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PMDM
2007-09-09, 06:24 PM
One of my friends the other day said I would run a good Torment game. He said I really have the planescape "themes" down (altered reality, balanced alignments, rule of 3, and infinite possibility, the ring of life). It was suggested that I play Torment, except I don't own the game, much less have an operating system that can run it. So instead, I am reading an online novel of the game (link please?).

I don't think it's going to do the trick for me. I have no good idea where the players will fit in a Torment campaign. Who plays TNO (AKA The Nameless One)? How do I run the game for people who have played the game? Conversion to 3E is actually easy. www.planewalker.com has most of the crunch and the fluff I need.

I think running torment would be a good idea, but I am having trouble getting over a few roleplaying stumbling blocks.

Zincorium
2007-09-09, 06:34 PM
The way I look at it, you have two options:

All of the players suffer under the same 'curse' that TNO did. This kind of short circuits the plot presented in the video game, and I personally am not too fond of it.

Or you can just not have that part, that particular story has been done and there's no reason to replicate it. Planescape is such a gloriously complex setting that there are few to no limits on what you can use for plot hooks.

UserClone
2007-09-09, 08:31 PM
If you ever get this off the ground, PM me and I will play in it, as a character you create for me, or one that I create, I don't care...that would be too awesome to miss - a veritable bucket of awesome!

Pronounceable
2007-09-09, 09:13 PM
Quote:
...Or you can just not have that part, that particular story has been done and there's no reason to replicate it...

QFT.

(Bit of a lame post, I know.)

kermel
2007-09-09, 09:55 PM
Well, the PCs could also be the not so willing companions of TNO, each with his own secret reason to follow him. Throw out a couple of twists in the original story and you're served.

DeathQuaker
2007-09-10, 07:12 AM
Having an adventure based on the plot of the video game would be difficult to do, as it's very focused on a single person -- not good for party/group play. And TNO is just ridiculously powerful--hard to be "fun" to play amid others who aren't the same "level."

So, you have a few options (and these of course are not the only ones):

1. Sequel - What happened to the rest of the party?: If your players are familiar with the characters from the game and want to play them, this would be the way to go. Have the players choose from Dak'kon, Morte, Annah, Fall-from-Grace, and Nordom. (You can leave in Ignus and Vhaillor, but technically TNO has to fight one or the other before the game is over, so they seem less likely -- plus waaaay too extreme -- to be part of the "aftermath.") What impetus does the group have to stay together? Does misfortune befall one of them and the others feel obligated to rescue them? Does Fall-from-Grace invite them all out for a lovely picnic on the banks of the River Styx, when something goes horribly wrong? I'd say the characters should be between levels 15-20.

2. Prequel - In the Service of TNO: This seems a better option if not all your players are not familiar with the characters from Torment, but you want to use the game's themes. TNO has lived innumerable lives, many in which he traveled with other adventurers (Dak'kon, Morte, Deionarra, and Xachariah the Blind Archer, for example). He probably also put others to work for him. He could be evil, manipulative, misguided but benevolent, insane.... whatever you like -- but the party finds themselves compelled to work for this strange scarred man. As they quest to find certain artifacts or people for him, they learn more about his sinister past.... perhaps the campaign will end with the party ending one of TNO's many lives.

3. In the Same World of...: You could rebuild Torment's vision of Sigil. Let the party create their own characters, but have them encounter key characters from the game. Perhaps an older Annah has taken over from Pharod and runs a network of young thieves and corpse-collectors -- maybe the party rogue works for or with her. Perhaps the party mage studied magic while serving at the Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts. And so on. This is all pretty much up to you..... and since Torment takes place before the Faction War, you could also get the party caught up in the repercussions of the buildup of that event.

Some ideas.

Incidentally, I've got some 3.5 stats for Annah and Grace here (http://www.deathquaker.org/gaming/crpgconvert.html). I did those a long time ago and they very much need to be tweaked (though I think Grace got a recent fix). Have notes around somewhere for how to do the other characters, just never got around to posting the conversions. If you're interested in what I was working on, give me a PM. If not, I won't be offended. :smallsmile: