Advanced Warning

Intuition
Quickness
Presence

Short Description

React with uncanny speed to ambushes and give your team the edge in the first crucial seconds of combat.

Success Criteria

Opposed RollSkill + d100 vs. opponent’s ambush or equivalent stealth-based roll.

Effects

Allows you and your allies to react with 1 AP (not attack) in a round where you’d normally be surprised.

+1 AP per 10 success rate to you and each ally affected.

Modifiers and Restrictions

No modifiers - those are applied to the original roll of the opponent.

Action Examples

Your squad is caught in a planned ambush in a derelict corridor. You roll Advanced Warning and beat the attacker’s stealth roll by 20. The team each gains +2 AP to reposition or activate defenses.

Long Description

Advanced Warning represents the rare but invaluable ability to detect danger just before it strikes and to immediately prompt others into coordinated action. Whether through intuition, battlefield experience, or reading the flow of a room, you can sense hostile intent and respond decisively—even before weapons are drawn.

When successful, this skill allows your team to act during what would otherwise be a surprise round. You can issue orders, reposition, activate protective spells or tech, or shift into tactical formations—but not initiate attacks.

It is particularly effective in missions involving infiltration, recon, or negotiation—any scenario where being one step ahead can determine life or death.

Sequencing

Advanced Warning + Formation Control — Rearrange your group’s stance or spacing

Advanced Warning + Battlefield Awareness — Use the gained tempo to evaluate the full threat landscape

Potential Counters

No direct counters

How to use this page

All the information above is intended as a guide to help you navigate the many situations that can arise during your game. Since it's both impossible—and frankly uninspiring—to plan for every possible outcome, players are encouraged to think creatively when using their skills. Game Masters, in turn, are encouraged to embrace and support that creativity.

Whenever possible, aim to resolve situations through narrative choices, logical thinking and role playing. If that’s not feasible, agree on a Difficulty Rating (DR) using the provided Success Criteria and Modifiers. These are not rigid rules, but suggestions - starting points to help you find the right level of challenge. The player describes their intended action, and the Game Master proposes a DR. This should be open to brief discussion at the table, ideally resulting in consensus. If not, the Game Master has the final say.

It’s important to emphasize that all suggested effects, modifiers, and action examples are exactly that: suggestions. If you’re unsure how to resolve something, they offer a reliable fallback—but wherever possible, we encourage you to push boundaries. That’s where some of the most memorable and exciting moments in play are born.

Sequencing and Potential Counters are far from exhaustive. With hundreds of skills, spells, and tech modules in the game, the possibilities are too vast to list. You’re encouraged to explore combinations that make sense in your story and setting and in the situations that arise in your game. Sequencing and countering are core to Cosmic Odyssey - they’re where strategic depth meets dramatic flair, and where legendary moments often take shape. Even if no sequencing and counters are mentioned, some certainly exists and can be smartly utilized.

So explore boldly, improvise wisely, and enjoy the game as it unfolds around your choices.