This section will detail the changes made to the core classes for playing in Spelljammer. Some classes have been changed a lot, others not so much.
Barbarians in Space: Most Barbarians hate space as much as they hate magic, or even more. Space is too big, too dark, and is obviously fraught with magic. Moreover, Barbarians will be disconnected from nature, which is extremely important to them. Very few Barbarians will willingly enter space. Those that do, however, can not remain Barbarians for long. Upon gaining enough experience to add a new level, a Barbarian must multiclass another class, such as Fighter or even Ranger. This will not require the Barbarian to give up any abilities gained so far, but the Barbarian should find him or herself choosing to use the Rage powers less and less; a raging Barbarian on a spelljamming ship is NOT a good thing.
------House Rules: Barbarians avoid magic where possible, will not knowingly use magic items other than weapons. Berserkers who go into Frenzy must roll a Wisdom save to stop their Frenzy before the time lapses, or continue to attack any opponent they see, including friends.
Bards in Space: Bards might be the one class that profits the most from space. Bards are everywhere; serving as a news source for the known worlds, following those exploration expeditions, sticking their necks out for intrigue and adventure, serving as spies, or heralds, or both. Many leaders in space look to bards for a large number of uses, which fits this jack of all trades sort of class.
Clerics in Space: Clerics are the one class punished for venturing to the stars. The Prime Material Plane directly contacts the Elemental Planes and the Ethereal Plane only within crystal spheres; it is the planetary bodies and stars themselves which are intrusion points from the elements. In the Phlogiston, no connection to any other plane exists, thus contacting ones deity or using divine energy is very hard to do. This means that in the Phlogiston, clerics cannot contact or commune with their deity in anyway, cannot regain spent spell slots, and cannot regain their channel divinity powers once spent. This makes traveling in the phlogiston rather dangerous. It also suggests that the phlogiston is NOT composed of the traditional elements we know everything else in the multiverse is composed of, a fact which is very exciting and frightening to sages at the same time.
Upon entering a crystal sphere, the clerics' worries may not be over. Not all gods are worshipped in every sphere, and in spheres where they are not, a cleric's spell restrictions continue. Channel Divinity works as normal, but unless the cleric can find a work around, they will still be unable to cast 3rd level spells or higher. Note that most crystal spheres that contain the standard "human" races will have connections a cleric can find to contact his or her deity; but there are some spheres that do not have such a connection, and in fact some spheres may be just as cut off from the planes as the phlogiston is. Within the Radiant Triangle this is not a concern for priests from one of the Triangle worlds; all the channels and workarounds have been put in place.
One way to combat this issue is to find or found a place of worship outside of the home sphere. There are rules regarding the founding of a temple which I wont bother to copy here. A place of worship properly constructed and attended to creates a connection to the deity or deities thus served, and all priests will gain their higher level spells and powers again. Note that this would only work inside the sphere where the temple was founded; every thing "in" space is technically also in a crystal sphere; there are no known worlds or even satellite bodies in space that are not inside a crystal sphere. Other possibilities include specially keyed magical holy symbols that configure your spell requests to piggy back on other planar channels, or agreements worked out with deities of a similar domain. Each case will be individually specific.
Furthermore, because of the nature of the phlogiston, spells that involve summoning or conjuring or in anyway accessing or contacting another plane will fail if attempted. This includes things like Banishment.
Clerics do find work in space however, as healing spells are always in demand, and helms can be attuned to divine spellcasting, not just arcane.
Druids in Space: Most Druids do not have the same restrictions Priests do. Druids are able to contact their Deity, which is most often a manifestation of nature, and Space is nature. So praying for and casting spells is not an issue. Druids of a particularly barbaric people may have issues, but then they would have issues entering space to begin with. Druids find work in space as healers, and custodians of oxygen gardens.
Fighters in Space: Fighters naturally find a lot of work in Space, as deck hands, security, bodyguards, etc etc. They are the most ubiquitous class found in Space.
Monks in Space: Monks aren't unheard of in space, but they certainly aren't a common sight either. Mostly Monks are passengers on ships, not employees. They have their reasons for being somewhere else, something that they need to do or someone they need to meet. On the other hand, a lot of monks end up drifting around the spheres for a few years, contemplating the lesson of Fantasy Space. No matter what their business is, most people agree it's best to leave a monk alone.
Paladins in Space: Paladins will suffer the same kind of restrictions as Clerics; they are no closer to their respective deities in the phlogiston than Clerics are. Their spells are restricted in the same manner; Divine Sense and Lay on Hands always work however; they are dependent on spiritual energy stored up in the Paladin him/herself. However Paladins still find work in space, as able fighters are always in demand, and their spellcasting ability entitles them to operate a divine energy attuned Helm or other device.
Rangers in Space: Rangers are not unknown in Space, but like the Monk they are seldom found employed but rather in transit. Few of the Ranger's abilities have any value in space, other than combat. The Ranger's spells are not restricted in the same way a Cleric's spells are; they extract their magical energy from nature as a druid does. Just being a spellcaster however entitles a Ranger to operate a divine energy attuned helm, and this is an avenue of employment. Most of the few Rangers who do live in Space are hired on for their fighting abilities, and to serve as trackers when a crew makes planetfall.
Rogues in Space: Rogues are as thick as thieves in Space, finding as many gainful employment opportunities as they do on land.
Wizards in Space: The truth is, fantasy space would not be an opening for the Radiant Triangle planets if not for Wizards. Wizards will always find work, mostly as helmsmen and/or navigators, and if they are Council sanctioned mages, they can demand certain amounts and types of booty, if applicable. One note, however; wild magic is very strong in the Phlogiston; anytime a wild mage casts a spell in the Phlogiston, a Wild Surge roll must be rolled, and a Wild Surge occurs on a result of 1 or 2. On a roll of 20, the effects of the spell such as damage are maxed out. On the other hand, spells involving summoning, conjuring, or contacting other planes will not function in the phlogiston.
.
New Classes and Options