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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
How would you re-envision Spelljammer with 4e?
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<blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 3975110" data-attributes="member: 32740"><p>I have to sort of disagree about the sci-fi vs. fantasy Spelljammer. The problem is that SF via movies and shows like Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly/Serenity, and many others is the genre that makes the same kind of use of ships that Spelljammer does. It is the SF mold then that we need/want to pattern Spelljammer after when it comes to BETTER incorporating ships into the game. Don't forget that SF, technically, is/was a sub-genre of fantasy. You don't want ion cannons and "warp drives" in your Spelljammer fantasy that's fine, but you still have ballistae and Spelljamming speed that are the same freakin thing with the serial numbers filed off and that doesn't make it SF. Patterning your FANTASY Spelljammer game after Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, or Firefly is not making your game SF-influenced it is making your game SHIP-INFLUENCED. It is a natural outgrowth of basing the game around SHIPS. If people then think of Spelljammer so readily in terms of SF it is only because SF has handled that trope so much more frequently and done so much better a job of it than fantasy.</p><p></p><p>BTW, in my revision I would dispose or seriously alter a number of Spelljammers original notions. First to go would be the Helm - or more accurately the manner in which it derives power - as I think it is a ludicrous effect in the first place and not well implemented in the second place. Ships need more and better-implemented power sources. Treasure Planet was what I thought Spelljammer could have, and should have been/become. Very little would need to be changed to eliminate any traces of SF there and replace it with fantasy.</p><p></p><p>Another victim would be crystal spheres and the Flow. Oh, they might still be there but travel from sphere to sphere through the Phlogiston screams for DRASTIC change if for no other reason than it is a pointless time-sink. In Spelljammer things are scaled up by a major factor or two. Nations become planets. Crossing a mountain range becomes crossing an asteroid belt. Crossing the sea becomes crossing the Phlogiston. We need similar travel times for these which in Spelljammer as written can consume YEARS of time where nothing happens in just getting from point A to B.</p><p></p><p>Note that the title of the thread is RE-ENVISION Spelljammer - not <em>convert</em>. I think it was already put most succinctly upthread - Kill the silly. Amp the cool.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Man in the Funny Hat, post: 3975110, member: 32740"] I have to sort of disagree about the sci-fi vs. fantasy Spelljammer. The problem is that SF via movies and shows like Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly/Serenity, and many others is the genre that makes the same kind of use of ships that Spelljammer does. It is the SF mold then that we need/want to pattern Spelljammer after when it comes to BETTER incorporating ships into the game. Don't forget that SF, technically, is/was a sub-genre of fantasy. You don't want ion cannons and "warp drives" in your Spelljammer fantasy that's fine, but you still have ballistae and Spelljamming speed that are the same freakin thing with the serial numbers filed off and that doesn't make it SF. Patterning your FANTASY Spelljammer game after Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, or Firefly is not making your game SF-influenced it is making your game SHIP-INFLUENCED. It is a natural outgrowth of basing the game around SHIPS. If people then think of Spelljammer so readily in terms of SF it is only because SF has handled that trope so much more frequently and done so much better a job of it than fantasy. BTW, in my revision I would dispose or seriously alter a number of Spelljammers original notions. First to go would be the Helm - or more accurately the manner in which it derives power - as I think it is a ludicrous effect in the first place and not well implemented in the second place. Ships need more and better-implemented power sources. Treasure Planet was what I thought Spelljammer could have, and should have been/become. Very little would need to be changed to eliminate any traces of SF there and replace it with fantasy. Another victim would be crystal spheres and the Flow. Oh, they might still be there but travel from sphere to sphere through the Phlogiston screams for DRASTIC change if for no other reason than it is a pointless time-sink. In Spelljammer things are scaled up by a major factor or two. Nations become planets. Crossing a mountain range becomes crossing an asteroid belt. Crossing the sea becomes crossing the Phlogiston. We need similar travel times for these which in Spelljammer as written can consume YEARS of time where nothing happens in just getting from point A to B. Note that the title of the thread is RE-ENVISION Spelljammer - not [I]convert[/I]. I think it was already put most succinctly upthread - Kill the silly. Amp the cool. [/QUOTE]
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How would you re-envision Spelljammer with 4e?
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