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Mutants & Masterminds - [Review] Power Profiles #2: Armor Powers


jameson (ST)

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Power Profiles #2: Armor Powers

Vitals: Published By Green Ronin • 6 pages • $0.99 • full color PDF

Armor Powers. In this case armor one wears, not armor as in protective powers. High tech power armor, cybernetic armor, magical suits, and more. As before this profile is broken down into a discussion of all kinds of powers one might find on armored suits including sections discussing Descriptors, Features, Offensive Powers, Defensive Powers, Movement Powers, Utility Powers, and Complications. As before a single half page piece of artwork adorns the front page of the product, and the remainder of the pages are artwork free, but cleanly laid out and easy to read.

What this product has that last week's did not is a sidebar presenting a handful of optional rules (in this case for the Impervious extra), and a discussion of the Removable extra. These are the high points of the product, the former providing some legitimacy for a handful of house rules for Impervious (who's changes from the second edition have proven controversial), and the latter nicely elaborating on Removable's place both in game terms and in descriptive terms, as well as when to use it, and not to use it.

The Descriptors section offers some good advice to help define the armor, and how it works, be it magical or technological, nanotechnology, or clockwork. Features gives a few examples of simple one point feature ideas like hidden compartments and the ability to project a holographic display (useful for tactical maps, and information displays, but not a full Illusion).

Getting into the various power sections is where the product begins to break down in my mind. There are some good descriptions of the standard options for many of the power effects one associates with armored suits. What disappoints are the many repeat powers seen previously in the Battle-suit archetype as well as the GM Kit. For player without the latter this will provide more utility than for those who do. The discussion of the powers are still relevant, and well written, and there is the addition of the idea of "mental shielding" as a power to protect the pilot from attacks against the mind.

The final section is a discussion of Complications that can apply to the user of an Armor suit. This section breaks out and details many of the genre's staple complications well, providing a little extra information to help players decide which may apply to their characters.

My initial reaction to this product was disappointment. I felt that there were too many repeated powers presented, with too few new ones, and none that offered a deeper insight into the depth of the game's mechanics. After stepping back from it and then completely rereading the product I feel that those issues are still present, but are leavened somewhat by the features that are new and do stand up well. Namely the aforementioned discussions on the Removable and Impervious extras, as well as the general quality of the writing.

I also find that while Magical armors are discussed in the Descriptors section, they pose a missed opportunity within the product. There is little display of powers and effects for magical armors; weapons, defenses, and other powers are discussed thoroughly, but almost exclusively in terms of Technological descriptors and not Magical. I think that expounding on magic swords, mystical ranged attacks (how to describe a missile type attack for instance with magical descriptors instead of tech.), and how the various Utility and Movement effects would interface with Magic as a descriptor.

Closing Thoughts:

My primary concern coming out of Fire Powers was that I felt it had been a soft pitch and I wanted to see a more challenging power type; after Armor Powers I still have that desire. I feel like the product focused a little too much on Technological armors, and missed out on diving into other descriptors like magic. Additionally there were too few new effects and effects with unconventional builds. Despite all of this the quality of the writing that is there is good, and the discussion on two of the game's Extras is insightful and useful even for seasoned players.

Rating: 70%, The second outing in the Power Profiles series stumbles a little, but still provides useful tips and tools.

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