Spelljammer Spelljammer, 5e, and the general angst against all things space

[Ralif Redhammer]

Disney's Treasure Planet is probably about as close as we’ll ever get to a Spelljammer movie. Though John Carter of Mars might count, too, considering the original book’s DNA is a part of Spelljammer.

If you want to show them a spelljammer movie, go watch the 2015 Pan movie.

If one doesn't like spelljammer after that, one will never like it

 

[iserith]

Ok... a list of the various objections:

1. Orcs? In space? Really?

Yeah, like Klingons!

2. That ship looks like a porcupine.

Yeah, it's actually grown rather than built - by goblins.

3. You're telling me a person get's knocked off of a ship, in space, and he takes an envelope of oxygen with him? He doesn't, immediately suffer from explosive decompression?

Right, because magic!

4. They think the point and go mechanic is too simple. They think the modifications I made to make it more challenging are too hard. I added two additional "technologies" to the vessels: Radian drives, and Metta Sails.

Radian crystals - Specially prepared gems of various size, value and type can be alchemically treated to make them store kinetic energy. A Radian Pilot can operatoe up to two Radian Arrays on a vessel (usually comprising 70-100 gems per array, usually artfully imbedded in various patterns on the hull, keel and especially the rudder of a vessel. For every 5 tons of a vessel a minimum of 1 array is needed to effectively boost speed in wildspace, and most importantly boost maneuverability. Only of use in an atmosphere or in wildspace.

Metta Sails - Specially prepared sailcloth that catches metamagical particles that move in, with, and in some cases significantly faster than the flow. Used exclusively to increase SR in the flow.

I don't know what any of this means. But space pirates, yo! Err, yarr!

5. they see DnD as being crawling in dungeons and fighting dragons. Their view of the game tends to be simpler and doesn't allow for a whole lot of out of the box thinking

Dungeons built into asteroids circling the event horizon of a black hole guarded by a stellar dragon!

6. It's dumb

7. It doesn't make sense

8. I thought we were playing DnD

It is D&D and it's no dumber or more nonsensical than D&D is already.

Did I mention space pirates?

 

[hawkeyefan]

This statement is not even remotely implied by the single word "magic." You've moved from the one-word "magic" to providing an explanation of what's going on. It's a perfectly serviceable explanation and could work very well in-game. But crystal spheres is also a perfectly serviceable explanation that could work very well in-game.

"Magic" would serve as an answer. I then went on to provide an example of what it could mean because "Magic" is an intentionally vague answer that will likely mean different things to different people.

Player: How come Krynn's stars rearrange themselves, but I've never seen that happen on Toril?
DM: Magic.
Player: Can I make an Arcana check to learn more?
DM: Sure, let me know what you roll, and I'll tell you how much you know about the phenomena.

But either way, we're arguing semantics. I worded my explanation in a way that wasn't to your liking, and I can understand why you see it that way.

I'll ask that you focus more on the intent of my point...that the Spelljammer setting devoted a lot of space to what I think were unnecessary explanations....rather than on the admittedly simplified answer I gave to make it.

 

[Bleys Icefalcon]

I have a similar feeling toward the planes and Planescape as you do for Spelljamming, so I took what I thought to be the cool aspects of Spelljammer and incorporated it that way. I think that players of a fantasy setting are a lot more open to traveling from world to world via the planes than by space. I don't know how general that trend might be, but it certainly is the case with my players.

So how faithful are you to the Spelljammer stuff? Do you use the whole Crystal Sphere concept, and the whacky gravity rules or what?

Hmmm.... using the astral, or elthereal plane to get from world to world vice space. Now there's a thought. Instead of Spelljamming....

PLANEJAMMING... err, ick. Doesn't roll off the tongue.

Nah, we'll still call it that...

 

[hawkeyefan]

Hmmm.... using the astral, or eltheral plane to get from world to world vice space. Now there's a thought. Instead of Spelljamming....

PLANEJAMMING

Someone above mentioned using the Astral or Ethereal plane as hyperspace, which is a great idea.

I love the planes, so I just went that route. But I always liked the idea of Spelljammers so I incorporated them into it. For some reason, other planes fit into my ideal setting far easier that space travel. It's personal bias, for sure, but I'm pretty sure my players share the bias.

I linked the Spelljammer to Sigil through a door belowdecks, and to me Sigil has always kind of been like a big space station, in a way. The two settings have a lot in common, so it made sense to me to just merge them. Mine's more Planescape than Spelljammer, but it could go the other way just as easily.

 

[Mouseferatu]

There's a lot of good ideas here, but you need to face the very distinct possibility that none of them are going to work.

Sometimes people just don't like an idea. There's no discernible "why." There's no logic to it. It's pure aesthetic/genre preference, and while you might talk them into ignoring it for a short while, it's not something they can be talked into changing.

Not saying that is the case here, but it very well could be.

I think that, yes, you should try some of these suggestions--but you also need to start deciding if you can run a game for this group without Spelljammer, and if not, to prepare yourself for handing over the DMing reins to someone else.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

No, not the same at all.

I seem to recall Spelljammer ships getting bumped over to the Astral plane in 4e.

Hmmm.... using the astral, or elthereal plane to get from world to world vice space. Now there's a thought. Instead of Spelljamming....

PLANEJAMMING... err, ick. Doesn't roll off the tongue.

Nah, we'll still call it that...

 

[shoak1]

I would love to see your 5e conversions of spelljammer - would you be willing to toss me a link or email me?

 

[strider13x]

Jacksonville, FL? Where do you game?

Our group just played thru LMoP and upon exiting the mines they found themselves on a huge asteroid floating in outer space where Castle Ravenloft is in the center! Instead of mists at the edge of the forest it is the end of the atmosphere. And the witch-woman's reputed escape will actually be a spelljammer!
Our last campaign took us from B2 into Farms in then G1-3 and finally D1-3 (haven't finished Q yet) so this is my way of giving my younger group the "full" D&D experience!

 

[iserith]

I wrote and ran a one-shot Spelljammer adventure in D&D 4e called Star*Juice, a continuation of an adventure in which the PCs found a crashed spelljammer ship on an island that served as a lair for Flycatcher, a neogi, and his giant space hamster, Snookums:

Your spelljammer vessel is derelict and captured by the neogi slave and salvage ship Virus. Now it's on you to figure a way out of the mess!

To complicate matters, there is a juice-junky mutiny in progress led by the first mate, Tony “The Oni” Maroni, and a possible gallus-gallus slave uprising triggered by the super-genius chicken Bawk Bawk Jones. Meanwhile, the illithid nautilus ship Shokushu stalks the Virus whose cockroach mechanics have locked down engineering while this drama plays out. All the while, Captain Churl has hidden himself in the illuso-deck as the ship zooms toward a hostile desert planet for reasons unknown…

If you can't find a local group that would find fun in craziness like that, check for a group online!