The Planescape Campaign Setting for Dungeons & Dragons
December 26, 2024 6:08 AM Subscribe
Planescape was multiverse before it was cool.
That guy may be the world’s leading authority.
There’s a version for 5th edition. But I’ve seen no one claim it’s better than the original. And that has enough material to keep you busy for a while.
That guy may be the world’s leading authority.
There’s a version for 5th edition. But I’ve seen no one claim it’s better than the original. And that has enough material to keep you busy for a while.
I've updated my journal.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 6:20 AM on December 26 [5 favorites]
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 6:20 AM on December 26 [5 favorites]
I've got a whole bunch of the original 2e Planescape boxes lying around with all my other old RPG stuff somewhere, and what I remember most is that at least half of the draw (pun intended) was the amazingly weird and wonderful art from Tony DiTerlizzi. It meshed so well with the setting, and the actual sketchiness of some of it really added to the disjointed feeling a place like Sigil would give a berk--I mean, visitor.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 7:57 AM on December 26 [5 favorites]
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 7:57 AM on December 26 [5 favorites]
Props to him for committing to the wankery that is being a GM and doing it in a clear, concise way without being an a**hole about it.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:05 AM on December 26 [2 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:05 AM on December 26 [2 favorites]
It came along after I'd fallen off the D&D wagon, but my understanding is that, like the Spelljammer setting, Planescape was largely introduced in order to connect any campaign to any other campaign.
posted by rikschell at 8:16 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
posted by rikschell at 8:16 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
I wasn't into D&D that much (I still have several feet of GURPS books), but I'd played Planescape:Torment. When TSR discontinued Planescape, I picked up all the different boxes I could find. Good stuff.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:17 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
posted by Spike Glee at 8:17 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
probably not all that novel, but we thought it was pretty damn slick at the time: we were gonna set up a multidimensional trading company, buying steel on Krynn and selling it on Athas. idk what the other side of the trading pair was gonna be.
like most campaigns of a certain ilk, i think we played 1 session then abandoned it
posted by glonous keming at 8:54 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
like most campaigns of a certain ilk, i think we played 1 session then abandoned it
posted by glonous keming at 8:54 AM on December 26 [1 favorite]
at least half of the draw (pun intended) was the amazingly weird and wonderful art from Tony DiTerlizzi
DiTerlizzi is Planescape, to my mind. I think a lot of the talk about how expansive Planscape is, and how its setting unifies all the campaigns under one umbrella misses the actual appeal, which is that those original boxes were so cool and stylish that they gave the whole thing a super distinctive tone of its own. Maybe it's just me, but I always thought taking your Forgotten Realms characters to Athas or whatever thins out the soup of both of those settings, but campaigns set right in Sigil have a weird punky cosmopolitan fairy tale vibe to them that's really distinctive.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 9:53 AM on December 26 [4 favorites]
DiTerlizzi is Planescape, to my mind. I think a lot of the talk about how expansive Planscape is, and how its setting unifies all the campaigns under one umbrella misses the actual appeal, which is that those original boxes were so cool and stylish that they gave the whole thing a super distinctive tone of its own. Maybe it's just me, but I always thought taking your Forgotten Realms characters to Athas or whatever thins out the soup of both of those settings, but campaigns set right in Sigil have a weird punky cosmopolitan fairy tale vibe to them that's really distinctive.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 9:53 AM on December 26 [4 favorites]
God Planescape was so good, best multiverse*. The writing had such a strong voice. The wildly different settings were actually pretty tightly integrated. The factions so well thoughts out, each with their own place and reason to continue in Sigil. Every book was full of great adventure and campaign hooks. It had a touch of 90s metaplot - more manageable than World of Darkness, but enough to make you feel like part of a large, living setting. And the Primer to the Outlands had a cool CD mimir that Prime players could ask and get answers to various questions. It was cheesy, but also fun and had a bunch of weird hooks and even it's own little surprises. So many great memories. Wizards of the Coast keeps bringing it back, but as such a pale shadow - just a way to connect worlds, not a place to explore and inhabit itself.
*To get pedantic, I'm not sure it was a multiverse in the modern sense since the prime material planes were barely mentioned and didn't really seem to be alternate-timeline things.
posted by Garm at 10:56 AM on December 26 [3 favorites]
*To get pedantic, I'm not sure it was a multiverse in the modern sense since the prime material planes were barely mentioned and didn't really seem to be alternate-timeline things.
posted by Garm at 10:56 AM on December 26 [3 favorites]
It's worth noting that Planescape was so well liked that we got a little LEGO Lady of Pain minifig in the D&D blind box set.
(Worshiping said minifig is not recommended for one's continued safety.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:10 PM on December 26 [5 favorites]
(Worshiping said minifig is not recommended for one's continued safety.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:10 PM on December 26 [5 favorites]
experimenting with a +5 internal conjuration engine for my spelljammercraft. binding time stop and blink with a permanency spells attached.
I can't tell if I'm halfway to the belt or nearing White plume mountain
posted by clavdivs at 1:21 PM on December 26 [3 favorites]
I can't tell if I'm halfway to the belt or nearing White plume mountain
posted by clavdivs at 1:21 PM on December 26 [3 favorites]
Planescape was multiverse before it was cool.
…
Multiverse has never been cool. Never.
You’re both wrong and you both need a visit from the Ghost of Multiverses Past, which is probably Lemmy, to set you straight.
posted by house-goblin at 1:46 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
…
Multiverse has never been cool. Never.
You’re both wrong and you both need a visit from the Ghost of Multiverses Past, which is probably Lemmy, to set you straight.
posted by house-goblin at 1:46 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
I can't tell if I'm halfway to the belt or nearing White plume mountain
Just set the controls for the heart of the sun.
posted by house-goblin at 1:51 PM on December 26 [1 favorite]
Just set the controls for the heart of the sun.
posted by house-goblin at 1:51 PM on December 26 [1 favorite]
I’m not certain about this, but I would guess that planescape was when TSR (then-publisher of AD&D) moved to contemporary desktop publishing. Its old books were solid, and you could tell they worked hard, but the planescape stuff was a level up. It also goes with the increase of good graphic design around that time in the TTRPG world, like white wolf's first set of World of Darkness hardbacks, which looked amazing compared to things that had come out a few years before. Quarkexpress and the adobe alternative were just mind blowing tools at that point
posted by The River Ivel at 1:56 PM on December 26 [4 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 1:56 PM on December 26 [4 favorites]
Planescape as a setting existed before Planescape. It goes back at least to the AD&D Players Handbook, where it gets a two-page overview in an appendix, and the whole thing ties into various monsters, spells, magic items, and rules mentioned in the other books. The cover of the original AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide appears to depict the elemental plane of fire. This was probably all preceded by articles in Dragon magazine, and it was fleshed out by other books afterwards, including getting its own book in the Manual of the Planes, long before Planescape ever came out.
In a sense, D&D's weird multiverse has been a bog-standard part of D&D since almost the beginning.
Spelljammer's phlogiston, crystal spheres, and space hamsters was tacked on later, and to me it seemed like a response to GDW's Space 1889, which came out around the same time.
posted by surlyben at 3:53 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
In a sense, D&D's weird multiverse has been a bog-standard part of D&D since almost the beginning.
Spelljammer's phlogiston, crystal spheres, and space hamsters was tacked on later, and to me it seemed like a response to GDW's Space 1889, which came out around the same time.
posted by surlyben at 3:53 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
Loved its art so much, but I never played in it.
These days Sigil seems ripe to be a Blades in the Dark hack. Personally I don't find Sigil very interesting, but it's intoxicating looking at a map of the AD&D multiverse (that I tried to chase down seen in one of the videos) or reading about known demiplanes.
posted by fleacircus at 5:52 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
These days Sigil seems ripe to be a Blades in the Dark hack. Personally I don't find Sigil very interesting, but it's intoxicating looking at a map of the AD&D multiverse (that I tried to chase down seen in one of the videos) or reading about known demiplanes.
posted by fleacircus at 5:52 PM on December 26 [2 favorites]
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posted by Lemkin at 6:17 AM on December 26 [10 favorites]