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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 9222354" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dungeon/Polyhedron Issue 92/151: May/Jun 2002part 9/12Characters: Like most of their settings from this point on, this works firmly on the principle that everything Core is allowed. Fortunately, Spelljammer is a broad setting anyway, so this doesn’t ruin anything. (unlike 2004’s Dark Sun conversion trying to shoehorn Paladins, Sorcerers and spellcasting Bards in without explaining where they get their power from or how the defiler/preserver dichotomy works for them.) Humans are the newbies to space, from the third planet in the system. (oh, how original) Dwarves depart from stereotype by shaving themselves all over their body, as a reflection of their shame from losing their homeworld. Elves are even more insufferable than usual, a nest of schemers who may seem lazy to others, but only because they know they have plenty of time to wait for the right moment to act. Gnomes lost their homeworld a long time ago, but are much more cheerful about this than dwarves, wandering the spaceways doing techie stuff. Half-elves are the usual, caught between two cultures and not entirely trusted by either. Half-orcs get around the rape issue by saying they’re mostly the product of Illithid breeding programs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA_E57ePSR4" target="_blank">which is actually worse when you think about it for any length of time</a>, because it means both parents were probably mind-controlled and non-consenting. (and now I have the horrible mental image of Illithids as fanfic writers making people act out of character just to fulfil their personal ‘ships.) Halflings seem nice, but that’s just a front as they look for opportunities to exploit. Everyone seems to be more morally ambiguous than usual, with definite neutral tendencies wherever they normally fall on the alignment axis, but the mechanics for both the races and classes are unchanged. There are 5 new prestige classes though, which are a little more interesting. Master Scavengers are the obvious gnome hyper-stereotypes. Plenty of skill points and a knack for making the best of whatever they find, they can macguyver their way out of all sorts of tricky situations. Just watch what you buy from them, because even if it works for them, it might not hold together long for anyone else. Planetary Explorers, like their earthly ones in the Pulp Heroes issue, are medium all-rounders with lots of bonus languages. They do have a slightly more mystical side though, gaining resistance to extreme temperatures and the ability to literally talk to the planet at high levels. (which is about as useful as Commune ever is) Not particularly brilliant in combat, but good for a more socially focussed campaign. Spelljammer Aces get full spellcasting progression plus a special power every level, which means they’re one of those classes that’s an unambiguous step up if you’re starting off as a Sorcerer, probably still an overall plus as a wizard, but much more of a choice if you’re a cleric or druid who’d lose out on hp and BAB progression by specialising. Like many a fictional pilot, they tend towards the reckless daredevil end of things, to the irritation of anyone who gets space-sickness. Stellar Corsairs get full BAB plus a decent compliment of rogue skills, which will hopefully make up for heavy armor not working too well when climbing the rigging. Another one not too different from their earthly implementations elsewhere. Storykeepers are a 5 level bard variant focussing on their voice-related powers. You’ll lose out on both skill points and BAB though, so it’s another one that’s more for socially focussed characters than dungeon-crawlers who expect to get into fights every session. Not many new or variant skills either, just Pilot (obviously), plus two new knowledge types and one new profession, none of which are particularly surprising. The single page of feats also has lots of ones repeated from other supplements, including several of the currently omnipresent +2 to two skills filler ones and a bunch of background feats taken from the Forgotten Realms book. There are a couple of genuinely new ones revolving around being extra good at spelljamming, plus another feat tax on top of the basic craft wondrous item one before you can create spelljamming helms yourself. They’re obviously not something anyone can just throw together, even once space travel is common.</blockquote>

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