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Slade
2010-05-29, 01:26 AM
Yes, you read that right.

I had an idea one night. Some of my players in my Exalted game grew up on the Power Rangers series. I had the misfortune of sitting through one of the episodes, and after the nausea passed, we sat around talking about it.

I never did like the Power Rangers, it just so happened they came on Fox right after the X-men back in 1993. I grew up with GI Joe and Transformers, then Ninja Turtles. These power rangers grated on my nerves every time they came on.

Back then, I couldn't figure out why I hated them so much... it had action, adventure, big robots, villains straight out of the Cobra Commander school of world conquest, everything. But I hated it.

After catching that episode (the one with the monster that turned people into cardboard) it finally donned on me why: the lead characters where complete crud. They seemed to be god's perfect little angels. They could do no wrong. And I hated it. This coming from a guy who grew up on GI Joe and Transformers... :smalleek:

Anywho, I had to leave my friend's dorm, and the episode stuck in my head. I started to think, and started to rewrite the show... then the series... then the whole concept. It kept coming back to one thing: Buffy.

In Buffy, the characters seemed real. They were normal teenagers dealing with the crap that seems to crop up in real life, all the while killing stuff that wanted to kill them.

So, after a lot of thought exercises, I rewrote the power rangers. And this is what I have come up with....

Slade
2010-05-29, 01:34 AM
Mighty Morphing Power Rangers revamp,
"Rangers: the Morphining"

Our story begins some 10,000 years ago. The empire of Atlantis, a massive island kingdom that sat in the Atlantis near the African and European Continents.

The people of Atlantis were an advanced race from the stars... came here in their massive world ship to study the biosphere. All was well, until the Minions of Master Vile came calling.

The Atlantians held out as best they could; but the endless hordes of minions where taking its toll on the earth's environment (causing a massive nuclear winter-type climate change, heralding an Ice Age). When Master Vile had to leave the theater of operations to deal with a rebellion elsewhere in his empire (which was Zedd's uprising), Vile left the conquest to his daughter Rita, who had established a base in what would become modern day Turkey.

A few more decades of battle was fought, but the Atlantians where losing soldiers fast. Rita decided to end the threat once and for all by cursing the mighty Atlantian's mechazord technology by causing it to not work in the Atlantians hands. An emergency council was formed, and it was decided that although Atlantians couldn't use the super-technology that allowed Atlantis to be reasonably safe, HUMANS could.

With that, the last survivors of the Atlantians lead a desperate search for 5 worthy individuals. Despite the tall, pale, lanky frame of true Atlantians, they had long been able to hide amongst the savage humans to observe and record. Now, they would have to find 5 worthy champions.

The five bravest warriors from the tribes of Man (still a stone age tribal culture) where found, subdued, captured, trained, and equipped with the finest power armor and weapons the Atlantians could provide. While these "Metamorphic Power Warriors" where able to take the fight to Rita's door step, while the remaining Atlantians (all 14 of them) worked on a solution.

A spy was able to discover the solution, and Rita staged a massive do-or-die assault. The human Warriors held them off as long as they could. As the last of the metamorphic warriors fell, the Atlantians activated their last ditch weapon. Not quite finished, it caused a massive backlash of energy, and destroyed the Atlantian's world ship.

The ploy worked as intended; the weapon was a singularity generator that sucked most of Rita's forces, including Rita herself and her Henchmen, into a pocket dimension for all time, and contained it with a vessel, known as the Omphalos of Atlantis. This was blasted into orbit, only to land on the far side of the earth's moon, not quite able to reach escape velocity.

The lone Atlantian survivor, the Master Tech-Servant Alpha-5, was able to save the last Atlantian Supercomputer Core, the "Z-core", and escape with it to a desert in a far away land, which was later named "North America" by the humans. In the mean time, Alpha-5 spent the last 8 millennium recovering the lost mechazords and reassembling them. For, no doubt, Vile would return; Alpha-5 would be ready.

Meanwhile, across the galaxy, Master Vile was disposed by Lord Zedd after long civil war, and he spent the last several millennium consolidating his power, as well as fighting off the bio-mechanical cyber zombies of the Machine Empire. In a moment of peace, his thoughts turned to his former (and unrequited) love Rita, and wondered what was keeping her. He dispatched an agent to earth, intent on finding her.

When he didn't hear from him, he decided to investigate personally. This was 100 years ago, and Zedd has been en route since.

In the present day, in the city of Los Angeles, Alpha-5, who today is going by the name Adam Westlake, is working for the Los Angeles bureau of the FBI. The base he constructed in the desert southwest, which is the resting place for the Z-supercomputer, has been cloaked from human view since he moved here 8,000 years ago. Secretly, Adam Westlake is a multi-millionaire hidden behind many layers of smoke and mirrors, under the guises of The Alpha Consortium.

The Alpha consortium has been slowly bringing the technology level of the human race since the end of the 1890's, when Zedd's scout landed on earth. He has slowly leaked "ideas" to certain men (the Wright Brothers, Tesla, Edison, Lilienfeld, Bell Labs, among others) secretly funding their research and design to them. Adam in turn uses these funds to finish rebuilding the mechazord technology and keep the Z-computer base hidden from view.

The story starts when a meteor shower finds its way into Earth's orbit, and the far side of the moon happens to be in the way....

Slade
2010-05-29, 01:46 AM
This game will use the Hunter: the Reckoning by White Wolf Publishing as the character sheet base, with New World of Darkness dice mechanic (8+, 10's explode) as the base line for Mortals.

Supernatural beings of all types will use the Exalted/Scion rules set (7+, 10 double) which also includes the Power Rangers themselves.

Being a World of Darkness game, there will be Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, and other creepy crawlies from the rules out there, but they will be low key and trying to avoid attracting attention to themselves (which also adds to the setting).

Rules for the good guys and bad guys will be forthcoming.
Rita, Zedd, Vile, and the rest of the bad guys will be using the Mage: the Ascension rules for their powers, while Goldar and the rest of the Henchmen will be using the Freak Legion and Guide to the Possessed handbooks from the Old World of Darkness for their powers and abilities.

Another thing: THIS IS A WORLD OF DARKNESS GAME.
So their will be human suffering all around the Rangers, and the constant corruption of government, corporations, criminal syndicates, and the general "who cares?" attitude that permeates the "crap sack" World of Darkness will be there.

Next up: Game Mechanics.

Slade
2010-05-29, 01:49 AM
Mortal Character Creation:

Stats: 6/4/3

Abilities: 11/7/4
All characters must take at least Academics 1, Computer 1, and Science 1 to show a high school education.

Backgrounds: 5

Willpower: 2, 2 freebies each

Freebies: 21

Freebie costs: Attribute: 5; Ability 2; Background 2; Willpower 2

Merits/Flaws: amount indicated, 7 points maximum

Dice caps: No character may have more than 7 dice in a single pool (regardless of points) at start up.
You are playing a 16 year old character who is in High School. Leave room to grow.

Core Dice mechanic: 8 or better, 10's explode (re-roll), specialties add 1 die. Stunting allowed.

Combat:
Initiative: Wits + Alertness, DC 8
Unarmed: Dex + Brawl, DC 8
Melee: Dex + Melee, DC 8
Ranged: Dex + Athletics (thrown) or Firearms (guns), DC 8
Defense: Dex + (Brawl, Melee, or Dodge) /2 round down, static number.
Note: no character may dodge bullets.
Soak: Stamina + Armor (Bashing), Armor (Lethal), Static number

Backgrounds (5):
Allies: Good friends or family you can call upon to help.
Arsenal: Collection of gadgets and weapons. (Not allowed without a DAMN good reason)
Contacts: Information sources.
Fame: Popularity in the world. Character may have resources equal to Fame rating (not free though).
Influence: Strings you can pull. (Not allowed without a DAMN good reason)
Mentor: An older/more experienced teacher.
Resources: Cash on hand. Refreshes monthly. (Not allowed without a DAMN good reason)

Sample gear:
Light Pistol (Resources 3, or Arsenal 1)
Heavy Pistol (Resources 4, or Arsenal 2)
Hunting Rifle (Resources 3, or Arsenal 1)
Assault Rifle (Resources 4, or Arsenal 3)
Home made Explosives (Resources 2, or Arsenal 1, must have Science of 1)
Military Grade Explosives (Resources 5, or Arsenal 3)
Baseball bat (Reources or Arsenal 1)
New Car (Resources 4 or Arsenal 2)
Old Car (Resources 2, or Arsenal 1)
Armored Car (Resources 5, or Arsenal 3)
New Computer (Resources 2 or Arsenal 1)
Old Computer (2+ y.o.) (Resources or Arsenal 1)
Plain old Cell Phone (Resources or Arsenal 1)
Tricked out Cell Phone (Resources 2 or Arsenal 1)
Light Body Armor (BP Vest) (Resources 4 or Arsenal 2)
Heavy Body Armor (SWAT) (Resources 5 or Arsenal 3)

Healing Times:
Bashing: 0, -1, -2, -5: 6 hours each || Incap: 1 day
Lethal: 0 = 1 day || -1 = 1 week (each) || -2, -5 = 1 month (each) || Incap = 6 months
Bleeding Rules: When a character has a lethal level of damage on them, they must roll Stamina + (Either Survival or Medicine (2)) or lose another level of lethal due to bleeding. They roll until treated (Int + Medicine (1)) or they make their initial roll.

Slade
2010-05-29, 01:53 AM
Power Ranger Template:
Add the following changes:
Attributes:
+2 Stregnth, +1 Dex, +1 Stamina, +1 Perception
Soaks:
Stamina + Armor (Bashing, all damage is halved)
Stamina + Armor (Lethal), Armor (Aggravated)
Power Ranger Battle Armor starts out at 10 Bashing/Lethal/Aggravated soak w/ 8 hardness.
Dice Mechanics:
While morphed, 7+ to hit, 10's double (Exalted rules), Specialties add extra dice (+3 max).
Power Rangers may dodge bullets and other fast super fast moving projectiles.
Attacks:
Can Punch for Lethal or Bashing
Gain Melee weapon Indicated (stats below)
Gain 'Power Blaster' ranged attack:
Spd 4, Acc +2, Damage 4A, Rte 2, Range 25
Healing Times:
While morphed: 0 = 1 hour || -1 = 1 day (each) || -2, -5 = 1 week (each) || Incap = 2 weeks

Animal Eidolon:
Tyrannosaurus Rex (red):
+3 Stregnth, +1 Charisma
Power Saber: Spd 5, Acc +3, Damage: +5L, Def +2, Rate 3

Mastadon (black):
+2 Stregnth, +2 Stamina
Power Axe: Spd 6, Acc +2, Damage: +8L/3, Def +1, Rate 2, 2 Hand, Peircing

Sabertooth Tiger (yellow):
+1 Stregnth, +2 Dexterity, 1 Perception
Twin Power Daggers: Spd 4, Acc +4, Damage +2L, Def +2, Rate 3 (each)

Triceratops (blue):
+2 Stamina, +2 Soak
Power Lance: Spd 5, Acc +2, Damage +4L, Def +4, Rate 4

Pteradactyl (pink):
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma
Power Whip: Spd 3, Acc +2, Damage +0L, Def +4, Rate 3

Other Notes:
Rangers may only "Morph" when defending other people or themselves from a serious threat.
Rangers may not "Morph" if they started the threat.
Only death may permenantly seperate a Ranger from his TEMP coin, unless it is surrendered willingly.
The Z-computer will simply teleport the coin from anyone else who is not bonded to that coin
back to either the Command Center or to the Ranger's body.
He also ensures that the TEMP coin is on the ranger at all times, convenitly putting on their person in a pocket
or some other space close at hand.

Slade
2010-05-29, 01:57 AM
Big Brother is watching you:
the "Z-series" Atlantian Supercomputer

The Z super computer is the device that controls access to the TEMP coin that grants a Ranger his powers. It monitors the TEMP coins and all activities within 50 yards of the coin (walls not with standing), or the Ranger if they are currently morphed (the coin melds into the armor).

The computer also monitors the health, well being, emotional and physical stress levels of anyone bonded to a power coin, and can monitor the same for any individual within the 50 yards of the Ranger in question (again, walls not withstanding) at a less degree of accuracy.

Although it cannot monitor what an individual ranger is thinking at the moment or read their mind, 10,000 years of data accumulated by Alpha and the Z supercomputer allows for the next best thing: educated guesses.

With stunning accuracy, the supercomputer can guess what a Ranger might be thinking or what actions the Ranger will take and might advise accordingly. Alpha has programmed the supercomputer to not activly interfere with a Ranger's free will; this proved to be a disaster in the war with Rita.

The supercomputer may "de-morph" a Ranger if his immediate actions would prove totally disastrous for Alpha, the supercomputer, the Ranger team, or would inflict large scale destruction. Otherwise, the supercomputer will not interfere.

The supercomputer also controls access to all of the Ranger's gear, able to teleport it instantly when the Ranger actives his power coin. The supercomputer may also teleport a Ranger out of harms way if they ask for it or if his life signs reach critical (as defined by the Ranger reaching Incapacitated or Dying on his would level track with Lethal or Aggravated damage).

Due to the power demands of warping space/time, the Z computer is only able to do this 3 times a day. It may teleport any number of people at a time however (including all 5 rangers, regardless of current location, provided they are still within the Earth's orbit, and Alpha).

It will also ask the current leader (Red Ranger, then Yellow, Black, Blue, then Pink, in that order) if the injured should be ported out. Only a negative statement will hold off; a positive statement or no statement at all will result in the injured Ranger (plus any who wish to go with the injured) are teleported instantly to the Command Center's medical bay.

Z also has the ability to simply hack in to any device with an active internet connection (wired or wireless) and over ride any connected computer system on the planet. The modern computer, internet, and telephone communications grid was designed on principals that were reversed engineered from the Z supercomputer and Atlantian super technology (unknowingly, of course), and as such, the task of hacking in proves easy for the Z supercomputer to do.

Z can also hack directly into and control any wirelessly enabled computer or cell phone with in 1,000 miles of the Command Center, no roll required. This includes all of the southern half of California, Arizona, Nevada, most of Utah, most of Colorado, New Mexico, western Texas, western Oklahoma, and most of Mexico (northern half). This is used mostly to keep the Command Center off of Nasa's and US & Mexican government's radar (figuratively and literally), and so that over head spy satellites will not be able to photograph it (since most of earth's satellites are controlled from within this bubble).

The Z supercomputer also controls all access into and out of the Command Center, only allowing those with a Power Coin or pure Atlantian DNA inside the secure areas of the buildings.


The Z supercomputer:
Attributes: Str 0, Dex 0, Stamina 25 (soak only), Charisma 1, Manipulation 5, Appearance 0, Perception 10, Intelligence 10, Wits 15*
Abilities: Alertness 5 (Power Coins +3), Awareness 5 (Rita's Goons, +3), Empathy 5 (Rangers +3), Intuition 5 (Rangers +3), Demolitions 5, Technology 10 (Atlantian Super-tech +3).
In addition, the Z supercomputer has ALL knowledges at rating of 10, and can call up any 3 dot specialty at will (it is a 10,000 year old, self error correcting, sentient, data base after all)
Soak: 40 B/40 L/40 A (Reinforced Plating, 15/15, Hardness 10). The Z computer is a construct. In addition, the Z computer's data-banks are kept in an armored vault deep inside a mountain somewhere in western Arizona. This gives it near infinite soak and hardness against outside attacks that are nothing short of a Barringer event.
Powers:
Teleport Ranger: up to 3 times in a 24 hour period, Z can teleport any number of Rangers and Alpha to anywhere on Earth. This is treated as a speed 5 miscellaneous action.
Monitor Power Coin: Maintains a constant watch over all 5 power coins simultaneously. Can see everything with in 25 yards of the Power Coin (walls not with standing), and can teleport said coin at anytime. Since the Power Coins are simply hardened energy constructs, they do not count against the Teleport Ranger power, above. Z can also communicate with the Rangers at will, though this must happen either: while Morphed, and talks through the Ranger's helmet, or via text messages and phone calls. Z is not telepathic (though with 18 dice in its Empathy & Intuition pools, its damn close).
Z can also use its Empathy and Intuition dice pools on other people that it can see within the 25 yards, though it is at half its normal dice pool (8 dice).
Monitor/Teleport Mechazord: Z also maintains constant watch over all of the mechazords. It can monitor all of the vital information and can teleport them to the garage under the Command Center. Doing so counts against (and uses the same rules as) the Teleport Ranger power, above.
Hack: Z can hack into and gain control over any computer or cell phone with an active internet connection anywhere in the world. It can also gain control of any wireless device within 1,000 miles of the Command Center.

true_shinken
2010-05-29, 07:39 AM
Check some original japanese sentai for ideas. Jetman is specially good.

Heliomance
2010-05-29, 08:20 AM
This should probably be in the Homebrew forum.

elfavalon
2010-05-29, 08:34 AM
Seems great, but do you thing it maybe hombrewed a bit?

Prime32
2010-05-29, 08:38 AM
Check some original japanese sentai for ideas. Jetman is specially good.No kidding. Characters die in the original versions.

true_shinken
2010-05-29, 09:49 AM
No kidding. Characters die in the original versions.

That's part of what makes Jetman so specially good.

Deth Muncher
2010-05-29, 10:11 AM
Also look up Japanese Spiderman, since apparently it's the predecessor to PR. In and of that instead of swinging around NYC, apparently Japanese Spiderman rides in a giant robot. O_o

true_shinken
2010-05-29, 10:50 AM
Also look up Japanese Spiderman, since apparently it's the predecessor to PR. In and of that instead of swinging around NYC, apparently Japanese Spiderman rides in a giant robot. O_o

Japanese Spiderman is the first tokusatsu to feature a hero that fights both on feet and on his mecha, fighting normal-sized and giant monsters. That said, it's pretty old and while it sure is amusing to watch I don't think you could get a lot of inspiration from it.
Changemen, Flashmen and Maskmen are some of the super sentai I like the most. Some are pretty bad, like Kakuranger or Goggle Five. I like Jetmen specifically because it's so different from other sentais.
The best tokusatsu series ever, though, is of course Kamen Rider Kabuto.

Prime32
2010-05-29, 11:10 AM
Also look up Japanese Spiderman, since apparently it's the predecessor to PR. In and of that instead of swinging around NYC, apparently Japanese Spiderman rides in a giant robot. O_oDon't forget that he's a motorcyclist who got his powers from a dying alien, and transforms into Spider-Man by shouting into his webshooter.

The robot was there because live-action web-slinging would have been extremely difficult to film. Doesn't explain why it's leopard themed though.
Spidey: "CHANGE, LEOPARDON!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcxioU7AMM4


Another probable influence on MMPR was Dancouga (in terms of mecha design at least). Interestingly, in that series one robot is far larger than the others, and they don't find out that they can combine until episode 16! (it kinda looks like they weren't designed to combine)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxS8Lg0ugW8

true_shinken
2010-05-29, 11:14 AM
The robot was there because live-action web-slinging would have been extremely difficult to film. Doesn't explain why it's leopard themed though.
Spidey: "CHANGE, LEOPARDON!"


Well, it's not like he didn't web-sling. OK, it's a white rope that he throws at things, but Japan was still recovering in the '70s, cut them some slack.
The robot thing has a lot more to deal with japanese focus on technology and government propaganda than anything else. Spidey was probably used a symbol of something from the US that was made japanese. Traditional japanese thinking is pretty convoluted but it sure seems like this to me.

TheCountAlucard
2010-05-29, 11:22 AM
This should probably be in the Homebrew forum.Well, as far as I know, this thread's a campaign journal; he just posted all the rules and whatnot so the readers would know how it was done.

Slade
2010-05-30, 04:40 AM
The Count is right; this is a homebrew world of darkness game that is set in a grim-dark retelling of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers universe.

One of the big changes are the LACK of the mega-zords. The governments of the world will be putting a stop to the earthquake and volcano inducing machines that come out of no where all the time. Also, there is such a disconnect between GIANT ROBO and characters with those things, that I will find it easier to not deal with the zords except as a major focus of story arcs. Once Rita plays the GIANT MONSTER card, then it becomes a major pain.

I posted the Rules & Backstory so the readers would know where I was coming from (think of it setting up the Backstory and the mechanics so the reader is in the right frame of mind).

I thank all the Power Ranger ner-- I mean, FANS, for putting in their 2 cents. But for now... the all important part: the PC's! And in true MMPR spirit... they are 5 16 year old teenagers.... yes, with attitude!

Garret: An All American football player, with a dark side: he is into underground "fight clubs" in a big way. Courtesy of the illegal fight clubs is an addiction to pain medication (opioid addictions are the worst) he takes from the injuries.
He eventually becomes the Red Ranger.

Taylor: a Korean IT major/ honors student/ black belt. Doesn't have much of a home life, or a life period.
He eventually becomes the Yellow Ranger.

Ash (short for Ashley): She is one part tomboy auto mechanic, one part goth chick. She has a criminal past and is currently on probation. Player didn't know what was going to be pulled but got a clue when she was able to see the laptop. Much surprise was to be had.
She eventually becomes the Pink Ranger (much to her chagrin).

Jeff, Emo goth wanna be, but who likes to work out. Quiet and shy, but does have a nice physique. Also, the player didn't have a clue what the game was about... a pleasant surprise.
He eventually becomes the Black Ranger.

Nick Evens: Tech nerd wanna be taking AP comp sci courses at High School, and runs a computer business on the side. He eventually becomes the Blue Ranger, since he decided to rip off Billy from the TV show right from the get go. Oh, and the character is lousy with names.

Prime32
2010-05-30, 06:41 AM
One of the big changes are the LACK of the mega-zords. The governments of the world will be putting a stop to the earthquake and volcano inducing machines that come out of no where all the time. Also, there is such a disconnect between GIANT ROBO and characters with those things, that I will find it easier to not deal with the zords except as a major focus of story arcs. Once Rita plays the GIANT MONSTER card, then it becomes a major pain.In that case you might want to take a look at Kamen Rider (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KamenRider). It's like Super Sentai, but darker, with no robots and with less teamwork.

The most recent series is Kamen Rider Double
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYQpGhAkWs
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KamenRiderDouble

which was preceded by Kamen Rider Decade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n82qkSfHFA8
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KamenRiderDecade

Starbuck_II
2010-05-30, 09:11 AM
Were we watching the same Power rangers?

Billy could do wrong. He was a good fighter but nerdy so didn't get the girls he wanted.

They do tend to make their mistakes funny and not compleyely their fault though. Like when Jason was trying to beat a record Kim made the counter of record forget his place. So had to do it all over.

AstralFire
2010-05-30, 09:26 AM
The rangers regularly made mistakes for the moral of the day of the story, yes. But that's not nearly grim enough for this. :P

Slade
2010-05-30, 10:32 AM
Were we watching the same Power rangers?



Of course we were watching the same MMPR. I just wanted to crank up the GRIMDARK of the setting. Once my plan was revealed to my gaming group, they flipped out and said "FUND IT!" So... here I am.

Also, I am hoping for teamwork in this game. At least a little bit... hope fully the PC's will use it. Though I learned long ago to expect the worst from PC's.

Kaulesh
2010-05-30, 11:13 AM
Big Brother is watching you:
the "Z-series" Atlantian Supercomputer


He's not a computer

nyarlathotep
2010-05-30, 11:26 AM
He's not a computer
That was changed just like changing Alpha to not be a robot.

Prime32
2010-05-30, 11:44 AM
I'm pretty sure Alpha was always a robot. Zordon was a wizard from another dimension projecting his image into a tube. Then later he actually got stuck in the tube and was kidnapped. And then this happened (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb71haNx9QM).

EDIT: Confirmed it on the Power Rangers wiki (http://powerrangers.wikia.com/). Oh, and apparently Alpha 6 is Haruhi.

Pluto
2010-05-30, 12:56 PM
That was changed just like changing Alpha to not be a robot.
Wait, Alpha isn't a robot with a flying saucer for a head?

This Adam Westlake character just lost about 19 cool points.

TheCountAlucard
2010-05-30, 01:11 PM
I'm pretty sure Alpha was always a robot. Zordon was a wizard from another dimension projecting his image into a tube. Then later he actually got stuck in the tube and was kidnapped. And then this happened (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb71haNx9QM).Be that as it may, we are changing up some of the stuff to make it fit better. :shrug:

Zuki
2010-05-30, 02:46 PM
Grimdark Super Sentai sounds like a lot of fun. Like some sort of unholy fusion of what one half of my RL gaming group loves, and one half what the other half loves.

Except I'm not sure you could sell Greg and Curt on it, whereas Angie, myself, and my brother would be all over it.

I wish you the best of luck. Any plans for a campaign journal?

TheCountAlucard
2010-05-30, 02:54 PM
Any plans for a campaign journal?Yes. Yes, there are.

Yuki Akuma
2010-05-30, 03:13 PM
Wait, what? Seriously? You're making Mighty Morphin' GRIMDARK?

Why not one of the, you know, actually dark seasons?

Faleldir
2010-05-30, 04:05 PM
Wait, what? Seriously? You're making Mighty Morphin' GRIMDARK?

Seconded. Power Rangers is the example I use to remind myself that objective Good and Evil can be awesome.

Slade
2010-05-31, 10:42 PM
Wait, what? Seriously? You're making Mighty Morphin' GRIMDARK?

Why not one of the, you know, actually dark seasons?

Because
1: There are no DARK seasons and
2: My crew of players are fans of the Original (i.e. MMPR) season.

Slade
2010-06-01, 12:32 AM
Grimdark Super Sentai sounds like a lot of fun. Like some sort of unholy fusion of what one half of my RL gaming group loves, and one half what the other half loves.

Except I'm not sure you could sell Greg and Curt on it, whereas Angie, myself, and my brother would be all over it.

I wish you the best of luck. Any plans for a campaign journal?


My two cents on that zuki:

If half of the players are having a blast, the other half tend to jump on board just so they can have some fun too. I say do it.

Roderick_BR
2010-06-01, 11:57 AM
I actually would like a MMPR game. It would work better with mutants and masterminds, I guess. Using storyteller would be good too, but you'd need the StreetFigher rules for combat (no real need for their maneuvers, I guess).

And I second(thirty, whatever), Power Rangers don't work for crapsack world. You could make a more "mature" game, with the characters really having to struggle balancing their private life, and the super hero life, and real consequences to failure. But a complete "why try at all" attitude from World of Darkness... won't work.

Not more than trying to turn a vampire game into a Saturday morning kid-friendly cartoon.

Prime32
2010-06-01, 03:21 PM
From what I hear, the recent R.P.M. season was pretty dark and meta (not only do they explain the dramatic explosions behind the rangers after they morph, but a ranger with a malfunctioning morpher uses one to attack an opponent)

The zords are brightly-coloured and shaped like animals because they were designed by a child prodigy who'd been experimented on or something.

Oh, and robots have taken over the world, with humanity reduced to a number of small settlements.


The weird thing is, its source material was more light-hearted than most sentai.

My knowledge of the season comes mostly from TVTropes and this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ_1RYorGf0)

Yuki Akuma
2010-06-01, 05:06 PM
Because
1: There are no DARK seasons

Either you haven't watched them all or you have a really strict definition.

Slade
2010-06-05, 07:27 PM
Either you haven't watched them all or you have a really strict definition.

Yes to both. I am catching up on the mmpr seasons at the moment, and no, its not dark (by my definition anyway).

As for some of the others, its not quite crapsack world, but certainly darkier.
Think buffy world of darkness that's what I am aiming for.

Jehtman7
2010-06-08, 11:35 PM
The game has been really good so far. I can't wait till you guys get to hear the story itself! Keep up the good work with the set up, Slade.

Slade
2010-06-08, 11:51 PM
Fast summery of the last two game sessions:

The summer finds our Player characters towards the end of the 2012 school year. LA High school is a year round school, with no summer to speak of.

Monday morning finds Nick and Taylor in their AP IT classes. The teacher seems to be running late, when in walks a substitute. Seeing things as little off, they discover that the substitute teacher is setting up a VPN on the schools network.

Pursuing this, they discover that the substitute is not legit. They follow him. The other three pc's discover this, and they (being the pc's of course) decide to follow the mysterious substitute.

They end up following them to a water treatment plant. This bears inspection. They do, but end up getting recorded on the plant's security network (darn those post 9-11 security upgrades).

So, the next day, the "FBI" show up and arrest our heroes. They get taken to the Water Treatment plant, where they turn out to be infiltration sentinels, and they are making "a thing" of some kind.

The PC's try and escape but following a massive battle (where they dice suck hard for the bad guys) they got recaptured again.

Que Adam Westlake who has been following the mysterious happening around the school. He then went out to the water treatment plant to find our five heroes bound in rebar and concrete.

Adam sneaks down and takes a two inch gold coin with a tiger emboss on it and sticks in his hands. He then tells him to say "Saber-tooth tiger".

Taylor looks over his shoulder, "What? Why?"
"Just say it!"
"Saber tooth tiger."
With a flash that breaks his bonds, the coin turns into gloves that then begins to grow into yellow power armor. He is a little stunned at first.
He then sneaks over to Garret, and hands him another coin, and says "Tyrannosaurus".
Garret agrees and says it. His armor is Red.
The yellow and red rangers begin to tear up the Sentinels.
Mean while Adam sneaks over to Ashley and Nick, making them the Pink and Blue rangers, respectively. Jeff was knocked unconscious by the Sentinels in the fight before, but he gets his Black Ranger powers later.
Needless to say, the Rangers make mincemeat of the Sentinels.

That concludes the first session. Sorry for the delay.

Jehtman7
2010-06-15, 08:07 PM
As part of the storyline for the game, I'm doing a character journal for my character Garrett Addams. I'll have my first few journal posts for the story so far up really soon.

Jehtman7
2010-06-16, 04:11 AM
Garrett's Journal: Friday, June 1st, 2012

As something different this summer, I'm writing a journal of my activities as a way of remembering the "good times of my life" as my folks would put it. Even with two-a-days going on right now, I can't really complain. For the next football season, the coach has me slated as a starter saying that I'm better than most of seniors on the team. Yeah, most of those knuckleheads were pissed when they heard that some junior was better than all of them but they couldn't do much against something that's true. I just hate dealing with their ****! We also got the freshman in for some terrorizing and I can't wait to show them how a real football player plays.
Nothing going on in the home front. Mom is busy with her celebrity clients getting them ready for some dumb spy film that everyone is gonna eat up. Dad is still gone doing whatever with the Air Force and trying to convince that I should join up. But who gives a ****! I'm 16. Who cares about what some dumbass on the other side of the world does. It's not like it's gonna **** with my football or fighting schedule!
Guess I'll just end the night looking at the night sky. There is this nice looking meteor shower going on tonight. Figured I'd waste my time and clear my mind to get ready for tomorrow's fight.

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012

God, that fight was too damn easy! No, really, I'm wondering where the hell they get these guys?
For the last year or so, I've been a part of an underground fight club. I got recruited by the guy in charge following a fist fight after a game. A couple of douchebags from a rival school felt like jumping me because I made the game-winnning touchdown and ruined their winning streak. Apparently, they felt they were heroes going at it 5 on 1. They couldn't have been more wrong messing with a kid whose dad is a Air Force special ops officer. By the time I was done with them, three of them had to go to a hospital while the others pissed themselves and ran away. The next Saturday, I got the **** beaten out of me by some guy who spent 10 years in karate and became my mentor. Other than a few other fights that didn't end in my favor, I've spent the last year knocking the blocks off a bunch of morons. The fame and the oxycodone have been good to me.
Anyhow, tonight's loser was some old biker who thought that some stupid teenage punk didn't even belong in the ring. I connected the first punch and it was all downhill for that jackass! By the time I was finished with him, he was a blubbering mess on the floor with no shred of the dignity he thought he had. Stupid teenage punk my ass!

Monday, June 4th, 2012

Today has been a weird ****ing day! I'm now starting to think the oxycodone is going to my head.
During the two-a-days today, I noticed something weird going in the parking lot that I couldn't put my finger on. I cut out on the rest of practice to see what was going on. When I ran through the lot, I noticed two things. First, some nerds from the IT lab, I think their names were Nick and Tyler, were following some guy who looked like a teacher walking really fast to his car. Second, the teacher wasn't sweating at all. It's been 120 degrees or more for the last little while! There was no way in hell that someone couldn't sweat in this weather. After I intercepted the nerds and questioned them about following that "teacher" (something about creating some hidden network in the school system or something like that), we followed him in their nerd herd van.
After following him for an hour or two, we pulled over by the LA water treatment plant where the guy drove in with his black sedan. We couldn't see what else he was doing because we couldn't get past the fence. We were also being followed by some other kids who go to our school. Some motorhead goth girl named Ashley (who is a bit of a looker if it weren't for the goth thing) and some wannabe emo named Jeff. We agreed to meet up later tonight to sneak around to see what this guy is up to.

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012

HOLY ****ING ****! HOLY ****ING ****! Why the **** did I get caught up in this!?
Last night I saw something that just scared the living hell out of me. While we were at the water treatment area, we split up to see if they were doing anything at this place. While moving through the upper levels of the treatment building, I saw the fake sub and a few other guys hanging around and talking to each other. Then they started talking like a bunch of radio and tv static. Then, they changed. Not into different clothes but into a bunch of weird, liquid metal creatures like I saw in that one sci-fi film. Something clearly not human. I didn't know what else to do but to record them on my camera and run. I showed the others the video when we were safe and tried to analyse what they were saying in the video. No luck with that.
Now, the FBI are looking in on this ****. Some old agent named Adam Westlake wanted information about what had happened at the water treatment plant. He said he got some info from Nick and had promised that we wouldn't get into any trouble. I wish Nick didn't say anything and I hope that this doesn't mess with the season. All I really want to do right now is forget that this **** even happened.

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Everything has changed. Nothing is the same anymore. The world that I grew up in no longer matters. All that really matters is that me, Tyler, Jeff, Nick, and Ashley hold the fate of the planet in our hands.
During the two-a-days today, a group of FBI agents arrested me and the others for what we thought was us getting betrayed by that Westlake guy. When I looked in the car in front, I saw the sub and I knew that we were in trouble. After the trip to the treatment plant, we were taken to the basement and thrown next to the dead body of the real substitute teacher. When we looked around, we saw that the 4 agents turned back into liquid metal creatures and were working a weird gate thing. They turned it on and brought a giant clay monstrosity from the other side of it.
Them being distracted by this bought us enough to time to break out of the handcuffs we were in and try to bust out. We weren't successful. In the end, Jeff got knocked unconcious while the rest of us were wrapped in rebar from a collapsed floor. All looked lost for us till he showed up.
Adam Westlake. He snuck down to where we were and start passing out these weird coins to those of us that were awake. Tyler got his first and muttered something about a saber-toothed tiger when he started changing. The rebar exploded off of his body and this yellow armor started forming around him. It was amazing. As soon as Adam gave me my coin and told me to say Tyrannosaurus, I called it out like it was a giant roar! Like Tyler, the rebar flew off my body and this powerful, red armor formed over my body.
You wouldn't believe the power that was going through my body at that moment. I could feel that I was stronger than before, I could move faster, and I could tell that these guys were gonna regret messing with us! As soon as Nick and Ashley were able to, how do I put this......, morph, we destroyed those liquid metal bastards and their clay brained friend.
When we finished fighting, Adam, through some weird power, transported us from one spot to another instantly! There he explained everything to us. The alien war, the origins of our powers and the rise of humanity thanks to them, his super-advanced computer that knew and could to anything. He told us everything he could so we would be ready for the war that will come. Oh, he also told us that he and all of stuff in the command center was Atlantian.
This is no longer some simple, high school journal talking about my issues and all that. This is the only way I can vent with what is going on. Looks like this is gonna be a long battle, but I'm willing to fight!

Jehtman7
2010-06-17, 01:16 PM
Garrett's Journal: Thursday, June 7th, 2012

After all the crazy, insane crap that has happened to me in the last few days, from liquid metal monsters to coins that give me red power armor, I decided to take a rest and headed to the beach. It felt good to bask in the California sun and swim for a while in the ocean. I even met some hot girls from a neighboring school and the local college sporting some rather skimpy swimwear. Ah, nothing like a summer in LA!
After a few hours of sun, I went back to my car to check my phone. I found 93 messages had been left on it! Most were related to practice, a few from my mentor hoping to meet up for a training time, and a few with some rather nice photos of those babes I met. But what threw me off was a message sent by a single letter: Z. Apparently, the others were investigating some disturbing murders that had happened in a set of houses by the school. The message that Z sent to all of us gave the names and photos of those who died and what they did. My heart stopped when I saw that the people who were killed or missing were the same as the disguises that the infiltrators (liquid metal guys) took up, including the sub.
After getting the details of the case from the others, the five of us and "Adam" went to the housing area to investigate the murder scenes. God, that was a bloody mess! The thing that kiiled these people wasn't much for cleaning up after itself. The only other thing that was off was the claw marks that were on the walls of the hallway. With no other clues, we're about to leave when Z teleported us to the backyard of the sub's house. There was Adam with a few cuts and scratches on his face pointing toward the tool shed.......and the monster that was inside of it.
It was a tall, creepy skeleton like creature wearing torn off bits of the Grim Reaper's robes over it's head and shoulders. I think this guy kicked the Grim Reaper's hide to get a hold of those robes. He wasn't happy to see us and about to regret having messed with us!
I gave out a call that I was trying out: "It's Morphin' Time!" All of us called out our Eidolon creature (our dinosaur or animal) and suited up. There we were, the five of us in our colored battle armor ready to fight this freaky thing. Almost like something from a comic book.
We went to work on this thing! Me and Jeff diced this guy away with the sword and ax while Ashley, Nick, and Tyler switched to the blasters to see what they could do! Apparently, it was enough to make the monster call for back up. Out of the shed came three reanimated skeletons that had to have came from the bodies of the murder victims. They were completely destroyed but not before some of their remains were used to reform the monster. The monster was rather wicked with that sword and even let loose some energy that set the shed on fire. The fight continued with blades and blasters galore till I finished him with a combo blaster shot and slice from my sword. When we destroyed, it fell over and melted away to nothing like watery clay. Not wanting get busted by the cops for the racket, we teleported back to the command center to stay the night and heal from the encounter.
When we returned, Adam confirmed the worst to us. The appearence of the that last monster and it's ability to manipulate the skeletons of the dead was a sign that someone with same powers as his old nemesis Rita had come to Earth. Or worse it is her. Either way, it's gonna be a long summer and I'm gonna need a lot more beach days!

Slade
2010-06-18, 12:48 AM
*Clap clap clap* Hoo-ray for blue booking.

Now on to the next session: PENTEX (and the black ranger dropping out due to personal drama issues)

It started with a oil tanker spill that lead to a massive fire south of the school.

Ashley's mentor and father where in the immediate area. The kids go and look...
sure enough the fire is right on top of the mechanics shop and the building next it, some kind of plastics recycling center.

The kids sneak off and morph, and go in and rescue who they could. Instead they find.....

5 people like things floating in giant tubes. They take the most human looking one (a female) and teleport back to the command center.

Z questions the logic of the move, and Adam's blood pressure shoots up a few millibars, but they examine the female. She a very good looking human specimen (in reality, an Enticer Fomori) and when she wakes up, "Vicki" begins using Succubi's Veil power on the assembled.

Horney 16 year old teenage males are sooooo easy to manipulate. Meanwhile, Alpha is not affected (being an alien with a different biochemistry and all that), and notices the rangers getting all ga-ga over "Vicki". So, he teleports Vicki to her house, a nice one story in a gated community.

After checking "Vicki"'s employer, the owner of the house she was teleported too, the "hobo" in the back ally, and a WHOLE LOT OF LEGWORK, the kids discover the shady megacorporation, PENTEX.

And then they really get the treatment. Vicki and a cop show up and grab Ashley "and place her under arrest" which Adam watches on the viewscreen at the Command Center. Instead of going to a police station like they should have, they take Ashley to a secluded area of Griffith Park.

They drag her out of the cop car, and throw her on the ground, still in cuffs.
Adam Westlake tells the rangers to get ready when he sees this.

"Any last words?" the smug cop asked.
"Yea," says Ashley. "Pterodactyl." she says.

At that, the handcuffs break off of her as the pink power armor forms around her hands, body, and legs, with helmet forming over her head.

The cop, not beliving this, shoots Ashley, and the bullets bounce off. The other 3 rangers pop in, and of course with Garret yelling "Morphin Time!" they all put on the armor.

The cop says "Fine!" and shift himself, into a 12 foot tall armored, and regenerating monstrous Fomor. Vicki runs for the hills.

The fight was brutal and furious, like any "boss fight" Fomor would be.

The conclusion, next time.....