I'm feeling the urge to DM again, and I was thinking peljammer,. but the issue is always how to arrange a ship for the party.

1: Hire them to work for someoen else, such as the Mercane (or others, depending). Provide a ship, and tell them what to do and where to go. That removes a bit of free will, and has been an issue a time or two before. It also limits certain class and race types ased on the needs and limits of the emploter, such as the Chr=urch of Celestian funding pirate hunters.

2: Shipwreck: this allows for almost any character type, but it starts as a survival game, and that's iffy on an asteroid. Cobbling together a raft to find civilization has killed a game or two before making it off the asteroid.

3: My current idea is a small village and a but of apprentices finding a barely function derelict. This limits race in large part because your village needs a sufficiently large population of each race represented to be able to breed further generations. Or even to have bred the current one. I can do this one if I limit things to humans, halflings, and the occaisonal half elf. But this one is the most open ended one, as you egt into space right away, albeit you may well be lost, and you can do whatever you want with no worries about paying for a ship. You can do some repairs your self, and hire out others a bit at a time. but you have to skip so many of the races (and space backgrounds) that people like the setting for.

First question: Is there enough in a spelljammer campaign to start one?

Second question: do any of the above 3 ideas work for anyone, and, if so, which one(s).

If you aren't opposed to the PCs having their own ship, Shipwreck isn't as hard to do as you think. It's just a matter of coming up with the right reason to explain how that particular cross-section of characters all got shipwrecked at the same time. Instead of having to survive long enough to build a raft, they could quickly find an old, mostly intact ship and just need to rescue one or two parts from specific threats on the asteroid to get it flying. Then they have an old, beat up but functional spelljammer of their own that you can add a fun element to the game of them saving up over time to upgrade it.

Well, that would require multiple shipwrecks on the one asteroid. Other wise how would another ship be there, much less whole?

No, a shipwreck means a wrecked ship. or a magic asteroid that draws ships in, and left one intact without a crew. That's a bit of a stretch, and hard top explain how folks would escape it.

As to how folks are there: Survivng crew and passengers from a single ship, maybe a wandering rock hopper if someone is playing a halfling.

If you want a diverse crew and a ship to give them, why not have them be abductees whose initial adventure is breaking out of captivity and capturing their captors' ship?

Well, mostly because taking on the crew of a ship big enough to have a brig would be a little daunting.

But mostly because I don't want them to have a full ship with all the trimmings. I want them to earn it, but they need something as a starter to make that possible.

At least if they're getting a free ship unearned (or found as an encounter, which actually IS possible). If they want a full ship with trimmings, it's got to be paid for by labor. That's option #1.

Could be the PCs are shipwrecked (separately) on a lonely asteroid that attracts ships becquse of the Magic Thing situated upon it in the center of a conveniently dungeon-esque collection of traps and similarly shipwrecked (but not as PCish) entities.

One such wreck manages to remain, if not totally intact, then at least repairable with a little work, and the first adventure then is to 1)raid other wrecks for useful salvage and replacement parts and 2)delve into the heart of the asteroid to neutralize the Magic Thing that attracts ships and prevents them leaving.

That's a variant on option 2, but with a dungeon added. That I could work with, but it adds to the time to get into space. As long as the players are prepared for that delay, I'd be fine with it.

I'd be interested in a spelljammer campaign concept 2 sounds the most fun

Well, that's actually only one interested, so far.

Is anyone else?

Would you be allowing material from the 2024 PHB?

No, not at start. That material isn't even due out for a month, then I'd have to buy it and read it before deciding to use it.

I was hoping to start before then

If you buy digitally from D&D Beyond (I'm not encouraging or discouraging that, just don't know if you do or not), you could get a free trial to their master subscription to get early access to the book starting 9/3. Just about a week from now. You would just need to remember to cancel the subscription after the official release date on 9/17.

I"m not that worried about it, and I feel that paying D&D Beyond for a second copy of everything on top of the hard copy I pay for is a bit much.

I'll wait the extra couple of weeks.

I'd be interested in trying out Spelljammer. I have the books on D&D Beyond but haven't read over them that extensively, but the idea of number 2 appeals to me the most.

Late to the party, but I'll always be down for Spelljammers. I think the "we're from a fantasy world and suddenly discover space travel" does not work. I'd much prefer people who are aware of spelljamming. The entire solar system housing Toril is actually full of planets to explore, trade with, etc. Basically every planet has a story.

Anyway, if you get it going, i'd be in.

Well, that's interest from 3, and 2 votes for an asteroid shipwreck start. let me work up a game page and we'll see if we can't pick up a few more.

I'm still working on the page, but it can be found here: link to another game