Invisible Sun: Return of the Black Cube

Good Monday to you, wise vislae (and to Monday himself, should he be reading)—

Due in large part to your fine efforts at reaching additional vislae trapped here in the Grey, this campaign enjoyed an amazingly successful weekend. You have unlocked yet another stretch goal: The Wellspring will now be a boxed set, which will include the hardcover and an expanded selection of props and handouts!

This goal was reached mid-weekend, and since then you've continued to grow the campaign. That puts us well on our way to what’s next—which begs the question: what is next?

As of this writing, we have just passed the number of backers supporting this campaign as supported the first reprint back in 2018. Ahead of us lies an even more momentous objective: At the rate new vislae are joining us, we shall soon surpass even the total number of backers who first called the Black Cube into being, in its original crowdfunding campaign. It seems this milestone calls for a celebratory goal!

Invisible Sun is illustrated by hundreds of truly remarkable artworks (even by the standards of, if we may say so ourselves, a publisher renowned for the high quality of our art). So much so that the Black Cube contains an art book showcasing some of its best pieces (including some Sooth Deck illustrations that cannot be seen, in their full size, anywhere else). We also produced a limited-run art book as part of the first reprint campaign, featuring art from the supplements that were, at that time, in development. Both of these were beautiful but fairly modest softcover books.

We would like to do this art better justice. And we’d like to show it alongside related pieces created for The Darkest House (a separate product, but one birthed from Monte’s personal Invisible Sun campaign)—with maybe a few of the more surreal images from our other games as well.

We are tentatively titling this book The Darkest Art, and it will be a hefty hardcover of the highest quality, suitable of a place of honor on your coffee table (where it will undoubtably draw the interest of every eye that falls upon it). But it will have another use: it will be a great way to share images with your players at the game table, or to help them drink in the unique mood of Invisible Sun as they create their characters, their houses, their neighborhoods, and their Desideratum—or simply dream of adventures to come in the Actuality.

It will be elegantly designed, with rich, deluxe features (some potential deluxe features are foil stamping, a beautiful dust jacket, and interesting edge treatments). It will of course be printed on materials of the highest quality. It may even contain a few secrets, or features not readily visible to the undiscerning eye. In short, it will celebrate the success of this campaign, and of Invisible Sun, with all due splendor!

We will unlock this art book when we have drawn 1,846 vislae to our cause. It will be a limited edition made especially for our backers and offered, in thanks for your amazing support, at a highly preferential price. As this week progresses, we will solicit you, our backers, for your favorite art to include in this book—and possibly other features. Be sure to check in on the Community tab later this week to take part!

As always, it is the effort of you and your fellow backers that draws new vislae out of Shadow to join us in the Actuality. Please share a post on social media, or comment on reddit, RPGnet, EN World, or other gaming sites. With your help, we’ll unlock this goal—and who knows what else?

Thank you so much for your support!
—The Monte Cook Games team

Greetings, wise vislae—

Your efforts to draw additional vislae out of the Grey and into the Actuality—and into our ritual—are finding astonishing success! You have increased our ranks to 1161 backers, and, accordingly, unlocked yet another stretch goal.

The Wellspring has grown again, this time with the addition of a props packet to be included with the hardcover book.

But if we peer into the future, what image of The Wellspring’s form might we perceive? Might it contain even more props and similar items? And if so, might those be contained, alongside the hardcover book, within a handsome box?

This conjuration ritual will require an even greater roster of participants. You will unlock this upgrade to The Wellspring when we reach 1431 backers.

You may take interest in the noteworthy success of this campaign. As a reprint—and the second reprint, at that—one might have expected moderate results. Perhaps comparable to the previous reprint campaign. Instead, this campaign is actually, to date, exceeding the success of the original Invisible Sun offering!

This can only be due to the industry you and your fellow vislae have put into reaching others still toiling in Shadow. Continue this wondrous effort—share a post on social media, or comment on EN World, reddit, or other gaming sites—and we will surely see The Wellspring grow once again!

Thank you so much for your support!
—The Monte Cook Games team

Greetings, wise vislae—

No sooner has The Wellspring, well, sprung into existence, than it began its foretold growth. Due to your diligence in drawing additional vislae out of Shadow, we have already, within mere hours, attained the next step in its ascendence. The Wellspring will now be a hardcover book, with a substantial increase in page count over its original form.

Is this all The Wellspring might become? We believe not! With an enlarged cadre of vislae we can expand our ritual and conjure an even greater form for this title.

At 1161 backers, we will expand The Wellspring to include a packet of props and handouts that bolster its role as an aid in launching and running new narratives—and supporting those narratives at any stage. The Invisible Sun Black Cube contains a multitude of immersive props—items like theatre and train tickets, handbills, newspaper clippings, menus, business cards, and so on. (And the Prop Set 2, available as an add-on, contains even more.) These tactile, immersive elements help bring the Actuality to life here in the Grey—as will these new ones to be included with The Wellspring.

Remember: Every backer receives The Wellspring as part of their rewards—so no matter your pledge level, this goal will make your rewards better.

Help us reach the thousands of vislae trapped here in Shadow who do not even know this campaign exists. Make a post or two on social media. Discuss this campaign on reddit or EN World. Tell gamers everywhere about what makes Invisible Sun so compelling and unique. Every new backer brings us a step closer to unlocking this stretch goal—and those that lay ahead!

Thank you so much for your support!
—The Monte Cook Games team

Hello, wise vislae—

Thanks to your amazing support, and the excellent job many of you did helping to spread the word, we have reached a momentous juncture: we have gathered 656 vislae to this campaign, and accordingly unlocked access to The Wellspring—a magical source of thoughts, ideas, concepts, and inspiration of benefit to every vislae who draws from the currents of magic.

This access takes form in a new supplement for Invisible Sun, fittingly titled The Wellspring—and this product is now made manifest among the rewards of every pledge level. Backers at the Access the Noösphere level get The Wellspring in PDF; backers at all other levels get it in print and PDF.

Further, we’ve created a new pledge level for just The Wellspring for vislae who have already tasted the Actuality (and own the Black Cube and some or all of the supplements already), so they can pledge for just The Wellspring without other items they may already have.

For the time being, The Wellspring takes a modest form: a softcover book of moderate page count. We have no doubt, however, that drawing additional vislae into our ritual will promote growth. Specifically, were we to be joined by 216 additional vislae (bringing our total to 872), The Wellspring would surely expand in scope and form.

At 872 backers, we’ll substantially increase the page count of The Wellspring and make it a hardcover book. Peering into the future, we can make out the form of future upgrades that will further expand and improve this title into its full potential.

Because every backer of this campaign gets The Wellspring, every improvement we make to it improves every backer’s pledge. So please continue to help spread the word—there remain thousands of vislae out there, still toiling in the bonds of Shadow, who have not discovered their true home in the Actuality!

Thank you so much for your support!
—The Monte Cook Games team