Spelljammer Fish out of water campaign - Spelljammer

[JWO]

I've just been looking into Spelljammer stuff for the first time ever and I thought of what I think could be quite a cool idea for a campaign using the "fish out of water" trope. The key is that you'd start a Spelljammer campaign, but let the players believe they were just going to be playing a pretty generic fantasy game. Their characters would probably all be quite young, and would've grown up together in a village that's completely isolated for some reason (surrounded by the "dark woods from which no one returns" or something like that). Anyway some kind of event happens which means they have to leave the village and then they realise that they've actually been living on a spaceship the whole time in some kind of eco-pod. It'd kind of be like a cross between The Truman Show and another movie that I won't mention because of spoilers (you'll know which one I'm talking about if you've seen it).

It'd probably work best if they only gradually start realising their situation as the sessions go along.

You'd also have to have quite open minded players who wouldn't mind the fact that you'd completely screwed with their expectations!

 

[BigVanVader]

Oh, you mean like that one movie? The one that was actually really good until the twist happened and you got pissed at the director because you realize he can't make a movie without having some sort of 'twist' like this?

That game idea sounds radical, you should totally do it. And absolutely don't tell the other players, part of the fun would be the looks on their faces as they learn all this stuff.

 

[JWO]

Haha yeah that one!

I'd love to run it but I'm really rubbish at actually putting my ideas together. I can come up with decent enough hooks but then when it comes to actually getting anything coherent together I run out of steam (Like all the comic book scripts I've written about 2 pages for and then abandoned).

Anyway, the idea's out there now if people want to have a play with it...

 

[MasterTrancer]

Just a quick pop-in to say: I love your idea JWO! Be it for SJ or another setting, it can seriously break some expectations from your players, having them reframing their experience and actually seeing something with new eyes!

Keep us updated please

 

[Piratecat]

I detest Spelljammer, but that idea's really fun. I love the reveal.

 

[Shroomy]

This sounds really similar to the plot of Brian Aldiss's classic sci-fi novel Non-Stop (aka Starship), which was one of the primary influences on Metamorphosis Alpha.

 

[JWO]

Thanks all!

To be honest, it doesn't necessarily have to be Spelljammer, just any setting that allows for the space travel side of things. I don't really know enough about SJ to know whether or not I like it.

Can anyone think of a good reason for the "fantasy village in a biodome on a giant spaceship" to exist? A few ideas off the top of my head:
- Massive scientific experiment - once they break out of their own village they find hundreds of other almost identical villages.
- Space zoo - they break out to find hundreds of other domes, all with different species and habitats.
- Resettling - the ship is on a heading to a new planet somewhere for colonisation.
- Natural selection - whoever is controlling the ship is looking for people who are brave enough to leave their village and venture into the dark woods. Once they leave they get conscripted into some kind of army or police force or something like that (a bit tenuous that one).

I think there needs to be some kind of sinister side to the whole thing. Some reason for the party to want to shut it all down...

 

[Shroomy]

Thanks all!

To be honest, it doesn't necessarily have to be Spelljammer, just any setting that allows for the space travel side of things. I don't really know enough about SJ to know whether or not I like it.

Can anyone think of a good reason for the "fantasy village in a biodome on a giant spaceship" to exist? A few ideas off the top of my head:
- Massive scientific experiment - once they break out of their own village they find hundreds of other almost identical villages.
- Space zoo - they break out to find hundreds of other domes, all with different species and habitats.
- Resettling - the ship is on a heading to a new planet somewhere for colonisation.
- Natural selection - whoever is controlling the ship is looking for people who are brave enough to leave their village and venture into the dark woods. Once they leave they get conscripted into some kind of army or police force or something like that (a bit tenuous that one).

I think there needs to be some kind of sinister side to the whole thing. Some reason for the party to want to shut it all down...

OK...now Non-Stop is basically your campaign! You should also track down Metamorphosis Alpha stuff too if you can.

 

[Ravenheart87]

Sounds great. Add a few space dinosaurs and pirates, but otherwise I'm out of ideas at the moment how to make it cooler.

 

[Astrosicebear]

Doesnt have to be a biome on a ship. Could very well be an actual village on a planet. Could be that the village was made and settled by survivors of some kind of revolution against galactic powers, and the characters are their children. The chars may have a common bond not knowing who their parents are... with one elderly man or woman always hinting at the great deeds their parents accomplished.

A bunch of monsters attack the town, and the chars unite to fight them off, but when it all looks grim, a spaceship comes to save them, telling them its time for the revolution to begin... the evil space emperor has found them and they arent safe here any longer.

As far as mechanics go, once the reveal is done, give them all a free new background with some new proficiencies that tie into spelljammer specifically. Maybe one char is an adept pilot when they try, or one is really good with engineering.

The trick here is to make the idyllic village life a bit boring for them... and make it about 2 sessions worth of good roleplay before the reveal and the actual start of the campaign.