Planescape (+) What would you want for 5e Planescape?

[Parmandur]

I doubt it. I'm in the camp of thinking a Planescape book would also be a manual of the planes book (but not Spelljammer), and that means covering a ton of ground, from the Inner Planes to the Outer Planes and everything inbetween, including Sigil and the Outlands. I know people would prefer them kept up into two book (and they probably will skip the Feywild/Shadowfel) but I'm definitely thinking they're covering them all in one.

If they do cover all of that, I don't see how they could cover 12 factions with 6 pages per one. If they did feel like they need to print them all, I'd say they get more like 2 pages each, and more likely even less (2 factions per page).

Ravnica and Theros are unique for being pretty small in scope settings, so there is a lot of room to go deep with their gods and guilds. A Planescape book kind of needs to go wide, so I don't see how they can give the factions nearly as much detail.

If we assume a 256-320 page book, that amount of material for a key part of the Setting is quite reasonable. Remember, 5E Setting books are about helping with Adventure generation, not detailing places: the Factions are what drives Planar Adventure.

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

In the same way VGR was a book on running DnD horror plus some Ravenloft, a Planescape book should be a guide to planar adventures with some setting lore
Give each plane a two page spread and Sigil five or ten pages

Have a breakdown of different cosmologies. And a discussion on making your own afterlife

 

[Urriak Uruk]

If we assume a 256-320 page book, that amount of material for a key part of the Setting is quite reasonable. Remember, 5E Setting books are about helping with Adventure generation, not detailing places: the Factions are what drives Planar Adventure.

I disagree again; yes the 5E books are about adventure generation, but they are also about detailing places... but giving details that support adventure. There is quite a lot of detail in Van Richten's on the Domains of Dread, including a bunch of new maps and descriptions of the locations on them. There is also a selection of tables that detail how to use those locations and NPCs that are described. These two things are linked pretty closely.

For example, I would find a 4 page spread on the Elemental Plane of Fire (big focus on the City of Brass) far more useful for adventure generation than a 4 page spread on say the Transcendent Order. I do expect much of the same content that exists for Theros and Ravnica with tables and hooks for adventure, but I'm expecting the book to be like Van Richten's with a big focus on the locations and what to do there.

That may be just a personal preference, but considering how broad a Manual of the Planes would have to be, I think writers would probably devote more words to detailing locations and what to do there than the factions of Sigil. I still think the Factions will get some text, but either they'll be consolidated or get less text per faction compared to say Guilds of Ravnica.

 

[Parmandur]

I disagree again; yes the 5E books are about adventure generation, but they are also about detailing places... but giving details that support adventure. There is quite a lot of detail in Van Richten's on the Domains of Dread, including a bunch of new maps and descriptions of the locations on them. There is also a selection of tables that detail how to use those locations and NPCs that are described. These two things are linked pretty closely.

For example, I would find a 4 page spread on the Elemental Plane of Fire (big focus on the City of Brass) far more useful for adventure generation than a 4 page spread on say the Transcendent Order. I do expect much of the same content that exists for Theros and Ravnica with tables and hooks for adventure, but I'm expecting the book to be like Van Richten's with a big focus on the locations and what to do there.

That may be just a personal preference, but considering how broad a Manual of the Planes would have to be, I think writers would probably devote more words to detailing locations and what to do there than the factions of Sigil. I still think the Factions will get some text, but either they'll be consolidated or get less text per faction compared to say Guilds of Ravnica.

Honestly, there's room for both, at least to the level of detail seen in previous Setting books. The Factions are key to what makes Planescape a distinct Setting.

 

[Parmandur]

In the same way VGR was a book on running DnD horror plus some Ravenloft, a Planescape book should be a guide to planar adventures with some setting lore
Give each plane a two page spread and Sigil five or ten pages

Have a breakdown of different cosmologies. And a discussion on making your own afterlife

Sharn got a chapter of over 30 pages, I would expect something similar for Sigil, which is still a very wide open sketch.

 

[cbwjm]

I'd expect/hope for a chapter on Sigil, a chapter on the factions, a chapter on the outlands as a good area for lower level adventures. I think they could largely leave the domains of the gods out of it but maybe some information on the various planes. I'd focus more on the out planes and maybe the astral and ethereal. For the inner planes I'd like to see a book focused on the city of brass with smaller sections on the other elemental planes main cities. I think this would make for a decent split .

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Honestly, there's room for both, at least to the level of detail seen in previous Setting books. The Factions are key to what makes Planescape a distinct Setting.

I personally find 12 Factions far too many for me to care about... I forget what the name of the rule is, but there's a reason why there are 7 colors in the rainbow and 7 numbers (excluding area code) in a phone number. Most folks are only capable of remembering 7 things at a time.

And it was never the Factions that drew me to Planescape anyway, but again this is personal taste.

 

[Parmandur]

I personally find 12 Factions far too many for me to care about... I forget what the name of the rule is, but there's a reason why there are 7 colors in the rainbow and 7 numbers (excluding area code) in a phone number. Most folks are only capable of remembering 7 things at a time.

And it was never the Factions that drew me to Planescape anyway, but again this is personal taste.

Fewer Factions than Theros has gods. Most people will only have to think about their characters Faction, and their specific rivalries. The point is that they are a story engine, thst can give form to Adventures in a very wide open space.

 

[Malmuria]

I disagree again; yes the 5E books are about adventure generation, but they are also about detailing places... but giving details that support adventure. There is quite a lot of detail in Van Richten's on the Domains of Dread, including a bunch of new maps and descriptions of the locations on them. There is also a selection of tables that detail how to use those locations and NPCs that are described. These two things are linked pretty closely.

For example, I would find a 4 page spread on the Elemental Plane of Fire (big focus on the City of Brass) far more useful for adventure generation than a 4 page spread on say the Transcendent Order. I do expect much of the same content that exists for Theros and Ravnica with tables and hooks for adventure, but I'm expecting the book to be like Van Richten's with a big focus on the locations and what to do there.

That may be just a personal preference, but considering how broad a Manual of the Planes would have to be, I think writers would probably devote more words to detailing locations and what to do there than the factions of Sigil. I still think the Factions will get some text, but either they'll be consolidated or get less text per faction compared to say Guilds of Ravnica.

This is 5e we are talking about. The most on brand thing would be to include it all but at a level of detail that makes it useful for almost no one.

 

[Parmandur]

This is 5e we are talking about. The most on brand thing would be to include it all but at a level of detail that makes it useful for almost no one.

Or more generally useful. Depends on your perspective.