This is by no means a “must have” book for Paranoia, but neither is it bad.

I’m not going to argue with that. The blog contains numerous other reviews on all manner of books, games, films and other sundries – so, well worth surveilling.

Just thought you’d like to know Mongoose has just reduced price of ALL THEIR PRODUCT DOWNLOADS at RPGNow/ DriveThruRPG by about 40%. This includes PARANOIA and Classic PARANOIA lines (25th Anniversary & XP editions).

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=45

According to Mongoose site, this is a PERMANENT price reduction.

So, in the words of a Romulan ambassador, “There will never be a better time.” If you don’t already own them all for real, or didn’t manage to get hold of (almost) everything on DVD when the Limited Edition trilogy came out, now would seem an ideal moment to head over to the store and stock up on those missing gems of recent PARANOIA infotainment.

It references the Limited Editions from the 25th Anniversary, purely because you’re unlikely to shop Amazon for those copies! Also, there’s the ‘Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Alpha Complex‘, which might be better sought out through an online auction site (it was free when released… so some clever people have a few on offer for profit… Capitalism rears it’s ugly head, Comrades).

In addition, I have finally got round to updating the RSS link to the PARANOIA Development Blog.

Right now, I’m struggling to get my head into gear on any kind of writing because of a web-based bugbear hanging over my work schedule. It feels like I’ve been sent on a mission and the briefing officer is hanging off my arm or something. I try to get the job done, but he’s always there, wailing and shouting at me to pay attention to him… and him alone. I have no doubt he’s got something important to say. I just wish he’d say it and get the hell out of here.

I’m current reading Ella Minnow Pea (also available, I note, in a Kindle edition for those lucky citizens with the right kind of mission equipment), which, if nothing else, is a novel crafted with incredible skill.

The people of the island of Nollop hold their language in high regard and use it with supreme skill and affection. Each citizen uses incredibly flowery language, pushing their vocabulary to the limits – as they effectively worship the man Nevin Nollop, the inventor of the pangram ‘The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog’. The author, Mark Dunn, begins with the full alphabet at his command, but as the story proceeds letters disappear – as within the tale tiles on a cenotaph in Nollop’s honour fall off his famed pangram and the island council rule the lost letters prohibited.

At first the loss of Z or Q seems a mere inconvenience, but once you lose D, the past tense slips out of reach and it become fascinating to read. The people of Nollop either accept the decision or struggle against it, facing punishments that range from the stocks, through exile, and on to the death sentence. The council suggest the loss of the letters is a matter of faith, but put new statute in place that places land abandoned by the exiled in their hands, feathering their nests for an uncertain future. A man from the mainland offers science as the cause of the incidents, the matter of 100 year old glue losing all ability to hold the tiles in place any more; but, he can only sway the council to believe the truth if someone can create a pangram of 32 letters or less, which would prove Nollop is not the god-like figure others hold him to be.

Well worth reading…

Having been quite involved in the game for the last five years, I take an interest in these things. My contributions may have been small… But that doesn’t mean that I stop caring. Indeed, I have been working hard on my own mission this weekend – keen to keep my oar in so as not to forget exactly how it is done. I like the creative process, though I’m not especially quick or decisive about it. I do have my moments, but they’re woefully unpredictable.

I’ll try to lay off taking too much interest in what other people are doing, and concentrate a little harder on my own projects. I’m sure Gareth will get the job finished just fine…

DriveThruStuff have a celebration of the GM on this week – advertised under the misnomer of GM’s Day. You can get the PDF PARANOIA range for the knockdown price (correct, by my calculations, at time of typing) of £143.91, or $204.75 (or thereabouts… my hand kept cramping on the calculator!). If you have some cash lying around, it seems like a good time.

And you can still pick up copies of the defunct Criminal Histories and The Underplex.

Anyway… you can – apparently – still get the XP edition off of DriveThruRPG as a .pdf. Same price as the Service Pack One edition (without the XP). If you feel that way inclined. Preview pages certainly hold up to scrutiny (i.e. this doesn’t appear to be an administrative error). So, by all means – avail yourself of this original version to complete your collection.