31daysof

Ghostbusting Apps

This is post number 8 in the series “31 Days of Ghostbusters,” a celebration of the franchise’s return to the big screen.

As we covered in the post about modernizing the Ghostbusters RPG, smartphones alone open up a new world for our heroes. A big reason for that is the availability of apps that can help them hunt down paranormal critters. Apps such as…

Tobin’s Spirit App

In addition to being bulky, heavy, and hard to reference while holding a PKE meter in one hand, copies of Tobin’s Spirit Guide are also so old and emotionally charged that they’re sometimes haunted themselves! Enter the modern replacement: Tobin’s Spirit App. The 21st Century Ghostbuster uses this app to look up information about a nearly endless collection of spooks, spectres, and spirits. Who has time to flip through crumbling pages to find out how to deal with the mythical two-eyed cyclops while it’s trying to eat the rest of your team? Using the app, you’re just a few taps away from learning that all you have to do is knock off the brute’s monocle and he’ll be defenseless!

PKE Meter App

Once you equip your phone with a small psychokinetic energy sensor developed by Ghostbusters R&D (sold separately, available in bluetooth), you can access almost all the functionality of the PKE meter in a smaller, sleeker, handier, smartphonier package. This app is especially handy for the occasional job when you want to keep your equipment hidden (or the more frequent job when you just forgot to pack the PKE meter). In practice, most Ghostbusters still use the standard meter when given the choice, until R&D works out that bug where an incoming call causes a feedback pulse that attracts all the ghosts in the area.

Spectral Activity Mapper

Using a combination of GPS satellite data and an array of industrial PKE meters mounted throughout the city, the Spectral Activity Mapper app can help the ghostbusters narrow down a search for a ghost to within a few blocks. The SAM app is especially useful for following a ghost the team already knows about. In theory, it could be used to find unreported ghosts to track, but unless a paying customer is attached, such uses of the app are considered by Ghostbusters Inc. to be “outside recommended parameters.”

Haunted History Apps

Remember the bad old days when researching the spook inhabiting a disused wine cellar required a visit to the library, along with the associated problems with crabby librarians, photocopy fees, and paper cuts? You and me both, ‘buster! Luckily, the modern Ghostbuster has the power of the internet at her fingertips, including apps that cross-reference historical data with interactive maps to let you easily reference the psychic history of whatever area you’re in. Note that Ghostbusters R&D hasn’t created any apps of this type because so many have already been developed by third parties, including ghost-hunting clubs, universities, and random kooks. In other words, the quality varies.

Equipment Status Trackers

Ghostbusters use a lot of tech. Dangerous tech. Fortunately, a new suite of apps lets the team keep an eye on containment capacity, trap charges, nuclear decay rates, and more, directly from their smartphones. Set an alert for when the grid is nearly full! Automatically order a new shipment of traps from HQ when stock is low! Notify emergency responders when a positron leak occurs!

What app would YOU want to use if you were a Ghostbuster?

Modernizing Ghostbusters

This is post number 7 in the series “31 Days of Ghostbusters,” a celebration of the franchise’s return to the big screen.

If you use the Ghostbusters RPG to run a game set when the movie came out—the mid 1980s—then you’re all set. The game world and equipment list reflect that reality, from the standard Ghostbusters walkie talkies to the new, cutting edge “cellular phone” the team could carry in the car. The last time I started a Ghostbusters campaign, a few years ago, I was tempted to go with such a retro setup. The Ghostbusters would receive missions by phone, or from people walking in off the street, or by a letter from Ghostbusters Inc., and the clothing, music, and guest star NPCs would all be artifacts of the 80s.

If, on the other hand, you want to run a game set in the modern day, you’ll need to do some modernizing. I had some ideas about this for my campaign, which I’ve broken up into three categories: equipment, societal changes, and social media.

Equipment

First, the Ghostbusters will probably ditch walkie-talkies and switch to smartphones. In addition to enabling the team to talk and text on the go, smartphones will let them:

  • research ghostly phenomena and location histories online (Spates Catalog is probably hyperlinked and searchable)
  • capture images, audio, and video for later research
  • find the location they’ve been hired to cleanse
  • use apps (This is a big topic that I’ll address in a separate post.)
  • stay in touch with their fans (more on that under Social Media)
  • read reviews of new restaurants (OK, that one’s not job related, but they’ll still do it.)

The main tools of the ghostbusting trade—proton packs, ghost traps, and the containment grid—still seem pretty futuristic today. But don’t let that stop your efforts to update them! Maybe Ghostbusters R&D has developed a miniaturized containment grid, perhaps even a portable one, say the size of a shoebox. Or maybe proton packs have built-in stream-crossing failsafes, or we have ghost traps that hover and chase a target. And one thing all ghostbusting equipment could use is a reduced environmental footprint. (Just ask the EPA.)

No changes are needed for the beach kit. It remains as relevant as ever.

Societal Changes

If your Ghostbusters modernization assumes that the movie events took place in the 80s and that the modern player characters are the inheritors of that legacy (as I did in my recent campaign), then you might also want to consider the changes in society that would likely result from these two facts: (1) ghosts exist, and (2) Ghostbusters exist.

From these facts, we might expect to see an increase in popularity of parapsychology as a college major. A concrete example of this would be to have an NPC working for the team who is an intern from a local university.

Proof in the paranormal would also likely have an effect on the TV shows that center on ghostly phenomena, like the ones airing in the real world on the increasingly-poorly-named History Channel. These shows might have higher budgets, more prestigious guest stars (“Mr. Cruise, tell us more about the ghost that’s stalking you,”) and even content the team could use for research purposes. “There’s a ghost stealing socks from the dryer in the White House? I think I saw a show about sock-stealing ghosts the other day on SpookTV!” You could even have a camera crew following the PCs around during an adventure to document a day in the life of the Ghostbusters.

Political issues could be a concern for your team, too. Maybe some people think it’s immoral to trap a ghost, and try to get Ghostbusting outlawed. The team might also find themselves in legal trouble for all the property damage they cause. (Be wary of overdoing this angle, though, because trashing buildings and the like seems integral in recreating the feel of the movies.) Also, busting ghosts can be a hazardous job—does your franchise offer a sufficient healthcare plan?

Social Media

Like any other modern business, the Ghostbusters will need a strong presence in social media.  For starters, your players’ franchise absolutely needs its own Facebook page. How else will their fans give them research tips, request missions at any hour of the day, and post “friendly” messages telling just what they think about the local Ghostbusters and where they can put their Ectomobile? This might open up a new Goal: Friends (strive to have an ever-increasing number of friends, online and off). But most importantly, we can finally learn which Disney character each team member would be.

“Who Ya Gonna Call”™ is so last century. Today it’s #WhoYaGonnaTweet? Like Facebook, Twitter could be a valuable source of customers and complaints, with the dubious addition of being able to connect the team with celebrities around the world. Want to know what @WilliamShatner thinks about the outcome of the latest Ghostbusters mission? Too bad, you will. PCs with the Goal of Fame will certainly get a lot of use out of Twitter, as will the newest generation of up-and-coming millenial Ghostbusters who like phone calls about as much as Slimer likes proton streams. #PoorSlimer

Photo and video sharing could be big for the franchise, too, adding Instagram and YouTube to the Ghostbusters’ social media empire. How many likes will the capture of a free repeater earn? Or a shot of a figure from history scaring the crowd at a Starbucks? Or one Ghostbuster accidentally blasting another? (Answer: not as many as a spectral wardrobe malfunction.)

What Else?

The new Ghostbusters movie will likely have more ideas about Ghostbusting in the 21st Century, so I’ll address this topic again later. Until then, what are your ideas?

(Fake text message created using the Fake iPhone Text Generator by FoxSash. The fake tweets, though, that’s my doing.)

A History of the Ghostbusters Roleplaying Game

This is post number 6 in the series “31 Days of Ghostbusters,” a celebration of the franchise’s return to the big screen.

Today’s post also appears on Gnome Stew, the best damn gaming website anywhere. I’m posting it here for continuity, but I suggest you read it on Gnome Stew. It’s prettier there.

Ghostbusters Begins: A History of the Ghostbusters Roleplaying Game

A Brief Overview of The Ghostbusters RPG

The Ghostbusters RPG was released in 1986,  just about midway between the theatrical releases of the two original movies. The game boasts an amazing pedigree, having been designed by Chaosium (the makers of Call of Cthulhu, first released five years earlier) and developed by West End Games (the creators of Paranoia in 1984). Long-time gamers will probably recognize some of the names involved in the game’s initial launch: Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis, Greg Stafford, Ken Rolston, Martin Wixted, Paul Murphy, and Greg Costikyan.

Ghostbusters shipped in a box (retro, right?) and contained a Training Manual, Operations Manual, How To Play file, 6 dice, equipment cards, and Ghostbuster ID cards. The 24-page Training Manual served as a player’s guide, presenting character creation, basic rules, and a primer on ghosts. Inside the beefier 64-page Operations Manual you’d find material for the GM (the Ghostmaster, of course), including rules for creating ghosts, conducting scientific research, and establishing a ghost-busting franchise, in addition to GM tips, three adventures, 21 adventure ideas, a random adventure generator, and a bunch of useful non-player characters. The How To Play file provided a quick rules summary, adventure maps, and some fun forms such as a Franchise Contract and a Release From Damages form.

How It Plays

In Ghostbusters, players take the roles of either the cast of the movie (using the provided ID cards) or their own custom paranormal exterminators. The game’s background establishes a narrative framework for the latter in describing a parent company, Ghostbusters International, that sells franchise rights to wanna-be Ghostbusters in different cities. (Peter Venkman even mentioned this possibility in the first movie.)

Besides being a game that lets you become a Ghostbuster, the best thing about Ghostbusters was its elegant simplicity. This game has no speed or movement rates, no ranges, no advantages or disadvantages. Here are the basics of the Ghostbusters rules:

  1. You have four Traits and four matching Talents. Traits are attributes, including Brains, Cool, Moves, and Muscle. Talents can be anything that could be governed by the Trait, such as Parapsychology, Getting a Date, Climbing, and Breaking Down Doors.
  2. You roll a number of 6-sided dice equal to your Trait rating (which is typically between 1 and 5), adding 3 dice if your Talent applies.
  3. One of the dice you roll is a special Ghost Die, with the Ghostbusters logo on the 6. If a player rolls a ghost, something bad (and probably funny) happens.

That’s most of what you need to know to play the game! Check out the tiny character sheet!

We’ve already covered most of the details on it. The other pertinent bits are Brownie Points and Goal. Brownie Points are the Ghostbusters version of experience points, which you can spend to enhance dice rolls, reduce story penalties, and (more rarely) upgrade Traits. Characters earn Brownie Points from completing adventures and achieving personal Goals. The standard list of Goals includes Sex, Wealth, Fame, Soulless Science, and Serving Humanity. Each player chooses one, or makes up his own.

The rules for ghosts are just as simple as those for players. The Operations Manual provides 12 ghostly powers, things like possess, animate, terrorize, and, of course, slime. A ghost also has ratings for Power (how many dice it rolls to do things), Ectopresence (how many hits it can take), and a Goal. A ghost’s Goal is perhaps even more important than a PC’s, because it can provide another way to get rid of the ghost besides blasting it (which doesn’t work on every ghost anyway). For example, the ghost of a struggling director might stop haunting his former movie studio if the Ghostbusters manage to finish his movie and arrange a screening.

Another important part of the game is the use of equipment cards. If your Ghostbuster has a PKE meter, ecto-visor, and ghost trap, then you’ll have cards in front of you to remind you of that. Some cards also contain rule info, such as the card for alpine gear telling you it adds three dice to your Muscles pool. (You may have guessed that not all the cards are designed to be serious, or actually useful.) The game even has cards for tomes such as Tobin’s Spirit Guide and Spates Catalog of Nameless Horrors.

Ghostbusters International

Three years later, in 1989, West End released a second edition of the game: Ghostbusters International, developed by Aaron Allston and Douglas Kaufman. The game’s release coincided with the second Ghostbusters movie, though nothing in this edition’s contents even hints at that fact other than the Ghostbusters 2 logo and a two-sentence mention of the film in the rulebook’s introduction.

Ghostbusters International (GBI) came in a box, like its older brother, and similarly shipped with rulebooks and 6 dice. This time, though, the main rules were put into a single book (plus a booklet of handouts). Another notable change was the absence of equipment cards and Ghostbuster ID cards from this edition. (Boo.)

The basic Ghostbusters system remained the same, though GBI was noticeably more complex. The added complexity wasn’t as great as the change between, say, original Dungeons & Dragons and 3rd Edition; it was more a case of adding auxiliary details, rather than changing the basics of the system. In other words, it still had 4 Traits and 4 Talents, used dice the same way (including the Ghost Die), and had Brownie Points and Goals. But in addition, it now had a full-page character sheet, with lines for physical description details, health status, wound effects, and where on the body each piece of gear is equipped.

Other key changes in this edition were a longer and more detailed equipment list, rules for differentiating physical ghosts from ethereal ones (and intelligent ghosts from mindless ones), encumbrance rules, ghostly weaknesses, greater vs lesser ghost powers, and supernatural abilities for humans. Also, for the first time, we have a full-page ghost character sheet.

I’ve encountered some Ghostbusters players and Ghostmasters who complained about the GBI edition, saying that the added level of detail was not an improvement, that the game should have remained as simple and unadorned as possible. Personally, I like both editions. I sometimes ignore the GBI additions, running my game exactly as it was in its first edition. On other occasions, I add some GBI detail, especially the expanded ghost rules. (Encumbrance rules, however, can go sit in the corner.)

Supplements

The game was supported by the release of eight supplementary books–three for the first edition and five for Ghostbusters International. The first edition books were all adventures: Ghost Toasties, Hot Rods of the Gods, and Scared Stiffs.

In Ghost Toasties, the players face a supermarket cereal killer, a demon-haunted school, and twisted cartoon cereal mascots living in Candyland. The cover of Ghost Toasties also serves as a handy three-panel Ghostmaster’s screen! Hot Rods of the Gods features juvenile delinquents from outer space, a demolition derby mini-boardgame, men in black, and a re-designed and alien-enhanced Ectomobile.

For Ghostbusters International, West End published four adventures and one sourcebook. The flagship adventure (in name, at least) was Ghostbusters II: The Adventure, which allowed YOUR Ghostbusters to save the world from Vigo the Carpathian while the original Ghostbusters are locked away in a psychiatric ward. (Like Ghost Toasties, this adventure came with a Ghostmaster’s screen, this one updated for GBI).

In ApoKERMIS Now!, the team faces an evil from the “Big Book of Dark Ceremonies and Party Games.” Pumpkin Patch Panic is a Halloween-themed adventure in which the bad guys want to make Halloween last forever. (Doesn’t sound bad to me!) And in Lurid Tales of Doom the PCs must accompany a reporter for a tabloid to look for evidence of the supernatural in the newspaper’s stories.

The only non-adventure sourcebook published for Ghostbusters was Tobin’s Spirit Guide, easily the beefiest of the Ghostbusters supplements (at 76 pages). The Guide is a sampling of ghosts from around the world. Some highlights include Egyptian gods, boggarts, a Gozerian cult, Baba Yaga, the Headless Hunter, voodoo loas, Old Tom the pirate, and the world’s first feminist. An appendix at the back of the book also provides a reference to ghosts featured in previous Ghostbusters adventures.

Legacy

1990 was the last year of Ghostbusters RPG releases. Even so, you can still find Ghostbusters games being run at conventions today, as I did at Gen Con the last two years. With a little luck, you can find a used copy for sale. (Every time I check eBay I see a few available.) Even out of print, this game lives on.

What’s more important than the game itself, though, is what it inspired. I believe that much of what’s great about gaming today can be traced back to Ghostbusters. It was the first system to use a dice pool, a concept that was the basis for West End’s next game, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. It was rules-light, and easy to teach to new players. Even the Ghost Die lived on in later games, appearing as a wild die, a drama die, and in a strange case of becoming your own grandparent, a computer die in the next version of Paranoia (which will also use equipment cards!).

As we noted earlier, Ghostbusters was the creation of both Chaosium (the Call of Cthulhu people) and West End Games (the Paranoia people), and that seems perfectly symbolic. Horror plus twisted humor. Solid rules plus a minimalist level of detail. Supernatural entities plus a quirky way to bounce dice. Other games inherited this thematic influence, too, and we’ll cover some of them in a future article.

Have you ever played the Ghostbusters RPG, or any other spook-hunting game? I’d love to hear your stories, memories, or possessed ramblings in the comments.

Ectomobiles

This is post number 5 in the series “31 Days of Ghostbusters,” a celebration of the franchise’s return to the big screen.

The classic Ectomobile is a thing of beauty. It’s a “1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor limo-style endloader combination car (ambulance conversion),” according to Wikipedia. Judging from the trailer for this year’s Ghostbusters movie, the latest Ectomobile is a repurposed hearse. For your game, sure, you COULD use one of those ideas for your franchise’s Ectomobile, but if you want to try out something different, read on for a few ideas.

(Note that, thanks to the Ghostbusters RPG being so light on the rules, I don’t even have to make up stats for these things! Have I mentioned how much I love the Ghostbusters RPG?)

Humvee

By Lance Cpl. Brian Marion [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Armored. Tough. Formidable. Your Ghostbusters would love to have one as their Ectomobile. Should you let them?

Consider this: will it be funny? Forget about whether it would be practical or realistic or actually useful. In a game of Ghostbusters, we want funny. Luckily, even something outwardly tough and cool can be an opportunity for comic relief. It’s big, for example—that might make parking at a job tough, as well as add difficulty to turning in a hurry and squeezing down a narrow street. Also, it’s a thirsty machine; how much of the team’s budget are they willing to spend on gas?

SUV

By OSX (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A more humble SUV might be a good middle ground between the testosterone-overloaded Humvee and the soccer-mom-stereotyped minivan. Like the minivan, it screams “Suburban Ghostbusters!” But it’s also an icon of the early 2000s, and will help set a Ghostbusters game firmly in the present. (This is the vehicle my players chose in my most recent campaign.)

Minivan

By OSX (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The main advantage to using a minivan as an Ectomobile is the sliding door on the side that allows a Ghostbuster team to disembark in a hurry when they reach the scene of a haunting. (And then pick up the kids on the way back from the job.) Know what’s another advantage? The Ghostbusters will look like total dorks hopping out of a minivan.

Full-Size Van

By The Conmunity – Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA
(Long Beach Comic Expo 2012 – A-Team van) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

In addition to being less lame than a minivan, the regular van has an established pedigree in both action and comedy adventures. If it’s good enough for Mr. T and Scooby Doo, it’s good enough for your players! The trick will be to differentiate the Ghostbusters’ van from those famous fictional vans. (The logo and siren will help.) Or, maybe your players will enjoy riding in a symbol that’s reminiscent of other franchises. A lot of players like mashups like that, and would be thrilled to see such a plan come together.

Hybrid Car

Property of Mrs. Adventuresofkeithgarrett

Going in the other direction, a Ghostbusters franchise might take a more EPA-friendly route and opt for a more “green” Ectomobile, like a hybrid car. It may not be as stylish as an ambulance or a hearse or an SUV, but think of the comedy value! The more ridiculous your Ghostbusting players’ characters look, the better, I say. (Other opportunities to make your PCs look dorky include sticking them with a Volkswagen Beetle, a Mini Cooper, or a clown car.)

Bus

By Bill McChesney (Flickr: 32166 Albemarle County School
Bus Road-e-o) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Adam E. Moreira (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Alf van Beem (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

A full-sized bus, like a school bus or even a city bus, would hold a LOT of Ghostbusters. Plus their equipment. Plus a few passengers, if the team needs some extra money. For a smaller, hipper, more…smoky experience, try the classic Volkswagen Bus. A word of warning, though: don’t bother trying to shoot any pink elephants you see.

RV

By Claygate at en.wikipedia (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If you like the bus idea but want to go even more extreme, plop your PCs down in a recreational vehicle. In addition to serving as transportation, the Ghostbusters could borrow an idea from Walter White and set up a mobile lab. The Ecto-RV might even pack a mobile containment grid for dropping off spooks on the go. (Of course, the PCs will want to be careful where they dump it.)

Station Wagon

Josephew at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons 

All the style of the ambulance/hearse Ectomobiles without the convenient storage racks! Still, a wood-paneled station wagon would do nicely for a game set in the 70s (time travel?), or a franchise that’s low on cash, or a GM who really loves The Brady Bunch.

Pickup Truck

By High Contrast (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 de], via Wikimedia Commons

This is a must for Southern Ghostbusters. Though the truck can’t hold a full team of ‘Busters, it DOES boast a lot of storage capacity. A two-person Ghostbuster team could operate out of the truck for an extra-long shift without needing to return to HQ to swap out traps or proton packs. (Proton pack gun rack sold separately.)

Motorcycle Fleet

By The original uploader was Naru-W at Japanese Wikipedia
[GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Why does your franchise need to limit itself to a single vehicle that all the Ghostbusters have to fit inside? They might enjoy motorcycles instead, letting the team split up whenever they want. (As we know, they can do more damage that way.) Sure, a Ghostbuster would have difficulty firing a proton pack while riding a motorcycle (safely, anyway), but from the GM’s point of view, crashes are fun to describe!

Did I forget any entertaining options? If so, let me know below!

Gaming Soundtracks: Ghostbusters

This is post number 4 in the series “31 Days of Ghostbusters,” a celebration of the franchise’s return to the big screen.

The soundtrack to Ghostbusters is one of my favorites. The album mostly consists of 80s pop songs–some of which were clearly only added to pad out the song count–with a few pieces from Elmer Bernstein’s movie score. (A separate score album also exists, but that one sadly saw only a small print run.) While I’d prefer more of Bernstein’s amazing ghostly music, this album is a lot of fun and well worth repeated listenings.

As a GM running a Ghostbusters game, your use of this soundtrack might differ depending on your group of players. For a gang of long-time hardcore Ghostbusters fans–those likely to be familiar with the entire soundtrack, not just the main theme–use the whole thing. Several tracks do nothing to evoke a spooky mood (I’m looking at you, Laura Branigan), but for those of us who grew up listening to this album, they still scream Ghostbusters. If, instead, you have a group of players who don’t even know where in the movie “I Can Wait Forever” was featured, you might wanna stick to the key mood tracks, which for my money are “Ghostbusters” (both versions), “Cleanin’ Up the Town,” “Savin’ the Day,” “Magic,” “Main Title Theme,” and “Dana’s Theme.”

(Do you know which song appeared in the movie but not in the soundtrack? I’ll tell you in a minute.)

Track-specific notes:

  1. Ghostbusters (the theme song). Ray Parker, Jr. managed to create a catchy theme song without having to come up with a rhyme for “Ghostbusters,” and I appreciate that. I absolutely burned out on this song when it was first airing on the radio, but I can take it again now. Starting a game session with this theme song might be corny, but you know what? It’s Ghostbusters. Corn it up.
  2. Cleanin’ Up the Town. This is the music that played when the Ghostbusters got their first job and tore across town to bust the slimer at the Sedgewick Hotel. You might use it for chase music, or as background for a montage you and your players narrate about how the team captures a series of lesser ghosts before the night’s real action begins.
  3. Savin’ the Day. Love this one. Even more than the theme song, this is the track I think of when I imagine a team of Ghostbusters on the job and saving the city. (Yes, I imagine that a lot. Leave me alone.) Recommended for a montage as above, or when facing a difficult challenge that non-Ghostbusters just can’t handle.
  4. In the Name of Love. At this point in our listening, the soundtrack says, “Hey, remember how this movie was made in the 80s? Remember the Thompson Twins? Here they are!” This song has nothing to do with the film, and is only here because it was playing on the radio in the firehouse. And yet I love it, because I’ve listened to this album since I was 14. Use it in your game like they did in the movie: randomly.
  5. I Can Wait Forever. In my estimation, this Air Supply song is the low point of the soundtrack (still leaving it far superior to the best track of Ghostbusters 2). Here’s a tip for using this track: most music players have a “next track” button. Use it. (Fun fact: this song’s appearance in the movie was in the scene where the team is being evicted from the university; the song comes from a worker’s headphones.)
  6. Hot Night. I like this offering from Laura Branigan better, though it still doesn’t have a thing to do with the movie. It was playing in Louis Tully’s apartment while he talked to Dana about working out. With that in mind, you might use it in a scene involving exercise, or the 80s, or a ghost with heat powers? Good luck.
  7. Magic. I absolutely love Mick Smiley’s “Magic,” even though I have no idea what the hell it’s about. I just know it’s the song that was playing when the escaped ghosts were flying through the city and Dana’s apartment walls blew away, and that was BADASS! The song is mellow, and parts are a little eerie, so that might facilitate use in a scene where that’s the mood.
  8. Main Title Theme. We finally reach the first of the two tracks from Elmer Bernstein’s score. It appeared in the movie when the team was walking up the stairs of Dana’s apartment building toward the end. This is a wonderful piece, jaunty and whimsical and just a little reminiscent of ragtime music. It also features ghostly sounds that make it spooky, but in a fun way. To me, this music says, “Here are the Ghostbusters, and they’re doing something low-key.” It wouldn’t fit an action scene, but would be great background to social interaction, or searching for something, or even shopping for supplies.
  9. Dana’s Theme. Picture Dana walking across the street to carry her groceries up to her apartment. This is the music that was playing. Appropriately, it’s an orchestral piece in which Dana’s cello might feel right at home. The second of two Elmer Bernstein compositions, this track would make fine accompaniment to an exploration scene, or one introducing a new character (especially if the character is a love interest for a character with Sex as her Goal).
  10. Ghostbusters (Instrumental). Same as track 1, but without the singing. This might be a less-distracting way to work the theme song into your game. Just don’t be surprised if your players sing along anyway.

(By the way, the song that appeared in the film but not in the soundtrack was “Disco Inferno,” by the Trammps. It played during Louis Tully’s party. Speaking of “Disco Inferno,” stay tuned…I’ll have more on that topic later in the month.)