Can you use a Spelljammer ship to get to Ravenloft?

Question

This is an insane question, I know. But it's one that's been bugging me for at least half my 33-year life. :)

I love both the Spelljammer and Ravenloft settings of AD&D 2nd Edition. One of the key tenets of Spelljammer was that you could "sail" (for lack of a better word) to any other D&D universe setting, or to any other setting of the DM's choosing, as long as you had a spellcaster capable of operating the helm.

So I always wondered, within the mythos of the Phlogiston and the spheres, could you Spelljam to Ravenloft? Did Ravenloft exist as a sphere, or was it only accessible when the mists opened?

Answer 1

The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook talks a bit about integrating Ravenloft into Spelljammer. It explicitely states that Ravenloft does not exist in a crystal sphere and may not be reached through the Phlogiston. The Mists, however, sometimes reach into wildspace and can trap a spelljamming vessel. Those become trapped in the Demiplane of Dread and have no means to escape through the use of a spelljamming ship.

Answer 2

That answer is obvious.

Yes, because it would be awesome.

But leaving again would have to be tremendously hard, like the goal of a long adventure arc. If it was easy to get out, it wouldn't really be Ravenloft anymore, would it.

Answer 3

Ravenloft was the "Demiplane of Dread" -demiplanes being miniatures worlds that exist in the fog of the Ethereal Plane (not the Prime Material Plane, that is the main "universe" which had Crystal Spheres in it). It would be easy to imagine that there could be a crystal sphere somewhere which had a permanent portal to Ravenloft, though. I imagine it would cause alot of "and no one has ever returned from the Galaxy of Terror" type stories around the local asteroid.

Answer 4

Ravenloft is a demi-plane in the Ethereal Plane. Spelljammer takes place in the phlogiston and the crystal spheres of the Prime Material plane.

So you can steal Vecna's Rift-Spanner—a large magical construct—increase its payload to one tonne, and install a Minor Helm or Lifejammer. Use it to create a rift in reality between the Prime Material and Ravenloft, then fly it as a "spelljammer ship" to Ravenloft.

Easier said than done, but hey, it's D&D.

Answer 5

It's a one-way trip. The mists grab you from the phlogiston, and land you in the demi-plane as usual.

Exiting, however...

And, once there, the powers should make certain that weather prevents departure...

Answer 6

The Demiplane of Dread can reach any prime material zone. But in counting the "Karmic/septic separation" reasoning behind Ravenloft's existence, valid reasons are slim with regard to barring the one way diode funneling of PC action from anywhere and any dimension. The reason you do not see immortals routinely routing annoying enemies to the plane, is because the plane itself tends to loop such interlopers in themselves. The gods remain silent on the subject and the Demiplane remains uncommon knowledge for good reason.

Note that in more than one release, the cries of the followers of gods of good often fall upon deaf ears. The justification of a place that is free of any danger of the mists would indeed require reasoning of powers beyond godhood to the level of dimensional existence itself.

Yes, the roach motel is open.