hey if slimer is a class 5, which is a pretty tough ghost from what i can tell, how come he’s such a wimp? more like a class 4 to me. the reason why i ask this is because i am converting the old ghostbuster RPG to d10 system.
He’s a class 5 because that’s the techno-babble they came up with for the movie. It’s meaningless without a basis for comparison, as no other such classification is used within the movie (or the 2nd, for that matter). Any given meaning is, as far as I know, non-canon.
This is probably the one element of the RPG I didn’t like, it having such a rediculously restricted PKE scale.
The power scale from RGB/XGB which went at least as far as Class 13 was much better in my opinion. and thus made Slimer’s Class 5 sound more accurately proportioned.
I always had the impression that the spud was a Class 5 due to the combination of traits and the nature of his manifestation, not necessarily how “dangerous” he was…He’s corporeal enough to manipulate physical objects (like attempting to eat food); from the deleted scenes we see his presence can produce a rancid smell and cause some PKE-related damage (broken alarm clock), and he appears to be intelligent enough to try and evade capture, despite his eventual failure. I don’t think the Classes were intended to directly relate to how dangerous a spook is. That doesn’t really seem like a basis for categorization that Ray or Egon would approach classifying ghouls with. I haven’t busted out my GBII RPG book in while, I should go through it again. I enjoyed reading the way they broke the Classes down, it was interesting to have that part of the lore filled out a bit…
yeah, it may be based on how much ghost there is, (body form) i always had the impression a class 1 was a vapor, a class 2 was a limb, a class three was a torso, a 4 was a full person, a 5 was like a poltergiest with a full body and more interaction with the surroundings, and a 6 was a demon or some spirit not from this plane, 7 on was a demigod. (like gozer). i did like the RGB/XGB universe where there is a larger scale. because really, slimer is a class five? that seems too powerful, not dangerous, just too high on the scale if it tops out on 7.
It’s not too high if the scale, should it be considered class I though VII, if the scale is logarithmic (though such a scall should, normally, approach 10…doesn’t have to, though). The Richter scale is logarithmic, for instance, and a magnitude 7 earthquake is 100 more powerful than a magnitude 5 earthquake (an increase in a magnitude of 1 is an increase of a factor of 10, using that particular scale…and a magnitude 10 would be infitinitely powerful, which is why you’d never see it). Come to think of it, classifications in terms of power (for ghosts, I mean) should be logarithmic…just makes more sense.
Six years I’ve known you and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that.
Traitor
I admit I prefer the RPG system, as it presents a consistant classification and, the way it’s designed, prevented what exactly what happened in the cartoons: writers slapping even bigger numbers on their spooks just to show up all the other writers. Kind of “Oh yeah? My ghost is a Class 11, because it’s one louder!!!” The Classification was (save for the Class 7) is basically neutral on the issue of “how powerful is it”–it’s more “what did it used to be and/or what can it potentially do?”
The RPG preferred to stat how powerful an entity was though the use of Power and Ectopresence. In-story a PKE valence can fulfill that function.
I’m with Spengs - originally in the movie (and as outlined in the roleplaying game) it’s class, as in classification. It’s not a power scale.
I think at the time I did disagree in the discussion of favoring it over the RGB scale, but as both you and Vincent adopted it I felt it wouldn’t have been constructive to have continued to argue it. I accept the scale that you guys favored, but still feel it was too restrictive. 
log scale hummm??? me wonders. oh yes, i understand now, but still, 5? that means that slimer is 10X more able than a class four, which in past have given the GBs a run for the money. slimer is lame. slimer is gross, and most of all annoying. i say zap the ■■■■■■!
I think if it’s Log [base 7] then each step up would only be 7 times more powerful? I’m not sure, it’s been awhile since I’ve done that kind of math. But as you argue, it would be inappropriate to put slimer in a higher category using such a scale…which is why, as others have said, it’s more categorical than power based.
hey this got hacked! i didn’t put slimer babies, i just put slimer, watch out i bet the word babies appears
It’s April 1st. Some gremlin has been playing with t-h-e word filters.
Fritz do you think we should discuss this Slimer thing on Ghostheads?
LOL! This is too funny! Gotta love this April Fools day joke. Hey, I wonder if everything will go back to normal after today. If it does, the following passage won’t really make sense, but I just had to have some fun with it:
Slimer
Ghostbusters
The
i have to agree with dr.spengs
i always thought something along those lines when it came to classes
a class system based on power just wouldnt sound like a way egon or ray would classify by, though it does work well with the rpg
I dunno…I’m all out of Oxycontin.
yes! i’d say that anything that was a focused (which i take to mean held at that location) non-terminal (not just a recording of a death moment) repeating (an ongoing haunting) phantasm (silver ball! AIEE!!! . . . no, wrong movie) would also be a Class 5 full-roaming vapor.
the only other spirit in the first movie that’s even talked about in the same way is the library ghost, for which they give no classification other than “full torso, free-floating vaporous apparition.”
i could have these wrong, as i’m not utilizing my interwebz to their full extent . . . but i have watched Ghostbusters at least once a month since 1986.
Ghost Classification
Class One: These are undeveloped forms, insubstantial and difficult to see. Interaction with enviroment is limited and enigmatic. Simple application of a proton pack stream is normally effective for ridding these ghosts.
Class Two: Manifestations focused in this time and space, Class II ghosts and up can psysically manipulate things in the world. These forms are vague, inconsistant, or incomplete. Although a proton pack stream is normally effective, some Class II ghosts have the capacity to return attacks.
Class Three: Anonymous Hauntings. Distinct human form and personality is evident, but former identity is not established. If established, ghost is reassigned as a Class IV. Often difficult to deal with, Class III ghosts generally possess sophisticated means of defence.
Class Four: Identity established. Distict human form and personality with known identity, such as General Custer or Cleopatra. Economic disposal methods include research into the background of said entity, as well as possible communication with it.
Class Five: These are ectoplasmic manifestations of definite but non-human form. Speculation includes the theory that class V’s are formed from the emotionally charged events or as side effects from ritual summonings. These typically require extensive proton pack implemention to eradicate.
Class Six: Ghosts of lower life forms. A giant penguin was once seen attacking a mugger in Central Park. Later it was discovered the penguin was a ghost. Unique solutions are often required to handle these entities, including research into habitats, allergies, natural enemies, ect.
Class Seven: Metaspectres. Obsessively malevolent, exceptionally powerful, and exhibiting control over supordinate forms, such entities are potentially very dangerous. These are often identified by primitive cultures as “Demons”. Entities which fit this classification include Gozer the Gozerian and Vigo the Carpathian. Neutralizing them is usually a problematical undertaking at best. Most standard procedures are futile. The most realistic plan is to take measures to prevent these things from entering this sphere of influence in the first place.
Traits
Free-floating: The ghost moves about at will, with no regard to buildings, people, or time and space as we know it. Sometimes just called “Free”.
Focused: The ghost is tied to a specific locale in which it first appeared and cannot stray from it.
Full Torso: Some ghosts have full torsos, some have arms and legs, some have no head and the life. Full torso apparitions are relatively rare - many hauntings are indistict below the chest.
Repeater: May refer to a self-regenerating PKE force or to a spook with obsessive behavior patterns. Even when the ghost can be captured or eliminated, some agency continues to produce successive hauntings. Such ghosts reapear periodically until the source can be disabled.
Vaor or Mist: A common but imprecise term, it may refer to a Class I or Class II entity, or to any insubstantial haunting.
hey this is great, stuff dan aka, and this should be discussed further, I am sure that very few people have got the tech stuff of ghosts down. we always focus on the equipment, but never the classifications of spirits. this should develope into something, but I don’t know what yet.