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Chaosium Digest Volume 13 Number 04
Chaosium Digest Volume 13, Number 4
Date: Sunday, March 3, 1996
Number: 2 of 3
Contents:
The Ooze Brother, Part Two (Chris Hodgson) GHOSTBUSTERS
--------------------
From: Chris Hodgson <chris@castlelink.co.uk>
Subject: The Ooze Brothers, Part Two
System: Ghostbusters
PART 2: CLUES TO THE ILLINOIS NAZIS
The players will probably set out on the Morning of Saturday, May
31st. Throughout this entire adventure, the gamemaster should keep in
mind, and constantly remind the players of, two deadlines. If the
Madonna is to be used in an Arcana ritual, that will occur at Midnight
on the 31st. The $50,000 in taxes must be paid to the IRS by June 1st.
Travelling to the orphanage from the hotel will take only ten minutes.
The players are met in the seedy downtown street by hordes of cheering
children of all sorts of odd shapes and sizes. One, for instance, is
very tall with long yellow hair (feathers?), a very large nose, eyes
like billiard balls and an irritating voice. Another is very hairy and
so ill and dirty he appears to be blue in colour, though the big smile
he wears compensates for his obvious lack of intelligence and
irritating voice. Come to think of it, they all have irritating
voices.
Joyfully filling the road as they are, an average Drive or Moves roll
is needed to avoid hitting one of them, but as these are tough street
kids, failure will only result in a few months in hospital. Having got
inside the orphanage, the players are met by a legendary nun refered
to as The Penguin.
THE PENGUIN
Disapproving Nun with Shady Past.
BRAINS 4 Scathe 8
COOL 3 Avoid questions about Past 7
MOVES 2 Wield Cane/Umbrella 5
MUSCLE 2 Bash Bible 6
Goal: Serve Humanity
Distinctive Mannerisms: Wears a monocle and uses a long cigarette
holder to stir her hot milk. Everything she says sounds like a
warning. Oddly reminiscent of Burgess Meredith. Unknown to all, she
was once a famous male criminal called Arnold Cobblepott, who
eventually grew tired of crime and changed sex to live the life of a
nun. The Penguin very much disapproves of Science in the spirit world,
but as the Ghostbusters are all good catholics (of course they are),
she will tolerate them.
The Penguin shows the players to the chapel and explains that on
Wednesday night at approx 21:00 three men entered the orphanage
wearing black uniforms and carrying Lugers. The only one brave enough
(read: stupid enough) to put up any resistance to them was the
orphanage hero (and soon to be mega-star) Sparky The Wonder Dog.
The players are introduced to Sparky. Bouncy and enthusiastsic, Sparky
makes Lassie seem like Oppenheimer. Make him especially irritating,
because at the end he will be presented to the team as a gesture of
thanks. The local media love him already, marvelling at his uncanny
intelligence (read: luck).
Once forced upon the Ghostbusters, no interview will be without its
compulsory questions about the welfare of the People's hero. At last,
a superstar in their midst. A campaign all in itself, Sparky can make
just checking out of a hotel seem like A Bridge Too Far.
SPARKY THE WONDER DOG
Canine People's Hero
BRAINS 0 Apparently understand life and death messages 5
COOL 6 Act more intelligent than Amoeba 9
MOVES 3 Bark Meaningfully 6
MUSCLE 2 Carry Baby 5
Goal: Serve Humanity
Distinctive Mannerisms: Eats, humps and dumps on anything at the worst
possible moment.
The Penguin informs the players that before escaping with the Madonna,
the Men in Black were attacked by Sparky, who managed to rip the pants
of one of the villains. Using the pants themselves as clues is
somewhat difficult, as The People's Hero and Children's Friend
subsequently ate them. Luckily a clue dropped from the pocket of their
Leader in the struggle. A receipt for 20 brand new pairs of jackboots!
The shop concerned, "Nazis-R-Us", is located on the other side of
town. Residual PKE readings of surprising strength can be found in the
cabinet were the Madonna once rested. Having aggravated the Penguin,
the players will hopefully follow up their lead. Try and waste their
time on the journey over -- if your campaign has no irritating
sub-plot to catch up with them, try this one:
Optional Sub plot
This requires a character with the goal Sex. One of his great close
escapes was almost exactly a year ago, when he found himself engaged
to the daughter of a powerful Mafia boss. He doesn't remember? Well,
he was very drunk. The upshot was that he just didn't turn up for the
wedding. Jilted her at the altar. And yes, she does coincidently look
very much like Carrie Fisher...
THE VENGEFUL GIRLFRIEND
Brains 3 Hair styling 5
Cool 2 Ambush 5
Moves 3 Use infantry support weapon 6
Muscle 2 Carry infantry support weapon 5
Goal: Vengeance
Distinguishing Characteristics: Beautifully manicured fingernails and
an uncanny resemblance to a character from Star Wars.
Thanks to her father, she has just about every lethal man portable
weapon of mass destruction available. Despite her skill in using them
however, the players are on a Mission From God and are only ever
reduced to stumbling out of annhiliated scenery. The vengeful
girlfriend will not damage the ecto-mobile, however, as her one bit of
romance with the character occurred on its rear acceleration couch
(Back seat).
Although initially using hit and run tactics, the vengeful girlfriend
will eventually try and engineer a face-to-face confrontation.
Luckily, she is liable to melt in such a situation, depending on
whether the player can talk his way out of such a situation...
The Mission From God
Worth a reminder here is that the laws of probability themselves are
slanted in the player's favour. Normal to impossible actions are made
normally, but really silly stunts, especially in cars, have a very
good (GMs discretion) chance of succeeding. Bottom line is, of course,
if it's funny, it's feasible.
In addition the players might also realize in the course of their
chaos that the local police are having a hard time catching up with
them. Don't give the police a chance to work off their hopefully
growing grievances until the end. If the ghostbusters are being
careful, start with a wrongful speeding ticket and go from there.
Back to the Plot
Nazis-R-Us is in fact a very camp shop. At the counter today are
Arnold and Gervaise.
ARNOLD AND GERVAISE
Leather men shop assistants
Brains 2 Remember "Grease" 3
Cool 1 Not be embarrassed 6
Moves 3 Mince 8
Muscle 5 Look Butch 9
Goal: Fame
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hitler mustaches and leather gear.
While Arnold spends ages searching through till receipts looking for
the transaction and trying to remember where they were working that
day, Gervaise will compliment the players on their uniforms, ask where
they're from, saying "get much R n' R ? - coz there's this place we
know.." etc.
Meanwhile, out in the street, Christians Against Deviants have begun a
demonstration, closely covered by the TV news crews that have been
ignoring the team all week.
Eventually Arnold will deduce that the transaction was performed by
the Manager himself, Mr Kelso, who is currently on vacation. Just as
the team are on the way out, however, Gervaise will remember that Mr
Kelso arranged to have dinner/lunch (whatever the time is) at his
brother's very exclusive restaurant: The Leningrad Cowboy (complete
with live band). Alternately, he could be at home with his paranoid
Bette Davis of a Mother, who'll be convinced that the Ghostbusters are
in some way official.
Assuming the Ghostbusters get to Mr Kelso without too much attendant
havoc, threats will be needed before he reveals that the boots were
indeed ordered by a group calling itself The National Socialist and
White Peoples Party. Their address? A disused ballroom called the
Empire just outside Landisburg in Illinois.
Now, to preserve the chances of The Race Against Time on the 1st of
June, you might have to delay the Ghostbusters, preferably having them
arrive at midnight, just before the Nazis do the dirty deed. Maybe
they press the wrong button in the Ectomobile ("Congratulations. You
have decided to clean the inside of the car. 10.. 9.. etc") or perhaps
the Machine that Goes Ping just stops working.
If you want to stray unpredictably into the plot of the film, you
could have Mr Kelso warn ominously that Landisburg is watched
constantly by the Nazis and that they go in disguise... as musicians.
Co-incidently, on that night, Landisburg's night spot, "Bob's Country
Bunker", awaits a Country and Western band called "The Good Ol' Boys",
who will unfortunately arrive at 23.00, an hour and a half too late.
(Needless to say, they could also go as the Leningrad Cowboys, another
silly film, if the idiocy level needs to go up another level of
magnitude.)
PART 3: THE ILLINOIS NAZIS
If the Ghostbusters decide that dressing up is beneath them (or more
likely beyond them), but decide they want to scout around for info in
the Country bunker, you have the chance to play out that D&D bar scene
you know so well:
1. Suspicious entrance through swinging doors. Terrifying liberal
eating rednecks all turn round, hideously deformed and twisted...
2. Ask the barkeep for a drink. "Milk" could provoke a barfight, which
is inconsistent with scouting.
3. Choose music on juke box. Tom Jones' famous country ditty "COP
KILLER" (an unfortunate supply error) could also produce the above.
4. Break the ice by telling a joke. Another sure chance for a
barfight.
5. Interrogate the barman. Needless to say this is futile. He is the
last person told about anything and still thinks Nixon is
president. If questioned about the old haunted ballroom on the
hill, he will point to a man drinking on his own in the corner.
"That's Hank the Librarian. He did some work for the new owners".
6. Man sitting drinking in the corner. Cowboy boots, stetson, Chaps
(cowboy flares) and tiny spectacles on the end of his nose. Hank
Herman has spent weeks sitting in that corner waiting for his
Mission From Godot, sorry, God.
As the town literate, he was given the job of checking local
libraries for a certain book, just in case the new owners of the
ballroom couldn't find it at the Miskatonic. As the Nazi's copy of
the Mumbojumbicon was aparently 70 years overdue and they weren't
allowed to take anything else out, it was just as well Hank found a
copy of the book in question, especially as they needed it by
midnight tonight (And yes, of course it's a 1st Edition without
errata). He doesn't remember seeing any Madonnas at the ballroom
but knows they've been hiding something recently.
If the players are nice to him or if they just buy him a drink,
he'll add that there are about 100 Nazis in total, led by a very
confused guy called Gerry, who was until Thursday a nobody, but
since then has developed an outrageous German accent and a nasty
habit of spinning his head 360 degrees while spitting pea soup.
He also might reveal that the safest way in is via a tunnel that
can be reached by following a nearby storm drain. Nazis? Naaahhh.
They're just ordinary country folk who like dressing up. They mean
no harm. Except to Jews, Blacks, Catholics, City-folk and
Vertebrates.
Meanwhile....
On this very night, with the power of the Madonna the Nazis intend to
bring the spirit of the Fuhrer back from the dead. Helping them is the
restless spirit of Hitler's chief adviser on the occult, Herman
Plenck, who was run over by a tank in 1942 and returned on Thursday
night to aid the Nazis by possessing lowly Gerald Wagner.
Plenck himself is quite a force, making the quarter finals of Earth's
Sorcerer Supreme in the 30's before recognising his real talent lay in
the sadly more subtle path of Tea Magic. It was while perfecting a
particularly arcane and refreshing strain of Earl Grey just outside
Stalingrad that he met his appointment with Fate, or to be more
precise, a T-34.
HERMAN PLENCK
Fanatical Nazi occultist (Deceased)
Power 2
Ectoprescence 5
Special Abilities: Possess, Animate Object, Control Mind, Zip
Goal: Serve the Fuhrer
Distinguishing Characteristics: Very flat.
His unwitting host has become head Nazi, in the meantime, on virtue of
"his pure Aryan speech" (he's got the best accent).
GERRY WAGNER
Part time Nazi
Brains 1 See life as Conspiracy 5
Cool 1 Ignore Reality 4
Moves 3 Drive Taxi 3
Muscle 4 Abuse Weakling 8
Goal: Be one of the Elite.
Mannerisms: Looks down his nose at you.
Gerry usually drives a taxi (surprise, surprise) but since Thursday
he's been on a Mission From The Fuhrer and so now drives a stolen
Porsche.
Getting in to The Empire Ballroom
Largely derelict, there are three ways in. The front way is guarded by
two Nazis with SMGs. They all, conveniently enough, have the same
stats as Gerry, so possibly can be tricked.
They are good friends. Good friends for a reason. They share the same
secret. No, they don't know Arnold and Gervaise, but they have kept
secret from the rest of the guys something that would cause others to
question their Aryan perfection. They are both tone deaf.
If the players get past them, the dimly lit lobby beckons. Double
doors opposite open onto a room full of at least 100 Nazis but the
stairs on either side of the lobby lead up to two balconies which
overlook the stage (Swinging from chandeliers available).
The second way in is round the back, through the toilet windows, but
as this is on the second floor, a Moves roll is needed to get up the
nearby drainpipe. Passages lead from the toilets to either side of the
stage. (Optionally you could have Arnold and Gervaise in the toilets
at the same time, doing, well... whatever).
The sneaky way in, of course, is through the storm drain. The two Nazi
guards here luckily enough are big Ghostbuster enthusiasts and will
ask for autographs for their children. They are determined no-one
should pass however and unless a particularly clever ruse is used they
will have be hit on the head. Although the entrance is only about a
quarter of a mile, the ectomobile can only be taken half way owing to
the low ceiling. When walking through the dark tunnel Ghostbusters
without ecto-goggles must make an moderate Moves roll to prevent
falling in the mud and temporarily loosing 1 point of Cool.
The concealed entrance is Difficult to see without ecto-goggles but
once through there the Ghostbusters will be in the labyrinth of
tunnels that exist beneath every theatre. A Very Difficult Move or See
roll will notice the concealed trapdoor that leads up behind the
stage. Otherwise, the players will wander around in the dark until
they stumble across a storeroom full of (describe candles to them)
fireworks, stored here until the triumphant return of the fuhrer. The
ceiling is merely floorboards and the sound of chanting can be heard
from above...
The Ritual
The ritual is nearing its climax: Gerry/Plenck stands on stage before
a Golden dish on a tripod. Between the legs of the tripod stands the
Madonna. Kneeling in front, wearing a red gown, is a Nazi who bears a
stunning resemblance to Rocky from the Horror show of the same name.
Gerry/Plenck holds in one hand a live chicken and in the other a Nazi
dagger. The large crowd in front of him is deathly quiet. (Get the
accent right.)
"Gods of the Old and Outer Heed Me! By words of the Mumbojumbicon, the
power of Shug Bubblebath and the glory of Isaac Azathoth I offer you
this blood sacrifice of white meat that shall not clog up your cosmic
arteries. Further we offer you this perfect human, that he might be
the vessel of the spirit you will provide ! The spirit of the Leader -
ADOLF SCHICKLEGRUBER, sorry, HITLER!"
Dramatic entrances from off stage or even from the balcony via Errol
Flynn stunts are comparatively straight forward, but things are more
awkward if the Ghostbusters are trapped in the room full of fireworks.
The quickest way up is through the ceiling, directly beneath the
stage. Proton packs are easily capable of cutting a large hole BUT
1. There a 50% chance of them setting off the fireworks but
2. There is an excellent chance of the ceremony dropping onto them.
In any case, this time the Ghostbusters are just too late, because,
before they can disrupt things:
At the climax of the chant the Madonna suddenly glows like the sun and
a bolt of black lightening bursts through a nearby window to envelope
the chicken in energy. Chaos follows. The crowd, most of whom were not
expecting anything to happen, start to momentarily panic.
In the on-stage confusion the Madonna is thrown and somehow dropped or
otherwise hit in such a way that it smashes, revealing a hollow inside
stuffed with Kruggerands (Gold coins). About $50,000 worth.
Now without leading the players in any particular direction: THEY HAVE
ENOUGH THERE TO SAVE THE ORPHANAGE IF THEY GET THE GOLD TO THE COOK
COUNTY ASSESSORS OFFICE TOMORROW! (The Madonna is now worthless to
anyone).
The Nazi Rocky is still sentient and therefore very confused. The most
obvious clue to the state of the chicken is the way it tries to
address the audience. If the players still haven't cottoned on, have
the chicken do the goosestep.
Makes Zuul look pretty insignificant doesn't it?
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's
Games. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to:
appel@erzo.org. Ghostbusters is a trademark of Columbia Pictures
Industries Inc. There is no Zuul.
