#planescape factions

[tinkerbitch69]

Some ramblings I came up with while thinking about the best faction in D&D’s Planescape: The Bleak Cabal!

If nothing holds meaning, then pain serves no purpose. It doesn’t teach, it doesn’t punish, it doesn’t spur growth or change or redemption. It’s just pain. It just hurts. With no reason to, it just hurts…

So why not try to soothe them? why would you want people to hurt?

[thecreaturecodex]

What Planescape Faction would you join?

Read about the factions here if you aren't familiar with Planescape, or need a refresher

[saintrabouin]

The Chant of Sigil : Factol Hashkar of the Fraternity of Order delivers a boring speech (as usual) at the House of Speakers

[dyscomancer]

I recognize that this incredibly niche drabble about the entirely-OC party of a Planescape D&D 5e game I'm in (with fairly major setting alterations and no context, regardless!) probably will not catch anyone's eye, but hey, I'm proud of myself for writing again, so I figured I'd put this here.

Shai'a Crescent, a Void Genasi native of Sigil and Factol of the newly reformed Mercykillers faction, tries to come to terms with her past trauma and the girl she left behind to become the avatar of justice she is.

[ninja-kitty-more-like-no]

Okay, so. The idol in Aeor that the Hells found-- the one the liveshow will presumably be focused on-- we all think it's Gruumsh, right?

I have some evidence to the contrary.

So the symbol we saw is a small circle inside a larger circle with lines radiating outwards between them. We've never seen this associated with Gruumsh before, but it sparked something in my memory. I think I found it.

We were first introduced to this deity during the Search for Grog liveshow, when VM found a small shrine to her in Pandemonium. She has not been mentioned since.

Everyone, meet the Lady of Pain.

Small circle. Bigger circle. Lines radiating between them. Hell, here's a stylized form of her symbol:

But the blood and eyes that Liam's been posting on Twitter-- definitely Gruumsh, right? Well, maybe not. On a hunch, I went to the Lady of Pain's wiki page and hit ctrl+f for the word "eye," and this came up. "The face of the Lady of Pain served as the logo for the entire Planescape Campaign Setting and thus appeared on every sourcebook or accessory. Her image in the logo was intentionally removed from the Faction War sourcebook, but it appeared in the background with a bleeding eye."

Okay. Okay. Cool. I found the Faction War book.

OKAY. OKAY. COOL. UM. So it could be Gruumsh!! Could be!! Two instances of connection is still a coincidence. But three?? Oh, I'd really have to wrack my brain to come up with three connections, right???

WRONG. CHECK THIS SHIT OUT.

"According to the great wizard Mordenkainen, the Lady of Pain had some sort of connection to the Raven Queen, another enigmatic character. It was said that only the Lady of Pain knew the Raven Queen's true intentions."

So. Uh.

I'm gonna be very interested in seeing the results of that liveshow.

[three--rings]

I already shared my 999 book, which was more work, but this was the project that made me think "oh, video games as books!"

I was introduced to the game Planescape: Torment on an old forum thread about the video game with the best written story, and this game was mentioned over and over. And I remember people saying "the writing is so good, fans have made it into a book!" So I HAD to play it, right?

I knew I wanted this book to be a leather, medieval-style Tome. As I was working on the typeset I realized there are two different fan novelizations. One which is very basic and "the good one" which is a novelization of someone's playthrough from the Something Awful forums. And it's, uh, much longer. Obviously that's what I went with. And it just kept getting longer as I went.

I started thinking about doing scraps of leather but then I saw this paper, which is a lotka with string texture that reminded me of the scarred skin of the game protagonist (who is immortal but not invulnerable). His skin is grey so I painted it grey. The endpages I designed and printed and it's just the symbols of all the factions in the game.

The K118 style is based on extant medieval books and produces a very flexible spine. This giant one does the bending-backwards party trick, but it's pretty stiff.

I reinforced it with a layer of cotton and then paper over my tapes and real vellum tabs.

I won't be springing for real vellum in the future, but it was neat to use sheepskin in this one, and I could sand the tabs down on the board. The board is also shaped on the end where it meets the tabs, which I did with a power sander super quickly.

The spine leather was some very thin sheepskin I got from ebay, which is lovely but almost too thin. I didn't pare it at all because it wasn't possible or necessary.

The symbol on the spine is the symbol of Torment in the game and I did it with cutting stencil vinyl on my cricut which I then used to paint in silver acrylic before I put the leather on. I then sealed it with satin leather varnish.

My endbands were improvised with some braided leather cord and linen thread which I used to stitch the cord on for a rustic look.

I'm happy with the outcome. It sits nicely open in the hand and is very readable. I'm looking forward to re-experiencing the story of this game without spending so long grinding in dungeons.

[enddaysengine]

To the Stars and Beyond!

A bunch of interesting things happened at PaizoCon this weekend, the most fascinating for me was something completely internal. Pathfinder wasn't the game I was focused on. Given all of the reveals about War of the Immortals, the announcement of Spore War, and about 9000 other things related to the planes, that may be surprising.

But no, this time the main event was Starfinder.

While I never got to play as much of 1e as I would've liked, I've been eagerly awaing Starfinder 2e, both as the playtest and in its final form. Starfinder's blend of science-fantasy from properties like Star Wars, Doom, and 40k took a while to grow on me, but it has solidly become one of my favorites. Plus, even in 1e, Starfinder had a lot of planar content baked into the setting. Made an argument on Twitter and BlueSky when I'm feeling spicy that between Pathfinder and Starfinder, it is the latter that is better set up to be a successor to Planescape. And oh boy that has not changed at all from the titbits they got dropped at PaizoCon. Both the playtest and 2e seem poised to lean even harder into the weird and strange parts of the setting where science fiction and fantasy overlap. I am 100% here for it.

The point that I am getting to that Paths Beyond wasn't the only project I had sitting on the back burner. There is also Star Beyond, a science fantasy take on the same weird and wonderful genre we know from Planescape. I can never predict which games my brain is going to latch on each week, but I expect I'll be writing Starfinder content for the blog in the very near future. Not just because it's fun and because Starfinder literally calls its player organizations factions, but because I have an ambition. My aim is to have Stars Beyond ready for Starfinder Infinite by the 2e launches. I actually have an outline and I'm aiming for a companion in the 40,000 to 50,000 word range. That's a big project, if I finish it, it will be easily the most words I've written for a single book, but I figure I have time on my side. It may actually be doable, but nonetheless wish me luck.

See you in the stars.

Post-Script: We also got confirmation that while 2e was in the works when OGL-gate hit, there were supposed to be more 1e books: the Faction Guide (which was being written) and the Extraplanar Archive (which was in outlining). It's a bummer we don't have either yet given what I plan to do, but it does make me feel like Stars Beyond is on the right track.

Post-post-script: I also have a place where I reblog inspirational media for this project over at @stars-beyond-sf! Check it out.

[probablyfunrpgideas]

Planescape Factions by Magic Color

I hope to get some responses on this, because I’m not super familiar with Magic lore. But here’s some of the Planescape organizations - the philosopher gangs and guilds who run Sigil and clash across the multiverse.

The Athar say that the gods aren’t truly divine and should be subject to the same rules as anyone, despite their power. They represent Blue/White with their focus on logic over faith and their organized printing presses and alchemists.

The Believers of the Source say all things are being tested and eventually, with enough determination, we mortals can achieve reincarnation into a higher state. In their foundries, they build tools and vehicles and fine trade goods. They represent Black/Green with the focus on growth and personal development, and the drive to become something new.

The Bleak Cabal says there’s no meaning or purpose to existence, and even accepting this lesson is just a temporary distraction from the endless, hopeless mess. In the Gatehouse, they care for the many poor and unhealthy citizens of Sigil. They represent a very odd flavor of Black/White as they turn their empty lives to a social mission.

The Doomguard say everything is going to end eventually, so why not enjoy the view of all the destruction? They push the entropic process forward by forging all kinds of weapons in the Armory. They exemplify Red/Black in their reckless disregard for the fabric of reality.

If this sparks some interest I will keep it going - there’s fifteen factions, so there might be color overlap between them. And keep in mind, there’s all kinds of alignments and ideals within these groups to inspire NPCs and adventure hooks!

[quietlyawesomeart]

This is an NPC for my DnD table playing the Turn of Fortune's Wheel module in the Planescape setting. There's an encounter where they encounter three faction members, discussing the meaning of the multiverse, but it provides no visual for these people. So I drew one and came up with backstory. _______

Gracie was born a human in Sigil, city of doors, when a portal is opened in her neighborhood, directly connected to the Blood Wars taking place in the hells. Gracie, along with many other civilians were captured and dragged into the hells before the portals were able to be closed.

Time behaves differently when being tortured in the hells. While Gracie and the other captives spent years and years being experimented on, tortured, and used for rituals, they did not age, and they could not die. It would be over a decade before a party of adventurers made their way down to the hells to liberate the captives, returning them back to Sigil. However, Gracie returned with monstrous deformations. Her cranium was more horns than not, her eyes a constant fountain of blood, her limbs bent, broken, and reset into unnatural positions.

The Bleak Cabal is a faction in Sigil who believe that the universe has no meaning, only that which an individual finds for themselves. Most of it's factions find meaning in helping those afflicted with extraplanar ailments and curses, so they had the halls of their gatehouse filled to the brim after the liberation of the captives. Most of these patients were too far gone for saving, some even electing to be put out of their suffering. Gracie, deemed by the Cabal's experts, was the worst case that they were able to bring back to normalcy.

It took months of enchantments and procedures, removing horns, correcting bones, to return Gracie to a humanoid form, though she was different from before. Her freckled and sun kissed face had assumed a pallid sheet white color. Her once silky copper hair became wiry, thick, and jet black. Her rounded ears held a sharp point. Her ocean blue eyes still held the flames of the Nine Hells, taking on a red hue.

Even once Gracie was physically healed, the mental scars carried with her. She would come to discover that her parents, already elderly prior to the portal's opening, had passed away during her time in captivity. With nothing left, and with new relationships forged with the members of the Cabal who had cared for her, Gracie made the decision to dedicate her life to the Bleak Cabal, specializing in demonic curses and how to dispel them.

_______

TL;DR: She's been through it but she's like fine now.

My players will more than likely ignore her and will never even see the art lol

[arathir-starsong]

Shai'ara Crescent

Void Genasi - Hexblade Warlock/Warrior Spirit Summoner - Chaotic Good

Art by the eternally excellent n8dl3!

Shai is my character (and tribute to the game Planescape: Torment) in a Planescape campaign I've been in for a few years, which has finally picked up again! She is the factol of the reborn Mercykillers faction, and her soul is bound to the spirit of an old and tireless Mercykiller, Vhailor. She utilizes a homebrew summoner class by one of my fellow players, which allows her to summon her patron Vhailor in battle.

Set after the Mercykillers faction in Sigil was obliterated, Shai was saved from near death when she chanced upon a portal to an abandoned crypt containing a rusted suit of armor, inhabited by the soul of a relentless force of justice. The two saved each other from oblivion, and set their sights on bringing justice to the planes.

Shai is a void genasi, with astral elf heritage. She glimmers like a nebula, her hair glows a doft blue, and her white freckles sparkle in the dark.

Partially possessed by her patron, she fights with a summoned blade materialized by Vhailor's fanatical force of will, and defends herself with a crescent shaped shield made of Carcerian stained glass.

Her ideals on justice - that of a vigilante seeking reparation and vindication beyond the scope of the law - differ greatly from those of her patron Vhailor, who stands true with the lawful ideas of justice. However, the two agree that justice is the most powerful force of the multiverse, and this shared belief sustains both of their souls despite their near brushes with death.

Also: a version of her art with her hood and veil up!

[ddarker-dreams]

Lock! What other games would you recommend to a fellow bg3 and disco elysium enjoyer?

Hello... you have come to the right place... i am a CRPG Fan™ so i'm more than happy to point you in the direction of some games that hit similar beats to bg3 and disco elysium (which happen to be my favorite games of all time).

planescape: torment —

a true classic. the writing in this game is brilliant. the game's setting comes from dungeon and dragon's planescape campaign, so some of the terminology you've seen in bg3 will pop up here (specifically the githzerai, who, unlike githyanki, don't follow vlaakith). if i had to pick the game's core element... i'd say it's interacting with various philosophies/belief systems. even the most random NPCs have interesting things to say. the factions in the game's main area, the city of sigil, are based on real world philosophies (nihilism, hedonism, and anarchism, to name a few). the faction known as the society of sensation is actually what inspired elements of nexus!

the story has you hooked from the opening cutscene until the final potential endings. a protagonist with amnesia might not be anything new, but i don't think i've ever seen the trope explored in the way planescape does. the side quests and characters are all memorable too. you can just tell that so much thought and care went into the writing, it has such a distinct personality.

that being said ... fair warning. the combat in this game is notoriously scuffed. i highly recommend playing on the lowest difficulty to help circumvent some frustrating encounters. it isn't awful, but it can feel tedious at times. there's no real incentive to level up/minmax characters. everything else about the game goes hard though.

divinity original sin 2 —

WOOOO BABY larian studios know how to make god tier RPGs. i replayed do2 recently and man. i love this game. beautiful graphics, an interesting story, lovable characters, and the combat. omg. it's almost overwhelming at times how many approaches you can take to each fight.

except for the blackpits fight. all my homies hate the blackpits fight.

anyway ... you should feel right at home when booting this game up if you've played bg3. the combat is turn-based, although do2 uses slightly different mechanics (action points and spells/abilities replenishing based on turns rather than rests, for instance). it's fun, engaging, and has lots of charm.

pillars of eternity —

pillars of eternity holds a special place in my heart... it's the very first CRPG i ever played. some of the people who worked on it wrote fallout: new vegas and the aforementioned planescape: torment. as such, you can expect quality writing and worldbuilding. POE has a more somber tone than the others on this list, which i personally liked. i spent hours getting into the cosmology and pantheon from this game's world, reading everything little thing.

the worldbuilding impressed little lock so much that it went on to influence how i write/create settings. HWR was in its infancy stages around the time i first played the game, which inspired the home continent i made for the story.

also. you can build a jail on your base and throw people in it. i really enjoyed doing that.

[ailustrarte]

The argument between three sapient leaders of different animal factions. "Faunel: Beast Leaders", illustration for Wizards of the Coast’s Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

This is one of the pieces I have had the most fun painting in my life!

AD: the fantastic Emi Tanji, who I can never thank enough for her guidance and support.

[wanderingnork]

Hi! Loved the lore dump yesterday and it got me really curious:

Githyanki worship Vlaakith, right? But do the githzerai have any religion (I'm not entirely sure how faith features into the monk class in D&D)? And do you know anything more about that long-dead goddess whom they used to worship?

What did the illithids use the githyanki for exactly? Just food? Manual labor? As soldiers?

Also, the Penumbran's "alien sheep" made me wonder what kind of livestock (if any) the gith keep nowadays and if you know whether they might also keep pets?

Which THEN got me wondering whether the gith are into music, performative arts, and poetry aside from the art you've described in that lovely one shot with the artist and the solider on AO3? /very long ask over And thank you so much for sharing all this lore with the rest of us! I'm really enjoying learning from your blog.

ALL RIGHT LET'S GO I HAVE SOURCES >:3

Starting off with worship: Back in the 2nd Edition D&D Monstrous Manual, Zerthimon is portrayed as a prophet-like figure, who died fighting Gith but will eventually return to lead the githzerai into a paradise. In Dragon magazine #390, which is a 4th edition publication, there's a sect of githzerai who carved their residence out of the petrified body of a dead god and live by its religious tenets. But the closest the githzerai have to an active deity in 5th Edition sources is their king, Zaerith Menyar-Ag Gith. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes depicts him as a transcendent monk with incredible psionic powers, who looks like he's dead and just exists in a coffin projecting his thoughts.

What did the illithids use the githyanki for? All of the above. In the Mind Flayer Trilogy, we see them used as gardeners, food, manual labor, and eventually psionic supersoldiers (the illithids' final downfall). In all accounts, Gith was a bodyguard and soldier. According to the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon from Planescape: Torment, he worked in fields where bodies of gith used for food were turned to fertilizer for illithid crops.

Livestock and pets: The githyanki have an entire caste devoted to farming, the g'lathk (which has two apostrophes in earlier editions). The most detailed description of the g'lathk I've found is the web supplement for Dungeon #100 (Lich-Queen's Beloved), which goes in-depth on Tu'narath's farming district. To quote the article: "everything from rothé to chained humanoid captives (goblins, kobolds, gnomes, dwarves, halflings, elves, humans, bariaurs, and other “cattle”)." More recent editions have seriously downplayed or eliminated the idea of the githyanki keeping slaves this way (4th Edition's "Secrets of the Astral Sea" goes as far as saying that githyanki abhor slavery as hypocrisy when they themselves were slaves), but yeah. That's the livestock situation.

AS FOR PETS, that's MUCH more fun. Githyanki are frequently accompanied by spectral hounds, or ride interesting mounts like nightmares or the hybrids of dinosaurs and red dragons. However, in Dragon magazine #117, there's the wonderful article "Hounds of Space and Darkness." Here we learn about the dogs specially bred by the githyanki and githzerai. The githyanki breed guard dogs called kaoulgrim which are essentially super aggressive Russian bear-hunting dogs, huge and fluffy. The githzerai breed the szarkel, which are Extremely Extremely Cursed borzoi that have some limited shapechanging ability.

Finally, art: The githyanki have always been portrayed as a highly artistic group. In their earliest AD&D incarnations, they wear a great deal of jewelry and beautiful armor. By 2nd Edition, especially in the Planescape books, we see the craftsmen (mlar or m'lar) popping up. Planescape's Faction War supplement discusses beautiful and magical jewelry being sold in the city of Sigil. A Guide to the Astral Plane (also 2E) presents glorious artwork by Tony diTerlizzi of githyanki arms and armor and clothes. The Black Spine adventure for the 2nd Edition Dark Sun campaign setting offers the chance to visit a githyanki palace and includes a palace with whole wings devoted to music and art. In the 3rd Edition Tome of Battle, we get the entire story of a famous githyanki smith who made a legendary and (from the accompanying art) beautiful sword. The same Dungeon web supplement above details the mlar district of Tu'narath, where artists live in studios to create spectacular and often magical works of art.

In 5th Edition, going back to Mordenkainen, this takes a sour turn. That book portrays the githyanki as a society of bored, semi-immortal dilettantes, who get halfway through works of art or other creative projects before abandoning them for something new. I don't particularly like that, considering just how much has gone before about the githyanki being an artistic society.

I suspect that Larian agrees with me. In a banter between Gale and Lae'zel, she informs him that the githyanki paint frescoes, write symphonies, and make wine. Given how much Larian has already diverged from mainline D&D githyanki lore in their game, I think that it's a safe bet that the githyanki of Baldur's Gate 3 are more in line with the previous editions of D&D in terms of art.

[saintrabouin]

The Chant of Sigil : Factor Sneer of the Transcendent Order steals an arborean apple at the Great Bazar's market

[meglosthegreat]

One thing I think is done extremely well in Baldur's Gate 3 (and in Larian's previous games, if I'm honest) is the way combat is treated as the carrot rather than the stick.

Most of the time, combat in CRPGs is the primary obstacle in the way of progression. You have to *get through* the combat in order to reach what really matters-- the dialogue and story. Too often, combat is coded as the "bad" outcome of a quest - you failed to persuade a key NPC and now you *have* to fight them. In Pillars of Eternity 2, if you pick too many fights, you can net yourself a reputation for being "cruel" or "aggressive", which can make it even harder to avoid fights in the future. In Planescape: Torment, every fight you get into has a chance of inadvertently making the endgame harder for yourself.

This seems all well and good from the story side of things. After all, killing people is generally bad, and you should be encouraged to find other ways out, right?

Baldur's Gate 3 takes a somewhat different approach. Sure, there are times when you'll accidentally trigger a fight with a whole faction of friendly NPCs and will immediately reload in a panic, but for the most part, the game doesn't make you feel bad for killing people. In fact, it makes you *look forward* to combat in a way that most other games don't, because the combat in Baldur's Gate 3 is so damn fun.

And why should a game want to make you feel bad for engaging with its primary and most in-depth mechanic? In many cases, choosing to fight leads you to a better outcome than the so-called "peaceful" option. Some of the best fights in the game are entirely optional, and yet you are compelled to engage with them because the fight itself is the reward.

This is I think, the best possible way to bring the feel of tabletop gaming to the CRPG medium. Because combat shouldn't be just a stopgap between your party and the next dialogue check to pass, and I'm eternally grateful that Baldur's Gate 3 lets you have so much fun with it.

[illarian-rambling]

Hello! I heard you like DnD!

What has been your favorite campaign so far? My current friend group is completing a 5e WotC one, but I have also seen some great homebrews done. Do you prefer WotC campaigns, or homebrews? What were some memorable moments? ✨

Oh god, you've got me started, now I'm never gonna shut up >:)

So, I've played in four games and ran one, all homebrew, over the course of my time. My first campaign I was a life cleric with a pet goat that I saved from being a sacrifice. I didn't really know what I was doing, as it was my first game, but I had fun. My second game, I was a rogue snakeoil (and crack) salesman, which started the trend of all my characters selling drugs. Game three, I played an evangelist artificer and fell in love with the class. I adore robots, what can I say? In my current game (which is an original story, but in the planescape setting), I play a barb/fighter hazily struck out of time. She's up to three mystery voices in her head now, one being the sword of Kas, sells drugs via cranium rats, and was in a pro-wrestling tournament.

Probably one of my most memorable moments was perma-killing my artificer, Gillaria. To start, Gillaria was a bit of dunce. She was smart, yeah, but had balls wisdom and even worse charisma. She tried to fly into a portal to hell once on a wooden broom so she could take an energy reading. She got kidnapped in like three separate alleyways and gave her full, legal name to a devil. This is all to preface with the fact that this character didn't make the smartest choices.

The other thing about Gillaria was that she was a priest of Relhan, the setting's god of innovation. She and her two robot buddies, Anatolius and Aenira, would preach the word of this dying god on street corners, since the main temple to him had been destroyed. Usually, given that the highest charisma score between them was an 8, this ended up with tomatoes being thrown.

Anyways, though the campaign was supposed to go a little while longer, our dm got a new job, so we had to end early. The party decided that our last hurrah would be to raid the Golden Trident, a rival faction we'd been eyeing for some time.

One Gillaria project she wanted to get done before the end of the campaign as well was the squirrel laser. The construction of such a laser is as follows:

The druid Awakens 6 squirrels with their magic staff. The squirrels are now sentient.

Our warlock signs these squirrels onto warlock pacts. The squirrels can now cast the cantrip Bonfire.

Gillaria has a Decanter of Endless Water and the spell Magic Mouth

Infinite steam power has been achieved

We did the math and we would've been able to power a railgun with this set-up, so our dm decided, fuck it, campaign's almost over, they can have a death laser. It was decided it would be a DC 16 dex save against being zapped into ash.

Anyways, cut to us raiding the Golden Trident. Our level 10 warlock is being chased by an anctient dragon, our barbarian fell off the airship (We had a dragon ghost powered airship. Long story, also Gillaria's fault) and we're being chased by the enemy's airship.

Gillaria tells Anatolius, her steel defender with an intellect headband that she treats like a son, to point the laser at the enemy skyship, ready to fire once it warms up in four rounds. Gillaria then flies over to the enemy ship, hoping to disable its engines. However, like any good artificer, she's immediately enamored by the engines themselves. At this point, I the player forget I have a four round count down.

Yeah, you can see where this is going... The dm has me pick high or low on a d100 to see what part of the ship my laser hits, and I invariably pick wrong. And that is how Gillaria got blasted to ash by her own automaton, wielding her own laser, atop her own airship. Her final consolation was finding out that her god was not, in fact, dead and being reincarnated into his steel and steam avatar.

This is one of sooo many dumbass stories for this character, she was a piece of work. Thanks for asking though, I love talking about dnd! Feel free to share a story of your own or ask any questions :)