Hey folks! I know Unearthed Arcana has been discontinued on DND Beyond. But I wanted to put my Spelljammer love out there because I have a feeling Wizards will do something with Spelljammer things soon...
I've actually run a Spelljammer campaign in 5e, and the official 5e books actually has quite a few rules for how to do it, they're just scattered throughout a ton of the official books. My advice for playing Spelljammer officially in 5e is in the spoiler below.
First, the most valuable source (in my experienced opinion) is Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Contained in that adventure are rules for how space and gravity work in Spelljammer (due to the Asteroid dungeon connected to the Crystal Labyrinth), mechanics for spelljamming helms (well, one spelljamming helm, but with a bit of tweaking it can simulate a huge variety of them), rules for a Flying Saucer (not originally a part of Spelljammer, but it fits), and the map for a Squid-Ship.
Second, vehicle rules. Ghosts of Saltmarsh is what I used, but with a bit of tweaking, you could also use the rules for Infernal War Machines from Descent into Avernus and the Battle Balloon and Mechanical Beholder from Acquisitions Incorporated. If you use D&D Beyond frequently, the stats for the vehicles in Ghosts of Saltmarsh are available to you for free, so no need to buy them as long as you're comfortable relying on a digital service for your games.
Third, the creatures. Spelljammer is quite infamous for its very, very strange and memorable creatures (Dohwar, Giff, Neogi, etc). Barely any of them have been officially translated to 5e, but there are a few. Neogi and various types of Mind Flayers (Elder Brains) are contained in Volo's Guide to Monsters, Giff are in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden has stats for Gnome Ceremorphs (and Gnome Squidlings) and a mapped out Nautiloid ship (the Gnome Ceremorphs have laser pistols!), and there may be a few others scattered across the 5e books. I used Neogi, Star Spawn (from Mordenkainen's), and Mind Flayers as my campaign's primary antagonists, but if you want more "alien" monsters, I'd recommend checking out the Core Spawn from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Skum from Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Dolguants/Dolgrim and Quori from Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and Horrors and Krasis from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. None of these later ones are found in "traditional Spelljammer", but IMO they fit the theme, and are enemies you'd expect/understand to see in a fantasy outerspace campaign.
There are some 3rd-Party-Products that may be worth checking out, but I found that I didn't need them. Granted, I do own every 5e official book that's ever came out, so I had a huge swathe of options to choose from, so they definitely may be something to check out if you don't find what you want with what I've recommended (or, if you don't want to spend a ton of money on D&D books).
That said, I don't think that Spelljammer is ever going to come to 5e, and if it is, it's certainly not anytime soon and will be very different from its original renditions (maybe closer to "Planejammer", which is Planescape and Spelljammer mashed together, like 4e had with sailing through the Astral Sea).
Oh actually, to push Third's guidance a bit further, what would I need to do to import the POWERSTACHE Drow, who basically look like photo negatives of Tolkien's elves cosplaying as KISS, into a bootleg 5e Spelljammer game? I mean can I just make it happen or is there anything out there I should take a look at being going there?
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Oh actually, to push Third's guidance a bit further, what would I need to do to import the POWERSTACHE Drow, who basically look like photo negatives of Tolkien's elves cosplaying as KISS, into a bootleg 5e Spelljammer game? I mean can I just make it happen or is there anything out there I should take a look at being going there?
Do you mean this drow? I'd say just reflavor the Monster Manual and Mordenkainen's Drow stat blocks. Maybe have him be a Drow Inquisitor. Or slightly altered Jarlaxle Baenre stats could work.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Id prefer Planescape to Spelljammer, and I think it's more likely to be adapted because it seems to fit more with the design philosophy of 5e being a multiverse, rather than collection of crystal spheres all in the same universe.
Congratulations, @WarAxe145, it seems that you were correct. There's a new Unearthed Arcana with race options for a ton of Spelljammer races (Giff, Hadozee, Thri-Kreen, Astral Elves as Star Elves, Autognomes, and Plasmoids), and we recently saw a D&D book cover by Hydro74 that had Boo (a miniature giant space hamster) and a Beholder (or a Beholder Spelljamming ship) on the cover.
It definitely looks like we're getting Spelljammer in the near future. At least as a cameo.
Good job guessing it. I was skeptical, but I'm glad that we're getting it.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Congratulations, @WarAxe145, it seems that you were correct. There's a new Unearthed Arcana with race options for a ton of Spelljammer races (Giff, Hadozee, Thri-Kreen, Astral Elves as Star Elves, Autognomes, and Plasmoids), and we recently saw a D&D book cover by Hydro74 that had Boo (a miniature giant space hamster) and a Beholder (or a Beholder Spelljamming ship) on the cover.
It definitely looks like we're getting Spelljammer in the near future. At least as a cameo.
Good job guessing it. I was skeptical, but I'm glad that we're getting it.
We are assuming that is a beholder, but maybe they are crystal spheres
Congratulations, @WarAxe145, it seems that you were correct. There's a new Unearthed Arcana with race options for a ton of Spelljammer races (Giff, Hadozee, Thri-Kreen, Astral Elves as Star Elves, Autognomes, and Plasmoids), and we recently saw a D&D book cover by Hydro74 that had Boo (a miniature giant space hamster) and a Beholder (or a Beholder Spelljamming ship) on the cover.
It definitely looks like we're getting Spelljammer in the near future. At least as a cameo.
Good job guessing it. I was skeptical, but I'm glad that we're getting it.
We are assuming that is a beholder, but maybe they are crystal spheres
Either way, that would still confirm Spelljammer.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Hey folks! I know Unearthed Arcana has been discontinued on DND Beyond. But I wanted to put my Spelljammer love out there because I have a feeling Wizards will do something with Spelljammer things soon...
Giff and Thri-Kreen when?!
Wait... UA has been official discontinued in D&D Beyond?
Can somebody explain the appeal of Spelljammer to me? I came to dnd via 5 e and the old PC Games of Baldur‘s Gate. I read a short synopsis and it seems to be a very goofy space mish mash or am I wrong?
I would love a SF setting for 5 e but more like Aliens or Starwars. So a more serious SF setting.
Is it just nostalgia or what makes it cool.
I am really curious what you guys have to say about it.
Can somebody explain the appeal of Spelljammer to me? I came to dnd via 5 e and the old PV Games of Baldur‘s Gate. I read a short synopsis and it seems to be a very goofy space mish mash or am I wrong?
I would love a SF setting for 5 e but more like Aliens or Starwars. So a more serious SF setting.
Is it just nostalgia or what makes it cool.
I am really curious what you guys have to say about it.
I've only ever played 5e, and I love Spelljammer, so it's certainly not nostalgia for me.
For me, it's just the concept of D&D in SPAAAAACE! (TM), and leaning into the wacky nature of D&D all the way. D&D has always been wacky (Owlbears, Beholders, Flail Snails, Xvarts, etc), but Spelljammer is the only setting in D&D that fully embraces this fact and makes the most of it. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and that's part of the appeal to it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Can somebody explain the appeal of Spelljammer to me? I came to dnd via 5 e and the old PV Games of Baldur‘s Gate. I read a short synopsis and it seems to be a very goofy space mish mash or am I wrong?
I would love a SF setting for 5 e but more like Aliens or Starwars. So a more serious SF setting.
Is it just nostalgia or what makes it cool.
I am really curious what you guys have to say about it.
I've only ever played 5e, and I love Spelljammer, so it's certainly not nostalgia for me.
For me, it's just the concept of D&D in SPAAAAACE! (TM), and leaning into the wacky nature of D&D all the way. D&D has always been wacky (Owlbears, Beholders, Flail Snails, Xvarts, etc), but Spelljammer is the only setting in D&D that fully embraces this fact and makes the most of it. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and that's part of the appeal to it.
Also, while the setting itself is campy and lends it's self well to those kinds of games. The mechanics allow for more serious style of "Fantasy in Space" kind of play as well.
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Hey folks! I know Unearthed Arcana has been discontinued on DND Beyond. But I wanted to put my Spelljammer love out there because I have a feeling Wizards will do something with Spelljammer things soon...
Giff and Thri-Kreen when?!
One can only hope. Until then, there are some decent 5e conversions findable via Google.
Thri-Kreen would not come with Speljammer as Athas is not reachable through the Crystal Spheres. Or so I thought.
I mean they're now in the setting agnostic Monster Manual, so....
Though not as a playable race.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I've actually run a Spelljammer campaign in 5e, and the official 5e books actually has quite a few rules for how to do it, they're just scattered throughout a ton of the official books. My advice for playing Spelljammer officially in 5e is in the spoiler below.
First, the most valuable source (in my experienced opinion) is Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Contained in that adventure are rules for how space and gravity work in Spelljammer (due to the Asteroid dungeon connected to the Crystal Labyrinth), mechanics for spelljamming helms (well, one spelljamming helm, but with a bit of tweaking it can simulate a huge variety of them), rules for a Flying Saucer (not originally a part of Spelljammer, but it fits), and the map for a Squid-Ship.
Second, vehicle rules. Ghosts of Saltmarsh is what I used, but with a bit of tweaking, you could also use the rules for Infernal War Machines from Descent into Avernus and the Battle Balloon and Mechanical Beholder from Acquisitions Incorporated. If you use D&D Beyond frequently, the stats for the vehicles in Ghosts of Saltmarsh are available to you for free, so no need to buy them as long as you're comfortable relying on a digital service for your games.
Third, the creatures. Spelljammer is quite infamous for its very, very strange and memorable creatures (Dohwar, Giff, Neogi, etc). Barely any of them have been officially translated to 5e, but there are a few. Neogi and various types of Mind Flayers (Elder Brains) are contained in Volo's Guide to Monsters, Giff are in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden has stats for Gnome Ceremorphs (and Gnome Squidlings) and a mapped out Nautiloid ship (the Gnome Ceremorphs have laser pistols!), and there may be a few others scattered across the 5e books. I used Neogi, Star Spawn (from Mordenkainen's), and Mind Flayers as my campaign's primary antagonists, but if you want more "alien" monsters, I'd recommend checking out the Core Spawn from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Skum from Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Dolguants/Dolgrim and Quori from Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and Horrors and Krasis from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. None of these later ones are found in "traditional Spelljammer", but IMO they fit the theme, and are enemies you'd expect/understand to see in a fantasy outerspace campaign.
There are some 3rd-Party-Products that may be worth checking out, but I found that I didn't need them. Granted, I do own every 5e official book that's ever came out, so I had a huge swathe of options to choose from, so they definitely may be something to check out if you don't find what you want with what I've recommended (or, if you don't want to spend a ton of money on D&D books).
That said, I don't think that Spelljammer is ever going to come to 5e, and if it is, it's certainly not anytime soon and will be very different from its original renditions (maybe closer to "Planejammer", which is Planescape and Spelljammer mashed together, like 4e had with sailing through the Astral Sea).
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
That's some really solid guidance, Third, thanks.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Oh actually, to push Third's guidance a bit further, what would I need to do to import the POWERSTACHE Drow, who basically look like photo negatives of Tolkien's elves cosplaying as KISS, into a bootleg 5e Spelljammer game? I mean can I just make it happen or is there anything out there I should take a look at being going there?
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Do you mean this drow? I'd say just reflavor the Monster Manual and Mordenkainen's Drow stat blocks. Maybe have him be a Drow Inquisitor. Or slightly altered Jarlaxle Baenre stats could work.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Id prefer Planescape to Spelljammer, and I think it's more likely to be adapted because it seems to fit more with the design philosophy of 5e being a multiverse, rather than collection of crystal spheres all in the same universe.
Congratulations, @WarAxe145, it seems that you were correct. There's a new Unearthed Arcana with race options for a ton of Spelljammer races (Giff, Hadozee, Thri-Kreen, Astral Elves as Star Elves, Autognomes, and Plasmoids), and we recently saw a D&D book cover by Hydro74 that had Boo (a miniature giant space hamster) and a Beholder (or a Beholder Spelljamming ship) on the cover.
It definitely looks like we're getting Spelljammer in the near future. At least as a cameo.
Good job guessing it. I was skeptical, but I'm glad that we're getting it.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
We are assuming that is a beholder, but maybe they are crystal spheres
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Either way, that would still confirm Spelljammer.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Wait... UA has been official discontinued in D&D Beyond?
I'm glad I was wrong :)
Can somebody explain the appeal of Spelljammer to me? I came to dnd via 5 e and the old PC Games of Baldur‘s Gate.
I read a short synopsis and it seems to be a very goofy space mish mash or am I wrong?
I would love a SF setting for 5 e but more like Aliens or Starwars. So a more serious SF setting.
Is it just nostalgia or what makes it cool.
I am really curious what you guys have to say about it.
yeah... this was dated
I've only ever played 5e, and I love Spelljammer, so it's certainly not nostalgia for me.
For me, it's just the concept of D&D in SPAAAAACE! (TM), and leaning into the wacky nature of D&D all the way. D&D has always been wacky (Owlbears, Beholders, Flail Snails, Xvarts, etc), but Spelljammer is the only setting in D&D that fully embraces this fact and makes the most of it. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and that's part of the appeal to it.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Also, while the setting itself is campy and lends it's self well to those kinds of games. The mechanics allow for more serious style of "Fantasy in Space" kind of play as well.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master