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Does anyone know if the Manual of the Planes is going to be updated and revised to reflect a new/improved/different multiverse? And as long as I am on the topic, how many people use the MoP or have games that involve travel to any of the planes? What are your current thoughts regarding the planes? Are they dead/dying as a place for adventure or they the new frontier?
1) Find yourself some vintage Planescape material.
2) Read it.
3) Happily enjoy the planes for a long time.
4) Come up with your own world and your own multiverse and your own planes. Take the good points from settings and stories you've enjoyed. Focus more on the fluff, like Planescape, than on the cold, sterile rules, like 3.0 and 3.5.
5) Even more happily enjoy the planes (and gaming in general) for an even longer time.
Does anyone know if the Manual of the Planes is going to be updated and revised to reflect a new/improved/different multiverse? And as long as I am on the topic, how many people use the MoP or have games that involve travel to any of the planes? What are your current thoughts regarding the planes? Are they dead/dying as a place for adventure or they the new frontier?
I'm curious about what value Manual of the Planes has since DMG v3.5 has some of that content included. What makes the Manual of the Plans still worth the purchase?
Last year I ran a 3.5 "Planescape" campaign because I've loved the planes since 2nd ed. MotP has limited use; like one cutter already said, 2nd edition Planescape was written by real bloods compared to the berks who shat out MotP and Planar handbook.
TS
OK, so looking beyond Planescape, of which niether I nor the OP had asked.
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I recently purchased the Beyond Countless Doorways by Malhavoc Press. This is a pretty cool alternative cosmology with tons of possibilities. Check it out at Malhavoc Press.
Most of what I use in MoP has to do with the creatures listed therein - beyond that, not really, unless I've got a themed adventure planned, then I drag it along. The DMG 3.5 treatment of the planes felt rushed and half-assed, IMHO - they should have either left it out or delved into it better.
MoP is a good one-time read manual but quickly turns into a dusty reference after one establishes a good sense of how the D&D cosmos is suggested within the book.
As ever,
ACE
Thank you all; that's exactly what I needed to know. I'm pretty much only interested in the mechanics and names of the planes, and I think I pretty much get most of what I need from the DMG v3.5, Book of Vile Darkness, and Book of Exalted Deeds. I assume the upcoming Fiendish Codex should prove useful, too.
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Thank you all; that's exactly what I needed to know. I'm pretty much only interested in the mechanics and names of the planes, and I think I pretty much get most of what I need from the DMG v3.5, Book of Vile Darkness, and Book of Exalted Deeds. I assume the upcoming Fiendish Codex should prove useful, too.
I personally use MoP a lot--after the core books, it is the one that I think is most invaluable to a DM, and provides me (even after nearly five years of owning it) an incredible amount of re-readable value. Even if you use a separate cosmology or one of the campaign settings published by WoTC, the MoP is ridiculously useful for expanding upon those settings. It provides an excellent amount of detail on the workings of the Great Wheel, and in addition, a number of really cool demi-planes, such as the Plane of Mirrors and the Observatorium. In addition, it is possibly the most complete source available for information about the Far Realm, a fascinating place that is doubled in the Eberron campaign setting (Xoriat in that incarnation).
My PCs constantly engage in planar travel, whether using the Plane of Shadow to travel in (relative) safety for short distances, or searching the plane of Acheron for ancient war relics. In fact, in campaigns previous to the one I DM now, the planar travelling was getting so prevalent that in my current campaign, the PCs were lured by a powerful mage into donning collars that increased their ability scores but also prohibited planar travel (and, of course, could not easily be removed), just before being stranded on Xen'drik.
In any case, I think that anyone who wants a broader view of the fantasy realm can't go wrong with the MoP; four great prestige classes, nice monsters, and a backstory to each plane that fills in the plotlines and power balance scheme just enough to let a DM's imagination run wild. Definitely worth the money in my (apparently minority) opinion.
I like that plane thats one big living creature with a deadly thirst for knowledge, I forget it's name but ever since reading about it I've hoped to use it in one of my games, maybe one day! :)
russlilly, you have me reconsidering MoP except I have a few questions remaining. If I'm not planning on running planar encounters in my campaign, would the book still be useful? Is the book compelling enough that I would want to run a planar adventure after reading it? How does Planar Handbook enhance the material of MoP?
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russlilly, you have me reconsidering MoP except I have a few questions remaining. If I'm not planning on running planar encounters in my campaign, would the book still be useful? Is the book compelling enough that I would want to run a planar adventure after reading it? How does Planar Handbook enhance the material of MoP?
Amaril,
If you are really not planning on running any aspects of a planar campaign, the MoP could still have use as a source of some obscure demons and devils that aren't reprinted elsewhere, as well as a possible inspiration for structuring some of the governments and organizations that populate your world. In terms of a non-planeswalking campaign, the MoP has little you cannot find elsewhere. But, in terms of compelling you to run a planar campaign, I certainly believe it is. This is a book that I keep coming back to when looking for something really captivating to read in the bathroom or before bed. Learning about the structure of the Nine Hells' chief devils, exactly how prisons work on Carceri, and descriptions of notable layers of the Abyss (I admit, I do have a fondness for the lower planes) is just really interesting to me, and the book provides a spark of creativity that makes me grab one of those layers and design the heck out of it. Again, I am clearly in the minority among the posters on this line, and my tastes do not apply to all, but this is a book that I recommend every DM run out and buy if they don't already own it.
As to the Planar Handbook, this book is also invaluable for a number of applications. First, it is a tool more usable by your players than the MoP, due to its great substitution classes (one set of three for each core class, grants PCs with planar-useful abilities), great prestige classes, decent races, and spells and magic items. In addition, the book details in depth a few key locations in the planar cosmology: the City of Brass on the Elemental Plane of Fire, Sigil, the capital city of the Outlands, and a floating githyanki fortress on the Astral Plane. Sigil's treatment, especially, is incredibly useful to anyone running a campaign whose PCs may encounter this metropolis of the planes. The Planar Handbook also deals with planar touchstones, a concept of areas of a plane that are tied to the theme or inherent magical nature of that plane and grant bonuses to PCs and others who become attuned to them. Personally, I never took this idea too far, but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.
And R-Type, the plane you're talking about is Neth, the plane that lives. It was given the demi-plane status and is one of the little hidden gems of the MoP.