Last week WotC announced a bunch of upcoming products, including Spelljammer. I must admit, I was very surprised to see this, as Spelljammer was always a very niche product, especially compared with Dark Sun, Ravenloft, or Planescape. Still, it was always a favourite, albeit very odd, setting and so something of immediate interest.
That interest was then ruthlessly stamped out. I have three issues:
They've adopted a new product format - three 64-page books in a slipcase. This means that this setting gets only 3/4 of the attention paid to Ravenloft, and 3/5 of that paid to Eberron. Given the need to introduce a whole raft of D&D physics, lots of ship types, vehicle combat rules, and a whole setting, that's just not enough. And when you also consider that one of those books is an adventure, it is even more punishing.
With the new format they're also significantly increasing the price. So, more money for less material? No thanks.
Truth be told, though, neither of those are deal-breakers - I would probably have arranged to get the set as a Christmas present or something. Unfortunately, they've also reimagined the setting, and my immediate reaction to the changes is a big fat "nope". And given the abject failure of "Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft", I'm not inclined to give the benefit of any doubt.
Which is all very disappointing. I've been very much a fan of Eberron, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and Dark Sun. But of these, only Eberron has a 5e take that I've enjoyed, and that came about mostly by the expedient of not making any changes.
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