Power Rangers

[SKJAM!]

Re: Power Rangers

 

And just for the heck of it,

 

Good Guy Types in Sentai

 

The Main Team : Traditionally, a sentai team has five main members, though three-member teams are not uncommon, and Westernized teams may have four members. More may be added later (the Sailor Moon series went up to nine at the end) and sometimes a member will die, temporarily reducing the team's numbers. They will have similar uniforms, usually color-coded, and their basic powers will be the same. They will generally have the same origin, and always the same origin type. Teamwork skill is a must-have. Individual powers generally follow some sort of theme, such as Birds, Movie Genres, or Elements. Here's some typical stereotypes to mix and match.

 

Stalwart Leader : Your basic square-jawed, serious leader-type fellow. Usually has a decent PRE, Tactics, and good hand-to-hand skills. His character flaws tend to be in the "takes his job/responsibilities too seriously" category. Always has a romantic subplot, even if he doesn't want one.

 

Female Lead : Also known as "the token girl" in the older series. Has a decent or high COM, good DEX, and her individual powers are often support based. Usually has common sense. While she will not stand for any nonsense about women being unfit for combat, the Female Lead is proud of her femininity and often acts maternally towards her teammates or younger supporting cast. Always has a romantic subplot.

 

Hothead : aka "the Rebel." This character is the counterpart to the Stalwart Leader's seriousness. He has Disadvantages like "Rash" and "Quick-tempered." He's the one who openly challenges the Leader's or Mentor's orders, and often goes out on his own (invariably getting in trouble.) His powers tend to be aggressively-oriented, and he rides a motorcycle. May have a romantic subplot.

 

Smart One : Usually a bit wimpier than the other team members, high INT, Computer Programming and Inventor. Often wears glasses in his Secret ID. Another likely candidate for the group's common sense. Note that in the genre, the Smart One will never "break genre" by coming up with a plan that would end the series early that works. If he comes up with such a logical plan, it *will* fail. May have a romantic subplot.

 

Big Guy : Bigger and stronger than the other team members, and usually thicker through the middle as well. The Big Guy tends to be the backbone of the team, making sure they can stick it out until the Stalwart Leader figures out a plan. The Big Guy tends to be an optimist, and gentle at heart. He's also usually good with kids and small animals. Seldom has a romantic subplot.

 

Moody Loner : The fellow who tends to wear black, not talk much, and shows up late at fights. Often musically gifted, may ride a motorcycle, and has either a Tragic Past or a Dark Secret . Always has a romantic subplot with the one woman who can truly understand him . While a great favorite of female fans, he's usually a pretty sucky character type to interact with in game.

 

Ingenue : If there are two women on the team, this is the second one. She's a bit younger than the Female Lead, and usually has adjectives like "cute", "chipper" and "perky" attached to her. She's often saddled with Naive as well. She is sometimes pretty useless in combat at the beginning of the series (unlike the Female Lead) and has to train hard to catch up. Will have a romantic subplot, but a less "serious" one. The Ingenue without powers is often a DNPC of one of the team members.

 

Playboy : This fellow likes the ladies. He'll have a decent COM (but not an overwhelming PRE), Seduction, and Lechery or Sucker for a Pretty Face. Many Playboys also have some level of the Wealth Perk. Playboys like flying vehicles. His main function in romantic subplots is to be the loser of a triangle, though sometimes he'll get a consolation relationship.

 

"Reformed" Criminal : This character was a crook before signing up with the team; he may have gotten his powers due to random selection, or because he took out the person who was supposed to have gotten them. He tends to be rough around the edges, have skills like "Streetwise" and "Sleight of Hand", and is less scrupulous than the rest of the team. This character type is often mistrusted by the Stalwart Leader, and in some cases hasn't entirely given up his criminal ways. May have a romantic subplot, but is unlikely to be the winner in it.

 

Kid : The Kid is visibly younger and smaller than the other team members, and usually has a very high DEX, but wimpy STR. While he's fully capable of handling himself in combat, he's still socially and emotionally immature, and prone to poor judgement. He is prone to tantrums and sulking when his teammates treat him "like a child." May have a romantic subplot, but only on a "puppy love" level. The Kid without powers is a common DNPC for sentai characters.

 

Number Six : This character starts out as a rival or enemy to the sentai team, though it's obvious from the start that he got his powers in the same way/place as the heroes. Initially, he's more powerful than the team members (and may have his own giant robot), but is either toned down when he becomes a member of the team or the others are upgraded to match him. Number Six is often a Moody Loner or a Hothead, unwilling to work with the heroes until they prove their trustworthiness. Will often have a romantic subplot.

 

 

Ally : This character is just as powerful as the player characters, but has different powers and/or equipment, and will never join the team. He may work for another government or branch of the military, or even technically be a criminal. But he has no objection to teaming up with the player characters when the need is obvious. Some allies are mysterious figures who will eventually turn out to have a secret connection to one of the sentai team members. Sometimes have romantic subplots, though the mystery angle makes this difficult.

 

Mentor : This character is older than the player characters, and advises them. He may be the one who gave them the powers or created the technology, or just their superior officer. Some mentors are wise and caring, while others are cold and domineering, though all truly care about the team and its members. The mentor may have powers of his own, but has the Age Disadvantage or other reasons for not joining the fight on a regular basis. Almost never has a romantic subplot, but the "terminal illness" subplot is appropriate.

 

Support Staff : The characters that perform all the chores that enable the player characters to go out and fight the enemy without having to spend a lot of downtime on maintenance and monitor duty. This can be anywhere from a single servant (often a robot) to a full-fledged set of bridge bunnies and mechanics. They're usually near-useless in combat but have useful non-combat skills. Sometimes have romantic subplots, though just as often it's comic relief.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I was actually working on this in Hero Designer before my computer went all kaput. I was operating on the following basic design principles:

 

1. For teenagers, the Rangers are always frighteningly competent and have stats well above and beyond what one would expect of high school students, even martial-arts devotees. With the exception of Billy in Seasons 1 and 2, the martial skills are innate; Billy's, however, are Hero ID'ed as he couldn't fight a cold when he was unmorphed.

 

2. The Rangers have Hero ID on all the major powers, all have some degree of Armor, Leaping, Running, and a High-Range Radio communicator. Weapons are bought focussed, as they have lost them on occassion (though they usually recover said foci by the end of the episode). They can be prevented from assuming Hero ID through theft of their morphers, and/or being prevented from gesturing and making a morphing call.

 

2a. All Rangers have an Accidental Change out of Hero ID when Stunned on an 11-, and when Knocked Out on a 14-.

 

3. In the most recent seasons of Power Rangers, the Rangers have had superhuman powers in their civilian IDs, but they rarely demonstrate these powers in their Ranger identities (the Ninja Storm Rangers being the exception). These powers are purchased with a 1/4 limitation, Not In Hero ID (they're nice, but generally not as powerful as a full Ranger form).

 

4. I forgot #4.

 

5. Most Rangers have the Psych Lim 'Follows the Ranger Code', which includes the basic tenets of not escalating a battle, and not using one's powers for personal gain ... however, since every Ranger team has broken this at least once, it's only at the Strong level.

 

6. Despite the prevalence of bladed weaponry, there are very few serious injuries in the Power Rangers Universe; thus, all attacks deal Normal damage. Codes vs. Killing, also generally possessed by most Ranger teens, do not apply to Evil beings, but do apply to nonhuman life in general, including artificial life such as robots.

 

7. In general, Rangers do not get the Secret ID disadvantage, as the citizens of their hometowns are unfathomably stupid and somehow manage to never catch on, no matter what happens around them (I reference one episode of Power Rangers Turbo, where the entire city of Angel Grove and its inhabitants were turned invisible; the Rangers morphed in the middle of town, which means someone HAD to have seen them). A few Ranger teams, however, have Public Identities; these teams are generally offshoots of a government organization, such as Lightspeed (PR Lightspeed Rescue) or Space Patrol Delta (PR S.P.D.)

 

Someday, I'll recreate that stuff.

[Moody Loner]

Re: Power Rangers

 

Moody Loner : The fellow who tends to wear black, not talk much, and shows up late at fights. Often musically gifted, may ride a motorcycle, and has either a Tragic Past or a Dark Secret . Always has a romantic subplot with the one woman who can truly understand him .

 

This sounds eerily familiar...

 

While a great favorite of female fans,

 

Don't I wish. Then again, that might be a little difficult to explain to Mrs. Moody (see "one woman who can truly understand him" above)

 

he's usually a pretty sucky character type to interact with in game.

 

 

 

 

PS: You knew I was going to riff on that, didn't you?

[Game Show Man]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I was actually working on this in Hero Designer before my computer went all kaput. I was operating on the following basic design principles:

 

1. For teenagers, the Rangers are always frighteningly competent and have stats well above and beyond what one would expect of high school students, even martial-arts devotees. With the exception of Billy in Seasons 1 and 2, the martial skills are innate; Billy's, however, are Hero ID'ed as he couldn't fight a cold when he was unmorphed.

 

2. The Rangers have Hero ID on all the major powers, all have some degree of Armor, Leaping, Running, and a High-Range Radio communicator. Weapons are bought focussed, as they have lost them on occassion (though they usually recover said foci by the end of the episode). They can be prevented from assuming Hero ID through theft of their morphers, and/or being prevented from gesturing and making a morphing call.

 

2a. All Rangers have an Accidental Change out of Hero ID when Stunned on an 11-, and when Knocked Out on a 14-.

 

3. In the most recent seasons of Power Rangers, the Rangers have had superhuman powers in their civilian IDs, but they rarely demonstrate these powers in their Ranger identities (the Ninja Storm Rangers being the exception). These powers are purchased with a 1/4 limitation, Not In Hero ID (they're nice, but generally not as powerful as a full Ranger form).

 

4. I forgot #4.

 

5. Most Rangers have the Psych Lim 'Follows the Ranger Code', which includes the basic tenets of not escalating a battle, and not using one's powers for personal gain ... however, since every Ranger team has broken this at least once, it's only at the Strong level.

 

6. Despite the prevalence of bladed weaponry, there are very few serious injuries in the Power Rangers Universe; thus, all attacks deal Normal damage. Codes vs. Killing, also generally possessed by most Ranger teens, do not apply to Evil beings, but do apply to nonhuman life in general, including artificial life such as robots.

 

7. In general, Rangers do not get the Secret ID disadvantage, as the citizens of their hometowns are unfathomably stupid and somehow manage to never catch on, no matter what happens around them (I reference one episode of Power Rangers Turbo, where the entire city of Angel Grove and its inhabitants were turned invisible; the Rangers morphed in the middle of town, which means someone HAD to have seen them). A few Ranger teams, however, have Public Identities; these teams are generally offshoots of a government organization, such as Lightspeed (PR Lightspeed Rescue) or Space Patrol Delta (PR S.P.D.)

 

Someday, I'll recreate that stuff.

 

#4: The first Pink Ranger (Kimberly) has a higher COM than any of the others.

[synergy]

Re: Power Rangers

 

And just for the heck of it,

 

Good Guy Types in Sentai

etc.

 

Thanks SKJAM for the great material.

 

As you know I'm co-GMing a campaign in GGU that's trying to be part Japanese live-action genre (which includes, but is not exclusively, Super Sentai) and part western comic book style (anyone interested, please see the Senshudan One campaign page in the Global Guardians domain; or even PM me at home_n@hotmail.com). I really only saw one Sentai series (Go-renja), so most of my background is with individual heroes (Kikaida, the Kamen Riders, and a handful of others). A couple of months ago my co-GM who was my resource for Sentai left because of RL work overload. So this helps a lot.

 

Neil

 

p.s. What's this rep thing and how do I get some to you?

[Red Knight]

Re: Power Rangers

 

One thing that I thought was interesting is that the Zord tech seems to be readily avaiable. Back in session 4 (I think) when the Green Rnager showed up we later find out that his Dragon Zord can suprising merge with the heros' Zords without any trouble.

Then in PR, Dino Thunder, Tommy Th eformer Green and former white) ranger makes all the Zords himself.

 

As far as the people around them being stupid and figuring out their secret id's... Let us not forget that in the above-mentioned series, Tommy, a mysterious stranger shows up in town, wearing mostly green colors at the same time that the Green Ranger shows up.

 

DUH!!! Since they all wore their assigned colors.... might it not popinto their heads that he might also?? BUT that is why kids like it. They get to be smarter than the heroes.

[Yogzilla]

Re: Power Rangers

 

Little translation of Sentai: Battle Team

 

The Super Sentai(or Super Battle Team) group of shows have the giant robots. The original show, Five Man, had NO gaint robots. It wasn't Super Sentai

 

Ugh... Otaku-ness rising... Can't control it... Must - set - record - straight...

 

The original two shows did not have giant robots, though there were specialized team mecha (airships, cars, motorcycles, etc)...

 

Himitsu Sentai Gorenjaa (Secret Task Force GoRanger)

Jakkaa Dengeki-tai (JAKQ Electric Team)

 

...starting with the 3rd series...

 

Batoru Fiibaa Jei (Battle Fever J)

 

...the team had a giant robot to handle the bad guys' MotW (monster of the week). It would take several more series/years before each member had their own mecha that combined into a giant robot, and not much longer after that when teams would get more than 1 giant robot throughout the course of their show.

 

For more info (assuming you can read Japanese ), check out...

 

SuperSentai.net

 

...which has a brief synopsis of every show from GoRanger to last year's DekaRanger. (Note: just hit http://www.super-sentai.net if you want to check out this year's offering: MagiRanger)

 

Final note, ShinDangaioh is correct, the shows that don't have giant robots are techincally Sentai, not Super Sentai. However, virtually all fans still group them all under the Super Sentai banner.

 

-Yogzilla

[SKJAM!]

Re: Power Rangers

 

etc.

 

Thanks SKJAM for the great material.

 

p.s. What's this rep thing and how do I get some to you?

 

Thanks!

 

Rep (short for Reputation) is a way we give each other egoboo on the board. You get a certain amount of Rep power just by being on the boards for a certain amount of time, and by making gaming-related posts, but the fastest way is to convince other people to give you Rep. As for how it's done, you'll see a little "scales" icon to the upper right of each post. Click on that, and you'll be offered the chance to approve of the post, and leave a short comment.

 

If you click on the scale for one of your own posts, it will tell you if anyone's Repped it, and your total Reputation. (For detailed info on your Reputation, go to your User Control Panel.)

 

To avoid Rep inflation, you must Rep at least twenty other people before Repping the same person again, and you can only Rep five people a day. Use your powers wisely, and they will increase.

[loraxxx]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I think he's talking about "Rep Power". Its worth more when people with higher Rep and post count (such as Hermit) rep you than when relatives newbies to. In this case' date=' his Rep is 3 as opposed to Hermit's 51.[/quote']

 

ahh!--thank you for the info!!

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Power Rangers

 

One thing that I thought was interesting is that the Zord tech seems to be readily avaiable. Back in session 4 (I think) when the Green Rnager showed up we later find out that his Dragon Zord can suprising merge with the heros' Zords without any trouble.

Then in PR, Dino Thunder, Tommy Th eformer Green and former white) ranger makes all the Zords himself.

 

As far as the people around them being stupid and figuring out their secret id's... Let us not forget that in the above-mentioned series, Tommy, a mysterious stranger shows up in town, wearing mostly green colors at the same time that the Green Ranger shows up.

 

DUH!!! Since they all wore their assigned colors.... might it not popinto their heads that he might also?? BUT that is why kids like it. They get to be smarter than the heroes.

 

Ranger Geekiness ... rising!

 

The Dragonzord could combine with the original five Dinozords because they were designed to; there were supposed to be six Rangers from the get-go (thousands of years ago), but Rita stole the sixth coin and corrupted it.

 

Tommy didn't, technically, build the Dino Thunder Zords; in PRDT, the Zords hatched from eggs, so he found them rather than constructed them (don't ask me how that's supposed to work). If you wanna get technical.

[Red Knight]

Re: Power Rangers

 

Ranger Geekiness ... rising!

 

The Dragonzord could combine with the original five Dinozords because they were designed to; there were supposed to be six Rangers from the get-go (thousands of years ago), but Rita stole the sixth coin and corrupted it.

 

Tommy didn't, technically, build the Dino Thunder Zords; in PRDT, the Zords hatched from eggs, so he found them rather than constructed them (don't ask me how that's supposed to work). If you wanna get technical.

 

I seem to remember the hatching part.... But I thought he had designed and built their equipment and morphers???

[TechnoViking]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I seem to remember the hatching part.... But I thought he had designed and built their equipment and morphers???

Haley, the red-headed soda shop owner, was the groups tech head, and made all their gadgets.

[TechnoViking]

Re: Power Rangers

 

Here is a good page with lots of good info:

http://www.rangercentral.com/

[TechnoViking]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I'm going to have to find my Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman write-ups.

[Red Knight]

Re: Power Rangers

 

I'm going to have to find my Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman write-ups.

 

 

SWEET!!!!

 

Yes Please!!!!