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A spelljammer was a type of magically powered vessel that could travel great distances, even into the Sea of Night.[3] Each ship had a magical helm or "captains-chair" that allowed a suitably powerful mage to pilot the ship.[4] Some spelljammers were also capable of traveling to other planes of existence.[2]

Description[]

Spelljammers varied enormously in design, but many contained common elements. One such element that was present in a variety of spelljammers were fan-shaped sails,[2] whose purpose was to harness the flow of the phlogiston,[5] or, if within a planet's atmosphere, the wind.[2]

The size of spelljammers was typically measured as their "tonnage", which reflected the volume occupied by a ship in spatial tons and was different from the typical tonnage of seafaring ships. One spatial ton was equivalent to a volume of 100 cubic yards (76 cubic meters).[6]

When traveling through the emptiness of wildspace or the flow of the phlogiston, away from large objects, spelljammers could reach a top speed of 100,000,000 miles per day (6,800,000 kilometers per hour).[7] This meant that a trip from Toril to Selûne could be completed in just over an hour,[8] the Sun could be reached in two days,[9] and the crystal shell of Realmspace was 64 days away.[10]

These high speeds, also called "spelljamming speeds", could not be maintained in the vicinity of a gravity plane or inside an atmosphere. Whenever approaching an object at least 10 spatial tons, or 1,000 cubic yards (760 cubic meters) in volume, spelljammers immediately decelerated to much slower speeds, which were usually determined by the ship's size, the quality of the helm, and the pilot's magical capabilities.[7]

History[]

Spelljamming technology had existed for a very long time. For example, early historical accounts from the Second Age of Calimshan described three beholder colony ships crashing into the Alimir Mountains in Tarsakh of −2381 DR. There were also myths from the same era about "chariots in the air" and "monstrous flying birds and insects" that led some scholars to postulate that these too were spelljamming craft.[11]

Many of these vessels (and vessels like them) still existed on Faerûn in the mid-14th century DR.[12] The elves of Evermeet maintained a small fleet of them.[13]

In the late 15th century DR, spelljammers and astral ships regularly delivered supplies to the githyanki inhabitants of Stardock.[14] The asteroid was visited roughly once a month by spelljammers typically crewed by gnome traders, githyanki, or other races.[15]

Around the same time, the squid ship–class spelljammer Scavenger was captured by Halaster and brought to the Caverns of Ooze level of Undermountain.[16]

Reputation[]

Spelljamming was looked upon favorably by the Church of Akadi, as its priests saw value in it as a means of further spreading the faith.[17] By contrast, the Church of Grumbar denounced spelljamming and would preach in public about its evils, believing that it was foolish of the people of Toril to explore the cosmos when there was still so much undiscovered on their own planet.[18]

Appendix[]

See Also[]

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Lorebook of the Void”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), pp. 14–18. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Richard Baker, John Rogers, Robert J. Schwalb, James Wyatt (December 2008). Manual of the Planes 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 20, 159. ISBN 978-0-7869-5002-7.
  3. Richard Baker, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter (April 2005). Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 6. ISBN 0-7869-3657-6.
  4. Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Concordance of Arcane Space”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  5. Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Concordance of Arcane Space”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  6. Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Concordance of Arcane Space”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), p. 25. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Concordance of Arcane Space”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), pp. 52–53. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  8. Dale "slade" Henson (April 1991). Realmspace. Edited by Gary L. Thomas, Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc), p. 25. ISBN 1-56076-052-4.
  9. Dale "slade" Henson (April 1991). Realmspace. Edited by Gary L. Thomas, Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc), p. 5. ISBN 1-56076-052-4.
  10. Dale "slade" Henson (April 1991). Realmspace. Edited by Gary L. Thomas, Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc), p. 3. ISBN 1-56076-052-4.
  11. Steven E. Schend, Dale Donovan (September 1998). Empires of the Shining Sea. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 16. ISBN 0-7869-1237-5.
  12. Dale "slade" Henson (April 1991). Realmspace. Edited by Gary L. Thomas, Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 1-56076-052-4.
  13. Anne Gray McCready et al. (March 1994). Elves of Evermeet. (TSR, Inc), p. 87. ISBN 1-5607-6829-0.
  14. Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 217. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  15. Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 220. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  16. Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 243, 245, 250. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  17. Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), p. 25. ISBN 978-0786903849.
  18. Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), p. 67. ISBN 978-0786903849.
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