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Spelljammin' across the multiverse! Always going forward 'cause we can't find reverse.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1050 x 903px
File Size 110.2 kB
Spelljammer was an old AD&D setting. Think Dungeons and Dragons in space! Some of the ideas were cool, some of the ideas weren't. One of the major villains in the setting were illithids, squid-headed brain-eating telepaths who sailed through space on weird nautilus inspired galleons.
Ahh, Spelljammer!
An utterly wonderful idea that was burdened by being conceived of and written as primarily a way to connect the various 2e AD&D settings, instead of being allowed to be its own thing. It should have been the Age of Exploration and Piracy in fantastic Spaaaaace!, but - the Giff aside - they avoided cannons and pistols because those weren't part of the bog-standard AD&D experience. Such wasted potential! (The prevalence of "silly" stuff, like the goddamn Tinker Gnomes and everything to do with them, did not help, either.)
Thank God TSR was smarter with Planescape, another setting that began as a way to join Oerth and Krynn and Faerun and your own homebrew world, but very quickly ditched that bullshit and went with weird and wondrous planar adventures instead.
An utterly wonderful idea that was burdened by being conceived of and written as primarily a way to connect the various 2e AD&D settings, instead of being allowed to be its own thing. It should have been the Age of Exploration and Piracy in fantastic Spaaaaace!, but - the Giff aside - they avoided cannons and pistols because those weren't part of the bog-standard AD&D experience. Such wasted potential! (The prevalence of "silly" stuff, like the goddamn Tinker Gnomes and everything to do with them, did not help, either.)
Thank God TSR was smarter with Planescape, another setting that began as a way to join Oerth and Krynn and Faerun and your own homebrew world, but very quickly ditched that bullshit and went with weird and wondrous planar adventures instead.
Agreed.
The whole "this is the convenient way to connect up the worlds" looms so large in my mind that I'm only just now realizing that D&D in space is a pretty cool idea. I think all of the things that messed up the idea as a cool free standing game was TSR trying to be a big company in the 1990s - it's all there, the "we must have a coherent product," the comic relief (kids are smarter than kid-safe materials), the take on firearms (didn't fit the coherent product). I also think the product came out exactly the wrong time. I think offering steampunk-savvy, of-course-pirates-go-with-zombies-and-ninja gamers a swashbuckling alternate-tech science-fantasy setting would go over great now. But in the mid-late 90s? Oh screw that, I'm gonna be here playing White Wolf.
Technically the tinker gnomes were Dragonlance but yeah, 90s TSR, so all gnomes are tinker gnomes. And while I dislike Dragonlance (it took me a while to realize this), Dark Sun and Ravenloft are settings which should definitely be their own thing. Always. I think Planescape escaped because it started out as a 1e system, and by the time 2e came out it'd already really steamrollered into its own weird dumb thing.
The whole "this is the convenient way to connect up the worlds" looms so large in my mind that I'm only just now realizing that D&D in space is a pretty cool idea. I think all of the things that messed up the idea as a cool free standing game was TSR trying to be a big company in the 1990s - it's all there, the "we must have a coherent product," the comic relief (kids are smarter than kid-safe materials), the take on firearms (didn't fit the coherent product). I also think the product came out exactly the wrong time. I think offering steampunk-savvy, of-course-pirates-go-with-zombies-and-ninja gamers a swashbuckling alternate-tech science-fantasy setting would go over great now. But in the mid-late 90s? Oh screw that, I'm gonna be here playing White Wolf.
Technically the tinker gnomes were Dragonlance but yeah, 90s TSR, so all gnomes are tinker gnomes. And while I dislike Dragonlance (it took me a while to realize this), Dark Sun and Ravenloft are settings which should definitely be their own thing. Always. I think Planescape escaped because it started out as a 1e system, and by the time 2e came out it'd already really steamrollered into its own weird dumb thing.
*grins and shakes her head* No, it was just perfect the way it was. It was a wide open toolbox that connected to everyhting else. If a DM couldn't use that to make a setting they liked, it kind of reflects poorly on the DM. Don't like gnomes? Fine, forget they ever existed. Like cannon and flintlocks? Make them standard equipment on every ship. With all the options and possibilities in the setting, with a little creativity you could do pretty much anything with it.
I think this gets into the mindset where I was stuck at the time. I was very much in the realm of "well whatever they say is how it is" instead of "well whatever they say is a jumping off point to whatever I want to do with it." I'm slowly getting used to the idea that, especially if it's something largely discarded, I can do whatever I want with it and people probably shan't mind.
Second edition D&D had all these kinda weird settings beyond the usual quasi-Tolkien-fantasy. Even though it wasn't a great game system, the settings were generally pretty cool. Spelljammer was a little like Space 1899 - steampunk ships-sailing-the-ether but about a decade before geeks would've really fallen in love with the concept. Because it was the 90s, TSR mostly used Spelljammer as a way of uniting various D&D game worlds, which was pretty lackluster by how it could have been treated.
At the time, I wasn't really as much into the idea of actually running with things I thought were cool, and so I didn't like the setting all that much. Now? I'm beginning to think maybe there's more there than I gave credit for.
At the time, I wasn't really as much into the idea of actually running with things I thought were cool, and so I didn't like the setting all that much. Now? I'm beginning to think maybe there's more there than I gave credit for.
Now I have to go back and replay Pirates of Realmspace. Game's so bad, but it's the only way to Spelljammer solo.
Just have to watch out for Githyanki, Illithids, and Beholders with their goddamn mutated helm-beholderkin.
Wait, what is that beaked brain thing with tentacles?
OH GOD ITS A GRELL MAN THE CANNONS! EVERYONE, FIGHT UNTIL YOUR LA
everything is fine here. please, send other servile crew to this human's location. we have a dire shortage of giff and their flintlocks.
Just have to watch out for Githyanki, Illithids, and Beholders with their goddamn mutated helm-beholderkin.
Wait, what is that beaked brain thing with tentacles?
OH GOD ITS A GRELL MAN THE CANNONS! EVERYONE, FIGHT UNTIL YOUR LA
everything is fine here. please, send other servile crew to this human's location. we have a dire shortage of giff and their flintlocks.
Nicely done, definitely deserving to be in a reboot of Spelljammer.
And, yes, the tinker gnomes must die. Our gm had this thing against tinker gnomes and switched them from cutesy bullshit to a dark science driven by a fascist regime out to dominate and genocide everything not-gnome. Well, to be fair, that was after we were violating our alignment by shooting every one of their ships we saw...
And, yes, the tinker gnomes must die. Our gm had this thing against tinker gnomes and switched them from cutesy bullshit to a dark science driven by a fascist regime out to dominate and genocide everything not-gnome. Well, to be fair, that was after we were violating our alignment by shooting every one of their ships we saw...
This gets into a much longer Dragonlance rant.
But the thing that really bugged me about the comic relief tinker gnomes? Their stuff not working. A character who's a mechanic and constantly fiddling with his weird ideas that might work, in a world where everyone else is really reliant upon magic, is a very cool idea. An entire race of characters who are mechanics constantly fiddling with weird ideas in magic world, that's somewhat racist and less interesting. An entire race of characters who are mechanics fiddling with weird ideas in magic world, and they aren't able to save the day with their own valuable skillset, that's just incredibly hopeless and depressing. No! I want to see the weird little guys with the odd tech pull it off and come up with something just as viable as magic! This is sort of like why they don't make movies about underdog sports teams which try a whole batch of ideas and yet lose painfully every game anyway.
But the thing that really bugged me about the comic relief tinker gnomes? Their stuff not working. A character who's a mechanic and constantly fiddling with his weird ideas that might work, in a world where everyone else is really reliant upon magic, is a very cool idea. An entire race of characters who are mechanics constantly fiddling with weird ideas in magic world, that's somewhat racist and less interesting. An entire race of characters who are mechanics fiddling with weird ideas in magic world, and they aren't able to save the day with their own valuable skillset, that's just incredibly hopeless and depressing. No! I want to see the weird little guys with the odd tech pull it off and come up with something just as viable as magic! This is sort of like why they don't make movies about underdog sports teams which try a whole batch of ideas and yet lose painfully every game anyway.
Never saw much of the Dragonlance Books, looked like a mildly interesting setting but just not enough to really get the books.
Part of the background to the gnome's downfall actually matches your description and they were treated as the hollywood mad scientist villains. Their tech worked, but belief in and acceptance of magic by the vast majority interfered with its working. When they realized this, they established "Tech Spheres" and what started as an act of benevolence to overthrow the power of mages and magic wielders turned dark as they sought to eliminate magic entirely and pay everyone back for the centuries of ridicule and abuse.
Part of the background to the gnome's downfall actually matches your description and they were treated as the hollywood mad scientist villains. Their tech worked, but belief in and acceptance of magic by the vast majority interfered with its working. When they realized this, they established "Tech Spheres" and what started as an act of benevolence to overthrow the power of mages and magic wielders turned dark as they sought to eliminate magic entirely and pay everyone back for the centuries of ridicule and abuse.
Heh, I remember this stuff. "inherited" a bunch of 2e books when a friend moved, Spelljammer was the one that stood out the most, but unfortunately, I was the only one in my circle of friends who thought it was interesting. Wasn't nerd enough to get the nerd joke of the techie gnomes being incompetent, I just remember their helms (ship's core) sucked as they were big, complicated, 30% less efficient, and usually had been built around someone else's perfectly good helm. thought, wow, there should be an in-setting cliche about being weary of gnomish stuff when going to a used ship salesman. :p
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