TIL that the city of Sigil from Dungeons & Dragons was an allegory for working at TSR during the 90s. It’s ruler, the Lady of Pain, was based on TSR CEO Lorraine Williams

What were the initial feelings behind-the-scenes about the product line? Was it popular at TSR, left on its own, or something else?

Monte: I think a lot of people were intimidated by it (in fact, I know they were because they told me so) because it was so different and so intricate. But different and intricate are my wheelhouse so it was perfect for me.

What most people don’t know is that much of Sigil was Zeb’s metaphorical analog for TSR itself. I mean, it was literally run by the Lady of Pain, whose very gaze could kill you (or your product). So behind the scenes, the setting had a very different meaning for everyone there.

Ray: Monte’s right that some people felt intimidated by Planescape, but some also felt that it was a bit pretentious and smug, even condescending. Here was this new setting that deigned to say how the multiverse *really* worked and “looked down” on all the other game worlds. That was never the intention of the Planescape team. But the products were often written in a wry, overly clever voice that smirked at all the clueless bashers stumbling around the multiverse, so I can see how some people took it the wrong way. (Then again, as Monte says later, by the end we did get a bit elitist—the Planescape voice was rubbing off on us—so maybe the reputation wasn’t entirely undeserved.)