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

 

[Weiley31]

Hmmmm, interesting.

 

[Marandahir]

As I said in the other thread:

This makes me think that subclass structure should have been built to be able to trade around between classes from the beginning - like Heroic Themes, Paragon Paths, and Epic Destinies in 4e.

Obviously many if not most subclasses should be specific to a class, but this opens up a world of options within that layer. Why couldn't a Purple Dragon Knight be both Fighter and Paladin? Why can't Eldritch Knight be both Fighter and Artificer? Arcane Archer be both Fighter and Ranger?

 

[Cadence]

As I said in the other thread:

This makes me think that subclass structure should have been built to be able to trade around between classes from the beginning - like Heroic Themes, Paragon Paths, and Epic Destinies in 4e.

Obviously many if not most subclasses should be specific to a class, but this opens up a world of options within that layer. Why couldn't a Purple Dragon Knight be both Fighter and Paladin? Why can't Eldritch Knight be both Fighter and Artificer? Arcane Archer be both Fighter and Ranger?

For those who haven't checked yet, the classes each college works for are:

Lorehold - Bard, Warlock, or Wizard
Prismari - Druid, Sorcerer, or Wizard
Quandrix - Sorcerer or Wizard
Silverquill - Bard, Warlock, or Wizard
Witherbloom - Druid or Warlock


Edit: If you want to check out which magic cards go with each college/class, I put the links up in post #480 at Unearthed Arcana - Unearthed Arcana: Mages of Strixhaven

 

[Weiley31]

The idea of "multiple" classes being compatible with a Single Subclass is a pretty intriguing concept. I mean, now you have things now where it's like "Would a Warlock or Druid be a better Witherborn" or what would supplement the actual Subclass better with the chosen base class. Could this lead to a similar idea with Martial characters at some point? In fact, this could be a strange lead in to making a Martial with magical abilities or somehow a new way to do Gishes. okay wishful thinking but still.

Also, seems like Witherborns make a decent Undead Killer since they can nix resistance to Necrotic. and in theory treat Immune as Resistant.

Also, wow, no Lineages. Granted, we have plenty of the race options for Strixhaven in various 5E formats, from official to non official(3PP).

 

[Weiley31]

Looks like the Bard IS the Shaman in a way since, with Lorehold, they end up getting an Ancient Spirit(capable of being refluffed to a Primal Spirit if ya want) companion.

Also: Ancient Companion can get a whopping 24 in PASSIVE PERCEPTION potentially, making it a better spotter/sentry than your PC(I dig it, the Primal Spirits would be able to sense things more easily in my opinion.)

And amazingly Prismari has no Bards, despite a certain card being otherwise.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Hmm. I like the idea of subclasses that fit multiple classes; it fills the same design niche our reintroduction of Kits does, but in a much more mechanically robust manner.

I'm interested in seeing treatments of the existing subclasses in which said subclasses are re-envisioned to fit this new paradigm.

I'd be even more interested to see subclasses that could be layered onto ANY class.

 

[Weiley31]

I'd be even more interested to see subclasses that could be layered onto ANY class.

The Lorehold College's Ancient Companion would be great for a Totem/Ancestral Guardian Barbarian RP wise.

 

[Marandahir]

Hmm. I like the idea of subclasses that fit multiple classes; it fills the same design niche our reintroduction of Kits does, but in a much more mechanically robust manner.

I'm interested in seeing treatments of the existing subclasses in which said subclasses are re-envisioned to fit this new paradigm.

I'd be even more interested to see subclasses that could be layered onto ANY class.

Yeah… I'm going to give them feedback on that one.

Same thing with Quandrix and Witherbloom - I don't see why a Druid can't be Quandrix and Sorcerer can't be Witherbloom.

 

[Weiley31]

Hmm. I like the idea of subclasses that fit multiple classes; it fills the same design niche our reintroduction of Kits does

Which I always viewed 5E's Subclasses as a modern take on 2E's original Kit system. So this is also another interesting take on it.