Just saying hello to you all and a big thankyou to both the original creators and ongoing contributors of Planewalker. This is hands down the best gaming site I’ve ever seen, and clearly a labour of love for all involved (including me now). Please excuse my current and forthcoming wordiness; I do tend to blather on…
I thought I’d ask a rather provocative first question:
“Why Should We Play Post-Faction War?”
(please be aware that there might be spoilers below)
I’m asking because although there tends to be a lot of discussion about which era is best, there seems to be little to ‘advertise’ the post-War setting, which seems wrong given how much work the Factols here are putting into developing it. With WoTC looking less and less likely to ever go back to Planescape, it’s up to us to champion the setting, which includes FW whether we like it or not (I know we can really all just ignore it if we wanted to, but this post is about not ignoring it!)
Actually, I approve of the changes in the Faction War adventure, which definitely puts me in the minority, I’d guess. I’m going to set out my reasons below, but I’d really like to hear everyone else’s too.
1) Because it’s cannon: Lets face it, it happened (or will happen depending on when you play). All the other PS adventures feel like they’re part of an unfolding story/history, and this is just another part of it. We trust the authors of our favourite setting in this regard elsewhere, so why not here?
2) Because its in the spirit of the setting: The Planes go on, but they don’t remain the same. To me at least, PS has always had the feeling that the universe is finely balanced and major events can suddenly rock the setting to its core (Hellbound and Dead Gods leap to mind). It’s just like the PS setting to suddenly yank the comforting and familiar rug of the Factions out from under your feet.
3) Because it makes Planescape your own: There’s no sign whatsoever of WoTC ever taking up PS again, but it certainly ended on a bang rather than a whimper! There’s an “over to you…” feel about the end of FW, because from then on the setting is ours – or rather each groups’ – to do with as they will. You don’t like the result of Faction War, fine. Take up your sword and philosophy and make the universe change things back! (trust me, nothing will motivate your players more than potentially getting one over on Her Serenity!)
Does anyone else have a take on the appeal of post-FW?
I'm an old Planescape fan who only got back into the thing recently. I was pretty interested in the chance to step back into the shoes of the Harmonium and the Xaositect and the Anarchists and all the general madness from before.
When I found out that not only WotC stopped focusing on Sigil, but had also decided to annihilate the idea of Sigil's Factions right before leaving... It's like some guy working on a really cool building for 10 years, deciding to leave it unfinished, and right before he walks out he blows off one of the sides just because.
But I'm a writer (or I claim to be, anyway), which means working with what I am given and making something awesome out of it. I don't like the Post-Faction War at all; I don't see much of a point (maybe someone could explain it to me? Like I said, I'm new to the 'new' Planescape, so I never really got a good grasp on what was going on), but if that's what happened, that's what happened.
I really wouldn't get all bothered by it if post-Faction War had been replaced by something fascinating, but really... As far as I can see, it hasn't. It's just "BAM! Your interesting stuff is now gone. And, uh, now there are Sons of Mercy. Bye!"
Sorry if this place is full of anti-post-Faction War rants all ready. I'm just not sure what to think, or what the reason was, or anything like that. Feel free to convince me otherwise.