D&D (2024) DMG 2024: The Planes

[MechaTarrasque]

If every plane had a specific being (or type of being) associated with it, I would be okay with moving the planes stuff to the MM (since more outsiders would make me happy), but as far as I can tell Arcadia, Bytopia, Arborea (depending on whether eladrin are default fey or celestials), Ysgard, Acheron, and either Hades or Gehenna (depending whether where yugoloths come from vs. where most of them live) are left out. Now for most of these, I could see some kind of special NPC classes that you could stick on the fiendish or celestial (as appropriate) versions of orcs, hobgoblins, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and anyone who ends up in Ysgard. There could be Acheron eternal siege warriors; Ysgardian einherjar or maenads (always felt like the belonged better in wild Ysgard); or branali and firre's from Arborea.

The NPC idea also lets a DM more easily move away from species dependency (if that is your thing), so you could have a celestial orc branali or a fiendish halfling eternal siege warrior.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

1. There is no devils section anymore

There is, but you need to read the ISBN number backwards for it to appear.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not bad organization just different

Sounds like my desk. It’s differently organised.

 

[Reynard]

If every plane had a specific being (or type of being) associated with it, I would be okay with moving the planes stuff to the MM (since more outsiders would make me happy), but as far as I can tell Arcadia, Bytopia, Arborea (depending on whether eladrin are default fey or celestials), Ysgard, Acheron, and either Hades or Gehenna (depending whether where yugoloths come from vs. where most of them live) are left out. Now for most of these, I could see some kind of special NPC classes that you could stick on the fiendish or celestial (as appropriate) versions of orcs, hobgoblins, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and anyone who ends up in Ysgard. There could be Acheron eternal siege warriors; Ysgardian einherjar or maenads (always felt like the belonged better in wild Ysgard); or branali and firre's from Arborea.

The NPC idea also lets a DM more easily move away from species dependency (if that is your thing), so you could have a celestial orc branali or a fiendish halfling eternal siege warrior.

I am pretty sure no one ever has adventured in Bytopia. Ever.

 

[dave2008]

I am pretty sure no one ever has adventured in Bytopia. Ever.

Why not? I know nothing about it, but now you have made we want to guide me PCs there!

 

[Reynard]

Why not? I know nothing about it, but now you have made we want to guide me PCs there!

Exactly. prior to this very moment, no one has ever said that before. But lets spend a bunch of pages detailing it and other planes no one has ever gone to.

 

[dave2008]

Exactly. prior to this very moment, no one has ever said that before. But lets spend a bunch of pages detailing it and other planes no one has ever gone to.

I take the opposite impression of our exchange than you do I think.

So the fact the you mentioned Bitopia to me and that made me want to adventure there seems like a reason to include it in the DMG. By touching on each of these planes just a bit could make someone want to adventure there.

To be clear, I wasn't thinking about this when I made my comment. It was your response above that made me realize how the 40 pages of the planes in the DMG might be a good idea. Previously I was on the fence, but now you have pushed me toward thinking maybe it is a good idea! I would still rather have monster creation and alternate / optional rules though.

 

[Hatmatter]

One thing that legitimately surprised me about the 2024 DMG was the chapter on the Planes. It spends nearly 40 pages on the Planes -- a "setting" traditionally reserved for high level play that is also the part of the D&D "multiverse" most likely to be modified or ignored in D&D's own setting (Eberron, Dragonlance). By contrast, they spend less than 30 pages on Greyhawk and a whopping 3 pages on Dungeons. the discussion of all the myriad worlds of D&D is a single chart.

Why do you think they decided to invest so many pages in the Planes? Does it signal a near term focus on the Planes for adventures and supplements? Will we be seeing more Planescape products or a big planar adventure? Is that something you would like to see? For that matter, are you happy with the large investment of pages on the Planes in the 2024 DMG?

While I don't mind planar information being present in the DMG, or even taking up a decent chunk of real estate, I am less enthused at how little space was given to dungeons and dungeon adventures (and sandbox campaigns, as i mentioned in another thread). I don't think planar adventures are common, and I think it is effectively wasted space for a lot of groups.

But what are your thought?

I have always enjoyed the presentation of planes in D&D and I like the section on planes in the Dungeon Master's Guide, just as I liked the section in the 2014 edition. The planes are unique terrains for adventure and are tied to both magic and creatures in D&D, so I appreciate the attention to them. They (particularly the Feywild, Ethereal Plane, and Shadowfell) feature prominently in my campaign.

 

[Scott Christian]

I think the direction of play from many tables is starting to include the planes, particularly Shadowfell, Feywild, Abyss, and Hells. There is also a slight leaning towards Mechanus and Acadia too. These are being presented in almost all the adventure paths, so I feel like it is a lot more common today than it was 30 years ago.

 

[Maxperson]

That should be a paragraph in the MM in the devils section.

I don't agree. Knowing about the 9 Hells helps you run devils, but devils are far from the only thing there. It needs to be in the DMG because it helps run all the hellish monsters and hellish terrain. It's a worldbuilding tool.