In August, Dungeons & Dragons will release one of the most exciting settings in its nearly 50-year history: Spelljammer. For those uninitiated, Spelljammer is basically pirate-themed D&D in space. The same old fantastic, classic adventuring vibe, just on ships that are traveling through the cosmos, encountering terrifying extraterrestrial creatures as they hop from planet to planet.

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As is always the case with setting book releases, Spelljammer will unleash a handful of new playable races for 5e. Thanks to promotional content, as well as some spoilers here and there (*cough unearthed arcana *cough), we've been able to identify a handful of them. So strap in, because it doesn't get much more ridiculous than the creatures found in Wildspace.

Some of the features mentioned below are sourced from Unearthed Arcana material and, as such, may be subject to change.

6 Giff

Hippo person with monocle in fine military dress
Giff by Ralph Horsley 

The giff are well-to-do hippopotamus people, who dress in fine military regalia similar to that of 18th century British soldiers and wield gunpowder based weaponry. Don't say we didn't warn you that things were about to get weird. Giff are obsessed with military organization, mercenary work, and things that go boom. They also believe that there is no honor to be had in spellcasting of any sort.

Currently, most of our 5th Edition information on the giff comes from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, which goes on to tell us that giff prize the reputation of their fighting regiment above all else. Consequently, despite being mercenaries, they refuse to work with anyone else but other giff, and they will similarly refuse any kind of work in which they might have to fight their own kind. They may be strange and portly, but there's no question that the giff are among the most honorable folk you'll find in Wildspace.

5 Astral Elves

bald wizard with raven against shooting star night sky
Sefris of the Hidden Ways by Ryan Pancoast 

If you thought normal elves were insufferable, just wait until you meet some astral elves. These are a group of elf kin that traveled to the Astral Plane millenia ago in order to be physically closer to their gods. Once they arrived there, these elves became somewhat frozen in time. After all, nothing ages in the Astral Plane. Consequently, some of these elves are thousands upon thousands of years old, providing them with a unique view of time — even amongst their own people.

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A regular old elf might spend hundreds of years becoming a master at his craft. Multiply that number by ten and you arrive at the astral elves' view of things. All of this talk does beg an interesting question though: for what reason would an astral elf abandon its life of near immortality to join the dangerous ranks of adventurers?

4 Thri-Kreen

Thri-Kreen insect warrior preying mantis
Thri-kreen via Wizards of the Coast 

Have you ever wanted to make a character inspired by the likes of General Grievous from the Star Wars universe? Well, buckle up, because it's finally your time to shine. The thri-kreen are insectlike humanoids that closely resemble preying mantises. Noticeably, they do also sport smaller secondary arms, for a total count of four. That allows for up to four blades you can wield for ultimate melee fun.

Beyond that, they have darkvision, their skin is covered by a hard, shell-like carapace that protects them from attacks and can change colors like a chameleon. Their creature type is monstrosity, they do not need to sleep, and they speak telepathically with other races while using their own nearly-indecipherable language of mandible clacking and antennae movements to speak with one another. We tried to warn you that these creatures are ridiculous. Now do you believe us?

3 Autognomes

robot gnome with beard
Autognome via Wizards of the Coast

Autognomes are gnomes built by rock gnomes for a specific purpose, such as being the baby brother you've always wanted, or running to the grocery store. Okay, so maybe some of them are built for purposes a bit more grand, but it is fun to imagine playing a character who was originally created to do something benign.

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Autognomes have the construct creature type, and feature armored casing that improves their AC when they are not wearing armor. They can add a d4 to any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw they make a number of times equal to their proficiency, and gain extra tool proficiencies. They also benefit from resistance to poison damage, immunity to disease, conscious rests, and the ability to spend hit dice when the mending spell is cast on them. Now that's some nice flavor.

2 Hadozee

Giant shell ship with tentacles in space
Spelljammer: Astral Adventurer's Guide Cover Art by Bruce Brenneise

The hadozee are a mish-mash of chimpanzee or gorilla and flying squirrel. In their original lore back in the 2nd Edition, the hadozee aided spelljamming elves in their battles against goblinoids across Realmspace during the First Unhuman Wars. They were widely regarded as the best spelljamming mercenaries you could hire that did not know how to actually pilot a spelljamming ship.

Hadozee are known for their close-knit sense of community, and their ability to glide using the skin membranes hanging between their arms and legs. They also benefit from a climbing speed, as well as dexterous feet, a unique trait that allows them to take the use of an object action as a bonus action.

1 Plasmoids

Ghost headed creature on fish in space goes fishing
Boo's Astral Menagerie cover art by Justin Gerard

Perhaps the strangest addition to the 5th Edition races of all those listed here, plasmoids are oozes that take a form similar to folk that are nearby. Plasmoids have no organs or orifices to speak of. Instead, they dissolve nutrients by taking them inside themselves, excreting waste through small pores that open up on the exterior of their membranes.

Plasmoids have the ooze creature type as well as darkvision, can squeeze through spaces as narrow as one inch wide, and have advantage on ability checks involving grapples. They are also capable of holding their breath for one hour, have resistance to acid and poison damage, and can shape themselves in a number of humanoid-like forms. Lastly, they can extrude a pseudopod up to ten feet from their body in order to interact with objects. Oh, we almost forgot to mention that they also revert to a shapeless blob whenever they fall asleep. Who forgot to swab the poopdeck?

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