D&D General Department and program ideas in a wizard academy

[Guest 6801328]

In gym class they could practice optimal timing of feather fall from increasing heights.

 

[cbwjm]

In gym class they could practice optimal timing of feather fall from increasing heights.

Actually this reminds me of something that I would do for a game where all the players are wizards studying at an academy of wizardy, provide certain spells for their spellbook as part of required learning while allowing the players to choose a few extras as their electives. Maybe the spells detect magic, find familiar, identify, mage armour, magic missile, and shield would be automatic then they could choose another 4 spells of their choice.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

In gym class they could practice optimal timing of feather fall from increasing heights.

I'd hate to get an F in that class...

 

[FrogReaver]

Political Sorcery
Illusionology
War Wizardry
Methods of Movement

 

[cbwjm]

I'd hate to get an F in that class...

Unless a particularly evil academy, I'd expect the Feather Fall teachers would be down below ready to cast feather fall on their students. In an evil academy they'd be up top with the students and pushing them off, failure means you're no longer a student.

 

[cbwjm]

Political Sorcery
Illusionology
War Wizardry
Methods of Movement

Illusionology would be an interesting one. Taken primarily by students intending to take up the tradition I expect that lessons would be similar to an old 2e article in dragon. When best to use an illusion, how to blend in with other common (i.e., don't advertise your tradition), elaborate vs. believable (i.e., don't over do it). Since it was a 2e article it had advice for illusionists of that era, like carrying around guano and sulphur for a fireball spell. If people think you can throw a fireball they are less likely to bother you. Not as important now that there aren't oppositional schools.

 

[Coroc]

Just for fun I'm making up a wizard academy which while it will show up in my world, is unlikely that the current group would actually go there. What is like ideas on are fantasy sounding departments beyond just the schools of magic. Think about how the wizards of Unseen University had heads of Inadvisably Applied Magic or Invisible Runes

Some ideas I had was Planar Geography, Application of Battle Magic, and Magical History & Development.

These are mostly for fun as well as a way to make the academy seem a little more real. I might include mechanical benefits but this would probably be from graduating from the academy. Though it would be best for a player to run into a situation where they can leverage their degree by saying something like "I have a degree in planar geography, could that help we while on the elemental planes" and then offering them advantage to certain rolls while there.

Do you know Ultima Underworld II CRPG (It is very old)?
It had a ( though abandoned) wizard academy which had a test for graduation that you had to pass.
The fun stuff about it was that most riddles where solvable without magic, it provided some wands where it absolutely was needed.

 

[Coroc]

P.S school of summoning may provide all sort of funny effects to interact with, like the Disney trick movie when the wizards apprentice ended up with to many brooms.

 

[JustinCase]

Well, you could blatantly copy the Unseen University... Using relatively normal departments at first, and if the PCs get more involved in the academy, start bringing out more and more fun departments.

Such as:
Department of Traditions
College of Recent Runes
Order of Post-Mortem Communications
Studies of Invisible Writings
Experimental Serendipity
Indefinite Studies
Creative Uncertainty
Inadvisably Applied Magic
Extreme Horticulture
Cruel and Unusual Geography
Recondite Architecture and Origami Map Folding
Morbid Bibliomancy
Oblique Frogs

(The Discworld Wiki has plenty of ideas. )

 

[Eltab]

Department of Silly Walks
Nobody believes this is training to use Somatic components (feet/legs instead of fingers/hands) even when handcuffed / bound-and-gagged / fingers wrapped up into a padded mitten. Limited to a few cantrips, alas not Mage Hand.