Ah, the Cortex System. If you’ve ever wanted to roleplay a wisecracking spaceship crew, a band of angsty teenage superheroes, or a group of vampires who just can’t stop monologuing, chances are you’ve brushed elbows with Cortex. It’s the rules light, drama heavy engine that powered some of the most memorable licensed table top RPGs of the 2000s and 2010s. Originally developed by Margaret Weis Productions (yes, that Margaret Weis of Dragonlance fame), Cortex has been quietly reshaping the way we think about narrative focused roleplaying games.
So grab your favourite polyhedral dice (you’ll need all of them), cue the theme music to Firefly, and let’s dive into the history, mechanics, and evolution of the Cortex System. Fair warning: we’re going to get just crunchy enough to hurt a molar or two, but with plenty of flavour to make it worth your while.
Table of Contents
The Origins: From Dragonlance to Dice Pools
Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) wasn’t originally known for experimental game mechanics. In fact, when the company started publishing RPGs in the early 2000s, it leaned heavily on existing systems. But then came the Serenity Role Playing Game (2005), based on the Firefly TV series and the subsequent movie. It was the first to use what would later be known as the Cortex System.
The goal? Capture the cinematic, character driven vibe of the franchise. The result? A system that ditched long lists of modifiers and crunchy rules in favour of fast paced, flexible mechanics designed to put storytelling front and centre. Characters were built using attributes and skills rated with die types like d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12, and you rolled combinations of them to determine outcomes. High rolls win, but the real magic is in how you build your pool. More on that in a minute.
Following Serenity, the system evolved further in Battlestar Galactica: The Role Playing Game (2007), Supernatural (2009), and Smallville (2010), each iteration tweaking the core mechanics to better reflect the tone and themes of the setting. And that adaptability became Cortex’s calling card.
Cortex Classic vs Cortex Plus: A Tale of Two Engines
Let’s talk terminology. When fans say “Cortex,” they could be referring to either:
- Cortex Classic: The original system from Serenity and Battlestar Galactica. It’s fairly traditional attributes, skills, traits, all tied to die types. Think of it as the crunchy peanut butter of Cortex still smooth enough to spread, but with some mechanical texture.
- Cortex Plus: A more narrative heavy reimagining of the system that began with Smallville and matured in Leverage (2010) and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (2012). Cortex Plus stripped away even more mechanical cruft in favor of narrative cues, player agency, and thematic mechanics.
Think of it this way: if Cortex Classic was designed to simulate what characters can do, Cortex Plus was about what characters mean in the context of the story. Cortex Plus didn’t just want you to shoot the bad guys it wanted to know why, how it affects your relationships, and what dark secret you were suppressing when you pulled the trigger.
The Mechanics: Building Dice Pools Like a Mad Alchemist
At the heart of Cortex is the almighty dice pool. Unlike systems that assign a fixed bonus or modifier to a character’s actions, Cortex has you build a pool of dice based on what your character brings to the table in a given moment.
Let’s take a quick example, using the Leverage RPG (because everyone loves heists):
- Choose a Role – Are you acting as the Hacker? That might be a d10.
- Pick an Attribute – Using Intelligence? That’s a d8.
- Add a Distinction – “Former FBI Agent” might be relevant. That’s another d8 or you can roll it as a d4 and gain a Plot Point.
- Include Assets or Relationships – If you’ve got a high tech laptop (asset d6), that goes in the pool too.
Now you roll all your dice and take the two highest results. That’s your total. The GM does the same for the opposing force, and whoever rolls higher wins the contest. Simple? Mostly. But elegant? Oh, absolutely.
Where Cortex really shines is in how players can tailor their pools to emphasize story elements. Got a weird quirk? That’s a distinction. Have a tragic backstory? Cool, let’s make that a mechanical hook. Want to argue that your character’s fear of clowns is relevant to this hacking scene? By all means if you can justify it, you can roll it.
Plot Points and Complications: Drama as Currency
In Cortex Plus, narrative control is currency. Literally. Players earn Plot Points for choosing suboptimal dice (rolling d4s instead of d8s), accepting setbacks, or playing into their character’s flaws. They can then spend those points to:
- Add more dice to their rolls
- Activate special abilities
- Create assets
- Influence the story in ways that rules lawyers might find suspicious
The GM (or Director, in some versions) can also introduce Complications, which are essentially story wrinkles like “On Fire” or “Suspected by the Police.” These are rated with die types too, and they act against players when relevant. The trick is that players can try to remove them by roleplaying clever solutions or exploit them to gain Plot Points.
In short, Cortex is a game where being a beautiful mess of a human being isn’t just encouraged it’s mechanically rewarded.
Cortex in the Wild: From Superheroes to Soap Operas
The sheer range of Cortex powered games is impressive, and each title reflects a unique take on the system. Here are a few notable entries:
- Smallville RPG (2010): Yes, Smallville. This game blew minds by centering mechanics around relationships and values, rather than stats and skills. Instead of “Strength d10,” you might have “Love d8” or “I Believe in Justice d10.” Conflicts weren’t about who could punch harder, but whose ideals would win out. It was a soap opera in spandex and it worked.
- Leverage RPG (2010): Based on the TV show, this game emphasized team dynamics and cinematic heists. Each player had a role Grifter, Hacker, Hitter, Mastermind, Thief and the system encouraged flashy, clever problem solving. You could almost hear the Mission Impossible theme playing in the background.
- Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (2012): This one might be the crown jewel of Cortex Plus. Designed by Cam Banks and powered by narrative mechanics that made superhero comics sing, MHR used “Affiliations” (Solo, Buddy, Team) instead of traditional stats, and leaned hard into action-packed storytelling. It was critically acclaimed, beloved by fans, and tragically short lived due to licensing issues.
- Firefly RPG (2014): Yes, again. When MWP regained the rights, they rebuilt the system using Cortex Plus, creating a more polished and story-forward version of the original Serenity RPG. Shiny.
Cortex Prime: The One System to Rule Them All
In 2020, the system reached its final form (so far) with Cortex Prime, a modular, customizable toolkit that lets GMs and players build the exact version of Cortex they want. Think of it as a narrative IKEA kit you get all the mechanical parts, and you decide whether you’re building a superhero drama, space western, or teen angst simulator.
Cortex Prime doesn’t come with a default setting instead, it provides Mods, which are plug and play rules for specific genres, themes, or mechanics. Want to add superhero style powers? Drop in the “Powers” mod. Want social conflict rules that don’t just devolve into shouting matches? There’s a mod for that too.
The Cortex Prime rulebook, developed by Cam Banks and published by Fandom Table top (who acquired the system from MWP), is both a culmination and a celebration of everything that came before. It’s clean, flexible, and smart enough to let you build something deeply personal without getting bogged down in rulebook wrangling.
Cortex Philosophy: Tell Me Who You Are
What makes Cortex different isn’t just the dice it’s the philosophy. This is a system that puts character at the heart of the game. Not just what you can do, but who you are, what you believe, and how those beliefs clash with the world around you.
Conflict is often internal. Success isn’t always clean. And your coolest moment might come not from rolling a 12 on your gunfight, but from taking a d4 on a critical relationship roll because you lied to your best friend to protect them.
And that, folks, is some premium drama.
Cortex and the Future
With Cortex Prime in the wild and a growing community of hackers, designers, and storytellers, the system continues to thrive. While Fandom’s ownership briefly created some uncertainty about licensing and third party development, the future is looking bright and modular.
In the end, Cortex has become more than just a game engine. It’s a philosophy of play one that encourages flexibility, embraces imperfection, and celebrates the chaos of human emotion. Whether you’re a superhero balancing work and crime fighting, a space outlaw dodging the Alliance, or a teen witch in love with a vampire who’s also your rival’s twin brother (long story), Cortex is there to help you roll with the drama.
Final Thoughts: Should You Cortex?
If you’re the kind of player who wants clear rules, tactical combat grids, and a strict separation between mechanics and narrative… Cortex might not be your jam.
But if you live for character arcs, emotional complications, and group storytelling that can pivot from comedy to tragedy on the roll of a die Cortex is like a warm, slightly dysfunctional family reunion. It rewards creativity, empathy, and cleverness. It challenges you to be vulnerable in-character. And it delivers some of the most memorable moments in table top gaming.
So grab your dice, write down your deepest insecurity as a Distinction, and let’s roll.
