One of the most anticipated Dungeons & Dragons releases of 2022 was the return of their science fiction setting with Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. As detailed in Rory Bristol’s review of the Wizards of the Coast release, this was a boxed set that included a dungeon master’s screen and three separate books: a player’s guide, a bestiary, and an adventure for levels 5-8.
When there’s a big release for D&D, it’s a safe bet that a deluxe boxed set of said release follows not long after from Beadle & Grimm’s. As you can see not just in this article but in my previous reviews from B&G sets like the ones I wrote for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, these boxed sets contain not just the sourcebooks from the Wizards of the Coast releases, but tons of maps, props, handouts, and other goodies ideal for a dungeon master to run a campaign.
For a big release like Spelljammer, Beadle & Grimm’s created both a modest “Silver” edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, as well as an expansive “Platinum” edition. They sent me one of their Platinum editions, so that I could look at all the bells and whistles you’ll get with that set.
As with my other coverage of the boxed editions from Beadle & Grimm’s, this is not a review of the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space set from Wizards of the Coast. Instead, this will be a review of the massive amount of content you get in the Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. To warn you, there will inevitably be spoilers for the adventure in this review. While that won’t be an issue for any Dungeon Masters looking into running the adventure, prospective players of the campaign may want to not look too closely at all of the photos to follow.
Some Spoilers for Spelljammer: Adventures in Space Ahead!
A Small Package Arrives
Whenever a package from Beadle & Grimm’s arrives, you know you’re in for quite a treat. And this is especially true with one of their Platinum editions. They arrive in an oversized box, an early indicator of the sheer amount of content you’ll find inside.
As you can see, there’s very little wasted space in that box!
Taking everything out of the shipping container, you’ll find the main Spelljammer box, a box of miniatures, a tube full of maps, and a dice set for in-adventure gambling. To get an idea of just how much comes in the Platinum edition, take a look at how thick these boxes are:
What Is Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space?
The Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is a limited edition of 1,000 that contains the following:
- Collector’s Platinum Edition Box
- Exploded Books: Astral Adventurer’s Guide, Boo’s Astral Menagerie, and Light of Xaryxis included as soft-covers PLUS a player-only version of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide
- DM Screen: original art outside with Spelljammer specifics inside
- Pre-generated characters specific to a Spelljammer campaign setting
- 60 Encounter Cards and 16 Ship Cards to show your players the creatures, NPCs and ships they’ll encounter on their astral adventure
- Booklet of 4 Bonus Encounters with original adventures and art
- 9 In-world handouts to give to your players
- Map Tube with 6 original battle maps and Rock of Bral poster-size map, including 3 Ship Battle Maps and a double-sized arena map
- In-world Realmspace Map
- A package of 16 individual 8.5″ x 11″ ship deck maps plus 5 area maps all in a custom folder
- 20 all-new Spelljammer: Adventures in Space magic item and spell cards
- 4 amazing In-world artifacts, including a Ring of Shooting Stars, Beadle & Grimm’s Wildspace Orrery, Giff Military Award, and Beadle & Grimm’s Dead hands Dice Set
- 20 specially curated WizKids pre-painted Spelljammer minis in their own collector’s box.
The Platinum Edition is currently available on the Beadle & Grimm’s webstore for $499. There is also a smaller Silver Edition available, which costs $195 and includes this:
- Collector’s Silver Edition Box
- Exploded Books: Astral Adventurer’s Guide, Boo’s Astral Menagerie, and Light of Xaryxis included as soft-covers PLUS a player-only version of the Astral Adventurer’s Guide
- DM Screen: original art outside with Spelljammer specifics inside
- Pre-generated characters specific to a Spelljammer campaign setting
- 40 Encounter Cards and 16 Ship Cards to show your players the creatures, NPCs and ships they’ll encounter on their Wildspace adventure
- Booklet of 4 Bonus Encounters with original adventures and art
- 9 In-world handouts to give to your players
- 4 Original battle maps and a poster-size map of the Rock of Bral
- A package of 16 8.5″ x 11″ ship deck maps in a custom folder
- 20 all-new Spelljammer: Adventures in Space magic item and spell cards
- Ring of Shooting Stars artifact
Without any further ado, let’s dig into the Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space!
Unboxing the Collector’s Platinum Edition Box
The beautifully embossed Platinum Edition Box, besides looking great on your bookshelf, has a ton of content inside. When you open the magnetic clasp on the lid, you find all the contents nestled inside protective foam.
There are several layers of content in the box. Just as if this were a live unboxing, I’ll present things in order of how they’re packed inside.
The first thing that you’ll encounter is an introductory letter from the Beadle & Grimm’s staff, along with a handy description of all of the items to be found in the Platinum Edition.
Ship and Area Maps
Immediately under that is a folder containing 16 ship maps pulled from the Astral Adventurer’s Guide, as well as several area maps.
The maps are printed on glossy card, and there are spaces on the backs of the ship maps for notes.
DM Screen
Next up is the Dungeon Master Screen. This features original art by Art of Li, which depicts the pre-generated heroes that are also included in the Platinum Edition (more on that in a bit).
The interior of the 4-panel screen is filled with tables and content specific to the Spelljammer setting.
In-World Handouts
One of my favorite parts of all the Beadle & Grimm’s sets are the handouts. Various paper types and art styles are used, to make these all feel authentic to the setting and a joy to handle at the game table. They are designed by Tim Liljefors.
In my opinion, the best of the in-world handouts is the Bral Shipyard catalog. This fold-out brochure even has a series of amusing ads on the back. Truly a gem.
Pre-Generated Characters
For those that like to jump right into the action, Beadle & Grimm’s always includes a set of 4 pre-generated characters, all using the new options available from the Wizards of the Coast sourcebook.
These can be used as-is by players, as examples of character design, or as NPCs by the Dungeon Master.
Bonus Encounters
There are four bonus encounters included in the set, written by Jon Ciccolini and Sadie Lowry. These encounters are set around the players’ investigation of the Rock of Bral.
Spelljammer Books
Usually Beadle & Grimm’s makes “exploded” versions of sourcebooks, where they break down the book into smaller booklets. In the case of Spelljammer, the books were short enough that they are reproduced here without being broken down, but still presented in the convenient booklet format. However, they have also included The Astral Adventurer’s Guide Player’s Guide. This is a 24-page booklet specifically for players that includes spoiler-free content from the Dungeon Master’s Astral Adventurer’s Guide.
Beadle & Grimm’s has also included a very useful quick reference guide for the Light of Xaryxis adventure. This makes it easier for the DM to prepare, as it lists exactly which parts of the Platinum Edition box you’ll need for each part of the adventure.
Artifacts
What’s a Beadle & Grimm’s edition without some great, unique artifacts crafted specifically for the setting?
It’s a foregone conclusion that at least one player will want to play a Giff, the iconic space hippos of Spelljammer. So why not give them a military award they can wear at the table?
Speaking of wearable, the Ring of Shooting Stars is a reproduction of that very rare magic item.
A Wildspace Orrery is a portable arcane device that automatically tracks the positions and movements of all suns, planets, moons, and comets within a system. Players can now have a physical one in the game.
Finally, there’s a Dead Hand’s Dice Set, complete with wooden cup and rules. It’s especially meant for the Make Your Own Luck bonus adventure, but suitable for any in-game gambling.
Completion Coin
If you’ve been collecting Beadle & Grimm’s sets, you know that they include a coin that can be used as an inspiration token, or to award to the players when they complete the adventure.
The coin comes with its own pouch, and additional coins can be purchased on the Beadle & Grimm’s website so that all the players can enjoy one.
Item Cards
There are 20 quick-reference cards for various spells and items found in the Light of Xaryxis adventure. These can be handed out when found in the game.
Artwork Pulled From the Books
There’s a sizeable stack of art cards included, all featuring artwork pulled from the Spelljammer books. These are folding, so can be hung over the DM screen to show to the players.
Encounter Cards
An even bigger stack of 60 encounter cards come in the Platinum Edition.
Like the art cards, these are folding, so they can be placed over the DM screen. On the front is an image of the creature or NPC.
On the flip side of the cards are the stat blocks for the encounter, so that DMs have an easy reference.
Ship Cards
Similarly, there are 16 cards to represent different Spelljammer ships the players will encounter.
These are also designed to hang over the DM screen, and have stat blocks on the back. These can also be paired with the ship maps from the folder.
Miniatures
The Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space includes 20 WizKids pre-painted miniatures:
- Ssurran Rogue
- Thri-kreen
- Mister Flinch
- Captain Fel
- Neogi Master
- Autognome
- Commodore Krux
- Plasmoid
- Zodar
- Aartuk Elder
- Braxat
- Neh-thalggu
- Void Scavver
- Prince Xeleth
- Princess Xedalli
- Warwyck Blastimoff
- Hastain
- Grimzod Gargenhale
- Young Solar Dragon
- B’rohg
Here’s a closer look at each of the minis:
Map Tube
Finally, there’s a map tube containing 6 oversized, gridded and double-sided Battlemaps, as well as a Realmspace map and a poster-sized map of the Rock of Bral.
These can be used for running Light of Xaryxis or other Spelljammer adventures.
Another Amazing Edition From Beadle & Grimm’s
If you feel a bit overwhelmed looking at all this content, then I’m pretty sure Beadle & Grimm’s was doing things right when they put together the Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. The Wizards of the Coast Spelljammer release isn’t just an adventure, but a whole campaign setting complete with a guide to the setting and new character options, and a bestiary adding in all of the various creatures and races unique to Wildspace. And so Beadle & Grimm’s needed a set as big as this Platinum Edition to give Dungeon Masters the tools they needed for current and future adventures in the Spelljammer setting.
As always when I open up a set from Beadle & Grimm’s, I continue to be amazed at the care and attention to detail that goes into the box. There’s a ton of content inside, and so much of it is just a joy to handle for both DMs and players. It’s all kept snug and secure, too, with a custom foam interior that cradles everything inside the collector’s box.
That being said, there were a few things in this particular set that were a bit of a disappointment to me.
For one, the Item Cards all come shrink-wrapped, but are lacking an accompanying box to hold them like the set from the Platinum Edition of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. It’s a small thing, but really helps the quality of life for the Dungeon Master.
Additionally, there were some issues on the manufacturing side with the dice cup from the Dead Hand’s Dice Set. There is significant peeling on the inside of the cup, something that was an unfortunate side-effect of Beadle & Grimm’s trying something new. This is by no means a deal breaker, but it is unfortunate that this wasn’t addressed before the Platinum Editions shipped.
The last thing that I had an issue with is purely subjective, so others may not feel the same way as I did. In the Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, all of the Battle Maps are printed on heavy, glossy paper. I imagine the decision to go with all glossy paper was an aesthetic choice based on the sci-fi setting, as something like canvas paper definitely lends an old-world feel to maps and probably doesn’t suit the Spelljammer setting as well. Still, I personally miss the great feel and look of the canvas paper used on many of the maps from previous sets, and hope to see them again in the future.
Overall, these are pretty small issues that I had with the Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. The Platinum Edition is just an amazing resource for both Dungeon Masters and players looking to adventure in the Spelljammer setting. You could easily run a campaign set in Wildspace for a couple of years, and still not use all of the content found inside the set.
But as I’ve mentioned to you in my reviews before, these sets from Beadle & Grimm’s don’t come cheap. The Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will set you back a cool $499. But just remember, you are receiving an enormous amount of content, much of it unique to this set. And with a party of four and a DM, that’s $100 per person… a small investment for everything you’ll add to a campaign which for most people will take a year or two to complete.
Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is strictly limited, but copies are still available at Beadle & Grimm’s webstore. There is also a smaller Silver Edition available for $195, which has some of the great content to be found in the Platinum Edition. But once you’ve seen all the amazing content in the Platinum Edition, you may find it hard to settle for less. And take it from me, while the pictures themselves are great, They are nothing compared to the actual tactile sensation of holding all of this great material in your hands. The Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will bring your adventures in Wildspace to life.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received a copy of the Beadle & Grimm’s Platinum Edition of Spelljammer: Adventures in Space for review purposes.
