D&D 5E What type of D&D sourcebooks do you miss from older editions?

[Undrave]

I was a bit taken aback at the way Plane Above extend the PoL concept to the domains of the gods. And the way they did it be adding to, but not quite exactly contradicting, the earlier Manual of the Planes felt a little odd, too.

Taken aback in a good way or a bad way?

I liked that there was a little ambiguity with the gods. I know that one of the magazine presented Bane as a former mortal, which is not what the book presented, but I was fine. It felt more like real a religion if you can't just ask your god for every detail. I can't imagine the mighty gods being that worried about their biographical detail being 100% accurate all the time ya know? As long as the silly mortals follow the tenet, it's all that matters.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Taken aback in a good way or a bad way?

There's a good way?

It seemed like the gods could've been just ultra-powerful once-mortal pretenders and the Astral Sea with its Domains and dismal 'border islands' more of a weigh-station (as the Shadowfell explicitly was) in the afterlife (even 'Exalted" only stuck around a few centuries, how's that 'immortal?'), and anything legit lay further on, unknowable.
Heck, the Astral Sea, as presented, could've been an odd, fantasy-lens take on an interstellar empire or something. Spelljammer or Stargate (yeah, Pelor has glowing golden eyes - he's a Goa'uld) or a vision of the divine in which the Gods are empowered or even created by the cumulative psychic power of their worshippers (and idea I liked when Moorcock or Tanith Lee, and I'm sure, others, used it).

I get the impetus to keep the PoL theme rolling in Epic, and I did like the Titanomachy-like "Dawn War" concept, but Heaven being like post-WWII Europe was pushing it a bit for me.

 

[Undrave]

There's a good way?

It seemed like the gods could've been just ultra-powerful once-mortal pretenders and the Astral Sea with its Domains and dismal 'border islands' more of a weigh-station (as the Shadowfell explicitly was) in the afterlife (even 'Exalted" only stuck around a few centuries, how's that 'immortal?'), and anything legit lay further on, unknowable.
Heck, the Astral Sea, as presented, could've been an odd, fantasy-lens take on an interstellar empire or something. Spelljammer or Stargate (yeah, Pelor has glowing golden eyes - he's a Goa'uld) or a vision of the divine in which the Gods are empowered or even created by the cumulative psychic power of their worshippers (and idea I liked when Moorcock or Tanith Lee, and I'm sure, others, used it).

I get the impetus to keep the PoL theme rolling in Epic, and I did like the Titanomachy-like "Dawn War" concept, but Heaven being like post-WWII Europe was pushing it a bit for me.

What kind of Astral Plane would you have prefered to see? I'm not familiar with its depiction in the other editions so I looked at it with fresh eyes and took to it quickly.

Personally I loved the lore related to the Lattice of Heaven and Erathis' obsession with it. It made it clear the Dawn War had far reaching impact and I think the reason Exalted move on is simply because the Dominions are no longer at full power. They can't 'Hold' on to them anymore. The Astral Sea is essentially broken, which makes it an exciting place for adventures instead of some kind of perfect heavenly plane.

 

[Tony Vargas]

What kind of Astral Plane would you have prefered to see? I'm not familiar with its depiction in the other editions so I looked at it with fresh eyes and took to it quickly.

The depiction in Manual of the Planes, also 4e, was fine, really. It lacked the Border Islands and 'Outsiders," IIRC, which were the parts - injustice & refugees in the afterlife?- that kinda grated on my sensibilities.

I think the reason Exalted move on is simply because the Dominions are no longer at full power. They can't 'Hold' on to them anymore.

That's reasonable, conceptually. I find it, just off, for a cosmological/afterlife explanation, though. Kinda the same way I never cared for Planescape. At some point, the grit should precipitate out. The afterlife should be, well, supernal in some sense, at least for the Faithful who lived & died on the side of Good.

...I guess it also taps into the 'tude of things like Gaiman's Good Omens, which I can't fault it for, either.

Personally I loved the lore related to the Lattice of Heaven and Erathis' obsession with it. It made it clear the Dawn War had far reaching impact and ,,,The Astral Sea is essentially broken, which makes it an exciting place for adventures instead of some kind of perfect heavenly plane.

That part I can agree with. The Lattice, a fall from grace, a subsequent obsession, even for a deity, all fits, has an epic sweep and a mythic quality. If it were just, or even mainly, Erathis & her worshippers that were paying the price for her hubris. If the Astral Sea & the Lattice were 'broken' but at least /some/ of the Domains were models of a credible/just afterlife.

It's not like it's a terrible idea, and it /is/ consistent with the PoL theme that holds through Heroic & Paragon.


Edit: One of my players like to joke about the sigil sequences used in teleport circles being 'chevrons' like Stargate, the more I think of it, the more the Astral Sea feels like a Stargate-esque setting. I should drop the odd Ma'Tok Staff and Zat'nik'tel.

 

[Shiroiken]

I feel like i should know what the term "mechanic neutral" means but dont or dont remember. Can you clear me up please @Shiroiken ?

"Mechanic neutral" means that you can use the information within, regardless of which edition you use. There may be some mechanics (or "crunch" as some call it"), but enough of the information isn't dependent on it ("fluff"). While a lot of modern gamers prefer crunch to fluff, the downside of crunch is that it only survives a single edition, while fluff can last forever (until some %#%^ author ret-cons it). A lot of AD&D books are still useful in 5E, since many of the 2E books were more fluff than crunch, and the 1E DMG had a billion charts that could be easily used in any edition (such as the infamous "harlot table").

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

I kinda want more stuff that adds more names and information on the higher powers, like fey lords, archdevils, and high celestials. Not even really stats, just notes and lore on them so I could use them to add more flavor. Would also be useful for players who want to go more in depth on their patrons.

Basically, stuff like Book of the Damned and Chronicle of the Righteous in Pathfinder.

 

[3catcircus]

The one sourcebook that they will never publish is the one that would be the most useful: how to convert previously published adventures to each official setting and how to tie them all in to form different campaigns.

Imagine if they were to spend the time to do a real serviceable job of tying T1-4, GDQ1-7 and A1-4 together properly while branching off into other plot hooks using the C-series or I-series modules and setting it in Ebberon. Or tying City of the Spider Queen into Q1. Or putting X4 and X5 in Greyhawk tied to the Twin Cataclysms.

A relatively recent example of where they could've shined but didn't, thus illustrating the need for such a sourcebook: Mysteries of the Moonsea and Sons of Gruumsh should've been a seamless melding and it wasn't because the lore associated with the ruling families was different.