Rolling & Resolving
Use this page during each Situation roll to calculate totals, apply the margin of victory, process High Alert, and handle Defender budget return.
Rolling & Resolving
Each side rolls:
d20 + any valid modifiers
- Highest total wins the round.
- Use the margin of victory table to adjust the Attacker and Defender Budget Point counters, then use the Defender Return Calculator to calculate the Defender return and updated total.
- Used item cards are discarded.
| Roll Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Attacker wins by 1–4 | Minor breach. Attackers gain 5 Budget Points and Defenders lose 5 Budget Points. |
| Attacker wins by 5–9 | Successful breach. Attackers gain 15 Budget Points and Defenders lose 15 Budget Points. |
| Attacker wins by 10+ | Major breach. Attackers gain 25 Budget Points and Defenders lose 25 Budget Points. |
| Defender wins by any margin | Attack stopped. Attackers gain 0 Budget Points and Defenders lose 0 Budget Points. Defenders enter High Alert next round with a bonus equal to their margin of victory. |
| Tie | Draw round. Nobody gains or loses Budget Points, but the Defenders still add to their Budget Points by using the Defender Return Calculator. |
High Alert: For example: if the Defenders roll higher than the Attackers by 6 points, then their next round’s roll will have a +6 added as a modifier. This modifier does not stack and expires after the next round.
Natural 20: Any side that rolls a natural 20 immediately adds +5 Budget Points to its Budget Point counter, regardless of who wins the Situation roll.
Resolve the Situation
The Attackers and Defenders both stated how they are going to attack and defend. Now it is time to debrief. Someone needs to explain what happened.
- If attackers win: defenders explain what failed, what was missed, or why the attack got through.
- If defenders win: attackers explain why their attack failed, was contained, or was exposed.
- If it is a tie: both teams explain the messy partial outcome.
Defender Return Calculator
At the end of the round, Defenders receive back one quarter of their remaining Budget Points, rounded up to the nearest whole Budget Point.
Rule: Defender return = remaining Defender Budget Points / 4, rounded up to the nearest whole Budget Point. Add that return to the current Defender Budget Points to get the updated total. Example: 37 Budget Points left gains 10 Budget Points, for a new total of 47 Budget Points.