Planescape review: The Deva Spark
For the last three years, I've run a Planescape1 campaign through almost all of its modules. Now, after successfully finishing it, I want to look back and review these adventures, highlighting the pros and cons of each one.
Each module will be rated in three categories, up to 3 points in each:
- Presentation: how easy it is to understand and run the adventure.
- Openness: how open the adventure's scope is, regarding the freedom of choice.
- Quality: Overall quality of the adventure, including the originality and richness of its content, and players' enjoyment.
The full list of currently published reviews is available under the planescape tag.
The Deva Spark
From the blasted pits of the Abyss to the peaceful forests of Elysium, the heroes track a barmy bebilith who holds the key to saving the life of a dying deva. Can your characters handle the fire of the deva spark?
- Designer: Bill Slavicsek and J.M. Salsbury
- Source: The Deva Spark2
- Party: 4-6 characters of 5th-9th levels
- Play-time: 2-3 sessions
- Locations:
- Abyss / Plane of Infinite Portals (L1)
- Sigil
- Elysium / Amoria (L1) / Principality
Overview
The adventure starts with a relaxing night in The Ubiquitous Wayfarer tavern β a famous portal-laden establishment in Sigil. Six small encounters are presented to embellish the evening, including arguing philosophy and dancing with drunken imps. Some of these events are used to stage an unexpected turn of events that happens right after. Unknowingly stepping through a door with the right portal key, the characters found themselves in another tavernβ¦ in the Abyss!
Since they cannot go back through the same portal, the party must find another one, while observing how chaotic tanar'ri like to relax in their free time. Another set of four events is given for the abyssal drinking hall, presenting a stark contrast with the previous one.
Now, the main event finally happens. An injured man runs inside chased by a bebilith, giant spider-like abyssal monstrosity. A moment later poor berk is skewered by a bebilith's barbed foreleg. Suddenly, a blindingly bright glow burst from the impaled body β the deva spark! The rightful owner of the spark, Ybdiel, the monadic deva from Elysium, hiding in a demonic disguise at one of the tables all this time, assumes his true angelic form and rushes in to fight the monster.
How did the very essence of a deva come into possession of an abyssal petitioner? Ybdiel was tasked with a spy mission in the Abyss and, though a deva could easily disguise himself as a tanar'ri, the brightness of the spark would give him away immediately. Thus, he traveled to an unnamed prime world and deposed the spark into a mortal's soul. What Ybdiel didn't know, is that the said mortal was a pathological pyromaniac. Not long after the deva had departed, the psycho was slain by a well-placed crossbow bolt, and his soul was drawn into the Abyss with the spark still embedded in it. By killing the petitioner, bebilith had assumed ownership of the spark, which gives it an upper hand in the fight against Ybdiel, allowing it to mortally wound the deva before disappearing back into the wasteland.
Noticing the characters, Ybdiel asks them for help and can even employ his celestial reverence power if needed. He also knows where the portal to Sigil is located, so they can escape before tanar'ri finally decide to attack the celestial intruder. Once in Sigil, Ybdiel explains the tricky situation he had found himself in and asks the characters to get him back home to Principality. Moments later he falls unconscious, weakened by the bebilith's poisonous bite. How fast the characters figure it out depends on their actions, but once they do, they also discover that a bebilith has passed through the same portal not long ago. What a creature from the Abyss seeks on the restful plane is yet to be known.
The Principality, one of the realms of Elysium is a pastoral paradise of neutral goodness. It meets the party with a bloody body of a berk that was killed by the bebilith for his portal key. The characters can decide to deliver the deva to his power, track down the bebilith first, or something else entirely, but whatever they do, travel through the Principality is done in an unusual manner: by doing acts of good the travel time from point to point reduces from 1d4 days to 1d4 hours. There are also some other spell-specific properties of the plane listed, and as usual, the additional details could be found in the Planes of Conflict3 boxed set.
Before the characters hit the road though, the bebilith will attempt to kidnap Ybdiel. The spark is already influencing the monster by gifting it formerly unknown feelings of goodness. Hence, the bebilith decides to attempt to heal the deva to get rid of the weird new emotions. After this, there are eight encounter locations marked on the map and described in detail in Chapters II and III of the book, along with some unnumbered ones that happen along the way. There's also Garrish the Nycaloth who is also tracking down the spark. The other highlights of the trip include visits to a local burg, a monastery, a lakeside-dwelling moon dogs, and a nest of the phoenix.
Long story short, the characters discover that to help Ybdiel (and conflicted bebilith for that matter) they must gather the three Items of Accord and bring them to the center of the Labyrinth in Ornwood Forest along with the deva and the bebilith. The rest of the adventure consists of questing for the tree Items, confronting Garrish, and teaching the bebilith the ways of good. With the artifacts at hand, they can finally attempt to succeed at the three dreamlike tests of the magical Labyrinth. The outcome of the adventure is open: the characters are free to decide who will keep the spark. The outcomes of the six possible decisions are described thoroughly.
Presentation
ποΈποΈποΈ superb
All required maps are included: the Abyssal Tavern (both top-down AND the isometric one), the map of Principality (along with its full-color counterpart to show to the players), and the Labyrinth where the climax of the adventure takes place. No scale is given for the Principality but since its travel time isn't influenced by distance, it isn't a requirement anyway in this case. Master table of NPCs and monsters (in order of appearance) and the detailed list of possible awards based on the characters' actions are presented as well.
Openness
βοΈβοΈ semi-linear
At times open, the adventure still has rails in some critical places and that might not be to the taste of some players. By putting some effort into it, enterprising DMs can expand the scope and provide for some alternative outcomes will their players decide on a path not covered in the book. Of course, this could also increase the chances of failing to succeed in rescuing the deva.
Quality
β β good
Your players would either love or hate it. In either case, The Deva Spark is a pretty solid attempt at the upper planes' adventuring β a much-needed respite from the ubiquitous hell-based delves.
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