An introductory FATE Accelerated Edition (FAE) adventure in the spirit of Ghostbusters International

Dramatis Personae

The Library Supervisor

Has a problem the players need to solve

The Librarian

+2 to Poltergeistery, Attacking people with overdue books -2 to Yelling, doing anything outside of the library

Stress

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The Summoner

Andrea Runyon, daughter of Poke Runyon, high priestess of Astarte

Rock Lions

+2 to growling -2 to acid rain

Stress

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Bat Books

+2 to flapping around -2 to preventing combustion

Stress

None (first hit takes them out)

The Lieutenants

The players will encounter these if the pacing feels a little fast when they approach the summoning circle in the basement. Be careful, because the lieutenants are tough.

First lieutenants of Bael’s legion

Stress

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Clan’thael

“Clancy” Second Lieutenant of the 23rd Legion of Spirits under Bael’s rule

+2 to Slurping, phasing between walls -2 to resisting hunger

Cross between a toad and Slimer.

Stress

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At the shop

Introduce the characters, awarding fate points / discovering aspects about the setting as appropriate.

Call to action

The players get a call to investigate a disturbance at the Library. The Library Supervisor has ordered the library evacuated because patrons have reported a ghostly apparition.

The Library Supervisor says

You have to help us. There’s no one else to call. It was horrible. Books were flying everywhere. One patron was knocked out. And those cries from the office, ‘Overdue…. Overdue…’ They sounded so menacing… I didn’t even get my briefcase before evacuating everyone.

Arriving at the library

Two statues of lions at the front steps of the library come alive.

Read the following text when the players arrive at the library:

You pull up at the entrance to the library. Tall marble columns cap the staircase leading to the door. At the foot of the staircase sit two marble statues.

If the players approach the entrance, the statues come to life.

Read the following text when the statues come to life

You hear cracking and scraping as the lion statues come to life, stepping down from their pedestals with a graceful thud. The lions mouths open as if giving mighty roars but no sounds escape the statues’ throats.

First floor

The circulation desk

The desk is full of books. In closer inspection each book has been marked overdue. The desk also has overdue stamps all over it as well as if someone went completely wild stamping everything in sight.

The office

Read the following flavor text when the players enter the office

The walls are lined with books. There is a desk with a large office chair on the far side of the room.

If the players haven’t encountered the Librarian, read this flavor text

The office chair is facing away from the doorway. It slowly turns around revealing the wrinkle-creased face of the Librarian. In an instant the Librarian’s face morphs into a ghastly visage. You feel wind blowing as if the Librarian is sucking the energy from the room.

Capturing the Librarian

The Stacks

The library has been evacuated.

If the players don’t wander over to the stacks, the characters start to hear books dropping. That should entice the players to explore the stacks.

When the characters arrive, they are attacked by book bats. If the pacing feels too fast, increase the challenge by having more books turn into book bats.

Book bats

The Basement

Stairway

One of the characters becomes paralyzed by a hidden magical circle on the staircase. The character who gets paralyzed is left up to the GM’s discretion.

This is a trap set by the Summoner to act as a sort of alarm, alerting the Summoner to approaching people who may intrude on the summoning. When the trap is triggered, the Summoner gives up on the invocation and flees the library.

Read the following flavor text as the characters descend the stairs.

As you descend the staircase your limbs grow heavier. It’s as if you’re walking through mud. Your eyes grow wide as your feet stick to the floor and your arms freeze.

Characters looking for traps on the staircase may notice some markings on the stairs, but the magical circle that is the source of the paralysis spell is only visible when you stand on it, ensuring that the trap will be sprung.

The other characters may attempt to free the paralyzed character by using some knowledge of the paranormal.

The characters will be released after the Summoner has fled the Library because the Summoner is no longer able to maintain the spell.

Hallway

Encounter with partially summoned ghost

The partially summoned ghost slimes the first player, retreating into the walls of the hallway. As the players move on the spirit comes out again clinging to the slimes player. The spirit blabbers and cries, begging for help. The spirit is lost and will be unable to survive if left alone.

The spirit will become incorporeal if left too long without a human anchor to reality. Clancy is on the run from two other lieutenants of Bael’s legion. The lieutenants will kill any malformed spirit and promote one of their vassals to fill Clancys position

If the players befriend Clancy then they encounter the lieutenants. If they do not believe Clancy then it turns out that the spirit was Lying and then they proceed directly to the summoning circle.

After sliming a character, and clinging to the character, the partially summoned ghost will reach into any threatening character’s body and pull out a fate token.

The toad-like spirit mutters something about being nicer to it. It reaches out toward your chest. To your surprise its hand goes into your body. You feel a strange sensation as it pulls out a shining bit of your energy. You lose a fate token.

Summoning Circle

The interrupted summoning

Read this flavor text when the characters arrive in the summoning circle room

There is a circle of salt on the ground here. In the middle you can see strange symbols that look like they were hastily brushed away, leaving behind streaks of salt. The far side of the circle is broken by footprints heading toward the library’s loading dock.

If the characters search around they find small amounts of earth, wax, primrose, and jasmine. These are elements the summoner was using. The characters may know purveyors of these items in town.

If the players have befriended Clancy, the partially summoned spirit, Clancy can make out that the faded symbols are the marking of the spirit’s King, Bael.

The next adventure may involve tracking down where these items come from, in order to track down the summoner.

Denouement

Character advancement

If the players capture the Librarian they may gain one minor milestone

If the players gain any information about the summoner the characers who uncovered the information gain an additional minor milestone

If the players befriend Clancy, the player who first encountered Clancy gets to add Clancy as a free stunt. This is a significant milestone. The player does not have to pay any refresh points, if the player already has 3 stunts.