D&D 5E Check Out Planescape's Table of Contents & More!

Brandes Stoddard has received a copy of Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse (which come out in two weeks!) and is posting loads of photos over on Blue Sky. You can check out his feed for the whole treasure trove--here's a look at the table of contents.

 

[Demetrios1453]

I'd call it mockney myself!

But it clearly makes it harder to understand the further removed from the dialect you are. When Planescape first came out I lived in Manchester, and I found it hard work to decipher. Having lived near London for the last 20+ years, I now find it quite easy. I can see why London was used as the model for Sigil - it's like a supermassive black hole sucking everything in, and with a gravity that is impossible to escape. But dialect gets even harder to understand for readers with English as their second language, which is a significant market for WotC. And it's very difficult to translate - you have to try to pick an equivalent dialect in the target language. So dropping or downplaying it seems like a sound commercial decision.

"Everyone in fantasyland has a British accent" is one of my least favourite tropes anyway.

One of the more amusing things about the Wheel of Time TV series is that the invading Seanchan have American accents, both to contrast with the stereotypical British accents of the regular cast and because it was how the novels' author described how they spoke. This is really throwing some viewers off, since it's very atypical for a fantasy series...

 

[Parmandur]

One of the more amusing things about the Wheel of Time TV series is that the invading Seanchan have American accents, both to contrast with the stereotypical British accents of the regular cast and because it was how the novels' author described how they spoke. This is really throwing some viewers off, since it's very atypical for a fantasy series...

Yup, Jordan said they should have a Texan drawl.

 

[Remathilis]

Both Dragonlance* and Eberron seem to have been treated with more respect. Unfortunately, FR had to be unscrambled from its 4E treatment, and is still suffering from all the Realms-shaking events its had to endure. From what I've been seeing so far, Planescape is being treated fairly well and they are thankfully rolling back before the metaplot of Faction War blew things up.

Every legacy setting so far has been a remastered version with the greatest hits rather than a strict conversion. They take the setting, rip out the best or most beloved parts, chuck the stuff that doesn't work, and represent it as the new version. Even Forgotten Realms and Eberron (who got soft resets to closer match their 3e era) and 4e Dark Sun (which chucked the Pentad changes) follow the same design idea. Every setting has been a mix of new design ideas, beloved elements, and excised bad parts. Each has been reset to its "Golden Era" (War of the Lance, pre-Faction War, etc) and each incorporates elements from various prior versions.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Every legacy setting so far has been a remastered version with the greatest hits rather than a strict conversion. They take the setting, rip out the best or most beloved parts, chuck the stuff that doesn't work, and represent it as the new version. Even Forgotten Realms and Eberron (who got soft resets to closer match their 3e era) and 4e Dark Sun (which chucked the Pentad changes) follow the same design idea. Every setting has been a mix of new design ideas, beloved elements, and excised bad parts. Each has been reset to its "Golden Era" (War of the Lance, pre-Faction War, etc) and each incorporates elements from various prior versions.

And I'd rather they hadn't, or at least done it more like Eberron, where very little was changed or removed from the setting. Your point?

 

[Demetrios1453]

I wonder if they'll have the Lantern Archon as a special familiar option. I believe it was one in 3e. There are currently LE, CE, and CG options, so an LG option would be nice, especially for Celestial warlocks...

 

[Micah Sweet]

I wonder if they'll have the Lantern Archon as a special familiar option. I believe it was one in 3e. There are currently LE, CE, and CG options, so an LG option would be nice, especially for Celestial warlocks...

It would be easy enough to homebrew if it isn't there (which it likely isn't, since we would probably know about it by now otherwise).

 

[Remathilis]

And I'd rather they hadn't, or at least done it more like Eberron, where very little was changed or removed from the setting. Your point?

That WotC has been fairly consistent with its setting philosophy: take the best, change what doesn't work anymore, and present the setting as a best-of remix. That's been their take on 5e rules from the PHB on as well. The amount of work needed has varied and the format has changed, but the philosophy is the same. Your point?

 

[Scribe]

That WotC has been fairly consistent with its setting philosophy: take the best, change what doesn't work anymore, and present the setting as a best-of remix. That's been their take on 5e rules from the PHB on as well. The amount of work needed has varied and the format has changed, but the philosophy is the same. Your point?

The issue being of course, the 'doesnt work' is debatable.

 

[JEB]

That WotC has been fairly consistent with its setting philosophy: take the best, change what doesn't work anymore, and present the setting as a best-of remix.

You have to go pretty broad-strokes for that philosophy to apply to the Realms (retcons almost nothing, advances the setting while remaining inclusive of all previous editions' canon), Eberron (retcons very little, inclusive of all previous editions' canon), Ravenloft (reboots almost everything, intentionally contradicts previous editions' canon in many instances), Spelljammer (reboots cosmology, vaguely follows 2E canon otherwise), and Dragonlance (rolls back timeline, changes some largely rules-based things, prefers to hide trouble stuff rather than contradict it).

Considering the above, it's very hard to believe their philosophy has been consistent at all during the nine years of 5E. Especially considering the 2014 5E rulebooks (and some early adventures) clearly assumed you'd just directly work from older setting lore, to include novels and video games as canon.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That WotC has been fairly consistent with its setting philosophy: take the best, change what doesn't work anymore, and present the setting as a best-of remix. That's been their take on 5e rules from the PHB on as well. The amount of work needed has varied and the format has changed, but the philosophy is the same. Your point?

That I don't agree with their conditions or their judgement. I would have thought that was obvious.