I’m crafting an urban fantasy style campaign for a few friends of mine, and it’s set in a sort of adventuring school (the campaign setting is somewhat inspired by the fantasy high campaign of dimension 20), and I don’t have very many ideas for students or teachers, besides the ones I’ve already pinned as story relevant. If I could get any help with ideas for students, teachers, and even townspeople, that would be fantastic! I need ideas for a good amount of students, lots of townspeople, and a teacher for each adventuring class except for wizard and warlock (meaning I don’t need a teacher/teachers for the classes).
1. The head librarian is a sentient book that, originally an experiment to create a "catalogue of everything", gained sentience due to the sheer amount of reference data it has now amassed. It is on a quest to learn everything in existence, and due to the inhumanoid way its mind works, it doesn't see any folly whatsoever in that task; it takes merely time and steady application.
The librarian gets around through pure magic alone (fight and telekinesis), or if you'd prefer, they've constructed a clockwork body apparatus for themself to better see to their duties as librarian.
They care for the library more than any other thing, and regards the many texts under their care as kin; their silent, sleeping siblings. They are kindly enough to students, but distant and difficult for everyone to relate to ask they (understandably) have an alien way of thinking and being.
2. There's a tenured professor who's work is so obscure and theoretical that their colleagues can't decide if they're a genius or an idiot. They focus a lot on Big Magics, like 'measuring the foundations of the cosmos' kind of stuff, and a lot of work they've published contains big, elaborate rituals that would theoretically take years to cast and fortunes to pay for all the material components either. They aren't often seen casting any spells themselves, always using matches to light their pipe, organizing their desk by hand, and repairing broken objects through mundane means, causing many to lean over to the "idiot" notion, however, when pressed or in a dangerous situation, they are a surprisingly fierce and forceful spellcaster who can be somewhat frightening to watch in action. Their eternally calm demeanor in these situations strike more fear into their enemies than a roar of bloodlust from a large dragon. However, so few have ever seen this side of them.
1. The head librarian is a sentient book that, originally an experiment to create a "catalogue of everything", gained sentience due to the sheer amount of reference data it has now amassed. It is on a quest to learn everything in existence, and due to the inhumanoid way its mind works, it doesn't see any folly whatsoever in that task; it takes merely time and steady application.
The librarian gets around through pure magic alone (fight and telekinesis), or if you'd prefer, they've constructed a clockwork body apparatus for themself to better see to their duties as librarian.
They care for the library more than any other thing, and regards the many texts under their care as kin; their silent, sleeping siblings. They are kindly enough to students, but distant and difficult for everyone to relate to ask they (understandably) have an alien way of thinking and being.
2. There's a tenured professor who's work is so obscure and theoretical that their colleagues can't decide if they're a genius or an idiot. They focus a lot on Big Magics, like 'measuring the foundations of the cosmos' kind of stuff, and a lot of work they've published contains big, elaborate rituals that would theoretically take years to cast and fortunes to pay for all the material components either. They aren't often seen casting any spells themselves, always using matches to light their pipe, organizing their desk by hand, and repairing broken objects through mundane means, causing many to lean over to the "idiot" notion, however, when pressed or in a dangerous situation, they are a surprisingly fierce and forceful spellcaster who can be somewhat frightening to watch in action. Their eternally calm demeanor in these situations strike more fear into their enemies than a roar of bloodlust from a large dragon. However, so few have ever seen this side of them.
I love the librarian idea so much! It’s very creative and unique, and also has a lot of opportunities for flavor and comedy. Thank you!
The melee combat teacher, maybe a barbarian, who is constantly telling the students that they are "Getting too old for this crap."
The bard who is only a few months from retirement and is just phoning it in. "Yeah, great song. You get an A. Everyone gets an A. Class dismissed."
The monk who is like 197 years old, but looks like they're 26 because of timeless body. Or the druid who has something similar going on. So finally, someone, somewhere can get some use from the ability.
A paladin who is an absolute stereotype lawful-stupid paladin. And they bring their horse everywhere. It kind of just stands in the classroom or the cafeteria. So everyone thinks they're really strange, except for a celestial warlock who has a secret crush on them.
A student who keeps putting glyphs of warding all around that just make fart noises when they get set off, like a magical whoopie-cushion. Maybe the players never actually discover the identity of this person.
The teacher of "Dragons 304: Breath Weapons and You" is an actual dragon. Maybe shapeshifted into a humanoid, maybe not.
A company called "Flying Buffalo" published a series called "Citybooks" that were filled with colorful NPCs, places, and organizations, and you can get them in PDF from DriveThruRPG.com. They're really quite wonderful and might be just what you are looking for.
One of the professors had a magical accident many years ago, and now any time they teleport by any means, their physical age changes -- each time they show up to teach a class, they could be anywhere from ancient and decrepit to younger than the students.
The rest of the faculty are completely used to it and don't even seem to notice the changes, and the professor gets very angry when anyone brings it up since they've never been able to find a cure.
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
A grung that runs a Head Shop and basically just looks like those psychedelic frogs you see on pot merchandise.
A Goblin biker gang but instead of motorcycles they ride around in souped up Power Wheels, since those are the right size for them.
The Aarakocra Parcel Service, or APS, which employs Aarakocra to deliver packages. They're in direct competition with Tab-Ex, which employs Tabaxi for the same purpose.
Get whacky with cars... maybe some Cars are just mimics that have been trained to take on that form. Maybe they're closer to Animated Armors, except instead of Armor they're in the form of a vehicle. I think it would be fun if all vehicles are at least somewhat sentient... more like golems or something along those lines.
A High Elf country club full of snooty 80's movie rich-kid stereotypes. Could lead to a fun "Snobs vs Slobs" adventure when the party helps open the country club up to everybody.
Figure out some kind of analog for things like telephones or computers. Fantasy High had crystals, and honestly that would probably be the simplest thing to just use as a catch-all for any technology someone might expect in a modern setting. Although I think something like Magic Mirrors used in place of televisions and monitors would be pretty fun. Maybe even small hand-held mirrors used in place of cell phones.
EDIT: Oh, also for the sentient book Librarian, that instantly made me think of a the Order of Scribes Awakened Spellbook, which is already a sentient book that exists within the logic of D&D. Could be a Spellbook that outlived the wizard that created it or maybe you could even play it off like it "divorced" the wizard so you've got this desperate schlub of a wizard who wants to get back with his Spellbook, but the book has moved on and made a life for itself.
I’m crafting an urban fantasy style campaign for a few friends of mine, and it’s set in a sort of adventuring school (the campaign setting is somewhat inspired by the fantasy high campaign of dimension 20), and I don’t have very many ideas for students or teachers, besides the ones I’ve already pinned as story relevant. If I could get any help with ideas for students, teachers, and even townspeople, that would be fantastic! I need ideas for a good amount of students, lots of townspeople, and a teacher for each adventuring class except for wizard and warlock (meaning I don’t need a teacher/teachers for the classes).
An abjuration wizard who is scared of magic.(best as a teacher)might have a backstory reason or just be scared of what magic can do.
An evocation wizard with a metal limb/survived the biggest war in the last 60 years.Will not shut up about it.
A over-eager student whom is in a warlock pact.Studies primarily in planar magics.
These are just a few ideas.
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1. The head librarian is a sentient book that, originally an experiment to create a "catalogue of everything", gained sentience due to the sheer amount of reference data it has now amassed. It is on a quest to learn everything in existence, and due to the inhumanoid way its mind works, it doesn't see any folly whatsoever in that task; it takes merely time and steady application.
The librarian gets around through pure magic alone (fight and telekinesis), or if you'd prefer, they've constructed a clockwork body apparatus for themself to better see to their duties as librarian.
They care for the library more than any other thing, and regards the many texts under their care as kin; their silent, sleeping siblings. They are kindly enough to students, but distant and difficult for everyone to relate to ask they (understandably) have an alien way of thinking and being.
2. There's a tenured professor who's work is so obscure and theoretical that their colleagues can't decide if they're a genius or an idiot. They focus a lot on Big Magics, like 'measuring the foundations of the cosmos' kind of stuff, and a lot of work they've published contains big, elaborate rituals that would theoretically take years to cast and fortunes to pay for all the material components either. They aren't often seen casting any spells themselves, always using matches to light their pipe, organizing their desk by hand, and repairing broken objects through mundane means, causing many to lean over to the "idiot" notion, however, when pressed or in a dangerous situation, they are a surprisingly fierce and forceful spellcaster who can be somewhat frightening to watch in action. Their eternally calm demeanor in these situations strike more fear into their enemies than a roar of bloodlust from a large dragon. However, so few have ever seen this side of them.
I love the librarian idea so much! It’s very creative and unique, and also has a lot of opportunities for flavor and comedy. Thank you!
The trash cans are mimics who eat all of the leftovers.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
The melee combat teacher, maybe a barbarian, who is constantly telling the students that they are "Getting too old for this crap."
The bard who is only a few months from retirement and is just phoning it in. "Yeah, great song. You get an A. Everyone gets an A. Class dismissed."
The monk who is like 197 years old, but looks like they're 26 because of timeless body. Or the druid who has something similar going on. So finally, someone, somewhere can get some use from the ability.
A paladin who is an absolute stereotype lawful-stupid paladin. And they bring their horse everywhere. It kind of just stands in the classroom or the cafeteria. So everyone thinks they're really strange, except for a celestial warlock who has a secret crush on them.
A student who keeps putting glyphs of warding all around that just make fart noises when they get set off, like a magical whoopie-cushion. Maybe the players never actually discover the identity of this person.
The teacher of "Dragons 304: Breath Weapons and You" is an actual dragon. Maybe shapeshifted into a humanoid, maybe not.
A company called "Flying Buffalo" published a series called "Citybooks" that were filled with colorful NPCs, places, and organizations, and you can get them in PDF from DriveThruRPG.com. They're really quite wonderful and might be just what you are looking for.
<Insert clever signature here>
One of the professors had a magical accident many years ago, and now any time they teleport by any means, their physical age changes -- each time they show up to teach a class, they could be anywhere from ancient and decrepit to younger than the students.
The rest of the faculty are completely used to it and don't even seem to notice the changes, and the professor gets very angry when anyone brings it up since they've never been able to find a cure.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Here's a few ideas that come to mind...
A grung that runs a Head Shop and basically just looks like those psychedelic frogs you see on pot merchandise.
A Goblin biker gang but instead of motorcycles they ride around in souped up Power Wheels, since those are the right size for them.
The Aarakocra Parcel Service, or APS, which employs Aarakocra to deliver packages. They're in direct competition with Tab-Ex, which employs Tabaxi for the same purpose.
Get whacky with cars... maybe some Cars are just mimics that have been trained to take on that form. Maybe they're closer to Animated Armors, except instead of Armor they're in the form of a vehicle. I think it would be fun if all vehicles are at least somewhat sentient... more like golems or something along those lines.
A High Elf country club full of snooty 80's movie rich-kid stereotypes. Could lead to a fun "Snobs vs Slobs" adventure when the party helps open the country club up to everybody.
Figure out some kind of analog for things like telephones or computers. Fantasy High had crystals, and honestly that would probably be the simplest thing to just use as a catch-all for any technology someone might expect in a modern setting. Although I think something like Magic Mirrors used in place of televisions and monitors would be pretty fun. Maybe even small hand-held mirrors used in place of cell phones.
EDIT: Oh, also for the sentient book Librarian, that instantly made me think of a the Order of Scribes Awakened Spellbook, which is already a sentient book that exists within the logic of D&D. Could be a Spellbook that outlived the wizard that created it or maybe you could even play it off like it "divorced" the wizard so you've got this desperate schlub of a wizard who wants to get back with his Spellbook, but the book has moved on and made a life for itself.
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