Close
Close
Please choose which option you would like to add to your cart.
Advanced Search

Well of Worlds [Planescape] (2e)Click to magnify
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.dmsguild.com/pdf_previews/17269-sample.pdf

Well of Worlds [Planescape] (2e)

ADD TO WISHLIST >
Selected Option:

Clueless? The majesty and the dark got you down, cutter? Don't know how to lead a green prime to water? Then worry no more! The Well of Worlds is the answer to every basher's pleas for introducing gamers to the planes.

The chant is: Nine new adventures; a poster map of the planes (depicting Avernus, the first layer of Baator); a slew of magical items; and excitement!

Face off against a crazy king or steal a factol's better weapon—Well of Worlds gives hours of play. It's designed for any plane-traveling party, with adventures for characters of all levels. (An' if that ain't enough for ya, then pike it, berk!)

Product History

The Well of Worlds (1994), by Colin McComb, is the first adventure anthology for Planescape. It was published in October 1994.

About the Title. The title of The Well of Worlds implies that there's some literal well in the adventure, an idea supported by the gaping hole on the cover. That's not the case: the "well of worlds" is just a metaphor for an anthology of adventures. There's not a connection to the "well of many worlds" magic item either.

Continuing the Planescape Series. The Well of Worlds was the fourth supplement for the Planescape line, and once more it was something new. The Eternal Boundary (1994) had been an adventure; Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994) had been a monster manual; and Planes of Chaos (1994) had been a setting book. The Well of Worlds returned to the idea of adventures, but instead of offering up a single, longer adventure it instead presented a whole series of unconnected (and shorter) scenarios. Ironically, this was quite similar to the first-ever big adventure book for the outer planes, OP1: Tales of the Outer Planes (1988).

Adventure Tropes. Before The Well of Worlds, Planescape had just one adventure, The Eternal Boundary, which suggested that a typical Planescape adventure started in Sigil and then traveled out into the planes. The Well of Worlds considerable broadened the scope of Planescape adventures by offering many more options for "typical" scenarios.

It suggested that Planescape adventures could:

  • Take place entirely in Sigil ("II: The Mazes").
  • Involve quests or tasks where the characters decided to enter other planes ("III: Love Letter", "V: Hard Time", "IX: People under the Fall"), like in The Eternal Boundary.
  • Transport characters to other planes that they then had to escape ("I: To Baator and Back", "VII: Recruiters", "VIII: The Hunt").
  • Focus on planar monsters attacking prime planes ("IV: Blood Storm", "VI: Epona's Daughter").
  • Detail wars between the planes ("IV: Blood Storm", "IX: People under the Fall").

The adventures in The Well of Worlds also had some very nice formatting and organization that wasn't very common in D&D adventures at the time. This included great overviews of the adventure and descriptions of what various Planescape factions wanted.

Expanding Planescape. The Well of Worlds touches upon many locales in the Planescape setting, including the Abyss, Arborea, Baator, the Beastlands, Carceri, and the Outlands. However, almost all of these visits are very shallow and don't reveal many details about the various planes. The only real exceptions are the adventure in Baator (which includes a full-color map of Avernus) and the adventure in Sigil (which details Timlin's Maze).

In the broader story of Planescape, The Well of Worlds is notable for its looks at the Blood War, one of the most important plot elements in the setting. It's hinted at in "III: Love Letter" and is the focus of "IV: Blood Storm".

About the Creators. McComb was in the middle of his five years at TSR when he wrote The Well of Worlds. This was his first work for the Planescape line, but he'd return many times, with his other contributions to the setting including work on Faces of Evil: The Fiends (1997), The Great Modron March (1997), Hellbound: The Blood War (1996), On Hallowed Ground (1996), Planes of Conflict (1996), and Planes of Law (1995), and A Player's Primer to the Outlands (1995).

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (1)
Discussions (6)
Customer avatar
Spyros N October 20, 2021 7:09 pm UTC
PoD please?
Customer avatar
Keith K August 29, 2021 1:40 pm UTC
so why remove the print options? Was really hoping to get it as soon as I get money again
Customer avatar
Nick S April 01, 2021 6:20 pm UTC
PURCHASER
WARNING: DO NOT BUY
I have contacted both DMs Guild and WotC about quality problems with this product and they simply don't care.

Well of Worlds [Planescape] (2e): The cover is damaged (cracks and creases on left-hand side, the content does not fit the dimensions of the page (they are small rectangles within the page -- the edges do not touch)
Reply
Customer avatar
Nick S August 20, 2021 6:54 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Book has been updated 8/20/2021. It is more legible now, but the text is still pretty soft and overall it seems a little low-resolution. At least the page dimensions are correct and the damaged cover has been replaced... Better, but still not great.
Customer avatar
Søren W June 09, 2017 9:52 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Now we just need "Tales from the Infinite Staircase" and "The Great Modron March" to get the same treatment! =3
Reply
Customer avatar
Brian B May 01, 2019 10:03 am UTC
PURCHASER
That would be nice to have. We can hope.
Customer avatar
James B October 22, 2014 3:15 am UTC
PURCHASER
Double-sided poster map has two scans of one side (i.e. one side is missing) as of July 16, 2014.
Reply
Customer avatar
Ben W August 28, 2015 3:21 pm UTC
Has this been fixed? Looks like the file was updated in April 2015
Reply
Customer avatar
Zia M April 26, 2017 4:39 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Looks complete currently, both sides of the map are cut into sections over 8 pages each. I have the original in print and I don't see anything missing from the map as far as I can tell.
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!















Product Information
Platinum seller
Author(s)
Rules Edition(s)
Pages
146
Edition
1.0
ISBN
9781560768937
Publisher Stock #
TSR 2604
File Size:
72.66 MB
Format
Scanned image Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
May 12, 2022
This title was added to our catalog on January 21, 2014.