How many word processors can you name off the top of your head? One? Two? How about operating systems? Three maybe? There are dozens and dozens of options in each of these categories, but only a few are household names. With familiarity often comes wide availability. The software you thought of is probably not hard to find a copy of (though it might not be free).
I see spells in Invisible Sun as working much the same way (in fact the connections to software don't end there, but let's not get ahead of ourselves). There are many people creating spells independently of each other, and thus there are a great many spells, often overlapping in functionality. How is the spellcasting public supposed to navigate this deluge of options? Say you want to turn invisible. There are about a dozen spells that could do that (or an equivalent effect) for you. However, every vislae and their cousin is probably just going to use "Vanish From Sight". Why? It's simple, effective, and widely available.
PCs in Invisible Sun are supposed to have been vislae for some time. They were once journeymen, but when a campaign begins (at least Rules As Written) they are first degree in their Order (or lack thereof). They may not "know" a lot of spells (as in, own a copy and be practiced in its use), but they almost certainly know of a lot of spells. Vislae are a gossipy bunch and they're often obsessed with pop culture. I have to imagine there would be a warding spell every vislae could immediately recognize, a combat spell every vislae has heard of, a scrying spell everyone knows to look out for, and so on. However, Invisible Sun the product dumps a few hundred spells on you and trusts you to make use of that. This can be an overload of information for GMs, but also for players, who are often dizzied by the supposedly simple prospect of choosing their starting spells.
So! I have taken the liberty of diving into the arcane mélange and culling a short list of general spells that can be considered the "popular canon". These are the spells every vislae has likely heard of, and which are probably in stock at most decent sized spell libraries. Peruse the list here, sorted by level and then alphabetically:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FEgC9rrIC0kHxGJR-P7GSy6XHFU50ktv8n4EJD90JKw/edit?usp=sharing
| Name | Short Description | Level | Depletion | Color |
| Accoyed Savagery | Prevent a target from being hostile for a turn | 1 | One use | Blue |
| Calligraphic Display | Makes up to ten illusory words float over someone's head | 1 | 0 (hour) | Grey |
| Illuminating Glow | Makes an object glow brightly | 1 | Sunrise | Gold |
| Imaginary Threat | Simple mental trick to buff intimidation attempts | 1 | Encounter | Blue |
| Impedimenta | Creates difficult terrain to slow opponents | 1 | 0 (round) | Silver |
| My Mark | Marks a target with a symbol only you can see | 1 | Sunset | Silver |
| Object Arcanum | Hides an object on your person | 1 | Sunset/Sunrise | Grey |
| Plentiful Pockets | Allows many items to be stored on your person | 1 | 0 (day) | Silver |
| Posterity's Blessing | Magic dictation/notekeeping | 1 | Sunset/Sunrise | Indigo |
| Sketch | Creates a photo quality drawing of what you're looking at | 1 | One use | Indigo |
| Voluble Acquaintance | Makes someone talkative | 1 | Encounter | Blue |
| A Simple Repast | Creates a simple meal for one person | 2 | None | Silver |
| Abandoned Resolve | Saps a target's will to do something | 2 | 0 (round) | Blue |
| Aerophilious Desire | Fly a short distance | 2 | Round | Green |
| Cleansing | Simple spell to magically clean as well as dispel curses and poison | 2 | One use | Green |
| Conjured Lover | Magical sex doll | 2 | Sunset/Sunrise | Silver |
| Falsehood's Halo | Detects lies | 2 | Encounter | Indigo |
| Figment | Simple illusion of a creature up to my size, visual only | 2 | Concentration | Grey |
| Flesh Mail | Buffs armor | 2 | Encounter | Invisible |
| Gibbering Fool | Removes target's ability to speak intelligibly | 2 | 0-2 (hour) | Blue |
| Imbue Knowledge | Leaves a mental note for others, can be tied to location or triggering event | 2 | One use | Indigo |
| Patterned Flesh | Cosmetic change that can be used to buff stealth or hinder attacks through distraction | 2 | 0-4 (hour) | Grey |
| Sleep of the Restless | Puts a creature into a very light sleep | 2 | 0 (round) | Blue |
| Thaumaturgic Strike | Simple ranged attack, damage as level | 2 | None | Red |
| Crown of Chains | Conjures chains to attack, grab objects, anchor you to something, or grapple beings | 3 | 0 (round) | Silver |
| Deliration | Go insane for a stat buff | 3 | Sunset/Sunrise | Blue |
| Demonshriek | Psychic ranged attack that may backfire | 3 | One Use | Pale |
| Eidolon of Rest | Buffs house against intrusion | 3 | Sunset/Sunrise | Invisible |
| Enhanced Physique | Arcane steroids, buffs physicality | 3 | Till pool refresh | Gold |
| Ephemeron | Creates a functional mundane object out of dirt, must be one-handed | 3 | 0-3 (hour) | Silver |
| Exacting Eye | Buffs aim (accuracy pool) | 3 | Till pool refresh | Indigo |
| Grudge | Magical barrier against up to ten named individuals | 3 | 0 (day) | Silver |
| Involucrum | Makes nearby items swirl around you to buff armor | 3 | 0-2 (encounter) | Invisible |
| Obtrusion | Forces someone to share your opinion on a topic | 3 | 0-2 (hour) | Blue |
| Refutation of Threat | Nullifies the next physical attack against you | 3 | None | Invisible |
| Sight of Touch | Tracks an object | 3 | Sunset | Indigo |
| Temporal Adjustment | Simple mending spell, reverse effects of time on an object by up to a year | 3 | None | Gold |
| Twofold Object | Duplicates a mundane object | 3 | None | Silver |
| Circumambient Assault | Simple illusion to debuff target's defenses and cause them to lose an action | 4 | One use | Grey |
| Heart's Messenger | Conjures an animal to deliver a message, type depends on heart | 4 | One use | Silver |
| Limb Possession | Allows you to take an action with a nearby target's limb | 4 | 0 (round) | Blue |
| Mien of Adaptation | Acclimates you to any atmospheric conditions | 4 | Sunset/Sunrise | Gold |
| Sealed Door | Locks something so it requires magic to open | 4 | Till opened | Invisible |
| Thought Becomes Motion | Simple telekinesis | 4 | 0 (use) | Green |
| Unfit Visions | Blinds a target | 4 | 0 (round) | Gold |
| Witchsight | Simple scrying, must have been to location before | 4 | None | Indigo |
| Confused Allegiances | Makes a target fight their allies | 5 | 0-2 (round) | Blue |
| Eldritch Escutcheon | Wards a structure against scrying, teleportation, and summoning | 5 | Sunset/Sunrise | Invisible |
| Quickening | Animates an object as an obedient automata | 5 | None | Green |
| Red Presence | Detonates an object, causing AOE damage | 5 | One use | Red |
| Conjoinment | Forcefully magnetizes two targets together, harming them and hindering actions | 6 | 0 (round) | Gold |
| Emblem of Agreement | Magically enforces a contract | 6 | Till pool refresh | Indigo |
| Sigilshield | Enhances dodge defense | 6 | Encounter | Silver |
| Vanish from Sight | Simple invisibility spell | 6 | 0 (round) | Grey |
| Entrapment | Traps a target in a floating sphere that prevents them from casting (or being affected by) magic | 8 | 0-4 (hour) | Silver |
Criteria I used when selecting the list:
-levels 8 and below (we're told the most popular spell library, Grynn's Gramarye, stocks up to level 8, which means spells above that are probably not commonly available)
-No facets
-Does a thing that could be considered to have popular utility
-Minimal overlap in functionality with other spells on the list
-Available in the Black Cube (pretty sure there's no exceptions here, but if something from Book M got mixed in let me know)
Ways you can use this list as a GM:
-Separate out all these spells from your Cube and keep them as a separate deck. Offer that deck to players to pick their starting spells from at character creation, and use it to stock small spellbook shops or libraries.
Ways you can use spells not on this list as a GM:
-Offer them as loot! I have all my other spells sorted by facet, so I can say things like "you find a spellbook that seems to be focused on pyromancy" and then pick three or four spells from the "Fire" facet deck to show to the players. It allows a party to continue to see new spells as they level up and explore the Actuality. Tangle with The Church of Midnight? They probably have some high level spells you could learn (or steal), as well as some "Night" or "Darkness" spells you haven't seen before. As a GM, it's easy to prep something like that with sorted spell decks.
...
How else are spells like software? Ah, well here's where we depart from Invisible Sun RAW a bit. I find it fun to take the logic of this connection a bit further, but it requires a bit of worldbuilding that doesn't have any textual backing in published Invisible Sun material. In my games, spells can be "buggy" meaning they are poorly written and often result in flux. They most popular spells tend to be the opposite, well thought out and reliable, since they have stood the test of time and become popular in part because of their stability. Spells with active authors can receive updates! This requires a legally purchased copy of the spell in a registered spellbook, but it means that when someone reports an issue with a spell to the author, they can make a change to the text of the master copy and it is automagically reflected in the spellbooks of every other (legitimate) copy of the spell. This means getting access to the master copy of a popular spell is potentially very desirable...
Taking this logic further, some spells are incompatible with each other. They will break and not function properly (or at all) if written into the same spellbook. This often results in flux of varying severity depending on the power of the spells in question. On the contrary, some spells have dependencies, meaning they will only function if written into spellbooks that contain one or more specific spells. Some spells are "open source" meaning the text of individual copies can be freely changed by anyone who knows how, while others are proprietary, using various means to magically obfuscate their text and prevent edits. Vislae would be able to tell what such a spell does, but not examine the exact inner workings of how. There is also such a thing as magical "DRM", which makes it difficult or impossible to make unlicensed copies of certain spells (to prevent spell piracy). And so on...
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