You and your friends become a crew of space pirates in this solarpunk sci-fi rpg. Earth's surface is uninhabitable due to climate change and the exploitation of industry, but humanity has thrived across the various planets and moons in the Sol system. They seek to settle the galaxy and repair Earth, all while navigating the sudden appearance of alien creatures from another reality.

Features

- Level-less, organic character progression
- 5 Archetypes
- 3 Ancestries
- Custom character sheets
- PDF handbook with core rules 
- PDF with setting lore, creatures, and other extras

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A Solarpunk World

Solarpunk is a genre defined by green technology, hope for the future, and art nouveau aesthetics. The day to day world of Heliosail is one where people live fruitful and satisfying lives, and seek out valuable connections to nature. That doesn't mean it is without conflict, however- it takes constant work to maintain a positive, just society.

Many of the stories that work in darker genres like cyberpunk, such as stories about corruption and class struggle, will work with solarpunk as well. The difference is tone- solarpunk is an optimistic genre, where a protagonist's struggle against corruption, and their ultimate success, is a vision of our future rather than a cautionary tale.

The Netheri

The Netheri (\nɛθɛr`aɪ\ "nether-eye") are a mysterious form of alien life from a neighboring universe. They are psychically active, and often defy physics in surprising ways. Netheri range from huge, asteroid-eating monsters, to small surface dwelling animals and plants, and have given a breath of life to the old maritime legends of psirens, witches, and curses.

They emerge from dimensional rifts all over the solar system. These rifts are similar to black holes, undetectable except for the effect they have on everything around them. Some are just as deadly as a real black hole, but others are smaller, with less catastrophic results.

Level-less Design

Your character in Heliosail does not gain traditional levels or experience points. Instead, they improve their skills over the course of a campaign by using them, mastering powerful Tricks.

Tricks are special ways to use skills that allow characters to things they normally could not. Each time a player rolls a critical success when using a skill, they can unlock a new Trick for that skill that they meet the requirements for. 

Cinematic Combat

What would a pirate RPG be without cool moments in a fight? Heliosail uses the Spotlight combat system. There is no initiative or turn order. Instead, each action that affects another creature triggers that creature's turn. This makes combat very dynamic. 

The Archetypes

The game has 5 playable Archetypes, each with a unique mechanic.

Courtier

Courtiers are masters of the social game. They are typically wound up in the complex politics of the colonies, working for the colonial governments directly as politicians, staffers or spies. Others make their fortunes in the corporate world as information brokers or executives. Those who end up down on their luck make excellent salesmen and con artists. 

As a Courtier, you keep an Address Book with up to 6 contacts throughout your campaign. These contacts provide you with special perks, provided that you haven't strayed too far from their values. In addition to unique perks, your contacts also provide you with Social Capital- points you can add to social skill checks. A powerful Courtier who has befriended the right person could have an entire army at their command.

Engineer

Engineers are essential crew members on ships, as keeping everything in good condition can mean the difference between life and death in space. In the colonies, Engineers are integral to their communities in a variety of ways, often working as handymen, shipwrights, gunsmiths, and inventors. The Engineer controls a robotic companion called the Drone, usually modeled after an insect or small animal.

Engineers can change their Drone's bonuses and abilities through crafting Upgrade Kits, or buying them off the shelf. Drones can be of various sizes, and are useful for battle, scouting, and espionage. 

Bioscientist

Bioscientists are well educated professionals who specialize in adaptation. They are skilled in both terraforming (adapting the environment to humanity) and in gene coding (adapting humanity to the environment). They use a special device called the Forced Adaptation Encoder (F.A.E. for short) to create the changes they want. This device can be loaded with "packages" that either create a terraforming effect when fired into the environment, or can create short term genetic changes. Bioscientists can also "steal" the genes of other lifeforms, and turn them into temporary enhancements for humanity. Need to breath underwater for awhile? Find a fish. Met an alien who can survive in the vacuum of space? Use its DNA to take that ability for yourself.

Astromancer

Astromancers are revenants who met their first death in a rift, or at the hands of the Netheri. Their connection to the other universe has given them the ability to bend the laws of physics to their will. The resulting mystical ability is known as Astromancy. 

The Astromancer has 4 schools of abilities they could choose to hone: Vibration, Matter, Unreality or Gateway. 

The Vibwright is tapped into the invisible movement of all the subatomic particles that make up the universe, and manipulate the rate at which these particles vibrate. By doing this, they can create heat, light, and sound. They can also form invisible connections with others by tuning their own vibration to their target.

Matterwrights can use their connection to the Nether to “borrow” matter from the other universe, giving the appearance of creating it from nothing, or destroying it by banishing it away. They can change the mass or density of something, or rearrange the shape Matter is existing in, such as turning carbon into a diamond, or changing a solid to a gas. They can even change objects into anti-matter.

Realiwrites bend the “fabric” of the space-time continuum directly, changing the experiences of those around them. They can alter the flow of time, manipulate the path of light, and even create private pockets of space, out of reach to others.

Gatewrights feel a special connection to the Nether beyond other Astromancers. They focus their abilities on accessing the Nether whenever they can, opening and manipulating rifts, and forging a connection with the Netheri who emerge from them.

Cardsharp

Cardsharps are skilled gamblers, who can gamble with the rules of the game itself. When Cardsharps roll a critical success or failure, they gain a point of Gambler's Luck. These points can be spent to be added to rolls whenever the Cardsharp likes, to "stack the deck" in their favor. They can also bolster or manipulate the luck of those around them. 

Ancestries

Ancestry is your character's genetic background. These often include cultural ties to a particular history or way of life, but they do not have to. Each Ancestry has its own distinct traits.

Human

Humans are the most common ancestry in the Sol System, to the point that some of them do not believe the others even exist.

Self Healing - Humans can heal overnight as they sleep, without the assistance of a doctor.

Persistence - Humans do not give up easily. They can use their Persistence to gain more Actions in combat, or to force a success on a task.

Bonded - A human can, and will, form a bond with almost anything, giving them passive benefits when they are near their friends. 

Anthroparian

Anthroparians are humanoid robots who have gained their own, independent consciousness. They are extremely rare in the Sol system, with most Anthroparians having been built within the span of just a few decades.

Natural Armor - Anthroparians have a metal casing that gives them a significant bonus to their armor.

Uncanny Valley - Anthroparians do not have expressive faces and are unsettling to the people around them, hindering their Social skills.

Unliving - As robots, they not need to sleep, eat, or breathe, and are immune to disease and radiation. Anthroparians do not require environmental suits in most circumstances.

Psiren

Psirens are sapient Netheri who crossed over in our universe shortly after the rifts began to appear. A Psiren's unique ability to rapidly adapt to mimic their prey means that they are particularly susceptible to the radiation of this foreign universe. Because of this, a Psiren must consume uncorrupted DNA regularly. This can be from any creature, but most Psirens prefer to prey on humans in order to maintain a human-like appearance.

Enchanting Song - Psirens can use their psychic abilities to lure in their prey, creating an eerie "song" in the mind of the target, and temporarily enchanting them.

Prey Drive - A Psiren can consume a small amount of fresh human blood or flesh, which they can use to heal, or give themself other temporary advantages. 

Download Keys Available on Request

Just send me a message here on itchio, or email me at qmartin(at)quinnsilver(dot)com and request a key. You only need to provide a name or pseudonym for the key. If you play it, feedback is appreciated.

You can download all the files at once by choosing to download the .zip file, or pick and choose which files you want. 

NOTE: The Atlas of the Sol System lore document is in DRAFT form. This means it is not in a releasable version state, and offered here as-is for playtesters to use.

100% Human Made

This game was made entirely by humans, for humans. This includes all written text, artwork, and mechanics.