D20 Spelljammer

[Horacio]

Re: Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon

How do I know all this? Because I'm the big SJ fan who wrote it, based on a concept that Erik and I first started discussing well over a year ago.

So buckle on your swordbelt and hoist the mainsail, 'cause we're goin' Spelljamming!

O.K., if Andy himself say it, I relent. I will buy my Dungeon, and enjoy the new Spelljammer (now it's sure it will be at least good, probably very good) and add the giff from the Spelljammer official site

Thanks, Andy!

BTW, are you going to do something similar with Planescape?

 

[Some guy from Ohio]

Andy
OK, now I’m really excited for the new Spelljammer and have started thinking about a new campaign already. Thanks for posting on this and curse you for getting me all jazzed up over Spelljammer six weeks before our first child is born. I already have enough on my plate getting ready for our wonderful arrival! I have a few questions (I know that you probably cannot answer them until the issue comes out), but it can’t hurt to try.
1. Is there a date for the issue to hit the stands?
2. Is there an adventure, all setting material, or (best of
all worlds) both?
3.And if there is an adventure, what level?

 

[Henry]

It sounds like it will be interesting to see. Perhaps I will work on allowing Spelljammer back into my campaigns...

...The first time PC's in my games found it was through introduction of a lesser helm into the campaign. But they only used it for cheap travel across the world.

The next time I just skipped the middle-man, and teleported them to The Rock of Bral by the will of a forgotten god.

While Dragonstar sounds like an excellent campaign setting, it doesn't sound like it evokes the same "swashbuckling" feel of Spelljammer. Spelljammer allowed me to both introduce some fantastic space battles into my games, it also allowed me to tie all the campaign worlds together in a very effective way.

I used to love that setting. Kudoes, Andy.

 

[Erik Mona]

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Howdy, folks. I've been reading this thread, as well as several similar ones on the Spelljammer mailing list, with great interest, and it's certainly cool to see so much emotion surrounding our plans to provide a new version of Spelljammer to gamers through a Polyhedron mini-game. I'm extremely busy at the moment, so if someone wants to re-post this message to the SJ-list, I'd really appreciate it. I know a lot of people over there are interested to hear some sort of official word on what it is we've gotten ourselves into.

For starters, the whole reason we're touching Spelljammer at all in Polyhedron is because Andy Collins and I had a conversation over a year ago about how much we liked certain elements of the setting, and how we'd do things if given the chance to put a new spin on the familiar concepts of swashbuckling adventure in space. Fast forward through time to today, and the new Polyhedron/Dungeon situation seemed to provide an ideal forum for such an attempt. I asked Andy if he'd be interested in making that old conversation a reality, and he kindly agreed to do so for the magazine.

Both of us have run extensive campaign arcs (in my case) or entire campaigns (in Andy's) using the original version of the campaign setting. We both enjoyed the work of Jeff Grubb, Roger Moore, and others and were thrilled with the possibilities of piracy on the spacelanes, with the requisite images of illithid nautloids, and with the crack of wheel-lock pistol fire in the void of wildspace. Armed with the new edition of the third edition game, we decided to revisit these images in an effort to bring the concept to the modern era while emphasizing those elements of the original campaign setting that attracted us to it in the first place.

The space considerations related to printing an entire game in about 50 pages precluded us from covering the entire multiverse, and since the phlogiston and the concept of crystal spheres never really set either of us on fire, we decided to focus our game on a single star system and the political and economic machinations that make it an interesting setting in its own right. The game contains rules for spelljamming helms, spelljammer combat, and interplanetary travel, but we don't really touch upon life beyond the system in question. That's not to say it's not there--who knows? Perhaps a flammable sea does connect the worlds of the Material plane, which in turn are encased in immense spheres of crystal. Or perhaps not. If you're fond of those elements, you're welcome to create them. If not, you'll be able to focus on the setting as presented in the magazine without worrying too much about what's over the celestial horizon.

We took a similar approach to some of the "sillier" aspects of the setting. If you're looking for giant space hamsters, you'd best look somewhere else (numerous online stalwarts have already taken the trouble of converting them for you, in fact). The gun-loving giff _almost_ made it into the campaign setting (Andy and I are both fans, goofy or not), but we decided they didn't quite fit. I fully expect to receive several article queries that offer to "plug" these obvious holes in our vision, and who knows, I may even accept one and print it so traditionalists can have that level of wonkiness in their new game, too. Given the space and the tone of the new material, though, they weren't appropriate for the type of game we were trying to create. There are several Spelljammer incarnations in which they are appropriate--ours just isn't one of them.

Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon is _not_ a complete official relaunch of the campaign setting. It's a one-off "pop thrill" d20 mini-game we hope will convince your group into giving a shot at a fantastic voyage in space. From there, there are several online resources to check out that will help you flesh out your game. The "official" Compendium Spelljammer fan site is a good place to start. Shadow of the Spider Moon is in no way meant to step on the toes of the fans working on that material. If they like it, we'll be thrilled. If they don't, it's just a magazine article, which they're completely free to ignore if they so wish.

We're hoping you guys don't ignore it, though. Of the three mini-games we've done so far, Shadow of the Spider Moon is looking to be my favorite, and I'm really excited to present it to you in the next issue of Dungeon/Polyhedron (which comes out in early April). Over the next month or so, I'll send Morrus some looks at new ships, concept art, and more. I think some of you are in for quite an enjoyable ride.

Thanks,

Erik Mona
Editor, Polyhedron

 

[herald]

Very Cool Erik.

I have a soft spot for the Giff too. But adding races to a game is certainly easier that other aspects. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Erifnogard]

Thanks for taking the time to drop by and clarify things a bit Erik. 'Spider Moon' sounds pretty neat and I look forward to checking it out. As always, we really appreciate you and the rest of the guys at WotC taking the time to drop by and indulge our curiosity.

 

[Horacio]

Yes, it's reall nice and a true privilege to read WotC's guys posts.

I remember a time, two or three years ago, where game designers and gamer (especially American game designers and European gamers) never had an oportunity to talk, where all the communication with them had to be done with snail mail to the enterprise, and you almost never got any answer, at least for a month. Internet is amazing, really...

 

[Some guy from Ohio]

I gotta jump on the bandwagon with Erifnogard and Horacio. If any of you publishers are out there, know that we appreciate it when you post on a given topic. It shows that you care about your audience and your product quality. thanks guys (and gals).

 

[Avantgeek]

No Giant Space Hamsters?!?

What? No giant space hamsters? The fools! How dare the risk the wrath of Wooly Rupert? They shall rue the day!

 

[Knightfall]

I wonder if they'll do anything with dracons, or all the old Star Frontiers critters that made it over. (I liked the Hadozi?/deck ape)

I still have my Complete Spacefares Handbook too.

I still like the Giff! ... better than the Gromman (apes) at least.

If you're looking for a conversion for the races from the Spacefarer's Handook then I suggest you check out the Shattered Fractine.

http://www.shatteredfractine.com/

That site has the best material for traditional Spelljammer. Including 3E monster conversions for dracons, giant space hamsters, giff, grommams, the neogi, etc. Also included are race conversions for aperusa, giff, hurwaeti, hadozee, and rastipedes.

But if you're like me and couldn't really get into the whole crystal spheres cosmology of Arcane Space then Dragonstar might be for you. If you've only 'heard' of Dragonstar and haven't checked it out yet then here's the official Dragonstar site.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/dragonstar.html

Now, don't get me wrong -- I loved spelljamer but I couldn't get my friends interested in playing in a strange fantasy cosmology. The flow and the crystal shells turned them right off from playing D&D. Now, with Dragonstar I can have the best of both and anything else I can think of.

IMO, there is more than enough room for both Spelljammer and Dragonstar and the two campaign settings are only different when it comes to technology. Dragonstar might be coined as D&D in space by its creators and the fans but I see it as more like being a D&D space opera setting. Over at the DSD20 yahoo group, fans talk about incorporating things from sources such as Fading Suns, Star Wars, Outlaw Star, and other science fantasy material.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DSD20/

Personally, I'm working on a Dragonstar campaign that I call Arcanum of the Stars. This campaign is my attempt to merge the D&D worlds (including Spelljammer) into Dragonstar. The material is on my Walk the Road RPG campaigns' website.

http://www.geocities.com/rielun/campaignsframe.htm

Here you will find details on several Spelljammer races as if they existed in Dragonstar including the arcane, beholders, dracons, giff, as well as others that are still works in progress. And the campaign will eventually include technological versions of several famous spelljammer ships and a new science fantasy versoin of the Rock of Bral (my favorite reference for Spelljammer).

Of course, Arcanum of the Stars won't be Spelljammer. But I'm sure that Spelljammer: SotSM will find its way into Arcanum of the Stars as well. I can't wait... release it now!!!

Um, um, sorry about that.

I hope that evryone out there takes a look at my website and finds a use for the material I've posted there. Whether you are a traditional Spelljammer fanatic or a Dragonstar convert -- I hope there is something there for everyone.

Thank you,

Robert Blezard
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
rblezard@telusplanet.net