What are the best planescape adventures?

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Archibald's picture
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What are the best planescape adventures?

Hello!
I just finished the "Tales of the Infinite Staircase" adventure with my players. It was my first time playing a bought adventure, and I actually found it really better than the ones I write (and so did my players... :cry: ) So I'm really considerating getting another one on RPGnow. Which would you suggest? I'd like one that emphasize mostly on roleplaying (not battle) and suitable for low level characters.
(I'm speaking of good old 2nd ed Planescape of course, not any of that 3rd ed crap I'm boycotting)
Thanks!

Arytiss's picture
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What are the best planescape adventures?

Personally, I like Dead Gods. Faction Wars is nice to read, but a bit of a railroad. The Great Modron March is another good one but requres other stuff to fill in the gaps.

My favourite though, has to be "The Deva Spark". So many ethical issues give the players.

Jack of tears's picture
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re

'Archibald' wrote:
Hello! (I'm speaking of good old 2nd ed Planescape of course, not any of that 3rd ed crap I'm boycotting) Thanks!

Don't blame you, I've seen very little to entice me to make that jump to 3+ ... mind you, I'd altered 2nd edition quite a bit by the time 3rd came out, so had my own reasons to stick with the older version as well. (though, honestly, aside from feats and better skill choices - the latter of which many experienced gms had house ruled in anyway - nothing in 3E impressed me)

Quote:
I just finished the "Tales of the Infinite Staircase" adventure with my players. It was my first time playing a bought adventure, and I actually found it really better than the ones I write (and so did my players... :cry: )

The trick here is to learn what the pcs enjoyed so much and use that to improve your own adventure writing skills; original material is always preferable when done well.

Quote:
So I'm really considerating getting another one on RPGnow. Which would you suggest? I'd like one that emphasize mostly on roleplaying (not battle) and suitable for low level characters.

Well, one great thing about Planescape is you can often find ways to avoid a fight if you put your mind to it - a crafty cutter will always succeed better than some half-wit sword slinger. Really look at the skills your players have, and encourage them to look as well - virtually any skill can come into play on the Planes. (Have had encounters settled by Dance offs, Rhyming contests, Singing/Musical Instrument skills, and much much more ... most sentient creatures on the planes hold wit and cleverness in high regard. The last adventure I ran in the Astral had one PC bemoaning his lack of foresight in picking up the Philosophy skill, [almost had himself talked right out of existence] and all of them would have benefited from someone with a high skill in rope use - though not for reasons you might think)

Any published adventure can be altered to fit PS if done right ... after all, so much of the game involves plane hopping - just take a look at the combat based scenarios and ask yourself "what else might the pcs do here? Bargain with the monsters, bluff the bandits, out-think the brutes?" Unless dealing with barmies or brainless monsters it is typically my opinion that a PS adventure which sinks to quick combat has failed. (mind you, sometimes people can't be reasoned with, bribed, duped, etc ... but this should be the exception for a clever group, rather than the rule.) Take a long look and read over the monster write ups as well ... many of these can offer some fantastic adventure seeds. (Just reading the write-up on Elementals in the second(?) Planescape monster compendium gave me dozens of short adventure ideas)

Tell me, have you played the computer rpg "Planescape: Torment"? I had been gming more than 10 years and never managed an acceptible PS game, but once I played through this my eyes opened and everything fell into place.

(Note: I'm hyped up on pain killers at the moment, so if anything here fails to make sense, you'll have to excuse me)

Bob the Efreet's picture
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What are the best planescape adventures?

'Jack of tears' wrote:
all of them would have benefited from someone with a high skill in rope use - though not for reasons you might think

Ah. The city made entirely out of ropes on Arborea? I've always heard that if you're canny with knots you can make some rather interesting things happen there.

As for published adventures, I'm fond of Dead Gods, Harbinger House, and Squaring the Circle (the last of which is from the Hellbound boxed set, which gives a rather amazing view on the Lower Planes, in addition to having a couple adventures in it).

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