Swashbuckling rogues, vicious wolfwere monks, and even golden dragons who’ve spent so long in humanoid form they simply forgot about the whole dragon thing are among the campaigns long roster of characters. Central to the shared narrative are characters that players care about, engage with, and have goals for, and with creativity on both sides of the DM screen the possibilities are endless.
This chapter presents some character options for the campaign, but they shouldn’t be considered an exhaustive list. Unlike typical Spelljammer games, every single D&D setting is accessible via the astral plane or some means in wildspace. For example, traditionally the world of Athas of the Dark Sun setting is ‘locked away’ from most of the multiverse, but it has always been present in the campaign. Similarly, new locations that are compatible with the setting should be considered present, such as the Tal'dorei Reborn, Eberron, and other third party settings.
The primary reason is enabling the creativity and enjoyment of as unrestricted character creation as possible. Each individual game within the campaign may have a set of guidelines to stick to for theme of course. For example, prior to the launch into space the Lightwood characters were all either groundlings with no knowledge of space, or spacers with convenient amnesia to be explored as plot in future.
2014 and 2024
The 2024 edition of the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide present some changes to the 2014 format of their 2014 counterparts. This campaign guide encourages using the 2024 system of Class, Background, and Species, while recognising the sheer volume of 2014 content available.
Both versions of any character creation content should be considered available, with reinterpretation at the DM and players discretion. As always, the rule of cool applies - put it all together in the most rewarding way without breaking the game.
Multiple Characters
Spelljammer offers narrative opportunities for ‘away team’ style play, and it can be fun for players to have more than one option for the character to play as. At the DM’s discretion, players may have two or even three characters, who level at the same rate, and share major narrative rewards like boons and non-immediate item/gold rewards.
A player can only have one active character at a time. As a general rule players can swap between active characters after a long rest where all characters are present, and the DM may highlight these opportunities for players. Needless to say if the party is deep within a dungeon and no teleportation magic is available, the other characters may not be available to switch to, so some planning ahead may be worthwhile.
During social encounters where all characters are present, the DM may allow players to switch between the active character for narrative purposes, but players should take a moment to ask the DM first as this can result in a great many interactions to track.
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