Planescape Check Out The Planescape Character Options

WotC has unveiled some of the character options to be found in the upcoming Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse setting in a D&D Beyond article and a video.

The player options include two backgrounds and a handful of feats. The backgrounds are the Gate Warden and the Planer Philosopher, and the feats include Scion of the Outer planes, which gives you a damage resistance and a cantrip based on the plane you have a connect with. For example, a chaotic Outer Place give you resistance to poison and access to the minor illusion cantrip, which the Outlands give you resistance to psychic damage and the mage hand cantrip. Also included are a couple of new spells and some magic items.

Preview Planescape Character Options for Your Multiversal Adventures

This article is a deep dive into the backgrounds and feats found in the three-book set Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse!

www.dndbeyond.com

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[Remathilis]

The Mind's Eye always felt like the natural extension of the Godsmen belief system to me, so them replacing the Believers of the Source was functionally never more than a rename and a changing of the guard for the various Faction high-ups as far as I was concerned. Especially notable given that their 5e incarnation has seemingly taken up running the Great Foundry just like their Godsmen forebearers.

Admittedly less so with regards to the Sign of One - there is some overlap, to be sure, but I've always felt the Signers had enough unique about them to justify their own independent Faction.

Ultimately though, I think one of the better aspects to the 5e Planescape's new take on Factions is that they seemingly threw the old "Only X Factions Are Allowed to Exist" rule in the bin altogether. There are seemingly only so many "Ascendant Factions", but it's unclear whether their number is actually capped or just representative of the current arrangement of power-blocks in Sigil, and by all accounts there's room for as many "lesser" Factions as you want to fit in, which makes bringing back the Signers, Sodkillers/Sons of Mercy, various old-school Sects, etc. remarkably simple.

The problem with the Signers is that solipsism is a hard philosophy to make work in a co-op game, and it's amazing that a group of narcissists could have even formed. I prefer the idea that they are the protagonists of their own story to Godhood far more than the "I'm real and you are all literally NPCs" take.

But yes, the "lost factions" just like all the sects scattered in PS lore, can exist in the wings as minor beliefs.

 

[Reynard]

So there is no faction mechanical options like in ravnica or theros? Bummer.

Would that be considered "PC Options"?

 

[Frozen_Heart]

The thing I was most exited for in this book was the scion of elemental air/fire/earth/water feats. Looks like they didn't make it in which I'm really frustrated about.

Pathfinder 2e rubbing salt in the wound with a combo of kineticist and the Rage of the Elements book. Meanwhile the best 5e can do is put some elemental sorcerers and feats into UA, then cancel them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm surprised they made this video. If you sell a book to DMs and you add some backgrounds and feats, they act as a nice little cherry on top that a DM can share with the players if they're using the setting. But by making a "New Player Options" (and magic items) video, it gives the vibe that you're trying to sell the book to players too. A few backgrounds and feats is obviously not enough for players to actually get excited about buying the book, and so this video just opens them up to "wow, no content just like Spelljammer" criticism.

Personally I'm happy they're not wasting a ton of their 96 page budget on a ton of player options in a setting that seems to have a lot of factions and locations to describe.

They don't care who buys their books, as long as profits keep going up. We all know this.

 

[Parmandur]

Would that be considered "PC Options"?

Well, the equivalents in Ravnica and Theros were...but this seems to be a looser take, and I expect the Gavtion info to be more in the vein of Patron stuff like in Tasha's: Ravnica tied a bunch of mechanics to Backgroind in such a way that mixing Ravnoca characters with non-Ravnica characters is a problem, and Theros gave bonus Feata for increasing Piety...also a little hard to mix.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It wouldn't surprise me if the "Glitchling" from the UA and Bariaur PC stats (a mix of a bunch of Satyr and Centaur abilities) , ends up as some sort of bonus DnD Beyond content.

That is the worst idea I've heard in some time.

 

[Scribe]

The thing I was most exited for in this book was the scion of elemental air/fire/earth/water feats. Looks like they didn't make it in which I'm really frustrated about.

Pathfinder 2e rubbing salt in the wound with a combo of kineticist and the Rage of the Elements book. Meanwhile the best 5e can do is put some elemental sorcerers and feats into UA, then cancel them.

Yeah, more money on the table I guess, just one more thing in Wizards back pocket for a rainy day?

 

[Parmandur]

The thing I was most exited for in this book was the scion of elemental air/fire/earth/water feats. Looks like they didn't make it in which I'm really frustrated about.

Pathfinder 2e rubbing salt in the wound with a combo of kineticist and the Rage of the Elements book. Meanwhile the best 5e can do is put some elemental sorcerers and feats into UA, then cancel them.

Or could be the Elemental Plane stuff is for a future product still.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I would have no problem if this book had no player options and was just glorious setting content, but it's not, and it's being sold to folks as having meaningful player content and its got dregs of player content, just enough to say it does.

So WotC is rightfully getting raked over the coals for this in the video comments and likely across the internet too.

It looks I was right to just buy the monsters from DDB and store them offline, like I did with Spelljammer, and chuck the rest of it.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Or could be the Elemental Plane stuff is for a future product still.

I doubt it. I think the Elemental Evil player's Companion was the 5e version of Rage of the Elements.