Solar

A solarpunk role playing game

Synopsis
Before the Calamity, humanity's reach knew no bounds. Populations surged and coalesced in
massive steel cities called Capitals. These powerful, corporate city-states with the wealth and
power of nations made innovative leaps that propelled their citizens to lives of untold
advancement and leisure. But progress came at a cost, as rapid expansion calls for rapid
exploitation - of people and planet.

While it hasn't been proven, it's widely believed that this exploitation led to the Malady: a
powerful, fast, and fatal affliction that quickly consumed the over-connected world. The
devastation was massive and immediate, and within the span of five years the population was
reduced to a quarter of its pre-calamity size.

A handful of Capitals managed to implement a strict and brutal quarantine at the beginning of
the Fall. Today, these cities are densely populated and tightly controlled. Few Citizens will ever
leave the safety of their confines, not knowing if they are one of the lucky few who will find
themselves immune. Controlled by Executives and Boards, these cyberpunk oligarchies see the
outside world as a bleak and fallen place and seek to restore the world to the way it was before
the fall.

Many who were not in the quarantined Capitals did not survive, but a lucky few found
themselves immune or resistant to the Malady. These folks left the dying cities, salvaging the
technology that would help them survive and made their way into the countryside. Many
connected to one another through old SunCOMM satellite networks and, in time, they formed
the Cooperative, a democratic body that helps allocate resources and guide humanity towards
sustainable growth. They live in accordance with The Eden Compact, a living document
intended to help the Cooperative achieve their goal.

The progress of humanity has been reset. Those in the Capitals believe if they are at the helm
while the ship follows the same course, they can build it all again and even better. Those in the
Cooperative see this as an opportunity to set off in a new direction and build a future where all
things live in balance. And those who do not fall into either group; Automa, Greenskeepers,
Sludge Rakers, Harmons, and more; have their own visions for the future of the new growth of
this world.

What path will your story take?

Game Setup: Session 0

Learn about Roles

Before anything begins, it’s important to know there are two roles in this game. By
understanding both, you can get a better idea of what role you want to fill.
● Everyone involved is a Player. Almost all players will create a character and inhabit that
character for long stretches of the story. The ideas that players put forth will add to and
enrich the world they inhabit, and the actions of their characters will change the world
forever.
● The Steward is a player who fills in the world for the players to inhabit. While they
directly control more parts of the world than the players, their overall impact should be
the same. The Steward melds the idea of all players into a cohesive whole.

Usually, the person who seeks out the game is the Steward. But it’s worth having a conversation
early on to make sure everyone is ok with who takes on this role.

If you’re the Steward, great! For now, you don’t need to do anything special. Once the group
decides on the setting and characters, you’ll be responsible for setting up the world those
characters inhabit. Later, there will be a whole section just for you, but for now, just revel in your
special title.

Define your Boundaries

Before any planning for the game begins, all the players need to come together and agree on
the boundaries of the story. This ensures everyone at the table is comfortable with the upcoming
content, and that they will enjoy the game that is about to be played. If the group cannot agree
on boundaries, it’s perfectly fine to rethink the group composition, or the game that’s being
played.

As a group, take 15 minutes to discuss the following:

● What tone do you want this game to be?
● What are you ok with in this world?
○ What subjects do you feel comfortable tackling?
○ What do you want to avoid in this world?
● What tools will you use to help ensure everyone feels safe?
○ Lines and veils
○ X card

Create the Village and Surrounding Land

Play a session of Parable for the Future
–OR–

It’s recommended that the group starts in a small, Cooperative village. This gives the players an
easy introduction to the world and allows for a few sleepy adventures before things take off. To
build the village, answer at least twice as many questions as the number of players. Progress
round robin or collaboratively:

● What is the name of our village?

● Who was our village founded by? What were they best known for?
● What spectacular piece of technology powers our village?
● What is the most notable building in our village?
● What group of people lives near our village?
● What is our village's favorite pastime?
● Has any major incident happened in the village recently?
● What unusual holiday or event does our village celebrate?
● Is any part of the village or surroundings abandoned?
● What problem is our village currently facing?
● A beautiful natural feature near our village is…
● A hideous natural feature near our village is…
● A notable Old World ruin near our village is…
● What resource is our village lacking?

Create your Characters

Everyone who is not the Steward will now go into character creation. Before we go into
Character creation, you need to know a few things about how characters work.

Before you Begin

There are a few things you need to know about how the game works before you begin.

Characteristics
Everyone in this world, to some degree, has the following characteristics:
● Punky - your ability to fight, both systems and people.
● Flighty - how quick you are on your feet.
● Plucky - your ability to keep pushing forward.
● Brainy - how smart you are.
● Burly - your physical strength.
● Chatty - how well you can talk to other people.

Dice
Your character will assign one die to each characteristic.
● D20 - Amazing - People use you as an example when they describe this characteristic.
● D12 - Splendid - Anyone who spends a little time with you will know you’re good at this.
 ● D10 - Pretty good - You’re by no means the best, but certainly you’re better than
average… right?
● D8 - Mediocre - It really depends on the day, and your mood, and luck…
● D6 - Unimpressive - Will you do it if you have to? Sure. Will you do it if you don’t have
to? Absolutely not.
● D4 - Abysmal - Please, please, please don’t make me do this.

Actions
Every time you want to do something where the outcome is uncertain, you will have to roll a
dice. For example, you want to convince a member of the Floatilla to take you over the
mountains in their airship. One particularly feisty pilot says she’ll fight you for it. If you wanted to
take her up on her offer, you could roll the dice associated with Punky, your fighting stat. Based
on the outcome of that roll, you fail or succeed.

You can read more about difficulty, outcomes, and modifiers in the Playing section.

Surges
Every time you roll in the game and fail, you’ll get a Surge. Wherever you roll, you can use a
Surge to add +1 to your roll. You can spend any number of surges this way.

You can also spend a Surge to help out another player, so long as they aren’t reacting to
something. For example, if the player is building a power core from spare parts, all players can
clear Surges to add to the roll. If the power core explodes and the builder has to dive out of the
way, they can only clear their own Surgees.

Surges can also be used to activate modules in your personal mesh, which we’ll go over in
character creation.

Steps to create a character

Let’s make em! Each player will work down this list to create their character. While these are all
personal decisions about the character you’re playing, the process is largely collaborative. The
goal is to make fun characters who come together into an interesting and dynamic group.
1. Character’s first name
2. Character concept - this is a short description of the character
a. Choose your d20 stat. Choose your d4 stat. How does it relate to your concept?
b. Answer questions about your character from the table.
3. Define your player relationships. Every player needs to give at least one relationship and
get at least one relationship from another player. If you’re feeling creative, perform a little
vignette that answers the question about your relationship.
a. Best friend - How did you meet?
b. Friend - What stops you two from getting closer?
c. Former friend - What happened?
d. Rival - Is this a two way rivalry and when did it start?
 e. Sibling - What did you fight/bond over as kids?
f. Parent/child - What was the best day you spent together?
g. Extended family - What was the best day you spent together?
h. Crush - Is it a two way crush and when did it start?
i. Used to date - Why did you break up?
j. Engaged - How did you propose?
k. Married - What happened on your wedding day?
l. CHOOSE YOUR OWN
4. Motivation, the thing that keeps you going
a. Specific OR
b. General
5. Fear, the thing that can stop you in your tracks
6. Character’s last name

As you play, you will eventually reach a point where you have to roll one of your other four stats.
When you do, choose which of the remaining dice to roll. Once you use that dice for that stat,
they’re tied together forever.

Your Personal Mesh

Almost everyone in the world of Solar is still dependent on some form of technology, even if it is
kind of old and glitchy. The devices that you use make up your personal mesh - a local network
of gadgets that can all talk to each other. These do not need to be feasible, they just need to be
cool.

You are encouraged to either think of some skill your player has, then imagine a module that fits
it. OR imagine a device that your character would have, then invent some kind of mechanic for
it. Below are some examples of pre-made devices you can add to your mesh. Feel free to mix
and match or make devices of about the same power.

● Scavenger - may clear one Surge token to find a useful item in your surroundings
● OLED Cloak - clear two Surges to not be seen, within reason.
● Vocational tools - choose a vocation that would be useful to the village. Spend a Surge
token to succeed when making moderately difficult checks (9 or less) involving this skill.
If the GM determines that you do need to roll for a more difficult check, add up to +3 to
your roll.
● Duct tape and safety pins -When persuading people to rebel against a system, spend a
Surge token to succeed moderate checks, or to add +3 to more difficult checks.
● Exposed wires - Gain two Surge tokens when you fail instead of 1.
● Predictive analytics - May clear two Surges to reroll a stat check.
● Compression bag - May clear two Surges to have a common item with you.
● Survey drone - May clear a Surge to ask the GM a question about your surroundings,
they must answer truthfully, but not necessarily specifically.
● WLAN Antivirus - you can spend your Surges when another player is under pressure.
Start Some Rumors
Players will go around the circle and tell the group a rumor circulating around the village.
Rumors can be anything from interpersonal gossip to inklings about major world events. Rumors
are neither true nor false, they’re just rumors, but they will serve as potential plot hooks for the
GM to use in the future. When you reach the end of the group, reverse order. In this way,
everyone will create two rumors and the person who went first will also go last.

Playing

Rolling
When you perform a task and we don't know how it will turn out, roll the appropriate stat. The
GM will set a difficulty level. If you beat or match it you succeed, if you miss then you fail. Every
time you fail a roll, you get a Surge Token.

If you roll the dice and it lands on your highest number, you flourish and get to roll the dice
again, add the new roll to the original. So, if you roll a d4 and it lands on 4, you roll again and
you ROLL ANOTHER 4. WOW. Roll again and get a 2, you now have a total of 10.

If you have time on your side, you can take half the maximum value on your die. For example If
you’re rolling a d12, and you have several minutes to perform your action, you can take a 6.

Difficulty
To be set by the GM

20: Only the absolute best performing at their absolute best could do this.

17-19: Still nearly impossible, but a little more feasible.

13-16: In the realm of possibility, but only for those with real skill in the area.

10-12: Very impressive for most - a little impressive for the skilled.

7-9: Very skilled characters should be able to do this, but it’s still cool for everyone else.

3-6: Most people could do this, unless you’re just really bad at it.

1-2: If you fail here, you’re just unlucky.

Targets and Outcomes
To be set by the GM. Guidelines for Failure or Success

+10 or higher: The character succeeds smoothly and easily. Likely, it looks like the character is
just showing off, or that the task is done so readily that it happens without any effort at all. At the
GM’s discretion (and certainly not necessarily), there could be some unexpected positive results
from a success of this degree.

+5 to +9: The character succeeds quite impressively. At the GM’s discretion, the character might
have some additional benefits beyond the success, but these will be slight — and only if
important for pushing the game forward.

+1 to +4: The character succeeds, but not impressively. Any benefits the character gains above
and beyond the success should be quite limited — if present at all.

0: The character succeeds, but just barely. Decidedly, nothing surprising happens — and the
player and the GM should make this success as skin-of-the-teeth as possible.

-1 to -4: The character fails, but not too badly. There might be some very, very minor short-term
consequences, but these won’t shift the story for more than a minute or two. The character has
tried and almost succeeded.

-5 to -9: The failure is bad, but not a disaster. There will be some short-term consequences that
might lead to some immediate difficulties — but nothing that the character can’t handle if they
focus on them. The character has tried to do or has been forced to do something beyond their
capabilities. And, not surprisingly, they’ve failed.

-10 to -14: The failure is profound. There will be consequences for this failure, likely in keeping
with what would be expected, but that doesn’t mean that those consequences won’t be very
bad. These consequences may strongly influence the course of the current play session.
Generally, though, a character will only find themself failing this badly when they bite off more
than they can probably chew — or because of the cruelty of the GM.

-15 or lower: The failure is staggering and catastrophic. There will be both immediate and
long-term consequences for this failure, above and beyond what might be expected. These
consequences might lead to serious changes in the course of the long-term arc of the story —
especially because the character should only find themselves failing this badly through total
recklessness or because the GM has purposefully put them in a staggeringly difficult situation.
End of Session

Keep and Change

As a group, talk about what you liked about the session you just played. This is a time for
compliments and accolades. Let people know how they are killing it, and spend some time
boosting spirts.

Also take this time to talk about things you’d like to change. If lines were almost crossed, or
there’s something you would like to do differently, now is the time to honestly and constructively
bring it up with the group.

Set your course

Before the session ends, all the players should have a quick discussion about their plans for the
next session. This will help the Steward to prepare, and make sure everyone understands the
motivations of the characters.

Grow your character

In the course of play, did anything change about your character? Did they gain a new
motivation, or connection? Maybe they got a new module for their mesh. TAlk with the group
about what makes sense.

Start some rumors

Go around the group. Everyone can choose to
● Add a rumor to the list
● Boost a rumor to make it more credible and likely to see play time
● Diminish a rumor to make it less credible.

Stewardship
This section will offer some helpful advice for the Steward.

Pre-Session General Checklist

Before every session
1. Review the characters
2. Create a strong start
3. Outline potential scenes
4. Define secrets and clues
 5. Develop fantastic locations
6. Outline important NPCs
7. Choose relevant monsters
8. Select magic item rewards

Review Characters
Write down the names, backgrounds, and motivations of all the characters. Review these
character notes to prime your mind before the rest of your preparation. Use this character
review to help you tie the characters to the rest of your game. Test yourself to see if you can
remember the names of the characters.

List of Characters
●

Create a Strong Start

What’s Happening?
What’s happening? What event will frame the start of this section of the adventure?

What’s the Point?

What’s the point? What seed or hook will lead the characters further into the adventure?

Where’s the Action?

Where’s the action? Start as close to the action as you can. When in doubt, start with combat.

Outline Potential Scenes

List of Potential Scenes

Write down a short list of scenes that might occur in your game. Remember that the goal of
writing down scenes is primarily to help you feel prepared. Scenes can occur in or out of
sequence. Write only as much as you need to remind yourself of what might happen. Don’t fall
in love with your scenes. Be prepared to throw them away.

Define Secrets and Clues

Write down ten secrets and clues that the characters might discover in the next game session.
Secrets and clues are the connective tissue of a campaign. After the start of the adventure,
they’re the second most important thing to prepare. Each secret or clue reveals a piece of the
story or the history of the world and its inhabitants. Keep secrets and clues abstract from how
they might be revealed. Improvise the discovery of secrets during the game. Throw away
secrets that aren’t revealed during a session. Write a fresh list each time.

10 Secrets for this Session

●

Develop Fantastic Locations

Write down an evocative name for the location. Write down three fantastic aspects of the
location. Plan on using one or two locations per hour of play. Make locations fantastic using age
and size. Tie some locations to the backgrounds of the characters. Draw stick-figure dungeon
maps with names connected by lines.

List of Fantastic Locations

●

Outline Important NPCs

You’re likely to prepare some NPCs ahead of time and improvise others during the game. NPCs
you prepare will primarily be those that drive the game session and the adventure. Keep your
NPC outline brief: a name, a connection to the adventure, and a character archetype from
popular fiction is often enough. As with all the other parts of your preparation, you need to be
ready to throw your NPCs away if the story moves in an unexpected direction. Switch genders
and avoid stereotypes to make your NPCs unique and interesting. You might be able to skip this
step if NPCs have already been covered in your strong start, the outline of potential scenes, or
your secrets and clues.

List of Important NPCs

Choose Relevant Threats

● Choose threats that make sense for the story, situation, and location.
● Think through members of each front to prime your brain with new ideas and information
for improvisation.
● Improvise encounters based on the story and situation during the game.

Preparing the Campaign

Prepare the overall campaign in the same manner that you prepare your next session. That next
session always matters the most. Develop a spiral campaign that focuses on what matters to
the characters right now, and which spirals out as the characters move out into the larger world.
Campaign Hook
Build a campaign hook that focuses the campaign on a single major goal everyone can
understand.

Six Truths
State the six truths of your campaign that separate it from other campaigns. Use the six truths to
help the players build characters that fit the campaign theme.

Three Fronts
Define three fronts—the major actors for the campaign—including their goals and three grim
portents that show their progress.
Front: Name
Goal: Goal
First Grim Portant: Name
Second Grim Portant: Name
Third Grim Portant: Name

Front: Name
Goal: Goal
First Grim Portant: Name
Second Grim Portant: Name
Third Grim Portant: Name

Front: Name
Goal: Goal
First Grim Portant: Name
Second Grim Portant: Name
Third Grim Portant: Name

World Factions
These are seeds of ideas for the different factions that inhabit this world. Take what you like,
leave what you don’t, and always follow the flow of the story your group is telling.
● The cooperative are struggling with what Utopia actually looks like in a post-scarcity
world, where technology trivializes labor, capitalism is a thing of the past, and the
majority truly rules. They also still have to contend with human motivations like greed,
jealousy, sloth, avarice and more.
● The capitals are straight up Cyberpunk cities that see the world as a post-apocalyptic
wasteland. Their autocratic leaders truly believe the only way to save the world is to
return to the world that once was. Their citizens are so scared of disease that they don’t
see any other choice but to go along. Their numbers have been so diminished, and they
 spent so long developing complacent citizens, that there aren’t enough people to search
for a cure in earnest.
● The autocities are inhabited solely by machines, and existed before the fall to quickly
exploit natural resources. The machines who ran the day to day operations now have so
much unused processing power that they begin to think. Calling themselves Automa, a
few of these sentient machines have left their autocities and made contact with a handful
of villages and capitals. The villagers generally see them as a sentient species that
should get to co-exist. The capitals see them as mimics of sentients, whose power could
be harnessed to help develop a cure and repopulate the world.
● The greenskeepers are a group of non-cooperative villagers who see humanity as a
fallen species that gave up their claim to the planet. They seek to heal the scars
humanity left and cleanse the planet of their disease.
● The flotsam are survivors who fly using cobbled together airships. Aerogel structures
with carbon fiber cloth allow lighter than air travel without huge carbon consumption.
● Sludgerakers call themselves the Rebuilders. They seek to rebuild the old world as it
was, using any tools available. They believe the malady was a fluke, and we should get
back to normal as quickly as possible. They often work with the capitals.
● Harmon priests believe in the spirit at the heart of all things, even machines. They seek
neither growth nor destruction, but balance.