 Cover of core book | |
| Designers | Jamie Chambers |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd |
| Publication | 2009 |
| Genres | supernatural horror |
| Systems | Cortex System |
The Supernatural Role Playing Game is a role-playing game by Margaret Weis Productions that was released in 2009. It is based on the television series Supernatural and was the final game to use the Cortex System.
Like most role-playing games, Supernatural requires several players; one person to be the Game Master and two to five others to play hunters such as Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester. It also requires multiple polyhedral dice ranging from four-sided to twelve-sided.
The Supernatural Role Playing Game is set in the world of the Supernatural TV series and focuses on an elite group of hunters who deal with supernatural threats ordinary people do not believe exist. The very first chapter of the book sets the scene and is called Be Afraid of the Dark. It was produced in 2009, before the fifth season had aired and so doesn't contain any information relevant to the series after this date, but uses information from the show, the graphic novels, and the novels. [1]
Supernatural was the final role-playing game published using the Cortex System, and the final one by Jamie Chambers; all subsequent games from Margaret Weis Productions have been produced under the Cortex Plus system. The system itself uses dice of various sizes ranging from 2 sided (a coin) to 12 sided for attributes, skills, Assets (positive character traits), and Complications (negative character traits). When trying a challenging task, roll the dice for the relevant attribute, skill, and any relevant assets and complications, and compare against a target number decided by the GM. Character creation is point buy by category, with a separate pool for skills and stats, and the size of the pool depending on how powerful the characters are intended to be.
The rights to the license were acquired in the spring of 2007 by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd (MWP). It was also around this time that New York Times best-selling author Margaret Weis announced that the license to Dragonlance was not renewed so that the company could focus on the Supernatural RPG as well as their work on the Battlestar Galactica RPG. [2] The Supernatural Role Playing Game was one of the three new Cortex media games published by Margaret Weis Productions, one each year between 2007-2009, after the Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game (2007) and the Demon Hunters Role Playing Game (2008). [3] It was finally released in August 2009.
Early indications by Jamie Chambers place the first official game event to be at Gen Con 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This will include "two adventures that will allow players to experience the Supernatural Role Playing Game for the first time outside of our internal playtesting and development." [1]
The reception was lukewarm, with Flames Rising declaring "If you are already a fan of the Supernatural TV show and want to play out the kind of adventures that happen to its protagonists, this book will come as a real treat. If you don’t know the show or are just looking for a game in which present-day heroes deal with supernatural menaces, this probably is not the game for you." [4] Douglas Schules, writing for Transformative Works and Cultures concluded: "[The] Supernatural Role Playing Game doesn't contribute anything too novel to the genre of RPGs. ... Even the incorporation of the television show's characters, monsters, and plots into the text as potential a campaign suggestions parallels industry practice, but this does not diminish the potential of players and game masters to appropriate the show and make it their own." [5]
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, Galactica 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games. A reimagined version aired as a two-part, three-hour miniseries developed by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003, followed by a 2004 television series, which aired until 2009. A prequel series, Caprica, aired in 2010.
Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise. It may also refer to the following aspects of the franchise:
In some role-playing game (RPG) systems, the dice pool is the number of dice that a player is allowed to roll when attempting to perform a certain action.
The Serenity Role Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2005 and set in the universe of the movie Serenity. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and its mechanics were the first iteration of the Cortex System. It won an Origins Award for best RPG in 2005 and Margaret Weis' license came to an end on January 31, 2011.
Michael Hogan is a Canadian actor best known for playing Colonel Saul Tigh in the 2004 Battlestar Galactica series. Other notable roles include Billy in The Peanut Butter Solution and villainous werewolf hunter Gerard Argent in Teen Wolf. He also lent his voice to Armando-Owen Bailey in the Mass Effect series, General Tullius in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game, and Doc Mitchell in the videogame Fallout: New Vegas.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, divorced.
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World is an American ENnies-nominated swashbuckling, colonial, horror role-playing game. It was first published by Paradigm Concepts in 2007 and premiered at the Origins Game Fair. The players play witch hunters, otherwise-normal men and women who have left their past behind in order to seek and destroy supernatural evil. Major contributors to Witch Hunter are: Scott Charlton, Pat Laboyko, Rucht Lilavivat, Henry Lopez, M. Sean Molley, Brian Schoner, Robert J. Schwalb, Robert Vaughn, and Eric Wiener.
Now most commonly referred to as "Cortex Classic," the Cortex System is a generic RPG system based on the Sovereign Stone role-playing game system,, and was developed by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd for the Serenity Role Playing Game. It was subsequently used for their licensed Battlestar Galactica and Supernatural RPGs, and brought out as a stand-alone system in the Cortex System Role Playing Game book. Serenity, using the Cortex System, was the 2005 Origins Award Gamer's Choice Role Playing Game of the Year.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is the fourth role-playing game set in the Marvel Universe published by Margaret Weis Productions under license from Marvel Comics. It uses the Cortex Plus system. The first volume was published in early 2012. In early 2013, Margaret Weis Productions announced that they would not be renewing their license and publication ceased.
The Cortex Plus System is a toolkit RPG system that evolved from Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd's Cortex System. It has been used for four published games and one published preview to date, and the design principles are in the Cortex Plus Hacker's Guide, a book of advice in how to create new games using Cortex Plus, and list of new games produced via Kickstarter. According to the Hacker's Guide there are three basic 'flavors' of Cortex Plus; Action, Drama, and Heroic.
The Smallville Roleplaying Game is a superhero-themed role-playing game published in 2010 by Margaret Weis Productions, and is set in the universe of the television series Smallville. The Smallville Roleplaying Game was the first of the new role-playing games from Margaret Weis Productions to utilize their new Cortex Plus system. The Smallville Roleplaying Game was designed by the game's line developer Cam Banks and indie role-playing game publisher, Josh Roby.
Leverage: The Roleplaying Game is a role-playing game based on the Leverage television series using the Cortex Plus system. It is known for its innovative use of flashbacks to reproduce the con or heist genre and was nominated for the 2010 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game.
Cam Banks is a game designer known for his work on the Cortex System line of roleplaying games as lead designer for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, and the Big Damn Heroes Handbook supplement to the Serenity Role Playing Game, among other titles. He is the Cortex Creative Director for Fandom Tabletop, the publishers of Cortex Prime.
The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Margaret Weis Productions in 2007, based on the Battlestar Galactica franchise.
The Demon Hunters Role Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Margaret Weis Productions in 2008.
Jamie Chambers is an American game designer who works primarily on role-playing games, contributing in a variety of genres. He served as Vice President of the non-profit Game Manufacturers Association, a trade association for the hobby games industry, from 2007 until 2016, when he chose not to seek re-election. He succeeded Marcus King for the post. Chambers worked with Margaret Weis at Sovereign Press in 1988, then transitioned with her to Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) where he served as Vice President and Lead Designer. While there, he created the Cortex System, a role-playing game ruleset that has been used by MWP since that time.
This is a complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Margaret Weis.
The Firefly Role-Playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2014, written by Monica Valentinelli and set in the universe of the Joss Whedon television show Firefly. It was produced by Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, and uses the "Cortex Action" variant of Margaret Weis Production's proprietary Cortex Plus game system.
The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games. Its most recent iteration, Cortex Prime, was designed by Cam Banks and initially published by Fandom Tabletop, then acquired by Dire Wolf Digital. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margaret Weis Productions, where it was used as the house system. Cortex is an adaptable game system focusing on characterization and story development.