Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos brings the famed university of spellcasters from Magic: The Gathering lore to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. The book will be the third campaign setting to take D&D players to an MTG plane, with Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica and Mythic Odysseys of Theros being the first two.
Strixhaven University is comprised of five colleges where students specialize in certain areas of magical study. Students at Prismari, for example, are creatives who see magic as an art form, while students who attend Quandrix study the metaphysics of the universe in order to wield it. Check out the breakdown on the school's five colleges below to discover which college you — or your player characters — should attend!
The 5 colleges of Strixhaven University
Strixhaven University is on the plane of Arcavios. Each of its five colleges was founded by and named after an elder dragon. For those who live in Arcavios, being accepted into Strixhaven is an honor. Not only have famous mages — including Liliana Vess from MTG lore — attended the university, but it is also home to the Biblioplex, a library that is so large some of its chambers have their own weather.
Lorehold: College of Archaeomancy
Leave no stone unturned.
Mascot: Spirit statues
Founder: Velomachus Lorehold
Mages who attend Lorehold are history buffs and explorers. They venture into tombs to unearth artifacts and use magic to summon spirits who can reveal forgotten knowledge from ancient civilizations. For Lorehold mages, understanding the past is important because it helps them better predict the future. Those who study at the college might go on to become archaeologists, anthropologists, or philosophers.
Lorehold is comprised of historic buildings excavated out of cliff sides and decorated with monuments to famous figures from across the ages. You'll find multitiered galleries where students attend lectures and bridges that only the brave mages of Lorehold would dare cross. The college's mascot is the spirit statue, which is a statue that has been carved into the likeness of the spirit that possesses it.
Prismari: College of Elemental Arts
Express yourself with the elements.
Mascot: Elementals
Founder: Galazeth Prismari
Prismari is the art school of Strixhaven. Mages who attend this college are either unfettered creatives or meticulous artists who perfect their techniques over the years. Prismari mages know how to make a lasting impression. They are commonly musicians, dancers, and actors who use elemental magic to enhance their performances. For some Prismari mages, the somatic components in spellcasting are the art itself — rather than the resulting effect.
Prismari is as elegant as the elemental magic its students weave. A towering building provides sweeping views of Arcavios, while other areas on campus immortalize sculptures and other pieces of art made by students. The college's mascot is the elemental, creatures of raw magic.
Quandrix: College of Numeromancy
Math is magic.
Mascot: Fractals
Founder: Tanazir Quandrix
Quandrix students are nature-mathematicians who seek to understand the complex formulas that make up the world around them — and wield them. They are mages who stand between theory and the natural world. Engineering, physics, statistics, and other such majors are common at Quandrix.
The college's mascot is a fractal, an artificial lifeform that mimics a real-world creature but that can be readily modified by Quandrix mages. A fractal's size can easily be changed, for example, making them great pets and companions on the battlefield.
Visitors to Quandrix will find a towering building whose architecture magically changes over time, in addition to gardens with fractalized animals and plants.
Silverquill: College of Eloquence
Sharp style. Sharper wit.
Mascot: Inklings
Founder: Shadrix Silverquill
Silverquill students are quick-witted and charismatic mages whose magic weaponizes words, whether to empower allies or strike down enemies. Of Strixhaven's five colleges, Silverquill produces among the best battle mages. That is owed, in part, due to the curriculum putting more emphasis on magical duels than some of the other colleges.
The school's mascot is the inkling, an amorphous creature made from magical ink. Among Silverquill graduates, expect to find esteemed writers, public speakers, and lawyers. The school's campus can be best described as an elegant train station with balconies and daises aplenty.
Witherbloom: College of Essence Studies
Get your hands dirty.
Mascot: Pests
Founder: Beledros Witherbloom
Witherbloom mages study creatures and plants of all manner, and learn how to protect, enhance, and exploit them. Such mages are at home in the wild, whether picking herbs to brew restorative potions or disrupting the natural balance of the world by raising dead creatures to do their bidding. You'll find agriculturists, biologists, healers, and necromancers among the school's graduates.
The Witherbloom mascot is the pest, a tiny-size worm. They are unpleasant creatures that bite without provocation and are decorated in spikes. They are convenient to have on hand, however. They readily dissolve into life essence Witherbloom mages can use to fuel their magic. The college is located in a bayou. Its buildings seem to rise up out of the earth itself and is segmented off by pods.
Which college will you attend?
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos introduces the most prestigious university for mages to Dungeons & Dragons. Each of the school's colleges offer mages from across the multiverse opportunity to study magic that reflects their interests. More details are to come on this campaign setting book. Until then: which college would your player characters attend?
Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is an upcoming D&D release set in the Magic: The Gathering world of Strixhaven. Tune into D&D Live 2021 presented by G4 on July 16 and 17 for details including new character options, monsters, mechanics, story hooks, and more!
Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.
Not for me, this set makes sense to me because a play magic. I don't think there were any artificers in Quandrix.
I guess, though to me if you do a book about a magic school then updated lists would be great.
I don’t know what you are talking about. Maybe try quoting the original post or sending a link to it?
well, this HAS to be better than the new MTG DnD cross over.
The MTG DnD set seems like a lot of fun.
Check out my podcast! We’re about 17 episodes in! My players are adventurers going to college! It’s pretty fun so far!
It’s called Roll4Damage on any media platform you have available to yourself.
Some of it seems like fun, but I'm seeing a lot of stuff they've failed at. (I really hate how they look at dragons and dragon borns.)
The UA article for these subclasses confused me when it said you can only have one feature from your subclass at a time. Does this mean exactly what it says, or am I missing something? It just doesn't make sense to only have one feature.
You're missing something, just not sure what.
It seems like a mistake; it's possible one or more of the sub-classes had multiple 6th or 10th level features or such that you originally could choose between, but unless I've missed one none of them seem to have multiple features at any level except first (and this restriction does not apply to those).
This shit is just Hogwarts, right? With the massive catalog of ideas and campaigns, we're getting ghetto Harry Potter? Okay...
This is pretty different from hogwarts, for instance it was founded by dragons and some of the people in it do magic with math (also known as mathmagics, but only to me, as far as I know). The only similarity is that they are both schools of magic.
It's nothing like Harry Potter; the different schools in Harry Potter teach basically the same types of magic, and most of it is actually pitifully weak (you get to learn levitating and throwing wands away, big whoop).
Each school in Strixhaven is radically different, embodying a radically different type and philosophy of magic, and in this case it's based around D&D magic where you can progress towards becoming a magical god. Voldermort is a dumb noseless baby compared to a proper lich, or your average turn-into-a-dragon-on-a-whim simulacrum and clone defence wizard.
Plus J.K.Rowling did not invent magic schools.
And I say all of that as a fan of Harry Potter 😝
Do you have a source for this?
I don't wanna ******* re-live prom, I also don't wanna re-live my ******* bullies, I just wanna slay a dragon and grab some gold. actually can we get a pirate book in the future? I would love a book about navel combat and being a pirate.
That kind of exists, it’s called Ghosts of Saltmarsh. It’s similar to Candlekeep Mysteries but also has rules for water travel and stuff.
..... Then don't read these then.
Simple solution, really.
I hope this is the one to introduce rules for Planeswalking, but that’s probably not going to happen
None of the above? I like playing magic the gathering. I like playing DND. But I don't like mixing them. Additionally as I'm currently returning to college for a second degree, I really don't want more school problems in my down time. Finally I'm not sure what this book is trying to achieve. It's not an adventure, but a couple mini quests. It won't have classes or subclasses. It honestly feels rushed to meet some arbitrary deadline forced onto Jeremy.