I've been tasked...no, challenged to run some Spelljammer.
I know. I know. Spelljammer.

I've heard the grumblings — the setting's thin, the ship combat barely exists, WotC gave it three 64-page books and called it a day. Got some of y'all feeling a kinda way about it. Spelljammer's always been too zany, too whimsy for me to ever notice it. But a challenge is a challenge.

D&D&Me has been a rough dance since 3E. My only real beef is the XP character advancement cycle...and the encounter math, and the encounters per day...WTMF.

But here's how Mad Jay runs the fade.

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Nobody's rolling d20s to see who goes first. Combat runs in fixed phases, every round: Melee → Missiles → Magic → Movement*. Declare what you're doing before you know how the round's gonna shake out. Phases are simultaneous; damage takes effect in the phase it happened.
Now we squabblin', teach your mans.

When something swings at you, you roll to NOT get hit!!
Defense Bonus = AC − 10.

Same math as a normal attack roll, just flipped into your hands. Nat 20 dodges clean. Nat 1 eats it — and it counts as a crit. I like this because it puts the anxiety where it belongs. Getting hit should feel like your dice failed you, not like something happened to you.
+12* because you ain't no punk. 💪🏾

No counting kills. End of every session, we review six yes-or-no questions:

Each yes gets you XP (Moderate):

The High column is for reference.
I stole this shape from Twilight: 2000 and Forbidden Lands — I'm a fan. These are my go-to hacks for clearing any D&D hurdles I have to running D&D. These three hacks keep my table engaged — nobody checks out during combat rounds. One attack roll and four defense checks hits different when you're a player, especially if there ain't no Initiative to keep you safe and dry.
The XP Milestones are for me. Leveling still happens about the right feel without calculus in my GM prep, and with incentives I can get behind.

Because my kid once brought me a shitty game he wanted to play — and I won't name it, because this ain't that show. He was so AMPed about this book of rancid dung RPG, so I ran it. I ran it like someone paid me a million bucks to do it, or maybe like someone had done me up like Case, with sacks of poison degrading in my bloodstream (IYKYK)... Anyways, I made changes to some mechanics as we played, and explained the whys. He loved the three sessions we played, and it was awesome to experience his joy; I did that. The game, without lift, is abhorrent 💩

Some folks I care about asked and picked this game. The challenge — make Spelljammer RAWK! — feels like an easier lift, and I wanna see these folks get hyped! I solved my hurdles. I think the rest is premise, situation — what are we playing about?
And I think I have some ideas...inspired by some muppets...in space.

What's your history with Spelljammer — did you bounce off it too, or is this old news to you?

Mad Dice started easy enough: get some people into a game room, roll dice, share maps and images, chat, and play. No giant rules engine. No spending an hour setting up the VTT before you can use the VTT.

My next version is getting ambitious.

Mad Dice Next: The Tiny VTT will build out from the game room—player profiles, characters, friend groups, cards, dice macros, safety tools, customization, and eventually ways of “wrapping” what happened at the table —like Spotify Wraps.

Play the game. Stay connected to the people you played with. Build a history of the games, groups, and characters you shared. I’m prolly crowdfunding this next stage of development, and I’ll have a bunch more to say about that soon.

In the meantime, Mad Dice isn't a mockup or a someday-project. You can play on it right now. Run those Mad Dice

PLAY → CONNECT → REMEMBER