Planescape: To Hell and Back (Pathfinder, Mythic, Exotic, Closed)

[Dakkon]

What would you say if you could meet Julius Caesar or Chinngis Khan? If you walked into a restaurant and you spied Saint Peter sitting at a far table, waiting to have a meal with an old friend. How would you react to the movers and shakers of the spiritual realms, all around you? What if such a place was possible?

Welcome to the Planes.



Planescape is not a setting you need to be familiar with by default to use. Any character, from any when or where could conceivably be found in this setting, for you will be moving between the heavens and hells of the Great Wheel. Planescape adventures take you to the homes of the gods, to the pits of hell, the far flung reaches of heaven, and everywhere in between.  I’m in the process of adapting one of the classic starting adventures, To Baator and Back, to pathfinder and I’d like to try and give it a spin here.

The plot hook is fairly basic. You’ve been scooped up out of your day to day life and deposited somewhere else by some strange magic. I won’t spoil where that is, but I think you can figure it out. You’re joined by an eclectic group of strangers, and you’re going to have to stick together to survive.



I have a vague idea of a long term plan, which I would like to flesh out by linking into your backgrounds. The major theme of this game will be secrets and mysteries. Expect to battle a lot of fiends, with a healthy dose of aberrations and what ever else I can come up with. Discovery and philosophy are important on the planes too, this is a thinking mans game, not a hack and slash (although there will be plenty of that too).

One other thing, I will start this game at third level. Things could very well go much higher than that (in fact I plan for it) but that's not the only deatil. I’d like to experiment with low-level mythic play in this adventure. I’m still mapping experience out, but the latest that you would gain your first mythic tier would be when you level up to fourth level, and in reality I think it would hit much earlier than that.



Setting: Planescape; which means you can be form pretty much any when and anywhere.
Number of Players: Four. I'm going to try and go for an even spread of genders, although that may vary depending on the races that appear.
Level: 3rd
Character Age: 21+, or racial equivalent
Posting Rate: I don't expect daily posts, since I know few people who can keep that rate up, however if you are gone 72 hours without posting in the game thread with no prior notice, I'll be checking in via PM. If that's going unanswered, or happening multiple times, I'll be opening the game back up to someone who can post more regularly. I don't want to be a hardass, but that's what it takes to keep forum games going I'm afraid.
Character selection: I'm going to see how much interest this thread garners in a week. If a lot of people are interested, I'll set a deadline, between a week and half from two weeks out from today (April 30th). If not, I'll take people on a modified first come, first serve basis.

The Fluff

Alignment: I’m going to be a little more relaxed with this game than I usually am and allow for any alignment. With that said, Everyone in the group need to be able to get along. Asshole evil, preachy good, lawful templar, and chaotic jerk characters should be avoided. I’m uncomfortable running a party that is south of neutral, however, so please take that into account. There can be a token evil teammate, but my story involves you (usually) being heroes.
Background: Your background can be pretty much whatever you want up until about a 1918-equivalent level of history. Everyone has be transported magically to an unknown realm, so that should be how your background ends. I also request that you include at least one mystery in your background that your character is trying to solve.
Personality: As I said above, your character needs to be trusting enough to work with others without trying to screw them over (… screw them on the other hand…). Keep a game cohesive on the boards is hard enough with characters getting sarcastic with one another.
Appearance: As you please, although a picture is required so that I can use it with our maps, although it doesn’t have to be a perfect representation of your character.
Sexuality: Non-con and sexual relations with anyone under 18 are totally off limits for me. They may pop up, but they are not heroic traits. The creatures of the afterlife are varied in their forms, so this game will be in the exotic category. I will likely put it in the NC section, but that’s more me leaving my options open for my villains. Just like in my Wrath of the Righteous game, don’t expect sex to be a given here, you will have to work for it, just like real life. Of course, when your potential partner is a succubus or holy angel, well… it should be worth it to put the effort in ;P

The Crunch

Books: All Paizo. All of Cerulean Seas. All of Dreamscarred Press. Abandoned Art’s Amazing Races and Class Acts. Kobold Press’s Deep Magic. Legendary Game’s Gothic Campaign Compendium and Mythic Minis. ICOSA Entertainment’s Pure Steam. Just give me a heads up for anything outside of Paizo, since I don’t have every last thing memorized. 
Classes: Any from the above sources.
Races: Any standard race is okay.
- If you are using non-standard races, anything with 15 race points or more has a +1 Level Adjustment (including aasimars), and anything above 25 has a +2  LA. Anything below that can be used as is. If you do want to create a custom race, I'll be working with you to build it.
- I have included a number of these races on my Planescape Blog (http://dailyplanescape.tumblr.com/tagged/Simplified-Race), including some dragons if anyone is interested. If there’s something you would like to try, but don’t see, drop me a line, and we’ll see if we can come up with something that’s a close match.
- LA buyoff  rules will be available as you advance in level.
- Races from the books and websites can be used, but keep in mind that most Merfolk and other races who cannot survive on land will be inappropriate for this adventure.
Ability scores: 20 point buy
Hit Points: Full at first level; Half or roll after that.
Equipment: 3000 gp
Traits: Two traits at character creation, no more by any means.

Let’s get out there berk. There’s plenty to discover.

[Metro Mech]

Ooo this sounds fun

[Dakkon]

That's the plan 

[ererruz]

Colour me interested! A Sensate incoming

[Metro Mech]

I will get my character up and running

[Lockepick]

Posting interest!

Are you accepting custom races as well, as long as we follow the race guide?

Also, I don't see any preferences for the GM: How welcome/unwelcome is a gay dude? Should I not expect any male/male interaction from NPCs?

[Ghostwheel]

I do love me some pathfinder... :-3

[Dakkon]

Posting interest!

Are you accepting custom races as well, as long as we follow the race guide?

Also, I don't see any preferences for the GM: How welcome/unwelcome is a gay dude? Should I not expect any male/male interaction from NPCs?

a) Yup! Planescape's pretty much open to anything. Are you planning to model an existing creature or create something brand new?
b) I'm open to it. It's not my orientation, but one of the nice things about planescape is that LGBT themes fit into it perfectly and the nice thing about stealing material from Paizo is that they are very LGBT-supportive. It would work.

That reminds me of something though. Several of my favourite Planescape writers (specifically, James Jacobs and F Wesley Schneider) never actually wrote for Planescape under TSR, but are rather critical to building Pathfinder. Just a little. No massive understatement whatsoever. Anyhow, I'm borrowing materials from Pathfinder liberally, which means even if you know Planescape, this will be a different Planecape. Many of the same players are on the board, but many are also different. The Faction War hasn't happened, and if it does, it will be different from canon. This timeline is on the cutting edge, and no one knows what will happen. 

[Dakkon]

I do love me some pathfinder... :-3

No... I never would have guessed Ghost 

[Ghostwheel]

No... I never would have guessed Ghost 

Doh, meant Planescape, heh. Freudian slip.

Fell in love with it sometime during 2e and played the colors out of the old Planescape: Torment game...

[Lockepick]

@FallenDabus: My idea will most likely be very human-like. I haven't fully looked over the rules enough to give you any details, but I tend to prefer things that can be described as "Like a human but with..." No spider-monsters made out of slime or one giant sentient tentacle or anything that out of left field.

[Dakkon]

@FallenDabus: My idea will most likely be very human-like. I haven't fully looked over the rules enough to give you any details, but I tend to prefer things that can be described as "Like a human but with..." No spider-monsters made out of slime or one giant sentient tentacle or anything that out of left field.

Oh, I'm not worried about that, I was just wondering if it was something that had an already established place or something brand new. You're talking to the same guy who made player races out of Yithians, Aranea, and several species of dragons.

The first companion that you got in the Planescape: Torment video games was a floating skull. He's the most normal of your allies. So left field, right field, up field, Nth-dimensional field... its all good in Planescape. I once had a Wasp-Devil and a Unicorn playing in the same game. Planescape is many things... normal's not one of them.

[Anon315]

Having taken a course in Cant, I should most certainly have to peruse this thread and give it my due consideration.

[Lockepick]

So I'm going to crawl here on my belly: I'm finding the combination of Mythic + 15 Point Buy a little sad.

Any chance we can bump it to the more usual 20 points, at least? Little tough to build on such a small budget.

[Dakkon]

So I'm going to crawl here on my belly: I'm finding the combination of Mythic + 15 Point Buy a little sad.

Any chance we can bump it to the more usual 20 points, at least? Little tough to build on such a small budget.

Okay, fine. I usually go 20, although 15 is standard. The understanding that goes with that though is that there will be times when fighting or talking your way out is not an option. Just run. This is a setting where you can run into a pit fiend in a bar.

[indarkestknight]

You have my sword interest.

Any chance of rogue modrons as a player race?

Feelings on playtest versions of the Advanced Class Guide classes?

[Erich Norden]

Consider me titillated.  I have just the character in mind.

[Dakkon]

You have my sword interest.

Any chance of rogue modrons as a player race?

Feelings on playtest versions of the Advanced Class Guide classes?

These are the stats I've used for Rogue Modrons before.

Modron Outcast Racial Traits

• +4 Constitution, +4 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Modron outcasts are highly intelligent, and their partial clockwork composition makes them sturdier than most other races. However, they have very little experience in life outside of modron society, especially concerning interaction with others.
• Medium-sized outsider.
• Modron outcast base speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision up to 120 feet.
• Modron Outcast Traits (Ex): Due to their devotion to order, modron outcasts are immune to mind-influencing effects, and their odd body composition makes them immune to subdual damage or critical hits. Unlike other modrons, they are susceptible to ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain. It is believed this is because they are cut off from the central energy pool, but none other than Primus himself knows the reason.
• Acid, cold, and fire resistance 10.
• Metal Frame: Modron outcasts receive a +4 natural armor bonus to their Armor Class due to their partially metallic nature. Due to their odd form, however, they are unable to wear amulets, armor, helmets, belts, goggles, medallions, necklaces, robes, shirts, or vests. Such items, magical or mundane, must be custom made for the modron to wear.
• Automatic Languages: Modron, Common, home region. Bonus Languages: Any (any other except secret languages, such as Druidic).
• Plane of Origin: Always Mechanus.
• Favored Class: None. Modron are too focused to be able to diversify easily.
• Level Adjustment +1.

ACG classes are okay to use.

[Dakkon]

Ah, now that I'm actually awake, I recall three important things I meant to include in the first post.

Initiative: I use a version of initiative where everyone roles Init, but then the first person to post each round acts at the highest Init rolled, the second at the next highest and so on. I find this speeds up combat considerably.

Skill Challenges: I use a skill challenge system created by Mystic Theurge Publications. As opposed to most tests a single roll of the dice, I'd like to try portraying most of them as skill challenges. The idea is to try and create some role playing opportunities while not locking anyone out of a particular scene because they don't have a certain skill advance.

Each challenge will have degrees of success and failure. You may not succeed at everything completely, but you should be able to to succeed enough to keep things moving. Additionally, you'll get opportunities to improve your success. I call these complication tasks.If the Traveller screws with your dice so that a roll does not go your way, I'll give the opportunity to make another roll, although that opportunity would come at some sort of a cost that could complicate things down the road and the number of retries you get will be limited. Costs could include damage, loss of wealth, extra enemies, penalties to other checks or whatever else I can think up of that would make your life harder.

I’ll give you a variety of actions that you can pick from, although you are always free to make up your own action or decide you’ve done well enough. Each time you make another roll, you gain a cumulative +2 bonus to the check, both for the current roll and the previous result. While I know that may seem a bit counterintuitive, it is predicated on the assumptions that previous actions have a positive impact on the situation, so things are becoming easier.

When determining how successful the check is, I will first see if it is better than a previous check. If it is, that becomes our new result. If not, I add +2 to the current highest check. I then compare the result to the DC.

I've used this in a couple of games so far and the response has been positive. I want to try and create as many RP opportunities as possible, both in and out of combat, as well as encourage and reward creativity.

Faction Abilities: Each faction comes with their own advantages and disadvantages. I'll be adapting these from the original Planescape books, so you can use them a a rough guide. You do not have to start as part of a faction (in fact, if you've never played Planescape before, I suggest you don't). There will be plenty of opportunities to join them once you're safe.

[Ghostwheel]

Will we be playing pre- or post-faction war?

[Dakkon]

Will we be playing pre- or post-faction war?

That reminds me of something though. Several of my favourite Planescape writers (specifically, James Jacobs and F Wesley Schneider) never actually wrote for Planescape under TSR, but are rather critical to building Pathfinder. Just a little. No massive understatement whatsoever. Anyhow, I'm borrowing materials from Pathfinder liberally, which means even if you know Planescape, this will be a different Planecape. Many of the same players are on the board, but many are also different. The Faction War hasn't happened, and if it does, it will be different from canon. This timeline is on the cutting edge, and no one knows what will happen.

[indarkestknight]

I'd been thinking of a Rogue Modron Sorcerer with the Impossible Bloodline from Paizo's Champions of Balance, one with a much more anthropomorphic body (with the unusual body model, sorcerous powers, and the reasons why it was deemed a rogue modron as the mysteries it might investigate), but between the Cha penalty and Level Adjustment, I may be better off going with one of the other two concepts I'm batting about in my head at the moment: the gnome son or daughter of one of the serpent wenches of the World Serpent Inn, raised at the Inn, but looking to explore the multiverse, or, given the theme of secrets and mysteries, an Investigator from the Advanced Class Guide playtest.

[Ghostwheel]

Don't know how I missed that. Good to know.

How do you see our characters? Are we among the Clueless? Do we know the dark of it? We probably haven't done too much on-purpose plane-hopping since we're low level, but would it be alright if we were already familiar with Sigil, the Planes in general, and their environs?

[Dakkon]

Don't know how I missed that. Good to know.

How do you see our characters? Are we among the Clueless? Do we know the dark of it? We probably haven't done too much on-purpose plane-hopping since we're low level, but would it be alright if we were already familiar with Sigil, the Planes in general, and their environs?

The game will basically start with you in survival mode. You may start out as a planer, but as you surmized, not one that is extremely experienced. In fact, if you choose too, there's nothing stoping you from playing planer who is just as clueless as someone from the prime. If you are generally aware of the planes, you'll know about the basics whichever plane you live on, and have some details about the other planes as you suggested, but you won't necessarily know details like the names of their different layers or the different conditions on them, unless its relevant to your character somehow (such as your deity residing on one of those layers).

[torawashi]

Definitely interested in this! Planescape is by far my favorite D&D setting. Very tentatively leaning toward a Bariaur Monk, but I'm still pondering my options. :)