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Ionic Defenders's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #1 | 4.667 | 4.667 |
| Potential | #3 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Presentation | #3 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Mechanics | #3 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Overall | #3 | 3.792 | 3.792 |
Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Type
Role-Playing Game
Random Theme
Owl, Static, Justice
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Comments
OH SO VERY YES!
First off, I've been a huge Power Rangers fan since I can think, and the structure and overall feeling of reading this make me feel like a incoherent 9-year old on too much sugar again. The Ionic vs Covalent pun cought me completely off guard and I love it. With that out of the way, let's get to details:
Potential: Depending on how creative the GM and group in question are, this can lead to a lot of silly fun, though it likely requires a very certain kind of person, even among the typical RPG crowd, to reach true heights. Though honestly, that's the case with each and every RPG. The highly formulaic structure is great for evoking the TV-show feeling and works great for single episodes, but might lend itself to a high reliance on impromtu acting and to stay fresh for a full season.
Mechanics: A very interesting take on d6 pools, with - at least to me - obvious inspiration in the One Roll Engine, which I'm a big fan of by now. Everything else is very basic and just serves to direct the narration, but the monsters and Ionic Defender Abilities serve as a very customisable and flavorful element to bridge the tactical combat and freeform roleplay crowds into enjoying this game.
Presentation: Clean writing, well made, if basic, character sheets and some neat helmets to round it all off. The only thing that might've been greater would have been some monster ilustrations, but the described designs are creative, properly silly and make my mind's eye go wild.
Theme: As said above, it hits the nail on the head. Everything here is just spot on to rapid-fire the nostalgia synapses in your brain, while still feeling like it has an identity of it's own. Good stuff.
I should also mention that Canned Speeches are a great thing and more games, or rather sourcebooks for those, should use them as roleplaying aid for people that don't have much of a writer or actor in them.
I like this game. The mechanics are neat, and the theme is very 90's. Could see this being popular with nostalgic millenials, especially with how stranger things is so popular. I think having a bunch of scenarios to roll sounds great. But the idea of each being a session seems long to me. Honestly I think this could work as a board game with each episode being a round. Maybe 6 rounds including the finale?
For what it's worth, the two times I got to run this game with friends, both scenarios were enough to fill up a 2-3 hour session without things feeling too rushed, though I'd also need to run additional session to make sure this is consistent.
It's not really meant for long sessions in either case.
Funny thing is, I was considering making this a board game during the initial planning stages, but I decided to go with an RPG just because of how games like MAID RPG operate, a very simple game with an easy to understand premise that works well for one shots or an entire campaign if the group decides thanks to how episodic everything is.
Anyways, thank you for the comment, I really appreciate feedback and I'm happy that you enjoyed the game just as much as I did making it.