Planes of Conflict

Contents

Planes of Conflict contains six maps and five manuals for use with the Planescape setting. The set details the Beastlands, Bytopia, Elysium, Carceri, Gehenna, and the Gray Waste. These planes provide the checks and balances that hold all the other planes within the great Planescape wheel in place, despite Law and Chaos trying to control these planes and swing the multiverse their way. Each of these planes drains the lawful and chaotic tendencies from the personalities of characters who spend time on them, each plane bending characters to its own form of neutrality. This set breaks down the nature, inhabitants, and ecosystems of these six worlds using the quotes, pictures, and slang in signature Planescape style, presenting information as a mixture of gossip, observation, and conjecture. The referee's manual concisely provides a foundation on which to build a game while leaving enough freedom to allow the referee to work creatively. The set includes four quick-start adventures that illustrate what these planes have to offer.

Publication history

Planes of Conflict was designed by Dale Donovan, Colin McComb, and Monte Cook, and was published by TSR in 1995. The box cover artist is Robh Ruppel, the book cover artists are DiTerlizzi and Robh Ruppel, and the interior artist is DiTerlizzi.

Reception

Trenton Webb reviewed Planes of Conflict for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. He felt that each of the planes detailed "express six very different views of extreme neutrality. For while Order and Anarchy cannot gain a foothold here, Good and Evil can. Each force influences three of the neutral planes, but with surprising effects." He found three of the set's quick-start adventures to be "excellent, drawing on the nature of the neutral planes to give the game and the NPCs contained within real power", but he felt that "Militancy Justifies The Means", the remaining adventure, "wibbles on too much about the politics of conflict, but works fine as a standard Planescape outing". As part of the Planescape line, Webb felt that the production standards "continue to shame all other TSR offerings with quality artwork, powerful design and crisp text. Planes of Conflict links perfectly into other Planescape works, and die-hard cutters will instantly want to plunge their parties into all manner of neutral nastiness." He concluded the review by stating that with this expansion pack, "Planescape confirms its position as the premier AD&D world. Its hallmark is a bizarre juxtaposition of legend and nightmare. As such, Planes of Conflict is an excellent, almost psychotic example of the twisted logic that makes the multiverse fun to roam."

Reviews