Re: Planejammer

From: "Loki" <george.williams.iv@?????.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 5:45 AM


> First I'd like to say w00t!!! We won! Planewalker got a silver again this
> year, yeehah! Go get some succubi and devilweed, time for a party, berk!
> *ahem*

Do planewalkers say "w00t"? I know they say: "berk", "chant" and stuff like 
that, but I've never heard one say "w00t"!

> Secondly I agree with Dave. We worked our as*es off over at Planewalker to
> do it, but it can be done. There is great truth to the old aphorisms that
> "many hands make work light." It takes a good deal f work to get there, 
> just
> look at the downloads section. I really think that is what does it, the 
> pdf
> rule conversions and supplements. We NEED to get some of these sphere 
> guides
> and such together.

I've got a lot of half finished stuff where I got held up when I realised we 
really need to fix X before we can finish Y.

On the conversion side, I've got half finished stuff for:
Some of the spells, some of the classes, some of the religions.

On the fluff side, I've got half finished stuff for:
Clusterspace (including unfinished conversions of the Clusterspace 
religions, and two locations*), Krynnspace (including outlines for several 
organisations based on the various planets and a spacefaring version of the 
Wizards of High Sorcery), Greatspace (unfinished conversions of religions 
again as well as an expansion of the crystal sphere) and Herospace (an 
expansion of the crystal sphre).

* = One of my Clusterspace articles actually belongs to the Into the Void 
ezine, so nobody gets to see that unless ItV give it back to me.

On the homebrew side of things, I've been working on a new crystal sphere - 
a set of three nested spheres. Only the central sphere is anywhere near 
completion.

A lot of my stuff is what people sometimes call "shovelware" - I'd call it a 
mess. I need to make a pass through everything I've got and work out some 
sort of priority for things.

I actually think that the 3rd edition "core rules" of Spelljammer are the 
most important things. I have not been happy with ship rules that use a 
different time system to character rules and that has been holding me up. So 
I think it might be best for me to temporarily drop everything to do with 
ships (including magic items, ship descriptions and helms) and concentrate 
on rules that don't connect to spelljamming. I think that if we can get a 
first draft of the SJCS up that can be used for campaigns on locations like 
Bral. Wildspace travel would need to be a fudge, but DMs could make PCs 
passengers until we had a second draft with more 3rd edition friendly rules 
for ships.

On the fluff side, I think that Krynnspace would be a very good place to 
start (at least for me). We were all talking about it around Christmas and 
SJR7 Krynnspace left a lot of blank areas we can use.

Clusterspace is an interesting sphere, but as a "Hotel California" sphere it 
is of little use to a multi-sphere campaign. So I think that can wait.

Greatspace is more interesting that Herospace and it would be nice to give 
Static enough basic material to at least start the sphere's page. I might be 
able to knock up something fairly quickly that I can send to Static.

> The fluff is the big thing, different people can provide their expertise 
> in
> adapting the descriptions to various rulesets. Hells, I have a friend who
> uses GURPS to play SJ becase that is what wrks for him. If we get the
> baseline guide out and put a link in the back of it leading to a Beyond 
> The
> Moons page where system specific stats will be posted as they are 
> developed.
> Go looking for Giff and find 1e, 3e, GURPS, Tunnels and Trolls or whatever
> other system someone decided to translate them into.

I do wonder if it would be worth older versions of D&D (and maybe things 
like GURPS) having their own support pages somewhere on BtM, to help support 
Spelljammer games run using that system. Something like that would need to 
be fan-led, so your friend could help write a GURPS page if he wants to see 
one. Fan-led pages will help BtM give each system the correct proportion of 
content.

> I WILL go on about this later, just have two site migrations and a ton of
> web editing to get done. Deadlines are a joy.

I've got real life issues holding *me* back. Plus I injured my arm last week 
and it aches every time I write an email!

> Dave, virtual meeting to discuss Celestians and Planejamming in about two
> weeks?

Two weeks is the right sort of timeframe for me. I'll be less busy then and 
more able to type faster. But where are you thinking of having a virtual 
meeting? Have you got something like MSN Messenger? I can't do Skype. I've 
got sound card issues.

To be honest, I might want to hijack a Spelljammer/Planescape discussion to 
get "get the chant" on what sort of planewalking critters could be living on 
the unique planes of Krynnspace cosmology. (I'm thinking of planewalkers, 
petitioners and proxies who all worship DL gods in a Planewalker kind of 
way). I'd also like to know what the Gate of Souls might look like. (I'm 
thinking of an extra-planar city on the edge of the crystal sphere that 
connects to the Dome of Creation, Hidden Vale and Abyss and has a similar 
sort of function to Sigil. From what I recall the Material Plane aspect of 
the Gate of Souls is within the constelation of Paladine.) I'm wondering how 
something like the Blood War could be replaced by a conflict between good 
and evil, with neutral gods and neutral outsiders fighting to maintain the 
balance. And last but not least, I'd like you to help me work out where 
Zivilyn might go when it isn't on the Material Plane! (The planet Zivilyn is 
possibly a place a planejamming ship could get a free ride on and off of the 
Material Plane. Just land there and wait...and shazam - you are somewhere 
else.)

David "Big Mac" Shepheard
Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
http://www32.brinkster.com/virtualeclipse/