Episode 105: Who Ya Gonna Call?

First test of Perilous Tales rules with the Ghostbusters - details of figures and scenery in the previous blog post.  The mission:

After being kicked out of the university where they conducted paranormal research, scientists Dr Peter Venkman, Dr Raymond Stantz, and Dr Egon Spengler set up their own company in an old firehouse.  Along with former marine Winston Zeddemore, the "Ghostbusters" aim to remove spirits and spectres from New York.  There is something mysterious about one of their first clients, Dana Barrett, and her love-smitten neighbour, Louis Tully.  Dana’s apartment building may be a portal that could bring about the return of a sadistic, shapeshifting, apocalyptic entity called Gozer the Gozerian, worshipped as a god by the Hittite, Mesopotamian and Sumerian cultures.

Can the Ghostbusters thwart Gozer’s plans and save New York and all of humanity?

The three objectives were:

RECOVER THE GHOST TRAPS

If a hero on the villainous half of the table makes a successful Interact action with a piece of terrain that has not yet produced an Equipment token, place an Equipment token next to the model. At the end of the game, for each Equipment token in the possession of a surviving or escaped heroic model: score 1 point, to a maximum of 3 points.

LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED

When you reveal the last unrevealed threat marker, if the threat level is 5 or less, score 3 points; if the threat level is 6, score 2 points; if the threat level is 7, score 1 point.

DEFEAT MR STAY PUFT THE MARSHMALLOW MAN

At the end of the game: if the heroes have killed Mr Stay Puft, they score 3 points.

The villains and their special abilities and stats were:

Slimer

·         See Special Rules

Dana Barrett, possessed by Zuul (LURKER, 5 WOUNDS, 4 SKILL)

·         Hang Back: When revealed from a threat marker, spawn this model so that it is centered on the threat marker that revealed it.

Louis Tully, possessed by Vinz Clortho (LURKER, 5 WOUNDS, 4 SKILL)

·         Hang Back: When revealed from a threat marker, spawn this model so that it is centered on the threat marker that revealed it.

Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer (PACK HUNTER, 7 WOUNDS, 6 SKILL)

·         Frenzy: After making an attack with this model, if there is another hero within 2” that this model has not yet attacked this round, push this model 2” directly towards that model and then make another villainous attack action.

Vinz Clortho the Keymaster of Gozer (PACK HUNTER, 7 WOUNDS, 6 SKILL)

·         Frenzy: After making an attack with this model, if there is another hero within 2” that this model has not yet attacked this round, push this model 2” directly towards that model and then make another villainous attack action.

Gozer the Gozerian (AGGRESSIVE, 10 WOUNDS, 7 SKILL) [MASTER]

·         Beautiful and Terrible: Heroes must pass a skill check before attacking Gozer the Gozerian.

·         Lightning Bolts: Gozer can target any Hero within 10” with a Lightning Bolt shooting attack.

The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (AGGRESSIVE, 20 WOUNDS, 5 SKILL)

·         Tremors: Any hero within 6” of the start or finish location when Mr Stay Puft moves must must pass a skill check or be immediately knocked down.

·         Interminable: Can only be destroyed via a critical hit. If an attack that would take the model to 0 wounds does not include a critical hit, the model retains 1 wound.

I created a number of special rules to adapt the Perilous Rules system to reflect the narrative of the original Ghostbusters movie:

Villain order

·         When Threat Markers 1 to 5 are revealed, the Villains appear in the following order, regardless of the number on the Threat Marker: Dana Barrett, Louis Tully, Zuul, Vinz Clortho, Gozer

"Okay, who brought the dog?"

·         When Zuul or Vinz Clortho are revealed by threat markers, remove Dana or Tully respectively.  They also appear in the location of Dana or Tully when either of the possessed characters is defeated.  Ignore the corresponding threat marker when later revealed.

"I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never, ever possibly destroy us... Mr. Stay-Puft."

·         Representing the Destructor form of Gozer, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man appears in Gozer’s location when she is defeated

“He Slimed Me!”

Slimer materialises and slimes the nearest Ghostbuster with a single attack of Skill 5 before dematerialising when Markers 6, 7 or 8 are revealed.  Slimer also attacks as the Minion if the From The Shadows result is achieved in the Threat Check.

I used the standard 2x2 feet playing area but had an extra foot in order to get the roads and the fire house HQ onto the table.

The Ghostbusters started at the entrance to Central Park:

Dana was soon discovered as the guys entered the park and she attacked Egon.

Near the other entrance, Zeddemore got slimed twice by Slimer on the roundabout...

...followed by Venkman the next turn:

Zeddemore next revealed Tully who inflicted several wounds on him.  

A Creeping Chaos result saw Egon and Venkman fall back in horror as Zuul appeared, attacking the latter on the ground.

Zeddemore defeated Tully whilst Egon despatched Zuul with an amazing roll including three critical hits (zeroes).  Vinz Cortho, the second dog, appeared and Venkman fell down again.

Together, Ray and Zeddemore killed Vinz...

...and Gozer was revealed as Ray moved onwards.

Venkman succumbed to her beauty and was unable to attack but everyone else let her have it and her Gozerian form was quickly vanquished to be replaced by her Destructor form, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

 

He caused and sustained damage, with all four Ghostbusters blasting away at him.  But I'd given him the Interminable characteristic, and so he could only be destroyed via a critical hit.  And could they roll one?  

The battle continued, Slimer made another appearance killing Egon, and the Marshmallow Man killed Ray.  Venkman and Zeddemore had one final turn of three attacks each.  All they had to do was roll a zero.  And they failed, the threat level clicked over to 10, and New York was lost.  A measly two points were secured, a grade of F - "Failure, let us never speak of this again".

The character cards showed the devastation:

Later the same day, I set it up once more and tried again.  This time the marshmallow was toasted, with a final score of 8 and a grade B - "a tale fit for the telling".