Spelljammer Skills
The following abbreviations may be used in this document:
3rd Edition Player’s Handbook (PHB)
The Complete Spacefarer’s Handbook (CSH)
Concordance of Arcane Space (CAS)
Cartography (Int) interpreting the decorations and pennants on ship hulls,
Source: CSH p64 knowing the various types of ships and which races use
them.
Characters with cartography are skilled at making maps.
They can make maps to scale and can represent Thus, on a successful skill check, the character could
complex land formations through the use of perspective identify the pennant at the mast of a nearby hammership
drawing and coastal outlines. as the dread captain Clive the Fearsome of
Realmspace.
A successful skill check indicates that the map is correct
in every detail. A failed roll indicates that some details, DC Information Known
possibly some significant ones, are in error. A roll of 10 Easy Questions
exactly 1 indicates that the map contains a serious error 15 Basic Questions
that invalidates it. The success roll for this skill should 20+ Tough Questions
be made by the DM and kept secret from the player.
DC Situation Looting (Dex)
10 Easy type (i.e. building), character is familiar Source: CSH p64
with location
+5 Difficult type (i.e. coastline, forest) This skill represents a knack for grabbing the best loot in
+5 Unfamiliar location but visited at least once the shortest time. It is most useful in seizing treasure
+5 No orientation (sun obscured by trees, from a spelljamming vessel that is breaking up or about
underground): This can be canceled with 5 or to plunge into an atmosphere. If the character’s skill
more ranks in Intuit Direction (PHB p70) check is successful, he is able to recognize and stuff into
his pack the most valuable combination of items, given
the limitations of time and space.
Fortune Telling (Cha)
Source: CSH p63-64 If the character has at 5 or more ranks in Appraise he
gets a +2 bonus to looting checks
This skill allows the character to use popularly known
methods of predicting the future to perform a divination. DC Situation
The character has no way to predict the real future using 10 Many valuable items in plain sight
this skill, but he can put on a convincing show. He might 15 Items in several rooms, time limit
even get lucky and actually be right! +5 Items hidden
+5 Very little time (less than 5 minutes per 30’ by
On a successful roll, the character is able to convince his 30’ room)
customer that the divination is real. The character must
make up the fortune; there is no magic associated with
this skill. Navigation (Wildspace) (Int)
Source: CSH p64
A Fortune Telling check is opposed by the target’s
Sense Motive check. See Bluff on p64 of PHB. The character has learned the art of navigating through
wildspace, avoiding hazards and using planetary motion
to improve speed over long journeys. A successful skill
Knowledge (Heraldry – Space) (Int) check allows the character’s spelljamming vessel to
Source: CSH p64 arrive at its destination 10% faster than normal. Thus if
it would take 10 days to make a trip normally, the
The knowledge of heraldry enables the character to character can steer a course that will take only nine
identify the crests and symbols that denote different days. An unsuccessful roll indicates that no time is
persons and groups. In space, this is a matter of saved.
Profession (Spacemanship) (Dex)
DC Situation Source: CSH p 66
10 Familiar with destination and current location in
a familiar crystal sphere The character with this proficiency is familiar with
+5 Unfamiliar crystal sphere (with map) spelljamming ships. He is qualified to work as a
+10 Unfamiliar crystal sphere (no map) crewman, although he cannot actually navigate. Trained
+15 Current location unknown spacemen have general knowledge of all parts of their
-2 1 hour spent plotting course ship, can recognize the insignia of all ship’s ranks know
basic information about air consumption, gravity plane
orientation, and phlogiston safety, as well as being
Navigation (Phlogiston) (Int) trained to perform common shipboard tasks. Crews of
Source: CSH p64 trained spacemen are necessary to manage any
spelljamming ship. See also the Profession skill PHB
This is the art of navigating from one sphere to another, p72.
a separate skill from navigating within a single crystal
sphere. It is a difficult and risky activity, but it is Ranks Quality
sometimes necessary when a planetary locator is not 0-2 Green
available. 3-5 Average
6-8 Trained
A spelljamming ship that enters the Flow normally 9+ Crack
moves randomly, arriving at some other crystal sphere
within 10d10 days. With a successful skill check from
the ship’s navigator, the ship arrives at the chosen Signaling
destination within that time. Of course, the destination Source: CSH p65-66
must be one that is normally reachable; if there is no
path from the current sphere to the desired one, this skill This skill gives the character the ability to use signaling
will not create one. equipment to send complex messages across
wildspace. While any character can use a red smoke
On a failed roll, the ship arrives at a random sphere. grenade to signal danger, a character with this
(The DM should make the roll so that the player does not proficiency can send coded messages to other ships
know if he succeeded or not.) using a signaling mirror, light, or flags. The signal
transmitted by this method will cross up to 10 miles of
DC Situation wildspace, although it must travel in a straight line.
10 Familiar with destination, current location, and
route To send a message and have it understood, the sender
+5 Unfamiliar current location (with map) and receiver must both have this skill.
+10 Unfamiliar current location (no map)
+10 Unfamiliar but common destination Like Speak Language, only one rank in this skill is
+15 Current location unknown necessary.
+30 Never traveled to destination (no map)
-2 1 hour spent plotting course
Planetology (Int)
Source: CSH p65
A character with the planetology proficiency has studied
the various types of planets that may be found within
crystal spheres. He is able to identify signs of
groundling civilization from space and can determine the
climate and probable inhabitants of a world by studying it
for a short time (and making a successful check: DC 15).
