Advantage

Whenever a creature lets its guard down or becomes distracted during combat it grants one or more Advantages to its opponents. When you have one or more advantages on a creature, you get a bonus to attack rolls made against that creature. You gain a +2 bonus for each advantage that is granted (i.e. +2 for one advantage, +4 for two advantages, +6 for three advantages, etc). Additionally, having at least one advantage automatically upgrades a Glancing Hit to a Full Hit.

Some powers and abilities may become more potent or may only be used when a creature is granting advantage, such as a Rogue’s Backstab. Powers may also require multiple advantages, or gain a special benefit with multiple advantages.

Advantages are granted from the following: Flanking, Surprise, certain Status Effects, environmental effects, through certain powers and abilities, and any time the GM rules that a creature is distracted and unable to fully defend itself. Below are some examples of common situations where a character may grant one or more advantages.

  • You are walking through a forest and do not detect the party of goblins hiding in the trees. When they attack, you are surprised by the ambush. While surprised, you grant an advantage to your attackers.
  • You are in the midst of battle and find yourself double flanked, with four enemies on opposite sides of you. While these four creatures flank you, you grant two advantages (+4 to attack rolls) to each creature attacking in melee.
  • Drugan, an enemy mage, hits you with a Color Spray Spell and you are Dazed. While dazed you grant an advantage to all enemies. Your opponents further exploit this situation and two enemies move in for a flank. While you are flanked and dazed, you grant two advantages to the opponents in melee, and one advantage to all other opponents (from the Daze effect).

Advantage vs Disadvantage

Advantage is the opposite of Disadvantage, and each advantage and disadvantage cancel out on a 1 per 1 basis. If you have more advantages than disadvantages, then you still have advantage on your attack. Similarly, if you have more disadvantages than advantages, then you still have disadvantage on your attack. If the number of advantages and disadvantages are equal, then you have neither advantage nor disadvantage on the attack. For example, if you had 3 advantages, and 1 disadvantage, then you are left with 2 advantages (and get a +4 bonus to the attack roll). If you had 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages, then they both cancel out and you have neither advantage or disadvantage (and you have no bonus or penalty to the attack roll). If you have 1 advantage and 2 disadvantages, then you have 1 disadvantage (and suffer a -2 penalty to the attack). If a power requires you to have advantage, then the requirement is not met unless you have more advantages than disadvantages and vice versa.