r/planescapesetting

Most of the 2e books were published before Gates of Firestorm Peak introduced the Far Realm, and there was never any mention of that place in any subsequent Planescape book. So there is no official ruling on how the usual changes to magic from plane to plane would apply to casters, spells and magic items connected to the Far Realm. I have a couple thoughts here, but I'd like to gather ideas from anyone who has them.

For most schools of wizardly magic, I think it's simple enough to say that their spells just all get altered to fit local norms, sort of the way Limbo and the Outlands alter everything cast there, though with much stricter limits on conjurations and other plane-spanning spells. This more or less agrees with the 3e Manual of the Planes, which briefly describes magic limits there.

My bigger worry is clerical magic. How many planes away from their deity's home plane is a cleric in the Far Realm? Can they have any connection to their power there at all? No published book I've seen says anything about this at all, but by the usual Planescape logic, it does seem to make most sense to just cut clerics off completely. Maybe a power key can somehow cut through, but I'm not even sure of that.

Similarly, magic items ought to lose a lot of pluses when taken to the Far Realm. How many? Maybe all of them, regardless of their bonus. It is simply supposed to be as far away from anywhere in the multiverse as any PC is likely to get, so no normal plane's items should maintain their attunement there. (A more complicated question is whether a deity visiting the Far Realm can still use their normal powers there.)

I'd also suggest that chronomancy simply breaks in the Far Realm, since time does not flow there at all.

This all sounds fairly rough on caster PCs especially, but I'm ok with that. It's meant to be a bizarre, alien place where the usual laws are even less applicable than in the chaos of Limbo. It should be an uncomfortable struggle for any PC.

But I'm keen to hear if anyone else has clearer and more interesting ideas than mine.

Edit: I’m still looking for players as long as this post is up!

We recently had a player depart due to time conflicts with their new job so I'm looking for a cutter or two to join our ongoing 5.5e Planescape game.

Sessions take place Tuesdays at 7:30 pm Pacific Time.

This is a multiverse-spanning campaign where you will journey to explore the far-flung corners of the planes and investigate the mysteries behind a cosmos in crisis. The places you will visit are not only limited to Sigil and the Outerlands, but also the Inner Planes, the Feywild/Shadowfell, Wildspace, and the Far Realm. In other words, the multiverse is your sandbox! And given the homebrew and sandbox nature of this game, you as players will have a lot of input on the story (e.g., where to go, what leads to chase, which faction's philosophy to align with). This is why I'm specifically looking for those who already have some familiarity with the Planescape setting, so they know what aspect of the planes they find interesting and want to explore through this campaign. Expect lots of detective work, exploring uncharted territories, and perhaps even philosophical debates!

If all of this sounds like a good time to you, shoot me a message with some basic info (name, pronouns, age, timezone) about yourself and what kind of planewalker you want to be!

I'm creating a scenario where the players will head to Bytopia from Tradegate; obviously they have to go through the Master Trader, and I want the trade quest to be a quick and fun little distraction. I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas that couldn't be solved by just buying something from one of the many places in Tradegate. Obviously as I DM all I have to do is say that the thing isn't for sale, but do you have any suggestions on what and how the players are trading up to?

Hi all! I am interested in expanding the lore of planescape to include ways to connect the gods of all the pantheons, like Yggdrasil, the Infinite Staircase, and the rivers Styx and Oceanus. I think Mimir has some interesting additions, such as the World Serpent Inn and Mount Fujiyama. It got me thinking of other pantheons that don’t have planar pathways. If I recall correctly, there is nothing that connects the gods of the Hindu or the Daoist pantheons, for example. Could other pantheons be added, such as the spirits of Jainism, or the Yoruba pantheon? Please let me know your thoughts!

I think my favorite outer plane is probably Limbo, which is completely subjective, but I like how chaotic it is and how truly anything can happen there. I think the Slaadi are great, but I also agree with Wade Allen’s take that they are too evil. I would like for them to be more neutral. If the githzerai were more good-aligned, I think it would balance it out, but I am unsure how to really change that.

One area of Limbo that I am still somewhat confused about is the Layer of Lost Gods. I love the concept, but I am somewhat perplexed as to what it means to be a “lost” god. There are gods there that have active worshippers, such as Agni, Indra, and Susano’o, but there are also “lost” gods. Does “lost” mean that they have followers that are sequestered in an unknown realm? Could it also mean that they are gods that have lost all power but have not been killed yet? What do you think? I couldn’t find much on this topic, so I am curious to see what you think. Thanks as always!

Hi all! I am curious about taking a party to adventure in Ysgard. It seems like the perfect place to do heroic things, which is always really cool in my opinion.

I am trying to figure out the intricacies of how the plane’s mechanics and magical effects would play out in the broader world. If I understand correctly, those who die on the battlefield are resurrected the next morning. They also regain lost limbs over time.

I was wondering if this means that a player character slain by a dire troll or perhaps a fire or storm giant somewhere that is not a battlefield, perhaps an epic mountain or on the rainbow bridge, would be resurrected, provided they showed great courage and fought back. I don’t see why I shouldn’t run it that way, but I’m curious to see what you think.

I am confused/overthinking about the implications of such a thing, as beings killed through poison or assassination are not resurrected. What I’m thinking is “why wouldn’t people just be out there just trying to assassinate people?” I guess the impermanence of death from battle would also mean that grudges are less impactful than if it were permanent, meaning the people might not want to assassinate, but rather best them in battle. Still, there’s a lingering doubt on how sustainable this is. Wouldn’t someone who is bested over and over again just kind of go insane? What do you think are the broader impacts and implications of the mechanics of Ysgard? I’m excited to see what you think!

So, I’ve never DM’s before - or even played a tabletop RPG in my life. Not counting CRPG’s. Very soon I will be the DM for a friend group playing DnD in a planescape setting. The group consists of a majority of people who are exactly the same background as me, and two other players with a decent experience playing TRPG’s.

First of all the reason why I’m drawn to a Planescape setting, specifically and maybe even entirely Sigil, is because of Planescape Torment. I never even played more than a couple hours due to finding it annoyingly outdated but absolutely loved the world, vibe, atmosphere, characters etc etc.

I guess my question is… how the hell do I get started? I own 0 physical media. One friend has all the dice, DM screens and such but no books.

The 2e version of the setting looks infinitely better to me than the sanitised version in 5e. I’m really craving that grimey dangerous feel of the hive.

I also would really like our first module and introduction to the city to be the eternal boundary and perhaps followed by dead gods or harbinger house. All these are 2e modules.

This brings me in to my next issue…

It looks like I’d have to convert all these adventures in to 5e rules. I have absolutely no idea how to do that. Either that or I could just play with 2e rules. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, maybe some advice they can give me on which is the better route?

I also am having general problems with getting my head around how what’s written in the module adventure actually comes to life in a session, what I’m required to know and I can string it all together as the DM.

To summarise, I’m a complete 100% noob and could do with some pointers to get in to the planescape setting. Feel absolutely free to correct me on anything as I’m struggling to research all of this!!

Hi all! I’m trying to figure out how I want to run planar adventures. I have a few concerns about using spell keys and components and I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

One example that immediately comes to mind is using spell keys in Baator. For each layer in the Nine Hells, the number of spell keys needed to cast a spell increases exponentially, specifically 3^(x-1), where x is the layer of Baator you are currently on. On Nessus, the 9th layer, you would need 6561 keys just to cast a spell. As you would imagine, this is a logistical nightmare, which is fitting for the Nine Hells. That being said, I want to actually go to these places, since they’ve got intrigue and lots of potential for adventure! A similar sort problem exists for spell components, but it is mostly just a general inconvenience.

Side note: I’m ruminating on whether it is even possible to visit these layers with rules-as-written without just being instantly killed. My initial instinct is yes, but I am not sure. Any experienced Planescape DM is welcome to inform me either way.

If anyone has taken players to a layer like Cania or Nessus, please let me know what your verdict is on the spell keys and components. I am honestly torn on using them. Thanks so much!

Edit: I specified “number of spell keys needed to cast a spell” when it was previously unspecified.

(posting this on both r/rpg and r/planescapesetting)
Hi all,

I love the D&D Planescape setting. I've been running it for quite some time, using 2nd edition material, and mostly using 2nd edition D&D rules. I've never been satisfied with them, but for that setting, that was the system we stuck with.

Well, I want to change a bit. I feel like 2nd ed. D&D is for once not the best system to really convey its themes. Mostly, it's the "roleplay" aspect of beliefs shaping reality, how it influences the PC and the worlds at large. There are no satisfactory "mechanics" for that. I know that I can, as the DM, invent something on the spot based on the narrative, but I would love something that, even slightly, nudges in that direction also mechanically.

There's another thing: I believe that my group became to "expert" with the system. It happens that, naturally, players default to """best""" builds, since they know the rules in and out, and some of the wonder of really building characters without a full, complete knowledge of the system, has been lost.

I admit that I am not very expert on all the possible RPGs out there, that there's a spectrum of possibilities, everything with pros and cons, and so, I set up some bullet points for something I am searching:
- it should not be too complex (we're all middle aged in my group, and we don't have time to really navigate something with the complexity of Pathfinder, for example)
- it should have at least an OSR "feel" (did I tell you we're middle aged? 😄 )
- it should be somewhat either retro-compatible with old D&D stuff, or easy to convert (again, not much time to really do rewrites from scratch!)
- (this is the most difficult part) it should support, as I was saying before, some type of "narrative reward" for the themes that are embedded in the Planescape setting.

I've searched a bit. OSE, Witehack 4e, Worlds Without Numbers, Cypher system, Shadowdark, etc... Even some systems tied to a setting that maybe can be reskinned? (mythic bastionland?) But I am not really an expert in any of these, so I am hre asking your opinion and your help!

What would be your choice?
Thank you!

Curious to see what everyone’s take is on them. I was thinking about running them as a solid, established Faction, fighting for power with the guys at the top.

I’m not sure how I see them as a Faction though. “Magic is the ultimate power in the planes” is just the logo of any major magical group in a campaign. Their belief just doesn’t seem as thought provoking as the other Factions in Planescape.

Thoughts?

I am about to start ToFW campaign in few weeks and decided to run the Spin of the Wheel remix made by u/SudoNemesis, which I think is a great upgrade to the original, as it adresses a lot of the issues the module had out of the box.

However, as I was planning out the structure of the adventure, I realized I am not clear on the motivation the characters should have for restoring the memories of the broken mimir and how it connects to them finding R04M. Like after they manage to restore the mimir, what information does it reveal to them to help them progress further towards Dendradis and finding R04M.

Maybe someone who ran the remix could give me some advice?