Re: Ptolus

From: "Loki" <george.williams.iv@?????.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 1:53 PM
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Ptolus


> Ptolus is a city, its Monte Cooks home campaign that he playtested the 3rd
> Ed DMG with. Little relevant detail on the rest of the planet (as those
> areas are not outlandish and adventurer ridden the way the main city is.

Thanks for that. Now it is the weekend, my Internet is working while I am 
awake and home. I've had a quick surf around the official Ptolus website and 
it does seem very interesting.

Anyone else interested in learing more can get the Players Guide to Ptolus 
free as a PDF:
http://www.ptolus.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mpress_PG

GMs who like Ptolus can buy a 5 pack of the printed version of the Players 
Guide (for $14.95). That isn't any cheaper, than buying them separately, but 
you get a free pack if you preorder through the website. You might want to 
check that out Loki. The international postage would probably make the deal 
non-viable for people outside the USA.

> I've always just taken new settings and made them the starting point for 
> new
> spheres (or demiplanes).

The SRD does seem to imply that new gameworlds can be slotted together very 
easily. I just wish that planewalking and spelljamming rules had been made 
available as Open Game Content.

> I'm digging through it now and it looks like it may
> be a really interesting one to integrate with SJ. After the first 359pages 
> I
> can firmly say it is the single most well designed and implemented game
> prodcut I have ever seen.

The website looks very impressive. They seem to be selling cut down products 
as well as the main 672 page megabook.

> Detailed review forthcoming soon, along with SJ ideas. (This workld is cut
> off from Planescape by a really good rationale and could, just possibly, 
> be
> a terrific plaec that you can only get to via jamming and then only if you
> are very lucky and determined.

The planet seems to be called Praemal, so Pramalspace (or Ptoluspace) would 
be the natural name for a crystal sphere.

I am a fan of Planescape, but do belive that certain crystal spheres should 
be cut off from some (or all) of the planes. (As you know, I would prefer 
Krynnspace to be cut off from The Great Wheel and connected to three new 
"Outer Planes" that match the planes described in the Dragonlance line of 
novels.)

(I would also like to see certain regions of the Material Plane cut off from 
spelljamming. I think that sealed crystal spheres, with a normal wildspace, 
but no portals would provide a good method for bringing Spelljammer together 
with a campaign setting that is supposed to be isolated. Put alongside 
Clusterspace's sphere barrier and Adam's idea for The Crimson Sphere, sealed 
spheres give us another way to make SJ a universal setting that can still be 
"turned off" by the local gods. And if you restrict both SJ and PS in 
specific areas, it gives GMs a good excuse to make players switch between 
spelljamming and planewalking.)

> Stay tuned.....

I'm staying tuned. And I'll start looking for bargain deals for this book.

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/