"Planar Handbook" - completlely useless?

[Mystery Man]

I'm so sick of every book coming out for players. I'm a pretty experienced DM but every now and then I need something to inspire me, keep me going.

I was browsing this book yesterday at the bookstore and suddenly was awash is a kind of frustration that took me to a whole new level of pissed off. Wizards is really just not getting a clue are they? Are they ever going to publish something for the DM to use? Do they not understand that publishing EVERYTHING for players will not create DMs? Do they not understand that if there are no DMs there will be no one running games? Do they not understand that if there is no one running a game then there is no one playing a game?

No DMs mean no players means no one buying they're useless books.

Several flames later I'll look back and probably wish I hadn't hit the submit button but I just had to vent.

 

[diaglo]

i've been saying the same thing since around 1985 or so.

nothing new or even worthwhile coming from the industry for my campaigns...

 

[Thanee]

The FR regional/source books are pretty good for DMs, I think.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

i've been saying the same thing since around 1985 or so.

nothing new or even worthwhile coming from the industry for my campaigns...

Yeah, they stopped downward compatibility some years ago.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Felix]

*shrug*

Books for DMs only appeal to about 1/4 of the RPG market, or thereabouts. If it doesn't hold anything for players, then most folks arn't going to be looking through it. It sucks, but it is unfortunately very understandable. They're trying to make products that will appeal to all of their small niche market. A niche within a niche won't be terribly profitable, eh?

Not that you shouldn't be frustrated, but at least they have some kind of reason behind it.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'm confused by this post. I've never seen a book designed for a player that the GM couldn't also use. I've seen many books for GMs that players couldn't use.

"Can i use this new feat/PrC/spell from the Faeurn's Player's Handbook."

"You might as well. Many of those spells are in common use right now so you'll need some defense against them. Oh yeah, watch out for that Red Wizard with his specialized abilities too and his items from book Y. They'll get ya!"

 

[Sir Elton]

No DM books?

I'm so sick of every book coming out for players. I'm a pretty experienced DM but every now and then I need something to inspire me, keep me going.

I was browsing this book yesterday at the bookstore and suddenly was awash is a kind of frustration that took me to a whole new level of pissed off. Wizards is really just not getting a clue are they? Are they ever going to publish something for the DM to use? Do they not understand that publishing EVERYTHING for players will not create DMs? Do they not understand that if there are no DMs there will be no one running games? Do they not understand that if there is no one running a game then there is no one playing a game?

No DMs mean no players means no one buying they're useless books.

Several flames later I'll look back and probably wish I hadn't hit the submit button but I just had to vent.

Mystery Man, I'm sure Wizards' Market Research says that DM books are unprofitable for them to produce. That being said, I wish they adopt the concept of Troupe Style play. That way, a group can trade off DMing around each other and then the DM books would not be so unprofitable.

 

[BradfordFerguson]

I've heard that Planar Handbook is pretty bad. You gotta look beyond WotC for stuff that is good for DMs. Though Book of Vile Darkness, Book of Exalted Deeds, and Draconomicon are good for DMs, the more recent books are less so, though Complete Divine has tons of prestige classes.

Also when you see lots of prestige classes and start to have the vein in your head about to burst in frustration, remember that PrCs are really for the dungeon master. They all hint to an organization that teaches these secret special abilities, and they can be given to all manner of NPCs. They are great for you to give to NPCs and either have the PCs bump into in a diplomatic situation or you can give them to your villains. Be sure to get them to jump out a little personality or appearance wise and your players will bite and talk to the characters. In a game that I played in the DM had us meet an exalted character which was a lot of fun for the player who played the holy warrior.

There are a good number of great books for DMs from companies other than WotC.

 

[Vlos]

First as already stated books for GMs hit much less of the gamer population than books for players, and yes this is a business.

Also you may want to look at the book again. A fellow gamer picked it up this past week and I was browsing it this past gaming session and saw some cool things that as both a player and GM I could easily use. Specifically the Touchstones (if proper name). These are special locals that grant special powers.

Now Obviously a GM MUST place these in their world before a play can even think of using them. ANd in just creating one, you could create a whole series of plots adventures around one, now add more than one and you have a whole campaign.

Just because it doesn't say GM book on it, doesn't mean you can't use it!

 

[Piratecat]

No, in my opinion the Planar Handbook is just sort of average: solid design, lots of crunch, very little inspiration. It's no Beyond Countless Doorways,, that's for sure.

The best resource for DM material hasn't been WotC for some time. God bless Dancey and the OGL.