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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 3515490" data-attributes="member: 32740">Yep.  Economics was a fatal Spelljammer flaw.  Just ONE such encounter blows things to hell.  And not just the economics that any other D&D campaign would expect.  Consider...If the party travels by spelljammer - there WILL be encounters with other ships.  Eventually, one of those encounters will be a fight.  If the PC's win the fight they get, at worst, a SECOND helm worth hundreds of thousands of GP from among the wreckage.  At best they can take over the ship largely undamaged and they've either upgraded to the captured ship which is bigger/better, or they sell the lesser valued ship and helm and have the blockbusting cash to commission a vastly better vessel to simply be MADE FOR THEM.  Bolt the helm on and they're off to repeat the endeavor.And yet if they LOSE the fight - what happens?  They are captured or left adrift in space.  NO POSSIBLE MIDDLE GROUND.  It's either/or.  Rags or riches.  AND THIS IS WITH EVERY SHIP BATTLE.  The PC's MUST win, EVERY time or they lose it ALL.Yep.  Overland travel became a thing of the past unless you first devise a means or a reason that the PC's would divest themselves of the advantage of flight.  They must travel overland to be able to see and follow the clues and landmarks from the ground perspective.  Their ship is damaged/stolen/impounded and they must hoof it.  There is a creature or phenomenon that conveniently prevents approach by spelljammers.  The journey begins with an undesired/unexpected teleportation to somewhere else.  Or the journey isn't that far so that a convenient landing site is chosen and then there is a SHORT hike during which all the land encounters must be squeezed in (like a real sailing ship putting ashore for water and provisions and the shore party being attacked by natives and wild beasts within 100 yards of the beach.This, however, is not correct.When on board a moving spelljammer you have very limited means of an encounter occurring:1 - the ship is moving slower than spelljamming speed and it's just a matter of what can catch up or keep up to the ship.2 - the ship is moving at spelljamming speed and something very large or another spelljamming vessel comes within range forcing it OUT of spelljamming speed.3 - The ship is at spelljamming speed and something NOT a ship, or not large, is nonetheless matching speed.4 - the ship is moving at spelljamming speed and "runs over" whatever it is that it encounters.  In this case the something is now within the air/gravity envelope of the ship along its FORWARD edge and moving at the same speed as the ship.  It will be affected by the ships gravity just as everything else, but will otherwise remain moving at spelljamming speed WITH the ship until it leaves the air/gravity envelope to the REAR edge.  It is then instantly left behind.  If it tries to leave by the forward edge it will not succeed, simply remaining AT the edge as the ship continues to "run it down".So, the vast majority of critter encounters aboard a spelljamming ship that is at speed will be their effective INSTANT appearance somewhere along the forward edge of the envelope.  And the entire encounter MUST take place entirely within the envelope unless the ship does drop out of spelljamming speed.</blockquote>

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