Advantages

Heroes are more than just skilled, they often have amazing advantages, beyond the abilities of ordinary people. Advantages are rated in ranks and bought with Character points, just like abilities and skills. Unlike powers, advantages can't have modifiers. Most advantages cost 1 character point per rank. Most advantages have no ranks and are acquired only once, effectively at rank 1.

Each advantage's description explains the benefit it provides. It also says if the advantage can be acquired in ranks and the effects of doing so. Ranks in a advantage are noted with a number after the advantage's name, such as "Defensive Roll 2" (for a character who has taken two ranks in the Defensive Roll advantage), just like skill and power ranks. Some advantages have a maximum number of ranks a character can take and some cost more than 1 point, everything is listed under the advantage. In some cases an advantage's description mentions the normal conditions for characters who do not have the advantage for comparison.

Types Of Advantages

Advantages are categorized as one of four types:

• Combat Advantages are useful in combat and often modify how various combat maneuvers are performed.
• Fortune Advantages require and enhance the use of Victory points.
• General Advantages provide special abilities or bonuses not covered by the other categories.
• Skill Advantages offer bonuses or modifications to skill use.

Table: Combat Advantages

Table: Fortune Advantages

Table: General Advantages

Table: Skill Advantages

Accurate Attack (Combat)

When you make an accurate attack (see Maneuvers) you can take a penalty of up to -3 on the effect modifier of the attack and add the same number (up to +3) to your attack bonus.

All-out Attack (Combat)

When you make an all-out attack (see Maneuvers) you can take a penalty of up to -3 on your active defenses (Dodge and Parry) and add the same number (up to +3) to your attack bonus.

Attractive (Skill)

You're particularly attractive, giving you a +1 circumstance bonus on Deception and Persuasion checks to deceive, seduce, or change the attitude of anyone who finds your looks appealing. With a second rank, you are Very Attractive, giving you a +2 circumstance bonus. This bonus is limited by the series power level counted as part of a skill. This bonus does not apply to people or situations which (in the GM's opinion) would not be influenced by your appearance.

While superheroes tend to be a fairly good-looking lot, this advantage is generally reserved for characters with particularly impressive looks.

Beginner's Luck (Fortune)

By spending a Victory point, you gain an effective 5 ranks in one skill of your choice you currently have at 4 or fewer ranks, including skills you have no ranks in, even if they can't be used untrained. These temporary skill ranks last for the duration of the scene and grant you their normal benefits.

Benefit (General)

You have some significant perquisite or fringe benefit. The exact nature of the benefit is for you and the Gamemaster to determine. As a rule of thumb it should not exceed the benefits of any other advantage, or a power effect costing 1 point (see the Feature power). It should also be significant enough to cost at least 1 Character point. An example is Diplomatic Immunity (see Sample Benefits). A license to practice law or medicine, on the other hand, should not be considered a Benefit; it's simply a part of having training in the appropriate Expertise skill and has no significant game effect.

Benefits may come in ranks for improved levels of the same benefit. The GM is the final arbiter as to what does and does not constitute a Benefit in the setting. Keep in mind some qualities may constitute Benefits in some series, but not in others, depending on whether or not they have any real impact on the game.

Sample Benefits

The following are some potential Benefits. The GM is free to choose any suitable Benefit for the series.

Alternate Identity: You have an alternate identity, complete with legal paperwork (driver's license, birth certificate, etc.). This is different from a costumed identity, which doesn't necessarily have any special legal status (but may in some settings).

Ambidexterity: You are equally adept using either hand, suffering no circumstance penalty for using your off-hand (as you don't have one).

Cipher: Your true history is well hidden, making it difficult to dig up information about you. Investigation checks concerning you are made at a -1 penalty per rank in this benefit.

Diplomatic Immunity: By dint of your diplomatic status, you cannot be prosecuted for crimes in nations other than your own. All another nation can do is deport you to your home nation.

Security Clearance: You have access to classified government information, installations, and possibly equipment and personnel.

Status: By virtue of birth or achievement, you have special status. Examples include nobility, knight-hood, aristocracy, and so forth.

Wealth: You have greater than average wealth or material resources. Rank 1: independently wealthy, Rank 2: a millionaire, Rank 3: a billionaire or owner of a small poor nation.

Connected (Skill)

You know people who can help you out from time to time. It might be advice, information, help with a legal matter, or access to resources. You can call in such favors by making a Persuasion check. The GM sets the DC of the check, based on the aid required. A simple favor is DC 0, ranging up to DC 15 or higher for especially difficult, dangerous, or expensive favors. You can spend a Victory point to automatically secure the favor, if the GM allows it. The GM has the right to veto any request if it is too involved or likely to spoil the plot of the adventure. Use of this advantage always requires at least a few minutes (and often much longer) and the means to contact your allies to ask for their help.

Defensive Attack (Combat)

When you make a defensive attack (see Maneuvers), you can take a penalty of up to -3 on your attack bonus and add the same number (up to +3) to both your active defenses (Dodge and Parry).

Defensive Roll (Combat)

You can avoid damage through agility and "rolling" with an attack. You receive a bonus to your Toughness equal to your advantage rank, but it is considered an active defense similar to Dodge and Parry (see Active Defenses in Abilities), so you lose this bonus whenever you are vulnerable or defenseless. Your total Toughness, including this advantage, is still limited by power level.

This advantage is common for heroes who lack either superhuman speed or toughness, relying on their agility and training to avoid harm.

Diehard (General)

At the start of your turn if you are dying you automatically stabilize (if possible) without any need for a Fortitude check, although further damage--such as a finishing attack --can still kill you. If you become dying because of circumstances (such as suffocation) you still can't stabilize until the circumstances are removed thus Diehard does nothing until then. Likewise if you are dying because of debilitated stamina you can't stabilize until your stamina is at least -4.

Equipment (General)

You have 5 points per rank in this advantage to spend on equipment. This includes vehicles and headquarters. See Gadgets & Gear for details on equipment and its costs. Many heroes rely almost solely on Equipment in conjunction with their skills and other advantages.

Evasion (Combat)

You have a +1 or +2 bonus to Dodge defense checks to avoid area effects (see Area extra in Powers).

Extraordinary Effort (General)

When using extra effort (see Extra Effort in The Basics), you can gain two of the listed benefits, even stacking two of the same type of benefit. However, you also double the cost of the effort; you're exhausted starting the turn after your extraordinary effort. If you are already fatigued, you are incapacitated. If you are already exhausted, you cannot use extraordinary effort. Spending a Victory point at the start of your next turn reduces the cost of your extraordinary effort to merely fatigued, the same as a regular extra effort. You may spend multiple Victory points to recover further. You can choose to only gain 1 benefit from Extra Effort in which case Extra Effort functions as though you didn't have this advantage.

This advantage is not ranked and Extra Effort is still only possible once per turn therefore it is impossible to get more than 2 benefits per turn.

Fast Grab (Combat)

When you hit with an unarmed attack you can immediately make a grab check against that opponent as a free action (see Grab). Your unarmed attack inflicts its normal damage and counts as the initial attack check required to grab your opponent.

Improved Aim (Combat)

You can keep a steady aim for a longer period of time. After taking a standard action to Aim you may maintain the aim for any length of time (you do not need to attack as your next action). While maintaining your aim you can't use aid, aim (at a different target), attack, charge, defend, disarm, escape, grab, smash, trip, or any maneuver, using any of these will disrupt your current aim. However doing anything else, such as moving, is now possible.

Improved Defense (Combat)

When taking a standard action to Defend the active defense you didn't choose benefits as well but the dice rolled for it have a minimum of 0 instead of 1.

Improved Disarm (Combat)

You have a +1 bonus to your attack check when attempting to disarm an opponent (see Disarm in Gameplay Rules).

Improved Grab (Combat)

You can make grab attacks with only one arm, leaving the other free. You can also maintain the grab while using your other hand to perform actions. You are not vulnerable while grabbing (see Grabbing in Gameplay Rules).

Improved Hold (Combat)

Your grab attacks are particularly difficult to escape. Opponents you grab suffer a -2 circumstance penalty on checks to escape.

Improved Initiative (Combat)

You have a +1 bonus to your initiative checks per rank in this advantage with a maximum bonus of +5.

Improved Trip (Combat)

You have no penalty to your attack check to trip an opponent. When making a trip attack, you may use your Acrobatics or Athletics skill check instead of damage against your opponent's Acrobatics or Athletics.

Improvised Tools (Skill)

You ignore the circumstance penalty for using skills without proper tools, since you can improvise sufficient tools with whatever is at hand. If you're forced to work without tools at all, you suffer only a -1 penalty.

Inspire (Fortune)

You can inspire your allies to focus. Once per scene, by taking a standard action and spending a Victory point, allies able to interact with you will roll better on all checks for 1 round. The Gamemaster may also require a persuasion or oratory check. You do not benefit, only your allies do. When an affected ally rolls a check of any kind, the sum of his dice have a minimum of 0 (before adding ranks etc).

Instant Up (General)

You can go from prone to standing as a free action without the need for an Acrobatics skill check.

Interpose (General)

Once per round, when an ally within range of your normal movement is hit by an attack, you can choose to place yourself between the attacker and your ally as a reaction, making you the target of the attack instead. The attack hits you rather than your ally, and you suffer the effects normally. You cannot use this advantage against area effects or perception range attacks, only those requiring an attack check. You are defenseless against that attack.

Jack Of All Trades (Skill)

You can use any skill untrained, even skills or aspects of skills that normally cannot be used untrained, although you must still have proper tools if the skill requires them. This includes the ability to roll knowledge skills untrained.

Languages (Skill)

You can speak and understand additional languages. With one rank in this advantage, you know an additional language. For each additional rank, you double your additional known languages: two at rank 2, four at rank 3, eight at rank 4, etc. So a character with Languages 7 is fluent in 64 languages (excluding initial)! Characters are assumed to be fluent in any languages they know, including being able to read and write in them.

By default your character knows a single language of your choice. This advantage gives you more languages in addition to the starting one. Sign language and morse code are valid language choices but cryptography and things like programming languages are not.

Unless otherwise stated the languages you know are assumed to be the most modern versions of them. You are also assumed to have no accent although you may have a heavy accent as a complication making it difficult to understand you completely.

For the ability to understand any language, see Comprehend.

Lucky (Fortune)

This advantage costs 5 points per rank. You start out with additional special victory points equal to your Lucky rank. These points can only be spent on rerolling dice (see Improve Roll in the Basics) or for the power Luck Control. These special victory points refresh whenever normal Victory points "reset" at the start of each in-game day. The GM may choose to set a different limit on ranks in this advantage, depending on the series.

Meekness (General)

This can only be used after you roll for anything that you are allowed to botch (you can't use this when rolling for Fortitude, Toughness, or any other circumstances that you can't roll). If the roll was a critical failure then this advantage doesn't apply and the result is determined normally. Otherwise after the ranks etc have been added you may choose any integer equal to or less that sum with a minimum of 0 and use that number as the new sum instead. If you choose to use this new number then it is not considered a critical success or failure. This can't be used for Removable powers unless this advantage is built into the device. For example: if you roll a -1 on damage with a rank 10 effect you may choose any number between 0 and 9 to use instead.

Minion (General)

You have a follower or minion. This minion is an independent character with Character points equal to this advantage's rank. Minions are subject to the normal power level limits, and cannot have minions or sidekicks themselves. A minion's power level starts out at 1 and increases by 1 at rank 15 and for every 15 ranks afterward. A minion's Character point total must be less than your own. Your minions (if capable of independent thought) automatically have a helpful attitude toward you. Unlike sidekicks you aren't generally allowed you to control your minion directly. They are subject to the normal rules for minions (see Minions).

Minions do not earn Character points. Instead, you must spend earned Character points to increase your rank in this advantage to improve the minion's Character point total and traits. Minions also do not have Victory points. Unlike sidekicks you can't spend Victory points on behalf of minions unless you are using the Luck Control power. Any lost minions are replaced in between adventures with other followers with similar abilities at the Gamemaster's discretion.

Note that a villain, hero, or civilian of high influence may have a collection of heroes, villains, and citizens at his command, this advantage only applies to minions who always seem to be around the character, perhaps as a right hand man. Minions can't have their own sidekick or minion.

Move-by Action (Combat)

When taking a standard action and a move action you can move both before and after your standard action, provided the total distance moved isn't greater than your normal movement speed.

Persistent Information (General)

You retain all victory points upon death and death does not cause Power Loss whereas normally upon death all of your powers (save Immortality) go through Power Loss. Exceptions are made for permanent powers that simply don't make sense to remain active while dead, as according to the Gamemaster and the power description. In the event of Power Loss ammunition is not lost and the records of powers are not erased.

Keep in mind that even with this advantage your corpse is still considered an object (not a character) so some effects might no longer apply. And obviously when dead you can't take actions required to maintain powers and therefore powers that are not continuous or permanent will end during the next time you would have had your turn.

Losing or keeping victory points upon death can be a sicking point for some. Therefore the Gamemaster might make a universal rule whether or not victory points are kept on death regardless of whether that character has this advantage.

Power Attack (Combat)

When you make a power attack (see Maneuvers) you can take a penalty of up to -2 on your attack bonus and add the same number (up to +2) to the effect bonus of your attack.

Prone Fighting (Combat)

You suffer no circumstance penalty to attack checks for being prone, and adjacent opponents do not gain the usual circumstance bonus for close attacks against you.

Quick Draw (Combat)

You can draw a weapon from a holster or sheath as a free action, rather than a move action.

Seize Initiative (Fortune)

You can spend a Victory point to get a +10 to your initiative. You may only do so when you roll initiative at the beginning of combat after the GM announces the order but before the first turn starts. You may use this any number of times including in response to an opponent's use of Seize Initiative which may cause an auction off (although who goes first shouldn't be that important).

Sidekick (General)

This costs 2 character points per rank. You have another character serving as your partner and aide. Create your sidekick as an independent character with Character points equal to this advantage's rank. A sidekick's power level starts out at 1 and increases by 1 at rank 15 and for every 15 ranks afterward. A sidekick's Character point total must be less than yours. Your sidekick is an NPC, but automatically helpful and loyal to you. Gamemasters should generally allow you to control your sidekick, although sidekicks remain NPCs and the GM has final say in their actions.

Sidekicks do not earn Character points. Instead, you must spend earned Character points to increase your rank in Sidekick to improve the sidekick's Character point total and traits. Sidekicks also do not have Victory points, but you can spend your own Victory points on the sidekick's behalf with the usual benefits. Sidekicks are not minions, but full-fledged characters, so they are not subject to the minion rules. Sidekicks can't have their own sidekick or minion.

Skill Mastery (Skill)

Choose a skill. You can make routine checks with that skill under any circumstances (see Routine Checks in The Basics). You can take this advantage multiple times for different skills. You are allowed to choose combat skills (eg: Close Combat: Unarmed or Ranged Combat: Rifles). You are allowed to chose skills that you have no rank in although you can't make a routine check if you have no ranks and the skill is trained only.

Teamwork (General)

You're effective at helping out your friends. When you support a team check (see Team Checks in The Basics) you have a +2 circumstance bonus to your check. This bonus also applies to the Aid action and Team Attacks.

Ultimate Effort (Fortune)

You can spend a Victory point on a particular check and treat the roll as a 3 (meaning you don't need to roll the dice at all, just apply a result of 3 to your modifier and ranks). This is not a critical success since it is not a natural 3 (and therefore doesn't get a +1 to become a 4), but is treated as a roll of 3 in all other respects. You choose the particular check the advantage applies to when you acquire it and the GM must approve it. You can take Ultimate Effort multiple times, each time, it applies to a different check. This advantage may not be used after you've rolled the dice to determine if you succeed.

Sample Ultimate Efforts

The following are some potential Ultimate Efforts. The GM is free to add others suitable to the series.

• Ultimate Aim: When you take a standard action to aim an attack (see Aim), you can spend a Victory point to apply a 3 result to the attack check on the following round. Since the Ultimate Aim bonus is not a natural 3, it also does not qualify as an automatic or critical hit.
• Ultimate Defense: You can spend a Victory point to apply a 3 result to a defense check with one defense determined when you acquire this advantage.
• Ultimate Skill: You can spend a Victory point to apply a 3 result to checks with a particular skill.