Suit up, recruit! The stars, an asteroid city, and even space clowns await you in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space! To survive your journey into the cosmos, you'll need to create a character that's as resilient as they are brave. To help you in this endeavor, we've put together this handy guide that details unique dangers in Wildspace and how to build around them.

• Take a Deep Breath
• Crew Overboard!
• Combating Other Ships
• Finding Food
• Into the Astral Sea

As more information on Spelljammer: Adventures in Space rolls out, check back here for additional tips to surviving Wildspace!

Jump Into Spelljammer Today!

For a limited time, D&D Beyond users can claim the introductory adventure series Spelljammer Academy at no cost. The adventures will take you from 1st to 5th level and are a great lead-in for Light of Xaryxis, the adventure included in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space.

Take a Deep Breath

Fun fact: You can't breathe in Wildspace. That's problematic if you're like most folks. Luckily, if you're thrown overboard from your spelljamming ship or some cranky giff stuffs you into a rocket and launches you into the cosmos, you have a small window of time to find some fresh air—one minute, to be precise. In Wildspace, when you move from one area with air to an area without it, you take an envelope of breathable air with you. Similarly, objects such as ships that leave a planet's atmosphere form an envelope of air, albeit one that's much larger and that lasts longer.

Because spelljamming ships can spend weeks, months, or even years in Wildspace journeying from one planet or asteroid to another, you'll need to find ways to replenish your ship's envelope of air. Death is a slow and unfortunate thing aboard a spelljamming ship with unbreathable air. Of course, you needn't worry about any of this if you're less reliant on air. Lucky for you, there's a small assortment of races and lineages to choose from that safeguard you from death by suffocation.

Races and Lineages That Don't Need to Breathe

• Air genasi*
• Dhampir
• Reborn
• Warforged

* Air genasi can hold their breath indefinitely while not incapacitated.

Other Ways to Avoid Breathing
The warlock class has a couple options to avoid suffocation. Both the Undead and Undying patrons offer subclass features that eliminate the need to breathe. Starting at 10th level, Circle of the Moon druids can wild shape into elementals. At high levels, druids and wizards can even shapechange into a creature that doesn't require air.

If you chance upon a gadabout and make quick friends with it, it could function as a self-replenishing source of fresh air. You might also ask your Dungeon Master if you can carry around a cap of water breathing and a bucket of water for a rather unique solution.

Lastly, and this is a last resort, you could petrify yourself with flesh to stone to enter a pseudo-cryosleep. Best of luck waking up, though.

How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?

Holding your breath can buy you a few precious minutes while you seek out a source of breathable air. You can hold your breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + your Constitution modifier, or a minimum of 30 seconds. After that, you'll begin to suffocate and soon after drop to 0 hit points and begin dying.

Notably, lizardfolk can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes at a time. Tortles have them beat, though—they're able to hold their breath for up to an hour! For other races, bottled breath also allows you to hold your breath for an hour.

Crew Overboard!

While onboard a spelljamming vessel, you won't need to worry so much about the intricacies of gravity. It just works. But if you're sent barreling into Wildspace during ship-to-ship combat, you risk a one-way journey into deep space. Even combat can be trickier for creatures in an area without gravity. You'll have disadvantage on melee attacks unless you have a swimming or flying speed or your weapon deals piercing damage.

For these reasons, a flying speed—whether natural or granted by magic—is a boon in Wildspace. A swimming speed, meanwhile, ensures you can happily thwack enemies with your favorite melee weapon. You have a ton of options for accessing one or the other. Below are races that offer flying and swimming speeds, though some of these races may only grant these forms of movement for a short time.

Races With a Flying Speed

• Aarakocra
• Aasimar (Radiant Soul, 1 minute per long rest)
• Fairy
• Gem dragonborn (Gem Flight, 1 minute per long rest)
• Owlin
• Variant tiefling

Races With a Swimming Speed

• Aquatic half-elf (Aquatic Heritage trait)
• Lizardfolk
• Locathah (Noncore D&D material)
• Sea elf
• Simic hybrid (Underwater Adaptation enhancement)
• Triton
• Water genasi

You also have plenty of class and subclass features, spells, and magic items that can grant you a flying or swimming speed. Don't feel like you need to lock in a particular class or subclass just because you want to easily access one of these forms of movement. Spells like fly and magic items like the gloves of swimming and climbing and winged boots can make it easy to survive in zero gravity. Of course, it doesn't hurt to explore your options—you truly don't know what kinds of creatures may pluck you off of your spelljamming ship for a mighty battle in deep space.

Is It Hot or Cold in Space?

Bring your best winter coat...and tank top. The temperature in Wildspace can vary wildly, from the freezing to the boiling hot, depending on where you are. This means creatures with resistance to cold and/or fire damage will fare better in areas of extreme cold and extreme heat. For races with natural resistances to cold or fire damage, look to the fire genasi, goliath, sea elf, and tiefling.

Combating Other Ships

If you want to be a space pirate, you best be prepared for ship-to-ship combat. You don't necessarily need long range weapons on your person for such encounters. Your ship may come equipped with artillery you can use to take down enemy crew and their ships. These weapons can require multiple actions to use, meaning the fighter's Action Surge can come in handy in a pinch.

Characters who are spelljammers, or pilots of their own ship, must be spellcasters. During ship-to-ship combat, they'll have an extra tool for taking down enemy ships—they can initiate a spelljammer duel with an opposing ship's spelljammer. When you win a spelljammer duel, your opponent's connection to their ship is severed, rendering them unable to control their vessel for what could amount to days. This could be a major tactical advantage for your crew.

Because a spelljammer duel requires one or more Constitution checks, having a good Constitution score and perhaps a means for gaining advantage on such checks (see: enhance ability) is important. Keep in mind that only spellcasters can be ship pilots.

Repairing Your Spelljamming Ship

Foolhardy is the adventurer that doesn't bring supplies to repair their ship and its weapons. Making such repairs is a costly and time-consuming endeavor that requires you to have materials on hand. Comparatively, mending can make short work of repairs. You may need more than just the cantrip, however, if the damage is severe enough and you have time constraints.

Finding Breakfast...and Lunch...and Dinner

Because travel between worlds can take a long time, Wildspace is a great setting for DMs and players who enjoy downtime activities. But the longer your voyage lasts, the less likely you are to have enough provisions onboard to keep the crew fed.

Luckily, Wildspace isn't barren. It's full of all manner of creatures, some of which are edible. That's where astral fishing comes in. It's a relaxing and potentially life-saving hobby for all manner of space travelers. Wisdom (Survival) is key when you're astral fishing, though your DM may call for a different roll. Of course, you don't need to worry about food if you have some way of making eating unnecessary. You would miss out on some delectable alien food, however.

Into the Astral Sea

Wildspace is immense, but journey far enough and you may find yourself in the silvery sea, the Astral Sea. This plane is your ticket to other worlds on the Material Plane as well as to other planes of existence. But where Wildspace is immense, the Astral Sea is nearly infinite in size. Despite this, the Astral Sea is a more welcoming realm for adventurers than Wildspace.

You don't age nor do you need to eat or drink while in the Astral Sea. If your spelljamming ship suffers irreparable damage, or you need to go on a scouting mission, you can travel by mere thought! Creatures with high Intelligence will excel at this mode of transportation, flying at a speed equal to 5 x its Intelligence score.

That isn't to suggest that the Astral Sea is free from dangers. There, monstrosities that offer a crueler end than death await you. Imagine, for example, becoming trapped for an eternity in the demiplane of an astral dreadnought. Suddenly, immortality doesn't sound so appealing.

How Will You Prepare for Your Voyage?

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space takes your campaigns to new worlds, but the setting isn't without its unique dangers. Adventurers planning a trip into the cosmos must be prepared for times when breathable air and food are in short supply and consider how they'll fight when facing down a superior vessel or survive the extreme temperatures of Wildspace.

However, you don't need to have an answer for every obstacle, or any at all, if that's what you prefer. In truth, having a crew you can trust and maybe a bit of creativity is all you need to survive your journey into Wildspace. No matter what you decide, you're sure to find adventures in Wildspace that are as alien as they are thrilling. Bon voyage!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.