I find it only fair (and, like Friend Computer, your humble Gamemaster is only ever fair) to introduce my favorite RPG the way it was first introduced to me: Isn’t this the game that gives each player six duplicate characters because they croak so fast? The very one. And doesn’t it encourage players to lie, cheat, steal, and backstab each other? Correct. Paranoia is a lighthearted game about terror, soulless bureaucracies , mad scientists, weird mutants, and insane robots. Paranoia is fun. The Computer says so. Do you want to play? Sounds kinda dumb to me… Say, why are you looking at me that way? The Computer says not wanting to play Paranoia is treason and grounds for immediate termination. Any last words, traitorous scum? Gulp. Uh… Sure I want to play! Paranoia is fun! The Computer is my friend! Oh boy! Let’s go terminate some traitors! Excellent! You’re learning, citizen. Stay alert! Trust no one! Keep your laser handy! That text was on the last page of the original hardcover editio

There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call... the Twilight Zone. Andy : Marathons of the Twilight Zone started sometime during the early 80s, but the exact details are lost to another dimension. At the very least, they’ve become a staple tradition around the holidays and the Fourth of July is no different. You won’t find them on SyFy (both the fact and the current name still pain me) this year, but if you have the Decades station you can find episodes starting at noon. For many of us, though, streaming options are the easiest route to that scary door into the mind. If you have Netflix, Hulu or CBS All Access (which also hosts the current series rebooted by Jordan Peele), you c

Ian Holm's last film role was in 2014's The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies but he's made a surprise appearance in the past few months thanks to a meme that popped up with the COVID-19 lockdown referencing 1979's Alien , and one of Holm's most well-known roles. Of course, many (including myself) pointed out that the movie was even more relevant to the current situation than than the meme suggests: Ash brings the infected Kane onto the ship based on secret corporate orders, fully aware of the horror this will result in. Right around the time this meme first appeared, we began to hear calls for immediate "reopening," and that the countless resulting deaths would be a small price to pay for the good of America's corporate elite. Had Alien writer Dan O'Bannon given the character that kind of dialogue, ("The crew are expendable, but consider the good your sacrifice will do the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and its shareholders.") he would have

Towel Day is upon us once again and… What’s that? You don’t know about Towel Day?!?! Well, pull up a n ice-block desk chair and lend an ear. Towel Day is a time when nerds and geeks of all denominations, Wars and Trek, Who and Dwarf, celebrate the life of the prophet author Douglas Adams. Webster’s dictionary defines a towel as “an absorbent cloth or paper for wiping or drying”. In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, from the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , Douglas Adams defines a towel as follows: “Just about the most massively useful thing any interstellar Hitchhiker can carry. For one thing it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth on the cold moons of Jaglan Beta, sunbathe on it on the marble beaches of Santraginus Five, huddle beneath it for protection from the Arcturan Megagnats as you sleep beneath the stars of Kakrafoon, use it to sail a miniraft down the slpow heavy river Moth, wet it for use in hand to hand combat, wrap it round