Chaosium Digest Volume 13, Number 5 Date: Sunday, March 3, 1996 Number: 3 of 3 Contents: The Ooze Brother, Part Three (Chris Hodgson) GHOSTBUSTERS -------------------- From: Chris Hodgson Subject: The Ooze Brothers, Part Three System: Ghostbusters PART 4: THE CHASE Getting out of the Empire ballroom might get quite hectic, even without the possible inclusion of The Vengeful Girlfriend and those eager policemen, but it's nothing to the reception they players are going to get in Chicago. After the predictable verbal opening to the chase, for which the Ghostbuster who remembers receives 5 Brownie points ("Its a 106 miles to Chicago.."), we must sadly jump ahead a few hours to dawn. Valuable time has been wasted escaping the Landisburg area. Perhaps it was the necessity of driving through the middle of Bob's Country Bunker that annoyed the police and the Landisburg natives, but for whatever the reason, everyone that has a grudge against the Ghostbusters (possibly from scenarios long before this one) appears behind them, in a car, after their blood. The chase itself can be resolved using Car Wars rules for real edge of the seat realism: assuming you want to be playing this scenario beyond the end of the millennium. Alternately, you can use the rules provided here and produce your own edge of the seat realism. (Maybe you could play it out in your car. No I'm serious. Just don't try and drive at the same time. Tell your neighbours Tom Jones car parties are the latest thing.) This is organized as a set of programmed encounters, something like those kiddies gamebooks we all got fed up with. As well as the different routes available, each encounter has a set of 4 different speeds, together with a difficulty level. If the driver exceeds the number with a Moves or Drive roll, he takes the indicated damage and causes the indicated effects. If he or she fails, the car takes double damage. Each car has structure points, meant to represent the overall strength of the car. Ecto 1 starts with 100 structure points but cannot reach the highest speed level unless some on the spot (or on the move!) Weird Science modifications are made, such as rigging the power plant to run off a proton pack. This has a difficulty level of 25+. The viability of performing this on the move is up to the GM. It is possible the Ghostbusters have ripped off some other car. Police cars have the same performance as Ecto 1 but only 75 structure points. They do have nifty radios and sirens however, and a potential for causing a great deal of confusion. Gerry's Porsche, or any other sportscar for that matter, can go as fast as you want but has only 50 structure points (They don't make cars like they used to). Only the Ectomobile of course has The Machine That Goes Ping. If you wish you could keep track of all the other car's structure points as well, if you are a complete numeric masochist (or play Car Wars). Encounters Having been chased by the Nazis, et al, for most of the night with only Egon's lean burn fuel system, The Machine That Goes Ping and good luck keeping them ahead, the players now reach the outskirts of Chicago, with the police in hot pursuit. Some old grudge has ensured that even the National Guard are waiting for them. The fact that the players have probably broken every speed limit in Illinois, by now, and that hasn't helped. The radio is full of hatred: "Use of unnecessary force in the apprehension of the Ghostbusters has been approved." But don't worry, they are on A MISSION FROM GOD. Just as well, as the Cook County Assessors Office closes for an extended lunch in an hour! 1. ILLEGAL EXIT OF A HIGHWAY About half a mile out, with Chicago almost in sight ahead, the Ghostbusters can see a heavy police roadblock. The road behind is full of police cars (they seem to have lost the Nazis when the cops started to appear in numbers). If the players are feeling really crazy, they can crash straight through. This will cost them 30 structure points and 3 police cars. Go to encounter 2 and then straight to 5. The alternative is to leave the little road they're on by cutting across a quarter mile of flat countryside, climbing up a steep bank and jumping the barrier to get them onto the Expressway leading downtown. Special Effects They have a choice of 3 speeds (4 if they have a faster car). SLOW= +10, Lose 3 Structure points, Roll another +10 Drive or Moves to avoid being headed off. ONE COP CAR ROLLS DOWN HILL. FAST= +5, Lose 5 SP, TWO COP CARS ROLL DOWN HILL VERY FAST= +8, Lose 8 SP, FOUR COP CARS ROLL DOWN HILL ONE FLIES AFTER YOU AND LANDS ON ANOTHER CAR (A NAZI). INDIANAPOLIS 500= +12, Lose 10 SP, AS ABOVE BUT LEADING CAR LANDS IN AN 18 WHEELER Remember the "+12" is the difficulty level which must be exceeded by a Moves or Drive roll to avoid taking double the indicated structure point damage. Go to 2. 2. DRIVING WITHOUT DUE CARE AND ATTENTION Here on the Expressway, things seem much faster and the cops haven't taken long to catch up. Was that a sign for Downtown? If driving Slow(+15) or Fast(+10), make drive rolls to avoid being caught. If going faster, make +5 rolls to avoid hitting something or taking off (Lose 10 SP. Players who drive everywhere at INDIANAPOLIS 500 are optionally subject to relativistic effects. Having them arrive before the scenario starts will teach them a lesson). The players now have the choice of staying on the expressway (Go to 3) or taking a quieter route with less cops (Go to 4). 3. FAILURE TO STOP AT A RED LIGHT Oh dear. The lights have changed. The players could stop and hope to fight the cops off, but even then they'll be right after them when the lights change. If they go through.... Special Effects SLOW= Roll +10 to avoid being hit for 5 SP. FAST= Roll +15 to avoid 10 SP (F*%#@ng Volvos). V.FAST= Roll +5 to avoid being grazed for 5 SP, ONE CAR DEMOLISHES THE VOLVO INDY 500= Safe!, 2 COP CARS AND THE VOLVO HIT A GARBAGE TRUCK. Go to 5. 4. FLYING A CAR WITHOUT A LICENSE There are certainly less cops around here but isn't there a river on this route? Tell the players they are heading toward a small traffic jam and they are being chased by a police helicopter. They pass a sign: MAYOR DALEY MEMORIAL BRIDGE. Yes, that bridge. The one that surprise, surprise, is currently being raised to allow a river patrol boat underneath. Pursuit is close. If they stop, the chopper will be on them. First, the players have got to negotiate the traffic. Tell them they're heading toward the cars ahead and must make some nifty maneuvers to get past them. Moderate rolls to slow down if they're going fast, then a difficult one. Not to avoid taking damage but to avoid losing a (another?) level of speed when they hit the start of the bridge/ramp! Once the players are ready to take the jump: Special Effects SLOW= * Oh dear. See below. FAST= +10 to avoid 5 SP loss, OTHERWISE PERFECT. ONLOOKERS GET OUT OF CARS AND APPLAUD. V.FAST= +10 to avoid 5 SP loss, OVERSHOT, SPARKS OFF THE FRONT. The chase helicopter calls up a whole fleet of police cars on the other side of the river. Gaining momentum rapidly you go to 5. INDY 500= * Oh dear. See below. * The Wrong Stuff There is a slight bang from the rear of the Ectomobile and the covers on those stylish rear fins blow off. Busy chap that Mr Spengler is, he completely forgot to remove that experimental JATO (Jet Assisted Take Off) system that Rays' Soviet Space Agency friends installed at great expense. The Ectomobile's computer monitoring system has decided that you're going too slow and need impetuous or that you're going too fast, you're trying to reach orbit, and it's doing its best to get you there. Like I say: Experimental. With shocking suddenness the two solid fuel boosters in the rear fins kick in. Make the players do some theraputic face stretching excercises. Then, a green head up display flashes across the windscreen IN RUSSIAN. An Impossible Roll on anything the GM sees fit will abort the ten second burn just after they start the jump. They complete the Jump at VFast speed and suffer ejection countdown described below. If they fail to abort, the boosters burn for the full 10 seconds, then cut out. Describe a favourite scene from "The Right Stuff": Stars shining dimly through the strangely dark blue sky... etc. The front of the car dips as the Ectomobile goes into a dive. As Chicago appears, slowly, almost serenely over the bonnet, and a brief period of weightlessness causes much jollity in the car (watch those parking tickets fly), the automatic ejection countdown begins IN RUSSIAN. Half way down, gosh it must be windy in there, a message flashes in English warning that: ANY ROOF MOUNTED EQUIPMENT MUST BE JETTISONED BEFORE EJECTION indicating a button on the dashboard that will fire roof mounted explosive bolts. When this is pressed a muffled bang can be heard from the roof followed imediatly by the message: EJECT SEQUENCE ABORTED *UNKNOWN DORSAL CONFIGURATION* The EGES system, installed after the JATO, still sits defiantly on the roof. Its ability to sustain damage and yet still be thoroughly inconvenient is demonstrated now as all its functions go completely ape. If the players have already heard its full repetoir, play it again at double speed. Mercifully, it is somewhat muffled by the sound of the wind at terminal velocity. The only way to turn it off now is to physically cut it off the roof with a proton pack. Luckilly, before the ghostbusters go splat, Ray's parachute braking system saves them. The Ectomobile settles fairly gently onto an empty road heading toward town, while the chase helicopter meanwhile takes emergency evasive action and loses them. Go to 6. 5. TAKING RIGHT HAND TURN FAR IN EXCESS OF THE SPEED LIMIT Suddenly you are hurtling along a road beneath an elevated railway: an exhilarating experience until a building site appears in front of you. You must make a 90 degree right hand turn right now! Special Effects SLOW= Safe, No effects. FAST= +5 (On Cool) to avoid skidding, TWO COP CARS SKID AND HIT EACH OTHER. FAST= +5, Lose 5 SP. AS ABOVE BUT FOUR MORE HIT THE FIRST TWO. INDY 500= +10, Lose 15 SP (sideswipe), AS ABOVE BUT PILE UP EVENTUALLY INCLUDES OVER 20 CARS. POLICE OCCUPANTS ALL GET OUT AND FIRE AT THE RAPIDLY RECEDING ECTO 1. Go to 6 6. BREECH OF THE PEACE Just when you thought you'd lost the Cops, a black Porsche pulls onto the road behind you and begins to pursue. A large swastika hangs out of one window and a Luger firing Nazi out of the other. Long range PKE detectors in Ecto 1 might register a periodically materialized ghost. The Machine That Goes Ping will do so if your D6 rolls an unnatural "1". It is Gerry/Plenck. Go to 7. 7. FAILING TO STOP AT A POLICE ROADBLOCK They mean business this time. There is an 18 wheeler blocking the road. If the Ghostbusters are going at least FAST and are prepared to leave 40SP of roof behind, they can drive underneath. If they do, go straight to 10. The only other alternative is to crash through a line of traffic cones and a sign onto a road that's conspicuously empty (Go to 8 below). Closely followed by the Ecto-Porsche (which incidently can go under the truck without damage, it being A Tiny European Car), Plenck will use his Animate power on the traffic cones causing them to cluster onto the Ecto-mobile and begin devouring it at a rate of one SP per round per cone (actual numbers up to the GM). Only way to get them off is to send someone out with a proton pack. That'll keep the passengers busy. Other suggestions for spicing up things in the car are The Oil Leak (see the film) and The Possession, in which Plenck uses his Zip and possession power to try and gain control of Ecto 1. Yes, you too can play out your favourite scenes from The Exorcist in the middle of the car! Will they ever get the green vomit out of the upholstery? 8. DRIVING ALONG AN UNFINISHED ROADWAY But, this isn't just any piece of unfinished road. This will eventually be Chicago's first "Sky-Over", a road that carries its users way over the town centre traffic below. Unfortunately, it's not finished. This long empty road goes straight up into empty space. At this point, with the Nazis behind them and the void in front, the Supreme Being will interfere on the Ghostbuster's side. No matter what extremely unlikely stunt they try and pull, it will succeed (as in the film) but unfortunately the Nazis won't. A spectacular fall from this height will incapacitate Gerry, but Plenck will still be around for the final showdown. If they go back down the road, they will have to cross over onto another lane again. They have a choice: one is covered in National Guard troops, the other is clear... but going the wrong way. Go to 9 and then 1 (Wrong way road) or 10 (National Guard road block). 9. DRIVING THE WRONG WAY UP A FREEWAY DOWNRAMP Wow! Look at all that traffic! All coming right at you! Unless they do one awesome U-turn (one roll at double the indicated difficulty) and start following the traffic out of Chicago (start at 1 again), they must roll 10 times to avoid losing 5 SP each hit. SLOW= +13, FAST= +14, V.FAST= +15, INDY 500= +17. (No police. They've learnt their lesson by now.). Having completed that, the way to 12 is clear for you. Even if you have to complete it on foot... 10. FAILING TO STOP AT A NATIONAL GUARD ROAD BLOCK Yes another roadblock, but this one has tanks. There is a small gap between the two tanks, but an awful lot of weaponry is aimed at the guys. There is an alternative: on their left is a shopping mall (See 11). If they go for the roadblock (Brownie points and stiff upper lips all round) whistle the last post. Mass sounds of weapons being cocked. Luckily that Supreme Dude is still watching them, and if they are going V.FAST or above (slower takes 20 SP damage from near misses), every single bullet and shell will miss and strike the car immediately behind. All four wheels and the engine of the car, be it Porsche or leading cop will be blasted off. It will then skid to a blasted halt. Even if the Porsche is completely destroyed Plenck can materialize in front of the startled soldiers and continue using Zip. 11. MALICIOUS DESTRUCTION OF AN ENTIRE SHOPPING MALL Each round they are in the Mall the players must make a difficulty roll to avoid demolishing a randomly determined shop. First, roll to see the shop they are hurtling to avoid. SHOPS TO BE DEMOLISHED TABLE 2 Greengrocers 3 Burger Bar (Fragile. With a Volvo owners club meeting inside.) 4 Cafe 5 Liquor store 6 Malt shop 7 Pet store 8 D.I.Y. store (Full of paint) 9 Drug store 10 High class fashion store (full of dummies) 11 Hardware Store 12 Sex Shop (full of ...well, whatever) Driving through a shop does 1SP of damage. SLOW= +5, FAST= +10, V.FAST= +15, INDY 500 =+20. Everything the Ectomobile misses will be hit by 1-3 cop cars and jeeps. Cool characters can grab stuff from the shops as they hurtle through (+10 on Cool). The car will of course be covered in debris anyway. The Ecto-porsche will hit each shop 50% of the time and after hitting three will halt. The only way out is to drive straight through a wall: this will do 20 SP damage, but will get them on a road straight to the city centre and the Cook County Assessors Office. 12. CLIMAX Suddenly they are driving across a beautiful pedestrian plaza sending happy-go-lucky natives scattering for cover. They pull up outside a large black building with "IRS" conspicuously prominent. The last Ghostbuster out of the car must imediatly make a +15 Cool roll to avoid slamming the car door. If he fails, and Ecto 1 has taken more than 60 points of damage, the heroic vehicle will instantly collapse into a pile of scrap (with possibly one last pathetic ping from the ever-mysterious machine). Once inside the building, they must find the right office. If you are feeling particularly cruel at this point you can put them through the relevant Routine (see GM Book). However, bear in mind the police and National Guard right on their trail. Once on the right floor and in the right office they find that Steven Speilberg, working here part time, is having a lunch break. STEVEN SPEILBERG Almost supernaturally successful film Director Brains 5 Not Get Oscar 10 Cool 3 Cajole Child Actor 8 Moves 4 Drive Steadicam 7 Muscle 2 Carry Wallet 5 Distinctive Mannerisms: Starts every sentence with "Well..." Mr Speilberg can quickly be convinced to open the office up, but before he can get the paperwork ready, the lights suddenly blow out and Plenck erupts through the floor, carrying a Bazooka! Luckily, he is an awful shot and only a few brownie points, and a lot of scenery can be lost. Driven mad by vengeance and by being dead anyway, Plenck then fights to the end, possibly even using Possess on one of the Ghostbusters (or even Steven Speilberg, who will then go on to make an even better version of "Poltergeist"). With the Nazis safely disposed of, the ghostbusters are free to hand over the gold shortly before the forces of Law arrive in heavily armed numbers. THE AFTERMATH The Orphanage is saved. But the police want blood. If you are determined to follow the events of the film, they are headed for the Juliet (as in prison) prison band, whether they can sing or not. A large trial is in order at least. They'll have to defend themselves of course (no sane lawyer will touch this case, though Tully might be persuaded after his incredible performance in Ghostbusters 2) but luckily they have all the cute kids and nuns of the orphanage on their side, together with Sparky who will ensure a great deal of public support. The truth is, they can't lose the trial, as the Mayor, in the best Chicago tradition is a militant Catholic who is ecstatic that American Weird Science is now serving the Pope (apparently) and has bribed the jury. Not only will they go free, they will be invited to set up a local franchise and be presented with a replacement car. As so much of the police force was destroyed in the chase, they've decided to sell of the survivors and equip the whole force anew with Ford Jelly Molds. There is an inevitable "Sparky: the Movie". If the players have the chicken, shame on you; she could have become a future arch nemesis in hiding. Use of the Aura Video Analyzer will confirm that she is possessed by the spirit of Adolf Hitler, a fact that Egon recommends should be kept secret, if only to keep Mossad off your backs. Finally the players are presented with one of the surviving police cars: smaller than Ecto - 1, but with a 440 cubic inch cop power plant, cop tires, cop shocks, the works. Only problem is the cigarette lighter doesn't work. NOTES FOR CONVERTING THE OOZE BROTHERS TO AD&D Change all references from Chicago to "Tekupiq", a charmingly beautiful semi-medieval Land besieged on all sides by the Forces of Darkness which threaten to swamp the hobbits with democracy, hospitals, human rights, central heating, foreign aid etc.. The Madonna is a Statuette of Futility (+3) giving the wearer +5 Charisma, -10 Intelligence and subsequent craving for herring in sour cream. Ecto-1 is a Moldybeanean War Galley, seating 50 in comfort and 150 in desperate circumstances. Maneuverability is 1G per rounded; phaseturn and observation is also good (Otherwise treat as a Volvo). The stereo is OK, if you like monotonous percusssion. * The Creature From Beyond can be either a Lich (18th Level with unlimited Disintegrate), or a two piece dinner with coleslaw & fries. Father Charles is a 10th level Bard/Monk. Carrie Fisher is the Princess of Tekupiq, John Lee Hooker is the Emperor of the Blues and Tom Jones is a small brown coffee stain on your GMs screen called SIMON. * If using these rules don't let them try the parking maneuver outside the restauraunt. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's Games. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium. Ghostbusters is a trademark of Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. Your Apparition is Our Opportunity.