DM Resources for Planescape and Dead Gods

Looking to unpick how to run Dead Gods in 5e D&D, but don't know where to start? Start here.

First things first. Realistically, I wouldn't recommend Planescape or Dead Gods for a first-time DM. Trying to stay on top of the adventure and the world is enough work without having to learn the rules of the game as you go. If you and your group all played Planescape: Torment and loved the world and know it well, then that's a bit different. Otherwise, run a simpler adventure or two first, and get to the stage where you're confident with the rules.

Done that? Okay. So, obviously you have the adventure itself. I have a ringbound Print on Demand copy, which is fantastic, although 9 pages out of the 170+ have scanned badly, and some are illegible. Some copies of the pdf have this problem and some don't, so check before you buy.

Either way, the illegible pages are all detailed in this useful free 5e conversion by Jarred Caldwell. It seems as if this pdf was formally a pay-what-you-want pdf on sale at official outlets (Jarred, if you ever read this, contact me and I'll add a link here so people can remunerate you for your work). This pdf is a pure mechanical conversion of the adventure to 5th edition. If you're looking for ideas for tweaking and adapting the adventure though, you'll have to keep reading this blog I'm afraid. Note also that Caldwell's pdf converts monsters which WoTC have since released themselves - so you have two options for how you run your Cranium Rats.

Official Planescape Resources:

• The Planescape Campaign Setting Box Set: read this first. Don't worry or get overwhelmed by the 15 factions, or all the extra rules for magic on the planes. It's not like you're going to run a game involving every plane and every faction at the same time.
  
• In the Cage, A Guide to Sigil: if you want to give your descriptions of Sigil more flavour and depth, this is a good read. If you like making up your own taverns and locations, the Sigil guide in the box set is probably good enough though.
• Uncaged, Faces of Sigil: This has fun and in-depth descriptions of a ton of NPCs you can use in Sigil, along with handy summary boxes and fleshed-out relationships between different NPCs. The text of the digital copy is  a little tough to read though, and the one or two entries with "thematic" fonts are nigh-on illegible. Alluvius Ruskin, A'kin the Fiend, Seamusxanthuszenus, and Shemeshka the Marauder are all worth reading for an adventure in Sigil. As the owner of Sigil's biggest emporium for portal keys, Alluvius Ruskin is most essential reading of the lot.
• The Factol's Manifesto: If you or your players like Planescape's factions and want more complexity for them, this is great. I especially like the expanded player boons for individual factions. The maps and pictures of each faction HQ are beautiful, though it's unlikely you could use them as-is for, say, running combats. This is also the only book that goes into real depth about the various faction headquarters of Sigil. If you're running the Into the Light section of Dead Gods, I'd recommend reading the descriptions of the HQs for the Signers and the Athar, and possibly the Fated too.
• The Planewalker's Handbook: This book has the most detail about portals (pages 34-39), so it's good for that. And the artwork is particularly gorgeous. It has a ton of setting-specific spells, some better than others; but the only spell you'll definitely want is Warp Sense and that comes in the Box Set already (check out my 5e update for Warp Sense here).
• A Player's Primer to the Outlands: The most useful parts here are the description of what a mimir is, and the descriptions of Outlands encounters that inspired the Outlands encounter table linked below. If you're running Dead Gods and want to sex up the Outlands a bit, those parts are worth reading. The Box Set's description of Ironridge is more detailed, as is its description of Outlands Spell Keys.
  
• Planes of Chaos, Law, and Conflict: These are useful for when your players want to explore a specific plane, and you want to add detail beyond what the Box Set offers. Each plane's description also comes with a few ideas for quests, and they're nicely fleshed out. Good books, though their usefulness is inherently situational.

Dead Gods-Specific DM Resources

Interactive Map of Sigil: This is fantastic. Every location lists page numbers for where it can be found in the setting books. My only caveat is for you to remember not to treat each building's location as gospel. You want to move the Green Mill closer to The Lady's Ward? Follow your dreams, man.

Encounter Table for the Outlands: Looking to spice up travel across the Outlands? If you're running Dead Gods, you should be. You'll need this. You'll want to switch out number 19, the walking wizard's tower, what with one already being in the adventure. More on that later.

Random Table for Portal Generation: Another great resource from /u/aaronil. Who doesn't love portal keys?

d100 Encounter Tables for Sigil: A fun set from /u/toskabak. Requires a little more improvisation than the table below.

More Sigil Encounter Tables: One last hit from aaronil. These tables are more specific. I'd probably start with these, and then move to the other table if they were all exhausted.

Power Score's Account of Running Dead Gods: This blogger, Sean, tells the story of when they ran Dead Gods. To my knowledge, it's the only other detailed online account of running Dead Gods, and is a very handy shortcut to getting an overview of the adventure. I'll be taking a more instructional approach in this blog, though you can bet there'll be some game tale posts to come.

My 5e Conversion of Warp Sense: I did this myself, and I like it. And Planewalkers need it.

Further Planescape Readings

The Planar DM: An all-round great Planescape blog.

Timaresh Planescape Wiki: A worthwhile resource if you're looking to flesh out a specific place, monster, or NPC.

Planewalker.com: This website could be great but is currently out of action.

Mimir.net: This website is charming but has very clearly not changed since the 90s. It's like the Space Jam website. It's not the easiest to navigate, but there's probably some buried jewels if you dig around.

Any more resources will be added as we go.

Got a great Planescape resource I've missed? Put it in the comments and I'll add it in.