DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
Invisible Sun $99.00
Average Rating:4.6 / 5
Ratings Reviews Total
14 3
4 1
2 0
0 0
0 0
Invisible Sun
Click to view
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
Invisible Sun
Publisher: Monte Cook Games
by Aisling S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/17/2019 01:23:09

Invisible Sun, by Monte Cook games is an imaculate game of collaborative storytelling. The rules are light and flexible but stable, consistent and well defined. The system is there when you need it, but gets out of the way when you need to step out of them.

Chsracters are interesting, rich, and unique. The PDF is a great first step, abd the files are all searchable. The art is inspiring, the text is well wriiten and imaginative, even the layout is perfectly executed.

My favorite bit is The Sooth Deck. It adds an almost supernatural element to the game, and provides fun snd interesting twists to interject into the game.

For my part, this is my perfect game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Invisible Sun
Publisher: Monte Cook Games
by Robert C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/12/2019 16:56:53

Invisible Sun is a mad game about wonder workers in a surreal world behind, and superior to, the grey world we live in. It does this brilliantly in many many ways, though there are certainly places its lofty goals haven't quite been reached.

I'm going to talk about a couple different parts that really make an impression on me, good or bad: Creating characters, The World(s) of the game, the Rules and Actually Playing the game. I should also quickly mention, as others have, the Ambiance of the game is phenomenal. The art is gorgeous, the cards are perhaps a bit overwhelming but well made and attractive, the Black Cube is a freaking magical way of transporting/delivering you the game (albeit a HEAVY magic).

Character creation is Fun, which is a requirement for almost any game to be good in my eyes. Everyone is a magic-wielder and playing this game will make you hesitant to use paltry words like Mage or Wizard to describe them because they just don't do it justice here. The Classes/Schools/Guilds are interesting (except for Vances, that feel like the class to play if you just can't wrap your head around what this game is capable of)) and it makes deciding what to play a lot of fun, which is good because the rules aren't always super clear about the various bit mean (and there is a lot of new vocabulary in here to absorb).

Characters start pretty deep, which is wonderful. You not only create your character but work on defining/describing the people you know or who know you and why, Everyone starts with the strong possibility of having a house and income, a pretty shocking idea for most games, and there is a great mini storytelling session just deciding who your neighbors are! This provides a rich opening to adventures RIGHT out the gate. You can easily build a character and have 4 or 5 things YOU want to dig deeper into your character and where they live, day 1.

Characters are not defined by skills, which was a shock to me and took some getting used to (I only have three skills?!?) and is usually quickly remedied in-game if that remains important to you, which is might not. You have deeper things to understand than simply Skills.

The World(s) of the Actuality are well done at a theoretical level, but actual play has made me reach back to my Planescape days for deeper inspiration. The worlds of Invisible Sun are surreal and interesting but, perhaps intentionally, so vague as to demand that you fill in a tremendous number of blanks yourself. Again; this can easily be seen as a Feature, not a Bug. I'm perfectly happy to build them in the image my mind sees fit and believe the game all the richer for that lack of author-mandated definition. I DO believe that some GMs would be looking for more here, so in my mind this is a count against IS, but if you love inventing insane worlds like I do, you won't miss this much.

The Rules. Are kind of a beautiful mess. There are rules we didn't realize existed until after months of play. Rules we have decided as a group to ignore. The team did a great job of annotating "See page x in Book y" but there is simply a LOT here. Getting the PDF version so you can text search through it is strongly suggested.

I meant what I said about beautiful mess though, it has some Great stuff in this game! My favorite rules are How Characters Earn XP, How characters earn Despair and Joy and how you learn new things, the concept of Secrets, how you increase standing in your organization... some really really good stuff in there.

Actually Playing the Game. The ultimate test of any game is actually playing it, and while my group and I have certainly spent some time bemoaning various hidden rules or undefined things, that pales in importance because the Game is Awesome.

Within six adventures we were playing characters whose lives were worthy of any epic saga. Rich emotional situations and intractable problems, complex needs or desires and a built in group of friends to help you through them all. This isn't accidental, this is what Invisible Sun is really aiming for and holy cats they hit that goal straight on and full impulse. The game system of Joy and Despair MAKES characters intentionally choose or set up negative outcomes within their own personal stories and this is critical for their advancement. Having a system where characters get a needed reward for NOT succeeding at everything makes characters much more real and deep and interesting. Examples from my campaign: "I tried to understand why my character's Father was undermining all my successes and trying to ruin my standing and... well... I found out, but this knowledge just made everything worse. I have reason to believe I'm an illusion or a changeling or a spell gone wrong, that I don't even really exist!" "My character and her girlfriend had an instant bond, like we'd known each other for ages. The more we learn about each other the more we learn we MAY have actually known the other before and our mutual forgetting may have been because something terrible happened. Do I even WANT to find out?" These are pretty dark experiences for a character in game and where in other games this would entirely be the result of someone deciding this is what they want and the GM saying "Well, I guess we can have other people sitting around while you roleplay out your soap opera" in this game it is organic to the game and I cannot fully explain to you have fabulous the results are.

Another fascinating mechanic is one I have heard people use in other games but in this game really shines. The game comes with a "Sooth Deck", a tarot-like deck of cards with suggested meanings. Sure, you could just roll dice and get a Success or Failure but many situations are better served by having players state what they are trying to accomplish and drawing a card and riffing off of what is shows. "How did the big party I threw work out?", "I am going to ask the Spiders if they know anything about this Death Cult", "I have this strange orb of wild magic from a couple adventure ago. I'm out of ideas so I guess I'll just see what it does." None of these are clearly "make a roll against X" and pulling from the Sooth Deck gives you some really great ways of figuring out what could have happened.

The last thing I'll touch on is particularly unique to Invisible Sun: Time and Reality bend and stretch here unlike in any other game. You want to rebuild a character? Any time you want. You made a ruling you decide later is bad? The world has changed JUST NOW and that's just how it is now. The world is ever changing and changeable to a degree that few others can even conceive and you can weave stories here that would be impossible in other systems. You want to create a monster that eats familial love? Done. Want a form of succubus/incubus that doesn't seduce you but rather goes back in your timeline and replaces someone you love with themselves? Done.

I'd like to wrap up by saying how very impressed I am by the feeling of this game and the key mechanics it uses. The rules have some issues and balance is not always well addressed, but the game itself BLAZES. Every game we play digs us deeper into the stories about these characters in ways you don't often see until near the end of a long campaign in other systems.

Full disclosure, I’m a member of the MCG Asset Team, who demos games at stores and conventions and could receive swag through that program. I'm not getting anything for this, this is my honest opinion. This is the only game I have done this for, because I liked the game so much. I've run a couple games at a local convention to great success and am happy to tell you what I think, just ask and I'll expound!

TL;DR: The rules are a bit of a mess but game play makes some of the deepest, richest characters we have ever played and we're having a great campaign. One of the best storytelling games I've ever played.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Invisible Sun
Publisher: Monte Cook Games
by Darius S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/06/2019 13:23:43

A Narrative Game of Surreal Magic that puts control in the players' hands

I've been playing tabletop roleplaying games since I was 10 years old. I started with Original Dungeons & Dragons, played and run every iteration through to 5th, nearly every White Wolf game line both old and new, GURPS, Traveller, Star Wars, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Cypher System, Call of Cthulhu and many more. A good 30+ years of gaming experience.

When I first read about Invisible Sun I was enthralled. When I played and game mastered it, I was sold. Many times RPGs are imbalanced on the division of labor for a good game. Many, like D&D, lean towards the bulk of the work being on the DM, with the players focusing just on their characters solely. Over the years, some games I've played and run have tried to fix this, putting more control in the players hands and trying to free up the GM. Over the years I've been less than impressed by these attempts.

Until Invisible Sun. Their first attempt, Cypher System, was a good start towards this, but in IS it really shines through.

The players are given more control and more responsibility. The mechanical side of the system is focused on the players. They perform the dice rolls, they build their ventures, the GM is left to simply set the challenge level and interpret the results. They create not just their characters, but homes, neighborhoods, neighbors, unique NPCs, landmarks and local issues. They do this as a group, which allows for a unique experience, and creation. The group decides why their are together, what goals they are focusing on and how they begin play. This does a lot for empowering the players and freeing up the GM for what they really need to focus on.

The GM, with those worries gone, can dedicate their time and effort towards weaving the stories that the players are creating for their characters together for a cohesive game and narrative. The GM is now able to direct their effort towards creating NPCs, interesting set pieces, and over-arching story arcs that combine the player characters' personal arcs.

The system gives the feeling of being minimal, while still holding unique systems for specific actions/magic, that can give each character type (Order) an individual feel and crunchiness that some players crave.

Overall, I am absolutely pleased with my purchase. I love the system, I love the setting (which I could write thousands of words on but won't) and the breadth of stories that can be told within it.

I understand that the first blush of the sticker price can be a shock. I felt the same way, however I would point out that this isn't just a book or two that makes up the game. You're getting four books, tons of cards, the sooth deck and more.

Tl;dr - I utterly love this game. It puts players in control of what is truly important, and frees the GM to create an amazing story. Absolutely worth the price!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Invisible Sun
Publisher: Monte Cook Games
by Justin W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/21/2019 02:57:08

There is, literally and figuratively, a lot to unpack here but I will attempt brevity because, well, ....the internet. From the front of the first book to the last punch token there is a level of craftsmentship to the art, the books, the cards, etc. that is rarely found in RPG's of any genre. While there are many, in some cases legitimate, complaints about the pricing of both the physical and digital versions of this product the quality of production that is delivered is beyond reproach. The rules system thanks in large part to the magical systems of the vislae has a depth to it that simply put many of the other Cypher based games can sometimes lack. This re-tooled version with changes in dice used, how attributes are used, the myriad changes related to the magical methods make for a better and tighter rules mechanic overall. One such example is the addition of Secrets, a pool of points that allows the player to tweak rolls, change outcomes, or even alter plot. There are, however, a number of concerns with the mechanics. While Secrets are a welcome addition to the Cypher system they are not innovative. There is also a de-emphasis on skills, not that skills ever enjoyed a great deal of love in other Cypher products, but in Invisible Sun they are downright disrespected. Meanwhile magical abilities, spells, summons, rituals, crafting, and etc. get depth beyond any other mechanic in the game far oustripping every other ability a character may have or want. Clearly magic is the only viable mechanical option for survivability, utility, and combat. All other potential avenues to achieving the end results of survivability, utility, and combat effectiveness come across as vestigial limbs. Contrast this to the 5th edition of the "worlds oldest role playing game" (not accurate, btw) where characters may strive through any number of avenues to be successful in-game. I never thought I would see the day where I would use any edition of the "worlds oldest role playing game" as a comparison to another for freedom of character choice. However if you like your magic deep, flavorful, crunchy, and yet oddly psychotropic then Invisible Sun delivers...sort of. The four orders of the vislae, effectively the four character classes a player currently has to choose from, have very little cross-over. While this was obviously a consciouss choice to create greater difference between their paths and how they operate it does limit the sense of the freedom in character design the rest of the game displays. Again that sense of vestigial limbs. It's almost as if Mr. Cook can't quite shake character classes from his early career when this game could so obviously benefit from it. Naturally your table can change the rules but there is no explicit rule for one class, say a weaver, learning the in-class abilities of another class, say a goetic, which would allow for a free flowing naturalist spell caster with some interesting summoning options. In fact as written in the base book The Key it would appear that one class cannot learn the specialty magic of another to the extent that you question if a weaver type character could learn any of the summoning magics. It's only in The Way, the book detailing magic, that we learn that yes anyone can learn anything given time and opportunity. That, if anything, is the true complaint that I have; there's too much. The game is so absolutely full and every page packed with information, setting or mechanical, it's dizzying. To say that much of these books is byzantine explanations for things that are unlikely to ever happen in most campaigns is not an understatement. Mr. Cook and co. built a game for the true hardcore storytellers and gamers out there in the world which is the heart of why I fear for it's long term success. Between tag and content MonteCook Games has created a niche product and while wonderful in it's production value and attention to detail (arguably excruciating attention to detail) niche games tend not to last the years necessary to truly make for a legendary gaming product that both helps define the genre but also pays the bills of the designers. That written the depth layered into character creation; making houses, neighborhoods, and even the collaborative nature of it is wonderful. While many argue that most if not all of the storytelling elements and additions of Invisible Sun could be integrated into just about any system it's simply nice to have such things laid out neatly and in order for your; the GM and players; use. I think an argument could be made for Invisible Sun being a heavily re-skinned Mage: The Awakening but if so then it's one with great depth of story, setting, and mechanics to that re-skin. Besides, who really wants to do all the creative heavy lifting to get a setting this immense and involved? While the price tag is large and frankly one I wouldn't have purchased without my credits here on DriveThru you do receive over seven hundred of setting, mechanics, cards, tokens, and adventure for the money never mind the cards and miscellaneous to add to your immersion and feeling of depth. IF you want a game with that kind of depth that needs no heavy lifting from yourself other than a massive amount of reading then game will live up to it's assigned price. IF you do NOT want that level of depth or don't want a system obsessed with it's own magic system then purchase a copy of Mage: The Awakening and run an umbral campaign out in the depths of the spirit world. Yes, I understand I used Mage: The Awakening as an example of a system not obsessed with it's own magical system; Mage puts the magic in a place of pride mechanically while Invisible Sun can't stop staring at it's own magical systems; trust me, there is a difference.

Pro's Depth of setting and character Intricate and exotic magical rules and systems Incredibly high production value Life Achievement for reading all 640 pages of material in core rules set.

Con's $$$ Byzantine explanations can lead to bloody nose and dizzyness Emphasizes magic to the detriment of all other systems or advantages a character may have Not as innovative mechanically or setting wise as would have you believe *can't blame them for trying, every game claims to "re-invent the wheel" so to speak.

Overall I gave the system, setting, and production value four stars. While I would really want to give three stars primarily due to the unbalanced nature of attributes, skills, abilites, and magic as well the overall price tag. I simply cannot ignore the obvious love, care, and attention that was given to this game. While for a variety of reasons this may not be your "cup of tea" it must be respected the sheer immense undertaking that MonteCook Games faced and the immense quality they have delivered.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 reviews) Result Pages:  1 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates