Giant Transforming Robo-Team, Go! (sentai)

[BrennaLaRosa]

I came up with this game after reading BESM d20 and finding it horribly mucked up (bring back me Tri-stat, ye bloody sassenachs!) I am a rabid Sentai Team Nut, have been since before I saw anything symbolic in them. I decided to try and come up with a Sentai Game that simulates the favorite cliches and allows players and GM to throw out things that they didn't like or didn't work.


Players take on the roles of classic Sentai Archetypes. Each Archetype has a bonus to be applied to their stat rating. The stats are:

Muscle (Strength)
Speed (Move Rate)
Grace (Dexterity)
Brains (Intelligence)
Wits (Wisdom)
Charm (Charisma)
Spirit (Stamina/Willpower)

In combat/challenges/stat tests, a d100 (2d10) is used. Each challenge has a rating: Kid Stuff, Easy, Average, Hard, and Ludicrous.  In order to succeed, a person must roll at least x1, x1.5, x2, x2.5, or x3 their stat respectively. I do recommend a calculator for us less-math inclined folks.

There are also two kinds of "bid points", Fate and Booster. Fate bids allow you to roll again. Boosters add to your roll, with a maximum of 2 bids per round.

I'm still working out the kinks. But I'd like opinions.

[Ben Lehman]

Hi, Brenna!  Welcome to the Forge.  I'm also a fan of the genre (and working on my own, very different, giant robot game Bliss Stage.)

What I'm seeing here looks a lot like any other role-playing game.  I'm worried that the "sentainess" might get lost.  So I'm going to be annoying and ask you some probing questions.

1) What, in your opinion, is the defining coolness of the sentai genre?  This can be more than one thing.  I just want to know what's awesome about that.

2) Do you see your game as a strictly celebration of that, or do you include deconstruction and / or parody?

Once I know the answers to these two things, I'll be able to help you more.

yrs--
--Ben

[BrennaLaRosa]

1) The coolness was watching a group of totally different, seemingly incompatible, character types come together as a group for "good and truth". To me, it's symbolic of the World in general. Without balances, the world crumbles. The Nerd balances the Popular kid, the Jock balances the Sage, The Joker balances the Enigma. They may be different and would otherwise ignore their new team members. But through adversity, they come together and overcome stereotypes to become friends and allies.

There's also a childlike innocence in a not-so-innocent world. The characters are convinced they are doing the right thing. No death tolls (except in character backgrounds) mar this, the city is always back to normal by the next episode, and lives are only disturbed by the monster du jour and whatever mild teen angst caused it. No wars between countries or terrorism or the stuff that tends to make the real world suck. At least, not unless its a cool intro for a monster.

...okay, and the whole "giant robots and candy colored spandex" just plan ROCKS as a concept, IMHO.

2) It can be either depending on the group. They can go and poke fun or they can revel in their sentainess. The way setup goes, players and GM all get a say and build the base line for a world there. That way, if it's a group inclined towards silliness, they can be silly, if serious, then serious.

The other thing is, there's no limit on how you can tweak the setting. So, Fantasy Sentai wielding magic swords are just as possible as Spacepunk Fighter Pilots with iMac colored ships and suits.

[ADGBoss]

Brenna

Great concept. This is just first impression kind of thing.

Can a Player get Bid Points (Boosters) from other Players? Often you see someone give a pep talk, perhaps even a rival who is pushing the character at a critical moment. That way in a situation like a Ludicrous Test, some of the Team can pump up the person best suited for that Test?

Just a thought and Welcome to the Forge

Sean

[ironick]

It seems to me it would be really cool to use some sort of bidding system for this, or at least something with tokens.  

Say the big monster comes to town and starts smashing buildings: the GM has to pay out tokens to  the players whenever the monster destroys something.  Maybe the players need to cash in a certain number of tokens (or whatever) to form the Ultra-Mega-Bot, so they are forced to wait until the city is trashed before they can join up and thoroughly trounce the baddie.  Maybe the monster feeds off tokens from the players, too, I don't know.  

Some sort of escalation mechanic seems useful as well--you know, for when the monster grows to giant size for no apparent reason ;).  Anyway, these are just my first impressions as well.  Apologies for any incoherence; me am very sleeeeeepy...zzzzzzzzzz

Nick

[Adam Cerling]

Brenna --

I also think sentai are awesome. A game written exclusively around them would rock.

What I want to hear more about are the Archetypes. How many are there? What are they? What combination of Archetypes make a legitimate Sentai? What combinations don't work as a Sentai? How many or how few members can a Sentai have?

I'd totally want to see such a game capitalize on Archetypes somehow rather than on the statistics you listed. (Though they aren't a bad set. I'd get rid of Speed and Wits, though; Grace and Spirit suffice. Hmm, that leaves you with five Sentai-shaped stats...!)

[TonyLB]

I'd go further and question whether you need any of those stats.  They all seem like narrative color to me, irrelevant to the types of challenges that sentai face.

Dungeon-delvers face challenges like "Are you strong enough to lift this iron gate?  Are you nimble enough to scale this moss-covered wall?"

Sentai face challenges like "Can you face your fears?  Do you believe in yourself?  Can you put aside your petty quarrels to band together as a team?"

I just don't see how Muscle, or Grace, or even Brains figure into those questions.  You?

[Tony Irwin]

Hi Brenna

I'm not convinced that this

In combat/challenges/stat tests, a d100 (2d10) is used. Each challenge has a rating: Kid Stuff, Easy, Average, Hard, and Ludicrous. In order to succeed, a person must roll at least x1, x1.5, x2, x2.5, or x3 their stat respectively. I do recommend a calculator for us less-math inclined folks.

There are also two kinds of "bid points", Fate and Booster. Fate bids allow you to roll again. Boosters add to your roll, with a maximum of 2 bids per round.

Is going to make this happen

1) The coolness was watching a group of totally different, seemingly incompatible, character types come together as a group for "good and truth". To me, it's symbolic of the World in general. Without balances, the world crumbles. The Nerd balances the Popular kid, the Jock balances the Sage, The Joker balances the Enigma. They may be different and would otherwise ignore their new team members. But through adversity, they come together and overcome stereotypes to become friends and allies.

Do you have any way for the players to support each other's characters other than say "You take this challenge because you're the brain/wits guy and you're best suited to it". Perhaps you could tie in the archetypes connections you've made? The shy girl and the bully can lend each other bonuses or whatever in a challenge. When they finally work together they become powerful.

It seems that the points where the characters cooperate should be the most fun part of the game for the players. You've said that's where you see all the coolness to be. I'm not convinced that what you've got at the moment really encourages active co-operation. I can see the character role niches you've set up but I think that will encourage more of a "I'll sit back during your chance to shine, now you sit back when it's my chance". That's not so much co-operation as being patient. How are you going to let players actually work together, and how are you going to make it the coolest part of the game?

Tony

[BrennaLaRosa]

Hmm...These aren't bad ideas. Lemme see if I can answer everybody's questions (This is what I get for taking a computer-free job! It piles up!)


I have the stats as a way of determining who is best for what job and also what the GM can prey on for the Monster du Jour. The daily critter always had something to do with a character, be it a flaw or some aspect of their lives. i.e. Someone with High Wits, Low Muscle, is best suited to figuring out why the fire hydrants in Downtown keep exploding, but not to fighting against a bear like monster that uses it's strength to beat down opponents. Also, the stats help determine success/failure roll target in a Test. Players can pool scores to have Characters help out. So, a player can start a test alone, then others can come to his aid and try to nudge his success up a bit. There are also challenges that will call for more than one Test. Meaning more players will have to work together to jack up their chances of success. I'm also adding a "Friendship" stat. This will lower a challenge rating if more than one person is involved. This is the only stat that changes throughout the course of the game.

Example: Kerri, the pink warrior, is running uphill, trying to beat the villain to the Amulet of Nefereset, a Hard challenge. The Villain has a better Grace rating, so he's ahead. Toni, the yellow warrior, and Calvin, the red warrior, decide to help. The team Friendship score comes into effect, lowering the rating from Hard to Average. The GM decides this is enough to put the warriors and the villain neck and neck. They make both a Grace , then a Spirit roll, aiming for Kerri's target roll.

On the subject of cashing in and exchanging tokens, that's frelling brilliant, I hadn't considered that. I'm thinking Booster points can be exchanged for Pep Talks. Example: Toni says to Calvin "Go, Cal! You can do it!" The GM decides this counts towards 2 Boosters and Toni's player hands them over. A player can only declare a Pep Talk once per turn. Boosters, again, are used for increasing chances for success. There are three ways you can do this.

1) Declare "Pep Talk" and try to make it good so the GM will give it a good rating and, thus, worth more Boosters.

2) Chip in to help the other guy, i.e. On a Strength/Endurance test, sending your High Spirit Character to help Endurance wise while he works on the Strength portion.

3) Both. Pep Talk while helping or Pep Talk, then Help.

It's not a realistic mechanic. But then, Sentai shows never prided themselves on realism.

Your Fate points get cashed into form the Mega-Bot, so all the players have to chip in to get the proper number of tokens.

I'm going to try and puzzle out an escalation mechanic. I think I'll ditch Speed. Yeah it leaves me with six. But there's always that extra ranger who shows up halfway through and makes things interesting. ;)

There are 9 Archetypes. Each one has a flaw and a merit that can help or hurt them. They are rather stereotypical, but then that seems to keep with the flavor.

The Leader- Merit= Courage: +1 to Spirit, Flaw= Uncompromising: -1 to Charm.

The Rogue- Merit= Playful: +1 to Charm, Flaw= Insecure: -1 to Spirit

The Sage- Merit= Old Soul: +1 to Wits, Flaw= Willing Spirit, Weak Flesh: -1 to Muscle

The Popular Kid- Merit= Social Butterfly: +1 to Charm, Flaw= Featherhead: -1 to Brains

The Jock- Merit= Strong like Bull: +1 to Muscle, Flaw= Dumb like Rock: -1 to Brains

The Genius- Merit= Honor Student: +1 to Brains, Flaw= Uncoordinated: -1 to Grace

The Kid- Merit= Cute: +1 to Charm, Flaw= Young: -1 to Wits

The Dreamer- Merit= Walking on Air: +1 to Grace, Flaw= Fragile: -1 to Spirit

The Enigma- Merit= Brute: +1 to Muscle, Flaw= Outcast: -1 to Charm

Players can also take traits that boost a stat by lowering another. Example: Gymnast lowers Muscle, but boosts Grace. Common Sense boosts Wits but lowers Charm.

[BrennaLaRosa]

Here's my idea for Robot mechanics:

You have your base robot. It's small, usually cute, in a metallic, AIBO, kinda way. It's only a two-point call up. So you toss two Fate tokens into the pot and here comes the cute little sucker now.

Well, that's all fine and dandy, it CAN fight alone, but it's like a slingshot in the hands of a 7-year-old punk. You get ONE SHOT with it and then you'd better start running. You're out of ammo, now. Only one thing to do: call for back up.

So, everybody tosses in their two bits (literally). Now, everybody gets one shot. Great, the monster's still standing and, now, he's mad. Maybe, it's time you whipped out your trump.

It's expensive. Everybody needs to hand over 5 tokens. If somebody has more, they can be generous and loan somebody a few. Once there are five tokens for all the players, the Mega-Bot has been formed. There's still only one shot, but now the Bot can fight hand-to-hand and that shot is less like a slingshot and more like a howitzer.

Once the fight is over, the players recieve one Fate Token and one Booster Token.

Still, working on the Monster mechanics and the Team mechanics.

[TonyLB]

So, it being a Sentai game, you have to answer:  "Why don't they just form the Mega-Bot and use the Move-That-Wins-Battles in the first place?  Why should the players seek out (much less pay for) the opportunity to putz around with half-measures that everybody knows aren't going to be effective?"

[BrennaLaRosa]

That's my problem...I don't know what I'm doing. I gotta think about it. These are ideas. I'll give you an answer when I have it.

[BrennaLaRosa]

Okay, new question: Is this good or bad? Should the idea be thrown out? Is that all it is, a good idea that should stay just an idea? Because if it won't work, then I apologize for trying to pick your brains about it.

Sorry if this sounds bitchy, I just feel like I've wasted my time, effort, and aspirin on this whole thing. I don't want to give up on it, but if its not gonna work, it's not gonna work.

I'm beginning to have the horrible feeling that this is a Great White Game.

[TonyLB]

No game starts good.  You start with your best shot, you play-test it, you figure out what (of the many elements) was actually remotely what you wanted, throw away the rest and rebuild.

[BrennaLaRosa]

Well, I've thought it over and consulted my much-smarter and more experienced fiance and he pointed these facts out to me.

1) This is mostly an intellectual game. Combat is the the means by which the ideas and concepts are projected. You can make a parody, or you can be emulating the classics, but there will always be certain things, light and dark elements, that make the game what it is.

2) No character is an island. Even if the character is the target, the team must help him/her towards defeating the enemy. No PC is God. If s/he tries to leave and fight on his/her own, or otherwise break off from the team,s/he becomes a big, neon, luridly colored, bull's-eye. The PC is by all rights dead meat. Not only has s/he, in essence, commited suicide, but the other PCs must live with the fact that they have lost a team member, which brings them down.

3) All Sentai Teams have rules, a Code of Honor that ensures Team Cohesion as well as retention of purity and sanity. Or at least it should. The Code usually ensures a fair fight and that no "innocents" lose their lives, at least. The GM plays both Mentor and Villain. As Mentor, s/he coaches the PCs to a point, but can only take them so far. As the Villain, s/he preys on that Code to try and break the team and everyone in it.

4) I forgot about "mooks". The dumb, low-tech, low-power, sissy monsters who make sure the PCs are worn down, and draw attention to the fact that SOMETHING is going on. A clever GM with few scruples, who wants to screw over the PCs, can make the Mooks modified humans (brainwashed, pain receptors shut off, etc.) which will create a wonderful little dilemma for PCs. Do you destroy the Mooks and break the Code or do you let them  rampage? Do you try to find another way?

5) What happens when you break the Code? It's a psychological disaster. Now you have to live with what you've done. You can redeem yourself, but it's far from easy.

Thanks to my sweetie and all you folks here at the Forge, I've decided that maybe this can be salvaged. Here are my changes.

1) Stats CAN change, simulating fatigue and damage. Some are easy to replenish with some rest (if the villains LET you, that is). Spirit and Friendship, however, are difficult to replenish, but still easily damaged.

2) Each Monster tests PCs twice. The first test is ALWAYS a Spirit test. Can you face your fears, your shortcomings, your deepest secrets? The second test depends on the PC and the monster.

More later, have to run.