Written by: Zachary Velcoff
This post is the second in a four-part series about the best battlemaps for the Planescape setting. In this article, we’ll review the top twelve battlemaps for Sigil, the City of Doors.
In case you missed it, be sure to check out the first article in this series: Planescape: Top 10 Battlemaps for Turn of Fortune’s Wheel. After this article, the series will continue with the best battlemaps for the Outlands and then for their Gate-Towns.
Introduction
Sigil: the city at the middle of everything. Built into the ring that hovers around the top of the Spire looming over the Outlands, Sigil is a place where ideologues compete for followers and influence, where portals open onto every corner of existence, and where the wordless servants of the cryptic Lady of Pain incessantly create and destroy at the whim of their omnipotent mistress.
The center of the multiverse, Sigil has been a popular destination for adventuring parties since the Planescape setting was released in 1994. It was featured in numerous modules for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition and, most recently, in 5e's Turn of Fortune's Wheel. It is the primary setting of the cult classic CRPG Planescape: Torment, and has appeared in innumerable home games. If your campaign takes place in the City of Doors, you’re going to want some battlemaps for it. This article has you covered.
Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Battlemaps for the city of Sigil!
Clerk’s Ward
The Clerks' Ward is home to the administrative functions of the City of Sigil. Along with the city's welcome center and public forum, the Clerks' Ward contains the headquarters of three of Sigil's prominent factions: the Fated, the Society of Sensation, and the mysterious Incanterium.
Hell's Tax Office
The Hall of Records, home to the Fated, is where Sigil's tax collectors and loan sharks store stacks upon stacks of official documentation. Within these towers of bureaucracy, the knowledge of centuries is amassed, available only to those persistent enough to navigate through the sea of red tape. Czepeku’s Hell’s Tax Office makes for a fun map for your party’s visit to the Hall of Records. Here, they can engage in battle with the overwhelming forces of bureaucracy. I suggest the Rush Hour variant, or–if you’re a patron at the Campaign Connoisseur tier–the Animated map.
Grand Opera House
The Civic Festhall, home to the Society of Sensation, offers a vibrant change from the bureaucratic institutions of the Clerks' Ward. This towering arts complex features galleries and sculpture gardens, concert halls and restaurants, theaters and sensoriums. Its greatest theater is Ren Hall, where twice a night, performances are put on to engage all the senses of the audience. Should your PCs attend–or put on–a performance here, set the scene with Czepeku’s Grand Opera House. The Original variant is excellent for everything from stage combat to loge box intrigue, and you can pivot to the Assassination or Phantom Fire variants when things take a dramatic turn.
Hive Ward
The slums of Sigil, the Hive Ward is a district of tenements and crumbling hovels, where crime is rampant and life is cheap. The Hive contains the headquarters of the Bleak Cabal and the Heralds of Dust, as well as the many warehouses out of which the rebellious Hands of Havoc operate.
Monster Fighting Pit
In the Bottle and Jug, one of the Hive’s most infamous taprooms, behind a door to an out-of-order bathroom guarded by a pit fiend bouncer, there lies a hidden arena. Here, combatants from across the multiverse battle while the Hive's high rollers bet vast sums of money on the outcomes, and the proprietor, the wingless erinyes, Beatrice Bazlan, plies them with drinks. Can your party dethrone the reigning champion, the cyclops, Akra? Find out on Czepeku’s Monster Fighting Pit map. The Ebony Day variant best matches the Bottle and Jug’s black granite.
Plague Hospital
Within the Gatehouse, in the House of Rehabilitation, the Bleak Cabal tends to the unwell, offering respite and nepenthe for the direst afflictions of the mind and body. Should a party member or an ally of theirs need a cure to a curse or disease, set their visit to the House of Rehabilitation in Czepeku’s Plague Hospital. The Water Temple or Abundant Orange variant will work nicely.
Lady’s Ward
The Lady's Ward is home to Sigil's wealthy and powerful, though not–despite its name–to the Lady of Pain herself. This ward contains the headquarters for the Doomguard, the Fraternity of Order, the Harmonium, and the Mercykillers.
Dwarven Throne Hall
Within the Armory, stronghold of the Doomguard, the flames of the Forge of Doom burn day in and day out, churning out weapons of war for use across the multiverse. Should the party pay a visit to the efreeti weapons broker, Aslan Ashfang–to stop an arms deal, perhaps, or to participate in one–you can set their visit in the Giants Forge variant of Czepeku’s Dwarven Throne Hall.
Grand Cathedral Interior
In the temple of Heart's Fire, the reformed horned devil Mihr shepherds a congregation devoted to the deities of fire, truth, and light. Some among the clergy don’t believe in the redemption arc of their new high priest, however, making Heart's Fire a place ripe for conflict. Whether your party is invested in this conflict, attending services, or here on an unrelated quest, you can set their visit to the Sun of Sigil in Czepeku’s Grand Cathedral Interior. The Golden Light variant best evokes the domains of the gods worshiped here.
Lower Ward
The Lower Ward is home to Sigil's industry, where artisans from across the planes gather to collaborate on crafts that could not be produced anywhere else. This ward contains the headquarters of the Athar, the Mind's Eye, and the Ring Givers.
Bone Dryad Ossuary
Czepeku's Bone Dryad Ossuary works well for not one but two buildings in the Lower Ward. Firstly, the No Coffins variant is perfect for the Bones of the Night, home to the skull collector, Lothar the Old. Should the players need information from the dead, the Master of Bones can extract it from a member of his grisly collection–for the right price. Secondly, the Black Tree variant is great for the Shattered Temple, the ruined place of worship for the dead god, Aoskar. If the party is burdened with a cursed magic item, they might bring it here to have it dealt with by Athar priests of the Greater Unknown, who can destroy magic items, feeding their power to the Luminous Arbor, a metallic-tinged tree.
Market Ward
The Market Ward is the center of commerce in Sigil, a trade hub of the multiverse where the barter system takes precedence over coin, and favors are the most valuable–and riskiest–currency. The Market Ward is home to the Free League and the Transcendent Order.
Wizard Bank Interior
The Market Ward is home to a massive branch of the Bank of Abbathor Inc., which has branches across the Outer Planes and the worlds of the Material Plane. A giant statue of the bank's namesake, the dwarven god of greed, watches over its patrons, employees, and board of directors with eyes of glistening emerald. If your party needs to make a deposit, use Czepeku’s Wizard Bank Interior for their visit to the Bank of Abbathor. If they get rich and open a vault, or–more likely–attempt to rob one, Czepeku’s Wizard Vault map makes for a great follow-up.
Imperial Bath Complex
A planar bathhouse operated by the githzerai, Laril Zazzkos, the Flame Pits offer spa treatments tailored to all tastes in the multiverse. That said, your PCs might be more interested in a mani-pedi than a bath in lava, acid, or liquid shadow. If the party is here to treat themselves, you might use the Sauna variant of Czepeku’s Imperial Bath Complex map. If they’re here to rub shoulders with the Flame Pits’ extraplanar patrons, however, you might use one of the more outré variants: Nemesis, Toxic, or Blood Pool.
Undersigil
Beneath the surface of the ring lies Undersigil, where criminal agents mingle with factions on the decline, cranium rats amass in hives, and the living dead hold court.
Cavern of the Venom Queen
The Warrens of Thought are home to the Us, a massive cranium rat hive with enough psychic power to command a legion of thralls. The Us can be used to reliably relay information to anyone in Sigil–though what the hivemind does with that information afterwards is anyone’s guess. As the Warrens of Thought sit between the Dead Nations and the Drowned Nations of Undersigil, the Toxic variant of Czepeku’s Cavern of the Venom Queen is perfect for them: sewers to the southwest, bones to the northeast.
Honorable Mentions
The following maps didn’t make the cut for the Top 10 but are still likely to prove useful for your party’s visits to Sigil:
- Minotaur Labyrinth. If your players are foolhardy or unlucky enough to run afoul of the Lady of Pain, they’re liable to end up mazed. It’s rumored that the Mazes into which the Lady of Pain casts those who offend her contain exactly one portal out, though these portals are nigh-impossible to find, and their keys could be just about anything. If the party screws up big time, throw them into the Camp variant of Czepeku’s Minotaur Labyrinth, and bid them good luck.
- Forgotten Chapel Crypt. The Dead Nations of Undersigil, catacomb, tomb, and kingdom of the Silent King. If the players have business with the monarch of the Realm Below, you can use Czepeku's Forgotten Chapel Crypt to stage their meeting.
- Monster Genealogy Lab. The Institute for Intellectual Excellence, in the Market Ward, is one of the most prestigious academies of the multiverse; its professors specialize in the study of the cosmos: its magics, mathematics, and philosophies. If your players seek lore, they might visit Dean Enoll Eva in the Classroom Day variant of Czepeku’s Monster Genealogy Lab.
- Magic Wizard Tower. Czepeku’s Magic Wizard Tower, being modular, is suitable for two prominent wizard towers in Sigil. First is the Tower Sorcerous in the Clerk's Ward, home to the Incanterium, a faction believed to be banished from Sigil before it suddenly and violently returned. Second is the Planar Energy Cooperative in the Market Ward, home to an archmage circle that monitors the multiverse for signs of unusual magic activity.
- City Marketplace. Czepeku’s City Marketplace works well for two outdoor markets in Sigil. The Cat Shark Haul variant is excellent for the Grease Pit, a bustling street food market in the Hive Ward. Any Night variant works well for the Gatehouse Night Market, an after-hours black market where unscrupulous vendors ply wares of ill repute.
- Thieves Guild Hideout. Sandstone Strip, a clustered shelter and self-governed stronghold for Sigil's ne'er-do-wells, sits at the border between the Clerks' Ward and the Hive. The Original variant of Czepeku's Thieves Guild Hideout suits it well.
- Slum District. Czepeku's Slum District works well for two locations in Sigil. The Original variant is great for Ditch, a toxic waterway that separates the Lower Ward from the Hive. The Night variant works well for Nowhere, in Undersigil, where factions on the decline are denied the light of day provided by Sigil's sunless sky.
- Astral Plane. A portal in the Shattered Temple leads to a colossal, petrified corpse floating through the Astral Plane. Should the party venture through this portal–perhaps to confirm whether this corpse is indeed the dead god Aoskar–you can set their adventure in the Original variant of Czepeku’s Astral Plane.
Further Reading
For more Planescape content, please check out the other articles in this series: