Planescape Books and Boxed Sets

[Cyri'kazzen the Drow]

Hi all. The recent threads regarding the Blood War and Planescape have peaked my interest in the setting. I admit I am a neophyte, so perhaps those in the know could answer my questions.

What published materials from the setting are considered to be classic? And what publications would you recommend looking for to help me start a campaign in the setting?

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

The 2nd edition planescape setting is absolutely amazing. I've never really had the chance of playing, but I spent so much time just reading the damn thing, so, yes, the basic would be the Planescape boxed set, and then the other boxed sets (Planes of Law, Conflict and Chaos).

AR

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Altamont Ravenard is correct with his reccomendations. Those materials will give you enough flavor to get a good full picture of the planar politics. The adventures are very good too, including the Bood War boxed set, Dead Gods, and Modron March.

I think many of these products are available as .pdf's, as they might otherwise be hard to find. I'll try and find the link for you...

edit: here ya go:

http://www.rpgnow.com/search.php?query=planescape&x=8&y=8

 

[Ruined]

To get a great feel for Sigil and the politics within, I suggest two books: The Factol's Manifesto and Uncaged: Faces of Sigil. Two of my all-time favorite RPG books ever, and the ones used most in my 6+ yrs of running PS.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

If you are just looking to get a feel for the setting before buying alot of books, I would suggest seeing if you can get your hands on the Planewalker's Handbook. I always thought that it gave a good feel for the setting. Also, you may try eBay if you feel you want to pick up a lot of the books - although many of the older/rarer items are very highly priced, you can sometimes find some really good deals there.

 

[Zappo]

ALL Planescape material is available as PDF from www.svgames.com (look under ESDs) for 5$ per piece.

If you want to get a feeling for the setting, just get the Planescape boxed set.

If you like it and want to know more, get the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix I. It's not only a monster manual. Every creature has more background information than stats, it details its position in the planes, its allies and enemies, legends, psychology, everything.
And the Planewalker Handbook. It contains... lots of extra stuff, I dunno how else to put it.

After that, just get the manuals about the bits of the setting you want to know more about.

Finally but possibly even more important, visit www.planewalker.com and get the Planescape 3E releases!

 

[Shemeska]

*grins* More converts to the setting

I'll echo what Ruined said, Factol's Manifesto and Uncaged:Faces of Sigil are wonderful books.

Beyond what's been said so far, I'll push 'Faces of Evil: The Fiends' as one of the single best monster ecologies ever published. Everything from the history of the various fiends, their interactions with each other, roles of the various subtypes within their own societies, and more. Wonderful book.

The pdf's aren't bad, though a paper copy is better IMHO. Most of the books, with the exceptions of the Planes of Conflict and the Hellbound:The Blood War box sets are regularly available on Ebay and reasonable in terms of price. The two I mentioned can get... pricey. However, they're worth it.

Planescape had a level of fluff and depth that makes alot of other campaign settings pale in comparison (Not naming examples so as not to insult any fan of any particular settings)

It also gave alot of opportunities that other settings didn't provide, and a different approach to many things oftentimes. The role of belief and philosophy was stressed by way of the factions, and the impact of the law/chaos alignment axis as expressed by The Blood War was deeply detailed and ingrained into the setting.

And mystery... there were unanswered questions out there, and not every one of them perhaps had a single easy answer. The Lady of Pain was just one example, and you had others abound like The Last Word and the ruins in Pelion on Arborea, The Harmonica in Pandemonium, the legends surrounding the origin of The Keepers, etc.

*adores the setting*

We're trying to hold a candle to the setting over at Planewalker, and I'm glad you've gotten interesting in it. *smiles*