Character: Gabriel Poindexter Zimmerman
AKA: Professor Zimmerman, The Innovative Ghostbuster, The Intellectual One
Player: Adam Dickstein, Michael Moss.
System: Ghostbusters, The RPG, 1st Edition - West End Games. Modified with Houserules.
Nature: Long Campaign: Ghostbusters: The Home Office
Gamemaster: Joseph Vitaliano Jr. and others. Adam Dickstein when run by Mike Moss.
Circa: Original Campaign 1986-1989. Returned in 2019 and 2020. Looking forward to future appearances.
Origins: I'm not really a horror guy. I'm a Sci-Fi guy.
One of the things I love most about Ghostbusters - the setting that is - is that even though the Ghosts are considered 'Supernatural', a few mad geniuses figured out how to effect them using [Super] Science. Science Fiction can fight against the Paranormal here, unlike in many settings where Magic trumps science and technology.
As such, Egon Spengler was absolutely my favorite character. Thanks largely to the incredible comedic acting talent of the late, great Harold Ramis, Egon is a man as brilliant as he is odd and I wanted in on that action.
As each of the other players pitched their PC concepts for our Ghostbusters: The Home Office campaign, I was happy to hear that no one had created an 'Egon character'; nobody had decided to be our Mad Scientist/Tech Savant guy. 'Perfect', I thought and then jumped in with my idea for Gabriel Zimmerman.I was given the thumbs up by the GM and read some more of the game's rules and setting material to develop more of a story for him.
As I did, I came across references to UFOs and related phenomena and was very surprised. I also checked out Ghostbusters second pre-made adventure, Hot Rods of the Gods, which (Spoilers!) is a module in which your Paranormal Investigators face off against alien punks in a flying car.
Huh? That's not a Ghostbusters story, it's more Men in Black (which wouldn't come out for another 11 years). However...it did give me an idea.
Backstory: Originally hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Gabriel P. Zimmerman was a genius student excelling in the studies of astrophysics and astronomy. He was also incredibly socially awkward, excelling in making other students confused and uncomfortable with his often absent minded nature and other peculiarities. Before graduating college he worked at the university observatory, discovering a number of stellar objects and improving the operations of the facility's primary telescope, the latter without permission. It simply wasn't operating as effective as it could be, so he fixed it. Why were people upset?
Right after graduation Zimmerman was recruited by NASA and eventually assigned to a variety projects at their Space Center in Houston, TX. He was working there when the events of the first Ghostbusters film occurred. Fascinated by the development of the technology being used to 'fight ghosts', Gabriel nonetheless didn't believe in the existence of the paranormal. It was his professional and scholarly assessment that the phenomena the Ghostbusters were encountering had more sensible and logical origins.
That was until the Ghostbusters themselves arrived at the Space Center, called in amid reports of a 'Phantom Astronaut' moving through sections of the main facility and causing computers and other equipment to go haywire. Dr. Ray Stanz and Dr. Egon Spengler contacted Zimmerman and requested his assistance on the matter. They believed they'd identified the ghost and were informed Zimmerman was particularly knowledgeable about the mission the man had been attached to. He gladly joined the boys in gray in hopes of getting to the bottom of whatever was really going on.
The Ghostbusters and Gabriel Zimmerman encountered the Spectral Spaceman and there was no denying this entity defied the conventional science that Zimmerman was familiar with. Following the 'Space Ghost''s capture, Gabriel remained with NASA for a time but all the while he read up on metaphysics, parapsychology, and anything and everything he could find on the supernatural. He even went so far as to get several degrees in those fields (in his spare time). Eventually, he quit his job to apply to work for Ghostbusters, Inc. and was hired to work with the Home Office.
Overview: I don't know what to say beyond I absolutely love this character. He is just so much fun to play and easily ranks among the top 5 most fun characters I've ever had. He isn't necessarily the deepest, his background and personality largely played for story context or laughs but he's enjoyable to portray and that's what matters.
Since just prior to the Covid Pandemic I've been able to reconnect with some of my high school friends, including many I hadn't seen in almost 35 years. Among them is the brilliant and very funny Michael Moss, an artistically talented guy as well as a truly kind and intelligent person. When I've run Ghostbusters: The Home Office since, Mike has taken over playing Zimmerman on my request and he's not only nailed it, he enhanced the character. I honestly like his take on Zimmerman even more than my own. He just gets the whole theme of subdued zaniness that makes the character special.
The Highlights:
Boy, this is hard. There were both so many cool moments and it was so long ago that I played him it's very difficult to parse out highlights.
My best recommendation would be to check out my Tag for 'The Home Office'. I've updated it so all the references to that campaign are under one heading. The exploits of Prof. Zimmerman and the entire gang can be found there.
Game Info:
Thanks to Joe Vitaliano Jr., my dear friend and the primary GM of our original campaign, I have the 35 year old character sheets for all the Home Office members...except Zimmerman.
*Sob*
It seems I may have taken that one home with me at some point and lost it over the last three decades or so. So pissed I can't tell you.
I do have his revised sheet from the games where Mike played him and ultizing my homebrew/kitbash system detailed in past posts (Search for Tag 'Ghostbusters').
Notable on here besides his penchant for Birdcalls is his Specialty in Paranormal Phenomena. This indicates his knowledge in areas of supernatural events, commonalities, anomalies, and other such side effects of ghost activity moreso than understanding the ghosts themselves. For example, he is familiar with things like Dimensional Crossrips and Portals, Symmetrical Bookstacking, Cold Spots, and physical beings or objects being transported in another plane of existance.
Like the rest of the original Home Office team, Gabriel uses a custom Neutrona Wand/Proton Pack assembly known as the Positron Field Generator. This device can function as a standard particle thrower but has two additional functions (actually a single function with two settings):
Positron Capture Field: Zimmerman can place a bubble of charge protons around the Ghost, holding it in a fashion similar to a Capture Stream but more stable. The being or creature must be smaller than the maximum field size of 20 feet in diameter. A Technology-Modifications Roll with a minimum of 2 Successes can increase this size but only for a round or two.
Entities held in this way must roll their PKE versus Zimmerman's Technology + 1D for the Proton Pack. If Gabriel gets more successes than the ghost in this case, he is able to contain it in the bubble field. This allows 1 Ghostbuster per Success over what the Ghost got to take an action (other than Zimmerman himself) so that can position themselves to Blast, ready an additional Capture Stream, or drop a Ghost Trap.
Position Force Field: Zimmerman can protect himself with a roughly sphereical bubble of Protons that prevent PKE empowered Ectoplasmic entities from touching him. The field is approximately 20 ft. in diameter and forms in a radius around him. In order to use the device in this way he must make a successful Technology-Modifications Roll (only 1 Success is needed under normal circumstances but this can be increased based on a variety of conditions).
This Proton Bubble reduces the effects of many of their attacks by 1D per Success he achieves with a Technology + 1D Proton Pack Roll. The Force Field will cause Ghosts Ectoplasm damage if they try to push through it. Touching the field is that same as being hit by a Blast Stream; Zimmerman's player rolls Technology + 1D for Proton Pack and the Ghost/GM rolls the entity's Ectoplasm Dice. For every Success Zimmerman does over the number the Ghost gets, the Ghost losses 1 point of Ectoplasm. If the Ghost gets more Successes than Zimmerman it still takes 1 point of Ectoplasm damage but Zimmerman's Proton Pack loses its +1D Bonus and must be repaired to get it back.
Notes:
Gabriel Zimmerman looks a little like the version of Egon Spengler from 'The Real Ghostbusters' animated series but was actually created just before that show first aired. Literally days before.
There is also a resemblence between Prof. Gabriel Zimmerman and Dr. Jillian Holtzman from the it-should-never-be-spoken-of-again-and-I-will-punish-myself-harshly-for-mentioning-it-here Ghostbusters...film...from 2016. Honestly she was the best part of that debacle.
Gabriel's next of kin is his younger sister who lives in Chicago and would probably look a lot like the aforementioned character.
My version of Zimmerman is a tad more scatterbrained than Mike's depiction, thinking so many things so quickly that he's often lost in his own thoughts and unable to find his way back. Mike's take has him as a much more focused, deliberate thinker but one so focused on what's on his own mind he isn't always processing what others are saying until he's finished with the idea in his head.
Legacy:
Man oh man oh man! I am chomping at the bit to get to run for the ol' Home Office gang again and see what Mike Moss does with Zimmerman next!
Anytime guys, I'll be waiting.
