Planescape Collector's Guide

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
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Introduction
This Geeklist is intended to be a reasonably comprehensive guide to products released for the Planescape setting. It is an expanded version of my Planescape Collector's Guide, one of a series of D&D Collector's Guides over on ENWorld. It's also a companion to a similar Spelljammer Collector's Guide here at RPGGeek. This guide lists all of the Planescape items in the RPG Geek database (and one each from Board Game Geek and Video Game Geek), and also includes products not covered by the Geek.

As well as a line of thirty Planescape-branded RPG products, TSR released five novels, an extensive line of miniatures, a collectable card game and the Torment computer game. There were Planescape articles in Dragon, Dungeon and Polyhedron magazines and Planescape products were translated into at least three other languages.

Origins
Planescape has its origins in an idea put forward in TSR brainstorming session by Slade Henson. Together with Jeff Grubb and Dori Hein, Henson had previously pitched the idea of updating the 1st edition Manual of the Planes to 2nd Edition. In 1993, when TSR was looking for a new setting to replace the winding down Spelljammer line, Henson's proposal morphed into the Planescape setting. Steve Winter writes about this process in 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons:

Steve Winter wrote:

When the search for a new setting got seriously underway, the Planescape idea was still kicking around and it got tossed onto the table. It had never really been considered as setting up to that point. This cast it in a whole new light, and we all took a serious look at it. By the time the project got the final go-ahead to be placed on the schedule, almost everything about it was changed except for its name. That shouldn't be considered an indictment of the original proposal because it wasn't at all uncommon in a process like this. The name, though, which originated with Slade, was inspired. No other name would have suited Planescape half as well.

It was Zeb Cook, who together with editor David Wise, did the initial design work on the Planescape setting and they provided a clear vision for the line support team of Andria Hayday, Monte Cook, Ray Vallese, Michele Carter and Colin McComb to follow. In an article in Dragon #315, Stan! suggests that much of the success of the Planescape line was due to the lack of interference from TSR's upper management. Quoting McComb, Stan! writes:

Stan! wrote:

"We were lucky," say McComb. "Upper management was focusing their attention on a beginner game that Jeff Grubb was designing. He couldn't make a decision without it being second guessed." But the Planescape team was able to do their work with unfettered creativity. […]

Upper management was surprised when Planescape turned out to be such a hit. "Especially because we did it without their help," McComb says chuckling. "Best of all, because they left us alone at the beginning, they had to leave us alone as the line went on. And that was heaven."

Working along side Cook and Wise on the initial design team was artist Dana Knutson, whose initial concept art for the setting helped establish the tone. One of the rarest Planescape collectables is the Planescape Sketchbook a 32-page collection of Planescape concept art which was sold as a promotional item at GenCon 1994.

Despite Knutson's early work, the setting is most strongly associated with artist Tony DiTerlizzi's work. He, together with the graphic design team of Dawn Murin, Angie Lokotz and Dee Barnett, set the visual style of both the setting and the Planescape product line.

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1. Issue: Dragon (Issue 203 - Mar 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #203

Published in March 1994.

The first substantial mention of Planescape in TSR's periodicals seems to be in Dragon #203. The Plane Truth, Part I: Codifying Sigil is the first of a three part series by David "Zeb" Cook aimed at introducing the setting, and is presented as extracts from the notebooks of Fallendor the Mage. He has been having dreams of passages from the Codex of the Planes. There are some flavorful descriptions of some of Sigil's factions, the geography of the city and even the Lady of Pain. The article includes a DiTerlizzi illustration of a female tiefling and one of Knutson's concept drawings of the Xaositect Headquarters in the Hive.

This issue of Dragon also contains a prominent one-page teaser advert announcing:

FANTASY…
TAKEN TO THE EDGE
Coming in April

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2. Issue: Dragon (Issue 204 - Apr 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #204

Published in April 1994.

Periodicals were often distributed late in the month before the cover date, so the April 1994 issue would have ended up in the hands of subscribers shortly before the initial campaign boxed set appear on the shelves. Dragon #204 contains a double-page fold out spread marketing Planescape, and announcing the first three products in the line. Curiously, the cover art shown for the Planescape Monstrous Compendium doesn't match the actual product which would be released about three months later.

David "Zeb" Cook's introductory trilogy also continues this issue, with The Plane Truth Part II: A Journey to the Outlands, supported by more Knutson and DiTerlizzi art. This installment takes the form of journals written by Ambran the Seeker. Where the last issue looked mainly at Sigil, this one visits some of the gate-towns of the Outlands.

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3. RPG Item: Planescape Campaign Setting [Average Rating:8.42 Overall Rank:9]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
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Planescape Campaign Setting

Published in April 1994.

The original Planescape boxed set is packed with goodness. For a retail price of US$30, you get 224 pages of setting material spread across four stapled booklets; four large posters, all double-sided with one color side and one side black and white; and a Planescape DM's screen, so your players can have the Lady of Pain watching over them constantly.

A Player's Guide to the Planes provides a basic overview of the structure and inhabitants of the multiverse in the first half. Sigil's factions take up the second half, with each getting a one page description. The second booklet, A DM Guide to the Planes is an abbreviated and updated version of the original Manual of the Planes containing notes on the game mechanics of planar adventures as well as a plane-by-plane tour of all of the transitive, inner and outer planes.

The largest of the boxed set's booklets is titled Sigil and Beyond and presents the planar city and the Outlands (or rather the inner Outlands, up to the gate-towns) as a campaign setting. It includes advice on structuring a planar campaign, a detailed guide to the the locations of the Outlands and some of the gate-towns and lots more details on Sigil, including factions, wards, and of course portals.

The final booklet is the Monstrous Supplement which sets the standard for later Planescape Monstrous Appendices. Most creatures get a full two-page spread with a large colorful illustration and plenty of background and lore. As well as the strange Dabus of Sigil, whose speech appears as pictures, this booklet includes all of the modrons and one of my personal favorite Planescape introductions, the cranium rat.

The four posters are all both easy on the eye and high on utility. The first has a skillfully executed illustration of how all the planes fit together on the front, and the first version of the Planescape Cosmographical Tables on the back. (This chart of all known planar locations would be updated in later products.) The second poster has a map of the Outlands and the gate-towns on the front, and adventurer's-eye views of four planar locations on the back. Poster three has a color map of Sigil on one side, and the view from the balcony of one of Sigil's dwellings on the back. The final poster has a colorful chart of the faction logos on the front, and on the back, a chart of which gods (and other powerful beings) live on each of the planes.

It's hard to fault the product with launched the Planescape setting (except maybe for the inclusion of the cant!). The presentation is top notch and the box packed full of enough evocative material to support plenty of planar adventuring. Even if you aren't a Planescape collector, if you have any interest in the planar lore of D&D, this set is worth picking up. Main credits for the set go to David "Zeb" Cook, David Wise, and Dori Jean Hein.

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4. Issue: Dragon (Issue 205 - May 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #205

Published in May 1994.

In The Plane Truth, Part III: The Transformation, David "Zeb" Cook brings together the stories of Fallendor the Mage and Ambran the Seeker from the previous two installments. There is more story than planar lore here, but it does a good job of setting the tone of the Planescape line. There is an excellent full page DiTerlizzi picture at the beginning of the article and six black and white faction symbols -- more of Knutson's concept art -- border the article.

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5. RPG Item: The Eternal Boundary [Average Rating:7.29 Overall Rank:2899]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
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The Eternal Boundary

Published in May 1994.

The Eternal Boundary was the first adventure released for the setting, and it adopted a format which would be used for several other Planescape adventures. The adventure is contained in a 32-page stapled booklet, but the cover of the product is a thin double-sheet of paper which wraps around a cardboard screen. When set up, the screen presents the players with a clean version of the cover art and two maps relevant to the adventure. The DM's side also contains a number of maps, and a table of useful NPC and encounter stat blocks. An adventure-specific screen is an attractive way of presenting this material, and will give players a break from the ever-watchful eyes of the Lady of Pain on the campaign setting screen.

L. Richard Baker III authored this module, which is set mostly in the Hive Ward of Sigil. It starts with an investigation into dead people not remaining dead at the city mortuary and, of course, includes a fair amount of wheeling and dealing by various Planescape factions. The adventure concludes with a visit to one of the inner planes. It is designed for four to six characters of 1st to 5th level, and it does a solid job of introducing a group of adventurers to the setting and to Sigil.

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6. RPG Item: Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix [Average Rating:7.41 Overall Rank:388]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
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Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix

Published in June 1994.

By 1994, TSR had dropped the three-hole punched looseleaf page format for the Monstrous Compendium series. This was a fortunate thing for the Planescape line; instead of a mixture of of monster formats, Planescape got three hefty 128-page softcover books, all printed in color.

The first Planescape Appendix is primarily an update of the earlier Outer Planes Appendix (MC8), covering a variety of aasimon (angels), baatezu (devils), grue, mephits, slaadi, tanar'ri (demons) and yugoloths. Some other planar staples are detailed, including githyanki and githzerai. Following the standard set by the boxed set, each entry is a full page or two and includes a colorful illustration with often creative presentation. The fire grue, for example, is drawn on a burnt sheet of paper hovering over the page. The fact that all of the interior illustrations are by Tony DiTerlizzi gives this monster collection a distinctive look.

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7. Issue: Dragon (Issue 207 - Jul 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #207

Published in July 1994.

Rick Swan reviews the Planescape Campaign Setting in Role-Playing Reviews. He finds much to his liking although he is slightly critical of the cant. The boxed set scores a full six pips on a d6 on Swan's product rating scale.

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8. RPG Item: Planes of Chaos [Average Rating:8.08 Overall Rank:378]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Planes of Chaos

Published in July 1994.

Following the initial campaign setting, TSR released a series of three similarly sized boxed sets detailing the outer planes. The planes are split roughly into three groups and Planes of Chaos covers the group of five chaotic planes of the Great Wheel: the Abyss, Arborea, Limbo, Pandemonium, and Ysgard.

As with the campaign setting, there is a lot packed into the box for the retail price of US$30. The Travelogue is a 48-page guide to the chaos planes suitable for players to read. The planes are described from the perspective of planar residents, so there are plenty of uncertainties, rumors and plot hooks scatted throughout this full-color booklet. The Book of Chaos is the DM's equivalent, and is a chunky 128-page softcover book. There are a few new rules scattered through the book, but most of it is a catalog of locations and inhabitants of the chaos planes.

The third booklet, Chaos Adventures, has fifteen adventure outlines packed into just 32 pages. There are three for each of the chaos planes, one each for low, medium and high level parties. There isn't room for a lot of detail, but there are some interesting adventure seeds here. The last booklet is a 32-page coverless Monstrous Supplement, with detailed spreads on fourteen new creatures and two abyssal lords -- Graz'zt and Pazrael. DiTerlizzi again illustrates the monsters.

There isn't a screen in this set, but there are five posters. The full-color sides of the posters are maps or diagrams of the five planes detailed in Planes of Chaos, and there is a variety of different content on the black and white sides. The map of Ysgard has a picture of Nidavellir, the realm of the Norse dwarves on the back. The map of Pandemonium has a picture of the realm of Hruggekolohk on the back. On the reverse of the map of Limbo are pictures of Shra'kt'lor and the Floating City and the text of a Harmonium letter. The map of Arborea has a picture of the realm of Amun-thys on the flip-side. Finally, the back of the map of the Abyss has a fairly extensive "Lexicon" of the Abyss, which is a catalog of abyssal layers, and some information on transformations and corruptions that the Abyss can trigger.

Many Planescape products would be useful for planar adventures in any edition of the D&D rules, and Planes of Chaos is definitely one of those. It is extremely rules-light, but packed full of evocative descriptions of planar locales, residents and schemes. All three of the Planes of… sets should be high on the priority list of any Planescape collector. Main credits for this set go to Lester Smith, Wolfgang Baur, and Michele Carter.

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9. Issue: Dragon (Issue 208 - Aug 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #208

Published in August 1994.

This issue of Dragon contains two articles with Planescape content. The first one, Behind the Scenes: The Making of the Planescape Setting is a look at the process of creating the setting. It's authored by Dori Hein who was the Product Group Leader. It comes across slightly as a TSR self-congratulatory article, but we know in hindsight that Planescape was an unexpected success, so the team does have good reason to be patting themselves on the back. The article highlights the substantial influence Dana Knutson's early concept art played in the development of the game world.

The Sage Advice in this issue tackles some Planescape questions for the first time. Topics cover include tiefling multi-classing, heights and weights for new races (githzerai, tieflings and bariaur), if PC githzerai can still plane-shift (no) and whether planar residents can really see portals (yes).

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10. Board Game Publisher: TSR

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

The Worlds of TSR

Published in hardcover in August 1994, and in softcover in July 1995.

This coffee-table collection of TSR artwork gets a mention in this Planescape guide only by virtue of the Robh Ruppel painting right at the end of the book. When Worlds of TSR was being prepared the Planescape line was still brand new, so it only merited a mention in the "…and beyond" epilogue at the back. The painting included is the cover of the Planescape Campaign Setting, but it is marred by the Planescape logo, which would have looked better on the facing, mostly empty page.

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11. Issue: Dragon (Issue 209 - Sep 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #209

Published in September 1994.

This issue's Sage Advice answers a handful more Planescape questions. Skip Williams explains what happens if you try to cast speak with dead on a petitioner, and hypothesizes about the fate of petitioners whose spirits are raised, resurrected or reincarnated (they vanish).

Also clarified are racial adjustments for githzerai thieves (there are none), which proficiencies members of the Fated get double (just non-weapon proficiencies) and whether avatars of gods can enter Sigil (no, only their proxies).

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12. RPG Item: Well of Worlds [Average Rating:7.17 Overall Rank:1959]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Well of Worlds

Published in September 1994.

This was the second soft-cover Planescape product after the Planescape Monstrous Compendium and is also 128-pages in size. There is a poster map stitched into the back of the book. One side is a color map of Avernus, and the other is a black-and-white map of the planes with the location of each adventure in the book marked.

Well of Worlds is a collection of nine shorter adventures. The first one is designed to introduce a group of prime-dwelling adventurers to the planes, and the other eight all assume that the PCs already have some planar experience. The adventures cover a range of levels, up to 11th, with a few suitable for any levels. The book concludes with a five page appendix on planar magic and magic items.

A useful addition to any Planescape DM's library, either to run one or more of the adventures as is, or just to use as inspiration for a existing campaign. Colin McComb is credited as the lead designer.

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13. Issue: Dragon (Issue 210 - Oct 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #210

Published in October 1994.

Three more nuggets of Planescape content appear in this issue's Sage Advice. Skip Williams ponders the exact size of Sigil (short version: 5 by 40 miles; long version: it depends), how fiends, primes and planars communicate (they speak Common, or use telepathy, or magic) and the effects of a cranium rat's mind blast power (it works just like a mind flayer's).

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14. Issue: Polyhedron (Issue 100 - Vol. 14, No. 10)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Polyhedron #100

Published in October 1994.

The milestone 100th issue of Polyhedron contained a number of special articles on different systems and settings. The Analects of Sigil in this issue was the first of what were eventually five Polyhedron articles to cover the Planescape setting. Written by David "Zeb" Cook, it is a two-page article telling the story of the late Handulus, scholar of the third rank, and his search for the Five Citadels of Surrender located on the negative side of the inner planes. There are some nuggets of planar lore here, but most of the story is just flavoring.

The Lady of Pain also puts in an appearance on the cover of this issue. James Holloway has her playing cards and gazing impassively at a bar brawl.

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15. RPG Item: In the Abyss [Average Rating:7.20 Overall Rank:3796]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

In the Abyss

Published in October 1994.

The second stand-alone adventure for the Planescape setting, In the Abyss follows the same physical format as The Eternal Boundary. It has a paper cover sheet wrapped around a four-panel screen. The screen again has the cover art on the player's side, bordered by a map and a scroll titled "The Trumpeter's Proclamation", all in bright colors. The DM's side contain much less colorful -- but still useful -- DM's maps, most of which are of a ship of chaos. The adventure itself is again contained in a 32-page stapled booklet.

The adventure was written by Skip Williams, and is billed as "an errand to salvage the lost ship of chaos". This is one of seven such ships constructed by the tanar'ri as weapons in the Blood War. The missing one was given to the Doomguard, supposedly as a reward for their help in building the ships. The Doomguard have misplaced said ship, or so it seems. As the title indicates, the journey to discover the secret of the lost ship involves some exploration of the Abyss. In the Abyss is designed for four to six characters of 8th to 10th level.

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16. Issue: Dragon (Issue 211 - Nov 1994)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #211

Published in November 1994.

There are only two minor bits of Planescape content in this issue. One Sage Advice answer explores the planar mechanics involved when a gen fetches a spell for a sha'ir from the Al-Qadim setting. (The sha'ir won't notice any difference.) There is also a short review of The Eternal Boundary at the end of Rick Swan's Role-Playing Reviews.

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17. RPG Item: The Deva Spark [Average Rating:7.35 Overall Rank:2277]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

The Deva Spark

Published in November 1994.

The third Planescape adventure, The Deva Spark sticks to the same format as The Eternal Boundary and In the Abyss. A paper cover sheet wraps a four-panel screen, and there is a 32-page stapled adventure booklet tucked inside. One half of the player's side of the screen shows an unlabeled map of the Realm of Principality while the other half shows off the deva/bebilith clash from the product cover. The DM's side has a labelled map of the Realm of Principality, maps of the Abyssal Tavern, and the Labyrinth and a table of encounter stat blocks.

The Deva Spark is designed for four to six characters of 5th to 9th level, and is credited to Bill Slavicsek and J. M. Salsbury. The adventure begins when a tavern fight breaks out between a deva and a bebilith. It continues with some railroading through a random portal to the Lower Planes, as the player characters attempt to save the life of the wounded deva. The adventure concludes by presenting the heroes with a difficult moral and philosophical decision.

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18. Issue: Dragon (Issue 213 - Jan 1995)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #213

Published in January 1995.

Rich Baker provides eight pages of information on Sigil's faction in Godsmen, Bleakers, Guvners, & Takers: Secrets of the Planescape Setting's Factions. It is a solid overview of all of the factions and even squeezes in four new faction-specific spells.

Planar Personalities: A Few of Sigil's More Colorful Residents by Bill Slavicsek and Michele Carter introduces A'kin the friendly fiend, Lissandra the gate-seeker, Estavan of the planar trade consortium, and Kylie, a tout. Each one does get a stat block, but the bulk of the article is backstory and hooks for each of the characters.

Two of the other articles in this issue also have planar themes (The Demiplane of Shadow and You Never Know Who (or What) You'll Meet) but neither of those is specifically Planescape setting material.

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19. RPG Item: Planes of Law [Average Rating:8.11 Overall Rank:402]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Planes of Law

Published in January 1995.

Like Planes of Chaos, the third Planescape boxed set -- Planes of Law -- details the five lawful planes of the Great Wheel. Each plane is covered in considerable detail, but the presentation format has changed a little. There is still a colorfully illustrated 32-page booklet aimed squarely at players; it's titled A Player's Guide to Law. This time though, the DM's content and adventure ideas are presented across five more 32-page booklets, one for each lawful plane.

Each of the Acheron, Arcadia, Baator, Mechanus and Mount Celestia booklets cover the physical and magical conditions on the plane, the inhabitants, and locations on each of the plane's layers. There are a few pages of adventure ideas rounding out each one. The final 32-page booklet in the set is the Planes of Law Monstrous Supplement containing two page spreads for twelve creatures plus six more pages covering various types of archons. The five poster maps showing the Planes of Law are colorful and creative in their presentation of the layers of each plan. It would be interesting to see a collage of all of the poster maps from the Planescape boxed sets arranged in the shape of the Great Wheel. It would also be a collage large enough to wallpaper a small room!

There is more variety in the content on the black-and-white sides of the posters this time. The map of Acheron has a chart titled Hierarchies of Acheron on the back. This has organisational charts for various humanoid races and factions resident on the plane. There are also simple maps of the cities of Vorkehan and Resounding Thunder. The back of the Arcadia map are Updated Planescape Cosmographical Tables; this is an update of the same chart from the initial boxed set, but with the additional detail from Planes of Chaos and Planes of Law added in. Baator's map details the Hierarchy of Baator on the back. It describes the Lords of the Nine, the Dark Eight and the chain of rank-and-file Baatezu. On the flip-side of the Mechanus map, is an appropriately eye-straining chart illustrating the modron hierarchy. The reverse of the Mount Celestia map charts the ranks of the aasimon and archons, the Order of the Planes-Militant, and the Dwarves of Erackinor. There is also a side-view map of the Realm of Erackinor.

This is another Planescape product packed full of colorful D&D planar lore and imaginative illustrations. Along with the main boxed set, the three "Planes of…" sets should really be the starting point for any Planescape collection. Main design credits for this product go to Colin McComb, Wolfgang Baur, Michele Carter, and Dori Hein.

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20. Issue: Dragon (Issue 214 - Feb 1995)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #214

Published in February 1995.

In one of the short and sweet entries in this issue's Role-Playing Reviews, Rick Swan takes a look as Planes of Chaos. His concludes that "with crisp prose and vivid descriptions, Smith and Baur not only have captured the setting's eerie majesty, but have done so in astonishing detail".

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21. RPG Item: Fires of Dis [Average Rating:7.59 Overall Rank:2244]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Fires of Dis

Published in February 1995.

The fourth Planescape adventure presented in a screen plus booklet format, Fires of Dis is a little meatier than the previous three installments, clocking in at 64 pages. The screen has the cover art in the middle of the player's side, plus maps of Fortitude and Ribcage on either side, all full color. The DM's side is printed in two-colors and contains a map of a route through Avernus, a partial map of the City of Dis and more detailed maps of the Iron Tower and one other adventure location.

Designed for four to six characters of 5th to 9th level, Fires of Dis is a quest for a stolen sword which leads into the depths of Baator. The adventure is split over six chapters and the presentation lives up to the high Planescape standard. As well as smaller pictures scattered through the text, there are five full-page color illustrations included. Steve Perrin and Ray Vallese pack a lot into this adventure, but the plot-line feels a little forced and the resolution seems almost capriciously out of the player's hands.

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22. Issue: Dragon (Issue 215 - Mar 1995)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #215

Published in March 1995.

This issue's Sage Advice covers five Planescape questions, two on levels and spell-casting abilities of plane-traveling priests, one on the functioning of poison on the astral plane, and two on gating abilities and regenerative powers of tanar'ri.

The Blood Wars card game also gets a promotional article in The Game Wizards. As well as tips on building decks, this article contains lists of the cards found in the initial Duel-Deck release.

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23. Board Game: Blood Wars [Average Rating:5.29 Overall Rank:19486]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Blood Wars Duel-Deck Card Game

Published in March 1995.

In 1994, TSR rushed the Spellfire card game into production to try to compete with the runaway success of Magic: The Gathering. Blood Wars was a follow up collectible card game based on the themes of the Planescape setting.

The game was sold in "Duel-Deck" packs, each containing the rule book and two 50-card decks, for a total of 100 cards in these packs. Each of the 50-card decks is made up of a random selection of cards, drawn from a total of 300 unique cards making up the initial set. There is only a single card found in the "Duel-Deck" packs that doesn't also occur in the Rebels and Reinforcements Escalation Pack -- The Bladeling Hero.

For collectors not satisfied with merely collecting all of the available Blood Wards cards, the Acaeum's Planescape sub-web indicates that there were also promotional Blood Wars posters and t-shirts sent out to stores.

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24. Board Game: Blood Wars [Average Rating:5.29 Overall Rank:19486]

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Blood Wars Escalation Pack #1: Rebels and Reinforcements

Published in March 1995.

Available in stores at the same time as the initial "Duel-Deck" packs, these cards were sold in sealed booster packs of 15 cards. Each boost contains a random selection of the 299 cards this Escalation Pack has in common with the starter packs, plus an additional 34 chase cards only found in the sealed boosters. One of these is the ultra-rare card, The Lady of Pain.

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25. Issue: Dragon (Issue 216 - Apr 1995)

Ant Brooks

(Echohawk)

South Africa
Madibeng
North West

Dragon #216

Published in April 1995.

Adding nothing at all to Planescape lore, the humorous April Fool's Faxions article in this issue provides parodies of Sigil's factions, including The Free Flora Collective, the Wizards of the Black Teddy, and the Apathetic Alliance.

There are two Planescape questions answered in Sage Advice. Can planars who move to the Al-Qadim setting adopt classes from that setting. (No, they are limited to the various outsider kits.) How many miles are there between the spire and the gate towns, and what lies beyond the gate towns? (Unrevealed, but maybe 25,000 miles. Beyond is unexplored.)

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