Salvaging Spelljammer from the Radiant Triangle

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Dammit Victor

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More than any other D&D setting, Spelljammer is my jam. But more than anything, its status as a metasetting and the constraints of reconciling multiple incompatible cosmologies dragged it down and kept it from living up to its true potential.

Thus, I want to divorce Spelljammer from the Radiant Triangle (Toril, Krynn, Oerth) and build it a unique setting from the ground up.

What kind of spacefaring setting would make for the ideal Spelljammer?
 
There’s a lot of good material not related to those settings. I’d keep it mostly as is, write them out and introduce a more unified cosmology.
 
My preferred version of Spelljammer was Dark Space for Rolemaster. It had more horror and less twee to it.
 
For my own part:

I would like to preserve the concept of Crystal Spheres rather than solar systems, with the notion that different Spheres may have different physical configurations and (less severe) differences in local physics and magic. This variety is key to the Spelljammer experience.

I would do away with the rules about Clerics outside their native spheres entirely, and a pox upon them. Rather than the kinds of deities that such a system presupposes-- to maintain the integrity of the other campaign settings-- I would import Immortals from BECMI/Mystara and maintain a fairly large list of beings that can sponsor Clerics and/or Warlocks.

I would want a large variety of demihuman, humanoid, and monstrous races to be playable as PCs, but not the endless proliferation of nearly identical humanoids. Scro, particularly, are a thorn in my side. Some races I consider indispensable: Elves, Thri-Kreen/Xixchil, and Gith (in a three-way rivalry as major powers), Giff and Hadozee, Lizardmen.

I wish to preserve the standard spelljamming helm being powered by spell slots, but I want piloting to be less debilitating than it is in the original campaign setting. I kinda want to see something for Fighters and Rogues to be able to helm a ship, but I don't have a solution.
 
My preferred version of Spelljammer was Dark Space for Rolemaster. It had more horror and less twee to it.

I am glad for less twee, but I am altogether unfond of horror in all its forms.
 
I’ve always wanted to run a “spelljammer” campaign with the D&D4 cosmology, where each plane of existence is an island on the Astral Sea. A motley crew from across a dozen worlds, plying their trade across universes.

You could set up a random world generator a la Traveller or SWN.
 
I’ve always wanted to run a “spelljammer” campaign with the D&D4 cosmology, where each plane of existence is an island on the Astral Sea. A motley crew from across a dozen worlds, plying their trade across universes.

I have long considered treating Eberron's Planes as bodies within its Crystal Sphere. Hard to believe that's been fifteen years now.

You could set up a random world generator a la Traveller or SWN.

That's one of the planned features of my Galactic Dragons setting which started as an attempt to repair Spelljammer.
 
I would also fix Jammers so they don't weaken the mages so much. Ditto clerics.

I quite liked the Rock of Bral supplement, I think it would be possible to play a mostly wildspace campaign with giff, beholders and mind-flayers without much need for a conventional visiting planets appr
 
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So your Spelljammer won't have Mind Flayers and the like?

I wouldn't really consider them "horror" unless deliberately played for it-- they're psychic cannibal slavers. Well within the bounds of sword and sorcery.
 
I wouldn't really consider them "horror" unless deliberately played for it-- they're psychic cannibal slavers. Well within the bounds of sword and sorcery.
I guess I always saw Sword & Sorcery as having plenty of horror elements... like how Robert E. Howard worked it.
Maybe we're defining 'horror' differently...
 
I feel some of the things that kind of have to stay to make Spelljammer feel like Spelljammer is the bizarre physics. The way gravity worked, the personal air bubbles, etc.

To me it was what made Spelljammer more unique, and actually made the ship shapes and stuff like that make sense.
 
I feel some of the things that kind of have to stay to make Spelljammer feel like Spelljammer is the bizarre physics. The way gravity worked, the personal air bubbles, etc.

To me it was what made Spelljammer more unique, and actually made the ship shapes and stuff like that make sense.

I’m not a fan of how gravity worked, it seemed too fiddily and since it is based on a medievalish understanding of the world would gravity even be a concept? I liked the air bubbles as it simplified play, which I consider oeys to a setting: give it some flavour but not so many extra mechanics it becomes a pain to run. That was an issue to me with a lot of the extra modifiers piled onto visiting certain planes.
 
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