Editing Planescape (section)

=== Development ===
[[File:Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Le Carceri d'Invenzione, planche XI, L'Arche aux gradins.jpg|thumb|''Le Carceri d'Invenzione'', [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi|Piranesi]], 1761. One of a series of etchings that inspired the visual look of the setting.]]
''Planescape'' is an expansion of ideas presented in the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''[[Dungeon Master's Guide]]'' (First Edition) and the original ''[[Manual of the Planes]]''. When ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition was published, a decision was made not to include angelic or demonic creatures, and so the cosmology was largely ignored. However, fan demand for a 2nd Edition ''Manual of the Planes'' was strong enough to justify its expansion into a full-fledged [[campaign setting]], and so in 1994 Planescape was released.

[[David Cook (game designer)|David "Zeb" Cook]] developed Planescape when he was assigned to create "a complete campaign world (not just a place to visit), survivable by low-level characters, as compatible with the old ''[[Manual of the Planes]]'' as possible, filled with a feeling of vastness without overwhelming the referee, distinct from all other TSR campaigns, free of the words 'demon' and 'devil' and explainable to Marketing in 25 words or less".<ref name="WW43">{{cite journal|last=Alloway|first=Gene|date=May 1994|title=Feature Review: Planescape|journal=[[White Wolf Publishing|White Wolf]]|publisher=[[White Wolf Publishing]]|issue=43|pages=36–38}}</ref> For inspiration, Cook listened to [[Pere Ubu]], [[Philip Glass]] and ''[[Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)|Alexander Nevsky]]'', read ''[[Dictionary of the Khazars|The Dictionary of the Khazars]]'', ''[[Einstein's Dreams]]'', and ''[[Oku no Hosomichi|The Narrow Road to the Deep North]]'', and for fun at "Bad Movie Nights", watched such films as ''[[Naked Lunch (film)|Naked Lunch]]'' and ''[[Wolf Devil Woman]]''.<ref name="WW43"/>

Cook came up with the idea that all of the activity in [[Sigil (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sigil]] would revolve around [[Faction (Planescape)|factions]], each of which would be built upon ideas taken to their extreme. He also felt that Sigil was necessary as a crossroads for the planes and a campaign center which could be both an adventure location itself and somewhere to hide out, which characters could quickly get to and from. Cook decided to adapt the ''Manual of the Planes'' because the older material made survival on the planes too difficult or complex, so he ignored anything that made gameplay more complicated, which left the "descriptions of twisted and strange creations".<ref name="WW43"/>

Cook conceived of the look for the setting from images such as "the gloomy prisons of [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi|Piranesi]]'s ''Le Carceri'' etchings, and [[Brian Froud]]'s illustrations and surrealist art", and [[Dana Knutson]] was assigned to draw whatever Cook wanted to see. According to Cook, "before any of us knew it, [Knutson] drew the Lady of Pain. I'm very fond of the Lady of Pain; she really locks up the Planescape look. We all liked her so much that she became our logo".<ref name="WW43"/>