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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[Imaro]

Then write another book. Publishers do it all the time. There's also the internet. No limits there.

Money to pay for such isn't infinite either...

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Money to pay for such isn't infinite either...

This is why I'm glad that WotC is starting to bring in 'sanctioned' homebrew on DnD Beyond. That way things which WotC has no interest in doing themselves can still be implemented.

I know people offline have been able to homebrew forever, but for DnD Beyond users it's always been extremely limited.

 

[marimbaguy715]

I see this is your first D&D book since TSR was the publisher. WotC has always put character options in books except adventures and monster manuals, and even has put it in some of those. They always market the books for any D&D hobbyist to buy, not just DMs.

Sure thing. But the statement was that WotC markets the book to all hobbyists, not just DMs. This was a response to a question about why WotC would put out a preview of the player options.

I don't think you understood what I was trying to say. I'm well aware WotC typically includes player content in supplements and settings and markets the book to both players and DMs. But this specific set has so little player content that there's basically no value to someone who would only buy the book for the player options. If you're a DM interested in Planescape, the backgrounds and feats aren't likely to make the difference in whether or not you get the set. If you're a player, the content isn't enough to make you buy the set*, and a segment of players will feel frustrated that WotC isn't including more player content. All this video is doing, therefore, is stirring that group of player's anger while convincing little to no new people to purchase the set.

*It was pointed out that feats and backgrounds can be sold a la carte on D&D Beyond, which is a reason to make this video I hadn't considered.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is why I'm glad that WotC is starting to bring in 'sanctioned' homebrew on DnD Beyond. That way things which WotC has no interest in doing themselves can still be implemented.

I know people offline have been able to homebrew forever, but for DnD Beyond users it's always been extremely limited.

I see no value to making any particular homebrew "sanctioned", while others are I assume "unsanctioned" not even sure what that means.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I see no value to making any particular homebrew "sanctioned", while others are I assume "unsanctioned" not even sure what that means.

Basically means that they've ensured it's roughly balanced and up to a good quality standard. Tal'dori Reborn is the only one so far.

They can't possibly add every bit of homebrew ever made to dnd beyond.

 

[Kurotowa]

Pathfinder 2e 'summoner' is essentially a dedicated 'pet' class. Where you have a single summon which takes up the majority of the power budget, and you can upgrade it over time. Tons of different creatures types as options which are essentially the 'subclasses'. There is also an alternate route you can take where you merge with the summon and it becomes a 'play as the monster' class.

And how is that working out for PF2e? Because I may have been out of touch with PF for quite a while, but I distinctly remember the PF1e Summoner having a reputation as the most godawful overpowered class in the game. Very much a similar problem to the UA Psion where the a la carte power selection meant anyone with an optimizer's eye could build insanely minmaxed characters, IIRC.

It'd be neat if they did a better job with the 2e version, even if I've bounced off 2e every time I borrow the book and try to learn the system.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Basically means that they've ensured it's roughly balanced and up to a good quality standard. Tal'dori Reborn is the only one so far.

They can't possibly add every bit of homebrew ever made to dnd beyond.

Ah. I don't trust WotC to make that determination better than anyone else, so it means nothing to me.

If you're stuck on D&D Beyond though, I can see how new to you content is nice.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

And how is that working out for PF2e? Because I may have been out of touch with PF for quite a while, but I distinctly remember the PF1e Summoner having a reputation as the most godawful overpowered class in the game. Very much a similar problem to the UA Psion where the a la carte power selection meant anyone with an optimizer's eye could build insanely minmaxed characters, IIRC.

It'd be neat if they did a better job with the 2e version, even if I've bounced off 2e every time I borrow the book and try to learn the system.

In pathfinder 2e it's apparently way more balanced, and a very popular class. Pathfinder 2e is completely different game to pathfinder 1e (which was just dnd 3.75). Same as how DnD 5e is a different game to DnD 4e or 3e.

But yeah, overall I just can't get into pathfinder as I find it overcomplex and clunky. Even when I try to limit myself to the basic rules I have that issue. Which is why I'd like these options in the far more streamlined manner in which dnd 5e implements classes.

 

[Remathilis]

Basically means that they've ensured it's roughly balanced and up to a good quality standard. Tal'dori Reborn is the only one so far.

They can't possibly add every bit of homebrew ever made to dnd beyond.

If you actually look at some of those Tal'dorei subclasses, I don't think you'd be saying that. There is stuff there that really needed a couple more passes to iron out. It actually confirms the worst of what people think of when they are leery of 3pp: unbalanced, wonky mechanics, and unclear rules relying on DMs to make judgment calls to fix based on RAI.

Now it's not a bad book, but it is hardly the poster child of well designed subclases.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If you actually look at some of those Tal'dorei subclasses, I don't think you'd be saying that. There is stuff there that really needed a couple more passes to iron out. It actually confirms the worst of what people think of when they are leery of 3pp: unbalanced, wonky mechanics, and unclear rules relying on DMs to make judgment calls to fix based on RAI.

Now it's not a bad book, but it is hardly the poster child of well designed subclases.

WotC obviously made a deal with Mercer's group to give his stuff their seal of "official" approval for sales reasons, not because they necessarily think it's good design work. It's all just $$. Makes being sanctioned worth even less than I thought.