Sail the Astral Sea in D&D’s New Setting SPELLJAMMER: ADVENTURES IN SPACE

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Your adventuring party has faced dungeons, dragons, and maybe even this gross-looking dude named Vecna. What’s left for your Dungeons & Dragons group to conquer? Space! Wizards of the Coast releases Spelljammer: Adventures in Space on August 16. The book promises to take D&D players where no adventuring party has gone before. Well, unless, you played the original AD&D Spelljammer in the late ’80s. Whether you’ve ventured into Wildspace years ago, or this is your first time traversing the astral plane, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will seamlessly integrate into any story for the campaign of a lifetime.

A pirate ship in space surrounded by whales from the new Dungeons & Dragons campaign Spelljammer: Adventure in Space
Robson Michel/Wizards of the Coast

Unlike most D&D campaign books, this guide contains three different volumes. The Astral Adventurer’s Guide, the setting, is a separate book that players can safely flip through without spoiling a monster stat block or the next plot point in the included adventure. Monsters hide inside Boo’s Astral Menagerie, and an adventure for levels 5-8 awaits in Light of Xaryxis. The three books are packed along with a map and Dungeon Master’s Screen in one astronomically cool package.

Chris Perkins, Lead Designer for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, revealed a few tantalizing details at a recent press preview. “The vast ocean that is Wildspace is an exciting place for adventure,” he said. “If nothing else, it’s a way to get from one world to another.” 

Players who make their way through Wildspace can travel between settings; for example, the party can leave the Forgotten Realms and arrive in Greyhawk. Spelljammer is all about the journey. Along the way the adventurers experience “fast and fluid” encounters with everything from space eels, to space whales, to space clowns.

Yeah. Space clowns.

Clowns in space from the new Dungeons & Dragons book, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
Scott Murphy/Wizards of the Coast

Spelljammer embraces the core concepts of Dungeons & Dragons, Perkins said, which include fantasy, horror, and whimsy—emphasis on the whimsy. You might not expect a setting in space to mesh well with your established sword-wielding characters and fantasy setting, but making Spelljammer inclusive for any and all campaigns was a goal of the creative team. The Rock of Bral, for example, is a city on an asteroid that can serve as the backdrop of a fantasy, sci-fi, or any other kind of story.

Still thinking about those space clowns? So are we. They’re an homage to Killer Klowns from Outer Space. In fact, you’ll find homages to other classic sci-fi stories and franchises in this setting. There are also new playable races, spells and items, monsters, and so much more waiting to be discovered.

The Spelljammer: Adventures in Space DM screen
Jedd Chevrier/Wizards of the Coast

If you’re ready to jump into Wildspace, you and your party can get ready for your journey to the Astral Sea right now! Take a look at Spelljammer Academy now on D&D Beyond for four free adventures; Roll20 has some of the nitty-gritty details for Dungeon Masters preparing for space combat.

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will be available digitally and at your favorite local game store on August 16, 2022 (and September 13, 2022 in Europe).

Featured Image: Shawn Wood/Wizards of the Coast

Kelly Knox is a pop culture and entertainment writer in the Seattle area. She’s the author of Star Wars: Be More Obi-Wan and a co-author on the upcoming book Star Wars Everyday. Follow her on Twitter at @kelly_knox to talk Star Wars, pop culture, and bad dad jokes.

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