Planescape: Torment

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Planescape: Torment {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}}
Developer(s)	Black Isle Studios {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}}
Release date(s)	December 12 1999
Genre(s)	Computer RPG
Mode(s)	Single player {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}}
Platform(s)	Windows {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}}

Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) which takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape campaign setting, released in 1999. It was developed by Black Isle Studios (closed in late 2004), with its design team being lead by Chris Avellone (now of Obsidian Entertainment).

In the game, players assume control of an enigmatic and heavily scarred immortal with pallid gray skin, commonly referred to by fans as "The Nameless One", who wakes up in a mortuary, with no memory of his identity and past experiences. He shortly meets a floating, talking skull named Morte, who follows him from that point onwards. Planescape: Torment differs from similar CRPGs like those in the Baldur's Gate series by placing an emphasis on conversation and storyline, as opposed to an emphasis on combat. Furthermore, unlike many RPGs, Planescape: Torment has a much darker and mature tone and style, as its name suggests. This decision, coupled with unattractive box art and inadequate marketing strategies, arguably led the game to have sales lower than expected. Planescape: Torment has since become a cult classic. The game's main themes include guilt, redemption, regret, the significance of reality perception and the importance of knowing oneself.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Characters 2.1 The Nameless One 2.1.1 Previous Incarnations 2.1.1.1 The Good Incarnation 2.1.1.2 The Practical Incarnation 2.1.1.3 The Paranoid Incarnation 2.1.1.4 Yemeth 2.1.1.5 The Lost Incarnation 2.2 Party Members 2.2.1 Morte Rictusgrin 2.2.2 Dak'kon 2.2.3 Annah-of-the-Shadows 2.2.4 Ignus 2.2.5 Nordom 2.2.6 Fall-From-Grace 2.2.7 Vhailor 2.3 NPCs 2.3.1 Ravel Puzzlewell 2.3.2 Trias 2.3.3 Pharod Wormtail 2.3.4 Deionarra 2.3.5 Fell 2.3.6 The Lady of Pain 2.3.7 Coaxmetal 2.3.8 The Pillar of Skulls 2.3.9 The Transcendent One 3 Credits 3.1 Cast (voice) 4 Literary aspects 5 Trivia 6 External links

Synopsis

The story begins in Sigil – the "City of Doors" – a city in which the protagonist (The Nameless One) awakens on a mortuary slab, not knowing where or who he is. A chattering skull named Morte floats over to him and informs The Nameless One of writing on his back instructing him to read his journal, and then find someone named Pharod. The Nameless One then embarks on a quest to resolve two fundamental problems: why he is an immortal and how he can become a mortal again.

The Planescape campaign setting incorporates beings, locations and oddities from several different existence planes. The player travels to destinations such as Avernus, the first layer of Baator, Carceri (the plane of thieves and liars), two of the Lady of Pain's Mazes, a "pregnant" alleyway, and more.

One idea that presents itself many times during the game is a sort of consensus reality — if enough people believe in something, then it is real, and begins to exist. For instance, when people ask The Nameless One his name, there is usually a response where he tells them that his name is "Adahn". If the player tells many people (about 10-12) that he is Adahn, a man named Adahn appears, claiming to be an old friend, even though he never existed before. Another example is a recovered memory in which the Nameless One debates a man out of existence.

Another feature of the game is the player has the ability to join several of the factions which exist in Sigil. Players can join the Dustmen, the Sensates, the Godsmen, the Anarchists, and (with a very odd sequence of actions) the Chaosmen. Along the way, you can learn what these factions believe in about the world. Some of these belief-systems are non-trivial.

Through the course of the game, the protagonist learns that his original incarnation sought out Ravel Puzzlewell, an infamous night hag, greatest of the Grey Sisters, whose pursuits were the "solving of puzzles not needed to be solved", and whose crimes included crossing the Lady of Pain and attempting to open all of the portals in Sigil. It was this incarnation who asked Ravel for immortality. The request was made because he had performed a terrible crime, a crime so wicked that a lifetime of good deeds could not save him from eternal damnation in the "Blood War". Ravel took up this challenge and attempted a solution, which was mostly successful — The Nameless One would be immortal — however, he could still die when wounded badly, and would later wake up mostly intact, albeit missing his memories. Ravel, in a gesture of cruelty, killed the first incarnation in order to test his immortality. Upon waking up, he was still alive, though he had forgotten his goal.

The overall goal of the game is to recover The Nameless One's mortality. His mortality must be recovered because with each "death," another person dies in his place, contributing to the vast crimes of the first incarnation. This is achieved by following clues and hints that the previous incarnations had left him, however, many links in the "chain" of knowledge leading to his mortality are broken or dead. For instance, the tattoos on his back instructed him to read his journal (which was destroyed by an incarnation of himself) and to find Pharod (who is eventually killed). Those are two links in the chain that are broken throughout the course of the game, and many more are sundered as the player continues on his quest. Suppose that The Nameless One lost his memory again — he would be lost without a single guide to nudge him in the right direction, and would probably never recover his mortality.

Eventually, The Nameless One reaches the Negative Material Plane to confront his mortality, which was separated from him by Ravel, and had grown into an entity by the name of "The Transcendent One" (a being which had "transcended" from simply being someone's mortality to a far more powerful being).

If The Nameless One is wise enough, he can convince or force The Transcendent One to merge with him. If he accomplishes this, The Nameless One wakes up in a new plane, going willingly to the punishment he became immortal to prevent - becoming a soldier in the Blood War. Various other options are available to persuade The Transcendent One if The Nameless One is charismatic enough.

If The Nameless One is not wise enough, he can choose to murder himself or threaten to do so. Given the special nature of the Negative Energy Plane, it is the only place that The Nameless One can truly die. As such, if he dies, The Transcendent One dies as well. This requires use of a special item.

Finally, The Nameless One can defeat the Transcendent One in combat, with or without help from allies. This results in the protagonist going to the punishment he became an immortal to prevent, thus becoming a soldier in the Blood War.

Characters

Image:TheNamelessOne.jpg

The Nameless One

You are nameless. You awoke on a slab in the Mortuary in Sigil, covered in scars and tattoos, your memory gone. Who has done this to you, and why? You don't know... yet. But you're going to find out.

The being now known only as The Nameless One (or TNO) is one of the closest things the multiverse has to a true immortal. Precisely how long he has lived or how many incarnations he has had is unknown, but judging from some of the contacts he has made (Lum the Mad, among others) he is probably at least several thousand years old, as the "Good Incarnation" in the Fortress of Regrets mentions that the Nameless One has died several thousand times.

His place of birth and early history have been lost, but at some point he committed a horrible crime. The precise nature of this crime is never expressed directly, though it was clearly severe enough to damn his soul even if he spent the rest of his life doing nothing but good. Hoping to avoid the horrors of an eternity in the Hells, he sought out the night hag Ravel Puzzlewell and presented her with the challenge to make him immortal, planning to spend the rest of his existence trying to atone for what he had done. As payment, he presented her with the riddle: "What can change the nature of a man?" Judging from his current appearance, he was likely around thirty at the time. Ravel's immortality ritual succeeded, though rather than granting him eternal life, Ravel simply stripped away his mortality (likely in addition to other enchantments that regenerate his body.) To test her ritual, Ravel immediately killed The Nameless One, and when he recovered, he had lost all of his memories. He no longer remembered the crime that caused him to seek immortality, or that he was immortal at all, or his own name.

Over the centuries, The Nameless One has taken myriad life-paths. He has been virtually everything, from mighty wizard to petty thief, a paragon of virtue and a heartless villain. In the game this is simulated by giving the player the choice of which class to level and which attribute to gain. Unlike all other D&D characters, the Nameless One can switch classes at any time just by talking to one of the members of his party (warrior, mage, or thief). At the beginning of the game, The Nameless One awakens in yet another incarnation, remembering nothing of his long and complex history. This time around however -as it soon becomes evident- he finally possesses the ability to recover from death without a memory loss. If the player gets The Nameless One killed in the game, it will simply continue with the hero waking up on the same metal slab in the Mortuary and will be able to continue his journey. A second take on The Nameless One's memory is that very early in the game, Morte had him start a new journal so that the incarnation that awakens will simply re-read the journal, becoming the same incarnation.

Early in the game the Nameless One can learn how to speak to the dead - a useful skill. If he chooses to be a mage, he can learn spells from Ignus and Dak'kon. What is especially coincidental is the Nameless One later learns that he taught Ignus and created the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon: therefore he's being taught spells he himself created.

Each time The Nameless One dies, another life is claimed in his place. This other soul becomes a shadow and travels to the Fortress of Regrets on the Negative Material Plane for a time. The energies of the Fortress and the Plane give them power, and the oldest shadows have grown far larger and stronger than they were before. Eventually, some escape (or are released) and attempt to track down The Nameless One and slay him in revenge to the torment he has put them through, however unwillingly.

A popular theory among fans is that The Nameless One is actually Zerthimon, creator of the Githzerai faction of the Gith. This theory is rendered doubtful when one considers that The Nameless One looks, and in many ways is, human.

In the abhored book losely based upon Planescape: Torment, The Nameless One was a human being, who made a pact with the Baatezu Fhjull Forked-Tongue -an NPC met late in the game-, offering his service as a soldier in the Blood War in exchange for his town being spared. He then sought a way to become immortal to avoid the Blood War entirely, and all of his most recent struggles are in fact the culmination of the machinations of Fhjull to claim TNO's soul. In the book, TNO's ability to remember memories from prior incarnations (beginning with the one that wakes up in the Mortuary) is due to being dosed prior to awakening in the Mortuary with a special elixir derived from the waters of the Styx by Fhjull Forked-Tongue.

Previous Incarnations

The word "incarnation" is frequently used in fandom, and briefly in the game, to refer to a period of time when the Nameless One consistently remembers who he is. An incarnation ends when the Nameless One loses his memory after a death. Although there were many previous incarnations, possibly numbering in the thousands, the player only learns specific details about a few of them, this is because these are the three that somehow remained in his mind. The Nameless One also meets physical representations of three of his incarnations at the end of the game. (This is keeping with the notion of the "Rule of Three", which states that in Planescape everything happens in threes.)

The Good Incarnation

The original and the first of The Nameless One incarnations. He committed a crime so serious that no amount of repentance will be able to give him the salvation he seeks, but that doesn't stop him from trying and doing numerous good deeds. The player can learn a wealth of information about his past as well as his true name from the Good Incarnation if he has the bronze sphere in his inventory. He believes that regret can change the nature of a man. He merges with The Nameless One with no qualms whatsoever.

The Practical Incarnation

The evil and cunning Nameless One. He was the one that left Deionarra in the Negative Plane to die to serve as his eyes in the Fortress of Regrets, imprisoned Vhailor in Curst, tricked Pharod into thinking that the bronze sphere was valuable loot and pried Morte out of the Pillar of skulls. He rescued Dak'kon from certain death solely for his Karach Blade. He ended up binding Dak'kon to him for eternity.

The Practical Incarnation took extraordinary measures to ensure continuity of purpose among the Nameless One's incarnations. He was the one who had instructions tattoed on his back to tell each new incarnation what to do. He also left a diary which explained everything he'd found out about his history and what he had attempted to do. He also built the Nameless One's tomb beneath Ragpicker's Square to trap Vhailor: an attempt he freely admits was an abyssmal failure. He was also the one who discovered the existence of the Bronze Sphere, and furthermore discerned what it truly was. He collected a party of very powerful and insightful warriors and managed to enter the Fortress of Regrets and face down the Transcendental One. (This is even more impressive because he did it without the help of Ravel.) It is unknown how he died.

In the Maze of Reflection, he tries to force The Nameless One into surrendering his will and control of the body.

The Paranoid Incarnation

The overly cautious and slightly insane Nameless One. He was the one that set up the traps within the Dodecahedron Journal and he was the incarnation that the Lady of Pain placed in her maze as punishment for killing people. He is also the incarnation that learned the language of Uyo and after mastering the language, killed off the linguist, Fin, to prevent people from being able to decode his journal writings. The Paranoid Incarnation also destroyed the meticulously kept journal that the Practical Incarnation kept (among others) to help his future incarnations.

This incarnation found the Nameless One's tomb beneath Ragpicker's Square and heavily improved upon its boobytraps. He also discovered a way of getting into Ravel's maze using a portable portal generator, but never succeded in doing so. He was killed in the Clerk's Ward by Aelwyn, but it's unknown if this was his "true" death. Since this death took place 50 years ago, it's unlikely that the Paranoid Incarnation was the incarnation that died just previous to the events of the game. (Though the ramblings on the scrap of parchment Annah found on The Nameless One's body suggest otherwise.) According to his journal, he was told that three deaths after his current (the Paranoid) incarnation, he would no longer forget upon dying. Disbelieving this, he killed the person who told him so (said person's identity was never explored beyond foretelling this and subsequently being killed), accusing him/her of lying and being useless.

He merges with The Nameless One after some convincing. Failing that, he fights The Nameless One to the death by ripping his own arm off and trying to beat the Nameless One to death with it.

Yemeth

This incarnation's story (though his name's mentioned among the aliases of the Nameless One) can only be tracked through an item that didn't make it in the game (Pendant of Yemeth). According to this, Yemeth was a sorceror of great power who, when time began to take its toll on him, created the Pendant to draw souls from dying mortals to power his waning life-force before he was finally slain in battle. There is some speculation about whether Yemeth is in fact the same as the Good Incarnation. It is also very likely that he was the one who taught Ignus the Art, which is something you never actually find out in the game.

The Lost Incarnation

The Nameless One doesn't actually encounter this incarnation, but finds his arm in the tombs beneath Ragpicker's Square. This incarnation was a thief. It's possible that this incarnation was the same as the Paranoid Incarnation, since the Paranoid Incarnation's arm is on the verge of coming off when you meet him. However, the contents of the hotel room the Paranoid Incarnation kept in the Clerk's Ward seem to suggest the Paranoid Incarnation was a mage, and not a thief.

Party Members

The following is a list of all the potential party members The Nameless One can obtain through his journeys. While there are seven potential members, there are only five slots (not including The Nameless One himself) in the party. Players may switch party members by finding and speaking to whoever was left behind.

Image:MorteRictusgrin.jpg

Morte Rictusgrin

Morte is a talking skull. His sole weapon seems to be his mouth, whether by taunting or biting. He seems to be along for the ride, whether you want him around or not.

You are somewhat curious as to how he is able to float around.

A floating skull with an acerbic attitude, Morte is chaotic good. While he lacks a body, he is a capable warrior in many aspects, biting with his sharp fangs and throwing foes off guard with taunts, while his smaller size, lack of vital organs and pseudo-undead nature protect him from many attacks that would normally inflict serious wounds. Many fans wonder where he keeps his inventory. Morte and The Nameless One have an extended history together.

Morte starts off in your party at the very beginning of the game, and - if you do not remove him from your party - can help you learn much of TNO's previous incarnations. His taunts are also very useful as they enable him to prevent a fleeing character from escaping and also allow him to silence spellcasting characters into going into melee combat. However, his taunts do not work on the undead and on creatures that possess very low intelligence or have no will of their own. Morte is the source of much of the game's humor, not the least being the chaotic conversations that can result between him and the Nameless One, whom he refers to as Chief.

Towards the end of the game you find out where Morte came from: a Pillar of Skulls in the plane of Baator. Morte was pulled out by one of the TNO's previous incarnations from the pillar. The pile is composed of the skulls of all the people who died and have caused another to die through their lies. Morte's torment comes from the fact that he, prior to his death, lied to the Good Incarnation and told him that Ravel could make him immortal, and is thus responsible for the Nameless One's lamentable condition.

Image:Dakkon.jpg

Dak'kon

Dak'kon is a githzerai, one of the tight-lipped people of Limbo. His skin is yellow and lined; he appears to be old, and pain haunts his small black eyes. He carries a blade of strange metal.

A Githzerai zerth, Dak'kon is the last known wielder of a "karach" (chaos-matter) blade, which alters its shape, appearance and abilities depending on the power and mental state of its owner/wielder. Like most githzerai, Dak'kon is lawful neutral. He is a capable wizard and an even more capable warrior, making him a very valuable ally throughout the game as he can adapt to different situations easily, going into melee or casting spells, which ever the situations call for. However, his coal-black eyes hold a deep, secret pain, one that weighs on his very soul.

Dak'kon can be acquired early in the game and is found in The Smoldering Corpse Bar. He joins immediately after TNO first talks to him. Through careful dialogue with Dak'kon you can explore the philosophy of the Gith and learn his history as well as a number of magic spells. It later turns out that Dak'kon made an oath to follow TNO until either one of them died, not knowing that TNO was, in reality, immortal and thereby bounding Dak'kon to TNO for eternity. TNO can find out more about his past through Dak'kon as the game progresses, though this is most evident near the very end of the game.

In the much-hated book loosely based upon the game, Dak'kon's history with The Nameless One is much briefer and much less tragic than in the game. Rather than having been exiled by his fellows, Dak'kon left willingly after betraying a close friend of his; when his friend deliberately went into a Githyanki colony nearby to cause trouble, Dak'kon surrended him to avoid a war. Dak'kon of the book is also a member of the Believers of the Source, who originally encountered The Nameless One after being sent to observe him and see if he could be useful to their faith. It is Dak'kon who gave The Nameless One the name of Hra'ka'lothanek, the contraction of which -Thane- is used to adress The Nameless One throughout the book.

Image:AnnahoftheShadows.jpg

Annah-of-the-Shadows

Annah is a tiefling, a brash girl on the brink of womanhood. Her tail lashes when she's angry. She's a canny guttersnipe, and the Hive seems to be a second skin for her.

A brash, young tiefling (person with fiendish heritage; one of Annah's grandparents was a fiend) Annah is chaotic neutral. She appears mostly human except for her tail. A fighter and a thief, Annah was raised by Pharod to be a capable rogue, useful for tasks that his more ordinary underlings could not complete. Annah utilises punch-daggers (similar to katars) and attacks her enemies when they least suspect. She has no tolerance for fools or the clueless, and she is quite skilled at heaping verbal abuse, heavily laden with Hive slang, on those who annoy her. She is somewhat superstitious, especially where the Lady of Pain is concerned. Annah is a very useful ally as she is able to scout ahead of the party for any potential threats and traps and she is able to deal an amazing amount of damage if she performs a back-stab, which is extremely useful before fighting a boss or some very powerful creature.

Although she can be found on the streets of Sigil very early in the game, The Nameless One only gets her in the party during the mid-portion of the game, where she will automatically join the party after completing a task for Pharod. Annah is a potential love interest for The Nameless One.

In the much-loathed book based upon the game, Annah is similar in personality but in many other aspects very different to her game incarnation. In the game, Annah's sole deformity is her tail. In the book, Annah is described as having beige skin, six functional fingers on each hand, thin black lips that barely frame her wide mouth, which is filled with a chaotic jumble of squared-off teeth and pointed fangs, white hair that covers her head like lamb's fleece in inch-thick curls and slits of skin instead of ears. She also wears a tightly-laced dark-purple bodysuit instead of the mis-matching scraps she wears in the game. She also differs by being a multi-classed Thief/Mage instead of a pure Thief.

Image:Ignus.jpg

Ignus

There is a burning man hovering in the air over a grille in the Smoldering Corpse Bar. His skin bubbles and chars, and flames pour from his tormented eyes, yet his expression is far away, almost as if he were reveling in the flames.

A pyromaniacal mage, Ignus is chaotic neutral (due to insanity, and some contend he should be classified as chaotic evil for his destructive urges.) Ignus once attempted to burn down the Hive, and was only stopped by a collaboration of many local magic users, from minor hedge wizards to mighty sorcerors. Furious at his mad killing spree, they converted him into a living conduit to the Elemental Plane of Fire as an ironic punishment. It should have incinerated him instantly. Unfortunately, he didn't die. Stuck in a semi-coma and reveling in the never-ending flames coursing over his body, he was eventually made into a mascot for the Smoldering Corpse Bar. It is revealed that The Nameless One was the master of Ignus in a previous incarnation and indirectly caused Ignus to become this monstrosity.

Ignus can join the party after freeing him from his imprisonment in The Smoldering Corpse Bar. His attacks are ranged that deal part physical and part fire damage. Ignus is literally on fire at all times, and never walks, but floats everywhere. He obeys only The Nameless One, requests from any other party member are responded to with violent threats. He can teach The Nameless One a number of spells unavailable anywhere else, though each teaching requires TNO to sacrifice a body part. These organs will regenerate, but Ignus' power is so great that permanent hit point loss still results. As the little flesh he has remaining is molten, he is unable to equip or wear any kind of armour or tattoos, making him very vulnerable to brute and raw physical damage. However, his magic spells and attacks are unmatched and he has the surprisingly high constitution score of 18, allowing him to regenerate lost health, albeit at a slow rate. Naturally, Ignus is also immune to fire attacks and spells.

Near the very end of the game, if the player was mostly lawful and/or good throughout the game, The Nameless One will have to battle him in the Fortress of Regrets.

Image:Nordom.jpg

Nordom

This modron seems to be subtly different from the others you have seen. It carries a pair of crossbows in its four arms, and it seems to be taking an active interest in your behavior.

A Modron who went rogue (separated from the Modron hive mind) after being exposed to the raw elemental chaos of Limbo, Nordom is a chaotic neutral creature due to him seperating from the law and order of the Modron society that still has a machinelike mindset. While often referred to as "he", Nordom is sexless. He got his name after The Nameless One inadvertedly referred to him as a "backwards Modron." He attacks with a pair of gear spirits in the form of crossbows , making him the second other character that is able to attack from a distance.

Unlike all the other Modrons in the game, who have a pair of arms, a pair of legs, and a pair of wings as their limbs, Nordom has chosen to replace his wings with a second set of arms, so that he can reload his crossbows unnaturally fast. If the player has not armed Nordom with special crossbow bolts, the gear sprites can create an infinite number of ordinary bolts for Nordom to fire at his enemies. Nordom is a very confused creature, unused to his new individuality; he's not entirely certain what happened to him to split him away from Mechanus, but being given a role in The Nameless One's party comforts him, seeing as he's used to being part of a hierarchy) and gives him focus.

With the right attributes the player can reprogram Nordom making him more powerful, not to mention less troubled. Nordom has occasional dialogue with Fall-From-Grace which seem to indicate an attraction to her. Nordom is an extremely flexible ally. Under proper direction from his superior (in this case The Nameless One) he can modify his body to become stronger, stealthier, or smarter. Furthermore, he has a wide array of lenses and crossbow bolts, each with many different abilities, allowing him to deal with different types of opponents with great effect.

Nordom is sort of a secret character, as players can play through the game without meeting him or even learning of his existence entirely, and the fact that he is in a random location only makes it harder to acquire him (he is relocated whenever the Modron Maze is reset). He can be found in a random location on the hard difficulty in the maze of the Modron Cube. He lacks subtle social cues, thus often missing the point in the face of Morte and Annah's barbs.

Image:FallFromGrace.jpg

Fall-From-Grace

Fall-From-Grace is a succubus, one of the tanar'ri, a creature literally formed of raw chaos and evil, her body and mind the perfect template to tempt a man of any species, any age. She is the proprietress of the Brothel for Slaking Intellectual Lusts.

A creature of contradictions. She is a cleric but worships no god. She is formed from pure chaos and evil, but is (apparently) lawful neutral with a good bent. She runs a Brothel for Slating Intellectual Lusts. Perhaps the oddest of all, she is a beautiful succubus, but is by all appearances chaste. While many in-game characters are quick to indicate her heritage and proclaim that she must have some sort of demonic and evil scheme, no such plot on her part is ever indicated. Although she lacks the ability to dish out physical damage with her touch (due to the fact she cannot stand the feel of metal, and is, therefore, unable to utilise any sort of weapons), she can kill with a kiss.

She is the only available healer, and a very powerful one at that, making her one of the most valuable allies The Nameless One can bring along in his party. Furthermore, she is the only party member, aside from The Nameless One, that is able to resurrect fallen party members. Unfortunately, many players found that the AI governing her combat actions often led her to rush forward into combat to heal others, and thus expose herself to attack.

Grace can be found during the mid-game at her brothel in the Clerk's Ward. The Nameless One requires a relatively high amount of intelligence and charisma to convince Grace into leaving her brothel to journey with him to the other planes. Grace is member of the Society of Sensates and is also a potential love interest for The Nameless One. The quest is fulfilling from a roleplaying aspect the lethality of her kiss prevents a more physical relationship. (If TNO's Wisdom is low enough, the player should have access to an option to kiss her during a dialog session after she joins the party. Results are predictably lethal).

Image:Vhailor.jpg

Vhailor

This suit of Mercykiller armor apparently has been standing here in the prison under Curst for some years. It has not been disturbed, which is strange, considering how very quick the people of Curst are to seek a profit.

A fanatical Mercykiller who is lawful neutral, Vhailor's drive for Justice is so strong that it enabled his soul to remain long after he had died and his corpse rotted completely away. He now inhabits his suit of armor, and does not appear to recognize that he has died. He simply doesn't think about it - and why should he, when there are so many criminals in the Multiverse to bring to justice? Vhailor's favored weapon is his executioner's axe, "Final Judgement." The "Final Judgement" is a cursed weapon and cannot be removed from Vhailor, even if a "Remove Curse" spell is cast on him.

When he was alive, he tried to track down and bring to justice one of The Nameless One's incarnations. This incarnation, the Practical Incarnation (see above), sealed Vhailor in a magical prison in the gate town of Curst. When the current incarnation of The Nameless One (the player) meets Vhailor, Vhailor doesn't immediately recognize that the player is the killer he has been hunting. However, through a certain conversation path, The Nameless One can end up revealing to Vhailor that he is the killer that Vhailor has been tracking, ending with violent results. Other conversations allow TNO to convince Vhailor to depart this realm and truly "die".

He is found relatively late in the game in a magically sealed prison cell located under Curst. Like Dak'kon, he can immediately join the party after conversing with him for the first time. Near the very end of the game, The Nameless One will battle Vhailor in the Fortress of Regrets if the player has been mostly chaotic and/or evil throughout the game.

NPCs

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Ravel Puzzlewell

All the stories you heard about Ravel Puzzlewell prepared you for a loathsome monster who would devour your soul. If she intented that, though, she chose a strange way to go about it - she is undeniably insane, trapped in a black-barbed maze of thorns and evil. You can't help but pity her, despite her great power: She has lost everything and doesn't even know it.

One of the ladies of the Gray Waste. She was the one who made the Nameless One immortal. She's well-known and feared throughout the planes. Many people come to ask boons of her, and are enslaved when they fail to answer her riddles. The Nameless One is the only known person who got the better of Ravel in this contest and, consequently, got his wish.

At the time of the game Ravel had been "mazed" by the Lady of Pain: placed in a pocket dimension constructed from an unused section of Sigil. This was in retaliation for Ravel's attempt to destroy Sigil. It is revealed through conversation with her, however, that she discovered the way to leave the maze long, long ago, but actively chooses to remain. There are hints that Ravel is attracted to The Nameless One - one conversation path leads to her transforming into Fall-From-Grace or Annah whereupon she kisses you, and a powerful tattoo can be gained from this experience.

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Trias

Trias is a deva, a celestial being from the Upper Planes. You first encountered him in the prison of Curst, imprisoned in an obsidian bubble. His beauty is astonishing to behold; the aura of goodness rolls from him like a glorious wave of light. His wings are charred down to the bone, yet he seems to bear his suffering with pride.

A fallen Deva who had some past dealings with the Nameless One. In the game Trias's and the Nameless One's paths cross only tangently. Trias has obviously met the Nameless One before, and did want to cause him harm, but nothing of their past is revealed or even hinted at. Although he is a Deva, Trias has the ability to lie. Since it is generally believed that Deva's never lie, both The Nameless One and Fhjull ended up being tricked by Trias.

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Pharod Wormtail

Pharod Wormhair is the Collector King of the Hive, a man crippled in body and spirit. His mind, however, seems to be as sharp as ever. He rules the Buried Village with an iron fist, keeping even that disorderly rabble in line. He is a sneak, a thief, and he seems to know far too much about you, though he does not reveal it without ... coaxing.

The "King of Rags" who rules a community of thieves, graverobbers, and other desperate ne'er-do-wells beneath Ragpicker Square, and Annah's adoptive father (for whom she has, at best, ambivalent feelings). The Nameless One seeks him out because the tattoos on his back advise him to. Once a man of nobility and influence but dubious integrity, Pharod demands that the Nameless One retrieve a certain object, a Bronze Sphere, for him in exchange for information so as to avoid an infernal fate (unsuccessfuly, as he is later found on the Pillar of Skulls in Avernus). He is later killed by Shadows for his association with the Nameless One who, it is revealed, was the one who told him to look for the sphere in the first place (for his own purposes).

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Deionarra

The ghostly apparition, Deionarra, claims she knows you, that you are her "Love." Whatever keeps her on the physical plane must be powerful indeed, for her to stave off death so long. Dying does not seem to have improved her disposition.

Deionarra was the daughter of an advocate in the Clerk's Ward, and had the ability to glimpse the future through visions. She encountered the Nameless One when he was in his Practical Incarnation.

The Nameless One convinced her to come with him by saying he loved her. However, he felt nothing for her, and only intended to use her. She traveled with The Nameless One throughout the multiverse and planes, only to be left behind to die in the Fortress of Regrets. Now, as a ghost, she haunts the Fortress of Regrets and the Mortuary, lamenting the loss of her love. Only The Nameless One can actually see her, all the other characters seem to think he is talking into thin air whenever he converses with Deionarra.

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Fell

Fell is a fallen dabus, a former servant of the Lady of Pain and one of the few remaining priests of the dead god of portals, Aoskar. He has achieved some renown as a tattoo artist, somehow bringing his pictures to a kind of life. Simply return to Fell with tales of your exploits and he can sketch them on your skin, and allow you to draw strength from them.

A fallen dabus that is skilled in the art of tattooing. While most Dabus float slightly above the ground, Fell has been cursed to walk on the ground by the Lady of Pain for worshiping her "rival" Aoskar, God of portals. He provides certain insights and advice to those that are willing to risk the wrath of the Lady, as well as creating a variety of different enhancing tattoos as the game progresses (reflecting what The Nameless One experiences).

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The Lady of Pain

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The Lady is a mystery. She's widely regarded to be the de facto ruler of Sigil, its protector and its victim. She is said to guard the doors of the Cage against the myriad schemes of the gods, to be the ultimate expression of balance in the multiverse, to be the prisoner of the City of Doors. There are thousands of stories about her - one even tells that she's actually six giant squirrels with a headdress, robe, and ring of levitation and illusions - but none of them can be answered. She is a true enigma, a puzzle with no solution.

If someone displeases her - by upsetting the balance of the city or worhipping her - the Lady may punish the offender. Her punishment ranges from the Mazes - a twisting, turning hell with a cleverly disguised exit - to the casting of her shadow across the transgressor, covering him with slashes and gouges from her sharp-edged shadow, leaving behind a pile of gore and viscera. Neither option is paricularly attractive.

A very powerful being, many of the hive dwellers consider her to be a deity, but no one really worships her for fear of her wrath. No one knows how she came to be or what her true purpose is, but she helps in maintaining the balance within Sigil and throws defilers and denizens who anger her into one of her mazes. Often, she will only interfere when the very balance and stability of Sigil is threatened. While Clueless may dismiss the Hivers' fear of her as superstition, the informed know that she is quite real and extremely deadly. She is also known as Her Serenity, for the permanently vacant expression on her face, or simply The Lady. She is only a lady insofar as she is characterized as female in her countenance. The Lady may as well be male or sexless, or such a type that traditional gender classification is impossible.

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Coaxmetal

A huge iron golem laboring away in the mysterious siege tower in the middle of Sigil, Coaxmetal is metal given life with an urge toward destruction. It is immense in size and its goal seems to be the creation of weaponry.

A giant and metallic Entropic Iron Golem, he has ensued such madness and chaos in the realms that the Lady of Pain permanently placed him in the confines of a siege tower. He is a very skilled blacksmith who is able to create a range of very exotic weapons, and even a weapon that can kill even immortals. He longs for his freedom and requests The Nameless One to help free him by giving him the Modron Cube.

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The Pillar of Skulls

This disgusting mass of heads towers lonesome in the fiery wastes of Avernus, the first layer of Baator. Apparently, it is composed of the heads of liars and ill-meaning sages, a punishment for those who squandered the gift of knowledge. You have been told that the Pillar holds the answers to your mortality, the precious secret that has been driving you for these long years.

A grotesque pillar composed of the skulls of villains and thieves. It is extremely intelligent and holds much of the information that The Nameless One seeks, but it seeks a price for every single question asked. Pharod ended up here after his violent death by the shadows. Morte originated from the pillar.

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The Transcendent One

This mysterious spectral entity is responsible for delivering the killing blow on Ravel during her last moments in the Black-Barbed Maze. Who this adversary is is unknown.

The Nameless One's mortality in a corporeal form. After it was separated from The Nameless One, it manifested into being and evolved, growing in power and intellect. He and The Nameless One share a bond, and if either of them dies permanently, so shall the other. He later reveals that he sends out shadows after The Nameless One not to kill him, but rather to make him forget through his death. He believes that nothing can change the nature of a man.

Credits

Cast (voice)

• Michael T. Weiss — The Nameless One
• Rob Paulsen — Morte Rictusgrin
• Jennifer Hale — Fall-from-Grace/Deionarra
• Sheena Easton — Annah-of-the-Shadows
• Mitch Pileggi — Dak'kon
• Charles Adler — Ignus
• Rodger Bumpass — Strahan Runeshadow
• Dan Castellaneta — Nordom
• Flo Di Re — Ravel Puzzlewell
• Tony Jay — Transcendent One
• John de Lancie — Trias
• Keith David — Vhailor

Literary aspects

Planescape: Torment is notable for the quantity of dialogue (in text form) which it contains. An estimate by the creators of the game places it at almost 1 million words. This is comparable to one volume of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

It has been argued that the wordy nature of the game may have turned off potential players, having realized that gameplay often focuses on resolution of quest and story objectives through selection from available dialogue choices, rather than through combat encounters. There were very few (about four or so) required combat encounters within the game. All others could be resolved or avoided through dialogue or stealth. The weakness of this approach was that the game's interface borrowed heavily from previous CRPG's like the Baldur's Gate series. These games were mainly combat oriented, stitched together with short, simple dialogues. Planescape: Torment was the opposite, and the interface didn't lend itself as well to the screens and screens of text. In some cases these would require many minutes of perusal in a small window, often with multiple optional responses that were too long to compare side by side.

A book based loosely on the game was also released (by Ray and Valerie Vallese, ISBN:0786915277), though the storylines do not match up due to the book having been written before the game's script was completely finalized. Fan reactions have been generally negative due to serious liberties in plot and characterization. For instance, the Nameless One actually chooses a name, and is referred to by it, early in the book, something he never does in the game.

A novelisation based more closely on actual game dialogue was completed by Rhyss Hess, and is available for download.

Trivia

• The designers chose not to have any swords in the game with two exceptions: the sword of Trias (only usable if you are Lawful Good) and Dak'kon's karach, which only Dak'kon can use. Axes, maces and daggers are all common, but no swords. This adds a somewhat humorous note to the entry in the game manual, stating that "ideas and beliefs can be more threatening to you than some berk with a sword".

• The game Baldurs Gate II has an optional quest which involves a group of actors from Sigil. The player can choose to rescue the bard (a Tiefling, like Annah) and may choose to enter a pocket universe. Some rare magical items clearly related to Planescape: Torment can also be purchased from a special merchant (such as Dak'kon's Zerth Blade or Vhailor's Helm).

• "Planescape: Torment - The Soundtrack," an unofficial promotional soundtrack album by Mark Morgan and Richard Band for Planescape: Torment, was released in Poland by CD Projekt as a bonus CD that also had several tracks not included in the game. As a note, it was of 192 Kilobit MP3 quality. It includes two unused themes for a "good" and a "neutral" ending; it appears that only the "bad" one made it into the game's final version. A 38th bonus track of the game credits was released from Platter's site ([1]).

• The game has been translated to several languages by fans and enthusiasts. A full translation to Hungarian took over 4 years ([2]). The Italian Translation Project took about 15 months translating 1.4 million words in 68,510 dialog sentences ([3]). A Korean translation was made in a one man effort. A Spanish translation by Clan Dlan, an RPG fan group, was reviewed and reported to be professional level ([4]).

• The game was added to Gamespy's Hall of Fame in August 2004 ([5]) and Gamespot's Greatest Games of All Time list in October 2005 ([6]).

• According to several sources, Planescape: Torment has numerous inspirations from a variety of books, comics, and games. The notable works among them include Archie Comics, The Chronicles of Amber, The Elementals, Final Fantasy, and Shadowrun. It is not known exactly to what extent they influence Planescape: Torment, although numerous allusions can be seen throughout the game.

External links

• Planescape-Torment.org, has both the complete Planescape: Torment soundtrack and a fan-made fix pack that resolves the bugs not fixed by the official patch available for download
• The Pit, "It's All about You, Berk."
• Sorcerer's Place - Planescape: Torment Index, extensive coverage at Sorcerers.net
• Planescape: Torment Spoilers, Solutions, & Spell Lists, from The Spoiler Centre
• Planescape: Torment - Novelization, a downloadable PDF/DOC of a novelization of the game
• Planescape: Torment Artwork
• Bootstrike's Planescape: Torment Files Collection, a file resource center
• The Planescape: Torment Shrine, a #1 source of info
• The Planescape: Torment Webring, a list of sites dedicated to PS:T and other Infinity Engine games
• The Greatest Games of All Time: Planescape: Torment
• Gamespot's info page for Planescape: Torment
• {{{2|{{{title|Planescape: Torment}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
• MobyGames' info page for Planescape: Torment
• Entry at Home of the Underdogs, which give a 9.11/10
• RPG Codex (covers all CRPGs)cs:Planescape: Torment

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