Fallen Seraph
First Post
It looks like Manual of The Planes will be full of maps, as our newest excerpt shows with a quite elaborate map.
Manual of the Planes Excerpts: City of Brass
Manual of the Planes Excerpts: City of Brass
Excerpt: City of Brass
- Thread starter Fallen Seraph
- Start date
Hawke
Explorer
I was not interested in this book a lick. These last excerpts though have made me very interested! The art and flavor seems pretty cool... maybe not a book I'll be interested in owning for reference but perhaps something I'll pick up as a gift for another DM more likely to use it as a setting and snag it for a read.
Or another exceprt will tip me over. Bah!
Or another exceprt will tip me over. Bah!
Shemeska
Adventurer
My love is tough
The City of Brass excerpt is better than earlier excerpts from the 4e MotP, I'll grant it that, and it's not bad at all. The map is very similar to the map as depicted during 2e and 3e (its a redrawn version of the 3.5 PlHB map), and the map is probably the best thing in the excerpt. Everything else is generally similar to the material from the 3e MotP, 2e Planescape's 'The Inner Planes', and Al-Qadim's 'Secrets of the Lamp'. It's just an overview, but there's nothing that utterly clashes with earlier material, and a lot of names and places get recycled (which I would have done in the same position). A few 4e'isms get mixed in like archons, which while a tad odd, it's nothing majorly clashing in terms of previous flavor.
I still think the level of detail is on the light side, but what's there isn't bad. Of course I can't really make an unbiased comment on much here since I wrote up the City of Brass as it exists within Paizo's Golarion/Pathfinder cosmology within the last month here. And honestly, I'd appreciate any comparisons and critiques looking at my own take and WotC's take on similar planar topics once the 4e MotP and Paizo's The Great Beyond are both released.
That said, my only real complaint is a general comment on the 4e core cosmology's Elemental Chaos: the thematic flavor and atmosphere of the elemental chaos seems schitzophrenic to me - do you represent a fusion of the elements, or do you represent the unformed chaos of limbo? The flavor seems to switch back and forth, uncertain at times if it's going to try to model itself upon the earlier conceptions of the elemental planes, or crib upon the 1e/2e/3e notion of Limbo. It's combining a lot of concepts that compete for attention, and it can't make up its mind which one it's trying best to be. I'm not sure how that's going to work out - but as I said, that's the only major complaint I can come up with for this particular section.
The City of Brass excerpt is better than earlier excerpts from the 4e MotP, I'll grant it that, and it's not bad at all. The map is very similar to the map as depicted during 2e and 3e (its a redrawn version of the 3.5 PlHB map), and the map is probably the best thing in the excerpt. Everything else is generally similar to the material from the 3e MotP, 2e Planescape's 'The Inner Planes', and Al-Qadim's 'Secrets of the Lamp'. It's just an overview, but there's nothing that utterly clashes with earlier material, and a lot of names and places get recycled (which I would have done in the same position). A few 4e'isms get mixed in like archons, which while a tad odd, it's nothing majorly clashing in terms of previous flavor.
I still think the level of detail is on the light side, but what's there isn't bad. Of course I can't really make an unbiased comment on much here since I wrote up the City of Brass as it exists within Paizo's Golarion/Pathfinder cosmology within the last month here. And honestly, I'd appreciate any comparisons and critiques looking at my own take and WotC's take on similar planar topics once the 4e MotP and Paizo's The Great Beyond are both released.
That said, my only real complaint is a general comment on the 4e core cosmology's Elemental Chaos: the thematic flavor and atmosphere of the elemental chaos seems schitzophrenic to me - do you represent a fusion of the elements, or do you represent the unformed chaos of limbo? The flavor seems to switch back and forth, uncertain at times if it's going to try to model itself upon the earlier conceptions of the elemental planes, or crib upon the 1e/2e/3e notion of Limbo. It's combining a lot of concepts that compete for attention, and it can't make up its mind which one it's trying best to be. I'm not sure how that's going to work out - but as I said, that's the only major complaint I can come up with for this particular section.
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Kobold Avenger
Legend
It's interesting the different vehicles they describe in this article. Of course the most attention goes to Spelljammers, but even the idea of whatever Lightning Skiffs, Chaos Gliders and Planar Dromonds are is interesting. I'm just wondering if spelljammers in the MotP is a "class of vehicle" rather than one type of vehicle.
When it comes to vehicles in Limbo or the Elemental Chaos, I sort of pictured them as being more submarine or capsule or bubble type vehicles.
When it comes to vehicles in Limbo or the Elemental Chaos, I sort of pictured them as being more submarine or capsule or bubble type vehicles.
RichGreen
Adventurer
I really liked that boxed set too but haven't used it yet.
I'm hoping I can somehow combine the two versions and have my 4e PCs adventure there.
Cheers
Richard
frankthedm
First Post
Seems like a good way of depicting a place with chaos in the name.
Anyone else get reminded of The Code of Hammurabi when the article was talking about the CoB's laws?
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Treebore said:
That's asking a lot! I think it's fine for what it is.
It's peachy. A good planar location in a wide universe. "Yaay! Adequate!"
