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It's kind of hard to put into words... But has anyone ever came across any works of fiction that reminded you even remotely of Planescape? I'm looking for more of that... dyanmic, that made Planescape great. The mood. The feeling. The way the cities and realms looked.

I can't even remember the books that I heard one of the games designers mentioning once, that they drew inspiration from.

Anyone want to help me out?

Sooooo, anyone?

One person that inspired the team who developed Planescape was John Keats. I would recommend you read a little bit about him before you start with his work - I would start from his theories of Negative Capability and The Mansion of Many Apartments.

Bear in mind that it'll be a more challenging (and hopefully satisfying) read than your average R. A. Salvatore book

Heh, the only Keats I've read as of now is the writer from a few hundred years ago.

Thanks for the reccomendation, Viscun.

I just looked into it, and it seems that I've already read a bit of Keats. Heh.

Forgive me if you already know this, and someone correct any wrongs here:

Planescape is an AD&D "setting", created around the start of the AD&D 2nd Edition days (which spanned roughly 1989-1999). Other settings were also created to support the AD&D 2nd Edition ruleset, which included The Forgotten Realms (ala Baldur's Gate), Ravenloft, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, Birthright, and several others. Each setting had a theme: Forgotten Realms was the standard fantasy setting, Ravenloft was gothic horror, Spelljammer was in outer space (I think), Birthright was about ruling a kingdom (I think), and so on.

(I'm at a loss as to how to describe the Planescape setting. Bizzarro-world?)

Anyways, each had a list of support materials that were published throughout the setting's lifespan. These included companion rulebooks (addendums to the core AD&D rulebooks), adventure modules that you'd play through, and novels based around characters that were part of the setting.

My favorite setting was always Ravenloft. I'll take a haunted castle run by a calculating genius vampire any day. I bought most of the support materials that were released for the Ravenloft setting during the 90's. Weather it was a rulebook, adventure, or novel, they were all usually excellent reads that captured the "flavor" of Ravenloft.

If you can somehow get a hold of the supporting material for AD&D Planescape from the 90's, I'd be willing to bet they're good reads too, especially if you liked Torment. The Wizards of the Coast website may have some old publications from back then available for free download. I know I got alot of old Ravenloft stuff from there.

Great post, thanks a bunch CFM.

No problem. Torment made me a fan of the Planescape setting. I found the concepts of Sigil (as a sort of gateway or middleground for the different Planes of existence, with gate keys that can be anything) absolutely intriguing. I'd love to read more about the Blood War, the Lady of Pain, the Lower Planes, etc. Some day.

If you like intriguing setting concepts, check out the Ravenloft setting. Ravenloft is comprised of serveral "Domains", each ruled (sometimes secretly) by a "Darklord". When an individual commits great acts of evil, the Mists of Ravenloft may take notice and envelope the evil being, transporting him or her from their homeworld into a newly created Ravenloft Domain, making them the Darklord of their own personalized little realm.

They acquire tremendous powers, enhanced from what they were in their "previous" life, making them almost impossible to destroy (at least, in conventional ways). At will, they can close the borders of their Domain (in unique ways), to keep any from escaping. Yet they are prisoners of Ravenloft, unable to escape their own Domain. And they are cursed, with curses taking various personalized forms based around the extreme desires surrounding the evils of their previous life.

For example, one Ravenloft Domain is ruled by a Lich. One tuff SOB, but he (it?) is cursed to never research and create new magicks, which is a real bummer if you're a Lich. The theme of most curses imposed by the Mists of Ravenloft on Darklords revolve around just-out-of-reach desires. The background stories on some of the Domains & Darklords are really intriguing, really unique, and really horrific tragedies. In a way, Torment felt a little like a Ravenloft tale.

Many Ravenloft adventures are stories inspired by familiar tales, such as Jack the Ripper, Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstien, Night of the Living Dead, Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Flying Dutchman, just to name a few. They combine gothic horror with AD&D fantasy to create a unique setting. One's even a bizarre spin-off of Pinochio, complete with slasher marionettes. At one point, the PC's wake up in a bird cage in the toymakers workshop, with their essences relegated to the bodies of little 6" marionettes. Throw in the fact that the bird cage is hanging 8 feet in the air, all the doors and windows are shut, and the toymaker has a pet house cat... escape becomes an interesting adventure.

Check it out!

Outside of AD&D, the movie "Memento", while not similar at all to PS:T in terms of atmosphere or content, does carry the same theme about an amnesiac that puts information he needs to remember in the form of tattoos on his body. Not a bad movie.

Also, the movie "The City of Lost Children" is a bizarre french flick whose atmosphere has always reminded me of Sigil.

I remember many years ago while playing, some of the more abstract ideas reminded me of Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman (DC / Vertigo)... also a few from his book Neverwhere.

In fact, the idea of people believing enough in something and creating it (or giving it power) is quite prominent in his writings...

I suggest picking them up, they're not your typical childrens comic and are for your more intelligent, mature people.

Ravenloft sounds extremely, extremely interesting. Things like that... I just love them.

And Gaiman also wrote the Vertigo series Sandman, which, in a few ways, reminded me of Planescape, I guess.

Russell wrote:Ravenloft sounds extremely, extremely interesting. Things like that... I just love them.

Planescape fans are soooo lucky they got Torment. What I wouldn't give for a Ravenloft game, made by Bioware, using the BG2 game engine.