Rating: 
Summary: plain-scrape
Review: --Short version--
Slimmed down M ot P with 3 ed. rules and nerfed monsters. Original was better and 2 ed. (Planescape) blew it out of the water....P>... --Long--
If (like me) you are an old Planescape DM, you will find this book irresistible as a source book, but you will be disappointed, and you may die of boredom (remember the Hell and Heavenly warriors books). The cosmology is flat, they leave out most of the interesting characteristics of the plains (eg, no mention of the Abyss corrupting magic, no animal traits from the Beast lands).
It is useful for some of the numbers, but some of the monsters have been nerfed (made safe) especially the Ultraloth. I went and scribbled in a strength that matched up with 2end ed rules. They didn't give any background on the society of 'loths (or any other races, I just really love 'loths they make for evil bad plot twist) If you are looking into going to the planes I would definitely suggest getting the Planescape box and supplements if you can find and afford them (the whole set is kind of expensive). The book ended up being a slimmed down Manuel of the Planes with some 3 ed. stuff added in.
The prestige classes were O.K. and the new creatures are interesting (that is how it made it up to two stars)
Rating: 
Summary: Marked down for bad layout
Review: ARRRGH.
WOTC does it again. They took a basicly solid book and made it three times harder top read by printing it in small type against an incredibly busy "artistic" background.
This isn't a coffee table book, this is a book that first and foremost exists to be read. Destroying legability in the name of art was a BAD idea.
Is the text useful? Yes so far it seems to be however its going to take me three tiems as long to plow through it because of the layout. "You get used to it" isn't the answer for me as I really don't have the time to waste the first or second time through.
WTOC, you are a GAME company not an art publishign house. In the future please try to remember that. Art is fine, even desirable, but NOT at the expense of legability.
Rating: 
Summary: The best of Planescape, condensed
Review: As a longtime (A)D&D fan, I was rather disappointed to see that a number of my favorite campaign settings were going to be discontinued in 3rd Edition. While I'm still reeling over the loss of Krynn, I weep no longer for Planescape. Among many other things, this new Manual of the Planes is a condensation of all the best material from the Planescape setting, without all the "berk" and the "basher" talk, the hokey philosophies, and all of the other baggage. It gives a thorough descriptions of the Great Wheel cosmology of D&D fame, with all of the planes and a couple of revisitations/revisions of a few (such as the Ethereal plane, which is treated quite differently in 3rd Edition). One of the more interesting touches in line with 3rd Edition's attempt to recapture that 1st Edition feel is the fact that the planes have all their old names. Well, that's not entirely true; they have their old names and their new names (which I prefer because they are more exotic). Most exciting of all, though, they have taken many of the categories of features common to all the planes (time flow, gravity, dominant energies, alignment and so on) and laid them out as lists, so the more ambitious player can mix and match features to aid in the creation of their own cosmologies! There's also the standard fare for 3rd Edition D&D books. It contains a host of new monsters, both rehashes from old and totally new concepts. It has a few new prestige classes which are a bit on the uninspired side, though that's nothing new. That is a minor complaint, though. In short, it's the best of the old combined with great new material, and condensed into one relatively inexpensive book. While it's true that no campaign *requires* the information in this book, the Manual of the Planes could stand to broaden the horizons of any campaign.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of the classic AD&D multiverse
Review: At long last, the very rarest of the core AD&D hardcovers! Appearing briefly in 1987, this masterwork finally revealed the planes of existence... you get complete details on spellcasting and adventure in the Elemental Planes, the Abyss, the Nine Hells, the Seven Heavens, Hades, and everything in between! And this is *not* the Planescape universe... all of this material is true to the original AD&D vision set out by Gygax, and thus totally compatible with Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, or your own campaign world. If you want to expand your campaign's depth and majesty into infinity, this is the book with which to do it!
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond your wildest (plane of) Dreams
Review: Excepting the reasonably priced three core books (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual), I have been rather critical of WOTC's high prices for medium level product.
No more.
The Manual of the Planes is everything promised and more.
This hardback contains:
*Detailed descriptions of the Planes of the traditional D&D cosmology
*Rules for constructing your own Cosmology
*Denizens of the Planes
*Rules for creating Outsider PCs
*Templates for creating Planer creatures (beyond celestial and Fiends)
*Four EXCELLENT Prestige classes
And a LOT more.
Gone on the insultingly vapid Modrons... now we have Axiomatic (read: Perfect) creatures and the Inevitables (Robotic Creatures of law seeking justic)...
Slaad Mutations are fully deatiled...
The book just keeps getting better
And the artwork is amazing.
If you were a fan of Planescape, here is your 3rd edition jumping off point...
And for those of you that we Spelljammer fans... check out the Mercane... and grin.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly disappointed
Review: For all those AD&D fans who were flying through the planes to get the thrill of adventure, this book has simply been a waste. Why is it so popular ? Planescape used to be better and even the Manual of the Planes offered really SPECIFIC rules to go adventuring on the other planes. So why am I upset ? Because this book offers no specific rules ( I mean serious ones) once you leave your beloved Prime material plane. Plane shifting to the Abyss or Pandemonium is as trifle a matter as teleporting to the nearest petty castle. Your magic, your spells, everything is basically left unhindered (well, nearly). All in all, a book for younglings who simply get fascinated at discovering there are brand new planes with sometimes, uh, spooky monsters. For the others, well, a good artwork (hence it doesn't get the insulting one star).
Rating:
Summary: Good, but it's not Planescape
Review: For the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons products, there was a product line called 'Planescape' that detailed the Planes. I own every Planescape product in the product line and this is the only D&D product line I can say that for. This book reprints a condensed version of the Planescape materials. The information is more concise and in more ways, more useful - but it has lost most of its flavor which made the original product line so memorable. If you don't have the Planescape products, this is an excellent substitute. You may ask why I'm giving a reprint such a high rating. The Manual of the Planes also contains the best write up on fantasy cosmology to date. Rather than force feeding an official view, this sourcebook provides flexible rules for designing a cosmology suitable to your game world. I'm generally impressed, though I missed Sigil and the 'flavor' of the characters who introducted the planes, beings, and locations in Planescape. This is an excellent product and well-worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but it's not Planescape
Review: For the 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons products, there was a product line called 'Planescape' that detailed the Planes. I own every Planescape product in the product line and this is the only D&D product line I can say that for. This book reprints a condensed version of the Planescape materials. The information is more concise and in more ways, more useful - but it has lost most of its flavor which made the original product line so memorable. If you don't have the Planescape products, this is an excellent substitute. You may ask why I'm giving a reprint such a high rating. The Manual of the Planes also contains the best write up on fantasy cosmology to date. Rather than force feeding an official view, this sourcebook provides flexible rules for designing a cosmology suitable to your game world. I'm generally impressed, though I missed Sigil and the 'flavor' of the characters who introducted the planes, beings, and locations in Planescape. This is an excellent product and well-worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: So, DM's... want to send your players to Hell?
Review: How about drown them in the Abyss? Well, here's your chance. MOTP is a great accessory for any DM who needs a break from the usual campaign setting, or to expand on the campaign currently underway for those high-level characters who need their skills challenged. There are descriptions, charts, and new monsters throughout this book that just about any DM would salivate over. While not exactly the best reference book for someone who does not DM, it's fascinating reading for the casual player, too. Just keep in mind that unless you're running a plane-touched character, you're not going to find much help with character development here. But regardless, it's a wonderful book, and was well-worth my money. A definite must-have for any DM!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I am a long time fan of the Planescape campaign setting from 2nd edition, and I have to say that this product was very disappointing. It is far less detailed than its 2E precursor, especially concerning Sigil. The center of the D&D cosmology is relegated to little more a paragraph, and the Lady of Pain and factions are given no more than a brief mention. What's worse than this, to my mind, is that all of the flavor and atmosphere from the original setting have been done away with. The distinctive dialect and book art are gone. Furthermore, the numerous typographical errors, badly worded explanations, pointless illustrations, and confusing descriptions of how the layers of a plane relate to one another make this book seem as though it was quickly and shoddily tossed together. I recommend it to no one, especially if you ever played with Planescape in 2nd edition.
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