Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
Desire and the Dead
Quit rattling ya bone-boxes and hark to this. Dark of it is the dusties are looking to hire a group of hardy bashers to head into the Grey District and solve some problems - and they're willin' to pay good jink to keep the 'ardheads outta it. So what say ya? Surely some bloods and jinkbashers here willing to trade blades for a good cause?
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Standard Game Information Thing Information System: Pathfinder Setting: Planescape Player Count: Five (though I can run as low as four or as high as six) Style of Play: Investigative, Roleplay
Character Creation Sources: Anything Here (see 'Additional Options' below too!) Level: Level 3 Hit Dice: Maximum per Level Starting Gold: 3,000 gp Ability Scores: Standard (4d6 and discard the lowest) or Point Buy (20 points) Traits: Each character may choose up to two Traits (found here). Alignment: LG, NG, CG, LN, N* *I'm willing to be flexible here if you can convince me why
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Additional Character Options Planescape offers some unique additions to the usual character creation process. FOr the most part this boils down to two big choices; 'are you a Prime or a Planer' and 'Which faction do you belong to'.
Primes vs Planers Put simply this is the Plane of Existence your character was born upon. Your standard D&D campaigns take place on the Prime Material Plane - a plane composed of equal measures of all elements and alignments created in harmony with one another. It's why the sky is made of air and the ground made of rock rather then both being made of say fire. Unfortunately Primes are considered somewhat backwater as far as the grand design is considered; most never leave their home plane (indeed extraplaner travel is a feat reserved for powerful spellcasters in such places) and have little idea about what exactly makes the multiverse tick.
On the other hand planers are usually born out in one of the seventeen outer planes that form the Great Wheel or within the City of Sigil itself. Planers tend to consider themselves more worldly then their prime material kin (often without any real backing for such claims) as they are more readily able to travel the length and breath of the multiverse and experience its splendor.
Mechanically this choice has little impact on play; almost all races and classes can be found on both the Prime Material and out on the Outer Planes. It does help to keep it in mind when coming up with a character concept however.
Factions - Philosophers with Clubs Belief is a integral part of the Planescape campaign - the Outer Planes are the dwelling place of the Powers after all. A single powerful mind can shape the world around him and an entire group working together for a single belief can shape entire realities. The most powerful of these groups are the Faction of Sigil - fifteen groups who have come to command vast amounts of power within the Cage and the Outer Planes in their quests for philosophical enlightenment. Suffice to say their is very little that goes on with the City of Sigil that some faction or another isn't directly behind. Every player will have the option of belonging to a faction at the start of play.
For those of you having trouble picturing all this think of Ravnica with it's guilds unified by belief and purpose controlling vast swaths of the cities infrastructure and power bases. Pretty much the same thing (to the point I wonder who came up with the idea first).
Every player will be expected to join up with a Faction during character creation. Only Primes can get away without doing so; a planer who shuns the Factions will be pitied at best and mistrusted at worst. More information about the Factions can be found in the following posts.
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A Few Final Odds and Ends The Setting Planescape and the city of Sigil are pretty well-established settings and while I'd like to leave enough for even the most jaded of Sensates to find something new seems a tad unfair to throw you into a setting blind (unless your a Prime that is). In the following posts there will be some more detailed information about the setting, the city and the various nuts and bolts that make it work. Feel free to read as much or as little as your want.
Background I don't need an essay or anything here but honestly the more you want to put into it the better. I at least want to know how you've come to be traveling the planes if your not a native (or even if you are) and have at least some basic guiding principles for your character. Why do they fight? Why do they travel? What do they want form this world?
Posting Frequency While outside of combat I ask only that you post as often as you feel is needed - don't feel pressured to make a random post just because you haven't said anything in a little while. If you feel such need well that is what we have an OoC thread for. Once combat begins I will become a little more stringent with the posting frequency if only for the sake of the group not sitting around waiting. Ideally I would like people to be able to post once every 24 hours but would be willing to go up to 48 hours under normal circumstance.
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_________________
Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Last edited by Garren_Windspear on Sat May 17, 2014 5:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
Sigil, City of Doors
Sigil is a unique place in the multiverse. Floating atop an infinitely tall spire at the center of the Outlands Sigil is seen by most Planers (particularly it's locals) as sitting at the very center of all reality. It's not an argument that is entire without merit either - they call it the City of Doors for a reason after all. Through the city there are an unknown number of portals - rifts in the very fabric of reality - that anchor themselves onto doors, arches, windows, sewer entrances, even wardrobes and chests can hold a portal - pretty much anything a cutter can step through might be a portal. Now through these portals the entire multiverse can be accessed; whether you want to head out to the Prime Material Plane, take a swim though he Elemental Plane of Water or, if your entirely barmy, take a stride through the Abyss it's guaranteed that somewhere in Sigil there's a portal to take you there.
Of course that isn't saying the portals are well known or readily available. Each portal needs a corresponding key to activate and we're not just taking bits of bent metal here. Old rags, a jaunty hat, a particular walk or even a certain thought can all open portals - people tend to be very careful when entering a new place for the first time on the off-chance they end up walking straight into Baator. Of course the most well-known and useful portals are usually controlled by some faction or another who charge for it's use and while a blood might know more then his fair share of the secret portals nothing like a map or guide exists - partially 'cause the portals often only have a limited lifespan and partially 'cause the Lady don't like people trying to map them out. Oh remember the Lady. We'll be coming back to her.
Now you may be asking; why deal with all these portals anyway? Can't I just walk through a front door? Well no. Ya see that's where Sigil get's its other name from; The Cage. Outside of the portal networks there ain't no easy way into the city - or indeed out of it. More then a few unsuspecting primes have fell through a hole on their own world and found themselves stuck for years in Sigil. Even the most powerful of spell casters can't get a gate or ethereal travel or any of those tricks to work towards entering the cage on a whim. Even the Powers, for all their might, can't enter the cage unless allowed entry by Her Serenity - and she doesn't let any power enter. So yeah it doesn't matter if your a king or a pauper your stuck using the portals like everyone else.
The Lay of the City Describing the layout of the city is something of a challenge. Best way to think of it is to think of a tire - no hubcap or wheel - lying on its side. Sigil would be built on the inside of the tire. All the streets and buildings would fill the curved interior. Meanwhile on the outside there's nothing. Of course this means that, no matter where a cutter stands, if he looks up he's going to see buildings overhead. Most of the time he'll be looking across the center of the ring, so he'll see a broad panorama of the city in the distance (unless it's obscured by fog, smoke or rain of course). Most locals get used to having the gray arc constantly hovering over them; in fact, the open sky of a normal world sometimes unnerves them. Another important thing to remember is the city's curved in the opposite way to most normal worlds. Looking down a long avenue it'll look like the street is rising in front of a body - and since it curves in front, sides and behind him it might feel like he's standing at he bottom of a bowl looking up. Of course the city flamin' big, though, and it's crowded with buildings, people and smog. Line of sight is rarely more then a few hundred feet unless your looking straight up.
The Wards It's easy for an outsider to get the idea that Sigil's just a scramble of places without any rhyme or reason to where they are. After all, architecture doesn't make sense, streets are laid out in every direction, and there's not even an uptown, downtown, edge of town or city center to guide a body. Natives of Sigil know, though, that there's different parts of town, that the city's divided into wards. Now the wards aren't official. There's no map in the Hall of Records showing where one ends and one begins. Everybody sort of knows where the boundaries meet yet depending on where he stands a cutter could ask two folks what ward he's in and get two different answers. The Wards of Sigil are;
The Lady's Ward: The richest and most powerful of the wards contains the City Barracks, the Court, the Prison and the Armoury - things that make for real money and power. Anyone with wealth or clout in the city dwells in The Lady's Ward; over half of the temples in Sigil are found here. The ward is the quietest and most orderly of the wards though it's often very cold and lifeless.
The Lower Ward: The crafting heart of the city the Lower Ward is home to the Great Foundry and all manner or lesser laboratories, furnaces, and craft halls; the Lower Ward is the source of the foul industrial smog which clogs the city from time to time. Those who spend too much time here find themselves stained by the foul brownish-yellow smog which hangs over the place leaving their skin yellowed, their eyes dark and sunken and their hair pale.
The Hive Ward: Home of the poorest and most downtrodden of Sigil the Hive Ward is a mess of an urban sprawl. Life is cheaper than the cost of a cutter's next meal. Honest work is scarce so people live by what means they can. For most this means stealing or signing on for dangerous jobs no sane basher would touch. You want bodies for a riot, a company of ill-trained fighters or an assassin willing to do any job then the Hive is where you will find them.
The Clerk's Ward: The Lady's Ward may be the most powerful and prestigious of the wards but it is the Clerk's Ward that keeps the city running. It's the domain of bureaucrats, scribes, sages and scholars. The Hall of Speakers and Hall of Records are both found here. It's a quiet secure ward worlds away from the two-faced scandal of The Lady's Ward or the violence of the Hive Ward.
The Guildhall and Market Wards: The two smallest wards are often hard to tell apart even to locals but they serve a vital role in the city's survival. These are wards of mercers, greengrocers, provisioners, rug sellers, tinkers and peddlers. It is here a cutter can buy anything he needs for life inside or outside the city.
Day and Night There's a day and night in Sigil but it isn't caused by a sun. Instead, the sky gradually fills with luminescence until it reaches a peak and begins to fade. There's both bright daylight and deep darkness but most of Sigil's day is a half-light, the gloom of twilight, rich with shadows and haze. Things sensitive to sunlight can get around without problem for all but the brightest six hours every day (the three before and after peak). Sigil doesn't have a moon or stars, so things dependent on them, such as certain types of shapechanging, don't happen in Sigil. The Cage's without stars but that doesn't mean there's no light overhead. Remember, the city's always overhead so even in the darkest hours there will be the sharp lights of far distant lanterns.
Weather Rain and smog - that pretty much says everything about Sigil's weather. The city's sky is mostly a greasy-looking haze from the smoke and fumes that belch from a thousand chimneys. Where it rains - which it does a lot - the rainwater's got a brownish tinge from all the crud that's scrubbed from the sky. When it's not raining there's an equally good chance that a thick, foglike smog has settled over the city. Visibility can be as bad as only five feet in the worst of these, though most times a cutter can see 10 yards through the haze. When it's not drizzling brown water or swaddled in fog Sigil can be a pretty pleasant place. The temperature tends to be cool (chilly when raining) and light breezes blow away the stagnant odor that normally hangs in the air. Still no cutter ever comes to Sigil for the climate.
The Lady of Pain The high-up man in Sigil, the one who ultimately watches over the Cage, is the Lady of Pain. She's not a woman and she's not a human - nobodies quite sure what she is. Best guess is she's a power, probably greater power, but there's also a rumour she's a reformed tanar'ri lord, if such a thing is possible. Whatever else she is, she's the Lady of Pain, and given that, most other facts are extraneous. For the most part the Lady keeps distant from the squalid hurly-burly of the Cage. She doesn't have a house, palace or temple. Nobody worships her, and with good reason; those that say prayers to her name get found with their skins flayed off - a big discouragement to others. Sometimes she's seen drifting through the streets, the edge of her gown just brushing over the cobblestones. She never speaks. Those who try interfering with her erupt in horrid gashes at just the touch of her gaze. Wise bloods find business elsewhere on those rare times she passes down the way. Eventually, her image fades and she vanishes into nothingness. Natives of Sigil view her in fearful awe, as she the uncaring protector of their home.
The Dabus The Dabus are both servants and lords in Sigil. They're unique to the Cage, never found anywhere else, and from this many cutters assume they are manifestations of the city itself - which makes sense since the beings maintain most of the infrastructure that makes the city work. Most of the time the Dabus are found repairing what's broken in Sigil. They keep the sewers and catacombs beneath the city from crumbling, they cut back the razorvine when it grows too rampant, they patch the cobblestone streets and they repair the crumbling facades of the city's buildings. To most the Dabus are nothing but cryptic workmen.
However, some berks discovered another side of the Dabus, because Dabus also work as agents for the Lady of Pain. Sometimes they appear to put down Knights who've gotten too forward in their plans, sometimes they arrive in force to put down riots. But they're not concerned with regular crime; they only show up when there's a threat to their Lady and that's usually a sign things are about to go south.
_________________
Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Last edited by Garren_Windspear on Sat May 17, 2014 5:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
The Factions
What is a Faction Race and class don't make a whole person on the planes. A bodies got to have a philosophy, a vision of the multiverse, and what it all means. Sure, a fellow can get along without it but how's he ever going to make sense of the whole thing and find his own "center of the multiverse"? How's he going to know his friends from his enemies in places where what he stands for can mean everything? A body's got to have a place to stand in order to see the majesty of the whole thing. On the streets of Sigil and beyond, philosophies are more than just ideas. They're groups - factions with leaders, goals, powers and attitudes. Every faction has its own way of seeing the multiverse and has his own powers to match. Some of them get along, others don't, and some could care less about the rest of the multiverse.
Why join a Faction Belief shapes the multiverse and the believes of many can reshape reality. The Factions serve as bastions of like-minded individuals willing to work together to make sense of and discover the truth of the multiverse. There is power in number and the members of a faction stick together and support one another in times of hardship (mostly anyway). Within the City of Doors the Factions hold near unmatched power and as a member of that faction you too can claim some of those rewards. Below is a list of common benefits for joining a faction;
Information and Contacts: Cutters from all walks of life can make up a factions members and it's a safe bet that whatever you need to know someone will have that information. Of course information isn't free but it is always useful to have a list of contacts you can call upon in times of trouble.
Goods and Services: Many Factions maintain massive stockpiles of gear and equipment that may come in useful down the line. While the exact nature of these goods depends on the individual Faction many members will be able to acquire such equipment - either permanently or temporarily - and often at a discount. In addition all manner of spellcasters, craftsmen and sages can be found beneath a factions banner and will be more than willing to provide services for a like-minded fellow - for compensation of course.
Food and Lodgings: Each faction maintains doss house through the Cage that can be used free of charge by members of the faction in times of need. The exact quality varies from faction to faction - the Bleakers have little more than warm soup and blankets while the Sensates may provide all manner of exotic delicacies - but one thing remains common among them all - they are not charities. Anyone expecting more than a few days shelter will be expected to cough up some coin or work for his supper.
Work: It reflects poorly on a faction to have it's members out of work for extended periods of time. If you ever find yourself with a job most factions will be willing to throw some task or another your way to get you back on your feet though it's rarely anything glamorous - stitching corpses for the dusties or backing up a 'ardhead patrol are about the best you can hope for, unless of course your reputation catches the attention of a higher up.
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Faction Layout Names: The Faction official name and any alternate of slang names it has acquired. Philosophy: A overview of the factions philosophical leanings. Primary Plane of Influence: The Plane the Faction holds power on and it's headquarters in Sigil. Role Within Sigil: What role the faction serves within the city. Eligibility: Any special requirements one must meet to join the faction. Allies and Enemies: The factions traditional allies and enemies. Abilities: Abilities, skills and restrictions a member of the faction must adhere to.
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The Athar
Names Defiers, The Lost
Philosophy According to these folks, the great and feared powers are liars! Those who claim to be the “gods” of the planes are just mortals like us. Yeah, they’re unbelievably powerful, but they’re not gods. After all, they can die, they’ve got to keep their followers happy, and they often feud among themselves like children. Thor, Zeus, and the others - they’re all imposters.
Sure, there might be a true god, or maybe even more than one, but such power is beyond all understanding. Such beings cannot be seen, spoken to, or understood by mortals. What’s the proof? Look at the spells and granted powers of priests. Where do these abilities really come from? Why, it must be from the unknowable, from the true god that is behind everything, and the powers are nothing but channels for its will. Foolish mortals believe the powers are the source of all majesty, and why would the powers do anything to correct that mistake?
Ysgard, Mechanus, Baator, and the like are all lies too. These planes aren’t the abodes of supreme beings, just lands shaped by the wills of the powers. Anyone could do it with enough expertise. All the sweat and worry of petitioners ain’t just for oneness with their plane - it’s for a greater reward, if there’s any at all. Proxies are merely magical or bio-magical transformations, the result of natural planar magic.
‘Course, the Athar ain’t stupid. “Let the powers call themselves gods,” they say. “It ain’t worth the laugh, because there is no point in upsetting the powers.” With all that might, an angry power’d be a dangerous enemy. All the Athar want is to part the veil, discover the secret behind everything, and look on the face of the unknowable.
Primary Plane of Influence The Astral, where the Athar point to the bodies of the dying powers as proof of their beliefs. The Athar headquarters in Sigil is the Shattered Temple, a place once dedicated to the now dead and forgotten god Aoskar.
Role Within Sigil The Athar's role in Sigil in unofficial but, in their minds, vital for the city's survival. They take it upon themselves to ensure that the streets are kept free of preachers and that religious powers remain weak. While this may not seem particularly important remember that Sigil is the hub of the multiverse - the priests of ten thousand gods ply their trade on the same streets walked by both angels and devils. Sigil is a religious power keg and the Athar ensure no-one becomes strong enough to light that fuse.
Allies and Enemies The Athar share a belief in the nature of the divine with the Godsmen and the two factions often work together. They also possess some common ground with both the Free League and Revolutionary League though any agreement with these groups is short-lived at best.
The Harmonium view the Athar as little more then a splinter of the Revolutionary League and have held a grudge against the Lost stretching back to their very founding. The Fated also work against the Athar as they seek to undermine the unquestioning worship of an individual that the Fated find so appealing. The Athar's true enemies however are the powers themselves and many a god has sent agents into Sigil hoping to bring about their downfall.
Eligibility Divine casters who venerate a specific deity can not be members of the Athar.
Abilities Skills: Defiers have a +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks and may always make Knowledge (Religion) checks untrained. A Defier always treats Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Knowledge (Religion) as class skills.
Divine Disavowal: Defiers gain spell resistance equal to 10 + 1/2 their character level + their Wisdom modifier against certain faith-based spells when cast by servants of a power: Augury, Bane, Banishment, Bestow Curse, Blasphemy, Dictum, Dismissal, Divination, Doom, Enthrall, Geas/Quest, Holy Word, Lesser Geas, and Word of Chaos.
Divine Ban: The Lost pay a price for their defiance: Clerics, paladins, and other followers of specific deities may not aid known faction members with spells or other uses of divine power, particularly healing. Only extreme situations might lead a follower to violate this ban. ‘Course, no Defier blood would accept this aid anyhow.
Believers of the Source
Names Godsmen
Philosophy To these characters, all things are godly. All things can ascend to greater glory - if not in this life, then in the next. Patience, that’s all it takes. See, here’s the chant: Everything - primes, planars, petitioners, proxies, the whole lot - is being tested. Survive, succeed, and ascend - that’s the goal of all beings. Fail and get reincarnated to try again. It’s pretty simple and straight forward.
‘Course, it ain’t that easy, either. First off, nobody really knows what the tests are. Is a body supposed to be good, evil, or what? Godsmen are trying to figure that out. Second, a fellow just might go in reverse - mess up and come back as a prime or something worse in the next life. It could even be that those who do really badly return as fiends. Finally, there’s one last step nobody even understands. Getting to be a power ain’t the end of the cycle. There’s something beyond that, something that powers, themselves, eventually ascend to. Cross that threshold to the ultimate form and get released from the multiverse forever.
Now, there’s a fixed number of beings out there, and sooner or later we’re going to run out, when everybody’s ascended. A lot of the worlds on the so-called “infinite” Prime Material Plane are already pretty thinly populated. When a prime ascends to the next level, then there’s one less prime in all the multiverse - unless, of course, a planar somewhere fails and falls back a rank. But sooner or later, everybody’s going to attain the ultimate goal, the final ascension, and when that happens the multiverse ends - closes up shop, fades right out of existence.
So you see, the Godsmen calculate that’s the whole purpose of the multiverse. The Prime Material, the Inner, and the Outer Planes - they exist to test and purge. It’s just a matter of figuring what’s being tested and how. When that happens, the Godsmen can hasten the end of the universe and get on with some new existence.
Primary Plane of Influence The Ethereal. The demiplanes of the Ethereal, formed by powerful wizards and the like, are evidence to the Godsmen that their philosophy is correct. In Sigil, the Godsmen maintain their headquarters at the Great Foundry, the symbolic forge of the planes.
Role Within Sigil From the Great Foundry the Godsmen take it upon themselves to be the peace keepers of Sigil. After all, everyone could become divine, and it would be a shame to put a potential power in the dead-books before it reaches it's destiny. They consider it to be their sacred duty to keep the peace between warring faiths (and they'll use swords to do it if they must). At least until a sod proves to a Godsman that he's no power in the making, he can expect a fair shake from the Believers.
Allies and Enemies Both the Godsmen and the Athar share a belief in the transitory nature of divinity and are often allies. Likewise, the godsmans belief in the ultimate end of the universe sits well with the Doomguard although any alliance between the two is temporary.
Both the Bleak Cabal and the Dustmen take exception to the Believers philosophy and they are considered enemies of the Godsmans cause.
Eligibility The Believers are open to all races, classes and alignments.
Abilities Skills: Godsmen have a +2 competence bonus on all Craft checks. A Godsman always treats Diplomacy and Sense Motive as class skills.
Reputation: The Godsmen belief that everyone can achieve godhood generally translates into fair treatment of all they encounter. This reputation for a consistent lack of prejudice makes them well-received throughout the Great Ring. They gain a +2 circumstance bonus to all Charisma-based checks with sentient planar beings (Intelligence 3 or better).
Climbing the Chain: Godsmen can’t be resurrected or raised. Every time any Godsman dies, they are automatically reincarnated as a PC race (chosen by the GM based upon the Godsman’s previous actions).
Lack of Faith: Godsmen who venerate a specific deity (as opposed to the Source) suffer from lack of ultimate faith. After all, they know a power ain’t anything special – just some basher who occupies the next-to-last rung on the ladder of evolution. This problem of faith results in -2 penalties to save DCs for any divine spells or spell-like abilities they cast.
The Bleak Cabal
Names Bleakers, The Cabal, Madmen
Philosophy “There’s no meaning to it all,” say the members of this faction, “so just give it up, poor sod. Whoever said reality had to make sense?” To these folks, the multiverse ain’t even a cruel joke, because that would give it all meaning. Look at all those fools in their factions, running around, trying to discover the meaning of something that’s senseless. They’ll waste their lives at it. And they call the Bleak Cabal mad - hah!
Here’s the Bleaker credo: “The multiverse doesn’t make sense, and it ain’t supposed to.” That’s all there is to it, pure and simple. It ain’t “The mutliverse is without meaning,” because that answer’s a meaning in itself.
Look, the primes, petitioners, proxies, even the powers that don’t have The Answer. Nobody is here for some higher purpose. Things just are, and whatever meaning there is in the multiverse is what each being imagines into the void. The sad part to the Cabal is that so many others refuse to see this. Looking for the “truth,” these people don’t see it. Once a sod understands that it all means nothing, everything else starts to make sense. That’s why some folks go insane - from hunting for that snipe that ain’t there. ‘Course, some folks just can’t handle the truth. They’re the ones that howl and rage, gibber in the corners, and plead with the powers, as if that would help them. Well, too bad for them. Bleakers know the hard truth, and if other folks can’t deal with that, it’s no concern of theirs.
For someone to join the Cabal, he or she (or it) has got to do three things: quit looking for meanings, accept what happens, and look inward. There’s no meaning on the outside, so the question is, “Is there any meaning inside?”
Primary Plane of Influence Pademonium. This plane, the Howling Land, owes its existence to no one and no thing. Its passages rage with the screaming winds of madness, an apt home for the Bleak Cabal. In Sigil, the Cabal maintains its headquarters at the Gatehouse, the asylum before the Hive.
Role Within Sigil For a group with such a miserable outlook on life the Bleakers are the most charitable faction in Sigil. These cutters have taken it upon themselves to run the almshouse for the sick and insane. Not that it's a great place - the Bleakers have some pretty strange ideas about treatment - but at least a sod can get a hot meal and a bed from them.
Allies and Enemies The Cabal isn't a group most other view neutrally. The Doomguard, Dustmen, Revolutionary League and Xaositects all view the Bleakers sympathetically even if they do not agree with their outlook. The Fraternity of Order, Harmonium and Mercykillers all have difficulty accepting the Cabal's nihilistic point of view and so much be counted among their enemies.
Eligibility By their nature lawful characters can't accept the Cabal's basic premise - that life exists without meaning - for without meaning there's no order.
[u]Abilities[/u] Skills: Bleakers have a +2 competence bonus on Heal checks. A bleaker always treats Diplomacy and Heal as class skills.
Already Mad: Already considered mad by most standards, devotees of the Bleak Cabal gain Spell Resistance equal to 10 + 1/2 their character level (minimum +1) + their Wisdom modifier against spells causing madness or insanity, including Confusion, Feeblemind, Hideous Laughter, Irresistible Dance, and Lesser Confusion.
Melancholia: Bleakers are subject to fits of deep melancholia as they reflect on the pointlessness of life. At the start of each game day, the player rolls 1d20. On a roll of 1, the character is overcome by the futility of his or her own beliefs. The basher won’t do anything unless philosophically convinced by another that it’s worthwhile. Note that a monster eating another party member is not sufficient justification. (To the Bleaker, the poor sod’s life or death is pointless anyway.)
Shortened Lifespan: Even if a Bleaker keeps making his daily d20 roll and never goes insane, he still faces a greater drawback to belonging to the faction. All members of the Bleak Cabal suffer from a shortened life span, as years of living with madness and melancholia eventually take their toll. ‘Course, many faction members see this as not a curse, but a blessing. Think about it – who’d want to live long in a multiverse that didn’t make sense?
Doomguard
Names Sinkers
Philosophy Ever hear of entropy, berk? Take a look around: Everything’s going down the tubes, falling apart, stopping. People die, rocks erode, stars fade, planes melt away. That’s entropy, the fate of the multiverse. A lot of folks think that’s a terrible thing, but not the Doomguard. They’re pretty sure nothing lasts forever, not even the planes. It’s the way things are supposed to be, they guess, the goal of everything. Sooner or later, the last bits of the multiverse’ll decay, and then there’ll be nothing left - think of it as an existence’s ultimate release from toil and pain.
Now, the sods who try to fix things - stop the decay and put everything back together - they’ve got it all wrong. They’re fighting the natural goal of the multiverse, trying to do something unnatural. That ain’t right.
So look, the Doomguard’s here to see that the multiverse gets its way. Things are supposed to crumble, and it’s the Doomguard’s job to keep the meddlers from messing it up too much. What right do mortals have to deny the natural existence of things? And somebody’s got to watch the proxies and the powers, to make sure they don’t meddle with the process. Can’t have the powers restoring things or ending them too fast, you know.
Don’t get this faction wrong. It’s not like somebody builds a house and they tear it down. That building’s part of the whole decay: The stonecutter chips the rock, the logger cuts the tree, and later the termites chew the beams until the whole case comes down on its own. There’s a long view to this. The sod who can’t see the grand scheme’ll go so barmy trying to tear down everything that gets built. So, everything’s got a part in this. The primes slowly eat away their worlds, and planars do the same. Look at petitioners - entropy reaches perfection when they fade away. It’ll all happen in time.
Primary Plane of Influence The Doomguard maintains one great citadel on each negative quasiplane: Ash, Vacuum, Salt, and Dust. The Negative Energy Plane represents the Doomguard’s idea of the ultimate fate of the multiverse, so the Doomguard’s citadels are built as close to the plane as practicality allows. In Sigil, their headquarters is in the city’s main armory.
Role Within Sigil The Sinkers control the City Armoury, and with good reason; as far as they can see, there's no better symbol of decay then weapons of destruction and death. It makes sense, too, because they're also keeping the tools of order out of the hands of their rivals the Harmonium. 'Course no other factions going to let these bloods police the city anyway - a gang devoted to entropy ain't exactly going to promote law and order.
Allies and Enemies Both the Bleak Cabal and the Dustmen find the entropic visions of the Doomguard well suited to their own philosophies, although the Cabal sneers at the idea that entropy is the “goal” of the multiverse. The Godsmen agree with the idea that the multiverse is fated to end, but they can’t accept the idea that destruction is the purpose in itself. The Fraternity of Order and the Harmonium reject the Doomguard’s philosophies wholesale.
Eligibility The Doomguard are open to all races, classes and alignments.
Abilities Skills: Sinkers have a +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (Engineering) checks and may always make Knowledge (Engineering) checks untrained. A Sinker always treats Disable Device and Knowledge (Engineering) as class skills.
Sword Training: Sinkers can choose any one weapon from the following list and gain the appropriate Martial Weapon Proficiency feat: Bastard Sword, Falchion, Greatsword, Longsword, Rapier, Scimitar, Short Sword. If the Sinker is already proficient in the chosen weapon, they instead gain the Weapon Focus feat for the weapon. In either case, the Sinker gains a +1 competence bonus to hit with the chosen weapon.
Sift: Faction members find themselves with more than just fighting skills. Any Sinker can sift through destroyed material and gain a psychic impression of what caused the destruction. He just picks up some broken rubble, charred wood, ground dust, or whatever. He then lets the material filter through his fingers while he spends 1 minute in quiet meditation. Sinkers of 1st through 5th level can read the cause of destruction only if it happened in the last 10 years. Sinkers of 6th through 10th level can go back 500 years. And Sinkers of 11th level or higher can read as far back as 1,000 years.
Healing Resistance: Sinkers gain spell resistance equal to 10 + 1/2 their character level + their Wisdom modifier against any kind of healing magic. They cannot voluntarily lower this resistance.
The Dustmen
Names The Dead, Dusties
Philosophy These guys say Life’s a joke, a great trick. Nobody’s alive; in fact, there’s no such thing as Life. Sure, the petitioners are dead compared to the rest of us, but everybody else is dead, too - they just don’t know it yet. So what’s the chant? Simple: “All these worlds and all these universes are just shadows of another existence.” This multiverse - the Prime Material, the Inner, and the Outer Planes - is where beings wind up after they die.
Look, if things were truly alive, would there be such pain and misery in the multiverse? ‘Course not! Life is supposed to be about celebration and positive feelings. Existence here is muted, dull, full of pain, and twisted with sorrow. What kind of celebration is that? This existence is a mockery of true life.
Fact is, everybody is dead - primes, planars, proxies, petitioners, all of them - it’s just that some are more dead than others. Primes are just started on the path, planars are a little further along, and petitioners, well, they’re almost to the end. They’ve attained purity in this world - purged themselves of all passions and senses. The goal’s not to merge with the planes like the petitioners think; it’s to purify the self, to become one of the true dead.
This is important: In order to appreciate Death in proper Dustmen fashion, a sod has got to explore his so-called “life” to its fullest and understand his present state of existence with all its trials before moving up the ladder of Truth. The berk who gets restless and rushes things dies a fool, and he’ll probably be forced to go through the whole thing all over again - that’s a real waste of time! Here’s the chant: Respect Death, and don’t ever treat it like a servant.
Primary Plane of Influence The Negative Energy Plane. Through great effort, the Dustmen maintain a citadel in the inhospitable darkness of that plane. In Sigil, their headquarters is the Mortuary, the place where the bodies of all who die in the city are sent.
Role Within Sigil The Dead have a job that suits them well, and one that nobody else is keen on anyway. In the Mortuary, they're the ones who dispose of Sigil's deceased. The Cage doesn't have space for graveyards or crypts, so the bodies of her citizens get dispatched to other planes. These portals lead directly to mortuaries and other places of death on each plane, and those on the other side are expecting nothing but dead bodies to come through, so those cutters who somehow manage to sneak through any of these doors are in for a nasty bit when they pass through. The Dustmen handle all this work, and for the most part nobody minds. Then again, there's always the suspicion that the faction's keeping a few back and reviving them for its own purposes...
Allies and Enemies The Dustmen’s views tend to provoke strong reactions. The Bleak Cabal favor their grim viewpoint, as do the Doomguard. The Fated find certain common ground in the deterministic views of most Dustmen, too. On the other side, the Dead’s fatalistic rejection of life runs counter to the teachings of the Sign of One. Of all the factions, the Society of Sensation is the most opposed to the Dustmen’s teachings. Furthermore, most primes have a great deal of difficulty dealing with Dustmen, for a Dustman’s views on life and death are too extreme.
Eligibility All races, classes, and alignments are welcome to become members of the Dustmen.
Abilities Skills: Dustmen have a +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (Religion) checks and may always make Knowledge (Religion) checks untrained. A Dustman always treats Heal and Knowledge (Religion) as class skills.
Dead Truce: The Dustmen have one of the most unique abilities of all the factions, embodied in the Dead Truce. This truce is a pact, reached in times more ancient than memory, between the Dustmen and the beings of the undead realm. The effect of the truce is that the undead’ll ignore a Dustman, so long as the Dustman does nothing to harm the undead creature. If the Dustman breaks the pact, the undead and its companions will treat the sod as they would any other living being. This pact applies only to Dustmen. If one of this faction is with other bashers, the undead will react to the rest of the group normally (attacking, for example) while ignoring the Dustman. Should the Dustman aid his companions, those undead are released from the pact. Because of this possibility, it’s more common to find Dustmen working side by side with zombies and such.
Negative Energy Channeling: No matter their religion or alignment, once a basher with the ability to channel energy joins the ranks of the Dustmen they always channel negative energy.
Toward True Death: A deceased Dustman should always refuse to be brought back from the dead. Even those willing to be resurrected only return if they fail a saving throw (Will DC 10 + spell level + ability modifier). The Dustman cannot choose to willingly fail this saving throw. The concept of raising and resurrection is counter to the philosophy of the faction, and so it’s not something willingly accepted by most Dustmen.
The Fated
Names Takers, The Heartless
Philosophy This faction says the multiverse belongs to those who can hold it. Each sod makes his own fate, and there's no one else to blame for it. Those who whine about their luck are just weaklings; if they were meant to succeed, they could have. Here's the way the multiverse works, according to the Takers: Everybody's got the potential to be great, but that don't mean it's going to happen. It takes work and sweat for things to come true, not just a lot of hoping. Those that work hard to get what they deserve. Nothing's free - not in this life or any other.
Proof? Look at the poor petitioners. Can they just sit back and wait for their rewards? No, the powers put them through the mill with all kinds of trials. A lot of them fail and die permanent little deaths, but those that have the strength and the will to reach the reward. There's no point in feeling sorry for the berks who didn't make good - it was their own fault for being weak. Some softhearted folks call this a cruel philosophy, saying there's no compassion in it. Well, that's just an excuse for weakness. Sure there.s compassion, but a body's still got to earn it. The best way to keep from being hurt is to be strong enough to fight back.
Most folks think there's nothing to the Fated but taking, but the Takers'll tell a berk it's more than that. There's lots of things a being has to earn, and he can't get all of them by force. A body's got to have some respect, too, and that's something that can't be got with force. There's happiness, too. A basher's got to go out and make happiness, and no amount of hitting people is going to get that. It takes kindness without weakness, compassion without cowardice.
"The next time somebody snivels about their lot in life," say the Takers, "just remember the powers gave 'em the wherewithal to get on with their life. It's not anybody else's fault if they ain't going to use it."
Primary Plane of Influence The Fated's philosophy fits well with the rough-and-tumble attitudes of the powers found on Ysgard, so it's hardly a surprise that the faction is strong there. Their headquarters in Sigil is the Hall of Records, where the ownership of all things important is recorded.
Role Within Sigil The Takers handle the most hated and needed task in the city: They control the Hall of Records - a vital piece of city administration. They record property deeds, births, and deaths (when some sod bothers to notify them). This isn't what makes them hated though. They're also the tax collectors, a job nobody thanks them for. With their "I got it, you don't" attitude, the Takers are perfect for the job. Now, having all this jink could be trouble for the other factions, so they all keep the balance by trying to pay as little as possible. If things get too bad, any faction can always appeal to the Guvners - their control of the courts gives them the means to keep the Fated's greed under control, and the rest paying their taxes.
Allies and Enemies Of all the philosophies, the Fated's is closest to the "leave-me-alone" attitude of the Free League, and the two often work cooperatively. The Mercykillers share some sentiments with the Fated, too particularly attitudes about compassion and mercy - yet they don't accept the "might-makes-right" attitude of the Takers, so the two groups are only cool allies. The Harmonium views the Fated as wrong-headed and dangerous, and the two must be considered enemy factions.
Eligibility Membership in the Fated is open to any race or class. However, lawful-good characters can't join the Fated.
Abilities Skills: Takers have a +2 competence bonus on Sleight of Hand checks and may always make Sleight of Hand checks untrained. A Taker treats all skills as class skills, regardless of the Taker’s class.
Taker’s Skills: The Heartless are a self-sufficient bunch, and an independent one, too. They don’t pass out magical items or spells to every namer in the faction; each berk’s got to earn his way. However, all Takers gain two additional skill ranks per level (e.g. fighters gain four skill ranks per level, rogues gain 10 per level, etc.).
Haggle: A body who spends his life looking out for himself tends to pick up other tricks, as well. Any member of the Fated looking to make a purchase can haggle to get the price reduced. On a successful Diplomacy check opposed by the merchant’s Sense Motive check, the price is reduced by 5%, plus an additional 1% for every 4 points by which the Diplomacy check exceeds the Sense Motive check, to a maximum discount of 10%.
Nothing’s Free: The Fated have the wherewithal to learn and grab what they need, but a Taker’s fierce independence is also one of his greatest weaknesses. No member of the Fated can give or receive any kind of charity. It’s an easy thing to refuse to drop a few coins in a beggar’s hat, but it’s another story if a Taker’s dying and a comrade wants to give him a cure potion. Hard as it seems to believe, the Taker simply won’t accept the potion – it must be earned, not given freely.
The Fraternity of Order
Names Guvners
Philosophy These folks are sure that everything's got laws. Mankind's got laws. Sigil's got laws. Even the Lower Planes got their laws. Now, once a body's got the laws down, he does pretty well, right? He knows how to use them to his advantage, and how to break them without getting caught. If everything's got laws, then there are laws for the whole birdcage - the planes and all that. And if everything's got laws, then those laws can be learned. See where this is going? Learn the laws of the planes and learn how to break 'em, how to use 'em to best advantage. Get to be a real blood, a pro, and a basher'd have real power.
Think of the things a body could do with the laws of the multiverse under his thumb. He could manipulate the very heart of things! It'd make magic seem like a lousy put-up, make a fellow who knew the dark of things a real high-up man. He could find the loopholes of the multiverse, the little spots not covered by any rules, where he could do what he wanted. He'd be tougher than the powers themselves!
'Course, it ain't that easy. The multiverse keeps its laws dark, where a body's not likely to find them. More than a few cutters have got themselves put in the deadbook trying to learn it all. Then there's the powers - it ain't likely they want any sod getting the secrets of more power than them.
So let all the other berks run around, looking for the meaning of the multiverse. It doesn't matter what it all means, because that won't tell a body how it all works. Knowing the operation of things - that's what's important. Who cares what it means when a blood can make it do what he wants?
So how's a fellow to find out? Knowledge - knowledge is power. It takes study, it takes searching. Sometimes a body's got to go out into the planes and look for the answers. Sometimes it takes science, study, and research. There are millions of laws to make this thing go, and the more a body knows, the more he can do.
Primary Plane of Influence The cog-wheeled plane of Mechanus, where everything aspires to perfect order, is the stronghold of the Guvners. In Sigil, their headquarters is the City Courts.
Role Within Sigil The Guvners are a natural to act as judges and advocates. They believe in laws and don't like breaking them. The Guvners run the city courts, from the small ward courts to the High Court of the city. They also make the best advocates for pleading cases, so either way their faction tends to win, which keeps it fair. Their absolute belief in Law makes them chillingly legalistic. Still, the Xaositects and Harmonium are both happy the Guvners don't get the power to create laws, only enforce them.
Allies and Enemies With their knowledge of laws, Guvners are considered useful by many. They're strong allies of the Mercykillers, who uphold laws, and they're close to the Harmonium. At the other extreme, the Xaositects and the Revolutionary League are both opposed to the Guvners. The Doomguard, while not an enemy, remains suspicious that the Guvners are trying to prolong the life of the multiverse.
Eligibility The Fraternity of Order is open to all classes and races, but because of its highly structured view of life, all members must be lawful in alignment.
Abilities Skills: Guvners have a +2 competence bonus on Linguistics checks and may always make Linguistics checks untrained. A Guvner always treats Linguistics, Knowledge (Planes) and Spellcraft as class skills.
Intuit Pattern: Since Guvners tend to understand patterns easily, they can use Comprehend Languages once per day as a spell-like ability.
Letter of the Law: Guvners believe in laws, though the rightness or wrongness of them often makes little difference. A Guvner won’t knowingly break a law, unless he or she can find a legalistic loophole to avoid the penalty.
_________________
Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
The Factions (Continued)
The Free League
Names The Indeps
Philosophy This ain't no faction and nobody tells them what to do. The idea that any berk knows the truth and everybody else's wrong - well, that's a chance a body shouldn't take. Who's right - the Guvners? The Mercykillers? The Chaosmen? Since when does a smart gambler play all his jink on a single throw?
The short and long of it's simple: There's nobody who's got a sure key to the truth, so it pays to keep the options open. Maybe the multiverse is like the Lost say, but it could be the way the Godsmen tell it. Side with one view and find out it's wrong and, well, a fellow comes up a loser. There's no wisdom in that!
Still, a body's got to belong to something, if he wants to stay alive. The Free League's kind of an informal group of like-thinkers. They share news, pass around jobs, and watch each other's backs. Hey, in a place like the planes, a body can't be too careful.
There ain't nobody tells an Indep what to do. They hire on with whom they please, insult whom they dare, and drink with the rest. Every creature's free to find his own path, his own meaning to the multiverse, and what works for one probably isn't the answer for another. Pure fact is, there's a lot of truths out there.
Some figure Indeps to be cowards, afraid to play a stake on the truth, but Indeps see themselves as free thinkers, refusing to be shackled to some blind ideology. Truth is, there are some that don't want to make the choice, for fear of offending one power or another. Then again, there's plenty of folks seeking to make their own truth - maybe even start themselves a new faction.
Primary Plane of Influence The Indeps have a lot of power on the Outlands, the heart of the Great Ring. It's no surprise that in Sigil their headquarters is found in the Grand Bazaar, where everyone looks after himself.
Role Within Sigil Buying and selling is what keeps Sigil alive, and the Indeps are there to make sure there's always good trade in the city's markets. Their job's not official, but these cutters still make sure that every small merchant's getting a fair chance. They don't like the high-up guilds fixing prices, strangling competition, peeling their partners, or hiring bashers to beat up rivals. Since they don't have an official rank, the Indeps use criers, rumors, and "friendly advice" to keep the markets more-or-less honest. If they must, they'll bring a case to the Guvners, but they don't like relying on others.
Allies and Enemies Because Indeps have kept themselves free of a single philosophy, most other factions view the Free League with a cynical neutrality. Indeps are just about anything in others' eyes: useful mercenaries, potential recruits, or dangerous spies. Rival factions'll use the Indeps in their various plans, but few would ever trust them. Only the Harmonium, with its rigid beliefs, takes a strong stand against the Indeps.
Eligibility Anyone who wants to can call himself an Indep. Race, class, and alignment make no difference to this group.
Abilities Skills: Indeps have a +2 competence bonus on Sense Motive checks. An Indep always treats Diplomacy and Sense Motive as class skills.
Free Will: Free Leaguers have a natural resistance to mind-affecting effects, be they from spells, creatures, or magical items. Indeps save against mind-affecting effects with +2 bonuses to their rolls. Against mind-affecting effects that don’t normally allow saving throws, they still make a throw (though without the bonus).
One of Us: The Indeps aren’t a tight group, but they do look out for their own. Free Leaguers who buy wares in the Great Bazaar of Sigil get a 20% discount on all items purchased. This discount is only intended for fellow Free Leaguers, and Indeps buying discounted gear for members of other factions, even those friendly to the Free League, will quickly find this discount disappearing. And in public scuffles, a Free Leaguer who makes his faction known is likely to get help from other Indeps passing by.
On Our Own: Being independent, the Free League has no factol and therefore is not represented in any city business. Indeps have no judge in the courts, nor any seat on the council. Not surprisingly, in Sigil Indeps have few protected rights.
The Harmonium
Names The Hardheads
Philosophy The secret of the multiverse? That's simple, and every cutter in the Harmonium knows what it is: "The Harmonium is always right." Look, the goal of every enlightened being in the multiverse is to live in perfect harmony with all others. Look around: Peace or war - those are the only true states of the multiverse. If a being and its neighbors got the same views, then there's peace between them. When they don't agree, that's what causes war; one body figures it can use fists to convince the other. Now, there's some powers who say otherwise, but the Harmonium believes that peace is a better end than war. For one, all of a body's work won't get destroyed during times of peace. Families don't get killed, kings can actually spend time ruling the people, scholars can study, and petitioners can raise their crops. Everybody, even the fiends on the Lower Planes, can prosper.
On the other hand, the Harmonium says there's only one way to have peace: their way. War or peace - squabble among each other or join the Harmonium - those are the only choices. The Harmonium believes that the ultimate goal of the multiverse is universal harmony, and it's ready to spread that belief to all those other sods out on the planes. If it takes thumping heads to spread the truth, well, the Harmonium's ready to thump heads. Sure, there may not be peace right away, but every time the Harmonium gets rid of an enemy, the multiverse is that much closer to the universal harmony it was meant to have.
And what happens once the Harmonium succeeds? (And it will succeed, that's certain - just ask them.) That part's simple. When everyone is in agreement with the Harmonium, a new golden age will begin. That's why the Harmonium works so hard to get folks to conform - it's all for their own good.
Primary Plane of Influence The Harmonium is strongest on the plane of Arcadia, where the ideal of harmonious good is seen in all things. Within the city of Sigil, the Harmonium claims the City Barracks as its headquarters.
Role Within Sigil The Hardheads, always sure their's is the only way, have muscled themselves into control of the City Barracks, which means the City Watch is theirs. Members of the faction take it upon themselves to arrest those they think are breaking the laws. Their hard-liner view of order means they're pretty eager to crush crime, but their laws and Sigil's laws don't always match, so they often arrest people who aren't really acting illegally. Fortunately, a sod arrested by the Harmonium's tried by the Guvners, who are strict about what's legal and what's not. With the Doomguard controlling the Armory, the real tools to run Sigil the Hardhead way are kept out of the Harmonium's hands. That suits everybody but them just fine.
Allies and Enemies Because of their fierce devotion to order (albeit their order), the Harmonium often works closely with the Guvners and the Mercykillers. Indeed, within Sigil the trio forms the wheels of justice: The Harmonium makes the arrest, the Guvners conduct the trial, and the Mercykillers carry out the sentence. With their unbending attitudes, the Harmonium also has many enemies. Indeps, the Revolutionary League, and Xaositects all have little patience with the rigid views of the Harmonium.
Eligibility All races and classes are welcome to join the Harmonium, but the applicant must be of lawful alignment.
Abilities Skills: Hardheads have a +2 competence bonus on Intimidate checks. A Hardhead always treats Intimidate, Knowledge (Local), and Sense Motive as class skills.
Command: All Harmonium members, from Notaries on up, gain the spell-like ability Command once per day as a cleric of the character’s level (DC 11 + Charisma modifier).
Orders: Their rigid beliefs expose several weaknesses in Harmonium philosophy. Any variance from the orders of a Harmonium superior requires an Atonement on the part of the character before he or she can rejoin the ranks of the faction. This spell must be cast by a spellcaster who is sympathetic to the Harmonium’s cause. Members who “turn stag” – betray the faction – are automatically sentenced to death by the factol. Even refusing to return to the faction’s ranks is considered treasonous.
The Mercykillers
Names The Red Death
Philosophy As far as this faction's concerned, justice is everything, and there ain't no sod who can give it the laugh. Those cutters that try'll have the Mercykillers on their tail, so the smart thing is just don't try. It's the whole reason laws exist - to see that justice is carried out. Justice purges the evil in folks and makes them better, fit to belong in the multiverse. Once everybody's been cleansed, then the multiverse reaches perfection, and perfection's the goal of the multiverse.
Justice is absolute and perfect, but it's got to be correctly applied. A body's got to know the knights of the post, the criminals from the innocent, so he doesn't make a mistake. Mercy's an excuse created by the weak and criminal. They think they can rob or kill and then escape their crimes by pleading for mercy. The Mercykillers are not so weak. Every crime must be punished according to the law. There are no such things as " extenuating circumstances."
That being the case, some smart cutters figure they'll hang the Mercykillers by their own yardarm and accuse them of some of their own crimes. Well, the Red Death'll just smile and say it answers to a higher law. Charged with protecting justice, they can do things others can't - all in the name of justice. How else could they survive their own ideals?
'Course now, other folks don't agree with Red Death logic. To them, the Mercykillers ain't above the laws or even right in what they do. The Mercykillers don't like such folk's attitudes, but they can't hang a being for its opinions - at least not in most places. See, the Mercykillers say they don't make the laws, they only enforce them. All in all, they're no better than the rest, but no worse than a few.
Primary Plane of Influence The Mercykillers are most powerful on the plane of Acheron. Within Sigil their headquarters is the Prison.
Role Within Sigil The Red Death has a job which it performs with relish: punishment. Now, the Mercykillers'd much prefer to hunt down, try, and punish criminals themselves, but that's not something the other factions are too keen on. The faction is too rigid in its views, and telling a Mercykiller to pike it is just not an option. Still, they're well suited to the task of running the Prison and carrying out sentences. After all, what happens to a criminal who's been arrested, tried, and sentenced is only just, and who better to administer justice than the Mercykillers?
Allies and Enemies The Harmonium, the Guvners, and the Mercykillers form a natural triad of arrest, trial, and punishment. As in Sigil, they are often found together in the other towns of the Outlands, serving as the local justice system. The Doomguard is sympathetic to the goals of the Mercykillers, seeing ultimate entropy in the process of punishment. Not surprisingly, the Mercykillers are at odds with those groups who place the individual over all. Signers, Sensates, and Anarchists in particular seem to have constant runins with the Red Death. It'd be expected that Indeps would defy them, too, but this group has the sense to leave well enough alone.
Eligibility The Mercykillers are a strict group, allowing only those of lawful alignment to join them. Thieves and known criminals are absolutely unwelcome.
Abilities Skills: Mercykillers have a +2 bonus to Survival checks when following tracks. A Mercykiller always treats Diplomacy, Knowledge (Local), and Survival as class skills.
Discern Lies: All members of the faction are taught how to Discern Lies (per the 4th-level cleric spell) once per day to a single chosen question (DC 14 + Charisma modifier).
Shocking Grasp: Every Mercykiller arcane spellcaster automatically receives the 1st-level spell Shocking Grasp (the better to handle obstinate criminals) in addition to all other spells granted by the cutter’s level or ability scores.
Eight Tenets of Justice: Any Mercykiller – Justiciar or otherwise – who ever fails to uphold the faction’s Eight Tenets of Justice must pay the music. First, the accused gets a short hearing before the factol. If he can’t give a satisfactory explanation for having shirked his duty, he’s given a choice: death by beheading in the Guillotine Room, or abandonment in the cavernous Grotto beneath the Prison. Most Mercykillers so charged have chosen the quick and relatively painless death accorded by the guillotine. It’s said that those few who’ve chosen the Grotto found death by a much less pleasant means.
The Revolutionary League
Names Anarchists
Philosophy "These universes, these powers, they're all corrupt!" screams this faction. "They're guiding people in the wrong directions, keeping them slaves and prisoners to the powerful. The old beliefs are lies." These sods claim that Guvners, Chaosmen, Mercykillers, Athar - every last one of them - no longer care about the truth. Their factols all have property, bodyguards, jink, and influence. They're not looking for the truth; they just want to hang onto what they've got.
Well, the Anarchists say it's time for that to change. It's time to break free of the chains and seek the real truth. And that's only going to happen when a body's free of the bonds of the other factions. A being's got to be able to make his own choices, but would any faction just let a body go? Think the Harmonium would say, "Sure, we admit we're wrong. Go and find your own way." Not a chance! The only way a being's ever going to get its freedom is to tear down the old factions. Throw 'em down, shatter 'em, break their power - that's what's got to be done! When the old factions are crushed, a sod has a chance to learn the real truth.
'Course, a body's got to be careful. The plutocrats don't want to give up a single grain of their power cache, so they'll try to break the spirit of the revolution - if they can catch it. A blood's got to be careful and keep himself dark from the factols or he'll end up lost in an alley some night, so the best thing to do is to pit the factions against each other. A cutter doesn't need to hit them head-on unless he wants to end up in the dead-book.
Once the factions all come down, then folks can find the real truth. What's that truth? No one knows and there's no way of saying. There ain't no point in thinking about it even, not until what's standing now is brought down. Break it all and rebuild with the pieces that're left - that's the only plan.
Primary Plane of Influence The Revolutionary League is best typified by the grim exiles of Carceri, forever scheming to overthrow their enemies. In Sigil, the faction rejects the idea of a fixed headquarters. Instead, it moves from place to place in the city, to prevent its discovery by the unwanted. The Anarchists have no factol.
Role Within Sigil The Anarchists don't have an official role and aren't even organized enough to have an unofficial one. Still, their belief in pulling down the system does have a twisted virtue in the works of the city: They're a haven for those who don't - indeed, can't - fit into the plan. Anarchists are proud of the fact their kind can be found anywhere, lurking in the streets as harmless-seeming clerks or wand-wielding wizards lending a hand to loners in trouble. These bloods keep Sigil alive and trying, or at least that's how they see it.
Allies and Enemies Although their stated goal is the overthrow of all, the Anarchists do have allies. The Doomguard and the Xaositects both find much merit in Anarchist activities, even if they don't agree with the philosophy. At the other extreme, the Harmonium and the Guvners consider the Revolutionary League an abomination.
Eligibility Anarchists care nothing for race or class and even profess no interest in alignment. However, their doctrine of overthrow prevents lawful types from joining their faction.
Abilities Skills: Anarchists have a +2 competence bonus to Bluff checks. An Anarchist always treats Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth as class skills.
Infiltration: An Anarchist can pose as a member of any other faction automatically, without being detected. While they don’t receive the special abilities of the assumed faction, they gain acceptance, access to their headquarters, and can call on members of other factions for aid. Fact is, Anarchists can get help from a member of another faction sooner than from their own.
Fight the Power: Anarchists can never hold any public office or noble title, own a business, or take part in anything that would tie them into the power structure of the planes. Fully 90% of all treasure gained by those bashers must be distributed either to the cause or to the oppressed. In no case can it be given to another player character or player-controlled non-player character.
The Sign of One
Names Signers
Philosophy Every person, every individual, is unique. This is the greatest glory of the universe - that each creature living (and dead) is different from all others. It's obvious, then, that the multiverse centers around the self, or so this faction would have everyone believe. "It's quite simple, addle-cove," one of these sods would say. "The world exists because the mind imagines it. Without the self, the multiverse ceases to be." Therefore, each Signer is the most important person in the multiverse. Without at least one Signer to imagine it all, the rest of the factions would cease to exist.
Better be nice to the Signers then, berk, because they just might decide to imagine a body right out of existence. Don't think it can be done? Maybe not, but then a basher's a fool to take the risk. Lots of folks disappear without a trace, and more than a few are enemies of the Signers. Makes a body think, don't it?
So, some smart cutter'll say, what happens if two Signers don't agree? What if they both think different things? Then what happens? After all, the multiverse is the same for everybody. The answer's easy for a Signer. Since he's the center of the universe, then obviously everything else is from his imagination - simple. Nobody else really exists except as he thinks of them, so of course the multiverse is the same. How else could it be?
A lot of folks don't accept this idea. After all, they point to their own feelings and emotions, their own self, as proof the Signers are wrong. And the Signers simply claim to have imagined it all. What others feel and think isn't real; only what the Signers feel is.
So exactly who is imagining the multiverse? That part even the Signers don't know for sure. One of them is, but they can't agree on which one. The safest bet is just to fall in with their faction, because any Signer could be the source of everything. Remember that, berk.
Primary Plane of Influence The Signers are strongest on the plane of the Beastlands. Within Sigil, their headquarters is the Hall of Speakers.
Role Within Sigil The Signers' confidence that each berk's the center of his own universe makes them probably the only folks who can actually govern Sigil... as much as the Cage can be governed. They run the Hall of Speakers, where the high-ups meet to make the laws of the city, and they settle feuds, handle treaties, and do all the other legislative things that keep Sigil running. 'Course, the Signers aren't the only ones on the Council - every faction and power bloc's got representatives - but the Signers are the only ones who can preside over the sessions. Knowing every cutter's the center of things, the Signers make sure that everyone gets their say, and that's the only way to keep the sessions meeting. Other factions may not like the Signers, but they respect the faction's ability to keep city business on the table.
Allies and Enemies The Signers and Sensates share some common points in their philosophies, making the two natural allies. Signers also gain frequent recruits from the Outsiders, who often are comforted by being placed at the center of importance. The Harmonium finds the Signers more than slightly annoying, and the Bleak Cabal's the most opposed to them of all.
Eligibility The Sign of One is open to all classes, races, and alignments. However, lawful good and lawful neutral characters may find adhering to the One's beliefs difficult at best.
Abilities Skills: Signers have a +2 competence bonus to Perception checks. A Signer always treats Knowledge (Planes) and Perception as class skills.
Illusion Perception: It’s hard to put one over on Signers, as their belief that they create the multiverse lets them see through illusion. All members receive an automatic saving throw to resist illusion magic. Even if they fail this initial saving throw, they still receive the standard saving throw after interacting with the illusion.
Centre of All: Perhaps because of their often immense egos, Signers have difficulties understanding the motives and feelings of others. Hence, they suffer a -2 penalty on all Diplomacy checks (or Charisma checks) made to influence the attitude of a nonplayer character, as well as a -2 penalty on their leadership score if they have the Leadership feat.
The Society of Sensation
Names Sensates
Philosophy According to these folks, the multiverse is known by the senses - the only proofs of existence. Without experience, without sensation, a thing isn't. If a sod can't taste the soup, then it ain't soup. The only way to know anything for sure is to use the senses.
Look, it ain't that hard to understand. Which is real, a description of a rose or the rose itself? Only a barmy'd choose the description, which ain't real. It's got no smell, no thorns, no color. Picking a rose, that's real, and the way a body knows is by experiencing it. The senses are the only way to know the universe.
So some berk'll ask, "What's this got to do with universal Truth, the meaning of the multiverse?" Well, the chant is no one's going to know the big dark until they've experienced everything - all the flavors, colors, scents, and textures of all the worlds. Only when a body's experienced the whole universe does the great dark of it all finally get revealed. It may seem like an impossible task, but there just might be a way to bob the problem cheat the multiverse, as it were. It just might be that the multiverse doesn't exist beyond what a body can sense. The answer to what's over the next hill just might be "nothing."
Given that, the multiverse has limits, and a body can try to experience it all. A being's got to savor the intensity, explore the complexity. Don't just guzzle the wine - find all the flavors within it. Before a sod's all done, he'll learn the differences between Arborean and Ysgardian wine, know them by vintage, and even by the hand of the vintner. Only then do the secrets of the multiverse start to make themselves clear.
Primary Plane of Influence The Sensates are strongest on Arborea, a plane of great beauty in all things. In Sigil, their headquarters is naturally the resplendent Civic Festhall.
Role Within Sigil The Sensates don't have an official role either, but every blood knows the city'd go mad without them. In their endless quest to experience everything, the Sensates make sure that there's plenty entertainments and diversions flowing through Sigil. Here's the dark that makes it important: What basher wants to be around when a lesser baatezu gets bored? Sound bad? Now multiply that disaster by tanar'ri, modron, tiefling, prime, bariaur, djinni, yugoloth, and more. Thanks to the Sensates, there should be something, somewhere in Sigil, that'll suit every taste. Pleasure is the balm that keeps Sigil from fevered rage.
Allies and Enemies The Sensates and the Signers, both egocentric factions, do share points of agreement concerning their philosophies, and they often cooperate in their activities. Sensates are cordial to Guvners and Indeps, intrigued by their descriptions of things far away. However, they're opposed to the philosophies of the Doomguard, which sees worlds only as decaying objects.
Eligibility The Society of Sensation is one of the most liberal of all factions. Anyone, of any race, class, or alignment, can join.
Abilities Skills: Sensates have a +2 competence bonus to Sense Motive checks. A Sensate always treats Perception and Sense Motive as class skills.
Membership Has its Privileges: As managers of most of the entertainment in Sigil, the Sensates are by far the richest faction in the Cage, and they’re generous to their members. Characters who join the Sensates immediately receive a signing bonus – new characters begin with three times the typical starting money.
New Sensations: While not to the point of foolhardiness, Sensates are fascinated by new tastes, smells, and so forth. Whenever possible, they’ll seek out new experiences. In practise, they can’t refuse offers that could lead to these – a new wine, an exotic flower, or whatever. Only when faced with obvious deadly peril will they shun such temptations.
The Transcendent Order
Names Ciphers
Philosophy These guys say that for a body to become one with the multiverse, he's got to stop thinking and act. Action without thought is the purest form of thought. When a cutter can know what to do without even thinking about it, then he's become one with the multiverse.
It goes like this. Every berk's part of the multiverse, and nothing's apart from it. So it figures that every being knows the right action to take at just the right moment. Problem is, some folks start thinking and mess it all up. Thinking adds hesitation and doubt. It overrules instinct and separates a sod from the multiverse. By the time a poor sod's" thought about something, the right action for the right moment is gone.
So all a berk's got to do is just quit thinking, right? 'Course it ain't that easy. Any addle-cove can blunder in and act without giving it a thought, but that's not the goal. A body's got to work hard at learning himself - learning his own mind and instincts until the right action comes automatically. It's done by training both the body and mind. Just like the way thieves practice their crosstrade, a Cipher's got to train his mind (the source of action) and body (the actor) to be one thing. There's no difference between the two, no separation between thought and motion. Body and mind act as one - the hand moves before the thought reaches it.
So what's all this get a fellow, then? Once mind and body are in harmony, the spirit becomes in tune with the multiverse. A blood understands the purpose of the multiverse and knows just where and how he should be.
Primary Plane of Influence The Order is strongest on Elysium, the plane of harmonious good. Within Sigil, the Order's headquarters is found at the Great Gymnasium.
Role Within Sigil The most universally accepted of all the factions, the Ciphers are natural advisers. They want the perfect union of thought and action, and they embody the qualities that other factions lack. To the Guvners, the Ciphers are the compassion missing from the coldly legalistic courts. To the Harmonium they try to lend tolerance, to the Mercykillers they preach order, for the Xaositects they're the voice of stability, and so on. Their advice usually gets ignored, and some basher'll take a poke at a Cipher for his troubles, but that's the play of things and they're ready to deal with it.
Allies and Enemies Believing that all truth is found internally, Ciphers don't seek out friends or enemies among the factions. Most other groups give them a lukewarm reception, although the Harmonium is always suspicious that Ciphers harbor thoughts contrary to universal harmony.
Eligibility The Transcendent Order is open to any character of neutral alignment.
Abilities Skills: Ciphers have a +2 competence bonus to Acrobatics checks. A cipher always treats Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, and Swim as class skills.
Combat Instinct: Because they always try to act without thought, all Ciphers – namers included – gain a +1 insight bonus on their initiative modifiers.
No Hesitation: Because Ciphers act unhesitatingly, they suffer a unique restriction: In play, as soon as an action is stated for a Cipher player character, that cutter is committed to the action. They player can’t say, ”Oh, wait, I changed my mind!” Bashers who pause to consider or debate pending actions are failing to adhere to the philosophy.
The Xaositects
Names Chaosmen
Philosophy As these sods see it, the multiverse wasn't born from Chaos - the multiverse is Chaos. There's no order, no pattern to anything. That's the meaning of the multiverse, the great secret everyone else is just too dull-witted and cowardly to admit! Look around. Is there any pattern to this existence? Any order that gives it all meaning? None, not a one. The only order is one that the addle-coved Guvners and Harmonium try to impose on it. Their order isn't natural to the multiverse. Why, the minute they leave, the multiverse reverts to its natural state of disorganization and chaos.
So why fight it, since Chaos is how things are meant to be? It has a beauty and wonder all its own. By gazing upon Chaos, learning to appreciate the randomness of it and understanding its sublime intricacies, the Xaositects (pronounced: kay-Oh-si-tekts) learn the secrets of the multiverse. They want to play within the unshapeable Chaos, and to be a part of its uncontrollable energies.
Primary Plane of Influence Limbo is the heart and soul of the Chaosmen, for here the wild energies of creation rage at their fullest. In Sigil, the Chaosmen make their headquarters at the center of the Hive, a turbulent slum.
Role Within Sigil Chaosmen have no claim, no stake in the city. Too capricious for ruling, too uncontrolled to judge others, too free to follow orders, the Xaositects, from their hole at the center of the Hive, are the voices of the dispossessed. They don't just -represent those poor sods who don't have anything - the Chaosmen become them. Security, warmth, sustenance, none of these things matter. The Chaosmen lurk on the edges of order, eager to pull down the case that's just been built. Along with the Anarchists, these wild addle-coves are part of what makes Sigil alive and constantly changing. Perversely, their attempts to tear everything down is part of what keeps the city constantly building.
Allies and Enemies The Chaosmen, the Doomguard, and to some extent the Bleak Cabal all get along and work together, as much as those committed to Chaos can work together. Not surprisingly, the Harmonium and the Guvners are stridently opposed to the theories of the Chaosmen.
Eligibility The Xaositects are open to all races and classes, but only those of chaotic alignment can join this faction.
Abilities Skills: Chaosmen have a +2 competence bonus to Bluff checks. A Xaositect always treats Bluff and Intimidate as class skills.
Babble: Once per week, all Xaositects can generate a 30-foot-radius emanation that causes all sounds in the area to turn into garbled, cacophonous, and unintelligible noise. Sounds that issue from, enter, or pass through the area are altered and made unrecognizable as a natural sound. Within this area, verbal communication is impossible. Even something as simple as a shout of surprise is turned into a warped and alien sound. Spells with verbal components cannot be cast. Scrolls and other magic items that require a verbal component to be activated do not function. Spells and items that rely on sound do not function. Sonic damage has no effect. This ability lasts for 1 round per two levels of the Xaositect.
Scramblespeak: “Not insane I am. Do to I naturally me merely comes what to multiverse the randomness the according of.” Anyone rattling his bone-box like that has to be barmy, right? Well, maybe not: Rolling a Xaositect’s words around a bit makes them clear: I am not insane. I merely do what comes naturally to me, according to the randomness of the multiverse. When Xaositects use this scramblespeak, they twist all the words of a sentence out of order. Another Xaositect can understand the talk if he makes a successful Intelligence check. Most cutters just muddle through, but, to interpreters of scramblespeak, Xaositect bloods can be downright erudite.
Follow the Wind: The Chaosmen are committed to the power of Chaos. As such, Xaositects can never found businesses, build strongholds, raise armies, or undertake any other action that requires long-term organization and discipline. Indeed, they just barely hold their faction together as it is.
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Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
Re-Reading this now I see about a billion spelling and grammar mistakes. Just pretend they are not there because egad I have no interest in going through and fixing them all.
_________________
Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
It is a little wordy. Got kinda carried away with setting info dump. Sorry about that.
Basically - Pathfinder game based in planer city. Build character as normal - join faction of choice (power groups in the city) to net you extra abilities and some allies. Then kick all your asses out onto street for mission.
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Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
Joined: Sep 23, 2013 Posts: 2912 Location: Arizona, USA
This has me very intrigued, but like Bounty Hunter I think I may be stretching things thin with the amount of games I am already in.
Still... Think I might work on a character concept for this world and see if I do have the time for this game. The idea of a Reincarnated Druid in the Doomguard is just too tempting if you'd allow it.
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 Posts: 7305 Location: England
@ Shockwave - Sounds like it could be a fun concept. If you like you could build a character as normal then I could smack you with the Reincarnation bat and give you a new race - ya know just to see what happens.
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Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
I'm a (self) published author now! You can find my books on Amazon in Paperback or ebook! The Accursed, a standalone young adult fantasy adventure. Witch Hunters, book one of a young adult Scifi-fantasy trilogy.
Joined: Sep 25, 2013 Posts: 5149 Location: Toronto, Ontario
Identity: Spider-Man
Preferred Pronoun Set: Wtf is a "Jabber address"?
Heh. Could I play my current character from your other game, but at like, a much younger age? Befpre he discovered the secrets of immortality (and is thus, still searching for it)?
For those of you having trouble picturing all this think of Ravnica with it's guilds unified by belief and purpose controlling vast swaths of the cities infrastructure and power bases. Pretty much the same thing (to the point I wonder who came up with the idea first).
Planescape, by a mile. the copyright date on my Planescape Boxed Set is 1994.
It's kinda funny how some of guilds even line up with factions: the Harmonium to the Boros and the Fraternity of Order to the Azorius most strongly. The Rakdos could be seen as what the Sensates would be if they were Always Chaotic Evil, while the Dimir are pretty much the Revolutionary League.
I'm between a few character concepts, but looking over the thread it seems like nobody's actually started creation, so I'll barrel blindly forward based on the first post.
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 10:
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 17:
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 10:
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 15:
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 12:
Tevish Szat rolled 4d6 and got a total of 14:
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"Enjoy your screams, Sarpadia - they will soon be muffled beneath snow and ice."
I'm a (self) published author now! You can find my books on Amazon in Paperback or ebook! The Accursed, a standalone young adult fantasy adventure. Witch Hunters, book one of a young adult Scifi-fantasy trilogy.
9, 14, 9, 13, 11, 13... you know what, it could be worse.. That rules out any caster concepts though. Maybe a rogue? Frankly for characterization, picking a faction is going to be as important as picking a class. I'm between Fated, Society of Sensaton, and Revolutionary League.
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"Enjoy your screams, Sarpadia - they will soon be muffled beneath snow and ice."
I'm a (self) published author now! You can find my books on Amazon in Paperback or ebook! The Accursed, a standalone young adult fantasy adventure. Witch Hunters, book one of a young adult Scifi-fantasy trilogy.
Planescape?! I love Planescape! Is there still room in this?
Indeed there is! Welcome to the planes cutter! For the record Shockwave has already build a druid for this so there is at least one person who already has a character up and running. Don't feel pressured to build a 'balanced party' though - this isn't exactly going to be a high combat game.
Heh. Could I play my current character from your other game, but at like, a much younger age? Befpre he discovered the secrets of immortality (and is thus, still searching for it)?
I'm theoretically okay with that. Obviously you wouldn't have your Evil Boon from Fall of Amarath but other then that yeah. The only problem is I put alignment restrictions on this and in your current form your alignment would break that. Of course it makes sense that this early in your characters live (this being what some couple hundred years ago) you could have been a very different man - still a little arrogant and driven by power but much less of a raging d**k at this point. If your willing to tone down the evil a little (even if it's just playing a neutral character) I'd be perfectly happy to welcome Kronos back.
I see no reason why not. How familiar are you with the Pathfinder / D&D 3.5 system if at all? Just want to know the experience level I'm working with here. Don't worry if it's your first game I can work with that fine.
Just to clarify on character creation then; 1) Build a Level 3 Pathfinder character as you would any other game.
2) Chose if you want to a Prime or a Planer - that is to say were you born on one of the traditional D&D worlds (Faerun, Greyhawk, Glorion etc) or on the Outer Planes. If your unfamiliar with the Great Wheel cosmology and don't want to do a lot of reading then the best thing to do is play a Prime who is relatively new to the planes - either freshly stumbled out of a portal or some such.
3) Have a read through the Faction Manifestos posted above and see if any tickle your fancy. Join one and take note of the abilities granted. You don't have to join any of them if you don't want too (and if you are playing a newbie prime it might make sense that you don't) though it will be odd for a Planer, especially one native to the City of Sigil, to not be a member of a faction.
That's it! Have fun guys!
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Welcome! I'm Garren and I'll be your designated villain for the evening.
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