IsabellaRose

I haven't figure out how to do rolling yet. I'll find a site that will work for Cortex dice, or maybe I'll build my own Or we could do that, which I might opt for because the only price of failure is giving yourself more ability to advance in the future.

For the map itself, I'll be using Miro. It functions as a collaborative whiteboard and I find the tools to be quite easy to use. I setup a basic template for new Cortex games and used it to create the first EcchiCortex game on Miro. The link to the board for this game is below. You don't have to know/learn how to use it. I can add to it for everyone, or you can mess around with it and do it yourself. Just don't mess with my template https://miro.com/welcomeonboard/Nk01YWtwTXhmdnFodEk1Rlo4YnVlVjJhdlNzdmhTSUxHbzlvL0xHRTFOVGIvTHBkdzdVRjZZaksxWWhKa2JIYTlDQk1lNnh0NUhkZXZYbzNndWk0SVRNYlQ1bE55Z0NwdW1pSnhFSDNFQ1lRaFhJSlZJd2duRkgwOUUwaElEK01zVXVvMm53MW9OWFg5bkJoVXZxdFhRPT0hdjE=?share_link_id=818859235310 Once I verify with my players from another site that they're cool with me using some of their writing, I can share a couple example scenes from another game along with what was rolled, how and why it was rolled, and commentary on the technical aspects behind the scene. I find that concrete examples make it all click a lot easier than any abstracted rules I can provide.

In the original Smallville game where the system was created, you pick from five choices at each step in the process that give you different options of what you get to add to your character. This was how you would create a Clark Kent/Superman character with an alien origin and super powers or a Lana Lang character with a mundane origin on Earth and no super powers. For instance, the "Priority" step of Pathways (which lists your life goals above) gave you options to choose your Priority from: Friends & Family, Work, Moving Forward, Looking Back, Performance. If we were using the default steps, I'd suggest Moving Forward for someone without a concrete goal. You're just trying to get through this moment and on to the next thing, no matter how it happens. One of the big things about this game, though, is creating characters who are already tied to all the other characters, who are invested in each other for good or evil, and who care about what happens to each other. You will have a Relationship rating with every other character, and a statement describing your relationship to them. One of your Relationship ratings will be used in every single roll you make, as everything that happens in the game should be dramatically relevant to at least one relationship. You can be a loner without concrete goals, but you'll still have a relationship with all the other players, even if that relationship is defined as "d8 Robert - Robert needs to leave me alone and let me do what I want." When Robert gets in your way or even just tries to talk to you and a conflict arises, you would roll your d8 from that relationship (plus other dice) to affect the narrative.

PATHWAYS Pathways is an interactive and collaborative setting and character creation process. As you step through the Pathways process, you work with the other players to create a map that shows the connections between player characters, NPCs, places, events, and objects that helps provide the basis of a Cortex Prime game. It’s best to set aside an entire session for it, and it’s intended for use in a long-term game. Pathways is excellent for creating the setting within which the players create their characters. Each stage in the pathways process can be used to assign some of the points or steps that create a character beyond their starting values. For instance, you begin with a d4 Relationship with each of the other players. If you know you need to assign a total of 9 points to Relationships, and you’re using 9 stages, each player will increase the value of a single Relationship during each stage. More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About Cortex Pathways

The prep is all frontloaded and collaborative, so I'm only doing 1/5 of it if there are 4 players. After the Pathways setup, I need a bit of time to setup the world with all the pieces the players created. but then it pretty much runs itself. Dramatic roleplay relies on characters, their motivations, desires, values, relationships, and whatnot, so all I need to know is pretty much which playing pieces are involved and the story will more or less tell itself by the players actions and dice rolls. I'm a very improv GM, and this system really works well with that style. Usually I'll do an intro/setup post, then let all players post, then post NPC replies as necessary, but I've run games of this online where there are dozens of player posts before I ever have to make one. Those are the best, when the characters are interacting and making their own drama.

Eight interested players... maybe I'll make 2 games of 4 each... hmm...

WEG Star Wars d6 was amazing! Great system, great sourcebooks. Also Maid is a bonzo crazy game. It's so chaotic and fun!

The primer is mostly just "this is how the rules basically work" and lets you know about building dice pools, what plot points are, and the basic "roll and keep" system. I'll be getting together a "system reference" document for the various trait sets I'll be using in this game. You'll build your character, the NPCs, key locations, important groups, etc. concurrently with all the other players during the Pathways system, which I don't believe is outlined in the Primer. The way this works is, first I define the basics of the world, which I did with very broad strokes up above. Then the players each go around and say "for me, THIS must exist in the world to make this game exciting." We all get to make sure that the elements we want, or elements we do not want, are specifically called out prior to creating the game. Using your example, if you said "I'd like vampires to be in the game," but three other players said, "Vampires would be taking it a step too far for my liking", then we'd have a discussion, see if you would be interested in another type of character, and/or see if the other players would be willing to include vampires. The idea is to get consensus on the basics of the world that we all agree with. Keep in mind that if you decide to include something like vampires, that gives me as the GM a new playing piece on my board, as well. Yes, I'm the type of GM who loves to infuse things the players come up with into the world and into the enemies they'll face. Anything any of us puts on the table is a toy that anyone around the table (so to speak) can play with.

I'll leave this interest thread open for a few days to give everyone a chance to reply and to field any questions. Feel free to tag anyone in you think would be interested. Also, as a sort of disclaimer/warning: Cortex is very much a narrative system. It's in the game category that I call a "fiction engine" in that the mechanics support driving conflict and drama and creating a narrative. This is VERY different from the usual D&D style of play, which I think of as "simulation engines" in that the mechanics try to simulate physics, combat, and the physical actions of a character in the world. In a narrative style game you won't track hit points or gold pieces, there's no inventory, and player death is rare and usually only happens when the player decides it would be a good way for their character to go out. The game is highly collaborative, and the way I run it, very improvisational. If you looked at the rules primer linked above, you will notice that you can roll a "hitch" which is a bad thing that happens when you don't succeed. Around a table, I'll have all the players toss in ideas for what the hitch is and we generally choose the most entertaining option. On here I might take a bit more of a referee role but if someone suggests a great hitch, I'm likely to use the player suggestions above my own. I will ask for input regularly, because this isn't my story I'm running you through, it's our story we're creating together. You will help create the world when we create characters and also as we play the game. I find this to be the most rewarding style of roleplay, but it's not for everyone. My D&D friends stumbled and took some time to wrap their heads around it, and a few bowed out because it wasn't what they wanted from an RPG. You've been warned. It's not a typical RPG, so if you think you wouldn't like a game without HP, Armor Class, and damage rolls, then you probably don't want to sign up.

Well, I opened up a new thread specifically to check for interest in my Cortex game. More details at the link below:

My favorite game system is Cortex, or more specifically, the Cortex Drama system originally developed for the Smallville RPG, improved with suggestions in the Cortex Hacker's Guide, and then brought all together in the latest version of the system, Cortex Prime. I'm considering running a dramatic game centered around a small group of PCs and their connected NPCs set in an 1880s wild west / steampunk / weird science world. Imagine someone combined the works of Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, HP Lovecraft, and HG Wells, added in a dash of Nikola Tesla, a pinch of Indiana Jones (without the Crystal Skull nonsense), mixed in Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, Doc Holliday and all the wild west tropes you can imagine, maybe added a bit of mad scientist and supernatural weird west nonsense, and dressed it all up in steampunk finery... and you're looking at the general idea for the setting. There will be over-the-top villains, square-jawed heroes, and buxom babes a plenty. Obviously, given our site, there were be lewd content and a deviation from the more buttoned-down, puritanical ways of the colonial western expansion and Victorian era, and I expect most characters to "get some" on a regular basis. In fact, I intend to add a mechanic that will make it imperative that you keep your honey pot stirred or your wick well dipped regularly in order to keep functioning at your highest level. I will be adding some rules references in the game ooc discussion thread, and clarifying rules there if necessary, but everyone can check out the rules primer on the Cortex site at https://www.cortexrpg.com/compendium/explore-the-rules If you're interested, reply here and I'll invite you. I'm looking for 3-5 reliable players who won't ghost the game. Normally I expect player drop out from an online game, but the way this system works, there is a Pathways system to setup the game world and it ties elements of the game world inextricable to every PC. If someone drops out or disappears, it can really mess up the flow of the game. So please, only sign up if you're serious and expect to be in it for the long haul. Oh, we'll also be using another site for the Pathways map, which gets messy and confusing. So if you're leery of using other sites for things, don't sign up. That's my pitch. I'll understand if no one replies. I'm an evil taskmistress of a GM.

Challenge 44 is posted! Deadline Sep 20.

THE CHALLENGE For this challenge, write about a threesome. The setting, situation, parties involved, etc. are all up to you. Deadline Midnight (EST) , 20 September 2025 Limits 1 entry per person no strict word limit, but please try to keep it around 2,000 words- remember, everyone has to read these to vote Prizes 1st Place: 4,000 EcchiCredits 2nd Place: 2,000 EcchiCredits 3rd Place: 1,000 EcchiCredits

I always have at least one solo game going all the time. Mythic is great, but there are also solo rules and emulators for other systems. When I still enjoyed D&D, I found a particularly useful book called The Solo Adventurer's Toolkit by Paul Bimler on DM's Guild. If you're a 5e fan and want to play solo, I recommend it.

It's designed to be a universal system to play any game solo. I haven't used it for too many systems, but that's exactly its function. Being the weirdo data person I am, I recreated a lot of the rules and tables in Excel and Word with formulas to track stuff easier... well, easier for me, because I live in Excel for half my job. Everyone else would probably think I'm nuts.

In a solo RPG, an oracle is a tool (usually a table, but I've seen online generators as well) that provides answers to your questions about the game world, generates story elements, and creates content for improvisation, filling the role of a Dungeon Master (DM) in a traditional game. By rolling dice or drawing cards and interpreting the results, a player can get answers to yes/no questions, receive prompts for characters or locations, and generate plot hooks to keep the adventure moving forward. An example from the solo game I'm currently playing: The PC has amnesia and has been recovering in a small town, trying to find work without identification and social security number, and mostly relying on the kindness of a few locals who have sort of adopted her. Her amnesia was caused by trauma (nearly drowning in a flash flood) but before that, she was... someone. I hadn't decided if her background was more sci-fi, spy tech/espionage, supernatural, super hero, or... well, really anything. I just knew that there was something special about her and people would come looking if they thought she was alive. The way Mythic GM works, you figure out what would be the next most likely scene based on what has already happened, and then roll to see if that scene happens as expected, if there's an alteration (removing/changing a character, item, location, etc.) or if it's an interrupt scene (aka random encounter/event/etc.) She was found by the shore of a river after a flash flood with no id, no phone, nothing but the clothes she was wearing, so my expected scenes were: 1. wake in hospital, 2. meet nurse, 3. meet doctor get diagnosis, 4. meet sheriff get questioned, 5. hang around until sheriff or doctor have news, 6. find out she can't be identified, 7. find out she can't be kept in the hospital, 8. be released on her own. Those things all happened as expected. Based on the conversations and expectations I set, the next scene was her getting a bed for the night at the community center. BUT, I rolled the the scene would NOT be the expected scene, but be an "Altered Scene". On the Scene Adjustment Table, I rolled a 7, which meant I needed to roll for TWO adjustments. I rolled 5 (which says "Remove an Object" on the Scene adjustment table) and 3 (which says "Reduce/Remove an Activity" on the scene adjustment table). To figure out what object is being removed and what activity is being reduced or removed, I rolled once on the d100 Object Oracle Table and got 83 Soft. The I rolled on the d100 Location Oracle Table and got 81 Safe. So soft and safe are being removed. That was easy to interpret. The bed is not available, nor is the safety she assumed she'd find at the Community Center. It turns out the nurse was mistaken, and there are no beds available there- they only have beds there during a crisis or emergency. So now she has to figure out where else to go. She asks the community center employee for suggestions and gets a list of possible places to find a bed, one of which is the motel. She is told she might be able to work at the motel in exchange for lodging, so... off to the motel she goes. So the oracles give you lists of words that you interpret (or if you really want to take your chances, you could put them in chatgpt or something) to tell you what NPCs do, what happens in a scene. Mythic has generic "action" and "description" tables, but it also has tables for Adventure Tone, Alien Species Descriptors, Animal Actions, Army Descriptors, Cavern Descriptors, Characters, Character Actions (Combat), Character Actions (General), Character Appearance, Character Background, Character Conversations, Character Descriptors, Character Identity, Character Motivations, Character Personality, Character Skills, Character Traits & Flaws, City Descriptors, Civilization Descriptors, Creature Abilities, Creature Descriptors, Cryptic Message, Curses, Domicile Descriptors, Dungeon Descriptors, Dungeon Traps... and that's just through the letter "D". It's very versatile, and you can lean into the oracles as much or as little as you like... after all, it's your game.

I've been loving Mythic GM Emulator for solo play. It's provides a really nice pacing mechanism for random events or interrupt scenes where something changes the characters plans. It seems more like a book or movie than a typical dungeon crawl. When things are going well for the PC, they are more likely to continue to go well for a bit, sort of emulating a downtime period, or the setup, planning, or regrouping phases of a story. But then once things go sideways, they're increasingly more likely to continue going sideways, which gets into some great high pressure, fast-paced scenes driven by action and the oppositions' plans or interference. Plus the oracles have been pretty helpful, and when I'm at a loss for how to interpret one, I've been feeding the last thing that happened into AI and then telling it to provide possible next scenes using the oracle results as inspiration and I've been pleasantly surprised.

In the Cortex Dramatic version I'll be using, the drama focuses on a tight-knit group of characters and NPCs. You can use it for any genre, but think of groups of characters whose interpersonal drama is the focus of a tv show, like Smallville (the original Cortex Dramatic system was written for the Smallville RPG), Deadwood, The Expanse, Andor, Burn Notice, Alias, etc. You can use it for any genre, and characters of any power level are equal because their powers aren't the focus of the game or the dice rolls, their relationships and values are. It changes the focus from "complete the mission/quest" to focus on the people you're with and your relationships with them, good or bad. It tightens the focus on drama and is great for lewd games if you love a randomized element to whether or not two characters have sex and then focus on the emotional fallout of those sex scenes (or lack of sex scenes, if it didn't work out.)

I was contemplating running a super dramatic and very lewd game in either: an 1880s steampunk / mad science / wild west / supernatural world OR... a 1960's cold war espionage spytech type setting I'd be using Cortex to run it, so the setup would take a bit to get through the Pathways system. It's a very collaborative character and world building system where the players get to create their characters as well as NPCs, locations, powerful organizations both good and bad, etc. I'm curious if there's any interest in either of these settings.

fuck, because he fucked my wife and... that'll show him...?

fuck... to give her as many round as she needs

fuck to try to take her mind off having to kill someone

I'm all about the story, so if I have to sometimes bend the rules to make it a better story, I almost always do. The beginning felt stilted at first, until I decided to draw the third card for Act 1 and alter what I'd written for the 2nd card to make it a little more cohesive. The epilogue felt right, even if it really wasn't part of the game. Part of me wants to write about that modern day theologist, who she is, and how her life has been shaped by the words of Prudence. Part of me wants her to go back in time to meet Prudence and realize that, no, the devil was not a metaphor, there was an actual Devil chaining her, whose minions she had to battle. I think that would be fun.

I pulled all three first, and to be fair, I might have reordered the one where she destroyed something of hers just because it didn't feel right being the first thing. But yes, I pulled all 3 minor then their related major and thought on each answer, then tried to give a cohesive thread through the three. It felt right to do it that way.

Fuck, because it's a great way to introduce yourself!