System Reference Document

Written by W.H. Arthur (@Aryl_Ether)

https://aryl-ether.itch.io/

Introduction Theme
Guided by the Sun is a System Reference A Guided by the Sun game should have a theme
Document for designing tabletop role-playing that revolves around the journey. The Sol
games based on W.H. Arthur’s The Sol Survivor. It Survivor is a Chinese mythology game about the
is a card-based, GM-less system about fallen sun making their way back to the heavens.
undertaking a journey and making friends along
Here are some example concepts:
the way.
• A post-apocalyptic game about a scavenger
The title of the system is suggested by Ieuan San
journeying across the wasteland to search for
Jose Jones. The system itself takes inspirations
parts for the water purifier in their family
from Joshua Fox & Becky Annison’s
bunker.
Lovecraftesque.
• Someone has stolen a time machine and
Licensing they messed up the timeline! As a temporal
agent, you have to journey across time and
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a space to fix any anomalies you encounter.
copy of this license, visit:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 • A swashbuckling story about a pirate
journeying across the seven seas to hunt for
You are free to create Guided by the Sun games the greatest treasure known to mankind.
and use the logo (colour, resize, or do whatever
you want to it). It would be appreciated if you
credit The Sol Survivor by W.H. Arthur (https://
Core Mechanics
aryl-ether.itch.io/the-sol-survivor). The Deck
A deck of 52 playing cards is used in the game. It
Overview is shuffled before play. Each player has three
cards in their hand, and they always draw back
In Guided by the Sun games, 3-6 players tell the up to three after a card is played.
journey of a protagonist on a mission. It is
played over a series of “turns", where the The Counter
protagonist faces a challenge/adversary with a A counter that starts with 6, and is decreased by
new ally they meet along the way. Depending on one every time the protagonist fails a challenge.
what cards are being played, the ally may join When it reaches 0, the journey ends
the protagonist on their journey. At the end of prematurely. In The Sol Survivor, the counter
the journey, cards are played to determine the represents the Sun’s faith in the world.
outcome of the protagonist’s mission. The more Companion Track
friends they have made along the way, the more Recruited companions are placed in a row next
likely they are to succeed. to the deck. It is empty at the start of the game.
Generally speaking, a deck of playing cards and
a counter (usually a 6-sided dice) is required to
play a Guided by the Sun game. Writing materials
at the table would be helpful in facilitating the
game.

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The Questionnaire Resolution
At the beginning of the game, the players answer At the climax of a turn, or when it is narratively
a questionnaire about the protagonist and the appropriate, the protagonist plays a card to
setting. In broad strokes, it should include: resolve the scene.
• The protagonist’s name and appearance. • If value of the protagonist’s card is greater
than the narrator’s card, the protagonist
• Something about the protagonist’s weakness
overcomes the challenge and/or something
or restrictions.
good happens.
• Evocative world building questions that
• If the value of the protagonist’s card is lesser
reinforces the premise of the game, while
than or equal to the narrator’s card, the
allowing the players to customise the
protagonist made it out barely and/or
specifics, making the world their own.
something bad happens. The counter is
• How does the protagonist plan to achieve decreased by one.
their goal, and why does it involve a journey?
• If the suit of the protagonist matches the
The Journey ally’s, the ally joins the protagonist’s journey
as a companion. The ally’s card is then
The game is played over a series of turns, each placed face-up on the companion track.
turn constitutes a part of the protagonist’s The protagonist may choose to play a face-up
journey, in which the players take the roles of companion instead of a card from their hand. If
protagonist, ally, and narrator. At the beginning they do, the companion sacrifices themselves for
of a turn, the ally and the narrator each plays a the protagonist’s cause, and is flipped face-
card, and it determines the character they play down.
for the turn. (In The Sol Survivor, the narrator
plays their card in secret to add an element of After the resolution, the roles are passed around
mystery.) clockwise, and a new turn starts.
• The Protagonist - They play as the
protagonist, describing everything the
Ending the Journey
character thinks and does, while keeping in When the journey comes to its natural
line with the established history and conclusion, or when the counter drops to zero,
personality of the character. count the number of cards on the companion
track (including face-down ones). This is the
• The Ally - They play the character on their
score.
card, and assist the protagonist in their
journey for the turn. Draw a number of cards equal to the conditions
the protagonist has met, plus one. The lowest
• The Narrator - They describe everything in
card is the difficulty rating. The standard
the setting, other than the thoughts and
conditions are:
actions of the protagonist and their ally.
They also have the character on their card at • Whether the protagonist has actually
their disposal, which serves as an adversary achieved their mission.
to the protagonist.
• If there is anything left on the counter. Draw
• Other Players - In a game with 4+ players, the an extra card if it is 4 or higher.
other players can suggest details to the
• Whether the weakness/restrictions of the
scenes, and take on roles of NPCs and
protagonist has been addressed during the
recruited companions.
game.
If the score beats the difficulty rating, the
mission is a success. If the score is equal to the
difficulty rating, the protagonist has a bittersweet
ending. If the score is lower than the difficulty
rating, the mission ends in failure. Afterwards,
the players take turns to narrate the epilogue.

~2~
 Character Cards
By default, a Guided by the Sun game has 26 types
of characters that the protagonist can encounter.
Each of them has their own number and colour
in the playing card deck. Below are a few things
to keep in mind when designing the characters:
• A type of character can potentially show up
twice in the journey.
• Since each character can be an ally or an
adversary, none of them should be truly evil.
• When played as an adversary, higher
number cards present a greater challenge for
the protagonist. In The Sol Survivor, they are
the legendary creatures such as dragons and
phoenixes.
• J, Q, K are treated as 11, 12 and 13 respectively.
An ace is normally treated as 1, but it can beat
any court cards ( J/Q/K) played against it.

Remixes
Feel free to alter the rules as you see fit. Here are
some ideas:
• Include 52 characters instead of 26. This will
allow every character to be unique, with no
duplicates.
• Include jokers in the deck, and add a new
mechanic when they are played.
• Instead of playing cards, use tarot cards. Or
your old Magic/Pokemon cards!
• Alter the number cards in the players’ hands.
Having only 2 cards in a player’s hand would
restrict their options, while having 4 cards
would give them more control on how the
story goes.

Safety/Support Tools
It is important that TTRPG safety/support tools
are used when playing the game.
Either point players to places where they can
find more information on the tools available, or
outright incorporate the tools into your game.

~3~