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Faction War explanation?

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Sat, 2009-10-24 23:34
#1
Magathus
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Faction War explanation?

Hello all, I've lurked a while but just joined.

I was hoping someone here could help me out. I'm wondering if anyone might be able to refer me to any information on what the thinking was behind the Faction War adventure? I've heard a lot of rumors on various sites regarding the intensions behind that adventure, such as:

-Faction War was rushed out on deadline and the published product was very different from what the project was originally planned to be

-that FW was supposed to be the first part of a series of adventures which were never actually made

-that the original intention had been to have the factions thrown out of Sigil but then brought back in a different form, after some political re-structuring

-that the intention was simply to "conclude" the Planescape campaign, since the campaign was about to be discontinued

-that some of the other developers in TSR didn't like the Factions and wanted to get rid of them for future projects

I have long been baffled by this adventure, since it seems a bit out of character with the rest of the PS material, and rather out of character for Monte Cook's writing. Was it simply a requirement that every TSR campaign setting had to have some sort of grand apocalypse thrown in at some point?

If anyone has any inside information, or can refer me to an interview where Monte Cook explains what he was thinking, or can confirm or deny any of these rumors, I would be much obliged; my google-fu seems to be weak in this department.

Thanks!

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Sun, 2009-10-25 01:31
#2
Hyena of Ice
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Re: Faction War explanation?

""-that the intention was simply to "conclude" the Planescape campaign, since the campaign was about to be discontinued""

That's my understanding.

Sun, 2009-10-25 02:12
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ripvanwormer
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Re: Faction War explanation?

Quote:
-that FW was supposed to be the first part of a series of adventures which were never actually made

-that the original intention had been to have the factions thrown out of Sigil but then brought back in a different form, after some political re-structuring

This is what Monte Cook has said in the interviews I've read. I'm not exactly sure where to go to find them now, though... his message boards? The Planescape mailing list? He's said it in a bunch of different places.

When Monte and Ray were writing the adventure, they had no idea the Planescape line was about to be cancelled. And, in fact, they were insisting it hadn't been into 1999 (since the Torment game had yet to come out, and Vortex of Madness and Warriors of Heaven were originally planned as Planescape products).

So no, it definitely wasn't intended to be the last Planescape adventure (and I think Tales From the Infinite Staircase actually came out afterwards).

Sun, 2009-10-25 02:37
#4
ripvanwormer
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Re: Faction War explanation?

Ah, here we go. Look here, for a start:

http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mc_los_129

"By the time the Planescape line ceased publication with the final product, Faction War (although it was never meant to be the final product)"

Close enough. It wasn't designed with the intention that it be the final product. He's said elsewhere that the intention was that Planescape products deal with places other than Sigil for a while, and then return to the City of Doors for an adventure where the factions might come back in some form.

Sun, 2009-10-25 03:09
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Magathus
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Re: Faction War explanation?

Thanks rip! Like I said, I can't seem to find anything "from the horses' mouth" it were, other than a comment or two in passing such as the one above.

So then it was just terrible timing that line ended with this product?

Does anyone have links to the other articles where he talked more about FW? That's exactly what I was looking for, but couldn't seem to find them...

Sun, 2009-10-25 16:45
#6
ripvanwormer
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Re: Faction War explanation?

Ah! Here we go, from Piratecat's ENWorld interview:

Quote:
What was the real purpose behind the release of Faction War? Was this a creator decision based on the feeling that the current Faction system was too complicated, a way to "go out with a bang" since the setting support was coming to an end, or something else entirely?

Ray: Ah, the question that won't go away. Lemme tell ya: Monte and I wrote Faction War after the whole PLANESCAPE group came up with the basic idea for the adventure. The setting was so heavily faction oriented that we wanted to see what would happen when that support system was taken away. How would the residents of Sigil react? What would the former faction members do? How would this impact their beliefs and philosophies? The creative possibilities were compelling, and the war was a plot point that had been brewing in the background of just about every product since the launch of the setting. And, as I said at the time, we always planned to restore the factions to power after seeing how they reacted to being knocked flat for a while. It just so happened that PLANESCAPE itself got knocked flat right after the release of Faction War, so we never got the chance. A total coincidence. I can see the lure of all the conspiracy theories that have developed, but they're just not true.

Monte: Faction War was never meant to be the final product. It's kind of a real kick in the teeth that it ended up that way. I look on it as though the setting ended on a cliffhanger, I guess.

Sun, 2009-10-25 19:26
#7
Magathus
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Re: Faction War explanation?

Well done rip, that's what I was looking for, and it answers my questions. Your help is very much appreciated, and I'd buy you a beer if I could figure out how to send it through the modem.

Thanks!

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