Introduction: Vast Oceans of Adventure
Source: Astral Adventurer’s Guide, p. 4
In a D&D game, adventures can unfold in any corner of the multiverse—not just in the dungeons and wildernesses of the Material Plane but also on other planes of existence, including what celestial navigators refer to as Wildspace. When you stand on a Material Plane world and look up at the night sky, what you’re seeing is Wildspace and, beyond that, the Astral Sea. Exploring these realms and the worlds they surround is the crux of a Spelljammer campaign.
Terminology
The Astral Plane is, quite literally, the plane of stars. More precisely, it is where the stars and portals to the heavens reside—an infinitely vast celestial void that surrounds all the worlds of the Material Plane.
Every D&D world—whether round, flat, or some other shape—exists in an airless void known as Wildspace. A world might be solitary, or it might have neighbors: one or more suns, worlds, moons, asteroids, comets, or other bodies. This neighborhood of celestial and planetary bodies is called a Wildspace system.
In Wildspace, the Material Plane and the Astral Plane overlap. Creatures and objects in Wildspace age normally and are effectively on both of those planes at once. If you were to leave your home world and continue outward until you neared the edge of your Wildspace system, you would begin to see a faint, silvery haze. By traveling into this haze, you pass from Wildspace into the Astral Sea, more colorfully known as the Silver Void. The deeper into the Astral Sea you travel, the thicker and brighter the haze becomes, but the stars that shine through it are always visible. Wildspace and the Astral Sea together comprise the Astral Plane.
The Astral Sea, like Wildspace, is a void; however, it is not an airless one. Here, you can breathe normally and exist indefinitely, never aging and never needing food or drink. You can propel yourself through the Astral Sea with the power of your mind alone, though many astral voyagers wisely travel in well-armed ships, for this place is the home of a host of fearsome creatures. Here travelers might find the petrified hulks of dead gods and swirling pools of color that serve as portals to other planes of existence. (For more information about “color pools”, see the “Dungeon Master’s Guide”.)
Much in the way that oars and strong winds enable travel by sea on terrestrial worlds, magic items called spelljamming helms are used to propel and steer ships through Wildspace and the Astral Sea. A spelljamming helm customarily takes the form of an ornate chair in which the ship’s pilot sits. To attune to a spelljamming helm, one must be a spellcaster. The pilot of a spelljamming ship is called a spelljammer.
Using This Book
Most of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide is designed to be shared with players. Think of this book’s chapters as a primer for creating characters and running adventures in the uncharted void that surrounds each of the worlds of the Material Plane:
“Chapter 1” contains new material for players, including two backgrounds and six race options.
“Chapter 2” gives players and DMs rules for spelljamming as well as statistics and illustrations for various spelljamming vessels. The chapter also includes a few spells and magic items that are popular among astral voyagers.
“Chapter 3” describes the Rock of Bral, a city built on an asteroid, which you can use as a port of call or a campaign hub. You can situate it anywhere in Wildspace or the Astral Sea.
Astral Campaigns
Light of Xaryxis, the adventure included in this product, begins on a world of your choice but quickly moves into Wildspace after the characters board a ship that turns out to be a spelljamming vessel. The First Adventure table offers alternative ways to launch a D&D campaign set mostly on the Astral Plane.
If you choose to start your campaign on the Rock of Bral (“see chapter 3”), work with your players to determine which characters have lived in the city long enough to know it well.