So I'm kinda disappointed in the Spelljammer offering...
I do love the races (I love weird races) and the monster selection is good...
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
I won't be preordering again and will wait until I know there is content
Have to say I sort of agree; after a cursory skim read, this book feels like it needed more time in the oven... like: a LOT of it.
- The races are nice; but they lack a lot in the way of flavour... did being "setting agnostic" really also mean sucking out everything to do with a species culture-wise? Because that seems like a major over-correction. Not to mention: there is at least one major rules as written exploit that was spotted in the UA version of these that was NOT corrected at all. And only two backgrounds!?
- Being a sucker for space-based stuff I do love the deck-plans... but they seem a bit small for what they are meant to have. IE: not nearly enough space for the people they are supposed to carry. I'd almost use them at 2x scale as is.
- Magic items and spells - This section is a total joke: 2 spells and 3 magic items!? ALL of which are exclusively utility-based for spelljamming? You're telling me there's ZERO interesting spells or magic items out there in wild space!? In a world where Warhammer 40K, Star Wars, Mass Effect to name a few "space magic" systems exist this is just plain lazy.
- Speaking of lazy: allow an old nerd to wax poetic about the generation tables of old. Once upon a time, when a TTRPG book had a section called "createing x..." They'd include say: some templates, a table or two to roll on, that sort of thing... As it stands: allow me to quote verbatim the section "Creating a wildspace system":
"A typical Wildspace system has a sun plus a number of planets and moons orbiting it. Two examples of Wildspace systems, Doomspace and Xaryxispace, are described in the accompanying adventure, Light of Xaryxis. Use them as models when creating your own Wildspace system."
... And... that's it. Two examples; neither of which is particularly well fleshed out in its own right.
- And of course the greatest crime of this book... Dohwar aren't a playable race!?
Having read through the entire Astral Adventurers Guide, my first thought was, this seems like the “starter set” or “basic rules” for Spelljammer, with the full campaign setting yet to be released. Already mentioned by another post, but no gazatteer/map of Realmspace? A paltry handfull of new spells and magic items(where’s my Blackjammer’s Cutlass???), and really no new spelljamming equipment/gear. So much missing regarding ship building, customization and cost, different types of Helms, ships weapons, and more than a paragraph or two on ship to ship combat. Really pretty weak overall.
It's about as much content as I expected. Hopefully WotC will produce more stuff for the setting, but if not I for one don't mind buying a few PDFs of the old sourcebooks from DriveThruRPG.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Personally was very disappointed in the monsters. With the current design philosophy for super short combats, it really just depends on initiative rather than being any sort of exciting challenge. I need to review the other two thirds admittedly, but I've got a sinking feeling. 5e has done a horrible job of providing lore and fluff for anything beyond individual adventures.
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
Get ready for similar from Planescape.
Planescape seems to forget that anything besides Sigil exists in the game that's supposed to be about like 18 other planes.
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
Get ready for similar from Planescape.
Planescape seems to forget that anything besides Sigil exists in the game that's supposed to be about like 18 other planes.
I think you're right that the original plan for WotC was for Planescape to be following the Spelljammer product template. I'm hoping that word of mouth on Spelljammer's lackluster quality has impacted sales, and WotC realizes they should have done a lot better if they want to do these "more expensive formats" (taking the content that would fit in a thin side 5e hardcover and making it an expensive slipcase set, and still perpetuate the perforated map b.s. where there's no product need to do so in a sealed slipcase). I think WotC should recognize, especially in these"bridge years" between editions and buyer fatigue (Spelljammer is the last product I'm preordering), that if they want a strong sales showing, they just have to do better on a number of levels with future products.
With Dragonlance, the Heist book, and the Giant book, I'm waiting somewhere between two weeks to a month for actual reviews and player feedback before I put them on my shopping list. I've got enough for my game as it is, so have become much more discerning as to what I'll accommodate in my game. Spelljammer, I'm having more fun adapting the 2e systems and looking at what some DMsGuild and Drivethru creators are doing with Spelljammer specifically or similar "space" faring vehicle systems.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
Get ready for similar from Planescape.
Planescape seems to forget that anything besides Sigil exists in the game that's supposed to be about like 18 other planes.
I think you're right that the original plan for WotC was for Planescape to be following the Spelljammer product template. I'm hoping that word of mouth on Spelljammer's lackluster quality has impacted sales, and WotC realizes they should have done a lot better if they want to do these "more expensive formats" (taking the content that would fit in a thin side 5e hardcover and making it an expensive slipcase set, and still perpetuate the perforated map b.s. where there's no product need to do so in a sealed slipcase). I think WotC should recognize, especially in these"bridge years" between editions and buyer fatigue (Spelljammer is the last product I'm preordering), that if they want a strong sales showing, they just have to do better on a number of levels with future products.
With Dragonlance, the Heist book, and the Giant book, I'm waiting somewhere between two weeks to a month for actual reviews and player feedback before I put them on my shopping list. I've got enough for my game as it is, so have become much more discerning as to what I'll accommodate in my game. Spelljammer, I'm having more fun adapting the 2e systems and looking at what some DMsGuild and Drivethru creators are doing with Spelljammer specifically or similar "space" faring vehicle systems.
Same. This product was not worth the extra money I payed for it. I should have waited to buy it, but like a fool, I preordered as soon as I heard about Spelljammer coming out. And now I don't think I'll be preordering any other D&D products anytime soon, though it is possible I'll do so if the product is REALLY enticing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
- The races are nice; but they lack a lot in the way of flavour... did being "setting agnostic" really also mean sucking out everything to do with a species culture-wise? Because that seems like a major over-correction. Not to mention: there is at least one major rules as written exploit that was spotted in the UA version of these that was NOT corrected at all. And only two backgrounds!?
Yes, that’s precisely what “setting agnostic” means. If they give any cultural information at all, then it has to be universal to all settings or it wouldn’t be “setting agnostic.”
As for the backgrounds, they are moving away from prewritten backgrounds so don’t expect to see many of those at all moving forward.
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
Get ready for similar from Planescape.
Planescape seems to forget that anything besides Sigil exists in the game that's supposed to be about like 18 other planes.
I think you're right that the original plan for WotC was for Planescape to be following the Spelljammer product template. I'm hoping that word of mouth on Spelljammer's lackluster quality has impacted sales, and WotC realizes they should have done a lot better if they want to do these "more expensive formats" (taking the content that would fit in a thin side 5e hardcover and making it an expensive slipcase set, and still perpetuate the perforated map b.s. where there's no product need to do so in a sealed slipcase). I think WotC should recognize, especially in these"bridge years" between editions and buyer fatigue (Spelljammer is the last product I'm preordering), that if they want a strong sales showing, they just have to do better on a number of levels with future products.
With Dragonlance, the Heist book, and the Giant book, I'm waiting somewhere between two weeks to a month for actual reviews and player feedback before I put them on my shopping list. I've got enough for my game as it is, so have become much more discerning as to what I'll accommodate in my game. Spelljammer, I'm having more fun adapting the 2e systems and looking at what some DMsGuild and Drivethru creators are doing with Spelljammer specifically or similar "space" faring vehicle systems.
Same. This product was not worth the extra money I payed for it. I should have waited to buy it, but like a fool, I preordered as soon as I heard about Spelljammer coming out. And now I don't think I'll be preordering any other D&D products anytime soon, though it is possible I'll do so if the product is REALLY enticing.
You know that sales apply to preorders? I preordered during a sale and saved a decent amount on it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
So I'm kinda disappointed in the Spelljammer offering...
I do love the races (I love weird races) and the monster selection is good...
I feel that WOTC forgot the setting of Spelljammer with only one location Rock of Bral even described (and it's significantly shorter than the nearly 100 pages in second edition) but the biggest disappointment is they didn't even bother to do even a basic outline of Realmspace...
I won't be preordering again and will wait until I know there is content
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Have to say I sort of agree; after a cursory skim read, this book feels like it needed more time in the oven... like: a LOT of it.
- The races are nice; but they lack a lot in the way of flavour... did being "setting agnostic" really also mean sucking out everything to do with a species culture-wise? Because that seems like a major over-correction. Not to mention: there is at least one major rules as written exploit that was spotted in the UA version of these that was NOT corrected at all. And only two backgrounds!?
- Being a sucker for space-based stuff I do love the deck-plans... but they seem a bit small for what they are meant to have. IE: not nearly enough space for the people they are supposed to carry. I'd almost use them at 2x scale as is.
- Magic items and spells - This section is a total joke: 2 spells and 3 magic items!? ALL of which are exclusively utility-based for spelljamming? You're telling me there's ZERO interesting spells or magic items out there in wild space!? In a world where Warhammer 40K, Star Wars, Mass Effect to name a few "space magic" systems exist this is just plain lazy.
- Speaking of lazy: allow an old nerd to wax poetic about the generation tables of old. Once upon a time, when a TTRPG book had a section called "createing x..." They'd include say: some templates, a table or two to roll on, that sort of thing... As it stands: allow me to quote verbatim the section "Creating a wildspace system":
"A typical Wildspace system has a sun plus a number of planets and moons orbiting it. Two examples of Wildspace systems, Doomspace and Xaryxispace, are described in the accompanying adventure, Light of Xaryxis. Use them as models when creating your own Wildspace system."
... And... that's it. Two examples; neither of which is particularly well fleshed out in its own right.
- And of course the greatest crime of this book... Dohwar aren't a playable race!?
Having read through the entire Astral Adventurers Guide, my first thought was, this seems like the “starter set” or “basic rules” for Spelljammer, with the full campaign setting yet to be released. Already mentioned by another post, but no gazatteer/map of Realmspace? A paltry handfull of new spells and magic items(where’s my Blackjammer’s Cutlass???), and really no new spelljamming equipment/gear. So much missing regarding ship building, customization and cost, different types of Helms, ships weapons, and more than a paragraph or two on ship to ship combat. Really pretty weak overall.
It's about as much content as I expected. Hopefully WotC will produce more stuff for the setting, but if not I for one don't mind buying a few PDFs of the old sourcebooks from DriveThruRPG.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Personally was very disappointed in the monsters. With the current design philosophy for super short combats, it really just depends on initiative rather than being any sort of exciting challenge. I need to review the other two thirds admittedly, but I've got a sinking feeling. 5e has done a horrible job of providing lore and fluff for anything beyond individual adventures.
There is a map of Forgotten Realm realmspace in Spelljammer Academy.
Realmspace Sortie! - Spelljammer Academy - Sources - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
Get ready for similar from Planescape.
Planescape seems to forget that anything besides Sigil exists in the game that's supposed to be about like 18 other planes.
I think you're right that the original plan for WotC was for Planescape to be following the Spelljammer product template. I'm hoping that word of mouth on Spelljammer's lackluster quality has impacted sales, and WotC realizes they should have done a lot better if they want to do these "more expensive formats" (taking the content that would fit in a thin side 5e hardcover and making it an expensive slipcase set, and still perpetuate the perforated map b.s. where there's no product need to do so in a sealed slipcase). I think WotC should recognize, especially in these"bridge years" between editions and buyer fatigue (Spelljammer is the last product I'm preordering), that if they want a strong sales showing, they just have to do better on a number of levels with future products.
With Dragonlance, the Heist book, and the Giant book, I'm waiting somewhere between two weeks to a month for actual reviews and player feedback before I put them on my shopping list. I've got enough for my game as it is, so have become much more discerning as to what I'll accommodate in my game. Spelljammer, I'm having more fun adapting the 2e systems and looking at what some DMsGuild and Drivethru creators are doing with Spelljammer specifically or similar "space" faring vehicle systems.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Same. This product was not worth the extra money I payed for it. I should have waited to buy it, but like a fool, I preordered as soon as I heard about Spelljammer coming out. And now I don't think I'll be preordering any other D&D products anytime soon, though it is possible I'll do so if the product is REALLY enticing.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.Yes, that’s precisely what “setting agnostic” means. If they give any cultural information at all, then it has to be universal to all settings or it wouldn’t be “setting agnostic.”
As for the backgrounds, they are moving away from prewritten backgrounds so don’t expect to see many of those at all moving forward.
Welcome to the future of D&D.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
You know that sales apply to preorders? I preordered during a sale and saved a decent amount on it.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.