Capture the Classic Spelljammer Feel in Your 5E D&D Games

Spelljammer is coming to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons! For years 5ED&D has expanded into Magic: The Gathering worlds, Critical Role’s Exandria and even universes like Rick & Morty and Stranger Things. However, some classic settings like Dark Sun and Planescape have yet to make an appearance. It occurs to me there might be those who aren’t familiar with Spelljammer so let’s talk about how to get the feel for the setting and how it might be used in my own campaigns.

Fantasy vs. Science Fiction

Here at Nerdarchy we love some Spelljammer. Nerditor Doug even ran two Spelljammer inspired campaigns with the original Ingest Quest and the sequel campaign.

You might even say Nerditor Doug was ahead of the curve on this one. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve been incorporating Spelljammer concepts in my D&D games in every edition since the original 2E AD&D boxed set. For several years a Nerdarchy tradition was playing a Spelljammer one shot the night before Thanksgiving too. You can find some of those gameplay videos at Nerdarchy’s YouTube channel too!]

While the second campaign was run with Quest RPG and was an absolute blast the feels for the setting were inspired by the Spelljammer setting. There were certain aspects that remained true from the initial campaign into the present. This helped me as a player to learn about Spelljammer as I’d not been familiar with it prior to Ingest Quest 2.

Here’s the deal — space doesn’t equal science fiction. This may be a bit of an inflammatory take in a community of nerds but I view something like Star Wars as a space fantasy, not sci-fi. For me sci-fi is something like Star Trek. If you disagree feel free to yell at me in the comments.

Spelljammer, as best as I can tell, is more of a fantasy. Having talked with nerd friends through the years about it, even the concept of space in Spelljammer works differently from how you might expect. Instead of empty space there’s this ether-like concept of pholgiston, a sort of nebula sea. In this vast expanse, sentient ships called Spelljammers sail with passengers and cargo from place to place. These places are plane-like or planetlike objects called crystal spheres. Each crystal sphere has its own identity and feel.

Planescape and World-Hopping

One of the things that readily occurs to me about this setting is the notion of the Planescape and how this particular setting could be used to tie the other elements of the D&D multiverse together, much like a Planescape.

Each D&D setting would occupy its own crystal sphere in such a world. Then, you might have adventurers going on Doctor Who – type campaigns, world-hopping from sphere to sphere. On the other side of the Dungeon Master screen this might look like a group doing a lot of one-shots or adventures from a source like Out of the Box Encounters, with each one taking place in a wildly different setting.

The Spelljammer setting also allows for existing D&D settings and campaigns to tie into the greater whole. I could absolutely see a group of adventurers from one of the core D&D settings like Wildemount, Eberron or the Forgotten Realms being pulled somewhere like Ravenloft, and after escaping they’d be forced to travel on a Spelljammer to find their way back home.

YouTube resources for Spelljammer

Spelljammer has a lot of weird rules when it comes to things like gods and spellcasting. Mr. Rhexx on YouTube has a video that helps explain some of these that I found reall interesting. You’ve also got people like Jorphdan who cover Spelljammer and offer explanations that are easily accessible and succinctly explain how the setting works. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: Nerdarchy the YouTube channel also includes a hefty video count of Spelljammer related content too. One of the more popular presents a Spelljammer themed Otherworldly Patron for warlocks.]

I would highly recommend these videos for anyone who’s not familiar with the setting and want to run a game. This goes doubly so for if you might have a couple of players at your table who have been playing for longer than you, since Spelljammer is a legacy setting.

The best introduction I can recommend for getting a feel for Spelljammer is to watch the hidden Disney gem, Treasure Planet.

Whether you’re new to Spelljammer or you’ve sailed across the stars we all eagerly await this new setting by Wizards of the Coast!

What do you think?

What are your favorite aspects of Spelljammer? What do you hope for with this new book? Whatever you’ve got, we want to hear from you in the comments!

*Featured image — Astral Adventurers Guide art by Bruce Brenneise, one of the three books included in the 5E D&D Spelljammer: Adventures in Space D&D Campaign Collection. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

New videos all the time at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here