Dungeons & Dragons Releases Free Spelljammer Adventure

Dungeons & Dragons is preparing players for adventures in the revived Spelljammer campaign setting with a new free adventure. D&D Beyond has published the first part of a four chapter "Spelljammer Academy" adventure designed to orient players for their adventures in space. The new adventure continues Wizards of the Coast's use of D&D Beyond to release free previews and bonus content, following the company's purchase of the digital toolset earlier this year. 

"Spelljammer Academy: Orientation" is designed for 3-7 1st level players and is designed to help players get used to traveling through the Astral Plane. The adventure is actually set within the Forgotten Realms and features a well-known NPC as the head of an academy that trains recruits for a magical navy that protects Toril and explores distant worlds. Notably, "Spelljammer Academy" doesn't contain any Spelljammer-based character building rules, but it is meant to help transition players from looking at Dungeons & Dragons as a traditional high fantasy roleplaying game to looking at the game from a space exploration angle. 

Spelljammer Academy serves as an unofficial prequel for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, a new boxed set containing a mini-bestiary, a mini-campaign setting guide, and a short adventure, all of which focuses on the Spelljammer campaign setting. The original Spelljammer focused on high fantasy in space themes, and the new Spelljammer books seem to reflect that, albeit with a seeming emphasis of "nautical adventures through the Astral Sea." While the Astral Sea wasn't a part of the original Spelljammer campaign setting, it allows players to better merge existing campaign settings and 5E lore with the new Spelljammer rules.

The new adventure is free to all players with a D&D Beyond account. You can claim the adventure for free by clicking on the link.