History VideoGame / PlanEscapeTorment

* HeroesPreferSwords: One of the tropes to be silently defied. A total number of three swords appear in the game, and only one can be used by the protagonist as such. One is exclusive to supporting character Dak'kon, the second must be transformed into a different kind of weapon before the main character can wield it, and the third -- Celestial Fire -- is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, although the requirements for obtaining and wielding it are very specific. The Nameless One must make do with [[PowerFist knuckledusters]], [[DeviousDaggers daggers]], [[CarryABigStick clubs]], [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and very big [[DropTheHammer warhammers]] for most of the game even if he can wield Celestial Fire.

It's also well-known for being heavy on the personal interactions and puzzles, while relatively light on the combat, so much so that it's more a highly interactive novel than a game. In many situations, your allies are more useful for the advice they can bring and the clues they can decipher than any capacity as "another warm body to throw at the enemy" (although [[HornyDevils some of them]] are [[InfernalRetaliation pretty hot indeed]]). For a complete gaming experience, creating a character with high intelligence, charisma, and wisdom gives the best dialogue options. Which isn't to say that the game is lacking in enemy encounters and dungeon crawling for players more interested in monster slaying.

* HornyDevils: Fall-from-Grace is an inversion of this trope. She is a succubus who wears a chastity bodice and runs a sex-free brothel. Normal succubi are mentioned here and there, however.

** {{Averted}} with Fall-from-Grace, who "only" appears to have a C-cup, compared to most other ladies sporting E-cups. Notable since she is literally a [[HornyDevils sex demon]].

* ImmortalLifeIsCheap: You can have the Nameless One kill himself to win an argument, to sneak past guards, to escape from traps, to make money from a bored noble looking to experience a murder, or even as a combat tactic. [[spoiler:Getting sufficient deaths will cause more shadows in the Fortress of Regrets, which are rather dangerous opponents when you are alone]].

** It is actually hard as balls to stay Lawful and even more to stay Lawful Good. The game gives many MANY more ways to gain chaotic points and to be lawful you have to be honest and avoid lying altogether throughout most of the game since the very beginning. It pays off immensely though: [[spoiler: the InfinityPlusOneSword , Celestial Fire a "Holy Avenger sword" (straight out of the TabletopGame) requires you to be Lawful Good. These normally +5 and beyond swords are insanely powerful while having defensive magic too but are restricted to Lawful Good with only paladins capable of using the magic abilities and aura they have.]]

* ChivalrousPervert: Morte is a floating skull. He suggests hitting on female zombies, flirts with every female character around, and buying him some time with a prostitute buffs his taunt skill. He's also the only party member who is actually Good aligned.
--> '''Nordom''': "Attention; Morte. I have a question. Do you have a destiny? A purpose?"
--> '''Morte''': "Is [[MsFanService Annah]] still wearing clothes?"
--> '''Nordom''': "Affirmatory."
--> '''Morte''': "Then the answer is yes."
** It should be noted that the prostitute Morte spends time with is employed at a brothel of "Slaking ''Intellectual'' Lusts", and the reason it buffs his taunt skill is that she has a particular talent for profanity and constructing curse phrases that impresses even the foul-mouthed Morte. Needless to say, he finds her ''even more attractive'' for it.

* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Downplayed; only a small number of fights (about four) are completely unavoidable.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deionarra fell deeply in love with one of The Nameless One's previous incarnations. [[spoiler: Too bad for her that it was the [[ManipulativeBastard Practical Incarnation]].]]

* AllThereInTheManual: In this case the official strategy guide; the reason why the Nameless One can't become a priest (he can become every other class) is because every god had forsaken him long ago.

* AnAesop: One side quest is about averting the LawfulStupid trope. You learn from a upper class bitch that a bunch of ProudWarriorRaceGuys had accidentally ruined her dress and she convinced them to make up for it by challenging a lesser devil in the district. What she "failed" to mention to them was that said devil is immune to non-magical weapons, so she's sending them to a death trap. If you convince the leader that she deliberately held that information back, the deal is off.

* BonusBoss:
** If the Morridor's Box quest is resolved by [[SchmuckBait exiting the Hive like you're explicitly warned not to do]] the fiend inside will escape, only to be found in [[spoiler:the ruins of Curst]] at a much later juncture. It's the second most powerful creature in the game.
** Lothar can be seen this way, though defeating him is [[UnwinnableByDesign not supposed to be possible.]]

-->'''Morte:''' "You know, if I could click you, you wouldn't know a moment's peace."\\
'''Dak'kon:''' "Your reasons for your incessant clicking are not ''known'' to me."\\
'''Fall from Grace''' "Simple minds, simple pleasures"

-->'''TNO''': "Well if I cannot die, then you can't exist. [[spoiler:You're my *mortality*."]]

* WorldOfBuxom: Sigil, City of Doors and Giant, Shapely, Voluptuous Breasts. All of the female character models are impossibly proportioned, although this is only really obvious in the codex part of the journal, where pre-rendered images of most inhabitants of the world are shown.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: While AD&D normally has a level cap of 20, this game brings the cap up to '''''127'''''. Reaching this level cap under normal circumstances is at the very least highly time-consuming. Depending on the player's choices, the party's levels at the end of the game can vary wildly, not only from player to player, but from character to character as well. There's a ginormous totally ludicrous experience bonus for the Nameless One you can get right at the end of the game that's the main reason the level cap makes any sense. It gives you 2 million XP and several levels in one single reward. You can get your main character near level 40 following all quests and combat options (although the average lies more in the 20-30 range), and you can keep going if you grind.

* AlasPoorVillain: Ravel Puzzlewell is a horrible being, practically an incarnation of evil. The stories of her cruelties are legendary, and people are still afraid to talk about her, centuries after she disappeared for good. And yet... three times she tried to do an act of kindness, and each time it backfired terribly on her. Then there's the fragments of herself that she's left around, like [[spoiler: poor old Mebbeth, a kind healer who helps you a great deal, should you ask for it. After Ravel's death, Mebbeth slowly fades away, filled with regret]]. Ravel's incarnations in the ''Videogame/IcewindDale'' games are also a far cry from the bogeyman described in this game, being instead very ''human''--if eccentric--characters.

* EleventhHourRanger: By the time Vhailor - a strong combat-oriented companion - can be recruited into your party, there's at most 2-3 hours left before reaching the end credits.
* EleventhHourSuperpower:
** Finding out the use for the Bronze Sphere will grant you an insane amount of power right before facing the BigBad.
** The Symbol of Torment is also learned at the last minute, giving an infinite-use unavoidable attack inflicting 30-100 damage.

* TheUnReveal: If the player brings a certain object to the final dungeon and picks the right conversation options, [[spoiler:The Nameless One will be able to recover his name with the help of The Good Incarnation, but the player never finds out what it is.]]

* HeroesPreferSwords: One of the tropes to be silently defied. A total number of three swords appear in the game, and only one can be used by the protagonist as such. One is exclusive to supporting character Dak'kon, the second must be transformed into a different kind of weapon before the main character can wield it, and the third -- Celestial Fire -- is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, although the requirements for obtaining and wielding it are very specific. The Nameless One must make do with [[PowerFist knuckledusters]], [[KnifeNut daggers]], [[CarryABigStick clubs]], [[AnAxeToGrind axes]] and very big [[DropTheHammer warhammers]] for most of the game even if he can wield Celestial Fire.

* JokeItem: The drones in the Modron Maze often drop junk (Bag of Coins, Stone Rod etc.) that don't even qualify as VendorTrash, because they have no value or direct use whatsoever. You could use them as markers in the Maze, however.

* VendorTrash: Sometimes literal trash, like rags. Several portals are activated by carrying around otherwise pointless objects, including one item that is simply labelled as "junk".

* AdultFear: Runs on nearly every dark trope ever, and this one is no exception. Listing every character that plays on an adult fear would take a page of its own, so sticking to party members:
** In a very long fantasy metaphor for abusive personalities, the Nameless One destroys everything he touches and hurts everyone he cares about. No matter how much some of his incarnations might want to, he will never be able to stop. [[spoiler: He finally does stop...by committing suicide.]]
** Dak'kon has sworn a vow of absolute obedience to someone who is frequently a complete monster, resulting in plentiful on-screen psychological abuse if the player has the stomach for it. And that's not even touching on lost faith or having lived through a genocide. Ignus and Vhailor have lost their basic humanity to traumatic experiences and zealotry. Annah's relationship with her father figure isn't exactly a healthy one, and she promptly finds herself drawn towards an equally unhealthy relationship with a much (much, much) older man. Fall-From-Grace was sold into slavery by her mother. Morte was physically abused but stuck around out of the conviction that it was somehow his fault and he deserved it, and Nordom is the very picture of childlike innocence lost.
*** The sick part is that for [[spoiler: Dak'kon and Ignus, their current predicament is ''your fault''.]]
** Deionarra is a literal LoveMartyr, but what sends this into Adult Fear territory is that her relationship isn't some FantasticAesop -- she's simply so enthralled with romance she doesn't realize her lover's true nature until it's too late... rather like many real world people in abusive relationships. And just because she knows better now, doesn't mean she can let him go.

* MementoMacGuffin: Dionarra's Wedding Ring, which she left for you.

** Have one of the few necessary {{NPC}}s die before they can tell you crucial information.

* CessationOfExistence: [[spoiler:In two of the endings, The Nameless One kills himself with the Blade of the Immortal or wills himself out of existence. The end video only shows The Transcendent One disintegrating and then nothing, as The Nameless One has removed himself from existence altogether.]] Considering that the alternative is going to Hell, this may qualify as the best choice... assuming you're okay with [[spoiler:your party]] being callously left behind with no hope at all for rescue and [[spoiler:[[KarmaHoudini avoiding the consequences for your past monstrosities.]]]]

* ImmortalityImmorality: The eventual reveal of how the Nameless One is immortal proves to be this. [[spoiler: When the Nameless One is resurrected, doing so is fuelled by the sudden, violent extraction of LifeForce from someone elsewhere in TheMultiverse. The shadows that are hunting the Nameless One are the tormented, undead vestiges of those whose lives were consumed to restore the Nameless One -- in a nice bit of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, the more times you have died during the game, the more Greater Shadows you will encounter during the final dungeon. It's even mentioned in said dungeon that, since it exists in a closed-off bubble of the Negative Energy Plane, and there are no other living beings in the place, death here will be permanent for the Nameless One, as he won't be able to absorb life from anywhere to restore himself.]]

* ArmorIsUseless: The game features only a dozen suits and each of them can only be worn by a specific character. Morte, Nordom and Ignus can't wear any armor at all. The Nameless One, Annah and Fall-From-Grace can only wear clothes; the only clothes the Nameless One can wear are a disguise which becomes useless outside the Morgue. Dak'kon and Vhailor start out equipped in nonmagical armor (ceremonial ''zerth'' armor, the equivalent of chainmail for the former, field plate mail for the latter) which they cannot change and which doesn't give them any bonus beyond the standard benefit to Armor Class (base AC 5 and 2 respectively, lower being better under ''AD&D'' rules). Instead the vast majority of AC bonuses come from enchanted rings, bracers, earings, and tattoos.

* ArmorIsUseless: The game features only a dozen suits and each of them can only be worn by a specific character. Morte, Nordom and Ignus can't wear any armor at all. The Nameless One, Annah and Fall-From-Grace can only wear clothes; the only clothes the Nameless One can wear are a disguise which becomes useless outside the Morgue. Dak'kon and Vhailor start out equipped in nonmagical armor (ceremonial ''zerth'' armor, the equivalent of chainmail for the former, field plate mail for the latter) which they cannot change and their armor doesn't give them any bonus beyond the standard benefit to Armor Class (5 and 2 respectively, lower being better under ''AD&D'' rules). Instead the vast majority of AC bonuses come from enchanted rings, bracers, earings, and tattoos.

* ArmorIsUseless: The game features only a dozen suits and each of them can only be worn by a specific character. Morte, Nordom and Ignus can't wear any armor at all. The Nameless One, Annah and Fall-From-Grace can only wear clothes; the only clothes the Nameless One can wear are a disguise which became useless outside the Morgue. Dak'kon and Vailhor wear real armor (leather for the first, steel for the second) but they can't change and their armor doesn't give them any specific bonus.

* ArmorIsUseless: The game features only a dozen suits and each of them can only be worn by a specific character. Morte, Nordom and Ignus can't wear any armor at all. The Nameless One, Annah and Fall-From-Grace can only wear clothes; the only clothes the Nameless One can wear are a disguise which became useless outside the Morgue. Dak'kon and Vailhor wears real armor (leather for the first, steel for the second) but they can't change and their armor doesn't give them any specific bonus.

'''Dak'kon:''' "Your reasons for your incessant clicking are not ''known'' to me."

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Reaching the '''''127''''' level cap under normal circumstances is at the very least highly time-consuming. Depending on the player's choices, the party's levels at the end of the game can vary wildly, not only from player to player, but from character to character as well. There's a ginormous totally ludicrous experience bonus for the Nameless One you can get right at the end of the game that's the main reason the level cap makes any sense. It gives you 2 million XP and several levels in one single reward. You can get your main character near level 40 following all quests and combat options (although the average lies more in the 20-30 range), and you can keep going if you grind.

* BonusBoss: If the Morridor's Box quest is resolved by [[SchmuckBait exiting the Hive like you're explicitly warned not to do]] the fiend inside will escape, only to be found in [[spoiler:the ruins of Curst]] at a much later juncture. It's the second most powerful creature in the game.

** The Symbol of Torment.

* ImmortalLifeIsCheap: You can have the Nameless One kill himself to win an argument, to sneak past guards, to escape from traps, or to make money from a bored noble looking to experience a murder. Overdoing this will come back to haunt you later, however.

* JokeItem: The drones in the Modron Maze often drop junk (Bag of Coins, Stone Rod ect.) that don't even qualify as VendorTrash, because they have no value or direct use whatsoever. You could use them as markers in the Maze, however.

* StealthBasedMission: Enforced to some extent in the Mortuary -- Morte suggests you keep a low profile once you leave the first room, and even if you chose your Nameless One's starting stats to suit a mage or thief, you still start off as a fighter, just not poorly built one. until you escape the Dustmen will accost you if they spot you wandering the upper floors, and if you can't explain yourself, they'll summon the guards and attack. Of course, they're rather weak on their own, their vision range is poor, and they move extremely slowly, allowing you to skirt their vision or run if spotted. If you get made anyway, you can also [[NeckSnap snap their necks]] in dialogue if your Dexterity is high enough, or, if you don't want to kill them, bluff them into simply giving you directions to the exit with sufficient Charisma... but if you do kill one, they drop their robes, which you can use to walk around freely as long as you don't talk directly to any of the Dustmen.

[[YouWakeUpInARoom You wake up in a massive mortuary]]. You are the [[NoNameGiven Nameless One]], and you have [[AmnesiacHero no memory of who you are or how you got to the mortuary]], with only a heavily scarred body and a few tattoos to give you a clue of your past. Aided by a sarcastic talking skull Morte, you escape from the building into Sigil, the City of Doors, a place linked to countless planar portals, located at the center of the {{multiverse}}. Here, regaining your past becomes an increasingly complex proposition.

* NoNameGiven: Literally. You play as The Nameless One, and although you can lie and say your name's Adahn, it's not your TrueName.