Manual of the Planes

[IronWolf]

Introduction

Because I've never been a Planescape player, or even a player of 2E for that matter, my views on this book may be different from someone who was more intimately familiar with the original source material presented here. I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who is brand new to the stuff. And with that perspective, my impression of the book is that it absolutely rocks! As is typical of the new D&D books, the artwork is excellent, the layout (while many find if questionable) is superb and the production values are extremely high.

Contents
Introduction

This nicely written little snippet sets out what the Manual of the Planes intends to do, which is quite admirable, in my humble little opinion. The book is designed, not to be a traditional campaign supplement, but rather as a series of planar "modules" if you will, that can be picked up and plugged into any campaign. There are even copious notes and suggestions for alternate ways of doing things, and changes that can be made. Sometimes they show surprising lack of creativity in dealing with some problems (like, if you eliminate the Astral Plane, then certain spells simply will not work) but more often than not, the ideas are solid and useful.

Chapter 1: Nature of the Planes

For those unfamiliar with the ancient AD&D concept of planes, first (as far as I know) spelled out in the very first Dungeon Master's Guide, this chapter gives all the nitty-gritty on what the planes are all about. It also talks some about the Great Wheel cosmology of the Greyhawk setting, as well as giving several ideas for alternate cosmologies, including one they call the Multiverse. Most of these ideas are trimmed down rather than alternate ideas at this point. This is good, basic information, written in a way that is conducive to easy understanding.

Chapter 2: Connecting the Planes

This chapter goes into the basics of how the planes interact with each other, how one may travel from one to another, or otherwise affect another plane (certain spells which actually call on the Ethereal or Astral plane, for example.) Again, it's a relatively short chapter with good, solid, basic information.

Chapter 3: Characters and Magic

Lots of solid rules information here; in fact that's definately the focus of this chapter. First are clarifications and further information on the rules for having "ECLs"; characters with effective character levels higher than their actual class levels. Four new prestige classes are detailed, which seem appropriate for a Planescape-type campaign, thus furthering the initially-stated goal of creating Prestige classes that add flavor rather than power, and then literally dozens of new spells are detailed, almost all of them specific to planar adventures.

Chapter 4: The Material Plane

Short as this chapter is, I initially wondered why it was even included at all. However, it does turn out to be useful as a seedbed of alternate worlds and alternate ways of presenting the adventurer's home world.

Chapter 5: The Transitive Planes

This plane is more useful, detailing each of the three transitive planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane and the Plane of Shadows. It also sets up a formula that the next three chapters follow; the plane is given a brief introduction, and then a "stat block" of planar features. This is followed by a more detailed account of the plane, movement, combat and other basic rules descriptions, and then a few pages describing features, inhabitants, and a few key locations. There are also lots of optional side-bars detailing optional strategies, set-ups and configurations.

Chapter 6: The Inner Planes

This chapter is the same as the previous, except for the six inner planes.

Chapter 7: The Outer Planes

This chapter is the same as the previous except for the many outer planes.

Chapter 8: Demiplanes

This chapter is somewhat similar to the previous ones, yet it has rules for creating demiplanes and then a couple of examples. It is an extremely short chapter.

Chapter 9: Monsters

Lots of new monsters, including templates for creating half-elementals, creatures of most of the other planes and all kinds of other neat goodies. It features a return of many of the Planescape creatures, like yugoloths and others. I'm kinda a sucker for new monsters anyway, but these are all well done and very colorful in terms of fitting into the campaign setting.

Appendix: Variant Planes and Cosmologies

Without spoiling the surprises, this chapter features all kinds of neat goodies and different ways of doing things, including a cosmology based on dream-realms rather than planes, extra planes like an elemental plane of wood, and others. Much of it is probably not going to be used a whole lot, but it's incredibly refreshing that they even added it at all. I can't get enough of the way this book presents options and ways of thinking about using just parts of it without throwing off the whole system.

Conclusion

I have never seen an RPG book so obviously designed to be used in a modular fashion. See something you like, but you don't want the whole thing? Not only does this book provide ideas on how to separate components seamlessly, it provides a number of ideas to get the process going! For a die-hard tinkerer and home-brewer like myself, this makes this book one of the most useful I've ever picked up for an RPG ever.

 

[JeffB]

OK..I must warn you folks..

This NOT a "technical" review. Although I enjoy writing those types of reviews this is basically a "feel" review I did over on the boards. For what it's worth here it is:

I got my copy this morning..I've read some parts word by word, and glanced over other stuff that immediately caught my eye..So far I have to say VERRRRY Good!

I had the Planescape box set (and the MC's) and always loved it, but as an old school DM (in some circles known as the "old geezer" or "old fart" DM), I just mined it for ideas, and small "demi-plane type treks ala early Ravenloft or some of the classic mods (X2 Castle Amber, Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, etc). But I always loved the presentation and style, if not for actual gaming use, at least for entertainment.

Here are some of my thoughts...

1) The new MotP is a bit different, but in a good way. Perhaps one of the best things I like is the style of writing; to me it's quite plain to see that it's mostly written by an "old time" ex-TSR staffer. The book "reads" better than the other 3E products by such writers as Tweet, Reynolds, and Wyatt (no offense guys..just my personal preferences). Monte Cook and Skip Williams have the "old TSR writing style, but most of the newer folk do not. I've alway liked Jeff Grubb, and though I know some other authors worked on MotP as well, this book feels very "personal"..like it was written just for me. Most of the WOTC 3E products read like a Stock Earnings report.

2) The new MotP has some of the "Planescape feel", but in a different way..sort of like watching a "behind the scenes" look at Planescape. It not only tells you "how it is", but "how it's done" If that makes sense. Kind of like a Director describing HOW he made the movie, without telling you every scene word for word.

3) I love the "plane construction kit" mentality. Not onlyn does it give you the "core cosmology", but also how to go about doing your own thing..even if it's just a little side-trek to a demi-plane for a few hours..unless of course..time is static on that particular demi-plane and then you could....blah, blah, blah

4) It's got little blurbs on most of the old 1E Demon Princes/Devils. I never had any of PS items that even mentioned Demogorgon (I assumed they existed in the PS line somewhere? correct?), or Juiblex. Even my fave fungi-girl Zuggtmoy is mentioned.

5) Cool art..Not all of it, but most of it is very cool. Once again, Wayne Reynolds shows me that he (more than any other 3E artist) can mesh old-style D&D art w/ 3E "freshness" and not have it look like the folks who might be waiting in line Saturday night to get into that hot,new exclusive L.A. Dance Club.

I also felt that Arnie Swekel's art was much improved from his work in the DMG & PHB.

6) A gold mine of adventure hooks. Lot's of cool stuff to borrow even if not strictly for a planar campaign. I LOVE books like this. Magic Of Faerun was the same exact way. I said I wouldn't buy it (MAGofFaerun), but when I read it at the store, I just had to have it..there's TONS of good stuff hiding in it, even if you don't want all the "stats". MotP is in the same mold.

6) THEY GOT RID OF ALL THOSE STUPID COLLEGE-RULE PAPER LINES!!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!

Yes, I know they did that in Monsters of Faerun, and the PsiHB, but It's much more noticeable in MotP than in MoF, and I don't own the Psi book..so there...

I don't usually get hyped up about books that I won't use directly, and especially w/ the varying quality of writing w/ WOTC 3E products. But I must say, that the past 4 items I have bought (FRCS, MAGofFaerun, Nightfang Spire, and now MotP)along with the recent issues of DUNGEON mag, have been stellar. They have defintely renewed my faith in WOTC, and I'm psyched more than ever to get my 3E campaign rolling again (My group had abandoned 3E for older versions of the game in the past few months).

 

[Psion]

Manual of the Planes

The topic of planes of existence, dimensions, and alternate worlds has been one that has followed the D&D game through several editions. The first edition AD&D Player's Handbook had a little appendix that would introduce me (and many others) to the quirky, wonderful, awe-inspiring D&D cosmology. The myriad planes of existence from various mythologies and concepts such as elemental planes were all neatly (okay, sometimes not too neatly) assembled into a grand design that had it all.

Ed Greenwood offered a deeper look at one of the planes, the Nine Hells, in an article in Dragon magazine that is still regarded and one of the definitive and influential works on the topic even today. The planes were expanded on a little with the Deities & Demigods, which gave all of the deities addresses and provided a few more hints on what the planes were like by adding things like the para-elemental planes and the plane of shadow. Then, in the waning days of 1st edition, a new book was introduced: the Manual of the Planes.

The 1st edition Manual of the Planes filled in a lot of blanks about what the planes were all about, including rules on running games there, more details on all of the planes, and new creatures that dwelled there (as well as a sort of early version of templates). It also added touched on some new concepts like quasi-elemental planes and gave ideas for alternate prime material planes. It was creative candy for groups ready to venture out into the fantasy universe.

Then 2nd edition came along. It brought with it some changes. Many new settings were introduced, but one of the most popular was the Planescape setting, a campaign setting in the planes of the D&D cosmology, that had the audacity to suggest that the planes weren't just for demon-hacking power gamers anymore. The Planescape setting, in an array of boxed sets and supplements, went into great details about the planes. In doing so, it added some new twists and assumptions regarding the planes, and was attended by such creative talents as Dave "Zeb" Cook, Monte Cook, Michele Carter, and Colin McComb. Many grew to love it, but some weren't to comfortable with the accommodations being made in the AD&D canon to make way for the setting.

Before third edition D&D came about, many of the D&D settings were scrapped due to a somewhat more conservative fiscal policy. Planescape was one of them. But soon, a 3rd edition version of the Manual of the Planes was announced, to be written by Jeff Grubb, author of the original Manual of the Planes. This caused Planescape fans and some Planescape haters to wonder what the future held.

So just what does the Manual of the Planes hold in store for us? Let's take a look.

A First Look

The new Manual of the Planes (MotP) is a 224 page hardcover book, which puts it between the somewhat anemic 160 page Psionics Handbook and the much healthier 256 page Dungeon Master's Guide. The book is priced at $29.95 US.

The exterior of the MotP is stylistically similar to the Dungeon Master's Guide, graphically designed to appear similar to a blue ironbound tome. The front cover has a line drawing depiction of an odd device, a dimensional sextant, in place of the lock graphic that adorns the DMG.

The interior has a styling similar to the remaining 3e hardcovers, with a red rimmed border and chapter header pages with a yellowed background. Like the Psionics Handbook, the MotP eschews the sketchy background lines that were used in the core rulebooks.

The interior artwork is color except for the chapter headers, featuring such talents as Wayne Reynolds, David Roach, Arnie Skewel, Darrel Riche, Matt Cavotta, and Monte Moore, most of which should be familiar to D&D fans. I didn't find the color art to be of the same evocative caliber of the artwork in the Psionics Handbook, thought the "notebook" style line art by Arnie Skewel is up to the same high caliber as in the other hardbounds.

The cartography and illustrations were good with a few exceptions. Most of the maps and diagrams were depicted as being on a parchment, which is par for the course for 3e D&D books. However, some illustrations were make to appear as pieces fashioned from glass and metal. The cartographer, which was probably meant to be stylish. I just found it annoying, like snapshots from a cluttered tinkerer's lab.

The interior text density is very good. The font is readable yet compact, the line spacing small, and there is not an excess of white space or other "padding."

Overall, the graphic design and presentation was very good presented.

A Deeper Look

The Manual of the Planes is organized into 9 chapters plus and appendix. In addition, the book has a decent index. The first two chapters lay out a basic mechanical foundation for the planes. Chapter 3 provides more player related material such as races, prestige classes, and spells. Chapters 3 through 8 are essentially a sourcebook of the default cosmology (though they are riddled with options.) Chapter 9 describes new and converted monsters that one may meet wandering the planes. The appendix details some ideas for alternate cosmologies.

Chapter 1: Nature of the Planes

This chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book, by introducing some basic definitions and traits to be considered when making your own planes. Planes are divided into some basic categories: material, transitive, inner, outer, and demiplanes. Material planes are similar to the planes hosting the typical D&D game world. Inner planes are described as planes of primal elements. Outer planes are planes where most gods dwell and spirits rest or toil after death. Transitive planes are planes whose primary purpose is to act as a medium for travel and coexist with and connect planes, such as the ethereal, astral plane. Demiplanes are planes of limited size that can be attached to very specific planes.

The next consideration beyond classifying your planes is deciding what it is like to be there. The book provides a standardized set of attributes to consider for each plane, an examples (and standardized rules) for each. The categories are:

Physical traits: gravity, time, size and shape of the plane, "morphic" traits describing how alterable the plane is.

Elemental and energy traits: if the plane is dominated by a particular element or energy, such as earth, air, fire, or negative energy, its effects are included here.

Alignment traits: if the plane has an ethical or moral caste, it can impact the abilities of travelers of the wrong alignments. Planes like the prime are "mildly neutral" and give no penalties to any alignment, but some planes can have pretty severe penalties if you do not match the plane's alignment.

Magic traits: how magic is affected on the plane. This can include wild magic, dead magic, and certain magic enhancement. If a plane has enhanced magic, magic of the type enhanced have certain types of magic modified by metamagic feats for free. Natives of the plane are not required to have the required feats; they are treated as having them on their own plane. Visitors, however, must have the required metamagic feats to take advantage of them.

Some basic mechanics are provided to give the DM an idea how to run games on any plane with a given characteristic, so erstwhile DMs don't have to re-invent the wheel. However, as numerous later examples show, these baseline characteristics aren't the only defining characteristics a plane can have.

Chapter 2: Connecting the Planes

Chapter 2 discusses ways in which planes can be connected and how travel between them may be accomplished. As with the first chapter, this requires the introduction of some new terminology. In the case of this chapter, the terminology describes the way that planes relate. In the case of separate planes, there is no way to pass through the planes without passing through an intermediary plane. In the case of coterminous planes, it is possible to pass between the two planes at specific points. In the case of coexistent planes, it is possible to pass between the two planes at any point.

In addition to these basic terms, a basic outline is given for the Great Wheel, the default D&D cosmology (which is basically a revamped version of the cosmology the game has been using since 1st edition), describing how all of the planes fit together.

Guidelines are given for assembling your own cosmology as well. A simplified version of the cosmology called the Omniverse is also provided as an example. The Omniverse provides almost everything you need to run the D&D game using the assumptions provided in the core rulebooks. As discussed in chapter 3, some magic presumably won't operate as stated if you don't include certain planes, mostly the transitive planes.

The chapter closes discussing different ways of getting around the planes. This includes a discussion of such methods as spellcasting, portals, and planar borders.

Chapter 3: Characters and Magic

Chapter 3 introduces new options for characters, as well as guidelines on using magic in the planes and a selection of new spells for dealing with situations encountered on the planes.

The first character option introduced is that of planar races. The races aren't explicitly listed in this chapter, but rather the book relies on the monster entries here and in the Monster Manual. It provides the same system for monster characters that appears in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which isn't the same as the one in the DMG.

In addition to the aasimar and tieflings we are already familiar with, numbers are provided for the gith races and the goatlike bariaur, and (most questionably) some minor fiends.

Four new prestige classes are introduced with an eye towards planar-oriented characters. I was expecting something rather banal when I heard that there was one for each of the four "cardinal classes." However, they are well done and should fit well in a planar campaign, whether you run a Planescape game or otherwise. The classes are a divine agent (a divine spellcaster that gains plane travel oriented abilities and abilities reflecting their deity), the gatcrasher (a rogue-like character with a special talent for dealing with portals and similar planar hazards), the planar champion (essentially a mercenary who knows her way around the planes), and the planeshifter (an arcane prestige class with a knack for moving about the planes.)

The section on magic begins by delineating which spells depend on which of the standard array of planes. The guidelines on how to use this list are not spelled out in this chapter. Other chapters offer suggestions on how these abilities operate without access to the given planes or if you exclude them entirely; the list in this chapter appears to be nothing more than a convenient laundry list.

Finally, the chapter provides a list of new spells of great use to those traveling the planes, such as analyze portal, avoid planar effects, elemental body, make manifest, portal beacon, revive outsider, and xorn movement.

Chapter 4: The Material Plane

There's no place like home, eh? The material plane is the basis for most fantasy campaigns; this chapter lays out the basic traits of the material plane as they exist in most games. As you might suspect, not much space is taken up describing the material plane. It does outline how the material plane is linked to other planes. The book also renews the convention that outsiders and elementals cannot enter the material plane without assistance.

Finally, suggestions are provided for alternate prime material planes, and ideas introduced for how you can reach these alternate material planes.

Chapter 5: The Transitive Planes.

As discussed earlier, transitive planes are vast, expansive planes that tie the planes together, allowing rapid transit amongst and between planes. The two traditional transitive planes, the astral and the ethereal, are revisited in the Manual of the Planes. In addition, the plane of shadow is now considered to be a transitive plane.

The astral plane is the plane utilized in the transit of spirits and teleportation effects. It is a vast expanse as it was in earlier editions, where beings can travel by astral projection. Unlike prior editions, the astral plane now reaches nearly all planes of existence in the default cosmology, including the ethereal and inner planes.

The ethereal plane is the plane where ghosts and other immaterial creatures reside. In the default cosmology, only the material plane coexists with the ethereal plane. The region once known as the "deep ethereal" is no longer part of the default cosmology. However, options are provided for putting a deep ethereal in the game, and/or adding individual ethereal planes to planes other than the material plane.

The plane of shadow has been added as a third transitive plane. This makes some sense, as spells like shadowwalk allow the user to walk between shadows. Elevating its status as a plane helps justify the existence of the various shadow spells. The plane of shadow is a hazardous plane. As you might suspect from its nature, it is filled with features that resemble features that exist on the prime material plane, but dark and twisted. In addition, the plane of shadows is offered as a possible path to use to alternate material planes if you use them in your campaign.

Chapter 6: The Inner Planes

The inner planes are planes that consist of the raw building blocks of the universe. The standard D&D cosmology has the four elemental planes (air, fire, earth, and water) and the positive and negative energy planes. Elementals and element-related outsiders such as genies make their home on these planes. The chapter outlines the hazards and the sites on these planes in a fair amount of details.

Those familiar with earlier editions will note the conspicuous absence of the para and quasi elemental planes. As with many things in this book, they are easy enough to put them back in if you want them. However, unlike many other things that were excised, no specific option ideas are presented for this sort of thing.

Chapter 7: The Outer Planes

The outer planes are the planes that are the homes of most deities, and the place where souls go when they die. These are the heavens and the hells. As with the previous editions, there are 17 outer planes and they are arranged according to the D&D alignment system. Some of the names of the planes have been mildly tweaked, and where possible they include both the 1e and 2e names, such as the Nine Hells of Baator and the Olympian Glades of Arborea. Where a short name is required, a mix is espoused. For example if a short listing is required, the Nine Hell and Arborea are the names used for those two planes.

The outer planes chapter goes into great detail about the outer planes. Not so much as the Planescape boxed sets, but if you were expecting to rival that, you should really go do a page count on your boxed set.

This is probably the most immediate section of concern to Planescape players. The outer planes are their bread and butter. There may be a few things that you won't like, but for the most part, this is the same outer planes that you know and love, all updated to the wonderful 3e mechanics. This includes unique aspects of each plane, and statistical modifications for petitioners that live on the planes.

A few examples of what this chapter holds (especially for those with expectations) are in order.

The homes of the standard (aka Greyhawk) deities are detailed now, but most of the classical mythology-derived deities are not. However, the more interesting realms of deities mentioned in Planescape are included here, just without the names. For example, Loki's realm, Winter's Hall, is mentioned, but the deity owning it is simply referred to as the Trickster. Likewise, the teardrop palace is mentioned, but not Sung Chang. It would be easy enough to put the right names to all of these deities, but another option, if you have a campaign that assumes that deities are far reaching and are known by many names, is to assign the names and flavor of deities in your own game to the rulers of these realms.

One controversy that many PS fans wondered about is the disposition of mechanus in general and modrons in particular considering that in 3e formians have been assigned as the primary lawful race. Modrons still exist and are briefly described in the mechanus entry. However, their stats are not included, but they will show up in the web supplement. The formians are, as you might have expected, not major players on mechanus. They are more agressive than the arcadian version (which still exist), and the events of the old Planes of Law adventure describing a shifting lair of Arcadia was provided as the reason for the formians' dominance. Finally, most inhabitants of mechanus are constructs called ineviatables (see the monsters chapter.) Overall, mechanus still remains a very interesting plane.

Sigil still exists, and the factions' influence is still mentioned, though only a short section is devoted to Sigil.

In short, the core cosmology is the updated Planescape setting, have no doubt. Some decisions may not please all Planescape fans, but most of the changes are for the better.

If you don't like Planescape, don't fear: much of the Manual of the Planes is still to the tune of the old general-use 1e version, but for you Planescape fans, the Manual of the Planes is fully "Planescape ready."

Chapter 8: Demiplanes

This chapters is really just a sampling, if you think about it, for the limited size of demiplanes means that the DM can make them and put them anywhere with relatively little effect on the overall cosmology. With that in mind, in addition to the samples, an array of tables for generating random demiplanes is provided.

Unlike in the Planescape setting, demiplanes are in no way restricted to the ethereal plane. Nearly and plane can host a link to a demiplane. Some common guidelines are provided for demiplanes, such as difficulty accessing them via spells and that they are not usually coexistant with transitive planes.

Three sample demiplanes are provided. Neth is a living demiplane originally introduced in the Planescape setting. The observatorium is a wandering demiplane, that if found, allows you to scry and travel to any plane. Common ground is a meeting place of the gods, where no inhabitant may come to harm.

Chapter 9: Monsters

Chapter 9 provides a lot of denizens of the planes. Most prominent are conversions of creatures that existed in earlier editions, such as para-elementals, the missing genies (marids and dao), and some of the missing demons, devils, and celestials. A few new demons and devils were introduced as well.

The yugoloths are back (of if you are a 1e vetran, daemons, but that name is not used in the Manual of the Planes.) The githyanki and githerai are also back, in a version that is similar to their psionics handbook appearance, but with psionics cast in the mold of spell like abilities. The arcane are also back, but have had there name changed to mercane (yes, I think the efforts to avoid confusion are going a little too far.)

A number of new (or relatively new) creatures are also included. A class of creatures that inhabit the plane of shadow called the ephermera are introduced, along with a shadow creature template.

As the celestial and fiendish creature templates are used to define creatures dwelling on the good or evil outer planes, axiomatic and anarchic templates are used to create versions of creatures native to the lawful of chaotic planes. Similarly, an elemental creature template is provided, and the half elemental creature template that originally appeared in the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil makes an appearance.

The marut is given 3e treatment, but as part of a new class of creature called inevitables. Inevitables are constructs that dwell on mechanus. Inevitables exist to set right violations of fundamental laws.

Appendix: Variant Planes and Cosmologies

The Manual of the Planes is capped off with an assortment of different ideas for DMs to integrate into their games, or substitute for the standard cosmologies. Many of these have seen treatment in some form in D&D (or other games) before, such as a plane connected to mirrors, an elemental plane of cold, a temporal (time) plane, a psuedo-Lovecraftian "far realm." Even the theory of parallel universe in Bruce Cordell's Alternity supplement Tangents makes an appearance.

Others are concepts that have never really been touched on in D&D, but are common concepts in fantasy and mythology. Examples include an East Asian flavored elemental plane of wood, a shamanistic spirit world, and a faerie realm.

Conclusions

This book is stuffed with both wonderful ideas and useful rules materials for DMs hoping to run adventures on the planes or in fleshing out the cosmology of their game setting. There are some places in which the rules and assumptions for the planes are a significant departures from earlier editions. But the book is designed with flexibility in mind, so regardless of what objections you may have, there is a good chance that your objections can be salved over.

It is difficult to write a book for different audiences. However, the Manual of the Planes team is top notch, and it appears that a majority of the potential buyers of the book will be pleased. If you are looking for a third edition basis for your Planescape campaign, this is it. If you are looking for a planar setting for high level mayhem, this is it. If you are looking for a toolkit and idea font to define the cosmology of your game this is it.

About the only people who aren't going to find what they are looking for are Planescape bashers looking for something to rub in the noses of Planescape fans.

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Messageboard Golem]

The 'Nine Hells' are back! Sure they never went away, but TSR wanted to bury them under the name 'Baator' for 2nd Edition. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

3rd Ed. Manual of the Planes is a must have core rule book in my opinion. Combined with its sister publication '3rd Ed. Dieties and Demigods' due out next year it forms a structure on which to build the mythology of your champain. And without a solid mythology, IMHO, we might as well be playing MageKnight (an excellent game BTW).

1st Ed. MoP had the distinction of being the first well organized description of the DnD multiverse by TSR. It was/is a masterpiece.

2nd Ed. Planescape had the distinction of creating a flavor and an attitude to the DnD multiverse that transended the dry facts. A down side was that there wasn't any good cross index to information. And even if there was, all the boxed sets had a bunch of booklets, each starting at page 1.

3rd Ed. MoP has the distinction of...well...gee. Let's see, unlike 1st Ed. MoP it's actually a contraction of information. Plaescape authors were very prolific. Had 3rd Ed. MoP been three times the size I still would be complaining about information left out. Also, unlike Planescape, were back to straight facts. The personality is gone.

There be gold in them planes:
3rd Ed. MoP hits just the right level of detail for old timers and new comers. The writing style makes one want to learn more about a place, restoring much of the wonder of 1st Ed. MoP. Much has been said in other reviews about how this book encourages the DM to create his/her own multiverse and perhaps that's helpful for new comers. However, old timers are well aware that the parts of the DnD multiverse that you choose to expose to your players is directly related to the the mythological foundation of your world. Custom Cosmologies flow from your myths.

Did he say myths?
Now we get to the real reason I gave this book a five rating: Grubb, Cordell, and Noonan have done a masterful job of pulling apart the planes into usable independant forms. Once the 3rd Ed. Dieties and Demigods comes out next year, constructing interesting myths on which to base your champain will be a breeze.

Well done guys, and Jeff [Grubb] thanks for keeping the mistery of the planes alive!

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I have to join the praises of this book.

Even though I have never been a big fan of the planes I find this book to be one of the most useful and well written of all WotC 3ed products. As others have already spoken on book's content I will just note why I think it deserves highest mark.

The strong points are:

Modularity - you can use any part of the book independently of the others and yet when you use any number of them they blend seamlessly together into a logical whole. Even further, book encourages us to play with the module and assemble them in a variety of ways different from the main one expounded in the book, it even gives examples of various combinations that do not boil to the more of the same.

Good Prose - I find this very important as reading a bland text even if the rules behind it are useful is not a pleasant experience. Manual of the Planes is a good read, conveying its atmosphere and inspiring for the DM.

Balanced and Useful Rules - prestige classes are way more balanced then the ones from the WotC classbooks fulfilling original mandate of prestige classes to be specialists in a narrow field at the expanse of breath. They are also original and (in a context of planar campaign) needed. Spells are well done for their purpose and monsters are actually very interesting and useful in non planar campaigns as well. Particularly nice touch is a non-psionic version of Gith as it confirms WotC dedication to the doctrine that any book beyond the PHB, DMG and MM is supposed to stand on its own and not require any other book.

Wealth of Good Ideas - Above and beyond the actual "official" cosmology, this book gives a variety of ideas for alternatives not only in assembling presented stuff in different ways but also for making fresh cosmologies from scratch. Contrary to most "DM advice" one can find in sourcebooks, that usually feels like filler, this stuff is incredibly creative and most of it is stuff that I *could not* think of for myself. One ends up wishing for more. Also, innovative suggestions are given as to how to use some of planar stuff in non planar campaigns or even (prime material) world building. Al of it useful, to the point and novel.

Art - Above standard even for the hardcover WotC books. Each illustration is of exceptional quality in the best of 3rd ed. style.

Value for Money - At $41 Canadian for over 200 pages Hardcover it is there with "Relics and Rituals" and "Traps and Treachery" in value for money department and way ahead of the class books that are soft covers of less then half the pages for more then three quarters of a price.

The weak points are practically non existent if you are intending on playing a planar campaign. Even for me who is not intending to send my group planes hopping anything like near future it is exceptionally useful. I guess the only gripe one can have after reading a book like this is - why can WotC not keep this quality on all their products ?

 

[Killer Shrike]

This is an excellent work. Its not perfect (what is?) but it lacks obvious flaws and comes off as a professional and solid read. It has attractive art, useful illustrations, and a distinct look & feel that all combine to create a specific identity for the work. Its not just another hardback with some crunchy bits; when you crack the covers, you know that you are reading a complete product.

What I like about the MotP is that it basically says 'Heres how we've always done it, and here are a half dozen other ways it could be done too'. Rather than giving a DM a supplement on THE PLANES, chiseled in stone, it grants a structured and easy way to 'dial-in' a unique cosmology.

It pretty much assumes that if you are reading it thinking 'where is Planescape in here?' you probably already have a fair amount of the Planescape material. This doesnt prevent you from using the setting laid out in those out of print products, nor does it expect that other readers have them.

It does an exceptional job of presenting a modular approach to describing and defining the expanse of reality beyond the Material world.

Unlike every other WoTC product I can think of, it is totally open to interpretation and individual implementation. The book is scattered with interesting variants, and indicators of what can be changed, a few examples of how, and coverage of important game mechanic concerns if you do change things from the 'default' cosmology.

All that aside, however, the single most compelling feature of this book is that upon reading it, dozen of new ideas occured to me. Basically, it got the wheels in my head spinning in a way that only some Mage the Ascension supplements have previously. This alone is enough to Transcend the product from a good, solid, professional book to a SUPERB and crucial addition to my collection of RPGs. New ideas are priceless, and this book kick started several in my head at least.

I have the original Manual of Planes (well cared for and treasured), which I have reffered to over the years, as well as the basic box set for Planescape and the Chaos boxed set, and the Monstrous Compendium appendix for the planes so much of the 'default' info was not new to me. What was new was the modular tool-box approach to Reality.

Highly recommended to any DM designing thier own game setting for its Cosmology-building rules, and to any DM that is ready to take thier players beyond the Material plane, whichever plane that may be.

 

[dnd3dm]

Only four out of five stars? Am I a vindictive naysayer out to put a chink in this book?s otherwise perfect record? Don?t misunderstand me, I like the Manual of the Planes (MotP), and think it is an essential volume, especially for those who are DMing the newest edition of D&D or want to do so. I bought two copies of it for myself, as well as a third for my DM, as I knew that his campaign would be incorporating the Inner and Outer Planes.

There are many things to like about the newest version of MotP. These include the ?toolkit? options, that allow the DM to create and design her own multiverse, and the bag of planar traits, which make it easy to differentiate these different dimensions from the Material Plane, and create your own planes and demiplanes. The spells and prestige classes are very well balanced, more so than those in the class supplements. The inclusion of the ?Far Realm?, among many other optional planes in the appendices, tickled the Lovecraft fan in me. A reasonable amount of space is devoted to each plane, and it actually gives a DM who is clueless about the lands beyond the Material Plane enough to actually convince players that they are on that plane.

Further, the prose makes the reading much more interesting, even entertaining, than the previous rulebooks. I give huge kudos to Jeff Grubb for that. MotP reads as if it was written for a D&D-playing audience with some intelligence. The writing and vocabulary is not as bland and watered-down as it seemed to be in the core rulebooks, particularly the PH and DMG.

Before I go into my issues with the book, be aware that my expectations were rather high when I heard that WOTC was putting out a Manual of the Planes for the new version of D&D. The fact that Jeff Grubb, a veteran D&D rulebook and novel author, was writing it was a definite selling point. Adding to this was that he had designed the previous version of this book, and that just more icing on the proverbial cake.

Being familiar with the planes of existence from first edition, I was dissatisfied with the Planescape setting from second edition in many ways. Foremost was that the initial boxed set was mostly centered on Sigil and only gave anemically brief overviews of the other planes. It seemed to be designed to induce supplement-addiction, which was typical of TSR in those days. Yes, I forked over cash for nearly all of the Planescape boxed sets and books, because there were some neat ideas buried in them.

My other problem was that TSR was also ?censorship-central? until Wizards bought them out, and that most of the planes and creatures that I had been introduced to in first edition had been ?sanitized?, given new, stupid names. I would rather fight a devil from the Nine Hells than a ?baatezu? from Baator. If D&D was going to be a legendary fantasy landscape, full of larger-than-life heroes and villains, then, in my opinion, it should have a Heaven and Hell, and a Hades and an Abyss, and angels and demons and devils to populate them. What the heck is a ?tanar?ri?? Yes, I know what they were; I just hate the fact that they buried demons under that lame nonsense word. It takes a lot of the thrill of encountering them away, at least for me.

At least now they are back to calling demons and devils what they are, and there are acknowledged planes of Hell and Heaven.

I understand the need to ?blend? both the second and first edition names and approaches to the planes ? a number of players were introduced to D&D through the second edition, and changing the names back to the way they were in the first MotP would confuse a lot of people.

One of my biggest problems with this book is that its default cosmology focuses on the planes according to the Greyhawk world (now known as the D&D campaign world). I think they should have included an expanded description of the Forgotten Realms cosmology, more than the space that was devoted to it in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. They could have provided a cosmology for an Oriental campaign, anticipating the release of Oriental Adventures. The inclusion of the Elemental Plane of Wood and the Spirit Realm in the appendix of optional planes somewhat addresses this latter complaint. Would doing including these have induced supplement-addiction? I don?t think so. If you like the D&D campaign world, ignore the rest. Short, simple appendices showing how these published alternate Material World?s cosmologies looked and ?fit? with the view from Oerth would have been nice.

Another beef I have is that I would have liked to see more stat blocks for unique, non-divine beings, such as some of the demon princes or the archdevils. The only two that are included, those of Bahamut and Tiamat, are nice but have me confused. I thought these two were lesser gods. Clerical domains for them are even given for them both in an appendix of Defenders of the Faith, and further domains for Tiamat are given in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Are these two stat blocks for their avatars? Alternatively, are they going back to making deities ?bigger monsters? as was done in first edition? This question may be answered in the Deities & Demigods book, but until then, I can only scratch my head.

In conclusion, this is a highly useful book, one that I think any DM should have. However, as with any product produced by humans, it is not perfect. If fractions were possible in the ratings system, I?d have given MotP a 4.75.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This review is for the Manual of the Planes by Jeff Grubb, Bruce Cordell, and David Noonan. Published by Wizards of the Coast, this is the first real self-contained reference on the planes since the 1st ed. Dungeons & Dragons book of the same name. This new version for the 3rd ed. Dungeons & Dragons rules is filled with all manner of valuable information to expand your campaign through planar travel.

Manual of the Planes starts right off with an introductory lecture on the shapes, sizes, compositions, and behavior of planes. You gain a good (although sometimes a bit confusing) understanding of how the planes relate to one another and how they are connected.

The prestige classes have to be some of the most colorful ones I’ve seen yet. The Gatecrasher shows the most promise for role-play, especially as a gnome. I also like the Planar Champion being a natural extension for a character with Paladin-like morals.

The bulk of this book is a breakdown of the individual planes and what characters can expect should they find themselves there. While the Inner Planes contain a considerable amount of raw energy that serve as the “fuel” for elementals, the Outer Planes have the greatest diversity and most potential for adventure. My personal favorites are the planes of Limbo, the Abyss, the Beastlands, and the Outlands where Sigil, the City of Doors, resides.

No Wizards of the Coast reference book would be complete without a section on monsters, and this book is no disappointment there. Remember the monster on the cover of the 1st ed. Manual of the Planes? Well, he’s back! The Astral Dreadnought is the first entry and he’s tougher than ever (CR 17). The strengths of this section are in the monster templates, especially the axiomatic and anarchic templates.

Overall, this book is a wealth of information for anyone who enjoys incorporating planar travels into their adventures. If you never plan to leave the Prime Material Plane, then save your money for a different book more suited to your campaign. While it can be a bit confusing or overwhelming to someone new to planar adventures, the book is every bit worth the retail price of $29.95.

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.

 

[Yair]

The Manual of the Planes is a 223 page hardcover book with a price tag of 29.95$ for D&D 3E (not 3.5E). Owners of the revised edition DMG already have a substantial section (22 pages) devoted to the planes – what does the MotP add? Is it 3.5E compatible? And is it worth the cost? Well, the answer may depend on what you are looking for. Here is my personal opinion on the work.


The first chapter (10 pages) explains the nature of the planes and planar traits. This information is essentially provided in the 3.5 DMG. The second chapter is 8 pages long, and talks about connecting the planes. Much of it is touched upon in the 3.5 DMG, but I find this presentation superior and it also includes more information and inspiring text on portals and other planar travel means – but at 8 pages, this clearly is not much of a difference.

The first main addition comes at chapter three, Characters and Magic. In 18 pages it describes 4 prestige classes and 26 spells (and a few other things), all new. The prestige classes are fitting and clearly designed to fit a wide variety of aspirants (I particularly like the Gatecrusher, that hacks planar portals and travel). The spells include useful ones like improved alarm (alerting from ethereal intruders etc.), and others of lesser utility (portal beacon, for example, allows a wizard to inform the party of the location of a portal he is Close to for a few hours). I find these additions seem reasonably useful and interesting for a planes-heavy campaign.

Chapter 4, the material plane, is only 4 pages long, and really – there is not much to discuss; I think it does it as well as it could. Chapter five involves the Transitive Planes, and is 20 pages long. This is an excellent chapter, giving a good feel for each transitive plane (ethereal, astral, and shadow) with about 5 pages on each. Now, each of these is described over 1/2 a page in the DMG, but these descriptions are superior. I especially liked the idea regarding shadow walk weak-spots. The locations given in the DMG are not described herein, so the two books complement each other to a large degree here.

Chapter six discusses the inner planes (in about 20 pages), and is again very good. Again it expands on the 1/2 page of the DMG to about 2 or 3 pages per plane. It manages to capture a good feel of each plane, and nearly every one had one location or idea that I thought could easily spawn an adventure. While some sites mentioned in the DMG are repeated to some degree, many are not so again the two complement each other nicely.

Chapter seven is the meat of the book, 68 pages of outer-plane descriptions, and it is the part I found most disappointing. The MotP versions of these planes seemed to me to be too much involved with the deities and petitioners on them, too vague and rehearsed, almost dry. Although there are still good places to go to and idea-spawning sites, overall I found the outer places to be disappointingly cliché and trivial. Instead of listing interesting place to go to, they list the places where gods are and their worshippers go to – and there is a big difference.

Chapter eight, demiplanes, is not much better. The writers give us in 6 pages the planes of Neth (a sentient plane), which is a nice and interesting idea, and then the other two are the Observatoriun where god-servants record the goings on in the real-world (an interesting place to describe as a part of myth, but as a place to wage an adventure in?), and the Common Ground, a place where gods can meat on neutral ground. These are good places for myth-building, but less good for adventure-building – the same problem with the outer planes.

Chapter nine includes 42 pages of monster goodness. I find some too banal to be seriously used (bariur – “looks like a centaur, but it mixes the forms of human and ram”), but most are good and ingrained well in their respective planes. I am particularly pleased that they include many templates (shadow-creatures, axiomatic creatures, petitioners – worshipers post death, and more) and ideas such as paraelementals and energons (sort of positive and negative energy elementals). This is a good, useful, chapter.

MotP finishes off with a bang with the appendix, 21 pages describing more planes and possible cosmologies. Released from the shackles of the historical D&D cosmology and divine presence considerations, the designers finally show a burst of creativity. They present gems such as the region of dreams (including rules for dream travel and lucid dreaming), the plane of mirros, wood or cold as an element, the faerie plane, and the far realm (including the pseudonatural template), the orrery cosmology (used in Eberron – the idea of ascendant and waning planes, changing in some complex cycle), and more. This chapter demonstrates, to me, exactly what makes planes interesting – each new plane allows for an interesting place to visit or use in an adventure (not “I went to Valhalla and had a beer with Kord!”, but rather “the good wizard suddenly turns evil; it’s mirror self has taken over his life!”). If only the entire book would have been like this.

The MotP is two things: it is a toolkit to construct new planes and cosmologies, and it is a tour de force of the Great Wheel cosmology of D&D. As a toolkit, the revised DMG provides you with all the tools it contains, but the MotP also has a host of more planes, advice, and ideas to help you beyond the bare tools. As a tour of the D&D cosmology, however, the book is largely disappointing, but still has some useful material. In short, this book does its job very well and should enrich any planes-related campaign. Its weak spot is the weak treatment of the Great Wheel, but even a DM that intends to use it will still be benefited by the expanded descriptions and occasional inspirational idea.
I gave this product a 4-start rating. As a 3.5E product, however, the MotP deserves a 3-star score. The core of it is available anyway in the core rulebooks, and the expansions of the Great Wheel are largely disappointing. It has good content, especially as a toolkit and springboard for ideas, but for 30$ is just too expensive to merit the benefit. I have no doubt that if it were released under 3.5E, it would have been different – it would have provided more, or would have been cheaper and smaller. For the owner of a 3.5E DMG, I recommend its purchase only to those heavily involved in a planar campaign.