molonel said:
Is it difficult to succeed in actions when you do NOT use plot points?
In other words, do the mechanics seem to require that the plot points are the primary vehicle of heroic action as opposed to character abilities and skills?
Not really. The rules state that for most non plot-affecting actions, like a normal landing on a pad or flat ground, you're not ever going to roll; it's assumed that a character of sufficent skill does it as a matter of course, a sort of assumed Take 10 or Take 20 equivalent. The dice system is designed to work in conjunction with resource spending (Plot Points) to accomplish actions; sort of like the old SAGA system or other resource-spending hybrids.
Combat is a bit wonky - if you can catch an enemy flat-footed, they get a defense of 3; not much, considering that a low-average skill is d4+d4 for combat, IIRC, so you've got a better than average chance of just blasting them to Kingdom Come. Otherwise, it's a skill vs. skill contest most times, modified by circumstances.
The big thing to remember here is that the Cortex system (which isn't perfect - hand to hand combat is still a mystery to me after playing for 6 months, for example) is designed to maximize roleplay through minimizing dice rolling. Plot Points are meant as a resource, and not just for die rolls - they can also be used for dramatic editing. If you're rolling for every little action, it's going to get tedious, and it's going to seem broken because that's not how the system is meant to be used. It emphasizes the roleplay over the dice by far, so the polyhedrals should only hit the table in life-or-death, plot-affecting, dramatically-important situations.
