# Ghostbusters [GBI] Baltimore Franchise -- Retro Goodness



## DethStryke (Jul 17, 2003)

Greetings everyone!

I've started up a campaign with an old favorite of mine... Ghostbusters!

For those who never knew this existed, it was originally made with the D6 system that would find its way into West End's Star Wars game. I believe they used Ghostbusters as a play-test for the dice system. Regardless, it was released one year before WE Star Wars. Originally created by Chaosium and published by West End, it was later revised and released as Ghostbusters International (GBI) by West End themselves.

The game itself is very easy to learn and run, while keeping plenty of options for the easily amused and/or imaginative people to have a great time. I have five players at the moment, and one session under the belt. We play every other tuesday evening. It is set in a pulp 80s time frame (not like real life 80s, which was bad enough, this is Movie style 80s!) Big Hair, Bad clothes, Toothy grins and polyester leftovers rule the day. We are in Baltimore (obviously), though the adventures may take our stars outside of the state. We'll just have to wait and see! The game itself favors a very cinematic playing style, so I expect the write-ups to begin to read like a movie with fade-ins and outs, rather than the normal RPG fare where you see nearly every step. It is also comical in the dangers, with Stars rarely dying. Explosions would leave a charred ghostbuster with tatters for clothes and his hair standing on end, for example.

In the next few days, but no later than tuesday, I will have the Introduction, Cast, and first session write-up posted. I'm trying to get better in my writing, and I believe this is a great outlet for that. Feel free to comment on anything I post!  

Cheers!
DethStryke


----------



## DethStryke (Jul 18, 2003)

*Game Primer - Characters - Prologue*

_(this was the intro that I read off to everyone when we made characters):_



> The GBI System is very easy to get up and running. The character creation section of the book is only 4 pages long! Everyone has 4 Traits (Brains, Muscles, Moves & Cool), a special talent in each Trait (which they are especially good at, gaining a +3 dice to roll in tasks concerning that Talent), and a Goal (which they get special “Brownie Points” for completing or furthering their particular goal). Simple point-buy system; each player gets 12 points and a max of 5 in any one Trait. If there is a Goal or Talent that is not in the book’s lists, let me know and we can work something out. Everyone has 2 sessions of play to change anything on their character. Changes can only be made before the start of play or at the wrap up of those two sessions only. After you have played two sessions, your character is in stone.



 Each of the characters are described with my overview and then, in quotes, their specific words written in the Tags section of their character sheets. Some of them were quite humorous. Scrunch & Bocci, specifically, made their characters at totally separate times and did not discuss anything beforehand. They also both have Kick as their Muscles Talent. This weirded me out. All the woman I know are violent. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Baltimore GBI Campaign*  
Chapter 1 – _“Hey, I just work here…”_


*Dramatis Personae*

*Lara “Bocci” Bevins* – A firecracker with Purple hair and Green eyes. She's 28 years old and not going anywhere, but loving the excitement attached with getting there. "A disenchanted UMD law school graduate - can't pass the Barr. Maury Povich gets boring after the tenth time. Dad said get a job. Here I am! Greatest claim to fame - current MD notary and I can't remember my natural hair color."

*Scarlett “Scrunch” Pryde* – Seemingly following in Bocchi's footsteps, Scarlett is known to her friends and co-workers by Scrunch - alluding to her 5' in height. With green hair and violet eyes curtesy of dye and contacts, she has Clayton just as worried as Bocchi does. Scrunch just likes to help the greater cause, especially if that has to do with housekeeping. "In Pennsylvania, I am legally a midgit. I have OCD and everything NEEDS TO BE CLEAN!! I am currently single, likes romantic dinners and short men (Tall ones scare me)."

*Brett “Gunny” Banner* – Former Special Operations Gunnery Sargent Brett Banner has seen and done allot. That is not to say that he understands most of it. Very dedicated to his goal of eliminating the HST threat. When asked what the HST threat constituted, things get more complicated than they really need to be. "Sports a Jar Head Haircut."

*Phillip “Hatch” Hatchett* – The charmer of the group, Hatch is very interested in making the spotlight any way that he can. With a refined taste and a knack for saying the right thing at the right time, he is more at home at a classy restaurant than zapping ghosts. Still, not everyone his team will meet are ghosts. Sometimes those sweet-talking skills can come in handy when trying to calm the most frantic of customers... or getting away from the EPA. "Tall, dark, handsome if a little un-educated. Not stupid, just a little ignorant of the paranormal."

*Vinjay “Bombay” Gupta* – Seeking his fortune as his father and brothers before him have all done: Within the comfortable confines of Convenience Store Franchises. Vinjay, or Bombay as he is commonly called, is a deep thinker. So deep that he may not be able to see the shallow end at times. Rest assured, these kinds of things will eventually catch up with him. "Turban wearing stereotype, in reality seeking the enlightenment of success and the truth of the world."


*Supporting Roles*

*Clayton Basnett* - _Owner (49%) and Franchise Manager_ - Nearing fifty, Clayton is a business man through and through. Most of his other ambitions went into gimmick theories which did nothing but soak his wallet. The few gems that he dusted off in the market were a bit too dusty for him to appreciate; every time he jumped ship the project would take off a few weeks later. This is his final business excursion, and he'll be damned if it isn't gonna work! Finding the right investors helped, of course. Their interest in the whole ghost busting market here in Baltimore really helped grease the right palms for headquarters zoning and the like. Lately though, with the bills piling up, Clayton is remembering his tension headaches with a quiet fondness.

*Bonnie Hair* - _Secretary (9am - 5pm)_ - Bonnie is the nicest lady you've ever met unless you cross her. Unfortunately, by being born, you've crossed her. Mostly concerned with her wealth and how much she is being paid, she does her job and little else. With a mind like a steel trap, the comings and goings of everything is noted and organized with cool efficiency. Just like the two hundred dollars of nail care products lining her desk drawers. This is not to say that they are easily accessible or legible by any other human being. Simply that she knows where everything is at any given time. Just don't ask her for it on her lunch break.


*Prologue:*

Clayton thumbed through the pile of applications on his desk. That is, if you call about six a pile. He had been running an ad in the paper for two weeks now. At first, it was hopping with attention. After the background checks and filtering out those with documented mental issues, the pickings became decidedly slim.

That didn't seem to matter very much, as the phone hardly rang. When it did, it was generally for the pizza place down the street. Their number was only one digit off. Clayton still cringed every time he heard the phone ring, knowing that he is paying Bonnie to do little more than answer calls for hungry, mistaken people.

Looking through the papers a few more times, he began to formulate the team that he would need. Louis had said that their marketing department was going to hit his area with their commercials this next week. According to the franchise estimation data they had sent him, after those commercials hit the air, their business would skyrocket fairly quickly. Time was ticking and he needed to be ready for that. Regardless, the bills were already piling up and without people to work the job, there would be little hope of escaping bankruptcy.

"Bunch a' misfits," Clayton sighs to himself as he flopped the pages onto the desk and began to call the first number on the page. A man's voice answers with a groggy hello.

"Afternoon, son. I called to tell you congratulations. Y'er now a Ghostbuster!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


_(edit: Added PCs and NPCs info, plus Prologue. If PC information changes, since they have 2 sessions in which to switch/fix, I will update it here. Also, as more of the supporting cast is introduced, I will be adding them here as well!)_


----------



## DethStryke (Jul 19, 2003)

New and Updated information Bump!


----------



## DethStryke (Jul 31, 2003)

We've had a couple of weeks where two of our players have not sorted out exactly what they are doing on Tuesday nights.  This should be finally remedied this week, and the plans is to play this week, next week and fall into the every other tuesday, I believe.

Thanks for the (hopefully continued) interest, and if all goes well this upcoming tuesday everyone will be ready to play.

Edit: Well, alot of stuff has piled on, with planning my wedding and people not being able to make it, then having to move the night we play because 9pm-12am doesn't go well when adults have to work in the morning, then flying to other states for thanksgiving, people's family getting sick, dying, and having fights... all of this has, obviously, ground the game to a halt. I'm going to get the played games writeups polished and posted. We're gaining a new person but loosing three, so the next cast is going to be in flux (all woman table now, except for me!  )


----------

