Tabletop Roleplaying in the World of Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive®
The Cosmere Roleplaying Game is a tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) in which you and a group of friends collaboratively tell a story of heroes in a universe of adventure and powerful Investiture. This handbook provides rules for playing in the world of Roshar—the setting for the Stormlight Archive novels. In this game, you and your fellow players take on the roles of characters from around the world, working together to determine how your stories unfold as you face a cataclysmic era of global conflict.
The core Stormlight books for the Cosmere RPG include the following:
Stormlight Handbook. You’re reading this book now! It contains the foundational rules for playing the game, such as how to create characters, roll dice, and play out scenes. You’ll use this handbook alongside either a published adventure or the Stormlight World Guide, which provides lore and adversary profiles you can use to create your own adventures.
Stormlight World Guide. This guide explores the history and cultures of Roshar and its place in the cosmere. This book contains new canonical lore in the form of character biographies, timelines, and travelogues. It also provides adversary profiles for a wide range of non-player characters (NPCs).
Stonewalkers. The first official Stormlight adventure, written in close partnership with Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells, takes players from 1st through 8th level on an adventure across the continent of Roshar.
The planet Roshar is a small part of a much larger universe known as the cosmere. Dozens of inhabited worlds fill the cosmere—worlds of mist, of color, and of powerful divine magic, worlds where adventures abound. The Cosmere RPG uses a rules system designed for not only adventures on Roshar, but on any of these worlds.
The first books of the Cosmere RPG focus on the acclaimed Stormlight setting. The battle for the cosmere begins here, as the Knights Radiant and Odium’s forces wield powerful Investiture in a conflict spanning all of Roshar.
Whether you’re ready to adventure throughout the cosmere, or whether you simply want to introduce a character from another world, the Stormlight Handbook is just the beginning! You can expand your adventures with other books in the Cosmere RPG series, including the upcoming Mistborn Handbook, Mistborn World Guide, and Mistborn Legacy adventure.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.
The ancient oaths have at last been spoken; the spren return. Men seek what was lost; I fear the quest will destroy them.
It is the nature of magic. A broken soul has cracks into which something else can be fit. Surgebindings, the powers of creation themselves; they can brace a broken soul, but they can also widen its fissures.
This book presents the information you’ll need to create remarkable characters and collaborate on an epic tale, divided into the following sections:
Introduction. This describes roleplaying games, presents the Cosmere RPG’s dice and core mechanics, and provides an example of what to expect in a typical game session.
Chapter 1: Character Creation. This walks you through creating your player character, from imagining a compelling backstory to filling out your character sheet.
Chapter 2: Origins. This offers detailed information for your character’s origins, including ancestry and culture.
Chapter 3: Character Statistics. This provides everything you need to know about your character’s attributes, defenses, resources, skills, senses, and expertises.
Chapter 4: Heroic Paths. This presents the rules for using paths and talents, then details the six heroic paths from which you’ll choose your character’s first specialized abilities: Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, and Warrior.
Chapter 5: Radiant Paths. This describes the ten orders of the mythical Knights Radiant—magic users who wield Stormlight and the forces of nature—and guides you in choosing a Radiant path, joining that order, and climbing its ranks.
Chapter 6: Surges. This outlines the ten magical powers that Radiant characters control and the talents that upgrade them.
Chapter 7: Items. This provides your character’s starting equipment, weapons, armor, and fabrials, along with rules for crafting, travel, and more.
Chapter 8: Goals and Rewards. This guides you through choosing your character’s core drives and downfalls, setting objectives to advance between levels, and earning rewards for completing your goals and advancing the narrative.
Chapter 9: Adventuring. This introduces general rules for adventuring in Roshar. You’ll learn about the three scene types—combat, conversations, and endeavors—and how to navigate dynamic events. During your adventures, you’ll experience trials and tribulation; this chapter also presents rules for the conditions, damage, and injuries you’ll face, plus rules for resting, recovering, and enjoying extended downtime.
Chapter 10: Combat. This describes how to engage in a combat scene, including the general actions every character can use and the rules for targeting, making attacks, and moving around the battlefield.
Chapter 11: Conversations. This provides the rules for tense conversation scenes in which characters attempt to influence each other’s opinions or behavior.
Chapter 12: Endeavors. This presents rules for high-stakes endeavor scenes such as solving mysteries and conspiracies, exploring dangerous environments, and pursuing (or fleeing) adversaries in adrenaline-pumping chases.
Chapter 13: Gamemastering. This guides GMs through the nuances of running a game for their players, including calling for skill tests, using the plot die, depicting enormous battles, creating a comfortable space to explore intense themes and maximize everyone’s experience, and more.
The Next Step. This presents resources for beginning a campaign and immersing yourself in the storm-blasted world of Roshar and the cosmere beyond.
Appendix: Animal Companions. This provides profiles for Rosharan creatures you can befriend and work with.
Glossary and Index. These sections summarize key terms and provide page references for more information.
Character Sheet. This provides a sheet to keep track of your character’s statistics, abilities, equipment, and other information.
Adapting the Stormlight Archive
In adapting the Stormlight Archive into a tabletop roleplaying game, great care was taken to remain faithful to Roshar and the cosmere. New lore and powers described in this book are canonical, developed in close partnership with Brandon Sanderson. However, a few adjustments were made to fit the medium of this collaborative game. For example, some flexible Radiant powers have been codified into specific mechanical effects; some words are capitalized differently for clarity; and some lore is merely hinted at, preserving surprises for new readers of the novels. This game is simply a foundation to build on, so choose whichever elements work for you—you’re embarking on adventures in your Roshar now.
Wracked by an endless cycle of supernatural storms and devastated by eons of conflict, Roshar is a harsh world. Warlike kingdoms vie for superiority, attacking and oppressing any who dare challenge them, including their own people. Even the flora and fauna of this planet are rugged and resilient; many sport tough shells or can retract into themselves to survive the highstorms that sweep across the landscape.
But amid this unyielding environment lies great beauty and power. The highstorms carry Stormlight, a well of magic that empowers the world and those who dwell on it. Elements and emotions spring to life in the form of spren—ethereal beings who fade in and out of the physical world, affecting it in strange ways. Flamespren dance around blazing hearths. Painspren grasp at people suffering from wounds. Gloryspren shine around those who realize the magnitude of their accomplishments. Even greater powers lurk in places less traveled; the heart of the storm and the depths of lonely valleys hold spren more powerful than most people could imagine.
This section contains significant spoilers for the Stormlight Archive novels.
In times now lost to memory, long before humankind’s arrival, indigenous cultures flourished across Roshar. The singers (as they called themselves) were humanoids with striking marbled skin and protective carapace. They could attune to the rhythms of Roshar, connecting profoundly with the enigmatic spren and wielding magic to change the singers’ forms and powers.
When human refugees arrived first on Roshar, the singers regarded them with a mix of suspicion and hospitality, allowing humans to live in the muddy lands now called Shinovar. However, this uneasy peace was unraveled by Odium, the god of hatred, who many of the invading humans had worshipped on their world. Manipulated by Odium, humans and singers made war on one another.
Over millennia of escalating conflict, another deity called Honor opposed Odium’s designs. Both created immortals—the Fused and the Heralds—to fight their battles in a series of cataclysmic wars called Desolations.
The turning point came when humans learned to bond with sapient spren, swearing oaths to unlock the power of Stormlight. These champions of Honor were called the Knights Radiant. Human legends tell of malevolent gods and Voidbringers ravaging the continent, attempting to erase humankind—and every time, the Radiants overcame these foes.
But then, for reasons lost to history, two disasters swept across Roshar. The Radiants gave up their oaths and forsook their powers. An act of terrible betrayal struck nearly every singer in Roshar, severing their Connection to the pure tones of Roshar. Singers entered a clouded mental state. Humanity was left to fend for itself, bracing for the next Desolation—but it never came. Millennia passed, and Radiant powers were all but forgotten.
This section contains significant spoilers for the Stormlight Archive novels.
For nearly five thousand years, humanity dominated Roshar. Radiants, spren bonds, and Voidbringers were nothing but a memory. Humans enslaved the singers, calling them “parshmen,” and eventually lost all records of conflict between the two peoples. Instead, the human nations fought among themselves, embroiled in generations of endless war.
But powers stir once again. The listeners—the last of the singers who still rule themselves—have been driven to a desolate wilderness known as the Shattered Plains. Desperate, they connected with long-lost powers and summoned a new storm to rival the highstorm. This Everstorm freed singers across Roshar, but it also brought baleful powers from another world. A new Desolation now besieges humanity, led by the evil god whose name people fear to speak: Odium.
In the face of this threat, new heroes rise across Roshar, human and singer alike. Enterprising leaders coordinate the resistance. Clever artifabrians build wondrous technologies. Listeners seek a life free from the influence of Odium’s forces or human oppression. Agents of mysterious factions work carefully behind the scenes.
And, most wondrous of all, Radiant spren have begun to appear once again. By forging new bonds with these spren, the powers of the surges can once again be used to defend Roshar. Those who prove themselves worthy earn the illustrious title of Knights Radiant.
Era of Play
The Stormlight setting spans millennia, and groups may decide to set their campaign at any point in the history of Roshar. The Stormlight Handbook and Stormlight World Guide describe the world as it exists during the True Desolation era, specifically in the year of global war that follows the events of Oathbringer. However, the Stonewalkers adventure begins a few months earlier, parallel to the novel Words of Radiance. It’s up to your group where your campaign begins; you might explore another point in the timeline of the novels, or you might find yourselves thousands of years in the past, during the original Desolations.
A roleplaying game is a collaborative experience of storytelling and imagination. You and your friends work together to tell the story of a group of characters, describing their environment, playing out their conversations, and narrating their actions. You roll dice to determine whether those actions succeed or fail, so nobody knows the outcome ahead of time. Each character in the game has unique attributes and rules that affect these die rolls in different ways. A character can attempt anything in the game, but the rules mean some things are more likely to succeed than others.
As detailed in chapter 1, each player—other than the game master—creates a character to play throughout the group’s adventure. Your character is known as a player character (or PC). They’re unique to you, and it’s up to you to decide what you want their origins, ambitions, and decisions to be. Alongside the other player characters, you form a group—sometimes called an adventuring party—who’ll (hopefully) stick together throughout your adventures exploring Roshar. Together, you might form bonds with powerful spren, face the forces of Odium, or take on whatever other challenges your story puts before you.
During the game, you describe the actions your character takes, roll the dice for their actions when prompted by the game master, and decide how and when to use your character’s abilities. How you describe your character’s actions is up to you. Some players act out each word and action of their character, while others prefer to narrate their character’s actions as if they were telling a story. Do whichever feels best to you.
Most players create and control a single character. One player, however, takes on the role of the game master (or GM). They don’t play a single character, but instead act as the guiding storyteller for your game experience.
As detailed in chapter 13, the GM is the lead storyteller and referee of the game. They prepare an adventure for your group to experience, narrate the action, and play the roles of each non-player character (NPC) that PCs encounter, whether friend or foe. The GM is also responsible for adjudicating the game’s rules as the story unfolds; as such, it’s important for the GM to be familiar with all rules of the game, even those that only apply to player characters.
GMs, Players, and You
While the GM is certainly a player—after all, you’re playing a game together—this game’s rules use the word “player” to specifically refer to participants other than the GM. Rules for players only apply to anyone who has an individual player character.
Similarly, when this game refers to “you,” it’s usually talking specifically to the players. However, some sections (including the entirety of chapter 13) address the GM directly.
After a player decides what their character attempts to do, the GM decides how those actions resolve. Players are free to make suggestions, but the GM has the final say on what ultimately happens in the story. The role of GM is infinitely flexible as they improvise in response to unexpected player choices and dice rolls.
In this game, the GM isn’t an adversary to the other players; instead, the GM serves as guide and collaborator in creating a story together. It’s true the GM is responsible for determining which dangers and enemies PCs face, but the GM’s ultimate goal is to facilitate a story the whole group finds compelling and satisfying.
The game itself is played out in a series of sessions where your group gathers to play (either in person or online). Many groups prefer sessions of two to four hours, but they can be any length you wish. During a session, gameplay follows this general pattern:
The GM sets the scene. The GM tells you about your character’s surroundings. They describe the environment and anything going on that’s easily noticeable. Depending on the context, they may outline the stakes of the current scene or describe some options you may want to pursue.
The players decide what they do. You and the other players decide what actions your characters take based on the information. You might investigate the environment or quickly enact a plan of action. Sometimes the entire group acts together (such as “we all head into the stormshelter”). However, your characters can also act individually, or even split up between different locations to tackle each aspect of the situation.
The GM narrates the results. The GM describes the results of the actions you decided to take. Sometimes this is as simple as describing a new scene, but when your attempted actions carry some risk or chance of failure, the GM might have you roll dice to decide the outcome. Then, based on those results, the GM narrates the outcomes, repeating the loop all over again.
As this cycle continues, the game feels like a casual conversation; you and the GM go back and forth, occasionally interjecting a dice roll to see how things resolve. These steps play out whether you’re negotiating with a Thaylen merchant, exploring the eerie bottom of a chasm, or fighting a pitched battle against a greatshell. To help each situation feel unique, the game presents special rules for three scene types: combat, conversations, and endeavors (see chapter 9, “Adventuring”).
Besides this rulebook, the players need just a few things to play this game:
Character Sheet. Each player needs a copy of the character sheet to track their unique rules and record what happens to their character during play. You’ll fill out this sheet during character creation in chapter 1; you can find a blank sheet in the back of this book or online at CosmereRPG.com/character-sheets.
Dice. The group needs at least one set of polyhedral dice (described in the next section). These dice can be found at hobby stores or online. Additionally, this game uses a unique plot die with special symbols to trigger effects during gameplay. You can buy plot dice online at CosmereRPG.com/shop, or you can designate an ordinary six-sided die to use in its place (as described in the upcoming “Plot Die” section).
Pencils and Paper. In addition to pencils for writing on your character sheet, scratch paper can be helpful for taking notes or drawing quick sketches to visualize areas during play.
Safety Tools. Before you play, it’s important to establish expectations for your group. Tabletop RPGs can include sensitive material, and safety tools help players steer the narrative away from topics that make them feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. Chapter 13, “Gamemastering,” presents a safety guide to help your group navigate these areas.
Additionally, the GM might use some or all of the following resources to enhance the game experience:
Stormlight World Guide. The Stormlight Archive novels describe the rich and deep world of Roshar, but you can play this game without them. The Stormlight World Guide (see “The Cosmere RPG” earlier in this introduction) collects the essential information about Roshar into a single reference book, complete with rules and statistics for enemies you can encounter all over the world.
Adventures. The GM can use the Stormlight World Guide to design their own custom adventure for your group to play through. Or if the GM prefers, they can use official published adventures that provide all the resources they’ll need to tell the story.
Maps and Miniatures. The Cosmere RPG rules support “theater of the mind” play, but many players enjoy visual aids. Miniatures and grid maps can help track character placement during combat, as described in the “Variant: Using a Grid” section of chapter 10.
Music. A laptop or speaker with music queued up for the right moments can add to the atmosphere of a game table.
This RPG uses a set of polyhedral dice. In these sets, each die has a different number of sides: four, six, eight, ten, twelve, and twenty. This RPG also uses one additional six-sided die known as the plot die (described later in this section). Your group needs at least one of each of these dice to play the game, but most players prefer to have their own set.
Throughout the rules text, these dice are referred to by the letter “d” followed by the number of sides of the die: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. So when you’re told to roll a d20, find and roll the twenty-sided die.
Whenever the outcomes of your character’s actions are uncertain, you make a skill test using a d20 to determine whether you succeed or fail. Tests are the core mechanic of this game, so you’ll roll them frequently! The “Skills” section of chapter 3 further details how skill tests work, but at their most basic, tests follow these steps:
Pick a skill and roll the dice. Determine which skill on your character sheet best applies to the situation, then roll one d20. (You might also need to roll other dice at the same time as the d20, as described below in “Adding Additional Dice.”)
Add your skill modifier. The number next to each skill on your character sheet is your skill modifier, reflecting how good you are at that skill. Add it to your d20 roll.
Add any bonuses or penalties. Some tests gain bonuses or penalties in certain circumstances. Add any of these to your d20 roll.
Compare your total to the test’s difficulty. You’re trying to reach a target number known as a difficulty class (or DC). Add up your d20 roll plus skill modifiers, bonuses, and penalties; if that result equals or exceeds the DC, you succeed at your task.
Resolve the results. Resolve the results of the success or failure, as well as any side effects triggered by your abilities or the plot die (described in the “Plot Die” section).
Some skill tests require adding additional dice to your d20 roll, such as the following:
Plot Die. On especially important rolls, the GM might have you add the plot die to introduce Opportunities or Complications to the story. See the next section.
Advantage or Disadvantage Die. When circumstances make your test easier (or harder) than usual, you might roll an extra copy of one or more dice, then pick the most (or least) beneficial result. See “Advantages and Disadvantages” in chapter 3.
Damage Die. When you attack an adversary, you add one or more damage dice to your test, which determines how powerful your attack is. See “Attacking” in chapter 10.
Unless otherwise instructed, roll any additional dice at the same time as your d20.
When an ability requires you to roll multiple dice of the same kind, this is indicated by a number before the “d” (such as “3d6”). Roll that number of dice and add together their results—or if you don’t have that many dice, you can roll the same die that many times in a row. For example, if an ability tells you to “roll 3d6,” you roll three six-sided dice (or roll the same six-sided die three times) and add their results together.
In addition to normal polyhedral dice, this game uses a custom die called the plot die. You don’t automatically roll the plot die with every skill test—it’s only used to “raise the stakes” during tense moments and tests critical to the plot. NPC tests don’t generally use the plot die.
When you roll the plot die, the result might add a bonus to your test—but it can also result in unforeseen Opportunities or Complications arising from your actions, as described in the upcoming sections.
The plot die has six sides, two of which are blank. Another two sides have an Opportunity symbol (✦), and the final two sides have a Complication symbol (⚡). If you don’t own this game’s custom plot die, you can instead use a normal d6 and convert the results using the Plot Die diagram. Note that 1 and 2 are the “worst” results, though they offset the Complication by granting a bonus to that test (see “Complication Bonus”). The bonus is equal to the number shown on the Complication symbol—which is double the number rolled on a normal d6.
Plot Die (d6 conversion table)
| d6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Complication (+2 bonus) | Complication (+4 bonus) | Blank | Blank | Opportunity | Opportunity |
When your character is about to make an important skill test, the GM can emphasize this by raising the stakes. When the stakes are raised, roll the plot die at the same time as you roll your d20 for the test.
The GM might raise the stakes to emphasize tests like the following:
The stakes can only be raised once per test, and they can’t be raised after the d20 has already been rolled.
When you roll the plot die with your test, the effect depends on whether you roll an Opportunity (✦), a Complication (⚡), or a blank.
If you roll a blank on the plot die, no positive or negative side effects apply to your test, and you resolve the remainder of the test as normal. If you roll a ⚡ or ✦ symbol, see “Opportunities and Complications.”
Some abilities give your character the ability to raise the stakes yourself, though you can only do so if the GM hasn’t already raised the stakes.
Even if you don’t have one of those abilities, you might think a test is worthy of raising the stakes. You can always ask the GM to raise the stakes and advocate for why you think the test warrants it, but ultimately it’s the GM’s call. (GMs, see “Using the Plot Die” in chapter 13 for further guidance on when and how to raise the stakes.)
When you make a test, Opportunities and Complications represent beneficial or detrimental side effects related to what happens during the test. These narrative tools add interesting wrinkles to the story as it unfolds.
Your test can gain an Opportunity or Complication when you roll the plot die, when an ability grants it, or when you roll a 20 or 1 on your d20 (see the upcoming “Opportunity and Complication Ranges” section).
When you gain an Opportunity, this applies a beneficial effect to the outcome of your current test (regardless of whether the test succeeds or fails). You can “spend” this Opportunity to choose one of the following effects:
Aid an Ally. Thanks to your actions, the next test made by an ally of your choice gains an advantage (see “Using Skills” in chapter 3).
Collect Yourself. You recover 1 focus (see “Focus” in chapter 3).
Critically Hit. You change a hit into a critical hit (see “Attacking” in chapter 10). You can only use this effect on attack tests.
Influence the Narrative. Your actions result in a positive narrative effect of your choice, which the GM must approve. For example, you might be trying to rough up a Ghostblood agent; if you fail on your ultimate goal but roll an Opportunity on that test, you and your GM might decide you managed to pick the agent’s pocket while you had your hands on them. The “Skills” section of chapter 3 suggests example Opportunities.
Some abilities provide additional ways you can spend an Opportunity. If an ability says you can spend an Opportunity to trigger a special effect, but you don’t roll an Opportunity on that ability’s test, you can’t use that special effect.
When you gain a Complication, this applies a negative side effect to the outcome of your current test (regardless of whether the test succeeds or fails). The GM should “spend” this Complication to choose one of the following effects:
Hinder an Ally. Your actions have unforeseen repercussions. The next test taken by a PC gains a disadvantage (see “Using Skills” in chapter 3).
Become Distracted. You lose 1 focus (see “Focus” in chapter 3).
Influence the Narrative. Your actions result in a narrative drawback of the GM’s choice. For example, you might be trying to deceive a guard into thinking you’re an important foreign emissary; if you succeed on your ultimate goal but roll a Complication on that test, your GM might decide your deception worked so well that the guard insists on escorting you to their commander. The “Skills” section of chapter 3 suggests example Complications.
Some rules provide additional ways the GM can spend a Complication.
True to its name, a Complication can complicate a situation—but it can also help your test result! When you gain a Complication from rolling the plot die, it also grants you a bonus to your current d20 roll. This bonus equals the number displayed inside the Complication symbol you rolled (either +2 or +4). If you gain a Complication from another source, it tells you what bonus to add, if any.
In addition to the plot die, you can also gain Opportunities and Complications from a very high or low d20 roll. When you make a test, you gain an Opportunity if your d20 rolls a number that falls within your Opportunity range. By default, this range begins and ends at 20, so you gain an Opportunity when you roll a natural 20—a roll where the die itself shows the number 20, regardless of the test result after skill modifiers, bonuses, and penalties.
Similarly, you gain a Complication if your d20 rolls a number that falls within your Complication range. By default, this range begins and ends at 1, so you gain a Complication when you roll a natural 1—a roll where the die itself shows the number 1. However, unlike plot die Complications, this Complication doesn’t grant you a bonus to your test.
You can gain an Opportunity (or Complication) from a natural 20 (or natural 1) even when you also rolled the plot die—so sometimes you might face multiple Opportunities or Complications on the same test.
You’ll sometimes roll more than one d20 for a test, usually due to advantages or disadvantages (see “Using Skills” in chapter 3). When you do, a d20 only adds an Opportunity (or Complication) if you (or your GM) choose that d20 result to apply to your test.
Some effects expand the range of numbers that add an Opportunity or Complication to your roll.
If an effect expands your Opportunity range, reduce its beginning by the stated number. For example, if a talent expands your Opportunity range by 2 for Crafting tests, that range becomes 18 through 20—so you now add an Opportunity on Crafting rolls of a natural 18, 19, or 20.
If an effect expands your Complication range, increase its end by the stated number. For example, if a talent expands your Complication range by 3 for Crafting tests, that range becomes 1 through 4—so you now add a Complication on Crafting rolls of a natural 1, 2, 3, or 4.
Multiple expansions to Opportunity range, Complication range, or both can be applied to the same test—but only if they come from effects with different names (see “Stacking Talents and Effects” in chapter 4). For example, if two different effects expand your Opportunity range by 2 each, you add an Opportunity if the die shows a 17, 18, 19, or 20.
Many of your character’s abilities require you to use an action or reaction. This game’s rules often refer to these using special symbols instead of words. You’ll learn more about actions and reactions in chapter 10, “Combat,” but here are the basics:
Actions (▶). On your turn in combat, you typically can use either two or three actions. These can allow you to do more than one thing on your turn (for example, moving toward a foe and then attacking them), or you can combine multiple actions into a single longer action (for example, using two actions to Recover lost health). If an ability requires one action, it’s labeled ▶; if it requires two actions, it’s labeled ▶▶; and if it requires three actions, it’s labeled ▶▶▶.
Reactions (↺). You typically can’t act on other characters’ turns—but if a specific trigger occurs, you might use a reaction to immediately respond in a special way. You typically can use one reaction between each of your turns.
Free Actions (◆). Some activities don’t require an action or reaction. For example, you can freely banter during combat, even if you’ve used all your actions.
Choosing Opportunities and Complications
When someone adds an Opportunity or a Complication to their test, everyone else at the table can suggest fun ways to spend it (such as dramatic narrative outcomes in your current scene). However, the final choice is up to the player or GM who is spending it.
If you spend an Opportunity and choose to influence the narrative, the GM has the final say on if your proposed narrative effect is possible. If the GM doesn’t approve, you can work together to pick a new narrative effect, or you can choose a different effect.
These general guidelines apply to all rules of the game.
If there’s ever uncertainty or disagreement about how to apply the rules of the game, the GM decides.
The general rules of the game (such as how to roll dice, use skills in tests, and engage in combat) provide a foundation for gameplay. However, many specific rules granted by characters’ talents, powers, items, or other elements seemingly “break” the general rules—this is intentional and adds variety. If a more specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule wins.
Some effects seemingly overlap with others. In general, similar effects can stack on a target unless the effects share the same name. See “Stacking Talents and Effects” in chapter 4 for the full rules on which effects stack in this game.
If an effect tells you to reduce a value, you can’t reduce it past 0 unless otherwise specified. For example, your health can’t drop below 0, and you can’t reduce damage to a negative number.
Whenever you need to divide a value, round down unless otherwise specified. For example, if your movement rate is 25 feet and an ability allows you to “move up to half your movement rate,” you can move up to 12 feet.
The stories you tell with the Cosmere RPG can vary in length and complexity. One group’s adventure might play out in a single session; these games are often called one-shots. Another group’s adventure could span many sessions, forming a lengthy campaign where the characters grow and advance over time. Some campaigns might string together many smaller, loosely connected adventures. Other campaigns could play a long and elaborate adventure that spans characters’ whole careers.
For groups that play longer adventures, each player character grows in two ways: through gaining levels (discussed in the “Character Advancement” section of chapter 1) and achieving goals (discussed in chapter 8). Gaining levels represents your growth as you practice over time; each level allows you to improve your innate skills and unlock new abilities. Meanwhile, as you pursue and achieve goals unique to your personal narrative, you gain access to powerful rewards (such as earning legendary Shardblades or bonding with magical spren).
As your PCs grow in ability and power, your roles and experiences on Roshar advance and change. Over time, you’ll progress through five tiers of play (see “Character Advancement” in chapter 1). These serve as general guides for what kinds of experiences the PCs can expect and what kinds of stories the GM should be trying to tell.
This section presents an excerpt of gameplay from the middle of an adventure. The PCs have tracked a group of singers to a location on the Shattered Plains. Lisiril the Veden Elsecaller (she/her), Jhesh the listener Willshaper (they/them), and Aj the Iriali Edgedancer (he/him) prepare to approach the location.
Game Master (GM): An anticipationspren whips at the air as you approach the spot you scouted. The Everstorm’s arrival tore apart the plateau’s surface here. Under the broken layers of crem lie ancient ruins, exposed for the first time in millennia. A rift in the ruins leads underground—it’s possible your quarry headed down there.
Rico (playing Aj): Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get in there after them!
GM: Your spren Swillo slithers closer to the entrance and gives you an admonishing look. “What did we just learn about rushing in?”
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Okay, let’s get a bit more information before heading down. My Memories of Stone talent lets me use Cohesion to commune with the stone of Roshar. I want to find a piece of the ruin’s stone and lay my hand on it. What can it show me about what’s happening below?
GM: These stones have been through a lot in recent months. You’ll need to test Cohesion to interpret what they show you.
Taylor rolls a d20 and gets a 14 on the roll. Since this is a Cohesion test, they add their Cohesion modifier of +5 for a total of 19.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): What do I see with a 19?
GM: Jhesh, you see flashes of the stone being quarried to form a grand city, then cataclysm, darkness, peace. This stone was slowly yielding to Roshar’s embrace until… pickaxes and hammers! You see singers smashing this stone to open an entrance to the depths. Regals enter the ruins, their imposing forms coursing with red lightning, and the singers unhappily follow. Finally, you see the singers working deep below—and you see a lone singer standing guard in the passage just below you.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I attune the Rhythm of Determination and turn to my companions. “Only one singer stands watch, away from the others. They might listen to me as a fellow singer.”
Mia (playing Lisiril): “Alone? Kelek’s breath! That’s a risk. At least let me sneak inside with you, in case things go south.”
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I roll my eyes. “You realize I can heal myself, right? But fine, go in there, but don’t intervene unless absolutely necessary!” I also tell the group what I saw about the guard’s positioning.
GM: Alright, Lisiril, make a Stealth test—and you can make that with an advantage, thanks to the information Jhesh shared from their vision.
Mia rolls two d20s because she has an advantage; she rolls a 2 on one and a 17 on the other. Since she wants a high roll, she picks the 17. She then adds her Stealth modifier of +4 for a total of 21.
Mia (playing Lisiril): Phew, your information really paid off, Jhesh. I got a 21.
GM: Lisiril, you carefully stick to the deepest shadows as you work your way through the ruins. Thanks to Jhesh’s info, you know to hug the left wall as you near the chamber; there, a singer guards the far doorway while quietly humming to a steady rhythm.
Rico (playing Aj): Before Jhesh heads down there, I infuse myself with Abrasion, slicking the bottoms of my feet so I’m ready to get down there too.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I head down into the ruins. As I near the guard, I loudly attune the Rhythm of Peace and raise my hands. “Peace, friend. I only want to talk, I’m here to help.”
GM: The guard jumps at the sight of you, attuning the Rhythm of the Terrors and grabbing her axe. Test Persuasion and raise the stakes!
Taylor rolls a d20 along with the plot die, rolling an 11 on the d20 and a ⚡+4 on the plot die. They add their Persuasion modifier of +3, along with the +4 from the plot die, for a total of 18.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Well, that’s an 18, but I got a Complication.
GM: Your words get through to her! She lowers her axe a bit and her rhythm changes to Anxiety. “Shhh, they’ll kill you if they spot you. They want to keep what’s here a secret.” Your spren Tempo hovers over the guard’s shoulder, pulsing slightly in warning—then the singer freezes as your Complication comes into play. A shout echoes from a deeper passage. Red lights dance in the darkness there. It seems someone heard your exchange!
Mia (playing Lisiril): Storms! This is why I’m here. I’m going to move out of the shadows and…
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Wait! I quickly whisper to the singer, “I was like you once, but I found my own path to freedom. Tell me: are the Regals holding you against your will?”
GM: Thanks to your previous Persuasion, she still trusts you, and she nods as Tempo pulses faster.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): “Don’t worry, we’re here to help.”
Mia (playing Lisiril): “We are?! Jhesh, you realize they’re our enemy, right?”
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I glare at Lisiril. “Am I your enemy?”
GM: The sound of footsteps draws closer and a glowing red form comes into view. Jhesh and Lisiril, each of you can do one thing before they’re upon you.
Mia (playing Lisiril): “Storms. Storms. Storms. You get her out of here, and I’ll distract our company.” I step from the shadows and stand between Jhesh and the approaching figure.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I’m getting this guard out of here. I grab her and, assuming she follows, we run up the passage toward Aj.
GM: Jhesh, the singer guard briefly hesitates then follows you. Lisiril, a glowing red Regal reaches you. You feel the electricity around them intensifying dangerously.
Mia (playing Lisiril): I wait until the last moment, then use my Realmic Step talent to pass into Shadesmar. I want to use the sea of beads to reach the surface of the ruins when I step back out—hopefully before the Regals attack.
GM: Okay, make a DC 15 Transportation test for that. And raise the stakes again.
Mia rolls a 3 on the d20 for a total of only 7, but she rolls a ⚡ on the plot die.
Mia (playing Lisiril): Uh-oh, that’s a 7. But with an Opportunity! Can I spend it to at least emerge from Shadesmar into a shadowy side passage, where they can’t see me?
GM: Sure! As the Physical Realm reforms around you, you find yourself hidden in a small side passage nearer the surface. After you vanish, the Regal yells and rushes after Jhesh, completely overlooking your presence.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Well, it looks like this is inevitable. I tell the singer guard to keep running and turn to face the Regals. Mist gathers in my hand as I summon Tempo as a Shardblade.
GM: Alright, looks like we’re starting a combat. Who wants to take a fast turn?
The players briefly discuss strategy, and soon, combat ensues…
As you step into the world of Roshar, you start by creating the character you’ll embody in the game. From one perspective, your character is merely a collection of statistics and abilities that outline what you can do in the rules of this game. But more importantly, your character is a concept, a story waiting to be told. You create everything about them—their wants and needs, their strengths and weaknesses, their appearance and personality—forging the beginnings of the story that defines their place on Roshar.
Before you create your character, imagine who they are. What sort of person do you want to play? If you’re a longtime fan of the Stormlight Archive and Roshar, this might be an incredibly specific idea like “a listener who serves as keeper of songs.” If you haven’t even touched the novels, maybe it’s as simple as “a tough-as-nails mercenary.” There’s no wrong way to approach this process! You can come up with this concept on your own, or the group can collaborate on everyone’s characters. If you need inspiration, consider the iconic builds in the heroic paths of chapter 4, or think about the example purposes, obstacles, and goals in chapter 8.
The Stormlight Archive examines journeys of personal growth. The character you make will change throughout gameplay, inching ever closer to their destiny. What type of story feels important, interesting, or healing for you to tell? As you decide on their challenges and potential areas of growth, do those parallel things you’re dealing with in real life? Or are you exploring new topics, hoping to increase your empathy and understanding through the process of roleplaying?
Before you begin character creation, the GM will let you know the general theme of your adventure. As you begin creating your character, make decisions that mesh with this shared story. For example, if the GM says each player character is part of the same bridge crew, you probably shouldn’t create a renowned stormwarden—unless you and your GM can decide how they’re connected to the story and its other characters.
This section guides you through the eight steps of character creation:
While following these steps in order makes your calculations easiest, some players prefer taking other approaches. For example, you could start with your character’s story then fill out the rest of your character around that concept. To spark inspiration, each heroic path in chapter 4 includes examples of how you might use it to build an iconic Stormlight character archetype; if you’re looking for ideas, that’s a great place to start.
Before starting character creation, make sure you have a copy of the Cosmere RPG character sheet; you’ll use this to keep track of your character’s statistics and unique abilities. You can copy the version at the back of this book or download and print a sheet from CosmereRPG.com/character-sheets.
Starting at Higher Levels
Most characters in this game start at level 1. If your GM asks your group to create higher-level characters instead, see “Starting at Higher Levels” in chapter 13.
The first step in defining your character is choosing where you come from, including your ancestry and culture. As you think about your origins, use the tips at the beginning of chapter 2 to begin brainstorming other aspects of your story; you’ll solidify these details in step 7 of character creation.
Your ancestry represents the species you’re descended from. In this game, you can choose from the two most common sapient species on Roshar: humans and singers. Your ancestry guides your appearance, and depending on the capabilities of your species, it might unlock some unique talents.
On Your Character Sheet. Choose one ancestry from the “Ancestry” section of chapter 2, then write its name on the front of your sheet. Record that ancestry’s special rules in their respective fields. (Your ancestry also grants you one or more bonus talents; you’ll choose these during step 5 when you gain your other talents.)
Consider the society (or societies) in which you were raised or have spent the most time. These are represented by cultural expertises that determine the languages in which you’re most fluent, grant you knowledge of how to navigate those societies, and likely influence your perspective on the world.
On Your Character Sheet. Choose up to two cultural expertises from the “Culture” section of chapter 2, then record them on the front of your sheet. (You’ll learn more about expertises—and possibly gain more of them—in step 4 of character creation.)
Choosing Your Name
Names hold power. Whenever you’re ready to choose your character’s name, record both your name and theirs at the top of your character sheet. Most people’s names are influenced by the culture they’re raised in, and the “Culture” section of chapter 2 suggests names for each culture. However, your character’s name doesn’t have to be inspired by your culture, and you can choose it in any way you wish; after all, many people adopt new names later in life.
She had created Veil and Radiant to be strong when she was weak.
Player characters gain most of their abilities from paths, reflecting their specialty, training, and experience. Your character’s chosen paths significantly influence the role you play in the game. If you’ve played other roleplaying games, you’re likely familiar with “classes”; paths are similar but highly flexible.
You begin with a heroic path that grants you mundane abilities, but as you gain levels, you might choose a Radiant path and begin wielding Stormlight.
During this step of character creation, you chose your first heroic path—your starting path. This book presents six heroic path options in chapter 4: Agent, Envoy, Hunter, Leader, Scholar, or Warrior. Each of these is summarized on the Heroic Paths at a Glance table.
Later, as your character gains levels (and talents), you can follow that path for as long as you like, picking new talents from the same talent tree. Or you can branch into multiple paths—sometimes called “multi-pathing”—and become as diversified as fits your story. You might even bond a spren and unlock a Radiant path from chapter 5!
On Your Character Sheet. Choose a heroic path from chapter 4, then record this starting path on the front of your sheet. (For now, you’re just writing down the path name, but you’ll gain a skill from this path in step 4, and you’ll gain at least one talent from this path in step 5.)
How Do I Create a Radiant?
Radiants are the most iconic wielders of powerful magical surges on Roshar. When a human or singer takes special oaths and bonds their soul with a willing sapient spren, that person becomes Radiant, able to breathe in and utilize Stormlight to fuel their powers. Radiants glow with the Stormlight they breathe in, which increases their physical abilities, rapidly heals their bodies, and allows them to manipulate the fundamental forces of nature through Surgebinding.
If you want to play a Radiant in this game, you certainly can—but when you first create your character, they aren’t yet Radiant (unless the GM decides otherwise, such as in a campaign starting at level 2 or higher). To follow a Radiant path, your character must first swear Ideals; you’ll work toward this goal during play, as described in chapter 5.
Heroic Paths at a Glance
| Path | Theme | Specialties | Starting Skill | Summary of Key Talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agent | A talented operative who solves problems with a keen mind or deft hand. | Investigator, Spy, Thief | Insight | Opportunist: Reroll the plot die once per round. |
| Envoy | An insightful negotiator who adeptly influences others. | Diplomat, Faithful, Mentor | Discipline | Rousing Presence: Make an ally Determined. |
| Hunter | A skilled sharpshooter and outdoorsperson who seeks and eliminates problems. | Archer, Assassin, Tracker | Perception | Seek Quarry: Choose one character to pursue and gain an advantage against. |
| Leader | A poised commander who directs and guides others to be their best. | Champion, Officer, Politico | Leadership | Decisive Command: Add a d4 “command die” to an ally’s tests. |
| Scholar | An adroit thinker who excels at planning and building. | Artifabrian, Strategist, Surgeon | Lore | Erudition: Gain bonus skill ranks that you can reallocate. |
| Warrior | A fighter who relies on their skill, brute strength, or indomitable will. | Duelist, Shardbearer, Soldier | Athletics | Vigilant Stance: Gain a fighting stance that makes you more responsive and flexible in combat. |
Your character’s innate characteristics are represented by six attributes: Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence. These form the foundation for your skills, physical and mental limits, and more, as detailed in chapter 3.
Consider which attributes best represent your strengths. Most humans and singers have attribute scores ranging from 0 to 5—the higher your score, the more exceptional you are in that area. When you gain levels, you can increase your attribute scores even further.
On Your Character Sheet. Distribute 12 points across the six attributes in any order. You don’t have to put points in every attribute—0 is a valid attribute score—and you can’t put more than 3 points into any attribute during this step of character creation. For example, you might choose a distribution of 0, 3, 2, 3, 3, and 1.
Record each chosen attribute score on the front of your character sheet. For now, ignore the nearby boxes for your defenses, health, focus, and Investiture; you’ll calculate these statistics in step 7.
Your attribute scores determine how good you are in related areas, including (but not limited to) the following:
While your Intellect and Presence are just as important as the above attributes, you don’t need to record anything about them on your character sheet right now.
On Your Character Sheet. First, refer to the Lifting and Carrying Capacity table in the “Strength” section of chapter 3, and record the indicated lifting capacity on the front of your sheet. For example, if your Strength is 2, your lifting capacity is 200 pounds.
Next, refer to the Movement Rate table in the “Speed” section of chapter 3, and record the indicated movement rate on the front of your sheet. For example, if your Speed is 3, your movement rate is 30 feet per action.
Next, refer to the Recovery Die table in the “Willpower” section of chapter 3, and record the indicated die size on the front of your sheet. For example, if your Willpower is 2, your recovery die is a d6.
Finally, refer to the Senses Range table in the “Awareness” section of chapter 3, and record the indicated range on the front of your sheet. For example, if your Awareness is 3, you can easily sense up to 20 feet even when your primary sense is obscured.
The next step is to consider what skills and expertises your character has honed, regardless of their innate attributes.
The starting path you chose in step 2 grants an associated starting skill, which is considered central to characters who start on that path.
On Your Character Sheet. Gain a free rank in your path’s starting skill (listed on the earlier Heroic Paths at a Glance table, and also in the path’s “Key Talent” section in chapter 4). On the front of your sheet, mark a checkbox next to this skill.
As you play the game, you’ll frequently use skills (detailed in chapter 3) to attempt various tasks. You might sneak past enemy lines with a Stealth test, or you might forage in the wilderness with a Survival test. You could’ve gained these skills through your education, line of work, or personal experience. You might even attribute some to supernatural events.
The more ranks you have in a skill, the better you are at tests and abilities that use that skill. Each skill is also enhanced by the attribute listed next to it on your character sheet. This combination of skill ranks plus attribute score determines your skill modifier, which you add to your test result; this reflects how effectively you can perform various skill tests. For example, you’re more likely to succeed on Insight tests if you also have high Awareness.
On Your Character Sheet. Distribute 4 more ranks among the eighteen skills listed on the front of your character sheet, marking a checkbox for each rank. You can’t increase any skill above 2 ranks during character creation, but you can otherwise choose them however you wish. (If you choose 2 ranks in a skill, mark two checkboxes by it.)
After you distribute these ranks, calculate your skill modifiers for each skill, even those you have no ranks in. Your skill modifier equals:
your number of ranks in that skill + your score for that skill’s attribute + any bonuses or penalties
Record each skill modifier in the box to the left of that skill. For example, if you have 2 ranks in Insight and your Awareness is 3, your Insight modifier is +5.
Special Skills
All characters can use the eighteen skills listed on the character sheet. However, you might gain additional skills during play, representing your practice with surges (see the “Using Surges” section of chapter 6) or other fantastical elements of the cosmere. If you later gain an additional skill, record it on the blank lines at the end of the skill list.
Beyond concrete skills, your character has several areas of expertise—very specialized knowledge from personal experience. You might have intricate knowledge of one kind of weapon, years of learning about an academic subject, or deep familiarity with a given culture.
Each expertise is a simple word or phrase representing a subject you specialize in. If your character is combat-focused, you’ll likely want to choose your favorite weapon or armor as an expertise. If you’re interested in crafting, consider expertises on creating fantastical items such as fabrials. If you’re a scholar, consider cultural expertises that reflect your expanded knowledge about the world.
As detailed in chapter 3, your expertise grants you various benefits; for example, if you have an expertise in Engineering, you might automatically know if it’s safe to cross a rickety bridge, while another character would have to test Deduction to come to the same conclusion.
On Your Character Sheet. You already gained two expertises when you picked your culture in step 1 of character creation. If your Intellect score is 1 or higher, you can now choose additional expertises equal to that score, recording them on the front of your sheet. The “Expertises” section of chapter 3 suggests potential subjects, but you can choose an expertise on nearly any subject you can imagine.
Your path allows you to pick talents from a tree of options each time you gain a level. Each talent grants you a benefit or ability, representing the specialized capabilities that set you apart from other characters.
In step 2, you chose a starting path, which determines your first talent. This key talent is an important ability that other talents in the path may further improve on.
On Your Character Sheet. You gain the first talent in your starting path, as detailed at the top of that path’s talent tree. Record this talent on the front of your sheet.
In step 1, you chose an ancestry that grants you one or more bonus talents.
If you’re a singer, you gain Change Form plus one talent that grants you starting forms (see “Choosing Singer Ancestry” in chapter 2).
If you’re a human, you gain another talent from a heroic path (see “Choosing Human Ancestry” in chapter 2). You can choose another talent within your existing path or choose the first talent of another path.
On Your Character Sheet. Following the rules in the “Ancestry” section of chapter 2, choose your bonus talent(s) and record them on the front of your sheet. If a talent affects your other statistics, also record those in the appropriate fields.
To reflect your character’s background and interests, you gain a starting kit with equipment, currency, and other resources. Some kits also have intangible benefits like granting you a bond with a patron (discussed in chapter 8) or jump-starting your journey to becoming a Radiant (discussed in chapter 5).
Each character begins with a starting kit from chapter 7. Your story isn’t bound by the names of each kit, so pick any kit you wish, then decide how you came to possess these items and resources. For example, if you pick the Courtier kit, perhaps you inherited these items from your noble Alethi family—or perhaps you illicitly gained them from your criminal career in Thaylen City.
On Your Character Sheet. Choose a starting kit from chapter 7, then record its contents in the corresponding fields of your sheet (such as “Weapons” or “Armor & Equipment”).
If your kit grants you marks (Roshar’s common currency), you can use these to purchase more equipment if you wish (or you can save the marks for later). You can buy any of the weapons, armor, or equipment listed in chapter 7—but pay attention to the prices! As a starting character, much of the equipment is beyond your means.
On Your Character Sheet. If you purchase extra equipment, record it in the corresponding fields of your sheet.
Some armor reduces the effect of impact, keen, and energy damage (see “Deflect” in chapter 3). Your deflect value determines how much of that damage you can ignore.
On Your Character Sheet. If you gained armor during this step, record its deflect value on the front of your sheet. Otherwise, your deflect is probably 0.
You now know your abilities, and you have an idea of what experiences shaped you. Now it’s time to solidify who you were leading up to this moment, and even more importantly, who you are today.
Your purpose is your soul and reason for being. It doesn’t have specific mechanical effects; rather, your purpose is what drives you, what defines you, and what inspires you to the lofty goals of your adventures ahead.
Your obstacle, on the other hand, is what stands in the way of your purpose, time and time again. This could be pride, impulsiveness, greed, or anything else that keeps you from your full potential.
On Your Character Sheet. Choose a purpose and at least one obstacle, following the guidance in the “Purpose and Obstacle” section of chapter 8. Record these choices on the back of your sheet.
The tangible objectives your character is personally working toward during their adventures are represented by goals. These are a critical part of your character and how they advance in this game, so think about them carefully. Each goal should be something you’re trying to accomplish in the game; this might be as immediate as “escaping imprisonment” or as lofty as “swearing an Ideal of the Knights Radiant.”
Your goals not only define what currently drives you, but they grant you access to powerful items, people, and resources during your adventures. As described in chapter 8, when you accomplish a goal, you unlock a reward. These can include possessions (like fabrials or Shardplate), relationships (like traveling companions or patrons), increased status (like noble titles), and more.
On Your Character Sheet. Create one or two goals to start with, following the guidance in the “Goals” section of chapter 8. Record these goals on the back of your sheet.
For now, ignore the checkboxes to the right of each goal. As the game progresses, you’ll use these to mark your progress toward your goals.
[Example completed character sheet shown in the book: Veil (Shallan’s persona) — Agent (Spy) path, Human ancestry, Level 1. The front of the sheet shows attributes, defenses, skills, talents, weapons, and appearance; the back shows equipment, goals, purpose, obstacle, connections, and backstory.]
By now, you probably have a good idea of not only what your character is, but who they are. Feel free to add details to your story, referring back to “Considering Your Origins” at the beginning of chapter 2. Consider details such as the following:
Occupation. What do you do for a living? Is it leading you into your adventures or distracting you from them?
Relationships. Who are the most important—or troublesome—people in your life? What factions are you allied with or at odds with? If you have few connections, is there a reason you prefer to work alone? And importantly, how do you know the other player characters, if at all? (Work with your GM and the other players to create connections to them.)
Loyalties. Has your loyalty to your friends or factions ever conflicted with your values or goals? For example, perhaps you’re a middling member of the Diagram who once believed you were helping save humankind, but now you grapple with the depravity of your missions.
Personality. Your character’s personality will solidify as you play the game, but you can sketch it out now. What are your preferences, dislikes, quirks, and general disposition? Do you take joy in the finer things and find poor lodgings an insufferable burden? Or are you frugal, refusing to overspend or be swindled? What makes you stand out from others who share your ancestry, culture, and occupation?
Appearance. What are your distinctive features? What fashions appeal to you? How tall are you? You can record your description in the “Character Appearance” field on your character sheet.
Possible Radiant Order. Do you want your character to eventually join a Radiant order? If so, consider harmonizing your story and personality with a specific Order’s tenets, preparing to bond the corresponding type of spren when the opportunity arises.
You don’t need to know everything about your character when you begin your adventures; feel free to keep things flexible and let more of their story emerge during play.
Congratulations, you’ve made all the big decisions! As the final step of character creation, use the instructions in this section to calculate and record your remaining statistics. Chapter 3 details how your attributes affect these and other aspects of the game.
As you do so, be sure to apply any bonuses from your talents, equipment, and other effects. For example, the Collected talent increases both your Cognitive defense and Spiritual defense by 2.
During your adventures, you draw from three resource pools, each of which has a maximum value that you’ll regularly deplete and recover during play (see “Health, Focus, and Investiture” in chapter 3).
Health
This physical resource represents your stamina and resistance to minor injuries, and it increases as you level up. At level 1, your maximum health equals:
10 + your Strength attribute + any bonuses or penalties
Record your maximum health on the front of your sheet, then record the same number for your current health. For example, at level 1, if your Strength is 2 and you have no relevant talents or other effects, your maximum and current health are 12.
Focus
This cognitive resource represents mental resolve and ability to resist distraction and emotional distress. Your maximum focus equals:
2 + your Willpower attribute + any bonuses or penalties
Record your maximum focus on the front of your sheet, then record the same number for your current focus. For example, if your Willpower is 2 and you have no relevant talents or other effects, your maximum and current focus are 4.
Investiture
As a new character, you don’t have this spiritual resource yet. If you later gain Investiture (see chapter 5), your Awareness or Presence affects it.
Your three defenses represent your resilience against attacks, coercion, and other unwanted effects. The higher your defenses, the harder it is for opponents to succeed on skill tests against you (see the “Defenses” section of chapter 3). Record your three defenses on the front of your sheet:
Physical Defense. Your Physical defense equals 10 + your Strength attribute + your Speed attribute + any bonuses or penalties. For example, if your Strength is 2 and your Speed is 3, and you have no relevant talents or other effects, your Physical defense is 15.
Cognitive Defense. Your Cognitive defense equals 10 + your Intellect attribute + your Willpower attribute + any bonuses or penalties. For example, if your Intellect is 2 and your Willpower is 2, your Cognitive defense is 14.
Spiritual Defense. Your Spiritual defense equals 10 + your Awareness attribute + your Presence attribute + any bonuses or penalties. For example, if your Awareness is 3 and your Presence is 0, your Spiritual defense is 13.
Only a few more fields remain on your character sheet:
Level. On the front of your sheet, record that your character is level 1. This reflects your current power and experience; you’ll gain levels as you continue your adventures in the cosmere. (See the “Character Advancement” section of this chapter.)
Conditions & Injuries. For now, you don’t have any active conditions. You’ll use this field to track temporary effects you experience during gameplay (see “Conditions” and “Injuries” in chapter 9).
Notes. You can use this field to keep track of anything you wish.
Connections. During your adventures, you’ll use this field to track the special connections you build with NPCs and factions. Unless you gained a connection earlier in character creation, this field should remain blank for now. (See “Connections” in chapter 8.)
With your character sheet completed, you’re ready to play!
During this game, your character will face adventure and adversity, making friends and foes alike. As you do, you’ll advance in two meaningful ways. First, you’ll earn rewards for completing personal goals; these can grant you powerful items, allies, and abilities, as detailed in chapter 8. Second, as your campaign progresses, your GM will indicate that your collaborative story has reached certain milestones. When this happens, each character gains a level, representing that each of you has reached a significant milestone in skill and experience.
The levels you advance through are divided into five tiers. As your adventuring party grows in power and faces more dangerous foes, each tier presents a slightly different play experience:
Tier 1 (Levels 1–5). Characters are just coming into their powers and learning about their place on Roshar. You’re dealing with issues and threats on a personal scale that affect you and the people around you. Your decisions may attract a spren to bond with your character, eventually granting you access to powerful surges.
Tier 2 (Levels 6–10). Characters begin dealing with higher-stakes issues on Roshar. At this point, some characters have likely gained talents in the powerful Radiant paths and sworn multiple Ideals. Other characters may have earned Shardblades of their own.
Tier 3 (Levels 11–15). Characters begin facing challenges on a scale that impacts all of Roshar. You might be fighting Fused or other powerful adversaries, and some characters may have earned a set of Shardplate.
Tier 4 (Levels 16–20). Characters face challenges not just on Roshar, but potentially stretching into the greater cosmere. Though you’ve largely mastered your powers, you now face otherworldly foes and unfamiliar threats.
Tier 5 (Level 21+). After level 20, you’ve embraced your identity, your powers, and your destiny. At this point, you might be leading the struggle against cosmere-level threats—or you might retire to a life of peace after a job well done.
Your character’s tier primarily impacts the scope of your current adventures, but it also affects a few of your statistics. For example, you gain ancestry talents at the beginning of each tier; your maximum skill rank increases along with your tier; and some of your talents may become more powerful.
| Tier | Character Level | Attribute Points | Health Gained | Maximum Skill Rank | Skill Ranks | Talents Gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 12 attribute points | 10 + STR health | 2 | 4 skill ranks (+1 from starting path) | 1 talent from starting path plus ancestry bonus talent(s) |
| 1 | 2 | — | +5 health | 2 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 1 | 3 | +1 attribute point | +5 health | 2 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 1 | 4 | — | +5 health | 2 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 1 | 5 | — | +5 health | 2 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 2 | 6 | +1 attribute point | +4 + STR health | 3 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent plus ancestry bonus talent |
| 2 | 7 | — | +4 health | 3 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 2 | 8 | — | +4 health | 3 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 2 | 9 | +1 attribute point | +4 health | 3 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 2 | 10 | — | +4 health | 3 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 3 | 11 | — | +3 + STR health | 4 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent plus ancestry bonus talent |
| 3 | 12 | +1 attribute point | +3 health | 4 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 3 | 13 | — | +3 health | 4 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 3 | 14 | — | +3 health | 4 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 3 | 15 | +1 attribute point | +3 health | 4 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 4 | 16 | — | +2 + STR health | 5 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent plus ancestry bonus talent |
| 4 | 17 | — | +2 health | 5 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 4 | 18 | +1 attribute point | +2 health | 5 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 4 | 19 | — | +2 health | 5 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 4 | 20 | — | +2 health | 5 | +2 skill ranks | +1 talent |
| 5 | 21+ | — | +1 health | 5 | Either +1 skill rank or +1 talent (plus ancestry bonus talent at level 21 only) |
When you gain a level (sometimes known as “leveling up”), your power and abilities increase, as indicated on the Character Advancement table in this section. Follow these steps to advance your character:
Your character starts the game at level 1, and you gain a level when your adventure reaches a milestone as indicated by your GM.
At levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, increase one attribute of your choice by 1, as indicated on the Character Advancement table. (No other levels grant an attribute increase.) You can’t increase any attribute above 5 in this way, but some talents may temporarily boost your attributes, which doesn’t count toward this limit.
On your character sheet, be sure to update skill modifiers and other statistics affected by this attribute; the “Attributes” section of chapter 3 tells you what to recalculate for each attribute.
Increase both your maximum and current health by the amount specified for your level on the Character Advancement table.
Each time you gain a level (through level 20), you gain 2 skill ranks of your choice. From level 21 onward, you gain your choice of either a skill rank or a talent (see step 5), not both, as indicated on the Character Advancement table.
You can’t have more ranks in a skill than the maximum skill rank for your tier, as shown in the Max Skill Rank column of the Character Advancement table. However, some talents may temporarily boost your skills, which doesn’t count toward this limit.
Beyond the above limitations, you can distribute these new skill ranks among any skills you wish, including surge skills gained from Radiant paths.
On your character sheet, for each skill rank you gain, mark one checkbox next to that skill and increase its modifier by 1.
Each time you gain a level (through level 20), you gain one talent. From level 21 onward, you gain your choice of either a skill rank (see step 4) or a talent, not both, as indicated on the Character Advancement table.
Additionally, your ancestry grants you a bonus talent at the beginning of each tier (levels 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21); the “Ancestry” section of chapter 2 details which bonus talents are available to your ancestry.
Whenever you choose a talent, you must meet its prerequisites (as described in the next section).
Some abilities—usually talents—have prerequisites you must meet before selecting or benefiting from them. For example, you might need to swear an Ideal or gain more ranks in a skill before you’re allowed to choose a particular talent. Additionally, each talent (other than a key talent) requires you to have the talent preceding it in the talent tree, as described in “Advancing Through a Path” in chapter 3.
Some effects permanently increase your statistics, and these count toward such prerequisites. However, if you gain a temporary bonus from talents, fabrials, and similar effects, this doesn’t count toward prerequisites. For example, if you’re a singer in artform, your Awareness temporarily increases—but because that bonus ends when you change forms, it doesn’t count toward prerequisites that require a certain Awareness score.
As your character advances, you’ll complete goals that allow you to choose special rewards (see chapter 8, “Goals and Rewards”). You may wish to think in advance and talk to your GM about what rewards you want to work toward. If your character becomes a Radiant, you’ll likely spend most of your rewards on strengthening your spren bond and swearing Ideals—but this diverts your attention from growing your status, resources, and strategic affiliations. So while Radiant characters tend to earn more impressive personal power, heroic characters tend to secure monumental connections and key assets to dominate their enemies and write themselves into legend.
Your character’s life story begins long before your game does. You certainly don’t need to write an epic novel about this backstory, but your campaign will feel more meaningful if you have a basic idea of where your character is coming from (and how they might be connected to the other player characters). This chapter helps you build that foundation, including some choices that are purely for flavor, and others that significantly impact your game statistics.
As you begin character creation, think about the winding path that led your character to the moment your adventures start. Who and where do they come from? What have they spent their time learning, either voluntarily or under duress? How does their personality inform their interests? Most importantly, what story do you want to set up with their origins? During step 7 of character creation, you’ll solidify these details, but thinking about them now can inspire your other character-building decisions.
Most enjoyable and fulfilling stories tend to focus less on the cool things a character can do, and more on the sacrifices they make and challenges they overcome to accomplish those cool things. Whether your character is destined to bond a spren and become a Knight Radiant, or whether they’ll achieve greatness all on their own, their past likely includes some degree of hardship and perseverance. Keeping that in mind, it’s time to start crafting your character’s story, beginning with their origins.
During the first step of character creation, you choose your ancestry and the cultures that shaped you. The later sections of this chapter detail these choices and how they impact the rules of this game.
You’ll decide more about your story during step 7 of character creation, but you can start considering the following factors now. These don’t affect your game statistics, but they certainly shape who you are and how you respond to your adventures.
Depending on your character’s age and ability, you might decide on a past or present occupation. This experience doesn’t have to directly tie to your decisions or role in the party, but if you wish, it can inform many decisions. For example, your occupation might influence your later choice of talents. Your choice of starting equipment might reflect your occupation. And when you have a break between adventures, you might even ply your trade to earn spheres (see “Downtime” in chapter 9).
Remember, your experience and prowess should correspond to your level. A 1st-level character wouldn’t yet be a battalionlord (see “Titles” in chapter 8), but you could tend a stable of royal Ryshadium with the appropriate expertise.
Your occupation might be part of your past, but you carry much of your identity with you wherever you go. How old are you? What’s your gender identity? Do you belong to any groups (by circumstance or by choice) that you consider part of your core identity?
No one is an island. Consider which relationships have most shaped you. This might include family (and chosen family), old friends, trusted colleagues, bitter rivals, and more. Is there anyone you’re responsible for, owe a debt to, or grieve? In addition to individual people, what factions do you owe allegiance to? Are you connected to any governments, religions, guilds, armies, crime rings, or secret organizations?
Your ancestry reflects who you’re descended from. When you choose an ancestry in step 1 of character creation, this affects your identity and general appearance, determines your size (see “Size and Space” in chapter 10), and grants you talents or other abilities to represent unique traits of your species.
Though your ancestry may be an important part of your identity, it doesn’t define you. In a later section, you’ll choose the culture and society you were raised in, and possibly a different one you embrace today. These significantly impact how you view the world and what you want for yourself, which might completely diverge from what others expect of you.
This section details the two species of sapient humanoids who live on Roshar: humans and singers.
Most of Roshar is divided into human-ruled nations with majority-human populations.
Many ethnic groups are represented within the human species, some of which include distant singer ancestry. Although each ethnic group shares common physical characteristics among many of its people, these characteristics can express themselves very differently across individuals. Due to the Vorin “right of travel,” international relations, and diasporas born of conflict, most nations have some degree of ethnic diversity among citizens.
The “Culture” section of this chapter discusses the nations of Roshar and the most common ethnicities of the people who live there.
If you choose the human ancestry, your size is Medium, and you gain the following benefits at the specified levels:
Ancestry Bonus Talents (Level 1, 6, 11, 16, and 21). During step 5 of character creation, you gain one bonus talent. As a human, you must choose this talent from a heroic path (such as those in chapter 4). Whenever you reach a new tier (as indicated on the Character Advancement table in chapter 1), you again gain a bonus talent from a heroic path.
As usual, you must meet the prerequisites for these talents (see the “Advancing Through a Path” section of chapter 4).
Singers are the indigenous population of Roshar, though this knowledge was suppressed by the humans and lost for many Desolations. Singers can change forms by bonding spren during highstorms, altering the singer’s appearance and abilities. Their intellectual and emotional capacities are equal to those of humans—but unlike humans, whose abilities generally remain constant, singer forms have the remarkable ability to temporarily amplify some abilities while others lie dormant.
Singers have skin marbled with black, white, or red. Singer hairstrands range in hue, including orange, red, and black. Protective carapace covers parts of their bodies, though certain forms have more substantial carapace, acting as biological armor. When a singer takes on a new form, it can influence their physicality, aspects of their personality, and their access (or lack thereof) to certain rhythms.
Singers use these rhythms—which suffuse all of Roshar—to add emotional context and depth to their words. Though most humans can’t comprehend the rhythms, singers associate rhythms with specific emotions. Each singer imbues their words with a cadence representing their mood. With concentration, they can even attune a false rhythm; sometimes singers do this to correct themselves, and other times, to mislead their audience. For example, a singer might attune the Rhythm of Peace to lessen their own anxiety—or hum to the Rhythm of Consideration to pretend they’re paying close attention to an argument they find boring. Other examples of common rhythms include the Rhythm of Determination, the Rhythm of the Terrors, the Rhythm of Joy, and the Rhythm of the Lost.
The “Culture” section of this chapter describes the listeners—a culture of singers—and also summarizes the experiences of other singers who live in human-ruled lands. You can learn even more about singers in chapter 2 of the Stormlight World Guide.
If you choose the singer ancestry, your size is Medium, and you gain the following benefits at the specified levels:
Unique Talent Tree (Level 1). Whenever you choose a new talent, you can choose it from the Singer talent tree in this chapter (in addition to the other trees you have access to).
Change Form (Level 1). You gain the Change Form (Singer Key) talent from the Singer tree, along with one bonus talent that’s connected to it. Decide which form to begin the game in, choosing from the forms in these two talents. As you gain levels, you can learn new forms from talents in the Singer tree.
Ancestry Bonus Talents (Level 6, 11, 16, and 21). Each time you reach a new tier (as indicated on the Character Advancement table in chapter 1), you again gain a bonus talent. You must choose it from the Singer tree or from any heroic path (see chapter 4).
As usual, you must meet the prerequisites for these talents (see the “Advancing Through a Path” section of chapter 4).
The following talents are available to characters with singer ancestry. See “Using Talents” in chapter 4 for information on how to read and use these talents.
Prerequisite: Singer ancestry Activation: ▶▶▶
You learn to bond a spren during highstorms and change your form. This transformation alters not only your appearance, but your physical, cognitive, and spiritual strengths, and even your personality.
When you acquire this talent, you begin with two singer forms, dullform and mateform:
Dullform. Your form isn’t specialized, as your bonded spren grants no form. You can pass unnoticed as a “parshman” in most human societies, but you don’t gain other benefits from your form.
Mateform. You have bonded with a lifespren, and your form is specialized for reproduction.
While outdoors during a highstorm, you can activate this talent either to change into dullform, or to take a spren into your gemheart and change into mateform or any form you’ve unlocked on the Singer talent tree. The type of spren bonded determines your new form. In most circumstances, you can automatically find and bond the type of spren required for that form. However, if the GM determines that current circumstances make the spren difficult to locate, you might need to roleplay or succeed on a test to do so.
While in a form, you temporarily gain its actions, statistic increases, and other effects (even if this temporarily increases your statistics above the maximum); these effects only last until you assume a different form by using this talent again. You can only be in one form at a time.
Forms of Finesse (∞ Always active) Gain artform and nimbleform. - Artform: Awareness +1, expertises in Painting and Music, advantage on Crafting tests and tests to entertain. - Nimbleform: Speed +1, focus +2.
Forms of Wisdom (∞ Always active) Gain mediationform and scholarform. - Mediationform: Presence +1. You can Aid without spending focus. - Scholarform: Intellect +1. Temporarily gain a cultural or utility expertise and a rank in a non-surge cognitive skill.
Forms of Resolve (∞ Always active) Gain warform and workform. - Warform: Strength +1, deflect +1. You can jump horizontally up to your movement rate and vertically up to half your movement rate. - Workform: Willpower +1, ignore Exhausted. You can disguise yourself as a “parshman.”
Ambitious Mind (∞ Always active, Prerequisite: Discipline 3+) Increase Cognitive defense by 2. You can bond a Voidspren, but once per day on a Complication, you must test Discipline (DC 15) or be Stunned.
Forms of Destruction (∞ Always active, Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind) Gain direform and stormform. - Direform: Strength +2, deflect +2. You can use Reactive Strikes to Grapple instead of attacking. - Stormform: Strength +1, Speed +1, deflect +1. You can use Unleash Lightning (▶▶): Spend 1 focus or 1 Investiture to make a ranged Discipline attack (60 feet) vs. Physical. Roll 2d8 energy damage, and on a hit, the target is Disoriented.
Forms of Expansion (∞ Always active, Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind) Gain envoyform and relayform. - Envoyform: Intellect +1, Presence +1. You know all languages and gain an advantage on Insight tests about the intentions of others. - Relayform: Speed +2, ignore Slowed. Spend 1 focus to gain an advantage when you test Agility, Stealth, or Thievery.
Forms of Mystery (∞ Always active, Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind) Gain decayform and nightform. - Decayform: Willpower +2. You can spend 1 focus or 1 Investiture to prevent a character within reach from recovering health or focus. - Nightform: Awareness +1, Intellect +1, focus +2. You receive unpredictable glimpses of the future. Preroll two d20s each session, which you can use to replace enemy and ally d20 rolls.
Prerequisite: Change Form key talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new singer forms—artform and nimbleform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Artform
Artform specializes in creative expression. You gain a heightened awareness of the rhythms, colors, and other aspects of the world around you. If you have carapace, it’s purely cosmetic, representing radical self-expression.
You’ve bonded with a creationspren. While in this form, you increase your Awareness by 1, and you gain utility expertises in Painting and Music.
Additionally, you gain an advantage on Crafting tests and on tests related to entertaining, such as singing and dancing.
Nimbleform
Nimbleform specializes in physical and mental flexibility. Your protective carapace is minimal; instead, you have an increased range of motion and mental focus.
You’ve bonded with a windspren. While in this form, your Speed increases by 1. When you change into this form, your maximum focus and current focus both increase by 2, and when you assume a different form, both decrease by 2.
Prerequisite: Change Form key talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new singer forms—warform and workform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Warform
Warform specializes in combat, increasing your strength and stamina. Your body is large and covered with fierce carapace, which protects you like armor. Any aversions you might usually have to violence, pain, and death become slightly less pronounced in warform.
You’ve bonded with a painspren. While in this form, your Strength increases by 1 and your deflect value increases by 1. This deflect doesn’t stack with armor, so if you wear armor over your carapace, choose which value to use.
Additionally, when you move, you can jump a horizontal distance up to your movement rate, or a vertical distance up to half your movement rate, without succeeding on an Athletics test.
Workform
Workform specializes in labor. This form helps you see tasks through to completion, granting you determination and stamina. You have a rugged body with modest carapace ridges.
You’ve bonded with a gravitationspren. While in this form, your Willpower increases by 1, and you ignore the effects of the Exhausted condition.
Additionally, you can easily disguise yourself to pass unnoticed as a “parshman” in most human societies, though people might begin noticing the differences in your form if you’re caught doing anything suspicious.
Prerequisite: Change Form key talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new singer forms—mediationform and scholarform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Mediationform
Mediationform specializes in communication, whether you’re connecting with new people or teaching those you know well. Your carapace is smooth, and your facial features are well-defined and expressive.
You’ve bonded with a bindspren. While in this form, your Presence increases by 1.
Additionally, you don’t have to spend focus to use the Aid reaction.
Scholarform
Scholarform specializes in scholarship, enhancing your mental processes and memory. You become more patient and analytical, but you may also find yourself more inclined toward ambition. You have long hairstrands, and a cushioned lower body suited to sedentary work.
You’ve bonded with a logicspren. While in this form, your Intellect increases by 1.
Additionally, when you adopt this form, choose one cultural or utility expertise you don’t already have, and choose one cognitive skill that isn’t a surge skill. You temporarily gain that expertise, and you temporarily gain an additional rank in that skill.
If you gain the Erudition talent from the Scholar path, the expertise and skill rank you gain from your scholarform count as being granted by Erudition; when Erudition allows you to reassign expertises and skills, your scholarform expertise and skill are also eligible for reassignment. You can’t choose the same skill for both scholarform and Erudition.
Prerequisite: Discipline 3+; either the Forms of Finesse, Forms of Resolve, or Forms of Wisdom talent Activation: ∞
Your growing thirst for power opens you to the influence of Odium.
Though you haven’t yet bonded a Voidspren, Odium’s influence seeps into your mind, and your Cognitive defense increases by 2.
If you later acquire a talent that grants you forms of power, you can then use your Change Form to attract a Voidspren. Bonding with this Voidspren follows the same rules as taking other forms.
While bonded with a Voidspren, you become vulnerable to its influence; once per day when you gain a Complication on a test, you must succeed on a DC 15 Discipline test or become Stunned until the end of your next turn as you struggle against the Voidspren’s influence. You automatically succeed on this test if you’ve sworn the First Ideal of a Radiant order.
Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new forms of power—direform and stormform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Direform
Direform specializes in unyielding strength and persistence, and this form is commonly used to guard objects or prisoners. You have substantial carapace with a jagged crest of spikes running along your head and shoulders. You’re inclined toward obedience to your superiors but obstinacy with others.
You’ve bonded with a callousspren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Strength increases by 2 and your deflect value increases by 2. This deflect doesn’t stack with armor, so if you wear armor over your carapace, choose which value to use.
Additionally, when a character triggers a Reactive Strike from you, you can use that reaction to attempt to Grapple them instead of attacking; when you do, you must spend 1 focus as usual for Reactive Strike.
Stormform
Stormform is an elite battle form optimized for physical prowess and honed attacks. You’re covered in finesse-enhancing armored carapace that grows under your skin, poking through in ridges and spikes. You can manipulate and unleash powerful red lighting on your foes.
You’ve bonded with a stormspren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Strength increases by 1, your Speed increases by 1, and your deflect value increases by 1. This deflect doesn’t stack with armor, so if you wear armor over your carapace, choose which value to use.
Additionally, you can use Unleash Lightning:
▶▶ Unleash Lightning. Your body crackles with the Everstorm’s unnatural red lightning, which you can unleash in a violent arc. Spend 1 focus or 1 Investiture to make a ranged Discipline attack against the Physical defense of a target within 60 feet of you. Roll 2d8 energy damage. On a hit, the target is also Disoriented until the end of their next turn. If you have recently taken on stormform, the GM might raise the stakes on this attack due to the unpredictability of the arcing lightning.
As you gain ranks in Discipline, the size of this attack’s damage dice increases: at 4 ranks, you roll 2d10 damage (instead of 2d8), and at 5 ranks or more, you roll 2d12 damage.
Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new forms of power—envoyform and relayform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Envoyform
Envoyform is an embellished form often used to serve the administrative needs of the Fused. Your tall form towers over others, and your ornate carapace is uniquely alluring. You comprehend any language after brief exposure and can grasp hidden context with the subtlest of cues.
You’ve bonded with a zealspren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Intellect increases by 1, your Presence increases by 1, and you can speak, read, write, and understand all languages.
Additionally, you gain an advantage on Insight tests made to interpret the desires or intentions of others.
Relayform
Relayform boasts speed and stamina ideal for scouts. Your agile and muscular body is protected in the front by light carapace with smooth edges, and aerodynamic spikes run along the backs of your forearms and calves. You can run great distances and avoid detection.
You’ve bonded with a hastespren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Speed increases by 2 and you ignore the effects of the Slowed condition.
Additionally, when you make an Agility, Stealth, or Thievery test, you can spend 1 focus to gain an advantage on that test.
Voidspren and Forms of Power
While most spren who bond with singers are connected to the Shards of Honor or Cultivation, Voidspren are powerful spren connected with Odium. Bonding a Voidspren makes you more susceptible to Odium’s influence—but it also grants you access to powerful forms. The Forms of Destruction, Forms of Expansion, and Forms of Mystery talents each grant you access to two of these forms of power (also known as Regal forms).
In these forms, you can hum to new, malevolent rhythms, and you may find that ordinary rhythms feel distant. Your newfound power emboldens you, and depending on your personality, you might feel increased aggression or apathy toward others. If you have a Nahel bond with a Radiant spren, this helps you retain your usual disposition without a struggle.
Prerequisite: Ambitious Mind talent Activation: ∞
You gain two new forms of power—decayform and nightform—which you can transform into using your Change Form.
Decayform
The enigmatic decayform grants an insidious ability to sap the vitality of other beings. Your thin carapace is jagged, brittle, and asymmetrical. People you touch find themselves less resilient while you remain in contact with them. This spiritual decay affects not just their bodies, but their minds, leaving them with nightmares long after the fact.
You’ve bonded with a blightspren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Willpower increases by 2 and you can use Decaying Touch:
★ Decaying Touch. Before a character within your reach recovers health or focus, you can spend 1 focus or 1 Investiture to prevent them from doing so. The character does not regain that health or focus, but any actions, Investiture, or other resources they spent still remain spent.
Nightform
Nightform grants unpredictable visions of the future, and your senses become more acute, especially at night. Petal-like carapace grows from your skull, framing your ears and enhancing your ability to perceive rhythms. In various lights, your carapace reflects different iridescent patterns.
You’ve bonded with a nightspren, a type of Voidspren. While in this form, your Awareness increases by 1 and your Intellect increases by 1. When you change into this form, your maximum focus and current focus both increase by 2, and when you assume a different form, both decrease by 2.
Additionally, your bond with a nightspren has granted you precognitive abilities—whether you wish them or not. While in this form, you gain the Intervening Premonitions and Sporadic Premonitions abilities:
↺ Intervening Premonitions. At the start of each session, roll two d20s and record both results. When an enemy or willing ally you can sense makes a test, you can use this reaction to replace the test’s d20 roll with one of your recorded numbers. You can replace that number after you see their die roll and after they apply any advantages, but you must do so before the effects of the test are resolved. You lose a recorded number when you use it to replace a d20 roll or when the session ends, whichever comes first.
★ Sporadic Premonitions. At the GM’s discretion, you might occasionally receive glimpses of the future at unpredictable times during gameplay. When this happens, the GM might describe vague flashes of imagery, sounds, and impressions in your mind, hinting at what may come.
Rules Tip: Actions and Reactions
Some forms of power grant unique actions, reactions, or other abilities: stormform gives you the Unleash Lightning action, nightform gives you the Intervening Premonitions reaction, and some other forms allow you to spend focus or Investiture on special effects without using an action. In chapter 9 (“Adventuring”) and chapter 10 (“Combat”), you’ll learn everything you need to know about using abilities like these—but if you’re not sure where to start, check out the “Terms from Later Chapters” sidebar in chapter 4.
Forms of power. The ability to reshape the world. Strength beyond anything you’ve ever dreamed of having.
Your character’s culture isn’t determined by birth or any other single moment in time. Instead, cultural awareness can be shaped by nationality, ethnicity, migration, traveling experience, and more. The upcoming “Rosharan Cultural Expertises” section presents cultural expertises for player characters; in step 1 of character creation, you can choose two of these expertises. And if you’re playing a singer, the “Singers in Human Cultures” section helps you consider your connections to the human-majority cultures of the world. (To learn more about using expertises, see “Expertises” in chapter 3.)
Your cultural expertises can be tied to your ancestry and ethnicities if you’d like them to be; this is common for characters who grew up in or spent significant time in cultures tied to their lineage. Alternatively, you might know little about any culture related to your lineage, but be well-versed in the culture of a nation you were raised in or studied abroad in. The cultures you choose aren’t meant to limit your character’s identity; rather, they highlight where your cultural awareness is most comprehensive.
Either way, these expertises signify your character knows information about that culture and its place of origin, including potential fluency in an applicable language. Your level of proficiency in spoken, signed, and written language is up to you. Consider whether you adhere to social customs around language or not—for example, an Alethi man might have learned to read despite cultural discouragement. There are no right or wrong answers here.
Culture as a Canvas, Not the Painting
No group of people is a monolith. Rather than basing your character’s personality on the cultural details in the following sections, instead think of your culture as a series of stimuli you’ve been exposed to. Do you flourish in this cultural environment, or do you feel like an outsider? What aspects of social customs resonate with you, and which ones don’t? If you’re Herdazian, you might scoff at being called “cousin” by a stranger who only shares your general ancestry—or the term might bring you a profound sense of comfort and belonging in a foreign land. The one or two cultures you choose are merely a canvas, and your story is the painting; how you respond to the values and traditions of society is entirely up to you.
Each culture’s subsection begins with a brief description of that culture; these aren’t comprehensive, but they serve as a quick reference for the basic information you’d know with your cultural expertise. (If you’d like, you can learn much more about Roshar’s nations and cultures in chapter 2 of the Stormlight World Guide.) These summaries are followed by examples of common names from that culture. Each subsection concludes with the cultural expertise you gain if you choose that culture for your origins.
Alethkar is ruled by a monarch and ten highprinces, and the nation is driven by war and conquest. The Vorin religion is practiced by proxy, with ardents acting as religious servants of the noble class. Gender roles are strictly enforced in Alethi society: women are expected to engage in scholarly and domestic pursuits, and men in warfare and physical labor. However, ardents have more flexibility to exist outside of the harsh gender binary imposed by Vorinism. The lightness of one’s eyes determines their social caste, with the privileged dahn system designated for lighteyes and persecuted nahn for darkeyes. Singers and some darkeyed humans suffer enslavement at the hands of the upper class.
Most Alethi people are tall and have tan skin and dark hair. Men typically wear uniforms or work clothes. Women either wear silk dresses called havahs that cover their left hands for propriety, or less ornate work clothes with gloves to conceal their left hands. Due to Vorin custom, few men are literate, though most have a rudimentary understanding of glyphs.
Alethi Names Adelar, Arin, Dannic, Elhamir, Ersha, Hilar, Janar, Kalith, Lanerin, Marith, Nar, Ravir, Rilin, Selith, Taren, Tel, Valerin, Varda, Yaladir, Zalith.
Alethi Expertise As a character with the Alethi expertise, you know the names, locations, and highprinces of each princedom. Choose a princedom your character has lived in. You can replicate its regional dialect, and you know how to find vendors, public organizations, and noteworthy landmarks there. Choose how proficient you are in spoken Alethi, and reading and writing glyphs, as well as your literacy in women’s script (depending on your gender and regard for gender norms). Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Vorinism, the Almighty, and the Heralds.
The Prime Aqasix and a class of elite government scribes called viziers lead the bureaucratic nation of Azir and influence the Azish Empire’s member states. While independent thought is encouraged in friendly and official debates, most Azish look down on those who fail to uphold procedure. Following said procedure is made difficult by Azish legislature’s expansiveness.
Most Azish people have very dark brown skin and black hair. They tend to be slightly shorter than people in Eastern Roshar. Large hats are a fixture of Azish uniforms and civilian fashion. Wraps and robes are worn by all genders, with vibrant colors and symbolic patterns indicating a person’s status. Azish is the official language and is spoken, signed, and written by most citizens. It is typically spoken in pleasant, agreeable tones.
Azish Names Adebazik, Arnok, Baxtol, Chivik, Dalwa, Etosha, Falkir, Ganxir, Hauzir, Jirana, Koxi, Kunde, Maliq, Nineka, Raukir, Sigwir, Tama, Tigzir, Uju, Wolu, Yemzil.
Azish Expertise As a character with the Azish expertise, you know about the bureaucracy, Bronze Palace, Prime Aqasix, and the viziers. You can recall basic facts about each member state in the Azish Empire. Choose how proficient you are in Azish sign language, as well as in spoken and written Azish. You can easily navigate civic buildings to review current laws, request the help of a constable for law enforcement, file a complaint, or take the vizier exam. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the Kadasixes and scions.
Herdaz is a verdant nation ruled by a monarch. Most of its territory is taken up by its two hundred and three hog ranches, for which Herdaz is famous. There are also large diasporas of Herdazians in neighboring nations, as nearly half of their population has left their ancestral land seeking opportunities or refuge from a long history of foreign occupation. It’s common for fellow Herdazians in foreign lands to warmly greet each other as cousins.
Vorinism is popular in Herdaz, but the nation has fewer ardents, and people of any status and occupation can practice it personally. Most Herdazian Vorins care deeply about their individual connections to the Almighty and the Heralds, and they place little importance on what they consider outward posturing.
Singer ancestry in their ancient history has bestowed nearly all Herdazians with crystalline fingernails that can function like flint when struck with a steel tool called a sparkflicker. They are also more resistant to poisons native to Roshar. Most Herdazians have medium brown skin tones and brown hair.
Herdazian Names Aloro, Dunal, Duro, Erona, Hanol, Jonio, Kunor, Lurio, Luron, Palor, Pinola, Polino, Relio, Sulio, Torona, Yorino.
Herdazian Expertise As a character with the Herdazian expertise, you know of the king and prominent ranching families. You know how to navigate between expansive ranches, including how to avoid the coastal areas inhabited by vicious greatshells. Choose how proficient you are in spoken and written Herdazian, along with reading and writing glyphs. You know about basic tools for ranching, including sparkflickers. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Herdazian Vorinism.
Iri is ruled by three monarchs. The Iriali descended long ago from offworlders, and most follow the religion of the One. They believe their mission in life is to obtain a vast diversity of experiences so they can eventually merge their consciousnesses together at the end of the Long Trail and become one being of extensive knowledge and understanding. Their destined journey is said to consist of seven worlds, of which they consider Roshar the fourth. It is unknown when they must leave for the fifth, so they remain ever vigilant and prepared.
Ethnic Iriali have golden skin and golden hair, which many foreigners consider auspicious. Ornamental body paint adds contrast to their metallic features. Iriali fashion favors pastel colors and flowy fabrics, and people of all genders and ages commonly wear wraps. Many Iriali forgo shirts altogether or wear just a simple bandeau. Due to their religious emphasis on journeying, items like practical shoes are considered indicators of personal preparedness and faith.
Iriali Names Byrle, Drin, Ilori, Imral, Jyste, Lalys, Lyre, Lysna, Myi, Rallin, Rellis, Ryli, Syderim, Palir, Ynne.
Iriali Expertise As a character with the Iriali expertise, you know of the Iriali Triumvirate—the two kings and queen who rule together. Choose a city or rural area your character has lived in; you know how to find vendors, public organizations, and noteworthy landmarks there. Choose how proficient you are in spoken and written Iri. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of the One and the Long Trail. You also know basic strategies for travel and journeys, such as management of supplies.
Kharbranth, the City of Bells, is an independent city-state that largely practices Vorinism. The mountain that borders the city largely absorbs the initial impact of highstorms, making them milder than in neighboring regions. Once a pirate town, Kharbranth has become a center of academic and medical achievement, supported by robust trade. Healthcare is free to all, including lower castes and foreigners. Prospective surgeons from all over Roshar compete for expensive educations at the Great Concourse of Kharbranth. Scholars of other subjects flock to the Palanaeum, the largest library in Roshar. Innovations like a plumbing system enhanced by heating fabrials earn the city a reputation of luxury.
Ethnically similar to the Veden and Alethi, most Kharbranthians have tan skin and dark hair. Although human slavery is banned in Kharbranth, this basic right doesn’t extend to singers.
Kharbranthian Names Arivian, Baranam, Dorval, Harnith, Kintar, Korventh, Larnish, Lervian, Lorvis, Navil, Ovelgian, Sartal, Sarvena, Telvar, Trilam, Zorlinth.
Kharbranthian Expertise As a character with the Kharbranthian expertise, you’re familiar with the city’s major education systems and their designations. Even if you don’t know how to use common medicines, you know their names and functions, as well as basic hygiene measures to ward off rotspren. Choose how proficient you are in speaking Kharbranthian and reading and writing glyphs, as well as in women’s script (depending on your gender and regard for gender norms). Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Vorinism, the Almighty, and the Heralds.
The listeners are a group of singers who defied Odium long ago and settled near the Shattered Plains. Through oral tradition, they retained their sense of identity during “the long sleep,” a time when they lost access to nearly all of their forms.
When they learned King Gavilar of Alethkar intended to bring back the listener “gods”—the beings who could take away their agency—the listeners had him assassinated in an effort to retain their autonomy and freedom from Odium’s influence. The Alethi, who called the listeners “Parshendi,” waged the War of Reckoning as vengeance for the death of their king. Narak became the listeners’ home, and they slowly recovered more forms to fight the humans.
The Song of Listing includes upward of ninety-one forms, but only five were recovered before the Everstorm: dullform, mateform, nimbleform, warform, and workform. Similar to other singers, the listeners are humanoid and typically have red and white or red and black marbled skin, along with red carapace, red or black hair strands, and dark gray eyes.
Listener Names Bredol, Eldir, Fenral, Gromil, Istarin, Jarnak, Kethan, Koriel, Lurin, Nalim, Nirith, Orlan, Rishai, Saren, Tirith, Urlan, Varem, Welten.
Listener Expertise The Listener expertise is generally only available to singer characters. If you’re a human who has lived or worked closely with the listener people, your GM can give you permission to choose this expertise.
As a character with the Listener expertise, you’re aware of dullform, mateform, nimbleform, warform and workform (even if you’re human and can’t assume them yourself), and you’re familiar with the listener council known as the Five. Depending on your interests, you might know some of the songs of the listeners. You know basic facts about Shattered Plains ecology. Choose how proficient you are in the listener language and how familiar you are with the rhythms (though any singer instinctively knows all the rhythms). You know about the War of Reckoning and the Alethi armies that fight for gemhearts on the plateaus.
The Vorin city-state of New Natanan is located near the Ocean of Origins. This meager landholding is a remnant of a much larger empire that was destroyed long ago. The ruins of its capital, once called Stormseat, were reclaimed by the listeners and called Narak. Today, some Natans live as nomads that travel the desolate lands previously contained in their empire.
Ethnic Natans have pale blue skin and white hair. They mostly exist in isolation, either as nomads or as citizens confined to New Natanan by vigorous highstorms that make sea travel exceptionally perilous. Their sense of loss over their empire, particularly Stormseat and its Oathgate, persists.
Natan Names Atarel, Balar, Cetsa, Farlar, Gerem, Linarat, Lortan, Nalina, Nathural, Oranat, Talinan, Tsalar, Tsorem, Valisha, Valten, Xaltor.
Allo-daughter-Zethar, Ethsono-son-Alvo, Gesh-son-Nar, Lanethen-child-Gemth, Lorseth-son-son-Thalor, Nama-son-Elhlan, Shal-daughter-Xin, Szam-child-Lorn.
As a character with the Shin expertise, you’re familiar with the mild highstorms that reach the isolated western lands of Shinovar, as well as the ecology and architecture they support. You know how to barter by diminishing the perceived value of your offerings. Choose how proficient you are in speaking and writing Shin. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Stone Shamanism.
The island nation of Thaylenah is ruled by a monarch who is elected by merchant councils and naval officers. The nation thrives on international trade by land and sea, and it rewards particularly industrious merchants with increased social status. Although the nation is Vorin, Thaylens are more flexible with their faith and tend to ignore or relax customs rigidly upheld in Jah Keved and Alethkar.
Ethnic Thaylens have tan skin and long white eyebrows that can be creatively styled as dictated by fashion trends and personal preferences. Their hair is usually brown or black, but some Thaylens dye their hair in bold colors. They favor tight vests with loose pants and skirts.
Alstrym, Bnlath, Brekmynv, Bryndal, Calkl, Cazmerk, Creyn, Dvalnm, Elcryn, Klazmn, Mralt, Pradlvk, Tlkry, Uvlost, Ylbedr.
As a character with the Thaylen expertise, you’re familiar with the elective monarchy and the merchant councils. You know the names and reputations of major artifabrian guilds, and you’ve likely experienced fabrials as a part of everyday life. You know tips to mitigate sea sickness and arrange travel between the three islands and outer islets. Choose how proficient you are in speaking and writing Thaylen. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Vorinism, as well as the Passions.
The Horneater Peaks are each ruled by a patriarch called a nuatoma. Atop these steep and inhospitably icy mountains, warm crater lakes form cozy microclimates where crops flourish in balmy humidity. Unkalaki people refer to these lakes as oceans. Traditional family structures dictate each son’s occupation according to their birth order; the first two sons are assigned as hunters or farmers, the third as a craftsman, and the fourth as a warrior. Occupations for other genders tend to be more individualized and diverse.
Ethnic Unkalaki get their nickname of Horneaters from their abnormally strong teeth that can crush cremling shells, a feature they receive through their ancient singer ancestry. They tend to be tall with red hair, and their skin ranges from pale to tan. A rare few Unkalaki can see spren that most humans can’t, earning the title of Sighted.
In the Unkalaki tradition, a person’s full name is a poem. In less formal situations, they go by a single word or phrase from their name.
Arluno’ratha’tu, Harlun’thaoka, Ina’larataka’noom, Kalorunel’ith, Luau’nun’iel, Tha’enithmonal’toko, Unla’biki’ai’karath, Yamloho’tamai’sinak.
As a character with the Unkalaki expertise, you know about the leadership, ecology, and myths of the oceans atop the peaks. Due to your lineage or lived experience, your body is familiar with breathing thin air, allowing you to keep your wits about you. Choose how proficient you are in speaking and writing Unkalaki. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you know of the gods of the waters, mountains, and trees, along with the practice of worshiping spren as gods. You also know of the phenomenon of strange offworld visitors emerging from the oceans.
Jah Keved is ruled by a king and highprinces. Social orders for lighteyes and darkeyes are maintained and endorsed by Vorinism, the primary religion of Vedens. The Holy Enclave in the city of Valath is the center of the faith. Despite border disputes with Alethkar, the two nations remain cordial.
There are four major ethnic groups within the borders of Jah Keved: Bav, Siln, Veden, and Unkalaki, with Veden as the majority. Vedens comprise the majority; they share many physical traits with the Alethi, though they most commonly have black or red hair. Their language is close enough to Alethi to be mutually intelligible. Fashion trends are also closely tied between the two nations.
In Jah Keved, sons are given a first name that indicates their birth order; the first four sons are named Nan, Tet, Asha, and Van. Second names are chosen by parents. Surnames are passed down from the parent of the highest dahn or nahn social order.
Veden Names Nan Amallan, Bervash, Asha Cemdon, Dorlivana, Van Elnaha, Lerinda, Nan Qish, Tet Ridvish, Shulla, Varli, Tet Zashu.
Veden Expertise As a character with the Veden expertise, you’re familiar with the king, the princedoms, and the four major ethnic groups in Jah Keved. Choose how proficient you are in speaking Veden and reading and writing glyphs, as well as your literacy in women’s script (depending on your gender and regard for gender norms). If relevant to your backstory, also choose how proficient you are in the Alethi, Bav, or Siln languages. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you’re familiar with the basic tenets of Vorinism and current events relevant to the church.
Occupation, exile, or tourism may lead a person to live a life of traveling from one place to the next. You could be a traveling surgeon reluctant to return home to Jah Keved, a mercenary from Steen, or an Iriali tidereader sent to gain insights from the shores of faraway lands. Whatever the reason, the lifestyle of a perpetual traveler involves learning land and sea routes between major cities, remaining aware of bandit and pirate risks, and maintaining familiarity with mobile storm shelters, map-reading, and modes of long-distance transportation.
Wayfarer Expertise As a character with the Wayfarer expertise, you know how to read international map keys. You can find trustworthy currency exchange hubs in major cities, which can be used to switch out dun spheres for infused ones. From your travels, you’ve learned basic greetings and a few cultural touchstones from various nations.
Characters aren’t limited to the specific cultures defined above. With your GM’s approval, you can choose other cultural expertises, such as the following:
Other Nations. You might decide to play a character who is from (or familiar with) a Rosharan culture that’s not detailed above. Feel free to create your own expertise for any culture your character would reasonably be an expert on. You can find information about many cultures in the Stormlight World Guide or another canon resource.
Subcultures. Some subcultures have values and norms that transcend national or ethnic identity. You can choose an expertise in a subculture within society—for example, High Society, Military Life, or Underworld.
If you’re playing a singer character, decide whether you’re a listener or have lived as a “parshman” in a majority-human society. In the case of the latter, it’s likely your character was enslaved and persecuted by the humans around them. Consider how the following elements have influenced your character.
Before the arrival of the Everstorm, most singers across Roshar were trapped in what they know as slaveform. In this form, a singer’s mind and spirit are suppressed; they speak only in terse phrases, apathetically follow orders, and withhold any type of self-expression. Humans in some nations enslaved singers in slaveform as “parshmen,” exploiting their inability to assert themselves or object to forced labor. These singers couldn’t process or consent to what was done to them, but they later awakened from this form to the nightmarish realization of all they had been through.
After the arrival of the Everstorm, enslaved singers regained full access to their minds and the so-called slaveform was no more. Unfortunately, most humans who had enslaved these people continued to reject them as inferior beings. Some singers held onto hope that their human countryfolk would be honorable and work with them in good faith to figure out a way forward together. However, many joined Odium, seeing no other way to protect themselves from their human oppressors.
What are some ways your character was harmed by their enslavement? There’s no such thing as an enslaved person who is treated fairly or well. Examples of harm might include forced labor, permanent separation from loved ones, mockery, assault, malnourishment, and being treated and traded as property. This is by no means an exhaustive list; while many aspects of harm are universal for all enslaved singers, others are unique and deeply personal.
You’ve been exposed to human culture as a mostly silent observer. What keen insights has your character made in the time since they awakened in the Everstorm? What cultural values and traditions have they internalized? Many of the singers in Azir sued their nation for back pay once they awakened, seeking acknowledgment through the legal system. Any human cultures your singer character has lived in are well within their understanding. Which parts of those cultures do they align with, and which harmed them or otherwise don’t align? How do they generally feel toward humans now? What do they see as the best way forward?
Along with enslavement, consider how slaveform has affected your character. For example, discovering rhythms that were withheld from them in slaveform might be a heartbreaking experience that deepens their grief and sense of loss, even as they strive to reclaim their lives.
A small enclave of singers known as the listeners lives in the Shattered Plains. They oppose the human Alethi who fight them for gemhearts under the guise of avenging the fallen Alethi king. These singers aren’t confined to what they know as “slaveform,” though the forms they can access are still limited compared to those of their forebearers. The listeners cling to precious clues about their heritage and lost forms through the keeping of songs. Humans call the listeners “Parshendi” to differentiate them from “slaveform” singers (who they know as “parshmen”), as most humans understand little about the singers and their cultures.
What exposure to humans has your character had, if any? How do they generally feel about humans?
Players of singer characters can work with their GM to determine how their character fits within the time period of their campaign. The Listener expertise requires singer ancestry or GM permission, as humans were largely unaware of the listener city of Narak and the culture of its people. All other cultural expertises listed are available to humans and singers, based on where they have lived or spent considerable time.
What does your character excel at? Are they charming and quick-witted, or are they quiet and reserved? Are they agile and dexterous, or do they have two left feet? Do they have an iron will, or do they quickly compromise to avoid conflict? Are they a fount of wisdom or as silly as a chicken?
These qualities of your character—along with many more—are represented by the statistics you record on your character sheet. These statistics allow your character to interact with the rules of this game, and thus, with the world of Roshar.
This chapter details the statistics you’ll select during character creation (see chapter 1) and how they affect various aspects of the game. Your statistics include the following:
Attributes. Your six attributes determine your innate characteristics. During gameplay, you won’t need to pay much attention to these building blocks, but they influence many elements of your other statistics.
Defenses. When another character makes a test against you, your defenses determine whether their test succeeds. Likewise, your abilities target your foe’s defenses—the higher their defense, the harder the test.
Deflect. Your deflect value represents your resilience to damage. It allows you to reduce energy, impact, and keen damage.
Expertises. Your skills reflect things you do, but your expertises reflect things you know. This specialized knowledge can benefit you in navigating cultures, recalling information, crafting fabrials, and much more.
Health, Focus, and Investiture. Your health protects you from injury or death, while your focus and Investiture power your talents and other abilities.
Skills. Your skills represent your learned and practiced abilities, and they determine how likely your tests are to succeed.
Other Statistics. Your attributes influence other aspects of your character; for example, your Speed affects your movement rate. Each attribute’s section describes what it affects, and character creation guides you through calculating these statistics.
Throughout the cosmere, reality is composed of three facets: the Physical Realm, the Cognitive Realm, and the Spiritual Realm. Many of your statistics are categorized into one of these facets, as seen in the three columns of your character sheet:
Physical. Your physical statistics include your Strength and Speed attributes, all skills that use those attributes, your Physical defense, your health, your movement rate, and your lifting capacity. These appear on the first column of your character sheet.
Cognitive. Your cognitive statistics include your Intellect and Willpower attributes, all skills that use those attributes, your Cognitive defense, your focus, and your recovery die. These appear on the second column of your character sheet.
Spiritual. Your spiritual statistics include your Awareness and Presence attributes, all skills that use those attributes, your Spiritual defense, your Investiture, and your senses range. These appear on the third column of your character sheet.
In addition to these categories keeping the character sheet organized, a few game rules reference them; for example, the key talent in the Scholar heroic path grants you additional ranks in cognitive skills. The skills affected by Strength or Speed are physical skills, the skills affected by Intellect or Willpower are cognitive skills, and the skills affected by Awareness or Presence are spiritual skills.
Knights Radiant aboard the Fourth Bridge
Every character has six attributes that determine their innate characteristics: Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence.
Each attribute is a number, the higher the better. These determine the physical, mental, and spiritual limits of your character. On Roshar, most humans and singers don’t have attributes above 2. However, player characters are extraordinary (even at 1st level), and as you gain levels, you can increase your attribute scores as high as 5. This range can increase even further for some singer forms, Invested characters, massive beasts, and other powerful creatures.
Each skill is associated with an attribute (listed in parentheses on your character sheet). As described in the later “Skills” section, that attribute score influences your skill modifier, and thus how likely you are to succeed with that skill.
Attributes also determine other elements of your character, from how much you can carry to how many expertises you have. The following sections detail the attributes and how they affect the game.
Strength is your physical power, toughness, and athleticism. It represents the raw strength and force you can exert, along with your constitution and physical resilience.
Your Strength determines how much weight you can lift and carry, as shown on the Lifting Capacity table.
Lifting and Carrying Capacity
| Strength | Lifting Capacity | Carrying Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100 lb. | 50 lb. |
| 1–2 | 200 lb. | 100 lb. |
| 3–4 | 500 lb. | 250 lb. |
| 5–6 | 1,000 lb. | 500 lb. |
| 7–8 | 5,000 lb. | 2,500 lb. |
| 9+ | 10,000 lb. | 5,000 lb. |
Lifting Capacity
Lifting capacity represents the maximum weight you can lift by yourself in one attempt. You can’t sustain this much weight for long, but if needed, you can safely lift it over your head.
Lifting and Moving Characters
At your GM’s discretion, you might be able to lift and move an unwilling character who you Grapple or similarly have Restrained. However, depending on the character, their nearby allies, and the environment, you might take damage, need to succeed on a test to move them, or experience other effects.
Carrying Capacity
While many items in this book mention their weights, you aren’t expected to track exactly how much you’re carrying at all times. Just be reasonable—if you want to bring an entire library of books on your adventures, your GM will likely ask how you’re transporting that wealth of knowledge! When it becomes important to track how much you’re carrying, you can use the following guidelines.
Your carrying capacity represents how much weight you can comfortably carry while walking. While you can temporarily exceed this weight (to a maximum of your lifting capacity), it’ll slow you down and eventually exhaust you.
If you move while exceeding your carrying capacity (including everything you’re wearing and carrying), you become Slowed.
Additionally, each time you exceed your carrying capacity for a cumulative period of 60 minutes, you become Exhausted [−1]. This cumulative time resets to zero after a long rest.
Your Strength score affects several of your statistics. When your Strength changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
If you need to determine your movement rate when you’re not in combat, you can complete around three actions every 10 seconds. Similarly, to determine how far you can run in 10 seconds, multiply your movement rate by 3.
Your Speed score affects several of your statistics. When your Speed changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
Speed is your quickness and dexterity. It represents your finesse and overall alacrity.
Your Speed determines how quickly you can move in combat and other tense situations. When you use the Move action (described in chapter 10), you can move up to your movement rate, as shown on the Movement Rate table. When other abilities allow you to move, they specify what rate you can use to move.
By default, you move by walking or similarly propelling across the surface of the ground; you can learn more about movement types in the “Movement and Positioning” section of chapter 10.
| Speed | Movement |
|---|---|
| 0 | 20 feet per action |
| 1–2 | 25 feet per action |
| 3–4 | 30 feet per action |
| 5–6 | 40 feet per action |
| 7–8 | 60 feet per action |
| 9+ | 80 feet per action |
Intellect is your applied intelligence and wit. It represents your ability to store and recall knowledge and to deduce facts.
During character creation, all characters can choose two cultural expertises. If your Intellect score is 1 or higher, you can choose additional expertises equal to that score (see the “Expertises” section later in this chapter).
If your Intellect increases as you gain levels, you can choose a new expertise for each Intellect point you gain.
Your Intellect score affects several of your statistics. When your Intellect changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
“It’s unseemly for a young woman to speak as I so often do.” “The only ‘unseemly’ thing is to not channel your intelligence usefully.”
Willpower is your determination and mental fortitude. It represents your cognitive resilience, ability to enact your will on others, and resistance to outside influences.
Your recovery die determines how efficiently you recover health and focus when you take a break (see the “Resting” section of chapter 9). Your Willpower determines the size of your recovery die, as shown on the Recovery Die table.
| Willpower | Recovery Die |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1d4 |
| 1–2 | 1d6 |
| 3–4 | 1d8 |
| 5–6 | 1d10 |
| 7–8 | 1d12 |
| 9+ | 1d20 |
Your Willpower score affects several of your statistics. When your Willpower changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
Awareness is your wisdom and connection to the world around you. It represents your ability to sense your surroundings and relate to others around you.
Your senses encompass not only sight and hearing, but any other ways you might perceive the world. The higher your Awareness, the farther you can sense while darkness, noise, or other distractions obscure your senses. Use the Senses Range table to determine your senses range, then see the “Senses” section later in this chapter for details on how to use this range.
| Awareness | Senses Range |
|---|---|
| 0 | 5 ft. |
| 1–2 | 10 ft. |
| 3–4 | 20 ft. |
| 5–6 | 50 ft. |
| 7–8 | 100 ft. |
| 9+ | Unaffected by obscured senses |
Your Awareness score affects several of your statistics. When your Awareness changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
Presence is your charisma and bearing. It represents your ability to influence others, build rapport, and reach the masses.
When your adventures bring you to cities and other inhabited areas, you’ll often want to determine whether your character knows someone in the area. Your Presence score can help the GM decide whether you previously spent enough time in that region to have an existing connection to call on. The Establishing Connections table provides guidance on how long it takes you to establish these connections, but this varies with the situation and is up to the GM’s discretion.
| Presence | Time to Establish Connections |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1 year |
| 1–2 | 50 days |
| 3–4 | 5 days |
| 5–6 | 1 day |
| 7–8 | 1 hour |
| 9+ | Your reputation precedes you. You have connections in places you haven’t even visited. |
Your Presence score affects several of your statistics. When your Presence changes, update the following sections of your character sheet:
Your attributes combine to form your defenses, which protect you from unwanted effects. You have three defense values: Physical defense (affected by Strength and Speed), Cognitive defense (affected by Intellect and Willpower), and Spiritual defense (affected by Awareness and Presence).
Your Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual defense values equal:
10 + both attributes in that category + any bonuses or penalties
When a character makes a test against you, they’re usually testing against your defense from the same category as their skill (unless otherwise specified by the effect that’s prompting the skill test). Your corresponding defense sets the DC for that test.
In general, your Physical defense protects you against physical tests, your Cognitive defense protects you against cognitive tests, and your Spiritual defense protects you against spiritual tests. (To learn which category each skill falls into, see the “Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual” section at the beginning of this chapter.)
Especially when making a test against another character, be aware that defenses might not be the only factors affecting your DC, as described in the “Skills” section later in this chapter.
When an enemy succeeds on an attack test against you or when you take damage from another source, this generally reduces your health, as described later in this chapter. However, armor (or other effects) can grant you a deflect value that reduces impact, keen, and energy damage by that amount. For example, if your deflect value is 2 and you take 5 energy damage, you deflect 2 damage, then reduce your health by 3.
Your deflect value also offers some protection from serious injuries, as described in “Injuries” in chapter 9.
Each character has unique areas of knowledge acquired through their upbringing, training, interests, and other life experience. When your character specializes in a particular area, you gain an expertise on that topic. This represents your unique knowledge and ability in a particular niche, which can’t be matched by characters who don’t have that expertise.
As described in step 4 of character creation, your character starts with two cultural expertises from chapter 2, plus additional expertises equal to your Intellect attribute score. You gain an additional expertise each time your Intellect score increases by 1. You might also gain expertises from other character creation choices, talents, rewards, experiences in adventures, or training during downtime (see “Training” in chapter 9).
Most sources of expertise either specify the exact expertise you gain or tell you to choose from a specific category (see “Expertise Categories”). If unspecified, you gain an armor, cultural, utility, or weapon expertise of your choice. (You can’t choose a specialist expertise unless your GM makes an exception.)
Unlike attributes, defenses, and skills, there isn’t a finite list of expertises. Each expertise names a general area of knowledge, but it’s up to you how your character gained an expertise and what knowledge it confers. For example, one character with the Military Life expertise could be a singer who served in Odium’s forces, while another could be a human who absorbed their knowledge of warfare from being raised in the Alethi culture. Though these two characters share the same expertise, their knowledge might be drastically different.
When choosing an expertise, consider what cultures, weapons, armor, and areas of study your character has significant experience with; this can be from your backstory or influenced by current adventures. The “Expertise Categories” section provides examples of common expertises, but with your GM’s permission, you can create a new expertise instead.
The more specific an expertise, the greater its narrative impact. For example, if your character has the Religion expertise, you have general knowledge of all Rosharan religions, but you might need to test Lore to recall obscure details about Stone Shamanism. By contrast, with your GM’s permission, you might choose an expertise in Stone Shamanism; this expertise won’t help you with tests about Vorinism, but you’ll know much more about Stone Shamanism without needing to test for it.
An expertise doesn’t directly add any abilities to your character sheet, but it can assist you during the game in several ways.
It’s assumed you automatically know all basic facts about your area of expertise. When another character might need to test Lore, Deduction, or Insight to learn anything about that topic, you don’t need a test to recall basic information.
Beyond your automatic knowledge of the basics, your depth in a particular subject allows you to make tests that would be impossible for other characters. For example, if your party wants to figure out how the enemy’s intricate new fabrial works, only characters with the Fabrial Crafting expertise can make a Deduction test to learn that information.
When you make other tests related to your expertise, a success might grant you more information than an inexperienced character would learn with the same result.
People’s knowledge of the cosmere is infinitely varied and complex, and areas of study constantly grow and change as new discoveries are made. As a result, it’s impossible to define all the knowledge and capabilities that an expertise grants. Instead, your expertises merely guide you on which subjects your character specializes in. It’s up to you and your GM to decide what you know based on where and when in the cosmere you find yourself.
If you believe one of your expertises should allow you to make a test, to automatically know something, or to gain a situational benefit, ask your GM! Expertises are tools to help creatively tell your story—it’s okay to stretch and come up with cool new uses for them.
Some specialized items can’t be crafted without a specific expertise (see “Crafting” in chapter 7).
Most weapons and armor, along with a few other items, have expert traits (see chapter 7). These traits grant additional benefits to characters with the specified expertise.
If you have a cultural expertise for a specific nation or culture, you can communicate with those who share its language or languages. It’s up to you how well you know those languages—you might be fluent with no discernible accent, or you might only know enough words to conduct basic trade.
For other expertises, you might know special jargon or codewords connected with that subject. For example, the Underworld expertise could allow you to communicate covertly with local thieves’ guilds, while the Engineering expertise could help you talk circles around a mere layperson.
Regardless of what languages you know, it’s assumed that all PCs can communicate well enough with each other to easily share information and create plans together (unless the GM wishes to highlight a language barrier between two PCs as a specific plot point).
All expertises fall into one of five categories; armor, cultural, utility, and weapon expertises are available to all characters, while specialist expertises must be obtained in special ways. These categories are primarily descriptive, and you can have more than one expertise from the same category; however,
some talents and other abilities apply only to expertises from certain categories.
The following sections give examples of common expertises that qualify for each category, but you’re not restricted to the specific examples in these lists. Talk to your GM if you’d like to have an expertise in a different area.
Armor expertises pertain to maintaining and wearing a specific type of non-Invested armor. (Some rare types of armor, such as Shardplate, require specialist expertises rather than armor expertises.)
If you have an armor expertise, you’re well-versed in cleaning, maintaining, and even creating that kind of armor. You can use the expert traits of that armor (described in chapter 7), as you know how best to wear and use it in combat.
Examples. You can choose an armor expertise in any non-special armor type listed in chapter 7—for example, the Leather Armor expertise.
Cultural expertises pertain to regional, social, and linguistic knowledge for a nation, culture, subculture, or other group of people.
If you have a cultural expertise, you’re deeply knowledgeable about that group’s traditions, customs, and superstitions. You also know their history and current politics. You can communicate with others from that group through spoken language, signed language, other forms of communication, or all of the above.
Examples. You can choose any cultural expertise from the “Culture” section of chapter 2—for example, a character from Herdaz probably has the Herdazian expertise, while a noble character might have the High Society expertise.
Utility expertises pertain to tools, trades, technical knowledge, and similar areas of study.
If you have a utility expertise, you’re practiced in an area of technical knowledge, such as creating a certain type of equipment or specializing in a discipline like military planning and strategy. You’re skilled in specific techniques, specialized equipment, and technical jargon related to your area of expertise.
Examples. You can choose a utility expertise in topics such as Animal Care, Armor Crafting, Engineering, Equipment Crafting, History, Military Strategy, Religion, Riding Horses, or Weapon Crafting.
Weapon expertises pertain to the maintenance and wielding of a specific type of weapon. (Some rare types of weapons, such as Shardblades, require specialist expertises rather than weapon expertises.)
If you have a weapon expertise, you’re adept in cleaning, maintaining, and even creating that kind of weapon. You can use the expert traits of that weapon (described in chapter 7), as you know how best to wield it in combat.
Examples. You can choose an expertise in any non-special weapon type listed in chapter 7—for example, the Shortbow expertise. You can also choose the Improvised Weapon expertise and the Unarmed Attacks expertise, despite them being special weapons.
Specialist expertises pertain to restricted spheres of knowledge, such as wielding Shardblades and Shardplate.
If you have a specialist expertise, you have significant knowledge about a subject that’s been lost to history or is otherwise inaccessible to the average person. On Roshar, this primarily includes Shards, fabrials, the lost history of the singers, and the lost history of the Radiants.
Restrictions. You can’t choose specialist expertises when gaining an expertise from your Intellect. These can only be granted by a talent, reward, or permission from your GM.
Examples. You might gain a specialist expertise in topics such as Half-Shards, Grandbows, Shardblades, Shardplate, Warhammers, Fabrial Crafting, Singer History, or the Knights Radiant.
Many of your abilities are powered or affected by three expendable pools of resources: health, focus, and Investiture. These are primarily calculated using your attributes, but they can also be affected by bonuses or penalties from talents and other effects.
Your health is a physical resource representing your stamina and resistance to minor wounds. When you create your character, your maximum health equals:
10 + Strength + any bonuses or penalties
When you level up, your maximum health increases as indicated on the Character Advancement table in chapter 1. If your Strength changes, refer to the same table to recalculate your health.
When you lose health, you might breathe heavily, stagger under the weight of a blow, notice blood on your clothes from a minor wound, or cry out from exertion. See “Damage, Injury, and Death” in chapter 9 for more details on losing health.
If your health is reduced to 0, that represents suffering a severe blow that knocks you out of the fight. When reduced to 0 health, you suffer an injury and become Unconscious (see “Conditions” in chapter 9), and you run the risk of incurring more serious injuries.
You can partially recover health during a short rest, and you recover all your health after a long rest (see “Resting” in chapter 9). Some talents and other effects provide other ways to recover your health; for example, a character with a rank in Medicine can tend to your wounds in combat (see “Medicine” later in this chapter).
Your focus is a cognitive resource representing your mental resolve and ability to resist influence and distraction, as well as to execute complex or precise maneuvers. Your maximum focus equals:
2 + Willpower + any bonuses or penalties
Focus can be spent to fuel talents and other abilities, or to withstand manipulation (see “Focus in Conversations” in chapter 11).
When you have no focus left, your attention might waver, you might stare intently while working through a problem, or you might be overcome with frustration or another emotion.
You can partially recover focus during a short rest, and you recover all your focus after a long rest (see “Resting” in chapter 9).
Investiture is a spiritual resource representing your ability to hold and channel Investiture—an energy that suffuses the cosmere. On Roshar, this represents your ability to breathe in and hold Stormlight.
New characters don’t have Investiture, but if you later choose a Radiant path, you’ll gain an Investiture pool that works much like your focus does. When you do, your maximum Investiture equals:
2 + either your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher) + any bonuses or penalties
See “Investiture and Stormlight” in chapter 5 for rules on using your Investiture.
In any scene, your senses and what you’re aware of are key. This can be straightforward in an open field on a sunny day, but senses are more complicated when darkness and fog get involved—or when Lightwoven illusions obscure the truth of the world.
Your senses encapsulate not just your vision, but your hearing, smell, touch, and even your intuition. Someone with excellent hearing might navigate pitch darkness by their practiced ear. This game doesn’t have separate rules for sight versus other senses; instead, it’s up to you and the GM to decide what primary sense you most heavily rely on to navigate the world.
Under most conditions, it’s assumed all characters can sense things from a reasonable distance, at the GM’s discretion. However, when your primary sense is entirely obscured, this limits how far away you can detect
If an ability doesn’t require senses, you’ll still gain a disadvantage on many tests against a target you can’t sense (see “Targeting and Range” in chapter 10).
No matter how good your senses are, you can’t automatically see through any kind of deception, nor can you spot hidden characters or objects. If an illusion designed to trick you is obscuring an object, or if an object is purposefully hidden from your ability to sense it (such as with the Stealth skill), you must succeed on the usual skill tests to spot it.
If you usually rely on a sense and suddenly lose it, this can disrupt your perception of the world; for example, if you rely on sight but someone throws crem in your eyes, you might temporarily gain the Disoriented condition. However, if you’re accustomed to having limited access to one or more senses (such as with some disabled characters), you already rely on other senses to interact with your surroundings.
If you create a disabled character who has adapted to other senses, you can make Perception tests (and all tests) the same as an abled character. However, if you’d like your disability to affect not only your story, but also the game’s rules, you can work with the GM to decide when your limited senses might make some tests impossible, impose a disadvantage on others, or even grant an advantage (reflecting your practice with other senses).
things. Depending on your primary sense, it could be obscured by the roaring cacophony of a highstorm, by the pitch black during the “hateful hour” of night when no moons are visible, and so on.
Your senses range determines how far away you can easily sense when your primary sense is obscured. Your Awareness score determines this range (see “Awareness” earlier in this chapter).
Within this range, you don’t have any trouble detecting things with the help of your other senses. But outside of this range, you can’t detect objects and characters, and must move closer or try to target them without senses (if you’re aware of them).
If you can’t sense something, it’s hard to affect it with many abilities. For example, to target “a character you can sense” while your senses are obscured, the character must be within your senses range.
Your character starts the game with eighteen skills, each representing your general competency in various pursuits. This section presents general rules for skills and tests, followed by descriptions of each individual skill.
When your character attempts a task that has a chance of failure—a daring attack, a rousing speech, a subtle theft—the GM will probably ask you to make a skill test, as described in the “Rolling a Skill Test” section in this book’s introduction. The same also applies to NPCs and the GM; whether an NPC is attempting to attack you or scale an imposing cliff, the GM will make a test to determine that attempt’s outcome. (If you’re attempting something that has no downsides or that you’d eventually succeed on with enough attempts, the GM probably won’t require a test.)
You usually don’t need any ranks in a skill to test it, but your chance of success increases with your inherent aptitude (represented by that skill’s corresponding attribute) and your relevant training (represented by your rank in that skill).
Everything you attempt during gameplay uses one of your skills—but there’s often more than one way to accomplish a task! In each situation, consider the narrative and mechanical implications of using one skill over another. Your character’s approach to a task may reflect their personality, experiences, and goals. Don’t just pick a test and roll it; you’re telling a collaborative story, so describe how you go about your attempt! Depending on your approach, the environment, and other circumstances, the GM will let you know which skill test you should roll.
Each skill is associated with one of your attributes, as stated in parentheses in that skill’s title (both in this chapter and on your character sheet’s list of skills). Additionally, you have anywhere from 0 to 5 ranks in each skill, depending on your tier and your choices during character creation and advancement. Narratively, ranks indicate your education and lived experience.
Your skill modifier equals your score in that skill’s associated attribute + your number of ranks in that skill. You’ll add this modifier to each test you make with that skill, and you’ll also use it for a few other calculations; for example, when you hit with an attack, you add your skill modifier to the damage dealt (see “Attacking” in chapter 10).
When you make a test, you roll a d20, add the modifier for the chosen skill, and apply any bonuses or penalties. Then compare that result to the test’s difficulty class (or DC)—this is the target number you’re trying to reach. If the total equals or exceeds the DC, you succeed; this means you accomplish your task and the GM narrates the results. If the total is less than the DC, you fail; this means you make little to no progress on what you were attempting.
Depending on the situation, DC can be determined by the ability itself, by the target’s defenses, by the GM, or by both characters making an opposed test against each other.
Some abilities call for a specific DC to succeed. For example, when you use the Field Medicine talent to treat a wounded ally, you make a DC 15 Medicine test, as stated in that talent’s text.
When you make a skill test targeting another character—such as picking their pocket or trying to intimidate them—the DC of that test is usually determined by one of that character’s defenses (see the earlier “Defenses” section). This is typically the defense in the same category as the skill being used; for example, if you’re threatening someone, you’ll usually test Intimidation against their Cognitive defense. However, the GM or certain rules may occasionally have you use different defenses; for example, the Feinting Strike talent lets you make an attack against a target’s Cognitive defense instead of their Physical defense.
Adjusting DCs. The relevant defense’s value sets the base DC for that skill test, but the GM might further modify the DC based on other circumstances, using the upcoming Difficulty Class Examples table as guidance for how big of an adjustment is warranted. For example, if a character is particularly friendly to you, the GM might lower the DC for persuading them; perhaps they have a Spiritual defense of 14, but the GM lowers that DC to 11 for you. Or if a character is on high alert, it might be significantly harder to pick their pocket. Unlike granting you advantages and disadvantages, the GM doesn’t necessarily have to tell you when something is modifying a character’s defense, so use caution!
In many cases, the GM sets the DC based on their judgment of the difficulty of the task and the normal range of DCs. The Difficulty Class Examples table provides some guidance, but the GM can choose any number that feels like a good fit.
The task’s difficulty should be gauged by the abilities of an average humanoid, not a player character. For example, if leaping a particular chasm would be nearly impossible for a random citizen of Urithiru, the Athletics test to do so would be DC 30.
| Difficulty | DC |
|---|---|
| Easy | 10 |
| Medium | 15 |
| Hard | 20 |
| Very Hard | 25 |
| Nearly Impossible | 30 |
Occasionally, two characters actively want to make tests against each other (such as when wrestling), or similarly, one character’s actions would reasonably set the DC for a later attempt to subvert that action. Opposed tests can also resolve conflicts there aren’t specific rules for.
When such a conflict happens, the GM might have both characters make an opposed test using relevant skills. The DC is determined not by a set number or by GM discretion, but by the result of your opponent’s test. For example, if a Windrunner uses the Adhesion surge to Lash an object to the ceiling, then you try to pry it off the ceiling, you might test Athletics against their Adhesion.
To meet the DC and succeed (or to prevent the other person from succeeding), your test result must exceed your opponent’s. Determine the outcome as follows:
If you roll higher than your opponent, you meet the DC and accomplish your goal (even if that goal was simply to resist your opponent). In the Adhesion example, your successful Athletics test means you pry the object from the ceiling.
If you roll lower than your opponent, this means they rolled higher than you, thereby meeting their DC. So they succeed on their test and you fail on yours. In the Adhesion example, their successful Adhesion test means you can’t pry it off the ceiling.
If you tie with your opponent, nobody meets their DC! In this case, both of you might fail to achieve your contested objective—or, in the case of an aggressive contest, the result favors the defender who’s trying to keep things the same. In the Adhesion example, the object was already stuck to the ceiling—so if neither of you succeed on your opposed test, the object remains stuck on the ceiling.
Some effects grant you an automatic success on a test. When you automatically succeed, you don’t roll, and you gain the benefits of a success with no Opportunities or Complications. (Rarely, you might automatically fail a test; handle this the same way, without rolling.)
Sometimes, tests are modified by positive or negative circumstances. In these cases, you’ll be instructed to test with one or more advantages or disadvantages. These could be from a rule of the game, or from the GM granting it to you based on circumstances in the narrative. For example, if you’re trying to research an obscure myth in an archive, and you’ve read up on regional folklore recently, the GM might give you an advantage on that test. Meanwhile, if you’re trying to scale a steep cliff, but the stones are slick with rain, the GM might give you a disadvantage.
For each advantage affecting the test, choose one die you’re about to roll for your test; you can pick the d20, the plot die, or any other die (like one of the damage dice from an attack). Roll two of each chosen die, then choose one of the two results to keep, discarding the other with no effect.
You can choose each die only once during a test. If you have two advantages, you’ll have to roll copies of two different dice, instead of rolling three of the same die.
Conversely, for each disadvantage affecting the test, the GM chooses one die you’re about to roll for your test. Roll two of the GM’s chosen die, then allow the GM to choose one of the two results you keep, discarding the other with no effect. As with advantages, the same die can’t be chosen twice.
If a test is affected by both advantages and disadvantages, they cancel each other out; each disadvantage cancels one advantage and vice versa. For instance, if your test has two advantages and one disadvantage, the disadvantage cancels one advantage, leaving you with one advantage on the test.
Some abilities instruct you to make a single test against multiple targets. However, you might have advantages or disadvantages against only some of those targets. In that case, first roll the test without those extra dice, then roll the dice for your advantages or disadvantages separately, applying them only to the results for the affected targets and ignoring them for the other targets. (For more information, see “Attacks with Multiple Targets” in chapter 10.)
If an enemy NPC is making a test with advantages or disadvantages, the roles of the GM and players are reversed. For advantages, the GM gets to pick which die to keep, and for disadvantages, a player gets to pick (typically the player whose character is most affected by the roll, to avoid slowing down play with group debate).
On a basic level, your DC and test result determine whether you succeed or fail. However, most situations are narratively much more complicated (and interesting) than that. To help you, your fellow players, and the GM tell the story together, this game provides additional tools to narrate more interesting outcomes.
While the DC sets a specific success/failure threshold, test results can run a wide range of values from 1 to 30 (or even higher!). The difference between the test result and DC can inspire more detailed descriptions about how well the attempt succeeded or how horribly it failed.
In cases where the test result is very close to the DC, you have a low degree of success or failure. You (or the GM) might describe your character just barely succeeding or getting incredibly close but failing at the last second.
On the other hand, if your test result is far above or below the DC, you have a high degree of success or failure. You (or the GM) might describe your character catastrophically failing at a task or expertly overcoming it.
On tests where the GM has raised the stakes, the plot die introduces a wide spectrum of outcomes due to Opportunities and Complications. You can also gain Opportunities and Complications from various talents and from high or low d20 rolls (see “Opportunities and Complications” in this book’s introduction). These narrative side effects create an interesting mix of results.
When rolling the plot die, you’ll commonly get a mix of good and bad: either succeeding with a Complication or failing with an Opportunity. These results compellingly progress your story while introducing twists or new ways forward. The Skill Examples table at the end of this chapter provides inspiration for how Opportunities and Complications might impact a test.
Occasionally, you’ll roll a success with an Opportunity or a failure with a Complication (usually when you roll a natural 1 or 20). These are the highest highs and lowest lows, when you either gain exhilarating momentum or stop dead in your tracks. Such moments can be
a good time to pivot the action to other characters, using your momentum to help others or giving someone else a chance to step in after your failure.
When you fail a skill test, you might be able to try again—if time and the situation allow. Failure sometimes just costs precious time, and the clock keeps ticking with each reattempt. But in other situations, failure carries more consequences, and trying again can require bigger and bigger risks.
Ultimately, it’s up to your GM how many times you can retry a test before misfortune catches up with you. When you try again, potential risks might simply be narrative, or the GM might include mechanical effects like the following:
When you succeed on a test to influence someone socially, such as lying to them or convincing them to help you, they might resist your influence by spending some focus. When they do, you fail to influence them despite your successful test. For details, see the “Focus in Conversations” section of chapter 11.
Sometimes you might make a skill test for a single action that you hope will have an ongoing benefit—for example, a Thievery test to disguise yourself all day. At the GM’s discretion, you might be able to apply such a result across an extended time, but if the situation changes significantly, you may need to make a new test.
To apply the same skill test to multiple characters (such as tricking multiple guards with your existing disguise as you wander through a building), keep track of your original result. As you encounter other characters, compare your result to the relevant defense of each character (or to the result of their opposed test).
Skill tests don’t inherently require actions or reactions to use. For example, the GM might ask everyone to make a Discipline test (no action required) to steel their nerves against a fearsome foe. However, if you make a test to do something that takes time or concentration, the GM will usually ask you to use ▶ to do so (via the Use a Skill action in chapter 10).
If you’re making a test as part of another action, you don’t need to use ▶.
When you attempt a task with the help of others, you typically don’t all make separate tests. Instead, use the following rules to work together on a test.
Assisting allies in combat can be challenging, as every second matters. If you want to help in combat, you must use the Aid reaction (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10).
Outside of combat, whoever is leading the group effort makes one test, and they gain an advantage for each character helping them. You can often choose this leader based on who has the best skill modifier, though in some situations, you might not have a choice.
The GM may ask you to describe exactly how you’re contributing to a test. Characters can only help with tests they could reasonably complete themselves. For example, a character can’t assist with a task that requires an expertise or tools they don’t have. Additionally, if the task requires physical contributions, each character helping must be able to reach and contribute to the task.
For complex or particularly important tasks involving a group, the GM might have your group complete an endeavor (see chapter 12), rather than a single test with advantages. For example, if you’re sneaking into a guarded encampment, the GM will probably ask for more than a single Stealth test.
Some abilities let you change a die’s size; this doesn’t refer to its physical measurements, but to how many sides it has.
When you make a test with a die whose size is increased, replace it with the next largest die (and vice versa when decreasing). For example, an attack that originally deals 1d4 damage might increase its die size as you gain levels; allowing you to roll 1d6 in its place (and eventually 1d8, 1d10, and 1d12).
Some tests target other characters (or objects) from a distance. The “Targeting and Range” section of chapter 10 defines which characters are eligible targets for various tests. Note that if you can’t sense a character, you usually gain a disadvantage on tests made to directly affect them (such as with surges and weapon attacks).
The upcoming sections describe the eighteen basic skills available to all characters in this game. (In addition to these skills, you might later choose a Radiant path and unlock unique surge skills, as described in chapter 5.) Each section includes the following details:
Title and Attribute. Each entry’s title states the name of that skill, followed by the associated attribute. You’ll use this attribute to calculate your skill modifier, as described earlier in “Skill Ranks and Modifiers.”
Relevant Tasks. Each entry lists some tasks that use that skill. This isn’t a comprehensive list—it’s up to you and your GM to decide what skill best applies for anything you might attempt.
Special Situations. Some entries provide guidance for using that skill in special ways. For example, the Medicine skill gives examples of how you can treat wounded allies.
Gaining Advantage. Each entry suggests creative ways you might use that skill with the Gain Advantage action (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10), giving you the upper hand on your next test against that foe.
Examples. Finally, at the end of the chapter, the Skill Examples table includes several examples of tasks, suggested DCs, and inspiration for how you and the GM might resolve successes, failures, Opportunities, and Complications. Many of the outcomes in these tables are purely narrative; however, some include mechanical effects that can heighten the drama or give players a chance to use their abilities. GMs are encouraged to improvise such effects regardless of whether the game rules directly call for them, and players should feel free to suggest interesting effects that support the story.
Agility reflects your capacity to maneuver within your environment, steer a mount, execute acrobatic feats, and pilot vehicles with precision. When your reflexes, mobility, or maneuverability are challenged by a task, you test Agility.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Agility by…
Athletics reflects your physical prowess, brawn, endurance, and resistance to harm and physical adversity. Athletics can allow you to overcome an obstacle with feats of strength such as lifting, pushing, climbing, jumping horizontally and vertically, and pulling. Athletics is also used to make unarmed attacks, as described in the “Weapons” section of chapter 7.
Jumping. While moving, a character can generally jump a horizontal distance equal to their own size without making a test, and a vertical distance equal to half their size (see “Movement and Positioning” in chapter 10). For longer jumps, they must make an Athletics test. This test’s DC is determined by the GM, but as a general guideline, a 40-foot jump on Roshar would be nearly impossible (DC 30) for a Medium character.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Athletics by…
Crafting uses your ingenuity and knowledge to design and build physical objects with what you have on hand. When you’re crafting commonplace items like simple machines, traps, pottery, woodworking, sketches, sewing, or impromptu tools, you test Crafting to determine your success.
Crafting Complex Items. If you want to create more complex items like weapons, armor, equipment, buildings, grand works of art, and fabrials, you need to have a corresponding expertise to make a Crafting test. The “Crafting” section in chapter 7 presents the full rules of crafting.
Repairing Items. This game has no specific rules about damaging or repairing existing items, and it’s assumed you can competently maintain your equipment. But when it suits the story, the GM might call for a Crafting test to repair or reassemble an important item.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Crafting by…
Deception measures how well you can mislead others with blatant dishonesty, clever insinuations, exaggerations, and strategic omissions. Using this skill can include carefully chosen words, but also emotional manipulation, deflection, falsified evidence, and misleading body language.
Long-Distance Deception. When trying to deceive others from afar—such as via spanreed communication, letters, or messenger—uncontrollable variables make Deception more difficult. A long-distance recipient is less likely to be fooled by a convincing performance, and more likely to employ unseen aid and evidence. As a result, you make Deception tests with a disadvantage if your target can’t sense you.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Deception by…
To understand the world, one must observe, question, and test. Through logic, reason, accruing evidence, and interpreting it, you can test Deduction to more confidently navigate the many uncertainties that surround you.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Deduction by…
Discipline determines your ability to control your outward reactions and responses to unsettling circumstances. Discipline can help you maintain composure in the face of fear, anger, pain, or sorrow. This doesn’t mean you don’t feel these emotions, but you can think and act with exceptional clarity and poise even under great duress.
Overcoming the Odds. Discipline can be used actively, such as when putting on a brave face while approaching a formidable foe. However, it can also be used reactively to shake off fear, doubt, distraction, and similar challenges. The GM might sometimes have you test Discipline to avoid an unwanted effect or to later overcome it.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Discipline by…
During the final weeks as bridgemen, they’d learned to act with the precision and discipline of soldiers. They stood at attention while their abusers marched across bridges, never uttering a word of derision. Their discipline itself had become their weapon.
Heavy Weaponry represents your experience wielding the most devastating weapons of warfare. You test Heavy Weaponry when you attack with or otherwise use weapons that are literally heavy, such as axes and hammers, along with most Shardblades.
Heavy vs. Light Weaponry. Weapons that use the Heavy Weaponry skill tend to have greater reach and heft than light weapons, increasing their lethality but reducing their maneuverability and precision. The “Creative Maneuvers” section of chapter 10 suggests creative ways you might fight with your heavy weapon.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Heavy Weaponry by…
Insight measures your ability to discern the true feelings of others, see through deceptions, and use your intuition to determine whether a situation is off. When your social instincts, emotional intelligence, and gut reactions are challenged by a task, you test Insight.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Insight by…
Intimidation reflects your ability to induce fear in another character and thereby ensure their compliance. When you project physical dominance, issue a threat (whether explicit or implied), or intentionally catastrophize a situation, you test Intimidation.
Insincere Threats. Most threats include some degree of exaggeration, such as overstating your willingness or ability to make good on the threat. If a threat is plausible to the receiving party, bluffing doesn’t affect how the test is made. However, if you’re feigning something preposterous, such as claiming to be a fearsome warrior while you’re visibly ill and can’t stand up, you gain a disadvantage on your Intimidation test.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Intimidation by…
Leadership represents your ability to inspire people, draw attention, and command allies. When you appeal to someone’s better nature or sense of right and wrong,
When you test Persuasion, you’re typically convincing someone to help you by negotiating, appealing to logic or self-interest, and pointing out the practical implications of a decision. When you test Leadership, you’re usually seeking to inspire, appealing to higher ideals, and charismatically taking control of a situation. Some problems can be solved with either skill, though the DC for each test may vary significantly depending on your target and your own intentions.
you test Leadership. You can also use this skill to delegate tasks, manage a crowd, bait an enemy, or direct allies who aren’t strictly under your command.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Leadership by…
Light Weaponry represents your facility with smaller armaments that are wielded with finesse rather than raw strength. When you attack with or otherwise use knives, short swords, bows, slings, and similar weapons, you test Light Weaponry.
Light vs. Heavy Weaponry. Though light weapons don’t have the same range and damage as heavy weapons, they’re more quick, subtle, and precise. The “Creative Maneuvers” section of chapter 10 suggests creative ways you might fight with your light weapon.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Light Weaponry by…
Lore establishes your familiarity with history, current events, folklore, religions, places, and science. When you attempt to recall information that you could reasonably know from your background, you test Lore.
Lore and Expertise. In addition to the general Lore skill, your expertises represent areas of specific knowledge (see the earlier “Expertises” section). If you want to recall basic information relating to an expertise of yours, the GM should generally give you the information without a test. By contrast, if you want to know secret, forbidden, or otherwise obscure knowledge about a subject, you might have to test even if you have an expertise. If you succeed on a test to recall such hidden knowledge but you don’t have the relevant expertise, you might not learn enough key details to gain the full picture.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Lore by…
Medicine measures your ability to heal yourself and others through your knowledge of anatomy, psychology, and surgery. When you attempt to diagnose physical maladies, support those with mental or physical illnesses, or determine a corpse’s time and cause of death, you test Medicine. You might even carry surgical supplies (see “Items” in chapter 7) to make your ministrations more effective.
Using Medicine in Combat. If you have at least one rank in Medicine, you can spend 2 focus and Use a Skill (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10) to make a DC 15 Medicine test to treat a conscious ally within your reach, or you can make the same test with a disadvantage to treat yourself. On a success, your target recovers health equal to your ranks in Medicine.
Using Medicine While Resting. During a long rest, you can make a DC 20 Medicine test to treat an ally’s injury (see “Injuries” in chapter 9), or you can make the same test with a disadvantage to treat yourself. On a success, the duration of a shallow or vicious injury is reduced by 1d4 days. Once a character has been treated in this way (whether successfully or unsuccessfully), they can’t be treated in this way again during that long rest.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Medicine by…
Perception signifies your ability to notice details about your surroundings. When you inspect the area around you, search for a hidden character or item, or try to recognize something from your memory or a description, you test Perception. (The upcoming “Stealth” section contains rules for detecting hidden characters.)
Senses and Perception. Much like this game doesn’t restrict your senses to sight and hearing, you don’t need access to all senses to test Perception. The earlier “Senses” section provides guidance on navigating the world with limited senses, but in general, each character tests Perception in the same way regardless of which senses they can access.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Perception by…
Perception helps you collect facts about your surroundings. By contrast, Insight helps you interpret your subconscious impressions of other characters’ words, body language, and similar cues. Of course, your biases can lead you astray, making your feelings less trustworthy. Existing biases might cause you to gain a disadvantage on an Insight test—or if you fail an Insight test or gain a Complication on one, you might obtain misleading information.
Persuasion reflects your charisma, social fluency, and assumed trustworthiness. When you barter, debate, reason, or appeal to self-interest, you test Persuasion. While Deception and Intimidation tests might allow you to pressure an unwilling target into compliance, you’ll usually test Persuasion if you’re seeking agreement and a reasonably amicable outcome.
Attitudes. People are more likely to agree with you if they already find you pleasant, intelligent, and trustworthy. If you have a good rapport with someone (or a particularly strained relationship), the GM may choose to decrease (or increase) the DC to reflect the target’s attitude toward you.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Persuasion by…
Stealth represents your ability to avoid or escape attention. When you attempt to sneak, hide, blend into a crowd, or similarly avoid notice or lose pursuers, you test Stealth.
Hiding in Combat. In combat, you can Use a Skill (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10) to attempt to hide from a character, making a Stealth test against their Spiritual defense. You can hide only if you’re in cover, if you’re in an area where your target’s primary sense is obscured (such as darkness), or if your target has no line of effect to you (see “Targeting and Range” in chapter 10). If you’re attempting to hide from more than one character, compare your test result to each character’s Spiritual defense.
Each character who you succeed against loses track of you and can no longer sense you, and they remain unaware of your exact location until you attack or take another action that would logically expose your position. As ▶, you can covertly signal one or more allies you can sense, revealing your position to them. A character searching for you can Use a Skill to make a Perception test to search for you; the DC for this test equals the result of your original Stealth test, and it gains a disadvantage if you’re in cover or an area where the character’s primary sense is obscured. On a success, that character senses you.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Stealth by…
Survival indicates your competence in obtaining vital resources and shelter, avoiding environmental threats, and understanding animal behavior. When you track someone or something, interact with wildlife, or navigate unfamiliar territory, you test Survival.
Foraging in Nature. During a short rest, you can try to collect resources like food, water, or medicinal plants. When you do, you forgo the other benefits of resting and instead test Survival. On a success, you identify useful natural resources and safely collect some. For example, you might painstakingly milk knobweeds in the Shattered Plains during your short rest, producing one dose of potent antiseptic (see “Equipment” in chapter 7). The DC for foraging depends on where you’re foraging and what (if anything) you’re specifically looking for. The GM might deny this option if an area has nothing noteworthy to hunt or gather, or if foraging would be too risky.
Gaining Advantage. You might Gain Advantage with Survival by…
Thievery covers all manner of tasks that require precise manual dexterity or are useful in skulduggery. When you pickpocket, lockpick, perform sleight of hand, escape from bonds, tie knots, or create disguises, you test Thievery.
Pickpocketing in Combat. You can Use a Skill (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10) to make a Thievery test to pick the pocket of a character within your reach. When you make this test, raise the stakes. The DC of this test equals the target’s Spiritual defense, and you gain a disadvantage if the target is aware of your presence.
Gaining Advantage. You might use Gain Advantage with Thievery by…
| Task | Test DC | Success | Failure | Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To reach the window, Janiel tests Agility to shimmy ten feet along a high, narrow ledge. | DC 13 | She reaches the window. | Janiel’s foot slips, and she’s now stuck hanging on to the ledge. | She finds a handhold on the route, gaining an advantage on future tests to cross. | She knocks a chunk of stone loose, alerting a nearby guard who investigates the disturbance. |
| Unable to pick the lock, Vorusht decides to test Athletics to break the heavy wooden door instead. | DC 20 | Her boot shatters the door. | Her foot thuds against the door, but the wood holds. | A guard hears the noise and opens the door to see what’s outside. | Vorusht’s foot throbs and she takes 1d4 impact damage. |
| Caught in the Frostlands at the height of winter, Kennick’s heatrial breaks; he must test Crafting to repair it or risk freezing. | DC 18 | He chisels stone into the shape of the broken part. This replacement should keep the heatrial working for at least another week. | Hands shaking from the cold, he realizes he can’t fix the heatrial. Each party member becomes Exhausted [−1] for each day they remain without warmth. | Kennick spots an animal in the distance; he and his companions won’t need to worry about food tonight. | Kennick hurts his hand while attempting to create a replacement part. He makes an injury roll (see “Injuries” in chapter 9) to see how long it takes his hand to recover. |
| Torvash wears the stolen uniform of an Azish constable and tests Deception to pass as one in a busy market square. | DC 17 | Torvash is given a wide berth and no one questions them when they enter restricted areas. | Torvash puts the uniform on incorrectly, and a real constable confronts them. | The uniform’s pocket holds notes about a corrupt vizier who can be blackmailed. | A citizen approaches Torvash in tears, begging them to save his brother from mercenaries. |
| Determined to connect the dots, Lisril tests Deduction to reflect on the clues the group has found. | DC 16 | Lisril puts together a working hypothesis and a surefire way to prove or disprove it. | Lisril comes up short; they need one more clue to put it all together. | A new lead suddenly reveals itself. | New developments create doubt about a previous clue’s veracity. |
| Exhausted and injured, Senelen tests Discipline as she struggles to remain conscious while caught in a highstorm. | DC 18 | She barely clings to consciousness, continuing her journey. | She collapses, slipping into unconsciousness. | She unexpectedly hears the voices of a search party looking for her. | Her wounds worsen and she makes an injury roll (see “Injuries” in chapter 9). |
| Vorusht tests Heavy Weaponry to a group of inexperienced villagers in a kata with improvised heavy weapons, training them to better defend their village from an incoming attack. | DC 12 | She leads the group in a coordinated kata. The group seems more confident and relaxed and will be prepared to face the coming attack. | The group can’t follow Vorusht’s movements and learns nothing from the exercise. They remain ill-prepared to fight the coming attack. | She notices one member of the group is far more experienced than the others. She recruits them to help with an important defense position. | One of the villagers loses control of their weapon and accidentally hits Vorusht! She takes 1d8 impact damage. |
| Jorni tests Insight to consider a merchant’s mannerisms to detect if he’s ripping her off. | DC 15 | Jorni sees the merchant’s lip curve in a duplicitous smile. He’s overcharging. | The merchant’s behavior doesn’t help Jorni decide if the price is fair. | Jorni notices the merchant has covertly covered some of his merchandise with cloth. | A marketplace cutpurse attempts to pick Jorni’s pockets while she’s intently focused on the merchant. |
| Roisercha wordlessly raises her arm to summon a Shardblade, testing Intimidation and hoping to terrify the enemy scout into revealing secrets. | DC 15 | Roisercha convinces the scout to talk. | The scout doesn’t flinch and remains silent, preferring to accept death rather than answer. | Roisercha notices a map of the enemy camp peeking out of the scout’s bag. | An arrow flies into a nearby rockbud. The scout wasn’t alone. |
| Task | Test DC | Success | Failure | Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhesh tests Leadership to call out directions to townspeople evacuating a threatened city. | DC 17 | They help all the willing townspeople evacuate in time. | They help evacuate the most vulnerable, but several hundred civilians remain in the city as enemy combatants arrive. | They scrounge up a small troop of brave volunteers to help fight. | The enemy takes special notice of Jhesh, and advance scouts target them with the first salvo. |
| Osreeva tests Light Weaponry to perform a trick with a knife to impress bar patrons. | DC 14 | Osreeva’s skill clearly impresses their audience. | Osreeva fumbles the knife, dropping it midway through their performance. | Osreeva uses the distraction to draw closer to the spy they’ve been shadowing. | Osreeva nicks themself in the process, taking 1d4 keen damage. |
| Lisril tries to recall the penalty for impersonating a palace vizier by testing Lore. | DC 20 | Lisril knows this would incur a steep fine. | Lisril doesn’t remember and would need to look it up at an official building. | Lisril happens on a local festival with free food and entertainment. | The official buildings are closed for a holiday, and most viziers are off duty. |
| Talani tests Medicine to help an injured ally during a long rest. | DC 20 | Talani reduces the recovery time of the ally’s injury by 1d4 days. | Talani comforts the ally but doesn’t improve their recovery time. | The ally is bolstered by Talani’s help and becomes Determined. | Talani’s caregiving drains her; after her long rest, she recovers 1 fewer focus than usual. |
| Torvash listens closely to check if anyone’s following them through the alley by testing Perception. | DC 15 | Behind them, Torvash hears two sets of footsteps—one light, one heavy—that pause when Torvash slows their stride. | Torvash doesn’t hear any unusual noises nearby. | Torvash finds a guard post up ahead. | A hurried passerby rounds the corner and collides with Torvash. Torvash loses 2 focus and falls Prone. |
| On the eve of an important battle, Kennick tests Persuasion to ask to borrow a highly unstable and irreplaceable fabrial. | DC 22 | The artifabrian guild allows Kennick to borrow the fabrial and provides strict instructions. | Kennick isn’t permitted to requisition the experimental fabrial. | Kenrick is offered a lesser fabrial. | Kenrick is told that the artifabrian’s guild expects this grand favor to be returned in the future. |
| While a highstorm rages outside, Hezib tests Stealth to creep through a fort to steal battle plans. | DC 12 | Hezib avoids all guards and personnel and slips into the war room. | Hezib runs into a servant headed to the cellar to fetch more Shin wine. | Hezib discovers a hidden passage to more easily escape the fort. | Unbeknownst to Hezib, a guard has been stationed along the planned escape route. |
| During a short rest in the Purelake, Bristle tests Survival to go fishing instead of resting and recovering. | DC 12 | Bristle catches three fish: a stumpy cort and two minnows. | Bristle doesn’t catch any fish. | Bristle finds a javelin that someone left behind. | Bristle stumbles into a sinkhole (see “Falling” in chapter 10). |
| At a Thaylen merchant’s stall, Korb attempts to palm one of the merchant’s wares. Testing Thievery against the merchant’s cognitive defense while they’re distracted by another customer. | DC 15 | Korb slips the object into his pack without the merchant noticing. | The merchant notices Korb pick up the object and begins an enthusiastic sales pitch. | A local thief notices Korb and is impressed. | A local thief sees the theft and, once Korb is in a more private location, confronts him about edging into the thief’s turf. |
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Characters in Stormlight campaigns are heroes: they help others in need, save innocent lives, and fight against the rising tide of Odium’s power. The six heroic paths presented in this chapter represent the mundane competencies each hero uses to make their mark on the world. Whether you’re a skillful Agent, an erudite Scholar, or an indomitable Warrior, your path and its talents represent the unique combination of tricks and techniques you use to navigate life on Roshar.
Agent. A talented operative who solves problems with a keen mind or a deft hand. Agent specialties include the Investigator, Spy, and Thief.
Envoy. An insightful negotiator who adeptly influences others. Envoy specialties include the Faithful, Diplomat, and Mentor.
Hunter. A skilled sharpshooter and outdoorsperson who seeks and eliminates problems. Hunter specialties include the Archer, Assassin, and Tracker.
Leader. A poised commander who directs and guides others to be their best. Leader specialties include the Champion, Officer, and Politico.
Scholar. An adroit thinker who excels at planning and building. Scholar specialties include the Artifabrian, Strategist, and Surgeon.
Warrior. A fighter who relies on their skill, brute strength, or indomitable will. Warrior specialties include the Duelist, Shardbearer, and Soldier.
Some characters remain focused on these heroic paths as they gain levels, but as the narrative develops, many characters eventually bond a spren, swear their First Ideal, and become Radiant. As detailed in chapters 5–6, Radiant paths contain the powers and abilities a character can gain through their spren bond, including surges, Radiant Shardblades, and more.
As a player character, the abilities on your character sheet primarily come from your talents (see “Using Talents” later in this section). You’ll gain your first talent during character creation, then choose more as you gain levels.
Your path provides structure for how you choose your talents. It begins with a key talent that, once chosen, unlocks access to the talents within that path’s three specialties. For example, once you pick the Vigilant Stance (Warrior Key) talent, you gain access to the Duelist, Shardbearer, and Soldier specialties within the Warrior path.
Over the course of their adventuring career, player characters can—and most do—choose talents from multiple paths and specialties. This can include additional heroic paths or a Radiant path. You might also be able to choose unique talents from other sources, such as the Singer talent tree in chapter 2.
All player characters begin by choosing a heroic path and gaining one talent from it. This chapter presents six heroic paths:
The entry for each heroic path begins with an introduction describing its three specialties, recommending which statistics to prioritize during character creation, and suggesting several iconic Stormlight characters you could build with that path. The remainder of each entry presents the talents for that path, divided by specialty.
See chapter 1 for instructions on how to create your character and choose your first heroic path.
As you create your character, be sure to consider how your character’s build will serve you in all scene types, not just combat (see “Scenes” in chapter 9).
You can create characters from any path with nearly any combination of attributes, skills, and talents, but some combinations work especially well together. The general advice in each path’s introduction can help you get started—but the possibilities are endless, and these tips might not apply to the specific role you envision your character playing.
Each path includes a full talent tree for that path’s specialties. Your character can advance through a talent tree by gaining a level—and with it, a new talent. When you acquire a talent, you unlock access to the more potent talents from deeper in that path.
When choosing a new talent, the key talent (the top talent of each path) is always available, provided you meet any prerequisites (see “Prerequisites” at the end of chapter 1). Gaining this key talent unlocks access to the specialties in that path.
You can follow as many heroic paths and specialties as you wish. You might even decide to follow a powerful Radiant path (see chapter 5)—if so, its key talent can be chosen just like those of heroic paths.
You can also choose talents that lie deeper in your existing paths, as long as you otherwise meet their prerequisites. These deeper talents appear below or beside the talent that unlocks them, connected by a line; you have access to any talent connected to one you’ve already gained. (In addition to these lines on the visual tree, you can check each talent’s text to see which talents unlock it.)
If a talent gives you a particular goal, you must complete that goal before choosing later talents in that tree. For example, if you previously chose the Third Ideal talent from a Radiant path, but you haven’t completed its “Swear the Third Ideal” goal, you can’t yet choose the Fourth Ideal, Deepened Bond, or Take Squire talent.
Some talents in different paths share the same name (for example, the Hardy talent appears in the Agent, Hunter, Leader, and Warrior paths). If you already have a talent of the same name, you’re considered to have that talent in every path, so you can (and must) skip that duplicate talent in the tree.
When you create your character for this game, you choose your starting path. This first path grants you one free rank in the starting skill listed at the top of that heroic path.
If you later branch out into other paths, you don’t gain the starting skill for those paths, as they aren’t your starting path. However, as you gain levels, you gain more skill ranks of your choice; the skills associated with your paths are a great option for these ranks.
Each path’s talent tree includes a brief summary of its talents. These are provided for quick reference, but you’ll need to read the talent’s full text to learn all the rules associated with it.
Each talent represents a specific ability or other benefit you’ve acquired through your experience or training. This can be an ability you can activate (such as a new attack), a permanent bonus to your statistics (such as an increase to your Cognitive defense), or even an effect that lets you shape the narrative in special ways.
All talents (including those in other chapters) have the following elements:
Name. The name of the talent.
Prerequisite. To choose a talent, it must be a key talent or you must’ve already gained a talent linked to it in the talent tree (see “Advancing Through a Path”). Additionally, some talents list other prerequisites you must meet before choosing that talent (see “Prerequisites” at the end of chapter 1). These might include gaining skill ranks or achieving certain ambitions within the narrative, such as gaining the backing of a patron.
Activation. Each talent lists an activation time, representing how long it takes to initiate or accomplish the ability granted by that talent (see the upcoming “Activating a Talent” section). For ease of reference, the talent tree shows the corresponding icon for that activation type beside the talent’s name.
Narrative Description. Each talent briefly describes how its effect might fit within your shared story. This doesn’t impact the talent’s rules, but it provides context and flavor to help you, other players, and the GM imagine how that ability might play out narratively. Feel free to reflavor these to suit your character or the situation.
Effect Description. Each talent includes at least one new ability or other mechanical effect that interacts with your character’s statistics and abilities. The talent explains the new rules for this effect (such as a new way to spend your focus), any tests you or other characters might need to make for this effect, how to resolve this effect’s outcome, and other relevant considerations.
This chapter uses terms from throughout this book to describe how talents work, so if you’re reading this chapter before exploring the remaining chapters, some terms may be unfamiliar. If you’d like to read ahead, this sidebar points you to the most important rules that affect your talents (other than those presented in earlier chapters).
Chapter 9 contains general rules for adventuring. Pay special attention to the following sections:
Chapter 10 contains rules for combat and similar situations where time is precious. Pay special attention to the following sections:
Chapter 11 contains rules for scenes that center on social interaction. Pay special attention to the following section:
Each talent lists its activation type after its prerequisites. These activation types include the following:
Action (▶). Many talents require using one or more actions to activate their effect. To activate these talent effects, follow the normal rules for actions (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10).
Free Action (◆). Some talents require activation on your turn, but since they’re a free action, they don’t prevent you from doing other things too. These follow the normal rules for free actions (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10).
Reaction (↺). Some talents can only be used in response to a trigger—an effect stated in the talent. You aren’t required to use the talent when that trigger occurs, but if you want to, you use your reaction following the normal rules for reactions (see “Actions and Reactions” in chapter 10). Some talents allow you to use a reaction to activate a separate ability that usually requires an action; when that happens, follow all that ability’s rules except for its activation time.
Special Activation (★). Some talents don’t necessarily cost an action or reaction; instead, you choose to activate them in other specific ways, such as by taking a short or long rest, by spending focus as part of another action, or by simply choosing to reroll a die (no action required). You can find the rules for activating these talents in that talent’s description; if a particular action type isn’t named, you can freely activate the effect when the described circumstances occur.
Always Active (∞). Some talents always affect your character. Sometimes known as “passive” or “ongoing” effects, these don’t require you to use an action or do anything else to benefit from them. For example, a talent that permanently increases your health is always active and you needn’t choose when you benefit from it. By contrast, if a talent requires a conscious choice such as rerolling a die, the talent is considered a special activation (★), even if you can do it any time you encounter that situation.
Though actions and reactions are often used in combat, your talents apply in other circumstances too! In these non-combat scenes, the GM might grant you the talent’s full effect or adapt it to fit the non-combat situation.
In endeavors and conversations (see chapters 11 and 12), talent effects that require an action or reaction can be used as a single contribution, while those that require a free action can be used at any time. Most special activation talents can be used too, at the GM’s discretion.
In other scenes, the GM determines the amount of time a talent requires to use.
Some talents merely affect you, while others allow you to interact in special ways with other characters, objects, or the environment. Effects that target characters and objects follow the rules in the “Targeting and Range” section of chapter 10.
Talents, NPC abilities, and other effects resolve at various timing intervals. You can determine when an effect begins and ends by looking for the following terms:
When. If an effect occurs “when” something happens, this means it occurs during the resolution of its trigger. “Before” and “after” (see below) are sometimes used to further clarify this timing. If an effect has multiple distinct steps, the player who controls the effect decides when to resolve it. For example, if an effect occurs “when you attack,” you can resolve it at any point during the attack. However, if it says “when you attack, before resolving damage,” you must resolve it sometime between when you declare your attack and when your target reduces their health.
Before. If an effect occurs “before” something, this means the effect applies after its trigger has been declared but before anyone begins resolving that trigger. For example, if an effect occurs “before you’re hit by a weapon attack,” you resolve that effect once the attacker succeeds on their attack test against you, but before you reduce your health or apply other effects of that hit.
After. If an effect occurs “after” something, this means the effect applies immediately after its trigger is resolved. For example, if an effect occurs “after you’re hit by a weapon attack,” first you fully resolve the attack (including reducing your health) then apply the effect.
While. If an effect occurs “while” something, this means the effect only applies during the specified circumstances, and it ends when those circumstances do. For example, if an effect occurs “while you maintain a Basic Lashing,” it remains active while you maintain the Lashing, then stops at the moment your Lashing ends.
Until. If an effect occurs “until” a specified time or trigger, this means the effect ends when the stated duration does. For example, if an effect occurs “until the end of your next turn,” it remains active until that time, then ends.
If two or more of your abilities occur during the same timing interval, you choose which order to resolve them in.
The following rules determine if a talent or other effect can apply multiple times.
Some talent names appear in several paths—these can’t be chosen twice. See the earlier “Advancing Through a Path” section for instructions on how to skip over these talents.
If two similar effects come from abilities with different names, the effects can stack on a target. However, if two similar effects come from abilities with the same name, they can’t simultaneously affect the same target—even if the talents come from different paths. For example, if two characters are each using a talent to grant you an advantage on a test, you gain two advantages if those two talents have different names; however, if those two talents have the same name, you can only gain one advantage.
If two abilities have the same name but their effects have different durations or intensities, apply the talent with the most substantial effect. For example, if one character gives you a +2 bonus and another character gives you a +3 bonus, you only gain a +3 bonus.
Many talents grant expertises. If a talent grants a cultural, utility, weapon, or armor expertise that you already have, you can instead choose another expertise from the same category (with your GM’s permission).
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Artists of duplicity and sabotage, Agents grasp the threads of fate in the palms of their hands, waiting for the perfect moment to pull and unravel the carefully laid plans of others. Agents can fool even the most prudent with their clever ruses, swift movements, and calculated strikes.
Formal education matters little to Agents. Most are fiercely observant and either self-taught or trained in action by their crew. Rules and regulations from outside entities are but playthings to work around or disregard altogether, and Agents answer only to their own code. They meet impossible tasks with a sly smile and razor-sharp wit, living for the thrill of cheating death yet again.
The Agent path presents talents in three specialties:
Investigator. Hunches tend to be unreliable—but Investigators cultivate trustworthy instincts, learning to listen, collaborate, and pursue answers to questions others don’t think to ask.
Spy. To get what they need, Spies plant themselves in sticky situations, ready to deflect or ease suspicion when it inevitably sweeps their way.
Thief. Although a quick mind is an invaluable asset, Thieves train their bodies to keep pace. Whether out of necessity or ambition, they risk it all to swindle the insurmountable odds standing between them and their prize.
The following “Agents of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Agent:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Awareness, Intellect, and Speed.
Skills. Useful skills include Agility, Deception, Deduction, Insight, Light Weaponry, and Thievery.
Other Heroic Paths. The Hunter and Scholar paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with a bodyguard companion and patrons from the criminal world or high society.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Agent characters.
Azish constables regularly travel across Azir to enforce the law. They are authorized to determine innocence and guilt, though corruption or callousness can result in grave injustice. Regional assignments cycle throughout Azir, punctuated by mandatory trips to designated hubs to receive education on the latest legislation. On rare occasions, constables are sent to other member states in the Azish Empire on matters of great importance.
Building a Constable. Pick human ancestry and the Azish and Wayfarer cultural expertises. Start with high Intellect and Willpower. In addition to the Insight skill rank you gain from Agent, put 2 ranks into Deduction, and put 1 rank into Insight and Light Weaponry.
In addition to the Opportunist (Agent Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Get ’Em Talking talent in the Investigator specialty. Finally, choose the Academic starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Gather Evidence and Sleuth’s Instincts talents.
Forsaken by society, street urchins learn early that risk is synonymous with survival. Circumstances have never been kind, so they make their own luck and their own kindness. Some steal just for sustenance, others for cheeky triumph—either way, street urchins do what they must to carry on. In the depths of squalor and misery, hope flickers like a fading sphere, yet they keep fighting to see another day.
Building a Street Urchin. Pick any ancestry and any two cultural expertises. Start with high Speed and Willpower. In addition to the Insight skill rank you gain from Agent, put 2 ranks into Thievery, and put 1 rank into Light Weaponry and Stealth.
In addition to the Opportunist (Agent Key) talent, if you’re a human, choose the Cheap Shot talent in the Thief specialty. If you’re a singer, choose the Change Form and Forms of Finesse singer talents, then later acquire Cheap Shot. Finally, choose either the Underworld or Prisoner starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Risky Behavior, Shadow Step, and Trickster’s Hand talents.
Humans easily mistake workform listeners for the “parshmen” long exploited and enslaved by Roshar’s humans. A listener can use this to their advantage by going undercover in workform, gathering intelligence while suppressing their sorrowful indignation. Alone in a new place, they watch others who look like them toil endlessly, confined to slaveform. Some humans try to be charitable, yet spurn and belittle out of ignorance. More often, workform listeners find suspicion and contempt exaggeratedly furrowing the thin carapace of human faces. Keeping careful watch, the listeners eagerly await the day they can claim their freedom, assert their individuality, and exact justice for their people.
Building an Undercover Workform. Pick singer ancestry, the Listener cultural expertise, and one human culture you live undercover in. Start with high Awareness and Presence. In addition to the Insight skill rank you gain from Agent, put 2 ranks into Deception, and put 1 rank into Insight and Light Weaponry.
In addition to the Opportunist (Agent Key) talent and the Change Form (Singer Key) talent, use your singer ancestry to choose the Forms of Resolve singer talent and begin in workform. Finally, choose the Underworld starting kit.
As you level up, choose the Plausible Excuse talent in the Spy specialty, and consider working toward Mercurial Facade.
The Agent key talent, Opportunist, unlocks access to the Agent specialties.
Starting Skill: Insight. If you choose Agent as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Insight.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ★
You instinctively sense moments of consequence. In these moments where the scale teeters between disaster and glory, you can push yourself—and your luck—to tip the outcome in your favor.
Once per round, when you roll a plot die, you can reroll that result. The original roll has no effect and you must use the new result.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Investigator specialty on the Agent talent tree.
Prerequisite: Get ’Em Talking talent Activation: ∞
With a severe stare, you crack the resolve of all but the most composed adversaries.
To resist your influence, a character must spend additional focus equal to your tier.
Prerequisite: Deduction 3+; Hardy talent Activation: ▶▶▶
You’ve compiled information on your target’s motive and circumstances. Now, by pressing on your target’s desires, weaknesses, or guilt, you can convince them to back down.
Once per scene, spend 3 focus to make a Deduction test against the Cognitive defense of a character you can influence. You gain an advantage on this test if you know the target’s current motivation, and a disadvantage if you don’t.
On a failure, the target gains an advantage on all tests against you until the end of their next turn.
On a success, you influence the target to back down. They stop opposing your immediate aims in this scene and might even leave the scene. A target can resist this influence, but after they do, they gain a disadvantage on all tests until the end of their next turn.
Prerequisite: Insight 2+; Quick Analysis talent Activation: ∞
Observing clues in your environment, you slowly but surely build a mental model of the mysteries before you.
After you succeed on a cognitive test against another character, you become Focused until the end of your next turn.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Legal Codes.
Prerequisite: Insight 2+; Opportunist key talent Activation: ▶▶
With a leading question or cutting remark, you goad others into revealing their motives.
Spend 1 focus to make a Deduction test against the Spiritual defense of a character you can influence. On a success, you learn the target’s motivation for being in the scene. Until the end of the scene, when you make a test to leverage this motivation against the target, you can raise the stakes.
Prerequisite: Baleful talent Activation: ∞
You’ve trained your body to endure pain and fatigue, keeping you in the fight until the bitter end.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current health increase by 1 per level. This applies to all previous and future levels; for example, if you choose this talent at level 6, retroactively increase your health by 6.
Prerequisite: Watchful Eye talent Activation: ◆
Your mind quickly files and organizes data, and you swiftly act on that information while under pressure.
Spend 2 focus to gain ▶▶, which you can only use to make cognitive skill tests via the following actions: Use a Skill, Gain Advantage, or an action from any Agent talent.
During a conversation or endeavor, at the GM’s discretion, you can instead use both ▶▶ to make an additional contribution for the round.
Prerequisite: Deduction 3+; Hardy talent Activation: ∞
When cracking mysteries, you know that “why” can be as important as “who” or “how.” Once you understand motivations, other details easily fall into place.
You gain an advantage on cognitive tests against a character whose motivation you know; you might learn this motivation from the Get ’Em Talking talent, or from other activities such as researching them.
Additionally, after a character whose motivation you know lies to you, you automatically know they’re being deceitful (but not the nature of their lie).
Prerequisite: Deduction 1+; Opportunist key talent Activation: ↺
Allies can be an asset or a liability, so you keep an eye on them for their protection and yours.
When a willing ally you can influence within 20 feet of you rolls a plot die, you can use this reaction to use Opportunist on that plot die as if it were your own.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Spy specialty on the Agent talent tree.
Prerequisite: Sure Outcome talent Activation: ∞
You remain mindful of your immediate goals without losing sight of your deeper value, keeping you even-keeled amid chaos.
When you acquire this talent, increase your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses by 2.
Prerequisite: Plausible Excuse talent Activation: ∞
By spinning vague rumors into popular gossip, you’ve created a false identity to inhabit.
When you acquire this talent, you put the finishing touches on a false identity for yourself. Discuss the details of this identity with your GM, including which communities you use this identity to move through and what its reputation is within those communities.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a cultural expertise relevant to your false identity’s culture.
Prerequisite: Have a patron who is part of high society; Cover Story talent Activation: ★
Your patron’s name opens doors for you, even in unfamiliar places. By invoking their name or network in the right context, you can expand your influence even further.
When you make a test to interact socially in high society, you can spend 2 focus to add an Opportunity to the result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a cultural expertise in High Society.
Prerequisite: Deception 3+; Subtle Takedown talent Activation: ★
You know poise is essential to any disguise, and you can change your perceived persona simply by altering your gait and presence.
When you attempt to disguise yourself, you can use Deception instead of Thievery. You can do this even if you don’t have supplies for a physical disguise.
The first character who sees through your disguise, or who you choose to surprise by revealing your identity, becomes Surprised until the end of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Cover Story talent Activation: ∞
You deliver your swings, punches, and kicks with practiced efficiency.
When you hit with a weapon or unarmed attack, for each ▶ you used on that attack’s action, increase the damage you deal by 1 + your tier. For example, if you’re level 6 and you make an attack that costs ▶▶, each ▶ deals an extra 1 + 2 damage, for a total of 6 damage.
Prerequisite: Deception 1+; Opportunist key talent Activation: ↺
Years of covert operations have taught you to dissemble on the spot, concocting a reasonable excuse for the most incriminating of behavior.
After you are discovered while hiding or otherwise skulking about, you can use this reaction and spend 2 focus to pass yourself off as doing something innocent. You influence each character who can sense you to believe your excuse.
A character can resist this influence, but after they do, they lose additional focus equal to your ranks in Deception.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Sleight of Hand.
Prerequisite: Insight 3+; Cover Story talent Activation: ▶▶
You swiftly strike at your target’s throat, knees, or another vulnerable area. Before the target can cry out, they are silenced.
Make an unarmed attack using Insight against the Cognitive defense of a character who is Surprised, doesn’t sense you, or doesn’t view you as a threat (such as if you’re disguised). The target must be your size or smaller. Raise the stakes on this attack test. On a hit, the target also can’t communicate until the end of their next turn. Also on a hit, you can spend an Opportunity to Grapple them as ◆, automatically succeeding on your test; while Restrained by this grapple, they are also Prone.
Prerequisite: Insight 2+; Opportunist key talent Activation: ★
The best gamble is one that secretly isn’t a gamble at all. Your insight sometimes reveals that seemingly random events are part of someone’s plan.
When you use your Opportunist talent, instead of rerolling the plot die, you can spend 2 focus to flip it to a specific result. If the die was showing ✦, flip it to ⚡+4. If it was showing any ⚡, flip it to ✦.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Thief specialty on the Agent talent tree.
Prerequisite: Opportunist key talent Activation: ▶
You know exactly where to strike to leave your foe reeling in pain. Some might not view it as sporting, but it certainly works.
While you have a hand free, spend 1 focus to make an unarmed attack using Thievery against the Cognitive defense of an enemy of your size or smaller, raising the stakes when you do. On a hit, the target also becomes Stunned until the end of their next turn. On a hit or graze, you can also spend an Opportunity to steal one item on the target’s person that they aren’t holding or wielding. The exact item you can steal is up to the GM’s discretion.
Prerequisite: Risky Behavior talent Activation: ★
When you decide to take a risk, you commit fully in pursuit of the greatest reward.
After you use your Opportunist talent, you can reroll the die one additional time. You must use this final result, and if it includes a ⚡, you lose 2 focus.
Prerequisite: Insight 3+; Double Down talent Activation: ◆
Speaking quickly gets you out of trouble as often as it gets you into it, and you never miss a chance to get a word in edgewise.
Spend 2 focus to gain ▶▶, which you can only use to make spiritual skill tests via the following actions: Use a Skill, Gain Advantage, or an action from any Agent talent.
During a conversation or endeavor, at the GM’s discretion, you can instead use both ▶▶ to make an additional contribution for the round.
Prerequisite: Insight 2+; Opportunist key talent Activation: ★
You know that risk and reward are inseparable traveling companions, and you love seeing where this pair takes you.
Before you make a test, you can spend 1 focus to raise the stakes.
Prerequisite: Thievery 3+; Surefooted talent Activation: ◆
You know every con artist’s trick for avoiding comeuppance, and you can slip from sight with ease.
After you Disengage, you can spend 2 focus to make a Thievery test and compare the result against the Cognitive defense of each enemy who can sense you. You gain an advantage on this test if you’re in cover or an area where your target’s primary sense is obscured (such as darkness).
If you succeed against an enemy, you’re hidden as if you’d succeeded on a Stealth test to hide from them.
Prerequisite: Cheap Shot talent Activation: ∞
You move through treacherous terrain with confidence and speed.
When you acquire this talent, increase your movement rate by 10.
Additionally, before you take damage from dangerous terrain or falling, reduce that damage by 2 × your tier.
Prerequisite: Thievery 3+; Surefooted talent Activation: ◆
You execute your acts of skulduggery with such subtlety and dexterity that your marks struggle to follow.
Spend 2 focus to gain ▶▶, which you can only use to make physical skill tests via the following actions: Use a Skill, Gain Advantage, or an action from any Agent talent.
During a conversation or endeavor, at the GM’s discretion, you can instead use both ▶▶ to make an additional contribution for the round.
Prerequisite: Have a patron or follower who is a member of the criminal underworld; Double Down talent Activation: ★
When you travel in circles of ill repute, your patron or follower’s name carries remarkable weight.
Before you make a test to interact socially with criminal individuals or groups, you can spend 2 focus to add an Opportunity to the result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Criminal Groups.
Prominent organizations throughout Roshar appoint Envoys who vie for resources, curry favor, or offer service on the organization’s behalf. These stewards dutifully further the reach of their ideologies through precise rhetoric, patient attendance, and ceaseless fervor. Envoys typically subscribe to well-established beliefs and are careful not to disrupt the integrity of those tenets with personal desires and ambitions. Wherever they go, an Envoy stays rooted in their ethos through their strong connection to the entity they serve. Though an Envoy considers themself part of something much grander, their personality shapes the way they fulfill their duties—and thus they shape the organization they serve.
The Envoy path presents talents in three specialties:
Diplomat. Stationed abroad, Diplomats are adept at navigating court politics. They use what they learn about their host countries to seek more favorable treatment for their own.
Faithful. For Faithful, worship of the divine permeates their entire lives. They devote themselves to the traditions of their faith, demonstrating their convictions to others through word or deed.
Mentor. More interested in the individual than the whole, Mentors devote themselves to their wards. They patiently nurture others toward greatness, seeing beyond doubts and deficits to stoke each person’s potential.
The following “Envoys of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Envoy:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Presence and Willpower.
Skills. Discipline is an essential skill for most Envoys. Other useful skills include Deception, Leadership, Lore, and Persuasion.
Other Heroic Paths. The Leader and Scholar paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with influential patrons.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Envoy characters.
Instead of serving a government or religion, merchants across Roshar preach the good name of commerce, delivering premium goods to nations near and far. Merchants must be connoisseurs of international cultures, social trends, and individual tastes. Adorned in richly patterned clothing, Azish merchants ply wares from across the empire and neighboring regions: Marati rugs, Tukari jewelry, and Liaforan fashions. Whether they serve the merchant lords of Steen or the viziers of Azir, these traders are shrewd negotiators trained to recognize mutually beneficial solutions.
Building a Merchant. Choose human ancestry and the Azish and Wayfarer cultural expertises. Start with a high Intellect and Presence. In addition to the Discipline skill rank you gain from Envoy, put 2 ranks into Persuasion, and put 1 rank into Lore and Insight.
In addition to the Rousing Presence (Envoy Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Steadfast Challenge talent from the Diplomat specialty. Finally, choose the Academic starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Collected, Calm Appeal, and Peaceful Solution talents.
Every society has Envoys who tend to the spiritual needs of its people. The listeners rely on keepers of songs to remember their history, forms, and identity, which were obscured when their ancestors valiantly defied Odium and rejected the forms of power. Learning the listeners’ songs and passing them on is a substantial undertaking most often entrusted from parent to child. Only the most diligent keepers can recite all the songs perfectly.
Building a Keeper of Songs. Choose singer ancestry, the Listener cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with a high Strength and Awareness. In addition to the Discipline skill rank you gain from Envoy, put 2 ranks into Leadership, and put 1 rank into Discipline and Heavy Weaponry.
In addition to the Rousing Presence (Envoy Key) talent and the Change Form (Singer Key) talent, use your singer ancestry to choose the Forms of Wisdom singer talent so you can eventually take on scholarform; if you get at least one expertise, select Music, and put skill ranks in either Discipline or Leadership. Finally, choose the Artisan starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Instill Confidence and Rallying Shout talents from the Mentor specialty.
In the Vorin ardentia, priests conduct rites and rituals to worship the Almighty and the Heralds on behalf of the household or nation they serve. Their duties include burning glyphwards in prayer and performing other rituals so the nobility they serve needn’t burden themselves. Each ardent belongs to a devotary and follows its precepts. Unrestricted by typical Vorin gender roles, ardents of all genders can pursue various arts and studies, which they teach to others on request.
Building an Ardent. Choose human ancestry and the Alethi and Veden cultural expertises. Start with a high Intellect and Awareness. In addition to the Discipline skill rank you gain from Envoy, put 2 ranks into Lore, and put 1 rank into Discipline and Light Weaponry.
In addition to the Rousing Presence (Envoy Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Galvanize talent from the Faithful specialty. Finally, choose the Academic starting kit.
As you level up, consider taking Customary Garb then working toward Inspired Zeal, adding Composed for additional focus.
The Envoy key talent, Rousing Presence, unlocks access to the Envoy specialties.
Starting Skill: Discipline. If you choose Envoy as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Discipline.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ▶
With a gesture, a facial expression, or a few scant words, you inspire others to excel.
Choose an ally you can influence. They become Determined until they benefit from that condition or until the scene ends.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Diplomat specialty on the Envoy talent tree.
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Withering Retort talent Activation: ★
You draw on your enemy’s innate desire to live and continue pursuing their goals. Sowing seeds of doubt, you encourage them to reach a compromise.
When your Steadfast Challenge makes a character Disoriented, you can spend 1 focus to also pacify them until the end of this scene. A pacified character makes no attacks or similar hostile actions without provocation. However, if you or your ally attacks them or similarly acts hostilely, or if one of their allies suffers an injury or dies, the pacified character ceases to be pacified.
Additionally, after a target resists the influence of your Steadfast Challenge, they lose additional focus equal to your ranks in Discipline.
Prerequisite: Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ∞
You remain mindful of your immediate goals without losing sight of your deeper value, keeping you even-keeled amid chaos.
When you acquire this talent, increase your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses by 2.
Prerequisite: Have a patron who is part of high society; Well Dressed talent Activation: ★
Your patron’s name opens doors for you, even in unfamiliar places. By invoking their name or network in the right context, you can expand your influence even further.
When you make a test to interact socially in high society, you can spend 2 focus to add an Opportunity to the result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a cultural expertise in High Society.
Prerequisite: Discipline 3+; Calm Appeal talent Activation: ◆
The best battle is one you don’t have to fight. If your calm appeals meet willing hearts, you’d rather end the conflict peacefully.
In combat, if all non-minion enemies are currently pacified (such as by Calm Appeal) and all other non-minion characters agree to cease hostilities, you can ease tensions. The combat immediately ends and becomes a conversation.
At the GM’s discretion, you can use this talent in non-combat scenes.
Prerequisite: Persuasion 3+; High Society Contacts Activation: ★
Thanks to your study of the history of rhetoric, you confidently craft your speeches for widespread appeal.
When you use your Rousing Presence or Steadfast Challenge, you can spend focus up to your ranks in Persuasion to affect that many additional targets.
Prerequisite: Discipline 1+; Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ▶
You stand firm, locking eyes with your opponent and speaking a challenge with unnerving calm.
Spend 1 focus to make a Discipline test against the Spiritual defense of an enemy you can influence. On a success, they become Disoriented and gain a disadvantage on tests against you until the end of their next turn.
Prerequisite: Steadfast Challenge talent Activation: ★
You cleverly match your outfits to the occasion, always making the perfect statement.
While visibly wearing Presentable armor or fashionable clothing, you gain an advantage on the first Deception, Leadership, or Persuasion test you make during each scene.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a cultural expertise in Fashion.
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Steadfast Challenge talent Activation: ↺
You unflinchingly face even the most violent of attacks.
Before a character you can sense targets you with an attack test, you can use your Steadfast Challenge as ↺. When you do, also increase your deflect value against this attack by your ranks in Discipline.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Faithful specialty on the Envoy talent tree.
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Galvanize talent Activation: ∞
You skillfully motivate others with your words to keep them focused on the goal.
When you cause a character to recover focus, they recover additional focus equal to half your ranks in Lore (rounded up).
Prerequisite: Galvanize talent Activation: ∞
Through practiced composure, you push your limits without becoming distracted or losing track of threats.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum and current focus do as well.
Prerequisite: Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ∞
You’ve worn your uniform or traditional clothing for so long that it feels like a second skin, freeing your movements and granting you a deep well of confidence.
While you’re visibly wearing Presentable armor or clothing appropriate for your station, your Physical and Spiritual defenses increase by 2.
Prerequisite: Lore 1+; Customary Garb talent Activation: ★
Your words fill your compatriots with purpose, helping them shrug off discomfort or surprise.
When you use your Rousing Presence on one or more allies, you can spend 1 focus per target to remove any number of the following conditions from them: Prone, Slowed, Stunned, and Surprised.
Prerequisite: Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ▶▶
You speak to an ally with infectious fervor, renewing their focus on your shared goals.
Once per scene, choose an ally you can influence. They can roll their recovery die (no action required) and recover focus equal to the result.
Prerequisite: Discipline 3+; either Applied Motivation talent or Stalwart Presence talent Activation: ★
When an ally achieves new heights, your proclamations of their success inspire those around you.
After an ally you can sense uses their Determined condition to add an Opportunity to a test, you can choose a number of other allies you can influence up to your ranks in Discipline. Each target recovers 1 focus (no action required).
Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Stalwart Presence talent Activation: ★
You offer reassuring guidance alongside physical assistance, making your allies confident of your approval.
After you use the Aid reaction on an ally, spend 1 focus to grant that ally the benefits of your Rousing Presence (no action required).
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Devoted Presence talent Activation: ★
Your words carry the certainty of your beliefs, bolstering the endurance of even those who don’t share your faith.
When you use your Rousing Presence, you can spend 1 focus to increase one of the target’s defenses (your choice) by 2 until the end of the next round.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Mentor specialty on the Envoy talent tree.
Prerequisite: Discipline 3+; Instill Confidence talent Activation: ∞
Through hard personal experience, you’ve learned to remain alert and aware even when your surroundings appear safe.
At the beginning of combat and at the start of each of your turns, gain an additional ↺.
Prerequisite: Leadership 2+; Mighty talent Activation: ∞
Your quick and effective communication enables your allies to make the most of your actions.
After you succeed on a test to Gain Advantage, you can choose an ally you can influence within 10 feet of your target. Until the end of their next turn, that ally gains an advantage on their next test against your target.
Prerequisite: Have a companion; Lessons in Patience talent Activation: ★
Your presence brings clarity and encouragement, keeping others focused on their goal.
When you use your Rousing Presence, instead of the target becoming Determined, you can make them Focused until the end of the scene.
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Sound Advice talent Activation: ∞
Amid the uncertainties of life, you encourage others to slowly and persistently pursue their goals rather than push themselves to burnout.
After you use your Rousing Presence, the target recovers 1 focus.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Motivational Speech.
Prerequisite: Practical Demonstration talent Activation: ∞
You deliver your swings, punches, and kicks with practiced efficiency.
When you hit with a weapon or unarmed attack, for each ▶ you use on that attack’s action, increase the damage you deal by 1 + your tier. For example, if you’re level 6 and you make an attack that costs ▶▶, each ▶ deals an extra 1 + 2 damage, for a total of 6 damage.
Prerequisite: Leadership 1+; Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ◆
Your lessons are functional and direct, providing an excellent example for others to follow.
After you succeed on a test to attack or Gain Advantage, you can use your Rousing Presence as ◆.
Prerequisite: Leadership 3+; Guiding Oration talent Activation: ∞
Your words cut through pain, fatigue, and even unconsciousness, helping your allies regain their feet at critical moments.
When you use your Rousing Presence, you can target an Unconscious ally you can sense. When you do, the target is no longer Unconscious, and if they have 0 health, they roll their recovery die and recover health equal to the result + your ranks in Leadership.
Prerequisite: Rousing Presence key talent Activation: ↺
You know failure can be an excellent teacher, but only if its origin is understood, so you encourage your allies to grow from their inevitable setbacks.
After an ally you can influence fails a skill test, you can spend 1 focus to use your Rousing Presence on them as ↺.
Knife against spear. Adolin breathed in and out…. He tried to dredge up Zahel’s lessons, remembering days on the practice yard running this exact exchange.
The thrill of the chase thrums in a Hunter’s mind as they patiently surveil. No detail is too small or insignificant to ignore. Experience teaches the most important lesson: you don’t have to be more powerful than your quarry, so long as you’re better prepared.
Through careful planning, Hunters choose when and where to strike, securing an upper hand through clever use of traps, high ground, and the element of surprise. If all goes well, the quarry won’t perceive their assailant until it’s too late. Some Hunters prefer a clean kill from afar. Others make their work personal, striking in close quarters and taking pleasure in their prey’s visceral panic; nothing feels sweeter than methodical preparation culminating in an exhilarating onslaught.
The Hunter path presents talents in three specialties:
Archer. Targeting weak points in an enemy army’s assault, Archers shape the battlefield before the front-line confrontation. They steadily unleash a torrent of arrows to scatter and terrorize foes.
Assassin. Whether commissioned to kill or driven by their own interests, Assassins exploit weaknesses to quickly incapacitate their quarry.
Tracker. In untamed wilds, none are more capable than Trackers. With trusty animal companions at their sides, they scrounge provisions, deftly cross unfriendly terrain, and set perilous traps.
The following “Hunters of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Hunter:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Awareness, Strength, and Speed.
Skills. Useful skills include Agility, Perception, Stealth, Survival, and either Light Weaponry or Heavy Weaponry.
Other Heroic Paths. The Warrior and Agent paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with an animal companion, a grandbow, or a Shardblade.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Hunter characters.
When new conscripts are drafted into Emul’s military to fight in the Eighty’s War, they’re given little more than a bow and arrows. The threat of merciless Tukari invaders looms day and night, yet the conscripts’ courage remains true. These Emuli must dispatch enemies before they get close enough to dominate, not only for the sake of the conscripts themselves, but for their kingdom’s claim on their hallowed capital, Sesemalex Dar. The unwavering conscripts remind all of Roshar that Emuli camaraderie and patriotism aren’t to be trifled with.
Building a Conscript. Choose human ancestry and the Azish and Tashikki cultural expertises. Start with a high Strength and Awareness. In addition to the Perception skill rank you gain from Hunter, put 2 skill ranks into Heavy Weaponry, and put 1 skill rank into Agility and Perception.
In addition to the Seek Quarry (Hunter Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Tagging Shot talent in the Archer specialty. Finally, choose the Military starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Unrelenting Salvo talent.
Operatives of the mysterious Ghostbloods are tempted by the secrets offered by their order, including whispers of other worlds. Intent on achieving the goals of their superiors, operatives see those who stand in their way as collateral damage. They keep their skirmishes in the shadows and skillfully avoid attention. Within the order, operatives follow a strict chain of command and are often audited by higher-ranking members. Loyalty must be proven regularly, lest a Ghostblood hunter become Ghostblood prey.
Building a Ghostblood. Choose human ancestry, the Wayfarer cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with high Strength and Speed. In addition to the Perception skill rank you gain from Hunter, put 2 ranks into Light Weaponry, and put 1 rank into Perception and Stealth.
In addition to the Seek Quarry (Hunter Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Startling Blow talent in the Assassin path. Finally, choose the Underworld starting kit.
As you level up and increase your ranks in Perception, consider taking the Fatal Thrust talent, then working toward Mighty and Sidestep. Also consider talents from the Agent’s Spy specialty.
Known throughout the Horneater Peaks as elite guides for the gods, kaluk’i’iki are adept at navigating inhospitable conditions. These women are responsible for leading chull-hunting expeditions, as well as escorting offworlders safely down ice-laden mountainsides. One rule remains a crucial lifeline to Unkalaki who venture beyond the safety of the ocean villages: never disregard a kaluk’i’iki’s warnings, especially when they don’t seem to make sense.
Building a Kaluk’i’iki. Choose human ancestry and the Unkalaki and Wayfarer cultural expertises. Start with high Strength and Awareness. In addition to the Perception skill rank you gain from Hunter, put 2 ranks into Survival, and put 1 rank into Heavy Weaponry and Perception.
In addition to the Seek Quarry (Hunter Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Deadly Trap talent from the Tracker specialty. Finally, choose the Courtier starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Surefooted and Hunter’s Edge talents; if you gain an animal companion as a reward, choose Pack Hunting as well.
The Hunter key talent, Seek Quarry, unlocks access to the Hunter specialties.
Starting Skill: Perception. If you choose Hunter as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Perception.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ★
Once you’ve found your prey’s trail, you unrelentingly pursue them and study their movements across the harshest of terrain.
After spending 1 minute mentally preparing, you choose a character who you can sense or who you’ve previously encountered. That character becomes your quarry until you choose to end this effect (◆) or select a new quarry.
Additionally, you gain an advantage on tests made to find, attack, or study your quarry (such as the Gain Advantage action).
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Archer specialty on the Hunter talent tree.
Prerequisite: Agility 2+; Steady Aim talent Activation: ◆
You’ve learned to fire then fade into Roshar’s harsh battlefields, keeping a safe distance from heavily armed enemies who might force hand-to-hand combat.
After you make a ranged attack, spend 2 focus to Disengage as ◆. If you then end your turn in cover or an area where your enemy’s senses are obscured, you gain the benefit of the Brace action.
Prerequisite: Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ★
You’ve been trained in the basics of weaponry and elementary battle tactics.
Once per round, when you miss on a weapon attack, you can graze one target without spending focus.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a weapon expertise and an armor expertise of your choice, and gain a cultural expertise in Military Life.
Prerequisite: Perception 3+; Sharp Eye talent Activation: ◆
You study your quarry’s gait, posture, and movements, homing in on their weaknesses to bring them down for good.
Use the Gain Advantage action as ◆, targeting only your quarry.
Prerequisite: Steady Aim talent Activation: ∞
You’ve trained your body to endure pain and fatigue, keeping you in the fight until the bitter end.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current health increase by 1 per level. This applies to all previous and future levels; for example, if you choose this talent at level 6, retroactively increase your health by 6.
Prerequisite: Tagging Shot talent Activation: ★
Your practiced eye discerns the strengths and vulnerabilities of your foes—especially your chosen quarry.
After you observe your quarry for ▶, or after you observe another character for at least 1 minute, make a Perception test against their Cognitive defense. On a success, you learn one of the following of your choice:
Prerequisite: Agility 1+; Combat Training talent Activation: ▶
Your shot finds its mark even across dizzying distances.
Until the end of your turn, both the short and long ranges of your ranged weapons increase by half, and when you hit with a ranged weapon attack, you deal extra damage equal to your ranks in Perception.
Prerequisite: Perception 2+; Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ▶▶▶
Your careful shot wounds your target, causing them to leave behind a trail of blood, staggering footprints, or other marks of passage.
Move up to 5 feet and make a ranged weapon attack against the Physical defense of a target. On a hit or a graze, you also make the target your quarry for your Seek Quarry talent.
Prerequisite: Agility 3+; Hardy talent Activation: ∞
Drawing the bowstring with impressive speed, you fire again, using your first arrow’s path as your guide.
You can use the same ranged weapon to Strike against your quarry more than once a turn, instead of being limited to one Strike per hand.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Assassin specialty on the Hunter talent tree.
Prerequisite: Shadowing talent Activation: ∞
As you eliminate one target, your gaze instinctively slides to the next threat.
After you kill or incapacitate an enemy who is your quarry, you recover 1 focus and can designate another enemy you can sense as your quarry for your Seek Quarry talent. At the GM’s discretion, you might not be able to use this talent on some characters, such as those who pose no threat.
Prerequisite: Perception 3+; Startling Blow talent Activation: ▶▶
You aim for your foe’s vitals with callous finesse, hoping to bring the fight to an end before it begins.
Using a light weapon, make a melee attack against the Cognitive defense of a target who is Surprised, doesn’t sense you, or doesn’t view you as a threat (such as if you’re disguised). If this weapon has the Discreet trait, you gain two advantages on the test.
When you roll damage for this attack, add an extra 4d4 damage, then count the number of your damage dice that rolled their maximum value (including your weapon’s usual damage plus the extra damage). For each die that rolled its maximum, your target must subtract 2 from any injury roll they make for that attack. For example, if you roll 1d6 plus 4d4, and two dice roll their maximum value—a 6 on your weapon’s d6 and a 4 on an extra d4—your target subtracts 4 from their injury roll.
This talent becomes more powerful as your tier increases: at tier 3, you roll an extra 6d4 damage (instead of 4d4); at tier 4, you instead roll an extra 8d4 damage; and at tier 5, you instead roll an extra 10d4 damage.
Prerequisite: Perception 2+; Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ∞
Your simple weapons seem humble beside ancient relics or weapons of war, but in your hands, even a rusty knife or pitted sling is as deadly as the finest steel.
When you acquire this talent, gain weapon expertises in Knives and Slings.
Additionally, while you wield a knife or sling, it also has the Deadly and Quickdraw expert traits for you.
Prerequisite: Cold Eyes talent Activation: ∞
You deliver your swings, punches, and kicks with practiced efficiency.
When you hit with a weapon or unarmed attack, for each ▶ you used on that attack’s action, increase the damage you deal by 1 + your tier. For example, if you’re level 6 and you make an attack that costs ▶▶, each ▶ deals an extra 1 + 2 damage, for a total of 6 damage.
Prerequisite: Stealth 2+; Killing Edge talent Activation: ★
You silently skulk toward your target, using cover, crowds, or other camouflage to remain unseen until it’s too late.
You gain an advantage on tests to avoid being sensed by your quarry, and your quarry gains a disadvantage on tests to sense you.
Additionally, when you succeed on a test against an enemy’s Spiritual defense while you’re in cover or an area where your target’s senses are obscured, you can spend 3 focus to designate that target as your quarry for your Seek Quarry talent.
Prerequisite: Stealth 3+; Shadowing talent Activation: ★
Sliding like a shadow, you flit past your foes’ strikes and evade blows that seem certain to connect.
Gain an additional ↺ at the start of combat and at the start of each of your turns, which you can use only to Dodge. You can’t benefit from this talent while wearing armor with a deflect value of 2 or higher.
Prerequisite: Stealth 1+; Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ▶
You unexpectedly strike at your target’s weak point, dizzying your target and creating an opening for your next attack.
Make an unarmed or improvised weapon attack against the Cognitive defense of a target of your size or smaller. On a hit or graze, the target also becomes Surprised until the end of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Cold Eyes talent Activation: ▶
You instinctively follow the tempo of battle, keeping the pressure on your foes at critical moments.
Spend 1 focus to make a second Strike action with a hand you already used for a Strike this turn.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Tracker specialty on the Hunter talent tree.
Prerequisite: Have an animal companion; Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ★
Your animal companion is more than just a friend or working beast—they’re your partner. They warn you of danger, anticipate your needs, and follow your commands … most of the time, anyway.
When you acquire this talent, it upgrades an animal companion you’ve gained as a reward (see “Companions” in chapter 8).
You can communicate simple concepts with your animal companion, and they generally attempt to help you as requested. When a scene requires their stat block, see appendix A, “Animal Companions.”
Your animal companion alerts you of incoming danger. While you can sense them within 10 feet of you, each of your defenses increases by 1. When you move, your animal companion automatically moves alongside you.
During combat, your animal companion follows the rules for allied NPCs (see “Rounds and Turns” in chapter 10). However, if your animal companion hasn’t yet acted this round, you can use ◆ to call on them to act during your turn. When you do, they gain either ▶ or ▶▶ (your choice) to immediately use actions of your choice, then at the start of their next turn, they gain that many fewer ▶ than usual.
In addition to the actions in chapter 10 and in your animal companion’s stat block, they can use the special Track action:
▶▶ Track. The animal companion helps their Hunter track one character of the Hunter’s choice who the animal companion can sense within their reach. The target becomes the Hunter’s quarry for their Seek Quarry talent.
If your animal companion is reduced to 0 health, they don’t become Unconscious, but they stop fighting and retreat to safety. (However, your animal companion can still die from injuries or for narrative reasons.) If you ever lose your animal companion, you can bond with a new animal at an opportunity the GM deems appropriate.
Prerequisite: Survival 1+; Seek Quarry key talent Activation: ▶▶
You know how to build traps and snares to catch wildlife—or even deadlier game!
Using foraged supplies or specialized equipment, you create and conceal a trap within your reach. Choose an entangling trap or an impaling trap:
Entangling Trap (Survival vs. Cognitive defense). You create a trap with rope, debris, or other ensnaring objects. On a hit, the target takes 2d4 impact damage and becomes Immobilized for 1 round, then the trap’s area becomes difficult terrain until the end of the scene.
Impaling Trap (Survival vs. Physical defense). You create a trap with caltrops, spikes, or other sharp objects. On a hit, the target takes 2d4 keen damage and becomes Afflicted [vital damage equal to 3 + your ranks in Survival] for 1 round, and you can spend ✦ to inflict an injury on the target.
This trap covers a 5-foot-diameter circle on the ground or other surface concealing it; the trap remains until triggered, then it is expended. When a character touches this surface, the trap triggers. Make an attack using your Survival against the defense listed for that trap, gaining an advantage if the target is your quarry. On a hit, the target suffers the trap’s effects. This attack can’t graze.
You can have a maximum number of active traps equal to your ranks in Survival. You can’t overlap the areas of active traps. If another character makes a test to search for or disarm a trap, the DC equals your Spiritual defense.
Prerequisite: Perception 2+; Deadly Trap talent Activation: ★
You’re adept at living off the land, confidently hunting with your traps and foraging for resources.
When you forage as part of a short rest, it doesn’t take your full attention, so you can roll your recovery die or engage in other activities as usual. When you make a Survival test to forage for food and water, you automatically succeed as long as they exist in your environment and nothing prevents you from foraging. Your foraging can sustain a number of characters equal to your ranks in Survival.
Additionally, after a long rest in the wilderness, you can fashion a tool from natural materials using your Survival modifier instead of Crafting (see “Crafting” in chapter 7). This foraged tool could be a spear, sling, tent, or another survival tool that can be made from materials found in the area, as determined by the GM.
Finally, when you acquire this talent, the damage from your Deadly Traps talent increases from 2d4 to 2d6, and when that talent applies a condition, its duration increases from 1 round to 2 rounds.
Prerequisite: Survival 2+; Protective Bond talent Activation: ∞
Your animal companion has grown strong under your care and has learned to trust your instincts as much as their own.
When you acquire this talent, your animal companion’s maximum and current health increase by 5 × your tier; when your tier increases, your animal companion’s health does as well.
They also increase their Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual defenses by 2 each. When your animal companion makes a test, they add a bonus equal to your ranks in Survival.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Animal Care.
Prerequisite: Survival 3+; Experienced Trapper talent Activation: ∞
You put your traps and animal companion to best use, inflicting devastating wounds with all the tools in your arsenal.
Your animal companion gains an advantage on tests against your quarry.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, the damage from your Deadly Traps talent increases from 2d6 to 2d8, and when that talent applies a condition, its duration increases from 2 rounds to 3 rounds.
Prerequisite: Perception 3+; Protective Bond talent Activation: ↺
Like a predator who hunts in groups, you expose your quarry’s weaknesses, enabling your allies to fight alongside you with terrifying coordination.
When an ally in your line of effect attacks your quarry, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to add your ranks in Survival to either the result of their attack test or their damage roll (your choice).
Prerequisite: Animal Bond talent Activation: ▶
With a word or gesture, you command your animal companion to defend others.
You assign your animal companion to protect an ally within 30 feet of you, and your animal companion moves to that ally’s side. While your animal companion remains within reach of the ally, you lose the bonus to your defenses from your Animal Bond, and the ally gains this bonus instead.
You can end this effect as ▶ if you’re within 30 feet of your animal companion and can influence them, at which point the animal companion returns to your side. Otherwise, this effect ends at the end of the scene.
Prerequisite: Experienced Trapper talent Activation: ∞
You move through treacherous terrain with confidence and speed.
When you acquire this talent, increase your movement rate by 10.
Additionally, before you take damage from dangerous terrain or falling, reduce that damage by 2 × your tier.
Beacons of encouragement and direction, leaders oversee the efforts of others. Some are born with an unquenchable thirst for power and influence. Others solemnly accept their calling out of a sense of duty. Either way, skilled leadership requires both natural aptitude and dedicated learning. Mistakes are unavoidable, and indecision is a costly pitfall.
When worsening conditions cause followers to doubt, Leaders rise to the occasion, bolstering fellowship and resolve to carry on. Though filling this role often proves lonely and burdensome, Leaders can gloriously turn the tides of fate and prevail against superior forces.
The Leader path presents talents in three specialties:
Champion. Inspiring others through unfaltering grit, Champions ferociously charge their foes. Their momentum is magnetic, rallying nearby allies to press on.
Officer. Officers coolly maintain order in utter chaos. They allocate resources and issue commands, orchestrating the march to victory.
Politico. With a penchant for theatrics, Politicos chase favor and prestige while subtly undermining their enemies.
The following “Leaders of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Leader:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Presence, Strength, and Willpower.
Skills. Useful skills include Athletics, Deception, Heavy Weaponry, Intimidation, Leadership, and Persuasion.
Other Heroic Paths. The Warrior and Envoy paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with a mount companion, high-ranking military title, and possibly even Shardplate.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Leader characters.
Second only to the Prime Aqasix, viziers are the beating heart of the Azish bureaucracy. In addition to selecting and advising each Prime Aqasix, these revered scribes write legislation, requisition resources such as Imperial Shardblades throughout the empire, educate constables, and more. Regardless of one’s status at birth, becoming a vizier bestows an air of dignity and accomplishment. The intricate robes and swanky hat are nice perks too.
Building a Vizier. Choose human ancestry and the Azish and High Society cultural expertises. Start with high Intellect and Willpower. In addition to the Leadership skill rank you gain from Leader, put 1 rank into Deduction, Leadership, Lore, and Deception.
In addition to the Decisive Command (Leader Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Cutthroat Tactics talent from the Politico specialty. Finally, choose the Courtier starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Well Dressed and Shrewd Command talents.
Leaping across chasms with unparalleled grace and vigor, warform commanders exude tenacity. They avoid clashing with human armies if there’s nothing to gain, as listeners are generally outnumbered and not particularly interested in bloodshed. When engaged, listeners counter Alethi malice with fierce competition and tactics that emphasize close coordination between allies. Warform commanders are undeterred by swarming enemies, and they seize every chance to carve a gemheart from a chasmfiend chrysalis and bid their bested rivals farewell.
Building a Warform Commander. Choose singer ancestry and the Listener and Alethi cultural expertises. Start with high Strength and Willpower. In addition to the Leadership skill rank you gain from Leader, put 2 ranks into Athletics, and put 1 rank into Heavy Weaponry and Leadership.
In addition to the Decisive Command (Leader Key) talent and the Change Form (Singer Key) talent, use your singer ancestry to choose the Forms of Resolve singer talent and begin in warform. Finally, choose the Military starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Mighty and Resilient Hero talents from the Champion specialty. Also consider talents from the Scholar’s Strategist specialty and the Warrior’s Soldier specialty.
Veden sergeants value synergy over brute force, and they use it to devastating effect in the service of their highprinces. They are famous for their expertly coordinated armies of raiders. Even in the grimmest of battles, Veden sergeants trust in the compliance of their troops, enabling them to execute challenging assaults and win the day.
Building a Veden Sergeant. Choose human ancestry and the Veden and Military Life cultural expertises. Start with high Willpower and Presence. In addition to the Leadership skill rank you gain from Leader, put 2 ranks into Persuasion, put 1 rank into Leadership, and put 1 rank into either Heavy Weaponry or Light Weaponry.
In addition to the Decisive Command (Leader Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Through the Fray talent from the Officer specialty. Finally, choose the Military starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Synchronized Assault talent then adding Composed for additional focus.
The Leader key talent, Decisive Command, unlocks access to the Leader specialties.
Starting Skill: Leadership. If you choose Leader as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Leadership.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ▶
Your voice carries the certainty of steel and your tactical acumen is renowned. This battle-won wisdom benefits those who listen.
When you acquire this talent, gain a command die, which begins as a d4.
Spend 1 focus to choose an ally you can influence within 20 feet of you. The next time they make a test before the end of their next turn, they can roll your command die along with the other dice for that test. After rolling, they can choose one die roll from that test, other than the plot die, and add the command die to that roll.
Some Leader talents allow you to use your command die in other ways; you can do so even if an ally currently has a command die from you.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Champion specialty on the Leader talent tree.
Prerequisite: Leadership 2+; Decisive Command key talent Activation: ◆
You lead through action, bolstering your allies with the momentum of your blows.
After you use the Strike action, use Decisive Command as ◆. If your Strike didn’t hit, you also don’t have to spend the usual focus for Decisive Command.
Prerequisite: Leadership 2+; Resolute Stand talent Activation: ★
You set an example from the front, applying your advice to your own actions.
Before you make an Athletics, Agility, or Leadership test, you can spend 1 focus to roll your command die and add the result to your d20 roll.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, increase the size of your command die by one size (such as from a d4 to a d6).
Prerequisite: Valiant Intervention talent Activation: ∞
You’ve trained your body to endure pain and fatigue, keeping you in the fight until the bitter end.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current health increase by 1 per level. This applies to all previous and future levels; for example, if you choose this talent at level 6, retroactively increase your health by 6.
Prerequisite: Athletics 2+; Combat Coordination talent Activation: ∞
On and off the battlefield, your powerful physique sends a clear message to your foes.
After an enemy resists your influence while within your weapon’s reach, they become Disoriented until the end of their next turn.
Prerequisite: Imposing Posture talent Activation: ∞
You deliver your swings, punches, and kicks with practiced efficiency.
When you hit with a weapon or unarmed attack, for each ▶ you used on that attack’s action, increase the damage you deal by 1 + your tier. For example, if you’re level 6 and you make an attack that costs ▶▶, each ▶ deals an extra 1 + 2 damage, for a total of 6 damage.
Prerequisite: Athletics 3+; Resolute Stand talent Activation: ↺
You summon your last reserves and press forward despite grievous wounds.
Once per scene, before you are reduced to 0 health, you can use this reaction to instead change your health to equal your Athletics modifier.
Prerequisite: Athletics 1+; Hardy talent Activation: ★
You project resolve, and even powerful groups of opponents find it hard to focus their attention elsewhere.
When you use your Valiant Intervention, you can spend focus up to your ranks in Leadership to target that many additional characters.
Additionally, after you affect a target with Valiant Intervention, they can’t make Reactive Strikes against your allies until the end of that target’s next turn.
Prerequisite: Athletics 1+; Decisive Command key talent Activation: ◆
You dauntlessly approach your opposition, daring them to ignore you at their peril.
Spend 1 focus to move up to 10 feet, then make an Athletics test against the Spiritual defense of an enemy you can influence. On a success, they gain a disadvantage on tests against your allies until the end of the target’s next turn.
A target can resist this influence, but after they do, you gain an advantage on your next test against them until the end of your next turn.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Officer specialty on the Leader talent tree.
Prerequisite: Have a title granting you command over at least 5 people; Confident Command talent Activation: ∞
Your command experience helps you coordinate larger groups across greater distances.
Your Leader talents that affect allies now have double the range (if they had one) and can affect up to twice as many allies as usual.
Prerequisite: Decisive Command key talent Activation: ∞
Your practiced composure enables you to push yourself to impressive limits without becoming distracted or losing track of threats in your environment.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum and current focus do as well.
Prerequisite: Leadership 2+; Customary Garb talent Activation: ★
You deliver your words with care and conviction, letting them resound in the hearts of those under your command.
Before you make an Intimidation, Leadership, or Persuasion test, you can spend 1 focus to roll your command die and add the result to your d20 roll.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, increase the size of your command die by one size (such as from a d4 to a d6).
Prerequisite: Through the Fray talent Activation: ∞
You’ve worn your uniform or traditional clothing for so long that it feels like a second skin, freeing your movements and granting you a deep well of confidence.
While you’re visibly wearing Presentable armor or clothing appropriate for your station, your Physical and Spiritual defenses increase by 2.
Prerequisite: Persuasion 1+; Decisive Command key talent Activation: ▶
You skillfully spot opportunities to gain the upper hand, coordinating with your allies as they spring into action.
Choose an ally you can influence within 20 feet of you. Before the end of your turn, they can use the Disengage or Gain Advantage action as ↺.
Prerequisite: Persuasion 3+; Confident Command talent Activation: ∞
You invigorate your troops, helping them push through fear, pain, and exhaustion under the worst of conditions.
After you use your Decisive Command on an ally, until the end of their next turn, their movement rate increases by 10 feet and they ignore the effects of the Exhausted, Slowed, and Surprised conditions.
Prerequisite: Leadership 3+; Authority talent Activation: ▶▶▶
You observe a weakness in your enemy’s position, then direct your squad to focus their full power on a single crucial foe.
Spend 2 focus to make a Leadership test against the Cognitive defense of an enemy you can sense. On a success, choose a number of allies up to your ranks in Leadership. On a failure, choose one ally you can influence. On the next turn of each of your chosen allies, they gain ▶ that can be spent only to Strike against that enemy. This Strike doesn’t count against their allowed number of Strike actions for the hands holding that weapon.
Prerequisite: Persuasion 2+; Composed talent Activation: ★
You adeptly move the wheels of the military machine, acquiring the supplies needed to keep your unit in fighting shape.
When you make a test to requisition or allocate resources, you can spend 2 focus to add an Opportunity to the result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Military Logistics.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Politico specialty on the Leader talent tree.
Prerequisite: Rumormonger talent Activation: ∞
With a severe stare, you crack the resolve of all but the most composed adversaries.
To resist your influence, a character must spend additional focus equal to your tier.
Prerequisite: Deception 1+; Decisive Command key talent Activation: ★
You’ve learned to take risks if you want to get results. When briefing your allies, sometimes you downplay the danger to increase their confidence—and to increase the chances they’ll prevail.
Before an ally rolls your command die on a test, they can choose to instead raise the stakes on that test. If they do so and roll a Complication, you recover 1 focus.
Prerequisite: Deception 3+; Shrewd Command talent Activation: ▶▶▶
With great forethought and misdirection, you spread a rumor that even your allies assume to be true. When you later reveal the truth behind your ruse, your enemies are thrown into disarray.
Spend 3 focus to make a DC 15 Deception test. On a success, choose a detail you established since the start of the last scene and reveal that it was actually a ruse. This ruse must be plausible. For example, it’s reasonable to reveal you hid a powerful artifact in a different place than you previously said, or to reveal you moved your army east instead of west. It’s not reasonable to reveal that a mundane item is actually a priceless artifact, nor to suddenly declare you recruited an army when you previously said you had no allies in the region. The GM is the final arbiter of what sort of ruse you can reveal.
Prerequisite: Have a patron; Cutthroat Tactics talent Activation: ★
In social circles where rumors swirl and eddy, your patron’s name creates vast ripples.
When you make a test to spread misinformation or gather rumors, you can spend 2 focus to add an Opportunity to the result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Scandal.
Prerequisite: Leadership 3+; Baleful talent Activation: ▶▶
Envy, greed, suspicion—to you, these are mere tools, useful for igniting rivalries between rival factions or dividing your foes in the heat of battle.
Choose two or more characters you can influence and spend that many focus to seed division among them. Describe a potential source of conflict (such as suspicion or jealousy), then make a Leadership test (DC equals highest Spiritual defense among those targets). On a success, you influence each target to become hostile toward the other targets, which sparks an argument, combat, or other conflict until they find a way to resolve it.
A target can resist this influence, but after they do, they lose additional focus equal to your ranks in Leadership. If only some of the targets resist influence, the others remain hostile, but their conflict might become easier to resolve.
Prerequisite: Leadership 2+; Rumormonger talent Activation: ★
With a biting word or strategic glance, you cut to the heart of a conversation.
Before you make a Deception, Insight, or Leadership test, you can spend 1 focus to roll your command die and add the result to your d20 roll.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, increase the size of your command die by one size (such as from a d4 to a d6).
Prerequisite: Decisive Command key talent Activation: ▶
Through clever omissions and false implications, you undermine your enemy’s confidence and force them to question their own defenses.
Make a Deception test against the Cognitive defense of an enemy you can influence. On a success, your target loses one ↺ and gains a disadvantage on their next cognitive or spiritual test.
A target can resist this influence, but after they do, you gain an advantage on your next test targeting them before the end of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Rumormonger talent Activation: ★
You cleverly match your outfits to the occasion, always making the perfect statement.
While visibly wearing Presentable armor or fashionable clothing, you gain an advantage on the first Deception, Leadership, or Persuasion test you make during each scene.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a cultural expertise in Fashion.
Creativity, acumen, and patience are hallmarks of legendary Scholars. Each time a Desolation sweeps away centuries of progress and scientific advancement, Scholars rise to build Roshar anew.
To a Scholar, every mystery is a challenge with a befitting prize. Some Scholars devote their research to famines, barren lands, and related food crises. Others study the body, how it functions, and how to restore it after injury and illness. But not all Scholars occupy themselves with bettering society—some instead pursue tools of destruction. Military Scholars often devise new instruments of war and calculate how to best pressure enemy forces.
No matter their field of study, Scholars use their insatiable hunger for knowledge to change the world for better or worse, one brilliant discovery at a time.
The Scholar path presents talents in three specialties:
Artifabrian. Combining science, engineering, and artistry, Artifabrians use polestones and metal casings to construct fabrials that perform precise functions.
Strategist. Always three steps ahead, Strategists know timing is everything and make it work to their benefit.
Surgeon. Qualified Surgeons apply their knowledge and empathy to heal the unwell and save lives.
The following “Scholars of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Scholar:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Intellect above all else, then Presence plus either Speed or Strength (depending on your desired combat functionality).
Skills. Useful skills include Crafting, Deduction, Lore, and Medicine.
Other Heroic Paths. The Agent and Envoy paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with fabrials, a companion to mentor, and a Soulcaster.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Scholar characters.
Trained at the Great Concourse of Kharbranth, hospital surgeons in the City of Bells have the best medicines and tools at their disposal. They freely share research and advancements with colleagues, everyone doing their part to uphold the city’s venerated reputation. Funded entirely by the city’s Palanaeum, Kharbranthian surgeons aim to provide exemplary care for anyone who walks through their wards, treating physiological illnesses and addressing mental health concerns free of charge. Medical practice doesn’t begin or end with identifying what’s wrong; people are more than their diagnoses, so a skilled surgeon focuses on becoming a carer and healer of the whole person.
Building a Kharbranthian Surgeon. Choose human ancestry, the Kharbranthian cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with high Intellect and Willpower. In addition to the Lore skill rank you gain from Scholar, put 2 ranks into Medicine, and 1 rank into Athletics and Lore.
For your Erudition (Scholar Key) talent, choose your preferred field of medicine (such as Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Diagnostics, or Surgery) as your bonus expertise, and put your bonus skill ranks into Lore and Medicine. Use your human ancestry to choose the Field Medicine talent from the Surgeon specialty. Finally, choose the Artisan starting kit.
As you level up, consider taking Emotional Intelligence (putting the bonus skill rank into Insight) and working toward Ongoing Care.
Adorned in glyph-covered robes, stormwardens are often employed by governments across Roshar. Their skill in predicting highstorms is an enigmatic and complex art appreciated by all but the strictest Vorins. Adding to their allure, stormwardens conduct their work in a secretive glyph-based script decipherable only by fellow stormwardens. Unfortunately, some charlatans sell haphazardly calculated charts in city squares, making a mockery of the remarkable discoveries in mathematics, ecology, and geography used by formally trained stormwardens.
Building a Stormwarden. Choose human ancestry and the Alethi and Wayfarer cultural expertises. Start with high Speed and Intellect. In addition to the Lore skill rank you gain from Scholar, put 2 ranks into Deduction and Light Weaponry.
For your Erudition (Scholar Key) talent, choose Meteorology as your bonus expertise, and put your bonus skill ranks into Deduction and Lore. Use your human ancestry to choose the Strategize talent from the Strategist specialty. Finally, choose the Academic starting kit.
As you level up, consider taking the Mind and Body talent (putting the bonus skill rank into Light Weaponry) and working toward Know Your Moment, Deep Contemplation, and Turning Point.
The engineers of Thaylenah rank among the most accomplished artifabrians on Roshar, thanks to their boundless passion and persistence. Their secretive guilds, such as the Vriztl Guild, guard state-of-the-art innovations in fabrial construction. Vriztl engineers take copious notes about their failures, believing that such records contain vital leads to future successes.
Unique to Roshar, the artifabrian is a creator, scholar, tinkerer, and planner. They tend to be as curious and divergent in their thinking as they are structured in their processes and meticulous in their recordkeeping. Some artifabrians enjoy surrounding themselves with other like-minded individuals, while others prefer secrecy—especially when it comes to their machinations.
Artifabrians come from all walks and stations of life, but many either depend on a wealthy patron or serve as one themselves. Some Artifabrians act as visionaries who direct a cadre of ardents and scholars to create the future, while others enjoy taking a more hands-on approach to their work.
Known as incredible problem-solvers, artifabrians relish testing their intellect and creativity against whatever the world throws against them. By bending both metal and spren to their will, artifabrians aim to change the world in ways both mundane and magnificent. Most artifabrians focus their craft on certain types of fabrials, gradually learning to modify existing fabrials in novel ways; however, every artifabrian dreams of leaving their mark on Roshar by creating a wholly new fabrial, the likes of which has never been seen before.
After many generations of this diligent recordkeeping, the Vriztl Guild has gained a significant edge in fabrial development, and Vriztl engineers further their legacy with every fabrial they craft.
Building a Vriztl Engineer. Choose human ancestry, the Thaylen cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with high Speed and Intellect. In addition to the Lore skill rank you gain from Scholar, put 2 ranks into Crafting, put 1 rank into Lore, and put 1 rank into either Agility or Light Weaponry (depending on which fabrial you plan to make; see “Inventing Unique Fabrials” in chapter 7).
For your Erudition (Scholar Key) talent, choose Equipment Crafting as your bonus expertise, and put your bonus skill ranks into Crafting and Lore. Use your human ancestry to choose the Prized Acquisition talent from the Artifabrian specialty. Finally, choose the Academic starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Inventive Design, Overcharge, and Experimental Tinkering talents.
The Scholar key talent, Erudition, unlocks access to the Scholar specialties.
Starting Skill: Lore. If you choose Scholar as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Lore.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ★
You’ve conditioned your mind to quickly assimilate, archive, and recall information. After brief but intensive study, you can navigate your newest areas of focus with impressive proficiency.
When you acquire this talent, you become adroit at mental organization. Choose one cultural or utility expertise you don’t already have, and choose two different cognitive skills that aren’t surge skills.
When you make a test, you count as having the chosen expertise, and you count as having one additional rank of each of the chosen skills.
You can use this talent to gain skill ranks even if they exceed your usual maximum for skill ranks. This talent’s expertise and skill ranks are temporary and don’t count toward prerequisites.
After a long rest during which you had access to a library, you can reassign any expertises and skill ranks granted by this talent. Follow the same rules to choose them as you did when you gained this talent.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Artifabrian specialty on the Scholar talent tree.
Prerequisite: Efficient Engineer talent Activation: ∞
Driven by academic inquiry, you love nothing more than getting lost in an archive of books, scrolls, and dusty secrets.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you one additional cultural or utility expertise, and it grants you two additional cognitive skills that aren’t surge skills. You can reassign these in the same way as the others you gained from that talent.
Prerequisite: Crafting 1+; Erudition key talent Activation: ∞
Solid work begins with practice and fundamentals like measuring twice before each cut. You’ve put in the hours, sweat, tears, and occasional blood to learn the basic tricks of the tinkerer’s trade.
When you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Armor Crafting, Equipment Crafting, or Weapon Crafting. You also gain one of the following from chapter 7:
Additionally, when you attempt to craft an item or invent a fabrial (see “Crafting” in chapter 7), your Opportunity range on those tests expands by 2, and any cost to acquire raw materials is reduced by half.
Prerequisite: Fine Handiwork talent Activation: ★
You’ve honed your instinct for when to sacrifice one feature to enhance another; after all, invention relies not only on ingenious breakthroughs, but also on carefully balanced tradeoffs.
When you craft an item or invent a fabrial, your Opportunity range on those tests expands by 1, and your crafting time is halved.
Additionally, you can forgo the usual benefits of a long rest to instead spend that time tinkering with a fabrial that uses your Prized Acquisition gem. After that long rest, you can attempt to reconfigure this fabrial to create a different fabrial of the same tier or lower; this follows the normal crafting process, except you don’t need new materials and you ignore the usual
time requirement for attracting a spren and crafting the fabrial. If you fail your Lore test to trap a spren, your previous fabrial remains intact, but you can’t use this talent to reconfigure a fabrial again until your next long rest. After you finish crafting a new fabrial using this talent, the old fabrial is lost.
Prerequisite: Efficient Engineer talent Activation: ★
Your dedication to quality and love for innovation ensure that your designs stand out from the crowd.
When you craft an item or invent a fabrial, you can spend one upgrade to apply an advanced feature, instead of spending two upgrades. You can only benefit from this talent once per item.
Prerequisite: Crafting 2+; Prized Acquisition talent Activation: ∞
Your custom fabrials often integrate novel functionalities thanks to your deep knowledge of the stone with which you most commonly work.
When you craft a fabrial using your gemstone from your Prized Acquisition, you can select an effect of 1 tier higher than the tier you’re currently crafting.
Prerequisite: Crafting 3+; Prized Acquisition talent Activation: ★
You push fabrials to their limits, overcharging them beyond conventional use or safe practice.
Once per turn, when you make an attack test using a fabrial, you can raise the stakes.
You can spend ✦ from this test to use the Strike action with that fabrial as ◆ on the same turn; that Strike doesn’t count against your allowed number of Strikes for the hands holding that weapon.
The GM can spend ⚡ from this test to add one new drawback to that fabrial. This drawback remains until you resolve the unexpected issue by succeeding on a DC 15 Crafting test made as ▶▶.
Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Experimental Tinkering talent Activation: ★
When speaking about a topic you’re passionate about, you do so with unsurpassed authority and at unmatched length. The uninitiated can rarely withstand such a torrent of information without becoming lost amid the data.
Spend 2 focus to make a cognitive or spiritual test using your Lore modifier instead of the usual skill modifier for that test.
Prerequisite: Erudition key talent Activation: ★
Through good fortune or hard work, you’ve acquired a gemstone of sufficient quality to practice crafting fabrials.
When you acquire this talent, you gain a specialist expertise in Fabrial Crafting.
Additionally, you gain a specially cut gemstone and can use it to craft a fabrial (see “Crafting” in chapter 7). The first time you attempt to craft a fabrial with this gem, you ignore the usual time requirements for attracting a spren and crafting the fabrial, thanks to previous study and tinkering, though you still need raw materials.
This gem fulfills the gem requirement for a unique fabrial with a tier equal to your current character tier.
You can’t bear to sell or trade this gem, as it is vital to your work! If for any reason you lose it, you can usually find an appropriate replacement after a long rest, though the GM is the final arbiter of when you can replace it. During downtime, you can salvage your fabrial to recover this gem, which you can then use in a new fabrial (ignoring the crafting rule that prevents the reuse of gems).
She always claimed that she wasn’t a scholar…. Anyone who saw the light in her eyes as she took out another sheet and sketched her idea further knew she was being too modest.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Strategist specialty on the Scholar talent tree.
Prerequisite: Strategize talent Activation: ∞
Through practiced composure, you push your limits without becoming distracted or losing track of threats.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum and current focus do as well.
Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Composed talent Activation: ↺
History is strewn with the debris of those who failed to learn from the past. You’re determined not to join them, so you prepare for anything that might derail your plans.
After an ally you can influence within 20 feet of you rolls a Complication, you can use this reaction and spend 2 focus to remove a Complication from their test.
Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Composed talent Activation: ▶▶
You methodically search your mental archives for facts and information to help resolve your current situation.
Reassign up to 2 of the skills and expertises gained from your Erudition.
Prerequisite: Deep Contemplation talent Activation: ∞
Everyone has weaknesses—and you have a knack for uncovering and exploiting them.
After you succeed on a test to Gain Advantage, you exploit one of your target’s crucial traits, strengths, or flaws. Unless the target resists your influence, they gain a disadvantage on their next test during this encounter.
Prerequisite: Deduction 2+; Mind and Body talent Activation: ∞
Conflict follows its own beat, rising and falling as powers struggle for dominance. Your knowledge of strategy, rhetoric, and history guides you on when to act for greatest effect.
After the beginning of each round, each of your defenses increases by 2 until the start of your turn.
Prerequisite: Erudition key talent Activation: ∞
You expand your intensive studies to include martial arts and fitness in addition to the cerebral arts.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you an additional skill, and you can use Erudition to choose physical skills that aren’t surges.
Additionally, gain one weapon expertise of your choice.
Prerequisite: Deduction 1+; Erudition key talent Activation: ★
You carefully observe and assess your problem from novel angles, creating a cunning plan to remove an obstacle, gain the edge, or counter a foe’s next move.
After you succeed on a test to Gain Advantage using a skill gained from your Erudition, you can choose an ally you can influence. That ally gains the benefits of your Gain Advantage action instead of you. When you use this talent, you can also spend 2 focus to prevent the target of your Gain Advantage from using reactions against the ally you chose until the end of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Deduction 3+; Contingency talent Activation: ▶▶
Battles often pivot on a single crucial moment. Through studying the history of warfare, you learn to identify such opportunities and gain the upper hand.
Once per scene, you can spend 2 focus to find a weakness in an opposing group’s strategy. Make a Deduction test against the Cognitive defense of the top-ranking enemy leader in this scene; to target this leader, you must be able to sense them. If you took a slow turn, you gain an advantage on this test. On a success, you and your allies you can influence gain an additional ▶ on your next turns.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Surgeon specialty on the Scholar talent tree.
Prerequisite: Field Medicine talent Activation: ★
Your knowledge of anatomy aids you in striking vital points to incapacitate your enemies while minimizing permanent harm.
When you hit a target of your size or smaller with an unarmed attack, you can spend 1 focus or ✦ to apply the Exhausted condition to your target. The penalty applied by this condition equals half your ranks in Medicine, rounded up.
Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Collected talent Activation: ∞
You’ve studied chemistry, anatomy, social behavior, and much more. Thanks to this broad foundation, you practice the complex art of healing with flexibility and confidence.
When you cause a character to recover health, they recover additional health equal to your ranks in Lore.
Prerequisite: Emotional Intelligence talent Activation: ∞
You’ve learned to be mindful of your immediate goals without losing sight of your deeper value, keeping you even-keeled amid chaos.
When you acquire this talent, increase your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses by 2.
Prerequisite: Erudition key talent Activation: ∞
You hone your intuition and understanding of others, enabling you to spot easy-to-miss signs of hidden symptoms and complicated feelings.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you an additional skill, and you can use Erudition to choose spiritual skills that aren’t surges.
Additionally, you gain a utility expertise in Diagnosis.
Prerequisite: Medicine 1+; Erudition key talent Activation: ▶
You treat a minor wound by bandaging a gash, applying salves, or resetting a dislocated joint.
Spend 1 focus to make a DC 15 Medicine test to treat a conscious willing character within your reach, and roll the target’s recovery die as part of this test. You gain a disadvantage if you’re treating yourself. On a success, your target recovers health equal to the result of their recovery die + your ranks in Medicine. On a failure, your target only recovers health equal to the result of their recovery die.
Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Swift Healer talent Activation: ★
Medical care can be an arduous process that requires patience and periodic reassessment. You’ve studied the connection between physical and mental health, learning to support both on the long road to recovery.
You can forgo the usual benefits of a short or long rest to instead spend that time treating an ally within your reach. After that rest, make a DC 10 Medicine test, increasing the difficulty by 5 for each injury the target has beyond the first. On a success, you remove a single condition or similar effect caused by one of the target’s injuries (but the injury itself remains until healed). A target can’t benefit from this talent more than once every 24 hours.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Mental Health Care.
Prerequisite: Medicine 3+; Swift Healer talent Activation: ★
You quickly and efficiently treat a mortally wounded creature, seeking to pull them back from the brink by applying a tourniquet, administering an antidote, or even restarting failed organs.
You can use your Field Medicine talent to attempt to resuscitate a fallen character. When you do, spend 3 focus (instead of 1) to target a character within your reach who is Unconscious or who died within a number of rounds equal to your ranks in Medicine.
That talent’s test DC increases by 5 for each injury the target has beyond the first. On a failure, the target doesn’t regain health. On a success, the target recovers health as usual for that talent, and if they were dead, they return to life. If they were Unconscious, they can choose to remove that condition if they wish.
Prerequisite: Medicine 2+; Field Medicine talent Activation: ◆
Your practiced hands quickly dress wounds, even as the tides of battle ebb and flow around you.
You can use your Field Medicine as ◆.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, you become more skilled in healing. When you use an ability that restores health to another character, they recover additional health equal to your ranks in Medicine.
Roshar is a world riven by conflict, and many of its people follow the path of the Warrior, whether for good or ill. A Warrior might view fighting as a calling, an ethos, a profession, or simply an unpleasant necessity for survival—but in all cases, battle follows the Warrior like a shadow.
Those who survive long enough to become seasoned fighters tend to be tough, resilient, and skilled at inflicting harm. An experienced Warrior can handle themself in any dangerous martial situation, whether a formal duel, an alleyway scuffle, or a terrifying clash of armies.
The Warrior path presents talents in three specialties:
Duelist. In the inner circles of the elite, skilled Duelists contend for glory and political sway, wielding their weapons with brutal grace.
Shardbearer. Warriors fortunate enough to own (or borrow) Shardblades and Shardplate serve as Shardbearers. They wield these arms and armor of ancient provenance to dominate the battlefield with mythic might.
Soldier. The most common of fighting forces, Soldiers form the bulk of Roshar’s massive armies. They master the tactics needed to fight effectively in units and stay alive in a deadly world.
The following “Warriors of Roshar” section suggests example builds for iconic characters. If you have a different idea in mind, consider these general tips for building an effective Warrior:
Attributes. It’s usually a good idea to prioritize Speed and Strength, then consider Awareness and Willpower.
Skills. Useful skills include Athletics, Light Weaponry, Heavy Weaponry, Intimidation, Leadership, and Persuasion.
Other Heroic Paths. The Leader and Hunter paths make excellent multi-path choices.
Rewards. When choosing rewards, you can’t go wrong with a Shardblade, Shardplate, and a fancy military title.
If you’d like to draw on the Stormlight Archive for inspiration, consider these builds for iconic Warrior characters.
In Alethkar, martial skill is seen as requisite for leadership, and many Shardplate-clad brightlords take to the arena or battlefield to demonstrate their potency and crush their foes. Some specialize in duels, where Shards are often wagered on the outcome—a prize especially tempting for a duelist who relies on borrowed Shardplate. A victorious duel yields vast riches and acclaim, whether for the winner or the highprince they serve.
Building an Alethi Duelist. Choose human ancestry, the Alethi cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with high Strength and Willpower. In addition to the Athletics skill rank you gain from Warrior, put 2 ranks into Heavy Weaponry, and put 1 rank into Athletics and Perception.
In addition to the Vigilant Stance (Warrior Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Stonestance talent from the Shardbearer specialty. Finally, choose the Military starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Mighty and Shattering Blow talents. When you acquire your own Shardblade or Shardplate (see “Rewards” in chapter 8), choose the Shard Training talent so you can safely wield it.
Not only the elite are warriors in Alethkar. Whenever war breaks out, citizens of all ranks are recruited—or drafted—to serve in armies. Alethkar’s most recent military venture is the so-called War of Reckoning against the listeners of the Shattered Plains. On both sides of this conflict, countless soldiers have become unwilling participants in a war they don’t desire. The least fortunate are conscripted into bridge crews, carrying heavy wooden bridges to span the chasms of the Shattered Plains.
Building a Bridge Runner. Choose human ancestry, the Alethi cultural expertise, and one other cultural expertise. Start with high Strength and Speed. In addition to the Athletics skill rank you gain from Warrior, put 2 ranks into Discipline, put 1 rank into Athletics, and put 1 rank into Heavy Weaponry, Light Weaponry, or Survival.
In addition to the Vigilant Stance (Warrior Key) talent, use your human ancestry to choose the Cautious Advance talent from the Soldier specialty. Finally, choose the Military or Prisoner starting kit.
As you level up, consider working toward the Combat Training and Formation Drills talents, and adding Hardy for additional health.
Within listener culture, “warrior” is less a profession and more a role one holds in time of conflict. Until recently, the will and technique necessary to attract the spren to enter warform was lost to time (see “Singer Ancestry” in chapter 2). However, recent conflict has pushed many listeners to become practiced in its use. Most listeners enter battle in warpairs, partnered with another listener they share a bond with. This is often their once-mate, but could be another listener they are very close with.
Building a Warpair Partner. Choose singer ancestry and the Listener and Alethi cultural expertises. Start with high Strength and Willpower. In addition to the Athletics skill rank you gain from Warrior, put 2 ranks into Heavy Weaponry and Intimidation.
In addition to the Vigilant Stance (Warrior Key) talent and the Change Form (Singer Key) talent, use your singer ancestry to choose the Forms of Resolve singer talent and begin in warform.
As you level up, take the Flamestance talent from the Duelist specialty. Also consider working toward Signature Weapon and Wit’s End.
The Warrior key talent, Vigilant Stance, unlocks access to the Warrior specialties.
Starting Skill: Athletics. If you choose Warrior as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Athletics.
Prerequisite: none Activation: ▶
You study special fighting styles to face various foes and strategies. The most basic of these postures emphasizes alertness and quick responses to oncoming threats.
When you acquire this talent, you learn to use stances. You begin with Vigilant Stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Vigilant Stance. While in this stance, reduce the focus cost of your Dodge and Reactive Strike reactions by 1. Additionally, you can enter another stance you know as ◆.
You can enter a stance you know by using that talent’s stated number of actions. Your stance ends if you either end it as ◆, enter another stance, or end the scene. While in a stance, you temporarily gain any actions, bonuses, and other effects it grants; these effects end when the stance does.
By default, you can only use stances during combat, not during other scenes.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Duelist specialty on the Warrior talent tree.
Prerequisite: Intimidation 2+; Flamestance talent Activation: ▶
You intimidatingly press your opponent’s defenses—and their nerves—hoping to expose a fatal gap.
Spend 2 focus to make a melee weapon attack against a target’s Cognitive defense. On a hit, your target also loses one ↺ and loses focus equal to your ranks in Intimidation. On a graze, they lose half as much focus (rounded up) and don’t lose ↺.
You can spend ✦ from this test to gain ▶▶, which you can use only to Strike or activate a stance.
Prerequisite: Intimidation 1+; Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ▶
You enter an aggressive, squared stance that favors swift flurries of decisive blows.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Flamestance. While in this stance, you gain an advantage on Intimidation tests. Additionally, while there is exactly one enemy within your reach and none of your allies are within the reach of that enemy or you, you can use ◆ to gain ▶, which you can spend only to Gain Advantage or use an action that includes an attack test targeting that enemy.
Prerequisite: Athletics 2+; Practiced Kata talent Activation: ▶
You hold your weapon high, prepared to deliver a crushing blow downward when your opponent shows weakness.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Ironstance. While in this stance, you gain an advantage on Insight tests. Additionally, when a character within your reach misses you or grazes you with an attack, you can use Reactive Strike against them as if they had voluntarily left your reach.
Prerequisite: Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ★
Your study of martial kata and other forms has taught you that your stance in conversation is as important as in battle. With practiced poise, you project the exact attitude you want through body language and positioning.
When you acquire this talent, you can use fighting stances in conversation and endeavor scenes, in addition to combat. Activating or changing a stance during a conversation or endeavor costs 1 focus and counts as your contribution for the round.
Additionally, if you aren’t Surprised when a combat, conversation, or endeavor scene begins, you can enter Vigilant Stance at the beginning of that scene (no action required).
Prerequisite: Flamestance talent Activation: ∞
You have trained extensively with a particular weapon and can exploit all the advantages it offers.
When you acquire this talent, gain one weapon expertise. Then choose one weapon type in which you have an expertise and denote it in parentheses after this talent’s name on your character sheet; for example, “Signature Weapon (Longspear).”
Your Opportunity range for tests using this weapon type expands by 1. When you reach tier 3, this Opportunity range instead expands by 2.
Prerequisite: Ironstance talent Activation: ∞
You move through treacherous terrain with confidence and speed.
When you acquire this talent, increase your movement rate by 10.
Additionally, before you take damage from dangerous terrain or falling, reduce that damage by 2 × your tier.
Prerequisite: Athletics 3+; Feinting Strike talent Activation: ▶
You assume a flexible stance, allowing you to quickly switch between inexorable advances and rapid reactions to wear down your foe.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Vinestance. Your Physical and Cognitive defenses increase by 1. Additionally, after you’re hit or grazed by a melee attack, you can use ↺ to make an Athletics test against your attacker’s Cognitive defense. On a success, your target loses 1d4 focus, and you can push them horizontally up to 5 feet × your ranks in Athletics.
Prerequisite: Intimidation 3+; Feinting Strike talent Activation: ▶▶
Battles are won and lost in moments of brief inattention or exhaustion. You create and exploit these opportunities, patiently waiting to vanquish your foe in a single stroke.
Spend 1 focus to move up to half your movement rate, then make a melee weapon attack against the Cognitive defense of a target who has 0 focus. This attack ignores your target’s deflect value and deals an extra 4d6 damage on a hit. It can’t graze, only miss or hit.
This talent becomes more powerful as your tier increases: at tier 3, you roll an extra 6d6 damage (instead of 4d6); at tier 4, you instead roll an extra 8d6 damage; and at tier 5, you instead roll an extra 10d6 damage.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Shardbearer specialty on the Warrior talent tree.
Prerequisite: Athletics 2+; Mighty talent or Shard Training talent Activation: ▶
You assume a reckless, violent stance that trades defense for deadly power.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Bloodstance. While in this stance, your Opportunity range for attack tests and physical tests expands by 2, but your Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual defenses decrease by 2.
Prerequisite: Athletics 3+; Bloodstance talent Activation: ▶▶
You vault aggressively above your foes and slam into them with your full weight—a leap made all the more terrifying by unyielding Shardplate.
Spend 2 focus to leap up to a quarter of your movement rate, then make an unarmed attack against the Physical defense of each character of your choice within your
reach. While wearing Shardplate, you gain an advantage on this test. Roll double the usual damage dice for this attack. On a hit, each target whose Strength score is lower than yours is also knocked Prone.
Prerequisite: Stonestance talent Activation: ∞
You deliver your swings, punches, and kicks with practiced efficiency.
When you hit with a weapon or unarmed attack, for each ▶ you used on that attack’s action, increase the damage you deal by 1 + your tier. For example, if you’re level 6 and you make an attack that costs ▶▶, each ▶ deals an extra 1 + 2 damage, for a total of 6 damage.
Prerequisite: Perception 3+; Shattering Blow talent Activation: ↺
A Shardbearer must know when to deflect an oncoming blow, when to take it on their Shardplate, and when to evade. In extreme cases, a desperate fighter even might catch a Shardblade between their bare hands in a desperate maneuver called a lastclap.
Before being hit by a melee attack, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to attempt to parry the blow. Depending on whether you’re unarmed or wielding a weapon, make one of the following tests:
Unarmed. Make an Athletics test, gaining a disadvantage unless you’re being attacked with a Shardblade. You can spend ✦ to disarm your opponent, taking control of their weapon (and wielding it, if you desire).
Wielding a Weapon. Make a Light Weaponry test or Heavy Weaponry test (using the skill corresponding to your weapon). If you’re wielding a Shardblade and if your opponent’s weapon is non-Invested, you can spend ✦ to destroy their weapon.
The DC of this test equals the result of the attack test that hit you. On a success, the hit against you becomes a graze.
Prerequisite: Access to a Shardblade and Shardplate for training; Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ★
Given the rarity of Shardblades and Shardplate, it’s exceptionally difficult to acquire firsthand experience with these relics. You’ve managed this feat, learning to deal blows for maximum effect and to absorb strikes as efficiently as possible.
Once per round, when you use the Strike action to attack with a Shardblade, you can choose a number of additional enemies up to your ranks in the skill you used for that Strike. Each target must be within your Shardblade’s reach. Without spending focus, you graze each additional target whose Physical defense is equal to or lower than your Strike’s test result.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a specialist expertise in Shardplate, and gain a specialist expertise in either Grandbows, Shardblades, or Warhammers.
Finally, while you wear Shardplate, it has 2 additional charges for you.
Prerequisite: Perception 2+; Windstance talent Activation: ★
Whether striking a barricaded door, a Shardbearer, or a hapless enemy on the field, you know how to break through weak points or send foes flying with a precise, two-handed blow.
When you hit a target with a melee attack, if you did so either with a two-handed weapon or with a hand free, you can spend 2 focus to hit with remarkable force. Before resolving that attack’s damage, if your target is wearing armor with charges (such as Shardplate or a half-shard), the armor loses 1 charge.
After that attack, each target who lost health to your attack is pushed horizontally 5 feet away from you. If your Strength is greater than 5, they’re pushed an additional 5 feet for each additional point of Strength; for example, if your Strength is 7, they’re pushed an additional 10 feet, for a total of 15 feet. If your target hits a Medium or larger object during this forced movement, the target takes damage as if they’d fallen the distance they were pushed (1d6 impact damage per 10 feet); at the GM’s discretion, the object might also take damage.
Prerequisite: Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ▶
You shift into a solid stance, delivering powerful blows without giving up ground to the enemy.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Stonestance. While in this stance, increase your deflect value by 1. Additionally, before an enemy within your melee weapon’s reach spends one or more ▶ to attack one of your allies not in Stonestance, that enemy must spend one additional ▶.
Prerequisite: Perception 1+; Shard Training talent Activation: ▶
You adopt a mobile stance that maximizes your area of attack, delivering wide sweeps that slash across groups of foes.
When you acquire this talent, you learn a new stance, which you can enter as ▶:
Windstance. While in this stance, you gain an advantage on Agility tests. Additionally, while there are two or more enemies within your reach, you can use ◆ to gain ▶, which you can spend only to Disengage or use an action that includes an attack test targeting one or more of those enemies.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Soldier specialty on the Warrior talent tree.
Prerequisite: Discipline 1+; Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ▶▶
You understand the hazards in your environment and the flow of battle, helping you find the safest path across the battlefield.
Move up to half your movement rate, ignoring difficult terrain, then gain ▶▶ that can be spent only on the Brace or Gain Advantage actions.
Prerequisite: Vigilant Stance key talent Activation: ★
You’ve been trained in the basics of weaponry and elementary battle tactics.
Once per round, when you miss on a weapon attack, you can graze one target without spending focus.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a weapon expertise and an armor expertise of your choice, and gain a cultural expertise in Military Life.
Prerequisite: Athletics 2+; Cautious Advance talent Activation: ∞
You’ve learned when to withdraw and when to commit to a position, holding it unflinchingly.
The Brace action adds two disadvantages to attacks against you, instead of one.
Additionally, while you’re using a shield to Brace, allies within 5 feet of you can Brace as if they had cover or a shield.
Prerequisite: Athletics 3+; Combat Training talent Activation: ▶▶
Delivering a fatal strike requires not only skill, but resolve. You’ve learned to set aside any natural aversion to harming others, and when you strike to kill, you do so without mercy or hesitation.
Make a melee weapon attack against the Physical defense of a target. When you roll damage for this attack, add an extra 2d8 damage.
This talent becomes more powerful as your tier increases: at tier 3, you roll an extra 3d8 damage (instead of 2d8); at tier 4, you instead roll an extra 4d8 damage; and at tier 5, you instead roll an extra 5d8 damage.
Prerequisite: Discipline 2+; Defensive Position talent Activation: ∞
You coordinate your allies to march in a defensive formation with you.
While an ally within 10 feet of you benefits from the Brace action, they also benefit from your Defensive Position as if they had that talent themself.
Prerequisite: Combat Training talent Activation: ∞
You’ve trained your body to endure pain and fatigue, keeping you in the fight until the bitter end.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current health increase by 1 per level. This applies to all previous and future levels; for example, if you choose this talent at level 6, retroactively increase your health by 6.
Prerequisite: Hardy talent Activation: ▶
You instinctively follow the tempo of battle, keeping the pressure on your foes at critical moments.
Spend 1 focus to make a second Strike action with a hand you already used for a Strike this turn.
Prerequisite: Discipline 3+; Defensive Position talent Activation: ∞
Through your experience living in dangerous locations, you’ve learned to stay focused and respond quickly to unexpected hazards.
While you have 1 or more focus, you can’t be Surprised. Additionally, when you resist influence or lose focus involuntarily, reduce the amount of focus lost by your ranks in Discipline (to a minimum of 1 focus lost).
The ten orders of the ancient Knights Radiant wielded wondrous powers to protect humankind. Their members formed bonds with bits of sapient Investiture known as spren, and through this powerful symbiosis, each Radiant order gained access to two of the ten surges—extraordinary abilities powered by Stormlight. For millennia, the Knights Radiant used these surges to defend humankind from cataclysmic events known as Desolations… but one day, the Radiants mysteriously abandoned humankind, forsaking their powers and leaving their people defenseless on Roshar.
The Radiant paths in this chapter operate much like heroic paths, following the rules in the “Using Paths and Talents” section of chapter 4. However, as described in the upcoming “Playing a Radiant” section, being a Knight Radiant carries with it much more responsibility than merely writing a talent on your character sheet.
This chapter presents nine playable Radiant paths (along with information about the exceptional tenth order, the Bondsmiths). Much like each heroic path has three specialties, each Radiant path grants access to three talent trees: one for your spren bond, and two for the surges wielded by your Radiant order. The talents for each path’s spren bond are presented in this chapter; meanwhile, chapter 6 details the surge skills and their corresponding talents.
The upcoming “Orders of Knights Radiant” section summarizes each order and the talent trees they gain access to.
You must be level 2 or higher to choose a First Ideal key talent. However, even before you gain a level and choose that talent, you can talk to your GM about introducing a Radiant spren to begin forging a bond with (see “Playing a Radiant” for guidance on attracting a spren, and see “Playing with Spren” for rules on interacting with them once bonded).
When you do choose your First Ideal talent, this confirms to the GM that you’re interested in becoming Radiant in a particular order. However, your character hasn’t yet “spoken the Words” and sworn that Ideal. Instead, this talent has two effects: it immediately grants you access to Investiture, and it grants you a goal: “Speak the First Ideal.”
The First Ideal talent represents that you’ve attracted the attention of a Radiant spren. You immediately gain access to Investiture in the form of Stormlight, and along with it, access to three actions: Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate (see “Stormlight Actions”).
In addition to healing your body and empowering your attributes, you’ll eventually be able to use Investiture to fuel the two surges of your Radiant order (detailed in chapter 6).
Your First Ideal talent doesn’t immediately grant access to the surges for your prospective Radiant order. Instead, as you continue your adventures, you’ll work toward your new goal, “Speak the First Ideal,” which you’ll likely complete before you gain your next level. After you complete that goal, you’re rewarded with the two surges from your First Ideal talent. See the upcoming “Playing a Radiant” section for more details on pursuing this goal.
Investiture is the energy that suffuses the cosmere, the divine essence that powers Invested Arts. Every soul in the cosmere begins life with some natural Investiture, but they aren’t usually able to manipulate it. Characters with an Investiture score have gained the ability to wield that energy.
On Roshar, Investiture mainly manifests as Stormlight—the energy that coruscates across the highstorm, glows within each broam, and gives the Knights Radiant their wondrous powers.
Investiture is a spiritual resource that mechanically operates much like focus does. For a Radiant character, Stormlight is your source of Investiture, and your Investiture pool reflects the amount you can breathe in and use efficiently.
At character creation, you’ll leave the Investiture field on your character sheet blank. However, once you’ve chosen the First Ideal key talent from a Radiant path, you gain a maximum Investiture score (see “Investiture” in chapter 3).
You can spend Investiture to activate your surges and surge talents (presented in chapter 6), along with your spren bond talents (presented later in this chapter). Additionally, you can use the three Stormlight actions in the next section: Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate.
Investiture also maintains any ongoing Invested effects that draw on your Stormlight. As a result, if your current Investiture ever drops to 0, you temporarily become non-Invested and you can’t maintain your ongoing Investiture effects (such as infusions) beyond their remaining durations.
Roshar is a world rich with Investiture. Most people use gemstones embedded in glass spheres as currency (see “Spheres” in chapter 7). Since these spheres effectively serve as batteries for storing Stormlight, infused spheres are precious to Radiants.
During combat, you can use the Breathe Stormlight action from the next section, draining an infused sphere and gaining its Stormlight.
You usually start scenes with full Investiture; much like drawing your weapon before a fight, it’s assumed that if you’re not Surprised when a scene begins, you’ve already instinctively used Breathe Stormlight (no action required). However, if you start a scene with the Surprised condition, you only start with 1 Investiture—just enough to passively maintain any ongoing Invested powers.
GM Tip: Managing Stormlight
Radiant players need spheres to store Investiture in the form of Stormlight, which they can breathe in to fuel their powers. While players can keep track of exactly how many infused and dun spheres they have, only re-infusing them when they’re in highstorms, tracking this is cumbersome.
You’re encouraged to assume PCs have sufficient Stormlight to fuel their abilities, as long as they can access passing highstorms and are carrying wealth in marks equal to at least three times their Investiture total. Don’t worry about tracking whether their spheres are technically chips, marks, or broams (see “Spheres” in chapter 7).
However, if the story causes a PC to lose all their spheres or not have access to a highstorm for extended periods, you can increase narrative tension by asking players to track their infused marks and broams.
During your adventures, you’ll primarily use Stormlight, but Investiture can also appear in rarer forms like Lifelight or Voidlight, or even hybrids like Towerlight.
Each form of Light also has an inverse (such as anti-Stormlight). These Lights glow differently and are horribly destructive when they encounter their opposite. Anti-Light can’t fuel your surges in the same way Stormlight does; while some people wield weapons using anti-Light, doing so is extremely dangerous to them and their spren. Use caution if you encounter anti-Stormlight in your travels.
In addition to fueling surges, holding Stormlight allows you to tap into powers like improved healing, improved strength, and improved speed. When you choose a First Ideal talent, you gain access to the following three actions, which follow the usual rules in the “Actions and Reactions” section of chapter 10.
You draw Stormlight into yourself from infused spheres within 5 feet of you; if you have enough spheres, you recover Investiture up to your maximum.
In normal times, dun spheres can be readily exchanged for infused spheres, and highstorms occur regularly. If you have at least three times as many marks as your Investiture total, it’s assumed you have enough infused spheres to draw from.
In some situations, the GM may ask you to keep track of how many of your spheres are infused. On those occasions, you recover 1 Investiture for each infused mark or broam you drain.
You can use this action even if you’re Unconscious or otherwise prevented from using actions.
Spend 1 Investiture to become Enhanced [Strength +1] and Enhanced [Speed +1] until the end of your next turn. At the end of that turn and each of your turns thereafter, you can spend 1 Investiture as ◆ to maintain these conditions until the end of your next turn.
Spend 1 Investiture to recover health equal to 1d6 + your current tier; for example, a tier 2 character recovers 1d6 + 2 health.
You can use this free action even if you’re Unconscious or otherwise prevented from using actions.
Unifying with Your Spiritual Self
You exist in all three realms: the Physical, the Cognitive, and the Spiritual. Even if your physical body is wounded, your spiritual self may be intact and whole. When you heal with Investiture, you’re simply transforming your physical body to match your spiritual one. This may have effects on your body beyond regaining health; for example, people who have a different identity or sense of self may see their bodies transform to match their spiritual identity, including changing sex and appearance.
Once your character reaches level 2 or higher, you might choose to join one of the orders of the Knights Radiant. But becoming a Radiant isn’t simply a matter of choosing the First Ideal key talent and gaining access to powerful surges. It represents your profound commitment to a set of Ideals and your growing relationship with a sapient spren who chooses to bond with you.
This section guides you on using storytelling to support your relationship with your spren and Radiant order, both by roleplaying your character and by collaborating with your GM. It also includes rules for interacting with your spren.
Long before you gain a level and choose a First Ideal talent, it’s a good idea to talk to your GM about your desire to follow a Radiant path. This helps your GM give you opportunities to live up to your prospective order’s Ideals.
Similarly, you don’t have to wait until you choose the First Ideal talent to start attracting a spren. You and your GM are encouraged to collaborate earlier to introduce a Radiant spren to the narrative; when you later choose the First Ideal talent, it reflects your strengthening bond and your new ability to control Investiture.
It’s up to you and your GM to decide how you interweave the talent’s rules, timing, and narrative. For example, some players want to continue (or start) developing their spren bond after they choose the First Ideal talent; in this case, you can delay your use of Investiture until it fits the narrative, even though your talent lets you use it sooner.
Regardless of whether you initiate the bonding process before or after choosing the talent, the GM has ultimate say over whether you’re successful in advancing your spren bond. In some situations, you might discover your personal ideals aren’t well-suited for that order.
Each Knight Radiant gains their abilities through their spren bond, which scholars call the “Nahel bond.” This bond is a linking of spirits, a symbiotic relationship that grants benefits to both partners: the spren gains the ability to manifest in the Physical Realm without losing their sapience or memory, and the person gains Surgebinding and the ability to breathe in Stormlight. But before this bond can be formed, the spren must first be drawn to the prospective Radiant.
In general, when you behave in a way that appeals to a certain type of spren or aligns with the Ideals of a given order, a Radiant spren can be drawn to you. Nine common types of Radiant spren can bond with humans and singers, each corresponding with an order of Knights Radiant; the tenth Radiant order works a bit differently. Individual spren vary in motives and preferences just like people of flesh and blood, but when selecting prospective Radiants, each type of spren tends to follow certain patterns (as detailed in the section for each order).
As a player, be open with your GM about what kind of spren you hope your character will attract (even if your character isn’t personally aware they’re doing so).
The GM is encouraged to use Radiant spren as NPCs, communicating when a PC’s heroic actions have drawn a spren’s attention and approval. However, it can sometimes be overwhelming for the GM to track all the different types of spren and whether a character is behaving in a way that would attract one. You and your fellow players can help them keep an eye out for times you specifically embody the Ideals or preferences of a spren. See the upcoming “Playing with Spren” section
for more suggestions on developing and depicting your relationship with your spren.
On Your Character Sheet. Once you’ve attracted a Radiant spren (whether before or after choosing your first Radiant talent), you can record their name and type in the “Connections” section of your character sheet.
Each Radiant order has five Ideals, as described in each order’s section. These immortal Words are their ethos and creed, guiding the members of that order in everything they do.
Once you speak an Ideal, you must continue following it, and forsaking it can have dire consequences. But swearing an Ideal isn’t as simple as saying a few words out loud. You must understand the Words and feel their meaning and purpose deep in your soul—a process that takes much time, growth, and dedication.
This game tracks your progression through each Ideal via special Ideal goals (see chapter 8), which you acquire from the corresponding Ideal talent from your Radiant path.
Starting with the First Ideal, you’ll work toward your current goal by embodying the philosophy of your Radiant order. As you achieve significant personal milestones, the GM will have you mark milestone boxes on your character sheet (see “Progressing the First Ideal” for example milestones).
Once you’ve marked all three milestone boxes toward your Ideal goal, the rules of your talent allow you to speak the Words—but you might want to wait until a particularly fitting moment in the story (see the upcoming “Saying the Words” section).
While each Radiant order swears different oaths, they all share the First Ideal: “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.” Interpretations of these Words vary, but every Radiant who swears this oath is committing to personal growth in the service of others.
Once you choose your First Ideal key talent, you’ll need to progress your new goal over time. For example, you might:
Each time you take a step like the above in a dramatic or narratively satisfying way, ask the GM if you can mark a milestone box. Additionally, you can mark a milestone after a significant action that aligns with your prospective order’s core philosophy (such as “I will protect” for the Windrunners). You can find each order’s core philosophy in the upcoming “Orders of Knights Radiant” section.
You’ll generally swear an Ideal “on camera” during a scene, ideally at the climax of a narrative arc. Once you’ve marked all three milestone boxes, you can collaborate with your GM to plan a fitting moment—or when the timing feels right, either you or your GM can suggest swearing an Ideal during that scene. If you both agree, the GM prompts you to “speak the Words” for that Ideal. After you do so, the GM replies that “these Words are accepted,” and your goal is complete.
Each time you complete an Ideal goal, your character bursts alight with power! As stated in each Ideal’s talent, you become Empowered until the end of the current scene, and you unlock any remaining benefits from that talent.
When you swear the First Ideal, your character commits to an order of the Knights Radiant. Completing this goal unlocks the remaining benefits from your First Ideal talent: you become Empowered and gain access to your order’s two surge skills.
On Your Character Sheet. When you complete your First Ideal goal, write the names of your order’s two surges on the blank lines beneath your list of skills; you gain a free skill rank in both of these surge skills. As your character gains levels, you can advance your surge skills like any other skill.
To gain some of the most important and iconic Radiant abilities—such as a Shardblade—you must first swear higher Ideals. Once you’re ready for your character to work toward the next Ideal (and once you meet the prerequisites for that talent in your spren bond tree), you can choose that talent when you level up.
Like your First Ideal talent, your new Ideal talent doesn’t immediately grant all its benefits; instead, you gain a new goal that’ll eventually allow you to swear its Ideal.
As you work toward your three milestones for each new Ideal goal, this represents strengthening your spren bond while enduring hardship, demonstrating growth toward your Ideal to become worthy of it. Like you did for the First Ideal, when your actions exemplify this new goal, ask your GM about marking another milestone box.
[Diagram: Second Ideal → Third Ideal → Fourth Ideal progression]
When you’re ready, you again speak the Words during a scene (see the earlier “Saying the Words” section), unlocking a new ability for that Ideal. The “Philosophy” section for your Radiant order suggests ways to advance your higher Ideal goals.
For higher Ideals, the Words differ for each person and order. Some orders have more structured themes, while others are entirely personalized for each Radiant. The section for your order outlines the customary oaths and ideas behind each Ideal; however, feel free to creatively shape your own Words to match your character, so long as they still represent the core philosophies of the Ideal.
Only a handful of modern Knights Radiant have sworn the Fourth Ideal. While each order of Radiants has a Fifth Ideal, it hasn’t been spoken by any living person for over two thousand years. These Words are lost to time, and characters in this game can’t achieve it (yet).
When you join an order, you’re swearing to follow its Ideals your entire life, embodying and living them to the best of your ability. If you start to act against your oaths, this can damage the bond with your spren, causing you to lose access to the surges and potentially even killing your spren:
Before it gets that far though, you can repair your bond! If you prove that you’re once again dedicated to your Ideals and that your infractions are behind you, you reverse any damage to your spren bond. It’s up to you and your GM to decide what this looks like for you, but rededicating yourself to your Ideals is a personal choice that goes much deeper than lip service.
On your journey to speaking the First Ideal, you or the GM might conclude your character isn’t compatible with the philosophy of the order you initially wanted to join. If you’ve already chosen a First Ideal talent when that happens, you can switch your current First Ideal talent after a long rest, instead choosing a different order that may be a better fit. From a narrative perspective, this attracts a Radiant spren of a different type. However, when you switch, you can keep any milestones you’ve already recorded toward your “Speak the First Ideal” goal.
Once you speak the Third Ideal, you can choose the Take Squire talent. This allows you to designate trusted allies as squires, granting them a portion of your Radiant powers without them needing to bond spren.
When the Take Squire talent grants you the ability to take on squires, you can do so with NPCs you know and trust. If you gain a companion as a reward (see “Companions” in chapter 8), you can make them a squire and grant the Squire ability described below. Squires aren’t limited to companions; even a non-Radiant player character can become your squire, if they so wish.
For an NPC or player character to become a squire, they must have spent enough time with their Radiant to form a bond of trust, and they must already benefit from the Radiant’s mentorship or training in more mundane ways. This bond of trust isn’t formed lightly and can take a lot of time—or extreme circumstances.
Each player character or NPC who is chosen as a Radiant’s squire gains the following ability:
Squire. While within 50 miles of the Radiant who made you their squire, you have the ability to draw Stormlight, you have an Investiture maximum of 2, and you can use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, when your Radiant makes you their squire, they can choose to give you access to one or both of their surges, including 1 rank in each surge skill; these last for as long as you are their squire. You don’t gain access to any of their Radiant talents, and during character advancement, you can’t gain ranks in those surge skills.
You stop being this Radiant’s squire if you choose to, if your Radiant dismisses you, if you become a squire to another Radiant, or if you bond a Radiant spren and gain your own Radiant abilities.
If you have a patron who is themself a Radiant of the Third Ideal or higher, or if another player character decides to take you on as their squire, you can become a Radiant squire. To do so, you must have spent enough time with them to form a bond of trust, as detailed in the previous section. Your GM decides when you’ve forged a bond strong enough to be taken on as a squire.
Your spren is both an extension of your character and an individual in their own right. Feel free to roleplay both sides of the partnership between your character and their spren—but at times, the GM may speak through your spren, maybe even sharing information that you and your character don’t know. If you break your oaths and the bond with your spren begins to fray, they become a GM-controlled NPC (see the earlier “Forsaking your Ideals” section).
In this way, roleplaying a spren is a joint effort between you and the GM. Together, you shape the personality of your spren. The section for your order describes the spren associated with it, but each spren is unique, and discovering your spren’s personality through play can be a very fun and rewarding experience.
Your spren doesn’t have a stat block and they don’t take turns of their own; instead, they serve more as a force of nature who can act whenever it suits the shared story.
In combat, your spren can move up to your movement rate each round, ignoring terrain penalties when they do. A newly bonded spren temporarily loses their sapience if they move out of your spren bond range—this range begins at 30 feet, but you can increase it further with the Deepened Bond talent.
In general, your spren is invisible and inaudible to other people, but this varies between spren, as described in the section for each Radiant order. Even if your spren is inaudible to others, you can’t hear their voice unless they’re reasonably close to you (or have the ability to communicate telepathically).
You generally need to speak aloud to communicate with your spren, which can potentially reveal your position to other characters. However, once you speak the Third Ideal and can manifest your spren as a Radiant Shardblade, you can carry on silent telepathic conversations while touching them.
When you give your spren a specific task, such as answering a difficult question or doing something to assist you, the GM may require you to spend some focus to gain a benefit from the interaction. This reflects the fact that spren aren’t creatures of the Physical Realm; they may have difficulty understanding or explaining concepts, requiring additional attention on your part.
You can spend the indicated focus and actions to allow your spren to use the following abilities:
★ Covert Scouting (Costs 2 Focus). Over several minutes, your spren stealthily scouts an area within your spren bond range, then reports back on what they observed. To glean certain information from this report, the GM might require you to make an Awareness skill test against a DC they set.
◆ or ↺ Oath Encouragement (Costs 2 Focus). When you face hardship, your spren encourages you to find the best in yourself and live up to your Ideals. You gain an advantage on your next test to face self-doubt, fear, or anything else that stems from your obstacle.
★ Sudden Warning (Costs 3 Focus). When you’re imperiled, your spren can alert you to imminent danger (no action required). At the GM’s discretion, this can allow you to ignore the effects of the Surprised condition or otherwise react to a threat you didn’t detect.
▶▶ Translation (Costs 2 Focus). For the next minute, your spren helps you communicate by translating spoken and signed Rosharan languages (including Rosharan Shadesmar). During this time, characters who know at least one Rosharan language can understand you, and you can understand any Rosharan language you don’t normally know. Alternatively, you can use this ability to have your spren read aloud one page of text that’s written in a Rosharan language you can’t read.
Each type of spren has other unique abilities, described in the entry for the corresponding Radiant order. Your spren can also gain abilities from your spren bond talents, and you and your GM are welcome to create other abilities together.
The ancient Knights Radiant were a group dedicated to protecting Roshar during the Desolations—the cataclysms where Odium’s forces returned to wreak havoc and destroy human society—and in the times in between, to rebuild. After the Last Desolation thousands of years ago, the knights forswore their oaths in an event called the Recreance. The power of Surgebinding was lost, and only legends remained of the Radiants and their betrayal of humanity.
In the modern era, these legendary powers were rediscovered when spren began to feel a new Desolation coming, and people began to forge new spren bonds.
Some modern Radiants have banded together like the knights of old, reforming the ten ancient orders. These orders are each defined by the spren they bond, the Ideals they follow, and thereby the surges they command. As a player character, you can choose between nine Radiant orders; the tenth, the Order of Bondsmiths, can only have three Radiants at any given time.
However, not all Radiants have joined together in these formal orders; a few prefer to work alone. These independent Radiants still adhere to their Ideals, but they don’t observe an order’s traditions or hierarchy.
The Radiant Orders table summarizes the ten orders, then the following sections (presented in alphabetical order) go into greater detail on their philosophies, history, and spren.
Bonding Multiple Radiant Spren
Though incredibly uncommon, it’s possible to bond multiple Radiant spren—either two of the same type, or even two of different types. While each PC can usually only join one Radiant path, you and your GM can make an exception if it fits the story. For each spren bond, you must speak and maintain new oaths as described below.
Same Type of Spren. If you’re bonding a second spren of the same type as your existing spren bond, you don’t need to choose your existing Ideal talents a second time, but you must once again progress through your Ideal goals and speak the Ideals in a unique way under new circumstances, reflecting how you’ve changed since you swore the oaths a previous time. Any future Ideals you swear can count toward all your spren bonds of that type—though each spren must accept the Words. Once you complete the goal “Speak the Third Ideal,” you can summon two of your spren who accepted those Words, allowing you to dual-wield Radiant Shardblades, and you can summon both of them using a single Interact action.
Different Type of Spren. If you’re bonding a second spren of a different type, you must start from the very beginning of that order’s path by choosing its First Ideal key talent and progressing each Ideal goal as usual. Once you’ve attained the Third Ideal with both your original path and the new one, you can summon both spren as dual-wielded Radiant Shardblades, and you can summon both using a single Interact action.
The inherent contradictions of many orders’ philosophies make it nearly impossible to maintain both bonds, so few Radiants attempt to bond multiple spren.
[Full-page diagram: The ten orders of the Knights Radiant arranged in a circle, connected by their shared surges. Surges shown: Adhesion, Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Progression, Illumination, Transformation, Transportation, Cohesion, Tension.]
| Order | Spren | Surges | Philosophy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dustbringers | Ashspren | Abrasion and Division | Great power requires strong discipline. |
| Edgedancers | Cultivationspren | Abrasion and Progression | Remember and serve those who others forget. |
| Elsecallers | Inkspren | Transformation and Transportation | Strive to reach your true potential. |
| Lightweavers | Cryptic | Illumination and Transformation | Separate truth from lies. |
| Skybreakers | Highspren | Division and Gravitation | Enforce the law and strive for justice. |
| Stonewards | Peakspren | Cohesion and Tension | Be the support on which others can depend. |
| Truthwatchers | Mistspren | Illumination and Progression | Search for fundamental truth and share it. |
| Willshapers | Lightspren | Cohesion and Transportation | Seek freedom and choice for all peoples. |
| Windrunners | Honorspren | Adhesion and Gravitation | Protect the innocent and the defenseless. |
| Bondsmiths* | Unique spren* | Adhesion and Tension | Unite before you divide, and strive for peace before engaging in war. |
*Not available for player characters.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Dustbringers
Dustbringers are highly mobile, with a penchant for crafting and engineering. They also have a reputation for being thrill-seekers who dive headfirst into any situation. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Dustbringer Radiant path: - Agent (Investigator or Thief) - Hunter (Archer, Assassin, or Tracker) - Scholar (Artifabrian or Strategist)
A barefoot Dustbringer skates along the ground as if it were ice, fleeing from the pursuing soldiers. Finally clear of the civilian casualty zone, she whips around and unleashes a gout of flame to devastate her enemy.
Sliding across the atrium, a Dustbringer erodes the top layer of the floor in their wake and kicks up the resulting dust. They slip beyond the cloud, collect the innocents cowering behind an overturned table, and guide them to safety.
With patient strokes of his fingers, a Dustbringer shaves down the metal ingot under the attentive watch of his ashspren partner. There! It’s finally the exact shape he needed to repair the broken heatrial; its owners will be comfortable in this brutal winter.
Dustbringers enjoy engineering and taking things apart to learn how they work. The surges of Division and Abrasion make them incredibly hard to pin down, giving them a great advantage as mobile artillery and sappers on the battlefield. Division allows them to selectively decay and destroy, whether by disabling war machines, rending the air into flame, or destroying weapons, armor, and structures. With Abrasion, they can make any part of themselves frictionless, enabling them to slip, slide, and dodge at incredible speeds.
“I will seek self-mastery.”
The Order of Dustbringers can seem the most contradictory of the Radiant orders. They wield enormous destructive powers and both Dustbringers and ashspren alike tend to enjoy breaking things down to see how they work—but at its core, the philosophy of the Dustbringers is that those with great power must have even greater discipline. Just as their powers must be properly channeled and shaped, so must their own desires and wills.
Dustbringers strive to avoid civilian casualties in even the largest conflicts, and as a rule, they spurn people who only value their destructive potential. Between the speed and mobility from Abrasion and the decay and annihilation of Division, Dustbringers are the Radiant order capable of the greatest destruction. However, they define themselves by their control, precision, and understanding, and this is reflected in their Ideals.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), each Ideal is designed to teach the true nature of power—both literal and figurative—along with what it means to possess power and the responsibilities that power brings. While each individual Dustbringer’s Ideals are personal to their own journey and involve their own specific Words, they tend to follow certain patterns. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“To control my power, I will control myself.”
The Second Ideal focuses on self-mastery. Each Dustbringer has their own desires and wills, but this oath channels all toward a greater purpose. This is less about changing yourself and what you want, and more about demonstrating your discipline to constructively direct your desires—thereby proving you can be trusted to do the same with your destructive Surgebinding potential. Traditionally, a Dustbringer doesn’t gain the surge of Division until they’ve sworn this Ideal (see the “GM Tip: Dustbringers and Canon” sidebar later in this entry).
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“To understand my power, I will understand what power is.”
Now that you’ve shown through the Second Ideal that you can master yourself, the Third Ideal begins your journey to the mastery of power itself. You must understand not only the Surgebinding powers you wield, but also other types of power: political position, societal echelon, wealth, physical aptitude, charisma, knowledge, and other avenues of influence.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Though the specific words are individualized for each Dustbringer, the Fourth Ideal requires acknowledgment that all power is accompanied by obligation, and that ignoring your responsibility can have dire consequences. For Radiants, obligation means literally following oaths, but even a monarch is responsible for serving their people, and there are rules that even gods must follow.
When those with influence fail to match it with responsibility, shockwaves extend as far as the power that person wields. As a powerful Dustbringer, you have a duty to serve the common person and do as little harm as possible.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
We all bear the capacity for unimaginable damage and destruction. The only way to protect those around us is to always maintain a firm, unshakeable control over ourselves.
In the days of the old Radiants, Dustbringers served as sappers, engineers, and strategists, though their primary military use was razing earth and causing widespread destruction. As the Desolations grew more frequent and horrible leading up to the Recreance, the ancient Dustbringers became increasingly concerned that they were valued purely for their powers of annihilation. Some Radiant orders—particularly the Skybreakers—considered Dustbringers to walk the edge of evil and distrusted them greatly. The Dustbringers eventually attempted to abandon their order’s name due to its similarity to “Voidbringer”; instead, they encouraged others to call them the Order of Releasers.
In the modern era, very few Dustbringers are known. The first of these was Malata and her ashspren Spark; she arrived with the King of Kharbranth, Taravangian, when he joined the Coalition of Monarchs. Unknown to the rest of the coalition, Taravangian and Malata were both members of the Diagram, a secretive group who sought to predict the future to protect Kharbranth. They betrayed the coalition to side with Odium, who they believed would win the war. Malata’s betrayal was motivated in part by her spren Spark, who seeks vengeance against the refounded Knights Radiant on behalf of all the ashspren who died in the Recreance.
However, not all modern Dustbringers have sided with Odium. Ral-na, king of the Reshi community that lives atop the seafaring greatshell Relu-na, has also bonded an ashspren. He led a Reshi delegation to visit Dalinar Kholin at Urithiru, hoping to learn more about his powers and to open talks of alliance. Despite these glimmers of hope, the damage of Malata’s betrayal is done, and many modern Radiants view Dustbringers with the same suspicion as did the Radiants of old. However, if you confront these shadows head-on, you might be able to change this perception and prove your loyalty to the Coalition of Monarchs.
To become a Dustbringer, you must bond with an ashspren—but most ashspren never forgave humanity for the hundreds of spren that were killed during the Recreance.
Within the Cognitive Realm, ashspren are humanoids with ashen-white skin. Their hair appears as thin strands of ash or smoke that billow easily in the wind or stream behind them as they move. When their skin stretches or meets resistance, it briefly collapses into dust particles that blow away, revealing the bone beneath, then their flesh reforms. Ashspren often take advantage of this to direct a scornful gesture toward humans: they use their thumb to flick away their lower lip and expose their teeth in a sneer.
Ashspren appear in the Physical Realm as a branching network of faintly glowing electrical scorches. They can’t alter their appearance, but as an ashspren moves across a surface or within an object, their branches “grow” along it, creating an illusion that they’re burning toward their destination. After they pass, the trail of cracks disappears without causing harm.
Scholars know little about ashspren culture, though many ashspren sail the bead oceans of Shadesmar or cohabitate with other spren within the cities of the Cognitive Realm. Their shroud of mystery may be due to the near-universal hostility that these spren feel toward humans, especially Radiants, for killing ashspren. This ancient animosity drives some to form a Nahel bond with a person who is likely to join Odium’s forces and oppose the modern Radiants, but most simply choose to avoid people and Voidbringers alike.
Many ashspren names reference phenomena related to fire, such as Blaze, Charcoal, Cinder, Ember, Flare, Inferno, Pyre, Sear, Scorch, and Smoke.
In the days of the ancient Knights Radiant, ashspren typically sought bonds with people who shared their fascination with learning how things work. They especially preferred those with a propensity for breaking things to examine their internal workings. As a result, most Dustbringers were recruited from tinkerers, craftspeople, and reverse-engineers.
In the modern era, most ashspren still haven’t forgiven humans for the Recreance, and many are more inclined to bond with a maladjusted or angry person who could likely be convinced to work against the modern Radiants. However, there may still be individual ashspren more inclined to the ancient ways, looking for scholars (especially engineers and artifabrians), crafters, and foolhardy (but brave) soldiers who try to mitigate the destruction of war and protect the lives and property of innocents.
Roleplaying an Ashspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with an ashspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. An ashspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, ashspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren.
Physical Interaction. Ashspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can press themselves completely flat against surfaces, enabling them to pass through almost any gap that’s at least a handspan long, even if its width is razor-thin.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, ashspren can help with setting traps, dismantling objects, Crafting tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
When a Dustbringer completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Ashspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Abrasion and Division talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding an ashspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Ashspren Bond talent tree for the Dustbringer path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Searing Dust Storm talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You combine the mobility of Abrasion with the destruction of Division to leave trails of dust in your wake. These stinging storms assail enemies foolish enough to enter, leaving them open to attack.
When you use the Move action to move along a solid surface, you can spend 1 Investiture or more to kick up an obscuring cloud of dust in spaces of your choice that you enter or leave during that movement. This cloud remains for a number of rounds equal to the Investiture spent, or until a reasonably strong wind disperses it.
When each enemy within this cloud takes damage for the first time during a round, that damage increases by your ranks in Discipline.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your ashspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
GM Tip: Dustbringers and Canon
Within the Stormlight Archive books, Dustbringers can’t access the surge of Division until at least the Second Ideal. If your group wishes to emulate this element of canon in your own game, you can add a Second Ideal prerequisite to the surge of Division and each Division talent.
If you implement this prerequisite, the First Ideal talent for Dustbringers grants the following Focus Increase instead of granting Division:
Focus Increase. When you complete this goal, your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to half your tier (rounded up); for example, if you’re tier 1 or 2, your focus increases by 1. When your tier increases, increase your maximum and current focus accordingly.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Edgedancers
Edgedancers come from all walks of life, though they must care more about service to and advocacy for the common folk than they do for impressing the powerful. Those most attracted to the order often grew up destitute or similarly understand what it is to struggle, and religious practitioners, doctors, and other civil servants often find themselves attracted to the order. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Edgedancer Radiant path: - Agent (Thief) - Envoy (Diplomat, Faithful, or Mentor) - Hunter (Tracker) - Leader (Champion) - Scholar (Surgeon)
A blur skates through the conflict—and behind her, her cultivationspren partner follows in a line of crystal-studded vines. The Edgedancer slides over obstacles and through narrow gaps as enemies futilely slash at the air in her wake. Everywhere she glides, allies’ wounds knit, glowing with Stormlight, while enemies find themselves with cuts and bruises they scarcely have time to register.
Above the collapsed staircase, injured people cry from the second floor. An Edgedancer produces a vinebud seed from his pocket, infusing it with Stormlight to create a burst of tendrils leading to the upper level. After nimbly climbing the vines, he heals the wounded, ushers them to safety, and moves on to the next house.
An Edgedancer prepares the community center for the next group of residents seeking support and solace. The recent battle was brutal, and the people of this town lost so many loved ones. The very least the knight can do is give them the space to talk and grieve in a safe environment.
An Edgedancer’s core duty is to provide service and assistance to the common people. These Radiants generally prefer to avoid combat, instead using their surges of Abrasion and Progression to perform triage for the wounded, rescue the trapped, and create cover for noncombatants. However, when necessary, Edgedancers reveal their deadly grace, vexing their opponents with their speed, literal slipperiness, and ability to grow obstacles and cages from plants.
“I will remember.”
Amid war, it’s all too easy to slip into tunnel vision, to pay attention only to important people, and to seek emotional distance by abstracting the costs and casualties. When leaders and Radiants lose sight of the lives and livelihoods behind those numbers, it can have disastrous consequences for the ordinary people with no voice in the war room. An Edgedancer’s most sacred duty is to advocate and care for these common people—the working class and the “expendable” foot soldiers—and to remind the powerful who they truly serve.
Edgedancers tend to ignore high society. In return, members of the upper crust tend to look on them with disdain. The order generally avoids battle, instead healing, rescuing, and triaging. Edgedancers provide care even for their enemies, since enemy combatants are also people with full lives who others intentionally ignore. However, Edgedancers do fight and kill if they feel they have no other choice.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), each centers around remembering and serving the people others overlook, whether friend or foe.
While each Edgedancer expresses the Words in their own way, they tend to follow certain patterns. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“I will remember those who have been forgotten.”
Both in battle and everyday life, many people slip through the cracks: those with no family, the low-ranking, the destitute, the imprisoned, the enslaved, the sick, the dying. The Second Ideal obligates you to bear witness to these people’s lives. Even when everyone else has forgotten, an Edgedancer remembers. When an Edgedancer strikes down an enemy, the Radiant often pauses to learn their foe’s name and final words, carrying on their memory.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I will listen to those who have been ignored.”
Even within the boundaries of society and community, leaders and politicians often serve their own interests over the needs of their people. As such, laborers, farmers, tradespeople, foot soldiers, and others with more “pedestrian” occupations are often ignored. The Third Ideal teaches you to watch for people in distress and lend them a kind ear, including those whose needs aren’t outwardly visible.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
For the previous two oaths, you learned to seek, remember, and listen. Though the specific words of the Fourth Ideal are individualized for each Edgedancer, this oath progresses you into advocacy: carrying ordinary people’s concerns to those with power to address them. You likely haven’t been able to help everyone you’ve come across, but as an Edgedancer, you can give them a voice. This Ideal obligates you to do so.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Prior to the Recreance, the Edgedancers were perhaps the least militant of the Knights Radiant, even in wartime. Unlike many orders, Edgedancers weren’t organized as a larger military force. They spread out their members, so most sizable settlements had at least one Edgedancer on permanent assignment, proportional to the local population. Within those towns and cities, Edgedancers provided Regrowth healing and worked for the common good, sometimes serving as counselors or spiritual leaders depending on their personal strengths. These Radiants were beloved by the common people for their care and grace. Even members of high society begrudgingly admitted that Edgedancers numbered among the most graceful, refined, and well-spoken of Radiants.
During the Desolations, most Edgedancers remained at their stations in case of Voidbringer attack, but some instead served as scouts, medics, or special forces alongside Windrunners or Skybreakers. Thanks to the combination of speed, agility, and near-indestructibility granted by Edgedancer surges, other Radiant orders viewed them with much respect. However, the Edgedancer tendency to elevate ordinary people’s needs above direct commands occasionally chafed other orders. For example, when the ancient Radiants abandoned their capital city Urithiru, the Edgedancers prioritized relocating the displaced populace, while other orders focused on recording messages in the gem archive (which modern Radiants discovered thousands of years later). These tendencies caused some leaders and strategists to feel that the Edgedancers were too ignorant of the bigger picture.
It’s believed that a young thief, Lift, is the first person to bond a cultivationspren in the thousands of years since the Recreance. She grew up on the streets of Rall Elorim, then began traveling Roshar as a young teen. Lift survived by infiltrating wealthy domiciles to steal a bite of their dinner, taking nothing else. During her adventures, she found herself in the Valley of the Nightwatcher—but when Lift sought a blessing, the Shard Cultivation herself attended to Lift’s request. Lift asked to remain herself even when everything else goes wrong, and Cultivation granted her unique and powerful abilities. From the perspective of the cultivationspren council known as the Ring (see “Cultivationspren Culture”), this was a sign of Cultivation’s favor, so the Ring sent the spren Wyndle to bond Lift and make her an Edgedancer.
Since Lift, the Ring has chosen other individuals as Edgedancer candidates, and the order is steadily growing in size. All known Edgedancers serve the Coalition of Monarchs at Urithiru under Dalinar Kholin’s command.
To become an Edgedancer, you must form a bond with a cultivationspren.
In the Cognitive Realm, cultivationspren take a humanoid form, one of tightly interwoven vines that imitate musculature. In some cases, these vines have a subtle texture reminiscent of rough cloth, but cultivationspren don’t form clothing as part of their essence. Their eyes and teeth are translucent crystal; their hands are also crystalline, though with the flexibility and mobility of flesh. On the crown of their heads and throughout their vine-like hair, most cultivationspren sport additional crystal growths.
While in the Physical Realm, a cultivationspren appears as a small network of vines speckled with smooth quartz. They “grow” rapidly in the direction of their movement, their trail turning crystalline then dissipating into dust. When conversing, they often curl and contort their form to resemble a face, though they needn’t do so to speak.
Unlike many other sapient spren, cultivationspren don’t have their own nation or cities within Shadesmar. Instead, they live among other spren cultures, often working as gardeners. This “gardening” generally involves manifesting objects from soul beads and artfully arranging them to create elaborate structural installations. Many cultivationspren specialize their gardening around a particular type of object, such as tables, chairs, or doors.
Most cultivationspren also adorn themselves in the fashions of the Physical Realm, though sometimes worn differently than in the clothing’s culture of origin.
Despite having no geographic cultural center, cultivationspren are led by a government council known as the Ring. In the modern era, the Ring selects people they believe would be worthy Edgedancers and sends particular cultivationspren to bond them.
The names of cultivationspren are often inspired by natural phenomena, especially plant life, though others use ancient naming conventions long-forgotten to Roshar’s physical denizens. Fitting names include Althaine, Floriana, Glykis, Hedera, Hortus, Phyllium, Pollene, Typh, Verdo, and Vlanala.
While other spren usually regard Nahel bonds and the return of the Radiants with some degree of caution or even hostility, most cultivationspren seem outright excited. Some cultivationspren don’t choose their bond partners individually. Instead, the Ring determines these assignments, preferring people with deep empathy or who foster other life (such as caretakers, farmers, and doctors). The Ring also prioritizes those people they believe are favored by the Blessed Mother, Cultivation, who all cultivationspren revere.
When an Edgedancer completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Cultivationspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Abrasion and Progression talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a cultivationspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Roleplaying a Cultivationspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a cultivationspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. A cultivationspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, cultivationspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. However, when cultivationspren move, their crystalline vines are temporarily visible before collapsing to dust, making stealthy movement difficult.
Physical Interaction. Cultivationspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they’re made of thin vines, enabling them to pass through gaps with a diameter of 1 inch.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, cultivationspren can help with finding common ground or similarly understanding someone you don’t share a culture or language with (though they must still speak at least one language), Insight tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Cultivationspren Bond talent tree for the Edgedancer path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Abrasion 2+; Progression 2+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
You’ve mastered the supernatural grace told of the Edgedancers of yore.
After you start your turn with 1 Investiture or more, you gain an additional ↺, which you can use only to Avoid Danger or Dodge. If you use the Dodge reaction in this way, ignore its focus cost.
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Searing Dust Storm talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your cultivationspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Elsecallers
While the Order of Elsecallers accepts all who genuinely wish to improve themselves, the order’s combination of surges is particularly powerful in the hands of a quick and strategic mind. It also appeals to those who wish to aid others in journeys of self-improvement. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Elsecaller Radiant path: - Agent (Investigator) - Envoy (Faithful or Mentor) - Leader (Officer) - Scholar (Strategist or Surgeon) - Warrior (Soldier)
With a thunderous crash, a boulder breaches the perimeter wall. Behind it, red eyes glow through the dust. Then an Elsecaller blinks into existence next to the debris, seemingly from nowhere. With a flash of Stormlight, they solidify the dust into stone, resealing the breach. It isn’t pretty, but it’ll buy them time.
An Elsecaller turns her vision to the Cognitive Realm while her inkspren partner keeps watch from her shoulder. There, behind that wall, a deadeye! With a warning shout to her comrades, she touches the wooden door and transforms it into a brief cascade of water, then steps through to capture the treacherous Shardbearer.
An Elsecaller squats with his back to the dawn, balancing gracefully while using the light of the rising sun to read a book on Azish military strategy. Quite efficient, exercising the body and mind simultaneously.
Elsecallers have the strongest connection to the Cognitive Realm of all the Radiant Orders. They use the surges of Transformation and Transportation to outwit and outmaneuver their enemies while turning their surroundings into weapons. Transformation allows an Elsecaller to converse with the Cognitive aspect of objects, offering Stormlight and potentially convincing them to become a different material. Meanwhile, Transportation generates temporary personal perpendicularities—passageways between the Physical and Cognitive Realms—allowing the Elsecaller to peer into and travel strategically through Shadesmar.
“I will reach my potential.”
Thoughtful, careful, and cautious, Elsecallers are typically viewed as the wisest of the Radiants. For them, the words of the First Ideal aren’t simply about themselves, but about all people together. We should all be encouraged to develop our strengths and address our weaknesses, to make our journeys the best they can be. As such, Elsecaller philosophy focuses on striving and making progress. They want to reach their true potential so the world around them can do the same. See “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter for more details on the First Ideal.
Because each person’s journey toward their true potential is unique, Elsecallers have no strict patterns or themes for their Ideals beyond the First. And unlike other orders, their Ideals aren’t oaths quite so much as aspirations. An Elsecaller declares to their inkspren how they wish to improve themself, then they set out to achieve that growth.
Once you progress enough to satisfy your spren—even if you improved in a different way than they intended—declare what you have accomplished to deepen your bond and achieve the Ideal. The particular type of improvement isn’t nearly so important as constantly striving to improve, so each Ideal has Words and steps unique to that individual.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second/Third/Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
For example, you could aspire to one of the following oaths:
For each Ideal beginning with the Second, your chosen aspiration should be more difficult each time, requiring more work and strenuous introspection (though any self-improvement accepted by your inkspren partner allows you progress toward your goal).
Over the course of your campaign, it’s likely your needs and plans for improvement will change, so don’t feel as though your original list for the Second Ideal is immutable. Any earnest journey toward reaching your true potential is valid for the Elsecaller Ideals.
In the days of the ancient Radiants, the Order of Elsecallers had perhaps the most diverse membership of any order, as they accepted all who genuinely desired self-improvement. While the order had a significant contingent of scholars, theologians, and leaders, Elsecallers came from all walks of life. As a result, they also had the greatest variety of duties: some served as liaisons to the great ones among the spren, including Oathgate spren and spren cultural leaders. Others served as Shadesmar guides, military strategists, and logistical experts. Some were appointed as keepers of the Honor’s Drop—a large ruby so perfectly cut that it doesn’t leak any Stormlight—and other perfect gems.
During the Desolations, in addition to strategizing and transporting troops through Shadesmar, the Elsecallers used the surge of Transformation to turn stone and waste materials into food and water. As such, Elsecallers were invaluable for maintaining armies when supply lines were disrupted by the enemy. These qualities earned the respect of Radiants and common soldiers alike, and the order developed a reputation for benevolence.
In the modern day, though, only one Elsecaller is known: scholar and Alethi royal Jasnah Kholin, bonded to the inkspren Ivory. Thus far, no other inkspren have sought a Nahel bond. During the Recreance, the mass deaths of spren afflicted the already cautious inkspren population with a deep fear of the mercurial nature of physical beings.
In addition to being the Coalition of Monarchs’ only Elsecaller, Jasnah is a master of the surge of Transformation, but she’s only begun to explore the possibilities of Transportation. The coalition would gladly welcome new Elsecallers, and these could grow into strategically important roles during the True Desolation, especially if they’re skilled in Transportation.
To become an Elsecaller, you must first bond with an inkspren.
In the Cognitive Realm, inkspren have similar features to humans, though more angular, resembling an incomplete statue rather than a living person. Their forms are deep black, much like marble thinly coated in shimmering oil, and their forms include black clothing or armor (which is part of their essence).
In the Physical Realm, unlike other Radiant spren, inkspren look exactly the same as they do in the Cognitive Realm, though they have the ability to change their size at will—from as large as a humanoid to smaller than a grain of sand.
Inkspren are known for their unemotional logic and distinct manner of speech. They sometimes use verbs in unusual ways, commonly using “is” (and other forms of “to be”) to create efficient sentences—and in the process, they often omit other parts of speech and leave much implied. For example, instead of saying “there is a spren present,” they might say “a spren is.” Similarly, instead of “this is untrue,” an inkspren might say “this thing is not.” Inkspren are similarly minimalist with their body language, moving precisely as much as needed to express their point, and no more.
Due to their extreme distrust of and hostility toward humans since the Recreance, very little is known about inkspren culture, such as whether they have their own nation within Shadesmar. Even in the ancient days, inkspren were known for their general aversion to risk; after the mass spren casualties of the Recreance, the vast majority of remaining inkspren viewed the Nahel bond as a death sentence for any spren who forms one. Since a bonded spren now dies if their Radiant forsakes their Ideals, modern inkspren believe a bond is far too unsafe, since both humans and singers have too irrational of natures and change opinions too easily.
Some rumors tell of rare cases where inkspren killed Radiants traveling through Shadesmar, believing that this murder would save the bonded spren’s life. However, inkspren are too cautious to act on their emotions or make spur-of-the-moment decisions, so if such murders indeed occurred, they were meticulously planned.
Best described as humanoids made of black yet iridescent oil, inkspren naming conventions often evoke colors and liquids, such as Drip, Ebony, Fluid, Graphite, Indigo, Obsidian, Pigment, Sepia, Solute, and Viscosity.
Despite the overall censure of sapient physical entities in inkspren culture, a small contingent of inkspren actively seek bonds and wish to aid in the fight against Odium. When searching for a prospective bond partner, these inkspren value logic, caution, and honoring promises. They respect people who objectively consider future actions, and they distrust those who act on instinct or emotion. While such analytical qualities are common among scholars and religious adherents, they can be found in nearly any profession; for example, a thoughtful soldier who stops to assess a situation before rushing into melee would appeal to an inkspren.
Roleplaying an Inkspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with an inkspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. Unlike many Radiant spren, inkspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, inkspren can become almost imperceptibly small in the Physical Realm, and their coloring makes them exceptional at blending into shadows, so there’s little chance of them being spotted if they don’t wish to be.
Physical Interaction. Inkspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can change their size to pass through even the smallest gaps.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, inkspren can help you with Deduction, Discipline, and Stealth tests, along with Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
When an Elsecaller completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Inkspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Transformation and Transportation talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding an inkspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Inkspren Bond talent tree for the Elsecaller path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Transformation 2+; Transportation 2+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
Your shrewd reasoning and enhanced observations across realms allow you to notice details others overlook and to react with supernatural alacrity.
While you have 1 Investiture or more, you gain an advantage on Deduction tests, on tests you make as part of a reaction, and on tests to gather information while peering between the Physical and Cognitive Realms.
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Elsecaller’s Perspicacity talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your inkspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
They’re smart, strategic, and capable. They know logistics, they know tactics, and they can travel through other cultures and mindsets—and literally other worlds—better than almost anyone.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Lightweavers
The Lightweavers attract personalities of all types—from the quiet and introspective to the gregarious and outgoing—so long as they have an artistic spirit. The order is also of particular interest to those with a penchant for subterfuge. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Lightweaver Radiant path: - Agent (Investigator, Spy, or Thief) - Envoy (Diplomat) - Hunter (Assassin) - Leader (Politico) - Scholar (Strategist)
Surrounded by three opponents, a Lightweaver breathes out Stormlight to create the image of a whitespine. His enemies scoff—until the illusion’s spikes skewer one of them. The Lightweaver turns the air behind his foes into a stone wall. Now who’s cornered?
In the illusory guise of a pauper, a Lightweaver picks up a handful of pebbles and transforms them into pebble-shaped lumps of grain. She approaches a group of beggars and offers the food for boiling into porridge, striking up a friendly conversation and getting the latest gossip.
A Lightweaver stands on a stage, their trusty fiddle in hand. As they play and tell their tale, their illusions depict the scenes in exquisite detail. Coupled with the sound effects provided by their Cryptic partner, the audience is enraptured.
The Order of Lightweavers includes many painters, musicians, sculptors, thespians, and practitioners of similar arts. These Radiants create works of beauty to boost the morale of their comrades and the common people—but they also serve as the spies of the Knights Radiant. Using the surge of Illumination to deceive the senses and the surge of Transformation to alter their surroundings, Lightweavers excel at clandestine operations to gather information and sow confusion in enemy ranks.
The resonance of this order’s surges affects each Lightweaver’s senses and memory. For example, this can bestow a unique way of experiencing light and color, or it can grant the ability to perfectly recall images or scenes as if captured in a photograph.
“I will speak my truth.”
Almost all Lightweavers are artists at heart, regardless of their personal abilities. They view entertainment, art, and beauty as vital, believing that survival means nothing without also having something to live for. As such, many Lightweavers give the impression of being carefree, but this is far from the truth; their apparent frivolity is intended to create laughter, joy, and catharsis.
Some Lightweavers were drawn to the order not by art, but by their love of intrigue, secrets, and espionage. Even those who prefer artistry still perform these clandestine duties when required, and this predisposes every Lightweaver to deception. They constantly straddle the line between reality and fiction, and it can be all too easy to seek safety in lies. As such, a Lightweaver’s Ideals aren’t about speaking oaths; they center on deep introspection to find personal truth, along with readiness to confront harsh personal realities. (See “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter for details on the First Ideal.)
For each Ideal beyond the First, you must speak an uncomfortable and difficult truth about yourself, one you must recognize and address to grow as a person. Each Lightweaver must uncover the truth buried beneath the lies they tell themself.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second/Third/Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Fall short or fail, letting yourself or your allies down through your deceits.
Look inward. Acknowledge a misbelief you’ve allowed yourself or an uncomfortable fact about your history. Discoveries related to your obstacle or purpose are excellent, but you can admit anything that grounds you to your truth and allows you to grow.
For the Second Ideal, the truth you admit to yourself can be a simple emotional one; for example, after trying to convince herself she was fearless, Lightweaver Shallan Davar simply admitted she was afraid. For the Third and Fourth Ideal, though, you must plumb truly uncomfortable truths. These can include confronting traumatic experiences, examining parts of your identity you’ve found difficult to accept, addressing ingrained misbeliefs about yourself, or something else powerful and painful enough to bring you crashing back from fiction into reality. Generally, the truth for each further Ideal should increase in magnitude, though any admission accepted by your Cryptic partner allows you to complete the goal.
In the era before the Recreance, the Lightweavers were artists, entertainers, and spies. Many took it on themselves to maintain the morale of the other Radiants, creating performances, visual art, and other works of beauty. Other Lightweavers traveled Roshar, visiting the towns most affected by the Desolations and working with the other orders to rebuild homes. These Lightweavers often recreated damaged cultural works or left new pieces of their own creation, dedicated to offering beauty and art in the lives of those who most needed it.
During wartime, however, Lightweavers were sent on deep cover operations. Using Lightweavings, they disguised themselves and infiltrated enemy strongholds. These spies performed vital reconnaissance, stole battle plans, sabotaged operations, fomented dissidence, and engaged in many other acts of subterfuge and espionage.
Many other orders, especially the Skybreakers, viewed the Lightweavers with some distrust—in part due to the deception required by the Lightweavers’ activities, and also because the order doesn’t speak oaths as part of their Ideals. Many wary Radiants believed Lightweavers had loose morals, making them liable to get lost in their own lies and defect to the enemy. However, the Lightweavers had strong personal values, and each argued they didn’t need to match the stricter oaths the other orders required. As long as each Lightweaver stayed true to themself, as required by their Ideals, they were confident they’d remain true to their allies as well.
In the modern day, the Lightweavers consist of about twenty Radiants in service of the Coalition of Monarchs at Urithiru, though their numbers are growing. They were founded (in many ways unintentionally) by a young sketch artist named Shallan Davar and her bonded Cryptic, Pattern. Shallan began her journey by seeking apprenticeship with the renowned scholar Jasnah Kholin—but in reality, this was a scheme to steal Jasnah’s Soulcaster and save Shallan’s failing noble house. In the process, Shallan began seeing strange figures on the edges of her vision and subconsciously including them in her drawings. This led Shallan not only into immense paranoia, but into bonding with one of these spren, almost by accident. After several assassination attempts on both herself and Jasnah, Shallan found herself alone on a trek to the Shattered Plains. During her journey, she instinctively used her Radiant abilities to inspire others to be better versions of themselves; eventually, some of them became Lightweavers.
Shallan’s nascent Lightweavers perform much the same role as did ancient ones, though in the war on Odium, they focus on espionage and training in Surgebinding. Shallan herself has led several infiltration teams and conducted many individual clandestine operations.
To become a Lightweaver, you must bond with a Cryptic. These are sometimes called “liespren,” though the Cryptics themselves consider this term somewhat pejorative and reductive.
Each Cryptic has a unique, three-dimensional pattern of ever-shifting fractal patterns around a central point. Most physical beings find it extremely difficult to comprehend the totality of this complex movement, yet can easily recognize the fractal of a Cryptic they’ve met before.
Within the Cognitive Realm, this fractal is the Cryptic’s head. It floats atop a tall, willowy body ensconced in dark glassy robes with no folds or creases, only sharp angles. The Cryptic’s robe is part of their essence, and its planes and angles shift as the spren moves. Their hands appear chiseled from obsidian or pure white marble, yet their elongated, bony fingers move as fluidly as skin and muscle.
In the Physical Realm, a Cryptic’s fractal is their entire body, and it vibrates when they speak or hum. They can press themself into surfaces to hide, but their fractal remains slightly raised. As a result, they are easily spotted unless they actively slow their fractal’s shifting and hide on a heavily patterned surface.
Cryptics are generally fascinated with “lies,” including sarcasm, jokes, fiction, and anything else that isn’t the literal truth. When someone speaks a particularly good “lie,” Cryptics gather around them to appreciatively hum “mmmm.” But ironically, Cryptics are quite inept at constructing “lies” of their own, and they typically speak in a highly literal manner.
The vast majority of Cryptics live in one of the largest cities in Shadesmar; its name is an incomprehensibly massive number that Cryptics can recite with ease, but others can’t hope to commit to memory. Because of this, most people just refer to it as Number City. Other Radiant spren distrust Cryptics, thinking their mannerisms strange, pushy, and judgemental. However, most Cryptics are content to passively learn and listen, so they aren’t overly bothered by others’ opinions. This Cryptic tendency toward inaction doesn’t mean they don’t care about action; rather, they’re fond of planning at length, then analyzing that plan extensively until it can be refined no further. Once they make a decision, they singularly commit to it.
Cryptics don’t represent untruths, but rather the underlying mathematics and patterns that comprise Roshar and the greater cosmere. As a result, the Cryptic language is incredibly complex. They primarily speak in raw data using a variety of rapid clicking sounds and jagged tones in various frequencies. Because Cryptics are so adept at code-breaking and analyzing patterns, they can also speak many other languages of Roshar.
Roleplaying a Cryptic
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a Cryptic, also consider the following.
Language Deciphering. A Cryptic’s language-learning abilities far surpass those of other spren. After your Cryptic spends 10 minutes listening to a spoken language or 1 hour deciphering a written one, they become permanently able to use the spren Translation ability with that language, even if it isn’t Rosharan.
Perceivability. Unlike many Radiant spren, Cryptics are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, Cryptics are exceptionally adept at mimicking sounds and voices, which can be used to generate distractions and deceive others. This mimicry can be used to embellish Lightweavings, as the Cryptic can perfectly recreate the sounds of what they’re mimicking.
Physical Interaction. Cryptics are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can press themselves nearly flat against surfaces, enabling them to pass through gaps that are at least half an inch wide.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, Cryptics can help with figuring out patterns (including ciphers and codes), picking locks, Deduction tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
Once you speak the Third Ideal, your Cryptic becomes much better at detecting falsehoods, and you can use this Test Assistance ability to gain an advantage on a test to determine whether a character within your spren bond range is lying.
When a Cryptic’s complex name is translated to another language, its meaning can almost always be approximated as “Pattern.” When interacting with other cultures, Cryptics take unique names inspired by art or mathematics, such as Algorithm, Cipher, Collage, Factorial, Integral, Radial, Symbol, Template, Tessellation, and Variable.
Though some spren still generally distrust Cryptics, many others trust Cryptic logic and decision-making so completely that when the Cryptics were some of the first spren to begin bonding humans again in the modern era, the cultivationspren and several other spren cultures quickly followed suit. Most Cryptics are quite supportive of their fellows forming Nahel bonds, even though they believe (due to the Recreance) that bonding a human is a death sentence. They’ve decided the risks are worth what they can gain from becoming Knights Radiant again.
Unlike many spren, a Cryptic who seeks to bond a human often doesn’t do so alone. Instead, these Cryptics travel with a group of others to assess the prospective Lightweaver, offer moral support, and study the properties of a budding bond as it forms. They tend to look for bonding qualifications such as aptitude with falsehoods, sarcasm, and humor (which Cryptics themselves tend to lack). They also appreciate artists and other creatives who create well-constructed “lies,” including fictional and imaginative works of art.
When a Lightweaver completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Cryptic Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Illumination and Transformation talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a Cryptic, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Cryptic Bond talent tree for the Lightweaver path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Searing Dust Storm talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Speak the Fourth Ideal; Wound Regeneration talent Activation: ▶▶
By mixing Transformation and Illumination, you create illusions with weight and tangibility.
Spend 1 Investiture or more to use your Illumination surge to infuse a physical illusion in thin air, following the normal rules for either a simple or complex illusion.
However, unlike other illusions, this physical illusion occupies its space as if it were real; objects can’t pass through it, and if it’s Medium or larger, it can be used as cover. This illusion weighs half as much as the real version would (maximum of 25 pounds per surge rank). Though it isn’t a character, it has health equal to 5 × your ranks in Transformation, and each of its defenses equals 10 + your Transformation modifier. If the illusion is reduced to 0 health, its infusion ends early and any infused Investiture is lost.
When you control your physical illusion, it can interact with its environment (such as an illusionary chicken flying into a windowpane). You can use ▶ to task one of your physical illusions with something that requires a test (such as attacking someone) or your careful attention (such as writing a note).
When the illusion’s task requires a test, you must be able to sense its target, and you use your Illumination instead of that test’s usual skill. For example, if the illusion is attacking with a real weapon, test your Illumination but otherwise follow the normal rules for that attack.
While wielding an illusionary weapon, the illusion can make a melee attack against the Physical defense of a target within its reach. This attack deals either keen or impact damage depending on the illusionary weapon, and the size of its damage dice increases with your ranks in Transformation: at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 damage; at 3 ranks, roll 2d8 damage; and so on. As usual, on a hit, add your Illumination modifier to damage, and on a miss, you can spend 1 focus to graze with that attack.
The other orders stand on ceremony, tradition, or arcane systems of laws and rights and organizations. Lightweavers just get the job done in whatever way’s best, beholden to no one but themselves. And they use art to do it.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your Cryptic by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Skybreakers
Skybreakers are investigators, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and litigators. Some focus on the physical aspects of law enforcement, while others become experts in the legal codes of nations throughout Roshar. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Skybreaker Radiant path: - Agent (Investigator or Spy) - Envoy (Diplomat) - Hunter (Archer or Assassin) - Scholar (Strategist) - Warrior (Duelist)
A Skybreaker announces his presence at a residence as he sends his highspren partner to invisibly scout the interior. After waiting the requisite time with no response, he decays the door into dust. The infractions within abound, from improper facility maintenance to unlawful bondage and mistreatment of captives. The Skybreaker notes each infraction while freeing the prisoners, then begins his hunt for the perpetrators.
Deserters stalk through the night toward a sleeping merchant encampment. They’ve just unsheathed their weapons when a cone of flame illuminates the landscape around them. Skybreakers glide in its wake, surrounding the bandits. The Radiants had been tracking this group for days, and they finally caught the criminals in the act.
For months, the Skybreaker has been preparing her case for an audience with the Prime Aqasix and his viziers, studying laws and proceedings to write a faultless petition essay. She now stands in the throne room of the Bronze Palace, presenting arguments that back pay should be granted to the formerly enslaved “parshmen” singers.
Skybreakers are justice incarnate, ensuring that power is never abused and that order never devolves into chaos. Though other Radiant orders see them as rigid fanatics, Skybreakers typically use moral codes and legal structures to fight for justice, protect civilization, and champion vital causes. They are the bane of tyrants, violent criminals, anarchists, and all who seek to pervert the law and prey on the weak. With the surges of Gravitation and Division, Skybreakers can bypass or annihilate nearly any obstacle that hinders them from delivering justice.
“I will seek justice.”
The highest purpose of the Order of Skybreakers is to ensure that the law serves everyone well, preventing both tyranny and anarchy so that all have a fair chance to live peaceful and happy lives. In particular, they believe it’s their job to prevent the other Radiant orders from abusing influence or Surgebinding power. To this end, Skybreakers strive to change unjust laws, while otherwise working within the law to serve the people—often by exploiting loopholes in unfair laws.
Skybreaker Ideals focus on fighting for justice, upholding codes, and protecting civilization. In the modern era, the Ideals beyond the First typically follow a rigid pattern; see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter for details on the First Ideal. If you’re bonded to an independent highspren that isn’t part of Nale’s faction (see “Skybreaker History”), you can use the patterns and common phrases below to inspire your own oaths that are less rigid.
“I swear to seek justice, to let it guide me, until I find a more perfect Ideal.”
This oath, known as the Ideal of Justice, is typically sworn when a Skybreaker master—one who has spoken the Fourth Ideal—accepts you as their squire. However, this isn’t strictly required for those independent from Nale. Either way, the oath represents that you’re in the process of learning, and that you swear obedience to the written code of law (as well as to your master, if you have one). The Second Ideal requires you to learn firsthand what laws serve the people and which do not—essential preparation for the higher Ideals, which allow you to choose which laws you follow and which you don’t.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I swear to follow…”
Known as the Ideal of Dedication, the Third Ideal is an oath pledging yourself to a singular authority: perhaps a code of conduct, a law, or even a specific person. Highspren outside of Nale’s faction might even accept you swearing to a criminal organization. This Ideal demands that you follow the laws, orders, and tenets of your chosen entity, even if their codes change later on. While obedience is still a prominent element of this Ideal, you gain some agency in which laws you follow; you can ignore the rules of other entities and nations who contradict or aren’t included in your pledge. For example, the Skybreaker Szeth spoke this Ideal as “… the will of Dalinar Kholin,” swearing himself to the honorable king of Urithiru.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Uniquely, you must speak the Fourth Ideal of the Skybreakers before actually completing it. Though the specific words of this Ideal of Crusade are individualized for each Skybreaker, in swearing it, you pledge to take on a personal quest with the permission of (or in keeping with the tenets of) your pledged entity. You only become a Fourth Ideal Skybreaker after succeeding to your highspren’s satisfaction. Your quest must include rooting out an injustice from a system; as a result, many Skybreakers take decades to complete theirs, if ever.
For example, Szeth declared that his quest was to “cleanse the Shin of their false leaders, so long as Dalinar Kholin agrees.”
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
The Order of Skybreakers was founded to mimic the abilities of the Honorblade of Nale, Herald of Justice. Nale is a willful and uncompromising man who is obsessed with law and order. He excels at adhering to the exact written letter of the law of whatever land he’s in… and at finding and exploiting loopholes. He once was more compassionate in his execution of the law, but he has grown more rigid and merciless over the millennia; in the modern day, he always seeks the maximum penalty for offenders without any leniency.
In the ancient days of the Knights Radiant, the Skybreakers served as military police and international law enforcement, tasked with keeping the peace, containing dark and dangerous forces, and monitoring the other orders. The Skybreakers feared that Radiants would think themselves above the law and become tyrants, so they kept a vigilant watch for abuses of Surgebinding. This caused frequent conflicts with other orders, especially the Windrunners and Dustbringers, with whom they had many moral disagreements. But the ancient Skybreakers valued mercy regardless of whether a criminal was Radiant; they understood that the law isn’t perfect, and as they upheld it, they focused on protecting the weak from the strong.
When the Recreance occurred, the Skybreakers were the only Radiant order that didn’t forswear their oaths. Instead, Nale clandestinely reclaimed his Honorblade from Shinovar, bonded a highspren—becoming the only known Herald to also become a Radiant—and began directly leading the Skybreakers as a secret police. For millennia, he has shaped the order in his own increasingly extreme visage: his highspren only bond the candidates he chooses, his Skybreakers are inflexible and merciless in their interpretation of the law, and he has implemented a testing program to determine the worthiness of hopefuls. Decades ago, the Bondsmith Herald Ishar told Nale that the return of the Radiants would hasten the return of the Voidbringers; in response, Nale ordered the Skybreakers on a crusade to either recruit or execute anyone they could find with even a nascent spren bond.
The vast majority of modern Skybreakers are part of Nale’s faction, which stands in contempt of the refounded Knights Radiant at Urithiru. Nale’s Skybreakers operate out of a Marabethian fortress overlooking the Purelake. While traveling, they wear the uniforms of local law enforcement (regardless of their own ethnicity or nationality), eschewing clothing or iconography that would identify them as Radiant. After the True Desolation, Nale declared that the singers were the original owners of Roshar—and thus, that their law was the true law of the land—and he allied his faction with the singers.
Szeth-son-Honor is the most prominent Skybreaker who has defected from Nale’s command to join Dalinar Kholin and the Coalition of Monarchs. There are other defectors from Nale’s faction who would join the refounded Knights Radiant or another party, and some independent highspren could choose to bond a prospective Radiant in defiance of Nale’s will.
To become a Skybreaker, you must bond with a highspren, whether one of Nale’s or an independent spren.
In the Cognitive Realm, highspren have a humanoid shape—but that form appears as a void in reality through which stars can be seen. This starscape doesn’t move with the spren; instead, their movement seems to pan across a night sky. Each highspren’s form seems to outline clothing and hair, which move as if a physical wind were blowing on their form. And despite appearing to be holes in the universe, their bodies are fully solid and can be touched. When viewed straight on, highspren don’t have discernible facial features; most people can recognize individuals only by their silhouette and voice, though highspren can recognize each other with no difficulty.
Within the Physical Realm, highspren usually appear as black slits in the air, which they can expand to reveal their starfield. They tend to be not much larger than a foot in any dimension, and the air seems to warp around them as they move.
Roleplaying a Highspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a highspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. A highspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, highspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to anyone (including other spren) without a specific ability to perceive spren.
Unlike other spren, highspren can become invisible even to their bonded Skybreaker. They can also read their Radiant’s thoughts while within spren bond range, allowing for completely silent communication between the two.
Physical Interaction. Highspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm, but they don’t have the ability to pass through objects. They lack malleable forms but are mostly two-dimensional; as a result, they can’t shrink down, but can pass through very thin openings.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, highspren can help with investigating crimes and determining guilt or innocent, Intimidation tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
Highspren inhabit isolated settlements in Shadesmar. They don’t tend to live in close proximity to other spren, who see them as fanatical, righteous, and strict. Honorspren particularly dislike highspren.
Highspren culture idealizes obedience, order, and following the law; many highspren have an encyclopedic knowledge of legal codes from societies in both the Cognitive and Physical Realms. Because of Nale’s own dedication to the exact letter of law, many highspren seem to worship him, or have at least pledged their allegiance.
Many highspren are reluctant to share their names with non-highspren. Highspren names are numbers. Unlike Cryptics, who often have complex equations as their names, highspren names tend to be straightforward numbers like 13294, 0–11, or 3405.
Historically, highspren looked for prospective Radiants with a strong, unflinching moral code—even if it’s a criminal code—or someone who believes in the importance of societies having rules that govern behavior. This could be an empathetic soul who tries to change systems from within to better serve the weak, a stout defender of the public that believes in protecting the innocent, a moral warrior who wishes to punish the guilty, or any other individual who believes in true justice.
In the modern era, however, the majority of highspren will bond only to an aspirant presented to them by Nale. Even then, the hopeful must first pass trials and tests proctored by existing Skybreaker masters. Promising candidates tend to be disciplined individuals zealous about peacekeeping, obedience, and the rule of law.
Nale’s faction of highspren don’t form a bond until their Skybreaker speaks the Second Ideal; if you want to play a current or former member of Nale’s Skybreakers, see the “GM Tip: Skybreakers and Canon” sidebar in the “Highspren Bond Talents” section.
When a Skybreaker completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Highspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Division and Gravitation talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a highspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Highspren Bond talent tree for the Skybreaker path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You immediately speak the Fourth Ideal and must decide on a suitable quest in line with your values. You gain the goal “Complete Your Fourth Ideal Quest.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Soaring Destruction talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your highspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ◆
You excel at using Division while sweeping through the air with Gravitation.
After you Move while maintaining a Basic Lashing on yourself with your Gravitation surge, spend 1 focus to gain ▶, which can be used only for Division or one of its talents.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
GM Tip: Skybreakers and Canon
Within the Stormlight Archive books, Skybreakers who serve Nale can’t even breathe in Stormlight upon speaking the First Ideal, let alone use surges. (However, it’s possible that independent Skybreakers who don’t follow Nale might ignore these restrictions.)
If your group wishes to emulate this element of canon in your own game, Nale’s Skybreakers gain their abilities as follows:
Second Ideal Goal. Upon completing their “Speak the Second Ideal” goal, a Skybreaker gains access to Investiture and to the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions. They also gain the surge of Gravitation and can choose its talents.
Third Ideal Goal. Upon completing their “Speak the Third Ideal” goal, a Skybreaker gains the surge of Division and can choose its talents.
To accomplish this delayed progression, replace the entire First Ideal talent with the following.
First Ideal. When you acquire this talent, your maximum health increases by 1 per level. This applies to all previous and future levels; for example, if you choose this talent at level 3, retroactively increase your maximum health by 3. Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you become Empowered until the end of that scene, and your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum and current focus do as well.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Stonewards
Stonewards are known for their teamwork, dependability, and love of a good challenge. People who enjoy sport, martial arts, or wilderness exploration easily find themselves drawn to the Stonewards. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Stoneward Radiant path: - Envoy (Mentor) - Hunter (Tracker) - Leader (Champion or Officer) - Warrior (Duelist, Shardbearer, or Soldier)
A Stoneward reaches one hand out to touch their ally’s shirt, transforming it into a substance harder than diamond. Meanwhile, their other hand scoops into softened stone and flings a handful at an enemy. The ally’s hardened cloth deflects the enemy’s blade just as the resolidified rock slams into the enemy’s chest.
Backing into a canyon, a Stoneward removes her sash, pulls it taut, and makes it stronger than tempered steel. As her enemies enter the canyon, the Stoneward wills the earth to seal behind her, then charges forth to crush her foes.
A Stoneward rushes toward the mess hall for a late dinner. One thing after another has delayed him; he stopped to hang a banner for a merchant, moved a couch for an elderly couple, and held a large fabrial in place while an artifabrian welded it. Food can wait when there are people who need help! The mess hall finally enters his sight—but with the approval and amusement of his peakspren partner, the Stoneward diverts once more to help a work crew unload boxes of provisions.
The Order of Stonewards are the heavy infantry of the Knights Radiant, standing side by side with their allies as an unflinching vanguard. With their two surges, Cohesion and Tension, the entire environment is theirs to wield. They can use Cohesion to sculpt stone and earth, strategically blocking and slowing their enemies while creating vantage points and cover for their allies. With Tension, they can turn even the softest materials into powerful weapons and armor. And their focus on teamwork makes them an invaluable part of any unit.
“I will be there when I’m needed.”
Stonewards often put the interests of others before their own. Dependability is one of their core tenets, and they strive to never let anyone down. Stonewards help strangers in need, and they always make time to support their friends—which sometimes leads to taking on large projects that are more than they can handle. They love to challenge themselves, approaching even the most daunting situations with a can-do attitude.
To a Stoneward, teamwork is beloved, even sacred. They nurture their social skills, learning to connect with even the most abrasive of personalities. When working with a group for extended periods, Stonewards typically coordinate everyone to work together efficiently and effectively, and after a job well done, they’re usually generous with praise.
However, most Stonewards are also remarkably stubborn. They don’t like to admit defeat, retreat, or leave projects unfinished, and they’re almost always the last to leave the battlefield or the work area. More than any other order, Stonewards refuse to bend their oaths for the sake of convenience, and many develop a habit of self-sacrifice to live up to them.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), each centers on humbly supporting those in need and helping people achieve their dreams. While each Stoneward expresses the Words in their own way, they tend to follow certain patterns. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“I will step forward when others fall back.”
The Second Ideal, at its core, is about dependability, about pushing through seemingly impossible odds that others balk at. Instead of crumbling under the weight of a challenge, you do everything in your power to rise gleefully to the occasion. You don’t bend, break, give up, or compromise; once you give your word, you accomplish it or die trying. But even more importantly, as a Stoneward, you commit to be where you’re needed and do whatever’s required of you to support your friends and allies.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I will be the foundation on which others can build.”
In many ways, the Second Ideal is self-aggrandizing, causing Stonewards to compare themselves to others and strive to come out on top. Meanwhile, the Third Ideal requires you to recognize you’re only one piece of a greater whole, and it’s your duty to use the strength and dependability you’ve cultivated to support all who need you, not just a select few. Your aspirations should always come second to the people you serve.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
The previous two Ideals taught you to staunchly embrace difficulty so you can overcome it, especially in the service of others. However, this causes many Stonewards to deny not only their personal desires, but their essential needs. Though the specific words are individualized for each Stoneward, the Fourth Ideal recognizes that it’s impossible to consistently help others if you don’t care for yourself. There’s a difference between sacrificing your interests and sacrificing your needs; this Ideal requires you to learn the difference. You must both ask for and allow yourself to receive the care you need, which allows you to continue serving others without crumbling under your own expectations.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
During the Desolations, the Stonewards acted as elite ground troops. They were renowned as the Radiants’ finest soldiers, though the Windrunners often contested them for this title. Stonewards typically operated in units made up entirely of their order, but they could also be called on to lead units of non-Invested troops or offer support to Radiants of other orders. They were known to face down any odds with gleeful anticipation and to never leave allies behind during a strategic retreat. While Stonewards generally weren’t inventors or creators, they had a reputation for improvisational problem-solving; in even the most dire situations with minimal resources, their presence could improve the odds. This dependability earned them the respect and appreciation of all the other orders—even the Windrunners, their friendly rivals.
In times of peace between Desolations, many Stonewards organized and participated in competitions, especially sporting leagues and fighting tournaments. Participation in these events was open to all, and they generally drew crowds of spectators with betting aplenty. Other Stonewards loved the outdoors and embarked on expeditions to explore the less-charted regions of Roshar. Still others preferred simply helping communities, either traveling to find those in need or staying at home to support their neighbors.
In the modern day, a small but growing number of Stonewards fight in the war against Odium. Ever the supporting players, none have yet gained fame or taken a prominent role, but they assist in the goals of the modern Radiants at Urithiru. Their number includes Dami, the Stormwall who fought in the war in Emul, as well as the Iriali woman Zu and her peakspren partner Ua’pam, who joined a diplomatic delegation to the honorspren capital Lasting Integrity to entreat the spren to bond more Windrunners.
To become a Stoneward, you must bond with a peakspren, the personification of mountains.
In the Cognitive Realm, peakspren are broad-shouldered and tall, their height generally surpassing seven feet. Each peakspren appears to be made of a single rock, but across individuals, the colors and textures of that stone have enormous variety. Some peakspren are as smooth as polished marble, while others are rough and porous as basalt. Each peakspren’s form is crossed by a unique network of fissures, which often resemble glyphs or other symbols. Their eyes, mouths, nostrils, ear canals, and fissures give off a soft, molten glow, though their skin is only slightly warm to the touch. Like their appearance suggests, peakspren move heavily, and their movements and voices both sound like grinding stone. They can’t change shape and their clothing isn’t part of their essence, so they typically import Unkalaki garments and wear them the way the Unkalaki do.
While in the Physical Realm, peakspren appear as miniature versions of themselves, only about a hand-length tall. However, in the Physical Realm, they don’t necessarily have fissures or facial features, nor do they glow with molten light, making them look like a humanoid figurine carved from rock.
Peakspren culture has many parallels to the Unkalaki of the Horneater Peaks, from the builds of their bodies and their preferred fashions to their speech patterns and mannerisms.
Like the Unkalaki, peakspren tend to be pacifistic (though they remain non-judgmental if their bonded Radiant disagrees). Peakspren avoid violence unless absolutely necessary, and they place a much higher value on providing and caring for family than they do on martial prowess.
Peakspren culture isn’t centralized, and several different tribes live throughout Shadesmar. Unlike the monolithic tendencies of other spren cultures, peakspren tribes have great variety in their opinions and cultural values—and there’s quite a bit of rivalry
between them. Some tribes find joy in the Radiants’ return, while others remain bitter about the Recreance and hold nothing but scorn for the new knights and the spren who bonded them; meanwhile, other tribes have every possible opinion in between.
Unsurprisingly, peakspren naming conventions are similar to those of the Unkalaki. Such names include Autu, Hinlan’ai, Kun’ai’lam, Ku’tah’no, Lun’ha’ua, Na’mi’ahu, Nua’lan, Tik’he’aku, Toam’ul, and Una’tanu.
When a peakspren seeks a prospective Radiant to bond, they tend to value jovial and helpful individuals. Most greatly enjoy conversation and friendly competition, so they often look for gregarious or athletic people, especially if the person enjoys being part of a close-knit group.
When a Stoneward completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Peakspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Cohesion and Tension talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a peakspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Roleplaying a Peakspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a peakspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. Unlike many Radiant spren, peakspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, peakspren blend in well with rocky environments, and they can hide within stone (see “Physical Interaction” below), making them extremely difficult to detect.
Physical Interaction. Peakspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through most materials, but they can move through and occupy stone and other earthen materials as if in thin air. While within stone, their sight, hearing, and ability to speak audibly aren’t limited. When a peakspren leaves their rocky hiding place, they appear to be breaking out of the rock. The stone quickly melds back together and becomes whole, leaving no trace of the peakspren’s passage.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, peakspren can help with supporting or coordinating individuals (especially unruly ones), Athletics tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Peakspren Bond talent tree for the Stoneward path.
Prerequisite: Cohesion 2+; Tension 2+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
Stonewards strive to exemplify determination and teamwork. Their resolve shows allies where to intuitively hold the line.
After you use the Gain Advantage action while having 1 Investiture or more, whether you succeed or fail, the next test an ally makes against that target gains an advantage. Until the end of your next turn, while standing on stone, you can’t be moved against your will or knocked Prone.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Searing Dust Storm talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your peakspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
As a Stoneward, you can have a maximum number of squires up to your current level. If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Truthwatchers
The Order of Truthwatchers attracts those who seek truth wherever it can be found: artifabrians, scientists, philosophers, journalists, and all manner of scholars and thinkers. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Truthwatcher Radiant path: - Agent (Investigator or Thief) - Envoy (Diplomat or Faithful) - Scholar (Artifabrian, Strategist, or Surgeon)
A stormform creeps through a back alley, hunting a fleeing man—then vines burst from an illusory wall and pin the Regal to the opposite building. A Truthwatcher follows the branches from his disguised branching path, then he grins. Works every time.
During the tense negotiation, the Truthwatcher has stood back and allowed others to speak. But after the highlord spits out yet another ignorant piece of drivel, they’ve finally had enough. The Truthwatcher steps forward and conjures an illusion of the magnificent leader the highlord could’ve been if he were a better man. The highlord’s voice quavers before falling silent, and the Truthwatcher steps back to allow the talks to resume.
As the red crystalline form of her mistspren partner floats above her head, an Enlightened Truthwatcher meditates and attempts to send herself into a vision of the ancient Radiants. If only she could discover the secrets of ancient fabrial technology, it would revolutionize everything.
The cosmere contains countless secrets and mysteries. Truthwatchers live to uncover and solve as many as possible, acting as the researchers and investigative reporters of the Knights Radiant. Their quest for knowledge can take them almost anywhere, and their surges of Progression and Illumination empower them with illusions and plant structures as they explore enemy strongholds or long-lost ruins. Meanwhile, the power of Regrowth helps them survive the experience, providing crucial healing for themselves and their allies. A Truthwatcher with an Enlightened mistspren partner can gain additional power from the Future Sight talent, granting them visions of possible futures and even more paths to discovery.
“I will seek truth.”
At its core, the mission of the Truthwatchers is to search for ultimate truths and share them. They believe that knowledge belongs to everyone, and they refuse to tolerate the misuse or malicious withholding of information—especially when those in power are lying to their people. However, the order isn’t a monolith, and its members frequently disagree on what truths are the most important, or even on the nature of “truth” itself. Acknowledging that many truths are subjective, Truthwatchers are open to changing their beliefs as they learn new information. They generally greet differences in opinion with excitement, and they often enjoy engaging in spirited debates.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), a Truthwatcher must actively pursue discovery and spread what they learn, regardless of what fields they specialize in or what beliefs they hold. The Words are different for each Truthwatcher, but they tend to follow certain patterns. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“I will seek truth wherever it is hidden.”
For knowledge to be shared, it must first be discovered. The Second Ideal swears you to actively search for new discoveries and answers to mysteries. You choose which truths to seek, but success or failure in these pursuits doesn’t matter. It only matters that you deliberately seek to learn.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I will reveal truth to all who seek it.”
A core belief of the Truthwatchers is that knowledge belongs to everyone; when you hoard secrets, you harm the greater world. The Third Ideal obligates you to share truth with anyone who would benefit from it. Despite the broadness of the oath, you don’t need to share everything you ever discovered with every person you meet; this Ideal focuses on sharing knowledge that has been deliberately withheld from those who would most benefit, such as sharing proprietary agricultural techniques with struggling farmers, or publicizing fabrial technology previously kept secret by one nation’s artifabrians.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Sharing delicate truths can have consequences, especially for the person sharing and those they hold dear. Since such consequences vary between individuals and types of truth, each Truthwatcher’s Fourth Ideal is unique. Regardless of the specific words, this oath requires you to acknowledge the likely consequences of sharing well-kept secrets and knowledge forbidden by the powerful, and then to share those truths despite the risks—no matter who might try to ignore or silence you, and no matter what price you might pay.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
In the days of the ancient Radiants, the Order of Truthwatchers was known as the most scholarly and quiet of the orders. Most Truthwatchers primarily served as scientists, commonly researching the nature and limits of Surgebinding, fabrials, and other technologies. As a result, the order was celebrated for many innovations. The ranks of the Truthwatchers also included philosophers and other thinkers who tended to get lost in their thoughts. While these Radiants often seemed reserved in face-to-face conversation, they excitedly explained and debated their discoveries, especially in writing. Truthwatchers published many manuscripts and spread them across Roshar for interested parties to access.
A minority of Truthwatchers concerned themselves with the actions of the powerful. These Radiants acted like investigative reporters, loudly and forcefully voicing their opinions if they discovered that a leader or other powerful person was abusing their power or lying to their people.
Thousands of years after the Recreance, only a few Truthwatchers have appeared. Unlike the Windrunners, Skybreakers, and Lightweavers, there’s no central organization among Truthwatchers; they are scattered and disparate individuals each finding their own way. However, a society calling themselves “Watchers of Pailiah” has formed to further the Herald Pailiah’s interests; this organization is shrouded in secrecy, but it has at least one actual Truthwatcher among its agents. Of the Radiant Truthwatchers outside this organization, several have aligned themselves with the modern Radiants at Urithiru. A phenomenon has emerged among them that differs greatly from the ancient order: Enlightened Truthwatchers.
Enlightened Truthwatchers bond to mistspren that became willingly corrupted by the Unmade Sja-anat. This alters the spren’s appearance and the abilities granted by their spren bond. These unusual powers include future sight, which is believed to be related to Odium and Voidbinding. Renarin Kholin and the Enlightened mistspren Glys were the first known pair of this new type of Radiant, and they’ve begun carefully recruiting to bolster their number for the continued war against Odium.
Enlightened Truthwatchers
With your GM’s permission, you might be able to bond with a mistspren who has been Enlightened by Sja-anat. As an Enlightened Truthwatcher, you begin having visions of the past and future. When you bond this mistspren, you gain the Future Sight key talent from the Enlightened talent tree (see the end of this “Truthwatcher” entry). Later, after you speak the First Ideal, you can choose additional talents from this talent tree, in addition to the talents from your Truthwatcher path.
As these Truthwatchers continue experimenting with the surge, they usually become adept in Spiritual Lightweaving, which excels in affecting hearts and minds. When choosing Illumination talents, you’re encouraged to select talents from the left side of the tree. These talents include Distracting Illusion, Disorienting Flash, Spiritual Illumination, and Painful Truth; you might also choose Endless Illusions in addition to or instead of Painful Truth.
To become a Truthwatcher, you must bond with a mistspren—but is your spren simply a mistspren, or are they Enlightened?
Mistspren appear in the Cognitive Realm as a mass of mist; though they can shape this as they please, they generally prefer a humanoid shape. Atop the mist floats a translucent crystal mask shaped like a human face, which looks like solid porcelain until it catches the light. A mistspren’s mask is part of their essence, but it’s the only part they can’t shape to their will, and it doesn’t move even when they speak. Despite a mistspren’s diaphanous appearance, their body is completely solid, and most mistspren wear clothing from the Physical Realm that suits their occupation.
In the Physical Realm, mistspren look like shimmers of light refracted through a prism onto a surface, and each mistspren’s pattern is unique. These lights can even appear floating midair and without a light source. When mistspren hold still, plant-like structures of light begin to grow atop them, then retract once the mistspren begins to move. Though a mistspren can alter the shape of their light shimmer, they’re each still recognizable by the shape of the plant-like light that grows from them.
Mistspren are known for their highly curious natures and zest for novelty and adventure. They’re greatly interested in learning how other people think and looking at things from new and different perspectives. They love adventure, and combined with their hard-working and generally uncomplaining nature, this leads many mistspren to be crewmembers on the ships that sail the bead oceans of Shadesmar (particularly on honorspren vessels).
Lovers of nature and beauty, and closer to Cultivation than to Honor, many mistspren have descriptive, poetic names such as Adrift-in-Shade, Constant-despite-Shifting, Flowing-and-Shapeless, Hopeful-in-Measure, Temperance-through-Strife, Truth-without-Bounds, and Weeping-though-Joyful.
Most mistspren seem to view the prospect of bonding a Radiant with general indifference. However, Enlightened mistspren (described in the next section) all seem to be actively seeking a Nahel bond. Enlightened or not, when a mistspren seeks a bond, they tend to look for people with unique or interesting perspectives about the world, especially social outsiders. They’re also attracted to people who spend a lot of time in their own heads and who aren’t afraid to look at things in different ways, such as philosophers, scientists, and scholars.
The Unmade Sja-anat has recently been experimenting with injecting Voidlight into various types of spren, changing their appearance and properties. Though she has freely experimented with the more animal-like spren, she won’t experiment on sapient spren without express consent. Mistspren, who welcome new experiences, were the first Radiant spren to accept Sja-anat’s offer.
While the word “corrupted” is sometimes used to describe spren altered by Sja-anat, she and her altered mistspren instead call these spren Enlightened. In Shadesmar, the mist of an Enlightened mistspren’s body is a deep ruby red, and their face mask is absent, leaving in its place a swirling red void. In the Physical Realm, they look like red crystalline structures that “drip” light upward.
Mistspren who have been Enlightened seem to take on new and simpler names such as Bryn, Goli, Kyhe, Mele, Qima, Ruka, and Vlor.
Roleplaying a Mistspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a mistspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. A mistspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, mistspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren.
If your mistspren is Enlightened, you can hold silent telepathic conversations with them while they’re in your spren bond range. If your mistspren isn’t Enlightened, you must speak aloud to them (until you reach the Third Ideal and manifest them as a Radiant Shardblade).
Physical Interaction. Mistspren are nearly incorporeal in the Physical Realm. They can’t pass through objects, but they can easily flow through even the smallest gaps. Additionally, Enlightened mistspren can hide within the body of non-sapient characters and remain within them. If they do so with a cremling, the mistspren gains some control of it; however, at the GM’s discretion, you may need to spend some focus for the cremling to perform complex tasks or act against its instincts.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, mistspren can help with approaching and engaging in new experiences, understanding others’ perspectives, Persuasion tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
When a Truthwatcher completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Mistspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Illumination and Progression talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a mistspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Mistspren Bond talent tree for the Truthwatcher path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Spiritual Healing talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your mistspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Illumination 2+; Progression 2+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You mix Illumination and Regrowth to skillfully repair the mind and soul.
Before you restore health to yourself or a willing ally, you can spend 2 Investiture to instead cause the target to recover half as much focus (rounded up) as they would have recovered health.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges
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you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
If you bond an Enlightened mistspren (see the earlier “Enlightened Mistspren” section), you gain the Future Sight talent for free. This unlocks access to the remaining talents in the Future Sight tree, which you can choose as usual when you gain a level.
Prerequisite: Bond an Enlightened mistspren Activation: ★
As a Truthwatcher bonded to an Enlightened mistspren, you have enigmatic visions of the future, which are initially outside your control.
After a short or long rest or at the start of any scene, you can ask the GM for a vision of the future. If the GM deems an event in the near future to be important enough to trigger a vision, you have a vision. Most concern events within the next day, but events with wider-reaching implications might be seen earlier than that. At the GM’s discretion, they can have you make a Deduction test to determine how much you can see and understand; depending on the result, the GM might tell you what the vision reveals about upcoming events, or they might simply describe a jumbled vision with confusing glimpses that don’t grant useful information. The GM can spend ⚡ from this test to secretly and randomly determine whether to give you true or false information.
After you complete your goal to “Speak the First Ideal,” you gain access to the later talents on this talent tree.
Prerequisite: Glimpse the Future talent Activation: ↺
You use your glimpses of possibilities to control the outcome of events.
Each time you finish a long rest, roll a number of d20s equal to 1 + your tier, and record each result.
When an enemy or willing ally you can sense makes a test, you can use a reaction to replace the test’s d20 roll with one of your recorded numbers. You can replace that number after you see their die roll and after they apply any advantages, but you must do so before the effects of the test are resolved.
You lose a recorded number after you use it to replace a d20 roll or after a long rest.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal; Future Sight key talent Activation: ★
You have vague visions of future possibilities, giving you some sway to divert your Fortune.
Once per round after you roll the dice for a test, you can spend 1 Investiture or more to reroll that many of the test’s dice. The original rolls have no effect and you must use the new result.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal; Future Sight key talent Activation: ★
You can attempt to direct your visions to see past events; the further back you look, the harder they are to glimpse.
After a long rest, you can choose one past event you’ve either heard about or experienced, then make a Lore test. The DC is determined by how long ago the event took place, as shown on the Past Sight DC table. This DC is reduced by 10 if you’ve experienced the event before, whether in person or through a vision.
Past Sight DC
| Max Time Since Event | Test DC |
|---|---|
| 1 day | DC 10 |
| 10 days | DC 13 |
| 50 days | DC 16 |
| 1 year | DC 19 |
| 10 years | DC 22 |
| 100 years | DC 25 |
| 1,000 years | DC 30 |
| 10,000 years | DC 35 |
On a successful test, you experience a vision of 10 minutes of the event as though you were there. If the event is one you’ve experienced before, you can choose to appear in a specific different location or time within that event. You are a passive observer in the vision, invisible, intangible, and otherwise unable to alter the course of the event in any way.
Prerequisite: Glimpse the Future talent or Search the Past talent Activation: ∞
Thanks to your ability to see the future and change its course, you and your nearby allies create a black spot in the future sight of others.
You and each ally within your spren bond range are immune to any enemy effect that would reroll or replace the result of any die rolled by you or those allies.
Additionally, if you’re present in or strongly influencing an event, no enemy can ever see visions of that event, whether they’re viewing it as a future event or a past one.
★ Future Sight (Enlightened Key) Prerequisite: Bond an Enlightened mistspren Ask the GM for a vision of the future. If the vision requires interpretation, test Deduction; on a ⚡, the vision might be unreliable.
★ Glimpse the Future Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Spend 1 Investiture or more to reroll that many dice from your test.
★ Search the Past Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Choose a past event you’re familiar with and test Lore (DC determined by time since that event). On success, you have a 10-minute vision of that event.
↺ Alter Fortune Preroll d20s equal to 1 + your tier. You can replace enemy and ally d20 rolls with those numbers.
∞ Vision Void You and allies within your spren bond range are immune to enemy effects that reroll your dice, and enemies can’t see visions of events you influence.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Willshapers
Willshapers are freedom fighters, teachers, and leaders who all work in their own ways to free the oppressed and create opportunities for others to express themselves. Even before bonding lightspren, Willshapers are often architects, crafters, and civil engineers. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Willshaper Radiant path: - Envoy (Mentor) - Leader (Champion, Officer, or Politico) - Scholar (Artifabrian or Surgeon) - Warrior (Soldier)
In a flash of light, a Willshaper appears in front of a group of soldiers, palms on the ground at the enemies’ feet. The stone beneath the squad becomes a quagmire, each plunging to their waist before the ground resolidifies and traps them. The Willshaper slips back into the Cognitive Realm to prepare for the next contingent.
Shackled in a cell, prisoners cower at the sounds of battle reverberating through the stone. Their chains unexpectedly go slack; with mouths agape, the prisoners watch the wall behind them melt like fresh crem. Beyond it, they see a Willshaper humming while his lightspren partner pulses, both to a reassuring rhythm. The captives are free.
Tears in their eyes, a family watches their destroyed house rise from the rubble. Its stone reassembles seemingly of its own volition, emerging whole and undamaged. The Willshaper steps away from the restored walls with a smile on her lips; it’s an easy task when the stone remembers well the home it’s supposed to be.
Willshapers embody freedom. This can be the freedom of liberating the captive, but also the freedom of choice and self-expression. They’re the builders and craftspeople of the Knights Radiant, laying the foundations of not only buildings, but of civilization. These Radiants use the surge of Transportation to bypass physical obstacles and travel using Shadesmar, and they use Cohesion to soften the walls and chains that prevent people from being free.
“I will seek freedom.”
At its core, the philosophy of the Willshapers is that all people should be free, able to make their own choices and follow any path in life. Many Willshapers facilitate this with physical projects that support people from all walks of life, often leading construction projects for housing, irrigation, and infrastructure. However, some Willshaper feel that the building and bolstering of hearts and minds is even more important. These Radiants often teach useful skills and trades that people can use for both income and community improvement; they also love to create safe spaces for people to radically express and live as their truest selves.
Importantly, the Willshapers also facilitate literal freedom, from liberating the imprisoned and enslaved to aiding in campaigns against tyranny and oppression. Wherever and however freedom is sought, the Willshapers are there to offer tools and support. They also know that when law gives way to anarchy, tyrants inevitably emerge, so the Willshapers advocate for new laws that prevent the strong from oppressing the weak.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), each leads the Willshaper toward not only seeking freedom for those around them, but also considering the nature of true freedom. While each Willshaper expresses the Words in their own way, they tend to follow certain patterns. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“I will seek freedom for those in bondage.”
During wartime, most captives are either prisoners of war and or civilians held hostage within captured settlements. But even in times of peace, freedom is
infringed throughout Roshar. The Second Ideal obligates you to recognize oppression in all its forms and help those suffering it how you can. For example, most human cultures have engaged in slavery, (especially the chattel slavery of singers), and many cultures press criminals or those with debts into indentured servitude. Beyond this, many forms of systemic oppression exist, from Vorinism’s caste system and rigid gender roles to the destitution and poverty throughout most nations. These injustices reduce people’s freedom to express themselves and walk the life paths they want.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I will fight oppression…”
Each Willshaper finishes this oath in their own way. For one, it could end “… even if that oppression comes from within.” For another, it may be “… even against the tyranny of the leaders I serve.” Your Third Ideal depends on your journey and the challenges you face, especially related to seeking freedom for yourself and others despite your flaws, biases, and obstacles. This Ideal requires you to expand your search for oppression beyond the individual to identify its sources.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
They don’t just talk about freedom, they work for it, and they build systems and structures that enable freedom for everyone.
Liberating people and giving them options to pursue what they want in life is an exhilarating and fulfilling endeavor. It can be easy to center such actions on yourself, attaining that high and moving on to the next. The Fourth Ideal’s specific words are individualized for each Willshaper, but it requires you to instead focus on the people you’re helping: have you made a lasting difference in their lives? Are those people truly free, or did they gain but a glimpse before again succumbing to the clutches of oppression? To stay free, people need the ability to maintain their own freedom.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
The ancient Willshapers traveled throughout Roshar to aid settlements. Some constructed buildings and infrastructure, while others taught skills and other essential trades that offer everyone more freedom to live as they choose, such as sanitation and metalworking. Many Willshapers chose to aid campaigns to depose tyrants, change oppressive laws, and liberate the enslaved and incarcerated.
Due to the order’s philosophy of facilitating radical self-expression, these Radiants were far from uniform. Some were flamboyant, gregarious, and loved daring fashions, while others were much more subdued and dressed conservatively. However they presented themselves, Willshapers all celebrated and encouraged each other’s forms of expression, since they believed that freedom to follow their own path was the most important thing.
However, many other Radiant orders perceived this lack of uniformity as erraticism and unreliability. To them, the Willshapers were capricious, more concerned with novelty and oddity than serving as a military force. Meanwhile, supporters of the order observed the positive change Willshapers facilitated, and understood that their seeming frivolity never interfered with their duties.
During the Desolations, the Willshapers’ main responsibility was to reinforce fortifications in anticipation of an attack and to rebuild following one. In battle, many could create sudden and impromptu battlements, reshaping the battlefield for their allies.
With the return of the Knights Radiant, Willshapers have been one of the most elusive orders. Lightspren feel deeply betrayed by the humans who enslaved singers for millennia, so these spren have largely rejected humans as potential Willshapers. Instead, the lightspren have sought singers. The lightspren Timbre started to bond the listener heroine Eshonai before her death in the War of Reckoning; afterward, Timbre sought a bond with Eshonai’s sister Venli. Through this bond, Venli has overcome the influence of a bonded Voidspren, defecting from Odium’s forces and returning to the Shattered Plains. There, with the permission of the lightspren, Venli now offers Radiance to other surviving listeners.
To become a Willshaper, you must bond with a lightspren (also known as a Reacher).
In the Cognitive Realm, Reachers look much like humans cast in bronze. Though statue-like, their body moves as smoothly and easily as would flesh and hair. Each lightspren’s bronze skin has a unique pattern of grooves. The pupils of their eyes are the only gaps in their body’s exterior; these small holes dilate much like those of humans. Reachers can’t change their appearance, and they typically don clothing of human make, though they don’t often wear it the way the culture of origin would.
Within the Physical Realm, lightspren are balls of light, warm and silky to the touch. Both their temperature and brightness fluctuate with their mood, from subtle while relaxed to bright and feverish in moments of high emotion. As they move, a comet-like tail follows behind, then quickly catches up when they stop.
Reachers are characterized by their love of travel and adventure, as well as their seeming taciturnity. While they can speak humanoid languages, lightspren have a greater alignment to the rhythms of Roshar than other spren, and they prefer to communicate via rhythmic pulses. Anyone can understand this form of speech with enough exposure, but it’s especially intuitive to singers, who are also attuned to the rhythms.
Reachers are ubiquitous among Shadesmar’s cities and bead sea vessels, and many work as sailors, dockworkers, guides, currency exchangers, and merchants (including offworld imports). They are known for generally being helpful and polite. The floor and decks on which Reachers work are typically strewn with sound-conducting copper lines. The lightspren walk on these lines with bare feet, allowing near-instantaneous vibrational communication with each other.
Roleplaying a Lightspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with a lightspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. Unlike many Radiant spren, lightspren are visible and audible to other characters, so any spren interaction has the chance of revealing their (and likely your) position. However, lightspren can move exceptionally fast through the air, and they can read their Radiant’s thoughts within spren bond range, significantly reducing the risk of detection.
Physical Interaction. Lightspren are mostly insubstantial in the Physical Realm, but they have more substance than most spren. Lightspren can’t pass through objects—and they can even interact with lightweight objects using their Push Object ability, despite not having hands or the ability to change their form.
◆ Push Object (Costs 2 Focus). Your lightspren slowly pushes an unattended, unsecured object that weighs no more than 0.1 pounds (but they aren’t strong enough to carry it). This movement must begin and end in your spren bond range. If your spren is trying to do so undetected, the GM might ask you to make a Stealth test against a DC they set.
◆ Rhythmic Communication (Costs 1 Focus). You’ve taught yourself to interpret your lightspren’s pulses. While within spren bond range, you can have your spren send you a silent message up to 25 words long. Additionally, after you’ve known an ally for at least 5 days, you can teach them to interpret your spren’s pulses, and the spren can communicate with them in the same way (but the ally can’t respond silently).
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, lightspren can help with tests related to travel and fair trade, Survival tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
Because of their rhythmic form of communication, when lightspren deal with humans or other spren, many use names inspired by music, such as Aria, Beat, Cadence, Chime, Hymn, Lyric, Pitch, Tempo, Trill, and Vibrato.
When a Reacher seeks a prospective Radiant, they first look for kindness and empathy. Does the person have the patience and understanding to meet others where they are and facilitate communication despite barriers? Lightspren also appreciate people who seek freedom for themselves and others. They have no tolerance for and refuse to bond bullies or anyone who has willingly oppressed others. For a human to bond a lightspren, the human must demonstrate a commitment to freedom and a rejection of slavery in all its forms.
When a Willshaper completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Lightspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Cohesion and Transportation talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding a lightspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Lightspren Bond talent tree for the Willshaper path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Searing Dust Storm talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your lightspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
Willshapers lead by example, raising the spirits of those around them through radical acts of self-expression.
Once per scene, choose one or more allies you can influence, up to a number equaling your current Ideal (such as two allies for the Second Ideal). Each target becomes Determined until the end of the scene. If a target uses that condition to add an Opportunity to a test, increase their Cognitive defense and Spiritual defense by 2 until the end of the scene.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to your current Ideal (such as three for the Third Ideal). If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
Recommended Heroic Paths for Windrunners
Though the Windrunners heavily emphasize excellence in weaponry, their capabilities also make them excellent scouts, and their history emphasizes leadership. As such, the following heroic paths can be excellent precursors to the Windrunner Radiant path: - Agent (Spy) - Envoy (Mentor) - Hunter (Archer) - Leader (Champion or Officer) - Warrior (Duelist or Soldier)
A gallant, glowing figure dives through the clouds, accompanied by her flitting honorspren partner, before coming to a sudden stop just above the ground. The knight stands protectively in front of a cowering family, brandishing her weapon at the enemy. No harm will come to innocents this day, not while the Windrunner still draws breath.
A Windrunner tears through a hallway surrounded by enemies. The Radiant first adheres two foes’ weapons together, then slams another foe into the wall and sticks them there. Finally, the Windrunner paints Stormlight onto the floor to trap anyone who attempts to follow them. But pursuit is unlikely—their foes were too confused by the Windrunner fighting from the ceiling above.
One by one, a Windrunner touches boulders as tall as him. The giant pieces of rubble each briefly fly to the side before once again succumbing to gravity’s rule, getting the Radiant one step closer to reaching the survivors buried beneath. In a few more moments, they’re free.
In the modern era, when the average person thinks of the archetypal Knight Radiant, they picture a Windrunner: a hero soaring through the sky who stops at nothing to see others safe. Windrunners are the scouts and special forces of the Knights Radiant, wielding the surges of Adhesion and Gravitation. The first allows them to create powerful bonds between objects, such as sticking an enemy’s clothing or weapon to the floor. They use the second to glide through and above the battlefield, dynamically changing the direction gravity affects them.
“I will protect.”
The Ideals of the Windrunners center around protection: defending innocents from the horrors of war, keeping the defenseless from harm, and putting themselves in danger so that others don’t have to. To accomplish these goals, Windrunners tend to embrace military hierarchy and solid command structures. They prioritize not only individual martial excellence, but a team who works well together. Windrunners generally train to become the best duelists and weapon masters among the Radiant orders, with the discipline to take orders when necessary.
Beyond the First Ideal (see “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter), each Ideal follows particular patterns, but individual Windrunners each express the Ideals using their own words. The sections below suggest common phrases you can use to inspire your own oaths.
“I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
The Second Ideal obligates you to give people the protection they need in and out of battle, whether they’re a noncombatant, a soldier in an unwinnable situation, or someone in a mental health crisis. This protection can take any form: engaging in combat, lending an empathetic ear, or advocating to get them the help you can’t provide yourself.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Second Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
“I will protect even those I hate…”
Each Windrunner finishes this oath in their own way. For some, it ends “… so long as it is right.” For others, it may be “… even if the one I hate most is myself.” In any case, the Third Ideal focuses on keeping your oaths and protecting people despite your own flaws. It requires deep introspection to understand those flaws and how they’ve prevented you from protecting people, including yourself, in the past.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Third Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
The Fourth Ideal is unique for each Windrunner, but it always requires accepting failure. You must forgive yourself for past failures and accept that though you can’t save everyone, you must still fight to protect those you can. This Ideal is about confronting your own fear of inadequacy, while recognizing that you’re still just a single person (regardless of the power you wield). Of course you’ll make mistakes; you can’t allow fear of doing so to define you and prevent you from moving forward.
As you work toward milestones to “Speak the Fourth Ideal,” consider the following guidance:
Before the Recreance, the Windrunners were the Radiants’ scouts and strike teams. They used Gravitation to surveil from afar, then ferried teams of Radiants on special missions. The Windrunners also sometimes operated much like conventional soldier squads. They were by far the most numerous among the Radiant orders, with over a hundred members and countless squires. These numbers were largely due to the resonance of their two surges, enabling a Windrunner to take far more Radiant squires than a knight from another order.
The ancient Windrunners clashed often with the Skybreakers, usually over philosophical differences: the Skybreakers dispensed justice according to the exact letter of the law, while the Windrunners were willing to disregard laws and logic when doing what they believed was right. These two ideologies often sparked
heated debate, especially when it came to deciding the fate of the guilty. This dislike between the two orders persists to the modern day between honorspren and highspren, the partner spren of these two orders.
Thousands of years after the Recreance, an enslaved bridgeman named Kaladin bonded the honorspren Sylphrena, becoming the first Windrunner in the modern era to speak the Second Ideal; he later swore the Third Ideal and refounded the Order of Windrunners. Most of his bridge crew, Bridge Four, became his Radiant squires and eventually bonded with their own honorspren. Due to Kaladin Stormblessed’s own military experience and the close bonds his bridge crew formed with each other, the modern Windrunners embrace a ranked military hierarchy, and even squires have their own ranking system.
The modern Windrunners primarily serve the Coalition of Monarchs, performing duties such as guarding others, transporting people and parcels, and scouting enemy encampments. When Kaladin stepped down from active leadership for personal reasons, he named Sigzil, a Windrunner of the Third Ideal, as the new companylord. Sigzil has a keen mind for strategy and logistics, keeping the Windrunners and their plethora of squires well-organized. Like the Windrunners of old, they are among the most numerous of the modern Radiant orders, with nearly fifty full Windrunners (plus hundreds of squires).
To become a Windrunner, you must bond with an honorspren.
In the Cognitive Realm, honorspren are roughly the same size as humans, but their white-blue forms glow faintly without shedding light. Their features are reminiscent of the Alethi (albeit in blue and white), and they usually appear to be wearing either military-like uniforms or flowing robes. This clothing also glows, as it’s part of their essence, and they have a limited ability to alter it with a bit of concentration and Stormlight.
In the Physical Realm, honorspren are partially translucent and still glow a faint white-blue, but they’re typically no taller than a single handspan. Like their windspren cousins, their forms are extremely malleable; honorspren can resemble flying ribbons, clouds, fire, and just about anything they can imagine.
To Radiants or the people they may wish to bond, an honorspren typically displays a miniature version of their Shadesmar appearance, though some honorspren can appear at full size. As a Windrunner swears the higher Ideals, their bonded honorspren gains greater abilities to customize their appearance in the Physical Realm; they can become more opaque, and by the Third Ideal, they can even appear in different colors.
In Shadesmar, honorspren society shares much in common with the humans of Alethkar—warlike with a tradition of hierarchy, military excellence, and going on grand hunts to track and slay massive beasts. Unlike the Alethi, however, honorspren have a history of isolationism. As direct Splinters of the deceased Shard Honor, they consider oaths and other promises to be sacred, and they devotedly follow Honor’s edicts and what they believe would be his continued interests.
After Honor’s death to Odium, many honorspren considered the Stormfather to be Honor’s heir. Most honorspren now worship the Stormfather in Honor’s place and have become attuned to highstorms; this has given the honorspren excellent internal clocks, and they can sense the approach of a highstorm several days before it arrives.
Honorspren tend more toward emotion than logic, and they care far less about legality than what they believe to be moral and right. This leads them to
passionately and stubbornly follow their own sense of right and wrong, even if their viewpoints differ from fellow honorspren. Honorspren society still values obedience, hierarchy, and order, but honorspren pride themselves on being flexible (at least more so than highspren) when they feel a cause is important enough.
Many of the newer generations of honorspren are named in reference to the wind and storms in the Stormfather’s honor, though older generations share naming conventions with the ancient nobility. Honorspren names include Aeolan, Faenidor, Flurriana, Galin, Hamistral, Sirocco, Squalti, Tempestiora, Wutheran, and Zephyrna.
Roleplaying an Honorspren
The “Playing with Spren” section provides general guidance on interacting with your spren. If you bond with an honorspren, also consider the following.
Perceivability. An honorspren can make themself visible and audible to whomever they wish; otherwise, honorspren in the Physical Realm are generally invisible and inaudible to physical entities who don’t have a specific ability to perceive spren. However, you can always see and hear your bonded spren, even in pitch darkness or gale-force winds. Your spren glows faintly, but they can’t illuminate their surroundings.
Physical Interaction. Honorspren are mostly insubstantial in the Physical Realm, and at first, they have very little ability to affect their surroundings. They can’t pass through objects, but their malleable form enables them to pass through tight spaces like keyholes and closed storm shutters. Honorspren can interact with lightweight objects using their Push Object ability.
◆ Push Object (Costs 2 Focus). Your honorspren slowly pushes an unattended, unsecured object that weighs no more than 0.1 pounds (but they aren’t strong enough to carry it). This movement must begin and end in your spren bond range. If your spren is trying to do so undetected, the GM might ask you to make a Stealth test against a DC they set. Once you speak the Third Ideal, your honorspren can push objects that weigh up to 1 pound.
◆ or ↺ Test Assistance (Costs 1 Focus). Your spren uses their knowledge and experiences to grant you an advantage on a specific test. Typically, honorspren can help with keeping track of time, predicting highstorms, Leadership tests, and Lore tests related to topics they’re familiar with, though your spren may be able to help in additional ways.
The honorspren still remember how many of their number were killed in the Recreance, and they’re generally reluctant to subject themselves to the Nahel bond again. However, when one does look to bond a human or singer, they generally seek warriors and leaders who have a strong sense of hierarchy and who do right by the people under their command. Honorspren are often inclined to bond with passionate individuals who have an inherent need to protect the helpless, who have integrity beyond reproach, who are exceptional weapon masters, or who honor promises at all costs.
When a Windrunner completes their goal from the First Ideal key talent, this unlocks access to the Honorspren Bond talent tree (in this chapter) and the Adhesion and Gravitation talent trees (in chapter 6).
Prerequisite: Level 2+ Activation: ★
You begin bonding an honorspren, allowing you to breathe in and use Stormlight. You might be aware of this nascent bond, or you might use the powers subconsciously until you get closer to speaking the First Ideal.
When you acquire this talent, you gain access to Investiture, beginning with a maximum Investiture of 2 + your Awareness or Presence (whichever is higher). You can now use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions.
Additionally, you gain the goal “Speak the First Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Honorspren Bond talent tree for the Windrunner path.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ∞
The strength of your Nahel bond now allows your spren to manifest more fully in the Physical Realm.
Your spren bond range increases from 30 feet to 100 feet. Additionally, when you spend focus to give your spren a task, it costs you 1 fewer focus (to a minimum cost of 1).
Prerequisite: Level 13+; Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to become a full Knight Radiant by speaking the Fourth Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Fourth Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Reverse Lashing talent Activation: ∞
You learn to hold and wield greater quantities of Stormlight within yourself.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum Investiture increases by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum Investiture does as well.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You can infuse things with a mix of Adhesion and Gravitation, giving them a weak gravitational pull on specific objects.
Before you infuse yourself or an object with a Basic Lashing using your Gravitation surge, you can instead infuse the target with a Reverse Lashing using Adhesion. When you do, declare a type of object (such as “projectiles,” “gems,” or “keys”) for the infused target to attract. Only unattended, unsecured objects can be attracted, and each must be of a size you can affect with your ranks in Adhesion (see the Surge Scaling table in chapter 6).
When those objects come within a number of feet equal to your gravitation rate, they fly straight toward and stick to the infused target; this can divert ranged attacks from their intended targets. An attracted object remains on the infused target until the infusion ends or until the object is removed.
Prerequisite: Level 4+; Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to deepen your Nahel bond with your honorspren by speaking the Second Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Second Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal Activation: ★
You begin taking other people under your wing, allowing them to breathe Stormlight and use surges before they’ve established their own Nahel bond.
After a long rest, choose a companion or player character you can influence to take as your squire. To choose them, they must be willing and sapient, you must have known them for at least 1 game session, and they must not have bonded a Radiant spren.
When you choose a squire, decide whether you want to grant them both of your surges, one of them, or none. That character becomes your squire, gaining the surges you chose plus the other benefits in the “Squires” section earlier in this chapter.
You can have a maximum number of squires up to twice your level. If you already have the maximum number of squires, you must choose one to dismiss as your squire before choosing a new one.
Prerequisite: Level 8+; Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ★
You seek to advance your Nahel bond even further by speaking the Third Ideal.
You gain the goal “Speak the Third Ideal.” After you complete this goal, you gain the following reward:
Prerequisite: Invested talent Activation: ★
You can use Stormlight to rapidly recover from injuries.
When you use the Regenerate free action, you can spend Investiture to instantly recover from an injury of your choice (either instead of or in addition to healing yourself). Spend 2 Investiture to recover from a temporary injury, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent one.
Ash drifts across the ruined battlefield. Bleary-eyed soldiers from many different cultures pick through the rubble in front of a destroyed palace, its facade torn asunder hours earlier by a stone monstrosity. From the ash emerges a regal figure; she lays her hand on each soldier in turn, speaking in their native tongues and reassuring them victory is truly at hand. She then strides up to the palace where a soldier is solemnly piecing back together its shattered stone doorway. The Bondsmith places her hands against the fragments, and slowly, the once-glorious palace entry begins to knit back together. The intricately carved friezes that once adorned its surface reform once again—a symbol that maybe, after everything, the people can still rebuild.
There are never more than three full Bondsmiths at a time, each bonded with one of three unique spren. These rarest of Radiants are the heart, soul, and commanders of the Knights Radiant, and they’re typically the most highly protected and regarded of the orders.
Bondsmiths use the surges of Tension and Adhesion, which generally alter the rigidity of objects and bind them to each other. However, Bondsmiths wield these powers to a much greater degree—and with slightly different properties—than do the other orders who share them. As a result, Bondsmiths are capable of doing incredible things with the nature of oaths, bonds, and power. Notably, they can alter and forge spiritual Connection; this power can be as innocuous as Connecting with someone to speak an unshared language, but at higher Ideals, it can drain Stormlight from a foe’s body or forcibly alter the bond between a Radiant and their spren. Bondsmiths can also mold the Spiritual Realm to create visions, into which they can bring others.
Each Bondsmith is partnered with one of the great ones of the spren: the Stormfather, the Sibling, or the Nightwatcher. These spren each have unique abilities, many of which they grant to their Bondsmith. For example, the Stormfather’s Bondsmith can “ride” the highstorm alongside him to gain a tactical view of the landscape wherever the highstorm is. Meanwhile, the Sibling’s Bondsmith is aware of and can precisely control the systems within the tower-city of Urithiru. The bonded spren also determines the type of Invested light the Bondsmith uses to power their abilities and can grant to others: Stormlight for the Stormfather, Towerlight for the Sibling, and Lifelight for the Nightwatcher.
Bondsmiths also can combine their powers with those of other Radiant orders in special ways. For example, they can enhance an Elsecaller’s abilities to allow many people to move between planets. Or when working alongside a Lightweaver, the Stormfather’s Bondsmith can create a holographic map to show precise troop placements as they were the last time the highstorm passed.
Despite their extraordinary powers, Bondsmiths aren’t nearly as suited for combat as other orders; they can’t summon a Radiant Shardblade or Shardplate, and their powers are much better suited to uniting others than dividing them.
“I will unite.”
The highest calling of any Bondsmith is to foster unity and bring people together. Sometimes this can manifest as seeking an end to war and facilitating eras of peace, or as gathering a coalition of disparate factions for a common goal (such as defeating a shared enemy). Though the general themes of each Bondsmith’s oaths are roughly the same, the three Bondsmith spren each are so different in nature and personality that the individual words of their Ideals can present entirely differently. (See “Swearing Ideals” earlier in this chapter for details on the First Ideal.)
“I will unite instead of divide. I will bring people together.”
The Second Ideal obligates the Bondsmith to seek peace and cooperation, to resolve conflicts as nonviolently as possible, and to mediate disputes as best they can. These concepts apply to creating unity at all scales, from individuals to kingdoms. This Ideal requires the Bondsmith to consider the methodology behind how they engage in conflict and understand the importance of service.
“I will take responsibility for what I’ve done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better person.”
Broadly, the Third Ideal is about becoming a better person and leader over time. It requires the Bondsmith to acknowledge the mistakes they’ve made, and to learn from these missteps to better serve their people and keep their oaths.
No matter how deft of a mediator a person is, conflict is inevitable, and it all too often results in bloodshed. If negotiations break down and the Bondsmith needs to marshal their forces and fight, the Fourth Ideal requires recognition that all life is precious. Every person has their own life and people who care for them, and they will leave a hole when they are gone. This is true not only of the people in the Bondsmith’s service, but also of the enemy they are fighting. A Bondsmith can’t allow themself to make their enemy faceless; they must consider the costs of every move they make to minimize the loss and ruination of life.
The term “Bondsmith” predates even the ancient Radiants; it originally referred to a person who could manipulate bonds and Connection. Such a Bondsmith discovered and facilitated the first spren bonds, eventually resulting in the founding of the Knights Radiant. The Shard Honor, however, sought to place reasonable restrictions on Surgebinding; he believed it necessary to have the powerful Bondsmiths as a Radiant order, but he ensured that they were limited in number. Honor granted only three unusually powerful spren the capability of creating a Bondsmith with their Nahel bond: the Stormfather (who was Honor’s own Splinter), the Nightwatcher (Cultivation’s Splinter), and the Sibling (a spren made equally from both of the Shards’ powers). In the centuries leading up to the Recreance, the number of Bondsmiths varied, sometimes falling as low as one.
Despite the Bondsmiths being limited to three full Radiants, they could take squires, who they typically chose from the elite warrior unit assigned to protect them. These squires wielded the order’s two surges (but without their Bondsmith’s unique abilities). Beyond squires, the Bondsmiths typically also had retinues of attendants and guards, many of whom took Radiant oaths to demonstrate loyalty, though they had no expectation of gaining powers of their own. Some ancient Radiants viewed these oaths as the purest form of Radiance, and such loyal attendants were considered members of the Order of Bondsmiths despite their lack of Radiant powers.
In times of both peace and war, the Bondsmiths commanded the Knights Radiant, resolved disputes between nations, and helped to establish functioning governments in places that didn’t yet have them or that lost their leadership in war. The Bondsmiths also mediated conflicts between the various Radiant orders, as these often clashed and argued with each other (especially the Skybreakers who policed the other orders).
In the thousands of years since the Recreance, only two Bondsmiths have appeared. The first of these was Dalinar Kholin—former highprince of Alethkar, now king of Urithiru and high commander of the modern Knights Radiant. During the War of Reckoning at the Shattered Plains, Dalinar began experiencing strange visions during highstorms, granting him lost knowledge of the ancient Radiants. He learned of the threat of a horrible enemy that all the nations of Roshar needed to band together to defeat. When the listeners were tricked into unleashing the Everstorm and beginning the True Desolation, Dalinar recognized what the visions had warned him of. He demonstrated his commitment to unity by establishing the Coalition of Monarchs, and he formed a Nahel bond with the Stormfather.
GM Tip: Playing with Bondsmiths
Only three Bondsmiths exist at any given time, and wielding their extraordinary powers as a player character would unbalance gameplay. Consequently, Bondsmiths aren’t presented in a playable form in this book. However, if you wish for players in your game to experience Bondsmith powers, you can do so through rewarding them with a patron (see chapter 8, “Goals and Rewards”) with the following benefit.
Bondsmith Squire. If your patron is a Bondsmith, you can become a squire (see “Squires” earlier in this chapter) with access to the surges of Adhesion and Tension.
Due to your Bondsmith’s powers over Connection, you maintain your squire abilities for much longer when far away from your patron. While 50 miles or more away from your Bondsmith patron, you maintain your squire abilities for a number of months equal to your patron’s tier.
On Roshar, Stormlight powers incredible Invested abilities known as Surgebinding. There are ten surges in total, each controlling a fundamental force of nature. By wielding Investiture in the form of Stormlight, Surgebinders can perform wondrous feats such as defying gravity, melting the very stone of the earth, or creating illusions out of thin air.
If you wish to wield these powers yourself, you’ll need to become a Radiant (see chapter 5) by forming a bond with a spren, choosing talents from a Radiant path, and swearing oaths to follow your order’s Ideals.
Your Radiant path grants access to the two surges wielded by your order (see the Radiant Orders table in chapter 5). For example, when an Edgedancer speaks the First Ideal, they gain the Abrasion and Progression surge skills. This chapter presents the basic version of each surge, as well as talent trees to upgrade each surge.
When you speak your order’s First Ideal, you gain both of your order’s surges, and you add those surges to the blank skill lines on your character sheet. Each surge skill works much like other skills:
Unlike normal skills, you can’t access a surge until your Radiant path (or another rule) gives you at least 1 rank in it. Once this happens, you can use the basic version of the surge. During character advancement, you can gain additional ranks in your surge skills in the same way you do for other skills.
On Your Character Sheet. When you gain your first rank in a surge skill, add that surge skill to your character sheet on the blank lines beneath your skills, then record your skill modifier next to it.
Surges generally follow the same rules as talents (see “Using Paths and Talents” in chapter 4 and “Using Radiant Paths” in chapter 5). When you’re using a surge, the following additional rules determine how large and powerful your surge is, as well as how long its effects last.
As you gain more ranks in a surge skill, this not only increases your skill modifier for tests, but it empowers your surge’s effects.
When using surges (or their talents), you’ll sometimes roll dice to determine effects like damage dealt or health recovered. When indicated, the size of these surge dice
“And now,” Jasnah said, voice hard and grim, “the lesson.” She whipped off her glove.
scale with your ranks in that surge, as shown on the Surge Scaling table.
Many surges can only affect characters and objects up to a certain size (see “Size and Space” in chapter 10), or only affect an area up to that same size (see “Area Effects” in chapter 10). This surge size increases with your ranks in that surge, as shown on the Surge Scaling table.
Unless otherwise specified, you can’t infuse an object if either its width, length, or height exceeds your surge size.
Surge Scaling
| Ranks | Die Size | Effect Size |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | d4 | Small (2.5 feet) |
| 2 | d6 | Medium (5 feet) |
| 3 | d8 | Large (10 feet) |
| 4 | d10 | Huge (15 feet) |
| 5 | d12 | Gargantuan (20 feet) |
If your surge allows you to make an attack, these follow the standard rules in the “Attacking” section of chapter 10. Keep the following rules in mind:
Some surges have ongoing effects that are maintained until the Stormlight fueling them runs out. Surges on yourself draw from your current Investiture, while surges on other objects need you to infuse them with Stormlight (allowing the surge to continue without your immediate presence). You can have multiple active infusions.
When a surge requires you to infuse an object, spend the amount of Investiture indicated, subtracting it from your current Investiture value. That much Investiture is now infused into the surge effect, allowing the surge to sustain its effects until all infused Investiture is expended.
As you infuse Investiture and then drain that infusion with your surge, be sure to track how much Investiture remains infused so you know when the effect ends.
If a surge allows you to infuse yourself, you don’t need to spend extra Investiture up front to sustain the surge for more than one round. Instead, simply spend the needed amount for the current round, and the surge automatically draws from your current Investiture in future rounds until you choose to end the surge (no action required).
Regardless of whether a surge is drawing from your own Investiture or whether you’ve infused an object, a surge usually expends 1 Investiture at the start of each of your turns. Even if you become Unconscious, your surges can continue, expending Investiture as they do.
Some surges can expend additional Investiture for heightened effects. When they do, your current Investiture (or the Investiture infused in an object) is reduced by that much. This can be powerful, but it also drains your Stormlight and ends the infusion sooner.
By contrast, some talents allow your surges to use Stormlight more efficiently. For example, the Master of the Skies talent allows you to use Gravitation to fly indefinitely without spending additional Investiture each turn.
When a surge runs out of Investiture (whether it’s drawing from your own Investiture or an infused object), or when you choose to end a surge on yourself (no action required), that infusion and the surge’s effects end. For example, if you use the Gravitation surge to infuse an object with 1 Investiture, the Investiture runs out one round later, at the start of your next turn—and when it does, the surge ends. But if you instead infuse that object with 2 Investiture, the surge lasts two rounds instead.
At the start of your turn, but before your infusions expend Investiture (and potentially end), you can use ▶ to infuse any amount of additional Investiture in an infusion and maintain its effect. To do so, you must be within the range required to create that infusion.
Even though the surge rules use combat-focused language (like “round”) to describe how long a surge lasts, you can use surges outside of combat. To keep the narrative simple across different scene types, assume that “one round” represents the following:
Combat. A surge expends Investiture once per round of combat, at the start of your turn—so once per 10 seconds.
Conversation. A surge expends Investiture once per round of contributions—so about once per minute.
Endeavor. A surge expends Investiture once per round of contributions—this time varies dramatically by endeavor, anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes.
Outside of Scenes. If not in a scene, assume each “round” of Investiture lasts about 10 minutes.
If a surge continues across multiple scenes, it’s up to the GM how long it lasts in the narrative. This largely depends on how involved the surge is in the new scene. For example, if you use Adhesion to stick a book to the ceiling, and then a fight breaks out down the hall, the surge’s duration isn’t immediately relevant to the narrative; in this case, the GM might let it expend Investiture just once every 10 minutes (so everyone can focus on the fight instead of tracking an unrelated surge). But if a fight breaks out in the same room as the book, or if the conflict centers on people wanting the book, the surge’s duration suddenly matters to the narrative; in this case, the GM might decide the surge expends Investiture every round of combat.
Using Surges Creatively
The description for each surge skill lists its basic capabilities and provides mechanics for common uses. Meanwhile, surge talents expand your options for specific surge techniques. However, you aren’t limited to these rules! With your GM’s approval, you can use your surges to attempt nearly anything.
For these more open-ended uses of surges, you’ll still need to make a skill test and spend Investiture (in an amount determined by your GM). When determining the outcome, the GM should refer to the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter; this table provides guidance on how large of an area you can affect with your current ranks, as well as the relative strength of your damage rolls or similar effects.
As with any skill test, the GM sets the DC, raises the stakes when appropriate, and narrates the results of the test. Improvising creative Surgebinding techniques can be one of the most memorable moments in a Stormlight session!
The remaining sections of this chapter describe each surge skill, including the following information:
Title (Attribute). Each entry’s title states the name of that surge skill, then in parentheses, that surge’s associated attribute (which you’ll use to calculate your skill modifier).
Surge. Each surge grants a basic ability that operates much like a talent. This ability lists the two Radiant orders that can use this surge and the number of actions needed to activate it, followed by the basic rules for that surge. Radiants can grant these basic surges to their squires (but squires can’t use the talents that upgrade that surge).
Using the Surge. After each surge’s basic rules, this section provides more guidance on various ways you might use the surge.
Talents. Finally, each entry presents a list of talents you can use to upgrade that surge. You can’t choose these until you speak the First Ideal for that Radiant path. These talents follow the rules in the “Using Paths and Talents” section of chapter 4.
Abrasion — Speed Adhesion — Presence Cohesion — Willpower Division — Intellect Gravitation — Awareness Illumination — Presence Progression — Awareness Tension — Strength Transformation — Willpower Transportation — Intellect
The surge of Abrasion alters the frictional force on an object’s surface, usually by nearly eliminating it.
Radiant Orders: Dustbringer, Edgedancer Activation: ▶
Spend 1 Investiture or more to infuse an object or portion of a surface within your reach, making it nearly frictionless; to do so, you must have a hand free and touch the target. This infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and for the duration, the object or surface slides freely.
This target can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Abrasion (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
You can’t use this surge on other characters, Invested objects (like Shardplate), or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
Alternatively, you can infuse your body with Abrasion, regardless of your size, spending 1 Investiture each round to maintain the surge. While infused, you can freely change which parts of your body are frictionless, and you can use Skate and Slide until the surge ends:
◆ Skate. You can skate across the ground as if it were ice. Spend 2 focus to Move (as ▶) in a straight line on the ground. You can accomplish this frictionless movement without practice—though you’ll need experience to do it gracefully!
∞ Slide. You instinctively remove friction from parts of your body to more easily slide over obstacles or escape bonds. You count as one size smaller when squeezing through spaces, and you gain an advantage on tests to escape restraints that hold you via friction or pressure.
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
While you can’t directly target other characters with Abrasion, you can target objects they’re holding or wearing. If a character is willing, you can easily infuse objects in their possession.
To infuse an object held by an unwilling character or to infuse a surface that’s supporting most of their weight (such as the ground they’re standing on or a wall they’re climbing), you must succeed on an Abrasion test against the target’s Physical defense. On a failure, you don’t infuse that object and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt.
When another character steps on or otherwise interacts with a surface or object you made slick with Abrasion, it’s difficult to stay on their feet or hold on to the slippery object. The character must make an Agility test opposed by your Abrasion. If they succeed, they stay on their feet or hold on to the object; otherwise, they fall Prone or drop the object.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Abrasion talent tree for the Dustbringer and Edgedancer paths.
Prerequisite: Reverse Abrasion talent Activation: ∞
You can infuse targets from a greater distance.
You can use your surges and their talents as though your reach is 20 feet, and you don’t need to touch the target.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
You become increasingly adept at using Abrasion to glide through your environment.
While infused with Abrasion, your movement rate increases by 10 feet, and you ignore the Slowed condition when imposed by difficult terrain, climbing, crawling, and swimming.
Prerequisite: Frictionless Motion talent Activation: ∞
You dynamically skate around the battlefield, easily slipping away from your foes.
When you Skate, you aren’t restricted to moving in a straight line.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
Instead of making objects frictionless with Abrasion, you can now increase friction.
When you infuse an object or surface with Abrasion, you can choose to increase the infused target’s friction instead of reducing it, making it easier to grip and traverse. When a character interacts with such an object, they gain an advantage on Agility and Athletics tests made to do so. When a character moves across such a surface, they ignore any Slowed condition the surface would normally apply (such as due to climbing or difficult terrain).
Prerequisite: Slippery Target talent Activation: ★
You are poetry in motion, able to perform nearly any feat without slowing down.
When you Skate or otherwise Move while infused with Abrasion, you can interrupt your movement at one or more points, use other actions as if you’d finished your Move, then use your remaining movement as if you were still in the middle of that Move action.
Once per round, when you make a melee weapon attack after starting that Move but before finishing it, you can roll an extra 1d4 damage for that attack. The size of this die increases with your ranks in Abrasion: at 2 ranks, roll an extra 1d6 damage (instead of 1d4), and so on. However, if you add this damage die, the GM can spend ⚡ from the attack test to cause you to fall Prone and immediately end your Move action.
Prerequisite: Graceful Skating talent Activation: ★
You make yourself so slick that glancing and hasty blows slide right off you.
While you are infused with Abrasion, attacks can’t graze you and Reactive Strikes against you gain a disadvantage.
Prerequisite: Distant Surgebinding talent or Slippery Target talent Activation: ∞
You’ve become so efficient at infusing yourself with Abrasion that it becomes subconscious, allowing you to slip around with effortless grace.
While you have 1 Investiture or more, you gain the benefits of being infused with Abrasion without spending Investiture, and it costs you 1 fewer focus to Skate.
Prerequisite: Reverse Abrasion talent Activation: ◆
You can reclaim Stormlight from active infusions.
After your infusions expend their infused Investiture at the start of your turn, you can end any number of those infusions within your reach, recovering all remaining Investiture they were infused with.
Her powers manifested as the ability to slide across objects without truly touching them. She could become really, really slick—which was handy, because soldiers tried to snatch her as she rounded the Alethi army. They grabbed at her unbuttoned overshirt, her arm, her hair. They couldn’t hold her. She just slid away. It was like they were trying to grab hold of a song.
The surge of Adhesion binds things together. These can be physical objects, or for more advanced Surgebinders like Bondsmiths, spiritual Connections. Adhesion infusions are most commonly used to create a Full Lashing, in which the Surgebinder adheres two physical objects together by manipulating air pressure and resistance.
Radiant Orders: Bondsmith, Windrunner Activation: ▶
To perform a Full Lashing, spend 1 Investiture or more, infusing it into two unsecured objects within your reach and within 5 feet of each other; you must have a hand free and touch the targets. The infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and the two objects become stuck together for the duration.
Each object you target can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Adhesion (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
If you wish, one of these two objects can instead be the ground, wall, ceiling, or similar surface; you can target this surface regardless of its size. You can’t use this surge on characters, Invested objects (like Shardplate), or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
While you can’t target characters with Adhesion, you can target objects they’re holding or wearing. If a character is willing, you can easily infuse objects in their possession.
To perform a Full Lashing on one or more objects an unwilling character is holding or wearing, you must succeed on an Adhesion test against the target’s Physical defense. On a failure, you don’t infuse those objects and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt.
You can use this surge in countless creative ways, and it’s up to you and your GM to decide how to resolve each situation. For example, if you Lash your opponent’s boot to the ground, they might become Immobilized until they manage to remove the boot. Or if you Lash their bracer to their pants, they might gain a disadvantage on tests using that arm until they disentangle themselves.
A Full Lashing is quite strong and the Lashed objects themselves usually break apart before the bond does. A skilled wielder of Adhesion knows which objects (and their parts) stand up best to attempts to separate them.
A character can try to break apart two objects you’ve Lashed together. To do so, they Use a Skill to make an Athletics test opposed by your Adhesion. If they succeed, they break the Lashing (or the object, at the GM’s discretion) and the infusion ends.
Prerequisite: Binding Shot talent Activation: ★
You can infuse Adhesion into surfaces, causing anyone who touches them to become stuck.
When you use Adhesion, you can choose to infuse no objects, and instead only infuse a portion of one surface, up to the size you can affect with your ranks in Adhesion.
When another character touches this infused area, they become subject to a Full Lashing with that surface for the duration of the infusion, and your test to Lash them in this way automatically succeeds. For example, a character becomes Lashed to the surface if they’re touching it when you infuse it, if they later touch it while moving through its space, or if they’re forcibly moved into its space (such as with a gravitational Lashing).
Prerequisite: Binding Strike talent Activation: ★
You “paint” your ammunition with Adhesion before throwing or firing it at a target, transferring the infusion to one of your target’s possessions.
You can use Binding Strike when you hit with a ranged attack at any distance, and you don’t need to touch the infused targets or have a hand free.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You can seamlessly use Adhesion while performing your melee attacks.
After you hit with a melee attack, you can spend ✦ or 2 focus to use Adhesion, infusing Investiture as usual but without spending an action. At least one target must be an object the target is holding or wearing, and you automatically succeed on the test to infuse it. As usual, the other object or surface must be within 5 feet of the first object, but you don’t need to touch it or have a hand free.
Prerequisite: Stormlight Reclamation talent Activation: ∞
You can infuse targets from a greater distance.
You can use your surges and their talents as though your reach is 20 feet, and you don’t need to touch the target. (As usual, if you adhere two objects together, they must be within 5 feet of each other.)
Prerequisite: Distant Surgebinding talent Activation: ∞
Your Full Lashings use less Stormlight, allowing them to last much longer.
When you perform a Full Lashing, instead of the infusion using 1 Investiture per round, it expends 1 Investiture per number of rounds equal to your ranks in Adhesion. For example, if you have 3 ranks in Adhesion, those infusions expend Investiture once every 3 rounds.
Prerequisite: Extended Adhesion talent Activation: ∞
You can apply Adhesion directly to other living beings, sticking their bodies to surfaces.
You can use Adhesion on characters, making a test as if you were targeting an object in their possession. When you Lash a character to an object or surface that’s larger than them, that character becomes Restrained, they gain a disadvantage on all physical tests, and all attack tests against them gain an advantage.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ◆
You can reclaim Stormlight from active infusions.
After your infusions expend their infused Investiture at the start of your turn, you can end any number of those infusions within your reach, recovering all remaining Investiture they were infused with.
Prerequisite: Adhesive Trap talent or Extended Adhesion talent Activation: ∞
Your Full Lashings can be broken only by the strongest of individuals.
When a character attempts to break one of your Full Lashings, if their Strength attribute is lower than or equal to your ranks in Adhesion, you automatically succeed on the opposed test without either of you rolling.
The surge of Cohesion allows you to alter objects down to their very axi—the particles that make up all matter. Often known as Stoneshaping, Cohesion allows even its most inexperienced wielders to mold stone as if it were soft clay.
Radiant Orders: Stoneward, Willshaper Activation: ▶
Infuse 1 Investiture or more into an unattended object or portion of a surface within your reach that is made of stone; to do so, you must have a hand free and touch the target. This infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and for the duration, the stone becomes moldable and soft like clay. When you activate this surge, you can immediately form the stone into a rough shape as part of that action, but any elaborate molding requires more time (see “Shaping Stone”).
This object or portion of the surface can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Cohesion (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
You can’t use this surge on characters, Invested objects (like Shardplate), or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
You can touch Cohesion-infused stone and mold it into any shape you desire; when that infusion ends, the stone resolidifies in its new shape, strong as before. You can briefly shape the stone when you activate the surge, but more elaborate reshaping requires additional time. In combat, this usually requires an additional action to Interact (for moderate reshaping) or Use a Skill (if your creation is intricate enough to require a Cohesion skill test; the GM sets the DC based on how elaborate
of an object you’re creating). At the GM’s discretion, some shaping tasks might take significantly more time, potentially requiring labor outside of combat.
While it’s simple to melt and reshape unattended stone, trying to use it against opponents is more difficult. To infuse an object held by an unwilling character or to infuse a surface that’s supporting most of their weight (such as the ground they’re standing on), you must succeed on a Cohesion test against the target’s Physical defense. On a failure, you don’t infuse that object and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt.
You can use this surge in countless creative ways, and it’s up to you and your GM to decide how to resolve each situation. For example, you might infuse the ground under your opponent’s feet, causing them to sink into the earth and become Slowed by the quagmire. Or you might soften a portion of a stone wall, collapsing it atop them. You might even smear soft stone over a weapon they’re holding, giving it the Heavy trait with a value equal to your ranks in Cohesion.
When a Cohesion infusion runs out, the stone returns to its previously rigid state. When this happens, any character or object at least partially within it becomes Immobilized; if enough of their body is encased, they might also become Restrained. To free such a character or object, the trapped character or another character within reach must Use a Skill, making an Athletics test opposed by your Cohesion. If they succeed, they slip out. Otherwise, they must be dug out, which can take 10 minutes or much longer, depending on the situation.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Cohesion talent tree for the Stoneward and Willshaper paths.
Prerequisite: True Stoneshaping talent Activation: ★
Shaping stone with Cohesion has become so natural that you can mold the ground beneath your feet as you actively sculpt other stone.
After you use Cohesion or spend at least ▶ on one of its talents, you can shape the stone beneath your feet without spending additional Investiture to do so. The stone pushes you up to 5 feet × your ranks in Cohesion, and you can choose to be pushed in any direction, such as rising upward on a pillar. This movement doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
Your deepening knowledge of the earth allows you to commune with stone itself, gaining visions of things the stone has seen.
Spend 1 Investiture to communicate for 1 round with stone you’re touching. The earth’s knowledge reaches far, including the area’s history and memories of nearby events, but it communicates in sculpted images and faint whispers that might be cryptic or incomplete. To interpret these communications, the GM might require you to succeed on a Cohesion test (DC determined by the GM). To communicate with the stone for more than 1 round, you must use this talent multiple times.
Prerequisite: Stone Spear talent Activation: ▶
You cause the ground to soften so quickly that it can catch anyone standing in it by surprise.
Spend 1 Investiture and choose an area of stone ground of a size you can affect with your ranks in Cohesion. Then choose one or more characters who are touching the ground in that area. Make one Cohesion test and compare the result to the Cognitive defense of each chosen character. If you succeed against a target, they sink into the ground and are Immobilized as you resolidify the rock. (See “Using Cohesion” for rules on escaping.)
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
You cause the surface of the stone to launch forward in tight pillars, solidifying mid-flight before slamming into your target.
Spend 1 Investiture to make a ranged Cohesion attack against the Physical defense of a target within 60 feet of you, rolling 2d4 impact damage. On a hit, you can also spend ✦ to knock the target Prone.
The size of this attack’s damage dice increases with your ranks in Cohesion; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Sinkhole talent Activation: ∞
When you touch stone, you can sense and use your Cohesion through it from a much greater distance.
You can use your surges and their talents as though your reach is 20 feet, as long as there is a stone surface between you and your target that you can touch.
Prerequisite: Cohesion 2+; Tunneling talent Activation: ∞
You no longer simply soften stone—you assert your will on it, molding it into complex shapes with a mere command.
When you use Cohesion to shape an object or surface, you can automatically reshape it to your will without using additional actions or time. For example, you can instantly raise or lower elevation, form walls or pillars, create or remove difficult terrain, or create intricate shapes or images.
Prerequisite: Sinkhole talent Activation: ▶
You infuse yourself with Cohesion to shift stone from your path as you move.
Spend 1 Investiture to infuse yourself with Cohesion. For the duration, you can move through stone surfaces and objects as if moving through difficult terrain. You leave a 5-foot-radius tunnel in your wake through which others can follow. At the start of each of your turns, you can spend 1 Investiture as ◆ to maintain this infusion.
If you create tunnels near the surface, an observant character might detect ripples from the diverted material, potentially sensing your presence.
Prerequisite: Cohesion 4+; Through the Stone talent Activation: ∞
Your Stoneshaping transcends a singular medium, allowing you to soften and shape nearly any material.
You can use Cohesion and its talents not only on stone, but on any solid material that isn’t alive, Invested, or infused with Stormlight.
The surge of Division allows you to destroy and decay, causing your target to atrophy, crumble into dust, or fall apart in other ways.
Radiant Orders: Dustbringer, Skybreaker Activation: ▶▶
You can use this surge to decay a character, object, or area within your reach. You must have a hand free and touch the target.
Targeting a Character. You can target a character regardless of their size. Spend 1 Investiture to make a melee Division attack against the Spiritual defense of the target, rolling 3d4 spirit damage. If this reduces the target to 0 health, they crumble into dust and die. The size of this attack’s damage dice increases with your ranks in Division; at 2 ranks, roll 3d6 (instead of 3d4), and so on. As usual, on a hit, add your Division modifier to damage, and on a miss, you can spend 1 focus to graze with the attack.
Targeting an Object or Area. To destroy an object or the contents of an area, spend Investiture equal to the number of surge ranks required to affect a target of that size: 1 for Small, 2 for Medium, and so on. As usual, this object or area can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Division (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter), even if you have more Investiture than that.
If you’re in combat or another tense situation, you must succeed on a Division test (see “Division Under Pressure” to determine the DC). On a success (or if you’re not under pressure), your target decays in a manner of your choosing. For example, you could crumble the object into dust, etch writing or art into the object, destroy parts of a object to form a smaller object, or create a smokescreen that lasts for 1 round in the destroyed object’s area.
Smoke curled from the occasional patches of growth or heaps of burning corpses. Even some sections of rock smoldered. The Dustbringers had done their work well.
If you attempt elaborate etching or shaping in this way, it takes additional time and actions. Depending on complexity, the GM might also require a Division skill test (or increase the DC for that test).
You can’t use this surge on Invested objects (like Shardplate) or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
It requires considerable concentration and accuracy to use Division while moving, working quickly, or avoiding threats. While in combat or another tense situation (like a Mission or Pursuit), you must succeed on a Division test before destroying an object or area. The DC for this test is determined by the material you’re targeting, as shown on the Division Under Pressure table.
You can’t target materials in this way while they’re in the body of an unwilling living character; instead, target the character’s Spiritual defense as described in the Division surge.
Division Under Pressure
| Material | DC |
|---|---|
| Clear air | DC 0 |
| Vapors like smoke and gas | DC 5 |
| Liquids like blood, water, and oil | DC 10 |
| Organics like flesh, bone, and pulp | DC 15 |
| Solids like metal, stone, and crystal | DC 20 |
If a character is willing, you can easily destroy an object in their possession. However, to destroy an object held by an unwilling character or to destroy a portion of a surface that’s supporting most of their weight (such as the ground they’re standing on or a wall they’re climbing), you must succeed on a Division test against either that character’s Physical defense or the relevant DC on the Division Under Pressure table, whichever is higher. On a failure, you don’t destroy that object and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You atrophy the bodies of your enemies, inflicting debilitating wounds.
When you hit with a Division attack, you can spend ✦ to inflict an injury on one target of that attack.
Prerequisite: Gout of Flame talent Activation: ∞
Your Division is especially potent and destructive.
When you roll damage for Division or its talents, roll an additional damage die of the same size.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ◆
Your ability to decay what you touch ensures you can’t be contained for long.
Spend 1 Investiture or more to end that many effects on yourself or an ally within your reach. The chosen effects must either be applying the Immobilized or Restrained condition, or be adding a disadvantage to one or more physical tests.
Depending on the effect’s source, this talent might not fully destroy the source at the GM’s discretion, but it creates space or opportunity for your target to move around it or free themselves from its constraint. If the effect’s source remains at the end of the target’s next turn (such as when swimming or when wearing armor with the Cumbersome trait), the effect then reasserts itself.
Prerequisite: Igniting Division talent Activation: ▶▶
You use Division to spray heat and flame across a wide area.
Spend 3 Investiture and choose an area up to one size larger than you can normally affect with your ranks in Division; if you already have 5 ranks in Division, you can instead affect an area up to 25 feet in each dimension.
Make a Division attack against the Physical defense of each target who is at least partially within the chosen area, rolling 3d4 energy damage. The size of these damage dice increases with your ranks in Division; at 2 ranks, roll 3d6 (instead of 3d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Bodily Decay talent Activation: ★
You can make anything burn, even materials that are usually nonflammable.
When you affect a target with Division, you can spend 1 or more additional Investiture to cause that target to catch fire for a number of rounds equal to the Investiture spent. If you didn’t already have to make a Division test when you affected that target (see “Division Under Pressure”), you must succeed on one now to do so.
For the duration, the target becomes Afflicted, and the area within 5 feet of the target is lit on fire and becomes dangerous terrain. Both effects deal energy damage equal to your Division modifier. At the GM’s discretion, the dangerous terrain can spread on subsequent rounds.
The target or a character within reach of it can Use a Skill to make an Agility or Athletics test opposed by your Division. If they succeed, the target’s Afflicted condition ends early, but the ignited area continues to burn.
Prerequisite: Spark Sending talent Activation: ∞
You can send your spark to far greater distances, seeking out targets around corners and through walls and corners.
You can use Division and its talents as though your reach equals your spren bond range. You still need a solid surface from you to your target (such as a wall or floor) along which you can send an entropic spark, but you don’t need line of effect to your target while you can sense them.
Additionally, your target can’t benefit from the Brace action against any of your Division attacks.
Prerequisite: Bodily Decay talent or Eroding Escape talent Activation: ∞
You annihilate your targets from a distance by sending your entropic spark racing through a physical object, creating a chain reaction at its destination.
You can use Division and its talents as though your reach is 20 feet, as long as there is a solid surface from you to your target (such as a wall or floor) along which you can send an entropic spark.
Prerequisite: Spark Sending talent or Gout of Flame talent Activation: ∞
You’ve grown so powerful that the ability to destroy everything around you is almost alarmingly easy.
It costs you one fewer ▶ to use Division (but not its talents). Additionally, your DCs on the Division Under Pressure table are reduced by 5.
He exhaled Stormlight in a rush, infusing the stones around him with a mounting destruction. The column became char, the stone itself set alight. Szeth ripped from it, trailing ash.
The surge of Gravitation can change the direction and magnitude of an object’s gravitational attraction. Gravitation infusions temporarily draw an object to another point instead of the planet’s center of gravity. This is known as a Basic Lashing.
Radiant Orders: Skybreaker, Windrunner Activation: ▶
To perform a Basic Lashing, spend 1 Investiture or more to infuse a character or object within your reach; you must have a hand free and touch the target. Your target can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Gravitation (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
The infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and for the duration, the target’s gravity changes directions (as described below in “Targeting a Character” and “Targeting an Object”). This change uses your gravitation rate, which begins at 25 feet.
Your target doesn’t move fast enough to deal damage on impact. However, if a target is aloft when the surge ends, they fall and take the usual damage from the fall (see “Movement and Positioning” in chapter 10).
Targeting a Character. You can target a willing character, granting them a flying rate equal to your gravitation rate for the duration. (For rules on flying, see “Movement and Positioning” in chapter 10.)
Alternatively, you can infuse yourself with Gravitation regardless of your size, gaining the same flying rate and spending 1 Investiture each round to maintain the surge.
To target an unwilling character, see “Gravitation on Others.”
Targeting an Object. You can target an object, declaring a new direction for its gravity. At the start of each of your turns, after the infusion expends another 1 Investiture, move that object in a straight line up to your gravitation rate.
You can’t use this surge on Invested objects (like Shardplate) or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
Performing a Basic Lashing on an unwilling character is challenging. To do so, make a Gravitation test against the target’s Physical defense. On a success, spend 1 Investiture to move the target up to your gravitation rate in a direction of your choosing.
When you move an unwilling target in this way, they become Restrained until the start of your next turn. During this movement, if the target passes within reach of an object or surface at least one size larger than them, they can attempt to grab it by using the Avoid
Danger reaction to make an Agility test opposed by your Gravitation (their Restrained condition doesn’t impose a disadvantage on this test). If your target succeeds, they stop moving; while they continue holding on, you can’t move them further with this infusion.
When flying or moving something with a Basic Lashing, you don’t usually need to make a test. However, if you’re attempting something particularly dangerous or tricky—such as flying through a highstorm or threading an object through a small gap—you must succeed on a Gravitation test to perform the Lashing (DC set at the GM’s discretion).
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Gravitation talent tree for the Skybreaker and Windrunner paths.
Prerequisite: Gravitation 3+; Group Flight talent Activation: ∞
You’ve trained your allies in aerial combat scenarios, readying them to fly together at a moment’s notice.
You can use your Group Flight in combat.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶
You are a master of the skies, adeptly wielding your weapon while in flight.
While maintaining a Basic Lashing on yourself, fly a distance up to your gravitation rate. Once during this movement, you can spend 1 focus to make a melee weapon attack as part of the same action. After resolving that attack, you can continue your movement.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, your gravitation rate increases to 40 feet.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
Your Basic Lashings become more forceful and potentially dangerous on impact.
When you use a Basic Lashing to move an unwilling creature or object into a solid surface, the collision stops that movement early, and you can choose for the Lashed target to take 1d4 impact damage for every 10 feet they were moved with that Lashing on this
Lashing wasn’t like the flight of a swallow—instead, it was like tying oneself to strings, a puppet to be yanked about. It was easy to lose control.
turn. For example, if you moved them 25 feet then they collide with a wall, they take 2d4 impact damage.
Your target can use the Avoid Danger reaction to make an Agility test opposed by your Gravitation, taking half as much damage on a success.
The size of these damage dice increases with your ranks in Gravitation; at 2 ranks, roll 1d6 (instead of 1d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Stable Flight talent Activation: ∞
You can infuse multiple allies with Gravitation at once.
While not in combat, when you spend 1 Investiture or more to infuse yourself or a willing character with a Basic Lashing, you can also infuse a number of additional willing characters up to your ranks in Gravitation. Each target must be within your reach. These infusions last for the duration of the original infusion and require no additional Investiture to create or maintain.
Prerequisite: Gravitational Slam talent Activation: ▶▶
You apply multiple Basic Lashings to an object, launching it with several times the force of gravity.
You touch an unattended object of a size you can affect with your ranks in Gravitation, then you propel that object at a target in your line of effect, spending Investiture equal to the distance to that target divided by your gravitation rate (rounded up).
Make a ranged Gravitation attack against the Physical defense of that target, rolling 2d4 impact damage. The size of these damage dice increases with your ranks in Gravitation; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Group Flight talent or Lashing Shot talent Activation: ∞
You’ve become so efficient at infusing yourself with Gravitation that it becomes subconscious, allowing you to endlessly soar.
While you have 1 Investiture or more, you gain the benefits of being infused with Gravitation without spending Investiture.
Prerequisite: Gravitational Slam talent Activation: ★
You can apply multiple Basic Lashings to an enemy.
After you succeed on a Gravitation test to move an unwilling character, you can infuse them with an amount of Investiture up to your ranks in Gravitation (instead of only 1 Investiture). When you do, the effect continues until the infusion ends (instead of until the start of your next turn).
Prerequisite: Flying Ace talent Activation: ∞
You’re an expert in launching attacks from afar in mid-flight.
While maintaining a Basic Lashing on yourself, your ranged attacks don’t gain a disadvantage due to flying or other causes of unstable footing.
The surge of Illumination can create convincing illusions, both visual and auditory. This ability is commonly known as Lightweaving, though Lightweavers and Truthwatchers can both use this surge.
Radiant Orders: Lightweaver, Truthwatcher Activation: ▶
To Lightweave an illusion, spend 1 Investiture or more to infuse it into thin air in a space within your spren bond range. This illusion can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Illumination (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
Lightweavings typically take the form of a three-dimensional hologram representing a character, object, or phenomenon you’re familiar with. This illusion is composed of light, complete with animation and accompanying sounds produced by the vibrations of your bonded spren.
Simple and Complex Illusions. If the illusion depicts a simple object with no sound or animations, the infusion uses 1 Investiture every 10 minutes. If the illusion depicts a character or more complex object, it instead uses 1 Investiture each round. For the duration, the illusion remains active even if you move out of range. You can move and control a complex illusion, as detailed in “Controlling Illusions.”
Disguising Yourself. Alternatively, if you have 1 Investiture or more, you can use Illumination to create an illusory disguise on yourself without spending Investiture. This disguise lasts until you end it as ◆ or run out of Investiture.
Deceiving Characters. If your illusion is a simple object or a disguise on yourself, it automatically convinces characters unless they have a reason to be suspicious. If you create a more complex illusion (such as disguising another character), the GM might require you to make an Illumination test against the Cognitive defense of any character who passively observes the illusion; on a success, your illusion is convincing to them.
A character might decide to Use a Skill to scrutinize your illusion, especially if you fail the above Illumination test or if you or your allies roll a Complication on a related test. In this case, make an Illumination test opposed by the character’s Perception test. If their test result exceeds your own, they notice the illusion (see “Detecting Illusions” for the effects).
You can make these tests to deceive characters even if that illusion is currently out of your spren bond range.
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
Lightweaving is easiest when replicating something you’re familiar with. If you have a great memory or if you reference material you created (such as a sketch, a painting, or a written passage) you might be able to Lightweave something you’ve only encountered a few times—but your Illumination tests to deceive onlookers will probably gain a disadvantage.
It’s very challenging to Lightweave something you’ve only seen in drawings or imagined yourself. It’s up to your GM how difficult this is, but you might face challenges such as a reduced surge size, an additional Investiture cost, a focus cost, an increased DC, or a disadvantage on your d20 roll.
You can control all of your complex illusions that are within your spren bond range. Each illusion can pretend to interact with its environment; for example, you might make an illusionary tree bend with the wind, or make an illusionary child try to catch a ball (but intentionally miss it). However, your illusion has no senses of its own, so you can’t give it tasks that require senses or knowledge you don’t have.
An illusion can move up to your movement rate on your turn in a manner reasonable for that illusion. You can use ◆ to have one or more of your illusions perform simple, mindless tasks like walking across the street or shouting a phrase. You can use ▶ to task one of your illusions with something that requires your careful attention, such as convincingly conversing with someone.
If you move out of range, your illusions can only perform whatever simple, mindless tasks you last gave them, such as gazing thoughtfully at a bookshelf.
When your illusions begin running out of Stormlight, you can seamlessly maintain them by feeding Investiture from your own supply. You can use ◆ to infuse 1 Investiture or more into any illusions of your choice within your spren bond range (spending separate Investiture for each illusion).
A failed Illumination test or an unfortunate Complication can cause a target to recognize that an illusion is artificial. However, when this happens, the illusion itself persists, and it might even continue to conceal something else in the right circumstances. For example, if you Lightweave a boulder around yourself, a successful Perception test may alert an enemy that something is amiss, but they still won’t be able to see inside the boulder. (However, you can’t see through your illusionary boulder either!)
Tests aren’t the only way to detect an illusion (or to become suspicious of one). If one character detects an illusion, they might alert their allies that it isn’t real. And if a physical object passes through an illusion, a white blur appears at the intersection, and a character familiar with Lightweaving might recognize these telltale signs. Such events can betray the presence of Lightweaving, and any character wishing to determine the boundaries or source of an illusion can make a Deduction or Perception test opposed by your Illumination.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Illumination talent tree for the Lightweaver and Truthwatcher paths.
Prerequisite: Distracting Illusion talent Activation: ▶▶
You create a brief burst of light and sound that attacks the senses of targets near you.
Spend 1 Investiture to project a burst of light in an area within your reach, up to the size you can create with your ranks in Illumination. Make one Illumination test and compare the result against the Cognitive defense of each character in that area. If you succeed against a target, they become Disoriented until the end of their next turn.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶
You create a moving, illusory copy of someone to distract your enemies.
Spend 1 Investiture to Lightweave an illusory duplicate, either of yourself or an ally you can sense within your spren bond range. The illusion appears in that character’s space and moves with them. Attacks against that character gain a disadvantage and can’t graze. The illusion ends after an attack misses that character or at the end of the scene.
Prerequisite: Multiplicative Lightweaving talent or Spiritual Illumination talent Activation: ∞
You’ve become so efficient at powering your illusions that you can maintain them indefinitely.
While you have 1 Investiture or more, each of your Illumination infusions within your spren bond range expends no infused Investiture at the start of your turn.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ★
You infuse spheres with your Illumination, creating illusions that linger long after you’ve moved away.
When you Lightweave an illusion, instead of creating it in thin air, you can instead infuse its Investiture in a sphere or unencased gem within 5 feet of that illusion. For the duration, the illusion moves with the gem; for example, an ally could carry this gem to extend the duration of an illusory disguise you created for them. Instead of the infusion expending 1 Investiture per round, it expends 1 Investiture per number of rounds equal to your ranks in Illumination; for example, if you have 3 ranks in Illumination, your infusions in spheres expend Investiture once every 3 rounds.
Prerequisite: Stormlight Reclamation talent Activation: ∞
You effortlessly Lightweave multiple illusions at once.
When you Lightweave an illusion, you can create a number of additional illusions up to your ranks in Illumination. These infusions last for the duration of the original infusion and require no additional Investiture to create or maintain.
Prerequisite: Spiritual Illumination talent Activation: ▶
You create a haunting image of who an enemy could have been if they’d taken a better path.
Spend 2 Investiture and make an Illumination test against the Spiritual defense of a target you can sense within your spren bond range. On a success, they stumble in shock, becoming Slowed until the end of their next turn.
At the start of the target’s next turn, they must either spend focus equal to your ranks in Illumination to end this effect as ◆, or immediately use the Move action to move as far as possible away from you.
Prerequisite: Disorienting Flash talent Activation: ▶
You use Lightweaving to show your allies inspiring possibilities of who they could become.
Spend 2 Investiture to create a momentary Lightweaving near an ally you can sense within your spren bond range. That ally becomes Determined and Focused until the end of their next turn.
Prerequisite: Distracting Illusion talent Activation: ◆
You can reclaim Stormlight from active illusions.
After your infusions expend their infused Investiture at the start of your turn, you can end any number of those infusions within your reach, recovering all remaining Investiture they were infused with.
The surge of Progression controls the growth and healing of living things. Its two primary effects are Growth (which can rapidly sprout and mature plants) and Regrowth (which can heal a character’s body and soul).
Radiant Orders: Edgedancer, Truthwatcher Activation: ▶▶
You infuse life into a living thing other than yourself within your reach; you must have a hand free and touch the target.
Plant Growth. If you target a living plant (or its seed) with Growth, spend 1 Investiture to cause it to rapidly grow to a size of your choice. This can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Progression (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter), nor the normal limits of the largest plants of its species.
Character Regrowth. If you target a living character with Regrowth, infuse 1 Investiture or more into them. The infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and for the duration, that character recovers health equal to 1d4 + your Progression modifier at the start of each of their turns. The size of this die increases with your ranks in Progression: at 2 ranks, roll 1d6 when recovering health (instead of 1d4), and so on.
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
Growth can be used creatively in many ways. You might grow a pathway over an obstacle or create inconspicuous concealment. You could block line of effect, create cover or difficult terrain, or erect obstacles to climb. It’s up to you and your GM to resolve such creative uses.
Regrowth heals by transforming the target’s Physical form to better match their Cognitive and Spiritual self. As such, the narrative effect of each character’s healing depends on who they are at their core and how they view themself. When you use Progression to heal a character, they (not you) determine what’s healed and how, likely doing so subconsciously.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
You grow plants explosively, striking and ensnaring your enemies.
Spend 1 Investiture to use Growth in an area up to the size you can affect with your ranks in Progression. Make one Progression attack and compare the test result to the Physical defense of each character of your choice in that area. Roll 2d4 damage, dealing either impact or keen damage (whichever is logical for the grown plants). The size of this attack’s damage dice increases with your ranks in Progression; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
You can spend ✦ to cause any number of the targets you hit to become Immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Prerequisite: Swift Regeneration talent Activation: ∞
Your Regrowth infusions expend Stormlight far less quickly.
When you infuse Regrowth into a character, instead of the infusion expending 1 Investiture per round, it expends 1 Investiture per number of rounds equal to your ranks in Progression. For example, if you have 3 ranks in Progression, those infusions expend Investiture once every 3 rounds.
Prerequisite: Extended Regrowth talent or Reliable Progression talent Activation: ∞
You’ve grown so powerful that growth and healing flow from you with incredible speed.
It costs you one fewer ▶ to use Progression and its talents.
Prerequisite: Progression 3+; Extended Regrowth talent Activation: ▶▶▶
You use Regrowth to pull someone back from the very edge of death.
Spend 3 Investiture and touch the body of a character who died within the last minute. If the target is willing, they return to life Unconscious with 0 health.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
You use Regrowth to rapidly recover injuries, including permanent ones and missing body parts.
Spend 2 Investiture to cause yourself or a willing character you touch to instantly recover from a temporary injury of the target’s choice, or spend 3 Investiture to recover from a permanent injury.
Prerequisite: Explosive Growth talent Activation: ∞
You persuade plants to grow beyond their normal size and shape.
When you infuse Growth into a plant, you can make a DC 15 Progression test as part of that action. On a success, you cause the plant to grow beyond its species’ normal limits, up to the surge size for your ranks in Progression, and the plant’s current and total health increase by 2d4. The size of these dice increases with your ranks in Progression; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Progression 2+; Overgrowth talent Activation: ★
Through adept control of your Stormlight, your Growth and Regrowth become even more dependable.
When you roll a die whose size increases with your ranks in Progression (such as when using the Explosive Growth, Overgrowth, and Swift Regeneration talents) or when a willing character rolls a die to recover health from your Regrowth, if the die rolls a number lower than your ranks in Progression, you can change that result to instead equal your ranks in Progression (no action required).
Prerequisite: Progression 2+; Injury Regrowth talent Activation: ★
You can heal yourself with greater efficiency and make those infused with your Regrowth more resistant to injury.
When you use Regenerate, instead of recovering the normal amount of health, you can recover health equal to 1d6 + your Progression modifier. The size of this die increases with your ranks in Progression: at 3 ranks, roll 1d8 (instead of 1d6), and so on.
Additionally, while you have 1 Investiture or more, you and any character infused with your Regrowth can add your Progression modifier to injury rolls.
The surge of Tension alters the rigidity of objects. This allows you to reinforce flexible materials such as cloth, making them firm and strong like steel.
Radiant Orders: Bondsmith, Stoneward Activation: ▶
To use this surge, spend 1 or more Investiture to infuse a soft object within your reach; you must have a hand free and touch the target. The infusion uses 1 Investiture each round, and for the duration, the object becomes completely rigid.
This object can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Tension (see the Surge Scaling table at the beginning of this chapter).
When you activate this surge, you can first form the soft material into a rough shape as part of that action, but any elaborate molding requires more time (see “Creating Objects and Weapons”).
You can’t use this surge on characters, Invested objects (like Shardplate), or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges).
Hardened Defense. When you infuse a soft material worn by you or a willing character, you can increase the wearer’s Physical defense by 2. Alternatively, before you infuse a material, you can wrap it around a character as part of that action, granting the same effect. A character’s Physical defense can’t benefit from more than one Tension surge at a time.
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
You can shape cloth, rope, or other soft materials into a specific form, then infuse Tension to temporarily stiffen them into a usable object. When you activate the surge, you can briefly shape the material, but more elaborate reshaping requires additional time. In combat, this usually requires an additional Interact action (for moderate reshaping) or Use a Skill action (if your creation is intricate enough to require a Tension skill test). The GM sets this test’s DC based on the complexity of the object you’re creating.
At the GM’s discretion, you can creatively use Tension to create nearly any solid object of an appropriate size. For example, you might shape a tarp into a box, then infuse it to use as a stepping stool. You could shove a handkerchief into a keyhole, then infuse it to make a key that can open the lock. A piece of rope could even serve as a sturdy staff or similar weapon.
When using Tension to temporarily create a weapon, treat it as an improvised non-special weapon, but remove its Fragile trait (see “Improvised Weapons” in chapter 7).
While it’s simple to shape unattended cloth, it’s challenging to wrap your opponent in it or to infuse something they’re already wearing. To infuse an object worn by or wrapped around an unwilling target, make a Tension test against the target’s Physical defense. On a failure, you don’t infuse that object and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt. On a success, the target has difficulty moving for the duration, becoming Slowed and gaining a disadvantage on all physical tests.
A character can try to bend an object you’ve stiffened with your Tension. To do so, they Use a Skill to make an Athletics test opposed by your Tension. If they succeed, the infusion ends.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Tension talent tree for the Stoneward path.
Prerequisite: Tension 2+; Rigged Weaponry talent Activation: ∞
As you infuse soft materials with Tension, they contort themselves into exactly what you envision.
When you use Tension to create an object or weapon, you can automatically reshape it before it becomes rigid without using additional actions or time. When you do, you instantaneously mold the soft material into an object as elaborate, intricate, and complex as you wish. For example, you could turn a large tarp into a table or chair, shape a cloak around its wearer as a functioning suit of half plate, cause a grappling hook attached to a rope to secure itself to a ledge above, or create intricate shapes or images.
Prerequisite: Cloth Mastery talent or Surface Tension talent Activation: ∞
The impromptu weapons and armor you create with Tension are so powerful that they rival Shardblades and Plate.
When you infuse Tension to grant a character the Hardened Defense effect, their Physical defense increases by 4 (instead of 2).
Additionally, when you temporarily create a weapon with Tension (see “Creating Objects and Weapons”), it gains an extra d4 damage die (for example, an axe created this way deals 1d6 + 1d4 keen damage). The size of this die increases with your ranks in Tension; at 2 ranks, the extra die becomes a d6 (instead of a d4), and so on.
Colorful ribbons—tied around his wrists and extending out through the Plate—began moving of their own accord; they spiraled outward around his fist and became like blades themselves.
Prerequisite: Stormlight Reclamation talent Activation: ∞
Your infusions of Tension expend the Stormlight far less quickly.
When you infuse Tension into an object, instead of the infusion expending 1 Investiture per round, it expends 1 Investiture per number of rounds equal to your ranks in Tension. For example, if you have 3 ranks in Tension, those infusions expend Investiture once every 3 rounds.
Additionally, while you have 1 Investiture or more, you can maintain Tension infusions on objects you’re holding or wearing without either you or the infusion expending Investiture.
Prerequisite: Cloth Mastery talent Activation: ▶▶
Your careful practice allows you to selectively change the rigidity of an object’s parts, allowing fine control much like the movement of muscles and tendons.
Infuse 1 Investiture or more into an unattended object within reach that is of a size you can affect with Tension. Though the infused object isn’t a character, for the duration, its current and maximum health both increase to 5 × your ranks in Tension, and each of its defenses equals 10 + your Tension modifier. If the infused object is reduced to 0 health, the infusion ends early and the object breaks.
Many Tension users infuse long pieces of cloth, rope, or other flexible material that they can control, effectively extending their range. On each of your turns for the duration, while touching part of one object you infused using this talent, you can move it up to 25 feet along surfaces (including ceilings) and can use it to interact with characters and other objects. You can use ◆ to have one infused object perform simple tasks like climbing a tree or opening a door. You can use ▶ to task one infused object with something that requires a test or your careful attention, such as attacking someone or writing a message. The object has no senses of its own and can’t act without your touch and direct control, so you can’t give it tasks that require senses or knowledge you don’t have.
If the object’s task requires a test (such as an attack or Athletics test), you must be able to sense its target, and you use your Tension instead of that test’s usual skill.
The object can make a melee attack using Tension against the Physical defense of a target within 5 feet of it, rolling 2d4 impact damage. The size of these dice increases with your ranks in Tension; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Tension Parry talent Activation: ★
Dynamic use of Tension on cloth or rope allows you to augment your martial prowess.
While wielding a melee weapon and holding cloth or other flexible object that’s at least 10 feet long, you can spend 1 Investiture as ◆ to increase the weapon’s reach by 10 feet until the end of your next turn.
Additionally, after you hit a character with a melee attack, you can spend ✦ or 2 focus to use Tension on an object the target is holding or wearing, infusing Investiture as usual but without spending an action. You automatically succeed on the test to infuse it.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ◆
You can reclaim Stormlight from active infusions.
After your infusions expend their infused Investiture at the start of your turn, you can end any number of those infusions within your reach, recovering all remaining Investiture they were infused with.
Prerequisite: Extended Tension talent Activation: ∞
You use Tension to solidify the surface of liquids into traversable ground.
You can use Tension on liquid, affecting an area up to twice the size you can normally affect with your ranks in Tension. For the duration, this liquid’s surface tension increases and characters can walk on it like solid ground.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ↺
You stiffen clothing to block incoming attacks.
Before you or an ally within your reach is hit or grazed by an attack against Physical defense, you can use this reaction to infuse Tension into the target’s clothing or a soft material you wrap around the target, spending Investiture as usual. They gain the Hardened Defense effect, increasing their Physical defense by 2 for the duration, including against the triggering attack. If the attack hit, this increase can change it to a miss. If the attack grazed, the target ignores its effects.
The surge of Transformation transforms one material into another. Often called Soulcasting, this surge shifts your perception of the object you want to transform, allowing you to see and communicate with its Cognitive aspect.
Radiant Orders: Elsecaller, Lightweaver Activation: ▶▶
To Soulcast a material, choose a non-living object or portion of a surface within your reach and make a Transformation test (see “Transformation DC” below). To do so, you must have a hand free and touch the target. This target can’t exceed the surge size for your ranks in Transformation.
You can’t use this surge on Invested objects (like Shardplate) or objects that have been infused with Stormlight (like infused spheres or objects affected by surges). Additionally, you can’t initially Soulcast living materials, including characters and plants (though talents can allow you to do so).
Transformation DC. Soulcasting one material into a similar one is relatively simple, but the more you change its Essence, the more skill is required. Each material falls into one of six categories:
Determine which category best corresponds to your original material, then choose what category you want to transform the material into. If you’re transforming it into a material no more than one category away, make a DC 10 Transformation test. This DC increases by 5 for each additional category away, as shown on the Transformation Difficulty Classes table; to use that table, find the cell that intersects with both your original material and your target material. For example, Soulcasting stone into metal is significantly easier (DC 10) than Soulcasting to create metal out of thin air (DC 25).
Successful Transformation. On a successful Transformation test, you compel the material to transform. Spend Investiture equal to the ranks required to transform an object of that size: 1 Investiture for a Small object, 2 Investiture for a Medium one, 3 Investiture for a Large one, 4 Investiture for a Huge one, and 5 Investiture for a Gargantuan one. Your target transforms into that substance.
Failed Transformation. On a failure, you don’t transform your target and you don’t spend Investiture on the attempt. Since you’ve failed to compel that material to transform, you can’t attempt to Soulcast that same object again during this scene.
Transformation Difficulty Classes
| Solids | Organics | Liquids | Vapors | Clear Air | Flame* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solids | 10 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 |
| Organics | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Liquids | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Vapors | 20 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Clear Air | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Flame* | 30 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | — |
The Flame category is only available to characters with the Flamecasting talent.
In addition to the basic surge rules above, this section provides more guidance on using or interacting with this surge in your game.
While you can’t Soulcast living characters with the basic Transformation surge, you can creatively use your abilities to be useful and dangerous in combat. You might create obscuring fog out of thin air, giving attackers a disadvantage. You could create cover to shield behind. You might even turn the ground beneath your opponent’s feet into liquid, causing them to fall Prone.
It’s up to you and your GM to resolve such creative uses. In general, if your Soulcasting requires the opponent to make a test (such as to stay on their feet), their DC is equal to your Transformation test result.
Peering Into Shadesmar
The surge of Transformation grants a limited ability to look into the Cognitive Realm. To do so, you can spend 2 Investiture and Use a Skill to make a Transformation test. On a success, you can use one effect from the Transportation surge (see “Transportation”) to perceive 10 feet around you in the corresponding location in Shadesmar.
The following talents, presented here in alphabetical order, appear in the Transformation talent tree for the Elsecaller and Lightweaver paths.
Prerequisite: Living Soulcasting talent Activation: ▶▶
You’ve practiced techniques for Soulcasting blood, allowing you to cleanse the body of poison and to speed recovery from injuries.
While touching a character, spend 1 Investiture and make a DC 15 Transformation test to cleanse their blood. On a success, the effects of any poison end for the target, and you can reduce the recovery time of one of their injuries by 5 days.
The GM can spend ⚡ from this test to reduce the target’s maximum health by twice their level until after the target’s next long rest.
Prerequisite: Soulcast Parry talent Activation: ∞
You can Soulcast from a greater distance.
You can use your surges and their talents as though your reach is 20 feet, and you don’t need to touch the target.
Prerequisite: Flamecasting talent Activation: ∞
You’ve become so powerful that you can Soulcast larger objects with much greater efficiency.
When you Soulcast non-living material, reduce the Investiture cost by 2 (to a minimum of 1 Investiture). For example, it now costs you only 1 Investiture to Soulcast either a Small, Medium, or Large object.
Prerequisite: Soulcast Parry talent Activation: ∞
You’ve learned the difficult art of Soulcasting Essences directly into instantaneous bursts of flame.
On your surge’s list of Soulcasting materials, you gain a sixth category called “Flame,” which follows the entry for “Clear Air.” When Soulcasting a material that’s five spaces away on this expanded list, the DC is 30 (such as when Soulcasting stone into flame).
When you Soulcast an object into flame, the flames last for only a moment before dissipating. However, before they do, they can catch flammable objects on fire.
Additionally, when you Soulcast an object into flame, use the result of that Transformation test to make an attack as ◆ against the Physical defense of each character within 5 feet of the Soulcast object. Roll 2d4 energy damage. The size of these damage dice increases with your ranks in Transformation; at 2 ranks, roll 2d6 (instead of 2d4), and so on.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ▶▶
You’ve mastered the subtleties of affecting living flesh with Soulcasting.
Spend 1 Investiture and make a melee Transformation attack against the Spiritual defense of a character, plant, or other living organism within your reach. Roll 3d4 spirit damage. The size of these damage dice increases with your ranks in Transformation; at 2 ranks, roll 3d6 (instead of 3d4), and so on.
If this reduces the target to 0 health, they die, and you transform their body into your choice of material without spending additional actions or Investiture.
Prerequisite: Transformation 2+; Distant Surgebinding talent Activation: ∞
Your force of will is so great that objects have a hard time denying you.
When transforming a non-living material, your Transformation test has a maximum DC of 15.
Additionally, after you fail to Soulcast an object, you can attempt to do so again during the same scene. When you succeed on this test, you must spend 1 additional Investiture per time you failed to Soulcast that object during this scene; if you can’t spend that much Investiture, the object isn’t transformed.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ↺
You Soulcast near-instinctively, able to transform projectiles in flight.
Before you or an ally within your reach is hit by a projectile from a ranged attack, you can use this reaction and spend 1 Investiture to make a Transformation test. The DC of this test equals the triggering attack’s test result; you can choose whether to use this reaction after you learn the DC.
On a failure, the attack grazes instead of hitting. On a success, the attack instead misses and can’t graze, and you transform the projectile into a material of your choice. If you choose a non-solid material, this destroys the projectile.
Prerequisite: Soulcast Defense talent Activation: ∞
You can use Soulcasting to defend against even more immediate threats.
You can now use Soulcast Defense on melee weapon attacks as well as ranged ones.
The surge of Transportation allows you to transition yourself and others between the different realms. However, mastering it takes great skill, and at first, you’ll only be able to peer into the Cognitive Realm (also known as Shadesmar).
Radiant Orders: Elsecaller, Willshaper Activation: ▶
Spend 1 Investiture or more to look into the Cognitive Realm where it corresponds to your current location. This allows you to see the true nature of many things around you. For each Investiture you spend, you can use one of these effects within your spren bond range:
Learn Emotions and Motives. You can observe what types of spren gather around people, helping you discern their true emotions or motives. This might grant you one or more advantages on a test to influence them, or you might learn their motive without an Insight test.
Locate Characters. By watching the flames of other people and learning how to identify them, you can make a guess at their location in the Physical Realm (if they’re close enough for you to spot their flame in Shadesmar).
Sense Investiture. Objects and people Invested with Stormlight or other Investiture can be seen in the Cognitive Realm, revealing their true nature. This might be a Fused, another Radiant, or an object like a Shardblade or a fabrial.
Spotting and identifying some of these things can be difficult, and at the GM’s discretion, you might need to succeed on a Transportation test to do so.
Prerequisite: Speak the First Ideal Activation: ∞
You can see greater distances into Shadesmar, and you can use it to orient yourself.
When you peer into the Cognitive Realm with Transportation, you can spot things up to a distance equal to 3 × your spren bond range.
Additionally, while you have 1 Investiture or more, you always know both which direction is north and which direction you must travel to reach the nearest settlement or gathering of people.
Prerequisite: Cognitive Farsight talent Activation: ∞
You can glean even greater knowledge and spot even more hidden information when you peer into the Cognitive Realm.
The following entries are added to the list of things you can spot when you use Transportation to look into the Cognitive Realm:
Learn Intent. Make a Transportation test as ◆ against the Cognitive defense of an enemy you can sense. On a success, you extrapolate their likely intentions based on the spren lurking around them, and you can share that information with your allies. That enemy gains a disadvantage on their next test against you or one of your allies.
Locate Objects. By briefly reaching into Shadesmar, you can examine the various soul beads and their relative locations in the bead ocean. This might reveal nearby objects or other information about your immediate environment, depending on which beads you touch.
As usual, spotting more difficult things might require a Transportation test at the GM’s discretion.
Prerequisite: Speak the Third Ideal; Realmic Step talent Activation: ▶▶
You temporarily open a miniature perpendicularity that allows you to travel between the Cognitive and Physical Realms.
You can transport yourself from the Physical Realm to the same location within the Cognitive Realm, or vice versa, along with each object you’re wearing or carrying. This movement doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes.
If you’re in the Physical Realm, spend 1 Investiture to transport yourself to the Cognitive Realm. Elsecalling in this way is simple, requiring no skill test.
If you’re in the Cognitive Realm, make a DC 20 Transportation test. On a success, spend 2 Investiture to transport yourself to the Physical Realm. On a failure, you don’t spend Investiture or transport yourself; on a later turn, you can attempt to Elsecall again.
Prerequisite: Speak the Fourth Ideal; Shared Transportation talent Activation: ★
You can create more stable perpendicularities that allow you to transport yourself and others to highly Invested locations, even across a significant distance.
After a long rest, you can instantly transport yourself and up to ten more willing characters, along with each object the targets are wearing or carrying. Choose an Oathgate platform or permanent perpendicularity you’ve visited before. After spending Investiture as described below, you and the other targets are transported to that destination.
This Transportation requires significant Investiture; you must have infused spheres worth twice as many marks as the number of characters you’re transporting, and when you arrive, those spheres all become dun.
At the GM’s discretion, you might be able to choose other destinations that are highly Invested locations you’ve visited before.
The entire building shattered into thousands upon thousands of small glass spheres, like beads. Jasnah screamed as she fell backward through a dark sky. She was no longer in the palace; she was somewhere else—another land, another time, another… something.
Prerequisite: Speak the Second Ideal Activation: ↺
You dodge danger, momentarily transporting yourself between the Physical and Cognitive Realms, then return after the danger has passed.
Before you’re hit by an attack, you can use this reaction and spend 1 Investiture to make a Transportation test. The DC of this test equals the triggering attack’s test result; you can choose whether to use this reaction after you learn the DC. On a failure, the attack grazes instead of hitting. On a success, the attack instead misses and can’t graze.
Prerequisite: Realmic Evasion talent Activation: ▶
You briefly slip into the Cognitive Realm, run a short distance there, then reappear in the Physical Realm.
Make a DC 15 Transportation test. On a success, spend 2 Investiture to move through Shadesmar (along with each object you’re wearing or carrying), transporting yourself to an unoccupied space you can sense within your spren bond range. This movement doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes.
If you are on or above a large body of water, using this talent only costs 1 Investiture, as you don’t have to shape the sea of beads beneath yourself to move around.
Prerequisite: Elsecalling talent Activation: ∞
You effortlessly step between the Cognitive and Physical Realms.
When you make a Transportation test to use a Transportation talent, you automatically succeed.
Prerequisite: Transportation 4+; Elsecalling talent Activation: ★
You can keep your miniature perpendicularities open long enough to bring others along.
When you move yourself through Shadesmar with your Elsecalling or Realmic Step talent, you can spend additional Investiture to also transport willing characters within your reach, along with everything they’re wearing or carrying. Spend 1 Investiture per additional character you choose to transport.
Adventuring through the storm- and war-torn world of Roshar can be a perilous endeavor, and you’ll need gear to survive and thrive. In addition to spheres—Roshar’s currency—you’ll use adventuring kits, weapons, armor, and equipment to meet your basic needs while journeying throughout the continent. However, for exceedingly long or distant expeditions, you may also want to know about travel costs, including lodging, mounts, and vehicles. You might even purchase the Stormlight-powered marvels of engineering known as fabrials. And if a character wants bespoke gear or a completely unique fabrial of their own design, they can engage in some crafting.
Most rules for using items are presented in their specific sections, but here are a few general rules that apply to multiple kinds of items.
Unless otherwise specified, you can use the items in this chapter without any special expertise. However, some weapons and armor have expert traits, giving benefits that only apply if you have an expertise in that weapon or armor.
Some items (such as fabrials) have one or more charges that power certain effects; the number of charges is determined when that item is created. Charges typically represent the Investiture that can be stored in the gem at that item’s core.
Individual items may contain more information on how to use their charges, but the following rules apply to all of them, unless otherwise specified.
Some items with charges must be activated in a special way (such as by using the Interact action). If not specified, you can expend a charge without spending an action. When you expend a charge, you trigger that item’s effect, then the charge is lost until you recharge that item in the specified manner.
An item with charges can be partially or fully recharged during a short rest by draining the Stormlight from unencased gemstones (see “Equipment”) or by drawing from a Radiant’s current Investiture. The item regains 1 charge for each unencased gem or point of Investiture infused into it.
Alternatively, an item can be fully recharged by being left out in a highstorm (as with spheres).
Much like infused spheres, some items can hold a charge of raging Stormlight or are otherwise connected to the Cognitive or Spiritual Realm. These items are Invested and can be more difficult to affect with surges and other effects.
All Shardblades are Invested, along with any items charged with Stormlight.
If an effect works differently on Invested items, this is specified in the effect’s rules.
In this handbook, the names of items are usually listed without special formatting. However, when it might be helpful to know that a mentioned item has specific rules or statistics, the item name appears in bold italics. For example, a written adventure might state that “the characters find a lockpick”; this lets you know that this isn’t just a narrative item, but that you should check this chapter to find out how it works in the rules.
Navani works late into the night designing new fabrials.
Most nations on Roshar use spheres as their primary currency. Each sphere is a gemstone encased in a glass bead, slightly flattened on one side to keep it from rolling away. The glass beads are always the same size, but the size and type of gemstone inside determines the sphere’s value. From smallest to largest, the three sizes of gem are:
Chip. Chips only contain a small sliver of a gem; these are worth one-fifth of a mark.
Mark. Marks contain a half-carat gem and are worth 5 chips (or one-fourth of a broam).
Broam. Broams contain a sizable two-carat gem and are worth 4 marks (or 20 chips).
For simplicity, this game tracks money using only one denomination, “marks” (sometimes abbreviated “mk”)—this always refers to a diamond mark.
However, on Roshar, spheres aren’t only counted in chips, marks, and broams, but each is worth a different amount depending on which type of gem it is. Spheres can be made of diamond, garnet, heliodor, topaz, ruby, smokestone, zircon, amethyst, sapphire or emerald. These gems values depend on how useful they are in Soulcasting—diamonds are the cheapest, whereas emeralds are used to Soulcast food, making them immensely valuable. You can find these conversions on the Sphere Values in Diamond Marks table, but you don’t need to remember these gems; if you ever receive spheres in other denominations, the GM will simply tell you their value in diamond marks.
Sphere Values in Diamond Marks
| Gemstone | Chip | Mark | Broam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | 0.2 | 1 | 4 |
| Garnet, heliodor, topaz | 1 | 5 | 20 |
| Ruby, smokestone, zircon | 2 | 10 | 40 |
| Amethyst, sapphire | 5 | 25 | 100 |
| Emerald | 10 | 50 | 200 |
In addition to serving as currency, spheres serve two practical purposes in this game.
Spheres can be infused with Stormlight, holding the energy and maintaining it for roughly five days before it leaks away. Spheres with Stormlight are called infused, while spheres with no Stormlight are called dun.
Though chips can’t hold much Stormlight, infused marks and broams are valued in part because they’re bright enough to shed light in dark places. The “Equipment” section later in this chapter presents a lantern you can fill with infused spheres.
Even more importantly, Radiants can draw Stormlight out of the gems to fuel Radiant abilities. The “Stormlight Actions” section of chapter 5 details how to calculate how much Stormlight you can draw from your spheres.
During step 6 of character creation, you choose one of the following sets of equipment. Each starting kit grants items such as spheres (roll the dice indicated to determine how many marks you start with), weapons or armor (see the Weapons table and Armor table later in this chapter), other equipment (see the Equipment table later in this chapter), and more.
Weapons: One knife, sling, or staff Armor: Uniform Equipment: Backpack with common clothing, an ink pen, a bottle of ink, 10 sheets of paper, 3 empty vials, a block of wax, a reference book on a topic of your choice (approved by the GM), and 1 dose of weak poison Spheres: A pouch containing 3d12 marks Additional Expertise: You gain the Literature expertise. If you already have this expertise, you instead gain one cultural or utility expertise of your choice. This expertise doesn’t count against your expertises chosen at character creation.
Weapons: One hammer or light weapon (your choice) Armor: Leather armor Equipment: Chest with common clothing, surgical supplies, 5 doses of weak antiseptic, an ink pen, a bottle of ink, 5 sheets of parchment, 5 candles, a flint and steel, 3 empty glass bottles, a tuning fork, a musical instrument of your choice, and a scale Spheres: A pouch containing 4d8 marks
Weapons: Two non-special weapons Armor: Uniform and chain armor Equipment: Backpack with common clothing, a waterskin, a flint and steel, a whetstone, a blanket, and 10 days of food rations Spheres: A pouch containing 2d6 marks
Weapons: One sidesword, greatsword, longsword, or longbow Armor: None Equipment: Alcohol (bottle of violet wine), fine clothing Spheres: A pouch containing 4d20 marks Connection: You’re supported by a patron of your noble house (see the “Patrons” section of chapter 8). This affords you accommodations and a certain standard of living.
Weapons, Armor, and Spheres: None Equipment: Manacles, ragged clothing Connection: You’ve attracted a Radiant spren, and through your trials, you’ve begun to connect with them. Speak with your GM and choose a spren type appropriate for your character, then record their information on the back of your character sheet in “Connections.” If you later choose the key talent from this spren’s corresponding Radiant path, immediately check two boxes for that talent’s “Speak the First Ideal” goal.
Weapons: Two light weapons Armor: Leather armor Equipment: Backpack with common clothing, alcohol (bottle of Horneater white), a crowbar, a lockpick, 50 feet of rope, a flint and steel, an oil lantern, a flask of oil, and 5 days of street food Spheres: A pouch containing 1d20 marks
Since the arrival of the Everstorm, it’s dangerous to travel unarmed, and even the most peaceful characters often take up weapons for self-defense.
This section outlines the most common weapons found on Roshar. The Weapons table includes the following columns:
Type. The general type of weapon—but feel free to creatively describe your own, as long as it uses the same statistics.
Skill. The skill you test when attacking with this weapon.
Damage. How much damage the weapon deals when it hits or grazes.
Range. How far away the weapon can attack (see the upcoming “Weapon Range” section).
Traits. Special rules that apply to that weapon (see the upcoming “Weapon Traits” section).
Expert Traits. Special rules that apply only if you have an expertise in that weapon. Some weapons remove an undesirable trait if you have expertise, rather than adding a desirable trait; for example, if you have an expertise in Longswords, your longsword loses its Two-Handed trait so you can wield it with one hand.
Weight. The weapon’s weight.
Price. The weapon’s standard price.
See the “Attacking” section of chapter 10 for the full rules about attacking using these weapons.
Each weapon requires one hand to wield unless otherwise specified in its traits. While wielding a weapon, you can use it to attack or use other abilities. Rules that apply to “your weapon” only apply if you’re wielding that weapon.
If you aren’t wielding a weapon (or holding an object) in a hand, you have that hand free for other abilities that require it. If both of your hands are full but an ability doesn’t state you need a hand free, it’s up to the GM to decide whether you could reasonably use that ability in the narrative.
Some characters might wield their weapons using methods other than hands. You can do this if you’re only wielding weapons that another character could with two hands. When you do, pick which weapon is considered your “main hand” and “offhand” (regardless of how you hold them), and otherwise follow the weapon rules. Unless your GM decides otherwise, you can’t wield more than two weapons (or one Two-Handed weapon) at a time, regardless of whether you use your hands to do so.
You can use the Interact action to draw a weapon in your possession and grasp it in your hand. After you do, you’re wielding that weapon and can use it for attacks and other effects.
You can use the Drop free action to release a weapon you’re holding (for example, right before you Interact to draw a different weapon). When a scene begins and you’re not Surprised, it’s assumed you can instinctively draw your weapons before the first round (without using the Interact action). If you’re Surprised when a scene begins, you can’t instinctively draw your weapons.
While wielding more than one weapon, you must choose which one is in your main hand. Attacks with that weapon are made as usual.
When you wield a weapon that’s not in your main hand, it’s in your offhand. Before you use the Strike action using a weapon in your offhand, you must spend 2 focus. (Attacks other than the Strike action don’t require spending that focus.)
If your weapon has the Loaded or Ranged trait, you don’t need to purchase its ammunition or track it on your character sheet (unless the weapon uses special ammunition). However, the Loaded trait does limit how many shots you can make with a weapon before reloading. It’s assumed you can always obtain or improvise standard ammunition for your weapons, unless the GM decides you’re in an unusual situation where ammunition is unavailable.
Weapons in Polite Company
Despite the constant presence of war on Roshar—or maybe because of it—weapons aren’t welcome in most “polite” parts of society throughout the world. Openly carrying a weapon in settings such as a market or at a party often draws attention, hostility, or the authorities. If you want to carry a weapon in such context, you usually have to conceal it (such as with a Stealth test).
Light weapons are much more common off the battlefield than are heavy weapons. While their presence may still be unwelcome in some situations, they don’t have the same chilling effect on friendly conversations between strangers, and they’re wielded by people from all walks of life. Weapons with the Discreet trait are even more acceptable (or easier to hide) in most contexts.
Weapons can only attack targets within a certain range. Each weapon is classified as either a melee weapon or a ranged weapon. See “Targeting and Range” in chapter 10 for more information on range and reach.
You can use a melee weapon that you’re wielding to attack a target within your reach (see “Reach” in chapter 10).
When wielded, some melee weapons increase your reach for attacks made with that weapon. On the Weapons table, if a melee weapon’s range lists a number in brackets, increase your reach by that many feet. For example, if you usually have a 5-foot reach, a Melee [+5] weapon extends your reach to 10 feet.
You can fire ammunition from a ranged weapon that you’re wielding, attacking a target either within or beyond your reach. The weapon’s range lists two numbers in brackets, such as Ranged [80/320]; the first number is the weapon’s short range in feet, and the second is the weapon’s long range in feet. As described in “Targeting and Range” in chapter 10, ranged attacks outside short range gain a disadvantage.
Additionally, as described in “Attacking” in chapter 10, you gain a disadvantage on ranged attacks while within an enemy’s reach. If you attack a target within 5 feet of your ally, raise the stakes; a Complication risks grazing your ally.
These rules apply to any weapon with that trait listed in its entry on the Weapons table.
Cumbersome [X]. To wield this weapon easily, your Strength score must be equal to or greater than the number indicated in brackets. If your Strength is lower than that number, you gain a disadvantage on all attacks using this weapon and are Slowed while wielding it.
Dangerous. The GM can spend ⚡ from an attack with this weapon to cause you to also accidentally graze an ally within the weapon’s reach or range. This deals the usual damage for a graze.
Deadly. When you hit a target with this weapon, you can spend ✦ to cause the target to immediately suffer an injury.
Defensive. While wielding this weapon, you can use the Brace action without cover nearby.
Discreet. This weapon is less obtrusive than others, and thus less likely to be confiscated in secure settings. In non-combat scenes, you gain an advantage on any test you make to disguise this weapon, to hide it on your person, or to convince others not to take it from you.
Fragile. When you attack with this weapon, the GM can spend ⚡ to cause it to break after the attack is resolved.
Indirect. This ranged weapon can arc shots over cover and obscuring terrain. If a target isn’t in your line of effect but you can sense them, you can still attack them with this weapon if there’s a reasonably open path for your projectile to indirectly arc to them. Your target can’t benefit from the Brace action against attacks made with this weapon.
Loaded [X]. This weapon stores ammunition equal to the number indicated in brackets. To make a ranged attack with this weapon, you must spend 1 stored ammunition. As ◆, you can reload this weapon to full ammunition. The GM can spend ⚡ from an attack with this weapon to reduce your stored ammunition; after they do, the weapon only has only one shot remaining.
Momentum. When you attack using this weapon, if you already moved at least 10 feet in a straight line toward your target on this turn, you gain an advantage on the attack.
Offhand. While wielding this weapon in your offhand, it only costs you 1 focus (instead of 2) to Strike with it.
Pierce. This weapon’s damage can’t be reduced by the target’s deflect value.
Quickdraw. You can use the Interact action as ◆ to draw this weapon.
Thrown [X/Y]. You can throw this weapon at a target, making a ranged attack when you do (see “Ranged Attacks” in chapter 10). The two numbers in brackets express the weapon’s short and long range; as with ranged weapons, you gain a disadvantage when attacking a target outside short range. Once the weapon is thrown, it is lost until you recover it from your target.
Two-Handed. You must wield this weapon in two hands, not just one. When you attack with it, it uses both hands.
Unique. This weapon has unique rules. These are detailed either in the weapon description or immediately following the word “Unique” in the Weapons table (for example, “Unique: loses Two-Handed trait”).
Weapons: Light Weaponry
| Type | Damage | Range | Traits | Expert Traits | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javelin | 1d6 keen | Melee | Thrown [30/120] | Indirect | 2 lb. | 20 mk |
| Knife | 1d4 keen | Melee | Discreet | Offhand, Thrown (20/60) | 1 lb. | 8 mk |
| Mace | 1d6 impact | Melee | — | Momentum | 3 lb. | 20 mk |
| Rapier | 1d6 keen | Melee | Quickdraw | Defensive | 2 lb. | 100 mk |
| Shortspear | 1d8 keen | Melee | Two-Handed | Unique: loses Two-Handed trait | 3 lb. | 10 mk |
| Sidesword | 1d6 keen | Melee | Quickdraw | Offhand | 2 lb. | 40 mk |
| Staff | 1d6 impact | Melee | Discreet, Two-Handed | Defensive | 4 lb. | 1 mk |
| Shortbow | 1d6 keen | Ranged [80/320] | Two-Handed | Quickdraw | 2 lb. | 80 mk |
| Sling | 1d4 impact | Ranged [30/120] | Discreet | Indirect | 1 lb. | 2 mk |
Weapons: Heavy Weaponry
| Type | Damage | Range | Traits | Expert Traits | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axe | 1d6 keen | Melee | Thrown [20/60] | Offhand | 2 lb. | 20 mk |
| Greatsword | 1d10 keen | Melee | Two-Handed | Deadly | 7 lb. | 200 mk |
| Hammer | 1d10 impact | Melee | Two-Handed | Momentum | 8 lb. | 40 mk |
| Longspear | 1d8 keen | Melee [+5] | Two-Handed | Defensive | 9 lb. | 15 mk |
| Longsword | 1d8 keen | Melee | Quickdraw, Two-Handed | Unique: loses Two-Handed trait | 3 lb. | 60 mk |
| Poleaxe | 1d10 keen | Melee | Two-Handed | Unique: Melee [+5] | 5 lb. | 40 mk |
| Shield | 1d4 impact | Melee | Defensive | Offhand | 2 lb. | 10 mk |
| Crossbow | 1d8 keen | Ranged [100/400] | Loaded [1], Two-Handed | Deadly | 7 lb. | 200 mk |
| Longbow | 1d6 keen | Ranged [150/600] | Two-Handed | Indirect | 3 lb. | 100 mk |
Weapons: Special Weapons
| Type | Skill | Damage | Range | Traits | Expert Traits | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improvised Weapon | Same as similar weapon | Same as similar weapon | Melee | Fragile | Unique | — | — |
| Unarmed Attack | Athletics | Unique | Melee | Unique | Momentum, Offhand | Weightless | — |
| Half-Shard | Heavy Weaponry | 2d4 impact | Melee | Defensive, Two-Handed, Unique | Momentum | 10 lb. | 2,000 mk |
| Shardblade | Heavy Weaponry | 2d8 spirit | Melee | Dangerous, Deadly, Unique | Unique: loses Dangerous trait | 4 lb. | Reward only |
| Shardblade (Radiant) | * | 2d* spirit | Melee | Deadly, Unique | — | Weightless | Talent only |
| Warhammer | Heavy Weaponry | 2d10 impact | Melee | Cumbersome [5], Two-Handed | Unique | 150 lb. | 400 mk |
| Grandbow | Heavy Weaponry | 2d6 keen | Ranged [200/800] | Cumbersome [5], Two-Handed | Pierce | 20 lb. | 1,000 mk |
*See the “Shardblades and Radiant Shardblades” section.
In the heat of the moment, you might wish to attack with an object that isn’t a traditional weapon (such as hitting someone with a pot) or use a weapon in an unconventional way (such as swinging a shortbow at someone like a staff). If you can pick an object up in one or both hands, you can use it as an improvised weapon!
Expertise. Unlike other entries on the Special Weapons table, you can choose Improvised Weapons as a weapon expertise. If you do, your improvised weapon attacks benefit from the expert traits of the weapon most similar to it, even if you don’t have expertise in that similar weapon.
Using an Improvised Weapon. When you attack with an improvised weapon, the GM decides which non-special light or heavy weapon it is most similar to. Make the attack as though with that weapon, but add the Fragile trait (see “Weapon Traits”).
Specialist Expertises
The expert traits of each weapon and armor require a specific expertise (see “Expertises” in chapter 3). For most weapons and armor, you can choose that expertise when creating or leveling up your character. However, some items from this chapter require specialist expertises to benefit from expert traits. The following specialist expertises can only be obtained through either talents, rewards, or training (see “Downtime” in chapter 9): Grandbow, Half-Shard, Shardblade, Shardplate, and Warhammer.
Punches, kicks, thrown elbows, headbutts, and bites are examples of unarmed attacks. You can make an unarmed attack using Athletics.
Expertise. Unlike other entries on the Special Weapons table, you can choose Unarmed Attacks as a weapon expertise.
Unique Traits. Unarmed attacks add the following unique traits:
Always Available. Unarmed attacks don’t count as weapon attacks, but they are melee attacks intrinsic to each character. You don’t have to be holding a weapon to make an unarmed attack, and you can’t be disarmed of your unarmed attacks. You can make an unarmed attack even if each of your hands is holding something, but if your second Strike on a turn is an unarmed attack, it follows the rules for an offhand attack.
Strength Training. When you make an unarmed attack, its damage die is based on your Strength score, as shown on the Unarmed Damage table.
Unarmed Damage
| Strength | Unarmed Damage |
|---|---|
| 0–2 | 1 impact (no die roll) |
| 3–4 | 1d4 impact |
| 5–6 | 1d8 impact |
| 7–8 | 2d6 impact |
| 9+ | 2d10 impact |
Half-shards are diamond-shaped, two-handed kite shields with a special augmenter fabrial on the back, allowing them to resist the blows of Shardblades. Like normal shields, half-shards are designed primarily for defense, but they can also be wielded as weapons.
Unique Traits. Half-shards have the following unique traits:
Charges (1 charge). A half-shard reinforces itself using Stormlight from its fabrial’s gems. A normal half-shard has 1 charge (though some might have more); while it has at least 1 charge, it is Invested. Before you take damage while wielding a half-shard, you can expend a charge (no action required) to increase your deflect value by 10 against that attack, then until the attack is resolved, your deflect value applies to all damage types. (When it fits the story, your GM might decide you aren’t protected from some sources of damage, such as extreme cold.)
Recharging. Half-shards can be recharged in the usual manner (see “Using Items” at the beginning of this chapter), either via unencased gems or a Radiant. However, half-shard charges require significantly more Investiture than most fabrials, requiring 5 Investiture or 5 gems (instead of 1) to restore a single charge.
Shardblades are among the most priceless items on Roshar. These weapons are five to six feet long, at least a handspan wide, gleamingly ornate, and shockingly light. They can cut through nearly anything like a hot knife through chull lard, and their bonded owner can summon them from thin air.
Shardblades are composed of an unknown metal, with a gemstone fitted within their hilt or guard. Unlike non-Invested weaponry, Shardblades can cut cleanly through almost any non-living material—including non-Invested stone and metal—with the ease of slicing through water. In addition, these Blades pass through living organisms without the usual mark or injury, slicing through soul rather than flesh and bone. When the core of a limb is “severed” by a Shardblade, everything beyond that cut becomes Blade-dead—gray and lifeless. If this happens to a character’s spine or head, their eyes burn out and they instantly die.
Unique Traits. Shardblades add the following unique traits:
Summoning/Dismissing. Once bonded (see “Bonding a Shardblade”), a Shardblade takes ten heartbeats to summon. When you use the Interact action to draw your Shardblade, it doesn’t materialize in your hand until the start of your next turn. You can dismiss your Shardblade with a mere thought (no action required), then it disappears into mist until you need it again.
Spiritual Injury. Shardblades are an Invested weapon that can sever a person’s spirit. When a Shardblade causes a target to make an injury roll (such as by reducing them to 0 health or triggering the weapon’s Deadly trait), determine the injury by rolling on the Shardblade Injury Duration table without adding the target’s deflect value (instead of rolling on the Injury Duration table in chapter 9).
Shardblade Injury Duration
| Injury Roll | Injury |
|---|---|
| 16+ | Flesh Wound. The character suffers a temporary injury for the remainder of the day. |
| 1–15 | Spiritual Injury. The target suffers a permanent injury. Any severed flesh turns gray and lifeless. Non-Invested healing can’t heal this injury. |
| 0 or lower | Death. The character dies (see “Death”). |
You can use a Shardblade’s attached gem to bond to that blade. This process usually takes about 5 days, though you can choose to break this bond with only a few moments of concentration. Once you bond to a Shardblade, you can summon it anywhere by willing it to happen—ten heartbeats later, it coalesces from mist into your hand. If your bonded Shardblade leaves your hand, it instantly dissipates again unless you will it not to.
You can have multiple Shardblades bound at a time, but each Shardblade can be bound to only one character at a time. You can only bond another character’s Shardblade if they are dead or willingly broke their bond.
Thousands of years ago, the people of Roshar lost the knowledge of what Shardblades are made from and how to create them. However, certain characters—including ancient beings, higher-Ideal Radiants, and people associated with them—know what Shardblades truly are: the corpses of Radiant spren, killed when their bonded knights forswore their oaths during the Recreance.
Radiants of the Third Ideal or higher can wield “living” Shardblades, their bonded spren physically manifested in the form of a weapon. Such a Blade can be summoned whenever its spren is ready (instead of requiring ten heartbeats as those of dead-spren Shardblades do). Unlike other Shardblades, glyphs and symbols usually glow on the blade, though you can cause yours to look like a “dead” Blade whenever you wish.
While you wield your Radiant Shardblade, you can telepathically communicate with your spren. However, while in Blade form, the spren can’t use abilities that require them to move independently.
Unique Traits. Radiant Shardblades add the following unique traits:
Faster Summoning. When you use the Interact action to draw your Radiant Shardblade, it immediately materializes in your hand. You can dismiss your Radiant Shardblade with a mere thought (no action required), and it disappears into mist until you need it again.
Malleable Form. You can use ◆ to change the shape of your Radiant Shardblade, choosing any non-special melee weapon on the Weapons table. Your Blade uses that weapon’s skill and gains that weapon’s traits for as long as it’s in that shape; if you have an expertise in the chosen weapon, it gains those expert traits as well. You roll double the normal damage dice for that weapon (for example, a Shard longspear rolls 2d8 damage instead of 1d8), and it deals spirit damage instead of that weapon’s normal type.
Radiant Shardblade. Your Radiant Shardblade has Faster Summoning instead of the Summoning/Dismissing trait, and it doesn’t have the Dangerous trait of other Shardblades. Otherwise, it follows the rules for ordinary Shardblades.
Radiants Wielding Non-Radiant Shardblades
Radiants who try to wield a non-Radiant Shardblade hear incessant, agonized screaming. If you have a First Ideal key talent, you become Disoriented and gain a disadvantage on all tests while you’re touching or holding such a Shardblade. At the start of your turn, you can spend 3 focus to temporarily ignore this effect until the start of your next turn.
Rosharan warhammers have hafts as thick as a warrior’s wrist and a metal head nearly the size of a warrior’s torso. Due to their enormous weight, warhammers usually can only be wielded by people in Shardplate. Consequently, warhammers are commonly called Shardhammers, despite being made of mundane materials.
Unique Traits. If you have the Warhammer specialist expertise, add the following special expert trait:
Crushing Weight. When you hit a character of your size or smaller with an attack using this weapon, you can also push them horizontally up to 10 feet. When you do, you can also spend ✦ to choose any number of other characters of your size or smaller within your reach, pushing them the same direction and distance.
An Edgedancer’s living Shardblade glows with diamond light.
Armor
| Type | Deflect Value | Traits | Expert Traits | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uniform | 0 | Presentable | — | 5 lb. | 40 mk |
| Leather | 1 | — | Presentable | 10 lb. | 60 mk |
| Chain | 2 | Cumbersome [3] | Unique: loses Cumbersome trait | 25 lb. | 80 mk |
| Breastplate | 2 | Cumbersome [3] | Presentable | 30 lb. | 120 mk |
| Half Plate | 3 | Cumbersome [4] | Unique: Cumbersome [3] instead of Cumbersome [4] | 40 lb. | 400 mk |
| Full Plate | 4 | Cumbersome [5] | — | 55 lb. | 1,600 mk |
| Shardplate | 5 | Dangerous, Unique | Unique: loses Dangerous trait | 1400 lb. | Reward only |
| Shardplate (Radiant) | 5 | Unique | — | Weightless | Talent only |
With war raging across Roshar, armor is a very common sight, though it’s often still frowned on in polite society. While wearing armor, you stand out in polite society. This might result in standing out like a sore thumb, getting turned away from certain locations, or gaining a disadvantage on tests made to influence civilians in most non-military contexts, such as banquets, markets, or churches.
This section outlines the most common types of armor found on Roshar. You can only benefit from one type of armor at once, and you can’t put on armor or take it off while in combat or in situations where it’s hard to move. The Armor table includes the following columns:
Type. The general type of armor—but feel free to creatively describe your own, as long as it uses the same statistics.
Deflect Value. Reduce all incoming impact, keen, and energy damage by the deflect value of the armor you’re wearing (see “Deflect” in chapter 3).
Traits. Special rules that apply to that armor (see the upcoming “Armor Traits” section).
Expert Traits. Special rules that apply only if you have an expertise in that armor. Some armors remove an undesirable trait if you have expertise, rather than adding a desirable trait; for example, if you have an expertise in Chain Armor, your chain loses its Cumbersome trait so you can wear it with any Strength score.
Weight. The armor’s weight.
Price. The armor’s standard price.
These rules apply to any armor with that trait listed in its entry on the Armor table.
Cumbersome [X]. To wear this armor easily, your Strength score must be equal to or greater than the number indicated in brackets. If your Strength is lower than that number, you’re Slowed while wearing this armor and you gain a disadvantage on all tests that use your Speed attribute.
Dangerous. The GM can spend ⚡ that you gain while wearing this armor to cause your uncontrolled motion to injure an ally with 5 feet of you, dealing 2d6 impact damage.
Presentable. This unobtrusive armor is presentable to wear in public in a non-military context. You don’t suffer undue attention for wearing this armor or gain a disadvantage on tests for doing so in conversations.
Unique. This armor has unique rules detailed immediately following the word “Unique” in the Armor table (for example, “Unique: loses Cumbersome trait”).
[Art page — armor illustrations: Leather, Chain, Breastplate, Half Plate, Full Plate (in Shardplate)]
Forged armor cannot help but fall short of Shardplate’s majesty.
Shardplate is just as highly sought-after as Shardblades. Each set provides full-body armor that enhances the physical capabilities and durability of its wielder, blocks strikes from Shardblades, and protects its wearer from all but the most powerful Invested abilities.
Shardplate is made from thick interlocking plates of an unknown, monumentally heavy metal. On the interior of each set’s breastplate, an apparatus of gems charges the Plate with Stormlight and allows the use of its Invested properties. When the Plate’s wearer closes their helmet’s mask, it becomes partially translucent, allowing for a much greater range of vision than in mundane helmets.
A person wearing infused Shardplate isn’t hampered by its weight; instead, it greatly increases their strength and agility. Perhaps even more importantly, the armor has a remarkable ability to repel the strikes of Shardblades.
Despite these qualities, Shardplate can be difficult to use effectively. It requires gems infused with Stormlight to function, and donning or doffing it with any speed requires a team of trained professionals. Without Stormlight, Plate is little more than dead weight, and it can cease functioning when it takes significant damage. However, unlike other armor, Plate’s damaged pieces can regenerate; given enough time and Stormlight, you can use the breastplate’s gem apparatus to regrow the missing pieces of a set of Plate, almost like a living organism.
Transporting Shardplate can also be difficult due to its weight, usually requiring a chull-drawn cart (described in “Travel” later in this chapter). This particularly matters when tracking your carrying capacity (see “Strength” in chapter 3).
Unique Traits. Shardplate adds the following unique traits:
Charges (4 charges). Shardplate reinforces itself using Stormlight from its gems. An average set of Shardplate has 4 charges (though special sets might have more). Before you take damage while wearing Shardplate, you can expend a charge to increase your deflect value against that damage by 10. While the armor has at least 1 charge, it is Invested. When the armor runs out of charges, it no longer functions correctly; until recharged, it gains the Cumbersome [6] trait, and it loses the Enhanced Attributes and Invested Ability Protection traits.
Most Shardbearers cover their slate-gray Plate in colorful enamel.
Breakable. Lucky hits against Shardplate can shatter plates of the armor, causing Stormlight to leak out. After you’re hit by an attack while wearing Shardplate, your opponent can spend ✦ from that attack to cause your Shardplate to lose 1 charge.
Recharging. Shardplate can be recharged in the usual manner (see “Using Items” at the beginning of this chapter), either via unencased gems or a Radiant. However, Shardplate charges require significantly more Investiture than most fabrials, requiring 5 Investiture or 5 gems (instead of 1) to restore a single charge.
Enhanced Attributes. While wearing the armor, you become Enhanced [+2 Strength] and Enhanced [+2 Speed].
Invested Ability Protection. While wearing this armor, your Invested ability tests gain a disadvantage, Invested ability tests against you gain a disadvantage, and your deflect value applies to all damage types. (When it fits the story, your GM might decide you aren’t protected from some sources of damage, such as extreme cold.)
Radiants of the Fourth Ideal or higher can wield “living” Shardplate, which usually glows with a luminescent light. The armor is composed of common spren; these spren usually follow the Radiant unseen, but they can be called on to manifest into armor.
You can also choose for your Radiant Shardplate to look like “dead” Plate, which doesn’t glow.
Unique Traits. Radiant Shardplate has the following unique traits:
Living Armor. You can use ▶ to summon or dismiss any number of your armor pieces on your body (for example, to remove your helmet). Dismissing a few pieces doesn’t change your armor’s function unless you wish it to. Your armor maintains its count of charges when dismissed.
Restraining Armor. You can summon the armor around a character you can sense within 20 feet of you who is willing, unaware of your presence or location, or Surprised. When you try to summon it around an unwilling character, you must succeed on a Discipline test against their Physical defense. While the armor is around a character other than you, they gain all the benefits of wearing Shardplate, but they also become Restrained. Whenever this character takes damage, they automatically expend one of the armor’s charges to increase their deflect value by 10 against that damage. The Restrained condition ends and the armor is dismissed when you choose to dismiss it, when it drops to 0 charges, or when the character or an ally within reach of them succeeds on an Athletics test against the wearer’s Physical defense (via the Use a Skill action).
Natural Recovery. Radiant Shardplate naturally restores its charges over time, though if you wish, you can recharge it quickly using the normal rules. After a long rest, your Shardplate regains all its charges.
Radiant Shardplate. Your Radiant Shardplate doesn’t have the Dangerous trait of other Shardplate, and it doesn’t add a disadvantage to your Invested tests. It otherwise follows the rules for ordinary Shardplate.
GM Tip: Rewarding Items
Some things on Roshar are so precious and powerful that they can’t be purchased: Ryshadium steeds, Shardblades, Shardplate, Soulcasters, and the gems required to create unique fabrials. Players can only acquire these items through rewards (see chapter 8), whether for completing a goal or through narrative means.
This section presents everyday Rosharan tools and resources that are commonly applicable to your adventures. The Equipment table lists each item’s name, weight, and price, then the text that follows describes each item’s benefits.
Some items in this section have variable prices, as many variations on that item can be found across Roshar. For example, Vorin wines range dramatically in value, and some reference books are much rarer than others. The GM chooses how much an individual item costs within its range, and they might grant tangential benefits to the higher-priced varieties. For example, spending extra money on a blue wine, rather than a red, might lower your DC on a test made to influence a connoisseur.
Alcohol. Every culture of Roshar has its own intoxicating traditions, such as beers, mudbeers, ciders, honu, shiki, juices, and lagers.
In Vorin society, almost all forms of alcohol are referred to as “wine” regardless of their ingredients. Such wines are known by their distinct colors, which are infused into each beverage so they can be distinguished at a glance. From least intoxicating to most, the types of wine are:
| Color | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pink | Noted as being floral and aiding alertness. Less intoxicating than milk. |
| Orange | A non-intoxicating wine that tastes of fruit with notes of ginger. Most popular with members of the clergy. |
| Yellow | Offers a bold and deep flavor “without guilt.” Minimally intoxicating. |
| Auburn | Spicy with an earthy aroma. Brewed with fermented fruit. |
| Red | Flavorful wine with a pleasant burn. |
| Sapphire | Nutty with notes of honey, made with fermented lavis grain. |
| Blue | Carries complex notes of berry and lemon. |
| Violet | Potent liquor with an aroma of spiced sandalwood. Considered the most flavorful of the wines. |
Anesthetic. Usually made from fathom bark or winterwort, you can apply a dose of anesthetic ointment to an injury after a short or long rest to reduce its recovery time by 1d4 days. Each injury can be treated with anesthetic only once per day.
Antiseptic (potent). Knobweed milk, fourleaf sap, and lister’s oil can all be used to make a strong antiseptic. A dose can be applied to a character after a short rest to restore 2d6 health.
Personal Items
This chapter provides statistics for common objects that interact with the game rules. However, this isn’t a comprehensive list of everything that exists on Roshar! Feel free to carry other personal items that have meaning to your character, add flavor to your actions, or similarly deepen the narrative. Just remember that such personal items can’t provide you mechanical advantages in the game—you can’t suddenly declare you have a perfect infused gem in your pocket that didn’t exist before. But otherwise, be creative.
For example, you might decide your character has a sweet tooth and constantly snacks on sweets. Sweets aren’t on the item list, but you can still use it to add interesting details to the story. When you’re in a solemn audience with royalty, you might describe how you pull a sweet from your sock, pop it in your mouth, and crunch it loudly—no need to establish where you bought the sweet from or how much it cost! Just remember that you can’t use these narratively conjured sweets to bribe guards, to nourish yourself when rations run out, or to barter for items on the equipment list—all of those uses have a mechanical impact on the game.
| Name | Weight | Price | Name | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol (1 serving) | 0.2 lb. | 0.5–50 mk | Lantern (sphere) | 2 lb. | 20 mk |
| Alcohol (bottle) | 2–4 lb. | 1–300 mk | Lock and key | 1 lb. | 50 mk |
| Anesthetic (5 doses) | 1.5 lb. | 75 mk | Lockpick | 0.5 lb. | 5 mk |
| Antiseptic (potent, 5 doses) | 1 lb. | 50 mk | Magnifying lens | 0.2 lb. | 400 mk |
| Antiseptic (weak, 5 doses) | 1 lb. | 25 mk | Manacles | 6 lb. | 10 mk |
| Backpack* | 5 lb. | 8 mk | Mirror (handheld)* | 2 lb. | 25 mk |
| Barrel* | 70 lb. | 15 mk | Musical instrument | 0.5–20 lb. | 1–50 mk |
| Blanket* | 2 lb. | 2 mk | Net (hunting) | 5 lb. | 4 mk |
| Book (reference) | 1–5 lb. | 10–500 mk | Net (fishing) | 15 lb. | 10 mk |
| Bottle (crem)* | 3 lb. | 0.5 mk | Oil (1 flask) | 1 lb. | 1 mk |
| Bottle (glass)* | 2 lb. | 1 mk | Paper or parchment (1 sheet)* | 0.1 lb. | 0.5 mk |
| Bucket* | 2 lb. | 1 mk | Perfume (1 vial)* | 0.5 lb. | 20 mk |
| Candle | 0.2 lb. | 0.2 mk | Pick (mining)* | 10 lb. | 10 mk |
| Case (leather) | 1 lb. | 4 mk | Poison (weak, 1 dose) | 0.2 lb. | 20 mk |
| Chain (thick, 10 feet) | 10 lb. | 20 mk | Poison (effectual, 1 dose) | 0.2 lb. | 50 mk |
| Chain (thin, 1 foot) | 0.5 lb. | 20 mk | Poison (potent, 1 dose) | 0.2 lb. | 120 mk |
| Chest* | 25 lb. | 30 mk | Pot (iron)* | 10 lb. | 8 mk |
| Clothing (common) | 3 lb. | 2 mk | Pouch* | 1 lb. | 1 mk |
| Clothing (fine) | 6 lb. | 50–200 mk | Pulley system | 12 lb. | 100 mk |
| Clothing (ragged) | 1.5 lb. | 0.5 mk | Rope (50 feet) | 5 lb. | 30 mk |
| Crowbar | 3 lb. | 10 mk | Sack* | 0.5 lb. | 0.2 mk |
| Ear trumpet | 1 lb. | 50 mk | Scale | 3 lb. | 20 mk |
| Flask or tankard | 1 lb. | 1 mk | Shovel* | 5 lb. | 8 mk |
| Flint and steel | 1.5 lb. | 4 mk | Soap* | 0.1 lb. | 1 mk |
| Food (ration, 1 day) | 0.5 lb. | 0.2 mk | Spyglass | 1 lb. | 500 mk |
| Food (street, 1 day) | 1.5 lb. | 3 mk | Surgical supplies | 3 lb. | 20 mk |
| Food (fine, 1 day) | 0.5 lb. | 25 mk | Tent (two-person)* | 20 lb. | 10 mk |
| Grappling hook | 4 lb. | 10 mk | Treatment (medical, 1 dose) | 0.2 lb. | 10 mk |
| Hammer (handheld)* | 3 lb. | 4 mk | Tuning fork | 0.5 lb. | 50 mk |
| Ink (1-ounce bottle)* | 0.2 lb. | 40 mk | Unencased gem (infused) | 0.01 lb. | 2 mk |
| Ink pen* | 0.1 lb. | 0.1 mk | Vial (glass)* | 0.2 lb. | 4 mk |
| Jug or pitcher* | 4 lb. | 2 mk | Waterskin* | 1 lb. (empty) | 1 mk |
| Ladder (10-foot)* | 20 lb. | 5 mk | Wax (1 block)* | 0.5 lb. | 2 mk |
| Lantern (oil) | 2 lb. | 20 mk | Whetstone* | 1 lb. | 0.2 mk |
Antiseptic (weak). A dose of weak antiseptic, such as that made from larmic mucus, can be applied to a character after a short rest to restore 1d6 health.
Book (reference). Each reference book contains information on a particular topic, such as a historical era, engineering, biology, architecture, or crafting a particular type of fabrial. When you have time to reference a book while making a related test using your Intellect attribute, you’re considered to have an expertise in the topic (see “Expertise Benefits” in chapter 3).
Candle. While lit, the candle sheds light in a 15-foot radius. It burns for up to 6 hours before becoming unusable.
Case (leather). A sealable, cylindrical case that can store up to ten pages of paper or parchment and protect them from the weather.
Chain (thick). This sturdy chain can be used in securing cargo, shackling prisoners, and other situations where strength is essential. This chain can be broken by succeeding on a DC 30 Athletics test or by dealing 15 damage to it.
Chain (thin). This thin chain is often used in jewelry and Soulcasters, usually made of precious metals in fine links. This chain can be broken by succeeding on a DC 20 Athletics test or by dealing 5 damage to it.
Clothing (common). Plain clothes are made of affordable materials and are generally undyed, helping you fit in among the commonfolk. While wearing these clothes, you gain an advantage on spiritual tests made to convince others you’re from the lower class.
Clothing (fine). Fine clothes are made of silks or other high-quality materials, colored using expensive dyes, and often stitched with fine embroidery. Wearing fine clothes helps you to blend into high society, such as noble banquets, without arousing suspicion. While wearing these clothes, you gain an advantage on spiritual tests made to convince others you’re from the upper class.
Clothing (ragged). This clothing may have once been of fine or common make, but it’s now barely holding together. While wearing these clothes, you gain an advantage on spiritual tests made to convince others you’re destitute.
Crowbar. You can use a crowbar to gain an advantage on Athletics tests where the crowbar’s leverage can be applied.
Ear Trumpet. Distant sounds heard through an ear trumpet can be perceived as though at half the distance. At the GM’s discretion, more powerful ear trumpets may be available at higher prices.
Flint and Steel. A flint and steel can be used as ▶ to light abundant fuel within reach. Starting a fire under more challenging circumstances can take 1 minute or more. Herdazians often wear a tool called a sparkflicker as jewelry or other ornamentation; they can use this like flint and steel by quickly running their crystalline fingernails along it.
Food (ration). Rations are foods created for extended travel, such as jerky and hard-baked lavis cakes. They generally lack flavor, but if kept dry, they remain edible indefinitely.
Food (street). Every culture of Roshar has its own street confections, ranging from loaves of bread to more specific cultural foods like Herdazian chouta.
Food (fine). Fine food can be found in high-class restaurants and on the tables of nobles’ feasts.
Grappling Hook. A grappling hook is typically attached to the end of a rope to aid in scaling or descending from walls and cliffs. A securely anchored grappling hook grants an advantage on Acrobatics and Athletics tests made to climb using its attached rope.
You can use an Interact action to attach the grappling hook to an anchor within reach without making a test. Alternatively, you can throw and attach it to a suitable anchor within 20 feet of you by succeeding on an Athletics or Agility test (DC set by the GM).
Lantern (oil). While lit, this lantern sheds light in a 30-foot radius. It burns for up to 6 hours per pint of oil.
Lantern (sphere). This lantern includes a locked cage, usually just under 1 foot in diameter, into which infused spheres can be placed to shed light. Depending on how full the lantern is, it sheds a different radius of light: 60 feet when entirely filled with spheres, 30 feet when half full, 15 feet when quarter-filled, and 5 feet when at least 1 mark or broam is within it. The lock can be opened with its included key or a successful DC 15 Thievery test.
Lock and Key. This sturdy lock can be opened with its included key or a successful DC 20 Thievery test. At the GM’s discretion, locks that require higher DCs may be available at higher prices.
Lockpick. You can use a lockpick to gain an advantage on Thievery tests made to pick a lock. After this test is resolved, the GM can spend ⚡ to cause the lockpick to break.
Magnifying Lens. You can use a magnifying lens to gain an advantage on skill tests made to appraise or inspect a small or highly detailed item.
Manacles. These metal restraints, which come with a key, can bind the wrists or ankles of a Large or smaller character. They can be escaped with a successful DC 25 Agility test, broken by succeeding on a DC 25 Athletics test or by dealing 15 damage to them, or lockpicked by succeeding on a DC 20 Thievery test. At the GM’s discretion, manacles that require higher DCs may be available at higher prices.
Musical Instrument. Every culture of Roshar has its preferred instruments and musical stylings. Instruments are often used for enjoyment, passing time, or busking for chips. When playing an instrument, you can determine the quality of your performance by making a skill test using a related skill (such as Agility for a stringed instrument, Athletics for drums, or Discipline for an instrument with many keys). If you have an expertise in that instrument, you gain an advantage on the test.
Net (hunting). This net of thick rope can ensnare animals or enemies. While holding this net, you can use ▶ to make an Athletics test against the Physical defense of a Large or smaller character within 15 feet of you. On a hit, the character is Restrained and knocked Prone. That character or another within reach can use the Interact action to make a DC 15 Athletics test, freeing the trapped character on a success. If a character is Restrained by multiple nets, they must be freed from each separately.
Net (fishing). This net of fine mesh is used to ensnare fish. You can use this net to gain an advantage on physical tests related to fishing.
Oil. Oil generally comes in a 1-pint flask made of dried crem. Oil is flammable and can be used to fuel oil lanterns, to create dangerous terrain in a space, or as an improvised weapon (sling). When you hit or graze a target with this improvised weapon, you coat the target in oil in addition to the normal damage. Following the attack, regardless of the result, the crem flask breaks and any unused oil is lost.
Poison. Often manufactured using Roshar’s deadly blackbane plant, poison comes in single-dose glass vials. As ◆, you can pour it into food, liquid, or a container, or you can apply the poison to a melee weapon or a piece of ammunition you’re holding. When you do, the GM may require you to make a Stealth test to avoid discovery. When a character ingests the poison or is hit by an attack using the poisoned weapon or ammunition, the poison is expended, and the character suffers the following effects:
Weak Poison. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Athletics test or take 1d6 vital damage.
Effectual Poison. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Athletics test or take 2d8 vital damage and be Stunned for 1 hour.
Potent Poison. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Athletics test or take 3d10 vital damage and be Stunned for 1 hour. While Stunned in this way, the target is Immobilized.
Pulley System. Most commonly used by engineers and artifabrians, this system includes four pulley wheels, 30 feet of rope, and a hook. When you have time to set up a pulley apparatus before lifting an object, you treat the object as being a quarter of its normal weight.
Rope. Rope is usually made of seasilk (or less commonly, lavis grain or rockbud fibers) and sold in 50-foot lengths that can be cut and tied to change its length as needed. It can be cut by dealing 2 damage to it, or it can be ripped apart with a successful DC 20 Athletics test.
Scale. Most commonly used by scholars, ardents, appraisers, and gem cutters, a scale can accurately determine the weight of an object (to a maximum of 2 pounds).
Spyglass. Distant objects viewed through a spyglass can be perceived as though at half the distance. At the GM’s discretion, spyglasses that allow distant objects to appear even closer may be available at higher prices.
Surgical Supplies. This satchel contains enough bandages, salves, splints, and other medical supplies to be used 10 times. When you make a Medicine test to treat a wounded character (or to similarly use these medical supplies), you can expend one of these uses to gain an advantage on the test.
Treatment (medical). Rosharan surgeons treat ailments with a variety of treatments, generally made from bitterleaf or bloodivy. During a short rest, you can use a dose of such a treatment to cure a character of one of the following conditions, given that its source isn’t a permanent injury: Disoriented, Exhausted (reduces the penalty by 1), or Stunned.
Tuning Fork. A tuning fork can transfer Stormlight from one sphere or gemstone to another. While using a tuning fork, you can use spheres to recharge fabrials, Shardplate, and half-shards as if the spheres were unencased gemstones.
Unencased Gem (infused). Unlike spheres with gemstones encased in glass, unencased gems leak Stormlight quickly, going dun within several days depending on their cut. This permeability allows unencased gems to recharge fabrials and Shardplate. Radiants can also breathe in Stormlight from unencased gems as if they were spheres, gaining the same benefit.
Whether your adventuring party is a task force charged with missions by the Coalition of Monarchs, a band of mercenaries that sell your capabilities around Roshar, an expeditionary group seeking lost knowledge, or something else entirely, you’re likely to trek far and wide across Roshar. This section contains information about lodging, mounts, and vehicles that may be helpful when you’re far from home.
While traveling, you may find yourself wanting a room, especially during a highstorm. From public stormshelters to the finest of accommodations, the Lodging table lists how much it generally costs to stay per night. You can usually purchase food at or near these lodgings, using the prices on the Equipment table in the previous section.
Lodging
| Lodging | Price per Person per Night |
|---|---|
| Stormshelter | Free to the public (if there’s room) |
| Modest | 2 mk |
| Comfortable | 4 mk |
| Wealthy | 8 mk |
| Aristocratic | 20 mk |
Chulls are the most common mounts on Roshar, but a privileged few people use horses or Ryshadium instead. The Mounts table lists each mount’s travel speed and carrying capacity (representing the pace and weight the mount could comfortably maintain during a long expedition).
When attached to a cart, carriage, or other vehicle, a mount can move five times its carrying capacity (including the weight of the vehicle). If multiple mounts are pulling the same vehicle, combine their carrying capacities.
Mounts
| Mount | Travel Speed | Carrying Capacity | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chull | 2 mph | 1,500 lb. | 200 mk |
| Horse | 4 mph | 500 lb. | 4,000 mk |
| Ryshadium | 6 mph | 1,000 lb. | Reward only |
Chulls are large, docile land crustaceans that resemble enormous hermit crabs with stone-like shells. A full-grown chull’s shell is over twice the height of most adults. Despite their slow speed, chulls have been domesticated since before memory. Their endurance, strength, and ability to withstand highstorms make them the most popular mount for extended journeys.
Horses are extremely uncommon on Roshar, and are generally owned by nobles and other high-class, prosperous individuals.
Sometimes referred to as “the third Shard” alongside Shardblades and Plate, Ryshadium are an exceedingly rare breed of horse. They stand an average of two hands taller than horses of other breeds, have stone-like hooves that don’t require horseshoes, and can carry a warrior wearing Shardplate into battle—a feat which would injure or kill other horses.
In addition, Ryshadium seem to have a symbiotic bond with musicspren, and their eyes brim with intelligence and sapience. A Ryshadium chooses their rider, refusing others who attempt to ride them.
Vehicles enable travel over water or allow quicker or safer travel over land. Almost all vehicles on Roshar are designed to weather passing highstorms.
The Vehicles table lists common forms of transportation, including the type of vehicle, average travel speed, and cost to rent or purchase one. The rental rate grants you temporary use of the vehicle and provides you the animals or people needed to operate it. If you’d like to purchase a vehicle, you’ll need to staff it yourself.
Vehicles
| Vehicle | Type | Travel Speed | Rental Price per Day | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chull cart | Land | 2 mph | 5 mk | 500 mk |
| Rowboat | Water | 3 mph downstream, 1 mph upstream | 3 mk | 250 mk |
| Merchant vessel | Water | 5 mph | 50 mk | 10,000 mk |
| Warship | Water | 8 mph | 250 mk | 100,000 mk |
Fabrials fill many roles in Rosharan societies, whether in the form of modern conveniences like spanreeds, ancient relics like Soulcasters, or technological breakthroughs like half-shards. In some regions, fabrials are quite common, while in other parts of the world, they are especially rare.
These marvelous Stormlight-powered devices perform a variety of functions. A simple fabrial might merely heat a home, while others are priceless artifacts that transform materials into other materials.
A fabrial is constructed by trapping a spren within a gemstone; the type of spren determines the fabrial’s basic function, then the gemstone is surrounded by complex metal latticeworks to fine-tune its effects. More complex fabrials contain multiple gems (and spren trapped within them).
The gem or gems at the core of a fabrial are usually charged with Investiture in the form of Stormlight, which powers the fabrial’s effects. Each fabrial can hold a certain number of charges (see “Using Items” at the beginning of this chapter), determined when that fabrial is crafted. While the fabrial has at least 1 charge, it is Invested. Like spheres, the fabrial’s gems must be recharged after their Investiture is expended.
Unless otherwise specified, you can use the Interact action to activate a fabrial you’re touching. An activated fabrial expends 1 charge to produce that fabrial’s effect, which lasts for the duration specified. The fabrial continues to spend more charges until you touch it as ◆ to deactivate it, or until it runs out of charges.
Beyond the common fabrials in the following section, many cutting-edge fabrials push the limits of this technology. Such experimental devices produce effects that people never dreamed possible through technology. Some mimic the capabilities of Radiant surges, while others miniaturize larger fabrials. You can only acquire a unique fabrial by finding or being gifted one—or in the case of inventive characters, by crafting your own (see “Inventing Unique Fabrials” later in this chapter).
The fabrials on the Standard Fabrials table are regularly produced or used throughout Roshar. Some are considered commonplace and even mundane (though they’re often still expensive). These fabrials can be purchased and used much like the other items in this chapter.
Standard Fabrials
| Name | Charges | Weight | Purchase Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alerter | 5 | 0.5–10 lb. | 500 mk |
| Attractor | 5 | 8 lb. | 750 mk |
| Clock fabrial | 3 | 2 lb. | 200 mk |
| Drainer | 2 | 0.5 lb. | 1,000 mk |
| Emotion bracelet | 3 | 0.2 lb. | 200 mk |
| Freechair | — | 12 lb. | Free or 800 mk |
| Heatrial | 5 | 1–10 lb. | 50–500 mk |
| Painrial (amplifying) | 3 | 1 lb. | 750 mk |
| Painrial (numbing) | 3 | 1 lb. | 750 mk |
| Repeller | 5 | 8 lb. | 1,500 mk |
| Soulcaster | 5 | 5 lb. | Reward only |
| Spanreed (1 pair) | 3 | 1 lb. each | 100 mk |
| Suppressor | 2 | 1 lb. | Reward only |
Alerter (5 charges). While active, an alerter detects the presence of approaching people or objects, blinking if they’re within a certain radius. When an alerter is crafted, the creator sets its radius and can tune it to detect certain people, certain materials, the use of certain surges, and similar alerts. An alerter expends 1 charge for each day it’s active.
Attractor (5 charges). Each attractor is attuned to a particular Essence or material, such as water, smoke, or another Essence. While activated, the fabrial weakly attracts the attuned material within a specific radius. Both the material it attracts and the radius are determined when the attractor is created. The attractor pulls its attuned material toward it at a rate of 1 foot per round, but this has no effect on anything worn or carried by a character. An attractor expends 1 charge for each hour it’s active.
Clock Fabrial (3 charges). Larger clock fabrials can announce the hour when mounted on a building, while smaller versions can be worn as jewelry to allow their wearer to know the exact time. Both types spend 1 charge for every 5 days they’re active.
Drainer (2 charges). Drainer fabrials can partially drain Stormlight from infused gems to alter the strength of their glow; this is primarily done for aesthetic purposes. You can use an Interact action to touch this fabrial to an Invested or infused object or character. If the fabrial isn’t fully charged, the target loses 1 Investiture or charge, and this fabrial gains 1 charge. If the target is an unwilling character (or an object being worn or held by one), you must succeed on an Agility test against that character’s Physical defense; on a failure, you don’t drain the target and
can’t try again for 1 minute. Once this fabrial is fully charged, it can be emptied by using a tuning fork, by a Radiant drawing in its Investiture (and regaining an equal amount of Investiture), or by allowing the Investiture to fade over the course of 5 days.
Emotion Bracelet (3 charges). Emotion bracelets blink or change color in the presence of different emotions. The bracelet’s wearer can spend 1 charge as ◆ to gain an advantage on an Insight test against a character within 10 feet of them.
Freechair (unlimited charges). Freechairs are mobility devices that levitate and move by engaging fabrial components. While freechairs are available for purchase, disabled characters can obtain one for free and don’t have to track charges. The operator of a freechair has the same movement rate as other characters (see “Speed” in chapter 3), and it doesn’t require an action to activate.
Heatrial (5 charges). Commonly known as warmers, heatrials generate heat. You can use an Interact action to activate the heatrial or to adjust the radius and intensity of the heat, allowing uses such as gently warming its surroundings or cooking food. If a character touches the gemstone while the heatrial is active, they take 1d6 energy damage.
The heatrial expends charges based on what temperature it is set to. For comfortable ambient heat, it expends 1 charge for each day it is active. For temperatures high enough for activities like cooking or blacksmithing, it expends 1 charge for each hour it is active.
Painrial (amplifying; 3 charges). The amplifying painrial increases a target’s sense of pain. It is a melee weapon that uses the Light Weaponry skill and deals 1d6 vital damage. On a hit, you can spend 1 charge to add your skill modifier to the damage one additional time.
Painrial (numbing; 3 charges). The numbing painrial decreases the wearer’s sense of pain. Before you take damage while wearing the painrial, you can use ↺ and spend 1 charge to reduce the damage by 1d4.
Repeller (5 charges). Each repeller is attuned to a particular Essence or material—such as water, smoke, or another Essence. While activated, the fabrial weakly pushes away the attuned material within a specific radius. Both the material it repels and the radius are determined when the repeller is created. If the repeller is heavier, it pushes the attuned material away from it at a rate of 1 foot per round, until the material is outside the repeller’s radius. If the material is heavier, the repeller instead pushes itself away from the
material. This fabrial can’t affect anything being worn or carried by a character. A repeller expends 1 charge for each hour it is active.
Soulcaster (5 charges). Soulcasters mimic the Radiant surge of Transformation, more commonly called Soulcasting. However, unlike Radiants, the vast majority of fabrial Soulcasters can only turn materials into one Essence. For example, a stone Soulcaster can turn water, wood, or even air into stone, but it can’t do the reverse.
When you touch the Soulcaster to an object you want to transform, then tap one of the three gemstones on the fabrial, you can activate the Transformation surge (see chapter 6) using the surge’s normal rules and activation time, with the following changes:
If a non-Radiant character practices with a Soulcaster long enough, the GM might allow them to invest skill ranks into Transformation when they gain a level, but they still need the Soulcaster to use the surge.
Soulcasters contain three gemstones that they need to function. The vast amounts of Investiture used can cause them to crack. The GM can spend ⚡ from using the Soulcaster to cause one gem to break. A broken gem must be replaced before the Soulcaster can be used again; doing so requires several hours of work from someone with the Fabrial Crafting specialist expertise.
Spanreed (3 charges). Spanreeds come in pairs, with each reed conjoined to the other, allowing for the bearers of each to communicate over long distances. Each spanreed is a writing utensil with an infused ruby at the top. When one bearer twists the ruby to activate it, their spanreed causes the paired spanreed’s ruby to blink, signaling that communication is requested. When the other spanreed bearer is ready, they twist their spanreed’s ruby, and the two reeds begin to move in parallel. By taking turns writing, the bearers can conduct written conversations. Both spanreeds must be stationary for them to work, preventing their use on boats, in carriages, and in similar situations. A pair of spanreeds expend 1 charge for every 5 days they are active.
Suppressor (2 charges). Suppressors are specialized replications of a much grander construction at the heart of Urithiru, tower-city of the Knights Radiant. When activated, this fabrial suppresses the use of surges in a radius of 30 feet. The suppressor can be charged with different types of Light, each one affecting different Surgebinders: When infused with Stormlight, it stops users of Voidlight, and when infused with Voidlight, it stops users of Stormlight. Affected characters in its radius can’t use surges or summon Radiant Shardblades or Shardplate. Radiants of the Fourth Ideal or higher can attempt to push through this suppression, making a DC 20 test at the start of each round using the appropriate surge skill (no action required); on a success, they can use one action from that surge during that round. A suppressor expends 1 charge for each hour it is active.
Experienced craftspeople can craft non-Invested items for themselves, including weapons, armor, equipment, and even grander creations like buildings or works of art.
You can only craft an item if you have an expertise relevant to the item you want to craft. For example, to craft a sidesword, you need either the Weapon Crafting expertise or the Sidesword expertise.
If you only have a broad expertise (like Weapon Crafting), you can craft relevant items with it, but the item’s user can’t benefit from the expert traits of those items in combat.
If you have the necessary expertise, choose a non-Invested item with a price from the Weapons table, Armor table, or Equipment table. At the GM’s discretion, you can craft a different non-Invested item instead. Use the following steps to craft your chosen item:
For non-Invested items, it’s assumed you can easily find the metal, leather, shalebark, or other raw materials to craft the item, provided you have access to a common trade network or other market.
Material Cost. The cost to acquire the raw materials equals half the normal value of the item you’re crafting.
Tools and Facilities. Additionally, you need access to the proper tools and facilities to craft the item. This is up to the GM’s discretion based on the specifics of the item you’re making. You might be able to fashion a quick lockpick with just your hands, but a sharp sword requires access to a forge and anvil. If your tools and facilities are poor, you might gain a disadvantage on your Crafting test in step 2.
Once you have all needed materials, it’s time to actually craft the item during downtime (see “Downtime” in chapter 9).
Time Spent. When crafting, you can usually produce 100 marks worth of work in one workday. For example, a greatsword worth 200 marks requires 2 workdays to complete, while a lockpick worth 5 marks requires only a fraction of a workday. However, this time can be modified by Opportunities or Complications during the crafting process: each Opportunity you roll during your Crafting test reduces the time to create the item by 25 percent, while each Complication increases it by 25 percent.
Crafting Test. When you’re ready to begin crafting, roll a Crafting test and raise the stakes. At the GM’s discretion, you might gain an advantage on this test if you have exceptional tools or facilities available, or you might gain a disadvantage if your tools or facilities are exceptionally poor.
Consult the Item Crafting Test table to determine how your test result affects your crafting. And if you roll an Opportunity or Complication, don’t forget to modify your crafting time as described in “Time Spent.”
Item Crafting Test
| Test Result | Item Quality |
|---|---|
| 1–5 | Utter Failure. Despite all your time and effort, you fail to produce anything usable. You must start over from scratch. Nothing remains of your initial attempt or materials—it was all consumed in your experiment. |
| 6–10 | Shoddy Creation. Creating this item proves unusually challenging. You create the item, but it has no upgrades and one drawback. |
| 11–20 | Typical Creation. The crafting goes exactly as expected. You create the item with one upgrade and one drawback. |
| 21–25 | Quality Creation. Things go swimmingly! You craft the item with two upgrades and one drawback. |
| 26+ | Exceptional Creation! You make a breakthrough while creating this item. You craft the item with three upgrades and no drawbacks. |
For each upgrade you earned as part of your Crafting test, choose an upgrade from the Item Upgrades and Drawbacks table. You’re free to suggest your own creative ideas if the GM approves. If you earned two or more upgrades, you can (if you wish) instead choose from the next section, “Advanced Item Features.”
For each drawback earned, roll a d6 on the same table to randomly determine a drawback. The GM may also decide to assign you a creative drawback in certain situations.
Item Upgrades and Drawbacks
| d6 | Upgrade | Drawback |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You salvage enough materials from the scraps to make something else. The item you just crafted has no material cost. | The process requires far more materials than expected. The item costs twice as much to create. |
| 2 | If made or sold publicly, the item’s superior craftsmanship earns you acclaim among discerning crafters and buyers. | You accidentally damage your tools or facilities. Depending on whose facilities you’re using, this may cost you marks or hurt your reputation. |
| 3 | Your item is far lighter than normal. Halve its weight. | Your item is far bulkier than normal. Double its weight. |
| 4 | The item is sturdy. It ignores Complication effects that might cause it to be damaged or break. | The item is delicate. A Complication on any test using the item causes it to break. |
| 5 | The item is incredibly beautiful and impresses everyone who sees it. | The item is an absolute eyesore. |
| 6 | Your item has gained you recognition among scholars or ardents; you attract the attention of a potential patron (see “Rewards” in chapter 9). | Your item has made some scholars or ardents professionally jealous; this will impact you in the future. |
In exceptional circumstances, craftspeople can generate up to three upgrades during the crafting process. When this happens, you can choose to spend two upgrades to apply one feature of your choice from the Advanced Item Features table, instead of choosing from the Item Upgrades and Drawbacks results table.
Advanced Item Features
| Feature Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Adorned | If the item is armor, it gains Presentable as an expert trait thanks to the artistic flourishes you add. |
| Hidden Compartment | The item has a storage compartment that can contain another object up to one-quarter of the item’s volume. |
| Lethal Design | If the item is a weapon, when a character makes an injury roll due to this weapon, subtract 3 from the result. |
| Perfect Balance | If the item has the Cumbersome trait, reduce the value of that trait by 1. Additionally, if the item is a weapon, it gains Defensive as an expert trait. |
| Unconventional Weapon | If the item is a weapon, it gains Discreet as an expert trait. If this item isn’t a weapon or armor, it can be used as an improvised weapon without the Fragile trait. |
While the methods of creating certain fabrials have been lost to time (see the “Dead Spren” sidebar), most modern-day fabrials can be created by crafters with sufficient research and finesse. The process requires much more specialized knowledge and precise handiwork than crafting a mundane item, but otherwise follows similar steps.
Each fabrial requires a gemstone specifically cut for that purpose, surrounded by a delicate latticework of metal and other materials to tune the device’s function. But even more important is what’s housed within that gemstone. Part of the process of crafting a fabrial involves luring a spren of a specific type and trapping it within the gem. This spren provides the fabrial with its functionality, and it must be lured with something that appeals to its unique nature.
You can craft any standard fabrial with a price listed on the Standard Fabrials table earlier in this chapter. Doing so follows the standard crafting rules in the previous “Crafting Mundane Items” section, but you must have an expertise in Fabrial Crafting or in the specific fabrial you’re creating.
Though standard fabrials require gems, these are easily acquired as part of the materials you purchase in step 1 of the crafting process. Similarly, the process for attracting a spren and crafting a standard fabrial is well documented, so you don’t need to make an additional test to trap the spren. (However, as described in the next section, crafting unique fabrials does require special materials and an additional test.)
As with crafting other items, if your fabrial’s Crafting test yields two upgrades, you can use those to choose one advanced feature. When you do, you can either choose from the earlier “Advanced Item Features” section, or you can choose from the upcoming “Advanced Fabrial Features” subsection of “Inventing Unique Fabrials.”
Cutting-edge artifabrians often devote their efforts to experimenting with fabrials that are unheard of or that only exist in cloistered laboratories as prototypes. Some of these experimental technologies combine existing effects in innovative ways, while others even replicate the effects of Surgebinders. An enterprising character can attempt to create such a device, but inventing these unique fabrials follows special rules beyond crafting basic items.
In general, unique fabrials are only available to characters selecting talents from the Scholar (Artifabrian) path, or to characters who earn special gemstones as rewards (see “Fabrials and High-Quality Gems” in chapter 8).
Use the following steps to craft your chosen fabrial:
To invent a unique fabrial, first you must decide what you want it to accomplish. You can choose a fabrial effect from those listed on the Unique Fabrial Effects table later in this section (provided your chosen effect is of an equal or lower tier than the gemstone you’ll use to craft it). Each effect lists the total number of charges that fabrial will have, along with its tier that affects the expense and difficulty of crafting the device.
Enterprising players may instead suggest new effects of their own creation, and adventurous GMs are encouraged to work with them to find something that feels balanced.
Any unique fabrials you craft follow the standard fabrial rules (see “Fabrials” earlier in this chapter).
Much like crafting other items, it’s assumed you can acquire most of the raw materials you need for the fabrial. The cost of these materials depends on the tier of effect you chose from the Unique Fabrial Effects table:
This material cost includes any rare metals, but it doesn’t include one key component: the gemstone.
The gemstone required for these cutting-edge fabrials is far more specialized than the ones needed for a spanreed. This is no common gem from a mark or broam, but a large gem specially cut for this purpose. These gems are incredibly rare items that can’t simply be bought at a market. Instead, acquiring a gem capable of making a unique fabrial is a task worthy of one of your character’s goals (see chapter 8). Through your adventures, you may be able to acquire such a gem from a wealthy patron. You might even cut your own after pulling it from the heart of a chasmfiend, but you can’t obtain it from your local merchant.
Your gem can only be used to craft a fabrial of that gem’s tier or lower (as shown on the Unique Fabrial Effects table). Most gems earned as rewards are of the same tier as your current character, though this is at the GM’s discretion.
Each gem can be used to create a single unique fabrial. Once used, the gem can’t be repurposed.
Before you can build the device around the gemstone, your fabrial requires one other delicate step: luring and trapping the spren. This can be a tricky process that requires multiple attempts. Each attempt at luring a spren requires 1 day of downtime activity (see “Downtime” in chapter 9).
To trap a spren, you need the gem that can trap it, specific knowledge of the spren you’re seeking, and knowledge of what attracts that spren and enraptures it long enough for you to capture it. When you have these things and are ready to trap a spren, make a Lore test, with a DC determined by the tier of the effect you chose from the Unique Fabrial Effects table:
If you succeed, you capture the spren and proceed to the next step. If you fail, you must reattempt capturing the spren on another day, continuing until you succeed or give up.
When crafting fabrials, you don’t need to worry about the details of which metals you use and how you craft them. However, you might like to enhance the stories you tell about your fabrials and how they function (or malfunction). If so, it’s good to know that each metal has a different effect on spren and fabrial functionality, as follows:
Dead Spren
Some of the most powerful items throughout Roshar—such as Soulcasters, Shardplate, and Shardblades—were created not by technology, but by the sacrifice of ancient spren. Though these items are presented alongside the other weapons or fabrials in their corresponding sections, they are far more exceptional, and their methods of crafting have been lost to time. Such legendary items can’t simply be purchased or crafted; instead, characters must earn them as rewards (see chapter 8).
Once you capture the spren, you can make and resolve a crafting test. This takes one day of downtime per tier of fabrial you’re trying to create. However, this time can be modified by Opportunities or Complications during the crafting process: each Opportunity you roll during your Crafting test reduces the time to create the item by 25 percent, while each Complication increases it by 25 percent.
Make a Crafting test and raise the stakes. Consult the Fabrial Crafting Test table to determine how your test result affects your crafting.
For each upgrade you earned as part of your Crafting test, choose an upgrade listed next to your chosen fabrial effect (from the “Unique Fabrial Effects” section) or any qualifying upgrade from the Fabrial Upgrades and Drawbacks table. If you earned two upgrades, you can instead choose (if you wish) from the “Advanced Fabrial Features” section.
For each drawback you earned, you can choose the drawback listed next to your chosen fabrial, or you can roll a d8 on the Fabrial Upgrades and Drawbacks table to randomly determine a drawback (rerolling if the listed requirement doesn’t match your fabrial). The GM may also decide to assign you a creative drawback or come up with another creative idea for one of your Complications.
Fabrial Crafting Test
| Test Result | Item Quality |
|---|---|
| 1–5 | Utter Failure. Despite all your time and effort, you fail to produce a working fabrial. You must start over from scratch. The fabrial’s core gemstone is still intact, but you lose any other materials and the spren you captured. |
| 6–10 | Shoddy Creation. Crafting this fabrial takes an additional day, and you find the process unusually challenging. You create the fabrial with one effect, no upgrades, and one drawback. |
| 11–20 | Typical Creation. The crafting goes exactly as expected. You create the fabrial with one effect, one upgrade, and one drawback. |
| 21–25 | Quality Creation. Things go swimmingly. You craft the fabrial with one effect, two upgrades, and one drawback. |
| 26+ | Exceptional Creation! You make a breakthrough while creating this fabrial. You craft the fabrial with one effect, three upgrades, and no drawbacks. |
Fabrial Upgrades and Drawbacks
| d8 | General Drawbacks | General Upgrades | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diminished. Attacks made with this fabrial gain a disadvantage. | Amplified. Attacks made with this fabrial gain an advantage. | Can only be applied to fabrials that have an attack. |
| 2 | Delicate. The GM can spend ⚡ to deactivate the fabrial until it is repaired with a successful DC 15 Crafting test. | Reliable. When making tests with this fabrial, ignore the first ⚡ you roll with it each scene. When you do, you gain no bonus from it. | Can only be applied to fabrials that require attack tests or other skill tests. |
| 3 | Dangerous. The GM can spend ⚡ to make the fabrial deal 1d6 energy damage to you and each character within 5 feet of you. | Fine-Tuned. You can spend ✦ to recover 1d4 focus. | Can only be applied to fabrials that require attack tests or other skill tests. |
| 4 | Inefficient. When you roll ⚡ while within 5 feet of the activated fabrial, the GM can spend it to expend an additional charge. | Efficient. When you roll ⚡ while within 5 feet of the activated fabrial, you can spend it to make the fabrial regain a charge. | Can only be applied to fabrials that expend charges. |
| 5 | Lower Capacity. Decrease the fabrial’s maximum charges by 1. | Higher Capacity. Increase the fabrial’s maximum charges by 1. | Can only be applied to fabrials that expend charges. |
| 6 | Short Ranged. The fabrial’s range is halved. | Long Ranged. The fabrial’s range is doubled. | Can only be applied to fabrials that have a range or a radius. |
| 7 | Slower. Decrease the movement rate of the effect by 50 percent. | Faster. Increase the movement rate of the effect by 50 percent. | Can only be applied to fabrials that grant you a movement rate or cause you to move. |
| 8 | Lesser Damage. Decrease the damage dealt or healed by one die size (such as by reducing d20 to d12). | Greater Damage. Increase the damage dealt or healed by one die size (such as by increasing d4 to d6). | Can only be applied to fabrials that deal or heal damage. |
In exceptional circumstances, artifabrians can generate two upgrades during the crafting process.
When this happens, you can choose to spend both upgrades to apply one feature of your choice from the Advanced Fabrial Features table.
Advanced Fabrial Features
| Feature Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Expanded Capacity | If the fabrial has charges, increase its maximum charges by 3. |
| Wide Area | If the fabrial has an attack or other effect that applies to one target, you can spend 2 focus to have it affect each enemy, each ally, or each character within 5 feet of your target instead. If you’re in range, you can choose to affect yourself along with your allies. |
| Security Lock | The fabrial can be used only by characters who know the security mechanism (such as a hidden button that must be pressed or a secret lever that must be flipped). You decide this mechanism when you create the fabrial. |
| Quick Activation | Once per scene, the user of the fabrial can spend 1 focus to reduce the action cost to activate it by ▶ (or if it is already ▶, it becomes ◆). |
| Timed Activation | By using the Ready action with the fabrial, you can set an internal timing mechanism for an interval of your choice (such as 1 round, 1 minute, or 1 hour). After this interval elapses, the fabrial activates (or deactivates if it was already active). |
| Extra Effect (unique fabrials only) | Add an additional unique fabrial effect to the fabrial. You must expend an additional gemstone of the effect’s tier to add this effect to the fabrial. Both effects track their charges separately. |
This section presents the effects you can select for your unique fabrial. The Unique Fabrial Effects table lists them by tier, then the text that follows describes the effects in alphabetical order.
Unique Fabrial Effects
| Tier | Type | Charges |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bindrial (area) | 3 |
| 1 | Bindrial (self) | 5 |
| 1 | Compressor | 3 |
| 1 | Cremrial | 5 |
| 1 | Cultivator | 3 |
| 2 | Accelerator | 3 |
| 2 | Armor Augmenter | 2 |
| 2 | Ascender | 5 |
| 2 | Drainer | 5 |
| 2 | Liferial | 3 |
| 2 | Lightrial | 3 |
| 2 | Painrial (Amplifying/Numbing) | 3 |
| 2 | Projectile | 5 |
| 3 | Disruptor | 4 |
| 4 | Surge Fabrial | 4 |
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial reduces your body’s friction. As ◆, spend 1 charge to move up to your movement rate in a straight line.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. You must make a DC 15 Agility test each time you use this fabrial. On a failure, fall Prone at the end of your movement.
Upgrade. You don’t have to move in a straight line when using this fabrial.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial enhances the strength of one non-Invested piece of armor that it is permanently attached to when created. As ◆, spend 1 charge to increase the armor’s deflect value by 2 until the end of the scene.
Charges. This fabrial has 2 charges.
Drawback. The armor gains the Cumbersome [3] trait while this fabrial is active.
Upgrade. You can spend an additional charge to also increase your Physical defense by 1 until the end of the scene.
The glove locked into place. She released one of the distant weights, then carefully relaxed her fist, and the distant weight slowly moved down. Navani went up.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial pulls you through the air. As ◆, spend 1 charge to activate it and gain a flying rate of 30 feet until the end of your next turn. If the fabrial still has charges after your flying rate ends, you can use ◆ (without spending charges) to hover in place or lower yourself to the ground. If the fabrial drops to 0 charges while you’re aloft, you fall and take damage as usual.
Charges. This fabrial has 5 charges.
Drawback. To finish crafting this fabrial, you must spend an additional 1,000 marks to build a complex system of counterweights conjoined to the ascender. Once per day of use, those counterweights must be reset for the ascender to be used on the following day.
Upgrade. This fabrial can also affect others. As ▶, make an Agility test against the Physical defense of a target within your reach. On a hit, spend 1 charge to push the target up to 30 feet away from you in a straight line.
Tier 1 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial causes everything nearby to stick to the ground. As ▶, spend 1 charge to activate it, making all objects and characters (other than you) within 5 feet of it become Immobilized. Until deactivated, the fabrial expends 1 charge at the start of each of your turns.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. You’re Immobilized by the fabrial as well.
Upgrade. The fabrial affects everything within 10 feet.
Tier 1 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial allows you to stick your feet or hands to surfaces, climbing nearly anything with ease. As ◆, spend 1 charge to activate it, granting yourself the ability to climb on any surface for 1 round. You aren’t Slowed while climbing in this way, and you can stay in place after that round without spending an additional charge. If the fabrial ever drops to 0 charges, you fall from the surface and take damage from the fall as usual.
Charges. This fabrial has 5 charges.
Drawback. You are Slowed while climbing in this way.
Upgrade. As ▶, make an Agility test against the Physical defense of a target within your reach. On a hit, spend 1 charge to make the target Immobilized for 1 round.
Tier 1 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial can cause flexible objects it touches to become rigid. As ▶, make an Agility test against the Physical defense of a target within your reach. On a success, you can spend 1 or more charges to cause the target to become Slowed and to gain a disadvantage on all physical tests for that many rounds.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. While Slowed in this way, the target’s Physical defense increases by 2.
Upgrade. The target becomes Immobilized instead of Slowed.
Tier 1 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial can cause stone to become as soft as crem. As ▶, spend 1 charge and choose a Medium (5-foot) area of stone within reach, turning it into soft clay. At the end of your turn, the area turns back to stone, and enemies in the area must successfully Avoid Danger or become Immobilized (DC 15 Athletics test to escape).
Charges. This fabrial has 5 charges.
Drawback. Until the end of your next turn, when you roll a Complication while within 5 feet of the area affected by this fabrial, the GM can spend it to make you also sink into the stone, and you become Immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Upgrade. This fabrial affects a Large (10-foot) area instead of Medium.
Tier 1 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial can cause plants to grow rapidly. As ▶, spend 1 charge to cause any plants it is touching to grow up to Medium (5-foot) size. These plants can be used to block line of effect, create barriers or cover, or create something to climb.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. When you roll ⚡ while within 5 feet of a plant affected by this fabrial, the GM can spend it to cause the plant to grow around you. You become Restrained until the plant is broken with a successful DC 12 Athletics test.
Upgrade. You can grow the plants up to Large (10-foot) size.
Tier 3 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial disintegrates objects with a touch. As ▶, spend 1 charge to touch this fabrial to a Small (2.5-foot) object. If that object is unattended, you destroy it. If it’s being held or carried by a character, you must make an Agility test against that character’s Physical defense, destroying the object on a success. You can’t use this fabrial on Invested or infused objects.
Charges. This fabrial has 4 charges.
Drawback. You can only target unattended objects.
Upgrade. You can also use this fabrial against characters. As ▶, spend 2 charges to make a Discipline attack against the Spiritual defense of a target in reach. Roll 2d6 spirit damage.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial drains the Stormlight from spheres, other fabrials, and even Radiants. As ▶, touch this fabrial to an Invested or infused object or character. If the fabrial isn’t fully charged, the target loses 1 Investiture or charge, and this fabrial gains 1 charge. Once fully charged, this fabrial can be emptied with a tuning fork, by a Radiant regaining 1 Investiture per charge, or by allowing the Investiture to fade over 5 days.
Charges. This fabrial has 5 charges.
Drawback. While carrying this fabrial, when you roll a Complication on any test involving another Invested object or character, the GM can spend ⚡ to drain 1 Investiture from that object or character.
Upgrade. This fabrial drains 2 Investiture instead of 1.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial heals wounds. As ▶, spend 1 charge to heal yourself or a target within your reach. The target recovers 1d6 health.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. Using this fabrial takes ▶▶ instead of ▶.
Upgrade. You can spend 1 charge to remove an injury from the target (either in addition to or instead of spending 1 charge to heal).
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial produces a dazzling burst of light or sound. As ▶, make a Deception test against the Cognitive defense of a target within 30 feet of you. On a success, you can spend 1 charge to cause the target to lose 3 focus. On a failure, you can spend 1 charge to cause them to lose 1 focus. If this fabrial reduces the target to 0 focus, they become Disoriented until the end of your next turn.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. The GM can spend ⚡ from using this fabrial to make you Disoriented until the end of your next turn.
Upgrade. You can spend ✦ from using this fabrial to also deal 1d6 vital damage to the target.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This fabrial stores up pain then unleashes it on a target. It is a melee weapon that uses the Light Weaponry skill and deals 1d6 vital damage. On a hit, you can spend 1 charge to add your skill modifier to the damage one additional time.
Charges. This fabrial has 3 charges.
Drawback. The GM can spend ⚡ from this attack to cause this fabrial to lose 1 charge and deal you 1d6 vital damage.
Upgrade. Before you take damage from an enemy, if this fabrial isn’t fully charged, you can use ↺ to reduce that damage by 1d6 and regain 1 charge.
Tier 2 Unique Fabrial Effect
This experimental device uses a novel combination of fabrial elements to launch a projectile at incredibly high speed. Spend 1 charge to use it as a ranged [30/120] weapon that uses the Light Weaponry skill, has the Offhand trait, and deals 1d10 impact damage.
Charges. This fabrial has 5 charges.
Drawback. This fabrial has the Loaded [1] trait.
Upgrade. You can spend an additional charge to attack two targets instead of one.
Tier 4 Unique Fabrial Effect
You’ve discovered how to create a fabrial that can mimic Radiant surgebinding. When you craft this fabrial, choose one Radiant surge. You can use this fabrial to activate that surge, using the surge’s normal rules and activation time, with the following changes:
If your non-Radiant character practices with this fabrial long enough, the GM might allow you to invest skill ranks into the corresponding skill when you gain a level, but you can’t use that skill without this fabrial.
Charges. This fabrial has 4 charges.
Drawback. Only you can use this fabrial.
Upgrade. If you practice with this fabrial, you can choose talents from the corresponding surge’s talent tree when you gain a level. You can’t use those talents without this fabrial, but can replace them using the Self-Reflection downtime activity described in chapter 9.
As your character adventures across Roshar, you grow not only by gaining levels (see “Character Advancement” in chapter 1), but by completing personal goals. In so doing, you earn rewards that grant you powerful items, relationships, or abilities.
Though the whole party might be working toward a broader objective, each goal and its subsequent reward is personal to you and your story. One character might be working toward earning a Shardblade in a duel—preferably against their fiercest rival. Another character might be a Radiant trying to find the Words to swear the Third Ideal of their order. Yet another might be trying to earn the favor of the mysterious Thaidakar, head of the Ghostbloods.
While you may pursue many different goals across your adventures, there’s always a driving force that pushes you forward and a force that you struggle against. These forces are represented by your purpose that drives and motivates your actions, as well as your obstacle that you struggle against.
For some people, purpose and obstacle are two sides of the same coin. Consider who you are at your best: now what happens if that aspect is pushed too far? Perhaps you’re driven to save others, but in the process, you ignore your own needs and burn out quickly. Or perhaps your pursuit of truth leads you to disdain those who see the world differently from you.
Your purpose and obstacle don’t directly lead to rewards. However, they’re foundational to your personality, helping guide you in choosing what goals you want to pursue—which in turn unlock powerful rewards. When you choose your purpose and obstacle during step 7 of character creation, consider the following guidance.
Your purpose is your core need. You can’t help but act on and embody it, and if you nurture your purpose, it can become your greatest strength. What’s the most important and instinctual thing you want to do with your life? Save people? Exact justice? Make an important discovery?
Choose a purpose that’s an ongoing driving force in your life, not a concrete achievable goal. This is intrinsic to your character, unchanging unless your character goes through a major crisis or epiphany. Your character is likely unaware of this purpose, but you (as the player) know it, and you can use that information to inform many of your decisions.
You can choose any purpose you wish, but remember you’re telling a collaborative story with others. The story will come together more smoothly if your character is motivated to pursue adventure and stick with their team.
Here are a few examples of purposes that can drive your adventures on Roshar:
Save Others. You have an unrelenting need to defend those who can’t protect themselves.
Seek Truth. You’re driven by an innate curiosity that can be slaked but never fully quenched.
Push Yourself to New Heights. You desire to discover and surpass your own physical or mental limits.
Find Connection. You define yourself by your connections with others, and you’re intentional about seeking others to care for and surround yourself with.
Seek Justice. Injustice is intolerable in your eyes, and you aspire to see those who take advantage of others properly rebuked.
Preserve Life. You believe all life has intrinsic value, and you act to preserve as much as possible.
An obstacle persistently gets in the way of fulfilling your purpose or pursuing your goals. This can be a lifelong trait or something that emerged from your past; either way, your struggle with it is an important part of your life. What obstacle keeps you from reaching your full potential? Are you impulsive? Greedy? Do you fixate on your mistakes?
Like your purpose, your obstacle is immutable. It doesn’t define you, and you may gradually learn to compensate for it and nurture new strengths in the process—but it’ll always influence you to some degree. Since this obstacle will be a huge part of your character’s journey, it should be something that you (as the player) are eager to explore throughout the duration of the game. At times, your character may show lots of improvement, then mess up. Personal growth isn’t linear. Regressions, self-doubt, lapses in judgment, and renewed hope are ingredients for compelling storytelling.
Here are a few examples of obstacles that can challenge you during your adventures:
Deep Regret. You’ve done something that weighs heavily on you. Perhaps you wish you could change it, or perhaps it simply eats away at your conscience when your mind is unoccupied.
Specific Fear. You have a particular fear that returns unbidden, no matter what you achieve.
Spite. You tend to hold petty grudges and communicate defensively. At times, your volatile temper causes you to act impulsively.
Self-Doubt. You have trouble believing in yourself, and you often seek retreat in situations where you stand out.
Mistrust of Others. You have trouble relying on other people. In the past, you’ve pushed others away to avoid the risk of being disappointed or betrayed by them.
Using Purposes and Obstacles
Purposes and obstacles don’t have specific rules, but they’re fundamental to who your character is. As you face different challenges throughout the game, your character will be tested. What you as the player see as the “optimal” approach is often exactly the opposite of what your character’s purpose may drive them to do, or your approach might be blocked by their obstacle.
In these moments, try to play to your character: embrace the suboptimal choice to be truer to who they are. In these cases, the GM will often reward you with raising the stakes for playing true to your character in a critical moment.
Once you know your character’s purpose and obstacle, these can help inform the goals you pursue. In this game, goals serve two purposes: First, they’re concrete objectives your character wants to achieve. Second, they’re a means of tracking character development over the course of a story as your character pursues that goal.
You start with one or two goals and can attain more during play. On your character sheet, each goal includes
three milestone boxes, representing your progress toward completing it. It’s up to you and your GM to decide together on what achieving each goal looks like.
When you conclude a goal, you receive a reward (see “Rewards” later in this chapter). Concluding a goal can mean achieving it, but it can also mean growing past the goal, discovering something that replaces it with a new goal, or achieving something else that your character realizes is more important to them.
You can add a new goal to your character anytime you take on a new opportunity for personal growth or accomplishment. The GM might suggest a new goal for you, you might decide on a new goal yourself, or a talent or other effect might grant you a new goal. When this happens (including at character creation), work with the GM to craft the goal and consider the questions below:
Character’s Goal. How does your character understand this goal?
Player’s Goal. What do I, the player, want to see my character do, learn, or experience by undertaking this goal?
Advancing Your Goal. What are a few concrete ways this goal can be advanced?
Before deciding on a goal (see “Example Goals” below), discuss it with the GM to ensure it’s a good fit for your campaign’s shared story. Once you and the GM agree, record the goal on the back of your character sheet; additionally, your GM should record it in their notes, along with any suggestions you have for how the goal might be fulfilled.
As a campaign progresses, you might conclude your existing goals, thus going without a goal for a short time (if it makes sense within the story). However, always plan to replace your goal without too long a gap.
Though most characters actively work toward their goals, it’s possible your character isn’t consciously aware of or willing to admit to theirs; for example, perhaps they’re close to swearing the First Ideal but don’t realize it. You may even wish to tell a tragic story of someone who never realizes their full potential and gets bogged down by increasingly terrible decisions—though it’s prudent to consider whether playing this will be a satisfying trajectory for you (and your fellow players). If you choose a goal that you think your character won’t ever reach, see “Concluding Goals” for guidance on how to resolve that tension.
Here are a few examples of goals with concrete ways to advance them:
Become a Noble. You aspire to the wealth and power of the noble houses of Roshar. You’re determined to join their ranks.
Find a Missing Person. You’re looking for someone you once knew, desperate to recover them.
Fulfill a Specific Oath. You’ve sworn to achieve a particular objective, and you place a great deal of importance on your success.
Repay a Debt of Gratitude. You feel a great responsibility to another person or a group, and you desire to repay their past benevolence.
Get Revenge. You’re seeking vengeance against a specific person for some past misdeed.
When your character makes decisions that help advance your goal, the GM will tell you to add a milestone to the goal (putting a checkmark next to it on your character sheet).
You can usually advance each of your goals roughly once per game session. On particularly momentous occasions, the GM may have you advance a goal twice. At the end of each game session, if you didn’t put a check next to a goal during the session, consider whether your character did anything to advance the goal; if so, discuss it with the GM. You can also use downtime to pursue goals (see “Downtime” in chapter 9).
From a player’s perspective, goals are a useful tool for telling your GM the sorts of stories you want your character to participate in. Goals are also a way to track your character’s progress over the course of a story.
Try to take the initiative on pursuing goals. If you see a chance to pursue one of your goals, ask the GM about it—but remember to share the spotlight with other players. If your character knows another character’s goal, you might even help them pursue it.
Finally, each time you check a milestone, consider recording what happened in the “Notes” section of your character sheet, allowing you to look back on your character’s story arc when you eventually conclude the goal.
You probably won’t progress every goal every session, but if you notice you haven’t progressed a particular goal for several sessions, talk to the GM about how it can be integrated into the story moving forward or reworked to better fit the ongoing narrative.
From a GM’s perspective, goals are signals from your players about what they want their characters to do in the story. During each session, try to give each character at least one opportunity to pursue one of their goals.
You can advance goals during or after sessions. The end of each game session is a good time to consider what the characters did this session. If any moments relating to a character’s goal stand out to you, tell that player to advance the goal and let them know why.
As the GM, you might have ideas about new goals for characters—feel free to suggest these to that character’s player. Especially when a character has no goal (due to completing a previous one), this can help begin a new narrative arc and encourage the character to grow in certain directions. For instance, after saving a powerful noble’s life, you can offer them a goal to gain that noble’s trust and protection as a patron (see “Rewards” later in this chapter).
If a player doesn’t want a goal you offer, that’s okay. They can use it as inspiration for a different goal or suggest something of their own creation. A player ultimately controls which goals their character takes on (if any), but feel free to encourage them as the GM.
Radiant Ideal Goals
To advance in a Radiant order by swearing one of its Ideals, you must complete a goal (see “Swearing Ideals” in chapter 5). Unlike other goals, these aren’t granted by the GM, but by a talent you choose. Once you complete an Ideal goal, you gain the powerful abilities of that talent and the potential for future progression in your Radiant order.
When one of your goals reaches three milestones (denoted with checkmarks), you can inform the GM (either in that session or between sessions) that you want to conclude that goal. You don’t have to conclude a goal immediately upon receiving your third checkmark—feel free to ask the GM to wait for a more dramatically appropriate moment.
After you inform the GM that you want to conclude a goal, discuss with them how your character will conclude the goal within the story. This is a collaborative effort that should provide a climax for your character arc. Once a goal is concluded, you’ll receive a reward (see the upcoming “Rewards” section) and move on to other goals. This is your chance to enjoy the dramatic payout that’s been building while you progressed your goal milestones.
Both you and the GM should have input on how the goal concludes within the story, based on the milestones you have achieved along the way. If the conclusion of the goal is mostly internal to your character, you might have more say over it, while if it significantly impacts the game world, the GM might have more say. Either way, this should always be a conversation between both parties, though the GM decides how to resolve any uncertainties.
Concluding a goal doesn’t necessarily mean you achieved it within the narrative. Rather than concluding a goal through success, you might instead grow as a character or even conclude it through failure.
The most straightforward way to conclude a goal is by achieving it within the narrative. You did what you set out to do. Perhaps you got revenge, redeemed your tarnished reputation, or saved the family farm. Whatever the case, enjoy a moment of respite, celebrate victory, or at least find some sense of closure. Tomorrow, you’ll have to answer the hard question of “what next?”
Success isn’t always the most narratively satisfying way to conclude a goal. You might’ve intentionally picked an impossible goal for your character to explore in the story, or you might decide that succeeding isn’t the best thing for your character now. Your character might grow past a goal they realize is unhealthy or untenable. Or they might determine the goal was a manifestation of another motivation they didn’t fully understand yet. Coming to these poignant realizations can be just as dramatic as actually succeeding, and this certainly can count as fulfilling a goal.
Perhaps counterintuitively, your character can also conclude a goal by failing at it. Across Roshar and our world alike, people sometimes fail in their aspirations—but failure can also be a great teacher and an important motivator. Failing definitively in a goal might help shape your next goal, focus your character’s personal growth, or otherwise shape them just as much as success. Consider how your character might grow in the face of failure, and what new goal they might choose now.
GM Tip: When to Conclude a Goal
If you’re GMing and one of your players wants to conclude a goal during an active game session, consider whether the goal should be completed this session or if you need more time to work a suitable dramatic moment into the natural flow of the story. In the latter case, make concluding the goal a priority for the next session. Sometimes, it’s most dramatically satisfying to conclude a goal on the spot, while other times, it might prove too disruptive to the current story. As always, exercise your best judgment on this, and don’t feel bound to wait or to rush things.
Rewards are major boons that a character receives within the story. These can vary wildly: some rewards are material gifts, while others grant patrons, allies, or even new Radiant abilities. Rewards can be granted through concluding goals, as discussed earlier in this chapter, but the GM can also give them when a specific narrative event would logically result in that reward.
When you conclude a goal, you gain a reward based on what you did while working toward it. In some cases, the reward you receive is obvious; if the goal was to swear an Ideal of the Knights Radiant, your reward is speaking the Words and gaining new abilities from your Ideal talent.
Sometimes the reward is only abstractly connected to the conclusion of the goal. For example, if your goal was to win back a legendary Shardblade one of your ancestors lost in a duel, you might find your character conflicted when they learn the truth behind Shardblades. If it no longer makes sense for your character to accept the Blade, you don’t lose your chance at a reward; rather, at the conclusion of your goal, you might instead gain a powerful patron who was impressed with your performance.
In other cases, a goal might not have an obvious corresponding reward. Solving a mystery or achieving personal growth might not come with any material compensation, but the GM can use those moments in the story to introduce a reward that’s meaningful to your character.
Even when a reward differs from what your character expected, it should let you highlight your character’s development and create opportunities to pursue further goals.
At the GM’s discretion, they might sometimes grant a spontaneous reward when it makes sense within the story. For instance, duels in Alethkar typically have stakes (such as a wager of Shards), with the winner taking all. If you win such a duel, you might find yourself in possession of a Shardblade or Shardplate without needing to conclude a goal.
However, if the GM knows in advance that you want to win a Shard in a duel, they might want to work with you to set a goal with multiple steps (such as finding an opponent, goading that foe into accepting a risky wager, then winning the actual duel).
Many rewards take the form of a connection with another being—a loyal companion, a helpful patron, or even a spren with whom you have a deep spiritual bond. You can record each of these rewards in the “Connections” section of your character sheet, along with any other meaningful connections you make with other characters during your adventures.
GM Tip: Offering Meaningful Rewards
Sometimes it’s obvious what reward a player wants their character to earn, and they might’ve already discussed it with you. In these cases, offering one reward is fine.
Other times, you might want to surprise a player with a reward. Unless you’re certain a player will be delighted with the reward, offer reward options from two different categories. This ensures the player has input on the rewards their character earns, but still gives you the chance to offer an unexpected reward.
The more often characters receive spontaneous rewards (or expect to receive them), the less motivated some players may be to pursue goals. If you know a player wants a certain reward, you might encourage them to set a goal related to it.
A reward can take nearly any form the GM and players choose, but most fall into one of the following categories. Each category suggests recommended character tiers for various rewards.
Companions are NPCs within the story who are dedicated to your character in some way. They still have their own lives and agendas within the world, but they generally act to assist your character in whatever way makes sense for them. Depending on the individual, a companion’s loyalty might range from undertaking small tasks or obtaining information to risking their life on your behalf. A companion can be a person, an animal, or at the GM’s discretion, some other character. If a companion is a human, singer, or other sapient being, they should be a peer, ally, contact, or other individual who has a balanced relationship with your character.
A companion might travel with you if that makes sense, but they might also live in a particular place and simply make themself available when you reach out for help. Companions generally take the initiative to assist you when appropriate, but this help can take many forms, from direct assisting you to sending letters with important information to acquiring supplies on your behalf. For example, a bodyguard or scribe might usually stay by your side to provide assistance, while an undercover agent might operate far from you, only sending vital information as they receive it. A companion whose bond to you is driven more by your relationship than by their employment (a friend, a romantic interest, a rival) might pursue their own agenda most of the time, then occasionally meet with and assist you when narratively suitable.
Both in combat and in other scenes, the GM controls all companions, though the companions are inclined to listen to you if doing so doesn’t conflict with more fundamental objectives (such as survival). When you need statistics for a companion, work with your GM to choose a suitable NPC profile from either this book’s “Animal Companions” appendix or from chapter 8 in the Stormlight World Guide.
The Example Companions by Tier table suggests NPC statistics the GM could use for various character tiers, including the companion’s suggested role (see “Building Combat Scenes” in chapter 13), example profiles, and bonuses they might gain as the party gains levels. Profiles available in this book’s “Animal Companions” appendix are marked with an asterisk (); the other profiles are found in chapter 8 of the Stormlight World Guide*.
Multiple Companions. At higher tiers, you can potentially have more than one companion at a time, as suggested alongside the NPC type in the “Role and Number” column.
Development Bonuses. If any of your companions are of a lower tier than you, their statistics increase. Apply the bonuses listed in the “Development Bonuses” column of the table. This applies not only to new companions you gain, but to existing ones.
Example Companions by Tier
| PC Tier | Role and Number | NPC Profile Examples | Development Bonuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Minion | Axehound, chull, soldier, or other NPC of tier 1 or lower | — |
| 2 | 2 Minions or 1 Standard | Horse*, guard, citizen, or other NPC of tier 2 or lower | Minion: +2 to all tests, +10 Health |
| 3 | 3 Minions or 1 Standard | Ryshadium steed, Sleepless, or other non-Boss NPC of tier 3 or lower | Minion: +4 to all tests, +20 health; Standard: +2 to all tests, +10 health |
| 4+ | 5 Minions or 2 Standard or 1 Boss | Chasmfiend or other NPC of any tier | Minion: +6 to all tests, +40 health; Standard: +4 to all tests, +20 health |
See the “Animal Companions” appendix.
For example, if your companion is a tier 1 Minion but you’ve just leveled up to tier 2, grant them the Minion bonus listed in the Tier 2 row of the table.
Fighting skills are difficult to acquire, and you might be better suited to rely on a protector in physical confrontations. Even among the martially trained, bodyguards provide added protection and vigilance against danger.
Profile. At tier 2, a typical bodyguard might use the guard stat block.
A guide has specialized knowledge or expertise that you lack, especially about a region or obscure topic. This companion might not travel with the party all the time, instead appearing when you need help working through a problem that fits the companion’s skills.
Profile. At tier 1, a typical guide might use the expert stat block.
In some regions (such as Alethkar), literacy is a specialized skill, and not everyone can read for themself. To advance in society, however, it’s crucial to have access to someone who can read and write. Your scribe might be a close friend, an employee, or a family member—someone you trust. After all, you’re putting your ability to communicate with the wider world into your scribe’s hands, trusting them to accurately relay the details.
Profile. At tier 1, a typical scribe might use the expert stat block.
Riding and pack animals are common across many societies of Roshar, from rare creatures like nimble horses to more common animals like plodding chulls. These animals can be indispensable, providing transport and raw strength.
Many other animals make excellent companions as well—some due to their practical abilities, and others simply for their faithful companionship.
Profile. The “Animal Companions” appendix provides profiles for several animal companions, along with guidance for customizing your own. At tier 1, a typical beast of burden might be a chull (see the “Animal Companions” appendix) pulling a wagon. At tier 2, a character might even be able to earn the trust of a Ryshadium steed (see chapter 8 of the Stormlight World Guide).
As described in chapter 7, fabrials are wondrous mechanisms created with gemstones and powered with Stormlight. The Example Fabrial Rewards table suggests suitable gem and fabrial rewards for characters of each tier. (See chapter 7 for fabrial statistics and rules for using gems to craft them).
For unique fabrials granted as rewards, the GM might give you a complete fabrial, or they might let you choose the effect and any upgrades while they select any drawbacks. At the GM’s discretion, they might also adjust the number of these drawbacks and upgrades.
Gemstones of the quality needed to create fabrials are rare acquisitions in their own right. Instead of a complete fabrial, the GM might offer such a gem as a reward, especially if you wish to do your own fabrial crafting. GMs typically award a gem of a tier matching your own, though it’s up to what fits the story.
Example Fabrial Rewards
| PC Tier | Gem | Premade Fabrial | Unique Fabrial (choose one) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tier 1 gemstone | Half-shard, repeller, Soulcaster (one Essence) | Tier 1 unique fabrial with 1 drawback and 1 upgrade |
| 2 | Tier 2 gemstone | Grandbow, Soulcaster (two Essences) | Tier 1 unique fabrial with 1 upgrade; or tier 2 effect fabrial with 1 drawback and 1 upgrade |
| 3 | Tier 3 gemstone | Soulcaster (three Essences) | Tier 1 unique fabrial with 2 upgrades; tier 2 unique fabrial with 1 upgrade; or tier 3 unique fabrial with 1 drawback and 1 upgrade |
| 4+ | Tier 4 gemstone | Soulcaster (four or more Essences) | Tier 1 unique fabrial with 3 upgrades; tier 2 unique fabrial with 2 upgrades; tier 3 unique fabrial with 1 upgrade; or tier 4 unique fabrial with 1 drawback and 1 upgrade |
To gain Radiant powers, you must attract the attention of a spren and ultimately speak the Words of your Radiant order, affirming your alignment with the order’s Ideals. As described in chapter 5, you advance through the ranks of your order by completing goals to swear each Ideal.
When you choose the First Ideal key talent from a Radiant path, you immediately gain a goal: “Speak the First Ideal.” Unlike other goals, you can’t set a goal to speak an Ideal except by choosing a talent that gives you that goal.
When you complete an Ideal goal by speaking the Words for your Radiant order, you immediately gain the reward listed in that talent. Additionally, once you swear an Ideal, you meet the prerequisites for future talents that require that Ideal.
Patrons are NPCs within the story who rely on you and, in turn, provide you with material support, guidance, and resources to carry out your tasks. A patron generally has access to resources you don’t, whether these be weapons, wealth, information, influence, or other assets.
The support of a patron also carries with it an expectation that you deliver results. For instance, if a highprince puts their authority behind your efforts to expose a spy among their subordinates, they expect you to expose the spy before more sensitive information can be leaked. If you fail to do so, the highprince will expect you to explain yourself, proving you’re not incompetent or unworthy of further support. After repeated failures, a highprince might reassign you to a less desirable task.
Your patron generally allows you access to their resources as long as you’re pursuing objectives that align with your patron’s own. As your character’s tier increases, your patron becomes willing to extend more resources to you.
The more powerful a patron, the more impressive the support they can offer—but if you haven’t yet proven your competency, even the most powerful of highprinces might not trust you with significant resources.
If you gain a patron as a reward, they generally provide two benefits. Each patron grants a specific bonus, as described in their entry. Additionally, when you’re in a situation where the patron or their agents have influence, they might also grant you and your companions travel amenities (see “Travel” in chapter 7), as listed on the Patron Amenities by Tier table. However, you won’t always have access to these amenities, just in situations where your patron deems it feasible and appropriate.
This section presents three examples of patrons, but you can find many more in chapter 5 of the Stormlight World Guide.
Patron Amenities by Tier
| PC Tier | Amenities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Comfortable lodgings and travel |
| 2 | Wealthy lodgings and travel |
| 3 | Aristocratic lodgings and travel |
| 4 | Aristocratic lodgings and travel with personal accommodation such as a local errand runner |
As the most powerful of the warlords who rule over Alethkar, highprinces have resources few citizens can imagine. With a highprince’s backing, there are few ambitions you can’t pursue.
Authority of the Highprince. In addition to amenities, the highprince’s authority extends in part to you. In places where they have political sway, you can invoke their patronage to gain an advantage on various tests, as listed by tier on the Highprince Authority table.
However, when you add these advantages to a test, the GM can spend a Complication to have your use of the patron’s name raise other challenges—such as attracting the attention of their many powerful enemies.
Highprince Authority
| PC Tier | Tests | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Persuasion | One advantage |
| 2 | Intimidation, Persuasion | One advantage |
| 3 | Intimidation, Persuasion, Leadership | Two advantages |
| 4+ | Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Leadership | Two advantages |
The Knights Radiant are mythic warriors of Roshar, and in this era of uncertainty and devastating storms, their return is another sign of the coming turmoil. If you overcome your trepidation and stand alongside a member of the Radiant orders, you might become a close ally to this champion. And sometimes, those close to a Knight Radiant begin to display signs of their power: mysterious luminescence, miraculous recovery from injury, and more specialized abilities still. In becoming the squire of a Radiant, you take your first step down an ancient path. As an aspirant, you must begin to grapple with the Ideals of your order even as you learn to control your new abilities.
Bonded Squire. After spending a month or longer with your patron, you become a squire to this Knight Radiant (see “Squires” in chapter 5).
The power of currency is a force to be reckoned with on any world, including Roshar. From the Thaylen merchants who journey on great ships to the foremost traders of the Reshi Isles, there are many influential people whose main source of worldly power is robust finances, shrewd acumen, or both. However, the backing of such an individual typically comes with an expectation of returns, whether these take the form of profits, valuable connections in new places, or political influence that can be leveraged for future trade deals.
Economic Backing. In addition to the amenities, the trader is willing to invest in your ventures. Whenever one or more player characters undertake a plan with the trader’s permission that supports their goals, the trader gives the group an operations budget to make necessary purchases, secure services, and more, as listed on the Economic Backing table. If multiple characters in the group have the same patron, the group receives the operations budget only once.
Economic Backing
| PC Tier | Operations Budget |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1,000 mk |
| 2 | 5,000 mk |
| 3 | 10,000 mk |
| 4+ | 50,000+ mk |
Through the history of Roshar, Shards have been one of the greatest symbols and manifestations of power. Once clad in Shardplate and wielding a Shardblade, a mortal warrior strides the battlefield like a great hero of myth. A single soldier with Plate and Blade can devastate enemy formations, singlehandedly crack hardened positions like fortresses, or hold off insurmountable odds—so the best way to kill a Shardbearer on the battlefield is with another Shardbearer.
The Ryshadium steed, a legendary breed of horse mighty enough to carry an armored Shardbearer, is sometimes called the “third Shard.” For giving a Ryshadium as a reward, see the earlier “Companions” section.
In addition to functioning as incredible military assets, Shardblades and Shardplate are exceptionally rare. They can’t be purchased with currency alone, though they’re sometimes exchanged to help seal political alliances (such as marriages), to repay personal debts that can’t be measured in marks, or to end wars before they begin. Shards are scarce, even in Alethkar (which has an unusually high number of Shards compared to other countries). A highprince would count themself lucky to have more than two sets of Shardplate and a handful of Blades. However, some of the most powerful individuals on Roshar have enough sets to lend to their best retainers or citizens who need them for duels.
Each Shardblade and set of Shardplate is unique, and they each carry a storied past, told across generations of generals, usurpers, and rulers. Some are intertwined with specific families or groups, while others have passed through many hands over the ages and across far-flung battlefields. A player character might have a family connection to a specific Shardblade if it was used by (or against) their ancestors in the past.
Shards can sometimes be won in duels, but generally, nobody with Shards will accept such a duel against someone who doesn’t have a Shard of their own to put on the line. This makes it extremely difficult for anyone without Shards to acquire them. Custom dictates that anyone who kills a Shardbearer on the battlefield wins their Shards, but actually performing such a feat requires a combination of impeccable skill and uncanny fortune. Most who stand before a Shardbearer on the field of war simply die.
Attaining a single Shard is a worthy goal that might take numerous game sessions to complete, and acquiring both Plate and Blade could be the work of campaign. The Shards by Tier table suggests a minimum tier for each Shard reward.
Shardblades and Shardplate are detailed in the “Weapons” and “Armor” sections of chapter 7.
Shards by Tier
| PC Tier | Shards |
|---|---|
| 1 | — |
| 2 | Shardblade |
| 3 | Shardplate |
Across different Rosharan societies, various titles of rank or nobility can be granted as a reward for deeds. In many societies, titles carry with them political privileges and responsibilities, property and estates, or even formal positions in a military or government. The Titles by Tier table provides examples of titles and their benefits.
The authority and expansiveness of a title depends on its specifics and its sphere of influence. For instance, a character who is given a military command would have very different resources from one who is running a criminal group, but both would have subordinates, holdings, and responsibilities they’re expected to attend to by both their superiors and underlings.
Additionally, at the GM’s discretion, certain titles can grant an appropriate utility or cultural expertise. A spymaster might gain an expertise in secret codes, while a researcher might gain one in a rare kind of fabrials.
A leader of a military unit in Alethkar typically leads a platoon of fifty troops. This role calls for maintaining order and morale within the unit, keeping the unit in fighting shape, and training the unit in new techniques of battle. An effective captain can expect the trust and obedience of their troops in the field.
Loyal Cadre. You have fifty soldiers under your command, though they’re generally too busy with their day-to-day responsibilities to assist you personally (you can find allies likely to accompany you in the earlier
“Companions” section). So long as you earn their ongoing loyalty through good leadership, troops under your command generally obey your orders without question. When you do need to make a test to give a difficult order to one of these subordinates, you gain an advantage on the test.
A mid-ranking scion serves both as a religious leader and a government official in Azir. They travel the country, performing blessings on settlements and formal meetings, interpreting omens and events to determine the will of the Kadasixes, and providing theological guidance and spiritual purity assessments to the viziers when selecting governmental candidates. They also fill other bureaucratic roles like scribing and clerical work. An effective scion can easily navigate Azish bureaucracy and religion both.
Bureaucratic Cleric. You are typically permitted access to both Azish governmental and religious archives. In addition, as long as your orders don’t contradict policy or religious doctrine, you have authority to direct lower-ranking scions and other Azish government workers to aid you in research or menial tasks while you concentrate on more important matters. These generally don’t require you to make a test, but when you need to make one, you gain an advantage on the test.
Titles by Tier
| PC Tier | Examples | Material Holdings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lieutenant, senior researcher, cell leader, bureaucrat, 6th-dahn landed lighteyes | Barracks, laboratory or archive, base of operations, office, or small estate |
| 2 | Captain, lead researcher, branch leader, 5th-dahn landed lighteyes | Military camp, network of laboratories or archives, network of safehouses, or large estate |
| 3 | Highmarshal, spymaster, 4th-dahn landed lighteyes | Large military camp, large network of safehouses, or palatial estate |
| 4+ | General or higher, listener member of the Five, 3rd-dahn landed lighteyes | Warcamp or other fortress, palace or equivalent |
Through your highs and lows—from toiling at the bottom of chasms in the Shattered Plains to soaring free in the clouds over Emul—your adventures on Roshar tell a story of your personal struggles, tests of will, and triumphs over ancient grudges. The rules across this book can apply to countless situations; take from them whatever’s helpful, but ultimately keep only the rules that serve your story.
This chapter covers the basics of how to go adventuring in Roshar and how you might use this book’s rules to facilitate that. Some of this guidance is roleplay focused, such as exploring how to pace your story and how to use the game’s three scene types to weave interesting adventures. The later sections of this chapter focus on specific rules you’ll commonly use across all scene types, such as how to handle various conditions, resolve damage, and heal from injuries.
Each scene follows a standard rhythm, as outlined in this book’s introduction:
During this cycle, you and the other players act out the roles of your characters. It’s your job to determine how your character speaks, thinks, and acts.
When playing your character, you’ll likely lean into using one of two voices: either first-person or third-person roleplaying. Some players use the same approach most of the time, while others switch their approaches based on what feels right for a given scene.
Neither voice is right or wrong. Use whatever feels comfortable for you, the character you’re trying to portray, and the dynamics of the group you’re playing with.
When focusing on first-person roleplay, you really try to embody your character. You describe your character’s actions as things you yourself are doing. You often speak as if you were your character, perhaps even acting out their facial expressions, speaking in a way that evokes their social status or occupation, and even mimicking some of their actions (the ones you can reasonably do around a table). This approach can be immersive and fun as you find your character’s literal voice and embody their emotions to the fullest. And to take your dialogue to the next level, consider collecting a few cultural touchpoints to weave in as they become relevant.
As always, remember that roleplay should draw others in and invite them into play, not make them uncomfortable. If you decide to use expressive gestures, respect the personal space of your fellow players; similarly, if you decide to develop a unique pattern of speech, avoid using accents based on real-world cultures. When done mindfully, going deep into character creates chances for everyone at the table to do the same.
When focusing on third-person roleplay, you convey your character’s actions using the third person. You refer to your character by name, describe their actions and what they say to others, and narrate their mood and thought process. This approach can be especially helpful during emotionally charged scenes or any time you don’t feel comfortable with acting something out. Third-person narration also excels at letting your fellow players peek behind the curtain while you articulate your character’s thoughts, emotions, and state of mind.
If your character has an insensitive or particularly contentious personality, third-person roleplaying can help everyone at the table separate your character’s behavior from what you personally believe is acceptable or fair. For example, you might say, “Because my character’s obstacle is selfishness, he’s going to try to demand payment for helping the tallew farmers.”
Elhokar and Dalinar, full Shardbearers, charge a massive chasmfiend.
When playing as your character, it’s important to distinguish between what you (the player) know and what your character knows. For example, there are likely discrepancies between what you and your character are skilled at; perhaps you made a deduction immediately while your undiscerning character remains unaware. Other times, you might know more about Roshar and its history than your character does (or vice versa); perhaps you remember global events from the novels that your character hasn’t begun to experience yet. When playing this game, it’s important to keep this divide between character and player knowledge.
Some players find it hard to resist the urge to use “out of character” information to their benefit—especially if their character not knowing something could result in a “bad” outcome. Other players delight in the contrast between their knowledge and their character’s, using it to direct their unknowing character into dramatic situations.
When you know something your character doesn’t, focus on your character’s story and how you can use your knowledge to enhance it. Instead your character acting on impossible knowledge of things to come, you can use those facts to set up interesting dramatic irony or fun payoff for their narrative.
If you’re unfamiliar with some (or all) aspects of the game’s setting, this doesn’t mean your character is! When you feel like your character would reasonably know something that you don’t (such as a detail about their ancestry, culture, occupation, or expertises), ask the GM for relevant information and context.
Your character isn’t limited by the GM’s knowledge either. While it can be satisfying and flavorful for the GM to describe how your character succeeds on a test, they might simply summarize a situation (possibly to keep the story moving or because they’re not sure how your actions might unfold in Roshar). Either way, remember your character still did a very cool thing in the story, even though the camera didn’t zoom in on them.
Splitting the Party
Sometimes the story necessitates splitting up your group of characters. You might do this to accomplish multiple things at once, or perhaps so characters can pursue opposing objectives.
However, splitting the party can introduce a lot of challenges for pacing the story, as your scenes need to shift between two or more different groups, leaving those who aren’t in the current scene with little to do at the table. Chapter 13 provides guidance for GMs on how to run the party while split, but your game will likely run smoother if you keep everyone together when it suits the story. Games are most fun when everyone can participate.
Just like any story, the flow of time is at the heart of roleplaying. Sometimes, the story moves quickly, covering large amounts of time. Other times, every heartbeat matters and the action unfolds moment by moment, detailing every movement your character makes.
The GM informally sets the pace of time based on how each situation is unfolding. This often happens subtly as the GM shifts the timescale they’re discussing. For example, you might shift quickly between the slow-paced “you travel through the Purelake for several hours” and the fast-paced “you dive for cover when you spot the ominous shapes of Fused flying low over the water.” In this case, the GM didn’t formally proclaim time was moving differently, but the needs of the story changed it on the fly.
As you play out an adventure, the story naturally ebbs and flows in this way. Sometimes you’ll “zoom out” to allow time to pass by or events to unfold, and other times you’ll “zoom in” on events that play out in detail. Detailed moments like these—known as scenes—are explained in the next section.
Faster-flowing parts of your story are more flexible. In these scenes, long stretches of time pass, allowing you to rest between difficult days, to travel for long stretches of time, or to engage in downtime activities between the active moments of an adventure. Most of these moments can be handled like a montage in a movie, but some things (like resting and downtime activities) can have rules implications that are discussed later in this chapter.
When the action “zooms in” and your individual actions have consequences, this is called a scene. These sequences in the game can include harrowing fights, tricky negotiations, exciting explorations, and much more.
This game’s rules focus primarily on scenes, as these typically need more guidance than fast-flowing narratives. Most scenes can be categorized as one of the following:
Combats occur when one or more characters engage in a physically hostile conflict. In fights and battles, every second matters, positioning requires precision, and lives are on the line. Chapter 10 presents guidelines for combats.
Conversations focus on times you’re communicating with other characters when the outcomes are uncertain and hold meaningful implications for the game’s story. These involve heated arguments, tense negotiations, intricate deceptions, and similar interactions. Chapter 11 presents guidance for conversations.
Endeavors highlight times you’re trying to traverse, explore, discover, pursue, or sneak. In these scenes, your main opponent isn’t usually other characters—instead, it’s the environment or situation itself. Chapter 12 presents guidance for endeavors.
Not all sequences fit nicely into a single scene type—for example, you might begin with a conversation that quickly devolves into combat. And as with all rules of this game, the scene rules are guidelines. The GM may alter them, use only parts of a rule, or mix and match to best tell the story of your adventure. For example, you might use an action from the combat rules to throw a punch in a conversation, or you might resist the social influence of an NPC you’re conversing with during a chase endeavor.
Momentum is essential to good gameplay. When one scene’s main goal has been accomplished (or failed), it’s generally time to wrap up the scene and move on to the next. This helps the GM keep players excited and motivated to continue the campaign.
Answering one question often presents another. For example, the characters may celebrate dethroning a predatory highlord through social skulduggery, only to learn that someone worse has succeeded him. Or after successfully crafting a new fabrial to aid the war effort, the characters may learn the raw materials needed to produce more are in short supply and can only be obtained by infiltrating an enemy-occupied treasury.
Sometimes scenes happen in quick succession, and what happens in one can have a dramatic impact on your character’s abilities and resources in the next. At other times, especially after particularly intense scenes, the party may need a break to recover, or the story may simply need to fast-forward until the next major development. This time between meaningful scenes is called downtime (described later in this chapter).
When one scene rolls into the next, your character’s statistics generally remain in the same state as in the previous scene. For example, your current health, focus, and Investiture remain the same until you get a chance to recover them, whether through abilities or by spending a meaningful amount of time resting (see “Resting” at the end of this chapter).
Sometimes, the GM might introduce an event within a scene. This optional tool is used to represent impending circumstances that count down to a moment that’ll shake up the scene. This building anticipation can add dimension to any scene. Events can be either positive or negative; either way, they act as ticking clocks that are separate from the main objective of a scene.
Your GM might incorporate two or three events into a game session. These are often divided between scenes, but if the stakes are high and a lot is happening at once, multiple events can occur in the same scene. Meanwhile, some sessions might not include events at all; they shouldn’t feel like random twists in each session, but intentional devices to increase story tension in important scenes.
It’s helpful to think of an event as similar to an Opportunity or Complication, but with a larger scope of impact. For example, an event might highlight a highstorm bearing down on the group, the growing outrage of a crowd watching an unfair duel, the arrival of the city guards during your back-alley scuffle with a Ghostblood agent, or the moments leading up to Dalinar opening a perpendicularity to refuel your Stormlight during a massive battle.
When the GM introduces an event, they’re foreshadowing something that’s not yet in play but will likely come to fruition during the scene. Typically, an event is triggered once you, your fellow players, and the GM contribute a predetermined number of Opportunities or Complications to that event.
Events are always planned and instigated by the GM unless otherwise indicated (such as by a talent). When the GM is ready to introduce an event, they announce what it is and whether it is positive or negative, then put an event card in the middle of the table; while a card isn’t necessary, it’s a nice visual reminder that the event is in play.
Every event includes an event track with at least two Opportunity or Complication slots (or both); the number of each is chosen by the GM. When someone rolls a plot die while an event is on the table, the result of the die can be contributed to the event to progress it, as described in the next section.
The players and the GM can choose to contribute to event tracks by spending Opportunities and Complications to fill slots. When they do, they forgo other possible effects these results would typically have. This pushes players to strategically weigh the impact of immediate consequences from spending an Opportunity or Complication in a standard way, versus bigger, long-term consequences of using it to contribute to an event track. In so doing, events can add significant tension to high-stakes scenes.
When you gain an Opportunity, you can choose to spend it on a positive event, filling one slot when you do. At times, it might make more sense to spend an Opportunity on an immediate benefit such as recovering focus that is sorely needed for a talent. But when an event is in progress, you might want to progress toward a moment that could turn the tide of an entire battle in the group’s favor.
When you gain a Complication, the GM can choose to spend it on a negative event, filling one slot when they do. As always, they can choose to instead spend it on something else; this flexibility helps the GM to dramatically choose when a negative event is triggered, such as a chasmfiend bursting into the scene just as your characters are about to best your opponents in battle.
Just like you contribute to events, NPCs can as well. However, unless they’re your allies, remember that their Opportunities fill slots toward events with negative implications for you, and their Complications fill slots toward events with positive implications.
After all the Opportunity slots or Complication slots on your event track are filled, this triggers the event that’s been inching closer with each roll (such as the inexorable advance of a highstorm).
Most events either track Opportunities or Complications, not both. However, for a more complex outcome, the GM might choose to run two event tracks simultaneously, contributing toward the possibility of either a positive or negative outcome. For example, if you’re waiting for much-needed reinforcements while a highstorm inexorably approaches, you might contribute Opportunities toward your allies’ advance, while Complications count toward the highstorm arriving—which will trigger first?
Scenes account for most of the time you’ll spend playing this game, but between them, your character’s life goes on (such as while hiding, resting, working, or waiting). If you’re just taking a break for a few hours or a night, those rules are covered in the “Resting” section at the end of this chapter. However, longer periods between scenes offer downtime, in which individual characters can progress without being restrained by their party’s shared goals. During downtime, a GM presents you and your fellow players with an opportunity to explain what you do during this open time. Some activities might be done in tandem with other party members, but characters often want to go their own way for a while.
When the game reaches a period of downtime, the GM informs your group how much time you have before your characters will be needed again. Sometimes your characters are aware of how much time they have (“report for duty in twelve hours”), but other times, the GM might tell you the action will resume in two days, even though your characters think they have a week of vacation (“in two days, you’ll receive an unexpected letter; what do you do between now and then?”). The GM also explains any narrative restrictions for your activities; for example, you might need to avoid the spotlight, or you might need to remain within the closed borders of a city on lockdown.
The type of activities you choose (and the progress you can make on them) can vary based on the scope of the break. If you’re just taking a few days off, a character with the Surgeon path may choose to work as a traveling doctor, perhaps making 5 marks for three days of work
in a remote town. Or a Radiant character could repair their bond with their spren after a heated disagreement. Meanwhile, downtime that spans many months has much larger implications. A low-dahn character could progress toward their lofty goal of rising to a higher dahn by garnering favor with the local nobility. Or an artifabrian might travel from nation to nation, training allies to produce a new fabrial that changes the outcome of a brewing war.
Once you know the length and limitations of your downtime, each player summarizes what their character intends to do with their time; the “Downtime Activity Ideas” section suggests activities and how you and the GM might resolve those outcomes. After these summaries, the GM works with one player to determine that activity’s outcome, then repeats this with the other players.
You might choose a reasonable accomplishment for your character, such as working at your longtime job or taking the final steps toward speaking an Ideal you’ve been progressing toward for some time. At the GM’s discretion, many such activities don’t require tests to resolve them. Other simple activities might require a fairly easy skill test to resolve.
If your chosen downtime involves something particularly ambitious, difficult, or integral to the plot, you’ll likely have to raise the stakes on your test. Be sure you’re comfortable with the risk of a Complication—though if you roll terribly on both your test and plot die, the GM may choose to have mercy and offer some sort of small concession.
Once you make the required test (if any), you and the GM decide the outcome, taking into consideration your test result, Opportunities, and Complications. At the GM’s discretion, resolutions could include narrative rewards, money, items, or progress toward individual goals.
Rather than conducting downtime during a game session, some groups enjoy transitioning into downtime at the end of a session, then resolving their downtime activities via group chat before the next session. You might even enjoy using the time between sessions to write and share a narrative of your downtime activities (after working with the GM to resolve the outcome).
This section summarizes some of the more common downtime activities you might pursue, along with suggested times and costs. However, you can spend the time however you’d like; just discuss your idea with your GM and they’ll help figure out how to resolve it.
You can craft items and even powerful fabrials, as described in the “Crafting” section of chapter 7. Since crafting can require many days depending on the complexity of the item, this activity is best accomplished during downtime.
You can engage in a profession, whether that’s performing odd jobs at a warcamp or managing your massive estate you’ve been away from. If you have a patron or are part of a larger organization, they might expect you to work on their behalf.
Many injuries require time to heal. If you can dedicate downtime to recovery, this greatly speeds the healing process. Each day of downtime you spend dedicated to rest and recuperation counts as two days toward healing an injury (see “Injuries” later in this chapter).
Chaotic adventures and travel offer little opportunity for careful research, so downtime is a great chance to study. You might even gain insights into the unfolding mysteries of the cosmere. Research includes activities like visiting devotaries to talk to the ardents, reading books in the library, or experimenting with new technologies in the lab.
When you begin your research, tell the GM what you hope to discover. They’ll decide if this is something you can find or discover, and if so, how many days of downtime it’ll take and whether there are any restrictions.
Research usually takes 10 days or longer to uncover truly important insights, and each day costs 3 marks in supplies and other costs. Additionally, most research requires you to succeed on one or more skill tests. For example, you might need a Deduction test to connect the dots on different pieces of information, a Lore test to remember an author relevant to your research, or a Persuasion test to convince an expert to help you.
Succeeding at your research can have many benefits. It might unlock key information about your adventures or give you insights into new fabrials, spren, or other facts about the world.
If you dedicate your downtime to training, you can improve yourself, potentially gaining a new expertise. You can gain a specialist expertise in this way (such as the Warhammer or Half-Shard expertise).
To do this, find a resource to help you in acquiring the expertise—this might be a mentor, an excellent reference book, or just lots of observation of the experts. The GM then decides how much time it takes you to learn and whether any skill tests are required.
It usually takes 20 days or longer to learn a new expertise, and each day costs 5 marks in supplies and other costs. Additionally, most training requires you to succeed on a skill test relevant to your chosen subject, and each failure adds more time or other complications.
After the intense events and experiences of your adventures, you might feel driven to reexamine yourself and your values. If you dedicate 10 or more days to self-reflection at the cost of 5 marks per day, you can make mechanical changes to your character (such as switching talents or skill ranks). Most players use this for small tweaks such as swapping out a talent or two you later realize don’t fit your character’s current story. If you wish to make larger changes, discuss with your GM how these changes will be integrated into the story.
At the end of these 10 days of downtime, you can rebuild your character using the “Starting at Higher Levels” rules in chapter 13, but maintaining the same number of levels you have now. All standard rules about prerequisites apply, and if you’ve earned any rewards during your adventures, they don’t count toward prerequisites for earlier levels. For example, if your character already spoke the Second Ideal, this doesn’t mean you can choose a Third Ideal talent at the first level of your rebuild.
You must work with your GM on this rebuild (no matter how large or small), and it’s up to them whether your changes fit the story. Be sure to tell them why you wish to rebuild your character, and work together on how it might impact the story and your character’s role and relationships within the group.
Many effects can apply a temporary condition to you (for example, “you become Slowed”). These alter your abilities for the duration of that effect, as described in the upcoming “Durations” section.
If an effect doesn’t state its duration (or how you can remove the condition early), all the rules you need for determining that are in the condition itself.
Conditions generally only apply to characters, not objects. For example, if a rule tells you to apply a condition to targets in a certain area, objects in that area ignore that condition. However, when it fits the story, the GM might decide that objects are affected by a condition (or by a similar narrative effect).
This game includes the following conditions, listed in alphabetical order.
While Afflicted, you slowly take damage over time. In combat, at the end of each of your turns, you take the amount and type of damage specified by the effect that gave you the condition; this information is typically stated in brackets. For example, if you’re Afflicted [1d4 vital], you take 1d4 damage at the end of each of your turns.
Out of combat, you instead take that damage every 10 seconds and after each time someone attempts to remove the condition.
Unlike most conditions, you can be Afflicted by multiple effects simultaneously. When this happens, resolve each effect separately.
While Determined, when you fail a test, you can add an Opportunity to the result. After you choose to do so, remove the Determined condition.
While Disoriented, your senses are disrupted, making most tasks difficult. You can’t use reactions, your senses always count as obscured, and Perception tests (and similar tests to use your senses) gain a disadvantage.
When a Knight Radiant swears an Ideal, they become Empowered, granting a burst of unrestrained power. While Empowered, you gain an advantage on all tests and your Investiture refills to your maximum at the start of each of your turns. Remove this condition at the end of the current scene.
While Enhanced, one of your attributes temporarily increases, as specified in brackets when you gain that condition. The specified attribute gains a bonus equal to the specified number; however, this bonus doesn’t change your defenses, maximum health, maximum focus, or maximum Investiture.
For example, if you have a Speed of 3 and become Enhanced [+2 Speed], you temporarily gain the following benefits:
Unlike most conditions, Enhanced has a cumulative effect, and more than one of your attributes can be Enhanced at a time.
While Exhausted, you feel fatigued and your skill tests become more difficult.
When you gain this condition, it states a negative number in brackets. After you calculate a test result but before you resolve its effects, apply a penalty equal to this number.
After each long rest, reduce your Exhausted penalty by 1. The condition is removed when your penalty equals 0.
Unlike most conditions, Exhausted has a cumulative effect. When you gain a second instance of this condition, add its listed penalty to your current Exhausted penalty. For example, if an effect makes you Exhausted [−2], you subtract 2 from the result of all tests; if a different effect then makes you Exhausted [−1], that increases your Exhausted penalty, so you now subtract 3 from the result of all tests. As usual, your final test result can’t be less than 0, regardless of your penalty.
While Focused, you are engaged and intent on your task. When you use an ability that costs focus, its cost is reduced by 1.
While Immobilized, your movement rate becomes 0, and you can’t move or be moved by other effects.
While Prone, you are lying flat on the ground. While Prone, you are Slowed and melee attacks against you gain an advantage. You can use the Brace action without cover.
You can stand up and end this condition as ◆. After you do, your movement rate is reduced by 5 until the start of your next turn.
If you become Prone while climbing or flying, you fall and take damage as usual (see “Falling” in chapter 10).
While Restrained, your movement rate becomes 0. You gain a disadvantage on all tests other than those to escape your bonds. If the effect that applies this condition doesn’t state an escape DC, it’s up to the GM whether and how the condition can be removed early.
While Slowed, your movement rate is halved. If you become Slowed in the middle of movement, halve your remaining movement (rounded up).
While Stunned in combat, you lose any reactions, and on your turn, you gain two fewer ▶ and don’t gain a reaction. While Stunned out of combat, you are overwhelmed, making you move and react slower to your situation at the GM’s discretion.
While Surprised, you lose any reactions, you don’t gain a reaction at the start of combat or on your turn, you can’t take a fast turn, and you gain one fewer ▶. Remove this condition after your next turn.
While Unconscious, your movement rate becomes 0, you can’t move or communicate, and you’re unaware of your surroundings. When you gain this condition, you fall Prone and drop anything you’re carrying. You can’t interact with your surroundings or use any actions or reactions other than the Breathe Stormlight action and Regenerate free action (if you’re Radiant). In combat, you always go slow, but you can’t do anything on your turn (other than the above Radiant actions).
Enemies typically ignore Unconscious characters unless they have a strong reason to do otherwise.
If you are a PC, you can choose to regain consciousness at the end of any of your turns (no action required) or when an effect heals you to at least 1 health. When you do so, other characters can sense you’re conscious, you remove the Unconscious condition, and if you’re at 0 health, you recover 1 health. But be careful: with such low health, you could easily suffer another injury, this one potentially more dangerous or deadly.
NPCs automatically regain consciousness when they recover 1 health.
Some effects (such as conditions) last a specified number of rounds. If you’re in combat when that effect begins, note whether it begins in the fast PC phase, the fast NPC phase, the slow PC phase, or the slow NPC phase (see “Turn Phases” in chapter 10). The effect lasts until the beginning of that phase on the next round.
Other effects state exactly when they end. For example, if an effect ends “at the end of your next turn,” it doesn’t matter if your next turn is fast or slow—the effect ends when that turn does.
If you don’t eat and drink sufficient food and water each day, you can begin suffering from exhaustion. When you’re adventuring in an area with access to sufficient food and water, your GM typically won’t ask you to specifically track food and water, instead assuming you’re keeping yourself sufficiently fed. However, when your access to food and water might be limited (such as when behind enemy lines or in Shadesmar), the GM might have you track your food and water more closely.
For simplicity, food and water are tracked per day. One day of food or water is enough to feed or hydrate one character for one day. If you can’t consume sufficient food or water, you begin suffering ill effects.
You can go without food for a number of days up to your Willpower score before you begin to feel ill effects. For each day beyond this that you go without sufficient food, you become Exhausted [−1]. If this reduces you to Exhausted [−10] or lower, you die.
Once you consume a day’s worth of food, the count of days resets (though you remain Exhausted), and you can go without food for another number of days up to your Willpower score before you suffer more exhaustion.
You can’t go long without water. For each day you go without sufficient water, you become Exhausted [−1]. If this reduces you to Exhausted [−10] or lower, you die.
The risk of injury or death is nearly constant during the True Desolation. These rules discuss how to handle damage and injuries.
When you’re dealt damage, you reduce your current health by that amount (see “Health” in chapter 3). If you’re wearing armor, your deflect value might reduce the amount of damage you suffer depending on that damage’s type (see “Deflect” in chapter 3).
After you’re reduced to 0 health, you become Unconscious and suffer an injury (see the upcoming “Injuries” section), putting you at risk of serious injury or death. Each time you take damage while at 0 health, you suffer another injury. If your injury doesn’t kill you, you remain Unconscious until you regain health or choose to regain consciousness (as described in “Conditions”).
Different weapons, surges, and other effects deal different damage types. Most effects state what type of damage they deal. If an effect “deals extra damage” but doesn’t specify the type, the effect deals the same type as the underlying damage dealt.
The type doesn’t usually change an effect, but other rules may affect some damage types. For example, if your armor gives you a deflect value, this reduces the damage you take when dealt energy, impact, or keen damage (see “Armor” in chapter 7). Similarly, some adversaries are less affected by certain damage types.
When determining the damage type of various effects in your story, use the following guidelines:
Energy. Effects related to heat and energy (such as fire and lightning) deal energy damage. This damage type is reduced by your deflect value.
Impact. Effects that crush or bludgeon (such as a hammer blow or a flying boulder) deal impact damage. This damage type is reduced by your deflect value.
Keen. Effects that slice, puncture, or impale (such as a dagger or sharp wooden spikes) deal keen damage. This damage type is reduced by your deflect value.
Spirit. Effects that damage both your physical and spiritual self deal spirit damage. This is usually dealt by Shardblades, but a few surges can also do so. This damage type is not reduced by your deflect value.
Vital. Effects that put your constitution to the test (such as poison, suffocation, and extreme cold) deal vital damage. This damage type is not reduced by your deflect value.
Your health represents your general physical wellbeing and stamina, as described in chapter 3. As you recover health, you quickly heal minor wounds like scrapes and bruises. But when you suffer particularly grievous harm, you might suffer an injury that takes a while to heal—or that never heals at all.
You always suffer an injury when you’re reduced to 0 health and when you take damage while at 0 health. Other effects (such as talents and weapon traits) can also cause injuries, and the GM can decide to inflict an injury when the story calls for it.
When you suffer an injury, you must make an injury roll. Major NPCs, such as recurring characters, make injury rolls in the same way. (For less prominent NPCs, see “Minor NPC and Injuries.”)
An injury roll is not a skill test. Rather, when you make an injury roll, roll a d20 and apply the following modifiers:
Armor. Add the deflect value of any armor you’re wearing.
Abilities. Add any relevant modifiers from talents or other abilities.
Injuries. Subtract 5 from the roll for each injury you already have. (Unlike skill tests, the result of an injury roll can be a negative number!)
Compare the result to the Injury Duration table to determine the duration of your injury, then see “Injury Effects” to determine its impact.
Injury Duration
| Injury Roll | Duration |
|---|---|
| −6 or lower | Death. You die (see “Death”). |
| −5 to 0 | Permanent Injury. You suffer a permanent injury. |
| 1 to 5 | Vicious Injury. You suffer a temporary injury with a duration of 6d6 days. |
| 6 to 15 | Shallow Injury. You suffer a temporary injury with a duration of 1d6 days. |
| 16+ | Flesh Wound. You suffer a temporary injury until after a long rest. |
Each injury remains until it heals (or for permanent injuries, potentially forever). When your character suffers an injury, you decide its effects. To do so, consider what caused the injury and what narrative you’re interested in for your character.
The Injury Effects table suggests some effects an injury could have and how you might describe it in the story. Feel free to choose any entry on the table, roll a d8 on the table, or work with your GM to create a custom effect.
Injury Effects
| d8 | Effect | Narrative Suggestions |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Exhausted [−1] | Any injury that lowers your overall stamina. |
| 3 | Exhausted [−2] | Any injury that lowers your overall stamina. |
| 4–5 | Slowed | Injured leg or foot, or any injury that lowers your overall speed. |
| 6 | Disoriented | Injured head, or widespread injury that overwhelms your senses. |
| 7 | Surprised | Overwhelmed by the shock of an injury. |
| 8 | Can only use one hand | Injured arm or hand, or any injury that lowers your overall coordination. |
If a minor NPC suffers an injury, they’re immediately defeated. When it fits the story, the PC inflicting the injury can choose whether the NPC dies or simply becomes Unconscious with an injury. If Unconscious, the NPC can’t regain consciousness until they recover at least 1 health from another source; unlike PCs, NPCs can’t choose to regain consciousness on their own.
At the GM’s discretion, NPCs significant to the scene or wider story might not be defeated when they suffer an injury, potentially allowing them to be revived by allies and rejoin the fight.
Temporary injuries heal after the specified duration—or if you recuperate during downtime, you heal twice as fast (see “Downtime” earlier in this chapter). A few talents and other effects can also heal an injury.
Permanent injuries won’t heal without supernatural intervention, but your character can adapt to injuries, including permanent ones. Losing a limb or use of a sense you’re accustomed to can certainly present practical challenges, but you can adapt with training, practice, specialty fabrials, or the support of loved ones.
While characters can suffer injuries during their adventures, each player has the freedom to reject any injury effect and choose something else that fits their story. This game’s injury rules aren’t intended for use when creating new characters with disabilities, nor to model how characters with disabilities operate in this game.
For example, if you create a character who doesn’t have full use of all senses (such as a blind character), you don’t gain the Disoriented condition. Instead, you follow the general character creation rules (unless you choose otherwise), since you’re assumed to have various techniques and tools for navigating daily life. Narratively, you might have certain logical limitations due to being unable to see—but you also have certain advantages, such as not relying on sight and not being deceived by purely visual illusions. If your character uses a mobility device such as a freechair fabrial (see chapter 7), your movement rate is determined by your character’s Speed attribute, just as it is for any character.
Similarly, if you suffer a permanent injury during your adventures, you might eventually learn to compensate, removing the effects of any conditions it applied. In the story, you still experience the injury’s narrative effects, but you’ve found ways of adapting, and to represent that, you might even remove that injury’s mechanical condition.
He sucked in so much Stormlight that the spheres in his hand grew warm while delicate frost spread over his fingers. His skin glowed. The power inside him pushed outward into the stump where his left arm had once been.
If you suffer an injury, you’re encouraged to research the ways real people have adapted to similar injuries and disabilities, then try to realistically portray them without stereotypes. Autobiographical sources provide the best insight. While the GM might work with you to suggest the mechanical implications of an injury, you should lead this discussion—and unlike most areas of gameplay, you always have final say regarding how an injury affects your character.
Stormlight has the power to heal nearly any wound (as with the Wound Regeneration talent of the Progression surge). However, this healing occurs by aligning your physical self with your spiritual self—so unless a character wants an aspect of themselves to change, there’s nothing for Stormlight to mend. For example, some people’s disabilities are part of their identity; in such a case, it’s possible that Stormlight wouldn’t heal them because they’re already whole.
Player characters in this game are hardy and can usually withstand multiple grievous injuries before succumbing to them. However, as described in “Injury Rolls,” each of your character’s injuries applies a penalty to future injury rolls, significantly increasing their chances of death.
When your character dies, they can cling to consciousness just long enough to speak their final words: imparting one last wisdom, making one last quip, or saying one last goodbye. Their Cognitive aspect then leaves their physical form, remaining in Shadesmar for a short period before their soul rejoins the Spiritual Realm from whence it came.
Once this scene ends, you might wish to describe your character’s soul passing into the Beyond. This is an opportunity for a more introspective, peaceful farewell. Whether your character expects to join the fight to reclaim the Tranquiline Halls or to slip gently into nothingness, this is the end of their journey, and their final destination remains unknown.
In rare circumstances, powers such as the Old Magic can reattach a lingering soul to its body. The more Invested a person is at the time of their death, the longer their soul lingers. However, a soul must be willing to be reattached.
If you die, your active surge effects end if they don’t require spending Investiture each round. However, any other infused surges on your body or objects continue until the infusions run out of Investiture.
GM Tip: Placing PCs in Mortal Danger
In some tabletop roleplaying games, death is just an inconvenience—but in Stormlight stories, aside from a few exceptional cases, death is permanent. With that in mind, GMs should be thoughtful about when to put characters in truly mortal danger.
Out of combat, if a player makes a choice that would lead to the certain death of a PC, consider giving them an out-of-character warning. In combat, this game’s injury system offers meaningful risks and consequences other than death. However, a player may wish to tell a story of noble sacrifice, in which case their character might choose to fight through injuries and place themself in harm’s way! But that’s the result of player choice, which usually creates a far more satisfying end than does a death to random chance.
In between scenes, you’ll (hopefully) find time to rest and recuperate. This gives you an opportunity to recover, eat, tend to your wounds, and plan for the days ahead. There are two types of rests: short rests and long rests.
A short rest is any uninterrupted period of an hour or longer in which you’re able to relax, recover, and tend to your wounds.
After a short rest, you can roll your recovery die to determine how well you recover (see “Willpower” in chapter 3 to determine the size of your recovery die). Add the roll result to your current health, your current focus, or a combination of the two. For example, if you roll a 5 on your recovery die, you might choose to recover 3 health and 2 focus.
If you prefer, you can forgo recovery yourself, and instead spend your rest time to gain one of the following benefits:
Tend to Others. You can provide medical assistance to one or more willing allies you’re resting with. When you do, they add your Medicine modifier to their recovery die roll.
Forage. You can use Survival to forage for resources (see “Survival” in chapter 3).
Other. If you want to accomplish tasks while the rest of your party rests, you can forgo the benefits of resting to try to get things done. In general, anything that would require a skill test is too demanding to accomplish while also getting rest.
Some talents and other effects allow you to use or activate them during or after a short rest. Unless otherwise specified, you can benefit from these even if you also recover health and focus (or engage in one of the alternative activities).
A long rest is any uninterrupted period of eight hours or longer in which you experience meaningful rest. This typically involves some time for relaxation and a full night’s sleep—or a half day’s sleep, since missions behind enemy lines require finding sleep wherever you can.
After a long rest, you recover all your lost health and focus. Additionally, your Exhausted penalty reduces by 1 (see “Conditions”).
As with short rests, some talents and effects activate when you rest, and you can recover during the same rest you benefit from those.
Boulders crashed above, smashing against the plateaus, breaking off chunks and tossing them down around him. Wind raged. Water swelled below, rising toward him. He clung to Shallan, but their wet hands started to slip. And then, in a sudden surge, her grip tightened.
War has defined Roshar throughout its history, and with the coming of the True Desolation, it now consumes the continent. No matter where your adventures bring you, you’ll need to use sword, spear, and surge to protect yourselves, your allies, and your Ideals.
When conflict breaks out that requires more resolution than just a skill test or two, it becomes a combat and follows the rules in this chapter. This might be a massive battle with many combatants with various motivations, a one-on-one duel between two Alethi nobles, or even a nonviolent scene where seconds and positioning matter.
In a fight, everyone acts simultaneously and every second counts. To represent this, this game divides time into a series of rounds. During each round, the PCs, enemies, and other participants each get a chance to take one turn, during which they can act in a variety of ways.
Each round, you can choose to take a turn that’s either fast or slow. Your choice grants you a certain number of actions, which represent the many things you can do on your turn (see “Gaining Actions and Reactions”):
Taking a Fast Turn. If you act fast, you take your turn first before any enemies go, but you only get two actions (▶▶) to use on your turn.
Taking a Slow Turn. If you instead act slow, you act after any fast enemies, but you get three actions (▶▶▶) instead of two.
You can change your choice each round, and your decision doesn’t need to be made at the start of the round. If other PCs have resolved their fast turns and you decide you also want to act fast, you can decide in that moment to take the next turn.
You’re encouraged to coordinate with other players who are taking the same kind of turn as you. If you can’t decide who should go when, the characters with the highest Speed go first; on a tie, whoever rolls highest on a d20 goes first.
Each round of combat follows this sequence:
If allied NPCs are fighting alongside the PCs, they take their turns at the same time as the enemy NPCs. It’s up to the GM when those NPCs act during that phase.
To kill. It was the greatest of sins. And yet here Szeth stood, Truthless, profanely walking on stones used for building. And it would not end. As Truthless, there was only one life he was forbidden to take. And that was his own.
Most things you can do during each round are categorized as either an action or reaction. The upcoming “Actions and Reactions” section details what you can do with each of these.
At the start of combat, unless you’re Surprised, you gain a reaction (↺), which you can use any time before the start of your first turn.
Additionally, at the start of each of your turns, you gain a new reaction, regardless of whether you took a fast or slow turn. (Some talents and other abilities can grant an additional reaction.)
Each reaction lasts until the start of your next turn (or until you use it). You can use it to respond to specific triggers at any point in a round, either on or off your turn; this represents your ability to instinctively respond to someone or something on the battlefield.
At the start of each of your turns, you gain a certain number of actions (▶), which represent tasks you can undertake only on your turn. As discussed earlier in this section, the number of actions you gain depends on what kind of turn you choose: ▶▶ for a fast turn, and ▶▶▶ for a slow turn. (Some talents and other abilities can grant additional actions.)
Actions can only be taken during your turn, so any remaining at the end of your turn are lost.
Ten Heartbeats
A single round of combat can take a while to resolve, but it represents only moments passing in the story. From a rules perspective, the players conduct their turns in sequence, but this is merely a practical way to organize everyone’s decisions. From the perspective of your story unfolding on Roshar, you and those around you all act simultaneously in a chaotic mess of battle.
If your group needs to know a battle’s exact timing because it matters to an element of the narrative, assume each round of combat takes about ten seconds.
Many combats begin with one side ambushing the other. Other times, some characters in the scene might just be caught totally unaware when the fight breaks out. In these cases, the unsuspecting characters gain the Surprised condition.
The GM determines who is Surprised at the start of a combat. If one side is trying to be stealthy or deceptive ahead of the fight, they might test their Stealth against the other party’s Perception, or their Deception against the other party’s Insight. Any opposing character who fails to notice becomes Surprised.
After each character’s first turn, they remove the Surprised condition.
GM Tip: Combat Rules in Other Scenes
Many of the rules in this chapter can be useful out of combat, though they won’t be an exact fit. For example, many actions (and their rules) can be helpful in conversations and endeavors, but time flows differently in those scenes, so characters don’t take fast or slow turns to determine how many actions they get. In and out of combat, work with your players to use whatever rules help with the current scene and story.
Nearly everything you do in combat takes time, so there are limits on how much you can do each turn. You’ll track this by using the actions and reactions you get at the start of your turn (which run out quickly), along with free actions (which you can use more freely).
The actions, free actions, and reactions presented in this section are available to all characters, including your enemies. Talents and other effects can grant you additional options for your actions, free actions, and reactions.
Actions and Reactions
| Type | Cost | Type | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aid | ↺ | Interact | ▶ |
| Avoid Danger | ↺ | Move | ▶ |
| Banter | ◆ | Reactive Strike | ↺ |
| Brace | ▶ | Ready | ▶* |
| Disengage | ▶ | Recover | ▶▶ |
| Dodge | ↺ | Shove | ▶▶ |
| Drop | ◆ | Strike | ▶ |
| Gain Advantage | ▶ | Use a Skill | ▶ |
| Grapple | ▶▶ |
You must spend ▶ for Ready plus any ▶ needed for the readied action.
Actions (marked by ▶) can only be used on your turn in combat, and each named action can only be used once per turn unless stated otherwise. The same applies to actions from talents and other effects, regardless of whether those are given a specific name.
Some actions take more time than others. Each action in this book lists how many ▶ you must spend to activate it: either ▶, ▶▶, or ▶▶▶. (See “Order of Combat” for rules on how many actions you can use on your turn.)
On your turn, you can spend your available ▶ to use any of the actions listed below, or to use any actions granted by your talents or other effects (such as the Breathe Stormlight action available to Radiants).
You hide behind cover within 5 feet of you (see “Terrain”) to defend yourself against incoming attacks. All attacks against you gain a disadvantage for as long as you stay behind cover. If you attack or move, the benefits of this action end.
You’re only protected against attacks from the other side of your cover, and it must be substantial enough to realistically defend you against the attack. For example, you could press yourself against a wall or duck behind an obstacle, but if an enemy rounds the corner toward you, they can attack you without disadvantage.
If you have a weapon with the Defensive trait (such as a shield), you can wield it to create mobile cover for yourself. When you do, you must keep that weapon raised and between yourself and any potential attackers.
You carefully step away from an enemy, defending yourself so they can’t seize the opportunity to attack. Move 5 feet without triggering Reactive Strikes.
You use one of your skills to seek the upper hand over your opponent, such as through clever tactics, unexpected feints, or superior strength. Explain how you are doing so, then make a test using a relevant skill against the enemy’s corresponding defense. On a success, you gain an advantage on your next test against that enemy that uses a different skill. For example, you can test Deduction test to guess at your foe’s next move, then use that advantage on your next Light Weaponry test; however, you can’t test Light Weaponry then use that advantage on another Light Weaponry test. (See “Skills” in chapter 3 for more examples of tests to Gain Advantage.)
You quickly interact with an object you can reach. Unlike the Use a Skill action, this action usually doesn’t require a skill test. For example, you might Interact to:
You can use the Interact action more than once per turn.
You move a distance up to your movement rate. If you’re crawling, climbing, swimming, or being stealthy, you become Slowed for this movement, reducing how far you can move. Leaping or climbing as part of your movement might require an Agility or Athletics test.
You can use the Move action more than once per turn.
You attack using an unarmed attack or a weapon you’re wielding against the Physical defense of a target.
You can use the Strike action more than once per turn, but each attack must use a different hand. If you attack using your offhand, you must spend 2 focus.
Special Maneuvers and Precise Shots
You aren’t limited to a single way of using your weapons—feel free to come up with unconventional moves. The “Creative Maneuvers” section later in this chapter offers guidance on creatively using your weapons.
You use one of your skills to perform challenging tasks around the battlefield—for example, you could make a Perception test to search the environment, make a Stealth test to hide, or make a Medicine test to treat an ally. This action covers many creative tasks you might attempt.
If you have an idea that you don’t feel fits into this action, see the “Improvising Actions” sidebar for more options.
Through strength and skill, you grab your opponent or control their movements to keep them restrained and focused on you.
Make an Athletics test against the Physical defense of a character within your reach. On a success, they become Restrained until either you become Unconscious, you choose to end the effect (◆), or they are no longer within your reach.
You prepare to respond to something happening on the battlefield. Choose the trigger you’re waiting for (such as a character using a certain action or gaining a certain condition) and choose the action (or free action) you want to use in response. If that trigger occurs before the start of your next turn, you can use the chosen action in response to the trigger, even if it’s not your turn. If you choose not to respond to the trigger, you don’t regain your spent actions.
Your readied action must follow all other rules as if you were using it on your turn. For example, if you already used a Disengage action, you can’t ready a second Disengage action.
*To use this action, you must use ▶ for the Ready action itself, plus the number of ▶ required for the action you chose to prepare.
You take a deep breath and steel yourself. Roll your recovery die to recover health and/or focus, as if you just finished a short rest.
You can only use the Recover action once per scene.
Improvising Actions
This game’s combat rules can help you coordinate many variables in a complex and chaotic scene, but ultimately, rules exist to support you and your character’s story. Your character can accomplish—or at least attempt—nearly anything you can imagine, so don’t feel limited by just the actions in this book.
If you want to attempt something creative, describe it to your GM. Many things can be covered by broad actions such as Use a Skill, but for those that can’t, your GM will give you guidelines on whether a task is possible and how to determine whether it works.
Through strength and skill, you forcibly maneuver your opponent. Make an Athletics test against the Physical defense of a character within your reach. On a success, you push or pull the target 5 feet horizontally. If you successfully Shove a character who has grappled you, it ends the Grapple effect.
Free actions (marked by ◆) follow the same rules as other actions, except they don’t use one of your available actions. Unless a condition or other effect currently prevents you from taking actions, you can use an unlimited number of different free actions on your turn.
However, like actions, each free action (including those from talents and other effects) can only be used once per turn unless stated otherwise.
You can freely speak at any point during your turn, and other characters can briefly respond. However, because each round is only about 10 seconds of time, the GM might limit you to only a couple sentences per turn.
If you wish to use speech in a more nuanced way (such as to persuade someone or do something else that would require a skill test), this demands enough of your attention that you must instead Use a Skill to do so.
You drop any number of objects you’re holding in your hands or another appendage. (If you want to do so on someone else’s turn, you must use the Ready action.)
Reactions (marked by ↺) are used to respond to specific event, known as a trigger, that happens on the battlefield. Each reaction describes its specific trigger.
Though reactions can be triggered on your turn, they’re typically triggered on another character’s turn in response to something they do.
You usually only have one reaction per round. If an effect grants you more than one reaction at a time, you can’t simultaneously use both of your reactions on the same trigger, but you can use the same type of reaction on two separate triggering events (for example, you can use Aid on two separate tests an ally makes on their turn).
You can spend your available ↺ to use any of the reactions listed below, or to use any reactions granted by your talents or other effects.
You step in to help an ally. Before an ally makes a skill test, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to grant them an advantage on their test.
To aid an ally, you must be prepared and in range to realistically assist them. For example, you might aid their attack by flanking and distracting an enemy you’re engaged with, or if you’re within speaking distance, you might coordinate with them to search for a hidden enemy.
When you’re imperiled by your surroundings—such as standing under a falling boulder or being shoved off a balcony—you can use this reaction to attempt to save yourself. This might allow you to catch yourself before you fall, to dodge out of the way of a boulder, or to similarly avoid the danger.
Make an Agility test to avoid the danger. If doing so in reaction to a test (such as an attack or Shove action) the DC is equal to that test’s result. Otherwise, the DC is 15. If you fail, you don’t avoid the danger. If you succeed, you avoid the danger to a reasonable degree, as determined by the GM.
For example, if you’re trying to avoid an area attack from the Division surge, the GM might say you move 5 feet on a success—if this movement gets you out of the area, you aren’t hit, but if the area is larger, you’ll likely still be affected to some degree. The more narrative-focused the danger, the more likely you can entirely avoid it, but any potential damage or repercussions are at the GM’s discretion.
Before an enemy targets you with an attack, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to add a disadvantage to their attack test. You can’t use this reaction on area attacks or on those that target multiple characters, though you might be able to Avoid Danger and move out of the way.
As an enemy retreats, you use the opening to attack. When an enemy voluntarily leaves your reach, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to make a melee weapon attack against the enemy’s Physical defense. You can’t use this reaction to attack a character who transports themself with Transportation or who otherwise moves instantaneously.
When you attack a target, you roll to see how well your attack hits. These attacks can be weapon attacks made with the Strike action, special attacks granted by talents, or even attacks that use the powers of the surges.
Attacks always include an attack test. This is a special kind of skill test with a few extra rules, as described in “Making an Attack.” The primary distinction between attacks and other skill tests is that attacks are meant to deal damage to their target.
All attacks follow these steps unless otherwise specified:
When you use an ability to make an attack, choose one or more eligible targets.
Number of Targets. Most attacks only target one character at a time, but some allow multiple targets.
Melee Attacks. If you’re making a melee attack, your target must be within your reach.
Ranged Attacks. If you’re making a ranged attack, your target can be anywhere within the specified range.
Eligible Targets. Many attacks, including weapon attacks, require line of effect. You might gain a disadvantage on your attack test if you can’t also sense the target. See the upcoming “Targeting and Range” section (along with your ability’s rules) for more information on choosing a target.
After choosing your target, make a skill test against their specified defense. Each ability specifies which skill that attack test uses (for weapon attacks, see the Weapons table in chapter 7), along with which defense determines the test’s DC. For example, the Strike action is against Physical defense, while the Assassin’s Startling Blow is against Cognitive defense.
Damage Dice. At the same time as you roll the usual dice for your skill test, also roll the number of damage dice specified in the attack. But don’t add these damage dice to your test result—you’ll calculate them separately to see how much damage you deal.
The result of your skill test determines how much damage you deal to the target:
Miss. If your test fails, you miss the target, dealing no damage. (However, when this happens, you can decide to graze them instead.)
Graze. When you miss one or more targets, you can spend 1 focus per target of your choice to instead graze them. When you do, deal damage equal to the total rolled on the damage dice.
Hit. If your test succeeds, you hit the target. Deal damage equal to the total rolled on the damage dice + your modifier for the skill you used for the test.
Critical Hit. When you hit with an attack, you can find a weakness by spending ✦, changing the hit into a critical hit. This maximizes the result of your damage dice against all targets of that attack: treat all damage dice as if they rolled their highest number.
Damage Types and Deflect Value
Each attack specifies the type of damage it deals. All damage types have the same basic effect, but some enemies might have special protections (or weaknesses) against certain damage types, causing it to do less (or more) damage to them.
Remember that if your attack deals impact, keen, or energy damage, that damage is reduced by the target’s deflect value. For more information on damage types, see “Damage, Injury, and Death” in chapter 9.
The most common way to attack is using a weapon, usually via the Strike action or your talents. When you make a weapon attack, choose either an unarmed attack or a weapon you’re currently wielding in your hand. The Weapons table in chapter 7 specifies which skill to test and which damage dice to roll for each weapon.
To attack a target with a weapon, they must be within your reach (for melee attacks) or within the weapon’s specified range (for ranged attacks), and they must be in your line of effect (see “Targeting and Range”).
The “Wielding Weapons” section of chapter 7 presents rules for making attacks using weapons in your main hand and offhand.
Though not made with standard weapons, rules for unarmed attacks and improvised weapon attacks are presented in the “Weapons” section of chapter 7.
Attacks against targets next to you are melee attacks. These must be made against a target within your reach—typically within 5 feet of you, as described in the upcoming “Effect Range” section. Some weapons extend your reach further.
If you use a ranged weapon to attack a target next to you, this isn’t considered a melee attack; see “Ranged Attacks and Reach” for these attacks.
If your melee weapon has the Thrown trait, you can also use it to make a ranged attack.
Ranged attacks include firing ranged weapons, throwing weapons with the Thrown trait, or even Lashing objects toward your opponent with Stormlight. These must be made against a target within the weapon or attack’s specified range (see “Targeting and Range”).
When you make a ranged attack while you’re within reach of any enemy, your attack gains a disadvantage, as you must carefully avoid giving the nearby enemy an opening.
When you make a ranged attack against a target who is within 5 feet of your ally, raise the stakes on the attack test. If this attack misses your target and you roll a Complication, the GM can spend it to make your attack automatically graze your ally (without spending focus).
If you have unstable footing—such as when swimming, flying in open air, or standing on a precarious perch—your ranged attack gains a disadvantage, as you must carefully stabilize yourself.
Some attacks have multiple targets. For these attacks, roll your attack test and damage dice once as usual, then compare the results to the corresponding defense of each target, determining the result for each target individually. To graze multiple characters who you missed, you must spend 1 focus per target you want to graze.
Area attacks target all characters (or a specified subset of characters) within a physical area. Many surges allow you to make these powerful attacks, as do a few other abilities. When you make an area attack, follow the above rules for attacking multiple characters, and refer to the upcoming “Targeting and Range” section to determine the effect’s area.
Adding variety to combat is fun, whether you’re disarming your foe or pinning their hand to the table. To keep things simple, this game doesn’t provide separate rules for a long list of combat maneuvers, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be part of your story.
In general, if you want to execute a creative maneuver with your weapon, that falls under the Strike action (see “Actions and Reactions” earlier in this chapter). When you Strike, describe how you want to attack; if the GM agrees your maneuver is possible, they’ll choose a defense for you to target (and potentially add one or more disadvantages, depending on how complex your maneuver is). If this attack test succeeds, the GM determines any narrative or mechanical effects of your maneuver (in addition to the normal damage dealt).
Heavy weapons tend to favor maneuvers that damage things in the environment, drive back foes, or otherwise take advantage of the weapon’s weight and reach. When testing Heavy Weaponry, the GM might apply fewer disadvantages to maneuvers that exploit these strengths.
Light weapons tend to favor precise maneuvers like cutting an important item free of the target’s belt or targeting a specific part of their body. When testing Light Weaponry, the GM might apply fewer disadvantages to these sorts of maneuvers.
For example, you might want to disarm your foe by thrusting precisely at their sword arm. If the GM agrees that maneuver makes sense, they might ask you to attack against your foe’s Cognitive defense, gaining one disadvantage if you’re using a light weapon, or two disadvantages if you’re using a heavy weapon.
Many attacks, talents, and other abilities can only affect certain types of characters or objects, or only affect targets within a certain distance. Some of the following limitations primarily matter in combat, but if you’re using an ability in a conversation or endeavor, it’s up to the GM whether the same rules apply.
At the GM’s discretion, some abilities can be used regardless of your target’s location or whether you can sense each other. Such abilities are often used to gather or share information (for example, making an Insight test while reading a letter, or making a Persuasion test while writing one).
However, if you want to directly apply a mechanical effect to a character or object (for example, restoring health, applying a condition, or otherwise altering their statistics), the following restrictions apply. As always, it’s up to the GM to decide what best fits the narrative; they might allow you to target something the rules don’t officially allow, or they might decide that in the current situation, you can’t reasonably affect a target regardless of the rules.
Many abilities can’t be used if there are obstructions between you and your target. When an ability says you need a line of effect to your target, you can only target that character or object if an imaginary straight line could directly connect any part of your body to any part of the target without touching a solid object or passing through an unreasonably small opening (such as a crack in the door; this size is up to the GM’s discretion).
Unless an effect otherwise specifies, you can only target a specific character or object if you know they’re in a certain location within range.
If you believe you know where a target is but you can’t sense them to confirm, you gain a disadvantage on attacks and other tests targeting them that affect their physical body. Attack tests made in this way can’t graze.
You can only test in this way if you’re aware of the target’s existence and potential location through other means (such as peering into Shadesmar or being told of their position).
Some effects require you to be able to influence your target. To do so, your target must be within a reasonable communication distance, be able to sense you, and be able to interpret the intent of your gestures, vocalizations, or similar communication. Unless otherwise specified, you don’t need to share a language, as you can make your intent clear through pointing commandingly, gesturing rudely, shouting encouragingly, and so on. See “Who Can You Influence?” and “Resisting Influence” in chapter 11 for more details.
Many abilities limit how far away you can apply their effects. All attacks are restricted to a certain range, as are most other tests and effects.
Some abilities allow you to apply effects from a distance. These effects state a specific range—the farthest that effect can reach from its origin (which is usually you). Most abilities with range restrictions provide the range in that ability’s text. However, the range of weapon attacks depends on the weapon you use.
All ranged and thrown weapons, as well as some abilities, specify both a short range and a long range (usually expressed in feet and separated by a slash). Tests within the short range are made as usual, but tests in the long range gain a disadvantage.
For example, an axe with a range of [20/60] has a short range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. You can’t use that axe to attack characters more than 60 feet away from you, and if you attack a character more than 20 feet away from you, the test gains a disadvantage.
Some abilities—and all melee attacks—require your target to be within reach; this applies whether you’re reaching them using arms, claws, other appendages, weapons, or surges. This special range includes anywhere that’s both in your line of effect and within 5 feet of your space (see “Size and Space” later in this chapter). Some weapons and effects can increase your reach beyond 5 feet, but no matter the distance, you must still have line of effect.
Some surges and other abilities can affect any character (or a specified subset of character) in a large physical area. Such area effects specify that physical area’s size, usually in feet. This is often expressed as a square (“each character in a 10-foot square”) or as a distance from an origin point (“each character within 5 feet of the fabrial”). However, these are abstractions for simplicity; areas typically don’t need to be a perfect square or circle, and the GM is free to describe the effect and make exceptions in ways that make sense for that ability.
Within reason, each character whose space roughly overlaps with an area effect is affected. For example, even though a 10-foot square is technically two-dimensional, a character standing on a stool above ground level usually experiences the same area effect as a character sitting on the ground, as long as it fits the story.
When an ability allows you to choose an effect’s area, you can place that area anywhere one of its edges touches the maximum range of the effect. For example, if an effect targets “a 10-foot square within your reach,” the entire 10-foot square doesn’t need to be within your reach, as long as you can touch one corner of it.
Because area effects create a phenomenon in a physical area regardless of who is in it, you can use them even if you can’t sense any characters or objects within the area. (This is different from effects where you choose a specific character or characters; such effects typically require you to sense the target or at least know they exist.)
Most area effects can’t penetrate solid obstacles like walls, but it’s up to the GM to decide whether an effect could reasonably extend past an obstacle or curve around a corner. For example, the Division surge’s Gout of Flame might be blocked by a sturdy wall, but the Cohesion surge’s Sinkhole could suck in targets on both sides of that wall.
Talents and other abilities often specify who or what you can target with an effect. Each target usually falls into one of the following categories (though as always, the GM makes the final determination):
Character. Most effects in this game target characters. This term encompasses player characters, NPCs, animals, and other entities that have statistics and some level of animation, consciousness, or independence. You are a character, so if a rule allows you to target “a character,” you can target yourself. (At the GM’s discretion, you might be able to creatively use an effect that usually targets characters to instead target an object or area. It’s always up to the GM to decide how such effects work.)
Object. As a rule of thumb, if something isn’t a character but it could reasonably be picked up or moved around, it probably counts as an object. A rock is definitely an object—but the mountain it came from probably isn’t.
Enemy. An enemy is a character who is currently inclined to oppose your plans, resist your tests, attack you, act in a hostile manner, or otherwise be unenthused about your existence in the world.
Ally. Allies needn’t be directly aligned with you, but they generally consider you with neutrality or friendliness. They’re willing to help you or leave you to your own devices, and they won’t interfere with you if you don’t interfere with them. When you make a test against an ally’s defenses, at the GM’s discretion, that ally can choose for your test to automatically succeed. Note: you are not considered your ally.
You. This book is written primarily in second person, so it uses “you” a lot—but you still need access to the corresponding talent or other effect for that rule to count for you. “You” more specifically means “the intended audience for this rule, as expressed earlier in this section.”
Target. When used as a noun, a target is a general term referring to anyone or anything you can apply an effect to, including characters and objects. Many rules in this book tell you to choose a “target” without specifying if that’s a character or object. If unspecified, you can apply the effect to either (within reason). However, most rules assume you’ll be targeting a character, so the effects might include things that objects can’t do (like become Restrained). Ignore or modify any irrelevant effects when targeting objects.
Other Types. Some effects specify other targets that aren’t defined in the rules; these are generally common-sense situations meant for flexibility. For example, some surges let you target a surface—this lets you affect many areas based on what makes sense in the story, rather than getting bogged down in a precise definition.
Battlefields rarely offer flat, open terrain. Instead, you’ll often find yourself doing all sorts of climbing, jumping, or other stunts to get around the space. When you use the Move or Disengage action (or any other ability that moves you around the battlefield), keep these guidelines in mind.
Each character can control a different amount of space in combat, depending on their size. A chasmfiend towering over the battlefield has a much wider reach than a lone soldier wielding a spear.
All characters in this game are classified into five size categories. A character’s size doesn’t directly reflect their physical measurements, but rather, the amount of space that they control in combat. (For example, if an effect targets creatures “of your size or smaller,” this includes creatures who are bulkier than you but still in your size category.)
Imagine a character controlling a three-dimensional area that’s shaped roughly like a cube; the approximate size of that area determines a character’s size, as shown
in the Character Sizes table. (The GM has discretion over the exact shape and dimensions of each character’s area; this needn’t be a cube, depending on the nature of the character or effect.)
Character Sizes
| Character Size | Area Controlled |
|---|---|
| Small | 2.5 feet |
| Medium | 5 feet |
| Large | 10 feet |
| Huge | 15 feet |
| Gargantuan | 20+ feet (GM discretion) |
Each character fills a space the same as their size category. Their space isn’t necessarily the exact area their body fills—it represents the area they can easily affect and move around in.
Unless otherwise specified, only one character can occupy a space at a time (though you can move through the space of willing creatures, as described in “Moving Around Others”). This limits how many characters can move next to another object or character. If enough Large characters crowd around a Small one, there won’t be room for anyone else to fit.
Because you don’t actually take up the entire area in your space, you can squeeze into a space one size smaller than you. However, while squeezing in this way, you are Slowed and attacks made against you gain an advantage (because you can’t move around to avoid the danger).
The Move action and other movement abilities generally use your movement rate (see “Speed” in chapter 3). However, if you want to fly, you’ll need a separate flying rate (granted by effects such as the Gravitation surge).
When you use the Move action or similarly move, you’re generally assumed to be walking or similarly propelling yourself across the ground, bound by the laws of gravity. However, you can flavor this movement any way you wish—running, wheeling, skipping—as long as you follow the rules of the game.
The following rules apply to more challenging ways you might move using your movement rate.
When climbing, crawling, or swimming, you are Slowed for that portion of your move. If a climb or swim is extremely difficult (such as from a slippery surface or rough waters), you may need to succeed on an Athletics test to make progress.
If part of your movement requires you to jump over a gap or up into the air, you generally don’t need to make a test to jump a horizontal distance equal to your size, or a vertical distance equal to half your size. For longer jumps, see “Athletics” in chapter 3.
When you’re sneaking (see “Stealth” in chapter 3), you are Slowed. Additionally, you must stay out of your opponent’s line of effect or risk being spotted.
When you use the Move action or otherwise move while you have a flying rate, you can choose to either use your normal movement rate (thus moving along the ground) or your flying rate (thus moving through the air), not both.
While flying, you pass above the battlefield, so you don’t have to worry about passing through the spaces of characters or terrain beneath you. However, you still must navigate around characters and terrain in the air with you.
Using bows and other ranged weapons is difficult while flying. All ranged attacks gain a disadvantage due to your unstable footing (see “Ranged Attacks” earlier in this chapter).
If knocked Prone, you fall and potentially take damage (see “Falling” below).
You can move through the area occupied by a willing character. It’s assumed the two of you can navigate that space and stay out of each other’s way. However, you can’t move through the space occupied by an unwilling character, unless otherwise allowed by an effect.
Either way, you can’t end any movement in the same space as another character, whether friend or foe.
Some actions or abilities can force characters to move, such as by pushing or pulling them. Forced movement isn’t affected by that character’s movement rate (or by anything that affects that rate). Additionally, forced movement doesn’t trigger the Reactive Strike reaction or other abilities that trigger when a character leaves your reach.
When you fall from a height of at least 10 feet, you take damage when you collide with a surface below you. After you land, take 1d6 impact damage for every 10 feet you fell.
If you take any damage from a fall, you are Prone when you land.
Certain terrain on the battlefield can affect combatants.
You can use nearby obstacles as cover if they block an enemy’s line of effect to you, or if they otherwise could reasonably block weapons, protect against projectiles, or make you harder to perceive. When within 5 feet of cover, you can use the Brace action to add a disadvantage to most incoming attacks.
Difficult terrain requires scrambling, slogging, or is otherwise difficult to move through. You are Slowed while moving through difficult terrain.
Dangerous terrain causes physical harm, such as walking over embers or spikes. When you move into or start your turn in dangerous terrain, you take the damage specified by that terrain. If terrain doesn’t specify the damage, the GM can use the Dangerous Terrain table for inspiration.
Dangerous Terrain
| Example Terrain | Damage |
|---|---|
| Wooden spikes | 1d4 keen |
| Blazing fire | 1d8 energy |
| Highstorm winds | 1d12 impact |
In many combats, you can rely on the GM’s descriptions of the environment and combatants, using the theater of your mind to imagine how the action unfolds. However, for more complex fights, some groups find that visual aids help them to keep track of the action and keep everyone on the same page.
In these cases, the GM commonly uses a set of miniatures to represent characters and a square grid to track distances and positioning. When playing in person, GMs often draw on large, erasable vinyl maps (available online or at your local hobby store). Terrain and obstacles can be drawn on the grid or represented by three-dimensional terrain. When playing online, GMs often use a virtual tabletop to display the terrain and character tokens.
If you’re using a square grid to represent your combat, the following sections provide guidance on adapting this book’s rules to work with a grid.
Most groups use a grid of 1-inch squares. This size works with the Stormlight miniatures as well as most commercially available roleplaying miniatures.
On this size of grid, each side of a square represents 5 feet. Most sizes, distances, and ranges in this game are divisible by 5, making them translate easily to this size. For example, a Medium character or effect fills a single 5-foot square. (If your group regularly uses a grid, you may wish to divide your movement rate and ranges by 5 to translate them into the corresponding number of squares, then note those numbers on your character sheet for easy reference.)
Some groups prefer to use a hexagonal grid; these work much like a square grid but allow more realistic and flexible movement.
When moving your character, you move from square to square (or hexagon to hexagon) on the grid. Each new square represents you moving 5 feet. Regardless of whether you move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, it costs the same 5 feet of movement. (While the diagonal is technically longer, this rule dramatically simplifies movement during play.)
To enter a square, you must have at least 5 or more feet of movement remaining (or 10 or more if you are Slowed).
You can’t move diagonally if you’d cross a corner that’s obstructed by an enemy, wall, or other terrain feature that blocks the square.
To determine your range or distance to other combatants, count the shortest route from you to the object as if you were moving there. If making a ranged attack, ignore obstacles that your projectile can reasonably fly over.
To determine whether another square is in your line of effect (see the earlier “Targeting and Range” section), draw an imaginary line from a corner of your square to any corner of that square. If you can draw that line without passing through or touching a solid object, that square is in your line of effect.
Each character’s space (see the earlier “Size and Space” section) fills a square or squares based on their size. If a miniature you’re using doesn’t quite match up to those dimensions, that’s okay—for simplicity, just use the footprint of the miniature to determine how many squares it takes up on the battlefield. However, use the character’s in-game size for calculating all other rules.
When determining areas of effect, their dimensions are outlined in increments of 5 feet, aligning to the lines of the grid. When determining an effect’s point of origin, you can start the effect in any space adjacent to a space you occupy (the area doesn’t need to include your space). For example, if you target a large area with the Division surge, only one square of that area needs to be next to your square; the rest can extend much farther away from you.
If an effect only impacts a Small (2.5-foot diameter) area, it generally still affects one entire 5-foot square since that is the grid’s smallest increment—but the GM might take some creative liberties with resolving the outcome when it suits the narrative.
Some talents and enemy profiles suggest uses for Opportunities and Complications (see “Plot Die” in this book’s introduction), but some of the best stories come from creative interpretations of these plot die outcomes. Use your environment and the strengths and weaknesses of your enemies to create memorable and fun effects!
While defeating your enemies is usually a primary goal of combat, you’re often trying to accomplish something else (such as escaping, protecting others, or grabbing a key item). Think about ways you can use Opportunities and Complications to advance (or hinder) your other goals in the scene. Sure, you’re attacking an opponent, but why?
The Combat Opportunities and Complications table provides inspiration for potential outcomes.
Combat Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| Friendly reinforcements arrive. | Enemy reinforcements arrive. |
| A wounded enemy decides to flee or otherwise surrender. | An ally trips or stumbles, falling Prone. |
| An innocent bystander escapes to safety. | An ally or innocent is endangered and must be saved. |
| An enemy is distracted, granting an advantage on attacks against them. | An enemy is alerted to your presence. |
| An enemy drops their weapon or equipment. | You drop or damage your weapon or equipment. |
| You spot a vantage point or other environmental feature you can use against your opponent. | The rain picks up, making navigating around the battlefield more difficult. |
| You spot infused spheres in an opponent’s pouch that you could draw Stormlight from. | Some of your spheres suddenly go dun. |
| Your spren helps you out, pointing out something or distracting the enemy. | Your spren becomes distracted and can’t help you in a key moment. |
| You gain a brief respite from the chaos of combat and recover 1 focus. | You’re shaken by something in the combat and lose 1 focus. |
| You spot a hidden opponent, revealing them to your allies. | An opponent slips away from you without triggering a Reactive Strike. |
| In the heat of battle, an opponent accidentally reveals a detail you weren’t supposed to know. | You accidentally finish off an enemy you were trying to leave alive for questioning. |
| You get a bit of extra time to achieve your goal. | You lose time and your goal becomes more urgent. |
If you wish, you can ride a mount in combat. To ride a mount, the mount must be larger than you and logically capable of carrying you. The GM is the final arbiter of what you can use as a mount.
To safely mount or dismount, you must use ▶▶.
While riding a mount, you occupy the same space as the mount, and when you move on your turn, you use their movement rate instead of your own.
Under normal conditions, you don’t need to make a skill test to move the mount. For difficult maneuvers, the GM might call for a Survival test to steer your mount, raising the stakes if the mount is resisting. The GM can spend ⚡ from this test—or from other tests you make while riding—to make you fall from the mount and land Prone on the ground.
If you have a utility expertise in riding your particular mount (such as an expertise in Riding Horses), you can activate abilities from their profile by spending your own resources (including focus, ▶, and ↺). These abilities happen on your turn, not on a separate turn for the mount. If you don’t have expertise in riding that mount, they take no actions of their own.
You can target a mount or rider with attacks and other abilities—but so can your enemies! For example, if you trigger a Reactive Strike while riding a mount, the enemy might choose to attack your mount instead of you.
If you make a melee attack against a rider whose mount is bigger than you, you gain a disadvantage on the attack unless you’re also riding a mount of that size or larger.
Adolin kicked Sureblood into motion, thundering across the bridge and splashing through a pool on the other side. Rainspren wavered. His two bridgemen followed at a run. Behind them, the heavy infantry in thick armor with hammers and axes—perfect for splitting Parshendi carapace—surged into motion.
Though Roshar is a world defined by war, politics and intrigue have played an equally important role in shaping its history. The pursuit of your goals will require not only the clashing of swords, but the exchanging of words.
Conversations encapsulate social scenes where at least two characters are talking and attempting to achieve their goals through dialogue, such as by negotiating, deceiving, interrogating, or establishing personal connections.
Many conversations can become adversarial. When you attempt to convince, intimidate, lie to, or otherwise influence someone, you might need a skill test to succeed. Even then, particularly confident or stubborn characters might resist your attempts to influence them, and you’ll have to strategically wear them down to get what you want out of the conversation.
Any type of scene, including a combat or endeavor, can transition into a conversation when it fits the story. This doesn’t require the GM to officially announce “you’re in a conversation now,” but setting the scene lets you know who you’re engaging with and what to expect.
At the start of a conversation or whenever goals or participants change significantly, the GM should briefly describe who you’re talking to, then ask what you want to achieve. Based on your expressed objectives, the GM will give you a sense of who needs to be persuaded—and of what.
Social interaction is complex and nuanced, so it’s not always clear what people want or what tactics may appeal to them. It can help the flow of a scene for the GM to provide clear objectives, but there isn’t a right or wrong way to go about achieving these objectives, so the GM can’t give you a checklist of what to do. However, they should provide helpful context on the other participants’ motives, needs, and desires (or at least, those you would be aware of). This allows you to make relevant contributions to the conversation.
When to Use Conversations
Sometimes you might persuade someone to agree to a proposed plan with a single test, in which case a conversation scene isn’t needed. However, conversations are especially helpful in situations like the following:
- Two or more groups are trying to reach a compromise that requires both to give something up.
- Belligerent factions are negotiating.
- Multiple people need convincing.
- One person needs to be convinced of multiple things.
- Someone needs to be convinced to significantly act against their own interests or ideals.
Conversations in the game unfold much like those in real life, as characters pontificate, interject, argue, and talk over each other. To reflect this free-form interaction, conversations have significantly less structure than combat, and time isn’t tracked as concretely. However, certain rules help the GM adjudicate the flow of the conversation and determine how your attempts go over with NPCs in the scene.
While you’ll find yourself in many conversations that are less than polite, it’s important that out of character, everyone still has fun and feels involved. Characters generally contribute one at a time (see “Contributions”), and everyone in the scene should have a chance to participate. When everyone has had a chance to contribute (if they want to), this counts as one “round” of the conversation. This isn’t as structured as a round of combat, but it helps with timing your abilities and other game effects.
It’s a good idea for the GM to check back in with each player if their character hasn’t weighed in recently. If a character’s last contribution was to lean stoically against the back wall while others do the talking, the group should check if that’s what the player wants to continue doing.
As you, your fellow players, and the GM play out your interactions, you can communicate either using your character’s voice or describing your actions in the third person. Either way, each time you meaningfully influence the conversation, you’re making a contribution. For example, you might shift the conversation’s focus, sway participants one way or another, support an ally, or gain more insight into the situation. These contributions aren’t intended as rules to limit the scene, but to provide as much support for roleplay as your group finds helpful.
How a given contribution is resolved depends on what you’re attempting to accomplish. Some contributions just include a wry quip or flavorful interjection, while others have a significant impact on the conversation (and might require a skill test to resolve).
Most contributions work toward one of these five outcomes:
Influence a Person. Many contributions attempt to influence another person through lies, logic, intimidation, or other means; after all, exerting influence is the goal of most conversations. To change a character’s opinion or behavior, you’ll generally make a skill test with a DC equal to their Spiritual or Cognitive defense (depending on the skill used). Depending on the circumstances, the GM might increase or decrease that DC, and you might gain an advantage or disadvantage based on your approach. Even on a successful test, the other person might temporarily resist your influence by spending focus (see “Focus in Conversations” below).
Help or Hinder Efforts. Conversation can be a group effort, so you might help by augmenting an ally’s arguments or undercutting an opponent’s position. This contribution usually grants your ally an advantage—or your opponent a disadvantage—on their next test in the conversation.
Bolster an Ally. You can encourage, reassure, or otherwise bolster another person in the conversation. This usually results in your target recovering a bit of
focus (as determined by the GM). This is a valuable boon, as focus represents each person’s resolve and patience for the conversation (see “Focus in Conversations” below).
Gather Information. You can scrutinize another person or the environment. Depending on difficulty, the GM might ask you to make a skill test against your target’s Spiritual or Cognitive defense (depending on the skill used), or they might simply give you the information you sought.
Interject Flavor. You can always interject to add flavor or context to a conversation. These contributions have no rules—they’re just part of the fun of roleplaying.
If the outcome of your contribution is uncertain, or if it hinges on your skill, the GM will ask you to make a test (typically against the opponent’s defense in the same category as the skill). Nearly any skill could be used in a conversation at the GM’s discretion. Here are some examples of contributions that might require a test:
Persuasion. Using raw charm to convince someone to act against their better judgment.
Deception. Lying to convince someone of an untrue premise.
Intimidation. Browbeating someone to weaken their position.
Leadership. Inspiring someone to follow their better nature.
Perception. Observing someone to notice whether they take any suspicious actions.
Insight. Using empathy to understand someone else’s position.
Deduction. Thinking through an opponent’s argument logically to find flaws.
The Conversation Opportunities and Complications table provides inspiration for tests that result in either of those.
Conversation Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| You remember a helpful and relevant fact. | Something you thought you knew turns out to be a lie. |
| An observer is impressed with you. | An observer is scornful of you. |
| Your Radiant spren makes a helpful observation. | Your Radiant spren gets distracted by something. |
| You distract others from noticing the intentions behind your actions. | You draw unwanted attention to yourself in the conversation. |
While some talents, actions, and other abilities are focused on combat, you might find creative ways to use them for a contribution. Some abilities provide guidance for using them outside of combat (for example, see “Surge Infusions and Durations” in chapter 6), while others are left to your creativity. It’s always up to the GM whether you can use an ability to contribute, and how.
Your focus represents your mental wherewithal, concentration, and patience, making it very important during conversations. Until you run out of focus, you can use it to avoid being influenced by other characters and to fuel special abilities granted to you by talents.
To influence someone, you must be able to communicate with them, which generally requires them to sense you or otherwise receive information from you. Sometimes, influencing someone requires complex arguments, while other times, a look or gesture is enough to get the point across.
If an ability affects a character you “can influence,” it refers to any character who you can communicate with in an appropriately effective manner.
Both NPCs and PCs tend to have a strong idea of who they are, and of what they will or won’t do. So when you attempt to influence someone in a conversation, it’s unlikely you can change their mind with a single skill test.
When a character succeeds on a socially oriented skill test against an opponent (or otherwise does something very persuasive), their opponent can choose to spend focus to resist influence. The amount of focus spent depends on how persuasive the GM decides the contribution is. If reasonably persuasive, an opponent must spend 2 focus to remain resolute. If an argument is extremely strong, the opponent must spend 4 focus instead.
If the GM decides that a particular argument is incredibly persuasive or hits on a topic an NPC is unlikely to resist, the NPC might choose to not resist at all. Otherwise, once the NPC runs out of focus, they generally concede the point or become open to a compromise (see “Running Out of Focus”).
Any effect targeting a “character you can influence” can be resisted by that character (unless otherwise stated). If an effect doesn’t require the target to be influenceable, they generally can’t resist it; however, some effects (like the Scholar’s Keen Insight talent) state that a target can resist the influence of that effect, even it isn’t an attempt to persuade the target. These effects can also be resisted by spending 2 focus, as if the effect were a socially oriented skill test.
In conversations, your opponents are usually the ones resisting influence, not you. Depending on how the conversation goes, the GM might ask you to resist influence at some point—but the way you roleplay these situations is up to you, and you’re never forced to choose between spending focus and making your character believe or do something that doesn’t fit their story.
An NPC’s focus can be an effective timer or gauge for your progress in a conversation. While a pliable target like a town guard might give into your party’s persuasion quickly, a strong-willed NPC requires more convincing. For these characters, the GM can have them spend focus to resist the PCs’ influence, requiring the group to wear down the NPC with a few successful attempts.
When an NPC is reduced to 0 focus (often because of resisting influence), they become too frustrated, scattered, or distracted to effectively contribute to a conversation. They can no longer resist being influenced and might check out of the conversation entirely.
Some resistant characters might need to be worn down before they can be convinced. However, failures, Complications, misspoken words, or the pressure of time could result in the conversation ending before you can get your way. Sometimes it’s better to take a different approach.
If you start running low on focus (and thus narratively become more vulnerable to outside influence), you might decide you want to step away from the conversation—or you might consider a cue to roleplay a different tactic, based on how you think your character would react. A hothead might decide to start a fight, while a more reserved character might decide to give up on conversation and find more accommodating characters to talk to or seek other ways to pursue their goal.
Even when you’re completely out of focus, this never forces your character to do or believe something you disagree with. You can have your character change their mind if you wish, but it’s up to you to decide what the effects are and how this impacts the story.
Conversations can take many forms based on the goals of the participants. This section suggests tips for running a few types of conversations, but conversations can shift fluidly between these (and many other) types as the goals develop and the scene unfolds. After each conversation type, a table presents inspiration for Opportunities and Complications that might emerge from such a conversation.
In an Inquiry, one or more parties are trying to acquire relevant information. Inquiries range from casual fact-finding conversations to formal interviews to tense examinations. This typically takes the form of one party trying to acquire information while another tries to withhold or obscure it, but there could be multiple inquiring parties with varied motives, such as in a legal proceeding.
At the outset of an Inquiry, the GM and players should discuss what information the players seek, and the GM should consider what involved NPCs may wish to learn.
If it comes to light that the information can be had for a price, an Inquiry might become a Negotiation.
Inquiry Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| Through your questioning, you learn you share an objective (or enemy) with the person you’re questioning. | You accidentally reveal more than intended to the person you’re questioning—or you can spend 2 focus to resist. |
| Your demeanor sets the person you’re questioning at ease. You gain an advantage on your next test against them. | You offend the person you’re questioning, making further questions difficult. You gain a disadvantage on your next test against them. |
| A distraction in the environment leaves the other party in disarray. | Someone enters the scene with an unrelated request for the other party. |
In a Negotiation, two or more interested groups are attempting to get something from each other, generally while expending as few resources as possible. Negotiations are a strange amalgam of competition and cooperation, with each side trying to levy every advantage at its disposal. However, for both sides to profit, there must be give and take, or one side might simply walk away.
At the outset of a Negotiation, the GM and players should discuss what the players wish to attain, and the GM should consider what that might cost. If the PCs seek a material good or service, a price may be available in chapter 7. If they want something that’s more abstract, the price might be harder to quantify, but the GM should still start by deciding what the other party’s opening price is (such as a political favor, strategic alliance, or commitment to some cause).
If one party stops dealing in good faith (or it’s revealed that they never intended to uphold their end of the bargain), a Negotiation might become a Scheme.
Negotiation Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| You notice a subtle clue about the resources the other party truly has available. | You tip your hand about the exact resources you possess at the moment—or you can spend 2 focus to resist. |
| You remember a custom or law that could play in your favor in the negotiation. | The opposing party reveals a barrier to making a deal, and it’s out of their control. |
| The person you’re dealing with inadvertently reveals that someone else could provide you what you need. | Another bidder enters the scene, which threatens to raise the price unless you can drive them off. |
In a Scheme, at least one party is trying to dupe another person or organization. This could be a con job to steal material wealth, an intrigue to learn key political secrets, or a plot to spread a useful rumor that sets up future machinations. Usually, the targeted party—often known as the mark—believes they’re in a different type of conversation, as a Scheme becomes much less successful once it’s recognized as such. If the deceivers succeed, the mark might not realize they were duped until long after the conversation ends.
If the PCs are scheming against an NPC, the GM should ask at the outset how the PCs are presenting the Scheme (what’s their cover story?), as well as their eventual goal. The GM should also ask the players what steps their characters are taking to make the false premises seem plausible, and have them make tests for these preparations accordingly.
If a Scheme is ever unveiled to all parties, the conversation likely ends. The ultimate outcome depends on the circumstances—combat might ensue, or the would-be marks might simply leave.
Scheme Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| Your mark unknowingly reveals information about themself, giving details you can later use to corroborate your story. | One of your lies unravels due to an unexpected revelation by a third party. |
| A neutral NPC mistakes you for a figure of authority or a specific trustworthy individual, corroborating your story. | A seemingly neutral NPC reveals themself to be an agent of the opposition. |
| An ally enters the scene in a plausible disguise, right on cue to assist you in some way. | Someone from your past comes to collect on a debt at the worst possible time. |
During a Social conversation, characters seek to form bonds, impress potential allies, and generally build interpersonal connections. Socializing is generally earnest, though that doesn’t mean that all participants must be wholly truthful. Characters may be pursuing hidden agendas, and rival NPCs may be working to undermine the PCs’ efforts.
At the outset of a Social scene, the GM should ask the players if their characters have any specific goals and encourage them to pursue these narratively. Similarly, the GM should consider the narrative goals of the NPCs, so they can proactively pursue these goals during lulls in the conversation.
If one or more groups decide to pursue agendas, socializing can shift into any other conversation type as the GM and players see fit.
Socializing Opportunities and Complications
| Opportunity | Complication |
|---|---|
| You notice a subtle hint of someone’s hidden emotional state. | You accidentally make a small cultural blunder or say something that’s contextually gauche. |
| You take the opportunity to truly relax, recovering 1d4 focus. | You become aggravated or drained by the conversation, losing 1 focus. |
| You impress the person you’re talking to, making them inclined to help you in the future. | You spot an opportunity to pursue one of your goals, but in a way that would disrupt your current conversation. |
What was their cause? He doubted that Navani knew either. But she had already started to think of them as together in their efforts. And, he realized, so did he.
This example of gameplay illustrates the flow of a conversation. Lisiril, Jhesh, and Aj have been searching for a buyer for the strange ancient fabrial they found in the ruins—but now they’ve run into a stumbling block.
Game Master (GM): Jorni the merchant looks the item over, then she places it on the table. “You’re looking to sell, eh?” We’ll handle this conversation as a Negotiation. What do you want to get for it?
Rico (playing Aj): 5,000 marks!
Taylor (playing Jhesh): We don’t even know what it does. I flubbed the roll to inspect it earlier.
Rico (playing Aj): So you’re saying it could do anything! Who can put a price on possibility?
GM: If you start talking like that in character, this will become a Scheme. But let’s proceed with a Negotiation for now.
Mia (playing Lisiril): I open by saying, “We’ve found this treasure and want to sell it. We could sell it to Krub in the next warcamp over, but we’d rather sell it to our good friend… uh…”
GM: Jorni.
Mia (playing Lisiril): “Right, Jorni. Our good friend. We’re asking 1,000 marks.”
GM: Okay, go ahead and make a Persuasion test to influence Jorni. Because you’ve never actually met Jorni before, raise the stakes.
Mia rolls a d20 along with the plot die, rolling a 12 on the d20 with a ⚡+2 on the plot die. She adds her Persuasion modifier of +4, along with the +2 from the plot die, for a total of 18. That’s higher than Jorni’s Spiritual defense, which the GM set as the DC.
GM: Well, despite the slightly shady opening, you’re pretty persuasive. Jorni seems interested despite her skepticism.
The GM notes to themself that Jorni spends 2 focus to resist influence.
GM: However, that Complication means that you let on a bit more than you intended. Mia, you can choose: have Lisiril spend 2 focus to stay on topic, or have Lisiril reveal something that’s useful to Jorni in the Negotiation.
Mia (playing Lisiril): Hmm. Maybe Lisiril lets slip that we were being chased through the ruin by that Dustbringer?
GM: And the item might be dangerous to own or sell? Sure, that works. Jorni looks over and says “Will I even be able to sell this thing if dangerous people want it? Maybe you should pay me a danger commission here.”
The GM rolls a d20 for Jorni and sets the DC as Lisiril’s Spiritual defense, since Jorni is trying to persuade Lisiril. Jorni rolls a 7 on the d20, then the GM adds Jorni’s Persuasion modifier of +4, giving a total of 11. That’s lower than Lisiril’s Spiritual defense (which the GM set as the DC), so the GM doesn’t call for Lisiril to spend focus to resist influence.
Rico (playing Aj): What are you doing behind the screen there, GM? Anyway, Aj steps in to say “There’s no way that guy could track us. Even if he can slide on walls. When he isn’t disintegrating them.”
Taylor (playing Jhesh): “What Aj means to say is that we didn’t have any trouble dealing with him.” Jhesh tries to look both tough and sincere.
GM: More tough, or more sincere?
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Let’s say more tough.
GM: Okay, roll Intimidation. Raise the stakes for Aj’s “helpful” addition.
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Thanks, Rico.
Rico (playing Aj): No problem!
Taylor rolls a d20 along with the plot die, rolling a 17 on the d20 with a ⚡+4 on the plot die. They add their Intimidation modifier of +2, along with the +4 from the plot die, for a total of 23. That’s higher than Jorni’s Cognitive defense (which the GM set as the DC).
GM: Jorni drops the line of questioning. Clearly you’re tough enough that it’s not worth the trouble.
The GM notes to themself that Jorni again spends 2 focus to resist influence, reducing her focus to 0. Jorni won’t be able to resist influence again, so the GM decides that she throws in the towel now—and tries to convince the PCs to do her a favor in exchange for the sale.
GM: Jorni nods. “Okay, I’m willing to take this thing off your hands for 1,000 marks. Trouble is, I don’t have the funds on hand.” That’s the Complication, by the way. Jorni continues, “Now, if you could help me with a bit of a bandit problem, I could get the money. I’d even pay you a bit extra for your trouble…
Sneaking into an enemy highlord’s manor, searching the winding streets of Yeddaw for an elusive target, connecting the pieces of a tricky investigation—these high-stakes scenes are important to an adventure, but they unfold much differently than a combat or a conversation. This chapter presents guidance on running these endeavors, determining how they unfold, and keeping them tense and fun. As with everything in this book, you can approach endeavors with as much structure or flexibility as you wish, and possibly add new rules or variations that emphasize the scene’s theme.
This chapter offers specific guidance for four types of endeavor: Discovery, Exploration, Mission, and Pursuit. However, the possibilities are endless; these are merely a starting point to inspire GMs to customize the roleplaying experience for their group.
At its core, an endeavor allows you to work toward a defined goal while flexibly combining roleplay and skill tests to determine the outcome and consequences of whatever you’re trying to achieve. During endeavors, time flows at whatever pace best fits the story. In one moment, the GM might narrate a “zoomed-out” montage of events that span several hours. In the next moment, you might “zoom in” to focus on a tricky puzzle or environmental hazard for your group to enjoy playing out in real time.
Due to this flexible timing and the sheer variety of undertakings that endeavors can represent, they are by far the most malleable type of scene. When your group begins to pursue an objective that you want to play out at the table but that isn’t a good fit for combat or conversation scenes, the GM should typically set the scene for an endeavor.
At the start of the endeavor, the GM should make it clear what your objective is (or at least what you believe your objective is), as well as the circumstances you’ll face (such as the environment and obstacles). Your objective is usually pretty clear based on what brought you to this scene in the story; maybe your last opponent in a combat fled and now you’re chasing them through the city streets, or perhaps you set off into the Unclaimed Hills to locate some lost ruins. In some cases where you’re unaware of what brought your characters to a location, the GM might have to detail your goal more explicitly.
Based on your objectives and the circumstances of the endeavor, the GM determines whether they want to use a collective threshold for the scene. If so, they choose how many successes or failures are required before the endeavor concludes (see “Collective Thresholds” and “Setting the Threshold”). They usually don’t share this information with you, and instead keep it in the background to inform how the endeavor’s story unfolds.
Finally, the GM outlines any special rules that are in effect for the endeavor. If this scene is using any special mechanics, you should be aware of the basics of how they work, allowing you to engage with and use them smoothly.
Lift bolted. Her instincts finally battered down her surprise and she ran, leaping over a couch on her way to the room’s back door. Wyndle moved beside her in a streak.
Endeavors unfold following the general guidelines for roleplaying (see “Roleplaying” in chapter 9): the GM sets the scene, you decide what to do, the GM calls for tests based on what you’re attempting, then they narrate the results.
Like in conversations, endeavors unfold in informal “rounds.” During each round, every member of your party can contribute to the group’s effort and discuss what their character is doing. Once each member has had a chance to take a “turn” and weigh in with what they’re doing, a new round begins.
Time is malleable in endeavors, so the narrative flow of the scene affects how much time each individual round represents. Generally, this ebbs and flows with the story. However, if you ever need details on timing for one of your abilities, just ask the GM how much time is passing during a given round.
Your group continues playing out rounds in this way until you succeed or fail at your objective—or until you get pulled into another combat, conversation, or endeavor scene (see “Completing Endeavors” later in this section).
When you decide to take your “turn,” describe to the GM what your character is doing and what abilities you’re using. The GM decides how that action unfolds, usually by having you make a test; but occasionally (especially if you’re using powerful surges), they might just narrate the outcomes of your actions without requiring a test. Meanwhile, if you team up with and help another character in their actions, the GM might have you resolve your turns together.
On some turns, the GM might zoom in for more detail on your actions. For example, your party might be searching the city for a Ghostblood agent, and your fellow characters are making tests to check with their contacts or scout out known safehouses. Each of these turns involves a single test to see how their attempts are unfolding. Meanwhile, if your attempt to bribe a guard bears some fruit, the GM might decide to play out a quick conversation between you and the guard to resolve that situation. It’s up to the GM and the needs of the story to determine how much detail each turn gets.
Depending on what your party is trying to accomplish, the endeavor might result in a positive outcome that meets your goal, or it might end more negatively. For example, a chase usually ends with your quarry either being caught or escaping. A murder investigation might result in identifying a suspect or your case might go cold.
Usually, your group collectively works toward the endeavor’s objective. Each of your efforts contributes to the overall success, while each failure risks pushing the endeavor into failure. When working together in this way, your GM can use a collective threshold.
A collective threshold helps the GM track your group’s progress. By giving a rough idea of the scene’s pacing, it guides the GM in deciding when the narrative should start working toward a conclusion.
When using a collective threshold, the GM first decides how complex the endeavor should be (see “Setting the Threshold”), then tracks the total number of successful and failed skill tests made toward the objective. This progress can be tracked out in the open, but the GM usually keeps it secret and just uses it to inform how they tell the story.
If your group reaches the needed number of successes, you attain your goal, but if you collectively fail too many times first, the endeavor resolves unfavorably.
These thresholds aren’t a concrete rule, merely a guide on when it might feel satisfying to complete the endeavor. If you do something spectacular on your turn, the GM might count it as two successes. Conversely, if your group reaches the needed number of successes, but the GM feels the objective isn’t quite met in the narrative, they might secretly require another success or two. (If extending an endeavor like this, the GM should keep momentum by lowering upcoming DCs and moving the story toward completion.)
If you find other creative solutions to the problem, you might be able to bypass the collective threshold altogether. It’s just a tool to help the GM track the general progress of your group, but ultimately the story takes precedent. If something spectacular or horrible occurs that would end the endeavor right there, the GM might decide to throw out the threshold and resolve the endeavor in whatever way makes the most sense for the story.
Collective Threshold Examples
| Complexity | Example | Successes | Failures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | Apprehending a common criminal (Pursuit) | 4 | 3 |
| Basic | Determining the function of a mysterious fabrial (Discovery) | * | 4 |
| Average | Activating an Oathgate in occupied territory (Mission) | 8 | 4 |
| Intricate | Locating an ancient city lost to time (Exploration) | 9 | 4 |
| Insurmountable | Evacuating thousands of civilians before enemy troops arrive (Pursuit) | 11 | 5 |
See the “Discovery Endeavors” section.
The GM sets each endeavor’s collective threshold by thinking about the overall complexity of your group’s objective and how likely success feels in the narrative. The Collective Threshold Examples table provides inspiration for collective thresholds (and suggests an endeavor type for that scene), but your group should do whatever fits your story.
In endeavors where members of your group are working on different objectives and tracking individual progress would make more sense for the story, the GM can use the collective threshold rules but track each character’s successes and failures separately.
During an endeavor, GMs should encourage players to use skills creatively. It’s obvious that a Discovery endeavor benefits from Deduction and an Exploration endeavor benefits from Survival, but every endeavor should have options for characters to use their physical, cognitive, and spiritual skills. The upcoming sections give examples of skill tests that might be relevant in different types of endeavors, but with enough creativity, nearly any skill can fit.
Beyond skills, you can use other abilities to make progress in an endeavor. Some abilities, such as surges, generally don’t require a skill test but still make a demonstrable contribution to your group’s progress. In these cases, the GM may add a success to the threshold without requiring any kind of test.
While creating an endeavor, the GM should plan for how the plot could proceed after the party succeeds or fails. On a success, the party might bypass a subsequent scene (or gain the upper hand when entering it). On a failure, the characters might trigger a combat or conversation (such as needing to fight guards after failing a Mission to infiltrate the palace).
GM Tip: Endeavors and Failing Forward
Failing an endeavor should never stop the PCs in their tracks. It’s okay—even good—for a party to experience losses and setbacks, but they shouldn’t start feeling stuck. When you set up an endeavor, plan both outcomes in ways that move the story forward. Successes and failures should each open different plotlines and affect how the party enters the next scene.
For example, the party might’ve failed to catch a Ghostblood agent, but they did grab the agent’s dropped knife, and its interesting glyphpair might open a new investigation. Or the party might’ve ruined the fabrial before finishing their research on it, but the recovered materials reveal a clue on where they might find more.
Especially when tests are failing, Opportunities are a great way to seed in hints on how to move forward. Complications can also shake up the plot in an interesting way when paired with a failed endeavor. For example, the PCs failed to rescue an abducted ardent in time—and thanks to Complications, they become the main suspects in the ardent’s disappearance. The party is then arrested by guards investigating the matter, and the PCs have a chance to convince the guards of their innocence. If the PCs succeed, the guards may be willing to share their own leads on the abduction and work together with the party.
In Discovery endeavors, characters investigate the mysteries of magic, history, and current events. These scenes highlight the unknown and open a way to find answers. These endeavors don’t simply track the group’s progress though a flat threshold. Instead, progress is represented by an investigative web that links together clues that can be discovered in an organic way, each linking to even more clues that slowly lead toward the truth.
Discovery endeavors provide structure for how an investigation into a mystery might unfold. However, this level of detail requires some preparation on the GM’s part. These endeavors usually require around ten to thirty minutes of preparation, so if the need for an unplanned Discovery presents itself during a session, the GM might decide to wait until the next game session or after a break to begin one. In a situation like this, the GM could offer a reason why the party isn’t able to search for answers yet (a crime scene is sealed until the authorities have conducted their own investigation, an important witness isn’t available, etc.), then redirect them toward a different goal with a note to revisit the Discovery as soon as possible.
When running the Discovery, the GM keeps track of your progress through an investigative web, reminding you of your current leads and clues at each round.
Whether your group is trying to learn the intended function of a fabrial recovered from a sunken ship or solve the murder of a highprince, you’ll most likely start with a few leads. The GM can build an investigative web to structure the information given. This web is a map of an investigation: it contains each clue that can be found as part of the investigation, and the leads that clue generates pointing to other clues. Eventually, one or more of these clues should lead to the objective of the endeavor—whatever the group is trying to discover. See the “Discovery Examples” section later in this section for a sample investigative web.
The investigative web replaces the need for a collective success threshold during a Discovery endeavor. Instead of just tracking successes, the GM can keep track of which clues have been found and where those lead.
The endeavor then ends when the group finds their way to their objective through the web. Instead of being pursued linearly, the endeavor is explored in a branching web of options.
Depending on the story, the GM may want to still track failures. This results in a failed endeavor if your group reaches the threshold of failures before uncovering the answers.
At the start of a Discovery, the GM provides the PCs with several leads, usually two to four. These are either details shared by an NPC or bits of information the party has learned on their own. Leads function as gateways that each continue with a line of clues, otherwise known as a lead line. The characters begin taking turns, each making a relevant test at the GM’s prompting, in the hopes of uncovering another clue in the line or beginning another lead line.
Every clue has the potential to uncover the next in a lead line, until the final piece of information is obtained. To access a clue, a PC typically needs to make a test that corresponds to their approach, though actions like offering an enticing bribe might circumvent a test at the GM’s discretion.
When a PC fails to pursue a lead, they (or another character) can usually attempt again, unless the story causes that lead to run dry. However, each failure leads the group closer to the failure threshold, so reattempts should be made carefully. If a lead does run dry, usually other leads can still point the way to the final objective. A good investigative web has many paths to the solution, allowing the group to explore the investigation in a wide variety of directions.
Once the party has discovered the information they were seeking or reaches a failure threshold, the Discovery ends. If it fails, the outcome depends on the stakes in the story; maybe a competing investigator gets to the information first, enemy soldiers catch up with the party, or desired information becomes inaccessible.
Even if a group fails a Discovery by reaching the allotted number of failures, they may learn enough from a few clues to make an educated guess. To bet on a hunch, the characters band together to come up with a guess for the Discovery. If their guess is correct, treat the Discovery as if the characters had succeeded. If their guess is incorrect, use the situation’s ambiguity to introduce new twists in the story. Characters (and their players) may assume their conclusion is valid as they move on to another scene—but if they’re wrong, they’ll suffer the eventual consequences of betting on their hunch.
Any skill can be used in an endeavor, but the Discovery Examples table presents inspiration for how characters might accomplish some tasks, along with an example of Opportunities and Complications.
Discovery Examples
| Skill | Usage |
|---|---|
| Deduction | Interpret a clue within an existing lead. |
| Insight or Perception | Uncover a new clue by examining people’s reactions or physical evidence. |
| Intimidation or Persuasion | Coerce or cajole someone into providing a clue or a new lead. |
| Lore | Recall or research a relevant fact that helps the investigation. |
| Stealth or Survival | Shadow or track an elusive suspect across a busy marketplace. |
| Plot Die | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Exonerate a wrongly accused suspect, earning their loyalty. |
| Complication | Tip off a suspect, giving them the chance to escape and thus closing a lead line. |
Navani reached over and placed their clasped hands on the empty gemstone at the center of the experiment, holding them there as they sang for an extended moment in concert. In tandem, a pure harmony where neither took control.
The Investigative Web diagram depicts how the GM might structure clues for the player characters to discover. In this Discovery, an artifabrian friend in Thaylen City implores the PCs to investigate missing fabrial schematics. The artifabrian, an apprentice named Kyrsn, worries she’ll lose her apprenticeship if she doesn’t find the papers before her babsk, Tysri, discovers the loss.
The GM begins the endeavor by revealing the following information from Kyrsn: A shady character has been seen around the workshop late at night. Tysri recently shipped an order of heating fabrials, and the schematics could’ve been mixed in accidentally. Tysri’s main competitor, an artifabrian named Gvalkn, is notoriously jealous of Tysri. Kyrsn believes the schematics went missing sometime in the last two days.
Investigative Web
Lead 1 — Hooded Figure: A shady character has been seen around the workshop late at night. - Investigator: The hooded figure is Shara, a scribe from the Thaylen Gemstone Reserve who hasn’t been able to secure a meeting with Tysri. - Suspicious Transactions: Shara has evidence that implicates Kyrsn in a series of illegal deals with a metallurgist named Vrain. - Kyrsn Framed: Studying the documents reveals they are forgeries. Tysri has betrayed Kyrsn, setting the apprentice up to take the fall for Tysri’s own crimes!
Lead 2 — Heatrials: Tysri recently shipped an order of heating fabrials, and the schematics could’ve been mixed in accidentally. - Metallurgist: The heatrials went to a metallurgist named Vrain. He lives a lavish lifestyle despite his modest business. - Smuggler’s Trove: Searching Vrain’s workshop reveals a false back wall. The business is a front for a smuggling operation where Vrain avoids Thaylen trade taxes and regulations. - Secret Backers: Interrogating Vrain or searching through his hidden ledgers reveals his connection to a group of corrupt Kharbranthian merchants. Vrain and the merchants serve a nefarious secret society called the Diagram. The smugglers can’t allow the PCs to live after this discovery!
Lead 3 — Gvalkn: Tysri’s main competitor, an artifabrian named Gvalkn, is notoriously jealous of Tysri. - Sudden Fame: Until recently, Gvalkn’s designs were considered substandard. These days, he’s celebrated as a rising star in fabrial science, though there are whispers about his unscrupulous nature. - Stolen Designs: Public records show two separate accusations against Gvalkn for stealing fabrial designs. Both complaints were withdrawn and settled outside the legal system. - Blackmail: Interviewing the artifabrians reveals that Gvalkn blackmailed them into silence. - Gvalkn’s Spies: Following or investigating Gvalkn reveals that he pays spies to steal other artifabrians’ designs. The spies haven’t stolen anything from Tysri yet, but Gvalkn or the spies can reveal Tysri is in significant debt to a smuggler named Vrain.
The characters can use these leads to begin their investigation. Lateral arrows in the chart below indicate clues that link to those in another lead line as well.
In Exploration endeavors, characters traverse unpredictable or precarious environments—ones with an inhospitable climate, hidden traps, or similar dangers. Some Explorations feature treacherous travel to a known location, while others depict a search for something important in an unknown one. For example, the party might take a merchant ship from Thaylen City to Kharbranth, recover gear from the fallen during chasm duty in the Shattered Plains, or map a floor of the newly rediscovered city of Urithiru.
The setting of an Exploration adds texture and flavor to the challenges the players face along the way. During these endeavors, danger is everywhere. Sometimes it seems as if Roshar itself acts in opposition to those living on it. In the uncharted wilds, death awaits those unable to identify an edible plant, find a safe water source, fend off predators, or take shelter from an approaching highstorm.
Regardless of the party’s intended objective for an Exploration, it’s imperative they remain vigilant when assessing environmental threats and managing their resources. This is reflected in the Against the Odds test they make together when faced with perilous circumstances (see “Special Rule: Against the Odds”). Although most Explorations represent time in transit, being intentional about these endeavors offers more than a means to an end. Along the way, characters might find useful information, unexpected allies, and breathtaking views.
Every Exploration has an objective. Most commonly, this is traveling to a particular destination or sourcing things within a specified area, but any endeavor where the environment is the primary focus is an Exploration.
If the characters are traveling, they should form a plan for reaching their intended destination. The GM may suggest multiple methods or routes for the players to choose from, as well as an estimated distance or time for the journey’s duration. If the Exploration has an objective other than travel, such as clearing a road of large debris after an Everstorm, the GM quantifies how much progress is required for a successful endeavor.
The GM can use sensory details to add flavor and depth to a new setting, foreshadow danger, and hint at helpful resources. These details are most interesting when they use different senses and strive to evoke a variety of emotions. Sometimes, the absence of something the characters expect to sense creates a feeling of unease. While some descriptions of a setting act as warnings, others equip savvy players with useful information for considering environmental solutions to their problems.
Once the Exploration begins, the GM prompts their players with problems to solve, choices to make, and chances to learn about their surroundings. Contributions during an Exploration come in many forms. Scouting,
foraging, sneaking, setting up shelter, fending off enemies, exchanging information with a passing merchant, and making sense of a damaged map are examples of what characters might do with different skill sets. When a character has a relevant expertise or reward, such as a patron whose influence is strong in the region, they can use these resources to automatically succeed on certain tests as the GM sees fit.
Characters with goals related to environmental research or forming diplomatic relations may even get a chance to progress their personal goals during an Exploration.
Once the objective of the Exploration is met, such as crossing the necessary distance to reach a destination or searching for and obtaining the items of interest, the characters succeed in the Exploration endeavor. If the characters have too many failed contributions or get spectacularly sidetracked, the GM may decide the Exploration failed, leaving the characters to decide how to continue on without accomplishing what they set out to do. Failing an Exploration might mean arriving at a destination after another group has already taken an important artifact from the ruins, or not being able to procure agreed-upon goods for a crucial trade.
Once per Exploration, a party may face perils above and beyond the typical woes of wilderness survival (and the tests they make to pursue their objective). When the GM introduces these perils, each character must make a related test—such as Survival, Athletics, or Leadership—to face these perils and avoid their consequences. Each character who fails their test suffers the effects of the peril they are facing. The Against the Odds Examples table gives some examples of possible effects.
Against the Odds Examples
| Peril | Suggested DC | Effect of Failure |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydration | 14 | Lose all but 1 focus. |
| Drained Spheres | 10 | Half of your spheres become dun. |
| Lost Energy | 14 | Become Exhausted [−1]. |
| Obscured Senses | 18 | Become Disoriented for the remainder of the scene. |
| Ruined Clothing | 15 | Disadvantage on Persuasion and Leadership tests until you bathe. Armor loses Presentable trait until repaired. |
| Tainted Food | 12 | Take 2d4 vital damage. |
Any skill can be used in an endeavor, but the Exploration Examples table presents inspiration for how characters might accomplish some tasks, along with an example of Opportunities and Complications.
Exploration Examples
| Skill | Usage |
|---|---|
| Agility or Stealth | Avoid dangerous flora or fauna. |
| Athletics | Climb to a helpful vantage point or push through hazardous terrain. |
| Crafting | Build a fire, set a trap, or fashion a helpful device to traverse terrain. |
| Deduction or Perception | Watch for signs of danger, identify a water source, or spot an incoming threat. |
| Discipline | Endure a difficult period of low rations or dehydration. |
| Leadership | Bolster the party’s confidence and determination during a difficult trek. |
| Lore | Apply your knowledge of biology or geology. |
| Medicine | Identify a poisonous food source, unclean water, or tainted food. |
| Survival | Apply your knowledge of animal handling, tracking, and hunting. |
| Plot Die | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Discover an item or natural resource that aids in the party’s next scene. |
| Complication | Stumble across a wild predator; if the endeavor fails, the next scene is a combat. |
Mission endeavors are urgent and tactically complex scenes, such as infiltrating a hostile location, pulling off a heist, or rescuing a hostage. Whether the characters are in one of Dalinar’s highly trained strike teams or just a scrappy pack of do-gooder citizens, they’ll need to push the limits of their physical, cognitive, and spiritual prowess to successfully complete their Mission.
When planning a Mission, the GM defines a primary objective and any secondary objectives that group members might be interested in. They think through what hindrances the party must overcome to reach their objectives. Finally, the GM determines the amount of in-game time the group has to complete the Mission (see “Special Rule: Ticking Clock”); this is usually
based on the story around the Mission and what factors threaten to disrupt it.
Since the stakes for Missions are so high, the GM should prepare a list of relevant Opportunities and Complications. The list of Complications should be especially robust.
To begin, the GM typically has an NPC share a mission brief including a location, objectives (ranked by priority), and in-game timeline with the characters. Or if the PCs are assigning themselves the Mission instead of responding to a quest-giver, they outline their own objectives, then the GM introduces the location and imposes the target timeline. When applicable, the GM might include a preview of corresponding outcomes for each completed objective.
Every round of a Mission should feel tense and unpredictable. The GM should raise the stakes on most rolls, feeding a sense of urgency. Players race against a ticking clock, working together to complete their objectives before time runs out and all hell breaks loose. At any point, the players may abandon certain objectives to spare themselves from a terrible fate as Complications pile up. Even the best strike teams know when to cut their losses and get out of dodge.
Before the Mission begins, the GM decides approximately how much time the party has to safely complete it. When each round is completed, the GM advances the clock. Additionally, when a PC rolls a Complication, the GM can spend it to advance the clock if they so choose (the time advanced is up to the GM).
With enough Complications or time spent, the characters eventually exceed the target timeline, and the GM hints at impending danger. Each additional round played past the GM’s timeline triggers issues of increasing severity that compound and threaten to upend the group’s quest.
For example, perhaps the party is breaking into the estate of a high-ranking vizier in the middle of the night. They might go unnoticed for twenty minutes, with every Complication advancing the clock by five minutes (though the GM is free to vary this from one Complication to the next). Once twenty minutes have elapsed, the issues begin. A servant could wake to fetch a snack and see the characters, or the guards could perform their regularly scheduled rotation and find something amiss. The pressing nature of Missions place player collaboration and party utility front and center.
Any skill can be used in an endeavor, but the Mission Examples table presents inspiration for how characters might accomplish some tasks, along with an example of Opportunities and Complications.
Mission Examples
| Skill | Usage |
|---|---|
| Agility | Deftly maneuver an unconventional path, like a window ledge or overhead rafters. |
| Athletics | Quietly knock out a servant or minor guard. |
| Crafting | Improvise a tool that assists the party’s infiltration efforts, or deactivate a fabrial alarm. |
| Deception | Convince a sentry that you’re permitted to be in an off-limits area, or concoct a distraction. |
| Insight | Determine when an area’s inhabitants are most likely to have their guard down. |
| Leadership | Coordinate the team’s efforts by encouraging each character to play to their strengths. |
| Lore | Use architectural or historical knowledge to find the best path through a noble’s keep. |
| Stealth | Move silently, hide in the shadows, and avoid drawing attention to the group. |
| Thievery | Unlock a door, use sleight of hand to steal or pickpocket a key, or deactivate a trap. |
| Plot Die | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | You find an unexpected supply of Stormlight, or a guard who was supposed to see you is sleeping on the job. |
| Complication | You spring a trap, or a guard happens to cross your path. |
She really thought she could infiltrate a group of assassins? Her own spren often made her jump.
Chase scenes are all about staying in the moment and the pursuer adapting to match the target’s cleverness and drive. If the characters fail, they might never get another chance to apprehend their target—or if they’re the ones being pursued, the outcome could be even more dire. In Roshar, Pursuit endeavors take place on land, in the air, or at sea.
During the GM’s preparations, they should sketch a map—for their own use, not the players—with a rough route from the beginning of a Pursuit to wherever the target is heading. This might be a map of a city, across the Shattered Plains, through the Valley, or anywhere else where a Pursuit might take place. Even a roughly drawn map with general shapes and lines helps give the GM ideas of where the target can go to evade the pursuers as they close in.
While grid maps can be used during Pursuits, theater-of-the-mind gameplay may be less limiting, allowing a grander scale and more flexible GM adaptations. Pursuits can become less enjoyable when players focus on counting squares instead of getting into the spirit of the chase. To compensate for a lack of visual information, the GM can treat the chase scene as a montage, describing areas as they become visible to the characters. However, if your group has a hard time envisioning verbal descriptions or just prefers to have a visual reference, feel free to give them a gridless map that doesn’t focus on exact distances and character placement.
The GM should be as crafty as possible, adapting the target’s (or pursuer’s) movements and actions to challenge characters to the best of their abilities. Especially if the GM avoids using a physical game map and miniatures, they can keep innovating ways for the target to stay ahead until the players reach the success or failure threshold for the Pursuit.
Because of a Pursuit’s focus on testing your skills directly against an opponent who is directly opposing your efforts, these endeavors are the perfect opportunity to use opposed tests (see “Difficulty Class” in chapter 3).
When choosing and resolving skill tests during these endeavors, consider if your efforts are in direct opposition to those of the target’s. For example, if you’re trying to keep up with the target or spot them hiding while they’re trying to lose you in back alleys, or if you’re trying to grapple them to the ground, these would be good uses of opposed tests.
GMs using a lot of opposed tests should be aware that some NPC profiles (especially those of higher tiers) will prove much more difficult targets than others. If the target is testing skills they are particularly good at, it can quickly lead to the group failing the Pursuit. Keep this in mind as the scene progresses, adjusting the collective threshold or opting for traditional tests against static DCs as desired.
A Pursuit is all about the distance between the pursuer and the target. You’re not building up to a success or failure, but instead bending every effort toward closing the distance to your target or increasing the distance from your pursuer.
Because of this, Pursuit endeavors don’t use the normal collective threshold. Instead, the GM keeps a distance track to represent how close the pursuer is to the target. This doesn’t represent the actual physical distance, but is instead an abstracted number that tracks how close or far the pursuer is from catching the target.
To use the distance track, the GM chooses a starting distance and an escape distance, then tracks the current distance between them:
Starting Distance. When starting a Pursuit, the GM decides how wide the initial gap is between the target and the pursuers.
Escape Distance. The GM then decides how far away from the pursuers the target needs to be to finally escape and end the Pursuit.
Current Distance. The distance is the current gap between the target and the pursuers. When a pursuer succeeds on a test, the gap closes by 1, but when they fail, the gap widens by 1. Similarly, when a target succeeds on a test, the gap widens by 1, but when they fail, the gap lessens by 1.
The Pursuit ends when the current distance either reaches zero (meaning the target is caught) or reaches the escape distance (meaning the target escapes).
The Closing the Distance table offers some suggested distances.
Closing the Distance
| Example | Starting Distance | Escape Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Running through the hallways of a keep. | 2 | 4 |
| Running from a chasmfiend in the chasms of the Shattered Plains. | 3 | 6 |
| Chasing an elusive enemy agent across the cityscape of Rall Elorim. | 4 | 8 |
Any skill can be used in an endeavor, but the Pursuit Examples table presents inspiration for how characters might accomplish some tasks, along with an example of Opportunities and Complications. The skills marked with an asterisk (*) are especially good options for opposed tests, as discussed earlier.
Pursuit Examples
| Skill | Usage |
|---|---|
| Agility* | Nimbly weave through a crowded market to outrun a pursuer or target. |
| Athletics* | Run through obstacles, pushing past them or climbing over them. |
| Deception* | Cause a distraction to create a false trail for your pursuers or confuse your target. |
| Deduction or Insight | Identify a shortcut, guess a target’s next move, or oppose a target’s Deception test. |
| Intimidation or Persuasion | Convince a bystander to help you find the target or throw off your pursuers. |
| Perception | Oppose a target’s Stealth test or catch sight of your pursuer closing in. |
| Stealth* | Duck out of sight or down a hidden alley. |
| Thievery | Break into a building to evade a pursuer or pursue a target. |
| Plot Die | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | A lucky path opens up to you, or an NPC unexpectedly appears to give you aid. |
| Complication | An innocent bystander is endangered by your actions. |
This example of gameplay illustrates the flow of an endeavor. Lisiril, Jhesh, and Aj have been recruited to recover a sapphire gemstone stolen from the Devotary of Insight in Kholinar, one which contains a captive awespren.
Game Master (GM): Tilb, the ardent, hands you a map. “The Impossible Falls are here, along this windblade. The thieves keep a hideout in a nearby cave. I’ve marked it with this glyph. Do hurry. If you aren’t back in two hours, the lead ardent will notice the sapphire is missing. If she realizes I used to be friends with the thieves, she’ll think I was in on it.” Now, this endeavor is a Mission. You have two hours of in-game time to bring the awespren sapphire back to the Devotary of Insight. Are there any other objectives you want to add?
Taylor (playing Jhesh): Maybe we can stop the thieves for good. What if we gather evidence from their hideout and give it to the guards?
Mia (playing Lisiril): If we get the guards involved, they’ll open an investigation and Tilb could be implicated.
Rico (playing Aj): I have an idea! Lisiril could threaten to hurt the thieves with her Soulcaster if they ever steal from the ardentia again.
Game Master (GM): Okay, we’ll add intimidating the thieves as a secondary objective. You’re looking at about an hour and a half round trip. That means you’ll only have half an hour to complete your objectives; this endeavor is simple enough, so we’ll say that’s two rounds.
Rico (playing Aj): We can handle that! …probably.
Game Master (GM): After some travel, you reach the Impossible Falls. The adjoining windblade is imposing, but there’s a gentle quality to the water as it flows almost weightlessly. Using Tilb’s map, you find a cave tucked into the side of the windblade. The clock is ticking. Who wants to start the first round?
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I’m going to use Cohesion to seal the entrance to the cave once we’re inside. That way, they can’t sneak out with the sapphire while we’re trying to find them.
Game Master (GM): Okay, no need to test Cohesion—just spend 1 Investiture and you can seal the five-foot entrance. It’s dark now. You all rely on sight, so your senses are obscured as you use spherelight to navigate the cave.
Taylor records spending 1 Investiture.
Rico (playing Aj): I’m going to run in and slide around until I find the thieves!
Game Master (GM): It’s not a very big cave, but there are a couple tunnels to search. Test Stealth and raise the stakes!
Rico rolls a d20 along with the plot die, rolling a 2 on the d20 with a ⚡+4 on the plot die. He adds his Stealth modifier of +4, along with the +4 from the plot die, for a total of 10. That’s lower than the thieves’ Spiritual defense (which the GM set as the DC).
Rico (playing Aj): Uh, that’s a 10 with a Complication.
Game Master (GM): You find the four thieves quickly. They’re in a small cavern through the left tunnel. Unfortunately, they notice you as you slide over. And to add a Complication, one of them cuts the sphere pouch from your belt and pockets it.
Rico records that he now has zero marks.
Mia (playing Lisiril): Oh, by Vedeledev’s golden keys! We don’t have time for a lengthy confrontation. I’m going to have my spren Scriven try to covertly scout the polestone’s location while the thieves are distracted with Aj.
Game Master (GM): Make a Perception test for him, but raise the stakes because the thieves are already alerted!
Mia rolls a d20 along with the plot die, rolling a 14 on the d20 with a ⚡+2 on the plot die. She adds her Perception modifier of +3, along with the +2 from the plot die, for a total of 19. That’s higher than the DC the GM set.
Game Master (GM): Scriven’s inky form blends with the darkness as he slinks off to look around. Shortly afterward, he returns and says he thinks he’s found it! It’s hidden away in a cubby in the cave wall just to your left. Unfortunately, the cubby is cut from the other side, down a tunnel past the thieves. With that said, on to the second round!
Rico (playing Aj): Now this is personal! I’m going to tell the thieves I brought my ardent friend with me who has a Soulcaster. If they don’t cooperate or try to steal from the ardents again, she’ll turn them all into crem with it!
Mia (playing Lisiril): That doesn’t make any sense. Crem isn’t one of the ten Essences.
Rico (playing Aj): Yeah, but they don’t know that! Okay, I’m testing Intimidation, right?
Game Master (GM): Yes, but with a disadvantage because the thieves don’t believe you have anyone with you.
Rico rolls two d20s and gets an 18 and 11. Because of the disadvantage, the GM chooses the 11 since it’s the lower result. Rico adds his Intimidation modifier of +5 to that d20 roll, for a total of 16. That’s higher than the thieves’ Cognitive defense (which the GM set as the DC).
Game Master (GM): Your words give the thieves pause. They begin squabbling about whether stealing from the Almighty’s church brought them bad luck. Time is running out though. What are Jhesh and Lisiril doing?
Taylor (playing Jhesh): I’m going to Stoneshape to find where the awespren sapphire is hidden in the wall.
Game Master (GM): Test Cohesion this time and raise the stakes!
Taylor records that they spent 1 Investiture. They roll a d20 along with the plot die, rolling a natural 20 with a blank on the plot die. They add their Cohesion modifier of +5 to the d20 roll, for a total of 25. That’s higher than the DC the GM set—and they have an Opportunity, thanks to the natural 20!
Game Master (GM): Wow! You reach into the rock and grasp for the sapphire, finding it almost immediately in a hidden compartment. With the Opportunity, you also find a small box with a single dose of effectual poison.
Mia (playing Lisiril): I’m going to run into the cavern Aj is in and signal that it’s time to go. Then I’ll use Transformation on the stone door Jhesh made at the entrance of the cave, turning it into water so we can leave.
Mia rolls a d20 and gets a 9. She adds her Transformation modifier of +6 for a total of 15. That’s the same as the DC set by the Transformation test rules. Since the stone is Medium size, she spends 2 Investiture.
Game Master (GM): The thieves cower upon seeing you, an ardent, with a Soulcaster. You’re not wearing the ceremonial red robes of a Soulcaster ardent; in their state of fear, this convinces them that you’re not bound by the ardentia’s ban on using Soulcasters on living beings. They believe Aj that you’d turn them to crem. That’s the end of the second round. Good job, you’ve successfully completed both objectives of your Mission in the nick of time! Now, when you return to the Devotary of Insight…
While the rest of this rulebook primarily targets the players and their experiences in the game, the remainder of these pages are speaking directly to you, the Game Master. Taking on the role of GM can be a daunting task. After all, your other players just have to worry about their one character; meanwhile, you have to juggle them plus a whole cast of NPCs and how they fit in the story of a grand adventure!
Luckily, the rules of the game have been designed to help make your job easy. The plot die, Opportunities, and Complications empower the players to help you tell the story, and the different scene types offer support for adjudicating tricky situations. Once you get into the rhythm of play, GMing a game can be an incredibly fun and rewarding experience.
Many books and online resources offer general guidance about how to structure RPG storylines and employ different styles of running a game. If you’re interested in GMing for the first time, researching and reading about different approaches can help provide a general foundation. This chapter doesn’t focus on that kind of higher-level advice (though you can certainly run this game without reading other resources). Instead, it guides you on using the unique systems of this game—and the unique features of Roshar—to run a compelling game.
Ultimately, your main goal as GM is to create a memorable, safe, and entertaining experience for your players, and to ensure that everyone at your table (including you) has a good time. Remember that you’re the adjudicator of the game—what you say goes. This book’s rules and guidance are here to help you along, but they’re just tools to be used when you need them, and to be disregarded when you don’t. Feel free to bend and break rules presented here, adapting the game to create the best experience possible at your table.
When you’re ready to dive into GMing, the first step is to gather your party of players. Whether you’re arranging a scheduled single-session game (often called a one-shot) or a long campaign with many sessions, it’s important to set expectations with all of your players.
One of the hardest parts of maintaining an ongoing roleplaying campaign is scheduling, so check with all your players ahead of time. Set expectations for how many sessions you think your campaign will run, how often you’ll meet, and how long you expect the average session to take.
Before players commit, it’s a good idea to let everyone know what the adventure’s theme will be. Are you expecting a harrowing tale of warfare on the Shattered Plains? A relaxing tale on the Purelake? A silly jaunt through the Reshi Isles? Make sure your players are on board with the vibe you’re hoping to evoke.
As you discuss the theme, it’s equally important to touch base on what each person in the group needs to be safe, comfortable, and fully themselves. The “Safety Guide” section at the end of this chapter provides guidance on getting everyone on the same page about what topics and behaviors everyone is comfortable with.
Players can enjoy this game without any prior knowledge of the Stormlight Archive novels. As GM, it’ll be easier to guide a story everyone can share if you find out how familiar each player is with the novels. Roshar and the wider cosmere are complex, including a lot of nuanced history and magic systems. Discovering what each player knows helps you to present information in a way that’ll be approachable for those who need it, and deep for those who can appreciate it.
Once you have your group gathered, it’s time to create characters! You can either have players do this ahead of time, or you can run an introductory “session zero” where everyone makes their characters together at the game table.
No matter how you approach it, it’s important to let the players know what level they’re starting at; this is usually level 1, but the “Starting at Higher Levels” section of this chapter discusses other options. Also tell players about any story considerations they need to keep in mind as they fit their characters into the world; do all their characters need to start the game as part of a bridge crew, or does the story assume they’re all part of the Azish court?
It’s important each of your players is happy with their character and how their mechanical abilities match up with their unfolding narrative. If one of your players isn’t happy with an element of their character mid-campaign, consider allowing them to make modifications to their character. The “Downtime” section of chapter 9 presents a Self-Reflection option, which allows the player—with a little investment of time and spheres—to change their character as much as they desire. This is a great option for changes that are driven by what has happened to the character as the story unfolds.
However, sometimes a player is fundamentally disappointed with the choices they made during character creation and advancement (whether they regret just a single talent or their entire build). In these cases, consider waiving the downtime requirement and letting them immediately rebuild the character at no cost. Remember that the rules are there to support everyone’s fun, not to limit it!
Who Are the Rules Speaking To?
Throughout the rest of this rulebook, the rules directly address the players as “you.” However, this doesn’t mean the guidance throughout is only for player characters! Any rules that apply to the PCs also apply to NPCs under your control. They can make tests, use actions in combat, and play an active role in the story too.
The main difference between PCs and NPCs is how they’re constructed. The Stormlight World Guide and most published adventures provide NPC profiles and stat blocks (see “Using Adversaries” later in this chapter). These stat blocks use many of the same statistics as PCs, but they don’t follow the same rules for character creation, and they may have special abilities that PCs don’t.
There’s no right answer on how often you should call for skill tests (see “Skills” in chapter 3). As GM, feel free to find the balance that’s right for you and your group. Some GMs prefer to focus mainly on roleplaying and storytelling; these GMs usually save dice rolls for critical moments that really need that randomness, and the rest of the time, they resolve situations based on roleplaying and the abilities of the PCs. Other GMs like to call for tests often, thinking on their feet and improvising outcomes as the dice lead the story in interesting new directions. If you’re wondering whether to call for a test, ask yourself a few questions:
Is there a chance of both success and failure? As you determine the difficulty of a task, if it’s so easy (or difficult) for a given character that there’s almost no chance of success (or failure), it might not be worth rolling. In these cases, you can just narrate the results without a test.
Will this change the story? Ask yourself how the success or failure of a test will impact the story or the party’s immediate surroundings. If it won’t change anything, it’s usually not worth rolling.
Could this introduce interesting ramifications? Regardless of the test’s success or failure, could the character’s actions cause other things to occur? If so, you can have them raise the stakes on their test to see if the plot die generates any interesting side effects.
The plot die is a powerful storytelling tool for creating dynamic, exciting, and unpredictable moments in your games. In times of tension, it can inspire the PC to greater feats than they thought possible. In times of failure, it can be a glimmer of hope that gives the PC the push they need to keep going. Whether the plot die prompts outstanding success, crushing failure, or success at a cost, this helps create powerful stories that you and your players will joyously (or commiseratingly) recount for years to come.
As GM, you choose when to raise the stakes on a skill test, prompting the player to include the plot die in their roll (see “Using Cosmere RPG Dice” in this book’s introduction). Knowing when and how to do so is key. If you raise the stakes too often, it stops being exciting, but if you use the plot die too sparingly, you miss out on its storytelling power.
The plot die needn’t be used just on important and tense tests; you can raise the stakes to highlight any
test as important to the story, a character, or the game session. For example, you might raise the stakes when a character attempts a creative solution to a problem, or when a player leans into their character’s motivations (such as choosing a “suboptimal” plan because it’s consistent with the character’s beliefs).
Keep in mind that the plot die doesn’t reflect how hard a test is—that’s what advantages and disadvantages are for—but rather how important a test is in the narrative. As a general guideline, you should be raising the stakes on roughly a third of the tests being rolled, though this varies depending on how often you call for tests. When the PCs are in an intense story scene, you might raise the stakes on nearly every test, while casual side activities might not raise the stakes at all.
This section outlines scenarios in which you likely should or shouldn’t use the plot die.
As an example of using plot dice outside of combat, let’s say the group is on a Mission to sneak into Voidbringer-occupied Kholinar to rescue a captive highlord.
As the PCs prepare for their infiltration, they’ll likely perform reconnaissance or information-gathering about weak points in the city’s walls, seek rumors from traveling merchants as to the highlord’s possible location, or make disguises to pass as servants. While these activities all contribute to their quest, you don’t need to raise the stakes on every test made in pursuit of that goal. None of these activities carry exceptional risk and the story likely wouldn’t be enhanced by raising the stakes.
However, if the party’s information-gathering leads them to an NPC who may be likely to report back to the Fused to curry favor, if they try to convince a singer to betray the Fused and help them, or if they try to steal a key piece of equipment from a supply caravan, that might create enough danger to merit raising the stakes. Similarly, once the party begins their infiltration, danger and tension abound, so a Stealth or Deception test to get through the city gates or an Athletics test to scale the high walls would be heightened by the rolling of a plot die.
The same is true for specific character moments that happen throughout the preparation and the infiltration itself. Each PC has a purpose, obstacle, and at least one goal that can make a particular test especially meaningful for them in a way that it might not be for another character. You might point out this relevance as the GM, or a player might decide the scenario pertains to them and ask to raise the stakes. Either way, you can do so to highlight the significance of the moment.
In both conversations and endeavors, look for key skill tests of importance, tension, and danger, when the sudden appearance of an Opportunity or Complication could change the course of the session or a character’s story. Whether an Opportunity causes a previously unseen route of ingress to become apparent, or a Complication causes the alarm to be raised and forces a change in tack, these moments simulate the twists and turns of the best stories, and thus are ideal points to inject the plot die.
Especially if your Mission has a time limit, you can use the plot die to offer a choice: does the party want a slow and safe option, or a quicker option with greater risk? While infiltrating Kholinar, perhaps the players learn that the highlord they’re supposed to rescue is scheduled to be executed the following day at noon. You could ask the party, “Would you like to take time to bribe a merchant to hide you among their wares, or do you want to attempt to sneak past the guards while the gates are already open? The merchant option will take a few hours and cost 10 marks per person, which you might be able to reduce with a successful Persuasion test. The sneaking option can happen immediately, but it’ll require a Stealth test on which we’ll raise the stakes.” This leaves the agency in the players’ hands while creating a compelling choice about risks versus rewards.
Whether the party gets caught somewhere on their way to the highprince or they need to battle the guards posted at his cell, there’s a strong chance combat will occur at least once during the party’s infiltration of Kholinar.
Just like with conversations and endeavors, you shouldn’t have a player raise the stakes on every single attack or other test they make in a combat scene; though each test technically contributes to the Mission, it’s best to focus on highlighting important moments in the combat.
Was a party member just reduced to 0 health and the remaining PCs realize their numbers are rapidly becoming overwhelmed? Consider raising the stakes on the first test each of those characters makes during their next turn to simulate the spike in fear and adrenaline.
Did a Fused suddenly appear around a corner and become locked in a one-on-one death match with a PC? Consider raising the stakes on each attack that character makes during their turn.
Is one of the PCs a Willshaper who sees all the people in chains within the prison? Consider raising the stakes on some tests that directly pertain to freeing those people from bondage, such as attacking the guards or attempting to free the prisoners and get their help in the fight.
In general, the plot die should be used less in combat than outside of it, since even small Opportunities and Complications can have a significant impact on the flow of combat. Finding a few key places to raise the stakes can make a fight feel more dynamic and exciting, especially in fights against significant villains.
Don’t use the plot die too sparingly, however. Several talents provide special ways of spending Opportunities, so players will appreciate the ability to use them more often. On the flip side, some adversaries have special uses for Complications, so you can terrify your players by using these abilities.
After the plot die is rolled, it’s your role as the GM to help adjudicate the results of the test. Beyond resolving how well the goal of the test was accomplished, you also help resolve any Opportunities or Complications. Each symbol on the plot die has standard mechanical effects, but a session can be made more dynamic if the group can come up with narrative results that play into the current situation.
Remember that you’re not alone as the GM! You have a game full of other players who are also invested in telling a compelling story. To that end, encourage your players to ask to raise the stakes when they feel events are brushing up against their purpose, obstacle, and goals. This frees you to think about when raising the stakes makes sense for the wider scenario, rather than also worrying about each individual PC.
When an Opportunity or Complication is rolled, you don’t need to come up with every possible effect or outcome; instead, open the floor for players to give their own suggestions! With an Opportunity, the player who rolled it can decide how it’s used. With a Complication, you may be surprised by how much harsher the players’ recommendations are than what you had in mind, and how willing (and even delighted) players can be for their characters to suffer for the sake of a good story.
In addition to taking some of the cognitive load off you, collaborating on the plot die gives your players greater agency in what’s happening. They’ll likely become more invested, paying closer attention to the scenario and their characters’ environment so they can give the most fitting suggestions. When the stakes are raised, this can excite the whole group—they don’t know whether it’s good or bad, but they’re sure something interesting is about to happen.
Encourage the group to get into pitching ideas and collaborating on what outcomes would be the most fun or satisfying for the story. The plot die is at its most fun when everyone is involved. Ultimately though, it’s up to you as the GM to decide whether a given narrative outcome is allowed, and in the case of Complication, how it is spent.
After the stakes are raised and the plot die is rolled, it’s time to resolve the consequences. As described in this book’s introduction, when a PC gains an Opportunity or Complication, it can be resolved in several ways:
The fourth option is where the game can take on a life of its own: tests causing unforeseen consequences that keep the story moving in unexpected and fun directions. Coming up with what an Opportunity or Complication could represent is a creative exercise that can deepen the storytelling experience at your table—but it can also be daunting. What sorts of narrative elements should these results introduce? What if you don’t have any ideas?
This section offers guidance on how to use Opportunities and Complications productively. Don’t implement all these approaches at once. Instead, use them as different lenses to view Opportunities and Complications through, giving you inspiration for how to handle them.
Some GMs might like to think about the results of a test as a graph with an X and Y axis—one of which represents the test result itself, the other of which represents Opportunities and Complications. For example, imagine a character making a Thievery test to pick a lock.
On one axis lies the character’s goal in making the test. Were they testing how well they could pick a lock, how fast they could pick it, or how silently? Their main objective lies on this axis, and their result determines how close they are to success or failure; it’s not a mere question of passing or failing, as you can scale the effects of success or failure depending on the result.
On the second axis lies any potential outcomes beyond the character’s main objective. If the character’s primary objective was to see how well they could pick the lock, this second axis might represent how fast they can pick it. Where the character lands on this secondary axis depends on their Opportunities and Complications. If they were trying to open a difficult lock, an Opportunity might mean they completed it in record time. Or if they were trying to pick a lock rapidly under pressure, a Complication might mean they break their picking tools in the process. This axis doesn’t change the success or failure of their primary objective, but it certainly affects other aspects of the scene.
You can also think about what other skills that character has access to, and how those skills could come into play with their test. On an Opportunity or Complication, one of these other skills might affect the outcome.
For example, a character could be grappling with an opponent using Athletics—but when they roll an Opportunity, their Thievery might allow them to pick that opponent’s pocket at the same time. (Alternatively, a Complication could mean the opponent did the same thing right back to them!)
Opportunities and Complications needn’t always directly relate to the character taking the test. Instead, they can represent incidental events happening at the same time, such as acts of luck or happenstance.
For example, when a character attempts to deceive a crowd and rolls a Complication, they might realize that someone they used to know is among the crowd; this doesn’t have anything to do with their ability to deceive the crowd, but it could certainly present challenges later. Meanwhile, a character fighting aboard a Thaylen ship could roll an Opportunity that causes their opponent to tangle a leg in the rigging.
Ultimately, Opportunities and Complications are tools to help deepen the story and move it in interesting directions. So if you plan to reveal a certain event or plot twist in a given scene, why not tie it to the roll of an Opportunity or Complication?
Maybe you were planning on bandits ambushing the party later in the scene. Instead of them just popping up, you could wait until for a Complication and have the bandits choose that moment to appear. Tying these events to the plot die helps them feel like a natural part of the system unfolding instead of a contrived story beat.
Some Opportunities might allow a PC to learn a secret that the players don’t even know to ask for; if such an Opportunity presents itself, you can offer to reveal an important secret, and let the player choose whether to use their Opportunity on that.
Sometimes, you might have side effects in mind that are just too big in scope to trigger after a single Opportunity or Complication. In these cases, you can lead up to an event (see “Events” in chapter 9) by collecting multiple Opportunities and Complications.
It can be challenging to decide when to add advantages or disadvantages to a test (see “Advantages and Disadvantages” in chapter 3). Keep an eye out for times when a character has unique context related to a test (or has less context than usual). In these situations, you can reflect how their background grants them an advantage (or disadvantage) on the test.
From a mechanical standpoint, two characters with the same statistics have the same likelihood of succeeding on a test with a given DC. Advantage and disadvantage help you highlight aspects of each character’s story, so look for times when the test is on a niche subject that would give a particular character different odds.
Many GMs feel more confident in adding advantages to tests than they do disadvantages. When a character makes a test on a subject they have little to no context for, a narrative disadvantage is usually appropriate. For example, a character with a high Thievery modifier is generally good at picking locks, but if they’ve never encountered a fabrial-enhanced lock before they try to pick it, you could add a disadvantage to their test to account for this unfamiliar application.
Depending on your play style, a single session of the game could be rigidly structured, or you could improvise based on your inspiration in the moment. But regardless of your approach to storytelling, the story unfolds via different scenes leading into each other, based on your needs in the story (see “Scenes” in chapter 9). A Discovery endeavor to search Thaylen City for a missing informant might lead to a conversation with a back-alley merchant, leading to another conversation with her underworld contacts, leading to a combat with their gang members, leading to a Pursuit endeavor across the city when the party realizes they’re outmatched. And all the while, an event could be looming on the horizon: the arrival of the Everstorm (see “Events” in chapter 9).
Between scenes, when the party has a chance to rest or engage in downtime (either because they need it to heal up or because of a lull in the story), you can punctuate those moments of respite by using the guidance in the “Resting” and “Downtime” sections of chapter 9.
How many combat scenes should you prep between long rests or moments of downtime? As with all rules in this book, it depends on the needs of the story. This game provides many ways for characters to roll the recovery die, and they only need a long rest when they’re incapable of continuing onward without one. This gives a GM plenty of flexibility to fill an adventuring day with however many scenes fit their narrative.
While planning and building combat scenes (described in the next section), consider the difficulty of the fights as a guideline. Several easy combats can help players feel like heroes without straining themselves. A couple of medium scenes will test their tactics as their resources steadily drain. One hard scene can end the day—and a more challenging one could even fill it—pushing the characters to and past their limits.
Chapter 8 of the Stormlight World Guide provides an array of adversary profiles you can use in your adventures, along with unique statistics for those characters. Most published adventures also contain adversaries you can use. Additionally, the animal companion stat blocks in this book’s appendix follow the same format.
Each adversary profile includes background information about that adversary, followed by a “Tactics” section with guidance if you’re uncertain how to run a specific stat block in combat. However, those tactics are only suggestions; feel free to adjust based on the flow of combat and the needs of a scene. At the end of each profile, a stat block presents the unique rules for that adversary.
Each adversary’s unique rules and statistics are detailed in a special section called a stat block. Adversary stat blocks offer a simplified version of the abilities and statistics of player characters, making them easier to run in combat. This page includes a sample stat block from the Stormlight World Guide.
If you’re using a prewritten adventure and a scene calls for you to introduce an adversary, the adventure likely tells you which adversaries to use, and their names appear in bold to indicate there’s a stat block available. For example, if an adventure says “two axehounds approach,” use the axehound stat block twice.
Sample Stat Block: Thief Tier 1 Rival – Medium Humanoid
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 1 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1 |
Health: 20 (16–24) Focus: 3 Investiture: 0
Deflect: 1 (leather) Movement: 30 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Agility +5, Light Weaponry +5, Stealth +5, Thievery +5 Spiritual Skills: Deception +3, Perception +4, Persuasion +3 Languages: defined by culture
FEATURES
Quick Hands. When a character triggers a Reactive Strike reaction from the thief, the thief can instead use their Pickpocket as ↺ (without spending focus for a Reactive Strike).
Vanishing Act. At the end of the thief’s turn, if they’re in cover or in an area where their enemy’s primary sense is obscured, the thief can make a Stealth test (no action required) with advantage against the Spiritual defense of each enemy who can sense them. Each enemy they succeed against loses track of them and can no longer sense them until the thief attacks or takes another action that would expose them.
ACTIONS
▶ Strike: Dagger. Attack +5, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Graze: 2 (1d4) keen damage. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) keen damage. On a hit or graze, if the target is Disoriented, they take an extra 2 (1d4) keen damage.
▶ Disorienting Distraction (Costs 1 Focus). The thief throws sand, flour, or a similar substance to distract and confuse foes. Each enemy within 10 feet of them must succeed on a DC 13 Agility test or become Disoriented until the end of the thief’s next turn.
▶▶ Pickpocket (Costs 2 Focus). The thief attempts to rifle through the belongings of a humanoid within 5 feet of them, making an opposed Thievery test against the target’s Perception. If the target is Disoriented, the target gains a disadvantage on their test. If the thief succeeds, they can choose to steal up to 50 marks or one item the target isn’t wielding or wearing.
↺ Slippery. After an enemy ends a Move action within 5 feet of the thief, the thief can use the Disengage action as ↺. If the thief ends this movement in cover or in an area where an enemy’s primary sense is obscured, enemies affected by that cover or obscured senses gain a disadvantage on attacks against the thief until the end of the thief’s next turn.
Each stat block includes several components, detailed in the following sections. Unless otherwise specified, these follow the same rules as player characters.
Depending on the adversary, their title might include their species, function, or other descriptors. In adventures, some major NPCs use a unique stat block with their given name, while the adversaries in the Stormlight World Guide have more general titles.
Beneath the adversary’s title, you’ll find details such as “Tier 2 Boss – Medium Humanoid.” This line provides the following information:
Tier. The adversary’s tier helps you choose appropriately challenging adversaries for each scene (see “Building Combat Scenes” later in this chapter).
Role. Adversaries are divided into three roles: Minion, Rival, and Boss. This represents their relative importance within that tier and their complexity in combat. See the following “Role” section for details on each role.
Size. As with PCs, an adversary’s size reflects the space they control in combat: Small (2.5 feet), Medium (5 feet), Large (10 feet), Huge (15 feet), and Gargantuan (20 feet or more, at GM discretion).
Type. An adversary’s type summarizes their fundamental nature (such as humanoid or animal). There’s no finite list of types and this doesn’t affect how their stat block functions—type is merely a descriptive term. However, when it fits the story, some effects might affect certain adversary types (especially humanoids) in special ways.
The second line of a stat block lists the adversary’s role along with the other details. Each role follows different rules:
Minion adversaries are weaker than other adversaries. Each has the Minion feature: “The minion’s attacks can’t critically hit, and they’re immediately defeated when they suffer an injury.”
Rival adversaries have no additional rules and present a standard challenge to adventurers.
Boss adversaries can challenge an entire party. They’re more threatening—and more complex to run—than
other adversaries. Each has the Boss feature: “The boss can take both a fast turn and a slow turn each round. After an enemy finishes a turn, the boss can spend 1 focus to immediately use an extra ▶ or ◆. Additionally, they can spend 1 focus on their turn to remove a condition from themself.”
If you’re planning combat encounters of your own making, each role presents a different level of threat, as described in the upcoming “Building Combat Scenes” section.
Adversaries use the same basic statistics as PCs, including the six attributes (Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence) and three defenses (Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual).
If these seem like they don’t match up with other numbers in the stat block, never fear; many stat blocks invisibly apply bonuses or penalties (much like a PC talent might), so sometimes a modifier or other statistic may be different than you’d expect.
As with PCs, adversaries have health, focus, and (in some cases) Investiture.
The listed value for each of these resources represents both their maximum and current value. If the PCs encounter the same NPC across multiple scenes, consider whether the NPC had a chance to restore some or all of these resources, or whether they’re starting the next scene with less than their maximum.
If you want to make an adversary a little easier or harder to defeat, you can adjust their health using the range provided in parentheses. For example, if an adversary’s health is “60 (48–72),” you can use the default value of 60, decrease it to 48, increase it to 72, or anything in between.
When an adversary is reduced to 0 health, they are defeated. This can play out in different ways depending on the PC’s intent when attacking the adversary, the GM’s desire for the story, and similar factors.
In battle, most adversaries are assumed dead after being reduced to 0 health, as described in “Damage, Injury, and Death” in chapter 9. However, at the GM’s discretion, NPCs with a significant narrative role can instead fall Unconscious and make injury rolls like PCs do. Additionally, if the PCs are trying to defeat any adversary with non-lethal means, the PC who deals the final blow can choose for the NPC to fall Unconscious with an injury.
Defeated NPCs remain Unconscious until they recover at least 1 health from another source; they can’t voluntarily regain consciousness like a PC.
An adversary’s deflect value represents their armor, natural defenses, and special abilities. As with PCs, reduce all incoming impact, keen, and energy damage by the listed deflect value. If an adversary has no deflect value listed, their value is 0.
Immediately following this value, parentheses name the primary source of this protection (such as “leather”). In some cases, this name is merely for flavor—but if the name of the source matches with a piece of armor from chapter 7, the PCs may be able to acquire it after the enemy is defeated.
As with PCs, an adversary’s movement rate determines how far they can travel during the Move action.
A few stat blocks include special movement capabilities, such as swimming or flying. Unlike PCs, adversaries don’t gain the Slowed condition from any movement types listed in their stat block.
As with PCs, an adversary’s senses range determines the limit of their senses when their primary sense is obscured. Each stat block indicates which primary sense is common for that adversary, but you can change it to whichever sense fits an individual NPC’s story.
A few adversaries have special capabilities or limitations to their senses, as noted in parentheses after their sense range.
Some adversaries are immune to certain effects (usually conditions). For example, if a stat block is immune to Immobilized, they can move freely despite being targeted with abilities that inflict the Immobilized condition.
As with all rules in this game, these immunities are up to GM discretion, and your players might find a creative way to bypass an adversary’s immunities.
Adversaries can use any skill from chapter 3, but for simplicity, stat blocks only lists the skills they have ranks in. These are divided into Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual, though not every adversary has ranks in each category.
If you want to use a skill whose modifier isn’t listed, just use the adversary’s associated attribute for that modifier (for example, adding their Strength attribute to an Athletics test).
If an adversary can wield Investiture, their stat block also lists their surge skills, along with the number of ranks they have in that skill.
For ease of use, this game offers simplified versions of the surges in each stat block’s features and actions. The Investiture cost appears in parentheses after that feature’s name (see chapter 6 for the rules on fueling surges with Investiture). When using these simplified surges, you don’t need to use the adversary’s surge ranks and modifiers, as the feature or action already accounts for them.
However, if you want the flexibility of the full surge rules from chapter 6, feel free to use them! Refer to the adversary’s listed ranks to determine the power and size of their surge.
For adversaries who can speak or understand languages, their stat block suggests what languages to use. However, feel free to adjust these to match each individual NPC.
Ancestries and Abilities
Some of the stat blocks for humanoids indicate a particular ancestry: for example, a warform singer is clearly a singer. However, many stat blocks (such as the thief, guard, or Shardbearer) are intended to function for any humanoid ancestry.
Feel free to alter stat blocks to represent an adversary’s ancestry or other unique abilities. For example, you could represent a singer guard by borrowing some of the warform singer’s features and actions, or even by adapting a couple PC talents from this handbook.
Adversary features provide special rules that affect the adversary but don’t directly require an action, free action, or reaction to use; these often function like a PC’s “always active” or “special” abilities. For example, a feature might allow an adversary to deal extra damage under certain circumstances. See “Actions” below for details on how to calculate statistics and spend resources for these features.
Each stat block provides unique actions, free actions, and/or reactions for that adversary. These follow the same rules as PC actions do, so you can’t use the same action more than once on a turn.
Adversaries can also use the actions, free actions, and reactions listed in chapter 10; for example, any adversary can (and often should) use the Move action, the Gain Advantage action, and the Reactive Strike reaction. Rosharan adversaries with an Investiture pool can also use the Breathe Stormlight, Enhance, and Regenerate actions from chapter 5 of the Stormlight Handbook (though Fused and Regal characters breathe Voidlight from their infused spheres, not Stormlight).
Most adversaries have at least one attack, which lists the outcome of a graze (if that attack can graze) and a hit. Some of these serve as the adversary’s basic Strike action, while others include more powerful effects. Unless otherwise specified, all adversary attacks are made against the target’s Physical defense.
Unlike PC weapons—which have specific tags like Two-Handed—an adversary’s weapon name is merely descriptive and doesn’t invoke any special rules. It’s up to you to decide how an adversary’s attacks work within the story; for example, attacks that list a reach are generally melee attacks, while attacks that list a range are ranged. You can limit these attacks when it makes sense to do so; in general, err on the side of creating dynamic scenes that challenge the PCs.
Actions that deal damage include two options for determining damage: a single number, followed by parentheses with a formula for rolling dice. For example, if an attack deals “8 (1d4 + 6) keen damage,” you can deal 8 damage, or you can roll a d4 then add 6 to the result.
Use the first number if you want to quickly deal damage without calculating the roll result; this number provides the average damage dealt by that die roll. Use the formula if you prefer the drama or unpredictability of rolling dice for damage.
Adversaries can use the Reactive Strike reaction like PCs, spending 1 focus to attack when an enemy voluntarily leaves their reach. The adversary can make this attack using any attack action that costs ▶ and that lists a reach, but not one with only a range listed.
If an adversary’s stat block action matches the name of an action from this handbook, these are considered duplicate actions (even though the adversary version may have some special features), so you can’t use both on the same turn.
If an action (or feature) requires a test or otherwise uses the adversary’s statistics, the calculations are already done for you. For example, each attack lists the modifier for that test (“Attack +11”), so you don’t have to reference their skills to figure out what modifier to add.
If an action (or other feature) requires spending the adversary’s focus or Investiture, this cost is noted either in parentheses after the action name (if you always spend it to use that action), or in the text of the action (if other considerations affect when you spend that resource).
Adversary tests can’t raise the stakes, and thus they don’t typically roll the plot die. However, adversaries can still be affected by Opportunities and Complications in the following ways.
Though adversaries don’t roll the plot die, they can occasionally gain an Opportunity or Complication due to their d20 roll (see “Opportunity and Complication Ranges” in this book’s introduction).
When a PC rolls a Complication during a scene, a few adversaries (primarily bosses) have a special ability you can spend that Complication on. However, this ability brings with it a weakness: when a PC rolls an Opportunity, they can spend it on that adversary’s Opportunity effect, hampering the adversary in some way.
If an adversary rolls an Opportunity, you can use any options provided in their stat block, or you can choose another effect that fits the story. Consider the following ideas:
If an adversary rolls a Complication (or a PC rolls an Opportunity), allow the players to suggest how that unfolds. Consider the following ideas:
Conversations and endeavors are paced by the needs of the plot, and these more free-form scenes are easier to improvise and change. By contrast, combat scenes can be trickier to plan right; combat relies on a lot of the math behind the system, and it can be tricky to create combats that are fun and provide the right level of challenge for your players.
Published adventures present combat scenes built specifically for that story and the party’s expected level, but when you want to create your own combats using the adversary profiles found in an adventure or the Stormlight World Guide, this section guides you in balancing them against your party’s level and combat ability.
As the PCs level up, they become stronger and necessitate greater trials to challenge them. Each adversary is categorized into one of the tiers of play (1–4); these correspond to the party’s tier, as listed in the “Character Advancement” section at the end of chapter 1.
An adversary’s tier indicates the ideal levels they were designed to be fought at. However, adversaries can be used in higher and lower tiers to create unique and unexpected combats for the party (see the “Choosing Adversaries” section for guidelines).
Before selecting adversaries for a scene, decide how much of a challenge you want it to pose. Is this a dangerous battle after which the characters should take time to recuperate, or is it just a quick scuffle on their way across the city? Your answer will affect how many adversaries you choose—and what kind.
Combat difficulty is determined by the threat of adversaries relative to the number of player characters in the combat. Each adversary has a threat value based on their role; as described in the next section, when you choose adversaries for your scene, their threat values added together should roughly match the total threat you want the scene to pose to the characters.
The following benchmarks offer a starting point to judge the difficulty of a combat:
Easy combats have a total threat equaling half the number of PCs in the party. For example, if you have four players, an easy scene’s total threat is 2. The party can navigate these scenes without much difficulty.
Average combats have a total threat equaling the number of PCs in the party. For example, if you have four players, a medium combat’s total threat is 4. The party might need a long rest after two to three of these combats.
Hard combats have a total threat equaling one and a half times the number of PCs in the party. For example, if you have four players, a hard combat’s total threat is 6. The party likely can’t handle more than one of these between long rests.
The threat values of adversaries assume that the party has a mix of strengths, with some PCs who excel in combat and others who shine in non-combat scenes. If most of the PCs are optimized for combat (or their players are particularly strategic), you may need to raise the total threat of combat scenes. If most of the PCs are stronger out of combat (or their players don’t prioritize strategy in combat), you may need to lower the total threat instead.
Adversaries are ranked by tier, but within each tier of play, the PCs are weaker as they enter it and stronger right before they move to the next tier. Other factors can also dramatically increase the combat power of player characters, such as Shardblades and additional attack actions (like the Devastating Blow talent). Consider these spikes in damage when determining what difficulty of combat will challenge the party; you might need more adversaries to do so.
As described in “Using Adversaries,” each adversary has a role indicating their overall complexity and assigning them certain special rules. This role also determines the threat value each enemy adds to a combat:
Minion (0.5 threat). A Minion adversary has a threat value equal to half a PC. They have low health and can’t critically hit with attacks.
Rival (1 threat). A Rival adversary has a threat value equal to one PC. They have no extra rules associated with their stat block.
Boss (4 threat). A Boss adversary has a threat value equal to four PCs. They can take both a slow turn and a fast turn each round of combat, and they can spend focus to take additional actions or cure themselves of conditions.
The above threat values only apply to the tier of play the adversary is designed for; see “Scaling Threat” for adjusting threat between tiers.
Once you know your desired combat difficulty (see “Deciding Scene Difficulty”), add adversaries to your combat until the sum of their threat values matches your desired total threat. For example, if you’re planning a hard combat for four players, you need a total threat of 6. You could reach that threat with one Boss adversary plus two Rival adversaries, or with four Rival adversaries plus four Minion adversaries, or with similar combinations.
An adversary’s threat value assumes the adversary and the characters are in the same tier of play (see “Determining Tier of Play”). You can use the Scaling Adversary Threats table to convert threat values, or you can calculate it yourself: If an adversary is of a higher tier than the PCs, double the threat value for each tier above them. If an adversary is of a lower tier than the PCs, divide the threat value by half for each tier above them, rounding to the nearest quarter.
For example, if your party is tier 1, a tier 2 Rival adversary has a threat value of 2. If your party is tier 2, that same adversary has a threat value of 1. If your party is tier 3, that same adversary has a threat value of 0.5.
Scaling Adversary Threats
| Party Tier vs. Adversary Tier | Minion Threat | Rival Threat | Boss Threat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 tiers lower than adversary | 4 | 8 | 32 |
| 2 tiers lower than adversary | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| 1 tier lower than adversary | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Same tier as adversary | 0.5 | 1 | 4 |
| 1 tier higher than adversary | 0.25 | 0.5 | 2 |
| 2 tiers higher than adversary | 0 | 0.25 | 1 |
| 3 tiers higher than adversary | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
After deciding on your scene difficulty and choosing adversaries, you might like to tweak the combat further (such as when compensating for a party optimized for combat). An easy way to do this is by adjusting an adversary’s health. Lower health helps weak parties maintain momentum, while higher health makes adversaries last longer so strong characters can make the most of their abilities.
Each adversary profile includes both a fixed health value and a wider health range, such as “60 (48–72).” You can use this range to adjust the health of individual adversaries or groups, fine-tuning their difficulty against the party or add variety between similar adversaries.
Due to their many moving parts and heavy use of precise rules, combat scenes take the most real-world time to play each minute of “in-game” time. To keep your game’s momentum, use combats judiciously, and when they do appear, strive to make each feel a bit unique and different. Here are a few suggestions.
Add in changes in elevation, start the PCs at different distances from the enemies, and/or add in dangerous or difficult terrain. The same enemies in different positions or on a different battlefield can make for an entirely different combat.
The scene that led to the combat can often change how the combat begins. A failed negotiation may result in the PCs coming into the combat with low focus, or an ambush late at night might result in the PCs not having their gear ready. Think of what led up to the combat scene and how you can reflect that in the starting conditions.
If a fight’s purpose is only to kill the enemy, it’ll be a fairly single-minded affair. But most combat happens as part of a larger story, with both sides attempting to accomplish something beyond just killing their opponent. They might be trying to race to a gemheart, rescue a hostage, perform a spectacular duel, or capture a fleeing target. Regardless of their objective, maneuver tactically to force the PCs to choose between fighting and pursuing their objective, creating interesting and hard choices for them.
You can litter the battlefield with resources that inventive PCs can use to get an edge in combat: precariously perched boulders ready to be toppled, spheres of Stormlight sitting nearby, or volatile explosives sitting in the open. Creative players might find ways to use these without any prompting, but if nobody takes the bait, you can encourage players to spend Opportunities in ways that feature these resources.
Adversary profiles are designed with abilities that can complement and synergize with each other. By mixing and matching the different enemy types, you can challenge the PCs in new ways.
Challenging Radiants
Radiant characters have access to powerful surges and healing. This can make it hard for the GM to plan meaningful challenges when high-level characters can just melt the walls or step into Shadesmar. It’s even harder to make someone who safely can take a sword to the head feel threatened. Luckily, there are tools scattered across Roshar that can help. Use these in your stories when you need moments that really challenge the Radiants and make them reconsider how often they use or show their powers.
Certain enemy profiles in published adventures or the Stormlight World Guide have specific rules for some of these tools, but for your own stories, implement them however works for you.
White Sand. People from offworld (or with connections to the Ghostbloods) may have access to white sand. This strange substance is usually a deep black, but when exposed to Investiture, it turns white. This can detect the presence of Radiant powers when the PCs might prefer to stay hidden.
Secretspren. The Fused have access to a strange bright yellow spren that can detect the use of Investiture. When detected, these spren fly screaming toward the source, revealing it to dangerous threats like the Fused.
Raysium. Weapons inlaid with raysium (the God Metal of Odium) can draw Stormlight out of a target. When someone is hit or grazed by attacks made with raysium weapons, they can lose some of their Investiture, quickly draining their supply and depriving them of Stormlight.
Larkin. Larkin (and some hordelings bred from them) drain and feast on Stormlight. When they get close to Radiants, larkin can pull all the Investiture out of the Radiant’s body and spheres.
Anti-Stormlight. Potentially the most dangerous, anti-Stormlight has a violent, combustive effect when it comes into contact with Stormlight. Gems holding this light can be mounted on large arrows or other weapons and used to kill Radiants … and even Radiant spren.
The Weeping. The end of each year is marked by a four-week-long period with steady rainfall, but no highstorms—and thus no Stormlight. During these periods, Radiants need to carefully conserve their Stormlight or risk not being able to use their powers.
Each self-contained story within your campaign is an adventure. Some adventures are brief one-shot scenarios that unfold in a single session. Other adventures consist of several chapters, each requiring several sessions to complete.
Every adventure needs a clear beginning, middle, and end. It should lead with an engaging hook, offer multiple challenges to overcome, and drive toward a climactic conclusion. No adventure should be “railroaded” or set in stone, but good preparation can lead to great improvisation. So while you can plan as much of the story as you wish, remember that players’ ideas and narrative choices should always influence the story’s outcome.
A published adventure can provide helpful structure, especially for a GM who’s busy or less experienced. Other GMs prefer to modify official scenarios or design their own homebrew adventures (see below).
To begin your Cosmere RPG journey, consider playing an official published adventure. These contain original lore, prewritten scenarios, maps, and adversaries; with these resources, you can reduce preparation time and focus on running the game. The following adventures are specifically designed for new players:
Bridge Nine is an introductory 1st-level adventure that includes six pregenerated characters. It introduces GMs to the Cosmere RPG rules and players to the Stormlight setting.
The First Step is a session zero adventure and Cosmere RPG tutorial. A unique alternative to traditional character-building, this adventure allows players to begin as “level 0” characters, defining their abilities and backstory through play. The First Step ties directly into the Stonewalkers adventure.
Stonewalkers is an adventure path that takes characters from level 1 through 8. Written in close collaboration with Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells, this adventure gives characters the chance to play a pivotal role in Roshar’s history as the True Desolation begins and the Lost Radiants return.
You don’t have to play a published adventure in its entirety to glean value from it. Perhaps you use it as the jumping-off point for a campaign that moves in another direction, or you shift the plot to better match your characters’ goals and obstacles. Maybe it contains helpful scenes, maps, or adversaries that you can lift and place into your own homebrew adventure. No matter how you use one of these adventures, it can provide valuable inspiration and a greater understanding of Roshar.
Designing your own adventures is a rewarding way to step into the world of Roshar and exercise your own creativity. Often known as “homebrew” adventures, these are often the best way to create a narrative that empowers the players by tying into their characters’ specific goals, purpose, and obstacles. The Cosmere RPG has been designed to support homebrew adventures as the default mode of play, with guidelines for building scenes of every type.
If you’re creating homebrew Stormlight content, you should also have a copy of the Stormlight World Guide, which includes profiles for a wide range of adversaries.
War is ever-present on Roshar, and thus it often plays a major part in adventures and greater campaigns. It’s likely that your group will find themselves embroiled in a larger battle at some point during their adventures.
Battles are complex, chaotic, and messy things. They can stretch for hours, if not days. From the perspective of a small party, it can be nearly impossible to see the entire scope of a battle unfold. The best each person can do is try to contribute in their own way and hope that it can help sway the overall flow of the battle.
Due to this size and complexity, massive battles aren’t run as a combat or other single scene type. Instead, battles serve more as a setting for an entire arc of an adventure, unfolding over the course of multiple scenes chained together. Each of these scenes advances the larger story of the conflict progressing and the party’s involvement in it. The PCs might start with a conversation with a commander discussing the plans for the battle, move on to an endeavor sneaking behind enemy lines, stumble into a scene when they are caught by enemy combatants, then progress to a conversation as those combatants surrender. And all of this might only comprise a small portion of the overall battle.
This section gives guidance for how to structure the different scenes of a battle and to determine how the battle changes around your group as they contribute to it.
When running a battle as part of your adventure, first define the battle’s scope, as this can change how you might want to structure it. Important factors include the number of troops involved in the battle, the time the battle will take, and the party’s role in the conflict.
The number of soldiers involved in the conflict plays an enormous role in the feel of a battle. The larger the conflict, the longer it’ll take and the harder it’ll be for the PCs to play a key part, but the overall battle itself is likely to feel pivotal. Consider how many troops are in your battle:
Hundreds. Smaller battles are likely to be border skirmishes or covert operations. With only a few hundred soldiers, it’s easy for even tier 1 PCs to have a large impact on these battles.
Thousands. As armies grow into the thousands, the action starts playing out on multiple fronts. Tier 2 characters can play a pivotal role in these conflicts, but they’ll only be part of a bigger picture.
Tens of Thousands. The grand battles for the fate of Roshar play out on massive fields with soldiers as far as the eye can see. In conflicts with tens of thousands of troops, only incredibly powerful characters are likely to play a key role, such as Shardbearers and Radiants of tier 3 or higher.
A battle’s total time can often change depending on choices made during the conflict, but it’s good to have a sense of how much time you expect the battle to take up in your story. Quicker battles are good for a rush of excitement, while longer battles could end up dominating a large chunk of an adventure. Consider how long your battle should last:
Minutes. Some smaller or vicious battles can be resolved in a matter of minutes. In these situations, the PCs will likely face only a few scenes before the battle runs its course.
Hours. Most battles play out over the course of hours. Across this time, the PCs play out many different scenes with varying objectives, twists, and turns as the battle’s events unfold.
Days. Sieges of defended positions and massive battles across multiple fronts can often stretch into days and more. These battles likely include not only scenes, but also long rests and other breaks from the action so the PCs can recuperate.
The PCs might have a central role in the battle and its outcome, or they could be lower-ranking troops in charge of a specific area or task; either approach creates memorable stories. Consider the following roles the party might fill in the conflict:
Caught in the Fray. The PCs could be simple foot soldiers or hangers-on in a larger conflict. During this battle, they’ll likely focus on survival or on accomplishing one small objective.
Lynchpin Soldiers. The PCs could be tasked with key missions important to the battle’s success. While not in charge themselves, they are responsible for achieving objectives that determine the battle’s outcome.
Commanders. The PCs could be in charge of some (or even all) of the troops on the field. They not only need to wade into the battle themselves, but also determine strategy and tactics for the battle.
During a battle, gameplay takes the form of sequential scenes that represent the group’s involvement in the conflict. To organize these scenes in an easy-to-understand way, divide the battle into phases. Each phase of the battle comprises multiple scenes and represents a single objective for the party’s side of the conflict. Once that objective succeeds or fails, the battle proceeds to the next phase, which likely varies depending on the previous phase’s outcome.
What each phase represents and how one phase leads into another depends on the story you want to tell with a battle. A phase might involve one side trying to place bridges over a chasm while the other tries to stop them, or it might call for retreating from a losing battle without suffering catastrophic losses. Try to map out your different battle phases ahead of time, then consider how success or failure would change the next phase of the battle. As you play through phases, think about what each side is trying to accomplish and how they react to these different twists and turns. Also consider how the PCs might be involved in each phase given the role they’re playing in this battle.
Based on the party’s role in a given phase of the battle, their actions might determine when it ends, or the phase might conclude entirely independently of what the PCs are doing. If playing a key role, the phase won’t end until the PCs succeed or fail (or until an outside factor overrides their efforts). If their goals aren’t critical to the phase, however, it might end unceremoniously in the middle of them trying to accomplish other goals, swinging the battle in a new direction unexpectedly.
The Example Battle Phases chart depicts the phases of a battle between an Alethi highprince’s army and an army of warform singers over a gemheart on the Shattered Plains. Here, each phase summarizes what the armies are trying to accomplish and the party’s role in it, as well as how success or failure would proceed to the next phase of the battle.
During a battle, action surrounds the PCs. The ebbs and flows of battle, along with the choices of other characters on the battlefield, can have a large impact on the party’s plans. To help tangibly represent this during play, you can use events (see “Events” in chapter 9) to represent both positive and negative highlights of battle. A Complication event could represent the enemy’s progress toward laying down bridges across a chasm, while an Opportunity event could represent your troops’ progress on cutting out a gemheart to win the day.
Try to have at least one event going at any given time. You can start them for a variety of reasons. Maybe the party’s actions in a previous scene triggered the countdown, perhaps by calling for reinforcements or being spotted by an enemy patrol that now closes in. Alternatively, events could show the machinations of characters outside of the party’s awareness, such as an enemy commander executing a plan or a highstorm bearing down on the battlefield.
The actual scenes your PCs play out during each phase depends on their role in the conflict and how they want to contribute. At the start of each phase, make sure the PCs are aware of how the battle is shifting and what the new objectives are (or at least, as aware as they would be in the chaos of battle). Then, ask them what they want to do in this new phase. This choice determines the kinds of scenes that you’ll play out. These can encompass nearly anything, but consider the following scenes:
Scouting. Scouting, spying, and other endeavors to perform reconnaissance can gather information for the commanders of the army. The PCs could discover enemy strategies, spot weaknesses in fortifications, or even decipher a coded message between enemies.
Command. Higher-tier PCs might be placed in charge of allied soldiers. These scenes can take the form of an endeavor that focuses on planning strategies and tactics, or they might be conversations to issue orders and inspire their soldiers.
Take Ground. Much of warfare centers around taking and holding ground or various objectives. You can reflect this combat against enemy combatants many times in battle scenes. See the upcoming “In the Fray” section for guidance on making these combats feel like they take place in the chaos of a battle.
Rescue. Even if the stakes of the larger battle are out of the party’s control, they have much more impact on the lives of their friends and allies. Even as the larger battle flounders, key scenes can focus on endeavors to race across the battlefield to save an endangered ally, or on combats to protect allies.
Retreat. Even if all hope is lost, the PCs still need to get to safety. Endeavors to flee from the opponent or conversations to bargain for safety both might be critical to survival at this stage.
Mass Combat Flowchart
Phase 1: Place the Bridges Your Alethi army is trying to place bridges across a chasm guarded by Parshendi troops on the other side. - Carry a bridge to the chasm. - Work with commanders to plan the approach. - Defend against Parshendi warpairs leaping across.
FAILURE → Sneak Through the Chasms | SUCCESS → Take the Plateau
Phase 2a (Failure): Sneak Through the Chasms Without the bridges, the Alethi are making a lastditch attempt to reach the plateau by sneaking through the chasms. - Avoid Parshendi scouts while navigating the chasms. - Locate a way up onto the back of the plateau. - Distract or trick the Parshendi.
FAILURE → Retreat | SUCCESS → Extract the Gemheart
Phase 2b (Success): Take the Plateau With the bridges in place, your Alethi army is trying to cross the bridges and claim control of the plateau. - Intimidate or trick the Parshendi out of position. - Fight back the Parshendi battle lines. - Sneak through the battle lines to the chrysalis.
FAILURE → Retreat | SUCCESS → Extract the Gemheart
Phase 3a (Failure): Retreat Discovered in the chasms, the Alethi have no choice but to retreat from the plateau. - Coordinate and execute a retreat across the plateaus. - Defend against Parshendi pursuers. - Help wounded get out safely.
Phase 3b (Success): Extract the Gemheart With the plateau secured, the Alethi must quickly extract the gemheart while defending the plateau. - Cut the gemheart free of the chrysalis. - Keep the Parshendi warpairs off of the plateau. - Set up a safe retreat.
FAILURE → Pursue the Parshendi | SUCCESS → Escape With the Gemheart
Phase 4a (Failure): Pursue the Parshendi Failing to get the gemheart out before being pushed back, the Parshendi now have the prize! The Alethi must pursue. - Chase after the Parshendi with the gemheart. - Attempt to cut off the Parshendi. - Interrogate prisoners for information on their direction.
Phase 4b (Success): Escape With the Gemheart With the Gemheart in hand, the Alethi have to get it back to safety while being pursued by the Parshendi. - Run the gemheart to safety. - Defend or distract Parshendi pursuers. - Help wounded get out safely.
An individual scene’s outcome often impacts the battle as a whole, depending on the party’s role in the battle and how their personal objective compares to the overall objective of the current phase of the battle. If the party’s objective is critical to the current phase of the battle, their scene’s outcome could decide when the phase ends and whether their side is victorious.
If, instead, the PCs are pursuing objectives independent of the current phase of the battle—such as rescuing an ally or hunting down a rival among the enemy’s ranks—the outcome of their scenes may have little to no impact on the current battle itself (though it may still have a large impact on the wider story). If you want to reflect the party’s impact on the battle even when they aren’t directly pursuing the main objective, consider adding events to future scenes based on the success or failure of their past scenes. After negotiating medical support in a previous scene, this might manifest in a combat event you call “Surgeons on the Way.” Similarly, if the party failed an endeavor and a building was set on fire, this might cause all nearby combatants to become Disoriented due to the overwhelming smoke.
Many scenes (especially combats) during a larger battle take place amidst hundreds of other characters fighting for their lives. The PCs should constantly feel the presence of this dangerous chaos all around them. Rather than depicting and tracking enough individual characters to capture this feeling—which is entirely impractical in a large battle—you’re encouraged to represent the surrounding chaos through the narrative. Give the party regular updates on the surrounding battle and use it to set the boundaries and obstacles of a scene. Instead of walls defining the edges of a combat, the PCs might be limited by other groups of soldiers that are too packed together to move safely past.
In addition to these more passive tools, consider the following active tools to bring the feeling of the battle into scenes:
Opportunities and Complications. Opportunities and Complications are an essential tool in representing the things happening around the PCs. Raise the stakes often during large battles, and use the Opportunities and Complications rolled to show the effects of the battle all around. The impact of plot die results should be at their most dramatic during warfare. A Complication could cause a hail of arrows to rain down on an entire platoon of soldiers, cause a nearby enemy to rush over and join combat, or cause an important ally to be pulled away by the pressing bodies on all sides. On the other hand, an Opportunity could cause a nearby front to push forward, cause a runner to appear with news from command, or cause an enemy to flee in search of easier opponents elsewhere on the battlefield.
Events. As discussed earlier in “Events in Battle,” events are a powerful tool to show the longer-term ebb and flow of other parts of the battle. For example, an event could represent a battle front pushing closer and threatening to engulf the PCs, or it could lead to an allied Shardbearer coming to the rescue.
Tests. Allow creative uses of skill tests by the PCs to interact with the surrounding battle. One character might want to use Leadership to rally nearby NPCs to their aid, and another might want to use Intimidation to scare back an enemy front to clear more room. Encourage these uses and invite new ways for the PCs to feel like they’re impacting the battle around themselves.
At a certain point, the outcome of the battle becomes clear. One side is retreating, surrendering, or has otherwise been outmaneuvered and outplayed. As the final phase of the battle comes to an end, make sure the PCs are aware of how things concluded (unless there is some reason they wouldn’t be aware). Following that, an opportunity for a long rest or longer downtime can often be a good time to give the PCs a break.
Character Death
In the constant turmoil of war, death is a common part of stories on Roshar. Even after characters gain the powerful healing abilities of Stormlight, certain threats can still overcome their incredible survival abilities, as described in “Damage, Injury, and Death” in chapter 9.
It’s okay for certain stories to end with a PC dying, but it’s important that players feel like they have agency in what happens to their character. When a PC drops to 0 health, they become Unconscious and suffer an injury. However, as described in the Unconscious condition, enemies should usually ignore downed PCs (unless it fits the story for them to do otherwise), and the player gets to decide when their PC becomes conscious again.
As a result, a PC is only likely to die if they repeatedly get back up multiple times after falling, rather than remaining Unconscious. Make sure the player is aware that they are risking death by doing so. Dying for a cause (or for any reason fitting the character’s story) can create an incredibly satisfying conclusion to a character’s arc, but the player should be part of the storytelling experience.
A campaign follows the same group across many adventures. By linking these together, players can watch their characters grow from lowly scribes and soldiers into Knights Radiants and heroes of Roshar, eventually becoming worldhopping adventurers of the entire cosmere. Depending on how you want to align the party’s story relative to the unfolding story of the Stormlight Archive novels, one adventure might roll right into another with no breaks, or you might grant some downtime between story arcs. When the latter happens, use the downtime rules from chapter 9 to discuss what each character might be up to between adventures.
During a longer campaign, some players may play the same PC across the entire story, while other PCs might only join for part of the story. Some characters might die, some might retire, or others might depart from the group for other reasons. If an ongoing player in your group has their character leave the group for one of these reasons, you can have them create a new character matching the current level of the group, as described later in “Starting at Higher Levels.” However, during longer campaigns, it’s also totally normal to have players come and go. You can add new players to the group or have players “guest star” for a few sessions.
As the player characters progress through the story, they grow, learn, and gain allies. Mechanically, this takes the form of gaining levels (see “Character Advancement” in chapter 1) and rewards (see “Rewards” in chapter 8). The primary rules for those are in the corresponding chapters, but this section offers additional guidance on when and how often to grant them to players. It’s your job to decide how to spread out levels and rewards, thus shaping the pace and feel of your campaign.
Levels represent the party accumulating experience with their abilities through consistent practice. As such, levels should be paced at fairly even intervals throughout your campaign.
It’s good to award levels at momentous and satisfying moments. Choose a time where the party has reached a meaningful story milestone or has proven their abilities through much hardship. At these times, the level feels well-earned and satisfying, imbuing the party’s progression with meaning and purpose.
Unless there’s a significant story reason for one character to be a different level than the others, you’re encouraged to keep all PCs in the group at the same level. Even if a character misses a few sessions, they can just level up when they get back.
Exactly how often to grant your PCs levels depends on your campaign and its story. Since each tier of play represents a different type of story and experience, it’s important that you pace your character levels to align their power with what you want them accomplishing in the story. (See “Character Advancement” in chapter 1 for guidance on what to expect at each tier.) If your story isn’t ready to move onto a more epic scale, it’s probably wise to keep character progression slow and steady.
Published adventures provide recommendations on character level and when to grant additional levels. However, when running your own campaign, consider the full arc of the story and ask yourself the following two questions to set your leveling pace:
For example, if you expect to spend about four sessions with tier 1 characters fighting on the Shattered Plains, followed by about 6 sessions of gaining and growing their Radiant powers, you want them to pass through two full tiers of play (10 levels) in about 10 sessions. This means you’d want to grant around 1 level per session.
On the other hand, if you expect to have a longer-running campaign that’ll require a dozen sessions before the characters even have the potential to bond spren, you likely want to grant a level only every 2–3 sessions.
While levels advance relatively linearly, rewards are a dynamic form of advancement that you can grant to players based on the narrative and their character’s personal accomplishments. A reward can be anything of power or value that the characters gain through pursuing their goals. While most rewards are gained when characters accomplish their personal goals, you can also grant rewards at meaningful story moments that warrant them.
Chapter 8 describes goals and rewards from a player’s perspective, but this section provides additional guidance on how and when to grant, advance, and finish goals.
When a player comes to you with an idea for a new goal for their character, work with them to ensure that it’s a good match for your story, their tier, and the scope of a goal.
For your story, think about what you plan on having the PCs accomplish in the coming session. Is this goal reachable? Does it feel appropriate and in line with their other actions and motivations? If not, try to offer suggestions that might stay in the same vein, but align with your plans.
For the tier, think of a suitable reward, and consider what tier you think the PCs will be in after the goal is completed. Is that reward appropriate for that tier? If it’s too powerful, consider encouraging the PC to work toward an intermediate step instead.
Finally for the scope, think about how long it might take the character to accomplish this goal. If that timeline would stretch far beyond several sessions, it’s a good idea to work with the player to subdivide it into smaller goals.
Make sure to regularly check in on PC goals and ensure the players are getting opportunities to advance them. The end of the session is a good time to touch base with each player and see if they feel like their character made meaningful progress on their goal during that session. If they did, awarding one milestone checkbox is appropriate. In moments of great accomplishment, you can grant two points if it feels appropriate. In this way, most goals will take 2–3 sessions to complete when actively pursuing them (or much longer if a character isn’t making meaningful progress).
Keep in mind that when it comes to the story, not every goal can necessarily be finished quickly; a monumental task could take far more than just 3 sessions to complete. In these cases, you can give out advancements much slower—or, as mentioned earlier, work with the player to reevaluate the goal and divide it into subtasks.
When a character checks all three milestone boxes and finishes their goal, it’s time to grant them a reward! Most goals have a clear and obvious reward, such as “win a Shardblade in a duel.” But others might be more ambiguous, or the obvious reward might not be something you want a PC to have access to for other story reasons.
Keep in mind that the reward you grant doesn’t always have to be the thing the character was seeking. Often, it’s appropriate to grant a character not what they wanted, but what they needed instead; but regardless of what the character wants, be careful that their player will be happy with the reward. For example, a character might be cheated out of winning a Shardblade due to a technicality in Alethi tradition, but they may have earned a powerful highlord as a patron for showing honor in the face of this treachery.
Not every adventure begins with the characters at a low power level. If the story you want to tell starts with the characters as Radiants or similarly powerful adventurers, it’s appropriate to start your campaign at a higher level. These campaigns often start at the beginning of a tier (level 6, 11, or 16), but as GM, you can choose any starting level you want.
When starting a campaign at a higher level, provide your players the following instructions for character creation, which supplement the instructions in chapter 1.
Also be sure to inform them of anything else you want their characters to have, such as choosing equipment or creating details from their backstory. A higher-level character often has experiences from their past adventures, so it can be appropriate for you to seed different story hooks or connections based on what happened before your shared story begins.
These character-building options are only available to players with GM permission, as most campaigns start at level 1. Your GM may give you these instructions if they want your game to start at a higher level, if your previous character died, or if you’re joining an existing group with higher-level characters (in which case, the GM will probably have you create a new character at the same level as the other PCs).
First follow the character creation instructions as if you were creating a 1st-level character, then make the choices for each level sequentially (assigning attributes, increasing health, and so on).
In addition to the normal choices from character creation and advancement, your higher-level character will have acquired certain items and rewards for their actions and adventures so far in life. Use the Higher-Level Starting Rewards table to determine how many marks you gain (which you can use to buy items), as well as how many rewards you can choose from chapter 8.
Work with the GM on choosing your rewards. This helps you make sure it’s a good fit for the upcoming campaign’s narrative, and the GM can help you weave a story of how your character received it.
Higher-Level Starting Rewards
| Starting Tier | Marks | Tier 1 Rewards | Tier 2 Rewards | Tier 3 Rewards | Tier 4+ Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 (levels 2–5) | 200 mk | 1 | — | — | — |
| Tier 2 (levels 6–10) | 1,000 mk | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| Tier 3 (levels 11–15) | 2,000 mk | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Tier 4+ (levels 16+) | 5,000 mk | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Some talents or other aspects of character advancement might have prerequisites related to rewards. As you work your way through each level of character advancement, assume that you gained each reward during the first level of its tier.
Swearing a Radiant Ideal counts as a reward, so you can’t choose higher-tier Radiant talents unless you first spend a reward on each earlier Ideal sworn. For example, if you’re creating a tier 3 character and want to play a Truthwatcher of the Third Ideal, you’ll have to spend both of your tier 1 rewards and your tier 2 reward on the rewards for those three Ideals, leaving only one tier 3 reward for you to allocate elsewhere.
Heroic characters who don’t wish to or are narratively unable to bond a spren tend to establish their increased power through gaining powerful gear, companions, patrons, and titles as rewards.
The Stormlight Archive provides a vast wealth of information and resources for roleplayers to incorporate into their games. Singers, spren, highstorms, Stormlight, and Surgebinding are fundamental to the setting of Roshar. However, while knowing the particulars of different rockbud varieties or a culture’s unique greeting can add flavor, these details aren’t essential to good gameplay.
When roleplaying on Roshar, it’s often the small touches that have the biggest impact on immersing you in the world. For example, the GM and players can narrate singer characters humming to rhythms (see “Singer Ancestry” in chapter 2) when they need to convey emotions, describe the flora retracting at a character’s approach, and detail the spren that appear around the characters.
Spren are nearly omnipresent on Roshar and can appear at displays of strong emotions or alongside the natural elements of the world. Chapter 5 details the Radiant spren, but the Spren Types table lists common “lesser spren” you can sprinkle into your storytelling.
When planning adventures, think about the era and specific timeline of your campaign, then use current events to add context and momentum throughout the campaign. Consider major developments for the singers and their forms, the Knights Radiant, the forces of Odium, international affairs, enemy occupations, and fabrial science during that timeline. However, just because something happened in the novels doesn’t mean it has to happen in your game the same way—you can change the future (or even Roshar’s history) to suit the story your group wants to explore.
Before your group begins playing, discuss how closely everyone wants the game to follow canon. Feel free to explore your own personal version of Roshar around your table, giving you and your group infinite potential to shape the future of Roshar. Some groups may wish to be unfettered by continuity, allowing their campaign to unfold in unexpected ways. This could be as dramatic as replacing the protagonists of the books with your group’s player characters, or as subtle as adjusting the timing and particulars of existing canon events.
Spren Types
| Spren Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Emotion Spren | |
| Angerspren | A red pool bubbling up at a person’s feet. |
| Anticipationspren | Red streamers sprouting from the ground and whipping in the air. |
| Creationspren | Silvery spren forming into the shapes of objects they’ve recently seen. |
| Exhaustionspren | Jets of brown dust shooting into the air. |
| Fearspren | Violet blobs wriggling up from the ground at a person’s feet. |
| Gloryspren | Golden orbs of light circling in the air. |
| Joyspren | Blue leaves swirling up around a person. |
| Painspren | Orange sinuous hands grasping up from the ground. |
| Shamespren | Red and white flower petals slowly falling. |
| Nature Spren | |
| Decayspren | Barnacle-like objects clinging to decaying objects. |
| Flamespren | Dancing humanoid figures made of glowing light inside of fire. |
| Lifespren | Glowing green specks floating around plant life. |
| Rainspren | Blue candles with a single eye where the flame should be. |
| Rotspren | Tiny red insect-like spots on infected or rotting flesh. |
| Windspren | Ribbons of light dancing in the wind and potentially changing shape. |
While this play style gives the players more freedom, be aware that it could cause your game to diverge from future events in the Stormlight Archive. Reshaping the future can create fascinating stories, but if you don’t want to worry about diverging from the novels, you might instead create a campaign set in the distant past of Roshar during the cycle of Desolations. Your party of heroes could be the greatest heroes of their generation, interacting with the Heralds and setting the course of history. While there’ll be fewer official resources for this era, that allows ample opportunities for creative world-building.
Regardless of which part of the timeline your game is set in, make sure trivia and corrections never overshadow gameplay. Some players may find it rewarding to consult an online wiki to help adjudicate the results of a Lore test, while others may prefer to improvise an answer and keep the game moving. Discussing everyone’s preferences ahead of time can keep your game running smoothly.
The default setting for Stormlight campaigns spans the first five novels in the series. The first book, The Way of Kings, shows the state of the world as the Era of Solitude comes to an end. During the second book, Words of Radiance, the Everstorm arrives and the True Desolation begins.
Most groups seek to play a game that largely integrates with the canonical story, allowing the world to change and grow alongside future novels and novellas. Roshar is a large and populous world, allowing for many important stories to coexist! It’s also a time when profound changes to society have shaken societal traditions, facilitating a diverse range of character options and cultural interactions.
Perhaps your characters are members of the refounded Knights Radiant, taking direction from Dalinar or Navani and fighting beside heroes like Kaladin. Alternatively, your group could be operating in the shadows to thwart the Ghostbloods or another secret society, or you might be a group of listeners working to free other singers from Odium’s control. Whether your characters are headquartered in Urithiru or fighting behind enemy lines in Rall Elorim, the True Desolation era offers many opportunities for heroism and adventure.
If playing a canonical campaign, refer to resources like the ones mentioned in the “Next Steps” section at the end of this book. If not everyone has read and finished the series, that’s fine—as long as they’re okay with spoilers that may arise. The group can work together to recall and contribute details during gameplay.
A player who’s completely unfamiliar with the books might choose to play as a worldhopper or someone from a remote part of Roshar, so they can learn about their world along with their character. Alternatively, a new player can read the “Welcome to Roshar” guide found on CosmereRPG.com; this provides an easy-to-read overview of what a typical person from Eastern Roshar would know about the world.
A Note on GM Style
The GM might walk their players through the world of Roshar as a tour guide, sharing immersive lore when relevant. Or the GM might gloss over world-building details in favor of keeping the setting more accessible to newcomers or to move the plot along at a brisk pace. Every GM is different, and both styles are valid. Ultimately, the focus is on telling a great story and building a great adventure with friends around the table!
Roleplaying creates a strange type of magic. We get to play pretend, experiment, relieve stress, and belong to something special. In RPGs, the concept of safety centers around the comfort, acknowledgment, and space everyone at the table shares. Most people want to be considerate and collaborative during gameplay. The tools and tips in this section are rooted in common courtesy and customized to address delicate facets of games set in Roshar.
Each group uses safety tools differently. Some prefer formal tools and processes such as conducting a session zero before a campaign begins, while others rely more on informal conversations. The tools in this guide encourage comfortable and fair gameplay, but as with everything in this book, the GM and players can adapt these principles and combine them with additional tools as needed. While proactive measures help prevent problems, at times, intentional reactive aid is needed too (see “Checking In”). It’s best to think of safety tools as evolving resources that continue stretching to meet the needs of everyone at the table.
If you’d like to explore additional resources beyond those in this guide, you can access a wealth of free safety tools at TTRPGSafetyToolkit.com. The TTRPG Safety Toolkit is an online compilation designed by members of the tabletop roleplaying community for use by players and GMs at the table; it is co-curated by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk.
A Note From Brandon
In my books, I tell stories about worlds as flawed as our own. The Stormlight Archive includes characters and societies who are racist, classist, sexist, and xenophobic as a way to explore topics of oppression and marginalization. Showing different perspectives is challenging enough to do as the author of a novel, whose work can be reviewed and edited; it’s even trickier to handle in a game, where friends are improvising their dialogue and actions on the spot.
When it comes to covering difficult topics, I recommend treating the other people at your table with trust, sensitivity, and understanding. Listening is important. One player might want to use roleplaying as a chance to confront challenging themes, while another sees games as a chance to take a break from difficult topics. You can decide ahead of time, as a group, which aspects of the setting to emphasize, which to handle with care, and which you don’t want to include in your own campaigns. Discussing players’ preferences ahead of the game can help make sure everyone at the table has a great experience telling stories together.
Many groups like to meet before the beginning of a campaign to plan together. A session zero is a collaborative preliminary game session where everyone around the table can create characters, discuss setting, tone and themes, and mutually agree on expectations for the game. You’re encouraged to cover the following topics during session zero:
Campaign Expectations. Discuss the setting (such as your chosen timeline and starting location on Roshar), along with your adventure’s theme and tone. You might also discuss how dangerous the setting is, homebrew, house rules, and potentially any foreseen changes to the novels’ canon. You’ll also want to decide on your campaign length—is this an ongoing, long campaign or a short one? This helps the table manage time commitments and expectations.
Table Expectations. Discuss and mutually agree on table etiquette and how the game is played. How often will you meet? Approximately how long will sessions last, and will there be one or more breaks for refreshment? Are cell phones okay at the table or does everyone want to keep gameplay free of distractions? Does everyone feel comfortable with the inclusion of some mature language and themes, or should the game be considered “family friendly”?
Safety Tools. While a session zero is in itself a safety tool, it also offers the opportunity to discuss other tools that can help you navigate any difficulties that do arise during play. Discuss topics like lines and veils, boundaries, consent, and conflict resolution strategies. Also be sure to plan how to handle situations where someone at the table goes against the guidelines the table has created together. (The TTRPG Safety Toolkit linked in “Using Safety Tools” provides guidance on tools like these.)
Gameplay Guidance. Briefly review how gameplay works and talk through any mechanics questions your players may have. It may be helpful to create rules cards or cheat sheets for them to reference key mechanics easily.
Character Creation. While some players may prefer to create their characters on their own, players can discuss their character concepts, backstories, and how their characters fit into the group and the setting.
Games are about having fun together, so if anyone—including the GM—is uncomfortable with a topic, that’s a sign the group should focus on other topics instead. By the beginning of a campaign, the GM and players should have decided what general themes to expect during gameplay, along with which to avoid. The upcoming “Lines and Veils” section can help in identifying topics to handle with caution, and the “Topics to Consider” section offers more guidance on things to be mindful of during play.
The Stormlight Archive is a manifestation of Brandon Sanderson’s imagination. His characters and their stories live in the pages of his books. Now, it’s your turn. Roshar is the backdrop. What stories will your group tell? Canon is secondary to creating a story all players can comfortably enjoy, so shape your Roshar to fit that story!
A group of like-minded players might have fun playing in a carbon copy of the Stormlight Archive’s setting—but enforcing strict canon is only enjoyable if everyone is on board. Many groups (especially those with players new to the setting) benefit from a more laid-back approach; when the GM and players are free to take liberties with the lore, this can be more fun and immersive for the group.
For example, the novels don’t focus on which sign languages are known in Roshar—but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In your Roshar, perhaps sign language is widely known even by those who don’t rely on it, allowing a deaf character to communicate easily with people they encounter.
Games stop being fun when someone’s identity or trauma is used as a punchline. If someone expresses discomfort with a topic or scene, this shouldn’t require a debate about the validity of their concerns—trust is essential to good roleplaying, and it comes from acknowledging each other’s truths.
So when someone shares such a truth, there’s no need to pry or demand explanations. The GM and players are already forced to confront and address pain and trauma in their day-to-day lives, and everyone deserves a reprieve during game time.
Each person has a different comfort level on various topics. Talking about “lines” and “veils” can help everyone communicate which topics the group wants to completely avoid, and which are okay to allude to as long as they’re quickly moved past. Nobody should feel obligated to be comfortable with a particular topic; people are more important than premises, and there are plenty of other topics to explore in your game. (The concept of lines and veils was introduced in 2004 by the game designer Ron Edwards.)
Topics with a line are completely off the table—lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Topics that someone has “lined” shouldn’t be acted out, described, alluded to, or otherwise included in gameplay. For example, a player might decide that harm to animals is a line; in this case, animals are never threatened during your sessions—and beyond that, your group also completely avoids any implication that animals might be harmed “off-camera.”
Topics with a veil take place offscreen, if at all. Some veiled topics might “fade to black”—an upcoming event is hinted at, but then the metaphorical camera shifts to a different scene. Other veiled topics are only hinted at in past tense, perhaps as part of a backstory or historical event. Topics that someone veils shouldn’t be talked about in any specifics, and scenes with those topics should never be actively played out or central to the plot of the campaign.
For example, if a player decides that harm to animals is a veil, they’re comfortable with the story implying that it happens off-screen. However, the suffering of an animal shouldn’t be described “on-camera,” and such themes shouldn’t appear in any scenes.
Even when a group is mindful of each other’s lines and veils, sometimes these topics can be mistakenly breached—or someone might even realize in the middle of a scene that they need to add a new topic to their lines or veils. When that happens, everyone works together to gently and efficiently cut the topic and move on.
Deciding as a Group
When your group is deciding on lines and veils, or otherwise discussing topics to be mindful of, it’s okay to eliminate any subjects you wish—even those related to the Stormlight Archive. For example, you may want to limit or omit various forms of discrimination from your group’s Roshar. (When you do so, however, don’t do so by erasing people or their identities! Rather, erase or challenge the ideas and policies that harm them.)
If it helps, your group can draw inspiration from movie rating systems (such as G, PG, PG-13, and R) to decide how to handle topics like language, romance, abuse, gore, and horror. For example, your group might want language to be unrestricted but otherwise keep scenes PG-13. Whatever you choose, just be sure you’re all on the same page about what that rating entails for each topic.
Your group might also decide to avoid specific in-world discrimination on topics like mental illness, speciesism, xenophobia, slavery, castes, gender roles, gender identity, sexuality, eye shade, neurodivergence, classism, and disability.
As you play, be aware of how others are feeling. If someone seems uncomfortable, ask them if they’re okay. Create opportunities for people to speak up and be heard.
Sometimes, gameplay gets tense and emotionally charged. Other times, we get hungry or need to stretch. Take a break for a few minutes to refresh your mind and body—these moments can do wonders for group engagement.
If you realize someone feels uncomfortable with a situation, address it. “I’m so sorry, I forgot there was a line there. Let’s backtrack and I’ll approach this another way.” A quick and sincere apology goes a long way. When others remind you a topic is off the table, there’s no need for embarrassment, defensiveness, or anger. You can simply thank them for the reminder and adjust accordingly.
By learning to resolve conflicts with respect and collaboration, you build trust with the people around you. If you’re not sure how to adjust a scene in an appropriate way, you can always ask for help. “How can we approach this instead?” Creative problem-solving is a pillar of satisfying roleplaying, whether it’s in character or out of character.
Discrimination is a major theme on Roshar. Some players may want to lean away from this for a more lighthearted experience, while others may want to lean into it. Use the following guidance when deconstructing marginalization in gameplay.
In the Stormlight Archive books, we often witness prejudice first through the perspective of the person it’s aimed at. This shifts the priority and power away from the perpetrator. The character might not outwardly stand up for themselves, but taking a moment to share their thought process and experience is powerful regardless. Acknowledge and denounce harm by intentionally allocating space in the narrative to unpack it.
If all players are okay exploring some aspects of prejudice against player characters, consider doing the following:
Seek Consent. Before any PC is marginalized, the GM or player who is acting as “perpetrator” can check in with the targeted player to ensure they’re aware of and comfortable with the direction of the scene that’s about to unfold.
Shift the Point of View. When a PC is hurt or discriminated against by an NPC (or another PC), don’t center the character who is doing harm in the scene. Instead, give the player of the marginalized character more time to show their character experiencing and reacting to what was said or done.
Support Each Other. After a particularly tense scene, it’s helpful for the GM and players to voice support for a marginalized character (either in or out of character).
These three approaches prevent glossing over—and thus normalizing—hate speech, slurs, and other harmful behaviors. (Real-life slurs are never appropriate to use in gameplay.)
In general, it’s not a good idea for characters to marginalize each other based on identities that face persecution in real life (especially if the players don’t hold those same identities). If a group unanimously feels that this kind of interparty conflict is necessary for the stories they want to tell, proceed with care and discuss beforehand any marginalization that might occur between characters. Regular check-ins are key to ward against game conflicts bleeding into real life conflicts.
When discussing group safety, keep the following general and setting-specific subjects topics in mind.
The enslavement of singers and humans is common in many nations on Roshar. Some nations, such as Kharbranth, are against human slavery but don’t protect the right of freedom for singers. When singers are in what they refer to as slaveform, they’re only obedient and docile as a survival mechanism. Slavery isn’t enjoyable or okay for them, just as it isn’t enjoyable or okay for anyone.
The Stormlight Archive novels feature many characters with mental illnesses. Many of these challenges are explored as the characters become Knights Radiant—but this has nothing to do with mental illness itself. Rather, the Nahel bond and journey of a Radiant centers on personal growth in all areas. The need for introspection and change is innate in all of us. This need can come from various aspects of who we are, and it doesn’t need to be rooted in a mental illness.
It’s also worth noting that mental illnesses are sensitive and vulnerable topics, and they should never be gamified for entertainment value. If you want to build a character with a specific mental illness, do your research, and check with the group whether this is safe to explore at your table. Focus on the reality of living with that mental illness, not stereotypes associated with it. Does your character need this mental illness to tell the story you want to tell? Or can it be told another way? If you choose to proceed, do so with respect, sincerity, and empathy.
Singers are the indigenous people of Roshar. At the hands of humans, they’ve faced everything from dismissal to slavery and genocide. Special consideration should be given for their experiences.
Do players of singer characters want to de-emphasize marginalization against their characters, or make it a major theme and actively deconstruct it during gameplay? (See “How to Include Marginalization Responsibly.”) Does the mistreatment of singers feel altogether too weighty or personal for players to include at all? Either way, when discussing a game out of character, the GM and players should always afford singers the respect, empathy, and consideration humans are given.
The spectrum of eye colors for humans on Roshar is different from our own. Both “darkeyes” and “lighteyes” can have eyes in hues of violet, blue, green, yellow, gray, and brown. While characters in-world may describe these as differences in color, they’re more accurately described as differences in shade. For example, Szeth’s green eyes are “dark” and Amaram’s tan eyes are “light.” Avoid assumptions that lighteyes always have blue, green, or gray eyes, or that darkeyes can only have brown or black eyes. Doing so helps mitigate spillover from real-world racism and avoid assumptions about physical traits based on race.
Vorinism is one of many ideologies that impose strict gender roles on its followers. Will your game include details such as men’s illiteracy, the concealment of women’s safe hands, and so on? In your Roshar, is being an ardent the only way for gender-nonconforming characters to avoid social persecution? What about gender expectations based on other organizations and cultures?
Breathing in Stormlight over time can passively heal the body of a Radiant to reflect a sex other than the one they were assigned at birth, as discussed in the “Unifying With Your Spiritual Self” sidebar in chapter 5. For non-Radiant characters, what do they do when their assigned genders don’t reflect who they are?
Vorin nations such as Jah Keved and Alethkar assign social standing based on eye shade, and many other examples of casteism and classism exist throughout Roshar. How prevalent will these themes be in your game?
Many cultures in Roshar only acknowledge heterosexual and monogamous partnerships. But in your Roshar, there might not be social implications for being open about your character’s sexuality, including which genders they’re attracted to and how they experience romantic and sexual attraction (if at all). These only need to be a source of tension if your group wants them to be.
Singers, humans, and spren may experience attraction outside of their species. If you explore this, take care to acknowledge power dynamics and avoid exoticizing or fetishizing interspecies partnerships.
All populations on Roshar, regardless of their species and culture, include a spectrum of asexual people. Herdazian culture has a long tradition of valuing people who aren’t interested in sex or producing offspring. Singers, excluding when in mate form, aren’t expected to show any interest in sex.
Players of disabled characters are empowered to control their own character’s narrative, and it’s wholly up to them what additional limitations they experience. If a player wishes, they can work with the GM to determine a reasonable mechanic implication, if any,
for a disability; this can happen during character creation or after a session in which their character has been disabled. Or a player might wish their character to have no impairment, and to inhabit a world that’s fully accommodating and accessible for a wide range of differently abled bodies.
Abuse can extend far beyond the stereotypes of purely physical abuse. Are there situations where violence, verbal abuse, power imbalances, and emotionally manipulative behaviors should be omitted or veiled, such as against children, between family members, or among other vulnerable groups?
Seeing gore in real life can be extremely traumatic. Fictional gore can trigger memories of real gore or invite intrusive images and thoughts. What level of gore is everyone comfortable with? For example, your group might agree to not go beyond mentions of blood and intact corpses. As with all other topics, lines and veils around gore should be taken seriously.
Similarly, consider what other aspects of horror are or aren’t conducive to a fun game for the group.
Do the ages or preferences of players call for mild language, or is everyone comfortable with swearing? Do in-world phrases such as “Storm you!” and “Oh, for Yaezir’s sake!” count as profanity?
Special consideration and caution are warranted when including intimacy in gameplay. Be careful to give advance notice, discuss limits and when to “fade to black,” and frequently check in during gameplay to make sure everyone is still comfortable. At the slightest sign of discomfort in any players, end the scene and move on.
The GM and players should never have their characters intimately touch another character without that character’s clear, enthusiastic consent. Some players may find flirty, romantic, or sexually suggestive scenes uncomfortable, and they can request these scenes be veiled or omitted entirely. (It’s also important to note that attraction and consent between characters doesn’t translate to attraction or consent between players.)
Limits around sexual content should apply universally, regardless of the genders of the characters involved. While each player’s comfort is paramount, this never warrants double standards for lines and veils around intimacy.
When considering marginalization and oppression, it’s important to think about intersectionality. Experiencing multiple forms of discrimination has a cumulative effect on a person’s life, impacting them in ways far more complex than the sum of their parts. This experience influences the identity of both player and character, potentially changing how they can comfortably interact with Rosharan society and the wider game.
During the True Desolation era, societies across Roshar face massive upheaval. In Alethkar alone, Queen Jasnah has abolished slavery, the newly refounded Knights Radiant have upended rigid gender roles, and society is moving away from the caste system of “lighteyes” and “darkeyes.”
When choosing how much to include marginalization in your game, keep in mind that during the total war of the True Desolation, there are many in-world reasons for NPCs not to dwell on an individual character’s ancestry, gender, sexuality, etc. Discriminatory ideologies don’t just vanish overnight or cease to cause harm, but they may become less pronounced as many unite toward a common goal.
By reading this book, you’ve taken the first step of your Stormlight journey. Some readers might be content simply to let the story continue in your imagination, bolstered by a deeper understanding of this beloved fantasy world. Others might be inspired to build characters and dreaming up complex backstories regardless of whether they join a game.
For those of you who wish to take the next step into playing the Cosmere RPG, a world of adventure awaits. You can continue your journey by finding other players to join in the fun!
The Cosmere RPG was designed to be approachable for a wide range of players, including those unfamiliar with the Stormlight Archive novels. Most groups will include players who are experiencing Roshar for the first time. When recruiting such players, you can pitch it as “an epic fantasy world with a unique magic system in which a character’s Ideals unlock powerful abilities.” New players may also be intrigued by the fact that characters gain powers by forming bonds with spirit-like beings called “spren.” You can also engage players by explaining that this RPG is part of the broader cosmere, a universe where each world has its own history, culture, and magic system.
For fans of other tabletop RPGs, the Cosmere RPG offers a balance of traditional rules and narrative innovations. The core mechanic of d20-based skill tests will be familiar to most players, but other features (flexible paths, the plot die, and the order of combat) may feel fresh. Whether a potential player prefers tactical dungeon delving or character-driven improvisation, the Cosmere RPG can support different preferences and playstyles.
This RPG was also designed for Stormlight fans who aren’t familiar with tabletop roleplaying. If this is your first tabletop RPG, consider beginning with the 1st-level Bridge Nine adventure, which introduces different gameplay concepts in each scene. By the time you’ve played through that adventure, your group should have a good grasp of the system. After a couple more sessions, you should be familiar enough with the core rules to understand higher-level mechanics like Shardplate and Surgebinding.
Once you’ve found your players, it’s time to plan your first game. Beforehand, take time for a “session zero” to make sure everyone is on the same page about the game’s content, tone, and safety tools, as discussed in chapter 13. (While a live session is optimal, this type of discussion can also take place via email or messaging.) If players are newer to RPGs, a session zero can also be a good time to help players build their characters. Allow at least an hour for a session zero.
To prepare for the session, make sure you’re familiar with the rules. Visit CosmereRPG.com to print out quick reference sheets for players. If you’re playing with battle maps, be ready with miniatures or tokens and printed maps or dry-erase mats. Prepare a comfortable place to play and gather together.
Once everyone is ready to play, it’s time for your first full gameplay session! You can meet in person, via video, or by using VTT (virtual tabletop) software. For your first session, it’s a good idea to set aside a couple of hours (or more) and to keep an eye on the time. The GM’s role is to keep the action moving forward and make sure every player has a chance to contribute. Don’t expect your first session to be perfect, but as long as everyone stays engaged, it should be a memorable experience!
Beyond this handbook, you can find many resources to enrich your RPG experience. The Stormlight Archive novels and novellas aren’t required reading, but they can add depth and excitement to your understanding of the world.
The Stormlight World Guide is a great way for GMs and players to immerse themselves in Roshar. While the adversary profiles at the back of that book offer gameplay spoilers that players should generally avoid, anyone involved in a game can benefit from the other
setting information and lore. For players who intend to read the novels and haven’t done so, just keep in mind that the Stormlight World Guide contains many spoilers for the first five novels.
When it comes to looking up specific lore on the fly, we know of no better resource than the Coppermind.net wiki. Maintained by the official Brandon Sanderson fan site, 17thShard.com, the Coppermind is a great way to look up specific details about any location, individual, or item in Roshar and beyond. Members of the 17th Shard provided crucial advice and lore expertise during the creation of this game, and the Coppermind is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the works of Brandon Sanderson.
Finally, this is a living RPG that will continue to grow with new resources. Visit CosmereRPG.com to find preview content, digital supplements, and our online character creator.
The windswept, war-torn world of Roshar could provide enough material to support years of adventure across multiple campaigns. However, Roshar is just one world in an entire universe of magic, conflict, and character-driven storytelling.
The Stormlight Handbook is part of the larger Cosmere RPG. As this system expands, it’ll grow to encompass Mistborn adventures in Scadrial, intrigue in the Cognitive Realm city of Silverlight, and other worlds with their own unique magic systems. Everything within the Cosmere RPG is written for cross-compatibility. A party of worldhoppers could include a Radiant, an artifabrian, a Twinborn, and a sand master… and their adventures could take them across the cosmere.
Roshar, a world hardened by millennia of war, is about to be thrown into a universe-wide conflict. Who are the heroes when the champions of different worlds collide? Who will emerge victorious? That story becomes your story in the Cosmere RPG, and there’s always another secret, so visit CosmereRPG.com to continue your journey!
Throughout your adventures on Roshar, your player character can encounter many forms of fauna, from as small as cremlings to megafauna like greatshells (including the infamous chasmfiend). You might even befriend some of them.
When you complete a goal, the GM can reward you with an animal companion; this reward allows you to befriend and train a particular animal. Having such an animal companion also meets the prerequisites for the Hunter path’s Animal Bond talent.
The following section presents companion stat blocks for some of the most common Rosharan animals, organized by tier. Following these stat blocks, you can find guidance on modifying them to represent other animals. Finally, this appendix presents a special profile for a unique creature: the larkin.
Animal companions follow the “Using Adversaries” rules in chapter 13 of this book. Like other stat blocks, your companion can also use the actions, free actions, and reactions in chapter 10; for example, to move, they use the Move action.
As with other NPCs, an animal companion is controlled by the GM, unless an effect (like the Hunter’s Animal Bond talent) gives you some ability to dictate their actions. However, your animal companion generally acts in your best interests and as your character requests, though a companion won’t act against their own instincts.
When your animal companion drops to 0 health, they fall Unconscious, much like a PC. Unlike a PC, however, your companion can’t voluntarily regain consciousness. Instead, your companion can only be revived by recovering at least 1 health from another source, or by rolling a recovery die during a short rest.
If your companion falls Unconscious in a place where they can’t be safely recovered, it’s up to the GM what happens to them; depending on the circumstances, they might be permanently lost.
The following stat blocks are available as animal companion rewards. The Stormlight World Guide contains additional stat blocks you can use as companions with your GM’s permission; see “Customizing Stat Blocks” for details on doing so.
The following companions are recommended for tier 1 characters.
Axehound Tier 1 Minion – Small Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
Health: 12 (9–15) Focus: 2 Investiture: 0
Movement: 40 ft. Senses: 40 ft. (smell) Physical Skills: Agility +4, Athletics +4, Stealth +3 Spiritual Skills: Perception +5, Survival +4 Languages: none
TRAITS
Enhanced Senses. The axehound gains an advantage on non-attack tests that rely on smell.
Minion. The axehound’s attacks can’t critically hit, and they’re immediately defeated when they suffer an injury.
ACTIONS
▶ Strike: Bite. Attack +4, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 2 (1d4) keen damage. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) keen damage, and if the target is Medium or smaller, the axehound can spend 1 focus to knock the target Prone, then move up to 10 feet while dragging the target behind them.
◆ Pack Instincts. While within 5 feet of an ally, the axehound can use the Gain Advantage action as ◆.
↺ On the Hunt. After an enemy within 30 feet of the axehound falls Prone, the axehound moves up to 15 feet toward them.
Chull Tier 1 Rival – Large Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
Health: 30 (23–37) Focus: 3 Investiture: 0
Deflect: 2 (shell) Movement: 10 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Athletics +6 Spiritual Skills: Perception +5 Languages: none
FEATURES
Beast of Burden. The chull’s carrying capacity is 1,500 lb.
Plodding Pace. The chull can only use the Move action once per turn.
ACTIONS
▶ Strike: Pincer. Attack +4, reach 10 ft., one target. Graze: 3 (1d6) keen damage. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 6) keen damage.
▶▶ Defense Curl. The chull retracts their head and legs to defend themself until the start of their next turn. While retracted, the chull’s deflect value increases to 6 and they can use the Brace action as if they were in cover; however, they can’t attack or move. The chull can spend 1 focus at the start of their turn to maintain this effect for an additional round.
Mink Tier 1 Rival – Small Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 1 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
Health: 10 (8–12) Focus: 2 Investiture: 0
Movement: 30 ft. Senses: 40 ft. (smell) Physical Skills: Agility +4, Stealth +5, Thievery +5 Spiritual Skills: Perception +5, Survival +4 Languages: none
FEATURES
Enhanced Senses. The mink gains an advantage on non-attack tests that rely on smell.
Furtive. Sneaking doesn’t cause the mink to become Slowed.
Nimble. The mink can move through enemy spaces and can end their turn in the same space as a willing character. While occupying the same space as another character, the mink can’t be grazed and attacks against the mink gain a disadvantage.
ACTIONS
▶ Strike: Bite. Attack +4, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 2 (1d4) keen damage. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) keen damage.
▶ Pickpocket. The mink makes a Thievery test against the Physical defense of a character within 5 feet of them. On a success, the mink secretly takes an object from the character that weighs less than 5 pounds and that the character isn’t wearing or holding. On a failure, the mink doesn’t take an object, and the target notices the attempted theft unless the mink spends an Opportunity or 1 focus to avoid notice.
The mighty chull is Roshar’s most ubiquitous beast of burden.
Skyeel Tier 1 Minion – Medium Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 2 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
Health: 12 (9–15) Focus: 3 Investiture: 0
Movement: 10 ft., fly 30 ft., swim 40 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Agility +4, Stealth +4 Spiritual Skills: Perception +5, Survival +4 Languages: none
FEATURES
Enhanced Senses. The skyeel gains an advantage on non-attack tests that rely on sight.
Minion. The skyeel’s attacks can’t critically hit, and they’re immediately defeated when they suffer an injury.
Slippery. The skyeel doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes while swimming.
ACTIONS
▶ Bite. Attack +4, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 2 (1d4) keen damage. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) keen damage, and if the target is Medium or smaller, the skyeel can spend 1 focus to wrap their body around the target. If they do, the target becomes Restrained, the skyeel attaches to the target, and the skyeel can’t use their Bite against a different target until they release the current one. As ▶, the Restrained target or a character within 5 feet of them can make a DC 12 Athletics test, forcing the skyeel to release the target on a success.
▶▶ Dive Bomb. The skyeel flies up to 60 feet toward a target they can sense on the ground, then uses their Bite against the target. This attack gains an advantage. After the skyeel uses this action, they can’t fly again until the end of the scene.
The following companion is recommended for tier 2 characters.
Horse Tier 2 Rival – Small Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 3 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
Health: 25 (19–31) Focus: 3 Investiture: 0
Movement: 40 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Agility +7, Athletics +6 Spiritual Skills: Perception +5 Languages: none
FEATURES
Beast of Burden. The horse’s carrying capacity is 500 lb.
ACTIONS
▶ Strike: Hooves. Attack +6, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 3 (1d6) impact damage. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 6) impact damage.
▶▶ Kick. Attack +6, reach 10 ft., one target. Graze: 4 (1d8) impact damage. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) impact damage, and if the target is Medium or smaller, they are pushed back 10 feet.
▶▶ Charge (Costs 1 Focus). The horse moves up to their movement rate in a straight line without triggering Reactive Strikes. During this movement, the horse can pass through the spaces of Medium and smaller enemies, trampling them underfoot. Each Medium or smaller enemy whose space the horse enters must succeed on a DC 15 Athletics test or be knocked Prone and take 7 (2d6) impact damage.
The animal profiles presented in the previous sections and within the World Guide are only a small sampling of iconic creatures from Roshar’s rich ecology. If you want to represent other beasts in your adventures, with your GM’s permission, you can modify an existing stat block from this chapter, or you can modify an adversary stat block from the Stormlight World Guide.
To do so, rename the stat block to the desired animal, then work with your GM to either add new skills, features, and abilities, or to replace existing ones, sculpting statistics that are a good fit for that animal.
Be sure to remove any features that aren’t a good fit for the desired animal. As a general rule, for each skill, beneficial feature, or custom action you add to your companion’s stat block, you should remove or decrease an existing one. Unless your GM says otherwise, the modified stat block should be roughly as powerful after the changes as it was before them. Additionally, if your animal companion uses an adversary stat block from the Stormlight World Guide, remove any Opportunities and Complications section, as that section doesn’t apply to companion stat blocks.
The following sections suggest features and actions you could apply to your animal companion, followed by examples of how you could adapt specific stat blocks to represent another animal.
The following features can aid in representing various Rosharan fauna. Some of these features offer multiple options to pick from; you can choose these features more than once, picking a different effect each time. For example, you could pick both the Aquatic and Climber features, which affects your companion both when swimming and climbing. These features are intended as inspiration and they aren’t all-encompassing, so feel free to work with your GM to create new ones.
Aquatic/Climber/Furtive/Spry (choose one). Swimming/climbing/sneaking/difficult terrain (choose one) doesn’t cause the animal to become Slowed.
Carapace/Shell. Increase the animal’s deflect value by +2.
Enhanced Senses. The animal gains an advantage on non-attack tests that rely on their primary sense.
Evasive/Skyborn/Slippery (choose one). The animal doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes while moving/flying/swimming (choose one).
Fleet. Increase one or more of the animal’s movement rate by 10 feet.
Flight. Grant the animal a flying rate of 30 feet.
Hearty. Increase the animal’s health by 10.
Jumper. The animal can jump twice as far as usual without making a test.
Nimble. The animal can move through enemy spaces and can end their turn in the same space as a willing character. While occupying the same space as another character, the animal can’t be grazed and attacks against the animal gain a disadvantage.
Skilled. The animal gains an additional skill rank in one skill of your choice. This increases to two additional ranks when you reach tier 2, and to three additional ranks when you reach tier 3.
Sleek. The animal counts as one size smaller when squeezing through smaller spaces.
If you’d like to adjust a stat block’s actions to better fit a different animal, that can be as simple as renaming the action or changing its damage type. For more significant changes, consider the following ideas:
Powerful Attack. Increase the size of one attack’s damage dice (for example, from a d4 to a d6).
Venomous Attack. Add the following effect to one attack: On a hit, the animal can spend 1 focus to cause the target to become Afflicted [1d4 vital] until the target regains at least 1 health.
To inspire your own modifications, this section presents examples of how you could adjust the stat blocks presented earlier to create a new animal companion. All features added in these examples appear in “Example Features.”
Axehind
To create an axehind, make the following changes to the horse stat block:
To create a hunting chicken, make the following changes to the skyeel stat block:
To create a poison cremling, make the following changes to the mink stat block:
To create a sarpenth, make the following changes to the mink stat block:
Larkin are critically endangered creatures who were associated with the Knights Radiant before the Era of Solitude. These lithe crustaceans have narrow faces, eyes of pure silver, and wings that fold from their backs. Their most defining characteristic, though, is their ability to feed on Investiture: a larkin can drain Light from gems, fabrials, and even living beings (like Radiants and Fused). It is speculated that they may be able to consume other forms of Investiture as well. Though larkin are able to subsist for a short time on more standard foodstuffs, they become weak and sickly if they don’t consume Light for an extended period.
Modern larkin are diminutive, generally between the length of an adult hand and forearm. However, once a larkin consumes enough Investiture in their lifetime, they can be returned to their ancestral homeland to attain the next stage of growth. This allows them to grow larger and stronger, and scholars believe that a larkin may be able to do this several times, though this hasn’t been proven.
A larkin can be given as a reward for a character of any tier. However, due to their extreme rarity, it’s highly unlikely that more than one character in a campaign could obtain a larkin companion.
If you are tier 3 or higher and you have a larkin companion, the GM can offer you the goal “Grow Your Larkin.” To complete this goal, you must brave the dangerous journey to the ruins of Aimia with your larkin, allow them to bond with a special type of luckspren, and return alive. The tier 3 reward for this is your larkin molting into a greater larkin.
Larkin Special Companion – Small Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 1 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 1 |
Health: 14 (12–16) Focus: 4 Investiture: 5
Deflect: 2 (carapace) Movement: 30 ft., fly 20 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Agility +5 Spiritual Skills: Insight +4, Perception +5, Survival +4 Languages: understands every Rosharan language, but can’t speak
FEATURES
Weak Wings. The larkin can’t fly further than their flying rate on a turn, even if they use the Move action again.
ACTIONS
▶ Bite. Attack +5, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 2 (1d4) keen damage. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) keen damage, and the larkin can spend 2 focus to use their Drain Light (no action required) on that target or an effect infusing them. The larkin automatically succeeds on their Agility test to do so.
▶▶ Drain Light. If the larkin isn’t at full Investiture, they choose one of the following targets within 5 feet of them, draining the chosen target of power: - Object with Charges. A fabrial or other object with charges loses 2 (1d4) charges. - Group of Spheres. Up to 2 (1d4) infused marks or broams within range lose the Stormlight or other Light infused in them. - Infused Object or Character. The target (or effect infused in the target) loses 2 (1d4) Investiture.
If the target is a character, or if it is an object worn or held by a character, the larkin must succeed on an Agility test against that character’s Spiritual defense or the target isn’t drained. The larkin regains the same amount of Investiture as they drained from the target. A character wearing Invested Shardplate can’t have their Investiture drained in this way, but the Shardplate itself can be drained of charges.
◆ Invested Healing. The larkin can spend 1 Investiture to recover 5 (1d6 + 2) health.
Greater Larkin Special Companion – Small Animal
| Physical | Cognitive | Spiritual | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STR | DEF | SPD | INT | DEF | WIL | AWA | DEF | PRE |
| 2 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 2 |
Health: 42 (36–48) Focus: 5 Investiture: 6
Deflect: 2 (carapace) Movement: 40 ft., fly 40 ft. Senses: 20 ft. (sight) Physical Skills: Agility +8 Cognitive Skills: Discipline +5 Spiritual Skills: Insight +6, Perception +7, Persuasion +4, Survival +6 Languages: understands every Rosharan language, and can speak short, simple sentences
FEATURES
Skyborn. The larkin doesn’t trigger Reactive Strikes while flying.
ACTIONS
▶ Bite. Attack +8, reach 5 ft., one target. Graze: 7 (2d6) keen damage. Hit: 18 (2d6 + 11) keen damage, and the larkin can spend 1 focus to use their Drain Light (no action required) on that target or an effect infusing them. The larkin automatically succeeds on their Agility test to do so.
▶ Invested Enhancement (Costs 1 Investiture). The larkin becomes Enhanced [Strength +1] and Enhanced [Speed +1] until the end of their next turn. This temporarily increases each of their Physical skills by 1, including their Bite action’s attack and damage rolls. At the end of each of the larkin’s turns, they can spend 1 Investiture to maintain this effect for an additional round.
▶▶ Drain Light. If the larkin isn’t at full Investiture, they choose one of the following targets within 10 feet of them, draining the chosen target of power: - Object with Charges. A fabrial or other object with charges loses 3 (1d6) charges. - Group of Spheres. Up to 3 (1d6) infused marks or broams within range lose the Stormlight or other Light infused in them. - Infused Object or Character. The target (or effect infused in the target) loses 3 (1d6) Investiture.
If the target is a character, or if it is an object worn or held by a character, the larkin must succeed on an Agility test against that character’s Spiritual defense or the target isn’t drained. The larkin regains the same amount of Investiture as they drained from the target. A character wearing Invested Shardplate can’t have their Investiture drained in this way, but the Shardplate itself can be drained of charges.
◆ Invested Healing. The larkin can spend 1 Investiture to recover 7 (1d6 + 4) health.
Abrasion (surge, talent tree, uses Speed): The surge that alters friction on surfaces. 212–214
action (▶): A task you undertake on your turn by using the specified number of actions. 71, 302–304
Adhesion (surge, talent tree, uses Presence): The surge that binds and connects. Commonly used to create Full Lashings that adhere two objects together. 215–216
advantage: Positive circumstances can grant an advantage on a test, allowing a character to choose a die from the upcoming test and roll two of it, then choose which result to use. 58, 342
adventure: A self-contained story within a campaign. 350
adversary: An NPC who has a profile describing them and a stat block to use in gameplay. See also enemy. 342–346
adversary actions: 346
adversary feature: 345
adversary role: 343–344, 348
Afflicted (condition): You take damage over time. 293
Agent (heroic path): A talented operative who solves problems with a keen mind or deft hand. 74–81
Agility (skill, uses Speed): Maneuver your environment and perform acrobatic feats. 60
Aid ↺ (reaction): Spend 1 focus to help an ally, granting them an advantage. 305
ally: A character who considers you with friendliness or neutrality. You aren’t your own ally. 309
always active (∞): A talent that’s always active doesn’t require an action or other means to activate it. 71
ammunition: 244
ancestry: Your ancestry can grant special talents and abilities. 16, 30–31
ancestry talent: See talent, ancestry.
ancestry, human: Humans are one of two sapient humanoid species on Roshar. 30
ancestry, singer: Singers are one of two sapient humanoid species on Roshar. 30–37, 45
animal companion: See companion, animal.
Archer (Hunter specialty): 94
area attack: See attack, area.
area effect: An effect that applies to all valid targets within a certain area. 308–309, 312
armor: 252–255
armor expertise: See expertise, armor.
armor trait: See trait, armor.
Artifabrian (Scholar specialty): 107, 108–109
ashspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Dustbringers. 134–135
Assassin (Hunter specialty): 95–96
Athletics (skill, uses Strength): Use your physical prowess and endurance to jump, climb, and perform other feats of strength. 60
attack: An attempt to deal damage to a target by making an attack test. 305–307
attack multiple targets: 306
attack test: A special skill test that includes both a d20 and damage dice. The d20 determines if the attack hits, while the damage dice determine how much damage the attack deals. 305–306
attack, area: An attack that applies to all valid targets within a certain area. 307
attack, improvised weapon: See weapon, improvised.
attack, melee: An attack against a target within your reach using a non-ranged weapon. 306
attack, ranged: An attack using a projectile or other means of attacking from a distance. 306
attack, unarmed: 248, 306
attack, weapon: 306
attribute: A number that represents your innate characteristics in a certain area. The six attributes include Strength, Speed, Intellect, Willpower, Awareness, and Presence. 18, 48–51
automatic success: See success, automatic.
Avoid Danger ↺ (reaction): Make an Agility test to evade an imminent threat. 305
Awareness (attribute): A number that represents your wisdom and connection to the world. 50
axehound (companion stat block): 368
Banter ◆ (free action): Freely speak to characters near you. 304
Basic Lashing: See Gravitation.
battle, running a: See combat and mass warfare.
Bondsmith (Radiant order): Three Knights Radiant who bond with unique spren and control the surges of Adhesion and Tension. 131, 206–207
Boss (adversary role): A challenging adversary who can threaten an entire party. 343–344
Brace ▶ (action): Take cover against incoming attacks, giving them a disadvantage. 303
Breathe Stormlight ▶▶ (Stormlight action): Draw Stormlight from nearby spheres and regain Investiture up to your maximum. 124
broam: The highest denomination of sphere for each gemstone. A diamond broam is worth 4 diamond marks. See also mark and sphere. 242
campaign: A long and evolving story that spans many sessions of gameplay. 11, 337, 355
carrying capacity: Determined by Strength, this represents the heaviest weight you can comfortably carry. 48–49
Champion (Leader specialty): 102–103
character: A person, sapient creature, non-sapient creature, or similar entity who acts within the story, such as a player character (PC) or non-player character (NPC). 5–6, 309
character advancement: PCs advance by completing goals and by gaining levels, increasing their power and granting them access to new abilities. 11, 24–27, 355–356
character creation: 15–24
character creation, higher-level: 357–358
character sheet: A regularly updated record of your PC’s statistics and unique abilities. 15, 19, 22, 387
character size: Represents the area your character occupies and controls in combat. 309–310, 312
charge: Used to power item effects. Items with charges can be recharged by infusing them with Investiture. 241
chip: The smallest denomination of sphere for each gemstone. A diamond chip is worth one-fifth of a diamond mark. See also mark and sphere. 242
chull (companion stat block): 369
climb: 310
Cognitive defense: See defense.
cognitive skill: See skill, cognitive.
Cohesion (surge, talent tree, uses Willpower): The surge that alters the smallest particles of matter and can mold stone. Commonly known as Stoneshaping. 217–219
combat (scene type): A scene where the PCs engage in a physically hostile conflict. 289, 301–313
combat difficulty: 347–348
combat, building: 347–349
companion: An NPC who is devoted to a PC and generally acts to assist them. 280–281
companion, animal: 96, 281, 368–373
Complication (⚡): A negative narrative effect that applies to the current skill test. Usually gained via the plot die or a natural 1. 9–10, 58–59, 313, 317, 340–342
Complication bonus: A +2 or +4 bonus to the current skill roll, gained when a Complication is rolled. 9
Complication range: You gain a Complication if your d20 rolls within your Complication range; by default, this begins and ends at 1. 10
Complication, adversary rolling a: 346–347
condition: An effect, such as Determined or Slowed, that affects a character for a specific duration. 293–295
connection: An NPC who a PC has an established relationship with and can likely call on for resources or help. Usually gained as a reward. 24, 51, 279
contribution: A meaningful addition to a conversation. 316–317
conversation (scene type): A scene that focuses on communicating something that’s important and has uncertain outcomes. 289, 315–321
corrupted spren: See spren, Enlightened.
cover: A nearby obstacle you can use the Brace action to shelter behind. 311
Crafting (skill, uses Intellect): Ingeniously design, build, and repair objects. 61
crafting items: 61, 265–273
crawl: 310
critical hit: See hit, critical.
Cryptic (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Lightweavers. Also known as liesspren. 158–159
cultivationspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Edgedancers. 142–143
cultural expertise: See expertise, cultural.
Cumbersome (armor trait): If your Strength is lower than the specified value, you are Slowed and gain a disadvantage on tests that use Speed. 252
Cumbersome (weapon trait): If your Strength is lower than the specified value, you are Slowed and gain a disadvantage on attacks. 245
damage: Damage reduces your current health, but can be mitigated by your deflect value or other effects. 243, 295–296, 305–306
damage dice: Dice rolled with an attack test to determine how much damage it deals. 305–306
damage type: 296
Dangerous (armor trait): While wearing this armor, a Complication can cause you to hurt a nearby ally. 252
Dangerous (weapon trait): While attacking with this weapon, a Complication can cause you to graze a nearby ally. 245
dangerous terrain: Terrain that deals damage to characters within it. 311
Deadly (weapon trait): While attacking with this weapon, you can spend an Opportunity to cause the target to suffer an injury. 245
death of NPCs: 297, 344, 368
death of PCs: 298, 355
Deception (skill, uses Presence): Mislead and manipulate others through word or deed. 61
Deduction (skill, uses Intellect): Understand the world through careful observation and logical analysis. 61
defense: Represents your resilience against attacks, coercion, and other unwanted effects. A character’s three defense values (Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual) set the DC for tests against them. 24, 51
Defensive (weapon trait): You can Brace without cover while wielding this weapon. 245
deflect value: Reduce all impact, keen, and energy damage by this value. 21, 51, 252
Determined (condition): You can add an Opportunity to a failed test. 293
dice: 7–10
die size: A die’s size is determined by how many sides it has. 59
difficult terrain: Terrain that’s difficult to move through makes you Slowed. 311
difficulty class (DC): To succeed on a skill test, your result must meet or exceed the roll’s DC. 56–57
Diplomat (Envoy specialty): 86–87
disabled characters: 55, 297–298, 364–365
disadvantage: Negative circumstances can add a disadvantage to a test, allowing the character’s opponent to choose a die from the upcoming test and force the character to roll two of it, then use the undesirable result. 58, 342
Discipline (skill, uses Willpower): Act with composure, self-control, and clarity. 61
Discovery (endeavor type): A scene that focuses on investigating the mysteries of magic, history, and current events. 326–329
Discreet (weapon trait): This subtle weapon is easy to disguise and hide. 245
Disengage ▶ (action): Move 5 feet without triggering Reactive Strikes. 303
Disoriented (condition): Your senses are disrupted, making it hard to perceive and react. 293
distance track: Used in a Pursuit endeavor to represent the distance between pursuer and target. 333
Division (surge, talent tree, uses Intellect): The surge that decays and destroys. 220–222
Dodge ↺ (reaction): Spend 1 focus to evade an attack, giving it a disadvantage. 305
downtime: In the downtime between scenes, PCs can engage in personal pursuits. 291–293
Drop ◆ (free action): Let go of any number of objects you’re holding. 304
Duelist (Warrior specialty): 118–119
dun sphere: See sphere, dun.
duration: 210–211, 295
Dustbringer (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with ashspren and control the surges of Abrasion and Division. 131, 132–139
Edgedancer (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with cultivationspren and control the surges of Abrasion and Progression. 131, 140–147
Elsecaller (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with inkspren and control the surges of Transformation and Transportation. 131, 148–155
Empowered (condition): You gain a burst of power after swearing an Ideal, making tests easier and rapidly refilling your Investiture. 127, 293
endeavor (scene type): A scene that features the party sneaking, exploring, or similarly interacting with the environment more than with specific characters. 288, 323–335
endeavor threshold: See threshold, collective and threshold, individual.
enemy: A character who is inclined to oppose you. See also adversary. 309
energy (damage type): Damage dealt by heat and energy; can be reduced by deflect. 296
Enhance ▶ (Stormlight action): Spend Investiture to enhance your Strength and Speed. 125
Enhanced (condition): One of your attributes gains a temporary bonus. 294
Enlightened (talent tree): 182, 188–189
Enlightened spren: See spren, Enlightened.
Envoy (heroic path): An insightful negotiator who adeptly influences others. 82–89
equipment: 256–260
event: Storytelling tool used to count down to a dramatic moment by tracking Opportunities and Complications. 290–291, 342
Exhausted (condition): You suffer a penalty on all skill tests. 294
expert trait: See trait, expert.
expertise: Your expertises represent areas of niche knowledge. Each expertise can be categorized as an armor, cultural, utility, weapon, or specialist expertise. 20, 51–54
expertise, armor: An expertise informing your knowledge of how to maintain, wear, and create a certain type of non-Invested armor. 53
expertise, cultural: An expertise informing your languages known, cultural knowledge, and perspectives on the world. 16, 38–45, 53
expertise, specialist: A unique expertise in a restricted field of knowledge that most people have no access to. 54
expertise, utility: An expertise informing your knowledge of a trade, tool, or similar technical field. 53
expertise, weapon: An expertise informing your knowledge of how to maintain, wield, and create a certain weapon. 53
Exploration (endeavor type): A scene that focuses on traversing an unpredictable and precarious environment, usually in search of something. 329–330
fabrial: A marvelous device powered by Stormlight, which is infused into a gemstone containing a trapped spren. 262–264, 281–282
fabrial, crafting a: 267–273
fabrial gemstone: 267–268, 281–282
fabrial, standard: 263
fabrial, unique: 262, 267–273
failing a test: See difficulty class (DC).
Faithful (Envoy specialty): 87–88
falling: 311
fast turn: See turn, fast.
First Ideal talent: See talent, First Ideal.
flying rate: Some characters can move using a flying rate instead of their usual movement rate. 310
focus (resource): Determined by Willpower, focus is a resource pool that represents mental resolve. Focus can be spent to fuel abilities and resist manipulation. 23, 54, 317–318
focus, running out of: 318
Focused (condition): Your abilities require less focus than usual. 294
food: 295
forage: 65, 299
forced movement: 310
forms, singer: Singers can bond with spren and change into special forms that grant unique abilities. 31–37
Fragile (weapon trait): While attacking with this weapon, a Complication can cause the weapon to break. 245
free action (◆): A task you undertake on your turn without spending an action. 71, 304
Full Lashing: See Adhesion.
gain a level: See character advancement.
Gain Advantage ▶ (action): Make a skill test to gain the upper hand, giving you an advantage on your next test against that enemy. 303
game master (GM): The guiding storyteller who prepares an adventure, narrates the action, plays the roles of NPCs, and adjudicates outcomes as the story unfolds. 5–6, 337–365
gemstone, fabrial: See fabrial gemstone.
GM: See game master.
goal: A tangible objective you’re personally working toward. Each goal unlocks a reward when accomplished. 21, 276–278, 356
goal, advancing a: 277–278, 356
goal, choosing a: 21, 277, 356
goal, concluding a: 278, 356
goal, Ideal: A special goal that allows you to work toward swearing the next Ideal of your Radiant order. 126, 278, 282
Grapple ▶▶ (action): Make an Athletics test against Physical defense to grab your opponent, making them Restrained. 304
Gravitation (surge, talent tree, uses Awareness): The surge that manipulates gravitational attraction. Commonly used to create Basic Lashings, which temporarily attract an object to a different gravitational point. 223–225
graze: When your attack misses, spend 1 focus to instead deal damage equal to just your damage die. 306
grid, using a: 311–312
Growth: See Progression.
hand free: 244
health (resource): Determined by Strength, health is a resource pool that represents stamina and resistance to minor injuries. When your current health drops to 0, you become Unconscious and suffer an injury. 23, 54, 63, 295
health, running out of: 295
Heavy Weaponry (skill, uses Strength): Wield heavy weapons. 62
helping with a test: See test, helping with a.
heroic path: See path, heroic.
hide: See Stealth.
highspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Skybreakers. 166–167
hit: When your attack test succeeds, you deal damage equal to your damage die plus your skill modifier. 306
hit, critical: When you hit with an attack and spend an Opportunity, you maximize the results of your damage dice. 306
honorspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Windrunners. 200–201
horse (companion stat block): 370
Hunter (heroic path): A skilled sharpshooter and outdoorsperson who seeks and eliminates problems. 90–97
Ideal: Each Radiant order has five Ideals, immortal Words that each member of the order swears and follows. 126–128
Ideal goal: See goal, Ideal.
Ideals, forsaking: 128
Illumination (surge, talent tree, uses Presence): The surge that creates illusions. Wielding this surge is commonly known as Lightweaving. 226–228
illusion: See Illumination.
Immobilized (condition): You can’t move. 294
impact (damage type): Damage dealt by crushing and bludgeoning; can be reduced by deflect. 296
improvised weapon: See weapon, improvised.
Indirect (weapon trait): This ranged weapon can be fired over cover and other obscuring terrain. 245
influence: An attempt to change another character’s opinion or behavior through social tests or abilities. 308, 317–318
infused sphere: See sphere, infused.
infusion: An ongoing effect fueled by Stormlight infused into a character or object. 210–211
injury: A serious wound that hampers you in some way, gained from dropping to 0 hit points or other hazardous circumstances. 63, 296–298
injury roll: When you’re injured, you make an injury roll to determine how serious the injury is. 296
inkspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Elsecallers. 150–151
Inquiry (conversation type): A scene that focuses on one party trying to acquire information from another through conversation. 318
Insight (skill, uses Awareness): Discern people’s feelings and see through deceptions. 62
Intellect (attribute): A number representing your applied intelligence and wit. 49
Interact ▶ (action): Quickly manipulate an object you can reach, no test required. 303
Intimidation (skill, uses Willpower): Induce fear in someone to secure their compliance. 62
Invested: A character or object is Invested if they’re infused by or drawing on Investiture, or if they’re otherwise connected to the Cognitive or Spiritual Realm. 124, 241
investigative web: The GM’s map of a Discovery scene, including potential clues and leads. 326–327
Investigator (Agent specialty): 78–79
Investiture: An energy that suffuses the cosmere and fuels powerful abilities. On Roshar, Investiture manifests as Stormlight. See also Investiture (resource). 123–124
Investiture (resource): Determined by Awareness or Presence, Investiture is a resource pool that represents ability to hold and channel Investiture. Investiture can be spent to fuel Radiant abilities. 54, 123–124
Investiture, running out of: 124
item drawback: 266, 269
item upgrade: 266, 269
jump: 60, 310
keen (damage type): Damage dealt by slicing or puncturing; can be reduced by deflect. 296
key talent: See talent, key.
Knights Radiant: A human or singer who bonds with a spren becomes Radiant, able to breathe in and utilize Stormlight to fuel special powers. The Knights Radiant is an ancient organization divided into ten Radiant orders, reflecting the unique spren they bond, Ideals they follow, and surges they command. 3–4, 17, 130–131
larkin (companion stat block): 373
larkin, greater (companion stat block): 373
Lashing, Basic: See Gravitation.
Lashing, Full: See Adhesion.
Leader (heroic path): A poised commander who directs and guides others to be their best. 98–105
Leadership (skill, uses Presence): Inspire and command others. 62–63
level: A number indicating how powerful you are; new PCs usually start at level 1 and can eventually advance to level 20 or higher. 24–26, 355–356
level up: See character advancement.
liesspren: See Cryptic.
lifting capacity: Determined by Strength, this represents the heaviest weight you can lift. 48
Light Weaponry (skill, uses Speed): Wield light weapons. 63
lightspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Willshapers. Also known as Reachers. 192–193
Lightweaver (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with Cryptics and control the surges of Illumination and Transformation. 131, 156–163
Lightweaving: See Illumination.
line of effect: Abilities that require line of effect can only be used if an imaginary straight line could connect you and your target. 308, 313
lines and veils: Safety tool to help players communicate which topics should be avoided or only hinted at during play. 362
Loaded (weapon trait): This weapon expends ammunition and must be reloaded after the number of shots specified by this trait. 245
lodging: 261
long range: See range, long and short.
long rest: See rest, long.
Lore (skill, uses Intellect): Recall information about science, history, religion, and other topics. 63
main hand: See weapon, wielding a.
mark: The currency used in this game, and the middle denomination of sphere for each gemstone. See also sphere. 242
mass warfare: 351–355
Medicine (skill, uses Intellect): Heal people or similarly utilize your understanding of the body and mind. 63
melee attack: See attack, melee.
melee weapon: See weapon, melee.
Mentor (Envoy specialty): 88–89
milestone: Achieved when your PC makes a significant decision that helps advance your goal. You need three milestones to complete a goal. 277
miniatures, playing with: 311–312
Minion (adversary role): A weak adversary who is easily defeated. 343
mink (companion stat block): 369
miss: When your attack test fails, you deal no damage. See also graze. 306
Mission (endeavor type): A scene that focuses on urgent and tactically complex action such as infiltrations, heists, or rescues. 330–331
mistspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Truthwatchers. 182–183
Momentum (weapon trait): If you move 10 feet straight toward your target before attacking with this weapon, you gain an advantage. 245
mount: 261, 313
Move ▶ (action): Move a distance up to your movement rate. 303
movement rate: Determined by Speed, this represents how fast and far you can move under pressure. 49, 310
moving: 309–312
Nahel bond: See spren bond.
natural 20 and natural 1: A d20 roll that shows the number 20 or 1 on the die. Natural 20s add an Opportunity, while natural 1s add a Complication. 10
Negotiation (conversation type): A scene that focuses on multiple parties attempting to obtain something from each other through conversation and parleying. 319
non-Invested: A character or object is non-Invested if they’re not infused by or similarly drawing on Investiture. 124
non-player character (NPC): Any character who isn’t a player character. 5
NPC: See non-player character.
object: Something that could reasonably be moved but that isn’t a character. 309
obscured sense: See sense, obscured.
obstacle: A phrase describing a personal challenge that stands in your character’s way time and time again. 21, 275–276
Offhand (weapon trait): Striking with this weapon in your offhand only costs 1 focus. 245
offhand: See weapon, wielding a.
Officer (Leader specialty): 103–104
one-shot: A story that begins and ends in a single session of gameplay. 10
Opportunity (✦): A beneficial narrative effect that applies to the current skill test. Usually gained via the plot die or a natural 20. 9–10, 58–59, 313, 317, 340–342
Opportunity range: You gain an Opportunity if your d20 rolls within your Opportunity range; by default, this begins and ends at 20. 10
Opportunity, adversary rolling an: 346–347
opposed test: See test, opposed.
party: A group of PCs who adventure together. 5
path: A themed collection of talents that can be progressively chosen to reflect your training, experiences, and abilities. 17, 69–72
path, heroic: A path that grants mundane, non-Invested abilities. 17, 69–121
path, Radiant: A path that grants Radiant abilities, including the power to wield Stormlight. 123–207
path, starting: When you choose a starting path during character creation, this determines your first heroic path and grants you a starting skill and key talent. 17, 70
patron: A powerful NPC who provides support in exchange for a PC’s service. 282–283
PC: See player character.
peakspren (Radiant spren): The spren bonded by Stonewards. 174–175
Perception (skill, uses Awareness): Notice details about your surroundings. 64
Persuasion (skill, uses Presence): Appeal to others through charisma and reason. 64
Physical defense: See defense.
physical skill: See skill, physical.
pickpocket: 65
Pierce (weapon trait): This weapon’s damage can’t be reduced by deflect. 245
player character (PC): A character created and controlled by a player. 5, 15
plot die: A custom six-sided die that can add unforeseen Opportunities or Complications to an important skill test. 8–9, 338–340
Politico (Leader specialty): 104–105
prerequisite: Criteria you must meet before selecting or benefiting from certain talents and other abilities. 26, 70
Presence (attribute): A number that represents your charisma and bearing. 51
Presentable (armor trait): This armor is acceptable to wear in a non-military context. 252
primary sense: See sense, primary.
profile: A description of an adversary, including background information and combat tactics. 342
Progression (surge, talent tree, uses Awareness): The surge that controls the growth and healing of living things. Commonly used for Growth (to sprout and mature plants) and Regrowth (to heal body and soul). 229–230
Prone (condition): You’re lying on the ground and can’t move quickly, making you vulnerable to melee attacks. 294
purpose: A phrase describing your character’s drive and reason for being. 21, 275
Pursuit (endeavor type): A scene that focuses on one party chasing another. 332–333
Quickdraw (weapon trait): You can draw this weapon as a free action. 245
Radiant: A person with Radiant powers. See also Knights Radiant. 125–128
Radiant order: See Knights Radiant.
Radiant path: See path, Radiant.
Radiant Shardblade: See Shardblade, Radiant.
Radiant Shardplate: See Shardplate, Radiant.
Radiant spren: See spren, Radiant.
raise the stakes: Signify the narrative importance of a skill test by rolling a plot die with it. 8–9, 338–339
range: The farthest distance an effect can reach from its origin. 245, 308, 312
range, long and short: 308
ranged attack: See attack, ranged.
ranged weapon: See weapon, ranged.
reach: A special range that requires targets be in your line of effect and within 5 feet of you. Some weapons and effects can increase your reach. 245, 308
Reacher: See lightspren.
reaction (↺): A response to a trigger that happens any time during a round. To react, you must spend your reaction. 71, 302, 304
Reactive Strike ↺ (reaction): Spend 1 focus to make a melee attack against a retreating enemy. 305
Ready (action; ▶ varies): Prepare one of your other actions to respond to something else happening on the battlefield. 304
Recover ▶▶ (action): Take a break during combat, rolling your recovery die. 304
recovery die: Determined by Willpower, this represents how efficiently you recover health and focus. 50, 299
Regal: See forms, singer.
Regenerate ◆ (Stormlight free action): Spend Investiture to recover health. 125
Regrowth: See Progression.
resist influence: When influenced by another character, spend 2 focus to remain unaffected by the attempt. 308, 317–318
rest, long: An 8-hour-long period of relaxation that restores all health and focus. 298
rest, short: A 1-hour-long period of relaxation, during which characters can roll their recovery die or undertake other activities. 298
Restrained (condition): You can’t move willingly and your restraints make tests difficult. 294
reward: When you conclude a goal, you gain a powerful reward such as a fabrial, traveling companion, or noble title. 21, 279–285, 356
Rival (adversary role): An adversary with no special rules related to their role. 343
roleplaying game (RPG): A collaborative experience of storytelling and imagination, joined by one or more player characters (PCs) and guided by a game master (GM). 5, 287–288
roleplaying, first-person: Describing your character using first-person pronouns, subjectively narrating your actions and thoughts as if you are them. 288
roleplaying, third-person: Describing your character using third-person pronouns, objectively narrating their actions and thoughts and referring to them by name. 288
round: Each character in a scene can take one turn during each round. During combat, a round lasts approximately ten seconds.
safety guide: 360–365
safety tools: Resources to support a fun and safe roleplaying environment. 361
scene: A scene focuses on a particular sequence of events and the outcomes of each PC’s actions during that time. Scene types include combats, conversations, and endeavors. 289, 352–354
Scheme (conversation type): A scene that focuses on one party trying to dupe another. 319–320
Scholar (heroic path): An adroit thinker who excels at planning and building. 106–113
sensing a target: You sense someone or something if you can perceive it with your vision, hearing, smell, touch, or other senses, as determined by your primary sense and senses range. 54–55, 308
sense, obscured: When your primary sense is overwhelmed, such as by a roaring highstorm or pitch-black night, you can’t sense beyond your senses range. 54–55
sense, primary: Your primary sense is the one you most heavily rely on to navigate the world, such as sight or hearing. 54
senses range: Determined by Awareness, this represents how far you can perceive when your primary sense is obscured. 54–55
session: A period of gameplay usually lasting around two to four hours. 6, 342
session zero: A game session before the launch of a campaign in which the players create characters, and in which the GM and players set expectations for the campaign to come. 360–361
Shard: Shardblades and Shardplate are both sometimes called Shards for short. 284
Shardbearer: A term referring to a person who wields a Shardblade and/or Shardplate.
Shardblade: An immensely powerful Invested weapon that can be summoned from thin air. 248, 249–251, 284
Shardblade, Radiant: A Radiant can summon their bonded spren to physically manifest in the form of a living Shardblade. 248, 250–251
Shardplate: An immensely powerful suit of Invested armor that enhances its wearer. 252, 254–255
Shardplate, Radiant: A Radiant can cause common spren to physically manifest in the form of living Shardplate. 252, 255
Shardbearer (Warrior specialty): 119–121
short range: See range, long and short.
short rest: See rest, short.
Shove ▶▶ (action): Make an Athletics test against Physical defense to attempt to forcibly move another character 5 feet. 304
Singer (talent tree): 31–37
singer forms: See forms, singer.
skill: When you make a test, you use either one of eighteen basic skills or a remarkable surge skill to determine how skilled you are in that area. 18–20, 55–67
skill modifier: A number that represents your overall aptitude in a skill, determined by your associated attribute plus any ranks in that skill. 18–20, 56
skill rank: To represent your growing experience, you can eventually gain up to 5 ranks in a skill and increase that skill modifier accordingly. 18–20, 56
skill rank, maximum: 25–26
skill test: See test, skill.
skill, cognitive: A skill that uses the Intellect or Willpower attribute. These appear in the second column of the character sheet. 47
skill, physical: A skill that uses the Strength or Speed attribute. These appear in the first column of the character sheet. 47
skill, spiritual: A skill that uses the Awareness or Presence attribute. These appear in the third column of the character sheet. 47
skill, starting: Your starting path grants a free rank in that path’s starting skill. 18, 70
skill, surge: A skill available only to characters who can access Investiture and wield the specified surge. 209–211
Skybreaker (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with highspren and control the surges of Division and Gravitation. 131, 164–171
skyeel (companion stat block): 370
slow turn: See turn, slow.
Slowed (condition): You move at half speed. 295
sneak: 64, 310
Social (conversation type): A scene that focuses on characters seeking to bond with each other and build relationships. 321
Soldier (Warrior specialty): 121
Soulcaster: A term that can refer either to a Radiant who wields the Transformation surge, to a fabrial that grants a non-Radiant limited access to that surge, or to a person who uses such a fabrial. 234–236, 264
Soulcasting: See Transformation.
space: Each character occupies a space corresponding to their size category. 310
special activation (★): A talent with a special activation presents specific rules for activating it in the talent’s description. 71
specialist expertise: See expertise, specialist.
specialty: Each heroic path is divided into several specialties. 69
Speed (attribute): A number representing your quickness and dexterity. 49
sphere: A gemstone encased in a glass bead, commonly used as currency. Spheres can be infused with Stormlight. See also mark. 242
sphere, dun: A dark sphere that currently contains no Stormlight. 242
sphere, infused: A glowing sphere that currently contains Stormlight. 124, 242
spirit (damage type): Damage that affects both the physical and spiritual self; can’t be reduced by deflect. 296
Spiritual defense: See defense.
spiritual skill: See skill, spiritual.
spren: A fragment of Investiture that has gained sentience or even sapience; each spren usually inhabits the Cognitive Realm, but can be drawn into the Physical Realm by various phenomena. 3–4, 125–126, 129–130
spren abilities: 130
spren bond: A symbiotic bond between a Radiant spren and a human or singer. 125, 129
spren bond range: If a Radiant spren moves too far from their bonded Radiant, the spren loses some of their abilities. This range begins at 30 feet. 129
spren, Enlightened: The Unmade Sja-anat injects Voidlight into spren, changing their appearance and properties. She calls these spren Enlightened, though some people call them corrupted spren. 182–183, 188–189
spren, Radiant: A sapient spren who can willingly bond with a human or singer, granting Radiant abilities to the person they bond with. 125–126, 129–130
Spy (Agent specialty): 79–80
squeeze: Move through a space one size smaller than you. 310
squire: A trusted ally of a Knight Radiant who gains a small measure of that Radiant’s powers. 128–129
standard fabrial: See fabrial, standard.
starting kit: A collection of equipment gained during character creation that reflects your background and interests. 20, 243
starting path: See path, starting.
starting skill: See skill, starting.
stat block: The section of an adversary profile that contains their simplified rules and statistics. 342–347
stat block, customizing a: 371–372
statistics: The collection of numbers and unique rules that comprise your character’s abilities. 47
Stealth (skill, uses Speed): Sneak, hide, or otherwise avoid attention. 64, 310
Stoneshaping: See Cohesion.
Stoneward (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with peakspren and control the surges of Cohesion and Tension. 131, 172–179
Stormlight: Investiture usually manifests on Roshar as Stormlight, a glowing energy replenished by the world’s highstorms. 123–125
Strategist (Scholar specialty): 112
Strength (attribute): A number representing your physical power, toughness, and athleticism. 48–49
Strike ▶ (action): Make an attack against the Physical defense of a target in range. 303
Stunned (condition): You can only manage the simplest of actions and can’t react. 295
succeeding on a test: See difficulty class (DC).
success, automatic: 57
surge: Each surge controls a fundamental force of nature through the use of Investiture. Each order of Knights Radiant can access two of the ten surges, and each surge is wielded by two orders. 209–239
surge dice: Dice whose effects scale with your ranks in a certain surge, allowing you to roll a larger surge die as you gain ranks. 209
surge size: The maximum area your surge can affect, determined by your ranks in that surge. 210
surge skill: See skill, surge.
Surgebinding: See surge.
Surgeon (Scholar specialty): 113
Surprised (condition): You’re caught off guard and can’t act immediately. 295
Survival (skill, uses Awareness): Forage for resources and safely navigate your environment. 65
swim: 310
talent: A talent grants a special benefit or ability to represent a PC’s unique capabilities. 20, 69–72
talent timing: 72
talent tree: A series of branching talents which you can choose from and progress through to reflect your training and experience. 70
talent, activating a: 71
talent, ancestry: A bonus talent granted by your ancestry. 20, 30–31
talent, First Ideal: The key talent of a Radiant path unlocks access to Investiture and grants you a goal to “Speak the First Ideal.” See also goal, Ideal. 123
talent, key: The key talent at the top of each path unlocks access to the specialties within that path.
talents, duplicate: 70, 72
target: Anyone or anything you can apply an effect to. 307–309
target types: 309
Tension (surge, talent tree, uses Strength): The surge that alters the rigidity of objects. 231–233
test, skill: A d20 roll to determine whether an attempted task succeeds or fails. 7–10, 55–59, 338
test, helping with a: 59
test, opposed: 57
Thief (Agent specialty): 80–81
Thievery (skill, uses Speed): Perform tasks that require dexterity and precision, such as pickpocketing, sleight of hand, and tying knots. 65
threat value: Measures the danger an individual adversary adds to a combat scene. 348
threshold, collective: Used in endeavors to track the group’s progress toward an objective. 324–325
threshold, individual: Occasionally used in endeavors to track individual progress instead of group progress. 325
Thrown (weapon trait): This melee weapon can be thrown as a ranged attack at a range specified by this trait. 245
tier: As you advance from level 1 to 21+, you pass through five tiers, each with a different narrative focus and play experience. 24
time, passage of: 288
title: 284–285
total threat: Measures the collective danger of all adversaries in a combat scene. 347–348
Tracker (Hunter specialty): 96–97
trait, armor: Rules that apply to any armor with that trait. 252
trait, expert: A trait that only applies if a PC has an expertise in that weapon or armor. 52, 243, 252
trait, unique (armor trait, weapon trait): Unique rules detailed in that armor or weapon’s entry on the table. 245, 252
trait, weapon: Rules that apply to any weapon with that trait. 245
Transformation (surge, talent tree, uses Willpower): The surge that transforms materials into other materials in a process commonly known as Soulcasting. 234–236
Transportation (surge, talent tree, uses Intellect): The surge that enables looking into and transporting characters between the Physical and Cognitive Realms. 237–239
travel: 261
Truthwatcher (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with mistspren and control the surges of Illumination and Progression. 131, 180–189
turn: In combat, each character chooses whether to take a fast turn or slow turn each round, determining how many actions they can use on that turn. Out of combat, turns are much more flexible. 301–302
turn, fast: Characters who take a fast turn only gain two actions, but they act before characters who take a slow turn. 301
turn, slow: Characters who take a slow turn gain three actions, but they act after characters who take a fast turn. 301
Two-Handed (weapon trait): This weapon must be wielded in two hands. 245
unarmed attack: See attack, unarmed.
Unconscious (condition): You’re unconscious and can’t do anything other than wake up. If you’re Radiant, you can also Breathe Stormlight or Regenerate. 295
unique fabrial: See fabrial, unique.
unique trait: See trait, unique.
unstable footing: 306
Use a Skill ▶ (action): Perform a challenging task that requires a skill test. 303
utility expertise: See expertise, utility.
vehicle: 261
vital (damage type): Damage that taxes the constitution; can’t be reduced by deflect. 296
Voidlight: A rare form of Investiture, primarily used by the forces of Odium. 124
Warrior (heroic path): A fighter who relies on their skill, brute strength, or indomitable will. 114–121
water: 295
weapon: 243–251
weapon attack: See attack, weapon.
weapon expertise: See expertise, weapon.
weapon trait: See trait, weapon.
weapon, improvised: 248, 306
weapon, melee: 245, 306
weapon, ranged: 245, 306
weapon, wielding a: To benefit from a weapon, it must currently be wielded in either your main hand or offhand. To Strike with a weapon in your offhand, you must spend focus. 244
weight: 48
Willpower (attribute): A number representing your determination and mental fortitude. 50
Willshaper (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with lightspren and control the surges of Cohesion and Transportation. 131, 190–197
Windrunner (Radiant order, talent tree): An order of the Knights Radiant who bond with windspren and control the surges of Adhesion and Gravitation. 131, 198–205