Updated my journal - Planescape Torment : Enhanced Edition (Android version)

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I don't want to clutter the "What game are you playing" thread, and I kight occasionally want to post snippets, ask questions or discuss random thoughts about my playthrough, so here goes nothing.

My Nameless One is still a fighter even if heavy on mental stats because story reasons. Might become a mage later if necessary, but micromanagement is clumsy on a tablet screen.

He's traveling with Morte and Dak'kon, found Pharod, and now we're exploring that crypt area full of rats and stuff. A face in the wall told us about the Dead Nations on the one hand and the rats with Many-As-One on the other, but we still need to figure out what that means.

Difficulty is 3 of 5, but I don't care about combat or anything, will shamelessly spam rest or get killed and run back from the morgue as often as necessary. What I want is to finally find out why this game to this day is still considered the prime example of storywriting, THE narrative game.

What I can already see, as compared to a past playthrough I dropped very early, is that higher mental stats offer a LOT more dialogue options.

What I don't know much about are story spoilers, which is why I avoid looking up anything online, all I know from hearing before though is that Morte

Spoiler

is somehow the or at least a bad guy here or at least used to be and is somehow involved in causing the situation I am in

 

[JustKneller]

Without spoiling anything, I've taken a pure talker build for this game and had no issues with combat. The most important ability was Wisdom (a bit ironic, since you can be anything but a cleric), with Intelligence and Charisma in a close second. Intelligence is slightly more important and you can compensate for the Charisma with a Friends spell (after taking mage levels), but that takes some micro. All my tattoos and accessories prioritized these stats.

I think the reason why Planescape hit so hard is because it wasn't just another be a big, bad hero and save the world kind of RPG. It's much more philosophical and in the perfect setting for that kind of story.

I'm going to fight temptation to say anything more. Just make sure you talk to everyone you can, especially your own companions regularly.

 

[m7600]

I'm probably biased because I was already in love with the setting before playing the video game. Let me see if I can articulate why I like the setting so much.

You might have noticed that the Dustmen talk about something called "True Death". This is because Sigil isn't located in the Prime Material Plane, where the Baldur's Gate saga takes place. Sigil is located in the afterlife. You arrive there after dying. But, if there's an afterlife, then you're not "truly" dead. This is why the Dustmen believe that after your first death, there is a second one, a "True Death", so to speak, in which you will become Nothingness.

But not every person goes to Sigil after dying. Very few of them go there, actually. Every afterlife depends on your alignment. Lawful Good characters go to Mount Celestia (aka, "Heaven"), Lawful Evil characters go to Baator (aka, "Hell"), Chaotic Good characters go to Arborea, Chaotic Evil characters go to The Abyss, etc. Sigil is the place where True Neutral characters go after they die.

Most people, when they begin to play D&D, tend to think that the True Neutral alignment has something to do with Nature, druidism, the balance between good and evil, and so forth. But that's not quite right. Jaheira and Cernd, for example, are True Neutral, as are all druids. But this gives the misleading impression that when they die, they will go to an afterlife full of trees and animals. That's not the case. Sigil is in the center of the Outlands, a barren desert almost completly devoid of life. Certainly not what one thinks when thinking of "Nature". The sky of the Outlands, and of Sigil, doesn't have stars, or a Moon, or a Sun. It's just a blank white sky that darkens and turns black when it becomes nigh, and then white again when it becomes day. And you have probably noticed that Sigil itself is far from being an idillic, healthy place. It's polluted, full of thugs and low-lives, especially in the Hive, demons and devils walk amongst angels and other creatures from adjacent planes. Because although True Neutral characters go to Sigil after they die in the Prime Material Plane, it's also possible for creatures from other afterlife planes to reach Sigil, which is why you see devils and angels walking around. And those creatures got there through portals.

Why portals? Because it's physically impossible to reach Sigil. In the center of the Multiverse, there is the Outlands. And in the center of the Outlands, there is a spire which is infinitely high. On top of that spire, there is Sigil, which is a donut-shaped city, floating just above the peak. Since the spire is infinitely long, if you tried to climb it, you would never reach the floating city at the top. The only way to enter it is through a portal.

There are several factions in Sigil, such as the Dustmen, the Sensates, the Mercykillers, and so forth. These factions strive for political power and influence over the city, since there is no King, Queen, or any other kind of ruler. Yet, although there is no political ruler, the city does have an immensely powerful being, known as the Lady of Pain. Everyone fears her. She's more like the Boogeyman instead of a ruler in the strict sense. Her gaze alone can cause your skin to erupt and explode, leading to a gruesome death. She's not a god, and anyone that tries to pray to her also dies in a horrible way. In fact, she's more powerful than gods, and she even killed one of them in the past. Aoskar, the God of Portals, once challenged the Lady of Pain. There was no epic battle between them. She merely killed him with a thought. Which is why I personally think that the Lady of Pain is the Overgod of Sigil, just as Lord Ao is the Overgod of the Forgotten Realms. But there are other theories about her. No one knows for certain who, or what, she is.

As for the video game, it completely turns a lot of RPG tropes on their head, which is one of the reasons why I like it so much, in addition to the excellent storytelling. You'll soon see an example with Many-as-One. A typical RPG trope is to kill a bunch of rats at the beginning of an adventure. Rats are always mindless, low level enemies. You'll see that Many-as-One is the complete opposite of that.

 

[JustKneller]

Brilliantly put @m7600!

This portals were, in fact, how my gaming group got there the first time. We had been playing in Forgotten Realms forever and were starting to find it all to be a bit cliche. We got together for yet another gaming session, and unbeknownst to us, the DM had planned to flip our campaign on its head and send us to Sigil. It really changed the game of it all. Greyhawk, Mystara, Forgotten Realms, and even settings a little more on the fringe like Ravenloft (which I loved), Dragonlance, and Dark Sun were all really variations on the same theme. Planescape, done right, just plays completely differently. We really had to adjust how we thought and approached things to survive there.

These days, I'm more into the classic editions of D&D (B/X and RC especially), though Planescape was built in AD&D second edition. If I were able to get a gaming group together to play anything old school D&D, my dream game would be Planescape, but with one of the original systems.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I love that kind of detailed lore. Granted, fixed alignments are absurd and even separating the afterlives people get sent to by alignments seems even more absurd to me, but that level of detail in a game's lore and history is what's a big part of storytelling for me.

I'm not that much into D&D lore to be honest, but I can appreciate it. I feel much more at home in the Elder Scrolls setting and I'm happy to have the beautiful hardcover lore books from Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online in my bookshelf. They don't only look and feel well-made, it's a pleasure to read them, and I really love it when so much care goes into world building that you have a whole deep well of mystery, legends and history to dig around in.

So big thanks for that insight about Sigil. Definitely what inspired Fargrave in the Elder Scrolls, it seems.

 

[JustKneller]

Granted, fixed alignments are absurd and even separating the afterlives people get sent to by alignments seems even more absurd to me, but that level of detail in a game's lore and history is what's a big part of storytelling for me.

I think that was another selling point for me. I was never a fan of the alignment system. It always seemed a little artificial, ambiguous, and arbitrary, as well as odd as a rubric to apply to a person. However, in Planescape, the alignments correspond to actual places and realms and the lay of the land of these places make sense in the context of alignment. In that case, alignment represents the realm towards which you might naturally gravitate after your life as a prime is over. You're not necessarily a specific type of person, but the type of person you are probably fits into a particular neighborhood more so than others.

 

[m7600]

Granted, fixed alignments are absurd and even separating the afterlives people get sent to by alignments seems even more absurd to me,

But your alignment isn't fixed. The Nameless One starts the game as a True Neutral, but your choices throughout the story will change your alignment accordingly. For example, this has already happened to you. In the screenshot that you shared, the character's alignment is symbolized by a triangle, which means Neutral Good. Seems like you've been helping people and choosing morally good options.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

But your alignment isn't fixed. The Nameless One starts the game as a True Neutral, but your choices throughout the story will change your alignment accordingly. For example, this has already happened to you. In the screenshot that you shared, the character's alignment is symbolized by a triangle, which means Neutral Good. Seems like you've been helping people and choosing morally good options.

Interesting, I hadn't even noticed the meaning of the triangle. And yes, I don't mean this game specifically, I mean more like the alignment system in general. The fact that it fluctuates based on actual decisions is already a big progress.

 

[m7600]

Yep, you didn't start the game with that triangle, you had a different symbol, for True Neutral (it looks like a rectangle with a line through the middle).

This game is full of details. And most of them are subtle, or even hidden. For example, remember what I said about Jaheira and Cernd, and how new players usually think that the True Neutral alignment has to do with trees and animals? Well, there's a character in Planescape: Torment called Mourns-for-Trees. He's not relevant to the main storyline, he's just an unimportant NPC that gives you a side quest. But the concept behind this character is a wink at the idea that the True Neutral alignment has some sort of necessary connection with Nature. There aren't many trees in Sigil, or anywhere in the Outlands for that matter. So, he mourns their loss. He was probably a druid in life, and he must have been extremely upset when he died and he discovered that his afterlife is a polluted city, instead of a lush forest. This just goes to show how well designed this game really is. Even an unimportant NPC like Mourns-for-Trees has a raison-d'etre intimately connected to the overall setting.

As for the confusion that you experience during the first part of the game, that's intentional. Your character has amnesia. From a narrative standpoint, the developers could have simply solved that with a lore dump. But that would be cheap. Instead, you have to find out bits and pieces of information about yourself and about your surroundings. It's supposed to feel confusing and frustrating, because that's probably what amnesia feels like in the real world: confusing and frustrating, not knowing where to go or what to do. So if that's how you feel, then the developers have achieved their main goal, at least for the first part of the game. As the story progresses, you'll learn more stuff, and you'll feel like you have more control. At that point, the story will really pull out the big guns: the story of Ignus, of Morte, of Vhailor, and so forth. You'll be able to decide if the philosophy that Fall-from-Grace adheres to is better than the one upheld by the Dustmen, among other things. And you will be confronted with your past and the decisions that you've made but have forgotten. You might have lost your memory, but the people that you affected did not. It will be up to you what to do with this new information. Will you take responsibility for all of your actions, both good and bad, even though you can't remember them? Will you act differently this time, or are you going to repeat the same things that you did in the past?

These sorts of things, these design decisions, are what set Planescape: Torment apart from other games. I once heard someone say that you're not exactly playing it, it's more like you're experiencing it, in the same sense that one might experience an artwork at a gallery or a museum. Which is not that far from the truth. Even though I personally don't consider video games in general to be works of art, this one in particular is the exception to the rule. Planescape: Torment is a work of art, in addition to being a game.

 

[JustKneller]

As for the confusion that you experience during the first part of the game, that's intentional. Your character has amnesia. From a narrative standpoint, the developers could have simply solved that with a lore dump. But that would be cheap. Instead, you have to find out bits and pieces of information about yourself and about your surroundings. It's supposed to feel confusing and frustrating, because that's probably what amnesia feels like in the real world: confusing and frustrating, not knowning where to go or what to do.

Another really good point. That's another reason I found the game so compelling. A lot of RPGs start with a trite premise (an evil is rising, and for contextual reasons, you need to rise to the challenge and stop it). Planescape, in a way, has no premise. At least, not a loaded one. It's a game where you're this particular person, but you have no idea who this person is or what you're doing there. The main quest is really just to figure out who you are and what is going on here. It's a very different format than most games. Most games use the Hero's Journey to frame their arc, Planescape is more kishotenketsu.

In a way, it reminds me of the old SNES Shadowrun game (where, perhaps coincidentally, the game starts with you waking up in a morgue). In both, the "world" is a big place and doesn't change from your choices. But, your choices are what sorts out who you are and how you chose to negotiate the bigger picture.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

*snicker* probably meant teeth

I found a tomb with multiple sarcophagi and a deadly lightning strike and teleport puzzle. And portal keys. Will try again tomorrow or read it up if it doesn't fall into place.

Found the Silent King but wasn't allowed to see him (yet?).

 

[m7600]

You can upgrade his teeth, there's a couple of items that are literal teeth that only Morte can use.

That's another unconventional thing about this game: the items. There's no healing potions, for example. You have clot charms instead. There's no armor for your main character. But you can get magical tattoos instead. Etc.

Notice also that there's no Elves, Dwarves, Orcs or other typical fantasy races. Instead there are Githzerai, Abishais, and so forth.

For a game set in the world of Dungeons and Dragons, it's extremely unconventional. I'm not even sure that it fits neatly into any known fantasy genre. Forgotten Realms is Sword & Sorcery, Dragonlance is High Fantasy, Ravenloft is Gothic Horror / Dark Fantasy. But Planescape, both the tabletop setting as well as the video game, is something else. It barely qualifies as Fantasy due to the presence of magic, and it might have some gothic elements with all of the undead stuff, but other than that, everything else is just unclassifiable, straight-up bonkers.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I have explored that tomb (my own, apparently) and read a few hints, but nothing really tangible about my past yet. Also it seems I left myself a warning not to trust Morte, but he downplayed that.
Ended up in a rat prison too, talked myself out of it and then realized how much it sucks to fight swarms of tiny cranium rats on a tablet screen with no AoE spells and a non-functional combat AI (i.e. no "attack on sight"). Pointy pointy pointy pointy all the time...

One thing occurred to me yesterday:
I have lost my memory, but there are lots of people around who know me from before. Who or what could be keeping them all quiet?
Some will always talk, so how come none of them offer information and some even said "I'm not allowed to tell you". What's at stake for them? Fear? A conspiracy? A game? Or do they hate me and don't want to help me?
I'm curious to find out.

 

[m7600]

Time to go talk to Fall-from-Grace!

It's not strictly necessary for the story, but she's my favorite character, so I'm always rooting for her : P

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

Time to go talk to Fall-from-Grace!

It's not strictly necessary for the story, but she's my favorite character, so I'm always rooting for her : P

But I'm still in a place full of rats and haven't spoken to the Silent King yet! I feel like I missed stuff in the catacombs, even if I found that sphere Pharod spoke of.

 

[m7600]

But I'm still in a place full of rats and haven't spoken to the Silent King yet!

I have a feeling that you'll have a hard time trying to talk to him. They don't call him the Silent King for nothing! But I won't tell you why. You'll have to find out for yourself : P

As for the rats, try not to kill too many of them, or you'll bring upon you the wrath of Many-as-One.

Don't forget to pick up Annah when you make it back to the surface. She's a tough cookie, but a great companion nonetheless.

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

I have a feeling that you'll have a hard time trying to talk to him. They don't call him the Silent King for nothing! But I won't tell you why. You'll have to find out for yourself : P

As for the rats, try not to kill too many of them, or you'll bring upon you the wrath of Many-as-One.

The thing is the way you talked before somehow made me expect some kind of milestone when I meet them, and yet I haven't met either, only countless minions with irrelevant chatter and loot, and I wonder if I should just go back to Pharod or if I'm missing something.

 

[JustKneller]

It's so hard not to say anything, but discovery is such a huge part of this game that to say something would be robbing you.

 

[m7600]

I'd say that it's definitely a milestone in the structure of the story. If every story has an introduction, a middle and an end, the encounter with the Silent King would be what marks the end of the introductory part and the start of the middle part. Technically that would be when you go back and talk to Pharod again, but the encounter with the Silent King feels like a major story beat nonetheless. Again, since this game is so unconventional, it's also not reducible to the traditional formula of "beginning, middle and end".

 

[Urdnot_Wrex]

Pfffff apparently I missed out on a potential solution because I first won my freedom from being imprisoned by the undead and only later learned how to talk to Stale Mary, but she would have helped me enter the throne room of the Silent King if I had learned to communicate with her before being free again. So that quest is closed.

And Many-As-One only let me go free after I agreed to go kill the Silent King, which I also can't do because there's no more dialogue option to reach him. I suppose the only way is to kill all the undead and see if one of them had the key to the throne room.

So yes online comments say this game doesn't handhold people like modern games do, some options get lost permanently if you don't meet certain requirements, but that's meh writing to me.
I'd still prefer a bit of handholding by writers to avoid screwing up opportunities than having to consult extensive walkthroughs for a good game experience or accept that it might be uninteresting and incomplete and I'd have to run the game like 40 times.
I also don't enjoy rolling back to a save game and having lost hours.

The undead and rats can fight their own war, I'm going back to the surface.