Tales of Xadia: The Dragon Prince Roleplaying Game (TOX) is a hidden gem that deserves more attention. This tabletop game comes with a robust digital toolkit, similar to D&D Beyond, and it’s built on the Cortex system found in Cortex Prime Game Handbook. Despite being tied to a popular TV show, TOX offers a lot to players who aren’t fans. In fact, I believe it’s the perfect system for running Curse of Strahd (COS), even better than D&D itself. Let’s dive in and see why.
Tag: cortex rpg
Updated 7/30/2024: Dire Wolf has released the Tales of Xadia Premium Dice Sets, announcing them just ahead of GEN CON 2024. I ordered all three sets on that Saturday and received shipping info first thing Monday!
The Cortex system has had a complex journey, passing through several owners. Originally developed by Margaret Weis Publishing, the game mechanics were licensed to lead designer Cam Banks, then sold to Fandom, and finally to Dire Wolf Digital (DWD) after Fandom exited the tabletop roleplaying industry. This tumultuous history has created challenges and opportunities for DWD, particularly in the areas of community marketplaces and licensing for content creators.
The Cortex Prime Game Handbook is renowned for being a versatile “LEGO set” of rules that allows players to design their own game experiences. Award winning, even. This modularity makes it comparable to systems like GURPS and Fate, yet unique in its lack of a singular “core game.” Unlike Fate, which has a permissive license encouraging extensive modifications, Cortex currently lacks such a framework, limiting its appeal primarily to game designers, but not just them, specifically ones who aren’t looking to become content creators themselves—a potentially very small audience in the heavily DIY roleplaying game industry.
Let’s talk about the vision versus the state of the game, and then consider the future of Cortex, all in terms of marketplaces and licenses.
Updated 7/30/2024: Dire Wolf has released the Tales of Xadia Premium Dice Sets, announcing them just ahead of GEN CON 2024. I ordered all three sets on that Saturday and received shipping info first thing Monday!
In August 2022, Dire Wolf Digital (DWD) acquired the Cortex RPG from Fandom, including the Cortex Prime Game Handbook and Tales of Xadia: The Dragon Prince Roleplaying Game. Despite this transition, the game remains alive, but in need of revitalization. A dedicated and vocal fanbase remains active on the Cortex RPG official Discord, and meanwhile, the larger tabletop industry hasn’t moved on either, despite some fans’ fears. In fact, Cortex is still widely discussed and recommended across forums and social media. It has garnered hours of content and hundreds of thousands of views in the past few years, even as DWD has remained silent on its future. New products are still being launched as recently as last week (June 2024).
A deep dive into the current state of Cortex RPG, conducted with the help of dedicated fans, revealed several strategies to change the perception of Cortex as an under-supported game. These ideas can help Cortex achieve the potential Fandom saw when they purchased it in 2019.