Manual of the Planes Revealed Over on RPG.net

[Shroomy]

A Japanese poster over on RPG.net has received the 4e version of the Manual of the Planes. You can read about it here.

 

[chaotix42]

Thanks for the tip! I <3 spoilers.

 

[Shroomy]

I think that its interesting that the bladeling gets the NPC write up that can be used as a PC. I'm just happy that the chasme and shadow demons are appearing in this book.

 

[TerraDave]

Notable quotables from SpringsBoundlessThorns:

no factions, nothing reminiscent of planescape at all except for Sigil (this on a quick once over)

It is a DM book, but does include how to use one of the races as a PC race (Bladelings)

Monsters:

Archon Air
Astral Dreadnought
Bladeling
Baphomet
Howling Blade
Demons (Canoloth, Chasme, Shadow, Solamith)
Devils (Barbed, Brazen, Pain, Storm)
Dispater and Aspect
Gtaz'zt and Aspect
Keeper
Korred
Raavasta

Bladeling

War god's creation gone rogue

+2 Dex +2 Wis

Skill + 2 Initimidate

Normal vision
Acid Resistance

Razor Storm encounter power that causes spikes and blades to lead from your body and do a a close burst damage to all targets

Paragon Paths:
Blade of Cendriane
Doomguard Marauder
Gatecrasher
Knight of Celestia
Malec-Keth Janissaryyy
Planeshifter
Shadow Captain
Soul Guide

Sigil: 5 pages and I didn't say anything about factions

No epic destinies

Tidbit: I saw a small section on Spelljammers!

Feywild and Shadowfell get very detailed sections. more later.

Far Realm and Plane of Dreams both get 1 page each.

No stats on Lady of Pain and no pirate talk.

I don't actually know all the factions of original Planescape. Doomguard however does seem to be directly connected. Gatecrasher is a mystic rouge who deals in interplanar "trade". Is that Planescape-y?

 

[Shemeska]

Nothing very different from what I expected so far. It's looking very much like a second coming of the 3e Planar Handbook from what brief stuff has been said over there about it so far (and that's an endorsement of mediocrity if the sneak peak material holds steady). But I'll refrain from eviscerating the book till I've had a chance to read a physical copy at the local book store, at which point I might offer some praise if it turns out to have some decent material that hasn't been mentioned on rpg.net.

That said, I'm curious to see what they did with the Keeper as a monster, since I wrote their ecology for Dragon.

 

[JustKim]

no factions, nothing reminiscent of planescape at all except for Sigil (this on a quick once over)

Did people really expect this? The book is only 160 pages, scarcely enough to cover the huge changes to the planes, and people expected there to be Planescape material? Planescape, which at last print, was completely trashed by Faction War and now needs to be largely rewritten? Yes, let's include the factions, only most of them no longer exist or are different entities as of Faction War. Let's finally present the New Coke Planescape that was proposed 10 years ago and see if people actually take to it. Let's do it in 5 paragraphs.

Granted, it would be nice to completely ignore Faction War, as I prefer to do. What a horrible way to end the Planescape product line that was.

 

[avin]

Wait, is it Canoloth or Canodemon? hehehehe...

Solamith? Great... are Wotc trying to convince me to buy that fat blue crap mini from Demonweb? I'll pass...

 

[Shemeska]

Did people really expect this? The book is only 160 pages, scarcely enough to cover the huge changes to the planes, and people expected there to be Planescape material?

If they want to use any of the prior material that originated or was most heavily developed in the Planescape line, they're going to be compared to that original material. It's large shoes to fill. They might have been better off doing their own thing entirely and developing the 4e PoL cosmology from scratch.

Granted, it would be nice to completely ignore Faction War, as I prefer to do. What a horrible way to end the Planescape product line that was.

... I loved Faction War...

 

[edbonny]

... I loved Faction War...

Second the love for Faction War! I don't think I knew at the time when I bought that it would be the last PS accessory ever.

If ever a gaming product demanded a sequel, Faction War was that product. Perhaps one day Monte Cook will hear my nightly secret prayers and sketch out in great detail the future of Sigil as he foresaw it then.

 

[Rechan]

I'm just happy that the chasme and shadow demons are appearing in this book.

Fun fact; at D&D Experience, we saw the Shadow Demon in some book somewhere. The Shadow Demon is in the pre-4e "Monsters and More" PDF. I wonder how close to the pre-4e one it is.

(Incidentally, the Goblin Picador is in there too. It didn't make the MM cut.)