CongnatulationslYou have just purchased your very own Ghostbusters franchise! Now you toocan.earn big bucks and become a media superstar battl ing spooks, spuds, andsoul-sucking demons from beyond the grave.

But hey! I gotta tell you rtgfu now -being a Ghostbuster isn't all ChateauLafite '57 and TIME magazine covefi. . .

To be a Chostbuster, you gotta have guts.

To be a Chostbuster; you gotta face unimaginable horrors - hor-rors which threaten l ife, sanity, happiness, the very fabric of theuntverse - and even your profit margin.

T r a i n i n g M a n u a l , i n c l u d t n g i n t e r l o r i l l u s t r a t t o n s e 1 9 g 6 W e s t E n d C a m e s , I n c .CHOSTBUSTERS artwork, logo and logo design acl 19u6 Columbla Pictures Industr ies, Inc. Al l Rishts Reserved

St i l l game? Creat l Crab an of f ic ia l lD form and read on

To be a Chostbuster, you gotta be suave and debonaire.

Chostbusters Trai n i ng Manual

VENKMAN:Many people are afrto play me becausethey think they can'tdo just ice to myabi l i t ies as Ghost-buster and ladv's man.lf that's true for you,I suggest you start witha less complex char-acter. Design a char-acter of Your own -or play Ray Stantz.

BecominqAGhosttiftster

Designing Your CharacterFirst of all, decide who you want your character to be.

You can play the movie characters; you can make up original characters; you

can play your fourth-grade science teacher; you can even play yourself (not recom-

mended for potential schizophrenics). lf you want to play the characters from

the movie, dig up the pre-generated Chostbusters lD card with the character you

want to play; you can skip to "How to Play" in Reference File A, if you want.

Otherwise, grab a b lank lD card and wr i te your character 's name on i t .

Starting Up Real Quickl f you're in a real hurry to play, and you want to play the characters fromthe movie, all you have to read is the two-page "The Rules" in ReferenceFile A and the two-page "Typical Ten Minutes of Play" in Reference File B.

lf you want to create your own ghost-zapping super-sleuth (or you just

want to be real prepared), read "How to Play" and this swell TrainingManual.

Anybody in the world can be aGhostbuster. I mean, look atmy bosses...

Choosing a PictureThe s ix famous Chostbusters have thei r p ic tures on thei r lD cards. l f you l ike,you can put a photo or drawing of your Chostbuster on your card. The Ten-Most-Wanted list at your |ocal post office is a good place to find interesting photos.

TraitsChostbusters have four Traits: Brains, Muscle, Moves, and Cool. Each Trait isassigned a numer ical va lue. The h igher number a Tra i t is , the bet ter a characterdoes when using i t .

You have twelve points to allot among your Ghostbuster's Traits. You must assignat least one point to each Trait, and you may not assign more than five pointsto any one Trait.

Note: Some famous Chostbusters have more than five points in a Trait. Theextra points were gained through years of hard work (or, in Egon's case, after eatingvast quant i t ies of f ish) . Your Ghostbuster wi l l be e l ig ib le to increase h is Tra i tsafter he has a few adventures under his belt.

VENKMAN:Not everyone is as Cool as I am. ButI guess you knew that.

Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual

How Traits are UsedWhen your Chostbuster wants to do something that he might fa i l a t , l ike dr iv ingEcto- . l through the L incoln Tunnel at 90 mph, or walk ing and chewing gum atthe same time, the Ghostmaster wil l assign a diff iculty number to that task. Thenyou wil l have to roll dice and attempt to equal or beat the diff iculty number.l f you do, your character is sk i l l fu l ly zooming through the L incoln Tunnel , lay ingcool skid marks all over the place; if you fail, your character has swallowed hisgum and sauntered into the East River.

When at tempt ing to equal or beat the d i f f icu l ty number (which wi l l usual lybe between 5 and 30, though it can be greater), you get to roll as many diceas you have points in the Trait which pertains to the action you are attempting.For example: Egon wants to f i l l out h is income tax form so the Government wi l lrefund him $64,000.95 in taxes. The Ghostmaster decides that Egon is trying touse h is Bra ins Tra i t , and assigns a d i f f icu l ty number of 40. Since Egon has Brainsof seven, he ro l ls seven d ice. l f he ro l ls 40 or more, Uncle Sam coughs up thesamoleons; i f not , Egon gets a large f ine and has h is taxes audi ted for the pastseven years.

Always make the Chost Die one of the d ice you ro l l . (Egon would ro l l s ix nor-mal d ice p lus the Chost Die. ) i f a number comes up on the Chost Die, just addit to all the others; if the ghost comes up, it counts as zero. (The appearanceof Mr. Spook has other unfortunate side effects as well, but we'l l get to that later.)

TalentsTalents are areas of special abil ity within each Trait. Each Chostbuster has oneTalent for each Trait. When your character attempts to perform a task that he hasa Talent for, you get to roll three extra dice.

Example: Egon has great Bra ins, which means he does wel l in a l l Bra in-related tasks - but he is preeminently nifty when it comes to Physics. lfEgon wanted to design a solar-powered flashlight, a task relating to hisPhysics Talent, he would get to roll ten dice, not seven.

Remember: the number following a particular Trait or Talent tells you now manydice to ro l l when at tempt ing a task which uses that Tra i t or Talent .

Pick four Talents for your Chostbuster, one for each Trait. The Talents are l istedbelow. (You can give your chostbuster a Talent not I isted below, such as ViralOncology or Bike Rid ing, i f your Chostmaster agrees.)BrainsBrains shows how smart your chostbuster is. Very smart people (Brains 5 or more)can do calculus in thei r heads, wr i te computer programs which work the f i rs tt ime they run, and speak foreign languages like a native. Bozos l ike to watchLost in Space reruns on TV.

In GHosrBUsrERs, unlike real l i fe, all smart folks know lots about lots ofthings. lf your Ghostbuster has a high Brains Trait, he knows a lot about historv.b io logy, chemist ry physics, l inguist ics, t r iv ia , and the occul t . A character 's Bra insTalent s imply determines what h is par t icu lar specia l ty is .

Here is a short l ist of Brains Talents. lf you want your chostbuster to have aBrains Talent not on th is l is t , ta lk i t over wi th your chostmaster f i rs t .

Med ic ineOccul tParapsychologyPhysicsPsychoan a Iys isSoap Opera RomancesSports FactsZoology

EGON:That is the sort of

r implausible exam-ple that a Liberal

Arts major likeVenkman would

devise. Even amarginally in-

formed individualunderstands that a

solar-poweredflashlight is

absolutely absurd...though, now that I

think about it...Hmm. Where's my slide rule?

VENKMAN:I have a Cool 6, which

is very, very im-pressive. Roll 6

dice for mewhen deter-

mining whetheror not l 'm Cool.

But if thediff iculty calls for

bluffing... well,bluffing is my Talent.

When I Bluff, roll 9dice for me. Strip poker, anyone?

lf you're really smart,you can fi l l out anEPA form!

I/t l/ l

l ll ,r l, Il l

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II

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I

Account ingAnthropologyArchaeologyAstronomyBiologyBotanyBu reaucraticsChemistryDeduce

Electron icsGeologyCuessHa i r S t y l i ngHistoryjou rna l i smLibrary ScienceL ingu i s t i csMathemat ics tlElectr ica l Repair Mechanical Repair

Chostbusters Training Manual

MuscleMuscle tel ls how strong your Chostbuster is. Strong Chostbusters (Muscles 5 ormore) can r ip phone books in half , int imidate puny characters at a glance, bi tethe caps off beer bottles, or throw bureaucrats into the garbage. Weaklings gettheir tongues caught on postage stamps.

Here's a l is t o fa Musc les Ta len t

BrawlB reak Th ingsC l i m bCobble FoodCrapp le

some Muscles Talents.no t on th is l i s t , ta lk i t

ln t im ida teJ U m pKick Th ings OverLiftR ip Th ings Open

l f you want your Chostbuster to haveover wi th your Ghostmaster f i rs t .

RunS w i mWrestle

The Stay-Puft man practices Intimidate.

those college boys, but whensome serious tusslin'

goin' on, I do just fine.

MovesMoves determines how dexterous and physical ly adept your Ghostbuster is .Chostbusters wi th decent Moves scores are bet ter at shoot ing guns, catchingbasebal ls , dodging or throwing rocks, observ ing, p ick ing locks, juggl ing, dr iv-ing, and creeping a long ledges. They l ike to f l i r t , they l ike d isguises, and theyl ike to dress up. Maladroi ts get th ings caught in thei r z ippers.

A Chostbuster could have one of the fo l lowing Moves Talents. l f you want yourChostbuster to have a Moves Talent not on th is l is t , whv not ta lk i t over wi thyour Chostmaster f i rs t? He's your f r iend.

Attract Attention Fire WeaponBa lance Coss ipBreakdance HideCatch L is tenD isgu i se Make Mus i cDodge Pick PocketDr ive Vehic le Seouce

DANA: Playing the cello may notseem very important to Ghostbusting,but sometimes music hath charms tosooth savage beasts-even dead beasts.

don't get much help from

SeeS le igh t o f HandSneakSn i f fStrutThrow

Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual

CoolCool people are bold, brave, and brassy. Cool people have aplomb - they don,tscare themselves into useless activity, and they know their own capacities. witha Cool Z, you maintain your pace, even if you show up at a black+ie ball in achicken sui t . on the other hand, a chostbuster wi th Cool i ca l ls the FBI whenhis to i le t backs uo.

Here are some Cool-type Talents. lf you want your Chostbuster to have a CoolTalent not on th is I is t , ta lk i t over wi th your Ghostmaster f i rs t . We're sure he wi l lbe reasonable about i t .

VENKMAN:lf you want to fast-

talk some poormark into doingthings your way,

you need to over-come his or herBrains with your

Cool. lf vou makeit, the character

goes along with it- signs on the dot-

ted line, lets vou intothe warehouse, loans

you his car for the weekend, etc.This won't always work. There arealways some jerks that won't listento reason, no matter how Cool youare and how stupid they are.

BargainB luf fBorrowBrowbeat

CharmConvinceFast TalkOrate

Play PokerPlay Stock MarketRa ise Ch i ld renTel l Fibs

Example: Janine has a Cool of 5. She has the Convince Talent . When Janineargues with someone, her player gets to roll 8 dice. As you might guess,Janine can be qui te convinc ing - but she's s t i l l a t a d isadvantage whentry ing to persuade Egon to s top work ing on a problem in Physics (Egon'sBrains Talent) to go on a p icn ic . (Since Egon has Brains 7, he ro l ls l0 d icefor HIS Talent ! High ro l l wins.)

Janine 's other Talents are Bureaucrat ics ( for Bra ins) , Crapple ( for Muscles- used to keep Egon in l ine) , and Dr ive Vehic le ( for Moves) .

Brownie PointsNew Chostbusters (and the or ig inal Chostbusters when you f i rs t p lay them) eachstart with 20 Brownie Points on their lD cards. After that, they earn Brownie Pointsas rewards when they succeed at thei r miss ion or achieve thei r Coars.

It's nice to get recognition for ajob well done, you know?

When the chostbusters are doing badly, they lose Brownie points and receivepark ing t ickets, abusive cal ls f rom thei r credi tors, and long stays in the hospi ta l .

Brownie Points are more than measurements of how wel l your character is do-ing, however. To some extent, Brownie Points let you rewrite the script - to haveyour characters at tempt incredib le feats or bai l themselves out of terr ib le iams.

You spend your Brownie Points to increase your character 's chances of suc-ceeding at diff icult tasks. For each Brolvnie Point you spend, you can roll oneaddi t ional d ie when your character is at tempt ing to use a Tra i t or Talent . youhave to decide to spend the Brownie Points before your roll; vou cannot use tnemto rero l l fa i led d ice.

Brownie Points can also be used to cut down the bad effects wnen yourcharacter is hur t . For example, i f he or she has to go to a hospi ta l , each BrowniePoint you spend at the t ime of the accident reduces hospi ta l t ime by a week.

l f vour character does something that is amazingly s tupid - that should, byal l r ights, mean h is immediate and permanent ext in i t ion - the chostmaster can,instead of crushing him like a grape, allow your character to spend Brownie pointsto avoid the fate he so richly deserves.

lf you ever find that you have 30 Brownie points you don't know what to dowi th, you can buy an addi t ional point to add to one of your Tra i ts . (This opt ionis avai lable only i f your Chostmaster agrees.)

ECON:Changing the past is scientif ically im-possible, of course,VENKMAN:Oh yeah? How about when you filledout that computer dating form, andclaimed that in high school you had -

ECON:Point taken, Venkman. Now shut up!

? a 6 ' :Ag^'-=r-a'

'-!-

Chostbusters Training Manual

STANTZ:Gosh, I know it soundsdangerous... but doesn'tthe prospect of collectingon the Accidental Deathand Dismembermentclause in vour insurancepolicy give you a little...thrill?

No character ever has as many Brownie Points as he or she wants - andsometimes, not even as many as he needs. lf your Chostbuster doesn't have enoughBrownie Points to avoid catastrophe, the Chostmaster can allow you to permanent-ly subtract a point from a Trait (you pick which one) in exchange for 20 BrowniePoints. You can then use the Brownie Points to save your Chostbuster from oblitera-tion, the draft, or whatever.

Note that i t costs 30 Brownie Points to gain a point in a Tra i t but you get only20 Brownie Points back when you trade-in a Trait point,

When you're using Brownie Points to bai l out your Chostbuster, you' l l haveto describe what actually happens. Be colorful, be imaginative, be wacky - bringa little light into your fellow players' otherwise shabby existence. lf the Chostmasteris amused, you might even be refunded a point or two as a bonus.

But keep it short. lt is absolutely forbidden to refund Brownie Points for over-elaborate, dull, or stupid rationales - if the Chostmaster has to rewrite your script,you should be charged more Brownie Points for the effort.

Example: Egon t r ips and is bur ied under 5 feet of semi-sent ient mutantMounds bars. The Chostmaster ru les that , wi th h is puny Muscle 2, Egoncan dig through only 2 feet of the coconut peril before he suffocates. TheChostmaster cheerfully informs Egon's player that 3 more Brownie Pointsare needed to get Egon free.

Since Egon has no Brownie Points left (it 's been a long day), he'l l haveto lose a point from one of his Traits. His player chooses to reduce Egon'sMoves from 4 to 3. Egon gets 20 Brownie Points. His player spends 3 ofthose to permi t h is escape, leaving Egon wi th l7 Brownie Points, a Movesof 3, and hai r fu l l o f s t icky, murderous chocolate.

The Chostmaster also decides that Egon has to spend 3 days in the hospitalrecover ing f rom his ordeal . l f he or she thought i t more appropr iate, theChostmaster might cause Egon to lose equipment which takes a long t imeto rebuild, to wait a long time for rescLre, or to take some other penalty.Egon could then spend some of h is 17 Brownie Points to avoid theoun i shmen t .

a 6qr-)

.2

Example: Chasing a playful ghost across the roof of an apartment house,Winston skids to a stop, foiled by a gap between the buildings that the ghosts imply f loats across. Winston decides to jump i t despi te the Ghostmaster 'swarning that the gap is d i f f icu l ty 20. The p layer doesn' t spend any BrowniePoints to improve his chances, and so has to roll 20 or better on five dice.He fails, and Winston sails towards the street f ive stories below. TheChostmaster decides it wil l take 5 Brownie Points for Winston to avoid pan-cakesvi l le (mul t ip le f ractures, contus ions, etc . ) .

Winston's player marks off the Brownie Points and describes the amaz-ing series of events which saved Winston from destruction. "Winston hitsa clothesline which slows his fall, then he manages to grab onto a fire escape- but the rail ing breaks in his hand! He's slowed down even further, though.Next he hits the awning of the Baskin-Robbins store on the street-level ofthe bui ld ing. . . the awning sags down almost to the ground. . . then snaps back,hurling Winston through the window of the motel across the street, wherehe lands in a hear t -shaped tub, sp i l l ing water , bubbles, and a honeymoon-ing couple all over the bathroom floor."

The Ghostmaster applauds politely and reduces Winston's Brownie Pointexpenditure to 3 (because the player's explanation was so entertaining) -then assesses Winston two weeks in the hosoital. "You survived the falla l l r ight , but the man on the honeymoon was the middle l inebacker forthe Ciants. . . "

Ghostbusters Training Manual

Brownie Points For Adventureschostbusters get most of their Brownie points by working tog"tfr"r" to .ornpl"tuthe. job"fo-r which they are hired. Each job has three r ikery outcomes:' They fail to get the ghost, or otherwise botch the iob: The bhostmaster returnsto each chostbuster half the Brownie points he or she spent during the game.o.The chostbusters get the ghost or otherwise satisfactorily .orpi"t" thl lob:The chostmaster returns to each chostbuster al l the Brownie points he or shespent during the game, and perhaps a few more.r lf the chostbusters do an excellent job (save the day and excessivery amusethe Chostmaster): The Chostmaster awards each Chostbuster up to half aeainas many Brownie Points as he or she spent during the game.

Personal CoalsEach chostbuster has a coal: sex, soul less science, Fame, Servins Humanitv.or Money. You pick your character's coal when you create him; the famouschostbusters' coals are written on their lD cards. The chostmaster awards extraBrownie Points when a character achieves his or her Coal.

The coals are descr ibed below. you can p ick a new coal not on th is l is t foryour character, if your Chostmaster agrees.

Sex,A t'-.4

?, r!r\

despicable deed, and the date's a flop - you get no Brownie points.But perseverance is rewarded! Each time you rolr a ghost before suc-

/^A).-*-l

JANINE:Money can't buy you love, but it canbuy those darling diamond earrings Isaw at Tiffany's the other dav.

My personal favorite.

Like Venkma.nl your character wants to engage in brief, sordid, meaninglessmoments of bl iss.

To get Brownie Points for this, you need to go on a satisfyingdate d.uring the course of an adventure. you get one Chost' )Die of Brownie Points per success. Fabulously-attractivedates are worth more Brownie Points, at the Chostmaster,sdiscret ion. l f the ghost is rol led, you swal lowed your t ie whi le vouwere slurping up your spaghett i , spi l led wine on her suede pants,agreed to get married, or performed some other shameful and

cess{ully datinga specific person, add an extra Brownie point when youf inal ly make i t through the evening wi thout embarrassing yoursel f .

once you have successfully dated someone/ you no ronger receiveBrownie Points for subsequent dates with him or her unleis you stop datingthat person for six months or longer.

WealthYour character wants big bucks. Expensive cars. Tax shelters.Depending on what kind of bookkeeping your camemaster is wi l l ing to put

up with,. you could earn Brownie Points foievery thousand dollars you earn (orsome other figure), for every fancy.geegaw you scarf up, or for every inside tipyou get on the stock Market- possibly, you could earn brownie poinis for everymonth your franchise stays in the black.

of course, to be fair; lor ev.ery valuable piece of Ghostbuster equipmenr youruin, or every time your franchise is sued for property damage or fined for ignor-ing government regulations, the chostmaster may penalize y6u for a few BrowniePoints.

Ghostbusters Training Manual

FameYour character wants noth ing more than to become a media dar l ing - to appearon Johnny Carson, Mery and Letterman - to be invited to the White House EasterEgg Hunt - to do an Amer ican Express commercia l .

Every time your character's face appears in the local news media (newspapersor te lev is ion) your Chostbuster gets a Chost Die of Brownie Points. l f theChostbuster appears in the nat ional media (news magazines, or nat ional in ter-view shows) you get two dice of Brownie Points. For something really sensational,l ike a Time Magazine cover s tory or being romant ica l ly l inked wi th Joan Col l insin The Enquirer , you might get s ix or more d ice of Brownie Points!

But i f you ro l l a ghost whi le checking for Brownie Points - the photo wasembarrassing or the stupid pet tricks ran too long and you got bumped off Letter-man - you get z ip Brownie Points.

Soulless ScienceThe advancement of sc ience is what 's important . So what i f a few fo lks are tem-porar i ly inconvenienced, or the water in the Hudson River dr ies up, or lce landmoves a couple of hundred mi les nor th? l f i t advances Science, in the long run,Mank ind w i l l t hank you fo r i t !

r c ,3t (\t1

guts.

Mankind may love you, but thosepeople on lceland will hate your

This is Egon's th ing. l f i t 's your th ing, too, every new discovery that advancesthe sc ience of Chosto logy gets you one Chost Die of Brownie Points. An ex-tremely important discovery is worth more if the Chostmaster says so.

lf you roll a ghost, your experiments haven't yet borne fruit, so you get zip.Keep t rack of the number of t imes you have ro l led a Ghost : when you f ina l lyro l l successfu l lv , you can add oneextra Brownie Point foreach fa i led ro l l . Af terthat, you start over again from scratch.

Serving HumanityBoy Scout types: Andy Cr i f f i th , Mother Theresa, The Batman. You' re in terestedin doing good deeds, in help ing the oppressed, in Saving The Wor ld.

Every t ime you successfu l ly f in ish a Chostbust ing adventure, you get BrowniePoints. Each participant dedicated to the service of humanity gets one Chost Dieworth of Brownie Points for each Enemy of Mankind you vanquish. For real heavydudes, the Ghostmaster may award two or more dice worth of points. Any vic-tory over a government agency is a special case, and usually entails bonus awards.

Each t ime (as decided by the Chostmaster) that the team fa i ls , you get noth ing,but add one Brownie Point to the u l t imate tota l received when f ina l lv vou r idthe wor ld of your redoubtable opponent .

PersonalityOkay. Now you've got the basic elements of a Chostbuster. There's just one thingm i ss ing . . .

Personality.Who is th is Chostbuster? What does he or she look l ike? Act l ike?Look at your Traits, Talents, and Personal Goal. What is your strong point? Brains?

Muscle? Moves? Cool?"Well, this Chostbuster has five dice worth of Muscle, but only two dice worth

of Bra ins. A weighr l i f ter? A b ig, p leasant oaf? A professional wrest ler?"What do h is Talents te l l you about the character? What k ind of person would

have a personal Coal l ike Serv ing Humani ty?Once you have some ideas based on your Traits, Talents, and Coals, work up

a I in le character descr ipt ion and share i t wi th your Chostmaster .

Ghostbusters Trai n i ng Manual

Example: Reginald O. Warf ie ld l l l is a c lassy, wel l -educated guy (Brains 4,Cool 4) but he 's a b i t wimpy and ham-handed (Muscle 2 and Moves 2) .His Talents - Ant ique Merchandis ing and Charming Spinsters - make h ima popular f igure in h igh society, but h is Coal - Serv ing Humani ty - isthe legacy of h is socia l - reformer mother , who d ied when he was bui a lad,but who always encouraged Reggie to help others less fortunate than himself.

Now You're a Ghostbuster...

t ' u

Yep! Thar's about all you need to know,Your Ghostmaster knows all the otherstuff, like how the ghosts work, whatyour equipment does, how fastyou canmove, etc. So grab some equipment,throw a cnuple of cold ones in the icechest, make sure you're wearing clean

underwear (because younever know), hop into the

tomobile, and get those ghosts!Good luck, trooper!

d"h,l g \ /e)

DANA: My wonderful friendssaved me when no one e/secould, and in the process theysaved the world from an un-speakable evil. How could Iever thank them?

VENKMAN:Hmmm.. . Ihave a few

suggestions,Dana.,.

Chostbusters Training Manual

TheGhostbuster Rules

The following junk is all gamerules. Snore. You don't need toread this sffi - unless you wantto really know what's going on -

or mavbe want to be a Ghostmasteryourself,

<.----- . . . . . - -- . -

= Doing Things

WINSTON:What the man's sayin'is: The Ghostmasteris boss. He can ruinyou any time hewants. So watch yourbehind!

WINSTON:Sure. Uh-huh. Right.

From t ime to t ime dur ing an adventure, your Qhostbuster wi l l want to do some-th ing. Whi le Chostbusters most of ten do th ings at which they cannot fa i l ( l ike

opening beer cans, watching TV, s igning autographs, or sending out for p izza) ,your character may occasional ly want to do something a l i t t le more d i f f icu l t -

something at which he could fa i l . These act ions are cal led " tasks" .

When your Chostbuster wants to (or has to) perform a task, your Chostmasterassigns a d i f f icu l ty number and te l ls you which Tra i t or Talent appl ies to that task.You then roll as many dice as you have points in the appropriate Trait or Talent.l f you ro l l equal to or h igher than the d i f f icu l ty number, you succeed; i f not , you

fail. Remember that the Chost Die must be one of the dice (see below); rememberalso that you can spend Brownie Points to increase the number of d ice you ro l l .

L is ted below are some tasks which your Chostbuster may f ind h imsel f a t temp-t ing to per form dur ing an adventure and the d i f f icu l ty numbers which theGhostmaster might ass ign them. Note that these are only guidel ines - theChostmaster can change the d i f f icu l ty number of any task, i f he deems i tappropriate.

Also, the Chostmaster may decide that, regardless of how impressive your Traitsor Talents, a task is par t icu lar ly d i f f icu l t for your character . ln th is case, he maydecrease the number of d ice you ro l l . (This is usual ly a penal ty i f your characteris poor ly-prepared, care less, d is t racted, or otherwise not up to the usual h ighstandards of competence.)

For example, Egon normally rolls seven dice for a feat of mental prowess, butwhen attempting to perform fourth-order manipulations of Vader variables whilestanding under an a i r ra id s i ren, the Chostmaster says that Egon can ro l l on ly3 d i ce .

Of course, the Chostmaster wi l l be absolute ly fa i r and unbiased in h is assess-ment of d i f f icu l ty numbers. His enjoyment of the game comes f rom watching

the Chostbusters succeed in the miss ion, not f rom making thei r l ives a l iv ing hel l .

SAMPLE DIFFICULTIES

AUTOMATIC SUCCESSES (no need to ro l l d ice) :1) b last ing a wal l wi th a proton pack2 ) s l eep ing sound l y i n you r own bed3 ) d r i v i ng a ca r4) eat ing a hotdog5) gening in to an argument (New York Ci ty)6) us ing a pay phone

\t - " -

4 l az l

t4 '/

I 'et l'/

10 Chostbusters Tra in inq Manual

7) paying sales taxB) p ick ing up a toy poodle

EASY IOBS (ro l l a 5 or more) :' l ) p ick ing up someone in a s ingles bar (Moves)2) s leeping soundly in a swank hote l (Cool)3) b last ing a ghost wi th a proton pack at poinrb lank range (Moves)4) para l le l park ing a b ig car (Moves)5) eat ing three Big Macs (Muscles)6) getting into an argument (anywhere but New York City) (Cool)7) remember ing a f r iend's phone number (Bra ins)8) f iguring out Tax Form 1040E2 (Brains)9) p ick ing up a Yorkshi re terr ier (Muscles)

NORMAL fOBS (ro l l 10 or more) :1) picking up an attractive person (Moves) \2) s leeping soundly on the job (Cool)3) blasting a ghost with a proton pack (Moves)4) dr iv ing in Manhat tan wi thout get t ing lost (Bra ins)5) eat ing a whole p izza by yoursel f (Muscles)6) winning an argument (Cool)7) cheat ing the IRS (Brains)8) understanding an ancient occul t book (Brains)9) p ick ing up an l r ish set ter (Muscles)

HARD fOBS (ro l l 20 or more) :.l) picking up an off-Broadway actor/actress (Moves)2) s leeping soundly on a Manhat tan st reet corner (Cool)3) blasting a ghost with a proton pack at long range (Moves)4) dr iv ing a long the f reeway dur ing rush hour wi thout los ing your temper (Cool)5 ) w inn ing an a rgumen t abou t po l i t i c s (Coo , ,6) gening a famous person to ta lk to you on the te lephone (Cool)7) paying no taxes (Brains)8) f ind ing a cheap renta l locat ion for a Chostbuster f ranchise (Brains)9) p ick ing up a St . Bernard (Muscles)

IMPOSSIBLE fOBS (ro l l 30 or more) :.l) blasting a ghost with your eyes shut (Moves)

2) s leeping through a volcanic erupt ion (Coor l3) winning the Indianapol is 500 in a Honda Civ ic (Moves)4) eat ing a te lephone (Muscles)5) winning an argument about re l ig ion (Coorr6) p ick ing up a buf fa lo (Muscles)

The Chost DieThe Ghost Die must always be one of the dice you rol l when you are attemptingto perform a task. l f a number comes up, simply add i t and al l the other numberstogether and compare your total to the diff iculty number. lf the ghost comes up,however, Something Bad Has Happened.

l f Something Bad Has Happened, compare the other numbers to the d i f f icu l tynumber anyway. l f you ro l l a ghost and equal to or greater than the d i f f icu l tynumber, you succeed atyour task, though you can look forward to some niggl -ing annoyance. lf you roll less than the diff iculty number, not only does somethingBad Happen, but you fa i l a t your task. Big Time Trouble.

Let's say you are attempting to eat a telephone.o l f you equal or beat the d i f f icu l ty number and don' t ro l l a ghost , you do infact eat the phone and everything's fine.. l f you ro l l less than the d i f f icu l ty number and don' t ro l l a ghost , your teetharen' t s t rong enough to eat the p last ic , but noth ing par t icu lar ly bad happensotherwise.. l f you equal or beat the d i f f icu l ty number and ro l l a ghost , you eat the phone,but , in your haste, forgot to unplug i t f i rs t . l t r ings, g iv ing you a nasty e lect r icshock and some interest ing psychological damage.

ta

11

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Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual

_ - -

! ' . . 1A \ \ ' '\ \< J

o lf you roll less than the diff iculty number and roll a ghost, you get the telephonereceiver caught in your mouth and have to go to the hospital for some diif icult,expensive, and embarrassing oral surgery.

The chost Die works for spooks instead of against them. The value of ro l l inga chost is s t i l l zero, but acc idents, co inc idences, and mishaps rebound to th6spook's benefit.

Beating Someone Elsesometimes chostbusters come into conf l ict with other people - l ike whenwinston arm-wrestles with Egon, or when Venkman argues wiih an EpA official.To win the conf l ict , the Ghostbuster must overcome hisbpponent - with words,fists, Brains, ability, cash, or whatever.

ln this case, the chostmaster decides which Trai t or Talent each antagonist isusing, the opponents each rol l the appropriate number of dice ( including thechost Die, of course), and the high rol l wins. l f the totals are equal] theChostmaster can leave it a tie, or have the opponents roll again.

VENKMAN:A statisticallv im-probable event, Iassure vou.

12

Example: Venkman is returning through U.s. customs. He acts nonchalantso that the hardnosed customs off ic ials won't inspect his baggage (whichis loaded with dut iable i tems).

The customs agent studies Venkman, trying to remember where he,s seenli.

- he's suspicious of anyone he thinks he's seen. The chostmaster saysthe agent wi l l match his Brains against Venkman's Cool to see i f a ruggageinspect ion is made.

Venkman's player smirks, saying that Venkman wi l l use his Bruff Tarentto get through. But the customs off ic ial 's Talent is see B - not that mucnlower. The dice clatter across the table. when the smoke crears, Venkmanand.the agent have equal scores of 23 each. since Venkman's prayer rol leda Ghost, too, and the customs agent didn' t , the chostmaster decides thatthe agent wins. Incredibly, Venkman loses a Bluff .

Example: Ray Stantz climbs a tree to get PKE readings from a haunted man-s ion. The Chostmaster descr ibes the t ree as ta l l and remarkably undersup-pl ied wi th convenient branches: he rates the c l imb at 10. s ince stantz 'sMuscle is 3, the p layer ro l ls three d ice inc luding the Chost Die. He getsa 6, a 5, and a Ghost - that's 1'1, a success. Stantz arrives in the tree toosafe and sound, though Something Bad is cer ta in to fo l low.

After stantz has taken his readings, the chostmaster pleasantly informsStantz's player that Stantz cracked all the lower branches on his way up:he has to roll 15 or better if Stantz attempts to climb down.

Stantz decides that discretion is the better part of cowardice and bellowsfor Winston to f ind a ladder and eet h im downl

Example: Blazing away with his proton pack, Stantz chases a spook downa hal lway. The spook suddenly turns and at tempts to s l ime Rav. The chost-master rolls the attack for the spook: the attack succeeds and theChostmaster a lso ro l ls a ehost !

Ray is s l imed, but that 's ihe l "ust of h is worr ies. The chostmaster in formsstantz's player that the ghost's slime coated the entire froor of the hallwav.and that s tantz is now s l id ing a long i t , heading r ight for the b ig windowat the end of the hal l ! Ex i t Stantz.

Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual

The Chostmaster ru les that the of f ic ia l methodical ly searches a l l o f Venkman'sluggage, f ind ing a l l k inds of booty. Since Venkman ro l led a Chost , as wel l , theGhostmaster decides that the customs of f ic ia l holds h im for hours of quest ion-ing, inc luding a deta i led body search.

Some Game Rules

MovementThe more Moves points you have, the faster you can move, and the more quicklyyou react to things. Just how far you can go, and how fast, in any specific periodof t ime depends on lo ts of th ings. Your Chostmaster wi l l judge such th ings ac-cord ing to c i rcumstances.

Sequence of PlayDuring the most action-packed parts of an adventure, when there's lots of con-f l ic t and panic and smashing th ings and running around, the Chostmasterorganizes events in a certain order to keep things from getting confused and tomake sure everybody gets a chance to do something. l t goes l ike th is :

.1. The Chostmaster te l ls what h is characters or spooks are going to do. . .

2. The Ghostmaster asks each player in turn, starting with the player to his right,what he or she is going to do. . .

3 . Then the Chostmaster f igures out who does what to whom, and in whatorder , ask ing p layers to ro l l d ice when necessary, or just judges what happensaccording to common sense and dramat ic just ice.

During this sequence of play, a character may both move and oerform oneother action. An "action" may be fir ing with a proton pack, trying to find anotherGhostbuster in the dark, reading a PKE meter, and .so forth.

Some act ions may inter fere wi th moving successfu l ly ; Stantz might be ableto f ind a cer ta in reference in Tobin 's SPIRIT CUIDE whi le t rot t ing a long, but heruns the r isk of t r ipp ing or running in to a wal l . Other act ions replace movement:while you're driving a car; trying to run at the same time is rather unusual (althoughplausib le i f you REALLY blew your Cool af ter v iewing a spook) .

In all cases, the Chostmaster judges what is reasonable and likely. That's his job.Dur ing most of the game, i t isn ' t necessary to use the sequence of p lay - just

be tolerably polite, don't interrupt others without good reason, and let theChostmaster organize the talking so everybody gets a chance to say something,ask quest ions, or do what needs to be done.

CombatThere are two kinds of combat: hand-to-hand and ranged weapons. Needlessto say, knives, pistols, blackjacks, and the l ike probably don't work on ghosts.But there're plenty of things to battle besides ghosts in any GHOSTBUSTERScampaign.

HAND-TGHAND: Muscle is the appropriate Trait for hand-to-hand fighting; Brawland Grapple are appl icable Talents. l f an antagonist has a hand+o-hand weapon,such as a c lub, then the number of d ice used to resolve h is or her ro l l is increas-ed by a s l ight or considerable amount , judged by the Chostmaster .

The increase is the same whether a Tra i t or a Talent is used to determine thenumber of d ice which the antagonist ro l ls . l f both f ighters have weapons, bothadd thei r weapons increase - the re levant Muscle, Brawl , or Crapple might notbe eoual .

VENKMAN:After all the indignity - the humilia-tion - the rat had the nerve to ask formy autograph!

fxample: Janine is attempting to fend off a possessed old lady armed withan umbrel la. janine has Muscles 2 and t fre Talent of Crapple: she gets torol l 5 dice. The old woman normal ly has Muscles 1, but the spook possess-ing her has magical ly raised i t to 3. The Chostmaster decides that the um-brel la wi l l g ive her one extra die in her attack: she gets to rol l 4 dice.

Chostbusters Training Manual l 3

Sample Hand-to-Hand WeaponsDice Weapon

; +1 Brass Knuckles, Blackjack, Long Fingernai lsi +2 Switchblade, Bul lwhip, Frying Pan

+3 Club, Chair , Sword+4 Battle Axe, Chain Saw, Power Drill

' Add the indicated number of dice to the dice which the ownins character roll

RANGED WEAPONS: a ranged weapon is one which can be used to damagesomeone far away, hur l ing a miss i le or bol t o f energy at a more-or- less d is tanttarget.

Ranged weapons are fired at "point blank," "normal," or "long distance." TheChostmaster determines the three ranges for the particular weapon accordingto c i rcumstances. Since Chostbusters d isdain pr issy calculat ion of odds, take asa ru le of thumb that "point -b lank" is 10 feet or less, and that " long d is tance"is 50 feet or more for a pistol, shotgun, or proton pack, and 500 feet or morefor a rif le.

Point -Blank: at point -b lank range, the d i f f icu l ty ro l l is usual ly 5. The defendercan attempt to use his or her own weapon, or to Crapple the attacker to deflectthe shot - and possib ly seize the weapon as a la ter act ion.

Normal Range: the d i f f icu l ty rat ing at normal range is usual ly 10. At normal orlong d is tance, the defender can' t Grapple h is opponent ; he must e i ther f i re backor run for cover.

Long Distance: at long distance, the attacker's player must normally beat a dif-f icu l ty 20 to h i t h is target .

Eat hot high-energy atomic particles, ectoplasmic scum!

Death, Damage, Hospitals, and Sick TimeChostbusters do not ord inar i ly d ie - nor does any other character in th is game.(And the ghosts are a l ready dead.) Characters do get hur t , though, equipmentgets toasted, and ghosts get gobbled-up by the ghost trap.

For instance, if Leutonian terrorists wire ECTO-I to explode, the Chostbustersare le f t s i t t ing in the vehic le 's bare f rame, smudged and c lothed in rags f rom theblast . The Ectomobi le has gone to equipment heaven, and the Ghostbusters endup in the hospi ta l . In addi t ion, the Chostmaster wi l l probably f ine them severalBrownie Points - to say noth ing of the f ine GBI wi l l lay on them for destroy ingvaluable proton packs, ecto-v isors, etc . (Cet t ing hur t isn ' t only t ime-consumingand oainfu l , i t 's a lso exoensive!)

1 4 Chostbusters Tra in ins Manual

lf a Ghostbuster has been extraordinarily careless or outrageously reckless, achostmaster may decide that he or she has pushed his or her luck too far, andthat this charmed l i fe must end. A touchingdying scene is appropriate - themortal ly in jured chostbuster gathers col leagues around, warns t 'hem againstwasting their lives as he or she has, wishes them luck, utters a few brave lastwords, and shuffles off this mortal coil.

This wi l l not happen often, and the reasons for the character 's demise shouldbe clear to all the players. When a chostbuster does die, the player makes a newcharacter for the next session (and tries to be a little more piud'ent). Obviouslv.the deceased chostbuster becomes a ghost run by the chostmaster, and haunisformer friends.

room.(Thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, if you save the part rn a

refrigerator, they can staple it back on you at the hospital.). Fal ls : 1 Brownie Point per s tory to a maximum of 5 points. Thereisn ' t too much d i f ference between fa l l ing 5 stor ies or fa l l ing 50 stor ies,after all!o Fire, Radioactivity: ' l Brownie Point for ,,ouch,, burns, getting moreser ious unt i l you reach screaming proport ions of around 20 BrownrePoints.

Radioactivity is nasty, because you don't realize you,ve been expos-ed unt i l p ieces of your body begin fa l l ing of f . To s imulate th is , theChostmaster wil l secretly mark off Brownie points from your totalwi thout te l l ing you. Then when you t ry to use more Brownie poinrsthan you really have, your body begins to fall apart. you can cut downon the Brownie Point loss i f you f igure out what is going on andcheck yoursel f in to a hospi ta l .o Drowning, Asphyxiat ion: 1 Brownie Point per minute spent underwater or whatever. After 10 or so Brownie Points lost in this way, goingf ish ing in your lungs becomes a real possib i l i ty .o Poison: 1 Brownie Point i f the poison wi l l on ly g ive you a stomachache. More ser ious poisons that turn your sk in yel iow and shr ive l upyour toes may cause as much as '10 to 15 Brownie points to be losr .

ln addi t ion to Brownie Point loss, the Chostmaster may of ten dumpyou in the hospital for a couple of weeks if the damage warrants it.

4 .u'

VENKMAN:Go to hospital.Go directly to

hospital. Donot pass Go,

Do not collect$200.

Using Your Equipment

Carrying lt AroundThere's a. l imit to everything. Your chostbuster can carry three items of equip-mentwi thout ser iously af fect ing h is or her abi l i ty to act . l f you feel l ike p lay inga pack-mule, your chostbuster can carry as many i tems as h is or her Muscle,but i f that adds up to four or more i tems, he or she can' t take any act ions whi lecarry ing a l l that junk - except to move and grunt uninte l l ig ib iy .

Since you can carry only three items and sti l l be effective, you mav wish toset up an equipment dump (of ten the Ectomobi le) somewhere n"r r . fh" r . "nuof ghostly activity, so that if you need something you aren't carrying, you canrun back and get i t . l t 's probably wiser , though, to d iv ide up the gear amongthe chostbusters in te l l igent ly , making sure no one carr ies more than three i tems.

Sample Brownie Point losses For Damageo Hi t by Bat t le Axe: 1 Brownie Point i f you,re lust n icked to the bone.Up to 10 Brownie Points i f a par t fe l l o f f and is bouncing around the

Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual 1 5

Aura Video-Analyzer

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Equipment CardsExamine the Equipment Cards that come wi th the game. Sort through the cardsand pick out the ones that your Chostbuster wants to tote around and load themand any other stuff you think you'l l need in the ECTO-I (i.e., stack the cards belowthe ECTO-I card). This permits you ready access to all the equipment your teamis carry ing in the f ie ld. l f you don' t have enough cards for a l l the equipment youwant to carry (for instance, if everyone wants to take along a set of Alpine Cear),make up some more us ing 3" by 5" cards.

When your Chostbuster is ready to zap some ghosts, pick up any three itemsfrom the ECTOI's stack and put them by your Chostbuster card. Usually it 's agood idea for each Chostbuster to take a proton pack as one of his or her threeitems - otherwise the spook can slime an unarmed chostbuster at wil l. someoneought to have a ghost t rap and a PKE meter handy as wel l .

The cards are sel f -explanatory. The p ic ture shows the equipment and the l inesof text tell you what the gadget does. This chapter explains the gadgets, func-t ions in a l i t t le more deta i l .

A lp ine GearUsing proper a lp ine gear le ts you ro l l 3 ext ra d ice when using Muscle or Cl imbto scale the Matterhorn, or a skyscraper, or an elevator shaft. Alpine gear includespi tons, c l imbing hammers, rope, c lamps, and even a pai r of cute /ederhosen.Aura Video-AnalyzerThis handy Iab-gadget 's purpose is two-fo ld: not only does i t te l l the emot ionalstate of the subject wear ing the helmet ( i t te l ls whether or not a subject is ly ing,or is in love, or is in pain, etc.), but it also reveals the wearer's essence of ar-chetype (in non-technical terms, the subject's self-image - hero, empress, moviestar, genius, wild beast, ferti l i ty goddess, etc.). lf the subject is possessed, for in-stance, i t shows the out l ine of the ent i ty in possession of the subiect .Beach KitA great package deal inc luding a huge inf la table beachbal l , a vol leybal l net andvolleyball, sunglasses, a sturdy beach umbrella, cassette-deck - AM/FM radioblaster, loads of sun-tan lotion, double-sized beach towels, Frisbee, and otheressent ia l paraphernal ia .

What 's that , you ask? What does th is have to do wi th Ghostbust ing? Beats us.Bul lhornThere 's noth ing l ike a bul lhorn for making yoursel f heard over the hubbub ofa cocktail party. Or for tell ing a ghost to surrender before you move in on it.Cel lu lar PhoneThis is a te lephone you can insta l l in the ECTO-I . l t is sornewhat ext ravagant (onehundred or more dol lars rent each month) , but what a s tatus symbol !ECTO.IThis s ty l ish vehic le seats three chostbusters in luxur ious comfor t , or up to s ixin rather desperate circumstances. lts generous cargo capacity accommodatesa fu l l l ine of paranormal invest igat ion and e l iminat ion equipment . F lashing l ightss ignal lesser vehic les to c lear the way, and the b ig p last ic f igure on the roof pro-v ides loads of f ree adver t is ing. one s l ight f law is that i t 's about as inconspicuousas a moose h id ing in your ref r igerator .

Ecto-VisorsThese spook- f inder g lasses a l low a Ghostbuster to see in the dark. They a lsoel iminate a l l per ipheral v is ion and look dumb on e levators.Geiger CounterRadioactive ghosts? Why not? Besides, there are other uses for geiger counters.You might run in to radioact ive monsters or have to explore Three Mi le ls landto see what real/y went wrong there. (They're also handy for detecting malfunc-t ion ing unl icensed nuclear accelerators. )

Ceiger counters make a neat crackling noise when they detect radiation. Whenthe crackl ing gets louder, the radiat ion is s t ronger. l f i t gets too loud, you shouldvacate the premises before all your hair and teeth fall out.Ghost TrapA smal l box which stores and t ransports one subdued ghost . The l id is openedby pressing a foot-pedal attached to the box by a twelve-foot length of tubing.

Ghostbusters Tra in ing Manual

As i t opens, the ghost t rap produces a luminous whi te cone of psychokinet icforce which channels the target ghost into the trap. when the footpedal is releas-ed, the trap closes. lt takes a second or two for the field to neutralize the ghost'sown ectoplasmic energies, so a spook could zoom away from the trap beforeit is sucked inside - unless the containment beam of a proton pack holds it there.

After capture, store the ghost within the protection grid at a chostbustersfranchise.

lnfrared Camerasuch cameras can take pictures of ghosts in the dark, even when the ghosts arenormally invisible. A camera can be remotely-operated (diff iculty i0) to save wearand tear on chostbusters, or it can be set up to take pictures on a pre-programmeoschedule (diff iculty 10). You could set up a rriqbeam (diff iculV 5) to catch a ghostin the act, and so forth. Brains is the relevant Trait to operate the camera proper-ly, and Photography is the relevant Talent.ParachuteWhat else is there to say? Parachutes always work unless you roll a chost andthe Chostmaster feels real ly mean.PKE MeterPsychokinet ic energy meters are "ghost- f inders," measur ing local pKE varencesin the v ic in i ty to d iscover paranormal act iv i ty . When a ghosi is in the area, pret tyl ights f lash and the PKE meter 's arms r ise up h igh. The i loser and more powerfu lthe.ghost ly presence, the h igher the arms r ise and the more ins is tent ly ih" l ight tf lash.

Protection GridA protect ion gr id is large and immobi le. l t can safe ly s tore an extremely largenumber of ghosts. After many adventures, it can get fu l l and th reaten to collapse,but anv actual co l lapse can only occur at the inst igat ion of the Chostmaster lwhoshould g ive the chostbusters p lenty of warning) . l f you get worr ied, bui ld a se-cono one.

Proton Packsmal l unl icensed nuclear accelerators, the proton packs are the chostnusters,basic weapon. The wiggly beam emit ted by the proton pack scorches wal ls ,knocks holes through wood paneling, destroys chandeliers and upholstery - undoccasional ly subdues ghosts.

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Safety Iipr NEVER cross fhe beams! Never!

Proton packs have two basic settings. The "Attack" setting is the major one.A successfu.l hit by a proton pack's beam set on Attack leisens a ghost's Ec-topresence by 1. ( l f you ' re in terested, your chostmaster wi l l g ive you a l ine ofho_oie expla in ing Ectopresence; just nod agreeably and keep shoot ing.)

The "Containment" setting is used to form a proton-beam cage around a ghostand move it to wherever the Ghostbusters please. At least two Chostbusters mustcooperate to use the Containment setting properly, and the ghost's Ecropresencemust have been reduced to zero before the Containment setting can work (other-wise th.e ghost just z ips away). Usual ly , Conta inment is used tb move a t rappedghost directly over a ghost trap, which is then activated.

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PKE Meter

Proton Pack

Chostbusters Training Manual 1 7

Spates Catalogue

Inv is ib le or immater ia l spooks or sp i r i ts can only be af fected by proton beamattacks if they can be accurately targetted (i.e., when they have a manifested form).In some cases technological a ids can reveal a ghost ly aura, render ing the ec-toplasmic presence vulnerable to proton beam attacks.

Crossing two proton beams set on Attack results in a catastrophic explosion.This explos ion is SO catastrophic, in fact , that crossing the beams can happenonly when done on purpose, or when two Chostbusters f i re proton packs in thesame round at the same target - and both fa i l the i r ro l l , and both ro l l Chosts,and the Chostmaster says so.

Scuba GearA wetsuit is helpful when investigating haunted sewers, stories of sea monsters,and s imi lar aquat ic s i tuat ions. A typ ical one- tank wetsui t holds enough oxygenfor 30 minutes of l i fe . l t takes a l i t t le sk i l l to swim in a f rogsui t , i f you don' t knowhow. lf you want to do more than just paddle around very slowly, you'l l needto ro l l against your Muscles Tra i t or Swim Talent .

Secret Tomes of Occult LoreEvery good occultist should have access to one or more occult book. He mighteven have a whole l ibrary fu l l o f them. Some typical ones inc lude: Roylance,CUIDE TO SECRET SOCIETIES AND SECTS; Tobin, SPIR|T CUTDE; Spates, SPATESCATALOCUE OF NAMELESS HORRORS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM;Fredde, THE BIC BOOK OF OCCULT LORE; and, of course, Stafford, Perersen,and Wi l l i s , CHOSTBUSTER 'S HANDBOOK.

The Ghostmaster can a l low the Chostbusters to f ind c lues in these books orlook up appropriate facts and occasionally may route the Ghostbusters into anadventure by means of something found in a book.Video Camcorderlf you've got enough money, this is definitely the way to go. Set up your videoand record the ghosts' attack firsthand. Some ghosts don't register on video, somake sure you're going after the right kind before wasting your money. You canalso use a video camera to record advertisements for local TV.Walkie-TalkiesAn absolute necessi ty i f your group is forced to spl i t up when hunt ing down aghost. Walkie-talkies have a range of a few hundred yards, pick up lots of staticand conversations from passing truckers, and may fail to work in the presenceof powerful psychokinetic forces.

Inventing New EquipmentThe science of paranormology sees dramatic advances every day as chostbustersare confronted wi th new and unant ic ipated chal lenges. Design and f ie ld- test ingof new research and e l iminat ion devices is cont inual ly tak ing p lace, both at theGhostbusters International Research Labs and in each of the chostbusterfranch ises.

From time to time you'l l receive a new piece of equipment from GBI Research,for test ing or for a specia l pro ject . Your Chostmaster wi l l expla in the purposeand function of the equipment when you receive it.

Of coune, these devices are fully testedbefore we assign them to you. You areperfectly safe. . .

1 8 Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual

Y9u may also work on special research projects of your own, or you may becal led upon to improvise equipment in short and desperate circumstances.Whenever you want to do this, just tell the Gamemaster what you want yourproject to accomplish and describe three or four di f ferent devices which mightget the job done. Describe the bogus pr inciples of science you are basing yourdevices on, and how much research, design, labor, and money you wish to spend.Your chostmaster wi l l p ick the device he f inds most interest ing or amusing ofthe three and tell you how successful your research was... or how many city blotkswere leveled when your device malfunct ioned during test ing.

Example: When ravening, slobbering bug-eyed monsters entered our four-space t rans-d imensional ly to ravage shopping mal ls across the land, Egonwas forced to design a transport device that would permit the chostbusrersto pursue the fleeing BEMs. Egon's player then presented the following 3ideas to the Ghostmaster:' 1. witches and warlocks supposedly could create magical pentacles whichact .as gates to other d imensions. (Most demons, spr i tes and g ibber ingskeletons that the wi tches conjure are actual ly in ter-d imensional k ionap-victims, brought to this four-space to work the witches' bidding.) With studyof ancient , forb idden tomes rumored to be h idden in the basement of acer ta in New England univers i ry Egon wi l l be able to dupl icate th is ef fectand use i t to send the Chostbusters af ter the d isgust ing a l iens.r 2. When under the in f luence of cer ta in i l legal drugs, many subjects c la imto t ravel to b izarre lands f i l led wi th d isgust ing, inhuman creatures. Ratherthan simple hallucinations caused by sensory overload from disrupted brainsynapses, Egon speculates, these erperiences are real: the drugs in fact sendthei r users ' consciousness to other p lanes of ex is tence. possib ly somelysergic acid variant wil l allow users to control the process, follow the aliens,and attack the BEMs ethereally. (Venkman enthusiastically volunteers to testEgon's new drugs.)r 3. Egon knows that when proton beams are crossed, manifold cross-ripsin the universal structure result. When proton packs are wielded bv clum-sy humans, the resul t can be extraord inar i ly dangerous. But a computercould control two proton packs, focusing and controll ing their beams toselect the number of d imensions and power of the d imensional cross-r ip .Such a device, mounted on the hood of ECTO-I, would allow theChostbusters to voyage into the void.

The chostmaster decides that the last device is the most in terest ing ofthe three and fits best into the adventure. He also rules that such a devicecauses a permanent weak-spot in the fabric of the universe, so thechostbusters can only use it a few times before they risk destroying Life,The Universe, And Everyth ing. (The chosrmaster imposes th is r imi t t ikeeothe chostbusters f rom spending the rest of thei r l ives zooming around themul t iverse and forc ing h im to create new dimensions every iess ion. se l f -in terest is the mother of invent ion. . . )

Chostbusters Trai ning Manual 1 9

Paranormologyz lqo

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Following are some exceedingly in-teresting speculations on the nature

pJJ

e

of ghosts and ghostology, soon to bepublished in the prestigious Journal

of Unexplained Things. I am sure youwill find my comments insightful,-\--=--

lucid, and extremely heffiIwhen dealing with the unknown.

Or you can look for my masterwork,"Cannibal Vampires From Hell andOther Strange Things Live in YourBasement!", appearing in "LuridWeekly Gazette" - at supermarketsnear vou,

VENKMAN: Egon, why don' t you te l l us a l i t t le about the sc lence ofparanormology?

EGON: Certainly, Peter. To begin with, you must realize that the four-dimensionalspace our senses perceive is only a f ract ion of the tota l universe. Quantumchromodynamics and modern supersymmetry theory show that in fact there areeleven d imensions. Maybe twelve.

STANTZ: Wowl Eleven?

EGON: Wel l , or perhaps twelve. Most grand uni f icat ion theor is ts bel ieve thatthe major i ty of these d imensions col lapsed into pocket d imensions nanoseconosafter the Big Bang. However, the diff iculty of quark-scatter experiments makeve r i f i ca t i on o f d imens iona l d imens ions p rob lema t i ca l , and . . .STANTZ: l th ink you lost me. Let 's go back to e leven.EGON: Ah, never mind, Ray. The important factor here is that cer ta in of thesedimensions are, I bel ieve, inhabi ted by ectomater ia l beings whose consciousnessimpinges our own in a complexly re inforc ing way. These beings can, under cer-ta in condi t ions, mani fest themselves in our 4-space through the manipulat ionof quantum instabi l i t ies in microscale space, which you must real ize, is foamy. . .STANTZ: You mean, l ike shavine cream?

20 Ghostbusters Training Manual

Fco!: I me.an that space, also, is quantized... but we're gening off the trackhgr9, lhe point is that this abi l i ty to manipulate quantum inl tabi l i t ies is, in fa6,a fifth form of energy in addition to the commonlyaccepted four - gravitic, elec-tromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear.wlNSToN: Let me get this straight. you're saying demons, boogie men and al lthe other weird stuff we have to deal with aie fiowered by the"same thing?EGoN: Precisely! A form of energy we cal l psychokinet ic Energy, or pKE.VENKMAN: So we can see ghosts because they use pKE?

: : @ : ]

Excuse me, my dear, I believe your aura showing.

EGoN: Right, al though i t is important to real ize that not al l pKE manifestat ionsare vis ible. AIso, the use of PKE to create a dimensional aperture permit t ing visualobservation is reflexive.VENKMAN: Huh?EGoN: Let me put i t . in the simplest possible terms, peter. l f you can see i t . . .i t can see you. And i f i t isn' t f r iendly, that may not be a good thing.

Psychokinetic EnergyEGoN: Al though previous researchers made thei r contr ibut ion, I th ink I can say,wi th a l l due modesty, that unt i l ldeveloped the pKE valence f ie ld model ofparanormal disturbance, parapsychology and related sciences were at a standsti l l .VENKMA_N: Egon's pretty smart, but this new theory is straight out of Thril l ingwonder Stor ies. Al l I know. is that lovely young coeds of ten d isplay amazingpowers. Their other k inds of energy manipulat ion aren ' t bad e i ther .EGoN: what Peter is saying in h is unscient i f ic way is correct . As I sa id, pKEworks through microscale disturbances in the foamy structure of quantized spaceand, at th is scale the observer has a d i rect impact on the system, a fact longes tab l i shed i n quan tum phys i cs . Th i s be ing so , t he human m ind , as a consc rousobserver of the whole system, can in fact manipulate pKE energy d i rect ly .Schrodinger 's gedankenexper iment wi th the cat is i l lust rat ive. . .WINSTON: l 'm a l lerg ic to cats.

21Chostbusters Training Manual

EGON: Ahh. . . The point is , thought , coupled wi th emot ion, can br ing aboutchanges in the physical wor ld. The extent of these changes is l imi ted only bythe amount of eka-dimensional energy the indiv idual mind can tap. . .

WINSTON: You mean I can turn someone's hair gray, win at the races, or movea six ton safe just by thinking about it?

EGON: Wel l , i t 's a l i t t le more complex than that , Winston. Indeed the theorynecessary to permi t such dramat ic changes is s t i l l far f rom complete formula-t ion, but the fact is that such phenomena do exis t in nature. Of course, s inceeveryone has this abil ity (to a greater or lesser extent) people also have defenses.Turning someone else's hair grey if they don't want you to can be very diff icult.

STANTZ: Like the time we battled Gozer the Gozarian? And she asked us tochoose a form for our destruct ion? And lchose the Stay-Puf t man? And we a l la lmos t d ied? And we . . . uhhh . . .

t: t i .,,.,,..,,..,,.: l :

What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?

EGON: Correct, Ray, you chose the form, although the PKE necessary to com-plete the manifestation was supplied by Cozer.

VENKMAN: Haven' t o ther people been using th is k ind of energy for a long t ime?

EGON: Certainly. Primitive magic - such as the use of sacrif icial virgins, voodoo,trance magic - is an attempt by the unsophisticated to harness PKE. With thetools afforded us by modern parapsychological theory we can affect paranormalphenomena in much more sophist icated ways. $t i l l , i t is important to rememberthat there is a gra in of t ruth in every superst i t ion. For example, s ince i t isdocumented that only s i lver can harm a werewol f , ldesigned a proton packemploying s i lver ized mater ia ls to defeat one.

Of course, I don't take most of this hocus-pocus seriously, but training has taughtme not to ignore avenues of research that might at f irst appear "unscientif ic."

VENKMAN: Al l th is pseudo-sc ient i f ic gobbledy-gook doesn' t a lways do i t .Somet imes you can smoothta lk the spook, f igure out i ts problem, and get r idof it that way.

WINSTON: Just l ike you guys talked to that spook in the New York Library right?Didn ' t do any good, d id i t? l f ta lk ing doesn' t budge i t , keep your proton packhandy.

Basic GhostologyECON: Psychokinet ic mani festat ions take speci f ic forms which possess vary ingpower, abil it ies, and appearance. PKE often takes the form of a ghost. The "spud"

that Peter ta lks about so much is actual ly a Class 5 fu l l roaming vapor.

VENKMAN: l t ' s s t i l l a soud .

a az z Chostbusters Tra i n ing Manual

EGoN: Ghosts have been defined, codified, rabeiled, and analyzed in my seminalwork, A Paranormal Taxonomy: slimes, spuds and other Mutants. This text ex-plains the classification schema used by Chostbusters to describe the pnenomenathey encounter. [see Reference File C for excerpts from this fasciniting b.;kiOften, however, ghosts are the least of a Ghosibuster,s worries.Xenostudies, Folklore and Time TravelEGoN: Despi te my contr ibut ion to the developing sc ience of paranormology,ala.rge portion of paranormal phenomona remain unexplained. lndeed, becarieof the very subject matter, darker forces often attempt to obscure facts and makeinvest i gat ion i nconcl us ive.VENKMAN: What Egon means is that he hasn,t had time develop into his theoriesthese aspects of Chostbusting.EGoN: Ahem. For example, Xenostudies is another aspect of chostbusting whichwe are only beginning to understand. The collective unconscious ofteriaffectsthe PKE matrix in unexpected ways. Numerous reports of f lying saucers, datingfrom ancient t imes. . .

STANTZ: cee, that stuff is in plenty of science fiction movies. There was thisgreat movie on last night, Plan 9 From Outer Space...EcoN: Yes, Ray, we know. Also, history recoros many accounts of corporealcreatures f rom al ternate d imensions or d i f ferent p lanes of ex is tence. The LochNess monster , by contrast , is in a l l probabi l i ry no more than a s ingle p le isosaursurv iv ing in to the mooern era. . .STANTZ: or the Jersey Devil! Man, what a creepy creature that was...E9.9,f tlqy,.,he Jersey Devil, who enrered this dimension as a result of a hystericalchi ld 's PKE.blast opening a f i f teenJold cross-r ip, is a trulyparanormal creature.

Many th ings you wi l l be cal led on to invest igate are,st r ic t ly speaking, not ghosts. But don, t le t that deter youfrom the re lent less pursui t o f knowledge. . .VENKMAN: . . .or the col lect ion of handsome fees!EGON: In the interests of science you may be called uponto con f ron t en igma t i c , t e r r i f y i ng c rea tu res . Bu tperseverance in the study of the unknown may reveal in_valuable knowledge, perhaps the very keys to the univer_sal r idd les of t ime, space, energy. . .VTNKMAN: . . .or how to f ind a park ing p lace in New yorkCity.

EGON: *Sigh*

VENKMAN: I th ink what Egon is t ry ing to say is that , asChostbusters, our job isn't always easy. lt isn,t always rvhatyou expect" And i t isn ' t a lways ghosts. But when there,sno one e lse out there to help innocent people in desperatet rouble, i t 's up to us. . . the noble, se l f less Chostbusters. . .to Save the World.

AII in a day's work for .., GHOSTEUSTERS.

Chostbusters Tra in ing Manual 23

l f you need more Chostbuster lD cards, dupl icate this page.Co ahead. You have our permission.

- - - - - - - 1 -

GHOSTBUSTER ID CARD"Who Ya Gonna Call?"Name

TRAITSBrainsMuscle.sMovesCool

Brownie Points: 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 4645 U 43 42 4t 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 2625 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 t6 15 14 fi n r r0 9 8 7 6 5 43 2 1 0Goal Residence

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24 Ghostbusters Tra in ing Manual

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2nd Floor

Weird ScienceEquipment

Ray Stantz'sOffice

Egon Spengler 's

Sleeping Quarters

OBath andShowers (6)

Protection GridMonitor

DeskStorage, etc.