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I've been working on a Pokemon setting for Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition for a while now, and have started to make headway on the creatures that people can find. Type advantages are built into the creatures (where power/damage DCs get a +2 bonus against things weak to its type) and Type disadvantages are built into the powers (where half of the effect rank can be used against things strong to its type). For example, a Damage 4 Fighting attack requires a DC 21 Toughness check from a Rock Type, but requires a DC 17 Toughness check from a Psychic Type.

That being said, I've drafted a construct today and I'm not sure how defense limits apply. Are this characters' defenses too high for Power Level 5?

Cognitone – Psychic Rock Pokemon Construct

Str -5 | Sta - | Agl -5 | Dex 5 | Fgt -5 | Int 0 | Awe 10 | Pre 5 : [-6 exp total]

Dodge 0 | Parry 0 | Fortitude - | Will 10 | Toughness [10] : [10 exp total]

Weaknesses : [Fighting], Water, Grass, Ground, Steel, Dark, Ghost, Bug

Innate Powers :

Light Barrier | Quirky Protection 10 / costs 9 exp [1exp per rank -1] | It won’t much, but each hit you land has a satisfying DONK to it | Cognitone has an additional 10 Toughness, though each time it they are hit or would take physical damage Cognitone lets out a Chime that alerts anyone within 30ft of where this Pokemon is

Built Like a Rock | Construct Fortitude Effect Immunity / costs 30 exp (see p179 of Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition Heros Handbook) | Get it? Cuz it’s a rock! | Cognitone ignores physical ailments that do not involve physically restraining them (ignore the deadly poison, but no amount of hardiness will stop the fact that someone hog-tied you), but cannot contort its shape, cannot climb stairs, ladders or slopes greater than 1ft vertical over 2ft horizontal, cannot jump and cannot pick itself up.

47 exp remaining

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Yes, defenses are too high.

Specifically, the Will / Fortitude split is the problem.

With Immunity on one side and +10 on the other side, the character is PL 10 for Fortitude / Will. That's not averaging 0 and 10 for 5; that's averaging infinity and 10, which is most generously a 10.

The simple guide to remember is that if one half of a PL pairing is irrelevant then the other half cannot be made higher than PL. This is why area attacks effect rank cannot exceed PL, the paired attack bonus is irrelevant.


As an aside, available points is separate from PL. A PL 5 player character has 75 character points. A PL 5 non-player character has as many character points as the concept requires.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the answer. As for the exp, that’s there in case people are having trouble creating concepts for thier summons (again, Pokemon setting) \$\endgroup\$
    – Areadbhair
    Feb 2, 2020 at 15:42

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