A few days ago, while we were exploring some thousand-year-old ruins, my partner met a local writer and activist and got into talking. Their discussion revolved around the question, what, in these times when the far-right and corporate power is taking over more and more space in our lives and society, should be the role of fiction? What should it bring to the public? On the way back we got to talking and well my answer to this question was solarpunk. Now I am not a writer, at least not in the traditional sense, but I do write things for (my) games. So how does solarpunk translate into TTRPGs? And specifically into NSR?
Some time ago, I was told that solarpunk does not make for a good RPG (or OSR?) concept, as it’s “utopian” and hence lacks interesting conflicts. I feel this belief is due to a misunderstanding of solarpunk – just cause it is not a grim dark, brown-grey, everything-is-going-to-hell medieval fantasy, or a corporate, neon, cyberpunk dystopia; solarpunk as a theme is not averse, to struggles, conflicts, and many interesting and difficult choices to be made.
The solarpunk visuals of green pastures, cities overgrown with hanging gardens, or Ghibli-like landscapes do not evoke the same emotions as your low-fantasy or cyberpunk settings, sure. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy those so much, but looking around at the state of current events, and the bleakness that it mirrors in fiction and games, I feel like reaching for something more. A vision of hope, of a way out of it all, a ray of light. And anyway, Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind or Princess Mononoke are damn good fantasy, brimming with intense scenes, tough choices and conflict through the roof...
But okay I am not here to write about movies, even though it is my blog, so I guess I could... Anyway back to RPG games.
One of the defining characteristics of (table-top) role-playing games, is making choices through your characters. Different authors and communities have been able to bring this choice-making to games of various genres and settings – from space operas to the heroic quests of the bronze age, from the weird Wild West, to the filthy streets of medieval European cities and beyond. Solarpunk is no exception.
Over the past couple of years, I have put together a small collection of various solarpunk (inspired) TTRPGs. I do not claim to have read all there is, and for certain I know of several pieces that have so far eluded me. That said I believe there are three games that stand out for me.
First is Lost Eons, a game I reviewed, that deals with returning back to the surface world, rediscovering and getting in touch with the restored natural world above. Mechanically it is inspired by the 24XX and Blades in the Dark systems. The choices revolve around leaving behind the safe “haves” (some) humans built to escape the climate collapse, interacting with the various post-human societies and exploring the world. Leaving behind the old and getting to know and understand the new. From unusual communities, friendly and welcoming, to bizarre and cautious, wild beasts, mutations and anomalies of the old... There is plenty of space to embrace conflicts and choices to be made.
Cloud Empress is a game that has been getting some attention recently. Then again, it is a recent game. Built on Mothership 1e rules, it takes us to a post-collapse world. Visually it is more of a mix of Nausicaä and Art Noveau. The game's motifs involve the magic and power of the ordinary - people, farmers, chalk; big magical bugs; power-hungry lords in Cloud cities dreaming of Empire, Bodyhoppers, time warps, diverse characters, lost relics, and weird shit. Oh yeah also rebellion against the lords above, and living in a world that burned after the old rulers – Torturers, left for the stars and left the poor behind. Pretty solarpunk, I believe. I mean the author directly references Nausicaä, so you can just take their word.
Our Vale of Discontent is a system-agnostic, fantasy-solarpunk, mini-setting, with various contentious factions, inventions and technologies based on the energy of the sun, ceramics, mushrooms, and magic(k). A delightful resource filled with content, you can plop into your world as is, or dissect for your needs (it has served me sooo well in that regard). I will just let the authors speak here. The major intended themes of Our Vale is community, power, violence, and how they intertwine. The setting aims to engage with: how communities are built, how trauma affects those communities, and how a community can overcome that trauma to build something new. This setting/module/zine / whatever was designed as solarpunk and it doesn’t hide it. For me, this is the place the start when wanting to mix solarpunk and fantasy. 10 out of 10 and I recommend it all the time.
Our Vale of Discontent on Itch
Our Vale of Discontent on Exalted Funeral
So okay there are, at least, several noteworthy, solarpunk games, settings/zines. solarpunk is a genre that can be and is, used in TTRPGs. I use it in most of my campaigns myself, as my main setting, is a world struggling to find its way through a climate collapse caused by the onset of industry, where magic and technology mix, the old regimes, reactionaries and those hoping for a new, sunnier, future. Nevertheless, amid all these games, my own or of others, there is something I miss.
A lot of solarpunk fiction deals with a world after things have fallen apart, broken down, the climate collapsed and the world still (somehow) survived and we have been able to build a better, society for us. But sitting in the middle of all of that’s going on, I feel there is more than solarpunk fiction can give us than a glimpse of a far-off future. I believe it can give us a vision, and hope by which we can struggle against, and overcome the looming cyberpunk dystopia that seems to be lurking around the corner.
This brings me to my next idea, an idea for a game about going on adventures to gather resources, and technologies to build and develop our communities, to bring people into those communities and about inspiring others to fight against that cyber-corporate hellscape. But that is the topic of another post, which I will write as soon as I have a more extended pitch and idea (if my ADHD brain allows me to).
Praise the sun.
Hello and thank you for this port. Like the other games you have mentioned, I wrote a post-apocalyptic TTRPG that (I think) has strong solarpunk vibes, but which is focused very much on understanding the technology of the last world and using it to build the new. But you are correct, it does not paint the picture of what that new world would look like.
ReplyDeleteBut I have been thinking about a pure solarpunk TTRPG. What would adventures look like? What decisions would characters need to make? I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I think I would like to offer is a game mechanic where characters build their “legacy”. You “win” by how your actions influence the world moving forward. The more people who are positively affected by your actions, the better your legacy.
For example (and I’m not saying I could run this—I’m just saying it would be cool), a new agricultural pest has emerged, and the player characters are in a position of authority related to the solution. One faction has an easy but harmful solution while another has a more ecologically beneficial approach but is harder to implement. If the players fail to get any solution, they leave a bad legacy. If they implement the first, it is a partial victory and the second is a full victory.
Just some thoughts from a random guy on the internet. Thanks for the post.
Hi and thank you for your comment and engaging with the post. First off, what is the game that you write? If you don't mind sharing. I'm always interested in new games and different mechanics.
ReplyDeleteAs to the question of adventures, it's a very valid one and something I was thinking about. I made a typology of potential types of adventure seeds for solarpunk adventures. in my notebook a year or two ago. I wanted to piece it together into something consistent and put it out. Maybe I should.
I guess in the end the question revolves around your main gameplay loop and the idea you described - such as looking for a solution to a problem with an agricultural pest is in it self an unusual and evocative adventure setting, in any gameplay mechanism. The mechanism of creating "a legacy" makes sense as an overarching campaign arch for sure.
My own ideas on how to structure the core gameplay loop, were kicked off by this series of articles which I strongly recommend https://dododecahedron.blog/2023/01/22/old-school-rebellion-part-i/ . For the game idea I have in mind currently, adventures should lead to some sort of community development - from new buildings / services, new people joining the community, restoring parts of the gameworld and so on.
I'm trying to pin these ideas down currently to make them into something a bit more coherent :)
So yeah thank you for your thoughts, no-longer-random-guy on the internet.
My game is Rubble and Ruin (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/18532/rudus-publishing) and it uses modern technology in the same role that OSR games use magic. All the good stuff comes from it, but so does the bad.
DeleteThanks for the link—I’ll look into it and I would encourage you to do a post on solarpunk adventures. I think the movement needs us to not be afraid to voice half-formed ideas. Which is why I brought up “legacy”.
If you think about D&D (OSR to 5e) everything focuses around XP. As you do more you learn more and you get more magical powers. This is a model of individuals increasing in power by their actions. Compare that with the game Traveler. Here, once a character is made they never improve their skills. Instead, as they adventure, they increase their wealth which allows them to acquire new abilities through better and more expensive technology. One could just as easily make a game where characters gain new powers and abilities as their legacy increases. As the PC helps more people, there are more people available to help them.
Just a thought.