Faction War (AD&D/Planescape Adventure) [Paperback]

Monte Cook (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (November 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786912030
• ISBN-13: 978-0786912032
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,400,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Record of Lodoss War" Planescape-style, May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Faction War (AD&D/Planescape Adventure) (Paperback)

STORYLINE (in my own words): Once upon a time, there was a man named Duke Darkwood, the leader of a philosophical/political faction called the Fated. He was a hard-working, but stubborn man who was either busy trying to clean up his faction's evil, theif-like reputation, annoying his nemisis Erin Montegomery as well as the leaders of the other factions, or planning to destroy the Lady of Pain and claim Sigil, the City of Doors, as his own. One day, he finds some interesting information that could make his goal of conquering Sigil come true: There is a magical gem and a special spell which have the power to kill the Lady of Pain once and for all. After years of searching, his quest comes to a successful end. Now he has started to disrupt the peace in Sigil by piting the factions against each other while he attempts to carry out his plan.

COMMENTS: Faction War is different from most fantasy stories/game modules because when the heroes (the players) appear, they are stuck on the side-lines, trying to survive in Sigil during the war. In the course of the story, the heroes find out about the gem and the spell thanks to a fiendish but friendly shopkeeper named A'kin. I'll let you read the rest of the story.

There is also a bunch of extra information concerning the Planescape setting. Another reason to buy this book.

SIMILLAR MOVIES: Record of Lodoss War (The English dubbed version is the best! Available here on Amazon.Com)

RELATED (AND NEEDED) BOOKS: Uncaged: Faces of Sigil (This book gives more details on the characters found in Faction War), Planescape Campaign (extra information on Duke Darkwood), and Factol's Manifesto (main info on Duke Darkwood). These books are also available on Amazon.Com

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor use for 128 pages of Planescape material, October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Faction War (AD&D/Planescape Adventure) (Paperback)

This adventure was one of the last Planescape products to be published since Planescape was discontinued with the announcement of 3rd edition AD&D.

The author, Monte Cook, is a veteran gamer and has demonstrated his ability in the past to design Planescape material such as "Dead Gods" and "The Great Modron March".

This adventure rips the heart (i.e. the factions) out of Sigil and leaves nothing behind to fill the void.

"Faction War" totally invalidates one of the best Planescape products produced, "The Factols Manifesto". Sigil is left in shambles and over a dozen of its best NPCs removed without hesitation.

The adventure itself is rather tame. Most of it is just a scavenger hunt through Sigil. The few locales your characters travel to aren't any more creative than the ones described in "In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil". The 128 pages could have been better spent on another Planescape Monstrous Compendium or a detailed tour of the Abyss or Baator.

It is a very poor note to end Sigil on because there will be no further Planescape products in the near future to correct this mistake or redefine the city.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reading... but..., December 21, 1999

By 

Matthew Hoffman (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faction War (AD&D/Planescape Adventure) (Paperback)

"Faction War" is an excellent story. Its twists and turns, and especially the bits about the progression of the war between the Harmonium and the Doomguard, and later between the Xaositects and the Harmonium (after the Doomguards' virtual destruction) makes for compelling reading. I won't give the dark of the adventure away, but the ending (and the fate of Duke Darkwood) were wonderfully satisfying. HOWEVER... I do not recommend the use of this product in an existing Planescape campaign. Not unless the DM plans on following through with all the changes that affect Sigil by the end of the war.Again, the ending is not set in stone; the authors leave it completely open for an innovative DM to have the war happen and leave the Factions in place and have Sigil go back to where it was as much as it possibly can considering how much was destroyed. You know, it occurs to me that "Faction War" could very possibly be an ending to the 2nd ed. Planescape universe in the same way that the war of the gods was an ending to the 1st ed. Forgotten Realms universe. Mere speculation on my part. Summing up: Faction war's a good read, but it's a disastrous addition to an existing Planescape campaign. Use with extreme caution.