Spelljammer is a campaign setting originally published for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd edition) role-playing game, which features a fantastic (as opposed to scientific) outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included Spelljammer content; a Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition setting update was released on August 16, 2022.

Spelljammer introduced into the AD&D universe a comprehensive system of fantasy astrophysics, including the Ptolemaic concept of crystal celestial spheres. Crystal spheres may contain multiple worlds and are navigable using ships equipped with "spelljamming helms". Ships powered by spelljamming helms are capable of flying into not only the sky but into space. With their own fields of gravity and atmosphere, the ships have open decks and tend not to resemble the spaceships of science fiction, but instead look more like galleons, animals, birds, fish or even more wildly fantastic shapes.

The Spelljammer setting is designed to allow the usual sword and sorcery adventures of Dungeons & Dragons to take place within the framework of outer space tropes. Flying ships travel through the vast expanses of interplanetary space, visiting moons and planets and other stellar objects.

Like the Planescape setting, Spelljammer unifies most of the other AD&D settings and provides a canonical method for allowing characters from one setting (such as Dragonlance) to travel to another (such as the Forgotten Realms). However, unlike Planescape, it keeps all of the action on the Prime Material Plane and uses the crystal spheres, and the "phlogiston" between them, to form natural barriers between otherwise incompatible settings. Though the cosmology is derived largely from the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, many of the ideas owe much to the works of Jules Verne and his contemporaries, and to related games and fiction with a steampunk or planetary romance flavor. A strong Age of Sail flavor is also present.

Publication history

Shannon Appelcline, in the book Designers & Dragons (2011), highlighted that in 1989 Spelljammer was the first of a host of new campaign settings published by TSR. It was created by Jeff Grubb and "introduced a universe of magical starships traversing the 'crystal spheres' that contained all the earthbound AD&D campaign worlds. It suggested a method to connect together all of TSR's settings and at the same time introduced fun new Jules Verne-esque technology that had never before been seen in the game. It was innovative and popular". Appelcline commented that Spelljammer "offered a way to connect every single D&D fantasy world, was thus one of the first true crossovers" in role-playing games. Several of TSR's other campaign worlds had their own sections in the Spelljammer Boxed Set - Realmspace for the Forgotten Realms, Krynnspace for Dragonlance, and Greyspace for Greyhawk. Along with the new sphere - Clusterspace - they were known as the "Big Three and Astromundi". Dark Sun, Ravenloft and Mystara weren't included, as the first two did not fit with the setting and the Mystara only used the D&D rules, not the AD&D rules.

The product line would be expanded with a number of boxed sets and accessories such as Lost Ships (1990), Realmspace (1991) and The Astromundi Cluster (1993). Appelcline commented that The Astromundi Cluster acted as "a soft reboot of the Spelljammer line" and was more of setting focused sourcebook than previous Spelljammer books which acted more "as a conduit between all of the other AD&D settings". The first adventure module, titled Wildspace, was released in 1990; four connected adventure modules followed it. A longer campaign module, Heart of the Enemy, was then published in 1992 followed by an adventure anthology, Space Lairs, in 1993.

The monsters of Spelljammer were detailed in two installments of the Monstrous Compendium series, Spelljammer Appendix in 1990 and Spelljammer Appendix II in 1991.

In 1993, Space Lairs and The Astromundi Cluster were the final products of the line.

In May 2002, Paizo published an article for Spelljammer in Dungeon #92 titled "Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon". Using the D20 system, it provided new rules for firearms and spelljamming, as well as skills, feats and prestige classes. Spelljammer monsters such as neogi and giff were not used. Instead, it featured creatures from the Monster Manual such as drow, formians and yuan-ti.

In May 2005, Wizards of the Coast updated the neogi to the 3.5 edition rules in the supplement Lords of Madness (2005). The book included a chapter with a sample map of a crashed Spelljamming vessel, cultural habits of the neogi, and the monster's stat blocks.

Dungeons & Dragons (4th edition)

A Spelljammer homage appears in the 4th edition Manual of the Planes; the sourcebook highlights Spelljammer ships as one method of traveling between planes and provides information for in-game use of Spelljammer vessels.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition)

Spelljammer content also appears in the 5th Edition adventure module Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (2018). In the adventure, a spelljamming ship and its illithid captain appear stranded in level 19 of the titular dungeon. Then in October 2021, Wizards released the PDF Travelers of the Multiverse which is part of the "Unearthed Arcana" public playtest series. Of the six player races it included, four races (autognome, giff, hadozee, and plasmoid) are closely associated with the Spelljammer setting. Both Polygon and Bleeding Cool highlighted that this playtest could indicate a future Spelljammer reboot. The box set includes a Dungeon Master's screen, a double-sided poster map and three 64-page hardcover books: Astral Adventurer's Guide (a Dungeon Master guide), Boo's Astral Menagerie (a bestiary), and Light of Xaryxis (an adventure module). A special edition, with cover art by Hydro74, was also released.

Monstrous Compendium Vol 1: Spelljammer Creatures introduced ten creatures from the Spelljammer setting to the 5th Edition in April 2022.

Fictional setting

Spelljamming helms

Spelljamming helms are the central setting concept which allow interplanetary and interstellar space travel for vessels which would otherwise not be spaceworthy, in the form of a helm. Any spellcaster may sit on a spelljammer helm to move the ship. Spelljammer comics also uses Jasmine, a winged human character originally introduced from Forgotten Realms comics, as one of the lead characters.

Music

Wizards of the Coast released a soundtrack, titled Spelljams, for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space digitally on August 16, 2022; each song on the soundtrack corresponds with one of the chapters in the adventure module Light of Xaryxis.

Novels

Six novels set in the Spelljammer universe were published by TSR, before TSR was incorporated into Wizards of the Coast. The novels were interconnected and formed "The Cloakmaster Cycle". The novels tell the story of Teldin Moore, a 'groundling' farmer on Krynn who has a powerful and apparently cursed magical cloak that was given to him. He then ends up on a quest, which takes him first into wildspace and then away from his home sphere to distant crystal spheres. The series showcases the wonders and perils of the Spelljammer universe. The novels are now out of print.

  • Beyond the Moons by David Cook, (July, 1991) ()
  • Into the Void by Nigel Findley, (October, 1991) ()
  • The Maelstrom's Eye by Roger E. Moore, (May, 1992) ()
  • The Radiant Dragon by Elaine Cunningham, (November, 1992) ()
  • The Broken Sphere by Nigel Findley, (May, 1993) ()
  • The Ultimate Helm by Russ T. Howard, (September, 1993) ()

In June 2024, Memory's Wake () by Django Wexler was published by Random House.

Computer games

The only Spelljammer computer game ever produced was Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, published by SSI in 1992.

In 2002 a team of freelance game modification developers created "The Arcane Space Tileset" for Neverwinter Nights. This tileset included Spelljamming ships, space and atmospheric terrains, along with monsters and NPCs, all set within the Spelljammer Campaign setting.

Web series

Legends of the Multiverse is an official actual play streaming series broadcast on the Dungeons & Dragons channels which premiered on April 27, 2022 and is set in the Spelljammer campaign setting. It stars Deborah Ann Woll, B. Dave Walters, Gina Darling, Meagan Kenreck, and Todd Kenreck. It will also feature guest stars such as Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, Ginny Di, Anna Prosser, Deejay Knight, Emme Montgomery, Travis McElroy, SungWon Cho, and Jim Zub.

Reception

In the January 1990 edition of Games International (issue #12), James Wallis was not a fan of the initial release, Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space, finding inconsistencies in the combat rules, saying that the cumulative effect of these inconsistencies is to make space combat unplayable. He did find the background "imaginative and consistent", but very little of it. Although he admired the production values of the components, he found the book disorganized to the point of "disarray and confusion". He concluded by giving the game a poor rating of only 2 out of 5, saying that "Spelljammer may score well physically but fails mentally [...] Scavenging AD&D players who enjoy stripping tasty ideas from the carcasses of dying games may find it of interest, but I cannot recommend it to anyone else".

Alexander Sowa, for CBR in October 2021, commented that Spelljammer should be one of the classic settings Wizards of the Coast brings back for the 5th Edition. Sowa wrote that "players have been asking for Spelljammer to be introduced to 5e since the release of the first setting sourcebook. Wizards tossed them a bone with the Dream of The Blue Veil spell added in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, but it's not a replacement for the niche Spelljammer previously filled. It's not just a way to travel between different campaign settings; it's a simultaneous fulfillment of sci-fi and fantasy dreams of exploration, venturing deep into unknown depths and contending with the strange and otherworldly".

Spelljammer was #3 on The Gamer<nowiki/>'s 2022 "The 8 Best Dungeons & Dragons Settings Ever" list — the article states that "Spelljammer is one of the most unique settings on this list, with endless possibilities brought up in its planet-hopping realms. The Spelljammer setting can almost best be surmised as 'pirates meets sci-fi fantasy' with its blend of magical worlds and galaxy-traversing galleons". In a separate article for The Gamer, in February 2022, Paul DiSalvo commented that "while D&D's second edition was home to a wide range of Spelljammer books including several adventure modules, the setting has since faded into obscurity, with it not being prominently featured within the game's third, fourth, and fifth editions".

In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath called the game "gloriously bewildering." Horvath also noted the new edition being launched for the 5th edition of D&D, commenting "I can't imagine something so weird as the original coming out today — the new version already seems different, a little less odd, a little more formulaic."

References

  • Spelljammer: Beyond the Moons (official fan site)
  • Dragonhelm's Guide to Krynnspace at Dragonlance Nexus
  • Beyond the Moons - Crimson Sphere at Spelljammer.org
  • Tarkas Brain Lab IV (listed as Helm System for 3e) at Spelljammer.org
  • Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon at AndyCollins.net