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Lodestar: A Spacefarer's Manual | Space Fantasy in 5e!

Created by The Dragons Vault

Sail the galactic seas of Lodestar in a swashbuckling space-fantasy campaign setting for 5e that evokes the magic of Treasure Planet and Spelljammer, finally bringing the glory of "D&D in space" to your table as it was always meant to be!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Playtest 04: Ranger, Monk, & Witch!
5 days ago – Thu, Apr 30, 2026 at 04:35:28 AM



Ahoy All,

We've got a hefty playtest for you this week, featuring two brand new subclasses, the Far Eye ranger, and the Way of Celestial Alignment monk! As usual we will be releasing a feedback survey for this playtest next month, so you've until then to check them out and give them a spin at your table! In the meantime, come check out the 🐉Vault Community Discord; Aston and myself are very active there, so you can come chat to us or other members of the community, and even get early sneak peeks at art and book content!

Also, I wanted to show of the latest a piece of art I've been working on for Lodestar, the Pirate Port of Neversink! We are reaching the end of our core game and play design phase for Lodestar now, so expect to see more and more art over the coming months!

Witch Coven Playtest

For returning backers from Faerie, we also have a special additional subclass playtest coming your way this week: The Coven of the Spheres, allowing you to play a witch that divines the fates from the celestial bodies. So get ready to roll the bones, for weal or woe!

This playtest is releasing via Backerkit's distribution system to returning backers specifically, since you're the ones most familiar with the Witch class; so if that's you keep an eye on your inbox for the new coven!

Ship System Playtest

As always, the ship system playtest continues! We've had some really useful feedback from you all already, and will continue to test the system and be open to feedback all the way till publishing.

💫 You can find the system documents HERE

⚓ You can find the feedback survey HERE

Surveys

We also want to remind everyone that if you haven't completed your survey, please do so as soon as you read this update. It is really important we get those filled in and signed off as soon as possible to help prevent delays, especially with the current global instability having such an impact on the fulfilment pipeline.

That's all for this week, I hope you're all well and sailing is smooth. We'll be back soon with more updates and content!

- Conor

⛵ Ship System v1.5!
19 days ago – Thu, Apr 16, 2026 at 07:36:37 AM

Ahoy fair spacers!

First of all, thank you to those of you that have had chance to read through, playtest, and review the first version of the ship system! Already, it's helping to mould the changes we make! Those of you that have already played the system but haven't had chance to give us your feedback yet we'd love to hear from you. This survey is where we will be collecting the bulk of our feedback for the system including versions going forward. At the start I've also included a small section so you can let us know which version you're talking about specifically! Those of you that have responded already: have no fear! We can collect multiple surveys from the same person, if you have comments about newer versions feel free to just fill the survey out again, just let us know in the additional comments if that's the case.

Ship System Playtest Version 1.5

Next, we have a slightly updated version of the ship system for you today. Mostly small wording tweaks and some content additions (if you want to make sure you know exactly what's changed here is the changelog), but you'll find new weapons and munitions, as well as weather and hazards!. If you'd like to find the version 1.0 document, it can be accessed via the Vault Discord.

💫 Here is version 1.5 of the ship system! 


Additional Play Material Pack

But that's not all, we've also bundled up a few of our ship upgrades and other hazards and weapons together for those of you that want to have a bit more of a play and insight into the shipbuilding mechanics, or spice up your encounter building!

🌟 You can grab that here!


All the Links:

Ship System Feedback Survey
Ship System Changelog
Ship System v1.5
Ship System Additional Material (Upgrades, Weapons, Hazards & Weather)
Community Discord


Finally, we'd absolutely adore it if you hopped into our discord and had a chat to us about what you think, the ship system is a pretty big undertaking mechanically and we love seeing what people do with it!

That's all from me for this week gang! I hope you're all doing wonderfully!

Thanks so much,
Aston

⚓ Early Ship System Playtest Survey!
27 days ago – Wed, Apr 08, 2026 at 09:17:40 AM

Ahoy Spacers!

I hope you've all had a chance to get some eyes on the official playtest packet for the ship system! It's been lovely to hear all the stories, feedback, and just general compliments!

Me and Conor are currently working on the next iteration of the Ship System for next weeks playtest! This will include new content aswell as adjustments to existing mechanics based on internal testing and feedback from you guys! Thats where I come in a little bit early this week:

Ship System Playtest Survey

If you have played or read the ship system we would love for you to let us know what you think HERE! This survey is one of our more important ones we'd recommend, subclasses can often be strange and interesting but this is a whole new system!

We've also had some pretty wonderful conversations with people over in the Discord! If you wanna have a chat about the system, take part in conversations about Lodestar in general, or even just wanna meet some likeminded folks we'd love to have you!

As always, have a wonderful week, and I'll be back soon bearing some more ship system goodies!

- Aston

State of the Vault 02: Ship System Discussion!
about 1 month ago – Sun, Apr 05, 2026 at 11:14:28 AM

Ahoy Spacers!

Me and Conor are just hopping on for a couple of hours to discuss the ship system playtest, answer any burning questions y'all might have, and maybe design a Siltsail or two! We'd love for you to join us!

Charging Cards, Ship System links & Playtest 2 Survey!
about 1 month ago – Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 10:54:31 AM

Ahoy all!

We had a big update before the weekend, with the release of the first testable version of our ship system! A few backers struggled to access the downloads in the backer only section, so we’ve included them here too:

Playtest PDF

🔱 Pre-made Encounter PDF

Full Playtest PDF and Encounter Pack Zip File (With printable maps & digital token pack)

Go check out that release update for all the additional info on the system, and come chat about it in the Vault Community Discord if you’ve got questions or feedback!

🚨 Also an important note for those joining the discord, please make sure you select the 💫SPACER💫 role when joining to guarantee access to the ship system and discussions🚨


Charging Cards Soon

As a heads up, we will begin charging cards in the pledge manager for any shipping and add-ons, as well as preorders, starting Monday next week. Ahead of that, please make sure your shipping address and card information is correct!

If you want to make changes after that (such as adding more add-ons or changing address) you'll still be able to by reaching out to Aston via [email protected]


Playtest 02 Feedback Survey

We also want to hear about any and all thoughts you might have on last months playtest, the Superstition Bard & Path of the Comet Barbarian!

So head here to fill in the survey! 


Streaming April 5th: State of the Vault #2 | Ship System & Ship Design

Additionally, myself and Aston will be returning for another stream in a couple of weeks, on Sunday the 5th of April! We are going to be discussing the ship system, and designing a few new weird and wonderful siltsails. So come along, say hi, and throw any and all ideas you might have at us there!


That’s all for this week, I hope wherever you are it’s smooth sailing ahead till we next speak 💫

- Conor