D&D 5E [D&D 5E] Pirates of the Spheres: Captain's Privilege (Recruiting)

The Dragon Empire would have us believe that they control space with an iron grip. But, naughty people like us slip through their claws all the time. With the right ship, the right crew, and the right captain, anything is possible in the vastness of space.

First things first - I'm back in the DM chair after a lengthy hiatus. Things are finally stabilizing for me in the really real world so I wanted to get back in to the DM pool.

Second things second - I am, however, going to take baby steps. This will be my only game and its planned to be a relatively short adventure. If it goes well, we may continue the campaign, but the adventure is designed to have a definitive ending just in case.

Third things third - The Universe...

This setting is based on Spelljammer, Dragonstar, and Council of Wyrms, with inspiration taken from Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Firefly. The galaxy is divided in to four rough "quadrants." If we were to compare them to Star Trek's quadrants, the Alpha Quadrant is home to Earth and a couple of other inhabited planets. The Gamma Quadrant contains all of the D&D worlds. The Delta Quadrant is where our campaign is set, home to the Dragon Empire - dozens of worlds ruled by dragon clans where humanoid races are second class citizens. The Beta Quadrant is largely unexplored but rumored to be the home of eldritch horrors and elder gods.

Space travel works like Spelljammer, with a spacefaring ship powered by a magical helm. A spellcaster operates the helm (usually by sitting in a throne/chair located belowdecks) and sacrifices a spell slot - 1 level's worth of spell slots equals 1 hour of ship operation, though the spell slot is still lost if the spellcaster leaves the helm before the hour is up. The fastest ships can approach light speed but not quite achieve it. Interstellar travel is achieved through the astral plane (what Earth natives call hyperspace). Most solar systems have an astral portal at the edge of the system. Some of the biggest and most powerful ships are able to generate their own portals. Travel through the astral plane equates to roughly 1 light year per day. However, time in the astral is tricky and spelljammers can get lost if they are not focused on their destination (navigation through the astral plane requires the spellcaster at the helm to maintain Concentration).

Each solar system is surrounded by a metaphysical sphere, invisible in real space, but seen as an impossibly massive black globe in astral space. Astral Portals are created on the surface of a sphere and can't be made elsewhere. Each sphere serves as a sort of protective bubble, containing the cosmology, outer planes, and deities of the sentient races within it. Once a ship travels beyond a sphere, either in real space or the astral plane, the influence of the dieities and cosmology of that plane is lost. Clerics and other characters who draw power from a deity or cosmology can still access spells and class abilities, but the link between them is weak (no game effect, but players of such characters should consider this when roleplaying). The Dragon Empire has circumvented this limitation/barrier by creating the Unification Church, a pantheon of twelve deific archetypes which adherents claim are the true deities of all the cosmos, with individual names and personas simply being different faces of one of the twelve. A cleric of the Unification Church doesn't suffer the usual effects as long as they are within a sphere where the Unification Church as influence.

The Player Characters are members of the crew of a small pirate ship operating on the fringes of the Dragon Empire. In addition to the normal character creation process, you will need to consider the following...

Ship Type - There are a variety of possible ships. Take a gander here to get some ideas. The group will need to agree on the ship type and a name, keeping in mind that the only crew available will be the PCs themselves (since they recently acquired it through less than legal means). So, a smaller ship that can be crewed by 5-8 people is best. I may throw in a NPC or two to round out the crew if everyone agrees. The ship itself is old, battered, and in need of repairs.

Ship Position - What are your duties and responsibilities on the ship? Captain, Navigator, Gunner, Helmsman, or something else? One player will need to take on the role of Captain, though this can be decided by popular vote among the players, if the group prefers.

Starting Level: 3
Ability Scores: Point Buy as outlined on page 13 of the PHB.
Gear: Player Characters may start with up to 1,000 gp in non-magical personal gear and possessions. Anything not carried on their persons is assumed to be stored on the ship. In addition, each PC may start with up to three common magic items OR one uncommon magic item.

Check with me before utilizing a source beyond the PHB. Some of the Unearthed Arcana material is not suitable for this campaign.

Race Note: Dragonborn have special status within the Empire. They are the result of a dragon producing offspring with a bonded kindred (a humanoid that, in many ways, functions similarly to a familiar or animal companion to the dragon). Chromatic dragons tend to view them as abominations and either kill them or cast them out. Metallic dragons may cast them out or coddle and pamper them. Regardless, dragonborn, while not able to vote or partake in governmental duties, have a higher status in the Empire than other humanoids.

The adventure...

Shortly after acquiring their ship, the captain receives a mysterious invitation - an imperial ship, listing and dead in space, has been spotted nearby and someone has invited the captain and their crew to loot it...as long as one item in particular is given over to whoever issued the invitation.

Could you clarify whether divine spellcasters native to the Gamma Quadrant will be able to fully cast spells while in the Delta Quadrant? This makes me think they can: "Clerics and other characters who draw power from a deity or cosmology can still access spells and class abilities, but the link between them is weak (no game effect, but players of such characters should consider this when roleplaying)." But then this makes me think maybe they cannot: "A cleric of the Unification Church doesn't suffer the usual effects as long as they are within a sphere where the Unification Church as influence."

Need more info, please!

Yes, a cleric from the "Gamma" Quadrant (need better names) would still have full access. They'd just feel a (RP only) weak connection, so to speak, while away from their home sphere. Clerics of the Unification Church still have a full connection anywhere in the Dragon Empire.

The Viper, Shrike or Scorpion all look like solid choices. They have cargo, weapons, and are fairly small.

I've always enjoyed the Spelljammer game concept...I'll give this serious consideration. Any chance you might consider a Warforged character from the Eberron Unearthed Arcana article?

Shayuri said:

The Viper, Shrike or Scorpion all look like solid choices. They have cargo, weapons, and are fairly small.

I've always enjoyed the Spelljammer game concept...I'll give this serious consideration. Any chance you might consider a Warforged character from the Eberron Unearthed Arcana article?

Click to expand...

Yup! You can either be from the Eberron world* or be something cooked up in a magical lab somewhere in the Dragon Empire (or anything else you can imagine if we both agree on the origin).

*Characters native to a published D&D world or even Earth will need to have a plausible reason for being on the other side of the galaxy.

What background do you see being applicable? I like the idea of an Engineer (someone needs to keep the ship going), would Guild Artisan be an appropriate choice?
[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] , those are good choices I like the Shrike mainly for the name.

Awesome! I'd like to join this game, Kiraya.

Sounds like a warlock would do just fine on board one of these ships, as a helmsman or navigator. The ships Shayuri mentioned seem like solid choices, although I've not studied them extensively so I can't say if they differ much apart from aesthetics...

Edit: Oh, and of course, welcome back at the helm of DM-ship, Kiraya!

Ooooh! I want in on this! I'm thinking of playing a human cleric, but now that I think about it, how would a druid be handled in space? That might actually be more fun -- a half-elven or human druid. Is that even possible? And how about a Druid Navigator (who steers by the stars).

Should be great fun here with Kiraya ad Shayuri! I'm excited!

More Thoughts:

I'm not clued-in at all to Spelljammer -- do ships carry supplies of plants to provide oxygen? Tending such plants is a tailor-made job for a druid.

A Dwarf Engineer also sounds fun, but I thinhk I want to stick with the Half-Elf Druid, although crew assignment is negotiable -- perhaps Ship's Doctor if not Navigator, or maybe even Head Cook and Bottle Washer?

In Spelljammer, physics works very differently. Any object over a specific threshold of size generates its own, full strength gravitational field once it's far enough away from a larger body, and that gravitational field is sufficient to retain an atmosphere around it in a fairly tight 'shell.' Travelers do need to have a way to refresh the oxygen within that atmosphere however. And the gravitational field is sort of two hemispheres, each of which attracts towards the effective equator of the total sphere.

Which means that any ship has a plane within it that gravity 'flips' on. You pass through it, and suddenly gravity is pulling the opposite direction. This plane is defined by the sort of center of mass of the object, but extends throughout the extent of the gravitational field. So ships can sort of pick up flotsom that bobs around in the midsection of the field, out past the hull to the extent of it.

It's a little wonky, but it creates a workable fantasy physics model for having ships flying around in space but retaining gravity and air without having to model pressurization and fluid dynamics and acceleration and rotation and so on.

I'll just say "I'm interested" at this point, and I'll think about concepts for a bit- my first idea is rarely my best idea...