Paizo Top Nav Branding
Welcome, guest! | Sign In | My Account | My Subscriptions | My Downloads | My Wishlists | Shopping Cart   Shopping Cart | Help/FAQ
About Paizo   Messageboards   News   Paizo Blog   Help/FAQ  
Search
Links
Shop

Messageboards

Flurry attack bonus question, by StreamOfTheSky

Paizo Blog: Pathfinder Battles Preview: Familiar Faces, by Kajehase

Good source of puzzles and traps for high level, by rando1000

Lootable Items: Boars carrying +5 Vorpal Chain-Swords or something more realistic?, by Tiny Coffee Golem

[Frog God Games] The Demon Lord Has Left the Building, by Dark_Mistress

>>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<<, by Justin Franklin

Pearl of Power and Extracts. Do they restore lost extracts?, by Mergy

New PFS Magus - advice and help welcome :), by Magnus Arcanis

Master of the Fallen Fortress in Tian Xia, by Mike Silva

Adventure Distribution for Convention GMs, by Don Walker

GM Advice: How do I make traps more interesting?, by Odraude

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dragon Empires Gazetteer (PFRPG), by James Jacobs

Ron Paul announces presidential bid., by houstonderek

Required Alignments... why?, by Ragnarok Aeon

House Ruling Reincarnate, by Tilnar

Online Campaigns

Pint-Sized Kings, by Nazdip Stinkblade

Goblins 2: The Wreckin'-ing!, by GM Goblin King

DM CD's Unrest in Atlus, by Martin Stillwaters

Tales of Agartha: the Avalon Chronicles, by Agarthian Storyteller

Jörmungandr's Carrion Crown, by Vaghn der Grafft

The Enemy Within And Other Tales Of Mud, Blood And Mutation Discussion, by Alexander Kilcoyne

Square Sails on the Horizon - Game Thread, by Torgeir Strømsvik

DM Aron Marczylo's Kingmaker OOC, by The Hermit Ganit D'Artain

The Temple of Elemental Evil, by Andre Girard

The Brinewall Legacy - Jade Regent AP (part 1), by Natara Kaijitsu

DM Corvus' Carrion Crown PBP, by Taanyth Tuilinn

DM Aron Marczylo's Kingmaker - Part 1: Stolen Land, by The Hermit Ganit D'Artain

Gauging interest in a mostly homebrew setting, by Alexander Kilcoyne

Ashardaldon Series OOC, by KenderKin

Secret Goblin World Conquest Planning Thread~ HUMINS KEEP OUT!, by GM Elton

   RSS Recent Posts Facebook Twitter Email
Search
Search this Thread:


Has anyone purchased this book? Is it really much different from the Manual of the Planes for 3.0? I own the MotP but I do enjoy having access to cosmological material and if this book really brings anything significantly new to the table, I might pick it up. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Cheliax (Bella Sara Charter Superscriber)

I have a copy and wasn't overly impressed. It's got a lot of low ECL planar races, ranging from +0 to +2, a handful of substitution levels, 4-5 monster classes, and the usual grab bag of feats, spells, monsters, and prestige classes. The most innovative element is the planar sights at the end, which are similar to the places of power in the DMG II, and are not worth the price of admission.

I'd give the product a 3, which goes up to a 4 if you are planescape fan and want the faction based prestige classes.

Edit: It also fleshes out 3 planar cities: sigil, a githyanki city, and the City of Brass. Again, interesting, but for the most part the book is a lot of crunchy feats/spells/prestige classes and not much else.


Sebastian wrote:
I have a copy and wasn't overly impressed. It's got a lot of low ECL planar races, ranging from +0 to +2, a handful of substitution levels, 4-5 monster classes, and the usual grab bag of feats, spells, monsters, and prestige classes. The most innovative element is the planar sights at the end, which are similar to the places of power in the DMG II, and are not worth the price of admission.

Well, I don't have the DMG2, but I do have the UA (which details just about every elemental variation of the 'core' races I can imagine), the Expanded Psionics Handbook (which details the githyanki and githzerai as playable races), and the Manual of the Planes from 3.0 which details the City of Brass, Sigil, and a few other places in very brief detail. It too has a small assortment of PrCs, feats, and spells provided within and, while they are 3.0 instead of 3.5, I don't imagine the conversion would be terribly difficult.

Also, I have never played Planescape (Heresy, I know) so it sounds like this book would not be terribly useful to me. Thanks for the feedback!


Fatespinner wrote:
Also, I have never played Planescape (Heresy, I know)

No kidding, considering your avatar...


Thanis Kartaleon wrote:
Fatespinner wrote:
Also, I have never played Planescape (Heresy, I know)
No kidding, considering your avatar...

Heh, I had no idea what my avatar was when I picked it. I just thought it was like a demon-thing with a pair of bifocals on, which is fairly equivocal to my smugly intellectual yet evil-as-hell DMing style.


Fits you nicely, I think.

As for the Handbook, I have a copy myself. I'm not overly impressed with it and frequently leave it on the shelf when I heft most of my books out in a rolling suitcase on gaming night. As a DM, I hardly ever need it for reference, and as a player, there aren't many stimulating races, feats, and classes in it. I'd rate this product two stars out of five.


Fatespinner wrote:
Heh, I had no idea what my avatar was when I picked it.

It's a bauriar. You may be less than thrilled to learn that it has the lower body of a goat. Take your avatar and picture it on top of an ass. ;)

** out of ***** for the book. Lots of munchkiny "power-up" sites that probably won't get used and don't really make much sense. Descriptions of Sigil and the City of Brass? Planescape did them way better. Other than that it's crunch.


Paizo / Messageboards / paizo.com / All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.

Recent threads in Product Discussion

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dragon Empires Gazetteer (PFRPG)
[Cubicle 7 Entertainment] 1001 Spells (PFRPG)
Pathfinder Tales: City of the Fallen Sky
[Jon Brazer Enterprises] Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane (PFRPG)
[Super Genius Games] Bullet Points: 6 Godling Feats (PFRPG) PDF
[Misfit Studios] The Spellweaver (PFRPG) PDF
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Worlds (PFRPG)
[Super Genius Games] The Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassin (PFRPG) PDF
[Frog God Games] Northlands Saga 1: Vengeance of the Long Serpent (PFRPG)
[Super Genius Games] The Genius Guide to What's in My Pocket? (PFRPG) PDF
[Louis Porter Jr. Design] NeoExodus: A House Divided Campaign Setting (PFRPG)
[WizKids / NECA] Pathfinder Battles: Heroes & Monsters
[Super Genius Games] Ultimate Options: Grit and Gunslingers (PFRPG) PDF
[Open Design] Kobold Quarterly 20
[Fire Mountain Games] Way of the Wicked—Book One: Knot of Thorns (PFRPG) PDF
[Frog God Games] Splinters of Faith 3: Culvert Operations (PFRPG)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #43: The Haunting of Harrowstone (Carrion Crown 1 of 6) (PFRPG)
GameMastery Module D0: Hollow's Last Hope (OGL)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Pirates of the Inner Sea (PFRPG)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4–03: The Golemworks Incident (PFRPG) PDF



©2002–2012 Paizo Publishing, LLC®. Need help? Email customer.service@paizo.com or call 425-250-0800 Monday–Friday, 10 AM–5 PM Pacific Time. View our privacy policy. Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, GameMastery, Pathfinder, Planet Stories, and Undefeated are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Adventure PathPathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder Modules, Pathfinder Tales, Pathfinder Society, Pathfinder Battles, PaizoCon, RPG Superstar, The Golem's Got It, Titanic Games, the Titanic logo, and the Planet Stories planet logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC. Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon, Dungeon, and Polyhedron are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and have been used by Paizo Publishing under license. Most product names are trademarks owned or used under license by the companies that publish those products; use of such names without mention of trademark status should not be construed as a challenge to such status.