Kristopher, thinking quickly, dives forward into the pile of gear. In an instant he’s decked out; Proton pack slung on the back, Ghost-Trap strapped ready at the hip, and PKE meter shoved into his pocket. He flips the switches furiously as he unholsters the Proton Pack’s business end… the pack whines as the accelerator, uh… accelerates. Lights flash on. Red. Yellow. Green… fully charged!
Kristopher rolls a 28, no ghost, for his Rapid Aiming skill. Success! He’s able to power up the equipment and fire the instant the pack is ready!
Kristopher fires! A concentrated beam of charged protons (not photons, although there’s plenty of those as well) courses across the room towards the Phantasm!
Kris rolled a 17, no ghost, for his MOVES roll. Success, a hit!
Kris’ beam strikes the distracted phantasm dead on, the powerful stream of particles crashing through the barriers between dimensions and disrupting the spirit’s energy! A hit!
“Gawdamn, son! Now that’s some shootin’! You weren’t hangin’ round in Dallas back in '63, were ya?” J.T. wonders aloud. “Naw, just kiddin’ with ya, kid! Ya hit it, an’ that’s good, but a single shot’s not enough, not for any kinda real haunting. This (nice lady) is a tough one, and she’s not gonna go down easy! Lucky for you, we’ve been scrappin’ back and forth for a couple days now, and I managed to get a few shots in, so she’s not at full strength. I think she’s ready to trap…just keep her in your sights, and switch over to “Containment” on your proton pack… that’s right, that toggle there. Good. Now hold her in place long enough for me to get a second beam on 'er…”
Three steps are required to bring down a ghost with a proton pack and a ghost trap:
1: All ghosts have an “Ectopresence”, a rating of their connection to our dimension. The higher the Ectopresence, the harder it is to subdue the creature. Normal ghosts might have a rating from 1 to 5; tough ghosts can be indefinitely higher. Zuul is listed as having an ectopresence of 100. One shot from the proton pack on the regular settings will reduce the Ectopresence by one point, with wild successes having the possibility of multiplying this damage; Ectopresence is roughly equivalent to a character’s Hit Points, or in this case Brownie Points. Once the spirit’s Ectopresence is reduced to 0 (Zero), it can be CONTAINED.
2: Containment is a special setting on the Proton Pack; instead of causing direct ‘harm’ to the spirit, it is now possible for the beam to hold the spirit in place. One beam can hold a spirit in place for a single turn. A second beam is required to both contain the ghost, and maneuver it into position over the Ghost Trap. If both beams are not able to make Containment for the entire turn, the ghost cannot be trapped; this means it’s ‘Impossible’ (see Kris’ previous roll for definition of Impossible!) for a single character to trap a ghost.
3: The Ghost Trap must be placed in position, and the ghost brought to it (or vice versa). At this point, the operator of the trap (who can also be operating a Containment beam) presses or steps on the pad, and the trap opens, sucking the ghost inside. One trap can hold one ghost, ghoul, spectre, or the like, and they will remained trapped inside for as long as the Ghost Trap has power (Generally 4-6 hours, long enough to get it to the Primary Containment Unit at HQ).
Warning: Don’t look directly into the trap!
J.T. rolls 1d6 for his MOVES, and rolls a 6. A ghost die. His roll scores a 0, and something bad is going to happen!
J.T. fires, and although it seems impossible, his shot is even less accurate than before!
Gerald rolls a 5 and a GHOST for his MOVES to activate the ghost trap. Although he manages to trigger the trap, something bad is about to happen.
Gerald smoothly struts up to the nearest ghost trap and grabs it, sliding it toward the phantasm and stomping on the release.
Unfortunately, he stepped too quick… not only isn’t the ghost properly contained yet, but the trap’s managed to hit some of the debris on its way over, and has tipped sideways! It teeters as the panels on the top open… slowly seems to rock back upright… then CLUNK! it falls open onto its side, the bright radiance of its internal energy field slash dimensional rift spilling out into the workshop area! The small radio, being immediately in its path, is sucked in with a faint “fwoop!”, never to be seen or heard from again.
The GM makes MOVES rolls for each participant, to avoid looking directly into the trap…
J.T. Rolls moves: 6! A ghost die! There’s too many ghost dice around right now, so the GM decides it doesn’t count. J.T. rolled a 5 instead!
Gerald Rolls moves: 3d6 come up all sixes! However, what did I just say? That’s right, two sixes and a five = 17.
Kris Rolls moves: 4d6 come up 1,5,4, and the Ghost Die is 4. Total is 14.
The trap is facing directly toward J.T., who is now (temporarily) blinded by the light. He’s unlikely to rev up like a deuce, however, for reasons which will become clear in the future. “Ahhh, my EYES!” he screams, adding a few other four-letter words for punctuation.
Gerald watches with growing horror as the trap tips over… but manages to avert his eyes at the last moment. He is merely dazzled, but that’s enough to impair his abilities for a few moments.
Gerald will make all rolls for the next few minutes (game time) at a -2 penalty; a difficulty of 10 will therefore require a 12 to succeed, as an example.
Kristopher manages to avert his gaze entirely, and is unaffected. However, he loses his grip while switching his pack to the Containment setting, and the Phantasm escapes!
“Noooooo!” wails the phantasm, recovering from the damaging blow Kris managed to land before all hell broke loose (figuratively speaking, at least for now!) “Ralph, how could you! Why would you do this? I told you those things were death traps, and now just look what you’ve done! Aaaaaahhhh!”
The phantasm, now terrified and hurting badly, sinks into the floor and disappears. Something tells you it’s not over yet, tho…
Silence reigns for a moment as each of you takes a deep breath to try to regain your composure, the only sound a high-pitched whine coming from J.T.'s Proton Pack.
“That’s… not a good sound” he says.
Meanwhile!
At the front of the building, a car pulls into place, somehow managing to find a parking spot (unusual in this part of town, at this time of night.) Louis Cornwall, crumpled newspaper in hand, hurries into the building towards the commotion, hoping he’s not too late for the interviews…
Phew! Lotta stuff going on that Turn!
Everyone, welcome Louis Cornwall to the game. Lou, feel free to introduce yourself as you choose.
Movement is unlimited for now; combat is over at the moment (although the battle is not yet won) and until something changes that, y’all are more or less free to do whatever you want. Talking is highly recommended.
A new character sheet should be available in each of your JOURNALS: J.T.Roth. He’s an NPC (non-player character), but you should feel free to look over his abilities and such. He will remain in the GMs control, of course, not yours.
J.T.Roth’s story:
[spoiler]Born and raised in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, John Thomas (J.T.) Roth was mercilessly teased for being fat as a child. His weight still bothers him, despite the fact that he was easily six feet tall by seventh grade, and reached his full height of 6’9" before most of those who were teasing him got their first chest hair. Today, he easily weighs in at 350 pounds, but now the vast majority of that is bone and muscle. And a bit of a beer belly, true, but very few people tease him about it!
Once they get past his size, the first thing most people notice about J.T. is that he’s (usually) wearing an artificial left leg; the organic part ends at his knee, beyond that is a curious contraption of metal and rubber. Anyone who’s been to the movies lately will notice a resemblance to the mechanics of a certain unstoppable robot which featured quite prominently in one. J.T. made this himself, modeled on the one in the movie, to replace the one he lost in a freak car accident a few years ago. On the whole, he doesn’t mind it too much… it’s better than a wheelchair, but it does severely limit his activity.
Also unusual is the fact that, despite his size, J.T. Roth isn’t your typical big burly idiot. His hands are unusually small for his size (something else it’s not polite to mention in his presence!) and have incredible dexterity. This, and his powerful and well-read mind, have gifted him with unusual talents at maintaining, repairing, and inventing mechanical devices of all sorts, including his artificial leg.[/spoiler]
I will attempt to check the thread several times over the next 24 (23) hours, to answer questions asked in character, to point out items/areas of interest should they come up, and for similar reasons.
Enjoy!
