[CoC] Call of Ghostbusters?

[Evil Josef]

I was wondering if anyone had given any thought to using the Call of Cthulhu rules (with a mote of modification, of course) to run something akin to a Ghostbusters game. After all, the movies have their own comedic take on killer gods and restless spirits, as well as the 'Collect Call of Cthulhu' episode of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

Anybody considered it? And if not, any ideas about what kinds of things one might throw in?

 

[Eben]

All of a sudden I have a greater respect for TV makers.
How, by the many forms of Nyarlathotep, can they read this mind numbing stuff. I think reading the necronomicon on a dark and stormy winter night in the middle of a cemtary would be more beneficial for my sanity than reading something like THAT from my office desk on a sunny day like today.

 

[pensiv]

are you referring to the story or the screenplay format?

 

[Evil Josef]

You have to give the guy credit for trying to fit that many references to HP Lovecraft into a children's show, which, pound for pound, wasn't really that bad a show.

 

[Katowice]

I have to admit, though, the weekday Real Ghostbusters was different than the one they showed on Saturdays. It was a little "edgier" and grown-up (not by much, granted). The Saturday one was more for the kiddies.

I always like the episode where the Ghostbusters showed up at a hotel hosting both a ghost convention and a dentists' convention. At one point, it was hard to tell which was scarier.

Anyhow, Ghostbusters d20 would be fun...

You have to give the guy credit for trying to fit that many references to HP Lovecraft into a children's show, which, pound for pound, wasn't really that bad a show.

BTW, Lorenzo ("Garfield") Music was a great Peter Venkman. The guy that replaced him (Dave-something from Full House) was horrible...

 

[Eben]

quote:
are you referring to the story or the screenplay format?

The format. The guy does deserve credit for recycling the mythos into this. "Collect call", this could have been Monty Python. It's just a shame he couldn't take the irony further.

 

[jkantor]

Back to the original question: Actually my favorite system is the Ghostbusters' system precisely because it doesn't get in the way of the game. The d20 system would be overkill for a comedy game as well as counterproductive - you put so much time and energy into your character that you start to care too much about his/her wellbeing, advancement, etc. to really let go and play a truly comic game.

The flipside (based on the cartoon) seems to me to be more interesting. Why not play Cthulhu using Ghostbusters characters? (Lots of shortlived ones, of course!)

 

[Evil Josef]

Actually, one of the things I like about d20 is its relative ease of play and character generation. I especially like the open feel of character creation in Call of Cthulhu. Ghostbusters is comedy, yes, but - in the first movie at least - there's a definite darker edge to it. Plus, it would just be a matter of tweaking and twisting to make things a little less deadly.

Besides that, Egon and Ray are already a few d12's short of a healthy Sanity score.

 

[warcabbit]

You know, this really could work. Make the SAN loss an episodic thing.

As the adventure goes on and on, you have the characters get edgier and more insane, till they start backbiting and flipping out...

By the end of the movie, the Ghostbusters were hanging on by their fingernails... Egon snapping at people. Ray randomly thinking of Mr. Stay-Puft, and so on.

And then, a few weeks of boredom and they'll be fine. Really. Mostly.

The one thing I didn't like about CoC D20 was the concept of leveling. CoC is... well, not entirely unlike Paranoia. Investigators are disposable. But a GBI Franchise could really work, as could PCs that level.