D&D 5E Planescape, Bigby, Phandelver and the Deck of Many Things: Covers & Details Revealed!

The covers of the upcoming D&D books — including Planescape, Glory of the Giants, and the Deck of Many Things have been revealed.

• August 15th -- Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants ($59.95)
• August 15th -- The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons ($39.95)
• September 19th -- Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk ($59.95)
• October 16th -- Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse ($TBA)
• November 14th -- Book of Many Things ($TBA)

Coming August 15th with two variants. Lore about giants, 76 stat blocks, feats, and a giant subclass.

3 hardcovers in a boxed set-- 96 page guide to Sigil, 64-page bestiary, and 96-page adventure, along with a poster map and DM screen. Coming October 16th.

224-page adventure for levels 1-12, poster map, 16 new monsters. Coming September 19th.

66 illustrated cards, 192-page book with lore, character options, magic items, and monsters, 80-page card reference guide, all in a slipcase. Coming November 14th.​

These Are Dungeons & Dragons' New Products For 2023

New books for the fantasy role-playing game include Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, and a look at the legendary Deck of Many Things.

themessenger.com

 

[teitan]

Guess I was thinking shrinking along the lines of Enlarge/Reduce rather than Alter Self/Polymorph.

I started there but thought continuing the joke of a dm changing the story on the fly and players not realizing it but thinking they know what’s going on was apropos.

 

[Maxperson]

Yup. Folks hoping for a return of classic Planescape would do well to quash that expectation. At best, they might do a 5E Dragonlance, and stuff everything they don't like from the old setting into a closet off-screen. But more likely is a 5E Ravenloft-style reboot, seasoned with some classic Easter eggs here and there (particularly from Torment).

Hell, folks hoping for a Planescape setting at all would do well to quash that expectation. Sigil and the Outlands does not a Planescape setting make.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Hell, folks hoping for a Planescape setting at all would do well to quash that expectation. Sigil and the Outlands does not a Planescape setting make.

You know what I love? The gate towns. Next time there's a big hardcover adventure, start it in the Outlands and use a gate town as a home base. It fits the regular D&D tropes enough to be familiar but is weird enough to be exciting and different.

That's not a full Planescape adventure or adventure, but it'd be an easy second entry point to the setting and be something new and different for the WotC era.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Hell, folks hoping for a Planescape setting at all would do well to quash that expectation. Sigil and the Outlands does not a Planescape setting make.

Yes they do. In the original boxed set, each of the planes outside of the Outlands received one page - or less - of coverage, comparable to what is in the 2014 DMG. The meat of the boxed set were in the other two books, 96 pages and 32 pages respectively, that detailed Sigil and the Outlands exclusively. You really need nothing more than the info covered in those two books to run a successful Planescape campaign. The other planes are actually fairly superfluous to the setting - nice to have, but not necessary to visit or detail.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes they do. In the original boxed set, each of the planes outside of the Outlands received one page - or less - of coverage, comparable to what is in the 2014 DMG. The meat of the boxed set were in the other two books, 96 pages and 32 pages respectively, that detailed Sigil and the Outlands exclusively. You really need nothing more than the info covered in those two books to run a successful Planescape campaign. The other planes are actually fairly superfluous to the setting - nice to have, but not necessary to visit or detail.

That's only true if you incorrectly leave the setting at just the first boxed set. They didn't put more about the planes into the first boxed set because they greatly detailed the other planes in other boxed sets. The Planescape setting is ALL of that, not just the first boxed set.

 

[Parmandur]

Yes they do. In the original boxed set, each of the planes outside of the Outlands received one page - or less - of coverage, comparable to what is in the 2014 DMG. The meat of the boxed set were in the other two books, 96 pages and 32 pages respectively, that detailed Sigil and the Outlands exclusively. You really need nothing more than the info covered in those two books to run a successful Planescape campaign. The other planes are actually fairly superfluous to the setting - nice to have, but not necessary to visit or detail.

I have a used copy of the 1E Manual of the Planes, anywho.

 

[Demetrios1453]

That's only true if you incorrectly leave the setting at just the first boxed set. They didn't put more about the planes into the first boxed set because they greatly detailed the other planes in other boxed sets. The Planescape setting is ALL of that, not just the first boxed set.

So... the equivalent of four boxed sets and three softcover books, or it's not acceptable as a Planescape setting? What do you suggest as a price point for this 1000+ page product with 18 poster maps?

(And that's just the base material on the planes themselves. There were three monster books, and lots of other products on various themes like the Factions, the Blood War, and so on).

The base setting for Planescape, what needs to be concentrated on and detailed, is Sigil and the Outlands. The rest is fluff and feathers. Nice fluff and feathers, but, in the end, non-essential fluff and feathers.

 

[Maxperson]

So... the equivalent of four boxed sets and three softcover books, or it's not acceptable as a Planescape setting?

They've produced what, 3 good 5e settings? Theros, Eberron and the one Mercer made. So they need 260-320 pages to produce a good setting. They don't need all 4 boxed sets, but they need a hell of a lot more than was just in the original Planescape boxed set and what they are releasing now.

The base setting for Planescape, what needs to be concentrated on and detailed, is Sigil and the Outlands. The rest is fluff and feathers. Nice fluff and feathers, but, in the end, non-essential fluff and feathers.

There is no "base" setting for Planescape. They've proven that by release the "base" setting for the Forgotten Realms 8 years ago and not expanding it any more. They haven't done further setting material on any setting. What they are releasing with this three book set is all that will be released for Planescape.

And what you are dismissing as fluff and feathers is the setting. Setting is fluff and feathers, with sometimes a few unique mechanics.

 

[cbwjm]

I think it's good to have some info on the planes, but otherwise all you really needed was what was in the 2e boxed set (just a general overview of the planes, nothing too in depth) and I think that's what's more or less coming in the planescape books, maybe with less about the outer planes. Those other box sets and books were great to have in 2e, but weren't a requirement.

 

[pukunui]

They don't need all 4 boxed sets, but they need a hell of a lot more than was just in the original Planescape boxed set and what they are releasing now.

There is no "base" setting for Planescape. They've proven that by release the "base" setting for the Forgotten Realms 8 years ago and not expanding it any more. They haven't done further setting material on any setting. What they are releasing with this three book set is all that will be released for Planescape.

5e has always been the DIY edition, especially with the advent of the DMs Guild. WotC is only in the business of putting out the bare essentials, and then they expect the fans to fill in the gaps via the DMs Guild and the like.

 

[cbwjm]

Yeah, and I have pulled in a lot of details from elsewhere, mainly from older editions though. Thinking I might send my players to Sigil when they escape Thunder Rift in our silly game sessions.

 

[Maxperson]

5e has always been the DIY edition, especially with the advent of the DMs Guild. WotC is only in the business of putting out the bare essentials, and then they expect the fans to fill in the gaps via the DMs Guild and the like.

Not always as the few good settings show. They've given in depth settings with Theros, Eberron and the Mercer setting.

 

[Vinicius Lessa]

Art (of the Hive in Sigil?) from the IGN article ...which oddly showed up on Google search but not the article itself.

Bit of a silly modern interpretation (yeti with ice cream cones, fiend with soft pretzel, glowing signage), but nice diversity of creatures.

I think the artist is Vicki Pangestu.

Hope this is not official. This feels more Shadowrun and cyberpunk (a weirdly joyful one at that) than the gothic, grimy and industrial view I have of Sigil.

Edit: And the blades on buildings look out of place. Like a checklist the artist had to follow but couldn't integrate well. Who would though? The baldes are supposed to be another instance of the cruelness and uncaring Sigil's ethos... while this picture feels joyful and happy.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hope this is not official. This feels more cyberpunk (and a weirdly joyful one at that) than the gothic, grimy and industrial view I have of Sigil.

Looks official. Polygon reported on it: D&D’s next adventures are being designed to come apart at the seams

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The picture of the cover is fabulous but wrong. Sigil is a toroid, not a ring.

I imagine the "infintite stair" like a mixture of "backgrooms" and the "ilusory maze" from Jim Henson's "Labyrinth".

Planescape also should recover the "sects", and the Gatetowns.

Planescape Factions / Characters - TV Tropes

Dungeons & Dragons Main Characters Index Character Classes | Creatures | Deities | Playable Races Campaign Settings: Dragonlance | Eberron (Dragonmarked Houses | Religions | Nations) | Forgotten Realms (Gods | Factions | The Legend of Drizzt …

tvtropes.org

I miss the quasi and paraelemental planes.

If 5E had got monster templates then the vivacious creatures could be very useful as summoned allies for arcane spellcaster who need a healer effect.

* Any good idea to be got from Planebreaker setting?

 

[pukunui]

Not always as the few good settings show. They've given in depth settings with Theros, Eberron and the Mercer setting.

Even those don’t cover the settings in all that much detail.

The Eberron book, for instance, has a ton of info on how to create your own adventures. The gazetteer section is actually fairly light on detail. (I’m struggling with some of the lack of detail right now, although I understand that much of it is by design to encourage DMs to make the setting their own. Keith Baker’s DMsGuild books have helped a lot but even they don’t cover everything.)

Theros is super light on setting detail. I’m not sure why you’re including that one here.

The Wildemount book is the closest 5e has come to a 3e-style setting book packed with detail, but the thing is, WotC didn’t even write that one. They just edited and published it.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Even those don’t cover the settings in all that much detail.

The Eberron book, for instance, has a ton of info on how to create your own adventures. The gazetteer section is actually fairly light on detail. (I’m struggling with some of the lack of detail right now, although I understand that much of it is by design to encourage DMs to make the setting their own. Keith Baker’s DMsGuild books have helped a lot but even they don’t cover everything.)

Theros is super light on setting detail. I’m not sure why you’re including that one here.

The Wildemount book is the closest 5e has come to a 3e-style setting book packed with detail, but the thing is, WotC didn’t even write that one. They just edited and published it.

I think the days of 2e and 3e settings books are long gone.
The writing for one is much larger (understandably and in some cases appreciated), the descriptions are more concise and much is left for the DM to flesh out. The basic concept of the setting still exists and the highlights and tourist attractions are displayed but actual finer details are removed. For many young players who have no emotional connection to these settings, their needs are satisfied. There is more than enough for them to work with, since they don't know what was available or what was the standard back then for a decent setting book. For the older generation, that lived and breathed those settings, the books remain but glossy echoes of a rich past, like fingerprints on an abandoned handrail.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There is more than enough for them to work with, since they don't know what was available or what was the standard back then for a decent setting book.

Younger folk know how to use Google.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Younger folk know how to use Google.

Also very true

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I hope new elements to D&D cosmology to be added, for example the plane of the mirrors, not only a place where you face your evil twin.

The module is about a "glitch" in the reality. I suspect this could be the origin of the glitchling specie, and the backdoor to explain "alien" elements within the D&D multiverse.

Maybe somebody publishes in DMGuild a new layer of the Infinite Stair based in the mythology of the backrooms.

The Backrooms Wiki - The Backrooms

backrooms-wiki.wikidot.com

* How would be a third echo plane added to the Feywild and the Shadowfell, the spirit kingdom?

* Let's imagine a toroid-shape demiplane mixing Ravnica and Sigil, but with lots of zones for farming.

* Any new about the plane of the dreams? Maybe somebody after playing "Psiconauts 2" and watching "Inception" could get some idea.