Planescape starting adventure (level 13)

[Madeiner]

Hi there everyone :)

Next session in my campaign the characters will end up in sigil, because we wanted to introduce planescape setting to the campaign.

Can you advise me a good adventure (path) that is good as an introductory sequence for the players, which have never even heard of planescape?
I don't need stat blocks, or anything that is edition related. I just want a nice adventure with a good story and i will convert it to our system (pathfinder)
What i'd like is adventure suited for characters of 13th level (they should be opposing powerful entities, not rats).

If it's any help, the characters came to planescape with a flying ship with a planar engine. The ship will crash in the outlands during the planar jump.
They came to the planes because their world has been invaded by demons and devils thousand of years ago, and they want to find a solution and feel the answer is on the planes.

I'd prefer the adventure to be around sigil at first, and then moving to the planes. Few dungeons crawls possibily, but mostly exploration of alien worlds.
It can be a few sessions to a few months long.

Thanks for your help :)
Any level is ok, as long as it can be converted to around 13th level with losing credibility (so no gods and no rats)

[Eldan]

Level 13 is already pretty high for Planescapes. Most adventures I remember offhand go up to perhaps 10-ish. Especially introductory ones tend to be around 3-5.
There's also only really few set in Sigil.

That said: look out for Harbinger House. It's written for about level 8, starts in Sigil, then goes elsewhere, but I think it could easily work for a little higher. Get In the Cage and Uncaged too, the Planescape books on Sigil and its inhabitants, they should help set the scene. I'd recommend re-writing a lot of it, though, and only using it as a guideline. It has a lot of exploration in the first act, but the suggested clues are a bit silly. (No guarantee on the No Fighting Gods think, actually, but it works if done right, trust me.)

The book Hellbound could also help, its for setting adventures in the Blood War. Might help tying it in with your player's problems.

Oh, and feel free to contact me on some chat program (I have a few linked in my profile) if you want to know the re-writes I did on Harbinger House or need some general Planescape tips. A lot of my players tend to be around here on the forum, so I don't want to give too many details.

[Madeiner]

Wow, i thought planescape was actually better at higher levels. I always imagined low level parties having much difficulties with all the strange and powerful races in planescape.

I don't have any of those messengers you have in your profile (only have msn) but i'll try to sign up to contact you

[Eldan]

MSN should be compatible with YIM or AIM.

A lot of the theme of Planescape is actually low-level people being thrust into a world of powerful players and how they react to it. That, and that personal power is less important than political powers and, most of all, belief.

Sigil was pretty expressively built as a place where low-level adventurers could get into the planes. The travel is easy, hte most powerful things on the planes can't come there and the rest has to play nice.

[Madeiner]

MSN should be compatible with YIM or AIM.

A lot of the theme of Planescape is actually low-level people being thrust into a world of powerful players and how they react to it. That, and that personal power is less important than political powers and, most of all, belief.

Sigil was pretty expressively built as a place where low-level adventurers could get into the planes. The travel is easy, hte most powerful things on the planes can't come there and the rest has to play nice.

Unfortunately they are not compatible :(
I will install AIM tonight, Trillian should support that.

Sigil looks full of powerful entities anyway; maybe not powers, but try entering a bar of demons to ask information and you could be in trouble very fast, even if you are level 13.

I view Sigil as a place where if you search very carefully, you can find someone able to cast wish for you, and it wouldn't be that hard compared to the material plane.
I mean, there is about EVERYONE in Sigil anyway.
But Sigil would only be the center of the operations. The planes is where most adventures should be.

[Aidan305]

I view Sigil as a place where if you search very carefully, you can find someone able to cast wish for you, and it wouldn't be that hard compared to the material plane.
I mean, there is about EVERYONE in Sigil anyway.
But Sigil would only be the center of the operations. The planes is where most adventures should be.

You can find it easily enough, but the price won't be cheap, and it likely won't be entirely tangible either. As Eldan said, one of the themes of Planescape is that there is always a Bigger Bad.

As far as published scenarios go:
"To Baator and Back" (Well of Worlds)
"Love Letter" (Well of Worlds)
"Blood Storm" (Well of Worlds)
"People Under the Falls" (Well of Worlds)

These are all good scenarios, generally around 9th level or higher (Not entirely certain how it translates with later editions).

If your party end up looking for a way to really screw over the fiends though, I'd highly recommend adapting "Squaring the Circle" (Hellbound: The Blood War)

[Eldan]

He said introductory, though. Harbinger House was the highest I can think of in Sigil, andeven that works much better if you know about the Lady and the Factions already.

Squaring the Circle, I think, just begs to be made into an epic adventure. Truly epic, in every sense of the word. And a campaign-ender. It's about as close as you can come to making a lasting impact on Planescape.

[Aidan305]

He said introductory, though. Harbinger House was the highest I can think of in Sigil, andeven that works much better if you know about the Lady and the Factions already.

You are correct, I failed to notice the "introductory". Harbinger House is the only one I can think of as well.

The trick with Planescape is to make the point with the adventure of "This isn't your average setting. The players can't solve all their problems with a quickly applied disintegrate spell. And there's a good chance that if they try they'll end up hauled in front of the Guvners. You also have to fit in the sense of Wonder that's prevalent in the setting.

If the OP is willing to put in a bit of work I might suggest Eternal Boundry, or Desire and the Dead (Available on Planewalker.com)


Squaring the Circle, I think, just begs to be made into an epic adventure. Truly epic, in every sense of the word. And a campaign-ender. It's about as close as you can come to making a lasting impact on Planescape.

By "You" I assume you mean the party. But yeah, the adventure's pretty impressive alright. One of my favourites and made even scarier/ more horrifying when you read Todd Stewart's take on it.

[Eldan]

While Eternal Boundary might work with a lot of changes, I just can't see Desire and the Dead for this.The opponents are street gangs and low-level undead. Even if you change them significantly, anyone with high-level spells will plow through it, and the idea of protecting a poor district doesn't work as well with high-level people who'd be motivated to seek bigger tasks.

Edit: Todd Stewart's take? What do you mean?

[Aidan305]

Edit: Todd Stewart's take? What do you mean?
One of his stories about the Baernloths deals with the events of Squaring the Circle. I'll see if I can find it...

Here we go (http://www.planewalker.com/060629/daru-ib-shamiq-the-lie-weaver-baernaloth-demented-5-13)

[Madeiner]

Thanks guys :)
I'm gonna check all the names of modules you put there :)

Squaring the Circle especially has caught my eye, i'll be sure to check it and maybe i'll use it for the finale later on in the campaign (which has been going over for uhm, 5 years)

[Eldan]

One of his stories about the Baernloths deals with the events of Squaring the Circle. I'll see if I can find it...

Here we go (http://www.planewalker.com/060629/daru-ib-shamiq-the-lie-weaver-baernaloth-demented-5-13)

Well, Damn. I knew I should have read all of the thirteen.