Spelljammer Is it just me or does Radiant Citadel seem more like a fleshed out Setting, then Spelljammer?

[Paul Farquhar]

Based on page count and one book having had a month's head start on previews?

I think it would be easier to prove that one was more of a cookbook than the other.

I'm pretty sure Radiant Citadel will be the better cookbook. I hear the first adventure has some fascinating prawn recipes.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I'm pretty sure Radiant Citadel will be the better cookbook. I hear the first adventure has some fascinating prawn recipes.

Legit forgot that there is an actual cooking contest in it.

 

[Parmandur]

In terms of locations detailed, they will probably be about the same, one with a chapter detailing the Radiant Citadel, and the other will have a chapter detailing the Rock of Bral.

But Spelljammer is a book about traveling between worlds, not describing the contents of the entire multiverse. In the 5e sense "setting" means "type of story" not rattling off a long list of locations.

Do not expect the locations in the Radiant Citadel adventures to be detailed. Candlekeep Mysteries goes to places like Tashluta and Anauroch, but it only has very cursory information about those locations (and no map).

Well, per Ajit George, each of the 15 worlds and the Citadel itself have "Gazateers," but based on how he describes them the detail level is probably equivalent to what Van Richten's gave to the Domains of Dread individually.

 

[Ath-kethin]

The thing is, Spelljammer isn't really a setting, or at least it didn't used to be. It was a means of explaining other settings.

Spelljammer HAD a setting (Astromundi Cluster) and a sub-setting/base (the Rock of Bral), but was not really a setting in its own right.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Is it just me or does it make more sense to compare things after they've released and we've read them?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Is it just me or does Radiant Citadel seem more like a fleshed out Setting, then Spelljammer?

First off the page count is much higher, secondly we get regional details on each of these 15 regions and the Radiant Citadel, etc...

Haven't seen either yet but yeah, it seems extremely likely that the total amount of "setting material" in RC will be hugely in excess of that in SJ, based on page counts and what material we know is in both products. With SJ I expect to either see a digital add-on which contains a lot more actual setting material, or just a whole lot of people defending it with "MAKE YOUR OWN FUN!!" and similar terrible apologia.

I mean, right now, we're looking at less on SJ's actual setting than you get in a "mini-setting" in a GURPs book full of settings.

I mean, my personal opinion, not a fact, but there is little worse, in terms of RPG sourcebooks, than a setting book, which doesn't really detail the setting. SJ might not be that, but... I'll be impressed. It won't be the first of course - there have been at least dozens of books over RPG history which purported to cover a setting, but in fact barely touched on it and spent most of their time on something else.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The thing is, Spelljammer isn't really a setting, or at least it didn't used to be. It was a means of explaining other settings.

Spelljammer HAD a setting (Astromundi Cluster) and a sub-setting/base (the Rock of Bral), but was not really a setting in its own right.

That's explicitly not the case with the current edition according to SJ's designers.

 

[Parmandur]

Is it just me or does it make more sense to compare things after they've released and we've read them?

You do things your way, we'll do things our way.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

there have been at least dozens of books over RPG history which purported to cover a setting, but in fact barely touched on it and spent most of their time on something else.

Planescape.

 

[Malmuria]

Planescape.

To be fair it was a setting composed of multiple infinite spaces. It does present challenges in how to present the material