I had many a fun weekend in school playing the Ghostbusters Role Playing Game. It was simple, it could be taught to anyone in minutes, and of course, it was Ghostbusters. So it was automatically fun.
Sadly, West End Games went under last year, so should another movie ever get made, it remains to be seen if anyone will produce more materials for the game.
The GB RPG is a great item for both Ghostbusters collectors and role-playing fans.

ADDENDUM - 04/17/00
I've been thinking a lot about the Ghostbusters RPG (roleplaying game) lately. Since I certainly don't have time to dig up my copies of the game, I thought I'd do a little digging on the web (mmmm. Instant gratification), and happily I discovered a number of links I hadn't seen before. The first is Dead 7's take on the making of ghost opponents for the game. Then there's Rik Kershaw-Moore's two game campaigns and Michael Bauser's mondo page of NPCs, monsters, and info. Bauser's site lead me to an archive of The Chaosium Digest, which once published an adventure in three parts ( one and two and three) by Chris Hodgson, called The Ooze Brothers (eh! get it?). And rounding out the find are two reviews of the game (one and two) at rpg.net (check out my list of the game sets, expansions, and companion adventures here.
Game on!

GHOSTBUSTERS (first edition)

TYPE: Box Set

INCLUDES: A Training Manual for players, an Operations Manual for Ghostmasters, 4 handouts (sample business forms, a 3-page basic rules sheet, one franchise document, and a last will and testament), 5 regular dice, The Ghost Die, 48 small equipment cards, and 12 character cards (6 Ghostbusters and 6 blanks).

A really simple game to pick up, this box set also came with a handful of small adventures for players to try.

GHOST TOASTIES

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Scott Haring

TYPE: Adventure

INCLUDES: The cover is actually a Ghostmaster screen with tables, and info, and ghost categories.

Ghosts have taken over the cereal isle at the super market. As you can tell, the Ghostbusters Role Playing Game isn't a Dungeons and Dragons, dark kind of game.

HOT RODS OF THE GODS

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Daniel Greenberg

TYPE: Adventure

INCLUDES: The cover doubles as a screen and map of New York for the crazy flying car race that takes place during the game. There are also little car markers, so it's kind of like GB meets Car Wars.

Ghosts have taken over the cereal isle at the super market. As you can tell, the Ghostbusters Role Playing Game isn't a Dungeons and Dragons, dark kind of game.

SCARED STIFFS

AUTHOR/EDITOR: John M. Ford and Bill Slavicsek

TYPE: Adventure

The Ghostbusters are out to protect the ghosts at a haunted ski-lodge from another paranormal investigations and eliminations business. This adventure has cameo appearances by the movie Ghostbusters and Louis Tully.

GHOSTBUSTERS INTERNATIONAL (revised edition rules)

TYPE: Boxed Set

INCLUDES: A Training Manual for players, an Operations Manual for Ghostmasters, reprints of most of the documents from the first box set, 5 regular dice, and The Ghost Die.

The second edition of the game is very much like the first. The rules are cleaned up somewhat and some rules are added so that players can have magic powers (making it ideal for anyone wanting to play along the lines of the two cartoon series).

NOTE: You don't need the first edition to play the second edition, and the first edition adventure companions can be used just fine with the second edition.

GHOSTBUSTERS II: THE ADVENTURE

AUTHOR/EDITOR: C.G. Tramontana

TYPE: Adventure

INCLUDES: The cover is another Ghostmaster screen with the basics of the revised rules on it.

An odd little adventure in that you play not the Ghostbusters from the movie, but a new franchise that operates nearby. The idea is that around the montage scene in the second movie, which shows the boys being successful again, now franchises are opened. As one of these new bustin businesses, the players are sent on slime related calls. Somehow, they're climactic finish to the game is linked to and partially responsible for the success of the climactic finish in the second movie. Like I said, odd.

APOKERMIS NOW!

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Bill Slavicsek with Paul Balsamo

TYPE: Adventure

It's the end of the world, again, and it's up to the Ghostbusters to set things right. The only thing stopped them is thousands of years of gods, deities, evil spirits, and ancient magic. Have fun.

PUMPKIN PATCH PANIC

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Grant Boucher

TYPE: Adventure

Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin references abound in this Halloween adventure. Actually it's a lot like The Great Pumpkin. Only everything is out to get the Ghostbusters. Which is typical.

LURID TALES OF DOOM!

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Jonatha Ariadne Caspian

TYPE: Adventure

What's the number one thing the Ghostbusters are always on the look-out for? No, ghosts is in fact the number two thing. The number one thing is MONEY, and the busters are planning to get it by acting as consultants for a sleazy, supermarket tabloid. Who knew that they aliens, ghosts, demons, and mutants that they report on actually exist?

TOBIN'S SPIRIT GUIDE

AUTHOR/EDITOR: Kim Mohan

TYPE: Supplement

I always hoped that there would also be a Spate's Catalog, but one was never made. But at least there was Tobin's. Tobin's is basically a collection of ghosts, with their powers and skills laid out, for use in Ghostmaster made adventures. The whole thing was presented as if it were a book that was a hundred years old.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I'd like to reference Michael Bauser's page. Because of his page I was able to find a store that had a copy of the one GB RPG companion I was missing. His is also the only GB RPG page on the web, with lots of characters, ghosts, and adventures for Ghostmasters to use on their players.

http://web.superb.net/islander/rpgs/gb/index.html

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