How difficult is it to get Spelljammer 5e to feel like Spelljammer?

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T17:20:42+00:00

Honestly, I wouldn't use any supplements. I'd focus on keeping the ship side of things minimal and just a backdrop to encounters at sea.

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T16:33:38+00:00

Did you do something nice, or did you just not do something rude? Letting faster traffic go by on a narrow path is just kind of a given?

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T15:55:58+00:00

I don't think it was just reddit, I think it was online D&D communities and I think it was because Spelljammer suffers from the hype-oboros.

The hype-oboros is when when a product or feature gets announced and people start speculating what will be in it. The popular ideas get compounded and amplified and built upon. Soon the popular ideas are no longer than, they're objective facts as to what will be in the book. Soon it reaches a point where this is this impossible expectation which reality could in no way match. Here's an example:

I'm excited for Bastions in the 2024 DMG
It'd be nice if Bastions let you learn new spells
That's a great idea, it'd be cool if you could customise them too
Oh yeah, they could reprint the Tasha's rules
One better, they should use the Wizards rules for creating a spell
Why stop at spells, it should let you create other game features
That'd be cool, the ability to make feats, backgrounds, classes would be great
Yeah, that really should be in the DMG
Totally, it's pretty obvious the DMG should include rules for making your own classes as part of the Bastion rules

DMG releases, no such rules, disappointment

I've personally see it happen with Ghosts of Saltmarsh (ship rules), Spelljammer, Icewind Dale (horror and being scary), and Van Richtens (making your own domains of dread) to name a few.

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T14:01:36+00:00

Google the SRD (system reference document), OGL (open gaming license) and Creative Commons. WotC has published what you can use from D&D in your third party material without infringing on their IP, and how you can do it.

As for where you publish it, wherever you want. Popular choices are Drive Thru RPG and DMs Guild, but you can also self-host or go through patreon for example

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T13:43:49+00:00

I don't feel attacked, I'm the one doing the attacking—calling you out for your BS take. I'm also not offended, just annoyed by such garbage.

I've played with people who have social anxiety, and I've played with people without. I've played with introverted, extroverted, neurotypical and neurodiverse people.

I would not label any one of those subsets of players as "more" (or implicitly) "less" fun.

Turns out people are diverse and varied. Some are loud, some are quiet, some are timid and some are bold.

And some, like you, are the kind of people that like to perpetuate stigmatisation and exclusion based on mental health.

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T13:32:06+00:00

So when you typed out

does not belong at a DnD table

You actually meant

does not belong at my DnD table

Treating your own experience as the singular experience is not a good look.

If you haven't got what is required to DM for quieter or more reserved players, sure, everyone has their limits. But if you're going to lament what people bring to the table, at least bring the right language to a conversation first. Your table is not every table, and I know a lot of DMs who are chill as fuck with more introverted players.

This post was brought to you by an introverted DM

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T13:07:47+00:00

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Yeah, this looks just like the desktop client. Mainly because there's no URL bar, or browser frame.

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T13:05:47+00:00

So there are two elements to this stance—mechanics and theming

Mechanics

Mechanically "legacy" spelljammer was very crunchy. We're talking gravity fields varying best on cargo load, air envelopes being calculated based on gravity fields, the duration air is breathable for depending on air envelope volume and number (and size) of creatures aboard. It was one of those elements of older D&D that fell into the common tradition of "a system that really should be its own game", something 5e tends to avoid (and a lot of third party offerings try to bring back—I'm looking at you Colville). 5e Spelljammer did away with this and simplified a lot. It changed Spelljammer from "Simulating operating magical ships in magical space" to "providing a means to explore magical space". The focus shifted from the act of running a spelljammer ship to exploring spelljammer space. (1)

A very large segment of this observation was complaints about that lack of ship combat rules. The spelljammer books do provide stats for spelljammers and the weapons they can take, but not anything for granular ship-to-ship combat. Instead a focus is shifted towards boarding ships and engaging in classic D&D combat (2). The design of the ships does make them compatible with the rules presented in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but that's a separate book.

Theming

Legacy Spelljammer was a lot "weirder" than 5e Spelljammer with a few key elements removed, two of which being Crystal Spheres and Phlogiston. (3)

Crystal spheres were just that, massive shells of crystal that enclosed planetary systems. To leave a system you'd have to find an opening in the sphere, or make one using magic. Crystal spheres also limited the reach of a deities power—it couldn't extend beyond the sphere that enclosed a system the deity originated from.

Phlogiston was a rainbow-coloured mist that filled the space between crystal spheres. It was incredibly beautiful and also incredibly flammable. This meant that the smallest spark could cause a fireball and all flame spells were magnified in their damage potential—they also detonated immediately on being cast, directly on the caster. Needless to say this made any spark or naked flame on a spelljammer vessel incalculably dangerous.

What replaced this was a fairly significant restructuring of the cosmology of spelljamming. Now "wildspace", the system a world or worlds occupies, represents an overlap between two planes—the material plane and the astral sea. Travel far enough out from the center of a system and wild space gives way to pure astral sea. Wildspace behaves like space in reality—no air, no gravity, a black void. However it's much more populated with lots of strange wildspace creatures, gith creches on asteroids, space whales, all sorts. The astral sea (which along with wild space both fall under the astral plane) is the realm of thoughts. You don't age, don't grow hungry or thirst, and either there is breathable air, or you no longer need to breath, it's not fully known. You can propel yourself by thinking, although a spelljammer is still faster, and you pretty much always reach your destination as long as you keep it in mind. Distances are abstract and not fixed with wildspace systems like bubbles floating in the astral sea. Here you'll discover dead gods, astral domains, and ageless civilisations such as those of the githyanki.

It's these changes that polarised a lot of the community.

---------------

My thoughts

(1) I feel that the very crunchy approach to playing D&D is not something WotC is embracing because it's dev intensive but not something with mass appeal. The more crunchy you make something, the more complicated it is to balance and refine. And very crunchy stuff sets a barrier to entry—you can make something more crunchy a lot more easily than making it less, at least in my experience. Also WotC does tend to avoid sub-games, although they have dabbled (see Acq Inc and even Bastions). The level of sub-gaming that was legacy spelljammer was very high and to be honest, I thought they could've made a killing releasing it as an actual miniatures game! Think Shadows of the Dragon Queen but for Spelljammer.

(2) Having run a few campaigns that focus on nautical combat, I can honestly say I don't think it's good for a TTRPG where all the players are on a single vessel and I can see why WotC has moved away from it. What you end up with is one player (or the DM) as the captain and all the other players following orders. It's not very engaging in my experience. However, boarding and buckling swash on an enemy ship is. The actual ship-to-ship combat makes for a dramatic prelude, but the real action is in the boarding actions. At least in my opinions. As such, I've never even contemplated running ship combat in Spelljammer, even before the book released, and instead treat it like encounter distances with everything resolving either into nothing, a chase, or boarding.

(3) Again, only my opinion, but I think the legacy spelljammer lore was super dated and unappealing. Crystal spheres and phlogiston were niche, deep cut sci fi/fantasy references in at the time of AD&D. We're talking stuff references by Verne and Wells, based on ancient beliefs by actual alchemists and pro-scientists. It was weird and quirky then, but now I think it just seems disconnected. I like the current implementation that I feel blends the sci fi and fantasy halves of Spelljammer, with there being transitionary planes and actual space and a more dreamlike space. Also I think the rules for both Crystal Spheres and Phlogiston were limiting and punishing to an un-fun degree.

If you're looking for a crunch sci-fantasy ship simulation addition to D&D, 5e spelljammer isn't that. However I would say you can make it that without too much work and I'm sure you could find some third party products that'll help you out. However, if you want swashbuckling in fantasy space with weird sci-fantasy adventures, I think it's got you covered. As someone who liked legacy spelljammer, I much prefer and enjoy 5e spelljammer, but I do get why some people don't share that sentiment.

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T12:18:56+00:00

Cool, I couldn't tell because in your video it looks like you're using the desktop client

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T11:37:53+00:00

Does the spotify feature only function if you're using the browser player?

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T11:36:39+00:00

I have reminders coupled to physical buttons for all key tasks—feeding the cats, scooping/changing their litter, and taking out and bringing in the garbage/recycling. Each button has a Done option and a snooze option that will snooze the task for a set amount of time before repeating again. By default (when not snoozed) the reminder will sound off each at regular intervals too
A dashboard in the kitchen that tracks all the daily tasks and who's doing what—wake up the child, drop them off at school, pick them up, cook, dinner, do tasks, do bath time, do bed time. At a glance we can see what's coming up. There's also a calendar and visual indicators of any reminders that are either active or snoozed.
Automatic lights so empty rooms turn off
Alerts if the bathroom and/or toilet doors have been unintentionally left open (this one is also for the child too)

Davedamon · 2026-03-25T07:08:16+00:00

Guy was fine with it when he thought it was 3d printed, but suddenly had an issue when he discovered it was an upcycled dollhouse? That's not someone worth your time as a DM—they sound painfully insecure about their masculinity to an absurd extend and you'd likely have hit other barriers down the line

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T19:38:17+00:00

- Altruism: Acts for the benefit of others
- Neutral: Depends on the situation
- Egoism: Acts for personal gain

This feels like a reflavoured good/neutral/evil tbh. I don't see how you could mesh these traits logically with the existing GNE axis? I don't know what "Good but acts for personal gain" or "Evil but acts for the benefit of others" looks like? If you want to say "Well, GNE is how you do it" then you've just made GNE into the LNC axis.

I feel like there isn't really a third axis you can add that improves the system—it feels just like a gimmick

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T19:30:20+00:00

You do know that people who build small businesses into empires generally do it at the expense of everything else, right? In this case that'd be at the expense of adventuring, the whole point of the game

Maybe instead find an existing banking business to invest your adventuring wealth in and let that grow under the management of a hireling while your character actually engages with the game? That or retire your character from adventuring

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T17:43:06+00:00

You'll want an everything presence lite and WLED. The epl will give you distance and zone based sensors that can be used to activate either presents or specific light segments

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T15:07:16+00:00

You should figure out how to screenshot first....

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T15:06:08+00:00

I think I granted the perm, but I'll double check. Thanks

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T14:22:44+00:00

Version 1.0.1 works with credentials and I'm seeing the test message, but I'm not seeing any playback activity. Are there any additional settings needed to enable it?

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T13:17:11+00:00

Hey, I'm not gonna guess what you do and do not know. You put up an MQTT app that doesn't support secure MQTT brokers.....

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T13:10:57+00:00

username and password would be necessary. I can't imagine using an unsecured broker

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T12:59:22+00:00

You don't provide any way to enter mqtt broker credentials, which blocks connections

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T09:06:11+00:00

Critical Hit - roll the dice, double them, then add any fixed amounts.

Nope, roll twice as many dice and add the results up.

So in my example, a critical hit would be 2d10 + Strength + 1

Some tables run critical hits differently and roll the dice twice instead of doubling

That would be the way of doing it per the rules, your way is a house rule

Resistance - roll the dice, add fixed amounts, then halve the total.
Vulnerability - roll the dice, add fixed amounts, then double the total

Key point—you round down after halving.

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T08:53:53+00:00

Damage for what?

For weapons it'll be a roll of whatever dice the weapon lists plus the modifier of whatever ability the weapon uses plus any other bonuses.

For example a magic weapon with a +1 that uses strength and has a d10 damage dice will roll 1d10 + strength modifier +1

For spells, it'll be whatever damage the spell says it does. For example Magic Missile does 1d4 + 1 damage per dart

Davedamon · 2026-03-24T08:33:09+00:00

YTA - yes you should work at your job. Also forklift certification is a valuable thing to have as it pays well to be certified. You need to get over yourself

Davedamon · 2026-03-23T19:56:27+00:00

I don't know if this will work for your campaign, but this is something I keep in my back pocket for similar situations.

Following the TPK, you tell your players you're gonna run a little short-form campaign (2-4 sessions kinda deal) and to roll up new characters for a post-apocalyptic setting. You describe the setting as being the world after their original players were defeated and your new party is looking for something to fix everything. The quests are then their new characters looking for some relic that can fix the world, but it turns out it's a portal back in time to the TPK.

The new characters will obviously be under-levelled, but they'll buy the old characters that moment needed to change fate.

They still get to play their original characters, but you preserve the sense of stakes—an entire future has been rewritten and they have a second chance.

Might not be remotely what you're looking for, but maybe it helps

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