I'm New to Spelljammer - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

I'm New to Spelljammer

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
May 11, 2005 19:41:29 I've heard that Spelljammer is a fun D&D setting, but I don't know what it's about. Someone let me know...
#2
kuje31
May 12, 2005 11:21:40 In a nut shell, it's D&D in space.
#3
zombiegleemax
May 12, 2005 19:31:52 D&D...in space?
Well, I guess that's pretty cool.
That does explain what a Giant Space Hamster is. (I thought that "giant space" meant that it took up a large amount of space. :heehee )
#4
jeleinen
May 12, 2005 21:10:40 Spelljammer is D&D in space, but space as the Greek philosophers would have imagined it, not our space as defined by Newton and Einstein. It's inhabitants sail around in open decked sailing ships shaped like fish and insects. As I understand, it was originally intended as a means to connect all of TSR's AD&D settings, but it's best when divorced from them and left on its own. All in all, it was a very cool setting, but a lot of the support material was crap.
#5
dankillroy
May 20, 2005 20:00:05 I know very little about spelljammer except that it was in space. I believe that much of the stuff in the Manual of the Planes book is from that setting, correct me if I'm wrong though. I do have a question that might pertain to spelljammer. I read a book that i believe is set during second edition written by Elaigne Cunningham I believe. Basically it was about some of the sub races of elves migrating to Toril escaping from a catastrophe they caused and fought the dragons to claim some of their new home. This was during the population of the first elves I believe. Then it kept going to the past and then to the future describing what exaclty Lolth did to earn her banishment and about an elf who betrayed his people and led an attack against Evermeet with the help of Lolth and the drow deity of oozes and outcasts. Then I believe it described a small time when Lolth prepared herself during the Time of Troubles and made a Balor Lord a source of her clerics power for a while. Anyways, this book had a race of elves in it that came to Toril by a space ship and crashed onto Toril because of an accident, which led to the Evermeets great fleets of ships in the future. Anyways, I wanted to know what these elves were originally called. If I remember correctly the survivors merged with mithril or sun elves. Or if they were called Star Elves or are the same Star Elves mentioned in Unnapproachable East? If they were originally another subrace, what were they called and where did they come from? Are they from the Spelljammers campaign? Really would like to know.
#6
nightdruid
May 21, 2005 8:10:36 Wow, that's a bit rambly (heh, something I do from time to time myself ), but here's the answers I believe you are looking for.

The book in question is Evermeet. Basically, its the tale of elves in the Forgotten Realms. Early in the book an elven Man-O-War, which is basically a plant-like space ship shaped like a twisted butterfly, is destroyed in orbit above Toril (world of Forgotten Realms). The survivors are saved by a sun elf from Evermeet. The survivors are just "elves", or more likely standard high elves (and maybe a couple of standard gray elves). The significance of these survivors is that they help the elves of Evermeet build their own fleet of spelljammers, 8 ships in all.

Spelljammer did not introduce any new subspecies of elves; most are either standard high or gray elves.

The way Evermeet was written is that it alternated between a "modern" story set at the current time and tales from the distant past. The next part of your question deals with Lloth and spelljamming. This part of the tale is almost completely unrelated to the group of elves that crashed earlier, other than they both arrived via spelljamming. These events are separated by a good 12,000 years. This second band of elves were driven out of their homeworld by powerful orcs known as the Scro. After their first mention, however, they not play a significant role in the book. They aid in the recent failed invasion of Evermeet that is central to the book, but are left largely in the background. It is assumed they are standard high elves and again, not a new subspecies.

The star elves introduced in Unapproachable East have nothing to do with spelljamming. These elves, long ago, crafted a demiplane large enough for their race to hide like a kid under the bed. Recently some new, unnamed power is chasing them out of that hidey-hole so they've returned to Toril.

Hope that helps.
#7
kuje31
May 21, 2005 11:35:28 Nightdruid answered you perfectly and I'm just going to add this: Elaine also wrote book 4 of the Cloakmaster Cycle, which is a Spelljammer novel.
#8
dankillroy
May 21, 2005 14:17:41 Thanks for the answers Nightdruid. I always thought they were another subrace of elves with abilities that they got from space travel or something. Spelljammer sounds like it is a cool setting. Are there any 3rd edition books for Spelljammer? BTW, where do these elves from space come from? And also, I read a post about Kiaranshalee on the Forgotten Realms Deities thread and she is supposodely originated from a world in that setting. I knew she came from another world and assumed she went to Oerth first before going to Toril when she kicked Orcus's keester. Did she originate from the spelljammer setting?
#9
kuje31
May 21, 2005 17:53:52 Spelljammer is basically all of TSR's worlds together, except for the planes and Ravenloft. The planes are described in Planescape and Ravenloft is a demiplane in the Ethereal plane, which has its own source material.

Basically Spelljammer and Planescape were TSR's way of tying the settings together. Spelljammer was in space and you could visit Greyhawk, FR, Dragonlance, and other solar systems using that setting instead of using the planes or Planescape. Spelljammer came out before Planescape but the planes are older then the Spelljammer setting. Planescape and the planes tied all of the settings together.

So there are many references of individuals, races, and deities, etc, visiting FR, Dlance, Grayhawk, and other planets and solar systems.
#10
nightdruid
May 22, 2005 7:10:08 Spelljammer came and went before making tons of subraces came en vogue. The thing to understand about Spelljammer is that while there was an enormous *implied* setting, there was little hard material written. Thus, spelljamming elves are assumed to have come from any one of many elven worlds out there, a handful that have been named but not actually detailed. Same with all of the races in spelljamming.

The only physical 3e "book" would be "Shadow of the Spider Moon", a minigame in Polyhedron/dungeon magazine a couple of years ago. Reviews are mixed about it, some liking it others hating it. Its a touchy subject, so I'll leave that alone.

There are numerous 3e conversions on the web, and can be found on Beyond the Moons, Shattered Fracture, Flitz' site, and probably a few more I'm missing.

About the planet Klaransalee came from, I'm not sure its even named, but IIRC it was a drow world and she was a mortal who achieved divine status by killing everything. She was introduced in 2e in Monster Mythology, I believe, and expanded upon in all the various drow sourcebooks. Her story has been muddled a bit, due to conflicting ideas on how to handle the Throne of Bloodstone FR adventure. That adventure revolves around very high (anywhere from 20th to 100th level PCs...it was a 1e blowout adventure) level quest where PCs get the chance to kill Orcus and a number of other evil deities. The official line seems to be that even though PCs are assumed to have killed Orcus, that really didn't kill him, just left him really weak. Ever the opportunist, Klaransalee finished off Orcus while he was basically on his deathbed and seized his realm. He would later return in the Planescape "Dead Gods" line of adventures and proceeded to return home. Klaransalee has vanished, either fled, captured, or dead (most likely ran for her worthless life ;) ). Not sure what her current status is.
#11
kuje31
May 22, 2005 10:25:17 FR material from 2e, and the BOVD, I believe, told what happened to her she basically fled and returned to her own realm since Orcus kicked her out of his realm.
#12
nightdruid
May 22, 2005 12:48:21
FR material from 2e, and the BOVD, I believe, told what happened to her she basically fled and returned to her own realm since Orcus kicked her out of his realm.

Last I had heard, she had vanished, probably ran for her life. So they didn't kill her off? Wasn't my favorite goddess anyways, so matters not to me
#13
kuje31
May 22, 2005 15:24:08
Last I had heard, she had vanished, probably ran for her life. So they didn't kill her off? Wasn't my favorite goddess anyways, so matters not to me

Nope they didn't kill her off and actually in FR she grew in power. She's a lesser power now instead of a demipower.
#14
nightdruid
May 23, 2005 11:06:38
Nope they didn't kill her off and actually in FR she grew in power. She's a lesser power now instead of a demipower.

Heh, like that's something to brag about...FR gave almost all deities a power-up. :P
#15
kuje31
May 23, 2005 12:49:15
Heh, like that's something to brag about...FR gave almost all deities a power-up. :P

To true.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax May 11, 2005 19:41:29	I've heard that Spelljammer is a fun D&D setting, but I don't know what it's about. Someone let me know...
#2 kuje31 May 12, 2005 11:21:40	In a nut shell, it's D&D in space.
#3 zombiegleemax May 12, 2005 19:31:52	D&D...in space? Well, I guess that's pretty cool. That does explain what a Giant Space Hamster is. (I thought that "giant space" meant that it took up a large amount of space. :heehee )
#4 jeleinen May 12, 2005 21:10:40	Spelljammer is D&D in space, but space as the Greek philosophers would have imagined it, not our space as defined by Newton and Einstein. It's inhabitants sail around in open decked sailing ships shaped like fish and insects. As I understand, it was originally intended as a means to connect all of TSR's AD&D settings, but it's best when divorced from them and left on its own. All in all, it was a very cool setting, but a lot of the support material was crap.
#5 dankillroy May 20, 2005 20:00:05	I know very little about spelljammer except that it was in space. I believe that much of the stuff in the Manual of the Planes book is from that setting, correct me if I'm wrong though. I do have a question that might pertain to spelljammer. I read a book that i believe is set during second edition written by Elaigne Cunningham I believe. Basically it was about some of the sub races of elves migrating to Toril escaping from a catastrophe they caused and fought the dragons to claim some of their new home. This was during the population of the first elves I believe. Then it kept going to the past and then to the future describing what exaclty Lolth did to earn her banishment and about an elf who betrayed his people and led an attack against Evermeet with the help of Lolth and the drow deity of oozes and outcasts. Then I believe it described a small time when Lolth prepared herself during the Time of Troubles and made a Balor Lord a source of her clerics power for a while. Anyways, this book had a race of elves in it that came to Toril by a space ship and crashed onto Toril because of an accident, which led to the Evermeets great fleets of ships in the future. Anyways, I wanted to know what these elves were originally called. If I remember correctly the survivors merged with mithril or sun elves. Or if they were called Star Elves or are the same Star Elves mentioned in Unnapproachable East? If they were originally another subrace, what were they called and where did they come from? Are they from the Spelljammers campaign? Really would like to know.
#6 nightdruid May 21, 2005 8:10:36	Wow, that's a bit rambly (heh, something I do from time to time myself ), but here's the answers I believe you are looking for. The book in question is Evermeet. Basically, its the tale of elves in the Forgotten Realms. Early in the book an elven Man-O-War, which is basically a plant-like space ship shaped like a twisted butterfly, is destroyed in orbit above Toril (world of Forgotten Realms). The survivors are saved by a sun elf from Evermeet. The survivors are just "elves", or more likely standard high elves (and maybe a couple of standard gray elves). The significance of these survivors is that they help the elves of Evermeet build their own fleet of spelljammers, 8 ships in all. Spelljammer did not introduce any new subspecies of elves; most are either standard high or gray elves. The way Evermeet was written is that it alternated between a "modern" story set at the current time and tales from the distant past. The next part of your question deals with Lloth and spelljamming. This part of the tale is almost completely unrelated to the group of elves that crashed earlier, other than they both arrived via spelljamming. These events are separated by a good 12,000 years. This second band of elves were driven out of their homeworld by powerful orcs known as the Scro. After their first mention, however, they not play a significant role in the book. They aid in the recent failed invasion of Evermeet that is central to the book, but are left largely in the background. It is assumed they are standard high elves and again, not a new subspecies. The star elves introduced in Unapproachable East have nothing to do with spelljamming. These elves, long ago, crafted a demiplane large enough for their race to hide like a kid under the bed. Recently some new, unnamed power is chasing them out of that hidey-hole so they've returned to Toril. Hope that helps.
#7 kuje31 May 21, 2005 11:35:28	Nightdruid answered you perfectly and I'm just going to add this: Elaine also wrote book 4 of the Cloakmaster Cycle, which is a Spelljammer novel.
#8 dankillroy May 21, 2005 14:17:41	Thanks for the answers Nightdruid. I always thought they were another subrace of elves with abilities that they got from space travel or something. Spelljammer sounds like it is a cool setting. Are there any 3rd edition books for Spelljammer? BTW, where do these elves from space come from? And also, I read a post about Kiaranshalee on the Forgotten Realms Deities thread and she is supposodely originated from a world in that setting. I knew she came from another world and assumed she went to Oerth first before going to Toril when she kicked Orcus's keester. Did she originate from the spelljammer setting?
#9 kuje31 May 21, 2005 17:53:52	Spelljammer is basically all of TSR's worlds together, except for the planes and Ravenloft. The planes are described in Planescape and Ravenloft is a demiplane in the Ethereal plane, which has its own source material. Basically Spelljammer and Planescape were TSR's way of tying the settings together. Spelljammer was in space and you could visit Greyhawk, FR, Dragonlance, and other solar systems using that setting instead of using the planes or Planescape. Spelljammer came out before Planescape but the planes are older then the Spelljammer setting. Planescape and the planes tied all of the settings together. So there are many references of individuals, races, and deities, etc, visiting FR, Dlance, Grayhawk, and other planets and solar systems.
#10 nightdruid May 22, 2005 7:10:08	Spelljammer came and went before making tons of subraces came en vogue. The thing to understand about Spelljammer is that while there was an enormous implied setting, there was little hard material written. Thus, spelljamming elves are assumed to have come from any one of many elven worlds out there, a handful that have been named but not actually detailed. Same with all of the races in spelljamming. The only physical 3e "book" would be "Shadow of the Spider Moon", a minigame in Polyhedron/dungeon magazine a couple of years ago. Reviews are mixed about it, some liking it others hating it. Its a touchy subject, so I'll leave that alone. There are numerous 3e conversions on the web, and can be found on Beyond the Moons, Shattered Fracture, Flitz' site, and probably a few more I'm missing. About the planet Klaransalee came from, I'm not sure its even named, but IIRC it was a drow world and she was a mortal who achieved divine status by killing everything. She was introduced in 2e in Monster Mythology, I believe, and expanded upon in all the various drow sourcebooks. Her story has been muddled a bit, due to conflicting ideas on how to handle the Throne of Bloodstone FR adventure. That adventure revolves around very high (anywhere from 20th to 100th level PCs...it was a 1e blowout adventure) level quest where PCs get the chance to kill Orcus and a number of other evil deities. The official line seems to be that even though PCs are assumed to have killed Orcus, that really didn't kill him, just left him really weak. Ever the opportunist, Klaransalee finished off Orcus while he was basically on his deathbed and seized his realm. He would later return in the Planescape "Dead Gods" line of adventures and proceeded to return home. Klaransalee has vanished, either fled, captured, or dead (most likely ran for her worthless life ;) ). Not sure what her current status is.
#11 kuje31 May 22, 2005 10:25:17	FR material from 2e, and the BOVD, I believe, told what happened to her she basically fled and returned to her own realm since Orcus kicked her out of his realm.
#12 nightdruid May 22, 2005 12:48:21	FR material from 2e, and the BOVD, I believe, told what happened to her she basically fled and returned to her own realm since Orcus kicked her out of his realm. Last I had heard, she had vanished, probably ran for her life. So they didn't kill her off? Wasn't my favorite goddess anyways, so matters not to me
#13 kuje31 May 22, 2005 15:24:08	Last I had heard, she had vanished, probably ran for her life. So they didn't kill her off? Wasn't my favorite goddess anyways, so matters not to me Nope they didn't kill her off and actually in FR she grew in power. She's a lesser power now instead of a demipower.
#14 nightdruid May 23, 2005 11:06:38	Nope they didn't kill her off and actually in FR she grew in power. She's a lesser power now instead of a demipower. Heh, like that's something to brag about...FR gave almost all deities a power-up. :P
#15 kuje31 May 23, 2005 12:49:15	Heh, like that's something to brag about...FR gave almost all deities a power-up. :P To true.