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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Erik Mona" data-source="post: 22043" data-attributes="member: 2174">Keep Your Eyes PeeledHowdy, 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 MonaEditor, Polyhedron</blockquote>

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