Deciding whether to play a lore accurate or lore divergent campaign in the Cosmere RPG.
I’ve seen some discussion lately about whether GMs should run lore accurate or lore divergent campaigns in the Cosmere RPG. I wanted to put my own thoughts together on the topic and what the advantages and disadvantages might be of either approach.
Because the Cosmere is a very lore heavy series of books, and has heavy details on events that occur during particularly important time periods, this is an especially pertinent question for the Cosmere RPG. Especially as many fans of the books might well want to throw themselves into the events they’ve read so much about.
But is that the best idea? Let’s dive into my thoughts on this below.
Reasons to run a lore accurate Cosmere campaign
Let’s start with the reasons why it might be great to run a lore accurate campaign.
Rubbing shoulders with favourite characters
Who doesn’t want to throw on shardplate with the Blackthorn or duel with Adolin. Perhaps you want to make a bridge run alongside Kaladin. The Cosmere RPG gives you this chance.
You might want to be cautious about fighting alongside these legendary characters (they may be overpowered and overshadow your group, especially at lower levels). But you can absolutely rub shoulders with these characters in the warcamps, as slaves or wherever else makes sense.
Becoming a part of important events
We already know that the Stonewalkers campaign coming with the Cosmere RPG Kickstarter is a story outlined by Brandon himself and gives context to the events in Wind and Truth. This makes It canonical but adjacent to the events of the main books.
Inserting your campaign into the main events of the books could seem very exciting too, but if you’re going for a lore accurate campaign, I’d be very cautious of getting too involved in these. RPGs are about player choices and influencing what happens. If you want to keep things canonical, it becomes very easy to then railroad players when they deviate from what is “supposed” to happen on the Shattered Plains, in Thaylen City or across Shadesmar.
As such, if this is the route you want to go, I’d suggest keeping your adventure adjacent to the story of the books, not too directly part of those books.
Having an impact on the story you know
What this means is you can have an impact on the events in the books. You may not be taking control of the main characters, but you might influence skirmishes and infiltration missions that relate to the wider events occurring in the Stormlight Archive.
Already knowing the lore means less making up new lore
When starting a D&D campaign in a new setting, you often have to read through a source book and do further research to know the lore of the place. Those that have read the Cosmere books likely need no more than a small refresher. We’ve already been immersed in the lore and know it well. No need to learn a brand new setting.
Why might running a lore-heavy campaign be challenging?
However, some of the points I’ve made above hold true for any Cosmere campaign, whether it’s lore accurate or lore divergent. And there are some issues that come from strictly sticking to the lore.
Need to know the lore really well
If you want to keep things lore accurate, and especially if you have other players in your group that know the lore, you’re going to have to know the lore really well. Do you know your Stormform from your warform? How about your Elsecaller from your Willshaper? You’re going to really need to know this stuff if you want to stay lore accurate.
Embodying the characters how they were written can be hard
Being the GM is hard. You’re part story teller, part actor, part rule arbitrator, part entertainer. You wear a lot of hats and must react on the fly.
If you establish the expectations that your characters are going to act they way they would in the books, that’s a big burden to get all those characters acting in the right way. Especially when they’ll need to react to unique and different circumstances that your players are sure to throw up.
Can you keep Kaladin morose and inspiring, can you keep Shallan quippy and upbeat. Can you express Jasnah’s cold, self-determination and Ehlokar’s personal feelings of inadequacy? A lore accurate campaign demands you do, but a lore-lite approach gives you free reign to adjust a little (even if the core of these characters might remain similar).
Very easy to become railroaded
RPGs are very much about allowing player freedom within the structure of a narrative and a world. When you have fixed events, it can be easy for players to feel like they’re being pushed down a particular path and that their choices have been taken from them.
I do think there is a way to get around this by telling separate, adjacent stories to the main events, especially ones with more personal stakes. But it becomes more challenging to accomplish this.
Could feel like actions have less impact
Related to being railroaded is perhaps a feeling that whatever the players accomplish won’t really matter because events have already been determined. Skirmishes in the shattered Plains or missions to recover Urithiru won’t really matter because what Kaladin does in the lore already ensures things happen the way they’re supposed to.
Again, separating your campaign from these main events will help. Ignoring the war with Odium and focusing on personal stakes is a way to get around this. Perhaps you’re being hunted by Skybreakers and you’re trying to protect others that have bonded spren from being hunted. Or maybe you’re investigating the Ghostbloods (or working for them).
Metagaming from those that have read the books
I imagine that many players that will be playing the Cosmere RPG will have also read at least some of the books. This provides some players with a lot of knowledge that’s hard to distance yourself from.
when the lore in your campaign is so true to the books, it can be hard not to metagame your way through things.
Impossible to remember all the events
I’ve read all the books in the Cosmere (other than White Sand). I’ve theorised and delved into Coppermind like others. I know the lore of the Cosmere fairly well. But I don’t have an internal memorisation of the events of the Cosmere.
Maintaining that for even the most enthusiastic Sanderfan is going to be very challenging! You put a lot of pressure on yourself as GM to know the lore so well when your campaign will be heavily lore accurate.
Why might a divergent approach to lore be better?
So this is the alternative approach. Start from a base of established lore (the way shards and spren work, the various nations of Roshar and their cultures etc). But rather than sticking strictly to events in the books, you use them as a starting point.
You can have war on the Shattered Plains and the refounding of the Knights Radiant, but perhaps the details can be different or changeable. But the details can become your own and those of your players.
This approach brings with it some advantages:
Can make things up on the fly
You’re no longer hamstrung by events in the books and can react however you like to what your players do. It gives you free reign to do what is most interesting for your players, not what is prescribed in a book.
Players can feel empowered to make a real impact
Your players can now become central to key events in the books without messing up the story. They can become the main characters and make a real and unique impact on events in the world.
You can still include famous characters
But players can also still rub shoulders with Navani as they learn about fabrials, hear terrible jokes from the Lopen and sit uncomfortably around Renarin as he mentions something odd.
You can still draw on aspects of lore
Not everything needs to be made up. You still have the advantage of not needing to make up entirely new lore. You can still have spren, shardbearers and thousands of years of lore to draw upon, leaving you to focus on the particular story you want to tell.
What will I be doing?
First of all, I think it’s important to point out that the designers of the Cosmere RPG have said that both approaches are allowed. In the RPG books, they’ve provided advice for doing whatever your table wants to do (lore accurate or lore divergent). As GM, that’s primarily your decision to make, but as part of your session zero, I’d have that conversation with your players to establish the approach you’d like to make and why. Bring them on board so they understand expectations.
Personally, I think I’ll be running a lore divergent campaign. I’m most excited to run games when I have the creative freedom to tell my own stories and adapt to what my players do.
However, don’t let this put you off playing a lore accurate campaign, I’d just be careful in your preparation that this is done in a way that allows players to not be railroaded and in a way that allows their actions to have an impact on events.
How lore-heavy do you intend on running your Cosmere RPG campaigns? Let me know in the comments below.
