I apologize if this is a bit awkward to read. It’s been pasted from a word document that up until now has only been shared with my circle of friends who either participated in the game or who were interested in hearing how it went. Sections written in italics are from my own spoken narrative while the one bit that’s in italics, bold and encased in brackets is an example of the “script-fic” format that I’m known to use when traditional past or present tense writing methods fail me. That all said, I hope you all enjoy what I’ve got here.
What you are about to read is an abridgment of the events of what I’ve decided to call Ghostbusters Case File #1337.
Because of the InSpectres system (see: http://www.memento-mori.com/inspectres/) the session was almost entirely character driven, and for the first act focused on nothing more than 90s analogs of Nick and Eriq as they drove cross-country toward the Big Apple in Nick’s beat up Ford Pinto (see: [link]), basically reenacting the scenes between Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.
![[link]](http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/11/Bomb_Pinto_Rr_LH.jpg){kind=link}
The second act took place several weeks later, after our players have had time to settle themselves into your typical 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, $1600 a month Bronx apartment and secure themselves stable jobs. With Eriq as a bartender at a popular nightspot and Nick as an assistant shopkeeper at Ray’s Occult Books, they were pretty much set in the fields of finance and roleplaying opportunity.
During the store’s closing one Saturday night Nick mentions to Doctor Stantz that there was a girl in his apartment who had a fascination with the occult, and that he was curious if Ray would allow him to “borrow some things from the store in hopes of wooing the saucy lass.” “You sound just like Venkman,” was Ray’s initial reply which was then quickly followed by a flat “No.” Insulted but determined, Nick offered to stay late and lock up. Ray, ever the gullible one, took Nick up on this and left him in charge. Initial searching of the establishment turned up little more than an antique Ouija board and some scented candles, but a rather astonishing number of successful Academics rolls for Nick caused him to discover what appeared to be an old, leather-bound journal (see: [link]) at the bottom of an old trunk that was buried beneath a mound of knickknacks in the shop’s basement.
![[link]](http://eleventhstack.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/800px-necronomicon_prop.jpeg){kind=link}
We’ll now fast forward to the following evening where Nick’s love interest, self-proclaimed spiritual medium Abigail Serra, has scheduled a séance using the items that Nick pilfered. It all begins harmlessly enough, but as the night wore on and boredom began to set in the party of Nick, Eriq, Abigail and several of Abigail’s friends (John, Jerome, Jeremy and Jordan) decided to join together and crack open Nick’s find. It quickly becomes obvious that the book was not a journal but something far more sinister…
(Hint: “Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, this ancient Samarian text contained bizarre burial rights, funeral incantations, and demon resurrection passages; it was never meant for the world of the living.”)
*“Are you sure you want to be playing around with this thing?” John asks Abigail, who merely grins at her friend and replies coyly “it’s just a book. No real harm ever came from reading a book.”
Turning to a random page, she clears her throat and recites "veneficus copiae copie niger quod niveus, tenus sicco per tractus quod lux lucis, exsisto is recedentia vel exsisto is near, addo nos everto Kaohu hic.”
With a loud snap the electricity in the apartment goes off, prompting you (Nick and Eriq) and Jordan to produce your lighters. (…) standing with its feet actually submerged in the pages of the Necronomicon is this (see: [link]). The sudden illumination from the flames causes its head to do a complete 180, so that with another sickening snap, this time of readjusting bone, it’s looking directly at you two.* (…)
[“Flip City” by Glenn Frey from the Ghostbusters II soundtrack begins here as we cut to the firehouse as its front doors burst open, allowing the Ecto-1b to spill out onto the street. Inside, seen in profile as the action momentarily slows to bullet-time; Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddmore and the so-called “Rookie” of Ghostbusters: The Video Game fame, Jason Meyers.]
…Alas this is where my creative writing begins to fail me, so I will simply provide you with a gist of what happened next. After a lengthy recreation of the scariest moments from the 2008 American horror film Quarantine, our hero NPCs discovered our players huddled together inside a third floor janitor’s closet. They explained to the Ghostbusters that Abigail had been possessed by the entity that had emerged from the Necronomicon and had gone on a rampage, converting everyone in the complex into its thralls (see: Urban Dictionary: deadite). Our players had only survived up until this point by displaying their willingness to kill the possessed tenants in order to ensure their own survival. Assuring them that the problem would be dealt with in a “significantly less murderous fashion”, the Ghostbusters assigned Dr. Venkman to ■■■■■■ the players out of the building while the rest pushed forward, hoping to discover & subsequently neutralize the source of the PKE outbreak.
Unfortunately for Eriq, Nick and Peter, their escape was quickly hampered by the appearance of the possessed Abigail (see: [link]).
(…) “You know,” Peter says as he strides forward, his proton gun hissing quietly in his hand as he thumbs the activation switch at the hilt “I used to date a couple of girls who each bore a striking resemblance to you? Yeah! (…) both possessed by the ugliest–”
With Peter now unconscious, our players were starting to enter dire straights, so in order to increase their chances I had them play a quick game of rock-paper-scissors for Peter’s proton pack; an honor which went to Eriq after he beat Nick in a best two out of three.
(…) when suddenly you’re both brought out of your reverie by a shout from the floor above. “Kid, don’t blast her yet! If you do…” You guys remember what happened to Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen when he was caught in the Intrinsic Field Subtractor? Yeah, that’s basically what Ray says will happen if you hit her without reversing the polarity on the proton pack first. (…) Here’s what happens: Eriq, you throw the capture stream onto Abigail while you, Nick, run forward and rugby tackle her.(…) Essentially what you end up doing [Nick] is dislodging the Kandarian demon from Abigail’s body so that Eriq is able to safely wrangle it with the proton gun. (…)
Following the trapping of the Deadite Lord and the reclamation of the Necronomicon, our heroes were forced to endure a fierce grilling by Walter Peck, head of the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission. Typical of the prickish Peck he initially blames the Ghostbusters themselves for this ordeal and tries once again to have them arrested. Nick, however, confesses that it was partially his fault and explains everything that lead to the gruesome events, but this only enrages Peck farther and causes him to start spouting accusations of the Ghostbusters becoming a corruptive influence on America’s youth. Nick, incensed beyond rational thought, punches Peck in the face.
After being released on bail thanks to a combined effort by Eriq and Dr. Venkman, Nick and the former were taken to the hospital in the Ecto-1b to watch Egon conduct an interview on Abigail. His tests deemed her satisfactorily cleansed of the possession, but he warned her and the others that there was still risk of mental contamination that could manifest in the form of intense night terrors and heightened sensitivity to localized supernatural phenomena. After profusely apologizing to and then promising to visit Abigail as soon as he could, Nick joined Eriq and the other Ghostbusters at their firehouse headquarters. Like Abigail, both of them were screened for supernatural elements by Egon but were declared to be A-OK, minus the significantly increased chances of them experiencing PTSD as a result of their encounter with Kaohu. As their way of saying thanks, Nick and Eriq ordered dinner for the entire gang and it was during this feast that Meyers offered them the chance of a life time; to join him and become founding members in the first Ghostbusters franchise to exist outside of New York City.
~Fin~
And there you have it. Apologies for the many “(…)” sections, especially there near the end. By the time I got around to writing the recap I had already forgotten some of what I actually said, so I put those in there as place holders until I could either recall it or at best guest reconstruct it from scratch. Alas, there was no continuation of this game, but it is being used as a basis for my upcoming project The Ghostbusters vs. The Army of Darkness, a planned fan film aimed at bringing together the major GBI franchises for an epic crossover event. I can happily say I’ve already pitched this idea to Jonathan Rudy of Ghostbusters SLC and he seemed quite keen on reading the synopsis once it’s done. So what you’ve read here I’ve also sent to him in the hopes that I get enough positive feedback to make this dream a reality. Comments are not only welcome but encouraged!