Team yawns together. “Well, Red’s here. Guess we’re done.”

We see this kind of thing in the TV series all the time. The Red Power Ranger gets the cool upgrades. Who gets Super mode first? Red. New Zord? Conveniently it’s painted red. Who gets the big, shiny new weapon upgrade first? You guessed it- Red. Why does a Red Ranger need the rest of the team?

No, really. Why? I mean, I get they’re usually the team leader and all. That’s great and all. But, why not let another part of the Ranger Spectrum have some fun.

This is not a new phenomenon in RPGs, either.

Who does the story naturally seem to revolve around in the Star Wars RPG? It’s usually the Jedi if there is one. It’s not the player’s fault usually. They just want to play a cool character.

The same thing tends to happen in Supers games. We can’t all be Captain America or Superman, right? My campaigns back in the day tended to revolve around the Wolverine character. Marvel fans all around the table. Go figure.

It’s not the player’s fault.

Ultimately, it’s up to the GM to make sure ALL of the players at the table get their time in the spotlight and everyone gets even screen time. The other players at the table also have a part to play in speaking up if someone is hogging the limelight. It’s on the players as much as the GM. If things get out of hand, ultimately it’s up to the group to fix it together.

It wouldn’t be much different if it were D&D. If every storyline that comes up seems to somehow revolve around the barbarian character and he gets all the cool magic loot, the rest of the group is going to get pretty annoyed fast. Three sessions of that and the group is going to probably want to have a serious chat with the DM. Or the group will break up and let the DM and the barbarian’s player hold hands every Tuesday night until the campaign ends.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Cheesy slogan, but true nonetheless. It happens all the time on the Power Rangers TV series. Despite the fact that Red gets all the cool shinies, the team still sticks together through the magic of TV scripting. With the RPG, the players stick together through the magic of the shared experience around the table.

My campaign pledge to my Power Rangers RPG and all of the other campaigns is to always let everyone have a turn in the spotlight. The Blue, Green, Yellow, Black and even Pink Rangers will get their shiny new upgrades.

Super mode might well go to Blue first in our series. Green will get the new weapon first. Pink is likely the recipient of the first new Zord. Red will still get something cool just not first or shiniest, maybe.

May the Power protect you! Seriously, have a good week. Thank you for being here.