Spelljammer Phlogiston

Phlogiston...
    It is the river that flows to other worlds...
    It is the road to other realms...
    It is the ocean that links the seas of night...

Outside and between the crystal spheres is a turbulent, rainbow ocean of flammable ether called the phlogiston. It is that which is outside and between crystal shells. It appears as an infinite fog of swirling colors. A multicolored sea that is a transitive plane which float the various crystal spheres (and their systems within), which are alternate prime material planes with a finite dimension that are vast in size. (Not all prime material planes are finite nor are they connected to the phlogiston). The term phlogiston is applied equally to both the multicolored medium and to the entire region surrounding the crystal spheres.

Phlogiston has varying thickness in space and forms dense rivers between the planet-sized objects (such as the spheres themselves). Voyagers moving along these paths of concentrated phlogiston discover that the greater the density of the flow, the faster the ship can move. A ship can speed up and slow down by penetrating deeper into or raising itself out of these phlogiston rivers. Stellar distances can be covered quickly in such areas. Further, the speed of the ship is at least partially dependent on the surface area it presents to the flow, so many ships carry sails to increase their speed in the interstellar ocean.

The Flow's vastness is dominated by flowrivers, which link crystal shells in a mind-bogglingly gigantic 3-D web. Flowrivers are useful to spacefarers because they (greatly) facilitate travel between the crystal shells. In many cases, a journey directly to a specific crystal shell would take many years, but the journey can easily be shortened to a much smaller amount of time by following the flowrivers from one shell to the next. (Hence, navigation in the phlogiston is a tricky connect-the-dots activity).

It is not possible to see a flowriver (though detailed measurements can detect a significant increase in the drift of the multi-colored fog in one or two directions). They are felt more than seen; an individual sitting on a spelljammer helm can easily realize that a starship has entered a flowriver.

Most flowrivers are two-way, allowing passage in either direction between two crystal shells. However, some are one-way, so it is not advisable to try to double back along a one-way flowriver (doing so poses the same difficulties as not using a flowriver at all).

Phlogiston Traits

The Phlogiston is a transitive plane that is coterminous with the Material and Alternate Material Planes. It has the following traits:

No Gravity: Technically, there are few, if any, celestial bodies in the Plane of Phlogiston large enough to create the gravity found on worlds like Oerth and Toril. Magic and advanced technology that duplicates the effects of gravity will work normally on this plane. For the most part, visitors to the Plane of Phlogiston and the craft they bring are suspended in zero gravity, so they will require some form of motive power.

Normal Time: Time flows normally in the phlogiston.

Infinite Size: The phlogiston is endless.

Alterable Morphic: There is little on this plane to alter however, objects found on this plane can be altered. The wisp of the phlogiston itself cannot be shaped or contained with out the use of magic.

Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor are enpowered, maximized and widened (as if the Maximize Spell and Widen Spell feats were used on them, but the spells don’t require extra spell-slots or additional preparation). Thus, a fireball spell will inflict maximum damage plus an additional 50% more damage as determined by rolling damage with increased area of effect. Additionally, fire-based spells and spell-like abilities always have a range of Personal. Remember that two doublings equals a tripling, and so forth.

Element Makup Phlogiston is none of the recognized four elemental matters. It is neither air, nor earth, fire nor water. It cannot be reproduced or brought inside the bounds of a crystal sphere. If an attempt is made, whether by physical or magical containment, the phlogiston inexplicably dissipates, leaving no trace. Phlogiston simply cannot exist within wildspace or on the surface of a planet.

Phlogiston Inhabitants

At first one could not imagine any native life forms that would or could exist in the phlogiston but there are many creatures to be found here included the following: Ancient Mariner, Delphinid, Ephemeral, Flowfiend, Lumineaux, Pristatic and the Survivor. Other than the delphinid, sailors would rather not encounter any other denizens of the phlogiston.

Phlogiston Features

    Sargassos: The bane of most spherefarers, these magic-dead zones can be found within the flow as well as Wildspace. The most infamous example being the Sea of Shadows off Krynnspace (although some sages posit that this might be the unholy combination of a sargasso and some form of dark region (q.v.).) Dark Regions Even more feared than sargassos, these life-draining rifts are a dire danger to all who live. The most notable example is the Weird between the spheres of the Vodani Empire and the Radiant Triangle.

Pyroclastic Phlo: Another feared phlogiston phenonoma, these are regions of exceptionally unstable phlogiston, frequently in a state of nearly continuous explosion.

Flow Reefs: Where as all previous entries are to be avoided, sighting a flow reef is almost always considered a good omen. Flow reefs resemble asteroid belts or clusters floating within the flow. They almost always have life-supporting atmospheres, water, and some manner of ecosystem, however weird (sages speculate that the local plants can draw sustainance from the polychromatic light of the flow itself). A lucky ship encountering a flow reef can expect to replenish its air envelope and stores of food and water. The only down-sides are that some reefs can be home to quite dangerous predators, and that dense reefs can slow down a ships progress.

Rogue Planets: Rarely whole planets can be found drifting within the flow.

Phlogiston Vortex: A region of highly turbulant phlogiston that can sweep ships off course, or even, in the more extreme cases, destroy them.

Phlogiston Storm: A similar phenonoma to a phlogiston vortex. A storm more transitory in nature than a vortex.

Phlogiston Rapids: Often formed where two ore more rivers meet, these patches of phlogiston change in density rapidly, causing ships traveling through them to experience high amounts of turbulence. Cargo and crew may be thrown around, or even ejected from the ship, if not properly restrained, and less experienced pilots may damage their ships when traveling through these regions. Different classes of rapids exist (from Class 1 to Class 5), each more dangerous than the last.

Phlogiston Eddy: These phenomenon occur when some portion of the phlogiston river breaks off and flows back into itself, typically forming a loop or swirl in the river. Not as strong or violent as a vortex, oftentimes sailors may not even know they have been caught in an eddy. This can be dangerous, especially in areas where eddies are common, since they can add days or even weeks to travel times.

Phlo Lagoon: Sometimes particularly large and strong eddies may become a phlo lagoon. These immense lakes of phlogiston typically form around crystal spheres, however sometimes they can form mid-stream. These regions are often inhabited by phlogiston dwelling creatures (some of them gigantic in size) many of which may be hazardous to ships and their crews.

Dark Regions: Even more feared than sargassos, these life-draining rifts are a dire danger to all who live. The most notable example is the Weird between the spheres of the Vodani Empire and the Radiant Triangle.

Phlogiston Features (Cont'd)

Color Siren The shade of color in this particular region of the Phlogiston is mesmorizing to anyone on the ship. A character must make a save vs. spell (or will) or be completely transfixed by the color and unable to take any action for 1d6 rounds. The character will even try to leave the ship to stay in the area of the color. Also known as the Soul Color Shoals.

Rip-flow: Sometimes formed at the end of a one-way flow river that approaches a crystal sphere, a rip flow is a very powerful phlogistion river that travels rapidly away from the surface of that sphere and can suck ships away from the sphere they are approaching. Some rip flows are relatively short, sucking a ship along for mere hours, while other will drag a ship for days or even weeks.

Inexperienced captains (especially those that have never travelled between spheres) will sometimes order their crews try to fight the rip flow. But it is almost impossible to fly a ship the wrong way up a rip flow and attempting it will just exaust the crew and the helmsman with little to no progress made. Crews of ships that continue to fight against a rip-flow that is pushing them backwards will eventually run out of food, water or air and death will follow.

The only way to deal with a rip-flow, is to try to leave it and travel at right angles to the surface of the crystal sphere until your ship is well outside of its influence. With the most powerful rip-flows, even escaping from the flow river can be impossible and the best thing to do is ride along with it and wait for it to become weak enough to allow your ship to break out.

Shadow(or Black) Clouds A literal cloud in the phlogiston that is full of shadows (of the undead kind).

Encounters in the Phlogiston

• Random naval encounters (pirates, privateers, etc)
• Randon monster encounters (various beasts)
• A ghost ship or derelict
• Sargasso
• Pyroclastic Phlo
• Flow Reef
• Rogue Planet
• Phlogiston Vortex
• Phlogiston storm
• Phlogiston Rapids
• Phlogiston Eddy
• Phlo Lagoon
• Dark Region
• Color Siren
• Rip-Flow
• Shadow/Black Clouds

References:

Spelljammer.Org
The Piazza