[Free RPG Day 2026] Law and Obligation

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Unfortunately, due to vagaries of International Customs, Free RPG Day in the UK did not take place until Saturday, 22nd August.

This review is possible due to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham.

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Law and Obligation is a scenario for the Cosmere Roleplaying Game, the roleplaying game based on the works if Branddon Sanderson. Published by Brotherwise Games and designed to be played using Third Level Player Characters, it is set during and designed to introduce the players to the Stormlight Campaign setting. It comes with six pre-generated Player Characters (plus an optional seventh) and can be played through in a single session as easily slipped into a campaign. Chronologically, it takes place before the events of the Everstorm and whilst there are notes to adapt the scenario to after it, it will take some adjustment by the Game Master.

In Law and Obligation, the Player Characters have arrived in the port of Kharbranth, an independent city-state on the Tarat Sea. A beacon of scholarship, medicine, and law, the Player Characters have been tasked with locating Tenilar Valtian, a runaway Alethi noble. They are to find him and deliver a message from his parents. The Player Characters are free to look for him however they want—search through the harbour master’s records, ask the locals, or scout out each of the ships docked at the harbour, and the Game Master is encouraged to push the story and reveal details whether the players succeed or fail at their rolls. What they soon learn is that they are not the only ones looking for Tenilar. A Marabethian investigator, Constable Janikk, is also looking for him, looking into allegations of smuggling, and once she has enough evidence, she plans to execute him! Eventually, however, they will be able to identify the vessel he is aboard, the Star of Natanatan, and find him. The investigator is hot on their tail though…

When spoken to, it turns that Tenilar has been smuggling—though with good reason—and even when told the easiest way to avoid being executed is leaving the city, does not want to go. The Player Characters may have an advantage if one of them speaking is a Radiant or demonstrates Surgebinding, as Tenilar is also a Radiant, but an untrained one. Whether the Player Characters manage to persuade him or not, the Marabethian investigator arrives with a pair of guards to arrest the noble and take him away to be executed. The situation can play out in several ways, depending upon whether they can persuade the captain of the Star of Natanatan to help them. The main thrust is a combat between Constable Janikk as she tries to apprehend Tenilar and the Player Characters as they try to protect him against a timed event which if completed means that the Star of Natanatan has sailed beyond the legal reach of the city. The scenario allows the possibility of the captain siding with Constable Janikk and even the Player Characters getting captured.

The scenario is supported with six pre-generated Player Characters, all of which are Human, bar one. They consist of a male Envoy from Natan, a female leader and Windrunner who is a mercenary, Thaylen Warrior and duellist, an Azish Scout who is a Hunter and Edgedancer, an Unkalaki investigator who is a Scholar and Hunter, and an Iriali Agent. If the Windrunner or Edgedancer Player Characters are chosen, there are Surgebinding sheets for both that explain how their powers work. Lastly, the seventh pre-generated Player Character is Singer, intended to be used if the Game Master runs the scenario after the Everstorm. There is a very nice deck plan of Star of Natanatan too.

Physically, Law and Obligation is very well presented. It is well written and both the artwork and the cartography are very good. The deck plan of Star of Natanatan is very nice, though it is a pity that only the top deck is depicted.

Law and Obligation is a serviceable scenario for the Cosmere Roleplaying Game—and that is it. It shows some of the tensions in the setting, but really does not show the setting at its best or really introduce the setting effectively. In other words, Law and Obligation is a scenario that is best appreciated by fans of the setting rather than anyone who is new.