Manual of the Planes (2)

Type: D&D SupplementCompany: WotCURL: www.wizards.comDesigner: Jeff Grub, Bruce Cordell and David NoonanRelease: Oct 2001Outline: The Manual of the Planes (MotP) is an excellent resource for building a new cosmology or using the existing one from the 2nd edition of AD&D. Contents: The book begins with a discussion on the nature of planes and the traits that it can have, such as physical traits, alignment traits and other characteristics that define a plane. The second chapter covers the topic of connecting planes and how to travel between them. The topic of the third chapter is about prestige classes for planar adventurers as well as a list of new spells. The next few chapters' detail some planes that can be used to connect between various planes, the inner planes of matter and the outer planes formed of belief. The last two chapters are about demiplanes and monsters respectively and the appendix discusses variant planes and cosmologies.Merits: When I first heard about the mop I thought that it would be a product similar to the World Builders Handbook, full of ideas and suggestions on how to build a world - but perhaps lacking in detailed examples. However, the MotP covers both the topics of building a cosmology from scratch in the first few chapters and then provides details of an example cosmology in the latter chapters. This example cosmology happens to be the Great Wheel view of the Multiverse that many Planescape fans and others are familiar with. There are some differences between the information in the MotP and the Planescape material, but overall the cosmology has remained the same - much to the delight of many Planescape fans. Flaws: The rating that I give this product is 9 out of 10. Is the product a useful tool for building new planes and cosmologies? Yes. Does the book provide a detailed example that can be used without the need for adjustments? Yes. So why did I not give it 10 out of 10 when the book fulfils the criteria that it sets out? Because the book does not introduce any radically new ideas (in my opinion) that made me sit up from my reading and think - wow that's a great idea I'll use it right away. My favourite section was the Appendix, as it provided more details on ideas that had only been discussed elsewhere in passing. Overall I would say that this is a fantastic product and I would heartily recommend it (and have done so already to several friends).By: Simson LeighImported from a previous version of Planewalker.com