Smallville RPG

Hello everyone,

Not sure if people play with this setting or system anymore but I really enjoyed when it was around.
So I am asking if anyone here would be interested in running a Smallville game ?

Please let me know.

Huh, I didn't even know there was a Smallville RPG, interesting.
I watched the show some years ago but haven't thought about it much since. If a Smallville game were to happen here, I would definitely be interested but I have no idea about the system

I also didn't know there was a Smallville RPG. I don't know if I would play, but I'd be interested in following along a bit if the forums are public. I've introduced my 12-year-old daughter to the show. We're on season 4. It's a bit disconcerting to see her drool over Clark Kent!

The game is powered by the Cortex engine IIRC...

Yes, it had it's own rules for a time too. Character creation is almost a game unto itself. It recreates super powered drama teen TV well, balancing characters in a way that is pretty amazing considering you have Clark in there with normal people quite often. Cortex Engine is that still available ? I know people have a hard time getting Smallville RPG since it isn't produced by MWP anymore.

As far as I can tell, there were three books: 1) the Corebook, 2) the Smallville High School Yearbook, and 3) the Watchtower Report. You used to be able to get the pdfs on DriveThru RPG, though they are no longer available. You can find the Corebook ($56) and the High School Yearbook ($36) on Amazon. You can also find the Corebook and the High School Yearbook in a pdf if you're diligent enough. It looks like Margaret Weis Productions lost the license before a physical copy of The Watchtower supplement could be released. That pdf is far more elusive.

Oh I have all three the books and the PDF for Watchtower, but I was asking more for other people. Still your right on all counts. I haven't heard of cortex engine though, that is new to me.

Thank you Kalajel and McDunno.

MWP had the license for Marvel Heroic Role Playing for a while as well. Which was pretty good too.

Is there a physical book for Watchtower? I couldn't find anything.

No they never made a physical book for it sadly.

I wouldn't mind learning how to play, if a game does open up.

Its very much like being in a CW show.
As opposed to dwelling on what hero is stronger etc. It was really cleverly put together at the time.

Love the Smallville RPG system (aka Cortex Plus Dramatic), really interesting twist on the conventional sets of rpg stats and skills (Relationships and Values). I'm currently playing in a Cortex Plus Heroic/Marvel Heroic RP game here... I'm pretty stacked with involvement tight now, but our if curiosity, what would the setting/premise be for your game?

Is there another book beyond the Cortex Hackers Guide.

I am looking for someone who might run it, though it would be nice to meet Clark and crew in game.

I love the Smallville RPG. I had a lengthy love affair with that game, spanning several years. You can hear me go on and on and on about it in the old episodes of the Shark Bone Podcast.

I would be up for running it, if there's enough interest. Character creation does take a long time in PbP and I wouldn't want anyone to drop out in the middle of or right after character creation... I ran a long PbP of it, years ago. It was a lot of fun.

Sharkbone I am in !
I was in one of your games briefly before and know your love for the game well.

There's lots of different iterations of the Cortex system. Cortex Classic is the Firefly and Battlestar Galactica RPGs, and is basically a progenitor of Cortex Plus Action (the Leverage RPG).

The Cortex Hackers Guide is a filing off of the serial numbers from the Cortex Plus Action (Leverage), Dramatic (Smallville), and Heroic (Marvel Heroic RP) versions of the system, and ports them each into generic or non-IP settings. The C+HG had all the system information necessary to play those three settings/systems, plus it shows you how to mix and match there unique elements for your own setting hacks.

There is also now Cortex Prime (a unification of the Action/Dramatic/Heroic "package" into one modular toolset) which successfully kicked more than a year ago, but the guy who took over is dragging his feet in a major way. And there's a lot of uncertainty as to whether it's ever going to actually see the light of day, although updates do still trickle out at a glacial pace.

I wish I had time to run something new right now.

Shark bone, I don't own the game or have any idea how it works. If that's not an issue, I'd love to join your game

If you know the general flow of shows like Smallville, Arrow, Buffy etc. It really helps out. It has a very back and forth, give and take feel with lots of plot twists.

As for Cortex Prime I never heard of that in hindsight from what you said possibly for the best.

I do like when players have the rulebook, but with this one being out of print, I know that can be hard to do. And character creation is tough. Maybe if everyone was ok with me creating the characters based on their concept we could make this work...