Active Camouflage BDU

[Asra]

I wanted my character to have active camouflage fatigues; something akin to Snake's OctoCamo in MGS4. I believe that active camouflage qualifies as "a piece of super-science technology," so I made a device for it. After I made the power on the device, Concealment (normal vision) (2 ranks) and applied the Blending [-1] and Partial [-1], the cost came out to be only 1 power point. As the device is worn, it can't just be disarmed, so the cost of the device is 4 power points. You can no doubt see my issue here. I don't, by any means, try to min-max. I prefer to the spirit of the game; in the case of M&M, that's character flavor. But, I'm not really willing to just throw away 3 power points. My GM advised maybe I combine my device with my tactical armor, and apply a Protection 4 power to it. But I'd still be throwing away 2 points, as I can buy that with 1 rank in the Equipment feat. I don't just want to give him Concealment as a power, as it's the fatigues that have the ability.

I'm sure I'm way over-complicating this. I know it would be better just to take the Concealment (all visual senses), the Blending or Partial flaw, and the Close Range power feat to max out the use of my device. But, I don't want that. I want the Partial flaw, because his armor and equipment is worn over the fatigues, and the head is not covered. The fatigues will just make recognition of his limbs difficult, hence the 20% miss chance. The Blending flaw is for the delay in the patterns changing to match the current environment. And I know it reduces my speed to 30 feet if I want to keep it functioning, which isn't even my half movement as I have 1 rank in Speed. So, I want these limitations. I want a character I have to play, instead of a Superman where my Impervious defenses make immune to most non-power attacks and all I say every round is, "I fly up to him and punch him." I want a character that will be challenged by every situation, so my GM doesn't have to make special enemies and situation to just fight me. I call that "Kryptonite Effect." It starts from one small piece of Kryptonite on Lex's ring, to ridiculousness with every street thug having a piece.

Anyway, I got way off topic. How would I resolve this? Would I make it a 1-point power with a device descriptor, would I make it a piece of equipment with a cost of 5 (the equipment cost equivalent of 1 power point), or none of the above?

Oh, and since I'm on the topic of Concealment, would Concealment (normal vision) also cover dark-vision, low-light vision, and perhaps ultra-vision as all three simply allow you to see with normal vision only under different circumstances?

[poodle]

I would just do it as equipment... you could give it the AP of different camo types to make it reflect being able to adjust it to different conditions. You are never going to powerstunt it and camo I imagine is pretty easy to come by. The problem with buying protection in equipment is that it doesn't stack with your natural toughness bonus. The best you can get is +4 even with 18 con. I guess you can just make funkier equipment but then the lines start to blur between equipment and device.

[UnkindMirror]

Steve Kenson suggested in an ORQ that Devices could be split up into smaller pieces, if the GM agrees.

I.e. for 4 points you get 5 points worth of Hard-to-Lose Devices, and can split that up however you like. Doesn't help you much if you only need that one Device, but it's an option.

Personally, I'd handwave this particular case to a 1 point Device, if you don't want to add other effects.

[UnkindMirror]

The problem with buying protection in equipment is that it doesn't stack with your natural toughness bonus. The best you can get is +4 even with 18 con.

Toughness from Equipment does stack with Toughness from non-Enhanced Constitution.

[Blackbot]

First: You usually make sure to be challenged when you hit the PL (Powerlevel) your GM chose when doing the campaign. If you are the only one in your group not hitting it because you want to challenge yourself, you'll feel very underpowered. Remember, your GM is always able to make it difficult for you. If your Powerlevel is, say, 5, with all min-maxing in the world it will be very hard to stand against a SWAT-Team - something most PL15-Groups have absolutely no problem with. If you feel like those flaws match your conecpt best (and in this context they sure do - running around with this suit always proves to be a bad idea in mid-combat in MGS4...), that's fine.

Anyway, I'm going off-topic here and I'm not sure if you're even in a group. So...
You've got some options here, really:
1. As poodle said, make it equipment. I don't know what's your setting, but if you're playing in a MGS4-like environment (or even more futuristic), there is no reason why OctoCamo shouldn't be. If you play in the present, though, you could either...
2. Make it a power, saying (for example) there are nanites in your skin that can transform into different colours. Or...
3. As your GM stated, you could just fill up the remaining 4 points. If not with protection, then maybe (to stay with the OctoCamo-Suit from MGS4) with Enhanced Strength or Dexterity - after all, without the suit Snake wouldn't be as agile as he is in the game. Also remember that you can split the points from Device, turning (e.g.) Device 3 into two Device with 3 PP each, and one with 9 PP. Therefore, you could create another device, for example Earbuds which grant you Immunity to Dazzle (by Sound), or Senses you don't normally have - like Ultra-Hearing or radio, or Analytical hearing.

[poodle]

Wow, that changes how I make characters. It is confusing because it states pretty clearly under equipment that 'armor bonuses do not stack with other bonuses or each other, only the highest applies' pg 141 2nd ed rulebook.

[UnkindMirror]

Wow, that changes how I make characters. It is confusing because it states pretty clearly under equipment that 'armor bonuses do not stack with other bonuses or each other, only the highest applies' pg 141 2nd ed rulebook.

Guess that bit never actually made it into the errata:

It really should say, "... armor bonuses do not stack with other power bonuses..." since that's the limitation of equipment.

Armor (as equipment) does stack with the Toughness bonus from Constitution and even the Toughness bonus from Defensive Roll, but not with Force Field or Protection (which are power bonuses).

[poodle]

that suddenly changes a bullet proof vest from being largely useless to actually being worthwhile.

[FuzzyBoots]

Regarding the comment about "wasting points" buying Protection in a Device rather than Equipment, do remember that equipment fails, is lost, or is unavailable at the whim of the GM with no compensation. A Device gives you the peace of mind that the GM won't say "Oh, and as you walk through the door, a loose thread on your tactical vest catches on a nail and the vest rips apart. Your escort shrugs and says, 'Cheap knock-offs... we get them all the time'", leaving you deprived of equipment at the worst possible time. Equipment is also easier to sunder if someone targets your vest.

But yeah, if you have other equipment, just split the points around.