It sounds cool, but I only came in with 3rd Edition, and I can't find a copy on Ebay so I can adapt it myself.
Almost every Planescape product is available in that format. Highly recommended.
Of course it is always nice to have an original physical copy to read. But if you have the pdf product you have the option to read it on screen (some of them are searchable too) or you can print out a hardcopy to read away from the computer.
I didn't know you can get all of this for that cheap... I... I... I must download it all. I was expecting to pay hundreds to expand my planescape collection. Thanks.
1. Wizards is not publishing material under the Planescape license, except through the occasional Dungeon Magazine.
2. Wizards doesn't put out very much planar material, and Dead Gods takes place exclusively on the planes, making it inappropriate for a group making only occasional forays into the larger multiverse.
3. Wizards publishes adventures only rarely, since only the DM would buy it. In every product, Wizards is trying to make sure that every player of the game wants to buy it. That's why they include information for PCs, for world-building, for equipment, etc. That's why they redid the softcover class guides as the Complete Class series.
4. Most importantly, the events of Dead Gods have largely been incorporated into D&D mainstream. Lord of Madness now, and The Illithiad books from AD&D, mention that Maanzecorian has been killed. Libris Mortis lists Orcus as a minor undead god. The later Planescape books describe the turmoil in Thanatos, and I believe that it is mentioned in the Planar Handbook.
4. Most importantly, the events of Dead Gods have largely been incorporated into D&D mainstream. Lord of Madness now, and The Illithiad books from AD&D, mention that Maanzecorian has been killed. Libris Mortis lists Orcus as a minor undead god.
That's why a lot of D&D players are going to be at least a little curious about how those events came to be, and kind of want to be part of them. In a way, Lords of Madness, Manual of the Planes, Book of Vile Darkness, and Libris Mortis are advertising for Dead Gods; a lot more new gamers know about Orcus now than new gamers did when Dead Gods came out, which would make the impact of the adventure stronger.
Still, I agree that they almost certainly won't rerelease the adventure unless .pdf books become insanely profitable; than they might rerelease a converted version of it as part of a package bound together with a sequel. Maybe in a decade or so a "Return to" series of sequels to 2nd edition adventures will seem like a good idea. Not now. I think Dead Gods is far too massive (it's a big, big adventure) to be worth doing it for free like they did for short adventures like White Plume Mountain and Tomb of Horrors.
Dead Gods wasn't exclusively on the planes - some of it took place in the World of Greyhawk, which is even worse from WotC's point of view. They put planar things in most books they put out (Sandstorm and Stormwrack, for example, had sections covering deserts and oceans in the planes), but they very rarely include anything Greyhawk-specific other than the names of the gods used in the PH. They would try to turn Erinhel-Cinlu into a generic drow city, so that it could be used in any campaign rather than assuming the PCs went to this specific world.
I think the only way Planewalker could do something like this would be if they radically revised the adventure, including none of the original text but following the plotline in a different way.
I think the only way Planewalker could do something like this would be if they radically revised the adventure, including none of the original text but following the plotline in a different way.
Do you mean because of the difficulty of converting it or because of licensing issues? If it could be done in legal terms, I'd work at it. Like I said, I'm running it with my group now and have some ideas about changes I did.
But I'd love to hear how you've changed the adventure around.
Anyway, as a player without access to the modules, I have a couple of questions:
1) In our campaign we encountered the book of Kadu-Ra, a book that grants its reader a relevant experience to your current situation. For us, being worshippers of Thoth, this book is considered our most valuable possesion. Was this book in the module, or did our DM put it there. Furthermore, was it called the book of Kadu-Ra, or was that just a nice coincidence for our Egyption campaign?
2) The standing stones in Sigil verified that though gods may not enter the cage, pieces of dead ones can. This fact was of particular worry for us during the Faction War as two Vecna priests became involved in hunting for Giffad's ritual.
What would happen if the Hand and Eye of Vecna were brought into the cage seperately and connected to a Vecna worshipper in the cage? Fortunately, we discovered that neither of the Vecna worshipers had either, but still we have always pondered the outcome to such an event.
Does this relate in anyway to 'Die Vecna Die'. Is that how the whispered one managed to get into the cage? I know that DVD is not considered cannon, but I was just wondering if it said anything about the Hand and Eye within the cage.
1) In our campaign we encountered the book of Kadu-Ra, a book that grants its reader a relevant experience to your current situation. For us, being worshippers of Thoth, this book is considered our most valuable possesion.
In the published version, it was called the Orb of Kadu-Ra; it's a golden sphere instead of a book. But otherwise, yeah - pretty much the same.
And the Egyptian theme is very much there in Dead Gods, as parts of the adventure take place in the realms of Set and Nephthys.
What would happen if the Hand and Eye of Vecna were brought into the cage seperately and connected to a Vecna worshipper in the cage?
The worshipper would gain a bunch of powers and become convinced he or she was Vecna, or Vecna's heir.
This is perfectly possible (and the Eye of Vecna was actually listed as a magical item you could possibly get in the Planescape: Torment game - I think you had to keep killing a glabrezu to get it).
However, just because someone has the Eye and Hand doesn't mean he or she is really Vecna; the artifacts don't bestow godhood. They just make you into a powerful and scary tyrant.
The Eye and Hand seem mostly tied to the world of Oerth (they slowly change hands in a circular path around the site of Vecna's old empire), but they have been known to leave it occasionally.
Does this relate in anyway to 'Die Vecna Die'. Is that how the whispered one managed to get into the cage? I know that DVD is not considered cannon, but I was just wondering if it said anything about the Hand and Eye within the cage.
Vecna entered the Cage by temporarily reliquishing his godhood while he was midway between his leap from demigod to greater deity status.
The PCs in that adventure do have various body parts of Vecna grafted on them, which is why they stand a chance of defeating him.
The presence of those body parts has nothing to do with how Vecna got in in the first place. But yes: you can get Vecna-bits (or bits of most any god) in Sigil without violating the god ban. The Lady of Pain doesn't have a blanket ban on artifacts (really disruptive ones like the Machine of Lum the Mad probably wouldn't be welcome, however).
Granted, anyone posessed by the Hand and Eye would probably end up trying to take over and eventually get mazed. On the other hand, the idea of some petty crime lord beneath Sigil's streets - or even a Golden Lord - with either the Hand or Eye or both is attractive; after all, the other powerful folk in Sigil are probably more than capable of dealing with such a foe. That kind of character might well be an interesting antagonist without being able to upset the balance of power in the City of Doors to any great extent.
I was thinking of doing a bit of Astral adventuring with my group... so any ideas will come in handy!