“THE MIGHTY MIRROR MASTERS” MINI-BOOK REVIEW:

Since it is April 20, 2014 a.k.a “Easter Sunday 2014”, I had download the last series for “The Mighty Mirror Masters”, written by Jason L. Blair.

THE PDF:

The PDF is 15 pages long. After cover, credits and a short channel guide. This time, we start with a overview of the series circling around the finding of a Shining Stone in the mines of the planet know Glassia which cracked the world in half – one of light and one of darkness.



This overview is follow by a explanation on the world of Glassia, a where “medival Europe meets Ancient Rome with a bit of far future technology sprinkled around a bit”. Things are getting serious as line in this section before we get into important locations is a question: “Was uncovering the Shining Stone the opening of the Pandora's Box?”



The following are the important locations to the series:

• The Crystal Cave” = The home of Singing Stone and it's protector, Prisma, was well as being the headquarters for the The Mirror Masters.
• “Refractopolis” = The largest city on Glassia. It is know for university, library, museums, and exotic markets.
• “The Stygian Plains” = I let the book handle this one: “Once a wide expanse of dust and gloom, the Stygian Plains now boast jagged structures pulled directly from the blighted soil. Jared and his minions have set about turning their new home into the base of an empire. Factories pump smog and soot into the sky, darkening all around them. The Stygian Plains have become a blot in the sky, a warning to others: Keep away. Keep very far away!

I let the book explains the Mirror Masters:

“The Mirror Masters’ duty is to guard Prisma and the Shining Stone against the forces of the Dark

Reflection. Wherever there is danger, they go. Wherever there is strife, they are there. Wherever

the tyranny of evil threatens the promise of good, the Mirror Masters take up the challenge.

So that they may call upon their power at any time—and gain passage the Crystal Cave security

system—each Mirror Master has a shard of the shining Stone embedded in their armor. The shard

color varies by wearer with no two Mirror Masters having the same color. By touching this shard,

they are able to call upon their Light Reflection, a noble creature made of living light that aids

them in battle. Each Mirror Master has a different shard creature. Some are real animals, such as a

lion or eagle, while others are creatures of myth and legend, such as a unicorn or manticore. The

Mirror Masters direct these creatures with verbal commands, often employing a catchphrase upon

summoning them, but these Light Reflections have a will of their own. While they will never

attack their Mirror Master, they will sometimes refuse to cooperate or will flee from battle.”

Follow that above summary, we get short backgrounds for 3 Notable Mirror Masters GMPCs: Prisma, the Sorceress – the Singing Stone's protector, Ballisto, a miner engineer turn into a weapon engineer, and Shiney, a anthropomorphic vole and the center of comic relief.

Now, we get to the 4 Notable Dark Reflections NPCs: Jarek, the Big Bad – which is now a tiger humanoid; Feralis – Jarek's Beast Man to his Skeletor; Obscura – Jarek's loyal Evil-Lynn to his Skeletor; Drakus – a evil dragon-like human working as sniper for the Dark Reflections. & The Serpen People – the superstition people turn into a goon squad for the Dark Reflections.

Follow the above, we get six episodes seeds for the series.

After this we get the PC Guidelines for this series and I let the book explains this:

“The most important parts of a Mirror Master are his name, his weapon, his shard color, and his creature.

Mirror Masters often take names associated with their creature. This can be literal (Leo for the Lion

Master) or suggestive (Flightwing for the Eagle Master). These names also sometimes incorporate the theme of light and mirrors into the name, such as a Glisten the Unicorn Master or Shine the Manticore Master. The ideal, and most notable, do both. Riffing on the above, we might have Leolight the Lion Master and Shimmerwing the Eagle Master.

As for shard color, no two Mirror Masters have the same exact color, and those who are close have very distinct hues. Hunter green and olive green are no good. But dark green and light green work. Still, it’s best to stick with basic crayon colors (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, black, brown). You can never be sure the shop making the action figures is going to remember which shade of blue to paint the shard so the more obvious the difference, the better.

The shard color and light-animal also inform the armor and weapons used by the Mirror Master.

Weapons in Mirror Masters are almost always melee weapons. Jarek and his crew sometimes use guns, but the good guys don’t. Instead, they use maces, swords, axes, spiked clubs, and polearms. If not a hand weapon, the closest thing to a gun a Mirror Master will use are darts, bows, throwing knives, and things of that nature.

Keep in mind your character’s animal when picking a weapon. Leolight might use gloves adorned with claw-like spikes while Shimmerwing will employ a crossbow. Whichever weapon you choose, it will crackle with the energy the same color as the Mirror Master’s shard whenever it is used.”

After that we get Star Power (3 as par for the course so far),Tier and Trait Points (Superhuman & 26 Trait Points), and I let the book do the talking on other Rules:

• Required Trait: Each PC must have a Trait called MIRROR MASTER ARMOR, though its rating and Special Rules may be whatever suits you. In other words, each character’s armor can be entirely different.
• Required Trait: Each PC must have a Trait that represents a weapon; preferably one that ties into the theme of the character’s Light Reflection (see below).
• Free Trait: Each PC is given a Trait that represents its Light Reflection. The Light Reflection is an animal (real or mythical) constructed of light-made-solid that he can summon by touching the shard on his armor. This Trait is [INSERT ANIMAL TYPE HERE] REFLECTION 6 (Light Reflection).

Here's how the books explain the new special rule, “Light Reflections”: “Light Reflection: This Special Rule can only be taken by Mirror Master characters. This functions the same way as the Companion Special Rule, with the following exceptions:

• When creating the Light Reflection, you receive 26 points to spend on its Functions. (These points are not tied to the Trait Rating 6 for REFLECTION.)
• In order to bring the Light Reflection into a scene, the player must spend a point of Oomph and touch the shard on his armor. The Light Reflection will dissipate at the end of the scene unless you pay another point of Oomph (though the character needn’t touch the shard again to keep it activated).
• The Light Reflection is Defeated upon taking its third Setback Token. If this happens, it cannot be summoned again until the next scene, at which point it will no longer have any Setback Tokens.

We get for ready to use NPCs: Clobbershine the Gorilla Master (So he's on the cover of the mini-book), Leolight the Lion Master, Shimmerwing the Eagle Master, & Spinesparkle the Iguana Master.

That is follow by Game Stats for the Heroic GMPCs – Prisma, Ballisto, & Shiny – and the Vile GMPCs – Jarek, Feralis, Obscura, Drakus, the Serpen (stated up as a goon squad), as well as we get Horde of Troublemakers as a separate goon squad.

My Not So Humble Opinion:

Well, I had the feeling that it was cross between “He-Man and the Masters of Universe” and “The Visionaries” – and I was right.



Anyway, it's a good read – and I give a “A”.