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Ghostbusters RPG House Rules
Introduction Shortly after the success of the Ghostbusters movie, there was a string of merchandise released, one of which is an actual pen and paper RPG created by West End Games. I first learned about it after watching CR’s review of the game and recently, I’ve decided to check it out myself. CR had several complaints about the game mechanics and the poorly thought out rules. While I do agree it’s not a perfect game, however, there are several aspects that have piqued my interest in the game such as how easy it is to create your own ghosts and the franchising angle of the game. I just think it needs some improvements here and there to make the game function better. In fact, on page 23 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, the instructions flat out encourage the players to change and add to the rules as they see fit. Since I love tinkering with game rules, I decided to try something new and actually expand upon this game with my own house rules that you can use. You can check out the game yourself for free by visiting ghostbustersinternational.com and don’t forget to watch CR’s review of the game on thatguywiththeglasses.com.
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House Rules for the Players
Expanded Rules on Combat On page 27 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, the book offers instructions on how to use a proton pack against a ghost, but offers little in terms of using other range weapons and using short range weapons. For the sake of convenience, I’ve come up with my own rules. To hit a target with a range weapon, simply roll your Moves Trait and Fire Weapon Talent dice. If you beat the difficulty, then you land one hit against the target’s ectopresence. Get double on your roll from the amount you need to land a hit and you cause 2 points of damage, triple the roll and you cause 3 points, etc. (Yes, I know all that is in the book but I thought it would be a good idea to bring it up as a reminder.) This rule applies to all range weapons such as guns, bows and arrows, or even just throwing an object off the floor. Difficulty for ranged attacks based on distance:
• 0-5 feet: 5 • 6-10 feet: 10 • 11-30 feet: 15 • 31-50 feet: 20 • 51-80 feet: 25
When it comes to short-range combat, the Ghostbuster must have a weapon of some kind to inflict damage. A Ghostbuster can carry handheld weapons (knives, clubs, hammers, etc.), use objects off the ground (so long as the Ghostmaster agrees it’s a usable weapon), or—in a pinch—improvise by using one of his equipment as a weapon such as whacking an occultist on the head with a proton pack or a PKE meter. Be forewarned that if the Ghostbuster rolls a Ghost die, the device will break (but can still cause damage on a successful attack roll on that turn only) and will become useless as a weapon or anything else until fixed. When attempting any kind of short-range attack, the Ghostbuster must be right next to his target and must roll a Muscle Trait or Use Hand-Held Weapon Talent (Difficulty 5). When using his or her bare hands, he or she can do things like grapple, trip, push, disarm, etc. but cannot deal any damage to an opponent with bare hands. However, at the Ghostmaster’s discretion, he can allow the Martial Arts talent for the Muscles trait to allow Ghostbusters to inflict harm with his or her bare hands. Ghosts that can use Materialize (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 28) can deal damage with its bare hands (claws, tentacles, teeth, etc.) while using Materialize. Even while solid, its ectopresence will only go down with a hit from a proton pack.
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Ghosts vs. Ghosts There may come a time when two ghosts will attack each other, whether because they are enemies or because the ghost is an ally of the Ghostbusters. Ghosts can physically interact with one another either by physical contact or causing harm to each other’s ectopresence through fisticuffs or other means of long range or short-range combat.
Turn Order During a Fight On page 25 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, it mentions turn orders in fights, but offers no elaboration or definitive rules. So do the players just roll dice at the same time and the Ghostmaster has to just sort through all of the attacks at once? That would be a nightmare. Combat in an RPG needs to be methodical instead of a free-for-all. To fix that, I offer the players these three alternate rules that they could use. With all three of these methods, there are four basic rules that they share: One, all fights are divided into rounds. Two, when the Ghostmaster has determined the turn order, it does not change until the fight ends (With the exception of the “Ghost die” method). Three, once everyone has had a turn, the round ends and the next round begins, starting the turn order all over. And four, when two or more characters get the same number, the Ghostmaster must roll the dice, flip a coin, or some other method in order to randomly determine who amongst the tied characters goes before the other(s).
• Roll the dice: Before the fight begins, each combatant rolls a Moves Trait or Power Level dice. The one with the highest roll goes first, followed by the second highest, third highest, etc. If a Ghostbuster rolls a Ghost, then he is automatically put on the bottom of the turn order, but if a ghost rolls a Ghost, then it is moved to the top of the turn order. Example: In a fight against the Pastageist and its cohort, the Flaming Spork, each combatant rolls their Moves Traits or Power Levels. The Pastageist rolls a 21, so it goes first. Winston rolls a Ghost so he automatically goes to the bottom of the turn order. Both Venkman and Egon roll a 12. They flip a coin and Venkman wins so he goes before Egon. Ray rolls an 11 so he goes after Egon. The Flaming Spork rolls a 3 so it goes after Ray. All together, turn order is The Pastageist, Venkman, Egon, Ray, The Flaming Spork, and Winston.
• Moves Traits and Power Levels: If rolling the dice every fight seems like a chore, a faster alternative is have it in order of levels. The character with the highest Moves Trait or Power Level goes first, followed by the second, then the third, etc. Example: In a fight against the Pastageist and its cohort, the Flaming Spork, Moves Traits and Power Levels are compared. The Pastageist has a Power Level of 5, so it goes first. Winston has a Moves Trait of 4, meaning he goes second. Venkman has a Moves Trait of 3, meaning he goes third. Both Egon and Ray have a Moves Trait of 2. They play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and Egon wins so he goes before Ray. The Flaming Spork has a Power Level of 1, so it goes last. All together, turn order is The Pastageist, Winston, Venkman, Egon, Ray, and the Flaming Spork.
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• Ghost die: Instead of rolling the dice or going by stat levels, the Ghostbusters and the ghosts as a whole alternate taking turns. The Ghostbusters attack first and when each of them has had a turn, the ghosts get their turn. During their turn, the Ghostbusters must agree on who attacks first while the Ghostmaster decides the turn of the ghosts during the ghosts’ turn. However, at the beginning of each round, the Ghostmaster rolls a ghost die. If the Ghostmaster rolls a Ghost, the turn order is reversed; the ghost will begin each round and the Ghostbusters go second after the ghosts had their turn. This arrangement lasts until the fight ends. Example: In a fight against the Pastageist and its cohort, the Flaming Spork, the Ghostbusters start each round and once they had their turn, the ghost get their turn. At the beginning of each round, the Ghostmaster rolls a Ghost die. The Ghostmaster rolls a Ghost by the third round, and in that round, the ghosts attack first followed by the Ghostbusters.
In the event that two or more Ghostbusters try to wrangle a ghost into a trap, the Ghostbuster who goes first gets the first shot. If he misses, another Ghostbuster can take a shot on his or her next turn and once two Ghostbusters manage to hit the ghost, then it is immediately wrangled into the trap.
Ghostbusters Chasing Ghosts On page 25 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, the book does offer some explanation on how players can determine who wins in a race or chase by rolling Moves and Power dice but I think this can be elaborated on a little further. There are times when a ghost may choose to run away if it feels it is losing. At which case the Ghostbusters have a choice to chase after it. Among the Ghostbusters that are chasing, the one with the highest Muscles Trait or Run Talent must roll the dice. Among the ghosts being chased, the one with the highest Power Level rolls the dice. Depending on the dice results, see below to find out what happens.
• Ghost wins the roll: The ghost successfully escapes. The Ghostbusters can try and locate the ghost by rolling a Brains Trait dice against its Power Level dice.
• Ghost wins the roll, and rolls a Ghost: The ghost wins and successfully flees the building or area.
• Ghostbuster wins the roll: The Ghostbusters prevent the ghost from escaping. • Ghostbuster wins the roll, and rolls a Ghost: The Ghostbusters prevent the ghost
from escaping but the ghost can attack them back out of retaliation.
Ghosts Chasing Ghostbusters However, there are times when a Ghostbuster needs to escape from a ghost. In that case, follow the rules as above and see the chart below for the results.
• Ghost wins the roll: The Ghostbusters fail to escape. • Ghost wins the roll, and rolls a Ghost: Not only do the Ghostbusters fail to escape
but also the ghost manages to block their exit (either by collapsing the roof, putting an object in their way, creating a wall of slime, etc.). As such, the
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Ghostbusters will have to find another way out or somehow force their way through the obstruction.
• Ghostbuster wins the roll: The Ghostbusters successfully escape. • Ghostbuster wins the roll, and rolls a Ghost: The Ghostbusters successfully escape
but the ghost gets one bonus attack against them as they run away.
Special Note on Car Chases There may come a time when the Ghostbusters would have to chase down a ghost in the Ecto-1. In the even that a motor vehicle is involved in the chase, the driver rolls his or her Moves Trait or Drive Vehicle Talent instead.
How Ghostbusters Can Die After a Ghostbuster runs out of brownie points, the Ghostmaster rolls a Ghost die. Normally the Ghostbuster will be in the hospital for one or two campaigns, but if the Ghostmaster rolls a Ghost, then the Ghostbuster dies from his injuries. If a Ghostbuster were to be incapacitated, then he or she would lie on the floor unconscious until paramedics come to take him or her to the hospital. Of course, a ghost would not attack someone if he or she were no longer a threat and not even a mobster would be so dishonorable to kill someone while they’re helpless, right? Okay, it’s just for the sake of narrative convenience but still... The rules also state that if a Ghostbuster runs out of brownie points, then the Ghostbuster can choose to spend one point from a Trait in exchange for 20 brownie points. However, by providing an easy way of boosting brownie point scores, that both averts the possibility of death and gives the players less reason to budge the brownie points they have. Part of the fun of an RPG is managing to strategically use the resources one has to succeed in a mission without dying. Blasting Stay Puff into oblivion may be fun, but wouldn’t it be more satisfying knowing you’ve beat the odds and worked so hard to achieve that goal. In the interest of keeping it challenging, I’d advice the Ghostmaster to never allow the players the option to trade in Traits for brownie points. (Ghostbusters Training Manuel, Pages 5-6)
Catching Ghosts Solo Whenever a Ghostbuster attempts to force a ghost into the ghost trap alone, he receives a -1 dice penalty, meaning he loses one dice from his roll. If the Ghostbuster only had one dice to roll to begin with, then he can’t catch the ghost. When catching a ghost solo, there is no chance of accidently causing a total protonic reversal. (Ghostbusters Training Manual, Pages 17-18, and Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 27)
Crossing the Streams As we all know, crossing the streams is a big no no because it can cause a total protonic reversal. Such an event can be deadly to a Ghostbuster, but at times, can be helpful. It is a double-edged sword, however, and can only be done under two conditions.
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• On Purpose: As a last resort, the Ghostbusters can deliberately cross the streams in order to destroy an exceptionally powerful ghost. Of course, doing such a thing is a dangerous gamble since the Ghostbusters could kill themselves or injure the ghost or both. Roll the dice and see the table below to see what happens.
o 1: The ectopresence of all ghosts drops to 0. o 2: All ghosts are blasted off the Corporeal Plane and into the Neither
World. o 3: All Ghostbusters lose half of their remaining brownie points. o 4: The brownie points of all Ghostbusters drops to 0. o 5: All Ghostbusters lose half of their remaining brownie points and the
ectopresence of all Ghosts drops to 0. o 6: All Ghostbusters instantly die and all ghosts are blasted off the
Corporeal Plane and into the Neither World. • By Accident: While forcing a ghost into a trap, if two Ghostbusters who were
wrangling the ghost into the trap were to fail their attack rolls and they both roll a Ghost, then the Ghostmaster rolls the dice and looks at the table below to see what happens.
o 1-3: There is no total protonic reversal and nothing happens. o 4: All Ghostbusters lose 5 brownie points. o 5: All Ghostbusters lose half of their remaining brownie points. o 6: The brownie points of all Ghostbusters drops to 0.
Ghostbusting Around the World
One of the aspects about this game that really piques my interest is the option to franchise elsewhere. Sure, you can have the game take place in New York like in the movies and the book actually expects the players to obtain maps and explore real places in a campaign. In fact, assuming the Ghostbusters wiki is correct, the actual firehouse where the exterior shots of the Ghostbuster’s headquarters were filmed is located on 14 N. Moore Street, New York, New York 10013. If you can find this address on a New York map, you could use it to mark where the players would return to after a long day’s work. But what’s really fascinating is the book actually encourages you to set up your franchise in your own hometown, busting ghosts in real locations that the players are familiar with. But why stick to familiar places? You could set up a headquarters anywhere in the world and take advantage of the new settings. You could go to London, England and catch ghost for the king and queen. You could go to Tokyo, Japan and catch ghost of samurai, battle yokai, and encounter Shinto gods, kappas, shape shifting foxes, etc. Or you could go to New Delhi, India and battle various Hindu spirits. I have never before found an RPG that encourages the players to choose any real-life locations as settings for campaigns, but if the players are willing to do the research obtain maps of foreign places, it can be done and with a game set in the Ghostbusters universe, the possibilities are endless. (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Pages 32-33)
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Rules for Ghostmasters
Measuring Time On page 25 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, it offers some rules concerning measurements of time but it’s not helpful. Granted, time is usually not something a Ghostmaster has to worry about, but on occasion, the Ghostbusters or the Ghostmaster might need to know how long until a ghost can use an attack again or sometimes there’s a time limit such as stopping some occultists from summoning Azathoth before midnight. With that in mind, a Ghostmaster may need to quickly estimate how long a task takes by rolling a set number of dice and multiplying by 1 minute, 1 hour, etc. See the table below for details:
• Short and Simple Tasks: 5 dice x 1 minute. Example: cooking a meal, cleaning a closet, picking a lock, reading a chapter in a book, fixing a broken PKE, etc.
• Long and Simple Tasks: 1 die x 1 hour. Example: cooking several meals, cleaning the entire headquarters, fixing a complex machine, performing a magic ritual, etc.
• Highly Complex Tasks: 2 dice x 1 day. Example: building a motored machine, solving a complicated puzzle, writing a novel, etc.
• Extensive Projects: 3 dice x 1 week. Example: building a ship or a house, repairing a demolished motor vehicle, etc.
• Traveling in the Ecto-1: 1 die per mile x 1 minute • Combat: 1 die per ghost x 1 minute
Ritual Magic
On page 27 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, it mentions that a ghost’s ectopresence can be brought down with rituals and magic but provides no guidelines on how such magic works. That’s why you have me to help you. First of all, to use any kind of ritual magic, the Ghostbusters must have access to the following:
• A book on occultism (The Big Book of Occult Lore, Spates Catalog of Nameless Horrors, Tobin Spirit Guide, Roylance Guide to Secret Societies and Sects, or The Ghostbuster Handbook at the Ghostmaster’s discretion)
• At least two people to participate in the ritual. The Ghostmaster can require more participates, possibly one participate per Power level of the ghost.
• Various tools to channel energy (crystal balls, dowsing rods, wands, athames, etc.). The Ghostmaster can designate specific tools and items such as items a ghost had in life, holy symbols from a specific religion, a Ouija board, items associated with the ghost’s profession or powers, etc.
• A private and safe place to perform the ritual. • And knowledge of the right time and place required to perform the ritual. This last
part is not required, but the Ghostmaster has the option to require that the ritual be held in a certain place, at a certain time, or under certain conditions. This is especially useful during exorcisms and summons because a ghost may be stronger
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or weaker in response to certain circ*mstances or can only be summoned in places familiar to it. The alignment of the stars and planets can also have an impact on rituals.
Whoever is leading the ritual must make a Brains Trait or Occult Talent roll in order to successfully perform the ritual. The difficulty varies depending on the Power level of the ghost: 1 Power level: 5, 2-3 Power level: 10, 4-7 Power level: 15, 8-11 Power level: 20, and 12 or higher Power level: 25. Exorcism: Reduce a ghost’s ectopresence to 0. Once the ritual has taken affect, the ghost can still regain extopresence like normal. If the ghost was inside the body of a person, then the ghost is forced out and unable to possess another person for at least an hour. Séance: Contact any ghost from the afterlife. If the ghost is intelligent enough to speak, the Ghostbusters can ask the ghost questions and the ghost can respond to the best of its ability. A séance typically needs some kind of divination tool to allow the ghost to make contact, often a Ouija board, a crystal ball, etc. Summon: Cause a ghost to appear within a summoning circle. Once summoned the ghost is free to go wherever it pleases and it is under no obligation to obey the will of the summoner.
Edits to Existing Ghost Special Abilities Here are some changes to ghost special abilities from the books. Animate: All animated objects should have brownie points and Traits equal to the Power Level of the ghost. Also, as a restraint to keep the game fair, a ghost can only animate one object at a time and it can only animate a maximum of 1 object per Power Level. To animate any more objects, the ghost must release its influence on at least one other animated object. (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 29) Murphy: My biggest complaint about this attack is that the difficulty is based on how likely an object is to break. Of course, that doesn’t seem like a very concrete basis of comparison because one, there’s no way to know if a piece of equipment is unreliable unless it was established that way beforehand and two, there’s no reason for the Ghostbusters to be carrying around faulty equipment anyway. I think it would be much fairer and provide the Ghostmaster with a guide to work of off if there were a clearly defined list of difficulties and outcomes. (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 29)
• Aura video analyzer breaks, causing the screen to go black. (Difficulty: 10) • Bullhorn lets out loud incoherent screeches when used. (Difficulty: 10) • Camera/video camera can’t take a picture or record images. (Difficulty: 15) • Car’s engine stops running. (Difficulty: 25) • Car’s breaks don’t work. (Difficulty: 20) • Car’s doors won’t open. (Difficulty: 10) • Car’s heater and A/C won’t work. (Difficulty: 5)
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• Ecto-visor goes on the fritz. (Difficulty: 15) • Geiger counter gives incomplete readings. (Difficulty: 15) • Geiger counter breaks and picks up no readings. (Difficulty: 20.) • Ghost trap does not open. (Difficulty: 15) • Ladder breaks or falls over. (Difficulty: 10) • Light bulb burns out. (Difficulty: 5) • Parachute fails to open or breaks. (Difficulty: 15) • PKE meter gives incomplete readings. (Difficulty: 15) • PKE meter breaks and picks up no readings. (Difficulty: 20) • Protection grid goes on the fritz and can’t store any more ghosts. (If the ghost
wins its roll and rolls a Ghost, then all of the ghosts are released from the protection grid) (Difficulty: 30)
• Proton pack/range weapon misfires, causing -1 dice penalty to attack rolls. (Difficulty: 10)
• Proton pack/range weapon jams or malfunctions and doesn’t fire. (Difficulty: 20) • Tool breaks and is unusable. (Difficulty: 10) • Rope breaks in half. (Difficulty: 10) • Walkie-talkies no longer work. (Difficulty: 5)
In the event that a ghost wins the roll and rolls a Ghost, one possible scenario is the difficulty to fix the item is increased by +5. In the event the ghost fails the roll but manages to roll a Ghost, one possible scenario is the difficulty to use the item is increased by +5 the next time it is used. Summon Pests: The game needs better guidelines as to what each type of pest can do, how difficult it is to summon, and brownie points so Ghostbusters can fight it. A ghost can only summon one creature or swarm at a time. It can control one summon per Power Level at a time. Once a summoned creature loses all of its brownie points, it automatically disappears. Each summon cannot be further than 1 mile per Power Level from its summoner or else it will disappear. (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 29)
• Small Animals: The ghost can summon any swarms or groups of animals whether they are bugs, birds, cats, dogs, fish, etc. These swarms cannot inflict any harm upon a Ghostbuster, but when a Ghostbuster tries to run, swim, or fly through them, the Ghostbuster gets a -1 dice penalty when passing through it. The swarm can also be used to manipulate the physical world so long as it is possible for an animal to do the task. To fight a swarm, a Ghostbuster needs to use weapons that can affect an area such as acids, explosives, poisons, fire, etc.
o Difficulty: 5 per five square feet swarm o Stats to all Trait: 1 o Brownie Points: 1
• Large Animals: Animals can physically attack a Ghostbuster, causing harm like any ordinary solid creature. They can also manipulate solid objects so long as it is possible for an animal to do the task.
o Difficulty: 10 per creature o Stats to all Trait: 2
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o Brownie Points: 2 • Humans: Any kind of summoned human cannot cause harm, but it can cause a -1
dice penalty to one kind of Trait depending on the person summoned. Example: loud and annoying mothers or kids can cause penalties to Brain Trait rolls, an aggressive lawyer can cause penalties to Cool Trait rolls, etc. Humans can also help in other ways such as physically grappling Ghostbusters, move solid objects, etc. They can also do tasks that are too complex or difficult for an animal summon such as open doors, operate a computer, drive a car, etc.
o Difficulty: 15 per creature o Stats to all Trait: 3 o Brownie Points: 3
• Undead: A ghost can summon various corporeal undead creatures such as zombies, skeletons, vampires, mummies, etc. These creatures can inflict physical harm to a Ghostbuster, manipulate physical objects, and perform tasks that are impossible for animals.
o Difficulty: 20 per creature o Stats to all Trait: 4 o Brownie Points: 4
New Ghost Special Abilities
On pages 28-29 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, there are listed 12 ghost special abilities. However, if you’re looking for something new, I’ve come up with 6 more you can try. To pick a special ability randomly, roll one dice and see the chart below.
1. Bilocation 2. Ectoplasm 3. Ghost Light 4. Pyrokinesis 5. Recovery 6. Teleportation
Bilocation: Some ghosts have the power to bend space and time to allow themselves to appear in two places at once. While bilocating, a ghost can attack and/or perform a task at the same time and in two locations. Both the duplicate and the original are one and the same so they act like one another and have the same abilities and Power Level. There are two major limits to this ability, however. First of all, the two ghosts cannot be further apart than 5 feet per Power Level. Example: two bilocating ghosts with 1 Power Level can’t be further than 5 feet apart, ghosts with 2 Power levels can’t be further than 10 feet apart, etc. If one of ghosts were to overstep its limits, it automatically disappears. The second limit is that the ghosts share the same reserve of ectopresence so it will go down like normal no matter which one is hit. If one ghost were to be sucked into a ghost trap, the other will disappear. Ectoplasm: The ghost can create and manipulate a viscous slime called ectoplasm to create various solid, liquid, or gaseous objects, whether it be a wall, a cage, a puddle, a cloud, etc. Something as small as a pebble can have a difficulty of 5, but objects as large
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as buildings can have a difficulty of 50. Breaking ectoplasm requires a Muscle roll against the ghost’s Power Level. If the ghost also has the Animate ability, it can bring its creations to life. If it has the Possess ability, it can create an ectoplasmic duplicate of itself (Difficulty 15) and take possession of the ecto body and act inside the body as a solid creature just like with the Materialize ability. (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Pages 28-29) Ghost Light: This is a simplistic kind of attack that involves lighting up an area with the ghost’s internal energy. Normally, the attack is harmless. However, every time the ghost uses it, it rolls one Ghost die. If it rolls a Ghost, then the ghost deals 1 point of damage to all within 5 feet away. This is a power most common with Class I and Class II ghosts (Reference File C, Page 2). Pyrokinesis: The ghost can throw fireballs as a range weapon, setting fires to flammable areas. When hit with a fireball, a Ghostbuster must make a Moves roll (Difficulty 5) or else catch on fire and sustain 1 additional brownie point loss every minute she burns. (If the ghost lands a hit and rolls a Ghost, then the Ghostbuster catches on fire immediately) Putting out the fire requires another Moves roll. If a Ghostbuster wins her Moves roll but also rolls a Ghost, then she will successfully put out the flames but the flames damaged her cloths and she must pay for a new outfit. If a Ghostbuster loses her Moves roll and rolls a Ghost, then she sustains severe burns and must go to the hospital for a few weeks to get treatment for her injuries. Recovery: During a round, a ghost can try to heal 1 point of its ectopresence by rolling its Power Level dice (Difficulty: 15). If it manages to roll a 30, it gains 2 points to its ecotpresence, roll a 45 gives it 3 points, etc. Using this power requires its full concentration. When using this power, it cannot take any other actions on its turn. If it rolls a Ghost, then it heals 1 additional ecotpresence point on a successful roll, and on a failed roll, it is allowed one reroll on the same turn. Teleportation: A ghost can instantaneously disappear and reappear in any location. The ghost must first choose exactly where it wishes to teleport and then roll its Power roll. The difficulty is dependent on how far it is teleporting:
• 0-5 feet: 5 • 6-10 feet: 10 • 11-30 feet: 15 • 31-50 feet: 20 • 51-80 feet: 25
Once attempted, the ghost must wait a minute before attempting to teleport again unless it rolled a Ghost, in which case the ghost can try again shortly there afterward.
Brownie Points for Non-Player Characters A complaint from CR that I agree with is that there are no hit points for non-ghost characters, which is weird because you’d think that there might come an instance when a
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Ghostbuster or a ghost might have to fight a civilian, an occultist, a mobster, a wizard, or a monster at some point, especially since they are listed in the game (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Pages 54-62). It’s like what Spoony said during one of his Counter Monkey videos, “If you stat it, they will kill it.” On page 25 of the Ghostbusters Operations Manuel, it offers an awfully vague description of how NPC’s can survive harm (by giving the Ghostmaster a pool of 1,000,000 brownie points) but I think it makes more sense to treat non-ghost characters as Ghostbusters by allowing them to have their own brownie points, which they use to resist damage or they can spend their points to enhance their dice rolls. When they run out of brownie points, they can either go to the hospital or die just like Ghostbusters. For existing characters in the book, I'd recommend giving them the brownie point totals listed below for easy convenience:
• Bosco the Gunsel’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57)
• Bottlecap Eddy’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Captain Wjszkclzsk’s brownie points: 17 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 58) • Carlos Martinez’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
55) • Carlton’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 55) • Conrad’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 54) • Cookie’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 58). His
pet monkey has 5 brownie points, Brains: 2, Cool: 1, Moves: 2, Muscles: 1. • Crusader Koalas’s brownie points: 50 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Pages
60-61) • Dirk Pinchpenny’s brownie points: 17 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
60) • Doctor Joseph Trustworthy’s brownie points: 9 (Ghostbusters Operations
Manual, Page 60) • Doctor Jurgen Frankenfurter’s brownie points: 25 (Ghostbusters Operations
Manual, Page 57) • Doctor Martin’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 60) • Elaine Rosenberg’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
55) • Ernesto’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57) • Ernie Mellon’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 54) • Father Luigi’s brownie points: 16 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Frank Armstrong’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
58) • Freaky Nic’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • George Smith and Mike Jones’s brownie points: 15 each (Ghostbusters
Operations Manual, Page 54) • Groaan’s brownie points: 30 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 59) • Harry Mortain’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
57)
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• Heinrich Reich’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 60)
• Herculanum Moonwater’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 55)
• Igor’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 58) • Jake Westtree’s brownie points: 25 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 54) • Jaster Mollyfuddle’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 59) • Jeff Stark’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 59) • Jerome Robert Carson’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 5) • Jerry di Lucca’s brownie points: 9 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Jessica Newman’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
58) • John Gluteus’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 60) • John MacClannahan’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 54) • John Martin’s brownie points: 6 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57) • Lawyer Bob’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57) • Little Paulie the Brain’s brownie points: 18 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 56) • Madame Rosa’s brownie points: 16 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 59) • Mama Stella’s brownie points: 12 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Mara of Mali’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 59) • Margaret Jerson’s brownie points: 6 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
55) • Margaret Mipsky’s brownie points: 17 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
57) • Margaret O’Malley’s brownie points: 20 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 59) • Mark Gilliam’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 59) • Mbwana Mobuto’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
58) • Mean Vic’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Melissa Malibu’s brownie points: 13 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
60) • Mimi Marrick’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Moonstar Molly’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
59) • Mortimer Lloyd’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
58) • Philip Jester’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57) • Professor Elias Jefferson Entwhistle’s brownie points: 25 (Ghostbusters
Operations Manual, Page 61)
14
• Professor Mipsky’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 57)
• Papa Joe’s brownie points: 25 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • Richard P. Mulberry’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 57) • Ronny Napolitano’s brownie points: 18 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
60) • Rosy’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 55) • Sam McGee’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 58) • Scooter MacBurnie’s brownie points: 10 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual,
Page 54) • Sexy Lucia’s brownie points: 15 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 56) • The Incredible Morgenstern’s brownie points: 5 (Ghostbusters Operations
Manual, Page 59) • Thomas Q. Fenstermacher’s brownie points: 17 (Ghostbusters Operations
Manual, Page 57) • Time Patrol’s brownie points: 25 each (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page
61) • Truly Incomprehensible Alien’s brownie points: 40 (Ghostbusters Operations
Manual, Page 61) • Wanda’s brownie points: 17 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 55) • Zolatu’s brownie points: 25 (Ghostbusters Operations Manual, Page 58)
