Running the Plains is one portion of D&D I have not done very often. Usually by the time players characters reach levels desired for planer campaign's the group is beginning to think it's time to start over
I've also not done much with the Planes, which is why I didn't pick up Manual of the Planes when it was first published. Thanks for watching and commenting!
It was a favorite book of mine as a kid. I used to bring it to school to read, and my history teacher in 7th grade saw it and asked if she could photocopy some of the pages to use as reference when teaching about the gods of ancient cultures!
An extremely authoritative & well-researched video. Bravo! I applaud you Sir as (unlike some other TH-camrs I could mention) you actually know your early D&D lore and don't just make it up or guess it. Really enjoyed this, so thank you 😇
The Far Realms did not originate in the Planescape Campaign Setting. They actually first appear in the adventure Gates of Firestorm Peak, which was released around the time of the Player's Option splatbooks in 1995. Gates of Firestorm Peak was the only adventure that used all the optional rules in Player's Options: Combat & Tactics, and Player's Option: Skills & Powers.
The Manual of the Planes blew my mind when it hit, that was the dopest thing I had ever read at that point. I was obsessed with the Elemental Planes especially, just the thought of an infinite ocean (for example) was sublime to me.
That's so funny - someone else pointed that out to me. I had never heard it pronounced before! I heard that Dave Cook made a mistake as he didn't know how the word was pronounced and so he used a hard "G" and it just kind of stuck. Thank you so much for watching and commenting, and also for your subscription! I really appreciate your support and hope you enjoy the other videos on here. Cheers!
I've been watching your channel for the last few months or so and you and your channel are an amazingly informative resource. I just love all the lore, rules and history of such a unique hobby. Cheers and keep up the great work!
Seriously, I am so appreciative of your comments. I just realized that you've been watching and commenting on each video as you discover them, and that means a lot to me that you're taking the time to let me know. I'm so glad you're enjoying them!
I just want to warn you that if you find yourself in the city of Sigil and pronounce it that way, you be marked as an Outsider and may end up on a leafless tree and land in the dead book. Or you might catch the attention of the Lady of Pain and she'll cast you into a maze. Better hope you're well-lanned and your mates can help you give them the laugh if that happens. Sorry, couldn't help myself. Zeb Cook admitted in an interview that he was pronouncing it incorrectly while working on PS and they made the mispronunciation canon as an inside joke. I absolutely LOVE Planescape even through my players just treated it like a fancy version of the Forgotten Realms. Whenever I would bust out the vernacular they would all end up talking in a cockney accent and it would turn into a "who can say the most outlandish thing" contest. Anyway, great video as always. Do you just remember all this stuff or do you have to do research? As I'm watching your videos I remember all that old stuff (seeing that Manual of the Planes brought back some memories for sure) but NO WAY I could rattle off the info like you are able to do (it doesn't seem like you are reading a script). Thanks for the video!
Ha! I really appreciate all of these comments! Thank you so much. I'll be honest, I've never heard the name Sigil pronounced outloud, so I was unaware of this! While I was reading Dragon magazine consistently as a subscriber during the 2E days, and collected quite a few products and worked on a 2E campaign setting that I eventually shifted to 3E, I didn't actually play a lot during the 2E era for a variety of reasons including having moved, started college and then career, losing my group, etc. So, I never actually played any Playscape (not even the video game Torment; I don't really play video games much). In terms of my prep, I write a few bullet points in a notebook and I do a bit more study on areas I'm perhaps not as familiar with. But, I don't write a script and what you hear on the videos is basically my thoughts off the cuff as I go through them. Editing only really happens if I make a mistake like forgetting something. But otherwise, you're hearing an improvisational chat. I kind of wanted to do it that way as I thought it might be more approachable and less formal than some other channels. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on that and/or whether you'd prefer a more polished version. Thanks!
@@daddyrolleda1 My group has gone through a couple of periods where we are too busy with life to play, totally understand that. I personally REALLY like your off the cuff approach in your videos. Like you said, it's definitely more approachable and it feels like you are more interested in the material than if you were just reading a script. Keep it up, 1K subscribers is around the corner!!
I appreciate that so much! Thank you for taking time to let me know. That really made my day. Thank you for watching and commenting. I did put a ton of time into researching these and figuring out how to split them into 2 videos, etc. Cheers!
One section of the game that I completely despised was "the planes of existence". Such a waste of effort and energy when one considers the "golden chain of being" and other medieval thought which relates to the general area of examination. Thanks for the video!
So loving your series. Yes, please do a video covering Planescape! :-D I own a bunch of the Planescape stuff and never actually ran any of it! Maybe it will still happen. heh :-)
Planescape is one of my favorite settings, but none of my players are willing to take the time to truly enjoy it (picking up the vernacular, understanding how the planes work, etc). Every time we give it a go they don't do the research for their characters and it is basically them not picking up on hints/clues I'm dropping. Like if you are going to play a Githyanki you should probably know at least a little bit about the Astral Plane and the reason why they don't like Illithids. Oh well. Have you ever played Torment? One of the best PC RPG's I've ever played. Great story and good mechanics (basically Baldur's Gate in Planescape setting).
Thank you so much! I put a ton of time into researching these, which is partially why Part 2 was so long in coming. I appreciate the support, as always!
Somehow I have never connected VtM clans to the factions of Sigil. It makes a lot of sense. I think it's also somewhat funny that you almost misspoke and said "Magic the Gathering", considering how the ten guilds of Ravnica really are a very similar concept to the factions. And I think 5e connected D&D with MtG, though I wouldn't know because I never really got into 5e.
Take a look into the BECMI D&D cosmology. The inner planes are kind of elemental mirrors of the prime (planets made of pure elements), ethereal wormholes allow "safe" transition to the inner planes as vertical dungeons, altering the physical essence of creatures to fit the new plane. Outer planes have no relation to alignment and are infinite in number. The astral plane reduces all magic by one dimension (3d effects like cubes or spheres become squares or circles), and this relates to the biggest concept: five physical dimensions a la Flatland which mortals can only perceive and use three; not all mortals use the same three. "normal" mortals use contiguous 1-3, elusive thought or illusionary beings use contiguous 2-4 and can appear flat to "normals", while "nightmare" creatures exist in 3-5, thus normals and nightmares are normally invisible to one another, but exist in the same Prime Material space. Immortals can perceive 1-4 or 2-5 depending on their origins. Completely aberrant mortals might also exist, like 1,3,5 which would seem flat to normals, nightmares, but invisible to the 2-4 crowd.
Thank you so much for this detailed comment - I really appreciate it! I really should spend some more time exploring BECMI and its various differences. Since it's so close to B/X, I never acquired any of the BECMI sets when they came out. Much, much later, I got a PDF of the Rules Cyclopedia which as I'm sure you know is a one-book version of BECMI without the "Immortals" set. As a consequence, I'm not well-versed at all in the BECMI version of D&D cosmology.
Excellent! Welcome to the club! That was the last book I needed to complete my AD&D 1E Hardback collection, although I'd like a Sutherland III cover of the DMG, and I don't have (nor do I need/want) the revised orange-spine covers for the PHB, MM, or Legends & Lore. I got a Cthulhu Deities & Demigods (I had a later non-Cthulhu printing since the early 80's), Dragonlance Adventures and Greyhawk Adventures within the past ~1.5 years as well. Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@daddyrolleda1 for me the revised covers from 1985 are most coveted because I wasn't around when the originals were printed, so those are the ones I own. In fact, I still have most I got from Toys R Us back in the day. You are doing better than I am if your copy of D&D includes the Cthulhu mythos, I got a later copy.
@@Nexusofgeek That totally makes sense! I started a few years earlier than you, in 1981, so I "grew up" with the original covers. My original D&DG was the non-Cthulhu version, but at the beginning of the pandemic, after realizing I was saving money by not going to the comic book store each week, and not going out to eat or to the pub, I did some "retail therapy" and found a Cthulhu version online, as well as a really nice copy of "First Fantasy Campaign" by Arneson.
So true! But also in keeping consistent with many of Gary's other adventures (e.g., I'm running B2: Keep on the Borderlands for my daughter and her friends right now, and there is so much work I've put into making the Keep come alive!). Thank you so much for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it!
I actually own the 1e guide to the planes (my dad gave me a bunch of his old dnd books) and I sometimes still use lore from this book in my hombrew settings for newer editions
I was glad to finally get an original (it's 2nd printing, but still...) with the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan Mythos during the early lockdown days of the Pandemic. I'd had a 4th printing without those mythos dating back to 1983 or so and had always wanted an original one. I finally bit the bullet and got it!
5:34 "And one thing we're gonna notice in this book is"-- that that's the art they based the Cacodemon on. That one right there, on the cover. That's the art they based the cacodemon on in legendary prolifically inspirational little-known indie computer game title DOOM. 😮📕👈😮
We didn't travel the planes very much. The astral and ethereal a little bit. The Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits we started but were never able to finish. Our big adventure was in the Nine Planes of Hell on a quest to save the Mace of St. Cuthbert from destruction. Very nasty and my character actually got turned into part of a statue, just look at the old players handbook at the guys prying out the gem eyes of the statue. I got turned to stone for my greed and became part of the statue. My friends had to leave me there until they had a stone to flesh spell that they could use on me.
Wow! That sounds like an AMAZING adventure! So creative! I really appreciate you sharing this story. I know there are many different styles of play, and I tend to focus more on a low-magic setting (similar to the one presented in Warhammer Fantasy) but it's fun to be reminded that even back at the dawn of the hobby, people were plane-hopping and playing in super creative campaigns like this!
when i was a helpdesk worker at my university, i would spend hours using a 3d rendering tool (this was 1995ish) to create a model of the planes. I have no idea where it is now. lost to time
Oh, wow that sounds like it would've been incredible! What a shame it's now lost. I'm sorry you put all that work into it but no longer have it. Thanks for sharing this, and also for watching and commenting!
What are your thoughts of the upcoming new edition of Plancescape (5e)? There was also a statement to be a set as well, so I guess the chances are high that it will be also new edition of the planar manual as well.
Was Concordant Opposition mentioned before Deities & Demigods? I remember looking at the older chart and thinking something was missing till I saw (in my case) Legends & Lore.
Thank you for watching and commenting! I don't believe the Concordant Opposition was mentioned (by name) prior to Deities & Demigods. The article on the planes by Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine 8 doesn't name *any* of the outer planes - it just shows the diagram and numbers them but there's no list as to what the numbers mean. In the 1978 Player's Handbook, Gary lists all the Outer Planes by name and by their alignment, but he interestingly does not include a plane of pure Neutrality. So, by my understanding, I think it was Deities & Demigods where it's first mentioned.
My hunch about the initial absence of a true neutral plane is simply that it would occupy the same space on a chart as the inner planes do, and that this would be confusing. Later, we're respected as understanding that these are parallel universes, and we're then just given separate charts for inner and outer planes. :)
The dnd planes are endlessly interesting. Sadly I feel like dnd doesn't do a great job of being a game to capture that plane hopping feel. Ironically 4e is probably best set up for that kind of high heroic big damn heroes game. But 4e chose to make a new cosmology, the world axis, in an effort to make the planes more gameable. If you read a lot of planar entries, especially the inner planes, they're almost totally anathema to human life. You'd die as soon as you arrive in many of them, without significant magical protection.
Thanks for watching and commenting! I agree - there is so much fun opportunities for gaming in the planes, but when you read the entries (even back in the 1E days), there were very difficult to traverse. Clerics got totally nerfed by losing access to their higher level spells in most planes. I found it really interesting that in addition to changing so many of the mechanics of game play, 4E *also* changed the planes, for the first time in D&D history. I think you're right, it could've worked had they chosen to pursue it further.
The elemental and energy planes always rubbed me wrong, and then they made it even weirder with the extra intersection areas. I always felt that the elementals should be the pure essences of the Prime Material. Of course, pretty much everybody homebrews the hell out of D&D to their hearts' content anyway. ;) Interesting to see the bits from the blasphemous later editions for the first time.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it. As kids playing a mash-up of B/X and AD&D, we never really used the planes all that much. My main experience with them came decades later during a 3.5 one-shot in which I was playing a 20th Githyanki Psion and our party (all high-level evil types, pre-gens created by the DM) were plane-hopping around to try to start some kind of universal apocalypse or something like that. I forget the particulars but visiting the different planes was fun in that game. While I started with B/X and am back to running it now for my 13 year-old daughter and her friends, I think the most total time I've spent playing in terms of hours is 3E/3.5/Pathfinder1E. I started a 3E game in May 2001 because my co-workers wanted to learn about the game (we worked at an ad agency and our client was Wizards of the Coast). I started a game for them and that game is still running. But, when I wrap it up one day, I don't intend to ever run that system again. It's way too fiddly for me as a DM. I've only played 4E and 5E twice each (single sessions for both). I'm open to playing whatever, but personally wouldn't run them.
Another great lesson on the planes. The Happy Hunting Grounds still exist in my campaigns...
Thank you! I myself prefer the name "Happy Hunting Grounds"!
Running the Plains is one portion of D&D I have not done very often. Usually by the time players characters reach levels desired for planer campaign's the group is beginning to think it's time to start over
I've also not done much with the Planes, which is why I didn't pick up Manual of the Planes when it was first published.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I loved Deities & Demigods, read it over and over again even though I never really used much from it in any games.
It was a favorite book of mine as a kid. I used to bring it to school to read, and my history teacher in 7th grade saw it and asked if she could photocopy some of the pages to use as reference when teaching about the gods of ancient cultures!
I’d love to see you do a video on Planescape, I’m a massive fan and Planescape deserves more attention.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting. I will add it to the list!
An extremely authoritative & well-researched video. Bravo! I applaud you Sir as (unlike some other TH-camrs I could mention) you actually know your early D&D lore and don't just make it up or guess it. Really enjoyed this, so thank you 😇
I really appreciate that! That's a really nice compliment. Thank you!
The Far Realms did not originate in the Planescape Campaign Setting. They actually first appear in the adventure Gates of Firestorm Peak, which was released around the time of the Player's Option splatbooks in 1995. Gates of Firestorm Peak was the only adventure that used all the optional rules in Player's Options: Combat & Tactics, and Player's Option: Skills & Powers.
The Manual of the Planes blew my mind when it hit, that was the dopest thing I had ever read at that point. I was obsessed with the Elemental Planes especially, just the thought of an infinite ocean (for example) was sublime to me.
"Sigil" has a hard G, not a soft G, cutter. 😁 Love the content! I even learned a few things. Worth a sub!
That's so funny - someone else pointed that out to me. I had never heard it pronounced before! I heard that Dave Cook made a mistake as he didn't know how the word was pronounced and so he used a hard "G" and it just kind of stuck.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting, and also for your subscription! I really appreciate your support and hope you enjoy the other videos on here. Cheers!
I've been watching your channel for the last few months or so and you and your channel are an amazingly informative resource. I just love all the lore, rules and history of such a unique hobby. Cheers and keep up the great work!
You are putting on a master class with these videos on dnd history.
Seriously, I am so appreciative of your comments. I just realized that you've been watching and commenting on each video as you discover them, and that means a lot to me that you're taking the time to let me know. I'm so glad you're enjoying them!
I just want to warn you that if you find yourself in the city of Sigil and pronounce it that way, you be marked as an Outsider and may end up on a leafless tree and land in the dead book. Or you might catch the attention of the Lady of Pain and she'll cast you into a maze. Better hope you're well-lanned and your mates can help you give them the laugh if that happens.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. Zeb Cook admitted in an interview that he was pronouncing it incorrectly while working on PS and they made the mispronunciation canon as an inside joke. I absolutely LOVE Planescape even through my players just treated it like a fancy version of the Forgotten Realms. Whenever I would bust out the vernacular they would all end up talking in a cockney accent and it would turn into a "who can say the most outlandish thing" contest.
Anyway, great video as always. Do you just remember all this stuff or do you have to do research? As I'm watching your videos I remember all that old stuff (seeing that Manual of the Planes brought back some memories for sure) but NO WAY I could rattle off the info like you are able to do (it doesn't seem like you are reading a script). Thanks for the video!
Ha! I really appreciate all of these comments! Thank you so much.
I'll be honest, I've never heard the name Sigil pronounced outloud, so I was unaware of this! While I was reading Dragon magazine consistently as a subscriber during the 2E days, and collected quite a few products and worked on a 2E campaign setting that I eventually shifted to 3E, I didn't actually play a lot during the 2E era for a variety of reasons including having moved, started college and then career, losing my group, etc. So, I never actually played any Playscape (not even the video game Torment; I don't really play video games much).
In terms of my prep, I write a few bullet points in a notebook and I do a bit more study on areas I'm perhaps not as familiar with. But, I don't write a script and what you hear on the videos is basically my thoughts off the cuff as I go through them. Editing only really happens if I make a mistake like forgetting something. But otherwise, you're hearing an improvisational chat. I kind of wanted to do it that way as I thought it might be more approachable and less formal than some other channels. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on that and/or whether you'd prefer a more polished version. Thanks!
@@daddyrolleda1 My group has gone through a couple of periods where we are too busy with life to play, totally understand that.
I personally REALLY like your off the cuff approach in your videos. Like you said, it's definitely more approachable and it feels like you are more interested in the material than if you were just reading a script.
Keep it up, 1K subscribers is around the corner!!
@@thesonofdormammu5475 Your comments and support mean a lot to me. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
These two videos are amazing - the work and research you've put in is top notch. Thanks for your efforts.
I appreciate that so much! Thank you for taking time to let me know. That really made my day. Thank you for watching and commenting. I did put a ton of time into researching these and figuring out how to split them into 2 videos, etc. Cheers!
One section of the game that I completely despised was "the planes of existence". Such a waste of effort and energy when one considers the "golden chain of being" and other medieval thought which relates to the general area of examination.
Thanks for the video!
As always, fun.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I put a lot of research into these two videos on the alignment/planes history.
@@daddyrolleda1 it shows!!
Amazing my brother. Love the origins and history of all this.
I really appreciate you taking time to watching and comment to let me know! So glad you enjoyed it.
I think it's fair to say that Planescape was the default setting of 3rd Edition.
So loving your series. Yes, please do a video covering Planescape! :-D I own a bunch of the Planescape stuff and never actually ran any of it! Maybe it will still happen. heh :-)
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I will add Planescape to the list! Cheers!
Planescape is one of my favorite settings, but none of my players are willing to take the time to truly enjoy it (picking up the vernacular, understanding how the planes work, etc). Every time we give it a go they don't do the research for their characters and it is basically them not picking up on hints/clues I'm dropping. Like if you are going to play a Githyanki you should probably know at least a little bit about the Astral Plane and the reason why they don't like Illithids. Oh well.
Have you ever played Torment? One of the best PC RPG's I've ever played. Great story and good mechanics (basically Baldur's Gate in Planescape setting).
@@thesonofdormammu5475 Oh yes... Torment is my only real experience with Planescape. Gotta love Mort! heh :-)
Part 2, just as interesting informative and part one. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I put a ton of time into researching these, which is partially why Part 2 was so long in coming. I appreciate the support, as always!
Somehow I have never connected VtM clans to the factions of Sigil. It makes a lot of sense.
I think it's also somewhat funny that you almost misspoke and said "Magic the Gathering", considering how the ten guilds of Ravnica really are a very similar concept to the factions. And I think 5e connected D&D with MtG, though I wouldn't know because I never really got into 5e.
Take a look into the BECMI D&D cosmology. The inner planes are kind of elemental mirrors of the prime (planets made of pure elements), ethereal wormholes allow "safe" transition to the inner planes as vertical dungeons, altering the physical essence of creatures to fit the new plane. Outer planes have no relation to alignment and are infinite in number. The astral plane reduces all magic by one dimension (3d effects like cubes or spheres become squares or circles), and this relates to the biggest concept: five physical dimensions a la Flatland which mortals can only perceive and use three; not all mortals use the same three. "normal" mortals use contiguous 1-3, elusive thought or illusionary beings use contiguous 2-4 and can appear flat to "normals", while "nightmare" creatures exist in 3-5, thus normals and nightmares are normally invisible to one another, but exist in the same Prime Material space.
Immortals can perceive 1-4 or 2-5 depending on their origins. Completely aberrant mortals might also exist, like 1,3,5 which would seem flat to normals, nightmares, but invisible to the 2-4 crowd.
Thank you so much for this detailed comment - I really appreciate it! I really should spend some more time exploring BECMI and its various differences. Since it's so close to B/X, I never acquired any of the BECMI sets when they came out. Much, much later, I got a PDF of the Rules Cyclopedia which as I'm sure you know is a one-book version of BECMI without the "Immortals" set. As a consequence, I'm not well-versed at all in the BECMI version of D&D cosmology.
I got my copy of the 1987 Manual of the Planes last year. Was not cheap, but was in great condition
Excellent! Welcome to the club! That was the last book I needed to complete my AD&D 1E Hardback collection, although I'd like a Sutherland III cover of the DMG, and I don't have (nor do I need/want) the revised orange-spine covers for the PHB, MM, or Legends & Lore.
I got a Cthulhu Deities & Demigods (I had a later non-Cthulhu printing since the early 80's), Dragonlance Adventures and Greyhawk Adventures within the past ~1.5 years as well.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@daddyrolleda1 for me the revised covers from 1985 are most coveted because I wasn't around when the originals were printed, so those are the ones I own. In fact, I still have most I got from Toys R Us back in the day. You are doing better than I am if your copy of D&D includes the Cthulhu mythos, I got a later copy.
@@Nexusofgeek That totally makes sense! I started a few years earlier than you, in 1981, so I "grew up" with the original covers.
My original D&DG was the non-Cthulhu version, but at the beginning of the pandemic, after realizing I was saving money by not going to the comic book store each week, and not going out to eat or to the pub, I did some "retail therapy" and found a Cthulhu version online, as well as a really nice copy of "First Fantasy Campaign" by Arneson.
@@daddyrolleda1 yea I kinda did the same thing. I was still working then but more and more remotely
Q1 the diy adventure. The DM better be ready when running that one.
So true! But also in keeping consistent with many of Gary's other adventures (e.g., I'm running B2: Keep on the Borderlands for my daughter and her friends right now, and there is so much work I've put into making the Keep come alive!).
Thank you so much for watching and commenting. I really appreciate it!
@@daddyrolleda1 The only other adventure I know that will send you to wacky off world places is the Observatory from Hot Springs Islands
Jeff Grubb also wrote THe Brothers' War book, figured the planar book would be good too. He's good at world building.
I actually own the 1e guide to the planes (my dad gave me a bunch of his old dnd books) and I sometimes still use lore from this book in my hombrew settings for newer editions
I had the original Deities and Demigods one
Gotta love Hastur the Unspeakable cartoon!
I was glad to finally get an original (it's 2nd printing, but still...) with the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan Mythos during the early lockdown days of the Pandemic. I'd had a 4th printing without those mythos dating back to 1983 or so and had always wanted an original one. I finally bit the bullet and got it!
5:34 "And one thing we're gonna notice in this book is"-- that that's the art they based the Cacodemon on. That one right there, on the cover. That's the art they based the cacodemon on in legendary prolifically inspirational little-known indie computer game title DOOM. 😮📕👈😮
We didn't travel the planes very much. The astral and ethereal a little bit. The Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits we started but were never able to finish.
Our big adventure was in the Nine Planes of Hell on a quest to save the Mace of St. Cuthbert from destruction. Very nasty and my character actually got turned into part of a statue, just look at the old players handbook at the guys prying out the gem eyes of the statue. I got turned to stone for my greed and became part of the statue. My friends had to leave me there until they had a stone to flesh spell that they could use on me.
Wow! That sounds like an AMAZING adventure! So creative!
I really appreciate you sharing this story. I know there are many different styles of play, and I tend to focus more on a low-magic setting (similar to the one presented in Warhammer Fantasy) but it's fun to be reminded that even back at the dawn of the hobby, people were plane-hopping and playing in super creative campaigns like this!
Mace of St Cuthbert is an old school ADnD relic. Nice.
when i was a helpdesk worker at my university, i would spend hours using a 3d rendering tool (this was 1995ish) to create a model of the planes. I have no idea where it is now. lost to time
Oh, wow that sounds like it would've been incredible! What a shame it's now lost. I'm sorry you put all that work into it but no longer have it.
Thanks for sharing this, and also for watching and commenting!
What are your thoughts of the upcoming new edition of Plancescape (5e)? There was also a statement to be a set as well, so I guess the chances are high that it will be also new edition of the planar manual as well.
Was Concordant Opposition mentioned before Deities & Demigods? I remember looking at the older chart and thinking something was missing till I saw (in my case) Legends & Lore.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I don't believe the Concordant Opposition was mentioned (by name) prior to Deities & Demigods. The article on the planes by Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine 8 doesn't name *any* of the outer planes - it just shows the diagram and numbers them but there's no list as to what the numbers mean. In the 1978 Player's Handbook, Gary lists all the Outer Planes by name and by their alignment, but he interestingly does not include a plane of pure Neutrality. So, by my understanding, I think it was Deities & Demigods where it's first mentioned.
My hunch about the initial absence of a true neutral plane is simply that it would occupy the same space on a chart as the inner planes do, and that this would be confusing. Later, we're respected as understanding that these are parallel universes, and we're then just given separate charts for inner and outer planes. :)
@@originaluddite I can see that! Makes sense!
Doomguard ftw!
The dnd planes are endlessly interesting. Sadly I feel like dnd doesn't do a great job of being a game to capture that plane hopping feel. Ironically 4e is probably best set up for that kind of high heroic big damn heroes game. But 4e chose to make a new cosmology, the world axis, in an effort to make the planes more gameable. If you read a lot of planar entries, especially the inner planes, they're almost totally anathema to human life. You'd die as soon as you arrive in many of them, without significant magical protection.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I agree - there is so much fun opportunities for gaming in the planes, but when you read the entries (even back in the 1E days), there were very difficult to traverse. Clerics got totally nerfed by losing access to their higher level spells in most planes. I found it really interesting that in addition to changing so many of the mechanics of game play, 4E *also* changed the planes, for the first time in D&D history. I think you're right, it could've worked had they chosen to pursue it further.
The elemental and energy planes always rubbed me wrong, and then they made it even weirder with the extra intersection areas. I always felt that the elementals should be the pure essences of the Prime Material. Of course, pretty much everybody homebrews the hell out of D&D to their hearts' content anyway. ;)
Interesting to see the bits from the blasphemous later editions for the first time.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it.
As kids playing a mash-up of B/X and AD&D, we never really used the planes all that much. My main experience with them came decades later during a 3.5 one-shot in which I was playing a 20th Githyanki Psion and our party (all high-level evil types, pre-gens created by the DM) were plane-hopping around to try to start some kind of universal apocalypse or something like that. I forget the particulars but visiting the different planes was fun in that game.
While I started with B/X and am back to running it now for my 13 year-old daughter and her friends, I think the most total time I've spent playing in terms of hours is 3E/3.5/Pathfinder1E. I started a 3E game in May 2001 because my co-workers wanted to learn about the game (we worked at an ad agency and our client was Wizards of the Coast). I started a game for them and that game is still running. But, when I wrap it up one day, I don't intend to ever run that system again. It's way too fiddly for me as a DM.
I've only played 4E and 5E twice each (single sessions for both). I'm open to playing whatever, but personally wouldn't run them.
Everything after 3.5 is Haram.
Heresy and Haram are merely contrivances. All things can be conjoined.