These traits are rolled as a d8 when they are beneficial. Most Cortex games include Distinctions as one of the trait sets, which describe what makes the character distinctive. Prominent among these is to roll more than one die from a single trait set, or to add additional die results to the total. Players have access to a limited pool of 'plot point' tokens, which can be spent in a number of ways. 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. The highest two die results are added together for the player character's effective total.

Dice that roll 1 are 'hitches', and represent something going wrong in the attempt. When rolling dice, players select one trait from each set and roll their dice together as a pool. For example, a strong but unintelligent character might have Brawn d10 and Brains d4. Each trait within each set is rated with a die size. Characters are described with a number of trait sets, such as attributes, skills, relationships, or powers. Cortex is an adaptable game system focusing on characterization and story development.Ĭortex is an extendable and modifiable game, but with some consistent mehanics. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margaret Weis Productions, where it was used as the house system. Its most recent iteration, Cortex Prime, was designed by Cam Banks and published by Fandom Tabletop.

The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games.

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