This week I was going to follow up my Magical Theory article with more elaboration, mainly because of some the interesting E-mail I received regarding it, but as I prepare for my Winter break Shadowrun campaign I came to a startling realization: The PCs don't seem to be scared of anything.

I base this statement on the lone experience I had with my new group of characters over my Thanksgiving break during which the group encountered fire elementals, vehicle lasers, a room filled with drug crazed maniacs, the possibility of paranormal animals, an air force base, a few MP lasers and a heavy response team and NOT ONCE did any one of them stop an go "Oh, shit." for any reason other than surprise. Not one of them seemed to ponder the thought of what it may be like to be engulfed by a fire elemental. Not one of them seemed to reflect upon the resulting effects of having their sternum perforated by a laser beam. Not one of them considered the possibility that the rattle in the woods may be a group of Hell Hounds looking for a midnight snack, not simply a man with a gun.

Then I came to an even more startling revelation: This was MY fault.

When one of the runners was scouting a tunnel leading to a targeted facility he tripped a laser trap and got shot through the leg. I let it slide. "Just take light." were my exact words. I did the same thing when he tripped two more of them. When I sent in the corp's vehicle laser armed vehicle I just drove it right up to them, knowing full well the PCs would be able to knock it out at close range. "I'll give them a break.", I thought to myself. When the response team showed up I just had them hang around for a few minutes and leave, even though somebody had just blown up a nice, expensive vehicle and penetrated the inner confines of a major research facility. When they encountered the fire elemental I had it hold back for the most part. "Why roast them?" I mumbled in my mind, "They're newbies....".

Damn, I'm an idiot. Now I've got a group of PCs who think they're hot stuff because they beat the bad guys when, in reality, the bad guys beat themselves. The force these PCs encountered could have easily killed them twelve times over, and I should have let them. Hopefully it wouldn't have gotten to the point that the PCs would have actually died, they should be able to perceive the certainty of death and have the good sense to pull out. The common sense to retreat. The fear that if they don't, they could be killed. Even the fear that simply walking down an underground tunnel will get them killed. Perhaps even the fear that just standing in the middle of a empty parking lot eating a lolli pop could get them killed. But, no. I gave them no reason to fear anything. I gave them no reason to be PARANOID.

Paranoia is different than the fear that you might get ambushed on a run, trip a sensor, or simply get shot. Paranoia is the indefinable overwhelming fear that, even though you planned, prepared, cybered, armed, and armored yourself, you can be killed at any time, anywhere, for any reason. Players and their PCs seem to hold the naive notion that simply being wired and owning a gun offers them some protection from the dangers around them. On the most basic level, this is true. If somebody charges a runner, he can shoot him. If somebody sneaks up on a runner, he can react. But any enhancements, guns, or gadgets a runner possesses shouldn't give him the slightest bit of comfort from the fear effects of paranoia. Paranoia has no face and no name. It is not something you can combat or defeat. It is the knowledge that right now, right here, there is something that wants to, and can, kill you.

So how can a runner deal with something they can't fight? To put it bluntly, they can't. For this reason there is no point in a runner watching every step they take to be sure they don't end up getting screwed. If the gamemaster uses paranoia properly, the effects will extend beyond role-playing and into the player's mind. When he picks up his dice, his hands should shake. His mind should be moving a mile a minute in an ATTEMPT to prepare himself and his character for an adverse situations which may arise. Simultaneously he will realize that there is no possible way to prepare for these situations and his mind will start burning with anxiety. This is paranoia. The knowledge that you can die, right now, combined with fact that there is nothing you can do about it.

So why obtain guns, cyberware, spells, spirits and everything else if, in the big picture, they are useless? Because they do help you keep this paranoia at bay. They make you feel better. In the world of Shadowrun your skills and your stuff are like a big fuzzy blanket that keeps you warm and toasty on a cold winter night. But, in the back of your mind, there should always exist a chilly, lingering thought that, at any moment, somebody might set your blanket on fire with a blowtorch.

In conclusion, if any of my holiday players are reading this right now, I've got some news for you: Fun time is over. You'd better start getting real scared real soon. Because you can plan. You can prepare. You can toss your spells and fire your bullets. You can drive your vehicles real fast and smile real wide when you resist you drain and damage. Just remember: I am faster than you, I am tougher than you and I am better than you in every way. I know where you live, I know where you sleep, I know what you drive, I know what you shoot. And I can crush you like a bug under a Citymaster. So next time I you smile at your triple twelve die roll I'd damn well better see a quiver of uncertainty in your smug little face. Because I can rip that face off and feed it to a Bandersnatch.

Oh, yeah: Merry Fucking Christmas.