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You're waiting for me. I wanted to review every sheet and make sure nobody missed anything before moving on to Step 2. We were working out a couple custom distinctions and heritages, then we can move on to Step 2. The custom stuff is slowing me down as I'm trying to make it good AND fit the game rules and I have to keep double checking myself.

Something that came up in Group 2: "I just dont want this to become a great premise to a glorified porno, well i love the lewds in these things i have been in a game where the story full stopped because two players fucked like rabbits for 8 or 9 real world months well the rest of us kinda just... waited awkwardly, wanting our own moments, sexual or otherwise." I'm 100% in agreement with this. I don't mind a great description of a sexy scene, but maybe we should say they're limited to just a couple posts before we continue with the rest of the story and just assume the couple are satiated. Maybe they can take it off into another thre

Isabella said we probably wanna wait to write those so they can form more naturally on page 5. Gets kinda lost in all the posts. Basically we're not there yet.

I only put that there if someone has or wants an asset to hold their abilities - like Thor's hammer, Captain America's shield, or DreamsnThings' gas cannister launching parasol. You can delete it from your sheet unless you have an asset that is tied strongly to your character, so strongly that they're not themselves without it. All relationships and values start at d4. You get chances throughout the Pathways system to Step Up both, and I can't reiterate enough how important it will be to step up your relationships when you get a chance. In D&D terms, stepping up a relationship is like giving yourself an across the board +2 to

We all enjoy writing smut, but it's important that it's punchy and more... consolidated in a group setting like this. OFC not opposed to private RPs around the characters when/if it feels appropriate too! With the relationships; I still need to put mine on my sheet. Just so I understand, they are all going to be at d4 for the other players; do I need to put statements on for them yet? I Know it was implied that might be a future step

I agree. If people want an extended sex scene beyond a couple beats back and forth, we can create a separate thread where we can all enjoy eachother's sexy prose or take it into dms.

This is probably as good time as any to warn you all my rolls are shit

sounds absolutely perfect to me! frankly was not overly sure how to approach combat for an espionage themed honey trap, but from the sounds of it she should be great! in my opinion up to 5~ posts each should be fine well letting other characters participate in their own side/main stories concurrently, I just dont want us to spend months writing a 40 post long smut scene where one of the 3 players is stuck twiddling their thumbs... its a momentum killer if you cant write a post for several months irl erm, I will mention I was intending my main tool to be a parasol that worked as a chemical launcher (pheromones mainly), a multit

That is fair, I mostly spitballed mine on assumption that they were initial and however Pathways worked they'd go from there lol I was gonna need to rewrite them to be more declarative anyhow.

I'll rewrite them if I need to, but I dont see much changing based on my current understanding of the characters.

Why is everyone doing this? I don't get it.

I might put it into the first post of this thread. I don't want anyone updating the wrong pathways map between the two games. Plus, I was hoping to use the Rules reference for other games I might run using Cortex, so I don't want to put game-specific stuff in there.

I think I got it right, I added a pendant to my character, haven't fully decided how it works but I think its the source of my character's the immortality and powers, with the sex being more like fuel. Regarding sex scenes, given I have made lust a functional part of my character, I always assumed my character would be involved in a lot more sex than its roleplayed.

I think what happened was they bought it all, got all the stuff, but all the funding from the Kickstarter stayed with the previous company (or two companies ago... it's changed hands a few times now.) Cam doesn't say a lot about what's happening behind the scenes, but my guess is that's because he works there and has to keep the paychecks coming in. I missed the Kickstarter and I see all these items having been fulfilled but no movement on making them available to fans of the system who missed the kickstarter. I even messaged them once and said something like, " I have stupid amounts of disposal income how much will it take for me to get

Distinctions are entirely different in the Smallville game than they are in Xadia, which is 100% Cortex Prime. Smallville was one of the earliest implementations of Cortex, before there was a Plus or Prime. Xadia was the first Cortex Prime game. Honestly, I'm not sure I want to support Dire Wolf1. In Prime, you have 3 main Distinctions that define your character. In Xadia I think they basically boil down to a heritage, a homeland, and something else... I'm not digging my copy out right now to find out. But yeah, in Smallville Distinctions are sort of a catch all that include skills, personality traits, backgrounds, etc. It's a little we

Don't be so hard on yourself, I haven't even finished my sheet.

As far as sex scenes goes my vote would be to split it into some other thread. I do agree that they can really bog down a story otherwise. Not that it is a bad thing to have long sex scenes (mine generally are admittedly sometimes too long), but they are enjoyable to flesh out. Also sorry for holding things up. I do enjoy those two suggested distinctions so I'll probably end up going with both once the abilities aspect of the Heritage Distinction is decided upon.

Sorry! I'm not trying to rush you at all. Take all the time you need. I was more tripping up over whether I'd skipped ahead by writing those initial Relationship statements.

I haven't touched my statements yet, but will no doubt end up editing them. I'm a little confused on where we are in the game setup. It sounds like I jumped the gun on writing out Relationship statements for everyone when I did my character sheet. Should that have been held off until a later step or even left blank until play starts? I'll just hold here until the next step is explained.

I agree, keep the sex scenes to a few posts. I'll go a step farther and suggest that you can link the side-line continuing sex scenes to a thread in Public RP rather than clutter up TTRPG with a bunch of random porn loops.

IMPORTANT TIP: Another tip for Relationship and Value statements: They should be actionable as much as possible. These statements help you decide WHY your value or relationship would make you act in a certain way. So keeping them tight and punchy is better than wide and general. Great statements for relationships include: I need to be there for Louise d10 Jonathan is my moral compass d4 Pearl is not the same girl I used to love d6 Wiley can never be trusted d6 I can’t tell Susie my secret d12 Clara stands between me and my love d8 Elijah is reckless d8 Sylvia can take care of herself d6

Okay. I wasn't sure what you were going for there... if it was her, or "some random Ashborn follower of hers" Cool.

That is precisely who Ashborn is; Prudence Lawton, post revelation.

There is (or should be) a Genius Distinction. We could try something like: Mad Scientist: Your mind is a lightning storm of invention, obsession, and dangerous brilliance. You see possibilities where others see only wreckage, and your experiments push the boundaries of science, morality, and sanity. Roll the Distinction’s die when your bizarre contraptions, reckless theories, or scientific fervor give you an edge, or get you into trouble. d4: Earn a Plot Point when your obsession with an experiment causes chaos or distraction at the worst possible time. d8: Spend a Plot Point to Reveal that you happen to have a strang

I'm sorry, I must have missed that. We can make any custom Distinctions you need. Let me know what you're trying to define, and I can start tossing out samples/ideas to see if we can come up with some that fit what you want! It takes a bit to get for the feel for creating them in a way that fits. The most important parts are actionable limits and specific SFX that fit the standard exchange rules. You don't want any one ability or distinction to be out of whack with the rest.

I'm working my way through character sheets to make sure everything looks solid and playable. @AsBloodTurnsEverCold - for your Distinction and Ability, what do you think about this? Virtuoso Distinction: Music is more than skill to you, it is breath, fire, and soul. Your hands move with instinctive grace over strings, keys, or pipes; your voice resonates with power that can hush a crowd or stir them to tears. Whether in a saloon, a cathedral, or around a campfire, your performance holds people spellbound. Even without supernatural influence, you know how to make your music heard. d4: Earn a Plot Point when your music

There's a big list in the rules reference thread! I added info on Heritage Distinctions to the rules, at the bottom of the Distinctions section, along with a couple sample Heritage Distinctions for this setting. The Heritage Distinction may be more directly from the Smallville game than the Cortex Prime rules. For this game, we're crafting a narrative together, with the goal being to tell the most interesting story. While there will almost definitely be player vs. player contests, we should be crafting things collaboratively to make a great story rather than trying to win. My intention is that all character sheets can be

@AsBloodTurnsEverCold - Kojo needs to set his distinctions to d4 to start. You already have Kirsa listed as a Relationship, so you don't want to also list her as a Resource. Also, you need to Step Up one of your Relationships or your Distinction or Ability by 1 die size. ...and now I have to run off to an emergency dinner date. Some things require immediate attention.

This system is amazing for crappy rollers... it just get you more complications and drama. You literally can't go wrong.

Challenge accepted. Just today in a 3d20 roll LOW attempt I rolled a 17, 18, 20 to buy myself a resounding failure, with a bonus side of Complication.

Sheet updated with relationships

@WritesNaughtyStories I actually buy the Kingdom Death miniatures on their own but I also buy, paint, and kitbash Gunpla so that was just another fun thing to do for me. The game seems fun but the cost is hard to justify especially since all my friends are elsewhere but yeah off topic don't wanna clog things up while we all get this going. -------- I went ahead and wiped all the relationship stuff on my end as well except for the NPC so we could see how that develops at the proper pace. The smaller actionable statements is better for the cleanness of the map too.

I own KD:M and a BUNCH of expansions both physical and digital. The digital version is NOT worth buying. It's a Tabletop Simulator port that automates NOTHING. While it does include a digital rulebook, which you'll need to look up random events, it's a miserably low res capture, so you'll really want a physical copy. That said, if you can afford it, Kingdom Death is well worth the investment. I hate painting miniatures - well not hate so much as hate how much I suck at it - and have about 10 kilos of unassembled plastic, but I proxy my Whilte Lion and Starting Survivors for everything and love the game. We're way off topic. DM me if

@IsabellaRose May I suggest throwing the link to the Map into the Rules Reference page? Right now it is on page 4 of this thread but I feel it might get a little lost. Also I'm going to remove my relationship stuff for the moment (besides what I have for my NPC). Going to wait until we get further in the process for fleshing that out. I'm going to add the two distinctions that were suggested to my sheet as well, while leaving the abilities section of the Heritage Distinction ambiguous until we figure that out. I'll probably end up choosing both. Then I just need to figure out what Relationship, Asset, or Resource to step up and my c

It was free on Epic at one point, which is where I got it. It's too heavy for my wife and my gaming group is almost exclusively RPG, so I play against the computer. It's a really great implementation of the game. Thus far I've resisted buying a physical copy with all the expansions, but that's not likely to last forever.

This so true. Functionally Superman tends to be as powerful as the story demands, IMO the best stories show that regardless of how powerful he is, there are always limits, or when those limits are broken the price that must be paid.

If it's just a looks thing, we can just add it. I think we need to flesh out this Other World so I can make some decisions around how it affects other things as well. I do like tying unexpected things together, but I really need to see what you're thinking for this idea so I don't overstep.

This is one of the few RPG Kickstarters I didn't back, but the Kickstarter funded before Dire Wolf bought Cortex. I didn't follow the project closely (the whole Smallville, Leverage series of IP games kind of put me off the product a bit and only bought Xadia because the kids liked the show) but while I don't think any of their toolkits were licensed, is there, maybe, some snag with who owns what after the sale?

*remembers that profile pic* "Fuck." However, I stand by it. Like what you want, but you're never going to sell me Supes. I won't dog you for liking him, but I will dog him. I like my own, deeply goofy shit, that I completely get people ragging on. Have at it.

@AsBloodTurnsEverCold Man, do I feel that. @IsabellaRose I made some updates to my sheet, based on my current understanding of the rules. Any problems or changes please let me know at your leisure, I'll correct them immediately.

We're talking about a game so I'm going to resist the temptation to nerd out and counter any of those statements about Superman. Do we do anything with the Signature Assets? Do you prefer if its an item or could it be a space for an aspect of the character that didn't fit in the powers or distinction?

I don't disagree with the sex stuff at all though that is part of the fun of writing on a site like this it would derail things too much and inevitably leave people out. I like the idea of writing in a separate thread, but what I also do on other sites with a single rp thread is write it in Spoilers as a "flashback" section or depending on coordination between partners just like 2 - 4 long replies something fun to read, short and quick but shows off the writing chops anyway (which can also be done in spoilers) but I otherwise agree in not bringing things to a halt so characters can do the nasty with single threads while the characters m

Oooh. Those are pretty good! Abilities wise I was thinking that some aspects of what makes up a Vampire might show up, but not so much the extremely supernatural ones. It could be something like superhuman feats of physical prowess (her body getting supercharged from some tonic or experiment), an increased vision in darkness (a combination of her just being used to moving around at night alongside perhaps a boost from her experiments), possibly a quicker regenerative factor (again probably from tonics or experiments), or maybe a bolstered resilience to things like poisons and toxins and chemicals (due to her having experimented on hersel

No problem! You have been busy. I am still searching for lists as well and finding it exceedingly difficult. Of course I am also still figuring out what sort of Distinctions to lean into. Could go with her mad scientist aspect, or her genius. Perhaps a Heritage Distinction partially from her fake-Vampirism-made-unnatural-through-science angle? Like any proper mad scientist she doesn't just experiment on other people, especially if it assists her with survival, and in an attempt to cure her own sun sickness (which might act as a good weakness, which I think Heritage Distinctions are supposed to have).

@IsabellaRose Oh yeah these are much better than what I had going. I admittedly just copied and changed a few words cause I wasn't entirely sure how to make it work within the limits or how verbose I was allowed to be with them. I was gonna ask as work has been its own can of worms but these are great!

@StarlitSiren - make sure to include Willis as a relationship on your sheet.

I think I am going to try to find more examples of distinctions/traits and abilities/powers before I finalize that section.

ok well then ill be briefish I guess WANT tech - steam tech, chem tech, or really any tech that deviates from the default science. specifically I want my character to be weaponizing pheromones and I dont want her to be the only one in universe using a weird side tech Concepts - I would like something a little distanced from raw combat, maybe espionage, maybe a steampunk train hostage situation, maybe a high noon draw off where its more of a stand off then a battle, etc species - im fine with... literally anything you could be a yetti and I would be starry eyed and happy, or a dragon, or a sentient can of pringles. sexual interest v

They're definitely the foil to the Unbound, but mechanically a Limitation takes away any powers or abilities tied to a Heritage for the rest of the scene. I'm not sure I can come up with a way that the old church takes away your knowledge of pressure points or combat training other than by threatening others to keep you from using them, and that's the kind of dramatic interaction I'm hoping will make you WANT TO use your training... I think we'll keep it as a regular distinction for now.

Alright, this should be easier. Making characters is fun. I can build on it/change if necessary, but let’s try this as the starting point. Maybe mix a few of my ideas. A young human woman, formerly a student of a mad scientist, who seemed enthusiastic at first but found herself more troubled as it went on. Eventually running away, mostly on the run/exploring since then. Not sure if her former employer is searching for her. She is cautious, but loyal to people she trusts. When possible, she tries to use her education from the mad scientist to make money. Probably gives her a little skill in repairing things, though not necessarily a