D&D 4E From the 4e MM preview: Astraljamming?!

[WhatGravitas]

One thing I've never liked about space is that, realistically, the best way to get anywhere it a straight line.

Only in a flat space time.

And after the 1-1-1-1 discussion, everybody should know about non-Euclidean space, no?

Cheers, LT.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I was thinking combo as well. I liked Planescape, but hated Spelljammer (once I grew up), so I really hope they avoid mixing the two.

I agree but just the opposite. I loved Spelljammer, but hated Planescape. Spelljamming was adventuring in the wide open, with spheres and the Flow. Planescape with it's politics and factions always seemed just more of the same, in an annoying city, with a stupid cant.

I love the idea of Astral Jamming.

 

[Guild Goodknife]

Is the Astral Sea like a sea in the sense you sail on it in two dimensions?

According to Worlds & Monsters the Astral Sea is a "shallow ocean of silvery liquid with the stars visible beneath the surface", so yes, i believe you can sail there.
Also, W&M calls the Githyanki "the pirates of the astral sea".

 

[Dr. Harry]

Ooh, I like that idea... You could have bizarrely-shaped "rivers" running throughout the astral sea, turning and twisting and splitting in three dimensions, but you only travel along the surface of them so in that sense it's two-dimensional travel.

Also opens up the possibility of paths and routes which you have to find, can be blocked, etc. e.g. "Those damned Neogi have blockades setup on all the astral rivers to Krynn!" or "We'll need to hire someone who knows the way to the body of the ancient god."

One thing I've never liked about space is that, realistically, the best way to get anywhere it a straight line. There are of course some ways around that, particularly on very short trips, but they usually feel very forced.

I don't know what the default is going to be, but I'm using Asmor-Burr Astral spacetime. (Gee, actually that's kind of a nice-sounding term.)

Harry

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, I'm a fan of this. I don't think Sigil and the Rock of Bral would be totally incomptaible, both have their own thing going on pretty nicely, IMO.

I was thinking Kingdom Hearts and the gummi ships, but my mind thinks a lot in terms of video games.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I posted this on the Devil's Thread last-night but it fits here more:

Also the way they described how astral vessels who travel too close plummet out of the sky, got me thinking.

What if it is possible for Dominions to "sink" a normal Dominion rests level with the Astral Sea, "floating" along with it, and quite easy to be reached by astral vessels.

However some Dominions that are damaged such as the Nine Hells have begun to sink, causing pockets in the Astral Sea that are treacherous to cross. These Dominions too if they sink too far, crash into the swirling mass of the Elemental Chaos below or disappear into the Abyss.

I could also see other Dominions that float above the Astral Sea. These could be the watchtowers of the Gods or bastions of long forgotten powers no longer tied to the currents of the Astral Sea.

I am also wondering how many interesting planes from 3e will make it into 4e as Dominions. As well as just interesting places, we got so far:

-Sigil
-City of Brass
-Nine Hells

I wonder what others.

 

[Stoat]

There's an old Dragon article that describes ships sailing the astral sea. IIRC, it used the 3D, timeless Astral from the first MoP, but glossed over the 3D nature of the place. The ships described resembled real-world galleys or longships and, to my memory, were armed with ballistae.

I'm a long-time Spelljammer fan myself, so I welcome the concept in 4E. I also prefer my D&D space/astral travel to be less Steampunk or Hard Science and more "Elven Man-o-War." So I hope WotC goes in that direction.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Well, the gityhanki were in Spelljammer to "Pirates of Gith", they'd steal elven ships, because elven ships are organic, living things, they could plane shift them back and forth from Prime ot Astral plane, ambushing folk

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I'm a long-time Spelljammer fan myself, so I welcome the concept in 4E. I also prefer my D&D space/astral travel to be less Steampunk or Hard Science and more "Elven Man-o-War." So I hope WotC goes in that direction.

You can sorta get a taste of what a astral vessel looks like in this image: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/WorldsMonsters_Gallery/111927.jpg

The vessel itself, seems very ship-like, the ways the sails are though, I dunno it just gives me a Planescape/Sigil feel. Which I like

 

[Thyrwyn]

Am I the only one who gets the whole 'Sinbad sailing off the edge of the world to get to Tartarus' vibe from this?

(from the animated Sinbad, of course. . .)