How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

[CrosshairCollie]

Been playing the Ghostbusters video game a bit lately, and started wondering about how to build the basic Ghostbusters equipment, the Proton Pack and Ghost Trap. The PkE Meter is easy.

 

The proton pack is relatively easy, as I view it, at least ... TK that only works on ghosts, apparently with a linked Energy Blast that doesn't, because when they miss a ghost, stuff explodes. I briefly considered making the beam's effect on the real world a side effect, but it's often very useful to be able to blast doors and walls and stuff.

 

The Ghost Trap has me utterly baffled, though. All I can come up with is XD Movement useable against others to pull the ghost 'inside' the Trap, but that seems kind of lame. Anybody else have a thought on this one?

[SCUBA Hero]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

An Entangle that Affects Desolid with a Trigger?

[csyphrett]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

I think ex movement stops the ghost from escaping a trap only works on ghosts maybe.

 

An entangle can be destroyed given enough time.

CES

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

I think ex movement stops the ghost from escaping a trap only works on ghosts maybe.

 

An entangle can be destroyed given enough time.

CES

 

That actually works, given the following data (if one considers The Real Ghostbusters cartoon canonical):

1. Sufficiently powerful ghosts can escape from a trap, or resist being sucked into it in the first place.

2. The traps can be damaged or broken, which can release the ghost.

 

Though, admittedly, a lot of what happened in the cartoon was based on the needs of the story. Mr. Stay-Puft could fit in one trap in a few episodes, but there was at least one where they had to split a ghost into four parts, and suck it into four traps, and it didn't look as big as Stay-Puft to me.

[csyphrett]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

The entangle would have to be big in my opinion with the OAF on it. That would keep the little ones in and allow for the big ones escaping. Plus some of the ghosts had protection from the traps because of what they could do.

 

The electric ghost had to be sucked out of the machinery before they could trap it, the pied piper ghost had to lose all of the little ghosts it used, and another one was shielded by dogs I believe.

CES

[SirViss]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

You could build a "Drain Ghostly Powers" into the proton packs. That would explain why they seem to hold the ghosts in the streams longer, as to weaken the ghosts so that it would not be able to break out of the Entangle ghost traps. I know the movies never made any references to this but though it was never really spelled out in the cartoons either, I think it was sorta implied in a few episodes. Anyway, it's just an idea.

[godfish]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

The traps are a basic Entange with Affects Desolid and perhaps some limitations about working only on paranormal entities. The tricky part is the Proton Packs...they're like an EB with a linked Drain any Movement power and Drain SPD, I'd think. That's why they keep trying to tag the ghosts with the proton packs. Also, the throwers might incorporate a stackable transparent entangle that requires constant maintenance via a skill roll (perhaps "Ghost Wrangling" or the like) to keep the streams focused on the ghost enough to bind it?

[Escafarc]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

I'm thinking that if you use Entangle then you need Shrinking Usable as Attack to fit them in the trap for transport.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

The vault in their headquarters where they could "store" huge numbers of ectoplasmic critters as long as it kept powered up (shut off the juice and everything escapes) would be interesting to model. Apparently in RGB they figured out how to pull out specific creatures as the need arises (such as when they needed Zuul/Stay-Puft out for some reason, which i think happened a couple of times) and presumably put them back when they were done.

 

Actually you could get a lot of story hooks out of RGB. Like the one where a crazy guy summoned a demon and used its power to get rid of every chicken on Earth.

 

Yes, that's right. Every single chicken on the planet. The poor demon was utterly humiliated and willing to cooperate with the Ghostbusters to save face.

[StGrimblefig]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Wasn't there an article in the HERO System Almanac a while back about spirits? IIRC it specifically had examples of this kind of equipment (with names changed to confuse the lawyer-bots).

 

I will have to check when I get home tonight.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Wasn't there an article in the HERO System Almanac a while back about spirits? IIRC it specifically had examples of this kind of equipment (with names changed to confuse the lawyer-bots).

 

I will have to check when I get home tonight.

Yeap. Almanac I if memory serves. The spirit rules could be adapted to 5th with little fuss, I imagine.

[AlHazred]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

I'm going to be the Maverick™ here and say I might try the traps as Extra-Dimensional Movement, Usable As Attack. I saw the two movies and a couple of episodes of each cartoon only, but they seemed almost inescapable from those references. That could imply that Escape From Containment is to be used as a plot device, not statted out. If you use EDM, it's cheaper to build them, especially since Containment is a single dimension.

 

The Proton Packs are definitely Telekinesis, Affects Desolid, Usable Only With Grabs. They're probably also pretty cheap, especially seeing as they're pretty Bulky OIFs with Side Effects ("Don't cross the streams!"). Not to mention the reputation you get for carrying one around (Dr. Peter Venkman: "Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back." Dr Ray Stantz: "Lets get ready, switch me on." [Egon turns on Ray's proton pack, and everyone backs away from it.])

[Sketchpad]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

This is how we made them in 6e ... really not all that different in 5e ...

 

 

Cost......Power

50.........Proton Pack: Proton Pack: Multipower, 75-point reserve, (75 Active Points); all slots OAF: Proton Pack & Blaster Arrangement (-1 1/4)

1f...........1) Proton Stream: Proton Stream: Blast 8d6, Affects Desolidified Ghosts/Spirits (+1/4) (50 Active Points); OAF: Proton Pack & Blaster Arrangement (-1 1/4), STR Minimum 9-13 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Required Hands One-And-A-Half-Handed (-1/4), Side Effects (Side Effect does a predefined amount of damage, Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; -0) 0 END

2f...........2) Proton Grab: Proton Grab: Entangle 5d6, 5 PD/5 ED, Affects Desolidified Ghosts/Spirits (+1/4) (62 Active Points); OAF: Proton Pack & Blaster Arrangement (-1 1/4), STR Minimum 9-13 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Required Hands One-And-A-Half-Handed (-1/4), Side Effects (Side Effect does a predefined amount of damage, Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; -0) 0 END

18..........PKE Meter: Detect Ghosts/Spirits 11- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Penetrative, Range, Targeting, Tracking (45 Active Points); OAF: PKE Meter (-1), Requires A Roll (Systems Operation roll; -1/2) 0 END

65..........Ghost Trap: Entangle 8d6, 8 PD/8 ED, Affects Desolidified Ghosts/Spirits (+1/4), Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Area Of Effect Nonselective (1m Cone; +1/2), Thin Cone (-1/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (180 Active Points); Ghost Trap Arrangement

(-1 1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4), Gestures: Must Turn On (-1/4) 0 END

[AlHazred]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Nice writeup! A question and an observation.

 

1. I don't see Reduced END on the two slots of the Multipower, yet they're listed as 0 END. Do you guys have a house rule?
   
2. I remember them catching Slimer with the Proton Grab then moving him across a room to catch him in the Ghost Trap. Entangle doesn't have anything in particular to move a target. If I ran this, I might try a Telekinesis power for the Proton Grab, which would hopefully allow that. Of course, for the same points, you only get 28 STR, which might not be enough for some of the larger ghosts.
   

[Escafarc]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Nice writeup! A question and an observation.

 

1. I remember them catching Slimer with the Proton Grab then moving him across a room to catch him in the Ghost Trap. Entangle doesn't have anything in particular to move a target. If I ran this, I might try a Telekinesis power for the Proton Grab, which would hopefully allow that. Of course, for the same points, you only get 28 STR, which might not be enough for some of the larger ghosts.
   

 

Maybe that's why they needed multible proton packs to combine the TK STR for the bigger ghosts.

[AlHazred]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Grab and Move is one of the options once you've grabbed a target. If we assume all four of them concentrate on the same target, we get a total TK STR of 38, or 7 1/2 d6 for the purposes of Grabbing the target, averaging to 7-8 BODY. Gozer's STR must have been around that in order to bust out like he did before they crossed the streams. It's feasible.

[Sketchpad]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Nice writeup! A question and an observation.

 

Thanks

 

1. I don't see Reduced END on the two slots of the Multipower, yet they're listed as 0 END. Do you guys have a house rule?

 
It should be there ... maybe I C&Ped it wrong ...
 

I remember them catching Slimer with the Proton Grab then moving him across a room to catch him in the Ghost Trap. Entangle doesn't have anything in particular to move a target. If I ran this, I might try a Telekinesis power for the Proton Grab, which would hopefully allow that. Of course, for the same points, you only get 28 STR, which might not be enough for some of the larger ghosts.

 

For this, we did House Rule the Entangle as if having a Tether. It actually didn't have Strength of its own, but rather worked on the character's Strength for how far they could pull it and such.

[Sketchpad]

Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

 

Nope ... it's there, just not displaying. Odd.

 

Here's the HDC for anyone wanting it ...