Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG

We're #1!
2 months 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:

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!

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 (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
2 months 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.

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.

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.

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).

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!

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:

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.

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 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
2 months 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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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