Frequently Asked Questions

What is this?

Spookybeans is the role-playing game of gothic underground comedy comics (wow that's a mouthful). This game allows players to explore a morbidly funny comic book world in the vein of Tim Burton, Roman Dirge, Jill Thompson, Serena Valentino, Johnen Vasquez, and Voltaire.

Spookybeans takes place in Gotham, a large city with a whole lot of social, community, and employment issues. Although the characters in Spookybeans can be from anywhere in or out of the city, the exploits of our creepy kids and adults takes place in a section of the city known as The Hollow, a near-suburban neighborhood surrounding a gigantic 200-year old cemetery. Since the 1960's, this area has become a cultural mecca for trendy hippies, rockers, gang-bangers, punks, and of course, Spookybeans. Life here can be quite absurd with its mixture of people, lifestyles, and the occasional weirdness like vampires, aliens, and yuppies. Ah, variety is the spice of life...

Whut's all this Arr-Pee-Gee nonsense?

If you've played a roleplaying game before, you don't need yet another rehash of the explanation of what this is all about. If you haven't played an RPG before, but your friends have, go get someone in your group to explain it to you.

Whut's a Spoookie-Beeen?

Spookybeans are a sub-group of the inhabitants of The Hollow, and even within this sub-group, the diversity boggles the mind. Spookybeans can be goth kids, ex-vampire hunters, alien invaders, fairy princesses, caffeine-addicted conspiracy theorists, or very nearly enything else you can think of that's just a little... twisted.

What do I need to play?

Surprisingly little. A copy of the rules for a start, of course (or more than one if you don't like to share); a couple of character sheets, or blank paper if you want to make up your own; some pencils, some dice (or cards, or coins), and a couple of friends.

Who's responsible for all of this?

The original idea for Spookybeans was posted by James "Dregg" Carpio on the Forge, and Ben Morgan took the ball and ran with it. Dregg wrote most of the setting material, and Ben wrote most of the basic mechanics.

Why are Skulls odd and Bones even?

The short answer: Odd Is Good.

The longer answer has to do with programming. In the programming world, 1 and 0 are used for 'true' and 'false', respectively. At some point, Ben plans on writing a Spookybeans dice rolling program, so with that in mind, he wanted the aesthetics of the system to match across different randomizers.