Spelljammer light of xaryxis, what are your thoughts (spoilers for the adventure are almost certain)

[Maxperson]

Yeah. I tend not yo run campaign adventures like these and this just confirms that I won't.

I'm also not surprised by what you are saying. When you take a campaign adventure and chop out lots of pages to make room for it in a boxed set, you have to sacrifice on options.

 

[DragonBelow]

I played the first two chapters yesterday. The DM said the first chapters are a bit light. so I'm not sure how long it's going to take to complete. At the current pace 6 sessions total, but that seem unrealistic to maintain. I'm sorry for not reading your posts but I don't want it spoiled for me.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

My understanding is that the adventure as written is the way it is because WotC was getting feedback that customers want adventures whose length is longer than the short adventures in the anthology books and shorter than the standard 5E adventure books.

As for the adventure itself, I'm still ruminating.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The ending seems really forced. The rest of the adventure is relatively light hearted and then suddenly the characters have to decide that one of them has to suicide to properly complete the adventure? That's a MASSIVE tonal shift! Yes, there's an option to have an NPC do it, but that seemed lame too.

If it’s taking place on FR I assume the big NPCs are trying to take care of the vines, but they don’t know the source of the vines and how to stop them.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

When I run it I think I'd rather start the adventure on some minor backwater world that doesn't necessarily have prominent heroes or beings invested in its preservation. I happened to find an old Spelljammer module in a store a few years back that features a system called Shadowspace; I may use one of the worlds in it as the starting point.

 

[Mort]

If it’s taking place on FR I assume the big NPCs are trying to take care of the vines, but they don’t know the source of the vines and how to stop them.

Divination exists and is common in the realms. Spelljamming is also not unknown so finding it what happened wouldn't be all that hard.

Look, I get it, the PCs need to be the focus and it's fun to have an epic adventure (a la Flash Gordon, the cited inspiration) without being epic level. If I'm running it for a non FR savvy group I wouldn't even sweat it. If it's a FR experienced group, I'd throw in some explanation and move on. It's just jarring to get nothing from the adventure itself - though frankly it's NOT my biggest gripe with it

 

[Malmuria]

Wait, so an outcome of this adventure is that Toril is forever destroyed?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Wait, so an outcome of this adventure is that Toril is forever destroyed?

If you make the starting world Toril yes, but the world is any of your choice.

 

[Mort]

Wait, so an outcome of this adventure is that Toril is forever destroyed?

Yep, a bunch of mid-level barely anybody's get to make the choice at the end of the adventure.

It's one of the very few meaningful choices in the entire adventure and it's that big.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

To elaborate on my earlier post, the adventure that Shadowspace is detailed in describes it as a collection of worlds on the decline due the disruption of a kind of interplanetary ecosystem (short descriptions of what the worlds were like beforehand are helpfully provided). I think when I run Light of Xaryxis I'll keep the sorry state of most of Shadowspace but have one of its worlds still fairly well-off, the one where the PCs will be from. It will later be revealed that Shadowspace has been a common target of the Xaryxian Empire's depradations, with their world the last one.

Spelljammer Wiki: Shadowspace