Hi all. So I’m running a game that is loosely a sky flying/spelljamming campaign, and my group just got a ship and is about to start their high skies, swashbuckling adventure. I’ve adapted the spelljamming mechanics because the helm to ship integration sounds like a lot of fun, but the question I have has to do with fuel/energy mechanics. Since spelljamming ships utilize magical/psychic/life energy, is there ‘fuel’ or an exhaustion mechanic for the helmsmen? I have been having an issue finding anything concrete.
There is no fuel expenditure that I'm aware of, just that the person serving as the pilot of the Spelljammer has to have magical ability.
If you to introduce a sort of fuel, you could have the pilot have to expend spell slots to command the ship. Making it move faster takes more spell-slot levels, or for delicate maneuvering an additional spell slot expenditure may be needed, which grants a bonus on any called-for check to safely and accurately perform the maneuver.
Awesome that sounds like a good idea, I was also thinking that maybe the pilot could gain a point of exhaustion for x amount of hours piloting, or with your suggestion, they could expend a spell slot instead, give them a reason to pull over every now and then lol.
I believe costing a highest-level Spell Slot is what they did with with the spelljamming on the Jemjammer podcast, and that campaign started long before there was an official 5E Spelljammer boxed set.
With the 5E rules, you just need to be a spellcaster, and nothing is exhausted when running a spelljamming helm. So if a Feat or a Racial Ability gives you a spell, you can use a Spelljamming Helm. There also doesn't seem to be any benefit for being a better spellcaster in speed or maneuverability.
I believe 2E was pretty harsh; Piloting a Spelljamming Helm required a spellcasting class, and would mean no spellcasting for the rest of the day. So you'd probably want to hire someone to 🎵be.your spell jammer🎵, but that's probably wise regardless of edition.
People have summed up the 5e and 2e rules, but if you want a fuel mechanic beyond "there's a magic equivalent of gas":
Recharging range: a ship has X hours travel time a day before it's out of juice. There may or may not be a way to get extra mileage.
Player resource to run: This is what 2e did, though it was pretty harsh. In addition to spells, you could use other resources, such as hit dice. (Or hit points.)
Player resource for extras: this is what I do in my homebrew SJ. Anyone can fly a ship, but casters can burn spell slots to get short bursts of speed.
Of course, given your description of the setting, I'd assume the primary motive force would be sails.
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Hi all. So I’m running a game that is loosely a sky flying/spelljamming campaign, and my group just got a ship and is about to start their high skies, swashbuckling adventure. I’ve adapted the spelljamming mechanics because the helm to ship integration sounds like a lot of fun, but the question I have has to do with fuel/energy mechanics. Since spelljamming ships utilize magical/psychic/life energy, is there ‘fuel’ or an exhaustion mechanic for the helmsmen? I have been having an issue finding anything concrete.
Thank you!
There is no fuel expenditure that I'm aware of, just that the person serving as the pilot of the Spelljammer has to have magical ability.
If you to introduce a sort of fuel, you could have the pilot have to expend spell slots to command the ship. Making it move faster takes more spell-slot levels, or for delicate maneuvering an additional spell slot expenditure may be needed, which grants a bonus on any called-for check to safely and accurately perform the maneuver.
Awesome that sounds like a good idea, I was also thinking that maybe the pilot could gain a point of exhaustion for x amount of hours piloting, or with your suggestion, they could expend a spell slot instead, give them a reason to pull over every now and then lol.
I believe costing a highest-level Spell Slot is what they did with with the spelljamming on the Jemjammer podcast, and that campaign started long before there was an official 5E Spelljammer boxed set.
With the 5E rules, you just need to be a spellcaster, and nothing is exhausted when running a spelljamming helm. So if a Feat or a Racial Ability gives you a spell, you can use a Spelljamming Helm. There also doesn't seem to be any benefit for being a better spellcaster in speed or maneuverability.
I believe 2E was pretty harsh; Piloting a Spelljamming Helm required a spellcasting class, and would mean no spellcasting for the rest of the day. So you'd probably want to hire someone to 🎵be.your spell jammer🎵, but that's probably wise regardless of edition.
(apologies to Peter Gabriel)
🎵I'm on top of the world, looking down on creation, wreaking death and devastation with my mind.
As the power that I've found erupts freely from the ground, I will cackle from the top of the world.🎵
Charisma Saving Throw: DC 18, Failure: 20d6 Psychic Damage, Success: Half damage
People have summed up the 5e and 2e rules, but if you want a fuel mechanic beyond "there's a magic equivalent of gas":
Of course, given your description of the setting, I'd assume the primary motive force would be sails.