What's the deal with the Planar Sphere hell plane thing?

OlvynChuru

I don't do the planar sphere quest all that often, but I did it recently and I noticed something weird when I went outside to the hellish world it had traveled to.

There are both Quasits AND Imps there! And they aren't killing each other on sight! What plane IS this?

sarevok57

well back when this game was made 2nd edition was bring used, so I don't know how lore was implemented for the blood war back then or in that edition, as far as BG is concerned demons and devils are the same thing, 3rd edition dnd was becoming more popular around the time ToB came out, so that could be the reason why ToB has mention of it in watcher's keep

OlvynChuru

sarevok57 said:

well back when this game was made 2nd edition was bring used, so I don't know how lore was implemented for the blood war back then or in that edition, as far as BG is concerned demons and devils are the same thing, 3rd edition dnd was becoming more popular around the time ToB came out, so that could be the reason why ToB has mention of it in watcher's keep

The Blood War was definitely a thing in Planescape Torment, and that game came out before Baldur's Gate 2.

Borek

I think it was an oversight to be honest, but Imps and Quasits are always in service to more powerful creatures so it's not beyond the realms of plausibility that the area of the Abyss you happen to be strolling about in has an Entity powerful enough to have both creature types on it's books.

Quickblade

It would have to be an oversight. Although to be fair, I was unaware of the Blood War until dialog in ToB in Watcher's Keep. But it's definitely a thing pre-SoA, off the top of my head and my bookshelf 'White Plume Mountain' by Paul Kidd (1999 Greyhawk novel) mentions it as the opening character is an erinyes musing.

There must be some trope for opening with an antagonist....

fateless

I am not sure the Blood War was a game wide issue origionally. I think it only existed in certain settings. But 3.0 was changing some of those system only things into game wide items. The blood War may have been one of them. This may be why you only see it's influence in ToB for FR. Even though it was a big deal in Planescape which deals a lot more with various planes and had unique things to it's setting that were slowly reaching out to others because it could potentially overlap.

But I could be wrong. That was like 20 years ago.

lunar

It may have been an oversight. It may have been a transient/borderlike plane that is caught between the warring armies of demons&devils. And the lesser demons&devils like those can put out their differences for a moment to slay a group of mortals. Ehh, it is a stretch.

Arunsun

Imps are devils and Quasits are demons so there no absurdity with them fighting one another, so far it's actually rather logical.
What can be an issue is why both these types of fiends in the same place are there. And the answer is "we do not know". We know very little of that plane you land on. Is it a layer of the abyss? Or is it some hell? Or is it neither?
I would vote for the third option but then again we have no evidence to tip the scales for one or the other solution.

fateless

I think something about the sphere quest actually suggests that it is some kind of pocket plane. Which generally means a small space with it's own specific rules that might not fit the rest of the planes and reality.