Let's Read Spelljammer Part 2

The Croissantship - crewed by Buttermen

Just want to point out an awesome map of the phlogiston here. That is a map of where every published universe is, in relation to each other. 

Chapter 2: AD&D Rules in Space

Who wants to be a lizard man?

They have three fingers, they're sort of dumb, and they're 5 to 7 feet tall. They're short-tempered and emotional, and they call other races their prey which in their language goes like this: "BreK/qq/zz". That's a direct quote.

They eat a lot. They have natural armor (AC 5... in second edition, low AC is good. A -3 AC is really good. The town drunk has an AC 10). They don't gain a DEX bonus to AC though. They can attack with claw/claw/tail. They live to be 350 years old and can be fighters, thieves and clerics, though racial level restrictions apply.




It's funny... I'd happily play a dragonborn. But there's something very unappealing about playing a lizardman. I don't remember anybody in our games playing one.

Magic Use in Space

A cleric in the phlogiston cannot gain spells above second level. Yowch. Same if the cleric goes to a sphere that his god has no influence in. But if he casts a gate spell in the sphere, that would "afford his deity access to the foreign shell".

You can't summon elementals, planar creatures, etc in the phlogiston.

In the phlogiston, you can't access the planes. Things like armor of etherealness don't work. Portable holes don't work!

Spelljamming

If paladins and rangers can cast spells, they can operate spelljamming helms.

A helm has recesses for your head, hands and feet.

A major helm converts magical ability at a 1 per 2-level rate, rounded up. So if you're a second level caster, your ship's spelljamming rating is a 1 (we get into Spelljammer ratings later on).

A minor helm is a 1 to 3 ratio.

There's also a thing called a crown of the stars. You wear it on your head and it acts as a minor helm. Awesome.

If a caster trying to use a helm has cast any spells that day, his rating goes down by one. Yikes. Using a helm causes you to lose all of your spells until you rest and regain them normally.

My cat's breath smells like cat food

Mind Flayers use special helms. Beholders use a mutated version of their race known as an "orbus" to move their ships. All these little details are making me really excited to run this. Dwarves use strange forges to power their ships (more on this in Chapter 3).


New Spells!

Wizard spells

(lvl 2) Locate Portal: Find the nearest portal on a crystal shell. Most portals are 2-20 days away! Material component - Conch shell. Cue Survivor theme.

(lvl 3) Chill Fire: Can only be cast in the phlogiston. Suppresses the flammable nature of the phlogiston in a 40 yard radius. Component - sliver of glass or ice.

(lvl 3) Enhance Rating: Bump up your helmsman's SR rating by 1-2. You can cast the reverse of this, too. Component - small ivory arrow. Point it up to enhance, down to decrease (not kidding).

(lvl 5) Create Portal: Make an entry into a crystal shell, lasts 2d6 turns. If it ends up closing on you while you're passing through, there's a little chart to roll on. There's a one in ten chance your ship is cut in half, ho ho ho. Component - wire wrapped around a piece of amber.

(lvl 5) Enhance Manueverability: Bump up your ship's manueverability class (dunno what that is yet). Component - vial of wind from an air based world. That's uhh kind of rare.

(lvl 6) Create Minor Helm: Turn a chair into a spelljamming helm! Lasts one week per level.  Component - chair or... stool. Uncomfortable!

(lvl 7) Create Major Helm: Same kind of deal

You know you want to be a SPACE WIZARD

Priest Spells

(lvl 1) Create Air: Generate bubble of fresh air around a person. Can help push out cloudkill or stinking cloud for a second. You can also cast the reverse of this.. destroy air. Awesome. Component - small, stoppered flask.

(lvl 2) Contact Home Power: Lasts one week. Lets you get all your spells! Nice. Component - small horn. Blow it to get your god's attention. Like an air-horn at a sporting event.

(lvl 2) Detect Powers: Cast this outside a crystal shell to see if the gods within are friendly. There's a chart to roll on if the PCs are going to a sphere that the DM has not designed yet, heh heh. Component - handful of sand. Chuck it at the crystal shell.

(lvl 4) Softwood: A spell to preserve those cast adrift in space. You are wrapped in wood and in suspended animation. Dissolves when you hit fresh air. Component - bit of bark.

(lvl 5) Create Minor Helm again

Next time we'll take a look at the ship stats!