SpellJammer

[JDowling]

I'd often thought of running an altered spelljammer in which the theory that everything in space was floating in ether was true (modified phlogoston hehe), and Devinci (spelling) got to fly wacky contraptions into space with air bubbles, et cetera.

I thought it'd be fun but I'm sure player interest would be like me... and my cat who's obsessed with chasing dice ;P

 

[Sledge]

Just getting a new subcampaign in SJ planned.
On my list are making helms feasible for epic level characters as well as low levels without being 99% equal.
Also I'm trying to work out the basis for worlds that don't intercity SJ trade. Realistically one spelljammer could do a huge amount of local trading on one planet. Why is multisphere travel the norm? Is it the norm?

 

[Ranger REG]

Love Spelljammer! I know it'll never come back (that Spider Moon thing isn't even a worthwhile substitute), but it was good while it lasted, and the products remain great even today.

Personally, I prefer Spelljammer in its own setting, so you can focus on those magnificent flying ships, not as some toolkit to bridge the gap between settings.

That's what Planescape is for.

I like to emulate that Treasure Planet universe.

 

[D+1]

There is a better chance of Monte Cook dancing the hoochie coo on top of a flag pole than there is of there ever being another Spelljammer product.

All it would really take is a 3rd party publisher willing to pay for the rights, such as with Ravenloft.

It was probably TSR's least successful D&D setting.

I'd be willing to bet actual money that that's far from the truth. Spelljammer was no different from other settings in that it didn't appeal to everyone. It was just the same as other settings in that those who did like it tended to be very faithful to it. Spelljammer had a LONG list of products in support of it and even TSR was not blind enough to the realities of sales to keep pimping a setting with rock bottom sales. [It was the fact that they continued to issue new settings and re-issue established settings at ALL that destroyed sales. At the time they were the SOLE source of D&D material and thus every new/reissued setting cut into the sales of all other materials that they alone produced.]

Spelljammer, even if it's sales were significantly below those of other major settings released by TSR (which I doubt), would be very difficult to quantify as a genuine failure in its own right. Certainly you could not say so on that basis alone.

 

[Knightfall]

I love Spelljammer. I will never let go of my Spelljammer boxed set. It's a classic.

And if someone wants good 3rd Edition material for SJ then go to the official fan website linked on the previous page.

Cheers!

KF72

 

[JDowling]

I've been fairly underwhelmed with fan conversions of the old settings that I've seen. It seems everyone that does them isn't happy to "Leave well enough alone and just upgrade the stats."

What I mean is that in the conversions I've seen they are untrue to the origonals that I had (though, perhaps I didn't have all the material, or the newest version, whatever) but it seems like they all include "someone's stupid idea that they think is really awesome" but was never in the origonal. (I don't really mean all these ideas are stupid, that's just how I phrase it when i'm being bitter =P)

So, while they are good for what they are, I don't feel they capture "the origonal spirit" of the settings (see the "too many cooks" thread).

For instance - Darksun never had (in any of the products that I personally recall): Aarakocra or Pterran being playable races, no "Brute" class, no "Psychic Warrior" et cetera. Now, I didn't have the 2nd boxed set, or several supplements... but unless I missed something big there it seems like these things, while okay ideas, simply aren't true to the origonal.

Also, this is certainly not to say that I could do any better, because I probably couldn't or wouldn't.

So like I said, I doubt I could do better, I could be mistaken and all these things appeared in the few supplements I didn't have (in which case, they should be in converted suplements, not converted core setting, IMO), and so on, but it changes the flavor of the world. It seems like these projects always end up trying to be more than just conversions, I don't like that. A conversion project should limit itself to converting, and that's it, IM(not so humble)O.

/endRantyPetPeeveIssue ;P

 

[Doug McCrae]

I liked Spelljammer but not the silly stuff. Neogi death spiders = cool. Giant space hamsters = not cool.

 

[Style]

Love spelljammer to bits - it has been a part of all of my games since its release and I have incorporated it into my current homebrew. Some nations have spelljammer technology and use this to dominate the airspace (coming into conflict with a dragon empire in doing so), operating within the atmosphere as well as outside of it. The game is set in a small system isolated from the planes and other worlds, so it's small-scale but keeps that spelljammer edge. Also playing with different types of helm - we incorporated the idea that helm-technology develops over time, allowing for the purchase of more efficient helms (at greater cost, of course).

I'd also be tempted to do my own conversion, although I like what I have seen over at the official site, especially the way they have handled all those kits from 2e. Very elegant.

For instance - Darksun never had (in any of the products that I personally recall): Aarakocra or Pterran being playable races, no "Brute" class, no "Psychic Warrior" et cetera. Now, I didn't have the 2nd boxed set, or several supplements... but unless I missed something big there it seems like these things, while okay ideas, simply aren't true to the origonal.

There ya go - they're player races from the 2nd boxed set on. And isn't brute just a silly rename of barbarian? Athas has loads of angry semi-naked guys running about the place - it works for me. All those glistening thews...

 

[Staffan]

For instance - Darksun never had (in any of the products that I personally recall): Aarakocra or Pterran being playable races, no "Brute" class, no "Psychic Warrior" et cetera. Now, I didn't have the 2nd boxed set, or several supplements... but unless I missed something big there it seems like these things, while okay ideas, simply aren't true to the origonal.

Aarakocra and pterrans were playable races in the revised edition of Dark Sun. Psychic warriors as such weren't around in 2e, but the Will & the Way had two psionicist kits for those who wanted to be a bit better at fighting while still having psionics (mercenary psionicist for weapons and sensei for unarmed). The Brute/Barbarian wasn't around in 2e, but one can't really claim that there's a shortage of barbarism.

My main beef with the athas.org conversion was mostly with the spellcasting classes - they removed the druid's elemental association, they genericized the cleric (which admittedly had to do with the general genericizing of clerics in 3e), made defilers and preservers the same class, added sorcerers, and made templars into the divine version of sorcerers (which is the opposite of what they were in 2e - a 2e templar had a humongous spell selection but were low on spells/day, while a 3e templar has a teeny weeny spell selection but can cast them a lot).

So like I said, I doubt I could do better, I could be mistaken and all these things appeared in the few supplements I didn't have (in which case, they should be in converted suplements, not converted core setting, IMO), and so on, but it changes the flavor of the world. It seems like these projects always end up trying to be more than just conversions, I don't like that. A conversion project should limit itself to converting, and that's it, IM(not so humble)O.

I agree in part. However, one should take a look at the new things and decide if they fit in the setting as well. So, 2e didn't have any "psychic warriors" per se. However, it did have psionicist/fighters (in the core), mercenary psionicists, and sensei, which all combine psionics with martial abilities - seems the psychic warrior fits right into that particular niche. As an opposing example, 2e didn't have sorcerers either, and 3e does - that doesn't mean sorcerers fit into the setting, because arcane magic is a distinctly unnatural thing in Dark Sun. It took the world's most powerful person ever ages to figure out how to do it - it's not something that people are just born with.

 

[Ranger REG]

So, while they are good for what they are, I don't feel they capture "the origonal spirit" of the settings (see the "too many cooks" thread).

Spelljammer is an original setting? I thought it was just a toolkit for bridging Greyhawk to Forgotten Realms to Dragonlance.