Editing Spooktacular

{{Game Infobox
|name = Spooktacular: A Cheerfully Spooky Role-Playing Game
|picture = [[Image:SpooktacularRoleplaying.png‎|230px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = Yaruki Zero Games
|system=Sixtacular
|authors = Ewen Cluney <br /> Amy Veeres
|year = 2018
}}

'''''Spooktacular: A <strike>Frightfully Cheerful</strike> Cheerfully Spooky Role-Playing Game''''' is a [[retroclone]] of ''[[Ghostbusters RPG|Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Role-Playing Game]]'' with select elements from ''Ghostbusters International''. This one was written by Ewen Cluney, aka the fucking [[Weeaboo|weeb]] who translated [[Maid RPG]]. It follows in the wake of many such attempts to revive the spirit of old or abandoned games, and in one key regard it definitely succeeds, as just like the games it's inspired by it's a transparent cash grab.

==System==
The author has very graciously released the entire Sixtacular system under an open game license, which shows his talent extends to borrowing things from [[Wizards of the Coast|Wizards]] as well as [[West End Games]]. It's just the proto-D6 System ruleset from Ghostbusters RPG, but with a few changes cribbed from GBI.

''Muscles'' and ''Moves'' have become ''Action''. ''Brains'' and ''Cool'' still exist, but the fourth stat ''Contact'' incorporates elements that ''Cool'' and ''Moves'' used to cover.  In case you were thinking this meant Mr Cluney had made a bold, original decision in game design, you might want to note that the fourth stat in ''[[InSpectres]]'' is also called ''Contact'', and is functionally identical.

You still assign 12 points, between 1 and 5 to these.  Talents add 3 extra dice just like with the original.

However, new to ''Spooktacular'' is the Archetype mechanic, which gives you 6 (or 12, if you want weirder ones) mini-splats to give your character something cool to do, generally spend <strike>Brownie</strike> Awesome Points on.

Equipment rules in Sixtacular are nonexistent: the best the rules can offer is "figure it out yourself, lol."  The Spooktacular rules themselves handle this a little better, but it's very minimal, with every character getting a <s>Proton Pack</s> Etheric Ray Thrower plus two more choices from the list of important gear, and the group as a whole getting a Ghost Trap.  Much like the first ''[[Ghostbusters RPG]]'' the rules mention that Equipment Cards are a good rules-lite choice to handle encumbrance, then it completely fails to provide them even in the PDF.

==Setting==
Blatantly phoning it in here, since Cluney is a fa/tg/uy and knows that everyone is going to skip this crap and run a Ghostbusters franchise in their hometown. There are three paranormal investigation companies briefly detailed in the book, namely ''Wraithzappers'', ''Ghost Rooter'' and ''Phantom Finders''.  The book encourages groups to invent their own, and are helped by a table to generate the name, so look out for ''Creature Eaters'', ''Specter Keteers'' and ''Curse Dusters''.  There's no overall setting (except for the obvious), although the book has a short section on how paranormal investigations would look in a number of locales.

==Comparison==
As is inevitable with all retroclones, comparisons must be made between the source material and the "new" release.

What ''Spooktacular'' brings to the table is a physical book and/or PDF that can be purchased now, instead of on eBay for unreasonable amounts.  It has a reasonable amount of pretty good artwork, as well as plenty of clipart and stuff that looks like it should be there just as a stand-in.

The adventure ideas are basically worthless, as each is cribbed from popular genre movies -- by way of an example, the first could read like a synopsis for ''The Cabin in the Woods''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/].  The [[NPC|NPCs]]/mooks are a slightly better mix of stolen ideas, but don't include any human antagonists whatsoever, echoing the half-done feeling of the whole work.  The section on locales is a handful of cities with no real insight in to how they would affect a game set there, just repeating information that could be found with a basic websearch.

There is a whole page dedicated to a random name generator for characters, with results like ''Egon Spengler'', ''Ray Stantz'', and ''Kylie Griffin''.

The writing is informal in tone, littered with sentences like "I'm not sure what else to write here so I'll leave it at that." and "Otherwise what am I doing with my life?"  What indeed.

The lack of content might possibly be explained by the fact that the author is planning to release ''several'' supplements.[https://yarukizerogames.com/2018/01/30/spooktacular-and-sixtacular/]  At present, nothing more has been heard of this.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Spooktacular-PizzaGhost.png|The Pizza Ghost.  Not to be confused with the Glutton (aka Slimer) that is also mentioned, but not illustrated.
</gallery>

[[Category:Roleplaying]]