Cosmere RPG emerged from a record-breaking Kickstarter, crafted by Brotherwise Games in collaboration with Brandon Sanderson’s Dragonsteel Entertainment. As the most-funded tabletop RPG ever ($14.7M+ from over 52,000 backers), it’s set to launch with the Stormlight Campaign Setting in digital form in July 2025, with a hardcover anticipated in September 2025 and a Mistborn expansion in 2026.
Built on the flexible Plotweaver™ system, Cosmere RPG blends familiar d20 mechanics with narrative-focused innovations like Plot Dice, Focus Points, and a fail-forward enforcement, designed to support multiple magic systems, technology levels, and heroic paths across the Cosmere continuum.
⚙️ System and Mechanics
The game uses a d20 foundation familiar to many players but layers in modernization with:
- Narrative dice and goals to guide story impact
- Horizontal progression via Talent Trees, allowing easy multiclassing and character customization
- Graze mechanics, letting players mitigate failure via resource expenditure
- Flexible Initiative and Reaction systems, inspired by narrative-first RPGs like Shadow of the Demon Lord.
During Beta gameplay, testers noted the Surgebinding (Stormlight) and Allomancy/Feruchemy (Mistborn) systems provided mechanical variety and authenticity—especially in high-tier options—but mentioned balance concerns due to wide divergence in power levels among Investiture users.
🌍 Worldbuilding & Setting
The RPG is designed as a “living” Cosmere game—beginning with Roshar (Stormlight) and expanding to Scadrial (Mistborn) and beyond. Each worldbook includes setting lore, art-rich world guides, and system-specific mechanics in clean integration.
Settings like Bridge 9 offer an accessible debut adventure that introduces players to the universe without assuming deep familiarity with Sanderson’s works—making the system approachable for both fans and newcomers.
🎨 Art and Presentation
The RPG features hundreds of new canonical illustrations created by over 70 artists, guided by Art Director Katie Payne—a long-time Cosmere fan and recognized contributor to fan art—and overseen by creators to ensure lore accuracy.
Although Kickstarter previews revealed some early feedback around dice color fidelity and production samples, final products were approved and refined prior to print and shipping.
🤝 Community & Licensing
Brotherwise Games and Dragonsteel have embraced transparency and community involvement. A clear Fan Content Policy permits the creation of non-commercial, fan-made content under defined guidelines, and a future OGL of the Plotweaver system is planned—allowing independent creators to use the core mechanics without Cosmere IP references.
💬 Community Impressions
Early player feedback is positive:
- Several testers praised initiative mechanics, combat pacing, and narrative impact of Opportunities & Challenges.
- The Endeavor and Conversation system allows multi-day tasks (like espionage or travel) to impact narrative pacing and player investment meaningfully.
- Some users noted minor mechanical clunks—such as defense DC “exceed versus meet” rulings—but praised the general feel and fidelity of magic systems, especially Surgebinding.
✅ Strengths
- Rich, lore-driven worldbuilding directly tied to canonical Cosmere content
- Innovative mechanics that support narrative play and character flexibility
- Strong art design with authentic, fan-respected visuals
- Open-source aspirations via future OGL and transparent fan policies
- Accessible to both Sanderson fans and TTRPG newcomers
⚠️ Weaknesses
- Some balance concerns due to varied power ceilings between Investiture-based character options
- EDC-style hit rules (exceed vs. meet DCs) may feel unintuitive to new players
- As a living RPG with ongoing expansions, full world support requires waiting through multiple release phases
- Requires careful GM adaptation for large world-hopping sandbox campaigns
🧭 Final Verdict
Cosmere RPG is a landmark release—ambitious, artful, and mechanically polished. It offers longtime Cosmere fans and RPG players alike the tools to explore, shape, and inhabit Roshar, Scadrial, and beyond in a way simply not possible before.
With well-considered mechanics, strong community frameworks, and expanding worldbooks, this RPG promises to live and grow with Brandon Sanderson’s writing. It’s not merely a licensed product—it’s a dynamic system built to evolve.