The Spelljammer

Hey, Mr. Westermeyer and others,

I'm running a Spelljammer campaign right now, and one player would love to find the Spelljammer and destroy it. That's because she captains a smalljammer and has figured out what happens when the current Spelljammer is destroyed (after several tens of thousands of gold coins spent in libraries in space and several months of research, after bonding with the smalljammer).

I've never run a campaign in which my players actually found the Spelljammer, but this lady is determined to find it... someday. If she and the other players do find it, they'll probably call up a lynch mob on me, or rather entertain a fantasy to that effect. (This happens all the time - my players are often driven crazy by the obstacles and frustrations they encounter, and also by what they eventually find).

I'm not a Killer DM, but by the difficulty of the quests my players encounter, one might be tempted to think so. *evil laugh* But my players often choose their own quests, and bring it on themselves.

I warned her - after her character spent more money on research - that finding the Spelljammer is a challenging quest all by itself, and getting into a fight with it might well be her undoing. The Spelljammer isn't some hammership or eelship wandering around space - it's.... well, it's THE Spelljammer.

No dice. She is unwavering in her intent to search for the Spelljammer when she gets a chance, and to find a way to destroy it. Commenting on both ideas, I simply told her, "Good luck." LOL

I have some of the same thoughts as you do about the Legend of Spelljammer boxed set, and if she finds the legendary ship, she won't be meeting CassaRoc or Master Coh or the others. I'm sure that I can do better than that. But then again, I have one advantage that no published game materials writer could ever have - I know my players, and I know how to wow them.

Spelljammer is a great campaign setting to do just that - and it helps that none of my players have ever read the original material. They have had to learn space skills - both in and out of character - as they go along. One thing that they find intriguing is the uniqueness of the setting. They were more or less expecting a load of cyberbunk - er, cyberpunk - and other lame campaign material. To their delight, SJ isn't cyberpunk. It's wondrous.

(No insult is actually meant to cyberpunk.... in its place, it's great - I got a big kick out of seeing a drow woman with a laser pistol in her hand. But it just isn't what SJ is about, if you stay with the spirit of the original presentation).

The Legendary Spelljammer should therefore be a marvel in any campaign. I don't think that Mr. Grubb or anyone else could have done it justice in a boxed set - though I'll give Mr. Grubb an A+ for trying. (I did like The Fool - that was a nice touch). Naw, its mysteries should be each DM's individual creation, I would think.

May your giant space hamster never tire! (no cyberpunk intended  LOL)

Jim