Spelljammer I think Spelljammer will be more like Ravenloft then Strixhaven

[Parmandur]

Maybe instead of a Great Big Setting book, they’ll do some kind of serialized mini-setting series. That could also work if they want to push a subscription-based digital toolset. Subscribe to the toolset, get digital copies of the monthly spelljammer setting series for free.

That's an intriguing possibility: they have something odd in the works, I'm sure.

 

[Parmandur]

Was that reference to the new upcoming Star Trek series on purpose or accidental?

On purpose: I can see a sort of swashbuckling, old school Star Trek vibe at play here.

 

[Faolyn]

It was indeed the case at the time of AD&D2, the crystal spheres contained all their own planes, including their cosmology of external planes. You could not travel from one crystal sphere to another one using other planes, for example.

But that is because, at the time, there were different primes. The 5e statement that there is only one prime material plane that contains all the worlds messed things up a bit, I think.

Er, yes you could. There were always color pools in the Astral, portals in Planescape, the plane shift spell (the 2e description of the spell says "The size and metal type [of the tuning fork] dictates to which plane of existence, including sub-planes and alternate dimensions, the spell sends the affected creatures."). The idea in Spelljammer was that there was the Prime (which contained Realmspace, Grayspace, Krynnspace, etc.). They only had their own cosmologies because the main planets had their own cosmologies, and you could plane shift from the Realms to another plane, and then shift again to Krynn. Or you could exit Realmspace, sail the phlogiston, and enter Krynnspace.

In 1e, there was the idea that the Realms, Oerth, and Krynn, as well as your setting, my setting, and Bob's setting--and Boot Hill and Gamma World, and the real world--were all alternate material planes.

 

[Parmandur]

Er, yes you could. There were always color pools in the Astral, portals in Planescape, the plane shift spell (the 2e description of the spell says "The size and metal type [of the tuning fork] dictates to which plane of existence, including sub-planes and alternate dimensions, the spell sends the affected creatures."). The idea in Spelljammer was that there was the Prime (which contained Realmspace, Grayspace, Krynnspace, etc.). They only had their own cosmologies because the main planets had their own cosmologies, and you could plane shift from the Realms to another plane, and then shift again to Krynn. Or you could exit Realmspace, sail the phlogiston, and enter Krynnspace.

In 1e, there was the idea that the Realms, Oerth, and Krynn, as well as your setting, my setting, and Bob's setting--and Boot Hill and Gamma World, and the real world--were all alternate material planes.

D&D has been pretty inconsistent on this, almost like folks were making it all up as they went along.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

It occurs to me that we should pay a lot of attention to the new Crystal Spheres because any of them could be a preview of one of the new setting books for 2023.

 

[Parmandur]

It occurs to me that we should pay a lot of attention to the new Crystal Spheres because any of them could be a preview of one of the new setting books for 2023.

I mean, they could well take it as a chance to touch on all the non-Planar Settings at their disposal: Mystarra, Greyhawk, Birthright, Jakandor, Nerath....

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I mean, they could well take it as a chance to touch on all the non-Planar Settings at their disposal: Mystarra, Greyhawk, Birthright, Jakandor, Nerath....

It could be a way to back-door put in a small setting like Council of Worms.

Btw when this comes out, the tractor trailer sized loophole about putting homebrew settings in DMSGUILD, become the size of a Crystal Sphere.

It just dawned on me that the inspiration for Crystal Spheres is a fantasy take on Dyson Spheres (techniquely a Dyson Shell I think, which folks commonly confuse with each other).

 

[Demetrios1453]

It could be a way to back-door put in a small setting like Council of Worms.

Btw when this comes out, the tractor trailer sized loophole about putting homebrew settings in DMSGUILD, become the size of a Crystal Sphere.

It just dawned on me that the inspiration for Crystal Spheres is a fantasy take on Dyson Spheres (techniquely a Dyson Shell I think, which folks commonly confuse with each other).

It goes much further back to the crystal spheres of Ptolemaic astronomy. Especially to the outermost, impenetrable "sphere of the fixed stars".

 

[Parmandur]

It goes much further back to the crystal spheres of Ptolemaic astronomy. Especially to the outermost, impenetrable "sphere of the fixed stars".

But in classical astronomy, there wasn't anything beyond the Spheres, except the Monad. Still pretty different.

 

[Demetrios1453]

But in classical astronomy, there wasn't anything beyond the Spheres, except the Monad. Still pretty different.

There's not going to be a 1-to-1 correlation here obviously. There's a lot of influences involved, and then being mixed in unorthodox ways, including even 18th century chemistry, where pholgiston originates. But Ptolemaic crystal spheres are definitely a source that is being drawn upon...