ATTACK ROLLS

Attack rolls are rolls made to determine if an attempted attack succeeded or failed. A successful attack roll is one that meets or exceeds your target's Defense (or Dodge or Parry, if your target can use those). Your normal Attack Bonus is equal to your Combat Bonus plus your Dexterity.

You can't ever take 5, 10 or 20 on an attack roll. You can't apply Challenges to an attack roll. Aiding someone else's attack roll is a little different than aiding a check, and uses the Aid action. Attack rolls are subject to Stunts.

For a more detailed explanation of combat, see the Combat section of these rules.

Automatic Results

The biggest difference between attack rolls and checks is that with attack rolls, a natural 20 on the die ALWAYS means a success, while a natural 1 ALWAYS means failure. These results only apply to natural rolls of the die, and are independent of the target's Defense or the attacker's bonuses.

Special Maneuvers

Sometimes you want to do something fancy, like knock a marine flat on his back, or drive right through the crowd of gibbering minions to hurl the mad scientist into his doomed creation. Good for you. To do these sorts of things you make an attack roll, but using your Maneuver Bonus rather than your Attack Bonus.

Defense

Defense represents how hard it is for someone to hit you. A hero's Base Defense is normally equal to 10 + their combat bonus + any applicable modifiers for feats or abilities.

Your Base Defense is what an opponent needs to beat on an attack roll if you are not able to respond to their attack.

Dodge and Parry

Characters that are aware of their attacker get to add to their Defense, giving them two values known as Parry and Dodge. You can choose to use either your Parry or your Dodge against melee attacks, and your Dodge against missile attacks.

A character's Dodge is equal to their Combat Bonus plus their Dexterity. Their Parry is equal to their Combat Bonus plus their Strength. In addition, feats and other abilities may affect a character's Dodge or Parry.