Spelljamming Ships
(https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sais/aag/astral-adventuring#SpelljammingShips)
(https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sais/aag/astral-adventuring#HowSpelljammingWorks)
How Spelljamming Works:
Spelljamming is the act of using a Spelljamming Helm to propel and maneuverer a ship. The individual that operates the helm is called a spelljammer. Speed:
When cruising through space, a spelljamming ship can travel 100 million miles in 24 hours. At this speed, the spelljamming helm makes minor course corrections on its own to avoid collisions with meteorites, other detritus, and space-dwelling creatures. These slight course corrections sometimes cause mild space sickness, which is a harmless side effect common among those who aren’t accustomed to space travel. A spelljamming ship automatically slows to its flying speed when it comes within 1 mile of something weighing 1 ton or more, such as another ship, a kindori, an asteroid, or a planet. While moving at its flying speed, a spelljamming ship is generally as manoeuvrable as a seafaring vessel of a similar size. A spelljamming ship moving at its flying speed can accelerate to its 100-million-miles-every-24-hours speed provided there is nothing weighing 1 ton or more within 1 mile of the ship. Sensations:
Using a spelljamming helm to move a ship produces a feeling in the spelljammer similar to moving a limb that has fallen asleep—a pins-and-needles sensation, though not as painful as its analog. When the ship approaches something large in space, the spelljammer is usually the first to detect it as the ship slows down. An experienced spelljammer can often sense what caused the ship to slow down a few moments before it can be seen; an asteroid “feels” different from a space galleon or a pod of kindori, for example. Spelljammer Duels:
A ship can have more than one spelljamming helm aboard it, but only one spelljamming helm at a time can be used to control the ship. If a spelljammer tries to gain control of a ship by using a second spelljamming helm, a spelljammer duel ensues. Resolve this conflict by having each spelljammer make a Constitution check; if the duelling spelljammers tie, have them reroll. The spelljammer with the lowest check result loses the duel and gains 1d4 levels of exhaustion; in addition, their attunement to their spelljamming helm ends at once, and they can’t attune to any spelljamming helm until all levels of exhaustion are removed from them. Crew:
The standard crew complement for a spelljamming ship includes one captain to give orders, one spelljammer to pilot the ship, and one or more crew members to operate its weapons. Some ships carry extra crew (such as troops and back-up spelljammers) or passengers. A ship that has more than a standard crew complement will degrade the quality of its air supply more quickly. A spellcaster typically charges at least 50 gp per day to operate a spelljamming helm. Ship-to-Ship Combat:
The following rules are designed to make ship-to-ship combat simple yet exciting. Starting Distance:
At the start of an engagement, the DM decides how far a ship is from its enemies. Three possibilities are provided in the Starting Encounter Distance table. The shorter the distance, the less time crews have to load weapons and make other preparations.
Initiative:
The Dungeon Master’s Guide presents a variant rule called side initiative, which is ideal for ship-to-ship engagements, since it saves you the trouble of tracking initiative for individual creatures aboard each ship. Shipboard Weapons:
A spelljamming ship typically has one or more shipboard weapons, ballistae and mangonels being the most common. Such weapons are slow to load and fire. Player characters are almost always better off using their own weapons and spells in ship-to-ship combat, reserving shipboard weapons for targets that are too far away to be damaged by other means. Moving and Steering a Ship:
A spelljammer can use a ship’s spelljamming helm to move and steer the ship without expending their own actions or movement. On their turn, the spelljammer determines how far the ship moves (up to its maximum speed) and decides whether to approach another ship or put more distance between the two. On its turn, a ship can be turned and reoriented so that all its weapons can aim and fire at any target within range, regardless of where they’re situated on the deck. Boarding:
When one ship moves to within 5 feet of another ship, the spelljammer or pilot of the moving ship can maneuverer it alongside the other ship, enabling creatures to move safely from one ship’s deck to the other ship’s deck until one of the ships pulls away from the other. A ship that has enough movement can pull alongside another vessel, deploy a boarding party, and then move away, provided the members of the boarding party took the Ready action to position themselves so they can move onto the other vessel when it’s close enough. Crashing:
A spelljammer can run their ship into another object or a creature by moving the ship into the target’s space and making a special attack roll (1d20 + the spelljammer’s proficiency bonus) against the target’s Armor Class. If the attack roll hits, a crash occurs; otherwise, the target moves out of the ship’s path, avoiding the crash. If the DM decides that a crash is unavoidable, no attack roll is necessary, and the crash occurs automatically. When a spelljamming ship crashes into something that could reasonably damage it, both the ship and the creature or object it struck take bludgeoning damage based on the size of the struck object, as shown in the Crash Damage table. If the ship runs into something that doesn’t have hit points (such as a planet or a moon), apply the damage only to the ship. The ship stops after crashing into a Gargantuan or immovable creature or object; otherwise, the ship can continue moving if it has any movement left, and whatever it struck moves to the nearest unoccupied space that isn’t in the ship’s path. After resolving the effect of the crash, determine whether the ship’s gravity plane is suppressed (see “Overlapping Gravity Planes” earlier in the chapter). If the suppression of a ship’s gravity plane would cause the creatures on or inside that ship to fall, they fall in whatever direction is appropriate for the sudden change in gravity. To determine the damage from a fall, see the falling rules in the Player’s Handbook.
Ship Repairs:
Nonmagical repairs to a damaged ship can be made while the vessel is berthed. Repairing 1 hit point of damage to a berthed ship takes 1 day and costs 20 gp for materials and labour. Damage to shipboard weapons can be repaired just as quickly (1 hit point per day), but at half the cost (10 gp per hit point). The mending spell is a cheaper, less time-consuming way to make repairs. Casting mending on a damaged ship or shipboard weapon restores a number of hit points to the target equal to 1d8 plus the spellcaster’s spellcasting ability modifier. The target can regain hit points from that spell no more than once per hour. Shipboard Tasks:
During the uneventful part of a voyage, the captain of a spelljamming ship can put crew members to work in several ways. If a character is looking for a job to do, or if a captain wants to keep a character busy, roll on the Shipboard Tasks table to determine what needs to be done. The time it takes to complete a task is at least 1 hour, and certain tasks might take longer at your discretion. Ship Quirks:
Roll on the Ship Quirks table if you want to add a bit of “personality” to a ship. Ship Cargo:
To randomly determine what’s in the cargo hold of a spelljamming ship, roll 1d6 times on the Cheap Cargo table and 1d4 – 1 times on the Expensive Cargo table. A duplicate result indicates that the ship has more of the same cargo. If a cargo container is locked, at least one crew member (typically the captain) has the key to it. A character can try to unlock a container using thieves’ tools, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
(https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sais/aag/astral-adventuring#HowSpelljammingWorks)
How Spelljamming Works:
Spelljamming is the act of using a Spelljamming Helm to propel and maneuverer a ship. The individual that operates the helm is called a spelljammer. Speed:
When cruising through space, a spelljamming ship can travel 100 million miles in 24 hours. At this speed, the spelljamming helm makes minor course corrections on its own to avoid collisions with meteorites, other detritus, and space-dwelling creatures. These slight course corrections sometimes cause mild space sickness, which is a harmless side effect common among those who aren’t accustomed to space travel. A spelljamming ship automatically slows to its flying speed when it comes within 1 mile of something weighing 1 ton or more, such as another ship, a kindori, an asteroid, or a planet. While moving at its flying speed, a spelljamming ship is generally as manoeuvrable as a seafaring vessel of a similar size. A spelljamming ship moving at its flying speed can accelerate to its 100-million-miles-every-24-hours speed provided there is nothing weighing 1 ton or more within 1 mile of the ship. Sensations:
Using a spelljamming helm to move a ship produces a feeling in the spelljammer similar to moving a limb that has fallen asleep—a pins-and-needles sensation, though not as painful as its analog. When the ship approaches something large in space, the spelljammer is usually the first to detect it as the ship slows down. An experienced spelljammer can often sense what caused the ship to slow down a few moments before it can be seen; an asteroid “feels” different from a space galleon or a pod of kindori, for example. Spelljammer Duels:
A ship can have more than one spelljamming helm aboard it, but only one spelljamming helm at a time can be used to control the ship. If a spelljammer tries to gain control of a ship by using a second spelljamming helm, a spelljammer duel ensues. Resolve this conflict by having each spelljammer make a Constitution check; if the duelling spelljammers tie, have them reroll. The spelljammer with the lowest check result loses the duel and gains 1d4 levels of exhaustion; in addition, their attunement to their spelljamming helm ends at once, and they can’t attune to any spelljamming helm until all levels of exhaustion are removed from them. Crew:
The standard crew complement for a spelljamming ship includes one captain to give orders, one spelljammer to pilot the ship, and one or more crew members to operate its weapons. Some ships carry extra crew (such as troops and back-up spelljammers) or passengers. A ship that has more than a standard crew complement will degrade the quality of its air supply more quickly. A spellcaster typically charges at least 50 gp per day to operate a spelljamming helm. Ship-to-Ship Combat:
The following rules are designed to make ship-to-ship combat simple yet exciting. Starting Distance:
At the start of an engagement, the DM decides how far a ship is from its enemies. Three possibilities are provided in the Starting Encounter Distance table. The shorter the distance, the less time crews have to load weapons and make other preparations.
| Distance | Notes |
|---|---|
| 250 feet | Long range for ballistae, mangonels, shortbows, longbows, light crossbows, and heavy crossbows |
| 500 feet | Long range for longbows and mangonels; beyond the range of ballistae and crossbows |
| 1,000 feet | Beyond the range of most ranged weapons |
The Dungeon Master’s Guide presents a variant rule called side initiative, which is ideal for ship-to-ship engagements, since it saves you the trouble of tracking initiative for individual creatures aboard each ship. Shipboard Weapons:
A spelljamming ship typically has one or more shipboard weapons, ballistae and mangonels being the most common. Such weapons are slow to load and fire. Player characters are almost always better off using their own weapons and spells in ship-to-ship combat, reserving shipboard weapons for targets that are too far away to be damaged by other means. Moving and Steering a Ship:
A spelljammer can use a ship’s spelljamming helm to move and steer the ship without expending their own actions or movement. On their turn, the spelljammer determines how far the ship moves (up to its maximum speed) and decides whether to approach another ship or put more distance between the two. On its turn, a ship can be turned and reoriented so that all its weapons can aim and fire at any target within range, regardless of where they’re situated on the deck. Boarding:
When one ship moves to within 5 feet of another ship, the spelljammer or pilot of the moving ship can maneuverer it alongside the other ship, enabling creatures to move safely from one ship’s deck to the other ship’s deck until one of the ships pulls away from the other. A ship that has enough movement can pull alongside another vessel, deploy a boarding party, and then move away, provided the members of the boarding party took the Ready action to position themselves so they can move onto the other vessel when it’s close enough. Crashing:
A spelljammer can run their ship into another object or a creature by moving the ship into the target’s space and making a special attack roll (1d20 + the spelljammer’s proficiency bonus) against the target’s Armor Class. If the attack roll hits, a crash occurs; otherwise, the target moves out of the ship’s path, avoiding the crash. If the DM decides that a crash is unavoidable, no attack roll is necessary, and the crash occurs automatically. When a spelljamming ship crashes into something that could reasonably damage it, both the ship and the creature or object it struck take bludgeoning damage based on the size of the struck object, as shown in the Crash Damage table. If the ship runs into something that doesn’t have hit points (such as a planet or a moon), apply the damage only to the ship. The ship stops after crashing into a Gargantuan or immovable creature or object; otherwise, the ship can continue moving if it has any movement left, and whatever it struck moves to the nearest unoccupied space that isn’t in the ship’s path. After resolving the effect of the crash, determine whether the ship’s gravity plane is suppressed (see “Overlapping Gravity Planes” earlier in the chapter). If the suppression of a ship’s gravity plane would cause the creatures on or inside that ship to fall, they fall in whatever direction is appropriate for the sudden change in gravity. To determine the damage from a fall, see the falling rules in the Player’s Handbook.
| Size of Creature or Object Struck | Bludgeoning Damage |
|---|---|
| Large | 4d10 undefined |
| Huge | 8d10 undefined |
| Gargantuan | 16d10 undefined |
Nonmagical repairs to a damaged ship can be made while the vessel is berthed. Repairing 1 hit point of damage to a berthed ship takes 1 day and costs 20 gp for materials and labour. Damage to shipboard weapons can be repaired just as quickly (1 hit point per day), but at half the cost (10 gp per hit point). The mending spell is a cheaper, less time-consuming way to make repairs. Casting mending on a damaged ship or shipboard weapon restores a number of hit points to the target equal to 1d8 plus the spellcaster’s spellcasting ability modifier. The target can regain hit points from that spell no more than once per hour. Shipboard Tasks:
During the uneventful part of a voyage, the captain of a spelljamming ship can put crew members to work in several ways. If a character is looking for a job to do, or if a captain wants to keep a character busy, roll on the Shipboard Tasks table to determine what needs to be done. The time it takes to complete a task is at least 1 hour, and certain tasks might take longer at your discretion. Ship Quirks:
Roll on the Ship Quirks table if you want to add a bit of “personality” to a ship. Ship Cargo:
To randomly determine what’s in the cargo hold of a spelljamming ship, roll 1d6 times on the Cheap Cargo table and 1d4 – 1 times on the Expensive Cargo table. A duplicate result indicates that the ship has more of the same cargo. If a cargo container is locked, at least one crew member (typically the captain) has the key to it. A character can try to unlock a container using thieves’ tools, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
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