Brandon Sanderson breaks another Kickstarter record with his Cosmere table-top RPG

Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson is the guy behind series like The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn, both series set in a fictional universe known as the Cosmere. In fact, everything he writes is set in the Cosmere; think of it as his own personal Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sanderson has an extremely passionate fanbase. Many of them attend his annual Dragonsteel convention, which is dedicated to this work. He broke fundraising on Kickstarter when he raised money for a series of new novels sent directly to those who donated. The guy is a marketing genuis.

And he's back at it! Sanderson is currently raising money on Kickstarter for Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG, a Dungeons & Dragons-style table-top role-playing game that will allow players to occupy the roles of a Knight Radient from the Stormlight Archive, a Mistborn warrior from the Mistborn series, and much more. When the Kickstarter began, the goal was $250,000. With 15 days left to go as of this writing, Sanderson has raised well over $7 million. Sanderson raised $5 million on the first day, a record for the platform. Previously, the most raised for a board game on Kickstarter was $1,150,566, for the board game Avatar Legends.

Avatar Legends eventually raised $9,535,317 in total. With over two weeks left for Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG, it's very possible it could beat that. I would not bet against Sanderson when it comes to this kind of thing.

Explore Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG

As for the game itself, the first round of content is planned to go out around September of this year. This will revolve around the Stormlight Archive. A round of Mistborn content will go out in September of 2026. Sanderson has a written a ton of stories set in the Cosmere and is always writing more, so the game could keep expanding indefinitely.

Sanderson and his team are getting lots of products ready to go, including fully illustrated hardcover books detailing the rules and the backstories, DM screens, custom dice, and much more. The Kickstarter assures us that every new release will add to the lore of the Cosmere, in addition to providing fans with a fun game to play. Although there will be twists just as there are in any table-top role-playing game, if you're at all familiar with something like Dungeons & Dragons, you should have a solid foundation for this. Players will engage in battles, go on quests and talk to NPCs, all of it driven by rolls of the dice.

I remain in awe of the vast kingdom Brandon Sanderson has built for himself with his books and their attendant products. Even if his work is never adapted to the screen in a way that catches on, something that seems inevitable, he's already king of his domain. And he wants to let you in.

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h/t MeriStation