Planescape: Torment

Planescape: Torment

An isometric RPG using Bioware's Infinity Engine, Planescape: Torment is set in the Planescape universe and tells the dark and provocative tale of The Nameless One, an immortal searching for his identity.

Overview

Planescape: Torment is an RPG built on Bioware’s Infinity Engine. Unlike other Infinity Engine games which are set in the Forgotten Realms, Torment takes place in the Planescape universe, a different Dungeons & Dragons setting. Although it was initially planned as the first of many games in the Planescape setting, Torment's relatively poor sales, especially when compared to the more traditional Baldur's Gate, lead to Torment being the only Planescape game released to date.

The main character is an amnesiac immortal known only as The Nameless One, who starts the game on a slab in a mortuary having lost his memory. He doesn’t know who he is or why he can’t die. Upon leaving the mortuary, The Nameless One finds himself in Sigil, the City of Doors. Sigil is the main backdrop of the game, during the Nameless One's quest to find his identity. In addition to traveling through the wards of Sigil, the player occasionally visits outer planes such as the Nine Hells and Carceri.

Character Creation

Each character has six attributes that can be modified. At character creation, each attribute defaults to 9. The player has 21 points to distribute between attributes.There are several ways to increase each of your attributes: initial character creation, level progression, weapons, items, and through other special means.

The following are the six attributes and their affects on the characters:

Strength

Affects the ability to hit opponents and the respective damage the player inflicts with each hit; it also affects how much the player can carry. This attribute is important for combat, and also occasionally for intimidating NPCs during conversation.

Dexterity

Influences the player's ability to dodge and consequently avoid getting hit by an enemy; it also improves Light Armor Class. This attribute is of the most importance for stealth procedures and for Thieves, as it helps with pickpocketing.

Constitution

Gives the player more Hit Points and helps to regenerate them faster.

Intelligence

It is the most useful for Mages, as it increases the number of spells they can learn and their chances of learning a new spell successfully, but since it also affects many dialogue options, other classes should not discard this attribute completely.

Wisdom

This gives the player a bonus to experience. It also presents the player with more dialogue options. Finally, helps The Nameless One to regain memories from his past lives, thus making this attribute a very useful one, story-wise.

Charisma

Gives the player more dialogue options and may help the player get better rewards.

Gameplay

Combat

Even though dialogue dominates the first half of the game, the game places greater emphasis on combat in the latter half. The game uses the traditional AD&D 2nd Edition ruleset for combat. Party characters can be one or a combination of several classes. The Nameless One, however, is restricted to a single class (Fighter, Thief, or Mage) but he may switch between these classes by visiting a trainer at any time. Combat works similarly to other Infinity Engine games: it plays in real-time but remains pause-able by pressing the space bar. Despite these similarities, the game goes to great lengths to set itself apart, including uncommon spells and omitting some staples of the genre, like the fireball spell. It also encourages the player to use oft-neglected weapon types like axes and includes only a couple swords (one of which can only be used by Dak'kon).

Death

One of Planescape: Torment's defining features is the main character's inability to permanently die. Instead of a game over, the Nameless One will wake up close to the location where he died. Near the start of the game this means returning to the mortuary, where the game begins. This mechanic is integral to the gameplay, as on more than one occasion the player is required to die to progress the story or accomplish tasks. Death is not completely avoidable, however, as there are special circumstances that can cause permanent death, such as being eaten alive.

Dialogue

Much of the game is spent interacting with Sigil's inhabitants. The game’s extensive dialogue trees make conversations interesting and responses diverse. Dialogue is essential: it alters quests and modifies the experience. Ultimately, dialogue can change the ending.

Plot

In Planescape: Torment, you control The Nameless One. As the game begins, you awaken in a mortuary met by a talking skull named Morte Rictusgrin, who figures out your first objective by reading a message tattooed on your back. As you leave the mortuary, you enter Sigil, the City of Doors, which is ruled with an iron fist by the Lady of Pain. As noted by Morte, you are to meet up with Pharod, in the Buried village, to find out more about yourself and your immortality.

As the player proceeds through the game, he learns interesting aspects about The Nameless One's past lives such as how he had been involved in political issues, killed and manipulated countless people, and caused havoc around Sigil.

After playing through most of the game, you find out that the only person who can reveal the truth about The Nameless One's immortality is a vicious hag called Ravel Puzzlewell who has been imprisoned in a maze by the Lady of Pain for her attempt to destroy Sigil. After finding a way to enter the maze, you meet Ravel. After speaking with Ravel, you realize that The Nameless One's first incarnation had committed various heinous acts and the only way of atoning for his sins would have been to fight in the never-ending Blood War. In order to escape punishment, The Nameless One sought out Ravel and asked to be made immortal. Something went horribly wrong, however, and not only had The Nameless One been made immortal, but he had also been turned into an amnesiac who could not remember anything from previous deaths. You also find out that Ravel bears romantic feelings for The Nameless One, and she does not allow you to escape the maze which forces you to kill Ravel in order to exit. After you leave the maze, The Transcendent One appears and truly kills Ravel; she had feigned her death at your hands.

The player, after speaking with the Pillar of Skulls in Baator and a deva named Trias, finally finds that the only way of going to the Fortress of Regrets, the plane of The Transcendent One, and reuniting with his soul, is through an entry point in the mortuary in Sigil--the starting point of the game. By now, most of the plot is clear to the player--such as how it is in the nature of The Nameless One to gather tormented souls like himself around him and how many of his previous incarnations had visited the plane of his soul only to fight a losing battle and how Morte had been with The Nameless One on most of his previous incarnations--and it is also clear that the only way of ending the torment is to reunite with your soul and die once and for all.

Once in the Fortress of Regrets, the player must complete a difficult maze and fight one party member depending on your alignment in order to move onto the Maze of Reflections. Here, the player meets up with three previous incarnations - practical, paranoid, and good - and must find a way of convincing the three to join as one with the current incarnation. The Nameless One also meets his old love, Deionarra, for the last time.

In the final confrontation with The Transcendent One, who is the living embodiment of The Nameless One's mortality, the player has the ability to either destroy the soul, killing himself along with it (preferable for Fighters) or convincing it to reunite with The Nameless One (preferable for good characters with a high intelligence), after moving through the various dialogue options. Various items, such as a Golden Sphere obtained from Pharod, or the Blade of the Immortal obtained from Coaxmetal in the siege tower in the Lower Ward can influence the ending of the game.

Characters

The Nameless One

The Nameless One
The Nameless One

The Nameless One is Planescape: Torment's main character. This scarred man wakes up in a mortuary and finds himself suffering from amnesia; he can't remember his name, how he got to be there or where he's from. The only lead pertaining his past is a message written on his own back, in the form of a tattoo. Michael T. Weiss did the voicework for The Nameless One.

Companions

Apart from The Nameless One, the player can also control 8 other characters throughout the course of the game, given that he/she is able to get them to join their party.

Morte
Morte
Morte
  • Alignment - Chaotic Good
  • Race - Morte
  • Class - Fighter
  • Faction - None
  • Special Abilities - Litany of Curses, Skull Mob
  • Initial Equipment - None
  • Location - Mortuary, 2nd Floor
  • Voice Actor - Rob Paulsen
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
1216161396
Dak'kon
Dak'kon
Dak'kon
  • Alignment - Lawful Neutral
  • Race - Githzerai
  • Class - Fighter / Mage
  • Faction - None
  • Special Abilities - None
  • Initial Equipment - Zerth Armor, Zerth Blade, Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon, Whispering Flask
  • Location - Smoldering Corpse Bar
  • Voice Actor - Mitch Pileggi
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
171616131313
Annah
Annah
Annah
  • Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
  • Race - Tiefling
  • Class - Fighter / Thief
  • Faction - Indepts
  • Special Abilities - None
  • Initial Equipment - Punch Daggers, Vest, Chained-Teeth Earrings, 2 Bandages
  • Location - Pharod's Court
  • Voice Actor : Sheena Easton
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
141816121013
Ignus
Ignus
Ignus
  • Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
  • Race - Human
  • Class - Mage
  • Faction - None
  • Special Abilities - None
  • Initial Equipment - None
  • Location - Smoldering Corpse Bar
  • Voice Actor - Charles Adler
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
1316201983
Fall-From-Grace
Fall-from-Grace
Fall-from-Grace
  • Alignment - Lawful Neutral
  • Race - Succubus
  • Class - Priest
  • Faction - Sensates
  • Special Abilities - Fall-from-Grace's Kiss, Sensory Touch
  • Initial Equipment - Chastity Bodice, Earrings
  • Location - Brothel of Slating Intellectual Lusts
  • Voice Actor - Jennifer Hale
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
131616161619
Nordom
Nordom
Nordom
  • Alignment - Chaotic Neutral
  • Race - Rogue Modron
  • Class - Fighter
  • Faction - None
  • Special Abilities - Nordom's Warp Sense
  • Initial Equipment - Crossbow, Bolts, Ocular
  • Location - Rubikon
  • Voice Actor - Dan Castellaneta
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
1616161688
Vhailor
Vhailor
Vhailor

  • Alignment - Lawful Neutral
  • Race - Restless Spirit
  • Class - Fighter
  • Faction - Mercykillers
  • Special Abilities - None
  • Initial Equipment - Final Judgement, Mercykiller Armor
  • Location - Curst Prison
  • Voice Actor - Keith David
StrengthDexterityConstitutionIntelligenceWisdomCharisma
181318101010

Soundtrack

CD Cover Artwork
CD Cover Artwork

The soundtrack for Planescape: Torment was composed by Mark Morgan.

Track No.Song TitleRunning Time
01Main Title01.50
02Nameless One Theme01.21
03Deionarra Theme01.27
04Dak'kon Theme01.35
05Annah Theme01.28
06Ignus Theme01.10
07Nordom Theme01.09
08Fall-from-Grace Theme01.22
09Vhailor Theme00.54
10Ravel Theme01.11
11Fhjull Forked-Tongue Theme01.30
12Trias Theme01.43
13The Shadows Theme00.38
14Transcendent One Theme01.12
15Morte Theme01.24
16Morte Alternate Theme01.21
17Sigil Battle01.49
18Catacombs Battle01.24
19Curst Battle01.14
20Modron Cube Battle01.47
21Fortress Battle02.07
22Mortuary01.32
23Sigil01.12
24Smoldering Corpse Bar02.12
25Smoldering Corpse Bar Alternate01.10
26Bones of the Night01.14
27Civic Festhall02.20
28Curst01.12
29Modron Cube01.11
30Ravel's Maze01.27
31Baator01.08
32Fortress of Regrets01.49
33Bad Ending01.33
34Neutral Ending01.27
35Good Ending01.27
36Intro Movie01.41
37Finale Movie01.00

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition

Planescape: Torment received an upgraded "Enhanced" version on April, 11th 2017 from Beamdog and was released on PC through Steam, GoG, the Mac App Store, and on iOS App Store and on Google Play. Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is an upgraded version of the original cRPG classic that includes stability enhancements for modern machines, quality of life changes including support for modern resolutions with an upgraded UI (also including a UI for tablet devices), remastered audio, enhanced features like Tab-to-Highlight and an improved in-game map, as well as visual upgrades to improve the clarity of sprites - which can be disabled individually. The Enhanced Edition also includes community fixes for bugs that have existed since the original game's final patch; Beamdog worked with noteworthy mod creators to include select fixes in this enhanced port that were essential in order to play the original release.

Some changes were approved for the Enhanced Edition under the guidance of Lead Designer, Chris Avellone, "to curate gameplay updates, bug fixes, and enhancements to best capture his original vision for the game".

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition includes support for English, French, Polish, German, and Korean languages. The English, French, Polish, and German versions feature the original fully-localized voice-over in each language. The Korean version is Korean text with voice-overs in English.

Trivia

  • The game was initially released on 4 CDs, but the jewel case edition was released on two CDs. Developers noted that better compression technology allowed for the reduction in the number of CDs.
  • Torment's original concept title was "Last Rites", and Black Isle distinguished its setting as "avante-garde fantasy" in contrast to traditional dragons-and-elves "high fantasy".
  • The game did not initially take place in the actual Planescape campaign setting, though its world was highly similar. Naming conventions and various other elements from the setting were changed or added after the Planescape license was obtained.
  • Developer/Publisher CD Projekt handled the game's Polish localization, later going on to create The Witcher.
  • Jennifer Hale pulled double voice-acting duty portraying both Falls-From-Grace and Deionarra.

Availability

The game's original retail pack is notoriously difficult to find these days. However, a downloadable version was released through GOG.com in Sep. 2010. The original Planescape: Torment is no longer available for purchase through GOG.com, as of April 2017, but is included for free when purchasing the Enhanced Edition released that same month.

Modding

Several mods have been created by the community, ranging from technical adjustments (such as widescreen mode for the game) to unofficial patches which fix many bugs, tweak in-game mechanics or allow access to missions and side quests which have been prepared but could not be fully implemented into the original game due to lack of time and money during the development.

PC System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

  • Operating System: Windows 95 / 98 (and at least XP under compatibility mode)
  • Processor: 200 MHz CPU w/ MMX
  • RAM Memory: 32 MB RAM
  • Video Card: 4MB video card
  • DirectX: DirectX 6.1
  • Hard Drive Space: 650 MB

PC Requirements for the "Good Old Games" version

  • Operating System: Windows XP or Windows Vista
  • Processor: 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended)
  • RAM Memory: 256MB RAM (512 recommended)
  • Video: 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.