Cortex Worlds/Distinction

One way to look at SFX is as a combination of a cost and a benefit. The standard SFX for all distinctions has the cost of “use the distinction as a ④” with the benefit of “earn a ●Ⓟ.” Here’s a list of sample costs to choose from: • Spend a ●Ⓟ (very common) • Step down a beneficial die (usually an attribute, skill, or asset) • Step up a non-beneficial die (usually a complication) • Choose to do or introduce something risky/ill-advised/complicated (“When you walk right into a volatile situation and start causing trouble…”) • Create a ⑧ complication • Shut down a trait set (the trait set can’t be used until restored) Here are some useful benefits: • Earn a ●Ⓟ • Add a ⑥ to the dice pool • Step up a beneficial die (usually a specialty or asset, like “step up Pistols”) • Double a beneficial die (usually a specialty or asset, like “double Pistols”) • Step down a non-beneficial die (usually a complication) • Introduce a non-mechanical story detail (“Hey, I think I know that guy’s brother...”) • Rename a complication (“I’m not Sickened, I’m Angry”) • Reroll a single die • Create a ⑧ asset for the rest of the scene Some SFX may switch out the cost for a different sort of triggering condition. This can include rolling a heroic success, or some roleplaying-based triggering effect. Mary Rose introduces some SFX in her TRACE 2.0 police procedural game. One lets a player double their character’s Move skill die when they’re in water. Another lets them introduce an Obscure Legal Case ⑧ asset in any scene in which they’re alone with a law enforcement officer. SFX often combine both a cost and a triggering condition, especially if the benefit is broader or more potent than usual. In some cases, an SFX may include a narrative condition that explains when and how it’s used to give context to the SFX. Tina’s Sage in a fantasy game has an SFX that lets her spend a ●Ⓟ to bank two hero dice of a given value instead of one, so long as she is engaged in battle with her hated foes—goblins. A powerful feature (doubling a hero die) has a triggering condition (fighting goblins) and a cost (spending the ●Ⓟ). It might be too narrow for some groups, but for the setting Tina’s playing in (an epic war against goblins) it could be a powerful advantage. STEPPING UP, STEPPING DOWN, REROLLING, AND DOUBLING SFX use these dice tricks a lot, so here’s a summary of what these actually mean. • Stepping up means increasing the size of a die by one step, i.e. a ⑥ to a ⑧, or a ⑩ to a ⑫. • Stepping down means decreasing the size of a die by one step, i.e. a ⑧ to a ⑥, or a ⑫ to a ⑩. • Rerolling means rolling a die or dice again, ignoring the previous result and using the new result. • Doubling a die means adding another die of the same size to the dice pool before the dice are rolled. Aside from rerolling, most SFX tricks affect the unrolled dice in the pool, although SFX that call for stepping up or stepping down an effect die obviously take place after an effect die is chosen. CHAPTER 2 PRIME CHARACTERS 63 LIMITS A limit is an SFX mod that introduces vulnerabilities that provide ●Ⓟ. A hero is nothing without his flaws and weaknesses; most superheroes have an Achilles’ heel, even if it’s just that their powers wear them out! Most limits use the shutdown cost with the earn a ●Ⓟ benefit. With a shutdown cost, there’s always a specific situation in which the character can restore the shutdown trait, even if it’s just “restore the trait at the beginning of the next scene” or something along those lines. The GM can also activate limits in some circumstances by spending a ●Ⓟ (or doom pool die, if that mod is used). If the GM chooses to do this, they should first offer the player the option to activate it themselves, in order to gain the ●Ⓟ benefit. If the player decides not to, the option then goes to the GM, and the ●Ⓟ the GM spends goes to the pile, not to the player.