Spelljammer Check Out These Spelljammer Ships!

WotC has shared some of the upcoming Spelljammer ship designs in a video with Chris Perkins.

 

[Staffan]

Well, the artwork looks good, but it looks like the same designs from the old Spelljammer, I am hoping for some new concepts and deck plans.

You don't mess with perfection.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

You don't mess with perfection.

The ship designs in the original Spelljammer were extremely far from "perfection". In fact, I'd go as far as to say that an awful lot of them were kinda lazy and unimaginative. They felt kind of lame to me even as a kid in like 1989.

And these seem to be largely a recapitulation of those.

But this Spelljammer seems to a fairly straightforward nostalgia-cash-in product, by and large, with no particular ambitions beyond selling $20 of actual game material for $70.

 

[Morrus]

I've always been very puzzled by Spelljammer. I remember when it came out the first time. I had nothing against it but decided it wasn't for me. I tend to prefer a more "traditional fantasy" setting for D&D. If I wanted to play in space with space ships, I'd play Star Wars or Star Trek or something along those lines. I'm curious if there is indeed a HUGE following for Spelljammer and if so, what do they like about it?

I’m one of those who completely missed it first time round too.

 

[Staffan]

The ship designs in the original Spelljammer were extremely far from "perfection". In fact, I'd go as far as to say that an awful lot of them were kinda lazy and unimaginative. They felt kind of lame to me even as a kid in like 1989.

Look, if you can't appreciate a Nautiloid, a Wasp, or a Tradesman, that's a you problem.

 

[bedir than]

The ship designs in the original Spelljammer were extremely far from "perfection". In fact, I'd go as far as to say that an awful lot of them were kinda lazy and unimaginative. They felt kind of lame to me even as a kid in like 1989.

And these seem to be largely a recapitulation of those.

But this Spelljammer seems to a fairly straightforward nostalgia-cash-in product, by and large, with no particular ambitions beyond selling $20 of actual game material for $70.

A ship shaped like a mosquito or shellfish or the top of a castle tower is unimaginative?
To me they felt like someone on a drug-induced trip creating things that had never been seen before.

Now they have one similar to a turtle!

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Now they have one similar to a turtle!

The turtleship was from before too. Just very obscure.

 

[Yaarel]

I have a sense of how the cosmology will work in 5e, from piecing stray information together.

But is there anywhere yet that clearly spells it out? − how the astral plane, the astral sea, the phlogiston, the deep ethereal, the shallow ethereal, the setting hopping like from Oerth to Toril, and the normal outer space between stars in the material plane, will all relate to each other?

It is important to me the cosmology makes sense. Otherwise for me, any silliness or inconsistency would make the rest of the 5e game feel off.

 

[Reynard]

It just occurred to me, when it comes to ships floating through the void, galleons are kinda of the weird variety there. I see a dragonfly, turtle, or even a snail floating through space and I think to myself, "Yeah, that checks out." But when I see a galleon I just get confused.

I'm not sure where the idea even came from that there were going to be only Galleons in 5E Spelljammer. It makes no sense with the history of the setting.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It just occurred to me, when it comes to ships floating through the void, galleons are kinda of the weird variety there. I see a dragonfly, turtle, or even a snail floating through space and I think to myself, "Yeah, that checks out." But when I see a galleon I just get confused.

One convenient thing about Space Galleons is that they can also sail on water, and thus use existing planetary port infrastructure built for seagoing vessels.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not sure where the idea even came from that there were going to be only Galleons in 5E Spelljammer. It makes no sense with the history of the setting.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft has taught us that the history of a setting means less to WotC than you might think.