After a Thirty-Year Hiatus, Spelljammer Returns to Take Dungeons & Dragons to the Stars

“Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for the consequences of splitting up the party…angering a dragon of any variety, or saying yes when the DM asks, ‘Are you really sure?’” 

–D&D: The Player’s Handbook 

Thanks to shows like Stranger Things and Critical Role, Dungeons & Dragons has grown from being “that weird thing nerds play” to one of the most popular games of all time, with over 50 million players including celebrities like Felicia Day and Vin Diesel. Since the fifth edition of the game released in 2014, Wizards of the Coast has interspersed new adventures and sourcebooks with reworkings of classic favorites like Ravenloft, Eberron, and a full-length campaign of the infamous party killer “Tomb of Horrors.” The latest addition to these favorites is Spelljammer, returning to D&D nearly thirty years after its discontinuation (and after much nagging from fans). 

Spelljammer was originally released for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (the same version played in Stranger Things) in 1989 as a way to allow all the sorcery and swashbuckling adventures of D&D to take place within the framework of outer space tropes. Regular ships were equipped with special helms called spelljammers that allowed them to travel to the D&D equivalent of space: a realm known as the Astral Plane in the current edition. Rather than a scientific approach to space, Spelljammer used fantasy elements to define the universe and deal with things like gravity, lack of air, alien species, and everything else you’d expect to find in an interstellar adventure. Spelljammer campaigns and accessories were published through 1993 before the line was dropped to focus on other D&D settings such as Planescape and Forgotten Realms. 

Spelljammer was omitted from the third and fourth editions of D&D, but with the game’s skyrocketing popularity and ever-growing catalog of adventures, it’s only natural that players of the original campaigns want to relive the glory days and introduce their favorite stories to the next generation of gamers. Whether you’re a first-time explorer of the Astral Plane or a veteran adventurer guiding the way, grab your copy of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space on BN.com or at your local Barnes & Noble to begin the journey! For more D&D history – including stories about the game’s origins, the nightmare that is THAC0, and that time in the 80s when everybody panicked – pick up a copy of Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History. 

Happy adventuring, and may the dice roll ever in your favor! (And if they don’t, get new dice. We have plenty to choose from.)