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The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games. Its most recent iteration, ''Cortex Prime,'' was designed by
Cam Banks Cam Banks is a game designer known for his work on the Cortex System line of roleplaying games as lead designer for ''Marvel Heroic Roleplaying'', and the ''Big Damn Heroes Handbook'' supplement to the ''Serenity Role Playing Game'', among othe ...
and published by Fandom Tabletop. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margaret Weis Productions, where it was used as the house system. Cortex is an adaptable game system focusing on characterization and story development.


Game mechanics

Cortex is an extendable and modifiable game, but with some consistent mehanics. Characters are described with a number of trait sets, such as attributes, skills, relationships, or powers. Each trait within each set is rated with a die size. For example, a strong but unintelligent character might have Brawn d10 and Brains d4. When rolling dice, players select one trait from each set and roll their dice together as a pool. Dice that roll 1 are 'hitches', and represent something going wrong in the attempt. The highest two die results are added together for the player character's effective total. Another die not used in the total is selected as the effect die, the size of which determines the magnitude of the die roll's effect. Players have access to a limited pool of "plot point" tokens, which can be spent in a number of ways. Prominent among these is to roll more than one die from a single trait set, or to add additional die results to the total. Most Cortex games include ''Distinctions'' as one of the trait sets, which describe what makes the character distinctive. These traits are rolled as a d8 when they are beneficial. When the distinction hinders the character, however, it is rolled as a d4, and the player earns a plot point.


History

'' Sovereign Stone'', produced by Sovereign Press, Inc and published by Corsair Publishing, based on the
eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...
novels of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, was the earliest iteration of the sysem. The game was written by Larry Elmore and
Don Perrin Don Perrin (born 1 October 1964) is a Canadian writer and former military officer. Early life and education Born in Iserlohn, Germany, Perrin grew up in Kingston, ON, Canada, McMasterville, QC, Canada, Bromley, Kent, England, and Ottawa, ON, Can ...
.


Cortex Classic

In 2004, the rights to the Sovereign Stone'' game was transferred to Margaret Weis Productions, where the system was used for the
Serenity Role Playing Game The ''Serenity Role Playing Game'' is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie ''Serenity''. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and its mechanics were the first iteration of the ...
, published in 2005. The game system was used, with minor amendments, for the '' Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game'' in 2007 and the '' Supernatural Role Playing Game'' in 2009. The underlying system was released as ''Cortex Role Playing Game System''.


Cortex Plus

In 2009, Cortex development was passed to
Cam Banks Cam Banks is a game designer known for his work on the Cortex System line of roleplaying games as lead designer for ''Marvel Heroic Roleplaying'', and the ''Big Damn Heroes Handbook'' supplement to the ''Serenity Role Playing Game'', among othe ...
, who refined it into "Cortex Plus" by introducing its roll-and-keep system and streamlining all ranked stats to use die sizes that could be rolled in various conflicts. Cortex Plus saw its debut in 2010 with
Smallville Roleplaying Game The ''Smallville Roleplaying Game'' is a superhero-themed role-playing game published in 2010 by Margaret Weis Productions, and is set in the universe of the television series ''Smallville''. The ''Smallville Roleplaying Game'' was the first ...
and Leverage: The Roleplaying Game. Both games were developed concurrently, with design notes passed between writing teams, but each game featured unique variations on the basic Plus engine. The next round of development saw Banks create
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying ''Marvel Heroic Roleplaying'' (abbreviated as ''MHR'' or ''MHRP'') is the fourth role-playing game set in the Marvel Universe published by Margaret Weis Productions under license from Marvel Comics (after '' Marvel Super Heroes RPG'', ''Marvel Sup ...
, published in 2012. This game focused on fights and action scenes. The core game was originally slated to be followed by a long series of supplements, each focusing on a different period of Marvel's fictional history. In 2013, Margaret Weis Productions announced that it would not be renewing its Marvel license, and the game went out of print. The ''Cortex Plus Hackers Guide,'' a complication of many different 'hacks' of Cortex Plus, was initiated in January 2013. Without the licenses for the three existing games, the Hacker's Guide presented three 'flavors' of Cortex Plus: drama, action, and heroic. Monica Valentinelli then developed the 2014 '' Firefly Role-Playing Game'', published in 2014. This utilized a variant of the ''Leverage'' rule set.


Cortex Prime

On November 1, 2016, Margaret Weis Productions released a statement announcing that Cam Banks and his new design studio Magic Vacuum had licensed the Cortex system and would be "taking over the design, development, and publishing of games based on these rules... for 2017 and beyond," coinciding with "Margaret’s retirement from RPG development to focus on her current novel and film projects." Banks then set out to normalize the four games of the Cortex Plus era as well as the preceding four Classic games into a single, unified system. This iteration, Cortex Prime, was funded via Kickstarter in April 2017. Prime discards the drama, action, and heroic flavors of Plus and instead offers a modular system that can be custom-built for vastly different play experiences. As part of the
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...
stretch goals, five volumes of "spotlight" mini settings by 22 authors, were also planned and funded. In September 2019, Fandom Tabletop acquired the rights to Cortex from MWP and hired Cam Banks as their new Cortex Creative Director. Fandom intends to publish the ''Cortex Game Handbook'' in 2020. In 2021, Fandom plans to publish the five volumes of spotlights, as well as two licensed game settings: ''Tales of Xadia: The Dragon Prince Roleplaying Game'' based on The Dragon Prince television show, and ''Legends of Grayskull: The Masters of the Universe Roleplaying Game'' based on The Masters of the Universe franchise.Become Masters of the Universe in New LEGENDS OF GRAYSKULL RPG
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References


External links


Cortex RPG Official Site
{{RPG systems , state=expanded American role-playing games New Zealand role-playing games Margaret Weis Productions games Role-playing game systems