D&D 5E Cost of Attending Wizard School

aco175 · Oct 20, 2019

It does make the cost similar to a modern boarding school and not a public school. Would the cost be reduced if the building was paid for, or is that part of the 1gp/day cost in upkeep and such.

Another thought similar to american colleges is that the cost is more than is should and each school discounts the amount on a student by student basis. Some wealthy kids pay full price so poor kids can pay little if they have talent. The staff needs the rich, but sometimes they may not be worth it. Bat that is where the good stories come from.

TaranTheWanderer · Oct 20, 2019

We had this in a campaign. Our wizard went to the Black Swamp School where they taught Necromancy, possession(enchantment), conjuration and other foul magics. He didn't need to pay anything because he was too poor so he was indentured. The school owned him until he 'paid them back'.

At a higher level, the school gave us a hireling who was indentured to them until death because his family was in debt to the school. He was assigned to us because they wanted him to spy on our wizard friend. A bodak killed the poor hireling. We liked him so much that we raised him, which ended the contract to the Black Swamp School and made him a loyal ally.

There was an illusion school taught by gnomes and the 'poor man's school' which only taught spells up to 3rd level and it was mostly magic that would help on a farms or common tasks (dig, prestidigation, etc..)

All the best wizard and richest wizards went to the White school(the King's Vizier was a White School Mage) which taught evocation, abjuration and divination. They were all snobs though...

Note: the names of the schools were cooler but I forget them since it's been 20 years since I played that campaign

Paul Farquhar · Oct 20, 2019

Nice analysis. A actually had this come up in my campaign, and arbitrarily set the figure at around 3000gp per year (for a high status institution).

Leatherhead · Oct 20, 2019

If this is the cost of a Wizard School, what's the cost of a Bardic College?

MarkB · Oct 20, 2019

Leatherhead said:
If this is the cost of a Wizard School, what's the cost of a Bardic College?

A little bit higher. The lessons cost the same, but the accommodation is pricier, to cover the cost of extra soundproofing.

jgsugden · Oct 20, 2019

Consider that there would be offsets to costs, at least there are options for it. The apprentice will do chores which might offset costs. Once they learn a few cantrips they will be put to work casting the spell for fees. Reaching the ability to cast first level spells may not be the end of their 'tutelage', which may mean they are required to perform rituals and spells for fees as well.

Yaarel · Oct 20, 2019

@BlivetWidget

Regarding leveling tiers ...

• Levels 1-4: student (community renown, apprentice, page, jack) − highschool
• Levels 5-8: professional (community leader, regional renown, journeyer, squire) − associates, bachelors
• Levels 9-12: expert (regional leader, national renown, headdmaster, master, knight) − masters, doctorate
• Levels 13-16: leader (national leader, international renown, noble)
• Levels 17-20: legend (international leader, global renown)

So, most of the students of a Wizard school would be levels 1-4. When reaching level 5 (and mastering spells like Fireball), the students should have a graduation ceremony with pomp and circumstance. Wizard university at levels 5-8.

In medieval times, apprentices normally work for the master, in lieu of payment. Parents can send their teen to a ‘foster parent’ to learn a skill. Prestigious positions, such as a royal academy, often take on students to cement political ties between prominent families.

BlivetWidget · Oct 20, 2019

Academia, as ever, is a luxury of the wealthy. Though honestly, I tried to keep the costs as reasonable as possible. Anyway, glad it's inspired a few to think about wizard academies in their worlds!

@TaranTheWanderer I went with Academy of the Arcane. Perhaps less flavorful than something based on the geography or visuals, but I'm a sucker for alliteration. Plus it houses the Archive of the Arcane, which contracts out Arcanists, Appraisers, Atlasers, Anatomists, Ambassadors, and Acolytes... you may have noticed a theme here.

@aco175 For my scenario, the building is done (between Move Earth, Mighty Fortress, Wall of Stone, Stone Shape, Unseen Servant, etc... a wizard with the right spells can whip up a castle with fairly low upkeep costs). Most of the money is needed for magic research, which is pretty expensive. Even writing down a single 9th level spell costs 450 gp! With nine masters doing research, needing rare material components to experiment with, buying rare tomes, and all the equipment needed to craft things... for them and for the students, the costs add up fast. The tuition does't come close to covering it all, but it does help. A lot of income comes from adventurers who want magical items (though perhaps we spend just as much buying their surplus magic items...), selling potions, and storing valuables for the rich (hard to get more secure than extraplanar vaults).

@Yaarel Interesting idea, I will have to think about how high I want the education to go. DnD sort of has this bizarre contrast between the idea of wizards studying for decades and decades to learn the secrets of the multiverse... and being able to go from Level 1 to 10 in 100 adventuring days.

Yaarel · Oct 20, 2019

BlivetWidget said:
@Yaarel Interesting idea, I will have to think about how high I want the education to go. DnD sort of has this bizarre contrast between the idea of wizards studying for decades and decades to learn the secrets of the multiverse... and being able to go from Level 1 to 10 in 100 adventuring days.

Heh, you know how it goes, ... those who cant, teach.

More seriously.

D&D levels can correlate well the amount of power of a character compared to the size of the community where that character is prominent. (Magnitude 10 ^ Level/2. Examples. A level 12 character will be wellknown and influential to about a million people, namely the size of a medieval nation or a mighty city. A level 13 character will be influential to about three million people, and level 14 10 million people. At level 1, a character is influential to about 3 people, usually family including friends. At level 4, the student influences about 100 people, thus is prominent in the Wizard college.)

It is ok if ‘precocious’ students learn quickly and test their skills in the battlefields. While others take a longer time to advance.

Also, because the instructors might have special responsibilities (to the ruling council of the town, for example), the instructor might hand pick certain competent students to do dangerous missions.

The Harry Potter-verse conveys the idea of the students being in genuine danger while learning their magical skills.

Especially for a medievalesque setting, this feels likely.

Likewise, a Wizard academy is likely to be a military academy, training students in magical fightingstyles, while others are training in sword, axe, spear, and bow fightingstyles. So, even important missions can be possible for these young wizardlings.

Plus, the real secrets of the universe, such as the Wish spell, require the highest leveling tier to even begin to explore.