History TableTopGame / Spelljammer

''Spelljammer'' is an ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting that adds up to D&D [[RecycledInSPACE in SPACE]]. It has a small but loyal following. Created during a dark era of ExecutiveMeddling (see [[Trivia/{{Spelljammer}} the Trivia page]] for details), it was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the StandardSciFiSetting in a fantasy RPG.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: ''Spelljammer'' defies actual astronomy so obviously that it can only have possibly been intentional. The stated design intent was to create a game where a medieval knight standing on the prow of a sailing ship currently floating in space would be completely normal.

The premise of the setting is to link each of ''D&D'''s then-popular campaign settings together by means of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_theories the old Ptolemaic view of the cosmos]]; the worlds of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'', and the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' were (along with thousands of other worlds) stated to be contained in their own "crystal spheres", massive hollow balls large enough to each contain a whole solar system. Some were heliocentric systems, sometimes geocentric, and some were [[WorldShapes flat worlds]] set upon the backs of great tortoises or other "starbeasts". Or something else entirely. The stars you see from your bedroom window are ''not'' other suns -- they're actually balls of light (or glowing gems) stuck to the interior of your world's crystal sphere. Unless, of course, you're in a sphere that got giant glowing ''beetles'' slowly crawling on its inside surface. [[AllMythsAreTrue It happens]].

!! The specific stories and accesories contain the following:

* ThatsNoMoon: That ''big'' lake on the map in ''Herd''space... "Looks like something stepped there, doesn't it?".

* OneWordTitle: Also a {{Portmantitle}} because it's a compound word.

* {{Portmantitle}}: Also a OneWordTitle.

--> '''[[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} aperusa]]''' (ending a discussion on the elven view of [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elves]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to follow a lady from IEN crew]]): Ah, but hypocrisy is a wonderful thing in an elven woman! My apologies, Captain, [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre but you understand]]?

''Spelljammer'' was utterly preposterous, didn't really care one whit about real-world astronomy or physics, and was completely aware of this. Never taking itself all that seriously, it was one of the few inherently ''[[RuleOfFun fun]]'' games that Creator/{{TSR}} was permitted to publish in that era. A very brief list of some of the things that you will find in Spelljammer, besides a deliciously crazy mish-mash of everything ''D&D'' has to offer: WeirdScience, {{Space Pirate}}s, [[Franchise/BaldursGate Giant Space Hamsters]], [[BritishStuffiness Stuffy British]] [[OurElvesAreBetter Elves (who are of course Better)]], and [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnomes]] who [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder think that catapults are a good replacement for staircases]].

* OurElvesAreBetter: The Imperial Elven Navy was a vast but loose empire of elves made up of almost every known subrace from many ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' settings. The IEN was a sovereign entity with its own leadership, but it kept groundling elf nations in touch with each other.
** The Spacefaring Elves had the unpleasant characteristics of their landbound cousins turned {{up to eleven}}. They were haughty, aloof, snobbish and though of everyone else as semi-civilized smelly yokels. They were supposed to play the role that the Spanish/British Navy do play in swashbuckling fiction.

*** There are mentions of beholders building a giantic weapon resembling an eye the size of a small moon. This eye was capable of destroying entire worlds...

** The Spelljammer includes, amongst its assorted races and factions, a tower populated by the Shou, an Oriental human culture from [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Kara-tur]] who regard ''everyone'' who isn't a Shou as a simple-minded, barbaric gaijin. They're led by a mad magistrate who believes he is the captain of the Spelljammer and has total control over life and death over everyone (he doesn't, not outside the Shou tower, anyway), while his aide, who really runs things, is a secret member of the branch of the abovementioned Xenos and is planning on getting them to wipe out all non-humans so that the Shou can then conquer/eradicate the non-Shou humans.

''Spelljammer'' is an ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting that adds up to D&D [[RecycledInSPACE in SPACE]]. It has a small but loyal following. Created during a dark era of ExecutiveMeddling (see Trivia.{{Spelljammer}} for details), it was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the StandardSciFiSetting in a fantasy RPG.

--> '''Zelva Twogg''', Secretary for Wildspace Affairs, New Waterdeep: If we could find some way to tow that old dwarven citadel into orbit around our world, we'd have a fantastic station from which we could open trade to the other worlds in this sphere. We'd probably do best to contact some adventurers to do the work for us.
--> '''Skrund the Bald''', Undermarshall for Pan-Goblin Affairs, New Trollmoor: If we could find some way to tow that old dwarven citadel so that it was heading right for New Waterdeep, we'd be rid of those damned humans in an eyeblink. We'd probably do best to contact some pirates or monsters to do the work for us.

--> '''Rozloom''': Please, Captain, you see before you a man in great danger.
--> '''Teldin''': [[ProperlyParanoid "Captain"?]]
--> '''Rozloom''': This one calls you "sir". ''An elf shows you respect? If you are not great captain, you must be small god''.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: The [[SdrawkcabName scro]] -- although bloodthirsty, xenophobic, and all-around unpleasant -- are quite intelligent and disciplined (even [[LawfulEvil honorable after a fashion]]), and verge on being "Blizzard orcs".
** They were the result of goblinkind races being almost totally expunged from the spelljamming space by the Elven Armadas and hence recurring to strict discipline and regimentation to make a comeback -- RoaringRampageOfRevenge, literally. Some of them learned to speak Elvish well ''just so they could properly tell the elves who was killing them''. The comeback of the Scro formed the centerpiece of early editions of Spelljammer, with adventures including death star-like Scro stations which looked like Film/{{Gamera}} and the "good" races of the setting having to put aside differences to fight the common threat.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent

-->"I love the bitter stink of smokepowder in the morning. It smells like…victory."
-->Sergeant-Major Orsin "[[Film/ApocalypseNow Apocalypse]]" Themus,
-->716th Marine Regiment, Realmspace
-->Second Unhuman War

* SpaceIsMagic: Literally.

* WeaponOfMassDestruction: Witchlight Marauders--a weaponized artifical HordeOfAlienLocusts whose only purpose in their life is to eradicate all biomass on a world and die, in preperation for terraforming a world by an invading race. [[CaptainObvious Using them is generally considered a]] MoralEventHorizon.

** Gammaroids for Franchise/{{Gamera}}, if the name doesn't qualify them as a ShoutOut.

** They were the result of goblinkind races being almost totally expunged from the spelljamming space by the Elven Armadas and hence recurring to strict discipline and regimentation to make a comeback -- RoaringRampageOfRevenge, literally. Some of them learned to speak Elvish well ''just so they could properly tell the elves who was killing them''. The comeback of the Scro formed the centerpiece of early editions of Spelljammer, with adventures including death star-like Scro stations which looked like Franchise/{{Gamera}} and the "good" races of the setting having to put aside differences to fight the common threat.

--> '''[[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} aperusa]]''' (ending a discussion on the elven view of [[HalfHumanHybrid half-elves]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny to follow a lady from IEN crew]]): Ah, but hypocrisy is a wonderful thing in an elven woman! My apologies, Captain, [[LampshadedDoubleEntendre but you understand]]?

* AgentPeacock: The Riegar. Beautiful, androgynous artistes...and if pushed into actual combat then several Hells break loose!

* AmazonBrigade: The Lakshu. These "teeth-gritting, armored harridans" were stupid enough to try to attack the "namby-pamby artistes" that are the Riegar, who promptly subjugated them and reshaped them all to look identical so as to make them into a single work of "art". Now they serve as muscle for their Riegar masters.

* ProudMerchantRace: The Arcane.
* RubeGoldbergDevice: Nearly ''everything'' ever made by tinker gnomes.

** It was specifically stated that players could not reach Athas, the world of TabletopGame/DarkSun, by spelljamming -- presumably because it would provide the Athasians a way to escape their CrapsackWorld or to bring in outside help, either of which would have been thematically at odds with the Dark Sun setting. (Note that you ''can'' reach ''Ravenloft'' from Athas, because after all, Ravenloft is arguably an [[UpToEleven even worse place.)]]

** It was specifically stated that players could not reach Athas, the world of TabletopGame/DarkSun, by spelljamming -- presumably because it would provide the Athasians a way to escape their CrapsackWorld or to bring in outside help, either of which would have been thematically at odds with the Dark Sun setting. (Note that you ''can'' reach ''Ravenloft'' from Athas, because after all, Ravenloft is arguably an even ''more'' CrapsackWorld than Athas.

** An example: "The Three Greenwings Wars". IEF sent Monarch Mordent to aid the defenders of [[ForgottenRealms Myth Drannor]]. It helped a lot, but as the name implies, emerged in one piece from only two battles. The third time man-o-war descended to have a good shot, one nycaloth flies up and starts chopping a wing with great axe, simply ignoring most of the stuff elves can quickly hurl at him without breaking their own ship. The wing falls off, spelljammer shock kills their helmsman, the ship crashes.

* MassiveRaceSelection: That's a lot of people collected from most D&D setting and then some more.

Spelljammer received some references in Fourth Edition material: It was one of the settings listed as possible to see print, and some Spelljammer content has made it into the Manual of the Planes (as a ship to sail the Astral Sea and to use to Plane Shift) and Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (specifically referring to the crystal spheres and phlogiston). Sadly, nothing came of this; as 4e ends there is no Spelljammer in sight (though an Epic Destiny in ''Heroes of The Elemental Chaos'' lets you become a Regiar). Mike Mearls said that this wasn't so much due to [[ComedyGhetto Spelljammer being too silly]] but rather [[ContinuitySnarl how hard to pull off the crossover aspect is.]] He said that if they were going to do it in ''D&D'' Next it'd be "its own thing"

** They were the result of goblinkind races being almost totally expunged from the spelljamming space by the Elven Armadas and hence recurring to strict discipline and regimentation to make a comeback -- RoaringRampageOfRevenge, literally. Some of them learned to speak Elvish well ''just so they could properly tell the elves who was killing them''. The comeback of the Scro formed the centerpiece of early editions of Spelljammer, with adventures including death star-like Scro stations which looked like {{Gamera}} and the "good" races of the setting having to put aside differences to fight the common threat.

* MadDoctor: [[XMeetsY meets]] BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor in the Xixchil. An ideal choice to acquaint all {{munchkin}}s in range with, and [[Funny/TabletopGames see]] [[BodyHorror what sort]] of HilarityEnsues.

The premise of the setting is to link each of ''D&D'''s then-popular campaign settings together by means of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_theories the old Ptolemaic view of the cosmos]]; the worlds of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'', and the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' were (along with thousands of other worlds) stated to be contained in their own "crystal spheres", massive hollow balls large enough to contain a whole solar system. Some were heliocentric systems, sometimes geocentric, and some were [[WorldShapes flat worlds]] set upon the backs of great tortoises or other "starbeasts." Or something else entirely. The stars you see from your bedroom window are ''not'' other suns -- they're actually balls of light (or glowing gems) stuck to the interior of your world's crystal sphere. Unless, of course, you're in a sphere that got giant glowing ''beetles'' slowly crawling on its inside surface. [[AllMythsAreTrue It happens]].

Spelljammer received some references in Fourth Edition material: It was one of the settings listed as possible to see print, and some Spelljammer content has made it into the Manual of the Planes (as a ship to sail the Astral Sea and to use to Plane Shift) and Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (specifically referring to the crystal spheres and phlogiston). Sadly, nothing came of this; as 4e ends there is no Spelljammer in sight (though an Epic Destiny in ''Heroes of The Elemental Chaos'' lets you become a Regiar). Mike Mearls said that this wasn't so much due to [[ComedyGhetto Spelljammer being too silly]] but rather [[ContinuitySnarl how hard to pull off the crossover aspect is.]] He said that if they were going to do it in D&D Next it'd be "its own thing"

* CaptainErsatz: The bionoids are basically mass-produced Manga/{{Guyver}} units, right down to the chest cannon.
** And [[{{Gamera}} Gammaroids]], if the name doesn't qualify them as a ShoutOut.

* DeathFromAbove: Averted. A flying weapon platform obviously could have an enormous advantage over groundlings, but spelljammers are too clumsy in the atmosphere and thus are sitting ducks for anything that ''can'' get them. Spelljammer shock--which can be caused by any sort of damage--and failure to replace the helmsman in free fall before hitting the ground means TotalPartyKill. Did we mention helms are ''expensive''?..

* CaptainErsatz: The bionoids are basically mass-produced {{Guyver}} units, right down to the chest cannon.

** For added subtext, the Bionoids are clearly an {{Expy}} of or ShoutOut to {{Guyver}}.