Customer Reviews

Manual of the Planes (Miniature AD&D Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Excepting the reasonably priced three core books (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual), I have been rather critical of WOTC's high prices for medium level product.
No more.
The Manual of the Planes is everything promised and more.
This hardback contains:
*Detailed descriptions of the Planes of the traditional D&D cosmology
*Rules for constructing your own Cosmology
*Denizens of the Planes
*Rules for creating Outsider PCs
*Templates for creating Planer creatures (beyond celestial and Fiends)
*Four EXCELLENT Prestige classes
And a LOT more.
Gone on the insultingly vapid Modrons... now we have Axiomatic (read: Perfect) creatures and the Inevitables (Robotic Creatures of law seeking justic)...
Slaad Mutations are fully deatiled...
The book just keeps getting better
And the artwork is amazing.
If you were a fan of Planescape, here is your 3rd edition jumping off point...
And for those of you that we Spelljammer fans... check out the Mercane... and grin.

The new Manual of the Planes really kicks butt. With a enormous amount of cool stuff both new and old (updated for 3E), this is the best D&D book since the 3rd edition's arrival.

First of all, WotC has not thrown the old cosmology in the trash bin. Quite the contrary, the updated core cosmology makes much more sense than the older versions, is crammed with nice new ideas, and is presented in such way that even Planescape old fans like me get a refreshing new look at the planes.

Second, the planes now are manageable. Before this MotP incarnation, the magic rules were really impossible to use. Now the planes are defined in easy, rational terms, with physical, spacial and magical traits that quickly and efortlessly sum up the main characteristics of any given plane. You can better convey the otherworldly nature of the planes to your players, but with much less effort and less book-keeping. Better yet, the planar traits mechanics is intuitive, allowing you to wing it easily if needed, with little or no preparation time.

The Prestige Classes and spells are good too, but I think the best touch of all are the tools for building new cosmologies. Total freedom at least, without throwing away the good old Great Wheel! A dream come true, really!

Overall, I was absolutely impressed by the new Manual of the Planes. All DMs should purchase it, even those who do not use the planes, because the amount of goodness in this book can bring new blood to any campaign.

This is an excellent work. Its not perfect (what is?) but it lacks obvious flaws and comes off as a professional and solid read. It has attractive art, useful illustrations, and a distinct look & feel that all combine to create a specific identity for the work. Its not just another hardback with some crunchy bits; when you crack the covers, you know that you are reading a complete product.

What I like about the MotP is that it basically says 'Heres how we've always done it, and here are a half dozen other ways it could be done too'. Rather than giving a DM a supplement on THE PLANES, chiseled in stone, it grants a structured and easy way to 'dial-in' a unique cosmology.

It pretty much assumes that if you are reading it thinking 'where is Planescape in here?' you probably already have a fair amount of the Planescape material. This doesnt prevent you from using the setting laid out in those out of print products, nor does it expect that other readers have them.

It does an exceptional job of presenting a modular approach to describing and defining the expanse of reality beyond the Material world.

Unlike every other WoTC product I can think of, it is totally open to interpretation and individual implementation. The book is scattered with interesting variants, and indicators of what can be changed, a few examples of how, and coverage of important game mechanic concerns if you do change things from the 'default' cosmology.

All that aside, however, the single most compelling feature of this book is that upon reading it, dozen of new ideas occured to me. Basically, it got the wheels in my head spinning in a way that only some Mage the Ascension supplements have previously. This alone is enough to Transcend the product from a good, solid, professional book to a SUPERB and crucial addition to my collection of RPGs. New ideas are priceless, and this book kick started several in my head at least.

I have the original Manual of Planes (well cared for and treasured), which I have reffered to over the years, as well as the basic box set for Planescape and the Chaos boxed set, and the Monstrous Compendium appendix for the planes so much of the 'default' info was not new to me. What was new was the modular tool-box approach to Reality.

Highly recommended to any DM designing thier own game setting for its Cosmology-building rules, and to any DM that is ready to take thier players beyond the Material plane, whichever plane that may be.

Really.

I borrowed my Birthright DM's copy, since, well, I'm not DMing, don't plan on doing so anytime soon, and had no need to purchase it...but it'd still be interesting, I figured.

I found a detailed guide to the default D&D cosmology, suggestions on alternate cosmologies, decent prestige classes, new monsters and monster types, new spells, and...a write-up of every single plane in the standard cosmology...even alternate material planes!

Note that this book is really only of use to DMs, not players. There's not enough there for you to justify the expense. But for DMs...oh, yes.

You have three basic types of non-material planes: Transitive, Inner, and Outer. Transitive planes are those whose main purpose is to get you from one plane to another...such as the Astral, Ethereal, and (new to this book) Shadow. Inner planes are the elemental planes...fire, water, earth, air, plus the paraelemental planes (where the infinite planes meet), as well as the positive and negative energy planes. And, finally, there are the outer planes...where the celestials and fiends and other outsiders live.

Each plane has a standard format, discussing specific characteristics of that plane and any special effects (like the 3d10 points of fire damage/round an unprotected person receives on the Elemental Plane of Fire). There are also non-standard planes included as options, such as Faerie, the Elemental Plane of Wood, and the Far Realms (where multi-tentacled insanity-causing monstrosities dwell).

Creatures range from new celestials to new fiends, including a new (to 3e, anyway) category, the yugoloths. There are also new templates...half-elementals, axiomatic and anarchic creatures, etc. There are also non-psionic versions of the githyanki and githzerai...some people might not like buying two versions, but not everybody uses psionics.

The book is of uniformly high quality...the art is great, the writing is great, and it all just *works*. I can't think of anything bad about this book. If you're planning on running a D&D 3e game and it might involve the planes, you owe it to yourself to get this book.

As a longtime (A)D&D fan, I was rather disappointed to see that a number of my favorite campaign settings were going to be discontinued in 3rd Edition. While I'm still reeling over the loss of Krynn, I weep no longer for Planescape. Among many other things, this new Manual of the Planes is a condensation of all the best material from the Planescape setting, without all the "berk" and the "basher" talk, the hokey philosophies, and all of the other baggage. It gives a thorough descriptions of the Great Wheel cosmology of D&D fame, with all of the planes and a couple of revisitations/revisions of a few (such as the Ethereal plane, which is treated quite differently in 3rd Edition). One of the more interesting touches in line with 3rd Edition's attempt to recapture that 1st Edition feel is the fact that the planes have all their old names. Well, that's not entirely true; they have their old names and their new names (which I prefer because they are more exotic). Most exciting of all, though, they have taken many of the categories of features common to all the planes (time flow, gravity, dominant energies, alignment and so on) and laid them out as lists, so the more ambitious player can mix and match features to aid in the creation of their own cosmologies! There's also the standard fare for 3rd Edition D&D books. It contains a host of new monsters, both rehashes from old and totally new concepts. It has a few new prestige classes which are a bit on the uninspired side, though that's nothing new. That is a minor complaint, though. In short, it's the best of the old combined with great new material, and condensed into one relatively inexpensive book. While it's true that no campaign *requires* the information in this book, the Manual of the Planes could stand to broaden the horizons of any campaign.

Until now, the only supplementary 3e book I've felt was worth the extra cost was the Forgotten Realms book. The Manual of the Planes provides information on exactly what it should: the planes. There is detailed information on aspects of every major Inner and Outer plane, as well as the Ethereal and Astral. For those, like myself, who have always found the Astral Plane boring, you now have good suggestions for using an alternate, either the Spirit Plane, or the Fairie Plane. The information provided on each plane includes rough planar features (magic type, time and gravity variances, planar alignments, etc.) as well as information on planar inhabitants. With the exception of the Abyss, various layers of a plane are also detailed, along with highlights of those layers/planes. As I mentioned before, there is also information on alternate planes, including in one case, a sentient plane.

In the monsters section, there are a couple new monsters that are relevent to planar travels, and several new templates, such as half-elemental, the shadow template, and elemental creatures (such as the earth element minotaur, and the wood element leopard). The four prestige classes are pretty cool, and allow for progress by different base classes. This shows that the authors did not forget fighters, for example, when creating the classes. One of the prestige classes even allows the character to (slowly) start building a demiplane. Very small to start, but a very cool feature. Spells dealing with the various planes are also included, some of which are really interesting.

For those who play games with a strong Shadow element (Forgotten Realms or Birthright, for example), will likely love this book. There are a number of spells dealing with the Shadow plane, and a lot of references to benefits/limitations of those spells and abilities on other planes. There is also the Shadow monster template, which dramatically expands a DM's ability to populate their Shadow realm with easily created monsters.

Most of the artwork is pretty good. As usual, there are some that are excellent, though thankfully, there's only a couple I found to be disappointing.

The book layout was also sensible. However, I find myself flipping back and forth quite a bit, but that is really due more to the nature of the planes than to problems with the book layout.

Overall, I found the book to be well-worth the money. I still object to the WotC policy of jacking up the price of these supplementary books, but can't deny their logic in doing so.

For those that don't realize it, this policy will result in more players using the same rules. With 1e and 2e, players had different experiences based on the books they or their DM had. Since this will result in fewer resource books being purchased, more people will have similar experiences.

The Painful Side: AD&D's Planescape fans (mostly a diehard bunch it seems to me, being one of them) will be in for quite a shock over the amount of details that this book changes. While I had gripes about some of the terminology of the old system (infinite planes with definite borders and the way that planes tended to "take up all of existence" in such a way that you felt pressured NOT to make up new areas), I was deeply in love with it. It had the feel of something almost calculated to precision while at the same time as random as a real universe tends to be. A good number of these items are changed now. The level of detail is less. The "closure" (both good and lamentable) of the planes is somewhat gone, the classic set-up of Planescape just being one possible configuration. Some of the quirks that gave it flavor are out. Chances are, if there was some minor thing a Planescape fan was most attached too, he or she will be disappointed to find it gone or twisted into a new shape.

The Pleasing Side: With that being said, this IS a worthy successor. The ideal is different. The mode of operations is different. The themes and the methods are different. But they are just about as fully fleshed as before. Quirks have often been traded for quirks, which gives it a new flavor; but not necessarily less of one (though I found it a tad less exciting than the old presentation). I think the most beloved aspect for it to me is the emphasis on freedom in the planes. Much like many lament the lack of exploration needed for our present Earth, the planes were reaching a point of being overexplored. Now, this is impossible. It is hard to explain, I suppose, but the INFINITE feels like it is back. It will take more work out of the GM (DM) perhaps, but I find it worth it. And, since these are just one configuration of planes...the old Planescape is still possible as field of play.

To close, though, I would like to take a few moments to say a goodbye to the Modrons...though I know many complained....I will personally miss them.

I must admit that it was with profound disappointment and nostalgia for 2E's Planescape setting that I finished reading this text. That said, I can now (with the benefit of distanced reflection) recommend this text as the single best offering of the general D&D supplements.

Sure, it sacrifices the cool lexicon of Planescape and pays scant attention to the personalities, factions, and locales of Sigil--but, as numerous folk have mentioned already, this is quite simply not Planescape 3E (one must go to planewalker.com for that). Until WotC gets its act together enough to produce a new Planescape, this will have to suffice.

And, boy, does it ever suffice. One might complain that it is a bit thin on specific data regarding each individual plane (though favorites such as the Abyss and the Hells receive a decent amount of coverage), it delivers where it says it will.

1) it presents a standard cosmology that is consistent with other rulebooks (such as *Deities and Demigods*, the *Book of Vile Darkness*, and the monster tomes). This cosmology has the virtue of being familiar to anyone who liked Planescape.

2) it introduces a cosmology generation system, complete with notes on how each potential plane might look in terms of elements, energy, gravity, magic, alignment, and so on.

3) it offers cosmological variant ideas, such as planes devoted to mirrors and wood, say, and alternate organization systems (as opposed to the beloved Great Ring).

4) it packs in a number of favorite monsters (the "goristro"--yes! "astral dreadnaught"--yes! the "yugoloths"--yes! and many others).

5) some useful prestige classes and cool spells.

6) and of course the aforementioned descriptions of the basic planes of the Great Wheel.

Overall, the art is great and the editing is fair. Games that have any sophistication and nuance at all will eventually come to rely on some kind of planewalking and/or Blood War narrative--and this is the basic tool with which to accomplish such things.

This book has it all: new creatures, new prestige classes, and a sane approach to planes and plane-building. For once the rules make sense and are clearly laid out and easy to understand. There is sufficient information for DM's to create campaigns in each of the planes without going overboard on detail. The price is reasonable for the quality of the book and it is a truly beautiful piece.

There are a few issues I have with the book:

1) Organization is on the overall very decent, however, some things (like magic items) are spread chaotically when they come up.

2) A few of the concepts aren't as well explained as they could be.

3) Background information is relatively limited.

These, however, are all relatively minor and don't keep me from giving it my highest recommendation.

Taking much of its info from the original Manual of the Planes and splicing it with lots of Planescape material, then adding a dollop of its own stuff, this is a hefty book that will have newbies to the D&D cosmology eagerly grabbing it up.

The planes are well detailed, illustrated, given unique characteristics, settings, and all with that 3rd edition twist. Lots of new monsters in the back, plus the expected assortment of some prestige classes and planes-specific spells.

The only drawback one might have (and its a minor one) is that if you are a long-term player of D&D and own all the old sourcebooks, you will already know a chunk of this material. But fret not, there is PLENTY of new ideas that sets it apart, particularly the options to create your own cosmologies. Definitely one of the better 3rd edition sourcebooks.