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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sciborg3" data-source="post: 5608339" data-attributes="member: 6678667">The very fact that people are bringing in real world examples of religion and philosophy shows me once again why Planescape is one of the greatest of D&D's settings!I think with regards to the Lady of Pain the thing to remember is not that she's some kind of uber-deity like Ao lording over everyone, but she is a setting mechanic where the DM can decide the truth. Perhaps she is a goddess, perhaps she is a projection or construct created by the dabus. Perhaps she is three ratatosks in a dress and a mask and a knife-wig, as one of my favorite theories goes.They left it up to you to decide - Whether or not this is lazy (whatever that means??) is besides the point. It is a creative idea that spurs creativity.Things like the Lady of Pain, little mysteries and wonders seeded throughout the setting, are why to this day you see some amazing fiction cropping up on <a href="http://www.planewalker.com/" target="_blank">Planewalker</a> and <a href="http://thecityofdoors.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">great art</a> produced on sites like DeviantArt.As for cheapening the gods, the idea that you can level up by hunting monsters and murder them takes away any sense of wonder they ever could have in my opinion.The Factions' "philosophy", is I think a word used in layman terms, equivalent to ideals or religious beliefs. I think it was a good catch-all term to describe the factions as a whole. I also don't see how having gods around negates factions - many of the faction members were clerics, just as many people in political parties in RL are religious. If anything factions added a new axis in which to characterize NPCs and PCs, so another plus there.Of course, everyone's mileage will vary. There were problems I had with the setting - the snubbing of the other settings' worlds and gods, the connection of the gods with belief which I never liked even in other D&D sources. But really those are personal preferences that are easily changed.Really, Planescape was great because it made you think about it even when you weren't playing the game. What are gods? What does it mean to believe in entropy? Can I become a god if I change myself over lifetimes?Personally I cannot even compare Planescape's richness to the 4e cosmology which I frankly find to be boring. I know others like the mirroring of the Titanomachy, but to me it fell flat in the way others feel Sigil doesn't work. I found the Great Wheel to be the right balance of organization and complexity/chaos, and the streamlined 4e cosmos feels bland and unimaginative from what I've read. However, it's been awhile so if there suggestions I'd love to hear the, - I've heard good things about the Shadowfell stuff and look forward to the Feywild stuff coming up.</blockquote>

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