Overcome to surmount obstacles with your skills.

Every character will face untold challenges in the course of the story. The overcome action is how they face and surmount those obstacles.

A character good at Athletics can climb over walls and race through crowded streets. A detective with high Investigate can piece together clues others have missed. Someone skilled in Rapport will find it easier to avoid a fight in a hostile bar.

Your outcomes when overcoming are:

• If you fail, discuss with the GM (and the defending player, if any) whether it’s a failure or success at a major cost (page XX).

• If you tie, it’s success at a minor cost (page XX)—you’re in a tough spot, the enemy gets a boost (page XX), or you may take a hit. Alternatively, you fail but gain a boost.

• If you succeed, you meet your goal and the story moves on without hiccups.

• If you succeed with style, it’s a success and you also get a boost.

Charles has made his way to an Antarctic research facility. The buildings have been wrecked, and the occupants are missing. He wants to search the wreckage for clues. The GM tells him to roll Investigate against Fair (+2) difficulty. Charles gets [0][0][+][+] on the dice, plus his Average (+1) Investigate, for a Good (+3) effort. A success! The GM describes the clue he finds: footprints in the snow, made by creatures walking on many thin, inhuman legs.

Overcome actions are often used to determine whether a character can access or notice a particular fact or clue. Keep a close eye on those success-at-a-cost options when that’s the case. If missing a detail would cause your story to stall, take failure off the table, and focus on the cost instead.