<div style="text-align: justify;">The handbook has this to say on the topic of Power Level and the cap it imposes on individual powers:  "<em>The total of your hero’s attack bonus and effect rank with that attack cannot exceed twice the series power level. If an effect allows a resistance check, but does not require an attack check, its effect rank cannot exceed the series power level.</em>"  (That's tucked away in the "Power Points" section of the "Secret Origins" chapter, rather than being in the Powers chapter or even the Powers section of the Basics chapter...)<br/><br/>There are also the matching limits that the<em> total of your Dodge and Toughness</em> and <em>the total of your Parry and Toughness cannot exceed twice the series' Power Level</em>.  A later section confirms that those limits apply even if circumstances change (e.g. if a character dons armour): 'excess' bonuses are simply lost.  There does seem to be an unexplored implication that if you lost Dodge or Parry (say, by being comatose) you could make use of more Toughness, which would add another layer of complexity to this....<br/><br/>Two of the PL10 sample character archetypes have Protection 12 (Invulnerable) force field powers, which confirms that they're operating under the 'things that boost a Defence' section of the rules.  The Invulnerable element is likely to be the most relevant element of that when shielding heroes: Invulnerable 12 will completely bounce any attacks of Damage 6 or less; a military sniper-rifle does Damage 5.  For attacks that can break through the Invulnerability, the 'normal' Protection score then comes into play - but for heroes, of course, much of that 12-point boost is likely to be redundant.<br/><br/>If you want a straight-forward boost to Protection (with or without Invulnerability), then an electro-magnetic repulsion field (or other technobabble explanation of your choice!) could grant that.  If you want a barrier of electricity that nastily interacts with people who touch it, then that's more complex: an Affliction attack to shock people would be one option, as would straight-forward damage.<br/><br/>If you want the generated field to be a distinct <em>thing</em> that needs to be broken apart before anything can get inside, then that is indeed in the realm of Create Object.  But if it's 'just' akin to armour, then Protection can handle it.<br/><br/>All that said... bear in mind that you can Power Stunt an Alternate Effect, by using Extra Effort.  The Stunt lasts until its effect expires, or until the scene ends (whichever comes first) - so you could Power Stunt a single-use 'block' to a specific attack, or a somewhat weaker 'wall' that would last for the remainder of the scene after you created it.  You don't <em>have</em> to have every option on your sheet: Power Stunts give you a lot of flexibility in an emergency (and can provide a great way of your character discovering Alternate Effects that can be permanently purchased with Power Points in future).<br/><br/>Personally, I'd be inclined to leave electro-magnetic repulsion fields for Power Stunts and future development at the moment: Amber is already capable of creating one on the fly if she really needs to.<br/><br/><br/>On the unarmed combat issue: the Energy Controller archetype has Fighting 4 (with no other bonuses, and no skill to assist) to give +4 to hit, and Strength 1 to give a damage of 1; with their 3-point Energy Aura active, they'd total +4 to hit and 4 damage.  Amber adds Thunder Punch on top.  Her Attack should indeed be +9 (Fighting 4 + Unarmed Combat (Strikes) 5), but damage is based on Strength: so 1 + Thunder Punch's full effect (including the 'normal' Energy Aura's 3 ranks).  To total 11 when clobbering someone, Thunder Punch has to add 7 damage on top of Energy Aura and Amber's innate Strength.<br/></div>