{"id":38258,"date":"2026-03-22T03:43:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38258"},"modified":"2026-03-22T03:43:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T19:43:42","slug":"torment-is-the-best-dd-rpg-of-all-time-and-its-still-waiting-for-a-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=38258","title":{"rendered":"Torment is the best D&D RPG of all time, and it’s still waiting for a sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Labels are rarely as useful as they pretend to be, but mentioning Planescape: Torment<\/em> to any RPG or video game expert as \u201cone of the best RPGs of all time\u201d is more likely to be met with a \u201cyou know what you\u2019re talking about\u201d smile than a \u201cget out of here\u201d scoff. In 1999, developer Black Isles Studios took the vast Dungeons & Dragons setting known as Planescape and used it to build a revolutionary genre-defining masterpiece that is still studied and discussed today. Despite that, Planescape: Torment<\/em> never got a sequel, and it remains, to this day, the only D&D video game to take place in that setting.<\/p>\n

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Other D&D games made brief forays into Sigil \u2014 the city at the center of the setting, where most of the story of Planescape: Torment<\/em> takes place \u2014 or into the many planes that exist in the D&D multiverse structure, but none made this bizarre, highly imaginative setting its focus. And it\u2019s not just video games. Dungeons & Dragons has also been surprisingly shy of returning to Planescape in its TTRPG products, despite the success of 1994\u2019s Planescape Campaign Setting<\/em>, the boxed set that started it all. Except for a brief return to Sigil in the 4th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide 2<\/em>, D&D fans had to wait until 2023 to get a three-volume box set titled Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"Three\n <\/picture>Photo: Charlie Hall\/Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Interestingly, there were originally three Planescape video games planned at Black Isle, but the other two were canceled during development. From the start, Planescape: Torment<\/em> was destined to be an only child.<\/p>\n

There are probably multiple explanations for this little mystery, but one that can be excluded is that the setting didn\u2019t hit with fans. Designed by David “Zeb” Cook, the Planescape Campaign Setting<\/em> changed the way people look at D&D. The concept of a cosmology built on different planes of existence is currently so ingrained in the game\u2019s lore that most players take it for granted, but it wasn\u2019t so before 1994. Mentions of other planes had been scattered throughout a bunch of products, notably Deities and Demigods<\/em> and the Manual of the Planes<\/em>, but Cook arranged it all around some ideas that are cohesive, sophisticated, and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Namely, the concept that Sigil is ruled by factions rooted in philosophies, overseen by the silent and inscrutable Lady of Pain, was a subversion of many fantasy RPG tropes of the time, which operated on a rigid dichotomous setting. Cook\u2019s famous \u201cRule of Threes\u201d \u2014 a cosmic principle that posits things tend to happen in threes \u2014 uproots the basic tenet of \u201cgood vs. evil\u201d and \u201cheroes vs. monsters\u201d that supported the imaginary of classic D&D. It expands players\u2019 experiences by encouraging them to approach problems laterally, including moral choices. And it\u2019s the root on which Planescape: Torment<\/em>‘s award-winning storytelling is built.<\/p>\n

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\"Sigil\u2019s\n <\/picture>Image: Tony DiTerlizzi\/Wizards of the Coast<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Chris Avellone was drafted to be the lead designer and writer on Planescape: Torment<\/em> while he was working on Fallout 2<\/em>. He mentioned in a 2007 interview that this helped him expand the possibilities of what dialogues could do in RPGs. Planescape: Torment<\/em> is notoriously dialogue-heavy: the script is more than 800,000 words long, and you can go through the majority of the game avoiding combat, using only dialogue choices. The game uses a simplified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, and while the gameplay is actually pretty smooth, the story, characters, and dialogues are the reasons why Planescape: Torment<\/em> has etched a spot in RPG history. If Henry Cavill is still quoting the game today, there must be a reason.<\/p>\n

Avellone famously pitched the idea to Interplay (the distributor of the game, and at the time, owners of the D&D licence for video games) as \u201cstarting on the death screen.\u201d The protagonist, the Nameless One, is an immortal being who loses his memory every time he resurrects. After waking up in Sigil\u2019s mortuary, you spend most of the game trying to put together the pieces of his previous existences, interacting with characters whose lives he had an, often tragic, role in. Planescape: Torment<\/em> constantly tries to subvert RPG norms. For example, there are just a handful of swords available in the game, rats are among the deadliest enemies, and death is actually a means of progressing the story.<\/p>\n

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\"Planescape:\n <\/picture>Image: Beamdog<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Planescape: Torment<\/em> is an early example of a video game pushing the boundaries of the medium, showing that storytelling can and should be at the core of this form of entertainment. One year later, Interplay and Black Isle published another seminal game, developed by BioWare: Baldur\u2019s Gate 2<\/em>. The first entry in the series was already groundbreaking, but the sequel went above and beyond, showing clear influences from Planescape: Torment<\/em>. While Baldur\u2019s Gate 2<\/em> is more focused on traditional combat-based gameplay, its deep storyline and complex, unforgettable characters are what make it truly stand out. However, its setting is the tried-and-true Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms, which stands to Planescape like a good pizza Margherita stands to a weird haute cuisine recipe. Both can be great, but one is built on familiar ingredients.<\/p>\n

In the same interview cited above, Avellone and Planescape: Torment<\/em> co-designer Colin McComb were asked about a sequel. Avellone mentions toying with a couple ideas over the years, but never submitting them for consideration. \u201cA direct sequel somehow feels wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel the game stands on its own, and I don’t want to drag a rake through it.\u201d Both designers mentioned they would be interested in a new game in the Planescape setting, however, but they were not sure such a game could be made in the industry as it was at the time.<\/p>\n

Almost twenty years have passed since that interview, and no new Planescape game has appeared. The history of the D&D video games license is more complex than learning THAC0 (you can find a nice summary in this fantastic video), but in the present, the license rests safely in the hands of D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast. This means they could put any studio in charge of developing a new RPG set in Sigil, the Outlands, and whatever plane they want to visit. But there are no official plans for it, at the moment. You can still enjoy Beamdog’s excellent Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition<\/em>, available on both Steam and GOG for a bargain price.<\/p>\n

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\"A\n <\/picture>Image: Beamdog<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t think you could ever do a Plascape: Torment<\/em> sequel without involving the original team, and honestly, I wouldn\u2019t even want it. Part of the mystique of this game is that it stands alone in a sea of sequels, spinoffs, and reboots. Just like Sigil stands at the confluence of the planes, a monad that connects to every place in the multiverse while remaining unequivocally itself, a place where philosophies like nihilism and existentialism shape the day-to-day life of its inhabitants, and where moral choices have a real impact that goes beyond \u201cwhat reward I\u2019ll get from this quest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Planescape is a fantastic setting that changed the history of TTRPGs and perfectly represents the explosive creativity of D&D\u2019s early years. I hope future games will visit it again, but in the meantime, pen, paper, dice, and the excellent Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse<\/em> will suffice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n