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PlanescapeManual of the Planes for 5e on DMSGuild
New on the DMSGuild is the Manual of the Planes for 5th edition. The cover is stunning. It's over 300 pages and the credits page includes folks from The Draconomicon, The Dragonlance Companion, Tasha's Crucible of Everything Else, Planescape: Metropolis, The Honkonomicon and Planewalker.com I love the special thanks. This project was made possible by Roll20. Thank you for unlocking new...
New on the DMSGuild is the Manual of the Planes for 5th edition. The cover is stunning.
It's over 300 pages and the credits page includes folks from The Draconomicon, The Dragonlance Companion, Tasha's Crucible of Everything Else, Planescape: Metropolis, The Honkonomicon and Planewalker.com
I love the special thanks.
This project was made possible by Roll20. Thank you for unlocking new horizons for the latest generation of planewalkers, bashers, berks, and touts. We’d also like to thank the giants on whose shoulders we stand when writing this book: Justice Ramin Arman, Richard Baker, Wolfgang Baur, David “Zeb” Cook, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeff Grubb, David Noonan, F. Wesley Schneider, Rick Swan, and all others who helped create and cultivate Planescape and the planes.
Manual of the Planes Review - Episode 01
Well I have decided to lift my self imposed EnWorld ban to give some feedback as I go through this book in detail. First up is Chapter 1 - Character Creation:
CHAPTER 1 - Character Creation
BACKGROUNDS General:
Not a lot to say here. They seem similar to official WotC offerings in terms of balance, but I am not sure why there is a prerequisite for a planescape campaign. Maybe that is common in setting backgrounds and I have just ignored them! My only issue here is that there are only three. It seems to me like you could have one for each outer plane or at least some of them? I would be interested in: Abyssal, Mechanus, Ysgard, and other planar oriented backgrounds.
FEATS General:
These look good and fun additions to the game. I will note that I don't have much experience with Feat design or using 3PP Feats. We have pretty much stuck to official and UA Feats in our game. I will say all the feats will connect the characters to, not surprisingly, some element of the planes. It really grounds the Feats and characters in the setting which is wonderful and a great way to give mechanical flavor to a setting IMO.
1st Level Feats:
Nice flavor for adding depth to new characters. They may be a bit OP for 1st level Feats as I thought they generally seemed like any other Feats and I think 1st level Feats are supposed to be weaker. However, i also feel that isn't 100% clear and I don't have a lot of experience with Feat design. They few here I "checked" seemed on par with an ASI to me and I didn't think that was the intent of 1st level feats. Regardless, I think these are fun additions to the game.
Specifically I think Resilience of Elemental Chaos seems a bit OP to me for 1st level, but I am sure others will disagree. It is one of those that is rather dependent on your setting/campaign. Maybe just one element?
4th Level Feats:
In addition to my general comments I will add they these seem balanced around what you can expect from WotC Feats will connecting well to the setting.
Epic Boon Feats:
Really like these and how they open up opportunities for epic gaming. Seems perfect for planar adventures to me! Nice flavor and mechanics
SPELLS General:
A quick caveat, I don't have a lot of experience design or balancing spells. That being said, I like the spells included they cover ground that I believe is missing from WotC products and seem thematically appropriate. The seem appropriate for their level. My only, very minor, issue is that it seems like there could have been more. At least, they were interesting enough that I wished there were more! I guess that is a good thing! A few quick comments about each:
Ablative Dweomer (4th lvl): really like this one, can't believe it hasn't already been in a book.
Astral Sign (cangtrip): I don't have strong feelings about this cantrip. Seems fun and flavorful, but not sure how useful it is.
Metaconcert (7th lvl): This one looks fun. No idea if its balanced, but link your casting to other casters seems fun. It feels like it should require concentration though. I also think it could be buffed (unless I am missing something), as it seems like you are casting a 7th lvl spell to get access to more spells?
Modron March (3rd lvl): A modron summon spell, of course we need this!
Reality Maelstrom (9th lvl): Hello - we may have a contender to take the place of meteor storm on your 9th lvl spell list! Gonzo strong for a 9th lvl spell (opinions on this approach very so I will leave it to you). My only issue is not all of the effects seem to be equal in value as Shadowfell option seems significantly more powerful than the rest.
SPECIES General: First a caveat, I have never designed a species or given much thought to if they are balanced or not. I don't really care about species balance as a DM. I just wanted to explain that, as it likely colors my opinion of a species. I am also not familiar with most of the species here, except the goliath and modron, so I will not be comparing these species to previous edition versions (if they exist).
In general I am not overly fond of giving a species specific spells they can cast, I would rather they have unique magical features, traits, and abilities. Unfortunately most of the ones here have some type of spell casting. Thus it is not surprising that the species with the fewest spells (Bariaur, Goliath, and Modron) are my favorites.
However, all of the species seem fun and interesting to play with most having clear hooks to a planar setting. Overall good and interesting design in my book!
Now a few quick comments for each:
Axani, Chaond Legacy, Eventide, Primordial Genasi, and Shyft: These species all have a similar structure so I've grouped them together. With the caveats from above, these species seems a bit OP to me. They have a good deal of spellcasting (cantrip at lvl 1 plus spells at 3rd and 5th levels) tied to a feature that grants supernatural abilities. There are 3 to up to 12 (genasi) different features to choose from for each species. There is a lot of variety in each of these species that it feels like your are really getting multiple species with each one. The features tie into your planar origin / influence which is nice.
Bariuar: One of the shorter entries in this section, but also one of my favorite. It does everything I would want it to do for a little goat/centaur.
Exiled Modron: This one misses for me a bit. It may be because of historical precedent or balance reasons, but I would want to play a specific type of modron. Then, like the options above, you could have several "sub-species" options to choose from. I am also not a fan of "living construct." I understand why it is there, but I wish you just had to cast different spells to heal a modron!
Goliath: This is one of the shorter entries and it doesn't have any spells, so naturally it is one of my favorites! I really like the Giant Ancestry features and they provide interesting variety. Large Form is great too, though I wish it mentioned using Large weapons or somehow increased damage..
NEW ITEMS General:
This is a fun section with some interesting items, particularly of the non-magic variety. To my eye all of the items seem appropriate for their rarity (with perhaps one exception) and interesting options. I have only two issues: 1) I could always use more items; 2) these don't seem as tied to the planes as the rest of the entries in chapter 1.
Now on to a quick review of each item:
Doubt Bomb: Love this item, my only minor issue is I am not sure how a non-magic item causes psychic damage. But that could just be me. I would also like to more powerful versions (higher DC, larger area, more damage, etc.)
Etherblade: The alien technology side bar is fun, but is oddly partially repeated in the text of the item itself. I mistake I would guess? Regardless, a glaive that also shoots rays of force - awesome! My issues are I would like the ray of force to have longer max range & more damage. Maybe a similar effects to the disintegrate spell by less severe. Also, I would like a way to recharge the weapon, even if it is just fluff or adventure hook.
Gorgonblood Mortar: Love this item, so much so I don't want to spoil it!
Lajandra's Lantern: This is the item that I feel has the wrong rarity (rare). It consumes potions to fuel it and it basically just gives off light. I think it could use something more (or perhaps lower it to uncommon?).
OK - that is it for chapter 1. I will be back later for chapter 2!
As the person who wrote most of the species, feats, and magic items, I thank you for the review. I will say that there was a lot of contention around some of the things you brought up, such as Metaconcert requiring concentration and the rarity of Lajandra's Lantern.
Manual of the Planes Review - Episode 02 General Comments:
Before I get into the review of chapter 2 I wanted to make some general comments on the whole book that I failed to bring up previously. Just thoughts on two things really:
Art. There is no traditional art in this book. As an amateur artist and someone who will buy am RPG book primarily for the art, this purchase was an outlier for me for sure. I do miss the art and I think creature and location art would be a great value add. However, I appreciate the cost / expensive of good art and the fact that filling this book with WotC levels of art could easily expand it to close to 600 pages.
Graphic Design. Though I don’t necessarily consider a Manual of the Planes book a Planescape book, this book uses the torn ribbons motif of 2e planescape books. It is otherwise a pretty traditional WotC format, which I appreciate. Initially I was a bit put off by the ribbons; however, I have come to appreciate them as a break from a wall of text and providing a color / theme for each chapter. They make it easy to understand what chapter you have dropped into. I also appreciate the more technical text of the book versus the cant-style verse of the 2e planescape products (which I found extremely annoying). The change of font and for color commentary that is sprinkled throughout the book is a nice nod to the OG books.
General.
This is a short chapter (18 pages) that for me if is both mostly useless information*, and yet I could see it being expanding to greater depths. I guess that sort of conundrum is what one should get in a planescape product. One of the surprises for me was the amount of discussion connecting D&D to MtG settings vs traditional D&D settings. I feel more information could have been used to discuss how to connect traditional D&D settings rather than only really covering the tricky aspects of connecting to Eberron. I also thought the lack of mention of Dark Sun was glaring, but that may because of DMs Guild restrictions. I can’t recall if Athas has been mentioned in any 5e WotC books.
*The reason I say mostly useless to me is very specific. This chapter provides a lot of helpful suggestions for particular aspects of planar adventures. Which I don’t personally need, but could be very helpful for others.
Now on to the slightly more detailed review!
PLANAR ADVENTURES
This section is pretty much a table with 20 ideas on how to launch a planar adventure. Some interesting ideas, but not a lot of room to give depth to the ideas in the tabular format. These are really just adventure hooks / seeds. Ideas to inspire DMs, nothing more or less. Some of them seem fairly typical or generic and others a bit more original or specific. My only real issue is that the table is spans 2 pages when I think it could be on one.
NATURE OF EXEMPLARS
Without a background in the planescape setting I found this section a bit hard to understand at first. It wasn’t until I read the Side Bar “The Big Nine” that I understood what exemplars are supposed to be. If this sidebar was at the beginning of the section or more explanation giving in the first few paragraphs I would have grasped the concept a bit more. One of the issues is the book doesn’t tell what Exemplars are, but gives options on what they can/ could be first. Without first understanding what an Exemplar was the differing explanations were more confusion than helpful options on a first read.
Also, wouldn’t guardinals be exemplars?
AGENCY AND AFTERLIFE
Now that I understood the format of providing different options without a default or standard, this section, and those that followed it, made more sense and was easier to grasp than the Exemplar section. This section has some good ideas, but is very short. No issues with the content, but feel it could be expanded more.
I did appreciate the hook this section provides to connect Dragon Heist to a planar adventure. This was more interesting and useful to me than the more generalized hooks in “Planar Adventures.” I hope there are more of those.
WHEN SETTINGS COLLIDE
This is the largest in most detailed section of this chapter and it delivers a lot of good ideas on how to connect different settings as part of a planar adventure. Cover things I hadn’t really thought about (what do you when your power source isn’t present in another setting) and giving a little background info on the settings included. There is a lot of fun stuff here, but this is felt, to me, like it was to MtG specific. It covers Ravnica, Arcavios, Theros, and Eberron (with some Krynn too) I would have liked to have seen more D&D settings covered. As a person who mostly homebrews I don’t necessarily know how to connect greyhawk & krynn & forgotten realms & ravenloft, etc.
CREATURE THEMES
The last section of this chapter is mostly a series of tables that include different monsters (arrange by CR) grouped around a particular theme: Afterlife, Air, Chaos, Cosmic Horror, Dawn, Earth, Echo, Fey, Fire, Nature, Order, Prison, Shadow, Thought, Want, Water, Weird.
From a certain perspective I appreciated that these themes are more abstract; however, I also wanted them tied to more specifically to certain planes. Maybe this will be a in a later chapter, but table of creatures I can expect to find on a particular plane is something I want from a product like this. If this this is just another option – great, but if this is the only option I will be a bit disappointed.
That is it for chapter 2 – let me know if you have any questions or comments. Next time:
Chapter 3 - The Great Wheel!
One of the surprises for me was the amount of discussion connecting D&D to MtG settings vs traditional D&D settings. I feel more information could have been used to discuss how to connect traditional D&D settings rather than only really covering the tricky aspects of connecting to Eberron. I also thought the lack of mention of Dark Sun was glaring, but that may because of DMs Guild restrictions. I can’t recall if Athas has been mentioned in any 5e WotC books.
The lack of mention of Dark Sun was absolutely due to DMsGuild restrictions - I was itching to get to wrap in content for it and I'm annoyed that we're not allowed, but who knows... if they ever come around to letting us use it, I'm quite ready to play. As far as the MtG settings, they're official releases and part of a popular IP whose cosmology doesn't inherently jive with the D&D one, which is why you see the focus.
I would have liked to have seen more D&D settings covered. As a person who mostly homebrews I don’t necessarily know how to connect greyhawk & krynn & forgotten realms & ravenloft, etc.
I originally included details on Ravenloft, Faerun, and Krynn in the "When Settings Collide" section, but since we were already covering all of those locations in Chapter 3 the decision was made to move that material over there.
Exiled Modron: This one misses for me a bit. It may be because of historical precedent or balance reasons, but I would want to play a specific type of modron. Then, like the options above, you could have several "sub-species" options to choose from. I am also not a fan of "living construct." I understand why it is there, but I wish you just had to cast different spells to heal a modron!
I don't have the book (it's a bit pricey for me atm) but in original Planescape, all rogue modrons were locked in the form of a quadrone no matter what they used to be, so that may be why they're like that now. I don't know if it was like that for balance issues (it was 2e, so "balance" was always wonky) or because they didn't want to create 10-12 different types of playable modron.
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