WoW, 2nd edition, last stand of THAC0, Thieves, and the 'Magic User', it was a dark time for D&D, it came very close to ending entirely several times, but good gods the campaign settings we got out of that era! Oh sure, you can go on about Eberron's genius, and Blackmoor is still the undisputed champion in terms of longevity: but who can challenge Athas for grim and gritty, or Planescape for the fantastical and bizarre?

Yet there is one setting that has captured my heart and will never let go: Spelljammer!

The romance of the age of sail coupled with the endless vistas of space! The scope and breadth of every campaign setting ever devised married to the ability to be quit of them when their tropes lose their luster! The Negoi, the Illithids, the Beholders: and orcs and goblins that posed a credible threat! Ah, such an idea, such a glorious concept: and such a pity that it was never updated.

Does anyone else remember this setting fondly; or have stories of it to share?

My favorite Spelljammer memory actually came about after the commercial run had ended. At one point during the 3rd-edition D&D run, Dungeon Magazine revitalized one of the old stand-by publications, by attaching a section called Polyhedron to the end. You had to physically flip the magazine to read that part, which meant each issue had two covers.

In Polyhedron #151, which was on the back of Dungeon #92, was the first (and only) D20-compatible Spelljammer setting, called "Shadow of the Spider Moon". This basically eschewed the whole crystal sphere and phlogiston thing, and turned an entire solar system into a campaign setting. Each major race had its own homeworld, and it made interplanetary travel the norm.

I always felt it handled the concept better than earlier products, as it simply established flying ships as something that came up normally through discovery and/or theft of ideas, made the races distinct (especially because each was from a different planet), and avoided the problems that could arise when cross-pollinating existing settings.

I remember it...but never played it.  We made noises about trying it out sometime...but never got around to it.

Was Spelljammer created as a 2E Setting?  Because I'd kind of drifted away from D&D before 2E came out.  I can't remember if talking about it was just noise we made about trying out (yet) another setting, or if it actually started back while I was still playing D&D and it was one of the many adventure groups/settings that we talked about trying but never got around to.

Spelljammer was definitely created as 2E. It was part of the campaign setting splurge 2E went through.

Whether there may have been stuff that in hindsight was the start of Spelljammer, like with the Strahd adventure in 1E, I'm not sure on; but I think not.

That might be it...I still remember the shock I felt when I learned that Ravenloft was an entire setting, as opposed to a simple campaign.

Then Planescape came around and that became the standard multiplanar context.

Eh. Planescape and Spelljammer were quite different. I'm not even sure Spelljammer -really- involved planar travel; and it certainly wasn't as easy as Planescape.

I never played either, though always meant to. My aunt gave me a Spelljammer module for Christmas one year, as she didn't know it required additional rules.