Cross-posted from tBP.

So, I finally broke down, and picked up WT 2e (EE, to be precise).

Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that it's past 2am in the morning, but I can't for the life of me grok what's the game design philosophy behind Archetypes and Meta-Qualities.

My tentative character (let's call him Battlesuit Bob) is, long story short, ersatz Iron Man. So I've even cooked up an Archetype of my own:

Quote from: The Butcher's Battlesuit ArchetypeArchetype: Battlesuit (12) [Sources: Power Focus (-8), Technological (0); Permissions: Inventor (5), Intrinsic: Mutable (15)]

Battlesuit Bob uses a battlesuit of his own design, which makes him, by any sane standard, a frickin' genius. I'd like his Stats and Skills to reflect the fact, so I figure he's entitled to Hyperskill (Knowledge: Robotics, or Materials Science, or whatever) and perhaps even Hyperstat (Mind).

And I stumble on the Archetype I've created for myself. I know I could easily fix this by tacking on a couple of One Power Permissions, or even another Permission like Hypertrained (allow me to buy Hyperskills to my heart's content).

I'm really, honestly curious about two things:

1. What's the design philosophy behind Archetypes and Meta-Qualities? Is it just to enforce some sort of consistency in character-building, or is there something more I'm not seeing?

2. Were I to drop Archetypes and Meta-Qualities, how would that impact my game?

As a complete aside, please do not read an indictment of the game; I'm just trying to puzzle it out. Character creation is very engaging, and I'm loving it.