Planescape Planescape Pre-order Page Shows Off The Books!

You can now pre-order Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse from D&D Beyond. The set comes out on October 17th.

Scroll down through the comments to see more various peeks at the books!

Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

An adventure setting spanning the infinite realities of the world’s greatest roleplaying game

www.dndbeyond.com

• Discover 2 new backgrounds, the Gate Warden & the Planar Philosopher, to build planar characters in the D&D Beyond character builder
• Channel 7 otherworldly feats, new intriguing magic spells & more powered by planar energies
• Explore 12 new ascendant factions, each with distinct cosmic ideologies
• Face over 50 unusual creatures including planar incarnates, hierarch modrons, and time dragons in the Encounter Builder
• Journey across the Outlands in an adventure for characters levels 3-10 and 17
• Adds adventure hooks, encounter tables, maps of Sigil and the Outlands & more to your game

This 3 books set comprises:

• Sigil and the Outlands: a setting book full of planar character options with details on the fantastic City of Doors, descriptions of the Outlands, the gate-towns that lead to the Outer planes, and more
• Turn of the Fortunes Wheel: an adventure set in Sigil and the Outlands designed for character levels 3-10 with a jump to level 17
• Morte’s Planar Parade: Follow Morte as he presents over 50 inhabitants of the Outer Plane, including incarnates, hierarch modrons, time dragons, and more with their stats and descriptions

 

[Henadic Theologian]

So can I.

But the majority of 5E gamers have never seen those books and have no idea that the excellent 3E Manual of the Planes contains a lot of stuff beyond outdated stats.

They couldn't have predicted it back in 2014, but there are more 5E gamers than all previous generations of D&D players combined. Giving them the tools their predecessors had isn't flooding the market, it's ensuring they stick around long term.

That doesn't mean we need to retread every publication from the past -- the market for a 5E Great Glacier or a 5E Howl from the North is likely incredibly small -- but the tentpoles? After 10 years, we should expect to see them appear in new and hopefully improved versions. (Start with the best version of the past takes and start from there.)

Or they may give a Manual of the Planes type book a new, ultra good name, like Ellywick Tumblestrum's Planewalker Guide to the Great Wheel.

 

[humble minion]

Don't forget the DM screen: they currently value those at $20, but thst might ho up by 20%, too.

It boggles my mind why WotC (and 3pps, yes I'm looking at you Privateer Press...) insist on including setting-specific DM screens in every damn slipcase/deluxe set they make. I have a dozen DM screens that I don't want and am very unlikely to ever use, simply because often you can't buy the core product without it. Having appopriate art on your screen for a particular game is nice, but in general what i want out of a DM screen is really basic stuff like condition summaries. Not spelljammer-specific encounter tables or whatever. It's just a huge waste and I honestly wonder why they bother. Does anyone actually USE the plethora of DM screens they accumulate over the years?

And as for the $20 price tag - I wonder if WotC considered simply not including the screen in Spelljammer (for instance) and dropping the price instead. I've bored everyone spitless on here with my opinion of the content in Spelljammer, but even if there was a really really good reason (of some sort) that the books had to be so slim, then surely WotC could have avoided some of the flak over the steep price tag by leaving the screen out?

 

[Weiley31]

I don't know what that is.

Vampire the Masquerade and the various World of Darkness line from White Wolf.

 

[Incenjucar]

WotC needs to develop some sort of throughline with each edition that's more compelling than that obelisk adventure hook or art of iconics that creates a unique element to each edition's version of a standard D&D book, like unique one-time events that tie into meta-fiction without changing the settings themselves. Otherwise they're just going to be xeroxing xeroxes of xeroxes.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Yeah, I think we're in a Ravenloft situation here and with all WotC books. If a zillion people buy Planescape, we will be getting more planar sourcebooks. If they don't, we won't.

I think we're going to get a fiends book at least, assuming the Fizban's series of monster books continues. They're definitely popular enough to support one, as other editions show, so I expect they're near the front of the line.

Beyond that, other planar books would likely depend on Planescape's level of success.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not sure his opinions back in 2014 count for much at this point.

But call it what you like: A more detailed toolkit for using the planes, especially for those who don't want to focus (or even use) Sigil and the Outlands is needed, including more detail on how DMs can roll their own planes or even whole multiverses.

Mearls personal opinion obviously isn't relevant at this point, but the approach he outlined in this Spiel for Volo's Guide still holds for how the WotC approaches designing products near as I can tell:

"I have this kind of personal philosophy for managing the product line," Mearls said last month in Renton, Washington. "I don't want to duplicate any product that's come before. I think that if people have seen it, then it's not really new and it's not really exciting."

Dungeons & Dragons is changing how it makes books

"We live in a post Game of Thrones world."

www.polygon.com

 

[Parmandur]

I'm kind of agreeing, but disagreeing as well. They could definitely create a Fizbans-esque "Guide to Fiends and Celestials", but doing so would likely leave little room for describing the Planes themselves after 1/3 of the page count goes inevitably to the bestiary and many more pages go to lore and such. I guess having individual "Guide to Fiends" and "Guide to Celestials" would work better, but I'm still not sure that would give room for, again, the Planes themselves (plus where do Mechanus and Limbo go? I guess you can put one in each book, but that seems a bit clunky)

Honestly, the best route would be an extraplanar monster book and a separate Manual of the Planes book (under a different name), but would 5e do that? I guess how well Planescape is received might go a long way towards answering that...

I'm not necessarily saying it is the best way, the only way, or what I personally want...but that is how I can forsee this current design team approaching the Outer Planes. Characters and mythology as the focus in a DIY toolkit instead of the 1E or 3E takes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Does anyone actually USE the plethora of DM screens they accumulate over the years?

I think the dungeon-specific screen WotC produced is a nice alternative to the standard one, and I assume the wilderness one is equally good, but not really, for the reasons you stated. While having some of the supplemental info can be useful, I still need most of the basic rules on the screen and can't sacrifice that. If a custom screen had both, they'd be much more likely to get used.

 

[Weiley31]

In my 5E canon, the Silence of Lolth is happening. At the same time the Drow Schism is taking place.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Better look at the DiTerlizzi covers: