Mutants & Masterminds - [Review] Power Profiles #6: Weather Powers

[jameson (ST)]

Power Profiles #6: Weather Powers

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

By now you should either be familiar with the basic layout of the Power Profiles series (if you aren't please go here, or here to read my earlier reviews of the first two Power Profiles) so I'll dispense with the usual description and right into what was good and what was less so.

Descriptors and Features

Descriptors, Countering, and Features covers a full page right out of the gate. There's some good advice here in terms of how Weather Powers often imply other power effects, and can often counter effects of many different descriptors depending on the specific powers the character has. Features has six suggestions ranging from amusing (always remaining dry, and comfortable regardless of the weather), to using weather to backup your intimidation (or other social skills as appropriate) uses, gaining a circumstance bonus.

Offensive Powers

Eight powers including the nigh ubiquitous lightning bolt to less frequently seen and more clever powers like "Exposure". The real meat here is in the subtle little things slipped into some of the effects. There's an affliction here (ok there's a LOT of affliction here; it's a veritable Affliction showcase) that is Overcome by Damage, that is a character physically breaks out of the effect by breaking out of the effect. It's a brilliant little addition to the stable of awesome that is Affliction. Additionally the Wind Blast power finally puts into official writing how offensive "knock-back" attacks built on Move Object work. It's a common sense approach and one that most people had assumed, but its nice to see it in an official source.

Defensive Powers

Four powers with six example effects covering Fog, Immunity to Weather, and even defensive use of wind to protect. I wish a little more time had been spent discussion how concealment attacks work, but mostly because like the aforementioned Move Object knock-about effects there have been more questions than not about it.

Movement Powers

Two powers and a quarter of a page. There's nothing of particular note here unfortunately. A lightning based Teleport effect would have been an interesting addition here for instance.

Utility Powers

Three powers here including Weather Control that has a discussion that pushes past a quarter page on its own. Weather Control provides a rather different take than I would have expected. I won't go into detail but where I expected to see the Variable Descriptors extra I didn't; I suppose that since all of the potential environmental effects still fall into the "weather" descriptor they wanted something a little different. Their approach here is also more robust, functioning almost like a mini-variable effect. It's elegant in its simplicity.

Complications

The standouts here are Accidents, Power Loss, and Weakness. Accident especially seems like a complication that will depend on the tone of a game series, with games of a more 4-color tone being much more forgiving. Power loss discusses the effects of "artificial atmospheres" like those found within large buildings, space stations, and undersea domes, as well as the lack of weather in space (most of the time). Weaknesses discuss the idea of characters who are tied to their environment, and could lose more than just their weather control abilities when cut off from it. There's good stuff here, and another four complications are mentioned as well.

Weather Arrays, Other Weather Powers, and Weather Challenges

To fill out the product there is half a page covering the use of arrays (often dynamic), challenges, and other possible powers. The mention of other powers that aren't covered by this Profile that could fit are Air Powers, Electrical Powers, Ice Powers, and Water Powers, all of which are to be featured as upcoming Power Profiles. Green Ronin kinda feels like they are reaching into my wallet here, but I really can't complain if the quality of the Profiles remains where it has been lately.

The discussion of Challenges is especially useful as it reminds potential GMs that sometimes it's not going to be good for a story for the players to be able to counter an event or effect with a single use of a power. It suggests that the encounter become a challenge with contested rolls to see either how long it takes to counter the effect, or to see who gains the upper hand (when its two Weather Controllers competing). I imagine a group of heroes facing a raging wild fire. The weather controller could just whip up some rain and they be done with it, but that would remove the ability for the other PCs to participate and also be anticlimactic. By making such an encounter one where the weather controller needs to gain a number of contested successes over the wild fire itself with each roll taking rounds, minutes, or even hours, the GM can heighten the drama and allow other PCs to throw their efforts into the encounter.

Closing Thoughts

Weather Powers is another very strong product. Not only for providing some very useful ideas and discussion about weather control, but also providing answers for a known rules "issue" as well as suggesting uses for Extras and resistances that may not be obvious to the average gamer. The product's sole weakness is the somewhat lacking Movement Powers section. If you play a weather controller you can probably do worse with $0.99 today.

Rating: 90% - A solid Profile. I only wish a little more could have been done with the Movement powers.