I'm building a multi-group game, and in order to differentiate the two PL 8 groups (Teen/Young Adult and Reformed Supervillain team) I'm thinking of limiting the skill caps on Teen to PL (8) instead of PL+5 (13) and putting further limits on skills with education. All this is suggested in certain parts of Hero High.

Now to offset this I was thinking of giving this group the Untapped Potential feat (extra effort gives 3 ranks instead of 2) and the Holding Back flaw (at times the character becomes a much more powerful character, but half the team must be dead or unconscious and they have to beat a frequency check, and horrible stuff happens either during or at the end of the power up, like the character drops unconscious or is allowing another power to control them or this spike in power alerts people who want to harm the teen)

So Untapped Potential and Holding back for free (I'm otherwise not using the Holding Back flaw). I don't know if I should use the +2 PL, 4 PL or 6 PL version of Holding Back (DC 5, 10 and 15 respectively on the check to initiate).

So would this be alright in a game also containing groups that don't get this power? Would this make them too powerful compared to the other PL 8 group? Would it be a good idea to apply another limit (abilities start at 8 instead of 10 with no extra points given)? Should the other groups get a little perk each?
This message was last updated by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 20:15, Wed 12 Feb 2014.

Not familiar with system, but a thought:

When in doubt, keep it simple.

In my experience, a few PP worth of perks here and there make little difference.  PL Limits do, however, but skills are mostly non-combat so 'balance' isn't much of an issue in that case.  If they are both capped by PL 8 in terms of combat stats, then they're probably already equally balanced (by the system anyhow).

Of course, individual character builds may be more or less 'balanced' than others.  M&M does require a strong GM hand to avoid munchkins.  But I'd say if you want to give free feats/advantages to fit your story, then go for it and don't worry so much about 2-3 PP here and there.
This message was last edited by the user at 02:27, Thu 13 Feb 2014.