# Spelljammer Modules



## Sir Robilar (Apr 19, 2010)

So last week I found out about Spelljammer and I have to tell you... 

WHOA!

Based on the descriptions I read, I can´t really imagine how it all plays out though. So before I even think about shopping at ebay, I ´m asking the (always very helpful!) EnWorld community:

What are the best Spelljammer modules? The ones that manage to highlight  the strengths of this odd setting?


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## Krensky (Apr 19, 2010)

There are four boxed sets.
Adventures in Space is the main one.
Legend of the Spelljammer details the setting's titular location, but it's somewhat niche due to the closed nature of the setting.
The War Captain's Companion provides better ship construction and combat rules.
The Astromundi Cluster gives a highly detailed system with an associated campaign.

There were a few accessories.
Realmspace, Krynnspace, and Greyspace detail the systems of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk settings.
The Rock of Bral details the asteroid city mentioned in the primary box set (and other places). It's an excellent home base for PCs.
Practical Planetology details a number of planets and expands the planet and system generation rules. Lost Ships adds a number of new ships.
The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook has kits, gear, spells, essays and other fun stuff.

There were two Monster Compendium add-ins. The first is somewhat down to earth (completely relative here) and the second is more gonzo, with Gamera (the giant turtle competitor to Godzilla), goblinoid weapons of mass destruction, elven undead insect mecha, and a Guyver pastiche. Personally, I find the second one much more fun.

Then there were the modules.
Space Lairs was made of short adventures. One or two encounter (in the modern style) pieces to throw in while the party travels between worlds.
Wild Space is a good way to get a party into space.
Skulls and Crossbows is less an adventure module, and more a rogue's gallery. It starts with the PCs getting letters of marque to go hunt pirates, and the resat of the book details the bounty heads on their list.
Crystal Spheres is a decent adventure involving saving a sphere from being plunged into darkness by a vampire.
Under the Dark Fist involves the PCs foiling the plans of a Empire of Lycanthropes.
Return of the Goblins is about the Second Unhuman War between the Elven Imperium and the Humanoids and revolves around the opening moves of the conflict with the emergence of the Scro (space orcs, Scro:Orcs::Hobgoblins:Goblins).
Heart of the Enemy can be used as a follow on to Return of the Goblins, and deals with the middle of the Second Unhuman War, and involves the PCs trying to destroy infiltrate a goblinoid based and destroy a WMD.


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## Wik (Apr 19, 2010)

I've been wanting to use Spelljammer to run a Firefly-esque game.  But when I try to convince my players, they shoot me down.  

I don't know what it is I'm doing wrong.  I mean, I tell them "It's D&D... in space."  and they shake their heads.  

Then I say "But, but... it's got hippo-folk that love guns!"  And they shake their heads and say no.  

So I bring out the big guns.  "Flying space whales?"  They grimace.

"Okay, what about Giant Space Hamsters!?"  At this point, everyone is leaving the room.

"But, but, the game has crystal spheres... and wildspace... and elven mechs... and..."

And then a buddy comes up, puts a hand on my shoulder, and says "Dave... just... stop.  Everyone's gone home."

*sigh*


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## FreeXenon (Apr 19, 2010)

Wik: Honestly man, in all seriousness... get new players! =) 

If any D&D players refuse to play Spelljammer in a Fireflyesque campaign need their geek card revoked! That is full of awesome sauce! 

Please tell me you are near Madison, Wisconsin! Please! Lie to me if you have too! =)

Yea, Spelljammer has some campy stuff in it, but you can completely ignore it.


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## Alzrius (Apr 19, 2010)

From what I've heard _The Goblin's Return_ and _Heart of the Enemy_ did a very good job showcasing what Spelljammer is all about. Which is as it should be, given that they were the setting's first adventures.

Personally, though, the best Spelljammer material I ever read was in _Dragon Annual_ #1, with a truly excellent article by Roger E. Moore on the scro. Very, very good stuff there.

I also liked the _Crystal Spheres_ adventure for its pace (chasing a vampire across worlds and spheres), but I don't know how it actually plays.

Finally, I really had a bone to pick with both _The Astromundi Cluster_ and _Under the Dark Fist_. The former should have been a short supplement, and not a boxed set, whereas the latter should have been a boxed set, and not a short adventure.

Simply put, I didn't think that Clusterspace (the name of _The Astromundi Cluster_'s sphere) was all that interesting, and it certainly seemed okay for setting a campaign in, but not that gripping. By contrast, _Under the Dark Fist_ has an empire of *twelve* crystal spheres entering a war of conquest against the whole of known space, particularly the "Golden Triangle" of Realmspace, Greyspace, and Krynnspace. That should have been a massive, epic adventure that could barely fit into a single boxed set...not a 64-page module.


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## Stoat (Apr 19, 2010)

I liked Skull & Crossbows and SJR1 Lost Ships.  My Spelljammer campaign was a very episodic, adventure of the week affair.  IMO, the setting really lends itself to this kind of play.  Think of it as a kind of wahoo Star Trek.  The PC's encounter a rogue asteroid/derelict ship/mystery planet/all-powerful energy being.  They have an adventure related to same.  They move on.

I was disappointed with the Legend of the Spelljammer boxed set.  Since it only covers the legendary Spelljammer, its of limited utility.  Worse, it was a fairly bland treatment of the subject.


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## D'karr (Apr 19, 2010)

Dawn of the Overmind, part of _The Illithiad_, had some spelljamming sections.


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## David Howery (Apr 19, 2010)

one of the coolest things about Spelljammer was to take the two big posters (one from the first boxed set, the second from War Captain's Companion), and put them up together on a wall; they match up perfectly.  The posters show all the various ship types to scale, with the massive sihlouette of the Spelljammer behind them all...


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## Krensky (Apr 19, 2010)

Of course, all this just makes me want to run a Spelljamer based Fantasy Craft game.

Darn you Robilar.


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## TheYeti1775 (Apr 19, 2010)

Alzrius said:


> From what I've heard _The Goblin's Return_ and _Heart of the Enemy_ did a very good job showcasing what Spelljammer is all about. Which is as it should be, given that they were the setting's first adventures.
> 
> Personally, though, the best Spelljammer material I ever read was in _Dragon Annual_ #1, with a truly excellent article by Roger E. Moore on the scro. Very, very good stuff there.
> 
> ...




Fully agree that Under the Dark Fist should have been a boxed set.  It was full of goodies for an interstellar war of spheres.

The Astromundi Cluster I found worthy of a box though.  It gave a great fleshing out of a full sphere.  I found the Roach Motel aspect of it a little hokey especially in how they explained the elves being able to get in and out.  Living material I can see that, but they were able to take through crates and all with them.  So I found it quite against the grain for a good explanation.

Really though if I was to choose an intro to run players through, I think 
Alzrius hit it with Goblin's Return and Heart of the Enemy.

I love using Scro in Groundling campaigns to throw PC's off on the normal Orc abilities.  I use them as my Commanders or Elite Guard if a large group of Orcs are around.


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## GlassJaw (Apr 19, 2010)

This also makes me want to dust off my SJ stuff - and of course run it with Trailblazer!  (shameless plug )

And as FreeXenon mentioned, you can completely ignore the campy stuff.  You can run Spelljammer with gnomes powering ships with giant space hamster wheels and talking hippos or with neogi and mind flayer slavers and ghost pirates.  I definitely prefer Spelljammer with a darker, Firefly-esque tone.

I really liked the Rock of Bral.  It's a great home base for a campaign and the poster map was awesome.

Skull & Bones and Lost Ships were also good as they provide a lot of short adventures and ideas.


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## Wik (Apr 19, 2010)

FreeXenon said:


> Wik: Honestly man, in all seriousness... get new players! =)
> 
> If any D&D players refuse to play Spelljammer in a Fireflyesque campaign need their geek card revoked! That is full of awesome sauce!
> 
> ...




Define "near".  

I think one of these days I'll wear them down.  I had the same complaints re: Gamma World, and it's become our #1 pickup game.  So, yeah.

I think for my players, it's the science/fantasy aspect, and the space pirate ships that bug them the most.  Yet they have absolutely no problem with my current  campaign, which contains "otter folk", crazy gnomes, and giant bugs galore.  Go fig.


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## crazy_monkey1956 (Apr 19, 2010)

I personally adore Spelljammer but the number one objection I get from players (especially my wife) is the altered physics.  They just can't suspend disbelief for the air pockets and gravity planes and crystal spheres and generally non-science based way the universe works.


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## Quantum (Apr 19, 2010)

Personally I've always enjoyed Spelljammer. My only gripe is the problem of taking the air with you. I can't remember the exact rules, but the air does not last long and you have to be carfeful to not let it run out.


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## Krensky (Apr 20, 2010)

Quantum said:


> Personally I've always enjoyed Spelljammer. My only gripe is the problem of taking the air with you. I can't remember the exact rules, but the air does not last long and you have to be carfeful to not let it run out.




Four months with normal crew, and there were dozens of ways to extend it.


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## Eridanis (Apr 20, 2010)

I adore Spelljammer, but I never got a chance to run it or play it. Probably my favorite 2nd edition setting. <ducks around the corner to avoid oncoming Planescape fans>

So many options, and you really can pick and choose what you want to use. You can go full-on space campaign, or flavor your ground-based campaign with the unknown.


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## TheYeti1775 (Apr 20, 2010)

crazy_monkey1956 said:


> I personally adore Spelljammer but the number one objection I get from players (especially my wife) is the altered physics.  They just can't suspend disbelief for the air pockets and gravity planes and crystal spheres and generally non-science based way the universe works.



New magical effect of Helm - Anti Vacuum envelope.  It simply holds via passable force walls the vacuum of space. While objects may pass through this, it's effect is much like a Mythril in that the one thing that can't pass through it is air (unless contained such as within a body).
This can explain why air grows stagnant over time and eventually bad.
Now two side effects of this could be a more deadly action if one were to 'fall overboard' and some enterprising young mage could figure a way to alter it further to prevent fires in the flow from blowing the ship to smithirens.



Quantum said:


> Personally I've always enjoyed Spelljammer. My only gripe is the problem of taking the air with you. I can't remember the exact rules, but the air does not last long and you have to be carfeful to not let it run out.






Krensky said:


> Four months with normal crew, and there were dozens of ways to extend it.



The original rules depended on ship tonage and with a full normal crew complement.  I would have to look up the forumla tonight when I get home.  But essentially it was something like Ship Tonnage / #crew & passengers = # of days or months
Yup there were many ways to extend the air within your ship's air envelope.
The most common was just dipping into a known plant's air and taking it in.
I know there were a few Wizard/Priest spells as well that effected it.
Along with a few magic items.



Eridanis said:


> I adore Spelljammer, but I never got a chance to run it or play it. Probably my favorite 2nd edition setting. <ducks around the corner to avoid oncoming Planescape fans>
> 
> So many options, and you really can pick and choose what you want to use. You can go full-on space campaign, or flavor your ground-based campaign with the unknown.



The best part is you aren't limited to either.  You can include as much of one as another.


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## Krensky (Apr 20, 2010)

TheYeti1775 said:


> The original rules depended on ship tonage and with a full normal crew complement.  I would have to look up the forumla tonight when I get home.  But essentially it was something like Ship Tonnage / #crew & passengers = # of days or months




The original rules in the first box set were, with standard crew, four month fresh, four months fouled. There was an optional rule to re-figure time based on crew changes. The formula you're referencing was in the War Captain box set if I remember right. It might also have been in the Complete Spacefarer.


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## David Howery (Apr 20, 2010)

I ran a short Spelljammer campaign (actually, more of a side trek for a group from the Realms), although I ignored most of the SJ official baddies and based my campaign around the monsters from the Predator and Alien movies.  I found myself annoyed and baffled by the 'how long will your air last' rules, so the first thing I home brewed for the campaign was a magical band of metal (to fit around the mast of the ship) that had a small connection to the Elemental Plane of Air, and kept a continual low flow of air circulating in and out, thus insuring a constant supply of air and allowing me to focus on terrifying the PCs with Alien face huggers instead of worrying about how long their air would last...


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## D'karr (Apr 20, 2010)

David Howery said:


> I ran a short Spelljammer campaign (actually, more of a side trek for a group from the Realms), although I ignored most of the SJ official baddies and based my campaign around the monsters from the Predator and Alien movies.  I found myself annoyed and baffled by the 'how long will your air last' rules, so the first thing I home brewed for the campaign was a magical band of metal (to fit around the mast of the ship) that had a small connection to the Elemental Plane of Air, and kept a continual low flow of air circulating in and out, thus insuring a constant supply of air and allowing me to focus on terrifying the PCs with Alien face huggers instead of worrying about how long their air would last...




And when you do this, you can even have the threat of losing that "technology" be the threat for a specific adventure, and it does not become a chore.  Think Apollo 13.


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## Jharet (Apr 30, 2020)

It's too bad Spelljammer was never updated properly for 3rd edition/Pathfinder. 

Bruce Heard's Calidar setting is the closest approximation.

Also, ten year Necro! FTW!


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