HISTORY: Spelljammer Timeline II

An "official" Spelljammer Timeline [revised 1.0]
By Paul Westermeyer aka GMWestermeyer

	A coherent chronology is one of the 
touchstones of solid, believable world design but 
the Spelljammer setting has never had a coherent 
chronology.  In part this was most likely a 
conscious design choice, since Spelljammer was 
intended not so much as a campaign setting as a 
campaign link, connecting all of TSR’s settings 
together.  However, it also likely came about 
from simple laziness on the part of some 
Spelljammer authors, who tended to ignore other 
Spelljammer material unless they wrote it 
themselves.  Even the broad strokes of the 
Spelljammer universe's history are thus confused 
and contradictory.

	It is possible to construct a generally 
coherent timeline for Spelljammer from references 
in a wide variety of sources.  I have endeavored 
to do so, sticking strictly to published sources. 
The goal is to produce a timeline that 
Spelljammer dungeon masters can refer to when 
creating their own, specialized Spelljammer 
campaigns.

	The first step in producing a coherent 
Spelljammer timeline is synchronizing the dating 
systems of the TSR settings.  This is relatively 
difficult; it requires concrete intersection 
points, common events given a date in multiple 
worlds.  Note all of the worlds have such 
intersection points, and several of the 
intersection points that do exist contradict each 
other.

	This timeline omits the TSR settings of 
Birthright, Conan, Darksun, Lankhmar, Mystara, 
Odyssey, Planescape, Ravenloft, and Red Steel. 
Generally these settings have little or no 
connection to Spelljammer, and Spelljammer fits 
in their milieu very poorly.

	Mystara and Red Steel have an alternative 
magical space travel system, but lack any direct 
connection to Spelljammer.  There are no concrete 
chronological intersection points between 
Spelljammer and Mystara nor between Mystara and 
any other TSR setting, so any connection made 
here would be purely speculative.  A dungeon 
master who wishes to connect Spelljammer and 
Mystara would be better served simply choosing a 
point where the settings’ dating systems 
intersect.

	Ravenloft and Planescape fill a special 
niche.  The Demiplane of Fear, Ravenloft has no 
direct link to Spelljammer, but several Ravenloft 
novels provide specific chronological 
intersection points between multiple settings.  
Planescape novels and game products do mention 
Spelljammer, and they also provide some 
chronological intersection points across 
settings.  Ravenloft and Planescape provide no 
timeline entries, but do get referenced for 
synchronizing the setting timelines.

	The three primary TSR settings were 
Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk. 
Each of these settings had a Spelljammer sphere 
book produced specifically for that sphere, and 
each had native characters appear in Spelljammer 
novels, comics, and adventures.  They formed the 
core of the Spelljammer setting.  Although 
Kara-tur/Oriental Adventures and Al-Qadim were 
marketed as separate settings, they were actually 
regions of Toril, on the same planet as the 
Forgotten Realms setting.  Like the Forgotten 
Realms they both had Spelljammer references 
appear in some of their products, and Kara-tur 
had native characters appear within Spelljammer 
novels and comics.  The Dragonlance, Forgotten 
Realms, and Greyhawk settings provide the 
timelines that must be synchronized.  Once they 
are linked up, the rest of the timeline begins to 
fall into place.  This is easiest to accomplish 
by linking to the Forgotten Realms, since it is 
the setting with by far the largest number of 
published works, and the largest number of 
crossovers.

	There are four sources for the 
chronological intersection points between the 
settings: Spelljammer products, Ravenloft novels, 
Planescape products, and Dragon magazine 
articles.  Because the sources contradict each 
other in places, a hierarchy is needed to 
determine which source takes precedence over the 
others.  The natural trump is Spelljammer, since 
the purpose here is to create a Spelljammer 
timeline.

Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms

	The Spelljammer novel series provides us 
with our firmest chronological intersection 
point, and that point intersects the Dragonlance 
and Forgotten Realms settings.  The first 
Spelljammer novel, Beyond the Moons, is set on 
Krynn and is clearly set five years after the end 
of the War of the Lance (p76).  The War of the 
Lance ended in 352 AC according to Dragonlance 
Adventures (p101), but that is really the year of 
the Whitestone Council.  Given Teldin Moore's 
role as a muleskinner, and the continuing 
operations, his war likely ended in 353 AC (which 
other Dragonlance products list as the end of the 
War of the Lance).  The second Spelljammer novel, 
Into the Void, is a Forgotten Realms crossover 
and is clearly set less then a year after Beyond 
the Moons (pp 63,168, & 172). 'Novel Ideas' 
Dragon #196, an article providing a chronology of 
Realms fiction, sets Into the Void specifically 
in 1361 DR (p66).  From this we get 1361 DR 
corresponding to 358 AC.

	There are contradictory sources, however. 
The Ravenloft timeline has Lord Soth of Krynn 
entering the Demiplane of Fear in 357 AC, shortly 
after the Blue Lady’s War (Dragonlance: Fifth 
Age, p22).  It connects this to the year 720 in 
the Barovian calendar of Ravenloft (Domains of 
Dread, p17).  It also has the Forgotten Realms 
elven vampire Jander Sunstar drawn from the 
Forgotten Realms into Ravenloft in 1098 DR in the 
Realms, and 452 in the Barovian calendar (Domains 
of Dread, p16, Villain's Lorebook, p16). 
However, 'Novel Ideas' Dragon #196 places the 
Forgotten Realms/Ravenloft crossover novel in 
1098 DR and 475 Barovian (p65).  Following the 
Ravenloft/Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms link we 
have 1361 DR corresponding to 352 or 375 AC.

	The Planescape accessory On Hallowed 
Ground also provides a contradiction.  It states 
that the events of the Dragonlance novel, Dragons 
of Summer Flame, occurred recently (p164).  The 
novel is set in 383 AC.  It also states that the 
Time of Troubles occurred in the Forgotten Realms 
just over twelve years ago (p168).  The Time of 
Troubles was in 1358 DR, so that would link 1370 
DR and 383 AC.  Using this as an intersection 
1361 DR would correspond to 374 AC.

	We can generally discount the Ravenloft 
and Planescape information here, because we've 
already established that Spelljammer products 
trump other sources for the purposes of this 
timeline, and because we have a contradiction 
within the Ravenloft timeline itself.  So, we can 
designate 1361 DR and 358 AC as our first 
intersection point.

Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms

	A Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms chronological 
intersection point is more difficult to arrive 
at, because the Spelljammer novel series never 
visited Oerth, the world of the Greyhawk setting. 
There is a Greyhawk/Ravenloft/Forgotten Realms 
intersection, through the Lich Azalin.  Azalin 
entered Ravenloft from Greyhawk in 542 of the 
Barovian calendar (Domains of Dread, p16) and 391 
CY on Oerth (King of the Dead, ch. 18).  Linked 
to Jander Sunstar and the Forgotten Realms as 
noted above, this provides 1361 DR corresponding 
to 564 CY.

	Dragon magazine provides an alternative 
correspondence.  Ed Greenwood wrote a series of 
articles about the wizards Elminster, 
Mordenkainen, and Dalamar meeting in his home to 
discuss the magical affairs of Faerun, Oerth, and 
Ansalon.  These articles reference some specific 
events in relation to each other, and are 
internally consistent (each successive article 
clearly occurs subsequent to the previous 
article).  'Magic in the Evening' Dragon #185 
states that the Forgotten Realms novel The 
Parched Sea, which 'Novel Ideas' Dragon #196 
dates to 1360 DR (p66), has recently occurred. 
'Magic in the Evening' Dragon #185 also states 
that the article is set prior to Vecna Lives 
(p62).  Vecna Lives is set in 581 CY according to 
The Adventure Begins (p119).  This would provide 
us with 1360 DR corresponding to 580 CY.  The 
next two articles in the series bolster this 
conclusion, 'The Wizards' Three' Dragon #188 
(p32) is specifically set after Vecna Lives and 
'Three Wizards Too Many' Dragon #196 (p84) is set 
specifically after the beginning of the Greyhawk 
Wars in 582 CY (The Adventure Begins, p119).

	Support for the Dragon article 
correspondence comes from comparing the 
Greyhawk/Forgotten Realms intersection with our 
firm Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms intersection. 
'Magic in the Evening' Dragon #185 clearly 
implies that the War of the Lance (353 AC) and 
the Blue Lady's War (357 AC) have just recently 
occurred.  If 1361 DR equals 358 AC, and 1360 DR 
equals 580 CY, then the first article would take 
place shortly after the Blue Lady's War.  On 
Hallowed Ground does provide a specific date of 
1370 DR (p168) to compare with a 'current climate 
of war' sweeping Oerth (p166).  The Greyhawk Wars 
officially end in 584 CY (From the Ashes: Atlas, 
p9), but wars between Iuz and Furyondy, and 
Nyrond and the Great Kingdom essentially 
continued.  Certainly a 'climate of war' can be 
said to exist across Oerth for at least a decade 
after the end of the Greyhawk Wars.

	We have, then, two conflicting 
intersections, 1361 DR with 564 CY, and 1361 DR 
with 581 CY.  The Dragon articles provide the 
better choice, because they were written by Ed 
Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms, 
because they were written expressly to provide 
setting interactions, and because they place the 
two settings' internal chronology more closely 
inline with their publication histories.  We can 
set our second intersection point at 1361 DR and 
581 CY.

Calendars

	With three 'firm' chronological 
intersection dates (1361 DR, 581 CY, & 358 AC) we 
can construct the timeline.  However, we have to 
settle on a dating system.  Most Forgotten Realms 
dates are provided in Dale Reckoning (DR), but 
many other systems of tallying years exist on 
Faerun, not to mention the lands of Kara-tur and 
Al-Qadim.  Greyhawk likewise has several time 
systems, as does Dragonlance.  Spelljammer 
products actually provide three additional 
systems.  A chronology is easiest when a single 
dating system is used as the base, with others 
noted as needed.  The elves are the current 
dominant power in space according Spelljammer, 
and Greyhawk is the oldest of TSR's settings, so 
the Olven calendar (OC) of Oerth will be used as 
the base dating system in this Spelljammer 
timeline.

	Al-Qadim has no dating system, but 
Kara-tur has systems for Shou Lung, Wa, and 
Kozakura.  The Shou system is predominant, in 
Kara-tur products the Wa and Kozakuran systems 
are described in relation to it.  We lack a 
common event given a date on both the Dale 
Reckoning and Shou calendars; though the Horde 
Wars are copiously detailed and dated in various 
Forgotten Realms products, no Shou dating is 
providing for these events anywhere.  With no 
intersection point, we fall back on the 'current' 
dates of the Kara-Tur boxed set and the original 
gray Forgotten Realms boxed set.  This pegs 2607 
of the Shou calendar to 1357 DR.  This is 
reasonable, since the Horde Wars clearly occur 
within the next decade after each set.

	We have three Spelljammer calendars: the 
Time of Unity (TU) system from SJA3 Crystal 
Spheres, the Anno Vulkarus/Promo Novo (AV/PV) 
system from SJA4 Under the Dark Fist, and the 
Astromundi Chronos (AC) system of the Astromundi 
Cluster boxed set.

	We know that in 852 TU T'Laan the vampire 
has lived 317 years past his birth on Toril.  We 
also know that in 1065 DR he served as an advisor 
to Brindor in the talks following the Battle of 
Ingdal's Arm.  We can set the current year for 
Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space to 5039 OC 
by comparing its information with the information 
in SJR5 Rock of Bral.  Setting SJA3 Crystal 
Spheres to the same year is reasonable, since 
nothing within it indicates it occurred any 
later, and it came out soon after the original 
boxed set.  This also makes T'Laan twenty-five at 
the Battle of Ingdal’s Arm, again reasonable.

	463 AV is the stated current year for 
SJA4 Under the Dark Fist (p51).  The module 
provides only two clues about where it fits 
within the larger chronology.  Based on the 
background of the pre-generated PCs it occurs 
post-War of the Lance, and the lack of mention of 
the Scro indicates it predates the II Unhuman 
War.  If it is set in 5041 OC then the War of the 
Lance is over, yet the II Unhuman War has yet to 
begin in any of the major three spheres.

	The Astromundi Chronos of the Astromundi 
Cluster boxed set is not a simple count of years. 
Like the Kozakuran calendar of Kara-tur it is 
divided into yearlong cycles.  The Kozakuran 
calendar uses sixty-year cycles, but the 
Astromundi calendar uses thirteen-year cycles. 
The cycles are numbered, but the years are not. 
The Astromundi Cluster details the sphere's 
history until year Munigor of the 1300th cycle. 
Fortunately, the year names follow the same 
pattern; Munigor is always the second year of its 
cycle.  We can express the AC year with a simple 
slash system: year/cycle.  Since the system began 
with the First Cataclysm of the sphere, it is 
currently 16,889 years since the calendar began. 
There is no indication how the Astromundi Chronos 
corresponds to any other calendar, so we have to 
assign a current year to the Astromundi Cluster 
boxed set.  It was printed in 1993, a year after 
War Captains' Companion and Rock of Bral.  With 
no other markers, setting the current year at 
5049 OC, the same as Rock of Bral makes sense.

	The accepted primary dating system of 
Greyhawk is Common Years (CY); according to the 
"Brief Historical Timeline for the Flanaess" card 
sheet in From the Ashes 581 CY equates to 5043 
OC.  Therefore 5043 OC, 581 CY, 358 AC, 1361 DR, 
2611 Shou, 465 AV, 856 TU, and 9/1299 AC are all 
now synchronized.

	Of course, there are other issues which 
effect dating.  For example, years, days, or 
months could be of differing lengths.  For the 
purposes of this timeline, however, we must 
ignore these problems and assume one year equals 
one year.  Otherwise the project is unfeasible.

	This is not a comprehensive history of 
all of TSR's campaign settings.  It only includes 
events listed in Spelljammer products, or events 
that had a global significance.  Faerun's Time of 
Troubles and Krynn's Cataclysm are prime examples 
of the sort of non-Spelljammer related events 
that were considered influential enough to be 
included.

	Comments and additions welcome. For 
suggested additions, please note if the said 
addition is from a TSR published source and if an 
actual date is given or if it must be inferred.