Spooks On The Loose: Let's Play Ghost Master!

[The Glyphstone]

So, after the startling success of my recently completed Starcraft 2 Let's Play (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172257), I've got the hunger to do another one, and in a fit of nostalgia, I've settled on the 2003 puzzle-strategy game Ghost Master.


http://www.iconarchive.com/icons/3xhumed/mega-games-pack-28/256/Ghost-Master-1-icon.png

http://www.ghostmaster.net/screen_pc_12.jpg

http://www.ghostmaster.net/screen_pc_4.jpg

http://www.ghostmaster.net/screen_pc_6.jpg


As a Ghost Master, I will be commanding a team of spirits to scare, terrify, drive insane, torment, or mildly irritate a wide assortment of impudent mortals, while preserving the integrity of the underworld and retrieving renegade spirits. My prey will range from sorority girls to rednecks to mafia thugs, and everyone in between.

As I prepare to play, though, Audience Participation will begin immediately. My previous LP was from an in-character, limited first-person perspective viewpoint, with an extremely biased narrator. Here, I have options. Should this LP be:

A) Out-of-character narration entirely.
B) In-character, with a cynical, snarky, and underworld-weary Ghost Master narrator, demoted after a Noodle Incident to his current humble position.
C) In-character, with a cheerful, upbeat, and naievely optimistic Ghost Master, recently elevated to his new independent authority.
D) Other
Hoping for B, to give me a break/contrast from Nora.
Also, should the individual spirits I pick up be given their own personalities, the way some people do with Pokemon in their Nuzlocke LP's?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Heck No
D) Other

[Pie Guy]

This looks interesting. Anyway, 1:C, 2:A

[The Glyphstone]

Also, I need a name for my Ghost Master, regardless of the eventual personality, so vote away on that as well.

[DragonOfUndeath]

C
A
Cazuks

[Domochevsky]

1:C
2:A with a dash of C (A little personality, but don't go crazy)

I got nothing for a name though... the classic Caspar springs to mind if all else fails.
This could be interesting overall. :smallsmile:

[smuchmuch]

Ghost master. Pretty much the textbook example of a "great concept, terrible execution" kind of game. Still it look mlike it could make a great LP.

It's a shame a screenshot Lp will not be abnle to covey one of the strongest point of the game: The damned (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg3FtBvokA&feature=related) awesomme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hBn-8fFrk&feature=related) soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUNgKVNwQys&feature=related)

1: B.
2: A.

[The Glyphstone]

Ghost master. Pretty much the textbook example of a "great concept, terrible execution" kind of game. Still it look mlike it could make a great LP.

It's a shame a screenshot Lp will not be abnle to covey one of the strongest point of the game: The damned (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg3FtBvokA&feature=related) awesomme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hBn-8fFrk&feature=related) soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUNgKVNwQys&feature=related)

1: C.
2: A.

My thoughts exactly - but Ghost Master's not suited to a video LP either, because of its slow pace and camera panning, and I've at least completed 1.5 screenshot LPs. I'll try to compensate by linking to one of the soundtrack files in every update.

Looks like it's solidly 1C and 2A. I was kinda hoping for 1B, to give me a break from my last protagonist, but as long as this one is cheerful and smart, it'll be enough. I'll shunt the bitter sarcasm off into one of my ghosts. And with no real consensus on a name...eh...Casper is as good as any.

[smuchmuch]

Maybe the occasional heavily edited video ? It would allow you to show somme of the animations as well.

Also I made a mistake, personaly, meant 1:B. (edited)
And for the name, I say Anubis or Hades.
The idea of an old classical mythological figure forced to play second rate spook due to the increasingly harder time in supernatural economy nowadays would amuse me immensly.
(But I guess C still wins by majority anyway .Damn you democratic process.)

Also will you do the downloadable (http://www.ghostmaster.net/bonusmission.htm) 'Haunting high' bonus mission ? (It's supposed to tie the game up with an actual ending but it's pretty hard apparently. Haven't tried it myself.)

[The Glyphstone]

I downloaded from GoG, so 'Class of Spook'em High' comes included.


And for the name, I say Anubis or Hades.
The idea of an old classical mythological figure forced to play second rate spook due to the increasingly harder time in supernatural economy nowadays would amuse me immensly.
That would have been awesome, I wish I had thought of it before I opened it up to voting.

[Starbuck_II]

CA
Ghost Master is on GoG? Sweet.
Name: Castiel? Alastier? Dean? Samuel?
Oh, call yourself The Doctor.

[The Glyphstone]

For $2.99 even, a full 2 bucks cheaper than Steam.


Good News, Everybody!


This LP may be coming to a premature end, because it refused to take screen captures properly with either the in-game function, or the Print Screen option.

Never mind, jsut had to run the game in Admin mode.

[ThePhantom]

C A, and for the name how about Lord Hector von Hindenburg the Third.

[Woot Spitum]

I'd go with B, A, and name your ghostmaster Anubis. This looks pretty cool.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

B) and A). Hector von Hindenburg sounds like a good name.

[The Glyphstone]

Personalities for spirits is unanimous. Cheerful newbie Ghost Master is beating cynical and sarcastic Ghost Master 5 to 3, sadly, so unless we have a defector from Faction C or 2 additional B votes before I'm done writing this up, C takes the lot.

And I ended up 'officially' naming the ghost master Caspyr, but apparently it never comes up again in the entire game except from the loading screen. If I was doing a pretentious experienced GM, Hector Von Hindenburg would have been a shoo-in.

[EifieFlare]

Voting for 1B and 2A as well, in the (apparently futile) hopes that more people will go with B.

Although I suppose 1C wouldn't be too bad. Eh, whatever.

[Starbuck_II]

Personalities for spirits is unanimous. Cheerful newbie Ghost Master is beating cynical and sarcastic Ghost Master 5 to 3, sadly, so unless we have a defector from Faction C or 3 additional B votes before I'm done writing this up, C takes the lot.

And I ended up 'officially' naming the ghost master Caspyr, but apparently it never comes up again in the entire game except from the loading screen. If I was doing a pretentious experienced GM, Hector Von Hindenburg would have been a shoo-in.

Too bad we couldn't mix them:
have a Cynical, upbeat, naive Ghost master :smallbiggrin:
Not sure how you do an upbeat cynic though.

[The Glyphstone]

Well, that makes it 4-3.

In the meantime, anyone who's already voted, or hasn't voted, take a look at the following three screenshots and tell me which style should be used for image captures:

Full Screen
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1011.jpg

Full Screen, Shrunk
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1011-b.jpg

Full Screen, Cropped to eliminate interface
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1011-c.jpg

[Starbuck_II]

I say Option 2. My gut says 2.
While my brain likes the cropped 3, I'm not sure about it fully.

My gut wins so I say 2.

[Isak]

I vote option B and A :smallbiggrin: Seems fitting for a Poltergeist.


As far as images go; I definitely prefer #3

[Domochevsky]

Hmyes, the cropped version looks pretty good. :smallsmile:

[EifieFlare]

I'll go with either option 1 or 2. Those interfaces might be useful for us viewers later to know what's going on without making you spend too much time explaining to us.

[Demon 997]

1B 2C

I'd go for option 1 for screenshots.

[ThePhantom]

Can I change my vote to 1. B then. I like the funky name.

As the screenshots, lets go with 2.

[smuchmuch]

For the screens, unless you are trying to save bandwith, i say go with full screens, cropped most of the time, except when/if you want to show a bit of gameplay.
(I think the first screen of each mission for example should show the interface, so we know what team and wich mortal are present in the mission.)

[The Glyphstone]

Counting the on-the-fencers as two categories....exactly 3 votes for all three styles. Thanks guys, thanks. I'm going to go with the shrunken full-screen shots, because trimming+clipping was a lot of work with my SC2 LP, and I'm going to try differently - besides, this'll give people a general progress status on how many mortals have been scared away at any one point in the mission, or ghosts deployed. On the other hand, Hector Von Hindenburg is now a shoo-in, so I can get to work on the writingness.

Prologue:

This is an outrage! An insult! A stain upon my honor! I’d known it was coming, but I hadn’t expected them to get around to it any time this eon. But no, this time they had to actually be prompt – the spectral memo came just this morning.


To: Hector Von Hindenburg the Third, alias Bolog, alias Gozor the Gozerian, alias Thrakazash the Terrible

From: Paranormal Manifestation Management Committee

RE: Status Review Appeal and Reassignment

This is an official notice that after review of the events occurring on or around June 8, 1984 MR (Mortal Reckoning), your status and title of ‘Destroyer of Worlds’ has been indefinitely suspended pending restoration of your capability to corporeally manifest in the mortal realm. Furthermore, due to your demonstrated incapability to perform the duties required of a supernatural entity of said status, you are hereby reclassified and ordered to assume the duties and position of Ghost Master, under the direct supervision of the Haunting Department. Further applications or appeals on this matter will be processed and evaluated at an appropriate time. when Stygia freezes over, sucker

Yours Sincerely,

Fredrick Wilson Krueger, Chairman, Council of Hades


Ghost Master? Moi? A dedicated, skilled, specter like myself demoted to being a lowly shepherd for sprites and gremlins after one little accident? Politics, I’m telling you, it’s all politics. Go into the mortal realm, they said. Take on the form of that which they fear most and destroy them, they said. How was I supposed to know he was kidding? Sarcasm wasn’t covered in the curriculum when I went to school.

…hm. No use crying over spilled ectoplasm, I guess. At least I still have a job, which is something to say in this economy, even if my dying quarters could probably fit into the closet that I just gave up. And it should be easy work, too, assuming I don’t get saddled with a team of total incompetents to manage…


just a little groundwork story-writing to munch on. First real update will come tomorrow.

[ThePhantom]

Hello? Lord Hector Von Hindenburg the Third, where are you?

[The Glyphstone]

Just unmotivated, and busy. I'll make my first official update Friday probably, since I'm spending all of tomorrow at the local game store with old buddies geeking out.

Assignment 1: Haunting 101 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg3FtBvokA&feature=related)
Well, that went about as spooking fantastic as you might expect. Memo to self – never, ever say something like ‘assuming I don’t get saddled with a team of total incompetents’ again, it’s like crank-calling Fate at three in the morning and expecting nothing to happen.
I went to meet my ‘squad’ before getting an assignment, and almost quit on the spot then and there.

So, want to introduce yourselves?
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_cogjammer.jpg
“Duuuude, my name’s like, Cogjammer, man. I can make electrical things, like, make electricity, dude. It’s sweeeeeet. Want some current?”
Delightful. Not only do I already depise gremlins, this one was addicted to his own electrical discharges.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_clatterclaws.jpg
“Clatter-click-click-rustle. Click-clatter-click-rustle-clatter. Click-click.”
I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spider. Care to repeat yourself?
“Clatter. Click-rustle-click-rustle. Click-clatter.”
And a spectral arachnid that I couldn’t understand. The nametag said ‘Clatterclaws’…at worst, I’d just set it loose to cause havoc on its own initiative. Mortals hate crawly things. And you?
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_boo.jpg
“Name Boo. Boo scary. Boo shout BOO! People scared of Boo. Boo good at scaring.”
A spectre whose IQ probably matches my pulse…someone really hates me.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_shivers.jpg
“I’m Shivers. Think I could hang loose and help you advise, like a second-in-command deal? Mortals just sort of creep me out, I’d rather not get too close to them.”
And for a nail in the not-so-proverbial coffin, the infamous Shivers. How a washed-up incompetent like him ever earned Most Valuable Phantom once, let alone three times, is beyond my comprehension. And considering I used to debate Great Old Ones during my lunch break, that’s saying something.

Now, for my assignment….

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1011-b.jpg

A sorority house. That’s right, I’ve been downgraded to B-grade horror movie fare.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1012.jpg

Doesn’t the sight of blissful, ignorant college-girl inanity warm your cold dead heart? It make me want to puke, and I don’t have a digestive system anymore.
“I dunno, man, it looks pretty peaceful to me. Slump around in bathrobes, watch the tube all day and just chill…”
Shut up. Just. Shut. Up.

I took a quick scan around the house – being the week before classes started, it was still lightly populated. That meant less work, though it was probably all this sorry bunch could handle anyways.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1013.jpg

One of them was in bed upstairs, probably sleeping off a drunken bender of some kind or another. That’s how college worked, from what I understood.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1014.jpg

Most of the others were just wandering around, babbling to each other on every manner of pointless subject imaginable, and a few unimaginable ones.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1015.jpg

And in the hallway…what’s this now? A trapped spirit, fettered to a vacuum cleaner? Maybe she’d be willing to help out. ‘Weatherwitch’, she called herself. Imaginative. Accidentally sucked up in an ‘electric broomstick’ by one of the house residents, and unable to get out…well, freeing a spirit would look good on the after-action report, even one as worthless as this.

Before I could bust her shackles, though, I’d have to build up some resonance. Mortals generated resonance when they were scared, startled, or freaked out by ghost powers – the more resonance in the area, the more ghosts I could employ at once and more power they could channel. Naturally, the house was about as resonant as a bowl of Jello just now.
“C’mon, man, let me loose on them. They’re addicted to that television, messing it up will make them wild.”
Fine, Cogjammer, you do that. I’ll be over here studiously saying nothing about pots and kettles.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1016.jpg

Ok, so the irritating little runt knew his electronics, or at least his mortals. One scrambled channel in the middle of Desperate Babysitters of New Zealand and they were all upset. I could almost feel the resonance seeping out of them into the foundations.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1017.jpg
Thankfully, Cogjammer was also a low-budget worker – even with the mediocre resonance level, he was able to overload the vacuum cleaner’s circuits and short it out.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1018.jpg

“Hahahaha, free, free at last!”
Bully for you – if you summon any tornados, watch out for flying houses.

Overheating machinery and bad TV reception wasn’t going to do much for scaring the girls out of their wits, though. I needed raw fear for that – and what better to scare stupid college girls with than a giant undead spider? Clatterclaws, get in there. Drop spiders on their heads, attack them with swarms, spawn ghostly green ferns out of the carpet, I don’t care. Just scare them.
“Clatter- click-click-click. Rustle.”
That’s nice.

“Me be scary? Boo go be scary to girl-people?”
No, not until I’m desperate, or really bored. I’ve got better things to do with my resonance – for example, put Shivers into the field.
“Sigh…do I have to, boss? It’s so dreary down there, and I might catch the flu or something."

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting1019.jpg

That doesn’t even deserve a respose. Buck up, pretend you haven’t gone senile, and throw some books around or something. You’re an emotions fetter, prey on their emotions already!

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting10110.jpg

“Fine, boss. There, emotions manipulated. Happy?”
No, not really. When I said emotions, you know I meant things like fear or terror, crack at their fragile sanities. Implanting an irresistible desire for a cheeseburger is not what I meant, though the image of that girl running up to the drive-through window in her bathrobe is amusing enough to make up for it.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting10111.jpg

There was plenty of built-up resonance, though, what with Cogjammer making every electrical doodad in the building go on the fritz, and Weatherwitch’s penchant for indoor rainstorms. Leaving Cogjammer upstairs to rain creepy-crawlies on their heads worked like a charm, funneling them all down to have a pow-wow conference in the living room.
“Now, boss?”
Now. Bam – telekinesis out the wazoo, and most of the sorority is going for the hills screaming in a single shot. Only Blair Welsch was left…she’d been in the bathroom, and came out to see what all the ruckus was.
“Wanna go BOO on girl, please? Please please please please please?”
Fine. Amuse yourself while Shivers recharges his telekinetic storm.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting10112.jpg

“Yay…..COWER, MORTAL, AND FLEE IN TERROR, FOR I HAVE COME TO CONSUME YOUR SOUL! BOOOOOOOO!”
Wow.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Haunting10113.jpg

“Hehe, Boo scary.”
Indeed. Now if only you had two brain cells to rub together, that sort of talent would get you far in this underworld. That was the last of them though, time to go home.

[smuchmuch]

That was a pretty amusing start. I particulary like your version of Shivers.


Implanting an irresistible desire for a cheeseburger is not what I meant, though the image of that girl running up to the drive-through window in her bathrobe is amusing enough to make up for it.

Indeed. it's a shame you can't actualy do this in the game.
I think one thing thjat would have made it much better, would have been maybe less ghost and less powers buteach of them vbeing somewhat more distinctive, with more uses and more flavors to each.

[ThePhantom]

And here we go. And now, we wait. for the next place to terror

[ThePhantom]

Um, can we get some hint of when the next update will be?

[The Glyphstone]

Irregularly. I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to play the game, let alone take the screenshots. I'll try to update Assignment 2 tomorrow.

[ThePhantom]

Thank you.

[Gamerlord]

Awesome, considered this thread subscribed to.

[smuchmuch]

Spirit of this LP if you are here, knock three time.

[The Glyphstone]

*Ouija board pointer moves*

W-O-R-K-I-N-G-O-N-A-D-O-U-B-L-E-L-E-N-G-T-H-U-P-D-A-T-E.



E-D-I-T: H-E-R-E I-S P-A-R-T-T-W-O O-F T-H-E U-P-D-A-T-E B-E-C-A-U-S-E I A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T-A-L-L-Y D-I-D T-H-E M-I-S-S-I-O-N-S I-N T-H-E W-R-O-N-G O-R-D-E-R. R-E-A-D I-T I-F Y-O-U L-I-K-E A-N-D A-R-E N-O-T C-O-N-C-E-R-N-E-D F-O-R C-O-N-T-I-N-U-I-T-Y.

Assignment 2: The Calamityville Horror (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUNgKVNwQys)
With one utterly dreary afternoon terrorizing college divas behind me, I was ready for just about anything that would let me cleanse the foul taste of B-movie scutwork out of my mouth. Since humiliations never come alone, though, the Committee managed to find something even worse for me to do, bless them.

It seemed one of Gravenville’s old mansions had an ugly history – the little old lady who used to live there had a habit of poisoning her guests, right up until she accidentally drank her own arsenic-laced tea. In the process, she’d basically soaked the house in resonance, turning the property into a supernatural beacon. It’d be an excellent focus for future haunting operations, b ut first the building’s hidden past needed to be exposed for mortal authorities to investigate. The catch?

No scares. No haunts, no spooks, no appearances or manifestations. Even a hint of supernatural activity, and the entire operation would be a bust. Well, spook me. No active haunting meant no resonance buildup, so I would be on a strict time limit...all I had was the house’s latent resonance, and that wouldn’t last long. But of course, I am Hector Von Hindenburg! Moping and griping like this is beneath me, despite the ignomious circumstances I find myself in. Subtly manipulating the actions of the house’s current residents into discovering its secrets will be trivial for one of my power and skill!

Well, if I wasn’t stuck managing a gang of idiots. That always puts a damper on one’s megalomania, to b
e honest. Time to go meet the crew:

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_boo.jpg

Boo, inexplicably. It’s not like he could be of any use unrelated to scaring mortals – benchwarming for certain.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_weatherwitch.jpg

Weatherwitch, newly released from her vacuum prison despite, again, a total lack of utility for the environment.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_stonewall.jpg

Well, some new folk…
”Stonewall, spirit of earth. Grind mortal spirits, crush their hearts. Bring them the terror of an early grave. Stonewall will do this.”
Sadly, old boy, you won’t be scaring anyone today…but localized earthquakes could be of use. At least elementals aren’t talkative.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_whirlweird.jpg

Whirlweird, a poltergeist…well color me purple and dip me in turpentine. I never liked Charades or Twenty Questions.
*colored sparkles, flashing different colors*
I’ll assume that’s a hello. But what can you actually do for me?
*red sparkles, surrounding a stick figure of light waving its arms*
Scare people – useful, but not here. Anything else?
*standing stick figure ringed with yellow, glowing dots that flash and vanish*
And you…make the lights go out. Good enough, messing with mortal electronics can come in handy.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_ghastly.jpg

…George? Is that you?
”Hector? What’s it been, four centuries? Hey, I heard about the New York incident – tough break, man.”
Yeah, yeah – but what are you doing here? You retired ages ago.
”Just a little part-time to supplement the pension…didn’t know I’d end up working with you, though. So what’s the game plan?”
Trick the mortals into digging up some old corpses, free the spirits that are bound to them. Oh, and we’re not allowed to scare anyone.
”Seriously? Well, that’s going to be a pain. Especially with how I soak up resonance like a sponge…guess we’ll have to manage.”

No kidding.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville1.jpg

So, Gravenville Manor. Cozy-looking place, no sign of anything…hmm, what do we have here?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville2.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville3.jpg

”So I get a call out here to fix this antenna array. Old lady’s been having trouble changing channels – a real shocker, I know; she’s probably just mixing up the remote and her portable phone. But I get paid to fix the reception, so I’m up here when I get this really electrifying feeling in my gut. I start thinking the old girl didn’t hear me when I asked for non-dairy creamer in the tea – I’m lactose intolerant, see – then I just keel over and die. Looks like my body fell into the chimney, think you can jolt me loose?”

Well, that shouldn’t be hard. Stonewall, chill out here and chat with that potted plant while I take a look around the rest of the house.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville4.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville5.jpg

”So I’m, like, totally here to sell cosmetics, like, you know, blush and facial cream and makeup and stuff. The old woman’s like, totally interested, she like gives me tea and everything, a real sweetheart. But then I’m like, up here checking out her cabinet – like, totally deficient, she needs a complete home makeover…it’s so bad I start feeling dizzy. So I, like, lay down on the bed for a minute to, like, steady myself, and I like, never wake up! If you can, like, get one of the girls living here to sample my products, I’d be, like, totally appreciative!”
`
This? This is why fetters exist. Some ghosts simply should not be allowed to roam free. Here is one of them.
”Orders are orders, bossman.”
Not helping. Not helping at all.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville6.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville7.jpg

Are you at least sane?
”Sane as a chap can be after being poisoned and bloody walled up, good sir. I never would have expected such a frail old bird to be capable of masonry…but then I never would have expected her to kill me with deadly tea, either. To think that tea could be used in such a foul manner, only a nutter would do it. And my body’s just a bit too far back to reach through the wall. Might you be a kind soul and bring me a mortal to toy with?”
Filing under ‘C: Don’t Know’.

Valley girls, TV repairmen, and absurdly British welders aside, I had to plan this carefully, as once I started tapping the resonance, it’d be like opening the drain plug on a tub. Up on the roof, Stonewall started off the action by trying to shake Static’s bones down the chimney, but they got stuck halfway. Someone would need to dislodge them; only problem was, no one was going to look there unless they knew it was blocked off. That meant a fire.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville8.jpg

”Let me handle this one.”

Ghastly was as chilling as ever – bone-chilling, in fact, if I had any bones to chill. Pretty soon, the mortals were shivering all over, and hunting for some matches to light a fire in the fireplace.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville9.jpg

Further upstairs, the cosmetic salesgirl – Maxine Factor – was still going on and on about wanting to give a demonstration. With as few words as possible, I tapped her into the resonance pool and set her to start trying to lure mortals. She happened to catch one of the girls on the first try; rather than tear off the boards herself, though, she goes to find a man strong enough.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville10.jpg

The attempt at lighting a cozy warm fire promptly filled a good portion of the living room and adjacent rooms with smoke, sending mortals scurrying everywhere with coughing fits. One of them goes off to call the handyman and have him examine the chimney….excellllent…..

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville10a.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville11.jpg

Another, on his way upstairs, runs into the girl looking for help opening the boarded-up door, and cracks it open to investigate. Lights go on, screams go out, and Mr. Mortal is scurrying back downstairs to phone the police.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville11a.jpg

A third of the men ended up fleeing downstairs into the basement to catch his breath. Conveniently, this gets him to where he notices an odd hole in the wall, some knocked-out bricks courtesy of Stonewall.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville11b.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville11c.jpg

”Ah, right then, you blighter. Get – your –bloody - head - in here just a moment, so I can hitch a ride out of here with you.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville11d.jpg

“ Thanks, guv’ner, I do believe I’ll sign on with you if you’re hiring – call me Arclight.”
Welcome aboard. Now, back to the mortals.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville12.jpg

Somewhat conveniently, the handyman happens to arrive just about then. A quick chat, and he’s poking up the fireplace with a long stick, resulting in a face full of rib bones.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville13.jpg

”Ooh, I feel all tingly now – time to let the juice flow!”
So, I know this gremlin named Cogjammer, I think the two of you will get along greeeaaaaat….

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville14.jpg

No one’s paying attention to the children in all this mess, and the little girl ends up finding Maxine’s dusty blush box and opening it up.
”That’s like, totally freedom, yes! The makeup, like, look great on you sweetie, but it’d, like, stand out even better if you were pale with fright!”
No.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville12a.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Calamityville15.jpg

The cops walked up a few minutes later, and get shown Maxine’s body. Mission accomplished, and just in time…I could feel the last drops of resonance slipping through my fingers.


Assignment 3: Weird Seance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hBn-8fFrk&feature=related)
After going off to play Creepy Spookiness Instigator and rounding up a couple new free agent spirits in the process, I had figured on a nice, relaxing eon or two while the mortals got themselves worked up over the dead bodies I’d exhumed for them. The committee was ignoring me – normally an intolerable affront for one of my grand prominence, but under the circumstances I wasn’t going to complain. So naturally, I’ve barely settled down to nap when a Class 2 etheric disturbance starting beating a drumbeat inside my mind. Class 2 was barely a blip on the supernatural scale – but Gravenville was my turf now, and anything going on there should be my doing. This wasn’t, and I knew if word got to the committee that I was letting unauthorized spookiness happen, they’d jump on the chance to blame me for it. So with the haunters I could round up on an instant’s notice, it was back to Gravenville to investigate.

Boo was easy to drag along – Shivers took a bit more convincing. Stonewall just wanted dirt to hang out in, and Static, the new guy, wasn’t hard to persuade into tagging along. That’d left one opening, though, and the only spirit I could grab quickly enough was an air elemental named Aether.

”Yesss…..let usss fill the air with sssoundsss and ssscreamsss, sssteal the air from the mouthsss of mortalsss and leave them gasssping and grasssping at the endsss of their livesss.”
I’ll…mark you down as ‘cautiously enthusiastic’.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance1.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance2.jpg

Unsurprisingly, it was the university again. After my little adventure in the Kappa Lamda house, Gravenville U. had seen an overall spike in belief as the stories spread. The bozos in Alpha Sigma Sigma felt otherwise, though, and were throwing a ‘Spooks-B-Gone Party’ in their frat house. Now, that alone would have made me want to party-crash out of spite, but it wasn’t what had drawn my attention.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance4.jpg

Down in the basement, three of the recent pledges – hardcore nerds, down to the glasses and pocket protectors – were actually attempting a séance. Now, that couldn’t be allowed…if their nonsensical chanting was setting off a Class 2 disturbance, they’d managed to stumble on some sort of actual ritual that could breach the Unseen Veil . An astral rift in the Alpha Sigma’s basement would look really bad on my resume, and mortals wouldn’t enjoy Gravenville for the next few hundred of their years either.

Before I set about spreading terror and chaos, I took a quick peek around for local trapped spirits…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance5.jpg
A…hamster ghost? What’s your name?
”Eh? I’m Lucky, or was Lucky. Though let me tell you, I was pretty un-Lucky to get here in the first place. Fraternity mascot, huh? Maybe you could have, y’know, remembered to FEED ME before going away for TWO FREAKING WEEKS OF VACATION? And failing that, when you came back and found my starved body in the cage, a little CARING would have gone a long way – bury me in the backyard, not THROW ME IN THE FURNACE! Just get one of those gorillas close enough for me to hex him – they used my wheel to prop up this creaky old pinball machine, so I’m kind of stuck here – and I’ll go hunting greener pastures with you.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance6.jpg

Well, you’ve got to have an interesting story.
”If only. Call me Terroreyes. Dr. Hardgrove’s prize office specimen – at least until these jokers broke in and stole me as a prank. Being a pickled brain and eyeballs in a jar is boring, but being that plus a trophy for drunken frat boys is just humiliating. Any chance you could bust this jar open and let me out to cause some problems?”
Eh, why not. The more, the merrier.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance7.jpg

And you? What’s your issue?
”My issue is this lump in the bed behind me…Ted, president of the fraternity. I was one of last year’s pledges, right up until they had me climb the water tower during a thunderstorm wearing a garbage can and shout ‘all gods are bastards!”. My three dweeby friends are in the basement trying to summon me or something; pity I’m still in this world, and bound to old Ted here. Get him gone, and I’ll go…pay a visit…to the dorks downstairs.”
Fair-weather friends, then?
”They didn’t even come to the funeral, they had a D&D game to play that afternoon.”
Ouch.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance3.jpg

So, leaving the irritable rat, the autopsy reject, and the geek to their own devices for a bit, I went back to paying attention to the mortals. Just in time, too, as the guests for the party – what looked like most of the neighboring sorority – had arrived. Perfect, I always appreciated a larger audience for my shows.

Now, I knew that once the plasm started flying, pinball would be the last thing on anyone’s mind. Luck happened to fall my way here…one of the girls spotted the old machine and started squealing. Naturally the hunkiest and dumbest of the Alpha Sigmas promptly offered to show off how good he was at pinball. The machine still had its top ten scores set as manufacturer defaults, so I couldn’t take him at face value, but she did.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance8.jpg

”Yeah, I remember you…think it was funny to poke me with a pencil through the bars when you were drunk? Well, take this!”

I didn’t know pinball machines could generate negative scores. Nor did the guy’s little audience, all of whom were already sporting the kind of spirits that come in bottles, but they thought it was hilarious. The thoroughly embarrassed Alpha Sigma didn’t and he gave the machine a nice solid kick that happened to dislodge it off the hamster wheel.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance9.jpg

”Ah, that’s better. Mayhem away, boss!”
One down, two to go.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance10.jpg

Alright. Boo, Shivers, do your thing. Build me up some resonance so the real ghosts can get to work.
”Wheee! Boo scary time!”
”So, I’m there to, uh, keep an eye on him and not actually do anything, right?”
No.
”Sigh…”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance11.jpg

Static, time to earn your keep. Get in there and show those two slackers how it’s done.
”Alright, boss-man. Gonna be a little rusty, it’s been a long time since I shot any juice through the old wires, y’know? Just get me flowing, and I will rock and shock their world.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance12.jpg
”Hey, moron. Get over here in the other room with me, mess with the plumbing while I let off some totally electrifying sparks. Leaking water and electricity’s a great combination.”
”Boo make wet spots? Okey-dokey.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance13.jpg

At the first sign of creepy, the sorority chicks had been high-tailing it off the property. Smart girls, really. Unfortunately, the Alpha Sigmas were either too stubborn or too drunk to leave just yet. One of them managed to accidentally knock the glass jar on the floor though, and that was two of three.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance14.jpg

Some of them tried to retreat outside to rest and calm down. Stonewall and Aether…disagreed. Strenously.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance15.jpg

Finally, I moved on to Ted. Between Wendell and Boo upstairs, the uproar downstairs, and my elementals outside, he had nowhere to go…except out of his mind with fear.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance17.jpg

”Ha, smell ya later, dude.”
Please do. Much, much later.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance19.jpg

That left only the three in the basement, and the real reason I had come. They needed to be taught not to tamper, and now I could devote my exclusive attention to them…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance18.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance20.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/WeirdSeance21.jpg

Goobye, nerdromancers. Hehe...nerdromancers, I'm such a comedian.

[ThePhantom]

Excellent, nice work keeping the barrier between life and death intact. You know, Spooks-B-Gone are mock ups of the ghostbusters. Meeting them should be fun.

[The Glyphstone]

Ah, but I don't have to worry about Lawyer Friendly Cameos. Considering our 'pro'tagonist's origin blurb, who says these won't be the Real Ghostbusters?


Also - Continuity has been restored, as Assignment 2 is complete and posted above. Links are now provided to music to listen to while reading, for your better immersion into the game's incredible soundtrack.

[ThePhantom]

Nice work, but other than managing limited resonance, this is the easy part. Those ghostbusters are going to be a real pain in the neck.

[FantasyFoxMan]

This thread has now piqued my interest. I'm eagerly awaiting next update. :smallbiggrin:

[The Glyphstone]

Nice work, but other than managing limited resonance, this is the easy part. Those ghostbusters are going to be a real pain in the neck.

Hence why I always single them out for...personal attention in any level they're featured in.

Incidentally, I did actually play through Calamityville Horror with no plasm generated. It was kind of surprising when I saw a full column of 0's in the score sheet.

[Gamerlord]

Nice work, but other than managing limited resonance, this is the easy part. Those ghostbusters are going to be a real pain in the neck.

Meh, I always found spawning every single ghost possible in the area they were in worked.

[smuchmuch]

Nice work, but other than managing limited resonance, this is the easy part. Those ghostbusters are going to be a real pain in the neck.

Really ? I remember those guys being ather managable. (if pretty annoying)

All you have is to watch out where they are going and make sure to unfetter any ghost in their viccnity when it looks they are about to banish them.
When they really becomme a pain is the second trip to the police station, because of the goddamned wards.

Personnaly, I alway found that Gattterclaws with 'large swarm' took care of them nicely. Then again Gatterclaws and Buck (name blanked to avoid spoilers) were kind of my answer to everything when I played the game, they don't cost much plasm and are just so damn 'bread and butter haunting' kind of useful.

[The Glyphstone]

Yeah, buying Legion for Clatterclaws will be one of my first expenditures of gold plasm.

Incidentally, audience participation (sort of): While I work on writing up and screenshotting Assignment 4, pick which mission I should do first:

Deadfellas (haunt a luxury yacht full of mobsters, scare everyone)
The Usual Suspects (haunt a police station, scare everyone)

[Deme]

Mobsters are always better.

[Domochevsky]

Mobsters indeed. Concrete shoes for everyone! o/

[ThePhantom]

Scare the police.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

My vote goes down for mobsters.

[Rama]

My vote goes to Mobsters.

[Gamerlord]

I vote Mafia.

[The Glyphstone]

That's pretty overwhelming towards convincing Don Bartholomew that saying 'der ain't no such ting as ghosts!" is a poor idea. Deadfellas it shall me, meanwhile I write up Summoners Not Included.

Assignment 4: Summoners Not Included

You’d think that the Council would at least give my esteemed self some sort of commendation for singlehandedly stopping a critical breach in the fabric of reality. Or, at least, some recognition. Of course, that would only be the truth in a sane and reasonable underworld. In this one, my ‘reward’ is being sent on a wild goose chase. It’s like they’re trying to mock me, really…Darkling, bah. Baby ghosts get scared to sleep at night with threats of the Darkling hiding in their ethereal closets. And the ‘reward’ for my ‘initiative’ is to be given the ‘honor’ of covertly assisting some mortals as they ‘awaken’ it from its slumber. I’d be insulted if it wasn’t for…wait, I am insulted. Never mind.

Anyways. The official story this time is that some crazy history professor at the university happened to find an old book of spells, one of which was how to summon the so-called Darkling. Non-existent demonic ghosts weren’t part of his approved curriculum, though, so he ended up hiding out in the woods to do his research. At least, until a couple of students swiped his notes and came looking for the Darkling themselves…is this what mortal youth is resorting to in the absence of academic discipline? Rather than download essays off the Internet, they call upon imaginary monsters to grant them unfathomable cosmic power?

Eh…it’s no worse than Facebook, really. The sole bit of storm cloud visible through this silver lining was the ability to pick my own team of haunters, now that I was developing a fairly sizable group of employees.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_stonewall.jpg http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_aether.jpg http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_weatherwitch.jpg http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_arclight.jpg http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_boo.jpg

In a primarily outdoor environment, elementals would probably be of the most use – Stonewall and Aether, as I lacked any others of their kind currently. Weatherwitch I brought along for the ride, Arclight to give him a spin just in case I had a chance to cut loose and scare someone, and Boo, because this was going to be really boring and I’d need someone to laugh at.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners01.jpg

Almost as if cued, I dialed in on the old cabin right as our merry band of aspiring demonologist delinquents showed up. Not the most impressive crew, but who was I to judge, besides being an ancient spirit with absolutely peerless judgement skills?

They immediately started mucking around, yelling to each other as they failed utterly at locating the supposed tome of spells. I was going to have to help them…again…but first my customary look around the place for bound phantoms.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/summoners02.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners03.jpg

”Call me Whissssssperwind. I would glide free and sssssilent were my form not ssssssnared within thisssss dreamcatcher. It is unfair, for I am harmlesssss to mortalssss and would wish them no ill.”
Yeah…I’m up on dreamcatcher lore, buddy. They’re pretty potent little artifacts if you’ve got real shaman mojo behind them, and they’re specifically for catching bad dreams and evil spirits. Drop the innocent spirit routine and I might let you out.
”Innocent? Whatever could you mean, good sssssir?”
Moving on.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners04.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners05.jpg
”I am Raindancer – once I was a mighty spirit of storms, of floods, of deluges and tempests! It is an affront, a travesty, that I be bound within this porcelain prison! Release me at once, and I may yet spare you from my eventual wrath!”
Now, here’s a spirit after my own still heart. Pity you’re bug-nuts crazy, and trapped inside a toilet to boot. Let’s hope one of the mortals brought a big water bottle with them.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners06.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners07.jpg
And a hand-dug grave in the basement? Now we’re getting somewhere…
”Getting somewhere? If only, mister! I’d been going nowhere for years, right up until my sorry excuse for a husband stabbed me on vacation so he could run off with some young blond harlot he met in his history class. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to scare someone – anyone – just to be a little less bored…”
That may just be arranged, ma’am. First, though…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners08.jpg

Now what’s this over here? Look to me like a ritual book…and I don’t like it. This thing is old, nothing like the New Age claptrap they sell in stores. There’s power in these rituals, and while I still don’t believe in Darklings, putting these spells in mortal hands is going to do something really interesting.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners09.jpg

That means getting mortal hands into the basement, though, and the doors are currently buried under years and years of fallen leaves. If only I had, say, an air spirit that could blow them away.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners10.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners11.jpg
Plus, it’s locked…and the key is hanging in the old outhouse. With that hornet’s nest hanging on the side, none of the fleshlings can get anywhere near the thing. Logically, then, I need to knock that nest off.

Stonewall, give me a little tremor, just enough to shake that nest to pieces.

”Tremor? There will be no tremor. Stonewall is strong here, in the forests and soft soil of nature. No mortal hands have shaped this land, warped and molded it. Stonewall can do far more than tremor…Stonewall will shake the very foundations of the earth!”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners12.jpg

Woah, woah, woah, calm down! That’s enough, that’s enough – don’t collapse the cabin!

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners13.jpg
”Oh, how kind…let thisssss humble and harmlessss ssssspirit repay hisssss debt by sssservice, noble one.”
Whisperwind, meet Aether. Aether, meet Whisperwind. He’s your problem now, have fun.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners14.jpg
And while we’re at it, the key to the cellar door is now a moot point, as Stonewall’s little tantrum happened to smash it. I’m just lucky he didn’t cave in the entire basement.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners15.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners16.jpg

Once the mortals stopped running around in a panic from the localized earthquake, they quickly discovered the now-revealed passage. And downstairs, the ritual tome conveniently shaken into the center of the room.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners17.jpg
”Yes! Yes! Mwahahaha! Let the rumbling and trembling of the earth resonate within your gut! Your pathetic digestive system requires relief from the tremors that plague it, and as you let loose your flow, you free me as well! Free at last, to wreak my revenge upon the world!”
Inhuman Resources is going to have a blast with that one, I can tell.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners19.jpg

Finally, the three juveniles convened in the basement. My job was over…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners20.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners21.jpg
Sigh. Never mind. Who shows up, but the deranged professor that set all of this in motion. Seems he realized his notes were missing, and, I don’t know, checked the security cameras near his office? And he brought a gun with him – not really a concern to me, except that I’ve been told these mortals need to finish their ritual, and bullet wounds reportedly make ominous Latin chanting a real struggle.

Okay, prof….let them leave the cellar. That’s a good madman, yes you are. Just a little bit more, since we don’t want any innocents – heh, innocents – taking collateral….damage….Alright then. Time to show you why tenure won’t protect you from the wrath of Hector Von Hindenburg, Ghost Master Extraordinaire!

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners18.jpg
”Well HELLO there, Henry! Long time no see, yes? I bet you’re a bit…surprised…to be meeting this way, but I can promise it won’t be the last time, you cheating murdering workaholic creep!”

Okay, you got your revenge. Now move aside, woman, and let the professional tormentors in.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners22.jpg
[color=red]”Right then, chaps! How do they say it here across the pond…oh yes, I remember now. BURN, BABY BURN!”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners23.jpg
Rattling chains, ghostly screams, and spontaneous human combustion, what a wonderful combination.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners24.jpg
”MORTAL! BOO HAS COME, TO CONSUME YOUR SPIRIT AND SOUL AS THIS FIRE CLAWS AND FEASTS UPON YOUR FLESH! RUN WHILE YOU CAN, FOR THERE IS NO ESCAPE!”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners25.jpg
”No escape. No escape. Let the warm and choking embrace of the earth reach up to swallow, to consume, to bind and trap. Struggle in terror as Stonewall mires your feet in mud and clay.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners26.jpg
”Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
Good teamwork there, honestly. It’ll take a long time for him to recover from that, and in the meantime, we can finish the job and all go home.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners27.jpg

The job, of course, being getting the mortals back to their ritual.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners28.jpg

Yeah…this is a ritual, all right. If my corporeal body wasn’t still decorating a half-dozen skyscrapers in the form of sticky marshmallow fluff, I’d be struggling to resist this summons…big mojo here. And something’s appearing…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners29.jpg

Um. Guys. Am I seeing things? Or is the Darkling – which doesn’t exist, by the way – materializing in this basement?
”The earth screams at its touch. Stonewall knows it is evil.”
”Evil, mate? It’s a bloody demon ghost, of course it’s evil! I can practically smell the brimstone!”
”Boo scared.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Summoners30.jpg

And now it’s…um…eating their souls. I guess it’s hungry? Okay, let’s get the heaven out of here before it notices us. Report back to Central a resounding mission accomplished, and never mention this again. Agreed? Okay, it’s unanimous.”

[Toric]

I'm starting to really appreciate the homages at work here. They've gotten the overused horror genres out of the way, and now it's Evil Dead lite.

....Boo should totally start calling the hamster Minsc.

[The Glyphstone]

Wait till we get to the Sleepy Hollow spoof in Act 3. Now that level is entertaining.

[smuchmuch]

So ah, I suppose it's apropriate than a LP about ghosts should feel dead but... *dramatic music* is it really ?

[Demon 997]

I certainly hope not.

[Domochevsky]

Well, it's not like he went into this with all that much motivation to begin with... >_>

[Coidzor]

Aww, you guys got my hopes up that there was a new update.

[The Glyphstone]

Time flows differently in the realms of the dead. Indeed, my motivation is low still, and isn't helped by how little audience participation I can offer - but I do have Deadfellas screenshotted, and will plan on an update this weekend.

[Coidzor]

Yay! The ones you've posted have been enjoyable reads, so I hope you find some motivation or a game you can get properly motivated for as I'd like to see more of your stuff.

[ThePhantom]

Okay, we continue to wait for the next one.

[The Glyphstone]

Assignment 5: Deadfellas


Weird how time flies in the underworld. I spend almost month on vacation in Elysium to try and forget about seeing that Darkling, and when I finally come back to work, it's been barely a day in mortal reckoning. Still, feeling a lot better, and this new assignment looks like it might actually be somewhat less-than-torturous. Seems word of the bodies I 'unearthed' in Gravenville Manor have spread all across the city, including into the ears of the local Mafia family and its Don, Julius Bartholomew. Don Bartholomew was quick to deny any involvement in the suspected murders, and in response to rumors that the dead people might be coming back for revenge, proudly declared that "de're ain't no such ting as ghosts!".

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas1.jpg

Whoops. Big mistake there, buddy. You can do all you want with your little crime family, it helps maintain the local resonance levels. But denying our existence - that's a challenge to our reputation, a stain on our honor. The Council was upset at this, and they were sending me to "make the good Don a horror he can't refuse". Comedians, all of them. I'm breathless with laughter...wait, I don't breathe. Never mind.

At least invoking....it got me enough credit for a promotion (and pay raise), with a few more haunters added to my stable. Along with Static, Lucky, Weatherwitch, and Wavemaster, I snagged two of the newbies for some 'field training':
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_quiver.jpg
"Y...yeah...I'm...um....Quiver. Can...can I just, watch? Mortals are...really sc-sc-scary. They t-t-terrify me, really."
Please, spare me the irony.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Ghosts/haunter_buck.jpg
And a spectral hound? I don't suppose you can talk?
"Woof. Bark bark. Growl."
Didn't think so. As long as you still remember how to fetch.

Seems the Don was camping out on his private yacht in the harbor, with a bunch of his favored cronies. That was fine by mine, but I hoped the mobsters remembered how to swim, or else they'd be sleeping with the fishes tonight.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas2.jpg

The Don himself was strolling about, cool as a cucumber, and with less supernatural belief than the International Atheist Society convention hall right before it was struck by a dozen lightning bolts (in broad daylight from a sunny, cloudless sky). It was going to be a lot of work to turn him into a believer.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas3.jpg
Buck, chase!
"Bark bark woof grrrrr!"

Buck was on the hunt, stalking the skeptical Don as best he could - unfortunately, Bartholomew just gave the ratty stray an offhand kick and turned to make himself a sandwich, failing to notice his foot go through Buck's side. Eventually one or the other would figure out it wasn't working, and in the meantime, I went to prowl in search of bound spirits. This being a mob chief's private boat, I found them all over the place.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas4.jpg
Down in the hull, yet another elemental – not what you’d expect in a mob boat - was tangled up inside the bilge pump. Considering how well the last one had worked, I was almost tempted to give this guy a pass, but changed my mind.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas5.jpg
”I am known as Wavemaster. The seas were my domain for eons, and I granted mortal ships passage or sent them to the briny deeps at my whim. Now, though, I am bound up within this vessel’s crude machinery – set it to work and let the water flow, pump me free of this iron tank so that I may rie the currents again.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas6.jpg
In the Don’s bedroom, I found a reporter snooping around. Well, chained to an urn, more accurately.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas7.jpg
”Can you believe the luck? There I was, trying to get a close-up shot of the Don for the exclusive that’d get me an editor slot at last. But his goons were everywhere, so I hid inside the coffin…between me and the Don’s mother, it was a bit cramped. Being a closed-casket viewing, chilling out there seemed safe enough, right up until they threw the whole thing into the incinerator! Now the Don thinks I’m what’s left of his old lady, sealed into this damn urn. Be a sport and bust it open, would you?”
In a minute.

A mobster with a machine gun? Now we’re talking. More accurately, you’re talking. Spill the means, Scarface. You accidentally shoot the Don’t pet bird with that Tommy gun of yours?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas9.jpg



I guess that’s it. Time to start work on…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas10.jpg
[color=maroon]”Hey, you forgot me over here?”
No, I was ignoring you. But fine, make your pitch.

”Well, I wath the Don’s prized pianitht, thee. He loved to hear me tickle the ivorieth. Exthept one day, I muthta played the wrong tune, cauth I went and got mythelf rubbed out. I can’t remember the retht of the thong, thince he killed me in the middle – jutht help me finith it and I can go do thomething more interethting.”
I’ll see what I can do.

Meanwhile, Buck was merrily chasing the Don all over the ship, making him very annoyed but still failing to noticeably convince him that he was being haunted.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas11.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas12.jpg

His cronies, on the other hand, were already on edge, and a lot easier to convince. Between Raindancer causing all the taps to spontaneously flood, Static shorting out every electrical gadget in sight, and Quiver…well, going into hysterics…the entire ship was thrown into chaos before too long.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas13.jpg

One of the mortals ended up going downstairs, and found himself knee-deep in bilge water from Wavemaster’s futile thrashings inside the tank. So he started up the pumps.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas14.jpg

Freeeeeeedom……

No so fast, friend. You’ve got control over all sorts of weather, don’t you?
”Of course, I am a weather-spirit. What do you require?”
Some nice, cozy, indoor hail. The big golf-ball sized kind. In fact, throw up a full-sized storm…right in Don Bartholomew’s bedroom.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas15.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas16.jpg

With Buck still nipping at the Don’s ankles and spreading fleas everywhere, poor Julius was definitely getting a bit wound up. He just couldn’t get rid of the stray, even after emptying his handgun in its direction, and being spontaneously pelted with hail while relaxing on his bed didn’t help in the least.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas17.jpg

Well, it helped Flash, at least. Free of the urn, she latched on to the Don instead, and began whispering ‘exclusives’ into his ear.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas18.jpg

Meanwhile, another enforcer had gone upstairs to calm his nerves by losing at roulette. Me and Lucky had a surprise in store for him, though…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas19.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas20.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas21.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas22.jpg

And…jackpot! Eddie the croupier flipped out, apparently convinced the Don was going to have him killed for losing all that money. He might be right under other circumstances, but to play it safe, he jumped over the side and started swimming for ‘safety’. Hehe, safety.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas23.jpg

As for the crazed piano player, it turned out the cook was humming a tune under her breath as she hid in a stateroom from the craziness that was spoiling her soup and collapsing her soufflés.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas24.jpg

Some convenient hypnosis to lure her near the piano..

”Yeth! That’th it! Thankth tho much, thir!”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas25.jpg

Which left only the Don, now thoroughly creeped by the insane whispers following him around to accompany the eternally persistent dog.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas26.jpg

No, Don Bartholomew, you can’t go out to sea to escape the haunting. They’ll follow you everywhere…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Deadfellas27.jpg

That’s right, cower! Enjoy your straitjacket, and dream of the day that you disrespected the dead!

[Octopus Jack]

Yay update :smallbiggrin: and another awesome one at that.

[Starbuck_II]

Hmm, the regular boo ghosts always seem lackluster.

The themed ones seem better.

i liked the update.

[ThePhantom]

*Clap*

yes, another update, with a good use of ghosts and story.

[The Glyphstone]

Hmm, the regular boo ghosts always seem lackluster.

The themed ones seem better.

i liked the update.

My problem is that I'm running out of personality gimmicks to give ghosts.

If you mean 'regular boo ghosts', you mean the Spooks like Boo and Quiver?

[Demon 997]

Yay! Another update. Amusing as ever.

[Starbuck_II]

My problem is that I'm running out of personality gimmicks to give ghosts.

If you mean 'regular boo ghosts', you mean the Spooks like Boo and Quiver?

Yes, Boo/Quiver. They seem to have less zest/personality compared to even the others. I liked Boo more than Quiver though.

[The Glyphstone]

Yes, Boo/Quiver. They seem to have less zest/personality compared to even the others. I liked Boo more than Quiver though.

Well, Quiver's just a rather useless ghost all around. His power suite is almost entirely things that build belief or insanity in small amounts, except for Insane Invitation (the lure power seen to draw the cook near the piano). Insanity is just another way to eliminate mortals instead of scaring them off the map, but worth higher points, and Belief is easy to build by using normal scaring powers, which build Terror at the same time. You won't be seeing Quiver again in the LP unless I need an Inside-fetter ghost with Insane Invitation. Wendel (the nerd from Weird Seance) is also a Spook-class, and he's even worse than Quiver, having only Belief powers.

Boo is good mainly because he's cheap on Plasm (what I've been calling Resonance, the total-in game energy to allocate to ghost powers), and can be bound to any interior location.

[Coidzor]

Well, that was fun. :smallbiggrin:

[ThePhantom]

Sir, can this continue?

[The Glyphstone]

I'd honestly completely forgotten about it, mainly because my laptop with GM was in the repair shop for two weeks. If there's calls for it to continue, though, I will oblige.

[Octopus Jack]

Yes continue...please. This has to be one of my favorite LPs.

[Eldrys]

This is really cool and it would be awesome if it wouldn't die.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Count me too on the wagon of "I don't want this LP to die"

[Demon 997]

I agree, this LP should continue.

[Toric]

Gozer's humiliation should continue, methinks.

[The Glyphstone]

And I know you guys will be disheartened when this isn't an actual update, but progress has been made - I've finished my speedrun of The Unusual Suspects, so I'll be doing my Screenshot run probably this Sunday.

[ThePhantom]

YAY! Its back! It rose from the grave!

[The Glyphstone]

And screenshots screenshotted, so the writeup will come tomorrow. In the meantime, do helpfully vote on which scenario to haunt next:

Facepacks and Broomsticks: The sorority chapter we've been scaring the daylights out of is trying to defend themselves by adding a trio of student witches as pledges in exchange for supernatural wards on the sorority house. Naturally, this sort of defiance needs to be dealt with.

Poultrygeist: Gravenville Manor, where we revealed the murderous granny's victims, was once the site for the Gravenville Poultry Slaughterhouse, killing thousands of chickens whose spirits have coalesced into a gestalt named Hardboiled, who needs living mortals' terror to be free of its shackles.

[Cieyrin]

I vote Poultrygeist, as that just fills me with lulz.

[ThePhantom]

Poultrygeist, more at the house based on asernic and old lace.

[Toric]

I read the first scenario, and thought "Okay, you scare the Charmed Ones. That'll be hard to beat."

Then I read the description for Poultrygeist and immediately thought "ARISE, CHICKEN!"

[The Glyphstone]

Update 6: The Unusual Suspects



In any mortal society, there are two centers of power and influence – those who uphold the law, and those who subvert it. With old Don Bartholomew having mysteriously left town, and the metaphorical (and literal) sharks smelling blood in the water amidst the power vacuum, I’d already eliminated the latter. That left only the former – so off I went to Heck Street Precinct Station, bastion of mortal law and order in Gravenville.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects1.jpg

No new faces this time around to deal with – Buck had proven his effectiveness and tenacity on the yacht, and his ability to roam indiscriminately would be good for hands-off management. An indoor environment would be the perfect place to let Clatterclaws and Boo shine again, and all these modern electronics cluttering up the place would be a dream playground for Static. Tack on Stonewall to bust their pipes and Raindancer to take advantage of the resulting floods, and we had a recipe for terror.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects2.jpg

Aside from the usual riffraff, lowlives, and scum – oh, and some non-police officers as well – there were some familiar faces. The family living in Gravenville Manor had been called in for questioning about the decomposed corpses hidden in their house; standard procedure, probably, but amusing all the same.

They weren’t going anywhere, so time for my routine cruise of the premises. A police station seemed like a good place to find ghosts hanging around, of murdered donuts if nothing else.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects3.jpg

Sure enough, one of the basement storerooms had an old, beat-up electric chair in it, complete with occupant.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects4.jpg

”I swear, Yer Honor, I never meant t’ kill no one. It was an accident, really – all nine of them were accidents. Please don’t send me to th’ chair, Yer Honor, y’all gotta have some mercy on me!”

Rhetorical question to myself: Why are all the ghosts I find either incompetent or insane? At least this one is delusional in a harmless sort of way.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects5.jpg

In the autopsy room, what looked like a dead cop all bound up to the body on the slab…if my guess was correct, hers.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects6.jpg

”Indeed, citizen, and there’s some foreign material in there that doesn’t belong.
I mean bullets, you creep. Bullets from thugs that were waiting for me, as part of a setup. There’s a crooked cop on the force – sniff him out, then bring him to me so I can read him his rights.”
So now I have to actively avoid scaring someone away, who I can’t even identify yet. You’re awfully pushy for a spectre, you know that?

”Comes with the badge, honey. Sure, it’s got a few extra holes in it now, but it’s still mine.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects7.jpg

On the other hand…maybe this would be easier than expected. Right next door, the cop in charge of guarding the evidence room was having a heated argument with one of the detectives. He wanted to examine the evidence for some case he was working on, but the guy at the desk was bored and felt like being a jerk. An authorization from the captain was needed to go into the room by The Book, and Detective Bozo was being just pushy enough that the guard felt like throwing it at him. Suspicious, indeed.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects8.jpg

And over in the holding cells, a couple of petty thieves, one bum, and some old friends, the Alpha Taus. Looked like they’d gone on a drunken bender and gotten themselves locked up overnight…convenient. For me.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects9.jpg

First, time to build some resonance. And who better to call upon than my team of reliable spooks?

”Clatter-click-rustle. Click-click-clatter-rustle.”

”Woof! Bark bark howl! Woof!”

”Boo time for Boo fun! Wheeee!”

Try not to break anything, guys. I’m going to go wrap my head around the concept of Boo being the smartest – or at least the most articulate – member of a haunting squad.

”That two-bit lump of ectoplasm’s barely a spark compared to me, and you know it. This place is full of old wires and clunky machinery, let me loose and I’ll really give them a shock to remember.”

Don’t worry, I hadn’t forgotten you.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects10.jpg

Y2K this, you pudgy lumps. And speaking of lumps – Stonewall, tie yourself to that plant there and shake this place up a bit.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects11.jpg

”As you command. Stonewall will drag this hill of clay and metal down brick by…what…who are…”
Stonewall disappeared, and a series of muffled thumps, crunches, and grinding noises came from the now rapidly shaking miniature tree. This wasn’t normal at all. Eventually, it settled, and a completely different elemental materialized.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects12.jpg

”Banzai is loser. Invading spirit has won. Serve Ghost Master now.”
So now they’re conscripting each other? Learn something new every eon, I guess. So, Sumo Boy, show me what you can do.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects13.jpg

”Banzai can do much. Freeze them for ghost dog to chase. Sad they cannot run.”

A combined-arms approach, eh? You might actually be a decent tactician, maybe Sun Tzu marched through your mud at some point. Remarkably effective trick, though, even if Buck didn’t seem too happy at prey who couldn’t run away properly.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects14.jpg

Before I got anything productive done, though, the stickler in the guard room needed to be dealt with.
”Current’s on the way, chief.”
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects15.jpg

Hehehe, keep running, sir. I’m actually doing you a favor, you know – this is more exercise than you’ve gotten in years, and if your heart doesn’t give out, I’ve probably added five years to your life. And taken off ten for stress…details, really.

”Hmph. The tree-spirit may be smarter, but Stonewall is still mightier. Stonewall can shake the earth with great force and power that no tree can match.”

”Banzai disagrees. Tree sinks its roots deep in earth. Then tears it apart.”

”Show Stonewall your power, and maybe you will be right. Till then, you are words.”

”Action it is then. Watch Banzai shake the land’s heart. All will be rubble.”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects16.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects17.jpg

Not bad, Topknot. I’ve seen worse, but you’ve managed to cause some pretty significant damage at least. And let the various hooligans out of their cells into the general mayhem zone.

”You are pathetic. Stonewall coul make mightier earthquakes if he were a pebble-spirit. This is a true earthquake!”

Guys – guys – can we just – forget it. They’re not listening at all. I just hope between the two of them, they won’t manage to bring the building down for real…I’ll probably get reassigned again to deal with all the new ghosts, and the last thing I need is an entire crop of newbies right as I’m getting this bunch whipped into shape.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects18.jpg

How’s that five finger discount working for you now, idiot? Really, trying to loot the pockets of a dead body in a haunted police station has to be up there on the list of ‘Top 100 Stupid Mortal Decisions’, doesn’t it?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects19.jpg

Buck continues to menace anyone who tries to catch their breath outside…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects20.jpg

And our old friend the detective is sneaking back into the evidence room – now what’s he up to?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects21.jpg

Why, he’s stealing money, apparently. A real fence-sitter, trying to play both sides of the law at the same time. And we all know what fence-sitting gets you…a big, solid wooden fence rail right up in your unmentionables, which I’m told is quite painful.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects22.jpg

Some people just don’t learn, do they? Being staggering drunk makes bizarre manifestations funny, I guess – being a petty thief doesn’t, and this time it was too much for him. Sweet dreams.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects23.jpg

Speaking of drunks, the Alpha Taus had concluded that their jail cell was the safest place in the building right now, even with the power outages. Of course, they were right, so my number one priority became convincing them otherwise. It’ll cost me resonance to pull my best spooks down here into the basement, but frat boys shouldn’t be hard to terrify. What’s this, though?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects24.jpg

Seems that the crazy professor’s also a ‘guest’ of the cops, after they searched his office and found some unusual accessories. But now he’s free, and meeting with a stranger who’s practically seeping black magic out of her pores.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects25.jpg

Correction, being escorted away by her. That can’t be good at all. A problem for later, though.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects26.jpg

With the two elementals still engaged in their earthquake-measuring contest, anything resembling infrastructure or plumbing was shaken to pieces by this point. That mean busted pipes and water leaking everywhere…coax it in the right direction and….

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects27.jpg

”Ah, th’ sweet smell of freedom! Ah new mah lawyer’d get me tha’ last minute appeal! Now time for me to get mah sweet revenge on them dirty lawmen that locked me up.”

”Excuse me, it’s lawpersons now, if you don’t mind.”
Got a name, Officer?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects28.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects29.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects30.jpg

”Call me Blue Murder, sugar. Excuse me a moment…Hello, Norman. Set me up, did you? I hope the money was worth it, because you won’t need it where you’re going...hey, get back here, I’m just getting started on…looks like I’m unemployed again. You hiring?”

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects31.jpg

With Static and this new Electrospasm wreaking mayhem, the handful of survivors too oblivious, stupid, or drunk (mostly drunk) were easy pickings. I lost track of how many people electrocuted themselves on switches for burst lightbulbs.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Ghost%20Master/Suspects33.jpg

Fittingly, an Alpha Tau was the last ‘survivor’. He’d be having some interesting stories to tell back at the frat house, that’s for certain.

[skb]

errr, I think that's 6, not 7...

[The Glyphstone]

Whoops, fixed.

[ThePhantom]

Nice work, you got a secret ghost.

[Gamerlord]

So THAT is where that stupid fourth ghost was :smallfurious: !

[The Glyphstone]

Third, technically - there's only Electrospasm, Blue Murder, and (secret) Banzai.

Also, from this point on there will be a slight change in narrative style - specifically, rescued ghosts won't necessarily have dialogue or personalities, only if I find them interesting or will be using them in the future. I'm running out of quirks to give them (Banzai's came naturally, but that will be rare), not to mention text colors for their speech.

[skb]

I hate to say this, but I prefer you playing this game to actually playing it myself.

Anyway, have you bought any new spells for your minions, and do you intend to show them off?²

[The Glyphstone]

Oh, I've been buying new powers for my most-used ghosts when I can afford it. Clatterclaws, for example, got Legion the instant I had the budget, and I bought Banzai Swallow. I'm just focusing Gold Plasm expenditure on the ghosts I use most frequently (Buck, Clatterclaws, and Boo notably), since they'll have the highest utility for resources spent.

[D_Lord]

Sorry for the rising of the thread but is this still going?

[The Glyphstone]

I've got a week of vacation and nothing to do...so why not? Let's see what missions I have to pick from.

--------------------------------

Update 7: Poultrygeist

So much for the ‘sleep of the dead’.

Gravenville was in chaos, with both the criminals and law enforcement shattered. Its soil would leak resonance for a century, and I fully intended to cash in a big block of vacation time and rest for at least that long. But does Hector Von Hindenburg, Ghost Master Second Class (which I still resent, by the way) get any relaxation?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry1.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry2.jpg

That was a rhetorical question, since the answer is no. It seemed that my antics in Gravenville Manor had produced some unforeseen consequences. The mansion had been built atop the site of the old Gravenville Poultry Slaughterhouse, including the mass chicken burial ground in its backyard.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry3.jpg

With the amount of resonance I had created by exposing the mansion’s murders, it had seeped into the ground and awoken the anguished, vengeful spirit of…..ten thousand chickens. I’m not kidding. A gestalt entity that the Council had codenamed “Hardboiled” had spontaneously manifested in the Manor, attaching itself to the little Hutz girl and generally making the family’s life unpleasant with flying objects, blood leaking out of the walls, and typical poltergeist phenomena.

Snapping up newly manifested spirits was a once-in-an-afterlife-time opportunity for any haunter; I guess I should be flattered that the Council gave the opportunity to me instead of some lowly upstart that they despise and mock at every opportunity.

The assignment was fairly simple – scare every living mortal out of the house, depriving Hardboiled of anyone to torment. Once bored, its relatively simply consciousness should ‘flock’ into my waiting arms. I knew the layout of the house this time, so I balanced my team between indoor and outdoor haunters. Boo and Clatterclaws would handle the interior rooms, with the delightful double-team of Banzai and Stonewall terrorizing anyone who set foot outdoors. Moonscream and Buck rounded out the squad, as they were more flexible and could roam around more freely on paths and hallways.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry4.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry5.jpg

Boo and Clatterclaws led off, as usual – I had a decent resonance stockpile to start, but I’ve always been a greedy fellow. The poor family was already on edge from their recent trip to the police station, so seeing the same ghosts haunting them at home did little to help the matter.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry6.jpg

I like your T-shirt. “Bite me”?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry7.jpg

You heard the woman, Buck. Bite.

”Rruff ruff grrr!”

Miss Fate-Tempter occupied my exclusive attentions for a while…which turned out to be a mistake. Already terrified and alerted by her screams, the rest of the family had fled downstairs and called in a medium, Beatrice Brown.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry8.jpg

This was surprising, enough for me to pull the entire team into hiding while I contemplated the turn of events. If Gravenville had been shaken up enough to push Beatrice into action, that was good…but it was also bad. The dead knew Beatrice, because she was one of a rare handful of mortal “psychics” who could actually make good on their promises. She was mostly retired now, but still held the occasional séance for pocket change. And she could perform exorcisms, which was the danger – she wasn’t an enemy of the spirit world so much as an annoying neighbor who called at odd hours of the night, but she couldn’t be allowed to threaten the recruitment of Hardboiled.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry9.jpg

Grandma Hutz welcomed her in, and she started around hunting for ghosts. Hardboiled, thankfully, was smart enough to go incognito.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry10.jpg

Beatrice looked for ghosts, and she found them. She found them outside.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry11.jpg

She found them inside.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry12.jpg

She found them upstairs and downstairs. Good dog, Buck!

”Woof!”

The poor woman didn’t have a clue what was opposing her, and for a few minutes I was half-worried she’d have a heart attack and die, leaving me with two spirits to manage. Thankfully, she fled off the property instead, and I turned back to properly terrifying what was left of the Hutz family.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry13.jpg

The mother had decided to retreat to a sanctuary of peace and quiet for some private business. Buck, dutiful as always, decided to help.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry14.jpg

Moonscream took up residence in the main entryway, filling the building with her cacaphonic screams and howls.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry15.jpg

Even the threshold perimeter wasn’t a safe zone anymore, with Stonewall and Banzai roaming free and waiting for anyone to step onto ‘their’ soil.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry16.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry17.jpg

With Moonscream patrolling the paths outside, and Buck persistently stalking whoever his rotted mind felt like chasing, there was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run, except away from the Manor.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry18.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry19.jpg

Sure enough, the instant Hardboiled was deprived of his supply of victims, the collective chicken-host gave one last cluck of bloody carpets before subsiding. A few handfuls of astral birdseed were all it took to make a new friend(s). There I was, ready to finish off the little girl and leave, when HE showed up.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry20.jpg

Lawrence. Murray. One of my old, dear, sadly un-departed friends…I can still feel the burns his proton blaster left on me, and now he was meekly walking right into my clutches? It was like a dream come true! This had to be done properly…savored…I folded the entire haunting team back into astral space and simply…watched. Lawrence wandered around for a bit, and found the little girl who could only tell him about all the scary things that had been happening. It’d have taken an idiot bigger than him not to recognize the ghost signs, but the more he hunted around in vain, the more frustrated he got.

Then, I struck.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry21.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry22.jpg

One after another, my haunters burst from nowhere, from thin air or the walls to attack Lawrence before abruptly vanished as I forcibly recalled them. He could barely aim his proton blaster before they were gone, having nothing to retaliate against.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry23.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry24.jpg

No respite, no mercy, no rest. Everywhere he went, there was something waiting, as the team constantly cycled through to recharge their most potent attacks from the safety of the Astral.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry25.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry26.jpg

I must admit, it was satisfying to see him run gibbering in terror from the house, and soothed a little bit of the pain from those crossed streams.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry27.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p116/ArcherYiZe/Poultry28.jpg

Terrifying Carol-Ann out of her wits, and out of her house, was almost a letdown after that. But I did it, and went home.

[The Glyphstone]

Anyone following this anymore? Facepacks and Broomsticks would be up next, but after that is Phantom of the Operating Room, a massive level that I hate and don't want to have to screenshot unless I have to.

[ThePhantom]

Well, I check on this every once in a while, but if you just want to write it up, you can do that.

[Cieyrin]

Anyone following this anymore? Facepacks and Broomsticks would be up next, but after that is Phantom of the Operating Room, a massive level that I hate and don't want to have to screenshot unless I have to.

I am! Perhaps I should be more vocal in the LPs I follow.

I am a bit confused about the last mission, as it seemed like there were new ghosts to collect but they weren't really mentioned besides the Poultrygeist. Is the bar on the left for more than ghosts? :smallconfused:

[Eldrys]

I'm definitely interested still.

[The Glyphstone]

I am! Perhaps I should be more vocal in the LPs I follow.

I am a bit confused about the last mission, as it seemed like there were new ghosts to collect but they weren't really mentioned besides the Poultrygeist. Is the bar on the left for more than ghosts? :smallconfused:

Okay, that's because the map for Poultrygeist was a retread of the Calamityville Horror, and so for some reason, it 'rebound' Arclight, Static, and Maxine Factor for the scenario (I guess in case I hadn't freed them the first time around). Since I had already gotten all three of them in the LP, and I couldn't justify them randomly choosing to be chained up again, I ignored them and cut camera angles so they never showed in-screen.

[Cieyrin]

Okay, that's because the map for Poultrygeist was a retread of the Calamityville Horror, and so for some reason, it 'rebound' Arclight, Static, and Maxine Factor for the scenario (I guess in case I hadn't freed them the first time around). Since I had already gotten all three of them in the LP, and I couldn't justify them randomly choosing to be chained up again, I ignored them and cut camera angles so they never showed in-screen.

Oh, I see, that makes sense, kinda. It'd've been smarter for the designers if they'd had a flag for that so they weren't rebound but, yeah, that's patch territory at this point...

[The Glyphstone]

Oh, I see, that makes sense, kinda. It'd've been smarter for the designers if they'd had a flag for that so they weren't rebound but, yeah, that's patch territory at this point...

The odd thing is that because you can replay any level you want for a better score or missed ghosts, it's not like leaving one of them behind in Calamityville would have been a problem. Ah well. Time to go mess with some teen witches, I guess.

[Toric]

I'm following this as well. And for Phantom of the Operating Room I'd certainly settle for a few screenshots of the layout of the place followed by text descriptions of what happens where and to who. I wouldn't mind you taking certain liberties on what happened during the "off-camera" segments if you so chose.