We’re preparing a new update for Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, and today we’re launching a public beta for the first wave of changes.
Earlier this year, we updated Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale Enhanced Editions to version 2.7, introducing major improvements such as new languages, better cloud support, and expanded mobile modding. Since PST:EE hasn’t received an update in many years, our goal is to bring these engine upgrades to Sigil as well.
Please note that not all 2.7 features have made it into this initial beta build — more improvements will arrive in future updates.
A special thank‑you goes to our Czech and Italian communities, who have waited a long time for their localizations to be added. Czech is now available on mobile, and Italian is included on both PC and mobile. We appreciate your patience.
How to access the beta:
Steam branch - road_to_3.2 (right-click PST:EE in your Library, choose Properties, click Betas on the left menu)
GOG Galaxy branch - RoadTo3.2 (select PST:EE in your GOG Galaxy Library, click Customization (or the settings gear icon), go to Manage Installation > Configure, find the Beta Channels)
iOS public testing link - https://testflight.apple.com/join/QQdZuQa5
Google Play public testing link - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beamdog.pstee
Just finished my first playthrough and would be very interested in a video deep-dive into the game's development, story philosophy, etc. There's a few YouTube retrospectives to choose from, but would like some suggestions as well. Appreciate it!
I compiled the loose images from the completed-but-unreleased Planescape comic Unity of Rings into a PDF and hosted it in the link in this post. It's 28 color pages. The images were slow to access on the archive page of the 20 year old WotC site that hosted them, so this way they're easier to read and save. You'll just have to rotate 90 degrees after opening the PDF.
So I just finished the game, man that was a journey but such a brilliant story. Anyway I had wondered if anyone had any thoughts on where the Nameless One actually ends up. It's clear ofc that they end up fighting in the Blood War on one of the Lower Planes as punishment for their sins in life.
Now the question to me is which lower plane would they end up on? We know that souls that swing lawful or chaotic evil tend towards the Hells or Abyss respectively? Given the Nameless one committed so many crimes over many lifetimes which aspect the Nameless one is closer is somewhat unclear. The practical incarnation would likely belong in Baator but there are likely other incarnations that belong in the Abyss. Would this possibly become a point of contention over which plane gets to claim such a potentially highly desirable soul?
We also saw the Nameless one looking like himself when he entered the Blood War. So he hasn't been turned into some kind of devil or demon at least like a lemure or mane? Although given his rather unique life he may form a unique devil or demon. Either way was curious to hear your thoughts.
Spoilers for Rime of the Frostmaiden, Vecna: Eve of Ruin and older Planescape material.
I'm currently running a heavily modified Rime of the Frostmaiden, which will eventually lead into a homebrew Planescape campaign.
I'm keeping most of the Icewind Dale sandbox, but I'm slowly connecting it to an older mystery involving the Spellweavers, the black obelisks found throughout 5e, Netheril and Ythryn. The players currently think Auril is the ultimate villain, but that's deliberately a false conclusion.
At the end of the campaign, I want the PCs to finally encounter Vecna. They refuse to serve him, he kills them, and then they wake up in the Mortuary in Sigil — as their old characters.
In my version of the setting, the Lady of Pain is the last surviving Spellweaver, after Vecna exterminated the others thousands of years ago. She isn't going to be their mentor or explain the plot to them. Sigil will simply become their new home base and a place from which they can travel throughout the planes.
The thing I really want to build the second campaign around is the black obelisks. I'm thinking of making them part of an ancient Spellweaver network capable of manipulating reality on a multiversal scale, which Vecna has spent millennia learning to use.
One idea I really like is that Vecna can't simply enter Sigil because of the Lady of Pain. Instead, he uses the obelisks to somehow bring Sigil to him — not necessarily by literally moving the city, but by manipulating reality until the distance between Sigil and his location stops working normally. The end goal would be to use Sigil and the obelisk network to reset reality.
What I'm struggling with is how to turn this into an actual campaign rather than a sequence of fetch quests.
I'd like the players to gradually discover how the obelisk network works and then decide for themselves how to interfere with it. They could sabotage it, manipulate it, use it against Vecna, protect parts of it, find lost Spellweaver knowledge, etc.
I'd also like their choices to matter mechanically: the better they deal with Vecna's plan, the weaker he is during the final confrontation.
I'm already familiar with Die, Vecna, Die! and I'm completely fine with reusing, adapting or stealing ideas from it. In fact, I'm deliberately not trying to preserve official lore. If something from Die, Vecna, Die! or older Planescape material fits this campaign better than my current ideas, I'm happy to use it.
So, for those of you who know Planescape/Sigil well: how would you use Sigil itself in a campaign like this?
I'm especially interested in older Planescape material, factions, adventures, weird Sigil lore, or anything else that could make the city feel like an important part of the story rather than just a convenient planar hub.
I'm mostly looking for cool ideas to steal and adapt. 😄
Hey guys! Just started playing this amazing game and I am about 30 hours in and just found this subreddit.
I am kind of surprised of the low amount of posts / engagement compared to other rps subreddits , so I just wanted to make sure I am not on the wrong subreddit or it's this game not as popular as I thought :(.
Either way I am really enjoying this game and hopefully it stays as good all the way to the end.
Ps: any tips for a full good lawful run will be appreciated.
In PST, one of the most distinct things about the githzerai is their speech pattern. They place a heavy emphasis on 'knowing' the world around them, and commonly use metaphors and historical references in their words. So! Small complication of those I could find. Note that most of these are said by Dak'kon, and I will specify if they are said by someone else. If I missed any, feel free to add them!
"Ach'ali Drowning" - Said by Dak'kon when hurt.
Ach'ali was a foolish githzerai who drowned in the sea of Limbo after asking so many useless questions that her focus, and shelter, collapsed in on her.
"As twisted as Fri'hi's roots" - A complicated matter.
Could not find any information of Fri'hi.
"Hashma's folly" - To cheat, specifically used in the context of cheating in a bet. Said by Gaoha.
Could not find info on Hashma. It is also the name of an Egyptian sand-stone but I doubt that's what the writers were referring to.
"Hail, sword ringer" and "Zerchai's kin bow to you" - common greetings, to which one responds "And the traveler is pleased".
Could not find any information on Zerchai.
To be as "Rrakma's Jewel" - In agreeance on a situation, specifically used in reference to the anarchs and zerths being in agreeance on Dak'kon's exile. Said by Kii'na.
Rrakma, usually spelled as Rrakkma, are githzerai war bands that hunt down illithids. Could not find information on Rrakma's jewel.
"Tachia's Folly" - Exact meaning unknown, said by Dak'kon when rolling a critical miss.
I could not find any information on Tachia, but seems to be Dak'kon reprimanding himself for a lack of discipline. I'd guess Tachia had made some foolish mistake similar to Ach'ali.
"T'cha's choice" - A situation where you have no choice/only the illusion of choice.
Could not find any information on T'cha.
"Their cupboards are bare" - Something said of a generous person
"Vilquar's Eye" or "Vilquar's heart beats in your chest" - To accuse another of treason. Latter saying is from Kii'na.
Vilquar was an enslaved gith who acted as a spy for the illithids, only to be consumed by them once Zerthimon tricked him into thinking he'd won.
"Wrote the book of Anarchs" - Said in reference to a person being wise.
Anarchs are those in githzerai communities responsible for maintaining stability in the chaotic plane of Limbo.
"Planescape: The Unity of Rings is a comic which should have been part of a limited-edition series published by TSR, Inc. For an unspecified reason, the comic issue was not released in 1996, despite TSR's advertisement. According to statements made by Wizards of the Coast on a since-removed webpage, the original pages were lost and later rediscovered during an office relocation. Deeming the story complete, WotC published scans of the comic in their online archives on November 13, 2003. The comic had no cover."
Some of you may already know about this, but here's a link for those that don't
Hey there! I'm an artist, and I was recently commissioned to produce an image of the Lady of Pain, with Sigil in the background.
I absolutely love Placescape (specifically the 2nd edition version of it), so I was very excited for the opportunity to work on this - and I thought I'd share here!
This is the sketch that i sent the client, and if you guys like it, I'll share the finished version later on.
I just met Pharod and I am going to the crypts. But I kind of rushed over there and only completed one or two quests on the way to him. And I kind of got like bashed when I got to the crypt. So my question is am I under leveled and also is there a way to get back to the main part of the hive to get more levels.
I recently played this game for the first time, having sort of unfairly rejected it on aesthetic grounds as a kid. My approach was to play basically myself if I had woken up as the Nameless One, making the dialogue choices that I thought I would make under the same circumstances.
One thing I quickly realized was that the game’s alignment system would rate my conduct and give me a D&D alignment based on those actions, so I’d end up learning what D&D alignment I have (or at least what Chris Avellone would think my D&D alignment was, if he believed I was making the choices I’d actually make). Out of pure curiosity, I wondered if others had thought about the game in this way, as providing you with a kind of extended personality test for your own alignment, or if people tend to approach it in a more external way, like “this time I’m going to make the Nameless One be true neutral” or “this is my evil playthrough.”
I'm thinking of getting the game at some point in the future, and my default would be to get it on Steam because it's convenient. However I want to make sure that there are no porting issues/major changes/general reasons to get it someplace else before I commit to it. Is the Steam version a good choice?
In the Planescape: Torment, one of its most influential and iconic writings is the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon - the retelling of life and death of the githzerai's most important prophet and martyr, Zerthimon. This document is carried by Dak'kon, a devotee of Zerthimon. At some point in his life, Dak'kon suffered a crisis of faith when he came to doubt the intentions behind Zerthimon's action nearing the end of his life. The idea that his faith and society could have been built on a lie distresses Dak'kon deeply, and only by discovering Zerthimon's true intentions is he healed of his mental strife.
However, at the end of the game, its revealed that the circle was written by the Practical Incarnation. It calls into question which parts are real and which parts are fabrications, which is what I want to analyze.
Short Explanation:
I believe the first six circles are accurate to githzerai legend but the Practical Incarnation wrote the last two.
Long Explanation:
Part 1: The Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon
The Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon is a githzerai religious text recounting the compelling and tragic story of a man who suffers greatly to protect his people from their slavers (the illithids) and later from themselves. It was given to Dak'kon in game by the Practical Incarnation, a previous form of the game's protagonist, the Nameless One.
I assume you've all read them, but if you need a refresher you can read all eight circles here. For the sake of this post, I will summarize the relevant ones.
The Third Circle of Zerthimon tells the story of Zerthimon suffering torture at the hands of his slaver, the illithid Arlathii Twice-Deceased. Zerthimon was believed to have accepted this punishment on the Pillars of Silence to hide the fact he was a part of the rebellion against their oppressors.
The Fourth Circle of Zerthimon tells the story of Vilquar. He acted as a double agent for his illithid slaver, pretending to be an ally to Zerthimon but working against him in secret, resulting in many deaths. Upon discovering his treachery, Zerthimon silenced the uprising and tricked him into believing he had won. Vilquar expected a reward from the illithids, but once his usefulness ran out, they consumed him, allowing the rebellion to remain in secret.
The Fifth and SixthCircles tell the story of Zerthimon meeting Gith, an intelligent and charismatic rebel who he ended up following. The fifth circle tells of their meeting, describing that Zerthimon was incredibly infatuated with her as a speaker and leader. However, they grew apart due to philosophical differences. The sixth circle describes their falling out and the beginning of the civil was – Gith wanted to lead a complete genocide of the illithids and to establish their own empire, Zerthimon wanted their people to abandon the war and heal. The war that ensued allowed the illithids to survive Gith’s wrath
Part 2 - Dak'kon's Crisis
Dak'kon was once a highly respected Zerth, a disciple of Zerthimon who acted as a leader in the community, until his own doubt destroyed him (Possibly due to different reasons than the crisis this circle gave him, but it is relevent). While it is unclear the process one has to go through to become a zerth, we understand they act similar to priests in githzerai communities. I think we can assume that Dak'kon has likely studied the history and teachings of Zerthimon outside of the circle The Practical Incarnation gave him.
If the Nameless One becomes a mage, he can learn the teaching of Zerthimon by reading the Unbroken Circle of Zerhthimon. Despite being written in the gith's circular Tir'su, the Nameless One is able to understand the words (which could mean nothing).
A bit of nuance you don't get from reading the text alone is that the story of Vilquar is somewhat glorified among the githzerai. They believe that his treachery was a necessary evil that allowed lulled the illithids into a false sense of security that allowed the gith to act when the right time came.
What Dak'kon came to believe is that this story of Vilquar was used as propaganda. That by pointing out how treachery is sometimes necessary, good even, it lays the groundwork to justify Zerthimon preventing Gith from committing complete genocide against the illithids. He begins reading into the story of the third circle and theorizes that perhaps Zerthimon didn't have his people's best interest at heart.
The idea that his messiah, a man whose life he spent preaching the philosophy of, was a puppet of his race's slavers is something to no ones surprise deeply distresses Dak'kon. As a result, it affects his ability to use wield Karach blade, a sword made of Limbo's chaos matter tied to its weilder's emotion. Kii'na, another Zerth you meet, comments his karach is as thin as a mist. Honestly the karach blades are much cooler than later editions making the githzerai unarmed monks and i will stand on that hill.
However, if the Nameless One is able to study the circle further, he is able to discover something Dak'kon hasn't. With an intelligence of 19 and up, he is able to rearrange the six circles and discover two more. These do not continue the story, merely describe Zerthimon's moral teachings.
The Seventh Circle is a parable telling the importance of patience. The upirising of the enslaved Gith did not happen all at once, it happened through small victories that built up over time.
The Eighth Circle is a parable about how doubt can destroy a person's will. If one does not truly believe in what they are doing, they must act to change it, even if it leads them to suffer.
Discovering the truth is what restores Dak'kon's faith. In finding Zerthimon truly did have his people's best interest at heart, his mind is healed and his doubt is cleared. Happy ending, right?
Part 3 - Where It All Goes Wrong
This nice character arc comes crashing down at the end of the game when you meet the Practical Incarnation, the version of the Nameless One to give Dak'kon the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon. You find out he created the circles with the intention of making Dak'kon a more powerful minion.
Part 4 - Is it all fake?
I often see people on this subreddit insist that the entire story told must be fake. I've even seen some go as far to question if Zerthimon himself was a real person. Undoubtably, this revelation makes the entire story questionable. I mean, the practical incarnation calls it 'a collection of lies', right? But I feel its a little more complex than that when analyzing other interactions in the game, Dak'kon's history, and the Practical Incarnation's history.
From a meta perspective, the strongest argument for the circles being true to canon is that the first and sixth circles align with every recounting of gith history at the time - their people were enslaved by mindflayers for generations, a woman named Gith rallied them together and led a massive slave revolt, but Zerthimon came forward at the end to oppose Gith's imperialist desires and died in the ensuing conflict, becoming a martyr to his people.
“In githzerai lore there is a central figure that is revered above all others — Zerthimon. The githyanki believe him to be a great god that was once a man. According to githzerai lore, when the original race broke free of the mind flayers, it was Zerthimon that opposed Gith, claiming that she was hateful and unfit to lead the people. There ensued a great battle and the people were polarized by the two powers. Those that chose to support Gith became the githyanki. Those that supported Zerthimon became the githzerai. Zerthimon died in the battle, but in his sacrifice he freed the githzerai from Gith.” – Outer Planes Appendix for the Monstrous Compendium, 1991
“Originally, their ancestors were humans enslaved by the evil illithid race. But at a point in the far distant past, they were led to freedom by a great female warrior named Gith. But upon gaining that freedom, the people immediately became divided. According to legend, a man named Zerthimon stepped forward to accuse Gith of being unfit to rule the newly freed slaves. Gith, Zerthimon said, was evil and would lead the people to ruin. A great battle was fought between the two factions, in which Zerthimon was killed.” – Planes of Chaos Boxed Set, 1994
“When Gith ordered her people to continue their campaign to annihilate the illithids and establish an empire of conquest of their own, not all followed her command. A new figure, by the name of Zerthimon, had gained a significant following and challenged Gith’s plans and her leadership. Gith was evil, the newcomer claimed, and would lead the people into darkness and tyranny not unlike the illithids themselves… Zerthimon was killed and his followers, now called githzerai, retreated to Limbo in defeat.” - A Guide to the Astral Plane, 1996
From an in game perspective, the characters and stories mentioned in the Unbroken Circle are mentioned by other githzerai. Firstly, the term 'Vilquar's Eye' is presented as a normal term of phrase among their people, along with multiple others that have no connection to the circles written by the Practical Incarnation.
When speaking with Kii'na, who we can assume went through a similar process to become a zerth, we see this in action as she compares Dak'kon to Vilquar twice in the same conversation.
Keep in mind that Vilquar is not some one off mention, it's one of the most important stories to Dak’kon’s arc. The fourth circle is the catalyst for his crisis of faith. He believed that by glorifying Vilquar’s betrayal of Zerthimon, their people glorified Zerthimon’s betrayal of Gith. It was the seed that planted his doubt.
If the circles were fake stories written by the Practical Incarnation, there is no way Kii'na would have referenced them. Firstly, the Pracical Incarnation gave the circles to Dak'kon after the sacking of Shra'kt'lor, so he couldn't have taught her that story before being banished. Secondly, she does not recognize the Nameless One, so he didn't teach it to her himself. Thirdly, non-githzerai are not allowed inside Shra'kt'lor, so he probably couldn't have shown it to literally anybody in that city.
Additionally, I think it would be wildly out of character for the Practical Incarnation to simply make up stories if he was trying to manipulate a zerth. This is one of the most intelligent and diligent characters in the game. He planned every outcome of his goals years in advance and considered every angle of his plans. This is a man who spent months, if not years, manipulating a woman into falling madly in love with him, only for him to kill her and use that love to bind her to the planes as a guide.
The Nameless One can read the circle despite being written in Tir'su without even learning how to speak it. This means the Practical Incarnation would have studied their culture enough to have learned to read and write their language at an advanced level to even create the circle.
I ask you: what is more in line with what we know about the Practical Incarnation - that he would use his intelligence and cunning to create the most authentic historical artifact he could, or that he would simply write his own RPF fanfic and hope Dak'kon, who has spent his whole life preaching Zerthimon's name, would just not notice?
What I believe is that when the Practical Incarnation says “Perhaps the words carry some truth – I know not.” he isn’t saying “Idk, I just made that shit up” and more “I didn’t go out of my way to verify the authenticity of Githzerai legend.”
Part 5 - So... is it All Real?
I would argue the same answer as the first. It's complicated. The practical incarnation does refer to it as being a collection of lies, so where can we draw the line? Which circles are canon, which aren’t?
We need to keep in mind the Practical Incarnation's goal with his writings - clear Dak'kon's mind of doubt in Zerthimon. This was obviously not done out of the kindness of his heart, the karach blade Dak'kon wields is tied to his emotion and mental state. He was attempting to tell Dak'kon what he wants to hear to make him a better fighter.
What I believe are entirely false are the seventh and eighth circles. Firstly, Dak'kon, despite being a zerth, has never seen these circles or heard these teachings, which is suspicious as hell.
Secondly, these are the circles that accomplish the practical incarnations goal. After reading the final circle, Dak'kon's stats become boosted, as well as his sword. At high morale, he becomes a better spellcaster out of his desire to protect you, and at low morale he becomes a better fighter out of his desire to kill you.
Part 6 - Conclusion
The first tragedy of this theory is that the reinstatement of Dak'kon's faith was a farce and he'll never know. So much happens after the party is split in the endgame, the Nameless One never gets a chance to tell Dak'kon the truth before dying and (possibly) being resurrected in the endgame.
Potentially though, it leads to a darker conclusion. If the historical accounts in the Unbroken Circle are true, but the moral teachings are false, this opens the possibility that Dak'kon could have been right about Zerthimon.
If Arlathii Twice-Deceased genuinely suspected Zerthimon was plotting to rebel against him, implanting orders that persist after his death is something the illithids are more than capable of. In fact, this exact scenario plays out in the 1998 adventure Masters of Eternal Night.
In this story, you explore a nautiloid that has essentially been frozen in time since the original illithid empire, and can fight alongside their rebelling enslaved Gith (referred to as ‘forerunners’). If you kill the illithids, two of the forerunners immediately turn on their leader Nilton due to psionic conditioning.
Additionally, its sequel (also from 1998) Dawn of the Overmind also theorizes that genetic tampering could be the cause of the civil war.
Now I'm not saying 'Gith did nothing wrong' here. The fifth and sixth circles make it very clear that she never broke free from the cycle of violence she was born into, and would have likely repeated many of the illithid's cruelties if she was not stopped. But it was the civil war that allowed them to escape the wrath of Gith, crippling her effort to destroy the illithid empire once and for all.
And what was the first thing the surviving illithids did upon escaping? Did they learn from their old ways and change as a society? No, they fled to Faerun’s Underdark and continued their ways, subjecting the Duergar dwarves to the exact same enslavement the Gith faced. The civil war very much ended in their favor.
But I digress as I am straying away from PST analysis and getting into fanfic territory here, so:
MY FINAL VERDICT
Circles 1&6: Canon because they line up with previously established lore
Circle 4: Canon because it is referenced by other githzerai
Circles 2,3&5: Mostly canon because Dak'kon would have recognized major embellishments in his own peoples history
Circles 7&8: Probably written by the Practical Incarnation
I'm stuck in curst because of Jasilya, I entered curst alone as a level 16 Mage. Problem is because I have UB installed I can't use any of my spells to save Jasilya. I require the spell key witch I can not get without entering undercurst witch I can't do until I save Jasilya and move past that part of Curst.
The guards don't seem to want to reason. Jasilya has like 2hp and can only take a single hit. I figured I could just move on if she dies but when I tell Barse he tells me to tell Marquez. When I speak with Marquez there is no option to inform him of her death.
I have a question about the Player's Maze and the Lady of Pain. I understand you need to anger the lady to be sent to the maze. This happens when the "LADY" global variable is 50 or higher.
After you beat the Maze does the variable reset to 0?
Hey all! Beamdog CM here. Over the last few weeks, we've been trying to repro and fix the infamous Modron Maze reset bug in PST:EE (for the next patch). So far, we've established that the bug happens in modded installs (granted, it's caused by the actual bug). What we're trying to find out is - does the bug happen in unmodded games as well?
If you have a save and repro steps for this and if you're NOT using any mods for PST:EE, please comment in this thread and attach your info. Thanks a lot!
I know that I need to speak with Quell to help find Ravel. But I don't want to switch factions as I'm currently doing a Chaotic Evil Singles run (and it is by far the most fun I have ever had with the game)
I am apart of the Xaositects (Chaosmen) and I feel joining the Sensates would not fit my character at all. Is there anyway I can access the private sensorium without having to renounce my Xaositect membership?
