D&D 5E Planescape 5e - everything we know & some speculation

[Quickleaf]

Planescape is coming to 5e October 16th this year. Marketing is calling this a "boxed set." Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse will retail for $59.95. It will be a slip case that will include 3 hardcovers:

The cover is by Tyler Jacobson, who has some lovely progress photos of his piece:

• 96 page Sigil and the Outlands – The cover of the slipcase appears to be the cover for this book and depicts the Lady of Pain. Due to a few product releases – a miniature of the Nameless One (protagonist from PS:Torment) & conversion of PS:Torment monsters in 2017 Dragon+ – and what seems to be a focus on the Outlands (which features strongly in PS:Torment), some of us speculate that there may be a stronger PS:Torment feel to the product; but this is just speculation.
• 64-page bestiary Morte's Planar Parade – "A compendium of characters and creatures from the Outlands." (source: IGN article) This is a reference to Morte, the wise-cracking skull party member in the cult-classic Planescape: Torment. CRPG (1999). Cranium rats are visible in the sliver of the cover we can see.
• 96-page adventure Turn of Fortune's Wheel – Modrons and what appears to be a dead god are visible on the sliver of the cover we can see. "The adventure finds the players forced to uncover the mystery behind a “glitch” in the reality of the multiverse, with much of the action taking place in the Outlands." (source) "A plot to undermine the rules of reality has caused a glitch in the multiverse. Contend with mighty immortals and chronicle the farthest reaches of the Outlands to uncover the truth of this conspiracy." (source: IGN article) "Fortune's Wheel" is also the name of a tavern in Sigil; located in the Lady's Ward it is "where the high and mighty come to engage in the kriegstanz that makes their lives interesting" – the kriegstanz being the cold war between Planescape's factions (source: In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil, 1995, p. 36). During the D&D Direct Livestream on March 28 we learned that "the new Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse will set the stage for Vecna’s return [in 2024]." (source: Polygon article).
• Poster map
• DM screen – Speculation is that Tony Diterlizzi's recent artwork is for this DM screen

From left to right, we see: (1) The Cat Lord, (2) a githyanki, (3) a green slaad with "The Friendly Fiend" shop in the background, (4) a "Clueless" (newcomer to Sigil from the Material Plane) with modrons in the background, (5) The Lady of Pain with dabus and a mercane in the background, (6) a dwarf who may be a member of the Bleak Cabal, with what appears to be a modified Sensate faction symbol above him, (7) an imp, (8) a floating skull, (9) a tiefling whose appearance varies from the usual look of 5e tieflings, (10) a rogue modron (which likely is the Glitchling race from 2022 Unearthed Arcana), and (11) Sly Nye (tiefling lawyer of the Xaositect faction who appeared in Uncaged: Faces of Sigil).

One other piece of art was showcased in the Polygon article, "Hive Ward Scene" by Vicki Pangetsu.

From left to right we see: (1) yeti serving ice cream to a dwarf, (2) a gehreleth (?) buying a soft pretzel, (3) a tiefling surveying caged cranium rats, (4) a mind flayer chef, (5) a kenku, (6) a human feeding or talking with a faerie dragon, (7) way upstairs a kobold selling pastries, and (8) an elf looking at a cornugon/horned devil (?) spit-roasting meat.

Additional speculation is that the Great Modron March will feature in this adventure in some capacity due to references to the March across multiple past 5th edition products:

• PHB p.104 strangely mentions summoning a modron in the sorcerer's wild magic table.
• DMG p. 41 shows adventurers hiding from marching modrons.
• MM p. 224, under the Modron entry, mentions the Great Modron March.
• Out of the Abyss features modrons and a malfunctioning Machine from Mechanus.
• Tomb of Annihilation, p.177 features rogue modrons lost in the Great Modron March.
• Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, p.41 features a rogue quadrone.
• The winged monodrone Gearbox appears in Lost Laboratory of Kwalish (WotC, 2018).
• Possibly supporting this theory are the steady release of modron miniatures across various WizKids pre-painted D&D miniatures, most recently the Pentadrone (Waterdeep Dragon Heist #28). All of this is just speculation, however.

What is the state of the factions? It's hard to say, but here's what we know...

• Rhys, of the Transcendent Order, is still around. A picture of Guildmaster Rhys training new recruits appears in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, p.103. Thanks @Stormonu !
• Keys from the Golden Vault has adventures featuring the Fated and a new faction called The Fixers who plot to keep the Blood War in balance. Thanks @Veltharis ap Rylix !

If you have other news tidbits I've missed, clarification on details, or just speculation about Planescape, please share!

 

[Stormonu]

Tasha’s Cauldron of everything has a picture of one of the faction leaders (Rhys?) training newcomers in the Great Gynamsium of Sigil.

If the factions are back in Sigil, that may mean either that Faction War has been retconned away, or time enough has passed the factions have returned to Sigil.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Tasha’s Cauldron of everything has a picture of one of the faction leaders (Rhys?) training newcomers in the Great Gynamsium of Sigil.

If the factions are back in Sigil, that may mean either that Faction War has been retconned away, or time enough has passed the factions have returned to Sigil.

The Factions are definitely back in Sigil, or at least a subset of them - Golden Vault specifically mentioned the Fated as operating out of Sigil, and they relocated to Ysgard post-Faction War.

It also mentions a new Faction known as the Fixers who plot to keep the Blood War in balance, which seems like a natural evolution of the old Celestial Arms Dealers plot thread from back in the day. Add in the fact that Rhys is referred to as "Guildmaster" rather than "Factol" in Tasha's, and I'm inclined to think we're getting a version building upon post-Faction War Sigil rather than a pre-Faction War remix.

 

[Quickleaf]

Tasha’s Cauldron of everything has a picture of one of the faction leaders (Rhys?) training newcomers in the Great Gynamsium of Sigil.

If the factions are back in Sigil, that may mean either that Faction War has been retconned away, or time enough has passed the factions have returned to Sigil.

The caption for this piece on p.103: "In the city of Sigil, Guildmaster Rhys realizes that finding capable recruits is one of the main challenges of being a patron."

Could be they've decided to use the more recognizable term Guildmaster in place of Factol. However, I'll point out that in AD&D Rhy was always referred to as a Factol, never as a Guildmaster; for example even in the Faction War adventure, it says "The Ciphers led by Factol Rhys, get along with nearly every other faction." The he Faction War adventure describes how after the ouster of the factions from Sigil, Rhys sits on "Sigil Advisory Council." The implication of the adventure – though never explicitly stated AFAIK – is that the state of Sigil has returned to pre-faction when it was once was ruled by guilds.

Is the use of "Guildmaster" significant or merely using a more common parlance? I have no idea, anything is up for speculation.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

The caption for this piece on p.103: "In the city of Sigil, Guildmaster Rhys realizes that finding capable recruits is one of the main challenges of being a patron."

Could be they've decided to use the more recognizable term Guildmaster in place of Factol. However, I'll point out that in AD&D Rhy was always referred to as a Factol, never as a Guildmaster; for example even in the Faction War adventure, it says "The Ciphers led by Factol Rhys, get along with nearly every other faction." The he Faction War adventure describes how after the ouster of the factions from Sigil, Rhys sits on "Sigil Advisory Council." The implication of the adventure – though never explicitly stated AFAIK – is that the state of Sigil has returned to pre-faction when it was once was ruled by guilds.

Is the use of "Guildmaster" significant or merely using a more common parlance? I have no idea, anything is up for speculation.

I doubt they'd drop the title of Factol wholesale - it's too iconic to Planescape. It'd be like talking about the Red Wizards of Thay, but dropping the term Zulkir.

Maybe they called Rhys "Guildmaster" as a shorthand compromise to indicate her as the head of an organization without having to dedicate page space to explaining what a Faction is in a book that had nothing to do with Sigil, or maybe she's no longer the official head of the Transcendent Order and just comes in to train recruits in her spare time.

 

[Velderan]

So this is confirmed for $59.99? Isn't that $10 cheaper than the Spelljammer set with a higher page count?

 

[Parmandur]

Based on Ravenloft and Spelljammer, I'm going to guess that the relationship to the old metaplot is going to be casual and cafeteria-style, much like any given table.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Based on Ravenloft and Spelljammer, I'm going to guess that the relationship to the old metaplot is going to be casual and cafeteria-style, much like any given table.

I don't expect them to go into it too heavily, just for the version of Sigil we get to look more like post-FW Sigil than pre-FW.

Sodkillers and Sons of Mercy instead of Mercykillers, less overt Faction involvement in city government, guilds, Sigil Advisory Council, etc.

 

[Maxperson]

From left to right, we see: (1) The Cat Lord, (2) a githyanki, (3) a green slaad with "The Friendly Fiend" shop in the background, (4) a "Clueless" (newcomer to Sigil from the Material Plane) with modrons in the background, (5) The Lady of Pain with dabus and a mercane in the background, (6) a dwarf who may be a member of the Bleak Cabal, with what appears to be a modified Sensate faction symbol above him, (7) an imp, (8) a floating skull, (9) a tiefling whose appearance varies from the usual look of 5e tieflings, (10) a rogue modron (which likely is the Glitchling race from 2022 Unearthed Arcana), and (11) Sly Nye (tiefling lawyer of the Xaositect faction who appeared in Uncaged: Faces of Sigil).

Have they said that's the Cat Lord? That doesn't look like any incarnation of the Cat Lord that I've ever seen.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Have they said that's the Cat Lord? That doesn't look like any incarnation of the Cat Lord that I've ever seen.

The Cat Lord as depicted in Planescape Monstrous Compendium I. Looks pretty close to me.