Transitioning from the Stormlight to Mistborn in the Cosmere RPG

The Mistborn setting for the Cosmere RPG will be here before you know it, and Game Masters that are Invested in the Cosmere might be wondering how their campaigns will go from Roshar to Scadrial this September.

The answer to that question is… complicated. On the one hand, there’s going to be a lot that Game Masters who have been running games in the Stormlight setting will find familiar. On the other hand, there are plenty of new mechanics to check out as we delve into the depths of Allomancy and the multi-era history of Scadrial. The real complication will come for Game Masters who want to continue with their party through to the next setting.

To understand how to integrate a new magic system, campaign, adversaries, and all other elements of a completely new setting, we will examine what changes coming and what remains constant in the transition to Scadrial.

Let’s dive in.

What is staying the same

The core of the Cosmere RPG gameplay experience is going to be exactly the same in the Mistborn setting as they are today in the Stormlight setting.

Attributes, skills, and player builds will be completely compatible between settings - you could pick up any player character, adversary, or NPC you’ve played on Roshar, move them to Scardial, and they’ll work just fine. 

This should also work with tier system and building combat encounters, but time will tell how the balance feels with Allomancy compared to Stormlight-based abilities.

The campaign structure will feel similar as well, with conversations, combat, and endeavors using the exact same structure as we saw in the Stormlight setting, though, Scadrial does offer unique opportunities for storytelling; you wouldn’t see a train heist on Roshar, but on Era 2 Scadrial it’s practically mandatory.

Plotweaver, which is the game system built for the Cosmere RPG, was purpose built to fit Sanderson’s vision of a multi-setting living table top roleplaying game. In future settings, like Warbreaker, Elantris, and Worldhopper, expect the core of the gameplay to go largely unchanged, with small setting-based tweaks brought on in each new setting.

On a similar note, once Plotweaver becomes available, new content made for non-Cosmere games should also meld well with the Cosmere RPG, opening up tons of opportunities for expanded gameplay.

What’s changing

While I haven’t gotten my hands on any of the materials yet, there’s already quite a bit of the Mistborn setting that has been previewed. Most of what I’m listing below comes from the State of Cosmere Gaming panel at Dragonsteel Nexus 2025. You can read my Reddit thread from the panel where I posted a smattering of details that were announced during the panel and the subsequent Q&A.

One of the most exciting gameplay changes comes with new options for heroic and the introduction of allomantic paths. 

While the several archetypes of the heroic paths are unchanged, there are reworked talents and new specialties that better align with the Mistborn setting and lore of Scadrial. Like the other gameplay systems - these new specialties are cross compatible between settings.

Mistborn RPG - Warrior Heroic Path

For example, the Warrior path in both the Stormlight and Mistborn settings share the Solider specialty, but the Mistborn has new specialties that fit the setting. It wouldn’t make much sense for there to be a warrior training to become a Shardbearer on Scadrial. Despite this, the mechanics align. If you brought a player character from Roshar to Scadrial, they could use this talent tree without major reowrk.

While unconfirmed as of yet, I would expect that future settings will have slight reimaginations of heroic paths similar to this.

Tin Allomancy - Mistborn RPG

Allomantic paths are completely new, and will offer the opportunity to be a Misting, Twinborn, or even a full Mistborn. One interesting note from the panel was that early playtesting showed many players were more interested in playing a Misting or Twinborn compared to a full Mistborn. Because of the talent system and the steady trickle of progression, it’s easier to gain mastery over one or two metals compared to the wide variety of options available to Mistborn. This tracks from what we see in the books: during training, Vin was instructed to learn from the Mistings in crew, who generally had more skill in specific metallic arts compared to Kelsier.

Expect to see the same level of detail we saw in the Stormlight Worldguide for the world of Scadrial, giving us new art and lore unseen in the books. There are lots of places we only get the barest of descriptions of during the course of the two Eras in Mistborn - I’m looking forward to seeing these unexplored areas brought to life in the Cosmere RPG.

Unique to the Mistborn setting is how the game materials span both published Eras of Mistborn. This manifests in a few ways we didn’t quite see in the Stormlight RPG.

Adversaries, for example, have abilities that aren’t available until Era 2 because they make use of guns or other technologies that you just don’t see in the feudal-industrial setting of Mistborn Era 1. This adds a lot of versatility to the adversaries since you’ll be able to change their abilities once they show up again in Era 2.

Where things get complicated comes in with the Mistborn campaign: Mistborn Legacy.

Multi Era Campaign

When the Mistborn RPG setting got announced at Dragonsteel Nexus 2024, they mentioned that the campaign would span both Era 1 and Era 2. Without going too deep into spoiler territory, there is A LOT of time in between both Eras… so how do Game Masters transition their party from Era 1 or Era 2 in the Mistborn campaign? After my interview with Johnny O’neal at Dragonsteel Nexus 2025, I asked if we were going to learn about this topic during the panel, and sure enough, we did!

The Mistborn campaign is one story that runs across both Eras. You’ll play one adventuring party in Era 1, generally from levels 1 - 6, then a different party in Era 2 with players level 3 - 6. This will be… interesting. 

On the one hand, I could see this being useful for Game Masters who want to focus on one Era in particular. Maybe your party really wants to play in Era 2, so you fast track the Era 1 campaign then start “officially” playing in Era 2. It might give players a chance to test out a build or play something they wouldn’t normally play before settling in to their final player. 

On the other hand… My players usually find themselves really attached to the characters they play, and the idea of abandoning them midway through a campaign won’t work for every table.

I think a nice middle ground is to treat the transition as another story element. Perhaps your party is playing the ancestors of your original party - depending how well they conclude the Era 1 campaign, their ancestors might start with certain advantages (or complications) in the new world post Catacendre. For ease of transition, you could probably still use their original character sheets, though you might need to beef up the challenge if they’re leaving Era 1 closer to level 6 or even beyond.

I’m waiting to see what’s in the official rulebook before I start making my plans. For storytelling, I’m a little more excited about Era 2 Scadrial - guns, cars, and more!  

But what about the party we’re leaving behind on Roshar?

Transition from the Stormlight to Mistborn Setting

Some Game Masters might have thought that the change in setting would allow you to bring your party adventuring on Roshar on to discover the secrets of Scadrial. Unfortunately for those folks, we won’t see an official ruleset on how to do that until we see the Worldhopper setting.

This does make sense given what we know of the Cosmere timeline. We’ve known for awhile that the events of Stormlight occur before Era 1 of Mistborn, so it wouldn’t make much sense that your party leaves Roshar and heads to Scadrial to take place in events that occur in the past.

That being said… you can just, you know, do that. There’s no rules barring a Game Master from transporting their party over to the Scadrial setting to learn Allomancy and start mess around in a new setting.

During the panel at Nexus they did mention that there are a few paragraphs about how certain Radiant based abilities might interact with allomancy, so it’s something they’ve considered.

What will you do?

I’m curious how folks are going to handle the new campaigns. Will your party start fresh, or try and create some form of connection between the Stormlight and Mistborn setting? Will you roll your party Era to Era, canon and time be damned, or will you start with a fresh perspective in a new world.

I for one am looking forward to getting my hands on the new setting. Even if I don’t take my party away from Roshar just yet, it will add plenty of new adversaries and fresh ideas in to the Cosmere RPG!