SPELLJAMMER ACADEMY
SIMULATION CHAMBER ONE SHOT
T
3 – 7 first or second
his adventure is designed for
level player characters. While the plot of the
game has been written as a prelude to the
official Spelljammer Academy adventure
that is freely available on DnDBeyond (and
considered the most common way to start
a 5e Spelljammer campaign) dungeon masters can also
use this adventure in their own home brew Spelljammer
campaigns or even as a standalone one shot.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sja
During the course of this module the PC's find
themselves in the middle of a murder mystery as they
board a Spelljammer whose crew has been savagely
slaughtered in a beastly manner. As players piece the
puzzle together they encounter strange evil creatures
and discover questionable experiments done to the
malevolent enemies. The goal of the adventure is
to neutralize the enemy threat before these “space
gremlins” replicate to the point of no return.
#1. START
You find yourselves stepping out from a large
archway with a swirling vortex within that looks like several
shades of gray paint mixing together. After the last one of
your group emerges the portal whisps to a close as you
witness a horror scene all around you. Fresh blood covers
the walls and floors of the three hallways that intersect from
where you are now standing.
Laying before the gate is a dead body in a soup
made of it's own gutted entrails. You also see exotically
designed wooden doors in nearly every direction you
look, except to the south east where you see a disheveled
room that looks like it was lifted several feet in the air and
dropped. Your heart is beating so fast it could explode from
your chest! You feel a wave of shock wash over you as your
mind catches up to what your eyes are witnessing. You have
just entered a murder scene! What do you do?
The corpse is only half dressed so there is not much
to find other than it's mutilated remains. Investigation
DC 12 discerns that this man must have been trying to
escape fast with his life through the portal before he
was killed. Perception DC 12 spots sets of footprints in
the gore that lead from the door at the end of the
south hall and up to the deceased. Even
smaller foot prints can be found all around
the intersection. You find bloody footprints
leading away in all directions including away
from this area and off into the wreck that is
the nearby mess hall.
BY THE HOLLOW
Most interesting is that there are two distinctively
different sets of small footprints. While one set looks to
be three towed, clawed, and about the size of a human
hand, the others appear similar but less than half the
size. The larger set of prints leads off into the dining area
while the smaller prints follow a bloody path down the
hall to the south before disappearing into a trail through
the gore that is much like what a sled down a snowy hill
might leave in it’s wake. Survival DC 20 detects gremlins.
If any of the doors in the hall are examined
Perception DC 12 spots a glyph etched in draconic script
upon the doors at eye level. Arcana DC 13 recognizes
the markings as glyphs of warding. If PC Arcana check
is 18 or greater they can tell it is a glyph of warding
that unlocks automatically when some form of key is
presented before it.
The partially open door at the end of the south
hallway is flanked by magnificent windows that peer out
into the endless sea of wild space. Beyond the door is the
crew quarters and the remains of more crew members.
Arcana DC 13 the “arcane window” in the
center of the hall is a twelve foot tall portal that can
also be described to the PC as a “Star Gate” that has
malfunctioned do to sabotage for the runes upon it
appear scarred and defaced by claw marks.
If the party is lingering too long in the hallway
they will attract the attention of one of the gremlins in
the dining area.
You hear the shattering of glass and look to see a small
wingless gargoyle like creature upon a table in the middle
of the mess hall. It’s dark beady eyes stare you down. The
goblin then lifts a finger to it’s nose and blows snot out
of it and into your direction before it begins cackling like
The gremlin is aggressive and will fight to kill until
dropped to 4 hp in which case it will attempt to
retreat. During the first round the gremlin throws itself
underneath the keg tap in an attempt to multiply. A
second gremlin is hidden away in the pantry in the north
east corner of the dining area. Have this second gremlin
enter the battle in the most dramatic way you see fit. It
might attempt to surprise it's target with an ambush as it
creeps up form behind them or maybe it launches itself
out from behind the pantry doors in surprise and goes
for the throat. It could even stealth it’s way to the top of
the armoire like pantry and leap off of it to attack the PC’s
like a wrestler off the top rope! The choice is yours. Just
feel out the situation and use your best judgment as the
encounter unfolds.
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 #2. MESS HALL
This area looks like it once served as a mess hall
but now everything is truly a mess. Tables and chairs look
to have been flung around haphazardly and random
debris such as eating utensils and food items litter the
floor. Cupboards and pantries on the back wall look like a
whirlwind has gone through them! The only thing that looks
intact is a table in the middle of the room with two water
casks upon it..
If the party has yet to encounter a gremlin they
do so now as they enter the room. Read the following:
You hear the shattering of glass and look to see a
small wingless gargoyle like creature upon a table in the
middle of the mess hall. It’s dark beady eyes stare you down.
The goblin then lifts a finger to it’s nose and blows snot out
of it and into your direction before it begins cackling like
a maniacal mad man. It then raises it’s fist and gives you
the finger.
The gremlin is aggressive and will fight to kill until
dropped to 4 hp in which case it will attempt to retreat. A
set of foot prints lead up to a pantry in the north eastern
corner of the room. DC 12 Perception PC’s hear the
gremlin rattling around inside. Feel free to get creative
on how this second gremlin enters the battle.
When the area is searched after the gremlins
are dealt with Perception DC 12 to find another corpse,
folded up, and stuffed on a lower shelf. The victim is a
male human wearing some type of purple naval uniform.
Upon his breast is a blood splattered brass badge with
countless stars engraved upon it which can be used to
access the warded doors that lead to the lab and it’s two
kennels. It appears the crew mate has been mauled to
death by an animal. There is nothing else of value to be
found in this area aside from a med kit with two potions
labeled “healing” stowed away on a pantry shelf.
#3. CRITE KENNELS
This dark room is mysteriously lined with cages
large enough to hold full grown dogs. As you take in your
surroundings there’s a sudden disturbance as some of the
cages, chillingly, begin rattling around before nasty balls of
fur throw themselves in your direction from the shadowy
crevices of the room. The enemy violently flashes toothy
maws of sharp teeth as they attack!
Three crites attack and fight to the death! After
the battle the PC’s find a crite locked in a cage with a
glyph of warding upon it that can be activated to unlock
via a crew member badge. There is nothing of real value
to be found here aside from a med kit fixed upon the wall
with bandages and one potion labeled “healing”.
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#4. GREMLIN KENNELS
Two rows of dismal medium sized cages line the
walls of this dark room. The stench here is foul and might
almost make you hesitate before you proceed further
beyond the door way.
DC 15 Perception check to spot a gremlin
cowering in the corner. If approached it violently attacks
and attempts to flee if down to 4 hp. Glyphs of warding
can be found upon the cage doors and it takes a crew
member badge to control the locking mechanisms.
There is nothing of real value to be found here aside from
a med kit fixed upon the wall with bandages and one
potion within labeled “healing”.
#5. LABORATORY
A ruined alchemical lab lays sprawled out and
broken before you. Over turned tables and broken
glassware are abound. Towards the back of the room is a
large kennel sized cage with what appears to be the body
of another crew member inside of it by the looks of the
yellow fleet uniform. There is not much time to investigate
however for among the wreckage are two gremlins in white
lab coats. One of them laughs hysterically as it takes off and
runs fast towards a mostly intact table in the middle of the
room with a cauldron upon it that is bubbling over with
frothy liquid.
Roll initiative as one of the gremlins immediately
makes a move to immerse itself in the cauldron so that
it may replicate. There is a med kit fixed to the wall
with bandages and a common healing potion labeled
“healing”. DC 12 Investigation check to come to the
conclusion that it is possible some type of experiment in
alchemy went awry here.
The slaughtered dead body in the cage is the
deceased captain and his captain level access badge can
be found on the lab coat of the gremlin who makes a
mad dash for the cauldron. This badge grants access to
all secured rooms on board the Spelljammer including
the captain’s private quarters as well as the bridge.
The captain’s badge will not however activate the gate
the PC’s arrived through for it has been sabotaged by
the gremlins.
DC 15 Perception check discovers a large vent
underneath a table on the southern wall in which a
bit of cool air can be felt issuing forth from within. The
vent is loose upon it’s hinges and appears to have been
tampered with as it is missing one of four screws keeping
it in place and just a little off kilter. There is an odd
flicker of wavering light from it depths. A crawl space is
detected behind the vent that is alive with candle light!
If the passage is further scouted out it is not long until
a dark make shift alter is found with short red and black
 candles casting dim light upon the gremlin and crite
skulls that adorn it. There is a small brown and white
furred creature upon the alter that is about the size of
a tankard, hog tied, and barely conscious. The mogwai
is friendly if healed and unbound and prefers to travel
with the party for protection as it makes fast friends.
Also resting upon the alter is a golden medallion shaped
holy symbol resting in a bed of it’s own rosary beads.
Closer inspection reveals a symbol of a flame upon the
medallion and a DC 15 Religion Check identifies it as a
holy symbol of the trickster god Loki.
#6. CREW QUARTERS
A crew quarters seemingly out of a nightmare
greets you like the fiend toothed grin of the nine hells!
Puddles of blood and gore cover the entire area as if a
corpse had exploded in here. Walls, ceiling, floor, beds, are
all bathed in red. Upon a far bed, underneath soiled sheets,
is a lump in the shape of a body. In the middle of the room
are three large treasure chest like trunks, one of which
has the corpse of a woman lounging in it’s confines as if it
were a bath tub. She has a twisted smile frozen on her face
upon death that will haunt you years later when you think
about the unthinkable that you have just stumbled across.
It’s a massacre!
Upon closer investigation, much like the other
corpses on board the spelljammer, it appears the two
human female corpses in the room were mauled by
an animal. Nothing else is in the trunk or in or around
beds but soiled linens. DC 13 Investigation check to
decipher the victims were murdered in their sleep. While
inspecting the room one of the trunks begins rattling
around as if something is bouncing around inside of
it! Perception DC 12 to act fast and be enabled to roll
initiative into a surprise round. A crite bursts from within
on it’s initiative in the surprise round if the party is unable
to secure the chest in time. The crite fights to kill until
it takes 1 hp of damage then cowardly, it attempts to
retreat out into the hall.
#7. CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS
A private chamber full of lush furnishings is now
covered in horror. A large bed on the far wall is doused
in blood and gore as it is plain to see that someone was
obviously recently murdered in their sleep here. From the
blood trail it appears that the corpse was dragged out into
the hall beyond the room and from there who knows?
Oddly enough it seems that the rest of the bed chamber
appears to have mostly been left untouched. A dresser with
a few nick knacks upon it rests on the north wall and beside
it are a couple of untapped keg barrels. A wardrobe is upon
the south wall opposite a tall mirror and a writing desk with
a few loose pages of parchment upon it is on the east wall.
Searching the room takes a DC 12 Perception check
to find a captains log book in a desk drawer as well as
vials of ink, several quills, a single skeleton key (unlocks
chests by the bed) and loose pieces of parchment.
Common clothes as well as 5 yellow naval fleet uniforms
can be found within the ward robe. More clothes can
be found inside the dresser and a bottle of perfume, a
comb, a hand mirror and other such common items are
atop it. The trunks at the foot of the bead are locked DC
20 to pick lock and find that they are loaded down with
coins totaling 1,000 gp + 1,500 sp. In one of the trunks,
underneath the big bed of coins, is a fine quality black
robe (DC 15 Perception check to notice an old, and rather
large crusty blood stain is on the sleeve of the robe.
If the captain’s log book is investigated it’s title is the
name of the Spelljammer ship itself: “Research Vessel
#38u83”. It begins with several pages of time stamps
for the Spelljammer in regards to different alchemical
experiments being conducted on different species of
aggressive “space gremlins”. The deeper one reads into
the log book the worse and worse the handwriting as
it gradually turns into illegible ramblings that seem to
be made by a mad man. The last written page of the
journal has a single word roughly scrawled sideways
upon it: “LOKI”.
#8. THE BRIDGE
You approach a hallway that is covered in thick
webbing that must have been made by a massive spider!
From floor to ceiling the entire area is adorned in fresh
spider silk. There is a glowing rune etched upon a door that
is set upon a blood streaked floor. The door itself seems to
be the only surface in the hall not covered by the sticky web.
The glyph of warding can be bypassed and the
door unlocked with the captain’s access badge otherwise
anyone who touches the door must make a DC 15
dexterity save or take 1d8 lightning damage or half as
much on a success.
The door swings open into the hall and you look
inward to see a Spelljammer command center with massive
windows looking out into the beauty that is wildspace.
Thick webbing covers three large helms, one of which
looks cursed as it displays almost fiendish features in it’s
craftsmanship. An eerie feeling shoots down your spine as
a beast out of nightmare spider climbs atop the back of the
dark Spelljammer helm. The creature appears as a gargoyle
like gremlin with eight creepy spider legs carrying it to a
readied position before it pounces to attack!
When the battle is over the simulation changes.
As the enemies ruins fall upon the field of battle
your vision distorts and then reality around you begins
blinking in and out of a white void. After a few brief flashing
moments you find yourselves standing in a large white
room laced with black grid lines and matrices of runes
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 etched all over from vaulted ceiling to the wide open
floor space.
Beginning Session #2: if your party is continuing on to
“Spelljammer Academy : Orientation” (the first official
episode of the 5e Spelljammer campaign) go ahead
TOKENS
and read the first description in Part One: Welcome to
Wildspace “Right into the Action” aloud. You can find this https://drive.google.com/drive/
by clicking the DnDBeyond link I gave you at the very folders/1qQe6nkceH3DVxjESdRsuHScElu3eAcEr
beginning of this module. Allow the PC’s to see the actual
simulation chamber just for a flashing moment before
they are dealing with the Reavers from the “Welcome
to Wildspace” scene that pops things off. When the
scene changes over into the next module PC’s regain all
expended HP and spell slots as if they had completed a
long rest. Also, any items that PC’s have on their person
that they found during the murder mystery disappears
(gold, healing potions, etc).

X
Beyond the window is the awe inspiring brilliance of
wildspace spawled out before you into the infinite void that
is just a pocket of the astral sea. From this perspective the
stars are so much brighter!

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 About The Author
Well met! While my real name is “Jestin Lightner”,
as I matured in life people around town would commonly
recognize me from my old 90’s garage band and refer to
me as the group’s name: “Hollow”. Then later in life people
started referring to me as “The Hollow” as a nick name.
My band was a bunch of kids formed from a high school THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!
D&D game. You see, I’ve been DMing regular games
with great success since 1993 when I started DMing Big Thanks to Inkarnate :: https://inkarnate.com
in my 7th grade at school lunch tables full of friends I
taught how to play. I remember recruiting players out of
The Red Dragon Inn on AOL for impromtu private room Thanks to :
Dragonlance games back in the day. I am 42 years old
now (as of this writing) and I have never really NOT been www.swordfin.com ● dave@swordfin.com
a DM of a D&D group pretty much my entire life now.
I am a forever DM and as of this publication I’ve been for the cover template
doing it for beer and 420 money on Roll20 for 5 years
As a community service I admin some of the Special thank you to my ten play testers who helped
largest dungeon master groups on social media and it’s smooth out the module especially “The Shyster”.
been a blessing that my facebook groups have been
accepted by the D&D community as the standard DM EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU TO WIZARDS OF THE
think tanks for the major 5e story lines that have been COAST AND ROLL20
released over the last 5 years (don’t worry I still know
how to use THAC0). I’m ultimately a pretty chill 420 Thanks to DMDave for gremlin stat block ideas
dude. When not doing the D&D thing I’m a rock n roll https://dmdave.com/
union musician who’s done 30 years behind the guitar
helping bands make music in one way or another and Shout out to everyone in the 5e Spelljammer DM’s
I’ve donated 16 years of life to helping out schools fix facebook group!
computer network issues. HMU if you’re down to roll https://www.facebook.com/groups/
some dice and spin some records. :) spelljammeradventuresinspacedms

FACEBOOK PAGE
https://www.facebook.com/TheHollowsDnDStudio

ROLL20 PROFILE
https://app.roll20.net/users/2551917/hollow

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