FFG's Portals & Planes: first impressions?

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

I picked up Portals & Planes last week.

I haven't read much of it yet ( Skull & Bones, Crime & Punishment have taken up most of my reading time lately - I also have Termana, Underdark and BoED in my reading stack right now - don't tell my wife what these all cost me, OK? ), but here are my first impressions:

- Less focus on Classes and PrC's than most other Legend & Lairs themed books. This is a GOOD thing. I was really dissapointed in how much coverage was given to classes/PrC's in Sorcery and Steam. There are a few though, and some relevant feats, spells & items

- A good portion of the book describes different types of Portals: Gateways ( the doors you are used to ), Malignancies and Minglings, and how to use/implement them in your game.

- Large part of the book helps you develop your own planes with unique traits.

- Some monsters, templates and sample organizations round out the book

- Did I mention this is a Mike Mearls book? I'm a sick fan boy for his stuff.

Useful for Planescapers? Yes.

Useful for non-Planescapers? Yes. Mike stays well away from Great Wheel cosmology references or assumptions.

I'd be glad to answer any specific questions if anyone has any.

 

[Crothian]

I read this book as soon as I got it, and I like it very much. Mike has some great ideas and the book is easy to use for anyone. As BFG said above it doesn't assume the great wheel, but it's easy to use with it or without the great wheel. I think this is one of Mearl's better books.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I read this book as soon as I got it, and I like it very much. Mike has some great ideas and the book is easy to use for anyone. As BFG said above it doesn't assume the great wheel, but it's easy to use with it or without the great wheel. I think this is one of Mearl's better books.

Have to agree completely. I know a book is good when my initial skim sparks campaign ideas.

Possibly some of Mike's best work to date.

 

[Psion]

- Did I mention this is a Mike Mearls book? I'm a sick fan boy for his stuff.

Litmus test:

What did you think of DungeonCraft?

 

[Psion]

Have to agree completely. I know a book is good when my initial skim sparks campaign ideas.

Like the sounds of that. That's how I view MotP.

Possibly some of Mike's best work to date.

Could Monsters Handbook be topped?

 

[Nightfall]

Personally I'm waiting to see what he did in PG: Clerics and Druids. But that's just me.

But yeah, hard to top Monster's Handbook. It's a great resource for me.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Litmus test:

What did you think of DungeonCraft?

Well, from your post, I get the impression that YOU didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe I'm reading too much into your post, or maybe that has something to do with the fact that this book did not get a Psion review?

Anyway, no matter your impressions, I liked DungeonCraft. That said, I think it is a book that would probably best benefit a newbie DM, with it's heavy focus on designing ecologies and motivations for "monsters" that have some thought to them besides a different monster type in each room. If you don't run dungeon romps, or already have a dozen years experience developing plausible monster ecologies, then this book probably isn't for you.

There is also a large section on location encounters in the book. I liked many of the ideas here. Surprising to me, on a recent poll here, WoTC's "Book of Challenges" was rated least valuable out of all their 3.0 books. So not surprising to me, is the notion that many ENWorlders might not like this section of the DungeonCraft book either. Again, I think many ENWorlers view this stuff as beneath their D&D experience. They might be right. But I enjoy it.

My favorite secton of DungeonCraft is the "Dungeon as a System" section:

- Brings formal Morale Rules back to D&D. I have been winging handling "monster" morale rules in 3.X, but now I have a good set of guidelines to reference when the PC's start killing the enemy.

- Social Geography. The way Mike lays out guidelines for attitudes between groups of underground denizens provides a helpful roadmap for figuring out how different creatures might live together in the same environs.

If I was rating this one in a full review, I would give it a 4, with the clear qualification that it will be most beneficial to those with less underground/dungeon design experience. Otherwise this book is probably not for you. I wish I had a book like this 20 years ago to help my initial design efforts!

 

[Psion]

Well, from your post, I get the impression that YOU didn't enjoy it that much. Maybe I'm reading too much into your post, or maybe that has something to do with the fact that this book did not get a Psion review?

FFG doesn't send me review products. Very little time to review products I don't get review products for, though if I find a real gem, I might squeeze it in (Monsters Handbook was an example.)

But yeah, Dungeoncraft left me cold. It seemed okay for newbies, but the utility seemed a bit shallow to me.

There is also a large section on location encounters in the book. I liked many of the ideas here. Surprising to me, on a recent poll here, WoTC's "Book of Challenges" was rated least valuable out of all their 3.0 books. So not surprising to me, is the notion that many ENWorlders might not like this section of the DungeonCraft book either.

Now I liked Book of Challenges. I almost didn't buy it after Stronghold Builders since I found that book so non-useful, but BoC actually turned out to be real useful.

At any rate my point is sort of "even great writers can do less than inspired work" and I am just wondering if I should take your post as a sign or not (doesn't matter than much as it is en route to me already.) Monte is one of my favorite authors, but he also had a few titles that failed to impress.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

...
At any rate my point is sort of "even great writers can do less than inspired work" and I am just wondering if I should take your post as a sign or not (doesn't matter than much as it is en route to me already.) Monte is one of my favorite authors, but he also had a few titles that failed to impress.

Yeah, I completely agree.

 

[grodog]

Thanks for the info BFG. When you get a chance to delve further into P&P, I'd love to hear more about your thoughts.

Among Mearls' books, I've only bought Monster Handbook and QUintessential Rogue, both of which I thought were decent, but not phenomenal. (I haven't had a chance to really dig into MH, however, so my opinion on that one is subject to improvement).