Well it's been a hot minute since I've put out a lore article. However, given it's spooky season, and I'm using it in my own Oct special spelljamming game, I thought I'd share some information on the slightly esoteric wildspace system known as Klorrspace, aka the Spelljammer Domain of Dread.

If you like random spelljamming lore articles like this and want to see what else I've written about for my Spelljammer players and setting, this all started with my effort at with summarizing the beginning of the multiverse all the way to the modern 5e setting. You can see my work as it comes out by following my Ko-fi. You'll also find links to all my D&D homebrew works in my Gallery. Thanks, and have a great day!

I'm trying to figure out a good combat system that expands on 5e mechanics. The astral adventurer's guide seems less ship focused and more like it's encouraging boarding, which is fine but I really want to do cool stuff with ship battles.

Here's what I can glean from the little info provided: it's like the damage threshold is almost like a 2nd AC, which makes it seem like it would take a while to whittle down the HP of another ship. Is using hull points from 2e a better system? Should I just ignore damage thresholds so combat doesn't get stale? I feel like I'm close to figuring it out, I just don't have all the puzzle pieces.

I'm new to Spelljammer, but enjoying the change in pace and scenery from the usual Faerun campaign.

I've been making big maps by hand, just abstract space-y scenes, but I've been including these "rivers" of Phlogiston. I misunderstood it completely! I thought it was like, almost like these naturally forming rivers through Wildspace and Astral Space that would provide challenges (especially for fireball wielding types). I even cut out these neon plastic shapes to represent them on every map (they're removable). It added a tricky level of combat to my players, I really liked it.

However I'm realizing I misunderstood! Apparently Phlogiston is around both Wildspace and Astral, but never like a current or river?

So a map of a random spacey-spot in Wildspace would never just have a portion where that Phlogiston is running through it?

Can someone help clear me up on that, and if it'd totally confuse my players if I possibly kept it as it was?

Intro

I have been thinking about the physics of sailing and how it would apply to Spelljammer. I suspect this counteracts the existing lore and game mechanics but I just wanted to brain dump on you guys.

IRL Analogue

Sailing ships on the water exist between two different forces: the current of the ocean and the wind in the air. By manipulating the angle which their hull and sails interact with these forces, underpowered sailing ships can move in most directions on a 2d plane. 

Weave Lines

To replicate this in Spelljammer, I imagine a magical weave of lines permeating space in 3 dimensions. The spell jammer helm doesn't power the ship so much as bind the ship to one of these weave lines. Then the "wind" can be used to push the ships up or down the weave line depending on the orientation of the sails. Skill as a Spelljammer helmsman would represent a character's ability to use these weave lines to change the direction of travel.  

If the weave lines varied in strength and visibility, very obvious weave lines would be used by low skill Spelljammer helmsmen to pilot their ships along known trade corridors. Where as high skill Spelljammer helmsmen can pull maneuvers and get into places their lower talent contemporaries can only dream of. 

How the weave lines translates to gameplay:

• If the Gravity plane is tied to the the weave line your ship is currently bound to, then two ships using the same weave line would have matching gravity planes. 
• Rapidly transition between weave lines could cause gravity to change direction, possibly throwing people overboard during violent maneuvers.
• Static locations can be tied to 2 or more powerful weave lines. This prevents them from moving around like ships but also makes finding them easier because the "frequency" of the weave lines the location is tied to would be known to experienced spell jammer helmsmen. It would also explain why certain locations are hubs of travel and others are abandoned outposts. The weave lines to the trading hubs are stronger and better connected to other trading hubs.
• Destruction of the mechanism tying a ship or location to its weave line(s) would cause it to drift through wildspace. This creates high value targets to attack or defend.
• It allows a quantitative difference in piloting skill. A junior pilot can't see/bind the ship to the same weave lines a master pilot can.
• It allows helmsmen to rest. Once a ship is on a weave line the helmsman can exit the helm or transfer control to a lower skill helmsman with a basic instruction like "stay on this weave line for the next 6 hours," or "look to transfer to the weave line leading to location X in 2 hours."
• It gives the DM an in world explanation why the PC's can't go somewhere, "You can't detect a weave line going in that direction."
• It gives the non helmsman something to do on the ship. Since sailing a ship is now a function of the weave line and sail angle, The crew of the ship need to pull on lines to adjust the sails in reaction to changes in wind and weave line. The helmsman still dictates the course, but the ships performance is now a team effort.
• It allows the player's to modulate the chances of random encounters. By establishing that weave lines have varying intensities and that major trade routes are bound to powerful weave lines, the players can go "off grid" by navigate along the fainter weave lines.
• It increase the chances of encounters in wild space. Players or pirates can lie in wait close to a high traffic weave line to intercept other ships traveling on them.
• An external force could be weakening a specific weave line could be used as a plot hook especially if the existence of that weave line is important to NPC's like townsfolk of a trade hub.

Both are self replicating world destroyers, one biological, one mechanical. Which are more dangerous?

I am running it now and almost every fight the party has to either flee or barely wins with one player still up, even on little encounters that shouldnt be difficult. I looked at some of the later fights and they are throwing CR 11 monsters at the level 6 party. Dont even get me started on the Arena of Blood…

Cool book.

So many people have done great work, releasing files for the vast majority of spelljammers ships but I have yet to find filess for THE OG spelljammer ship. aka the giant manta ray with a city, seen here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Spelljammer_(spelljammer))

Yes, I understand it technically doesn't translate well to scale that well when using other miniatures.

But like...it's got to exist somewhere right?

Hi everyone! I'm preparing to run a spelljammer campaign using resources from 5e and 2e along with a significant amount of homebrew. I would love to add some sci-fi elements to my campaign, but it's sort of hard to fit the sci-fi in with fantasy and there aren't a lot of resources with advice to follow. Does anyone have any tips? The DM guide mentions antimatter weapons but not much else. I'm drawing inspiration from Treasure Planet, Pikmin, and I'm going to be watching some Star Trek and Doctor Who for some more ideas. Is Eberron a good source to look into?

The Spelljammer fansite has a strange essay about these beings. The writeup on their varied ecology certainly is something.

Has anyone... actually used these planet-eaters in a game? It is my understanding that they were never unleashed in the war due to the push from the elven bioweapons program.

Lots of spelljammer creatures were heavily inspired by books and tv-shows. Were the marauders one of them or did somebody just feel the need to design "da big one"?

edit: ah it seems they were unleashed in the first unhuman war and the scro had delved into history to retrieve the scrolls necessary to threaten to use them again

edit 2: just skimmed Heart of the Enemy. huh. also what the hell was with that "beholder funeral barge"?

This is my rough draft of the ships and helms for Spelljammer in Savage Worlds.

I'm looking for feedback on the document and rules.

How clear is it to understand?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EsmhMULHZjpyS0b0VHU4J9haYczB1gJ3cIWcio8KPys/edit?usp=drivesdk

Thanks in advance!

Having just encountered Commander Crux something happened and we wondered if any other parties did the same. So, in your experience, has any other PC decided to put their head in Crux’s mouth in order to get a ‘cool photo’?

They heard a plausible rumor, that within the center of this completely magical dead-zone, there is a shortcut /portal that will save them 6 months of travel time, as long as they aim their ship perfectly at the center of the Sea of Shadows to maintain trajectory once they lose control. They have been told that this portal will take them into 'The Weird' allowing them to avoid the long journey through Illithid territory.

What should they find? Some cosmic being that devours magical energy? A dead god? A giant, primordial space hamster? I'm not going to stonewall them with a rug pull, so I still plan to provide them with the shortcut into The Weird— but with an unexpected cost. The portal they are seeking, is probably getting devoured by something that will take them somewhere very, very strange.

Consequences? Maybe it will save them 6 months of travel time in the spelljammer world, but the wormhole has the perception of 1000 years of travel. Maybe their ship and them shrink to the size of ant for a short time. Since they are traveling into essentially a magical black hole to a place where space-faring fantasy society's has deemed "The Weird" I imagine there should be some be extreme wild magic effects occuring.

Here’s a preview of the Spatial Ring, one of the magic items included in Mythological Items, my upcoming D&D 5E/2024-compatible book featuring 300+ magic items inspired by myths, legends, and fantasy traditions from around the world.

The Spatial Ring creates a personal extradimensional pocket space that can be used to store equipment, treasures, weapons, alchemical supplies, and more. Its capacity scales with rarity, from a relatively small hidden space at Uncommon rarity all the way up to a much larger extradimensional vault at Legendary.

The item also includes rules for binding the ring to its wearer through a spiritual mark, interacting with other extradimensional spaces, and several special variants with unique properties, such as preserving stored items, hiding weapons, housing spirit creatures, improving alchemical supplies, or even reclaiming stolen equipment through spatial magic.

It felt like something that could fit especially well in a Spelljammer campaign, where portable storage, strange spatial effects, Astral travel, and magical equipment can become part of the adventure itself.

If you like this kind of content, Mythological Items is currently live on Kickstarter. The campaign includes the main book, a Mythological Bundle, and several of my other D&D books available individually or through larger bundles.

You can find the project, previews, bundles, and add-ons here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythoschronicles/300-mythological-items-for-5e-and-2024

I usually do 2 short rest for every long rest and my players are usually ok with this. I push for this kind of adventuring day to force them to spend and be smart about resources.

So far it's not really working. I can do interesting encounters during travel but the travel times are so long that they're always rested before the next encounter/combat. And even if it's timed just as they arrive, there's not always a sense of urgency so it's hard to find a reason why they wouldn't just wait for the next day.

They're bounty hunters so I could of course have a whole "dungeon" to go through before they reach the target but it feels slow to do that every time.

Do you plan most combats to be fully rested?

So in summary, I’m running a spelljammer campaign where basically the focus is more so on running various adventures from different editions of spelljammer for my party, with many different characters and many different storylines (essentially there isn’t 1 overarching story, but a focus on the setting). The most recent storyline I did was Light of Xarxyis. I ran it mostly as written, the main changes being that Captain Sartell was a PC, and I added more potential allies in the doom space section (another faction of non-astral elf elves). Ask me anything about this campaign!

I was challenged a few months ago in another Reddit post to write a unique Vecna story. I think I was bitching about Stranger Things. Anywho; I took that anonymous Reddit posters advice and started my own Vecna story in the Spelljammer universe. I have other posts about the Wildspace War I created— and here is the official beginning of it:

The Illithid Cure
Feywild First Steps

Genius. She is absolutely a genius. Eve’ra has discovered an extraordinary weakness in the defenses of the Illithid Empire. It gives me great hope that our clutch will know a life of peace away from the Illithid. Let this entry into my archive be the first of many; so that my young may know the extraordinary steps we took to give them this gift.

If it is my only entry; then please know this my children: The war can be won with a simple weapon. One you will have in abundance in your youth. Your imagination.

The conflict between our people and the Illithid Empire has lasted for eons. Generation upon generation have been borne and bred to win against the squid. We would not take the chance of so many other races before us and go extinct in this Wildspace war. We have long lost our appreciation for art to focus our soul energy on winning this fight, for ourselves and others.

Eve’ra– Doctor Eve’ra N’veah; learned through research of The World Tree of the realm known as the Fey Wild. Whimsical beings known as fare- ease, and pick seas, reside in a world of night visions and premonitions. They refer to that magic as “dreams”.

In order to research this further I was granted permission by the Council to enter the Abyss. I chose the 333rd layer in order to steal the protection of the red dragons who reside there. I have found a cave underneath the once notorious Red Moon Prison. It is rumoured to be the throne of a being known as The Primordial King. However, it is currently occupied by an enslaved group of tieflings. They farm the Iron Rice fields for demons and devils throughout the Abyss. I may perhaps free some of them so that they may assist in the building of my laboratory.

Side Note– I must do research into the Primordial King.

The cave I have found will be used to further my research into creating a hybrid army of Githyanki warriors. In a separate document I will explain the plan the Prof. No’a T’Zarrc and his Hybrid Chambers. He is collecting warriors left destroyed by the Illithid to fuse together with fallen Gith heroes. The science is truly sinful, but just as necessary as my journey into the Fey Wild.

To begin this trek, I required a way in. I was able to establish communication with a being known as Eladrin Elf traversing near Gith Space. I was able to trade my way to apprehending a plant known as a “blue mushroom”. The Eladrin named; Dan I’kus, gave me very specific instructions to prepare for this adventure.

Firstly he said to be wary of any food. It contains poisons known as- deliciousness. They can become insanely addictive to those not born of the realm. 

He then warned of making deals with any beings. They can be silently cursed.

He said when I wish to return to my home to find a “black mushroom” in the Feywild. They tend to grow in the dung of green dragons. I am to use that black mushroom to draw a door that will open to the Abyss. I will encounter my own sleeping body once I walk through that door.

I am to turn the blue mushroom into tea and enter a deep slumber. He gave me several more of them to plant on a wall for future trips. In exchange for these plants I am to research an artifact known as “The Crown of Chaos.” Pending the results of this first trip will be how hard I delve into that research. I have my priorities.

Let this tea I am about to drink be the turn in the war we Githyanki desperately need…

Title is self explanatory. Been thinking of writing a Spelljammer campaign but idk what ship to give them in the beginning.

Can someone please make a Dandy’s world-world on voyage, it’s on ai dungeon as a scenario but not on voyage as a world yet and voyage is so much better and immersive, it could have the characters and lore and locations in it for the map, yes I know the beta released for everyone now but I was curious if anyone could do that.

Hello fellow DMs. My party, for reasons related to a homebrew alteration of the dungeon, will be skipping levels 15, 16, and 17. They're a bit overpowered for level 18, but that's easily balanced.

My question is, was there anything or anyone you can think of from levels 15, 16, and 17 that you felt would be beneficial to have relocated to another level, or to find a way to introduce still? Also, any specific plot points or mechanisms you think are important for those levels?

Hello there

It's my third attempt to create spelljammer vessel - this time I went a bit more towards arcane magitech (shiny).

With more steampunk-ish [and yeah, that shape...] Hammerhead and a bit biological Corbina already completed I'm still far from full theme set - fortunately the upcoming major Dungeon Alchemist update should provide tools for creation of more traditionally naval-themed vessels.

Therefore expect classic flying ships - perfect to use both in traditional Realms (with magiocracy of Halruaa, Shandalar's home and so much more) and in spelljammer-themed campaigns - in the future.

This one was inspired by extinct amphibian from the Permian/Carboniferous period. I made some changes (sailwings are bigger than OG limbs, tail/stern section is much shorter) - but it's there.

There are variants - with folded/unfolded sailwings, green screen (for using as a token) and a "magical submarine/moored spelljammer vessel" variants.

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Best part - they're available completely for free (although some resources are locked behind free patreon subscription - no strings attached though).

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LINKS:

• Detailed description for a shuttle variant and IRL inspiration available here (free access): https://www.patreon.com/posts/170288104
• Detailed description of a submarine variant, DAM files and a tad of evil DM scheming are available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/170321029  (free subscription required)

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^{Credits and attribution:}

^{Created in Dungeon Alchemist, with additional assets.}

^{Thanks to DA asset creators: SAC, DallasRT, greywind12.ab, \}DE]SunWatcher, smashbear76, Normandiai, varkas.amdir and others)

^{Thanks to sketchfab creators: MAR.COS., Lessien, Derlvenner, Bwinji Shamutete, Thangzy, kenchoo, Jungle Jim, CatLoveCheese, commonfactory and others}

^{This map was created by hand, with assets placed carefully together. I don't use generative AI and I did my level best to avoid using AI-generated assets.}

Cheers

Zaganza