DnD in.... space? [Archive] - Wizards Community

DnD in.... space? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
claypigeons
10-17-06, 07:09 AM Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space.

While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space.

I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible.
Azezel
10-17-06, 07:40 AM Spelljammer is sort of space-like. Crystal Spheres, Pholgistong and spaceship-like vessels.

I have heard of something called Dragonstar - I do not know the exact details - but it doesn't sound very good from what I hear.
SilvercatMoonpaw
10-17-06, 08:40 AM Dragonstar takes all the normal assumptions of how D&D works and slaps on sci-fi technology, sometimes updating certain features to work with the sci-fi stuff. For example, wizards can keep their spells on a datapad instead of in a big book (and they can keep their scrolls on their as well). It's setting imagines that dragons from a lot of different planets got together, built two competing empires, and then decided to merge after a war.

It's not a very inspired adaptation. It's also 3.0.
Orchomenos
10-17-06, 10:11 AM D20 Modern (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd) has two little brothers that you can combine for that: Urban Arcana, where you have Ogres, Goblins, Elves and Dragons walking in New York city, and D20 Future, where there are rules for spaceships, Mecha, etc. There's even a template for a creature living in "space", so you could have a battle between a spaceship and a Red Great Wyrm...
IrishRover
10-17-06, 12:01 PM Using D20 Modern, added to Urban Arcana and D20 Future, could work, but it will take some work, if you want a mage worthy of a D&D setting.
Spells top out at 5th level, and the spellcasting classes are all advanced classes that you can't take until 4th level. It could be done, with some changes in the D&D character's skill lists and starting feats...
Note, also, that none of the modern classes include any armor proficiency or weapon proficiencys other than simple, so they will be burning lots of feats to duplicate the armored knight.
Certainly doable...
(IMHO, though, starship combat is not well done--they seem to act like larger versions of regular characters, not a distinct starship feel. If I run a future campaign, I'll be doing starship combat, and possibly design, with a homegrown system, probably lifting some elements from eitehr West End's Star Wars, GDW's Traveller, or GURPS, depending on the flavor I want.)
Alac Luin
10-17-06, 04:59 PM For spelljammer, check out...

http://www.spelljammer.org/
Ranger REG
10-19-06, 03:57 AM I have heard of something called Dragonstar - I do not know the exact details - but it doesn't sound very good from what I hear.
I thought it was a good premise. Unfortunately, there are too many D&D label fans than there are d20 fans.

Had Fantasy Flight Games commit to it, they could upgrade the setting for d20 Modern/d20 Future/Urban Arcana rules.
Millennium
10-19-06, 06:51 AM Spelljammer is awesome, but you need to be aware that it doesn't use realistic physics. It's actually closer to some of Johannes Kepler's older theories. Personally I love this, but it turns some people off.
Derren S.
10-19-06, 07:13 AM Dragonstar is the best blend between D&D and Sci-Fi.
Spelljammer isn't really Sci-Fi and D20 future is no real D&D.
Millennium
10-19-06, 09:55 AM Dragonstar is the best blend between D&D and Sci-Fi.
Spelljammer isn't really Sci-Fi and D20 future is no real D&D.
True, but is sci-fi what the OP wants? He only said he wanted a space-based setting; he didn't say anything about the flavor he was going for.

You're right about Spelljammer not being science-fiction; it's more like a kind of "space fantasy" even more divorced from sci-fi than the "science-fantasy" hybrids like Star Wars. However, that can have its own sort of charm. If nothing else, you don't see many settings out there that do this sort of thing, so it's got the whole exotic thing going.
babysamurai
10-19-06, 10:59 AM And one of the great things about Spelljammer is that it managed to have humour without being too tongue-in-cheek.

I mean, Starpork, Giant Space Hamsters?
The_Jester
10-19-06, 11:15 AM It also had some scary stuff and made great use of the Illithids and Neogi, creatures that are pretty much aliens already.
babysamurai
10-19-06, 11:21 AM It also had some scary stuff and made great use of the Illithids and Neogi, creatures that are pretty much aliens already.

Totally – and Beholders with their Tyrant ships.

And the Illithid Nautiloid and Dreadnought ships.

The Neogi Mindspider ships.

…Memories…
The_Jester
10-19-06, 12:49 PM There's also Day of the Comet for 2nd Edition that has a spaceship crash on a fantasy world and what are essentially Borg assimilate some orcs.
It's a set-up for a mini-campaign that can take place on both the fantasy world and in space with magic being the turning point in defeating a galactic Big Bad.
The_Jester
10-19-06, 12:53 PM Correction:
Tale of the Comet
http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/adventures/v5748btpy7mge&source=search
SokenzanMarauder
10-19-06, 01:31 PM Though it's already been mentioned I cannot recommend Spelljammer enough. It's an incredibly unique setting.

-Gene
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht
10-19-06, 06:55 PM And one of the great things about Spelljammer is that it managed to have humour without being too tongue-in-cheek.

I mean, Starpork, Giant Space Hamsters?
And giff.
Ranger REG
10-20-06, 02:41 AM Though it's already been mentioned I cannot recommend Spelljammer enough. It's an incredibly unique setting.
Only if I ignore the dynamics of phlogiston.

I like Spelljammer to be its own unique setting, like that mini-campaign setting I found in Dungeon/Poly magazine, Shadow of the Spider Moon, not a means to bridge different settings (not interested in crossovers like blending Star Wars with Babylon 5 or Star Trek).

:noway:
Millennium
10-20-06, 07:23 AM It's certainly possible to play Spelljammer without bridging campaign settings and without ignoring the Flow. All you have to do is ignore the "default" spheres and build your own. You could even just reflavor the existing spheres so that they all fall under the same campaign setting.

Shadow of the Spider Moon had some interesting mechanics -I really like what they did with ship sizes- but I didn't care for much of the rest. They replaced the pseudo-Keplerian physics, they devoted more pages to firearms than space travel, and they reflavored everything, sometimes gratuitously. Worse, the reflavoring was not only deliberate on their part, but by their own admission much of the point of the project.

Dammit, I want my pyromaniac anthromorphic hippo-men.
Dave_Howery
10-20-06, 12:18 PM I ran a brief Spelljammer campaign way back when.... when I got bored with Neogi and illithids, I made up stats for the critters from Aliens and Predator and threw them at the PCs...
Ranger REG
10-21-06, 03:29 AM Shadow of the Spider Moon had some interesting mechanics -I really like what they did with ship sizes- but I didn't care for much of the rest. They replaced the pseudo-Keplerian physics, they devoted more pages to firearms than space travel, and they reflavored everything, sometimes gratuitously. Worse, the reflavoring was not only deliberate on their part, but by their own admission much of the point of the project.
Lucky for me, the only thing I like about Spelljammers are the flying ships, not phlogistons and crystal shells.

:evillaugh

Dammit, I want my pyromaniac anthromorphic hippo-men.
I think Dragon did an article of the Giff, complete with 3.5e compatible material.
greatamericanfolkhero
10-21-06, 02:56 PM I'm currently running a Spelljammer campaign at the FLGS, and honestly it's one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run, and it gives me a conveient way to drop them into unique situations that would ordinarily require a different campaign.

One of the first mission arcs was the crew investigating an abandoned asteroid in Greyspace (I was able to go for a creepy horror vibe on that one) and currently they're in a huge armada battle in the Tears of Selune against one of the greatest pirate threats that Realmspace has known since the last Unhuman war (Swashbuckling adventure in an asteroid field).

You can do anything from tongue-in-cheek humor (the tinker gnomes and their giant space hamsters) to horror (the mind flayers and other space nasties) to the awe of discovery (as the Hg2g puts it "Space is big...", there are worlds out there just waiting to be discovered.) It's a setting that will let you and your players do almost anything!
Tempest Stormwind
10-21-06, 03:18 PM I love Spelljammer to no end.

And you know what I find amusing?

People who complain about it usually pick on the 'scientific' problems with the settings -- as mentioned earlier, it draws off of Kepler's theories, treats gravity in a funny way, and has kooky mechanics behind the phlogiston.

...and yet, these are the same people who never complain that their wizard violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics every time he says "klatu verata nicto".

If you're going to complain about science problems, you shouldn't be playing D&D.

(Oh, and these are often the same people who refuse to see the rampant logical problems throughout Planescape, as well.)

For the record, I liked SOME parts of Shadow of the Spider Moon -- especially the sphere they used, which is a good example of a generic sphere that isn't tied to any particular setting and has roots in spelljamming -- but I agree that it's no substitute for other spelljamming material.
Ranger REG
10-21-06, 09:51 PM I love Spelljammer to no end.

And you know what I find amusing?

People who complain about it usually pick on the 'scientific' problems with the settings -- as mentioned earlier, it draws off of Kepler's theories, treats gravity in a funny way, and has kooky mechanics behind the phlogiston.

...and yet, these are the same people who never complain that their wizard violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics every time he says "klatu verata nicto".
As long we don't get scientific in a fantasy game that is not Star Wars, it's fine by me.
Man in the Funny Hat
10-22-06, 03:45 PM Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space.

While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space.

I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible.
Spelljammer sounds like the closest to what you want - D&D in space. It's not without some inherent difficulties but it remains one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run and I don't hesitate to recommend it. It is not OGL - it's 2nd Edition rules and is out of print so you'll have to go in search of the materials and/or be willing to make up a lot of it yourself.

Here's a couple more links for you:
Some ship deckplans here (http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/cc2/cc2.htm)
Other Spelljammer related information here (http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/dnd/spelljammer/spelljam.htm)
Derren S.
10-22-06, 03:49 PM Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space.

While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space.

I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible.

Do you want fantasy space or sci-fi space?
If fantasy use Spelljammer, if sci-fi try to get Dragonstar.
claypigeons
10-22-06, 04:25 PM Do you want fantasy space or sci-fi space?
A mix of both, actually, when I think about it.

I want all of the DnD trappings: magic, gods, all the different races and such.

But I also want technologically advanced ships and weapons. Ships that use rather advanced magic engines to move quickly around space, gun-type weapons that fire energy rounds or lasers...
Derren S.
10-22-06, 04:29 PM Then you want Dragonstar. It is exactly what you described.
Millennium
10-26-06, 12:42 PM I think Dragon did an article of the Giff, complete with 3.5e compatible material.
I've got the article, and it's nifty. It was done much later than the Spelljammer conversion.

Oh, and is it just me, or is the Halfling homeworld in Shadow of the Spider Moon a reference to Athas' Blue Age?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
claypigeons 10-17-06, 07:09 AM	Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space. While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space. I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible.
Azezel 10-17-06, 07:40 AM	Spelljammer is sort of space-like. Crystal Spheres, Pholgistong and spaceship-like vessels. I have heard of something called Dragonstar - I do not know the exact details - but it doesn't sound very good from what I hear.
SilvercatMoonpaw 10-17-06, 08:40 AM	Dragonstar takes all the normal assumptions of how D&D works and slaps on sci-fi technology, sometimes updating certain features to work with the sci-fi stuff. For example, wizards can keep their spells on a datapad instead of in a big book (and they can keep their scrolls on their as well). It's setting imagines that dragons from a lot of different planets got together, built two competing empires, and then decided to merge after a war. It's not a very inspired adaptation. It's also 3.0.
Orchomenos 10-17-06, 10:11 AM	D20 Modern (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd) has two little brothers that you can combine for that: Urban Arcana, where you have Ogres, Goblins, Elves and Dragons walking in New York city, and D20 Future, where there are rules for spaceships, Mecha, etc. There's even a template for a creature living in "space", so you could have a battle between a spaceship and a Red Great Wyrm...
IrishRover 10-17-06, 12:01 PM	Using D20 Modern, added to Urban Arcana and D20 Future, could work, but it will take some work, if you want a mage worthy of a D&D setting. Spells top out at 5th level, and the spellcasting classes are all advanced classes that you can't take until 4th level. It could be done, with some changes in the D&D character's skill lists and starting feats... Note, also, that none of the modern classes include any armor proficiency or weapon proficiencys other than simple, so they will be burning lots of feats to duplicate the armored knight. Certainly doable... (IMHO, though, starship combat is not well done--they seem to act like larger versions of regular characters, not a distinct starship feel. If I run a future campaign, I'll be doing starship combat, and possibly design, with a homegrown system, probably lifting some elements from eitehr West End's Star Wars, GDW's Traveller, or GURPS, depending on the flavor I want.)
Alac Luin 10-17-06, 04:59 PM	For spelljammer, check out... http://www.spelljammer.org/
Ranger REG 10-19-06, 03:57 AM	I have heard of something called Dragonstar - I do not know the exact details - but it doesn't sound very good from what I hear. I thought it was a good premise. Unfortunately, there are too many D&D label fans than there are d20 fans. Had Fantasy Flight Games commit to it, they could upgrade the setting for d20 Modern/d20 Future/Urban Arcana rules.
Millennium 10-19-06, 06:51 AM	Spelljammer is awesome, but you need to be aware that it doesn't use realistic physics. It's actually closer to some of Johannes Kepler's older theories. Personally I love this, but it turns some people off.
Derren S. 10-19-06, 07:13 AM	Dragonstar is the best blend between D&D and Sci-Fi. Spelljammer isn't really Sci-Fi and D20 future is no real D&D.
Millennium 10-19-06, 09:55 AM	Dragonstar is the best blend between D&D and Sci-Fi. Spelljammer isn't really Sci-Fi and D20 future is no real D&D. True, but is sci-fi what the OP wants? He only said he wanted a space-based setting; he didn't say anything about the flavor he was going for. You're right about Spelljammer not being science-fiction; it's more like a kind of "space fantasy" even more divorced from sci-fi than the "science-fantasy" hybrids like Star Wars. However, that can have its own sort of charm. If nothing else, you don't see many settings out there that do this sort of thing, so it's got the whole exotic thing going.
babysamurai 10-19-06, 10:59 AM	And one of the great things about Spelljammer is that it managed to have humour without being too tongue-in-cheek. I mean, Starpork, Giant Space Hamsters?
The_Jester 10-19-06, 11:15 AM	It also had some scary stuff and made great use of the Illithids and Neogi, creatures that are pretty much aliens already.
babysamurai 10-19-06, 11:21 AM	It also had some scary stuff and made great use of the Illithids and Neogi, creatures that are pretty much aliens already. Totally – and Beholders with their Tyrant ships. And the Illithid Nautiloid and Dreadnought ships. The Neogi Mindspider ships. …Memories…
The_Jester 10-19-06, 12:49 PM	There's also Day of the Comet for 2nd Edition that has a spaceship crash on a fantasy world and what are essentially Borg assimilate some orcs. It's a set-up for a mini-campaign that can take place on both the fantasy world and in space with magic being the turning point in defeating a galactic Big Bad.
The_Jester 10-19-06, 12:53 PM	Correction: Tale of the Comet http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wizardsOfTheCoast/aDAndD2/adventures/v5748btpy7mge&source=search
SokenzanMarauder 10-19-06, 01:31 PM	Though it's already been mentioned I cannot recommend Spelljammer enough. It's an incredibly unique setting. -Gene
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-19-06, 06:55 PM	And one of the great things about Spelljammer is that it managed to have humour without being too tongue-in-cheek. I mean, Starpork, Giant Space Hamsters? And giff.
Ranger REG 10-20-06, 02:41 AM	Though it's already been mentioned I cannot recommend Spelljammer enough. It's an incredibly unique setting. Only if I ignore the dynamics of phlogiston. I like Spelljammer to be its own unique setting, like that mini-campaign setting I found in Dungeon/Poly magazine, Shadow of the Spider Moon, not a means to bridge different settings (not interested in crossovers like blending Star Wars with Babylon 5 or Star Trek). :noway:
Millennium 10-20-06, 07:23 AM	It's certainly possible to play Spelljammer without bridging campaign settings and without ignoring the Flow. All you have to do is ignore the "default" spheres and build your own. You could even just reflavor the existing spheres so that they all fall under the same campaign setting. Shadow of the Spider Moon had some interesting mechanics -I really like what they did with ship sizes- but I didn't care for much of the rest. They replaced the pseudo-Keplerian physics, they devoted more pages to firearms than space travel, and they reflavored everything, sometimes gratuitously. Worse, the reflavoring was not only deliberate on their part, but by their own admission much of the point of the project. Dammit, I want my pyromaniac anthromorphic hippo-men.
Dave_Howery 10-20-06, 12:18 PM	I ran a brief Spelljammer campaign way back when.... when I got bored with Neogi and illithids, I made up stats for the critters from Aliens and Predator and threw them at the PCs...
Ranger REG 10-21-06, 03:29 AM	Shadow of the Spider Moon had some interesting mechanics -I really like what they did with ship sizes- but I didn't care for much of the rest. They replaced the pseudo-Keplerian physics, they devoted more pages to firearms than space travel, and they reflavored everything, sometimes gratuitously. Worse, the reflavoring was not only deliberate on their part, but by their own admission much of the point of the project. Lucky for me, the only thing I like about Spelljammers are the flying ships, not phlogistons and crystal shells. :evillaugh Dammit, I want my pyromaniac anthromorphic hippo-men. I think Dragon did an article of the Giff, complete with 3.5e compatible material.
greatamericanfolkhero 10-21-06, 02:56 PM	I'm currently running a Spelljammer campaign at the FLGS, and honestly it's one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run, and it gives me a conveient way to drop them into unique situations that would ordinarily require a different campaign. One of the first mission arcs was the crew investigating an abandoned asteroid in Greyspace (I was able to go for a creepy horror vibe on that one) and currently they're in a huge armada battle in the Tears of Selune against one of the greatest pirate threats that Realmspace has known since the last Unhuman war (Swashbuckling adventure in an asteroid field). You can do anything from tongue-in-cheek humor (the tinker gnomes and their giant space hamsters) to horror (the mind flayers and other space nasties) to the awe of discovery (as the Hg2g puts it "Space is big...", there are worlds out there just waiting to be discovered.) It's a setting that will let you and your players do almost anything!
Tempest Stormwind 10-21-06, 03:18 PM	I love Spelljammer to no end. And you know what I find amusing? People who complain about it usually pick on the 'scientific' problems with the settings -- as mentioned earlier, it draws off of Kepler's theories, treats gravity in a funny way, and has kooky mechanics behind the phlogiston. ...and yet, these are the same people who never complain that their wizard violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics every time he says "klatu verata nicto". If you're going to complain about science problems, you shouldn't be playing D&D. (Oh, and these are often the same people who refuse to see the rampant logical problems throughout Planescape, as well.) For the record, I liked SOME parts of Shadow of the Spider Moon -- especially the sphere they used, which is a good example of a generic sphere that isn't tied to any particular setting and has roots in spelljamming -- but I agree that it's no substitute for other spelljamming material.
Ranger REG 10-21-06, 09:51 PM	I love Spelljammer to no end. And you know what I find amusing? People who complain about it usually pick on the 'scientific' problems with the settings -- as mentioned earlier, it draws off of Kepler's theories, treats gravity in a funny way, and has kooky mechanics behind the phlogiston. ...and yet, these are the same people who never complain that their wizard violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics every time he says "klatu verata nicto". As long we don't get scientific in a fantasy game that is not Star Wars, it's fine by me.
Man in the Funny Hat 10-22-06, 03:45 PM	Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space. While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space. I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible. Spelljammer sounds like the closest to what you want - D&D in space. It's not without some inherent difficulties but it remains one of the most fun campaigns I've ever run and I don't hesitate to recommend it. It is not OGL - it's 2nd Edition rules and is out of print so you'll have to go in search of the materials and/or be willing to make up a lot of it yourself. Here's a couple more links for you: Some ship deckplans here (http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/cc2/cc2.htm) Other Spelljammer related information here (http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/dnd/spelljammer/spelljam.htm)
Derren S. 10-22-06, 03:49 PM	Are there any DnD settings in existence that occur at least partially in space. While I dont exactly know the full details, I believe Spelljammer is done in space. I'm looking for something released under OGL, if possible. Do you want fantasy space or sci-fi space? If fantasy use Spelljammer, if sci-fi try to get Dragonstar.
claypigeons 10-22-06, 04:25 PM	Do you want fantasy space or sci-fi space? A mix of both, actually, when I think about it. I want all of the DnD trappings: magic, gods, all the different races and such. But I also want technologically advanced ships and weapons. Ships that use rather advanced magic engines to move quickly around space, gun-type weapons that fire energy rounds or lasers...
Derren S. 10-22-06, 04:29 PM	Then you want Dragonstar. It is exactly what you described.
Millennium 10-26-06, 12:42 PM	I think Dragon did an article of the Giff, complete with 3.5e compatible material. I've got the article, and it's nifty. It was done much later than the Spelljammer conversion. Oh, and is it just me, or is the Halfling homeworld in Shadow of the Spider Moon a reference to Athas' Blue Age?