Seems sorta Planescape-ish, and it's by Monte Cook, so figured it might be worth a thread promoting it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/description
Some interviews where people from MCG talk about the game:
http://misdirectedmark.com/cypher-speak-asset-interviews-1-monte-cook-on-invisible-sun/
http://www.briecs.com/2016/08/five-or-so-questions-with-monte-cook-on-invisible-sun.html
More info on their site here:
Monte Cooke Games on what has been revealed so far:
https://www.montecookgames.com/what-has-been-revealed-so-far/
"This is a quick summary of much of what has been revealed about Invisible Sun. We will update this article as we post updates with more information."
Path of Suns Audio Fiction + Q & A With Monte
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUJzXCrwznSiym_ACbH3cRqnE5Wpob9Cs
City of Satyrine:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/posts/1678316
"...Satyrine is vast, stretching for miles, although much of it is desolate. Perhaps once, long ago, its population numbered in the tens of millions. But today? No one could even make an educated guess. This is made more difficult still as many of the apparent inhabitants are thoughtforms rather than actual people. These magical constructs carry out many of the mundane tasks that make the city work.
Still, despite the ruin, the reclaimed and rebuilt sections of the city have returned somewhat to normal. Nobles strut and preen, artisans create and perform, merchants trade, and criminals steal. Probably much like it always has been.
Ruling over Satyrine, the three immortal, godlike beings known as the Deathless Triumvirate dwell both within and beyond the city itself. Each has a dual nature: one physical and in the city, usually within a massive citadel located near Satyrine’s center in the Marquis Quarter, and one far more ephemeral. It is possible—likely, even—that the Triumvirate is just a manifestation of Satyrine’s own life force and will. If this secret proves to be true, then it would not be incorrect to think of them as the mind and the city as the body. The cysts, then, are tumorous and the Triumvirate—that is, the city itself—wants them removed.
Before the Triumvirate came along, another, far older entity called the Angular Serpentine was the ruler and the spirit of the city that existed here before Satyrine. And still the Angular Serpentine remains. If the Triumvirate are Satyrine’s mind or soul, the Angular Serpentine could be considered a demon possessing the city. It was a force given life in the far-off half-worlds of Narvago, a realm that probably no longer exists, and brought to the city for reasons unknown..."
A few more Q & A videos (see 7, 8, 9, 10):
Advancement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UAO_wJ0v6U&list=PLUJzXCrwznSiym_ACbH3cRqnE5Wpob9Cs&index=20
Nightside of the Blue Sun, Stats, and a Token of Appreciation
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/posts/1678869
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"These two are Miret Kollost and Mister Durance. Miret is an Established Flameheart Apostate who Dwells in Darkness. She's abandoned her corporeal form entirely except for her blood (her family ties are strong), but she uses clothing and a mask to interact with the world. Mister Durance is a Connected Stoneheart of the Order of Goetica who Cages Adversaries. He used magical compulsions on the demon trapped in his chest cage to learn where he could find that spiderwand. The two of them travel the Cyclone Road together to reach Castle Gnash and find the secret anti-diamond that can cleanse the stained 13th hour."
3 more Q & A videos (11, 12, 13):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7n4pliiy74&list=PLUJzXCrwznSiym_ACbH3cRqnE5Wpob9Cs&index=24
11: The App
12: Directed Campaign
13: Playtesting + Conclusion
Dice and a Secret
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/posts/1679785
The Guiding Hand:
https://www.montecookgames.com/the-guiding-hand/
Invisible Sun, Numenera, The Strange, Cypher System- Yup We Are Talking To Monte Cook From MCG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxtEddVjcTc&feature=autoshare
The Black Cube is Ascendant
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/posts/1680919
Charles Ryan is offering free copies of his novel in conjunction with this KS:
"The Mason of New Orleans
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AMJMCTQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1py2xb6MCRGJ5
The offer is open to all!"
Sounds good, but I was a little burned by Numenera and The Strange (system-wise, and mostly on the former). I'll be following this project closely, and there are certainly elements which have caught my eye, but $197 is a little much for me to pay for a mystery box, sight unseen. Shame on my aging cynical brain, I know.
Oftentimes what I like about Planescape is the layman's perspective it offers, the way the average Cager, from the lowest beggars to the factols themselves, doesn't stand in awe of the angels and demons and gods. There's a basic skepticism to the setting which I find endearing. Invisible Sun thus far plays so heavily on its mysteries that while I like what I've seen of the writing, the prose, the naming of things, it just hasn't clicked with me yet.
If they allow for latecomer backers during the dev process I reserve the right to change my mind.
They do have a Backer Kit process planned. Actually I found the mysteries of Planescape one of the most interesting aspects and even Faces of Evil - as well done as it was - disappointed me with making the Yugoloth Conspiracy hard canon. (OTOH it did get us the greatest story hour ever from Shemmy...)
I do think the $197 is high though, it's understandable not everyone will want to back.
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The Dark
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/montecookgames/invisible-sun/posts/1681849
"Known just as often as the Deeps or the Void, the Dark is existence without a sun. Lightless and cold, it is not just unknown, it is incapable of being known. It is the concept of nonbeing, the absence of everything found amid the Path of Suns...."
The complete listing of the information on the game given through updates:
https://www.montecookgames.com/what-has-been-revealed-so-far/
I became aware of this a couple weeks ago and from all the research I've done, it looks very much like a cross between Amber and Planescape.
I should be getting my copy soon - will let you know how it feels/plays!
Regarding Invisible Sun, Jack of Tears wrote:
"it looks very much like a cross between Amber and Planescape."
I always found it somewhat odd that I have never encountered anyone else who ran a blended Amber/Planescape homebrew game, not even from people who are explicitly fans of both.
Regarding Invisible Sun, in the Amber novels (specifically Blood Of Amber and Sign of Chaos) do you remember when Luke was tripping on LSD and ended up in a surreal bar with a trump-like mural from which Carrollian monsters (a Bandersnatch and a Jabberwock) emerged? Now imagine that there is also a trump-like Salvador Dali painting in that bar, and you discover that the True Center of Existence is within that Salvador Dali painting; that would be the Invisible Sun game.
The multiple styles of magick in Invisible Sun are very intriguing.
Turns out there's an old rpg called 'Lords of Gossamer & Shadow' which is basically this. Based on the Amber system and setting concepts, it follows the exploits of planeswalkers adventuring across the infinite staircase which connects all known worlds.
There are several 10-20 page world supplements with a few very good ideas to be found among them.
As for 'Invisible Sun', I found my ideas of what it could be, far more interesting than the product I actually received. I appreciate that it gave me some good ideas and I'll scavenge the material for salvageable content, but Monte has impressed me less and less with each recent release and this was the last straw. I won't be buying anything with his name on it, again.
Lords of Gossamer & Shadow, for intellectual property reasons etc., had to strip out Zelazny's iconic permutation of a Chaos/Order pantheon, which is dear to my mythology-loving heart, but it would be relatively easy to insert such [back] into LoGaS; for a LoGaS game to be ideal for me it would still need to be a LoGaS/Amber[/Mage] blend. The Infinite Staircase ties nicely into Planescape material though. Despite the absence of Zelazny's Chaos/Order pantheon, I would happily play in a LoGaS game.
Jack of Tears, can you give us an example of an interesting idea you had that Invisible Sun was unable to support?