Spelljammer Academy Review: DnD Meets Star Trek

Summary

Spelljammer Academy is an adventure released on dndbeyond to coincide with the physical release of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. It was available as a promotion for a limited time, and it appears if you did not claim it in that time, there is currently no way to get access to it. So its probably not the best product to do a review of, but at least this can help folks who got the promo and haven't played it yet. 

Spelljammer Academy is broken up into four mini adventures that can be played in under two hours. After each mini adventure, your character gains a level. Once they finish the adventure, the characters will be fifth level, the starting level for Light of Xaryxis (LoX), the adventure found in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space.  The main goal is provide an on ramp to that adventure, and to provide Spelljammer content for Adventurer's League, Wizards of the Coast's organized play program. 

I played the first two mini adventurers as part of a Virtual Play Weekend. I then DMed the adventure twice, once in person and once online, with my two regular groups. 

The Good

• I love the speed and simplicity of the adventures. Each adventure can easily be played in under two hours. With one group, I played all 4 adventures in seven hours in one day in person. 
• The whole set up of an academy to train Spelljammers is silly in the best possible way, and the adventure leans into it. It feels very Star Trek inspired. 
• Orientation has a great strong start with combat starting en media res on the holo deck. 

The Bad

• The spelljammer ship battles were tedious, and the rules are not as fleshed out as they should be. I completely misran one on the first try. Its both hard to grok the best way to run it, and not as fun as it should be. 
• The clockwork horrors in Realmsspace Sortie! are pretty nasty CR 2 creatures that put one of my less optimized groups at real risk of a TPK.
• Spelljammer Academy doesn't lead into LoX very well. The main villain stays offscreen all adventure, then shows up as NPC you have to curry favor with in LoX. I'll probably write a post about how I will better tie the two adventures together later. 

The OK

• While the adventure offers an exciting trip to H'Catha, only having characters run into spectators and gazers is a little disappointing. I threw in a beholder zombie encounter to give the characters a little bit more of a scare. 
• The adventure is railroaded by design, which may not appeal to players who prefer a more open-ended experience.
• I'd cut "Journey Interrupted" from Behold H'Catha in favor of the beholder zombie encounter. The characters can spot (and try to attack) a ship that's supposed to show up in the final encounter. Its just not worth the hassle to have an encounter that will either easily be resolved with dialogue, or devolve into a "The monster is going to fight you no matter what you do." kind of encounter. 

Final Thoughts

Spelljammer Academy is a delightful introduction to the world of Spelljammer, offering players a chance to quickly advance their characters and familiarize themselves with the setting. While it has some shortcomings, it's an enjoyable and accessible way to prepare for the Light of Xaryxis adventure. If you were lucky enough to claim the promotional adventure during its limited release, it's well worth a playthrough with your group.