Ghostbusters is a paranormal investigation action comedy tabletop roleplaying game from 1986
a review
2025-04-29
Contents
Introduction
Ghostbusters is a pretty great game!
There are two books: the Training Manual which is—to use the rosetta stone of tabletop games—essentially the Players Handbook; and the Operations Manual which is like the Dungeon Masters Guide.
I’m not sure what made me want to go back and re-read this recently, but I’m glad that I did! It’s a cute little game. Very streamlined, minimal rules. Quick startup and quick character creation. Quite conversational and silly in tone. It is definitely a cash in on the success of the recent movie: little cartoon Bill Murrays, Dan Akroyds, and Harold Ramises are all everywhere, as well as others to a lesser extent.
Sandy Petersen worked on this game in 1986 after publishing Call of Cthulhu in 1981. A very different type and flavor of paranormal investigation. AD&D 2e wouldn’t be published for another 3 years. So this is from pretty early on in the history of the hobby.
Allegedly this is the first d6 dice pool mechanic. West End Games would go on to refine the system in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, and eventually release the D6 System.
Today its direct influence can be seen in Graham Walmsley’s Cthulhu Dark, whose Insight Die works more or less exactly the same as the Ghostbusters Ghost Die. And I guess in any game that uses a pool of d6.
Character Creation
Character creation is fast:
You have four traits: Brains, Muscle, Cool, and Moves. Each start at 1 point. Distribute 8 more points however you want to a maximum of 5 points per trait. Choose or create 1 talent per trait. (Just something specific that falls under a trait that you are good at.) Start with 20 brownie points. Choose a Personal Goal (worth brownie points if you achieve it). That’s it!
Brownie points are a metacurrency you can spend 1:1 to add dice to a roll, or to resist a consequence. (Because brownie points exist, it is encouraged to regularly put the ghostbusters in the hospital or in the morgue.) You can spend 30 points to raise a trait by one point. In a pinch, you can spend a trait point for 20 brownie points.
Playing the game
Mechanically, it’s a dice pool vs target number game. 5 = easy, 10 = normal, 20 = hard. To attempt a task, roll dice equal to your trait rating. Add three if you if you’re using your talent. One of the dice in your pool must be the Ghost Dice. Rolling a six on the Ghost Dice always means a complication. That’s it! There are few more fiddly rules around bonuses during hand to hand combat, and for how much equipment you can carry, and the specifics of how to actually capture a ghost. But that’s the game how she is played.
At the end of a mission, you are awarded (or penalized) brownie points based on your success.
The bread and butter of the game is obviously catching and containing ghosts. But the game also encourages you to branch out into the generally paranormal and encounter vampires, time travel, monsters, etc.
Highlights: the ghost die. If there’s a 1-in-6 chance to roll a ghost for each and every action, then there is always suspense. And it adds a little bit of nuance: there is no longer a binary pass / fail state, but instead a four-way branching path: fail with complication, fail, pass with complication, pass.
Downside: Brownie points seem complicated. On the one hand, they seem like a great way to have dire consequences, and to also give the players a mechanism for resisting or lessening them. E.g. avoid death, or add dice to a crucial attempt at investigation or persuasion.
Running the game
The operations manual a big book of adventures and advice and tables for playing ghostbusters.
It goes out of its way to make you feel better about running a game: “You got this,” “read the rules but don’t stress if you forget,” etc.
Several full adventures, and a bunch of ideas for making your own. Long lists of NPCs and ghosts. Big 3 x d66 table for making up random scenarios. Novel 4 x d6 procedures for car chases, obtaining permits, and going to court. There is a loose procedure for doing Weird Science to invent a gizmo to give you an advantage in the game.
Lots of tee-hee snide remarks about that “Other Game (TM)”.
Big fan! I feel like I def want to play me some ghostbusters.
Paranormal Investigation
The actual investigation bit seems like it is straight out of Call of Cthulhu. First the keeper, I mean ghostmaster, makes a mystery centered around a spooky ghost with a motivation. Then the ghostbusters have to investigate by going to locations like the city records office or the library or the precinct and interviewing people and finding clues. Either the ghostmaster gives them a clue if they’re in the right place and they ask the right question, or the player rolls a trait.
There’s a little bit of a disconnect for me here. In a game where the point is busting ghosts and blowing stuff up, I don’t 100% see the point in the investigation phase. Unless the ghostmaster deliberately and carefully makes it a requirement: you can’t bust a ghost if it doesn’t materialize, and this ghost won’t materialize unless you know its name and its backstory for some reason.
Or maybe you’re a pacifist ghostbuster who wants to give ghosts a more natural ending by resolving their unfinished business instead of just shunting them off into the containment unit.
Either way, the investigation procedure is not novel or interesting. Very rote and typical considering its lineage. It’s fine.
It does, however, warn the ghostmaster against using red herrings. They waste time and sow distrust. Sound advice.