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And besides of all that babbling how slick and consistent this D20-Legend is, RuneQuest (1977) will most probably still beat this hands down in terms of consistency and balance.

So I'd be going with that Legend

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength...

Wrong quote.

"Facecrime: An indication that a person is guilty of thoughtcrime based on their facial expression."

The article isn't about surveillance, it's about BDOs and SPOT agents on the lookout for facecriminals.

"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself, anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face, was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime"

If the Orwell's getting tired, I'd settle for a quote from the other design document on which TSA is based.

"Happiness is mandatory. Are you happy, Citizen?"
- Paranoia XP, the post-9/11 revision of the classic 80s role-playing game.

I'm not so paranoid that I'm reluctant to post this as an AC, but I am paranoid enough that I didn't want to use the acronym for "role-playing-game."

Yeah I was suprised too, made for a great way to burn through a Saturday. Apparently they've recently been re-released and partially rewritten by the author (the first book is now 450 pages and the origin story retooled for instance). I haven't given the new ones a look yet but the info can be found here.

I find it rather strange that in a community so bent on not being mainstream, only the prime mainstream RPG is discussed.
Having played well over 20 RPG systems myself, I can safely say that D&D (no matter which edition) is one of the worst I've ever played. But that's just my impression. From a passionate RPG player, here are some alternatives to D&D Fantasy Roleplay:

Palladium & Rifts
Exalted
Runequest
Harnmaster
GURPS
Torg

If you haven't played at least one of the above besides D&D, you should do it ASAP.

Sadly the published RPG is dying an agonizing death.

Ironically, this reminds me of Prince of Lies, a Forgotten Realms book: "The world was doomed, but it kept going anyway".

Nobody wants to pay $30-$40 for a hardcover rulebook when they can pay that for a full-function CRPG (computer or console, take your pick). Add to this the unending supply of "optional" supplimental books and the industry just cannot survive the same glut that TSR produced in the 2nd Edition AD&D days. The promise of OpenGaming and d20 can't save an industry that relies on an ever-shrinking market of buyers and an ever-increasing price of entry.

The solution is easy: release as PDFs.

More specifically, sell PDFs cheap - and that means good PDFs with the text included as text, not just a set of scanned pages. With laptops more and more common nowadays, people can simply read them from the screen - with text included as text, blurring won't be a problem, and they can always print them themselves - and carry their collection with them everywhere.

And it gives you wonderfull legitimate options of reselling the same product - you bought a PDF and now want a hardcover quality-printed version, but don't want to bother looking for a print shop yourself ? Coming right up through postal mail ! Or just get it from your local game shop.

There's already several publishers selling their PDFs on the Web, and some of them have stuck around for years, so obviously the business model is viable.

I enjoyed the Lone Wolf books also. The world was really nice, and the powers were interesting. If you're still interested in Lone Wolf, an RPG has been published that uses the world and lore of Magnamund. You can purchase it here: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?q sSeries=24. Or it might be available in pdf from Drive Thru RPG.

The same argument could be made for Paranoia XP, a comedy RPG. I just think Zonk saying "based directly on William Gibson's vision of the future/the matrix" about Shadowrun is misleading.

For the last couple of years I've been packaging the support line for the current edition of PARANOIA, the RPG of a darkly humorous future. The new line now has a dozen supplements (see the Mongoose Publishing PARANOIA page) and an enthusiastic and growing fan base at the leading fan site, Paranoia-Live.net. The reviews of the new line have been so congratulatory, even The Computer would approve. If you remember the glory days of PARANOIA from the early 1980s, or if you want to understand what all those old grognards mean when they say "The Computer is your friend," check out the current line at your friendly local game store or online.

Your Paranoia comment got me wondering, is this excellent game still around? Turns out it is! I thought it went out of print ten years ago, but a new publisher, Mongoose, is publishing a brand new edition. Okay, sorry Steve Jackson, but this just bumped "Space" off the #1 spot on my must buy list.

d20 is the Microsoft of RPG. Like Microsoft it's a rip off of other people's work. Following Cthulhu will lead one to RneQuest (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/runequest. php) and HeroQuest (http://www.glorantha.com/new/index.html), like Apple beging ripped off by MS these games follow a lineage that has been integrating low magic and high magic for over two decades. Now you're going to tell me this is somehow new?!

MICROSOFT OF GAMES - it's user friendly but it'll frustrate you before you know it.

Except, of course, you really, really don't want to be playing 5th edition. You probably want 2nd ed. (which optionally came in a box set) or the new Paranoia XP, which borrows heavily from 2nd ed. There's a cute blurb at the beginning of the XP book that disavows the existance of the fifth edition and its supplements.

Instead of the regular Risk games, I suggest getting one of Hasbro^H^H^H^H^H^HAvalon Hill's other versions...
*Risk 2210: You have commanders which change the odds in your favor (short version: instead of rolling d6, you roll d8), you have a game which will end (only five turns-- then again, my cabal of gamers has yet to finish in less than two hours), and more territories to conquer (underwater and the moon)
*Risk Godstorm: You have the gods, who fight amongst themselves and reward you with boons for performing certain tasks; the gameboard looks like an ancient map of Europa, yet is still the same ol' Risk board; your troops keep fighting for you in the Underworld; you can sink Atlantis (and really piss someone off ;)

I also suggest the game Succession by Your Move Games. You are a courtier, and you are trying to promote one of five candidates the dying King is considering to be the next monarch. You work behind the scenes, pushing a candidate and trying to win favor with him/her. It's fun.

Not a boardgame, granted, but I am still a huge fan of Paranoia XP, printed by Mongoose Publishing. Essentially, your job is to expose your teammates as traitorous mutant Commie scum before they do that to you, even though you are a traitor and a mutant. (Commie optional.)

Anyone care to explain the color codes of security clearances?

The headline refers to the tabletop paper-and-pencil roleplaying game PARANOIA, originally published in 1984 by West End Games (New York City) and recently republished as PARANOIA XP by Mongoose Publishing (Swindon, UK).

PARANOIA is a satirical science fiction RPG set in an underground city, Alpha Complex, ruled by an insane Computer. The Computer has imposed an unbreakable system of security clearances that represent how much it trusts a given citizen. The security clearances are keyed to the colors of the spectrum. The lowest security clearance is INFRARED, meaning The Computer doesn't trust you at all; INFRARED citizens wear black. RED Clearances is the next highest, followed by ORANGE, YELLOW, and so on up to VIOLET. Above VIOLET Clerance are the illustrious High Programmers, the ULTRAVIOLETs, who can program The Computer itself. High Programmers wear white.

PARANOIA sold over 150,000 copies in its first couple of editions, and the new "XP" edition has been well received. You can find out a lot more about PARANOIA at the fan site Paranoia-Live.net, and follow the progress of the game on the PARANOIA development blog.

If you like online roleplaying games, check out the rules for a Wiki-based game called Lexicon, designed by Neel Krishnaswami. Earlier this year I ran The Toothpaste Disaster, a Lexicon game using the background for the PARANOIA tabletop roleplaying game. It was great fun, and there are many other Lexicon games around the Web now.

Given that Lucas's THX-1138 was an obvious and pivotal influence on the paper roleplaying game PARANOIA, it is perhaps on-topic to mention that the game of a darkly humorous future is returning to print this August in a new edition from Mongoose Publishing, as previously covered on Slashdot.

The new PARANOIA XP edition emphasizes the Alpha Complex sort-of economy and a new consumerism very much in tune with THX-1138. You can follow the development of the game on the PARANOIA development blog.