Cosmere RPG vs Those Who Wander
Compare Cosmere RPG and Those Who Wander side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Cosmere RPG | Those Who Wander | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Character Building, Heroic, High-Fantasy, Tactical, Licensed IP, Lore-Heavy | Heroic, High-Fantasy, Character Building, Classless, Tactical, Worldbuilding, Vancian Casting, Crunchy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + skill vs. difficulty. The GM can raise the stakes on key rolls by adding the plot die: a custom d6 with Opportunity, Complication, and blank faces. Opportunities grant bonus effects chosen by the player; Complications introduce narrative twists chosen by the GM but also add a bonus to the roll. Each combat round, characters choose a fast turn (2 actions, act first) or slow turn (3 actions, act later). Characters advance through branching talent trees across 6 heroic paths and 9 Radiant paths. | Roll d20 + ability bonus + proficiency bonus against a Difficulty Score. Abilities use direct modifiers (−1 to +5) instead of base scores, removing a calculation step from every roll. Character progression replaces classes and levels with a 20-step path: at each step you choose between two or more diverging features, and prerequisites gate later options. |
| Dice | d20 + d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary (free Essential Rules quickstart) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Brotherwise Games | Gnome Made Games |
| Year | 2025 | 2022 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Brandon Sanderson fans who want deep character customization and hard-magic systems brought to the table: groups who enjoy Pathfinder-level build depth in a richly detailed setting. | Groups familiar with d20 fantasy who want deeper character customization, inclusive design covering any parentage pairing and accessibility for disabled characters, and long campaigns where each hero's 20-step path diverges from the rest of the party. |
| Highlights | Deep lore integration with the Cosmere setting, extensive character customization rivals Pathfinder, plot die adds dramatic tension, fast/slow turn initiative lets players trade actions for turn order, Foundry VTT support | Parentage system inherits traits from any two birth parents across 15 peoples (dwarven, elven, human, halfling, avian, celestial, draconic, genie, gnoll, gnomish, goblin, kobold, infernal, orc, plus Complex Parentage) for hundreds of pairing combinations. Accessibility rules treat Blind and Deaf characters as mechanically viable heroes and integrate prosthetics and wheelchairs as part of the character. The 20-step branching progression replaces classes and levels: each step is a choice between two or more features that gate further specializations. Awakening heirlooms (weapons, armor, trinkets) gain new properties as characters take steps, growing in power and personality alongside their owner. |
| Considerations | Plot die adds a layer of opportunity/complication outcomes on top of pass/fail increasing cognitive overhead per roll, rulebook organization is poor and unclear in places, large barrier to entry for non-Sanderson fans, social encounters can feel repetitive | 477-page rulebook with substantial mechanical innovation in character creation requires significant reading before a first session. No adventures are included in the core rules: GMs must design their own scenarios or source from d20-compatible content. The steps system departs from familiar level/class structure, so players coming from d20 fantasy must learn a new progression model. No native rolled initiative: the storyteller chooses one of four ability-based turn-order methods at the start of each combat. |