Newb to planescape---needs help. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Newb to planescape---needs help.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Jun 21, 2004 23:08:25 Howdy,I have played a tiny bit of 2nd edition,and i have played 3rd edition for about 3-4 years now.I was wondering,what exactly is planescape?I am assuming it helps you link different campaign worlds together like FR and DL,but i would like to know for sure.Also,I know it was in 2E(never played it though),but I was wondering if it is in 3E and/or 3.5 also? Thank you for looking at my post
#2
Shemeska_the_Marauder
Jun 22, 2004 0:55:37 Planescape was a 2e campaign setting that was set on the planes, centered around Sigil, the City of Doors. It formed the basis of the core 3e Great Wheel cosmology as detailed in the 3e Manual of the Planes. Much of the MotP is lifted straight from Planescape, albeit without the flavor or much of the details.

Try over at the official 3e Planescape site, www.planewalker.com for conversions of older material, items, NPCs, etc to 3e edition rules.

Much of the detail of the setting revolved around the various planar factions in Sigil, their rise and eventual fall in one of the last PS products, Faction War. (before the line was folded back into the core and WotC took over from TSR)

The factions each held a philosophy about the nature of the multiverse, and gained abilities and powers based upon those beliefs. For instance: The Athar claimed that the 'gods' were not truly divine, nor omnipotent, but simply powerful beings. As such they were not worthy of mortal worship.

The Sign of One believed that each person's own imagination and belief made all of existance around them. Over time they gained the ability to simply imagine things into existence, and potential unimagine themselves out of existence.

On the outer planes, belief equals power, singularly exemplified by the factions. Each of the factions wished to control Sigil, and eventually they fell into open warfare. At that point the 'ruler' of Sigil, Her Serenity, The Lady of Pain stepped in and ended it. "This city tolerates your faction no longer, abandon it or die."

The second leg of the setting was the omnipresent influence of the Blood War. The Baatezu and Tanar'ri endlessly engaged in a war of genocide against the other with the Yugoloth in the center playing both sides from the middle, and everyone from mortals to Slaadi, to Modrons, to Rilmani, to the celestials had a stake in making sure that the war stayed in status quo and didn't spill over out of the lower planes. Nowhere was untouched by the War Eternal.

The setting was very much about belief, philosophy, awe and mystery. Some of the books for the setting are the singular best books ever produced for DnD, hands down for any edition ever.
#3
sildatorak
Jun 22, 2004 1:06:07 [edit]Beaten to the punch by the Unfriendly Fiend. I'll leave in my praise for pw.com, though since they deserve it.
[snip]
[/edit]

There is not going to be any WotC published Planescape setting for 3.x, but these bloods are working on creating enough information for a DM to run a 3e planescape campaign with no problems. So far they have up chapters for the planar races, skills, feats, factions, and current situation in Sigil. Print it at work to save yourself an ink cartridge, there has been a lot of hard work put in and it shows in both quantity and quality.
#4
zombiegleemax
Jun 22, 2004 7:54:21 thank you both for the info So,wheel of time,It came out around....2001 i think.....anyways,you say that it is like planescape?anyone played it,because i thought about buying it a while ago?

Oh,and i think i have a great idea know for a campaign.The linking of Dragonlance,Eberron,Forgotten Realms,ghostwalk, greyhawk,etc. through like portals or a mage doing some **** to make the PCs switch between worlds.Sound like a good idea?
#5
ripvanwormer
Jun 22, 2004 8:29:33
Originally posted by mtgwarlord
Oh,and i think i have a great idea know for a campaign.The linking of Dragonlance,Eberron,Forgotten Realms,ghostwalk, greyhawk,etc. through like portals or a mage doing some **** to make the PCs switch between worlds.Sound like a good idea?

It could be. Maybe the PCs are trying to find fragments of an ancient world-spanning civilization. Or maybe track down some plane-crossing villains fleeing justice. The worlds might be falling apart and the PCs need to find out why.

Some connecting plot would be good.
#6
zombiegleemax
Jun 22, 2004 8:36:55 Those are really good ideas,ty:D
#7
j-pop_jedi
Jun 22, 2004 18:47:45 A neat thing to do if this is your first time playing planescape is just skip the plot for now. Merc your pcs off in Sigil(my favorite type of game). At around character level 5, they should start plane walking. Then work on a plot. The plot for my super long game(still not done, 40+ session so far) concerns the nothingness(never ending story rip off) making whole infinate planes go away.

For an inexperienced dm, planescape has to be very directed. You can't allow the freedom of movement to your pcs that you could in a prime game. The only way you could let your pcs pick where they are going is to read all the source books (takes about 2 weeks) and memorize them (takes about 4 months). Of course, if you do this, they will love your game and beg you to take it up again.

Also, hold off on allowing starting factions. Half the fun of being in a faction is joining the faction to begin with.
#8
gilliard_derosan
Jun 22, 2004 19:52:32 The very basic premise of Planescape was to take the planes, of which there was very little information presented up until this time, and felsh them out so that they became a place where campaigns could be set, instead of just places where people went to kill gods and banish demons.

Quite frankly, I was tired of D&D until Planescape came out. D&D had always been a game to play simply because everyone played it, and if I wanted to game, it was D&D, even though most of the campaign settings really didn't have much . . . flesh to them. Planescape was just so original an provocative. Not limited like any other setting by the boundaries of the campaign setting, but limitless. In any other campaign setting, it was sometimes difficult to incorporate other elements from other settings without ruining the game, yet it became seamless in Planescape. And you didn't have to be 40th level God-slayers in order to survive on the planes. It was feasible for 1st level characters to have just as much adventure and fun on the planes.
#9
j-pop_jedi
Jun 22, 2004 20:04:14 Level 1 pcs on the planes is always fun. I just suggest sticking to Sigil for a while because you get the feel of all the planes there. I mean, where else are you gonna find an Assimon and Tanari walking on the same street?

And for effect, try this. Have some npc say, the Lady of Pain is comming and cause a stampede. See if the pcs catch on they should be running away. Especially when a Pit Fiend is running away.

One of the adventures from the box set we played involved going to the abyss, but you had to stay in the tavern. If you walked out of the bar, you basically were worm food. That's what I mean by directed. Planes walking at low levels is very directed, ie, can't go here because we'd die. Directed games are okay, just not my cup o tea.
#10
bob_the_efreet
Jun 23, 2004 17:08:02
Originally posted by J-Pop Jedi
an Assimon

*snickers* Yeah, I don't really like celestials, either.
#11
zombiegleemax
Jun 24, 2004 1:01:58 In addition to the wonderful resources that have been posted Wikipedia (AKA The Free Online Encyclopedia Of Powersdamn Everything) has a nice article that covers the planes and factions.

Also, a big appeal of Planescape was its wonderfully surreal art by Tony DiTerlizzi. Check 'em out here, they add a nice flavor to the setting.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jun 21, 2004 23:08:25	Howdy,I have played a tiny bit of 2nd edition,and i have played 3rd edition for about 3-4 years now.I was wondering,what exactly is planescape?I am assuming it helps you link different campaign worlds together like FR and DL,but i would like to know for sure.Also,I know it was in 2E(never played it though),but I was wondering if it is in 3E and/or 3.5 also? Thank you for looking at my post
#2 Shemeska_the_Marauder Jun 22, 2004 0:55:37	Planescape was a 2e campaign setting that was set on the planes, centered around Sigil, the City of Doors. It formed the basis of the core 3e Great Wheel cosmology as detailed in the 3e Manual of the Planes. Much of the MotP is lifted straight from Planescape, albeit without the flavor or much of the details. Try over at the official 3e Planescape site, www.planewalker.com for conversions of older material, items, NPCs, etc to 3e edition rules. Much of the detail of the setting revolved around the various planar factions in Sigil, their rise and eventual fall in one of the last PS products, Faction War. (before the line was folded back into the core and WotC took over from TSR) The factions each held a philosophy about the nature of the multiverse, and gained abilities and powers based upon those beliefs. For instance: The Athar claimed that the 'gods' were not truly divine, nor omnipotent, but simply powerful beings. As such they were not worthy of mortal worship. The Sign of One believed that each person's own imagination and belief made all of existance around them. Over time they gained the ability to simply imagine things into existence, and potential unimagine themselves out of existence. On the outer planes, belief equals power, singularly exemplified by the factions. Each of the factions wished to control Sigil, and eventually they fell into open warfare. At that point the 'ruler' of Sigil, Her Serenity, The Lady of Pain stepped in and ended it. "This city tolerates your faction no longer, abandon it or die." The second leg of the setting was the omnipresent influence of the Blood War. The Baatezu and Tanar'ri endlessly engaged in a war of genocide against the other with the Yugoloth in the center playing both sides from the middle, and everyone from mortals to Slaadi, to Modrons, to Rilmani, to the celestials had a stake in making sure that the war stayed in status quo and didn't spill over out of the lower planes. Nowhere was untouched by the War Eternal. The setting was very much about belief, philosophy, awe and mystery. Some of the books for the setting are the singular best books ever produced for DnD, hands down for any edition ever.
#3 sildatorak Jun 22, 2004 1:06:07	[edit]Beaten to the punch by the Unfriendly Fiend. I'll leave in my praise for pw.com, though since they deserve it. [snip] [/edit] There is not going to be any WotC published Planescape setting for 3.x, but these bloods are working on creating enough information for a DM to run a 3e planescape campaign with no problems. So far they have up chapters for the planar races, skills, feats, factions, and current situation in Sigil. Print it at work to save yourself an ink cartridge, there has been a lot of hard work put in and it shows in both quantity and quality.
#4 zombiegleemax Jun 22, 2004 7:54:21	thank you both for the info So,wheel of time,It came out around....2001 i think.....anyways,you say that it is like planescape?anyone played it,because i thought about buying it a while ago? Oh,and i think i have a great idea know for a campaign.The linking of Dragonlance,Eberron,Forgotten Realms,ghostwalk, greyhawk,etc. through like portals or a mage doing some **** to make the PCs switch between worlds.Sound like a good idea?
#5 ripvanwormer Jun 22, 2004 8:29:33	Originally posted by mtgwarlord Oh,and i think i have a great idea know for a campaign.The linking of Dragonlance,Eberron,Forgotten Realms,ghostwalk, greyhawk,etc. through like portals or a mage doing some **** to make the PCs switch between worlds.Sound like a good idea? It could be. Maybe the PCs are trying to find fragments of an ancient world-spanning civilization. Or maybe track down some plane-crossing villains fleeing justice. The worlds might be falling apart and the PCs need to find out why. Some connecting plot would be good.
#6 zombiegleemax Jun 22, 2004 8:36:55	Those are really good ideas,ty:D
#7 j-pop_jedi Jun 22, 2004 18:47:45	A neat thing to do if this is your first time playing planescape is just skip the plot for now. Merc your pcs off in Sigil(my favorite type of game). At around character level 5, they should start plane walking. Then work on a plot. The plot for my super long game(still not done, 40+ session so far) concerns the nothingness(never ending story rip off) making whole infinate planes go away. For an inexperienced dm, planescape has to be very directed. You can't allow the freedom of movement to your pcs that you could in a prime game. The only way you could let your pcs pick where they are going is to read all the source books (takes about 2 weeks) and memorize them (takes about 4 months). Of course, if you do this, they will love your game and beg you to take it up again. Also, hold off on allowing starting factions. Half the fun of being in a faction is joining the faction to begin with.
#8 gilliard_derosan Jun 22, 2004 19:52:32	The very basic premise of Planescape was to take the planes, of which there was very little information presented up until this time, and felsh them out so that they became a place where campaigns could be set, instead of just places where people went to kill gods and banish demons. Quite frankly, I was tired of D&D until Planescape came out. D&D had always been a game to play simply because everyone played it, and if I wanted to game, it was D&D, even though most of the campaign settings really didn't have much . . . flesh to them. Planescape was just so original an provocative. Not limited like any other setting by the boundaries of the campaign setting, but limitless. In any other campaign setting, it was sometimes difficult to incorporate other elements from other settings without ruining the game, yet it became seamless in Planescape. And you didn't have to be 40th level God-slayers in order to survive on the planes. It was feasible for 1st level characters to have just as much adventure and fun on the planes.
#9 j-pop_jedi Jun 22, 2004 20:04:14	Level 1 pcs on the planes is always fun. I just suggest sticking to Sigil for a while because you get the feel of all the planes there. I mean, where else are you gonna find an Assimon and Tanari walking on the same street? And for effect, try this. Have some npc say, the Lady of Pain is comming and cause a stampede. See if the pcs catch on they should be running away. Especially when a Pit Fiend is running away. One of the adventures from the box set we played involved going to the abyss, but you had to stay in the tavern. If you walked out of the bar, you basically were worm food. That's what I mean by directed. Planes walking at low levels is very directed, ie, can't go here because we'd die. Directed games are okay, just not my cup o tea.
#10 bob_the_efreet Jun 23, 2004 17:08:02	Originally posted by J-Pop Jedi an Assimon snickers Yeah, I don't really like celestials, either.
#11 zombiegleemax Jun 24, 2004 1:01:58	In addition to the wonderful resources that have been posted Wikipedia (AKA The Free Online Encyclopedia Of Powersdamn Everything) has a nice article that covers the planes and factions. Also, a big appeal of Planescape was its wonderfully surreal art by Tony DiTerlizzi. Check 'em out here, they add a nice flavor to the setting.