Fighting Gods and Winning

Combat is d20 + modifiers vs. Defense. What matters is how you stack the roll — and how a Street-Level fighter drops a Planetary brick.

The Stack: Boosts and Decreases

Forget advantage. Every edge or penalty is a Boost (+1d4 or flat +2) or Decrease (−1d4 or flat −2) from a distinct source:

Boost sources: high ground or flanking, aiming a full turn, team setup ("now!"), using a power creatively, spent Intel or Prep. Decrease sources: suppression fire, darkness or storm, power dampeners, fear, fighting outside your element.

Roll every Boost die and every Decrease die, sum each side, apply the net. Cap: max 3 Boosts and 3 Decreases per roll. Beyond that, extra sources grant nothing — go do something else.

Example: Maya (Tier 1) fires her grapnel at Warlord Vex (Tier 3). She has high ground (+1d4), Vex is suppressed by her team (−1d4 to his defense is a +1d4 to her), and she spent Intel (flat +2). She rolls d20 + mod + 2d4 + 2.

The Equalizer: Batman vs. Superman

Tier defenses do not apply when you strike through:

1. Vulnerability — the target's written mechanical weakness. Full damage, ignores immunity, crits on 19–20.
2. Environmental Asset — collapsing bridge, red-sun chamber, magic ley-line. Spend an action to tag it; your next attack ignores one Tier of defense.
3. Exploit Points — earned by Prep and Intel (below). Spend 1 Exploit before a roll: ignore all Tier immunity for that attack and add +1d6 per Tier gap. A Tier 1 spending an Exploit against Tier 4 adds +3d6 and wounds like an equal.

Prep, Intel, and Gear

Before a fight against a higher Tier, you may work the problem:

• Gather Intel (Intellect check, DC 10 + target Tier × 2, one downtime scene): success = 1 Intel, a fact about a weakness, habit, or location. Each Intel spent in the fight = +2 or one free Exploit Point (limit 1 per fight per hero).
• Prepare Gear (one work scene per item): build a trap, serum, sigil, or frequency. Prepared gear grants 1 Exploit Point usable once, then it burns out.
• Team Synergy: if two heroes spend Intel on the same target, the striker gains +1 Boost die free.

A prepared Tier 1 team walking in with Intel, a trap, and high ground is a Tier 3 threat. That is the game working as intended.