When Brandon Sanderson started working with Brotherwise Games on the first adventure for The role-playing game Stormlighthe considered how it could help him fill in gaps in the story of his bestselling fantasy series. He chose a mystery from the first Stormlight Archive book, The Road of Kingswhich will have major implications for the fifth book in the series, Wind and Truthwhich will be released in December.
The Stormlight Archive takes place on the planet Roshar, where 10 heroes called Heralds protected humanity for millennia using highly magical blades called Honorblades. All of them abandoned their duties, except for Taln, the Herald of the Common Man. Despite Taln’s best efforts, the powers of the vengeful god Odium have returned. Taln was enraged by his ordeal and shortly after his first appearance in the books, his Honorblade disappeared. Its whereabouts are unknown.
“The adventure answers that question,” Sanderson told Polygon. “What happened? Where did it go? What happens? And you get to be part of the story. We were looking for an adventure that you could do that would intersect with the canon of the books in an interesting way, and where you could fill a gap yourself.”
The Kickstarter for the d20-based game goes live on August 6, along with a beta preview of the rules and a first-level adventure that should guide players and gamemasters through the setting and core mechanics. The hardcover Stonewalkers Adventurein which players meet Taln and learn what happened to his honor sword, will be released in 2025, along with the Stormlight Roleplaying Handbook And World Guide.
“The Turnstones campaign takes characters all the way to the seventh level, and each chapter will typically take two or three sessions to complete,” Brotherwise co-founder and creative director Johnny O’Neal told Polygon. “That said, we’re trying to create a cinematic experience that covers a lot of ground without feeling like a drag. Most chapters only have two or three battle scenes, and we’re trying to make sure each chapter culminates in a memorable piece.”
Players will hunt for Taln’s sword of honor in Roshar, from the Shattered Plains where much of The Road of Kings is set in the magical forest of the goddess Cultivation, where brave souls can receive both a blessing and a curse. There is a mix of dungeon crawls, puzzles, chase scenes, and prison breaks. As they choose how to approach the problems they face, player characters can attract the attention of spren, spirit-like creatures that can bond with like-minded people to grant them incredible abilities. Completing the quest may allow them to join the recently re-established ancient order known as the Knights Radiant.
“Binding a spren is like having a confidant who also gives you pep talks and magic powers,” O’Neal said. “They’re a huge part of the Stormlight RPG experience. From the very first chapter, Radiant spren will watch over characters and respond to those who embody their ideals. We’ve included a few named NPC spren to serve as examples, but we also expect GMs to create their own spren based on character behavior.”
The PCs can encounter key antagonists from the books, including the deranged Herald of Justice Nale and the treacherous general Meridas Amaram, and learn how the talking sword Nightblood first appeared in Sanderson’s 2009 book Warbreaker ended up on Roshar. As they navigate key moments from the series, such as the rise of a raging storm that brings Odium’s most powerful lieutenants back to the world, Sanderson invites players to reshape his story.
“When we were teenagers and (West End Games’ Star Wars: The Role Playing Game), our first campaign was about how we accidentally killed Luke Skywalker and then had to save the galaxy without Luke Skywalker,” Sanderson said. “We did other campaigns where we said, Okay, the canon films are there. We’re not going to interfere with that.. We’re just on the Death Star when it’s about to blow up and we have to get off. I like that the GM has the ability to do both and everything in between. I wouldn’t release an RPG if I didn’t want players messing with my canon.”
Game masters who fear that players will be overshadowed by some of Sanderson’s heroes can set their adventures far from the main story.
“One of the benefits of writing huge epic fantasy novels is that I can hint at a larger world,” Sanderson said. “In The Stormlight Archive , there are a number of chapters called interludes where I just go off the beaten path and show what other stories are happening. There are a lot of stories to be told in this world.”
Sanderson made it even easier by teaming up with Brotherwise and providing a huge amount of information about Roshar that wasn’t already in the books.
“There’s a lot of cultural detail being filled in, but at the same time we’re digging a little bit deeper into what each of the Radiants’ oaths, spren and motivations are,” Sanderson said. “There’s some new stuff that fans are really going to enjoy.”
Sanderson said he’s always enjoyed trying new TTRPG systems and environments and that his experience with Dungeons & Dragons, Boy Scout, Call of Cthulhu and the Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game shaped the way he perceives the world and his approach to writing. His novels—most of which are set in a shared world called the Cosmere—all have very clear rules for how magic works, which he believes makes it easier for readers to understand and turn The Stormlight Archive into a game.
“I hope (players) have as much fun as I do playing in the Cosmere,” he said. “I get to do this every day.”