were mutated by foul Commie sabotage of their cloning tanks, registering your Machine Empathy mutation is not recommended, as it will not only get you terminated, but erased as well.
 * Big Brother Is Employing You
 * Big Brother Is Watching
 * Black Comedy
 * Black Market
 * Blame Game: The whole point of the debriefing is to make sure this happens at least once a mission.
 * Blatant Lies
 * Blessed with Suck: Players are usually given a mutant ability which allows them to do something awesome, but using it runs the risk of exposing themselves as mutants, and getting toasted. And when mutant powers fail, they fail hard. And sometimes the "power" is not even useful to begin with, like having a perpetual runny-nose.
 * Blinding Camera Flash: In the Acute Paranoia adventure "Me and My Shadow Mark IV", the PCs' mission equipment includes a lightbot named Mikey, who was intended to be a photographer's assistant. If the word "light" is used around him, he'll start flashing lights in the unfortunate character's eyes, blinding him.
 * Bomb-Throwing Anarchists
 * Boomerang Bigot: If you're a member of Anti-Mutant, you are automatically this. All Troubleshooters are mutants. Being a mutant is treason. You can see where this is headed.
 * Bottomless Magazines: Laser barrels are rated for six shots. You can go over the limit, but the chance of explosion starts at 5% per shot, and going over the limit just keeps bumping it up.
 * Bribe Backfire
 * Brotherhood of Funny Hats
 * But What About the Astronauts?
 * The Caligula
 * The Call Has Bad Reception
 * Calvin Ball
 * Canned Orders Over Loudspeaker
 * Cannon Fodder
 * Canon Discontinuity
 * Choose Your Own Adventure
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Really, the actual adventure often takes a back seat to the creative ways the PCs can screw each other over.
 * Chunky Salsa Rule
 * City in a Bottle
 * City of Spies
 * Clingy MacGuffin
 * Clone Degeneration
 * Cloning Blues
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience
 * The Computer Is Your Friend: Any suggestion to the contrary is treason.
 * Conspiracy Kitchen Sink
 * Contractual Boss Immunity
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment
 * Crap Saccharine World
 * Crapsack World
 * Critical Failure
 * Cross-Cultural Handshake
 * Crush! Kill! Destroy!
 * Cyborg
 * Darker and Edgier: Games played in the Straight style, which takes the setting more or less seriously.
 * The Database Hates Me
 * Deadly Upgrade
 * Death Is Cheap
 * Deceased Fall Guy Gambit
 * Decontamination Chamber
 * Denser and Wackier: Games played in the Zap style, which ratchets up the slapstick to Looney Tunes levels.
 * Department of Redundancy Department
 * Deus Est Machina
 * Digging to China
 * Dirty Communists: Commies are one of the Computer's chief fears, given the Cold War theme of the game. Players are expected to shoot anyone they suspect is a Commie.
 * Dirty Old Man
 * Disadvantageous Disintegration
 * Disaster Dominoes
 * Dissonant Serenity: The Computer, quite often.
 * Domed Hometown
 * Do Not Spoil This Ending: Both rules and pre-written missions are "Ultraviolet clearance", but the context switches from "but we know you'll read it anyway, you filthy traitors" to "no, seriously, you'll have more fun if you go in blind to this part".
 * Double Agent: Characters are Troubleshooters for the Computer, and usually double agents for one of many secret societies.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty
 * Dystopia
 * Dystopian Edict
 * Earth Is the Center of the Universe
 * Eat the Evidence: A suggested use for the "Matter Eater" mutation.
 * Efficient Displacement
 * Ejection Seat: Especially those in helicopters...
 * Elaborate Underground Base
 * EMP
 * Encyclopedia Exposita
 * Escort Mission
 * Every Car Is a Pinto
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: If the clones are not risking death buying a can of Bouncy Bubble Beverage, the GM's a wuss.
 * Evil Elevator
 * Evil Knockoff
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Troubleshooters find trouble and shoot it.
 * Explosive Overclocking
 * Extreme Omnivore
 * Faceless Eye
 * Failure Is the Only Option
 * False Dichotomy
 * False Reassurance


 * Fascist but Inefficient: At RED Clearance. Inverted at higher clearances; the game suggests that the GM play efficiency for as much scary value as the inefficiency REDs have to deal with.
 * Flock of Wolves: Alpha Complex in general, the Wobblies in particular.
 * Forbidden Fruit: The main reason there are any Communists in Alpha Complex.
 * Forever War
 * For Inconvenience Press One
 * Frame-Up
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Lasers are the typical Red-clearance weapon, and thus reflec (shiny plastic) is the typical armor. Handguns require at least Yellow clearance.
 * Future Food Is Artificial
 * Future Imperfect
 * Gambit Pileup: Players are always scheming against each other, causing each mission to result in this.
 * Game Master
 * Gattaca Babies
 * Genius Loci
 * Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul
 * Giant Eye of Doom: How The Computer is often depicted.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong
 * Good Colors, Evil Colors
 * Government Agency of Fiction: Armed Forces, CPU, Internal Security, etc.
 * Government Drug Enforcement
 * Happiness Is Mandatory
 * Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?
 * Hey, Catch!: Happens in one mission with a grenade.
 * High Turnover Rate: Characters die so quickly that players are allowed six clone lives.
 * Hit So Hard the Calendar Felt It
 * Hilarity Ensues
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: A traitor who volunteers to test a "traitor killer" device.
 * Hollywood Cyborg
 * Hot Potato
 * House Rules
 * Human Doorstop: Organic nuclear reactor shielding duty (what do you mean there's a shortage of lead vests?) is a common form of off-screen execution.
 * Human Resources
 * I'd Tell You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You: Whatever it is you want to know, it is always above your security clearance. In most cases, the fact that said information are above your security clearance is also above it, and thus being denied information is treason.
 * Improvised Weapon: Bouncy Bubble Beverage explodes if you shake it too hard, making it awfully popular among citizens who aren't cleared for grenades.
 * In and Out of Character
 * Inherent in the System
 * Insane Troll Logic: The whole world of Paranoia is based on Insane Troll Logic, and most games feature tons of it.
 * Interservice Rivalry
 * Interdimensional Travel Device: The Transdimensional Collapsatron, which allows travel between dimensions in several adventures.
 * I Thought It Meant
 * It's Raining Men
 * Justified Extra Lives
 * Killer Game Master: Necessary for this game. The rules even state, and this is a verbatim quote: "Kill the bastards!"
 * Though they also state that you should encourage the players to kill each other.
 * Kinda Busy Here
 * Lawful Stupid: Friend Computer. Everyone else is Stupid Evil.
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority
 * The Law of Conservation of Detail
 * Leeroy Jenkins: "Tips for Traitors" suggests tricking everyone else into doing this.
 * Let X Be the Unknown
 * Light Is Not Good
 * Logical Fallacy: Friend Computer runs on this, as does most of the game.
 * The Loonie
 * Lost in Transmission
 * Luck Stat
 * Ludicrous Gibs
 * MacGuffin
 * Machine Worship: Corpore Metal thinks that robots and cyborgs should rule, while the FCCCP (First Church of Christ Computer Programmer) not-quite-secret society worships Alpha Complex's current ruler, The Computer, as an aspect of God.
 * Machine Monotone: An option for The Computer's voice.
 * Made of Explodium
 * Magic-Powered Pseudoscience
 * Make It Look Like an Accident
 * Malevolent Architecture: Alpha Complex is one enormous deathtrap.
 * Many Questions Fallacy
 * Mars Needs Women: In the Clones in Space adventure, the final confrontation is against some Affably Evil aliens who want to steal earth women for themselves.
 * Masquerade
 * Master Computer
 * Maximum Fun Chamber
 * Melee a Trois
 * Metagame: You didn't read that Paranoia rulebook, did you, Citizen?
 * The Men in Black
 * Mind Probe
 * Mission Control Is Off Its Meds
 * The Mole: Everyone.
 * Mook Promotion
 * Morality Chip
 * Morton's Fork: You're gonna get speared on it on just about every mission.
 * Muggle Power
 * Multiple Choice Past: All of human history, really.
 * Murder Is the Best Solution
 * Mutants: One of the Computer's chief fears is mutation. Characters are always on the look-out for mutants, and are almost invariably mutants themselves.
 * My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels
 * No Blood Ties
 * No Delays for the Wicked: Played both ways. Any player mission is going to be a total shambles, yet Alpha Complex as a whole seems to continue functioning somehow.
 * Non-Promotion: Being promoted up from relatively-safe Infrared anonymity. Being made Troubleshooter team leader (the picture on the badge is a target).
 * No OSHA Compliance
 * No Sex Allowed: Everyone's a clone for a reason. Still, humans are humans, and exceptions do exist (particularly for High Programmers, and anyone who lives Outdoors long enough for the hormone suppressants to wear off).
 * Notable Tabletop Games
 * Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught
 * Not on the List
 * Off the Rails: What are these "rails" of which you speak?
 * Railroading: On the other hand, if the GM needs the PCs to be somewhere or do something, one directive from Friend Computer and they're there, doing that.
 * Old Shame: Punny Names are one to the current publisher. They especially recommend avoiding them in Straight-style games because they break the mood.
 * The Omniscient Council of Vagueness
 * One-Hit Kill
 * Only Electric Sheep Are Cheap
 * Overheating
 * Painting the Medium: Done with the rulebooks. Player documents have security level Red, while gamemaster materials are classified Ultraviolet. Since the players' Troubleshooters start at Red level, they are technically guilty of treason if they read the higher-level rules. The GM is encouraged to terminate the PCs if they try to game the rules, and players are encouraged — in true Paranoia fashion -- to know the rules but not let on that they know them...
 * Phlebotinum Breakdown
 * Playing with Fire
 * Plot Armor: "GM Fiat" is an actual armor type.
 * Possession Implies Mastery: Subverted hard. Most objects are assumed to be this... by the R&D Mad Scientist who dreamed them up. However, in practice, the Troubleshooter should have no freakin' clue how to use it safely and properly. And the instruction manuals are always of a higher security clearance than s/he can access.
 * Propaganda Machine
 * Properly Paranoid
 * Punny Name: A long standing tradition of Paranoia naming is to find the cheesiest pun you can with the format "Name-Y-XXX", where "Y" is your clearance color. For instance, a rather unfortunate name to have would be "Trey-Y-TOR".
 * Raised by Wolves
 * Random Teleportation
 * Read the Freaking Manual: Subverted in-game and in real life. In game, most Troubleshooters can't (legally) read the manuals for the items they are given because the manual is above their security clearance, and that would be treason. In real life, the players can't (legally) read the rules of the game because it's above their character's security clearance, and that would be treason.
 * The Real Man
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Red Scare: Da, I am seeink no Communist menace here, Comrad-- I mean, Citizen. I am werry, werry loyal Citizen. Please to be hawink this leaflet introducink you to the teachinks of Lennon and Marx...
 * Red Shirt: Literally, in every sense of the term. Part of the reason for the lenient promotion rules lies in the fact that no Troubleshooter is expected to survive past Red Clearance.
 * Redshirt Army
 * Reference Overdosed
 * Refuge in Audacity: The Chutzpah stat is summarized as "the quality of a man who kills both his parents and then pleads for mercy because he's an orphan" . Any old line of guff may be accepted by The Computer at face value if it's being flaky that day, and/or you appeal properly to its emotional simulation software.
 * Reverse Polarity
 * Right Hand Versus Left Hand
 * Right on Queue
 * Robot Dog: Petbots and doberbots.
 * Standard doberbot combat tactics: Attack a person until he dies. Attack another person until he dies. Attack another person until he dies...
 * Robot Maid
 * Robots Enslaving Robots
 * Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: The end of many a mission. Turns up sometimes in the middle, too. And towards the start.
 * Rule of Fun: The charm of the game is not taking it seriously and having zany fun with disposable characters in one-shot missions.
 * Rule of Scary
 * Rules Lawyer: Being one and proving it is grounds for execution for treason: To be a rules lawyer, you must have read the rules. And if you aren't the GM, those rules are above your security clearance, Citizen...
 * Running Gag
 * Sadist Show
 * Scannable Man
 * Schmuck Bait
 * Screw the Rules, I Have a Nuke: Troubleshooters can even acquire nuclear hand grenades, which work as this trope would suggest... until they carry out their threat. Have YOU tried outrunning a megaton nuclear explosion?
 * Screw the Rules, I Make Them
 * Second Law, My Ass
 * Secret Police: Internal Security, or INTSEC.
 * Shout Out
 * A Simple Plan
 * Sinister Surveillance
 * Skeleton Government
 * Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism
 * Sliding Scale of Turn Realism
 * Smoldering Shoes: The Trope Codifier, if not the Trope Namer. Images of smoldering, empty boots (usually with a big, nasty laser hanging just overhead that just forcibly emptied the footwear) have been a trademark of Paranoia artwork (literally!) since at least Second Edition.
 * Space Fighter
 * El Spanish-O: The Communists (who know they're supposed to be Russian, but don't know what "Russian" is) add -ski to the end of random words.
 * Speak Friend and Enter
 * Spider Tank
 * Stepford Smiler: The Computer demands that all citizens be happy, under penalty of summary execution, forcing all citizens to be examples of this.
 * Stuck on Band-Aid Brand
 * Stupid Evil: Everyone except The Computer, who's Lawful Stupid.
 * Suicide Mission: Most missions taken by players are assumed to be suicide missions. The reason that it's "most" is twofold; one, sometimes there's really a benign, easily-completed mission, which will leave the players scared and on-edge for the entire mission, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and second, it's even more fun for the GM when he can give the players an idiot-proof mission and watch the players be even better idiots.
 * Super Fun Happy Trope of Doom
 * Super Registration Act
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: "This mission will not involve any dangerous tailored retroviruses."
 * Swiss Army Gun
 * Swiss Army Weapon
 * Tame Maverick Exposition
 * Tank Goodness
 * Techno Babble
 * Technopath
 * Tele Frag
 * Terminally Dependent Society
 * Terrorists Without a Cause: PURGE.
 * Thirty Second Blackout: Offering a golden opportunity for backstabbing.
 * "Three Laws"-Compliant: Subverted. As with everything else, even the robots want a piece of you.
 * Torches and Pitchforks
 * Total Party Kill
 * Tradesnark™
 * Truth Serum: Telescopalomine in the "Better Living Through Chemistry" section of the Acute Paranoia supplement.
 * Ultraviolet: The highest security clearance.
 * Unfortunate Names
 * Un Paused: In the adventure "Me and My Shadow Mark IV" from the Acute Paranoia supplement. Markie (the Mark IV warbot) is talking to the PC's when a piece falls off of him, sending him into a catatonic state. When the piece is re-attached, Markie continues talking right where he left off.
 * If they call him on it, he makes up a story about cosmic rays or something. If they keep pushing the issue, he blows them away with a tacnuke.
 * Unperson
 * Vast Bureaucracy
 * Violence Is the Only Option
 * Wacky Fratboy Hijinx: Death Leopard.
 * Water Source Tampering: In the Acute Paranoia adventure "Outland-ISH", the high Programmer of ISH sector is putting a drug called ZAP! in the water supply for Infrared citizens. It tremendously increases productivity but eventually kills the drinker.
 * We ARE Struggling Together!
 * We Help the Helpless
 * What Does This Button Do?: So you've been ordered to field-test an experimental device, but the instruction manual is above your security clearance. What do you do now? Repeatedly invoke this trope, and hope you don't stumble across the self-destruct...
 * Wiper Start
 * Witch Hunt
 * With Friends Like These...
 * With This Herring
 * World Gone Mad
 * World of Ham
 * World War III
 * Ye Olde Nuclear Silo
 * You Didn't Ask

"smash the computer!"