Tell me about Alternity?

[Stormonu]

In terms of history, I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. Cortex is derived from Sovereign Stone. Savage Worlds is a simplification of the Classic Deadlands system, and I think Deadlands predates Sovereign Stone by a few years.

Ah, shoot, I forgot SW evolved from Rail Wars/Deadlands, and I wasn't aware Cortex was an offshoot of Soveriegn Stone (the SS I have seems to be a d20 derivative?).

Anyway, what I was trying to point out was that if you look at the die mechanics, to me they seem to evolve from "roll d20+situation modifier and beat skill target number" to "roll trait+skill and beat target number" to "roll trait or skill and beat 4" - going from rolling big dice to smalller dice to one dice.