Planescape: Torment is a video game set in the Planescape universe of AD and D, consisting of various planes of existence. The inner planes are elemental, with elements such as fire, water, air, earth, negative material, and positive material. Players can travel across a theoretical map to reach these planes, and can recruit various companions, such as chaste succubi, an insane geometric shape that talks to its weapons.
Planescape: Torment allows players to travel to various places within the multiverse, such as the Nine Hells and Carceri. In 2017, Beamdog released an enhanced edition of the game, which features a high-definition UI. The game is similar to our own universe, with each “realm” being a different planet of our solar system.
Planes are “concepts” made real, with the Material plane representing our world, the Astral plane being thought, the inner planes being elemental, and the outer planes being “belief”. The Outlands are the ultimate travel hub and one of the planes’ greatest mysteries. Cities can change location based on their citizens’ alignment, moving them closer to boarders or sliding to neighboring ones.
In Planescape, there are several types of planes, and players travel to one based on their location. However, Planescape’s version of the planes isn’t quite a 1-to-1 match with what we’ve been reading from TSR. For most parts, Planescape treats Dragonlance (Krynn) as a separate World and Prime Material Plane, as well as Forgotten Realms (Toril). The exact number of planes is unknown and probably infinite, and planar travelers know of only three main categories: the Prime Material Plane, the Negative Material Plane, and the Faerun planes.
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The Planescape campaign setting is a big place. Not only is the Prime Material Plane basically infinite, but so too are the Outer …
Is there a penalty for dying in Planescape: Torment?
The Nameless One in RPGs like Asheron’s Call is a unique character that can be revived with full hit points without losing stats, experience, or items. There is no penalty for dying, and it can sometimes bring advantages such as being transported to a specific spot on a level or even to a different level. Even if surrounded by enemies, the character is resurrected at the same spot, with all other characters waiting for their revive. This “suspension of disbelief” is a common feature in RPGs, but it may spoil the “suspension of disbelief” that RPGs are known for.
Is Avernus another plane?
As elucidated in Chapter 2 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the Nine Hells of Baator constitute a singular plane, comprising nine discrete layers. The following planes are identified: Avernus, Dis, Minauros, Phlegethos, Stygia, Mabolge, Maladomini, Cania, and Nessus.
What planes do you visit in Planescape: Torment?
The Multiverse Planescape: The game Torment is set in various planes of existence, including the Elemental Planes of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Negative Material, and Positive Material, as well as the Outer Planes. These concepts are discussed with Candrian, Trias, and Ebb Creakknees.
Can you be evil in Planescape: Torment?
The Nameless One can become Evil by threatening people, killing innocents, demanding rewards, and stealing. Truth and lying don’t affect Evilness, as they influence Law and Chaos. The values for alignment are hidden in Planescape: Torment, but Qwinn’s Tweak Pack has a component called the Scale of Souls, which allows players to view alignment values. The Nameless One starts with a “Good” and “Lawful” rating of 0, and when the rating reaches -21, the alignment changes to Evil.
Do I need to play Planescape: Torment before tides of Numenera?
Torment: Tides of Numenera is an RPG set in a world of magic and technology, where the relics and detritus of other worlds have washed up. The player, dubbed ‘The Last Castoff’, is born into the world in adulthood, with apparent ties to a divisive ‘god’. The game requires players to uncover the secrets of their past and make an ongoing choice about who they wish to become. The game does contain action, and some situations can be resolved with violence, but this would cut off from the game’s true essence. The game is about obtaining as much information as possible and making decisions with often far-reaching and sometimes tragic consequences based on the analysis of that information.
Why does the hero tattoo himself in Planescape: Torment?
In Planescape: Torment, the Nameless One (TNO) marks himself with scratches and tattoos to keep track of his inter-dimensional existence. His back is covered with symbols reminding him of his past lives, while his right shoulder features the Symbol of Torment, a permanent reminder of the people he has betrayed. The Symbol of Torment depicts Deionarra, the spirit who loved a previous incarnation of TNO, whose fate is implied to be intertwined with TNO’s.
However, TNO’s markings serve a higher purpose as players accumulate more tattoos, endowing him with special abilities, powers, and stat-boosters. This may inspire a backpacker to ink themselves up in a similar empowering way later in the game.
How to cheat in Planescape: Torment?
To access the console in the game, press -. Use the control keys CTRL-SPACE for debug console, CTRL-Y for killing creatures, CTRL-J for jumping to the current cursor location, CTRL-Z for summoning a full party, and CTRL-SHIFT-Z for giving spells to a character. Use commands like C:AddGold(int parameter) and C:CreateItem(“”) to add gold to the party and create items. These keys are essential for gameplay and control.
How long does it take to complete Planescape: Torment?
In the context of the Planescape campaign setting, The estimated length of Torment is approximately 31 hours. The game’s estimated completion time is 63 hours, assuming the player wishes to fully explore all aspects of the game. The game is available on a variety of platforms, including mobile, Nintendo Switch, personal computer, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Does Planescape: Torment have a time limit?
The text in question does not explicitly indicate whether a time limit is applicable, unless otherwise stated.
Does Planescape: Torment have different endings?
Torment is a game with multiple endings, where a single decision is made late in the game. The game is about The Nameless One, not his political affiliations. Players can choose an ending using an item and their attributes. All endings are similar ways of resolving The Nameless One’s situation, and their actions may not have lasting repercussions. The game has a total of ten endings, some of which are considered good or bad. However, players should be aware that their actions may not have lasting repercussions.
How do you get the good ending in Planescape: Torment?
In all endings except for TNO’s suicide, the protagonist ultimately engages in combat within the context of the blood war, due to the unavoidable agreements he had previously entered into before his separation from mortality. The optimal conclusion is attained through the unification with the Transcendent One, which facilitates resurrection and communication with all companions prior to being drawn into the blood war.
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Planescape is a setting published by TSR in 1994 for Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Its designer was David Zeb Cook, …
I recently started playing baldurs gate 3 and got into conversation with my dad (huge dnd nerd) about the mind flayers. When he tried to explain the astral plane it confused me a bit so later on I did some research and ended up with 24 tabs open trying to connect an astral time warp with clockwork machines and demons fighting devils and my head was spinning, This article helped me understand everything haha thank you for the in depth yet simple explanation!
I personally find Pandemonium to be the most interesting. Being the plane of madness & confusion, there’s something so intriguing about how little is concretely known about it. I like to think that the winds are the remains of destroyed souls,. Rapid conflicting emotions thoughts, ideas, and beliefs churning about into an uncontrollable energy. Sort of like the Warp from Warhammer 40k.
Loved this article. Revitalized my side-backstory for a character in my game who’s an amnesiac monk tortle. Basically, they used to be a powerful wizard who roamed the outer planes with their friends on adventurers, but once when entering the Feywild, another powerful wizard tricked the party and cast a spell on them, turning this wizard into the tortle he is, with memory problems to inconvenience his knowledge, and his friends into different weapons and items, based on which plane they most represented. One of these friends, turned into a dragon by the party, used the Wish spell to stop the effect on herself, but is now trying to slowly remind the tortle of his past so they can work together to return to normal
Truly in the know. Thanks so much for this. I ran Planescape for some time but that was long ago and this helped refresh me so much that I think I’m much more prepared for my party to begin stretching out into the planes. I hope to see more of this amazing quality content and that much jink will come your way cutter. 👍
You should dedicate your website to DnD seriously, I and many other crave this kind of content and despite the fact that there are some websites dedicated to this topic it was so refreshing to listen to someone else, many of the things you said are actually new to me, so please keep up this kind of content
this is such a great resource for one of the harder things i’ve had to wrap my head around when it comes to d&d lore. i mean usually when i dm i just kinda skirt past the realm stuff because it’s complicated and why would the party know anything about that this is their version of quantum physics kind of. and while that’s true and ill probably still rely on that this is so helpful!!
I’ve run many Planescape campaigns and this an excellent summary. The DM and players really need to embrace the ideas of morals (Good vs Evil) and ethics (Law vs Chaos), to elevate the game, and enjoy a richer experience. Evil thinks it’s doing beneficial actions and don’t see them as wrong. Also, as I understand it, when reading the setting, Petitioners (the dead) are working to perfect their efforts to act in accordance with their planes alignment goals, and which leads them to ultimately merge with the plane.
I think, that Limbo is a place when you can go full creative potential. Lost pocket worlds, dream driven locatations, creatures from other places trying to settle there. Collapses that can happen due to chaotic nature of this place. This is main advantage and main problem. Concept of freedom and breaking laws of nature, but also you may need to go from the scratch.
It was nice that you touched on the Bloodwar briefly, at least to explain in outline what all the senseless fighting was over. Topic indeed for another article, but to detail the major players of the Bloodwar: Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, Demogorgon, Orcus, etc… Also the demons, devils, daemons, and other fiends that comprise the armies of the Bloodwar. Also, you may get a few Stranger Things fans in here. Explain to them that OUR Demogorgon would use their Demogorgon as a toothpick. 😆
Super thorough, thanks for making this! Currently dealing with the death of my player’s non-religious elf character, struggling to figure out how to narrate his post-death experience before the party is able to resurrect him. Would love to see a article on various afterlifes of different kinds of creatures, how undeath or other forms of bodily transformation (i.e. becoming a Hag, Lycanthrope, Lich, Vampire, Ilithid, etc.) affect the soul, or what happens when a creature from the material plane dies on a different mirror/inner/outer plane.
My Homebrew Cosmology is similar to your idea of the Sphere, which some exceptions. The Positive Energy Plane is the Outermost Plane, whilst the Negative is the Innermost Plane. And the Evil Aligned “Outer Planes” break the rule in that they are actually located with the Inner Planes now … though still connected (loosely to the Astral Plane) … now they aren’t Inner Planes in and of themselves, but rather they were forced there to contain the Evil and keep them separate from the other Outer Planes (and it worked, mostly … like I said they are still loosely connected to the Astral Plane through some Portals, etc.). The Nine Hells are basically the uppermost levels of the Abyss, for intents and purposes, separated by Carceri, and with the Devils acting as Jailors tasked with containing the Demons (giving rise to the Blood War). The Devils themselves were active players in striking this deal, and it is one of the reasons that some of the Astral Connections were maintained. Hades connected to the Material Plane via the Plane of Shadow (which is literally like the Shadow of the Prime Material and located within, whilst the Fey Wild is like the Prime’s reflection and located on the outside of the Prime); Hades also touches the Border Ethereal … it is a realm of wandering dead, awaiting judgement, it also sits kind of “around” the top layer of Hell, which is itself not a Sphere like the main planes, but a deep pit or wound, dug through the Elemental Planes and Chaos, and again, extending down infinitely as it transitions from Hell through Carceri and into the Abyss.
The way I’ve always thought about the different cosmologys is that they’re drawn so mortals can try and understand them, and it isn’t really how the planes are laid out because mortal minds wouldn’t be able to understand it. Like things being in higher dimensions, we just are unable to fully grasp it
The phlogiston is not like a cosmic river, it’s more like a cosmic ocean crisscrossed with currents, and dotted with countless crystal spheres. It’s EXTREMELY flammable, tripling the area and effect of any fire and fire spell, but, also making them instantaneous. Also, it’s not from the Planescape setting but from the SpellJammer setting. ALL layers of all of the outer planes are effectively boundless or infinite. The list of layers is the list of the KNOWN layers. Who know, there may be more, maybe a LOT more… The inner planes embody both the Rule of Three and the Unity of Rings as they effectively make three intersecting rings. You could make dozens of hour long articles about each and every layer of the outer planes.
beginning of your article: Yeah I agree, in my head cannon. on a 5th dimensional scale, the inner elemental planes are “inside” the material plane, as they compose it, separated by the ethereal plane where raw elements are converted to material, and vice versa. The “Outer” planes are morality and philosophy and are separated from the physical, material plane by the astral plane, where material converts to spiritual. I am not sure if there’s a difference between the “astral plane” and the “Astral sea”. I know the Astral sea is the equivalent to outer space as it is the space between crystal spheres (planets).
Observation: evil planes are a lot more complex than good planes. Hypothesis: surely this must have something to do with evil planes receiving more petitioners and trying to outcompete each other evilness. Test: maybe we should try to get both demons and devils declaring war on the material planes and see if they are devolving cause of the lack of petitioners and competition. Conclusion : and bit chunk of the material plan got absorbed into the evil planes, disproving the hypothesis.
What happens to Primes (visitors) that die in the outer planes? Do they automatically get reatomized in their respective moral alignment outer plane? What happens if they are already in that specific plane. If there is a sort of spawn area in these outer planes, then could a prime go there, and become a petitioner (dies) and see his own corpse? What is the physics of this process?
I just wonder, what is the source material for all of this? It all just feels… incomplete. It feels like everybody has a different idea and interpretation of DND lore. It feels like there is no real cannon piece of lore that explains everything, just some pictures with 5 lines of description and the made-up explanations the community makes to fill in the gaps. Is it true, or am I wrong?
I had a breaking bad “Jesse what are you talking about” moment when you talked about how the inner planes are inside the material plane, then I saw the headcanon disclaimer lol Edit: Wait why do you call them “go-between planes”? Like you explained it was because they connect planes, but they already have an official name denoting that. They’re called Transitive planes.
There are innumerable examples of living people going into religious afterlives going back thousands of years. It was so common in Greek mythology that they had a special word specifically for journeys into the underworld, katabasis. You’d be hard pressed to find even a single religious myth cycle that doesn’t have a single instance of a living person visiting the afterlife, in fact the whole concept of people even knowing about the afterlife to begin with hinges on a prophet figure to either be shown or to go there themselves in order to even know the places exist in the first place. Granted, these aren’t typical situations, and the characters in these stories are mythic heroes or saints or prophets – at least most of the time – but the exact same is true in D&D. Ordinary NPC’s don’t visit Baator, you have to be a legendary, battle weary, very high level adventurer with some serious chops to venture into the outer planes while you’re still alive, because those places are no joke. Even the good aligned planes have big crazy monsters and reality warping effects in them, these places aren’t exactly mere tourist traps. “And if they die again, they die for real.” You’re way in the wrong there, too, buddy. I happen to be a super expert on D&D lore and, well, actually, when people die in the outer planes, they go to one of the 33 outer outer planes, which includes Baaaaator, a.k.a. Superhell, which has 18 circles, and Limbo 2, which is SO chaotic that it actually wraps back around to being lawful again in a kind of weird cosmic integer overflow bug.
Honestly, this article demystified the planes for me and I don’t think I actually like them. The weird ways in which it tries to stick to real world mythologies while at the same time trying to be its own thing creates a disappointing mess that fails to do either of those things justice. I think I’d be better off creating my own planes if I ever were to host a game like that.
Okay I just wanna attempt to understand this here real quick. Things you can use to get from the Material Plane to anywhere else, including the Ethereal, Astral, and Yggdrasil. You can take them from the material to wherever. But the Material is made out of a bunch of crystal spheres bobbing along on a phlogiston sea, and the only way you’re supposed to be able to go to alternate universes is through that phlogiston. If these other forms of travel surround the material, though, wouldn’t you be able to, say, pop into the ethereal and then out into another crystal sphere? Or, is the idea that it you access these transitive things from one crystal sphere, you’re like bound to that sphere unless you switch to another one by crossing the phlogiston? And as far as the feywild/realm of faerie and the shadowfell/plane of shadow go, they’re supposed to be reflections of the material. So are they reflections of the entire material plane (I.e. there’s a feywild version of the phlogiston sea) or is there a separate feywild/shadowfell for every crystal sphere?
Great review! i i have fond memories of running a AD&D 2nd Planescape campaign back in the day, sigil is one crazy place. Any plans of doing other Retro rpg reviews? Dark sun, 1st edition gamma world, 1st edition traveller “classic traveller”, star frontiers. All are gems in the rough and worth peoples time, all the same keep up the good work your reviews are appreciated.
ahem If you’re referring to an inscribed or painted symbol considered to have magical power, the correct pronunciation is “si-jill”. If, however, you are referring to the City of Doors in the Planescape setting, the correct pronunciation is “si-gull”. I mean pronounce it however you like, but everyone’s going to think you’re a clueless Prime. 😉 Great overview, though. Thanks for putting it together!