Gamers everywhere are invited to join the world’s first online convention devoted to the Cortex tabletop RPG system, including Cortex Prime as well as other flavors such as Cortex Plus, Cortex Classic, and the recent free intro version, Cortex Lite! This fully virtual, fan-driven event runs November 3rd, 4th, and 5th, 2023!
Read on for more details!
Coinciding with the (new-to-me!) release of the Cortex Directory which features official and pro/semi-pro published Cortex games, I’ve turned the amazing Cortex Hack Database by Kamala Arroyo into a website where you can sort, find, and submit your own hacks!
Check it out here.
Looking for some ways to change up your Shadowdark campaigns? Maybe you want hardier characters at the lowest levels, or your thinking of alternative spellcasting checks that aren’t quite as dangerous on a mishap. Perhaps you want a morale system that’s not Wisdom-based, but also carries over some of the theory behind B/X’s 2-12 morale rating system, or can leverage detailed descriptions of monster behavior.
Whatever you’re looking to do, start here for some ideas! Read on!
Ever run a 5th Edition game and wonder where an important GM-facing rule is? Ever design a dungeon-crawl and grimace when all the PCs can see in the dark unaided? What are torches for in this edition, anyway?
Throw out your game master guide* and use this instead! Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack is here for you!
Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack is a super handy, 28-page reference guide and crawling-rules compilation formatted to be printed out as an A5 booklet: just open it in Adobe Acrobat, select Booklet, print, and staple! (You’ll want a long arm stapler: buy, barter for, or steal** one today!)
It compiles the best, fastest route to getting PCs playing in that “old-school” style where light, inventory, and careful exploration matters. On the GM’s side, it’s got all the hazards, trap rules, and object interaction mechanics you’ll ever need. Plus, it features robust social interaction and exploration rules, as well as some new twists on monster rules, all packed into a super-useful, reference-friendly layout.
In these pages, you’ll get killer new “house” rules and references like these:
With Treasures Just Beyond – O5R GM Hack, everything you need to give your 5th Edition games that old-school feel, and run it smoothly, is right at your fingertips!
*Don’t throw it out! It’s got all the cool magic items in it, and vaguely okay downtime rules!
**Don’t steal stuff!
Cover image by Dean Spencer. All Rights Reserved.
Pay What You Want on itch.io and DrivethruRPG!
All episodes of Enter The Nerdom‘s foray into the old-school goodness of Dungeons & Dragons are out now! Follow along as hosts Stan Moroncini, Chad Cook, and Watson Bradshaw join special guest Dan Mason, and delve into the depths of the Puzzle Dungeon: The Seers Sanctum by Directsun Games! We used a hack of Ben Milton’s incredible Knave to keep the rules simple and straightforward, maximizing our play time and keeping the players on their toes with every death-defying encounter and mystery they faced.
Here’s the complete episode listing:
You can catch all their podcast episodes here. Be sure to tune in, because they cover many amazing “nerdoms”: Ghostbusters fans, the incredible Star Wars-based charity organization known as The 501st Legion, professional wrestling, anime, and so much more!
I’ve also released some of the assets we used for the game:
I’ll put up a few more bits of information and perhaps some more adventure-specific assets I used in the following days!
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