Realmspace

[Jürgen Hubert]

The main problem with Spelljammer, IMO, was that it lacked focus. It's base was: "Let's add fantasy space travel to the standard AD&D worlds and see what happens". As a result, Spelljammer didn't really come into its own as a setting - it was just "another form of travelling between worlds", just as the first edition of the Manual of the Planes was.

Planescape made the outer planes into a setting that could exist independently of the "normal" AD&D worlds, despite some links. Spelljammer didn't pull off the same. And while "Astromundi Cluster" did go some way towards providing Spelljammer with a setting of its own, the Cluster was essentially a "prison sphere", and thus left multi-sphere travel out.

If some enterprising company should purchase the rights for Spelljammer and re-release it, I strongly recommend they create a cluster of spheres that can serve as a "campaign base"...

 

[Ahzad]

The main problem with Spelljammer, IMO, was that it lacked focus. It's base was: "Let's add fantasy space travel to the standard AD&D worlds and see what happens". As a result, Spelljammer didn't really come into its own as a setting - it was just "another form of travelling between worlds", just as the first edition of the Manual of the Planes was.

Planescape made the outer planes into a setting that could exist independently of the "normal" AD&D worlds, despite some links. Spelljammer didn't pull off the same. And while "Astromundi Cluster" did go some way towards providing Spelljammer with a setting of its own, the Cluster was essentially a "prison sphere", and thus left multi-sphere travel out.

If some enterprising company should purchase the rights for Spelljammer and re-release it, I strongly recommend they create a cluster of spheres that can serve as a "campaign base"...

I'll definately agree with this one, trying to add Spelljammer to any of the big 3 (DL, FR, GH) just left a tacked on kinda feel to the thing, sort of like how 1e psionics felt IMO

Being a huge fan of spelljammer, something about flying ships, pirates, sinister illithid nautiloid's drifting silently thru space gives me chills I love it, no other setting ever gave me the sense of wonder and adventure SJ did. I could DM games that had the feel of John Carter, Warlord of Mars or Carson of Venus. It also gave us (my primary group are all big on SJ) our rpg experience, and gave us the tactial mini aspect, with the ships, without having to switch games and that was a big plus. It had it's warts, but I've yet to encounter a setting that was 'perfect'.

I'd love to see SJ revisited, the poly article was nice, but drifted to far from it's base IMO maybe b/c of space constraints or not, and Dragonstar is a good area to draw some ideas from, but it's to advanced and it's physic's are to much grounded in our own reality. I prefer to stand on the deck of my hammership and not worry about vaccum as I order the cat's wound back and fire another volley at the merchant ship as we come about to board her

 

[Staffan]

Planescape made the outer planes into a setting that could exist independently of the "normal" AD&D worlds, despite some links. Spelljammer didn't pull off the same. And while "Astromundi Cluster" did go some way towards providing Spelljammer with a setting of its own, the Cluster was essentially a "prison sphere", and thus left multi-sphere travel out.

Astromundi's other problem was that it was the last thing released for Spelljammer. If it instead had been the first thing and they had focused on making it the main thing in the setting, I think Spelljammer would have worked out much better. Instead they tried to shoehorn the "Big Three" into the Spelljammer cosmology, which was a pretty bad idea.

The final problem with Astromundi Cluster was that it wasn't really all that good - though that's a matter of taste.

Come to think of it, Shadow of the Spider Moon (the SJ minigame in Polyhedron) is, in a way, what Spelljammer should have been from the beginning. Perhaps not in the core set, but in the first thing released for it. Either that, or as someone suggested, a set of spheres with lots of travel between them. The problem with the latter is that the larger the area (or volume) covered in a setting, the less detail can be given to any specific place.

 

[Daiymo]

I never understood the need TSR had to promote the multiverse, but I do like the idea of floating ships. I got on this kick I guess cuz Ive been beta testing the MMORPG Earth and Beyond and wanted to incorporate space somehow. Planar travel could serve the same purpose but the concept of SJ seems so cool. I was really hot for Dragonstar when it came out but I like that Spelljammer is still medieval tech level. Besides I have fond memories of Minsc and his minature giant space hamster in the Baldurs Gate computer game

Anyways, I will probably limit travel just to Realmspace. If travel is allowed to other clusters it wont be to any of the "canon" worlds like Greyspace or Krynnspace(that seems cheesy). But Ill keep the space stuff hopefully focused, an adjunct of the main campaign.

My idea is that SJ is not really well known on Toril, mostly limited to the gnomes of Lantan and the elves of Evermeet(and a few other high powered individuals). So the revelation of other planets and the crystal sphere is sort of a surprise to the PCs. Besides I want to introduce the neogi as baddies, especially since MM2 came out.

BTW Ahzad, Heretic like your sites.

 

[Ahzad]

I never understood the need TSR had to promote the multiverse, but I do like the idea of floating ships. I got on this kick I guess cuz Ive been beta testing the MMORPG Earth and Beyond and wanted to incorporate space somehow. Planar travel could serve the same purpose but the concept of SJ seems so cool. I was really hot for Dragonstar when it came out but I like that Spelljammer is still medieval tech level. Besides I have fond memories of Minsc and his minature giant space hamster in the Baldurs Gate computer game

Anyways, I will probably limit travel just to Realmspace. If travel is allowed to other clusters it wont be to any of the "canon" worlds like Greyspace or Krynnspace(that seems cheesy). But Ill keep the space stuff hopefully focused, an adjunct of the main campaign.

My idea is that SJ is not really well known on Toril, mostly limited to the gnomes of Lantan and the elves of Evermeet(and a few other high powered individuals). So the revelation of other planets and the crystal sphere is sort of a surprise to the PCs. Besides I want to introduce the neogi as baddies, especially since MM2 came out.

BTW Ahzad, Heretic like your sites.

Thanks, but I ain't touched my site in over a year, too busy DMin' and stuff, plus I really have grown to dislike the freakin' pop ups on geocities, and that makes me not want to work on it any. I've been toying with actually getting my own space so I didn't have to deal with those things. I've been considering pulling it down, but people find the sphere guide and maps useful or at least that's what they tell me

Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

And it ain't my webpage to which I posted the link. That's the official fan webpage. I like reading that particular story, even if the author tends to take 1 - 2 years off between batches of chapters. (This is the second hiatus he's been on since I started reading the series.)

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

My idea is that SJ is not really well known on Toril, mostly limited to the gnomes of Lantan and the elves of Evermeet(and a few other high powered individuals). So the revelation of other planets and the crystal sphere is sort of a surprise to the PCs. Besides I want to introduce the neogi as baddies, especially since MM2 came out.

According to the Realmspace supplement, the major ports of call on Toril are the following:

- Waterdeep (the ships have to touch down miles out to see and sail into harbor to avoid a mass panic).
- Calimport
- Chunming (in Kara-Tur)
- Iiso (in Wa)
- The Dock (on a glacier in the Wu Pi Te Shao mountains, run by the arcane).

If you assume that the government takes active steps to hide spelljammer travel, and the PCs never get near to one of the others, you can keep the existence of spelljammers secret, or the subject of fairy tales...

"Yes, my son - it is said that a wooden ship came down from the sky and took him with it."

 

[Davelozzi]

According to the Realmspace supplement, the major ports of call on Toril are the following [snip]...

If I remember correctly, the island of Nimbral (southwest of Chult) was a major spelljamming port too. I think they even went there during one of the SJ novels.

 

[Daiymo]

Im still waiting the Realmspace book to get here, but Ive been thinking about centering it on the sea of Fallen Stars. I have an old ADnD sourcebook that talks about one of the islands having alot of meteor activity (actually Sj ships).

My PCs arent real world travllers so Kara Tur isn't really an option. I may use Waterdeep perhaps in conjunction with some political intrigue there. So many choices...