You should really try and get hold of 'the cloackmaster cycle'. Really great series that explains the Spelljammer universer very well! I always used to cut journey times MASSIVELY in the flow; it's just too long to be close to 30 days between EACH SPHERE?! It's insane. 1d3+1 days for near spheres, upping the dice to d6 +2, d12+4, d20 +6 for near and far spheres. Makes the game a lot more fun.
Love watching these videos again now that I’ve been DMing for a few years. Watched them all before starting my first campaign and learned a ton. Great advice is always appreciated 😄
This is literally the example I use to sell it to people. Literally I had a friend who was vehemently opposed until I used treasure planet as an example.
if you're looking for a good example of some of the ideas in Spelljammer, check out Disney's "Treasure Planet" - if only for the way they handle traveling in a tallship through space
My Spelljammer setting: Everything is basically normal Spelljammer, but I have something custom for Drow. They live on the outskirts of the galaxy, kind of in the "Far Lands" of space, in the black crystals. They're more inherently evil in my Spelljammer, and the main story is that a Mindflayer hive managed to enslave a army of beholders and the whole species of the Drow. And now they seek to enslave the rest of the grand sphere, my term for universe, coming at them from literally all sides. The party is a part of one of the few surviving militias, and they seek a way of exiting the grand sphere, with a firm belief that it is not the only greater sphere. The thing is though, according to their wizard and scholar's calculations, there is no way to survive outside the grand sphere with the mere Spelljammer ships. In order to have a chance at surviving, they literally need to move a sphere itself between grand spheres. Their current plan on doing that? Blowing up a planet on the edge of the sphere, they have their eyes on a highly volatile gas giant, when it is opposite the direction they need to go, so that it "Propels" the rest of the stuff in the sphere towards the Rift in the Grand Sphere. I plan on having them accomplish this goal, allowing them to escape. They will then hopefully build up a massive force traveling to a neighboring grand sphere, and eventually at higher level coming to purge their grand sphere of the darkness that has spread to it.
I like the idea of fantasy in space, and want more different kinds of ways to get there. That is, have a few more different ways that fantasy folk would work to power their Spelljammer ships. The idea I just had is a ship that is powered by Bard magic. You have a person in a special room that sings the ship into the air. The resonance of their harmonics fuels inter-sphere travel. But then I got thinking, and considered that someone in such a universe would get to wondering if there wasn't a better way. Because these singers are hitting high notes several hours a day, every day for months. Even if you assume there's a rotating stock of Bards doing this, that kind of activity would be hell on their vocal cords. Song Ships would create a high turnover rate for these people. So this one person would get to working, and try to create a huge musical instrument that could do the same harmonics, with far less strain on the voice. I'm just imagining a ship, where the "engine room" is just this great hall, the Bard sitting at a bench and playing this huge pipe organ, that is moving the ship through space. And how this sort of innovation would inevitably cause a paradigm shift in how Bard Ships are made.
I'm setting a Spelljammer campaign because of this video! Could you give us some of your random tables or story info to save me some work please? I'd really appreciate it.
Hmm, the high elf story background actually does have some fun parallels to the official setting's history of the Unhuman Wars (The goblin/orc/ogre/etc fleets vs the elves), except the Humans mostly didn't get involved. But one of the Elven weapons to fight the war was a monster called the Bionoid. (Basically a just different enough clone of the Guyver from the anime/manga of the same name). A major idea that they explored in one of the Spelljammer novels (The Cloakmaster Cycle) was that after the war the Elves tended to think of the Bionoids as tools and constructs, and not as magically modified elves which is what they actually were. The novels have their issues, but there's some fun stuff in them a creative DM could really run with. For instance the Crystal Sphere of Herdspace is basically a dyson shell, with a planetary surface covering the inner surface of the sphere. And instead of various planets, there are planet sized Megafauna constantly walking across that surface, their footsteps creating huge oceans filled with anti-magic water. The final fight of the novel took place on a forest on the horn of a giant unicorn-esk megafauna.
Is there a chance you could post your randomizer tables for your spelljammer please and post a link on this video or do a video featuring how to build a randomizer table like that?
ooooh kay. this is wonderful. Jim. You'd never be able to tell you're Texan... until you say Y'all. it's like texan turettes. magnificent. never change. also I've never heard of Spelljammer. but now I need this in my life. how have I lived without Spelljammer?!
I had a really strong idea for the Spelljammer setting on the Spelljammer itself, somewhat inspired by Stargate Universe. The way that the ship goes where it wants and has a timer for how long it's there... I always kind of felt like the Spelljammer would do the same thing. It will just occasionally orbit a planet and hourglasses all over the ship will fill with sand, ticking down how long it will be there. The Smalljammers will walk up and ferry people down to the planet. And if you don't get back before the hourglass empties and the Spelljammer leaves, well.. enjoy your new home. And you could alternate Spelljammer city intrigue with planetary adventures.
Love the Crown Royal dice bag in all your videos. I used a Crown bag too since I was 16. I still use it today but now I have a dice box too and I put everything inside a Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year bag.
new DM's might want to just go with the flow. make a story and a pathand let the players discover it instead of forcing it. some inciting action on beneath of the bbeg to incentive, then let them
ive been playing in a spell jammer campaign and have become a huge fan. hearing you guys talk about your game in other videos has been great, glad to see a more in depth video on it
I can tell you really love Spelljammer! It's def my fav for alot of the reasons you spoke about. I will say the one hallmark of our game that we've enjoyed is that it is shamelessly 80's :D
YaY!! WB! I like how you guys discussed the spelljammer setting.. would be kool to see other vids on some of the other worlds/settings (Dragonlance, Dark Sun, or other less known settings). I didnt really know about the spelljammer setting before this, (now im looking to buy some of the Spelljammer supplements) so i could see how other older setting reviews could be useful to newer players and/or seasoned vets who havent dabbled in certain settings. Just a thought... glad to have a new episode its been too long =P Thx !
We'll definitely do shows on other DnD settings. Planescape and Greyhawk are my two personal favs, but we've played in a few Dark Sun games in the past.
bringing it back to this thing.... have you ever posted the tables you've created anywhere? this sounds like such a great campaign setting and I want to try making a version of it!
For fun we would just do Spelljammer ship battles, we did it in the Phogoston a lot. One night we were playing with my youngest brother who was losing and was going to have to go to bed, so he just turned his guns on his own ship and blew himself up; its explosion (boosted by the Phogoston) ended up engulfing all of the other ships. It completely destroyed all but one of them, and that last one was pretty much breaking apart.
The tables for randomly rolling encounters in SJ sounds ultra nifty. Do you have them published online somewhere for download? (Excellent show, BTW. Jim & Pruitt's enthusiasm for gaming is infectious. Keep on rollin', guys!)
pleeeeeeeeease make another episode on spelljammer. im starting a spelljammer campaign and i need more inspiration and a more in depth idea on your game. i think we would all love to see that random table you made for it too. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
Would love to see you publish a Spelljammer book with the random tables you have. All you would need to do is add a 'meta' arc so there is over arching plot or objuect or maguffin for the players to go after.
Got so inspired by this video I sourced a bunch of Spelljammer books and I just opened up a MINT condition Spelljammer War Captain's Companion. It feels dirty but maaaan its soooo good. I love it soooo much, especially the 1992 TSR catalogue that comes in the box :)
A good example of a Spelljammer Helm was portrayed in Stargate Atlantis. There is a chair that allows a unique individual to control ships, weapons and even partially connected to the vessel through sight and sound extension.
You mentioned Firefly as an influence on your Spelljammer set-up. Personally, I would use a huge dose of Farscape. In other words, I would probably try to give the party this huge expansive setting filled with wild creatures and they're just coasting by in their ship. Sometimes they solve problems, other times they unwittingly make them worse. And it's all just a day in the life. So very Firefly, but personally I think Farscape would be just as good an influence.
wana try this with my group, do you think you could share your random tables with us, it would save me so much work if i had a kickstart to mine. thank you
That gray wizard makes me want to play one who is secretly a follower of Vecna... maybe have a small carved bone pin shaped into the Maimed God's holy symbol, kept pinned to the inside of his undergarments where you have to strip search him to find it (and beat his Sleight of Hand when he tries to palm it).
Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spidermoon is a very exclelent rendition of Spelljammer. Even if you don't like that it's containted in one system, it has a much better spelljamming system, and a much better rendition of the races and of ship classifictions. Plus the Art was amazing. Great rendition of a setting in such a short space
The biggest problem with spelljammer, is how does it related to all the people on the ground. Like in Toril, there is a long history of dwarves with shield, gold, and duergar, all with a long history and trying to reclaim their homelands. But as soon as you ALSO have ships in space around the planet... how come you don't solve every problem with orbital bombardment?
Please do a show about Numenera! I think the setting's fascinating. From what I know of the mechanics, it's supposed to be simple but is actually kinda complicated (dividing by 3s to see if you hit or something?). Maybe you could talk about playing Numenera in D&D 5e or just talk more about custom sci-fantasy settings in 5e.
Don't you worry about that. Jim and I both LOVE Numenera. We will do a show on that system. We have played multiple campaigns, including a Planescape campaign, using Numenera. And it seems complicated right up to point it clicks for you and then you look at the system and go, 'That's easy as hell.' So stay tuned!
A game I've never gotten to run/play. But I may have to now. Great show. Pruitt, any chance you could give us an overview of what you have planned? Or is there an overarching story? And as many others have asked, any chance we could see your random tables? Keep up the great work!
Viewing this in 2021, I’ve wanted to run a SpellJammer “small” campaign, like 6 to 10 sessions and this is great for inspiration! Who made the booklets that Pruit (spelling?) held up? Was it TSR or WoTC? I just found the Vodcasts that he runs with other people and I’m half way in to the first episode and I’m loving it! Great work! Love the content, you two are great!
Is there any way you guys can post your random tables or have some system of sharing some of your notes with us? Also can you please do a play session of spelljammer and record it? Requests, all the requests! Make videos for us D&D Monkeys! Edit: Correct use of decimate. Pruitt, I am not a woman but I willing to undergo many invasive surgeries to have your children (who will have excellent grammar).
hey! New to DMing, running my first game actually, but your take on spelljammer sounds extremely interesting. Could you tell me the titles of the actual spelljammer books you picked up so I could possibly pick them up myself?
They are for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. Their titles are: 1)Concordance of Arcane Space 2)Lorebook of the Void Good luck with the book hunt and with the ensuing adventures!
Pruitt! What have you done?!? I watched this episode after listening to you guys talk about Esper Genesis on the podcast, now I find my head awash with ideas for a hard sci-fi version of Spelljammer and my free time under constant peril from bands of maurading plot bunnies. Even now I find myself trying to flesh out the cultures of 5 interstellar empires while liberally borrowing influences from Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Bablyon 5, Dr. Who, Tenchi Muyo, Stellaris, Shadowrun, and Harry Potter for the setting.
This really helps, actually. I'm going to run a campaign in which the adventurers find a 'Jammer in an ancient temple. Got anything to append to a DM Screen to use as a Spelljammer reference, or should I just use the old Screen with 5e?
So after watching this video I had to track down my own copy of Spelljammer because it sounded so good. I was wondering if you'd be willing to share those random table you created?
Which Spell Jammer books did you base this conversion off of? I am very interested in this type of setting and I cannot believe that I've never heard of this before haha.
He used Concordance of Arcane Space and Lorebook of the Void. They are the two books that came inside the Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set. Here is a page on the Book-House about the boxed set: www.thepiazza.org.uk/shop/doku.php/spelljammer_adventures_in_space You can find links to other websites, with product information, a review and some "Fan Enhancements" that work with the boxed set. BTW: The name of the setting is "Spelljammer" not "Spell Jammer", so if you go searching for information about the setting, you might get better results, if you drop the space in the middle of the word.
You should do a Spelljammer Supplement for 5e. the random encounters table sounds awesome. Also read 'The Cloakmaster Cycle' if you havn't already; its actually a great decription of the Spelljammer universe.
How about using the Spelljammer concepts as a method to connect every single world of D&D into one giant mass universe (with Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Ebberon, Exandria) are just different planets in the different spheres? That would be badass but nearly colossal in undertaking?
I love the concept of spelljammer. I think if I were to run one, I'd actually "de-space" the setting, and just make it a sail ship moving among islands and continents. I know that seems to defeat the purpose. It just seems like it'd be easier to sell the sailing concept.
Spelljammer is my jam (sorry). Run SJ campaigns in every edition since it first came out (2nd AD&D). Ran it in third, 3.5, (randomly in Cyclopedia edition D&D for some reason?). Ran a great campaign of it in 4th (lots of conversion, but I've always loved converting things so no worries). Probably going to run it in 13th Age (rather than 5th, which is a little old school for me). The only problem is that the original version of Spelljammer is really not much more than a 'meta-setting' intended to link the existing game settings like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk and Dragon Lance. If you want to really make it your own, you have to bite the bullet and create all the worlds that will appear in it from scratch, no 'D&D classic' spheres. But yeah. Spelljammer is the best dang setting of them all, if you treat it as a setting in its own right rather than simply as a way of getting from one existing D&D setting to another. Oh and please, i don't mean to be an ass, but Phlogiston is pronounced 'Flow-Gist-Ohn' not 'flodge-i-ston'. Hence why it's shortened to 'the Flow'.
Few years old post, but is there any chance you would post your random encounter table? I'm just starting a 5e spelljammer based campaign, and it would be a super helpful resource. Either way, thanks for the video, it was super informative by itself!
I'm working on a spelljammer inspired campaign myself, but it's heavily modified in it's themes. Mainly I want it to have a fairytale esque atmosphere to it, so far to create that I've been taking inspiration from things like Pirates of the Caribbean, with the whole idea of getting to other planes by sailing off the edge of the world, or getting into space by sailing to the horizon or sailing into the sun and if you do it right and maybe cast the right spells the sun appears to draw closer and closer until it transforms into a portal to the elemental plane of fire, things like that. But the ideas are slow and often difficult to come up with, does anyone have any ideas, suggestions or tips?
I was reading the sterling vermin 'sailing the astral flow' release and I'm curious how Jim did it differently. I don't have any spelljammer books, yet. Curious if you fellas would be up for a follow up video?
SVC released those rules well after our Spelljammer game got started so we never used them; they're also geared more towards traditions sci-fi as opposed to the sci-fantasy of Spelljammer. Pruitt did all the conversion work for our current game.
Ive started peaking into this. My players have stumbled upon an old spaceship, and if they roll high enough to get it running, helloooooo space wizards
I find myself intrigued by this setting, I'll grab the books off dmsguild but i dont suppose theres anywhere we could pick up that random roll table for encounters?
You should look for a book called 'Tales of the Dying Earth'. It's early fantasy/scifi before they became separate genres. It is referenced as an inspiration for the creation of D&D by the creators of D&D. It's a balance I'm trying to strike with my campaign. As to full Scifi, I love playing the Warhammer 40k rpg. We've had a few runs through that system. I really love D&D, though. It will always be my first love.
In this specific case, because we wanted to stick with 5e but also play in something more science-fantasy. I think Spelljammer is one of the more unique settings out there and deserves more love. As for pure sci-fi, I'd love to play in a Traveller campaign or even Eclipse Phase. I've also run WH40k games in Dark Heresy and Deathwatch, but really want to run a Rogue Trader game set in a slightly less-grim version of 40k-verse.
Sounds good (also sounds like at least ten more vidcast ideas lol). Pathfinder has a campaign called skulls and shackles that I would LOVE to take to the stars as a spelljammer game, or some similar iteration. Do you ever find jumping into a pre-made universe like 40k daunting? That's a helluva lore-heavy universe to play in.
I tend to stick with lore-heavy worlds I'm very familiar with and can often run them without needing a setting reference. Otherwise, I just ignore what I feel doesn't fit for my purposes and make up what I can't exactly recall. The big thing with lore-rich settings is to be selective about what you want to include and clear with your group that things might be different from what they know about the setting.
Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm
You should really try and get hold of 'the cloackmaster cycle'. Really great series that explains the Spelljammer universer very well!
I always used to cut journey times MASSIVELY in the flow; it's just too long to be close to 30 days between EACH SPHERE?! It's insane. 1d3+1 days for near spheres, upping the dice to d6 +2, d12+4, d20 +6 for near and far spheres. Makes the game a lot more fun.
Rewatching this I just noticed that you two switched places due to Pruitt being the spelljammer dm. Nice touch.
Just like the stream they just did for 5e spelljammer announcement omg 🤯
I would LOVE to see this random table Pruitt made
Y'all - Pruitt 2016
I've had a campaign slogan ready my entire life:
'Pruitt can do it!'
Pruitt 2020
Love watching these videos again now that I’ve been DMing for a few years. Watched them all before starting my first campaign and learned a ton. Great advice is always appreciated 😄
I'd heard of Spelljammer, but until this video I had no idea what it was. Now all I want to do is run a game in it. Thanks guys!
D&D nerd from the future here. Hi, in 2 weeks, this will be a reality. Thanks for being part of my nerd cosmology. Let's get spelljamming!!!!
What are the chances of getting access to those random encounter tables?
Clearly 0 so far
So it's basically treasure planet?
Nobody has mentioned Treasure Planet aside of me, until now. Take your like my friend. 🤣
This is literally the example I use to sell it to people. Literally I had a friend who was vehemently opposed until I used treasure planet as an example.
Came here is say the same thing. Sounds awesome!!
if you're looking for a good example of some of the ideas in Spelljammer, check out Disney's "Treasure Planet" - if only for the way they handle traveling in a tallship through space
This show has been such a help for me as an upstart DM, please never leave again :')
We'll never leave you guys and gals! This show has helped me as well!
My Spelljammer setting: Everything is basically normal Spelljammer, but I have something custom for Drow. They live on the outskirts of the galaxy, kind of in the "Far Lands" of space, in the black crystals. They're more inherently evil in my Spelljammer, and the main story is that a Mindflayer hive managed to enslave a army of beholders and the whole species of the Drow. And now they seek to enslave the rest of the grand sphere, my term for universe, coming at them from literally all sides. The party is a part of one of the few surviving militias, and they seek a way of exiting the grand sphere, with a firm belief that it is not the only greater sphere. The thing is though, according to their wizard and scholar's calculations, there is no way to survive outside the grand sphere with the mere Spelljammer ships. In order to have a chance at surviving, they literally need to move a sphere itself between grand spheres. Their current plan on doing that? Blowing up a planet on the edge of the sphere, they have their eyes on a highly volatile gas giant, when it is opposite the direction they need to go, so that it "Propels" the rest of the stuff in the sphere towards the Rift in the Grand Sphere. I plan on having them accomplish this goal, allowing them to escape. They will then hopefully build up a massive force traveling to a neighboring grand sphere, and eventually at higher level coming to purge their grand sphere of the darkness that has spread to it.
My two favorite things: Spelljammer and WebDM!
Glad to provide!
I like the idea of fantasy in space, and want more different kinds of ways to get there. That is, have a few more different ways that fantasy folk would work to power their Spelljammer ships. The idea I just had is a ship that is powered by Bard magic. You have a person in a special room that sings the ship into the air. The resonance of their harmonics fuels inter-sphere travel.
But then I got thinking, and considered that someone in such a universe would get to wondering if there wasn't a better way. Because these singers are hitting high notes several hours a day, every day for months. Even if you assume there's a rotating stock of Bards doing this, that kind of activity would be hell on their vocal cords. Song Ships would create a high turnover rate for these people. So this one person would get to working, and try to create a huge musical instrument that could do the same harmonics, with far less strain on the voice.
I'm just imagining a ship, where the "engine room" is just this great hall, the Bard sitting at a bench and playing this huge pipe organ, that is moving the ship through space. And how this sort of innovation would inevitably cause a paradigm shift in how Bard Ships are made.
I mean there literally exist spelljamming helms for monks, what you are describing isnt too far out.
WOW, really great to hear Pruitt on a tear. Completely forgot about his accent, it really comes out when he's excited.
@7:04 Do you still have that random table somewhere that you could post?
I'm setting a Spelljammer campaign because of this video! Could you give us some of your random tables or story info to save me some work please? I'd really appreciate it.
Can we get the tables you made??
Y'all should give us'all your random spelljamming tables
Awesome! Spelljammer was near and dear to me back in the day, and it's great to see it alive in 5e!
I would love to see a live-action play through of 5e Spelljammer!! And I'm so glad you two are back!!!
Oh buddy! That would be fun. We'll have to talk amongst ourselves about it.
Hmm, the high elf story background actually does have some fun parallels to the official setting's history of the Unhuman Wars (The goblin/orc/ogre/etc fleets vs the elves), except the Humans mostly didn't get involved. But one of the Elven weapons to fight the war was a monster called the Bionoid. (Basically a just different enough clone of the Guyver from the anime/manga of the same name). A major idea that they explored in one of the Spelljammer novels (The Cloakmaster Cycle) was that after the war the Elves tended to think of the Bionoids as tools and constructs, and not as magically modified elves which is what they actually were.
The novels have their issues, but there's some fun stuff in them a creative DM could really run with. For instance the Crystal Sphere of Herdspace is basically a dyson shell, with a planetary surface covering the inner surface of the sphere. And instead of various planets, there are planet sized Megafauna constantly walking across that surface, their footsteps creating huge oceans filled with anti-magic water. The final fight of the novel took place on a forest on the horn of a giant unicorn-esk megafauna.
Can you post your tables some place for this game?
Did he ever post his tables?
I would pay money for this.
I'm still waiting for them...
Must have tables
Tables plz
Is there a chance you could post your randomizer tables for your spelljammer please and post a link on this video or do a video featuring how to build a randomizer table like that?
ooooh kay. this is wonderful. Jim. You'd never be able to tell you're Texan... until you say Y'all. it's like texan turettes. magnificent. never change. also I've never heard of Spelljammer. but now I need this in my life. how have I lived without Spelljammer?!
Glad you're back. Looked forward to watching this each week. Missed you while you were gone!
I had a really strong idea for the Spelljammer setting on the Spelljammer itself, somewhat inspired by Stargate Universe. The way that the ship goes where it wants and has a timer for how long it's there... I always kind of felt like the Spelljammer would do the same thing. It will just occasionally orbit a planet and hourglasses all over the ship will fill with sand, ticking down how long it will be there. The Smalljammers will walk up and ferry people down to the planet. And if you don't get back before the hourglass empties and the Spelljammer leaves, well.. enjoy your new home. And you could alternate Spelljammer city intrigue with planetary adventures.
Love the Crown Royal dice bag in all your videos. I used a Crown bag too since I was 16. I still use it today but now I have a dice box too and I put everything inside a Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year bag.
I just binged a bunch of your vids last nigh! Glad to see you're back!!!
Pace yourself now.
JPruInc YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE NOT MY REEEEAL DAD!
Please publish those spelljammer story tables!
Question: Would you suggest a more loose and more free campaign, like Pruitts, or a more tightly constructed campaign for a new DM?
new DM's might want to just go with the flow. make a story and a pathand let the players discover it instead of forcing it. some inciting action on beneath of the bbeg to incentive, then let them
Imagine being boarded by a Color Out Of Space which tries to devour the crew of The Spell jammer.
I love the energy you two have, I think it is awesome that you two use each other's momentum.
Makes me want to try Spelljammer again. I DM'd it for 2nd ed, but just for a few one shots. Really neat setting.
I wonder if you could do something like Spelljammer, but not with spheres etc, but sailing the ethereal and astral planes....
ive been playing in a spell jammer campaign and have become a huge fan. hearing you guys talk about your game in other videos has been great, glad to see a more in depth video on it
On the same day the the Aquisitions Inc. series starts?! It's fuckin' Christmas.
I would say it cannot be coincidence
It actually is coincidence. Believe it or not.
I do, and I hope you will get back to your regular release schedule :)
I'm so glad you guys are back! I was starting to worry, but I figured it would take some time to work on this Spelljammer stuff.
Glad to make our return. Thanks for hanging with us!
I can tell you really love Spelljammer! It's def my fav for alot of the reasons you spoke about. I will say the one hallmark of our game that we've enjoyed is that it is shamelessly 80's :D
YaY!! WB! I like how you guys discussed the spelljammer setting.. would be kool to see other vids on some of the other worlds/settings (Dragonlance, Dark Sun, or other less known settings). I didnt really know about the spelljammer setting before this, (now im looking to buy some of the Spelljammer supplements) so i could see how other older setting reviews could be useful to newer players and/or seasoned vets who havent dabbled in certain settings. Just a thought... glad to have a new episode its been too long =P Thx !
We'll definitely do shows on other DnD settings. Planescape and Greyhawk are my two personal favs, but we've played in a few Dark Sun games in the past.
Jonathan Pruitt I was wondering if you posted that random table you made for spelljammer?
Makes me happy to see you guys again!
bringing it back to this thing.... have you ever posted the tables you've created anywhere? this sounds like such a great campaign setting and I want to try making a version of it!
Anyone else rewatching this, no just me????
You should release the raw audio of these as a podcast
We'll discuss it. Thanks for the input.
For fun we would just do Spelljammer ship battles, we did it in the Phogoston a lot. One night we were playing with my youngest brother who was losing and was going to have to go to bed, so he just turned his guns on his own ship and blew himself up; its explosion (boosted by the Phogoston) ended up engulfing all of the other ships. It completely destroyed all but one of them, and that last one was pretty much breaking apart.
I wondered if you'd ever come back. So glad you did! :)
Great to have you guys back! Can't wait for more!
There will be more! So much more!
you don't even know how long I've been waiting for another episode!
Er, Actually I'm sure you do.
Avast! The Web DM crew finally return! This is brilliant. :D
Good to be back! Thanks for watching!
nice to see you back guys! missed ya!
Glad to be back! Thanks!
Pruitt is the CG to Mr Sarks LE. the balance of this plane is beautiful
The tables for randomly rolling encounters in SJ sounds ultra nifty. Do you have them published online somewhere for download? (Excellent show, BTW. Jim & Pruitt's enthusiasm for gaming is infectious. Keep on rollin', guys!)
pleeeeeeeeease make another episode on spelljammer. im starting a spelljammer campaign and i need more inspiration and a more in depth idea on your game. i think we would all love to see that random table you made for it too. PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
Finally! Great to have ya back guys.
Tell me about it! Good to be back!
Would love to see you publish a Spelljammer book with the random tables you have.
All you would need to do is add a 'meta' arc so there is over arching plot or objuect or maguffin for the players to go after.
Got so inspired by this video I sourced a bunch of Spelljammer books and I just opened up a MINT condition Spelljammer War Captain's Companion. It feels dirty but maaaan its soooo good. I love it soooo much, especially the 1992 TSR catalogue that comes in the box :)
A good example of a Spelljammer Helm was portrayed in Stargate Atlantis. There is a chair that allows a unique individual to control ships, weapons and even partially connected to the vessel through sight and sound extension.
Yay, you're back! Keep em coming!
Thanks for watching! Glad to be back!
You mentioned Firefly as an influence on your Spelljammer set-up. Personally, I would use a huge dose of Farscape. In other words, I would probably try to give the party this huge expansive setting filled with wild creatures and they're just coasting by in their ship. Sometimes they solve problems, other times they unwittingly make them worse. And it's all just a day in the life. So very Firefly, but personally I think Farscape would be just as good an influence.
great to see you back! hope some good vids coming soon!
Glad to provide! Keep watching!
very happy you're back.
Happy to be back! Thanks for staying with us!
wana try this with my group, do you think you could share your random tables with us, it would save me so much work if i had a kickstart to mine.
thank you
That gray wizard makes me want to play one who is secretly a follower of Vecna... maybe have a small carved bone pin shaped into the Maimed God's holy symbol, kept pinned to the inside of his undergarments where you have to strip search him to find it (and beat his Sleight of Hand when he tries to palm it).
Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spidermoon is a very exclelent rendition of Spelljammer.
Even if you don't like that it's containted in one system, it has a much better spelljamming system, and a much better rendition of the races and of ship classifictions.
Plus the Art was amazing.
Great rendition of a setting in such a short space
The era before the funny intros. Man. Was caught off guard when the dice roll happened with nothing before it
Love Half-Priced Book. The nearest store closed it's doors like 4 months ago.
Spelljammer sounds amazing, I really want to give it a try. Thanks for your awesome vids, and keep up the good work!
Thank goodness Web DM is back!
I feel the same! Thanks for watching!
That looks just like my Crown Royal dice bag... 20+ years and its still holding dice...
The biggest problem with spelljammer, is how does it related to all the people on the ground. Like in Toril, there is a long history of dwarves with shield, gold, and duergar, all with a long history and trying to reclaim their homelands.
But as soon as you ALSO have ships in space around the planet... how come you don't solve every problem with orbital bombardment?
Do it.
Please do a show about Numenera! I think the setting's fascinating. From what I know of the mechanics, it's supposed to be simple but is actually kinda complicated (dividing by 3s to see if you hit or something?). Maybe you could talk about playing Numenera in D&D 5e or just talk more about custom sci-fantasy settings in 5e.
Don't you worry about that. Jim and I both LOVE Numenera. We will do a show on that system. We have played multiple campaigns, including a Planescape campaign, using Numenera. And it seems complicated right up to point it clicks for you and then you look at the system and go, 'That's easy as hell.' So stay tuned!
A game I've never gotten to run/play. But I may have to now. Great show. Pruitt, any chance you could give us an overview of what you have planned? Or is there an overarching story?
And as many others have asked, any chance we could see your random tables?
Keep up the great work!
Viewing this in 2021, I’ve wanted to run a SpellJammer “small” campaign, like 6 to 10 sessions and this is great for inspiration! Who made the booklets that Pruit (spelling?) held up? Was it TSR or WoTC? I just found the Vodcasts that he runs with other people and I’m half way in to the first episode and I’m loving it! Great work! Love the content, you two are great!
Is there any way you guys can post your random tables or have some system of sharing some of your notes with us? Also can you please do a play session of spelljammer and record it?
Requests, all the requests! Make videos for us D&D Monkeys!
Edit: Correct use of decimate. Pruitt, I am not a woman but I willing to undergo many invasive surgeries to have your children (who will have excellent grammar).
hey! New to DMing, running my first game actually, but your take on spelljammer sounds extremely interesting. Could you tell me the titles of the actual spelljammer books you picked up so I could possibly pick them up myself?
They are for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. Their titles are:
1)Concordance of Arcane Space
2)Lorebook of the Void
Good luck with the book hunt and with the ensuing adventures!
+JPruInc Thank you!
Pruitt! What have you done?!?
I watched this episode after listening to you guys talk about Esper Genesis on the podcast, now I find my head awash with ideas for a hard sci-fi version of Spelljammer and my free time under constant peril from bands of maurading plot bunnies.
Even now I find myself trying to flesh out the cultures of 5 interstellar empires while liberally borrowing influences from Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Bablyon 5, Dr. Who, Tenchi Muyo, Stellaris, Shadowrun, and Harry Potter for the setting.
is no one else gunna comment on huge mario plush just sitting in on this whole episode?
This really helps, actually. I'm going to run a campaign in which the adventurers find a 'Jammer in an ancient temple. Got anything to append to a DM Screen to use as a Spelljammer reference, or should I just use the old Screen with 5e?
So after watching this video I had to track down my own copy of Spelljammer because it sounded so good. I was wondering if you'd be willing to share those random table you created?
Awesome! I love your content. I'm so happy for your return. :D
Which Spell Jammer books did you base this conversion off of?
I am very interested in this type of setting and I cannot believe that I've never heard of this before haha.
He used Concordance of Arcane Space and Lorebook of the Void. They are the two books that came inside the Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set. Here is a page on the Book-House about the boxed set:
www.thepiazza.org.uk/shop/doku.php/spelljammer_adventures_in_space
You can find links to other websites, with product information, a review and some "Fan Enhancements" that work with the boxed set.
BTW: The name of the setting is "Spelljammer" not "Spell Jammer", so if you go searching for information about the setting, you might get better results, if you drop the space in the middle of the word.
You should do a Spelljammer Supplement for 5e.
the random encounters table sounds awesome.
Also read 'The Cloakmaster Cycle' if you havn't already; its actually a great decription of the Spelljammer universe.
How about using the Spelljammer concepts as a method to connect every single world of D&D into one giant mass universe (with Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Ebberon, Exandria) are just different planets in the different spheres? That would be badass but nearly colossal in undertaking?
Random tables please? Pretty please?
I love the concept of spelljammer. I think if I were to run one, I'd actually "de-space" the setting, and just make it a sail ship moving among islands and continents.
I know that seems to defeat the purpose. It just seems like it'd be easier to sell the sailing concept.
The Second Interspherical War's end sounds a lot like Gloryhammer's Apocalypse 1992 album. Almost exactly haha
Spelljammer is my jam (sorry). Run SJ campaigns in every edition since it first came out (2nd AD&D). Ran it in third, 3.5, (randomly in Cyclopedia edition D&D for some reason?). Ran a great campaign of it in 4th (lots of conversion, but I've always loved converting things so no worries). Probably going to run it in 13th Age (rather than 5th, which is a little old school for me).
The only problem is that the original version of Spelljammer is really not much more than a 'meta-setting' intended to link the existing game settings like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk and Dragon Lance. If you want to really make it your own, you have to bite the bullet and create all the worlds that will appear in it from scratch, no 'D&D classic' spheres.
But yeah. Spelljammer is the best dang setting of them all, if you treat it as a setting in its own right rather than simply as a way of getting from one existing D&D setting to another.
Oh and please, i don't mean to be an ass, but Phlogiston is pronounced 'Flow-Gist-Ohn' not 'flodge-i-ston'. Hence why it's shortened to 'the Flow'.
Also. You run Spelljammer. You're officially the best person! :)
Happy Wednesday lads. I hope that ye are keeping well. I missed ye guys. Keep the good stuff coming.
Thanks! Glad to be back!
TIL I made a Spelljammer campaign before I heard the term Spelljammer :)
Few years old post, but is there any chance you would post your random encounter table? I'm just starting a 5e spelljammer based campaign, and it would be a super helpful resource.
Either way, thanks for the video, it was super informative by itself!
I'm working on a spelljammer inspired campaign myself, but it's heavily modified in it's themes. Mainly I want it to have a fairytale esque atmosphere to it, so far to create that I've been taking inspiration from things like Pirates of the Caribbean, with the whole idea of getting to other planes by sailing off the edge of the world, or getting into space by sailing to the horizon or sailing into the sun and if you do it right and maybe cast the right spells the sun appears to draw closer and closer until it transforms into a portal to the elemental plane of fire, things like that. But the ideas are slow and often difficult to come up with, does anyone have any ideas, suggestions or tips?
missed you guys, great vid makes me want to go all out on spelljammer too
It's a big universe. Go all out!
WebDm is back, hell yeah!
I'm actually looking to run something based on Spelljammer in 5e soon, would it be possible to share those space adventure tables you mentioned?
Love Spelljammer, so thanks for this. I'd recommend checking out Killjoys for additional inspiration; great series, and very tabletop friendly plot.
So glad you're back!
We are too! Thanks for staying with us.
I was reading the sterling vermin 'sailing the astral flow' release and I'm curious how Jim did it differently. I don't have any spelljammer books, yet. Curious if you fellas would be up for a follow up video?
SVC released those rules well after our Spelljammer game got started so we never used them; they're also geared more towards traditions sci-fi as opposed to the sci-fantasy of Spelljammer. Pruitt did all the conversion work for our current game.
YA'LL
Ive started peaking into this. My players have stumbled upon an old spaceship, and if they roll high enough to get it running, helloooooo space wizards
I love the "crashed/abandoned space ship as adventure location" idea! Let us know how it goes!
I find myself intrigued by this setting, I'll grab the books off dmsguild but i dont suppose theres anywhere we could pick up that random roll table for encounters?
Glad you're back guys :D
Q: what makes you want to play in a spelljammer setting, rather than a full scifi setting for instance?
You should look for a book called 'Tales of the Dying Earth'. It's early fantasy/scifi before they became separate genres. It is referenced as an inspiration for the creation of D&D by the creators of D&D. It's a balance I'm trying to strike with my campaign. As to full Scifi, I love playing the Warhammer 40k rpg. We've had a few runs through that system. I really love D&D, though. It will always be my first love.
In this specific case, because we wanted to stick with 5e but also play in something more science-fantasy. I think Spelljammer is one of the more unique settings out there and deserves more love. As for pure sci-fi, I'd love to play in a Traveller campaign or even Eclipse Phase. I've also run WH40k games in Dark Heresy and Deathwatch, but really want to run a Rogue Trader game set in a slightly less-grim version of 40k-verse.
Sounds good (also sounds like at least ten more vidcast ideas lol). Pathfinder has a campaign called skulls and shackles that I would LOVE to take to the stars as a spelljammer game, or some similar iteration. Do you ever find jumping into a pre-made universe like 40k daunting? That's a helluva lore-heavy universe to play in.
I tend to stick with lore-heavy worlds I'm very familiar with and can often run them without needing a setting reference. Otherwise, I just ignore what I feel doesn't fit for my purposes and make up what I can't exactly recall. The big thing with lore-rich settings is to be selective about what you want to include and clear with your group that things might be different from what they know about the setting.