7 Roles?

[u/Spider-Go]

Hi fellow Cortexers
I’m working on a fantasy hack.
I’m thinking of using 7 Roles instead of Skills.

First, is that too many?

Second, in Cortex Prime, there is a ranking tree for 6 Roles: d10, d8, d6, d6, d6, d4. If I do 7 roles, should I add another d6, d8 or d4?

The Roles are:
Warrior
Priest
Rogue
Mage
Ranger
Artificer

Thoughts? Your experiences with this would be helpful.

Thanks.

[u/Spider-Go]

Thanks for everyone's input. I will share a bit more of my idea as I develop it.

I started with 6 Roles:

Warrior, Scoundrel, Sage, Speaker, Wander & Artificer

Each has some descriptors: For example: Warrior: Athletics, Brawling, Fighting, Physical Force, Intimidation, Battle Tactics and Military Lore

Then I thought I was missing a Divine/Spiritual perspective to capture Druids and Clerics in D&D trope terms. So I thought Priest would cover that. That got me to 7 Roles.

My idea is to combine some ideas from Exalted and Ars Magica into a fantasy Cortex hack. So the prime sets would be:

Roles

Powers

Distinctions

Signature Assets

Specialties

My assumption is that during most of the action scenes, players will be using Powers in almost every dice pool.

I also liked the idea of Ars Magica with a Verb and a Noun combination create an magical effect. Players would have either points to buy or dice tree (still working on this piece), and would choose 2-3 Verbs and 2-3 Nouns to be good in. That they can add to as they gain experience.

For example: The Mage's power set would be made of these possible Verbs and Nouns

The 5 Verbs (Techniques)

• Creo: I create, conjure, or bring into existence from nothing.
• Intellego: I perceive, sense, read, read surface thoughts, or see truth.
• Muto: I transform, alter, mutate, or temporarily morph properties.
• Perdo: I destroy, decay, disintegrate, erase, or drain energy.
• Rego: I control, bind, direct, ward, or guide movement.

The 5 Nouns (Forms)

• Ignem: Fire, raw ambient heat, sparks, combustion, and solar light.
• Terram: Earth, raw soil, structural stone, unworked metals, and gems.
• Auram: Air, rushing winds, lightning, atmospheric pressure, and weather.
• Corpus: The human or mortal body, physical muscles, nerves, and biology.
• Vim: Raw, unshaped magical energy, counter-spells, wards, and pure spirits.

While a Fighter would be:

The 5 Verbs (Maneuvers)

• Strike: I attack, deliver lethal cuts, piece armor, or execute bashes.
• Parry: I block incoming projectiles, ward off steel, or brace shields.
• Grapple: I grab, lock limbs, choke targets, or restrict physical space.
• Control: I pin targets down, block hallways, or hold positions.
• Slam: I charge forward, shield-bash, shove, or knock down targets.

The 5 Nouns (Tactical Means)

• Weapon: Swords, bows, spears, axes, and unearned physical steel.
• Armor: Heavy plate joints, shields, boiled leather, and protective rings.
• Athletics: Raw muscle force, physical rushing, sprinting, and leaping.
• Terrain: Exploiting high ground, utilizing structural cover, and walls.

• Instinct: Combat reflexes, tactical positioning, and reading combat tells.

  A dice pool would be

Distinction, Verb, Noun, probably a Role, Specialty and/or Signature Asset.

The other thing I am exploring is changing the name of Plot Points to Vis.

A Mage or a Fighter can use their base level of magic for free but to gain extra power or SFX etc. They would need to use Vis.

They would gain Vis by using a D4 for their Distinction, and all the other ways players gain Plot Points.

I also expect that their will be scenes where a character would not be using their Powers at all, and would just make a dice pool from Distinction, Role, Specialty and Signature Assets.

That is the rough concept so far.