Area Attacks

An area attack is an attack or effect that affects an area rather than a single target, such as a grenade, landslide, or a special ability or creature ability that inflicts damage in an area.

If you are in the area, you make a defense roll against the area attack to see if it affects you. Block rolls work normally against area attacks, but dodge rolls against area attacks are hindered.

If you're making the area attack and there are NPCs in the area, make one roll per NPC when that's specified by a special ability you're using. Sometimes your GM might ask that you make just one roll for the attack, and they'll apply the result to all the NPCs.

Some area attacks always deal at least a minimum amount of damage, even if the attacks miss or if a PC makes a successful defense roll. A given special ability usually indicates that if so.

When you use Effort to increase the damage of an area attack, it adds only 2 damage per level of Effort (instead of the normal 3). However, you only have to apply Effort once when using the ability, not for each individual attack roll made—unless the attack specifies that you make each roll as an extra action on your turn. In that case, then Effort works normally.