''Martial Power 2'' is a supplement published by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

(WotC) in 2010 for the 4th edition of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. The book is a sequel to 2008's ''

Martial Power ''Martial Power'' is a supplement for the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. It contains additional options and rules for fighters, rangers, rogues, and warlords, including new builds for each class to further ...

''; like its predecessor, ''Martial Power 2'' provides new options for four specific character classes, as well as some general martial variants.

Description

''Martial Power 2'' provides new options and powers for the fighter, the

ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, the rogue, and the

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

. New material for each these classes is given in a separate chapter that starts with new character generation options: *Fighter: "Brawler" *Warlord: "Master of War", "Skirmisher" *Ranger: "Hunter", "Marauder" *Rogue: "Shadow Thief" New class abilities, skills and powers are then keyed to these variants. The final chapter includes some new martial capabilities for all classes, including different schools of "battle styles", and various martial exercises and abilities.

Publication history

In 2008, shortly after the publication of the 4th edition of ''D&D'', WotC released a number of rules expansion books outlining new options for

player characters A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

. The first of these was ''

'' (2008), followed by ''

Arcane Power ''Arcane Power'' is a supplement for the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Arcane Power'' contains additional options and rules for Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons), wizards, Warlock (Dungeons & Dragons), ...

'' (2009), and ''

Divine Power Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of ...

'' (2009). In 2010, WotC released ''Martial Power 2'', a 160-page hardcover book designed by Richard Baker,

Tavis Allison Tavis is a given name. Notable people with this name include: * Tavis Bailey (born 1992), American discus thrower * Tavis Hansen (born 1975), Canadian ice hockey player * Tavis Knoyle (born 1990), Wales rugby union football player * Tavis MacMil ...

Eytan Bernstein Ethan is a male given name of Hebrew origin () that means "firm, enduring, strong and long-lived". The name Ethan appears eight times in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings. 4:31, Ps. 89 title, 1 Chr. 2:6 and 2:8, 1 Chr. 6:42 and 6:44, and 1 Chr. 15:17 a ...

, and

Robert J. Schwalb Robert J. Schwalb is a writer in the role-playing game industry, and has worked as a game designer and developer for such games as ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying'', ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'', and many other RPG ...

. The front cover art was by

Ralph Horsley Ralph Horsley is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes cover art for the adventure '' The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde'' (2006), and interior art for ''Monster Manual III'' ...

and the back cover art was by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai, with interior art by

Dave Allsop Dave Allsop is a Scottish game designer and artist for role-playing games and video games. Career Dave Allsop developed the role-playing game ''SLA Industries'' (1993); the Scottish company Nightfall Games was founded solely to publish the game. ...

Ralph Beisner Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

Kerem Beyit Kerem is a Turkish male given name of Arabic origin, for males and it means vineyard, nobility and generosity. People named Kerem include: * Kerem Bulut, Turkish-Australian footballer * Kerem Demirbay, Turkish-German footballer * Kerem Gönlüm ...

, Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai, Ed Cox,

Julie Dillon Julie Dillon (born in 1982) is an American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy art.Vincent Dutrait Vincent Dutrait (born 1976) is a French illustrator. He studied at the École Émile Cohl from 1994 to 1997, where he later taught between 1999 and 2003. Born in 1976 in Provence, he now lives with his wife in the north of Seoul, South Korea. ...

, Steve Ellis,

Adam Gillespie Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

Torstein Nordstrand Thorsten (Thorstein, Torstein, Torsten) is a Scandinavian given name. The Old Norse name was ''Þórsteinn''. It is a compound of the theonym ''Þór'' (''Thor'') and ''steinn'' "stone", which became ''Thor'' and ''sten'' in Old Danish and Old Swed ...

Michael Phillippi Michael Phillippi (born ) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Education Michael Phillippi started his illustration career in 1997 after graduating from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Career His ''Dungeon ...

Wayne Reynolds Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games. Early life and education Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough. Games Wayne Reynolds has continue ...

Chris Seaman Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

Arnie Swekel Arnie Swekel is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Background Swekel was born May 2, 1964, and grew up in River Rouge, Michigan. After graduating high school he briefly attended The Center for Creative Studies (now called Coll ...

, Joel Thomas,

Eva Widermann Eva Widermann (born June 6, 1978) is an illustrator and concept artist whose work appears in role-playing games. Education She went to the Scholastic of Graphic & Design, Munich. Career Widermann started her graphic design career in 1998 and wor ...

, and

Ben Wootten Benjamin (Ben) Charles Wootten is a graphic artist and designer based in Wellington, New Zealand. Early life and education Wootten was born in Essex, England in 1969, and his family moved to New Zealand when he was three. He grew up in Whakatane ...

. WotC would produce two more books in the "Power" series: ''

Primal Power ''Primal Power'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents ''Primal Power'' adds new options for barbarians, druids, shamans, and wardens. This book offers hundreds of new options for ''D&D'' ...

'' (2009) and ''

Psionic Power ''Psionic Power'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents ''Psionic Power'' adds new options for ardents, battleminds, monks, and psions. Supplementing the ''Player's Handbook 3'' is ''Psioni ...

'' (2010).

Reception

Viktor Coble listed the entire ''Power'' series as #2 on '' CBR'''s 2021 "D&D: 10 Best Supplemental Handbooks" list, stating that "What sets the Power series apart – besides their updated rules – is how they translate really well to 5e he 5th edition of D&D Whereas, the "Complete" series needs a little more work. The rules have both been pared down and expanded upon in this guide, which makes picking up a copy for whatever type of character is most in favor worth it." In his 2014 book ''Designers & Dragons: The '90s'', game historian Shannon Appelcline noted that the first four books of the "Power" line — ''Martial Power'', ''Arcane Power'', ''Divine Power''and ''Martial Power 2'' — focused on power sources first presented in the 4th Edition's ''

Player's Handbook The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of ru ...

'' (2008), geared towards the standard power sources in the game. The two other books in the "Power" line, ''Primal Power'' and ''Psionic Power'', explored new and more esoteric power sources.

References

{{D&D books Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2010