Practically a currency unto themselves, secrets in Invisible Sun hold great power. While they can take many forms, some secrets, like those in this chapter, grant vislae new options or character abilities (or options and upgrades for their house). Learning this kind of secret involves both story elements and game mechanics, but these singular character abilities can really flesh out or distinguish a character with a unique benefit. Abilities gained through secrets are incredibly varied. A character with a new secret might be able to cast their spells in a different way, allowing them to use a special component to extend their range. Another might simply never be blocked by a locked door again. A third might learn a way to literally steal someone else’s face for a while and use it as their own. Imagine discovering the secret to living without needing to eat, the secret language of corpses, or the secret of projectile dreaming.
Secrets are actions you can take or benefits you gain by using a bit of knowledge about the fundamental nature of reality. Some don’t apply to you, but instead apply to your house. Each shows a modicum of understanding of the true nature of the world(s), either as a glimpse into the larger precepts of reality or as loopholes and tricks that circumvent those precepts.
Secrets are selected by characters and cost Acumen to acquire—1 per level of the secret. They provide new capabilities for the character, and unlike spells, they do not cost Sorcery to use (unless the description states otherwise). They are simply additions to the list of things the character can do.
Although characters spend Acumen to gain access to secrets, learning a secret is more than just an exercise in mechanics. Usually, secrets are taught, or discovered in research. Sometimes, a vislae will just stumble upon a secret. A secret can be viewed as a treasure or reward that a PC can obtain. A player might take on a character arc (such as Uncover a Secret) for their character to learn a desired secret.
House secrets provide augments to a vislae’s house in the form of improvements or additional features. They are like character secrets, except they apply to PCs’ houses rather than to the PCs themselves. Houses are limited in the number of augments they can have based on the size and type of house (see the Foundation chapter in The Key).
Once you learn a house secret, it usually takes a few days of work to implement it. Some have obvious requirements (you can’t have floating dinnerware if you don’t have dinnerware) and others might require a few small expenditures of materials, usually about 100 crystal per secret level.
Secrets are very specific, but some secrets can be learned again. So if you want two folded rooms in your house, you can have them, but you essentially pay the same cost again. Basically, the secret you learn is how to fold a room between the two specific rooms you choose. If you want to fold a room between two other rooms, you have to learn a different secret.