Cats and dogs living together

This was the first play using the 7TV Paranormal Exterminators Programme Guide. The scenario was the first in the guide ("Cats and dogs living together") which is based on the first Ghostbusters film but I expanded the casts to around 36 points by adding a Sergeant and four Cops to the heroes side...

...and remixing the villains side to comprise two Demon Dogs, the Bell Witch and the Missing Link as co-stars, with two Harbingers, two Spectres, a Sewer Alligator and (of course) Slimer.

The three foot square playing area included the Ghostbusters Firehouse headquarters, some factory buildings and a playground in Central Park.

The defending heroes of Kieron and Stuart deployed in "Riverdance" formation on one side of their starting edge...

...whilst the attacking villains of David and James deployed more spread out so that they could make a good start for the majority of the five objective tokens.

We played with the 80s Genre plot cards and the first one drawn required an Extra to move into contact with any enemy co-star.  It had to be Dana Barrett in Gatekeeper form being drawn to Peter Venkman.

The heroes ignored her and pressed on together further into the park, with Winston then bravely engaging alone with the Demon Dog that had moved up to the central objective marker.

Despite his beam gadget knocking down the Bell Witch, Winston was swiftly the first casualty.  Having collected all the objective markers between them, both heroes and villains held off a bit in expectation of a super supernatural event in the finale.  Control of both Harbingers switched between the teams and they were used to harry the rears of the casts.

As the game entered the final act and the Destructor was summoned, Ray Stantz foolishly recalled his favourite corporate icon from his childhood, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man stomped into New York.  This figure stands about 17cm tall and I was very pleased to find this original 1984 model on eBay a few years ago.

However I was less pleased that he entered on the heroes' turn in the place we agreed it made most dramatic sense to enter.  The heroes were ready for him and he was melted before the villains had a chance to cause havoc with his impressive range of attacks.

The film ended here but this wasn't a scenario end condition so, although disheartened, the villains battled on.  Slimer did get to slime Venkman who subsequently killed him.  The Sewer Alligator together with Louis Tully's energy blast made short work of the Sergeant and another couple of cops. 

However, the involvement of the Bell Witch really turned the tide, as did a crazy cop who kept firing into close combat, missing and taking out his colleagues instead.  Over a couple of turns, the heroic cast melted away almost as quickly as the Destructor.

So although the heroes earned big points for taking out the Marshmallow Man plus one of the Demon Dogs, the villains earned more points by wiping out all of the Ghostbusters, giving them a minor victory.

Thoughts on the scenario:

• the rules say the referee decides where the Marshmallow Man appears. Without a referee, we agreed beforehand the Destructor would enter along the central road from the villains' starting edge, which dramatically made sense, but from a game perspective it might have been better to randomise which end of the road. And I think he should enter in the first villain turn during the Finale so he actually gets a go before being toasted!

• the finale as described in the scenario is 10 turns (longer than the first two acts together) as Heroes can only take one card each time, and Villains don't take one at all. A longer finale was welcomed as it would give the Heroes a better chance of finishing off the Destructor but given how quickly they accomplished this, playing out the remaining turns felt too long. I think we will add a Scenario End Condition of destroying the Marshmallow Man. Storywise, it's the climax and it felt odd to continue playing.

• the Bell Witch can gain plot points for each enemy near her, and then use these to change dice rolls to 1s or 6s. In close quarters, this effectively rendered her invulnerable. We wondered whether she was overpowered but I think we should try more ranged attacks on her before concluding that. It is worth noting that the Ghostbusters only used their proton packs on the Marshmallow Man and didn't trap a single ghost.

All in all a great game, with Star Qualities and Special Effects that capture well the action and story of the movie.

Episode 108: A rose by any other name would smell as rank

Having just finished the Thorns of the Briar Queen, I pitted them against the Ghostbusters using the Perilous Tales solo rules.  It was also my first opportunity to use one of my new gaming mats and the ruined church I made in September.

The mission for the Ghostbusters:

Having saved the city, the Ghostbusters are now well-renowned and respected. They receive requests worldwide to deal with paranormal infestations.  The latest is from the Czech Republic.  There’s something strange in the neighbourhood of a ruined church on the outskirts of Prague.  Dr Peter Venkman, Dr Raymond Stantz, Dr Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore have been asked to investigate and clear the site of spectres.

The objectives were Kill The Master, Leave No Stone Unturned and Escape!  The villains and perils used the data for Ghast villains and Graveyard location from the rulebook.  The key thing about the villains were that they couldn't be wounded.  The Briar Queen (Ghast) had to be exorcised by three heroes in the same turn, and the Chainrasps (Spirits) immediately spawned 8" from the hero that had just successfully attacked them. The only change I made was to stop the Chainrasps re-spawning once the Briar Queen had been defeated.

The Ghostbusters parked up and entered the churchyard by two different entrances, Venkman and Zeddemore on the right, Stantz and Spengler on the left.

As they moved in, Venkman revealed the first threat marker and fell headfirst into an empty grave, causing a spectacular 7 wounds (a particularly unlucky early roll of dice including two zeros, which each cause 2 wounds) .  As the "Noose Tightened" following the Threat Check, Stantz revealed a Creeping Horror peril, which disadvantages some rolls with 6" for the rest of the game.

In the second round, the minions started to appear, causing minor wounds in their ambushes.

The team vanquished the Spirits but obviously others reappeared a bit further away.

In the third turn, Stantz revealed the Briar Queen behind the church.

Realising that the team had to re-group in order to take on the Queen, Venkman and Zeddemore used the Discretion trait and Escape from Combat actions to focus on getting across to help rather than endlessly battling Spirits.

By this time though, Venkman had picked up 11 wounds, just one short of being wiped out, so he took the long way out of danger to reach Spengler and Stantz, leaving Zeddemore chased by numerous Spirits.

Winston battled bravely but ultimately succumbed in turn 7 as the Spirits piled on.

Meanwhile, the three remaining Ghostbusters engaged the Briar Queen.

Venkman and Spengler successfully completed their Exorcism skill check but Stantz failed his role.  Fortunately, the "Last Ditch" rule allows one failed attempt in the game to be re-rolled.  This time it worked, and the Briar Queen was vanquished.

Pursued by the remaining Spirits, the team (sadly less Zeddemore) escaped from the villain's table edge.

The Ghostbusters earned 3 points for killing the Queen, 1 point for revealing the final threat markers when the threat level was at 7, 3 points for escaping, and 1 point for the leader surviving.  Eight points gives a final episode rating of B - "a tale fit for the telling".

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".

Ghostbusters - the setup

Perilous Tales inspired me to get on and paint the Ghostbusters figures that I'd bought from Crooked Dice a number of years ago.

To complete the set I modified a pair of Terror Dogs from Heresy Miniatures (by removing some horns on their backs and a skull on their chains) to represent Vinz Clortho the Keymaster of Gozer and Zuul the Gatekeeper of Gozer.

I struggled to find a suitable figure to represent Gozer the Gozerian in female form.  I ended up heavily modifying an old figure but lost a lot of detail in the process.  It'll do for now.

The final figure was of course Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (the Destructor form of Gozer).  I managed to source an original 1984 model on eBay which stands about 17cm tall.

I picked up a Jada model of Ecto-1, advertised as 1:32 but a little smaller so actually works better.

Thinking I was ready to go, I was then pointed towards TTCombat's Fire Station, which I couldn't resist.

This is a really great kit.  Lots of well cut MDF plus cardboard for the brick edging. The windows are set back rather than flush which gives the model extra depth. Excellent value from TTCombat. The only thing I added was the Ghostbusters sign. Took a while to put together and paint but I enjoyed doing it.

I wanted to play the scenario in the more open space of Central Park rather than filling up the playing area with buildings, so I also got some fencing and an MDF playground to complete the park.

The final elements were some print-at-home scenery for the road system - the Capital City PDF from Fat Dragon Games.