I'm a little confused what power level I should use for this idea I have, where players are normal humans but they might possess a single power (so normal stats but with enough points for a rank or two in other abilities). What would be a fair power level to begin players at? I don't want to be too restricting and I don't want to be too free either, what would be a fair starting place?
This message was last updated by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 15:42, Wed 26 Feb 2014.

As for what PL, what do you want them to be compared to or fight?  Police Officers are around PL 4, Gang Leaders PL 2, etc.  Personally I wouldn't go below PL 4.

Few things to consider

• The PL and number of points don't have to be 15pp/PL, you can make it whatever you want.
• You can also make them any PL and have them make a character within any restrictions you want for the campaign.
• Keep in mind that many powers aren't restricted by PL.  For example, someone could have Flight or Teleportation 20 since that isn't effected by PL restrictions.
• PL is really just a guideline for challenges.  The system works out so even up challenges in combat (attack vs defense, damage vs save) have a 55% chance of success.  Skills are more lenient since they are PL+10 (personally think it should have been PL+5 as the skills that can be used in combat can be too high).

It depends what sort of powers you're envisioning - the ability to push planets out of their orbit, or levitate a fork? In either case, you might want to consider giving less than the standard 15pp / level, in order to force the PCs into narrower, more focused building choices.

In my experience, M&M 2e breaks down at less than PL 5. Things like critical hits and situational bonuses become disproportionately significant compared to the PCs's base bonuses. So my advice would be to go no lower than that, unless you're prepared to do some house-ruling to bring those modifiers into line with the overall smaller numbers on the character sheets.

Ok let me see if I can get a good explanation of what I want. I am building a game around the concept of students learning to use powers, probably highschool or college age. Everyone's powers are vastly different but rare are powers that are amazing. A good example (though unlikely you'll know the reference) is an anime called Gakuen Alice. This would be a similar 'every student is learning to use these minor powers' scenario, but are otherwise normal people. Is M&M 2nd Ed going to be a good system for this? If not what system would be better?

M&M would still be a good system for this. Since you aren't looking at special forces or anything you could simply put them at PL 5 and give them the premise. If that doesn't work out you might bump it to PL 6. Either way you'll get powers that aren't over the top.

Thanks for your help, I'll give it a shot when I start up the board.