Appraise

Lore & Background

In the city of Sigil, where the gates of the multiverse swing open onto infinite planes, objects carry weight far beyond their material composition. A seemingly ordinary trinket in the Bazaar might be a fragment of a dead god's memory; a coin in a beggar's cup might be stamped by a plane that no longer exists. The Nameless One, a being who has died and been resurrected countless times, carries the accumulated instincts of every past life. Appraise is the mechanical expression of that accumulated knowledge: the instinctive, almost reflexive recognition of what something truly is, stripped of its surface disguise.

The skill reflects the Planescape philosophy that nothing in the multiverse is merely what it appears. The city of Sigil itself is a liminal space where metaphysical concepts take physical form, and objects are no exception. A sword might be a crystallized argument; a jewel might be a bottled emotion from a dead civilization. Appraise is the Nameless One's way of peeling back those layers, reading the metaphysical signature beneath the physical form.

Within the game's narrative, the ability to correctly identify and evaluate objects often serves as a narrative gate. It signals to NPCs that the Nameless One possesses genuine insight rather than mere guesswork, shifting conversations from suspicion to respect. In a world where the boundaries between the real and the symbolic are perpetually blurred, knowing what something truly is—and what it truly costs—carries a weight that pure combat prowess never achieves.

In Their Own Story

The Bazaar was loud in the way only a crossroads of infinite planes can be loud—vendors hawking bottled sunsets from a plane where the sun had finally set, a child selling what she claimed were 'yesterday's regrets' in a small glass vial. The Nameless One paused before a stall draped in grey cloth, where an old woman with milky eyes arranged a collection of dull, unremarkable stones.

"You want to buy, or you want to know?" she asked, not looking up.

The Nameless One reached out, fingers brushing the largest stone. It was cold. It was warm. It was the exact temperature of a room where someone had just stopped breathing. The skill surfaced unbidden—not a roll of dice, not a calculation, but a knowing that settled into the bones like a remembered word. This was not a stone. It was a question someone had asked a long time ago, on a plane the Nameless One had visited in a life they could no longer name, and it had never been answered.

The old woman's milky eyes finally met theirs. "Ah," she said softly. "You know what it is, then. That's rarer than you'd think. Most people just see a rock."

The Nameless One set the stone back down. Some questions, they had learned across a hundred deaths, were not meant to be answered. They were meant to be carried.

Reader's Guide

Appraise functions as an identification and evaluation skill within Planescape: Torment's skill system. When the Nameless One encounters an item of uncertain nature—whether in a shop inventory, on the ground in Sigil's streets, or in a locked chest on another plane—using Appraise reveals the item's true properties, hidden enchantments, or metaphysical origin that would otherwise remain obscured.

Strategically, the skill is most valuable in three contexts. First, in economic interactions: correctly appraising items before purchasing or selling in Sigil's shops prevents overpaying and can reveal that a seemingly worthless object is actually a key quest item or a tradeable artifact of significant value. Second, in dialogue: certain NPCs will respond differently depending on whether the Nameless One demonstrates genuine knowledge of an object's nature versus simply guessing. A correct appraisal can unlock respectful or revealing conversation branches that a failed or absent check would miss.

Third, in puzzle and exploration sequences: some environmental objects in Sigil and on other planes require appraisal to reveal their interactive properties—whether they are levers, keys, traps, or narrative triggers. Without using Appraise, the player may walk past critical story elements entirely.

The skill does not require a high combat-oriented build. It is a knowledge skill that complements Persuade and Bluff in social encounters, and pairs naturally with Search and Spot Hidden for thorough exploration. Players who invest in Appraise early will find their inventory management and dialogue options significantly richer throughout the campaign.

Did You Know?

• Appraise fits the Planescape design philosophy that the multiverse is a place where abstract concepts take physical form, so identifying an object's true nature can reveal something metaphysical rather than merely materi
• In Planescape: Torment, the Nameless One's past lives mean that 'knowledge' skills like Appraise carry narrative weight—the character is not just checking a stat, but recalling instinctive recognition from a previous inc
• The game's skill system, including Appraise, was designed by Black Isle Studios to reward players who explore and examine the world thoroughly rather than relying solely on combat resolution.
• Sigil, the primary hub city, is a liminal plane where objects from infinite other worlds coexist, making the ability to correctly identify what an item truly is a practical survival skill rather than a luxury.