Races
 

How do I add new races using the core cortex ruleset? They are basically shown as collections of assets and complications, but there doesnt seem to be an obvious way to group them using the editor. (The core set has the pre-made examples, of course)

In the editor, you'll note that each bundle of traits is either an seet (for total cost 0+) or a complication (for negative total costs). Each one has a number of bootstraps that add the bundled traits once the bundle itself is added.

So, in the editor, go to the assets and press New (Copy) - then select Android/Robot, or one of the other bundles. On the top right, you'll see that the bootstraps button's text is in purple, because there are bootstraps defined. If you click on that, you'll find all the assets/complications that are bootstrapped by the bundle. Now, for any of those bootstraps, click on the "Tags" button. You'll find that each one has a FreeDie tag - this is the trait level the target is being bootstrapped at. (Important note - since these tags need to be entered numerically, here, you'll need to know that the values of almost everything in Cortex are generally stored as half the die size, so that +1 step is simply a +1). Important note #2: Even if the trait you're bootstrapping has only one value (like the constructed trait, which is only available at d8), you'll need to add a FreeDie tag for that value.

So, in the first bootstrap for Android/Robot, you'll see that Attuned to Technology is assigned a tag of FreeDie value of 4, because Androids have Attuned to Technology d8.

Because the user may want to vary the effects of a trait (my robot has less technical skill than other robots - Attuned to technology d4), all the traits added by a bundle can have their rating changed once they're added, and the difference between the new value and the value assigned by the FreeDie tag will be charged or refunded to the character. Because they should also have the ability to remove a Trait entirely, but allowing them to be deleted isn't an option, because of the weird questions that adds for programming HL, each bootstrap is also assigned the Die tag, at at value of 0. This means that if your elf (normally Allure d4) is ugly by elven standards, but normal by human standards, you can set Allure to d0. It will be grayed out, because it is no longer active.

Also, take a look at the "Fields" button of the Memorable Asset. There, you'll see an example of how to fill in the text box for an asset you're bootstrapping.

Looking through the rest of the asset for Android/Robot, you'll see that the Trait Specials button says it has two tags: Bundle and Unusual Trait. That will probably be the case for most bundles, although in some settings, bundles aren't going to be unusual. Below that is the Race? tag - here, you can enter the a Race tag that will show up whenever the character's race needs to be displayed - the easiest place to see this is on the printout, on the top left.

At the very bottom of the list is the sources selector. Unless you want your bundle to show up while you're using Serenity, BSG, Demon Hunters, the Core rules, or Supernatural, or any setting a user comes up with, you should assign it one or more sources that say when it should be seen. Note that for the core rules source, you'll see:

Cortex Core rules (in gray)
Cortex Core Rules
Star of the Guardians
TRACE Setting
Arcady Setting

All the things from the core book are assigned to the gray version of the core rules, because all the others are actually children of the main one. As children, once they're selected, the parent is automatically selected, too, so the three settings from the core rules get to share all the basic core rules traits/skills/gear/weapons, and then get to add their own as well, so the Bloodsword from Star of the Guardians won't show up when you're playing TRACE.

If you're building a new game setting that's using the core rules as its base, I suggest you create a new setting that's a child of the Core Rules. To do so, first go to the (?) next to the grayed out Cortex Core Rules source, and you'll find that it's unique ID is SysCore. Write that down. Now, unselect all the other sources, select "-New Source-" from the top of the list, and press "OK". It will now prompt you to create your new source. So, give your source a unique ID, then enter the unique ID of its parent in the next line (SysCore in this case), and give it a name on the third line.

Unfortunately, the new source won't immediately be displayed as a child of the Core rules source, but it will work. So, now that you've constructed the bundle, press "Text Now!" at the top left to add it to the game, and then you can start using it.

To get your new source to display in the correct order, exit the editor, and once you're back to the regular HL window, press ctrl-r (Quick Reset). Once this is done you can re-open the editor, and your source will be in the correct place. From now on, all you need to do for everything else for your new game system is to simply select that source - you won't need to create it again.

Ah great :) thanks for that... I didn't try New (Copy) before. I was looking to build it from scratch, but had no idea where to make the associations.