PL stacking rules in terms of the PL cap makes complete sense. It's just that it's metagame sense. Sure, a guy with Strike +7 (Cosmic) and Strike +6 (Training) should be +13, but if he has that, then in game terms, he's a PL13 character. If he's a PL10 character, then his training, while good, isn't so good that he can use all his cool martial arts moves while wielding fields of raw energy in his hands, so while he's certainly better with the field than without it, he's not as much better as someone who had no previous training would be -- there's overlap.
Ta-dah. Justified.
But really, that's flavor text. The PL cap is not there for flavor text. The PL cap is there to stop abuses. There are probably some games where the groups are good enough that they don't need the PL cap, because they don't abuse the rules. There are, while we're talking about hypotheticals, probably some groups who are good enough that they don't even need to roll the d20, because they won't abuse their chance of hitting. "Oh, I said that my guy was good, not great, at melee combat, so I'll have him miss this time." I'm sure groups like that exist.
But for the default group, it's a good rule, and a good one to have included in the game system. If you ditch it, you'd better be darn sure that your group is not going to abuse the lack-of-cap, either through intentional malice or accidental goof-ups. Personally, I'd feel fine getting rid of it in my current M&M-rules game, but only because I'm already working with people enough on their characters (and saying, frankly, "Okay, that's legal, but in this particular campaign, that's a pretty unbalancing power, and I'd either have to change things a bunch, come after you with anti-you-designed characters, or up the power of the bad guys enough that everyone else is toast, so I'd appreciate it if you went a different way," sometimes) that I can nip those things in the bud.
Otherwise, if you're going to ditch the PL cap but keep most of the other rules in place, then hey, I've got a bad guy for you to send at your heroes. Don't worry. He's only PL 1.
Drain(Constitution) +15 -- base cost of 2
- Extra: Range to Normal: +1
- Extra: Area: +1
- Flaw: Full Effect Only
- Flaw: Action to full-round: +1
- Flaw: Device: +1
Well, my PL1 bad guys with the 15-point-Con-drain guns are a bit scary, but thanks to your removal of the PL cap, I'm sure the heroes all have the ability to make the DC25 Will save to avoid that Drain effect... or heck, DC25 Reflex save for the area effect, and a mere DC17 for 7 points of Con damage if they make that save.
And man, think of the 300-foot-radius sphere of death those guys would be unleashing. How awesome is that? PL1 guys have NEVER been this cool!
