SPELLJAMMER OR SPELLBUMMER?

The Rules Lawyer loves complicated rules ©Wizards of the Coast

I do not have Spelljammer 5e yet, but from what I was able to gleam by YouTubers, forum posts and so on, a good chunk dungeon masters are a bit let down by it. I've heard mainly about ship combat rules missing and no planetary system generation tables or guidelines. Here's why I think that the former is a false problem and why the latter is actually a real issue.

NUMBER HOARDERS

I see many, many people talking about rushing to the DMsGuild to buy the 2e book and scavenge its content to improve the 5e. I think that can be fun and interesting, if you want to bring back a specific mechanic. I also think that those people shouldn't go to 2e so light-heartedly, because 2e is not simple, sometimes is not clear (reverse armor class and THAC0, you are not welcome in my house) and most importantly, it has a different mindset behind it. I have the 2e boxset and I recently put together a Spelljammer 5e one shot using it. It's doable, but ship combat is almost another game within the game. I imagine you could even try to play it as a tabletop skirmish game, like Battlefleet Gothic for example, if only the book didn't actually told you not to (but why?). So I would sincerely like to read the ship rules in the new Spelljammer, because maybe it's just what 5e has been doing since its inception: simplifying unnecessary complexity. Also, trust me in this, ship combat in Spelljammer 2e is tedious and boring: those who lament the scarcity of rulings for it probably never tried something similar or come from an era when the design philosophy was "everything should have a rule".

I also heard someone lamenting the fact that you can't build your ship. Bro, upgrades are one thing, but statting a ship unique to you was never part of the rules. You can homebrew it if you want (and surely it's cool!), but it wasn't an expected return from 2e for sure.

The solution? Go play 7th Sea, says its creator. He's right, you know. If you want something that isn't part of a game, play another one.

PLANETARY VOID

The other point which is talked about is the planetary system generation. If it is like what I've heard, it's the worst thing in the book in my opinion. "Here's two systems, use them as models". Wait, what? Are you serious? This is so bad, because it so easily fixable! WotC already has the tables required to generate a planetary system and they originally occupied three or four pages. I bet that by applying the modern books' format, you could halve those pages. And even if you didn't want to use those old tables, creating new ones is such a no-brainer that it baffles me.

I have the sneaking suspicion that something along these lines will come out in pdf form, like what happened with Domains of Delight. The problem is that The Wild Beyond the Witchlight was an adventure, this is an actual setting.

Aside from this, I guess that in this instance you could actually use the 2e tables without any problem whatsoever. Or you could make some quick tables. Or I could. Hmmm, maybe I will. But to me, if this is true, it's a little bummer. Oh don't get me wrong, I don't need it but other people probably do.

EDGE OF THE SYSTEM

Not every D&D player has a great imagination or creativity. And that's ok. But I would suggest something.  If you believe that you have to "fix" everything in 5e, maybe the problem is not 5e, the problem is your choice of system/edition. Maybe something like 3.5/Pathfinder is what would suit you the best. I'm not saying this from a defender of 5e at all costs, I'm saying that you are beating a dead horse and I'm telling you so for the sake of your own fun. Try something more complex.

I'm somewhat even more thrilled to finally get this boxset. I guess that as always, what doesn't work makes more noise than what actually does.