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Sigil ( ) is a fictional
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and the center of the
Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by David Cook (game designer), Zeb Cook, and published by TSR, Inc., TSR in 1994. Description ''Planescape'' encompasses numerous Plane (Dun ...
campaign setting A campaign setting is a setting for a tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaign. Most campaign settings are fictional worlds; however, some are historical or contemporary real-world locations. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adve ...
, for the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
.


Publication history


Development

Sigil was originally created for
Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by David Cook (game designer), Zeb Cook, and published by TSR, Inc., TSR in 1994. Description ''Planescape'' encompasses numerous Plane (Dun ...
as the setting's "home base". According to
Steve Winter Steve Winter (born December 8, 1957) is an American game designer who worked on numerous products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, which was originally published by TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Early life Winter ...
in '' 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons'', "a movable base, like a vessel of some sort (or an artifact, which was the original idea for the means of traversing the planes) wouldn't do it. It had to be a place that characters could come home to when they needed to, and it had to be central to the nature of the setting". Sigil's fifteen
factions Faction or factionalism may refer to: * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * The Faction, an American punk rock band * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planescape'' * Faction (literatu ...
were created because "'' Vampire: The Masquerade'' was a particularly hot game at hetime and one of the ideas in it that we really liked was the clans. Jim Ward wanted to be sure that players had something to identify with and to give them a sense of belonging in this alien venue
igil The ''igil'' ( Tuvan: игил) is a two- stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. (It is called "ikili" in Western Mongolia.) The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The ...
.


''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition (1989–1999)

Sigil is first described in the ''
Planescape Campaign Setting The ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' is a boxed set for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. The set was designed by David Cook (game designer), David "Zeb" Cook and published in 1994. It introduced the Planescape setting and was ...
'' boxed set, released in 1994. It is also featured prominently in some later Planescape rulebooks, including ''In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil'' (1995), ''The Factol's Manifesto'' (1995), and '' Uncaged: Faces of Sigil'' (1996), as well as in many
adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...
, such as '' The Eternal Boundary'' (1994), '' Harbinger House'' (1995), and '' Faction War'' (1998).


''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3.5 edition (2003–2008)

A short description of Sigil appears in this edition's ''
Dungeon Master's Guide The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' co ...
'' (2003). Information on Sigil can also be found in various 3.0 and 3.5 sourcebooks, such as the ''Manual of the Planes'' and the '' Planar Handbook''. A small reference to Sigil also appears in the '' Epic Level Handbook'' aside other planar metropolis such as ''Tu'narath''.


''Dungeons & Dragons'' 4th edition (2008–2014)

Sigil is described in the 4th edition ''
Manual of the Planes The ''Manual of the Planes'' (abbreviated MoP) is a manual for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. This text addresses the planar cosmology of the game universe. The original book (for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st Edit ...
'' and expanded upon in ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2''. The City of Doors, unlike many planes, remains almost completely unchanged from earlier editions. 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".


''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition (2014–)

Sigil is briefly mentioned in Appendix C of the 5th edition's ''
Player's Handbook The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is the name given to one of the core rulebooks in every edition of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') ...
''. There is also some information on Sigil in ''
Dungeon Master's Guide The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' co ...
'' at the end of Chapter 2. A three-volume box set titled ''Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse'' was released in October 2023 for 5th Edition, which included information about using Sigil in 5th edition campaigns.


Reception

Scott Haring Scott D. Haring is an American game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Scott Haring began working in the adventure gaming industry in 1982. Haring had a long career with Steve Jackson Games, having worked at the compa ...
, in his review of the ''
Planescape Campaign Setting The ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' is a boxed set for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. The set was designed by David Cook (game designer), David "Zeb" Cook and published in 1994. It introduced the Planescape setting and was ...
'' for ''
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
'', described Sigil as "a strange city with doors to every plane and every reality, and inhabitants from all those planes and realities living together in (more or less) harmony". Trenton Webb of British RPG magazine ''Arcane'' calls the city "splendidly bizarre" and declares that "Sigil, The Lady of Pain's citadel, is an elegant gaming construct, yet it can often feel a little hollow", feeling that life in Sigil should be "a swirl of plots, factions and sedition that leaves players' heads spinning, wounds bleeding and experience points tally in overdrive". Sigil as depicted in ''Planescape: Torment'' was praised by
Evan Narcisse Evan Narcisse is an American comic book writer, journalist, and video game narrative designer. Narcisse began his working career as a journalist who has reported on video games for several media outlets, such as ''The Atlantic'', ''The New Yor ...
from ''Kotaku'' as one of the richest
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and fantasy worlds in video games. Ari David, for '' CBR'', commented that "Sigil is the ultimate inter-dimensional trading post, offering goods and transport not only to other planes but allows passage between the multitude of Material Planes that comprise ''D&D''s campaign settings". Daniel Colohan, also for ''CBR'', included Sigil in the "15 D&D Outer Planes That Would Make Great Campaign Settings" list — Colohan highlights that "the most notable location in the Outlands is Sigil, the City of Doors. ..The city of Sigil would be the ideal starting location for a campaign centered around the Outer Planes, as portals between each of the planes are commonplace. It could also provide a resting point between adventures, allowing the party to catch their breath between forays into ''D&Ds dangerous outer planes". Chroniclers of ''D&D'''s art Michael Witwer ''et al.'' counted the depictions of Sigil among Planescape's "haunting visual dreamscapes" and stated that the city as well as the character of the Lady of Pain "were burned permanently into the lexicon of Dungeons & Dragons."


In the game

Sigil is located above the tall ''Spire'' at the center of the
Outlands In the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', an Outer Plane is one of a number of general types of planes of existence. They can also be referred to as ''godly planes'', ''spiritual planes,'' or ''divine planes''. The Outer Planes a ...
. It has the shape of a
torus In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...
; the city itself is located on the inner surface of the ring. There is no sky, simply an all-pervasive light that waxes and wanes to create day and night. Sigil cannot be entered or exited save via portals; although this makes it quite safe from any would-be invader, it also makes it a prison of sorts for those not possessing a portal key. Thus, sometimes Sigil is called "The Cage". Though Sigil is pseudo-geographically located "at the center of the planes" (where it is positioned atop the infinitely tall Spire), scholars argue that this is impossible since the planes are
infinite Infinite may refer to: Mathematics *Infinite set, a set that is not a finite set *Infinity, an abstract concept describing something without any limit Music Performers *Infinite (group), a South Korean boy band *Infinite (rapper), Canadian ra ...
in all dimensions, and therefore there can never truly be a center to any or all of them; thus, Sigil is of no special importance. Curiously, from the Outlands one can see Sigil atop the supposedly infinite Spire. Sigil contains innumerable portals that can lead to anywhere in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' cosmology: any bounded opening (a doorway, an arch, a barrel hoop, a picture frame) could possibly be a portal to another plane, or to another point in Sigil itself. Thus, the city is a
paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...
: it touches all planes at once, yet ultimately belongs to none; from these characteristics it draws its other name: "The City of Doors". Sigil is ruled by the Lady of Pain. Sigil is also highly morphic, allowing its leader to alter the city at her whim. Theoretically, Sigil is a completely neutral ground: no wars are waged there and no armies pass through. Furthermore, no powers (such as deities) are allowed to enter the city (though some have broken this rule).


In other media

Sigil is also the setting for the 1999 video game '' Planescape: Torment'', in which the player is the immortal "Nameless One". The team chose to place the game around a central fixture of Planescape, the city of Sigil, and the game begins with the character waking up on a cold stone slab in the Mortuary of Sigil, with no idea of who he is, what he is doing there or how he died. In an interview with RPGWatch,
Chris Avellone Chris Avellone (/ˈævəloʊn/) is an American video game designer and comic book writer. He is known for his significant roles on a large number of video games, primarily role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRP ...
commented on the use of Sigil as the game's main setting: "We felt Sigil was the part of Planescape we really had to get right from the outset in case we made more games. It's the signature city, but... we did sacrifice other planar locations so that we could do it".


See also

*
Multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...
* Cynosure, a pan-dimensional city from the GrimJack comics *
M'Kraan Crystal The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...
, a nexus of realities in the Marvel Universe


References

* Slavicsek, Bill. ''
Doors to the Unknown ''Doors to the Unknown'' is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Doors to the Unknown'' is a short adventure campaign involving four 'blink portals' whic ...
''. * Cordell, Bruce, and Miller, Steve. ''
Die Vecna Die! ''Die Vecna Die!'' is an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ''(AD&D 2nd edition) module released in 2000 ...
'' (TSR, Inc., 2000). * Denning, Troy. ''Pages of Pain'' (TSR, Inc., 1997). * Cordell, Bruce and Kestrel, Gwendolyn. '' Planar Handbook'' (WoTC, 2004). * ''Torment'' (October 1999), by Ray Vallese and Valerie Vallese (). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigil (Dungeons and Dragons) Dungeons & Dragons populated places Fictional city-states Fictional elements introduced in 1994 Planescape