The Dead Rising From The Grave!

Not every ball the pitcher throws is a strike. Not every swing of the bat is a home run. 

By 1986 I had already been gamemastering RPGs for 8-9 years. I was a GM 'in demand' at my high school, mostly because I ran games no one else did but also because, for one reason or another, people thought I was good at it. Among the games I'd GMed that were popular were Paranoia and Toon, two comedic RPGs.

When the opportunity came up to run adventures in a Ghostbusters campaign I figured I had it in the bag. This would be both easy peasy and I would wow the group with my talents. How poorly did it go? Well...I opened this post with a sports analogy so clearly not one of my prouder moments.

 

The Case of The Unwelcomed Guest

Jane Curtain, John Belushi, and Bill Murray

Saturday Night Live, 1975

AKA: The Thing That Wouldn't Leave.

Inspiration: 'The Thing That Wouldn't Leave' was a 1978 skit on the comedy sketch variety show Saturday Night Live. It featured the talented Bill Murray (Hmm. That name sounds familiar...see below), the amazing Jane Curtain, and the late, great John Belushi. Using a mock horror movie trailer format, Belushi portrayed a guest at the home of Murray and Curtain's characters who just would not go home. 

In addition to the humor of it, I loved the idea of incorporating material that had Bill Murray in it as a wink and a nod to his role in Ghostbusters. The same is true for John Belushi, originally slated to play Peter Venkman before his untimely death. 

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Synopsis: The Ghostbusters are hired to come to the suburban home of Richard and Jane Murphy in Queens, NY to deal with what at first appears to be a typical haunting. As it turns out, there is a snag to it. Richard's perpetually unemployed and loud-mouthed brother Jim had been crashing at their place when he passed away suddenly (a heart attack while trying to eat an entire bucket of fast food fried chicken and drinking an entire pitcher of beer. Yes, at the same time). Jim had already overstayed his welcome at the Murphy house but now that he was dead...well...he still wouldn't leave and had only gotten more obnoxious. To make matters worse, Dick and Jane's son Jack didn't want the Ghostbusters to blast his favorite (only) uncle and lock him in 'Ghost Prison'. 

Jim was indeed a menace though, playing the radio or TV really loud at all hours of the night, eating the family out of house and home, and generally pulling 'Fun Uncle' pranks somewhere between 'Pull my finger' and frights the likes of which Beetlejuice would be proud.

After several failed attempts and being on the receiving end of Uncle Jim's practical jokes, the boys in grey managed to drive out the freeloading spectre and get the family back to their normal routine. 

Highlights: Once they realized they couldn't use their Proton Packs and Ghost Traps for this one, the players had to get creative (Eventually. See below). Their first idea was just trying to reason with Uncle Jim but they really didn't have a convincing angle.

Their second idea was to be even more annoying than he was but he just loved it and considered the Ghostbusters his kind of people. This part was what people today would call 'cringe' I suppose but it was also pretty funny.

Finally, once Jim thought of them as his friends, one of the Ghostbusters offered him a job. Yep, someone was really thinking outside the box and told Uncle Jim they'd be happy to hire him so he could contribute to the household or maybe get his own place. Jim immediately thanked them but remembered he was late for a thing, another job offer, came in last night. Yeah, he was already running late. It'd been swell but he really needed to get moving...

'Film' Title Logo from the original SNL skit.

Notes: While very memorable and humorous, I freely admit this was not one of my best sessions. It was the first one I'd run for this campaign and I failed to follow Joe's cardinal rule; the paranormal entity is a serious threat, the characters and their situation brings the humor. This set up was too silly, too much of a gag from the get go.

I really dropped the ball on the pacing in the second act and that lead to not knowing where to go with it in the third act. The first act was very funny, as I elaborated and expanded on the original Saturday Night Live skit in a way the guys found hilarious. After that though, with the reveal that little Jack didn't want the PC's to hurt his Uncle, the PCs weren't sure what to do next and kind of meandered for a while. 

I learned a lot running this scenario and it made me a better GM going forward, especially when it comes to setting the tone and pace.

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Barking Alien

Forty Years of Darkness!

Joseph, our resident big-time Horror fan, Ghosthead, and of course Ghostmaster Extraordinaire ran this next scenario and in doing so created the exception that proves the rule.

What he didn't do was veer from his assertion that 'the [player] characters are funny. The situation and opposition are serious and scary.' This scenario serves as a perfect example of this viewpoint. While many of our adventures were challenging and we certainly took our share of bumps and bruises, this was the only one where we weren't sure we'd win. 

We had to pick up every stitch...must be...

The Case of The Wanting Witch

AKA: Season of The Witch

Inspiration: Various Walt Disney 'Evil Queen' Characters, European Witch folklore, Wiccan folklore and practices, and various European fairy tales.

Gamemaster: Joseph Vitaliano Jr.

Synopsis: A series of mysterious attacks against witches across New England catch the attention of the Ghostbusters Home Office. The guys are eventually called in by a contact of Dr. Alexander Thorton's and travel to Salem, Massachusetts to check things out. The boys find out that hexes and curses have been flying fast and furious as different Witch covens and related organizations are going at each other over a variety of issues. Ambient Psychokinetic Energy filled the air as so much supernatural power had been hurled about that some of it come loose from the woven spells. At the same time, someone or something appeared to be syphoning off the excess magic. 

It turned out that a sorceress named Minerva Blackthorn was behind it all.  It was she who spread anger and lies between the covens and instigated the fighting in the first place. Hellbent on amassing power from covens across the world, she began in New England by channeling stray PKE from all the magics of the fighting witches.

Using the redirected PKE to transform herself into a more powerful form, Blackthorn created a humanoid aura around herself resembling a giant, female 'demon'. 

Highlights: In our initial encounter with Minerva Blackthorn the PCs got their butts absolutely handed to them. She was already really powerful by the time we realized what she was up to. This lead us to 'splitting the party' in order to follow different paths to victory. Zimmerman focused on modifying their gear to be more effective against Blackthorn's PKE Witchcraft. Thorton did additional research with the help of his contact in Salem. Nelson and Stadler met Miranda Blackthorn, Minerva's older sister, who followed a philosophy that prevented her from directly interfering (she would not use her magic to harm another witch). That said, she suggested getting the feuding witch factions to unite once more, working together to team up against Minerva, the true source of their infighting. 

In the end, Minerva is undone by a three-fold assault, paralleling the three-fold law of Witchcraft. 'What you put out into the world is reflected back at you three times over'. Miranda clued the GBs into using this against her younger sister. The many local witch covens drew their power back and away from Minerva, the older Blackthorn took this opportunity to rest control of some of Minerva's spells, and the Ghostbusters used their jury-rigged, upgraded equipment to blast her aura form to pieces. 

While Minerva was defeated, Miranda lost her powers following the battle and breaking of her oath to not harm a fellow witch. The Ghostbusters were cheered as both heroes and friends of the Witches of Salem. 

Notes: This adventure, which lasted a few sessions, was absolutely epic and definitely one of  the best Ghostbusters arcs of The Home Office campaign. It was tough, both strategically and from a role-playing standpoint. 

Various Disney productions play heavily into the inspirations for the scenario and its characters. Minerva is very much patterned after Maleficent, while Miranda resembled Lady Tremaine, the Wicked Stepmother of Cinderella. Minerva's 'final form' was modeled on Chernabog, the Demon King seen in Fantasia's 'Night on Bald Mountain'. 

The most interesting aspect to me, especially at the time, was that the adversary was a living Human being. The antagonist wasn't a ghost, essentially a 'monster' for lack of a better term. As a result, I think this made her more complex and layered. Her hunger for power made her the villain but her relationship with her sister made her a deeper opponent. 

It should also be noted that this scenario gave us one of the few 'big bads' of the campaign (aside from Hagost in Ghost Toasties). Most of our sessions dealt with 'situational hauntings' and not so much traditional adversaries. More about that in an upcoming post.

This mission may have included the 'fifth Ghostbuster', my friend AJ's character Pedro Preguntas but I am not positive. I just can't recall. 

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Barking Alien

Rivers and Seas Boiling!

An adventure run by my good buddy David Concepcion, this was one for the history books and honestly kind of difficult to sum up in a post of this nature.

Describing this session as I do other gaming scenarios doesn't properly convey the subtly and nuance of the story, the way he absolutely nailed the genre, and the creative approach he used to lay out the clues while simultaneously leading us astray.

Agatha Christie would be proud.

The Case of The Murderer's Murderer's Murder

AKA: A Ghost of a Clue

 

Gamemaster: David Concepcion

Synopsis: The Ghostbusters are invited to dinner at the home of an eccentric and very wealthy entrepreneur who is a big fan of theirs. He is also a collector of occult items and books and has donated many of both to museums and various paranormal societies. The GB team are the last guests to arrive; already present are the Host's Business Partner, his Lawyer, his Personal Assistant, his Nephew, the Butler, and the Maid. Everyone is escorted to the dining room and seated around a huge table. The guests wait for a while but when the Host doesn't show, the Butler goes to fetch him. He returns a few moments later to reveal the Host is dead!

Everybody rushes to the Host's bedroom and the Ghostbusters are able to determine the old man was strangled. In addition, he'd likely been dead over 24 hours and that's too long for him to have personally invited the Ghostbusters just that morning. Scanning the room revealed PKE until a power surge caused a lot of their equipment to fail. It also made the lights flicker, the phones go dead, and fireplace roar. The attendees discovered the windows and doors to the outside were all suddenly locked shut. A few of the guests wondered if this weren't some con by the Ghostbusters but the Lawyer and Assistant confirmed their findings and noted they arrived last [others confirmed having seen the Ecto-1 drive up to the mansion]..

Re-assembling back in the dining room the Ghostbusters offered to help solve the Host's murder when the lights went out yet again. This time when the lights returned, not a moment later, the Nephew was dead, also murdered! Curiously, not the same way; the Nephew had been slabbed with a knife!

What followed was a mystery worthy of Hercule Poirot with numerous twists, turns, and everyone a suspect! In addition, the Host's Ghost appeared to aid the Ghostbusters in finding the killer, though his ability to do so was hampered by bouts of supernatural exhaustion. The Ghost was notably adept at switching between a Phantasm/Vapor (largely intangible) and an Undead/Corporeal state (physically solid, more like a Zombie) by absorbing energy around him (hence the failure of the lights, phone, the Ghostbusters equipment, etc.). His power to do this was taxing and limited so he couldn't give us all the insights he had without draining himself considerably (or so it seemed). 

In the end it turned out the Nephew killed his uncle the Host and the Host, in Zombie Ghost form, killed the Nephew and then turned back to his less substantial state and passed through a wall while the lights were out. All the time he appeared to be assisting in our investigation he was actually drawing us further and further from the truth. Unfortunately for him (though much to the delight of the GM) we noticed something was amiss and the more he did it the more we realized he had to be the guilty party (at least in part).

While we helped solve his murder, we did have to capture and incarcerate the Host Ghost for his crime of revenge. He agreed completely and said it would be an honor to be caught by the Ghostbusters (though he didn't make it easy). 

Highlights: Aside from the scenes I mentioned above in the synopsis, the one moment in the game that stands out in my memory was this unprepared, unplanned 'Who's on First' meets The Marx Brothers routine the team got into while discussing the mystery and the Host's role in it. We started to get suspicious that the Host's Ghost was not telling us everything he knew. Most of his words rang true...but definitely not everything.

So the Ghost, the Host's Ghost, did indeed boast the most exposed clues to post but always had ripostes when we asked that inmost truths be approached. 

This went on for a good five minutes.

Notes: To clarify, the Ghost assisted us in finding the clues and possible motivations for his killer, which in turn lead us to suspect the Nephew. When we arrived at that conclusion he said, "That can't be, can it? I mean...it makes sense but he himself was murdered."

Part of what made The Home Office game awesome is, as I've noted in the past, the fact that each GM brought a different feel to their sessions. It should also be said that the rotating Gamemaster also gave us a range of adventures types that one might not see with a single GM. If I had run all of the sessions it is highly unlikely we would've gotten an Agatha Christie style mystery. Especially back then I don't think I would have had this type of scenario in my repertoire. 

As I said before, Dave absolutely nailed the particulars of the 'Cozy Mystery' and in doing so brought an alternative way of looking at the Ghostbusters universe and how Ghostbuster characters interact with it.

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Barking Alien

Fire and Brimstone Coming Down From the Sky!

This scenario from our Ghostbusters: The Home Office campaign was likely the third session I'd Gamemastered for the crew and I was eager to make up for its two predecessors. My prior attempts hadn't really landed as I'd hoped. Although they hadn't been terrible, neither were they all that great by any stretch of the imagination.

I felt I had something of a reputation to uphold as one of the most popular GMs in our high school and the only one in our four person Ghostbusters RPG group that hadn't yet had a real banger. I realized I was trying way to hard to make a humorous adventure and it simply wasn't working, so I put away the whoopie cushion and rubber chicken and went for a different approach.

The Case of The Tell Tale Tail

AKA: The Tailypo

Inspiration: Tailypo, a North American folktale/ghost story often told around campfires.

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Synopsis: During a particularly bad winter, the Ghostbusters get a call regarding a number of mysterious disappearances in the Adirondack Mountains region of Northeastern New York. All the people who vanished did so while hunting. The Home Office fixed the Ecto-1 with snow tires and got themselves some cold weather gear and headed up-state. 

After some investigation, as well as dealing with the quirky locals and difficult environment, the team discovered evidence of a strange creature in the mountains and wooded areas near the lower regions. Not only did they find tracks but it often left marks in the dirt or snow reminiscent of a 'swishing' tail (as well as other signs of its existence).

David Nelson (Dave's character) was a specialist in the field of cryptids and other corporal entities and believed the beast they were searching for to be some kind of chimeric large cat. The paws prints were that of a large bobcat but the tail swishes were very different, more like that of an Ox. With this mental model they spoke to local townsfolk who suggested the Adirondacks folklore critter known as 'Tailypo'.

As the legend goes, a hunter or other mountain traveler who was very hungry would have an unsuccessful search for food and then come across the odd creature. For one reason or another the beast's tail would get severed and the hunter would take the tail home, cook it, and consume it. The Tailypo would then track down and terrorize the offender, saying repeatedly in a creepy, Human voice, "Tailypo, tailypo, give me back my tailypo!" (or some variation).

This gave Ghostbuster Nelson an idea. Tracing back to the cabin abode of one of the missing hunters, he checked the stove and fireplace and sure enough found the remains of what could well be ox-tail soup. 

Finally the Ghostbusters decided not to eat lunch or dinner and go out into the cold night hungry, hoping that state would lure the entity out. It worked and the team was able to dispatch the monster in a most unorthodox fashion (See below). 

Highlights: In my version of the legend, if you steal the Tailypo's tail but don't eat it, it'll still track you down to get it back but might not harm you if you return the tail. If you don't or can't, it'll mess you up but good, then go searching for its tail. If you actually ate the tail, the Tailypo will definitely eat you to get it back. The tail always grows back/gets reattached once the Tailypo has found it (one way or the other).

At the end of our session the tail had been found by the team, dropped in the snow by some hikers who thought they'd survived an attack by a bobcat or some other animal. The group tossed it back and forth to each other to confuse and delay the Tailypo until David Nelson got it and the creature pounched on him. Dave had a flash of brilliance and shoved the beast's tail into its own mouth! After a bewildered beat of hesitation, the Tailypo ate itself trying to get the tail back, just as Dave surmised it would.

Notes: I think this was one of my best outings in the original campaign. Utilizing my love of this particular campfire story, my interest in animals and cryptids, and my first hand knowledge of winters in Upstate New York, I was able to formulate a scenario that was threatening, unsettling, yet ground in a sense of realism.

The guys were especially impressed by my use of the terrain, environment, and weather; such as how the low temperatures effected both the characters and their equipment. I was moved by how they took the situation seriously once they realized how dangerous the beastie was, though they still managed to inject comedy into it because of their PCs' personalities. 

After failing to get the tone right with my previous goofy ghost antagonists, I really wanted to use a supernatural creature as opposed to a silly spectre. I think it worked quite well, though one of my lesser efforts remains particularly memorable to the group.

I'll save that tail...sorry, tale...for another time. 

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Barking Alien

Real Wrath-Of-God Type Stuff

This post is very late and very long and I am very sorry.

Real LifeTM, especially in the form of my work schedule, has been particularly busy of late. I have so much I want to post, a lot of it Ghostbusters related, and I'm feeling more than a little bit frustrated by the fact that I am just getting to the first of these entries today.

Grrr. Anyway...onward.

Our original Ghostbusters campaign back in 1986 had some awesome adventures, largely thanks to our lead 'Ghostmaster' Joe and the amazing storytelling talents of my friend Dave. Will (of 'Champions: The Age of Champions' fame) and I ran a few each as well, with some gems and a few only OK sessions.  

What you'll find below is one of the best and most memorable scenarios we had, with more to follow in the coming days. Not all of them were perfect (namely mine) but many were amazing, literally among the greatest adventures I have been in as a player. I mean, how many campaign story-arcs do you remember 35+ years later?

The Case of The Cereal Killer Crunch

AKA: Ghost Toasties

Inspiration: This adventure was a revision of Ghost Toasties, the first published module for the WEG Ghostbusters RPG.

Gamemaster: Joseph Vitaliano Jr.

Synopsis: World renowned entrepreneur, explorer, and food industry magnate Jerome Westbrook III has announced a contest in association with his company's popular breakfast cereal, Flakey Jake's Golden Flakes; one of the millions of boxes contains a toy replica of The Crystal of Hagost, an ancient gem of supposedly mystical power that Westbrook discovered in a cave in Peru. Other boxes contain Red Leopard figurines, miniature Bolas, miniature Slings, and rocks carved with runes that can be decoded with a code key on the back of every box. Whomever finds the crystal (actually a remarkably well cut gemstone) wins a lifetime supply of Flakey Jake's Golden Flakes. Oh boy! Of course, something much more sinister was afoot. More evil than getting children to convince their families to buy sugary cereal just so they can win even more sugary cereal? Just you wait...

Soon after the announcement, supermarkets all over the USA were besieged by customers trying to find the winning box. Ghostbusters Franchises across the country became rather busy in the following days responding to pesky poltergeists who also seemed interested in the cereal. For unknown reasons, spooks started causing a royal ruckus in the isles of stores wherever Flakey Jake's Golden Flakes were sold. The GB Inc. community, coordinated by The Home Office, were able to find some clues that enabled the PCs to piece together what might be going on. Unfortunately, the team receives word that numerous grade school and middle school kids began acting strangely, obsessed with the toy surprises they have found and trying as hard as they could to meet up with each other and play [with the items] together. 

After dealing with all the weird goings on for nearly a week, The Home Office came to the realization that the Crystal of Hagost and the odd cereal prizes were all part of a ritual to return Hagost to the world. An agricultural god worshiped by a lost pre-Peruvian people, Hagost was connected to sugar cane, corn, and the ailments that come with consuming too much sucrose. The crystal hidden among the boxes of Golden Flakes wasn't a replica but the real deal! Jerome Westbrook III found it while exploring an area not far from Machu Picchu and the spirit of Hagost was able to possess him. Using Westbrook III, Hagost dispersed the components of his resurrection among his 'worshippers'; kids obsessed with sugary foods. 

The full ritual had all the kids with figurines possessed by the ghosts of Hagost's ancient temple guards, armed with the toy weapons which became real when they touched them. Then, those with the rune stones would assemble them into the proper order and positions for the words to a mystic chant to be read, translated through the decoder system on the back of the boxes. Finally, whomever found the Crystal of Hagost would stand in the center of it all to summon/be possessed by the full power of the deity. By the way, that someone turned out to be nine year old Jason Greer of Queens, NY.

In the final climactic scene, the ritual is performed at a press conference held at West End Foods Headquarters in New Jersey. Hagost manifests, using his powers to animate fiberglass statues of all the West End Cereal Mascots who then terrorized everyone present. The Ghostbusters HO gang  defeat those minions and damage the crystal as Hagost opens a gate to another dimension.

Within this other realm, which the Ghostbusters enter to chase Hagost, there is an ancient temple in the style of the indigenous peoples of Peru. A trap is triggered pouring sweetened corn flakes down on the heroes, threatening to drown them in frosted breakfast cereal. Using a combination of their unique personalities, skills, and specialized equipment The Home Office is able to separate the Crystal of Hagost from its young host and destroy it, banishing the Red Jaguar god back into the netherverse. Grabbing little Jason Greer, the team booked it back to the material plane before the gate collapsed.  

Hagost - Initial Incarnation

Highlights: Dave Nelson suggested the team try to locate the crystal before the general populace did, heading off the trouble before it started. The others agreed and tried to strategize the best way to do that. Meanwhile, Nelson took the initiative and a wad of petty cash and bought as many boxes of Flakey Jake's Golden Flakes as he could, got back to the Firehouse, and started eating. The rest of the team found out and, well, there was a lot of head shaking. 

Zimmerman delved deep into the 'lore' of the West End Foods cereal mascots, assuming their stories were influenced by the mythology and folklore of the original believers in Hagost. As it turned out, he was partially right! There were hints to the relationships between the various minions of Hagost in the relationships between the cereal characters. Stadler and Zimmerman were able to convince the haunted fiberglass Flakey Jake to side with the PCs and help against the big bad boss jaguar himself. 

There were a lot of tricks and traps at the end of the sessions big finale. It was as much about smarts as it was Ghostbusting talent and ability. We had to free the ghost possessed kids, grab and/or damage the crystal, fight the minions, and stop Hagost all while protecting the West End Foods employees, parents, etc. We really had to use every ounce of brains and brawn we had to win the day this time and it felt great. This victor was earned. 

Hagost - True Form

Notes: Joe based this scenario on the West End Games published module 'Ghost Toasties' but he modified it quite heavily. The major differences between the two versions are:

Joe's adventure was scarier and less silly then the official one as per his views on what makes for a good Ghostbusters game. He altered the names of a few things, replaced travel to a Candyland-like dimension with most of the danger happening here in our world, and made Hagost's minion ghosts less goofy in general.

Joseph also expanded the scope of the situation, with the nationwide contest resulting in nationwide paranormal problems. This allowed him to set up the world-building of the future of the Ghostbusters 1984 film continuity that our campaign takes place in.

Run early in the course of the original campaign, this adventure established the existence of other franchise offices in other cities and states (as well as a few in other countries). It further enforces the fact that our Ghostbusters continuity is different from that of movie canon but works perfectly well with the RPG and many of the GB fan clubs.

Our original campaign (as well as most of the Ghostbusters games I've run myself) featured very few high powered entities on the level of Gozer. Hagost was one of the rare ones.

Stay tuned for more adventures, adversaries old and new, and saying "Who you gonna call?" in Japanese!

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Barking Alien