Space

Wildspace is what comes to mind when we talk of "Space." It is the vast emptiness that lies between the planets and the stars. All the celestial bodies within a Crystal Sphere float in the airless void called Wildspace. Conventional (meaning "those that take place on the material plane") interplanetary journeys around a solar system take place within Wildspace. The regions of Wildspace are primarily airless vacuums, but the cosmos is large and vast with plenty of exceptions to the rules. Wildspace is not truly a void, although it is often referred to in that way. There is plenty to explore and conquer. Adventure is the only constant.

Space Travel

Space travel is hard to grasp by most groundlings. They look up at the skies and see a vast emptiness of infinite beauty.

Spelljamming ships can be made of anything: normal, sea-faring galleons; gargantuan, mutated bodies of Beholders; ships grown in a vast forest-turned-dry-dock; bones of long-dead dragons; contraptions made from junkyards and bound together by rubber-bands; the splinters and masts of defeated ships; or even the very mountains themselves. What makes them a Spelljamming ship is the Spelljamming Helm, whether permanently bolted down, or temporarily there.

On Spelljamming Helms

Ships travel through Wildspace by means of the Spelljamming Helm - a magical device which converts mystical energy into motive force; ie. the "push" that moves a Spelljamming ship. This allows rapid movement from planet to planet. Some of the specifics vary from race-to-race, and ship-to-ship; While the helm provides the push forward, the crew provides the maneuvering, stopping, and docking.

A Helm can be made to look like almost anything: A lofty perch made of hard oak, with pillows in the seat and back, and topped with gold filigree; a sleek, futuristic chair made of obsidian and lined with purple silks; a large leaf, elegantly grown into position and automatically shaping to fit it's user; a meditation bench, as simplistic in style as it is in make; or a large uncomfortable iron throne constructed from the swords of a defeated army. How a Helm looks will speak volumes about both its creator, as well as its user. All will function the same and provide the necessary focus point to move about space. Generally, it's installed onto the Bridge of a ship, away from prying eyes and (more importantly) attacks.

There are many sorts of basic Spelljammer Helms: Minor and Major. All Helms require the user’s Concentration to function, as if the user were concentrating on a spell. Due to the Concentration required, no more than eight hours can be spent at a time using this device by one caster. Attempts to "push through" may cause one point of exhaustion (as per the rules for a forced march in chapter 8 of the Player's Handbook).

Other sorts of rare or advanced Helms include:

• Lifejammers - These helms suck the very life from the user to power a vessel and perform special maneuvers.
• Orbus - Mutated and specially grown Beholder-kin, used by the various Beholder races to provide movement to their otherworldly vessels.
• Artiforge - This device is installed in a ships core and provides the force necessary for movement throughout space without a helmsman. This does require a forgemaster and a portion of the crew forging to ensure proper upkeep and use of the forge itself. As this doubles as a blacksmiths forge for creating weapons and armor, a certain output of those forge-created items is needed in order to keep the fire burning and the ship moving forward.
• Sequence Helms - This helm type allows for multiple characters to contribute to the overall Speed of a vessel, but halves a single user's contribution to the overall Ship speed. Helm Rating - detailed on the next page - is calculated normally, then halved, rounded down. The number of Sequence helms able to contribute to the ship speed on a single vessel is unlimited.
• Rare and otherwise legendary Helms allow full casting while simultaneously piloting the ship, remote control of a ship, full movement about the vessel, and much more!

Any character may use a helm, though only one character may use a single helm at a time. Attunement to the helm requires a short rest to ensure that the adventurer understands how to concentrate properly and convert their innate magical energy into ship movement. It takes one action to activate, and one action to deactivate the Helm. Characters with the Spellcasting, Ki, and Pact Magic class features can use additional abilities of the helm, listed later in this document.

Exhausted characters attempting to use a Helm reduce the total Speed of the ship by the number of exhaustion points they have attained. After 48 continuous hours on the Helm, regardless of the ship's current Speed or the number of exhaustion points gained, the individual using the Helm will pass out and be unable to use the Helm again until they complete a Long Rest.

While using the Helm to power a ship the helmsman is unable to cast a spell that requires concentration, and is considered restrained. The individual seated upon the Helm can talk and act normally, but cannot leave the Helm while the ship is in motion.

While piloting, the Helmsman can observe her surroundings normally, but also gains an awareness of the space around the ship. As an action, you can see from any point in or on the ship until the start of your next turn. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

Determining Helm Rating

Use the table below to determine your Helm Rating to spellcaster level ratio when determining the ships overall Speed when using a helm to pilot a ship. A Minor Helm grants a 1:3 ratio of Helm Rating to spellcaster level, and a Major Helm grants a 1:2 ratio of Helm Rating to spellcaster level. This is similar to determining your spell slots when multiclassing, but all classes are able to provide motive force when using a helm to pilot a ship (Players handbook p.163-164)

Add together all your levels in the Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorceror, Warlock, and Wizard classes, half your levels (rounded down) in the Paladin, Monk, Ranger, Mystic, and Artificer classes, and a third of the levels taken in Fighter or Rogue classes (rounded down) if you have the Eldritch Knight or the Arcane Trickster archetype. Characters with levels in classes that do not grant the Spellcasting, Pact Magic, Psionics, or Ki abilities divide by four (rounded down, a minimum of 1) to determine Helm Rating.

Example 1: A 10th level wizard using a Minor Helm will have a spellcaster level of 10, and that same character grants a Helm Rating of 3 to the overall ship speed.

Example 2: A character that has multiclassed a 5th-level bard and a 3rd-level barbarian will have a spellcaster level of 6, and that same character using a Major Helm will grant a Helm Rating of 3 to the overall Speed.

Example 3: A character that has multiclassed a 6th level warlock and an 8th level paladin will have a spellcaster level of 10, and that same character using a Major Helm will grant a Helm Rating of 5 to the overall Speed.

Ship Terminology

Armor Class (AC)- Difficulty of hitting a ship and dealing damage to the ship when striking it.
Beam Length- This is the measurement of the widest part of the ship from port to starboard (left to right). Important when dealing with gravity and the air pocket that surrounds a ship.
Crew Min/Max- These two numbers indicate the minimum number of crew required to operate the ship and maximum occupancy of the ship before air reduction becomes an issue.
Damage Threshold (DT)- An object with a damage threshold has immunity to all damage unless it takes an amount of damage from a single attack or effect equal to or greater than it’s DT, in which case it takes damage as normal. Any damage that fails to meet or exceed the object’s damage threshold is considered superficial and doesn’t
reduce the object’s hull points. All Ships
and Siege Weapons are immune to
Poison and Psychic damage.
Helm Type- This indicates what type
of Spelljammer Helm can be used to
run the ship. Most ships can be run
off either a Major or Minor Helm,
but others may require a special type
of Helm not listed here.
Hull Points (HP)- Hull points for
ships are identical to Hit Points
for characters and monsters. They
measure the amount of damage the ship
can sustain before
it is destroyed.
Keel Length- This is the length
of the ship from fore to aft
(front to back). Important
when dealing with
gravity and the air pocket
that surrounds a ship.

Maneuverability
Rating (MR)- Your ships ability to turn, accelerate, and maneuver with the ship alone. Takes into account sails, rigging, size, weight, and other aerodynamic capacities.
Standard Armaments- This is the amount and type of weaponry that can be installed on a ship. Ship weapons range from medium-size weapons such as Light ballista to Large-size weapons such as a trebuchet.
Tonnage- This is a measure of the physical displacement that a spelljamming ship takes up. For each ton, you can consider the ship taking up 300 cubic feet of space. This displacement influences the amount of breathable air surrounding a ship in wildspace, and 300 cubic feet of space allows one medium sized creature to comfortably breathe for four months. Lastly, tonnage is used in determining the dimensions of the ship itself, crew size, and cargo limit. This is not a measure of the ships weight. The actual dimensions of the ship are unimportant.
Type/Name- This is the name or type of your Spelljammer ship.

Siege Weaponry

A siege weapon is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city or castle walls and other fortifications. Most groundling-based siege weapons are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others are wheeled to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. That being said, siege weaponry have been adopted to Space Warfare with fervor. All Siege weapons mounted on Spelljamming ships are on 360° rotating turrets, and may fire in any direction regardless of the facing of a ship. Before it can be fired, all siege weapons must be loaded and aimed. A Load, Aim, and Fire action are done using one Ship Action taken by the Gunner.

                 For Siege Weaponry statistics, please see the                      Seige Weapons table, Page 22

                Ballista- A Ballista is a massive crossbow that              fires heavy bolts. Before it can be fired, it must be       loaded and aimed. A Load, Aim, and Fire action are done                               using one Ship Action taken by the Gunner.

                                   In atmosphere near a planetoid, the                                           Light Ballista has a 120/480 ft range,                                           and a Heavy Ballista has a 240/960 ft range.

                                       Gnomish Sweeper- A Gnomish                                           Sweeper is a pair of light ballistas                                        with a shared, common mount so that                                                    they can be fired in the same                                                 direction at the same time. The                                              two blunt bolts from these ballistas                                        are linked with a heavy chain (similar                                     in image to nunchaku). The intention of                                  the chain is to be used as an antipersonnel weapon against enemy crews.

A Gnomish Sweeper affects all targets in a 10-foot square. It will continue on into the next 10 foot square away from the ship firing it unless it meets with a large, unmovable object, which cause the Sweeper Bolts to drop to the deck. In addition, every target within the 10-foot square is forced to make a Reflex save (DC 13). On failure, the targets fall prone and gain the grappled condition. The Gnomish Sweeper does not inflict hull damage with the Sweeper Rounds, but can be used as a dual Light Ballista in a crunch, with the same requirements for crew as two Light Ballistas (the weapon does not fire unless both bolts are loaded).

In atmosphere near a planetoid, the Gnomish Sweeper has a 300/1,200 ft range.

Trebuchet- A Trebuchet is a powerful catapult that throws its payload in a high arc. A trebuchet typically hurls a heavy stone. However, it can launch other kinds of projectiles, such as barrels of oil or sewage, with different effects.

In atmosphere near a planetoid, the Light Trebuchet has a 300/1,200 ft range, and the Heavy Trebuchet has a 500/1,500 ft range.

Time in Space

In general, time between two planetary bodies can be figured as:

• Time for take off (in rounds) +
• Time to escape gravity well (in rounds) +
• Time to cover distance to next planet (rounds, minutes, days, weeks, or months, as appropriate) +
• Time to land (in rounds)

Ship Combat

There are times when diplomacy comes to an end, and conflict begins. Most groundlings fight hand-to-hand with sword, shield, and magic; horse, army, and castle. This is not so in the depths of space, as there's no field in the field-of-battle, just airless void and the ships you see before you. Siege weaponry has adapted quite well to the depths of space, and is used quite effectively.

At the beginning of combat, you roll initiative for each ship rather than each party member. Ship initiative is modified by the initiative of the character at the Helm, and any addition that the crew provides. If combat becomes hand-to-hand, roll for character initiative normally. A combat round lasts 1 minute (60 seconds) in ship-to-ship tactical combat. Hand-to-hand combat rounds last 6 seconds.

Some victors of extraplantary combat will sift through the debris of broken ships for prisoners, slaves, and loot, while others will abandon them. It’s possible for survivors to lash up some of the vessel to create a Temporary ship to save themselves with a Helm and air pocket, but they must act quickly!

Gravity

The reason everything drags its own atmosphere around through space is gravity. This is also the reason why people can stand on a space sailing ship without falling off its deck and can stand on a spherical planet without falling off the bottom side. Every body in space has its own gravity. Gravity is an accommodating force in that its direction seems to be "that which is most convenient." In an object the size of a planet, gravity is directed toward a point at the center of the sphere so that people can stand anywhere on the surface, and dropped objects fall perpendicular to the surface. In smaller objects, like spacecraft, gravity is not a central point but rather a plane or line which cuts horizontally through the object to the end of the air envelope. Gravity itself is conveniently an all-or-nothing proposition. Either it is there at full strength or it is not there at all (though there are exceptions to every rule, per DM discretion).

Significantly, this gravity plane is two-directional; it attracts from both top and bottom. A sailor can actually stand on the bottom of the ship's hull and move around as easily as if she was walking on deck. In this case, what was "down" on the deck is actually "up", back toward the plane of gravity that cuts through the ship. One of the stranger side effects of all this is that an object falling off the side of a Spelljammer can oscillate back and forth across the plane of gravity, falling first in one direction until it crosses the plane, then reversing direction and falling back across the plane again, and so on until something causes it to stop. To a person standing on the deck, the object appears to fall down, then up, then down, then up, and so forth.

Along the plane an object is weightless, but it is slowly pushed out toward the edge of the gravity field. Therefore, a creature that falls overboard that couldn't find a hold or isn't tied down, would eventually come to rest at the ship's plane of gravity, and would then begin drifting away from the ship along that plane toward the edge of the air envelope. On reaching the end of the gravity plane (at the very edge of the air envelope) she is pushed out and left behind as the ship moves away. This movement takes place at a rate of 5 feet per round. Aside from this slight push, there is no relative motion of a ship within its air envelope, aside from turning. A ships air envelop does not turn with the ship when it turns, but objects in the ships air envelope do not drift toward the rear of the ship simply because the ship is moving forward.

When gravity planes intersect (such as when two ships pass each other, or when a ship passes a planetoid), the gravities of both ships remain in effect, regardless of size, up to the point where they physically intersect. An object is under the influence of whichever gravity plane it is closest to. A character could leap between two passing ships, altering her down direction as she crosses the midpoint between the two.

When two ships come into direct contact, the gravity of the ship with the higher tonnage is dominant and becomes the gravity for both ships. A large mind flayer vessel could ram a smaller ship from directly above and spin the smaller ship's gravity plane by 90 degrees, causing everything on the rammed ship to tumble toward the large ship's plane of gravity, probably with disasterous results.

A weightless character who enters the air envelope of a larger body is immediately affected by the pull of gravity on that body. She effectively falls the distance from where she entered to the surface of the body or to the gravity plane, whichever is closer. Normal falling damage is applied, as well as massive damage rules. When the drop is more than one mile, there is also danger of the subject heating up and igniting from friction with the air. This happens after one mile of uncontorlled descent. The falling object catches fire and takes normal damage from fire as well as falling damage. Any sort of control over speed and descent (flight, levitation, feather fall, etc) negates this effect.

Characters who are weightless can move under familiar laws of physics - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. A drifting fighter may move by throwing her equpiment in the opposite direction. Max movement is half-speed when acting this way. Combat in a weightless environment is difficult and foreign to creatures used to fighting in normal environments, and any attack roll or saving throw using STR, DEX, or CON is made at disadvantage.

Feats

Celestial Mechanics

Traveling in a straight line, Spelljamming ships can attain extremely high velocity relatively quickly, spanning the great emptiness between planets in a short time. On the other hand, planets and other space-bourne bodies move relatively slow; so slowly that they can be thought of as being a fixed point on a map, similar to a town on any overworld map you may have seen previously. You can think of mapping the star chart of Wildspace itself similarly to a massive Dungeon as well; treating rooms as stars and planets, rubble as asteroid fields, stairs as wormholes, etc. This chapter will help you create the star systems to fill your campaigns.

Whether operating under Newtonian physics, riding on the back of giant turtles, or rolling across a velvet pool table of the gods, most planets behave in a similar fashion. There are systems where the planets operate in a totally chaotic manner, as well as those where the planets are truly unmoving points in the night sky. There are crystal shells so small that they contain only a single world. There are shells which contain one single flat disk that extends to the very edges of the sphere, and spheres which may contain more spheres. Most systems have a central fire world (think Sol, the star of our solar system), and all planets will be rotating around that central fire world. Use the rules below to help create the Crystal Shells in your game.

2. Primary Body

The Primary Body of a Crystal Shell is the central point of a Crystal Sphere. Think of this like a star. Usually, it is a fire body like the Sun of our solar system, but other possibilities may occur that can be interesting points in your campaign.

A Liveworld is a living being, the size of a planet, that sits as the center of a Crystal Sphere.

If a Portal to an Outer Plane is rolled, Roll 1d8 and use the chart below to determine the plane that exists on the other end of the portal. Optionally, the DM may create a plane of her choosing.

You can read more about other Planes by referring to the Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 2.

3. Number of Planets

Roll 2d10 to determine the number of planets in the system. You may also choose to replace one of the planets with an asteroid field.

You may want to have more planets or a single planet in the system you create. The DM is advised to use her discretion in determining how many planets each galaxy contains - too many planets may be difficult to keep track of.

4. Orbits and Placement

Standard systems orbiting around a Primary body have a perfectly circular orbit (This is to keep with our simple random generation theme). In order to place our planets in this system easily, we have 100 circular "rings", stepping increasingly away from the Primary Body in 50 million mile (A half-days of travel) increments; Planets and other space-bourne bodies can only appear on these rings, and the rings represent their orbital trajectory around the Primary Body.

A Spelljamming ship in Wildspace travels at 100 million miles in a 24 hour period (about 4 million miles per hour). This means that, from the Primary Body to the closest point on the first "ring", it will take 12 hours of uninterruped travel in a Spelljamming ship. From the Primary Body to the closest point of the final "ring" (Ring number 100), it takes 50 days of uninterrupted travel in a Spelljamming ship.

For each of the planets created, roll a D100 to determine what ring you will place it on. If you roll the same number twice, you can choose to either re-roll or move the planet to an adjacent ring. Keep in mind that familiarity breeds contempt, and neighboring planets may not be on the best of terms . . .

5. Planet statistics

There are six sizes of Celestial bodies, listed as Size A through F. They are referred to as Tiny (A), Small (B), Medium (C), Large (D), Huge (E), and Gargantuan (F).

Earth, and most Earth-like fantasy campaigns, are Size C.

A Celestial body containing a gravity well and/or atmosphere is any body of 10 tons or greater space displacement (300 cubic feet, or a cube slightly less than 14 feet on a side). Small items such as Rowboats and Elvish Flitters which rate under 10 tons do not have this effect. The bright star at the very center is a planet of pure fire. The block of ice on the outermost edge is also a planet. The systems you generate do not have to make sense in a "Goldilocks Zone" fashion.

Roll 1d6 on the table below to determine planet size:

Planet Shape

When a Spelljamming ship encounters a planet, the planet will also have a prevailing terrain type, largely determined by its overall planetary conditions. Roll twice on the table below to determine a generalized, overall planetary condition; Your first roll will be the "Main" condition type, and the second roll will be a "Sub" condition, to give you ideas on how to flavor the worlds that fill your skies. Remember that civilization will thrive in many conditions, and adventure should be able to happen anywhere to keep your players interested.

Planet Conditions

For example, a Water/Earth planet may generate the Earth we know in our solar system, and an Earth/Fire planet may generate the Mars we know in our solar system. In the case of rolling the same type of conditions for both the Main- and Sub-type, the condition that's rolled would be overwhelmingly abundant on the planet, such as a planet made entirely of water or jungle.

For each planet in your galaxy roll 1d12 on the table below:

Moons

6. Population and Technology

When players enter a dungeon room, they are able to ascertain information from the various objects in the room. The same will show for the galaxy's you create. There are several planet types that can be encountered, and their color (shown on a map or display, or seen twinkling from a distance in a spyglass) may show a generalized society and technology level that will be encountered when visiting that star.

Random Encounters

While real life space is filled with empty void, fantasy wildspace is a place of exciting intrigue. Roll on the table below to use as idea seeds to fill your campaign with interesting events.

Everything Else

Thinking of the galaxy we've created here, we've come up with the overall feel of the inside of this Crystal Shell, the Primary Body, all celestial bodies that surround it, as well as a generalized look and feel of each of those bodies, and seeds to what those bodies contain. The rules listed here show how to survive and thrive in this new place. It is now up to the DM to determine what to fill each of these worlds with.

Entire campaigns have taken place on single planets, continents, and even in single cities. Spelljammer is no different; the worlds you create can be as many and varied as the number of stars in the sky. The only differences are that now, entire campaigns will be able to span millions of potential worlds and touch the lives of the various beings that exist there. The only limit is your imagination.

See you space cowboy.