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[[File:Spelljammer 4016 2701.jpg|thumb|350px|In the left corner: [[Cthulhumanoid|Mindflayers]]. In the right corner: [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|Neogi and Umber Hulks]]. The winner gets to fight [[Space Elves]].]]
An ''Advanced [[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' setting that adds up to D&D [[Recycled in Space|in
The year was 1989. It was a dark time for gaming. Although the influence of [[The Fundamentalist
But the [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent]] writers hit upon a [[Zany Scheme]]; though they were [[Cosmic Deadline|denied time]] to [[Obvious Beta|playtest the game]], they ''could'' cram the poor thing with as much [[Crazy Awesome
Linking each of then-popular ''D&D''
[[Space Sailing|Flying ships]], called spelljammers (not to be confused with ''the'' Spelljammer, a legendary ship miles in length) [[Space Is an Ocean|traverse wildspace, the void within each sphere]], traveling from world to world (which always seem to support life no matter their distance from the sun). The ship picks up an "air envelope" when it leaves the atmosphere, so breathing is limited by the number of crew and the size of the ship, and gravity is always directed toward the deck from both above and below. And ''outside'' the crystal spheres (accessible through natural portals or transportation magic), lies the Phlogiston (or "the Flow"), a gaseous, highly incendiary substance that's all the colors of the rainbow and lets your ship travel at warp speed as long as you're in one of its currents.
''Spelljammer'' was utterly preposterous, didn't really care one whit about real-world astronomy or physics, and was completely aware of this. Never taking itself all that seriously, it was one of the few inherently ''[[Rule of Fun|fun]]'' games that TSR was permitted to publish in those dark times. [[Zero Punctuation|I'm just going to list out of context some of the things that you will find in Spelljammer]] besides a deliciously crazy mish-mash of everything ''D&D'' had to offer: [[Weird Science]], [[Space Pirate
A parody setting released by the guys who made ''[[Hackmaster]]'', ''HackJammer'', attempted to fit the setting to a well-tested set of rules that made it more playable, but for many it was too little too late.
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A 3rd edition remake of the setting appeared in an issue of ''Dungeon Magazine''. While thematically identical to the original Spelljammer (although with its own default campaign setting limited to a single system), it removes the Phlogiston/Crystal Spheres to replace them with the vacuum of space and star systems/galaxies, with the notable difference that suns are also portals the Elemental Plane of Fire with their own atmospheres and natural satellites (apparently magic still outright ''replaces'' physics). Additionally, a later issue of ''Dragon Magazine'' included 3rd edition versions of popular Spelljammer races. Other than that it was mostly abandoned (no proper products) and left to fans.
Spelljammer
There's one series of novels (''[http://spelljammer.wikia.com/wiki/Cloakmaster_Cycle,_The The Cloakmaster Cycle]''), one short-lived [http://www.comicvine.com/spelljammer/4050-21104/ DC comic book series], and one [[Video Game]] (''Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace'') using this setting. The dedicated fan portal also tracking usenet groups and keeping mirrors of Spelljammer fan-sites that go down is [http://www.spelljammer.org/ spelljammer.org].
In 2022, it was confirmed that a 5th Edition relaunch of the setting would be released sometime in the summer, consisting of (for now) three books and an online supplement.
{{tropelist}}
* [[All Theories Are True]]: Phlogiston! Crystal spheres!
** [[Crossover Cosmology|All Cosmologies Are True]]. Somewhere.
* [[Always Chaotic Evil]]: One of the first major ''D&D'' settings to start playing with this, from Nazi elves, to a community of relatively decent illithids, to a non-evil mutant Beholder bartender.▼
* [[Artificial Gravity]]: Technically, gravity "carpets" on small objects were a natural phenomenon.
* [[Attack of the 50
* [[The Battlestar]]:
** [[Space Fighter]]: The main limitation on such tactics is the cost of power sources for every warboat, thus Wa churn out rudders of propulsion for Locusts, elven Flitters are built upon starfly wings and goblinoid Blades use relatively cheap
* [[Bishie Sparkle]]: The Reigar have this as an inherent part of their physical appearance, to the degree where they have ''weaponized'' it.
* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: Almost anything.
** Even peaceful plants, such as ''starfly'' tree
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: The giffs as a race -
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: The bionoids are basically mass-produced [[Guyver]] units, right down to the chest cannon.
** And [[Gamera|Gammaroids]], if the name doesn't qualify them as a [[Shout-Out]].
* [[Colony Drop]]: Not typically, but still, it's considered a possibility.
{{quote|
'''Skrund the Bald''', Undermarshall for Pan-Goblin Affairs, New Trollmoor: If we could find some way to tow that old dwarven citadel so that it was heading right for New Waterdeep, we'd be rid of those damned humans in an eyeblink. We'd probably do best to contact some pirates or monsters to do the work for us. }}
* [[Crossover]]: Spelljammer crosses over with [[Dragonlance]], the [[Forgotten Realms]], [[Greyhawk]], and it can crossover with [[Planescape]], but the two rarely if ever did because they were both ways for adventurers to visit different worlds. The setting has the potential to crossover with [[Ravenloft]] even, as it has been noted that the Mists can appear even in Wildspace, but the two have never really crossed over due to Spelljammer being a much goofier setting than [[Ravenloft]].
* [[Crossover Cosmology]]: Any imaginable cosmology is likely to be implemented in at least one crystal sphere. Somewhere.
* [[Death From Above]]: Averted. A flying weapon platform obviously could have an enormous advantage over groundlings, but spelljammers are
** An example
* [[Ditzy Genius]]: Tinker gnomes; they love to build things, but stuff they build rarely works the way they intended.
* [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]]: The distribution of Fire (suns) and Earth (planets) especially, determined the structure of a system, and the fact that Air tended to "stick" to objects and people made interplanetary and inter-sphere travel possible.
* [[The Empire]]: The campaign-length adventure ''Under the Dark Fist'' introduced the Vodoni Empire, a totalitarian and expansionist human empire that controlled no less than twelve solar systems.
* [[The Emperor]]: Vulkaran the Dark, overlord of the Vodoni Empire.
* [[Everything's Better with Penguins]]: Spelljammer has the Dohwar, a race of telepathic, merchant penguins [[Recycled in Space|in SPACE]], who ride flying pigs, wear swords on their beaks, and get drunk by eating apples.
▲* [[
* [[Expy]]: A lot of the races are recycled from the aliens from TSR's earlier sci-fi RPG, ''Star Frontiers''. Rastipedes are based on ''Star Frontiers'''s vrusk, hadozee are yazirians, syllix are sathar, and plasmoids are dralasites.▼
** Played straight with the neogi, however. They are universally despised, and one of the few races the arcane refuse to deal with. Their only real allies are the illithids.
▲* [[Expy]]: A lot of the races are recycled from the aliens from TSR's earlier sci-fi RPG, ''[[Star Frontiers]]''. Rastipedes are based on
* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Not much, given [[Loads and Loads of Races]], but still.
** There's human organization Xenos, guys who hate all other races.
** Elven Imperial Navy are generally benign, but are haughty enough to annoy everyone else (Sindiath Line's readiness to receive less belligerent elves upkeeps this status quo). After which they are loudly aggrieved that it was ''Unhuman'' War.
*** The branch on the Spelljammer is outright genocidal
** Normal gnomes tend to think that tinker gnomes make the whole race look like clowns; a few of them even go so far as to hunt down tinker gnomes' "[[Rube Goldberg Device|ships]]" to wipe this dishonour off the space lanes. It's not that tinker gnomes weren't generally nice guys, but since [[MacGyvering|minoi]] [[Military Mashup Machine|mashup]] [[Homemade Inventions|machines]] are plain dangerous for any settlements they may try to land at, those who break them up before they fall on people's heads are [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|at least as likely to be approved as condemned]].
** Beholders ''always'' run on this trope, but here they can engage in their pointless race wars in full view of everyone else with entire fleets going at it.
* [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]]: and admits this (and encourages in others):
{{quote|
** Dracons apparently come from an illustration (by Dan Beard) for ''[[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]]'', of all things. [http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/image/beard-they-thought-i-was-one-of-those-fire-belching-dragons Behold].
* [[Forgotten Superweapon]]: Second Unhuman War has elements of the Forgotten Super Arms Race, so to speak.
* [[Gentle Giant]]:
* [[Good Guy Bar]]: The World Serpent Inn mentioned in several sourcebooks was built in its own demiplane by an archmage from [[Forgotten Realms|Toril]], [[Spelljammer|Arcane]] and [[Cthulhumanoid|Illithid]] as a [[Truce Zone|neutral ground]] when Sigil turned out to be too violent and inconvenient for quiet business and rest. Not only is it connected to many worlds, but is accessible to powers, and some gods visit it to relax and chat with creatures they deem interesting. It's a [[Good Guy Bar]] since no one wants to annoy peacefully grazing deities, and some clients in a common room ''can'' turn out to be gods on a tea-break. And even if there aren't any, [[The Bartender]] is an avatar himself -- if some god just likes to meet new people and thinks it's funny, why not?▼
** Radiant Golems. Unlike most golems, these giant metal constructs are intelligent, and continually wander the universe looking for... [[The Unsolved Mystery| something.]] While they are strong enough to flatten most foes in one punch, they are pacifists, usually fleeing if threatened with violence. Bluntly referred to as "orphans" in the manual, they seek acceptance and companionship, but sadly, as their name implies, [[Poisonous Person| they are radioactive]] and [[Power Incontinence| their mere presence can kill organic beings]] (possibly why their creators perished), making them [[Tragic Monster]]s.
* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: Scro vs. IEN frequently approaches this. Scro are [[Lawful Evil]] but honorable in their own way and elves are theoretically Good Guys, but they're official [[Jerkass|jerks]] who frequently poke into other people's business. Both think that a piratical attack on a neutral party is perfectly acceptable if there's a little chance to get the strategical advantage from it. In the ''Cloakmaster Cycle'' some IEN guys even topped it with a random murder just to show they're serious about it. While acting offended that others weren't too eager to join their side in the First Unhuman War, no less. Both try to control all the wildspace as they see fit; and as far as other races are concerned, neither the idea of bloodthirsty scro collecting tribute nor excitable haughty elves snooping around makes for a particularly ideal situation. ▼
** A Great Dreamer is a colossal space whale so huge that it makes sperm whales look like sardines in comparison. It does not like to fight unless its subjects (other whales) are threatened, and it rarely has to. Anyone who even sees a Great Dreamer will likely succumb to its aura and be so fascinated by it's majesty that they would be unable to take any action until it leaves.
▲* [[Good Guy Bar]]: The World Serpent Inn mentioned in several sourcebooks was built in its own demiplane by an archmage from [[Forgotten Realms|Toril]],
▲* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: Scro vs. IEN frequently approaches this. Scro are [[Lawful Evil]] but honorable in their own way and elves are theoretically Good Guys, but they're official [[Jerkass|jerks]] who frequently poke into other people's business. Both think that a piratical attack on a neutral party is perfectly acceptable if there's a little chance to get the strategical advantage from it. In the ''Cloakmaster Cycle'' some IEN guys even topped it with a random murder just to show they're serious about it. While acting offended that others weren't too eager to join their side in the First Unhuman War, no less. Both try to control all the wildspace as they see fit; and as far as other races are concerned, neither the idea of bloodthirsty scro collecting tribute nor excitable haughty elves snooping around makes for a particularly ideal situation.
* [[Honest John's Dealership]]: Rastipede. They are also eager to [[Snake Oil Salesman|take an advantage of a client's gullibility]] while sticking with the letter of bargain only. Arcane are even greater traders, but they are reliable... though not above using rastipede go-betweens while knowing their habits.
** Dohwar peddlers try to do the same, but end up as a [[Plucky Comic Relief]]
* [[Human Resources]]: The infamous
* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Elven Spirit Warriors, giant undead artificially-grown insect bodies controlled by a pilot in the torso.
* [[I Am Not Shazam]]: Sort of--''the Spelljammer'' is a legendary [[Living Ship]], ''spelljamming'' helms are the [[Applied Phlebotinum|phlebotinum]] that powers space travel, and ''spelljammers'' can refer to ships (usually just "'jamming vessels") or sailors (as opposed to [[Talk Like a Pirate|landlubbers]], er, ''groundlings''). Or only helmsmen.
{{quote|
* [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons]]: You certainly can't have a Dungeons & '''Dragons''' setting without Dragons, and this setting has two of the most awesome, the Sun Dragon and Moon Dragon. The Sun Dragon's breath weapon is basically spitting a small star at its foes, while the Moon Dragon can command and control lycanthropes. The color of their scales also change much like the phases of a moon; when in "new moon" stage, they are lucid, very intelligent and possibly friendly, but not very powerful (compared to other dragons) while in its "full moon" stage, its power is near godlike, but it is also [[Axe Crazy|completely out of its gourd]] to the point of being an engine of raw destruction.
* [[Living Ship]]: Though, technically, this was supposed to refer almost exclusively to the titular Spelljammer, it is applicable in a much less interesting fashion to the Elven vessels, which are shaped from a living spacefaring plant. Reigar Esthetics are more potentially dangerous as a lifeform, though just as mindless. Borderline cases are Tick
* [[Loads and Loads of Races]]: That's a lot of people collected from most D&D setting and then some more.
{{quote|
* [[MacGyvering]]: Nearly ''everything'' ever made by tinker gnomes.
* [[Mad Artist]]: The Reigar. [[Planet of Hats|Every last one]]. Add a spoon of [[Mad Scientist]] and two drops of [[Parody Sue]], shake until it tastes great and mildly scary.
* [[Mad Doctor]]: [[X Meets Y|meets]] [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] in the Xixchil. An ideal choice to acquaint all [[
* [[Made a Slave]]: This will ''definitely'' happen to anyone taken alive by the neogi, an evil race of bug-like creatures who first appeared in this setting, but now appear elsewhere. Turning other races into slaves [[Planet of Hats| is their hat]], so to speak, and powerful neogi even do it to weaker neogi. They view the whole universe in terms of ownership: in their culture, the strong possess and dominate the weak.
* [[Made of Phlebotinum]]: This [[Verse|setting]] as a whole.
* [[Magitek]]: Crops up here and there, with the likes of Autognomes (whose malfunctions can be either hilarious or horrifying), and Clockwork Horrors, a race of mechanical spider-like robots that can strip a world of all life over a couple centuries.
* [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]]
* [[The Multiverse]]: The characters travel between Crystal Spheres, each containing a solar system or some variant thereof. Basically, [[Crossover Cosmology|every]] non-scientific legend of what the stars and planets are wind up being literally true in at least one crystal sphere. Additionally, ''Spelljammer'' took place within the greater multiverse featured in ''[[Planescape]]''.
* [[Monster Progenitor]]: The Great Dreamer is a giant space whale surrounded by a small ocean, and is so huge, it has an entourage of Leviathans (which in most settings, are giant whales averaging about 300ft long. Supposedly, the Great Dreamers are the progenitors of ''all'' cetaceans ''everywhere.'' It is [[The Maker]] of all whales.
* [[Moral Event Horizon]]: Using [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|Witchlight Marauders]]. Or just living a normal life of a Neogi (surprisingly, it's not so simple even with [[Brain Food|mindflayers]]).
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Lots of. See also the footnote on [[Attack of the 50
* [[Organic Technology]]: Several, elves are best known, as the creators of [[Person of Mass Destruction|Bionoids]] and [[Living Ship|transport modifications]] of ''starfly'' plant (gadabout, flitter/man-o-war/armada). Reigar at least made their Esthetics and changed Lakshu to their current form. Goblinoid races once made [[Horde of Alien Locusts|Witchlight Marauders]].
* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same]]: They live in giant
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: The Imperial Elven Navy was a vast but loose empire of elves made up of almost every known subrace from many ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|D&D]]'' settings. The IEN was a sovereign entity with its own leadership, but it kept groundling elf nations in touch with each other.
** The Spacefaring Elves had the unpleasant characteristics of their landbound cousins turned [[Up to Eleven]]. They were haughty, aloof, snobbish and though of everyone else as semi-civilized smelly yokels. They were supposed to play the role that the Spanish/British Navy do play in swashbuckling fiction.
{{quote|
'''Teldin''': [[Properly Paranoid|"Captain"?]]
'''Rozloom''': This one calls you "sir". ''An elf shows you respect? If you are not great captain, you must be small god''. }}
* [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder]]:
* [[Our Orcs Are Different]]: The [[Sdrawkcab Name|scro]]
** They were the result of goblinkind races being almost totally expunged from the spelljamming space by the Elven Armadas and hence
* [[Our Monsters Are Different]]: There were whole new manuals about D&D species adapted to "Wildspace", and a few unique to the setting.
** Mindflayers and Beholders, already moderately popular in normal settings, were elevated to new heights of
* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]:
* [[Proud Merchant Race]]: The Arcane. They sell nearly anything (mostly expensive things, including Helms) and will sell to almost anyone. Later appeared in ''[[Planescape]]'' as the "Mercane".
* [[Rube Goldberg Device]]: Nearly ''everything'' ever made by tinker gnomes.
* [[Rule of Cool]]: This trumps science every time. Though [[Magic
** Say What? There IS a planet full of giant lizards which are treated as the Tarrasque. EVERY. ONE. OF. THEM. And did I mention said planet is full of them?
*** The ''good'' news is that they're completely docile lithovores... as long as they stay on that planet. It's suggested that the more familiar versions of the Tarrasque are what happen when they're relocated to other worlds, with atmospheres that '''don't''' keep them from going homicidally insane.
* [[Sapient Ship]]: "''the'' [[Title Drop|Spelljammer]]". It also spawns little cute
* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: [[Our Orcs Are Different|Scro]].
* [[Secondary Fire]]: Catapults can throw stones - or scattershot. Jettisons can throw scattershot - or dump debris fields.
* [[Short-Range Shotgun]]: Jettisons, special anti-personnel weapons that fire slow clouds of debris. A good thing to use on pursuers ready for boarding, but useless in long range combat.
* [[Shout-Out]]: [http://www.spelljammer.org/ships/deckplans/Dolphin.gif Dolphin]: the ship with a detachable shuttle on top of an extended curved "neck"? Hmm, [[Star Trek|what]] this strange construction could possibly [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost16057E-PlotDevices%2Ejpg resemble]?..
**
* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: The Spelljammer itself.
* [[Space Is Magic]]: Literally.
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* [[Space Pirates]]: Naturally. One variety is the "Pirates of Gith", who use hit-and-run tactics including temporarily shifting to another plane of existence.
* [[Space Sailing]]
* [[Space Whale]]:
** and giant space hamsters
* [[Space X]]: Many variant monsters. The best known would likely be "giant space hamster" thanks to the nod in [[Baldur's Gate]].
* [[Unit Confusion]]: More than a whole army of umber hulks could make. Those "space tons", dagnabbit. In one [[Sourcebook]] a mass of 1 ton allows an atmosphere of 100 cu.yd. of air, in another it means body's own displacement of 100 cu.yd., so...
* [[Villainous Glutton]]: An Astereater is beholder-kin that looks like a giant beholder made of stone without eyestalks; they aren't too bright, their only goal being to eat anything and everything it encounters. It can't digest metal, so a crew brave enough and strong enough to slay one could conceivably gain a fortune in treasure that has wound up in its stomach, but this is ''much'' easier said than done.
* [[Viral Transformation]]: Aside of usual ([[The Undead]]): Bionoid, an artifical [[Shapeshifting]] [[Person of Mass Destruction]] can also be created by infection, as some eggs are still stashed here and there. Did we already mentioned that [[Neglectful Precursors|elves are nice guys]]?
** For added subtext, the Bionoids are clearly an [[Expy]] of or [[Shout-Out]] to [[Guyver]].
* [[The Wall Around the World]]: Crystal shells.
* [[Weapon of Mass Destruction]]: Witchlight
*** There are mentions of beholders building a giantic weapon resembling an eye the size of a small moon. This eye was capable of destroying entire worlds...
* [[Weird Science]]: The ''gnomes''! Who happen to be a branch of the tinker gnomes from ''[[Dragonlance]]'' who found a way into space but never found a way back down...
* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Most humans -
{{quote|'''[[Roma|aperusa]]''' (ending a discussion on the elven view of [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-elves]] to [[Crowning Moment of Funny|
{{quote| '''[[Person of Mass Destruction|bionoid]]''': Because we are living beings and not intelligent, undead weapons, the elves consider us a mistake. Elves, as a rule, prefer not to acknowledge their mistakes.<br />▼
** ...which, of course, usually "helps" to unite even more people in disliking them than their more aggressive actions.
▲'''[[Roma|aperusa]]''' (ending a discussion on the elven view of [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-elves]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|to follow a lady from IEN crew]]): Ah, but hypocrisy is a wonderful thing in an elven woman! My apologies, Captain, [[Lampshaded Double Entendre|but you understand]]? }}
▲{{quote|
* [[A Wizard Did It]]: The setting ''runs'' on this trope. As one source book put it, "It's magic, and it ''[[Magic
* [[World Shapes]]: All and any. ''Mostly'', planets in solar systems, but even these got tons of quirks.
----
* [[Clingy MacGuffin]]: The Cloak that Teldin Moore gets at the beginning of ''The Cloakmaster Cycle''.
* [[Cool Horse]]: Comet steeds. A timid herbivore (after all, they would need to fight only something they can't outrun). Rather smart -
* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]: In the First Unhuman War at least one planet was blasted into asteroid cluster. By elves, of course (the Shattering of Borka). The Reigar blew up their homeworld in [[Mad Artist|some sort of performance]].
* [[Farm Boy]]: Teldin Moore, well, he is not exactly a boy anymore, being in his early thirties when the first book begins, but he still fits the trope.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: And not just any, but a half-''[[Dragonlance|kender]]''.
* [[Hollow World]]: Herdspace, described in ''The Maelstrom's Eye'' by Roger E. Moore got an inhabitable landscape on its internal surface. Oh, it's rather small... for a crystal sphere.
* [[I
* [[Magnetic Plot Device]]: an Ultimate Helm.
** That's the magic item that lets you control ''the'' Spelljammer, for those of you who don't know.
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