[Other] Cosmere RPG: Bridge Nine

[Nasrith]

Bridge Nine

Theme & Flavor Expedition across a barren land to investigate ruins that may hold the key to unraveling an ancient secret. Introductory one-shot to the world of the Stormlight Archives and the Cosmere TTRPG. EXTREMELY MILD STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

The Hook The Shattered Plains is a land unlike any other, a jagged, barren expanse of cracked stone. It is a land of towering plateaus and labyrinthian chasms left behind by an ancient cataclysm. Three parties call this land their home: the native Greatshells, towering crustacean-like beasts that the Alethi Warlords hunt for sport; the Alethi warbands that moved in five years ago; and the last of the Parshendi people, whom the Alethi have chased here seeking vengeance for the assassination of their king. You are not yet heroes or legends spoken of in the songs of men. Most of you aren't even soldiers, facing off against bands of Parshendi warriors to honor the Vengeance Pact made by the king's eldest son, Elhokar, the day his father was killed. You are guards, scouts, scholars, ardents, and bridgemen living in the warcamp of High Prince Sadeas. Today, you march across the Shattered Plains on an expedition of discovery. A few days ago, after one of the world's fierce highstorms blew across the cracked land, scouts discovered an ancient ruin a few days journey from the camps. Some scholars suspect they date back to the Silver Kingdoms, when Knights Radiant, ancient warriors with otherworldly powers, walked Roshar. Whether you seek information, a secret that could help end this protracted war, or simply the coin you've been promised for a job well done, you are part of an expedition sent across the plains to investigate what's left of these ruins.

The Game Hey everyone, I'm Nas. I've been on here on and off here as a player and a DM for the last decade-plus, and I am super psyched at the opportunity to run this game. The game takes place in the setting of Brandon Sanderson's The Stormlight Archives book series, and the game system we will use is custom-designed for that world. IMPORTANT: You don't need any familiarity with the author, the books, or the setting to apply to the game. Applications are going to be liiiittle bit different than for a game of, say, D&D 5e because I'm not expecting you to be familiar with the game or the setting, and I don't want that to be a barrier to entry. With that in mind, we'll create characters once the players have been selected so I can answer questions and make suggestions about the mechanics and the setting. Before we tackle the nitty-gritty of the application process, I want to say a few things. This game is designed as a one-shot introductory adventure to the Cosmere RPG and the world therein. We'll be using the beta ruleset, which is available for free on drivethruRPG. The 1.0 ruleset is expected to be released sometime in Q2/Q3 of next year, as is a complete adventure. If the interest is still there, we'll roll right into that adventure after our starter one-shot. I'm a big believer in the importance of momentum in a game. Posts beget posts beget posts. Slow responses beget slow responses beget dead games. I aim to keep a consistent posting schedule, and I hope that you endeavor to do the same for your fellow gamers. The only thing more important than momentum in PbP games is communication. Communicate with your fellow players about what you're trying to do. Be clear. Be kind. Let us know if you'll be traveling, will miss a post, don't have anything to add, or, in the worst-case scenario, have to drop out of the game. Crap happens, and said crap is a whole lot easier to deal with when you tell other people about it. Additional Game Information: Accepted Players: 1-3; we already have two players committed, so I'm looking to fill out the group. Posting Rate: 2 per week Post Expectations: I love writing and I love writers, and while I'll rarely discourage writing in this game form, I do expect these posts to be shorter than some others we see on the site. PS: if anyone has a link to the post outlining The Two-Paragraph Post, can you hit me with a link?The two-paragraph post is a great rule of thumb. OOC Expectations: I have a hunch that this game will require a lot of OOC communication, both as we all get a better grasp of the system and to communicate results of certain rolls. Starting Level: 1 Application Deadline: I'll be selecting players beginning of day Wednesday, October 2nd.

The Cosmere TTRPG Ruleset in Short   The Cosmere TTRPG is set to release in Q2 or Q3 of 2025. In the meantime, we'll use the Beta Ruleset, which is available for free on drivethruRPG. This game DOES NOT require familiarity with this system, as it is brand new. I intend to shift to the complete ruleset when it is released, hopefully right around when we finish this adventure. Below, I've highlighted what I see as the key differences between the Cosmere RPG ruleset and something like the classic 5e ruleset so you can scope out the differences without having to read the whole rulebook. Narrative Character Building: Character creation in this game is incredibly unrestricted, which means your mechanical build can match how you want to roleplay your character without completely invalidating your gameplay. Flexible Character Advancement: Instead of classes, this game has paths. Each path has skill trees. You can go deeper into that path's skill tree or jump to an entirely new path on level up. "Multiclassing" is simpler and far less restrictive. Narrative Mechanics: This game uses a Plot Dice, where you roll a D6 on certain rolls. Roll high, and a new opportunity might arise. Roll low, and unforeseen complications occur. Action Economy: Instead of initiative in combat, players take fast turns or slow turns. Fast turns act first but only take two actions. Slow turns act second but get three actions. Social Mechanics: Specific rules for contested social encounters beyond just "roleplay and maybe make a skill check or two." Hand-Crafted for the World: The Cosmere is a unique fantasy setting. This system has been hand-crafted to run games in the Cosmere.

Application Most of this application will ask about you as a player and not about the character you want to play. It's not normally how I do things, and frankly, I don't know if it will work better or worse than usual, but we're going to give it a try. How familiar are you with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archives, and the Cosmere? What post rate can we expect from you? What is important to you in a game? What is not important to you in a game? How open are you to learning a new system? What does a normal SHORT post look like from you? [PLEASE PROVIDE LINK]: What does a normal MEDIUM post look like from you? [PLEASE PROVIDE LINK]: What does a normal LONG post look like from you? [PLEASE PROVIDE LINK]: What type(s) of character have you been itching to play? This doesn't have to be specific to this setting or game. General archetypes or ideas are fine here. Which of the 5 Listed BelowExpedition Roles might you be interested in?   Expedition Roles Ardent: You're a servant-priest of the Vorin church, a religion that reveres "The Almighty" and his Ten Heralds. Ardents typically shave their heads and do not adhere to Alethi society's gender roles. You may be on this expedition to provide spiritual guidance or training in a skill you have mastered. Bridge Crew: You're here because you've been imprisoned, enslaved, or pressed into service. You might be from any nation in Roshar and any background, but now you have the deadliest job in the highprince's army: carrying heavy bridges to move personnel during battles and expeditions. Guard: You're here to defend the expedition from Parshendi warriors and human bandits. You might be an enlisted soldier in the army of Highprince Sadeas, an independent mercenary, or a young noble trying to prove yourself. Scholar: You've traveled to the warcamps as the ward or assistant to a prominent scholar. In Alethkar, only women traditionally learn to read and write, but you might have traveled from a nation like Azir or Iri where people of all genders are trained in history and science. Scout: You're a scout who works for Highprince Sadeas. You've been trained as a messenger and outrider for the army, and it's your job to help this expedition find the ruins.   Steps to Character Creation You are NOT expected to create a character for this application. That being said, if you want to start thinking about the type of character you would play, here are the character creation rules in short. Step 1. Choose your Ancestry: Human or Parshendi; I imagine for this game most players will be human. Step 2. Choose your Cultures: Many options here, each defining your character's regional, social, and cultural knowledge. You pick 2 Step 3. Choose your Starting Path: Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, or Warrior. The ONLY thing tied to these paths is a skill tree. As you level up, you can take any skill you meet the prerequisite for from your path's skill tree, or take a step down any of the other paths. Step 4. Set Attributes: Assign 12 points to Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence Step 5. Choose Skills: Pick Relating to Strength & SpeedPhysical, Relating to Intellect and WillpowerCognitive, and Relating to Awareness and PresenceSpiritual skills. There are no restrictions as to which skills you can choose. Step 6. Choose your Expertise: Choose weapon, armor, cultural, specialist, or utility expertise. Again, no restrictions on which expertise you select. Step 7. Choose your Kit: Starting items, the boring step Step 8. Choose your Purpose & Obstacle: These have no mechanical implications, but held define the main drivers for your character. Step 9 Choose your Goal: What is the thing your character is actively working towards in the game? Unlike purpose & obstacle, your goal provides the GM (that's me!) with ways to reward you as your character grows. Step 10. You're done! That's it! Demiplane has a great character creator which also provides more information about each of the cultures, paths, attributes, skills, and expertise. LINKED so you can go play with it if you want. Just a heads up - you will have to make an account.

Frequently Asked Questions Q: Should I apply to this game? A: Duh. Q: Do I need to be familiar with the setting to apply? A: Nope! Q: When will we be doing character creation? A: We'll start on character creation once players have been accepted. If you want to get a head start or see your options, you can check out the Cosmere Character Creator on Demiplane. Q: Where can I see the full set of game rules? A: You can download the beta ruleset which we'll be using for this game for free HERE. Q: How can we learn more about the world? A: Great question. This Youtube Video does a solid job of providing a "welcome to the world" overview. I'll also be adding more information periodically while cutting out book spoilers. Q: What is the "tech/society level" of this world? A: It's just post-medieval, but preparing for a big jump in the next threeish years as more magic in the form of sorta like Roshar's version of spells, but with lots of rules and restrictionsSurges and Magic Items that have analogous function to some industrial era techFabrials are discovered. Q: Are we using the pre-gen characters for the Bridge Nine Adventure, or building from scratch? A: Up to you. You can build from scratch, use a pre-gen, or start with a pre-gen and change whatever you want. I'll provide the list of pre-gens once we've selected players. Q: Are we planning on having one of each roll, or can we all be Bridge Crew members? A: There are no role restrictions. We can have one player of each, all be in the same role, or anything in between. That's entirely up to the players. Q: Are we using the character sheets on demiplane? A: Maybe. It's useful for building the character, but we may not want to have to reference a whole new site every time we want to check the mechanics. We'll decide that once we get to the game. Q: Maps? A: Maps. Q: What level will we reach by the end of the game? A: The group should expect to level up at the end of the Bridge Nine adventure. Q: What happens to the game after the Bridge Nine adventure ends? A: Depending on when we finish and the feelings of the group, we could call the game complete, continue on to the module being published with the complete ruleset next year, or go off on an adventure explicitly brewed for you by me. Q: Will we have access to radiant paths at level 2? A: Assuming we decide to continue on, the short answer is yes, pending in-game events.

Player Name	Completed	Accepted?
Admin Bhelogan	Yes	Pre-Approved
Remorazz	Yes	-
Kenjitsu	Yes	-
mightymconeshot	Yes	-
MrD	Yes	-
Howling Winds of	Yes	-
Phasmus	Yes	-
namo	Yes	-
Drifter One	Yes	-

[mightymconeshot]

Hmm interesting. I will have to download and read the rules. Have read the books so good start there I think.

[Remorazz]

Possible Application? WIP How familiar are you with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archives, and the Cosmere? Only the video you posted What post rate can we expect from you? Once a week minimum, more if things are chill at work What is important to you in a game? Defeating obstacles together, possibly riffing off each other What is not important to you in a game? Reading about the personal angst of people that my character would have no idea of (unless mind-reading is provided) How open are you to learning a new system? That's my life, mate What does a normal SHORT post look like from you? Just moving the plot along: HERE What does a normal MEDIUM post look like from you? 3-paragraph-post (kinda) for life! HERE What does a normal LONG post look like from you? This was an introductory post, so longer than usual: HERE What type(s) of character have you been itching to play?Which of the 5 Expedition Roles might you be interested in? -Parshman Bridge Crew: indentured slave (feel like being an outcast might go well with my little knowledge of the world) like the idea of 'an average joe' forced into cataclysmic adventures. -Purelaker Scout: riverman, hunter, savage beserker (maybe consumes frog-base allucinogens before battle?) sketchy past but lawfully employed Am very open to mix and match these elements if something won't fit the plot.

[Nasrith]

Originally Posted by mightymconeshot

Hmm interesting. I will have to download and read the rules. Have read the books so good start there I think.

One benefit of the starter adventure is that it's pretty well designed for a slow(ish) introduction to the rules. I'm not expecting anyone to come in with everything memorized. Glad I'm not the only Stormlight fan on here though!

Originally Posted by Remorazz

Parshman Bridge Crew: indentured slave (feel like being an outcast might go well with my little knowledge of the world) like the idea of 'an average joe' forced into cataclysmic adventures.

Purelaker Scout: riverman, hunter, savage beserker (maybe consumes frog-base allucinogens before battle?) sketchy past but lawfully employed

Any outcast character works well if you don't know the setting well! Having a parshman bridge crew character, in particular, would give you some interesting background knowledge.

A purelaker character would be fun too. They're generally a very chill, peaceful society. Interestingly, the closest you'll get to a berserker are the Alethi. Though disciplined and well-equipped, their warriors feel the Thrill during battle. The Thrill is a euphoric enjoyment of combat that pushes them to greater strength, endurance, and violence.

[Mitsubachi]

Hi!

This is so unusual it has caught my attention. I am browsing the links but it would be really cool if you could help me with a couple of things...

1. What is the "tech/society level" of this world? It looks kind of post-medieval but pre-renaissance in terms of technology and clothing, but I cannot really tell.

2. Who are the two pre-approved characters/players? Can we see what they look like please? It not only helps to avoid duplication, but also to inspire good additional characters with which to interact and make an overall great team for story-telling purposes.

Fanks.

Mitsy

[Nasrith]

Originally Posted by Mitsubachi

What is the "tech/society level" of this world? It looks kind of post-medieval but pre-renaissance in terms of technology and clothing, but I cannot really tell.

Interesting question. It's just post-medieval, but preparing for a big jump in the next threeish years as more magic in the form of sorta like Roshar's version of spells, but with lots of rules and restrictionsSurges and Magic Items that have analogous function to some industrial era techFabrials are discovered.

Originally Posted by Mitsubachi

Who are the two pre-approved characters/players? Can we see what they look like please? It not only helps to avoid duplication, but also to inspire good additional characters with which to interact and make an overall great team for story-telling purposes.

Two pre-approved players are Bhelogan & Vaynol. We haven't gone through any form of character creation yet as I've just been gathering interest up until this point. I'll nudge them over here to discuss what kinds of characters they'd be interested in playing.

Great questions!

[Admin Bhelogan]

As a 'pre-approved', I'll risk ruining my status by filling out the application questions:

How familiar are you with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archives, and the Cosmere?
As of the time of this posting, I currently have an expected wait period of 7 weeks (11 of 17 waiting), to get The Way of Kings off hold, and read the 2nd half of it. I'm a bit of a slow reader, only got through about the first half on my first load.


What post rate can we expect from you?
1x weekly for in-game posts. Up to OOC chat a lot more often.

What is important to you in a game?
I like collaboration between players and a good OOC environment. I appreciate it when other players keep their posts to reasonable lengths, and make actions very clear. I don't want to spend hours reading and rereading what other players did in their last post to figure out what is happening.

What is not important to you in a game?
I don't need deep characters with a lot of background. Some worldbuilding/character-building as you go is great IMO.

How open are you to learning a new system?
I enjoy it.

Can these all be the same post?
What does a normal SHORT post look like from you? Abnormally short, this was an in-round update to a previous post
What does a normal MEDIUM post look like from you? I try to stick to 2 paragraphs or so
What does a normal LONG post look like from you? Don't expect too many of these


What type(s) of character have you been itching to play? This doesn't have to be specific to this setting or game. General archetypes or ideas are fine here.
I generally enjoy playing support characters, that might have a odd skill or two that lets them shine in specific circumstances.

Which of the 5 Expedition Roles might you be interested in?
Honestly, any are fine. Playing a Bridge Crew member sounds fun, though highly influenced by where I am in the first book. An Ardent could also be a lot of fun, figuring out how to react and appropriately handle things in a 'socially and religiously' way.


My Questions (may already be answered)
1) Are we using the pre-gen characters for the Bridge Nine adventure, or building from scratch?
2) Are we planning on having one of each roll, or can we all be Bridge Crew members?
3) Are we using the character sheets on demiplane? Or just using it to create characters later on. (Probably doesn't need to be answered right now, but oh well, I'll ask anyway)

[Nasrith]

Originally Posted by Bhelogan

As a 'pre-approved', I'll risk ruining my status by filling out the application questions:

You have not ruined your pre-approved status. Good job!

Are we using the pre-gen characters for the Bridge Nine adventure, or building from scratch?

I'd intended for folks to build from scratch, but if anyone prefers to use a pre-gen character from the Bridge Nine adventure, they're welcome to do so as well. Those pregens could also be a good jumping off point if anyone is struggling to decide where to start.

Are we planning on having one of each roll, or can we all be Bridge Crew members?

The party is not restricted to one of each role. You could all be ardents, scholars, bridge crew, or anything else you want.

Are we using the character sheets on demiplane?

Maybe. It's useful for building the character, but we may not want to have to reference a whole new site every time we want to check the mechanics. We'll decide that once we get to the game.

[Remorazz]

Originally Posted by Nasrith

Any outcast character works well if you don't know the setting well! Having a parshman bridge crew character, in particular, would give you some interesting background knowledge.

A purelaker character would be fun too. They're generally a very chill, peaceful society. Interestingly, the closest you'll get to a berserker are the Alethi. Though disciplined and well-equipped, their warriors feel the Thrill during battle. The Thrill is a euphoric enjoyment of combat that pushes them to greater strength, endurance, and violence.

Ok! If chosen I'll go Beserker if there aren't many physical classes, otherwise I'll go Bridge Crew.

For the Beserker I was thinking a riverman whose village got destroyed by (insert faction here..) and they all formed a river-bandit team to survive. Eventually disassembled and absorbed by High Prince Sadeas.

The Alethi sound too sophisticated for what I have in mind, but that Thrill thing is intriguing.

[Drifter One]

I am interested in this as I like new settings and the concept. However, I will hold off applying just yet until I know the outcome of another application as I do not want to bite off more than I can chew, as this would not be fair to the GM or other players. So if it is ok, I may sneak an application in just before the deadline

[Nasrith]

Originally Posted by Remorazz

Ok! If chosen I'll go Beserker if there aren't many physical classes, otherwise I'll go Bridge Crew.

So here's where this system's take on classes, called Paths, gets interesting. Skills, including weapon skills, aren't tied to Paths. You can have any skills paired with any path, which means you can be a berserker-style character no matter what path you choose. Some might fit better than others mechanically, however.

I should also note that the Bridgeman, Scout, Guard, Ardent, and scholar I mentioned above aren't paths. They're just roles you would fill in the expedition.

Originally Posted by Remorazz

For the Beserker I was thinking a riverman whose village got destroyed by (insert faction here..) and they all formed a river-bandit team to survive. Eventually disassembled and absorbed by High Prince Sadeas.

There's a decent amount of space between The Purelake and Alethkar, so they would need to have gotten there somehow. Which, I'm sure would be no issue for a bunch of river bandits.

Originally Posted by Drifter One

I am interested in this as I like new settings and the concept. However, I will hold off applying just yet until I know the outcome of another application as I do not want to bite off more than I can chew, as this would not be fair to the GM or other players. So if it is ok, I may sneak an application in just before the deadline

I have nothing but respect for this approach. Good luck! But also... not?


@Everyone, do you like maps? Because I like maps. I've added maps of the Shattered Plains and the world of Roshar to the game forum.

I mentioned this earlier in the post in response to Remorazz, but let's pause for a sec and talk character creation. For characters, you'll be able to build your own, take a pre-gen, or take a pre-gen and modify them. I find character creation to be more flexible than D&D, which means you can play any combination of anybody you want to be without finding yourself at a severe mechanical disadvantage.

 

Steps to Character Creation Step 1. Choose your Ancestry: Human or Parshendi; I imagine for this game most players will be human. Step 2. Choose your Cultures: Many options here, each defining your character's regional, social, and cultural knowledge. You pick 2 Step 3. Choose your Starting Path: Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, or Warrior. The ONLY thing tied to these paths is a skill tree. As you level up, you can take any skill you meet the prerequisite for from your path's skill tree, or take a step down any of the other paths. Step 4. Set Attributes: Assign 12 points to Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence Step 5. Choose Skills: Pick Relating to Strength & SpeedPhysical, Relating to Intellect and WillpowerCognitive, and Relating to Awareness and PresenceSpiritual skills. There are no restrictions as to which skills you can choose. Step 6. Choose your Expertise: Choose weapon, armor, cultural, specialist, or utility expertise. Again, no restrictions on which expertise you select. Step 7. Choose your Kit: Starting items, the boring step Step 8. Choose your Purpose & Obstacle: These have no mechanical implications, but held define the main drivers for your character. Step 9 Choose your Goal: What is the thing your character is actively working towards in the game? Unlike purpose & obstacle, your goal provides the GM (that's me!) with ways to reward you as your character grows. Step 10. You're done! That's it! Demiplane has a great character creator which also provides more information about each of the cultures, paths, attributes, skills, and expertise. LINKED so you can go play with it if you want. Just a heads up - you will have to make an account.

[Kenjitsu]

Application How familiar are you with Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archives, and the Cosmere? I have been through the Mistborn trilogy and made it a quarter of the way through The Ways of Kings of the Stormlight Archive. What post rate can we expect from you? I check for new posts daily and can respond with short to medium posts when needed with an occasional long post from time to time. What is important to you in a game? It needs to be fun. Fun can be setting goals and then reaching those goals. Also being able to use my character's abilities to have some positive affect on the game. What is not important to you in a game? Drama. I would rather have the players all work together. How open are you to learning a new system? I'm open to new systems. What does a normal SHORT post look like from you? Combat Post What does a normal MEDIUM post look like from you? Transition Post What does a normal LONG post look like from you? Character Introduction What type(s) of character have you been itching to play? Stealthy Combat Engineer Which of the 5 Expedition Roles might you be interested in? Guard (Mercenary) / Scout

[Kenjitsu]

Quick question: how many levels do you estimate we will gain during this one-shot introduction?

[Nasrith]

Originally Posted by Kenjitsu

What type(s) of character have you been itching to play? Stealthy Combat Engineer

Definitely have some interesting mechanical options for this. An Agent or Hunter would be the classic paths to pick, but you could also choose the Envoy or Leader path to apply buffs & debuffs.

Originally Posted by Kenjitsu

Quick question: how many levels do you estimate we will gain during this one-shot introduction?

Expect to hit level 2 at the end of the starter adventure. From there, we've got a few options.

1. We call it good there and go our separate ways with a completed game under our belts.
2. We roll into the game module, which is planned to be released with the complete ruleset.
3. We put the game on pause until the game module with the complete ruleset gets released, then pick up there.
4. We go off the rails, and I make it up as we go.

[Admin Bhelogan]

Originally Posted by Nasrith

4. We go off the rails, and I make it up as we go.

I like option 4. At least, that seems to be what I always end up doing.

I'm leaning towards making an Envoy, specifically an Ardent (following the Devotary of Purity) dedicated to converting the heathens to Vorinism. I found some useful info here: https://stormlightarchive.fandom.com...ote-Rtwokc33-1