Worlds of Design: Spelljammer 2.0

As a big fan of the old Spelljammer, I really wanted to like the new 5e version. But it doesn’t fix some of the problems of the old version.

As a big fan of the old Spelljammer, I really wanted to like the new 5e version. But it doesn’t fix some of the problems of the old version.

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What Sets Spelljammer Apart​

Beth Rimmels wrote a thorough review of the new Spelljammer product ($44.93 including tax, free shipping, from Amazon; list $69.99). This is my perspective on what’s changed.

What sets fantasy adventures in outer space apart from other settings? First it is the ships themselves and ship to ship combat, and second it is a new set of monsters designed for “space”, such as the Neogi and the solar dragons. The third book of the set is the monster manual for the setting, and it works fine. The ships are a substantial part of the first book that describes how Spelljammer works (though its title is Astral Adventurer’s Guide). The other book is an adventure path.

Same Setting, New Edition​

There’s been some discussion lately that Wizards of the Coast may have adopted a strategy of issuing new D&D settings but relying on the DM’s Guild for third-party support thereafter. Spelljammer shows signs of this. Moreover, it is only 192 pages despite being three pasteboard hardcover books; much of that is occupied by artwork. Artwork doesn’t do much for a GM, certainly not when the resulting product is too short to adequately describe itself.

Perhaps because of the limited space available, the new Spelljammer doesn’t dive very deeply into most topics. Instead of greatly improving the setting they have merely given it a brief new paint job. The approach feels a bit like the approach to board games, in which most board games are played up to three times at most, because players have so many other games to choose from. I wonder if this has also become the norm for role-playing game publishers, with the expectation that most customers won’t be playing in the setting for more than a few sessions.

Sinking Ships​

To me, the main interest of Spelljammer is the ships and ship combat. (Then again, I’ve always been a fan of the Naval aspects of history, including when I wrote my dissertation.). Unfortunately, there’s a considerable lack of detail in how ship combat works. There is no maneuverability rating; as far as I can tell any ship can stop or turn on a dime, move sideways or backwards at full speed. In the adventure, ships always initially appear quite close to one another to limit opportunities for maneuver. The ship determines the tactical speed, not the level of the helmsman (now called the spelljammer).

The ship diagrams look very much like the old ones, not a bad thing. Helms are cheap. There is no spell penalty for helming a ship (in the old system, the caster lost all of their spells). Level of helmsman doesn't matter for tactical speed or much of anything else.

Ship tonnage is no longer specified, just hit points (250-450 generally). That helps avoid some of the bizarre inconsistencies in size between ship diagrams and the official size of ships in the old rules. Ship diagrams are very reminiscent of the old, may even be the same in a few cases, and it is mostly the same ships as in the original. There are still odd allocations of square footage, such as a captain’s cabin much larger than the entire crew quarters for 21 crew. Some diagrams show a location for the helm (an important point in boarding), some don’t.

The standard appears to be just one spelljammer (helmsman) on a ship! The ship can move 24/7, but helmsman, who must concentrate as for a spell, is not going to last more than half a day. Why no second or third helmsman?

This version feels as though it treats the ships as mere transportation, a way of getting from one place to another. I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment but that’s how it feels to me, the game is not ship oriented even though the ships are the unique feature of adventures in outer space.

Other Changes​

The entire second book is a sort of adventure path that takes characters from 5th to 9th level. Unfortunately, the objective is, yet again, to save a world. My impression is that the creators felt that players would only play Spelljammer a few times, so they included a big “save the world” adventure sequence so that people could be done with the setting when they finished the sequence. I would instead have preferred some unconnected adventures for lower-level characters who could then look forward to bigger things.

It is not all one-sided disappointment. One change that makes sense: instead of “the phlogiston” connecting star systems together, the Astral Sea is the connection. Githyanki are present! As if mind flayers and beholders weren’t bad enough.

It’s a shame, because Spelljammer is chock full of ideas … and full of inconsistencies. The new edition was an opportunity to streamline the setting by taking the best of what came before. Instead, we got some tantalizing concepts and not enough content to do them justice.

Your Turn: Did you create or borrow rules from other systems to play in your Spelljammer campaign?
 

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Lewis Pulsipher

Lewis Pulsipher

Dragon, White Dwarf, Fiend Folio

BovineofWar

Explorer
Same here. I was debating on running a Spelljammer campaign, but there doesn't seem to be enough meat in the 5e boxset, which means a lot of work for me come with the elements I think are missing or steal from 2e.

And I totally agree that a lot of the 2e TSR stuff was low grade filler, I was hoping that we would get a 'definitive' version so I don't need to fix the problems with the 2e content...

I'm currently running a 5e Planescape campaign using all the 2e boxsets and it's been a blast. I don't know how they plan on cramming all of that into one 60 page book, and I'm scared for how much they'll need to cut. Sure, some of it could use some simplification, but I found Spelljammer just went too far.
 

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Faolyn

(she/her)
Same here. I was debating on running a Spelljammer campaign, but there doesn't seem to be enough meat in the 5e boxset, which means a lot of work for me come with the elements I think are missing or steal from 2e.

And I totally agree that a lot of the 2e TSR stuff was low grade filler, I was hoping that we would get a 'definitive' version so I don't need to fix the problems with the 2e content...

I'm currently running a 5e Planescape campaign using all the 2e boxsets and it's been a blast. I don't know how they plan on cramming all of that into one 60 page book, and I'm scared for how much they'll need to cut. Sure, some of it could use some simplification, but I found Spelljammer just went too far.
To be honest, there's only two things that are really needed for Planescape:

Deciding exactly how the factions work. Should they be done like the guilds from Ravnica (with benefits you get as you increase your rank), be treated as feats, get turned into backgrounds, or something else entirely?[1]

Deciding if spells and magic items still work differently on different planes and how you want to implement that.

Everything else is already available, except for some of the monsters. But monsters are easy to convert or make, or simply replace with a creature you already have. The DMG already has sections on how the planes work, including planar effects, and even though it's a very short section, it gives enough of a guideline to expand them for planes, layers, and areas of interest.

At the moment, I'm thinking the 5e Planescape book would have to be very good for me to want to spend money on it.

[1] Actually, that would be an interesting forum project--crowdsource the factions. Especially if the forum can give each faction a reason to adventure and a better purpose in Sigil and the various planes.
 


delericho

Legend
I think based on Ben Riggs reporting, later 2e settings like Spelljammer and Planescape were absolute failures...
Just about everything TSR did from ~1985 onwards was a failure of some sort or another - from the publication of "Unearthed Arcana" they were mostly desperately staving off the inevitable.

But that's why I made the comparison to 3e and 4e. Those were successes of varying degrees, but 5e just blows them out of the water.

The 'problem' with WotC's current model is we're just not going to get anything else Spelljammer related. So take out the ship diagrams out of the Astral Adventurer's Guide, and that's what? 40 pages to describe a whole universe?
Another problem is that their new version has deliberately invalidated chunks of the old lore, but not replaced it with anything. So even the advice to go look at the old stuff is of limited value.

(Of course, some of that old lore was problematic and needed adjustment. My issue is not that it was done, but that it was half-done.)

In my mind, WotC should have probably just given up on doing a 'campaign setting' without the setting information, and just did a solid adventure path like Curse of Strahd for Ravenloft or Ghosts of Saltmarsh for Greyhawk.
The thing is, WotC have done two classic settings well (at least in terms of format) - the Eberron book is great, and while I don't care for the content of "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft", the coverage is good, IMO. Had Spelljammer been done in that same style I might well have made a purchase (even at the $70 price point).
 

Hussar

Legend
The fact that those companies are as successful as they are proves the demographic exists. Just because WotC has chosen not to cater to it (which, by sheer coincidence, I'm sure, means less work for them), doesn't mean the demographic isn't there.

This thing of barebones support (if that much) is a new direction for WotC. Even as recently as 4E, they still provided real setting support.

Not sure if ten years now counts as “new”.

And, again, they are doing exactly what the ogl promised back in the day. If you want all this setting detail, there’s Dms Guild right there.
 

Micah Sweet

Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Not sure if ten years now counts as “new”.

And, again, they are doing exactly what the ogl promised back in the day. If you want all this setting detail, there’s Dms Guild right there.
That is what they're doing, but I wish WotC would just tell people that they expect DMGuild to pick up the slack on setting detail, instead of assuming it with their sketched-out shiny new products.
 

My opinion is Hasbro is more focused into the brand to sell different types of products, and the TTRPG is only the initial hook. With the DMGuild they haven't to spend a lot of money to hire a creative team, but more like reviewer and to watch the feedback from the fandom. They want to understand what the players want or dislike.
 



I feel like Spelljammer is designed to be used with other books. You can pretty much use it with any other book you own. It’s the glue that can be used to stick any two (or three, etc) campaign settings together. That’s one of it‘s main strengths / selling points.

It can add value to all the other books in your collection.
 

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