Utilizing Simplified Dice Pools in Ghostbusters

Improving the dice pool system (q.v.) in the Ghostbusters role-playing game is a simple matter when it comes to tasks, but how does it fare in combat?

If you like the existing combat rules, nothing really needs to change in terms of determining damage, because once someone lands a blow, the Ghostmaster declares the injury and recovery time (subject to negotiation for Brownie Points). The dice pools have no bearing on damage.

If you prefer a system in which degree of success is linked to damage, then this can be done easily. All for Me Grog (the game that inspired my thoughts on dice pools) uses Salt as a means of recording a character's damage. (It's a pirate game.) All characters have a Salt of 9. Whenever damage is sustained, Salt is lowered, usually by the the victor's degree of success (the difference in the number of evens).* Regardless of the normal size of the character's dice pool (attribute + vocation + embellishment), the character may never roll more dice than his or her current Salt.** Presumably, a character whose Salt is reduced to 0 is rendered incapacitated or dead. In Ghostbusters, Salt could be replaced by Health or Pep or Vital Signs or Life-O-Meter or anything you like that represents the opposite of Rest in Peace. We'll say characters have a Health (or whatever) of 10 just to be different and better reflect the higher survival rates that Ghostbusters enjoy over pirates. [Edit: Better yet, set it to equal the character's total Trait points.] I should mention here that for each loss of Health or Whatever, a mark is made beside the Trait that was used. At the end of an appropriate period of time, a player may erase two marks from Brains or Cool (restoring 2 points of Health or Whatever) or one mark from Muscles or Moves (restoring 1 point of Health or Whatever). The period of time the player must wait may be lowered by spending Brownie Points of an amount deemed appropriate by the Ghostmaster. If Health or Whatever is reduced to 0, the Ghostmaster may rule that the character must spend x number of weeks hospitalized before returning to action... or tell the surviving members of the franchise to start making funeral arrangements for their dearly departed co-worker. Note that Health or Whatever can be reduced not only by physical combat (Muscles and Moves), but by battles of wits and will (Brains and Cool) as well.

Another approach (q.v.) is not to have a general well being status, but to have specific injuries cause direct penalties (dice pool reduction) only when they apply to something the character is trying to do. When an injury is sustained, instead of lowering anything, the victim gains Injury Points equal to the victor's degree of success. A description of the injury is noted beside the Injury Points, and anytime the injured character attempts a task that would be affected by the injury, the character's Trait or Talent roll is reduced by a number of dice equal to the Injury Points. If the character has multiple injuries that would affect an action, the Trait or Talent is reduced by the total number of relevant Injury Points. Alternatively, one could just use Injury Points generally and apply them to all rolls.

* Combat is ordinarily resolved with opposed rolls. Whoever rolls higher wins the round. If degree of success is linked to damage, then damage equals the difference in evens rolled by the combatants. Ranged combat may also be resolved with opposed rolls, or the attacker may roll to equal or beat a threshold (minimum number of evens). The threshold may be either the standard three evens, or a number based on range (such as 1 for Close, 2 for Short, 3 for Medium, and 4 for Long). In this instance, damage equals the difference between the attacker's roll and the threshold.

** As a reminder, dice pools in Ghostbusters may consist of a character's Trait, Trait + Talent, or Trait + Talent + Weapon.

[For more information about All for Me Grog, see my article here in Theoretical Swashbuckling. Buy it here at DriveThruRPG.com.]

Simplifying Dice Pools in Ghostbusters

Task resolution in the original Ghostbusters role-playing game is already quick and simple. You roll a number of dice equal to your Trait or Talent and try to equal or beat a difficulty number. Meet the invention of the dice pool. In theory, it's perfect for a cinematic role-playing game befitting Ghostbusters (the movie). In practice, counting all those dice over and over again slows the pace of the game and becomes boring. Tedium is the mortal enemy of role-playing. No one role-plays for the purpose of being bored to death.

There is nothing wrong with the dice pool system itself, but for a game like Ghostbusters to remain interesting, it might help to refine it. My own preference is to follow the example of All for Me Grog, a jaunty pirate role-playing game by Ryan Shelton. Instead of counting the numbers on each die, one counts the number of dice that show an even number. Three evens constitute a successful roll. In an opposed roll, whoever rolls the greatest number of evens wins the conflict. Not only does it make the process quicker, it makes it intrinsically more fun (in my experience, at least). It makes results a bit swingier (as befits the genre), and it encourages Ghostbusters to spend Brownie Points freely (a good thing). The Ghost Die can be used normally, with the "2" and "4" counting as one even each and the "Ghost" signifying that Something Bad Has Happened. This dice pool system, with its static "three evens" difficulty number, also spares the Ghostmaster from having to set an arbitrary difficulty number for every task.

If there is one modification I would make in adapting this dice pool to Ghostbusters, it would be to adjust the "three evens" rule in respect to one task only (probably): ranged combat, as follows:

Range	Minimum Number of Evens
Close	1
Short	2
Medium	3
Long	4

[For more information about All for Me Grog, see my article here in Theoretical Swashbuckling. Buy it here at DriveThruRPG.com.]