STRIXHAVEN FACULTY

HANDBOOK

RULES AND PLOT HOOKS FOR EXPANDING

RELATIONSHIPS, RENOWN, EXTRACURRICULARS,
DOWNTIME, MONEY, CRIME, AND BACKGROUNDS.

BY THOMAS KOLAR
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STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK

TEMPLATE BY NATHANAËL ROUX 1
 Contents Spreading Rumors (DMG). ......................................................
20
Strixhaven Faculty Handbook Training (PHB)...................................................................
3 20

Relationships- Friends and Enemies.

3 Putting it all together
20
Renown
6
Money
Classes 22
8
Crime
Class-based Drama................................................................. 24
9
School Crimes 25
Extracurriculars
10 Crime Specialties 25
Extracurricular Projects: Exam system.............................
12 Adapting Backgrounds
For Clubs-............................................................................... 26
12
For Jobs- ................................................................................. Rumors and plot hooks for each
12
Shoddy work and shady work.............................................. college.
12 27
Lorehold.................................................................................
Extracurricular Projects: Mage Tower System............... 27
13 Prismari...................................................................................
27
SAMPLE PROJECTS 13 Quandrix.................................................................................
27
Silverquill..............................................................................
Downtime 27
14 Witherbloom..........................................................................
27

Downtime Activities..............................................................
16 Other Works:
Building a Stronghold (DMG). ....................................... 28
16
Carousing/”Socializing” (DMG). . ...................................
17
Crafting a Magical Item (DMG).....................................
17
Extra Studying. . ...............................................................
17
Gaining Renown.................................................................
18
Practicing a Profession/Campus Job (PHB).....................
18
Performing Sacred Rites/Religious Service (DMG). . ..
18
Quality Time.......................................................................
19
Recuperating (PHB)...........................................................
19
Researching (PHB).............................................................
19
Running a Business (DMG). . ............................................
19
Selling Magical Items (DMG). ...........................................
STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK
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Strixhaven Faculty Relationships- Friends and
Handbook Enemies.
A magic school is a good setting for tabletop rpg The Relationship system is, in my opinion, the most
adventures, especially adventures with an emphasis on fleshed out and well-supported new system in Strixhaven.
emotional and relationship drama. A school is self- The book wisely doesn’t build in an automatic mechanical
contained, allowing intense, hothouse relationships and system for social interactions–changes in Relationship
emotions to develop between the students, as well as points come from the PCs’ decision of whether an
limiting the setting work the GM needs to do. A school interaction has been “friendly” or “rivalrous” and
is comprehensive, providing multiple interconnected subsequently raising or lowering their relationship points.
ways for the PCs to encounter challenges, stresses, and If the PCs like and want to befriend a particular NPC, it
adversity. Finally, a school’s inherent hierarchy and might be extremely off-putting to have that friendship
instructional goals provide numerous organic ways to denied because of a bad dice roll.
give PCs new obstacles to overcome and new situations
to deal with. Most of us have been to school, and so we However, if a GM wants to add a little more mechanical
naturally fall into the rhythms of class, extracurriculars, content to the social interactions, I recommend an
and social situations. We inherently understand the logic, adaptation of the Social Interaction rules from Chapter 8 of
structure, and consequences of this society. You don’t need the Dungeon Master’s Guide. In the default rules, when a PC
to explain to your players that skipping class and missing is asking an NPC for a favor, the GM selects the starting
a date to investigate a mysterious door in the basement attitude of the NPC (Hostile, Indifferent, or Friendly).
is going to have academic and social consequences, and Then, after roleplaying out some of the interactions, the
thus the story of those consequences flows naturally and PC makes a Wisdom (Insight) check to figure out the
easily. A school easily and naturally provides everything NPC’s personality, likes, dislikes, etc. This roll could shift
a GM would want for a single-setting, relationship driven the NPC’s attitude, which subsequently sets the DC for a
campaign. A wizard school especially adds mystical, Charisma roll to convince the NPC to do the PCs a favor
physical, and combat elements perfect for D&D. and the degree of favor the NPC will do.

Strixhaven is a magic wizard school setting, and a good This system can easily be adapted to govern relationship
campaign adventure, but the adventure could use more points. The GM would first determine the NPC’s starting
support. Unlike many other adventures, this one has attitude. As a default, most NPCs would be indifferent,
a set time period (4 years). There are only 5-6 scripted friends would be, well, friendly, and enemies (as well as
events and encounters for each school year. Now, this their friends) would be hostile.
is deliberate; the campaign years are built with large
chronological gaps between the major events of the A Second, the PC’s Wisdom (Insight) check could bestow
plot, with the expectation that the GM and the PCs will Advantage or Disadvantage on a relationship roll. The
fill in those gaps with the relationships and subplots they default DC for that Wisdom Insight roll would be 14, but
create with their own Strixhaven interactions. However, the specific DC would be set by things like pre-existing
many GMs feel the book could use some more mechanical relationships, the nature of the encounter, role play, etc.
and narrative support for developing those relationships
and subplots. Finally, the relationship roll. A Charisma (Persuasion)
roll is the default choice, but the context of the social
Strixhaven Faculty Handbook is a collection of rules and encounter could offer a wide variety of potential rolls.
suggestions for filling in those gaps. I offer plot hooks Impressing Rubina Larkingdale in class could involve an
and story ideas, as well as expanded mechanics to support Intelligence (Academics) roll. Befriending Greta Gorunn
exams, extracurriculars, and relationships. Those rules during Ironlifter Club could be a Strength (Athletics) roll.
are built on the pre-existing social rules in the Dungeon I would recommend that the consequence of a negative
Master’s Guide, so you and your players should not have to relationship roll be simply “no relationship points gained.”
learn many new mechanical systems. Happy Gaming! As previously mentioned, having someone you like and
want to befriend dislike you because of a bad roll could
be an extremely unpleasant game play experience for
some people.

You can also mix the “pure roleplay” relationship system

and this “relationship roll/mechanized” system. One
possibility is to have the first two relationship points
and the “Friend” status be earned through pure roleplay
choices, but to require a successful relationship roll for the
third point and “Beloved” status–taking the relationship to
the next level is harder and more consequential.

The main thing to keep in mind with the relationship

mechanics is that they are a system that’s designed to
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 evoke and facilitate relationship drama. This is a different it is not difficult to generate very satisfying dramatic
underlying goal than a lot of D&D’s rule design. Let tension from those multiple loyalties. Your beloved is
me explain what I mean. From a pure mechanical on the Witherbloom Mage Tower team, but you are in
optimization standpoint, the point of having a Beloved is Silverquill, and friends with several members of that team
Beloved Inspiration. You want to have as many Beloveds as well. The Silverquill team is playing Witherbloom in
as your proficiency bonus, and you want to have at least the finals. Instant drama, and if your PCs are interested
one friend with 2 relationship points waiting in the in a relationship system/ dating sim, they probably want
wings so you can get another Beloved as fast as possible drama.
when your proficiency bonus goes up. This is, of course,
absurd and missing the point of the system; having a To take one final tip from Smallville- during session 0,
loose mechanical framework for relationship drama. This talk about connecting your NPCs and PCs. In Smallville,
example is the relationship equivalent of “rather than when you do character creation there’s a step where
go on the adventure, why don’t we sell all our starting you add in some NPCs your PC is connected to (family,
equipment and invest in real estate.” friends, love interests, rivals, etc). There’s a later step
where you connect your PC or your NPCs to another
The best advice I’ve seen on using mechanics for PC or their NPCs. Your character has a mean girl that
relationship drama is the amazing Smallville/ bullies them at school? How about she’s my character’s
Cortex+Drama RPG. I can’t recommend that highly sister. Your character’s parents are divorced and their Dad
enough if you want to run Strixhaven with an emphasis on is raising them? How about he’s dating my character’s
the relationship drama, especially the tragically hard-to- Mom (Babysitters’ Club-style). It’s an amazing source
find “High School Yearbook” supplement. I’m going to of immediate drama and player relationship buy-in,
offer three pieces of advice gleaned from that game. and since I’ve read it I’ve used it for every game I’ve run
in every system, and it would work especially well in a
First, unlike a lot of normal numbers and stats in a D&D relationship drama game set primarily in a single setting,
character sheet, you don’t want the relationship score to like Strixhaven. If your PCs are interested, as they develop
be a continuous increase. Relationship drama comes from friendships and rivalries, try to reuse those NPCs to build
the push and pull of conflict. The essence of relationship multiple relationships around. It makes sense that NPCs
drama is watching people navigate conflicting loyalties, could have more than one relationship with one PC, and
goals, and experiences–they fight, they break up, they kiss, “my Beloved is your Rival” helps avoid the NPC seeming to
they make up. A game where the relationship score is exist in isolation as well as being a classic source of drama.
regularly going up and down and up again is a game with
a lot of soap opera twists and turns in the relationships. In Mechanically, there is no reason to have more than 3
fact, as a GM, you might look for opportunities to make points in any given relationship, as that gets you the
those numbers occasionally go up or down. A PC’s been “friend” bond boon and the Beloved Inspiration. However,
having a happy, steady increase in their relationship score if your players are interested in the social mechanics of the
with a Beloved; is there a way to put them in conflict? A relationship system, they will probably want to spend time
PC’s been having steady negative increases with a Rival, with and have positive interactions with their Beloved,
is there a way to force them to work together, maybe and raise that relationship score past 3. If your players
see they’re not so different, maybe give the PC a little are invested in a relationship, and you’ve mechanized
sympathy for the devil? Now, as mentioned before, you that relationship with a score that they can raise, it’s
want to tread carefully with relationships. If a PC really natural that they will expect some kind of increasing
likes their Beloved NPC, you don’t want to necessarily reward as well.
*force* the relationship score to go down, and the PC
would feel resentful if they perceived a totally artificial In this supplement, I’m also going to be making heavy
conflict is being imposed on them. But you do want to use of the Renown system from Chapter 1 of the Dungeon
*challenge* that relationship, giving them a situation Master’s Guide. Now, the Relationship score isn’t exactly
where that score is pressured downward. If they figure the same as Renown, being a reflection of a relationship
it out and get through it together, their score can still go with a specific NPC and not a faction. However, the
up and their relationship is that much stronger. And if Renown milestones can be applied to Relationship
they don’t, relationships change. Beloveds can become scores. With Renown, PCs rise to a new rank with new
Rivals and Rivals can become Beloveds, and that’s some benefits in a faction when their Renown score with that
great drama. faction hits certain milestones- 3,10,15, and 25. These
same milestones can be used for rewards from raising the
“In the end, my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch Relationship score with a Beloved. Relationship 3 is the
enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became “Beloved” Status and is rewarded with Beloved Inspiration,
my girlfriend. But hey, it’s high school.”- Sky High and you can come up with other rewards at milestones 10,
15, and 25. These specific rewards are going to be very
To get that organic, satisfying relationship conflict (taking much determined by the specific details of the Beloved, the
another tip from Smallville) look at the PC and NPC’s nature of the relationship, etc.
goals, bonds, ideals, and flaws (as well as ongoing plot
events). Then try to come up with an organic way to put However, for some general reward suggestions, one
those ideals, bonds, etc in conflict. A PC fully participating possibility is to modify the Social Interaction roll from the
in Strixhaven is going to have multiple loyalties, and Dungeon Master’s Guide, the roll made to ask for a favor.

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Perhaps at Relationship 10, asking for a favor involving Rival that wants to socially one-up the PCs, you can make
minor sacrifice automatically succeeds. At Relationship them the mastermind of the “Tell Us in Song” encounter in
15, asking for a major favor involving significant risk chapter 4.
and sacrifice automatically succeeds. If you don’t want
to use the full social interaction system, you can have Here is an example Rival:
the Relationship score modify a Charisma (Persuasion)
roll the PC makes with that specific NPC. Maybe the PC Regi Cordrachlo: rich, popular, social bully. One or
automatically succeeds in a Charisma (Persuasion) roll more of the PCs bests Regi in an early challenge, and he
with a DC lower than their Relationship score. takes an immediate jealous dislike of the PCs and (Goal)
wants to ruin them socially. Regi’s assets are money,
Finally, if you want a way for Relationship Milestones family connections, and social status (Renown with the
to model the inner strength that can come from love, student body). Regi also has two main allies/hangers
you could rule that if a PC spends time a Short Rest with on, a gossipy friend and an attractive friend, as well as a
a Beloved of Relationship 10 or higher, they can refill a cluster of students that want to date him. Regi’s main Plan
spent Beloved Inspiration without needing a Long Rest is to spread rumors about the PCs being responsible for
(the Beloved gives them comfort and care, allowing them unpopular events, and thus undermine any social success
to tap into their reserves of inner strength). You could the PCs have.
increase that benefit at the next Milestones, allowing the
PC to clear a level of Exhaustion by spending a Short Rest Event: Vandalism of a rival college causes an important
with a Beloved at Relationship 15. Mage Tower game to be forfeited by the PC’s college. Regi
spreads the rumor that the PCs did it.
There are a number of mechanical benefits you could offer
for increasing a Beloved’s Relationship score past 3, but Action: Regi gives the PCs a mean nickname and tries to
an intense, serious relationship should also be a source spread it around school
of commitment and responsibility. Having a Beloved
relationship should entail spending regular time with Action: Regi organizes a lavish party the same night the PCs
them, and have the possibility of losing Relationship points are trying to hold an event.
if a PC neglects or ignores them. The Beloved will also
Action: Regi plans a humiliating prank on the
have their own problems, challenges, and conflicts that Beloved of a PC.
the PC will be expected to help with and support them
through. Dividing the Beloved against another group or Action: Regi romantically pursues the Beloved of a PC.
individual the PC is invested in is also an excellent way to
generate conflicted loyalties. Event: Another student with a crush on Regi starts picking
fights with the PCs, trying to impress him.
If a PC spends their play time investing in a Relationship,
it means they want that Relationship to be a part of the
Regi is designed to be the classic mean kid/social bully
campaign, which means the Relationship should be a story.
type, so the challenge was coming with a range of
A story has highs and lows, twists and turns, setbacks and
interactions more interesting and varied then “says mean
successes. Don’t be heavy-handed or force angst for the
things to/about you.” Doing that made him a much more
sake of angst, and make sure to communicate with the
versatile NPC, and coming with an event that he could use
player about what they want from the relationship, but
to spread gossip about the PC (the pre-game vandalism)
there’s a good chance your PC wants their Relationship to
lends itself to other plots. Maybe the PCs know who is
be a source of drama, not just an Inspiration-dispenser.
really responsible, and have to decide if they want to snitch
or take the blame. Maybe another PC has a Friend or
For Rivals, I highly recommend using the expanded
Beloved on the Mage Tower team, and this event hurts or
Rivals system from “Xanthar’s Guide to Everything.” In
challenges that relationship.
“Xanthar’s,” GMs are encouraged to design Rivals that are
active participants in the story, taking actions to thwart or
trouble the PCs. Rivals are designed with their own set
of resources, and their own plans. They are given “goals,
assets, and plans,'' and a chart is created for them with
“actions and events.” “Actions” are things the rival can
do to advance their goals or thwart the PCs, and “Events”
are plot points that the rival can respond to in order to
advance their goals or thwart the PCs. Events can be
especially useful because they can be significant incidents
in the plot, , which can have other consequences and affect
other PCs as well. By having these as a chart, the GM has
a number of possible Rival-related plot events to drop
into the game whenever they are needed. You can also use
a Rival’s goals and plans or events and actions to set up
or connect plot events of the adventure in more organic,
personal ways. For example, if you’ve already set up a

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 The expanded Rivals system from Xanathar’s Guide can new storylines and plot events or to connect the PCs to the
also be applied to Friends and Beloveds. There is no pre-existing story elements of the adventure. Having those
reason that a Friend or a Beloved can’t have their own potential events and actions in one place makes it easy to
agenda and take a proactive role in the story, which makes add a scene related to Melwythorne whenever the session’s
their relationship with their PC much more dynamic and pacing calls for it, and the more goal-oriented write up lets
interesting, as well as serving as a great source of drama. you quickly figure out how Melwythorne might react to
The listings for the NPC population of Strixhaven give plot events or actions of the PCs.
you enough information about their personalities and
lives that it isn’t too hard to come up with a list of goals, The NPCs that your players choose to connect with, either
plans, and assets for any of those NPCs. You can come as Friends or Rivals, are NPCs they are hoping will be part
up with goals that are a bit more sinister or ominous, or of the story. As far as I’m concerned, the more drama and
simply well-meaning goals that clash those of the PCs or plot you can center around those NPCs, the better.
or those of other important NPCs. “Two friends seeking
mutually exclusive goods” is a classic dramatic situation,
and can easily lead to good roleplaying and real emotional Renown
engagement from your players. In the previous section, I recommended using a version of
the Renown system from Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s
For example: Melwythorne, the Witherbloom neutral Guide as a simple way to track and award relationship
good dryad. He is very calm and patient (Ent style). milestones. This system also easily allows the DM and
University life is very different from his home groves, the players to track the PCs’ standing within the school
and he’s had trouble adjusting as well as struggling with and with different factions of the school. In a closed,
homesickness, and the main emotional support he has is social setting like Strixhaven one of the primary concerns
the surrogate family he’s found in the Silkball team. He’s is the idea of group standing. How is your individual
a curious, enthusiastic member of the Student-Mages PC perceived by specific factions (like their college or
of Faith, and his Bond Boon is related to the way his their Extracurriculars), or by the school in general? The
spirituality can calm and center people. campaign mentions this in a specific way with the Campus
Melwythorne Daredevils/Sassy Sally Jane adventure in chapter 3. In this
adventure, there’s a small financial reward (“we’ll pay for
Goal: To promote harmony within his new home, your lunches for a month!”), but the main incentive for
Strixhaven. the PCs to take the risks involved is a social reward (“you’ll
be campus legends!”). Some of the other adventures also
Assets: A strong connection to nature and ability to call on talk about social rewards among the student body, or refer
its forces. A deep social and emotional connection to the to their popularity going up or down, but measuring and
members of the Silkball team, and the admiration and trust tracking that popularity is left undefined. I suggest the
of the Student-Mages of Faith.
Renown system, specifically tracking each PC’s Renown
Plans: To encourage Strixhaven students to study and scores for their extracurriculars, their fellow students, and
understand the natural world. To be a good warden of the faculty. You could also track their scores with their
nature in Strixhaven. To try new things, stretching his own college or even with all the different colleges if you
comfort zones. To help nurture and protect the members want college loyalty and inter-college rivalry to be a major
of the Silkball team and his other friends. part of the story. This may seem like a lot (4-8 separate
Renown scores for each PC), but it’s simply a number in
your notes that will very rarely change, and has a simple
milestone mechanical bonus.
Action: Melwythorne invites a wise, ancient Treant to give
a guest lecture at Witherbloom. He needs the PCs to help
The Renown system not only lets you track the PCs’
him set up the logistics and promote the event (giving any
PCs connected to him a new goal and set of tasks, and the standing with different factions on campus, but it also
reward of helping an NPC they care about). gives Renown milestones which add a mechanical benefit
for the PCs’ decision to seek advancement and acceptance
Event: Melwythorne is missing! He told his friends he within those groups. Having Renown across multiple
sensed some kind of corruption or pollution in the groups also allows for that all-important dramatic engine
Sedgemoor, and went to investigate, and hasn’t come of divided loyalties. So, a major raise in popularity among
back (organically setting up the Secrets in Sedgemoor the student body (say after Campus Daredevils) may
event, and giving the PC a more immediate goal when they correspond to a drop in popularity among the faculty, or
investigate).
helping to reveal an exam-cheating ring can raise their
Renown with the faculty and drop it with the student
Event: Plants are attacking some of the students! Many
of those attacked are Rivals of the PCs, drawing suspicion body. The Renown rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
on them (Melwythorne’s connection to nature is causing specify that you cannot drop below 0 Renown. However,
him to subconsciously lash out at the people troubling his negative Renown is a good, simple rule to model
friends. The PCs need to prove their innocence and help unpopularity and I believe you should allow negative
Melwythorne come to terms with his negative emotions). Renown in this campaign.

Specific Renown milestone bonuses are going to vary

If you have a more fleshed out Xanthar’s guide-style write
from faction to faction, but there is one universal bonus
up for Melwythorne, you can either use him to introduce
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you can offer for every faction, which is the average NPC each level, you can let your PC pick one or choose which
social disposition. As with my suggestions for social scenes best fits the story.
and relationship points, if you use the Social Interaction
rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide you can have a PC’s The main reason PCs will be interacting with a generic,
popularity with a faction give them a simple mechanical non-college-specific “Strixhaven student” NPC is for
bonus to any social interaction with the members of that favors, so I think Social Interaction-based milestones
faction, as well as other potential Milestone rewards. The should model how the PC’s popularity affects their
PCs’ interactions with specific student NPCs are going to interactions with that NPC. The Renown system in the
be determined by their specific history with that NPC, but Dungeon Master’s Guide assumes the organizations involved
Renown is a good, simple “default setting” for the PCs’ have specific ranks in their hierarchy, and the Renown
social interactions with random background student NPCs. milestones mark specific rank advancement as well as
general prestige increasing. This doesn’t really map to
For the Student Body (or individual colleges), I individual relationships or social standing with the general
recommend the following Milestones, with all students student body, but this does make sense for the more
having a starting renown of 1. You can also use these formal, hierarchical relationship of students to the faculty.
Milestones for the individual colleges.
For the faculty, I suggest the same student body Renown
Student Body Renown milestone Social Interaction guidelines and benefits but
adding in some flavor where a PC’s Faculty Renown
Renown 1: The average student NPC is default Indifferent reflects that PC’s position in the faculty’s “hierarchy”
for Social Interaction rolls.
of students.
Renown 3: The average student NPC is default Indifferent,
and the PC rolls with Advantage when asking for a favor. Faculty Renown

Renown 10: The average student NPC is default Friendly for Renown 1: New student. The average teacher NPC is
Social Interaction rolls. default Indifferent for Social Interaction rolls.

Renown 15: The average student NPC is default Friendly, Renown 3: Known student. The average teacher is vaguely
and the PC rolls with Advantage when asking for a favor. familiar with you and assumes you have basic competence,
giving you the benefit of the doubt in most situations. The
Renown 25: The average student NPC is default Friendly, average teacher NPC is default Indifferent, and the PC rolls
and the PC rolls against a DC of 10 to ask for a favor involving with Advantage when asking for a favor.
significant risk or sacrifice.
Renown 10: Veteran student. The average teacher knows
Renown -3: The average student NPC is default Indifferent you well. You’ve proven yourself smart and trustworthy.
for Social Interaction rolls, and the PC rolls with Disadvantage The average teacher NPC is default Friendly for Social
when asking for a favor. Interaction rolls.

Renown -10: The average student NPC is default Hostile for Renown 15: Teaching Assistant. You’ve been given a level of
Social Interaction rolls. administrative responsibility and privileges, with serious trust
from the faculty. The average teacher NPC is default Friendly,
Renown -15: The average student NPC is default Hostile, and the PC rolls with Advantage when asking for a favor.
and the PC rolls with Disadvantage when asking for a favor.
Renown 25: Grad student. Technically a student, you
Renown -25: The average student NPC is default Hostile, are possibly getting a salary, and handling major faculty
and the PC rolls against a DC of 20 to ask the student NPC to responsibilities. The average teacher NPC is default Friendly,
leave you alone, and a DC of 30 to ask the student NPC to ask and the PC rolls against a DC of 10 to ask for a favor involving
for a favor involving no risk or sacrifice. significant risk or sacrifice.

If using this system for colleges, I suggest adding additional Renown -1: Probation. The student must attend special
behavioral courses and is restricted from Extracurriculars for
milestone rewards specific to the magical resources and
the rest of the year, losing all Extracurricular benefits.
specialties of those colleges. In “Mystic Odysseys of
Theros,” a PC tracks their Piety to a particular god of that Renown -3: Infamous troublemaker. The average teacher
world and gets divine rewards for certain milestones. NPC is default hostile for Social Interaction rolls.
At Piety 3 the PC gets the ability to cast a 1st level spell
without components a certain number of times a day, Renown: -10: Double secret probation. The average
teacher NPC is default Hostile, and the PC rolls with
at Piety 10 they get that ability for a third level spell, Disadvantage when asking for a favor. The PC is one more slip-
etc. A simple additional Renown milestone reward for up away from getting expelled.
a particular college is giving a PC the ability to cast an
appropriate level spell from the college spells list in the For Faculty Renown, it doesn’t make sense to have the
college background section in chapter 2, for “free”. They same 5 milestones for negative Renown. I don’t think an
may cast this without components a number of times per average student would be allowed to remain in school after
day equal to their Proficiency Bonus. So a level 3 Lorehold earning more (less?) than 10 negative Renown. If that
with Renown 3 in Lorehold college could cast “Identify” student is allowed to remain, that’s going to be the result of
two times a day without needing components or using a very specific set of story circumstances individual to your
spell slots. Of the two options on the college spell chart for campaign, and so a standard negative milestone doesn’t
really apply.

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 Extracurriculars are a smaller and more goal- You can also encourage the other, non-that-class-taking
directed faction, and I have some default milestones for players to run NPCs in the class. You can let them come
Extracurricular Renown in the Extracurricular section. up with personalities, goals, bonds, flaws, etc for random
students in the class, which does keep those other players
If your PCs are interested in advancing their Renown engaged in the drama and makes scenes in the class more
with a faction, that tells you what type of story they are interesting. The key here is making clear that the PC
interested in incorporating into the campaign. Using taking the class is the main character and the supporting
Renown Milestones is a simple way to track and reward NPCs are just that: supporting NPCs. The players
that interest. should put less time into their in-class NPCs, avoiding
complex motivations, goals, or backstories. Simple,
broad personalities and goals are good for these type of
player-run-NPCs. These NPCs are there to support the
Classes drama, narrative, and conflict of the PCs and not have
Classes are another area where your players can signal that much of their own drama independent from the PCs.
what sort of stories and themes they want in the campaign. The players should also know to expect minimal spotlight
There’s obviously the shared class that’s assigned every time–unless their NPC is a Rival or Beloved of a PC,
year to all the PCs chapter by chapter. The nice thing which could be a lot of good roleplay drama fun, but is a
is because the class is assigned to everyone, the topics very different play experience of the average D&D party
covered in that class can have payoff later in that year composition. In that particular play experience, everything
(dealing with an owlbear after your owlbear exam, for I’m saying about making sure everyone understands the
example). The campaign has students pick at least three PC/NPC distinction goes double.
other classes from a menu of possibilities, but then doesn’t
really give you any advice on incorporating those classes The positive here is that a class full of player-character
into the overall story. On the one hand, if only one PC NPCs is going to have engaging scenes that everyone is
is taking “Arcano-Botany for Beginners,” the GM doesn’t participating in and is interested in, and the downside is
want to have scene after scene that only involves that one having everyone play, like, five different characters. This
PC. However, the PCs’ choice of classes is one of the first system works best if all your players are comfortable
ways they signal what they are interested in, and there’s a running secondary characters and the roleplay, story, and
good chance those PCs want more content in the campaign spotlight time clearly maintains the protagonism of the
beyond a periodic “all your other classes are going fine.” core PCs. In Harry Potter terms, maybe Hermione’s player
runs Molly or Arthur Weasley (or both) during the scenes
in the Weasley home. Molly and Arthur are interesting
characters that generate a lot of fun scenes with Harry and
Ron, but they are always clearly NPCs. They’re great NPCs
(interesting personalities that generate fun drama and
dramatic consequences, pretty broad characters but with
depth and nuance, plot-useful connections to the wider
history and politics of the world), but the story is never
*about* them. I recommend having your players run
classmate NPCs if it’s a small group, and you are confident
that everyone is on the same page on that clear distinction
between PCs and NPCs, even player-run NPCs.

Another possibility for solo/low PC count classes is

making sure some of the student NPCs in the class
are significant NPCs. Maybe only one PC is taking
“Introduction to Arcanobotany,” but if the NPC students
include a second PC’s Rival and a third PC’s Beloved, those
There are a couple of solutions to this dilemma. The classroom scenes become more interesting and more
first is to encourage PCs to take the same classes. If all justifying of spotlight/roleplay time, although these scenes
the PCs take the same class, you can comfortably build a should still be shorter than scenes set in multiple-PC
lot of story events into that class and have regular fully classes. The class should have NPCs with some connection
roleplayed scenes set in that class. Even if a class has only to any PC not taking the class, if at all possible.
two or three PCs in it, you can have more story and longer
scenes. Ideally, each PC will have only one solo class. It’s In school stories, there are two types of drama inherent
these solo PC classes that are the trickiest, and the most in class-room based scenes. These two types of drama
“montage-able.” However, there’s a good chance a PC can be separate, or they can interact. One type is drama
taking a solo class is choosing something very important based on relationships and interactions with the people
and relevant to their character, and thus wants some in the class, including the teachers. The other type is
kind of session time and dramatic content generated drama based on the demands, time commitments, and
by that class. challenge of the academic work. Of course, these can be
mixed together. These can be the general struggle to get
a good grade, or to advance in a particular class. For a

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Witherbloom first year, how they do in “Introduction to 1: Discipline specific knowledge (Intelligence/ Arcana or
Arcanobotany” may determine what advanced classes they History; Wisdom/ Nature or Medicine). Skills normally
are eligible for in their second year, and it will definitely used as actions are also rolled for knowledge, such as using
determine what kind of first impression they make on the Animal Handle for an essay on domesticating owlbears.
Witherbloom faculty.
2: General academic skills (Charisma/Persuasion,
The first sort of drama, the soap-opera relationship Intelligence/Investigation, or Wisdom/Insight) applied
drama, is going to come from the particulars of the PCs’ to a specific academic discipline. To this category you
relationships with the people in the class. The specific could also ask them to roll Dexterity (Sleight of Hand)
subject matter of the class is less important than the way for crafting magical items, drawing ritual glyphs, or
the class allows/forces the PCs to interact with particular demonstrating somatic components.
people. Later on I will offer a chart of potential class-based
dramatic situations that you can use to generate these sorts The campaign has the exams as different formats of sit-
of stories in your PCs’ classes. down, classroom evaluation. If you expand the style of
evaluation you have a chance to bring in other skills as
The main form of classroom based mechanics we get well. Wisdom (Survival) and Strength (Athletics) would
are the exams. This is where the PCs mechanically, be good rolls for a “field trip” style exam–you need to find
academically interact with the class they are all taking. a certain number of geological or biological samples before
You can expand their interaction with that class through the end of the day. Dexterity (Acrobatics) could be a roll
roleplay scenes or homebrew rolls for assignments, but used in a performance-based evaluation.
“three exams a year” is the campaign’s minimum expected
interaction with the class. Your PCs will almost certainly The campaign almost always has the two exam rolls
expect that minimum interaction for their other classes as call on different attributes for the exams. It helps make
well, three exams a year. In the Downtime section I have sure different attribute strengths and weaknesses are all
some suggestions for using Downtime and Downtime called into play.
activities as a way of “checking in” on classes and other
student activities if you want to keep those activities I also think the group skill check rules make perfect group
present in the story without roleplaying a full scene. project rules. As long as 50% of the group pass their
check, everyone passes. This presents several options
One option for pacing campaign-assigned and homebrew for interesting social drama potential if the PCs are
exams is to space out the exams so that different PCs trying to ace that exam. This is one example of the way
and different classes are having exams over the course interpersonal class drama and grade-based class drama can
of the year. This is using “exam” as a more abstract term intersect.
for an important class assignment, covering significant
projects, essays, etc. This has the benefit of keeping the Class-based Drama
classes present through the whole campaign year and
giving you a simple drop-in class based academic situation Roll or Choose which seems best.
1: The PCs get assigned a group project with some students
(“nothing’s happened in Introduction to Arcanobotany
who don’t care and need to be persuaded to study.
in a couple sessions…exam!”). The other option is to 2: The PCs get a group project with friends, but their friends
have an “exam time,” 1-2 weeks of each “term” where the are not taking it seriously and just want to socialize.
students have exams in all their classes. This is going to be 3: After the PCs turn in a group project, they find out
a high pressure crunch time with whole sessions of study someone in their group cheated. They know who it is, and the
rolls and exam rolls. This has the benefit of feeling very teacher threatened to fail all of them if the culprit isn’t turned
in/doesn’t confess.
authentically school-like and giving you that high-pressure 4: Someone is mysteriously giving the PCs and other
time to set other plot events, immediately raising the classmates advance answers to tests. Who is it, and are they
stakes and easily giving your PCs some classic Spider-Man trying to help them, set them up for blackmail, or otherwise
style dilemmas- “do I stop the monster or fail my class?” entrap them?
5: A teacher is clearly favoring a group of students in the
class, because the teacher is being blackmailed.
For homebrewing your own exam, here is my suggestion
6: A teacher is using students’ work to advance their own
for using the campaign exams as a model. In the campaign career. Do the PCs complain and make an enemy, blackmail the
exams, the flavor of the specific exam task varies, but teacher, or join that teacher’s old-boys network and advance
mechanically, the PCs make two sets of skill checks that their own career?
almost always divide into two categories. 7: A teacher is being very unsafe and encouraging their
students to push the boundaries and do untested experiments.
They claim it’s in pursuit of magical greatness, but do they
have a more sinister motive?
8: An older (centuries old) teacher is using outdated,
unsafe experiments and magical techniques.
9: A teacher is really checked out. Maybe they don’t care,
maybe they’re having a personal crisis. Class is a lot easier,
but the teacher doesn’t notice students are cutting corners
with safety.
10: A teacher always gives the same exam, like for decades.
If the PCs can successfully socialize with an upperclassman
who took it, they’ll have a much easier time of studying.

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 a PC’s Renown score in an Extracurricular could suggest a
specific level of responsibility and authority.
Renown 1: PC is a new member/rookie, they get this Renown
from joining.

Renown 3: PC is a member. They are trusted

to know the basics and have access to general-use
Extracurricular resources.

Renown 10: PC is an experienced member. They are

trusted with a level of autonomy in the organization, have
increased access to Extracurricular resources, and are given
some authority in the club (say, mentoring a rookie, or leading
a small crew of members).

Renown 15: PC is a veteran member. This Extracurricular

is a significant part of their life. They are the equivalent of
a club officer or a shift supervisor, with full access to the
Extracurricular’s resources and some of the finances. The PC
has major responsibilities for a large part of the organization
and supervises a large number of subordinates.

Extracurriculars Renown 25: PC is a Leader, equivalent to the President of a

club or General Manager of a job, with authority/responsibility
Extracurricular activities are another big part of how PCs over the whole program and full access to the Extracurricular’s
can personalize the school year adventures and show the resources and finances.
GM what activities and NPCs they want to make part of
the campaign. Renown -1: Probation: The default attitude of the average
Extracurricular member NPC is Hostile.

Extracurriculars present the same dilemma as classes. If Renown -3: Removed from the club/fired from their job.
your PCs have separate Extracurriculars, how do you
make those Extracurriculars present in the campaign and At Renown 10 or above, the PC should spend a significant
give your PCs meaningful interactions with them without portion of their free time devoted to the Extracurricular
having scene after scene of single PCs doing their own (we are well past casual member status). In the later
stuff? I suggest using the same ideas I offered for classes- Downtime Activities system I suggest that maintaining
multiple PCs where possible, considering having players Renown of 10 or higher in a club requires a PC to spend
run some of the NPCs, and/or having significant NPCs in at half their Downtime on club responsibilities. There’s
the Extracurricular. also much bigger consequences for their standing in the
Extracurricular if they neglect the Extracurricular or screw
Extracurriculars are one of the most developed parts of up a project, and Renown loss is doubled.
campus life, as when a PC chooses an Extracurricular they
choose an activity they are interested in with built-in NPCs Having a sense of PC’s “rank” in an Extracurricular
to have Relationships with. Obviously you can do this with organization will also help you determine their ability and
pure roleplaying through extracurricular activities, only difficulty in accessing the organization’s resources, setting
rolling skills as situations arise. However, I’ve got a couple policy, developing projects, recruiting members to help
ideas for adding mechanics for Extracurriculars. with personal projects, etc.

As mentioned, an Extracurricular is a faction that naturally For example, a PC in the Dead Languages society is trying
lends itself to a Renown score (what is the PC’s reputation to translate a scrap of ancient prophecy discovered over the
with the group) but unlike the general student body course of the adventure, an Intelligence (Arcana) roll, DC
it is a more structured, specific, focused organization. 18. If they have Renown 3 or higher, you can give them
You can use the same Social Interaction Milestone Advantage on the translation roll to reflect their access to
rewards as I suggested for the general student body, but the club’s library of linguistics and history books. If they
increasing Renown in an Extracurricular will also lead have Renown 10 or higher, you can also lower the DC to
to increased responsibility in that Extracurricular, and 16 to reflect the PC’s ability to get other student-linguists
increased demands on the PC’s time and energy. Since to help them. Renown over 15 might allow multiple
an Extracurricular club is a more self-contained and self rolls in quick succession, or even automatic success after
regulating then the entire student body, it also doesn’t sufficient time has passed. This reflects the fact that the
make much sense that someone with much Negative PC can make translating this document a major project for
Renown would not be thrown out, so I’m making -3 the whole club.
Renown the Milestone where an average student would be
removed from an Extracurricular. If you want to modify Extracurricular clubs give you the mechanical benefit
that and allow a PC to stay in the Extracurricular even with of the Student Die when you join. Another option for
that much Negative Renown, that’s going to be a situation Milestown benefits to reflect a PC’s commitment to a club
that’s very specific for your story, and needs its own set of is having the Student Die get more and more useful as
Negative Renown Milestones. Here’s a suggestion of how their Renown in the club goes up.

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 Renown 1: The initial d4 Student Die that the PC may with Lifestyle “Modest” gets to 10 Renown in their campus
spend to add to a check using one of the skills in the club’s job, their Lifestyle goes up 1 Lifestyle Expense category,
description, which resets after a Long Rest.
giving them a “Comfortable” Lifestyle.
Renown 3: The Student Die is now a d6.
Salary could also be money sent home to family members,
Renown 10: The PC may now reroll the Student Die once covering their own living expenses. If so, you can feel
after it is rolled but before the result is announced. They must free to keep raising the salary level as Renown goes up.
use the second roll. “Wealthy” expenses for one PC is “Modest” expenses for
Renown 15: The PC makes the Student Die roll with
supporting a family of four back home.
Advantage (roll the d6 twice and choose the higher result).
Renown 1: The PC makes 5 Gold a week, standard starting
Renown 25: The PC may spend their Student Die to impose pay, enough to cover “Poor” Lifestyle Expenses with some
the club’s related Bond Boon or Bond Bane on another spending money left over.
student. Find the NPC club member whose Bond Boon and
Bane are related to the club’s activities and members. The Renown 3: The PC makes 7 Gold a week, enough to cover
PC has access to those same Boons and Banes. They may use “Modest” Lifestyle Expenses.
this ability each year a number times per year equal to their
Proficiency Bonus. Renown 10: The PC makes 14 gold a week, enough to cover
“Comfortable” Lifestyle Expenses.

Renown 15: The PC has the ability to set policy and push for
major changes, ability to promote or demote other employees
below Renown 10. The PC has the ability to suggest firings, or
promotions/demotions of employees of Renown below 15.

Renown 25: The PC may impose the job’s related Bond Boon
or Bond Bane on another student. Find the NPC employee
whose Bond Boon and Bane are related to the club’s activities
and members. The PC has access to those same Boons and
Banes. They may use this ability each year a number times per
year equal to their Proficiency Bonus.

PCs can gain Renown with their Extracurriculars by

spending free time advancing the goals, purpose, and
overall good of the organization. They can lose Renown if
they ignore or neglect those Extracurriculars.

You can roleplay PC interactions with the Extracurricular

and give (or lose) Renown for those interactions. If you
want a more “montage” feel, here are some simple rules to
represent PC interactions with the Extracurricular. For a
shorter interaction I have a modified version of the Exam
rules. For a longer, more detailed interaction I have a
An additional Milestone reward for an Extracurricular modified version of the Mage Tower rules.
job is trickier, because the main benefit is the salary.
One obvious choice is thus to raise the salary. Using the In normal play, some of the background downtime that
“Lifestyle Expenses” chart from Chapter 8 of the Player’s happens between the major plot and fully roleplayed
Handbook, 5 gold a week is almost enough for a “Modest” scenes is automatically devoted to a club. This downtime
lifestyle. Of course, those expenses are based on a PC gets your PCs the standard student die/ salary reward and
paying for room and board, something not applicable in a represents the normal time commitment to meetings.
college situation where basic living costs are (presumably) “The rest of the week passes uneventfully” can cover
covered in the tuition and/or scholarship money of every attending standard shifts or meetings and performing
student. However, as anyone who went to university can standard responsibilities.
tell you, there’s a lot more expenses than simply room
and board. You can easily adapt the “Lifestyle Expenses'' I suggest that roughly three times a school year the PCs in
category to cover university-life related expenses. I talk the Extracurricular have a “project”- a major undertaking
more about this in the “Money” section. Using those rules, that requires extra time commitment and is significant to
advancement in a campus job Renown can mean raising a the Extracurricular, a project which is also a chance to gain
PC’s salary thus raising their Living Expenses category. I or lose renown in the Extracurricular. I picked three times
suggest raising their salary the equivalent of their gain in a year because there are three exams a year. You can also
Renown for the first few Milestones. I personally stop the allow your PCs to volunteer for extra projects if they want
salary gain/living expenses at “Comfortable,” which seems to raise their renown, with a corresponding greater time
to me the maximum lifestyle/salary for a working college commitment to the club.
student, if that is your only source of income. You can
also treat Milestone advancement as more of an abstract
Lifestyle Expenses category advancement, so when a PC

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 If it is an Extracurricular that only one PC is in, I’d use The Stralian flu is raging through campus and half the staff
the Exam system for the project. It's quicker and more of the Bow’s End is out sick, but that doesn’t change that
abstract, you don’t want to spend too long on just one PC. it’s still “2-for-1 Ale Night” and the place is packed. Guess
who’s working a double shift covering double the normal
number of tables? Make a Constitution save to spend
Extracurricular Projects: Exam all night running around nonstop and a Wisdom save to
spend all night dealing with nonstop customer nonsense.
system

A “project” is a major Extracurricular event the PC is given Shoddy work and shady work
responsibility for, a major event at work, or crisis they find
themselves handling. A PC can “cheat”- do a poor job and try to fool everyone
you did a good job. Like cheating on exams, they make
In these rules I say “Standard Term DC.” This is the DC of a Charisma (Persuasion) and Dexterity (Sleight of Hand)
studying for or taking Exams for that term (the next Exam check with the standard term DC. Work with your players
coming up in the campaign). For any projects in the first to figure out what kind of bad work they’re doing on the
third of the first year, the DC would be 12. After the PC’s project. If you succeed in both rolls, you “ace” the project
take their first Magical Physiology exam, the next project is and no one realizes what lazy, bad work you did. If you
DC 13, etc. fail 1 roll, people do notice how bad a job you did and you
lose 1 Renown. If you fail both rolls, you get caught and
expelled/fired from the Extracurricular. Other negative
For Clubs- consequences will come from the details of the bad work
The Prep time for the project is equivalent to the Study being done. If you slapped together some sets the day
rolls for Exams. They can use any skill, make the check before the play and they collapsed on stage at the end of
at the standard term DC, and success earns a reroll for Act One, you didn’t technically break school rules, and
the later project rolls. They can pull an all nighter, there aren’t really consequences beyond “expelled from the
and they can prep with friends to make the prep roll Drama Club.” If you copied an older essay and presented it
with Advantage. as your own research at the Historical Society Symposium,
or caused a couple broken bones because you did a slapdash
For the project itself, all the PCs involved in the job checking safety equipment at the stadium, there might
Extracurricular make two standard term DC checks on be further disciplinary consequences.
the two skills related to the club. If they Pass,they get 1
renown. If they Ace it, they, 2 renown. If they Fail, they
lose 1 renown, as the event goes poorly.

For Jobs-
This is more complicated because you don’t have the
attached skills of the student die to be a default roll, so
these projects need to be more fluid and situational, like
a skill challenge. For Prep (the equivalent of Studying
for an exam), choose what you think are the skills most
relevant for the specific job the PC has and have them
roll against standard term DC, for a potential reroll on
the project itself (This represents their experience and
training related to an average workday). This prep roll is
made with Advantage if their friends help. For the project
itself, narrate the situation and determine the skills most
appropriate to that situation. The PC can suggest 2 skills,
or you assign 2 skills to roll.

In a Job Project, 1 success rewards +2 gold above their

standard salary for the week instead of (tips and bonuses)
as well as +1 renown. 2 successes (“aced it!”) rewards +2
gold, +2 renown, and a day off. The PC gets a day of free
time to use for other things without losing any benefits of
the job. 2 failures means losing 1 renown.

So far I’ve used skill rolls to match the exam rules, but in
some situations doing Attribute Saves as “skill rolls” makes
the most sense, especially for jobs.

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12
Extracurricular Projects: Mage and have another negative consequence appropriate to the
catastrophic failure of the event.
Tower System
Like in the previous system, the PC can “prep”-
SAMPLE PROJECTS
representing preparation and planning time. The PC
Sample Club Projects:
chooses any skill and makes a roll against the standard 1: Preparing and running a major campus exhibition. Prep/
term DC. If they succeed they get a reroll to use during Running/Clean up.
the project, and the normal all nighter and group studying 2: Giving a presentation or lecture to the club on a topic.
rules apply. I’d also use Attribute saves for the Project Come up with an idea, then research, prepare and present.
when appropriate instead of just limiting the Project to 3: Introduce a new trend or idea into the club, convince the
other members to adopt it.
skill rolls.
4: Work on scheduling problems. Another organization
has scheduled a facility you want to use, reserving it for the
There are 3 “phases” of the project itself, with 2 rolls for rest of the year. Suggest a compromise and figure out how to
each phase. The PCs can spend spells to aid or auto- persuade them to share.
succeed as per Mage Tower. You can pre-plan the 5: Put in charge of recruiting new members, come up with a
appropriate events for each phase, or respond to the new recruiting strategy and run the recruiting event.
6: A special occasion is coming up, so plan a party for the
circumstances of the PCs decisions and rolls. This system club. Find out what people like and what to avoid, hopefully
is more detailed and granular than the Exam system. It impress the members.
generates more story but also takes more session time, so
make sure to think about how to incorporate the other Sample Job Projects
PCs or their players in some way. The circumstances and 1: Supervising a very big event using the facilities.
rolls of the project will vary based on the specific situation 2: Being put in charge of decorations/theme for a major
you are running, but I suggest that phase 1 is planning and event using the facilities.
3: Suggest a different schedule, division of labor or work day
preparation, phase 2 is the normal running of the project,
routine to increase efficiency.
and phase 3 is a twist or surprising problem to deal with. 4: Two organizations or groups have somehow scheduled
the same facility at the same time. Negotiate a compromise
Example 1: The Ironlifters club is planning a and figure out how that happened.
campus exhibition. 5: Put in charge of recruiting new employees, come up with
a new recruiting strategy and run the recruiting event.
Phase 1: Secure a space to use and promote the event, 6: A special occasion is coming up, so plan a party for the
try to have a good crowd, Intelligence (Investigation) and employees. Find out what people like and what to avoid to
Charisma (Persuasion). hopefully impress your coworkers.

Phase 2: Successfully do your own lifting demonstration.

Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Strength (Athletics)

Phase 3: One of the best lifters has extreme stage fright.

Calm them down so the “juggling free weights” routine doesn't
become the “trip to the infirmary” routine. Wisdom (Insight)
and Charisma (Performance)

Example 2: The Dragonchess club is planning a

tournament.

Phase 1: Get a faculty member or wealthy students to put

up prize money and find some former club members on the
faculty to serve as game arbiters. Charisma (Persuasion) and
Intelligence (History).

Phase 2: Play in the tournament. Charisma (Deception) and

Intelligence (Investigation)

Phase 3: Notice that one of the faculty arbiters is unfairly

favoring a student player from their own college, and quietly
get them to stop. Wits (Insight) and Charisma (Intimidation).

The whole Project is 6 rolls, with the same rewards

for passing/acing as in the Exam system. For the PC 4
successes= passed, 5 successes= aced, 6 successes= perfect,
with the PC getting an extra reward (magic item, favor,
relationship points, etc) beyond the rewards outlined in
the Exam system rules. If they get 3 failures, the event
is…fine, and their renown stays the same. If they get 4
failures, they lose 1 renown. If they get 5 failures, they
lose 2 renown. If they get 6 failures, they lose 2 renown

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13
 EXTRACURRICULAR PROBLEMS:

Sample extracurricular problems: You can use these

for PCs to roll through as a “project” or add as twists or
complications for the school year to add drama. I’m being
deliberately vague on terminology so they can apply to
clubs or jobs.

1: A big event is coming up (exhibition, tournament,

recruiting drive), and a boss (manager, faculty sponsor,
club president) is taking it really personally, acting very
stressed, and more personally invested in success than
normal. They seem to have some personal reason they are
so invested.

2: A big event is coming up and everything is going wrong–

is it sabotage, bad luck, or someone slacking off?

3: Two previously friendly co-members aren’t speaking to

each other and no one knows why they aren’t talking. It's
causing problems for everyone.
Downtime
4: The books are not balancing, and there is money missing If you are running a story that spans a year, you can’t do
from the budget. Is it someone stealing, misleading income
the normal “roleplay out every day” style of narration that
reports or misleading expense reports?
I see in most games. You’ll have some set piece/roleplay
5: A new member joins, who is clearly struggling/in over scenes, but you need temporal space between them, with a
their head, but doesn’t want to admit they need help. lot of “the week passes uneventfully” montages. Strixhaven
is designed to have the individual players fill in that
6: A new member joins, who clearly doesn’t care about temporal space with the interests, extracurriculars, and
the mission or benefits of the organization, and has some relationships of their PCs. This is the stuff that takes place
ulterior motive for joining. in the background as “the week passes uneventfully”.

7: A normally reliable co-member is supposed to be helping Some of that montage time is committed to study and
you with organizational work, but they keep skipping out/
extracurriculars. You can roleplay out full scenes with
slacking off. You’ve been covering for them, but it’s getting
worse and you’re bearing the extra duties. those groups of people (classes, study group, co-workers,
etc), whether dealing with problems (magical experiment
8: One of the leaders (shift managers/captains/club gone wrong!) or just doing the normal business of the day.
officers) is stepping away, stirring up a pretty ugly power
struggle between a couple senior members. If you want some rules between “roleplay it out” and
“your shift at the Firejolt Cafe is uneventful” you can also
9: A clique of senior members is hoarding privileges, doing montage those scenes–make one or two rolls and narrate
favors and covering for each other. Everyone knows the results. For Extracurricular clubs you can have the PC
they’re doing this, and it's really hurting morale. make a roll of each of the two student die skills and give
them some reward depending on how they do (maybe two
10: A new hotshot member has ideas to shake up and re-do
everything. They’re almost as smart as they think they are.
student die rolls, one for each club skill; you could give
them a roll with Advantage for one the relevant club skills;
11: A Senior member or boss starts a Beloved relationship you could award Inspiration; you could add a Relationship
with a new member. Fairly or not, the other members are point with that club’s NPC, etc).
starting to resent the perceived favoritism.
For the DC of those club skill rolls I’d use the Exam DC of
12: A normally kind senior member is being obviously that section of the year (so DC 12 for the first part of the
unfairly hard on a new member. Maybe there’s a personal first year, DC 13 for the third part of that year, etc).
reason for dislike, or maybe it's just a personality clash.
For Classes or Extracurricular Jobs, I’d come up with two
rolls for them to make for similar benefits. I’d pick the
skills or saves that seemed to fit the circumstances of the
job or class assignments, and let them roll for a benefit of
some kind, exam-style (say, Advantage on upcoming rolls
related to exams or Extracurricular projects).

However, part of the drama of school stories is the

choice of how to spend time from day to day and week
to week. A lot of the PCs’ time is set by commitments to
extracurriculars and classes. To give the PCs the power
to use their free time without roleplaying out every day,

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I’m using the Downtime system for the Player’s Handbook, Levels of Exhaustion gained for extra Downtime Activity
expanded on in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. choices (or, in my game, also those gained by pulling all
nighters) can only be cleared by dedicating a Downtime
In my game, when we go to montage time, most of that Activity to Recuperating. I allow my PCs to temporarily
time is committed to Extracurriculars and class work. suppress the negative effects of Exhaustion by taking a
However, the PCs get to choose one or more Downtime short rest and spending Hit Die. They get to suppress
Activities for their free time, priorities, and personal those negative effects for 1 hour for every hit die they
projects. The amount of Downtime Activities they get spend, and they also only regenerate Hit Die spent this way
depends on the length of the montage time. I do one by Recuperating in downtime. Gaining Exhaustion and
Downtime Activity for roughly every five days (per spending Hit Die this way is called Overdoing It.
the Xanathar’s Guide to Everything Downtime Revisitied
guidelines). Some of these Downtime Activities are specific Here is the list of Downtime Activities I offer them, and
rolled or roleplayed scenes, others are an abstract project they can suggest their own as well. Most of these are
that the PC is working on over the course of the whole five modified versions of Downtime Activities in the Player’s
days. So if I say “the rest of the week passes uneventfully,” Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide. Rules as written
then that’s one Downtime Activity pick for each PC to go some of these activities require a specific amount of time
with their normal commitments. The PCs can also get an spent. I abstract that time requirement to a number of
extra downtime activity pick in four ways. Downtime Activity choices. As mentioned, Xanathar’s
Guide to Everything has an excellent expansion of the
1:They can pass an Intelligence/Wis/Cha Save (their Downtime system, giving the Downtime choices an
spellcasting stat, using the Exam DC), representing getting abstract, skill-challenge-style framework and adding a
schoolwork done early and quickly. table of Complications to each activity for extra narrative
fallout. In the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s
2: They can pass a Constitution save (also using the Exam Guide, the assumption is that with a few exceptions (like
DC), representing successfully staying up late, skipping gambling), Downtime is a choice with a static benefit.
meals, etc. For every subsequent montage time they do Xanathar’s system adds greater reward and greater
this, the Constitution save DC goes up 2. You can only pull potential for failure by having Downtime Activities be
so many all nighters. die-roll driven. If the PCs are devoting their only free
time/narrative choice to a particular Downtime Activity,
3: They can take a level of Exhaustion (also the penalty it can be frustrating to have that depend on a die roll.
for failing either of the previous two saves), representing There are exceptions to this–gambling, carousing, etc are
unsuccessfully staying up late, skipping meals, etc. activities that have at their heart an element of risk and
chance. However, I would be annoyed if I used my only
4: They can ignore their other responsibilities. The PC free time to work extra shifts because I needed money,
chooses which obligation they are neglecting (cutting class, then rolled poorly and didn’t make any money, or used
calling in sick to work, missing club meetings, etc). The my free time to study but lowered my chances of passing
PC gets an extra Downtime Activity choice, but they take an exam. Make sure you are clear with your players if you
whatever social and academic consequences are logical for are using the default system or the Xanathar’s system, and
their choice, as determined by the details of their specific try to get a sense of when they want to take a bigger risk,
situation and the frequency with which they neglect their or when they want the small, guaranteed benefit for the
responsibilities. Maybe their next study and exam rolls are sacrifice of their free time. I suggest a couple Downtime
made with Disadvantage, maybe they lose Renown with Activities where a PC gets a guaranteed benefit (or at least
their Extracurricular group, maybe their pay is docked for no loss) with the potential for a bigger benefit with good
that week, and maybe if this is the second or third time rolling. That way the player gets the thrill of succeeding
skipping work then they are fired. Discuss the potential on a challenge without wasting their free time. Unless a
consequences with the PC so they have some idea of what specific DC is given, I’m using the “Standard Difficulty”
they are getting into if they decide to skip class, ignore for a given term of the school year, which is the DC of
homework, miss work, etc. their next upcoming exam. So, for any random Downtime
Activities in the first third of the first year, the DC is 12
(the upcoming Magical Physiologies exam DC). A couple
of these activities are about making money. In describing
those activities I reference PCs having “Lifestyle Expenses”
categories. See chapter 8: Money, for an explanation of
that system.

I’ve added a table of complications for some of the

activities, and you also have the possibility of having a
complication as a “fail condition”--the PC succeeds in their
general Downtime goal but has a complication if they
fail the roll, rather than making success or failure a flat
binary determined by the dice roll. But maybe you want
the risk/reward, and hey, wasting free time because of
bad luck is part of life. As always, figure out what is best

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 for you and your table. Besides using complications as a 7: The space technically does belong to a group, and once
fail condition, you can also just use these complications as the PCs went to the trouble of fixing it up, the owners
plot twists, or offer a PC a bonus to their reward if they want it back.
take a complication. That way the PCs’ Downtime Activity 8: The PCs find evidence someone was squatting in the
choices can generate plot hooks and drama, if you need space, someone who left vague, ominous notes about an
to add some into your game. Many of these Downtime impending catastrophe.
Activities parallel those activities offered in the “Downtime
Revisited” chapter of Xanthar’s Guide to Everything, Another variation of this is the PC’s Extracurricular
which is another excellent source of Downtime developing an infrastructure project, trying to get a new
Complications. In some of these Downtime Activities I building made or an existing building expanded. You
use the term “a Rival.” This refers to either a PC’s own could also have this cover trying to get new equipment
Rival or the Rival of one of their fellow PCs. You and your for an existing Extracurricular space (new iron lifting
group can decide which option is much dramatically and weights, new props for the theater, etc). This is going to
narratively satisfying. be a major, Extracurricular-wide, long term undertaking.
The specific number of downtime activities and rolls made
for the individual PC is going to be set by the specific task
undertaken. This is actually a good chance to encourage
PC creativity in giving them a lot of flexibility in how they
pursue this goal.

For this kind of campus infrastructure/budget projects

I would use a kind of skill challenge framework, where
the PC needs to get a certain number of successes before
a number of failures or a certain time limit passes (say,
before 3 failures or before the end of the school year). The
rolls can also be adjusted based on the circumstances and
the PCs involved. You can also have automatic successes
based on roleplay. With success, the PCs should gain
appropriate faction and NPC Renown for a successful
project if you are using that system.

A small project might be 3 successes before 2 failures. For

Downtime Activities example, the Dragonchess club is trying to get a dedicated
storage closet for their boards and supplies. This is going
to require 3 successes before 3 failures. Each roll costs a
Building a Stronghold (DMG). downtime activity, but the PC can ask other characters
This is an activity that doesn’t have a direct analog in the to spend their time on this project as well. The PCs can
magic school experience. I can see two equivalents. One is suggest how they pursue this goal. A PC might suggest
finding a “club house,” an unused space the PCs can use as a rolling Intelligence (Investigation) to find a storage closet
personal meeting space. Have the PCs use their Downtime that’s mostly empty, and another PC whose Extracurricular
Activity to make an Intelligence (Investigation) check, job is Campus Grounds might make a Charisma
DC 18. For each Downtime Activity they dedicate to this (Persuasion) with Advantage to talk to the maintenance
after the first, they roll with Advantage. If they succeed, staff about the club having access to this closet. A final
they find an unused, forgotten space they can make their PC could get an automatic success by offering to have the
own (a storage shed, attic space, forgotten basement room, Dragonchess club do a volunteer campus litter clean-up as
etc). The PCs may want to invest further resources and a “thank you” for the use of the storage closet. Now they
Downtime Activities to secure permission to use it, fixing just need to convince the other club members to go along
it up, etc. with that suggestion…

Complications A bigger project could be a year-long undertaking that

1: In preparing the space, the PCs find a hidden treasure. has multiple phases and takes many Downtime activities.
Both the people who hid it and the people who they hid it The Student-Mages of Faith are currently meeting in a
from are after it. conference room, and want to get a dedicated interfaith
2: The space was sealed because a magical experiment went chapel constructed on campus. This could involve getting
wrong, leaving strange aftereffects. the club to agree on a design, finding a space on campus,
3: The space is unused because of a tragic death, and is getting support from administration, and fundraising. The
possibly haunted. PC could be the “manager” of the project, in which case it
4: The room seems to be subtly changing every time would be a dedicated use of most of their free Downtime
the PCs visit. Activities for most of the year, or they could be a member
5: The room was secretly being used by a criminal of the club who uses some of their Downtime to help with
network, and now they’re annoyed at the PCs. the project, gaining appropriate NPC and Faction Renown.
6: In preparing the space, the PCs discover access to a
network of secret tunnels under the school.

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Complications. Complications
1: The PC’s project is competing with a faculty member’s 1: The PC has agreed to take the lead on a project of an
pet project Extracurricular to which they do not belong.
2: A faculty member has offered to sponsor the project, but 2: The PC apparently had a life changing talk with a
they are using it to advance their own political goals within student NPC. That student NPC now considers the PC a
their college. Beloved. The PC doesn't remember what they said, or even
3: A Secret society (possibly the Oriq) has their own the NPC’s name.
agenda for the space the PC selected. 3: The PC stole a group’s mascot, trophy, or other
4: The project is over budget and behind schedule. The significant item as a prank, with serious disciplinary
PCs have to scramble for some more resources or it will consequences if they don’t return it. They can’t remember
be canceled. where they hid it.
5: The project is plagued by accidents. Is this bad luck, 4: The PC has scheduled a public duel against a Rival. The
some sort of curse, or sabotage? specific challenge is the activity that the Rival is best at.
6: The PCs find an alumni willing to provide all the 5: The PC bragged publicly and widely about the amazing
funding support and support needed, they just have a performance they are going to give at next week’s open
couple of “eccentric” requests. stage performance
7: The PCs have competition for the resources they seek to 6: The PC’s Friend or Beloved is furious with them and the
use, and are challenged to some kind of competition. PC doesn’t know why.
8: Some group is protesting the project. Maybe because 7: The PC now has a magical tattoo. They don’t remember
they oppose the project itself, maybe because they oppose getting it, or what it is supposed to do.
the PC’s Extracurricular. 8: The PC summoned a mischievous, level-appropriate
Demon, Devil, or Fey creature on a dare and can’t
remember the banishing ritual.

Crafting a Magical Item (DMG).

In Strixhaven, the PCs will have much easier access to
magic item crafting materials and resources then the
average magic using adventurer. The PC might even have
a class where crafting a magic item is an assignment. I cut
the cost/time for crafting in half, and replaced “days'' with
“Downtime Activities.” So crafting a common magical
item would be 50 gold and two Downtime Activities. You
can lower those costs further for specific situations like
crafting items related to a class assignment, PCs having
access to specific college labs or workshops, or having
other students NPCs helping them. If using college-
Carousing/”Socializing” (DMG). specific Renown, I’d use a PC having positive Renown as a
Spend a Downtime Activity to socialize, drink, and modifier for reducing the time and cost of crafting a magic
otherwise party, either within a particular social group or item related to the theme of that college.
with the general campus population. This is basically the
same rules as in the DMG, but with the potential gold fees Complications
halved and the punishments or rewards re-themed to fit 1: The PC makes an accidental breakthrough (the item is
Strixhaven (suspended from Extracurriculars instead of crafted in ½ normal time and money) and a professor is
jailed, for example). The PC has to spend gold equal to one asking them to recreate it.
Lifestyle Expense category above their current Lifestyle 2: The item is unstable, producing a random magical effect
Expense for each week of carousing, and each other whenever used (use the Sorcerer wild magic table).
Lifestyle Expense category they are willing to go up adds 3: The item is…quirky. Apply one Minor Beneficial and
+10% to their roll (so a student with a “Modest” Lifestyle two Minor Determinantal Properties from chapter 7 of the
must spend 2 gold a day over the course of those 5 days, Dungeon Master’s guide to the item. You and the PC can
and that same student gets a +10% on their roll if they choose which Properties seem best or or roll on the table.
spend 4 gold a day). 4: The item works great, so more and more students are
clamoring for their own. The PC has to mass produce it or
In addition to the DMG Carousing chart effect of the deal with hurt feelings.
Carousing roll, it also adds to the PCs popularity with the 5: Another student claims to be missing that exact item,
student body (gaining 1 Renown for a roll above 40% and 2 and accuses the PC of stealing it.
Renown for a roll above 80%). The PC can choose instead 6: The PC ends up accidentally making a much more
to have the Renown gain be for a specific sub-group (say powerful magic item, and they don’t know what. Choose
a specific college or Extracurricular) if they announce an item of similar physical type (wand, ring, etc) that
before rolling that they are Carousing with the members is one rareness category above the item the PC was
of that specific group. Any other negative or positive trying to craft.
consequences of the Carousing roll should take place
within that group, as well.

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17
 Extra Studying. section for suggestions on crime and the underworld at
Spend a Downtime Activity on extra studying for your Strixhaven.
next exam. The Studying Reroll on that exam phase is now
made with Advantage. Complications
1: The PC did a better job than one of the regular
Complications employees, and now there’s drama.
1: The PC does so well the professor suspects 2: The PC made some crucial mistake, but no one has
them of cheating noticed yet.
2: The PC does so well that a large number of classmates 3: The PC is offered a promotion, with consequent greater
are asking them to be tutored. time commitment.
3: A popular and influential classmate has asked the PC for 4: The PC accidentally insulted a powerful and influential
help, but really wants the PC to do the work for them. customer/patron.
4: The professor invites the PC to give a presentation on
the next lesson during the next class. Performing Sacred Rites/Religious Service (DMG).
Spend a Downtime Activity to perform the sacred rites
Gaining Renown. and rituals of a character’s faith. These can be rituals for
Spend a Downtime Activity to run errands for a particular private devotion or communal worship that a PC performs
faction (college, club, etc) and gains a Renown point. If you in their own space, in a campus interfaith worship space,
want a roll, I recommend it being an easy roll (DC 10) and or in a dedicated campus chapel (if their faith supports
having no Renown loss if they fail. If the PC is dedicating one). The specific time commitment is varied, possibly
their resource of time to faction Renown, the PC shouldn’t representing a single weekly religious service, a daily
lose that over a dice roll. personal devotion, or a specific religious ritual covering a
set time (say the three days of the full moon or the week of
Complications a specific religious holiday).
1: The PC has accidentally stepped into a political conflict
within the faction. A PC gains Inspiration each day of the 5 days, or whatever
2: The PC is asked to lead a Project. unit of time this individual “montage” represents. This is
3: The faction leadership offers the PC an official, time- an abstract representation of a number of possible specific
commitment-requiring position. time commitments so decide what number of days it makes
4: The faction leadership is now pigeonholing the sense for the PC to receive Inspiration.
PC as the gopher, assuming they are available for any
work needed. Complications
1: The PC has been setting a powerful example of faith,
Practicing a Profession/Campus Job (PHB). and several student NPCs are now expressing interest in
Spend a Downtime Activity to take extra shifts at your converting to their faith.
campus job. The PC earns extra pay (5 extra gold for that 2: The PC has been asked to lead a worship group of their
week), an extra Renown point with the job, and they can co-religionists.
also (with good role playing) gain a positive relationship 3: The PC discovers that a Rival is a devout practitioner of
point with an NPC that also works there. You can decide if their same faith.
the relationship gain is automatic or requires a roll. 4: The PC receives an omen from their deity, a troubling
portent of future disaster.
If a PC does not have a campus job, this Downtime 5: The Campus doesn’t have the facilities to perform the
Activity choice can reflect doing odd jobs on campus, rituals exactly, and a group of the PC’s co-religionists are
paying 2-4 gold. This sort of pick up work should involve agitating for those facilities. They look to the PC for help.
a skill roll or attribute save (say, a Constitution save for 6: The PC discovers an NPC student who ostensibly
a long day of picking up trash or scrubbing floors). The shares their faith is telling others about that faith in a way
PC’s success on that roll should determine how many that includes serious misunderstandings of teaching and
gold they are paid, with a minimum payment of 2 gold misstatements of doctrine.
(unless something goes catastrophically wrong during the
work day). This sort of work is less likely to have a flat
salary and more likely to have flexible pay depending on
the amount and quality of work done. It pays less than a
salaried campus position, but it doesn’t have the same time
commitment (so a PC could do two Extracurriculars and
work an occasional shift).

Pick up work also allows a student to work a “second

job” if they need more money than a campus job pays.
This is mainly referring to legitimate, legal work. If a
student wants to do some pick-up criminal work (such as
hosting a cash-bet 3 Dragon Ante game or moving some
stolen goods out a stash location) you can use these same
rules but raise the payment by 1-2 gold and modify the
Complications to be crime-appropriate. See the “Crime”
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18
Quality Time. 3: The PC finds a book about the history of Strixhaven
Spend a Downtime Activity to gain a positive relationship with annotations by a student dated last year. No one
point with an NPC. You can decide if the gain requires a remembers that student and no record of them exists.
roll, I recommend making the DC very low, say 10 (any 4: The PC now owes a big favor to an archivist who let
easy DC to reflect the PC’s specific focus on spending time them look over some normally restricted books.
with the NPC), and having no loss if the PC fails the roll. 5: The PC didn’t technically “steal” those rare books, they
The PC is investing a resource in this relationship and it are just borrowing them until their research is done.
shouldn’t come down to a die roll. 6: The PC borrowed a book, and then lent it to a classmate,
and now the classmate has lost it.
Complications
1: The NPC reveals they are seriously struggling with a Running a Business (DMG).
class or extracurricular, and ask the PC for help. This refers to the PC setting up their own business, not
2: The NPC reveals a dangerous or harmful secret about working a campus job, which is another way around the
another student NPC. “only one campus job” prohibition on money making.
3: The quality time was spontaneous, and the PC forgot Using the rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Recurring
they had made plans with another NPC or had an Expenses (Chapter 6), a dorm room/spare time business
Extracurricular commitment. would use the expenses/personnel of a “shop.” A business
4: Another student who is friends with the NPC is growing that was extremely successful for many terms might rise
jealous of the time the PC is spending with them. to the level of a “guildhall.” Building a “guildhall” level
business would be a major plot event of the story that
would involve so many fellow students working for PC,
Recuperating (PHB). requiring significant regularly dedicated Downtime. If they
Spend one downtime activity. In addition to the benefits regularly use their Downtime to run a business, a “shop”
described in the PHB, you clear all negative effects level business should raise the PC’s Lifestyle Expenses
of Overdoing It, clearing all levels of Exhaustion and level by 1 step (so raising them from a “Modest” Lifestyle
regenerating spent Hit Die. to a “Comfortable” Lifestyle). A “guildhall” level business
should raise the PC’s Lifestyle Expenses level by 2 steps
(so raising them from a “Modest” Lifestyle to a “Wealthy”
Lifestyle). This is mainly referring to legitimate businesses.
If a student wants to run an illicit business (such as selling
pre-written essays or acting as a bookie for sports events)
you can use these same rules but raise the payout by 10%
and modify the Complications to be crime-appropriate.
See the “Crime” section for suggestions on crime and the
underworld at Strixhaven.

Complications
1: A major investor/crucial client is insisting on greater
and greater control over the business.
2: A new competitor is undercutting the PC’s prices; the
competitor must be cutting corners somehow.
3: An important client has made a major purchase, but
now the PC needs to do what is normally a month’s worth
of work in a couple days.
4: A client is claiming that the PC did shoddy work and bad
mouthing the business to anyone who will listen.
5: An authority figure claims the business violates some
Researching (PHB). campus rule and is asking for payment not to shut it down.
This is the same as the rules in the Player’s Handbook, 6: A client has received their purchase, but keeps
chapter 8. The Research can be looking for information making excuses about being unable to pay the full
about the metaplot, personal projects, etc. If the PC has agreed-upon price.
access to goal-appropriate research materials such as
Lorehold archives, the Biblioplex, magical labs, etc, the PC
may waive the gold fee and make any required roll with Selling Magical Items (DMG).
Advantage. The flip side of Strixhaven being a place where it’s
faster and cheaper to craft magical items, is that it's also
Complications faster and cheaper to buy magical items. The DC for
1: The PC finds evidence one of their professors the Intelligence (Investigation) check to find a buyer is
plagiarized an older, obscure work. reduced to 15, and the base price for the item is halved.
2: The PC finds proof a Beloved is wrong in a debate that One Downtime Activity is used for the Intelligence
this Beloved has been having with another student. (Investigation) roll, and the time it takes is background
time passing, not requiring further Downtime Activity
expenditure.

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 Complications montage-style, an extremely long-term task necessarily
1: After the PC gets the money, the item is missing. The involves a bit of GM-fiat.
buyer gives the PC 24 hours to find it or make a full
refund +25%. Complications
2: The buyer offered way more money than the item 1: The PC has now committed to helping your instructor
was worth. They seem to have an ulterior motive for with a long term personal project.
the purchase. 2: The instructor has a fringe theory that they’re
3: Someone has swapped the item with a cheap counterfeit. incorporating into the training, and is actively
4: The buyer disappears almost immediately after proselytizing the PC as part of the training.
purchasing the item. 3: The instructor mysteriously disappears after completing
5: The money the buyer used to purchase the item was the latest training.
stolen or otherwise dubiously acquired. 4: The PC starts being menaced by a jealous ex-student
6: The buyer starts claiming that the PCs sold them a who the instructor dropped for unclear reasons.
cursed item (and it does seem to be cursed, all of a sudden). 5: It’s becoming clear that the instructor has an ulterior
motive for agreeing to train the PC.
Spreading Rumors (DMG). 6: The instructor is hoping to recapture their glory days
If using Renown, the rumors can also raise or lower a through the PC, and is thus pushing the PC harder and
character's Renown as a mechanical reflection of the harder in their training.
changed base attitude. The price per day is lowered to
5 silver per day if the PC has positive Renown within
the targeted community, and the DC of the Charisma
(Persuasion or Deception) check should be adjusted based
on the specific of the rumor being spread and the PC. In
terms of the community size/number of days, 2 Downtime
Actions is the time needed to spread a rumor among the
members of an extracurricular, 4 Downtime Actions is the
time needed for a specific college, and 6 Downtime Actions
is the time needed for the entire university.

Complications
1: The target of the Rumor is blaming an innocent NPC
for starting the Rumor.
2: The Rumor is getting out of control, it has mutated to a
much meaner and nastier story then the PC intended.
3: The Rumor has touched on some serious
disciplinary issues, and the administration is starting to
Putting it all together
investigate the story. I began all this by saying I believed Strixhaven was a
4: The Rumor has mutated back around and now involves good campaign framework, but deliberately left a lot
a Friendly NPC. of empty space for the GM and the PCs to customize.
5: The Rumor hit a lot closer to home then the PC Using all of the rules and options I discussed–Renown,
expected, causing intense emotional distress to the target. Relationships, Classes, Exams, etc.--this is how I pace the
6: The Rumor has backfired, winning greater sympathy expanded campaign.
and admiration for the target among the student body.
Each school year is divided into 3 “terms,” each term
Training (PHB). marked by an exam in the PC’s mandatory class. Unless
In the PHB this is 250 days at a cost of 1 gold a day. That’s a specific time increment is mentioned, about 5-6 weeks
almost a whole school year and 120 weeks wages at a go by between plot events. Each week should have one
campus job, so I adjust it for the school year setting. In Downtime activity choice for each PC (with a little role
my game, Training requires a “term” of work- roughly ⅓ a playing), one or two individual PC class-based scenes
school year, the time between two sets of exams (about 3 (roleplayed out or box-texted and rolled out), as well as
months calendar time), and about 30 gold in materials. In one or two individual PC Extracurricular-based scenes
this case, I am abstracting that to 8 Downtime Activities. (roleplayed out or box-texted and rolled out). Track the
If the PC is a member of a relevant club or is in a friendly classes and Extracurriculars getting “screen time” for each
relationship with a club-member NPC student, the gold week. Each PC should be the central character in at least
fee is waived and the time is reduced to roughly 2 months, one class-based scene and one Extracurricular-based scene
which you can abstract to 6 Downtime Activities. As long for each 5-6 week period between plot events.
as the PC dedicates an appropriate number of Downtime
Activity picks to training, they gain the proficiency or The main plot of each year is always ongoing, but your
language. This is a deviation from the “1 Downtime goal in planning custom subplots should be to have each
Activity= 5 days formula”, but I don’t think the time PC involved in at least two ongoing stories or conflicts.
commitment of 12 Downtime Activities (basically all These stories or conflicts can be class, Extracurricular, or
their free time for a term) would be worth a new tool relationship-based. Each PC’s stories or conflicts ideally
proficiency, so I altered the ratio for this one. Since the have at least one other significant character involved,
whole point of this system is to abstract the passage of time either another PC or a Friend/Beloved/Rival NPC. The
STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK
20
more connections you can make between the other PCs she gives that PC a Downtime activity choice, which along
and the story/conflict, the better. with their regular school and Extracurricular work, covers
“the rest of the week.” Each individual scene is going to
This is a lot. You do not need to have every session include happen roughly on the subsequent day from the previous
a full scene for each ongoing story or conflict. It should be scene, with the Downtime activity choice filling the non-
fine as long as your montage time/box text for each week spotlight days for the other PCs.
has a short check-in with any stories/conflicts that didn’t
get a full roleplayed or skill-challenge style scene. That First Rona has a short scene with Nimble and the Future
check-in could include a brief scene with an NPC or two Entrepreneurs of Strixhaven. During the meeting, she
and maybe one or two rolls (especially if the check-in is deliberately roleplays Grayson Wildemere very abrasively,
part of a PC’s Downtime activity choice). having Grayson (possibly accidentally) insult Nimble’s
family (new money) and Nimble’s commitment to business
Here is an example of how to use these rules to expand success. Nimble’s player picks up what Rona’s doing, and
and pace a Strixhaven campaign. In this example, we takes a negative relationship point with Grayson, happily
have four PCs. on the way to making Grayson his Rival. Nimble now
wants to show up Grayson at the next meeting, so he
The first PC is Glacia, who wants to be a writer and is chooses to use his downtime doing Research for a great
considering Silverquill. She has chosen the “Beginning business proposal he can present at that meeting.
Inkomancy” class. She’s a smart, driven, academically
ambitious student who is interested in finding a Rona decides this will cover a couple days of the week,
romantic partner, but skeptical about balancing a serious and after the next scene or two, Nimble will make either a
relationship with her studies. DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check to research past
student-launched campus businesses or a DC 12 Wisdom
The second PC is Nimble, who is being pressured to study (Insight) check to talk to fellow students and figure out a
financial math and join his family’s mercantile company, product or service for which there is an untapped market.
but is more interested in abstract theoretical math. He has Nimble rolls a 16 and Rona tells him she will get back to
chosen the “Beginning Computational Magic” class with him with some suggestions (when she has a chance to
intention of joining Quanadrix, and reluctantly promised google “best campus university student businesses”). She
his parents he would join the Future Entrepreneurs of also makes a note to find an NPC or story situation that
Strixhaven (“for the networking”). pushes him to spend time with more abstract, theoretical
math studies. Nimble’s main character backstory hook
The third PC is Freelic. He is from a wealthy but is the conflict between his family’s pressure to study
emotionally distant family, and is deeply interested in business and his own desire for more academic pursuits.
Theater. He’s very “theater kid” and has a different hat His brewing rivalry with Grayson will push him in the
for every day of the week. He’s much more focused “business” direction, and so he needs a similar push in the
on his Extracurriculars than his classes, and the GM’s “theory” direction.
already anticipating some stories about him struggling
with grades and skipping classes. Freelic enthusiastically Next is a similar scene with Pardeux and the Student-
joins the Playactors Drama Guild and the Live Action Mages of Faith, taking the opposite tactic with Shuvadri
Roleplaying Guild. Glintmantle. Shuvadri is compassionate and empathetic,
encouraging Pardeux to open up a little about his brother’s
The final PC is Pardeux. He’s a quiet, devoutly religious disappearance and how it affected his family. Pardeux puts
student whose player is also a lot less interested in his a positive relationship point with Shuvadri. Pardeux uses
academics, focusing instead on his backstory drama his Downtime for Quality Time, finding and pursuing
(he made the most involved character backstory). His a friendship with Cadoras Damellawar, who was his
older brother Hall was a Strixhaven student and LARP missing brother’s best friend. Rona expects this to be a
enthusiast, who mysteriously disappeared one day, and whole roleplayed scene, so she waits until after Glacia’s
Pardeux came to Strixhaven primarily to search for Hall. scene. She uses the Social Interaction rules for the scene,
Pardeux joins the Student-Mages of Faith and the LARP and Pardeux rolls badly. Rona knows this is important to
guild. During session 0, the GM encourages them to Pardeux’s whole storyline, so she decides that he doesn’t
find a shared activity, and so Nimble and Glacia agree to get a positive relationship point with the roll, but that he
join the LARP guild as well. Glacia’s player decided that will get the point if he’s willing to miss his next class to
Glacia figured it’s a good way to relax while practicing her keep hanging out with Cadoras (giving him a success with
storytelling, and Nimble’s player decided that Nimble was a Complication). Rona also role-plays that Cadoras lets slip
just curious about LARPing. that he knows more about Hall’s disappearance then he
initially let on (so Pardeux feels the scene was meaningful,
They’ve just finished “Orientation Challenge” and the even if he doesn’t get the relationship point).
GM, Rona, wants to give them space to develop their
own stories before “Frog’s the Word.” She decides about Rona then decides to start tying some of these threads
three weeks will pass between those two campaign events, together. Rona roleplays a longer scene where Glacia
and she will use that time to introduce some plot and attends her first “Introduction to Inkomancy” class, with
relationship complications. Rona decides to open with a both Grayson and Shuvadri as fellow students. Rona has
couple short individual spotlight scenes, roleplaying them Grayson make a good impression on Glacia, setting him
out to see how the PCs react to the NPCs. After each scene up as a potential Beloved. Shuvadri does not make a good
STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK
21
 impression on Glacia, setting up a potential Rival. Rona Here are some other rules suggestions and plot ideas to
observes that Glacia is the one most interested in the expand the Strixhaven campaign and generate drama
classroom part of the setting, and makes a note to find a for your PCs.
good story hook that can be set in “Beginning Inkomancy.”
Glacia surprises everyone by using her Downtime to
make a study date with Grayson at the Firejolt. Rona
quickly decides this is the good time to set up “Frog’s the
Word” and makes a note to do a date scene next session
at the Firejolt, introducing the idea that there’s regular
secret frog races at the Firejolt so Glacia will recognize
the frogs’ unusual behavior and appearance during “Frog’s
the Word.” Rona also plans to see who Freelic interacts
with in the Playactors Drama Guild and make that NPC
a barista at the Firejolt. Finally, Rona starts looking for a
chance later in the school year to get Glacia and Grayson
competing for some academic prize or position.

Rona wants to bring everyone back together and give

Freelic a spotlight scene (she’ll get to the Drama Guild
Later), and so she has the first LARP Guild meeting.
She opens with the group arriving early, giving the
PCs a chance to compare notes and roleplay together.
As Rona expected, when the meeting begins, Freelic
Money
immediately starts pushing his previously-stated plan to If you want economics and class to be part of the story
make the LARPs “more authentic” and “more exciting.” (as they are in a lot of college/school stories), you have a
Cadoras pushes back on that hard, earning him negative couple of options. You can do traditional D&D economics,
relationship points with Freelic. During their debate, Rosie tracking every expense gold by gold and silver by silver,
Wuzfeddlums accidentally reveals that there are rarely- but here’s another option for a quicker and more abstract
used maintenance tunnels under the campus. “They built system of economics. Lifestyle Expenses in chapter 5 of
them decades ago for students to move around campus in the Player’s Handbook is meant to be a charge, paid by the
bad weather, before they developed the shuttle automata. PCs to maintain a certain standard of living, and covering
Now we mostly use the ones around the stadium for their basic expenses, room, board, weapons and armor
equipment storage.” Freelic picks up this obvious plot maintenance, etc. It’s a way to have a flat fee for basic daily
hook, and uses his Downtime to look for the tunnels. This expenses to save the trouble of tracking the cost of every
is a more montage-style use of Downtime, and Rona has meal and mug of ale.
Freelic roll a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence
(Stealth) check to represent spending the weekend poking However, the different categories of Lifestyle Expense also
around the stadium looking for the tunnels. She’s also can act as a classification that allows abstraction of wealth
starting to plan a couple potential easy combat encounters and purchasing (similar to the Wealth background in the
in the tunnels she can throw at Freelic and any other PCs World of Darkness rpg system). In this variant, the PCs
he convinces to come with him, where she can have a have a particular Lifestyle at the start of the campaign,
creature mutate and introduce the black ooze earlier in the which reflects various sources of income–salary from a
story. She also starts trying to think of a clue she can drop campus job, an allowance from their family, a line of credit
that Hall was living in the tunnels for a few days after he at a local bank, etc. Having each PC have a background
disappeared. source of income is also useful because Strixhaven has a lot
less of the usual adventurer income (killing monsters and
And that covers the first week! taking their stuff) then the average campaign.

Rona uses the PCs’ activity and class selections to set The PC’s Lifestyle can help the GM determine what
up some dramatically interesting relationships and plot expenses would be automatically covered and which would
events. She’s got a good couple of stories going, with be a matter of extra saving, fundraising, or borrowing
organic interconnections between the PCs and their money. You can still require an accounting of a major
significant NPCs. Social mechanical tools like Downtime, purchase like a magic item while not requiring character
Renown, and Relationships are ways for you to know sheet math tracking for every single bowl of stew at the
what your players are interested in, and ways to generate Bow’s End. Money and social class are a great source
engaging dramatic situations for them. of scholastic drama, and I hope these rules for Lifestyle
Expenses can abstract money and social class enough
to allow that drama while not demanding complex
accounting on your part.

Using the Lifestyle Expenses as categories of economic

resources allows you to handwave a lot of the normal social
expenses while still allowing money and economic class
to play a part in the story. In the Player’s Handbook, each
STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK
22
Lifestyle has an amount of money it costs per day. If you be from a campus job or a use of downtime activity to
are using Lifestyle categories as an economic classification, do guild work
that cost instead reflects the “pocket money” a PC has at
any given time, money they can spend on any random, Hermit should be “Squalid/Struggling” or “Poor.”
frivolous expenses that come up. A “Comfortable” Lifestyle
costs 2 gold a day, and so a PC that is “Comfortable” has Noble should be “Wealthy” or “Aristocratic.” Once again, go
2 gold available for any random social occasion, outing, ahead and use a different Lifestyle if it's what you and your
or impulse buy. This isn’t all the money they have in the player decide is best. In fact, a student Noble background
world, and it isn’t a daily salary (“2 gold a day for 4 years! and a “Modest” Lifestyle is an interesting story in and
I’m rich!”), just an abstract representation of the immediate of itself-- a formerly prosperous house fallen on hard
money available to that PC on any random day. times, a notorious scion cut off by the family, all sorts of
possibilities.
Campus jobs provide a salary of 5 gold a week, and you
and your PCs can decide if that 5 gold is extra spending Outlander should be “Squalid/Struggling” to “Modest.”
money or a part of the basic tuition and living expenses
the student has to pay. I recommend that any student Sage should be “Comfortable” to “Aristocratic.” Education
of Lifestyle “Modest” or above has that salary to spend is often a luxury good, after all.
on whatever they like, and any student with “Squalid/
Struggling” or “Poor” is required to spend that money Sailor should be “Poor” to “Comfortable.” The Sailor
as soon as they get it, with 1 to 2 silver left over on any Background is flavored as a worker, not a captain, ship
given day available as pocket money. This could also add owner or merchant prince.
an element of extra tension and drama to campus life- if a
“Poor” student loses their job, they have to scramble to find Soldier should be “Poor” to “Comfortable.” Similarly,
a new one or they might have to leave school. the Soldier Background is flavored more “grunt in the
trenches” and less “medal-bedecked general.”
You can shift a PCs Lifestyle up or down temporarily to
reflect a major expense or major windfall of money. Say a Urchin should be “Struggling” or “Poor.”
PC with a “Comfortable” Lifestyle needed to rent a hall and
cater a party; their Lifestyle might be lowered to “Modest” A lot of your players are going to be choosing the
for 2-3 months while they have to cut corners and pinch Strixhaven student Backgrounds. Most of the colleges
pennies to make up for that major expense. If a PC with do not suggest a particular socioeconomic class level, so
a “Comfortable” Lifestyle decides to make a huge bet on a that’s something to work out in character creation, and
Silkball game and wins, that PC might have their Lifestyle something that’s going to be an interesting bit of flavor
raised to “Wealthy” for a month while they enjoy their for the character. A Prismari who has to scrap and save
winnings. These changes can also be permanent. A PC for every paintbrush is going to have a different approach
from a powerful and prestigious (and corrupt) noble family to art then a Prismari with a healthy line of credit at the
has an “Aristocratic” Lifestyle, as long as their family is art supplies store. In a lot of societies and worlds in the
happy with them. If they confront their family and reveal pseudo-medieval multiverse of D&D, higher education is
their corruption, or refuse to participate in some of their still mostly a luxury good, so in my opinion most of the
corrupt actions, the PC could be cut off and have their colleges lend themselves to Lifestyles from “Comfortable”
Lifestyle drop to “Poor.” Time to get a job! to “Aristocratic.” Of course the lower class scholarship
genius or the penniless urchin who used raw intelligence
I suggest the following Lifestyles based on PC and ambition to claw out an education are classic
Backgrounds. (I also have some other thoughts on adapting archetypes and could be a lot of fun to play.
Backgrounds for Strixhaven in the following section.) A lot
of the Backgrounds have a particular flavor which includes The main colleges where I do see a particular flavor of
a particular economic situation. One doesn’t normally Lifestyle suggested are Witherbloom and Silverquill.
think of a wealthy Folk Hero, for example. Of course, these Witherbloom has a lot of aesthetics of a very simple,
suggestions are just averages–a wealthy Folk Hero can mud-on-their-boots hermit type. It suggests moss-
be an interesting story, and the specific Lifestyle Expense overgrown shacks and patchwork clothing. Silverquill
category of your PCs is up to you all to figure out together. has strong overtones of class and privilege. You look
at a lot of the Silverquill art and think “rich kid.” Once
Acolyte, Charlatan, Criminal, and Entertainer can range from again, fun narrative and role play can come from PCs
“Poor” to “Wealthy” depending on the specifics of the or NPCs that subvert those expectations. A filthy rich
PC’s backstory. Witherbloom with a massive state-of-the-art enchanted
greenhouse or a grew-up-with-nothing, young, scrappy,
Folk Hero should be “Struggling” to “Comfortable” and hungry Silverquill climbing the socioeconomic ladder
through talent and ambition are both fun, memorable
Guild Artisan should be “Comfortable” to “Wealthy.” character concepts. Work it out with your players at
The Background specifically mentions them as being character creation.
skilled workers of a higher socio-economic status then
the average non-noble crafter. 5 gold a month. This can It’s going to be tempting–if your Lifestyle category is
purely a flavor choice–for everyone to be rich. Remind

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23
 your players that having the “Wealthy” lifestyle doesn’t
mean they have a big sack of gold in their room, it means “Wealthy” 4 gp a day. You can always afford new books
they have a *source of money* which they need to figure and spell equipment. You can eat and drink out whenever
out at character creation. That source of money can also be you like, and you can afford to stand another person for
a source of social and dramatic problems or conflict. their meals and drinks. Extra money would be nice, but a
campus job might be a distraction from your studies. With
You can also use these Lifestyle Expenses categories as a little saving you could afford to host an event once a year
a source of class conflict. I suggest that if a PC attends a or so. You can join any number of groups or activities that
gathering, meeting, or other social event where at least require a fee, with no special savings needed.
2/3 of the attendees are two higher or two lower Lifestyle
categories, they make Charisma (Persuasion) rolls with “Aristocratic” 10 gp a day minimum. You can afford the top
Disadvantage. If a student with a “Modest” Lifestyle quality books and spell equipment, and never need to even
goes to a meeting where everyone else is “Wealthy” or think about their cost. A campus job would be a distraction
“Aristocratic,” they’re not going to fit in and you get the from your studies. You can regularly afford to stand an
classic school drama scene of all the rich snobs laughing entire party for their food and drinks, and occasionally pay
behind their hands at the bad manners of the lower class. to host an event without dipping into savings. You could
Alternatively, if a “Wealthy” student goes to a party where pay for multiple people to join groups or activities, and you
everyone else is “Poor” to “Modest,” a Rose-in-Titanic type could upgrade the conditions of the entire activity (better
situation, then that “Wealthy” student is going to stand out lodgings for a school trip, new equipment for an entire
and their social interactions are going to be awkward. team, etc).

Here are my suggestions for the economic circumstances

of a student from each of the Lifestyle Expense categories.

“Squalid”/”Struggling.” 1 sp a day. You are barely able to

afford school. You almost never have any spending money,
buying third and fourth-hand used books and extremely
unreliable spell equipment, and are never able to do
extracurricular activities or off-campus trips that require
any kind of fee or deposit. Going out with friends and
getting a sandwich and cup of coffee at the Firejolt Cafe
is a serious expense that requires budgeting for days. You
need to have a campus job and either a second job or some
other way to make money, and their salaries go right back
to your tuition, living expenses, debts, etc.

“Poor” 2 sp a day. You need to purchase used books and

spell equipment, but once or twice a week or two you
can afford a drink at the Bow’s End Tavern. Anything
more than that requires budgeting and saving. You need
a campus job, and probably should have a second job or Crime
side income. You could consider joining a group or activity The Criminal Background involves being plugged into
with a registration fee or deposit if you worked double the underworld, and a University campus has a number
shifts for several months. Your first job’s salary goes to of ways to make illicit money. Crime could also be a way
tuition and living expenses, but a second job/side income around the prohibition against taking a second job on
could at least be partially used for spending money. campus if a PC was desperate (or just greedy) for more
money and willing to devote Downtime to crimes. In a lot
“Modest” 1 gp a day. You prefer buying used books, but of the classic school stories, crime is less violent and legally
you can with a little saving afford new spell equipment. consequential. The threat of discovery in these stories
You can afford a meal or a couple drinks every other day or tends to be social and administrative–if you get caught
so. You should have a campus job, and most of the salary is robbing a dorm room the fear is that you will be socially
spending money. With a little saving, you could join one ostracized or expelled, not arrested. However, some media
group or activity that requires a registration fee or deposit. have a more serious and violent version of “school crime,”
You could join a second such group or activity if you deriving drama from the noirish juxtaposition of serious
worked double shifts for a couple months. violent crime and an academic setting. The show Veronica
Mars, the movie Brick, and Holly Black’s Curseworkers
“Comfortable” 2 gp a day. You can almost always afford book series are good examples of this. If your Strixhaven
new books and spell equipment. You might want a campus is a darker, more violent, and more corrupt place than
job for extra pocket money. You can afford to get a meal the normal depiction, you can get a lot of fun stories from
or a drink out whenever the mood strikes you. You can the combination of violent, high stakes crimes, academic
automatically join one group or activity that requires a fee, pressures, and social/relationship drama.
and could join a second or third such activity with a little
saving or a couple of weeks of extra shifts.

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24
These “school” crimes replace the Criminal Specialty chart 8: Muscle. This could range from being a bodyguard, an
in the Criminal Background. All of them have a wide enforcer, or just a petty underling/delivery person for a
variety of scales, ranging from “extremely petty and small- wealthy and powerful criminal, on or off campus.
time” to “boss of a larger group of students.” The scale of
the PC’s specific criminal activity is going to determine
the Living Expenses category it provides, as well as the
crime’s dangers, responsibilities, threats, and other story
elements. A pickpocket robbing students at social events
might thus raise their Living Expense category from
“Poor” to “Modest,” and that same pickpocket escalating to
leading a crew performing large-scale robberies or fencing
stolen goods to local businesses might get up to “Wealthy.”
Of course, the former pickpocket now has to devote
significant time and resources to that criminal activity,
as well as facing the constant threat of rivals, upstart or
unreliable partners, and capture.

School Crimes
1: Contraband
2: Blackmail Crime Specialties
3: Plagiarism These are some crimes that connect to the academic
4: Stealing specialty of each college. If the PCs have the “_____
5: Gambling Student” background for a particular college, consider
6: Con artist
7: Loan sharking giving that PC Advantage on rolls related to the crime
8: Muscle speciality for that college. This reflects how the PCs
immersion into the academic discipline as well as the
1: Contraband. Acquiring and selling things normally reputation of their college can make it easier to find
forbidden on campus. These could include recreational, clients, supplies, accomplices, etc. These crimes can range
performance enhancing, or otherwise desirable substances. from “minor college pranks” to “deadly serious, cutthroat
This could range from someone who has a small business underworld.” Pick whichever variations of each crime fit
crafting and selling their own contraband, to someone who the tone and themes of your Strixhaven
acts as a middleman for contraband produced by others.
Witherbloom: A Witherbloom is a natural at alchemical
2: Blackmail. This could be through manipulating people crime, brewing and cooking all sorts of illicit substances.
to get them in compromising situations, through having a Witherblooms can provide poison (from the prankish to
network of campus informants, or through having access the deadly) as well as many other forms of contraband.
to administration files (possibly through a campus job).
Lorehold: Summoning ghosts gives you access to
3: Plagiarism. This could range from selling pre-written excellent blackmail material. Archaeology has always had
essays to stealing and copying tests. a shady side, and your more active Loreholds often (as a
matter of necessity) have a foot in the world of smuggling
4: Stealing. This could range from pickpocketing or petty artifacts, which also has a strong overlap in the world of
theft to embezzlement from an Extracurricular to more counterfeit artifacts.
serious break-ins of dorms, admin buildings, etc. It could
also, with the right connections, cover acting as a Fence Quandrix: Never bet against a Quandrix, but they’re the
for stolen goods. best oddsmakers and bookies on campus. A Quandrix
makes an excellent accountant or treasurer, but a crooked
5: Gambling. This could rinclude the PC’s own personal Quandrix is a master embezzler. They can make an
gambling activity, the PC’s rigging events to manipulate organization’s money disappear without anyone even
gambling, or the PC acting as a bookie and running their noticing anything’s wrong.
own gambling events.
Prismari: The world of fine arts is plagued by
6: Con Artist. This could range from petty scams on fellow counterfeits, and no one’s better equipped to take
students for a gold here and there to a major, complicated advantage of this lucrative if highly unethical business like
con of a wealthy student or faculty member for larger a fully trained Prismari. In fact, the same skills, techniques,
sums of money. and attention to detail that students learn in Prismari make
them excellent forgers of any type of document.
7: Loan Sharking. This could involve lending money to
other students or acting as a leg breaker/enforcer for a Silverquill: Confidence, ambition, and a mastery of
money lender. words. A Silverquill is a natural con artist, and honestly,
the line between “bold, visionary entrepreneur” and “con
artist” is very thin.

STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK

25
 That entire population respects and acknowledges the PC’s
Military Rank, thus giving that PC a network of social
connections. You could also use Military Rank as is if you
decide that a single military force, the PC’s military force
has a significant presence in Strixhaven, which suggests an
interesting story feature with a lot of plot potential.

Strixhaven is a good setting with all of the ingredients you

need for dramatic, player character-driven role play and
story. I hope these rules give you some simple systems to
track and mechanically acknowledge those roleplaying,
relationship, and setting-driven story decisions. For a little
more help generating stories, here is a chart of rumors/
story seeds for each college.

Happy Gaming!

Adapting Backgrounds
As mentioned, a PC’s Background is the simplest way to
determine social class and wealth, and thus their starting
Lifestyle. Some Background features are clearly designed
for a wider world with more travel. Strixhaven is a
campaign set in a closed, very specific setting, and here’s
my suggestions for adapting some of the PHB Background
features to make them more useful in this campaign.

Acolyte: Since Strixhaven is a campaign in a closed setting

with limited worship spaces, I would allow “Shelter of
the Faithful” to apply to any person of Faith, not just the
specific co-religionists of the PC. The main faith group
we hear about is the “Student Mages of Faith,” a multi
faith group that still provides a sense of cohesion and
community to all its members, sort of functioning as a
“church” in the wider society of Strixhaven.

Of course, you can rule there’s a large student community

and shrine for the worship of a particular god, and apply
“Shelter of the Faithful” as normal, but that’s something to
make clear to your PCs in character creation.

Folk Hero: Since Strixhaven is a setting by nature removed

from the homes and people of the students, I’d allow
“Rustic Hospitality'' to apply to a specific faction of the
Strixhaven community that fills the role of “the common
people.” Maybe the first year students, or students from
poorer backgrounds, or campus service employees–work it
out with your player.

Sailor: The Ship’s Passage feature is all about travel, which

is not a major part of this campaign. I would change Ship’s
Passage Feature to a version of the Criminal’s Criminal
Contact Background Feature. The Sailor PC has access to a
network of merchants and traders, and can thus get things
and send messages with ease.

Soldier: The Military Rank feature, like the Acolyte’s

Shelter of the Faithful, is designed more for travel and
the wider world. However, Military Rank can function in
Strixhaven as-is if you make it more generalized. Instead of
a specific army or military force, you can rule that there is
a population of current or former military in Strixhaven.

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26
Rumors and plot hooks for are always bound by their contracts. And what kind of
Silverquill can’t get the better of a contract negotiation?
each college. 3: The Star Arches are words, manifesting pure magic.
And if they are words, you can rewrite them, and thus
Lorehold. rewrite reality itself.
1: A group of students has started raising ghosts to help
with their historical research. This would be fine, but
they’re not following the safety protocols and limitations Witherbloom.
put in place by the school. They’re raising old and powerful 1: Within Witherbloom there’s a secret organization
ghosts, and even letting the ghosts possess them. of fanatical druids led by a centuries-old professor who
figured out the secret of rejuvenation. This organization is
2: What Lorehold calls “Archaeology,” most people would dedicated to destroying civilization and restoring "balance."
call “grave robbing.” There are hoards of angry ghosts
and vengeance curses that the college’s protective wards 2: Nature is change, nature is evolution, and there’s a group
are just barely holding back. And perhaps one or more of advanced Witherbloom experimenting with hybridizing
descendents of those ghosts decides to infiltrate the college different creatures. That’s where owlbears came from.
and drop those wards.
3: Witherblooms take this nature stuff seriously. Every
3: History records the Netherese empire fell when an year on the solstice, the professors and alums have a big
unimaginably powerful wizard named Karsus attempted trip for the 4th years into the wilderness. They divide them
a spell he had created to become a god. Reconstruction of randomly into “predators” and “prey” and have them hunt
that spell would lead to enormous advances in the study of each other. It’s just supposed to be a game, but every year a
that period. For academic purposes only, of course. couple don’t make it back.

Prismari.
1: There’s a secret cult of the Evil Elemental Princes, a cult
of Prismari that see them as the truest manifestation of
elemental power.

2: Some Prismari have figured out how to put their own

emotions into their art, but it drains their memories.

3: Art is truth, and the best art has a life of its own. Is it
really killing someone if you give them true immortality?

Quandrix.
1: They say the realm of Mechanus is one enormous
machine, working for some unknowable purpose.
But if it’s a machine, Quandrix can model it and learn
that purpose.

2: A gifted Quandrix professor is working on a

simulational model of Strixhaven itself, able to predict the
actions and events of the entire university. But when does
prediction become control?

3: A group of Quandrix have a theory that the entire

known cosmos is itself a biological system inside some
unimaginably vast organism. The best way to test that
theory is to engineer the release of magical energy
powerful enough to trigger a reaction in the organism.

Silverquill.
1: An eccentric professor is leading a hand picked group
of students in an intense study of linguistics, history, and
theology with the ultimate goal of finding the language of
the gods themselves.

2: There’s a very prosperous circle of infernalists in

Silverquill. Devils can give you so many things, and

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27
 Other Works: It’s a totally new, tighter, less lethal ghost story (the
chambermaid is the stepmother is the murderer is the
boss ghost, no cult, no dungeon) with ghost PC rules and
For more of my work, I’ve adapted 1980 “The Fog” for resurrection at the end.
three adventure settings. Something in the Fog is setting
neutral, Fog Over Saltmarsh for Ghosts of Saltmarsh and https://www.dmsguild.com/product/311769/Another-
Fog over Barovia for Curse of Strahd. Death-Another-House

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/387249/Something- Happy Gaming!

in-the-Fog?affiliate_id=241770

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/359994/Fog-over-
Saltmarsh?view_as_pub=1

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/359997/Fog-Over-
Barovia?view_as_pub=1

Speaking of John Carpenter, I also adapted the original

1978 "Halloween" for two settings. "You Can't Kill the
Boogeyman" is setting neutral and "Barovian Boogeyman"
is for Curse of Strahd.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/385363/You-Cant-
Kill-the-Boogeyman?affiliate_id=241770

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/385365/Barovian-
Boogeyman?affiliate_id=241770

If you’re the kind of person running spooky adventures,

and you know kids, there’s a good chance you’re in the
market for Halloween and spooky stuff that’s kid friendly.
I’d like to pitch Rachel’s amazing Halloween Mother
Goose book.

https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Ghost-Nursery-
Rhymes-Monsters/dp/1585363928/

For more D and D specific spooky kids stuff, Rachel and I

wrote a guide to children’s horror games. We go through
each of the “Genres of Horror” from Van Richten’s Guide
to Ravenloft and discuss how to adapt them for young
players. We look at examples of each genre from books,
shows, or movies of children’s horror, and then discuss
adapting a couple famous children’s horror stories into D
and D adventures. This is going to very useful for running
any of these Disney Ravenloft adventures for kids.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/369751/Ravenloft-
Gives-Me-Goosebumps-Genres-of-Horror

On the topic of kid’s horror, I did a guide to running a

more young player friendly version of Curse of Strahd
with guidelines on horror-themed games for young players
(ages 8-12) called “Strahd gives me Goosebumps.” It can
be useful for running with adults if you have some players
who are not comfortable with all the child murder.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/348639/Strahd-
Gives-Me-Goosebumps?view_as_pub=1

Speaking of Curse of Strahd I’ve also got a re-write of

Death House for Curse of Strahd on the DMs guild.
It’s made to be a better introduction for new players.

STRIXHAVEN FACULTY HANDBOOK

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