Ghouls in School DISTRO v1 1

8/4/2019 Ghouls in School DISTRO v1 1

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Ghouls in School

Ghouls in School................................................................................................................. 1Basics .................................................................................................................................. 3Attributes......................................................................................................................... 3

Increasing Attributes................................................................................................... 4Making a Check .............................................................................................................. 4

Draws .......................................................................................................................... 4Modifiers..................................................................................................................... 5

Movement ........................................................................................................................... 6Encounters........................................................................................................................... 7

Initiative .......................................................................................................................... 7Turns ............................................................................................................................... 7

Combat............................................................................................................................ 7Melee Combat ............................................................................................................. 7Ranged Combat........................................................................................................... 8Damage in Combat ..................................................................................................... 8Combat Example......................................................................................................... 9

Graduation Points.............................................................................................................. 11Character Creation ............................................................................................................ 12

Bonus Attribute Points.................................................................................................. 12Classes............................................................................................................................... 14

Sport.............................................................................................................................. 14Base Attributes.......................................................................................................... 14

Graduation................................................................................................................. 14Talent Descriptions ................................................................................................... 14Brain.............................................................................................................................. 16

Base Attributes.......................................................................................................... 16Graduation................................................................................................................. 16Talent Descriptions ................................................................................................... 16

Quick............................................................................................................................. 18Base Attributes:......................................................................................................... 18Graduation................................................................................................................. 18Talent Descriptions ................................................................................................... 18

Sense ............................................................................................................................. 20

Base Attributes.......................................................................................................... 20Graduation................................................................................................................. 20Talent Descriptions ................................................................................................... 20

Popular .......................................................................................................................... 22Base Attributes.......................................................................................................... 22Graduation................................................................................................................. 22Talent Descriptions ................................................................................................... 22

Inventory ........................................................................................................................... 24Principals Handbook........................................................................................................ 25

Dice ............................................................................................................................... 25Methods of Play ............................................................................................................ 26


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Campaign Play .......................................................................................................... 26Random Play..................................................................................................................... 37Appendix A: Creating Game Equipment.......................................................................... 38

How to make the Cheap-as-free Miniatures ..................................................................... 38Build the Grid ............................................................................................................... 38Measurements ............................................................................................................... 40Getting the Image Into the Frame ................................................................................. 43

How to make the Cheap-as-free Battle Grids ................................................................... 48


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Basics

Ghouls in School is a role playing game. In it, players take on the roles of characterswhose attitudes and attributes they control (almost) completely. It is a game of make-believe, put to pen, paper, cards, and dice.

Ghouls in School has been tentatively written for players ages 8-12. In addition to youngplayers, an adult (or mature older player) is needed as a story-teller or referee. This adultis the Principal. While the players control their character, the Principal controls all otheraspects of the gamethe monsters, the characters allies, etc. The Principal isresponsible for setting the tone of the game, and helping the players have fun.

Attributes

Attributes describe a characters proficiency in a general area. The higher the attribute,the better the character is at doing things related to that attribute.

Strength

Strength is the measure of a characters capacity to do physical work. Jumping, pushing,and making a melee attack are all tasks that require a Strength check.

Smarts

Smarts are the measure of a characters capacity to retain and use knowledge. Guessinghow to work an arcane device, solving crossword puzzles, and repairing (or building!) arobot are functions of Smarts.

Finesse

Finesse is the measure of a characters hand-eye coordination. Drawing magical runes,catching or throwing a baseball, and picking a lock are all functions of finesse.

Awareness

Awareness is the measure of a characters ability to recognize the world around them,and know how to react to it. Being able to find hidden objects, fight off the feeling ofbeing afraid, or sensing intuitively when something is not right are all functions ofawareness.

PersonalityPersonality is a measure of a characters ability to get others to like them. Persuadingpeople not to hurt you, singing a song, and telling a joke are functions of personality.

Life Points

Life points are the measure of how much damage a character can take.Movement

Movement is the number of squares a character can move per turn.


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Increasing Attributes

Characters start off with base attributes assigned to the type of character theyve chosen

to play. When creating a character, each player is given 3 attribute points to distribute asthey wish among their seven attributes.

As characters gain experience and graduate, they are given additional attribute points.

Making a Check

When a character needs to do something out of the ordinarysay, climb up the verticalface of a cliff in the rainthey roll a number of dice equal to the attribute being used toaccomplish the task. The Principal, who has set a difficulty value for the task, willintegrate the characters success or failure into the game.

For Example:

Kerrys pet turtle is stuck in a tree. Howd it get there? Who knows! But its up to Clay

to get it down. The Principal sets the difficulty at climbing the tree at 10; not an easy

task at all. Clays strength is 4; hes a moderately athletic young man. He rolls four six

sided dice, and adds the results. He rolls 4, 2, 2, and a 5; good enough for success! Clay

scurries up the branches to retrieve Kerrys frightened turtle.

Sometimes players will need to make checks against other players, or against other non-player characters (NPCs) in the game. When this is called for, they roll against each

others attributes.

For Example:

Jon is stuck in Mrs. Frowns Introduction to Euclidean Economics class. He is desperate

to escape and meet Yasmin and Pietro so they can explore the ruins on Broken Nose Hill.

He raises his hand, and tells Mrs. Frown hes not feeling well.

Mrs. Frown is a tough cookie, and she knows Jons a troublemaker. Its her Personality

(4) against his (2)the Principal rolls for her, and comes up with a total of 12. Very

tough to beat. Jon only rolls a 5; he is forced to sit still and listen to Mrs. Frowns

lecture.

Until Yasmin appears at the door and tells Mrs. Frown that Jons great-grandfather

Nesbit is here to see him! Yasmins Personality score is higher than Jonsa very

admirable 4. Mrs. Frown and Yasmin roll against one another, and Yasmin comes out

ahead. Mrs. Frown reluctantly lets Jon out of class.

Draws

A draw is the same as a failure.


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Modifiers

Bonus Modifiers

Usually, bonus modifiers gained from talents, items, etc, allow dice to be added to thecheck IN PLACE of lower-rolls. For example:

Benson is a Brain with the Blind Them With SCIENCE! Talentit gives him a one bonus

die when he makes attack rolls. Benson attacks a Goblin; his Strength is 2, the goblins

strength is 3. Because of the BTWS! Talent, Benson rolls three dice for his attack

resulting in a 1, 3, and 6. Because of the bonus, Benson keeps the 3 and 6. The lowest

roll is dropped completely.

Some talents, like the All Star! talent, allow the results of the bonus dice to be added tothe total of all normal dice. These powerful dice are called Extra Dice.

Penalty Modifiers

Penalty modifiers force the high rolls out of checks. For example:

Maria, a 3rd

grade Popular has successfully activated the Drama For Your Mama talent,

which penalizes Enemy checks. The goblin adjacent to her attacks herit has a Strength

of 2, but her Drama For Your Mama gives it one penalty die. It rolls 3 dice, resulting in

a 1, 3, and a 5. Because it has a penalty dice, it is forced to drop the highest roll.

Extra Dice

Extra dice are bonus dice that do not replace low rolls, but add to the tally. Extra dicerolls may be given by the Principal as a reward for an especially valorous act; or it maybe part of a talent (such as a Sports All Star! talent).


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Movement

Characters are given a certain number of squares they can move, called their Movement.It costs one movement to move into any square touching the square occupied by thecharacter. For example:

It takes one movement to move into the squares indicated by the green arrows; it takes

two movements to move into the square indicated by the yellow arrow.

Characters can move freely through squares occupied by team members; they cannotmove through squares occupied by, or adjacent to, Enemies. Only one character mayoccupy a square at a time. For example:

Bobby can move TO any of the squares indicated by the green arrows. He cannot move

THROUGH them, however, because they touch a square occupied by Bobbys enemy,Mrs. Frown. Mrs. Frown is said tothreaten all of the squares which are marked in red.In order to get to the square directly beneath Mrs. Frown, Bobby has to move three

squarestwo down and right, and then one more up and right, as indicated by the path

in yellow arrows.

Characters who belong to the Quick class can move through Threatened squares by usingthe Sneaky Pete talent.


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Encounters

An encounter can be anything from the team buying Life-Point renewing pizza from theIntergalactic Pizza Parlor, to one member of the team picking the lock of a chest, tocombat. Generally, any situation calling for a roll against a characters attributes is anencounter.

Initiative

Some encounters, such as combat, rely on Initiative to decide who goes first. Wheninitiative must be decided, its quite simple: whoever has the highest Finesse acts first.Players may choose delay their turn until after any other player whose initiative is lessthan their own.

Example: Tim has a Finesse of 5; Jane has a Finesse of 8; Brock has a Finesse of 7.

Ordinarily, initiative would be Jane, Brock, and last Tim. However, Jane can select to go

after Brock or Tim; Brock may select to go after Tim.

In the event that Finesse scores are tied, roll a dice. The individual with the highest rollwins initiative.

Turns

Time during encounters is measured by turns. One turn consists of an action and onemovement from everyone involved in the encounter.

An action is anything that requires the character to roll the dice. Attacking a monster,picking a lock, and bartering with a shopkeeper are all examples of actions.

On your turn, you may take one action and move as many squares as allowed by yourmovement score.

Combat

There are two types of combat: melee combat, and ranged combat.

Melee Combat

Melee combat occurs when one individual attacks another individual that is in a squaretouching their own. Melee combatants roll vs. each others Strength. If the attacker beatsthe targets roll, then the target takes damage (see Damage in Combat).

Draws result in no damage.

Attacking creatures do not take damage when they lose a combat unless the defendingcreature has an item or Talent that forces them to do so.


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Ranged Combat

Ranged combat occurs when one individual attacks another in a square that is not

adjacent. Melee combatants roll vs. each others Finesse. If the attacker beats thetargets roll, then the target takes damage (see Damage in Combat). An item (bow,laser rifle, blowgun, slingshot, brainwave generator) is usually necessary to make aranged attack.

Draws result in no damage for either side.

Ranged combat implements may not be used against adjacent targets.

Damage in Combat

Damage in combat is determined by the number of dice counted in the attack. (Thus,

bonus dice wouldnt count, but extra dice would.)

Total Dice Rolled Damage

Up to 7 1

8+ 2

The loser of a combat subtracts the amount of damage from their Life Points.

Players who lose all their Life Points are unconscious. They may be healed by a Sense,or by resting for five turns.

Enemies who lose all their Life Points are generally considered out of the game.


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Combat Example

Jill, Billy, and Dani

encounter a vicious, smelly

Troll. The Troll is obviously

hostile.

Initiative rules dictate that the

individual with the highest

Finesse score goes first;

thats Dani. Jill has the next

highest Finesse, then the

Troll, and last, Billy.

Dani, a Quick, decides to try to sneak past the Troll to get behind it; she knows her

Sneaky Pete talent can give her an advantage in combat. She rolls her Finesse (6) vs. the

Trolls Awareness (3).

Success! Dani tiptoes past the Troll

(maybe it was distracted by how tasty and

slow Billy looks), and gets behind it; she

rolls 3 dice for her attack (per the

instructions for the Sneaky Pete talent)a

6, 4, and a 1. She drops the lowest dice

(the 1) and adds the other 2 to get a total of

10. The Principal rolls for the Trollit has

a Strength of 5, but its rolls only total 8.

The troll loses the combat, and one Life

Point.

Now its Jills turn. Shes happy where she isno Troll breath to deal withand shes

got a slingshot, so she can make a ranged attack! Jills Finesse is 3; she rolls a 5, 3, and

a 6 for an impressive total of 14! The Troll, with a Finesse of 2, doesnt stand a chance;

the Principal doesnt even have to roll to know that the Troll is going to lose this round,

along with another Life Point.


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Its the Trolls turn to attack. It would

REALLY like to munch on Jills tootsies,

but it cant move THROUGH any of the

squares that Billy threatens (in red), and

to go around would cost too many

movement points (it only has 3). It could

move diagonallyup and rightto

retreat, but this particular Troll is

hungrier than it is smart. It decides to

attack Dani. The Troll rolls a 2, 5, 4, 1,

and 3 for its attack; its total is 15. Dani,

with a Strength of 2 is going to be hard

pressed to beat the troll this round. She doesnt come closeher rolls total only a 3, and

the Troll chomps down one of her precious Life Points.

Billy to the rescue. Billy has the All Star talen which gives him an extra dice when he

makes melee attacks; with a Strength of 5, that makes him particularly dangerous.

Billys rolls total 18. Desperate, the Troll rolls a paltry ten, and loses its last Life Point.

The victorious team loots the Trolls unconscious body for a nice, shiny Ring of

Speediness, which they give to Jill.


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Graduation Points

Every encounter in which you use your primary attribute grants you at least oneGraduation Point. Gain enough Graduation Points, and you go up a Grade. Highergrades grant more powerful talents, and the opportunity to select Combos.

The table below shows how many Graduation Points are needed to go up per Grade:

Grade Graduation Points Needed for Next Grade

1 1-10

2 11-25

3 26-45

4 46-60

5 61-906 91-125

7 126-165

8 166-210

9 211-260

10 261-315

Some shops within Grundleworths Academy for Exceptional Young Persons will sellitems for Graduation Points. Unlike other shops, however, only the individual buying theitem can spend Graduation Points at the store. One exception to this rule is the Popularcharacter; with the Barter Combo; they may purchase items for other people using their

own (and only their own) graduation points.

Spending enough graduation points to put you lower than your current level has no effecton your current levelyou dont lose abilities. However, you must make up the deficitbefore making the next grade.

Example: Jill finds Bocktografs Interstitial Quantum Sundries in an alcove in the Field

House. Bocktograf has a Tiara of Splendiforousness that Jill has been craving for just

EVER. Its only 50 graduation points; Jill, a Fourth Grade Quick has 57. She buys the

tiara, and is left with 7 graduation points. Before she can graduate to the Fifth Grade,

she has to earn 53 graduation points.

Later, Vashti, a Brain, lectures her on the benefits of patience. If Jill had waited another

three encounters, shed have been able to get her Tiara AND already be in Fifth Grade.

Jill zaps the smarmy Brain with the Tiaras psycho-tantrum power, and Vashti learns a

lesson about minding her own business.

Graduation points may not be traded between players.


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Character Creation

Characters belong to 1 of 5 Classes; each class has different abilities to strengthen theteam.

Sport: Good at physical activities, like combat. Primary Attribute: Strength Brain: Good at intellectual activities, like puzzle-solving. Primary Attribute:

Smarts

Quick: Good at sneaking and hiding, and moving fast. Primary Attribute:Finesse

Sense: Good at discovering hidden things. Primary Attribute: Awareness Popular: Good at performing and convincing people to like them. Primary

Attribute: Personality

Characters Primary Attribute is the attribute most important to the class theyve chosen.This importance is reflected in the Base Attributes for that classprimary attributes arehigher than the other attributes.

In addition, successfully completing a task (or encounter) using the primary attribute ishow characters gain Graduation Points.

When creating a character, it might be helpful to qualify what the attribute scores mean.The table below should help with that:

Table 1: Attribute Score QualitiesAttribute Score Meaning

1 Mediocre

2 Average

3 Fair

4 Good

5 Great

6 Superb

7 Epic

8 Legendary

Bonus Attribute PointsDuring character creation, each player is given 3 extra attribute points to customize theircharacter however they see fit. These points may be distributed across all 7 attributes, ormay be dumped into a single attribute; it is up to the player.

For Example:

Minna has chosen to be a Sense. A Senses starting attributes are:

Strength: 1 Smarts: 1


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Finesse: 1 Awareness: 3 Personality: 2 Life Points: 3 Movement: 3

Minna wants her Sense to be exceptionally in tune with the world; she dedicates two

points to Awareness. She also imagines her to be swiftso she puts her last point into

Movement.

Minnas totals look like this:

Strength: 1

Smarts: 1 Finesse: 1 Awareness: 5 Personality: 3 Life Points: 3 Movement: 4

So, she winds up with a Sense who is exceptionally alert and who can move very fast.

In addition to the points given at creation, characters receive bonus attribute points inGrades 4 and 8. Some encounters or items may also bestow extra attribute points.


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Classes

Sport

Base Attributes

STRENGTH: 3

Smarts: 1Finesse: 2Awareness: 1Personality: 1Life Points: 3Movement: 3

Graduation

Grade Talent

1 All Star! (+1 Extra)

2 Combo

3 The Best Defense

4 Attribute +1

5 Do-over

6 Combo

7 All Star! (+2 Extra)

8 Attribute +19 Combo

10 The Best Defense part 2

Talent Descriptions

All Star

You may add an Extra die to your attack/defense roll in melee combat equal to the bonusindicated in the Graduation table above. These dice are part of your attack; they do notreplace the die youd normally roll.

The Best Defense

When you are damaged in melee combat, roll one dice. If you roll a 6, deal 1 damage tothe enemy that attacked you. This does not negate the damage dealt to you.

At grade 10, if the first roll doesnt succeed, you may roll again.

Do-over

You may reroll non-combat strength checks. You must accept the outcome of the secondroll.


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Combo

Choose one of the following combinations:

Double-Team

When another Sport, or a Quick on your team is in a square behind an Enemy thatis in front of you, and you make a successful attack, your teammate also gets anattack as a freebie.

Tag-Team

In combat, you can switch places with any teammate that is in a square touchingyours.

Swing Attack

In combat, pick up any teammember whose strength is less than yours, and who isin a square touching your own, and swing them in a 360 arc! Any Enemies hit bythe swing attack take 2 damage, and are knocked back one square. Yourteammate takes 1 damage, and you put them down where they started.

Sports Club

For every other Sport in your party, gain 1 dice to rolls involving strength


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Brain

Base AttributesStrength: 1SMARTS: 3Finesse: 2Awareness: 1Personality: 1Life Points: 3Movement: 3

Graduation

Grade Talent1 Blind them with SCIENCE!(+1 bonus dice)

2 Combo

3 Lab Assistant

4 Attribute +1

5 Get a clue

6 Combo

7 Blind them with SCIENCE!(+2 bonus dice)

8 Attribute +1

9 Combo10 Lab Assistant

Talent Descriptions

Blind them with SCIENCE!Spend a combat turn studying your enemiesreceive a bonus dice to attack rolls (equalto the bonus in the above table) until the combat ends.

Lab Assistant

You may choose a creature from the list below to be your companion and helper. Lab

Assistants give you one bonus die, but only for checks against the attribute in which thatassistant specializes. Types of Lab Assistants and their specializations are noted below:

Monkey: Finesse Crow: Smarts Bulldog: Strength Cat: Personality Turtle: Awareness

At level 10, Lab Assistants bonus die becomes an Extra die.


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Assistants will follow simple orders; to see whether they succeed or not, roll your smartsvs. the difficulty of the task (set by the Principal). They may not be used in combat.Brains have an unnatural connection to their assistantswhat the assistant sees or hears

is revealed immediately to the Brain. Lab assistants may communicate only with theirBrains.

Get a ClueIn situations where the team would normally get a single clue for a puzzle, problem,riddle, etc., you get two (you do not have to share the second clue). In situations whereyou must roll against your Smarts to solve a riddle, puzzle, problem, etc, you may rolltwice and take the higher roll.

ComboChoose one of the following combinations:

Put Your Heads Together

When rolling a check against your Smarts, you may select one other teammate whoseSmarts are lower than yours, and add their Smarts score (rounded down) as bonus dice.This combo can be used in non-combat only.

Network

You are able to maintain communications with members of your team who you cant see,no matter how far away they are.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Help a Sport with a task involving Strengthadd a number of dice equal to your Smartscore to their Strength roll. (Round up) Non-combat only.

Chess Club

For every other Brain on your team, gain +1 dice to rolls involving Smarts.


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Quick

Base Attributes:Strength: 1Smarts: 2FINESSE: 3

Awareness: 1Personality: 1Life Points: 3Movement: 4

Graduation

Grade Talent1 Sneaky Pete

2 Combo

3 Twinkle Toes (+2 toMovement)

4 Attribute +1

5 Nosy Rosy (+1 bonus dice)

6 Combo

7 Twinkle Toes (+2 toMovement)

8 Attribute +1

9 Combo10 Nosy Rosy (+2 bonus dice)

Talent Descriptions

Sneaky Pete

You may sneak through squares occupied by enemies on a successful Finesse check vs.the enemies Awareness.

In combat, if you make a successful Sneaky Pete check to move through a square that is

touching an Enemys square, you may roll a bonus die for your attack.

For example:

Ben sneaks past Mrs. Frown, and attacks her with a ranged attack. He has a Finesse of

5; Ben rolls 6 dice and chooses the 5 highest rolls to tally for his attack.

You may not use Sneaky Pete when you start your turn adjacent to an enemy.


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Twinkle Toes

Your movement is increased.

Nosy Rosy

You have a knack for getting into places youre not supposed to be in; any time you needto make a check against any type of security system (magical seal, locked door, computerkeypad, password), you may roll bonus die equal to the bonus in the table above.

Combo

Choose one of the following combinations:

Sugar Rush

You may force your team to rush: everyone moves at your movement score for up tothree turns. After the rush has ended, they must lose a turn. You may continue movingat speed (round up).

Trapbuilding

Along with a Brain, you may construct traps. Traps take two turns to build, and take upone inventory slot. Only the characters who build the traps may carry or set them. Whenset, traps take up one square. The following traps may be constructed:

o Bubblegum: Triggered when an enemy crosses into the square the trapoccupies. Forces enemies who fail their Awareness check (vs the trapsdifficulty) to lose 1 turn

o Peashooter: Triggered when an enemy crosses into the square the trapoccupies. Forces enemies who fail their Awareness check (vs the trapsdifficulty) to lose 1 Life point.

o Wall o Toilet Paper: When set, this trap immediately expands to fill fouradjacent squares. It will last for three turns; enemies may move at speedthrough it, but may not use ranged attacks until it disappears.

To set the difficulty of the trap, add the Brains Smarts and the Quicks Finesse; roll thatnumber of dice. The total result is the traps difficulty.

Enemies who succeed at making their Awareness check do not trigger the trap; they mayattempt to disable the trap by making a Finesse roll against the Quick who created thetrap. Enemies who enter a trapped square trigger the trap.

Quick Study

Together with a Brain, you may rush production of an item (such as a trap)cutproduction time in half.

Midnight Club

For every other Quick on your team, gain 1 bonus die to checks involving Finesse.


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Sense

Base AttributesStrength: 1Smarts: 1Finesse: 1Awareness: 3

Personality: 2Life Points: 3Movement: 3

Graduation

Grade Talent1 Small pitcher, big ears (+1die)

2 Combo

3 Heal (+2 Life Points)

4 Attribute +1

5 Man with the Plan

6 Combo

7 Small pitcher, big ears (+2die)

8 Attribute +1

9 Combo10 Buff (+4 Life Points)

Talent Descriptions

Small Pitcher, Big Ears

You get a bonus to checks involving Awareness.

Heal

You may make an Awareness check (vs 10) and heal a team member. You may movebefore or after using this talent, but you may take no other action. Healing may be done

in combat.

You may only heal up to the sum of your Awareness score and your level per gamingsession. For example:

Vashti is a 4th

Grade Sense with an Awareness score of 6. She may heal up to 10 points

of damage per gaming session (Grade (4) + Awareness (6) = 10).

A full nights rest will also restore a Senses Heal ability.


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Man with the Plan

Before combat, you may make an Awareness check (vs. 10); if successful, each teammember, including yourself, gets a bonus dice to all checks made during the combat. The

team must lose a Turn in order to plan; this talent cannot be used when your team hasbeen ambushed, or with random encounters.

Combo

Choose from the following combinations:

Insight

When adjacent to a team member, you may add bonus dice to any rolls they perform; youmay take no other action, nor may you move, for that turn. (Your team member maymove and act normally) You may only use Insight on a single team member per turn, andonly once per turn. The effect starts at the beginning of your turn, and ends when yournext turn begins.

Insight may only be used when both team members are aware of the encounter for whichthey are making a check. (i.e, Insight may not be used to help find hidden objects)

The number of dice that may be added depends on your grade:

Grade Number of Bonus Dice

2 1

6 210 3

Fortify

All team members in squares touching yours get +1 dice to defend against attacks.

Sports adjacent to you may roll two dice when rolling The Best Defense talent. Thesedice are considered separately; they are not totaled.

Empathy

With a Popular, you may combine your Awareness and his/her Personality scores. Either

of you may make a single Personality check against a single non-hostile target.

Rotary Club

For every Sense on your team, gain +1 dice to checks involving Awareness.


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Popular

Base AttributesStrength: 1Smarts: 1Finesse: 2Awareness: 1Personality: 3

Life Points: 3Movement: 3

Figure 1

GraduationGrade Talent

1 Adorable (1 bonus die)

2 Combo

3 Drama for Your Mama

4 Attribute +1

5 Good Charm-a

6 Combo

7 Adorable (2 bonus dice)8 Attribute +1

9 Combo10 Good Charm-a, the Sequel

Talent Descriptions

AdorableYou are innately likeable. You get a bonus to Personality checks.

Drama For Your MamaYou can throw a tantrum that intimidates enemies adjacent to you. Make a Personalitycheck vs. each adjacent Enemys Personality. On a successful roll, enemies take apenalty on all checks for the duration of the encounterthey must remove their highest

die roll. This talent can be used only once per encounter.

Good Charm-aMake a Personality check vs. an Enemys Personality. If successful, you convince themnot to attack. If they are attacked by you or your teammates, the effect ends.

This ability may only be used once per encounter.

Good Charm-a, the SequelAs above, but the affected enemy will fight for you. You control their movement andactions. After combat ends, the enemy immediately leaves.


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Combo

Choose from the following combinations:

Song and Dance

If there is a Quick adjacent to you, you may immediately re-roll a failed Personalitycheck (non-combat only). This Talent may only be used once per turn.

Barter

You may buy items for their price. You may negotiate on behalf of any team-member.

Perform

In combat, you may sing and dance to inspire your teammates; each team member whocan see you gets a bonus dice, for as long as you perform. If you are damaged duringcombat, you stop performing, and lose a turn. You may move while performing, but cando no other action.

Drama Club

For every other Popular on your team, gain +1 dice to Personality checks.


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InventoryCharacters can only carry 4 items at a time. Some items, such as backpacks andSchroedingers Purse, allow you to carry more.


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Principals Handbook

Dice

Ghouls in School uses 6 sided dice (d6).


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Methods of Play

Ideally, the Principal spends a couple hours setting up an exciting campaign filled withterrifying monsters, entertaining and memorable non-playing characters, profound moralconundrums, and challenging mental puzzles. The purpose ofGhouls in School is tofacilitate a story-telling environment between parents and children, and its strength as agaming system is most readily apparent when used in that capacity.

However, some nights you just want a good dungeon crawl. Sometimes, you dont wantto consider the moral implications of using recreational equipment as battleimplementsyou just want to hit a goblin with your baseball bat.

The following sections will assist in either method of play. Campaign play requires adeep time-investment from the Principal in setting up the encounters, writing up a plot,crafting environments, and choosing enemies and allies. Random play requires less of atime investment from the Principal, is more combat-oriented, and uses Encounter Cardsin place of Principal-planned encounters.

Campaign Play

Ghouls in School is designed for the parent who wants to have a fun, educational,entertaining, and uplifting time with their family. Children who have fun, educational,entertaining and uplifting times with their family are less likely to wind up in front of theboob tube, turning their minds to mush. Children without mush minds are much morelikely to be people who are fun, educational, entertaining, and uplifting.

Its a virtuous cycle that may just save the world.

Crafting a game specifically designed for your children/players will engage them in waysthat boy bands, action cartoons, and scatological jokes made by animated chihuahuascannot.

Take the time to craft a game that your players are likely to love. Its important to getthem involved early through the character creation processdont start planning yourcampaign until you know what characters you are going to be playing with.

So step 1 in campaign play is:

Help your players make their characters

Note that helping is never defined as dictating.

A characters most important attribute to record is their history. Some children will wantto play themselves; thats fine. Others may want to create their own fictional personas,along with detailed histories, attitudes, etc. Let them make their characters histories asdetailed as they like. The more they tell you, the easier it will be for you to work theminto your campaign.


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Younger players may need qualitative help in assigning their bonus attribute points totheir scores. Use Table 1: Attribute Score Qualities to help, with questions like:

How fast is your character? Is he a good listener? How much does he like to sing andtell jokes?

Once the history and numbers have been generated, help your players draw (or findonline) a picture of their character. Print everything out on a single sheet of paper (ifpossible). You can use the form on the next page as a guide.


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Character Sheet

Character Name: Class: Grade:

Strength: Picture:

Smarts:

Finesse:

Awareness:

Personality:

Life Points:

Movement: Graduation Points: Cash:

Talent: Effects:

Item: Effects

History:

Attitude:


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Sample Character Sheet

Character Name:Carter Class: Quick Grade: 4

Strength: 1 Picture:

Smarts: 2

Finesse: 6

Awareness: 2

Personality: 1

Life Points: 3

Movement: 5 Graduation Points: 53 Cash: $5

Talent: Effects:

Sneaky Pete Finesse vs. Enemy Awareness; sneak past them.

Bonus die to attack roll when sneaking, and

choose highest rolls.

Trapbuilding Make traps! Awesome

Twinkle Toes +2 to movement

Item: Effects

Slingshot Allows ranged attacks (Finesse vs Finesse); range

is 5 squaresBubblegum Trap Sticky, sticky! Difficulty = 10

Spitball Trap Difficulty = 13

Flashlight So I can see at night. Not to be used when

sneaking.

History: Carters father, Doug, works for Toggerson Sundrieshe makes magicaltoys. Carter used to sneak out of his bedroom as a kid, and break into his fathers

workshop to see what the latest model was.

Attitude: Carter is curious, savvy, and boisterous. He likes moving fast, being asmart aleck.


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Create a Plot

Now that you have your players and their characters, you can begin creating your

adventure. The reason you waited this long to make your adventure was to be able tobetter incorporate your players characters histories into the adventure youre about tocreate.

Your players are the stars of the game; you facilitate the challenges that will allow themto shine. While a plot doesnt have to focus on characters, each campaign should includesome tidbit from each characters past to help your players better engage the game.

Example:

Joans character, Melisande, is a first grade Sport who grew up with jet-setting parents.

She spent lots of time with her nanny, who taught her kung-fu, scuba-diving, andneedlepoint.

Toms character, Khalid, grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a third-world

country. Hes a street rat; his only family is the leader of his gang, a man called Bone-

eye. Khalid learned to sneak and move quickly to avoid Bone-eye.

Harris, the Principal, decides to use some elements of Melisande and Khalids past as

plot hookshe has Bone-eye capture Melisandes parents and nanny, and send a ransom

note to Melsandehe wants the Eye of Dhumal-kai, a large ruby her parents gave to

Grundleworths Academy for study.

The above is an example of a character-focused campaign, where the charactersbackstory makes up a large part of the plot.

Alternatively:

Someone has been stealing school supplies. Khalid is initially blamed for the thefts

because of his shady past, but some of the missing items appear in Melisandes dresser

drawers!

Keep your plot simple and straightforward. Once you have the overarching problem

the conflictconsider the resolution. The two example plots above have obviousresolutions: Get the Ruby; Find the real thief.

Once you know the resolution, you can begin constructing the meat of the campaign.


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Set the Scenecrafting encounters

Youve set the overarching plot; youve incorporated your players characters into it to

make it engaging. Now for the real work of building encounters that will challenge andentertain your team.

Game Balance

One of a Principals toughest chores is finding the right balance between a murderouslydifficult campaign and a cakewalk. If your campaign is too difficult, your players willbecome frustrated and quit; too easy, and the sense of suspense and anticipationnecessary for real enjoyment of the game is destroyed.

Table 2: Assigning Difficulty can assist Principals in assigning difficulty standards forstatic tasks, such as opening a locked chest, jumping a chasm, etc.

Table 2: Assigning Difficulty

Difficulty Vs. Rating

Simple Task 5

Challenging 10

Difficult 15

Daunting 20

Staggering 25

Revolutionary 30

Failing at a task may have consequences, depending on the situation. Use your commonsense for this; if Trudy is trying to persuade Mrs. Frown to give her a hall pass and fails,then Mrs. Frown isnt likely to change her mind any time in the near future! But if Tomfails to jump a chasm, and he survives the fall, theres no reason why he cant try againnext turn.

Encounters involving combat require a little more consideration. Combat encountersshould be built around the teams average grade. Take the sum of each team membersgrade, and divide it by the number of playersthats the average grade.

An evenly matched team of enemies will be on the same average level as the players, or alittle higher. Like Characters, enemies can be broken down into classes; like characters,the higher the enemies level, the harder theyll be to beat. When you create enemies,you are essentially creating a new party that, like the players team, will work together toachieve their own goals.


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Example:

John, the Principal, is writing an encounter for his players. There are three team

members; a 3rdGrade Sport, a 2ndGrade Quick, and a 4th Grade Smart. To get their

average grade, John adds 3+2+4. He divides 9 by 3 to come up with 3; so thats what

the average grade of his creatures will be.

The setting for the encounter is a network of caves. John decides to make a team of

creepy crawliestwo rats (3rd

grade Quicks), a giant centipede (4th

grade Sport), and a

bat (2nd

grade Quick). He checks their average grade3+3+4+2=12. 12/4=3. Good to

go.

John works up the creatures; theres no need to be fancy. He just figures out their

attributes and a special talent. To make things even easier, he gives similar creatures the

same attributes.

RAT (3rdGrade Quick)Strength: 1

Smarts: 2

Finesse: 5

Awareness: 2

Personality: 1

Life Points: 3

Movement: 4

SPECIAL: Creepythe first time a rat moves adjacent to a character, the character mustroll Awareness vs. the Rats personality. If the character fails, they must immediately use

their movement points to move away from the rat. This effect ends after one turn.

CENTIPEDE (4th Grade Sport)Strength: 4

Smarts: 1

Finesse: 2

Awareness: 1

Personality: 1

Life Points: 3

Movement: 4

SPECIAL: Poison. If the Centipede does damage to a character, roll an additional die.

On a 5 or 6, the character loses a turn.

BAT (2nd Grade Quick)Strength: 1

Smarts: 2

Finesse: 5

Awareness: 2


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Personality: 1

Life Points: 3

Movement: 4

SPECIAL: Flight. While flying, creatures can only be hit by ranged attacks.

A table of suggested special abilities is below. For selections with multiple descriptions,choose only one.

Name Description

Poison When the creature with the poison abilitydamages a character, roll an additionaldice. On a 5 or 6:

1. Damaged characters lose a turn.OR2. Damaged characters must roll a

penalty dice when attackingOR3. Damaged characters must roll a

penalty dice when defending.

Flight While flying, creatures can only be hit byranged attacks.

Creepy When the creature moves adjacent to acharacter, that character must roll theirAwareness vs. the creatures personality.Failure means that the character moves their movement away from the creature.This movement counts against theirmovement for the next round.

Slippery Creature can move through threatenedsquares.

Armored Creature gets a bonus die when defending

Tentacles When the creature does damage to acharacter, it grasps them and prevents themfrom moving for 1 turn. Graspedcharacters can ONLY attack the creaturethat has grasped them.

Spit Attack Creature can make a ranged attack.

Bash When creature damages a character itpushes them back a square. If it pushesthem into another creature or character, thatcharacter takes 1 damage as well. Ifcharacter is pushed into a wall, they take anextra point of damage.

Psychic Creature can attack using its Smarts insteadof its Strength.


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Battle Maps

Ghouls in School is action-oriented. It benefits from the use of maps and grids to depict

the area of play; and players are strongly encouraged to use miniatures to represent theircharacters. The Cheap-as-free Paper Miniatures section describes how to create paperminiatures for use with Ghouls In School.

It is immensely helpful when crafting encounters to use a map to decide where to putyour challenges. In order to save paper, it may be helpful to only use scale maps whencombat occurs. An Overmapa map depicting the whole area that the characters areexploringcan be used for non-combat encounters and for movement. Combat (whenmovement becomes more important) should use a battle map to allow players to betterenvision the scene, and to more effectively use some of their Talents and Combos.

Different campaign settings will require different styles of encounters. A cave may befilled with dangerous creatures and traps; a bustling village isnt likely to feature either(at least not out in broad daylight). Print out two copies of the Overmap; one for you, andone for your players. On your Overmap, write down where each encounter will takeplacenumbering them might be helpful.

Here is an example of an Overmap, using the freeware, AutoREALM(http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm)

Numbering the encounters allows you to organize encounters by geographical location.Make a cheat sheet detailing each encounterthe enemies or NPCs at each location, theatmosphere or tone of the encounter, etc.


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Shops

Players need a place where they can use their graduation points or their hard earneddollars to buy Stuff. Shops can also be useful places to meet NPCs and get quests.

Inventory in shops can vary widelyBocktografs Interstitial Quantum Sundries, forexample, only sells five items (one per class), and it doesnt accept anything butgraduation points. The Academy Store, however, sells a wide variety of trinkets, food,etc, for normal money.

General Stores

The Academy Store is considered to always be open before you begin a campaign.Players can purchase material from the Academy Store before setting out, using moneythey gain during their adventures.

Some suggestions for inventory for the Academy Store are:

Name Cost Inventory Slots Description

Flashlight $3 1 Lights up dark places.Needs batteries.

Batteries $1 1 Provide power forelectronics. Batterieslast one campaign,and must be replaced

Snacks (chips, pop-tarts, wasabi peas,cookies)

$2 1 Restore 1 life point.One use.

Microwave Pizza $4 2 When heated, restoresall life points. Oneuse.

Pencils $1 1 Useful for writing onany material.

Laptop Computer $200 2 +1 extra die to Smartchecks.

Soda $ 1 +1 Movement for 3

turnsStapler $3 1 Bind stuff together

Rope $3 1 Lightweight andstrong. Finesse checkto use correctly (vs. 5)

Baseball Bat $80 1 +1 Bonus die tomelee attack rolls

Generally, items at the academy store offer AT MOST an extra die, but that represents asignificant investment.


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Specialty Shops

Stores that offer more powerful items require the use of graduation points. These itemsnot only offer bonuses but open new combos and talents for players. Some suggestionsare below.

Name Cost Inventory Slots Description

Book of Mythalgar 70 GP 1 Combo ItemAllows a Quick and aBrain to drawprotective runes.Enemies cannotattack a team

protected by theserunes; life points arerecovered in thetime. Runes aredrawn over a 2x2area; only four teammembers may inhabitthis area. Leaving therunes dispels them.

It takes a full turn todraw the runesproperly.

Aces Guitar 50 GP 2 PopularAllows a Popular touse her Tantrumability to damage 1enemy.

Tiara ofSplendiforousness

100 GP 1 BrainAllows Brains toattack enemies with aranged attack usingtheir Smarts ratherthan their Finesse.

Grants a bonus die toPersonality rolls.

Auto-armor 100 GP 3 SportGrants a bonus diewhen defending.


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Random Play

Coming soon!


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Appendix A: Creating Game Equipment

A number of popular role playing games use battle grids and miniatures to help playersvisualize combat. These materials can be expensive. One of the goals ofGhouls inSchool is to allow families to play RPGs together with a minimum of cost.

The following guides offer advice on constructing your own miniatures and battle grids.

How to make the Cheap-as-free Miniatures

This guide demonstrates how to make miniatures for a tabletop RPG/wargame with a gridof 1x1 inch/cell.

This document assumes that the reader is using Microsoft Word, and is somewhatfamiliar with its use.

Build the Grid

Open MS Word. Go to View -> Toolbars and make sure Drawing is selected.

On the Drawing toolbar, select Draw -> Grid. The Grid configuration box will appear:


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Change the settings in the Grid configuration box to match what is shown above.

Your grid will appear. Note that you set the horizontal/vertical spacing to a half-inch

rather than a full inch; this is to better mark where to make the feet of the miniature(which are an inch).


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Measurements

.

Small

Total Height In Squares:6

In Inches:3

Total Width 2 1

Base 1 Height 1 .5

Base 1Width 2 1Image 1 Height 2 1

Image 1 Width 2 1

Image 2 Height 2 1

Image 2 Width 2 1

Base 2 Height 1 .5

Base 2 Width 2 1


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Medium


In Inches:5

Total Width 2 1

Base 1 Height 1 .5

Base 1Width 2 1

Image 1 Height 4 2Image 1 Width 2 1

Image 2 Height 4 2

Image 2 Width 2 1

Base 2 Height 1 .5

Base 2 Width 2 1

LargeTotal Height In Squares:10

In Inches:5

Total Width 4 2

Base 1 Height 1 .5

Base 1Width 4 2

Image 1 Height 4 2

Image 1 Width 4 2

Image 2 Height 4 2

Image 2 Width 4 2

Base 2 Height 1 .5

Base 2 Width 4 2

Colossal


In Inches:7

Total Width 6 3

Base 1 Height 2 1

Base 1Width 6 3

Image 1 Height 5 2.5Image 1 Width 6 3

Image 2 Height 5 2.5

Image 2 Width 6 3Base 2 Height 2 1

Base 2 Width 6 3

Note: Pay attention to the dimensions for the images (In Inches): they tell you whatmeasurement you need to meet when youre editing your images to fit the frame.


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Use the Draw tool to make frames for your miniatures according to the specificationsabove. The rectangle tool is the best tool for this job, but the default format may need tobe altered. After drawing the first rectangle, right click on it, and select FormatAutoShape.

Alter the settings to on the Colors and Lines tab to appear as above. On the Layout tab,make sure that the wrapping style is set to In Front of Text.

This will make it easier to move your frames around. Click OK; then right click on yourframe and select Set AutoShape Defaults. This will ensure that anything else drawnwill follow the chosen formatting.


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Use the Draw tool to delineate borders between the miniatures base and images. Clickon the Square tool:

NOTE: Word is wonky. You may get a big, blank space inserted into the middle of yourdocument with the words CREATE YOUR DRAWING HERE. Tap the ESC button onyour keyboard to halt that nonsense. After ESCaping from that, you should have a +cursor which will allow you to draw the rectangles you need.

Frame templates are included at the end of this document.

Getting the Image Into the Frame

It is not within the scope of this document to delve into where or how to get images. It isassumed that the audience is familiar with tools like Google; it is also assumed that theuser has an understanding of image copyright.

That said, it would be irresponsible not to note the fantastic image galleries athttp://gallery.rptools.net/main.php.

It would also be irresponsible not to note free image editing tools like GIMP(http://www.gimp.org/) and Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/). These tools can helpyou edit the images you create or find online to fit into the miniatures frames.

Once the image to be placed on the miniature has been obtained and saved to your harddrive, clickInsert -> Picture -> From File. The image will be inserted into yourdocument (alternatively, you can open an Explorer window and drag and drop the imagefile directly onto your document). The image layout may need to be altered to make iteasier to move around within the document. Right-click on the image, and select FormatPicture. On the Layout tab, change the layout to In Front of Text.

The image is likely right side updrag and drop the image into the space for Image 2.Then copy and paste the image, and click on the green circle at the top of the image.Drag the green circle 180 degrees, to point downward. Then move the upside downimage into Image 1s area.

Print out the miniature, and fold the base areas down. Then fold the miniature in half.You may secure the miniature with a piece of scotch tape.

Voila! A miniature is made.


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Small Frames


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Medium Frames


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Large Frames


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Colossal Frames


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How to make the Cheap-as-free Battle Grids

If youve followed the above instructions for making miniatures, guess what? Youredone.

Theres actually a quicker way, using Microsoft Excel, or the FREEWARE, OpenOfficeCalc. Open a spreadsheet, and just adjust the rows to 1.00; do the same with thecolumns. Put a border around the cells using the spreadsheets border tool.

Now, paste an empty character (a space) into each square in an 8x10 squarethis foolsthe spreadsheet into printing empty cells.

VOILA! Your battle grid will match the Cheap-as-free-miniatures you created above.

Documents

Ghouls in School DISTRO v1 1