[DND 4thED] Your thoughts on the Manual of the Planes

[Kaun]

Hey playgrounders.

I picked up the MoP the other day and i have just started working my way through it and im intrested in hearing other peoples thoughts.

One thing i noticed is the Shadowfell section was the Domains of Dread, is this sort of the new version of raven loft or something. I didnt read much into the 3 or 3.5 version of the MoP is this a new thing or just added for 4th?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'd like to know as well. I'm considering buying it, and I want to know if it'd be a better buy than, say, Open Grave or Draconomicon 1.

[Kaun]

so far to myself it seems to have alot of decent info if your taking you game in that direction. I thumbed through Draconomicon it seemed like a bit of a waste of money to me.

[Mr.Bookworm]

I'd like to know as well. I'm considering buying it, and I want to know if it'd be a better buy than, say, Open Grave or Draconomicon 1.

If you can find Draconomicon cheap, it's pretty cool. A lot of the ecology and such seems sorta rehashy for the 3.5 Draconomicon, though. (I admittedly didn't read it, though, just sorta skimmed, so maybe not.)

There's some new stuff that looks pretty cool. The new dragons look good, and the Wyrmling statistics would be useful.

The coolest part, though, is probably the Who's Who of dragons. Tiamat is awesome, and I still maintain my love of Ashardalon.

So, if it's cheap, and you're going to use dragons. Yes. I wouldn't spend 40 dollars on it, though.

To get back on the topic at hand, I personally like the Manual of Planes. Though if you absolutely hate the new cosmology, I wouldn't get it, as it's 80% fluff. Cool fluff, in my opinion, but it's almost all about The crunch is pretty good too. Stats for Baphomet, Graz'zt, and Dispater, which are all awesome. (Someone should throw Baphomet, Graz'zt, Yeenoghu, and Orcus into a cage and make them fight.) And hey, spelljammer stats, thus making the world right again.

So is the MotP worth it? I'd say it's largely dependent on how much you miss the Great Wheel. I like it, though.

[Mando Knight]

I'd like to know as well. I'm considering buying it, and I want to know if it'd be a better buy than, say, Open Grave or Draconomicon 1.

Probably. Compared to the Draconomicon 1, it's actually got stuff for players. Mostly a few Paragon Paths, I think an Epic Destiny or two, and the Bladeling playable race. (and their one glorious racial feat)

However, for DMing, if you're going to use Dragons as foes (or even as patrons, some interesting suggestions in the book), I'd suggest the Draconomicon. Manual of the Planes is what I'd suggest if the prospective campaign dealt with mostly the demons or the Shadowfell and Feywild. Open Grave is for Undead. Just undead. I'm not sure, but there may be something about good undead in there--the excerpt on liches talks about the Baelnorn...

[KKL]

The MotP is recockulously awesome, fluff and crunch wise. :D I really like it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, I think I'll invest in the MotP then, since 1) I'm not to sure about DMing. I've always sucked at it back in 3.5. And 2) I don't really care how the cosmology has changed. The Great Wheel is cool but it's not the end-all-be-all. And I think the new model is a bit easier to keep track of anyhow.

[Lupy]

I just got Manual of the Planes. It's a great read, even more so than the Draconomicon. It also has some good crunch for DMs and players. The Draconomicon is pretty much just for DMs, but a must have if you're playing a dragon heavy campaign. Try getting it from Amazon to save money though.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I don't really buy from Amazon, but my parents get a discount at Barnes and Noble!

[Jimp]

How is it purely for fluff? I love planes related fluff.

[SadisticFishing]

Personally, I've loved all the DM-mainly books.

Draconomicon was a great read, tons of monsters, cool short dungeons/encounters (though mildly unbalanced, can't put Goristros and Balors in the same fight), and a bunch of good fluff and fun stuff to put in campaigns.

Open Grave has even more monsters, and Vecna. I really didn't think Vecna belonged in any book as a monster, seeing as he should never lose a fight - but I like the way they put him together, and his cult is rather awesome.

Manual of the Planes has a few monsters, not enough to be awesome, a few paragon paths, not enough to be awesome, and some VERY cool fluff. I don't regret buying it, but if it were as expensive as the Draconomicon I would.

All in all, IMHO Draconomicon = Open Grave > Manual of the Planes.

[Ninetail]

Hey playgrounders.

I picked up the MoP the other day and i have just started working my way through it and im intrested in hearing other peoples thoughts.

My thoughts. Apologies for just throwing a link at you, but it's a relatively long article.

One thing i noticed is the Shadowfell section was the Domains of Dread, is this sort of the new version of raven loft or something. I didnt read much into the 3 or 3.5 version of the MoP is this a new thing or just added for 4th?

Sort of. It's the old version of Ravenloft, really, just transplanted from its own separate little demiplane to a subsection of the Shadowfell/Plane of Shadow. The flavor's still basically the same. The book doesn't give a whole lot of detail, but if you have any of the earlier editions' versions, it should be possible to use the fluff parts of them wholesale.

[KKL]

Open Grave has even more monsters, and Vecna. I really didn't think Vecna belonged in any book as a monster, seeing as he should never lose a fight - but I like the way they put him together, and his cult is rather awesome.

Holy dongs, Open Grave is already out?

[bosssmiley]

How is it purely for fluff? I love planes related fluff.

Like the FRCG does for Abeir/Toril, the 4E MotP gives a usable overview of the Planes, and it has a couple of nice shout-outs/easter eggs to previous edition settings. Let's be blunt though: it's no "Planescape" when it comes to fluff. Heck, it's not even a 3E MotP. As you might expect the "New for 4E" planes (Shadowfell and Feywild) get a lot of love, but there's less detail in the 'sites to see' sections than there was in the 3E MotP. I suppose that's only to be expected given the restrictions imposed by font size, page count, area taken up by artwork, etc.

S'worth worth your money if you're a devoted 4E player. But if you know the planes from previous editions then don't expect to have your world turned over by innovative and thought-provoking new ideas.

(I'm still angry over the quasi-elemental planes getting the heave-ho back in the 3E days though )

[KKL]

Heck, it's not even a 3E MotP.

But 3e's MotP was bad :<

[hamishspence]

It was? I found it entertaining and useful enough. But then, I didn't start reading 2nd ed books until I'd been collected 3rd ed ones for quite a while.