project-image

Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG

Created by Brotherwise Games

Order the Mistborn Campaign Setting for the Cosmere RPG today! This pre-order store will be open until February 28th, 2026.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Beyond the Physical Realm
about 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 26, 2024 at 07:46:18 PM

Happy Monday, Worldhoppers!

We send this update after a momentous weekend of new backers, and having just reached $11 million in funding. We’re now one of the Top 10 Kickstarter campaigns of all time, with a very real opportunity to rise through those ranks in our final 72 hours.

This will be a busy week for the Dragonsteel and Brotherwise teams, as we hustle to spread the word about this campaign. So today we’ll just take a quick jaunt to Shadesmar!

The Cognitive Realm

“All things exist in three Realms … Physical, Cognitive, Spiritual. The Physical is what we feel, what is before us. The Cognitive is how an object is viewed and how it views itself. The Spiritual Realm contains an object’s soul—its essence—as well as the ways it is connected to the things and people around it.”

This quote from Shai, protagonist of The Emperor’s Soul, perfectly summarizes the three Realms of the Cosmere. Like the nature of Investiture, the three Realms play a role in every Cosmere story. They’re also reflected in the RPG’s attribute and skill system.

While most Cosmere RPG adventures take place in the Physical realm, it is possible to venture into the Cognitive realm, known as Shadesmar in The Stormlight Archive novels (a term also adopted by many worldhoppers). Traveling to Shadesmar is not easy, and during the Era of Solitude, the only reliable path is by ascending the Horneater Peaks and entering Cultivation’s Perpendicularity.

One of the Horneater "Oceans," a large hot spring in a crater lake atop the Horneater Peaks. The water within glows an almost emerald shade of green-blue. Longhouses and verdant farmlands surround even this smaller Unkalaki settlement.
"Horneater Peaks" by Anthony Avon

Once you enter Shadesmar, you’ll find yourself in a strange reflection of the world you know, an unearthly landscape beneath dark skies. Where you’d find land in the Physical Realm, Shadesmar contains vast seas of black beads. Where you’d find oceans, you’ll see obsidian plains covered in crystalline flora.

Shadesmar Map by Isaac Stewart
"Shadesmar" by Isaac Stewart

There are settlements in Shadesmar, populated by sentient spren and visitors from other worlds. You’re less likely to find sources of Stormlight, a scarce resource in the Cognitive Realm. Food and water are also at a premium, though some of the local spren cater to worldhoppers.

A bronze-skinned lightspren ("Reacher") in the open-air market of Celebrant. A peakspren and two Cryptics stand behind her.
Detail of "Celebrant Travelogue" by Marie Seeberger

If you’ve bonded a Radiant spren during your adventures, you’ll find that they look very different in Shadesmar! In the Physical Realm, Radiant spren take forms that are sometimes abstract, sometimes humanoid, but generally small and subtle. In Shadesmar, the peakspren you’ve been carrying in your pocket might have the stature of an Unkalaki warrior!

"Peakspren" (Physical Realm and Cognitive Realm versions) by Kevin O'Neill 

The Stormlight World Guide contains a chapter on Shadesmar, containing basic lore as well as special rules for traveling there. For example, each bead in Shadesmar represents an object, which can be manifested by a disciplined wielder of Stormlight. Lightweavers and Elsecallers can also shape the beads into simple structures. The World Guide also contains enemy profiles for the beast-like emotionspren that characters can encounter in Shadesmar, such as angerspren.

Stretch Goal: Showdown in Shadesmar

Today’s unlocked stretch goal is a guided tour of Shadesmar in the form of an original adventure for 7th-level characters! This is our last of four e-supplements, which together add a lot of value to every pledge.

SHOWDOWN IN SHADESMAR PDF

This e-supplement will be available in early 2026 ,well after Stormlight reaches backers but ahead of Mistborn. Its default perspective is written for characters traveling to Shadesmar from Roshar, but it will also contain a mode for characters from Scadrial. You could even play as a combination of both, making this the first taste of Worldhopper content planned for the future!

Staff Spotlight: Ace Baldwin

Today’s spotlight is a star in all three realms. ace is one of our newest team members, but has already applied their deep Cosmere knowledge to the Mistborn World Guide!

ACE BALDWIN, Writer

ace baldwin is a writer for Cosmere RPG. As a longtime writer of fantasy, they discovered Brandon Sanderson via the Writing Excuses podcast in 2011. They finally got around to reading The Way of Kings in 2013, and have been thinking about the Cosmere ever since.

When ace isn’t writing, they’re often found designing systems and puzzles for their home games, or helping moderate many of the Sanderson-related subreddits. By day they’re a UX designer, specializing in systems and interaction design. You will most often find them trying to logic a problem no one asked them to solve.

Being able to combine their love of the Cosmere, writing, and RPGs was an opportunity too exciting not to throw themself at full-force. Outside of this brand of nerdery, they’ve performed and written for metal bands, and sometimes make cute, silly doodles.

Spoilers for Stonewalkers
about 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 24, 2024 at 04:54:22 PM

Happy Saturday, Worldhoppers!

It seems like every time we write an update, there’s an exciting new milestone to share. This afternoon we crossed the $10 million mark, driven by a ton of momentum that came out of the announcement that we’re now the most-funded RPG campaign in Kickstarter history.

Today we have an update that takes a closer look at Stonewalkers, the official hardcover adventure that will ship with our other Stormlight campaign setting books next year. This update will have some pretty big spoilers for the adventure, so beware! If you're a GM, keep reading. But if you might be a player in a Stonewalkers campaign, you probably want to stop reading after today’s stretch goal reveal.

Here’s what we can say about Stonewalkers without revealing any spoilers:

  • Stonewalkers is a hardcover adventure, currently about 160 pages long (but subject to change in final layout) featuring 6 chapters.
  • Players will begin at level 1 and gain a level after each chapter (reaching level 7 by the end).
  • The adventure runs parallel to Words of Radiance, though as play proceeds, the story will lead characters away from the events of the novels.
  • It doesn’t assume players are familiar with Roshar, allowing them to learn about the world through their characters’ eyes. It contains all the relevant backstory for GMs (though GMs new to the setting are also encouraged to read through the Stormlight World Guide.
  • The story for Stonewalkers was created by Dan Wells and Brandon Sanderson, and includes new canonical details that lend additional insights into events leading up to Wind and Truth.

If you’re a Cosmere buff, you’ll probably want the adventure just to read through it… Dan and Brandon put some awesome new lore into this story! If you’re an RPG player, especially if you’re new to being a GM, it’s the perfect way to get into the RPG before you start crafting your own homebrew adventures.

Stretch Goal: Condition Cards

Before we continue, here’s today’s unlocked stretch goal! We’ve realized that between the Initiative Cards and Event Cards, we’re starting to have a pretty robust pack of cards to ship alongside the Plot Decks. So to complete that bonus deck, we’re also including a set of Condition Cards.

CONDITION CARDS: Every pledge including the Plot Decks will now come with a set of 16 Condition Cards! These cards help you track common conditions like Determined, Surprised, Disoriented and more!

When a character has a “condition,” they’re experiencing some kind of ongoing effect. They can be positive (like being Empowered after swearing an Ideal) or negative (like being turned into fire). Tracking conditions with a card is a great way to remember them and keep the game running smoothly! 

Alright, now without further ado, let’s talk about Stonewalkers!

Stonewalkers Adventure Book front cover (featuring three Heralds) and a two-page spread (featuring an illustration and a map)

A Different Kind of Adventure

Published adventures are a staple of roleplaying games. They’re a great way to see a system in action, and even GMs who homebrew their campaigns often buy published adventures to steal maps, enemies, and scene ideas.

In most licensed RPGs, it’s common for official adventures to take place on the margins of the official story, to avoid potential conflicts with official content. But most licensed RPGs don’t have the creator at the table. As Andrew pointed out early in design, “collaborating with Brandon is like if George Lucas had helped us write adventures for the Star Wars RPG.”

The Stonewalkers Adventure Team

The adventure was also one of the aspects of this campaign where Dan Wells had the biggest impact. Dan is a fantasy and horror author, the VP of Narrative at Dragonsteel, and a former professional GM with an encyclopedic knowledge of RPGs. He and Brandon collaborated on the original outline for Stonewalkers, and he worked closely with the team to develop it with our “writer’s room” of expert adventure writers.

Thanks to all this official involvement, and our shared commitment to keeping the Cosmere RPG canonical, Stonewalkers tells the kind of story you wouldn’t see in another licensed game.

A Smattering of Spoilers

Okay, you’ve been warned. From this point on, we really mean it. Spoilers ahead! First up, here’s a look at the endpapers for the Stonewalkers adventure, painted by Petar Penev.

Left: Axies, Ylt, and Jasha stand among trees in Cultivation's Valley; Right: Pali, Taln, and Nale stand victorious during one of the Desolations
Stonewalkers by Petar Penev

The right side of this image depicts three Heralds: Pailiah, Taln, and Nale. As Heralds, these immortal beings are like demigods or angels. Bearing Honorblades that grant them control over two Surges, they were the inspiration for the Radiant Orders that followed. The cover depicts them as they appeared during the Desolations, when they repeatedly fought back the forces of Odium. Characters have the chance to meet all three of these Heralds during the adventure, but they'll find these legendary heroes far removed from their age of glory.

The characters on the left side of the cover are major NPCs in the adventure. Stormlight buffs will recognize Axies the Collector, a blue-skinned Siah Aimian who’s obsessed with cataloguing spren. Beside him is Ylt, the corrupted Truthwatcher who is the adventure’s key adversary, and another Truthwatcher named Kaiana.

Kaiana, a Reshi woman in Iriali clothing and a Truthwatcher glyph on her face, glows as she heals a tough-looking Alethi woman who's chained to the wall. Beside them, a mistspren glimmers like light from a prism.
"Kaiana and Teryn" by Jessica Liu 

Kaiana is a Reshi woman who is zealous and single-minded, but compassionate. She begins the adventure as an adversary, but depending on the characters’ choices, they may be able to turn her away from Ylt or even to their side.

One of the adventure’s most epic scenes takes place in Cultivation’s Valley, when Ylt visits the Nightwatcher in search of the power to slay a Herald. In a scene that will shock any Cosmere aficionado at the table, the Nightwatcher grants him a strange black Shardblade. Ylt quickly finds that the weapon is both a blessing and a curse.

During that encounter, the characters have a chance to contend with powers far above their level. If they survive, the PCs have the chance to request their own blessing from the Nightwatcher. But of course, with every blessing comes a curse, and some of them are pretty outrageous!

The Old Magic, an excerpt from the Stonewalkers adventure. It contains a list of example requests, blessings, and curses.
The Old Magic, an excerpt from the Stonewalkers adventure 

This is just an excerpt. The adventure includes many more, to cover a wide variety of possible requests, and they’re all delightfully devious.

It feels like we’ve already shared a lot of spoilers here, so we’ll end by saying this: the Stonewalkers adventure will make your players feel like heroes from the novels. From the Alethi war camps to the ruins of Rathalas and around the world to Rall Elorim, this adventure will take your characters on an epic journey. They’ll have the chance to experience the mystery of bonding spren for the first time, to make heroic choices, and to play a role in events that shape the story of Roshar.

For a few more hints at what’s ahead in Stonewalkers, and a lot of information about what it was like to work on this epic project, check out this interview with Meric Moir!

Staff Spotlight: Imogen Gingell

Today we’re putting the spotlight on Imogen! An experienced writer with an impressive resume, some of her first RPG writing was Eberron fan content for D&D. Fun story: Shortly after joining this project, Imogen and Johnny realized that they’d actually collaborated two decades prior, when she wrote articles for an Eberron fan site that Johnny ran for many years. They must have been destined to work on the Cosmere RPG together!

Imogen Gingell (she/her) is a British game designer who launched into the scene via the vibrant community for D&D's Eberron campaign setting. She has co-hosted the Manifest Zone podcast, and authored and co-authored bestselling third-party titles such as Keith Baker's Chronicles of Eberron, Convergence Manifesto, Escape from Riedra and the upcoming Quickstone: Frontiers of Eberron.

She has also written for MCDM's Flee Mortals!, Where Evil Lives and ARCADIA magazine, and is now thrilled to be a part of the writing team for the Cosmere RPG. By day, Imogen lives the busy life of an academic, specializing in space plasma physics and equality initiatives. She balances everything with the support of her dearest fiancée and a very noisy cat.

We're #1!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 23, 2024 at 05:52:08 PM

Today was truly momentous for the Cosmere RPG campaign. At over $9.5 million in pre-orders, we are now the biggest RPG Kickstarter of all time.

 We're getting very close to entering the top 10 Kickstarter projects of all time, and we've made it to the top 3 game projects ever:

The top six game Kickstarter projects ever: Frosthaven, Kingdom Death, Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG, Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, Marvel Zombies, and Exploding Kittens.

It's fun to make these comparisons and ask ourselves: how high can we climb? Moving past Avatar feels pretty surreal. Everyone on the team loves Avatar, and one of our team members (Sen-Foong Lim) worked on it! After that milestone, anything seems possible, and we still have six days to go...

Digging Deep

With the weekend upon us, we figure it's a good time for some in-depth content! A lot of folks have asked for advice on how to be a GM (Game Master) for this system. We have a few suggestions for anyone who feels intimidated by stepping into Brandon's shoes and telling stories in the Cosmere. Our thoughts:

  1. Learn to GM with official adventures. We've written all of our adventures (The First Step, Bridge Nine, and Stonewalkers) with new GMs and players in mind. These adventures intentionally introduce rules one step at a time. They're also meant to provide an approachable learning curve when it comes to world-building, so your players don't need any setting knowledge to dive right in. Once you GM all six chapters of Stonewalkers, you'll be more than ready to run your own homebrew adventures.
  2. Characters first, plot and world second. Don't worry about building a novel-worthy plot or getting every world-building detail right. What matters most to your players will be how you give their characters opportunities to be awesome. If you create scenes that are tailor-made for your playgroup, letting them be the kind of characters they want to play, you'll find your way to memorable stories. 
  3. Learn from other GMs. The Cosmere RPG community is already growing. Join the official Discord and subreddit to connect with other GMs and players, or learn by playing in a professionally GMed game on StartPlaying.Games!
  4. Follow the official Cosmere RPG accounts. We'll be sharing tips and resources for GMs on our official accounts, from the Brotherwise YouTube channel to the brand-new CosmereRPG accounts on Instagram and Twitter.

Finally, Brotherwise and Dragonsteel will also be sharing tips and resources along the way. One of the best GMs we know is Cosmere RPG Writer & Designer Ross Leiser, who recorded this in-depth video of communication tips for GMs! It's perfect viewing over the weekend:

Stretch Goal: Deepest One

Today we reached new heights, but now let's talk about Those Ones of the Depths. Some of the most disturbing Fused, Deepest Ones are capable of using the Surge of Cohesion to slip through the stone as spies or shock troops. In the RPG, they're one of the first Fused that lower-level characters might encounter, so this Deepest One is a great addition to the Miniatures Set!

NEW MINI: DEEPEST ONE

Staff Spotlight: Gordon McAlpin

Our team is working hard to get the Stormlight sourcebooks ready for layout, which means we're currently putting everything in Gordon's capable hands! As a game designer, you can find his work on DM's Guild. As a graphic designer and layout artist, he has helped design some of the most premium RPG content around for Beadle & Grimm's.

GORDON MCALPIN: Graphic & Layout Designer

Gordon McAlpin (he/him) is a Filipino-American graphic designer, writer, illustrator, and animator. His past work includes the animated web series Multiplex 10 and the DMs Guild titles Death by Goblins!, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, and The High Magic Sourcebook. As a graphic designer and layout artist, he has worked with MCDM Productions (Kingdoms & Warfare; Flee, Mortals!), Legends of Avantris (the upcoming Crooked Moon), and Beadle & Grimm’s.

The Way of Bling
about 2 years ago – Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 07:39:59 PM

Hello, Worldhoppers!

Today has been our biggest day of new backers since the first week of our campaign. To everyone here for the first time, thanks for joining the party!

Every weekday during this campaign, we share progress updates. Most of the time, we use these updates to delve into game mechanics. Past updates have covered combat scenes, non-combat scenes, goals and rewards, fabrial crafting, adversaries, what’s ahead for Mistborn, and more!

But a lot of us want more than a deep, well-designed game. We also want awesome stuff! While you can get everything you need to play in the e-Reader or Reader pledge levels, here’s a look at all the ways you can bling out your Cosmere RPG experience.

Books

First and foremost, this is a Kickstarter for gorgeous Stormlight and Mistborn books. Packed with lore and original art, we think these are a must-have for any Cosmere fan. Even if you’re not an RPG player, you’ll enjoy owning and reading every one of these hardcover books.

Stormlight World Guide and Handbook Closeups
Each hardcover book in this campaign includes gold foil stamping, spot UV details, golden page edges, and a sewn-in ribbon bookmark   

Thanks to one of our earliest stretch goals, our first print run will be especially fancy! Every hardcover pledge (and the very first wave of retail orders) will get these limited-edition "gilded" rulebooks.

Maps and Tokens

Some RPG players like to play tactically, with miniatures and a battlemap. Others prefer “theater of the mind,” where play unfolds in players’ imaginations. Most RPG players enjoy a mix of the two, and putting visuals on the table can be a great way to help players envision a scene.

Map Packs and Tokens
Token Set and Map Pack

The Map Pack will come folded in a “map folio” folder, and most are 11” x 17” maps (folded in half for easy storage and transport). They’ll include every map from Bridge Nine, a map for The First Step, and maps for all the most important combat scenes in Stonewalkers. The pack will contain at least 12 unique maps. You’ll be able to use them with the punchboard Token Set, which contains over 100 tokens for adversaries and NPCs. You can also use the maps with…

Miniatures

Our first Stormlight Miniatures campaign was the precursor to this campaign, and you can get any of the miniature sets from that campaign as Add-Ons. But our team has also crafted this awesome pack of 17 miniatures specifically for RPG play.

Stormlight Miniature Set (see below for character list)
Stormlight Miniatures Set

Who’s included? From left to right and top to bottom, the characters are: Artifabrian, Stormform (x2), Ardent, Edgedancer, Skybreaker, Altered One, Ylt (a villain from Stonewalkers), Magnified One, Dustbringer, Devastating One, Agent, Whitespine, Husked One, Axehound, Willshaper, Chull.

These miniatures are available in the Collector pledge, as a standalone purchase, or as an STL pack (now available as an Add-On). Based on the success of this campaign, our sculptors are racing to add a couple more adversaries to this set… stay tuned for future stretch goals!

Card Decks

Cards are not required for play, but they can enhance the experience. When we started this campaign, we offered the Plot Decks (with every Player pledge and above) and the Item Deck (in every GM and Collector Pledge).

Plot Decks now come with Initiative Cards and Event Cards Item Deck now comes with Spren Cards
Plot Decks now come with Initiative Cards and Event Cards. The Item Deck now comes with Spren Cards.

Thanks to stretch goals, these have gotten even better. The Plot Deck now comes with Initiative Cards and Event Cards to streamline gameplay. The Item Deck is now more of a Rewards Deck, with spren cards also included!

GM Screen

And of course, every GM needs a way to hide their notes and rolls. Some folks have asked whether the GM screen includes any world-specific lore. We have good news for you!

Stormlight GM Screen, with sections for Naturespren, Emotionspren, Singer Rhythms, and Radiant Orders
Stormlight GM Screen

The GM screen has a panel dedicated to the Stormlight-specific lore that we’ve found most valuable for GMs: spren descriptions, singer rhythms, and key facts about each Radiant Order.

Dice

And of course, you can never have too many dice! If you’re getting the Deluxe Liquid Core Dice, they’ll already come in a high-quality storage case. This is a prototype photo, but the final case should be similar:

Stormlight Deluxe Liquid Core Dice and Stormlight Basic Dice Set

And if you’re getting the Basic Dice Set (included in every Player pledge and above), today’s stretch goal unlocked a velvet dice bag! There’s plenty of room for a couple of dice sets, plus the Extra Plot Dice set now available as a $5 Add-On.

STORMLIGHT DICE BAG

Beyond the Bling

Since today’s update was more about style than substance, here’s something for anyone who wants to dig into game mechanics: a discussion between Brandon Sanderson and the RPG’s Creative Director, Johnny O’Neal.

Watch this video to learn about Brandon's approach to playing and GMing, how "fractal world-building" has influenced the RPG, and where the Cosmere RPG goes from here!

Staff Spotlight: Sadie Lowry

For someone who brings style and substance to the Cosmere RPG, look no further than Sadie! When she's not working on other awesome RPG projects, she's been making a major impact on our Stonewalkers adventure and World Guides.

Sadie Lowry, Writer

Sadie Lowry is a Gold ENNIE Award–winning writer, game designer, and editor who is thrilled to be a designer for the Cosmere TTRPG. She has previously worked with Critical Role, Wizards of the Coast, and MCDM, with notable credits including Critical Role Presents: Call of the Netherdeep; Spelljammer: Light of Xaryxis; Flee, Mortals!; and Draw Steel. She also raised hell by overseeing MCDM’s The Illrigger as the project lead. By day, she is an editor at a traditional book publisher, where she follows her passion for bringing beloved stories to life. 

Sadie has overseen numerous licensed gaming books in a variety of formats, including cookbooks, art books, “making of” books, tarot decks, coloring books, and illustrated storybooks. As an avid gamer, baker, artist, and TTRPG GM/player, she may have a few too many hobbies, but she balances those with the support of her perfect husband and darling dog.

Conversations, Endeavors, and Events
about 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 09:30:07 PM

Fellow Worldhoppers,

The Cosmere RPG campaign is going strong, and today we crossed the $9 million mark! As we hope you can see by these daily updates, we’re incredibly proud of this game and so excited to share it with this community. Tonight we have some fun details to share about different scene types, plus a stretch goal and a new Add-On option.

Behind the Scenes

In the Cosmere RPG, there are three different scene types: combats, conversations, and endeavors. The scene types are meant to weave together, so a conversation that goes poorly might become a combat, or an endeavor might involve social tests that draw on the conversation rules. In general, our system encourages freeform roleplaying rather than rigid “encounters,” so you'll see a lot of overlap between the mechanics and systems you'll use in every scene.

We’ve talked about combat in previous updates, so let’s talk about the other scene types!

Conversations

Whenever at least two characters are talking and attempting to achieve their goals through dialogue, that’s a conversation. In a conversation, player characters make skill tests to negotiate, deceive, interrogate, or establish personal connections.

Lighteyed nobles in fine suits and silk havahs gossip and scheme in the Kholinar palace ballroom
Kholinar Palace Ballroom by Romain Kurdi

Conversations aren’t as rigidly structured as combat scenes, and it’s not unusual for one character – perhaps a Leader or Envoy – to take the lead. But scenes still take place in "rounds," and each character has the chance to make a contribution. A character’s contribution might just add flavor to a scene, but most contributions involve making skill tests to help achieve the group’s goals:

  • Persuasion. Use charm to convince someone to act against their better judgment.
  • Deception. Lie to convince someone of an untrue premise.
  • Intimidation. Browbeat someone to weaken their position.
  • Leadership. Inspire someone to follow their better nature.
  • Perception. Observe someone to notice whether they take any suspicious actions.
  • Insight. Use empathy to understand someone else’s position.
  • Deduction. Think through an opponent’s argument logically to find flaws.

In general, the difficulty for these tests is equal to an opponent's Cognitive or Spiritual defense, though the GM can increase or decrease that DC depending on the context and subject matter. Some conversations might only require a couple of tests, but Cosmere stories often involve more climactic discussions where multiple tests contribute to the final outcome.

When you succeed on a socially oriented skill test against a stubborn NPC, your opponent can spend focus to resist influence (typically spending 2 focus). Once the NPC is at zero focus, they’re too frustrated, scattered, or impressed to continue arguing.

As a player, when your character fails on a skill test in a conversation, you’re losing ground. Once the GM decides you’ve said the wrong thing or failed too many times, the conversation ends in failure. Some socially-oriented adversaries might even make their own skill tests against your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses. In those situations you’re always in control of how your character thinks and reacts, but you might need to spend focus to stay in the debate and make a counterargument.

Negotiation Opportunities and Complications
Plot Die results during Negotiations (illustration by Adam J. Marin) 

The Stormlight Handbook details four different conversation types: inquiry, negotiation, scheme, and social. Each provides GM guidance and includes suggestions for how to spend Opportunity and Complication results from the plot die.

Endeavors

Sneaking through an enemy-occupied city, helping refugees find shelter from an oncoming highstorm, uncovering hidden secrets of the Lost Radiants… any of these scenes can be thrilling and dramatic, but they go beyond what’s covered in the combat and conversation rules.

In an endeavor, player characters work together to achieve an objective through a combination of roleplaying, problem-solving, and skill tests. An endeavor might be “zoomed-in,” like characters collaborating to solve a tricky puzzle, or handled more as a montage, like characters exploring a new city to gather information and allies.

An artifabrian adjusts a fabrial as a Kholin captain and Azish Windrunner confront oncoming Sadeas soldiers
Warcamp Encounter by Linda Lithén

In most endeavors, the GM sets a collective threshold for success and failure. For example, the GM might decide that characters succeed on a test if they achieve 8 successes before making 4 failed tests. However, a GM never needs to announce “we’re in an endeavor” or make those numbers public. Often, roleplaying proceeds more fluidly when the GM presents information narratively and keeps mechanics behind the screen.

Nearly any kind of narrative scene could be handled as an endeavor, but the Stormlight Handbook provides detailed examples of four endeavor types.

  • Discovery: Investigate a murder, mystery, or arcane secret.
  • Exploration: Traverse an unpredictable or precarious environment.
  • Mission: Infiltrate a secure location, or perform reconnaissance.
  • Pursuit: Chase an enemy, or be chased.

Here’s an example of one endeavor type, the pursuit!

Pursuit Endeavors (click for PDF version)
Pursuit Endeavors (click to enlarge)

Events

Events are a storytelling option that a GM can bring into any scene type. An event is used to represent impending circumstances that count down to a climactic moment, building anticipation and excitement. Events can be either positive or negative; either way, they act as ticking clocks that are separate from the main objective of a scene.

The GM introduces an event by telling players what to expect, and how many Complications or Opportunities will trigger it. Once an event has been declared, the GM or players can spend plot die results to advance the event. Events can be specific or mysterious -- the GM might declare any of the following as events.

  • Impending Everstorm: “After three Complications, anyone not in a shelter will start taking damage every round.”
  • Reinforcements: “After four Opportunities, a platoon of soldiers will come to your aid.”
  • Something Bad: “After three Complications, something will put you in serious danger.”

The GM can use scratch paper to track events, but in playtesting, we’ve found it helpful to use a card to track an event’s progress. To spend a result on an event, simply place it on the card! The Cosmere RPG website will include print-and-play event cards, but as today’s stretch goal, we’re also adding physical copies to every pledge that includes the Plot Decks!

EVENT CARDS

If you’re using event cards, it can be helpful to have extra plot dice. While a couple of Basic Dice Sets should be all you need for an entire table, we’ve heard from a lot of backers who want even more. So today we added a set of five Extra Plot Dice as a $5 Add-On independent of the basic dice set.

Five plot dice: one Voidlight, one Lifelight, and three Stormlight
Extra Plot Dice are now available as a $5 Add-On

Staff Spotlight: Sebastian Yūe

Tonight’s spotlight is on Sebastian, who works closely with Laura Hirsbrunner to edit adventure and supplement content for everything the Cosmere RPG team is producing! A first-rate editor who’s always working on awesome projects, Sebastian is currently editing the Stormlight Stonewalkers campaign.

Sebastian Yūe (they/them) is a queer writer, game designer and Gold ENNIE Award–winning editor. Past credits include Flee, Mortals! (MCDM Productions), Incantations (Metal Weave Games), and UNCAGED: Goddesses (Unseelie Studios); future credits include Pathfinder Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries (Paizo) and Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth (Evil Hat Productions). In addition to freelancing, they work full time at Canadian TTRPG publisher Hit Point Press.

In their spare time, Sebastian enjoys rolling dice with friends, teaching themself how to draw, or canoeing on a lake. They also write for leisure and are a published poet and occasional lifestyle journalist. A former competitive fencer, they are delighted to bring both pen and sword to the Cosmere RPG team. Find their work at https://www.sebastianyue.ca/ttrpgs and follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sebastianyue