Comet
2009-03-08, 09:43 AM
Spelljammer. We all love it. We all want to discuss it. This is the place to do it.
So, anyone still playing any Spelljammer campaigns? With the various 3e conversions, the setting is hardly dead. I personally love it for the same reasons I love Planescape: it feels like fantasy. By that I mean, it's just plain weird. :smallbiggrin:
I haven't actually run any games with this setting yet, but I think I'm going to have to. When thinking about my upcoming game, a couple of questions have arisen that I felt the need to clear up.
The act of Spelljamming itself. Here's what I think it is about, based on the aforementioned 3e sites. Feel feer to correct any obvious errors (I haven't read any of the original 2e sourcebooks).
-Spelljamming is the act of turning magic into motivation energy by means of special "Helms", attached to a vessel.
-Most Helms can only be operated by individuals capable of performing magic (wizards and priests).
-Operating a Helm causes the spellcaster to forget all of his memorized spells.
-When Spelljamming, the pilot basically becomes the ship itself. He gains full awareness over it's surroundings and can feel the ship's damage in the form of white flashes of pain. This metaphysical ship-empathy cannot, however, kill the 'jammer, altough it can send him into a coma up to four days in lenght, if the ship takes sufficient damage.
-Spelljammers are totally cool and fight space pirates 'n stuff.
That sound about right?
Now, for the question itself:
I feel like a spellcaster in charge of moving the party's ship isn't such a fun role for a player. You forget your spells and you have to be linked to the Helm if you want the ship to move at all. And you can't do anything other than move the ship. The ballistae, catapults and other weapons are manned by the crew, so the only thing left for the Spelljammer to do is move the ship around.
The rest of the party get to fling spells at the enemy ships and even jump onboard for some sweet hand-to-hand swasbuckling goodness.
How can I make the act of Spelljamming fun for the player? I've been thinking about letting him take control of the rest of the crew (the redshirts, if you will) and use the heavy weapons of the ship. Any other suggestions to make Spelljamming fun?
Feel free to share any stories, campaign ideas and other goodies, if you have any. I think Spelljammer deserves more attention than it has at the moment.
So, anyone still playing any Spelljammer campaigns? With the various 3e conversions, the setting is hardly dead. I personally love it for the same reasons I love Planescape: it feels like fantasy. By that I mean, it's just plain weird. :smallbiggrin:
I haven't actually run any games with this setting yet, but I think I'm going to have to. When thinking about my upcoming game, a couple of questions have arisen that I felt the need to clear up.
The act of Spelljamming itself. Here's what I think it is about, based on the aforementioned 3e sites. Feel feer to correct any obvious errors (I haven't read any of the original 2e sourcebooks).
-Spelljamming is the act of turning magic into motivation energy by means of special "Helms", attached to a vessel.
-Most Helms can only be operated by individuals capable of performing magic (wizards and priests).
-Operating a Helm causes the spellcaster to forget all of his memorized spells.
-When Spelljamming, the pilot basically becomes the ship itself. He gains full awareness over it's surroundings and can feel the ship's damage in the form of white flashes of pain. This metaphysical ship-empathy cannot, however, kill the 'jammer, altough it can send him into a coma up to four days in lenght, if the ship takes sufficient damage.
-Spelljammers are totally cool and fight space pirates 'n stuff.
That sound about right?
Now, for the question itself:
I feel like a spellcaster in charge of moving the party's ship isn't such a fun role for a player. You forget your spells and you have to be linked to the Helm if you want the ship to move at all. And you can't do anything other than move the ship. The ballistae, catapults and other weapons are manned by the crew, so the only thing left for the Spelljammer to do is move the ship around.
The rest of the party get to fling spells at the enemy ships and even jump onboard for some sweet hand-to-hand swasbuckling goodness.
How can I make the act of Spelljamming fun for the player? I've been thinking about letting him take control of the rest of the crew (the redshirts, if you will) and use the heavy weapons of the ship. Any other suggestions to make Spelljamming fun?
Feel free to share any stories, campaign ideas and other goodies, if you have any. I think Spelljammer deserves more attention than it has at the moment.