Planar Adventures


3.5/d20/OGL


I'm interested in running some planar adventures - either adding some stuff to one of my current campaigns, or perhaps even building an entire campaign around the theme. Problem is, I know nothing of the planes. I was hoping I could get some suggestions as to good material I should look into that would give me a good feel for planar travel.

Back in the summer, when we were playing 4E, I did read the 4E manual of the planes, but it didn't seem to be much help at all.

Is 2E Planescape material the way to go? Are there any good Planescape novels (or any other novels) that would be a good primer for someone looking to get his feet wet?

To clarify, I'm not really interested in mechanics. I just want to be able to properly capture the sense of awe and wonder and "take-everything-you-know-about-reality-and-throw-it-out-the-window-because -it-won't-do-you-any-good-here".

Your suggestions are appreciated!

Scarab Sages

3rd edition Manual of the Planes and 3.5 edition Planar Handbook are both VERY good sourcebooks that piggy back off of what the Planescape setting made in 2nd edition. I use both of them quite often, and there is enough info between the two manuals that you have more fluff and crunch than you know what to do with.


Well there is a Pathfinder product called The Great Beyond which covers Golarion's version of the planes.

Assuming you are looking at playing with a Great Wheel cosmology then Planescape material is probably your best bet although it can get expensive to collect and WotC is no longer offering pdfs.

The 3.0 Manual of the Planes also covers the great wheel and should be relatively easy to find but I think it basically strips out most of the flavor in favor of crunch.

While I generally like the Great Wheel I think it's actually overly complicated for most games and there is too much similarity between several planes (particularly the Upper Outer Planes). I think paring down the number of planes to the really iconic ones is a smart move.


archmagi1 wrote:
3.5 edition Planar Handbook

awesome! i ordered it as part of the black friday sale and will be getting it with my next AP subscription!


I thought the 3.5 Planar Handbook was terrible, but hopefully you find worthwhile material within.

For official Golarion planes, I'd definitely advise The Great Beyond. It's a lovely book, almost entirely fluff, and written by Todd Stewart (who knows his planes pretty well). If you're interested in some Planescape stuff, the original books are some combination of difficult and expensive to get ahold of. However, there is a mostly-friendly community over at planewalker.com with several knowledgeable folks and our own .pdf of a 3.5 Planescape Campaign Setting. Between that and the wiki they maintain, you should be able to find more Planescape info than you really need.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

I mostly roll my own planar material, often on the fly.

I somewhat wish there was a planar book that detailed citys, maps, organizations, of a number (most) of planes and how to handle random encounters and general adventuring there so I can think up less.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Paizo's The Great Beyond + Malhavoc's Beyond Countless Doorways > WotC's MotP and Planar Handbook.

Of course, unless you get your hands on some Planescape material :)


James Risner wrote:

I mostly roll my own planar material, often on the fly.

I somewhat wish there was a planar book that detailed citys, maps, organizations, of a number (most) of planes and how to handle random encounters and general adventuring there so I can think up less.

You should try the Expedition to the DemonWebs Pits. It's a 3.5 module that features a planar adventure. In EttDWP you will find a good description of :

Spoiler:

Sigil, City of Doors
Yggdrasil, The World Ash
The DemonWeb
Zelatar, City of Demons (in the Triple Realm of Azzagrat)

Even if you're not interested in the adventure itself, you can use a lot of stuff from this book.


You might find useful material in the 3E Manual of the Planes, though the Planar Handbook is the better choice. If you can get your hands on any Planescape materials, those will serve best. You can get a really good idea if you can find a copy of the game Planescape: Torment. It shows you different environments and how people on the planes behave. Recently re-released too as I recall.

Contributor

The 3e MotP is actually pretty dang good as a basic planar book, an abreviated description of the planes (by comparison to the 2e material), and some guidelines for making different/your own cosmologies.

By comparison the 3.5 Planar Handbook is a very different book. It's not a 3.5 version of the MotP. It's much more crunch heavy, with CR0 PC races to play kinda-slaad, kinda-bladelings, etc. Lots of feats, PrCs, items, spells, etc. It's not bad, but I've never seen it as a must-buy. It does have a section on Sigil, the City of Brass, etc which are useful in the absence of other sources though.

Beyond Countless Doorways F'ing rocks. I'll just say that.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

Lathiira wrote:
You might find useful material in the 3E Manual of the Planes, though the Planar Handbook is the better choice. If you can get your hands on any Planescape materials, those will serve best. You can get a really good idea if you can find a copy of the game Planescape: Torment. It shows you different environments and how people on the planes behave. Recently re-released too as I recall.

Planescape: Torment is available on Good Old Games (GOG) I think for about $10.

Do NOT get the novelization; it's horrible.

Aplus, you can find a whole HOST of information, including a 3.5 version of the Planescape setting--at http://www.planewalker.com. The only problem with it is it's very difficult to navigate, so here is the (hopefully) direct link to the 3.5 Planescape Setting. The material is fan-assembled, but given permission by WotC to use the IP, which is a pretty high sanction. And it's all free.

Also, if you don't have the Gamemastery Guide, they have basic guidelines for how the planes work--all the stuff about variable gravity and elemental abilities. While it won't get you anything as specific as Planewalker, Planescape materials or the 3.5 planes books, it certainly gives you enough to make some of your own planar locations.

Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Gaming / D&D / 3.5/d20/OGL / Planar Adventures All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in 3.5/d20/OGL