Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is a campaign and adventure boxed set for using the Spelljammer setting in the 5th edition. It contains three 64-page sourcebooks, a Dungeon Master's screen, and a poster map of the asteroid-city Rock of Bral. The three sourcebooks expand on game elements for the 5th edition, such as: ''Astral Adventurer's Guide'' • Six new player races – Astral Elf, Autognome, Giff, Hadozee, Plasmoid, and Thri-Kreen • Spelljamming ships – sixteen ship stat blocks Light of Xaryxis • An adventure module which mixes classic science fiction and high-seas themes • The module is broken into "episodes, each of which ends in a cliffhanger" • It is designed to take player characters from 5th level to 8th level == Publication history ==

The Spelljammer campaign setting was introduced in 1989 with a boxed set, similarly titled Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space, for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. In April 2022, Wizards of the Coast announced a new boxed set titled Spelljammer: Adventures in Space which was released on August 16, 2022; this release updates the Spelljammer setting for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Chris de Hoog, for CGMagazine, commented that "it's been about thirty years since the last officially published material in this realm, and since acquiring the game in 1997 Wizards of the Coast has only alluded to aspects of it sparingly". It will include the three sourcebooks as softcovers, an additional booklet of adventure encounters, pre-generated characters, game cards (for encounters, ships, magic items and spells), various maps and miniatures, physical props, and other handouts. Beadle & Grimm will also release a Silver Edition at a lower price point; this edition will include fewer items than the Platinum Edition. Errata On September 2, 2022, Wizards of the Coast issued an apology for offensive material included in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. This content was removed from digital editions and will be removed from future print editions; errata was also released. Charlie Hall, for Polygon, wrote that this "apology is in reference to a race called the hadozee [...]. The primatelike creatures were called out for their association with in-fiction slavery, as well as problematic themes and images that together serve to reinforce racism against Black people". Following this apology, Christopher Perkins – Wizards' game design architect – announced a new inclusion review process for the Dungeons & Dragons studio in November 2022. This process will now require "every word, illustration, and map" to be reviewed at several steps in development "by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication". The previous process only included cultural consultants at the discretion of the product lead for a project. All products being reprinted will also go through this new review process and be updated as needed. == Related products ==

Miniatures As part of their Icons of the Realm line, Wizards of the Coast licensee WizKids released 47 pre-painted miniatures that correspond with the Spelljammer setting. They also released two gargantuan figures – an astral dreadnought and Prince Xeleth (a character from Light of Xaryxis) on top of an adult solar dragon. Spelljammer Academy Spelljammer Academy is an introductory adventure module released on D&D Beyond. It acts as a prequel and teaser for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. The module is designed to take player characters from 1st level to 5th level; 5th level is the starting level for Light of Xaryxis. It was a free promotion which could only be claimed by D&D Beyond users, however, it was also a time-limited promotion and could not be claimed after August 16, 2022. "each song on Spelljams corresponds with a chapter in the" adventure module Light of Xaryxis. Four different themed physical two-disk LP vinyl records were also released. The Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, who plays Dungeons & Dragons with some of his band mates, had previously contacted Wizards of the Coast as someone interested in the musical aspect of Dungeons & Dragons. This led to Perkins reaching out to Funk to produce the album. Dehner noted that album "vibe is very similar" to the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie soundtracks "where space adventures are accompanied by classic rock, mostly of the '60s & '70s", along with "a couple of ass-kicking heavy metal songs". He also highlighted that "few songs make direct reference to the Spelljammer setting" and "you don't need to be a D&D player, or have any understanding of what Spelljammer is, to enjoy" the album. On the Flash Gordon (1980) inspiration for the boxed set, Eric Diaz of Nerdist commented that "yes, the one with the awesome theme song by Queen. Spelljammer is an over-the-top space opera where the players have to fight to save their home planet from an evil Elven Empire that wishes to destroy it. Just like the Queen score was crucial to Flash Gordon, the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space soundtrack is just as crucial to the game". == Reception ==

Chris de Hoog, for CGMagazine, rated Spelljammer: Adventures in Space a 9.5/10 and called the development team's choice to split the material over three sourcebooks a "wise move". On ''Boo's Astral Menagerie, de Hoog wrote that it "has one of the most bizarre rosters of enemies to date, from more mundane threats like solar and lunar dragons or combatant versions of the new playable races; to spacefaring variants of aquatic creatures; straight through to Lovecraftian horrors". Nelson highlighted the balanced encounters of the module and that "almost every challenge in Light of Xaryxis comes with text on what happens if the players fail — and those setbacks often have extremely entertaining results. [...] These suggestions help change the nature of conflict in the game [...]. Light of Xaryxis'' normalizes failure as just a key part of the narrative". Hoffer highlighted a "noticeable departure from past lore" is that the crystal sphere system has "been replaced by the Astral Sea, a key component of D&D's current cosmology". Stretch wrote that "while navel ship combat isn't new to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition there are a few more intricacies with the Spelljammer ships including some very out there mechanics that you'll need to learn. Each ship gets to act as its own point of gravity when up in the Astral Sea and even create its own envelope of breathable air". Currier-Mead commented that "fans argued that a race of sapient apes who were granted intelligence by an outsider who enslaved them, experimented on them and intended to sell them hits too many racist notes. [...] Even the elevating to sapience by an outside force has been compared by fans to many racist myths, as well as the white and colonial savior archetypes". Hall stated that Hadozee were brought into the original Spelljammer setting from TSR's Star Frontiers (1982); when digging into the older published content, "things really go off the rails, with additional background information about the hadozee evoking many other racist stereotypes of Black people". He wrote that "following those progressive actions, many fans, as well as other tabletop game designers, have been vocal in their criticism of Wizards' choice to reintroduce the hadozee in this way". Carter wrote that "some of those who called out the racist Hadozee depiction asked why no cultural consultants were hired to consult on a setting with explicit slavery and plenty of allusions to real-world colonial time periods (none of the Spelljammer books list consultants in their credits). Others postulated that either no sensitivity readers were brought on to the project, or else Wizards of the Coast chose to ignore them. Such processes might be addressed in the 'thorough internal review' Wizards cited in its apology, but heavy scepticism is understandable given the company's apparent inaction over the last two years". == References ==