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

 

[Magister Ludorum]

I never played a 4e monk. I gave up on 4e after only chronicle. I'm speaking of limiting characters to roles and forcing all their spells (excuse me, powers) to work only in furtherance of those goals. The 4e monk may have been the exception in all of 4e class design,

 

[Magister Ludorum]

I've seen multiple chronological orders. Some have it that way and some don't. How does that book describe Elric's resurrection? If it doesn't, why do you think that it's after he died?

I'm going to back up Maxperson here. Dream Thief's Daughter takes place in the 1000 years of subject time Elric spends wandering the multiverse in astral form helping out other versions of the champion eternal. This time takes place in the seconds in which he is tied to the mast before his final death.

 

[Azuresun]

Not who you were responding to, but I guess I was expecting more people to be talking about the setting of Strixhaven University and the plane of Arcavios? More discussion about the setting, the characters, and how to use them.

From what I saw on the MTG wiki, it looks like a really cool setting and one I'd love to explore (I'd probably lean towards My Hero Academia and other "high school plus super powers" anime more than Harry Potter). It would be neat to see a dedicated lore discussion thread for this and other subjects, since any thread that goes to 10+ pages on here has probably been tackled off a cliff by some combination of alignment, races, indie darling RPG's, or semantics.

 

[Hussar]

I never played a 4e monk. I gave up on 4e after only chronicle. I'm speaking of limiting characters to roles and forcing all their spells (excuse me, powers) to work only in furtherance of those goals. The 4e monk may have been the exception in all of 4e class design,

Ahh. Fair enough I suppose. I truly remain baffled by this perception that the 4e design was limited this way, but, I accept that others see it. But, I do have a question, what is "chronicle"?

 

[Remathilis]

I still haven't heard anyone admit that what they want is for the DM in question to essentially "suck it up" and run the game anyway over their own objections. People keep saying these problems shouldn't be problems. But what if they are?

Depends what the group dynamics are.

The DM can do whatever he wants to tailor the game to his heart's desire. He can ban barbarians, paladins and rogues, make warlock and cleric players bake him cookies to appease their patrons (just no oatmeal raisin, that's a smiting) or do any number of things to modify the game to taste.

And if he can't find a group of players willing to play under his demands, he can sit home with his binders of house rules and stew.

Players have a say in their game and should have a little more say than voting with thier feet. DMs have responsibility to make the game enjoyable to turn too. Some players chaff under the watchful eye of Devil-May-I. Others want to roll fistfuls of d6s. If the DM can't abide that sort of thing, they may find themselves short players. So yeah, maybe for the sake of the group, a DM has to compromise.

D&D is like lovemaking; you have to respect the needs of everyone involved, or you might end up just playing with yourself.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

Shaman to Bard makes sense, yet the Bard class would need to be modified to handle elemental spells.

Cleric to Artificer, seems unnecessary. Why not a cosmic force Cleric?

Warlock to Wizard seems unnecessary. Why not an abstract patron for the Warlock? Also, Fey often associates storytelling.

You got into it more in the other Power Source thread, but I hadn't even considered Cosmic Force Cleric--that seems to fit M:tG's flavor more than the "Cleric of a Specific God" that tends to be assumed by D&D. (aside from what I know of Amonkhet and Theros, and even then...)

I would love to see an elemental bard; it could be a nifty application for a pre-Bronze Age "primitive" campaign."

Yeah, I am in complete agreement--and perplexed by--the Warlock-to-Wizard switch. I'd still like to see an Elder Dragon as patron; they remind me of the Dragonlords from Dragonlance Fifth Age.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

D&D is like lovemaking; you have to respect the needs of everyone involved, or you might end up just playing with yourself.

Think "Heroes & Villains" is going to put this on a T-Shirt?

 

[Remathilis]

Think "Heroes & Villains" is going to put this on a T-Shirt?

If they do, I'll take a 3x as payment.

 

[Faolyn]

I still haven't heard anyone admit that what they want is for the DM in question to essentially "suck it up" and run the game anyway over their own objections. People keep saying these problems shouldn't be problems. But what if they are?

Because nobody is saying that they want the DM to suck it up.

If you have a player with a core ability that you think does too much damage, then nobody is telling you to just let that PC mow your NPCs down (that would be telling you to suck it up). What we're saying is plan around that PC. Be a creative DM. Find in-game ways to reduce the threat, or use NPCs with the exact same abilities. Not to just take an ability away from the PC because it gives you "fits."

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because nobody is saying that they want the DM to suck it up.

If you have a player with a core ability that you think does too much damage, then nobody is telling you to just let that PC mow your NPCs down (that would be telling you to suck it up). What we're saying is plan around that PC. Be a creative DM. Find in-game ways to reduce the threat, or use NPCs with the exact same abilities. Not to just take an ability away from the PC because it gives you "fits."

That's actually what I do. It's not always easy, and I dont always succeed, but I try. I've never asked a player to change their character for me, although there have been times when I've been sorely tempted. But I also believe that the DM is under no obligation to let the player pick any option they want, even out of a core book, if they're not comfortable with it. You shouldn't have to run a game if you dont want to, any less than a player shouldn't have to play a PC they dont like. You might notice I made the point several times that a discussion needs to be had, and options reviewed. That should include ways the DM can make that PC work in their campaign. But if no accord can be reached, than the DM shouldn't have to run the game anyway. They can choose to, and hope they can figure something out. But they shouldn't be obligated to.