Cortex Fantasy

Attributes

Each character has four base attributes: Physical, Mental, Social, and Magical. One of these attributes is applied to a given skill along with a distinction to make your base roll for any action.

• Physical - This attribute is for skills that mainly rely on bodily effort to accomplish.
• Mental - This attribute is for skills that mainly rely on brainpower to accomplish.
• Social - This attribute is for skills that mainly rely on interacting with others to achieve goal.
• Magical - This attribute breaks the rules and allows the character to interact directly with a thing apart from himself. The sort of things a character can interact with are de4fined by the Arcana distinction.

Players start with two attributes rated at d10, one at d8, and one at d6

Skills

Skills are broad areas of ability that characters have and are rated by die size. Skills start at d4 unless they are a highlighted skill. Players have nine points to spend on their character's highlighted skills. For one point the skill starts at d6, for two points it starts at d8,for three points it starts at d10, and for four points it starts at d12. Skills may not be raised above d12. You must start with at least three highlighted skills and may go to a maximum of nine.

Once highlighted skills are selected, you have another nine points to distribute among all your skills. Raising a skill from d4 to d6 at this stage costs two points. Raising a skill already at d6 or higher costs one point per step raised to a maximum rating of d12.

Below are the list of game skills.

• Craft - Covers all instances of making things.
• Drive/Ride - Covers driving animal drawn land vehicles and riding trained mounts.
• Fight - Covers all instances of physically attacking another being with fists, feet, or melee weapons or touching someone who might not be willing (hugs, handshakes, etc)
• Fire/Throw - For using ranged mechanical or hand propelled weapons and tools.
• Fix - Covers repairs of all kinds.
• Focus - Used to resist social, mental, or magical Influence or Trickery.
• Influence - To persuade another to believe or do a thing.
• Know - Used to put together information or to check character knowledge of a thing
• Labor - Covers general activity requiring raw physical effort.
• Move - To get from point A to point B. Usually in a timely manner, but also when the way is dangerous or uncertain. Move covers Swimming.
• Navigate/Pilot - Covers the use of river, lake, and sea craft.
• Notice - Covers seeing/hearing or otherwise . . . noticing . . . something you otherwise might not. Often used as a counter to Sneak.
• Perform - The use of grace, acting, dancing, playing an instrument, etc, to influence or impress an audience.
• Sneak - Covers doing things unseen/heard.
• Survive - Covers physical survival, usually of the elements.
• Treat - Covers treatment of wounds, poisons, or psychological conditions.
• Trick - Covers any kind of deception: physical, mental, social, or magical.

Knacks

Knacks are narrow areas of specialization under a broad skill. Knacks are completely player defined and rated at d6. Knacks can only be assigned to skills rated d6 or higher. So if your Fight skill is d6 or higher you might select Swords or as a knack. Any time you are rolling your Fight die and using a sword you can add the die for that knack as well.

Each player starts with five knacks. Additionally, if your Know skill is rated d6 or higher, you get one free knack under that skill.