Re: Just how big is "known space"?

From: "Jon Prosser" <jonprosser@?????.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Just how big is "known space"?


>> > No, it wasn't.  Nothing in The Maelstrom's Eye
>> truly precludes it being
>> > set in Realmspace, which is where Roger Moore
>> placed the Rock in other
>> > products he wrote.  I just felt it worked bets as
>> its own, stand alone
>> > sphere.
>>
>> Not true, Paul. On page 64, Skakresh says that the
>> Rock of Bral is "on this
>> sphere's far side". He is standing on the planet
>> Spirial while saying that.
>> That is good enough for me to decide that Bral *is*
>> in Spiralspace according
>> to canon. (The book also puts Ironpiece and Minial's
>> Arch in the same
>> sphere.)
>
> Ok, my problem with this debate is simple: The AD&D
> novels, much like novels for any RPG line out there
> are generally considered non-canon sources, as writers
> often either aren't fully aware of the rules, or don't
> want to be constrained by them when they're writing.

If you look at encyclopedia of things like Star Wars, you will see that they 
flag canon under lots of different categories for just this reason. One DM 
might think that the novels are a load of old nonsense, while another might 
think that they are gospel. The same applies to Spelljammer comics and other 
AD&D products that mention Spelljammmer. For example a few Arcane Age 
products mention spelljamming in Toril's past, but that might not fit in 
with what an individual DM wants to do.

3rd edition (and/or 3.5 for any nit-pickers out there) has several D&D 
products that mention Spelljammer, or that include races that were 
originally used in SJ. Some DMs will want to include that information, to 
make SJ bigger and better, while other DMs will regard everything that WotC 
does as non-canon.

You can't really say that AD&D novels are "generally considered as 
non-canon", because if you look at the Dragonlance novels, you will see that 
most DL fans treat them as more accurate than TSR gaming products. I think 
that you can say that X novel or Y novel is generally considered as not 
being very good, but even then it is a bit of a generalisation.

Personally, I treat the Spelljammer novels as canon. Half of the novels are 
written by people connected to the AD&D SJ product line. The novels do a 
very good job of bringing Spelljammer to life until part of the way through 
The Broken Sphere. The Ultimate Helm is the only book that really 
disapointed me.

But then AD&D Spelljammer products were often just as bad as The Ultimate 
Helm. Being bad isn't a reason to say that something isn't canon.

> Personally, I think the location of the Rock is up to
> the individual DM, I place it in the Teas of Selune,
> the DM who I first played Spelljammer with put it in
> the Grinder, and a lot of you put it in Spialspace...
> None of these people are wrong, it's a game make of it
> what you will...

The location of Bral *is* optional. In fact everything in SJ is optional. If 
you dislike Krynn, then you can get rid of Krynnspace, and if you dislike 
gnomes, then you can ignore that race. You are in charge of what you do in 
your gaming sessions.

However, there are a bunch of people out there who seek to pool resources in 
order to make it easier to run a game. Paul has already made his Bralspace 
and we want to use that material as if it was always a part of the SJCS.

This discussion is designed to help people with that goal. If you don't want 
to put Bral into Spiralspace, then don't. I don't want to force you to put 
Bral anywhere else. If I ever play in your game, I will expect Bral to be in 
the Tears of Selune.

Just use the stuff that works for you and ignore the stuff that doesn't work 
for you. But *I* choose the option of Bral being in Spiralspace. And *I'll* 
work with anyone who wants to provide 3rd edition support for Paul's 
Bralspace write up.

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