Fire up your spaceship because it’s time to revisit the Pandemonium Warehouse as they go where they’ve never gone before: SPACE (space…space…space). Yes the goblins at Beadle & Grimm’s have come out with special editions for D&D’s Spelljammers: Adventures In Space, their first platinum edition release for a set that’s not a specific campaign. Luckily (well for me, less so my mailman) they were kind enough to send along a copy to check out. As always, I’ll be looking more at the original writing and creations contained within rather than the adventure itself. For that, you can check out my reviews of Light of Xaryxis and The Astral Adventurer’s Guide
As always the box and is absolutely primo, fitting perfectly alongside their previous platinum releases on the shelf. While it doesn’t have the unique creative elements we saw in Descent Into Avernus and Wilds Beyond The Witchlight, it’s quite beautiful in its own right.
Far Out Feelies
As always we start with the parts that everyone focuses on with these boxes: the shinies. The Platinum Edition contains four, none of them too specific and usable in any Spelljammer adventure. A very nice Ring of Shooting Stars (which is also in the more minimalist Silver Edition), a Giff Military Ribbon, Beadle & Grimm’s take on the Wildspace Orrery, and a cup and dice for playing Dead Hands Dice. The latter two are definitely the show-stoppers. The Orrery is super hefty and moves beautifully, really feeling like the tool it is. And the Dead Hands Dice is just a fun thing for anyone who wants something piratey. And its made of wood for that extra bit of lovely class.
You can tell they had a lot of fun with the printed out feelies as well. These are both good campaign handouts as well as ways to worldbuild, like a menu for the Happy Beholder Pub and ads to be used to flesh out the Rock of Bral. I especially love the brochure for Honest Herran’s Salvage. It’s a fun way to let players know about all the different ships they could see in Spelljammer. All printed, of course, on sturdy paper to stand up to the rigors of the gaming table.
Wildspace Tales
You can count on there being some great bonus encounters in here to help flesh out your space adventures.
“Beneath The Illithid Embassy” is a great way to flesh out the darker parts of the Rock of Bral, while “Jailbreak” looks at the Rock’s questionable record on criminal justice. “Make Your Own Luck” is a classic gamblers tale that gives you the perfect excuse to use the Dead Hand’s Dice. The last adventure, “Undead Cargo,” is a just plain fun bit of weird space horror that can mix things up a bit while your team is out sailing.
Extraterrestrial Tools
For me, the big draw in the B&G releases are the tools that DM’s get to use to make things easier, and as always there’s plenty here to use. All of the art put onto cards to “set the mood,” so to speak, and those oh-so-essential monster cards for the DM screen that make encounters much easier. The maps are multi-purpose and fit every ship, meaning you can have free reign in ship-battles. There’s even a deck of spells and items to help track the new weird things added in these books, but printed bigger and glossier than previous versions of the same idea.
Both the Silver and Platinum Editions can be picked up from the Beadle & Grimm’s shop, the former going for $195.00 and the latter for $499.00. The Silver Edition differs in that it has fewer maps, only one artifact, and lacks the special pack of WizKids Spelljammer minis that come with the Platinum Edition. No matter which one you pick, it’ll go a long way to making your spacefaring escapades as memorable as possible.
Images and Review Copy via Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse
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