D & D Draconomicon or Manual of the Planes???

Phoenix8008 · 28th December 2008, 05:02 AM

So I've got enough Christmas money to buy a couple books on Amazon.com but I can't make up my mind on which books. Pretty sure I'll get Martial Power, but I can't decide which other book to get: Draconomicon or Manual of the Planes. Help me decide, please!

So which of these two books would you recommend and why? Thanks for any help!

Fallen Seraph · 28th December 2008, 05:15 AM

Well... Draconomicon is very focused, obviously. Manual is more broad in scope in that it covers in varying degrees of detail the whole planes. It also has some good player stuff.

So basically if you run Dragon heavy games get the first. If you play planar games then Manual.

VictorC · 28th December 2008, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fallen Seraph

So basically if you run Dragon heavy games get the first. If you play planar games then Manual.

Really nothing more to consider than that.

Dice4Hire · 28th December 2008, 05:36 AM

Choosing MP first is a very good idea. As for the second book, Manuel of the Planes is a better choice, though YMMV. 4E seems far more interested in incorporating the planes into everyone's play, whereas in 3.5 it was easier to ignore. Plus, I like the planes much more in this setting, and I think it w=opens up a nice area of exploration. The Dragon book is more fluff, except for a series of lairs, most of which are far far far too high level for most games to ever challenge.

Lizard · 28th December 2008, 05:38 AM

Both are good books if viewed on their own; both are much sparser than their 3x counterparts. The MOTP gives a good overview of the new cosmology and has excellent chapters on the Feywild and the Shadowfell, clearly the designer's new favorites; the rest of the cosmos, meh, not so much. Draconomicon has three new dragon types and introduces wyrmling dragons, which were needed; it also has a lot of new draconic monsters, some of which are very original and interesting.

Really, it depends on your needs. If you want to know how the baseline D&D universe works (at least until 4.5), MOTP will provide it, but there's a paucity of serious crunch. Draconomicon is a lot meatier, especially if chromatic dragons are going to figure at all in your campaign.

Fallen Seraph · 28th December 2008, 05:40 AM

Actually do you have DDI? Cause the Compendium would cover a ton of the Draconomnicon, since a ton of it is different kinds of creatures.

Lord Xtheth · 28th December 2008, 05:53 AM

Manual of the Planes is the best book I've read in a long while.

Kamikaze Midget · 28th December 2008, 06:53 AM

Screw Martial Power. Get the Manual of the Planes and the Draconomicon and maybe a DDI subscription instead.

The MotP is very good -- a lot of premade adventure locations ready for you to sprinkle in plots and ideas and direct adventures.

The Draconomicon isn't too shabby -- mainly I'd use it for some keen new monsters and some kickin' epic-level dragons to fight.

If you have the 3e Draconomicon, though, the 4e version won't add a whole lot of fluff to the mix. The 4e Manual of the Planes is more new stuff, but it's also more ideas and less mechanics, which is good if that's what you need. If you already have your adventure lined up, though, I might go with the Draconomicon simply for the ability to pepper new monsters in a little more easily.

doctorhook · 28th December 2008, 12:38 PM

I have all three books you've mentioned, and I second what others have said: You're right to get Martial Power, and Manual of the Planes is probably the best second choice.

Like others said, Draconomicon is very specific in its usefulness. It's interesting, but unless you plan on using a lot of dragons in your games, Manual of the Planes will probably be more useful to you. MotP presents a lot of very broad adventure hooks and ideas, facing all sorts of villains and monsters. (MotP can even be pretty useful in that regard even if your players never ever leave the world for another plane.)

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I agree with Kamikaze Midget: Get a D&DI subscription if you haven't already got one! You will get tons of value for that money.

mshea · 28th December 2008, 01:30 PM

I don't have the manual of the planes yet but every time I open the Draconomicon I become more impressed. It has nine adventures, three per tier, plus a pack of individual statted dragons of all tiers. A lot of it is playable right out of the book. In particular, I love the vampiric dragon (exsanguination breath weapon!).

I have the manual of the planes coming on the way, but I really do love the draconomicon and I'm hoping Open Grave and maybe a book like it on demons is coming out as well.

Dice4Hire · 28th December 2008, 01:35 PM

Don't waste your money on a subscription. It is still not worth what is is purported to be. Maybe in a year or two. Better to have something physical for your money.

Lord Tirian · 28th December 2008, 01:42 PM

Vote for MotP - more flavour, i.e. more interesting read. It also covers a wide range of play (Feywild/Shadowfell are low-level planar excursions), has more player material (rituals & paragon paths), while it's still a DM's guide to the planes.

Overall, it simply covers more ground and is more useful. Plus jonrog1 wrote the Feywild part, which is a delight to read!

Cheers, LT.

thundershot · 28th December 2008, 03:04 PM

Manual of the Planes has been one of the best D&D reads in a long time. I love seeing the new cosmology examined and little things that make you go "WHA?" like how the Raven Queen killed and replaced Nerull.

Jack99 · 28th December 2008, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dice4Hire

Don't waste your money on a subscription. It is still not worth what is is purported to be. Maybe in a year or two. Better to have something physical for your money.

Dragon and dungeon alone are worth the money, forget about the programs. If you do not agree, please show me where I can get 150+ pages of 4e material in PDF for $5.

Sorry for the derail, back on track

Kralin Thornberry · 28th December 2008, 04:09 PM

I have all 3 of the books, and I have used Martial Power the most (but then again, I mainly DM delves and LFR games), but have looked at/read more of MotP than I have Draconomicon.

If you are a PLAYER, I would suggest Martial Power, if you are not, and are primarily a DM, then MotP would be my choice.

Gothmog · 28th December 2008, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack99

Dragon and dungeon alone are worth the money, forget about the programs. If you do not agree, please show me where I can get 150+ pages of 4e material in PDF for $5.

Sorry for the derail, back on track

I have to agree, Dragon and Dungeon are the best they have been since the 2e days. I bought a 1 year subscription, and I'm loving it. I've used more in the last 3 months from the DDI than I used out of both magazines in the last 8 years. A Dragon/Dungeon subscription is WELL worth the money.

As for your question, definitely get Martial Power, and the new Manual of the Planes is great as well. Its very low crunch but with tons of interesting ideas and plot hooks, and probably the best read from a WotC book since Heroes of Horror. Draconomicon is good too, but I think MotP would be more generally useful in a game.

Kralin Thornberry · 29th December 2008, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gothmog

I have to agree, Dragon and Dungeon are the best they have been since the 2e days. I bought a 1 year subscription, and I'm loving it. I've used more in the last 3 months from the DDI than I used out of both magazines in the last 8 years. A Dragon/Dungeon subscription is WELL worth the money.

As for your question, definitely get Martial Power, and the new Manual of the Planes is great as well. Its very low crunch but with tons of interesting ideas and plot hooks, and probably the best read from a WotC book since Heroes of Horror. Draconomicon is good too, but I think MotP would be more generally useful in a game.

I have to agree here as well (not to derail the thread though!), I bought maybe one or 2 Dragons and Dungeons since 2E went away, but I signed up for the year subscription, and it has been well worth the $5/month is averages out to be.

And is MotP a good read? I read the part on Sigil (was reading some novels that I just finished first), and was going to go back and read the whole book.

beta-ray · 30th December 2008, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Xtheth

Manual of the Planes is the best book I've read in a long while.

That's nice to hear. I always liked the planes books because they felt very alien. I thumbed through the new MotP book and was underwhelmed. I never got the sense of the alien-ness of the worlds. It also seemed much shorter than the other editions.

Any comments on that?

If it really is a good read, I guess I will have to get it!

Echohawk · 30th December 2008, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack99

Dragon and dungeon alone are worth the money, forget about the programs. If you do not agree, please show me where I can get 150+ pages of 4e material in PDF for $5

The current average is actually 189 pages per month

.

Spoiler:

Also, you can currently sign up for just one month (@ $7.95) and get access to the last three month's worth of content for that price, which works out to $7.95 for 568 pages of content.

Jack99 · 30th December 2008, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Echohawk

The current average is actually 189 pages per month

.

Spoiler:

Also, you can currently sign up for just one month (@ $7.95) and get access to the last three month's worth of content for that price, which works out to $7.95 for 568 pages of content.

Meh, I was going for conservative number, so that no one would stop by and hit me on the head and tell me that I was exaggerating.. instead I get you!

But damn, it's cheap!