Introduction
I'm still working my way through Morte's Planar Parade, but I have finished reading the campaign setting and adventure from Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse. I've also been listening to Mastering Dungeons podcast and its review of the book, so their critiques are fresh in my head. My general opinion on the product is that I think it has a great opening premise (multiple multiversal aspects of a single character) and the skeleton of a good but flawed adventure, but it would be very difficult for a DM without a lot of time and experience to run. I've ran a lot of 2e Planescape conversions to 5e in the last couple years (see my 5e conversion of Misplaced Spirit on the DM's Guild) and it has long been my favorite setting outside of the Forgotten Realms. I'm ecstatic Wizards put out on 5e version of the setting, so I plan on running it for my home group. So I'm going to use this blog to publish my prep and materials to make it easier for other DMs to run the adventure. In this post, I am going to generate a session 0 for the campaign - it includes everything players will need to know to kick things off.
Adventure Summary
In Turn of Fortune's Wheel, the characters will awake to unfamiliar surroundings with amnesia. They'll learn some details of their condition while escaping a specific site in Sigil, the City of Doors. Once they escape, they will have some time to explore the city before they contact an information broker who will send them on a quest across the planes to learn their true nature and unlock their identities.
Seven Truths About Planescape
- Sigil is the City of Doors, a neutral ground at the center of the multiverse where entities from across the universe mingle. Sigil is ruled by the enigmatic Lady of Pain, who is the one and only power in the city.
- Multiple factions operate in Sigil, constantly vying for power and prestige. These factions are essentially "philosophers with clubs" trying to constantly expand their viewpoint. There will be more information about the factions in the future.
- Sigil sits atop the Spire in a plane called the Outlands. The Outlands has gates to all of the other major planes. Towns spring up around these gates, and can be absorbed into the plane they are connected to if the town becomes too aligned with the gate's plane. There will be more information about the gate towns in the future.
- You will see anything and everything in the planes. Characters and gods from any known DnD setting can appear. Monsters and NPCs that subvert type are common. Demons, Devils, and Angels will appear at the same place and might not fight each other (especially in Sigil).
- Every 289 years, an event called the Great Modron March happens. Millions of modrons march out of Mechanus to explore the multiverse to gather data and report back to Primus, who uses that information to adjust how the Modrons will interact with the multiverse. The last March happened off schedule a few years ago.
- When a creature from a prime material plane (i.e. Faerun or Greyhawk) dies they are reborn as a petitioner on a plane matching their alignment and/or deity. A petitioner can never return to a prime material plane. If a petitioner dies, it stays dead for 100 years and then reforms on its home plane but might have significantly changed in appearance. The only way to bring a petitioner back before the 100 years is casting true resurrection or wish.
- Creatures in Sigil use a specific set of jargon known as cant. A glossary with some of the most common terms is provided in this document.
Rolling Up a Character
In this adventure, you will be playing a character who has lost memory of who they are. You are a glitch in the multiverse, and your goal in the adventure will be to determine who you were and why you are a glitch. Character death will be more common than normal, but each time you die you will return to life as a different aspect of your character. You can represent these different aspects as three different character classes, or you can simply create different aspects of the character's personality if you don't want to deal with the complexity of three characters. All of you characters will always level at the same time. For example, for Merifluous "The Giantsbane" Perileone, I will create a wizard to represent his truest nature as an arcanist and lover of fireballs, a fighter to represent his martial and serious side (and general love of magical swords), and a druid to represent the "Hedge Wizard" aspect of Meriflous' personality. If the character dies over the course of play, I will switch to one of the other two aspects of the character. All three aspects level together. For groups with a history together, I recommend playing a prior retired character so that it is easier for everyone to remember who each character is even as they switch incarnations.
General character creation rules:
- Standard point buy, ability array, or 4d6 six times drop the lowest and assign. Cumalative stat bonus should be at least +3. Its preferred to use one set of stats that gets reallocated across the three characters.
- Characters start at third level.
- No extra first level feat.
- No multiclassing.
You should also answer the following questions and record them on your character sheet:
What was the greatest decision or turning point in your character’s life? If your character made a different decision, how might their life be different? How would they be different if they made choices based on others’ expectations?
What is something your character wishes they could change about themselves? How would the best version of themselves be different?
What is your character’s signature possession or physical trait? What makes you certain that your character would retain this no matter what could have happened in their life?
12 Examples of Planar Cant
Barmy - afflicted with a mental condition
Basher - person, especially a thug or tough
Berk - a fool
The Chant - new and local gossip
Clueless - primes new to sigil
Cutter - resourceful person
Sodding - a curse word
Gully - gullible sod
The Yawn - being bored
Tumble to - to discover or understand something
Pike off - another curse word telling someone to get lost
Leatherhead - idiot
