The Planescape setting is one of the weirdest, most unconventional D&D settings. The setting launched in 1994... sort of. Planescape primarily introduced the city of Sigil that sits at the dead center of the multiverse (well, sort of - it's really more the center of the Outer Planes, and arguably it's really the Prime Material Plane at the dead center - a matter of debate). Conceived of as a campaign setting that took place entirely in the otherworldly outer planes - the realms of gods where philosophy dictates what passes for reality there - the setting built itself around this idea of philosophy, with several Factols (factions) in Sigil, and portals and passages that allow for adventures across the planes.
The setting was itself built upon 1987's Manual of the Planes for 1st Edition (specifically AD&D,) which first introduced the Great Wheel cosmology built around the various alignments.
Having read through the 1994, 2nd Edition Planescape Campaign Setting book, its focus is narrowed in on Sigil and the Outlands, which is the True Neutral outer plane (also sometimes called simply "Concordant Opposition.") Planescape introduced the Tiefling and Githyanki/Githzerai races, along with the "Baritaur," which is a sort of more goat-like centaur race (also notable that Tieflings were not specifically tied to devils, but rather just represented any sort of "planes-touched" humanoid).
The book assumes the reader to have more information about the Outer Planes from the Manual of the Planes and other sources, and so it focuses its spotlight mostly on the Factols and Sigil, with some sections about a select few of the "Gate Towns" in the Outlands that contain portals to all the other Outer Planes, as well as a few locations within the Outlands (including the divine caverns of Ilsensine, which back then was an Ilithid God that took the form of a giant Elder Brain, unlike the 5th Edition conception of Ilsensine as more of a philosophical ideal that the Ilithids aspire to than a literal deity.)
Planescape's whole aesthetic, including its illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi and cover art by Robh Ruppel have a wonderfully unconventional style that feels of a piece with the general grungey, alternative vibe they were going for with the book (I'm a shameless nostalgic for 90s alternative culture, because that's what the cool, older kids were into when I was a little kid).
And Sigil, standing as it is kind of within but also separate from the True Neutral plane, is shared by groups that follow radical and extreme philosophies that are hard to pin down in terms of their goodness or evil.
The elephant in the room here is that Ravnica, the Magic the Gathering setting that WotC brought into D&D with Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, shares a lot of DNA with Sigil. Both are impossible cities that are ruled over by powerful factions that are all opposed to one another but kind of balance each other out.
The way I described Ravnica recently is that it's a place that would be a dystopia if any one of the guilds achieved total control of it, but somehow they all balance one another out to make it livable, and I think Sigil kind of operates on a similar principle (though instead of the Living Guildpact, they have the omnipotent Lady of Pain and her Dabus.)
I would 100% want to play in a Planescape campaign, but I'd also want to make ample use of the Outer Planes in general. The only one any character I've played has visited is the Nine Hells, which is an obvious place for high-stakes adventures, but I love that there are such weirder ones, like the howling tunnels of Pandemonium or the twin landscapes of Bytopia that can just look up at each other.
A Planescape book, I think, has to really dedicate most of its text to the idiosyncrasies of Sigil and the Outlands. And that makes me wonder:
Should we first (or even just in addition to) have an updated, 5th Edition guide to the planes?
The DMG gives us details for the Outer Planes, but it's fairly limited. The Nine Hells and the Abyss get a bit more, with various layers detailed, but there's not a ton to go on. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes gave us a few monsters to populate certain Outer Planes with, such as the Cadaver Collector for Acheron or the Howler for Pandemonium, but I'd love a book that dedicates a sizable chapter (comparable to the ones for each guild in GGtR) to each plane, giving us a broad sense of it, maybe some sample adventures and a map to use for inspiration. And then we could have a bestiary in the back that gives us creatures to find in the various planes.
I mean, look, I've got plenty of devils to populate the Hells, and I've got tons of Demons to populate the Abyss. But what kind of creatures do my players meet in Arborea? And how are they different than the ones they meet in Elysium? Give me some higher-level Modrons for Mechanus, and maybe some other Inevitables?
Indeed, I'd love some guidance on how to run an adventure in the Upper Planes. How likely are the players to encounter a dangerous monster in a realm that is, in a very literal sense, heaven?
I have no evidence to suggest that one of the campaign setting books coming out this year will be Planescape. In fact, going on UA alone, I'd assume we'd be getting Dragonlance and a Feywild book.
But I also get the sense (perhaps wishful thinking on my part) that players would be really excited about a Planescape book. And, well, maybe this is even more wishful thinking, I think we could be into getting both a book for Planescape and a broader one about the D&D multiverse.
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