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DMing a planar feel

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Wed, 2006-10-25 22:02
#1
Rhys
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DMing a planar feel

I've been fortunate enough to talk my friends into playing a Planescape campaign for some time, though as the resident Planescaper among us, it has fallen to me for some time to DM. As a 2nd-editioner with extensive access to Planescape sourcebooks, I have access to all the pretty pictures and flavor text on the wonderful planes and their lovely locales. Nearly all of my players, however, have none of them, and in fact only one played Planescape (not simply Torment) during 2nd edition. How--and bear in mind that I play mostly online since my regular gaming group is split up at school--can I really make sure that they really feel like we're in the planes?

I want my players to be able to look back and feel like they know what it would be like to explore Pandemonium, for example. Or Mechanus. Or even simply what it would be like to go shopping in the Market Ward. Right now, my main tactic is providing paragraphs and paragraphs of description, but I feel like, in violation of the "less is more" paradigm, much of my blathering is lost and doesn't really contribute to their understanding.

What else can I do? I feel like I'm constantly stripping things down to their barest forms to make sure that anything they see or do is as close to the prototypical experience of whatever it is they're doing. I feel like if I don't include something in an adventure, it won't be part of their Planescape concept.

What do you all do to achieve this kind of shared experience?

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Wed, 2006-10-25 22:15
#2
eldersphinx
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DMing a planar feel

Hmmm. I think the key here is not so much to try and pare down the initial description, but instead work to break it up - getting several aspects of the place, and throwing them at the players one at a time, letting them react to each in turn and building up the sense of otherness.

For Gehenna, frex, the first thing they get hit with straight out of the portal is the choking smoke, seeking to smother them. Make them worry about that, take some action to deal with it, and only then pass on the sullen lighting of the place. A ways further on, earth tremors that threaten to knock them off their feet, or razor-sharp basaltic rock that threatens to slice their feet to ribbons.

In each case, it's one small element of the plane, presented on its own so that PCs can seek to adapt or respond to it. Taken in sequence, you've got a very different place than the Prime.

Thu, 2006-10-26 05:11
(Reply to #2) #3
Azure
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Joined: 2006-05-17
DMing a planar feel

One thing that really sets PS apart from prime adventures is the characters one meets. Having the players deal with a pit fiend in a civil arena really gets the feel across, I think.

Another really big thing is the mutability of the planes. Have the characters witness or be part of a border shift. Cities on the prime don't move across realities, but gate-towns do. Especially if a large group, army, etc. comes to town. The influx of many like-minded beings, or the locals' reactions to them, could be enouth to tip the ballance. If this happens early on in the adventure, it really gets the point across that the planes are very different.

They don't have to experience everything first hand either. Have them read a few issues of SIGIS.

Thu, 2006-10-26 15:47
(Reply to #3) #4
Hymneth
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DMing a planar feel

If you have the capability of posting pictures into whatever medium you use to play online, I'd recommend some "pictures for thought". They don't have to be precisely about what the party is doing, or where they are, but if they make you think about it, it works. For example, you mentioned Mechanus and Pandemonium. A close up photo of the mechanisms of an old pocket watch, or a photo of the interior of a huge cavern with little light would make them see something, then describe the area. Their mind will already be in the right spot, so they'll see a better picture, generally. I've used this trick online before, and most of the players said it worked for most situations

Sat, 2006-10-28 01:09
(Reply to #4) #5
Duckluck
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DMing a planar feel

Make every effort to make it feel like a world operates under consistent rules, but it would take years to learn what the are. Point out the otherness of every situation. The first time they are in Sigil they should feel like they are in any other town, right until a hulking Solar walks by, and as they stair at its radiant face, the smog should clear just long enough for them to realize the the streets they are walking on bend up to replace the horizon. One of my biggest complaints about Torment was that Sigil felt so ordinary. There were a few Gith, Abishai, and Bariaur walking around, and occasionally you saw a Planetouched, but for the most part, it was just humans doing human things.

You don't need paragraphs of description, but you need to put enough work in so that players on Bytopia can practically feel the idyllic bliss engulfing them, while players on Limbo should be scared out of their minds. No matter what plane they are on though, and how many times they have visited, you should make every effort to make sure they know it to be anything but ordinary.

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