Planescape Planescape Pre-order Page Shows Off The Books!

BB Shockwave said:

I don't see the Friendly Fiend shop, hope Akin is still around though, if Shemeshka is!

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The map's hardly detailed enough to show every building of note, much less label them - I'm fairly confident that the Friendly Fiend is still around.

Check the upper left of the DiTerlizzi DM screen, behind the slaad's trident, for one...

BB Shockwave said:

If Orcus once killed Primus - and Orcus has an 5E stat block - then logic dictates Primus will too have a stat block. Probably CR22 or over, but it is kind of a point of the Modron race that Primus can never truly be killed, one of the Secundi will be promoted instantly... unless you meddle around and delay it a bit like Orcus' shade did, but even then he comes back somehow. He is not as much a god as an embodiment of pure order.

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That event is not necessarily canonical.

Another fun take on the Lady of Pain is leaning even harder into the idea of her being a phenomenon, not a definable creature. You could paint the Lady of Pain something like a "natural formation" in Sigil, and she herself is a reflection of the plane's order. So long as the Lady of Pain exists, Sigil exists, and without her, Sigil is destroyed/deleted. With this idea, the Lady of Pain is essentially no different then fire in the Plane of Fire, herself being Sigil's version of a cloud or mountain, only as a metaphysical being and thus something appearing to have sentience. She might even function similarly to an AI, responding in pre-programmed but evolving ways to various stimulus, but not be actually alive, similar to a virus.

I like the idea of Sigil's version of "geography" expanding to include metaphysical anomalies like the planar portals everywhere, the torus that forms the city, the weird nature of the Outlands, and even the Lady of Pain herself. You could take a kind of weird perception spin on it too, saying that trying to understand Sigil with your senses, whatever you are, always involves perceiving this Lady of Pain, herself no different from the sky, the rocks, the air of the place.

I'm happy we never get any real information on her and just these weird clues that you can deconstruct some wild stuff from. Much like the Raven Queen. I'd like it if WotC focused on creating more mysterious characters like these that hold almighty sway in their plane but in a way that still encourages conflict and storytelling.

BB Shockwave said:

That's funny, if he never existed, then who kept narrating and adding comments to Volo's Guide to Monsters in his name?
(Ah it was probably Shemeshka, she did mess with Mordenkainen and Bigby too by having an apprentice release his secret writings...)



But, umm, they ARE Chaotic Neutral. I have the 11th print Monster Manual, Slaadi are Chaotic Neutral, they have never been Evil.
Also the proper plural of Slaad is Slaadi. Not Slaads. Xanxost thanks you for being grammatically correct.
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Unless you refer to their Xenomorph-style method of reproduction (well, one method of it), which has always been the case since 1E. But much like how that does not make a parasitic wasp evil, nor does it make Slaadi evil. That's just how their biology works.

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Higher form slaadi tend to be chaotic evil. It's a very frustrating element, though possibly due to the spawning stone. A campaign to free the slaadi from that influence would be lovely.

I am torn on the DiTerlizzi covers. The new art for the books and DM screen looks pretty nice too and DiTerlizzi's while harkening back to 2E which I loved, seem to have little to do with the actual book content - for example with he drew Morte for the Bestiary, not a Githyanki.

Henadic Theologian said:

The art had what looked like it might have been an Agathion Angel.

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Aren't Agathions basically super-shapeshifters who just look like luminous Elves in their normal forms? The Angels I saw on the DM screen look more like Devas.

Veltharis ap Rylix said:

The map's hardly detailed enough to show every building of note, much less label them - I'm fairly confident that the Friendly Fiend is still around.

Check the upper left of the DiTerlizzi DM screen, behind the slaad's trident, for one...
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Oh yeah, I saw that when they announced the book and showed that art. I was just wondering if DiTerlizzi was actually told what to draw or was just left to do some Planescape hommage?
If we take what he drew as relevant to the book, then apart from the Dabus, we will have the Cat Lord in the book too. As well as probably more types of Mephits.

Incenjucar said:

Higher form slaadi tend to be chaotic evil. It's a very frustrating element, though possibly due to the spawning stone. A campaign to free the slaadi from that influence would be lovely.

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That just means Death Slaadi currently. But again, that has always been so, though, you are right, was never explained. Could be due to some meddling by fiends or negative energy infection maybe? I think 4E replaced the Death Slaad with Black/Void Slaadi, maybe that was the direction they went with that too. That variant has yet to appear in 5E though.

Shardstone said:

Thanks for telling me man, glad you could get that off your chest.

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Feels like you just ignored my point.

Planescape remains my #1 D&D setting, cannot wait