D&D: New ‘Spelljammer’ Backgrounds Mean Bonus Feats for All
In D&D, growing up in space means you’re tougher or more magical than most. New backgrounds in Spelljammer bring bonus feats with ’em.
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space might be the return of a classic setting, but it feels like the future of D&D. Especially since the new Spelljammer backgrounds found in the pages of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide are packed with potential.
There are only two new backgrounds, Astral Drifter and Wildspacer. But both allow you to tell a variety of different stories set in space. Or Wildspace, technically. But either way, both of these backgrounds further cement the idea that D&D is moving towards your background opening up a feat. As both backgrounds give you a bonus feat.
Spelljammer Backgrounds – Feats Into the Final Frontier
But it isn’t just about the feats. The new backgrounds are cool too. Let’s start with Astral Drifter, a background all about wandering the Astral Sea:
For longer than you can remember, you have traversed the Astral Sea. There, you experienced firsthand the wonders of the Silver Void: you stopped aging and no longer felt hunger or thirst. Driven by wanderlust, you drifted from one part of the Astral Sea to another, like a mote of dust on the wind. You have lost count of the decades that have passed since you arrived here.
In your travels, you have camped on the petrified hulks of dad gods and narrowly escaped the psychic winds that sweep across the Astral Sea while also avoiding prolonged contact with the plane’s most dangerous denizens.
We’ve come a long way from being a Guild Artisan or a Soldier in some kingdom’s army. The Astral Drifter is packed with story hooks, including the fact that they are 20d6 years older than they look, thanks to the Astral Sea’s ageless time. And you gain the Divine Contact feature, which means you crossed paths with a wandering deity. There’s a table to pick from, but the upshot is it gives you the Magic Initiate feat for free. You have to pick Cleric for the feat, but you gain 2 Cleric cantrips and a first-level Cleric spell.
And on top of that, you get the other benefits of a background. You get two skill proficiencies, two languages, and a set of starting equipment like any other.
The other background, Wildspacer, does the same. These are folks who were raised in Wildspace:
You were raised in the void of Wildspace—home to asteroid miners, moon farmers, and other hardy folk. Perhaps you grew up in a far-flung settlement such as the Rock of Bral, or you spent your early years on the crew of a spelljamming ship, performing helpful chorse such as swabbing the deck, loading and offloading argo, and scraping barnacles off the hull.
Whatever your history, life in Wildspace has toughened you so well that you are as brave as a miniature giant space hamster when it comes to facing the terrors and other challenges of the airless night.
This one is remarkably similar to the Sailor’s background. You get proficiency with Athletics and Survival, as well as proficiency with space vehicles and navigators’ tools. You’ll even find a familiar belaying pin and grappling hook among the starting equipment.
But instead of being able to book passage on a ship, Wildspacers have Wildspace Adaptation, which grants you the Tough feat. Which is 2 more hit points per level. On top of that, you overcome the weightless penalties of Wildspace. Handy if you’re playing a Spelljammer Campaign.
Background in the Foreground
All that to say, the new Spelljammer backgrounds add a lot to the game. We’ve clearly seen WotC moving towards making them matter more. It seems like Feats are the way they’re going. It’s interesting because technically feats are optional rules in D&D. But the vast majority of players use them. I can’t think of a table I’ve played at that doesn’t.
Does this mean we’ll see feats and backgrounds as part of D&D 2024? Sure feels that way. And it feels like a way to get the more exciting parts of the game to players faster.
Happy Adventuring
