I followed a link in some thread on these forums to www.RPGnow.com where they sell the campaign setting book and many other outdated materials as pdf files. The campaign setting was only 5 dollars. So I registered and started ordering the pdf. A message popped up saying that a fee would be added if my purchase was below 6.40 $, so I thought, hey I might as well add another few bucks then and buy another supplement. But the list was big and I don't know a thing about it.
Which brings me to my question:
What is in your opinion the 2ndmost valuable/good planescape book?
2nd question: I'm using 3.0 core rules, how adaptable will the planescape rules be in that regard?
If the factions are what you want, go with the Factol's Manifesto.
Hellbound for the blood war (surprise, surprise).
I like the Planes of ______ boxed sets too- but it all depends on what kind of situations you're going to be running.
Adapting them to 3e... it's mostly converting creatures (done in another thread on this Forum), balancing encounters and stating uniques; it was a pretty stat light setting, all things considered.
Hellbound: the Bloodwar, hands down. It's solid all the way through, and I read that sucker quicker than a Tom Clancy novel. THere are some people on these boards who nearly deify the author. Even if you decide that this isn't your second choice, please make it your third.
I prefer Faces of Evil to Hellbound as a supplement; it's got more vital information on the fiends. I read the whole thing in the parking lot immediately after I bought it, I was so entranced. If you read it, you'll be well-informed about things fiendish as any of us. Hellbound has adventures, though, and a beautiful comic book, and info on the tactics of the Blood War if that interests you. But I got along without it for a long time.
Planescape doesn't need to be adaptable, since Planewalker.com has most of the factions converted (with faction-specific feats) and this very forum has conversions of all the monsters. So look through Planewalker, and ask us if you need any more help. http://www.zachshuford.com/kriegstanz/ is also a good source for converted factions.
I think Uncaged: Faces of Sigil is my favorite Planescape book. The Factol's Manifesto is a close second. But that assumes that Sigil and the factions are what you're into.
I guess you should get the boxed set and Faces of Evil, and get more depending on what aspects of the setting you like. If you're interested in the planes of Law, get Planes of Law. If you're interested in the Inner Planes, get The Inner Planes. If you're interested in the factions, The Factol's Manifesto is indispensible. If you want to read the best book of NPCs ever written for any game, look at Uncaged.
But Hellbound is really good too. Tough call.
Then I would definitely go with Planes of Law,
Planes of Conflict
and Planes of Chaos.
Then you want to pick up the Inner Planes,
Guide to the Ethereal
and Guide to the Astral.
Then the Outlands Primer.
And then all the rest.
Faces of Sigil is surprisingly good. A lot of interesting NPC's, it is fun to read. It almost reads like a novel. And it is filled with all sorts of interesting factoids and snippets of daily life in Sigil.
Gosh, they are all so good, it doesn't really matter what order you get them in. You are in for a very big treat! :D
Otherwise, I strongly agree with the others. If you are looking to run a campaign based on a specific aspect of Planescape, then it would be best to buy a book focusing on said aspect.
I had friends who read it and loved it, and they hadn't even played AD&D of any sort before.
Of course, given that planescape focuses mostly on the outer planes it might not be what you're after, but for inner plane material, it's awesome. I love the book.
As for the rest, I'd have to agree with Gray Richardson, it doesn't really matter, get them all :D
Uncaged: Faces of Sigil
Factols Manifesto
Hellbound
Roughly in that order
I would say
1) Faces of evil
2) if you are using rpgnow then purchase Van richten's compendiums I realize it's ravenloft but it has a great section on fiends and provides inspiration for ideas that stretch way beyond the bounds of that setting.
If you know for sure that you are interested in certain planes then you should get the appropriate "Planes of ____" sets (or Guide to the Astral/Ethereal Plane(s), or Inner Planes; basically if you have a specific plane you like, get the appropriate book), and if you know for sure you want info on the Blood War get the Hellbound set, and if you really really want info on the fiends, get Faces of Evil, but if you want a feel for the whole setting overall, and if the Campaign Setting doesn't seem like it is quite enough, get the Handbook. After that you should be getting some ideas and maybe know what you want to get next.
Oh, the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix I is also really helpful. Most of the creatures in there have been ported to 3/3.5E, but they've lost a lot of flavor along the way. I actually think it would actually be very helpful to read the fiend entries here before getting Faces of Evil, otherwise you might not be able to follow as easily (assuming fiends are your thing and you don't already know them all by name; i.e. you can keep Cornugons, Gelugons, Hamatula, Glabrezu, and Babaus all straight).
My top 5
1. Dead Gods
2. Hellbound
3. Well of Worlds (I ran Love Letter like 5 times!)
4. The Eternal Boundary
5. Harbinger House (for the dm screen maps alone!)
1) In the Cage
2) Faces of Evil
3) Planes of Conflict
4) Planes of Chaos
5) Planes of Law
As far as adventures go, running Planescape without running Dead Gods is about as unthinkable as it gets. This super epic adventure is, in my opinion, the best adventure every put out for D&D. Planescape is unusual in that there are more adventures than you can run for one group. Most other settings have just enough adventures to run one group through the whole campaign. All of them are pretty good.
All the boxed sets are excellent and the first two Monstrous Compendiums are invaluable resources.
For nonSigil related fair I'd go with Faces of Evil. Because it's all about Fiends and really let's face it what more is there to life?! Personally I'd stay away from the modules but that's personal preference. The one only module that is lost in infamey and no one anywhere should ever pick it up because it is truly and completely EVIL is DVD, just don't even think about, let it alone.
Planescape really is like crack you'll eventually want all of it but the Planescape box set and Faces of Sigil are your two best starters.
The main campaign setting has some info that was superceded/expanded upon in later products.
I would suggest the Planewalker's Handbook instead (really should have been the first product.)
If you are going to have a huge focus on religions, the On Hallowed Ground book is fantastic, and is still hands down the best deity book ever published for D&D imo.
If you want a huge focus on devils and demons, then I would suggest Faces of Evil, as it really lays it all out for the mightiest beings from the lower planes. Its not a monster book, but more of real precise look into what makes them tick.
Inner Planes, Etherial Planes, Astral Planes are all great!
Out of the Outer Planes boxsets, I would go with the Planes of Chaos.
I wager you'll be getting them all though, as its an absolute joy to read most of them, and any time I pick one of them up, another idea springs forth. You will get years of use out of these!