Hi everyone, I'm really interested in running a Spelljammer campaign. The thing is, I find the included adventure the sourcebook gives you extremely railroady and rather boring. So my question to ya'll is this: for those of you who have run or are currently running Spelljammer, how did you do it? Did you improve on the original module or run something completely different? What additional sources did you use? And perhaps most importantly of all, did you find it enjoyable to run?
I've been running SJ since well before the 5e setting came out, so obviously I didn't use the adventure, and indeed haven't even read it. (My setting is custom, closer to the original 2e setting, but that's beside the point.)
I'm going to assume you're not using the adventure, or if you do, you're going to end up heavily modifying it. (If you're starting from level one, you could strip-mine it for parts, using the cultures portrayed to establish the setting, then have it happen to a world they know.)
What sort of a SJ game do you want to run?
Are the PCs going to be space-native? Planet-dwellers who get yoinked out into space and have to figure things out? Planet-dwellers who choose to go off to outer space?
Is it going to be space from the start, or are the PCs going to start out planet-bound for a few levels and then the universe opens up to them?
Are you going to give the PCs their own ship initially?
How big a deal is space travel? Is it a matter of days, weeks, or months?
What is the purpose of space? Are you using it to occasionally hop from setting to setting, with actual adventures being planet-bound, or are the goings-on in space and the interactions between worlds going to be the focus?
Are there interstellar cultures, or is each world its own thing?
What tone are you going for, both initially and long term? Sense of wonder? Scrappy little trading vessel? Interstellar politics/war? Cosmic threats?
Some particular thoughts:
If the PCs have their own ship, which they will eventually, you probably want to provide them with crew to handle the operations of the ship, so they can all leave it to Do Stuff. Unless scarce money is a big deal in the game you're running, handwave away all the logistical stuff. (Don't make them account for supplies under normal circumstances. Specify that the ship-running expenses, including crew salaries, are assumed, and all cash you give the PCs is after the expenses are taken out.)
Take steps to avoid the problem of one PC (especially if it's the same one all the time) being the one doing ship things, while everyone else gets to have fun. Being the getaway driver is never fun. (This is what the crew is for.)
I strongly suggest ditching the rules that you have to attune the helm to use it. I weakly suggest letting everyone, caster or not, fly the ship.
Unless it's the focus of the game, trade is boring. They're going to want to do it. Abstract it down to a couple of skill rolls on each end, and just tell them what the profits are, with the rest of the cash being reserved for the next cargo and expenses.
There's going to be a lot of downtime. Brush up on the rules for making magic items, learning skills and languages, etc. (In Xanathar's as well as the main books.) Decide how things are going to work in advance.
Figure out how you're going to handle ship-to-ship/large critter combat. Keep it simple.
The siege weapons are in chapter 8 of the DMG. The basic ships and their damage thresholds are in chapter 5. What damage thresholds mean is also chapter 8.
Figure out how spells work in ship combat. They're often defined as just damaging "creatures", but your players are gonna want to blow things up.
Be prepared for the players to want to set ships on fire. You're probably going to want to be somewhere between realistic (it's actually quite hard, but once they do, you're screwed) and dramatic (easy to burn, easy to extinguish), but figure out where you want to be, and what magical options exist for firefighting.
The 6-8 encounters a day model for encounter balancing goes bye-bye when the players have a flying ship and the vastness of space to hang out in.
I improved on the original module. I found that putting less enemies and NPCs into each situation was the solution to most combat encounters, and tying Hastain and the Empire in earlier is good to keep the plot moving forward.
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Hi everyone, I'm really interested in running a Spelljammer campaign. The thing is, I find the included adventure the sourcebook gives you extremely railroady and rather boring. So my question to ya'll is this: for those of you who have run or are currently running Spelljammer, how did you do it? Did you improve on the original module or run something completely different? What additional sources did you use? And perhaps most importantly of all, did you find it enjoyable to run?
Signature.
I've been running SJ since well before the 5e setting came out, so obviously I didn't use the adventure, and indeed haven't even read it. (My setting is custom, closer to the original 2e setting, but that's beside the point.)
I'm going to assume you're not using the adventure, or if you do, you're going to end up heavily modifying it. (If you're starting from level one, you could strip-mine it for parts, using the cultures portrayed to establish the setting, then have it happen to a world they know.)
What sort of a SJ game do you want to run?
Some particular thoughts:
Thanks so much for taking the time to type that up! You're given me a lot to think about.
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I improved on the original module. I found that putting less enemies and NPCs into each situation was the solution to most combat encounters, and tying Hastain and the Empire in earlier is good to keep the plot moving forward.