Chris Avellone

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Avellone initially titled the game Planescape: Last Rites, but the name was changed to Planescape: Torment after it was discovered that 'Last Rites' was already trademarked. During pre-production, he worked with a very small team: lead programmer Dan Spitzley, lead artist Tim Donley, and two other artists, all sharing one office. As Avellone described it: 'Once the vision document was approved, we scaled it down and outwards and turned each bit into reality. The lead artist, Tim Donley, did sketches of each of the major locations one by one before they were arted on the computer. I then took the characters and quests and did area design documents. I wrote a first pass of much of the dialogue and companions (many of which made it all the way to the final draft).' He incorporated the many ideas for fantasy quests and characters he had gathered over the years and sought to turn fantasy conventions upside down. When Colin McComb was assigned as the second designer in April 1997, he found that Avellone already had a broad outline of the entire game from start to finish, with all of the major characters sketched out.

In Their Own Story

The Nameless One sits in the quiet of Sigil's library, surrounded by scrolls that detail his countless lives. Each page whispers a different truth about who he was and what he failed to become. In this moment, the weight of existence presses down, not as a physical burden, but as an endless question: why does he return when everything else fades? The air smells of old parchment and ozone, a sensory echo of the planes beyond.

Reader's Guide

Avellone's design for Planescape: Torment began with a vision document that was warmly received by Interplay's studio head Brian Fargo, who nonetheless asked Avellone to promise he could actually deliver on it. The game used the Infinity Engine, the isometric engine in BioWare's Baldur's Gate, which was then still in development — meaning the programmers had to learn how it worked while building Torment, since 'Baldur's Gate 1 was still going on.' Avellone's approach was to use the Planescape license, which Interplay had recently acquired the video game rights for, to create a story where the player character was an amnesiac immortal. He recalled the design ideas he had shared with O'Green in his hiring interview and used them as the starting point. The game was developed by Black Isle Studios, Interplay's role-playing division headed by Feargus Urquhart, who had asked Avellone if he was interested in being the lead designer on the new project.

Did You Know?

• Avellone initially titled the game Planescape: Last Rites, but the name was changed because 'Last Rites' was already trademarked by another company.
• During his hiring interview with Mark O'Green, Avellone said he would design a Planescape game by starting 'at the death screen, and just tell the story of what happens after that' — which became the core concept for Torment.
• Avellone's pre-production team for Torment consisted of just five people: himself, lead programmer Dan Spitzley, lead artist Tim Donley, and two other artists, all sharing one office.
• When Colin McComb joined the project in April 1997, Avellone already had a broad outline of the entire game from start to finish, with all major characters sketched out.
• The Infinity Engine used for Torment was still under development during pre-production, since Baldur's Gate 1 was still being made at the same time.