Like all roleplaying games, Invisible Sun is a series of interactions between the game master (GM) and the players. The GM is the world (and all who inhabit it), and the players are the main characters in the story that unfolds as the group plays the game. It’s the creation of that story that is the goal. All the game’s rules and mechanics, and all player and GM decisions, should service the story.
The GM sets a scene, describing the environment and providing a context for the characters to inhabit. The players, in turn, describe the actions that their characters will undertake. Using the rules, the GM and the players work together to determine if the characters are successful or not. Remember that success does not always mean a good story, and failure does not necessarily mean a bad one. Ups and downs are part of any good tale.
Invisible Sun’s stories are the focus, and they’re driven by the character arcs of the vislae involved. A story encompasses all the activities of an individual or the group as they advance toward a goal and achieve it (or fail to do so). Many stories can be intertwined, with one starting while another is in full swing.
All the stories involving a given set of characters are collectively called the narrative.
Invisible Sun is a game played on three different levels, or modes, depending on the situation. Each has its use to address certain types of experiences and activities in the game, and each solves certain types of issues that can arise.
The first mode, called Action Mode, is the one with the greatest focus on detail. It’s where everyone involved is together (probably sitting around a table with all the Black Cube components out) and the action is being tracked round by round so that every player gets a turn before anyone gets a second turn. This could be a fight, a chase, or a tense moment of negotiation. Most roleplayers are very familiar with this mode.
The second mode, called Narrative Mode, handles the more flexible activities in the game in terms of detail and time. While no one is tracking things carefully in rounds or strictly managing turns, everyone’s still at the table, the Path of Suns board and Sooth Deck are out and in play, and the GM is managing the actions and outcomes. The game might use this mode to handle travel, investigating an interesting area, resting, commerce, or casually negotiating with NPCs. There are still die rolls to be made, points to be spent, and so on, but probably not with the frequency of Action Mode.
The first two modes go hand in hand, with play naturally moving from one to the other. The group might question a few NPCs to learn the location of King Nine’s Candleflame Palace, equip themselves for the journey, and then travel there using Narrative Mode. Upon arrival, they switch to Action Mode and deal with the magical wards and strange guardians. Both modes can be thought of as “table play,” because they take place, obviously, with everyone gathered at the game table.
The third mode of play is a bit different. It’s called Development Mode. It doesn’t take place at the game table, but away from it. It can involve one player or many. It can involve the GM, or it might not.
Development Mode always involves a single turn of a Sooth card. You don’t use dice in Development Mode. Even character sheets probably aren’t necessary much of the time. This mode might involve the player(s) sitting down with the GM, or it might be handled through texts sent back and forth, perhaps using the feature in the Invisible Sun app designed exactly for that. The app also makes it possible for the GM to turn a card and send it to the player(s), indicating how any interpretation inspired by the card influences the outcomes of their proposed actions.
In Development Mode, one or more players decide to take an action that can be resolved away from the table. They might elect to talk to the magistrate and see if they can get permission to enter one of the forbidden areas of The Silent City. They might spend time asking around about the The Library of the Undone and where it can be found. Or (if multiple players are involved) they might simply talk among themselves to determine their next course of action as a group. These events are referred to as side scenes. There’s even a type of side scene that details events that happened in the past, but which might impact events in the present or even the future. These appropriately titled flashbacks are always interesting because they allow a nonlinear narrative. A flashback doesn’t have to take place in the distant past. It might reveal how two characters spent the previous day getting ready for the events in the most recent session of table play by spying on their opponents and gaining valuable information.
Development Mode offers all manner of play opportunities. Players can play the game between full group sessions if they want. A player can use Development Mode as it fits into their personal schedule. Even if they can’t make it to the regular session, they can still move their character’s story forward. If one or two players can’t make it to a scheduled session, the group can still play using Development Mode, focusing on side issues rather than the main narrative. Players can play even if the GM isn’t available. A side scene could involve the entire group taking an action that they discuss in person and then communicate through text to the GM. The GM can send them a Sooth card through the app, and then, whenever she’s able, respond to the players’ actions and intentions through a text of her own.
Last, note that it’s possible for a side scene in Development Mode to become significant enough that it expands into one of the other two modes at the table. An investigation into a minor matter in a side scene might reveal information that interests the whole group, who will act on it in an upcoming full session.
Let’s lump Action Mode and Narrative Mode together, because they’re both intended to be used while the whole group—GM and players—are gathered together, probably around a table.
There’s a lot of stuff in the Black Cube, and it’s all useful for Action and Narrative Modes. Each player probably has a character tome filled out with their character details. Each player probably also wants a grimoire sheet to keep track of magical practices known and a bit of blank paper to keep notes of active spell effects and depletion, as well as—of course—notes on the events in the story. And obviously, you’ll want the books handy.
Each player should have any cards or tokens appropriate to their character. If a character knows a spell, they should have that card handy. Vances should have their various cards and diagram ready to show what spells they have prepared. Weavers should have their cards. And so on.
The GM should set up the Path of Suns board. Place the Testament of Suns on the Invisible Sun. Shuffle the Sooth Deck and place it face down on or next to the board. Tokens for Joy, Despair, and Acumen should be nearby, ready to award to players.
Now you’re ready to start.
A player cancels at the last minute. They were going to be a part of tonight’s session, but now they’re not. (It happens—real life rears its ugly head.) The GM informs the rest of the players that the missing player has been pulled back into Shadow. Something—a nostalgic memory, a sudden connection with a Shadow memento, or just the power of the lie—draws vislae back into Shadow from time to time. They simply fade away and, just as inexplicably, reappear later, having escaped Shadow yet again. This approach alleviates any need to run the missing player’s character as an NPC or come up with a story-based reason for why they’re suddenly gone.
A session is the actual play of the game at the table. Whatever happens during that time is considered a single session. A story might occur in a single session, but most stretch over multiple sessions. Certainly an entire narrative takes up many sessions.
Most sessions should start with a brief recap of who the characters are and what’s happened in the story so far. This is not unlike a “Previously on . . .” bit from a television show in Shadow.
And then play begins. Unless things start off with a bang (which is fun to do sometimes, GMs, so take note), play begins in Narrative Mode. The players probably discuss briefly what they want to do, and when and where they meet (since they likely live in different places), and then play proceeds.
When play switches from Narrative Mode to Action Mode is up to the GM. The deciding factor is, “Do we need to start determining who does what, when?” If the answer is yes, Action Mode is needed. Now, the very nature of the beginning of Action Mode is that the GM presents a situation or event and then asks the players, “What do you do?” That means the players’ response is always the first thing that happens. There’s no need to roll dice to determine the order. However, this doesn’t mean that the players always go first. The event that triggers Action Mode might be something an NPC does, such as “The demonic guard raises his bone sword above his head and attacks!” Or something that happens in the world, such as “The explosion shakes the whole building and the ceiling begins to collapse!” In such a case, the first thing that a player might do is make a defense roll.
But things don’t have to start that way either. If the characters are sneaking into a dangerous location, Action Mode might start with the GM stating, “You hear the footsteps of a guard coming your way. What do you do?” The players need to deal with that situation, and the GM needs to know what they do right at that moment. They’ve probably got only a round or two. That’s clearly Action Mode.
When Action Mode is no longer needed, the group transitions back to Narrative Mode. If the fight is over, the angry ghosts are gone, or the avalanche is done, you probably don’t need to keep track of rounds anymore.
Thus, the game shifts back and forth a few times during a typical session. There’s no right or wrong amount of time in either mode—you do what the story demands.
Throughout the session, the GM will, at various points, play a Sooth card on the Path of Suns. The first card is played at the beginning of the session, and a new card is played at the GM’s discretion, but the following things probably should trigger a card turn:
✦✦ Characters move to a new location
✦✦ A significant event occurs
✦✦ A significant new NPC enters the scene
✦✦ A PC suffers a Wound or an Anguish
✦✦ Something surprising happens
✦✦ A GM shift is introduced
✦✦Magical flux occurs
Cards are always played in order, moving down the Path of Suns. So the first card is played on the Silver Sun, the next on the Green Sun, and so on. The most recent card is the active card, and any effects of the previous card are now canceled. The only exception is that a card played on the Invisible Sun goes into the Testament of Suns and remains in effect until a new card is played on the Invisible Sun.
Cards represent the constant fluctuations of magic. Most cards make one type of magic (based on sun color association) stronger and another type weaker. On the Sooth cards, the name of the enhanced sun is bold and the diminished sun is faint. For spells and effects linked to the stronger sun, either their effective level is increased by 1 (with no additional cost) or the Sorcery cost of the effect is reduced by 1—player choice. For weaker sun effects, either the level is lowered by 1 or the cost is raised by 1. For example, the Endless Maze card either increases the level of Blue spells by 1 or reduces the cost of Blue spells by 1. Likewise, it reduces the level of Red spells by 1 or increases the cost by 1.
Cards affecting magic of a particular sun double the effect when played on that sun in the path. So if Endless Maze is played on the Blue Sun, it increases the level or lowers the cost by 2. Played on the Red Sun, it lowers the level or increases the cost by 2.
All cards belong to one of four families, which are also keyed to character hearts. The other effect is that if a card is played from the family associated with a character’s heart, such as a Mysteries card for a Stoic, all of that character’s actions get a +1 bonus to their venture.
Special royalty cards have these effects:
Sovereign: +1 to all actions, +2 if heart is linked to family
Nemesis: −1 to all actions, −2 if heart is linked to family
Defender: +2 to all actions if heart is linked to family
Apprentice: −1 to all actions if heart is linked to family
Companion: Duplicates the effects of the previously played card (if played first in a session on the Silver Sun, immediately play another card on the next sun)
Adept: Play another card on the next sun
At various times—in either mode—the GM will introduce something called a shift. A shift is when something works in a way that a player wasn’t expecting. This isn’t because of a die roll, but because the GM decides to shift an outcome or a circumstance to make the ongoing story more exciting. In general, when the GM does this, a character affected positively gains 1 Joy. A character affected negatively gains 1 Despair.
The GM should probably introduce one or two shifts in a given session, affecting one or two characters. At the very most, no character should be affected by more than one shift in a session.
There’s no right or wrong length of time for a session. Some groups will play for a couple of hours. Others will want to devote all Saturday afternoon. The only thing that’s important is that the GM has an idea of when the session needs to wrap up. This is so they can hopefully guide the story not only to a good stopping point narratively, but also to one that isn’t right in the middle of something (because stopping then shuts down Development Mode opportunities, as explained below). The GM should find a stopping point that allows the characters the chance to go home or do something on their own between this session and the next.
At the end of each session, each player describes why they did what they did, or how they felt about what transpired. This is called the Character Summaries part of the session. Players discuss what they think and feel about other characters, events that occurred, places they’ve seen, and so on. Specifically, a player should focus on their character arc(s) and discuss how they potentially completed one or more steps in an arc. The player might also reference the kinds of things that might bring their specific character Joy or Despair.
The GM then awards Acumen, Joy, and Despair. These awards come primarily from what the players reveal in their Character Summaries. They are in addition to any Joy or Despair that resulted from GM shifts.
In addition, the GM should award discretionary Acumen for accomplishments and experiences outside the characters’ stated arcs. If, on the way to an important meeting, the characters encounter and defeat a creature spawned from a Hate Cyst in one of Satyrine’s Ruined Expanses, they should probably earn Acumen.
Likewise, a GM can award discretionary Joy and Despair. If, in that encounter with the hate spawn, the PCs save an endangered bystander, that might be worth 1 Joy (depending on the characters). If they try to save the bystander but he is still consumed by the creature, the characters might earn 1 Despair.
In general, these discretionary awards should never be more than 1 Acumen per session and 1 Joy or Despair per session, for each character. This is above and beyond what characters earn from their character arcs.
Between sessions, a player can contact the GM and state that they want to have a side scene. There are three reasons why someone might do this:
1. The character wants to do something on their own. For example, a character goes alone to talk to a contact in the Vancian Order. This usually has something to do with what happened in the last session (or what might happen in the upcoming session). Perhaps the character wants to ask their contact some questions about the weird half-world the group will travel to next session.
2. The character wants to do something that pertains to their character arc or some other task that’s important to them but doesn’t involve the other characters in any way.
3. The player just wants to get in some gaming fun during long gaps between sessions, and it’s a good way to further develop their character.
Side scenes detail what a character does between sessions, which means the default assumption is that there’s always at least a little bit of uncommitted time between each session to fit in a side scene. If that’s not the case, probably because a session ended in the middle of a situation where the characters can’t leave to do something else briefly, the only kinds of side scenes available are flashbacks or flashforwards (see below).
Ideally, a side scene involves the initiating player and the GM meeting between sessions, face to face. A side scene can be handled at a coffee shop, on a walk in the park, on the bus, or at home on the couch. Most can be resolved in ten to fifteen minutes of real-world time.
Of course, the realities of life are such that sometimes you can’t get together. In this case, a side scene could be handled as a phone call, an online chat, a text conversation, or a short series of email exchanges. The Invisible Sun app has a feature that allows this to happen right in the app itself, handled as a text conversation.
All parties involved should try to be as flexible as possible to accommodate each other and make the side scene work.
Side scenes are short and singularly focused. Think of a single scene in a movie or book (one that isn’t a climactic scene). Such scenes in fiction deal with a single matter and then are done. Examples of a side scene include:
A conversation. The PC goes to talk to someone. In this case, once the player describes who they want to talk to and how they get there, the player and the GM roleplay the conversation as though they were in Narrative Mode. In other words, the GM takes on the role of the NPC, and they talk. The PC might want to learn information, make a friend, get a favor, or intimidate someone for some end. When the conversation is over, the scene is over.
An observation. The PC goes to check something or someplace out. In heist movie parlance, this might be called “casing the joint,” but it can just be walking by an NPC vislae’s house to see if they’re home or following that vislae to see where they get their coffee. The goal of the observation is to get information that can be obtained without interacting with anyone. The only thing that might be at stake is whether the PC is noticed or not, but only in certain situations will there even be consequences for such a thing.
Research. Whether it takes the form of finding a book with the right information or asking around at the local pub to see if anyone has the answers the PC needs, the character tries to get intelligence on a subject. The player describes how they will learn what they need. This might be chatting people up, going to the bookstore, or sneaking into an exclusive library, so in some cases, there might be a bit more to it than just research. If the character is successful, the GM provides them with the information.
This approach is also a great way to handle how a character gains a new skill, spell, or secret. It handles the story reason for that advancement without taking up time at the table when the entire group is present.
Shopping. The PC needs new stuff—perhaps goods for their house, clothing, gear to prepare for an upcoming mission, or ephemera objects. Shopping might be as simple as the player informing the GM that they want to buy a few things for prices listed in the rules and the GM agreeing that the items are available. The GM, of course, might turn a simple trip to the market into a more complex scene, such as an encounter with a particular NPC, a pickpocket trying to ply their trade, or another event intruding on what would normally be mundane.
A short, simple mission. The most open-ended of the options, this type of side scene involves something that might be difficult but hopefully is straightforward. Breaking into someone’s house to steal back an amulet they took from you earlier is a short, simple mission. Slipping a sleep potion into a guard’s water glass so they oversleep and miss tomorrow’s shift is a short, simple mission. Going to an NPC Maker to buy a specific amulet is a short, simple mission. The consequences of such a mission vary in both complexity and severity. Committing a crime could literally land the PC in the hands of the Thah. The character could end up in a fight, which means that—although it’s unlikely—the PC could even die.
Short, simple missions are also appropriate opportunities for certain characters—namely Goetics and Makers—to use their order abilities without taking up the rest of the group’s time. A Goetic, knowing the group will go into danger in the next session, summons a demonic bodyguard in a side scene. A Maker in the same group uses the Maker’s Matrix to craft a defensive item for protection. Each of these character abilities can take ten or fifteen minutes to resolve. Just right for a side scene, but a long time to make the rest of the players wait at the table.
A flashback is a special side scene that works just like any other, except that it happened in the past. We see flashbacks in fiction all the time. They’re usually used to flesh out the background of a character or explain something that happens in the present.
For example, the PCs are stymied by a magical barrier barring them from entering a library that they want to reach. One of the players could initiate a flashback between group sessions in which they were at the library once before and learned the secret of the barrier. If they succeed, at the start of the next session, that character knows the way past it.
This kind of side scene has its own challenges, of course. Since it already happened, it shouldn’t contradict something that has been established to have happened after it. For example, if the PCs found a magical ceramic mask, a character shouldn’t be able to smash that mask in a flashback. Fortunately, the surreal, magical nature of the setting makes it easy to compensate for such contradictory paradoxes. The mask in the example is magically repaired. A character (NPC or PC) killed in a flashback who should be alive in the present somehow returned to life. An NPC that a character met during a session and then encountered in a flashback must have had some kind of memory loss between the two meetings.
If the contradiction is out of the player’s purview, the GM should make up whatever explanation they desire to compensate for it. They don’t have to reveal the explanation to the player if the character wouldn’t know. If the contradiction involves the player, the player and GM should work together to come up with an explanation that works and satisfies everyone. The explanation itself might further develop the character and make them a deeper, more interesting vislae.
Most of the time, however, flashbacks should be allowed only when contradictions are unlikely. A flashback might be a conversation with a mentor that occurred years earlier, a challenge the PC faced in the past (and determining whether they were successful further deepens the character), or some other character-defining moment. The point is to give the character more detail and depth.
A flashback can be the impetus for a new character arc. If, in a flashback, a Goetic summoned a being that got loose and caused a lot of hardship, the character in the present could adopt the Undo a Wrong character arc to finally hunt down that being. This can also work the other way around: a player who wants to take the Undo a Wrong arc for their character might decide to have a flashback in which they play through the scene where this happened. The point of the scene isn’t whether or not the being got loose (that’s a foregone conclusion), but to determine the other details involved.
Last, a flashback can literally be a fix. Let’s say the character would have summoned a spirit to scout out a location ahead of time, but the player didn’t think of it, and now there’s no time in the story before the next session. Well, what if they did it yesterday? A generous GM can give a player a break and allow a flashback to cover things that probably should have happened.
Flashforwards are very similar to flashbacks even though they are the opposite—scenes detailing something that happens in the future. The only reason you’d probably want to do a flashforward scene is if the most recent group session ended in such a way that there are no real opportunities for side scenes, but it’s clear that there will be soon. For example, say the group ended the last session in the Candleflame Palace of King Nine. They’ve got some unfinished business with him, and then they plan to return to Satyrine. It’s clear that they’ll finish what they’re doing and be back in the city well before the end of the next session. The players can develop side scenes with the GM that will take place when they get back to Satyrine (studying new spells, talking to contacts, buying ephemera, and so on). Then, when they return to the city, they can insert those scenes into the narrative (the characters learn their spells, get information from their contacts, and have their new ephemera—and a bit less money) and keep things moving, probably advancing the narrative’s timeline by days or even weeks.
Of course, everyone must understand that flashforward scenes are contingent on things going as expected. If the PCs are thrown into King Nine’s dungeon because they offended him, obviously they’re not getting back to Satyrine just yet.
There’s another type of side scene, and that’s one initiated by the GM rather than the player. A PC gets a mysterious visitor at their house. They receive a package or a letter that contains an interesting and unexpected development. A contact shows up and wants a favor from the PC for all the information they’ve provided.
In this case, the GM contacts the player to work out when and how they can play through a side scene. Sometimes the GM won’t give any information at the outset, and other times, a teaser is in order (“A strange woman shows up at your door one rainy night. She bears an oddly shaped package in her arms. Are you available for a side scene?”)
Once the side scene is arranged, the GM runs it as they would any other.
Development Mode doesn’t involve actions and dice the way the other modes do. It’s handled narratively. A general understanding of a character’s nature and abilities is more important than the specifics. If a character is skilled in stealth, that’s what’s important. The player doesn’t total up a bunch of modifiers to create a venture.
Where a determination of success or failure is needed, the GM turns a single Sooth card. It’s not played on the Path of Suns, and the effects on magic are likely irrelevant. Instead, the GM either uses the interpretive meaning of the card to come up with a narrative resolution or uses the 0–9 number on the card to provide a quick answer, comparing it to an appropriate challenge (with the character’s general skills and abilities broadly taken into account). Both of these involve a lot of judgment calls by the GM. This is where the game becomes more art than science. The thing to remember is that a side scene is all about story. You’re practically forgetting about game mechanics.
As an example, Fiona is a Goetic in a side scene where she talks to a superior in her order, looking for help and sponsorship so she can advance to the next degree. Fiona is charming and well spoken. The GM decides that the superior she’s chosen to meet with is a curmudgeon, so the challenge is difficult—a 7. The Sooth card is drawn, and it’s Elusive Sleep—a 6. Fiona’s charm and persuasion should be more than enough to turn that into a successful resolution.
As another example, Riven is a vislae who wants to sneak into a bookshop after hours and steal a book he desperately needs but cannot afford. He’s not particularly stealthy and his spells don’t much apply to the situation. The GM turns the Monarch card. Uh oh. The meanings of that card include authority and judgment. The GM rules that Riven is spotted exiting the shop with the book and apprehended by the local gerent’s agents. They let him go but say that he’s got to pay for any damages and pay a fine for his transgression. He can’t afford that, so they confiscate all his ephemera. (Bad decisions make good stories.)
As an aside, if a Goetic or Maker uses their summoning or crafting abilities in a side scene, you could make an exception and turn over multiple cards to reflect the standard mechanics of those special processes—both of which involve a series of actions. Or you could simply stick with the one-card system of side scenes and base the success or failure of the undertaking on that. Either way is viable.
Sometimes, two or more players want to be part of the same side scene. This works the same as with one player. Only one card is turned—not one card per player. Thus, the resolution is the success of the scene, not the success of the individuals involved. All involved must be present at the same time or involved in the same conversation to make it easy for the GM to resolve the scene.
Sometimes, the entire group will get together (in person or virtually) for a side scene. This might sound like a regular session, but it can be useful to discuss their next step in the overall story. Imagine a case where a regular group session was scheduled and everyone made it except the GM. The group could still meet and possibly undertake a short, simple mission or other action worthy of a side scene. They could then inform the GM of their conversation and desired action and, with the turn of a card, resolve the outcome after the fact.
Most of the time, side scenes don’t result in rewards other than the obvious. If a PC does research and is successful, they come away with the information they sought but no special Acumen, Joy, or Despair awards.
The exception is when a side scene is also a step in a character arc. This carries the stated awards for that step as normal.