Gearing Up: Equipment
In addition to their amazing devices, characters often make use of various mundane equipment—ordinary things found in the real world—ranging from a simple set of tools to cell phones, laptop computers, and even common appliances. These items are called equipment to differentiate them from devices.
Equipment is acquired with points from the Equipment feat: each rank in the feat provides 5 points of equipment. Each piece of equipment has a cost in points. The character pays the item's cost out of the points from the Equipment feat and it becomes part of the character's regular equipment.
An item's equipment cost is based on its effects and features. Effects cost the same as corresponding powers, so a ranged weapon costs the same as the Blast power (which inflicts damage at range). Features are particular minor things equipment can do, similar to feats. Generally, each feature costs 1 equipment point, although some features are more expensive (or actually involve multiple features).
On-Hand Items
Characters may not necessarily carry all their equipment with them at all times. The GM may allow players to spend a hero point in order to have a particular item of equipment "on-hand" at a particular time. This is essentially a one-time use of the item for one encounter, and the Gamemaster rules whether or not having a particular item on-hand is possible. For example, a hero out for an evening in his secret identity might have something like a concealed weapon or other small item on-hand, but it's unlikely the character is carrying a large weapon or item unless he has some means of concealing it.
Restricted Equipment
The Gamemaster may rule some equipment is simply not available to characters or they must pay for an additional feature (or more) in order to have it. This may include certain kinds of weapons, vehicles, and anything else the GM feels should be limited in the campaign.
Damaging Equipment
Most equipment can be damaged like other objects, based on its Toughness. Equipment suffering damage loses some effectiveness. The item loses 1 feature or suffers a –1 penalty on checks involving it each time it is damaged. These penalties are eliminated once the item is repaired.
Repairing and Replacing Equipment
Repairing an item requires a Craft check. You can also affect jury-rigged repairs to temporarily restore the item to normal.
Replacing damaged or destroyed equipment requires only time, although the GM has the final say as to how much time. It's easy to replace a lost item when the store is right around the corner, harder when it's the middle of the night or you're out in the middle of nowhere. Gamemasters can allow players to spend a hero point to have a replacement for a piece of equipment as an on-hand item.
The Limits of Equipment
While equipment is useful it does have its limits, particularly when compared to powers or devices. Equipment is less expensive—it's cheaper to have a handgun than a Blast power or even a super-science blaster weapon—but equipment is also more limited. Keep the following limitations of equipment in mind.
Technological Limits: Equipment includes only items and technology commonly available in the campaign setting. The GM decides what is "commonly available," but as a rule of thumb assume equipment only includes things from the real world, not battlesuits, anti-gravity devices, shrink rays, and so forth. Those are all Devices.
Availability: Ownership of some equipment is restricted and the GM decides what equipment is available to characters in the campaign. For example, guns may require permits, licenses, waiting periods, and so forth. Also, equipment can be bulky and difficult to carry around. Gamemasters are encouraged to enforce the limitations of carrying a lot of equipment at once. Players who want to have an unusual item of equipment on-hand must either remember to bring it along or use the guidelines for on-hand items. Devices are not so limited and characters are assumed to have an easy means of carrying and transporting them.
Stacking: Equipment bonuses are limited compared to the bonuses granted by other effects. Generally, they do not stack with each other or other types of bonuses, only the highest bonus applies. Thus a hero with a high Protection bonus doesn't get much, if any, advantage from wearing a bulletproof vest. The only exception to this is weapons that add to the character's Strength bonus, and there are limits on them as well.
Extra Effort: Unlike devices, you do not have the choice of suffering the strain of extra effort when improving equipment, the equipment always takes the strain. You can push your equipment to the limit (eventually causing it to fail) but trying real hard on your part isn't going to make your car go faster or your gun more effective. You also can't use extra effort to perform power stunts with equipment. Instead, you must spend a hero point to do so.
Damage and Loss: Equipment is vulnerable to damage, malfunctions, and loss, moreso than devices. One use of a power like Disintegration or Transform can turn a character's equipment to dust, for example, and equipment tends to be delicate when it comes to super-powered attacks. Equipment may be lost or taken away from the character with impunity, and the GM may sometimes arrange circumstances to separate characters from their equipment as a GM fiat or setback.
Cost: Finally, equipment may have a monetary cost to acquire, maintain, and replace, if the campaign uses the optional wealth rules.
Vehicles
Not every hero can fly, teleport, or run at super-speed. Sometimes make use of various vehicles to get around. Vehicles are used primarily for transportation, although they may come with additional capabilities—including weapons—making them useful in other situations as well.
Vehicles are considered equipment in Mutants & Masterminds and purchased with equipment points. The rulebook provides a number of sample vehicles as well as cost guidelines for creating your own vehicles. "Vehicles" with limbs, manipulative capabilities, and other humanoid characteristics (such as giant, piloted robots) are created as constructs rather than vehicles (see below).
Headquarters
Whether it's an underground cave, the top floors of a skyscraper, a satellite in orbit, or a base on the Moon, many heroes and villains maintain their own secret (or not so secret) headquarters. Teams of characters may even pool their equipment points to have a headquarters they share, with the Gamemaster's approval.
A character can even have multiple bases of operation. This is more common for villains, who have back-up plans and secret bases they can retreat to when their plans are defeated. If a character's headquarters is destroyed, the character can choose to rebuild it or build a new headquarters with different features. Supervillains often go through a succession of different headquarters. At the Gamemaster's option, characters can have additional headquarters as "Alternate Power" feats of the first, since they aren't likely to be used all at once.
Mutants & Masterminds offers rules for creating headquarters and a selection of pre-made sample headquarters, from an aquatic sea-base to an orbiting satellite.
Constructs
Armored robots, humanlike androids, even magically-animated golems or zombies are all examples of constructs, non-living things capable of acting on their own to one degree or another, carrying out pre-programmed instructions, or even possessing independent thought.
Since they are capable of action on their own (rather than just improving their owner's abilities), constructs are considered minions rather than devices or equipment and are acquired using the Minions feat. The Animate Objects power creates temporary constructs, while the Summon power can summon them to serve a character.
Next: It's time for action! We look at how actions are handled in Mutants & Masterminds and some of the sorts of actions your heroes can take, so check back in for an "action-packed" preview.
