Spooktacular

Spooktacular
A Cheerfully Spooky Role‐Playing Game
By Ewen Cluney

Spooktacular * 1
Credits
Yaruki Zero Games Presents
Spooktacular: A Cheerfully Spooky Role-Playing Game
©2018 by Ewen Cluney
Designed by Ewen Cluney
Written by Ewen Cluney and Amy Veeres
Art by James Workman, Cass Marshall, Mike Randle, Maciej Zagorski, and Gary Dupuis.
Some artwork copyright William McAusland, used with permission. Icons are from The
Noun Project. Albuquerque, San Francisco, and Washington photographs from
Pond5.com. Orlando photo by Rundvald, Philadelphia photo by Bruce Emmerling, Lon‐
don photo by Diego Torres.
Typeset in Microsoft Word 2016 (because I haven’t had time to learn InDesign) in Lato
and Capucine Black, on both Mac and PC because I switched between my MacBook
Air and Asus desktop a bunch. I always thought it was a little weird that people feel the
need to list what computer platform they use.
Playtesters: Jacob Arthur, Chris Camareno, Grant Chen, Thinh Pham, Elton Sanchez,
Dave Taue
Special thanks to Michael Bom, Taia Chastant, Alice Gaines, Jared Lord, A. E. Nordby,
S. John Ross, and Elton Sanchez.
This game was made possible in part through the generous support of my Patreon
backers:
M. Alan Thomas II, Monkeeman , redfilter , Ilex Opaca, Omar Ilias Espinosa Rana Ahmed
Khan, Michael Stevens, brian allred, Jasmine Friedrich, Marshall Miller, ARBco, Trevor,
Dawn, savanxayadeth vanny‐brayan, Jason Schindler, td gam, Kaja Rainbow, C. Ellis,
Bob, Todd Zircher, Jake , Lester Cruz, Owen Nicholson, Bob Quek, Wolfgang Reich,
Moloch, Jennifer Coffin, Daniel Thoreson, Curt Meyer, Ben Hale, Julianna Backer, Rob
Deobald, LilFluff, David Starner, Bennett Jackson, Lester Ward, Ironicus, Will, Stefan
Feltmann, Ian Herbert, Paul Arezina, Carly H, Clay Gardner, Raechel Coon, Joshua, Guil‐
laume Carré, Max, Joshua Bailey, Phoebe Zeitler, Dustin Cooper, Dave Taue, Sue
Mewhiney, Ben Lehman

2 : Spooktacular
Table of Contents

Credits ............................................................ 2 Gear .............................................................. 27
Introduction ................................................. 5 Paratechnology ....................................... 27
Things You’ll Need ................................... 6 Normal Stuff ............................................ 29
Playing the Game ........................................ 7 Magic Stuff .............................................. 30
The Flow of Play ...................................... 7 Company Creation .................................... 33
Action Resolution ..................................... 8 Name ......................................................... 33
Opposed Actions ...................................... 8 Equipment ................................................ 34
Helping ....................................................... 8 Company Assets ..................................... 34
Exceptional and Ridiculous Success .... 9 Other Details ........................................... 35
The Spooky Die ........................................ 9 Wraithzappers ........................................ 36
Fighting and Damage ............................ 11 Ghost Rooter ........................................... 38
Gaining Awesome Points ..................... 13 Phantom Finders .................................... 39
Spending Awesome Points .................. 14 Spooky Adventures .................................. 41
Character Creation ................................... 15 Running a Business ................................ 41
Using d66 Tables .................................... 15 Investigating ............................................ 42
1. Archetype ............................................ 16 Busting Those Ghosts ........................... 43
2. Quirks ................................................... 19 Human Antagonists ............................... 43
3. Stats ...................................................... 20 Doing Science ......................................... 44
4. Talents .................................................. 21 The Authorities ....................................... 44
5. Motivation ........................................... 22 Skepticism ................................................ 45
6. Starting Awesome Points ................ 23 Personal Stuff ......................................... 45
7. Stuff ...................................................... 23 Episodic vs. Long Arcs .......................... 46
8. Name and Other Details .................. 23 Interesting Places to Hunt Ghosts ..... 47
Later On: Reworking Characters ........ 23 Some Story Ideas ................................... 56
Random Investigator Name Table ..... 24 Story Idea Generator Table ................. 58
Character Creation Example ............... 25 A Guide to Spirits ...................................... 59
So What ARE Ghosts? .......................... 59
Game Rules for Ghosts ......................... 60
An Assortment of Ghosts ..................... 63

Spooktacular * 3

Etheric ray throwers (p. 28) have a certain amount of recoil. This was especially true of the bulkier Mk. II unit,
pictured here knocking a paranormal investigator on her butt. It was less of a problem for the Mk. I unit, but
only because the Mk. I weighed 724 pounds and had to go on the back of a pickup truck.

4 : Spooktacular
Introduction
“Who’re you going to ask for a quote through their website? Wraithzappers!”
Ghosts are real. A recent poll showed that 45% of Americans believe in ghosts, but it’s
not something people really like to talk about. That’s because the scientific establish‐
ment regards the paranormal as pseudoscience. They’re wrong about that, but there
are legitimate reasons why no one’s managed to provide convincing proof. Authentic
hauntings are rare, and fraudsters are everywhere. There was an epidemic of fake
hauntings in the 1800s, and it created an intense skepticism about ghosts that contin‐
ues to this day. But that doesn’t stop ghosts from being real, and you’re one of the
people who knows the truth. Whether through your new spectral field theory that’s
going to shake up the world of quantum physics, or just because you’ve seen the damn
things and wound up drenched in ectoplasm, you know ghosts are real. And you know
how hard it is to clean ectoplasm. Seriously, that stuff gets everywhere. Everywhere.
More importantly, you’ve figured out how to do something about ghosts. With sci‐
ence, guts, and a wicked grin, and maybe some help from that kid with psychic powers
or that lady who says she’s a witch, you’re on the forefront of what will surely become
known as the paranormal investigation and elimination industry. It’s going to be a rough
start, trying to save the day from something that 55% of the population doesn’t believe
in, using dangerous paratechnology that you have a hard time explaining without a
lengthy lecture in bleeding‐edge particle physics, but it’s worth it. It’s worth it for the
money, the satisfaction of helping people, the fascinating advances in science, the
chance to get laid, or at least the chance to beat up some ghosts.
Spooktacular is a role‐playing game about paranormal investigators. It’s pretty silly
at times, but less the silliness of a cartoon, and more like a quirky live‐action series with
a decent effects budget. A lot of the humor comes from juxtaposing relatively normal
characters with the bizarre circumstances of hunting ghosts. It’s a fairly simple game
about pursuing your character’s desires and zapping ghosts and rolling a bunch of dice.

Spooktacular * 5
Things You’ll Need
Hopefully you’re sold on the idea of giving this game a try. Otherwise what am I doing
with my life? Uh, anyway, there are a few things you’re going to need to get together
before you can play.
People
This is a game you play with other people, so you’re going to need to get some friends
together to play, whether in person or online. Specifically, you need one person to be
the Game Master, and around 2‐6 people to be the “players,” who will each play the
part of a paranormal investigator. You’ll need to get these people together for some‐
thing like 3‐6 hours at a time.
Dice
You’ll need some six‐sided dice, say around 6‐8 or so, and one
die of a distinctly different color to be the Spooky Die. If you
can get a die with a special symbol in place of the 6 for the
Spooky Die, even better.
There are official Spooktacular Spooky Dice, which are a
sparkly purple color (the “Borealis” design from the fine folks at
Chessex) and have a silly little ghost in place of the 6, but I won’t
hold it against you if you make a substitution.
Pencils and Paper
This game also calls for pencils and paper. Specifically pencils rather than pens because
you’ll occasionally need to erase stuff. You can use blank paper or index cards, but
ideally, you’ll want printouts of the actual character cards for the game. You can down‐
load a PDF of those from my website:
https://tinyurl.com/SpooktacularPage
Playing Online
If you want to play online, you’ll need some medium of communication, preferably one
that lets you roll dice. Things like Roll20 and Google Hangouts are good for that, though
simpler stuff like IRC or Slack will work too. It doesn’t hurt to use Google Drive or any
of the other shareable document platform things for character sheets and notes and
whatnot.
Optional but Helpful
 Tokens for Awesome Points
 Equipment Cards
 Funny Voices
 Catchy Music
 A Certain Lack of Shame
 Pizza and/or Chinese Food
 Caffeinated Soda
 Green Novelty Beverages

6 : Spooktacular
Playing the Game
Alright, let’s teach you how to play this game. This chapter has all the basic rules that
you’ll need throughout.
The Flow of Play

Spooktacular is a role‐playing game. Some parts of it are a little unconventional, but a
bunch of vital parts fit squarely within the traditions of the medium, even without any
twenty‐sided dice or halflings involved.
To play, you will need around 3 to 6 participants. One will be the Game Master (GM
for short), while the others will be players. The GM’s job is to be the overall leader of
the activity, and final arbiter when questions inevitably arise. This position attracts less
respect from society at large than a station master, Worshipful Master, chess master,
or master of disaster, but within the scope of the game it’s still really important.
The GM’s first job is to read over this rulebook and get a good grasp of how the
game works. The rules are simple, though they take a little skill and practice apply to
their fullest. You don’t need to know everything, but you definitely need to understand
the core rules of play on the following pages.
The GM’s second job is to guide the players through creating the paranormal inves‐
tigator characters they will portray during full‐on gameplay (the “player characters” or
“PCs”). You can find the rules in the next chapter, on p. 15. The GM may make altera‐
tions to the process, add certain guidelines, or simply go through it as written. Each
player has the task of taking the stats and traits involved in character creation and using
them as the basis of a fictional character.
From there, the actual play can begin. Here the GM presents the world and its in‐
habitants (the non‐player characters, or “NPCs”), and acts as a referee who interprets
the rules. Each player role‐plays their character, deciding their speech and actions, and
expressing them to the group. “Role‐playing” is actually a relatively broad category of
mental processes and emotional states, ranging from emotionally immersing yourself
in a character to treating them as a fun playing piece. Regardless, the player has control
over what their character attempts, and it’s up to the GM, making use of the game’s
rules, to determine the outcome. This process repeats, and through it, the participants
experience a series of events that will hopefully cohere into something like a story.

Spooktacular * 7

Action Resolution
“I can do it. I’ve flown before.”
“Don’t listen to him! That was in a jeep!”
When your character tries to do something that has some difficulty involved, the GM
will ask you to make a roll. Pick up as many six‐sided dice as the Stat that best fits the
action in question to roll, and add another 3 dice if your Talent is applicable. The GM is
the final arbiter of what stat you use and whether a Talent applies. You can also roll
additional dice from things like spending Awesome Points, using helpful items, etc.
Once you know how many dice you’re going to roll, pick up that many (including a
Spooky Die; see below), roll them bones, and add them up. If you can match or beat
the difficulty number that the GM decided on, you’re able to succeed! Go you!
Difficulty Required Roll Examples
Hit the broad side of a barn, drive a car, make a
Automatic None
phone call, cross an empty street, climb some stairs
Hit a target at point‐blank range, climb a tree, do
Easy 5+
your 1040EZ, parallel parking
Hit a target at normal range, dodge through traffic,
Normal 10+
figure out an occult tome, get out of a ticket
Hit a target at long range, figure out an arcane gri‐
Hard 20+
moire, dodge through heavy traffic, get out of jail
Hit a target with your eyes closed, climb a brick wall,
Impossible 30+
convincingly pretend to be a god
Opposed Actions

When two characters are directly acting against each other, you can treat it as an op‐
posed action. This means that each character makes a roll like in normal Action
Resolution, but instead of each trying to reach a certain goal individually, you’re trying
to get a higher result than the other guy. If you do, you win!
Helping
Suppose you want to lend a hand to a friend. That’s cool of you. In game terms, if you
can justify why your character can be of some help and commit a reasonable amount
of effort, you can let the other character roll an additional die. If you’re playing in per‐
son, pick up the actual die and hand it to them.

8 : Spooktacular
Exceptional and Ridiculous Success
If you beat the required roll (or in the case of an opposed action, the opposition’s roll)
by 10 or more, it’s an Exceptional Success. If you beat the required amount by 20 or
more it’s a Ridiculous Success.
Exceptional Success means that you did a really good job at whatever you were
doing, so that you get a little something extra, and maybe some extra dice on a relevant
future roll.
Ridiculous Success means that you managed to succeed to a ridiculous degree, to
the point where the magnitude of your accomplishment goes beyond what you’d actu‐
ally want. If you’re trying to hit on someone at the bar, you wind up with a stalker. If
you’re trying to understand an arcane grimoire, a piece of it starts inhabiting your brain.
You get the idea.
The Spooky Die

However many dice you roll, make one of them a die of a different color. (If you can
get a die that has a symbol in place of the 6, even better.) This is the Spooky Die. If you
roll a 6 on the Spooky Die, it counts as zero towards your overall result, and something
weird happens. You can still succeed with a spooky result (though admittedly having
one die give you zero points doesn’t help), but it’s going to be a bit weird regardless.
Spooky Failure
If you fail and you rolled a 6 on the Spooky Die, you not only fail, but you have some
bad stuff happen to you that might cause an injury or significant inconvenience, or just
something gross.
Spooky Success
If, despite having one die give you zero points towards your total, you manage to roll
high enough to succeed, the spooky die ensures that something strange or just annoy‐
ing happens. Although you succeed, your next step is going to be tricky.
The Spooky Die and Spooks
Ghosts and whatnot don’t suffer adverse effects from the Spooky Die, because they’re
already spooky. Instead, whenever a ghost rolls a 6 on the Spooky Die, although it
counts as zero towards the ghost’s total, something spooky happens that works to the
ghost’s advantage. This is basically like with Spooky Failure or Spooky Success, except
it affects the PCs rather than the ghost you were rolling for.

Spooktacular * 9

10 : Spooktacular
Fighting and Damage
“Sure, sure, advancing the science of the paranormal and all that. But when do we get to zap
the ghosts?”
Paranormal investigators can in fact deal with ghosts without getting into a fracas, but
let’s face it, you’re probably playing this game for the chance to zap some ghosts. You’re
going to be using these rules a decent amount, so let’s get into it.
Handling Combat
In this game, combat is a little loosey‐goosey. There aren’t specific rules for how far
you can run or rolling for initiative. The GM might call for a roll to see who’s quick
enough to rush in first or whether you can run fast enough if the situation calls for it,
but otherwise combat is a conversation, just like the rest of the game.
When a player can act is a judgment call from the GM; if you’re not sure, ask the
player questions about what they’re doing until you have a good idea of what’s going
on. Try to give everyone a chance to do stuff, and if it comes to it, just start asking the
players what their characters are doing in turn.
Attacking
When one character attacks another, they make a roll using the Action Resolution rules
with an appropriate Stat (and Talent, if applicable). Particularly for when dealing with
ghosts, it’s good to be flexible about what stats PCs can use, so that no one gets totally
screwed out of enjoying the game if they have a low Action.
If they have a weapon and can use it effectively, the GM gives them a bonus of 1
to 4 dice depending on how menacing and effective the weapon is.
Dice Example Weapons
+1 Brass knuckles, long fingernails, umbrella
+2 Knife, whip, frying pan
+3 Chair, nightstick, pistol, sword
+4 Axe, bazooka, broadsword, chainsaw, rifle
In hand‐to‐hand or melee combat, the target gets to make an opposed roll to try to
avoid getting hit. If the attacker gets the higher roll, the attack hits and does damage
as usual.
For a ranged attack, the attacker needs to roll high enough to hit a target number
based on the range.
Range Required Roll
Point‐Blank (10’ or Less) 5+
Normal Range 10+
Long Range 50’ (or 500’ for a rifle) 20+
The target may be able to dodge if they have space and the opportunity, in which case
they can make an opposed roll, though the attacker still has to reach the minimum
required roll for the range.

Spooktacular * 11

Damage
This isn’t the sort of game where player characters really die, but they do get hurt,
inconvenienced, and sometimes outright hospitalized. If you really and truly want your
character to bite the big one, you can just declare that at a suitable moment and start
thinking up a new character. For everything short of that, we use the damage rules
below.
When a character gets hurt in combat (and doesn’t spend Awesome Points to avoid
it), they take damage. Damage takes the form of a temporary reduction to the charac‐
ter’s stats. The player whose character is getting damaged decides which stats get
reduced this way (and you can distribute the damage among multiple stats), but you
have to mark off as many points as the points of damage you take. If a character takes
5 or more points of damage at once, or if any one stat goes down to zero, the character
also loses consciousness.
In combat, a successful attack causes 2 damage, but an Exceptional Success instead
causes 3 damage, and a Ridiculous Success causes 5 damage.
Ghosts meanwhile have a special stat called Presence (see p. 60), and any time an attack
affects them (only certain kinds of attacks can affect them) they lose points of Pres‐
ence instead of stats. Also, they’re briefly stunned rather than losing consciousness
if they take 5+ damage at once.
Outside of combat, the GM can assign of damage—typically 1 to 6 points—when it
seems appropriate, though it’s usually fair to let the player try to act and/or make
a roll to avoid getting hurt.
Recovering from Damage
Characters will eventually get better of course. We play a little fast and loose with this,
but here are the rules for different ways of recovering:
Story Time Recovery: If there’s a decent gap between sessions, you just recover all
damage before you start a new session.
Natural Recovery: If a character doesn’t do anything special, they recover 1 point of
damage every 3 days.
First Aid: First aid lets a character recover a little bit. If someone successfully adminis‐
ters first aid, you recover 2 points of damage, but you can only benefit from first
aid once per game session.
Hospital Stay: If a character goes to the hospital, they recover 1 point of damage every
day.

12 : Spooktacular
Gaining Awesome Points
Awesome Points are a general measure of your character’s protagonist‐ness and ability
to muster up extra effort. New characters start the game with 20 Awesome Points, but
you’ll have plenty of opportunities to gain more. Which is good, because Awesome
Points are great for saving your bacon.
Fulfilling Your Motivation
When your character manages to fulfill their motivation reasonably well, the GM will
tell you to roll the Spooky Die. You gain that many Awesome Points. If you roll a 6, you
gain 1 Awesome Point, but something weird happens so that your accomplishment isn’t
quite what you wanted.
What qualifies as fulfilling a motivation is inherently subjective, but it should be
relatively easy for a player to do so once or twice per game session if they try. A dis‐
covery for Soulless Science can be something incremental, and Romance can just be
going on a non‐terrible date.
In any case, the GM should keep a list of the PCs’ motivations handy and generally
be on the lookout both for instances of motivations being fulfilled and opportunities to
bring motivations into the game.
Doing Cool Stuff
The GM can also hand out an Awesome Point or two whenever a PC does something
especially cool, something that makes the game more fun, or something that just gets
everyone laughing out loud.
End of Session Reward
At the end of each session, the GM will award Awesome Points based on how well the
PCs did overall:
 If you screwed up, each player rolls a die and gets that many points.
 If you achieved your goals and generally did good enough, each character either
resets to 20 points or gains 3, whichever would leave them with more.
 If you did an amazing job, each character either resets to 23 points or gains 6,
whichever would leave them with more.
Reducing Stats
If you are truly desperate for Awesome Points, you can permanently reduce a Stat by
1 point to gain 20 Awesome Points. If a stat is already at 1 (either its normal value or
its current value including damage), you can’t reduce it any further this way.

Spooktacular * 13

Spending Awesome Points
There are a few different ways you can use your Awesome Points, though the first two
are probably the most important.
Since you’ll usually get the points you spent back at the end of each session, don’t
worry too much about conserving them, especially when you’re barreling towards the
conclusion.
Bonus Dice
Before you roll for an action, you can spend as many Awesome Points as you want to
roll that many additional dice. You have to do this before you actually roll though.
Players are encouraged to give some kind of justification for whatever obscure bit
of knowledge, rarely‐invoked skill, or stroke of luck is letting the character perform
better than usual.
Get Out of Danger
If something is about to cause you harm, you can spend Awesome Points to avoid it. If
it’s something that’s going to cause damage, it costs 2 Awesome Points for each point
of damage it would cause.
Dramatic Editing
With the GM’s permission, a player can spend Awesome Points to add a detail to the
game. Usually this costs 2 Awesome Points, but it costs 4 for something contrived, and
6 for something ridiculous. Also, the GM can refuse to let you do dramatic editing if
they think it just won’t work.
Archetype Ability
Each character has an archetype, and each archetype comes with a special ability that
costs Awesome Points.
Improvement
Between sessions you can spend 30 Awesome Points to permanently increase a stat
by 1, to a maximum stat value of 5. You can’t go above a total of 15 stat points however.
You can also spend 30 Awesome Points to permanently acquire a second Arche‐
type and its ability, but you can only do this once.
In both cases, you should be able to explain why your character can make this im‐
provement.

14 : Spooktacular
Character Creation
Each player is going to create their own paranormal investigator character. The rules
that follow give you a bunch of different things you’ll need to fill in to make your char‐
acter, but it doesn’t especially matter what order you do them, as long as you hit them
all and don’t take so long that people start throwing dice at you.
While you can get pretty wacky with your character, I recommend aiming for some‐
one who’s a bit quirky but basically a regular person. Someone who does silly things
rather than someone who is a silly thing. Part of what powers the game is the contrast
between quirky but basically realistic characters and the strange situations that hunting
ghosts puts them into. If you pick one of the archetypes that gives you weird powers,
make your character kind of mundane to contrast with the weirdness of their abilities.
Using d66 Tables

For most of the things in character creation there are optional d66 tables (though no‐
tably on the next page it’s d6 tables). To make a “d66” roll, get two six‐sided dice and
designate one as the tens digit and the other as the ones digit. Roll them and put the
results together to get one of 36 possible items numbered 11 through 66.
For example, if you make the tens die black and the ones die white, a roll of 3 on
the black die and 5 on the white die will give you a result of 35, like this:
3 + % = 35
You can use the corresponding table to randomly generate that part of your character,
or you can pick something from the table that strikes your fancy, or just make up some‐
thing of your own. Much like the kind of tables that you buy at Ikea, they’re there to
help you do things more easily, not to force you to do anything.* Also, these ones come
pre‐assembled, so you probably won’t discover that you put a part in backwards and
have to disassemble the thing to get it right so it actually works and wonder what those
extra dowels are for.

*
I say that the tables are optional, but my friends tend to go by the notion that if there’s a table
to roll on, you should damn well roll. This may be why I’ve ended up creating literally hundreds
of d66 tables, but that’s where my life is at right now. Also, if you really, really like d66 tables,
might I recommend the Ewen’s Tables Collection, which costs $20 in softcover or $12 for a PDF?
All right, I’ll shut up now. It’s just that there’s a lot of space left on this page.

Spooktacular * 15

1. Archetype
“Leave this to me. I’m a parapsychologist.”
Your archetype is the general sort of character you are. You’ll have plenty of opportu‐
nities to define your character in more detail as you round out the rest, but your
archetype gives you an ability, a special thing that it lets you do in the game by spending
one or more Awesome Points. Unlike a lot of other things in the game, archetype abil‐
ities just work as long as you spend the points on them, though in some cases you may
have to make rolls to properly use the results.
The table below has the “Normal” archetypes, which is what I recommend using
most of the time. The next page has the optional “Weird” archetypes. Normal arche‐
types are normal people (by the standards of paranormal investigators at least), while
Weird archetypes let you play a character who has esoteric training, weird powers, or
even who isn’t actually human. If you want to play a Weird archetype, talk to the GM
about it. As the GM, you can do whatever you want with your campaign, but I recom‐
mend having at most one or two weird characters, and making the rest normal.
Normal Archetypes
d6 Archetype Description
You’re a badass, and generally not someone people should
mess with. Once per session you can spend 3 Awesome
1 Badass
Points to roll an extra die for all Action rolls for the rest of
the scene.
You got your start with scamming people, and you still
know your old tricks. You can spend 2 Awesome Points to
2 Charlatan
tell a lie and have most people believe it until they run into
clear proof otherwise.
You have lots of connections around town, and generally
know how to work with people to get things done. You can
3 Fixer
spend 1 Awesome Point to declare you know a guy for any
given thing you need.
You’re the one who makes the toys for hunting the ghosts.
4 Inventor It’s pretty sweet. You can spend 3 Awesome Points to jury‐
rig a single‐use paratechnology gadget.
You’re an ordinary, grounded person, who normal people
5 Normal can relate to. You can spend 1 Awesome Point and say
something sensible to get someone to calm down.
You have training in the science of the supernatural. You
can spend 2 Awesome Points to know an obscure modifi‐
6 Parapsychologist cation you can make to help you deal with the current
situation, though it will require an unusual part and/or be
risky.

16 : Spooktacular
Weird Archetypes
“I can kill it with my brain.”
If you are in fact going to ignore my half‐assed cautions and play as one of these Weird
Archetypes, you will need to work out a little bit of the specifics of them, and probably
let the archetype influence your choices for the other things in character creation. If
you play an Esper, how did she discover her powers? Was there a weird government
lab involved? Does she get nosebleeds when she uses them too much? Is she basically
a sillier version of Eleven from Stranger Things? You get the idea. “Gets Nosebleeds
from Using Powers Too Much” would make a decent Quirk for an Esper character by
the way. Likewise, “Zap Ghosts with My Mind” wouldn’t be a bad choice for a Talent.
Are there other people (or people‐ish things) like you out there? Probably! Are they
friendly? That’ll be a fun thing to explore in the game, and your fellow investigators are
surely enlightened people who won’t judge you based on the fact that someone else
with the same kind of power as you happens to be terrible.
Oh, and special powers are because the part of a person that could become a ghost
after they die is unusually active while they’re still alive. It’s pretty weird. Anyway, on
to the table you’ve no doubt been waiting for.
d6 Archetype Description
You have psychic powers that let you zap ghosts. You can spend
1 Awesome Point to attack a ghost with your mind (make a roll
1 Esper
with a suitable stat/talent and add +1 die for the power of your
brain).
You’re trained in the ways of the ancient monster hunters. You
2 Hunter can spend 3 Awesome Points to know an obscure weakness that
will help you against one specific supernatural being.
Ghosts are real, but magic is too. It’s just that it’s kind of time‐
consuming and impractical. Still, with some time, research, and
3 Magician
preparation, you can spend 2 Awesome Points to conduct a real
magic ritual to have a single‐use effect.
As it so happens, you’re an actual supernatural creature, if one
that can pass most of the time. You can spend 2 Awesome Points
4 Monster
to reveal your true nature and increase your Action stat by +2
for a few minutes.
You’ve dedicated your life to the study of the occult. With some
time, research, and preparation you can spend 2 Awesome
5 Occultist
Points to do a ritual to summon a ghost or other supernatural
creature.
You have psychic powers of the sort that make you sensitive to
the supernatural. You can spend 1 Awesome Point to open your
6 Psychic
mind and know whether there’s anything supernatural in the area
and its general power level and mood.

Spooktacular * 17

Chip doesn't do his hair like that on purpose. It just kind of happens. Oh, and he can zap ghosts with his brain.

18 : Spooktacular
2. Quirks
“But why would you eat a telephone in the first place?”
“Quirks” are random details about a character that tell us a bit more about them. They
can be minor, cosmetic things, or major things that will force the GM to play a new
NPC or two.
You should have at least one quirk, but you can create/choose/roll two or three if
you like. If you roll and get two that seem to contradict each other, you can of course
go ahead and re‐roll.
d66 Quirk d66 Quirk
11 Accident‐Prone 41 Living in the Past
12 Ate a Telephone Once 42 Long Hair
13 Baseball Fanatic 43 Overbearing Parent(s)
14 Bookworm 44 Podcaster
15 Chain Smoker 45 Practical Joker
16 Conspiracy Theorist 46 Questionable Diet
21 Dad Jokes 51 Quiet
22 Eccentric Hair 52 Religious
23 Fashion Accessory 53 Retired
24 Foreign Accent 54 Single Parent
25 Former Transit Worker 55 Small Build
26 Goggles 56 Social Media Obsessed
31 Headphones 61 Southern Accent
32 Heavy Drinker 62 Stoner
33 In a Relationship 63 Thick Glasses
34 Large Build 64 Veteran
35 Licks Things 65 Weird Tattoos
36 Likes Cheesy 80s Music 66 Young

“It's a ‘quirk’ that you made all these pipe bombs?!”

Spooktacular * 19

3. Stats
Stats are a measure of how competent your character is at different things, so they’re
pretty important when you’re playing the game. Assign a total of 12 points among the
four stats (Action, Brains, Contact, and Cool), giving each one a value between 1 and 5.
The value is how many six‐sided dice you’ll roll (before adding bonuses from talents,
gear, etc.) when you attempt an action that uses that kind of ability.
Action
Sometimes you need to get off your butt and do stuff. It kinda
sucks, I know, but that’s the life of a paranormal investigator. This
is the stat you use to run around, fight, shoot your etheric ray
thrower, that kind of thing.
Brains
Being smart and knowing stuff are also important qualities for a
paranormal investigator. Brains is the stat you use for doing re‐
search, doing technical stuff, figuring things out, and so on.
Contact
Contact is your ability to deal with people in relatively normal
ways. It’s essential for things like interviewing witnesses, con‐
vincing the cops you’re not mentally ill and/or scammers, and
getting a good deal.

Cool
Cool is your ability to stay calm and collected despite all the crap
that will inevitably come your way as a paranormal investigator.
If your Cool stat is high, you’re, you know, cool. Cool enough to
not use too many commas in your sentences. Cool is good for
overcoming fear as well as being collected in social situations.

20 : Spooktacular
4. Talents
For each of the four stats, pick, roll, or create a Talent for your character. This is some‐
thing that falls under that stat that your character is particularly good at. When you
make a roll where a talent applies, you get to roll an extra 3 dice. It’ll usually be pretty
obvious, but the GM is the final arbiter of whether a talent applies.
d66 Action Talent d66 Brains Talent
11‐12 Brawl 11‐12 Arcane Rituals
13‐14 Chase 13‐14 Debunk Frauds
15‐16 Climb 15‐16 Deduction
21‐22 Dodge 21‐22 Do Paperwork
23‐24 Drive 23‐24 Fixing Stuff
25‐26 Fire Ray Thrower 25‐26 Hacking
31‐32 Flee 31‐32 History
33‐34 Get Behind Cover 33‐34 Invent Stuff
35‐36 Give Powerful Massages 35‐36 Jury‐Rig
41‐42 Martial Arts 41‐42 Notice Stuff
43‐44 Move Heavy Objects 43‐44 Occult Lore
45‐46 Parkour 45‐46 Parapsychology
51‐52 Resist Arrest 51‐52 Run a Business
53‐54 Run 53‐54 Science
55‐56 Scream 55‐56 Speak Multiple Languages
61‐62 Throw Things 61‐62 Sports Facts
63‐64 Withstand Pain 63‐64 Use the Internet
65‐66 Wrestle 65‐66 Use the Library

d66 Contact Talent d66 Cool Talent
11‐12 Bargaining 11‐12 Act Unfazed
13‐14 Break the Ice 13‐14 Cold Calling
15‐16 Comfort Victims 15‐16 Dance
21‐22 Customer Service 21‐22 Hard Sell
23‐24 Deal with Bureaucracy 23‐24 Ignore Scary Stuff
25‐26 Fast‐Talk 25‐26 Insults
31‐32 Flirt 31‐32 Lay it on Thick
33‐34 Get Out of Jury Duty 33‐34 Lie with a Straight Face
35‐36 Good with Kids 35‐36 Look Cool
41‐42 Knows a Guy 41‐42 Nerves of Steel
43‐44 Lighten the Mood 43‐44 Not Flinching
45‐46 Make an Entrance 45‐46 Public Speaking
51‐52 Make Excuses 51‐52 Rap Battle
53‐54 Navigate Academia 53‐54 Retain Bowel Control
55‐56 Public Relations 55‐56 Sing Karaoke
61‐62 Quell Screaming 61‐62 Sneak
63‐64 Raise the Roof 63‐64 Strike a Pose
65‐66 Social Media 65‐66 Unnerve Straights

Spooktacular * 21

5. Motivation
Your character’s Motivation in the major thing that drives them. This both gives you a
guideline for how to role‐play your character and is one of the ways you earn Awesome
Points. You’re welcome to come up with something else not in the table; just be clear
on when you should be gaining Awesome Points for it.
d66 Motivation Description
The world needs to understand that you’re awesome.
Fame and
11‐13 Gain Awesome Points when you attract notice from the
Status
world at large.
Really, you just want to have good friends. Gain Awesome
14‐16 Friendship Points when you make a new friend or have an experience
that affirms friendships.
You have a deep‐seated need to help others. Gain Awe‐
21‐23 Helping People some Points when you make someone’s life better in a
significant way.
For whatever reason you take great joy in generally antag‐
Messing With
24‐26 onizing and messing with people. Gain Awesome Points
People
when you make normal people deeply uncomfortable.
Money makes the world go ‘round, and you want it. Gain
31‐33 Money Awesome Points whenever you bring in a significant
amount of money.
You want to prove that you’re capable and can accomplish
34‐36 Proving Myself things. Gain Awesome Points whenever people recognize
your abilities.
The world needs to accept that the supernatural is real.
Proving the
41‐43 Gain Awesome Points whenever you acquire proof of the
Supernatural
supernatural.
You’re looking for love. Or maybe just sex. Either way, you
44‐46 Romance want to get close to certain kinds of people. Gain Awe‐
some Points whenever you have a decent date.
Run a You really want to have a successful business. Gain Awe‐
51‐53 Successful some Points when you help the company run smoothly
Business and succeed.
You want to practice science because it can serve man‐
Science for
54‐56 kind. Gain Awesome Points when you’re able to do
Mankind
scientific stuff that helps people.
Your main concern is science for the sake of science, re‐
Soulless gardless of how it affects mere homo sapiens. Gain
61‐63
Science Awesome Points when you make intriguing scientific dis‐
coveries, especially if you ignore the human element.
Ghosts screwed up your life in some way, and you just
Vengeance on plain want to kick some ass, in a spiritual sense of course.
64‐66
Ghosts Gain Awesome Points when you vindictively pursue and
punish ghosts.

22 : Spooktacular
6. Starting Awesome Points
Each character starts with 20 Awesome Points. Circle the “20” on your character card,
and you’re done.
In case you missed it, see p. 13 to learn how you get more Awesome Points, and p.
14 for what you can spend them on. It’s pretty cool actually!
7. Stuff
You can assume your character has whatever normal, everyday stuff you think is fitting
for them. They presumably have stuff like clothes and a cell phone, and while they’re
probably not rich, they can have a modest car or whatever. What we’re more con‐
cerned with is their special gear for dealing with the supernatural.
Each character starts with an Etheric Ray Thrower (p. 28), and the group starts with
a Ghost Trap. Each character then gets two more major pieces of gear from the Gear
section that follows this one (on p. 27).
8. Name and Other Details

The stuff you’ve done up until now should give you a fairly good idea of what your
character is like. To finish up, give them a name and maybe fill in a few other details if
you want. The table on p. 24 provides some names suitable for this game’s source ma‐
terial, but you can pretty much just make up whatever you want.
Later On: Reworking Characters

While you can do a tiny bit of actual character advancement in this game by trading in
30 Awesome Points to bump a stat up by 1 point or get a second archetype (see p. 14),
you may still find yourself wanting to rework your character in some way, and I’m okay
with that. Maybe it just feels right to change your Motivation when your goofy would‐
be womanizer gets married, or maybe you find that the way you set up your Stats and
Talents turned out to screw you over for how you wanted to play the game.
As long as the GM is cool with it and it makes some kind of sense, you can change
pretty much any of the things you assigned during character creation later on, between
game sessions. They just have to remain within the original character creation rules, so
you have to have the same number of stat points, one talent per stat, and so on.

Spooktacular * 23

Random Investigator Name Table
Like the other random tables, this is an optional way to generate or just get ideas for a
name for your character. These emphasize (but aren’t exclusively) Western names from
the game’s source material. …I’m not sure what else to write here so I’ll leave it at that.
d66 Female Name d66 Male Name d66 Last Name
11 Abby 11 Andy 11 Acker
12 Alice 12 Basil 12 Ando
13 Amelia 13 Carter 13 Armstrong
14 Billie 14 Chris 14 Blacker
15 Buffy 15 Cole 15 Brown
16 Claire 16 Constantine 16 Caldwell
21 Connie 21 Dante 21 Chase
22 Dana 22 Daryl 22 Cross
23 Dawn 23 Dave 23 Danvers
24 Donna 24 Dean 24 Doyle
25 Ellen 25 Denton 25 Finn
26 Erica 26 Desmond 26 Gilbert
31 Erin 31 Dorian 31 Giles
32 Janet 32 Eduardo 32 Griffin
33 Janine 33 Egon 33 Harris
34 Jill 34 Fox 34 Henderson
35 Jillian 35 Frank 35 Hildebrant
36 Jo 36 Gabriel 36 Holtzmann
41 Kanako 41 Garrett 41 Jackson
42 Kylie 42 Gideon 42 Lee
43 Lana 43 Greg 43 Miller
44 Liz 44 Hiroshi 44 Moreau
45 Maria 45 Jim 45 Ramirez
46 Paige 46 Kevin 46 Rivera
51 Patty 51 Peter 51 Schroeder
52 Pearl 52 Quinn 52 Spengler
53 Phoebe 53 Ray 53 Stantz
54 Piper 54 Richard 54 Tolan
55 Prue 55 Rick 55 Valentine
56 Ruby 56 Roland 56 Van Helsing
61 Sadie 61 Rupert 61 Venkman
62 Sandy 62 Sam 62 Wang
63 Selene 63 Steven 63 Winchester
64 Tara 64 Ted 64 Winters
65 Tina 65 Winston 65 Yates
66 Willow 66 Xander 66 Zeddemore

24 : Spooktacular
Character Creation Example
“Honey, go back inside. Mom’s going to deal with this.”
Mike is going to be playing in Roy’s Spooktacular campaign, and he has the idea to play
a single mother who applied for a position at the company because the job market
sucks and she’s got a son to raise. Although “Name and Other Details” is at the end, he
jots down “Clara Robison” as the character’s name. His friends ask him if he means
“Robinson,” and after pulling out their phones and googling, it turns out that Robison is
in fact a real name, so he sticks with it.
1. For the Archetype, Mike scans the table and settles on Normal. He imagines
Clara being the sensible one in the group.
2. For Quirks, being a Single Parent is the obvious one. After scanning the Quirks
table and rolling a couple times, he settles on Former Transit Worker for a second Quirk.
Since the game is taking place in San Francisco, he decides that Clara worked for SF
Muni for a while, as an attendant at the Embarcadero station.
3. Mike looks at the stats, and notices that there are 4 stats and 12 points to assign,
and just gives the character a 3 in each one. It’s not the most exciting thing, but he
wants Clara to be well‐rounded.
4. For her Talents, Mike first picks “Run” as her Action talent. Clara isn’t exception‐
ally athletic, but she knows when to get out of Dodge. For Brains, she picks Notice
Stuff, figuring that Clara will catch stuff that the other weirdos on staff miss. Looking
at the table for Contact talents, he decides that “Good with Kids” isn’t quite right, and
writes “Raise Children” instead. And finally, for Cool she goes with “Act Unfazed.” (Here
the group ends up googling to find out that it is in fact “unfazed” and not “unphased.”)
Although she does get scared at times, she’s good at hiding it, especially in front of her
son.
5. For her Motivation, he decides on Money. Clara isn’t greedy, but she’s sick of
struggling to make ends meet, and wants to provide for her son. He may change it later,
depending on how her financial situation pans out and how well she takes to ghost‐
hunting.
6. Mike circles the “20” for Clara’s starting Awesome Points. So that’s that.
7. For Clara’s Stuff, she starts with an Etheric Ray Thrower, and then gets two more
things. Wanting to cover the most basic stuff the group might need, Mike goes for a
spare Ghost Trap (because sometimes there’s more than one ghost) and an Ectometer.
Beyond that, he says she has an okay smartphone and a 1998 Honda Civic, and a purse
that includes things like a sewing kit, band‐aids, and lip balm just in case.
8. So, Clara is a 37‐year‐old woman, pretty average‐looking all around. She has
short red hair that she puts in a ponytail when working. Her son, Finn Robison, is 10
years old and winds up hanging out at the office a lot because she can’t afford day care.
She’s generally dry and sensible, and plays the straight man to the young mad scientist
and weird army veteran who she works with. She’s not happy about them getting Finn
his own Wraithzappers uniform, but there’s not a lot she can do about it.

Spooktacular * 25

26 : Spooktacular
Gear
“Thank you for coming. I have some lovely new toys for you to try out.”
Dealing with the paranormal requires having the proper equipment on hand to get
things done. A lot of that is special paratechnology for dealing with ghosts, but more
mundane stuff can be useful too. For the purposes of this game, each piece of par‐
atechnology (or magic stuff) is considered a “major” piece of gear, which counts as one
of your available selections. For most mundane stuff, you can pretty much have what‐
ever seems appropriate to your character.
There are any number of things you might want your character to have that aren’t
covered here. If you’re not sure, ask the GM about it.
Paratechnology
“Paratechnology” is a term for devices that take advantage of bleeding‐edge develop‐
ments in particle physics to deal with ghosts. We’ll spare you the lengthy explanation
of spectral field theory,* but suffice it to say these obscure and potentially dangerous
technologies are the best way to combat ghosts that mankind has yet devised.
This is just a sampling of paratechnology to cover the basics and maybe a few other
things I thought would be cool. You’re more than welcome to invent some new ones.
Ectometer
Aside from its ability to generate arguments about how
it should be pronounced, the ectometer is a handy device
that measures ectoplasmic and psychokinetic activity in
the area. Or to put it in layman’s terms, it’s a ghost de‐
tector.
It takes a little skill (and a Brains roll) to figure out its
subtler readings, but when there’s an active ghost or
other supernatural stuff going on in the immediate area,
the flashing lights and loud beeping are hard to miss.
Etheric Grenade
The etheric grenade is a pretty simple device, and you prob‐
ably have a decent idea what it does from the name. But let’s
spell it out: this is a grenade that detonates to release a blast
of etheric energy that disrupts ghosts.
When you use one, make an attack roll with an additional
die against any ghosts within a 10‐foot radius.
Picking this item as a piece of gear gives you 3 grenades
to use per session.

*
We could totally write one if we wanted to though. Shut up. You’re getting weirdly defensive.

Spooktacular * 27

Etheric Ray Thrower
Sometimes known as an ERT (or “ert” if
you’re feeling silly)* or proton lasso, this
is one of the most basic and important
weapons in a paratechnology‐equipped
ghost hunter’s arsenal. The ray thrower
consists of a backpack particle accelera‐
tor connected to a handheld firing wand
that shoots an etheric ray stream. It looks
pretty badass actually.
When you use an etheric ray thrower
to attack a ghost, roll 1 additional die. On
a successful attack, you do damage to the ghost’s Presence. If a ghost is out of Presence,
two successful attacks from different etheric ray throwers can hold it in place to allow
you to trap it.
Ray throwers also cause property damage and start fires if you miss. Also, if you’re
an asshole or a screw‐up and you hit a person, it counts as an attack with +1 die.
Ghost Punchers
While it’s not the most effective way to combat ghosts, these
special gauntlets are one of the most satisfying, since when you
wear them and have them powered up, you can in fact punch
ghosts. The name is a bit on the nose, but hardly anyone is will‐
ing to call them “transetheric kinetic transfer gauntlets.”
Wearing them lets you make hand‐to‐hand attacks against
ghosts. Also, you can physically wrestle a ghost into an open
trap this way, though it’s a bit dangerous.
Ghost Trap
A ghost trap is a device for, you know, trap‐
ping ghosts. The main unit goes on the floor,
with a cable connecting it to a foot‐operated
switch. If a ghost’s Presence points are com‐
pletely depleted, activating the trap creates a
sort of spectral suction, and with the applica‐
tion of ray throwers (see above) you can
force a ghost into it. A trap can generally only
hold one ghost (maybe two if you squeeze
them in together), and it’s kind of a temporary solution. You’re better off transferring
them to a containment grid (p. 34).
A trap with a ghost inside will give off smoke as a result of the ghost trying and
failing to form ectoplasm. Also, no matter how excited you are about catching a ghost,
you should hold the trap by the cable or carrying handle. Kissing the trap is not advised,
especially if the trap is jerking around or making weird noises. Among other things, a
live trap is mildly radioactive.

*
Note that it is not a “wraith thrower.” Someone made one of those once. It did not end well.

28 : Spooktacular
Kirlian Visor
Kirlian photography is a technique that shows auras around objects by applying an
electrical charge. It’s handy for showing supernatural auras and ghosts. More recent
paratechnology has resulted in a
visor that can perform Kirlian style
imaging in real time. It takes some
fiddling with the lenses (and a
Brains roll), but when set to the
right wavelength it can pinpoint
the location of ghosts and psychic
phenomena even when they’re in‐
visible to the naked eye.
Proton Pulse Gun
The PPG is based on the same principles as ray throwers,
but only fires quick, intense pulses of energy. This lets the
weapon be significantly more compact, so that it doesn’t re‐
quire a separate power pack. However, it’s mainly good for
quickly wearing ghosts down, and the lack of a lasso func‐
tion means it doesn’t help for the actual capture. Also, the
power cells don’t last all that long, though you can plug it
into your ray thrower’s power pack if you like.
In any case, you can use it to fire two shots in short order to make two attacks with
one fewer die than usual on each, or fire one more careful shot with no penalty.
Normal Stuff
While paratechnology is a must for dealing with those ghosts, you’re going to need
some normal stuff too, because you’ve got to get around, find the ghosts, document
things, and so on.
Car
Chances are even if you’re in a city that has good public transportation, you’re going to
want some wheels to get your crew and your gear from HQ over to wherever the
ghosts are. While some people insist on a 1959 Cadillac Miller‐Meteor, you mostly just
need something with enough space, and maybe lights and sirens to get where you’re
going fast enough. A lot of ghost hunters end up with a basic van, or even a pickup in
the case of a 2‐man team.
For our purposes, you can assume the company has a decent car without expending
a gear selection. Likewise, your character can have a basic car to get around town (es‐
pecially if your game is set in a place where you really need it), though probably not
anything fancy. If you could afford a luxury car, you’d have better things to do with
your life than hunt ghosts. If you want a more powerful vehicle, you can use a major
gear selection to get a badass SUV or something.

Spooktacular * 29

Night Vision Goggles
A favorite of special forces and nosy neighbors, night
vision goggles amplify light to let you see things in
near‐darkness (albeit in monochrome). Since ghosts
and things that initially seem to be ghosts often like
to hang out in dark places, they can be a useful tool
for paranormal investigators. However, decent ones
are surprisingly expensive, so night vision goggles
count as a major piece of gear.
Other Useful Items
 Audio Recorder
 Bullhorn
 Camcorder
 Carbon Monoxide Detector*
 Climbing Gear (+2 dice for climbing)
 Compass
 Flashlight
 Geiger Counter
 Notebook
 Spare Underwear
 Thermometer
 Walkie‐Talkies
Magic Stuff
“At last you come to understand that the mystical too can have value in your endeavors.
Will that be cash or credit card?”
Since this game also allows for some characters who use magic, here are some bits of
magical gear they can use to help pull their weight. As with paratechnology, each of
these counts as a major piece of gear.
Binding Jar
This is basically a magical ghost trap, and the same way, except that instead
of a foot switch you use an incantation to activate it. These things have to
be made out of a particular type of porcelain, so although they have the
advantage of not needing electricity, they do have the flaw of shattering—
and thus releasing the ghost—if you drop them.

*
Fun Fact: Carbon monoxide can cause hallucinations. Experienced ghost hunters will bring a
detector along to be sure that they’re dealing with ghosts rather than hallucinations of ghosts.

30 : Spooktacular
Crystal Ball
Believe it or not, a good crystal ball does have actual occult
purposes, and isn’t just a tool for fortunetellers to separate
customers from their money. In the hands of a skilled magi‐
cian they’re an effective tool for detecting the supernatural.
On the other hand, a proper crystal ball is considerably
more expensive than the $20 they cost on Amazon.
A true, magical crystal ball functions like an ectometer.
It registers the presence of the supernatural, and a skilled
user can pinpoint the locations of such things.
Material Components
Despite the D&D terminology, it’s true that magic
spells do in fact often call for bringing together
specific objects as part of a ritual. If you take this
bit of gear, you have an extensive collection of
obscure herbs, dried bits of animals, oils, candles,
feathers, and so forth. Depending on your areas
of magical expertise you may also have creepy
dolls and uncanny tinctures.
The real point though is that for any given spell that you want to cast, chances are
you’ll have most if not all of the items you need on hand.
Purifying Salts
In many cultures, purifying salts are used to ward off
evil spirits. In purely practical terms a lot of them are
little more than fancy sodium chloride, certain rare
varieties are in fact effective for dealing with ghosts.
A trained magician or occultist successfully hit‐
ting a ghost with purifying salts gives it a temporary
penalty of ‐1 to its Power stat, lasting for a few
minutes.
Spirit Candle
This is a special candle made with rare alchemical ingredients that
reveals the presence of the supernatural. While the candle is burn‐
ing, any ghosts in the area cannot become invisible or hide their true
natures.

Spooktacular * 31

32 : Spooktacular
Company Creation
“‘Wraithzappers’? You know, I can’t help but think there’s a catchier name we could use…”
Once you have your characters, there’s the matter of the paranormal investigation
company they belong to. We don’t have a whole lot of rules for making your company,
but there are a few things to take care of. If you’re short on time or just prefer it that
way, you can use one of the three sample companies also included in this chapter.
Unless it becomes important to the plot that it goes differently, we’ll assume that
your company is more or less solvent, and can afford a place to operate out of and the
basic equipment they need to function.
Name
Give your company a suitable name. If you’re really stuck, roll on the table below,
though you may find the results a bit too silly. Bonus points (by which I mean a thumbs‐
up from me if I hear about it) if you come up with a clever pun.
d66 Part 1 d66 Part 2
11‐12 Creature 11‐12 Blasters
13‐14 Curse 13‐14 Busters
15‐16 Demon 15‐16 Busting
21‐22 Devil 21‐22 Chasers
23‐24 Ghost 23‐24 Crushers
25‐26 Ghoul 25‐26 Dusters
31‐32 Horror 31‐32 Eaters
33‐34 Monster 33‐34 Finders
35‐36 Night 35‐36 Hunters
41‐42 Phantom 41‐42 Inspectors
43‐44 Shadow 43‐44 Investigateers
45‐46 Specter 45‐46 Keteers
51‐52 Spirit 51‐52 Rooter
53‐54 Spook 53‐54 Smashers
55‐56 Spooky 55‐56 Terminators
61‐62 Vamp 61‐62 Vestigators
63‐64 Witch 63‐64 X
65‐66 Wraith 65‐66 Zappers

Spooktacular * 33

Equipment
“How has this building not been condemned?”
As with characters, you can assume that the company has the basic stuff that they need
to get by. Your company will have some kind of building to operate out of (even if it
needs some major repairs), tables, chairs, basic computers, phones, etc. The rest of the
gear falls under what players pick for their characters, though there are a few Company
Assets (see below) that can affect things.
Containment Grid
We’ll also assume that your company has a containment grid in its HQ. The contain‐
ment grid is a massive system that holds the ghosts that the team catches. The thing
takes up a good amount of space, and if it’s properly labeled, has lots of ominous warn‐
ing signs on it about radiation and whatnot.
To use a containment grid, you slide your ghost trap in, push some buttons, wait
for the ghost to get sucked into the grid, and then when the light turns green, remove
the trap. It’s pretty simple for the end user.
The grid requires a constant supply of power, and if you let, say, an EPA official
(who’s understandably concerned about you running an unlicensed nuclear‐powered
device based on fringe science disturbingly close to a Chinese restaurant) turn it off,
the results could be pretty bad if you’ve caught many ghosts. You should really think
about a long‐term solution, but that’s for you from the future to worry about.
If your company tends to use magic more than paratechnology to deal with ghosts,
you can say that your “containment grid” is some kind of magical equivalent.
Company Assets
Here “Assets” are special things that your company has going for it. Pick two of the
following assets. If the GM thinks your company is doing especially well, they’ll let you
pick additional Assets later on.
Competent Secretary
You’ve managed to find a secretary who’s quite good at their job, and generally keeps
the mundane side of the business humming along smoothly. He or she rolls 5 dice for
doing stuff to keep the business working correctly.
Connected
Your company has some connections around town that can generally make your lives
easier. You roll an extra 2 dice when dealing with local bureaucracy and such.
Equipment Budget
The company has been able to allocate some extra funds for gear. Pick out a total of 4
major pieces of gear for the group.
Eye Candy Secretary
The company has a secretary whose main asset is being easy on the eyes. They’re not
actually that good at being a secretary, but they’re generally fun to be around, and a

34 : Spooktacular
good distraction for angry customers. He or she rolls 5 dice for being attractive and a
distraction, but 1 die for much of anything practical.
Famous
Your company has gotten to be pretty well‐known. You get a steady stream of business,
and you can roll an extra 2 dice for Contact rolls where being famous helps you.
Good Location
Your HQ is in a convenient location for getting to where you need to go quickly. This
gives you an extra 2 dice for rolls made to get to places around town in a hurry.
Infirmary
The HQ has a small infirmary where you can treat injured people decently well. If some‐
one has suffered minor injuries, you can treat them as though it were a hospital.
Occult Library
The HQ has a pretty nice library of occult books. If you can take time to use the library
when researching the supernatural, you roll an additional 2 dice.
Occult Nexus
Your HQ sits on a nexus of occult power, say a place where multiple ley lines cross or
something like that. For better or for worse supernatural stuff comes to you, but on
the plus side you get +2 dice for any attempts to do magic or use weird powers.
Powerful Computers
Computing power can be handy sometimes, which is presumably why your company
has some powerful computers to help you do research, update your website, edit video,
running calculations for research, and playing games to let off steam. Roll an extra die
for things where the extra computing power helps you.
Research Lab
Sometimes you’ll want to bring things back to HQ for analysis, whether to figure out
what’s going on or just to advance the frontiers of parapsychology. Luckily, if you pick
this Asset your HQ has a decent research lab with a selection of technobabble devices
for analyzing paranormal residues and such.
Other Details
Take a little time to talk about whatever other details you think might be relevant, like
where your HQ is located, whether you’ve been able to run ads, that kind of thing.
 Where is your company located? What city, and what kind of area in that city? See
p. 46 for some ideas on interesting real‐life cities you might choose, or maybe pick
a city that the group is familiar with or even located in at this very moment!
 How do people in the area see you? Are you unknown, a well‐established business,
a band of infamous weirdos, or something else?

Spooktacular * 35

 How did you come by the paratechnology and know‐how to hunt ghosts? Did you
come up with it yourself, did someone provide it for you, or are you just using what
has become pretty standard gear for the paranormal investigation biz?
Wraithzappers
“I hope you guys are making money, because the Skewr app isn’t an actual thing yet, and
won’t be for at least 6 months.”
Wraithzappers is the first of a set of three pre‐
made companies that you can use if you’re in a
hurry to set things up. Also, I wrote a lot of the
silly quotes and such in this book with them in
mind, so there’s that.
The company operates out of San Francisco
(p. 53), in a tiny office on Market Street that is
part of the headquarters of Skewr, an app startup
that belongs to Emil Strunk, the genius venture
capitalist who’s funding Wraithzappers. Presum‐
ably someone talked him out of a name that ends
in R, because there’s a whiteboard in the office
that says things like “zappr” and “ghostchasr.”
You’re not clear what Skewr is supposed to be wraithzappers
doing, and Emil usually responds to questions paranormal investigation and elimination, LLC
about it by saying that the company is “pivoting.”
The paranormal investigation industry is still relatively new, and Emil (he prefers
people call him by his first name) saw an opportunity to get into this new market, in a
city that seems like it could use it. San Francisco (and to a lesser extent the Bay Area in
general) always had a bit of a spooky side, but lately it’s been experiencing an uptick in
hauntings. Wraithzappers has had a few successful cases, including a high‐profile one
that involved helping the CEO of a massive tech company, so the company is both
enjoying a lot of new business and dreading increased scrutiny from the government.
Since Skewr has a bunch of software engineers who would otherwise be twiddling
their thumbs,* they put together a pretty nice Wraithzappers website and accompany‐
ing app. It’s become a little too easy for potential customers to send in requests for
quotes, and the team is considering trying to get Emil to hire some interns to sort
through the deluge of requests and weed out the spam and other nonsense, because
there probably isn’t actually a ghost problem with Horny Russian Mail Order Brides in
Your Area.

*
By which I mean getting drunk and looking at porn.

36 : Spooktacular

Equipment
The people behind Wraithzappers didn’t discover paratechnology, but Emil is friends
with the head of Ghostr (a ghost hunting startup based out of LA), and got a good deal
on the gear. They thus have pretty standard equipment.
Company Car: The company car is a Ford Transit, one of the small white vans that
a lot of delivery companies use. (Emil has several others that will go into operation once
Skewr actually makes something.) It’s a little cramped for the team and a full array of
ghost hunting gear, but it’s small enough to maneuver around San Francisco reasonably
well. If the van is having trouble, Skewr also has a bunch of Priuses. And if you feel like
gambling with your career, Emil has a red Tesla Roadster.
Containment Grid: The company’s containment grid is situated directly next to
Skewr’s server room. This is supposedly because it’s where the building’s main power
goes, but basically everyone except Strunk finds it worrisome, and the coders are com‐
plaining about the servers behaving weirdly.
Assets
Good Location: Being situated on Market Street means that, aside from the in‐
tensely high properly values, the company can get to a lot of places around the city,
particularly downtown, pretty quickly, at least by SF standards.
Powerful Computers: Since Wraithzappers is joined at the hip to a tech startup, the
computers in the office are particularly powerful, doubly so if you tap into Skewr’s
available computing power. (Which is a pretty reasonable thing to do since as far as
you can tell, Skewr does almost nothing.)

Spooktacular * 37

Ghost Rooter
“Okay! Okay! Just, tell Mr. El Diablo we’ll be there as soon as we can!”
Ghost Rooter is a tiny ghost hunting
company, consisting of the PCs and
their secretary Maria, operating out of a
dilapidated warehouse in Albuquerque,
New Mexico (p. 47). They were the first to develop workable paratechnology (so at
least one of the Ghost Rooter PCs needs to be a scientist who could work on such
things), and when they couldn’t get anyone to invest, they desperately took out loans
and sold what they could to launch the world’s first paranormal investigation and elim‐
ination business. They would’ve liked to move somewhere a bit more high‐profile than
ABQ, but the expense of renting a place somewhere like California or New York is way
too much for them right now. Operating out of Albuquerque means it was easy to get
an affordable space to set up shop at least, and there’s a pretty good New Mexican
restaurant just down the block. They also have some friends at UNM and the nearby
government laboratories who can lend a hand when their supervisors aren’t watching
too closely.
Right now they have an uphill battle to establish themselves as legitimate. Most
people still don’t publicly believe in ghosts, and the local authorities aren’t all that happy
about someone setting up shop in their jurisdiction with this pseudoscientific nonsense.
The company is gradually picking up more business though, as locals who have weird
stuff going on are starting to realize that there’s actually someone who can do some‐
thing about it. That’s been a bit of a mixed blessing, since the infamous drug lord who
controls the crystal meth biz in the southwest has a pretty serious problem with the
ghosts of his empire’s victims, and isn’t going to take no for an answer. If the DEA gets
wind of this, it’s going to put the team in an exceedingly difficult position.
While all of that is going on, there’s been a pretty major jump in UFO sightings
around Albuquerque and New Mexico in general. For the Ghost Rooter team, that
means a lot of calls that turn out to be false alarms, but there have also been a lot of
guys in black suits snooping around. Maybe they really are Men in Black, but whatever’s
going on, someone who can afford to pay a bunch of highly disciplined agents is appar‐
ently interested in it.
Equipment
Ghost Rooter doesn’t have any outside backing, and the PCs invented all of the par‐
atechnology they use. The gear they have available will be kind of basic until they can
either invent more or other people start developing paratechnology. They’ve con‐
structed etheric ray throwers, ghost traps, ectometers, Kirlian visors, and a
containment grid (albeit currently a kind of primitive and unstable one), but won’t have
access to any other toys for now.
Company Car: After using most of their available money on paratechnology gear,
the team managed to scrape together enough to get an old van. It does the job, though
the logo of the shipping company it originally belonged to is still just visible under the
new paint job.

38 : Spooktacular
Containment Grid: The containment grid at the Ghost Rooter office is a jury‐rigged
mess, and frankly an accident waiting to happen. It smells weird, occasionally throws
off sparks, and has weird fluctuations in its power consumption. It does the job for now,
but they’re really going to need to do something about it soon.
Assets
Competent Secretary: Maria knew one or more of the PCs from college, and hap‐
pened to be out of work when they were struggling to get Ghost Rooter off the ground.
She more or less runs the business side of things, and without her the whole venture
would collapse. She has a dry wit, and will reluctantly mother the PCs when she feels
she has no other choice.
Occult Library: Part of why Maria agreed to help with the company is that she’s
genuinely interested in the supernatural, albeit from more of a sociological point of
view. She didn’t believe in the paranormal, but found other people’s beliefs interesting.
She thus had amassed quite a collection of occult books, and when Ghost Rooter
started up she brought her collection, prodded the PCs to contribute any they had, and
added some more from local used bookstores. The result is a surprisingly decent occult
library, which has been useful for this business.
Phantom Finders
“We’ll be right there! And, uh, any chance you could provide us with lunch after?”
Based out of Orlando, the Phantom
Finders are a plucky team of ghost
hunters who bought some stock par‐
atechnology and are trying to make it
in the ghost hunting business there.
Paratechnology and the business
have been around for a while and be‐
come decently well‐established, so the Phantom Finders have a lot of competition.
They’re currently operating out of a tiny space in an office building, and hoping the
landlord doesn’t figure out what they’re doing there and kick them out.
So far business has been slow, but they’ve picked up a few jobs here and there from
local residents and businesses. They’re at the bottom rung of the industry, and they
don’t have a lot of scientific expertise or anything, just the motivation that comes from
not wanting to starve. This being Orlando (see p. 50), they’re hoping to land a contract
with one of the big theme parks, but the best they’ve gotten is a single call to The Holy
Land Experience, and those guys didn’t seem inclined to call again after the investiga‐
tors captured the ghost of a preacher and burned down Noah’s Ark. In the meantime,
it turns out that their office is on top of an occult nexus (see below), so smaller jobs are
starting to trickle in more and more, and if they keep it up this whole thing could actu‐
ally work even without a lucrative contract.

Spooktacular * 39

Equipment
The team has standard, off‐the‐rack paratechnology, mostly stuff they got off of eBay
or at the local flea market.
Company Car: The team has managed to get a couple of old Mazda pickup trucks,
small but sturdy and reliable, with somewhat cheap‐looking decals with the company
logo and phone number on the sides.
Containment Grid: Since they don’t have the money for a full‐on containment grid
of their own, they bought extra ghost traps and signed up for GhostAway, a service
where you can drop off captured ghosts,* though it takes an hour‐long drive to get to
the place.
Assets
Equipment Budget: Since they lack a containment grid of their own, the Phantom
Finders invested in extra ghost traps and such. In the long run it’s not the most efficient
way to go about things, but when you have limited funds you end up making compro‐
mises like that.
Occult Nexus: By some weird coincidence, the office building where they set up
shop happens to be at a major ley line nexus. That may explain why half of the other
tenants in the building are doing weird occult stuff, and why the other half never seem
to stick around too long. On the plus side, there’s a bona fide witch in the building
who’s willing to lend a hand once in a while if you pay her.

*
It’s probably better not to ask too many questions about the safety of their containment grid
or what they do with the ghosts. Or the strange rumors floating around about the swamp that
surrounds the decrepit warehouse that GhostAway operates out of.

40 : Spooktacular
Spooky Adventures
This chapter is kind of a catch‐all thing for advice on both playing and running Spook‐
tacular stories.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide or discover what you want the themes of your
own game to be, but to me the key thing is the juxtaposition of horror and the mundane.
In horror movies, ghosts and their ilk are an indomitable unknown that we can barely
hope to even escape from, much less defeat. There are sometimes survivors, but there
are never heroes. This game and its source material jog past Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s
territory and into a place where the supernatural is not only something we can triumph
over, but something that can become routine.
The dissonance between the terrors of the supernatural and the investigator firing
up an etheric ray thrower with all the nonchalance of an exterminator spraying for ter‐
mites is kind of amazing. Which isn’t to say that every job is going to be easy for your
characters. The easy jobs are the ones you can say happened off‐camera. We’re here
to explore the ups and downs, the more absurd cases that make life excessively inter‐
esting.
Running a Business
“Well, strictly speaking we’re ‘Wraithzappers Paranormal Investigation and Elimination LLC,’
but I think you’ll find our permits are in order. More or less.”
An important theme in this game is running a business. The PCs have latched onto the
new frontier of paranormal investigation as a way to make a living. We’re not going to
get into the nitty gritty of getting permits or filing taxes, not even in an abstract, board
game kind of way. Instead, it’s more about running a business as a source of challenges
and a supply of weird customers. Making rolls to do taxes is too boring to contemplate,
but rushing across town to rescue your alcoholic accountant from a poltergeist so she
can do your taxes before the looming deadline could be a fun adventure. There’s also
things like advertising, licensing, lawsuits, and leasing a location, all of which are dull by
themselves, but could be interesting if you make them that way.
There’s also the matter of dealing with customers. As anyone who’s worked in any
retail or other service type job can tell you, customers are kind of awful. Not all of them,
but enough to ruin your day on a regular basis. There will be jerks, people who are
weird about actually paying you, and customers who are just confusing about what
they want.
One thing that’s fairly unique to this line of work is that unless the supernatural
becomes widely accepted, skepticism and embarrassment are going to be major obsta‐
cles for you. It’s hard to run a business when a big chunk of the world is convinced that
you’re running an elaborate scam to fix imaginary problems. People who resort to hiring
you will tend to be either a bit out there, or just plain desperate. The former can lead
you on a wild goose chase, while the latter will insist that you take care of things quickly
and without raising a fuss.

Spooktacular * 41

Investigating
“Now, in your own words, please describe in detail this ‘metal monster straight from the
depths of hell.’”
Ghost hunters end up doing kind of a lot of investigating. Sure, there are times when
you’ll get a call and show up to find a ghost haunting up the place right in front of you,
but normally it takes a bit more to find the thing and figure out what’s going on so you
can bust the ghost.
Often the first step is to interview whoever witnessed the supernatural event. A
calm, careful series of questions can determine whether the client did in fact experi‐
ence something supernatural, and unearth enough details about it to ensure that the
investigators aren’t going in blind. An overexcited, frantic series of questions can also
work if you do it right.
Once you’re satisfied you’ve learned what you can from the client (or once you give
in to their desperate pleas and just rush over there), it’s time to investigate the actual
site. This is where toys like your ectometer come in handy, but having your wits about
you and generally conducting a proper check of the area is good too. Ghosts can be
tricky to pin down for any number of reasons, and even when you can pin down the
individual ghost, there’s still a distinct possibility that something else could be going on
that requires a more in‐depth investigation to actually resolve.

42 : Spooktacular
Busting Those Ghosts
“And now for the fun part. Unless the cyclotrons that power these ray throwers malfunction,
in which case it’s the part where we’re disintegrated. But probably the fun part. Yay!”
Once you find the ghost or ghosts, then there’s the matter of how to actually deal with
the things. Sometimes that’ll be a straightforward matter of applying etheric ray throw‐
ers and ghost traps, but don’t be surprised when things get stranger. That’s partly
because the GM will no doubt want the battle to be a bit more than a series of die rolls,
but also ghosts can be tricky bastards who’ll pull all kinds of weird stuff to make your
life more difficult.
Human Antagonists
“Ugh. This guy. If he says we’ve been ‘a thorn in his side for far too long,’ I’m going to punch
him. I don’t care if I get arrested, I am going to kill his whole smug face with my fist.”
Not everyone who causes trouble for you is already dead.
There are also living people who make your life more diffi‐
cult. Cultists have an unfortunate habit of trying to summon
dangerous supernatural creatures, and every now and then
a parapsychologist will go bad and decide to use experi‐
mental paratechnology to try to conquer and/or destroy the
world. Sometimes relatively normal people fall under some
powerful entity’s spell, literally or figuratively. There are also
people who cause more mundane kinds of trouble for you,
like vindictive government representatives, competing para‐
normal investigators, members of the press trying to defame
you, amoral corporate types, and the occasional social media
mob.
Dealing with human antagonists makes things much
more difficult, because, you know, there are laws. You may
be getting away with skirting zoning laws, but ending a hu‐
man life is beyond the pale and just not something you want.
The justice system isn’t really equipped to properly evaluate
whether that creepy guy is in fact planning to destroy the
world in ectoplasmic hellfire, and absent that knowledge of
the occult, your average court is not going to call it self‐de‐
fense if you attack a guy whose only offense appears to be
drawing weird circles on the ground and a penchant for black
robes and occult jewelry. It takes a certain amount of moxie
(the personality trait, not the beverage) and brains (meaning
intelligence, not a collection of gray matter in jars) to deal
with these kinds of obstacles, but I assure you, it’s possible
to do that without winding up in jail.

Spooktacular * 43

Doing Science
“I genuinely do not care how it smells. Get a sample. Put it in a Tupperware container if you
have to. Yes, I know. I will buy you another sandwich. Just get me that sample!”
It’s largely up to the players to determine just how much of the game is about the char‐
acters doing science stuff. Maybe all of your investigators are also total science nerds
on the frontier of parapsychology, or maybe they’re some folks who got a hold of a
bunch of paratechnology gear and are just trying to make ends meet.
Real science is difficult and incremental, and unless you’re a huge nerd with a sci‐
ence background, it’s kind of boring until Neil deGrasse Tyson comes and makes it
simple enough for the rest of us. Lucky for you, this game isn’t about real‐life science,
hence the stuff about ghosts. While we don’t have rules for it per se, the GM should
reward characters who take the time to collect data and evidence and work on research
and inventions. These things should take time and generally be incremental and involve
multiple rolls, but they should be eminently possible.
The Authorities
“There is literally fire and brimstone raining down from the sky. Do ANY of you assholes want
to explain what in the HELL is going on?!”
“It’s, uh, funny you should put it that way, Mr. Mayor…”

44 : Spooktacular
Running a paranormal investigation service will inevitably mean dealing with the au‐
thorities, ranging from beat cops to shadowy government agencies. And the EPA might
object to you having an unlicensed nuclear‐powered containment grid. They’re picky
about that kind of thing for some reason.
A lot of government officials would prefer it if the public didn’t believe in the su‐
pernatural, at least not overtly. A lot of people freak out about that sort of thing, and a
few people start performing worrisome experiments or rituals that could end the world.
There have been quite a few incidents over the years, and governments have managed
to use disinformation and media manipulation to erode the credibility of anyone trying
to report on those things. They don't have to make everyone forget about the super‐
natural, just spread enough doubt to keep it on the fringes.
Even when they’re not covering up the Truth, the authorities will naturally object
to some of the irresponsible and dangerous stuff that goes into hunting ghosts. Basi‐
cally, don’t be surprised if you get dragged into the mayor’s office, arrested, or slapped
with fines.
If the paranormal becomes widely known, the government is eventually going to
start regulating paranormal investigators. It’s kinda what they do. That means you can
expect a newly‐established Paranormal Regulatory Office to come knocking.
Skepticism
“I’ve debunked hundreds of hauntings and frauds, and you’re no different. Clearly this device
isn’t really a—WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”
For paranormal investigators, skepticism is an important ally and a relentless enemy.
While ghosts are real, part of why there’s so much skepticism is that there are a lot of
false positives out there. You’re going to need to be able to sort out the wheat from
the chaff, and figure out who’s living in a house haunted by the ghost of a condemned
prisoner, and who just has neighbors who like to have kinky chain parties.
Skepticism also means that if you claim to deal in the supernatural, you’re going to
be a target of debunkers. While skeptics can be helpful when they expose the charla‐
tans, they’re often so skeptical that they’ll assume your ghost hunting business is a
sham unless you provide them with incontrovertible proof. They’re going to be the first
ones on the news telling the world about how you’re clearly swindling people.
Personal Stuff
“Guys, this is my dad, the well‐known charlatan and all‐around jerk. Dad, it’s nice to see you,
but it’s just too bad you can’t stay.”
Paranormal investigators are still people, albeit people who for whatever reason
couldn’t or wouldn’t get more respectable jobs. They have to maintain a place to live,
deal with friends and family, find ways to unwind, and so on. Most of the time you can
present those kinds of things as off‐camera summaries, but as with stuff like doing
taxes, it can be fun to include in the game in a substantial way now and then, provided
you can turn it into something with actual significance, preferably with a supernatural
twist. Visiting family, disputes with neighbors, and other things from everyday life can
make interesting additions to your game.

Spooktacular * 45

There’s also the matter of characters’ Motivations. While it ultimately falls to the
players to actually pursue them if they want those delicious Awesome Points, the GM
should make an effort to give them chances to pursue their characters’ motivations,
preferably in ways that make life more interesting. You can also just plain ask a player
something like, “What’s your character doing to pursue their Motivation this week?”
and see where it takes you.
Episodic vs. Long Arcs

“Wait, so the phenomena we’ve been seeing all trace back to the same Sumerian cult bent
on bringing about the end of the world? What are the odds?”
The premise of this game naturally lends itself to allowing for episodic stories. Your
investigators get a call from a customer, they go deal with whatever it is, and next week
the process repeats. However, if you’re planning to play for any length of time, you’ll
probably want to develop some kind of overarching storyline. You don’t have to tie
everything into it, but making some of the things in your seemingly generic one‐shot
episodes tie together can lead to a satisfying climax. Think about why there are ghosts
showing up, and who or what might be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

46 : Spooktacular
Interesting Places to Hunt Ghosts
New York is kind of overcrowded with ghost hunters and superheroes and whatnot, so
let’s look at some of the other places where being a paranormal investigator can be
interesting and profitable.
Albuquerque
“It’s not just the place where Bugs Bunny should’ve turned left. There’s the red and green
chiles. And nuclear research. And Mexican drug cartels. And UFOs. Look, there’s a lot of stuff
going on here.”

Albuquerque, New Mexico (or “ABQ” as residents sometimes call it) is a small city situ‐
ated in a flat but surprisingly beautiful desert. There is a significant Native American
population in the area, but also quite a few people of Mexican. Government contractors
are a major part of the local economy, and the city has a long history of being part of
America’s development of nuclear technology. The history of utter obsession with
UNM’s football team (the Lobos) is nearly as long. Beneath the adobe and turquoise
façade there are issues with crime too. And yes, that includes crystal meth. I’m not
saying you have to make your ABQ Spooktacular game into a silly supernatural Breaking
Bad, just throwing the idea out there.
The supernatural landscape of Albuquerque is likewise varied and worrisome, with
the spirits of natives, settlers, imported laborers, victims of the drug cartels, and horrors
resulting from the intersection of nuclear testing and the supernatural all causing trou‐
ble. While a lot of the population is generic urban white people, doing business in the

Spooktacular * 47

southwest means dealing with different cultures and harsh environments, and occa‐
sionally running into some truly scary shit, supernatural or otherwise. The local food is
delicious at least, though the arid climate makes it a struggle to stay hydrated.
Roswell is also a few hours’ drive from ABQ.
Although the signs you’ll see as you cross the city
limits say it’s the Dairy Capital of the Southwest,
the town is better known for the UFO incident
of 1947. It’s since become something of a mecca
for UFO enthusiasts, and is home to the Interna‐
tional UFO Museum And Research Center, as
well as entirely too many gift shops selling green
alien merchandise that looks generally cheap and
sad. UFOs are in fact a thing, all around New
Mexico and the rest of the southwest, though
they seem to be supernatural in nature. They
might even be both supernatural and extrater‐
restrial, but it’s hard to say for sure. Still, if
regular ghosts are getting boring, maybe busting
some ALIEN GHOSTS will liven things up.
London
“Fancy nippin’ down t’the chippy, bruv? They’ve got some well good chip butties, they’re
proper mint, innit?”
—Black Speech from the Hell Dimensions, we think.

48 : Spooktacular
London is an exceptionally old city. How old? Older than modern English. It’s coming
on two thousand years old, or at least the city‐state that comprises the financial center
of the United Kingdom is… You know what? Just look it up on Wikipedia. It’s too con‐
fusing to explain.
This is important to normal people because the streets of London were originally
designed with the city’s then‐current layout in mind, and they weren’t redone when
the city limits expanded. The result is a mess layered on top of another mess, more
convoluted than an MMORPG’s patch notes. In other words, if you can’t get a taxi, say
“screw it” and take the Underground. The London subway system is slightly more sen‐
sible, and if you mean to get somewhere in any reasonable amount of time, it’s the only
viable option.
This is important to you because hundreds of years of expanding the city limits out
and re‐treading the same roads has re‐engineered the city’s ley lines, sending the most
dangerous and powerful ghosts deeper into the city. Unfortunately, this usually means
a financial juggernaut full of rich people. In other words, your clients. If you’re going to
Uxbridge or somewhere else on the outer reaches, things will be chill. If you’re going
into Canary Wharf, bring your A‐game.
This kind of local knowledge and research is important here more than anywhere
else. The place being as old as it is, every ghost has a chance of being something ancient
and utterly foreign to modern culture. You might be exterminating a D‐class minor ap‐
parition, or you might be facing down a dead king with ancient druidic powers. Unless
you do your homework, there’s no way to know until it drenches you in harmless goo,
or disintegrates your intern with one blow.
The other spooky thing about London, and this is most often thought of in tandem
with Victorian times but has always been a problem, is that the city, until modern times,
was a literal festering stink hole. Packing a ton of people and their poorly‐stored food,
their waste, and the constantly‐abused underclasses so tightly together before the lan‐
guage even had a word for sanitation results in the supernatural elements of the city
having an air of fetid corruption and decay that doesn’t wash off. Which extends to
their ectoplasm. Invest in a safety shower.
The last thing to note is that the ghosts of London are almost universally very angry.
Most commonly associated with the Victorian era, London has a long and storied his‐
tory of the upper classes driving the underclasses into the dirt with very uncomfortable
boots. This resentment builds up, spreads, and infects all paranormal activity in the city.
Unstable manifestations are an everyday occurrence, so extreme care is advised in all
situations.
Food’s good, though. Okay, I lied. I just wanted to end this on a positive note.

Spooktacular * 49

Orlando
“In our defense, the ghost costume was extremely authentic. And what’s a ghost doing in
the sci‐fi part of the park, anyway?”

I like the theme parks. We all do. Even ghosts. Which is a problem for the multibillion
dollar corporations that run the parks and resorts that form the basis of Orlando’s econ‐
omy. You’re not the first paranormal investigation and elimination service, just the first
to be franchised. Every park in Orlando has a dedicated ghost‐catching team to make
sure that nothing spooky happens unless one of the fungineers made it happen. Show
the old ghost‐hunting team up, prove you’re better than them at their job, and who
knows? You might get to replace the previous team. The benefits package from the
Mouse alone will set you for life. Then you get your paycheck, and you can finally afford
a hot dog and a slushie on the park premises. And hey, some teams want to be replaced.
This is hard work, for one. Even worse, if you don’t know how to negotiate a contract,
park lawyers will make your head spin faster than the teacup ride. Show them up, make
sure to bring a good lawyer, and the guys you let off the hook might thank you.
Not to mention, you get to run around theme parks all day. Not just the shiny happy
exterior that makes so much bank, but the backstage, the underground tunnels, the
maintenance hatches… It’s an urban explorer’s dream, and I’m betting if you’re weird
enough to catch ghosts for a living, that’s another perk. Too bad you’ll be running
around in heavy jumpsuits with a hundred pounds of gear on your back in 100‐degree

50 : Spooktacular
heat.* And for the love of god, if
you value your childhood, stay
away from the changing rooms.
If you can’t land that job, or
it’s just not what you’re after,
“normal” ghost catching adven‐
tures can be had by making your
services available to the non‐
park‐affiliated resorts and hotels,
or the parks not backed by finan‐
cial empires. There’s this one
really cool water park where…
never mind. Hotels are indoor
work, which means getting out of the heat, and that’s its own reward. Something easy
to overlook is Orlando’s non‐park economic powerhouse: souvenir shops. These are on
every block, they’re huge business, and the best part? Slapdash counterfeits made with
lead paint, or poor construction on the buildings, ensure ghosts for days. The good
news is the apparitions you find here are as tacky and pathetic as the chintzy wares of
such operations. They may bind together to appear more powerful, but it’s as much a
show as the pastel paint job and neon sign on an old warehouse.
Outside the city limits is a completely different story though. It’s easy to forget that
before there was a happiest place on… well, if I finish that sentence I might get hunted
down by the trademark police. Anyway, before “they” gentrified the living hell out of
Orlando, it was a swamp in the Deep South. It still is, and once you’re outside city or
park grounds, that’s all there is. Murky, mist‐filled woods. The occasional rotting plan‐
tation house that didn’t get put on the historical records. Tight‐knit communities that
don’t take kindly to outsiders, especially ones from the big city. And that’s not even
counting the attempts at expanding parks or building new ones that were abandoned
and left to be reclaimed by nature. Where there are angry, insular hillbillies, there are
bodies that weren’t laid to rest happily. Or worse, creatures that help the swamp re‐
claim its own.

*
That’s 100° Fahrenheit, or 37.8° Celsius. Orlando has only experienced 100°C (212°F) weather
very briefly, back in 1986. There’s now a glassy crater where the Pirates World theme park used
to be, and the fact that Morgoth the Burning One didn’t end the world was cold comfort (so to
speak) to the park’s owners.

Spooktacular * 51

Philadelphia
“I don’t care what Boston is paying you, you’re gonna put the ghost of Ben Franklin back in
the Liberty Bell right now!”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philly for short… to locals, anyway) is one of the oldest cit‐
ies in the United States, and for a brief period was the nation’s capital before
Washington, D.C. got going. Today, it’s best known for cheesesteaks, rowdy baseball
fans attacking Santa Claus, and murdering friendly robots.* The headquarters of media
conglomerate Comcast is in Philadelphia alongside corporations like Aramark and
Sunoco, while more blue‐collar work can be found on the docks in Fishtown and the
more upscale Penn’s Landing, not to mention the countless factories still in operation,
even today. Philly’s biggest issue right now (behind crime, which has plagued the city
for decades and is now on the downswing) is gentrification. They tear down of old
buildings, evict their residents, and build new, aesthetically pleasing structures at the
cost of history and the usually‐poor evicted residents.
Philadelphia’s crime problem, while slowly improving, likely has a hand in the odd
number of specters haunting the City of Brotherly Love, but thankfully, you’re not in
the crimebusting business, so that’s not really your problem—though it does open up
the potential client list for shadier paranormal protection and extermination services.
Telling a mob boss that a rat’s risen from the dead and you know how to shut him up
for good could get you killed, or it could land you the mother of all paydays.
As any good ghost‐catching professional knows, where there’s gentrification,
there’s ghosts. Tenants forced out against their will, manifested regret, the incarnation
of memories lived in one place, even amorphous entities representing the destroyed

*
We’re very sorry, hitchBOT

52 : Spooktacular
buildings themselves plague the new tenants. Ideally these tenants are rich hipsters,
but you take what you can get. These ghosts will often be seeking vengeance for being
shoved out of their homes in life to make room for artisan breakfast cereal restaurants
and ill‐advised web startups. They could, in happier cases, simply be disturbed mani‐
festations of a life well lived in a home that no longer exists. Either way, a little spooky
know‐how and an invoice billable to daddy’s trust fund will solve it lickety‐split.
Outside Philadelphia, the most populated areas are the Main Line, a series of towns
connected once by the Pennsylvania Railroad and now by Amtrak’s local service,
branching as far as the suburb of Paoli or the substantially less affluent Thorndale, de‐
pending on who’s asking. Being particularly well‐off as far as suburbs go, and having
deep history, these communities have wildly diverse supernatural threats to put to rest.
San Francisco
“I don’t think you guys came to the Golden Gate to jump off, so I’d really like to know what
you’re here for carrying all that sci‐fi crap.”
San Francisco is a city with layers tightly
packed together. It has been a Spanish col‐
ony, the site of the Gold Rush, the victim of
earthquakes and fires, the home of a naval
shipyard, a center of 60s counterculture, and
more recently an increasingly gentrified hub
of the tech industry. In the space of a few
blocks you can encounter worrisome pan‐
handlers, practical industry, artisanal cupcake
shops, and busloads of entitled Silicon Valley
workers, any of whom might have problems
with ghosts.
Navigating San Francisco is a challenge
even when you’re not carrying a bunch of
dodgy ghost‐hunting gear. The layout of the
city is confusing, driving there is just kind of
awful, and once you get where you’re going,
chances are parking is going to be a pain in
the ass. While the Muni buses and trains can
get you pretty much anywhere in the city,
they have erratic schedules and strange
smells. Navigating the city’s cultural spaces is
even weirder, since it contains dozens of cultures and subcultures. You have to be
adaptable enough to rub elbows with hippies, hobnob at gay nightclubs, hang out in
the Tenderloin, quell the demands of brogrammers, and maybe haggle a bit in Canton‐
ese to really get things done.
The city’s diversity and long history means that its supernatural landscape is unu‐
sually varied. Chinatown has its share of spooks, thanks to how much it’s suffered over
the years. Alcatraz, being an old prison on an island, naturally has a good number of
ghosts. Over 1,000 people have committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate

Spooktacular * 53

Bridge, and some of their ghosts haunt the bridge and the surrounding waters. The city
also has numerous old buildings, the hotels and secret society lodges and theaters and
so on. Some of these have occult properties in their designs, while others just had
something horrible happen.
The rest of the Bay Area tends to be a bit more sensible and less historic (apart
from places like Berkeley and Santa Cruz), but there are still ghosts and hauntings and
such all over Silicon Valley, Oakland, and so on.
Washington, D.C.
“I appreciate that you were trying to help the President, but I think you understand why we
have a problem with you trapping the ghost of Abraham Lincoln in that box.”

The capital of the United States is a fascinating and diverse city, as well as the seat of
the federal government and home to countless historical places and artifacts. It’s also
home to numerous ghost stories, rooted in the many executions, duels, and other nas‐
tiness that’s happened there. The fact that architect Pierre L’enfant shaped the city
according to Masonic occult principles also contributes to the intensity of the super‐
natural phenomena in the area.
Hunting ghosts in this setting inevitably means dealing with various bits of the fed‐
eral government. The government isn’t quite as stupid or wasteful as people think it is,
but it does have a certain plodding kind of efficiency, with both the momentum and
maneuverability of a freight train.
The government doesn’t have any one organization for dealing with the supernat‐
ural. Instead, several different agencies have various kinds of paranormal divisions
tucked away along with all the other stuff that they want to keep out of the public eye.
There’s no supernatural bureau that’ll show up at your door, but you could well wind
up having run‐ins with an obscure division of the Pentagon, the two FBI agents who
specialize in the really weird cases, or just that one guy with all the occult jewelry that

54 : Spooktacular
the DC Metro keeps on retainer for when the ghost train shows up. Once paratechnol‐
ogy becomes viable, you can bet the government is going to start investing in it, as will
most other governments, and your skills as a paranormal investigator could end up be‐
ing in demand.
More than anywhere else in America, you’re likely to wind up with clients who are
deathly afraid of bad optics on the news. Congressmen want to do their fundraising,
meet with lobbyists, and occasionally dabble in lawmaking, without anyone seeing
them associating with pseudoscientific weirdoes. If it gets out that you imprisoned the
ghost of a Confederate general or a dead president, the ensuing PR mess could be bad
for everyone involved.
Which isn’t to say that it’s only the rich and powerful of D.C. who have problems
with ghosts. Ghosts will haunt the local burger joint as well as the capitol building after
all. The city has more than its share of poverty and crime, and plenty of issues with
gentrification. There are also people who come from all over the world to protest for
some cause. This includes both established tax‐exempt organizations and that random
guy with a handwritten sign about chemtrails. All of them can wind up dealing with (or
becoming) ghosts, and while helping them out isn’t as lucrative as dealing with a haunt‐
ing for a congressman or think tank, they’re usually easier to deal with.
Other Notable Haunted Places
I may have just stuck in cities I and contributor Amy Veeres are personally familiar with.
Without giving them a full treatment, here are a few other places that are notable for
the number of hauntings they have:
 Baltimore, Maryland
 Beijing, China
 Boston, Massachusetts
 Chicago, Illinois
 Galveston, Texas
 Kyoto, Japan
 New Orleans, Louisiana
 New York, New York
 Paris, France
 Basically everywhere associated with the American Civil War
 Probably anywhere associated with the Holocaust, but we are so not going
there in this silly comedy game.

Spooktacular * 55

Some Story Ideas
This section has a handful of ideas for stories. They’re not fully fleshed out adventure
scenarios, but they’d be relatively easy to expand into scenarios or even run on the fly.
The Cabin in the Middle of Nowhere
“This is a really dangerous situation. We’d better split up.”
You get a call from a group of sexy teenagers who say that the iso‐
lated cabin they’re staying in is haunted. One of them comes from
a rich family and will happily pay whatever if you can fix this. The
ghost turns out to be a pushover, but as you’re about to leave, more
ghosts come in to cause trouble. There’s also something weird going on with those
teenagers, as though something is affecting their behavior, making them horny or in‐
spiring them to split up. That’s when you start to notice the cameras and microphones,
and devices that vent strange chemicals into the air. All of this leads you to an under‐
ground complex where they have dozens of caged ghosts, and they seem to be setting
them on the teenagers as part of some kind of plan…
Ghost Cult
“Gather, my friends! Cast out the unbelievers! And remember, SMILE!”
The city has had its share of strange religious movements, and the
latest one is the Cult of the Smiling God. You find out about this be‐
cause a client comes to you asking for help getting a loved one out of
the cult, which seems to have some supernatural activity going on.
The leader of the cult is a man never seen without a cowled robe and a happy face
mask, known only as “Dimple.” He leads his followers in activities like laughing for no
reason and having singalongs of that “Everything is Awesome” song. Well, Dimple is
actually a fairly powerful ghost who’s possessing some poor schlub, and the weird ac‐
tivities are so that he can absorb the cult members’ power and grow stronger.
GhostX
“Have you considered not destroying the world? Just throwing that out
there.”
You’ve been dealing with the supernatural for a while now, and thus
far you’ve been the only game in town. Then all of a sudden a compet‐
ing paranormal investigation company opens up shop. They seem to be generally more
reliable and better equipped than you, and their building doesn’t smell of sweat and
kung pao chicken. They also have an unfortunate tendency to show up on the scene
just before you, so that you’ll walk into a job only to find that they’re walking out, cap‐
tured ghost in hand. There’s definitely something off about these guys; they seem way
too competent and well‐adjusted for this business.
The whole thing is too good to be true. The GhostX people are actually collecting
ghosts to use to power a transetheric supercollider, with the aim of creating a breach
in the barrier between this world and the Other Side, because they’re insane and want
to cleanse with world with green hellfire. So, uh, you might want to stop that.

56 : Spooktacular
Home Movies
“I mean where did you even get a VCR in the first place?”
A client comes to you saying that she watched an old VHS
tape and now she’s under the curse of a dead girl who’s go‐
ing to kill her in 7 days. The tape shows massive paranormal
energy readings, and if you watch it you do indeed get haunted and start having weird
shit happen to you. The question is, how do you lure the ghost out long enough to bust
her?
Secret of the Ooze
“Somehow I’m guessing this isn’t going to make you reconsider
your cola habit.”
The city is experiencing a marked uptick in ectoplasmic activity,
which is to say there’s green slime freaking everywhere. It’s clogging up
the sewers, making city buses even grosser than usual, and generally proving to be a
public health hazard. While city workers are doing their best to clean it up, it’s clearly
not enough. As if that weren’t enough, there’s been a major outbreak of some kind of
foodborne illness around town, and a whole lot of people are sick in bed. The mayor
reluctantly calls on your band of paranormal investigators to do something about it.
Going to the place with the greatest concentration of ectoplasm leads you into the
sewers, and an encounter with a green slime monster that’s generally really messy. Ex‐
cept, defeating the slime monster doesn’t fix the problem, and further investigation
leads you to an underground factory where a soft drink company is using dodgy par‐
atechnology to agitate the barrier between worlds to generate ectoplasm to use as an
additive. While you’d probably like to just take some evidence back so the authorities
can shut the place down, the executive behind the scene is also a sorcerer, and has
some pretty nasty ghosts he summoned to guard the place against interlopers like you.
Space Ghosts From Outer Space
“If you buy Frank there a beer he’ll tell you all about his… experience
with E.T.”
Your local UFO enthusiasts have a problem, which is a ghost that is haunting their goofy
little research lab. The UFO people are even more on the fringes of science than you
are, and they frankly find the paranormal boring now that you’ve pinned it down, so
they just want the ghost gone so they can get back to watching the skies. Catching the
ghost isn’t actually that hard, but the weird, big‐headed ghost shoots a beam of light
up into the sky just before you catch it.
So, uh, are you ready for alien ghosts? Because it looks like the ghost of a UFO with
alien ghosts is going to land, and they’re not happy with the fact that you captured one
of their own in a box. Not only that, but there are actually a lot of alien ghosts out there.
Like, you’re beginning to think the entire UFO abductee phenomenon is actually
hauntings. Well, you’d better figure something out before there’s a full‐scale alien ghost
invasion.

Spooktacular * 57

Story Idea Generator Table
Remember the d66 tables from the character creation chapter? If you’re strapped for
ideas or just need a bit of a creative boost, you can use this one to help come up with
an idea for an adventure. Roll once for each column to get a starting point that you can
flesh out into a full adventure scenario.
d66 Client Situation Twist
11 Ambassador Ancestor’s ghost A cult is behind it
12 Artist Ancient prophecy A mad scientist caused it
13 Bartender Animated object Actually, a wizard did it
14 Comedian Constant nightmares An embarrassing secret
15 Confused heir Curse Client is a ghost
16 Cop Cursed VHS tape Client is a skeptic, for now
21 D&D group Disturbed graves Client is after your trade secrets
22 Fake psychic Ghost blocking the way Client is possessed
23 Famous actor Ghost eating everything Client loves the ghost
24 Game designer Ghost in family photos Connected to your past
25 Geeky convention Ghost in the TV Culprit learned from you
26 Government agency Ghost interrupting a show From the client’s imagination
31 Housewife Ghost train Ghost doesn’t know it’s dead
32 Internet celebrity Ghostly heckler Ghost has a silly weakness
33 Karate teacher Haunted house Ghost is from outer space
34 Kid no one believes “Helpful” ghost Ghost is part of an army
35 Literary agent Levitating objects Ghost is relatively harmless
36 Maître d’ LOTS of whipped cream Ghost is the one who’s scared
41 Manager Lustful ghost Ghost loves the client
42 Mayor Missing person Ghost of a famous person
43 Model Missing valuable Ghost of the client’s victim
44 Musician Mysterious sabotage Ghost scared of bigger ghost
45 News reporter Mysterious writing Hints of something bigger
46 Night club Otherworldly portal Hoax that’s actually real
51 Priest Poltergeist It’s an occult nexus
52 Pro athlete Possessed person It’s their own fault
53 Real estate mogul Possessed pet Mistaken identity
54 Restaurant Reality distortions Occult architecture
55 Rich weirdo So. Much. Ectoplasm. Skeletons in the closet
56 Sanitation worker Strange noises Someone made this happen
61 Senator Supernatural thief Someone there is psychic
62 Teacher UFO abduction There’s a dangerous grimoire
63 Tech company Unexplained fires Time traveler
64 Teenage girl Vengeful spirits Turns out to be a hoax
65 Tour guide Visitors scared away Two ghosts, one innocent
66 Utility worker Voices in the radio Whole place is a huge ghost

58 : Spooktacular
A Guide to Spirits
We don’t have the room or inclination to reprint long, boring selections from Valentine’s
Spirit Guide or Crowley’s Compendium of Dear Friends From The Other Side, so instead
let’s just go with a representative selection of ghosts that cause trouble and the means
to make up your own fairly easily.
So What ARE Ghosts?

What exactly is a ghost? That’s actually kind
of a difficult question to answer, in much the
same way that it’s hard to get a straight an‐
swer from a biologist on what constitutes
“life.” Ghosts appear to be some sort of in‐
tangible energy forms, most of which can
manifest sufficiently to affect the physical
world by generating a substance called ecto‐
plasm. The most popular hypothesis is that
each human being has an immaterial aspect,
which normally moves on to the “other side”
upon death, but can sometimes remain, or
even return. People who have unusually ac‐
tive and powerful spirits before death tend
to possess psychic powers. There’s also the
fact that since a ghost is basically the imma‐
terial part of a person, some of them can do
“Who ate all the pretzels?!”
things like possess people.
Some ghosts don’t seem to have originated from a dead person though. Quite a
few take the form of monsters, or balls of primal emotion. It’s not clear whether these
are dead people whose spectral forms have degenerated, or if there are in fact ghosts
of non‐human or semi‐human origin on the Other Side. There have been cases of
ghosts of animals and even inanimate objects, and there are spiritual beings of immense
power out there, far beyond that of any human being dead or alive.
Getting through the barrier between here and the Other Side seems to be very
difficult for all but the most powerful spirits, which is why authentic hauntings aren’t
all that common. However, there are many places around the world where the barrier
is weaker. These sorts of occult nexuses often sit at places where ley lines cross, on the
sites of major atrocities, and sometimes seemingly at random. There are also a lot of
churches and such on top of those nexuses, intended to contain the supernatural. As if
that wasn’t enough, there are both magical and paratechnological means through which
people can artificially weaken the barrier. This is generally a dangerous and stupid thing
to do, but there are people foolhardy or vengeful enough to try.

Spooktacular * 59

Game Rules for Ghosts
Ghosts do have numbers and stuff to represent them in the game,
but they’re a bit simpler than the ones for your investigators.
Power
“Power” is the only proper stat that a ghost has. It represents the
overall potency of their spectral form, but in game terms it’s the
number of dice the ghost rolls for basically everything.
Presence
Presence is the strength of a ghost’s current manifestation. It’s sort of like the ghost’s
hit points, except that if a ghost is out of Presence points it’s just weakened and has
trouble affecting the physical world. That’s a good opportunity to trap the thing, but if
you leave it, it’s eventually going to re‐form and get back to haunting.
Normal weapons are useless against ghosts, which is where paratech gadgets and
the occasional weird powers come in handy. These things reduce a ghost’s Presence as
per the normal damage rules (2 points for normal success, 3 for Exceptional Success,
and 5 for Ridiculous Success).
Abilities
Finally, each ghost will have some special abilities, things it can do by virtue of being a
supernatural phantasm that doesn’t have to obey the normal laws of physics.
Blast: Let’s start off with some‐ have to make a Cool roll to stay calm or
thing really basic, albeit lose 2 dice (to a minimum of 1) for all
because this list is in al‐ rolls until they get away from the vermin.
phabetical order.
Dissipate: Usually, once a ghost has mani‐
While ghost hunt‐
fested, it won’t un‐manifest until you’ve
ers use their gear
applied sufficient etheric ray thrower
to zap ghosts,
blasts to force it to. A few ghosts have
there are some
the ability to deliberately dissipate. This
ghosts that zap back. What exactly they
makes them vanish to all but the most
use to “zap” depends on the particular
sophisticated means of detecting ghosts,
ghost. The spirit of a murderer who died
and generally makes them really annoy‐
in an electric chair will probably use elec‐
ing to try to pin down.
tricity, but other ghosts use things like
fire, molten metal, ice, weird transdi‐ Echoes: Either on purpose or when people
mensional energies, etc. Regardless, do a certain thing (say if the ghost is
having this power means the ghost can haunting a VHS tape and people keep
attack its enemies and roll an extra 3 playing it), the ghost can produce “ech‐
dice. So, you know, watch out for that. oes” of itself. An echo looks more or less
like the real ghost, but its Power is 2
Call Vermin: One kinda gross thing that
points lower, and it gets destroyed if it
ghosts are known to do is to call forth a
takes any damage at all.
bunch of rats, cockroaches, locusts, or
other disgusting animals. People who
are surrounded by disgusting vermin

60 : Spooktacular
Electrokinesis: Another kind of Mess with Reality: Some ghosts, espe‐
kinesis besides the more fa‐ cially the really powerful ones, can
mous psychokinesis and actually warp reality itself within a lim‐
pyrokinesis (see below), this ited space. That means they can screw
gives the ability to create up the laws of physics (like gravity) or
and manipulate electricity. basic spatial relationships, so that for ex‐
While they can indeed just ample they can temporarily make the
outright zap you, they can also control door out of a house lead back inside. It’s
electrical devices, make lights turn on pretty handy for trapping people in a
and off, or just fry equipment. haunted house.
Illusions: If you’re a big fan of being sure
what is and isn’t real, ghost hunting may
not be for you. That’s because there are
ghosts out there that can create illusions.
An illusion is a false image of something,
usually something of personal signifi‐
cance to the ghost, though some ghosts
mix it with Mind Reading to make illu‐
sions based on people’s memories.
Illusions are pretty convincing apart Mind Reading: There are those ghosts that
from not being tangible, though you can can see into a person’s head pretty
figure it out by making a Brains roll. clearly. The ghost makes an opposed
Power roll against the target’s Brains,
Inhabit: This is a lot like Possession (see and if it wins, it can get a glimpse into
below) but for inanimate objects. Certain their current thoughts. Ghosts like to use
ghosts can insinuate themselves inside this to mess with people’s heads.
an object and make it generally jump
around, move its moving parts, and Omen: The ghost has a natural way of
cause all kinds of trouble. Also, while the showing up when something bad is com‐
ghost is in there, most means of harming ing. If it appears, you can be sure that
the ghost will damage the object too. there’s some kind of badness on the way.
Materialize: Certain ghosts and other en‐ Portal: It’s very rare, but there are spirits
tities have the ability to fully materialize, of such power that they can create por‐
creating actual physical bodies for them‐ tals, small wormholes in the fabric of the
selves. Having a physical body lets the universe, allowing instantaneous pas‐
ghost interact with the physical world sage between otherwise unconnected
normally (they still use their Power stat locations. While having a ghost dump
for any rolls). The materialized body can you in the middle of New Jersey might
potentially be harmed or mutilated, but be annoying, some of them can create
these bodies aren’t made of normal flesh portals to weird alternate dimensions or
and blood, so they can do things like even to the Other Side.
grab a detached limb and stick it on again.

Spooktacular * 61

Possession: It’s not unusual for ghosts to Talent: Some ghosts are particularly effec‐
be able to enter a person and take over tive at certain things, especially if it’s
control of their body. When a ghost at‐ something they did a lot in life. These
tempts to do this, it makes an opposed ghosts have a Talent much like a PC, and
Power roll against the target’s Brains. If they get to roll an extra 3 dice when do‐
the ghost wins, it takes over, and at a ing something where it applies.
minimum it will take some physical
Transmogrification: While most ghosts
trauma to get it out of there.
only have the one form—usually one in
some way connected to the most in‐
tensely important time of the dead
person’s life—there are certain ghosts
with the ability to change their own
shape. They may do this to take on an
extra‐scary form, or they may try to im‐
Psychokinesis: Also known as telekinesis, personate someone else (though they’ll
this is the ability to make objects move still definitely look like a ghost).
with one’s mind. Ghosts with this ability Weaponry: There are certain ghosts
use it for all kinds of things, but they whose use of a particular weapon de‐
tend to favor things like slamming doors fines them to such an extent that they
shut or obsessively stacking library retain the use of it even after death. If
books. They can also throw objects in or‐ you were to run into the ghost of Robin
der to attack material enemies. Hood for example, he’d have a bow and
Pyrokinesis: A close cousin of psychokine‐ a limitless supply of ghost arrows. This
sis, pyrokinesis is the ability to excite lets the ghost make attacks with one or
molecules to create heat. Ghosts with two types of weapons, and get the ap‐
this ability can set things on fire, as well propriate bonus dice.
as making metal objects too hot to touch.
It’s generally good for terrifying people
and keeping them from leaving a room,
not to mention using fire or heat to at‐
tack.
Slime: Some ghosts just
have a lot of extra
ectoplasm, which
they slough off
when they come in
contact with mate‐
rial objects, or in some
cases just projectile vomit at people. Be‐
ing slimed will temporarily stun a person,
and leave them slippery and gross and
generally in need of a very thorough
cleaning.

62 : Spooktacular
An Assortment of Ghosts
This is a sampling of ghosts you can use in your spooky adventures. Feel free to make
up new ones of course; once you have a concept, all you really have to do is assign the
two numbers and pick out some Abilities.
Power 4
Abomination Presence 8
“Raaaagh!” Abilities Mind Reading, Talent
The Abomination is something that rose (Nagging Descendants)
up from the depths of the Other Side, a
monstrous force of destruction that dis‐
Avenger
torts the world around it. If it was ever “Perish!”
human, that humanity is now long gone. The Avenger is not a superhero, but a
These creatures often look like demons or ghost with an overriding need to take
something out of nightmares, and they’re righteous revenge on whoever it feels did
generally hostile and unpleasant. a serious wrong. If its need for revenge is
Names: Abraxas, Azathoth, Belphegor, sated, it will leave of its own accord, but
Eligos, The Gagatook, Gug, The Maw, Mo‐ until then it’s going to be a heck of a nui‐
loch, Malphas, Wormwood sance.
Power 7 Names: Billy, The Drummer Boy, The
Presence 18 Grey Orphan Miss Wellington, The Red
Abilities Blast, Mess with Reality Lady, Thomas
Power 6
Ancestor Presence 18
“And you never call! Would it kill you to do a Abilities Psychokinesis, Pyrokinesis
séance once in a while?”
Ancestor ghosts
Banshee
are defined by a “EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
driving need to The banshee (or ban síde) is a figure from
meddle in the lives Irish folklore, the spirit of a woman whose
of their descend‐ lamenting wail is said to be an omen of
ants. They’re dead death. These ghosts aren’t malicious per se,
people who trans‐ but they’re so totally consumed by despair
cended the barrier and so supernaturally distorted that
in order to secure they’re naturally dangerous to be around.
their legacy by Names: Bonnie, Grieving Shauna, Loud
way of haranguing Claire, Melancholy Meara, Screaming Fi‐
their surviving anna, Wailing Kaitlin
family into doing Power 5
things the old‐ Presence 12
fashioned way. Abilities Blast (sonic wail), Omen,
Names: Aunt Edith, A Dead Pilgrim, Psychokinesis
Great‐Grandpa Zachariah, Old Hickory,
Uncle Ephraim

Spooktacular * 63
Condemned at anyone who gets in its
“I killed ten, and I’ll kill more.” way, even after the ones
who did it wrong are long
gone. So basically, a J‐
horror ghost that you
can’t reason with.
Names: Bloody Mary, Constance, Ka‐
nako, The Lost Girl, Ramses, Toilet Hanako,
Vanishing Hitchhiker
Power 7
Presence 18
Abilities Call Vermin, Dissipate,
Illusions, Mess With Reality
Ghostzilla
“Anyone have any ideas? Besides wetting
ourselves. I think we’ve got that covered.”

Oddly enough people who get executed
tend to die with a lot of resentment, so the
ghosts of the condemned are kind of a
problem, especially if you happen to be,
say, the judge who sentenced them. Con‐
demned ghosts are typically bound to a
limited area, like the site (or former site) of
You are in the shit now. As the goofy port‐
wherever they were imprisoned or exe‐
manteau name implies, this is a massive
cuted.
ghost, basically a spectral kaiju. It’s as un‐
Names: Jack in Irons, Jack John Russel,
subtle as you can get, and if this thing
Kane, Ripper, Silas, The Tarot Card Killer,
stomping down main street doesn’t con‐
The Wolf of London
vince people that ghosts are real, nothing
Power 6
will, ever. It’s also so insanely powerful
Presence 10
that chances are you’re just not going to
Abilities Blast (electricity), be able to beat it with conventional zap‐
Electrokinesis ping, and you’ll have to figure out a way to
Curse banish it or suck it into another dimension
“One, two, buckle my shoe…” or something.
Names: Ghostwhale, King Youray, Le‐
Some ghosts seemingly exist just to be viathan, Mr. Gelato, The BFG, The XLFG,
horrific and mess with people’s heads. The The OMG
Curse is a ghost that originated with some‐ Power 12
one who was subject to something terrible, Presence 50
but their need for vengeance was so Abilities Materialize
strong that it warped their specter into a
force of nature that mindlessly lashes out

64 : Spooktacular
Glutton Phantom Rider
“Man that thing is ugly.” “Somehow I don’t think the guy without a
head is much for conversation!”
As the name implies, the Glutton is a ghost
consumed with a desire to gorge itself on
delicious food. It’s not the most dangerous
ghost, but it’s pretty annoying to say the
least.
Names: The Eater of Kent, Hotdog,
Slimy, Hungry Jack, Montagu, Spud
Power 4
Presence 12
Abilities Slime, Talent (Eat Stuff)
Harbinger
“THE MOON WILL FALL. THE WATCHER
SHALL RISE. SO IT IS WRITTEN.”
The Harbinger is a
powerful ghost that

serves some kind of The phantom rider is a creature that takes
godlike entity that the form of a horseman (or sometimes a
could probably de‐ motorcycle rider if they’re being all mod‐
stroy the world. ern). Sometimes they’re cowled, and
Although it’s a dan‐ sometimes they’re headless, or carrying
gerous ghost in its their head in their free hand (like a dul‐
own right, its over‐ lahan). Regardless, they ride around in the
riding concern is dark and scare the bejesus out of people,
doing whatever it and sometimes attack.
takes to prepare for its master’s arriving, Names: The Black Rider, The Headless
which probably means recruiting human Horseman, Knightmare, Lord Stabbington,
minions, poisoning minds, and carrying out Sir Branham
occult weirdness. Power 7
Names: Asmodeus, Mothman, The Presence 16
Pale Rider, Ugatu the Waiting One, Abilities Materialize, Omen, Wea‐
Vengarus, The Watcher ponry (Sword, or
Power 7 sometimes a whip made
Presence 20 from a human spine)
Abilities Call Vermin, Mind Reading,
Psychokinesis,
Transmogrification

Spooktacular * 65

Phantom Vehicle pineapple on a pizza. Seriously, don’t show
“We’re going to give this thing the mother of him a Hawaiian pizza unless you want him
all tune‐ups! …Oh come on guys. Like you to fling himself at you with a berserker
have a better quip!” fury.
Power 5
Machines don’t normally become ghosts, Presence 10
but there are exceptions. These are usually Abilities Psychokinesis, Slime
vehicles that were well‐used and generally (an oddly mozzarella‐like
inspired an emotional reaction from peo‐ type of ectoplasm),
ple. A famous race car, a well‐used subway Talent (Detect Pizza)
train, a beloved Corvette, that kind of
thing. Without a driver, they repeat the Poltergeist
driving they did before becoming ghosts, “That’s… not how doors work. We may be in
or just go berserk. trouble.”
Names: The Black Buick, Death Truck,
Flight 401, The Flying Dutchman, Little
Bastard, Pacific Zephyr, Tee
Power 6
Presence 16
Abilities Materialize, Weaponry
(bumper)
Pizza Ghost
“And I thought the last one was ugly…”

The poltergeist (German for “noisy ghost”)
is a type of ghost that usually haunts a spe‐
cific building, and uses its psychokinetic
abilities to cause all sorts of trouble for the
people there. They start off playing tricks
and making noises, but they can get angry
and violent, and in extreme cases they
start to disrupt reality itself.
Names: The Genuce Devil, Get It
Away From Me, The Seaford Poltergeist,
The Stockwell Ghost, The Thing in the
Rectory, The Westwick Poltergeist
Power 6
A cousin to the Glutton, Pizza Ghost is a
Presence 16
ghost who really, really, really likes pizza.
Abilities Mess with Reality,
Seriously, we can’t overstate how much he
Psychokinesis
(?) loves the ‘za. New York style, Chicago
style, regular style, thin crust, thick crust,
bacon cheese crust, it doesn’t matter. Well,
except pineapple. He’s one of those weir‐
dos who loses his shit over seeing

66 : Spooktacular
Spirit of the Season Warmonger
“Have you been good this year? Have you?!” “The South will rise again! From the grave!”

There are certain rather powerful entities
from the Other Side that coalesce around
our concept of a given holiday. The Ghosts
of Christmas Past, Present, and Future
from A Christmas Carol are the best‐known
examples, but there are others of varying
power and dispositions. They aren’t espe‐
cially hostile, but they can’t abide by
someone being a Scrooge about their hol‐
iday. Given the variety of people with
different beliefs that we have to live with Wars can be pretty hideous in terms of the
in this modern age, these ghosts cause human cost they extract, and whether or
quite a bit more trouble than they did in not a war is justifiable, you’re gonna get
more homogenous times, and it’s not unu‐ ghosts. The Warmonger is a ghost whose
sual for a paranormal investigation team to deep obsession with war brought them
wind up having one or two in their con‐ back into the world of the living. These
tainment grid. spirits are incredibly hostile, especially to‐
Names: Arborgeddon, Flag Day Boy, wards anyone who looks even vaguely like
Ghost of War on Christmas Past, Henry one of the enemies from whatever war
Halloweener, Santa Claws they were from (which quite often means
Power 7 you’re dealing with a racist ghost), and will
Presence 24 lash out with a berserker rage.
Abilities Illusions, Mess with Reality, Names: Albert Schmidt, Captain Death,
Mind Reading, Portal, Tal‐ Colonel Chestnut, Hikaru Tachibana, Max‐
ent (Lecturing on the Joys well Lee, Sgt. Coffin
of a Particular Holiday) Power 5
Presence 12
Abilities Pyrokinesis, Weaponry

Spooktacular * 67

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The Flow of Play

The Spooky Die

Using d66 Tables

8. Name and Other Details

Later On: Reworking Characters

Episodic vs. Long Arcs

So What ARE Ghosts?

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