Contents
1. Legal
2. Introduction
3. Translating characters from the original Ghostbusters RPG
4. Traits
5. Rolling the dice
6. Equipment
7. Combat
8. Fudge Points
9. Character SheetLegal
DISCLAIMERThe following materials based on FUDGE, entitled FUDGE Ghostbusters, are created by Christopher A. Goodwin and made available by Christopher A. Goodwin, and are not authorized or endorsed in any way by Steffan O’Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE materials. Neither Steffan O’Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE material is in any way responsible for the content of these materials. Original FUDGE materials © Copyright 1992-1995 Steffan O’Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
ABOUT FUDGE
FUDGE is a role-playing game written by Steffan O’Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of FUDGE are available on the internet via anonymous ftp at ftp.csua.berkeley.edu, and in book form or on disk from Grey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from FUDGE may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible with FUDGE. Every Game Master using FUDGE is encouraged to add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice and disclaimer (complete with FUDGE copyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author of FUDGE, Steffan O’Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.
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Introduction
Fudge Ghostbusters is a translation into Fudge of West End Games' classic first edition Ghostbusters RPG (itself based on the classic movie of the same name). It's pretty much straight across, and seems to work pretty well; the original is itself a rules light system, very Fudge-like in its implementation, and thus was an obvious candidate for Fudge-ification.Return to contents.
Translating characters from the original Ghostbusters RPG
It shouldn't be too difficult if you're familiar with both systems -- Ghostbusters PCs have an attribute range of 1-5, with some exceptional NPCs having attributes as high as 7. Consider a 5 in Ghostbusters to be equivalent to Great, with one-to-one correspondence going up or down. (Egon Spengler has a Legendary Brains.)Return to contents.
Traits
Attributes:Characters have four attributes in Fudge Ghostbusters:
Brains: This is your basic brainpower. Intelligence.
Muscles: Physical strength.
Moves: This is your agility and dexterity.
Cool: This is how suave and debonair you are.
Characters start with Fair in each attribute. Through trading levels around, you can go up to Great in any attribute. There are no free attribute levels.
Skills (Talents):
Characters take one Talent for each attribute, which is based on that attribute. That Talent has a level of one higher than the relevant attribute. The Talent can be as broad (Moves talent: Hand-to-hand combat) or as focused (Muscles talent: Open beer bottles with teeth) as you want.
For all other uses of skills that you don't have listed, roll against the attribute in question.
Goals/Gifts/Faults:
Characters must each have a Goal. Sample goals are Sex, Wealth, Fame, Soulless Science, or Serving Humanity. These aren't by any means the only Goals characters can take, but are suggested as starting points.
Each character must take at least one fault. You can take "normal" gifts like photographic memory, absolute direction sense, and the like, but no supernormal powers allowed. You have to take one additional fault for every gift you take. Usually a character's fault will be related to his/her goal (lecherous for characters with a goal of sex, greedy for wealth, etc.).
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Dice rolling
All attribute and talent checks will be done on 4dF plus a Ghost Die. The Ghost Die is 1d6; ideally, you'd use a Ghost Die from West End Games' Ghostbusters RPG, but I know that not everyone has one. Use the '6' on the d6 for the ghost symbol. The Ghost Die doesn't add to dice rolls, but when a Ghost (or a 6) comes up, something bad/strange/weird/funny happens to the PCs. The character may succeed, if his roll was good enough to succeed, but even so something will still happen to help the ghosts. If the ghosts roll a ghost, it helps them.Return to contents.
Equipment:
Items are small (handheld, weigh from nothing to a few pounds, and/or can be attached to the belt; cellular phones are a good example), large (bulky things taking their own carrying case, anything over about 5 pounds and/or must be used with two hands; proton packs and laptop computers fall in here) and immobile (anything that a Ghostbuster can't just pick up and carry with him; desktop computers, the containment grid, and the Ectomobile). Characters can carry up to 3 large items, +1 if Muscles are Great or higher, and +1 if the character has Carry Heavy Items as a Muscles talent. Two small items count as one large item. If you have the original Ghostbusters game, use the equipment cards from that. Otherwise, feel free to make up equipment cards on 3x5 index cards (cut them into pieces for best results). Or don't bother with cards at all; just note down the pieces of equipment on the character sheet. (Cards are more fun, though.)The equipment list:
Immobile Items:
- Ectomobile (may be driven around): It's a car, okay? It can carry a full load of Ghostbusters plus their equipment, unless there are a lot of them. The 1959 Cadillac hearse is out; today's Ghostbusters tool around in a stylish minivan with simulated wood-grain paneling.
- Containment Grid: The grid is computer controlled; retina and handprint scans prevent it from being shut down by any except authorized personnel. Brains or Computer Hacking at Legendary difficulty to defeat this. Takes one full round to transfer a ghost from a ghost trap to the containment grid. Has 15 minute battery backup power to give you time to connect a gas-powered generator in case of power failure.
- Desktop Computer (can be taken apart and moved elsewhere, but it won't be functioning in this state; not something you'd ordinarily carry around on a mission): Ye basic Pentium 666 with 1 gigabyte of RAM and 30 gigabyte hard drive. Roll against Brains or computer related talents to use. Rolling a ghost usually causes the machine to crash in interesting ways, especially if using any Microsoft operating system. Includes a high speed connection to the Internet (equivalent to a T1) and domain name (www.ghostbusters.com?)
Large Items:
- Gas-powered generator: Comes with built in wheels so you can push it around; can be loaded into the Ectomobile and moved somewhere else -- it takes two people to lug around. (So it's not *exactly* immobile...) Lasts for 2-5 hours on a full tank of gas, depending on power usage. Useful for powering heavy electrical equipment on-site, as well as providing backup power for the containment grid in case the power goes out. There is a larger, truly immobile version that has a 50 gallon tank, runs on diesel fuel, and is *very* expensive.
- Proton Pack: Has two settings, attack and containment. It takes one round to switch settings. For more on the proton pack, see below under Combat.
- Parachute: Character takes no damage from falls; roll against Moves, Brains or Skydiving talent, usually at Fair difficulty. Don't roll a Ghost.
- Camcorder: Standard type with blah blah blah. Roll against Brains, Photography, or Video Production talent to use; the better the result, the better the quality of picture. Rolling a Ghost means you left the lens cap on, forgot to charge the battery, ran out of tape, or something equally disastrous. With a camcorder and a PC, you can produce professional quality video on your desktop, with titles, neat fades, and so on. (That doesn't necessarily mean it's any good; professionally produced crap is still crap.)
- Laptop Computer: Anything as powerful as a desktop machine, except for the newest, highest tech processors, is available in a laptop version. Cellular and wireless modems are available which will let you connect to the Internet (usually at slow speeds, often no faster than a 28.8kbps modem).
- Ghost Trap: Use two proton beams set on containment to move a ghost over the trap, then step on the foot pedal to open it. The ghost is then slurped into the trap. Step off the foot pedal to close the trap. Don't look into the trap. (It takes about a full round for the trap to slurp the ghost in; if not immobilized by proton packs on the containment setting, the ghost could zip away in this time.)
- Geiger Counter: Brains or Nuclear Physics to use. Allows you to detect radioactivity and tell what the level is.
- Beach Kit: Doubles your fun at the beach. Includes a boom box with CD player, as well as anything else you would reasonably expect to take to the beach (do I really have to go through it all?).
- Aura Video Analyzer: Actually is connected to a PC nowadays. Brains, Computer Operation, or Parapsychology to use. This will tell you how the subject sees him/herself, which will usually tell you whether the subject is possessed. Also gives you the basic emotional state of the subject. It still looks like a metal kitchen colander with resistors and diodes and things all over it.
- Scuba Gear: Brains, Swimming, or Scuba Diving talent to use. Gives you an air supply to use underwater; a tank of air lasts about 1/2 hour. Rolling a ghost can be harmful.
- Alpine Gear: Gives +1 to any climbing attempts (including through Climbing talent and whatever attribute is appropriate to climbing).
- CD holder: Contains up to 12 CDs which don't count against your encumbrance.
- Diskette holder: Can hold up to 30 3.5" diskettes, which don't count against your encumbrance. Note: The 3.5" diskette is nearly dead as a means of storing information. (The 5.25" diskette already is, and who remembers the 8" diskette?)
Small Items:
- Utility Belt: Can hold up to 4 small items, which don't count against your encumbrance.
- Packet of business cards: Pretty self explanatory. You can also get coffee mugs, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and other items to hand out to your adoring public.
- One single CD: Reference materials such as the Roylance Guide, Tobin's Spirit Guide, Spate's Catalog, the Ghostbusters Handbook, etc. are now available on CD-ROM; one disc per reference source. Also can contain today's (or yesterday's) hottest music, nifty computer games, etc.
- Ecto-Goggles: Smaller than the old visors, consume less power. Allow you to see ghosts that may not be materialized. Still requires darkness, though; they also still look goofy.
- PKE meter: Brains or Parapsychology roll. Tells you the approximate level of psychokinetic energy in the vicinity, with quality of results depending on how well you made the roll. Somewhat directional. Rolling a ghost can give you skewed results or can cause the device to fail.
- Walkie Talkies (hands-free, two way communication model): Allow you to talk to anyone else who has one within about a mile radius (more or less depending on conditions).
- Cell Phone (expensive to use and maintain): Works like a standard cell phone. I think we all can figure this one out...
- Pager: I think we all can figure this one out too.
- Bullhorn: Allows you to be heard above crowds and other loud noises.
- UV/IR/Kirilian lens filter kit (may be used with camcorder, 35mm camera, or digital camera): Allows you to take pictures in the appropriate frequency spectra. Using the Kirilian filter can allow you to take pictures of anything you could see with the Ecto-goggles; it also gives you a picture of the subject's aura, which could be useful to someone who is knowledgeable in interpreting such things.
- 35mm camera: Brains or Photography talent to avoid botching; the better the roll, the better the picture.
- Digital Camera (built in 3.5" diskette drive; may also upload images to a PC): Ditto. Brains or Computer Operation roll to transfer pictures to a PC, or store them on 3.5" floppy disk. One disk can hold up to 10 pictures at average quality, or fewer at better quality.
- Flashlight: Do I really need to tell you how this works?
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- Maglite: Huge flashlight, suitable for using as a club. When using as a club, if you roll a Ghost, it pops open and the batteries spill out. You still hit if your roll was good enough, though.
Combat:
The majority of combat will be player characters vs. ghosts. I won't cover human vs. human combat very much except to say that Ghostbusters is supposed to be a humorous genre, and that very seldom does anyone ever die. Fudge handles this well enough, thank you very much.A hit from a proton pack set to attack does 1 Ectopresence worth of damage to a ghost. For most cosmic level entities, hitting them with a proton pack is of little use (especially since many of those entities have the ability to regenerate lost Ectopresence) -- you might get their attention, but that's about it. Once an entity has been reduced to 0 Ectopresence, it can be held in place and/or moved with proton packs set for containment. One proton pack can hold the ghost in place, while it *usually* takes two or more proton packs to move a ghost. Insert lots of suspense and warnings about crossing the streams, but in truth it won't happen unless either done deliberately, or all characters involved roll ghosts on the Ghost Die *and* the GM wants it to happen.
Note to the GM: You're gonna get real sick of hearing the players say "Let's cross the streams!" if it looks like they're up against something they can't handle. We suggest you blow up a few city blocks the first time they try (and have it fail, to boot!) to curb them of this tendency.
Missed shots from a proton pack do lots of collateral damage.
Ghosts:
Ghosts really have two attributes: Ectopresence and Power. Ectopresence measures a ghost's connection to its source of psychokinetic energy. This is measured as a number rather than an attribute. Smaller ghosts will have Ectopresence ratings in the 1-5 range (the spud from Ghostbusters might have had a 2). Tougher ghosts will have in the 6-10 range (think Zuul and Vins Clortho). Cosmic entities such as Gozer the Gozerian have Ectopresence ratings upwards of 100.
Power is rated on the standard Terrible, Poor . . . Superb scale, and the really cosmic level entities (Gozer-level) can sometimes have Power ratings of Legendary or higher. In general, entities will have one special ability per level of Power they have, and all of their rolls for their special abilities will be rolled against their Power. There are always exceptions, though.
Proton pack range table:
Distance Difficulty 1-5 feet: Fair 6-10 feet: Good 11-20 feet: Great 21-30 feet: Superb 31-50 feet: Legendary Proton beams will not travel further than 50 feet.
Wounds:
For wounds, use a damage track for Ghostbusters. Characters won't die; instead, when a character reaches To the Hospital, he's in for a long hospital stay. (This is most likely the case with lower levels of hurt, although the hospital stay won't be as long.) Use the 3d6 damage method, although you most likely won't read anything higher than the median die, although there are exceptions (charging a ghost on top of a 12 story building, only to slip in a patch of slime and skid off the edge, landing in a dumpster might read the min and max dice, for example).
1, 2 3, 4 5, 6 7, 8 9+ Wound: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Pretty Whacked To the Hospital O O O O O O O O O O Pretty Whacked is the equivalent to Incapacitated; a character who is Pretty Whacked can't do much except stagger around, groan, and maybe bleed. A character who is on his way To the Hospital can't even stagger around.
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Fudge Points:
Characters should start with at least 10 Fudge Points. With the frequency with which bad things can happen (basically, a 1 in 6 chance with every dice roll) GMs should feel free to be fairly liberal with the Fudge Points. A brownie point can reduce an injury by one level, down to a scratch.Return to contents.
Fudge Ghostbusters Character Sheet:
/---FUDGE Character Sheet--------\ Character Name: | | EP | Goal: | +3 Superb | 8 | Player: | +2 Great | 4 | Date Created: | +1 Good | 2 | Unspent EP: | +0 Fair | 1 | Fudge Points: | -1 Mediocre | 1 | Starting Limits: | -2 Poor ... Skill Default | 1 | | -3 Terrible | 1 | Character Story & Personality: |--------------------------------| | Any Talents not specified on | | the character sheet default | | to the Attribute level. | |--------------------------------| | EP = Raising skills to that | | level with Experience Points | \--------------------------------/ 1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+ Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Pretty Whacked To The Hospital O O O O O O O O O O ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Attributes: | Talents: | Gifts: -----------------------|---------------------------|------------------ | | Brains: | | | | Muscles: | | | | Moves: | | | | Cool: | | | | -----------------------|---------------------------|------------------- Mass: | Supernormal Powers: | Faults: -----------------------|---------------------------|------------------- | | | [if any] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Last Updated: 7/30/99 3:46pm EDT