Power Rangers RPG Early Game Review

 

This is going to be a really odd review. On the one hand, I've never had so much fun with a combat-focused game. The combat is really rewarding and people can really let loose! What an experience! On the other hand, I've never seen a published book so badly edited and laid out. It's the definition of a mixed bag. If you're okay with learning how to get around the rulebook this game is genuinely a blast to play, working for a wide variety of ages and affections for the franchise.

Also: this a review that covers my impressions of the book and gameplay up to level five. I don’t feel confident talking about high level play yet, and I feel that will be its own review. I fully intend to get there. So stay tuned!

You'll see a lot of licensed products get by just on the hype. And that's not wrong (more on that later), but that is not the case for Power Rangers gameplay. This game definitely has the chops to not just be for fans.  Improvising is rewarded and spamming of actions is discouraged. There's two ways they achieve this: low HP and allowing improv actions to be the equal of regular attacks. Low HP means that you can't just rush into combat. You have to have a plan, and everyone has to be on the same page. One wrong hit and you’re out of the fight! Improving your HP with leveling isn't automatic, meaning you have to put in resources you’d normally use for offense to survive hits. And even then, you won't be getting that much more HP. So at best you'll be using your HP as a resource for your team, as opposed to breaking gameplay and removing risk. The damage in the game is also lowered and flattened, with all damage dice removed. This means that improvised attacks aren't outpaced by "regular" attacks. So if you want to just spam attacks, over and over? It does exactly the same as people who are being creative. Given that being creative is usually more fun than spam.... creative actions actually become more rewarding, because of the mechanically even playing field. That might sound a bit odd, but that’s what I’ve found at my table, and so that’s what I have to report. I also really appreciate the Power Point system. It allows for some really neat tricks without going overly much into straitjacketing how you do those tricks.

Character building (once you've gotten over the book) is a lot of fun. While the customization looks sparse, it's actually extremely robust, and possibly even broken, depending on how far you're willing to push getting perks. Each ranger color is its own class, granting you a series of well-defined roles. Red is the leader, black the buffer, blue is support, pink is tac-nuke, green the lone striker, and yellow the combo master. The colors themselves are really straightforward, with the origins (more like beginning stereotypes!) and influences making your character unique. As stated before, it's the perks that really make characters stand out. One of the perks lets you change your ranger color (multiclassing) and another let’s you choose from an advanced spectrum color (redo, essentially). There's a lot of variety in a very small amount of space. I’ve made more than a few characters and never felt like characters were being pigeonholed, as there was enough structure for everyone to have solid expectations of each other, but enough room for some surprises and individuality. That being said, I’ve home brewed some perks and found the examples in the book to be helpful in reverse engineering for my table. I’ve not had a dissatisfied player yet!

Granted, any ranger can do this with the right perk:

And thats not not elicited an excited giggle from all my players, regardless of age. So that may be a low bar. Dunno. Up to you and all that.

The role playing systems in this book are pretty middle of the road. The Power Rangers RPG is a combat storygame with obvious inspiration from 5e… to its detriment. Characters have Origins and Influences. Both words are not very indicative of what the concepts actually are: stereotypes and life paths. Origins provide base health, some initial spread of skills, and a base personality type. Influences are where the details are: it gives the stereotype you picked some nuance. You can have as many Influences as you like, and are given some guidance on how to modify the ones provided to get a concept you want. Influences also have the elements that most directly impact story point gain:  Perks, Hang-Ups, and Bonds. Perks are special options you gain from that Influence, Hang-Ups are really wordy flaws (which give you disadvantage in certain situations) and Bonds… are even wordier character traits. The origins of Bonds are clearly from 5e, and they really are too large for players and GMs to remember and challenge. I GM’d Burning Wheel two to three times a week for approximately three years, which is far chunkier and much more involved. The problem isn’t that Bonds are complicated, but that they’re unwieldy for the amount of mechanical weight they have on them. Even the Hang-Ups are overly verbose, in need of an actual editing pass. None of this is insurmountable, but the system is getting in its own way here. 

The Story Points mechanic is similarly mixed. On the one hand, the designers clearly made the game to need Story Points, which is good. You want the game to be mean enough to necessitate the actions you take to get the Story Points. Having fudged more than a few rolls for my kids I can tell you the system needs the Story Points. But there’s six ways to spend them! Six! My players in Burning Wheel had trouble remembering one type of expenditure for two (occasionally three) types of metacurrency! I have GM’d a good dozen sessions of this game and still couldn’t tell you what the hell all the uses for Story Points are. There’s also two pools: one for the GM and one for the players, each with their own requirements for increasing their own respective pools. This isn’t insurmountable, but if any page of the book has to be printed and given to each player as a handout, it’s page 91, where all the information on Story Points resides. But again, once you get the hang of it you’ll find a system that’s satisfying to use, one which rewards good RP and problem solving. 

Now for the bad: the actual book. The art's lovely, but the actual layout and editing is a nightmare. I own more than a few RPG books and have learned quite a few systems over the years.... and I had to get help. Flat out. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it! Fortunately the Power Mafia Discord group is composed almost entirely of helpful people who have figured out how to play this game and are willing to share their knowledge. I highly recommend going there after a quick look through the book. They're friendly and knowledgeable. Once I found the information in the book I could figure out the logic, but this is what it looks like when one of the designers is editor! I'm in the middle of writing my own game and the sheer amount of typos that other people find in my own text is more than enough proof that you need someone a bit more separate from the work to look it over. That didn’t happen here, by the credits on the inside cover.

I do not like the zord combat rules. I do not use them. I find them to be unusable. I'm sorry, it's just that simple. There's nothing kind to say about them, as they strain character resources to a degree I just don't find fun. I have use the Zord autopilot rules as the base ones to acceptable effect and have found the Zord customization rules acceptable enough. This part of the game needs work.

But it gets worse. The ugliest part of the game is the absolute lack of any advice on building combat encounters and monsters. The outcry over this was so intense that Renegade released these guidelines for free, but the lack of those guidelines being in the book is a severe black mark for me, particularly because there's not a whole lot of monsters in the book to begin with! I'm honestly baffled by this decision, given just how many thousands of monsters Power Rangers has had in its 25+ year reign. Decades of awesome Japanese rubber suits and there’s barely enough to run even a campaign, nevermind multiple! Given just how weird Power Rangers monsters are it would have been really simple to set up a crazy monster generation system. But the lack of support in a book that claims to be a one stop shop is just criminal.

And honestly that may be too much for any reader of this blog post. I find that sad, because this game is a lot of fun and encourages creativity in a way I've not seen a lot of combat focused games manage. It's ultimately up to you if you want to take a swing at the game, but hopefully with an indication of the flaws of the product in mind. I've been playing with my kids (it's simple enough to where you don't have brain overload managing mechanics) and with other folks and have found that this game is worthwhile for me. Despite Renegade's errors with the text their design acumen really can't be denied.

I’d also like to throw a shoutout to the fantastic customer service at Renegade. The binding on the book appears to be sewn (I’m terrible at telling things like that), but pages began to fall out of my initial copy of my book. I’d done nothing to the book to warrant such an outcome. I contacted customer service and they sent me a new book within a few days. They were polite and horrified that my book hadn’t lived up to reasonable expectations. I’ve contacted them a few times for other issues in the past and have always found Renegade’s customer service to go above and beyond what I expected. And I do think that’s a part of the picture that’s worth relating to you.

Power Rangers the RPG has some fantastic ideas, great gameplay, and really unhelpful layout and editing. If that doesn’t scare you off I think it’s worth the time. I’ve had a blast and so have my players. It’s worth the effort, I think. But if that’s not what you want to do? I totally understand. 

May The Power Protect You: Rocky DeSantos (MMPR Red) V2

When I first saw the new Rocky deck I thought him a tank. It's not hard to see why I thought this: Rocky's Bravery made me want to throw Rocky into all the damage taking situations I could. And that was a disastrous decision: one of my few recent losses was specifically because I kept trying to tank with Rocky. Rocky just doesn't work as a tank, at least for me. But I don't think he's meant to. I think Rocky is a masochistic leader. 

Risky Moves is the lens I've learned to see Rocky through. For one energy you can take up to three damage, giving bonus dice to another player equal to the damage Rocky took. This is one of the best leader cards in the game, hands down.  I've seen such spectacular results from it I'd be tempted to say it's one of the best leader cards in the game! For one energy you get to add three dice to another attack; that makes a normal 2D attack comparable to a frickin Power Weapon. For one energy. You pair up Rocky with someone who can get 3D for no energy (MMPR Zack, Adam, or Kat) and you're dishing enormous potential damage for almost nothing. And that's before you stick this card on a Power Weapon, at which point you're dealing simply ridiculous damage.

Yes, I consider activating zords more costly, because they're normally once a round. 

"But Nathan!" you protest. "Its not just an energy! Rocky takes damage too! That's not nothing!"

I agree. It's not nothing.

It's an opportunity. 

And it's all because of Bravery. Rocky's ability isn't once a battle, it's at your discretion. Which means that, as you take damage, you're going to be able to pick up other cards. It may make Rocky a bit more reliant on recoveries, and you may never see him start a battle. But the opportunity cost I've found to be consistently worth it. You can cherry pick your draws and get more resources to keep the momentum on your side. And this game is all about getting momentum and keeping it.

Square Up is Rocky's second most valuable card. You get an energy and stack your deck. It's meant to be played after Risky Moves, which means that you can effectively get Power Weapon damage for free, so long as you have an energy to begin with. You can then dish out your big and expensive hits and keep the momentum going. If you can get some damage reduction from someone else you can then tank a hit, draw Square Up, and then play it, putting it atop your deck. It's a neat little trick and feels good to pull off!

Power Sword is freaking amazing, especially if you can combo it into Risky Moves next turn! It takes a lot of energy, but your momentum will be huge and it may buy you some time. Or just end a battle entirely.

Sturdy Blow is meant to be fodder for Risky Moves, lowering the sting considerably. Otherwise it's a reliable damage dealer. Given how swingy I've found the dice reliable is always good; I find it better to buff a sure thing than speculate. If your dice luck is better than mine (it isn't hard!) you may not like this card. And that's fine. But I need all the help I can get!

Haymaker is a tricky card. For it to be truly worth its time it has to have another Haymaker or Power Sword at the top of your discard pile. It's not that this is impossible to pull off, but the circumstances you'd find that three shield card at the top of your discard pile are... be limited. But how often do you really want Rocky to be hitting directly anyways? The rest of his deck is centered around Risky Moves. I treat Haymaker as a backup for when other options aren't available. 4D for one energy is good, so when it comes up it's nice to have! But I don't focus on it all that much.

The Red Dragon Zord costs you one card to make it a terrific buff. But who would want to give up a card? Well, Haymaker exists, right? So does Sturdy Blow. Giving up a card you weren't interested in using much isn't really that much of a cost. And who knows? Maybe discarding a Haymaker will set you up for its twin to deliver a bone-crunching 4D. I'm always drawing the two copies together, much to my annoyance. Maybe you have better luck shuffling. But I don't, so I'll take advantage, thank you very much!

Rocky's got a lot of potential. If you play him correctly your damage output will be consistently high, allowing your group to keep momentum going and recover with the extra time if need be. He's not as directly offensive as Jason but I'd be lying if I said that Rocky doesn't now have a special place in my heart. If you're okay with sitting in the back and being pretty roughed up after every fight, despite never taking a hit, then Rocky is your guy.

Or, y'know, if you like dealing incredibly stupid amounts of damage for practically nothing.

May the Power Protect You: Ashley Hammond (Space Yellow)

Let's get something out of the way: this game is not perfectly balanced. It can't be. There's too many interactions to test for to make it balanced.  This is a balance conscious game. There's a baseline usability that's required for all the characters; you must be this effective to be in the game. MMPR Jason is clearly meant to be this benchmark of balance. I don't know of a single character who fails that litmus test. But some characters are better. It doesn't mean they're broken, but they take advantage of the basic rules of the game better than other characters. Ashley is one of these characters. No matter what you do with her you're going to benefit, somehow.

Optimism is one of my favorite character abilities in the game. My dice luck, even with rerolls, is so bad that I'm for sure to get the additional energy almost immediately. And that's helpful for pushing forward. That extra little boost goes a long way. Obviously if you never roll a miss result on these dice Optimism probably won't be too useful to you, but if that's the case I'm not sure you're a real person to begin with. Or, y'know, not playing with loaded dice. Actually that last one is more likely.

Rapid Fire is one of the best cards in the game, particularly if you have a reroll ability available. Roll, see the 0's, spend the energy Ashley just gave you, add two more dice, and then reroll them all! Ashley can either wreck shop with her own cards or throw it onto another character's attack.

Take Aim is a great card. We've talked about it before, with Kimberly. Any energy generation is good. And rerolls are absolutely necessary. Moving along.

Trick Shot is a weird card. On the one hand, 0's are good for hitting targets not adjacent to the target. On the other hand, I target a card to freaking blow it up. That doesn't make sense, it's backwards! So I target GUARD cards I've already damaged by attacking another card not adjacent. I roll badly enough, it certainly works for me! The reroll from Take Aim may be used for... unusual reasons... here.

Yeah, huh.

Precise Shot ignores GUARD and doesn't do a lot of damage, even if it's for sure damage. Once again, the card presupposes some damage has already been dealt to the target, or maybe there's a bonus I don't know you having.  Regardless, this probably isn't going to be a card you'll be using to one-shot a high health target. And that's okay. It's almost like you may have damage being sprinkled all over the place from Trick shot.

Star Slinger is like a reverse Power Axe. It is just as tricky to pull off on a small grid, with differing logistics required.  I generally find that having an enemy card with FAST puts you on the back foot; normally you want to hit the very first card in the sequence and splash the back cards. You can still do that here (just go to the rear-most card), just expect to take some fire for it. 

Ashley's zord lets you hang yourself as a group, by drawing as many cards as everyone likes. You're either nuking yourself or doing a last-ditch assault. And y'know what? I don't care. I generally don't draw cards, and am usually too cowardly to do so. If you want to? Go for it. That's never been me. Well, until I really need to do it. That's different. 

Ashley isn't broken, not by a long shot. But she is really good. Her cards take advantage of the base engine of the game really well, and she has some genuinely unique cards. She's definitely in my top five to play! There's always something interesting going on with her, and she can hit pretty much whatever she wants, whenever she wants. This makes her a great offensive character.

May the Power Protect You: TJ Johnson (In Space Blue)

I have the worst dice luck in the world. The worst. In one of my latest games I'd marshalled 12 dice, with a Dragonzord in the wings. We were all so excited! 24 possible damage! I picked up the dice.

Twelve. Twelve. TWELVE

0's.

We won that game, for the record. Somehow. Turns out that Rocky's Risky Moves is an amazing card to pair with... Pretty much anything. More on that on a different day.

Point is, TJ was made for my kinda luck in mind. Y'know, folks who can't roll dice in this game, not without throwing around words to make a sailor blush. TJ's utility is obvious. And playing him is therapeutic. I would argue there's not a whole lot of depth to TJ: swap out dice for guaranteed damage. He does some interesting deck manipulation, but he's definitely a one-trick pony. That isn't a disparagement, for the record. Not everyone who plays this game is going to want a complicated puzzle to finagle into cooperation. I am usually not one of those people; Jason Zeo Gold may be my favorite ranger to play at this point. But simple can be nice. And TJ is simple. So yes, this post is going to be short.

TJ's are variations of losing a die in favor of flat damage. Unless you're playing a completely defensive team these abilities are never not going to be useful. Some character and zord abilities might not see use in every battle. I seriously doubt that'll be the case with TJ and his zord. Someone's always gonna need something to be for sure.

Buster Rifle is TJ's bread and butter attack. Everything else offensive either sets it up or imitates it. Cosmic Cleave is specifically designed to make Buster Rifle work better; Cosmic Cleave can be a good spot to get guaranteed damage on, just saying ! Astro Axe is just a souped up version of Buster Rifle. If you can get your team to use some deck manipulation characters then you'll be able to dish out three consistent damage easily. That takes a weight off of everyone else, allowing other people to recover or go to other spots. If you do TJ right he can solo entire teams of footsoldiers, just with Cosmic Cleave and Buster Rifle.

Strategic Defense is there specifically so you can get your Buster Rifle into a prime spot. It's also nice to have when you know FAST cards are a serious contender, allowing everyone to get their decks ready for rocketing. This is definitely one of those cards that can completely change the course of the battle, as it throws that extra energy into the pool. You can go and throw out a Power Weapon without dipping into people's reserves, creating situations where you're already on the right foot.

Precision Tactics is one of those fun little cards that's great to throw at Power Weapons. Most of the time I don't want spike damage with a power weapon, just something consistent. Precision Tactics gives you that. It's also a nice card to throw onto a chain of "play another card", of which we're getting more and more. Last game I played with TJ we were playing MMPR Jason, MMPR White, and Jason Zeo Gold. We had rounds where we were just passing from player to another, throwing in modifiers, always ending the handoffs with TJ so we could throw out 5-10 damage for practically no energy, not to mention no dice rolling!

TJ is a really simple character. He can either amp up everyone else by removing dice from the equation or solo a few rounds of footsoldiers. He's not the most complicated character in the world, but he's good to throw at beginners who feel more comfortable with some complexity and have them feel effective, especially if you spend a moment showing them how the deck works. He's not my favorite, but some days.... with 12 0's... I'm glad I got him.

In the interest of full disclosure, the author play-tested a prototype of TJ. A most sincere thanks to Jonathan Ying and the folks at Renegade!

May the Power Protect You: Adam Park, V2 (MMPR Black)

Welp, Renegade did it. They made Gen 2 Ranger decks.

Awesome!!!

What'd they do with Adam?

Well, the big things didn't change: newbies hate Adam. If you're new to the game and disagree, comment! Tell me I'm wrong! I'd love to hear it! All I can tell you is what I've seen. Which I find sad, because Adam, once properly mastered, can just wreck everything in sight. I know, 'cause I've done it. The blood flowed, monsters screamed, and Adam's white portions of his suit went pink from the river of crimson he stood in. He's an offensive powerhouse, able to destroy pretty anything that stands in his way. 

Oh, I didn't say it would be easy. Adam is not an easy guy to master; if you don't he's a mess.

Adaptable, Adam's ability, is... complicated. Once per battle, you can swap the top card in your discard pile for a card in your hand. Six of your ten cards have effects that are relevant, so long as they're the top card in your discard pile. The other four, however, do not. Keep in mind that you play the card, and then discard it; you cannot activate an effect as you are playing it, because it's not in your discard pile.  I don't know about anyone here, but Heroes of the Grid is a huge adrenaline rush for me. Stopping to think is not a forte I have, just in general, nevermind in the middle of a game that gets as intense as this. Now, others may not experience this. But, even after dozens and dozens of games, I still do. I have totally gone and put down a card with no real thought to what that does to Adam's discard pile.

Please don't be stupid like me. Please.

Watch what you put into that discard pile.

Rapid Hit is not an easy card to parse. I generally do not put up card text. Part of it is that I'm lazy. But the other? I want you, the reader, to already have familiarity with the character. That doesn't cut it here. This is the most complicated card I've come acrost so far, and so I'm going to put the text up.

ATTACK: 1D

After you resolve this attack, perform a second attack with 1 die.

While this card is the top card of your discard pile, add 1 die to each of your attacks.

So, first off, it's not one attack, but two, at one die apiece. Now, normally that's not going to matter too much, but this is Adam, so this isn't normal. Suffice to say that, for Adam, this is an amazing card. You can generate two energy with Leapfrog Strike, start chains against multiple GUARDED opponents (others can then throw modifiers onto both attacks).... or do a total of four dice with a previous Rapid Hit...

Or four native dice with Power Axe. Given the nature of how Power Axe works, that extra die can (and does) make all the difference. Without outside buffs Adam can out-damage Zack with the Power Axe. With outside buffs he can make Zack's damage look like a joke, with less outside help.

Leapfrog Strike is just your typical 2D attack. You play it to set up so you can get a free Cosmic Cannon or Power Axe, or a crapton of energy from Rapid Hit. Or, y'know, a no energy 3D attack. It's really that simple. And useful!

Cosmic Cannon is at its most useful when being augmented by Leapfrog Strike, or being used for defense. There are better cards to attack with otherwise, but when being used for defense or a free 3D attack? Or being augmented by Rapid Hit into a one energy 4D attack? Okay, that last one is better. There's some interesting combinations you can get from this card, just can't look at it directly.

Exploit Opening is essentially Hip Hop Kido turned into a card. It's a Reaction, so it's got one use: exactly what you see on the card. If anyone doesn't think there's a use for this card, this isn't the character for you. You should already be paying attention to the board state already. And this card allows you to focus on another card that you know you can kill, altering the flow of combat. This can be a really useful card to have, allowing Adam to one up Zack, once again.

Okay, let's get this out of the way: the Mastodon Zord is one of the best zords in the game. You just kill a footsoldier, flat out. If you do this during a combat, however, the card "linked" to that figure is not destroyed. This means that the Mastodon Zord really only has one use, at one time: right at the beginning of the round, lower the area with the highest amount of figures. It's useful, but it's boring. The other zords usually require at least some strategy, something more than just remembering to use the darn thing.

The Lion Thunder Zord is not as good, technically. You can't just shut down a figure whenever you want, you have to destroy the card, in the action sequence. But this has some more interesting choices. You can team this up with Adam's ability to ignore GUARD to give complete and total access to the board, or just get rid of that one footsoldier that would make things so much easier. They do exist, especially in boss fights. It's not functionally worse than the Mastodon Zord but this is a lot more interesting.

I always found Adam more interesting the Zack, but with this new deck I think he's actually a good deal better. Adam doesn't quite have the defensive capability of Zack, but he's more self-sufficient than Zack. Adam takes a bit more work to pull off, but he's got a diverse toolkit that pays off the investment. 

The fact that Adam is my second favorite ranger has nothing to do with it. At ALL.

Promise.

Really!

May the Power Protect You: Carlos Vallerte (In Space Black)

There's something special about Carlos.  There's that rush of adrenaline as you look at your hand. You gotta kick out as much of it as you can, assuming you drew many cards at all. And as you start your play you'll realize that there's a lot of control here: you don't have to get to Hot Blooded right away, but can sit in the back, preparing for your burst of power. Yeah, that means you're not all that good solo, but provided you get the support you need you can come in, wreck the crap out of a few cards in a single blow, and be back in time for dinner.

Hot Blooded isn't something to use all the time. Never was the rule "Draw one card at a time" so relevant; only draw what you need to get through the fight. If you draw Rising Moon draw your max hand size, because you can place the rest of it back if you want to. And that's the key: if you have Rising Moon there is absolutely no reason not to max that hand out. At all.

Meteor Smash is a freebie draw when you're drawing up your hand.. If you get this card immediately draw another two: one to pay for its kicker, and the other one because duh. I know there's an option to gain an energy or add a die. If you're within your reroll trigger go for the extra die. At least, that's what my rule of thumb is. Every shot from Carlos needs to be a kill shot, if not a serious rocker.

Covering Strike is, once again, a freebie. You can draw an additional card if you draw this one, without hurting your chances of getting to Hot Blooded. And let's not be joking around: unless you have a good reason to let someone else put a card atop their deck that ability should be used on you, so that way you can get back to Hot Blooded.

Moon Fang Piercer is where things get a bit tricky. It's a hard hit, but it needs to be the absolute last or second to last card you play to be worth it. And that means that, whenever you draw this card, you should seriously consider not drawing anymore. Like, check and make sure that everyone else thinks they can carry that particular battle beyond the one card you'll be smoking, but unless there's a clear and present need to draw more cards? You probably shouldn't.

If you draw Lunar Lance you'll need a bare minimum of three cards in your hand, possibly more, depending upon how people are feeling with their hands. If you haven't figure it out yet, I check how others are doing before I make decisions about my hand when playing with Carlos. Heck, I wouldn't even draw until I know what everyone else has. And that pays off the best when you get Lunar Lance. Combine this card with his Astro Blaster and Carlos can hit anything he likes, with a reroll to boot.

Mega V2 is good for cycling useless cards out of your hand and getting your deck stacked back up. It's also good for whenever you need to get your deck stacked up against a hit. Not to mention being able to throw out a bunch of cards when you need to, for a clinch hit.

Carlos is my favorite of the In Space Rangers. Properly played he's a bruiser with a Russian Roulette heart. He's challenging to play, sure, but we left simple with the core box. And I can't say I'm terribly disappointed that's the case.

In the interest of clarity, I helped playtest prototypes for this character. A sincerest thanks to Jonathan Ying and Renegade Studios!

May the Power Protect You: Rocky DeSantos (Zeo Blue)

No, not like this.

Please.

I'm begging myself: Nathan, don't come back like this.

But the truth is the truth, regardless of my ability to stomach it. Freaking Flannery O'Connor.

Let's get something out of the way: I hate the character of Rocky. I just do. If you like him that's cool.... but I just can't stand any frame the character is in. He's just so freaking nondescript to me. Yeah yeah yeah, that's probably not fair, but my return to May the Power Protect You is because of Rocky and I get to be grumpy about it.

So. Freaking. There.

My sister Anna had come over for Thanksgiving. She's been going through a bit of a gaming renaissance herself, having her own portable gaming collection, with plans to expand. She and I have enjoyed more than a few games of Marvel Champions together, as well. It's been nice to connect over that with her. So I decided to show her Heroes of the Grid and basically guilt-tripped her into it. It'd been a few months since I'd been able to really play, and at this point I was truly desperate to even get one game in. Anna agreed, probably out of pity.

I presented Anna with the various "types" of characters, and Anna said she wanted MMPR Zack and.... Zeo Blue?? I tried to change her mind. Rocky was not going to be a simple character to learn, given he was outside of core and she herself said she wanted someone simpler. But Anna saw the mechanics and theme and went "No no! I like this 'Let's Party' card! I like this whole jumping around having a bash! I'm doing this!"

I keep forgetting that I am the dour one of my family. And, if you couldn't tell, I am not the type to get into a "Let's parTAY" mood. I like my long slogs of matching wills against another person or the game engine. I am the thing that just keeps moving forward. 

That. Is. Not. My sister. Either of them, come to think of it. Sunshine and rainbows illuminating copious amounts of blood, with giggles of eldritch horror, that's their style.  Cthulhu Pony. It's party time with your guts is the order of the day! Their giggles in non-Euclidean geometry will accompany you well past the gates of Hell.

So, Called Shot, Rocky's ability. I don't like it in the slightest. It means I have to pick and choose targets well ahead of time. I'm supposed to be building an engine of destruction, which will reap in the energy and allow either myself or others to pull off the big shots. Thanks, I hate it. I want to be taking hits to the face and laughing as punching me killed you. Called Shot doesn't do that, to a degree I find obnoxious. Anna though? This is what ultimately sold her. Figures. Freaking sisters.

Triple Threat is the basic attack card of Rocky. And I never freaking draw it. Ever. No, really, in the multiple times I've played Rocky it never comes out. Anna though? Figures. She drew it all the time! This is one of the two cards that lets you get your energy out. Hit multiple targets, let a soft character take the hits necessary to get your engine up and running, and be all happy and shit. Let's Party does away with the attack and lets you attach more targets- I mean energy - to the monsters. If you're doing your job correctly you can get a third to three-quarters of the board tagged in a single turn, perhaps more if you've got someone who has passing cards in their arsenal. That's definitely something to check out with your group: party composition matters pretty strongly with Rocky. You want to make sure you got someone who can turn monster attacks into momentum and another person who can pass the ball back.

I mean, it's a partAY, right?? Gotta have someone to goof off with and the freaking designated driver to make sure he can carry your drunk ass home!!!

Erhem. Excuse me.

The reason, of course, to get Triple Threat and Let's Party! out is for Power Spin and Power Axes. Again, I'm absolutely lousy at this timing. Anna, of course, pulled it off without a hitch. We would watch as a ripple of damage would just flatten everything in its path; two or three enemy cards would die, we'd get massive amounts of energy, and all of a sudden we could finish the fight. And yeah, that was a good feeling! I'll admit it! I've been talking mad crap about Rocky this whole time but c'mon, felling multiple cards at one with good play just feels amazing! 

I just wish I wasn't such a dunce about it. 

Reckless Assault is kinda the weird card of the lot. It does low damage, costs and energy, and might get you another card play... if you kill the target? With two dice? Have you ever met me?? 

Oh c'mon, it was working for Anna too!

OH COME ON

Rocky's zord has one use: get Let's Party! back into your hand. That's it. That's its point. It's that simple. Go forth. Prosper. Do your thing.

God I hate this character. It's everything I don't want in a character. Ever. Period. But my sister got a core set 'cause she had such a fun time with Rocky, specifically, and wants to play the game with me as often as she can now, so...

Damnit.

Just damnit.

May the Power Protect You: A Temporary Leave of Absence

 

I've been dreading writing this post. I've known for awhile that I needed to write it, but I kept thinking that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't. But I must. So here I am. May the Power Protect You is going on an indefinite hiatus. There's two major reasons: bad roll-out plan and losing my main group. We'll handle both of these, in order.

So when I first wrote this thing I thought having two posts a month would give me plenty of time. I had about four or so months of playing MMPR1 under my belt and felt pretty good about things at that rate. What I didn't understand was that the way I wanted to write about these characters that I've come to love so much was that it took me months to develop an appreciation for them on a mechanical level, as well as having different anecdotal stuff about them. The depth of experience I wanted to write from requires... well... time! And I didn't respect that. Each character has had less time devoted to it, and after NEENJOR! I found I just couldn't do that anymore. It just doesn't feel honest to me. That may not sit right with some, but what I loved about writing about these characters became impossible. For now.

Which brings me to my next point: my board gaming group has mostly collapsed in the face of Covid-19. That's no one's fault, but I've found that one of the things that I enjoyed about this game the most has to do with conversations it enables. I think the mechanics are perfectly suited to that. Because of this I've always found playing solo... odd. Those conversations aren't just a nice add-on to the game, they are essential. Absolutely essential, to me. A lot of what I wrote came from those conversations when we were all laughing and cheering or gripping the table for a dice roll or groaning as we screwed the game up or when we got it exactly right or clapping each other on the shoulder for a job well done. These posts were just as much as celebration of my friends as they were about the characters themselves. And without that core I simply cannot bring the joy that is so essential to this series.

So, for the moment this series is on hiatus. I do not know when it will be returning. I hope it's sooner than later, because this was one of the first regular columns I wrote, and the HotG community has been a huge part of this blog. But I cannot control the fates. No man can. Know that when it happens I'll be coming back, locked and loaded, with more love and joy for a game that has changed so much for me. 

Thank you so much to the folks who have read this column. It has meant the world to me.

May the Power Protect You: NEENJOR!!! (Ninjor)

 

Yes, I'm going to call him NEENJOR! That voice is just the best thing that was ever done in Power Rangers. Yes, you heard me. The. Best thing. I adore it. And so therefore I will treasure it. NEENJOR! is an interesting front man/support who helps everyone feel as great as that wonderful voice of his. 

So, when I sat down to look NEENJOR'S! ability, I realized I've been running it wrong. Each ranger, it reads, not just a ranger. That is a hell of a lot better than just one dude. Yes, it's a small ability, but odds are someone is going to have exactly what is needed on the bottom of their deck, and the later you get in the game the higher chance it is that you put a great card on the bottom of the deck. So yeah, um, make sure everyone knows they can do it. And is tracking that they can. You'll probably have to tell them a bunch to get them to remember. I recommend using NEENJOR'S! voice to do it. But make sure to stack the deck first with NEENJOR! Battle Mode or Ninjato Blade, first. It's the type of synergy that I like seeing in decks; it's a nice buzz from the dopamine section of my brain to pull this off.

Can we all just agree that Unlock Potential is an amazing card? Obviously it depends upon the value of your zords but there aren't exactly that many duds in the game. Oh, and it's nice to see Flying Kick again. Cool stuff.

Showboating, on the other hand, I have a hard time liking. Yes, you get to skip a villain card, but you lose your next turn. I could just never bring myself to use this card. I know there's probably a couple of different uses for it, but I won't lie to you and pretend to understand the card short of a boss fight. But even then I almost prefer to take the hit so that way I can hit him back.

Encouraging Word is the one card that makes me want someone else to play NEENJOR! My bad rolls are a bit of running joke with people that I play, and I would love to have a consolation prize like Encouraging Word hanging around. It just helps me keep my spirits high, even when my freaking dice fail. Ninjato Blade falls into a similar category, allowing you to stack the deck back up. You're kinda healing when you use Ninajto Blade and that's certainly worth an energy to me.

Nimbus Strike is a truly beautiful card. Just get someone to help amp up those rolls and you can probably kill three cards at once. I love seeing this card during boss fights, especially since so many bosses have a bunch of FAST keywords in their stuff. NEENJOR! is a character who gets better as time goes on, in part because of Nimbus Strike and the prevalence of keywords later in the game.

NEENJOR! is fun to play and brings hope to bad rollers like me. He heals, buffs, gets energy back, and allows me to talk in a ridiculous voice at the table. And I think we all should. I mean, sometimes this game gets pretty intense, so why not have someone with a hilarious voice narrating everything? I mean, that is what NEENJOR is about.

Right?

RIGHT

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May the Power Protect You: Tanya Sloan (Zeo Yellow)

 I should love Tanya. Like, a lot. Her deck is just brilliantly lined up. I look at it and I know it's really good. And every time I look at the deck I get really excited to play it again! I love her teamwork, reaction, and I know I should be doing a bunch of damage...

But I can't roll a worth a damn.

Like, to the point of it not being fun.

And it's only with Tanya Sloan!!!!!

I mean, c'mon, look Critical Strike! Look at it! That extra damage is a thing of beauty. That extra damage frequently defines battles. And she gets it every single roll. It's an amazing ability! Tanya can just wreck shop! And it almost never goes off for me. Ever. I do mean ever. It's the most infuriating thing in the whole world and I can hear the dice laughing at me. Audibly. Yes, send me back to the loony bin. Yes, back. I've told that particular story before. Yes, this is my attempt at dark humor. I hope you found it funny.

Building Momentum is one of my favorite cards. I've always loved Jason's Team Tactics, and adore that almost every member of the Zeo team has some variation of it. And Tanya's is definitely one of my favorites. Gain an energy and get what's essentially a reroll. The only limit is that the card has to have an energy cost of zero. But pair this with the right card, like Dagger Solo or Vesper? That opens up a lot.

Intercepting Strike was the first card I saw that made me immediately want to build a ranger deck. No, I've not done that... yet. That's yet another story. Regardless, I just adore this card. It costs an energy, but if you use it right you've just dealt half a boss card's hit points. For all of Tanya's offensive capabilities this card alone is something I want to poach for a softer custom character. So much freaking damage. It's amazing.

And now we hit the remaining cards in the deck: Rapid Kicks, Chain Combo, Power Double Clubs, and even Tanya's freaking zord. This is where I get snagged up. It's all variations on the same thing: add dice and take some out. I group them all together because they're obviously meant to capitalize off of Critical Strike, not to mention give you the best odds on getting some incredible damage rolls. And y'know what? It doesn't freaking work with me. At all. At all. Oh it breaks my heart.

I really want to enjoy Tanya Sloan. I really really do. But I just... at one point Jonathan Ying had said he didn't want to make every ranger the best ranger, just someone's favorite ranger.  Tanya Sloan is the antithesis of my favorite ranger. Which is really sad. Cause she can bust heads so hard.

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May the Power Protect You: Mike Corbett (Magna Defender)

Time for a couple of hot takes: Book of Nine Swords is the best 3.5 DnD book. Yes, the best. It's the only book that would make me want to play an edition of DnD I find so fundamentally broken. 

If you don't like that go cry somewhere else.

Thank you. Your tears make me stronger. 

Y'know what part of the book I like the best? The frickin' Crusader class. You take damage and get stronger from it. The higher level you get the more you're able to absorb and turn into accuracy and brute force. I enjoyed throwing my crusader off of high cliffs, tanking the fall, and using that to destroy monsters' lives as part of the opening round.

Magna Defender is a faithful recreation of the crusader class.

Avenging Knight, Magna Defender's ability, has a really interesting implication. The first is that you have to discard a card for defense. I did not catch that. And that really threw me off the first few times I played him. So no, you do not want to take damage with Magna Defender all the time, as there are only so many benefits you can get to doing that. It's a level of gray I quite enjoy.

Most of Magna Defender's cards get stronger for having another type of card in the discard pile. You'd think this would mean you want to take as much damage as possible But a lot of the time you can't really control it. And you need to. Which is what Sacrifice is all about: take a card off the top of your deck and discard it. But there's more. Your friends then get to take any card they like from their discard and put it back atop their respective decks. This has been the card I've neglected the hardest and my playstyle with Magna Defender has suffered for it. Don't repeat my mistakes.

This bring us to Magna Defense. I keep finding this card getting in the way. I have to make sure that, when I use it, it's not causing me to not discard a card for defense. Obviously, once you use Avenging Knight you don't need to watching it as closely, so Magna Defense becomes a multi-use card: either use it so you don't hurt as badly to get Avenging Knight to go off or use it to tank shots that no one else can. Magna Defense doubles in efficacy if there's another one in the discard pile, which makes you one of the best tanks in the whole game. 

All the rest of Magna Defender's cards are attacks and get much stronger for having their twin in the discard pile. This means that Magna Defender is a great late-game attacker, dealing craptons of damage or gaining lots of energy for much less than what other people are pulling at that point. So take your time, hold off on attacking until you have your ducks all lined up, and then destroy the heathen. 

I mean. Oops. Sorry. Wrong universe.

Valiant Charge in particular I found useful when I had its twin in the discard pile, dealing tons of damage for very little. Long as you're willing to be patient I found that I could wreck shop later.

The Torozord only works if you discard the card for defense. While that sounds lame it means you can then use it to tank huge shots and probably deal half the offending card's health in a single hit! With the Torozord soft teams become capable of an amount of damage that makes them a lot more viable. It never does not feel good to use this zord.

Magna Defender was a bit more subtle than I was expecting, but I've found the time spent in learning how to play him well worth it. Get you discard pile set up and destroy! But as fun as he is, we know the real reason I love him so.

It's the frickin cape. In this case painting by Michael Jordal, what a piece of art!