Spelljammer d20

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I thought Spelljammer: SotSM was the weakest d20 minigame of the three so far... That said, it was a huge step up over the original goofy setting with its giant space hampsters and hippo-men (to name just a few of the idiotic things wrong with it).

Spelljammer d20 had some nice art (the cover artist was great--the idea of purple drow with yellow or orange eyes with no pupils is creepy!). There really weren't a lot of new feats or info I could port into a non-Spelljammer setting (one of the strong points of Pulp Heroes and Shadowchasers), though the Background feats were a neat idea. What I really missed were the deckplans of the ships from the old box set. These should be up on WoTC as a web enhancement to fully make use of this minigame. The new weapons were okay, but not as fun as Freeport's firearms or Dragonstar.

A good effort, nice update, but not as portable to multi-settings as the previous minigames.

 

[Horacio]

I thought Spelljammer: SotSM was the weakest d20 minigame of the three so far...
[...]
A good effort, nice update, but not as portable to multi-settings as the previous minigames.

Sorry, Kap, but I disagree with you.
It wasn't designed to be portable, it was designed, at least IMHO, to bring back a wondeful setting to its waiting fans. It wasn't even, again AFAIK, thought to be a full complete minigame, having the original Spelljammer isn't a must but it's a plus to enjoy the minigame.
So if you see it from this side, maybe you find it superb as me
BTW, there is already another 'd20 Spelljammer' thread

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Actually, I prefer Dragonstar or Fading Suns to Spelljammer d20. Maybe it's the original Spelljammer's "goofy" stigma in my mind dragging it down, but it never really was able to capture my imagination (much like Birthright, Planescape, Dark Sun and Ravenloft failed to on one level or another), and still fails to do so now.

I have been unable to actually run any of the d20 minigames so far due to player or DM apathy, but I have found them all very interesting to read and mine ideas and crunchy bits from (like feats). So seen from that point of view--the game/setting itself will never be played but we can yoink crunchy bits for D&D--Spelljammer is less useful than the previous minigames. If I was a fan of the original, I suppose I would be very happy with this updated version. It is a big step up, but still feels somehow "wrong" (goofy?) to me. I don't know if I'm being entirely fair to it in this regard, however...

Oh, well. What's next? Gamma World?

 

[MythandLore]

Re: Re: Spelljammer d20

BTW, there is already another 'd20 Spelljammer' thread

LOL.

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9617

Oh, well. What's next? Gamma World?

Yeah, heh... Yeah, what are they gonna do next? DND?
... oh, um yeah... I forgot.

 

[Voneth]

If not next, it is in the pipeline. Mona spent a lot of time on the boards socilting opinion on what fans wanted.

 

[Horacio]

Actually, I prefer Dragonstar or Fading Suns to Spelljammer d20. Maybe it's the original Spelljammer's "goofy" stigma in my mind dragging it down, but it never really was able to capture my imagination (much like Birthright, Planescape, Dark Sun and Ravenloft failed to on one level or another), and still fails to do so now.

That's the problem, Kap, the minigame wasn't thought for you
It was directed to us, ol' Spelljammer fans who love the setting with all its 'goofiness'. It was a great setting, and a original one, but not a setting for everybody. Like Planescape or Dark Sun, yes

I love that kind of 'bizarre' settings

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I liked pieces of each of those settings, just not taken as a whole...

The ships/deckplans from Spelljammer were really pretty.

The Templars from Dark Sun made cool villains, but the setting was too weird. I was able to yoink the templar idea and put it to good use in a more "normal" setting. My group still tends to refer to clerics as "templars" regardless of deity, LOL.

I loved the original Ravenloft module for 1e but the 2e setting was too restrictive and unbelievable for me. I wanted more of a realistic guide to life in medieval Transylvania/Eastern Europe but with the supernatural elements added in. Avalanche is supposed to be coming out with Vlad the Impaler, which will (finally) do just that (perhaps minus the supernatural elements, but at least I will have a historically accurate setting I can add such things to).

Birthright was a neat idea, but implemented so badly in my eyes that it was useless--the whole bloodlines thing was dumb, IMO, and we should have instead gotten "normal" rules for running realms with "normal" aristocrats and armies--we didn't need a whole new setting for that.

 

[jaults]

Deckplans for you, KK

    Take a look here: http://www.darkwood.org/sj/ This guy has some deckplans posted for the new setting...

Jason

 

[jhilahd]

Playing mini-games (was d20 Spelljammer)

Sorry to hear that you don't have anyone wanting to play those games/settings.

I talked my group(whom I used to run weekly games with, now twice a month if I'm lucky)into try a series of one-shot games. I would run the games, and it could be anything. But... I get to choose the first game.

I picked Pulp d20. That was 3 months ago and several games later.

I want to run other things, but the pulp has gone very high-cinema...er... rather high action. More akin to John Woo than Doc Samson, but not far.

I've got a Shadowchasers game setup and ready to run, but they're more concerned with the plots I've already started. I start talking about running a Forgotten Realms game, they ignore me. I tempt them with the new CoC d20, they push it aside and ask me about the Pulp game. Heh.

So I'm in the opposite side as you. I'm sorry you felt the d20 Spelljammer was not as strong as the others. I sorta-kind-of agree with you. In comparison, the other two were extreme breaths of fresh air, while this one... reintroduced an old friend with some new looks/features. I look forward to the Gamma World mini-game. Very fond memories there.

The bonus to this current issue is that it has sparked interest in a Spelljammer game, especially since it was the hub of a recent discussion at my gaming table. I should really refer to it as a tangent, not a discussion.

-Jhilahd

 

[vrykyl]

Running Shadow Chasers (Soon)

As my friends and I were great fans of Buffy and Special Unit 2, I have caved into their demands and will be running a modified Shadow Chasers (with a dash of d20 Cthulhu). I have created a REALLY apocolyptic story arc to the campaign (Lovecraftian in flavor, but not using the mythos) but with heroes who might be able to help fend off the coming darkness...

We'll be playing Sunday afternoons at the Game Guild in Lake Geneva. Should be fun!!

Jamie Chambers