~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ============================================================>>> ~~ ~~ SSSSS PPPPP EEEEE LLL LLL JJJJJ AAA MM MM MM MM EEEEE RRRRR ~~ ~~ SS PP PP EE LLL LLL JJJ A A MMMMM MMMMM EE RR R ~~ ~~ SSSSS PPPPP EEEEE LLL L LLL L JJJ AAAAA M M M M M M EEEEE RRRR ~~ ~~ SS PP EE LLLLL LLLLL JJJ A A M M M M M M EE RR R ~~ ~~ SS PP EEEEE * JJJ M M M EE RR R ~~ ~~ SS PP * JJ JJJ * EEEEE RR R ~~ ~~ SS * ............ JJJJJ <==\.... * * RR R ~~ ~~ SS .... # # /\ .... * R ~~ ~~ * .... _____#########^_/|| .... ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <_o_###_ ___ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ /_____/ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Temporum Sphaera (Edition 1.5) An accessory for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd Ed) Spelljammer Game. Edited and Compiled by Richard J. Pugh, the "Bard of Wildspace" /--\ v \ # # /\ _____#########^_/ | -------------------- -<_o_###_ ___ / ------------------------>>>> ~~~ _/_____/ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COPYRIGHT STATEMENT Portions of this work are subject to copyright law, and in such cases owned by the individuals who contributed them. Material ownership is designated as follows: Michael Bauser: Portions of the Timeline, and comments on several of he other features. Joe Dubois: The beetle ship. Ville Lavonius: Portions of the Timeline, the worlds contained in the "Travel Log" section, and the Spelljammer FAQ section. Todd Montgomery: The revised encounter tables, and the Great White ship. "The Phantom:" The Remora - c1993/4. Richard J. Pugh: Portions of the Timeline, the two adventure seeds, and the stag beetle ship. "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons," and the Spelljammer logo, are trademarks owned by TSR hobbies, and are used here without permission under the assumption of Fair Use. This work is also subject to Copyleft: anyone using this material for commercial purposes without our consent will have to learn to live with a drilled kneecap, and that's if we are in a *good* mood. In short: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE COPIES OF THIS WORK TO BE SOLD TO OTHER INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS FOR FINANCIAL GAIN. /--\ v \ # # /\ _____#########^_/ | -------------------- -<_o_###_ ___ / ------------------------>>>> ~~~ _/_____/ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduction It has often been said that the sequel is never as good as the original. That may be so, but only if you are trying to do the same thing twice. You have before you the Temporum Sphaera, the second "net guide" for the Spelljammer universe. The production of this work resembles a tennis match in many ways, where no one really knew who is supposed to be doing what at any one time. Actually it's rather funny, but it's one of those "had to be there" stories, so I'll spare you the agony. The predecessor of this work, "The Rhyme of the Ancient Spelljammer," was designed in the spirit of the TSR work "Lost Ships:" a little bit of everything for everyone reading. This work, while it does have a number of different features, is built around a theme of sorts. That theme is the timeline itself: The Temporae Sphaera, or "Chronology of the Spheres." One of the great shortcomings of the Spelljammer universe is the lack of a coherent timeline. The Temporum is an attempt to provide such a timeline for fans of the spelljammer universe, or those people who use space travel in their groundling campaigns. This work also offers some new ships, some new places to explore, a very good bibliography of commercially available spelljammer articles, a "frequently asked questions" essay, and even some humor. Read on, and enjoy! Richard Pugh, editor. Administrator: SPJ-L. The sky is NOT the limit anymore. :) /--\ v \ # # /\ _____#########^_/ | -------------------- -<_o_###_ ___ / ------------------------>>>> ~~~ _/_____/ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List of Contents The Spelljammer FAQ - version 1.1b New Ships How to make a good ship even better. Travel Log Revised Spelljammer Encounter Tables Adventure Seeds Yesterday's Spelljammer Blast from the Past (aka "Flight of the Deadjammer") Temporum Sphaera Appendix A: 51 uses for a dead Neogi (for fun) Appendix B: A Spelljammer Bibliography /--\ v \ # # /\ _____#########^_/ | -------------------- -<_o_###_ ___ / ------------------------>>>> ~~~ _/_____/ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Spelljammer FAQ - version 1.1b by Ville Lavonius (Disclaimer: Some of this material contains personal opinions. Some of the other stuff may be a little out of date, but hey, we try.) List of Questions: A) General Questions 1. What is "Spelljammer" anyway ? 2. What products are available in Spelljammer-line ? 3. What products are recommended ? 4. What new products is TSR planning to release ? 5. These novels, are they any good ? 6. Isn't this whole space-fantasy thing a bit silly ? 7. Haven't I seen these ideas somewhere else before ? 8. How do the Official[tm] TSR worlds fit into this ? 9. Other Spelljammer materials (See part D also) B) Questions on background 1. What are the Tripartite creatures ? 2. I really don't think I like... 3. I think the economics really suck ! 4. Official history ? 5. What'd you think about including... Black Holes Nebulae Quasars Comets Dark Matter New creatures 6. I really don't like binary gravity ! 7. Neogi - where do they come from, who build their ships etc ? C) Questions on mechanics 1. Where are _voidscan_ and _retain air envelope_ ? 2. Aren't Giffs a bit wimpy to be the frontline mercenaries ? 3. Aren't Radiant Dragons a "wee bit" OTT ? 4. Clerics Turning Spells 5. Ship statistics Lost Ships D) Net-related questions 1. What are useful newsgroups ? 2. What is Rhyme ? 3. Gosh, a whopping 185K ! Are you guys planning to do part II ? 4. TSR-canon from the novels ? 5. Spelljammeresque mailing lists E) Using other systems 1. War Captain's Companion 2. Space Fleet 3. Other games Brandon Cope's conversion for GURPS A) General Questions A-1 Spelljammer is AD&D in space. My means of magical items and spells, players can take their characters to others planets. A full description is in the boxed set, and is a little too long to do here. A-2 Spelljammer products: Spelljammer 1065 The Legend of Spelljammer 1072 War Captain's Companion 1087 The Astromundi Cluster MC7 Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium MC9 Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium II The Complete Spacefarer's Guide SJA1 Wildspace 64 page adventure, **** SJA2 Skull & Crossbows 64 page anthology, ***1/2 SJA3 Crystal Spheres 64 page adventure, * SJA4 Under the Dark Fist 64 page adventure, **1/2 SJS1 Goblins' Return 64 page adventure, ** SJQ1 Into the Heart of the Enemy 64 page adventure, ** SJR1 Lost Ships 96 page mishmash, **1/2 SJR2 Spelljammer Screen not worth it SJR3 Realmspace 96 pager, *1/2 SJR4 Practical Planetology 64 pager, *** SJR5 Rock of Bral 64 pager, ****1/2 SJR6 Greyspace 96 pager, ** SJR7 Krynnspace 96 pager, ** SJR8 Space Lairs adventure anthology, *1/2 A-3 Your recommendations Spelljammer itself, Rock of Bral sourcebook, Wildspace, these are the really good supplements, the other adventures are rather weak and require at least some rewriting, the other supplements aren't that hot either. TSR's big-font-it-is reigns pretty badly in the *space supplements. They are a good idea, but a bit overcooked. The second novel has some very effective scenes in it that might help you in describing what fantasy space's really like. A-4 New products for 1993 Astromundi Cluster - a boxed set describing a crystal sphere full of asteroids and lots of complex cultures. Basically a good concept, with a lot of campaign potential. However, you should be prepared to do a lot of detail on your own. Like the other sphere sourcebooks, it's a little half-baked. TSR will release WildSpace a VCR-game (like Dragonstrike this year) based on Sj 1994. The campaign set itself receives NO NEW MATERIAL. During the winter of 1993-4, TSR officially announced that it will not develop anything for Spelljammer ever again. Issue closed. What's more, they won't make it available for licensing by any other company. Spelljammer line is effectively dead, no new products are planned (though articles MIGHT appear in TSR mags). Replacement is WildSpace, the second game in the AdventureVision series (videotape + boardgame). Excuse me while I wretch. Looks bleak. A-5 The Spelljammer Novels The various Spelljammer novels, collectively called "The Cloakmaster Cycle," are of variable quality, but each have their merits, however small. I. Beyond the Moons (David Cook) A good story overall, with a great deal of background material, but bring lots of coffee. It is S-L-O-W. II. Into the Void (Nigel Findley) Excellent chrnonicle of one adventurer's first journey in space. Nothing more need be said. This is a "must read." III. Maelstrom's Eye (Roger E. Moore) Rather dissapointing. Lots of poor plot devices and plodding dialogue. BUT, there is some good information on some crystal spheres not detailed in the SJ source books. For example, Heardspace, a dyson sphere. IV. Radiant Dragon (Elaine Cunningham) Actually not bad, though the level of intensity isn't up to the rest of the arc, giving it a "middle ground" feeling. There is some good historical stuff mixed in there, especially about the humanoids, and some good descriptions of Armistace and Radole, two worlds featured in Practical Planetology (that work is not required, however...) V. Broken Sphere (Nigel Findley) While a bit confusing, this is perhaps the best of the entire arc. Political intrigue, exploration, romance, and perhaps the ultimate heartbreak, are all here. Several new worlds and spheres are hinted at, including the "Trullian Ring," a large formation of spheres in a ring- like pattern. Another "must-read." VI. Ultimate Helm (Russ T. Howard) This book ends the arc with a bang. Literally. In fact, it reads like a Sylvester Stallone movie: lots of action, lots of fast-paced dialog, a badly written love scene thrown in for good measure, and practically no plot. It's fun to read, but easily forgotten.