Tales from the Infinite Staircase (Wizards of the Coast 1998)
By Monte Cook
AD&D 2E Planescape adventure for characters level 3-7
Stretching to every plane imaginable, the Infinite Staircase is one of the best-kept secrets of planar travel in the multiverse. Watched over by the mysterious lillendi, the staircase stretches in all directions, bending back upon itself to form the ultimate three-dimensional maze - and every landing where the staircase stops, a doorway to a new planar location awaits the traveler.
THE BASICS:
The adventure is 128 pages long, cover price of $19.95 American.
This is an anthology 8 separate adventures (Tales), with an over-arching plot that ties them together. The over-arching plot is that a mysterious "iron shadow" that stifles creativity is infecting some planes. There are provisions for running the adventures individually, and there are provisions for using this in conjunction with the higher-level Forgotten Realms adventure "For Duty and Deity". There are provisions for using this with non-Planescape characters.
The anthology is written so that after the first adventure, the remaining 7 can be taken in any order, and there are notes on how the different adventures change based on what order the tales are taken. There are suggestions for running the adventures individually without referencing the "iron shadow" plot.
For the "mega plot", the characters will need to find a magic item in Tale 4, and the instructions for using it in Tale 7. They may also deal with some Kytons in Tale 8 that are attempting to spread the Iron Shadow.
In a normal review, I like to give a breakdown of how many encounters there are. The tales in this anthology are harder to judge, as the book embraces more of a storytelling style, rather than a straight manual of encounters. A huge portion of the book is devoted to background and plots, with the GM reacting to the players and inventing appropriate encounters. It seems to me that this was the vogue way of handling adventures in the 90s. Prior to the 90s, adventures were typically lists of locations, monsters, and treasures. And after 2000, adventures returned to more explicitly detailed encounters. I suspect that for GMs that generally like to run their own homebrew adventures, that this book would provide a great framework for running planar adventures, while giving the GM a great deal of freedom to personalize the adventure. If you are like me, and prefer published adventures to be complete and ready-to-run, then this may not be as useful.
Strengths
The planar locations are very incredibly imaginative. The writing is compelling and evocative. The book is written with a moderate amount of Planescape slang, enough to give a feel for the setting without overwhelming a new reader. There are some places where clever play can overcome challenges that brute force cannot. This book was a very fun read, and for some time I counted it as one of my favorite published adventures.
Weakness
Some of the adventures lack a strong hook. In some cases the characters are expected to help the very same creatures that are trying to kill them in other tales. There are a lot of stylistic decision that make the book interesting to read, but are not helpful for playing--for example, there are snippets of evocative conversation from the major NPCs scattered around the book, perhaps used in place of art. These snippets are not written in response to player questions or actions, but rather they just provide an insight into the ideology of the NPCs. I would rather see concrete examples of how the NPC reacts to the characters, and infer the NPC ideology from those examples.
The adventures
Tale 1 "Planewalkers" is an introduction to the Infinite Staircase, the bottom of which is in the palace of the moon goddess. A wild demon has set up a lair on the staircase, and the players must deal with the demon. This is a great introduction to the Infinite Staircase. There adventure mentions that the staircase does not always follow laws of physics, (imagine an Escher-style staircase, with people walking in different orientations), but the adventure never makes use of variable-orientation. The first adventure has some interesting encounters with broken staircases, and spiders hiding underneath stairs, but I feel that these elements could have been mined a bit more.
Tale 2 "Lost Sovereignty" takes place in a Formian city in Arcadia, flooded from broken dikes (imagine New Orleans post-Katrina). The dikes are broken because the Iron Shadow caused the Formians to become listless. There some interesting things to see here, and a few interesting things to do. The Formian queen has left, and there is a power vacuum. Presumably the players could try to help the Formians, and perhaps uncover a plot to put a pretender on the throne. There may be slaadi invaders causing trouble. If the characters don't actively attempt to help the Formians, there is not much of an adventure here.
Tale 3 "Lord of the Worms" is a gloomy location on a micro-prime plane, Maelost. The world is covered in rocks and slime, and enveloped in steady rain. There are some interesting creatures inhabiting the world, and a number of wandering monsters, but almost no written encounters and no adventure to speak of. If the party befriends the locals, they may be asked to perform some sub-quests, but nothing here ties with the overall adventure or the iron shadow. It is a strange place to visit, but nothing much to do here. It is sort of like a sandbox in its lack of focus... but in a good sandbox there should be elements for drama and things that characters can do to change the status quo. This micro-plane is dominated by two major entities, and the characters are powerless to effect either one. This is probably the weakest Tale in the book. There are some creepy and atmospheric worm-based creatures and spells, but no "adventure" to speak of.
Tale 4 "In Disarray" has the characters traveling to Limbo, and encountering a slaver driving a submersible pod that allows travel through the chaos of limbo. The characters could possibly try to save the slaadi who are dying out (unable to spawn) on account of the "Iron Shadow." The meat of the adventure the minimally described "temple of change" where the party can find vial of concentrated chaos "Navimas solution" that if used correctly can cure the Iron Shadow in limbo. Instructions for using the Navimas solution on all other planes can be found in Tale 7. I am not sure why the characters would want to save the slaadi, and even if they do, the slaadi attack the characters as soon as they have been "saved". It doesn't seem like a rewarding conclusion to an adventure.
Tale 5 "Winds of Change" takes place in a floating city in the plane of air. There is an interesting murder mystery, in which the murderer follows a pattern of killing people based on their embodiment of each alignment. The murderer is half-djinn, and feels that the settlers in the floating city from the prime planes are a form of pollution, so the murderer is picking victims by working his way around the Great Wheel, killing the most lawful good person, then the most neutral good person, then the most chaotic good, then chaotic neutral, and so on. This is a fairly clever mystery, but it has nothing to do with the "iron shadow". This adventure seems more appropriate as a stand-alone.
Tale 6 "The Dream Well" takes place in the astral plane, in a githyanki fortress devastated by war. The githyanki were attacked by psurlons. There is an interesting encounter in which characters have individual dreams, and they must coordinate their dreams in order to access an artifact called the Dream Well that will give them access to other planes and some nifty knowledge. The fortress is not detailed beyond a few rooms, and this adventure has nothing to do with the "iron shadow". Chalk this up as another adventure that seems more appropriate as a stand-alone.
Tale 7 "Reflections" takes place in the outlands right next to the spire, so only level 1 magic works. This tale takes place in a vast library, once owned by the Rilmani, but now being occupied by a magical halfling-like race called Kamerel. In this tale the party can find a book that provides instructions on curing the "iron shadow". The Kytons are also interested in the book. The majority of the adventure takes place the library, which is an infinite grid of 20'x20' rooms. There is no map for the library as it is identical. Some of the rooms have traps by the Kamerel, and some have encounters with Kytons. The library itself is interesting, but having all of the encounters in identical rooms seems like it would make a bland adventure.
The author has created several very powerful level 1 spells that only the NPCs can use, such as teleportation mirrors and permanent invisible servants... these potent spells sort of ruin the idea of this being a low-magic area. The result feels the PCs have to follow the low-magic restrictions, but the NPCs do not.
Tale 8 "A Devil's Dream" takes place in a fortress in a Kyton city in Baator. (A 2E term for "Hell"). The city is barely described, being mostly a list of a few random encounters. The "Fortress" is also pretty minimal, consisting of only 11 rooms. The few rooms are pretty interesting. One room has a dangerous trap that cuts off the characters legs. A few rooms have various captives. If the party wants to confront the Kytons that are trying to spread the Iron Shadow, they'll need to clear the fortress. If the party is just trying to cure the iron shadow, they can skip the fortress entirely. This seems like a reasonable side-quest that works with the overall adventure, or it could be used as a stand-alone, though the GM will have to invest considerable time if he or she wants to make the city come to life.
THE SPECIFICS:
I don't give much weight to text density and cost per page... I'd rather pay a lot for a small clever mystery than pay a little for a huge repetitive monster bash.
I don't give much weight to new monsters, prestige classes, and magic items... they can add a little variety to an adventure, but to me they are minor decoration.
1. Interesting and varied encounters (I look for unique encounters, allowing for a variety of role and roll playing.): (5/5) The interesting encounters are a high point of the adventure. The variety of planar locations is particularly intriguing. There are also a variety of styles of adventure, from exploration to combat to problem-solving. There is a lot of room for the characters to come up with their own solutions, and a lot of freedom to make moral decisions. There is a great deal of both character and GM freedom written into the adventures.
2. Motivations for monsters and NPCs (or some detail of how they interact with their environment or neighbors.): (3/5)
Many of the NPCs have good motivations, but a lot of the NPCs are simply "barmy". The book seems to gloss over this by just stating that the planes make a lot of people "crazy". In my opinion, there are far too many NPCs motivated by being crazy, and not enough NPCs motivated my more subtle drives. There is a major NPC, a Formian Queen from Tale 2, that wanders the planes randomly, accidentally spreading the "Iron shadow" more effectively than the Kytons who are trying to do it on purpose. I read this when it was released, and at that point the character motivations were outstanding. Compared to a lot of 80s and 90s adventures, this gets high marks, but it is only average when compared to contemporary adventures.
3. Logical (the adventure should obey a sense of logic that clever players can use to their advantage): (3/5)
There are some very good puzzles in which logic leads to good solutions to problems. In the first tale, there are at least two non-violent solutions to getting rid of a demon that a clever player can figure out from evidence earlier in the adventure. The murder mystery in Tale 5 is potentially solvable by following clues available in the adventure. There are a lot of other things that don't seem as logical. The Infinite Staircase is supposed to "lead to all places where the creative process is strongest," but it leads to a lot of empty corners of abandoned buildings, wastelands, or places long since destroyed by war. There is also a problem that the lilendi tell the characters about staircase destinations that are plagued by the iron shadow, but some of the locations are not even plagued by the iron shadow yet.
4. Writing Quality (foreshadowing, mystery, and descriptions that bring locations and NPCs to life): (4/5)
The tone of the writing is outstanding, with just enough familiarity and slang to make the writing come to life, without being a distraction. There are a lot of really nice turns of phrase, which made this such a pleasure to read. In describing the rule of law in the Kyton city in Tale 8, the book says "The authorities look down upon chaos, killing, and thievery. The first, the kytons consider to be dangerous; the second and third are activities with their right, not anyone else's."
Unfortunately, some of the best bits are the philosophical musings of NPCs that are not provided as part of the adventure, but more as atmosphere for the GM. For example, in Limbo, one NPC says "Ah, the music of change. It doesn't matter if you listen, it plays just the same." This is nice, but I would rather have a small handful of these types of responses, and presented in more of a direct response to possibly lines of character's inquiry.
There are a lot of places where the adventures are open-ended, or at least the course of the adventure is left up to the GM. There are many times when the author says something might happen. I'd prefer to see a distinct vision from the author, and know what will happen. For example, when preparing for the climactic adventure in the kyton city, the author writes "Eventually the kytons are bound to find the PCs, forcing a bloody confrontation (or a death-defying chase.)… If the PCs get in over their heads in an attempt to rid the city of the Iron Shadow, a generous DM will allow two or three lillendi from the Staircase attempt a rescue." These are excellent ideas for encounters, but when I pay for a published adventure, I want the actual encounters, not the ideas for encounters.
5. Ease of GMing (Clear maps, friendly stat blocks, skill check numbers, player handouts and illustrations): (2/5)
On the negative side, there are not many maps, and some of them are difficult, bland, or not very useful. Many cities and locations are described but not depicted on a map. Page 48 has a map of Maelost that is probably more useful in setting a tone for the location, as it is not much more than a wavy lines of meandering rivers. Page 90 has a map of the Githyanki fortress, that has 7 rooms detailed, and the rest of the fortress looks more like an abstract sculpture-interesting to look at but not very useful as a play-aid. There are no player handouts or illustrations. There is no boxed read-aloud text. There is no sample dialogue, except for the artistic snippets of ideology which are not really directed toward any line of conversation with the PCs. These snippets seem like the random conversations overheard in the video game "Torment".
On the positive side, the anthology provides an excellent framework for an epic adventure, and there are a lot of great suggestions for how the various tales change or can be modified based on a wide variety of character actions. There are some interesting side elements that can also be expanded upon if a GM is ambitious, such as a group of inquisitive mind-flayers that appear in numerous tales, but are too busy with their own schemes to bother the PCs. If you are a GM that prefers running your own adventures, I think this is an excellent compromise between running your homebrew adventures and mining a published adventure as a source for novel encounters and locations.
FINAL WORD:
This anthology of 8 adventures gives a great feel for the wild locations, possibilities, and atmosphere of Planescape adventures. It has the framework for a great campaign, but the adventures don't quite feel ready-to-run unless you are a GM that is comfortable with "winging it". The players will have to rely on their own wits as much as on their characters spells and equipment.
I still have plans to run this adventure someday, but I will probably get rid of some of the adventures that have little to do with the overall plot. I'll need to do serious work on the adventures that are left over, in order to have them really prepared for play (with sample dialog, and more precise expectations of what will happen). I'd also like to add a few more adventures that are about the Infinite Staircase itself, as that is one of the most compelling images in the anthology, and except for the first Tale, it becomes nothing much more than a simple elevator.
There was a young-adult novel from 1974 called "House of Stairs" in which a group of teenagers are subjected to Pavlovian conditioning that forces them to torment each other to survive. That nightmarish novel left a lasting impression on me. Likewise, the Escher-stairs at the climax of the movie Labyrinth would also make for a compelling adventure location. There is much more that could be done with an infinite staircase than a simple location for 1 of 8 tales in an anthology.
By Monte Cook
AD&D 2E Planescape adventure for characters level 3-7
Stretching to every plane imaginable, the Infinite Staircase is one of the best-kept secrets of planar travel in the multiverse. Watched over by the mysterious lillendi, the staircase stretches in all directions, bending back upon itself to form the ultimate three-dimensional maze - and every landing where the staircase stops, a doorway to a new planar location awaits the traveler.
THE BASICS:
The adventure is 128 pages long, cover price of $19.95 American.
- 6 pages of credits/legal/marketing
- 34 pages of background/plot points
- 34 pages of planar descriptions and wandering monsters
- 48 pages of encounters
- 6 pages of maps
This is an anthology 8 separate adventures (Tales), with an over-arching plot that ties them together. The over-arching plot is that a mysterious "iron shadow" that stifles creativity is infecting some planes. There are provisions for running the adventures individually, and there are provisions for using this in conjunction with the higher-level Forgotten Realms adventure "For Duty and Deity". There are provisions for using this with non-Planescape characters.
The anthology is written so that after the first adventure, the remaining 7 can be taken in any order, and there are notes on how the different adventures change based on what order the tales are taken. There are suggestions for running the adventures individually without referencing the "iron shadow" plot.
For the "mega plot", the characters will need to find a magic item in Tale 4, and the instructions for using it in Tale 7. They may also deal with some Kytons in Tale 8 that are attempting to spread the Iron Shadow.
In a normal review, I like to give a breakdown of how many encounters there are. The tales in this anthology are harder to judge, as the book embraces more of a storytelling style, rather than a straight manual of encounters. A huge portion of the book is devoted to background and plots, with the GM reacting to the players and inventing appropriate encounters. It seems to me that this was the vogue way of handling adventures in the 90s. Prior to the 90s, adventures were typically lists of locations, monsters, and treasures. And after 2000, adventures returned to more explicitly detailed encounters. I suspect that for GMs that generally like to run their own homebrew adventures, that this book would provide a great framework for running planar adventures, while giving the GM a great deal of freedom to personalize the adventure. If you are like me, and prefer published adventures to be complete and ready-to-run, then this may not be as useful.
Strengths
The planar locations are very incredibly imaginative. The writing is compelling and evocative. The book is written with a moderate amount of Planescape slang, enough to give a feel for the setting without overwhelming a new reader. There are some places where clever play can overcome challenges that brute force cannot. This book was a very fun read, and for some time I counted it as one of my favorite published adventures.
Weakness
Some of the adventures lack a strong hook. In some cases the characters are expected to help the very same creatures that are trying to kill them in other tales. There are a lot of stylistic decision that make the book interesting to read, but are not helpful for playing--for example, there are snippets of evocative conversation from the major NPCs scattered around the book, perhaps used in place of art. These snippets are not written in response to player questions or actions, but rather they just provide an insight into the ideology of the NPCs. I would rather see concrete examples of how the NPC reacts to the characters, and infer the NPC ideology from those examples.
The adventures
Tale 1 "Planewalkers" is an introduction to the Infinite Staircase, the bottom of which is in the palace of the moon goddess. A wild demon has set up a lair on the staircase, and the players must deal with the demon. This is a great introduction to the Infinite Staircase. There adventure mentions that the staircase does not always follow laws of physics, (imagine an Escher-style staircase, with people walking in different orientations), but the adventure never makes use of variable-orientation. The first adventure has some interesting encounters with broken staircases, and spiders hiding underneath stairs, but I feel that these elements could have been mined a bit more.
Tale 2 "Lost Sovereignty" takes place in a Formian city in Arcadia, flooded from broken dikes (imagine New Orleans post-Katrina). The dikes are broken because the Iron Shadow caused the Formians to become listless. There some interesting things to see here, and a few interesting things to do. The Formian queen has left, and there is a power vacuum. Presumably the players could try to help the Formians, and perhaps uncover a plot to put a pretender on the throne. There may be slaadi invaders causing trouble. If the characters don't actively attempt to help the Formians, there is not much of an adventure here.
Tale 3 "Lord of the Worms" is a gloomy location on a micro-prime plane, Maelost. The world is covered in rocks and slime, and enveloped in steady rain. There are some interesting creatures inhabiting the world, and a number of wandering monsters, but almost no written encounters and no adventure to speak of. If the party befriends the locals, they may be asked to perform some sub-quests, but nothing here ties with the overall adventure or the iron shadow. It is a strange place to visit, but nothing much to do here. It is sort of like a sandbox in its lack of focus... but in a good sandbox there should be elements for drama and things that characters can do to change the status quo. This micro-plane is dominated by two major entities, and the characters are powerless to effect either one. This is probably the weakest Tale in the book. There are some creepy and atmospheric worm-based creatures and spells, but no "adventure" to speak of.
Tale 4 "In Disarray" has the characters traveling to Limbo, and encountering a slaver driving a submersible pod that allows travel through the chaos of limbo. The characters could possibly try to save the slaadi who are dying out (unable to spawn) on account of the "Iron Shadow." The meat of the adventure the minimally described "temple of change" where the party can find vial of concentrated chaos "Navimas solution" that if used correctly can cure the Iron Shadow in limbo. Instructions for using the Navimas solution on all other planes can be found in Tale 7. I am not sure why the characters would want to save the slaadi, and even if they do, the slaadi attack the characters as soon as they have been "saved". It doesn't seem like a rewarding conclusion to an adventure.
Tale 5 "Winds of Change" takes place in a floating city in the plane of air. There is an interesting murder mystery, in which the murderer follows a pattern of killing people based on their embodiment of each alignment. The murderer is half-djinn, and feels that the settlers in the floating city from the prime planes are a form of pollution, so the murderer is picking victims by working his way around the Great Wheel, killing the most lawful good person, then the most neutral good person, then the most chaotic good, then chaotic neutral, and so on. This is a fairly clever mystery, but it has nothing to do with the "iron shadow". This adventure seems more appropriate as a stand-alone.
Tale 6 "The Dream Well" takes place in the astral plane, in a githyanki fortress devastated by war. The githyanki were attacked by psurlons. There is an interesting encounter in which characters have individual dreams, and they must coordinate their dreams in order to access an artifact called the Dream Well that will give them access to other planes and some nifty knowledge. The fortress is not detailed beyond a few rooms, and this adventure has nothing to do with the "iron shadow". Chalk this up as another adventure that seems more appropriate as a stand-alone.
Tale 7 "Reflections" takes place in the outlands right next to the spire, so only level 1 magic works. This tale takes place in a vast library, once owned by the Rilmani, but now being occupied by a magical halfling-like race called Kamerel. In this tale the party can find a book that provides instructions on curing the "iron shadow". The Kytons are also interested in the book. The majority of the adventure takes place the library, which is an infinite grid of 20'x20' rooms. There is no map for the library as it is identical. Some of the rooms have traps by the Kamerel, and some have encounters with Kytons. The library itself is interesting, but having all of the encounters in identical rooms seems like it would make a bland adventure.
The author has created several very powerful level 1 spells that only the NPCs can use, such as teleportation mirrors and permanent invisible servants... these potent spells sort of ruin the idea of this being a low-magic area. The result feels the PCs have to follow the low-magic restrictions, but the NPCs do not.
Tale 8 "A Devil's Dream" takes place in a fortress in a Kyton city in Baator. (A 2E term for "Hell"). The city is barely described, being mostly a list of a few random encounters. The "Fortress" is also pretty minimal, consisting of only 11 rooms. The few rooms are pretty interesting. One room has a dangerous trap that cuts off the characters legs. A few rooms have various captives. If the party wants to confront the Kytons that are trying to spread the Iron Shadow, they'll need to clear the fortress. If the party is just trying to cure the iron shadow, they can skip the fortress entirely. This seems like a reasonable side-quest that works with the overall adventure, or it could be used as a stand-alone, though the GM will have to invest considerable time if he or she wants to make the city come to life.
THE SPECIFICS:
I don't give much weight to text density and cost per page... I'd rather pay a lot for a small clever mystery than pay a little for a huge repetitive monster bash.
I don't give much weight to new monsters, prestige classes, and magic items... they can add a little variety to an adventure, but to me they are minor decoration.
1. Interesting and varied encounters (I look for unique encounters, allowing for a variety of role and roll playing.): (5/5) The interesting encounters are a high point of the adventure. The variety of planar locations is particularly intriguing. There are also a variety of styles of adventure, from exploration to combat to problem-solving. There is a lot of room for the characters to come up with their own solutions, and a lot of freedom to make moral decisions. There is a great deal of both character and GM freedom written into the adventures.
2. Motivations for monsters and NPCs (or some detail of how they interact with their environment or neighbors.): (3/5)
Many of the NPCs have good motivations, but a lot of the NPCs are simply "barmy". The book seems to gloss over this by just stating that the planes make a lot of people "crazy". In my opinion, there are far too many NPCs motivated by being crazy, and not enough NPCs motivated my more subtle drives. There is a major NPC, a Formian Queen from Tale 2, that wanders the planes randomly, accidentally spreading the "Iron shadow" more effectively than the Kytons who are trying to do it on purpose. I read this when it was released, and at that point the character motivations were outstanding. Compared to a lot of 80s and 90s adventures, this gets high marks, but it is only average when compared to contemporary adventures.
3. Logical (the adventure should obey a sense of logic that clever players can use to their advantage): (3/5)
There are some very good puzzles in which logic leads to good solutions to problems. In the first tale, there are at least two non-violent solutions to getting rid of a demon that a clever player can figure out from evidence earlier in the adventure. The murder mystery in Tale 5 is potentially solvable by following clues available in the adventure. There are a lot of other things that don't seem as logical. The Infinite Staircase is supposed to "lead to all places where the creative process is strongest," but it leads to a lot of empty corners of abandoned buildings, wastelands, or places long since destroyed by war. There is also a problem that the lilendi tell the characters about staircase destinations that are plagued by the iron shadow, but some of the locations are not even plagued by the iron shadow yet.
4. Writing Quality (foreshadowing, mystery, and descriptions that bring locations and NPCs to life): (4/5)
The tone of the writing is outstanding, with just enough familiarity and slang to make the writing come to life, without being a distraction. There are a lot of really nice turns of phrase, which made this such a pleasure to read. In describing the rule of law in the Kyton city in Tale 8, the book says "The authorities look down upon chaos, killing, and thievery. The first, the kytons consider to be dangerous; the second and third are activities with their right, not anyone else's."
Unfortunately, some of the best bits are the philosophical musings of NPCs that are not provided as part of the adventure, but more as atmosphere for the GM. For example, in Limbo, one NPC says "Ah, the music of change. It doesn't matter if you listen, it plays just the same." This is nice, but I would rather have a small handful of these types of responses, and presented in more of a direct response to possibly lines of character's inquiry.
There are a lot of places where the adventures are open-ended, or at least the course of the adventure is left up to the GM. There are many times when the author says something might happen. I'd prefer to see a distinct vision from the author, and know what will happen. For example, when preparing for the climactic adventure in the kyton city, the author writes "Eventually the kytons are bound to find the PCs, forcing a bloody confrontation (or a death-defying chase.)… If the PCs get in over their heads in an attempt to rid the city of the Iron Shadow, a generous DM will allow two or three lillendi from the Staircase attempt a rescue." These are excellent ideas for encounters, but when I pay for a published adventure, I want the actual encounters, not the ideas for encounters.
5. Ease of GMing (Clear maps, friendly stat blocks, skill check numbers, player handouts and illustrations): (2/5)
On the negative side, there are not many maps, and some of them are difficult, bland, or not very useful. Many cities and locations are described but not depicted on a map. Page 48 has a map of Maelost that is probably more useful in setting a tone for the location, as it is not much more than a wavy lines of meandering rivers. Page 90 has a map of the Githyanki fortress, that has 7 rooms detailed, and the rest of the fortress looks more like an abstract sculpture-interesting to look at but not very useful as a play-aid. There are no player handouts or illustrations. There is no boxed read-aloud text. There is no sample dialogue, except for the artistic snippets of ideology which are not really directed toward any line of conversation with the PCs. These snippets seem like the random conversations overheard in the video game "Torment".
On the positive side, the anthology provides an excellent framework for an epic adventure, and there are a lot of great suggestions for how the various tales change or can be modified based on a wide variety of character actions. There are some interesting side elements that can also be expanded upon if a GM is ambitious, such as a group of inquisitive mind-flayers that appear in numerous tales, but are too busy with their own schemes to bother the PCs. If you are a GM that prefers running your own adventures, I think this is an excellent compromise between running your homebrew adventures and mining a published adventure as a source for novel encounters and locations.
FINAL WORD:
This anthology of 8 adventures gives a great feel for the wild locations, possibilities, and atmosphere of Planescape adventures. It has the framework for a great campaign, but the adventures don't quite feel ready-to-run unless you are a GM that is comfortable with "winging it". The players will have to rely on their own wits as much as on their characters spells and equipment.
I still have plans to run this adventure someday, but I will probably get rid of some of the adventures that have little to do with the overall plot. I'll need to do serious work on the adventures that are left over, in order to have them really prepared for play (with sample dialog, and more precise expectations of what will happen). I'd also like to add a few more adventures that are about the Infinite Staircase itself, as that is one of the most compelling images in the anthology, and except for the first Tale, it becomes nothing much more than a simple elevator.
There was a young-adult novel from 1974 called "House of Stairs" in which a group of teenagers are subjected to Pavlovian conditioning that forces them to torment each other to survive. That nightmarish novel left a lasting impression on me. Likewise, the Escher-stairs at the climax of the movie Labyrinth would also make for a compelling adventure location. There is much more that could be done with an infinite staircase than a simple location for 1 of 8 tales in an anthology.
