malladin said:
The game sounds cool though. Any chance of a bit of insight into the background?
Well, so long as my players don't find out too much...
There isnt a whole lot written up at the moment. I've had too many things going on to write down a lot of my ideas. But the basic point is to use all of the old spelljammer materials I can as sources for ships and ideas, but I am going to be writing my own history and such.
I dislike the whole Crystal Spheres thing, and I'm not setting it in Krynnspace, or Greyspace, or any other like that. If I feel the need to visit Greyhawk, it'll be more along the lines of its another planet. No planes of existence. No magic users needed to pilot the spelljammer-esque ships.
(I can hear it now...'And this is spelljammer...why?')
I'm using spelljammer for inspiration, and throwing away the bits I don't like. If I say Spelljammer people know exactly what style Im using as opposed to 'my age of sail spacefaring game kinda like x and y games...'
Anyway, back to the point. I also want to use gunpowder (so guns and sailing ships from d20 past in a d20 future setting).
Ok, basically, ships and other technology is powered by magic, but it doesn't come directly from spellcasters. Instead the power source is a stone that works a lot like a magical battery. This provides the air for the crew, water, and all those such things. These stones are available in smaller sizes to power magic (basically allowing free spell slot use like some magic items do), with similar cost to buy. The stones eventually drain out, and the ship will eventually maneuver less well, and could be left adrift in space (hence the need to come to port once in a while to refuel).
And for those who ask about the ship stones and casters...don't. Opening yourself to a fully operational fuel stone is like jumping into a fire. Not a campfire, mind you, lets say the middle of the forest in the western states in mid summer kind of fire. Very bad idea.
Magic and technology dont mix...that is tech based on normal physics. There is a bunch of magical technology available that duplicates the regular stuff, but it is much more expensive. The reason being that anyone too close to a power stone who tries to use a tech device is likely to get at best a failure, and at worst an explosion. (You wanna get rid of that spellcaster? Con him into using that pistol.) The more magic energy in the area, the more likely the failure is. Ship stones are fully shielded, allowing cannon to work, but if the shielding is broken, the cannon could badly backfire.
Only the absolutely wealthiest can afford the magical versions of technology because it takes magic users (and to a limited degree psionics) dedicated to nothing but making the devices instead of their regular research or spellcasting, and each item takes a lot of time to finish. Gunpowder is more volatile, but cheaper.
Setting wise, 'Jammers ply the trade routes between planets. Ships come in all sizes from 6 man skiffs for in-system travel to massive mega-ton barges that carry trade to other stars. The human empire spans about 16 systems, with a number of human (and human-like) supporting worlds. On the fringes of the Empire are the Drow, Ilithids, and Neogi (because their ships are just too cool to ignore from spelljammer) who are pressing on the borders, trying to disrupt traffic and trade, and many fear, trying to take some of those worlds from us. War is expected by the average Imperial citizen, though as voyages often take weeks to complete, a system could fall to the enemy long before a response could be sent, so a war may have started by now (only the DM knows for sure, hehe).
The beginning of the campaign sees our heroes as disparate passengers on a courier type vessel headed outbound to the fringe. What will they find when they get there?
Sorry, my players read these boards, so I cant post any details until after our first session (hopefully in the next week or so).
More then likely books that get recomended are books people don't have. If you had the books, I wouldn't have to tell you how good they are; you'd already know 
