Years ago I got the Cortex Marvel Superheroes Heroic game when it first came out. I was excited about it, but after running about a 14 sessions I found the whole thing just fell apart. I had problems with it like:
* Characters with multiple powers that weren't mutually elusive outright trounced characters with single powers.
* It was difficult to force-feed character advancement milestones when they didn't suit what was going on in the game.
* The level of abstraction inherent in such big dice pools versus the Doom Pool made players feel like anything they suggested turned into a big mess of dice. As a result, they stopped caring.
* Players were encouraged to "me too" all of their abilities just to get extra dice. You couldn't just dive to rescue a child, you had to somehow work your super-shield in there, and somehow your laser eyes, or else (the impression was) you wouldn't have enough dice to accomplish the task. Rather than making people creatively, it encouraged players to argue disassociated aspects of their character to bare on the situation in really garbage ways. As a GM I found myself saying "no" more than any other system. That's not a great theme at the table.
I don't think I was running it incorrectly; I was running it RAW, and after more than a dozen sessions I think I had a pretty good handle on the rules. I'm not saying that every RPG needs to be perfectly balanced, but this just seemed too full of holes.
This play experience conflicts with praise I've heard about other Cortex systems, like Smallville. I have no idea what the differences are between the different Cortex systems, and Cortex+. The system did a lot of good, too, and I'd really like it if it could clean up its act, so to speak.
Can anyone tell me if there is another version of Cortex that, perhaps, holds together a little better?
//Panjumanju
Best cortex?
Cerebral.
Quote from: Headless;1067982Best cortex?
Cerebral.
I don't know about you, but my brain does not have a great conflict resolution mechanic.
//Panjumanju
Quote from: Panjumanju;1067978Can anyone tell me if there is another version of Cortex that, perhaps, holds together a little better?
I like only the rules used in Serenity and the Big Damn Heroes Handbook.
The Cortex Classic (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/58488/Cortex-Classic-System-Role-Playing-Game) works ok, but it needs a GM to adapt it to a setting before it's really all that useful. It does have some really nice features (including broad skills that can only be developed to a limited degree before you have to specialize).
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1067991I like only the rules used in Serenity and the Big Damn Heroes Handbook.
Yeah, this for the most part. Though I did add a few things from
BSG that seemed to work well.