Spelljammer: 5e Conversion

Concordance of Arcane Space

Initial Conversion: July 2019

Updated: September 11, 2022

Created by: The Amethyst Dragon (reddit: u/TheAmethystDragon)

You may use this content As Is. I do not plan to do much further work on it, nor am I including it in my regular 5e homebrew content collection (The Grand List of Homebrew Content), as it is not SRD/OGL compliant (it uses IP not released by WotC). It may contain links to newer, original content I have created.

The original intention was to update everything from the original Concordance of Arcane Space (one of the books in the Spelljammer boxed set) for 5e, which is why you'll find chapters and headings set up that do not yet have content retyped under them.

What is completed are much of chapters 3 and 4, which cover the mechanics of the ships, movement in space, armaments and other ship features, and Spelljammer's simplified 2D combat mechanics. Ship stat blocks are found at the end, in a new Appendix 5.

Pretty much any missing information can be adapted from the original Spelljammer materials. It shouldn't take much work for a DM to convert on their own. Such materials can be purchased online on sites like ebay, and digital versions may be on WotC-approved sites.

If you want to use the Excel file I made for my conversion of ship stats, you can download it here. It's missing info like standard armaments for a few of the published ones at the end, and includes many that didn't get made into stat blocks in this document.

Aug. 28, 2022

• Fixed a few spelling errors, added two missing spells, and filled in some info on grappling, ramming, encounters, and repair options.

Sep. 11, 2022

• Altered size definition of space combat hexes from 500 yards (1,500 feet) to 150 feet, to account for combat round changes from 2nd edition (where 1 round = 1 minute) to 5e (where 1 round = 6 seconds, aka 1/10 minute).
• Added description for my repair vessel spell.

This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. © Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Everything you know about space is wrong.

Chapter 1: Arcane Space

Celestial Bodies

Wildspace

Gravity

The Helm

A spelljamming "helm" is not armored protection for the head, but is instead the "engine" that powers and controls a ship.

A typical spelljamming helm is a throne-like chair embedded with silver wire and various crystals. The helm is mounted to the ship and connected by silver threads that extend throughout the structure of the ship.

When a spellcaster with available spell slots sits on the helm, the crystals begin to glow faintly. If the spellcaster is attuned to the helm and expends spell slots, the crystals glow brighter and the helm converts that magic into movement for the ship.

There are other, more rare types of spelljamming helms. Most include some sort of "control seat" that allows the helmsman to see outside the ship (as if standing just above the center of the main deck) and to control the ship's movement.

Crystal Shells

The Phlogiston

Breathing in Space

Air Quality

Matters of Gravity

Temperature

Time

Chapter 2: D&D Rules in Space

Character Races

Lizardfolk

Special Races and Classes

Magic Use in Space

Spelljamming

New Spells

Create Portal

5th-level transmutation

---

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: 500 feet
• Components: V, S, M (a piece of wire wrapped around amber worth at least 50 gp, which the spell consumes)
• Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You cause a portion of the crystal shell within range to become insubstantial and ethereal, allowing a ship or anything else to pass through.

The opening doesn't weaken the crystal shell, and any objects resting physically on the shell are unaffected by the portal.

It takes only a moment for a ship to pass through a portal opened in this fashion. However, if the spell is ended early, roll a d10 to determine the fate of any ship or similarly large object that is currently passing through the portal.

d10	Result
1 - 5	Portal closes before ship reaches the shell. Ship must turn or crash into the shell.
6	Portal closes on the ship. The ship is cut in half and is reduced to 0 hit points.
7 - 10	Portal closes after the ship passes through.

Locate Portal

2nd-level divination

---

• Casting Time: 1 minute (ritual)
• Range: Self
• Components: V, S, M (a conch shell)
• Duration: Instantaneous

You know the direction and the distance to the nearest portal through a crystal shell into or out of the Phlogiston.

The spell has no effect if you are more than 100 miles from the surface of a crystal shell.

Reair Vessel

1st-level transmutation

---

• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S, M (a ceramic pot that has been repaired)
• Duration: Instantaneous

You touch a ship or other vehicle, larger than a rowboat, that is used to carry people on water, under water, through the air, or in space and cause the vessel to regain structural integrity.

If the affected vehicle has more than 0 hit points, it regains 2d10 hit points as broken parts are instantly repaired. The spell can't repair damage caused by acid, fire, disintegration, or other loss of material.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the vessel regains an additional 1d10 hit points for each slot level above 1st.

Original Source: Repair Vessel, created by The Amethyst Dragon

Chapter 3: Ships of Wildspace

The ships of wildspace must fulfill a variety of needs. They must be able to retain enough atmosphere within their envelope to support a crew and passengers, and be able to handle both the vacuum of wildspace and the glittering ocean of the Flow. In some cases, they must be able to land on the surface of a large planet and later be able to leave the planet.

The primary restriction in ship design for all races is to make the ship large enough to support its crew, but not so large that it cannot be moved by a spelljamming mage or priest. This double restriction sets the top and bottom limits for normal ship design.

Note that the Spelljammer is a unique craft whose very existence breaks some of these limitations -- it is incredibly large, but it can still move itself normally. It is described following this section.

Spelljammer Architecture

Ships in space have a number of attributes and statistics that decribe their performance and capabilities. Below is a short overview of common terms.

Tonnage

A ship's volume and mass are measured in tons, mostly determined by its keel (length) and beam (width) sizes. This measurement is used to calculate the ship's hit points and the size of the air envelope the ship's gravity brings with it.

A ship's gravity holds enough fresh air per ton to support a single Medium creature for 1d4 + 4 months before becoming fouled. A Small or Tiny creature uses air half as quickly, while a Large creature uses air twice as quickly.

Armor Class

Just like a character, a ship has an Armor Class (AC). This is determined by the material the ship's hull is made from, the size of the ship, and the ship's maneuverability.

Ships made from harder materials are harder to damage, while those that are smaller are harder to hit, as are ships that are more maneuverable.

Hit Points

Just like any object, a ship has hit points. A ship that has lost half its hit points has many rents and holes it it, while a ship is destroyed if it is damaged enough to reduce its hit points to zero.

The hit points of a ship are determined by its tonnage and the primary building material of the hull.

Damage Threshold

Spelljamming ships are not easy for the average creature to damage on their own. A ship ignores any damage from an attack if the total damage from that attack is less than its Damage Threshold.

Ship's Rating

A Ship's Rating (SR) is a reflection of the ship's speed and relative power, and to a lesser extent its maneuverability. A ship with a high SR can move faster in a single turn than one with a low SR.

The Ship's Rating is dependent on the size of the ship and the amount of magic the spellcaster on the helm chooses to put into it.

Each point of SR means a ship can move 1 hex (150 feet) each turn at tactical speed in space, or 60 feet per turn in the air. A ship with an SR of 0 cannot move on its own, though it can still maneuver in place.

Maneuverability Points

The magical energies of a spelljamming ship cause the air surrounding it to move. Rigging captures this movement to provide maneuverability to the ship. The better designed the rigging is, and the more canvas used in it, the more quickly the ship can be turned.

The design of a ship determines how many Maneuverability Points that ship has, which can be used to turn more rapidly. The quickest ships are the graceful ships of the elves, while the most sluggish are usually sea vessels that have been converted into spacecraft. A ship can be powered by a low-level spellcaster and therefore have a low Ship's Rating, but a higher amount of Maneuverability Points can still allow it to function well in tactical combat.

Kinetic Energy

Ships in motion build up kinetic energy. The larger, heavier, or more durable the ship, and the further it moves in a straight line during its turn, the more energy it carries.

This number is used primary for ramming attacks.

Power Type

Most ships are powered by a standard spelljamming helm. Some are powered by different types of magical engines or motive forces. Most helms gather and concentrate magical or other mystical energy and convert it into motive force. In other words, the ships run on magic.

Different power types have different limitations and capabilities. A ship with no power is adrift, unable to control its motion. A ship can have multiple power sources. The one "on-line" is the primary power source, while the others (including any spells) are back-ups. The common power types (discussed in more detail under Power Sources) are:

• Standard Helms (the most common)
• Series Helms (found primarily on mind flayer ships)
• Pool Helms (found only on mind flayer ships)
• Forges (converts hard work into movement, used by dwarves)
• Furnaces (which consume magical items)
• Artifurnaces (continually powered by legendary artifacts)
• Lifejammers (powered by the lifeforce of a trapped creature)

Armaments

In a typical ship description, the standard armament is provided. Additional armament may be provided, though this cuts down on cargo space (the room that would normally be used for cargo is instead used to provide space for large weapons and their ammunition). The initial armament number reflects the number of armaments that can be built directly into the ship -- further additions can be made with each weapon eating up one ton or more of cargo space. Additional armament cannot exceed half the ship's total tonnage. This limitation allows some room for the crew's needs and provides enough breathable air for long voyages.

Cargo Space

This is the amount of stuff the ship can contain. Each ton of cargo space reflects 25 cubic yards of space that may be used for carrying (nonliving or nonbreathing) cargo.

Landing Surface

Spelljamming ships need a way to get crew and cargo on and off the ship.

Many such ships, especially those that used to be sailing ships, are able to land on water. Others are able to land on solid surfaces such as level land. A few can safely land on both types of surfaces.

A few rare ships, usually designed by spacefaring civilizations, cannot land on either type of surface and can only be docked along the gravity plane of a larger ship or asteroid port.

Outfitting

Most ships of space were captured, refitted, or inherited by their present owners. Large communities in space tend to build their own distinctive ships, which in turn are copied, stolen, or bought by others in space, accounting for both the wide variety found throughout the space lanes as well as the existenece of a good group of "typical" ships.

All ships and ship equipment are rare in space; there are a few "used spaceship shops" in the known spheres, but they are few and far between, and seldom do they have more than one or two ships available. Often initial adventurers hire on for some trading cartel or as emissaries for some powerful wizard or enterprising faith, and take the ship in trade of some heroic deeds. Some ships are usually bottom of the line, little more than tubs, but can be converted into suitable adventuring vehicles with sufficient time and gold.

In general, there is a 10 percent chance that an item listed here is available at any large space civilization. There is an additional 20 percent chance that there is a rumor that the needed item can be found somewhere else in the system (either as treasure or part of a hulk or belonging to someone else). This 20 percent chance increases by 5 percent for every week spent in one location, so that an individual looking for a helm on Cooper's Rock has a 30 percent chance of coming up with a lead on it in three week's time. The nature and details of such items are left to the DM.

Ship Hulls

There is a wide variety of ship hulls, ranging from converted ocean-going ships to the spaceborne beholder tyrant ships to the organically grown ships of the elves.

The types listed here are the most common ships in use. There are others, including those that DMs themselves come up with. Also listed here are the various groundling ships that are sometimes converted and taken into space. They are normally used by first-time adventurers, as their poor armor and low maneuverability make them undesirable to more experienced voyagers.

Groundling Origin:

• Caravel
• Coaster
• Cog
• Drakkar
• Dromond
• Galleon
• Great Galley
• Longship

Space Origin:

• Mind Flayer Nautiloid
• Squid Ship
• Hammership
• Dragonfly
• Damselfly
• Mosquito
• Wasp
• Neogi Deathspider
• Dwarven Citadel
• Beholder Tyrant Ship
• Dragonship
• Elven Man-o-War
• Elven Flitter
• Tradesman
• Gnomish Sidewheeler

Ship statistics are found at the end of this document.

Power Sources

The primary method of moving through space is through spelljamming -- converting magical energy into motive force. This section deals with the required equipment: spelljamming helms.

Spelljamming helms are the easiest way to get a ship moving, but not the only one. The dwarves use their forges to propel their great stone citadels, while the beholders use a mutated version of their own species, called an orbus, to provide the power. The mind flayers use series helms to maintain their power. All of these are described below.

Most helms and other magical "engines" have a limitation in how large or small a mass they can move. This, in turn, sets the limit on the size of most space vessels. There are large citadels carved out of asteroids, but these are not mobile in the same sense as a hammership. They only drift, with occasional (and expensive) midcourse corrections. The Spelljammer itself is also an exception, and will be dealt with separately.

Helms can be acquired through a number of means, the most usual being discovery in old ruins or raiding an enemy ship for its helm. They may be researched and built by high-level wizards at great expense in both gold and time. Or they may be purchased from the Arcane, a group of humanoid traders who do business in helms and other magical equipment.

 

 

 

 

Standard Helm

A standard spelljamming helm is typically a throne-like chair mounted to the ship. A spellcaster with available spell slots must attune to the helm (as if it were a normal magical item), and after attuning must sit on the helm to power the ship. Up to three spellcasters can attune to a standard helm at the same time, though only one can power it and control the ship at once.

The spellcaster must expend at least 1 spell slot to power the ship. Each spell slot expended allows the helmsman to move the ship at a Ship's Rating (SR) of 1 for up to 1 hour per spell slot level. A 1st level spell slot will power a ship for 1 hour, while a 3rd level spell slot would power the ship for 3 hours.

Additional spell slots expended allow the helmsman to increase the SR for 10 minutes, though the cost and maximum vary by the tonnage of the ship. Spell slots of higher levels can be used in this way, each contributing spell slots equal to the level of the spell slot used.

As an example, a spellcaster in a small (6 ton) ship expends a 1st level spell slot to move the ship at SR 1 for an hour. Attacked by pirates, she expends an additional 2nd level slot to increase her ship's speed to SR 3 to make escape easier.

The helmsman must remain seated for the entire time he or she is moving the ship. Leaving the helm breaks the connection to the ship, wasting any remaining time from expended spell slots and stopping the ship. Reestablishing the connection and moving the ship requires expending 1 or more additional spell slots.

Spell slots used to power a standard spelljamming helm can be recovered only after completing a long rest.

Series Helm

Series helms are the invention of the mind flayers, but the idea has been adapted for a number of races with Innate Spellcasting. Series helms look like standard helms, but they can be linked together, one to another, to increase their power.

A mind flayer (or the creature type the helm is designed for) sitting in the helm expends one of its limited use innate spells to provide the ship with an SR of 1 for up to 1 hour. Each additional linked helm in the series that is activated (by an additional creature expending an innate spell) increases the ship's SR by 1 for up to 10 minutes. A ship can have up to five such helms in a series.

The first creature to activate the series helm, giving the ship an SR of 1, is the one that controls the ship. If that creature is killed or incapacitated, the ship loses power for 1 turn, and a different creature in the series, chosen randomly, takes control and maintains the original SR 1, while the bonus SR is reduced by 1. Removing any other creature from the series also reduces the bonus SR by 1.

The creatures must remain seated for the entire time they are moving the ship. Leaving the helms breaks the connection to the ship, wasting any remaining time from expended innate spells and possibly stopping the ship. Reestablishing the connection and moving the ship requires expending 1 or more additional innate spells.

Innate spells used to power a series helm can be recovered only after completing a long rest.

Pool Helm

A recent development of the mind flayer collective mind, the pool helm uses the constant magic of an elder brain in its pool to power a ship, as opposed to the mind flayers themselves. Such a helm provides a ship with a constant SR of 3. The elder brain counts as a large creature for use of air.

Several nautiloid ships have been equipped with pool helms and there are rumors of larger mind flayer ships, as the pool allows larger ships to be powered. Current rumored maximum size of such a ship would be 200 tons, but this is hearsay and speculation.

A ship equipped with a pool helm can only be controlled by a mind flayer.

Forge

Dwarves are, by nature, not particularly magically inclined. Yet, they have large asteroid ships greater than those used by humans, elves, or gnomes, powered by magical engines they call forges. These forges are huge foundry rooms at the base of the ship where dwarves work around the clock, building, carving, creating, and forging.

The basic idea of the forge is the same as a standard spelljammer helm: the conversion of energy into movement. In the dwarves' case, the energy is not magical as much as it is creative. By building items with the forges, the dwarves generate the energy necessary to literally move mountains across the sky.

A forge requires at least 200 cubic yards (2 tons) for every 50 dwarves involved. For every 100 dwarves at work, the ship has an SR of 1 (to a maximum of 4). The fastest dwarven ships, therefore, are the ones that give up the most space for their forges. Dwarves can work the forges for up to 12 hours at a time (with short breaks), so to maintain movement for more time requires other dwarves to take up the work.

The minimum size of a dwarven ship is 100 tons, with a maximum size of 700 tons (though these are rare). Attempts to transplant forge-based technology into human ships have failed miserably. The best that can be accomplished is that humans can command a dwarven mountain-ship with a full crew of dwarves. Both mountain and hill dwarves can be found in space. Apparently, no other race produces this type of energy.

A side effect of this industry is a large amount of tradable goods, as the dwarves mine their own home to produce new energy and items. These range from small metal handicrafts to jewelry and swords, armor, and other weapons A dwarven ship almost always has an incredibly well-stocked armory and is very well defended. For every month spent in space, the dwarves produce enough foods, metal, coins, and swords to bring in 10,000 gp at the next landfall.

A negative side effect is that dwarven ships often become "finished," with no new things to mine, chip, form, or shape. At this point, the colony abandons the mountain-ship and sets up home in a new asteroid, stripping the forge in the process. Such abandoned mountain-ships become the lairs of monsters.

Orbus

The orbus is a living being that functions much like a series helm on the beholder tyrant ships. For each living orbus, the ship has an SR of 1. A beholder ship can utilize one orbus for every full 10 tons of the ship, with a maximum of 5 on a ship of 50 tons or more.

The orbi are usually found near the center of a beholder ship, surrounding the Great Mother or Hiveleader of the ship. If an orbus is slain, the SR is diminished by 1, and if all orbi are lost, then the ship loses all power.

Orbi appear as blind beholders, with milky skin over all their eyes. They are pale and practically helpless on their own. They have been bred by the spacefaring beholder factions to serve and serve well -- they have almost no will of their own.

Given the simplicity of beholder ships, it seems possible that humanoid races could make use of the orbus as well, either as a primary or back-up system. The beholders guard their orbi carefully, and would rather disintegrate them than see them turned over to other races.

Crown of the Stars

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
This magical item distills the abilities of a standard helm into a portable item that can be worn, allowing the helmsman to move normally in addition to commanding the ship. Despite its name, a crown of the stars is not necessarily a crown; it may be a torq, a necklace, a girdle, or any other item which can be worn. It cannot be a ring, however. The only known crowns of the stars are significantly larger than rings, and all contain at least some silver.

If the crown is used to power a ship for one week or more, it becomes bonded to that ship. It cannot be used to power a different ship unless it has been away from its bonded ship for at least one week, thereby severing the bond.

The crown of the stars is effective up to one mile away from the ship it is bonded to, so a helmsman can operate the vessel even if he or she is not on board.

A crown of the stars will not affect a ship with an active helm (or equivalent) on board. It can provide spelljamming ability to ships that would otherwise lack it (such as a Viking longship). Often a crown is discovered on the ground where they befuddle the local sages, who do not know of the worlds spinning above their heads.

Furnace

An early and primitive form of spelljamming helm still used in some areas, furnaces take their power not from living spell energy but from magical items. The items are fed into the furnace (and destroyed) to power the ship. Legendary and artifact items, and items which cannot be destroyed by fire, are unaffected and retain their spells and abilities.

The furnace can run longer on more powerful items, from 2 weeks for a common item up to 2 months with a very rare item, during which time it provides a constant SR of 2. On long voyages this becomes an expensive proposition.

The SR from a furnace can be boosted by sacrificing more than one item simultaneously. Doing so will increase the SR to 3, but will not extend the time the furnace powers the ship. However, there is a 25% chance that adding a second item will cause the furnace to explode. If that happens, everything must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw suffer 10d10 points of fire damage, reducing the damage in half on a successful saving throw.

Artifurnace

An artifurnace is the ultimate stage of the development of the furnace -- a magically powered spelljamming device which draws its power from a magical artifact. Each is a custom-made device tailored to contain and siphon energy from a specific artifact. Because an artifact is practically eternal, the power derived from it is equally so.

Once installed on a ship, an artifurnace provides a SR of 5 for as long as needed. Both artifurnace and artifact are undamagable as long as they remain together (though the ship they are in is not). An artifurnace can be damaged or destroyed if the artifact is removed.

Artifurnaces are extremely rare, on the level with artifacts themselves. They also have the difficulty of attracting the attention of those powers tied to the artifact being used. No more than a double handful of artifurnaces are recorded as having existed, and almost all of them are destroyed or hidden. Where they have appeared, they have created insurrection as every captain in the area attempts to seize it for themself.

Lifejammer

The lifejammer is a very specialized and evil type of spelljamming helm which feeds off the life energy of an individual creature placed inside (usually against its will). The lifejammer can function on any creature with hit points, but drains the life out of the creature placed within.

For every day of operation, the lifejammer inflicts 1d8 points of necrotic damage on the victim and reduces its maximum hit points by the same amount. These hit points cannot be healed or restored while the individual is within the lifejammer. In addition, at the end of each day of operation, the lifejammer's victim must make succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be reduced to 0 hit points. If not immediately removed from the lifejammer, such a victim automatically fails 1 death saving throw each round.

A lifejammer gives the ship an SR of 1. Those running the lifejammer can cause it to drain more health from the victim to increase this for a short time. This inflicts additional necrotic damage and further reduces its maximum hit points by the same amount.

If an individual victim is removed from the lifejammer while alive, it regains half the lost maximum hit points after a long rest.

Nonmagical Engines

There are a number of ways of moving through space -- gnomish engines, chemical propellants, even explosive mixtures ignited in a closed space. These are sometimes used in space to travel through magic-dead areas (called "sargassos") as well as for lifeboats and shuttles that are too insignificant to merit a full-blown helm. Nonmagical movement is used as a back-up system for larger ships when all other options fail.

All nonmagical engines share one feature -- they are slow compared to helms. Their movement is never more than 17 mph and their SR is 1. At such rates, it would take years to reach even a nearby planet.

Further, they cannot be used to lift off from celestial bodies larger than class A due to their limited power. Little research has been done in expanding this "weak sister" to the spelljammer helms (because the helms provide such a good alternative), but there are situations where they are useful.

Armaments

Weapons in space have followed along the lines of their ground counterparts, and are the descendants of siege machinery and large naval weapons. In addition to the wide variety of personal weapons and magical abilities, there is a collection of catapults, ballistae, and other weapons available to the buyer, as well as a variety of rams. Cannons are used, but are not common -- their effectiveness is doubtful, their powers change from sphere to sphere, and the explosive nature of the phlogiston makes carrying them dangerous at best.

All of the standard ships are capable of carrying a base number of large weapons. The weapons themselves are not included in the cost of the ship -- these are merely places where the buyer can install weapons without eating up living or cargo space. For each weapon added beyond that, some cargo space must be sacrificed, with lost tonnage noted in the table below.

A ship can have only a single ram. If the ram is listed with the ship's hull description, then it is an integral part of the ship. Otherwise it must be bought and installed.

Ships' Weapons

Ships usually have weapons. These are the ones that can be found mounted to different spelljamming ships. Most ship's weapons are fixed in place and can fire only in a straight line along the hex direction they face off a ship. Unless noted, a ship's weapon can target only a ship's hull.

Before any projectile weapon can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed.

Attack. This is the standard attack bonus attacks with this weapon are made with.

Range, Air. These are the extents of close and maximum ranges for this weapon while fired within an atmosphere.

Range, Space. This is the range of this weapon while in space or the phlogiston. If the attack misses, the ammunition continues to move this distance in a straight line each following round on your turn. If a target is in the line of fire and in this extended range, roll an attack roll with disadvantage to hit it.

Crew L/A/F. This is the number of crew members' actions needed to Load, Aim, and Fire this weapon. Adding these numbers together equals the total crew needed to man the weapon to fire each turn. Reducing crew increases the amount of time needed to ready a weapon to fire.

AC. This is the Armor Class of the weapon when targeted by attacks.

Hit Points. This is how many hit points the weapon has.

Tonnage. If outside the standard armament of a ship, this is the amount of cargo space lost when installing this weapon.

Ships' Weapon Types

Ballista. A ballista is a massive crossbow that fires heavy bolts.

Cannon. A cannon uses gunpowder to propel heavy balls of cast iron at destructive speeds. In a campaign without gunpowder, a cannon might be an arcane device built by clever gnomes or wizardly engineers.

A cannon is usually supported in a wooden frame with wheels.

Catapult. A catapult is designed to hurl rocks or other heavy ammunition. Those on spelljamming ships are modified in order for them to fire in a straight trajectory instead of an arc.

Jettison. A specialized catapult designed to hurl trash, rocks, wood, or other loose projectiles. It is designed to harm crew members on an enemy ship. It fires in a straight trajectory instead of an arc.

Ram. If your ship is equipped with a ram, you can use it to make a ramming attack against an enemy ship. To do so, your ship must move at last 1 hex in a straight line at another ship. Your ship's helmsman makes a spell attack against the target ship's AC.

On a successful hit, the ram inflicts damage equal to 1d10 per 25 hit points of your ship, multiplied by the number of hexes the ship moved in a straight line during this attack.

A blunt ram is a flattened ram designed to inflict internal damage by shaking up the target. It is a heavily reinforced and hardened addition to a ship. Using it to ram inflicts bludgeoning damage on the target ship, and it inflicts a Ship Shaken critical hit and another random critical hit on the target.

Ship critical hits are described in Chapter 4, under Long-Range Combat.

A piercing ram is a long, sharp prow used to break open and break apart an enemy ship. The ram inflicts piercing damage on the target ship, and it also inflicts both a Hull Holed and Ship Shaken critical hits on the target.

On a successful hit with a piercing ram, there is a chance that both ships will be locked together. This chance is 2% per 25 hit points of your ship.

A grappling ram is a set of articulated, geared arms that inflicts 2d10 points of bludgeoning damage on the target ship, inflicts a Ship Shaken critical hit, and locks both ships together. It requires eight crew member actions to release the gears and reset them, for another use or to release the captured ship, if the ram attack was successful.

Ships' Weapon Special Properties

Radius. This weapon cannot target a ship or object. It is instead targeted at a location or at a specific point on a ship. Crew members within the listed radius in feet make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 12) and suffer the listed amount of bludgeoning damage, half if the save is successful.

Targeted. In addition to being able to target a ship, this weapon can be used to directly target a creature, an object (such as a ship's weapon), or a specific point on a ship (such as rigging), if the target is within range of the weapon.

Turrets

A turret is a platform mounted to a ship that in turn has a ship's weapon mounted to it. This enables a crewman to rotate the weapon to face any direction (adding 1 action needed to aim the weapon).

Adding a turret uses up 1 extra ton of cargo space. It costs 250 gp for a light weapon turret, 500 gp for a medium weapon turret, and 1,000 gp for a heavy weapon turret.

Hull Armor

All ship's hulls have a standard Armor Class (AC), determined by the material the ship is made from, its size, and it's maneuverability.

A hull's AC can be improved by increasing either the thickness of the hull or by plating the hull with other materials (usually metal). The options and costs are:

Increased Thickness. Increasing the thickness of the hull improves the ship's AC by 1 (from 13 to 14, for example). However, this thickening also reduces available cargo space by 20 percent. If no cargo space is available, the ship may not utilize this method to increase its AC. An elven flitter, for example, cannot increase its hull thickness because it is only a one-ton ship; it has no cargo space to turn into a thickened hull.

A ship can have its hull thickness increased only once.

Cost: 100 gp per ton of ship

Plating. Also called barding, plating a ship consists of covering it in metal plates or scales. This increases the AC of the ship by 1 (from 13 to 14, for example), but reduces the Maneuverability Points of the ship by 1. A ship's Maneuverability Points cannot be reduced below 0.

Further, it is obvious to anyone looking at it that the ship is plated. Plating can only be performed once per ship. A plated ship still uses its original material for determining its hit points and starting AC.

Cost: 300 gp per ton of ship

Stronger Materials. It is possible to rebuild a ship entirely with other materials, such as transforming a ship of wood to one of metal, of glassteel, or of stone. This drastic step changes both the base Armor Class and the hit points of the ship to match the new material.

Cost: 5,000 gp per ton of ship

Netting. Ships with large, open decks are often covered with thick, twisted ropes bound into a net. These serve to protect the crew partially from catapult fire and boarding from other ships. Crew members under the netting have advantage on saving throws against magic which creates solid objects and against attacks by weapons such as jettisons. Targeted attacks against them (from handheld weapons, spells, or ships' weapons like ballistae) have disadvantage.

Each 10 foot by 10 foot square of netting has 5 hit points and an AC of 10. It is immune to piercing, psychic, and poison damage.

In a boarding action, boarders must cut through the netting before they can attack the enemy crew with anything except piercing weapons. Defenders under the netting can attack boarders above it with piercing weapons by attacking through the netting. Attacks made in either direction through the netting are made with disadvantage.

Cost: 3 gp per ton of ship

Improved Maneuverability

Each ship has Maneuverability Points determined by the shape of the ship's hull, its size, and its sails, balloons, oars, outriggers, and other physical accoutrements that can help steer a vessel. A ship owner can add to these existing features to improve this ship's dexterity and handling. This additional maneuvering equipment is called rigging, and requires both an addition of manpower and cost.

A second way to increase maneuverability is to reduce the armoring of the ship, cutting the amount of mass that needs to be hauled about.

A ship cannot have more than 5 Maneuverability Points.

Extra Rigging. All spelljammers have rigging of some sort. Rigging a ship beyond its standard results in an increase in the ship's Maneuverability Points by 1.

Additional rigging also means there is more for the crew to do. The minimum number of crew required to operate the ship increases by 50%. If it normally takes 10 crewmen to operate a ship, it would need 15 with extra rigging.

A ship can only support extra rigging once. It can be used to offset the effect of plating.

Rigging is many things, but never subtle. A nautiloid with extra steering oars or a Shou Lung dragonship with multiple sails will attract attention and enemies will know (if they are familiar with the hull) whether a ship is fully rigged. Such ships are referred to as "topped out."

Cost: 100 gp per ton of ship

Stripping. Removing nonessential weight can increase the Maneuverability Points of a ship by 1.

This removal of mass results in dropping the Armor Class of the ship by 2 points. A ship is considered the same base tonnage despite the loss, and the missing pieces are not obvious to the casual observer.

Cost: 100 gp per ton of ship

Multiple Modifications

A ship can support multiple modifications to armor and maneuverability, and such modifications are cumulative, though they can be self-defeating. A ship can be topped out with extra rigging, stripped, and plated simultaneously with the result of an increase of 1 Maneuverability Point, a decrease in AC of 1, and a requirement of half again the basic crew. Most captains would rather have a ship perform one task well than many tasks poorly.

Personal Weapons and Ammunition

The following personal weapons and ammunition may or may not be available, or even function properly, in any particular sphere your adventurer may find himself or herself in.

Rules for firearms are adapted from the Dungeon Master's Guide (pg. 267-268) and Matthew Mercer's Gunslinger archetype.

New Weapons, Ammunition, and Material

Firearms

It's up to the DM to decide whether a character has proficiency with a firearm. Characters in most D&D worlds wouldn't have such proficiency. During their downtime, characters can use the training rules in the Player's Handbook to acquire proficiency, assuming that they have enough ammunition to keep the weapons working while mastering their use.

Bullet. Different firearms each require different types of bullets as ammunition.

Gunpowder. Gunpowder is an alchemical product chiefly used to propel a bullet out of the barrel of a pistol or other firearm. Gunpowder is sold in small wooden kegs and in water resistant powderhorns.

One pound of gunpowder is enough for 20 shots from a firearm. Ten pounds is enough to fire a cannon once.

Setting fire to a container full of gunpowder can cause it to explode, dealing fire damage to creatures within 10 feet of it (3d6 for a powderhorn, 7d6 for a keg). A successful DC 12 Dexterity saving throw halves the damage. Setting fire to an ounce of gunpowder causes it to flare for 1 round, shedding bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.

Longstrike Rifle. This long, heavy weapon is used to launch bullets at great speed and accuracy over very long distances.

Musket. This long weapon reliably fires bullets at a long range.

Pepperbox. This one-handed weapon has six barrels, each of which can fire a bullet before needing to reload.

Pistol. This one-handed weapon can launch a bullet with deadly speed.

Scattergun. This dangerous weapon scatters a spray of tiny bullets (shot) that can hit anything in front of you.

New Weapon Properties

Firearms are a volatile technology, and as such have unique weapon properties. Some properties are followed by a number, and this number signifies an element of that property.

Reload. The weapon can be fired a number of times equal to its Reload score before you must spend 1 action to reload. You must use both hands to reload a firearm.

Misfire. Whenever you make an attack roll with a firearm, and the dice roll is equal to or lower than the weapons Misfire score, the weapon misfires. The attack misses, and the weapon cannot be used again.

If you have tinker's tools, you an use an action to attempt to quickly repair your firearm. You make an Intelligence check while using the tools (DC equal to 8 + the Misfire score). If the check fails, the weapon is broken and must be repaired out of combat using materials equal to half the cost of the firearm.

Scatter. An attack is made against each creature within a 30 ft. cone. These attacks are simultaneous, using a single attack roll. If an affected creature is adjacent to you, it suffers double damage on a successful hit. This attack cannot be affected by any ability that would be used against a single target.

Explosive. Upon a hit, everything within 5 ft. of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier) or suffer 1d8 points of fire damage. If the weapon misses, the ammunition fails to detonate, or bounces away harmlessly before doing so.

Other Spelljamming Equipment

There are a few other items that may be useful to the star voyager in his or her travels.

Anchors/Tethers. Anchors are used to moor a ship to a larger body such as an asteroid or to tie together two ships. Anchors and tethers are also used at space docks to secure ships and keep them from drifting off in difficult situations. In general, a larger ship will require a greater anchor, but for very large ships, multiple tether/anchors serve the purpose as well as a single larger anchor.

Cost: 10 gp per ton of ship

Life Boats. Life boats are hard-shelled vehicles designed for one purpose: to bring the occupants to the surface of a planet or rescue ship. The life boat falls toward the nearest gravity well (using a life boat close to a star can have nasty results). The life boat descends according to the rules listed for landing, but may only land. Once landed, it will never fly again.

A life boat takes up as much tonage as one-half the number of people it can carry. A large life boat occupies 10 tons of cargo space, which includes jettisons for launching the life boat. Collapsible life boats do exist, which take up only 1 ton of cargo space, but they require 2d4 minutes to set up before they can be launched.

Cost:
    Large (20 person) - 10,000 gp
    Large, collapsible (20 person) - 30,000 gp
    Medium (5 person) - 5,000 gp
    Medium, collapsible (5 person) - 15,000 gp
    Small (2 person) - 1,000 gp
    Small, collapsible (2 person) - 3,000 gp

Star Charts. The star charts of a system vary in price according to how well that system is known and visited. Star charts indicate the location and relative position of the various planets in the system, but do not indicate current positions. They are not magical but are very useful for determining things like hostile forces, mean temperature, and spaceborne powers operating in the region.

Cost 100 - 600 gp

Crews

Because so much of the glossy and important work of a spelljamming ship rests with the captain and helmsman, the place of the normal crew is often glossed over. However, the careful captain who trains his men well and treats them as more than dragon fodder will be rewarded with a ship that can handle itself well in tactical situations. While the gross motive power of the ship is determined by the helmsman, its tacking, heeling, and spinning is controlled by those who man the rigging and the oars.

Crews are divided into four classifications: green, average, trained, and crack. Their costs per man are below:

Crew Status and Wages

Status	Wages per Crew Member
Green	2 gp per standard month
Average	4 gp per standard month
Trained	5 gp per standard month
Crack	6 gp per standard month

Payment is usually in advance for the first two months, with any extra money accrued payable on landfall. In addition, crews which are going into hazardous situations (such as when hiring privateers or adventurers) may in addition demand a crew's cut of the plunder -- a share equal to that of the leaders, to be distributed among the surviving crew. Such a crew's cut will not improve their sailing ability but will affect their morale in combat situations.

Green sailors are those that can be picked up anywhere - everyone from groundlings eager to get into space to ex-mercenaries drowning their troubles in the bars. They barely know the difference between a hawser and a ballista. They are warm bodies to fill the ranks, but little more.

Average sailors are usually found around space citadels, asteroids, and other pockets of civilization. They have had sailing experience before in space, and are competent to run a ship fairly well. In any city of respectable size (such as the Rock of Braal), they can be found in sufficient numbers to crew a vessel.

Trained sailors are the veterans of many voyages, often on a number of ships. They are numerous, but that does not mean they are easy to find. In any large city area in space, about 3d10 trained sailors can be found for hire. Of course, arrivals of new ships, ship crews mutinying or abandoning people may change that number.

Crack sailors are not so much rare as very specialized. They are the best at what they do for a particular captain and aboard a particular ship. Taking a crack crew from a nautiloid and putting it on a squid ship reduces it to trained status. The "crack" crew designation gives greater benefits than a trained crew.

Initial Crew Status

Initially a crew has the rating of the majority of its members. A crew of 10 with one trained, six average, and three green recruits is considered average while one with two trained and eight green members will be considered green. This is for determining the initial crew rating only, when a ship is just starting out in play.

Increasing Crew Status

A green crew becomes average after one month of travel. This reflects one month of total travel, so that two days of travel, a week of hanging around a dock, and two more days of travel add up to only four days of travel. Twenty eight days of travel are needed to break in a green crew.

An average crew becomes trained after two more months of travel, including at least one trip into the phlogiston. For unindoctrinated crews, the Flow is a spook-house filled with nasty creatures, a belief which is too easily confirmed by beasts such as ephemerals.

A trained crew becomes crack after three more months, including at least one trip into the phlogiston and one battle with another ship (known as "blooding the crew"). If during all three of these months, the crew served under one captain, on the same ship, they attain crack status.

Decreasing Crew Status

Crew members will be lost through the normal wear and tear of combat and travel in space. As long as at least 20% of the original crew is still on board, the ship's crew status is still the same. For example, if a ship with a trained crew of 10 men loses eight to a krajen and then hires eight green replacements at the next stop, the ship still has a trained crew. The old-timers teach the ropes to the newcomers.

The exception to this is crack status. If a crack crew loses more than 50% of its members, it slips to trained status until the new crew passes through the three-month process to regain its status.

Crews, regardless of their status, can man large weapons. The status of green, average, trained, or crack does not affect combat ability.

Effects of Crew Status

A crew that works together smoothly can increase the speed at which a ship reacts to enemy maneuvers and makes the crew more willing to face tough situations. This has no effect on the ship's Maneuverability Points, but does modify its initiative rolls.

If your campaign uses the optional rule for NPC morale (Dungeon Master's Guide, pg. 273), crew status does have an effect on rolls made.

Crew Status Effects

Status	Ship Initiative Roll	Morale Roll
Green	-1	Disadvantage
Average	--	--
Trained	+1	--
Crack	+2	Advantage

Weapon Teams

Any crewman or character can operate a large weapon such a a catapult, ballista, or jettison. There are specialists who have been trained in their use, however, and they tend to be more valuable in combat. If player characters wish to invest, they may be able to get special hirelings for these shipboard positions.

Any good-sized city will have a few large weapon specialists available for hire. 1d10 will be available in any standard month, and their hiring rates are usually 6 gp per month per specialist.

A single specialist will affect the firing of one ship weapon onboard. Multiple specialists are needed to maintain many weapons. A weapon specialist can help in the repair and operation of any of the large weapon types that he or she is versed in, but can only give their bonuses to one weapon at a time.

The ship weapon assigned the specialist has a +1 bonus to attack rolls as long as the weapon specialist is able to communicate with the other crewmen on that weapon's team. Further, the weapon team may suffer the loss of one member (who is not the specialist) and continue to operate with no ill effect on its rate of fire.

A weapon specialist is usually versed in one type of weapon: catapult, ballista, cannon, or jettison. Five percent of those encountered will be knowledgeable in two weapons, and five percent of those will be versed in three.

A character with proficiency in any of these weapons can hire on as a weapon specialist or use his or her proficiency to act as a weapon team specialist. A character doing this cannot be engaged in another position on the ship (such as captain, navigator, or helmsman) or leave his or her position or the benefit is lost.

Chapter 4: Movement and Combat

Ship movement can be treated under two categories: long range movement and tactical movement. Long range movement is used for traveling over the great distances of space between planets, and along the rainbow ocean that runs between the crystal shells. Tactical movement deals with shorter ranges between objects in space and is the theatre of ship-to-ship combat.

The magic behind the spelljammer helms allows them to travel great distances in little time, but also causes them to slow down when they draw near other large objects, including other ships. For this reason movement is divided between long range, high speed movement (such as is used when ships travel between planets) and short range, tactical speed. Because tactical movement is often triggered by (or followed by) combat, the rules for fighting from ship to ship are covered in those same sections.

Long-Range Movement

In Atmosphere

A spelljamming ship within the atmosphere of a planet moves slower than in airless space. For each point of a spelljammer's Ship's Rating, the ship in the air has a speed of 60 feet. If desired, it can hover in place, though this does reduce the ship's Armor Class by an amount equal to its Maneuverability Points.

A ship's Maneuverability Points (for flying combat) are the same as when the ship is in space.

Taking Off and Landing

Only ships capable of landing on water or land can do so and take off safely. Any ship can crash onto a planet or its ocean, but then taking off again is guaranteed to be a problem (see Crashes).

When taking off from a celestial body, some time is required to overcome the force of the body's gravity. When taking off from a body of class A or greater, a certain amount of time is required to allow the energies contained within the helm to overcome the force of normal gravity and take off. It takes 1d10 minutes from the time a spellcaster sits upon the helm to when takeoff is ready. Once this random warm-up period is over, the magics of the helm automatically correct the force of gravity. Smaller celestial objects (such as other ships) do not have this warm-up requirement.

The amount of time that it takes to get out of a planet's "gravity well" and attain full wildspace movement is determined by the planet's size:

Gravity Well Escape Time

Planet Size	Time to Reach Open Wildspace
Class A	10 minutes
Class B	20 minutes
Class C	20 minutes
Class D	30 minutes
Class E	40 minutes
Class F	1 hour
Class G	2 hours
Class H	4 hours
Class I	8 hours
Class J	16 hours

The time required to get out of a planet's gravity well from its surface is the same regardles of the planet's composition and/or whether it has an atmosphere.

This assumes that a ship is moving in a straight line upward. Time spent jetting about at the same level or in mundane activities such as dogfighting is discounted from the total time.

In general, landing takes the same amount of time.

Atmospheric conditions may create difficulties in both landing and taking off.

Atmospheric Effects on Flight Times

Condition	Landing/Takeoff Time	Ship's Speed
Becalmed	--	--
Light Breeze	--	--
Favorable Winds	--	+25%
Strong Winds	+100%	-50%
Heavy Rain or Snow	+50%	-25%
Storm	+200%	-75%
Gale	+300%	-75%
Hurricane	Not Possible	Not Possible

Effects on movement time and landing/takeoff time are additive. For example, a ship trying to take off from a size E planet normally takes 40 minutes to get out of the planet's gravity well. If it is trying to do so in strong winds, this time is doubled to 80 minutes and the ship's speed is reduced by 50% of its normal speed. If the strong winds are accompanied by heavy rain, this time is increased by an additional 50% (to 100 minutes) and the ship's speed is reduced by an extra 25% (so it is now moving at 1/4 it's normal speed).

Traveling in Wildspace

Traveling in a straight line, spelljamming ships can attain high velocity relatively quickly, spanning the great emptiness between planets in a short time. The operative phrase, however, is "straight line."

Upon making a turn, or coming into the gravity field of another large body, the spelljamming helm automatically decelerates to a more manageable speed described under Combat. This is a function of all spelljamming, regardless of the type of helm or owning race of the ship.

Mind flayer serial helms and pools, standard helms, and even arcane devices all function under this limitation.

A "large body" is any body of 10 tons or greater displacement, which includes most spelljamming ships, planets, stars, and other worthwhile celestial bodies. Small items such as boats and elven flitters which are under 10 tons do not have this effect.

A ship can travel 100 million miles per day regardless of its Ship's Rating. This is the speed of all spelljamming ships over long distances, regardless of the size of the ship or the power of the spellcaster manning the helm. As long as a ship has a functioning spelljamming device of any type, a ship can move at this speed.

Four million miles in an hour sounds like a lot, and in "real terms" means that a ship can travel from Earth to the Sun in a single day. However, space is incredibly large, and that same ship would take 36 days to reach Pluto. Given that the crystal shell is as far from the orbit of the furthest planet as that planet is from the primary star/sun, a trip from the Sun to the crystal shell girding Earth's system would take 72 days.

Therefore, movement between the planets is time-consuming when dealing with the outer bodies and relatively rapid among the inner spheres. Again, using the Earth/Sun system as an example, a ship from Earth with a spelljamming device could reach as far as the orbit of Saturn in a single week.

What slows movement among the more crowded inner planets is the presence of multiple, occasionally overlapping gravity wells. Once a ship moves within the gravity well of a large body (10 tons or greater), it immediately drops to "normal" (500 yards per SR point) speed. It can descend to the planet's surface, or move around in the planet's outer atmosphere, or leave the area again.

This "sudden stop" when moving at high speeds does not affect anyone riding on the ships. The effortless deceleration is believed to be created primarily as a safety factor to prevent spelljamming ships from colliding with other ships, large meteors, asteroids, and planetary bodies. In reality, this often means that a ship enroute from one point to another in a (relatively) more crowded section of space may have more encounters than a ship moving through an emptier area (out near the shell, for example) so the ship has to continually slow down between locations.

Calculating Travel Times in Wildspace

This is dealt with in more detail in the chapter on Celestial Mechanics, which adds the movement of the spheres themselves. But in general, the time between two planetary bodies can be figured as:

Time to take off
+ Time to escape the gravity well
+ Time to cover the distance to the next planet
+ Time to land

As an example, a trip from Earth to Mars, assuming they were as near as possible (about 50 milion miles), would take:

1d10 minutes for warm-up on Earth
+ 40 minutes to take of to the edge of Earth's gravity well
+ 12 hours at wildspace speed
+ 40 minutes to land on the surface of Mars

So, total travel time is about 13 1/2 hours. No bad for wooden ships.

Earth and Mars are rarely close to each other, however. If they were as far apart as possible, the travel time between them would be 2.3 days.

This number crunching is for players who are interested. An easier method is provided in the Celestial Mechanics chapter.

Very Close Bodies

If the time it would take to travel between two bodies is less than the time it would take to move out of one gravity well and into another, then the length of the trip is equal to the sum of both times, with no time between. For example, a ship moving at spelljammer-class speed would take 30 minutes to travel from Earth to the Moon. But it takes 40 minutes to move out of Earth's gravity well and 30 more minutes to move to the lunar surface. Thus, the trip from Earth to the Moon takes 70 minutes.

All this assumes that the celestial bodies remain at the same relative distance during the course of the trip. In many systems, including our "real" one, this is not the case. How does the Spelljamming DM figure travel times without going crazy?

Method 1: The Short Way. All planets are considered to be close to each other when figuring travel times. Figure out the distance from the Primary for both planets, add them together, and divide by 100 million miles. This gives the number of days it will take. Round all fractions up to the nearest day.

Method 2: The Long Way. All planets are considered to be at the furthest distance apart. Figure out the distance from the Primary for both planets, subtract the two, and divide by 100 million miles. For each .04 of the remainder, add an hour to the final time.

Method 3: The Average Way. All planets are considered to be at their average sparation. Determine the distances using method 1 and method 2 and use their average. Round fractions up to the nearest day.

Method 4: The Starcharter's Way. Check out the Celestial Mechanics section and use the Celestial Display for movement of the bodies.

Method 1 is the fastest method and lets characters move about the system very quickly. Method 2 slows them down a little, in particular when they are moving around the outer planets. Method 3 is the most accurate, but takes slightly more time. Method 4 is recommended for long-term campaigns where the movement of the planets becomes an important factor (such as when an invasion is planned for the next time two planets are close to each other).

Movement in the Flow

The rainbow ocean allows spelljamming ships to attain greater velocities. These speeds have defied measurement since the phlogiston is without permanent landmarks or markers. Time is the only constant.

In general, it takes 10d10 days to travel from one crystal sphere to another. The sphere reached is random unless a locator device is used to find a particular sphere. These locators, supplied by the Arcane or duplicated by spells, target the particular sphere that is sought. Some spheres are unreachable from others due to the Flow itself, and travelers must go through a third or fourth sphere in order to reach their goal. These anomalies are noted under the individual spheres -- which spheres are nearby and can be reached regularly, and which ones are not. Some spheres drift into and out of proximity with each other, so just because you reach an area once does not mean that you will find it again.

A ship's last port of call determines which spheres it can move to. Port of call is the sighting or landing within a crystal sphere. If a ship heading for Krynn from Greyhawk accidentally ends up at the Forgotten Realms, the Realms becomes its new port of call.

Ships in the Flow slow down when they encounter other bodies, such as ships and rogue planets, but this does not affect total travel time.

Tactical Movement

Tactical movement occurs when a ship encounters another large body, usually another ship. Such tactical encounters can occur either in the Flow or in wildspace, and both are handled similarly.

One of the maps (in the Spelljammer boxed set) shows a hex grid against a star background, suitable for marking ship location in ship-to-ship combat. Each hex is 150 feet across. A round of combat in space is the same as a standard round -- about 6 seconds.

Movement and combat are handled in a two-dimensional format despite the fact that space (even fantasy space) is three-dimensional. This is purely for the sake of simplicity. Three-dimensional rules are very slow and add little or nothing to the flavor of the game.

Players and referees will do well to remember that this product is intended for use as a role-playing aid. The SPELLJAMMER supplement is not a broad game of ship-to-ship combat. It provides a framework for playing D&D in space. The game will be far less interesting if played without the personal involvement of player characters aboard ship.

Ship-to-ship combat flows along the same lines as standard D&D combat. Initiative is determined, then each ship or side takes its turn, then the next. The chief difference is the sense of scale involved. Missiles can travel through space several miles before finding a target while magic spells require closer approach and ramming and boarding closer still.

Also, ship-to-ship combat poses the danger to the characters involved of losing their ship and being stranded in space. Many (but not all) enemy ships will rescue survivors (as slaves if nothing else), but some, particularly during war, will leave the survivors to fend for themselves.

Player who are piloting their own ships should note their ship's abilities and those of significant passengers (like player characters) on board. A ship with a variety of PCs on board has an advantage over one manned merely by NPCs, even if those NPCs are mind flayers.

Facing

Each ship has a facing. It is pointed in a particular direction on the map. The playing piece should be placed with its front crossing on of the six sides of the hex it is in. For typical ships, the ship is in the hex where its base it. Large objects, such as asteroids, the Rock of Braal, and the Spelljammer are in all the hexes that their pieces cover.

A chip can change its facing as part of its movement. How often it can do this depends on its Maneuverability Points.

Movement

A ship's movement is determined by its Ship's Rating and its Maneuverability Points. A spelljamming ship can move forward (in the direction it is facing) or backward during its movement. Moving backward is done at a cost of one extra SR (minimum 1).

A ship may move one hex space for each point of SR. It may also turn one hex face, at the cost of 1 SR. For example, a ship with an SR of 3 can move one hex, turn left or right by one hex face, and continue to move for 1 more hex space; or it could move 3 hexes in a straight line, or some other combination of movement and turning.

In addition to expending SR to turn, a ship may also have Maneuverability Points it can use to turn. The ship's crew can adjust the rigging on the helmsman's orders to turn at the start of any hex of movement, turning 1 hex face for each Maneuverability Point expended (maximum of 3 per hex moved).

A ship's helmsman can cause the ship to turn a single hex face in combat at the end of the ship's movement (for free).

If a ship suddenly loses power from the helm, it's SR becomes 0 but it will continue to move in a straight line in the direction it last moved, at the speed it last moved in that direction, at the start of each of its turns.

Stacking

Any number of ships can be in the same hex at the same time. Ships in the same hex have the option to board, ram, grapple, or engage in missile fire and magic.

Combat

There are two general types of combat in space: long range and close combat. Long range combat occurs when the ships are in different hexes. This is beyond the range of most magical effects and is the province of missiles and heavy armaments. Close combat occurs when two ships are (however briefly) in the same hex. Then spell attacks occur, in addition to other missiles. It is also at such times that boarding and ramming can occur between ships.

The Turn Sequence and Initiative

Just like normal D&D combat between characters, combat between ships is turn-based. Each ship, in initiative order, takes its turn, followed by the next in order, until the 6-second round is complete and the order starts over.

Initiative for a ship is rolled by the helmsman, with a bonus equal to the ship's Maneuverability Points and a possible penalty or bonus due to crew status.

Because the scale for ship-to-ship combat is larger than that of individual characters, there is a modification to how movement and actions are handled. At the start of each round, before any ship gets its turn, all declare their actions. Any reacting involving ships is done on the following round.

The turn sequence of each round for battling in space looks like this:

• The DM determines what actions the NPCs will take, including attempting to ram, use weapons, cast spells, etc.
• The PCs declare what actions they (and their ship) will do.
• Movement and attacks are made in order of initiative.

Long-Range Combat

The large weapons onboard ship, along with normal missile weapons, fire further in space than within atmospheres. Therefore it is often a tactic for crews to fire volleys from a long distance before closing to attack.

A large weapon may always attack ships in other hexes, but catapults cannot fire into the same hex. Personal ranged weapons (such as crossbows and bows) can fire at targets in the same or adjacent hexes, but they do so with disadvantage to the attack roll against targets not in the same hex.

Hit Points

A ship hull's hit points are like a character's hit points -- when they are reduced to 0, the ship begins to break up. Damage can be repaired given time and money (see Repairs).

When a ship is reduced to less than half its maximum hit points, it immediately suffers a critical hit.

Damage Threshold

Ships are sturdy structures that are unharmed by small amounts of damage. If the damage inflicted by a single attack is equal to or less than the Damage Threshold of the ship's hull, the damage is ignored.

Wooden ships do not benefit from a Damage Threshold against fire damage. Stone, ceramic, and crystal-hulled ships do not have a Damage Threshold against thunder damage.

All ships are immune to poison and psychic damage.

Critical Hits

Unlike attacks against most targets, critical hits against ships do not necessarily inflict extra damage. Instead, on a critical hit, a random effect from the following table happens.

Critical hits vary from ship-threatening results of combat to less-dangerous situations which impair the functioning of the ship. Only large ships' weapons can inflict critical hits on a ship.

Ship Critical Hits

d20 Roll	Critical Hit Type
1	Loss of 50 Hit Points
2 - 4	Deck Crew Casualty
5	Interior Crew Casualty
6 - 8	Ship Shaken
9 - 10	Ship Weapon Damaged
11 - 12	Hull Holed
13 - 14	Loss of SR
15 - 16	Maneuverability Loss
17 - 18	Loss of 100 Hit Points
19	Fire
20	Spelljammer Shock

Deck Crew Casualty

One exposed crew member is struck and suffers the same damage as the ship. Choose the target randomly from all exposed crew members. All characters within 5 feet of that individual must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or suffer the same damage.

Fire

A fire starts somewhere in the ship, determined by the DM. The effects of fire aboard ship are described below. In cases where it is physically impossible for a fire to start (all the lights are magical, there is nothing flammable aboard, and everyone is wearing clothing made of rock), roll for a different critical hit. A fire onboard as a result of a critical hit inflicts no damage the first round, but may spread.

Hull Holed

The attack punches a hole in the ship where there was none before. The DM chooses which part of the ship is holed (either by random roll, based on the situation that led to the hole being made, or whatever would make things most interesting at that point).

Interior Crew Casualty

Like a deck crew casualty, but everyone aboard the ship is a potential target, including prisoners, the captain, and spelljamming casters. This reflects not so much the effect of the attack itself, but shattered parts of the ship's interior bouncing around during combat.

Loss of 50 or 100 Hit Points

This loss is in addition to the initial damage that caused the critical hit. In some cases it may cause the ship to break up or force another critical roll. Multiple rolls for the same attack are cumulative.

Loss of SR

The SR of the ship drops by 1 point for the next 1d10 rounds while the helmsman readjusts his or her balance and senses to the new damage level. Additional losses are cumulative, to a minimum SR of 1. If this critical hit happens to a ship with an SR of 1, reroll for a different result.

Maneuverability Loss

The ship loses 1 Maneuverability Point for 1d10 minutes. If this would affect a ship that already has 0 Maneuverability Points, reroll for a different result.

Ship Shaken

The ship rings from the blow of the attack. All characters not sitting or otherwise firmly tied down (the spelljamming caster is considered to be secured) must succeed at a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.

Ship Weapon Damaged

One of the ship's weapons (chosen randomly) suffers the same damage as the attack that caused the critical hit. Crew members operating the weapon are unharmed.

Spelljammer Shock

The spelljamming helmsman must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. If the save is failed, the helmsman is knocked unconscious for 1d4 hours and loses his or her connection to the helm, becoming unattuned. Any magical healing will restore the helmsman to consciousness, but he or she must attune to the helm again in order to use it.

If the ship uses a series helm, all creatures linked at the time must make the saving throw.

If the ship uses a forge, furnace, artifurnace, lifejammer, or other type of magical engine, the drive itself is rendered nonfunctional for 1d4 hours.

If no replacement drive or helmsman is available, the ship immediately drops to an SR of 0 and drifts, powerless.

Breaking Up

If a ship is reduced to 0 hit points, its internal structure is destroyed and it begins to fall apart. Roll a d6 for every 10 tons of the ship (rounded up). That is the number of large, atmosphere-retaining pieces of the ship that are left.

A ship that is breaking up stops moving. The hex it occupies and all hexes surrounding it are filled with debris. Surviving characters are considered to be in the last hex occupied by the ship.

Some victors will sift through such debris looking for prisoners. Others will abandon them. It is possible for survivors to lash up some sort of vessel from the junk to save themselves with a temporary helm of some sort.

Effects of Crew Losses on Ship Performance

The less manpower a ship has, the less capable it is of fighting and sailing effectively. A ship may still handle itself in "reduced" circumstances, but not with the effect of a full crew.

Ships' weapons require crew members in order to be loaded, aimed, and fired. For each missing crew member, add 1 crew action needed to load or aim the weapon. These large weapons can be used as long as one person remains available to load, aim, and fire it -- but that lone person will have to take multiple rounds to perform all the actions needed to use that weapon.

Loss of crew affects the maneuverability of the ship as well. The minimum number of listed crew indicates the number required for operating the ship at its listed Maneuverability Points (MPs), not counting the crew members working weapons. If less than that number are available to operate the ship, set the sails, man the oars, etc., then the ship's maneuverability is downgraded. This loss may be due to casualties, or may be because sailing crew members have been reassigned to a ship weapon team, preparing for boarding, or fleeing the ship.

If the crew is less than the listed minimum but more than half that number, the MPs of the ship are reduced by 1.

If the available crew is less than half the minimum but more than one quarter of that number, the ship's MPs are instead reduced by 2.

If the crew availability is less than one quarter the minimum, the ship's MPs are reduced by 3 from the starting amount. A ship will operate at this level as long as there is at least one crew member to work the rigging.

Losing all sailing crew members reduces the ship's Maneuverability Points by 4 from the starting value. A ship cannot have less than 0 MPs.

When figuring out how many crew members are available, PCs and officers are excluded, though they may be pressed into service to handle things during a battle emergency. Normally, however, their activities prevent them from taking an active role in the more mundane aspects of handling the ship, even in the heat of battle.

When calculating halves and quarters for manpower requirements, round fractions in the players' favor.

Debris

Debris is a common consequence of battle, but in addition there are often small asteroids, comets, and other space flotsam that can interfere with the movement of and combat between ships. Debris of sufficient mass will cause a ship moving at high velocity to slip into normal movement.

Ships moving through debris-strewn hexes do so at risk. Those moving one hex per round can do so normally and without danger. Those moving through at speeds of two or three hexes per turn suffer the attack of a small jettison, while those moving at a speed of four or five hexes per turn suffer the attack of a medium jettison. Anything moving faster than five hexes per turn suffers the attack of a large jettison. These attacks occur once per debris hex entered.

Fire

Whether as a result of a critical hit, an alchemical attack, or a spell such as fireball, fires sometimes get started on ships.

Fires inflict their initial damage the round they start. On each subsequent round, the fire inflicts the same die of damage as the previous round, plus 1 additional die.

Putting out a fire requires one person for every die of damage the fire will cause that round. If not enough people are available to extinguish the blaze, they can reduce its severity by 1 die per person fighting it.

The greatest danger from fire is its potential to poison the air envelope. Once a fire has damaged 10% of the ship's hit points (total damage, not in a single round), the air is downgraded one step (from fresh to fouled, or fouled to deadly). If the fire damage reaches 40% (without the ship otherwise breaking up), the air envelope is downgraded again, with all effects of the change affecting the crew.

A ship reduced to 0 hit points by fire breaks up normally to form a field of debris. The surviving debris (if on fire) will continue to burn and break up until the disintegrating chunks are completely consumed. Ships entering the debris field while it is still burning will suffer the effects of a Fire critical hit.

Fields of Fire (Optional Rule)

While the portrayal of combat here is two-dimensional, in reality, a ship could be tilted to fire in any direction without affecting the occupants. As a result, almost any weapon can be brought to bear against an attack from any direction. The limitations on this are for weapons that fire to the bow and stern, including forward-facing catapults and rear-mounted jettisons.

Nonmovable weapons designed to fire toward the front and rear of the ship may only fire at targets that are within the lines set up by the three frontal (or rear) hexes. In addition, such weapons have advantage on attacks against ships directly in front of (for front-mounted weapons) or directly behind (for rear-mounted weapons) the ship, due to the "stability" of the shooting platform.

Morale (Optional Rule)

No one likes to die, particularly in space with a long walk home. For this reason, morale an be important in combat. If you can convince a ship's captain (or more importantly, a ship's crew) to either call off their attack or surrender, you are winning a victory without risking your own ship and crew.

Morale checks are made at the conclusion of a round of battle, after all actions have been resolved.

A morale check is required for a ship's crew when:

• The ship suffers a critical hit.
• The ship has less than 50 or fewer hit points left (unless the ship started with 100 or less, in which case ignore this situation).
• The crew has been surprised (but only on the first turn after being surprised).
• The ship is faced by an obviously superior force.
• An ally or crewman is slain by magic.
• 25% of the crew have been eliminated.
• 50% of the crew have been eliminated.
• A companion or crewman is slain after 50% of the crew is eliminated.
• All officers desert, are slain, or surrender.
• The crew is fighting a creature they cannot harm due to magical protection.
• The crew is asked to perform heroic (and dangerous) tasks.
• The crew is offered a bribe.
• The ship's crew is covering a fighting retreat.
• A member of the crew is asked to use a personal magical device with charges.
• The crew has met the conditions of another morale check and is given the opportunity to surrender.
• It is apparent the ship cannot escape.
• The ship's captain is slain.

Situations can affect the morale check, adding advantage or disadvantage to the check.

The effect of a failed morale check is largely up to the DM, but the most common result is to "strike the colors" -- that is, to surrender.

Short-Range Combat

When a ship enters the same hex as another ship, short-range combat can occur. The attacker has the option of firing any hand-held weapons or ship's weapons (except for catapults). Following his or her attacks, the player whose hex was entered has the option of making any missile, ship's weapon, or magic attacks. Following this, if there are any other ships in the area, they have the option to fire as well.

After all weapons are discharged, the moving player may ram the opponent if he has initiative, grapple, or board the opponent. If he chooses to do none of these, then the opponent has the opportunity to grapple or board. Ramming attacks are allowed only to the side that has the initiative.

Ramming

Ramming is a common tactic in space for damaging or breaking up an enemy ship. Ramming is best performed against other ships that are of roughtly the same tonnage or smaller.

A ship must announce its intention to ram at least 3 rounds before making the ram attack. This gives the crew time to batten down all the loose gear and brace for impact. Failure do so means the ramming ship suffers a Ship Shaken critical hit.

A ship can't ram another ship that is in the same hex at the start of its turn, unless it leaves that hex and reenters it later. A ship can't ram another ship that is grappled with it.

A ship may only attempt to ram once during its turn. It can't attempt to ram a vessel once, miss it, then ram another vessel in the same or an adjoining hex.

When ramming, use the helmsman's spell attack bonus to determine if the ramming is successful. If a ship has no one individual at the helm (such as the dwarven foundries), then use the navigator's proficiency bonus.

Rams inflict different damage according to their type and how much kinetic energy points the ramming ship builds up.

Kinetic Energy = (ship's maximum hit points divided by 100, rounded down, minimum 1)
x number of hexes moved in a straight line to impact (maximum of ship's SR)

Ram Types

There are three standard types of rams that may be attached to or built into a ship's hull.

Piercing Ram. This inflicts 1d8 piercing damage for each kinetic energy point built up during the ramming attempt. If the ramming ship has half or fewer of its hit points, this damage becomes 1d4 piercing damage for each kinetic energy point.

A ship struck by a piercing ram automatically suffers the Hull Holed and Ship Shaken critical hits.

If a piercing ram is used in combat at the target ship survives the attack, there is a chance the two ships will be locked together. This chance equals 5% times the target's tonnage. No additional damage is inflicted, but the ships are considered grappled. They can't separate until the helmsman from either ship makes a DC 10 Intelligence check and expends 1 SR to pull them apart.

Blunt Ram. This inflicts 1d10 bludgeoning damage for each kinetic energy point built up during the ramming attempt. If the ramming ship has half or fewer of its hit points, this damage becomes 1d4 bludgeoning damage for each kinetic energy point.

A ship struck by a piercing ram automatically suffers the Ship Shaken critical hit and one other random critical hit.

Grappling Ram. A grappling ram inflicts no damage. On a hit, both ships are considered grappled. They can't separate until the helmsman from that target ship ship makes a DC 15 Intelligence check and expends 2 SR to pull them apart, or until the ramming ship uses 3 crew members' actions to release the grappling ram.

Movement After Ramming

If the ramming ship misses its target or reduces the opposing ship to 0 hit points (so that the opposing ship begins to beak up), the ramming ship may continue its movement up to its regular limits.

If the ship hits its target without destroying it, it stops and loses any remaining movement during its turn.

Ship crews may grapple in the same turn as a ram, if so desired.

Size and Ramming

Ramming works best against ships that are the same size as or smaller than the ramming ship. In certain cases, an opposing ship may be too small or too large to be rammed by a particular ship.

A ship can't ram a ship that is 10% or less of the ramming ship's tonnage. For example, a 100-ton ship can't ram a ship of 10 tons or less. If such a ram is attempted, the smaller ship must check for a crash.

A ship may not ram another ship that is more than three times its tonnage. If it attempts to do so, it crashes into the larger ship.

The exception to this is when using a grappling ram, which can be used against any target smaller than three times the ramming ship's tonnage.

Ramming and Ship Positions

In general, the exact position of the ships involved in a ram attack do not matter, as long as the attacking ship is moving in directly at the target ship.

Head-on Ramming is a special case. Head-on ramming is a dangerous situation, as it exposes the ramming ship to the ram of the target ship, should the target be equipped with one.

If the attacking ship hits the target, the ram is handled normally.

If the attacking ship misses the ram, the target ship has the option to immediately make its own ram action against the attacking ship…using the attacking ship's Kinetic Energy for calculating damage on a successful hit.

Ramming Gargantuan Creatures

In general, living things can't be effectively rammed (they are too small). Creatures of Gargantuan size, however, are large enough to be targeted by a ram attack.

Crashes

Occasionally a ship will make a sudden, unplanned landing against a larger object. This impact usually has disastrous results for the ship making the crash and ship that is being crashed into.

When crashing into a larger ship or object, a helmsman may attempt a DC 20 ability check, using their spellcasting ability. They gain a bonus to the roll equal to their ship's maneuverability points. If successful, the crashing ship can either fly off (if they have any SR remaining) or land normally on the larger ship or object.

If there is a crash, the smaller ship is always assumed to be crashing into the larger ship, regardless of the overall tactical situation. The crashing ship takes bludgeoning damage equal to half its maximum hit points. If the crashing ship is reduced to 0 hit points, the ship breaks up (usually all over the gravity plane of the other ship). All creatures and objects aboard the crashing ship must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 6d10 bludgeoning damage or half that amount with a successful save.

A ship that is crashed into takes bludgeoning damage equal to the hit points the crashing ship had at the moment of impact. The ship suffers a Ship Shaken critical hit.

Crashing is not a situation that many captains look forward to, but in combat there is often a need for "fire ships" and other suicidal tactics where sacrificing a ship may help turn the battle. The crew of such a ship usually abandons it before the crash, hoping to survive a "fall" to the surface of the object being crashed into rather than die in the crash.

Shearing Attacks

A shearing attack is a close pass against an opposing ship with the intention of dragging rigging, steering equipment, and other devices overboard to cripple the ship's maneuverability.

When shearing, use the helmsman's spell attack bonus to determine if the shear is successful. If a ship has no one individual at the helm (such as the dwarven foundries), then use the navigator's proficiency bonus.

A successful shearing attack reduces the target ship's maneuverability points by 1. A ship may only have it's maneuverability points reduced by 2 points total, and it can't go below 0 points.

If the shearing attack fails, the target ship has the option of immediately attempting its own shearing attack against the original attacker.

Shearing attacks deal no hit point damage to the target ship, though an unluckly critical hit could still result in damage.

Grappling and Boarding

Often it is desirable to take over an opponent's ship without inflicting major damage. In cases like this, a side with enough manpower can overwhelm the other side by grappling and boarding. Certain types of ramming may also result in a grappling situation.

Either side can grapple, but the moving ship has the first opportunity. The purpose of grappling is to bring the two ships together to allow either towing or boarding.

The most common method for grappling is a large hook on the end of a long rope or chain. There are also ballista bolts which are similarly equipped and can be fired into the opponent's hull. In either case, once the hooks have caught hold, the two ships can be hauled together.

A grappling hook requires about 5 feet of space from side to side to be thrown at another ship in the same hex. The number of hooks that can be thrown depends on the length of the ship making the attack and how many hooks it can bring to bear.

Two ships are grappled when the number of lines between them is at least equal to 1/10 the tonnage of the smaller ship. For example, a 50-ton ship and a 30-ton ship are grappled if they are connected by 3 or more grappling lines. If there are fewer lines than that connecting the two ships, either ship can break them all simply by moving out of the hex (this is a good way to pick up some free grappling hooks).

A grappling attack inflicts no damage but links the two ships together. Both ships are immobilized once they are connected by sufficient grappling lines (unless one ship tries to tow the other).

A ship may be boarded in the round after it is grappled, or attackers may ready an action to board another ship as soon as they are brought together. Combat when boarding is standard D&D combat.

A crew (either side) will fight until defeated or it fails a morale check; then it surrenders. PCs and important NPCs (determined by the DM) may fight as long and as hard as they wish, even to the death. Morale checks are used only for regular NPC crew members.

In very dangerous situations, a morale check should be made to see if the crew will board in the first places (attacking a ship full of mind flayers is a risky proposition even under the best of conditions.). Such a morale check would be made after the orders are given but before they are carried out.

In case of a failure of morale, the crew will retreat back to its native ship. If the crew is on its native ship, it will surrender (unless it is checking morale to determine whether it will board, in which case the crew just refuses to attack). In certain cases (such as when dealing with villainous neogi, who are merciless), they will fight to the death.

Rapid Resolution of Small-Scale Combat

to be added

Towing

A ship that has been grappled may also be towed. Both ships are considered to be part of the same larger ship, their tonnage is added together to determine if a spelljamming helm or other device can move the whole mass.

Only the stronger of the two spelljamming devices will function when the ships are linked, so that the weaker item will be inhibited until all the lines are cut. "Strength" is determined by the ships' current SR. A large ship with a low SR may suddenly find itself being dragged through debris fields by a smaller but more SR-powerful ship. If the SRs are equal, then neither ship may move as long as both helms remain in working order.

Encounters, Evasion, and Running Away

Given the nature of space movement, an opposing craft may appear suddenly in the distance, then slow to combat speed almost immediately. Since it is the nature of the spelljamming helm to stop when it nears the gravity plane of another body, many encounters will occur without the desire of either side.

The opposing ship(s) will appear 1d10 + 10 hexes away in a random direction determined by rolling 1d6.

Encounter Appearance Direction

d6	Direction
1	directly ahead
2	ahead and right (starboard)
3	behind and right
4	directly behind
5	behind and left (port)
6	ahead and left

Heading is usually toward the players' ship, though the DM can determine this if they desire.

Some ships (such as pirates) which travel with loaded ballistas may have a tactical advantage against opponents. However, there are usually several rounds of maneuvering before ships come within effective weapon range of each other.

It is possible to make a situation appear less threatening than it is through the use of illusions, concealed weapons or crew, etc. The DM is encouraged to be as devious as possible. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and he who fights and runs away lives to run another day. Unfortunately, when one is close to another large body (such as a ship or planet), the spelljammer helm will not permit the ships to reach sufficient speeds to make high speed travel worthwhile.

The times listed under Takeoffs and Landings reflect the amount of time it takes to clear a planetary surface in order to attain high speeds. For smaller bodies (such as errant asteroids and pirate ships), the "capture distance" is 25 hexes on the map, counted at the start of the ship's movement. If there is nothing of 1 ton or larger within 25 hexes at the start of a ship's turn, the ship can accelerate to interstellar speed and leave the area/map.

A faster ship can usually outdistance a slower ship so that such escape is possible, but often a slower but more maneuverable ship can put an opponent far enough out of the way that it can reach the 25-hex radius and escape. More likely, the fleeing ship often unloads a few potshots or jettison loads before escaping in the hope of either damaging something that will prevent pursuit or slowing down the pursuer.

Pursuit

A determined pursuer can often follow an evading target even at high speed. Because the SR of a ship matters little when moving at interstellar speed, a slower ship can keep pace with a faster one if the captain is clever enough.

Since both ships are moving at very high speed, when one ship stops the other overtakes it almost immediately and stops as well if it passes within 25 hexes. Aiming the pursuing ship this precisely is the department of the ship's navigator.

The pursuing ship's navigator must make a DC 15 Intelligence check to successfully direct their ship to follow another ship moving at interstellar speed. A failed check results in the pursuer heading off in a slightly wrong direction, but over millions of miles of distance, even a slight error will cause the pursuing craft to miss its prey.

Time is important in pursuit. For every round of delay since the departure of the first ship, the DC to successfully follow increases by 1. After 2 minutes of delay, a fleeing ship is irretrievably lost.

When pursuing, those on the trailing craft do not know if they are on the same track as their quarry unless the crew is aided by magical means. Depending on the situation, a pursuing ship may lose interest in the chase quickly or hang on until the lead ship reaches its destination or another encounter which will slow it down.

If the pursued ship cuts loose a mass of 1 ton or more, the following ship will be slowed by its encounter with the dropped material. A towed ship or one of the elven flitter ships is often used this way. Of course, once that mass is free of the towing ship, that ship slows down also. There is a net gain, however, because the lead ship can accelerate once it is 25 hexes away from the mass, while the pursuing ship will stop 11-20 hexes short of the mass and must pass it before accelerating again.

If the fleeing ship slows down for some reason, then the pursuing ship will appear (as a normal encounter) in the same number of rounds as when the pursued ship disappeared. For example, if it took 2 rounds for the pursuing ship to follow, it will appear 2 rounds after the lead ship stops. Ships trying to evade pursuit will often use such a lead to stop, turn, and flee in a new direction, hoping to be gone on the new course before their pursuer arrives.

Repairs

Spelljamming ships are relatively easy to repair. Their only irreplaceable parts are the helm (or other spelljamming device) and the people who crew them.

In most civilized areas, 1 skilled carpenter, shipwright, or other suitably skilled craftsperson can repair 1 hit point per day at a cost of 20 gp in labor and materials. You can hire additional workers and provide more materials to increase the speed of repairs, up to a total of 50 skilled workers repairing 50 hit points per day at a cost of 1,000 gp (if you are in an area that has that many suitably skilled workers available). A ship made of stone would require stonemasons instead of carpenters, while one of metal would require the service of blacksmiths.

If a ship is very heavily damaged (less than half of its maximum hit points remaining), it takes 2 days and 40 gp in labor and materials for each hit point repaired until the ship is restored to at least half its maximum hit points.

A spellcaster can restore 1d8 hit points to a ship by casting mending on holes, cracks, and breaches that are less than 1 foot across. This can be done no more than once per hour on the same ship.

Some spellcasters are able to use a specialized spell called repair vessel, which can restore more hit points to a ship and can be cast as many times as necessary on the same ship.

Poor (or cheap) characters can repair ships themselves. 1 person, with the correct materials, can repair 1 hit point in a week in space. Materials can be acquired by buying them at a groundling city, or just landing at a vacant stand of timber (if the ship is constructed of wood) and taking what is needed.

Such repairs are just as good as the expensive repairs, provided that the crew doing repairs has at least one trained carpenter, shipwright, or other suitable craftsperson for every five untrained workers. If repairs are made without the aid of properly trained leadership, attacks against the ship score a critical hit on a roll of 19-20 until the hit points are repaired again by someone with the proper training.

Chapter 5: Celestial Mechanics

Laying Out the Planets

Moving on the Planetary Display

Encounters and Evasions on the Display

Universe Building

Preplanned Universes

DM-Created Universes

Randomly Generated Systems

Appendix 1: Spell Effects

Spells in Space

Wizard Spells

Priest Spells

Magical Items

Passage Device

Wondrous item, very rare
The passage device is a creation of the Arcane, who use it to create portals through the crystal shell between the phlogiston and wildspace. It casts create portal, and can do so again after 12 hours.

Portal Locator

Wondrous item, uncommon
Another device of the Arcane, this one casts the spell locate portal. It can be used again after 12 hours. It is often "thrown in" as a giveaway when an Arcane sells a ship.

Planetary Locator

Wondrous item, uncommon
This magical device is often included when purchasing a ship from the Arcane. It is a desk-sized device that contains a magical map of the current system the ship is in. When a ship carrying it enters a crystal shell, the device immediately tracks the major celestial bodies in that sphere and displays them.

This item will not track planets or celestial bodies smaller than size B, but should these be encountered the information can be entered manually and displayed thereafter.

The planetary locator will also show asteroid bases that choose to be located (in other words, those that bought a device from the Arcane that causes them to appear on locators). Some of these location devices have been stolen and are used by neogi, pirates, and other marauders to trap unwary travelers.

Finally, the planetary locator cannot show accurately those planetary systems which do not align with the central-body-with-other-bodies-moving-around-it type. Chaotic, strange, or other types of systems cause the map to turn a single solid color or go black.

The planetary locator will not function in the phlogiston.

Appendix 2: Travel Times

Appendix 3: Planetary Display

Appendix 4: The Rock of Braal

Appendix 5: Standard Ships

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Beholder Tyrant Ship

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 18
• Damage Threshold 20 (stone)
• Hit Points 500
• Maneuverability Points 3
• Kinetic Energy 5 x straight line movement
• Power Type Orbus

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• Tonnage 25
• Cargo Space 13 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 15/23
• Keel (Length) 50 ft.
• Beam (Width) 50 ft.
• Landing Surface --
• Purchase Cost 100,000 gp

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Standard Armament

None.

---

Beholder tyrant ships are only used by the various beholder races, and serve as a home for up to 40 such creatures at a time. They are shaped like walnuts and have their own form of spelljamming power, using the beholders within. While an individual may be a guest (or prisoner) on a tyrant ship, it is unlikely anyone other than a beholder would want such a hull.

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Caravel

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 168
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

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• Tonnage 14
• Cargo Space 7 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 8/14
• Keel (Length) 70 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 11,000 gp

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Standard Armament

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

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A groundling ship of late medieval design. A versatile cargo carrier.

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Coaster

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 144
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

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• Tonnage 12
• Cargo Space 6 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 8/14
• Keel (Length) 60 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 5,000 gp

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Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

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A groundling coastal trader.

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Cog

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 216
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 2 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

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• Tonnage 18
• Cargo Space 9 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 9/8
• Keel (Length) 90 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 10,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

None.

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A groundling ocean trader, popular with merchants.

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Damselfly

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 20
• Damage Threshold 30 (iron)
• Hit Points 339
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 3 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

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• Tonnage 11
• Cargo Space 5 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 2/11
• Keel (Length) 75 ft.
• Beam (Width) 15 ft.
• Landing Surface Land
• Purchase Cost 50,000 gp

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Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

---

A version of the dragonfly hull so heavily modified as to qualify as its own separate hull type. The damselfly hull uses metal (and in some cases, ceramics, shells, or bones) to cover all external decks to create a battle-ready scout ship.

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Dragonfly

Spelljamming Ship

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• Armor Class 16
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 136
• Maneuverability Points 3
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

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• Tonnage 11
• Cargo Space 6 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 3/15
• Keel (Length) 75 ft.
• Beam (Width) 15 ft.
• Landing Surface Land
• Purchase Cost 40,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Light Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 6 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/0/1. Hit 5 (1d10) piercing damage.

---

An excellent ship for small groups and fore planetary exploration, the dragonfly is capable of touching down on most planets.

---

Dragonship

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 15
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 563
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 5 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 38
• Cargo Space 19 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 19/38
• Keel (Length) 150 ft.
• Beam (Width) 25 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 60,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Blunt Ram. (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d10 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage, or (1d6 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points. OR

Piercing Ram (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

A common ship among individuals from Kara-Tur (and other lands of east Asian influence) A cross between a dhow and a dragon, it is used by ground-based nations of that region that seek to go into space.

---

Drakkar

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 240
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 2 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 20
• Cargo Space 10 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 20/10
• Keel (Length) 100 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 25,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

---

A large ship used by Viking peoples. It requires more people to operate than its tonnage can comfortably support, and therefore is not a good ship for long voyages (but is good for raiding the moon).

---

---

Dromond

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 316
• Maneuverability Points 1
• Kinetic Energy 3 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 26
• Cargo Space 13 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 13/26
• Keel (Length) 175 ft.
• Beam (Width) 15 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 15,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Jettison. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 1 hex, 15-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 4/2/1. Hit 16 (3d10) bludgeoning damage.

Piercing Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).> ___

---

A large ship used by viking peoples. It requires more people to operate than its tonnage can comfortably support, and therefore is not a good ship for long voyages (but is good for raiding the moon).

---

---

Dwarven Citadel

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 14
• Damage Threshold 20 (stone)
• Hit Points 10,000
• Maneuverability Points 1
• Kinetic Energy 100 x straight line movement
• Power Type Forge

---

• Tonnage 500
• Cargo Space 13 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 100/500
• Keel (Length) 250 ft.
• Beam (Width) 200 ft.
• Landing Surface --
• Purchase Cost 100,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Jettison. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 1 hex, 15-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 4/2/1. Hit 16 (3d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Jettison. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 1 hex, 15-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 4/2/1. Hit 16 (3d10) bludgeoning damage.

Blunt Ram. (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d10 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points. OR

---

Dwarven ships are carved-out asteroids and flying mountains. Many are found adrift in space, abandoned by their people, and used as bases by other fell races. Like the deathspiders, citadels are too large to be moved by normal spelljamming means.

---

Elven Flitter

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 19
• Damage Threshold 5 (living plant)
• Hit Points 12
• Maneuverability Points 4
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 1
• Cargo Space 1/2 ton
• Crew Size (min/max) 1/1
• Keel (Length) 20 ft.
• Beam (Width) 5 ft.
• Landing Surface Land and Water
• Purchase Cost 10,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

None.

---

The 1-ton flitter is among the smallest of the ships of wildspace. Though it can be equipped with a spelljammer helm, these ships are more often carried on large ships and let loose when the large elven ship enters the atmosphere envelope of another ship. The flitters then glide and board the other ship.

---

Elven Man-o-War

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 14
• Damage Threshold 5 (living plant)
• Hit Points 720
• Maneuverability Points 3
• Kinetic Energy 7 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 60
• Cargo Space 30 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 20/60
• Keel (Length) 200 ft.
• Beam (Width) 30 ft.
• Landing Surface --
• Purchase Cost 100,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Medium Jettison (rear). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 2 hexes, 10-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 3/2/1. Hit 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage.

---

The oddly curved, graceful ships of the elves are grown and twisted into their shapes, much like bonsai trees. As a result, their plane of gravity is not linear; each ship is a large, delicately fluted vessel with a lot of potential firepower. The crystalline wings of the elven ship reach 300 feet from tip to tip, brushing the edge of its own atmosphere envelope.

---

---

Galleon

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 585
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 5 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 39
• Cargo Space 20 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 20/39
• Keel (Length) 130 ft.
• Beam (Width) 30 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 44,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Medium Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Piercing Ram (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

One of the most advanced sailing vessels of its era, found only on a handful of worlds. Best of the groundling vessels for the leap into space, and those earthbound nations that recognize space traveling tend to use such ships.

---

---

Great Galley

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 13
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 312
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 3 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 26
• Cargo Space 13 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 19/26
• Keel (Length) 130 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 30,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Piercing Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

A groundling ship powered by slave or freeman rowers. Often experimental wizards take an entire galley team into space in initial experiments. This leads to no later experiments, since the crew quickly exhausts the air and dies.

---

Gnomish Sidewheeler

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 17
• Damage Threshold 30 (iron)
• Hit Points 900
• Maneuverability Points 0
• Kinetic Energy 9 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 30
• Cargo Space 9 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 20/30
• Keel (Length) 120 ft.
• Beam (Width) 25 ft.
• Landing Surface 50% chance of either Land or Water
• Purchase Cost 40,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

None.

---

Also known as "the ship of the desperate," the gnomish sidewheeler represents the pinnacle of gnomish technology. Most intelligent creatures avoid these vessels like the plague. They operate with all manner of gizmos and devices. Price does not include gnomes needed to run things, or the giant hamsters that power the side wheels and wind the giant rubber band.

---

Hammership

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 14
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 938
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 9 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 63
• Cargo Space 31 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 11/63
• Keel (Length) 250 ft.
• Beam (Width) 25 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 50,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Blunt Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d10 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points.

---

Another common spacefaring ship used both by traders and those who prey on them. Uses a blunt ram at the front, so that its ram is included in the total keel length of the ship.

---

Longship

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 14
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 136
• Maneuverability Points 1
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 11
• Cargo Space 5 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 11/11
• Keel (Length) 75 ft.
• Beam (Width) 15 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 10,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Blunt Ram. (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d12 per Kinetic Energy point) budgeoning damage, or (1d6 per Kinetic Energy point) bludgeoning damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points. OR

Piercing Ram (optional). Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

An ideal carrier for small numbers of adventurers in space, but as with the galleys, taking a full crew beyond the atmosphere of the planet will result in the air quickly becoming fouled and the voyage ending.

---

Mind Flayer Nautiloid

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 15
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 675
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 6 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 45
• Cargo Space 23 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 10/45
• Keel (Length) 180 ft.
• Beam (Width) 25 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 40,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Catapult (forward). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Medium Jettison (rear). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 2 hexes, 10-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 3/2/1. Hit 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage.

Piercing Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

Another common spacefaring ship used both by traders and those who prey on them. Uses a piercing ram at the front, so that its ram is included in the total keel length of the ship.

---

Mosquito

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 17
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 72
• Maneuverability Points 3
• Kinetic Energy 1 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 6
• Cargo Space 3 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 1/6
• Keel (Length) 60 ft.
• Beam (Width) 10 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 15,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

None.

---

Smaller than the dragonfly, and less expensive, this ship is not as good for long voyages, but is often employed as a scout ship in civilized space.

---

Neogi Deathspider

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 16
• Damage Threshold 30 (iron)
• Hit Points 4,725
• Maneuverability Points 1
• Kinetic Energy 47 x straight line movement
• Power Type Lifejammer

---

• Tonnage 158
• Cargo Space 79 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 17/100
• Keel (Length) 170 ft.
• Beam (Width) 90 ft.
• Landing Surface --
• Purchase Cost 280,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Heavy Jettison. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 1 hex, 15-foot radius, load/aim/fire crew actions 4/2/1. Hit 16 (3d10) bludgeoning damage.

Grappling Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit Both ships grappled. Target helmsman must make a DC 15 Intelligence check and expend 2 SR to escape.

---

One of the largest ships in known space, the deathspiders are feared and hated wherever they appear. One can likely be had for the listed price, but the individuals buying it will be attacked on sight. The deathspider uses a grappling ram that allows it to trap its prey. Not recommended for new adventurers.

---

Squid Ship

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 14
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 938
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 9 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 63
• Cargo Space 31 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 11/63
• Keel (Length) 250 ft.
• Beam (Width) 25 ft.
• Landing Surface Water
• Purchase Cost 45,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 3 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/2/1. Hit 38 (7d10) bludgeoning damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Piercing Ram. Melee Spell Attack: as per helmsman, one ship. Hit (1d8 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage, or (1d4 per Kinetic Energy point) piercing damage if the ship has half or fewer of its hit points, and chance to lock both ships together (5% per ton of target ship).

---

A common ship among pirates, traders, and other spacefarers, its effective length is increased by the 50-foot long triple spears at the front.

---

Tradesman (fish ship)

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 15
• Damage Threshold 10 (wood)
• Hit Points 432
• Maneuverability Points 3
• Kinetic Energy 4 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 36
• Cargo Space 18 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 12/36
• Keel (Length) 120 ft.
• Beam (Width) 30 ft.
• Landing Surface --
• Purchase Cost 27,500 gp

---

Standard Armament

Light Catapult. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 5 hexes, one ship, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) bludgeoning damage.

Medium Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 4 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 1/1/1. Hit 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

---

The workhorse of space, this ship is found in every sphere that has a healthy trading and raiding society.

---

Wasp

Spelljamming Ship

---

• Armor Class 16
• Damage Threshold 15 (dense wood)
• Hit Points 240
• Maneuverability Points 2
• Kinetic Energy 2 x straight line movement
• Power Type Standard Helm

---

• Tonnage 16
• Cargo Space 8 tons
• Crew Size (min/max) 3/16
• Keel (Length) 80 ft.
• Beam (Width) 20 ft.
• Landing Surface Land and Water
• Purchase Cost 20,000 gp

---

Standard Armament

Heavy Ballista. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 3 hexes, one target, load/aim/fire crew actions 2/1/1. Hit 27 (5d10) piercing damage.

---

Designed along the lines of the dragonfly by the lizardfolk tribes of space, this ship responds to the needs of that race with its pitched decks and wide passages. The ship has found common uses among other races as well.