Talk to me about Planescape factions

[GX.Sigma]

I... I am afraid I must ask you to step outside, sirrah.

In all seriousness, it's not the sort of game I'd expect to like (especially these days), but I did love it. I don't remember much about the specifics of the game, just that there was a lot--like, a lot a lot--of dialog, and it was awesome at the time.

Don't get me wrong--there's a lot of good in it. Even now, looking back at it, I remember the good parts with fondness. But as I was playing it, the amount of grindy fetchquesting and smallness of the world was maddening. There's literally a part where an NPC tells you to get something, you go get it, bring it back, she tells you to get something else (from the same place), you go get it, bring it back, she tells you to get something else (from the same place again), and you go get it. All without any sort of combat, exploration, or interaction in between.

Also it has the same no-endgame BS that all BioWare RPGs have, and for that reason alone it deserves to burn in Baator.

 

[jonesy]

Purchased from Good Old Games, installed, played an hour.

So you don't kick yourself later when you find that you're permanently stuck near the end game: Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma, Dexterity. In that order.

Don't get me wrong--there's a lot of good in it. Even now, looking back at it, I remember the good parts with fondness. But as I was playing it, the amount of grindy fetchquesting and smallness of the world was maddening. There's literally a part where an NPC tells you to get something, you go get it, bring it back, she tells you to get something else (from the same place), you go get it, bring it back, she tells you to get something else (from the same place again), and you go get it. All without any sort of combat, exploration, or interaction in between.

Huh. If you're talking about what I think you're talking about that's one of the best quests ever. That fetch quest is a subversion of usual fetch quests. After you bring all of it to her she explains what it all meant. It's very meta.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I love the factions. They're brilliant. A setting as expansive as Planescape could have a tendency to cause player as well as DM paralysis with regard to what to do with it. But, the factions ground the players, they give them a connection to the world that serves to link them to it, to give them plenty of hooks, and to really push an in-setting philosophy on them to help interaction with all those weird oddities that surround them. From the DM side, you've got ready to go intrigue everywhere, and it makes improv a cinch because you always have that baseline "what's going on here" you can fall back on.

One of my favorite PCs, when I actually got to play instead of DM, was a spiker Harmonium paladin who worked with a kobold Fraternity of Order (Guvner) wizard. That kobold was quite evil. But, law and order were upheld, so we put up with each other for the greater good (so to speak). The factions made it work, because politically we were aligned, even if morally we didn't see eye to eye. What we did was important and we served the city in a capacity that led to an interesting dichotomy between what the characters wanted to do, what they could do, and how they would go about things.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Funny, just had the Planescape boxed set open...

Heh, I just posted a rundown of Sigil's factions in my Let's Read thread over on rpgnet. Coincidences abound, right?

Bleak Cabal - "End the Universe, I want to get off"; life is a joke and you're doing folks a favor by showing everyone how futile living is.
Indeps (Free League) - You are your own master, don't let anyone else tell you what to do

These two are my favorites. Existentialism and "Get off my philosophical lawn!" are what I can sympathize with.

Mercykillers - Break the law, and you deserve to die. These guys enforce that.
Hardheads (The Harmonium) - Big brother is watching you; We know what is good for you - we are your mother and your father ...

I think the only reason these are separate factions is to complete the Trifecta of Lawful factions (along with the Frat of Order). AKA, Sigil's own Rule of Three. Otherwise, I think these two could be the same faction without anyone noticing.

The Dustmen - If everyone would just up and die and go to their rightful plane as petitioners, this universe would be a whole lot better off

The way I read it, undeath is their goal -- numb and passionless undeath. Because...goth, I guess.

The Athar - The gods are liars who are trying to keep power for themselves. You have the ability to rise above them and seize the power for yourself.

I like how the DM's guide to Sigil mentions how the Athar's purpose in Sigil is to keep the various churches in check. And I always thought it was weird that there's no anti-arcane faction to keep those mages in check, considering how powerful they can get.

 

[Jhaelen]

Funny, just had the Planescape boxed set open...
Signers (The Sign of One) - Only you exist; everyone and everything else around you is a dream in your own mind

Definitely my favorite faction ever! Before Planescape I hadn't even heard about solipsism. After reading it up, I thought it was just hilarious to create a faction of them

I should mention, though, that as much as I loved reading about the Planescape factions, I didn't feel they were actually playable. It also added too much complexity for my taste:
So now, my pc is supposed to represent a coherent whole of background, personality traits, race, class, alignment, religion, and philosophical faction? Tricky.

Likewise playing in the Planescape metaverse always struck me as a bit overwhelming.

 

[Stormonu]

Not everyone in Sigil is a member of a faction, just as in real life not everyone is in a sorority, fraternity or lodge. They're basically open secret societies and you don't have to join one. In fact, sometimes half the fun is working for multiple factions and playing them one against the other.

 

[tangleknot]

My favorite PC I ever made int h Planescape RPG was a chaosmen Modron. "Spreading chaos throughout the multiverse... in an orderly fashion."

 

[Quickleaf]

I've only ever dabbled in Planescape, but since Numenara: Torment is coming now, I'm curious to learn more about the setting, and in particular the philosophical elements. What were the factions, which were your favorites, and how did they get used in your games?

My old 2e Planescape game heavily featured the Sensates. I think the theme was best described as "Pandora's Box": you've got to experience things because that's the credo of the Sensates, but what you experience changes you (for better or worse), so you've got to devise a way to discern between which experiences to try.

Anyhow, it ended with the PCs finding a "sensory stone" (these were commonly used by Sensates to share experiences too painful or too taboo/evil to be enacted) that housed the Lady of Pain's origin story. However, the idea was experiencing whatever was held within would be so overpowering that the PC might become the next Lady of Pain. No one ever decided what to do with the stone, and the campaign ended on a very Planescape-esque note.

 

[tangleknot]

I tell players to try to play Planescape and 7th Sea. Both systems draw you away form the typical dungeon dwelling atmosphere and require creative thinking to overcome obstacles. Your wittiness and ability to roleplay can be more deadly than weapons, and although you can do this in most RPG's, these two systems seem to inspire these behaviors.
Once you play Planescape you'll never roleplay the same way again.