The upcoming Spelljammer campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons will let druids transform into giant space hamsters with their Wild Shape ability.
The upcoming Spelljammer: Adventures in Space set for Dungeons & Dragons will give druids the ability to transform into giant space hamsters, as part of their Wild Shape ability. The Spelljammer D&D campaign setting debuted in the late ’80s as part of the second edition of D&D and it’s known for having some strange concepts. Spelljammer is the setting where regular sailing ships are enchanted to be able to fly through space, bringing high seas adventures to the stars.
Spelljammer had some cosmic horror elements, with mind flayers, beholders, and neogi acting as terrifying alien overlords in the darkest reaches of space. There is also a lot of comedy in Spelljammer, such as the gnomes of Krynn from the Dragonlance campaign setting building ramshackle ships out of parts that just barely stick together. These same gnomes are responsible for breeding D&D‘s giant space hamsters, which are used for meat and to run in the giant hamster wheels that provide power for some spelljammers. There are also miniature breeds of the giant space hamsters, which are indistinguishable from regular hamsters.
Giant space hamsters are making their long-awaited return to D&D in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, where they will be statted out in Boo’s Astral Menagerie, a book named after the most famous space hamster of them all. Players will be able to keep giant space hamsters as pack animals or perhaps face a wild roving horde of hamsters on some alien world (and yes, horde is the name for a group of hamsters). There are some players who can take their giant space hamster appreciation a little further in Spelljammer.
D&D: Spelljammer Adds Giant Hamsters To A Druid’s Wild Shape Repertoire
In a recent press event for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, D&D Designer Chris Perkins revealed that druid characters can use their Wild Shape ability to turn into giant space hamsters. This means that giant space hamsters likely have a CR of 1/4 or less, based on the current Wild Shape rules in the Player’s Handbook. The idea of a giant space hamster might not sound too scary but bear in mind that they’re the size of a brown bear, even if they are still hamsters.
Chris Perkins: “Space hamsters are unique to D&D, no other space science fiction fantasy setting, as far as I know, has space hamsters, and those are ours and hey, you can have one as a pet. They are actually really cute and friendly for the most part, unless you anger them. (..) And if you’re a druid, you can be super happy to turn into one maybe.”
There is actually another science fiction setting that has space hamsters, as Commander Shepard from Mass Effect could buy one. It all comes back to D&D, however, as Mass Effect‘s space hamster is referencing Boo from the Baldur’s Gate series. Giant space hamsters are making their long-awaited return to D&D and druid players can get behind the driver’s seat of one, in order to unleash rodent fury throughout wildspace.
The Spelljammer: Adventures in Space campaign set for Dungeons & Dragons will launch on August 16, 2022.
About The Author
