Everything You Need to Know About Brotherwise Games' Mistborn TTRPG

Hello hello! It is Mistborn release day. The second set of releases for the extremely successful Cosmere TTRPG is finally available to the public in digital format. Unlike the more fantasy-oriented Stormlight Archives, Mistborn presents a world through two distinct eras as its story evolves and the world grows in understanding of politics, magic, and technology. It’s a world where metal becomes key to power, and where your actions may resonate out to affect your ancestors.

TTRPG Insider got to speak with Mistborn lead designer Lydia Suen and project and adventure lead Lyla Fujiwara about adapting Brotherwise’s Cosmere RPG to a new and different world, the unique two-era storytelling that its prewritten adventure presents and more.

Mistborn, the popular fantasy setting from Brandon Sanderson and the TTRPG ‘sequel’ to the Stormlight Archives, aims higher in gameplay by attempting to capture two separate eras of a world’s history in a single game.

Cosmere TTRPG publisher Brotherwise Games released the digital copies of Mistborn earlier this week. The game depicts the world of Scadrial, a land where metal is a form of magic and industrial and political ruin are driving significant societal changes. The first era of the books is set in a medieval world where class and economic status are the main dividing lines, and ash and fog overwhelm the cultures. The second era shifts the story 300 years later to a 19th-20th century version of the world where cars, guns and automation are central to society.

The biggest difference in designing the rules for Mistborn compared to its more traditional fantasy-esque was accommodating guns as well as the unique mechanics of Allomancy, lead designer Lydia Suen told TTRPG Insider.

There were also changes to capture the very distinct gameplay focuses that Scadrial presents players. The Heroic Paths (the game’s term for classes) received some minor modifications to accommodate this. While the six paths (Agent, Envoy, Scholar, Leader, Warrior, Hunter) are still the same, the subpath options have been changed. The Agent, for example, now has the option to become a Rebel rather than a Spy (a reference to Kelsier from the books). The Spy option is available (depending on what your GM decides), but it may not sync up with the playstyles that Mistborn focuses on.

Some elements may be restricted by lore. The Artifabarian, a Scholar Path, may not fit well into Mistborn due to that path having a basis in Roshar’s very distinct lore. Inventor, however, is still on the table.

At the core of Scadrial’s fantasy remains Allomancy, the metal-based magic form that many of its residents master. It’s a form of practice that anyone can use and is surprisingly versatile (aka you’re not just going to be Magneto from X-Men.) Each metal brings different components and values, and each person has to train on the magic.

IF a player wanted to use Surgebinding (aka the world’s magic form) in the world of Roshar, building a relationship with an elemental spirit known as a spren remained key as was a player’s relationship with the Knights Radiant. It offered a paladin-esque approach to character roleplay where your virtues informed what sorts of power a player might acquire.

Contrast that with Allomancy, which is a trait a character might inherit and requires training. That power will grow based on the player’s relationship with their mentors and on training it over time, Suen noted.

Capturing the World of Scadrial

The other key element is through the worlds themselves.

Era 1 of Mistborn’s story is a very “Victorian, Les Misérables, and gaslight district inspired era,” project and adventure lead Lyla Fujiwara told TTRPG Insider, while Era 2 is very pulp-adventure-themed. But what differentiates Mistborn from Stormlight are the core themes. The Stormlight Archives are very oriented toward epic war fantasies between nations and against malevolent forces, argues Fujiwara, while Mistborn is oriented toward political intrigue, underground rebellions, and questioning who is truly your ally.

For example, players have to contend with Kandra, a shapeshifting species that can assume the appearance of others through observation and the absorbing of corpses. There are also the Koloss-blodded, a blue-gray-skinned people who seem more inclined toward physical labor due to their genetics. There are also broader themes of trust and betrayal, where players have to determine who among their allies they can truly trust

The game also balances out its content through a series of tags that help identify which items, settings or adversaries might be usable in one of the two Eras.

The Mistborn World Guide is also designed as a thorough exploration of Scadrial’s lore, elaborating on the politics, factions and magic of the setting outside of the novels themselves. Like Stormlight Archives, a player could use the World Guide to inform their roleplay without having to read all of the novels. It’s also intentionally designed so that TTRPG players could go from the game to the novels without too many spoilers about the specific plot beats of the main characters.

Whether you’re a designer, content creator or just the biggest fan at your table, TTRPG Insider delivers in-depth reporting, original interviews and regular roundups of the news that you will not find anywhere else. Let us help you become the best designer, player or dungeon master at your table.

Subscribe now and get the advantage you require to excel in this exceptional hobby and industry.

Playing Across Eras in Mistborn Legacy

One of the best ways to understand a game’s setting is through its prewritten adventures, and Mistborn is no different. Legacy is the prewritten adventure for levels 19- where players will lead two generations of heroes (one in Era 1, the other in Era 2) to pursue a mysterious artifact with horrific implications.

What makes the game stand out in comparison to traditional adventures is what the book calls legacies. These are distinct archetypes within the narrative. For example, a player might act as a “noble.” This is a different aspect than the character’s Heroic Path. That noble may come with particular connections and roles to play within Era 1 of the campaign. What becomes interesting is how the decisions of the Era 1 character impact the Era 2 character. For example, the Noble’s descendant will become the Heir, the Veteran’s descendant might become the Rookie.

The story is written so that your choice of legacy will impact your options. Of course, a player could easily choose to play as the same bloodline across 300 years. Other players could do the same, having their character’s actions influence the previous ones of their other player.

Timeskips are not a new concept in TTRPGS, but Mistborn Legacy does it in such an interesting way, using the actions of one character to affect others over centuries.

Digital copies should be available on sale soon. The physical copies of the game are slowly being fulfilled now.

Disclosure: Review copies of the Mistborn TTRPG were provided to TTRPG Insider.

edited slightly to remove spelling errors

What are your thoughts? Send any scoops, tips or press releases to [email protected].