The Studious Accord

Help. I need lecturers and vendors for a wizards' convention.

Some campaigns have recurring holidays or PC birthdays or whatever - mine has an annual colloquium for arcanists. I try to have it coincide with GenCon to minimize my angst over never getting to go.

This is a place where arcanists of every stripe can meet, mingle, plot, and scheme. I offer early access to metamagic or item creation feats, offer cool plot hooks and rumors, and give the PCs a chance to network.

There are lectures to attend and kiosks to visit, but I have a tough time coming up with interesting ones and have come here looking for help.

Last Year's Program

The Studious Accord, Year One, Remmersdall

• Master Enoch: Animated Objects, Constructs, and Guardians for every caster
• Quintus Unda: The Empire’s Edicts against Sorcery
• Keavon “Razorflame” Dweaman: Poisons, Curses, Traps, Avoidance
• Oakthorn: Magical Common/The Remmersdall Primary Academy
• Japheth Arcane: The Language Primeval, ongoing research
• Androth Telmak: The Arcanist’s Alliance for Order
• Geldrath Ambine: Strange Occurrences from lost little girls to Hell’s stampeding bison
• Avrem Nyx: Planar Conduits of Terna
• Daria Meme: Contact medallions, newsletters, and other information sources year-round
• Nahal: Innovative Thaumaturgy
• Elkrith Myan: Astromancy
• Ronnasic of Sigil: Vlaakith: Domini Astralo
• Specgam Al’Garbetts: Useful and decorative flora of the North Coast
• Kwidfadulus Gelbramblin: Drafting to Dweomers: Manufactured Magic
• Donthal Grey: The Undead Scourge of Czelsvaria, Kadgar and Beyond
• Benjamin Charat: Magical Masks of the Goblin lands


• Benjamin Stilestimer: Alchemical Products and Supplies
• Ru’ the Gaunt: Shipments from abroad
• Boran the Moneylender: Trade Notes and Letters of Credit, Savings & Loan
• Master Enoch: Durable Stone Golems
• Contact Amulets

Master Enoch, both a lecturer and a vendor, is stolen directly from the AD&D 2E adventure by Bruce Cordell. He was enthralled to Mind Flayers, but now he's all better. At least one of the PCs at the Accord was involved in freeing him from thralldom.

Quintus Unda is a representative of the government of the empire that claims dominion over the lands where the Accord was held - this modified Roman Empire has forbidden the practice of arcane magic and the worship of Hecate.

Kaevon Dweaman is the second-in-charge of a cult/thieves guild dedicated to a dead black dragon. This dragon once possessed another of my player's PCs for a significant part of her career, making here one-time head of the cult. Kaevon is a BAD guy, so he lectures from personal experience on poisons, traps and curses.

Oakthorn is my DMPC (yes, I admit it) and champion of a standardized form of spellbook notation to facilitate easier exchange of spells between wizards. He's selling discount-rate, high-quality spellbooks with water and vermin repelling enchantments and available as floating spellbooks. What customers don't know is that the spells inscribed in the books Oakthorn sells are automatically transcribed into the artifact he created, The Master Text.

Japheth Arcane is taken directly from College of Wizardry. Basically, he and his fellow party-members were the ones to have discovered metamagic.

Androth Telmak is a hatemonger bent on eradicating warlocks, sorcerers and wild mages. He came to recruit new members into the group of which he is a member.

Geldrath Ambine, an NPC created for this very occasion, chronicles and researches some of the peculiar phenomenon in my campaign, explaining and resolving som plot hooks, and introducing new ones.

Avrem Nyx is a semi-retired PC who emigrated to Sigil and works as a consultant and assistant to the Ursinal Tripicus, lecturing on the Prime Material world of which he is a native and on the prime material plane in general.

Daria Meme, another ad hoc NPC was allowed to sell contact medallions to Accord attendees free of charge in exchange for teaching telepathic bond spells to all who want to learn.

Nahal, as some will remember, is one of the original wild mages. I want to encourage PCs to take sides in the coming battle between the Arcanist's Alliance for Order and the loose alliance of freer thinkers.

Elkrith Myan is there to introduce Astromancy to the campaign. No one attended the lecture or took up this new sub-systm, but it helped fill out the docket anyhow.

Ronnasic of Sigil was there to foreshadow the Incursion adventure in Dungeon.

Specgam Al' Garbetts is, by far, the campaign's most powerful spellcaster. My very first NPC, Specgam has served as patron and friend to many PCs. In personality, he is sort of a compromise between Albus Dumbledore and Galdalf the White.

Kwidfadilus is there to remind players that gnomes are an available PC race and that they're allowed to build their own constructs or buy some ready-made.

Undead Hunters in my campaign take the surname Grey. I don't even know anymore how that got started, but it was organic and cool. Donthal reinforces that and foreshadowed an adventure to have been run by another DM.

Benjamin Charat reinforces a naming schema for a particular region and introduces a new type of magical item available to PCs.

Stilestimer shows that two NPCs with the same name can be different and that alchemists (artificers) are available as a class.

Ru' is a recurring NPC/sponsor and a member of the Planar Trade Consortium, again reminding players that it is, in fact, a planar campaign which focuses on the Prime.

Boran is only to remind players that they can borrow, or even lend, money.

The Studious Accord, Year Two, Mathghamhna

• Quintus Unda: The Empire’s Edicts Against Sorcery
• Adolphus Nigralkan: "The History of Magical adjudication both inside and outside the Empire, with special attention to the pre-imperial era"
• Njalthek Midiktor: "A study of the development of wizardry under close observation of the development of spell components"

This is what we have so far: I know that the Accord will be held at the Arcane Order of Enchantment and Exposition and that the Empire will once again send Quintus Unda, despite the fact that he was killed at last year's accord and had to be resurrected by one of the PCs. Now, thanks to Infernal Teddy, I have a cool new dimension.

It's too late (or early) for me to think of anything at the moment. But I would like to know why anyone in their right mind would go to an empire where arcane magic is outlawed to attend an arcane magic symposium?

The empire is falling apart, particularly at the edges, and arcane magic is becoming increasingly prevalent. What few realize is that the empire is poorly prepared to interfere with the study of arcane magic and that arcanist may soon become critical to the empire's survival.

Anybody else have any feedback?

Mainly, I just need topics on which a wizard might lecture. I can, if needed, come up with the lecturers' names.

Adolphus Nigralkan: "The History of Magical Judication both inside and outside the EMpire, with special attention to the pre-imperial era"

That any good?

Infernal Teddy said:

Adolphus Nigralkan: "The History of Magical Judication both inside and outside the EMpire, with special attention to the pre-imperial era"

That any good?

Click to expand...

Awesome! That's perfect. It even ties in with campaign politics.

Njalthek Midiktor: "A study of the developement of wizardry under close observation of the development of spell components"

Mirgathor Galibrani: "Can the natural magical resistance of metal be overcome?"

Infernal Teddy said:

Mirgathor Galibrani: "Can the natural magical resistance of metal be overcome?"

Click to expand...

magical resistance of metal?