Rating: 
Summary: Interesting reading... but...
Review: "Faction War" is an excellent story. Its twists and turns, and especially the bits about the progression of the war between the Harmonium and the Doomguard, and later between the Xaositects and the Harmonium (after the Doomguards' virtual destruction) makes for compelling reading. I won't give the dark of the adventure away, but the ending (and the fate of Duke Darkwood) were wonderfully satisfying. HOWEVER... I do not recommend the use of this product in an existing Planescape campaign. Not unless the DM plans on following through with all the changes that affect Sigil by the end of the war.Again, the ending is not set in stone; the authors leave it completely open for an innovative DM to have the war happen and leave the Factions in place and have Sigil go back to where it was as much as it possibly can considering how much was destroyed. You know, it occurs to me that "Faction War" could very possibly be an ending to the 2nd ed. Planescape universe in the same way that the war of the gods was an ending to the 1st ed. Forgotten Realms universe. Mere speculation on my part. Summing up: Faction war's a good read, but it's a disastrous addition to an existing Planescape campaign. Use with extreme caution.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting reading... but...
Review: "Faction War" is an excellent story. Its twists and turns, and especially the bits about the progression of the war between the Harmonium and the Doomguard, and later between the Xaositects and the Harmonium (after the Doomguards' virtual destruction) makes for compelling reading. I won't give the dark of the adventure away, but the ending (and the fate of Duke Darkwood) were wonderfully satisfying. HOWEVER... I do not recommend the use of this product in an existing Planescape campaign. Not unless the DM plans on following through with all the changes that affect Sigil by the end of the war.Again, the ending is not set in stone; the authors leave it completely open for an innovative DM to have the war happen and leave the Factions in place and have Sigil go back to where it was as much as it possibly can considering how much was destroyed. You know, it occurs to me that "Faction War" could very possibly be an ending to the 2nd ed. Planescape universe in the same way that the war of the gods was an ending to the 1st ed. Forgotten Realms universe. Mere speculation on my part. Summing up: Faction war's a good read, but it's a disastrous addition to an existing Planescape campaign. Use with extreme caution.
Rating: 
Summary: Faction Extraction
Review: As has been said multiple times by reviewers to this point, Faction War changes the face of the Planescape campaign world. Nevertheless, it's worth repeating: little in the Planes will be the same after this book. Luckily, the adventure itself is great. The character development and non-linear play allows for some fun role-playing. The group I DM for really enjoyed it; however, I made the serious mistake of making this our first adventure in the Planes. Most of us had played Planescape: Torment and pretty much all of us had read the campaign set, but still, the sweeping changes were a bit much for a first adventure. If you've got a campaign that's run in the Planes for a good while, this adventure is truly unique. The plot is amazingly complicated and well-written. It succeeds because it is different from other adventures: there is no single bad guy. Sigil isn't about black and white, berk, its about gray. In this book, not all sides are obvious; I had more inner-party squabbles than ever before, giving us some role-playing opportunities we'd not had before. My only qualm with the book is its ending. Not the sweeping changes it implements or even the actual ending of the plot-just how the PCs have a chance to never learn what happened. My players didn't even know the adventure was done until I gave them a few visions. Perhaps it's just the way my campaign went, but the end just didn't quite work for us. I would still recommend this book to any hardcore Planescape DM. After all, with third edition coming, who knows how many more, if any, adventures will be forthcoming in the future?
Rating: 
Summary: The world changes, and we change with it
Review: At the center of the multiverse hovers the strange city of Sigil. It is the source of pain -- the fundamental experience of sentient beings. For 600 years (about the time, in our world, since the Renaissance changed the focus of human inquiry from religion to human epxerience itself), Sigil has been governed by factions -- representing different ways in which people make sense of the essential fact of suffering. The Signers become self-absorbed, the Harmonium try to force virtue on others, the Guvnurs look to science for a better world, the Sensates embrace experience for its own sake, the Dust Folk seek the peace of death, and so forth. Organized religions ("the gods" / "the powers") have far less of a claim on the human heart, and hence have long been unable to enter Sigil. In today's world, as in the Sigil of "Faction Wars", people now come to blows over ideology rather than religious sectarianism. As our world has changed, so does Sigil. When first one faction, then another, tries to force itself on the whole of Sigil, all find themselves banned. "Faction War" appears very playable. An old Prime Plane curse is "May you live in an interesting period of history." But being surrounded by a cataclysm, and being able to impact on it, should make for thrilling gaming. At the climax, the players themselves can choose (?) the future of Sigil. Here we can realize the promise made at Planescape's inception -- that character's beliefs and attitudes will really shape their world. "Planescape" derives from "adult" comics and their disturbing visions. Even those of us who believe (as I do) the universe is ultimately a far happier and gentler place than "the planes" can see our own minds and experience mirrored in "Faction War". Sigil will surely continue to be a breeding-ground for philosophies. Michael Moorcock's central city, "Tanelorn", was a place of tolerance and peace, devoted as much to Concord as old Sigil is to Opposition. While AD&D scenarios will always focus on conflict, perhaps our own world will become wiser.
Rating:
Summary: It is a shallow review indeed which trashes this classic
Review: I found it quite disappointing reading many of the reviews on this sight in that they TOTALLY ignored the content of this adventure, choosing instead to whine about its changed to their precious campaign setting. While Sigil was cool beforehand, the ending opens more doors than it closes. This advenure has a solid plotline, one of the most intriguing character developments in Duke Rowan Darkwood, and the coolest twists and turns that no one can anticipate. Yes, it does change Sigil forever, but the rest of the cosmos are not much affected. My only recommendation is that a dm run it for much higher levels than recommended, allowing PCs to experience Sigil as is first. Then after all the other adventures are played to hit this one. The adventure is much more focused on roleplay than hack-and-slash, and the encounters are easily customizable for higher levels. All in all, a good adventure for those deep enough to appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, and Essential
Review: In the course of just a few days (game time), Sigil is shaken to the core by subterfuge and intrigue, plotting and manuevering, even invasion. The Lady is prepared to deal with any number of situations, but this situation will leave in its wake lasting effects, and anyone with an ongoing Planescape campaign will be lost without the information presented herein. The biggest difference between Sigil and any old Prime world isn't the shape and size, it's the political structure. The faction information presented in the boxed set is no longer up to date. Play whatever Planescape adventures you've been holding back, and then run Faction War. It's all new from here, berk.
Rating: 
Summary: Monte "Destroyer" Cook
Review: It is a tradition that all major AD&D campaign sttings sooner or later will met with "the end of the civilization as we know it".Dark Sun,Forgotten Realms and many others.For Toril the all-new makeup was a revolution with many good aspects. New designers made many effort for creating (with various effect) a deep,colourful vision of this prime.Athas is dead.Greyhawk was dead and it should rest in peace. TSR simply don't have enough money to support so many product lines.Thats what I'm able to uderstand,but why our beloved PLANESCAPE is getting worse and worse since the mentor ("Zeb") is gone from credits of most of the PS releases. Monte Cook creating multiverse affecting adventure should think about this two,or better,three times. About three years ago I've created very similar adventure.The main topic was "Kriegstanz".It involved many more sides of the conflict than in "Faction War".It's not that simple to gather all of the chant from Manifesto or In the Cage and launch something that devastating. "Faction War" is too short,too simple. Why the next PS products will include that stupid scheme.I don't know. Why do they released War before many other interesting subjects like "City of Sigil"? This is beginning of the end.PLANESCAPE lives only through Mimir.Net community. If anyone is interested in my vision of this chapter of Sigil history,please contact me.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting? I suppose. Necessary? Definitely not.
Review: It was bound to happen. Culling sixty-odd factions down to fifteen can only keep things under control for so long. The Lady of Pain herself cannot (or will not) keep the factions from each other's throats forever. Anyone who finds the idea of the factions fighting each other as they do with sneakiness, subterfuge, and generally dirty deeds done when no one's looking will probably not like this book. The idea of the factions in all-out war with each other sounds exciting, but in the long run the status quo is more fulfilling. Faction War presents some changes to the Planescape campaign setting which I feel do not serve any particular purpose. The campaign is too relatively new to need something like this. DMs running lower-level campaigns be warned: you may have to water things down to accomodate your characters. Faction War is interesting overall, but essentially unnecessary. In short, The Great Modron March it ain't.
Rating:
Summary: Poor use for 128 pages of Planescape material
Review: It's certainly not for someone who likes Sigil the way it is, but if you are looking for a fascinating change in the Planescape Multiverse, Faction War is an excellent adventure. The PCs are given the chance to solve many of the mysteries posed in the previous Sigil products (Factol's Manifesto, In the Cage, etc). Many of the entirely new findings add to the flavor of Sigil as well, and the ending leaves the PCs open to solve post-war conflicts. Addressing the comments made by those that disliked this book... I found that most of the negative remarks did not speak to this issue of book's quality, but rather personal opinions on whether Sigil should have a war. If you don't want to see a Faction War, don't buy this book! But, if you want to see an exciting change and a nonstatic multiverse, this is a must.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but not for everyone
Review: It's certainly not for someone who likes Sigil the way it is, but if you are looking for a fascinating change in the Planescape Multiverse, Faction War is an excellent adventure. The PCs are given the chance to solve many of the mysteries posed in the previous Sigil products (Factol's Manifesto, In the Cage, etc). Many of the entirely new findings add to the flavor of Sigil as well, and the ending leaves the PCs open to solve post-war conflicts. Addressing the comments made by those that disliked this book... I found that most of the negative remarks did not speak to this issue of book's quality, but rather personal opinions on whether Sigil should have a war. If you don't want to see a Faction War, don't buy this book! But, if you want to see an exciting change and a nonstatic multiverse, this is a must.
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