Post-Sigil Planescape

http://web.archive.org/web/20070929194523/http://www.harlekin-maus...

Post-Sigil Planescape
Background
The following is a short list of the concepts to be presented in this Post-Sigil multiverse. I'm considering redoing the thing completely, making it more of an homage to Planescape rather than a literal Planescape successor. At the base of the spire, the ruins of Sigil thrust up out of the dirt. Scavengers and lost factioneers live in the ruins. The Blood War overcame Sigil and thus, via the Doors, the entire Multiverse. The Blood War is over. Fiends, Celestials and the like are rare even in their home planes, both due to the attrition of the Blood War and the destruction of so many belief-providing Prime worlds. The loss of so many Prime worlds has affected the Powers themselves, many realms are now in ruins or partly shadow. Another effect of the loss of Prime worlds has been to blur the boundaries between the Outer Planes. It's physically and spiritually possible to travel between the planes without the use of portals, instead using secret paths, widely-used trails and sheer mental effort. The factions extend across the planes, now. With the loss of so much raw Prime belief and the disintegration of the planes, planewalkers _need_ a source for their faith. And much of that faith comes from introspection. PCs have a real chance to change the grand scheme of things. With the Powers lacking, the Blood War over, the Kriegstanz in tatters, there are no entities to keep an overzealous PC in line. This means metaplots (and thus NPCs, invincible to keep a metaplot moving) are thrown out the window. PCs can actually meet the Powers, now. Powers are affected in different ways: Losing their substance, being reduced to a heroic semi-mortal status, irrevocably merging with their realm, etc. Without the massive stabilization of Prime belief, an individual with strong enough convictions can readily affect the environment. Where before, the Primes would shape the Outer Planes, the cynicism and loss of the planars is now the main shaping force. All those Powers and prison realms and infernal prisons suffer from weaker walls. Cosmic horrors and evil titans walk the planes, alongside freed angels and weird champions of law.

Societies
The Fall happened millenia ago, with the survivors regrouping along common philosophies. Though each society has respected members and ancient sages, there are no recognized leaders. List below are the most common societies, though many others exist.

Hedon

1 of 4

9/15/2012 3:04 PM

Post-Sigil Planescape

http://web.archive.org/web/20070929194523/http://www.harlekin-maus...

With the death of the multiverse around the corner, possibly with a body's lifetime, why not succumb to what little life offers? You can create the world around you (which, sadly, is in ruins), so why not build it to please you?

Entropes
Entropy and death have claimed the multiverse; the goal in this mortal life is to embrace the inevitable and prepare for the end. Some Entropes claim that life and death are cyclic, and the worlds are close to rebirth; all the more reason to rise to great power and fame. If the Entropes lives to see the resurrection, they may be born again as gods.

Kaologos
A Kaologos observes that law and chaos are bound by observable rules. Within law there are imperfections and, alternately, patterns can be found in seething chaos. A strange combination of mysticism, scholarly study and physical effort. Existing within the multiverse should happen at both an intellectual and an intuitive level; the true Kaologos cannot separate intuition from reason.

Odysseans
Named after an ancient hero, the Odysseans see this mortal realm as a set of trials to be overcome. Some believe that a great reward lies at the end of life, others struggle for fear of what comes after death. In addition to this common philosophy, Odysseans share a certain martial attitude, and often act as hired muscle or voluntary militia. Those with a penchant for roaming often lead bands into terrible danger, believing that the greater the trials faced in life, the greater the final reward in death.

Ring Givers
In the face of the desolation and inevitable doom before them, Ring Givers echo the classic adventurers from Norse legends, acting through nobility and courage and selflessness. They also recognize the value of mercy and compassion, knowing that helping others also helps one's self.

The Entangled Planes

The Fall led to a great loss of belief, and with this loss the boundaries and laws governing the planes themselves began to disintegrate. Now the planes are a vast jumble of shadow realms and epic landscapes bleeding one into the other. It is possible to traverse the Entangled Planes both physically and spiritually, along common and uncommon routes. If one were to map the Entangled Planes, it would be difficult but plausible. They are often arranged in a ring: Eanna, Ardor, the Wilds, Lazar, Abaddon, Dystopia.

Abaddon
A great blasted wasteland and what remains of the various hells. Ruins of vast realms, from icy fortresses to firey iron cities, crumble and shelter what few infernal occupants remain. Self-serving mortals tend to be drawn to Abaddon for many reasons, from lording over demon holds to conscripting terrible armies. Occasionally great demonic warbands march out of Abaddon to lay waste to the Entangled Planes; sometimes resulting in entire realms merging with Abaddon itself.

Ardor
This is a passionate plane, most connected to the mortals. A chaotic place, run by a mortal's raw emotions and the most human of gods. Some say many of Ardor's gods have abandonded their immortal posts and wander the planes as epic yet mortal heroes, eager to die as a hero rather than the shadow of belief.

Dystopia
Dystopia is both order and oppression, one where survivors have tried to prop up the established bureaucracies. Though this

2 of 4

9/15/2012 3:04 PM

Post-Sigil Planescape

http://web.archive.org/web/20070929194523/http://www.harlekin-maus...

monumental task is hardly up to the fickle and short-lived mortals. It can be a benevolent machine: There are those who revel in following the rules and those who delight in breaking them. This is the only great plane which exists as vast architecture instead of a more natural landscape.

Eanna
The heavens have merged into a plane both kind and stern, known as Eanna. Unfortunately, the merciful gods are dying along with the horrid ones. Eanna is the most peaceful of the Entangled Planes, but its paradises exist only as shadows.

Lazar
A horribly diseased plane, filled with the madness of mind and body. Beneath the wretched surface this plane is riddled with catacombs and natural caverns. Lazar is often used as a prison, though many mortals here stay through self-loathing.

The Wilds
Anywhere nature has overrun the land is merging with or wholly part of the Wilds. Animal nature prevails here; some say Ardor and the Wilds are slowly combining, if not already on and the same.

Planar Shadows System

Here's a quick system that is highly player-driven. This should allow for

D&D Sorcerer & Sword Questions Answered

What Happed to the Lady?
She's either dead or missing. Her remains are rumored to be somewhere in the wreckage of Sigil. She abandoned or escaped Sigil and now roams the multiverse, just as powerful and terrible as she was before her prison fell. She fell to her death, and pieces of her body and garb (one and the same, really) are now powerful artifacts. There are a finite number of weapons made from her spikes, for example. Magic garments are crafted from her tattered shawl. And so on. You could go with the third option, but the artifacts are fragments of the Lady's shadow. This way she can still be alive and out there, somewhere.

Suggested Reading
Planescape products Of the original Planescape products, I would recommend the original boxed set, the Planes of Chaos boxed set and the first Monstrous Compendium. Sorcerer & Sword Supplement to the Sorcerer roleplaying game. An invaluable resource for pulp fantasy gaming.

3 of 4

9/15/2012 3:04 PM

Post-Sigil Planescape

http://web.archive.org/web/20070929194523/http://www.harlekin-maus...

Inspiration
Obviously, this setting is inspired by Planescape. What follows is the list of those inspirations, plus any others. It's frustrating when a game or setting doesn't list its inspirations (D&D itself borrows from Jack Vance's Dying Earth, Tolkien's books, Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and Moorcock's Eternal Champions among others). Abaddon Hebrew for destroyer, Abaddon is hell for all demons, devils and other fiends. Ardor A place for many of the European pantheons, from Greek to Roman to Celtic to Norse. Dystopia All that is orderly mushed into one plane, for good or bad. Eanna The Sumerian word for heaven, Eanna is the benevolent and merciful heavens all in one. Entropes Dustmen and Doomguard rolled into one, with a bit of the Bleak Cabal. Hedon Sensates combined with the solipsism of the Sign of One. Hedonists with a pretentious name. Kaologos My way to make both Guvners and Xaositects playable, with a Cipher zen component. The name comes from Greek Kaos + Logos. I don't like the Xaositects as represented; it seems too easy. "They're chaotic, so they're absolutely insane!" I also don't like the Guvner's much. They're bookworms? That's not exciting, nor very adventurable. My answer? Zen masters of law and chaos. Lazar Take the mental despair and madness of the Gray Waste and Pandemonium, add some Carceri and physical disease and you have Lazar. Missing Planescape Factions So why aren't all the factions equally represented? They don't have to be! The Planescape setting presents the multiverse at a specific point in time with specific historical facts (like the faction organization), which I always thought a little odd. Faction War even entered the setting-changing metaplot zone. This Post-Sigil world is highly mutable, with a lot of room to alter, remove and create new societies. Oh, so about the missing factions. I didn't want to take a one-to-one faction-society approach. Or even a X + Y = Society take. It's more like a pair (or trio) of factions mushed together with what I like, plus some new ideas that I happen to also like. Odysseans Fated, Harmonium and Godsmen. Trials, perserverance and soldiery. Obviously named after Odysseus, who faced many years of hardship before getting home. Ring Givers The Ring Givers were my favorite almost-faction. So I figured I'd give them their due, while getting rid of the Mercykillers' worse half and incorporating the Sons of Mercy. Add the hint of the Bleak Cabal (Norse mythology is really bleak!). Timeline This setting has no timeline or metaplot. It exists after the Fall. If you go along with the Planescape inspiration, Sigil has fallen from the Spire along with all the implications of this event. The Blood War has ended, the Prime Worlds are in ruins which leaves the Powers mere shadows of their former glory. The belief which fueled the planes is sparse and weak. the Wilds Beastlands, obviously, with a bit of Limbo's raw nature.

4 of 4

9/15/2012 3:04 PM