Schools of Magic, Bardic Colleges, and What Those Terms Actually Mean

[The Monster]

I've arrived at the place where I can't even roll my eyes over things like that any more. It just got too tiring; there are so many things 'wrong' about so many aspects of nearly every fantasy setting that if I let myself get bothered about it, I'd have either given up on it entirely, or everyone else would have given up on me and I wouldn't be able to enjoy playing either way. I definitely recognize the urge to fuss over inaccuracies and egregious misunderstandings like those (my own fuss-buttons are elsewhere, but involve similar cultural and historical issues), but I started asking myself if I was going to let such things spoil my entertainment experience, or push me to spoil the experience of others. While I have my limits (there are a few films of which the mere mention can cause me to sputter and rage), I generally prefer to ride the waves, knowing that it's ultimately entertainment, and if I want, I can walk away at any time for as long or as little as I want.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I think it's a sign to give up and run your own campaign setting LOL Then it can be perfect just how you want it to be.

 

[MGibster]

I look at campaign worlds as places to run fun games in rather than cohesive efforts at world building. I have yet to find a D&D setting that made a whole lot of sense once you dive deep enough into how the world is supposed to work. But I don't generally need to worry about how the economy works when my players are making their way through the Keep of Count LaFontaine.

 

[Zhaleskra]

Long story short: word have meaning X in the real world, in D&D those same words have meaning Z.

 

[Lwaxy]

I've gone to treat the "schools" and "colleges" as real learning institutions where the setting insists on it, and not when it doesn't. And where it does insist, I make it so the idea to make an actual building to teach is a recent invention and rebrand it a university. This only works for my English speaking players, my Germans are very insistent to still call it school when the setting said so, luckily we don't really use the word college for learning here so the German version remains untainted haha.

 

[steeldragons]

I have places that are actual schools and colleges...not many...one, each, in the existing/primary continent of my homebrew setting.

The "schools" of magic are also recognized as categories that anyone who practices or trucks in such topics understands and uses...some -specific and knowable- magic [that effects the mind and emotions] is "enchantment"... some spells "evoke" energies and effects based on generating or controling energies. Those spells are "evocation" spells...every witch, wizard, sage, cleric, druid and bard knows that.

Members of the Santemus Evoki and Sanctema Enchans are specialist mages who are trained in their chosen 'sanctemi" above other [types of] magics. They must go to the mago-cratic empire and ain entry into the sprawling Arkanademia "university" within which each of the 8 sanctemi - and general/universalist mages are trained. They graduate with a stole of specific "school" color, in which they take great pride in displaying or wearing clothing/robes of that color to proclaim their expertise. Specialist mages are, like, wizards with graduate degrees -and interact with each other, and often look "down" on "general" mages and other non-specialized magic practitioners as "lesser," as such.

There is, in the known history of the setting, abut a single Bard of such advanced training and skill of magical evo- and invo-cation through music/song that he garnered a following of such ardor and devotion in his pupils that in the aftermath of his passing/disappearing from the historic record, an institution was built up around the manor and mist-shrouded hills and dales in which he taught in his "retired'/latter years. So, to this day, the House of Calidwyn is recognized by bardic aspirants the world over as a place for pilgrimage and tutelage at some point in their lives/careers, if not a starting point for training before their life of roaming adventure, observing and chronicling the important persons, places, and event of the realms.

 

[Aaron L]

I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to belittle anyone who plays D&D and doesn't understand where terms come from or what they're supposed to mean... but I do get irritated when the actual writers of the game clearly don't understand what they're writing about and end up misusing such terms. If you're a professional writer, you should have a greater grasp of language and its use than the average person, and if there is any ambiguity in your mind about anything then you should absolutely do some basic research to understand the intent and meaning behind terminology used in older editions of the game which you are trying to adapt, especially when writing fantasy RPG books which are prone to academic, archaic, poetic, or medieval-esque use of language.

Plus, adherence to proper use of language and rules like that is very dear to my heart. I am actually currently undergoing evaluation by a neurologist who my family doctor put me in contact with to determine whether or not I qualify for a diagnosis as being on the low end of the Autistic spectrum, but having just turned 43 it isn't quite as simple as it would be for a child... and all the signs are pointing to "yes, definitely." Had our current levels of awareness of the condition been common when I was a child back in the late '70s/early '80s I am 99% certain that it would have been quickly caught back then, but as it was I was just diagnosed with ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, clinical depression, and social anxiety disorder, and had to endure many, many social struggles because I was never able to fit in or really understand how people acted; trying to interact with other people always felt like I was observing strange creatures through a glass wall, creatures I could never quite comprehend. It's not that I'm not looking for a diagnosis for any real specific reason, but rather just for the sake of knowing and having a label to attach to all the problems I've had throughout my life, and to be able to have a name to give people to hopefully help them to understand when I act oddly.

So, if I offended anyone or came across as being a condescending jerk, sincerely I apologize; such was not my intention. I was just feeling frustrated by a misuse of terminology that had seeped into common (mis)use over the years. And while it may not seem like a big deal to many, when the meanings of terms like school and college and the like are misunderstood and misused it can seriously distort the intention of the original writers. I'm not saying that every player of D&D should study up on the old stories that inspired the game, but certainly the actual writers of the current game should make an effort to read them and understand where the tropes and themes of the game came from, and to understand how the language and terminology was used. That way they could explain ideas in the text like, for example, the term Bardic College doesn't actually refer to a university where Bard's go to be trained, but rather it refers to a social/professional association of like-minded Bards with similar skill sets.