Tell me about Planescape.

[Timeboxer]

By the way -- my players, keep out.

Anyway, I've been interested in Planescape for, oh, on the order of a couple of years at this point, and I may now have the resources to run a semi-decent third-edition Planescape game, ish. I've got In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil, I've got The Factol's Manifesto, I've got the Manual of the Planes and the Planescape 3E Planewalker.com resources. I've finally got my hands on a copy of Tales from the Infinite Staircase that I'd like to run, which will have to involve either my converting it myself or possibly finding a conversion online, which isn't looking very fruitful.

The thing is, though, I don't entirely have a grasp on the Planescape feel, I think. What do you do in a Planescape game? I realize that it's more about belief and philosophy rather than just sticking your sword into people repeatedly and waiting for them to fall over, but what motivates people to become Planewalkers? How do the factions factor into this? How do people from different factions and belief systems function together in a party? How do I deal with the players who insist that "My character has no beliefs whatsoever"? And, ultimately, why live on the Planes when you could have a much quieter and probably less dangerous life on the Prime?

So, yes. Help?

 

[fusangite]

I played in a very enjoyable Planescape campaign a few years ago. In my very limited experience, Planescape runs best if the party is
(a) being chased
(b) chasing someone else
(c) on a scavenger hunt-like quest in which they must complete a set of tasks in very different worlds

The other great thing about Planescape is that the characters can plausibly be absurdly different kinds of creatures from one another. I think my favourite moment in the campaign was when our characters arrived at a good, well-ordered city guarded by an order of paladins. As we approached through the countryside, people screamed, fled in terror and prayed to their gods for deliverance. A scouting party of mounted warriors were sent out to meet us. It occurred to us that the scouting party was the standard D&D party -- and we were the monsters attacking the city. I was a neutrally-aligned Kuo Toa cleric; there was a half-dragon and various other disturbing monsters in our party.

To get inspiration for running Planescape, I recommend a few films that I think have the right feel: Warriors' Gate from the 1980 season of Dr. Who and Time Bandits. With Planescape, the feel I found fulfilling was a party that would otherwise be considered powerful rushing fearfully through a vastly overpowered universe. Fleeing angry mobs, angered gods, torch-bearing villagers or creatures of vast and unspeakable power through one portal after another. But that's just me...

 

[reason]

(c) on a scavenger hunt-like quest in which they must complete a set of tasks in very different worlds

The other great thing about Planescape is that the characters can plausibly be absurdly different kinds of creatures from one another.

Funny, almost an inversion of what I enjoyed of the PS setting. I like the feel of a different but more or less normal place where the strange intruded through every crack and crevice. It's like having the Godtime right on top of the world to the point at which supernatural beings showing up one evening at the pub is a real likelihood.

I'm aiming for this feel in the use of the Farthest as a device in my Enclave setting. It is other worlds, other planes without the gates - no barrier: e.g.

----

From the Wayward visitor:

"Port cityfolk and the insular landsmen shun the inn of The Cursed; it has a bad and not entirely undeserved reputation amongst commoners. The Farthest Inn spills into the Wayward Visitor - the winding passages, shadowed rooms and hidden alcoves of the interior almost seem to encourage it. Visitors here are stranger and more different than most from the near Farthest. It is not just a matter of oddly colored eyes, unusual scents, strange clothing and an unrecognized language. Some of the rough and tumble folk in Port - from the militia, Seafarers' Guild, noble family retinues or less reputable groups - treat a drunken night at the Wayward Visitor almost as a rite of passage.

One Visitor in particular has been in the Wayward Visitor for as long as any of the staff, and is as much responsible for the reputation of the inn as any. It stares from darkened corners, red eyes and long teeth buried in a brutish body, like an overfed Neth dipped in pitch. It drinks ale on the house and causes no trouble. There are many interesting stories as to its origin and associations, but no one who knows the truth is saying anything."

From the Powers that Be:

"The Powers of the Enclave are said to be hidden in the deep Farthest. The same sages who wrote of the Quintessential Realms referred to these Powers as Ideals, "reflections cast from the pool of creation, each one known by a thousand names yet instantly recognized at first sight.""

From the year of winter:

"Not much more than a generation past, Trespassers spilled into the Enclave from deep within the Farthest Winter. Monsterous forms of ice and sleet trampled trees, cattle, warriors and the works of mortals underfoot, plunging the land into deepest winter for a year. Neth froze solid in their encampments, Ammander townsfolk starved, and even the Datarii suffered greatly.

The Trespassers of Farthest Winter were ultimately banished through the courage, wizardry and sacrifice of the renowned Emerald Company. To this day, the Trespassers rage and howl within the ruined Winter Fortress, far from Enclave towns and cities, warded and rendered powerless.

This is why the common Ammander folk say that winter is always just beyond the Farthest Hills."

----

I think that that same lack of barrier (relatively speaking) between supernatural and natural, between the strange and the normal, that there is nothing preventing the otherworldly walking into the "normal" world - and the exploration of what that means - in PS is what made it so interesting in feel. In that sense, the feel of a Sigil-based PS campaign joins a heritage of work of this sort of universe in SF and fantasy that goes back quite a ways.

In terms of delving into the Godtime/beyond/other realms, I like that to remain hard, dangerous and strange even though you can get there just by walking with your eyes closed for a few minutes...

Reason

 

[Khayman]

What do you do in a Planescape game?

Mostly eat rat-on-a-stick.
I'd get outta the Hive if it weren't for the berks keeping me down.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

BuyPlanescape Torment. Now. This is the best CRPG ever. If you give it to your friends to play, they will beg you to run a Planescape game. They will get down on their hands and knees and bring you gifts of the finest meats and cheeses if you will run a Planecape game. If I could force you to play this game I would. Some people do not like it, but they are stupid and their opinions on anything can be dismissed. After you play Planescape Torment you will never have another question about the feel of the setting. Also, your IQ will have gone up. It is that good.

Now, on to your questions.

The thing is, though, I don't entirely have a grasp on the Planescape feel, I think. What do you do in a Planescape game? I realize that it's more about belief and philosophy rather than just sticking your sword into people repeatedly and waiting for them to fall over, but what motivates people to become Planewalkers? How do the factions factor into this? How do people from different factions and belief systems function together in a party? How do I deal with the players who insist that "My character has no beliefs whatsoever"? And, ultimately, why live on the Planes when you could have a much quieter and probably less dangerous life on the Prime?

The best advice I can give about designing a Planescape adventure is to come up with a regular hack-and-slash that is set outdoors. This will be the easy part. Now comes the hard part: adding in the worldview of all of the NPCs. I can give little advice there. Just look at your NPCs and try to figure out why they would be guarding treasure/kidnapping princeses/stealing artwork/juggling spoons/whatever. And don't be afraid to make the good guys the bad guys. Don't do it often, of course, or it will become expected. But Planescape is more about law vs chaos than it is about good vs evil. Keep that in mind.

People become planeswalkers because that's where the money is. Sigil is all about opportunity, but opportunity does not equate with success.

A great example of how the factions work together can be found in the free online novel: "Fire and Dust"
http://www.deathstar.org/~krlipka/ps/fiction/local.html
The format of the novel kind of sucks. There are a few pages in the "PDF" version that didn't make it. They are in the "paperback PDF" version, but that is meant for the printer so you have the first page next to the last one, etc. But the story itself is a great example of how and why factions would work together.

The biggest problem with Planescpe is the Factol Wars. Eliminate this element from your game. It was, in my opinion, a very bad idea. The factions should work together as much as their ideologies will permit. For example, there's nothing stopping a Sensate and a Dustman from working side by side, they'll just think the other person's ideology is ... limited.

If someone decides their character is agnostic/indifferent to the factions then you should permit it. Never, ever impose the setting on the player. If you have a good story to tell, the player will become more involved. If you don't have a good story to tell or the player doesn't care ... well ... then forcing the setting on him is kind of a waste of time in the first place. Make up bonuses for an "indifferent" faction so the character doesn't lose out in the power balance and move on from there.

"Why live in the Planes when its safer on the Prime?" Well, couldn't that be extended to just about any setting? I suggest starting the characters out as Sigil natives if you can swing that. Then introduce adventures as you normally would. As practice, take a module that you are very familiar with and see how you would change it if it took place in Planescape.

Don't think of Planescape as this big philisophical setting. It is, but that's not how to approach game design with players who don't want to get invested in a new setting when they could just play in the Forgotten Realms.

Finally, don't be afraid to set your combats in weird places. "Fire and Dust" has a great combat set around a glass skyscraper full of water and fish (it's a fish farm for Sigil). Naturally, the glass breaks and chaos erupts. You can't really do weird in most settings, it's encouraged in Planescape.

Hope this helps.

 

[Southern Oracle]

I've finally got my hands on a copy of Tales from the Infinite Staircase that I'd like to run, which will have to involve either my converting it myself or possibly finding a conversion online, which isn't looking very fruitful.

Tales from the Infinite Staircase is an excellent compilation and can be used a number of ways. If you play in Forgotten Realms, it can be used as a bridge from Toril to the planes, and it ties into the adventure For Duty and Deity. It's also fine as written, or broken up into its individual encounters without the metaplot of the Iron Shadow.

The thing is, though, I don't entirely have a grasp on the Planescape feel, I think. What do you do in a Planescape game?

There are a number of different approaches you can take, and I'll discuss them as I address your other questions below.

I realize that it's more about belief and philosophy rather than just sticking your sword into people repeatedly and waiting for them to fall over, but what motivates people to become Planewalkers?

People become planewalkers for a variety of reasons. The easiest to implement at the beginning of a campaign is for the party to accidentally stumble through a portal...the characters become planewalkers because they want to find a way home. When starting with planar characters, they could be members of the various factions, belong to an organization with planespanning activities (a trade consortium, wizard guild, mercenary guild, etc. -- I created one such organization called the Silver Strike Guild which you can find in Dragon #307), be a fanatical member of a religion, or just a thrillseeker looking for new experiences.

How do the factions factor into this?

The factions can play as big or as little a role as you desire. Each faction has a particular philosophy, as well as a planar base where its activities are more or less "in the public eye." You can arrange encounters with faction members all over the multiverse to "educate" your players about the different philosophies, or if a character seems to naturally exemplify a particular philosophy, you can have a faction attempt to recruit him or her as a member. Pre-Faction War, the factions are much more active in Sigil than out on the planes. If you keep the PCs moving and downplay the importance of Sigil, you may never need to worry about the factions. The multiverse is a big place, and the factions haven't reached everywhere.

How do people from different factions and belief systems function together in a party?

The best way I can describe this is to point to modern day politics and religion. People can be friends and still belong to different political parties or hold different religious beliefs. Conflicts may arise from time to time, but most people don't let such things ruin a friendship. There are exceptions, of course, and you should expect regular conflict between members of diametrically opposed philosophies, such as the Fraternity of Order and Xaositects, or the Society of Sensation and the Dustmen. Factions also have a little more control over their members than modern day political parties (or even most religions)...a factol can always contact a member and say, "Do this or else." That's also an easy way to set an adventure hook. "One day, one of the faction highups calls you to his office..."

How do I deal with the players who insist that "My character has no beliefs whatsoever"?

There's no need to focus on character beliefs in a Planescape game, although doing so provides a much more rewarding roleplaying experience. ALL characters have belief systems...the player just might not realize it. At the basic level, a character's alignment is his or her belief system, and you can equate them to some of the factions (LN for the Guvners or Hardheads, CN for Xaositects, etc.). If the character uses divine magic, he or she has a belief system based on how that power is obtained -- either a god, a force of nature, or a particular philosophy. Any character that worships a god also has a particular belief system -- gods have goals, and they want their worshippers to promote those goals. Planescape is an opportunity to explore a character's motivations much moreso than standard D&D, but if the players aren't comfortable with that, you can avoid it.

And, ultimately, why live on the Planes when you could have a much quieter and probably less dangerous life on the Prime?

People who want a quiet and safe life don't become adventurers. If your players have become complacent, however, you can "prod" them with a multitude of tools from the Planescape campaign setting. The Blood War regularly spills over into countless places across the planes, from the streets of Waterdeep to the entry hall of Crius's temple on Carceri. Regular incursions of demons and devils (or both!) into the area where your PCs are might be motivation enough to get them on the move. The factions also butt heads from time to time, and winding up in the middle between Hardheads and Xaositects might also spur them into action. Planar creatures such as the githyanki, formians, paraii (now called visilights in MMIII), and others are expansionist groups that regularly attempt to take over new territory, which can include a Material Plane location. The 1E planar supplement Tales of the Outer Planes had a number of planar adventures that started on the Material Plane...a duke's daughter is kidnapped by a dao and taken to the Elemental Plane of Earth; a cleric of Poseidon recruits adventurers to help him rescue his crew from a sea hag on the Elemental Plane of Water; the characters end up owing a bard a debt and have to track down a special dog for Hecate to breed with her hellhounds in order to pay back the bard. With a little work, you can take any adventure and use it as a springboard into Planescape, which is what I do in my campaign. Check out the Manual of the Planes web enhancement for the World Serpent Inn at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/World_Serpent.pdf for yet another way to move the PCs out into the multiverse.

God, I love Planescape!

 

[Desdichado]

You could pick up some of the old Planescape modules for inspiration, like "Dead Gods" or "The Great Modron March." Either of those alone would keep you busy for quite a long time; both them together even moreso.

And by the time you're done, you should be well grounded on what it's like to run Planescape.

 

[Krypter]

I've found that a gradual introduction of the Cant can create a great atmosphere once people get used to it. Words like berk, dark, bone-box and peel may sound stupid in the beginning, but once you're used to them the flavour is great. Consult the mimir about the Cant.

Also, Planescape is both a fairy tale and an inversion of the classic D&D style. Here, the demonic looking creature with horns may be the *good* guy, while the paladin may be a strict totalitarian who wants to press you into a chain-gang. Planescape tends toward shades of grey more than any other setting. After all, it's hard to be judgmental when you're having a drink in a pub next to a slaadi, a yugoloth and a chain devil.

Planescape adventures should always emphasis travel, unless they're a mystery investigation in Sigil. Players should always need to use portals, as someone said, either chasing something or being chased. That makes for an exciting travelogue style of play. Planescape is never a dungeon-hack. Sigil itself has a Renaissance/Victorian London flavour, and the leitmotif is always belief. Belief makes the world, and changes physical reality. If your players are blase about beliefs (as mine were initially), then they're obviously Bleakers! Let that depressing philosophy affect their rolls and events around them, and pretty soon they may be looking for another faction to join.

 

[Shemeska]

Sweet jeebus, why did it take me so long before I noticed this thread...

Expect a longer reply tonight when I'm no longer at work.

 

[Wycen]

BuyPlanescape Torment. Now. This is the best CRPG ever. If you give it to your friends to play, they will beg you to run a Planescape game. They will get down on their hands and knees and bring you gifts of the finest meats and cheeses if you will run a Planecape game. If I could force you to play this game I would. Some people do not like it, but they are stupid and their opinions on anything can be dismissed. After you play Planescape Torment you will never have another question about the feel of the setting. Also, your IQ will have gone up. It is that good.

Now, on to your questions.


The best advice I can give about designing a Planescape adventure is to come up with a regular hack-and-slash that is set outdoors. This will be the easy part. Now comes the hard part: adding in the worldview of all of the NPCs. I can give little advice there. Just look at your NPCs and try to figure out why they would be guarding treasure/kidnapping princeses/stealing artwork/juggling spoons/whatever. And don't be afraid to make the good guys the bad guys. Don't do it often, of course, or it will become expected. But Planescape is more about law vs chaos than it is about good vs evil. Keep that in mind.

People become planeswalkers because that's where the money is. Sigil is all about opportunity, but opportunity does not equate with success.

A great example of how the factions work together can be found in the free online novel: "Fire and Dust"
http://www.deathstar.org/~krlipka/ps/fiction/local.html
The format of the novel kind of sucks. There are a few pages in the "PDF" version that didn't make it. They are in the "paperback PDF" version, but that is meant for the printer so you have the first page next to the last one, etc. But the story itself is a great example of how and why factions would work together.

The biggest problem with Planescpe is the Factol Wars. Eliminate this element from your game. It was, in my opinion, a very bad idea. The factions should work together as much as their ideologies will permit. For example, there's nothing stopping a Sensate and a Dustman from working side by side, they'll just think the other person's ideology is ... limited.

If someone decides their character is agnostic/indifferent to the factions then you should permit it. Never, ever impose the setting on the player. If you have a good story to tell, the player will become more involved. If you don't have a good story to tell or the player doesn't care ... well ... then forcing the setting on him is kind of a waste of time in the first place. Make up bonuses for an "indifferent" faction so the character doesn't lose out in the power balance and move on from there.

"Why live in the Planes when its safer on the Prime?" Well, couldn't that be extended to just about any setting? I suggest starting the characters out as Sigil natives if you can swing that. Then introduce adventures as you normally would. As practice, take a module that you are very familiar with and see how you would change it if it took place in Planescape.

Don't think of Planescape as this big philisophical setting. It is, but that's not how to approach game design with players who don't want to get invested in a new setting when they could just play in the Forgotten Realms.

Finally, don't be afraid to set your combats in weird places. "Fire and Dust" has a great combat set around a glass skyscraper full of water and fish (it's a fish farm for Sigil). Naturally, the glass breaks and chaos erupts. You can't really do weird in most settings, it's encouraged in Planescape.

Hope this helps.

Yes, I concur with everything said by Becker. Er, I mean BiggusGeekus.