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

 

[Rabulias]

An interesting situation for high level play might be if a powerful enemy of the patron is working to kill/destroy the warlock's patron. The warlock would lose their power if their patron were to die, so the warlock must help defend them, "teaming up" to preserve their mutual interests.

 

[Parmandur]

I think it's been pretty well demonstrated that even for a bladesinger selecting spells to keep you from dying in melee is a mechanically inferior choice.

It's tortles all the way down.

Optimal play is more about player goals than an objective standard.

Nothing but Tortles.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

I was thinking Spell choice, but Tortles are actually appropriate for Prismari in the Setting, actually.

Sadly, the only one they made a card of is Quandrix (well, "near-tortle," I guess): Quandrix Cultivator

 

[Faolyn]

Since people seemed to like my "updated" bestow curse, I wrote it up:

Maladiction
1st-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 1 mile
Components: V, S, M (a small talisman or poppet worth at least 5 gp and a piece of your target's body, such as a lock of hair or fingernail clipping)
Duration: 24 hours
Class: Bard, Cleric, Warlock, Wizard

You place a bothersome but non-damaging curse on a creature you know of that is within one mile of your position. You must cast this spell at night.

The curse you place on the creature can't inflict damage and must be primarily cosmetic in nature. For instance, you can curse a creature to lose all their hair, or grow excessive hair; to develop warts or pimples; or to suffer from frequent and uncontrollable flatulence.

If you cast this spell on the same target a second time before the spell ends, the duration continues for an additional 24 hours. If you cast this spell on the same target every day for one month, the duration becomes permanent.

This spell can be ended with a remove curse or similar magic. You can also use a bonus action to end the curse at any time. If the talisman use when you cast the spell is destroyed, this ends the spell and you take 10 (3d6) psychic damage from the backlash.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell with certain higher-level spell slots, you may inflict stronger curses.

When you use a 3rd-level spell slot, you may curse the target with a magical Flaw. Examples of Flaws include "I am incredibly greedy, self-serving, and short-sighted; I won't spend a copper on anything that doesn't directly serve my immediate interests and desires, even if it may mean I suffer in the long run", "I suffer frequent inexplicable headaches which cause me to become ill-tempered and violent", or "I am a terrible farmer; even with my best efforts, my crops wither and my cows run dry." If the talisman is destroyed, you take 18 (5d6) psychic damage.

When you use a 5th-level spell slot, you may curse the target to suffer from disadvantage on any roll related to a particular interest of the target. This interest cannot involve combat in any way. Examples of this could be cursing an artist to have disadvantage on rolls to create their art or interact with patrons, or cursing a businessperson to have disadvantage on rolls to to sell their products, maintain their business' finances, or interact with partners or employees. If the talisman is destroyed, you take 25 (7d6) psychic damage.

 

[Faolyn]

Midnight was kinda an odd scenario as I view it like Ravenloft; it's a setting of small victories and slowing the tide. You won't necessarily win the war, but every battle helps win another day of respite. I kinda view most zombie apocalypse stories in the same vein. Again, it's about the perseverance against odds that make the story great. YMMV of course.

I kinda view Midnight as being the opposite to Ravenloft in some ways. In Ravenloft you have lots of evils, both the Darklords and the "lesser" unique monsters (the Dark Powers are a plot device, not an actual menace). All of these evils have different reasonings, goals, and activities and are moving in a million directs. But in Midnight, nearly all the evil is tied to a single source, the Not-Sauron BBEG, and everything is working for its goals. So I feel like you can have more small victories in Ravenloft than you can in Midnight.

At least, that's my reading of the setting.

 

[Parmandur]

Sadly, the only one they made a card of is Quandrix (well, "near-tortle," I guess): Quandrix Cultivator

Still, it would fit well enough.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As far as I am concerned, the ability of a Patron (or Deity) to take away powers should not be the player's decision. The character exists in the world and certain powerful beings grant power in exchange for having their interests furthered. What those interests are which should be worked out or made known to the players before character creation. Knowing, what is expected by a Patron, it is up to the player to decide if they want to deal with the terms, find a more suitable patron for the character (if one exists), or play something else (I hold the same view on for clerics and paladins losing powers). Then again, when it comes to warlocks my influences for Fiendish Patrons are not Constantine, Spawn, or Ghost Rider- if I wanted those as inspiration, I would run a comic book rpg

Personally, I don't allow Fiendish Patron warlocks for PCs. I have no interest in running a game in which players fulfill evil ends and, as a DM, my influence for Fiendish Patrons are one's where the Patron permanently removes the warlock who fails to achieve the patrons end by transforming them or outright killing the offending character and there are no second chances to regain powers. These influences include Kolchak' The Devils Advocate (the warlock fails to achieve the Devil's goals and is turned physically and mentally into a rotweiller), 70s occult horror films in which the Devil kills servants that failm him, Supernatural's Malleus Maleficarum in which the demon kills the members of the book club for trying to pull out of a the contract or tried to help defeat her), and Supernatural's Swap Meat episode (in which Gary's friend wants to be made a warlock and begins demanding too much that a demon kills him while Gary is smart enough not to sell his soul to the Devil and helps Sam exorcise the demon.

Other influences for me on warlock patrons are Curupira, the forest Demon from the television series, Beasmaster and sidhe in the Gates of Avalon episode of Merlin. Curupira (whom I see as more of a Fey) from the TV series Beastmaster and is responsible for giving Dar his powers and reminds him several times that she can take his powers away if he does not protect "her" animals and forest (I can't recall if she ever did, temporarily, take away his powers. I think she did. However, her arch-enemy Iara definitely did take them away after imprisoning Curpira and Dar spurned her advances). In the Gates of Avalon episode of Merlin, the Sidhe elders want Arthur's soul and will take Sophia's soul if she and her father cannot deliver Arthur's soul to them. If I recall correctly, Sophia's father was a Sidhe stripped of his powers and trapped in a mortal body and is trying to get back into Avalon rather than a warlock, but the Sidhe elders' demands fit as another example of an Archfey pact might look like.

Okay

 

[Undrave]

As far as I am concerned, the ability of a Patron (or Deity) to take away powers should not be the player's decision. The character exists in the world and certain powerful beings grant power in exchange for having their interests furthered. What those interests are which should be worked out or made known to the players before character creation. Knowing, what is expected by a Patron, it is up to the player to decide if they want to deal with the terms, find a more suitable patron for the character (if one exists), or play something else (I hold the same view on for clerics and paladins losing powers). Then again, when it comes to warlocks my influences for Fiendish Patrons are not Constantine, Spawn, or Ghost Rider- if I wanted those as inspiration, I would run a comic book rpg

Personally, I don't allow Fiendish Patron warlocks for PCs. I have no interest in running a game in which players fulfill evil ends and, as a DM, my influence for Fiendish Patrons are one's where the Patron permanently removes the warlock who fails to achieve the patrons end by transforming them or outright killing the offending character and there are no second chances to regain powers. These influences include Kolchak' The Devils Advocate (the warlock fails to achieve the Devil's goals and is turned physically and mentally into a rotweiller), 70s occult horror films in which the Devil kills servants that failm him, Supernatural's Malleus Maleficarum in which the demon kills the members of the book club for trying to pull out of a the contract or tried to help defeat her), and Supernatural's Swap Meat episode (in which Gary's friend wants to be made a warlock and begins demanding too much that a demon kills him while Gary is smart enough not to sell his soul to the Devil and helps Sam exorcise the demon.

Other influences for me on warlock patrons are Curupira, the forest Demon from the television series, Beasmaster and sidhe in the Gates of Avalon episode of Merlin. Curupira (whom I see as more of a Fey) from the TV series Beastmaster and is responsible for giving Dar his powers and reminds him several times that she can take his powers away if he does not protect "her" animals and forest (I can't recall if she ever did, temporarily, take away his powers. I think she did. However, her arch-enemy Iara definitely did take them away after imprisoning Curpira and Dar spurned her advances). In the Gates of Avalon episode of Merlin, the Sidhe elders want Arthur's soul and will take Sophia's soul if she and her father cannot deliver Arthur's soul to them. If I recall correctly, Sophia's father was a Sidhe stripped of his powers and trapped in a mortal body and is trying to get back into Avalon rather than a warlock, but the Sidhe elders' demands fit as another example of an Archfey pact might look like.

There's no rules anywhere for losing powers. the Paladin at least got the Oathbreaker, but there is no equivalent for the Warlock. That tells me it was never the intended design.

In any case, I feel like this discussion should probably be its own thread...

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, the bad ending for the warlock need not even occur in the main story arc, either, right?

I think the removal of ability lockouts for paladins means the same treatment for warlocks was the right call.

Being locked out of class features would be even worse for the warlock than the paladin!

I know it's a bad experience for a player to have their powers taken away. I just dont see why the patron would go along with a deal that one-sided logically. Internally consistent world-building is important to me. It's not just about appeasing the players who don't want their toys ever taken away.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And this is why a mechanic for a warlock losing patron gifts doesn’t exist, because too many DMs would pull stupid crap like that.

The patron is fluff, for crying out loud.

Fluff and crunch need to work together, or both are meaningless.