Tinkering with the TARDIS Ghostbusters-Style

Seriously, I think I might convert the Doctor Who Role Playing Game by FASA to Ghostbusters next. It works for Star Trek (I think). The FASA Doctor Who game even ranks attributes I-VII and uses six-sided dice. I think it's worth a try.

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Goals

In "Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Character Basics," I briefly described how Luck and Goals operate. Here is the lengthier version.

Luck

Instead of Brownie Points, characters have Luck (although some crewmembers prefer to think of it as "Achievement Points"). Luck can be saved, used as bonus dice, expended to reduce injury, or spent to improve Traits. Player characters start with 20 points of Luck.

Advancement

There are three methods of character advancement. Two of them, Mission Goals and Personal Goals, involve the awarding of Luck. The third, career advancement, does not.

Mission Goals

Mission Goals are the objectives issued by Star Fleet Command that starship crews are obligated to fulfill. When a crew accomplishes its mission, each crewmember is awarded Luck commensurate with the mission's level of success or failure.

For a failed mission, each crewmember is awarded half the Luck spent.

For a barely successful mission (such as success achieved at a high cost), each crewmember is awarded all the Luck spent plus one or two.

For a resoundingly successful mission, each crewmember is awarded half again the Luck spent.

In general, Mission Goals are accomplished by the efforts of the entire crew.

Personal Goals

Characters may also earn Luck through the pursuit of Personal Goals. In the United Federation of Planets—and Star Fleet in particular—many of these are influenced by a desire to promote the common good. At the Trek Master's discretion, player characters may be permitted to change their Personal Goal before each adventure. Players may select from the following list of Personal Goals or suggest their own.

Peace: Characters whose Goal is Peace gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to establishing peace between two hostile parties.

Order: Characters whose Goal is Order gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to restoring order.

Culture: Characters whose Goal is Culture gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to cultural preservation and/or education.

Health: Characters whose Goal is Health gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to improving health conditions for a community.

Prosperity: Characters whose Goal is Prosperity gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to improving the economic wellbeing of a struggling or impoverished community.

Exploration: Characters whose Goal is Exploration gain 1D6 Luck points when their actions contribute to the discovery of strange new worlds and new civilizations.

Science: Characters whose Goal is Science gain 1D6 Luck points when they participate in scientific discoveries.

Investigation: Characters whose Goal is Investigation gain 1D6 Luck points when they participate in successful investigations involving research, interviews, detection, etc.

Recreation: Characters whose Goal is Recreation gain 1D6 Luck points when they successfully apply their expertise in various forms of recreation to a mission-related task.

Hobby: Characters whose Goal is Hobby gain 1D6 luck points when they successfully apply their expertise in a hobby to a mission-related task.

Career Advancement

Career advancement is marked not by Luck, but by promotion in rank and/or asssignment to various positions and/or ships, starbases, etc. This is based on the crewmember's performance, the judgement of superiors, the nature of the organization, and sometimes outside influences of one form or another.

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Characters

In our experimantal Star Trek via Ghostbusters role-playing game, all of the essential character information fits on one side of an index card. Specializations are listed toward the top with the modifier "+2"; Talents are listed in parentheses next to their governing Traits with the modifier "+2"; Powers are listed in braces near their governing Traits with their full value {Trait + Power}. Here is the game-related data for several crewmembers of the Enterprise:

---

James T. Kirk (Captain, Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise, Human)

Command +2, Navigation +2

Intellect 5 (History +2)
Physique 4 (Hand-to-Hand Combat +2)
Coordination 3 (Acrobatics +2)
Composure 4 (Bluffing +2)

---

Spock (Commander, First Officer, Science Officer, USS Enterprise, Vulcan)

Science +2

Intellect 6 (Trivia +2) {Mind Meld 10}
Physique 3 (Endurance +2) {Remarkable Strength 7}
Coordination 3 (Musicianship +2) {Nerve Pinch 7}
Composure 4 (Coolness Under Fire +2) {High Pain Threshold 8}
Limitations: Interspecies Social Awkwardness, Logical to a Fault, Code to Preserve Life

---

Montgomery Scott (Lt. Commander, Chief Engineer, USS Enterprise, Human)

Engineering +2

Intellect 5 (Inventiveness +2)
Physique 3 (Hand-to-Hand Combat +2)
Coordination 4 (Musicianship +2)
Composure 4 (Coolness Under Fire +2)

---

Leonard McCoy (Lt. Commander, Chief Medical Officer, USS Enterprise, Human)

Medicine +2

Intellect 5 (Medicine +2)
Physique 3 (Alcohol Tolerance +2)
Coordination 5 (Bartending +2)
Composure 3 (Carousing +2)

---

Uhura (Lieutenant, Chief Communications Officer, USS Enterprise, Human)

Communications +2

Intellect 4 (History +2)
Physique 4 (Health +2)
Coordination 4 (Musicianship +2)
Composure 4 (Singing +2)

---

Hikaru W. Sulu (Lieutenant, Chief Helmsman, USS Enterprise, Human)

Helm +2, Science +2

Intellect 4 (Horticulture +2)
Physique 5 (Fencing +2)
Coordination 4 (Marksmanship +2)
Composure 3 (Carousing +2)

---

Pavel Chekov (Ensign, Navigator, USS Enterprise, Human)

Navigation +2

Intellect 4 (Cartography +2)
Physique 4 (Endurance +2)
Coordination 3 (Concealment +2)
Composure 3 (Debating +2)

---

Christine Chapel (Ensign, Head Nurse, USS Enterprise, Human)

Medicine +2, Science +2

Intellect 4 (Vulcan Studies +2)
Physique 3 (Endurance +2)
Coordination 3 (Cooking +2)
Composure 4 (Counselling +2)

---

Janice Rand (Ensign, Yeoman, USS Enterprise, Human)

Operations +2

Intellect 4 (Administration +2)
Physique 4 (Running +2)
Coordination 3 (Hiding +2)
Composure 3 (Etiquette +2)

---

N.B. Some of these characters were created with 16 points instead of 14 to reflect their greater experience.

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Species

For our experimental Star Trek role-playing game based on the rules of Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game (q.v.), we are concentrating on the original television series of the 1960s and the animated series of the 1970s. As such, all species conform to those depictions. Powers are normally used in conjunction with their governing Traits. They are not stackable with Talents or Specializations. Most Powers confer 4 bonus dice. Powers ranked as Tremendous are worth 6 dice. In general, a species has as many Limitations as it has Powers.

Human
Powers: Nil
Limitations: Nil
Psi Potential: Moderate

Vulcan
Powers: Mind Meld (Intellect), Remarkable Strength (Physique), Nerve Pinch (Coordination), High Pain Threshold (Composure)
Limitations: Interspecies Social Awkwardness, Logical to a Fault, Code to Preserve Life
Psi Potential: High

Romulan
Powers: Remarkable Strength (Physique), High Pain Threshold (Composure)
Limitations: Code of Honor, Never Surrenders
Psi Potential: Moderate

Klingon
Powers: Nil
Limitations: Nil
Psi Potential: Nonexistent

Orion
Powers: Nil
Limitations: Nil
Psi Potential: Low

Gorn
Powers: Superior Peripheral Vision (Intellect), Tremendous Strength (Physique), Armored Hide (Physique)
Limitations: Slow-Moving, Slow Reflexes, Blunt
Psi Potential: Low

Andorian
Powers: Keen Hearing/Antennae (Intellect)
Limitations: Warrior Code
Psi Potential: Moderate

Tellarite
Powers: Remarkable Resilience (Physique), Low Food/Water Requirement, Immunity to Intoxication
Limitations: Argumentative, Distrustful, Stubborn
Psi Potential: Low

Caitian
Powers: Keen Sight (Intellect), Keen Smell (Intellect), Remarkable Agility (Coordination)
Limitations: [pending further study]
Psi Potential: Moderate

Edoan
Powers: Keen Touch (Intellect), Remarkable Dexterity (Coordination)
Limitation: Shy, Reserved
Psi Potential: Low

Skorr
Powers: Keen Sight (Intellect), Flight (Coordination)
Limitations: [pending further study]
Psi Potential: Low

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Specializations

Specializations (as mentioned in "Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Character Basics") pertain to suites of skills that any qualified Star Fleet officer of a particular position would have. It is assumed that any such character has all the skills of the chosen Specialization and all the skills of Mandatory Training (plus all the skills of Command if appropriate). Only the Specialization itself needs to be listed on the character sheet.

Star Fleet Academy

Mandatory Training: Computer, Damage Control, Environmental Suit, EVA, First Aid, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Marksmanship, Operations, Piloting (Shuttle), Survival, Tricorder, Tumbling

Communications: Communications, Cryptanalysis/Cryptography, Electronics

Engineering: Electronics, Engineering, Life Support, Mechanics, Tractor Beam, Transporter, Warp Drive

Helm: Helm, Navigation, Physical Sciences, Sensors, Ship's Weapons, Tactics

Medicine: Life Sciences, Medicine, Nursing

Navigation: Deflector Shields, Helm, Navigation, Physical Sciences, Sensors, Tactics

Science: Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Sensors, Social Studies

Security: Criminology, Interrogation, Intimidation, Security, Surveillance, Tactics, Tracking

Command School

Command: Administration, Command, Diplomacy, History, Law, Tactics, Teaching

[If this were to be adapted to a later D6 system, Talents and Specialization subskills would be part of a traditional skill system and possibly a career path system.]

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Talents

Previously, I described the basics of character creation for an experimental Star Trek role-playing game based on the rules of Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game. Here is a sample of the Talents that could be used for each Trait in such a game. (It should be noted that categorization is flexible. For example, a player could argue in favor of taking two apparently physical Talents by linking one of them to Intellect on the basis that a signifant aspect of that Talent is mental as well. These are only suggestions.)

Intellect-Related Talents: Administration, Agronomy, Anthropology, Archaeology, Camouflage, Cartography, Collecting, Computer, Connoisseurship, Criminology, Cryptanalysis/Cryptography, Demolition, Earth Sciences, Economics, Electronics, Fine Art, First Aid, Foraging, History, Horticulture, Inventiness, Law, Life Sciences, Literature, Mechanics, Medicine, Music, Nursing, Philosophy, Physical Sciences, Politics, Sailing, Scrounging, Social Studies, Surveillance/Countersurveillance, Survival, Tactics, Teaching, Tracking, Trapping, Trivia, etc.

Physique-Based Talents: Climbing, Endurance, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Health, Jumping, Kicking, Lifting, Running, Spelunking, Sprinting, Swimming, Wrecking, Wrestling, etc.

Coordination-Based Talents: Acrobatics, Balancing, Bartending, Catching, Concealment, Cooking, Dancing, Dodging, Escapology, Hiding, Juggling, Knot-Tying, Lockpicking, Marksmanship, Piloting, Riding, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Throwing, etc.

Composure-Based Talents: Acting, Bluffing, Carousing, Coolness Under Fire, Counselling, Debating, Diplomacy, Disguise, Etiquette, Flirting, Gambling, Haggling, Interrogation, Intimidation, Leadership, Mimicry, Oratory, Posing, Singing, Ventriloquism, etc.

Starship-specific skills are folded into Specializations, which include both basic and specialized skills learned in Star Fleet Academy, the Cadet Cruise, and, if applicable, Command School. This will be detailed in another article. [Edit: See Specializations.]

Star Trek via Ghostbusters: Character Basics

As a thought experiment, what might a Star Trek role-playing game based on Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game look like?

Traits

Characters start with 14 points to distribute amongst four Traits. Each Trait must have at least 1 point. Instead of Brains, Muscles, Moves, and Cool, characters have:

• Intellect
• Physique
• Coordination
• Composure

Talents

Characters have one Talent per Trait. Each Talent adds 2 dice to its related Trait roll. Most Talents pertain to skills appropriate to Star Fleet personnel, but players can create just about any Talent they can imagine with the Trek Master's approval. Talents and Specializations are stackable.

(I may add examples in the future. [Edit: And I did.])

Specializations

Each character has one (or, rarely, more than one) Specialization and receives 2 bonus dice to all duties pertaining to that Specialization. [Edit: Optional examples are given here.] Specializations and Talents are stackable. The following are common Specializations found in a starship crew:

• Command
• Communications
• Engineering
• Helm
• Medicine
• Navigation
• Science
• Security

Powers

Characters of certain species may possess Powers at the expense of certain Limitations.

For example, Vulcan Powers would include Remarkable Strength (Physique), Mind Meld (Intellect), Nerve Pinch (Coordination), and High Pain Threshold (Composure). Vulcan Limitations would include Interspecies Social Awkwardness (possiby involving a penalty to certain rolls involving negotiation or etiquette outside of Vulcan-to-Vulcan interactions), Logical to a Fault, and Code to Preserve Life.

As a standard rule, each Power confers a bonus of 4 dice to relevant Trait rolls. (This may vary. Powers described as Tremendous grant 6 dice.) Powers are not stackable with Talents or Specializations.

Luck

Instead of Brownie Points, characters have Luck, which functions identically. Each character starts with 10 points of Luck. Or 20 points. (I'm still pondering this.)

Advancement

When characters achieve Mission Goals, they are awarded Luck points that may be used in the same manner as Brownie Points: they can be saved, used as bonus dice, expended to reduce injury, or spent to increase Traits.

Advancement is also marked by promotion in rank and/or assignment to various positions in the crew.

RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026: Day 02

[This is a placeholder. Actual article coming soon.]

Actual article begins here (on 3 February 2026). Sort of. It turns out I'm stumped already and it was only the second day of the challenge. I can't decide which non-player character to use as a campaign tour guide, I can't find my campaign notes (although I know I saw them a week ago), and I just realized the Toledo Ghostbusters campaign has been on hiatus since 2020. I'm not proud of that. I need to get that campaign moving again as soon as possible. If I can start it up again this year, maybe I'll have enough material to answer these questions next year.

Maybe this was the kick in the jumpsuit I needed.

In the meantime, I am managing to participate with my Mutant Crawl Classics RPG campaign, the Zem of Null, in Applied Phantasticality.

[For more information about RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026, read this.]

[Read Barking Alien's Campaign Tour Challenge 2026.]

RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026: Day 01

1. Campaign Introduction and Overview

This might be overly ambitious of me, but I'm attempting to tackle Adam Dickstein's RPG Campaigh Tour 2026 in two separate blogs. In Applied Phantasticality, I am describing my upcoming Zem of Null campaign for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. Here in Decidedly 6-Sided, I will be describing my on-again-off-again Toledo Ghostbusters campaign.

The campaign is known as Toledo Ghostbusters. The system is Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game (the first and best edition). Although I have tinkered with many different house rules in this blog, I have used none of them in this campaign, choosing to play by the rules as written simply because so far the rules as written have been more than sufficient. They allow us to do everything we need or want to do. So far. If I need to tinker later, I will, but I am consistently pleasantly shocked by how well Ghostbusters does what it does.

The setting, as one might guess, is Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A. in 1980-something. The player characters (as I mentioned in "Ghostbusters Go Zoom") include:

• Carroll "Carl" Düsseldorf (played by Sarah),
• Ray Stantz, PhD [helping out while staying with relatives] (played by Mary Lou), and
• Thalia Wainwright (played by Emily).

Together, they operate a local Ghostbusters HQ that was formerly a fire station and drive a black hearse with purple and orange lights. Their receptionist is a goth girl who formerly worked for a roadside attraction company that operated a quasi-haunted haunted house. They also have two Norwegian forest cats they liberated from an avant-garde boutique engaged in incomprehensible activities. Each character has their own motivations as well as an earnest desire to make their Ghostbusters franchise a success. And they're hiring.

[For more information about RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026, read this.]

[Read Barking Alien's Campaign Tour Challenge 2026.]

My Blogging Challenge Sense Is Tingling

Adam Dickstein is starting a new blogging challenge in February called Barking Alien's RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026. I think it's an excellent idea, and I think it behooves us as bloggers to share this idea widely.

[This article is cross-posted here in Applied Phantasticality.]

Simple Binary Dice Conversion for Ghostbusters

These are the quick and easy house rules for converting the Ghostbusters rules for use with binary randomizers such as coins, binary dice, or counting the even numbers of ordinary dice.

The Ghost Die is rolled in addition to the binary randomizers (instead of replacing a die), and the only face that is read is the Ghost. It has no numerical value of its own, but it helps ghosts and hinders Ghostbusters in the usual way. Any non-Ghost result on the Ghost Die is ignored.

Difficulty is divided by 5. A difficulty of 20 becomes 4, 15 becomes 3, 10 becomes 2, and 5 becomes 1. If the difficulty is not divisible by 5, round it to the nearest number that is.

And, I think that covers it. I am probably forgetting something (being distracted by supernatural phenomena and other concerns), so please leave a comment if you think of anything I might have missed.