Over the past year there has been an unusual amount of books that cover the planes regions. At first there was only the Wizards? book Manual of the Planes. While it was meet with compliments and enjoyed by many, there was a void for planar ideas that did not fit. At first I was going to do a more comprehensive review that detailed many of the planes books, but with the review section set up to list reviews under specific books I have chosen to just do them all individually. Or so I hope.

DM?s Guide to the Planes is PDF by Ronin Arts. Unlike any of the other planar books it actually builds off of one of them, the Book of Planes by Mongoose. The Book of Planes is not needed to use and enjoy this PDF though. The DM?s Guide to the Demi Planes presents eight different demi planes. Unlike most of the other planes that are written about many of these are very finite in size showing what interesting ideas and exploration can be done in such places of limited space.

The PDF is seventy five pages. The art and layout are both very well done. The book is well book marked and comes in a zip file a little under ten megs in size.

The book has a simple idea in it that none of the others does. It includes the DC for a character to have some knowledge about the plane and makes great use of the skill Knowledge Planes. Unlike other plane books though, this one does not specifically list adventure ideas for using the demi planes. While some people will have no problems coming up with ideas to use the planes, others feel more comfortable with adventure seeds that are already provided.

The first demi plane is called the ageless chamber. It is a small room sized plane that floats around the Astral Plane. Time has no effect on anything inside the chamber. It is a small and simple idea for a demi plane but shows some of the odd and even unique properties a demi plane can possess. There are suggestions for where the gates into the plane exist and some hazards that people might not expect.

The Astral Ship is one of the few demi planes that is mobile. It is currently occupied by a collection of demons but there could be a lot of interesting creatures and non player characters that could be used here. It is actually a form of a demi plane that seems a little complicated and one might wonder why make a plane that is a ship when a magical ship might be easier. But still the idea is different and creative making it a nice encounter to surprise the players with.

The Blackguard?s Tomb is a demi plane with a rich history and some long term campaign potential. Basically it is the final resting place of a very powerful Blackguard and currently even his deity can not bring him back to life. I think it can serve as an interesting backdrop for the players to discover and then worry about.

The Bone Field is a demi plane that exists just above the negative energy plane and consists entirely of bones. IT is a haven for undead and has a bone mausoleum. One thing that does annoy me though is when books introduce things like the mausoleum and give absolutely no hint or possibilities of what are inside or really anything about it. As it is the only feature on the plane of bones and at least they could have something about it.

The Burning River is a really interesting idea. It is a river of fire and lava that goes around in a basic circular like shape. There are rocks and mountains to each side but the river is the prominent feature. There are as can be expected a great deal of fire oriented creatures and hazards through out. This one really just struck me as something different that could be used with ease.

The Chiming Clocks is a plane in decline that is slowly being destroyed. However it houses a artifact like clock that can destroy worlds. Celestials guard it but frankly I think they need to guard such a powerful item a little better. I think because of what it is and the fact it is always guarded would make this a tough plane to use.

The Clockwork Driven Lighthouse is an extremely powerful artifact for good and thus has its won demi plane. It is another interesting idea of a weapon that can destroy evil with ease but its singular use makes it a little difficult to use and this one also seems like it would be better just as an artifact and not so much as a plane.

The Great Corpse is an idea I have read before. It is the long dead body of a once great deity that is now a plane of its own. This seems like a great lead in to Requiem for a God by Malhavok Press.

The planes are creative but with some it does seem like they were made into planes because that is what the book is about when they might have been better presented as other things. There is a lot of creativity in the book though.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I understand now.

Some time back, I reviewed another product by this author (6 Planar Gates, I think it was called). On that review, I mentioned that the product was excellent, but that I was put off by the introduction in which the author mourns the low sales of a previous publication.

This is that publication, and I retract my criticism of that introduction.

Why? Because this product SHOULD sell well. It is apparent from the first 3-5 pages that a great deal of time and effort went into making this a quality work that would be to the great benefit of any GM that uses planar activity in their campaigns.

Each of these planes, while often obscure, has enormous posibilities with the application of some imagination on the part of the GM. For that matter, I could easily design an entire campaign based upon the premise used for any one of these planes. The detailing, nature, and history (where applicable) are extensive and fluent, and mesh with existing planar game design without any major adjustment.

Each description also includes such things as: ways to and from the plane, inhabitants (native or otherwise), special planar-related items or magics, and more.

The book also gives plenty of ideas for designing your own demiplanes, and a number of interesting planar gate ideas at the end.

Honestly, from format to quality, to value, to content... this was one of the best all-around gaming supplements I've purchased in the past 5 years. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: In addition to the above mentioned things, the editing and flow of the writing were superb, and made it an easy and entertaining (as well as informative) read. It also made reference to several other planar products (such as The Book of the Planes) which I'm now sorely tempted to get my hands on.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There was only 1 thing I didn't like. I wanted more. Not because I felt they didn't give me tons of content (more than my money's worth), but because I was so intrigued by what I got that I wanted it to keep coming. I just have to hope there's a sequel someday, I guess.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A nice collection of demiplanes for planar gamers. Some, like the clockwork lighthouse, can reach normal "prime" campaigns and serve as motives for players to travel to the planes. Others, like the Ageless Chamber, are more appropriate for campaigns already occurring on the planes.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Lots of plot hooks and adventure seeds. Lends itself well to DMs that like to create their own scenarios but can use a sturdy foundation to build on.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A little short.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This was an excellent product, very useful, the interior art was great and the content exactly what I was looking for to flush out some planar adventures.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A beutifully provacative book. An iddeas book. You will find the art and the cocepts will invokesoem great ideas in you but sadly several of the demiplanes are of little use or simply not fleashed out enough to be practical.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>