#RPG Thursday – Past it’s Prime? Cortex Prime Game Handbook (@CortexRPG, 2020)

Way back in May 2017 I was somewhat serious into role playing games. I was buying up many rule sets including Traveller 5 (Far Future Enterprises), Genysys (Fantasy Flight Games), and The Clement Sector setting using the Cepheus Engine (Independence Games). At that time I eagerly backed the new Cortex Prime: Game Handbook by Cam Banks on Kickstarter.

Today is October 2020. The Game Handbook delivered to me this week. Basically three years behind schedule. What now?

You see, I like the Cortex System, even as it has gone through many iterations. I absolutely love Cortex Classic in the Serenity Role Playing Game and Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game (btw, BSG has the second best Example of Play behind James Bond 007 Roleplaying Game by Victory Games). I even stuck with the system as it developed into Cortex Plus and its Cortex-Drama version (Smallville Roleplaying Game) and Cortex Heroic (Marvel Heroic Roleplaying) before ending up in the most excellent Firefly Role-Playing Game.

But that was three years ago.

I’m not going to go into the stupidity of the Kickstarter campaign. Suffice it to say that I will never trust designer Cam Banks again. However, I will try to put my hatred for Cam Banks and the sour aftertaste of the campaign aside and look at the Game Handbook in a neutral manner.

…Aw, H-E-Double Toothpicks – Who am I kidding?

If there is one thing about the RPG industry I hate is that many companies have seemingly bought into the SJW narrative of the world. The fact they chose to do so doesn’t bother me; that’s their decision. But when you try to foist your ideology off on me I have a different reaction.

Take for example the Cortex Primer on pages 5 and 6 of the Game Handbook. It describes the Core of Cortex with three example situations. Mind you, this is the first example of what types of characters you can play with Cortex. These examples are supposed to fire your imagination and show you the endless possibilities of the system. So what are you? A Barbarian, Maybe a Bard? How about a Sorcerer? A small-time independent operator ‘out in the black?” The last of mankind escaping the robotic holocaust? Iron Man? Maybe a down-on-your-luck ex-rebel standing up to the ‘man?’

Nope, you’re a reporter. Re-port-er. And not even CNN or Fox.

In the first situation the reporter needs to finish a report by the morning. It’s an Easy task for a Seasoned Journalist. The scene ends with the reporter slamming the paper on their bosses’ desk. OK, I guess you can feel good playing it this way because in the Real World^TM you’d get your butt handed to you, and rightly so.

The second situation is the reporter trying to get into a biker bar (aka ‘see the strong female character stand up to the misogynistic stereotypes‘) to meet a source. Of course she gets bounced into the mud but luckily she still meets her contact (Oh yes, all the heroes in the Cortex Prime Game Handbook are female; the lone male character is used to show what failure looks like in the rules).

The third scene is nail-biting. The now muddy reporter/college student must sneak into an office to get some files, which she acquires and escapes with. The scene ends there; no Woodward & Bernstein moment, just grab the files and escaping the office.

Wow, I am so motivated! Now I really want to play a CNN reporter on the campaign trail asking hard-hitting questions of the candidates (as you can tell, I really like fantasy settings).

Calming down for a moment, I’ll admit I like the Cortex System. I like the step dice mechanic and Plot Points. I like what happens when you roll a 1 (a hitch). I like how you can create Assets and Complications on the fly.

I just need to get through the rule book without choking on all the SJW goodness.

Sigh….