D&D 5E Astral Sea and Wildspace in the 5e Cosmology

[Umbran]

You haven't lived until you've fought Asmodeus on the 9th plane of Hell and died trying.

I did that back in 1e, so...

 

[Lyxen]

Honestly, if they stick to previous policies, I think that:

• The simplest system could be done is
  • Keep Wildspace as per the original Spelljammer (gravity, air bubble, etc.)
  • Get rid of the phlogiston and crystal sphere, all the settings are on the prime but in different solar systems
  • Use the Astral Sea as the "hyperspace medium", that you can reach through "jump points" a.k.a. color pools.
  • So your Spelljamming helm is just your "engine" driving you to great but "conventional" speeds, enough for intra-system travel, but also able to push you through into "Astral Hyperspace", that you can explore on its own or that can be used as a transitive plane to outer planes or other areas of the prime.
• Stil have a sidebar explaining the original concept of crystal spheres and phlogiston for those who want to keep these settings separate.

 

[Lyxen]

Meanwhile, I am unlikely to ever use the Outer Planes in any significant way, so the Astral doesn't have a lot of purpose for me, except for Spelljamming.

I understand, although there are lots of interesting things in the Astral itself, like GIthyankis, dead gods, etc. It's also a very interesting environment, where you are powered by thought, your speed depends on your int, etc. Nice changes...

 

[Staffan]

Honestly, if they stick to previous policies, I think that:

• The simplest system could be done is
  • Keep Wildspace as per the original Spelljammer (gravity, air bubble, etc.)
  • Get rid of the phlogiston and crystal sphere, all the settings are on the prime but in different solar systems
  • Use the Astral Sea as the "hyperspace medium", that you can reach through "jump points" a.k.a. color pools.
  • So your Spelljamming helm is just your "engine" driving you to great but "conventional" speeds, enough for intra-system travel, but also able to push you through into "Astral Hyperspace", that you can explore on its own or that can be used as a transitive plane to outer planes or other areas of the prime.

If I were doing it, I'd treat transition between wildspace and the Astral sea the same as hyperspace works in Babylon 5. The common method is to do it at predetermined points ("jumpgates"), but being able to cross over under your own power is uncommon but not surprising. In B5, having on-board jump engines is usually a thing for capital ships, but in Spelljammer it would make more sense to be the result of actual spellcasting (perhaps a plane shift augmented by the helm).

 

[beancounter]

I did that back in 1e, so...

You realize that my post re: Asmodeus was a light hearted comment not be taken seriously, right?...

 

[Micah Sweet]

If I were doing it, I'd treat transition between wildspace and the Astral sea the same as hyperspace works in Babylon 5. The common method is to do it at predetermined points ("jumpgates"), but being able to cross over under your own power is uncommon but not surprising. In B5, having on-board jump engines is usually a thing for capital ships, but in Spelljammer it would make more sense to be the result of actual spellcasting (perhaps a plane shift augmented by the helm).

Anything that makes space more like Babylon 5 is a plus in my book.

 

[overgeeked]

You realize that my post re: Asmodeus was a light hearted comment not be taken seriously, right?...

We don't do that here.

 

[Lyxen]

If I were doing it, I'd treat transition between wildspace and the Astral sea the same as hyperspace works in Babylon 5.

That's what I had in mind, yes. And note that it's also the way Color Pools work, specific points of passage.

The common method is to do it at predetermined points ("jumpgates"), but being able to cross over under your own power is uncommon but not surprising. In B5, having on-board jump engines is usually a thing for capital ships, but in Spelljammer it would make more sense to be the result of actual spellcasting (perhaps a plane shift augmented by the helm).

Or simply the power of some helms.

 

[Weiley31]

There are no stars. Stars are a lie.

IIRC, in 4E, weren't the "stars" just like pockets of the Far Realm staring back at ya from a distance or some crazy crap like that? Because if so, then yes you are INDEED RIGHT the Stars were a lie.

 

[Staffan]

Additionally, isn't Plane Shift limited to 8 people? That's not a lot of cargo. Could be a work around if you start using bags of holding and the like, I suppose, but, it also might just be one of those things we're not supposed to question as it's a lot more fun if we have honking big flying ships.

The carrying capacity of 8 people making a two-day round trip should not be underestimated compared to a ship whose journey back and forth takes maybe 6 months (depending on the vagaries of the Flow and the size of the crystal spheres).