Spelljammer in polyhedron - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Spelljammer in polyhedron

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Oct 18, 2003 4:26:55 I first encountered Spelljammer in polyhedron magazine 151 and i thought it looked quite good. What is the difference between the setting that appears in polyhedron and the origonal? It mentioned something about giant space hamsters???
#2
Dragonhelm
Oct 18, 2003 8:40:36 Lol! Yessiree, there were indeed giant hamsters, as well as autognomes and a race of penguin-men who were quite interested in autognomes for some strange reason.

I'll warn you up front that there are divided opinions on Shadow of the Spider Moon. Some fans of the original game don't care for Spider Moon as well, and some fans of Spider Moon aren't so much into the original game. Some of us, however, consider the two to be part of one great universe. ;)

Spider Moon is limited to one solar system and doesn't go beyond that, while the original SJ traveled between multiple systems. Each solar system was encased in a crystal sphere. Between each crystal sphere is the phlogiston - sort of a fiery river. I'll let someone else describe the phlogiston more.

Drow didn't quite have such a presence in the original SJ, and many of the ships assigned to the drow of Pyrespace (the Polyhedron crystal sphere) originally belonged to a race called the neogi (sort of a spider-centaur with a snake-like head).

Likewise, dwarves didn't shave their hair, and had dwarven citadels. There was an elven armada as well, and some of the gnomes were the tinker gnomes from Dragonlance.

Another difference is that Spider Moon is a setting of it's own, and the original was more of a means for people to travel from setting to setting (primarily Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance).

The original SJ had many new races too, such as the Xixchil (sorta like Thri-kreen), rastipedes (insectoid centaurs), dracon (draconic centaurs), giff (big hippo-men with guns), etc. etc.

I would highly recommend picking up the original Spelljammer boxed set, as well as the Complete Spacefarer's Handbook. Also, have a look at the official Spelljammer fan site: Beyond the Moons.

There's also some non-Spelljammer sources that could be used in a Spelljammer game, such as Aether and Flux, the upcoming Spacebuckler, and a fantastic product by Bastion Press called Airships.

Personally, I consider the SJ mini-game to be part of the greater whole. Spelljammer, for me, is a game of ever-increasing possibilities. It began with the original game line, revisited in Spider Moon, and it continues on in the hearts of fans today.
#3
zombiegleemax
Oct 18, 2003 15:43:14
Originally posted by Charn
I first encountered Spelljammer in polyhedron magazine 151 and i thought it looked quite good. What is the difference between the setting that appears in polyhedron and the origonal? It mentioned something about giant space hamsters???

haha! Yeah, at one point somebody on this message board made the stats for the named giant space hamster god (Wooly Rupert?) that was quite amusing...

I really enjoyed the Spidermoon article in Polyhedron. Especially the art, which is quite inspiring. Andy Collins (who wrote the article) has some additional material at his website that fills out some of the missing races not covered by spidermoon, but dearly missed by some of us spelljammer veterans. However, you probably won't find anything on Giant Space Hamsters there.

Joel
#4
iplaydnd35
Oct 27, 2003 8:41:20 Could be good and could be bad, but i was told that issue of poly sold out and can not be back ordered.
And this could also be false info from a few net sources.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Oct 18, 2003 4:26:55	I first encountered Spelljammer in polyhedron magazine 151 and i thought it looked quite good. What is the difference between the setting that appears in polyhedron and the origonal? It mentioned something about giant space hamsters???
#2 Dragonhelm Oct 18, 2003 8:40:36	Lol! Yessiree, there were indeed giant hamsters, as well as autognomes and a race of penguin-men who were quite interested in autognomes for some strange reason. I'll warn you up front that there are divided opinions on Shadow of the Spider Moon. Some fans of the original game don't care for Spider Moon as well, and some fans of Spider Moon aren't so much into the original game. Some of us, however, consider the two to be part of one great universe. ;) Spider Moon is limited to one solar system and doesn't go beyond that, while the original SJ traveled between multiple systems. Each solar system was encased in a crystal sphere. Between each crystal sphere is the phlogiston - sort of a fiery river. I'll let someone else describe the phlogiston more. Drow didn't quite have such a presence in the original SJ, and many of the ships assigned to the drow of Pyrespace (the Polyhedron crystal sphere) originally belonged to a race called the neogi (sort of a spider-centaur with a snake-like head). Likewise, dwarves didn't shave their hair, and had dwarven citadels. There was an elven armada as well, and some of the gnomes were the tinker gnomes from Dragonlance. Another difference is that Spider Moon is a setting of it's own, and the original was more of a means for people to travel from setting to setting (primarily Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance). The original SJ had many new races too, such as the Xixchil (sorta like Thri-kreen), rastipedes (insectoid centaurs), dracon (draconic centaurs), giff (big hippo-men with guns), etc. etc. I would highly recommend picking up the original Spelljammer boxed set, as well as the Complete Spacefarer's Handbook. Also, have a look at the official Spelljammer fan site: Beyond the Moons. There's also some non-Spelljammer sources that could be used in a Spelljammer game, such as Aether and Flux, the upcoming Spacebuckler, and a fantastic product by Bastion Press called Airships. Personally, I consider the SJ mini-game to be part of the greater whole. Spelljammer, for me, is a game of ever-increasing possibilities. It began with the original game line, revisited in Spider Moon, and it continues on in the hearts of fans today.
#3 zombiegleemax Oct 18, 2003 15:43:14	Originally posted by Charn I first encountered Spelljammer in polyhedron magazine 151 and i thought it looked quite good. What is the difference between the setting that appears in polyhedron and the origonal? It mentioned something about giant space hamsters??? haha! Yeah, at one point somebody on this message board made the stats for the named giant space hamster god (Wooly Rupert?) that was quite amusing... I really enjoyed the Spidermoon article in Polyhedron. Especially the art, which is quite inspiring. Andy Collins (who wrote the article) has some additional material at his website that fills out some of the missing races not covered by spidermoon, but dearly missed by some of us spelljammer veterans. However, you probably won't find anything on Giant Space Hamsters there. Joel
#4 iplaydnd35 Oct 27, 2003 8:41:20	Could be good and could be bad, but i was told that issue of poly sold out and can not be back ordered. And this could also be false info from a few net sources.