Re: The Spelljammer

> Aw, heck, smalljammers don't bother me. They do have a lot of power, but
my players learned long ago
> that I shrug that off. :) Now, as to the rarity - that's another matter.
I'd greatly hesitate to have more than
> one smalljammer in the campaign at once (unless the other one(s) belonged
to NPCs competing for a
> chance for theirs to be the next Spelljammer or otherwise at odds with the
PCs). Smalljammers should
> be rare, I'd think - we know that it's a fact that the Spelljammer sure
can't make enough of 'em to suit
> itself. LOL

    Huh; in all honesty, I've always considered smalljammers as
pretty...weak.  Maybe good for a (very small) adventuring party that uses
its brains more than brawn, but I've never viewed them as powerhouses in any
way :)

> In such a place, my players would expect to meet people of races they've
never even heard of (or that no
> longer exist anywhere else, perhaps), and encounter dangers, puzzles,
obstacles, and rewards that they
> couldn't possibly see anywhere else, even in space. In my opinion, that's
why putting the Spelljammer
> into a boxed set must have been a bear, and why a good portion of it is a
flop.

    I think one of the reasons Planescape did a better job than SJ was that
they learned from SJ's mistakes; one of the advantages of going second, I
guess :)  I suppose a better solution might be to have given the Spelljammer
a more "Temple of Elemental Evil" approach, where the PCs land (crash) and
are faced with a huge flying dungeon full of mysteries and such.  A
High-level dungeon, with possibly several exit points (portals,
smalljammers, what have you), and at the very end, the chance to become
Captain or somesuch deal.  The last fight should have been pretty-danged
tough, possibly involving critters that make arch-devils/demon princes
cringe (Juna, perhaps?  Other more bizarre races?).  Hmmm, now that's giving
me crazy ideas :)

> But at least it's a springboard. Mr. Grubb, creative genius that he is,
managed to do that much. But heck,
> our expectations for such a boxed set would be so high that anything
publishable might have been a
> letdown. I know my expectations were high, and I commend Mr. Grubb for
managing to do as well as
> he did. The Spelljammer is a tall order.....

    I think the box would have been better served as a "Lost Ships" -style
supplement; I mean heck, how much of the box did they devote to new ships,
when you can't land ships on the Spelljammer and hope to take off again?
The ships were very good, but badly misplaced.  Likewise, the NPCs were an
interesting lot, but again, misplaced.  I agree with Paul; make the box a
spelljammer-shaped town and go with something really interesting for the
Spelljammer itself :)  BTW Paul, you going to share those notes on that town
with us? :)

Adam