Planescape was an important milestone in my progression as a player and DM when I got a copy of the boxed set as a teenager in the 1990’s. When I got into Advanced D&D I was immediately excited for the “Forgotten Realms” which seemed so FANTASTIC and so MASSIVE, and then the Ravenloft – Realms of Terror box appeared on the shelf at my FLGS, and I had to buy it (and I WORE THAT SUCKER OUT). Planescape I hadn’t noticed, but a friend of mine did, bought it, and after a few months of non-use sold it to me. It was convoluted, crazy, completely over my young 14 year old head, and I LOVED IT. It set my imagination on fire.

I’m not sure how accurately I ran D&D in those days (well enough to run a Ravenloft campaign at my FLGS, but who knows what that means). However, I remember pouring through the Planescape books and being positively overwhelmed. I remember running my own homebrewed adventures with Sigil at their center (I never got any written stuff they never showed up in store), or at least as connective tissue as the party went between worlds.

When I grabbed the 5E books years back I was disappointed that it was out years already, and Ravenloft, Planescape, Dragonlance, Birthright, etc were left untouched (I’d been out of the game long-enough to not now that most of those hadn’t been touched since 2E), and yet here we are toward the end of 5E, and so many worlds have returned (I never thought I’d see Spelljammer back again).

This brings us to Planescape – Adventures in the Multiverse a MASSIVE 3 books (and a DM screen set) that really kicks down the door on the City of Doors and brings Planescape back in a HUGE WAY. As a 2E player that no longer has the material, I can’t do a 1:1 comparison, and I’ll say that what is here is streamlined from what I remember from 30 years ago, but what is here is much deeper and robust than many of the 5E sets (I enjoyed Spelljammer, but there was not a lot of crunch at all in the setting).

The first book is Sigil and the Outlands, this is an epic book that details the world of Planescape. We get details about Sigil – The City of Doors, the Lady of Pain and her minions who run the city, and the factions who make it their home. There is also information on all the “gate towns”, the leaders of each town, how the gates effects things, where it connects to, and more. There are also additional options for character creation such as Planar Philosophers and Gate Wardens.

Following up on this we get the adventure Turn of the Fortune’s Wheel. This adventure is surely one of the most bizarre and interesting in all of the published 5E adventures. The players are “glitches” in the multiverse, and as such they will need multiple characters to see this one through (if one dies another pops in, trust me it’s great). It starts in Sigil, but makes its way to the Outlands, and through multiple Gate Towns, as they make their way through the planes, to explore. It will take players first through levesl 3-10 and then a final bump to level 17 for an exciting final encounter.

The third book is called Morte’s Planar Parade it is the shortest at 64 pages. It is simply a bestiary for creatures will you see throughout your adventure including stat blocks. The DM screen features a lot of information on the planes, but honestly it’s not stuff you would need to access on the regular. Overall, this is a fantastic set, and is a solid and fun way in bringing Planescape back into D&D. RECOMMENDED!