The Cosmere RPG handles classes very differently from Pathfinder or DnD
The Cosmere RPG, a hotly anticipated tabletop adaptation of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy universe, released its first digital copies to backers on July 23. For the first time, players can tell their own stories of Stormlight and spren through roleplay. And, since we also had access to an early copy of the rules, let us give you an early warning – the character options in Cosmere are very different from the classes you’ve come to expect from games like D&D.
In contrast with the rigid DnD classes of fifth edition, the Cosmere RPG offers a number of ‘paths’. When you create a level-one character, you first choose one of six Heroic Paths. Each of these offers you a starting skill and a starting talent.
| Heroic Path | Starting skill | Starting talent name | Talent description |
| Agent | Insight | Opportunist | Once per round, you can reroll your plot die. |
| Envoy | Discipline | Rousing Presence | An ally has the Determined condition until the scene ends. |
| Hunter | Perception | Seek Quarry | Choose a character as your quarry and gain advantage on tests to find, attack, and study them. |
| Leader | Leadership | Decisive Command | Spend one focus to give an ally within 20ft a d4 command die that they can add to a die roll on their next test. |
| Scholar | Lore | Erudition | Temporarily gain a cultural or utility expertise and a rank in two non-surge cognitive skills. Reassign these after a long rest with library access. |
| Warrior | Athletics | Vigilant Stance | Enter Vigilant Stance to reduce the focus cost of Dodge and Reactive Strike by one. You can enter other stances as a free action. |
A Heroic Path’s key talent unlocks three ‘specialties’. These are presented as videogame-style skill trees, where branching talents must be unlocked in order.
| Heroic Path | Specialties |
| Agent | Investigator, Spy, Thief |
| Envoy | Faithful, Diplomat, Mentor |
| Hunter | Archer, Assassin, Tracker |
| Leader | Champion, Officer, Politico |
| Scholar | Artifabrian, Strategist, Surgeon |
| Warrior | Duelist, Shardbearer, Soldier |
For example, when a Duelist has acquired the Flamestance talent, they’ll next be able to unlock Signature Weapon or Feinting Strike. Meanwhile, the Vinestance talent can’t be acquired until Feinting Strike has been unlocked. Many talents in these Heroic Paths also come with prerequisites of their own, such as a certain stat value or completing a specific goal.
However, the skill tree and these prerequisites are the only restrictions on which talent you take. There is no additional prerequisite for ‘multipathing’, and there’s no limit to the number of paths your character can take on. The only other rule you need to worry about is for Paths that share talents of the same name – as these can only be taken once.
From levels one to 20, a Cosmere character gains at least one new talent every time they level up. It’s perfectly possible for you to dabble in all three of a Heroic Path’s specialties or to mix and match multiple Heroic Paths.
And we haven’t even talked about Radiant Paths yet.
For many, the big appeal of the Cosmere RPG will be the chance to roleplay as a member of a Radiant order, those extraordinary people that bond with spren and use Stormlight to fuel incredible powers. The core rules present nine playable Radiant paths (and, technically, one that’s not fully playable), each with its own starting talent and three specialties.
A character must be level two or higher before they can decide to become a Knight Radiant. At this point, they can choose the First Ideal talent of the order they wish to join.
Regardless of which path you choose, the First Ideal’s starting talent unlocks the ability Breathe Stormlight, Enhance their Strength or Speed stats, and Regenerate health. Each of these is fueled by a resource unique to Radiants, known as Investiture.
Starting on a Radiant Path also gives the character a new goal – to prove their commitment to this Ideal and ‘speak’ it – that they must complete before they can unlock the Radiant Path’s most unique feature.
Surges are a magical ability that only Knight Radiants can use. There are 10 surge specialties in the Cosmere RPG, with each Radiant Path offering access to two of them. These make up two of the Radiant Path’s three unique skill trees (with the other focusing on their bond with the order’s unique spren).
| Radiant Path | Surges |
| Windrunners | Adhesion, Gravitation |
| Skybreakers | Gravitation, Division |
| Dustbringers | Division, Abrasion |
| Edgedancers | Abrasion, Progression |
| Truthwatchers | Progression, Illumination |
| Lightweavers | Illumination, Transformation |
| Elsecallers | Transformation, Transportation |
| Willshapers | Transportation, Cohesion |
| Stonewards | Cohesion, Tension |
| Bondsmiths | Tension, Adhesion |
With eight talents to unlock in every tree of specialties, the Cosmere RPG offers more flexibility than any rigid list of classes and subclasses. It’s clear that the designers have taken inspiration from the crunchier mechanics we see in Pathfinder classes and feats, but Brotherwise Games has put its own spin on the tried-and-tested d20 rules set.
We’re currently working on our full Cosmere RPG review, so watch this space for more analysis on how well this system actually works. Until then, check out our early Cosmere RPG preview from 2024 or our guide to DnD races for more deep dives on RPG character options. Also, if you’re reading your own copy of Cosmere right now, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the Wargamer Discord.
