Planar Hanbook excerpt and art gallery

[Olive]

Exceprts: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040706a
Gallery: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20040703a

So what do people think? It's lookign interesting, but I'm nervous about the touchstones, and also about how much will be updated to 3.5 from the gallery.

 

[Jeremy757]

Well the Planer Handbook was something I was planning on getting. Im currently running a Forgotten Realms campaign that uses the original cosmology, so much of this material would have been useful to me.

BUT....since I got Eberron Ive decided that this story arc of my FR game comes to an end that we will begin playing in that campaign setting instead. So the Planer Handbook isn't looking so good to me any more.

I might pick it up eventually but I just don't see how the book could be very useful to someone running an Eberron campaign. I guess well have to here from reviewers first.

 

[Kai Lord]

Wow. That art is positively godawful compared to the Manual of the Planes.

 

[Kai Lord]

And it appears someone needs to brush up on their DR rules:

Damage reduction 2/bludgeoning: A spiker's spiny skin grants resistance to bludgeoning attacks, though piercing or slashing attacks slip through normally.

:\

 

[Shemeska]

The art is a mixed bag of really good, ok, and one artist I simply don't care for. However, the Steve Prescott art makes me smile. I've been a serious fan of his stuff since my exposure to his work in Shadowrun. Good stuff and I'm glad to see WotC using him more. Very cool.

So far my only nitpick about the material in the preview is that while it mentions the Quasielemental citadels of the Doomguard, it tries to put them in the cardinal elemental planes. That's fine, except by that measure:

Sealt = water, NOT earth.
Exhalus = air, NOT Negative energy plane.
Crumbling = fire. They got this right.
Alluvius = earth NOT air.

The whole point of it all was to have them corresponding to the 4 elements as they spiraled down into negative energy and were broken apart by entropy. As it stands, the 3e version has 1 of 4 correct, and 2 on elemental earth. The rule of 4 and rule of opposition are broken. *Yugolothy frown*

Still looks cool though, some of the text is literally straight out of the 'Factols Manifesto'.

Of course, I'm still waiting for the book to come out so that Sigil will get it's 3e update beyond the MotP. I'm going to be particularly happy about a few things therein. *twirls razorvine tiara*

 

[Gez]

The art is kinda disappointing compared to the MotP. Dennis Crabapple McClain (aka Dennis Cramer) and Vinod Rams are mixed bags in my eyes: some very bad, and some mediocre. That new (never saw pics by her before) artist Emily Fiegenschuh is overall good, but she's responsible for that dreadfully ugly Mialee.

The class substitution things remind me a bit of the Sea Druid in Mongoose's Seas of Blood.

 

[Olive]

I might pick it up eventually but I just don't see how the book could be very useful to someone running an Eberron campaign. I guess well have to here from reviewers first.

Well, you've got elemental planes right? And outer planes that are anagalous in some senses o the Great Wheel? So there will be stuf in there for plane hoppers of any campaign world, esp. now that FR doesn't follow the Great Wheel either...

 

[demiurge1138]

I actually like Vinod Rams, but I agree that Crabapple (wonder why he got a new alias) is from fair to poor. Some of the stuff in the Planar Handbook looks like his better work, though. The book does suffer from a lack of WAR (the prime influence on the beautiful MoTP).

But I like the preview. Spikers sound interesting, with the armor penalties being a flavorful balance tool. And the dharculus and doomlord are really, really piquing (sp?) my interest.

Demiurge out.

 

[Fiendish Dire Weasel]

I just preordered the Planar Handbook tonight at my FLGS then got home to read these previews... I'm now doubting the wisdom of my preorder. A lot of times the previews they do make me more interested in the book (both Complete Divine's & Eberron's preivews pushed me over the edge so I finally preordered), reading these though, I think I'm less interested. The frog race from Limbo they released a bit back looked good but the new race, feats, class options and PrC released tonight just look poorly done.

 

[Olive]

And it appears someone needs to brush up on their DR rules:

Oh please don't let that have made it in... (i miss roll eyes).