Planescape by Cutter
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Planescape By Cutter Welcome to Sigil, the City of Doors! The centre of the Planes and the local multiverse too. Sitting on the inside of a giant torus that itself floats above an infinitely tall mountain at the centre of the very plane of neutrality itself – the Concordant Domains of the Outlands. Here neutrality is enforced. Gods are barred from the city, and the Lady of Pain takes very aggressive steps to make sure nobody drags Sigil into the troubles outside. It is even a haven from the Blood War. Unfortunately, this means many, many criminals and troublemakers from outside land come here as a last resort. ‘Course, not everyone’s here of their own free choice. Sigil’s ridded in doors to other planes, and sometimes a local from outside falls in. What got them in Sigil rarely is what gets them out of Sigil, and they’re stuck here until they find a door back home. These planar doors all throughout Sigil would make it the most valuable place in the multiverse to hold. Master Sigil, you can master the Planes. But the Lady won’t let that happen. Piss her off and the best thing you can hope for is being locked in an extradimensional maze unable to die of age, hunger, or thirst. The unlucky ones get flayed alive in an instant. But on the bright side, you’ll see all kinds of things in Sigil. A devil and a demon (don’t call ‘em that, trust me) having friendly drinks in a bar. Angels in disguise buying weapons for god-knows-what purposes from a giant frog made of pure Chaos. And remember: When you see two things, look for the third. Here’s 1,000 Cage Points. You’ll be needing it. Origins One thing you should know about life out here on the planes is that magic isn’t quite as reliable as it in in one of the Primes. See, the magical nature of the planes themselves will wreak havoc upon magical spells, sometimes they fire off supercharged, sometimes they don’t work at all, and on some planes your fireball might just throw a large frog at your target. Worse, when a priest casts spells from his power, the spell is diminished based on how distant his current plane is from which plane his power resides on. Don’t go expecting caster supremacy to always hold true out here. Fighter: The fighter is a warrior, an expert in weapons and, if he is clever, tactics and strategy. Out on the Planes, most fighters are professional warriors. There’s no room for half-assing your fighting skills out where the fiends are just a short trip away. Out on the planes, you might have been a mercenary or a hired guard. Paladin: The paladin is a noble and heroic warrior, the symbol of all that is right and true in the world. As such, he has high ideals that he must maintain at all times. Paladins are an odd sight out here. The relentless cynicism of the Outer Planes typically ends in them being seen as holier-than-thou stick in the muds, when you aren’t bumping into some fiend who takes special exception with their vows. Ranger: The ranger is a hunter and woodsman who lives by not only his sword, but also his wits. Of course, here you get all kinds of strange and wild environments like nothing you’d expect on the Material Plane, and a good ranger learns familiarity with them or dies. Wizard: The wizard group encompasses all spellcasters working in the various fields of magic – both those who specialize in specific schools of magic and those who study a broad range of magical theories. Spending their lives in pursuit of arcane wisdom, wizards have little time for physical endeavours. They tend to be poor fighters with little knowledge of weaponry. However, they command powerful and dangerous energies with a few simple gestures, rare components, and mystical words. Unfortunately, when wizards from one of the Primes come to Sigil, they're often disappointed to find that out on the planes, a wizard's just another berk. No special treatment, no particular status - just another magic using cutter. On the Great Ring, even a nupperibo has magical powers, and more folk have magic resistance than not (or so it seems), so prime wizards can pike their haughty attitudes. Cleric: Your true faith in one of the powers, or possibly an idea you totally subscribe to, has been rewarded with divine spellcasting, and decent basic martial training to go spread that faith around. Of course, out on the planes that earns you lots of cautious tiptoeing – and even more potential enemies. For instance, fiends love to give a good-aligned cleric all kinds of grief. Travelling into the realms of an enemy power is just asking for trouble, and lots of it. Druid: The druid is a priest of nature and guardian of the wilderness, be it forest, plains, or jungle. They gain shapeshifting abilities and a deep connection to nature. They’re less common out on the planes, but see, the planes themselves are connected to everything in a deeper, more fundamental way than nature on one of the Primes. Planar druids can be a terrifying force of balance, preventing planar catastrophes from erupting and typically pick up powers and spells different from their Prime counterpart. Thief: Thieves are relentless criminals living off the fat of the land, yet they are not necessarily wicked. They pick up a very broad variety of skills out of necessity, making them a very versatile class. Being sneaky – knowing how to hide. and how to slip into the shadows – is never a useless skill when a body’s stomping grounds include the homes of creatures such as pit fiends, planetars, and slaadi. In fact, thieves are probably the most universally adaptable folk who make their way around the planes. Bard: Bards make their way through life through performance and music, every culture has its storyteller or poet, whether he is called bard, skald, fili, jongleur, or something else. Bards are dabblers and generalists who eventually will pick up certain wizard spells. Bards are usually welcome anywhere arts and entertainment are, and they especially are highly regarded on the Upper Planes since their skills represent art and clarity of mind. Races You know the drill. Pay 50 CP to change gender or leave it as before for free. Any race bought here becomes an altform post-jump. Humanoid – Free: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, or Gnome. The classic fantasy races. Elves are dextrous, dwarves are short and stocky, halflings are short and nimble, gnomes are short and skilled with illusions, and humans are vanilla. Aasimar – 100: The blood of celestials flows in the veins of the Aasimar. Aasimar have a mild magic resistance, a strong resistance to any form of magical compulsion, heat and cold, keen senses, 60 ft of darkvision, and are naturally slightly stronger and wiser than a normal human. Bauriar – 100: Natives of the Upper Planes, a Bauriar is like a centaur, but instead of horse they have the body of a goat and the horns of a ram. The species is strongly sexually dimorphic, with females lacking horns but gaining intelligence, while males are slightly tougher, stronger and faster than a normal man, able to land a devastating charge with their horns. Both sexes possess a keen sense of smell and hearing. Genasi – 200: Somewhere up your family tree is the blood of a denizen of the Elemental Planes. Just try not to think how a creature made of earth, water, air, or fire can sleep with a mortal. All Genasi get Darkvision (the ability to see even without any light at all, without colour, does not replace regular vision) out to 60 feet. If you’re an Air Genasi, you become faster, resistant to electrical attacks and air-based magic, can summon up strong gusts of wind, and no longer need to breathe. If you’re an Earth Genasi, you become tougher, resistant to acid and earth-based magic, can soften earth and stone, and have an intuitive grasp of masonry and stonework. If you’re a Fire Genasi, you become smarter, have resistance to fire and fire magic, can summon flames, and can heat yourself up enough to cause injury at a touch. Finally, if you’re a Water Genasi, you become tougher, resistant to cold and water magic, swim as fast as you can move on land, breathe water like you can air, and summon up thick clouds of fog. Githyanki/zerai – 200: Former slaves of the Mind Flayers, both Githyanki and Githzerai are of the same species, yet radically different beliefs originating from an ancient split emerging just after a successful slave rebellion, between the followers of Gith (Githyanki) who desired an Eternal Crusade against the Mind Flayers, and the followers of Zerthimon (Githzerai) who saw Gith as a tyrant and chose to reject warfare so they may know wisdom. The Githyanki live in fortresses hollowed out of the bodies of dead gods floating in the Astral Plane, while the Githzerai choose to live in the Ever- Changing Chaos of Limbo, where through sheer discipline and willpower form stable cities monasteries amidst the whirling elemental chaos. Both Githyanki and Githzerai are taller, yet thinner than an average human, have 60 feet of darkvision, possess the ability to cast plane shift at-will and are naturally mildly psychic. Additionally, as Gith grow stronger, they become increasingly resistant to magic.