PmWiki | SpiritPlumbers / SpiritPlumbers

Flavor 1: Northern America, 198x. Disco, hair metal, BBSs, all that fun stuff. Fewer lawyers, please. Spirits have begun to show up with the advent of modems, and are speculated to parasite the new intelligence that exists in phone wires. Standalone.

Flavor 2: Land Cascadia 198x. VERY british. Spirits are known to be psi impression of past inhabitants, but there has been a resurgence thanks to a leyline fracture. Waylights minigame.

Story: Either way, spirits aren't very dangerous per se, but have become a problem lately. They do cause fright or brief possession and can be a danger to kids, the elderly, etc. Spirit plumber teams enter haunted houses to clear them. This quickly becomes a bit of a sport, spiritplumbing outfits (2-5 people usually) allow tourists/thrillseekers to join in, and split into subteams that can compete for captures. Good business all around. Plumbers are spooked out and run away rather than being killed, spirits are hauled off rather than destroyed. Rarely, an actually dangerous spirit must be dealt with.

Prep: Pick a board. Pick a grid size for it (square). Spirit player places psi-meter traces upon plumber board/subboard entry, one per room, then two per room, etc. These have a move of 4 but can move through walls. When in line of sight, they are revealed as a spirit type; this does NOT end their move (and may allow for extra move).

Default movements: All units move either 4 or 6, diagonals count 2-3-5-6 (so units that move 4 can only move diagonally twice). No overwatch. Everything either moves and attacks, attacks and moves, or skips one or either, as per its player's choice, but a full movement must be made in one go. Spirits can phaseout instead of attacking. This lets them make their move as psitraces again - slower, but can go through walls or other entities. They can be attacked while phased out. They phase back in at the end of turn.

Ranged combat: Roll, hit on or above what's indicated by the weapon. There is no armor or life points. On a hit, target suffers indicated effect. Default range is LoS.

Close combat: Roll as many dice as indicated, sum results, compare. If the attacker wins, the defender suffers the indicated effect. If the defender wins, attacker is pushed back 1 square if there is room AND the defender wants it to be so. If there's a tie, nothing happens. HtH attack cannot be diagonal.

Deploy trap: A spirit who is free to move is trapped on a 6. A spirit who is tagged or tangled is trapped automatically. Walking up to a tangled spirit or having a tagged spirit move towards a trap is encouraged. Deploying a trap replaces attacking.

Plumber Squad force: One pro, 3 rookies. Loadout must be chosen at start.

Spirit force per plumber player: 1 blob, 1 wraith, 1 vapor, 1 repeater, 3 crawlers, 3 floaters, 3 slimers.

Name	Type	Mov	Attack	Ranged	Defense	Info / Attack Effect
Slimer	Spirit	6	1d	6+	1d	Successful attack slimes, either HtH or projectile.
Floater	Spirit	6	1d	none	1d	Successful attack causes panic.
Crawler	Spirit	4	2d	none	2d	Successful attack causes panic.
Repeater	Spirit	6	3d	none	3d	Successful attack causes panic.
Vapor	Spirit	6	1d	none	1d	Successful attack causes panic. Can teleport anywhere if phased out.
Wraith	Spirit	6	1d	none	1d	Successful attack possesses.
Blob	Spirit	4	2d	6+	2d	Slimes. Size of 2x2. Can leave 1x1 slime trap (one shot) on phaseout.
Rookie w/ Tag Blaster	Plumber	6	Trap	4+	1d	Successful attack tags.
Rookie w/ Laser Yarn	Plumber	6	Trap	4+	1d	Successful attack tangles. Yarn net has an area of of 3x3 and a range of 1 to a corner.
Pro w/ Tesla Vacuum	Plumber	6	Trap	4+	2d	Can do both tag and yarn attacks. Can trap after attack. Can use kit equipment.
Pro w/ Can Of Whoop Ass	Plumber	6	3d	none	3d	Canned spirits are out of the fight as if caught in a trap. Can use kit equipment.

Attack effects:

Panic: The affected token must move at top speed to the nearest exit, cannot attack, but can be intercepted and calmed down.
Slime/Tangle: The affected token is immobilized and cannot move or attack. They will defend themselves. The effect remains until they are attacked, or touched by a friendly that is next to them.
Possession/Tagging: The affected token is under control of the attacking player for moving purposes. Move is reduced to 4. The effect remains as long as there is line of sight.

OPTIONAL: Plumber kit (pros only), pick zero/one/two:

Thin Mints: Calming effect. Negates a panic. (instant on self, must reach/touch a rookie to use on them). Single use. One box of Thin Mints is always carried by pros, even if no kits are in use.
Confetti bomb: Confetti are tinfoil-backed. Prevents phasing in or out of the room the plumber is in for the rest of the game. Single use. (overrides spirit powers)
Spirit Repellant Spray: Marks a square as unpassable by spirits, regardless of their phase. Unlimited uses, but only the most recent counts. Range 1. Use a marker.
Jar o' tea: Auto-win a hand-to-hand fight, single use.

OPTIONAL: Spirit powers, global. Pick zero/one/two:

Eerie Silence: All spirits in a board phase out and can be teleported around anywhere plumbers don't have line of sight.
Splortch!: All plumbers in one room get slimed, no exceptions. Single use.
Deja Vu: One plumber player skips a turn. Single use.
Beckoning: One rookie plumber switches sides. If they are trapped by the plumbers, they revert to the plumber side. Single use.

Victory condition: All plumbers run away / all spirits are trapped.