Spelljammer: Watchers of Wildspace is the name for a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign centered around the Spelljammer Academy and Light of Xaryxis modules. The player characters of the party consist of six individuals from various worlds who have banded together to oppose the Xaryxian empire threatening their homes. The party members consist of:
The Watchers of Wildspace, illustrated by @durpudink on twitter
- The Captain, Hypatia; an Astral Elf Warlock
- The Spelljammer, Grimm; a Yuan-ti Druid
- The Navigator, RACIN; a Autognome Rogue
- The Engineer, Violet; an Astral Elf Artificer
- The Gunner, Gray; a "Human" Fighter
- The Boarding Specialist, Sikaid; a Githyanki Paladin
The game shares several players with Sword & Shadow Adventures.
This campaign provides examples of:
Tropes appearing in Watchers of Wildspace
- Alliterative Family: The Xaryxian imperial family: Emperor Xavan, Xedalli, Xeleth, and Xenia.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Sikaid and RACIN form this dynamic, respectively.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Xaryxian Imperial family, to an extremely messy extent.
- Cain and Abel and Seth: An in-universe example with Emperor Xavan's children. The twins Xedalli and Xeleth are well-known, but no one has ever heard of Xavan's youngest, illegitimate child, Xenia, better known to the party as their captain, Hypatia.
- Distinguishing Mark: The imperial children are easily identified by the six symmetrical facial moles they have.
- The Empire: The Xaryxian empire, the main antagonists.
- Human Sacrifice: The Xaryxian empire takes it one step further, sacrificing entire planets to the star Xaryxis.
- Interspecies Romance: Lots. Grimm (yuan-ti) and his late wife Riniya (astral elf), Violet (astral elf) and Coryn (reigar), Gray (vampire) and Sardax (plasmoid), and Sikaid (githyanki) and basically anyone.
- Living Ship: The Golden Arbor.
- Planet Eater: The star Xaryxis itself.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The crew.
- Siblings Share the Throne: Apparently a tradition in the Xaryxian empire. Unfortunately, betraying a sibling to rule alone also seems to be becoming a tradition.
- Space Elves: Astral elves are a very literal example.
- Space Opera
- Uriah Gambit: Xeleth pulls one of these in an effort to get rid of Xedalli - though it doesn't fully work out for him.
Characters
Player Characters
Gray Rock
Gray Rock
- Race: "Human" (Vampire)Class: Fighter (Eldritch Knight)Officer role: Gunner
- Ambiguously Human: Gray claims to be human, but it quickly becomes clear that he is actually a vampire.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire
- Horror Hunger: For whatever reason, Gray sometimes needs to drink blood.
- Line-of-Sight Name: "Gray Rock" is not actually his real name — it's an alias he came up with on the spot when looking at the Rock of Bral. His real name is Sturm von Zarovich.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Grimzod Gargenhale notes that he very closely resembles his father, none other than Strahd von Zarovich himself.
Grimm "Shezetlahliussh"
Grimm "Shezetlahliussh"
- Race: Yuan-tiClass: Druid (Circle of Stars)Officer role: Spelljammer
- Action Dad
- Animal Eyes
- Cowboy
- Crusading Widower
- Papa Wolf: He's overwhelmingly concerned with the safety and wellbeing of his young daughter Asha, who has been kidnapped by the Xaryxian empire.
- Unknown Relative: Grimm is in fact Hypatia's uncle by marriage, as his late wife was the sister of none other than Hypatia's father, Emperor Xavan. This also makes his daughter, Asha, Hypatia's cousin. Neither of them were initially aware of the relation.
Hypatia
Hypatia
- Race: Astral elfClass: Warlock (Great Old One)Officer role: Captain
- Affectionate Nickname: Violet calls her "Patty." It eventually catches on with some of the other crew members.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Their skin is light pink. This is only the case in their disguised form: their actual appearance has pale skin.
- Archnemesis Dad: Their father, Emperor Xavan, appears to be shaping up to be the main villain of the campaign.
- Bastard Angst: The circumstances of their birth and status as a royal bastard are responsible for much of the hardships they've faced in their life so far, mostly at the hands of their father and older brother.
- Cain and Abel: Mainly towards their older brother Xeleth.
- The Captain
- Defector from Decadence
- Genuine Imposter: When the crew needs to warn the Rock of Bral about the seed it's been implanted with, Hypatia "pretends" to be a member of the Xaryxian royal family to access the Rock's emergency broadcast system. As it turns out, Hypatia really is a Xaryxian royal, and everything she says to Bral's forces is entirely true.
- Heroic Bastard
- Meaningful Name: Their given name, Xenia, is derived from the Greek word xenos, meaning "stranger." Appropriate for a bastard child raised in a family they've never felt welcome in. The term "xenia" itself in ancient Greece also referred to a concept of Sacred Hospitality towards strangers.
- The Un-Favorite
RACIN
RACIN
- Race: AutognomeClass: Rogue (Soulknife)Officer role: Navigator
- Affectionate Nickname: Sikaid tends to call him "little buddy."
- A.I.-cronym
- Just a Machine: RACIN himself is fully sentient and had a mind and personality of his own, but he sometimes invokes others' assumptions about autognomes by pretending to be a standard robotic drone.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: He has to correct himself to suggest "incapacitating" anyone who might interfere with the party from his initial suggestion of just straight-up murdering them.
- Power Crystal
- Really 700 Years Old: RACIN claims to have reached his 700th year "a couple of centuries ago."
- Robot Buddy
Sikaid
Sikaid
- Race: GithyankiClass: Paladin (Oathbreaker)Officer role: Boarding Specialist
- Amnesiac Hero: "Hero" might be stretching it, but Sikaid has very few memories of his past and struggles to form new ones. It's likely that this has something to do with the injury that took out his right eye.
- Blood Knight
- Brainwash Residue: Despite his amnesia and brain damage, he's still susceptible to his sleeper agent programming.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Sikaid names his Star Lancer mount "Vah'k'rel." Which is Gith... for "star lancer."
- Eyepatch of Power
- Manchurian Agent: Emperor Xavan is able to use a Trigger Phrase to force Sikaid to attack the rest of the party. How Xavan knows this — or who Sikaid is in the first place — is unclear.
- Really Gets Around
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: His appears to be the result of a serious brain injury he sustained prior to the events of the campaign.
- Trigger Phrase: The word "revrykal," Gith for "servant," can apparently be used to control Sikaid against his will.
Violet Admoira
Violet Admoira
- Race: Astral elfClass: Artificer (Armorer)Officer role: Engineer
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Appropriately enough, her skin is pale purple.
- The Engineer
- Fool for Love: As Sikaid points out, she essentially ruined her life for Coryn, who is now nowhere to be found.
- Powered Armor
- Wrench Wench
Non-Player Characters
Imperial Resistance
Bumblebottom
- Race: Autognome
Commodore Krux
- Race: Giff
Grimzod Gargenhale
- Race: Vampire
Sardax
- Race: Plasmoid
Tilly
- Race: Treant
Xaryxian Empire
Emperor Xavan
- Race: Astral Elf
- I Can Rule Alone: He was intended to share the throne of the empire with his sister Riniya, but had her exiled and later killed to uphold his status as the sole emperor. His son seems to be following in his footsteps.
- Rugged Scar: He has one over his eye, inflicted by his own daughter during their attempt on his life.
Princess Xedalli
- Race: Astral Elf
Prince Xeleth
- Race: Astral Elf
- Big Brother Bully: To Hypatia. He may have gotten along better with Xedalli, at least before he tried to get her killed.
- The Evil Prince
- Like Father, Like Son: Much like his father, he was supposed to inherit the empire alongside his twin. Like his father, he also tried to get rid of her beforehand.
Andavier
- Race: Astral Elf
Commander Vael
- Race: Astral Elf
Soric Enastra
- Race: Astral Elf
- Parental Substitute: To Hypatia. She considers him more of a father than her biological father, Xavan, as he was the man who truly raised her.
Spelljammer Academy
Adrexx
- Race: Dragonborn
Darren
- Race: Dragonborn
Ethan
- Race: Tabaxi
Krik'Lit
- Race: Thri-kreen
Miken
- Race: Human
Mirt
- Race: Human
Pat
- Race: Plasmoid
Saerthe
- Race: Human
Tarto
- Race: Hadozee
T Pac-99
- Race: Autognome
Veena Nightguard
- Race: Astral Elf
Miscellaneous
Asha
- Race: Half Astral Elf, Half Yuan-ti
- Non-Human Humanoid Hybrid
- Unknown Relative: As Riniya's daughter, she is Hypatia's cousin.
Coryn
- Race: Reigar
Maya
- Race: Wererat
- Parental Substitute: To Sikaid.
Riniya
- Race: Astral Elf
- Posthumous Character
- Connected All Along: Unbeknownst to the party, she was Emperor Xavan's sister, making her Hypatia and the twins' aunt, and Grimm their uncle by marriage.
- Unknown Relative: To Hypatia, who has no idea she even had an aunt.
Topolah
- Race: Human
