Setting design is mostly similar to Spelljammer with a few changes:
Crystal Spheres are RARE and SPECIAL. They are used for shelter and security – think castles the size of planetary systems. They can be destroyed, disassembled, and rebuilt, but the process is arduous. There is a legend which may explain their origin: that the crystal spheres are in fact eggs laid by a creature. The space between places is no longer the ‘Astral Plane’ as described, and instead resembles outer space in the real world – no gravity, no atmosphere. Despite these features, Outer Space in this setting is a thriving ecology, home to multitudinous strange creatures that do not require a planet or pseudoplanet for survival. The Party (whatever players are at the table) are the executive staff of a spelljammer, they have a skilled crew, who are there to fill gaps in the party’s skillset (and to generate tension and killed off to make the story interesting.) o Crew roles: Cook, captain, doctor, fundraiser, first mate (expert sailor), artillerist, engineer, navigator, diplomat/negotiator, carpenter, whaler, naturalist, smuggler, burglar
o Belief, Motivation, Flaw, Scar, Ideal, Inspirations, Key Scenes
Title, crew role, combat role, fate, inspiration source, handicap. Artillerist (Artificer: Artillerist, scientist, demolitionist) Iron Maiden (warforged grappler (rog1 barb7?)) Starchild (celebrity Bard: Eloquence) Doctor (Cleric: Knowledge) Planetologist (Druid: Circle of the Moon) Spellbreaker (Fighter: Spellbreaker) Fencer (Rogue: Mastermind, trader, rogue, swashbuckler) Eschatologist (Warlock: Great Old One) Invocations? Agonizing Blast, Devil’s Sight, Eldritch Spear, Eyes of the Rune Keeper, Repelling Blast (Push 10’ back) Believes that the eschaton has already begun, that we are already living during the end times. The darkness between the stars is truly the jaws of a great beast blocking out the light of the great divine, about to snap shut and consume the universe. You wish to see Astrogator (Wizard: Diviner) Factions The Galactic Concord – AKA: the ‘Star Police’, ‘Peacekeepers’, ‘Patrol’, ‘The Roaming Empire’. An independent organization that levies tolls and acquires letters of marque to provide security to the galaxy. While most clients of the Concord are grateful, many criticize the Concord for being fascist, racist, bullies, imperialists, etc. D&D Class: Paladins exclusively. The Zika – A ‘coherent ecology’. Unlike other ecosystems that rely on competition and predation to evolve and persist, the Zika has evolved to cooperate as a holistic organism. The predators act as an immune system against invaders and will self-limit their growth rates to fit with available prey; The prey self-sacrifice to feed the predators; Both may absorb genes from alien species to integrate into the Zika. The Zika spreads on spacefaring micelles, containing a torpid ecology, waiting for viable planets to colonize. Encounters: Weeping Willow. These trees are carnivorous plants that inflict a sense of negative emotions to trap sentient organic creatures (charisma save). Hunter - AKA: ‘Displacer Beast’. Hunts solo or in packs up to 4. Mutualists: Will-‘O-th’-Wisp, who lure targets into killzone and cast ‘faerie fire’ (as cantrip) or ‘bestow curse: curse charisma’ on targets. Wargroves. These fungoid warriors are the most sentient creatures of the Zika. Highly spiritual but also highly aggressive. Their corpses release spores that begin the next generation. They have no known language but exhibit coordination consistent with some form of communication. Warrior Shaman. Spells: Faerie Fire ©, Haste ©, Ice Knife, Sleep, Acid Splash (Dex Save full, 2d6, 60’), Poison Spray (Con Save full, 2d12, 10’) Corpse. A corpse grows into a grove if its on fertile ground. That grove will eventually cleave into infant wargroves. Tech eaters – AKA: Rust monsters. Come in several colors: Brown/red, eats non-noble metals; blue, eats crystal and glass; silver/white, eats dead wood, paper, and cloth; gold/green, eats noble metals (gold, platinum); purple, eats dead meat. All species are approximately the size of a bean, though extremely large specimens (bigger than a horse) have been documented. The Kanama – A eusocial society of energy-crystal beings. Acting something like a hive of bees, individuals will be cleaved from a ‘mother’ crystal and sent out into the universe to collect experiences to return to the mother to integrate their experiences into the whole. When a kanama faces death and cannot return to the mother, they will attempt to integrate their experiences into the nearest available lifeform. Most kanama that one encounters are sensitive and selfless beings, however, some kanama seek the experiences of chaos and pain. An individual kanama appears as a roughly humanoid shape of glowing energy, in which a Ship factors Hull Integrity (how many cannon hits to destroy) Rift Drive Rifting always takes 1 week to arrive at the next destination, no matter the distance. Charge Time Standard d20 roll. Meet-or-beat 1 to 20, thus, lower # drives charge faster. 1 = one turn. 2 =
Range (How many star systems away? Ranges from 1 - 20) Years to cross Milky Way Galaxy: D/(x*L*W), where: D = Diameter of galaxy. Milky Way = 105,700. x = Rift Drive Range (ranges from 1 to 20). L = Average distance between stars. Milky Way = 5. W = Weeks in a year = 52. Precision Durability (cannon hits to disable) Cannons Number Range Durability (cannon hits to disable) Life Support Number of life units (medium meat creature = 1, small = 1/8, large = 8, plants are halved) Durability (cannon hits to disable) Solar Sails Speed Maneuverability (turn rate and marginally adds to hull integrity) Durability (cannon hits to disable)
Dream Sequence A dream-eating monster has captured the party. They battle and struggle through a phantasmagorical dreamspace. If they wake up, they realize that they had been psychically linked to each other through the monster. Instruments of Violence An evil wizard has unleashed his army of animated objects in an attempt to take over the local kingdom. Twist: They are all violins, playing songs to enchant and subjugate whoever hears them play. Those who deafen themselves to the sound are attacked by the instruments. Music of the Spheres Somewhere out in the universe is an instrument that plays a beautiful melody. It is said that this melody is a manifestation of fate itself, and whomever touches the instrument can change its tune. “Resonant Chamber” - Animusic.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXNVbvFXyk It is guarded by six powerful beings, who themselves have not seen or touched the instrument. Each gives a challenge to the party before the party is allowed to pass.
i. Red Challenge: Combat
ii. Gold Challenge: Wealth
iii. Green Challenge: Nature & Nurture
iv. Blue Challenge: Navigation
v. White Challenge: Knowledge
vi. Black Challenge: Void, Nothingness, Zen
R'lyeh Ley Dreaming “The nightmare corpse-city of R'lyeh…was built in measureless eons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars. There lay great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults.” This planet is but an egg for a greater being. It lays sleeping, waiting to hatch, and hatch it shall, very soon, at the rise of the next gibbous moon. There is nothing that can be done, other than ask to be eaten first, to be saved the torment of seeing everything come to the ruin of madness. The party is asked to escort a priest to the center of a temple located at an isolated spot on an isolated, blue-green planet. There they encounter horrible things:
i. Non-Euclidian geometry – a labyrinth puzzle
ii. Fish people
iii. Shoggoths
iv. Elder Things (A strange, five-lobed gourd body. From each end, tentacles emanate – on one side, the tentacles are too many to easily count and are finned at their ends – on the other side, only five short tentacles, tipped with spherical orbs. From the five-ribbed body, five wings erupt from the seams, and again, more tentacle-groups erupt from the lobes between wings.
v. Treasures:
Jade figurines Verdigris tablets filled with strange writing (Abyssal) Baby shoggoths Crewperson(s) captured as pet(s) Caught in A Web! The ship has struck a starspider’s web! While the crew works to free the ship, drama ensues. Encountering web-encased
i. Other ship
ii. Humanoid
iii. Mi-Go (Elephant’s trunk body, with crab claw arms & legs, a bulbous head covered in antennae, and multiple membranous wings. All in shades of pink and grey.)
Mirror, Mirror Balance of Terror Rogue Planet Space Seed This Side of Paradise The Devil in the Dark (Horta) Alien Marcus’ Munitions – The Vending Machines sent out to provide weapons to all beings in the galaxy. Mining an Asteroid (Deep Rock Galactic?) Masquerade Ball