Power Level

Power Level (abreviated throughout these rules as "PL") is an overall measure of effectiveness and power, primarily combat ability, but also generally what sort of tasks a character can be expected to accomplish on a regular basis, assuming the ability to take 10 and take 20. A higher-level character is more capable of changing the world around him than a lower-level character.
Power level is a value set by the GM for the campaign. It places certain limits on where and how players can spend points when creating characters. Power Level affects the following things:
POWER LEVEL CAPS 	POWER LEVEL CAPS 	POWER LEVEL CAPS
Power Level Cap = Power Level x 2 	Power Level Cap = Power Level x 2 	Power Level Cap = Power Level x 2
Attack 	+ 	Effect Modifier
Defense 	+ 	Toughness
Fortitude 	+ 	Will
Might 	+ 	Reflex
Perception 	+ 	Wits
Power Level Cap= Power Level + 10 	Power Level Cap= Power Level + 10 	Power Level Cap= Power Level + 10
All Other Skill Modifiers (Skill Rank + Ability Score + Feats + FX Bonuses)	All Other Skill Modifiers (Skill Rank + Ability Score + Feats + FX Bonuses)	All Other Skill Modifiers (Skill Rank + Ability Score + Feats + FX Bonuses)
No Power Level Cap 	No Power Level Cap 	No Power Level Cap
FX which do not target a character's resistances 	FX which do not target a character's resistances 	FX which do not target a character's resistances
Note that there is some flexibility built into the power level system: two traits may together be limited to twice the game's power level, but they need not necessarily be of equal value. So a character who wanted to be exceptionally hard to hit may have a higher Defense than Toughness.
No limit can be reduced to less than 0 in this way and the GM must approve all such trade-offs. A good rule of thumb is to limit trade-offs to no more than half of the campaign's power level to keep things at a relatively manageable level (so a power level 10 character could have a Defense of 15 and a Toughness of 5).
The trade-off for Attack and Effect Modifier is made on an attack-by-attack basis, so you can have attacks at varying degrees of power with more or less accuracy.
For more details, please see Character Points
Category:Rulebook
Category:Glossary