Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive TTRPG Makes $1M In Under An Hour

The highly anticipated Stormlight Archives TTRPG Kickstarter--now renamed the Cosmere RPG--broke the million dollar barrier in under an hour, joining the million dollar Kickstarter club.

Published by Brotherwise Games, the game encompasses Brandon Sanderson's entire universe of novels. It includes a world guide, a rulebook, and an adventure called Stormlight Stonewalkers. It's a new game system, based on a d20 mechanic with talent trees and skill-based magic.

The question now is whether it can beat the Avatar Legends TTRPG's almost $10M record? Avatar hit the million dollar mark after the first few hours, so--at least at this point--the Cosmere RPG is tracking ahead of it. Brandon Sanderson already holds the Kickstarter record for the most funded project ever--his novel series made over $40M on Kickstarter in 2023!

 

[Parmandur]

I am excited for this TTRPG. I’m glad that it’s a d20 system. I was not able to convince my group to play the Mistborn TTRPG because its dice system is so strange. The artwork looks awesome and I hope Warbreaker is one of the first supplements.

Yup, they directly hint at Elantris and Warvreaker RPGs in the future using the same system.

 

[Parmandur]

Sanderson is livestreaming now, talking with the producer about the project (he is signing books while talking, as his style):

Adapting the Cosmere to a Tabletop Roleplaying Game | With Brandon Sanderson and Johnny O'Neal

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brotherwise/the-stormlight-archive-rpg/descriptionJoin #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sa...

www.youtube.com

 

[John Lloyd1]

Just noting the Mistborn trilogy is listed in the 5E (2014) Players Handbook Appendix E. It is also number 147 on my 'to read' list.

 

[mamba]

It is also number 147 on my 'to read' list.

Long list...

 

[John Lloyd1]

Long list...

The list is down to 291 currently. This is the danger of goodreads. Beware.

 

[Cyriande]

So I looked at this at GenCon but they are apparently not planning on doing anymore runs so kickstarter and that's it? How do I expect people to play this if I can't get them to buy it?

 

[Aldarc]

But the greater internet is mostly "he has 45,000 novels and they're all deeply connected, so cool!" which isn't exactly a "welcome, newbies" sign.

I have been been increasingly turned off by the long multi-book fantasy epics for reasons much like this. Sanderson seems like a massive contributor of this problem for me.

People basically only ever talk about the video game-type magic system when they discuss his books. I'd read a billion posts about how cool his magic was for years and it took physically picking up a copy of Mistborn to learn that it's a heist story about a wizard dude named Kelsier. People really do barely talk about what his books are about.

Otherwise my main knowledge of Sanderson is the extremely funny video of him complaining about George RR Martin getting the gig to write on Elden Ring and not him, "a true fan".

This has been my underlying issue as well.

Case in point, The Avatar TLA RPG. Made a ton of cash, I have yet to see anyone play it or speak about since then. I own it and hope to play it one day but hey at least they are fun to read as well.

I know a fair number of people who talk about it and play Avatar Legends. I've played in a few games of it myself. However, talk of PbtA games here is not exactly popular except among a relatively small handful of people, and I'm not sure if the more vocal ones are all that into Avatar the Last Airbender.

I'll note that these examples are either books or book series, not authors. While Tolkien is pretty much synonymous with middle earth, Wizard of Earthsea is quite different from Left Hand of Darkness, even though they have the same author. I don't think I could sum up all Ursula K. Le Guin books in a single sentence.

Ursula K. Le Guin is primarily a science-fiction author who often tackles cultural and socio-political issues in her written works, particularly issues pertaining to gender, sex, feminism, race, and violence. Her Earthsea series generally feature coming of age stories set in a fantasy world aimed for young adult readers.

Not a single sentence, but I think that would set up expectations for newcomers fairly well.

 

[Belen]

So I looked at this at GenCon but they are apparently not planning on doing anymore runs so kickstarter and that's it? How do I expect people to play this if I can't get them to buy it?

PDF?

Also, if they have a massive initial print run then they may not need additional printings.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Ursula K. Le Guin is primarily a science-fiction author who often tackles cultural and socio-political issues in her written works, particularly issues pertaining to gender, sex, feminism, race, and violence. Her Earthsea series generally feature coming of age stories set in a fantasy world aimed for young adult readers.

Not a single sentence, but I think that would set up expectations for newcomers fairly well.

Brandon Sanderson is primarily a fantasy author who tackles a wide variety of topics in his books, including but not limited to: mental illness, colonialism, trauma, oppression, religious fanaticism, and how power affects people. He is often praised for his in-depth world building and magic systems. The Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy series taking place on an alien world thrown into chaos after the mysterious assassination of the king.*

*It is hard to say more than this without spoiling the books. IMO part of the magic of The Way of Kings is becoming immersed in the setting and slowly learning how it works. You do not need to read any of the rest of the Cosmere to understand or appreciate the Stormlight Archive. The same goes for Mistborn and all other Cosmere books and series. There are more connections and crossovers than say Stephen King’s books, but so long as you start with the first book in its series, you can read and appreciate it without reading the other Cosmere books.

 

[Baumi]

They changed the two cheaper Kickstarter Options .. 60$ for two pdfs or your choosing and 95$ for two physical books. This is a big improvement, especially for those who only want one world.