Planescape Factions Quick Reference Sheet
I’ve been running a high level 5e game in Planescape, and converting a number of the old adventures. Many of the adventures are great, but they tend towards being very hard to run for a number of reasons:
- The adventures are old, and adventure design has improved a lot in the intervening years.
- Planescape is a complicated setting. It mashed together pieces from multiple other settings, plus it has all of its own complicated lore.
- The narrative design of Planescape adventures is usually rooted in the social interaction pillar of Dungeons & Dragons. I like an adventure to explore multiple pillars of gameplay, so I tend to try to find ways to shoehorn in combat encounters.
- On top of all that, I am running at tier 3 and 4, and these adventures really seem to have tier 2, maybe 3, in mind. That’s a good thing for making the adventure accessible to more players, but it makes it even harder to convert them.
As I have been doing my conversions, Sean McGovern’s Guide to Planescape Factions has been an invaluable tool. So I have taken his work and condensed it down to the table below that DMs can use for a quick reference. You can also get a printable PDF of the table.
With the release of the 5e campaign setting right around the corner, I’m going to be posting some of my conversions in the future.
| Faction Name | Nickname | Headquarters | Philosophy | Leader | Allies | Enemies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athar | The Lost | Shattered Temple | There are no gods, just powerful mortals. We want to discover the secrets of reality. | Factol Terrance | The Believers of the Source | Organized religions |
| Believers of the Source | Godsmen | The Great Foundry | Everyone is tested and reincarnated until they become a supreme being. Once everyone has ascended, the multiverse will end. | Factol Ambar Vergrove | Athar, Doomguard | Black Cabal, Dustmen |
| The Bleak Cabal | Bleakers | The Gatehouse (insane asylum) | The multiverse is without meaning. | Factol Lhar | Doomguard, Dustmen, Revolutionary League, Xaositects | Fraternity of Order, Harmonium, Mercykillers |
| The Doomguard | Doomguard | None | Universe is decaying and no one should meddle with that process | Factol Pentar | Bleak Cabal, Godsmen, Dustmen | Fraternity of Order, Harmonium |
| The Dustmen | The Dead | The Mortuary | Everyone is dead, some more than others. Undead have attained purity — they have purged themselves of all passion and sense. | Factol Skall | Bleak Cabal, The Fated | The Sign of One, Society of Sensation |
| The Fated | Takers | Hall of Records | You have to take what you want in life through hard work and by whatever means necessary. | Factol Duke Rowan Darkwood | Free League, Mercykillers | Harmonium |
| Fraternity of Order | Guvners | City courts | Learning laws of multiverse will give you ultimate power | Factol Hashkar | Mercykillers, Harmonium | Xaositects |
| The Free League | Indeps | The Grand Bazaar | They insist that they are not a faction. They stay out of things and watch each others backs. Many of them are merchants. | No factol, but 3 leaders: Bria Romay, Lethea and Lesander | Harmonium | Harmonium |
| Harmonium | Hardheads | City Barracks | If everyone follows our rules, there will be peace. | Factol Sarin | Guvners, Mercykillers | Indeps, Revolutionary League, Xaositects |
| Mercykillers | Red Death | The Prison | Justice must be carried out. Perfection is the goal of the multiverse. | Factol Nilesia | Harmonium, Guvners, Doomguard | Signers, Sensates, Anarchists |
| Revolutionary League | Anarchists | None | Other factions are corrupt and need to be brought down. Then the truth will be revealed. | None technically. Beringe is closest | Doomguard, Xaositects | Harmonium, Guvners |
| Sign of the One | Signers | Hall of Speakers | One person is the center of the multiverse, possibly you. Everyone else is a figment of that person’s imagination. | Factol Darius | Sensates | Harmonium, Bleak Cabal |
| Society of Sensation | Sensates | Civic Festhall | To experience everything is to learn the secrets of the multiverse | Factol Erin Darkflame Montgomery | Signers, Guvners, Indeps | Doomguard |
| Transcendent Order | Ciphers | Great Gymnasium | Be impulsive and follow instincts to be one with the multiverse | Factol Rhys | — | — |
| The Xaositects | Chaosmen | Center of the Hive Ward | The multiverse is chaos. There is no order or pattern to anything. | Factol Karan | Doomguard, Bleak Cabal | Harmonium, Guvners |