Armor
Mighty Protectors Armor ability is fairly straightforward: spends some CPs and get protection from damaging attacks. There are, however, some tips about this ability that I would like to point out.Armor, like all MP Abilities, are by default obvious. According to the Unobvious modifier (see p. 95): "By default, using an Ability generates bright lights, loud sounds, distinctive smells, gestures, etc. (pick two effects that can be detected by default senses -- see Heightened Senses) when used, automatically alerting everyone in the immediate vicinity unless they lack the necessary sense."
For Armor, this means that it is obvious to at least two default senses. The Thing's rocky exterior is visually and tactilely obvious; the same is true for Iron-Man's armor. But Superman's armor is not obvious, which is one reason he can pull off his Clark Kent secret ID.
Armor is also a Continual ability (see 2.2.2): it's 'always on' and can never be 'deactivated', but it can be 'held back' (see 4.14.6). The best example I can think of for 'holding back' Armor is Iron-Man's armor: he can raise his face-plate, or take off a gauntlet, exposing his skin.
Below are three superheroes with different versions of Armor.
Example #1: Iron-Man
Iron-Man has Armor with no modifiers. It's obvious: everyone can see he's wearing a suit of armor. If you touch his suit it feels like armor, not human skin. He can also 'hold back' some of his armor, should the need arise.
Example #2: The Thing
For the Thing, he has Armor with the Can't Hold Back modifier (see p. 87). Also, it's obvious to anyone looking at him or touching him that he has an orange, rocky hide.
Example #3: Superman
Superman's Armor has a couple of modifiers: Can't Hold Back and Unobvious. Anyone looking at Superman or Clark Kent cannot tell he has impervious skin. Nor can Superman 'hold back' his armor: needles won't work on his skin and he can't change that fact.
Arsenal
Here's an example of how you would build an Arsenal, laid out in chart format.
Base Cost: This is the initial CP cost of the Ability.
Arsenal Adjustment: This is the adjusted cost modifier that all slots receive, as shown on pg. 26. Power Blast, for example, has a 1 PR cost, so it's cost adjustment would be (-10).
Mod1 - Mod 5: These are additional modifier costs.
Arsenal Charges Cost: This is the cost of giving a slot more than the default of 1 charge.
Total Cost: Indicates the maximum CP points in the slot. This number cannot exceed the maximum points allowed by the Arsenal, which in this case is 15 points.
Arsenal Adjustment: This is the adjusted cost modifier that all slots receive, as shown on pg. 26. Power Blast, for example, has a 1 PR cost, so it's cost adjustment would be (-10).
Mod1 - Mod 5: These are additional modifier costs.
Arsenal Charges Cost: This is the cost of giving a slot more than the default of 1 charge.
Total Cost: Indicates the maximum CP points in the slot. This number cannot exceed the maximum points allowed by the Arsenal, which in this case is 15 points.
Force Field
Damage that exceeds the Force Field's protection is taken by the character. Damage that does not exceed the Force Field’s protection value is not recorded.
Shown below is a round by round example of how Force Field works. The superhero in this example has 70 Power, 18 Hit Points, and Force Field with 6/6/6/6 protection. For purposes of this example, he is in a super hot environment where he will take 2d10 Energy damage per Round. He spends 16 Power to turn on his Force Field before entering the environment, leaving his Power at 54.
Round #1: The hero takes 11 Energy damage. His Force Field reduces the 11 damage to 5. The hero can roll with this damage or take it on his hit points. He decides to roll with it, reducing his Power from 54 to 49. His Force Field has now deflected a total of 6 damage, which is less that his current Power of 49, so it stays up.
Round #2: The hero takes 10 Energy damage. His Force Field reduces it to 4, which he rolls with. He is now at 45 Power. His Force Field has deflected a total of 12 damage, which is still less than his current Power, so it stays up.
Round #3: The hero takes 13 Energy damage. His Force Field reduces it to 7. The hero’s current Power is 45 so he can roll with 4 points, leaving him with 41 Power. He takes 3 HP of damage, reducing his Hits from 18 to 15, which is not more than half his current HP so he stays conscious. His Force Field has now deflected 18 damage, which is still less than his current Power of 41, so it stays up.
Round #4: The hero gets lucky and only takes 6 Energy damage. His Force Field completely deflects this damage. The hero takes no damage and the Force Field has still deflected a total of 18 damage, so it stays up.
Round #5: The hero takes 12 Energy damage. The Force Field reduces it to 6. The hero’s current Power is 41 Power, so he can roll with 4 points, leaving him with 37 Power. He takes 2 more HP of damage, reducing his Hits from 15 to 13, which is not more than half his current HP so he stays conscious. His Force Field has now deflected a total of 24 damage, which is less than his current Power of 37, so it stays up.
Round #6: The hero takes 14 Energy damage. The Force Field reduces it to 8. The hero’s current Power is 37, so he can roll with 3 points, leaving him with 34 Power. He takes 5 more HP of damage, reducing his Hits from 13 to 8, which is not more than half his current HP so he stays conscious. His Force Field has now deflected a total of 30 damage, which is still less than his current Power of 34, so it stays up.
The hero could take an Action and spend another 16 Power to renew his Force Field, but he decides not to do so.
Round #7: The hero takes 10 Energy damage. The Force Field reduces it to 4. The hero’s current Power is 34, so he can roll with 3 points, leaving him with 31 Power. He takes 1 more HP of damage, reducing his Hits from 8 to 7, which is not more than half his current HP so he stays conscious. His Force Field has now deflected a total of 36 damage, which is more than his current Power of 31, so it drops.
| Round | Raw Dmg Taken | Dmg after FF | Hero’s Power | Hero’s Hits | Force Field Dmg Deflected |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 18 | 0 |
| 1 | 11 | 5 | 49 | 18 | 6 |
| 2 | 10 | 4 | 45 | 18 | 12 |
| 3 | 13 | 7 | 41 | 15 | 18 |
| 4 | 6 | 0 | 41 | 15 | 18 |
| 5 | 12 | 6 | 37 | 13 | 24 |
| 6 | 14 | 8 | 34 | 8 | 30 |
| 7 | 10 | 4 | 31 | 7 | 36 |
Size Change B) Smaller
In the Mighty Protectors rules, Size Change B) Smaller makes it harder to be hit with a ranged attack, but it also helps against non-ranged attacks, like punching.
For example, 20 CPs in Size Change B) Smaller gives a character a Profile of 1/120.
This means that if the small character is standing right next to a normal-sized opponent who is trying to punch him, he is effectively 120 game inches away, and suffers a -5 to hit penalty.
Multi-Ability
This modifier can be tricky to work out under the Mighty Protectors rules. Here's a link to a Multi-Ability Google Sheet that calculates everything for you. If the "total CPs" cell is green, then it is legal. If it's red, then it's too low.
Excellent examples, superbly written and clear. Well done!
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