Brotherwise Games has revealed new details about its upcoming tabletop RPG set within the world of the Stormlight Archives. Dragonsteel Con attendees had a first look at the new Stormlight RPG, via a charity live play session that raised money for Lightweaver Foundation and the Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital. The live play served as a first full look at the hotly anticipated Stormlight RPG, which is based off the best-selling fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. Brotherwise Games provided ComicBook.com with some exclusive details about the live play session and details about the new game, including the artwork of Jasnah (by Kieran Yanner) shown below:
Prior to the start of the live play session, lead designer Andrew Fischer explained some details about how the game worked. The underlying game system uses a d20-based system, in which players have six attributes, gain skill ranks as they level up, and use a d20 to make skill checks and attack enemies. However, characters are built using “paths” instead of traditional classes, with players choosing from a variety of talent trees ranging from heroic specialties and Radiant paths whenever they gain a level. The system will also feature three separate defenses, each one based on two different attributes. Named talent trees included Assassin, Artifabrian, and Shardbearer, as well as Radiants like Windrunner or Stoneward.
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The new system will also feature a plot die, a custom die that adds additional stakes to rolls. The plot die helps to add a range of outcomes to rolls, with the plot dice turning a simple success to a “success with complication” or a failure to a “failure with opportunity.” The d20 roll still determines the ultimate success of the roll, but the plot die adds more twists to checks. The system works similarly to the “Triumph” and “Despair” system utilized by the Star Wars RPG created by Fischer and Max Brookes (who is a consulting designer for the Stormlight RPG.)
The live play itself featured project lead Anthony Joyce-Rivera, Lead Writer Lydia Suen, Creative Director Johnny O’Neal, and Dragonsteel Art Coordinator Hayley Lazo playing as a Listener Willshaper, a Herdazian Agent, an Iriali Edgedancer, and an Alethi Elsecaller. The actual play included several social scenes along with a battle against the forces of Odium. Character art for the four characters can be seen below:
The Kickstarter for the Stormlight RPG will launch in the latter half of 2024. Fans interested in the game can visit Brotherwise Games’ webpage to sign up for crowdfunding notifications and beta testing opportunities.