Join us as we continue our Espresso and Epics Event on Sunday, November 8th at Weird Brothers Coffee in Herndon (The Roasting Factory) to play in Brandon Sanderson's world of Roshar using the Cosmere RPG System. You can also join us Wednesday November the 18th at the Reston Community Center!

Sign up on our discord and say hi!

Espresso and Epics - 1PM, Sunday, November 8th
Weird Brothers Coffee (The Roasting Factory)
321 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon

Reston Plays Games - 6PM, Wednesday, November 18th
Reston Community Center
2310 Colts Neck Rd, Reston

You can also sign up for each event on the:
Aethelwulf Games Discord and Reston Plays Games Discord

Create Your Character - Play The First Step: Solo Edition

You can get a taste of the game and the world by creating a character while you learn to play!

Brotherwise Games Has a Free Solo Edition of The First Step the Session Zero Character Creation Story. It's a great way to learn about the game and generate a character for our event!

A Personal Perspective into a Shared World

I want to talk about what it means to play in a shared world where everyone at the table walks in with their own perspective, their own view, and their own vision of what that world is.

In a game like D&D we come to the table understanding that it IS a game. Even with novels that feature great, lovable heroes... we have an inherent understanding that it is a game first. But with the novels and epics and fantasy worlds we love, we get attached. We’ve spent hundreds of hours building those places in our heads and it can be difficult to have that version shaken or modified by the other people at the table.

Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings... and many more worlds that we love. We each see these works differently, and sometimes it’s hard to watch something you love get altered. When we take a world we’ve developed in our minds and try to bring it to the table, the world might not feel the same as when we read the book. We all have our own version of Roshar, and of the characters and heroes in it.

That's what made it difficult to bring this one to the table. Despite being a huge fan of the Cosmere, I knew the world we’d be playing in wouldn’t be the world I saw in the books. Even if the game is good, and the extra lore added to my enjoyment of Sanderson’s world... I just wasn’t sure I could run it.

That was a year ago... since then, I’ve learned a lot more about how we create worlds together. I've grown to appreciate the stories we tell at the table, and how much the time we share means.

I have been running a lot of games at many different tables. Each of these sessions has been an amazing experience, and I now realize the Cosmere is going to be another great addition to the table.

Playing Bridge Nine at Our Table

In November we’ll be running Bridge Nine, the introductory adventure for the Cosmere RPG. An expedition across the Shattered Plains goes badly wrong, and a handful of survivors have to find their way back to the warcamps.

This is a first-level adventure designed to teach the rules one scene at a time, and it comes with six pregenerated characters. You don’t need to know the books to play. All you need to know going in is that Roshar is a world where your oaths and your actions decide what kind of power you might one day earn... and that the choices you make at the table matter more than you might expect.

Rolling the Dice

The Cosmere RPG will feel familiar to anyone who has played a d20 game. You roll a d20, add your skill modifier, and try to meet or beat a difficulty class.

What I like is how the game organizes everything around the three Realms of the Cosmere: Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual. The six attributes come in pairs (Strength and Speed, Intellect and Willpower, Awareness and Presence), and each pair builds one of your three defenses. A sword swing tests your Physical defense, an intimidating threat tests your Cognitive defense, and a smooth lie tests your Spiritual defense. Each character is vulnerable somewhere, and every character is strong somewhere.

Advantages work a little differently than you might expect, too. When you have one, you choose which die to roll twice: your d20, your damage die, or even the plot die.

It’s a small change, but it makes you think about every roll a little differently

The Plot Die

When a roll really counts, a GM can raise the stakes, and you roll the plot die alongside your d20.

• Opportunity: something goes your way. You might help an ally, recover some focus, turn a hit into a critical, or nudge the story in your favor.
• Complication: something goes sideways, but you also add +2 or +4 to your roll.

That second part is probably my favorite: The die that makes your life harder can also be the thing that gets you over the line. You might succeed and still pay a price for it. A natural 20 or a natural 1 can bring their own Opportunity or Complication too, so sometimes one roll stacks up in ways we couldn't anticipate.

Fast or Slow

There’s no rolling for initiative, so each round every player chooses:

• Fast turn: two actions, and you go before the enemies.
• Slow turn: three actions, and you go after them.

You can change your mind every round. Rush in to pull a friend out of danger, or wait a beat and hit harder once you see what’s coming? This makes every round a decision, and the whole table is planning together instead of waiting for their name to be called.

Focus as an Edge

Focus is what lets you do something more with your turns. It’s a small pool, usually only a few points at first level, and you’ll want to spend it carefully:

• Graze: missed an attack? Spend 1 focus to still deal your damage dice.
• Dodge: spend 1 focus to give an incoming attack a disadvantage.
• Aid: spend 1 focus to give an ally an advantage before they roll.
• Resist influence: in a tense conversation, focus is your patience. NPCs spend it to hold their ground, and once they run out they’re ready to listen.

This resource is spent in multiple ways while we play the game, so it is something to keep track of and use wisely. Spend it all on dodging, and you might not have much left when you need to talk your way out of trouble.

Injuries Tell a Story

When your health drops to 0, you don’t just fall over and wait for a heal. You make an injury roll. The result might be a flesh wound that’s gone by morning, a vicious injury that lingers for days, or a scar that never fully goes away. Each injury you’re already carrying makes the next roll worse.

Death is permanent in this game, but it rarely comes out of nowhere. You’ll feel the danger building long before the end, so when it does come you will have some options. The rules also encourage the player to identify how their character's end might look like as the game is played... which means it can become more of a narrative and impactful moment.

Come Roll Some Dice and Get a Pin!

The Cosmere RPG rewards teamwork, careful choices, and a little bit of nerve. Bridge Nine is a great way to try all of it, whether you’ve read every book or never picked one up.

Grab a coffee, pick a character, and come see what Roshar looks like at our table.

If you are local, or in the area, come roll some dice with us and get this guy!

1 x Limited Series 2 Gaming Goblin Pin for Attendees that purchase a drink.

Buy any drink during the event and receive a free pin featuring our smiling Goblin mascot - yours to wear proudly as an adventurer of Espresso & Epics.