Cortex Prime: Hexen Ward

A secret struggle unfolds on the streets of Victorian London. Between worlds, neither Mortal nor Fae, you are Hexen, and the Ward is your home.

Character Files/Meta Currencies

I will update the Character Table on the wiki each time I update the IC thread. Please do not update the table yourselves. I don't want anyone losing Plot Points or Hero Dice from double subtraction.

If you feel I have forgotten to update the table or that my math is wrong, let me know OOC or DM me and I will fix it. Likewise, if I make a mistake on the Complications/Assets lists, let me know and I'll fix it. These also get updated when I update the IC thread.

Character		RD		MS	PS		XP							PP
Silas Wood
Grizel Warnock
Adelaide Tanner
Winifred Trelawney "Freddie"
Jennifer "Jenny" Crewe
GM: brahnamin Master of Shenanigans

RD: Resource Dice || MS: Magical Stress || PS: Physical Stress

XP: Banked Experience || Hero Dice || PP: Plot Points

Complications and Assets

Complication [C] // Scene Asset [S] / Episode Asset [E] / Reward Asset [R]

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[C]

[C] Spotted Grizel

[C]

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[S] Spriggan Fists Adelaide

[S]

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[E]

[E]

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[R]

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Current Character Objectives

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Setting Details

Map of Victorian London

Other Realms of Existence

Magic and the Secret War

Notable GMCs by Faction

PCs: What They Are and What They Do

Our Story So Far

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Chargen

Step By Step Character Generation

Blank Character Template

Character Advancement

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Mods

Action Resolution

We will be using a single opposed roll to determine the success or failure of a given action. I will put together an opposing pool to the player's roll if they are initiating the action. If I am initiating the action, I will roll before the player or assign a static difficulty. Ties go to the Player.

Asset Generation

Players can generate scene assets via pp spend or by using an action to roll for them. Purchased assets are assets unless an SFX converts them. Rolled asset ratings equal the effect die for that roll with being the minimum result.

Note: Rolled assets must be justifiable in the fiction as something the character can produce through their own agency. Purchased assets just appear as something that was always there but is just now showing up 'on screen' as it were.

Note: Any scene asset can be converted to an episode asset if the player spends a pp to do so before the end of the scene.

Complications

Complications model environmental obstacles. Complications accrue when the GM buys character rolled Hitches.

Complications never start lower than and drop off when stepped below

Recovering Complications: Players can step back a complication by buying opportunities in play or by performing a specific action to remove the complication and making a recovery roll. A successful recovery roll removes the complication altogether, but a failed roll still steps it back.

If a complication becomes fictionally obsolete in the narrative, it drops off without needing a recovery roll.

Special: Short of a full botch, I do not buy hitches generated by recovery rolls.

Effect Dice

Effect dice determine the value of rolled assets, complications, and stress.

Help Dice

If another PC is in the scene with you, they can lend their help to your action instead of rolling their own action. When this happens, roll an additional and add it to the main roll. Regardless of the number of PCs helping in the narrative, you only get to add one help die per roll.

Resources and stress generated by rolls that include help dice only go to the main roller.

Hero Dice

If a player beats the GM's roll or static difficulty by 5 or more, the Character earns a Hero Die equal to the highest die type in the GM's pool (or a vs a static difficulty).

Opportunities

Players may purchase GM rolled opportunities to step back complications or to step up an asset for the scene.

Plot Points

Players start each chapter with 1 pp (pp reset to 1 at the start of each new chapter), and they may earn additional pp via SFX and GM purchased hitches. All plot point spend options from p28-29 apply except Join a Contest since we are not using contests.

GM Plot Points: GM starts each chapter with 1 pp per player and may only earn subsequent pp with GMC SFX.

Stress Tracks

Stress tracks model a character's personal stress in the form of magical and physical reserves. Stress is accrued when a character fails a high stakes action. The GM may assign a specific stress track relevant to the fiction or allow the player to decide which track is affected. The amount of stress accrued is determined by the effect die from the opposed pool (static difficulty will never be used for high stakes rolls). Effect dice rated at cannot produce or step up stress.

Stress never starts lower than and drops off when stepped below

If magical stress is stepped up beyond the character cannot use tricks or masteries until it is stepped back again. If physical stress is stepped up beyond the character is taken out until they get enough sleep or medical attention to justify a recovery roll or it is stepped back by another legitimate method (opportunity, SFX, etc).

Pushing Stress: Players may push stress (use it as an asset for one roll) but that track is then stepped up following the action.

Recovering Stress: Players can step back stress by buying opportunities in play or by engaging in relaxing or centering activities during downtime scenes and rolling to recover one stress track (player's choice). A failed recovery roll still steps the track back by one.

Each PC gets one stress recovery roll per downtime scene. They may use it on themselves or another PC.

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Player Expectations

Post Frequency

• I am asking for a daily posting commitment for this game as a general rule, with the understanding that posting might be less frequent on weekends and holidays. Meatworld being what it is, this generally averages to 3-4 GM updates per week.

Note: if 24-36 hours have gone by since my last GM update, I may post a new update, even if all players have not posted, to maintain momentum.

Post Absences

• If you will not be able to post, for whatever reason, please ping us in OOC if you can so we know what is going on or post to the Absences Thread (I pretty much check that thing every time it lights up).

Post Formatting

• Please bold your character's name at the top of each IC post or bold the first instance of your character's name in the body of the post. We all game with lots of folk, sometimes with the same players in different games; this just makes it easier to keep track of which character we're addressing.

• If you are addressing another PC in your post it is helpful to bold their character name as well so it stands out for them.

• OOC blocks are fine for showing dice rolls and brief OOC comments directly related to a particular post. Please sblock if you need to include large blocks of text related to your IC post. All other OOC content should go in the OOC thread itself.

• Do not place action statements (incl pp spends/asset generation) or dice rolls in the OOC Thread. I will never keep up with those. All action statements and dice rolls should go in the IC Thread [with dice rolls OOC Blocked].

• Please link all dice rolls back to your dice roller.

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Resource Spending

I will only be rolling before players if a GMC is initiating the action or I am requiring a specific player roll. Otherwise players roll first and are subsequently unaware of the GM roll before committing resources. Rather than waiting for my roll to allocate resources, I prefer players indicate (if you are able) how many PP/HD you are willing to spend (if any) to succeed on the roll. I will do my best to make sure those resources are spent as economically as possible to achieve your desired outcome.

PBP is already painfully slow. This saves a step.

If you would earn a pp for using an SFX (including Hinder), you may spend that pp on the roll that earned it. Likewise if the GM buys a rolled hitch.

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PVP

While there is the potential for a fairly significant amount of player vs player conflict in a game like this one, I prefer not to run games that lean heavily to that assumption. Games like that simply do not need a GM, and I would much rather spend my time running games that do need a GM.

For reference, what I consider PVP basically amounts to this:

If an action would require dice to affect a GMC, then it counts as PVP if used against a PC

So disagreements, trash talking, indirect actions that might affect another character but aren't made directly against that character are all potentially on the table with the caveat that if something just makes the game not fun for someone that we respect that and steer clear.

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If you want to do something that directly acts against another player's character, proceed based on the following criteria:

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Unilateral Permission: The other player agrees to your action. No rolls are needed. Just RP it out.

Limited Permission: The other player doesn't agree that it is an automatic thing, but does agree to let the math rocks decide. Roll it out.

Declined Permission: The other player does not agree to PVP. Move on with something else.

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Development and Play Threads

Recruitment Thread

OOC Thread

IC Thread

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Other Resources

Orokos Online Dice Roller.

Absences Thread If you can't post for whatever reason let us know here or in OOC.

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Alternate Players

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