Recap / Film Reroll: Goonies

The whole gang, with some new additions.^note Art by spritzcookies on twitter

We play through Goonies! Scott gets dragged behind a boat! Pitr discharges a fire arm! Joz rips a mirror off a car! Andy invents a university! Jon makes a steampunk lantern!

Episodes 53-57 of Film Reroll. Based on the 1985 adventure movie.

The Goondocks have long served as a landmark of the area. However, this might all change soon. The area has been declared obsolete, and will be torn down, starting the very next day, if a fee is not paid out. A fee none of the residents can afford.

Enter the Goonies, a gang of neighborhood kids ready to do anything to save their club house before it's too late. After finding a mysterious machine in the attic, they set out on a quest to Peartree University to search for an inexhaustible energy source, meet some strange new friends, fight off local gangsters, and solve the mystery of what really happened to the infamous inventor Dr. Kennedy Dylan White.

It's the second campaign to feature a Bonus Scene, based on Iron Man 3, another story featuring superpowered protagonists.

Starring Andy Hoover as Mikey, Jocelyn "Joz" Vammer as Brand, Scott Aiello as Chunk, Kara Strait^note  credited as “Pitr Strait” as Mouth, Jon Miller as Data, and Paulo Quiros as the Dungeon Master.

Followed by Licence to Kill.

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Tropes:

• Achievements in Ignorance: After Paulo mentions that Geno has a gun on him, Kara decides to roll Filtch to steal it, and Crit Succeeds. But because, as Jon points out, Mouth doesn't know yet that he has the gun, it's decided that means Mouth manage to steal back the gun from Brand.
• All or Nothing:
  • Variation: Paulo gave Chunk "Total Klutz" as a skill, meaning that if he has to roll Dex for anything, any failed roll is declared a Crit Fail.
  • A similar thing crops up after Data gains "Technomancy"; he can gain control of electronics on any successful roll, but any failed roll is an automatic Crit Fail^note For example, when he first tries to use the medical equipment he's hooked up to in the infirmary, before he actually knows in-character it's an ability he's gained, Jon failing the roll causes the medical equipment to start displaying false-readings that he's dying.
• All There in the Manual: DM Paulo Quiros posted some facts about the four houses of Peartree University, which didn't make it into the campaign itself, on Twitter.
  Paulo: Mysteries not revealed in play I will not divulge; robs the story of its power. As for the houses: sweetplum was artsy & romantic, overseen by Fudge (the original Chunk) now a professor of music. Oakroot was athletic & fratty, had a quidditchesque sport that woulda been fun. Meadowbrush was earthy and outdoorsy, and filled with resources with which to explore the islands mysterious natural wonders. Willowwing was academic & adventurous but housed a terrible secret.
• Amusement Park of Doom: The mine exhibit, which has animatronics swinging real pickaxes which almost end up killing Chunk.
• Artificial Stupidity: Kennedy Dylan White's AI can't tell the difference between his creator and some random kid, has a very loose grasp on time, and doesn't realize that the food it's serving has gone bad.
• Artistic License – Law: Officer Warburton arrests Mikey (a child) and locks him up in a cell while waiting for his parents to show up. He outright says that as a security guard, he makes the rules at the university. Mikey Lampshades that this should probably lead to some kidnapping charges.
• As You Know: Parodied: After Dr. Partridge mentions that they must have heard the stories about what happened with Kennedy Dylan White's experiment 30 years ago, Data just asks him to recap for the heck of it.
• Awesome McCoolname: When Paulo tries to find a voice for the replacement librarian Brand runs into (and winds up accidentally antagonizing) in Part 3, it's suggested that he just do Katharine Hepburn. When he tries to explain that he technically already used that voice for Dr. Woodyard, he accidentally refers to her as "Captain Hepburn", much to everyone's delight, causing Paulo to decide to do it anyway.
  Scott: (as Captain Hepburn) Fire the photon torpedoes, you old poop!
• Behind the Black: When the idea is floated of turning the accelerator back on, ostensibly to give the rest of the Goonies super powers, Data mentions he would need time in order to figure out how the machine works. Scott proceeds to interrupt the scene in order to narrate that Chunk went back into the lab:
  Scott: (calmly) So, as you guys are having this discussion, you notice that Chunk is gone.
• The Blind Leading the Blind: Towards the end of (the Goonies portion of) Part 4, in the mad scramble to get away from the Fratellis, Brand and Chunk wind up being the ones needing to figure out the secret behind the bookcase. Not only does Chunk openly point out that the two of them aren't exactly the appropriate brains for this operation, but when we catch back up to them at the top of Part 5, Scott announces they had gotten so fed up, they were throwing books at each other.
  Chunk: (pissed; to Brand) IT'S YOUR FAULT, YOU'RE STUPIDER THAN I AM, YOU'RE A MORON-
  Brand: (yelling over Chunk) WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I DO-
  Chunk: (at the same time) YOU SHUT UP! YOU SHUT UP!
• Booby Trap: The secret passage to Dr. White's lab is filled with tripwires which will give off electric shocks if triggered. Data falls victim to one, and falls unconscious for several rounds.
• Bookcase Passage: Brand finds one in the library containing the collected works of Kennedy Dylan White, but he and the other Goonies only manage to activate it in the last episode.
• Boring Return Journey: Defied: Due to Paulo having a hard out, once Chunk discovers the gold at the end of Part 5, it's decided the movie has ended, with Paulo doing a quick summary of what happened next.
• Brain Uploading: It turns out that Dr. White's Robot Buddy contains the mind of the original Mikey of the Unis, who gets to meet the Goonies, including his own namesake.
• Break Them by Talking: In order to provoke Chunk into breaking down a door, Brand and Mikey decide to aggressively talk down to him and tell him how much he sucks... but because of him getting hung up on the complex words Brand was using, it only really works when Data nonchalantly calls him fat. And when Chunk proceeds to beat the shit out of Data, Joz attempts to calm him down by doubling down:
  Brand: CHUNK! YOU WERE A MISTAKE!
  Kara: (mortified) Oh... my God...
  Paulo: (at the same time) Oh my God! The level of psychological torture in this...
• Call-Back:
  • As the Goonies decide to fight Geno after he threatens them, Jon pointedly decides to gizmo up a tazer.
    Jon: They gave me gizmos, what'd ya think I was gonna gizmo up, I HIT HIM AGAIN!
  • The university receptionist is Julia from John Wick.
  • Gordie the one-eyed cat is named after the protagonist in Stand by Me.
  • Chunk's attempt to tackle Mama Fratelli (and a subsequent Luck attempt) results in Scott rolling three Crit Fails. Upon declaring he'll take the worst of the three, Kara announces Chunk became a vampire.
  • After the team splits up and Data and Mouth become the only two characters who haven't gotten to Dr. White's lab, Kara says that the others are "in the land of the dragons."
• Cerebus Call-Back: When Mouth and Data manage to force Dr. Partridge to confess his role in the incident that ruined Kennedy Dylan White's reputation, he explains how he sabotaged the live demonstration of his experiment... but only intended for it to fail. Data, picking up on the implications, starts to inquire about what happened to Mikey:
  Data: Did you find a body?
  Dr. Partridge: (regretful) ...yes. We found a body-
  Data: Was it gross?
• Climactic Elevator Ride: Towards the end of the campaign, Data manages to take control of a half-broken elevator using his powers.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Across two episodes, Brand attempts to smash a car with a baseball bat, compares walking around the outside of a university to "scaling" the university, spews absolute nonsense when first talking to Kim Link, and then in the same breath assumes she's "been [at the library] forever". On top of becoming Ethel Merman's arch-nemesis in Part 3, Kara matter-of-factly states that "Brand is getting weirder and weirder".
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting:
  • invoked The security officer that Mikey runs into who takes him into custody, and then winds up assisting the Goonies, is determined to be played by Patrick Warburton, and is such called Officer Warburton.
  • The librarian that Brand accidentally antagonizes is ultimately declared to be played by Ethel Merman.
  • Kim Link (later called "Clink" due to joining the Goonies) is said to be portrayed by Natalie Portman.
• Continuity Nod: After Mouth gets shot in the shoulder by Mama Fratelli, Scott declares "The ghost of the President from Iron Man 3 smiles."
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Variation: When Brand is faced with trying to figure out the mysterious bookcase in Part 3, and struggles to figure out how to make it work, Jon is audibly in pain the longer the scene goes on.
• Cool Shades: Double Subverted. Mouth/Kara rolls badly and only finds a pair of flamingo glasses, but ends up loving them and puts them on immediately.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Once all of the Goonies are in front of the bookcase, and fully understanding they need to use the number combination they got at the start of the campaign^note 55-87-34-19, everyone tries to work out how to use the number^note as there's a series of 10 books on the shelf that have magnetic strips on the back of the shelf. On a lark, Chunk suggests pulling and pushing one book at a time in relation to the combination^note pull then push the fifth book, pull then push the fifth book again, pull then push the eighth book, so on. Once this is done, "nothing happens... for two seconds," before the passage finally opens.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • After Geno threatens the Goonies with his gun in trying to steal their lantern, it doesn't take the players long to decide to kick his ass. Mikey grabs him by the knees, Brand blinds him with a fire extinguisher, and Data tazes him into unconsciousness. The only Goonie who gets hurt is Chunk, and only then it was because he accidentally landed on the tazer connection when jumping on Geno once he was down.
  • Mikey manages to make swift work of the giant rat thanks to his flaming baseball bat, much to the bemusement of Paulo (who expected a longer fight).
• Cutting the Knot: Data's initial solution to getting the gaslamp working is simply to cram a bunch of candles into it.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Dr. Partridge turns out to have participated in an experiment in which a boy named Mikey — implied to be Goonies!Mikey in a previous life — died. Once another experiment goes on and more children are injured, he starts Drowning His Sorrows and evidently contemplates suicide. He is however stopped by the Goonies, which he takes for vengeful spirits in his Sanity Slippage.
• Deleted Scene: A short segment explaining how Chunk survived being shot by the Fratellis ended up on the cutting room floor for unknown reasons.
• Didn't Think This Through: Once the party decides to split up upon realizing the Fratellis were on campus, it's decided that Mikey, Mouth and Data were going to go find Officer Warburton, while Brand and Chunk went back to the library. It's only after they arrive and are faced with the bookcase that Jon almost-despairingly realizes Data and Chunk should've swapped.
• Disney Death: For a while, it seems like Chunk has died by falling through the floor, but we find out later that he got stuck in a machine and ended up in Dr. White's old living quarters.
• Dope Slap: In order to do the foley-effect for Mouth slapping Chunk in the face when he tries to do mouth-to-mouth on his shoulder wound, Kara winds up slapping herself in the face.
• Downer Beginning: Played for Laughs: At the top of Part 2, thanks to Kara managing to Crit Fail a roll to try and keep Chunk from getting the attention of a guy spying on the Goonies^note Geno, Mouth winds up accidentally shooting himself in the leg. And, as Paulo is shocked to realize through his own rolls on the matter, it's a bad shot...
• Driven to Suicide: At the start of Part 4, when Mikey, Brand and Chunk, accompanied by a lab assistant and Officer Warburton, catch up to Dr. Partridge in the Math Department, they find him slumped over his desk with a half-full bottle of whiskey. One successful Perception roll from all three players later, Paulo announces that there's also a gun on the desk.^note It later revealed that the accident in the science lab from last episode reminded Dr. Partridge of the incident that happened 30 years ago. Brand manages to get the gun away from him, and (after he gets choked out) Officer Warburton decides to just put Dr. Partridge in a cell for his own health and safety.
• Edible Ammunition: After Scott's speech about Laser-Guided Karma, Kara throws Pez at his head.
• 11th-Hour Ranger: Kim Link eventually joins the Goonies, but it doesn't happen until the last episode.
• Epic Fail:
  • When Brand first encounters the bookcase in Part 3, the players immediately clock that the combination they were told about ties into it... except, when Jon rattles off the numbers, it turns out he wrote down the wrong ones:
    Andy: Oh, where's that list of crazy numbers we had?
    Jon: Uh, 35, 87, 34, 19.
    Joz: I'm just gonna roll-
    Scott: Wait... I have different numbers. But... nevermind...
    Joz: You have 35?
    Scott: I have 55, 87, 34, 19.
    Joz/Andy: (at the same time) That's what I got. / That's what I have too.
    Jon: (flustered) Well, look, maybe I'm just wrong.
  • Before Data properly knows he became a technomancer, he tries to figure out from the medical equipment he's hooked up to what's going on with him. Because of the roll being declared a Crit Fail, Paulo narrates that all of the medical equipment Data is hooked up to starts declaring that he's dying^note and although that's obviously not true, Data immediately assumes it's telling the truth, and starts freaking out.
  • Chunk tries to Zerg Rush the Fratellis, but instead ends up running into his friends, causing a Dog Pile of Doom, losing his consciousness, and once again seeing his hallucinatory penguin Opus, who tells him that the friend who speaks in riddles will betray him. Too late does Chunk realize that Opus was talking about himself...
• Exact Words:
  • After Jon is told by Paulo about becoming a technomancer, he-as-Data becomes aware of the medical equipment he's hooked up to, and tries to figure out from it what's happened since he was unconscious. When Scott calls Jon out for trying to use a skill he doesn't know in-character he has yet, Jon clarifies that he isn't, he just wants to look at the monitor; the roll he's making is just for that, and the effects of said-roll are being done subconsciously.
  • In convincing Officer Warburton in helping them catch the Fratellis, Mouth promises him a cut of the reward money. This doesn't trigger Mouth's honesty disadvantage as, per Kara's clarification, the size of the cut wasn't established.
• Expy: Dr. Kennedy Dylan White has a lot in common with Nikola Tesla, both being once highly respected scientists who started to be seen as crackpots once their ideas became more far-fetched and their rate of success lessened, leading to them spending their final years as recluses. As with Tesla, it's also said that there are conspiracy theories about how Dr. White actually did succeed in drawing free energy from the air, only for the truth to be covered up by the power companies. Interestingly enough, White's invention is represented by a plasma coil, which Paulo incorrectly identifies as a "Tesla coil."
• Faked Rip Van Winkle: An unintentional example, but Brand starts wondering just how long he's been in the library when the young, beautiful librarian ends her shift and is replaced by an elderly lady.
• The Final Temptation: At the end of the campaign, the Goonies are forced to choose between selling Dr. White's technology, risking that it won't ever be used, or launching his rocket by themselves, (and not get any money or credit for it). Eventually, they choose the latter, sacrificing the Goondocks to save the world... only to find enough gold (and ice cream) stashed away in a freezer to save the docks anyway.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The bartender and Sanford are both noticeably on edge when Mouth tries asking them about Kennedy Dylan White, with the latter warning him about being curious about the man. After all, the last kid who was has since died.
    • When Mouth talks Sanford into doing one last swig of orange juice before he leaves (really, it's a distraction so he can steal his keys), Paulo mentions Sanford says something to himself before he does: "To you, Mikey."
  • After Mouth opens up a door in the science lab just as the particle accelerator goes off, Paulo narrates what he sees down the hallway before he blacks out. In particular, he mentions the existence of a mouse trap.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: invoked When Data and Mouth escape the infirmary, they decide they need to head back to the science lab in order to find Gordie. But, when Mouth makes it clear he doesn't want Data to mess with the machinery there, the two enter into an extended debate^note as Mouth doesn't want Data to come with if he's only going back to the lab for the machinery, and wants him to swear he won't. All Mouth wants is confirmation that Data values friendship above technology, as (given the very real chance the Goonies will lose their homes tomorrow if they fail their quest) friendship might wind up being all they have left. After struggling with the dilemma for a good minute, Data concludes that Mouth is correct, and the two shake hands.^note Tellingly, because of how that scene played out, Paulo feels that he can't continue the episode past that, and ends the episode early (but not before including a sponsored Bonus Scene).
• Fun with Acronyms: Data's invention, a Widget Intended for Knowledge. Ingenious Product Engineered to Determine Infinite Answers.
• Gadgeteer's House: Dr. White's quarters are an excellent example. Sadly, they have been poorly maintained over the years...
• Giving Radio to the Romans:
  • Data manages to somehow create Wikipedia all by himself in the mid-eighties, complete with articles about subjects he's unfamiliar with. Don't try to think too much about it.
  • Creating a free energy field in the 1980's might also count. Of course, such a device may never be invented in reality.
• Gollum Made Me Do It: Due to fatigue, Chunk starts hallucinating that there's a talking penguin named Opus on his shoulder, who encourages him to beat Mouth unconscious as revenge for all the bullying he's had to put up with. Eventually, Chunk has to face the fact that the penguin isn't real, but merely a personification of his own inner darkness. The delusion still returns, but Chunk still ultimately manages to ignore it.
• Good Is Not Nice: After managing to subdue Geno, the Goonies spend a disconcertingly long amount of time debating whether or not they should kill him.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: It's implied that the world never learns the truth about how the free energy field was created, or about the Goonies or Dr. White's role in the story.
• Happy Ending: One of the happiest in the show's history. Robot!Mikey and Gordie have found a bunch of new friends, Data and Mouth have gotten superpowers, Brand has a new girlfriend, Chunk has found some ice cream, the Goondocks have been saved and all energy crises are now over, as the world has been supplied with a free energy field.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Kennedy Dylan White intended to commit one, going on a one-way journey in the rocket which would give the world free energy. However, he died before he could initiate the launch sequence. The Goonies decide to launch the rocket with White's body still inside as a final tribute to him.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: When Brand decides to try and smash Troy's car with a baseball bat^note with Joz's planned target being either the side-mirror or the windshield, Jon matter-of-factly says that Brand is going to go to prison^note not helping matters is the fact this incident happens shortly after Mr. Perkins mistakenly assumes Brand fired a warning shot at him.
• History Repeats: The Stand By Me parallels reach their peak in Part 3, in the aftermath of the lab explosion: Not only does Scott's character once again wind up puking all over himself due to failing a Fright Check in regards to Jon's character being in danger, but upon discovering that Kara's character is unconscious, Scott decides to try to do mouth-to-mouth (and, once again, fails to pinch the nose shut).
  Scott: (uneasily) Fuuuuuck, I have to do it...
  Kara: (sudden realization) No! Do it on Data first!
• I Choose to Stay: At the end of the campaign, Data decides to move into Dr. White's old lab, with Mouth and Gordie deciding to stay with him.
• I Thought It Meant: After Chunk falls unconscious after accidentally running into the Goonies and knocking them down the stairs, he winds up having a face-to-face confrontation with Opus. Towards the end of the scene, as Chunk gives Opus some motor oil, Andy abruptly remembers Chunk had drank more motor oil beforehand and asks if Scott factored the bonus in when rolling for Chunk's consciousness check. But, because of how abruptly Andy had this realization, Kara admits she expected him to say something else:
  Kara: (as Andy) "WAIT A MINUTE! Did [Chunk] take [his] motor oil into the Dreamscape?! Is Chunk a Dream Warrior?!"
• Ignored Epiphany: After the accident that resulted in Mouth shooting himself in the leg, he still insists on keeping the gun, regardless of it still having bullets or not. He even manages to sneak it away from Brand after he takes it from him.
  Kara: I've learned nothing.
• Imagine Spot: Paulo interprets the fantastical elements of the film as just our protagonists playing pretend. A side effect of this is that the importance of the Treasure Map is downplayed. Every object in the attic is a potential Plot Coupon the kids can spin a story around.
• Indian Burial Ground: No actual cemetery (that we know of) but legend has it that the island was cursed by its' original native american inhabitants as revenge after Woody White — implied ancestor of Kennedy Dylan White — bought it from them in an unfair business deal.
• Kill the Lights: Data distracts the Fratellis by blowing out all the lamps in the yard with his powers, giving the Goonies a chance to escape.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After Mouth gets shot in the leg and Brand successfully unloads the gun, Scott declares this is proof that the universe is still just:
  Scott: (gleeful) I love that this game as so much justice! [Kara] fails at everything, and Joz gets all the rolls! That convinces me that good still exists in the world!
• Loophole Abuse:
  • When Andy decides to use Extra Effort in hitting the rat with his bat, Paulo tries to tell him that's not how that works... but the second Andy announces it was a Crit Success, Paulo decides to allow it.
  • Discussed: When Jon inquires if he can have Data technomancy the Fratellis' guns, it leads into a lengthy conversation if a gun counts as a machine or not. It's eventually ruled that a gun isn't mechanical, but rather a pulley-based system.
• Meaningful Rename: When everybody realizes that Chunk can float, he receives the new nicknames "Otter" and "Whale." Other than that, the players mostly call him "Vern."
• Mistaken for Murderer: Mr. Perkins mistakes Quickfinger Nelson's misfiring gun for a warning shot, and tells Brand (who approached him to apologize) that he is not intimidated.
• Mistaken Identity: The gang confuses the Frantellis' accomplice, Geno, for Kennedy Dylan White himself, and only realize the truth after they find his stash of counterfeit cash.
• Mood Whiplash: Upon encountering Opus in the Dreamscape, he and Chunk talk about the fall he took:
  Opus: Oh, it looks like you took a little stumble.
  Chunk: Oh... Did I get everybody, did I beat the bad guy?!
  Opus: Oh, you sure did. One of your friends will betray you.
• Named Like My Name: The child that wound up getting killed 30 years ago, one of the Unis, is named Mikey. Learning this causes the Goonie Mikey (via a failed Fright Check) to black out from shock.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed: When Mouth accuses Data for causing the lab explosion by screwing with the machinery (as he tries to make Data promise to not touch anything when they get back to the lab), Data says that Chunk is more at fault. And even though Mouth points out Data "made it worse", he acknowledges Chunk's role by saying he'd tell Chunk the same thing if he was there.
• Newspaper Dating: Brand takes a look at the paper he got from Dr. White's machine to see how long the laboratory has been abandoned. It turns out to be dated to November 15, 1974, 11 years before the campaign is set.
• No-Sell:
  • In a sense: Because of the debacle in getting Chunk to break down the door, once the Goonies enter the room with the giant rat, Andy's immediate reaction is to attack it. Chunk, meanwhile, winds up being the only Goonie to fail a Fright Check upon seeing it.
    Paulo: Hey, guys! There's a giant rat!
    Andy: (without hesitation) Let's get this fucker!
  • When Mouth, Data, Mikey and Officer Warburton run into the Fratellis, Mouth tries to exploit the fact that Gordie can talk now to scare them... only for Paulo to announce they managed to pass their Fright Checks.
• Not What It Looks Like: When the Fratellis manages to keep their wits upon seeing Gordie talk, Joz immediately assumes this means they knew what was going on on Peartree Island from the start. Paulo quickly explains that this isn't the case, but rather they just assumed Mouth was throwing his voice.
• Oh, Crap!: When Chunk tries to take the gun away from Mouth in Part 1, a Crit Fail on his Dex roll means he causes Mouth to accidentally misfire the gun. When Paulo clarifies it fired through a wall, everyone immediately remembers Mr. Perkins was outside at that same moment.^note It soon is made clear it missed him, but he assumes Brand was firing a warning shot.
  Jon: Did we- did we shoot the rich guy?
  Joz: Did we shoot the people putting up the foreclosure notices?!
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: The character of Officer Warburton gives Paulo a significant amount of trouble, as he cannot do Patrick Warburton's voice; it keeps drifting Southern, and at one point briefly becomes Elvis. Even being told to just do David Putty is of no help, as that's what he was trying to do. Eventually, Paulo just decides to give the character to Jon.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: The Fratellis, being essentially an extra obstacle without much connection to the main mystery.
• Point of Divergence: The campaign goes Off the Rails almost immediately due to Paulo's interpretation of the movie as an allegorical Coming of Age Story where the specifics of the plot aren't very important. Here, the kids' attention is drawn not to a Treasure Map leading to Pirate Booty, but to a plasma coil, which their imaginations transform into the prototype for a free energy device.
• Posthumous Character: It's not entirely clear what became of Kennedy Dylan White. That is, until the very end, where we learn that he died working on his rocket.
• Rage Breaking Point: In Part 4, the rest of the Goonies try and get Chunk to break down a door... with Scott pointing out that Chunk would only do it if he was angered enough to do so. As such, the others proceed to directly insult him to make it happen. But instead of going to the door, Chunk snaps and begins beating up Data.
• Radiation-Induced Superpowers:
  • Mouth and Data both get superpowers after being exposed to radiation from Dr. Woodyard's particle accelerator. Mouth gains the ability to read minds while Data can now suddenly control machines through telepathy.
  • The same experiment also gives Gordie the cat the ability to talk. (Or rather, he claims that he could always speak, he just couldn't think the same way as he can now.
  • Unfortunately, it also makes a rat grow to the size of a giant. However, Mikey manages to kill it surprisingly easy with his burning baseball bat.
    Gordie: It was food, now it is, eh... bigger food.
• A Rare Sentence: “You failed at something you wouldn't tell me.”
• Reckless Gun Usage:
  • It turns out that Mouth has no respect for guns at all. First, he shoots off Mr. Perkins' hat by mistake, barely missing his head. Then, he ends up shooting himself in the leg. At that point, Brand confiscates the revolver, for the safety of everyone.
  • Brand later takes Dr. Partridge's gun the same way, preventing him from committing suicide.
• Reincarnation: The Goonies themselves are implied to be the reincarnations of "The Unis", a gang of kids who used to hang around at the University, leading to quite a Tomato in the Mirror moment. This is however made more complicated by the implication that not all of the Unis are dead, and we never find out exactly what the deal with them was.
• Reluctant Mad Scientist:
  • Dr. Woodyard, who does not want to perform Dr. Partridge's nuclear experiment due to the risks involved.
  • While he is more willing to take risks than his colleagues, Dr. Partridge is shown to harbor immense guilt over the accidents his carelessness was responsible for.
• Romantic False Lead: Andrea "Andy" Carmichael becomes one, and also Demoted to Extra, as Brand ends up romancing Canon Foreigner Clink instead.
• Sanity Slippage: By the middle of Part 4, Chunk (due to burning all of his FPs) starts to hallucinate due to staying awake for so long, resulting in him "remembering" that he has a pet with him, a penguin named Opus. Said penguin voices all of Chunk's pent up aggressions, and has him beat Mouth unconscious.
  Opus: (to Chunk) Are you really gonna let [Mouth] just slap you like that, outta nowhere?
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • The first party split occurs when Andy, fed up with how long the others were taking in deciding on what to do with an unconscious Geno, abruptly decides that Mikey was going to go to the university on his own.
  • Brand's less-than-ideal attempt at checking out books at the library winds up resulting in him getting chased by Ethel Merman.
• Shout-Out:
  • Brand claims that he ate four dozen eggs every morning when he was young, but now he eats five dozen.
  • The players realize (and Paulo effectively confirms) that, via the attic mechanic he established in order to start the adventure of the movie^note every item in the attic has a potential campaign topic attached to them, and if Mikey succeeds a Lore roll, the adventure is locked in, Paulo had "Cabin in the Woods-ed" Goonies.
  • The players call Brand "young Thanos," as both characters were most famously played by Josh Brolin.
  • The above case of Retroactive Recognition is parodied with Data, who they claim was played by a young Dwayne Johnson.
  • Mouth's honestly disadvantage is openly stated to be operating under "Liar Liar rules".
  • Brand and Dr. Partridge both lunging for the latter's gun at the same time causes Paulo to remark "Oh yes, oh yes, they both go for the gun, the gun, the gun, the gun, the gun..."
  • Could be a coincidence, but a penguin named Opus?
    • Similarly, the way Paulo describes Chunk "feeding" Opus ice cream bares an unintentional(?) resemblance to Ed Norton "giving" Tyler Durden a beer.
  • Brand flirts with Clink by asking if she likes sand. Later, once Clink manages to walk tightrope over a deep pit, Kara says that she's "like a regular Black Swan."
• Spiritual Successor: To Stand By Me, almost to the point of being a Stealth Sequel, complete with Kara Strait playing Corey Feldman's Kid Hero character and Scott Aiello as his Butt-Monkey friend. They even bring back Milo the junkyard owner as a ferry guard.
• Split Personality: Played for laughs: The NPC Mouth meets in the bar in Part 2, Sanford, gets briefly hijacked by Andy. When it comes time for him to deliver plot-significant info, Paulo takes him back; Andy decides to play this as a separate personality taking over:
  Andy!Sanford: Ooooh. The spirits are actin' up again. Before I go, don't study math.
  Kara: A strange change comes over his face...
• Stealth Pun: As Paulo eventually reveals, "Professor Partridge works in Peartree University."
  Kara: (mad) OH, FUCK YOU!
  Joz: (talking over Kara; equally mad) So where's are our two fucking turtledoves?!
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Impressively, Mikey, Mouth and Brand all independently come up with the same excuse for why they arrived at Peartree upon being asked by a stranger: Their "brother" is visiting the college.
  Kara: The fucking mythic brother that we all have...
• Talkative Loon: Brand's first encounter with Kim Link in Part 2 is less-than-ideal due to the fact that his attempted lie about why he's at the library comes off as complete nonsense:
  Brand: [My "brother"] apparently had this, like, thing, this like- it's like, uh- it's like- it's like, uh, he could see into the fut- it's like jungle ju- or whatever, he had, like, jungle ju-
  Jon: (cuts Joz off) Jungle juice?
  Brand: Anyway, I'm just gonna go...
  Kim: ...what're you talking about?
  Kara: Whaaaaaat?
  Brand: There was a party, and he could, like, see into the future, and I just- and then- I didn't have anything to do. So- and they're all sleeping right now, so I just decided-
• Tuckerization:
  • Dr. Jack Woodyard, the Absent-Minded Professor at Peartree University is named after one of the show's Patreon supporters.
  • Mine founder Woody White is named after another Patreon supporter. Specifically, the guy who sponsored the bonus scene in the third episode.
  • Lampshaded when Brand asks the Hot Librarian what her name is and Paulo starts frantically looking through his list of Patreon supporters, eventually settling on Kim Link (or "Clink").
• Unfazed Everyman: During a single night, Clink gets to meet a talking cat, cyborg rats and a robot with the mind of a young boy who died a decade ago, all in close approximation to an old secret lab hidden right below her workplace, complete with a rocketship carrying the lost corpse of an old scientist and a free energy device. She takes it all remarkably well.
• Villain Protagonist:
  • Our "heroes" seem to be heading this route. In just the first episode, they have almost shot a man (albeit accidentally), ran to avoid the police, destroyed a car and stolen a ferry. Granted, the Unreliable Narrator element makes it hard to tell if any of these things actually happened.
  • This continues in episode 2, where Mouth flat-out steals some counterfeit money, with the intent of selling it.
  • In the last episode, Data starts falling into Mad Scientist mode, sadistically electrocuting the Fratellis and showing clear signs of megalomania.
• Wham Line: After the incident with the lab explosion in Part 3, Mouth and Data wake up in an infirmary. Paulo then proceeds to inform Jon of some new information:
  Paulo: Real quick, on your sheet, um... Data?
  Jon: Mm-hmm, yep, I'm Data.
  Paulo: You gain the advantage "Technomancy".
  Jon: (Evil Laugh)
• What Could Have Been: invoked After Mouth manages to Crit Succeed an Animal Handling roll in order to tame (and effectively claim) Gordie the cat, Paulo gets annoyed as, per his own words, he "had plans" for the cat.
• What Does This Button Do?:
  • Chunk starts frantically pressing buttons on the particle accelerator in the univerisity lab, leading to an evacuation.
  • Later, Joz is ecstatic to learn that Dr. White's laboratory is full of pressable buttons.
• Will Not Tell a Lie: This comes as a side effect to Mouth gaining the Mind Probe ability; he can tell the truth just fine, but the moment he tries to lie, he literally can't.^note Kara roleplays this by having Mouth abruptly being unable to talk.
• Would Harm a Senior: After Joz succeeds a roll to have Brand wrestle the Ethel Merman librarian, Paulo congratulates her for assaulting an elderly woman. Not only that, but Chunk helps knock her out by farting in her face.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: While the premise of the show requires this in general, for this campaign, Paulo had to worldbuild by the seat of his pants, only coming up with the basics of each adventure beforehand and then filling in the rest inbetween sessions.
• You Dirty Rat!:
  • The giant, former labrat the Goonies encounter at Peartree University, which is treated like a savage beast.
  • In the last episode, the gang run into a small army of cyborg rats, who are just as vicious, and apparently assimilate their brethren in a way akin to The Virus. Subverted when Data takes control of a few of them using his powers, and declares them to be Goonies.
• Younger Than They Sound: invoked When Brand first meets Kim in Part 2, Joz initially assumes she's an older woman due to the voice Paulo gave her... even though Paulo flat-out said at the start of the scene that she was around Brand's age.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: After Scott winds up being the one to work out how to open the Bookcase Passage, he takes a moment to not only call out how it took them all campaign to figure out what was ultimately an easy solution, but also call out Jon for not figuring it out first:
  Scott: Jon, Jon, let's take- Jon, let's take a moment here. (struggles to maintain composure) I had a 1.67 GPA in high school, for the record. I just thought I'd let you know that. Where'd you go to school again, tell the audience!
  Jon: Which time?

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