Close
Close
Advanced Search

The Eternal Boundary (2e)Click to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/17300.xml&w=500&h=325
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/17300-sample.pdf

The Eternal Boundary (2e)

ADD TO WISHLIST >

Welcome to the Cage, friend.

You'll want to watch your back in Sigil - it seems every cutter here's got a way to peel a clueless basher, and you're no exception. Besides, there's something happening down in the Hive that's got the factions in an uproar, and word is you're the cutter to look into it. Barmies and bubbers have been waking up in the Dead Book, but they haven't been staying there. They've been returning to Sigil with minds restored, telling tales of the Eternal Boundary. But the air's turning foul here in the Cage, and there'll be blood spilled soon if someone doesn't learn the dark of things, an quick!

The Eternal Boundary is a PLANESCAPE adventure for a party of four to six characters of 1st to 5th levels. Players are introduced to the city of Sigil - the Cage, as some call it. Inside this crossroads to the planes, a sinister plot unfolds, leading the heroes into the most dangerous and desperate part of town - the ramshackle slum known as the Hive.

Do your player characters have what it takes to confront the Eternal Boundary - and pass beyond?

Product History

"The Eternal Boundary" (1994), by L. Richard Baker III, is the first adventure for the Planescape setting. It was published in June 1994.

About the Title. When people die, they pass beyond "The Eternal Boundary". This is the story of some of who have come back.

Continuing the Planescape Series. The world of Planescape kicked off with the Planescape Campaign Setting in April 1994. "The Eternal Boundary" was the first supplement for the setting; it would be followed by the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994) one month later.

As the first supplement for the Planescape line, "The Eternal Boundary" affirmed its format. Like the Planescape Campaign Setting, it's an artistic book, with innovative layout and full of Planescape slang. It also contains something unique — a GM screen relevant to the adventure — an idea that would be repeated throughout the first five Planescape adventures.

The "AD&D 2e" logo appears on the cover of "The Eternal Boundary", something that TSR flirted with from May 1994 through July. Despite that logo, "The Eternal Boundary" is in no way a generic 2e adventure. The book makes that very clear, saying, "Although this adventure can be run by a DM who's not familiar with the PLANESCAPE setting, it would lose a lot of its flavor and planar ambience."

Adventure Tropes. As the first adventure for the setting, "The Eternal Boundary" answers the question, "What does a Planescape adventure look like?" To start with, it's drenched with flavor, recalling the feel of Planescape through its slang, its factions, and its urban focus. The adventure spends about two-thirds of its time in Sigil itself, but then casually moves to the Elemental Plane of Fire, providing a nice introduction to the far-ranging style of Planescape adventures.

However, "The Eternal Boundary" also contains some surprisingly traditional elements. Much of the adventure is focused around a few "dungeon delves": into a mausoleum and a citadel. There's even a visit to a tavern!

Expanding Planescape. For the most part, "The Eternal Boundary" expands on Sigil as described in the Planescape Campaign Setting. It details the Hive Ward, which received about two pages of attention in the Campaign Setting, and also focuses on four factions: the Bleak Cabal, the Dustmen, the Society of Sensation, and the Xaositects. The Dustmen gets some particular notice, because part of the adventure takes place in their Mortuary.

Keeping to the setting's name, "The Eternal Boundary" also travels a little further afield, to the Elemental Plane of Fire. The Elemental Planes had always been somewhat troublesome adventure locations because of their primal … elemental nature. T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil (1985) had provided watered-down versions of the planes in "elemental nodes", but beyond that hadn't received a lot of attention in adventures.

Jeff Grubb's Manual of the Planes (1987) correctly realized that the right way to explore the Elemental Plane of Fire was through individual locales that weren't as dangerous as the fire-soaked plains, and so it introduced the City of Brass, a locale that also received attention in a Rob Kuntz tournament adventure that year: "(To The) City of Brass" (1987). Similarly, "The Eternal Boundary" takes places in a "Citadel of Fire": a part of the Elemental Plane of Fire that's protected by a magic gem that keeps out the worst of the infernal flames that make up the realm.

About the Creators. Baker got his start at TSR writing for Dark Sun. "The Eternal Boundary" was just one of two major contributions he made to Planescape, the other being the second Monstrous Compendium (1995) for the setting.

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (0)
Discussions (4)
Customer avatar
Carl D June 06, 2022 4:27 am UTC
Customer avatar
Nicholas P January 13, 2021 5:06 pm UTC
POD please
Customer avatar
sean R May 15, 2019 9:25 am UTC
So does this come with the DM screen as a PDF?
Customer avatar
Ryan F November 03, 2017 4:07 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Lovely product. I had worried that the heavily styled text would fail to scan and present well, but it scans well and the contrast is nice and bright.
Browse Categories
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!
 Recent History















Product Information
Gold seller
Author(s)
Pages
40
Edition
1.0
ISBN
1-56076-843-6
Publisher Stock #
TSR 2601
File Size:
23.04 MB
Format
Scanned image Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
July 07, 2014
This title was added to our catalog on July 08, 2014.