Last year, Renegade Game Studios launched the first Sourcebook for the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game: Across the Stars. This 242-page book brings quite a bit to the table and we’ll dive into it in just a moment. Renegade was kind enough to supply me with a physical copy of the book, but all thoughts below are my own. You can purchase your own copy from your local game store, Renegade’s store, or even DriveThruRPG (affiliate link).
Across the Stars gives your Power Rangers Roleplaying Game stories all players and GMs need for space travel and to face-off against foes from the Machine Empire, Troobian Empire, Pirate Queen Divatox’s marauders, and the forces of the United Alliance of Evil! With a whole universe to protect, Rangers can expect to foil the schemes of classic villains like Astronema, General Automon, Scorpius, and even Dark Specter himself. Enemies won’t wait, either, with new bounty hunters like Darkonda and Dayne, and the fearsome Psycho Rangers seeking to stop the forces of good!
There’s quite a bit for Game Masters and players alike in Across the Stars. There are new weapons, Zords, vehicles, equipment, perks, and even Roles. GMs will find tons of helpful information not only for mechanics but also regarding various interstellar locations such as KO-35 and Aquitar. In addition, there’s a variety of enemies also included with Minions and Threats alike. All that said, the main reason to purchase and use Across the Stars is if you want to take your Power Rangers campaign to space. A lot of the new toys focus on spacefaring in some capacity and it sounds like a lot of fun. There are rules for fighting in space as Rangers as well as with ships.
Basically, you get access to new arsenal pieces from the following Ranger teams: Lightspeed Rescue, Lost Galaxy, S.P.D., and Omega (BOOM! Comics). It should also be noted that there appear to be errata versions of some In Space, Turbo, and Zeo. It looks like most of the changes are designed to be clarifications (the information in Across the Galaxy looks much cleaner in my opinion), but some items appear a bit more functional. For instance, Turbo Wind Fire is now classified as ‘Targeting medium energy’ instead of ‘Targeting energy’ and has the sniper trait instead of silent.
The three new roles are Gold, Silver, and Phantom Rangers. Gold Rangers are designed to be a bit more of a tank with abilities to take damage for your allies. Silver Rangers are meant to be jack-of-all-trades and can do various things like boost damage, teleport to enemies, etc. Finally, Phantom Rangers are sneaky and have a lot of knowledge to help in various ways. Overall, I like them although they do seem a little overpowered since they technically get access to their Zords at level 1 like the White Ranger although the other six Roles do have to wait until level 3. I don’t know how much of a problem this actually presents in-game and in talking with some in the community it’s really not a big deal. Therefore, this doesn’t impact the final review score too much.
Another aspect that I really like about Across the Stars has to do with the different kinds of aliens. In the Core Rulebook for Power Rangers RPG, there’s the Not From Around Here Influence, but it’s very vague. Meanwhile, in Across the Stars, there are little blurbs at the end of many of the planets that describe how to make a character from the planet. For example, there is information for Aquitians that lets you breathe both air and water instead of the normal Perk but your Hang-Up requires you to make sure you are rehydrating.
One thing that bothers me a bit about Across the Stars is that some of the Minions are repeated in Finster’s Monster-Matic Cookbook, but it is a minor thing. There are also spelling and grammar errors throughout the book, but it’s easy to make sense of it all. I did also notice at least one instance where I do question the actual events described. I cannot remember exactly what it was, but as I read through the history they present in the first chapter or two there was at least one time when I went, “that’s not right.”
Overall, I think Across the Stars is a good Power Rangers RPG Sourcebook. I don’t think it is a must-have as it is very much geared towards intergalactic adventures and campaigns, but it does have plenty of tools for non-intergalactic adventures too. As always, the art is fantastic. It’s really nice to have better guidance for creating an alien character and the parts I’m not a fan of are pretty minor really.
