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

 

[Undrave]

School Field Trips!

"Seatbelts everyone!"

 

[Weiley31]

I also had another thought: In a way, instead of Subclasses, the College's would be Factions/Guilds(ala Ravnica) and depending on how high your Renown is with em, you gain a feature from one of the Subclasses/Colleges.

Your Lorehold PC student completes the Mid-Term and earns the top scores?(Renown gain by a certain amount) BOOM: You gained use of the Ancient Companion Feature, despite the fact your Lorehold PC is a Paladin.

 

[Weiley31]

"Seatbelts everyone!"

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That would have defeated the "Greatest Hits" design theory that 5e started with. Someone would have been upset that there was no conjurer, necromancer or illusionist or whatever.

The way that illusions were handwaved off as just reskinning stock wizard abilities was one of the first things that turned me off of 4E. I appreciate why they made the choice, design-wise, but it was a clear sign that it wasn't an edition for me.

I don't know how many people would have been upset if Abjurist or Diviner hadn't made it into the 5E PHB (they've never really known what to do with either of them), but I do think the other specialties all have devoted fans.

A single Specialist subclass probably would have been fine, though, with the flavor text explaining that each one has its own name the practitioners use.

 

[Weiley31]

Actually, hmmm...Maybe the Colleges WOULD work better as a Renown based system. That we we COULD get a Witherbloom Oath of the Ancients Paladin with BOTH The Oath abilities and the College Features.

Still don't give up the method of doing Poly Classes/Subclasses for future releases.

 

[Yaarel]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

Are we there yet?

 

[Undrave]

That would have defeated the "Greatest Hits" design theory that 5e started with. Someone would have been upset that there was no conjurer, necromancer or illusionist or whatever.

The way that illusions were handwaved off as just reskinning stock wizard abilities was one of the first things that turned me off of 4E. I appreciate why they made the choice, design-wise, but it was a clear sign that it wasn't an edition for me.

I don't know how many people would have been upset if Abjurist or Diviner hadn't made it into the 5E PHB (they've never really known what to do with either of them), but I do think the other specialties all have devoted fans.

A single Specialist subclass probably would have been fine, though, with the flavor text explaining that each one has its own name the practitioners use.

Illusionist and Necromancer have strong enough identity they could work as their own subclass, and possibly Diviner too because it has that cool pre-roll dice mechanic... but Evoker? Enchanter? Transmuter? Abjurer? (What even IS Abjuration magic?) They could have simply made a single specialist scholar subclass that gets the bonus to adding spells to their book for cheaper, maybe an extra prep slot for their specialty and then an ability that recharges when they cast a spell of their specialty. Heck, give them strong Counter Spell against their own specialty.

So, yes, you could have a Necromancy Specialist Scholar OR a Necromancer subclass, but they would end up different at the table.

 

[Parmandur]

From a game designing point of view I think they were a great way to orient your design. Half-baked wishy-washy no direction concept like the 5e Monk that can do a little skill, a little extra damage, a little controlling, just end up with milquetoast class that don't do anything. If you know what gameplay mechanic you want to focus on it's much easier to design your class, and it also means you're more aware of what you need to do to tip a subclass into a different role. And power source were a gateway to some great fluff like the Primal Spirits.



What Longinus say. Those 8 subclasses are BORING and filled with repetitive class feature that all could have been avoided by having a single Specialist Wizard subclass. The Wizard base class feature are basically non-existent too! You get your Spellcasting (which barely counts), Arcane Recovery... and then it's NOTHING but Subclass until level 18 with Spell Master and then Signature Spell at level 20. How is this even a CLASS?!

The 5E Monk is milqutoast, and the Wizard Sublclasses are boring...?

Are we talking about the same PHB?? The Wizard Subclasses are actually pretty great, and the Monk is a great example of how overly boxed in thinking like "Power Sources" or "Combat Role" are overly restrctive.

 

[Charlaquin]

The Tome Warlock must "know how to read" magical formulas, correct?

I don’t think so. I picture a tomelock’s book of shadows as more akin to the Necronomicon than merlin’s spellbook. You don’t need to understand it to make use of it.

 

[Yaarel]

For MTG enthusiasts, how does the following feel?

• White: divine
• Blue: psionic
• Black: necromantic
• Red: arcane
• Green: primal