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]

Are there many monsters in the non mistborn books? I'm not interested in mostly fighting humans and alternative humans.

So. Many. Crabs.

 

[Morrus]

I don't doubt any of these things. I do, however, share skepticism with others of how much play and/or design impact this particular game will have on the TTRPG hobby.

I don't imagine that 'design impact on the TTRPG hobby' is the goal. Who really cares how much design impact a game has on the hobby? Outside of maybe a few designers?

 

[Aldarc]

I don't imagine that 'design impact on the TTRPG hobby' is the goal. Who really cares how much design impact a game has on the hobby? Outside of maybe a few designers?

Please note that I said "play and/or design impact." "Play" applies to "impact" just as equally as "design." My intent here was indicating on the impact either on the play side or design side of things. But I am under no delusions in thinking that the "design impact on the TTRPG is the goal" of this Kickstarter. It's money. The goal is money.

 

[dave2008]

Other than the name and the record Kickstarter I know nothing about BS, Mistborn, Stormlight, or anything related to this really. Can any give me there thoughts on if the stories are any good? Is there anything unique about the settings?

 

[Reynard]

Other than the name and the record Kickstarter I know nothing about BS, Mistborn, Stormlight, or anything related to this really. Can any give me there thoughts on if the stories are any good? Is there anything unique about the settings?

A lot of that has been answered in this thread, though no completely. Sanderson writes Big fat Fantasies in worlds that don't look like most other fantasy worlds, with unique and usually well developed magic systems. He writes well enough, but hits somewhere in the "Young Adult" zone for me most of the time. I do not generally think you need thousands of pages to tell a story, so I think his books are too long.

 

[Ghal Maraz]

The answer to Morrus' question is quite certainly: yes, it can.

 

[SteveC]

I don't imagine that 'design impact on the TTRPG hobby' is the goal. Who really cares how much design impact a game has on the hobby? Outside of maybe a few designers?

I can answer that question for me (and I realize this is only for me). I am really done with 5E. I'm ready for something new and different to come along. When I see a project generate a lot of buzz, I think "is this going to be something new and different that catches fire?" And I don't think that the Stormlight RPG is going to be that thing.

I realize how ironic that is considering we are just going into a new round of D&D, so I expect that my hopes for this game (and games like Draw Steel) are not going to be realized.

 

[Zaukrie]

Other than the name and the record Kickstarter I know nothing about BS, Mistborn, Stormlight, or anything related to this really. Can any give me there thoughts on if the stories are any good? Is there anything unique about the settings?

I really enjoyed mistborn. It starts as a heist, explores what happens if you win, and ends with more traditional fantasy. I think the writing is generally good, with believable dialogue and plot. I haven't read the big thick books sitting on my shelf yet.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That is not likely to translate to impact on the hobby.

Will anyone be playing this game in 2 years?

Are people still playing Green Ronin's Game of Thrones RPG? It's out of print now, which suggests that the cost of the license outweighed the revenue it brought in. Still, I heard good things about the game during its heyday.

 

[Reynard]

Are people still playing Green Ronin's Game of Thrones RPG? It's out of print now, which suggests that the cost of the license outweighed the revenue it brought in. Still, I heard good things about the game during its heyday.

it would actually be interesting to do some game design archaeology and see what kinds of innovations (if any) came out of some of these big licensed games. For example, it seems like The One Ring actually did change the way the industry looks at travel in fantasy RPGs.