Brandon Sanderson, master of crowdfunding hype, surprises with a second TTRPG setting

polygon.com:

The campaign for author Brandon Sanderson’s first tabletop role-playing game, titled The Stormlight Roleplaying Game, went live the morning of Aug. 6 — but not in the manner that fans originally expected. Instead of one TTRPG set in one of Sanderson’s fictional worlds, publisher Brotherwise Games is actually working on two. The newly-minted Cosmere Roleplaying Gamewill feature content from both his Stormlight setting and his Mistborn setting, and long-time fans are showing up in droves to fund their development.

“Brotherwise Games and Dragonsteel are thrilled to announce that the Stormlight Roleplaying Game has secretly been the Cosmere Roleplaying Game all along,” the companies said Tuesday in a news release. “This original system is designed to tell standalone stories in the Stormlight or Mistborn settings — or sweeping Worldhopper campaigns that move between different worlds and realms!”

Like Sanderson’s previous campaign for four secret novels — a gambit that earned him nearly $42 million in 2022 — the Cosmere RPG will have a staggered release. Three books for the Stormlight setting are expected to ship in September 2025, while three Mistborn books should arrive by 2026. Pledges start at $60 for a digital slice of the entire package, while the more complete game master’s tier will set you back $295.

It’s a fairly high price point for an RPG, especially on Kickstarter, but it hasn’t seemed to slow the fervor of the franchise’s most dedicated fans. At the time of writing the campaign is already over $1.5 million and well on its way to being one of the largest crowdfunding endeavors this year.

For more on what was The Stormlight Roleplaying Game read our exclusive interview with Sanderson — just one part of our coverage of the Gen Con tabletop gaming convention.