Planescape Supplements

''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as developed previously in the 1987 ''Manual of the Planes'' by Jeff Grubb. This includes many of the other ''Dungeons & Dragons'' worlds, linking them via inter-dimensional magical portals.

Publication history

Development

''Planescape'' is an expansion of ideas presented in the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (First Edition) and the original ''Manual of the Planes''. When ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition was published, a decision was made not to include angelic or demonic creatures, and so the cosmology was largely ignored. However, fan demand for a 2nd Edition ''Manual of the Planes'' was strong enough to justify its expansion into a full-fledged campaign setting, and so in 1994 Planescape was released.

David "Zeb" Cook developed Planescape when he was assigned to create "a complete campaign world (not just a place to visit), survivable by low-level characters, as compatible with the old ''Manual of the Planes'' as possible, filled with a feeling of vastness without overwhelming the referee, distinct from all other TSR campaigns, free of the words "demon" and "devil" and explainable to Marketing in 25 words or less". For inspiration, Cook listened to Pere Ubu, Philip Glass and ''Alexander Nevsky'', read '' The Dictionary of the Khazars'', ''Einstein's Dreams'', and ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'', and for fun at "Bad Movie Nights", watched such films as ''Naked Lunch'' and ''Wolf Devil Woman''.

Cook came up with the idea that everything would revolve around factions, and that those factions would be ideas taken to the extreme. He also felt that Sigil came about because it was natural, because the planes needed a crossroads, and that the campaign needs a center which could be both a place for adventure and a place to hide, where characters could get to and from it quickly. Cook decided to adapt the ''Manual of the Planes'' because the older material made survival on the planes too difficult or complex; he ignored anything that complicated gameplay, which left the "descriptions of twisted and strange creations".

Cook conceived of the look for the setting from images such as "the gloomy prisons of Piranesi's ''Le Carceri'' etchings, and Brian Froud's illustrations and surrealist art", and Dana Knutson was assigned to draw whatever Cook wanted. "Before any of us knew it, nutsondrew the Lady of Pain. I'm very fond of the Lady of Pain; she really locks up the Planescape look. We all liked her so much that she became our logo.

2nd edition

The ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' was released, for ''AD&D'' 2nd Edition, in April 1994. The campaign setting was followed by a series of expansions detailing the ''Planes of Chaos'' (by Wolfgang Baur and Lester W. Smith), the ''Planes of Law'' (by Colin McComb and Baur), and the ''Planes of Conflict'' (by McComb and Dale Donovan). From 1994 to 1998, "''Planescape'' was a major setting" for ''Dungeons & Dragons''.

The setting also had a small number of novels.

Later editions

Upon the release of 3rd Edition, Planescape, along with most other settings, were discontinued, although fan sites such as planewalker.com were allowed to continue to use the material and update it to the new edition. The 3rd Edition ''Manual of the Planes'' (2001), the 3.5 Edition ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (2003), and the ''Planar Handbook'' (2004) also used the general layout of the planes and some of the details from the setting, including Sigil, but these are not part of the Planescape line.

Sigil is described in the 4th edition ''Manual of the Planes'' (2008) and expanded upon in ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' (2009). Shannon Appelcline, author of ''Designers & Dragons'', commented that while Sigil "had been largely ignored during the 3e era", it "was faring better in 4e, despite the large-scale restructuring of D&D's cosmology" due to small inclusions in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (2008) and ''Manual of the Planes''. Appelcline highlighted that it was the 4th Edition ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' which "saw the return of the fan-favorite setting of Sigil" which "was laid out as a full paragon-level setting. There's not much new here for old-time fans of ''Planescape'', but there was one ''big'' change as a result of ''Faction War'' (1998). The factions that caused much of the conflict in ''Planescape'' are now gone. ..The ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' also contains 'A Conspiracy of Doors', the first Sigil adventure to see print in many years".

The 5th Edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2014) also contains a section explaining the planes and briefly mentions Sigil. There is also some information on Sigil in the 5th Edition ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (2014). In July 2022, ''Unearthed Arcana: Wonders of the Multiverse'' was released as part of the Unearthed Arcana public playtest series for the 5th Edition. Both ''Polygon'' and ''ComicBook.com'' highlighted that the new character race – the Glitchling – and other references to the Planescape setting might indicate a reboot of the setting for 5th Edition. Charlie Hall, for ''Polygon'', commented that "this wouldn’t be the first time that Wizards used playtest materials to tease a reboot of a classic setting". Christian Hoffer, for ''ComicBook.com'', stated that "while described as a collection of material from around the Multiverse, many ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fans noticed that it contained multiple references to Mechanus, Sigil, the Outlands, and other areas explored in the popular Planescape setting. ..Based on the last handful of public playtests, it appears that ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is gearing up for some sort of multiversal book in the near future. Whether this is a true Planescape re-launch or just a book that uses the D&D cosmology remains to be seen".

Reception

The ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' boxed set won the 1994 Origins Award (for ''Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement'') and has received critical acclaim for its unique visual aspects, especially the work of artists Tony DiTerlizzi, Robh Ruppel, and Dana Knutson. ''Pyramid'' magazine reviewer Scott Haring said ''Planescape'' is "the finest game world ever produced for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Period." Haring described the writing as "wonderful," also saying that it "has got one of the most distinctive graphic looks I've seen in any game product" and that the "unusual drawings remind ima little of Dr. Seuss