Planescape Planescape: Fantasy Taken to the Edge (5e conversion)

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EDIT: duplicate post

 

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[h2]The Factions[/h2]
Over the next couple posts I'm going to present my take on converting the Planescape factions to 5e. I'll cover the traditional 15 plus the Mind's Eye and Ring-givers for those playing a post-Faction War game.

I've converted the factions as another aspect of characters in addition to background, race, and class. Thus, they can be used as part of character creation or joined/changed during play.

The versions here are a bare-bones presentation of prerequisites, benefits, and restrictions. You'll need other Planescape resources to become more familiar with the respective faction philosophies.

Additionally, each faction has a special feat available to members who prove themselves to the faction cause; the feats are largely based on expanded faction abilities presented in Factol's Manifesto, as well as ideas inspired by http://www.pathguy.com/planesca.htm.

EDIT: You'll notice each faction feat gives a downtime meditation feature which basically states "for each day you meditate in a region there is a 1% cumulative chance of.....X.....happening." The PC's character level is meant to limit how high their % chan can get. So a 1st level PC would only benefit from a day of meditation, while a 7th level PC would benefit from a week of meditation, and a 14th level PC would benefit from a fortnight of meditation. And I am using 'meditation' here in the broad sense, not the Vipasana sense

 

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[h3]ATHAR ("DEFIERS, THE LOST")[/h3]
The gods are frauds! The unknowable truth lies beyond the veil.
Prerequisite: Worshippers of specific gods cannot join the Athar. Clerics who join worship the Great Unknown.
Benefit: You are immune to the following spells when cast by a servant of the gods (like a cleric, proxy, or angel): augury, bestow curse, divination, divine word, enthrall, geas. Also, you can spend Inspiration as a reaction to gain immunity to a single spell cast by a servant of the gods.
Restriction: Accepting aid from a servant of the gods is considered beneath an Athar, and prevents you from gaining Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

Athaon (feat)
Prerequisite: Athar faction member

Having proven yourself to the Athar cause, you perform a nighttime ritual at the Shattered Temple or the Athar Citadel in which you destroy three objects invested with divine power. At the conclusion of the ritual you are named an Athaon, a word meaning "godless" in the sacred language of priests of the dead god Aoskar. As an Athaon you are expected to function as an independent operative, faction envoy, and messenger or guard of faction interests when need be. You gain the following abilities:

• Gain advantage on your saving throws against the divine magic of clerics, proxies, and other divine servants like baatezu and devas in the service of a deity. Also, you are under the effect of a permanent nondetection spell against divinations cast by gods and their servants.
• You gain the ability to cast the banishment spell as a ritual, as if you cast it with a 4th level spell slot, though after doing so you suffer a level of exhaustion. Alternately you may cast it in a ritual circle joining hands with up to three other Athaons, each one incressing the spell slot by one level (up to a maximum of 7th level). The save DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier (your choice). If you successfully banish a target that is the servant of a god and its CR is equal to or less than your level (or the level of the highest Athaon in a ritual circle), you confine it to its home plane for 1 entire year.
• During downtime you can oppose a specific faith in a settlement by dissemanting pamphlets, preaching outside temples, and haranguing clerics. For each day you spend, you reduce the chance for clerics of that specific faith to gain Divine Intervention (as per the cleric 10th level feature) in that region by 1%. This also applies to other % chances of deific intervention such as sending an avatar. This effect lasts only so long as you continue to preach daily against that faith in the region.

 

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[h3]BELIEVERS IN THE SOURCE ("GODSMEN")[/h3]
All life springs from the same divine source, ascending and descending in form as the cosmos tests it.
Benefit: Your Charisma (Persuasion) checks with planar beings are advantaged. Also, you can spend Inspiration to make an Indifferent NPC Friendly to you until they take a long rest.
OPTION: Alternate Benefit: I never quite understood the "social benefit" to being a Godsman, and if you're like me you may prefer to use this alternate benefit instead: Begin with a bonus language or tool proficiency that you recall from a past life. Also, you can spend Inspiration to remember a language or tool proficiency from one of your past lives for the next hour.
Restriction: Accepting aid during your personal tests is seen as beneath a true Godsmen, and doing so prevents you from gaining Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause. This includes being resurrected from death.

Seeker of the Immortal Path (feat)
Prerequisite: Godsmen faction member

Your mentor having judged you ready, you undertake a series of grueling challenges and unusual puzzles designed to test your individual fears and limitations. Emerging from the trials with greater understanding of the multiverse, you see the inherent worth in all things, understand that all life is a rising and falling toward divinity. Elevated as a factotum of the Godsmen, you now are expected to pursue your own god-hood, to protect the faction's interests, and to serve as a mentor to younger members. You gain the following abilities:

• Whenever you die you automatically reincarnate (as per the spell) within 24 hours. You and your DM should work out the details of your reincarnation together to reflect both your character's adherence to the Godsmen faction philosophy and the necessities of play.
• As an action you can sense the divinity spark in a creature or object within 60 feet. You learn if a creature is a cleric, proxy, avatar, demigod, or disguised god, and likewise if an object is imbued with divine magic. Identifying which god or the type of divine magic requires ability checks as normal.
• During downtime, you can meditate on your past lives. Each day you spend meditating, you have a 1% cumulative chance to recall some bit of information from one of your past lives that relates to one of your current endeavors chosen by the DM; this information will be the equivalent of what you might learn with a legend lore spell.

 

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[h3]BLEAK CABAL ("BLEAKERS, MADMEN")[/h3]
The multiverse ain't supposed to make sense; there's no grand schem, no deep meaning, no elusive order. The only truth worth finding lies within.
Prerequisite: Lawful characters don't join the Bleak Cabal because a life without meaning means a life without order.
Benefit: You are immune to madness inducing spells and effects such as confusion, crown of madness, feeblemind, Otto's irresistible dance, Tasha's hideous laughter, the gaze of an umber hulk, or the winds of Pandemonium. You can spend Inspiration to mask yourself from detect thoughts and similar forms of mind-reading (as if your Intelligence were 3 or lower) for 1 minute.
Restriction: During each day of downtime you have a 1% cumulative chance of succumbing to temporary Bleaker madness which lasts either until your downtime period ends or after 1d6+1 days pass, whichever comes first. During this madness you cannot take any activities (downtime activities or otherwise) besides resting; if you do, you cannot gain Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause (or lack thereof!). If your group enjoys roleplaying such things, you may wish to roleplay the other PCs convincing your character to resume adventuring.

Survivor of the Grim Retreat (feat)
Prerequisite: Bleak Cabal faction member

After confronting the meaninglessness of your life on Pandemonium, during which you staved off overwhelming madness called the Grim Retreat, you were initiated as a factotum of the Bleak Cabal. As a factotum, you are tasked with caring for the mentally ill and spreading the Bleaker's philosophy. You gain the following abilities:

• You gain the ability to absorb madness. To do so you must touch a target in undisturbed meditation for an entire long rest, at the end of which their madness is cured and you take a level of exhaustion. However, the effects of their madness are absorbed into you, and even if you are immune to madness it still causes mental anguish for three days, during which absorbing further madness could be detrimental to you at the DM's discretion.
• By simply talking or performing for 10 minutes you can subtly cast the despair spell as a ritual, though after doing so you suffer a level of exhaustion. Also, if you're a bard, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard, add the following spells to your spells known or your spellbook at the corresponding levels: 3rd - crown of madness, 7th - despair, and 11th - howl of pandemonium.
• When you succumb to Bleaker madness for 1 week of downtime (either voluntarily or thru rolling), at the end of the madness you gain a strange insight into a current enemy or quandary you face. Your DM should help determine the exact nature of your strange insight.

[SBLOCK=Bleak Cabal Spells]
Despair
4th level enchantment
Casting time 1 action
Range 50 feet
Components V, S
Duration 1 round per level

One creature within 50 feet of you that can hear you is confronted by the meaninglessness of their existence. They must make a Wisdom saving throw, and if they fail they lapse into a deep depression that lasts for 1 round per level you have. While in the depression, the target is incapacitated and restrained. The target gets another saving throw if they are bound or other action is taken against them, though if they're attacked the spell is automatically broken.
At higher levels: When you cast this spell using a 5th level spell slot you can target two creatures. With a 6th level spell slot you target three creatures, with a 7th level slot four creatures, 8th level slot five creatures, and 9th level slot six creatures.

Howl of Pandemonium
6th level conjuration
Casting time 1 action
Range 30 ft radius or 60 ft cone
Components V, S, M
Duration Concentration (special)

You summon the screaming winds of Pandemonium thru your body into a numbing wail effecting all creatures within either a 30 ft radius or a 60 ft long cone (your choice). The spell lasts for however long you concentrate on it up to a maximum of 1 round per level, and for an equal amount of time after you stop concentrating. All creatures within its area of effect are deafened, cannot communicate by any means, suffer disadvantage to attacks and saving throws, nonmagical ranged weapon attacks and sound-based attacks automatically fail, and creatures trying to approach nearer to you must make a Strength saving throw or be unable to move any closer for that turn. Finally, any creature caught within the winds must make a Wisdom saving throw or be effected as per the confusion spell.

The material component is a pebble from Pandemonium which must be consumed upon casting.
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[h3]DOOMGUARD ("SINKERS")[/h3]
Entropy is ecstasy. Decay is divine, the multiverse is supposed to fall apart. We're just here to keep leatherheads from interfering.
Prerequisite: Clerics of the Life domain cannot join the Doomguard, since Life is the opposite of Entropy.
Benefit: You can Sift thru destroyed matter for one minute, running your hands thru charred buildings and rubble, to determine the cause of the destruction so long as it occurred within 100 years. In addition, you can spend Inspiration to deliver an entropic blow, turning a successful attack you make against a creature of an opposing alignment into an automatic critical hit.
Restriction: Sinkers have resistance to healing magic, only regaining half the normal hit points from healing spells and magic items. No self-respecting Doomguard would acts against the forces of Entropy in favor of those of creation or preservation, and doing so prevents you from gaining Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

Entropy Champion (feat)
Prerequisite: Doomguard faction membership

Having proven your dedication to the cause of Entropy, you are sponsored by one of the four Doomlords to undertake a secret ritual in a citadel bordering the Negative Energy Plane. After a week of ritual fasting and purification, you have a section of your skin flayed away in order to craft an entropy blade which symbolizes your elevated position. As an entropy champion you are expected to serve as an operative for the faction and strive to attain a better understanding of entropy as a philosophy and way of life. You gain the following abilities:

• When you use your Doomguard Sift ability you can read as far back as 1,000 years. Also, if the destruction occured within the last century, you can also relive up to five minutes of whatever caused the devastation by concentrating, though doing so causes you to suffer a level of exhaustion after.
• During downtime you can meditate on the nature of Entropy; for each day you so meditate in a region, there is a 1% cumulative chance that creation and healing magic fails, particularly magic used to unnaturally sustain life beyond its natural span.
• You gain an entropy blade (see below).

[SBLOCK=Doomguard Entropy Blades]
An entropy blade is a +1 bladed weapon (typically a one-handed sword, as few want to endure the flaying required to make a two-handed weapon) designed to combat a specific single threat against which it functions as a +3 magic weapon. Suitable threats are unique and named creatures that are enemies of entropy, such as a specific hierarch modron, a mighty devil, or a fallen astral deva. When this specific threat is destroyed the entropy blade turns to dust. 

In addition, each entropy blade has unique properties according to which of the four Doomguard Citadels it was forged at:

• Ash blade: Forged in the Crumbling Citadel, this blade grants its wielder resistance to fire damage and the chill touch cantrip.
• Dust blade: Forged in Citadel Alluvius, this blade grants its wielder resistance to earth and stone-based damage and the ability to cast move earth once per day, though only to destroy earth.
• Salt blade: Forged in Citadel Sealt, this blade grants its wielder resistance to water-based damage as well as immunity to dehydration and the ability to cast create or destroy water once per day, though only to destroy water.
• Vacuum blade: Forged in Citadel Exhalus, this blade grants its wielder immunity to gas attacks and the ability to cast ray of enfeeblement once per day by touch.

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[h3]DUSTMEN ("THE DEAD")[/h3]
We're all dead - some more so than others. So, we explore our current state with patience, purge our passion, and ascend toward the purity of True Death.
Prerequisite: Clerics of the Life domain cannot join the Doomguard, since Life is opposed to Death.
Benefit: You benefit from the Dead Truce, an ancient compact between the Dustmen and undead which prevents undead from attacking a member of the faction unless the Dustmen initiates hostilities first. Normally this does not apply to a Dustman's companions; however, you can spend Inspiration to extend the Dead Truce to companions within 10 feet as long as you maintain concentration, though this only reliably applies to mindless undead like wraith, skeletons, and zombies, not free-willed undead like vampires and wights.
Restriction: Your soul is never willing to return to "life" for the purposes of raise dead, resurrection, and true resurrection,. Dustmen who act against the True Death (e.g. thru displaying excessive emotion or attempting to restore someone to life) are seen as heretics, and you cannot gain Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

Fourth Circle of Dust Initiate (feat)
Prerequisite: Dustmen faction membership

You have devoted yourself to seeking the True Death for yourself and others, undertaking a ritualized funeral - your own! In this ritual you make peace with friends and family, leaving your old illusion of life behind. As an initiate of the Fourth Circle you are expected to act as an operative representing faction interests, to safeguard the Mortuary and the Dustmen's secrets, and to champion the cause of True Death.
You gain the following abilities:

• You can use an action to command one non-intelligent undead within 60 feet of you. If the creature already obeys another's commands it gets a Charisma saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier (your choice). If the undead fails its save, it becomes friendly to you and obeys commands until you use this ability again. Also, when on official faction business, you can requisition undead servants from the Dustmen in exchange for spending 1 week of downtime serving your faction tending to mortuary rites; for every 4 levels you possess (rounded up), you can requisition one skeleton or zombie.
• Should you die and your remains are returned to the Dustmen, you are revived as a free-willed undead one time only. As an undead you no longer need to breathe, sleep, eat, or drink, you are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition, and you gain darkvision 60 ft. Though you count as undead for the purposes of spells, in all other respects you remain the same.
• During downtime you can meditate on the True Death; for each day you so meditate in a region, there is a 1% cumulative chance that restless spirits can be talked into moving on to what lies beyond and that resurrection magic fails.

 

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[h3]FATED ("TAKERS, THE HEARTLESS")[/h3]
The multiverse belongs to those who seize it. No ones to blame for a poor sod's fate but the sorry sod himself.
Prerequisite: Lawful Good characters avoid the Fated's uncharitable philosophy.
Benefit: You gain a bonus skill proficiency of your choice, and when selecting class skills you may select from any skills in the game, reflecting your faction's philosophy of self-reliance. In addition, you can spend Inspiration to apply your proficiency bonus to a skill check you are not proficient in.
Restriction: A real Taker doesn't accept or give charity, always demands (or provides) services before payment is rendered, and strives toward self-reliance; should you compromise these core values, you lose the ability to gain Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

Self-made High-up (feat)
Prerequisite: Fated faction membership

You have proven yourself a high-up in the Fated faction by earning some tangible power (e.g. a keep or mayorship) as well as earning something intangible but precious to you (e.g. the affection of the person you courted). Rather than a formal ritual, you simply share the challenges you overcame and how you earned your reward to other Fated high-ups who then agree that you're ready to be elevated as a factotum, serving as an independent operative representing the faction's interests. You gain the following abilities:

• Gain proficiency in a bonus skill or tool of your choice.
• You have a savvy business sense, able to readily appraise the gold piece value of most treasures you find and haggle for 10% discounts on goods and services. Also, when you perform your profession during downtime you earn enought to support a Wealthy standard of living.
• You have a knack for picking up survival tricks to get by on the planes. Choose one plane with which you are familiar to begin with. You may become familiar with other planes by spending 30 days of downtime on a given plane familiarizing yourself with it. In regards to a plane you're familiar with, you know the general layout of the plane and how to get around, the common denizens, hazards, gods, and settlements, as well as what portals look like on that plane and the sorts of gate keys to look out for to activate portals leading to that plane.

 

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[h3]FRATERNITY OF ORDER ("GUVNERS")[/h3]
Everything has laws; most are dark. Learn the laws of the multiverse, and you can control it.
Prerequisite: Only Lawful-aligned characters can join the faction.
Benefit: Your highly developed sense of patterns allows you to cast comprehend languages once per long rest. In addition, you can spend Inspiration when casting comprehend languages to decode secret messages in a text or glyph, such as an arcane Sigil, that isn't part of a written language.
Restriction: A Guvner won't break a law unless he or she can find a loophole around it; should you knowingly break a law, you lose the ability to gain Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

Guvner Administrator (feat)
Prerequisite: Fraternity of Order faction membership 

Dedicating yourself to the pursuit of knowledge as power, you undertake a ritualized test in the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment on Mechanus requiring you prove your understanding of a loophole in the physical laws of the planes. After this you are inducted as an Administrator; the lowest rank is A10 and the highest A1. As an Administrator you have managerial duties in the legal system which occupy some of your time, but you also are expected to represent the faction interest on research missions. You gain the following abilities:

• Once per long rest you can manipulate probability as a bonus action to apply advantage or disadvantage to an attack, check, or saving throw you or an ally or enemy you can see makes. You must describe how your probability manipulation looks.
• You discover a loophole in the laws of the multiverse which allows you to cast a single spell (of a level you could cast if you were a wizard). You must describe the nature and logic of your loophole. Each time you cast this loophole spell, there is a cumulative 10% chance the multiverse closes that loophole. Once closed, you lose access to the spell, but you can learn a new loophole by spending 10 days x the spell's level of downtime researching.
• During downtime you can meditate on the nature of Knowledge and Order; for each day you so meditate in a region there is a 1% cumulative chance that a particular law works to your advantage in a given situation.

 

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[h3]FREE LEAGUE ("INDEPS")[/h3]
This ain't no faction, and nobody tells us what to do. Keep your options open - nobody's got the keys to the truth.
Benefit: You gain advantage on saving throws against charm spells and effects. In addition, you can spend Inspiration when charmed to act of your own free will for one round and gain an extra saving throw to break the charm if you normally wouldn't be allowed one.
Restriction: A true Indep never gives away his or her independence, power, or truth to an outside authority, whether a faction, a king, or the powers of fate itself; should you betray your belief this way, you cannot gain Inspiration until you atone or otherwise prove yourself to your faction's cause.

True Indep (feat)
Prerequisite: Free League faction membership

You've wholeheartedly embraced the Indep principles of freedom of thought, and you've spent a lot of time getting to know your fellow Indeps whether at the tavern or in the bazaar. They recognize you as a force for independence and a defender of the faction's interests. You gain the following abilities:

• You are immune to detect thoughts and other mind reading abilities. Likewise attempts to foretell your future are always ambiguous, since you make your own fate.
• You have a network of Free League contacts in major cities which can give you updates on trade route conditions, unusual items passing thru the bazaar, advice about which merchants to avoid or do business with, fluctuations in the price or availability of trade goods, and local rumors. Furthermore, for every day of downtime you spend trading or carousing with your contacts in a settlement, there is a 1% cumulative chance that you gain some small perk - like being afforded greater autonomy by local law enforcement, gaining your own stall to sell goods, or a little bit extra to sweeten a deal.
• As an action you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check against the Charisma (Deception) of a creature to determine what faction, if any, they are aligned with. This ability cannot see thru the special guise of an Anarchist, however, and it is not perfect (e.g. a death priest could appear to be a Dustman). If your check fails you cannot try to ascertain the faction of the same creature until the situation changes dramatically.