Cortex Plus Old Crown pt. 1

I’ve been pretty quiet for a while. I had a series of posts planned out, but then when one didn’t post and I lost it, I got a little behind schedule.
I’m going to try and catch up in the next few days, so I can start the new year on a high!

Speaking of which, I think I’ve gotten some positive results out of reading through the Cortex Plus Hacker’s Guide.
I’ve gotten through the Action rules, based on the Leverage RPG, I’ve gotten through the Drama rules, based on the Smallville RPG (best link to the product I found, sadly), and now I’m working my way through the Heroic Fantasy rules, based in large part on the Marvel Heroic RPG.

So far, I think I don’t like the Marvel rules so much. They just don’t fit the social aspect of my Old Crown setting as well. I went back to the Action rules and made a D&D-style hack using the six core stats (though I started with eight and then condensed, then realised how they matched up and felt bad about it). I wasn’t too pleased with that either.
I’ve also been hunting around the web and managed to find a few ideas I liked too.

So here’s the state of the current pool. Criticism welcomed, of course.

The basic roll is always two dice. These are drawn from the Drive and Method Traits.
Drive is pulled from the Smallville game, where each roll revolves around Love, Justice or Truth or something similar. I’m finalising the actual stats now but so far I’m using Bravery, Duty, Justice, Knowledge, Loyalty and Renown. They represent WHAT GOAL the character is acting upon.
Method is a lift from the Sword and Sorcery hack of Cortex Plus by Dain Lybarger. In his hack they’re known as ‘Means’ and are a re-flavour of the Affiliations used in Marvel Heroic. I might re-skin them myself, but for now they’re still Steel, Guile and Lore (Force, Subtlety and Logic maybe?). They represent HOW the character acts.

From there, the dice pool can be pulled from a few more areas.
Race, Distinctions, Career and Resources can all be added in.

Race is a single die, and should only be applicable in certain circumstances. I’m also allowing it as a method of earning Plot Points and to spend them for a specific benefit.
So, RACE: Static modifier OR gain a plot point OR spend a plot point for a specific moment.

Distinctions
I’m using these in a similar vein to the FATE Aspects. Chracters have three of them.
They are cool things about your character that make them distinct.
DISTINCTION either grants a d8, or a d4 and a Plot Point.

The Career is another lift from Dain Lybarger. They function in the same way as Specialties in Marvel Heroic, I think.
I liked them because they gave me the flavours of all the training and connections a character would gain over a lifetime.
Only one CAREER can be added per roll, unless a Plot Point is spent in the usual way to include another die.

Resources refer to Signature Assets (possessions, locations, magical ability, faithful servants etc) as well as any temporary assets created with plot points, the unfolding plot, or the GM rolling 1s.
They are only worth 1d4 if temporary, 1d6 if created with a plot point but still remain temporary, and 1d6 but permanent as a Signature Asset.

Stress tracks are currently
Emotion (anger, fear etc)
Fatigue
Injury
Social Standing (reputation, embarassment etc)
Wealth

I’m using a Trouble pool of the GM and a Growth pool for players currently, as I preferred them to the XP system. I’m going to make a decision on that once I’ve had a bit of a play/finished reading everything though.

And that’s it so far. I’m going to have another read of the Firefly game, and maybe try and find my digital copy of the Supernatural game I got free from DriveThruRPG at Halloween a few years ago. See if any other details fall out.