CHAPTER 06: POWERS

Although some heroes and villains rely solely on their skills and advantages, most are set apart by their superhuman powers. Mutants & Masterminds characters can lift tanks, fly through the air, throw lightning from their hands, shoot lasers from their eyes, or any number of other amazing things. This chapter describes these and many other powers and how you can create your own.

== ACQUIRING POWERS == Players spend power points on various powers for their heroes, like acquiring skills or other traits. A power is made up of one or more effects, possibly with different modifiers, which increase or decrease the cost of the effects.

Effects can be used to create any number of different powers. A hero with the Concealment effect (see page 101) could use it to create a power called Blending, Blur, Cloak, Invisibility, Shadowmeld, or anything else appropriate to the character you wish to play. It’s all a matter of how powerful the effect is and what modifiers have been placed on it to increase or decrease its performance. Another way to think of it is that this book is filled with effects, but your character sheet is filled with powers.

POWER COSTS
Power effects are acquired in ranks, like ranks for other traits. The more ranks an effect has, the greater its effect. Each effect of a power has a standard cost per rank.

==== MODIFIERS==== Modifiers change how an effect works, making it more effective (an extra) or less effective (a flaw). Modifiers have ranks, just like other traits. Extras increase a power’s cost while flaws decrease it. Some modifiers increase an effect’s cost per rank, others apply an unchanging cost to the power’s total; these are called flat modifiers. For more information see Modifiers, on page 135.

The final cost of a power is determined by base effect costs, modified by extras and flaws, multiplied by the power’s rank, with flat modifiers applied to the total cost. Power Cost = ((base effect costs + extras - flaws) x rank) + flat modifiers

=== POWER DESCRIPTORS=== The rules in this chapter explain what the various powers do, that is, what their game effects are, but it is left up to the player and Gamemaster to apply descriptors to define exactly what a power is and what it looks (and sounds, and feels) like to observers beyond just a collection of game effects.

A power’s descriptors are primarily for color. It’s more interesting and clear to say a hero has a “Flame Blast” or “Lightning Bolt” power than a generic “Damage effect.” “Flame” and “lightning” are descriptors for the Damage effect. Descriptors do have some impact on the game since some effects work only on or with effects of a particular descriptor.

A hero may be immune to fire and heat, for example, so any effect with the “fire” or “heat” descriptor doesn’t affect that character. The different sense types (see page 124) are descriptors pertaining to sensory effects.

Generally speaking, a descriptor is part of what a power is called beyond its game system name. For example, a weather-controlling heroine has the following effects: Damage, Concealment, and Environment. Her Damage effect is the power to throw lightning bolts, so it has the descriptor “lightning.” If a villain can absorb electricity, then his power works against the heroine’s Damage (since lightning is electrical in nature). Concealment creates thick banks of fog, giving it the “fog” or “mist” descriptor. So if an opponent transforms into mist, with the ability to regenerate in clouds or fog, he can regenerate inside the heroine’s Concealment area. Her Environment is the power to control the weather, giving it the descriptor “weather.” If the heroine’s power comes as a gift from the gods, it may also have the descriptor “divine” or “magical.” On the other hand, if it comes from her mutant genetic structure, then it has the descriptor “mutant.” A villain able to nullify mutant powers could potentially nullify all of the heroine’s powers!

The number of power descriptors is virtually limitless. The players and Gamemaster should cooperate to apply the appropriate descriptors to characters’ powers and use common sense when dealing with how the different descriptors interact. Just because one hero throws “lightning” and an opponent can absorb “electricity” doesn’t mean the villain’s absorption doesn’t work because it’s not the exact same descriptor. Lightning is a form of electricity. A certain amount of flexibility is built into descriptors, allowing them to cover the full range of possible powers. As in all things, the GM is the final arbitrator and should be consistent when ruling on whether or not a particular descriptor is appropriate and how all effects and descriptors interact in the series.

REQUIRED DESCRIPTORS
In some settings, the Gamemaster may require certain descriptors for all powers. Usually, a required descriptor reflects some common element of the series. For example, if all characters with powers are mutants, then all powers have the “mutant” descriptor by definition, unless the player comes up with a good explanation why they should not. If all superhumans are psychic mutants, then all powers have both the “psychic” and “mutant” descriptors. The GM sets the rules as far as what descriptors are required (or restricted) in the series. A character who breaks this guideline—say the one alien in a setting where all powers are otherwise mutant in origin—might have a Benefit (unusual origin) or face certain complications, possibly both.

==== NOTICING POWER EFFECTS ==== Effects with a duration of instant, concentration, or sustained must be noticeable in some way. For example, a Blast effect might have a visible beam or make a loud noise (ZAP!) or both. Some effects are quite obvious, such as Flight, Insubstantiality, Growth, or Shrinking. Effects with a continuous or permanent duration are not noticeable by default.

If an instant, concentration, or sustained effect’s base duration is changed using modifiers, the effect remains noticeable. A continuous or permanent effect made instant, concentration, or sustained also becomes noticeable. The Subtle modifier (see page 144) can make noticeable powers difficult or impossible to detect. Conversely, the Noticeable modifier (see page 148) makes a normally subtle effect noticeable.

==== POWERS THAT AREN’T==== “Powers” in Mutants & Masterminds refer to all extraordinary traits other than abilities, skills, and advantages. Whether a character with powers is “superhuman” or not is largely a matter of opinion and the descriptors used. For example, there are lots of comic book characters with superhuman traits still considered “normal” humans. Their amazing effects come from talent, training, luck, self-discipline, devices, or some similar source, with appropriate descriptors. They’re still “powers” in game terms, but they don’t necessarily mean the character is something other than human. Ultimately it’s up to the GM to decide if having certain effects makes a character something “other than human,” (and what, if anything, that means) depending on the nature of powers in the setting.

EFFECT TYPES
Power effects fall into certain categories or effect types. Effects of the same type follow similar rules and provide descriptors for certain other effects. This section discusses the different effect types and the rules governing them.

==== ATTACK==== Attack effects are used offensively in combat. They require an attack check and damage, hinder, or otherwise harm their target in some way. Attack effects require a standard action to use. Their duration is usually instant although their results—whether damage or some other hindrance—may linger until the target recovers. Attack effects always allow for a resistance check.

==== CONTROL==== Control effects grant the user influence over something, from the environment to the ability to move objects or even create them out of thin air. Control effects require a standard action to initiate, but can then usually be sustained. Control effects used against unwilling targets usually require an attack check and allow a resistance check, the same for the hazards they are capable of causing, such as creating intense cold or dropping a heavy object on someone.

==== DEFENSE==== Defense effects protect in various ways, typically offering a bonus to resistance checks, or granting outright immunity to particular effects or conditions. Most defense effects work only on the user and are subtle and permanent, functioning at all times. Some are activated and sustained as a free action, meaning they can switch on or off, but can potentially leave the user unprotected.

==== GENERAL==== General effects don’t fit into any other particular category. They’re not governed by any special rules other than those given in the effect’s description.

MOVEMENT
Movement effects allow characters to get around in various ways. Some provide a speed rank with a particular form of movement—such as ground, air, or water—while others offer different modes of movement, like walking on walls or slithering along the ground like a snake. Although activating a movement effect is typically a free action, the character must still take a move action in order to actually move using the effect. So, for example, the action of the Flight effect is “free” and activating it grants the character a Flight speed rank equal to the effect rank. Moving that speed rank still requires a move action, however.

==== SENSORY==== Sensory effects enhance or alter the senses. Some sensory effects improve the user’s senses while others grant entirely new senses or fool the senses in some way. Sensory effects are typically a free action to activate and sustain, or are permanent and always in effect.

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SENSE TYPES

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Senses in Mutants & Masterminds are grouped into sense types, descriptors for how different sensory effects work. The sense types, and some of the senses included in them, are:


 * Visual: normal sight, darkvision, infravision, low-light vision, microscopic vision, ultravision, X-Ray vision


 * Auditory: normal hearing, sonar (accurate ultrasonic), ultrasonic hearing


 * Olfactory: normal smell and taste, scent


 * Tactile: normal touch, tremorsense


 * Radio: radio, radar (accurate radio)


 * Mental: mental awareness, Mind Reading, Precognition, Postcognition


 * Special: This is the catchall for other sensory descriptors not given above, including unusual senses or exotic descriptors like cosmic, gravitic, magical, and so forth.

==HOW POWERS WORK == Using powers is a fairly simple matter. Some power effects work automatically. Others—particularly those affecting other people—require some effort to use, like an attack check or a effect check. Powers affecting others allow resistance checks against their effects.

==== EFFECT CHECKS==== In some cases, you may be required to make an effect check to determine how well an effect works. A power check is just like any other check: d20, plus the power’s rank, plus any applicable modifiers, against a difficulty class set by the Gamemaster. The results of various power checks are described in this chapter. Effect Check = d20 + rank + modifiers vs. difficulty class

==== ROUTINE EFFECT CHECKS==== Many power effects allow for routine checks involving their use, generally specified in the effect’s description (see Routine Checks in The Basics chapter).

==== OPPOSED EFFECT CHECKS==== In some cases, usually when one effect is used directly against another, or against a particular trait like an ability or skill, an opposed check is called for (see Opposed Checks in The Basics chapter). If a contest is entirely a matter of whose power is greater, a comparison check (see page 14) is called for; the character with the higher power rank wins automatically.

==== EFFECT PARAMETERS==== Each effect has certain parameters that describe the time needed to use the effect, the subject or target, the distance it works at, and so forth. The basic effect parameters are Action, Range, and Duration.

==== ACTION==== Using or activating an effect requires a particular amount of time. See Actions, page 194, for details about the different types of actions. Modifiers may change the action needed to use an effect.


 * Standard: Using the effect requires a standard action.


 * Move: Using the effect requires a move action.


 * Free: It requires a free action to use or activate the effect. Once an effect is activated or deactivated, it remains so until your next turn. As with all free actions, the GM may limit the total number of effects a hero can turn on or off in a turn.


 * Reaction: It requires no action to use the effect. It operates automatically in response to something else, such as an attack.


 * None: It requires no action to use the effect. It is always active.

====RANGE ==== Each effect has a default range, which may be changed by modifiers.


 * Personal: The effect works only on you, the user.


 * Close: The effect can target anyone or anything you touch. Touching an unwilling subject requires an unarmed attack check against the subject’s Parry.


 * Ranged: The effect works at a distance, limited by perception and path and requiring a ranged attack check against the subject’s Dodge defense. A ranged effect has a short range of (rank x 25 feet), a medium range of (rank x 50 feet) and a long range of (rank x 100 feet). Ranged attack checks at medium range suffer a –2 circumstance penalty, while ranged attacks at long range suffer a –5 circumstance penalty. See the Action & Adventure chapter for details.


 * Perception: The effect works on any target you can perceive with an accurate sense, without any need for an attack check. If you cannot accurately perceive the target, you cannot affect it.


 * Rank: The effect’s range or area of effect is determined by its rank, as given in its description.

DURATION
Each effect lasts for a particular amount of time, which may be changed by modifiers.


 * Instant: When used, the effect occurs and ends in the same turn, although its results may linger.


 * Concentration: You can keep a concentration effect going by taking a standard action each round to do so. If you are incapable of taking the necessary action, or simply choose not to, the effect ends.


 * Sustained: You can keep a sustained effect going by taking a free action each round to do so. If you are incapable of taking the necessary action, or simply choose not to, the effect ends.


 * Continuous: The effect lasts as long as you wish, without any action required on your part. Once active, it stays that way until you choose to deactivate it (a free action).


 * Permanent: The effect is always active and cannot be deactivated, even if you want to. A permanent effect cannot be improved using extra effort.

==== RESISTANCE CHECK ==== Effects targeting other characters allow a resistance check. The defense used and the difficulty class depend on the effect and its modifiers.

Willing characters can forgo their resistance check against an effect, if they wish. This includes characters who think they’re receiving a beneficial effect, even if they’re not! You can’t forgo Toughness checks, but you may choose to discontinue the use of effects with a duration of Continuous or Sustained that grant a Toughness bonus in order to lower your resistance.

The Immunity effect allows characters to ignore certain effects altogether, removing the need for a resistance check.

COUNTERING EFFECTS
In some circumstances the effects of one power may counter another, negating it. Generally for two effects to counter each other they must have opposed descriptors. For example, light and darkness powers can counter each other as can heat and cold, water and fire, and so forth. In some cases, such as magical or mental effects, powers of the same descriptor can also counter each other. The GM is the final arbiter as to whether or not an effect with a particular descriptor can counter another. The Nullify effect (see page 121) can counter any effect of a particular descriptor!

==== HOW COUNTERING WORKS==== To counter an effect, you must take the ready action (see page 196). In doing so, you wait to complete your action until your opponent tries to use a power. You may still move, since ready is a standard action.

You must be able to use the readied effect as a standard action or less. Effects usable as a reaction do not require a ready action; you can use them to counter at any time. Effects requiring longer than a standard action cannot counter during action rounds (although they may be able to counter ongoing effects, see the following section). If an opponent attempts to use a power you are able to counter, use your countering effect as your readied action. You and the opposing character make effect checks (d20 + rank). If you win, your two powers cancel each other out and there is no effect from either. If the opposing character wins, your attempt to counter is unsuccessful. The opposing effect works normally.

Example: Siren, goddess of the seas, is fighting the White Knight. The hate-mongering villain hurls a blast of white-hot fire (a Ranged Damage effect). Having prepared an action, Siren’s player says she wants to counter White Knight’s fire blast with her water powers. The GM agrees the two powers should be able to counter each other, so he asks Siren’s player to make a Water Control effect check, while he makes a Fire Control effect check for White Knight. Siren’s player rolls a result of 26 while the GM rolls a result of 19 for White Knight. Siren successfully counters the flame blast, which fizzles out in a gout of steam.

==== COUNTERING ONGOING EFFECTS==== You can also use one power to counter the ongoing effect of another, or other lingering results of an instant effect (like flames ignited by a fiery Damage effect). This requires a normal use of the countering effect and an opposed check, as above. If you are successful, you negate the effect (although the opposing character can attempt to reestablish it normally).

Example: Mastermind has placed Johnny Rocket under his mental control (an Affliction effect). Lady Liberty has the power to break such bonds (the Nullify effect). She shines the light of liberty on her teammate and makes an effect check (d20 + her Nullify rank). The GM makes a check of d20 + Mastermind’s Affliction rank. If Lady Liberty wins, Johnny is free of Mastermind’s control. If she fails, the Freedom League will have to come up with another plan to neutralize their super-fast teammate without hurting him.

==== INSTANT COUNTERING==== You can spend a hero point to attempt to counter another power as a reaction, without the need to ready an action to do so. See Hero Points, page 27, for details.

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