Spelljammer Boo Book: Spelljammer, Space, and Speculation!

[Demetrios1453]

I had a sudden realization looking at the special cover of TWBtW - the displacer kitten that appears on the cover makes only a single, minor appearance. So there's no guarantee that Boo will play a significant role even if he's in the cover...

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The fun fact is now the giant hamsters have become one of the most remembered and known elements from the line, a true icon.

Have I said anytime in the last 48 hours giant hamsters from the Wildspace are perfect to sell fluffy toys? Stranger things have been showed in Star Wars.

I admit I would like some PC races from d20 Future (Star*Drive+ Star Frontiers) to be recycled for Spelljammer.

Other point is the spelljammer/skyships are more expensive than building a palace or a stronghold. How to explain these in the hands of 1st level characters? It would be like Mad Max driving a Ferrari.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I had a sudden realization looking at the special cover of TWBtW - the displacer kitten that appears on the cover makes only a single, minor appearance. So there's no guarantee that Boo will play a significant role even if he's in the cover...

That is true, however the displacer beast with wings does provide a big hint as to the overall theme of the adventure (being in the Feywild) as opposed to the displacer beast's importance. So I could very much see this cover hinting strongly at Spelljammer, while the importance of Boo himself is fairly small.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Regardless of who came up with the Giant Space Hamster originally, I can tell you for sure who wrote the book on Giant Space Hamsters for 5e.

Spoiler alert: it was me!

Giant Hamster From Outer Space! At DMsguild.com

 

[Ath-kethin]

While that's true, the hamsters weren't actually Moore's idea. In Dragon #171, he writes:

"I also like hamsters and guinea pigs, from which sprang my entry for giant space hamsters in the first Spelljammer appendix for the Monstrous Compendium. Unfortunately, I’ve had a hard time finding people who like giant space hamsters as much as I do (well, Jeff Grubb likes them, but he had the original idea for them, so he doesn’t count)."

So we can blame Grubb for the idea, and Moore for turning the idea into a D&D monster.

I was surprised to learn the Grubb didn't write the entry in the About This Book section of MC7. Finding out it was all his idea justifies my hunch.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Now I want to know what George Lazenby's contribution to SJ was.

I think he did a one-off, something about a ransom plot from a rust monster Enchanter/defiler. It wasn't very well-received.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

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The fun fact is now the giant hamsters have become one of the most remembered and known elements from the line, a true icon.

Have I said anytime in the last 48 hours giant hamsters from the Wildspace are perfect to sell fluffy toys? Stranger things have been showed in Star Wars.

I admit I would like some PC races from d20 Future (Star*Drive+ Star Frontiers) to be recycled for Spelljammer.

Other point is the spelljammer/skyships are more expensive than building a palace or a stronghold. How to explain these in the hands of 1st level characters? It would be like Mad Max driving a Ferrari.

If you start in Lantan (or somewhere near Lantan and then visit Lantan later) and wait to Spelljam till your higher level, this isn't an issue.

Alternately it's not the players Spelljammer, they hire on as crew for someone else.