Cosmere RPG Review – IGN
Blog Andrew Joseph 18 Oct , 2025 0
I first read Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings in the mid-2010s, and ever since then I've been theorizing about how to play as a Shining Knight in a TTRPG campaign. Conceptualize how a sharding blade operates or how best to make a sharding blade spring That's not just a familiar person reskinned. Thankfully, I can put this tedious task behind me thanks to the release of the official Cosmere RPG. Very successful crowdfunding campaignhas been published. Finally, I can take on the role of Windrunner alongside my elf companion Malbifina (Mal for short) and fight against Desolation.
Developer brother game Working closely with Brandon Sanderson himself, Cosmere RPG's initial offering focused solely on Roshar and a system of Stormlight Archive Books, consisting of three products: the Stormlight Handbook (a player's handbook), the Stormlight World Guide (a Dungeon Master's Guide), and Stonewalker (a stand-alone campaign you can play). For those unfamiliar with Cosmere or Sanderson's work, Cosmere is an increasingly interconnected series of epic fantasy novels by Brandon Sanderson that spans the galaxy. Made up of multiple worlds, each with its own unique and elaborate magic system, one of them is Roshar, home of Stormlight (magical lightning), spren (manifestations of different emotions and feelings), Knights of Radiance (super paladins) and the Millennium War. we have a Comprehensive Reading Guideso to learn more and get better photos, I recommend you head there and have a look.
Cosmere uses a D20-based system, Something like D&D or Pathfinder, you'll use a 20-sided die for various skill checks, and other dice for other needs (such as dealing damage). The action economy will also feel familiar, with basic actions in combat divided into action, reaction, or free action areas, where actions require one to three pools per turn. Generally speaking, during your turn, players will have two or three action points available to use, with more powerful actions requiring multiple points to complete. The whole process is fairly user-friendly for new players and can be picked up quickly, thanks to its intelligent use of icons to represent different types and how many points an action requires to use. But just because some aspects may feel familiar doesn't mean Cosmere RPG isn't doing anything new.
Considering this system was designed in part by Brandon Sanderson, who had the ability to write massive books in a short amount of time, it's no surprise that narrative and story also play a large role in the actual mechanics of Cosmere RPG. A special d6, called a “plot die”, is not used for every check, but is reserved for moments that the GM deems crucial to the plot and story they are telling. Moments that can up the ante, provide unforeseen opportunities that impact the story, or give you an “opportunity,” which is a special resource at your disposal. On the other hand, your roll of the plot dice might instead complicate your plans, perhaps causing you to hinder an ally at a crucial moment, or lead to another mistake that leads to failure.
This intertwining of narrative and story development also bleeds into the character creation process and progression, resulting in a more open and flexible system that I'm particularly fascinated by. First, you can choose your bloodline from Human or Singer (yes, you can use the Singer form however you want), which will help determine what area of the world or lore you specialize in. As a human, you get to choose which region you're from, which gives you an advantage in themes, lore, houses, and languages that make sense for your character. After choosing your ancestors, you begin fleshing out their characters.
Rather than choosing a specific class like a warrior or a druid, players choose a heroic path such as a hunter, leader, or agent, each with their own unique skill trees and specialization lines that can be delved into. There are six basic hero paths in the Stormlight Handbook (Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, and Warrior), each with three feats, and each with a special key talent that helps differentiate each path from the others. When you level up, you're not leveling up a class, but rather your character itself, meaning you can continue down the path you've chosen and unlock new talents (path's abilities) if you wish, or you're free to choose a new path to begin your journey that makes sense for where your character is at that time. No need to deal with complex multi-class rules or different health dice, none of that. It makes complex and multifaceted characters more approachable and motivating, and the leveling process faster.
Once you reach level two, though, things get really exciting, because you can start walking the path to radiance of your choice if you so choose, and yes, they're all here: Stoneguard, Bondsmith, Windrunner, Skybreaker, Dustbringer, Edgedancer, Truthwatcher, Lightweaver, El Summoner, and Willshaper. Each Path of Radiance provides you with an Elf of your own, which you can use the associated surges of that Radiance, and of course, spend Stormlight and Investitures. If you've read the Stormlight books, then let's be honest with ourselves and be a Shining Knight For us, this is a big selling point of these books, but if you haven't read them yet, think of these orders as Super Paladins. Each organization has access to fairly powerful forces that are somewhat familiar, and eventually, you can even recruit retainers to work with you. Like the Hero's Path, each Path of Radiance has three talent trees you can dive into, two of which focus on specific Shock, Wear, and Splinter, for example, using Dustbringer, and then a path that improves your connection to the elves, allowing you to swear further ideals as a Knight of Radiance. Yes, it's awesome, and yes, I've made more friends than I care to admit since receiving these books. Come to me, uncreated!
To help further define your character, you'll also establish a goal for them, a goal that drives what the character does, which will lead you to setting goals for them to strive for. The goal might be as simple as getting revenge on someone, or it might be something more nebulous like finding a new way to heal others, but you'll also encounter obstacles or character flaws that you'll have to overcome while trying to achieve your goal. Perhaps as you pursue your goal of finding new ways to heal others, your character might be blinded by some damage caused by trying to prove a hypothesis, or be willing to test ideas that may not be entirely safe. Putting this goal and obstacle component front and center not only helps the GM plan and tailor adventures for individual characters, it also allows players to think more about the characters they play as people, rather than just character sheets. I find that in a TTRPG, more role playing is always a good thing.
While I may enjoy the mechanics of the Cosmere RPG, as a fan of Sanderson's books I'd say I probably prefer these RPG books because of the details they reveal and how they provide a deeper understanding of Roshar and the world of Cosmere as a whole. Since you can play as a member of any order in the Order of Radiance, I enjoyed looking through the descriptions and breakdowns of the various ideals, as well as their respective surges (i.e., the special abilities of a specific order). Reading these books, especially the World Guide, gave me a better understanding of the culture and visual identity of the people of Roshar.
Brandon said the material in these guides will considered canon Given the events in his book, the team therefore took great care to consult with his story keepers and make sure everything was appropriate. For readers who haven’t finished reading yet wind and truthIt is the latest entry in “The Exposure Files” released in December 2024, please beware of spoilers.
Oddly enough, the wealth of information these books provide also really draws my attention to what Cosmere RPG doesn't give me to play and role-play, and that's where the vast majority of my complaints center. For example, heraldthe legendary hero who stopped the evil forces of Odium in the middle of nowhere. The entire religion of Roshar is built around them, and their influence permeates nearly every aspect of the lore. The books have good chapters discussing them and feature gorgeous artwork, but for those who might want to try it as an RPG, this RPG is completely lacking in detail.
As someone who usually sits in the “Forever GM” chair, I was shocked by the fact that not a single book provided me with basic statistics. Why there are no rules or statistics honor blade? Further, the rules don't give me details on the big bads, like various Unmades or even shards of Odium, Cultivation, or Honor, which frustrates me. To a lesser extent, I hope these first books at least give us a sense of what fans can expect from how other magic systems work or the directions they want to take. The Ghostblood Enforce enemy does have the “Burning Pewter” feature, which only acts as a buff and doesn't give much idea of how burning metal is different from using Blazing Light. I realize that each world will eventually get its own good book that goes into depth about these things, but couldn't we get a small but fun joke about Allium or how AonDor works?
In addition to the physical books being made available to the general public in November, Cosmere is also seeing relatively frequent updates and other supplementary material being added to the virtual desktop service. Not only can you now get digital versions of all the books, allowing you to build characters and run games, CosmereRPGNexus.com There are also scenarios you can run and give you details and rules to create custom higher level enemies to deal with. However, if you just want the PDF, you can purchase the entire content at: Drive-thru RPGalso.
For die-hard Sanderson fans, even if you don't want to play TTRPG, these books, especially the World Guide, are a must-buy as it provides lore and information about Roshar. As a TTRPG book, they do well enough, but the item and enemy offerings are lacking in options, especially compared to other fantasy RPGs. As a long-time TTRPG player and a lover of Cosmere, I was surprised and a little disappointed by some of the content that was omitted. To me, it's like “waiting for the second Roshar game.”
The physical book of Cosmere RPG will be released on November 12th, and the digital version is now available at Drive-thru RPG or almost half plane.