... yeah.The Athar, both for their philosophy most of which a 'loth can't find much of a problem with. Pesky powers. Powers schmowers. Feh. And I liked Terrance, he had a sense of style.
The Sign of One, but only because of their splinter group The Will of the One.
The Mercykillers, largely for their factol Alisohn Nilesia. A tiefling AND Cute AND utterly insane. Whats not to love.
Post Faction War however:
The Xaositects because they havn't really changed much, still as random as always, and they have The Painter. :D
The Will of the One. Not a faction, but a sect maybe. Same reasons as above.
The Ring Givers. If only because of Jeremo the Natterer. The boy is headed for great things, or a trip to the mazes, one or the other and nothing in between. He has style, and with Terrance consigned to his own hell in the Deep Ethereal, Jeremo picks up in this department.
Even though I used a mercykiller Avatar for a very long time I don't really agree with their beliefs, they just have the coolest symbol (fated is the worst, that or sensate).
"Welcome to my multiverse -- you're everything I ever thought you would be." Factol Darius
eudas
My second favorite faction? The Takers. Why? Because I strongly agree that a sod's responsible for his own lot in life :D
Me, I don't fall in to any of this screed. I've got a life to live beyond all the petty bickering, and of the wars over temporary reality. Of course, that doesn't stop people from -accusing- me of being an Indep.. but, whatever.
Its at this moment I realize that I'm still at heart a Sensate cause I'm wonderin how its gonna feel to die twice.
As a competent sort in the ways of necromancy and death magic, I made a fair way for myself, keeping some other wanderers safe from the undead there, who as usual, were entranced enough by the Dead Truce to give me time enough to negotiate passage. Killed some unruly undead as well, some vampires who refused to listen to reason, and that's when it hit me. The people didn't matter, nor did the undead, because the whole damned thing was flawed... misshapen, and the whole place seemed to know it, too. So I resigned myself to find away out of there, and eventually, succeeded.
But when I escaped back into the Cage, I saw the horrid truth there, too...it too was flawed, and wrong. I came upon a Dustman, and he showed me the truth... that the whole multiverse was wrong, created by wrong hands, for wrong purposes, and all of Creation was just dust in the winds, and beneath his notice. I pondered on that, and was an Initiate then.
I noticed nothing, and cared for nothing, and then, I noticed Nothing, and began to care for Nothing. For Nothing was the only pure thing, wasn't it? You can't screw up Nothing, because it's the only real absolute. So, I began to strive for Nothing, and resigned myself to find away out of Creation, out of Dust. I'm still trying to learn not to strive. It will be harder to learn not to try.
I was once Seth Marik, and I used to think I was a Dustman...and now I am nothing, but Seth...Seth is a Dustman now. But soon, if I am very fortunate, I will soon be Nothing.
You're a bleedin' Convert, is what you are, berk
And the winner is . . .
Originally posted by Ghoti
... the Dustmen have never made much sense to me, and the new factions lack some of the character the olds ones had (despite the commendable efforts of the PS3E folks).
I'd be very interested in where you think we're failing in this regard and any suggestions you might have. We're very much aware of how important character is to every aspect of the setting, so please give us some hints ;)
Kal
As for favorite Factions, the Seekers are where it's at after the fall of the Factions in the Cage. Blending the best of the Godsmen and the Signers, the Mind's Eye is the faction most likely to have members planewalking, just because.
"You're crazy. And coming from a Xaositect that says something." - statement by the NPC in question to one of the PCs
If you havn't done so, check out the prestige classes and feats related to the factions up on www.planewalker.com they did a really good job.
Enjoy!
Well, as I was drifting through this thread, I never thought I'd find the author of Fractious Factions. First of all, a fine job on the Transendant Order, one of my two fave factions to play. I thought the others were good too, but I, having played the Ciphers alot, was able to give it a keen and critical eye, and it more than passed.
And then to find the rest of them on your website! I slithered through the link to find my beloved Dustmen, and scanned them, to be...a bit disappointed.
Don't get me wrong I love a class that gives lichdom, as a major player of necromancers...but the Dustmen aren't about becoming undead, it's about transcending the flaws of Creation to find the True Death, which is rather similar to a Nirvana in Black, if you will, instead of reaching ultimate awareness and oneness with all of creation, the Dustman seeks detachment from the dust of Creation, and strives for the purity of the concept of Nothingness. A little bit reincarnationist Buddhism, a little bit Gnosticism. The Dead Truce is nothing more than the same effect freezing Inuit would have upon meeting a fire genasi...he is warm, therefore he is good. Dustmen radiate the feel of negative energy to undead like a bard radiates courage or hope to men.
Hence, in all reverence of the work put into my beloved faction, I feel I must disagree with your giving of an undeath transformation at 10th level,-especially- into a vampire, a creature completely engrossed in Dust, caring for health, sun, other mortals, hardly the way of a proper initiate of Duustmen philosophy. I could possibly see the lich, it's alot closer to that ideal, but perhaps you might make the other option a mummy, at least? Or perhaps strip the option entirely and present it with something similar, but different, such as...
Gate of Death: The Dustman has transcended the Dust to such a manner that his body is merely an inconvenience, rather than a weakness. He no longer eats, breathes, nor sleeps, and has no need of his internal organs, becoming immune to critical hits or sneak attacks, as well as ability score damage, drain, or death effects. He is considered undead, rather than alive, for purposes of spell effects and attacks. At this point, the Dustman has readied himself for True Death, and when he is next killed, he will refuse raising, reincarnation, or resurrection, and cannot be made into an undead creature. His soul is, for all intents and purposes, no longer in existance, as it has exitted Creation.
Seed of Inspiration: The Dustman's transference into the True Death leaves a gap in Creation, which is quickly filled. The player gains a new character of equal level to the deceased Dustman, with proper equipment, who arrives on the scene within 24 hours and is friendly to the Dustman's remaining associates.
Can anyone tell me what 2e books would give a lot of background and stuff for the Fated as i wanna play one in a campagain my mate will hopefully be running soon? I'm currently getting a couple of SVgames - downloading them.
Kal
What is the Faction War( besides the obvious
) and how did that happen?
[drops back OOC]
Duke Rowan Darkwood of the Fated. The mans hubris got the most of him and took down the factions one by one. He instigated open war amongst the other factions while at the same time he managed to garner some measure of control over the Mercykillers.
Under the pretense of marraige, Alisohn Nilesia of the Red Death ordered her faction to follow Darkwood's orders like her own. After that happened Darkwood sold everyone's favorite barmy tiefling factol into fiendish slavery (they never did say just who she was sold to...) to get rid of her.
Darkwood's real obsession however was something known as the Labyrinth Stone. Uncounted thousands of years ago, an unknown mage came to Sigil opening claiming he would cast down The Lady of Pain. For several days this went on and The Lady did nothing. The unknown mage was on the verge of 'something' when The Lady appeared before him in the Ward of Masks (archaic name) and they both vanished.
Only some time later did any in Sigil know the victor when The Lady reappeared unscathed. Rumor held that she had bottled the mage inside a great black gem, called the Labyrinth Stone and cast it out into the planes.
Thousands of years later, another monstrously powerful mage named Shekelor, said to have been factol of the Incanterium at the time, announced his intention to leave Sigil, find the Labyrinth Stone that contained the trapped soul of that ancient mage who had challanged The Lady and some say nearly succeeded.
Shekelor vanished into the lower planes, most say Pandemonium. Most forgot about him, so did his own faction. But then he reappeared in Sigil through some previously unknown portal from Pandemonium, screaming in agony and glowing from the inside like his guts had been lit aflame.
He managed only to scream out, "THE SPIDERS!!!" and drop a handful of gems from his hands before he was incinerated by flames from the inside out, leaving nothing but ashes.
Rumors spoke much of what indeed happens to those who would claim to challange Her Serenity...
Darkwood knew of these incidents by his own research into Sigils misty past, looking for any clue into a weakness of The Lady. Then the Stone was brought to him and it all began...
Darkwood was able to make some mental connection to whomever was locked inside the stone. He felt a being of utterly immense power inside, but somehow a sense of fear at his touch. Perhaps the being had gone mad in its containment.
Darkwood with the Labyrinth Stone openly challanges The Lady in the streets of Sigil, and is instantly mazed. The stone falls from his grasp and is recovered by a street urchin and passes through numerous hands.
Darkwood's contingent Wish takes effect, but by some quirk of magic, or the Mazes, or more likely The Lady's Will he is released from the Mazes, but hurtled backwards in time.
Wandering the streets of Sigil in a daze, claiming to be Factol of the Fated he is taken away by the Bleak Cabal to the Gatehouse and locked into the Irrevocably and Criminally Insane Ward.
And there he stays for centuries, unaging and losing his sanity. Knowing the future however, he rants and rambles about future events that hold remarkably true. The Bleakers don't know what to do about him, and he eventually outlives them all and becomes known as The Oldest Barmy.
Deep in the gatehouse, methodically keeping track of the date on the stone walls and his own skin, he feels the approaching of the time when he was mazed. He feels the closeness of the Stone, and endlessly screams over and over again, "I feel it! It is happening again! It is happening again! I am the chosen one!"
As the Faction War unfolds, for the second time in Gifad's life, the name he was given during his years of confinement, he escapes the gatehouse and eventually recovers the Stone.
The other factols are all mazed, except for Rhys who prematurely left Sigil (feeling something ill approaching from the Cadance of the Planes), Sarin who was assassinated, and Hashkar who was killed near the end of the war.
Both Tanar'ri and Baatezu forces enter Sigil and fighting rages across the wards, and The Lady at first does nothing.
And then every single portal in Sigil seals itself. No escape, no entry, no water, and no air. The city can survive for no longer than a few weeks at most.
At the same time, a Yugoloth citadel build into the depths of Undersigil, and the massive dreamwalking artifact used to spy upon the residents of Sigil therein is destroyed. The Temple of Eternal Darkness it was called I believe.
And oh yes... A'kin the Arcanaloth, the friendly fiend is revealed to be the editor of the Factol's Manifesto. ;)
Gifad with the Stone begins to trace the patterns of a gigantic rune of a spell, the Sigil spell, traced into the streets of the Market Ward / Ward of Masks by the wizard trapped into the Labyrinth Stone.
He finished the spell and reaches into the stone, instantly extinguishing the life of the mage trapped inside. A voice screams in agony and anger from within, "YOU FOOL!" as it dies to power the spell.
But before the final word can be uttered, The Lady appears and Gifad / Darkwood vanishes a second time.
He awakens, not remembering his name, or where he is or what is was. Only that a man known as Darkwood was responsible for his pain. Only knowing that in a city shaped like a great ring, a bladed woman mocks him.
He is sold into fiendish slavery, but does not break and eventually is sold to a mortal wizard. He begs of the wizard to teach him magic, and bemused the wizard does so.
He rises in power, learning magic from across the planes. Eating magic, breathing magic, working dweomers of such power that none before had seen such things. And he discovers a city, shaped like a ring atop an infinite spire.
And he travels there to find the woman he hates above all else. The one who was responsible for this Darkwood and his slights towards him.
He screams that he will see The Lady brought low, and then she appears, floating before him, serene and emotionless. The Dabus alongside her translates her words to the mage, "And now I bind you within a prison of your own making. Only you may release yourself, and then only from without."
And locks him within the black gleaming gem known hence as the Labyrinth Stone.
The Lady reopens the portals and appears with a single Dabus to each newly elected factol of the factions of Sigil, and to the cell leaders of the anarchists to announce the following, "This city no longer tolerates your faction. Abandon it, or die." and vanishes.
Most factions leave sigil, or renounce their faction status, and all no longer hold official stations in the power structure of Sigil.
The Sigil Advisory Council is created, and the guilds of Sigil begin to fill the power vacuum along with powerful bloods like Jeremo the Natterer, Estevan the OgreMage, Zadara the Titan, and everyone's favorite Arcanaloth, Shemeska the Marauder the King of the Crosstrade. :D
And five years after the faction war, give or take a bit, PS3e picks up.
*bows down before the FW designers, Ray Vallese and Monte Cook*
Speaking of escaping, just how many escapes have been made from the Mazes? Discounting Torment, wherein Ravel Puzzlewall (who used her power to make a home for herself in the Maze) escaped once upon a time and the Nameless One, who you have to send to Ravel's Maze and can go to another Maze if you choose.
The only name that comes to mind immediately is Rowan Darkwood, based on what has been detailed above.
And if I understand this correctly, Rowan Darkwood is the one inside the Labyrinth Stone? And theoretically, if by some strange twist of fate, Rowan Darkwood realizes his mistake in the Labyrinth Stone, he could singlehandedly throw the entire Faction War history off the edge of Suicide Alley.
Originally posted by Shemeska the Marauder:
Darkwood sold everyone's favorite barmy tiefling factol into fiendish slavery
I'm hurt. I always thought I was everyone's favorite barmy tiefling factol. I guess I just can't compare to the barminess of Nilesia. But then, who can?
Originally posted by Tertek
So, do you suppose that any of the presently Mazed Factols might have a chance of escaping?
Speaking of escaping, just how many escapes have been made from the Mazes? Discounting Torment, wherein Ravel Puzzlewall (who used her power to make a home for herself in the Maze) escaped once upon a time and the Nameless One, who you have to send to Ravel's Maze and can go to another Maze if you choose.
The only name that comes to mind immediately is Rowan Darkwood, based on what has been detailed above.
And if I understand this correctly, Rowan Darkwood is the one inside the Labyrinth Stone? And theoretically, if by some strange twist of fate, Rowan Darkwood realizes his mistake in the Labyrinth Stone, he could singlehandedly throw the entire Faction War history off the edge of Suicide Alley.
Darkwood was played like a pawn the entire time. It also suggests that The Lady isn't absolutely bound to the flow of time as most perceive it.
People have escaped the mazes before. After all, there's always a single exit out of one. It just may be utterly impossible to find.
Vartus Timlin, the Faction of the Expansionists was mazed over 1000 years prior to the Faction War, and was eventually released from his confinement by the Mercykillers and one or two other factions who found his maze not to free him, but to steal the artifact level sword he possessed, 'Lightbringer'.
However that sword was more myth than anything else. It was a +1 sword with a continual light spell cast upon it. Timlin was simply an 18th level fighter or so, and acted when he fought as if the sword was telling him what to do and how to fight. People thus underestimated him.
Timlin killed most of those would be thieves, got back to Sigil and immediately left by the closest available portal, not wanting to risk The Lady's wrath again.
His faction long dead, its unknown where he went or if he still harbors any great ambitions. His mazing may have broken his spirit, or emboldened him, or simply humbled the man. It remains to be seen. After all, he was mazed after openly challanging The Lady and after the other 12 major factions of the time all met and are said to have petitioned The Lady to take action. (which one it was that did the trick, who knows)
And while a fun game, don't assume anything in Torment is canonical.
Those factols in the mazes from the FW era crop most likely to have any real chance of ever getting out are in no particular order: And I'm trying to just speculate here and not give spoilers to if any of these might be in the works in any way shape or form. They might all be, or some, or none of them. I won't tell. :D
Darius of the Sign of One. Bel Lord of the 1st of Baator is a Signer in some manner, and owes a great personal debt to Darius after her faction played a major role in his rise to his current position.
Erin 'Darkflame' Montgomery of the Sensates has perhaps the largest active powerbase in Sigil and the planes themselves of the old factions that still remain true to her and her creed. That level of support and powerbase, combined with her former lover holding the position of factol, if I recall correctly, would give her a good chance to have people trying to find her maze in the Deep Ethereal.
L'har of the Bleak Cabal: he stepped down to enter the Grim Retreat shortly before the faction war began and with the express purpose of eventuall returning to power. So while not mazed, he escaped that fate as the factol of his faction by pure luck and chance it seems. His successor instead was mazed in his stead. L'har remains insane and locked away for the time being.
Skall of the Dustmen: Skall was probably the most personally powerful of the old factols, and his planar projection spell was apparently able to find some loophole in Sigil's Astral Barrier. Or he was allowed. None are sure. But with his lich status and arcane prowess he might manage a way out. His followers while powerful and numerous as Dustmen don't really have the drive or passion to go find him and free him. Besides, the vast bulk of them assume simply that he acheived the True Death, and are content to leave it at that.
(He was planning on invading Sigil with an undead army before he was mazed in the faction war. And its presumed but not known if he was in Sigil at the time or in the Negative Energy Plane... makes one think how long The Lady's shadow reaches...)
Alisohn Nilesia of the Mercykillers: Her faction disintigrated into the Sodkillers and Sons of Mercy after she vanished. Most assume she was mazed, but in fact Darkwood sold her into fiendish slavery. However where she was sold, and to who, and where she is currently is anyone best guess. She's got less sanity rattling around her skull than L'har does, but she's skilled and she's young. Who knows what happened to her.
[She's actually popped back up in my own campaign. Rescued on Acheron, returned to Sigil, and flayed alive in public by The Lady a week later after, among other things, killing a dabus and howling obsceneties at The Lady for killing her 'Rowan'. A year later both in and out of game, she, or someone looking exactly like her reappeared, alive, in Sigil. *cackle* Every so teniously the 'loths are involved, somehow. Is it her? Was the real her the one that was flayed?]
Rhys is still alive of course, she left Sigil before the Faction War claiming that something wrong was happening, that the planes told her to leave to avoid what was brewing. Spooky.
Originally posted by Factol Rhys
I'm hurt. I always thought I was everyone's favorite barmy tiefling factol. I guess I just can't compare to the barminess of Nilesia. But then, who can?
You're not barmy Rhys, you're just creepy and you move too fast. I mean, seriously, that last assassination attempt you moved out of the way before the arrow was in the air and you caught it when it flew past.
*cough* Not that I know anything about such matters.
As it is, my Dustman prestige class is shaped by two things: One, Skall was working toward building an army of undead to invade Sigil, so he was showing preference for free-willed undead over the animated types or living followers. Two, playing a vampire is usually improbable given the creature's vulnerability to sunlight, but the unusual nature of Sigil makes it possible to play one in a Sigil-based campaign. I tried to stay as true to the abilities and information of the 2E versions of the factions, and since free-willed undead were higher ranking members of the inner circles, it seemed natural their state should be a short term goal for dustmen.
Keep in mind that my prestige classes are simply one interpretation of a faction, not necessarily the only interpretation or the correct interpretation. For the 3E project, each faction will have three or more prestige classes, reflecting the different views of the inherent philosophies. Variety is the spice of life, and no one wants all dustmen or all signers or all ciphers to be exactly alike -- that would be boring.
As for updating the prestige classes to 3.5, I'm sure I'll get around to it sometime, but I don't know when...it took me a year to work up the gumption to get the 3E versions onto my site! And I still haven't added the web enhancements for my other articles to the website...NPC high-ups in the Silver Strike Guild ("Open Skies: The Silver Strike Guild" in Dragon #307) and gem dragonscale magic items ("Dragonscales" in Dragon #308). Add to that the fact I've got another article coming in Dragon #314 ("Searing Flames: Ecology of the Salamander") with yet another web enhancement planned, and my hands are full. :D
And its presumed but not known if he was in Sigil at the time or in the Negative Energy Plane... makes one think how long The Lady's shadow reaches...)
Or wether the events as written in the faction war book were entirely factual. We already know that there are other cannon Planescape books that can't be taken to be exactly factual. The Factol's Manifesto, for example.
The Lady may not have the power to reach outside Sigil, and indeed Skall probably was not in Sigil at the time of his supposed mazing. It makes one wonder exactly why he's been so quiet lately, and let everyone, including most of his faction, believe he was mazed.
However FW wasn't written in such a manner, but presented from an outside POV as the events unfolded, as with most modules I'm aware of.
And its pretty explicit about which factols suffered which fate in the course of the war. *shrugs*
Its odd that Skall seems to have all but a cult of personality going on with how popular the old lich is among some fans. *chuckle* I personally don't share the opinion greatly, though he is the oldest of the FW era factols, and a fun character to work with.
The factions and their old factols as well may be technically displaced from official power but the kreigstanz continues just as much as it did before. Don't worry. :D
However FW wasn't written in such a manner, but presented from an outside POV as the events unfolded, as with most modules I'm aware of.
True, but I'd prefer to keep a few details different. I'm not really a Skall groupie, I just like to keep things a little more mysterious than the facts outlined in FW. In my game, Skall disappeared, and no one's really sure yet what happened to him. People are just assuming he reached the true death or was mazed. As the ages-old kreigstanz holds true after faction war, and by necessity moves primarily outside Sigil, a lot of other groups get to get in on it and mix things up. Who knows what the later re-introduction of Skall would do to shake things up?
There's tons of possibilities for intrigue both inside and outside of Sigil.