In my last post I talked about The Call: the shorter, less earth-shattering type of mission your Ghostbusters RPG PCs can expect to go on to get the feel of the game, see some action, role-play under pressure, and maybe, just maybe, find a small narrative piece to a larger plot puzzle.
Calls are more common than Cases, which are bigger, higher stakes adventures that may take one or more sessions to complete. Calls are usually a part of a session, though I suppose they could take up the entirety of one get together if your group only meets up for 3-4 hour get-togethers.
Now let's take a look at the kind of entities that you'll likely get hired to handle.
Ghostbusters 'No Ghost' Logo Variant
Art by Rafa Toro
Once the PCs are at the location [of The Call] they're likely to use their PKE Meters and Paragoggles [aka Ectogoggles] to pinpoint the spook and gage how powerful it is. It's Class and possibly Intensity may be detectable once Ghostbusters are close enough, certainly if they can get a clear look at it. As a related aside; remember that in my version of the Ghostbusters RPG two separate Class V Vapors can be very different in their capabilities and therefore in the threat they pose. See Tobin's Spirit Guide and Spates Catalog. Approach with caution.
I generally recommend the spooks be Class III to VI. You can certainly have the gang debunk a false haunting or bag a Class II Shade but don't do it too many times. It gets kind of boring and I usually find it more effective to have those Calls occur offscreen. What could be interesting is having a Class III show up along with two or more Class Is or IIs. The much weaker ghosts can cause distractions or confuse the PCs making it tough to trap even a lower Intensity Class III.
The funky phantoms the PCs run into should on their Calls should be distinct, with each having its own specific look, abilities, and motivation or at least M.O.. Just because they aren't a threat to 'Life as we know it!' doesn't mean they shouldn't be memorable. You remember Slimer and Muncher don't'cha? Well there you go.
Let me give you an example of a Call from a Ghostbusters short series I did set in Seattle, Washington. The three Ghostbuster PCs had the morning off. It was a Sunday and business had been a little slow. They'd all decided they would come in anyway, at some point later in the day, in order to get a few things done that they'd found themselves behind on (paperwork, reorganizing their locker, etc.).
They each started the day doing their own thing, which for one of them was to swing by Ghost Alley Espresso*. The place was hopping even early in the morning but it seemed the crowd was tinged with an air of concern and agitation. The Ghostbuster PC knew one of the Baristas and asked what was up.
Yep, it's a real place. So named to homage the considerable number of supposed hauntings in the vicinity.
She told them another coffee shop not far away had called them about some crazy person who rushed in and stole someone's order right off the counter. Just then the phone rang and it turned out another place had been hit but what they described was no common thief. It was a ghost!
Jitters, The Coffee Shop Ghost
As if on cue, a frothing brown Class V Full-Roaming Vapor barreled towards them, hellbent on grabbing an entire pot from behind the counter. The Ghostbuster reached for his Neutrona Wand but forgot...he wasn't wearing his gear! As the Focused Phantasm raced by him, chugging down the piping hot liquid, the PC told the Barista to call the GB Office and let them know what was going on and that he was on the scene.
For his part, he got on his personal cell phone and called his two buddies (the other PCs - both Ghostbusters on their day off). One of them had taken an early morning jog and was close enough to the office to grab some Proton Packs, Traps, and other devices, get them on a Gear Cart (as seen in the video game Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed - see image below) and rush over there. The last member threw on his uniform and headed out as well.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Gear Cart
Design by Illfonic.
Here we have a Call with no actual call. This isn't a client trying to hire the Ghostbusters but a Ghostbuster running into a random supernatural disturbance. What made it extra awesome was that the PC figured out a way to get the company paid anyway, convincing the various coffee shops along the ghost's route to all chip in. Since he (the PCs) had a thing for the NPC Barista he in turn convinced GB Inc. to give them a discount. Everyone was happy, more or less.
Anyway, the PCs all convene in the alley; one at one end, one at the other end, and our initial guy in the middle. By dodging and dashing in a run-and-gun style, the Ghostbusters were able to strike at the coffee guzzling ghost - dubbed, 'Jitters' - while avoiding getting blasted by steaming sprays of hot java. Eventually they realized that a good cup of joe was both Jitters weapon and reason for being. He drank coffee all the time but if he hosed you with the stuff he'd want to drink that much more to replace what he'd lost. Getting him pissed enough to fire and miss a few times, the team then tempted him with a fresh pot and were able to zap, lasso, and eventually capture him! Woohoo! It was a great sequence.
Jitters is pretty typical of the kind of paranormal punk that works well for a Call. He's kinda tough but not overly so, has an obvious Focus and objective (Drink coffee! All the coffee!), a distinct look, and even a memorable quirk (Constantly shaking from all the caffeine). Let's look at his sheet...
As you can see, Jitters does have a few impressive and tricky abilities that make him no slouch (how could he be? He's wired as all get out!). Aside from his pretty effective attack of spraying hot coffee at people, he can replenish his Ectoplasm by consuming coffee. The flipside of course is that his Coffee Spray attack is expensive PKE-wise, draining two extra points if he spends any PKE to boost it up. That means 1 extra die would cost him 3, 2 would cost him 4, etc. He will attempt to remedy this by drinking coffee immediately after attacking but it won't do any good. He can only regain Ectoplasm through coffee consumption. He regains his PKE at the same rate as any other spectral spud.
That reminds me, I'd like to direct your attention to an article in Gateways Magazine #5 by Richard Tucholka, author of another Horror meets Humor setting in the universe of the RPG Bureau 13 (aka Stalking The Night Fantastic). The article, 'Ghostbusters Approved', is a interesting collection of ideas for the old West End Games Ghostbusters RPG, much of it similar to some of what I've covered on this blog in the past.
In the article, Mr. Tucholka makes a reference to a Random Haunts Generator from a Bureau 13 Adventure. I think it is also in Haunts, one of the Bureau 13 Sourcebooks. I was able to download a copy of the Random Haunts Generator and while it had some cool concepts it suffers from the same issue as many old school random tables. The rolls are largely geared to create uninteresting results.
For example: On the Ghosts table, a roll of 1-50 gets you 'No Visible Manifestation'. So with a range from 1 to 100, fully half the possible rolls are Nothing. Why bother? If there is nothing to find why have that decided randomly? This happens a lot. 1-50 on the Odor table is No Odor. 1-75 on the Temperature table is No Spot. One to Seventy-Five! Good grief.
Anyway, the ideas in the Random Haunts Generators actually have some potential and if you can I recommend checking it out. Roll a few times, ignore dud rolls, and adjust for things that would make more sense in the Ghostbusters setting. Just thought I'd pass the resource on. I'd like to try using this system to generate a few mid-range poltergeists and see how it goes. Keep an eye out for this in the near future.
Before I forget, I found the Gateways article and information about the Random Haunts Generator at an amazing GB RPG Resources page on the blog Rended Press. Sadly, it appears the blog is no longer being updated as of this past August.
Anyway, I hope all you Ghostheads enjoyed this and all the rest of the Ghostbusters RPG related content this month. My apologies if you came looking for something else but I'm a little obsessed at present. Heh.
If you see a ghost, pick up the phone and call the professionals...
AD
Barking Alien
*Ghost Alley Espresso is a real place! One of my players from the above game was just there! Wild! Check it out here. Turns out Seattle is a hotbed of hauntings and other paranormal activity. Lots of great ideas for a Washington State based Ghostbusters campaign can be found pretty easily. .
No comments:
Post a Comment