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Gaming Monk Review
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- Опубліковано 16 сер 2024
- #TTRPG, #Essence20, #PowerRangers, #Monastery
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Artist credits
Avatar Art: Barbusco Comics
GeekWatch Art: ZeltraxMilennium
Garo by Nanashi
Tridoron by KrocoBengel
Rome of the Foretellers makaihana975
OOO, Beast, Den-O, Wizard & W by Yuuyatails
Zangetsu by LarsMaster & RandomTalkingBush
CrossZ-Evol by viaditor954
CORRECTION: I was under the impression that you add all dice on specalization rolls. You only take the highest.
That said, I only apologize for that part, I still think the skill system as written is both swingy and trying to fix what isn't broken.
I disagree. In fact, I've never disagreed with you more on a review.
@@daddystabz Do you have any points to defend your position? Do you have any examples of how "the system is actually really good"? Fucking support your points, or I'm going to continue to pointing and laughing at you.
@@daddystabz can you elaborate on your disagreement?
I'm glad you figured this out. As you noted, if you're specialized then you pick the highest die roll to add to your d20. Furthermore, if you hit the highest value on any of the dice except the d2 then you crit, even if it isn't the same die that you add to the d20. This system literally gives you many more chances to crit.
@@PaulSpurgeon Those multiple chances are part of my issue, even if I made a mistake in both videos.
I just got my core rulebook yesterday and I am only 2 minutes into this video but I just am so glad to see it isn't just me who looked at this game and yelled "WTF".
Something of note about the colors being classes. At some point in some piece of power rangers media, it gets into how the each color often boosts specific attributes related to it. Like blue being tech. Or something like that, I don't quite remember.
I don't really think this is much of an excuse as is for the way this system has its classes structured, but is a "canon" reason for it. It also does come into issue when you look at a fair amount of other season. Then add to all that the issue of green being a starting color, but white isn't, which there is almost no reason for. Both green and white rangers have been on the starting rosters of teams.
This is something we covered in the reconstruction follow-up. The issue I have is that this "canon" only holds up if you assume Season 1 MMPR as the default. However, doing that is a mistake because the developers are creating a themepark when they should be creating a sandbox.
Defining starting vs non-starting is just weird.
Yes 6th rangers are typically more powerful... But that doesn't really work in a team game (and Red almost always catches up anyway)
@@priestesslucy3299 also the fact that 6th rangers are only overly strong their first few episodes they join. then get nerfed to match the rest of the team.
Essence 20 is just a somewhat modified 5e. That's it. The arrangement of chapters in the book is even similar, even though it makes much more mechanical sense to start with Class (Role) selection and then pick your Race (Origin).
There was also an infamous typo in my copy that called one of the talents "feats".
@@MildraTheMonk671 I mean, I don't think they're hiding that it's a modified 5e. It has Advantage (Edge), Disadvantage (Snag), Influences (Backgrounds), Perks (Feats) and a similar book layout. Plus, they're clearly in bed with Hasbro (who owns Wizards of the Coast) since they have the licenses for Power Rangers, GI Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony. The two companies are practically holding hands and playing hopscotch together.
@@PaulSpurgeon Given the association, it boggles the mind that they didn't tap some of the Heroes of the Grid people to help out.
I just picked up the book and was having doubts, wasn't sure if I was just being stupid, so I hunted out a review and have very mixed feelings now.
I was very excited for the game and the book looks gorgeous, but it's contents are crap so a bit upset with the money I spent now... Likely still going to give it a try but... meh!
By the way you mentioned something about a Kamen Rider campaign? What system did you use for that, definitely something myself and my group would be VERY interested in! So would LOVE to hear more! :) Thanks so much :D
We used a Storyteller hack called "Rider: The Transformation", it wasn't the best and I do not recommend it.
I'd look into Magi-knights instead when it develops.
@@MildraTheMonk671 Awesome! I'll keep an eye out on that one, thank you for the advice :) Quite difficult to find anything decent which is just mind boggling to me.
So a friend of mine was kind enough to pull a Super Mega Force for this and we looked over the book together.
Now, I'm not a big TTRPG nut. You mention several in this video I havent even heard about. My experience is with 4e, 5e DnD, Saga Edition Starwars, and Fantasy Flight's 40k cadre of RPGS.
So when I looked at this book and noticed how utterly devoid of substantiative content it had I knew this was Hasbro jam. It doesnt make sense for a TTRPG company making a TTRPG to market their TTRPG to people, who have a specific invetment in its success to do what was done with this book. But, a company contracted to make a TTRPG that panders to people by a company that has wants to make a profit more than a quality product? This book makes a lot more sense.
Like, the lack of Lord Zed, Rita, Goldar and a number of other basic enemies you would expect to see in this book (or an accopmanying GM's guide launched alongside it) is very telling. *THOSE* are the villains you would *WANT* to use. So the *GOOD* idea would be to put them in the book. The *PROFITABLE* idea is to put them in a seperate book (Ive seen 2 books so far, none feature these characters, i don't know if there's more). Same with other 6th ranger ideas and character concepts (robot/cyborg/alien rangers) which all seems like it would and should be in the *FIRST* book. It should equip you to recreate your favorite season of power rangers, whatever that season may be, with *LATER* books giving more tools to get wacky with the sandbox.
Like, if I buy book 1 of the Power Rangers RPG? I want to be able to make an SPD adventure. The content of the first book should be enough to cover any ranger fantasy consistently. Later books could cover more in depth things like Base Customization, Magic, non-zord vehicle usage and customization, and combining different ranger mechanics together (IE: Blending a Mystic Force ranger and their with a RPM ranger and their tech, on a team and making it work), and of course, things like NON rangers being on the team (evil rangers, monster allies, robot assistants, ect).
It's very telling how each class is designed that the mechanics of the classes were designed around the MMPR era quite specifically -- jump ONE season later to Zeo and half this stuff falls apart and the further you go from MMPR the more and more it falls apart. Hell, by the time you get to Space TJ, formerly Red, is now Blue and he is no more technologically inclined. Tommy himself moves through several colors, and of *ALL* of them this game's Black ranger is the one that fits him most overall. I commented while looking at the acquisition system that it was like Rogue Trader's but terrible. I looked at the zord options, expecting it to be like Rogue Trader's ship customization but split up -- like, a WHOLE combined megazord was like a Rogue Trader ship, but the individual zords were about 1/5th as strong. We didn't get that at all. They're mounts. Very limited mounts. More than that though, it occured to me that there's plenty of ranger teams that have LESS than 5 members for a respectable amount of time, which makes the combination system inherently, immensely flawed.
It's like... Ninja Storm is a great example. They start with, and use, 3 zords effectively until the thunder rangers show up. The Ninja Storm combined zord has a number of special weapons and attacks, a special "mode" that alters how it fights completely -- and it's STILL beat by the Thunder Ninja Zord which is made up of only 2 zords. In *this* system, as presented, the Ninja Storm zord is not only something you couldnt simulate, but it also, by these rules, would be massively advantaged over the Thunder Ninja zord because it has MORE zords to contribute to its stat pool.
Also, the lack of examples of play is a big problem. Anybody (like me) who has never used a "dice ladder" is going to look at a d2 and be like "so... it's a coin flip on my rolls? What?" I was so confused I had to go looking on youtube for explanations -- you should NEVER have to watch a 20 minute instructional video for an RPG.
I suspect the reasons WHY this book is so light is two-fold. One, it's obviously done to deliberately withold important parts of the "ranger experience" for resale later. Number two, it's to quietly encourage the purchase of OTHER books in this shared universe. Since these books all share the same system it means many of their options are compatible with one another. If you want to make a grittier ranger, the idea is to encourage purchasing a GI-Joe book to use THOSE options to tide you over until they see fit to release something like an RPM book.
you were wrong about skill rolls with specializations. from the book:
He rolls a D20 and receives a 15. He also rolls
a D8, D6, D4, and a D2 (the descending staircase
from his level), receiving a 3, 5, 3, and 2 - adding
the 5 to his roll of 15, for a total of 20.
Calculations notwithstanding, that's still far too swingy.
@@MildraTheMonk671 Also, the D20 and the D2 can't crit. So only D4 or above can but it doesn't have to be the dice chosen. Not sure how that would effect your calculations.
Not by much. The crit system is still a case of reinventing the wheel that didn't need to be reinvented into something so swingy.
@@MildraTheMonk671 No it isn't.
Well everyone is entitled to their opinions, overall. I like the new system all rpg systems are flawed in their own way. By I can't wait to learn the game fully and start creating my own versions of things I've been a game master for 20yrs now and I'm pretty confident I could add new color spectrums, new zords for all players to be happy with.
I'm also into home brewing alot for all the rpgs I've dm for. So it comes easy once the system is learned
I agree. I'm reading GI Joe right now and I love the system.
As far as creating you first have to learn you game master style and know the pros and cons of your style to be successful as your campaign your running always know your big badies moves with each successful and failure are make sure it leads were you need it to be.
Also know your players and their goals in the campaign and try and give them time to develop it further with challenges along the way.
The nice thing about the mmprs rgp the baddies will know the players goals for the most part as they are able to constantly spy on those rangers when ever plots need adjustment they also try and defeat the the rangers with their own devices and goals.
System wise it's fine. Does the job. And the G I Joe and Transformers books do a better job of explaining it.
But the PR book is pretty badly put together. There's a fun game in there with some tidying up but it desperately needs a 2nd printing.
@@Beelzeboogie I've always maintained Power Rangers was the first draft because Transformers was slated to come out in March of that year but got moved likely for revision. GI Joe and Transformers are better but it makes me sad that Power Rangers had to be the one sacrificed to get there.
Had to stop the video for a sec to correct you on specialization. You do not add all the dice to the roll you get to had the highest to the d20 not all of them but if any dice aside d2 roll max even if you don’t get use that dice it’s a Crit
I've been made aware, and that's my bad. I still think the skill system is a case of "fixing what ain't broken".
Was super excited to dig into this. I always skim through the book then check out the monster Manuel part. Wtf… where are my stat blocks for Rita and zed? They’re on the fucking cover. No goldar? Scorpina? Or really any noteworthy villains at all.
if I had to guess it is likely to avoid "if it has stats they will kill it" since Zed, and Rita were people the rangers could never stand up to is a strait up fight.
@@flameknightdragon They could've thrown a bone and given some statblock at that general-level, but didn't.
@@MildraTheMonk671 They could have. Like goldar and Scorpina. could have been given stats. but people like Zed, and Rita should never be given stats. it is the reason stuff like DND do not stat gods. just avatars of gods. since they are things the players should never fight.
@@flameknightdragon either way, the majority of the statblocks in the book are monsters-of-the-week at best. If they couldn't expand the threat list, at least provide some guidance to customize monsters.
@@MildraTheMonk671 Yet they stated Rito Revolto who is her brother.
I feel like something like a low PL M&M would be better for Power Rangers.
This system has some things I love and some I HATE. What I'm probably going to do is patch it with some homebrew. I wish they had gone beyond mmpr, and I know they plan to in future books, but just Zeo, Turbo, and MMPR is such a small slice of the world.
Actually it's MMPR - In Space so the Zordon Era.
But yes, in a franchise with about 30 teams to choose from it's a staggeringly small number.
Umm, I'm reading trough GI Joe right now, which uses the same Essence 20 system and when you have skill specialization you do NOT add all the dice. You roll every die type of the skill die type you have and below and keep the best result. They do not all get added to the total.
Something that I already addressed in the pinned comment.
I saw that after I posted, lol.
I JUST learned this game exists (since Renegade is having a sale) and I had to look up reviews. I have been pretty happy with Renagade in the past and I was ready to dismiss this review based on the aggressive introduction but I'm glad I stuck around. The game sounds frustratingly simplistic in some regards and unnecessarily complicated in others. Its also unfortunate that to hear that the Ranger customization is truncated in the worst kinds of ways, it feels like it would be easier to just homebrew my own system using D20 instead.
Thanks for the heads up, even on sale it doesn't quite sound like this is what I thought it would be at first glance.
TBH, if you're going to use d20, I'd recommend looking at Magi-Knights. I've covered that on this channel and I didn't have nearly as many problems with it.
The GI Joe RPG rocks
It was originally announced as a 5e system, then got changed a few months prior to release. I REALLY wanted to like it, but it's damn unplayable. They're better off doing a 2e than the expansion coming up in a few months
My big issue are the Snag mechanics. I feel taking the lowest of 2 D20s is rather harsh. Maybe a single D20 and subtracting 5 from the result would be more forgiving.
My Amazon review 8 May 2022
I purchased this book to run some one-off FUN roleplaying game nights at our local game store. This is not the product for that challenge. Character creation is long winded and first time players would be lost in the swamps of options, point spending and mysterious choices. The Power Rangers are a simple fun concept, but this badly edited book is a sprawling mess that deconstructs that fun into a nerdy rabbit warren of dice ladders and weird rules that over complicate the action flow. New players beware... don't choose this as your first RPG purchase. You and your group will be stumbling around in the dark room of this 'Corebook' looking for illuminating examples and simple explanations that just aren't there. I've been playing RPGs since 1981 and my game library close to room sized at this point.. and nowhere have I got a rulebook quite as dense and obtuse as this one. It's like they don't really know how to explain their game system. Power Rangers should be a pick up and play game...not a heavy tome of chit chatty confusion that treats the reader like they should already know the Essence20 system in advance. Poor product.
The fact that this might be someone's introduction to RPGs is why I got so pissed off.
Do you think the system will work better for the upcoming G.I. Joe or Transformers?
G.I. Joe? A little.
Transformers? No.
I have GI Joe and it is awesome.
@@MildraTheMonk671 Actually they've uploaded a few pages from the game and it seems better laid out. They even include most noteworthy Decepticons like Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Thundercracker, Skywarp, etc.
I think Power Rangers was them getting their feet wet and have hopefully taken on-board the feedback from that book's release and make it better cause there also My Little Pony coming down the line and that's gonna introduce stuff like magic.
@@Webshooters1 Too little, too late.
@@MildraTheMonk671 If that's how you feel. I'm not gonna try and convince you. I just know it was supposed to come out in March and got delayed till Q2 with the pdf releasing August 2nd so I hope that's a sign they took the time to fix things. I liked Heroes Of The Grid and even backed it so I want this system to succeed but I have several generic systems I could mold into Power Rangers or Transformers if the Essense20 system proves a dud.
Thanks I’ll stick with Savage Tokusatsu
The blue omega Ranger was definitely not "the smart guy" archetype I'll tell you what lol
It’s such a shame because apparently the transformers and GI Joe TTRPG are really good. But this is the only one I actually would’ve played :(
Thank you for the review I’ll stick with Savage Tokusatsu
...this was the lowest of low-hanging fruit as far as subject matter. How could they screw this up that badly?
I've been asking that question for months. If the staff is any indication, they should've just made it a dnd 5e hack since that's the writers' experience.
@@MildraTheMonk671 I mean, it seems like they did, in a way- they just substituted OG Rangers for character classes and called it a day and essentially want you to run a barely-reskinned MMPR season.
It's like, why not let you develop a character, then assign them whatever color or Zord or weapon they freaking want or take the skills for? Don't just make your table fight over who gets to be the Jason and always get the center of attention... that kind of stuff should be up to the GM to decide!
@@rainfeather2997 TBH, they should've hired designers with a superhero gaming background. Not a fantasy gaming background.
@@MildraTheMonk671 ...yeah, that's an even better point.
This really breaks my heart, I loved Power Rangers as a kid, and I love TTRPGs now, so when I heard this was coming out I was over the moon, then I read the book and to say I was let down would be greatest understatement of all time.
Despite how it may come off, I didn't go into this wanting to hate it. I don't like bashing stuff like this because my mission is to expand the hobby.
@@MildraTheMonk671 I didn't think you did, me and a friend got a copy together and were baffled when we read it, I went on in denial, telling my self it was good, and well I can't lie to myself anymore, so I should actually be thanking you.
@@grayemerald5159 FWIW, we did adress how we'd handle it in the podcast:
ua-cam.com/video/vG6InpmL8MU/v-deo.html
Not saying our take is better, but it can't be worse.
How the heck is Zordon addressing you? Thought he died In Space! Oh Power Rangers and not being able to go past MMPR...and folks accuse of Sentai of not getting over their past.
Is this game available in android ?
This is a tabletop role-playing game, not a mobile game.
Rage Level: Guts is truly what I felt at this ENTIRE FUCKING GAME. For those of you who want to see us rebuild this trash fire, please watch our GeekWatch about Reconstructing the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game.
The system is actually really good.
@@daddystabz That is your opinion, and it's a shit opinion. Watch the fucking Reconstruction we made to see why your opinion is shit.
Gi Joe was great apparently this sucks hopefully their mext release for transformers is more like gi joe
The GI Joe book does have some quality of life improvements, but I still do not like the way crits work in Essence20 and unless I see a revised edition of Power Rangers, any improvements made with Gi Joe or Transformers are a cold comfort for those who aren't fans of either.
@@MildraTheMonk671 that's what homebrew is for
Make it your own
But ya I can see power rangers being an issue for that also
@@tys9610 Homebrew should be a spice, not the main dish.
To be fair like most pf 5 e requires quite a bit of gome brew systems campaigns u name it
And this is why ppl with pink hair shouldn’t be in charge of table top game publications
I don't make a habit of going for that angle, because its easy to argue against.
This worries me for the MLP rpg
Ponyfinder still exists.
@@MildraTheMonk671 as does tales of Equestria
did you always need angel grove oO seems like a little boring to be all the time to be in angel grove with zordan dont get me wrong i love the idea of this like tehy did in hyper force but to play like multiple ones you alwasy start in nagel groove with zordan and rita its like the same story like over and over again
They could've focused on anywhere else and the problem would still be them assuming one place as the default.
@@MildraTheMonk671 no i mean You Cant build sich cool Storys When You have such limited Options also the Like Story isnt also that surprising cause You KNOW for Sure yoz get Like morphers and Zords
To say nothing if someone wanted to go off the beaten path (i.e. build their own setting). But the reason this pisses me off is because the game wants to claim the book is the only book you need for Power Rangers campaigns....and material says otherwise.