{{Short description|Fictional city in Dungeons & Dragons}} {{notability|date=July 2022}} {{Italic disambiguation}} {{Infobox fictional location | name = Sigil | image = Pgp 007 01.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = A view of the Spire and Sigil from the Outlands as portrayed in the ''Planescape Campaign Setting''. Art by Tony DiTerlizzi. | alt_name = {{plainlist| * The City of Doors<ref name=AA/> * The Cage}} | first = ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' (1994) | last = | based_on = | creator = David "Zeb" Cook | adapted_by = | genre = Role-playing game | type = City | located_in = Outlands | ruler = Lady of Pain<ref name=AA/> | locations = {{plainlist| * The Lady's Ward * The Lower Ward * The Market Ward * The Guildhall Ward * The Clerk's Ward * The Hive }} | ethnic_group = | races = | characters = | population = | blank_label = | blank_data = | blank_label1 = | blank_data1 = | blank_label2 = | blank_data2 = | blank_label3 = | blank_data3 = | blank_label4 = | blank_data4 = }} '''Sigil''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|ɡ|ᵻ|l}} {{respell|SIG|il}}) is a fictional city and the center of the Planescape campaign setting,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.avault.com/reviews/pc/planescape-torment/|title= Planescape: Torment|access-date=5 December 2008 |last= Harding|first= Chris|date= 24 December 1999|publisher=The Adrenaline Vault}} {{Dead link|date=November 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game.
== Publication history == === Development === Sigil was originally created for Planescape as the setting's "home base". According to Steve Winter in ''30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons'', "a movable base, like a vessel of some sort (or an artifact, which was the original idea for the means of traversing the planes) wouldn't do it. It had to be a place that characters could come home to when they needed to, and it had to be central to the nature of the setting".<ref name="30 Years">{{cite book |last= Winter|first= Steve|author-link=Steve Winter (game designer)|title= 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons|type= hardcover|date=October 2004|publisher= Wizards of the Coast|isbn= 0-7869-3498-0|pages= 140–149|chapter= Planescape|title-link= 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons}}</ref> Sigil's fifteen factions were created because "''Vampire: The Masquerade'' was a particularly hot game at [the] time and one of the ideas in it that we really liked was the clans. Jim Ward wanted to be sure that players had something to identify with and to give them a sense of belonging in this alien venue [Sigil]".<ref name="30 Years" />
=== ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition (1989–1999) === <!--First appearance of the Planescape Campaign Setting--> Sigil is first described in the ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' boxed set, released in 1994.<ref>{{cite book |title= Planescape Campaign Setting|last= Cook|first= David "Zeb"|author-link= David "Zeb" Cook|year= 1994|publisher= TSR|isbn= 1-56076-834-7|title-link= Planescape Campaign Setting}}</ref> It is also featured prominently in some later Planescape rulebooks, including ''In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil'' (1995),<ref>{{cite book |title= In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil|last1= Baur|first1= Wolfgang|author-link= Wolfgang Baur|last2=Swan|first2=Rick|author-link2=Rick Swan |year= 1995|publisher= TSR|isbn= 0-7869-0111-X|title-link= In the Cage: A Guide to Sigil}}</ref> ''The Factol's Manifesto'' (1995),<ref>{{cite book |title= The Factol's Manifesto|last1= Hein|first1= Dori Jean|author-link=Dori Jean Hein |first2=Tim|last2=Beach|author-link2=Tim Beach |first3=J.M.|last3=Salsbury|author-link3=J.M. Salsbury|year= 1995|publisher= TSR, Inc.|isbn= 0-7869-0141-1|title-link= The Factol's Manifesto}}</ref> and ''Uncaged: Faces of Sigil'' (1996),<ref>{{cite book |title= Uncaged: Faces of Sigil|last= Vallese|first= Ray|year= 1996|publisher= TSR|isbn= 0-7869-0385-6|title-link= Uncaged: Faces of Sigil}}</ref> as well as in many adventures, such as ''The Eternal Boundary'' (1994),<ref>{{cite book |title= The Eternal Boundary|last= Baker III|first= L. Richard|year= 1994|publisher= TSR|isbn= 1-56076-843-6|title-link= The Eternal Boundary}}</ref> ''Harbinger House'' (1995),<ref>{{cite book |title= Harbinger House|last= Slavicsek|first= Bill|author-link= Bill Slavicsek|year= 1995|publisher= TSR|isbn= 0-7869-0154-3|title-link= Harbinger House}}</ref> and ''Faction War'' (1998).<ref>{{cite book |title= Faction War|last1= Cook|first1= Monte|author-link= Monte Cook|first2=Ray|last2=Vallese|author-link2=Ray Vallese |year= 1998|publisher= TSR|isbn= 0-7869-1203-0|title-link= Faction War}}</ref>
=== ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3.5 edition (2003–2008) === A short description of Sigil appears in this edition's ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (2003).<ref name="DMG3.5" /> Information on Sigil can also be found in various 3.0 and 3.5 sourcebooks, such as the ''Manual of the Planes'' and the ''Planar Handbook''. A small reference to Sigil also appears in the ''Epic Level Handbook'' aside other planar metropolis such as ''Tu'narath''.
=== ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 4th edition (2008–2014) === Sigil is described in the 4th edition ''Manual of the Planes''<ref>{{cite web |date=5 December 2008 |title=''Manual of the Plane'' Excerpts: Table of Contents |url=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/excerpts/MoP_ToC.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602223127/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/excerpts/MoP_ToC.pdf |archive-date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=5 December 2008 |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref> and expanded upon in ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2''. The City of Doors, unlike many planes, remains almost completely unchanged from earlier editions.
Shannon Appelcline, author of ''Designers & Dragons'', commented that while Sigil "had been largely ignored during the 3e era", it "was faring better in 4e, despite the large-scale restructuring of D&D's cosmology" due to small inclusions in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (2008) and ''Manual of the Planes''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Appelcline |first=Shannon |title=Dungeon Master's Guide 2 (4e) {{!}} Product History |url=https://www.dmsguild.com/product/144108/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-2-4e |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=Dungeon Masters Guild |language=en}}</ref> Appelcline highlighted that it was the 4th Edition ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' which "saw the return of the fan-favorite setting of Sigil" which "was laid out as a full paragon-level setting. There's not much new here for old-time fans of ''Planescape'', but there was one ''big'' change as a result of ''Faction War'' (1998). The factions that caused much of the conflict in ''Planescape'' are now gone. [...] The ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' also contains 'A Conspiracy of Doors', the first Sigil adventure to see print in many years".<ref name=":0" />
=== ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition (2014–) === Sigil is briefly mentioned in Appendix C of the 5th edition's ''Player's Handbook''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Player's Handbook|date=2014|publisher=Wizards of the Coast|isbn=978-0-7869-6560-1|page=302|edition=5th}}</ref> There is also some information on Sigil in ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' at the end of Chapter 2.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dungeon Master's Guide|date=2014|publisher=Wizards of the Coast|isbn=978-0-7869-6562-5|page=67|edition=5th}}</ref>
A three-volume box set titled ''Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse'' was released in October 2023 for 5th Edition, which included information about using Sigil in 5th edition campaigns.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://dndstore.wizards.com/us/en/product/820944/planescape-adventures-in-the-multiverse-digital-plus-physical-bundle | title=Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse Digital + Physical Bundle | D&D }}</ref>
==Reception== Scott Haring, in his review of the ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' for ''Pyramid'', described Sigil as "a strange city with doors to every plane and every reality, and inhabitants from all those planes and realities living together in (more or less) harmony".<ref name="Pyramid8">{{cite journal | title=Pyramid Pick: Planescape | url=http://sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=803 | journal=Pyramid | first=Scott | last=Haring | volume=#8 | publisher=Steve Jackson Games | date=August 1994 | access-date=2008-02-26 | author-link = Scott Haring}}</ref> Trenton Webb of British RPG magazine ''Arcane'' calls the city "splendidly bizarre" and declares that "Sigil, The Lady of Pain's citadel, is an elegant gaming construct, yet it can often feel a little hollow", feeling that life in Sigil should be "a swirl of plots, factions and sedition that leaves players' heads spinning, wounds bleeding and experience points tally in overdrive".<ref name="Arcane8">{{cite journal|last=Webb|first=Trenton|date=July 1996|title=Games Reviews|journal=Arcane|publisher=Future Publishing|issue=8|pages=70}}</ref>
Sigil as depicted in ''Planescape: Torment'' was praised by Evan Narcisse from ''Kotaku'' as one of the richest science fiction and fantasy worlds in video games.<ref>{{cite web |last=Narcisse |first=Evan |date=February 7, 2018 |title=The Richest Scifi and Fantasy Worlds in Video Games |url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-richest-scifi-and-fantasy-worlds-in-video-games-1822750865 |access-date=October 31, 2020 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref>
Ari David, for ''CBR'', commented that "Sigil is the ultimate inter-dimensional trading post, offering goods and transport not only to other planes but allows passage between the multitude of Material Planes that comprise ''D&D''{{'}}s campaign settings".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Szporn |first=Ari |date=2020-04-05 |title=Dungeons & Dragons: A Guide to the Planes |url=https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-dragons-guide-to-the-planes/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=CBR |language=en-US}}</ref> Daniel Colohan, also for ''CBR'', included Sigil in the "15 D&D Outer Planes That Would Make Great Campaign Settings" list — Colohan highlights that "the most notable location in the Outlands is Sigil, the City of Doors. [...] The city of Sigil would be the ideal starting location for a campaign centered around the Outer Planes, as portals between each of the planes are commonplace. It could also provide a resting point between adventures, allowing the party to catch their breath between forays into ''D&D'''s dangerous outer planes".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Colohan |first=Daniel |date=2021-06-20 |title=15 D&D Outer Planes That Would Make Great Campaign Settings |url=https://www.cbr.com/dungeons-and-dragons-outer-planes-next-campaign/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=CBR |language=en-US}}</ref> Chroniclers of ''D&D''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s art Michael Witwer ''et al.'' counted the depictions of Sigil among Planescape's "haunting visual dreamscapes" and stated that the city as well as the character of the Lady of Pain "were burned permanently into the lexicon of Dungeons & Dragons."<ref name=AA>{{cite book |title=Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: a visual history |last1=Witwer |first1=Michael |last2=Newman |first2=Kyle |last3=Peterson |first3=Jonathan |last4=Witwer |first4=Sam |last5=Manganiello |first5=Joe |date=October 2018 |isbn=9780399580949 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |oclc=1033548473 |page=252-253}}</ref>
==In the game== {{quote|The main setting [in Planescape], a city "at the center of the multiverse" called Sigil, was run by groups called factions. The factions each had a different outlook on the universe. Thus, by joining one of the factions, or simply by dealing with them as players, you were compelled to think and sometimes even argue about the nature of reality. |Monte Cook<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?arch_lineos39 |title=Planescapin' |access-date=5 December 2008 |last=Cook |first=Monte |author-link=Monte Cook |publisher=Monte's Journal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713222351/http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?arch_lineos39 |archive-date=13 July 2009}}</ref>}}
Sigil is located above the tall ''Spire'' at the center of the Outlands.<ref name="Sigil">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.planewalker.com/encyclopedia/sigil|title=Sigil|access-date=5 December 2008|encyclopedia=Planewalker Encyclopedia|publisher=Planewalker|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080831052026/http://www.planewalker.com/encyclopedia/sigil|archive-date=31 August 2008}}</ref> It has the shape of a torus;<ref name="Sigil" /><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.shadowland.org/Planescape/maps.html|title= Sigil Maps|access-date=5 December 2008 |publisher= Shadowland}}</ref> the city itself is located on the inner surface of the ring. There is no sky, simply an all-pervasive light that waxes and wanes to create day and night. Sigil cannot be entered or exited save via portals; although this makes it quite safe from any would-be invader, it also makes it a prison of sorts for those not possessing a portal key. Thus, sometimes Sigil is called "'''The Cage'''".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/features/previews/pstorment-1.shtml|title= Planescapte: Torment Preview|access-date= 5 December 2008|date= 13 July 1999|publisher= RPG Vault|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100127204121/http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/features/previews/pstorment-1.shtml|archive-date= 27 January 2010}}</ref> Though Sigil is pseudo-geographically located "at the center of the planes" (where it is positioned atop the infinitely tall Spire), scholars argue that this is impossible since the planes are infinite in all dimensions, and therefore there can never truly be a center to any or all of them; thus, Sigil is of no special importance. Curiously, from the Outlands one can see Sigil atop the supposedly infinite Spire.
Sigil contains innumerable portals that can lead to anywhere in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' cosmology:<ref name="Gamespy">{{cite web |url= http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/540/540115p4.html|title= A History of D&D Video Games – Part IV|access-date=5 December 2008 |last= Rausch|first=Allen|publisher= Gamespy|date=18 August 2004}}</ref> any bounded opening (a doorway, an arch, a barrel hoop, a picture frame) could possibly be a portal to another plane, or to another point in Sigil itself. Thus, the city is a paradox: it touches all planes at once, yet ultimately belongs to none; from these characteristics it draws its other name: "'''The City of Doors'''".<ref name="DMG3.5">{{cite book |last1= Cook|first1= Monte|author-link= Monte Cook |author-link2=Skip Williams|first2=Skip|last2=Williams |author-link3=Jonathan Tweet|first3=Jonathan|last3=Tweet |author-link4=Peter Adkison|first4=Peter|last4=Adkison |author-link5=Richard Baker (game designer)|first5=Richard |last5=Baker |author-link6=Andy Collins (game designer)|first6=Andy |last6=Collins |author-link7=David Noonan (game designer)|first7=David |last7=Noonan |title= Dungeon Master's Guide|url= https://archive.org/details/dungeonmastersgu00mont|url-access= registration|type= hardcover|edition= 3.5|date=July 2003|publisher= Wizards of the Coast|isbn= 0-7869-2889-1|pages= [https://archive.org/details/dungeonmastersgu00mont/page/166 166]–167|chapter= 5: Campaigns}}</ref>
Sigil is ruled by the Lady of Pain.<ref name="Sigil" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Carbonell|first=Curtis D.|title=Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-1-78962-468-7|location=Liverpool|pages=98–100|chapter=Chapter 3: Dungeons and Dragons Multiverse|oclc=1129971339}}</ref> Sigil is also highly morphic, allowing its leader to alter the city at her whim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planewalker.com/planar-basics/sigil-venues-database/the-sigil-papers-and-map/the-sigil-papers-and-map |title=The Sigil Papers and Map |access-date=5 December 2008 |publisher=Planewalker |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925110722/http://www.planewalker.com/planar-basics/sigil-venues-database/the-sigil-papers-and-map/the-sigil-papers-and-map |archive-date=September 25, 2008}}</ref>
Theoretically, Sigil is a completely neutral ground: no wars are waged there and no armies pass through. Furthermore, no powers (such as deities) are allowed to enter the city<ref name="Sigil" /><ref>{{cite journal |date=September 2007 |title=Unsolved Mysteries of D&D |journal=Dragon |volume=XXXII |issue=4 |pages=26–35}}</ref> (though some have broken this rule).
==In other media== Sigil is also the setting for the 1999 video game ''Planescape: Torment'',<ref name="Game Studies">{{cite web |url= http://gamestudies.org/0301/carr/|title= Play Dead: Genre and Affect in ''Silent Hill'' and ''Planescape Torment''|access-date=5 December 2008 |last= Carr|first= Diane|publisher=Game Studies}}</ref> in which the player is the immortal "Nameless One".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E3DB1030F934A15757C0A9669C8B63|title= GAME THEORY; A Universe Where Ideas Can Trump Actions|access-date=5 December 2008 |last= Schiesel|first= Seth|date= 27 April 2000|work=The New York Times}}</ref> The team chose to place the game around a central fixture of Planescape, the city of Sigil, and the game begins with the character waking up on a cold stone slab in the Mortuary of Sigil, with no idea of who he is, what he is doing there or how he died.<ref>{{cite web|title=Planescape Torment - Reincarnation and amnesia-together again |url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/014/052/planescape_preview.html|archive-date=August 6, 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030806200948/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/014/052/planescape_preview.html}}</ref> In an interview with RPGWatch, Chris Avellone commented on the use of Sigil as the game's main setting: "We felt Sigil was the part of Planescape we really had to get right from the outset in case we made more games. It's the signature city, but... we did sacrifice other planar locations so that we could do it".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?articleid=56|title= Tales of Torment, Part 2|access-date= 5 December 2008|last= Avellone|first= Chris|date= 1 August 2007|publisher= RPGWatch|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090217122902/http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article?articleid=56|archive-date= 17 February 2009|url-status= dead}}</ref>
==See also== * Multiverse * Cynosure, a pan-dimensional city from the GrimJack comics * M'Kraan Crystal, a nexus of realities in the Marvel Universe
==References== {{reflist|2}} {{refbegin}} * Slavicsek, Bill. ''Doors to the Unknown''. * Cordell, Bruce, and Miller, Steve. ''Die Vecna Die!'' (TSR, Inc., 2000). * Denning, Troy. ''Pages of Pain'' (TSR, Inc., 1997). * Cordell, Bruce and Kestrel, Gwendolyn. ''Planar Handbook'' (WoTC, 2004). * ''Torment'' (October 1999), by Ray Vallese and Valerie Vallese ({{ISBN|0-7869-1527-7}}). {{refend}}
{{D&D topics}} {{Planescape}} {{Torment series}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigil (Dungeons and Dragons)}} Category:Dungeons & Dragons populated places Category:Fictional city-states Category:Fictional story elements introduced in 1994 Category:Planescape