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Hi! I'm running a Planescape sandbox game and need well-lanned bloods!

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Fri, 2012-02-03 18:14
#1
Quickleaf
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Hi! I'm running a Planescape sandbox game and need well-lanned bloods!

Hi! My name is Aaron, and I am new here, though a long-time member of ENWorld. I DMed Planescape back when it first came out, and ended up giving away my Planescape collection to a friend's younger brother when I moved. Yeah, he was stoked. Smiling

And now I've begun DMing a 4e Planescape game. Heh. Perfect. Fortunately I found a copy ofthe original boxed set and had purchased some PDFs way back, so coupled with my memory and the help of the planescape online community I should be able to run a solid game.

We're a few sessions in, with a party consisting of a pixie cavalier and wilden druid (both "fey beast tamers"), a modron artificer named 2XB2 and a Buddhist minotaur monk (both hailing from Mechanus/Nirvana), and a prime halfling rogue on a quest of vengeance. The first four are tied together by being in the retinue of Blessed Karadja, a nymph sidhe noble who is trying to start a new sect in Sigil. The rogue just joined the party as a mercenary. I started them at sixth level.

I'm just scratching the tip of the iceberg, but I don't want to dump a bunch a text in my "hello" post Smiling

Any advice from old pros about running a planescape sandox?

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Sat, 2012-02-04 13:24
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Wicke
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Re: Hi! I'm running a Planescape sandbox game and need ...

Sandboxes still have edges to keep them contained, so it may help if you decide to stick to an area to focus on, rather than having the entire range of inner and outer planes available. For instance, each sect and faction tends to have a home plane in addition to having a presence in Sigil. What plane would it make sense for this new sect be based? And what's the major belief of this new sect that ties it together?

Oh, and welcome to Planewalker! Laughing out loud

Tue, 2012-02-14 15:53
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Quickleaf
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Re: Hi! I'm running a Planescape sandbox game and need ...

Wicke wrote:
Sandboxes still have edges to keep them contained, so it may help if you decide to stick to an area to focus on, rather than having the entire range of inner and outer planes available. For instance, each sect and faction tends to have a home plane in addition to having a presence in Sigil. What plane would it make sense for this new sect be based? And what's the major belief of this new sect that ties it together?

Oh, and welcome to Planewalker! Laughing out loud


Thanks Wicke!

Yep, I've got a map of the quest locations connected by various planar pathways, so the PCs *could* go to Bytopia even though it's not a quest location I've prepared, but they over arching story (the "edges") don't have a compelling reason to go there.

The sect (still need a good name Sticking out tongue ) is based around the concept of the genius locii ("spirit of place"), believing that Nature is the ultimate revealed of truth, that by listening to Nature one can come into contact with the spiritual essence of a place, and in this contact the truths of the Multiverse are revealed. As you can see they have commonalities with the Sensates, Ciphers, and Wylders. The sect began on the Plane of Faerie, and quickly moved on from there - the sect leader Karadja is a mysterious sidhe noble with a traveling court who has set up a manor & gardens in Sigil.

One of the sect leader's secret plans is to awaken the genius locii of Sigil. What is that? It could be the Lady or Aoskar or something else entirely. This qualifies as a "it seemed like a good idea when I was drunk" plan.

Mon, 2012-02-20 00:48
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Quickleaf
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Re: Hi! I'm running a Planescape sandbox game and need ...

So the party's next stop is the Beastlands, and I'd like to do something a bit different with it. We all know it's based on the Happy Hunting Ground which is allegedly a Mohican conception if the afterlife. Yeah, or as Mohican as "Happy Harping Ground" accurately describes the Christian afterlife. Smiling

First I want to combine what little I know of the Delaware (Leni-Lenape) spirit world with the Buddhist 6 realms of desire as I grok them. When an animal is killed "in a good way" its spirit travels to the Beastlands where it tells other animal spirits about to incarnate of that hunter's good practices... which translates as more game making itself available to the good hunter. Being born into the animal world is a test of intelligence, wisdom, and discrimination/prejudice (or rather the ability to rise above it). So while in the Beastlands the animal petitioners learn from one another in preparation for their next lives, speaking about virtues and overcoming foolishness and prejudice.

I think this concept of the Beastlands holds it together a little tighter.

The other change I want to make is to have the 3 layers (with their perpetual unchanging light conditions) actually represent the Beastlands in different times of the day. For example, a party might venture thru a portal arriving near the a River Oceanus crossing. As they trek along the banks of the Oceanus they notice the river seems to get narrower (or delves underground, or disappears around a bend) so that by supper time they are surrounded by a heavy mist and there is no sign of the river. At the base of a mountain they pitch a tent. That night they notice the stars have an unusual constellation - no wait, it's a city perched high on the cliffside - Al Karak Elam of the winged elves. They turn in for the night. Next morning they awaken by the Oceanus' banks and where they saw the city is a ruin overgrown by roots of Yggdrasil pouring down the mountainside.

Anyhow, that's the feel I'm going for. Plus it makes more sense out of the Beastlands layers IMO. Having natural habitats stuck in one type of light just seems incoherent. Also my group is bad with names so if I can get rid of the names "Krigala, Brux, and Karasuthra" that's great.

And doing the layers as times of day presents it's own challenges - what if the PCs stay in Al Karak Elam all day, what happens? Does time rapidly catch up with them when they leave, so that, for example suddenly it's morning 2 days later when they depart? If there's a hard to reach site like the Forbidden Plataeu can the PCs just camp there and expect to appear in the Plataeu at night?

How do these two ideas strike you?

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