Invisible Sun is an amazing and visionary new tabletop roleplaying game from Monte Cook that introduces new modes of RPG play, a unique and original setting, and an unprecedented physical production weighing in at over 30lb (14kg).
"A very different approach to storytelling...Invisible Sun stands out as a revolutionary advancement among roleplaying games" —LA Review of Books
Released in the summer of 2018 to Kickstarter backers, and through retail game stores, and on the Monte Cook Games website, it sold out immediately. And so we held a successful Kickstarter campaign to reprint this groundbreaking, but very hard-to-find, piece of RPG history.
Reserve your copy today! Once it returns to Shadow, it's, well...gone.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
A New Reward: Prop-Crafting Kit
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Nov 09, 2018 at 11:22:56 PM
Greetings, honored vislae—
Unlocking our first stretch goal, the digital prop set, got us to thinking. We have a lot of resources for putting together our own props: digital elements from the books and other components of the Black Cube, which we've used for promotions, convention displays, unique rewards, and one-off items. Perhaps some of those things would be useful to you, an Invisible Sun player or GM?
You could have a wax seal, an embosser, or a stamp made—we'll provide files optimized for these uses, as well as instructions and permission.
You could create official letters, secret messages, or hidden clues. Encode text in the mystic Invisible Sun glyphs. Maybe even add a wax seal, an embossed symbol, or similar element to props you create, to give them a really immersive, authentic feel.
This kit will include a bunch of digital elements that make that possible, such as:
The IS Script font: The symbol script you see, among many other places, on the back of each book in the Black Cube.
Files for the symbols of each sun, with or without the sunray border shown on the Path of Suns and sun medallions, in a variety of useful file formats.
Ditto the order symbols.
Files for the order letterheads (samples of which are included among the props in the Black Cube).
Instructions (and permission) to use these files to make things like embossers, wax seals, stamps, and so on.
We’ll think of other things to add, I’m sure.
The IS Script font is a custom font we made for including secret information throughout the Black Cube and its books.
This isn’t a stretch goal. It’s simply something we thought would benefit you, the backer, and improve the Invisible Sun experience. So we’re just going to do it!
The elements of this kit mostly exist already, so we’ll deliver it pretty quickly. We do have to draft instructions (for example, the IS Script font doesn’t play well with ligatures—which probably means nothing to most users—so you’ll need some direction on how to set up your document to get the expected results) along with permissions and similar documentation, so it won’t be right away. But expect it well ahead of delivery of the Black Cube.
If you like this idea, here’s what you can do to thank us: Take a moment, right now, to share this promotion we're launching today. It encourages people to help spread the word—and two lucky people will win Vislae Kits for taking part. (You're also invited to take part as well, but sharing the raffle itself is the most important thing you can do to help the Kickstarter.) Reaching new gamers is how this campaign grows—and how we’ll reach the art book stretch goal we’re closing in on right now, and hit even more stretch goals before the campaign ends!
Shall We Talk about Books?
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Nov 09, 2018 at 08:44:57 AM
Greetings, wise vislae—
Art from Book M by Martin de Diego
As this campaign continues to move forward at an impressive pace—even in the slowest period of a Kickstarter campaign—we are closing in on our next stretch goal. We’re at the halfway mark, and things have been picking up steam for the past several days!
We thought you’d like a look at a few of the pieces from Book M and Secrets of Silent Streets that are the sort of thing you’ll see in the art book. That title will also draw from Teratology and other future titles such as The Threshold.
Art from Secrets of Silent Streets by Joe Slucher
Speaking of new titles. . . .
We mentioned in our last update that we’re looking forward to funding a new title for Invisible Sun—in fact, that’s exactly what we have in mind for our next stretch goal. Here’s a quick look at what Monte has in mind Enchiridion of the Path:
The eight (no, nine) suns comprise the Actuality, and the realms they illuminate stretch into infinity and yet can be contained within a single soul. Exploring these realms offers both overwhelming dangers and nigh-unimaginable rewards.
Written from the perspective of experienced and powerful vislae who have walked the Path of Suns, this deluxe product contains player-facing material meant to be the results of character research and investigation, as well as GM-facing material that offers new locations, NPCs, challenges, and stories.
Leave the streets of Satyrine behind and travel the Path. As within, so without.
We’ve described this as a book (and all backer levels that include “additional books, if unlocked as stretch goals” will get it), but we’re looking at some innovative new formats for this title that might stretch your idea of what a game book can be.
We’re looking forward to unlocking the art book and officially unveiling Enchiridion of the Path as a stretch goal. Here are some things we can all do to help reach these stretch goals as quickly as possible—and maybe unlock a few more beyond them!
Retweet this tweet, which tells folk about the Kickstarter with some really nice art.
Or this Facebook post, which has a nice excerpt from a great review of the game.
Art from Book M by Aldo Katayanagi
Stretch Goal Unlocked: Props Will Be Made
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Nov 03, 2018 at 10:50:47 AM
Greetings, wise vislae—
Congratulations: You have taken us to our first stretch goal already! We’re a week into this campaign, but it’s still moving at an astonishing pace—most Kickstarter campaigns slow down considerably after the first few days, but this one has shown no sign of doing so yet.
If you are getting (or already have) the Black Cube, you’re already the owner of a selection of interesting props—seemingly common items from around Satyrine, like menus, handbills, tickets, brochures, and business cards. Many of them harbor hints, hooks, and hidden truths about the Actuality. This stretch goal has funded a new set of props, to be delivered to backers at every reward level, in PDF. It will almost double the number of props that come in the Black Cube, and will have all the mystique of those items.
Our Next Stretch Goal: An Art Book
Invisible Sun's artwork stunningly illustrates the surreal beauty of the Actuality—and the art going into Book M and Secrets of Silent Streets (both of which are through the layout process) is, if anything, even more beautiful. Featuring new art from these titles along with Teratology, The Threshold, and other supplements, this stretch goal will be a companion to the art book within the Black Cube. Like that art book, it won’t just be a beautiful showpiece—it will also be a great source of inspiration for your narrative, and a handy “show ’em” reference when you reveal new places, people, and creatures of the Actuality to your players.
We will unlock this stretch goal if we reach $166,103. It will be added to the reward levels in PDF, and in softcover to any reward level that includes “Additional books, if unlocked as stretch goals.” It will also be available in print and PDF as an add-on.
It’s a big jump to $166,103, but at the pace we’ve seen so far in this campaign, it could happen in a matter of days. That said, it’s completely normal for things to slow a bit in the middle part of a Kickstarter campaign. We’re excited to hopefully add a new book to the lineup, and this isn’t the last—or the biggest—we have in mind. Please help spread the word, and we can maintain this pace to hit this stretch goal and go on to others!
The Black Cube Has Been Called
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 12:51:47 PM
I summon the Black Cube from the Void, and I master it to shape its contents. Opening the box is difficult and dangerous. . . .
These are the opening words on the Master the Black Cube spell card, one of several spells that invoke the mysterious and dangerous Black Cube. You, vislae, have successfully conjured the Black Cube: We have funded, and the reprint of Invisible Sun and the Vislae Kit is now a reality. Thank you for helping us make it happen!
Our First Stretch Goal: Reach out and touch the Actuality
Part of what makes Invisible Sun so remarkable (in addition to the truly unique setting and the magical rules system) is the game’s tactile nature. When you receive your Black Cube, you will find that it contains, among the many hundreds of components, a large, thick envelope stuffed with props and handouts—little bits of the Actuality to share at your game table. Subscribers to the Directed Campaign also receive, in addition to adventure content, dozens of props—some physical, mailed directly to them (or their players), and others in digital form to be shown or printed at home. Menus, business cards, signs, handbills, posters, train and theatre tickets, letterhead, brochures, postcards . . . the list goes on. Few things draw players into a game world, and make their eyes light up at the game table, like well-crafted props.
So we’re further embracing this with our first stretch goal. We’ll make a new set of props, nearly doubling the quantity included in the Black Cube. These additional props will be delivered to you in PDF format—in fact, you’ll get them before the Black Cube itself.
Invitations, tickets, playbills, old letters, pages torn from mysterious books—like everything Invisible Sun, expect these items to be filled with hints, clues, hooks, and hidden truths. They’ll be a great aid in your Invisible Sun narrative. We will unlock these props and include them in every backer level, if we reach $125,207.
Doing this will require reaching more vislae currently lost in shadow. Please help spread the word to gamers who haven’t yet heard about Invisible Sun. You can find posts and tweets with the #invisiblesunrpg hashtag (or on Monte Cook Games’s Facebook and Twitter pages). Just sharing or retweeting a couple of these to your followers and friends can go a long way in reaching new backers. With your help, we’ll reach this stretch goal easily, and move on to even more!
