Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Mages of Strixhaven

An Unearthed Arcana playtest document for the upcoming Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos hardcover has been released by WotC!

"Become a student of magic in this installment of Unearthed Arcana! This playtest document presents five subclasses for Dungeons & Dragons. Each of these subclasses allows you to play a mage associated with one of the five colleges of Strixhaven, a university of magic. These subclasses are special, with each one being available to more than one class."

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It's 9 pages, and contains five subclasses, one for each the Strixhaven colleges:

• Lorehold College, dedicated to the pursuit of history by conversing with ancient spirits and understanding the whims of time itself
• Prismari College, dedicated to the visual and performing arts and bolstered with the power of the elements
• Quandrix College, dedicated to the study and manipulation of nature’s core mathematic principles
• Silverquill College, dedicated to the magic of words, whether encouraging speeches that uplift allies or piercing wit that derides foes
• Witherbloom College, dedicated to the alchemy of life and death and harnessing the devastating energies of both

 

[Charlaquin]

The DM really needs to keep their own moral code out of it. It's up to the players to decide if the ends justify the means, or if they want to win from a moral high ground. This is where player agency is most important. In a fantasy story, "players win" is an almost inevitable outcome. Buy HOW they win is the player's choice.

I strongly disagree that players win should be an inevitable outcome.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I strongly disagree that players win should be an inevitable outcome.

How many fantasy stories end in the protagonists losing? With a very few exceptions, the protagonists in a story will win. The uncertainty lies in what the cost of winning will be.

 

[Charlaquin]

How many fantasy stories end in the protagonists losing? With a very few exceptions, the protagonists in a story will win. The uncertainty lies in what the cost of winning will be.

A good chunk of D&D games end in the PCs losing.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

A good chunk of D&D games.

Really? because I've never seen it. Even a TPK can lead to a new bunch of heroes rising up to defeat the Big Bad. Occasional losses don't count, the heroes always win in the end.

 

[Charlaquin]

Really? because I've never seen it. Even a TPK can lead to a new bunch of heroes rising up to defeat the Big Bad. Occasional losses don't count, the heroes always win in the end.

Yeah, really. I think an adventure that doesn’t account for the possibility of the PCs losing is a poorly written adventure. Sometimes the dragon burns down the village you set out to save. Sometimes the cultists’ evil ritual succeeds. Sometimes the world-eater awakens and devours everything. And, yeah, sometimes there’s a TPK (though quite rarely in my experience.) More often than not, the PCs do save the day, but it’s far from inevitable.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think this is another playstyle issue.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think this is another playstyle issue.

Most definitely.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, really. I think an adventure that doesn’t account for the possibility of the PCs losing is a poorly written adventure. Sometimes the dragon burns down the village you set out to save.

Sure. But then the PCs kill the dragon. They win in the end. If it's not a win then it isn't the end. Winning has a cost. in this case the cost was the destruction of the village.

Sometimes the cultists’ evil ritual succeeds. Sometimes the world-eater awakens and devours everything.

Sometimes Thanos snaps his fingers. In which case the heroes win in the sequel.

And, yeah, sometimes there’s a TPK (though quite rarely in my experience.) More often than not, the PCs do save the day, but it’s far from inevitable.

Game of Thrones is the prime example of "how do you bring a narrative to a satisfactory conclusion without the protagonists winning?" The answer is, you can't. Either the heroes win or the conclusion is unsatisfactory, or in the case of GoT, both.

 

[Charlaquin]

Sure. But then the PCs kill the dragon. They win in the end. If it's not a win then it isn't the end. Winning has a cost. in this case the cost was the destruction of the village.

I wouldn’t call killing the dragon winning if the goal was to save the village. Maybe if killing the dragon was the goal it would be winning.

Sometimes Thanos snaps his fingers. In which case the heroes win in the sequel.

We’re talking about D&D though, not a movie. Sometimes the heroes do lose and it is the end.

Game of Thrones is the prime example of "how do you bring a narrative to a satisfactory conclusion without the protagonists winning?" The answer is, you can't.

That’s just not true at all. Tons of narratives have satisfying conclusions that don’t involve the protagonists winning. See the entire tragedy genre, most works of horror, many dramas…

Either the heroes win or the conclusion is unsatisfactory, or in the case of GoT, both.

This is a terribly limited view of fiction. Moreover, we’re talking about a roleplaying game, not a work of fiction. The narrative is an emergent thing that happens through play. Whatever occurs in play is the narrative, including if what occurs is that the PCs lose. It’s just a tragic narrative that emerged this time.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I wouldn’t call killing the dragon winning if the goal was to save the village. Maybe if killing the dragon was the goal it would be winning.

Winning is defined by what the players achieve. In this case they achieved killing the dragon. Maybe they could have won and saved the village. That would have been a victory with a lower cost. And that is where D&D allows for player skill. Skilful play leads to winning at a lower cost.

We’re talking about D&D though, not a movie. Sometimes the heroes do lose and it is the end.

The laws of narrative are just as much present in RPGs as they are in movies. The DM and players may not be conscious of them, but if the narrative is unsatisfactory then the players won't enjoy the game.

That’s just not true at all. Tons of narratives have satisfying conclusions that don’t involve the protagonists winning. See the entire tragedy genre, most works of horror, many dramas…

This is a terribly limited view of fiction. Moreover, we’re talking about a roleplaying game, not a work of fiction. The narrative is an emergent thing that happens through play. Whatever occurs in play is the narrative, including if what occurs is that the PCs lose. It’s just a tragic narrative that emerged this time.

A tragedy is just a comedy told from the point of view of the villain. In Macbeth the good guys win in the end.