Player-facing metacurrency earning is not a thing in Fate, but this post includes a recipe to make it work. Probably.
Author: The Polverine
I'm a philosopher, logician, Sherlock Holmes buff, former amateur girevoy sport competitor and on-and-off role-player. I've helped people get stronger since 2011, and better at RPG prep since 2021. Also, I've beaten Acute Myeloid Leukemia twice, and I still look like I lift.
Theory Thursday–Snatching Success from the Jaws of Failure
Narrative fallout is often offered as a way to escape failure in narrative TTRPGs. This post analyses three systems implementing “costly success” and concludes with an observation, a hypothesis, and a gameplay option.
Cortex/Apocalypse–Cortex Got Moves
TL;DR: This post turns Apocalypse World’s moves into a Cortex Prime gameplay trick to make dice-rolling even more narrative, and if you don’t care for the reasons, you can jump right to it. Apocalypse World (AW) and Cortex Prime (CP) share more similarities than meet the naked eye. It’s a leitmotiv of this blog. I…
Cortex-U–Threat 201: Disclaiming Decision Making
Cortex Prime can build Threat Maps on Pathways, and a GM can turn them into improvisational tools allowing for storylines without railroading
Cortex-U–Threats 101: A Practical Introduction
Apocalypse World’s Threat and Cortex Prime GMCs have a lot in common, and there are benefits to getting them even closer, which this lesson spells out, inaugurating Cortex U’s GM track.
Cortex University–Summer 2022 [w/ Class Schedule]
Welcome to Cortex University Lecture Notes Series! Easy-to-digest, research- and evidence-based material for Cortex Prime players, Game Moderators, and Hack Designers.
Cortex-U–Dice Pool Stories 101: A Practical Introduction
“Roleplay, not roll play” is a thing, but not in Cortex Prime. Dice-based roleplaying is a skill though, with a learning curve, and those Cortex-U lecture notes should flatten it somewhat
Wonky Wednesday–Mechanics or Roleplay?
In the inaugural post of this new series, I discuss narrative support and cognitive organization, with examples from Fate RPG and Cortex Prime. The ideas are half-baked, but I got this. Probably.
Lipsum-U–Lorem Ipsum 101: Dolor Sit Amet
This is a lorem ipsum adumbratio lectionis series. Translate nisi audes
Theory Thursday–Fair Games
A relatively benign communication problem in a virtual TTRPG game sent me down memory lane and into the pits of the Theory of Fairness, and I saw no good reason to spare you that.
The Polverine 