Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos - First Party Review
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Paul Farquhar" data-source="post: 9157857" data-attributes="member: 6906155"><p>I think I can supply a bit of context and some suggestions for how to use Stryxhaven.</p><p></p><p>Firstly:</p><p></p><p>The trite answer is, this was always marketed as a source book, not an adventure book. But I think what the OP means is "where are the stakes?"</p><p></p><p>To understand that, I think you need to look at it's literary antecedents.</p><p></p><p>Clearly, they are not this.</p><p></p><p>Now, the Harry Potter connection is obvious. But what is a lot less well known is Harry Potter itself draws very heavily on the Mallory Towers novels by Enid Blyton. For those who don't know these are novels aimed at a young female audience - it would be possible get into a very long digression about gender roles in children's literature - about life in a girl's boarding school. It is, basically, a soap opera. The "stakes" are generally about who is friends with who, with characters only occasionally at risk of death, or worse, expulsion. If you are interested in running a low stakes game like this I have a few suggestions: Catch a few episodes of the resent BBC adaptation, rather than wade through Blyton's extremely dated novels. Make sure your players are okay with a low stakes game with the emphasis on role-playing rather than combat (i.e. a Critical Role+ style of play). Encourage your players to start out as rivals, rather than friends. Try to avoid too many "all may family are dead" backstories. Family members are very much alive, and are important NPCs with high (possibly unreasonable) expectations.</p><p></p><p><em>"I don't like Mallory Towers, what am I supposed to do with this!"</em></p><p>It does synergise quite well well with WotC's adventure collection books, like Candlekeep, Radiant Citadel and Golden Vault. I would aim for something like <em>The Librarians</em> TV show. A mentor sends the students off on an adventure-of-the-week. Make it very close to a comedy. Clearly, this campaign is not going to be a sandbox.</p><p></p><p>If you like sandboxes, high stakes and combat, then don't buy this book, it's not aimed at you!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Paul Farquhar, post: 9157857, member: 6906155"] I think I can supply a bit of context and some suggestions for how to use Stryxhaven. Firstly: The trite answer is, this was always marketed as a source book, not an adventure book. But I think what the OP means is "where are the stakes?" To understand that, I think you need to look at it's literary antecedents. Clearly, they are not this. Now, the Harry Potter connection is obvious. But what is a lot less well known is Harry Potter itself draws very heavily on the Mallory Towers novels by Enid Blyton. For those who don't know these are novels aimed at a young female audience - it would be possible get into a very long digression about gender roles in children's literature - about life in a girl's boarding school. It is, basically, a soap opera. The "stakes" are generally about who is friends with who, with characters only occasionally at risk of death, or worse, expulsion. If you are interested in running a low stakes game like this I have a few suggestions: Catch a few episodes of the resent BBC adaptation, rather than wade through Blyton's extremely dated novels. Make sure your players are okay with a low stakes game with the emphasis on role-playing rather than combat (i.e. a Critical Role+ style of play). Encourage your players to start out as rivals, rather than friends. Try to avoid too many "all may family are dead" backstories. Family members are very much alive, and are important NPCs with high (possibly unreasonable) expectations. [I]"I don't like Mallory Towers, what am I supposed to do with this!"[/I] It does synergise quite well well with WotC's adventure collection books, like Candlekeep, Radiant Citadel and Golden Vault. I would aim for something like [I]The Librarians[/I] TV show. A mentor sends the students off on an adventure-of-the-week. Make it very close to a comedy. Clearly, this campaign is not going to be a sandbox. If you like sandboxes, high stakes and combat, then don't buy this book, it's not aimed at you! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos - First Party Review
Top