Adding Magic Schools into Your Fantasy World

May 25, 2022

There has been a recent rush of ideas talking about schools teaching magic in relation to fantasy gaming. As a gamer who has been playing for decades this does seem like an alien concept to me. Before you get all up in arms about it I am not opposed to the concept. It just seems rather odd to collect a group, possibly a large number, of untrained magical practitioners and keep them all in a confined space.

Your D&D games aren’t too cool for school

Strixhaven is a great book with a number of great additives to your D&D or fantasy roleplaying game. If I set up a legit magic school in my homebrew world it would not be some sprawling place with lots of interactions. Instead it would be small, tight nit groups all learning at the same time. In essence you could combine the thoughts we have shared of the single class party composition and allow the characters to overcome lessons and tests with skill rolls all while having them learn and master new spells.

Combat could take place under controlled situations against summoned or animated creatures and even bring in elements of a danger room provided by illusion. But instead of characters taking damage from the traps and hazards, the illusion would disappear from interaction and the character would get marks off their score. This might translate to less treasure or slower advancement. Graduation could mean reaching a certain level such as 5th or 6th level. What did you get as your graduation spell — haste, fireball or counterspell? These are widely considered some of the best and favorite spells in 5E D&D so getting access to them could show you are a real wizard capable of surviving out in the real world regardless of whether you are serving a noble or becoming an adventurer.

You could easily bring in languages and tool proficiencies as some extra curricular activities and run them as side quests with either the ability to either earn some extra coin, pick up some extra training or anything else you really feel like adding to your game. I feel you can never have too many languages or tools, always looking for ways to make these useful in my own games and hoping my players do the same thing when I run.

An interesting tool proficiency is painter’s supplies. If you are looking for a way to add in a minigame and include painter’s supplies why not get yourself a copy of Abstract Academy. This game involves strategy as students compete against each other while painting on the same canvas. The game takes about 30 minutes and can be played with 2 or 4 players so pit your players head to head or have all four compete in a free for all.

The game is lots of fun and quick enough to play during a meal break at your games. Since it is just a card game it easily fits into your pocket or game bag and easily travels to and from cons and other meetups. If you want to add even more fun into your D&D game you might consider adding some custom rules so those players get some kind of advantage. If your character is proficient with painter’s supplies then the player can draw an extra card at the beginning of each round for example. If they have Expertise then they can draw two extra cards instead. If a character happens to be a Jack of All Trades then pick one round and draw a single extra card. Be careful about when you choose to do so.

Since there are usually only combat competitions in 5E D&D games actually playing Abstract Academy in real time but having it represent the ongoings of game and have it more than just a skill roll could be a lot of fun and make for a truly memorable session. Or maybe you are like me and truly love to play some seriously fun board and card games. If you want to get a copy of the game and get yourself a promo card for it that is not available elsewhere head over to the Crafty Games website and grab yourself a copy. Let them know Nerdarchy sent you. There is even a great how to play video right on the page to let you know what the future holds.

I am going to go play around and I hope I win this time as my luck has not been so hot. Thanks for reading. Until next time, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — Kalain, Reclusive Painter is a legendary creature from Magic: The Gathering’s Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion. [Illustration by Justine Cruz]