Mutants and Masterminds 3e frustrations!

[MonkeySage]

Keeping in mind that i've only just cracked open the book again after years... I'm trying to build a character around specific ideas... and I'm unable to even determine a power level because I don't know any values...

Like this book seems to intentionally avoid specifics.... How do I know how fast a character can move? If I want to build a character that can, like so many comic book superheroes, move faster than light, how do I demonstrate it? What speed score would actually represent that kind of feat? Or what would represent peak human?

Here's an example
This character has the ability to manipulate light and transform *into* light, allowing him to move at light speed among other things.

[Batcathat]

Have you looked at the measurements table on page 11? It does pretty much exactly what you're asking for, if I understand you correctly.

[noob]

With rank 28 speed you go faster than light and with rank 27 speed you go slower than light.
https://www.d20herosrd.com/home/ranks-and-measures/

[MoiMagnus]

As said by other, the rank and measures table is where you get orders of magnitudes. Speed N allows you to go through a distance of rank N at each move action.

At take a look at archetypes (I'm not sure what rulebook you have, but they're in both my Deluxe Hero handbook and Basic Hero handbook)

Or what would represent peak human?

Realistic peak human is still at Speed 0 (1.5m per second), with high Athletics (which allows to consistently run at one rank speed above normal speed), using two move action per round, for a total of 6m per second.

If I want to build a character that can, like so many comic book superheroes, move faster than light, how do I demonstrate it?

Looking at the archetype sections, for the Speedster (PL10). He has

Fast Attack:

• Damage 5 (3+Strength-based), Multiattack and Selective • 13 points
• Damage 5 (3+Strength-based), Burst Area and Selective • 1 point

Fast Defense: Enhanced Dodge 11, Enhanced Parry 11 • 22 points
Super-Speed: Enhanced Initiative 3, Quickness 10, Speed 15 (64,000 MPH)• 28 points
Run on water: Movement 1 (Water Walking), Limited to While Moving • 1 point
Run up walls: Movement 2 (Wall-crawling 2), Limited to While Moving • 2 points

It's not actual light-speed (which is probably better represented by a teleportation effect, but Speed 28 works too), but it's close enough to be casually called "light speed" by characters.

[Beleriphon]

Keeping in mind that i've only just cracked open the book again after years... I'm trying to build a character around specific ideas... and I'm unable to even determine a power level because I don't know any values...

Like this book seems to intentionally avoid specifics.... How do I know how fast a character can move? If I want to build a character that can, like so many comic book superheroes, move faster than light, how do I demonstrate it? What speed score would actually represent that kind of feat? Or what would represent peak human?

Here's an example
This character has the ability to manipulate light and transform *into* light, allowing him to move at light speed among other things.

Depends, if the character turns into light to move, I'd honestly just make it a teleport effect. M&M is very, very versatile and there are probably a dozen ways to do any one thing. For example building the The Flash usually uses ranks of Speed and Quickness to let him run really, really fast (official stats have him with Speed 20, which is 2 million miles per hour per move action). Remember, that even at those speeds Flash is still moving a physical body can get clothes-lined by Mirror Master, or frozen in place by Captain Cold. You need to see how you envision the power working and then picking an appropriate Effect to mimic that power.

[noob]

Depends, if the character turns into light to move, I'd honestly just make it a teleport effect. M&M is very, very versatile and there are probably a dozen ways to do any one thing. For example building the The Flash usually uses ranks of Speed and Quickness to let him run really, really fast (official stats have him with Speed 20, which is 2 million miles per hour per move action). Remember, that even at those speeds Flash is still moving a physical body can get clothes-lined by Mirror Master, or frozen in place by Captain Cold. You need to see how you envision the power working and then picking an appropriate Effect to mimic that power.

Turning into light means that you would make something like "teleport with light descriptor" and the existence of such descriptor causes a bunch of limitations(like can not teleport through opaque stuff and is messed up by mirrors) because descriptors do have an influence on things(ex: a sonic descriptor on a ranged attack would make it fail when used through space and so on)