TEXT: 1. Introduction .....................5
  About the Game ............................................................6
  Design Notes ................................................................6
  The World of InSpectres .................................................7
  2. Creating your Agent .........8
  Character Guidelines .......................................................9
  Agent Skills ................................................................10
  Academics ..............................................................10
  Athletics ................................................................10
  Technology .............................................................10
  Contact ..................................................................10
  Point Distribution ........................................................11
  Talents .......................................................................11
  Character Improvement ................................................11
  Cool Dice ....................................................................12
  Playing Supernatural Characters .....................................12
  Sidebar: Characters: Normal is Better ..............................13
  Agent Creation Summary ...............................................13
  3. Creating the Franchise ....14
  Sidebar: Who makes the Technology die roll? ...................15
  Franchise Cards ...........................................................16
  Library Card ............................................................16
  Gym Card ...............................................................16
  Credit Card .............................................................16
  Franchise Dice .............................................................16
  The Bank ....................................................................17
  Job Descriptions ..........................................................17
  Chief Executive Officer .............................................17
  Chief Technical Officer ..............................................19
  Chief Financial Officer ..............................................19
  Sidebar: Limited Technology ..........................................18
  Franchise Creation Summary ..........................................20
  Table of Contents
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to.
  EMPLOYEE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
  FOR GOOD CONSIDERATION, and in consideration of being employed by
  ___InSpectres__ (Company), the undersigned employee hereby agrees and
  acknowledges:
  1. That during the course of my employ there may be disclosed to me certain
  trade secrets of the Company; said trade secrets consisting but not necessarily
  limited to:
  (a) Technical information: Methods, processes, formulae, compositions,
  systems, techniques, inventions, machines, computer programs and
  research projects.
  (b) Business information: Customer lists, pricing data, sources of supply,
  financial data and marketing, production, or merchandising systems
  or plans.
  2. I agree that I shall not during, or at any time after the termination of my
  employment with the Company, use for myself or others, or disclose or divulge to
  others including future employees, any trade secrets, confidential information, or
  any other proprietary data of the Company in violation of this agreement.
  3. That upon the termination of my employment from the Company:
  (a) I shall return to the Company all documents and property of the
  Company, including but not necessarily limited to: drawings, blue-
  prints, reports, manuals, correspondence, customer lists, computer
  programs, and all other materials and all copies thereof relating in
  any way to the Company's business, or in any way obtained by me
  during the course of employ. I further agree that I shall not retain
  copies, notes or abstracts of the foregoing.
  (b) The Company may notify any future or prospective employer or third
  party of the existence of this agreement, and shall be entitled to full
  injunctive relief for any breach.
  (c) This agreement shall be binding upon me and my personal represen-
  tatives and successors in interest, and shall inure to the benefit of the
  Company, its successors and assigns.
  Signed this _____ day of ____________________, 20____.
  ______________________________       _______________________________
  Company
  Employee
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Non-Disclosure Agreement
  
  4. Game Mechanics.............21
  Skill Roll Chart............................................................ 22
  Sample Skill Rolls ........................................................19
  Roll Academics to… ................................................23
  Roll Athletics to… ..................................................23
  Roll Technology to… ...............................................23
  Roll Contact to… ....................................................23
  Earning Franchise Dice .................................................24
  Sidebar: Reduced Franchise Die Goals .............................24
  Requirements ..............................................................25
  ‘Taking 4’ ...................................................................26
  Augmenting Skill Rolls .................................................26
  Rolling Bank dice ........................................................27
  Bank Roll Chart .......................................................27
  Teamwork ...................................................................28
  5. Stress ..........................30
  Stress Roll Chart ..........................................................31
  Stress Penalties ...........................................................28
  Suffer an Academics penalty? ....................................32
  Lost some Athletics dice? .........................................32
  Low on Technology?  ...............................................32
  Having problems with Contact? .................................32
  Sample Stress Rolls Chart...............................................33
  Cool Dice ....................................................................34
  Sidebar: When to call for Stress Rolls? ............................34
  6. Weird Agents .................36
  The Good News ...........................................................36
  The Bad News .............................................................37
  Turning Weird .............................................................37
  Sample Weird agents ....................................................38
  Sidebar: A Random Star Trek Reference ...........................38
  Vampire .....................................................................39
  Werewolf ....................................................................40
  Ghost ........................................................................41
  Zombie ......................................................................42
  Psychic ......................................................................43
  Sorcerer .....................................................................44
  Demon .......................................................................45
  Table of Contents
  2
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Card sheet
  Use this page to keep track of your card dice. Just put the
  appropriate number of six-sided dice on each Card and on the
  Bank deposit slip.
  You are free to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Download a printable PDF version of this sheet at:
  www.inspectres.com
  79
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Card Sheet
  
  Supernatural Hero ........................................................46
  7. Play Structure ...............47
  Starting Interviews ......................................................47
  Employee Screening  ................................................48
  Investor Meeting .....................................................48
  Media Interview ......................................................48
  Confessionals ..............................................................48
  Sidebar: ‘The Chair’ ......................................................51
  Guidelines for Confessionals ......................................51
  Private Lives ...........................................................51
  Creating Non-player Characters ......................................52
  Jobs ..........................................................................52
  Getting the Call .......................................................53
  Client Roll Chart ......................................................54
  Research & Investigation ..........................................55
  Suiting Up ..............................................................56
  Fieldwork ...............................................................57
  Clean Up ................................................................57
  Bankruptcy & Debt ..................................................58
  Death & Dismemberment ..........................................59
  Vacation ................................................................59
  Character Continuity ....................................................60
  InSpectres: the Series ..................................................61
  Sidebar: One-shot vs. Series ...........................................62
  8. Final Words....................63
  Have Fun ....................................................................64
  Credits & Kudos ...........................................................65
  The Essential InSpectres InSpirado List ...........................65
  Bonus Materials on the Web ..........................................66
  Copyright Info ............................................................66
  i. Glossary of Terms.....................67
  Skills .........................................................................67
  Academics ..............................................................67
  Athletics ................................................................67
  Contact ..................................................................67
  Technology ..............................................................67
  Die Pools ....................................................................68
  Bank dice ...............................................................68
  3
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Table of Contents
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  ID Badge
  You are free to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Download a printable PDF version of this sheet at:
  www.inspectres.com
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  78
  ID Badge
  
  Card Dice ...............................................................68
  Cool dice ................................................................68
  Franchise Dice .........................................................69
  Skill Dice ................................................................69
  Stress Dice .............................................................69
  Talent Dice .............................................................69
  Game Mechanics ..........................................................70
  Augmenting ............................................................70
  Bank Rolls ..............................................................70
  Requirements ..........................................................70
  Skill Rolls ...............................................................70
  Stress Penalties .......................................................71
  Stress Rolls .............................................................71
  ‘Taking 4’ ...............................................................71
  Teamwork ...............................................................71
  Play Structure .............................................................71
  Confessionals ..............................................................72
  Characteristics ............................................................72
  The Job ......................................................................72
  ii. Reference Charts .....................74
  Skill Roll Chart ............................................................74
  Stress Roll Chart ..........................................................74
  Bank Roll Chart ...........................................................75
  Client Roll Chart ..........................................................75
  Character sheet ...........................................................76
  Franchise sheet ...........................................................77
  ID Badge ....................................................................78
  Dice rolling sheet ........................................................79
  NDA ...........................................................................80
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Table of Contents
  4
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Franchise sheet
  You are free to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Download a printable PDF version of this sheet at:
  www.inspectres.com
  77
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Franchise Sheet
  
  I
  nSpectres is a paranormal investigation and elimination
  service based in the Bay Area of California, dedicated to
  safeguarding the human race from extra-dimensional haz-
  ards and supernatural manifestations. Our skilled agents are
  handpicked for their physical prowess, academic achievement
  and technical aptitude. They are the elite – the best of the
  best.
  So if it’s ghosts or goblins, spooks, bogies or bumps in the
  night, you can rest easy knowing that our trained staff is on
  the case.
  InSpectres: Because it’s not just a vampiric infestation,
  it’s your vampiric infestation!
  1. Introduction
  Character Sheet
  You are free to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Download a printable PDF version of this sheet at:
  www.inspectres.com
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  76
  Character Sheet
  
  About the Game
  InSpectres is a fast, simple and fun game that mixes horror and
  comedy in a world of start-up culture and supernatural fright-
  fests. The setting is loosely defined, allowing you the freedom to
  fill in the blanks however you see fit. The mechanics are designed
  with player control in mind, as well as a few bells and whistles to
  turn the whole player-GM relationship on its head. Early incarna-
  tions have been received quite well, garnering a positive review on
  The Forge (an indie-gaming website) and inspiring several differ-
  ent interpretations of the rules. These “interpretations” (I call ’em
  mini-supplements) have taken the basic game into many different
  directions, from investigative news teams to haunted hospitals,
  elite-military units to turn of the century explorer’s clubs.
  InSpectres is loosely based on the films Ghostbusters and
  Ghostbusters II (which, frankly, wasn’t great) and “reality TV
  shows” like COPS and the Real World. Heavy doses of inspiration
  also come from my personal experiences as a software developer
  and employee of two Internet companies.
  Design Notes
  Unlike a lot of games out there, InSpectres didn’t start as an
  idea for a cool setting or anything like that. What I wanted to do
  was try designing a game that “fixed” some problems I saw in
  similar games that dealt with investigation (no names, please).
  That problem is what I call the “murder mystery” plot. Basically,
  it goes like this: the players stumble across a mystery of some
  sort. The GM then provides clues (in the form of helpful or not-
  so-helpful NPCs, scraps of forensic information or first-hand
  knowledge of the event). If the players are smart, they’ll figure
  it out. If not, then the GM has to guide them along until they do
  figure it out. In effect, it becomes an exercise for the GM in
  which the players are guided down a pre-built track and react to
  stuff that pops up along the way (not unlike a funhouse ride).
  In the end, the game succeeds or fails on the merits of the GM
  running that game.
  What this game does is to allow the GM to set up the events,
  but then have the players (through their characters) decide what
  is really going on. The GM then reacts to the players and what
  they see as intriguing or exciting elements of the story.
  The other thing I wanted to do was to set up a play structure
  (the series of events that occurs in each game session). Using
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  About the Game
  6
  Appendices
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 1
  Introduction
  Reference Charts
  Appendix II
  Reference
  Charts
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Bank Roll Chart
  6
  Compounded Interest!  Return this die and add a bonus
  die to the Bank.
  5
  Interest! Return this die to the Bank.
  4
  Account Withdrawal! No Benefit or Penalty! Lose this die.
  3
  Account Withdrawal! No Benefit or Penalty! Lose this die.
  2
  Service Charge! Lose this die and an additional Bank die, 
  if possible.
  1
  Account Overrun! Ignore all other results and lose all dice 
  in Bank.
  Client Roll Chart
  Roll 2 six-sided dice or choose whatever seems most interesting.
  Roll
  Personality
  Client
  Occurrence
  Location
  2
  Horny 
  Ghost/Monster Transformation 
  Underground 
  (sewers / subway)
  3
  Bored 
  Police Officer
  Appearance
  In the water
  4
  Skeptical
  Student
  Bizarre phenomena Some remote area
  5
  Angry
  City Worker
  Abnormal weather A restaurant
  6
  Impatient
  Storekeeper
  Odd Smell
  Municipal building
  7
  Weird
  Housewife
  Weird Sound
  Apartment building
  8
  Frantic
  Gov’t Official
  Strange Light
  Store / office
  9
  Terrified
  Businessman
  Haunting
  Residential area
  10
  Calm
  Hospital Worker Destruction
  Public park or zoo
  11
  Enthusiastic
  Motorist
  Infestation
  In a sketchy 
  neighborhood
  12
  Blasé
  Aristocrat
  Abduction
  Somewhere in a
  parallel dimension
  75
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  
  this play structure as a guide, the GM and players know what is
  expected of them at various stages of the game. The fun, of
  course, comes from doing stuff in each stage.
  The World of InSpectres
  InSpectres takes place in a modern,
  metropolitan setting where ghosts, demons
  and things that go bump in the night are
  real, documented and seen as sources of
  annoyance and embarrassment (rather
  than just the usual standards of fear, confu-
  sion and revulsion). 
  In order to deal with the rising occur-
  rences of supernatural infestations, a small
  start-up called InSpectres, Inc. was founded by a team of para-
  psychologists, ghost hunters and tech-heads looking for a way to
  make money without doing the normal 9-5 grind. Their service is
  designed to enable clients to confidentially contact the
  InSpectres and have their supernatural infestations investigated
  and (hopefully) eliminated.
  Of course, you can set your game anywhere you want … rural
  towns and foreign countries have their share of weird problems,
  maybe even more than the Big City and its suburbs. The InSpectres
  franchise creation rules enable you to run anything from a low-rent
  start-up to an established business (or even the Main Office itself!).
  Do you want to delve into a world of second-hand furniture, irate
  creditors and carryout? Or would you rather explore a bustling
  enterprise and all the bureaucracy and red tape that comes with it?
  Ultimately, the “World of InSpectres” is just a big sandbox in
  which to play. There are no hard, fast rules or cordoned-off areas
  marked “DO NOT CHANGE!” The heart and soul of the game is its
  premise and play structure … everything else is just an excuse
  to make a mess and have fun.
  There’s lots of room in this game for your own ideas. As I said ear-
  lier, some people have gone hog-wild with their own custom-built
  settings. So can you! Just take into account how the game works
  and start from there. The game is not just about colorful characters
  that investigate supernatural threats. It’s also about players that get
  to decide the How and What and Why of the game, rather than just
  relying on the skill and imagination of one person: the Game Master. 
  This is collaborative storytelling without a net.
  7
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  The World of InSpectres
  Chapter 1
  Introduction
  Appendices
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  ii. Reference Charts
  The following charts are used throughout InSpectres and are
  repeated here for your convenient reference.
  Skill Roll Chart
  6
  Amazing! Describe the result and gain 2 franchise dice.
  5
  Good. Describe the result and gain a franchise die.
  4
  Fair. Describe the mostly positive result of your action 
  but you must also include a negative or humorous effect.
  3
  Not Great. The GM decides your fate but you may be given
  a chance to suggest a single positive (albeit minor) effect.
  2
  Bad. The GM decides your fate or you may suggest 
  something suitably negative.
  1
  Terrible! The GM gets to hose you with a truly dire 
  situation resulting from your incompetence.
  Stress Roll Chart
  6
  Too Cool for School. You gain a point of Cool and 
  suffer no real stress.
  5
  Blasé. No effects…you just don’t care.
  4
  Annoyed. Suffer a 1-die penalty to your next skill roll 
  (no matter where or when you perform it).
  3
  Stressed. Lose a die from an appropriate skill.
  2
  Frazzled. Lose two dice from an appropriate skill (or 
  one die from two skills) 
  1
  Complete and total nuclear meltdown. Lose your Cool 
  (if you have any) and lose a number of skill dice equal 
  to the number of stress dice rolled.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  74
  Reference Charts
  Appendix II. Reference Charts
  
  W
  hat kind of person quits their day-job in order to
  take up the rather odd career of professional
  ghost hunting? Well, all kinds of people, really …
  and that’s where you come in. InSpectres agents come from all
  backgrounds, all walks of life. Amateur para-psychologists, occult
  scholars, ex-military or law enforcement, tech-heads, used car
  salesmen, pro football players and ex-strippers have all found
  their place in the InSpectres family.
  But no matter what their background, you should come up
  with a reasonable explanation why your characters would want
  to undertake such a radical career change. 
  Like the sign says, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here
  … but it helps.”
  2. Creating your Agent
  • Getting the Call (contact client and learn about the
  upcoming job) 
  • Research/Investigation (research the problem and/or
  investigate the location and come up with a possible,
  plausible explanation)
  • Suiting Up (procure the necessary equipment to deal
  with the problem)
  • Fieldwork (travel to the scene and deal with the problem) 
  • Clean Up (transfer franchise dice to Cards or to the Bank)
  • Vacation (spend dice to remove your agent’s stress
  penalties)
  73
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Glossary: The Job
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  
  Character Guidelines
  First, come up with a name and a basic personality for your
  character. It helps to also come up with his or her former occu-
  pation (even if said occupation is “couch potato”). As far as
  quirkiness and mental instability, well, weirdoes are fine. Just
  remember a few guidelines:
  If your character is so “out there” that he or she wouldn’t get
  hired in the first place, then you should probably tone it down a
  bit or come up with a new concept. InSpectres is a business, first
  and foremost, and that twitchy gun nut with the tattoos might
  not be conducive to a stable work environment. Of course, the
  smaller the franchise, the more leeway they’re willing to give to
  possible new hires.
  If your character is a loner, argumentative or completely unre-
  liable, he won’t last long in the close-knit team structure of the
  franchise. You don’t have to get along with everyone, but you can’t
  be a dickhead and expect to be hired or stay employed.
  Lastly, your character needs to have some special skills or field of
  expertise that the InSpectres would find attractive. This doesn’t
  mean that you have to be some whiz-kid scientist or occult librar-
  ian to get the job. It just means that your character should have
  something that he’s really good at – this could be anything from
  research to physical prowess to a pleasant speaking voice. Which
  brings us to skills…
  9
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Character Guidelines
  Chapter 2
  Creating
  your Agent
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  way, everyone is moving in the same direction and emphasis can
  be placed on the moment, rather than trying to cajole the story
  into a cohesive narrative.
  Confessionals
  Confessionals are opportunities for players to temporarily sus-
  pend the game and have their characters speak directly to the
  other players. During a Confessional, the player gets a few min-
  utes to comment on the game thus far, or to jump backward or
  forward in time to introduce new plot elements, complications or
  solutions. The term and the technique stem from “Reality Shows”
  where one of the participants is sequestered in a private location
  with a camera and shares his or her thoughts on what has tran-
  spired in the past (and to speculate on what may happen in the
  future).
  The “rules” for Confessionals are as follows:
  • Address the other players as if they were watching the
  Confessional on television.
  • Confessionals should always add; never negate or
  detract from the game.
  • Only one player can give a Confessional per scene.
  • Each player can only give and receive one characteristic
  per game.
  Characteristics
  Characteristics are personality traits given to characters dur-
  ing a Confessional. Although they don’t have to be incorporated
  into the personality of the character, there is an incentive for
  doing so (in the form of a bonus of one franchise die at the end
  of the game session). Characteristics are fairly fluid and are like-
  ly to change from one game to the next. Of course, there’s no rea-
  son why the same characteristic can’t be used for the same char-
  acter each session.
  The Job
  The Job refers to an actual problem that the InSpectres are hired
  to investigate and solve. This happens in several distinct phases:
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  72
  Glossary: Confessionals
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  
  Agent Skills
  Okay, so you have your basic character concept in mind. Now
  you need to assign skill points to that character to flesh him or
  her out in terms of the game mechanics.
  There are four skills in this game, each covering a field of
  expertise:
  Academics
  Academics is the skill you’ll use when researching information
  (either online or in printed texts), coming up with theories,
  remembering facts and figures and both identifying and solving
  problems. Characters with a high Academics score are walking
  databases of useful information. Characters with low Academics
  are walking index cards of useful information. Single index cards,
  I might add.
  Athletics
  If the Academics skill represents your character’s brains, then
  brawn is measured by the Athletics skill. Anything physical (run-
  ning, swimming, hiding, climbing and yes…fighting) is covered by
  Athletics. Firing weapons, such as crossbows or pistols, is also cov-
  ered by this skill. Characters with a high Athletics score are excel-
  lent physical specimens, superior marksmen and able fighters.
  Characters with low Athletics are out-of-shape, scrawny, over-
  weight or sickly.
  Technology
  The exception to this rule is when the firearm is some
  whacked-out scientific device. In this case, you’ll use the third
  skill: Technology, used to operate, repair or build equipment.
  Technology is also used whenever you want to buy (or have
  access) to equipment – anything from a computer to a shark
  cage. Characters with a high Technology score are elite hackers,
  expert inventors and hi-tech pack rats. Characters with low
  Technology scores have trouble setting the clock on their VCR.
  Contact
  The fourth and last skill is called Contact. Contact is your
  character’s ability to talk to people…normal people. Potential
  clients, anxious investors, bored housewives, litigious lawyers,
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Agent Skills
  10
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 2
  Creating
  your Agent
  Stress Penalties
  Stress penalties arise from rolling below a 5 on a Stress Roll.
  These penalties temporarily reduce a character’s skills by any-
  thing from one to five skill dice. Spending Cool dice during play
  or Bank dice at the end of a mission is the only way to negate
  lasting stress penalties. 
  Stress Rolls
  Whenever a character faces some kind of stress (either physical
  or mental), that character’s player must roll a number of stress
  dice (determined by the GM, usually between one and five dice).
  The lowest die is used to determine the result (one stress die may
  be ignored per Cool die possessed by the character).
  ‘Taking 4’
  Any character with a skill rating of four may elect to take an
  automatic “4” instead of rolling dice when using that skill.
  Characters with skills of zero due to stress penalties may not Take
  4. Characters may not Take 4 when making stress rolls or Bank
  rolls. Taking 4 is a sensible tactic when stress penalties have
  brought your Skill’s rating below a three.
  Teamwork
  Teamwork is a special tactic where members of the team help one
  another out by sharing dice from a skill roll. If you want to help
  out another player (and your character is attempting to help that
  player’s character), you may make a skill roll and give one of
  your results to that player. Once the desire to help another play-
  er has been announced, you must hand over one die from your
  skill roll, even if that leaves you with a less-than-desired result.
  If using teamwork to assist another character, you won’t earn
  extra franchise dice if you roll a 5 or a 6.
  Play Structure
  Play Structure is a term I use for how the game is actually
  played. Many role-playing games don’t have a clear Play
  Structure. Those that do often use the setup-conflict-climax-res-
  olution sequence that’s common to dramatic writing. Because
  InSpectres is more about what happens during the game than
  about what happens at the end, the Play Structure is concerned
  with clearly marking out how the game should be played. That
  71
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Glossary: Play Structure
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  
  nosy reporters, irate police officers, annoying kids, and obse-
  quious politicians. It also represents your character’s list of con-
  tacts – people that the character can call for advice, assistance
  and support. If your character is a people-person or has an active
  social life then he or she would probably have a high Contact
  score. Someone with a low Contact score…well, they hunt
  ghosts, demons and vampires for a living…
  Point Distribution
  You have nine skill dice to distribute to your character’s
  skills. Obviously, the more dice in a skill, the better your charac-
  ter is in that area (we’ll delve into the particulars in a bit). No
  one skill can be higher than four or lower than one.
  Talents
  Your agent will also possess a unique Talent (either something
  at which they’re naturally gifted or a skill they picked up from
  before they joined the InSpectres). Choose an area where your
  character will gain a bonus die. Whenever this area comes into
  play, you’ll roll an extra die. Some sample Talents are:
  • Computers
  • Car Mechanic
  • Football Player
  • Star Trek Geek
  • Don Juan
  • Ninja Training
  • Librarian
  • Botany
  When using a Talent, strive to be creative! And remember that
  your character is allowed to use their Talent in any of the four skill
  areas. So if your ex-mechanic gets into a scrap, boost your
  Athletics roll by using a monkey wrench as a weapon. If your agent
  is sexy as all-get-out, maybe you can get the team a good deal on
  a used car (a bonus to the Technology roll).  Get the picture?
  Character Improvement
  Short answer: There is no character improvement. Well, not in
  the usual sense.
  Longer answer: Although your agent’s basic skill ratings won’t
  change over time, Confessionals and in-game events will help
  develop your character as the game progresses. Stress penalties
  11
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Character Improvement
  Chapter 2
  Creating
  your Agent
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Game Mechanics
  Although InSpectres is not a complex game, it does possess a
  few wrinkles to spice things up.
  Augmenting
  When you Augment a skill roll, it means that you are subtracting
  dice from a die pool and adding those dice to your skill roll.
  Bank Rolls
  Whenever a Bank die is used to augment a skill roll, that die
  serves two functions. The first is to increase the likelihood of
  rolling a high die. The second is to determine what happens to
  the team’s Bank as a result of that die being used. Sometimes,
  the die will be lost. Other times, it will remain in the Bank. If a
  6 is rolled, the Bank die is kept in the Bank and an additional
  Bank die is added to the Bank. If a low number is rolled, multi-
  ple Bank dice might be lost.
  If a player ever spend Bank dice during Vacation (to restore
  skills that have suffered from stress penalties), the dice are rolled
  and the results are used to determine what Bank dice are kept,
  lost or gained.
  Requirements
  Requirements are used to prevent players from getting every
  piece of equipment they can dream up. If the item in question is
  common and/or inexpensive, a minimum of one 4 must be rolled.
  If the item is more expensive or harder to find, a 5 is needed. If
  the desired item is very rare or prohibitively expensive, a 6 is
  required. Players may reduce a Requirement by reducing the safe-
  ty, effectiveness or reliability of the item in question.
  Skill Rolls
  A skill roll is when the player rolls a number of dice equal to one
  of his or her character’s skills. The highest number showing on
  the dice is used to determine the result (1, 2, and 3 being bad
  results, 4, 5, and 6 being good results). Skill rolls are not just for
  basic task resolution. Because they govern how much control the
  players can exert over the game, they can be called for in a vari-
  ety of situations: attacking a creature, researching information,
  building a gadget, romancing a client, repairing a vehicle, talk-
  ing to an insurance agency or buying a rare book.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  70
  Glossary: Game Mechanics
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  
  will introduce battle scars, phobias and weaknesses (which may
  or may not be cured!). Successful jobs will allow for more fran-
  chise dice, which equals better research, training and equipment.
  The other characters will provide for interesting relationships and
  rivalries. And of course, your own experiences during the game
  (and maybe even in Real Life) will give you new perspectives on
  your own style of play, its strengths and weaknesses.
  Character Improvement? No. Character development, you bet.
  Cool Dice
  Okay, I lied in that last paragraph. Characters in InSpectres
  can improve, but not in the usual way. Instead of gaining expe-
  rience points or whatever, agents may gain Cool dice during the
  course of a mission. An agent’s initial Cool starts at zero but this
  will change once the game begins. You can read all about Cool
  dice later on (or you can just skip ahead to Chapter 5).
  Playing Supernatural Characters
  If you’d like to create a “weird” agent (one with supernatural
  abilities), then jump right to Chapter 6. Be forewarned that there
  are several restrictions…the biggest being that only one player
  may play a weird agent per game.
  EXAMPLE: Agent Creation
  The first step is to come up with a name and basic personality.
  I name my agent Mitch Dawson and decide that he’s a drama stu-
  dent working his way through college. Mitch is smart-alecky and
  romantic, with wild ideas about what really goes on within the
  InSpectres organization. Boy, is he in for a shock. My concept for
  the character is to play him as impatient, a bit clueless and kinda
  full of himself. 
  The second step is to distribute nine skill dice among the four
  skills. I decide that Mitch’s strongest area will be Contact, so three
  dice go there. That leaves six dice to spend, so I place two dice into
  each of the three remaining skills.
  Finally, Mitch needs a Talent. Actor seems appropriate but not
  very interesting. Theatrical Combat has more style but it’s a little
  too limited. Then it hits me: Theatre Major. Mitch brings his knowl-
  edge of the dramatic arts to the company. He can quote
  Shakespeare, swing a prop sword, emote on cue and handle a light-
  ing rig. Cool!
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Cool Dice
  12
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 2
  Creating
  your Agent
  Franchise Dice
  Franchise dice are distributed between the InSpectres team’s
  three Cards (the Gym Membership, Library Use and Credit Cards).
  The number of franchise dice the team receives depends on how
  long that team has been around, their financial situation and the
  desires of the players and the GM. A brand-new InSpectres team
  receives between five and ten franchise dice. More established
  groups may have between fifteen and twenty dice. The crème de
  la crème will have around thirty Franchise dice.
  Franchise dice are also what you collect during a job. The num-
  ber of franchise dice needed to finish the job is set at the begin-
  ning of the game by the GM. Whenever a member or your team
  rolls a high 5 or a high 6, your team gets either one or two fran-
  chise dice. When the required number of franchise dice is reached,
  you can end the mission and collect those dice as payment. 
  When setting the number of Franchise dice needed to finish a
  mission, the GM should take the team’s current number of fran-
  chise dice into account. A good rule of thumb is to require twice
  the number of Franchise dice with which the team starts the
  game. In general, the more franchise dice you have, the tougher
  your jobs will be. Not only in terms of the number of franchise
  dice you’ll need to finish the mission, but also in terms of plot
  complications and stress rolls.
  Skill Dice
  Every normal character has nine skill dice to distribute during
  character creation. Weird agents get ten skill dice. The dice are
  rolled when your character uses his or her Academics, Athletics,
  Technology or Contact skills. The highest skill die rolled is used
  to determine the result of the roll.
  Stress Dice
  Stress dice (between one and five) are rolled when a charac-
  ter faces injury, terror or irritation. The lowest stress die rolled is
  used to determine the result of the roll.
  Talent Dice
  All normal, human agents gain a bonus die (called a Talent die)
  when performing skill rolls within their selected Talent. This Talent
  die is never lost, not even when the agent suffers stress.
  69
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Glossary: Die Pools
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  
  Agent Creation Summary
  • Come up with a name
  • Pick a former career or background
  • Place nine dice in your skills (Academics, Athletics,
  Technology and Contact)
  • No skill may have more than 4 dice or less than 1 die
  • Choose a Talent that’s appropriate for your agent’s back-
  ground
  13
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Agent Creation Summary
  Characters: Normal is Better
  I cannot stress this enough. Normal is funnier than weird.
  I’ve played in games where the players made whacked-out
  characters with lots of quirks and idiosyncrasies and you
  know what? The most boring, normal, white-bread char-
  acter is always the most entertaining. InSpectres is about
  normal folks wrapped up in abnormal situations...and
  chances are, the more normal the agent, the weirder the
  situation. And that’s what makes the game funny. This
  rule also applies to Weird Agents (strange as that sounds).
  An undead InSpectres agent is one thing. An undead
  InSpectres agent that is working to make alimony pay-
  ments is another. The more real the character, the more
  surreal the experience. Trust me.
  Chapter 2
  Creating
  your Agent
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  equipment. InSpectres uses a Requirement rule where players
  must roll a certain number or higher on their Technology skill
  rolls, depending on the rarity and cost of the item in question.
  Die Pools
  InSpectres contains a metric butt-load of die pools. To help
  you keep them clear, here is a list of all the die pools used in the
  game, with descriptions of how each is used.
  Bank dice
  Bank dice are franchise dice that are squirreled away in some
  kind of 401(k), Mutual Fund, stock portfolio-kinda thing. They’re
  handy because you can spend them to alleviate stress penalties
  (during Vacations), augment any skill roll or (for weird agents)
  turn them into Cool dice. 
  Bank dice are tricky because whenever you use one (either on
  a skill roll or for some other reason), you have a chance of los-
  ing more dice than you actually spent. On the plus side, it is pos-
  sible to gain “interest” on Bank dice.
  Card Dice
  Card Dice are just franchise dice that have been spent on any of
  the three InSpectres Cards (Gym Membership Card, Library Use
  Card and Credit Card). The disadvantage of Card dice is that they
  are linked to skills. For instance, you cannot augment an
  Athletics skill roll with Credit Card dice. The advantage of Card
  dice is that unlike Bank dice, you only lose what you use.
  Cool dice
  Cool dice allow you to ignore some or all of your stress. For each
  Cool die you have, you may ignore the lowest-rolled stress die. You
  can also spend your Cool dice to augment a skill roll. Weird agents
  may also spend their Cool dice to activate their weird abilities.
  Cool dice are usually gained during play when a low 6 is rolled
  during a Stress Roll. Normal agents may have a maximum of three
  Cool dice at any one time. Weird agents have no such limitation. 
  When dealing with situations outside of your character’s job
  with InSpectres, you can only use Cool dice to augment rolls.
  Unless you want to be indicted on embezzlement charges…
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Glossary: Die Pools
  68
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Appendix I
  Glossary
  of Terms
  
  B
  y now you’re probably itching to get started. You’ve
  got a bunch of friends together to play (one GM and
  between three and five agents is the ideal amount),
  you’ve ordered the pizza and the GM is already plotting to make
  your lives interesting. But first, you have to build your franchise.
  The franchise is kind of like an additional character, except
  that everyone works together to create it. Time to put your heads
  together and answer the following questions:
  • How big is your franchise? How long have you been
  in operation?
  3. Creating the Franchise
  i. Glossary of Terms
  The following information has been provided as a super-
  condensed version of the full rules. Not only is it appropriate as
  a reference tool for the GM, it’s also a good way to introduce
  the concepts of the game to new players. Just photocopy the
  following sections and hand ’em out at the beginning of your
  first session of InSpectres.
  Skills
  There are four skills in InSpectres. Each represents a very
  broad, abstract field of knowledge or ability. One (Technology) is
  even an abstraction of resources and buying power. The level of
  any skill is defined with skill dice (the typical InSpectres agent
  has nine skill dice spread out among the four skills).
  Academics
  The Academics skill is used most often in the game when an
  InSpectres agent is researching information. It can also be used to
  describe an agent’s intellect, memory and level of education.
  Athletics
  The Athletics skill is an indicator of an agent’s physical prowess,
  strength, hand-eye coordination and physical fitness. Actions
  that are physical in nature (running, lifting, jumping, etc.) use
  this skill. Athletics is also the skill that governs brawling, mar-
  tial arts knowledge, marksmanship and driving ability.
  Contact
  Contact is a catchall skill that is mainly used when the agents are
  attempting to communicate with the general public, clients,
  investors, the media and the authorities. Contact can also be
  used to dig up rumors or gossip about people.
  Technology
  Technology pertains to computers, electronics, machines and
  other types of equipment. It appears to overlap with Athletics
  when it comes to the use of weapons and vehicles but Athletics
  deals more with marksmanship and coordination and Technology
  deals with hi-tech gadgetry that relies on computer targeting
  systems and the like. The Technology skill is also used whenever
  the player is trying to build, scrounge, or purchase a piece of
  67
  Glossary of Terms
  Appendix I. Glossary of Terms
  
  • Are you the Main Office? An established franchise?
  A start-up operation?
  • Where is your franchise located? How many people
  work there? 
  • Who runs the show? A board of directors or 
  the agents themselves?
  • Do investors privately fund it or did you all max out
  your credit cards?
  • What does your franchise look like? What amenities
  does it feature?
  • Are you the only InSpectres franchise in the area? Are
  there any competitors?
  • What kinds of gear do you have access to? What do you
  use for transportation? 
  • Do you have a specialty (ghosts, vampires, demons,
  crypto-zoology)?
  During this stage, you should work out the basic details of
  your franchise. Don’t worry about nailing down every single
  detail. Let it come out during the game. Also, whenever you
  mention a detail like equipment or staff or a posh office, the GM
  should have you roll your Technology dice. Depending on the
  success of the roll, you’ll be able to elaborate on the detail. 
  15
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Who makes the Technology die roll?
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Who makes 
  the Technology die roll?
  Unless you decide otherwise, the person who thought of
  the idea is the person that makes the roll. This is done
  this way for two reasons. First, this prevents the group’s
  techie guru from hogging all the Technology die rolls.
  Second, and more importantly, this means that less com-
  petent characters are rolling the dice and this is sure to
  generate some amusing results.
  • Hellboy (a comic book by Mike Mignola featuring the
  greatest weird agent ever!)
  • Demon Cops (a Sorcerer supplement by Ron Edwards,
  the author of Sorcerer)
  Bonus Materials on the Web
  You can download all the InSpectres record sheets at
  http://www.inspectres.com or http://www.memento-mori.com.
  While you're there, check out two free InSpectres supplements:
  Tim Boser's In-Speckers
  (aka, "InSpectres Jr.") and
  UnSpeakable (a unique spin on Lovecraftian horror). Join in the
  conversation at Memento Mori Theatricks' official message forum
  (http://www.indie-rpgs.com).
  Got an idea for your own mini-supplement? Visit the
  InSpectres web site for details!
  Copyright Info
  Copyright © 2002-2003 Memento Mori / Jared A. Sorensen.
  All Rights Reserved.
  Interior illustrations copyright  (c) 2003 their respective
  artists
  This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part,
  including the cover image, in any form (beyond that copying per-
  mitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the US Copyright Law and
  except by reviewers for the public press), without written per-
  mission from the publisher. In other words, ask first.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Copyright Info
  66
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Final Words
  Memento-Mori Theatricks
  Game Design From Beyond the Grave!
  www.memento-mori.com
  
  Franchise Cards
  Franchise cards enable you to add dice to your skill rolls, thus
  increasing your chance of success. There are three types of Cards,
  with each Card able to augment a certain kind of skill roll. They are:
  Library Card
  The Library Card allows you to use the InSpectres’ vast library
  in order to aid in your research. Libraries can take many forms,
  from a huge database of information to snippets of folklore
  bound into a three-ring binder. “Ye Olde Collection of Dusty
  Books” is also a popular option with bespectacled bibliophiles.
  You’ll use your Library Card to
  augment an Academics roll.
  Gym Card
  The Gym Card gives you
  access not only to the lat-
  est in exercise equipment,
  it also allows you free access
  to firing ranges, martial arts dojos
  and really nice swimming pools.
  Not surprisingly, use of the Gym
  Card helps you on Athletics rolls.
  Credit Card
  Lastly, but definitely not least, is the corpo-
  rate Credit Card. Access to the corporate Credit
  Card allows you and your fellow agents to buy
  cutting-edge technology and also to cover fees for
  technical training. Should I bother to mention that
  Credit Cards add dice to Technology skill rolls?
  Franchise Dice
  Unlike skill dice, the number of franchise dice
  you receive depends on the size of your franchise.
  For a brand spankin’ new franchise you get five dice to distribute
  among the three Cards. Established businesses can expect up to
  ten dice. Large, successful franchises get up to twenty. Working
  for the Main Office? How’s thirty dice sound? Any more than that
  and you’re just getting silly.
  Also unlike skills, there is no maximum or minimum. A young
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Franchise Cards
  16
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  Credits & Kudos
  Game design and text by Jared A. Sorensen
  Illustrations
  Jon Morris – www.ape-law.com
  Manning L. Krull - www.jerkbox.com
  Graphic Design
  Book design and layout by Matt Snyder – www.chimera.info
  Character record sheets by Ben Morgan – www.ad1066.com
  InSpectres logo designed by Jared A. Sorensen
  Logo illustrated by Fufu Frauenwahl – www.fufufrauenwahl.com
  Playtesters and Advisors
  Zak Arntson, Mario Bonassin, Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, Michael
  Gentry, Stephen Grady, Mike Holmes, Tim Kirk, “Graveyard” Greg
  McNutt, Jürgen Mayer, Joshua Neff, Nathan Hill, Clinton R. Nixon
  and Sean Wipfli.
  Special thanks to all of the InSpectres Agents and GM's all over
  the world!
  “DEATH TO GIANT CLAMS!”
  The Essential InSpectres InSpirado List
  Let’s face it here. Genre-wise, I’m not treading in strange new
  waters – TV shows, comics and games about ghost hunters and
  paranormal investigators are a dime a dozen. Despite this, I think
  InSpectres has some cool stuff in it that makes it unique. 
  Anyway, here’s the good stuff…stuff you should definitely
  check out to get into that InSpectres state of mind.
  • Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II and The Real Ghostbusters
  (animated series)
  • Men in Black (the movie) and Men in Black: the series
  (animated series)
  • Startup.com (documentary about a failed Internet 
  company)
  • The Real World, Survivor and COPS (reality TV shows)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and also Angel, because
  “Angel Investigations” is a classic example of what a
  “covert” InSpectres team might be like)
  65
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  The Essential InSpectres InSpirado List
  Chapter 8
  Final Words
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 3
  
  franchise can put all five dice onto their Credit Card…but it’s
  usually a good idea to split the dice up according to the strengths
  and weaknesses of your agents. Remember that Card dice are
  non-transferable – once you place them, you can’t switch them
  around on a whim.
  It’s important to note that the more dice you start out with,
  the more dangerous your missions (and the more lucrative). A
  big franchise means big bucks, but also lots of danger and
  stress. I recommend that you start small and work your way up
  the corporate ladder.
  One more thing: if you decide not to distribute all of your
  dice, the leftover dice are placed in the Bank.
  The Bank
  The Bank is a repository for leftover franchise dice (in other
  words, dice that aren’t place on a particular Card). The good thing
  about the Bank is that these Bank dice can be used to increase
  any skill roll. They can also be used to alleviate the effects of
  Stress on your agents (more on Stress later). The downside is that
  there is no guarantee that Bank dice will be there when you need
  them. In order to keep track of what rolls what, your Bank dice
  should either be a different color than your normal dice or rolled
  separately from your other dice when making skill rolls.
  Job Descriptions
  Although not integral to the success of the game, a fun bit of
  color is to assign each player a job title and some related duties.
  Three suggestions (as well as their duties) are described as follows: 
  Chief Executive Officer
  Choose one player to be the CEO, the de-facto leader of the
  team. It’s up to him (or her, this is the 21st century after all) to
  make the important decisions. Whether or not these decisions are
  actually followed is up for debate…
  Chief Technical Officer
  The CTO is the player blessed with keeping track of all the
  goodies purchased with Technology Skill Rolls. Your CTO is usu-
  ally the biggest geek in the group (strangely enough, this play-
  er often has the agent with the highest Technology Skill).
  17
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Job Descriptions
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  probably use the phrase, “Okay, now what to you do?” a lot until
  they get the hang of things. 
  Allow them the freedom to make up the results of a bad die
  roll. If they refuse to play in the spirit of the game, hose them.
  Hose them in a BIG way. Likewise, if they roll 6’s and act wishy-
  washy, then give them a pretty good result and hint that if they
  would run with the descriptions, their characters’ effectiveness
  would increase dramatically (again, pun intended…get it?).
  Try and get across the feeling that although the action is
  unfolding in a linear fashion (like a story), the act of creating
  that story is non-linear. Not only does this mean you can muck
  with the timeline of the game (by using Confessionals, for exam-
  ple), the game can be run with the knowledge that everything
  has already happened in the past and only now is are the events
  being shown. In other words, playing the game is like creating a
  documentary of “a day in the life of the InSpectres” and the story
  that unfolds is akin to someone watching that film footage.
  Oh, and I can almost guarantee that once one player tries out
  a Confessional, the other players will want to mix it up as well.
  Encourage them! And hey, you. Be sure to sit back and get into
  the game as much as your players. As an InSpectres GM, you’re
  obviously a person of rare and refined sensibilities. Enjoy your-
  self…this isn’t brain surgery!
  Have Fun
  So there you have it, a complete role-playing game…and one
  without lists of monsters, complex combat rules, pre-made
  adventures or crappy fiction. Why? Because hopefully, the rules
  to this game have given you the tools necessary to come up with
  even better stuff than I could write. And whereas many RPGs are
  simply warmed-up leftovers from someone else’s campaign,
  InSpectres is more like a cooking class. The intent is to give you
  the ingredients and techniques required for creating your own
  tasty masterpieces. 
  Oh, you can forget that old adage about “too many chefs spoil-
  ing the soup.” What’s wrong with the players and the GM work-
  ing together? And what’s with this age-old tradition of “hiding
  behind the screen?” I say, “Share the power…share the wealth!”
  And dammit, have a good time.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Have Fun
  64
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Final Words
  
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Limited Technology
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  18
  Limited Technology
  It’s often wise for the group to set a technology limit for the
  game. Most games of InSpectres take place in the present
  day. Telephones, taxis, hamburger joints, cold medicine, etc.
  are easy to find in any big city. Even the smallest towns have
  access to post-1950s technology. This is the baseline tech-
  nology limit for InSpectres. Ectoplasmic disintegrators and
  mystical tomes of power might be ultra-rare in your game, or
  they might not exist at all. The higher the technology limit,
  the crazier and more accessible technology can become. You
  can have a low-tech InSpectres game where the agents only
  have access to mundane equipment (a good option for rural
  settings or teams on location in remote areas). Also, just
  because the item is available doesn’t necessarily mean that
  it’s available Right Now. The “Oh yeah, I have one of those
  in my back pocket...” trick shouldn’t be overused.
  Some suggested Technology Limits are:
  Ultra-Tech: Weird science or alien assistance makes hi-tech
  equipment fairly common. MIB-style cannons, James
  Bond gadgets and cool occult objects are just a phone
  call and a requisition form away.
  Experimental/Fringe: Ghostbusters-level equipment,
  poorly tested and prone to breakdowns. Experimental
  equipment’s major drawback is that they’re all one-shots
  or prototypes. If it blows up, there’s no replacing it
  (well, not for awhile anyway).
  Standard: Standard tech is anything that can be bought,
  built or borrowed RIGHT NOW. This includes just about
  anything you’d encounter in the 21st century (laptop
  computers, mobile phones, submachine guns, laser pointers,
  deep-sea diving gear, etc.). In my games, I usually allow
  the team some experimental gear, just for fun.
  Simple/Primitive: Well, primitive by our standards. This
  includes classic monster-hunting gear...the old reliables:
  bells, books and candles, crossbows, hammers and
  stakes, holy water, swords, axes, revolvers, that kinda
  thing. Anything less hi-tech and the agents would be
  throwing rocks.
  8. Final Words
  I
  f you’re used to the regular way of GMing, this game
  is going to feel like a bucket of cold water in your
  face at five o’clock in the morning - shocking, but
  hopefully refreshing. Prep time is minimal, yes. But you’ll
  need to be fast on your feet and willing to change your
  pre-conceptions about the game at the drop of a hat. You’ll
  also need to get your players involved in running the
  game, a job you normally keep all to yourself.
  Running the Game
  If your players are reticent about taking control, you’ll
  have to prompt, prod and push them in the right direc-
  tion. Ask lots of questions. If they ask you if there is a fire
  extinguisher on the wall, ask them “Well, is there?” You’ll
  
  Chief Financial Officer
  You should choose one player to be the CFO, the person in
  charge of the Franchise Sheet and the one who keeps tally of the
  team’s Franchise dice (earned and invested).
  If you want more official titles, go for it. After all, “Chief of
  Security” and “Chief of Operations” are both pretty cool-sound-
  ing positions (even if they’re just corporate speak for “security
  guard” and “handyman.”
  You can also just split the duties and not officially declare a CEO,
  CTO or CFO. Whatever you want to do is just fine…just don’t ask the
  GM to handle your team’s affairs. That’s just asking for trouble.
  EXAMPLE: Franchise Creation
  Now it’s time to build the company. Mitch is inexperienced, so the
  InSpectres team probably won’t be a cadre of elite ghost-hunters. The
  franchise has been open for a little while, and its agents are looking
  for additional help (seven franchise dice is a good start). The other
  players in this fictional scenario agree to this and we start divvying
  up our franchise dice.
  One player’s character is a former college professor (in a blazing
  display of creativity, this character is dubbed “The Professor” and is
  declared the group’s CEO). He suggests that since his character and
  Mitch are both involved in campus life, the franchise should be
  involved with the college as well. Again, everyone agrees and the
  school’s Police & Safety Department officially opens its Paranormal
  Student Affairs division. The Professor suggests that the school’s
  library be of the utmost importance. Everyone agrees and four fran-
  chise dice are placed onto the team’s Library Card. The Gym Card,
  Credit Card and Bank all receive one die each.
  Most of the particulars of Paranormal Student Affairs will be
  worked out during the game. The players do a couple preliminary Skill
  Rolls to get the creative juices flowing. It’s determined that the PSA
  offices are located in a small house on campus grounds (Mitch and
  another character also sleep here to save money). Weapons are scarce
  (none of the characters are combat experts anyway), so their mis-
  sions are going to be more about investigation. The team rolls poor-
  ly on its Technology roll to figure out transportation. The Professor
  has an Audi but won’t use it for PSA-related duties. That leaves an
  electric-powered golf cart on loan from Police & Safety. Mitch uses his
  19
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  EXAMPLE: Franchise Creation
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  later on as a flashback episode) that happens before the business is
  created (the library scene in Ghostbusters introduces some charac-
  ters and has them go on a mission before their spook-hunting
  enterprise is even mentioned!). If additional players join, start the
  game off with an Employee Screening and interview them for the
  job. Someone moving away? Kill off their character in that shock-
  ing season finale. The world is your oyster, baby.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  One-shot vs. Series
  62
  One-shot vs. Series
  InSpectres makes for a great one-shot game to play at par-
  ties or conventions. Little to no prep time, engaging and
  simple premise, easy-to-learn rules and characters that take
  minutes to create = perfect one-shot game, right? The thing
  is, InSpectres benefits from long-term play! I’m not talking
  an epic 15-year long campaign (there are far too many cool
  RPGs out there to only play one). I’m talking about four or
  five games using the same characters and a single franchise.
  Not only will the players get more out of the game’s various
  mechanics (Confessionals, the Bank, Characteristics, Cool
  Dice), but the game’s themes get a chance to make them-
  selves apparent. The players can watch their franchise gain
  and lose money ... eventually either pulling a profit or
  falling into Chapter 11 bankruptcy
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  high Contact skill to chat up a cute art student who agrees to give
  the golf cart some badly needed flair. Then the game begins …
  Franchise Creation Summary
  • Come up with a basic “one sentence” description of the
  team’s franchise
  • Determine the number of franchise dice you’ll start with
  (five to ten is good)
  • Distribute those franchise dice among the three Cards
  (Library, Gym and Credit)
  • Place any leftover franchise dice in the Bank
  • Decide on the details and peculiarities of the franchise
  • Assign job titles to the players (or let them fight over
  titles, which is also fun)
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Franchise Creation Summary
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  20
  when a certain kind of job is called for (“Vampire Goats? Put
  Johnson on that one … didn’t he grow up on a farm?”). It also
  gives each player the opportunity to have a weird agent in their
  portfolio without breaking the “one weirdo per game” rule.
  EXAMPLE: After the Mission
  The fourteen franchise dice needed to finish the mission have
  been earned … Miller Time! Time to wrap up loose ends, solve the
  mystery and get the characters back to home base for some R&R.
  Those fourteen dice (plus bonus dice from hazard pay or from role-
  playing characteristics gained during the job) are then channeled
  back into the Cards or the Bank. The agents in need of Vacation (like
  the Professor) can spend franchise dice to restore their skills back to
  their original ratings.
  If for some reason, the players “solved” the mission after earn-
  ing only ten franchise dice, they would suffer the penalty and lose
  half those dice (whether the penalty is for shoddy work, back taxes,
  license renewal or insurance payments is unimportant except maybe
  as color). So in the end, a premature finish would only net the team
  a paltry five franchise dice…barely enough to keep them in Instant
  Ramen for the rest of the month.
  InSpectres: the Series
  After you play your first game of InSpectres, I can almost
  guarantee that you’ll want to play again. And because the game
  encourages player-driven stories and requires almost no prep
  time, it’s not all that hard to switch off GM duties (seriously, you
  don’t even need a GM to play this game…it just about runs
  itself). Your team is established, your offices are set up and all
  have your first (and hopefully successful) job under your belt.
  I say keep it going! Think of the game not as some epic adven-
  ture, but as a television series. The agents are the stars … the guys
  that get their names and faces shown during the opening credits.
  Then you have your secondary characters, guest stars and extras.
  You can run individual sessions like one-shot “a day in the life of”
  stories (like COPS), episodes in a long-running story arc (like Buffy
  the Vampire Slayer). You can even combine the two; a story arc
  spanning a bunch of sessions, punctuated with one-shot adven-
  tures (that may or may not have anything at all to do with the
  main story). The first episode is where you introduce the characters
  and their franchise. You might run a game (in the beginning or
  61
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  Inspectres the Series
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  
  T
  he InSpectres system is both incredibly easy to learn
  and incredibly challenging to use. The basic gist of the
  system is this: roll your skill dice when you want to
  use a skill, compare the result to a chart, and carry out the
  instructions on the chart.
  To do this, roll a number of six-sided dice equal to the num-
  ber listed beside the skill you’re going to use. So if you need to
  make an Academics roll and you have an Academics of 3, you’d
  roll three dice. That’s all there is to it.
  After you make this roll; you’re going to have a handful of
  dice with numbers ranging from 1 to 6. Find the highest number
  shown and compare it to the Skill Roll Chart.
  4. Game Mechanics
  er job. An interesting game could arise from something that hap-
  pens during your Vacation (a great excuse to set your InSpectres
  game in Hawaii…like an episode of Magnum PI).
  If you’re suffering from a stress-related penalty, you can now
  get back some or all of your skill dice by removing dice from the
  Bank or by spending the franchise dice you earned at the end of
  the mission. One die restores one point to a skill. 
  If you’re still stressed and you have no Bank dice to spend,
  you must spend your own Cool dice. If you have nothing left,
  you’re screwed for the time being and your Stress penalties stick
  around for the next game session.  Just breathe deep and start
  chewing those antacids…
  Weird agents can take Vacations, too. The same rules apply
  except that Weird agents can also spend franchise dice or Bank
  dice to replenish their Cool dice (a vampire that takes long
  Vacations is going to be a drain on your finances…pun intended).
  Character Continuity
  Most of the time, Vacations exist in a kind of “no time” zone
  where your character won’t have to be out of play while he or she is
  recovering. However, if you’re going for realism or if your group is
  playing an InSpectres series (where you play many games with con-
  tinuing characters and sub-plots), you can schedule your characters’
  Vacation times around their dice penalties. It’ll work like this:
  Your agent lost …
  Your agent is out of work for…
  1 skill die
  One day (“He went home early.”)
  2-3 skill dice
  Three days (“He took a long weekend.”)
  4-5 skill dice
  Two weeks (“He’s in Maui.”)
  6+ skill dice
  One month plus a week for every die
  above 6 (“He’s on life support.“)
  In a game like this, each player can maintain a kind of “char-
  acter portfolio” containing a variety of agents to play when one
  is out of commission. The cool thing is that these other guys are
  considered to be “on assignment” when not in-play. You don’t
  get earn any extra Franchise dice or anything, but you can use
  them as NPCs or (even better) as additional agents in your fran-
  chise. That means you can pull the file of a specialized agent
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  60
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  Skill Roll Chart
  6
  Amazing! Describe the result and gain 2 franchise dice.
  5
  Good. Describe the result and gain a franchise die.
  4
  Fair. Describe the mostly positive result of your action 
  but you must also include a negative or humorous effect.
  3
  Not Great. The GM decides your fate but you may be given
  a chance to suggest a single positive (albeit minor) effect.
  2
  Bad. The GM decides your fate or you may suggest 
  something suitably negative.
  1
  Terrible! The GM gets to hose you with a truly dire 
  situation resulting from your incompetence.
  This might seem a bit strange if you’re an experienced role-
  playing gamer. Yes, you read it right. You get to call the shots if
  you’re successful. The idea is not that a high roll results in a suc-
  cessful use of the skill. A high roll simply means that you, as a
  player, can take over the game for a bit and describe the situa-
  tion however you like. It stands to reason that with this amount
  of power, you’ll use it to your advantage, right? Or maybe not!
  Nothing is more fun than hosing your own character…
  And even if you don’t roll well, it doesn’t mean that you
  failed! It just means that you have to put your character in a
  tough or tense or comical situation. Your character doesn’t miss
  the vampire with the stake, you hit it in the stomach instead…or
  it’s not the kind of vampire that is killed when it’s staked…or
  anything else you can think of. It’s okay to “lose,” because the
  game is not about “winning” (besides, a failed roll is just a tem-
  porary setback and not a carved-in-stone result of, “OH MY GOD,
  WE’RE TOTALLY SCREWED NOW!”).
  Heck, think of it this way: You just made your character’s life
  (and the game) that much more interesting.
  And lest we dwell on the negative, let’s not forget the positive
  side of the equation. Rolled a 6? Well then, now’s your chance to
  describe exactly what happened…don’t skimp on all the gory
  details and cool action! This is your moment in the sun, baby.
  The key with Skill Rolls is to figure out what your character’s
  goal is when you make a skill roll. What would you roll when
  mixing a cocktail?  Well, what’s your goal? Are you whipping up
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Skill Roll Chart
  22
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  this mean you have to stop playing? No, of course not. But it
  does mean that your current InSpectres franchise has gone kaput
  and the team will need to start over again. Not only does your
  franchise lose all equipment gained over the course of play, the
  agents also lose any and all Cool dice they’ve acquired thus far.
  Death & Dismemberment
  InSpectres is supposed to be a horror-comedy game, with both
  funny and scary situations occurring in equal proportions. In
  most cases, this is “Ghostbusters-level” intensity – shocks and
  scares but no really harsh stuff. But if you and your group want
  to up the ante a little bit, you can lower the comedy and raise
  the horror by as much as you want. In game terms, this means
  tougher missions, more frequent stress rolls and more severe
  stress penalties. And because the players have control in
  InSpectres games, you shouldn’t be afraid to maim, mutilate and
  even kill your own character.
  I know what you’re thinking. Did I hear him right? Kill my
  own character?
  Yup. Think of it this way: you won’t be penalized for losing
  your character because your character never gets better – so it’s
  not like you’ve spent the last two months getting him to 4th
  level and next thing you know, he’s dead from a stupid poison
  needle trap.  The only attribute that will increase in this game is
  your Cool, and that’s not even guaranteed to stay the same over
  the course of a mission.
  The franchise remains …
  The team still gets paid ...
  … It’s just one less person for “Happy Hour” at the local pub.
  If your InSpectres team is ready for this kind of job then let
  the GM know that you’re invoking the “Death & Dismemberment”
  clause. Consider hazard pay to be a bonus of one franchise die per
  agent at the end of such a mission (this means that a twenty-die
  mission for four agents would net the team twenty-four dice if
  the mission was completed successfully). Weird agents, alas,
  don’t get such a benefit (most of them are already dead).
  Vacation
  This stage is meant to be short and sweet. You can end the
  game right after Vacation or you can continue right into anoth-
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  Jobs
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  
  a martini to impress a date? Then roll your Contact. When we say
  “cocktail,” are we speaking of the “Molotov” variety? Then roll
  your Technology (and stay away from open flames).
  Sample Skill Rolls
  Although there are only four skills, each is fairly broad and
  covers a wide field of aptitudes. Here are some suggestions for
  each field:
  Roll Academics to…
  • Cast a deadly spell
  • Find a telephone number online
  • Research ancient Mayan burial rites
  • Lecture on molds, spores and fungi 
  • Speak a foreign language
  Roll Athletics to…
  • Arm-wrestle a Yeti
  • Hide in the graveyard
  • Shoot a crossbow
  • Scale a trellis outside a haunted house
  • Smack someone up-side the head
  Roll Technology to…
  • Upgrade your computer’s OS
  • Build a makeshift shelter in the woods
  • Pick a lock with a Swiss-army knife
  • Search the basement for a lost gadget
  • Use an experimental ghost zapper
  Roll Contact to…
  • Lie to someone
  • Get a sexy model’s telephone number
  • Con a police officer
  • Discuss your bill with an irate client
  • Ingratiate yourself with the zoning board
  Here’s another trick: you can substitute another skill for your
  Contact skill when you’re trying to influence someone with a dis-
  play of knowledge, technical aptitude or athletic merit. In the
  above “impress your date” example, you could mix-up a batch of
  23
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  Sample Skill Rolls
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Bankruptcy & Debt
  So what happens if your franchise runs out of dice? Well, dice
  = money. And if you can’t pay the bills, your franchise is going
  to have to close its doors. It’s hard enough to finish missions in
  one piece, it’s harder still to finish them without the benefit of
  training and resources. But all is not lost. If your team ever runs
  out of franchise dice (either during the mission or at the start or
  end of a mission), you can go into debt. Here’s how:
  First of all, you no longer have access to your Cards (consider
  them collateral for the business loan). Secondly, you may place
  up to ten dice into the Bank. Set your franchise’s total number
  of dice to zero, minus the amount of dice now on loan (so you’ll
  have anywhere from –1 to –10 franchise dice). Beware! Having
  lots of Bank dice to play with is a lot of fun because you can use
  them for any skill roll…but there’s always the chance of wiping
  out your savings with one unlucky roll of the dice.
  At the end of the mission, you must first “pay back” a num-
  ber of dice equal to the loan +1 (this extra die is lost and not put
  back into the franchise). If your franchise dice total is a positive
  number, no problem…you’re good to go. The Cards are back
  under your control, your creditors are happy and life is good.
  If it’s zero, you’ll need to take out another loan. The Cards
  stay in hock. Your creditors will give you the evil eye. Small chil-
  dren will cry out when you draw near.
  If it remains in a negative state, you’re out of business. Does
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  Jobs
  58
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  Nepalese Celebration Grog (whatever that is) and use your
  Academics skill instead. Be creative, be weird, be
  rewarded…that’s what this game is all about.
  Earning Franchise Dice
  Each job requires the team to earn a certain number of fran-
  chise dice. As you can see on the Skill Roll Chart, whenever the
  highest die is 5 or 6, your team will gain either one or two fran-
  chise dice. The more dice your agents acquire, the closer they will
  be to the end of their mission. These dice are then channeled
  back into the Cards and Bank when the game session ends. This
  is explained more fully in the Jobs section. 
  EXAMPLE: Skill Roll
  Let’s say that Mitch and his cohorts are investigating a distur-
  bance in the old Kappa Delta Pi house. This is weird, because the
  Kappas haven’t been active for decades and their house is a decrepit
  eyesore slated for a date with a bulldozer. The GM decides that this
  will be a standard investigation, worth fourteen franchise dice.
  If the team can pull this off without too many problems, they’ll
  be able to raise their Gym and Credit Cards…maybe even get a
  sweeter ride than that golf cart!
  The GM has set up the job, but this doesn’t mean that he’s fig-
  ured out what the disturbance is, what’s causing it or how to deal
  with it. He might have an idea in mind, but this is at the mercy
  of the players and their ideas.
  Being new at this kinda thing, the team decides to split up.
  Mitch (armed with a flashlight and a walkie-talkie) heads up to
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Earning Franchise Dice
  24
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Reduced Franchise Die Goals
  What’s to prevent a 30-die Franchise from doing po’dunk
  5-die missions for some easy cash? Well, *you’re* there,
  for starters. As the person who sets the die goals, the GM
  is ultimately responsible for making sure that the team
  doesn’t land any “get rich quick” jobs. The franchise die
  goal of 2x the team’s current Franchise Dice is a good
  number for most games. You can go as low as 1.5x but
  personally? I wouldn’t. Make them earn their keep!
  Fieldwork
  This is where the magic happens…the climax of the game.
  Lots of Athletics and Technology rolls, lots of action, blood n’
  gore, suspense, and a multitude of Stress rolls and Confessionals
  to liven things up. 
  The Fieldwork stage is where you face the source of the prob-
  lem (or possibly one source of the problem) and deal with it.
  This could mean anything from using that jury-rigged ghost trap
  on a pesky poltergeist to shoving a foot-long stake through the
  heart of some fanged menace. Of course, an imaginative group of
  players could find themselves anywhere, at anytime, doing
  almost anything. The key is to enjoy the experience and have a
  good laugh as well as a good scare.
  Clean Up
  The final part of any job is the best part: getting paid. The
  stage where you get to feed dice back into the franchise’s Cards
  or Bank account and work off that nasty, nasty stress with a
  relaxing Vacation. 
  To finish the mission, the players need to acquire a certain
  number of franchise dice. Once this number is reached, they may
  finish the job and get paid. If the characters continue to make
  skill rolls, they cannot gain more franchise dice. But if they’re
  having fun, well let ’em go nuts.
  If the players want, they can end a mission prematurely, that
  is, without resolving the problem or gaining the requisite num-
  ber of franchise dice. Ending a mission in such a manner nets the
  team half the dice they’ve gained up to that point. 
  Remember that at the end of the mission, all Franchise Dice
  should be placed into one of the following areas.
  • Cards (to augment Academics, Athletics or Technology
  skill rolls)
  • Bank (to augment skill rolls)
  • Vacation (to restore skills that were reduced due to stress)
  • Cool dice (for weird agents)
  Unplaced Franchise Dice cannot be used until the end of the
  next mission. Until then, they’re just sitting around (on the plus
  side, this gives the team a little padding for their next goal).
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  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  
  the second floor. The rotting stairs creak under his weight and his
  flashlight can barely pierce the all-pervading gloom of the frat
  house. Just then, the GM tells the player to roll Mitch’s Athletics as
  a beer bottle arcs through their air…Mitch’s player grabs his two
  measly Athletics Dice and gets ready to roll them…
  …But he decides to up his chances at gaining control (the play-
  er has just thought of something cool that could happen). He
  spends the team’s sole Bank die (much to the dismay of the other
  players!) and rolls an extra die. The three dice clatter across the
  table and read: 2, 4, and 5. Not bad, Mitch! The high roll of 5 gives
  Mitch’s player the opportunity to seize control of the story and a
  Franchise die. He narrates the beer bottle narrowly missing Mitch’s
  head and crashing into a trophy case at the top of the stairs.
  Improvising wildly, the player describes that the contents of the
  case are polished and gleaming. The plot thickens and the group
  gets one step closer to their goal of fourteen franchise dice.
  Requirements
  Sometimes, one of the players will want something way out of
  the ordinary when making a skill roll (such as a “15 Gigawatt
  Insta-Deth Anti-Vampire Ray Gun”). Whenever a player makes a
  skill roll to acquire a piece of equipment (hi-tech, magical or
  mundane), the GM has the option to call for a specific number. 
  • A high result of 6 is necessary for anything truly “out
  there” like magical grimoires (roll for each spell you want
  to look up), laser rifles or ectoplasmic reticulators (what-
  ever those are). 
  • Real-life but hard to get items require a high roll of at least
  5. These would include ancient swords, rare books, flame-
  throwers, a 57 Chevy in mint condition…you get the point. 
  • If you want something you could find in a store right
  now, then you just need a high roll of 4.
  Of course, using the skill chart, you can shift the required
  number down one notch by adding a defect of some kind to the
  item in question. You want a pair of silver-plated pistols with sil-
  ver nitrate bullets (minimum roll of 5) but you only roll a 4? Well,
  perhaps those guns will jam the first time you use them, or some
  other calamity may result (like the silver nitrate is actually sodi-
  um nitrate). Caveat emptor. 
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  Requirements
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  how the story progresses. The GM is there to keep the pace, just like
  the bass player in the band (to paraphrase a friend of mine, the
  same one with the game about summoning demons).
  Suiting Up
  The “Suiting Up” stage is when you and the rest of the team
  get to load up all the neat toys you’ve purchased on the compa-
  ny credit card. Lots of Technology rolls net some crazy results –
  from hi-tech items from the bleeding edge of science to home-
  made weapons made from baling wire, spit and tinfoil.
  If your equipment has already been covered during franchise
  creation, who’s to say that it’s available for use at the moment? Roll
  again…maybe you’ll hose yourself and be out of ammo for that
  grenade launcher. Or maybe you found some extra cash to upgrade
  your armory and you acquired some antique silver dueling pistols.
  Oh, and if you haven’t already done so, roll to see what your
  transportation situation is like. Nothing is funnier than a bunch
  of vampire slayers taking the bus.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Jobs
  56
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  EXAMPLE: Requirements
  Jo bought the walkie-talkies for the team and rolled a high
  4…not good enough for the mil-spec units she was hoping for (the
  GM gave those a requirement of 5). But because she was just one
  point away from the requirement, the GM has given her a set of
  factory rejects. They work…but only most of the time.
  ‘Taking 4’
  “Taking 4” is a little trick I borrowed from another role-play-
  ing game. If your character has a rating of 4 in any skill, you can
  just take a result 4 (bypassing the die roll). 
  Now you’re probably wondering, “Why the hell would I want
  to do that? Four dice practically guarantees a better result than
  that!” You’d be right, if your character was operating at peak
  effectiveness. However, stressful events can lower your skills by
  as much as five dice (see Chapter 5 of page 16 for more about
  stress)! Unless your rated-4 Skill has dropped to 0, you can auto-
  matically claim a result of 4. Sure, it’s not great success, but it
  sure beats rolling a 3 or less!
  EXAMPLE: “Taking 4” 
  Let’s say that Jo had a Technology skill of four. Later in the
  game, stress from the mission has reduced that skill to a one
  (meaning there’s a straight 50/50 chance of having things go her
  way). She may opt to “take a 4” instead of rolling whenever she
  uses her Technology Skill, guaranteeing a result of 4. If her skill
  ever drops to zero, she will lose that ability until she can restore
  her skill to one or higher.
  Augmenting Skill Rolls
  Whenever you make a skill roll, you can choose to spend dice
  from a Card and add those dice to the roll. Keep in mind that
  spent Card dice are always lost when used and each Card die can
  only augment its corresponding skill. 
  • Library Card dice modify the Academics Skill
  • Gym Membership Card dice modify the Athletics Skill
  • Credit Card dice modify the Technology Skill
  • Bank dice or Cool dice can modify any Skill
  A character’s Talent Die can also augment a Skill Roll, but only
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  ‘Taking 4’
  26
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Of course, if you don’t like the result, feel free to roll again,
  pick another choice or add your own selection.
  Now, don’t forget that this is only the initial problem. The
  players and their Skill Rolls influence the real source of the prob-
  lem, which could turn out to be something completely different
  than what you had in mind at first. The farmer might say that
  aliens are draining the blood from his cattle but it could turn out
  to be just a bunch of bored vampires stuck out in the sticks.
  Also, remember that clients are not trained professionals.
  They’re not necessarily honest or forthcoming with information
  either. Some might try to scam the team out of paying the bill.
  Others might be hiding some embarrassing family secret (“Ms.
  Jones, it says here that the cause of death was auto-erotic,
  errr…well, it doesn’t look like your husband fell in the shower,
  Ma’am.”) or just plain uninformed.
  After all, John and Jane Q. Public wouldn’t know the difference
  between a Shoggoth and Shub-Niggurath, if you get my drift.
  Research & Investigation
  This is a very important phase and a great time to start hit-
  ting those books and using your Academics and Contact skills.
  Talk to the client, interview witnesses, search public records, col-
  lect data and for god’s sake — take notes!
  This is also where InSpectres (the game) gets a little kooky.
  The GM might have an idea of what’s happening, but that
  doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she knows for certain what’s
  going on. Through a combination of GM-player interaction, role-
  playing, problem solving and quick wits, you can determine what
  the problem is that you’re all facing. Then roll the appropriate
  dice (usually Academics or Contact, sometimes Technology if
  you’re using your expensive toys to do the work for you) and that
  determines whether you’re “right” or not. 
  In order words, the GM’s job is NOT to feed clues to the players
  and string them along until they arrive at the correct solution to
  the problem. In this game the GM gives the players the raw mate-
  rial they’ll need to decide what the problem is in the first place.
  Are they right? Are they wrong? Have them roll the appropriate
  skills and tailor the game around them. If your initial plan is to
  have that haunted house filled with demons and the players decide
  (after some killer Academics rolls) that the house IS a demon, then
  CHANGE YOUR IDEA. This is a game where the players determine
  55
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Jobs
  
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  come up with a maximum number of franchise dice needed for
  the mission. When the players acquire this number, the mission
  is successfully completed. For an easy mission, ten Franchise dice
  are all that’s needed. A tougher job warrants around twenty dice
  and a truly difficult mission requires thirty or more dice. As a
  general rule, I go with double the number of franchise dice the
  group starts out with. Seems to work okay.
  You may also have the InSpectres stumble across some weird
  happenings during their training or their days off (or even worse,
  when they’re all on Vacation!). This can be a cool way of kicking
  off a story but don’t overdo it — remember, altruism is noble, but
  it doesn’t pay the rent!
  Client Roll Chart
  InSpectres is built to run at the drop of a hat. Simple rules, a
  very “sticky” premise and lots of opportunities for the players to
  direct the flow of the game. In keeping with these design ele-
  ments, here is a quick and dirty way to generate random, unique
  and memorable clients to get the ball rolling.
  Roll two six-sided dice for each field (Personality, Client,
  Occurrence and Location) and consult the following chart to ran-
  domly generate bizarre clients and job descriptions:
  Roll
  Personality
  Client
  Occurrence
  Location
  2
  Horny 
  Ghost/Monster Transformation 
  Underground 
  (sewers / subway)
  3
  Bored 
  Police Officer
  Appearance
  In the water
  4
  Skeptical
  Student
  Bizarre phenomena Some remote area
  5
  Angry
  City Worker
  Abnormal weather A restaurant
  6
  Impatient
  Storekeeper
  Odd Smell
  Municipal building
  7
  Weird
  Housewife
  Weird Sound
  Apartment building
  8
  Frantic
  Gov’t Official
  Strange Light
  Store / office
  9
  Terrified
  Businessman
  Haunting
  Residential area
  10
  Calm
  Hospital Worker Destruction
  Public park or zoo
  11
  Enthusiastic
  Motorist
  Infestation
  In a sketchy 
  neighborhood
  12
  Blasé
  Aristocrat
  Abduction
  Somewhere in a
  parallel dimension
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Client Roll Chart
  54
  if it applies to the Skill Roll (Talent Dice are never used up…so
  a Talented agent will always have at least one die to roll). 
  EXAMPLE: Augmentation
  Back when she was hunting for walkie-talkies, Jo could have
  spent dice from the team’s Credit Card to add bonus dice to her
  Technology Roll. She could have also used Bank dice or Cool dice to
  boost her roll. If her Talent applied (like she had Military
  Background as a Talent), she could add an additional die to the roll.
  Rolling Bank dice
  When you roll your Bank dice, keep them separate from the rest
  of your roll (or use different-colored dice). After you roll, check
  each Bank die’s number against the following Bank dice chart.
  Bank Roll Chart
  6
  Compounded Interest!  Return this die and add a bonus
  die to the Bank.
  5
  Interest! Return this die to the Bank.
  4
  Account Withdrawal! No Benefit or Penalty! Lose this die.
  3
  Account Withdrawal! No Benefit or Penalty! Lose this die.
  2
  Service Charge! Lose this die and an additional Bank die, 
  if possible.
  1
  Account Overrun! Ignore all other results and lose all dice 
  in Bank.
  If you are spending Bank dice between missions (say, for
  Vacation or for restoring a weird agent’s Cool dice), roll the dice
  first, then consult the Chart, then carry on as normal. 
  EXAMPLE: Bank Die Roll
  Remember that lone Bank die that Mitch rolled? It turned out
  to be the 4, which means that nothing special happened…the die
  is spent just like a normal Card die. 
  If the Bank die turned up as Mitch’s high roll of 5, it would mean
  that the die wasn’t actually spent – it would just return to the Bank. 
  If the Bank die turned out to be the 2 that Mitch rolled, he’d lose
  the die and suffer a one-die penalty to the team’s Bank account.
  27
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Rolling Bank DiceRolling Bank Dice
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  
  • Getting the Call (contact client and learn about the
  upcoming job) 
  • Research/Investigation (research the problem and/or
  investigate the location and come up with a possible,
  plausible explanation)
  • Suiting Up (procure the necessary equipment to deal
  with the problem)
  • Fieldwork (travel to the scene and deal with the problem) 
  • Cleaning Up (transfer franchise dice to Cards or to
  the Bank) 
  • Vacation (spend dice to remove your agent’s stress
  penalties)
  Occasionally, 
  agents 
  go 
  back 
  and 
  forth 
  between
  Research/Investigation and Fieldwork. Humorous or character-
  defining interludes could also take place at anytime (this
  includes Confessionals or any other non-work-related incidents).
  Remember that although the game sessions focus on the
  InSpectres’ jobs, you should never neglect an opportunity to con-
  trast that job and “real life.” What do ghost hunters do to relax?
  What are their home-lives like? This is where the funny is.
  Getting the Call
  “The Call” usually consists of a client contacting the team,
  either in person or through a phone call or email (sure, why not?).
  This is the event that kicks the game into high gear. In most
  cases, the client sets up a meeting with one or more of the agents.
  Most often this is at the InSpectres’ headquarters but a client who
  wishes to avoid public scrutiny (because of their position or fame)
  may decide to hold the interview in their home, in a restaurant or
  in an abandoned graveyard at the stroke of midnight. 
  The classic “Getting the Call” moment occurs in the film
  Ghostbusters, when Dana (Sigourney Weaver) has that little problem
  with her refrigerator and calls the boys-in-gray to take a look-see.
  After Dana met with the Ghostbusters at their converted-fire station
  offices, Dr. Venkman (Bill Murray) checked out her apartment, asked
  some questions and proceeded to hit on her. Great scene.
  When the InSpectres agents get the call, the GM should decide
  how tough the job is going to be. This means that the GM should
  53
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  Jobs
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Teamwork
  You can also improve your chances by acting as a team. The
  other players may announce assisting actions and roll their skill
  dice as normal. After this is done, they give you any one of the
  dice that they rolled (even if their action was a failure) and you
  get to use the value rolled on this die. Players do not have to use
  the same skill in order to help out; their actions can simply give
  their teammate an advantage.
  If a teammate has announced the intent to help out, he or she
  must hand over a die to the other player, even if the die is a less-
  than-desired result. For obvious reasons, characters with a skill
  of 1 can only hand over their single die if they choose to take an
  automatic failure on their own action.
  EXAMPLE: Teamwork
  The Professor is examining an occult tome, trying to remember
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Teamwork
  28
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  
  his ancient Sumerian before some demons can knock down his
  hastily constructed barricade. Jo announces that she’s going to
  help him out by blasting a few of the hell-spawned creeps. Jo rolls
  her Athletics skill and gets a 1, 4, and 5. She takes the 5 as a suc-
  cess and blasts apart one of the demons. Although not a great roll,
  she gives the 4 to the Professor, hoping that his Academics skill roll
  works out. If the Prof rolls less than a 4, he can use Jo’s loaned 4
  to score a partial success.
  Just then, Barry grabs his shotgun and hurries over to assist Jo
  and the Professor. Barry’s not that great a shot to begin with (he’s
  got an Athletics score of two) and he’s a bit hurt from a previous
  encounter (giving him a one-die penalty to this action). Still, he
  gives it the old college try, rolls his one die…and scores a 3.
  Because he has to give up his only die to Jo, he automatically fails
  (duh, nice going, Bar’). Jo rolls her eyes as Barry trips over his
  shoelaces and falls headfirst into the barricade. 
  Teamwork never hurts the person you’re trying to help. At
  minimum, you just won’t contribute anything worthwhile and
  you could end up hosing yourself. But if things go well, you can
  really pull another character out of the fire. One important note,
  though: only the person being helped (in the example, this
  would be the Professor) can win franchise dice for the team.
  29
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Teamwork
  Chapter 4
  Game
  Mechanics
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  When you’re playing InSpectres, remember that all this super-
  natural hooey is just a job to your character. The real meat of the
  game is dealing with people (clients, friends and family) who see
  your character’s profession as being dangerous, exciting, gross or
  unusual. What happens when your character comes home drip-
  ping with demonic ichor? How will your character handle a jeal-
  ous girlfriend when he calmly explains that he was just chatting
  up that gorgeous Goth vampire chick to “get information” about
  a case? These interpersonal relationships (and how they conflict
  with “the job”) can provide for some awesome role-
  playing…make sure you don’t lose sight of these kinds of stories.
  The GM may occasionally throw a personal crisis at one or
  more of the players (Stress Rolls might even be called for).
  Usually, the Contact skill is used to handle these situations. Cool
  dice may be used to augment Contact rolls, but because it’s not
  official InSpectres business, no Bank dice or Card dice may be
  used…and no franchise dice are gained during these encounters.
  Make sure that it’s clear to the players when a given skill roll
  won’t net them any franchise dice.
  Creating Non-player Characters
  One of the strangest things about this game is that only the
  characters actually have attributes. Non-player Characters (NPCs,
  the dudes created and controlled by the GM) don’t have skills or
  Cool or Card dice or anything like that. An NPC or a monster
  might a have stress rating, but this number can fluctuate during
  the game depending on circumstances (meeting Joe the Vampire
  might not be stressful at all, until he goes crazy and tries to sink
  his fangs into you).
  Jobs
  Most InSpectres games revolve around a basic play structure: the
  Job. You’ve all seen this before on TV (especially on cop/law/med-
  ical shows), a tried-and-true sequence of events that happen in a
  pre-defined order. This kind of familiar structure might seem like
  anathema (look it up) to the typical role-playing gamer who thrives
  on rich, unique games that are full of surprises.
  Well, InSpectres is rich, unique and full of surprises. How is
  this possible? Because although the sequence of events is script-
  ed, the circumstances of those events is wildly improvisational.
  So let’s break it down: 
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Creating Non-player Characters
  52
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  I
  nSpectres get stressed. Their work is sometimes dirty or dan-
  gerous, the hours are long and there’s always the possibility
  of a lawsuit from an unhappy client. And let’s face it,
  InSpectres agents aren’t always the most stable individuals…
  Whenever your agent feels stress, you roll between one and
  five dice (depending on the severity of the stress) and consult
  the imaginatively named Stress Roll Chart. 
  General life/work hassles rate about one die, two at the most.
  Mildly spooky common supernatural occurrences (your average
  haunting, vampire attack or werewolf sighting) deserve two or
  three dice, again depending on the severity of the event.
  Exposure to “Things Which Man Was Not Meant to Know” (tenta-
  5. Stress
  Guidelines for Confessionals
  Creative players learn to incorporate plot complications, char-
  acteristics and flashbacks/foreshadowing into their Confessionals. 
  The only hard and fast rules for Confessionals are these:
  • Address the other players as if they were watching the
  Confessional on television.
  • Confessionals should always add; never negate or
  detract from the game.
  • Only one player can give a Confessional per scene.
  • Each player can only give and receive one characteristic
  per game.
  It may take some time to get the hang of using Confessionals.
  But I guarantee that once you “get it,” you’ll be twisting the plot
  into pretzels in no time flat.
  Private Lives
  InSpectres agents are people too. They have friends, families
  and interests outside of their rather unusual jobs. In fact, the
  whole point of this game is about normal people who have unusu-
  al jobs and still manage to wake up in the morning, drive to work
  (coffee and donut in hand) and punch a time-clock. Sure, they’re
  fighting demons and chasing ghosts, but it’s still just a job. Take
  a real-life profession like “police officer.” Danger, excitement,
  guns, car chases and cool detective work, right? Well, that’s what
  you see on television but most police work involves waiting
  around, filling out paperwork and dealing with folks who don’t
  necessarily want to deal with you. Still sound fun?
  51
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Confessionals
  ‘The Chair’
  Since first e-publishing this game, I’ve adopted a useful
  technique: set aside a big, comfy chair for the players when
  they give their Confessionals. Better yet … set up an entire
  area that’s reserved for Confessionals – a comfy chair for
  the “character” and a couch or some kind of lounging
  device for the GM and the others players. This kinda sets up
  an actor/audience situation that is wicked effective!
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  
  Chapter 5
  Stress
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  cle things from beyond, workplace decapitations, oozing zombie
  flesh) warrant between three or four dice. The GM is free to add
  a stress die if your agent is especially tired, cranky, hurt or if
  they’ve already made a stress roll earlier that day. Demanding a
  stress roll of more than five dice is just plain mean.
  After the Stress dice have been rolled, find the lowest result
  and look it up on the Stress Roll Chart.
  Stress Roll Chart
  6
  Too Cool for School. You gain a point of Cool and 
  suffer no real stress.
  5
  Blasé. No effects…you just don’t care.
  4
  Annoyed. Suffer a 1-die penalty to your next skill roll 
  (no matter where or when you perform it).
  3
  Stressed. Lose a die from an appropriate skill.
  2
  Frazzled. Lose two dice from an appropriate skill (or 
  one die from two skills) 
  1
  Complete and total nuclear meltdown. Lose your Cool 
  (if you have any) and lose a number of skill dice equal 
  to the number of stress dice rolled.
  If your skill has been reduced down to zero, then you auto-
  matically fail any and all uses of that skill (treat this the same
  as rolling a 1 on the Skill Roll Chart). You can’t even use the
  “Take 4” rule…that’s how bad it is. And no, you can’t use the
  Teamwork rule to lend people high-scoring dice for their stress
  roll. Stress is something each character has to face alone. That’s
  part of the reason stress is so damn…stressful.
  To restore your skills to their normal scores, you need to
  either take a Vacation at the end of the mission or spend Cool
  dice anytime during the game.
  As far as role-playing stress, well…by this time your skills
  aren’t quite as good as they once were. So you’re rolling fewer
  dice. Which means you’ll have a greater chance of rolling poorly.
  Which means you and the GM will have to describe your charac-
  ter’s inability to function at peak levels. In effect, the stress
  penalty reinforces role-playing a stressed character. 
  31
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Stress Roll Chart
  EXAMPLE: Confessional with Characteristics
  Barry is using his Confessional to comment on how much Jo was
  flirting with their last client. He can give Jo the descriptor of
  “Flirtatious” and Jo can add that to her character sheet. Now, even
  if Jo wasn’t really planning to play a flirtatious character, she is
  now known to be a flirt and should role-play that from now on. If
  she does, she’ll earn an additional Franchise die at the end of the
  mission. If she doesn’t, well that’s okay…she just won’t get the
  extra point.
  When you assign a characteristic in this way, you have the
  option of making that trait positive (“Brave”), negative
  (“Cowardly”) or ambiguous (“Secretive”). The player who is given
  a characteristic should write it down and incorporate it into his
  or her role-playing from that point on. As a form of compensa-
  tion for letting another player mess with your character, you get
  an extra Franchise die at the end of the game, but only if you
  role-play that trait (put a little check mark next to the charac-
  teristic when you use it).  Characteristics do not need to be used
  from game to game. Pick and choose the ones you like to mold
  and shape your character. But to get that bonus die, be sure to
  incorporate the characteristic into that game.
  EXAMPLE: Confessional with Plot Devices
  Jo now takes her turn in the Confessional and says (with a big
  grin), “Of course, if I had known what would happen to us later,
  I would have never flirted with that particular guy. Thankfully, the
  Professor’s quick thinking helped to pull our bacon from the fire.”
  Obviously, the players have no idea what Jo is talking about.
  The trick is to have all the players and the GM a) get Jo to flirt
  with some guy, b) to have something very bad arise from that,
  and c) to have the Professor come up with a solution. Here’s one
  more, this time acting as a kind of “flashback” scene:
  EXAMPLE: Confessional with Time Shifts
  Mitch takes his Confessional right as his team is being overrun
  by a pack of ghouls. “Fortunately, I had a packet of hot sauce in
  my pocket from our lunch at the burrito place.” The scene then
  resumes and Mitch’s character uses the hot sauce to blind the leader
  of the ghouls, giving the team a few precious seconds to get away.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Confessionals
  50
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  Stress Penalties
  Remember that blowing a stress roll doesn’t mean that you’re
  literally “stressed.” It just means that your skills have been com-
  promised by some awful situation. How does it work? Temporary
  insanity, injury, clumsiness, lack of concentration, fear, super-
  natural possession…use whatever you think fits the situation,
  your character and the mood of the game.
  Suffer an Academics penalty?
  Okay…you got bonked on the head and it hurts too much to con-
  centrate. Or you’re too scared to think straight. Or you can’t remem-
  ber whether Malaysian vampires are sensitive to sunlight or not.
  Lost some Athletics dice?
  Maybe you’re out of breath. Or you tripped and sprained an
  ankle. Or you had a heart attack. Or the monster has wounded you.
  Low on Technology? 
  Maybe in the confusion you dropped something and it broke.
  Or you lost that key part. Or you had your fingers crushed and
  typing out strings of LINUX commands…problematic.
  Having problems with Contact?
  This is easy to role-play…you’re scared speechless! Or you’ve
  gone a bit loco and are busy chatting up a potted plant. Or even
  better…you’re covered in fluorescent pink goo and it’s making
  you angry for no good reason (hey, sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).
  There is no health meter
  in this game, nor are
  mental and physical
  damage separated out
  into two distinct areas.
  Use your imagination,
  have some fun with it
  and don’t be afraid of mak-
  ing your character’s life
  difficult. After all, in this
  game, time (and frozen mar-
  garitas) heals all wounds.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Stress Problems
  32
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 5
  Stress
  the camera and speaks directly to the viewers (in a fictional
  show, this is called “breaking the fourth wall”). During this
  scene, the subject of the Confessional can talk about the other
  people on the show, shed some light on current events or (due
  to the magic of editing) comment on events which have already
  happened in the past but you have yet to see.
  During any scene, you have the option of “stepping into the
  Confessional” and breaking up the action with your character’s
  thoughts and feelings. It’s the only time your character can
  “speak” to the players (and not their characters) and it gives you
  free rein to introduce new story elements or plot complications.
  You can foreshadow events and then play them out during the
  game or you can talk smack about someone’s character and actu-
  ally give them physical and mental traits and quirks (these are
  called characteristics in the game). As this is a new idea to many
  players and GM’s out there, some examples are probably in order.
  49
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Confessionals
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  
  Chapter 5
  Stress
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Sample Stress Rolls
  The following are some example situations and the stress they
  could generate:
  Your InSpectres agent…
  You need to roll…
  Gets cut off in traffic
  One die
  Gets cut off in traffic by an 18-wheeler
  Two dice
  Is harangued by the cops about a digging permit
  One die
  Is arrested because you have no digging permit
  Two dice
  Sees a pair of glowing eyes staring from the dark
  Two dice
  Sees a pair of eyeballs lying on the floor
  Two dice
  Sees a pair of eyeballs staring up at him
  Three dice
  from the floor
  Is confronted by a drooling demon-spawn
  Three dice
  from Hell
  Sees his buddy get bitten in half
  Three dice
  by a drooling demon
  Is later attacked by the upper-half
  Four dice
  of his dead friend
  Has all of the above happen in the same day
  Five dice
  EXAMPLE: Stress Roll
  The Professor is downstairs investigating the kitchen refrigera-
  tor. It’s full of cold beers from the local brewery (which, inciden-
  tally, has been closed for the past twenty years). Curious, he reach-
  es down to grab one when…POP! POP! POP! The bottlecaps fly off
  and send great geysers of beer into the air. The GM calls for a one-
  die Stress roll as the Professor is covered in skunky beer. The pro-
  fessor’s player rolls one die and scores a 2. According to the Stress
  Chart, this means that the Professor will lose either two Skill Dice
  from any skill or one Skill Die from any two different skills. He
  decides that the stinky brew has reduced his Contact skill by one
  and the sudden explosion has rattled his nerves, causing his
  Academics to drop by one die as well. This penalty will last until
  the professor has a chance to rest, clean up and collect his senses
  33
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Sample Stress Rolls
  Employee Screening 
  This is a good choice for players have just started their fran-
  chise. The applicant could either be a prospective player, an
  established player who wants to role-play his character’s job
  interview with the team, or an NPC controlled by the GM. The
  Screening can be professional, hostile, friendly or completely
  surreal (depending on the mood of the participants and the
  desired outcome). 
  Investor Meeting
  This is a good way to start the game with if the players have
  just started and their franchise needs seed money or they’ve been
  around long enough to “get noticed” by a Venture Capitalist.
  Typically, the GM portrays a possible investor in the InSpectres
  franchise and the players need to come up with reasons why the
  VC should part with his money. Again, this can be played straight
  and serious or as whacked-out as you can imagine. In one of my
  games, their prospective VC was a very tall, very pale man named
  Vladimir Rusitov who wore lots of black and would only meet
  with the group at night. You figure it out. ;)
  Media Interview
  The Media Interview is perfect for a group that’s either start-
  ing as a well-established franchise or one that’s burst onto the
  scene through a hail of news reports and PR-friendly antics. The
  GM portrays a reporter from some kind of news agency (print, tel-
  evision, radio or web) and asks the players questions about the
  business. A crafty GM may want to insert some pointed questions
  in order to see how the players think on their feet. I’ve seen all
  kinds of sub-plots arise from this kind of start – romance,
  intrigue, paranoia…it’s great fun. Personally, I’m a big supporter
  of the “nosy tabloid journalist out for a scandal” interview. In
  fact, there’s an online supplement for InSpectres called
  “Nightwatch” that deals with a supernatural TV news program.
  Confessionals
  More than skills, more than Cards, more than Cool dice, the
  most powerful element of InSpectres is known as the
  Confessional. Ever see a reality show on TV? The “Confessional”
  happens when someone on the show gets some “alone time” with
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Confessionals
  48
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 7
  Play
  Structure
  
  (in other words, he can spend a Bank die or two at the end of the
  mission to negate these penalties).
  Cool Dice
  “Being Cool” is more than just having a flair for fashion and
  excellent taste in food, wine and art. It’s also a measure of your
  character’s steely resolve, iron will and brass cajones. In this
  game, it takes more than a pair of shades and a black leather
  jacket to be cool (well, unless you’re the author of this game)
  It also takes Cool dice.
  How do you get Cool dice? Well, if you’re a weird agent you
  might start the game being Cool. If not, then you might become
  Cool during the game if your lowest Stress Roll die is a 6. 
  If your agent has a Cool die, you get to ignore the lowest
  stress die you roll (which means that you can safely ignore all
  one-die stress rolls). If you have more than one Cool die, you get
  to ignore that many stress dice. Cool!
  You can also elect to spend Cool dice to augment any skill roll
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Cool Dice
  34
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 5
  Stress
  When to call for Stress Rolls?
  Stress Rolls are a handy way for the GM to adjust the flow
  of the game and to promote some of the themes in
  InSpectres. Remember that these die rolls aren’t “stress”
  in the traditional sense. A Stress Roll simply means that
  an agent has encountered a situation that could impair
  his or her skills in some way (be it through aggravation,
  distress, injury, madness).
  1-die Stress Rolls are good for the minor annoyances of
  daily life (supernatural or otherwise). They probably won’t
  harm the agents or their franchise and because only one
  die is rolled, there is a 1 in 6 chance of gaining Cool
  (which is a good thing to have once the GM starts calling
  for really tough Stress Rolls). As the mission progresses,
  call for higher Stress Rolls as the stakes are raised. The
  really high Stress Rolls (4+) should only come into play
  when things are looking dire and the “Big Bad” of the
  mission rears its ugly head.
  A
  ll games of InSpectres start with the Starting
  Interview (well, the first game you play – skip the
  Starting Interview for subsequent games if you
  want). This method enables the players to quickly get to know
  one another and their respective playing styles (if the group is
  new). It’s also a great way to get to know one another’s charac-
  ters and for the GM to establish the tone and mood of the game
  (satirical, spooky, paranoid, slapstick, etc.).
  Starting Interviews
  There are three types of Starting Interview that may happen
  during the game. Decide what one sounds the most appealing
  and then go to town.
  7. Play Structure
  
  Supernatural Hero
  This is the generic uber-kick-ass slayer/ninja/martial artist
  that one guy in your group is going to want to play. You know
  the dude who has the nunchaku and the sharpened samurai
  sword in his apartment? This one’s for you, big guy!
  Academics
  1
  (Knows lots of ways to kick your ass, 
  can’t do long division.)
  Athletics
  4
  (Can of whoop-ass? She’s a whole 
  six-pack.)
  Technology
  2
  (Has the same sword that Wesley 
  Snipes had in Blade, okay?)
  Contact
  1
  (Must … speak … in … halting … 
  monotone … )
  Cool
  2
  (Black leather? Check. Scar? Check. 
  Kung fu grip? Check.)
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Supernatural Hero
  46
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  (because you’re so damn cool). Of course, this means that those
  Cool dice are gone and can’t be used to ignore stress dice. You
  win some you lose some. You can also spend Cool dice during the
  game to remove Stress-related penalties (each Cool die you spend
  restores one point to a given skill).
  One more thing: since nobody is totally Cool, you can only
  have a maximum of three Cool dice at a time (weird agents are the
  exception. They’re really cool…so they get to ignore this rule).
  EXAMPLE: Cool Dice
  Mitch has just seen a pair of decapitated football jocks materi-
  alize in from of him. The GM decrees that this is just too creepy
  and tells the player that he must roll two stress dice. He does so
  and scores, get this, a pair of sixes. The lowest die he rolled is a 6
  so he gets a Cool die. Nice one, Mitch!
  The next time the GM has Mitch make a stress roll, Mitch can
  ignore the lowest die and read the next-lowest die. This means he’s
  less apt to go completely bonkers if something bad happens. He
  could also spend his Cool die to augment a skill roll or to restore
  a penalized skill. For now, Mitch feels as cool as a cucumber.
  35
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Cool Dice
  Chapter 3
  Creating the
  Franchise
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  Demon
  Hell-spawned creatures of great power, demons are the classic
  standby when it’s five minutes until game-time and you need to
  whip up a quickie monster. Not all demons are bad, though. But
  even the good ones slip now and then, and every one has some
  feature that belies their otherworldly origins. Here’s a fire-
  breathing lil’ dude with batwings. An imp, I think it’s called.
  Academics
  4
  (Knows, and speaks, Latin – forward 
  and backward).
  Athletics
  1
  (He’s the cutest thing…just a tiny 
  lil’ red guy.)
  Technology
  2
  (Typical demonic abilities include
  knowing how to make coffee.)
  Contact
  2
  (Really persuasive.)
  Cool
  1
  (Flame on!)
  45
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Demon
  Y
  es, yes, yes. You can play a non-human or otherwise
  out-of-the-ordinary agent in a game of InSpectres.
  Here’s how:
  The Good News
  First of all, you get ten Skill Dice to spend during character
  creation, but you don’t gain the benefit of a Talent. The lowest
  skill rating you can have is zero (meaning you can’t use that skill
  without spending Bank, Cool or Card dice). The highest skill rat-
  ing you can have is ten (meaning you kick ass). You don’t have
  6. Weird Agents
  
  Sorcerer
  Rumor has it that there’s another game on the market where
  you play intense demon-summoning dudes (and you can find it
  at www.sorcerer-rpg.com). These guys probably have some kind
  of spell for each point of Academics, a magical trinket per point
  of Technology and the cell-phone number of some extra-planar
  entity per point of Contact. Like psychics, these guys are all over
  the map. Here’s the typical occult scholar with a fetish for cloaks
  with high-collars.
  Academics
  5
  (Even has the book-on-tape version 
  of the Necronomicon.)
  Athletics
  1
  (Bookish sort, glasses, British accent, 
  ghastly pallor.)
  Technology
  1
  (Practically lives in his dusty old
  library.)
  Contact
  1
  (Actually has a lot of friends. One is 
  a stuffed raven … right.)
  Cool
  2
  (Can bend reality to his will.)
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Sorcerer
  44
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  to use all your skill dice — leftover dice are converted to Cool
  dice and weird agents can hold as many Cool dice as they want!
  This means that weird characters are the least likely to suffer
  from stress penalties and the most likely to do really cool stuff.
  Second, we have to discuss cool powers. The best part about
  playing a weird agent is that you can do stuff that a human
  InSpectres agent can only dream of doing. Exactly what those
  powers are is up for discussion with the GM and the other play-
  ers…but the system is lax enough to allow of sorts of madness.
  Of course, your character’s powers should fit its concept; were-
  wolves can’t pass through walls, vampires can’t breathe fire (well,
  usually they can’t breathe fire).
  Now, you know that you’re not gonna get away with playing
  a weird character without some kinds of negatives, right?
  The Bad News
  Weird agents don’t get to pick a Talent. Also, whenever you
  want to use a cool power, you have to spend a Cool die. No, you
  can’t augment the use of powers with Cards or Bank dice. Yes, it
  does add to a skill (usually either Athletics or Contact, depend-
  ing on whether the power is physical or mental in nature). You
  can replace Cool dice the usual way (by rolling a 6 as your low-
  est die on a stress roll) or by changing the team’s franchise dice
  into your own Cool dice (a benefit that normal agents don’t get).  
  The other nasty part about being undead, lycanthropic, demon-
  ic or otherwise “from beyond” is that you don’t get paid. Why?
  Well, maybe you just can’t get paid (because of a lack of a social
  security card, birth certificate or proof of citizenship). Or you do
  get paid but your income is eaten up by weird expenditures (fresh
  supplies of O+ and grave-dirt …or a voodoo houngan on retainer).
  You might even be working for the InSpectres as a way to pay off
  some metaphysical debt that’s tying you to this world. 
  The end result is that when Weird agents roll 5’s or 6’s on their
  Skill Rolls, they don’t earn Franchise dice. Sure, they help the
  team finish jobs and make money…but they’re as much a liabil-
  ity to the company as they are an asset.
  Turning Weird
  Although it’s slightly unorthodox, it’s certainly feasible to
  have your normal agent turn into a weird agent during the course
  of the game. Werewolf attacks, vampire bites, necromantic ritu-
  37
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Turning Weird
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  
  Psychic
  Psychics are people gifted with crazy mental powers. The
  ability to predict the future, to set things ablaze, to read minds.
  Good stuff. Psychics don’t fall into a pat category – each is
  quite unique. But here’s the classic “freaky mutant with telepa-
  thy and nosebleeds” variety of psychic.
  Academics
  2
  (Trivia nut but that’s of limited value 
  more often than not.)
  Athletics
  1
  (Migraines, caffeine addiction
  and poor diet = low score.)
  Technology
  2
  (Average ability, has a creepy 
  fascination with prime numbers.)
  Contact
  5
  (Can see right into your soul.)
  Cool
  0
  (Shaken, not stirred.)
  43
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Psychic
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  als (to revive fallen comrades) and other supernatural events are
  all potential hazards that your agents might face. Keeping in
  mind the “one weird agent per game rule,” there’s a quick and
  easy way to transform your character:
  Re-distribute your character’s Skill Dice (remember that as a
  weird agent you get ten skill Dice to play with), cross out your
  Talent, jot down your character’s newfound abilities and presto,
  you’re good to go!
  Sample Weird agents
  As is the case in this game, there are no hard and fast rules
  about what your weird agent can or can’t do. A vampire in my
  game might be totally different than a vampire in yours, and
  there can be many variations of what a vampire is within one
  game. But the following pages feature some sample character
  types you can use for inspiration, as well as possible abilities and
  skill ratings.
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Sample Weird Agents
  38
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  A Random Star Trek Reference
  InSpectres (as written) is about normal people. Having a
  weird agent on your team is like having a Vulcan aboard the
  U.S.S. Enterprise – it’s an interesting way shed light on
  human qualities (did I just make a Star Trek reference? I am
  a geek…but you’re reading this so I guess you are too).
  This means that each InSpectres game is limited to one
  weird agent. This doesn’t mean that there can only ever be
  one weirdo in the company, it just means that only one
  weird agent character may be played in a given game.
  
  Vampire
  Vampires are undead bloodsuckers. You knew this, yes?
  Common powers include shapeshifting into a bat or mist
  (Athletics) and powers of mind control (Contact). Since vampires
  tend to be very old and anachronistic, they tend not to be a lit-
  tle out of touch in the modern technology department. The typ-
  ical vampire is vulnerable to fire, sunlight and a stake through
  the heart.
  Academics
  2
  (Can speak a few languages and is 
  intrigued by occult stuff)
  Athletics
  3
  (Possesses the strength of the damned!)
  Technology
  0
  (“What’s a blender?”)
  Contact
  3
  (The power to enslave men’s minds!)
  Cool
  2
  (Tall, pale, gorgeous…and looks great 
  in black.)
  39
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Vampire
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  Zombie
  Shambling husks, once human, now doomed to a mindless
  existence. Presumably, you’ll want your zombie character to have
  a bit more pep in his step. As you can see, zombies are power-
  houses when it comes to staring down danger (those with eyes
  left to stare, that is). We’ll just assume that your zombie co-work-
  er prefers raw hamburger meat to human brains fresh outta the
  skull. Ugh.
  Academics
  0
  (They need brains all right.)
  Athletics
  3
  (Tough, but slow.)
  Technology
  0
  (It can swing a wrench, just don’t 
  expect it to fix your car.)
  Contact
  0
  (Zombies aren’t great 
  conversationalists … )
  Cool
  7
  (Nothing fazes ’em.)
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Zombie
  42
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  
  Werewolf
  During a full moon, the werewolf turns into a savage beast
  that is half-man, half-wolf. Werewolves possess keen senses,
  sharp claws and bestial strength and speed. Werewolves are kept
  at bay with wolfsbane and can only be killed by silver weaponry.
  Because they are part-time monsters, they have two ratings
  under each skill – the first is their normal skill, the second is for
  when they’re in beast-form.
  Academics
  2/0
  (Not the scholarly type.)
  Athletics
  2/7
  (A jumping, howling ball of furry fury.)
  Technology
  2/0
  (Clawed hands make it difficult to 
  access the Internet.)
  Contact 
  1/0
  (“Grrr! Grrr!”)
  Cool
  3
  (Being able to turn into a wolfman
  is cool.)
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Werewolf
  40
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  Ghost
  The spirits of the restless dead are the InSpectres #1 stock in
  trade. The company is even named after a type of ghost
  (InSpectres, get it?). Normal ghosts are invisible and incorporeal
  so they must spend Cool dice to affect the world of the living,
  but they can float and pass through walls. Ghosts are usually tied
  to a specific place or object and must resolve some aspect of their
  pre-death existence before passing on to their ultimate fate.
  Academics
  3
  (Ghosts are well-read, albeit dead.)
  Athletics
  0
  (Throw a football?)
  Technology
  0
  (No place to keep their wallet.)
  Contact
  2
  (We use telephones, they use Ouija 
  boards … same diff.)
  Cool
  5
  (What scares a ghost? Hopefully
  not much.)
  41
  Fighting the forces of darkness so you don't have to
  Ghost
  Appendices
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 6
  Weird
  Agents
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/InSpectres/InSpectres - Core Rules v25 PF.pdf