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."

News Archive | Dungeons and Dragons

Read the full archives of Dungeons & Dragons news, Sage Advice, Unearthed Arcana, and D&D Studio Blogs.

dnd.wizards.com

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

 

[ph0rk]

If the devil didn’t make his deals seem to favor the other party significantly more than it did him, no reasonable, well-meaning would ever take them. Nah, he’s a sneaky bastard who will make you think you’re getting something for nothing, until you’re in deep enough that he can extract the real price without scaring you away.

Why do you need a particular class chassis for a Faustian bargain to be a significant part of a story.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Heroes of the Feywild. November of 2011. I wasn't exaggerating with "tail-end", it was one of the last releases for the edition, and maybe the last before they announced Next.

Also one of 4e’s best books.

I don't know. Essentials rewrote the core options of 4e in a compatible, but quite different design. Thematically, they were replacements. That's at least a half edition shift to me.

We’re they? I had a Slayer and a PHB fighter in the same party and there was no issues of any kind.

Eh, I don’t care how Crawford said it works, at my table a warlock’s patron can retract their boons if they feel the warlock is squandering them.

I’ve never understood this. Isn’t one of the most common tropes with characters who have made a such a deal going against their patron and directly defying them and fighting their agents?

Why even play a warlock if it requires actual loyalty to the patron? That’s a cleric!

If I play a fiend warlock, I’m here to play Spawn (well, not exactly, since I’m not an edge lord, but you get the notion I’m sure) not some guy who is going to actually do what Asmodeus wants.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

Oh, right, I think he is…

I dunno, I haven’t really followed the magic storyline since… Well, ever, really. I like the lore, but most of the stories are… not the best, IMO.

I usually don't either, at least not mainline. But I'm also "just interested enough" in the lore to catch that random bit of trivia going down the MTG wiki rabbithole. I did read the Strixhaven "side stories"; those were good reads. In terms of relation to the UA, I feel like the subclasses are a decent attempt to capture some of that flavor.

 

[Charlaquin]

Explain how this works with a GOO lock.

You mean how the/a Great Old One retracts its boons? I mean, usually it doesn’t. Like I said, I’ve never actually had it happen in a game, with any patron. But hypothetically, I suppose if the warlock was acting against the Great Old One’s interests? I dunno, it’s something that would have to unfold over the course of a campaign.

 

[cbwjm]

What I hear you saying is "their planet-spanning guild is the replacement for their god." I get that.

I do not understand why a magical mega-corporation should in any way actually replicate what a god can grant a cleric. I felt like I was expressing that with my repeated questions, but maybe not. But what I've gotten back is "because it does."

Surely the D&D/MTG designers (especially ones with backgrounds in divinity!) have a more detailed answer than that, no?

Even in regular DnD a cleric doesn't need to follow a god, it could be a force or philosophy. In the case of the guild pact, I'd say it is one of the latter granting them their powers though it could even be that their powers are gained through study instead. You don't need to follow the typical cleric = god's follower for every setting.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Eh, I don’t care how Crawford said it works, at my table a warlock’s patron can retract their boons if they feel the warlock is squandering them. Though, I’ve never had that actually happen in a game. My patrons are usually pretty distant and content to let their warlocks do as they please with their boons for the most part. Again, it’s not a contractual arrangement in my games, it’s patronage. The patron grants you boons because they want to see what you’ll do with them. And maybe once in a while they’ll suggest something specific they would like to see you do with them. Generally in a way that sounds perfectly reasonable on its face .

I've had a couple convention dms get annoyed when a warlock used a cantrip (guidance) or at-will spell (false life) a lot, saying that the patron would get annoyed at the constant requests for power, and thus denying the use of the cantrip or at-will ability.

 

[Charlaquin]

Why do you need a particular class chassis for a Faustian bargain to be a significant part of a story.

I don’t?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

While I doubt it is your intent, comparing "dudebro ninja masters" to someone's RELIGION is super uncool.

That was definitely not my intent. I was trying to say that I view the modern day uses of all those terms to be appropriative, even when they're sincerely felt (I've been close to a few wiccans in my time) or not ("ninja masters").

I do appreciate how my words may have come off hurtfully and sincerely regret that. I'll edit the original post.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’ve never understood this. Isn’t one of the most common tropes with characters who have made a such a deal going against their patron and directly defying them and fighting their agents?

Absolutely!

Why even play a warlock if it requires actual loyalty to the patron? That’s a cleric!

It does not require loyalty to the patron… Why do I feel like people are just entirely skipping over the “a patron grants its boons to a warlock to see what they’ll do with them” part?

If I play a fiend warlock, I’m here to play Spawn (well, not exactly, since I’m not an edge lord, but you get the notion I’m sure) not some guy who is going to actually do what Asmodeus wants.

That’s generally what I would expect, yeah.

 

[Charlaquin]

I've had a couple convention dms get annoyed when a warlock used a cantrip (guidance) or at-will spell (false life) a lot, saying that the patron would get annoyed at the constant requests for power, and thus denying the use of the cantrip or at-will ability.

Yeah, that’s garbage and not something I would condone, let alone do.