Garrett Goes Ghostbusting

Keith Garrett of The Adventures of Keith Garrett has completed his 31 Days of Ghostbusters (also known as July). An homage to Ghostbusters in its various incarnations (including the Ghostbusters role-playing game), it's well worth investigating.

Binary Dice Meet Simplified Dice Pools

Not long ago I wrote about the virtues of simplifying dice pools for the Ghostbusters role-playing game in the manner of All for Me Grog (here and here). In a simplified dice pool, all that matters is that the randomizer gives one of two possible results: evens or odds on a die, heads or tails on a coin. Counting dice with even numbers is significantly quicker than adding all the numbers in a standard dice pool system, and substituting binary dice for ordinary six-siders makes it even quicker. Binary dice can have any number of sides, although I recommend the six-sided variety as they are the easiest to roll in large numbers and represent the perfect polyhedron (as far as this Web log is concerned). Binary dice, as the name suggests, give two possible results: 1 and 0. Roll your dice pool, count the dice that show "1," and ignore the dice that show "0." That's all there is to it. It's the fastest way to roll.

(Availability can be a problem. Koplow manufactures six-sided binary dice, and there is or has been at least one Kickstarter project involving the manufacture of other polyhedral binary dice, but binary dice of any kind are difficult to find in stores. Online stores specializing in educational supplies are an option, and some game retailers sell them occasionally on certain well-known online markets.)

Extendable Random Hit Location Generator

Most of my random hit location needs are met by Hit Location Tables for All Occasions. I like to keep rules simple and memorable. Sometimes, however, I need greater detail from a hit location table, which is why I keep the Extendable Random Hit Location Generator in reserve. (This was previously posted as Random Hit Location Generator: d6 Version in Applied Phantasticality and in Fudgery.net.)

Hit Location Tables for All Occasions

Whether the rules require it or not, I use a hit location table in every role-playing game I run. Sometimes it has a useful function related to the rules, such as determining the extent of armor protection or the specific consequences of an injury. Sometimes I just want to make the description more vivid in the minds of the players or tell them where their battle scars are. A good hit location table is system neutral and easy to use. With that in mind, here are three such tables, all of which are usable with common, everyday six-sided dice.


Hit Location Table
(1D6 Version)

1. Left Leg
2. Right Leg
3. Left Arm
4. Right Arm
5. Torso
6. Head


Hit Location Table
(2D6 Version)

2. Neck
3. Left Foot
4. Left Hand
5. Left Leg
6. Left Arm
7. Torso
8. Right Arm
9. Right Leg
10. Right Hand
11. Right Foot
12. Head


Hit Location Table
(1D12 Version)*

1. Left Foot
2. Right Foot
3. Left Leg
4. Right Leg
5. Left Hand
6. Right Hand
7. Left Arm
8. Right Arm
9. Lower Torso
10. Upper Torso
11. Neck
12. Head

* To generate results of 1-12 with six-sided dice roll 1D6 to determine high or low. 1-3 is low; 4-6 is high. If low, roll 1D6 and read normally. If high, roll 1D6+6.

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.]

Short List of Six-Sider Goals

1. Run more sessions of the 1st edition Ghostbusters role-playing game.

2. Complete my own version of universal D6 role-playing rules.

3. Acquire a set of new casino-style six-sided dice.

4. Run Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls.

5. Run Classic Traveller.

6. Post here more often.