Bullets & Bootleggers: Players Guide

Bullets & Bootleggers: Player’s GuideA Ghost Ape System Sourcebook for 1929 Noir, Magic, and MayhemStep onto the streets of 1929 Chicago—where smokestacks choke the skyline, the trains run on bad dreams, and the only thing more dangerous than a tommy gun is the magic bleeding in from the cracks of the real world. The Bullets & Bootleggers Player’s Guide gives you everything you need to build characters who survive, hustle, and carve their names into America’s most haunted decade.Designed for the Ghost Ape System (GAS), this guide blends fast OSR-style play with cinematic action, occult bargains, and Prohibition-era grit. Whether you’re running jobs for the Outfit, tracking ghosts through the rail yards, or just trying to make rent in a city that eats the desperate, this book is your toolkit.Inside You’ll Find:• Complete character creation for early-20th-century noir campaignsStreamlined GAS rules, backgrounds pulled straight from Chicago’s working class, and a flexible tag system that rewards clever play over number crunching. Build bootleggers, boxers, reporters, factory hands, or anyone who might get caught in the crossfire of gangland magic.• Five fully developed core classes built for street-level storiesEnforcer — muscle, grit, and battlefield controlSpecialist — the knife in the dark, the quiet key in the lockOccultist — spellcasters who bargain with spirits, demons, and urban legendsGrifter — silver tongues who steal wallets and heartsFixer — the connector, the cleaner, the one who always knows a guyEach class comes with perks, flavor, and advancement tuned for Prohibition-era danger and improvisation.• Weapons, gear, and vehicles of 1929From brass knuckles and trench guns to Packards, Model Ts, and police motorcycles. Includes damage rules, DR, penetration, explosives, and car-chase mechanics that turn every pursuit into a set piece.• Magic that feels like ChicagoSpellcasting in Bullets & Bootleggers isn’t academic—it’s desperate. Power comes from pacts, stolen books, whispers behind boiler doors, and spirits shaped by immigrant folklore and industrial decay.You’ll find:Pact rulesUrban spirits (Bluesman, Janitor, Drowned Girl, Rail-Walker, Furnace Fiend, Union Ghosts, and more)Dozens of Chicago-born spells (Neon Spark, Smoke-Filled Room, Ghost Train, Market Crash)• Quick combat and chase rulesFast, deadly encounters with exploding-dice damage, cover, conditions, vehicle crashes, and street-level stakes.What This Book Gives PlayersA character. A voice. A reason to walk into the smoke.Whether you’re joining Lich Too, Rise of the Five Families, or a standalone noir sandbox, this guide puts the keys in your hand: rules, lore, gear, spells, spirits, and tone. No homework required—just guts, bad decisions, and enough bullets to regret them.What It Gives GMsA curated, spoiler-free player reference that explains how characters work, what they can do, and how the world hits back—letting the campaign book focus on the war for Chicago without stopping to explain the basics.The Line That Defines Bullets & BootleggersMagic is real, but it’s not safe.Crime pays, but never enough.And in cities built on smoke and ambition, reputation is your armor and HEAT is the bill you always pay. Read more