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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 8129131" data-attributes="member: 20323">I used to DM Planescape a lot when I ran 2e, had a 3-4 year long Planescape campaign, read Pages of Pain, was a contributor to some articles on Mimir.net and Planewalker.com (like the <a href="https://www.planewalker.com/content/planar-renovation-project-bytopia" target="_blank">Bytopia Planar Renovation Project</a> & <a href="https://www.planewalker.com/content/planar-renovation-project-gehenna" target="_blank">Gehenna Planar Renovation Project</a>), played Planescape: Torment probably too much, and started a <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/planescape-fantasy-taken-to-the-edge-5e-conversion.356650/" target="_blank">Planescape 5e conversion thread</a> here on ENWorld. Love the setting.However, it wasn't without problems. One of the big ones was that there was a lot of high concept stuff that sounded good on paper, but it turned out to be paper-thin when it came to game-able details. Another was that the adventures often involved a significant amount of railroading. Basically, the setting was great about being vague and evocative, promising great ideas (shifting gatetowns to new planes? angels and fiends rubbing shoulders? cool!), but really falling short on following through on those when it came to specifics a DM could use at his or her table.When I read through the Avernus chapters of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, when you got beyond the Mad Max vehicle stuff, much of the locations and NPCs felt inspired by Planescape themes. That encounter with Jandar Sunstar (sp?) felt like a parallel to the Pillar of Skulls in Planescape: Torment. The art & concept of the hag Mad Maggie (?) and her minions felt torn from Diterlizzi's head. And the multiple endings, including the possibility of redeeming the main villain, was pure Planescape. Once you're beyond the rather linear Dead Three dungeon and leaving aside the Mad Max influences, Avernus as it's depicted in that new hardcover adventure really feels like a homage to Planescape to me.Don't get me wrong – I'd love to see a full-blown Planescape setting done for 5e – but I think the designers were very astute in recognizing some of the flaws in how Planescape was originally presented, and instead designing an adventure with imminently useful stuff based in the design ethos of Planescape.</blockquote>

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