The Arcane¶
Institutional presence of learning and magic in the world. Wizards, sages, and scholars who study the craft; the apprentices and servants who support them; the towers, academies, and universities where they gather. Arcane institutions are usually found in cities and sometimes towns. A village mage is a hedge witch, a hermit, or an outcast scholar.
Theme: Wizard's Tower¶
A single wizard in isolated residence with apprentices and household staff. The tower is warded; the wizard studies whatever draws him; the apprentices copy books, run errands, and dream of taking his seat someday.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Installation | 1 Wizard, 1-3 Apprentices, 1-2 Servants | Personality, Focus, Wards | Tower |
Theme: Academy¶
An institution of higher magical learning. A Headmaster to lead; Masters teach and research; senior Scholars serve as junior faculty; Apprentices are the students. Runs on charter, endowment, and student fees. Attends Council in settlements that host one.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town | 1 Headmaster, 2-3 Masters, 3-5 Scholars, 6-10 Apprentices | Personality, Focus, Wards | Academy |
| City | 1 Headmaster, 3-5 Masters, 6-10 Scholars, 15-25 Apprentices | Personality, Focus, Wards | Academy |
Theme: Great Academy¶
Seat of a Grand Headmaster. Rival houses within the school, endowments running back centuries, libraries and laboratories others envy. Attends Council with weight beyond a single seat.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| City | 1 Grand Headmaster, 10-15 Masters, 30-50 Scholars, 60-100 Apprentices | Personality, Focus, Wards, Relic | Great Academy |
Details¶
Creatures¶
Apprentice. Student at an academy or apprentice to a wizard. Uses the Commoner stat block, or Apprentice Wizard for advanced apprentices with basic cantrips. Loot: simple robes, a slate or wax tablet, a few coppers.
Grand Headmaster. Head of a Great Academy or city university. Uses the Archmage stat block. Renowned across the city and often beyond; sits on the crown's councils. Loot: ring of office (500 gp), chain of office (1000 gp), spellbook of exceptional value (500-2000 gp), 5d100 gp coin purse; the Grand Headmaster's Seat holds his treasury.
Headmaster. Head of an academy. Uses the Mage stat block, or Archmage for a wealthy or long-established academy. Sits on Council, admits new Masters, disciplines the faculty, defends the endowment. Loot: ring of office (100 gp), chain of office (250 gp), a personal spellbook (100-500 gp), 5d20 gp coin purse; the Headmaster's Seat holds his treasury.
Master. Senior faculty at an academy. Uses the Mage stat block. Teaches classes, conducts research, sits on the academy council, may hold a benefice. Loot: ring of office (25 gp), robes, personal spellbook (100-500 gp), 3d10 gp coin purse.
Scholar. Junior faculty or advanced student. Uses the Mage stat block with reduced spell slots, or Apprentice Wizard for a weak scholar. Assists Masters, conducts junior research. Loot: simple robes, notebook, a few silver.
Servant. Academy or tower household staff: cooks, groundskeepers, book carriers, letter runners. Uses the Commoner stat block. Loot: livery (nominal); a few silver.
Wizard. A mage in isolated residence, master of his tower and its wards. Uses the Mage stat block, or Archmage for a legendary tower. Loot: personal spellbook (100-500 gp), a wand or staff (signature focus, rarely magical), 5d20 gp coin purse; the tower holds his treasury and research.
Features¶
Personality. Persistent trait. Rolled per instance.
Wizard's Tower: d6. 1 reclusive (rarely leaves the tower; hates visitors); 2 ambitious (seeking a discovery or a patron; open to guests who might help); 3 paranoid (convinced someone wants his research or his life); 4 eccentric (unusual habits, unusual pets, unusual demands); 5 mentoring (takes on apprentices freely; teaches openly); 6 declining (health failing; struggling with his own wards).
Academy: d6. 1 rigorous (traditional curriculum, hard on apprentices); 2 political (Headmaster angles for higher office; Council votes cost him time); 3 innovating (a Master has published a controversial theory; rival Masters oppose); 4 impoverished (endowment shrinking; the academy is quietly selling books); 5 fractious (schism between Masters; two research programs are at war); 6 rising (a discovery or graduation drew attention; enrollments swell).
Great Academy: d6. 1 grand (the city's pride; graduates seed royal courts and rival cities); 2 stern (rigorous, moralizing; expels students for minor infractions); 3 political (the Grand Headmaster holds real power beyond his academic seat; sits on the crown's councils); 4 corrupt (chairs bought and sold; degrees issued for coin); 5 troubled (a scandal, a schism, a rival school siphoning donors); 6 legendary (a name that travels — students come from three kingdoms).
Focus. What the academy or wizard studies. Rolled per instance.
d10. 1 elemental theory; 2 astronomy and celestial magic; 3 alchemy and transmutation; 4 divination and prophecy; 5 abjuration and warding; 6 necromancy (rarer, quietly frowned upon); 7 healing and biomagic; 8 illusion and mind-work; 9 planar theory and summoning; 10 ancient languages and forgotten lore.
Wards. Magical protections active on the tower or academy. Rolled per instance.
Wizard's Tower: d6. 1 alarm (any breach triggers a chime the wizard hears; a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to detect); 2 aversion (a subtle unease pushes intruders to turn back; a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw to resist); 3 illusory door (the front door isn't real; the real one is hidden; a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot); 4 warded threshold (crossing without a token deals 2d6 force damage; a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw for half); 5 servant familiar (an animal or minor spirit watches the entrance and reports); 6 no wards active (the wizard trusts distance and reputation).
Academy / Great Academy: d6. 1 alarm (rings in the Headmaster's suite when the treasury or the Reliquary is entered); 2 shielded library (the rare books cannot leave the reading room; a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to bypass); 3 sealed laboratory (a Master's working room admits only the bearer of a key or a token); 4 aversion at the perimeter (unauthorized visitors feel unwelcome; a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw to resist); 5 warded vault (breach deals 4d6 force damage; a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw for half); 6 minimal wards (relies on Guards and locks instead).
Relic. The centerpiece of the Great Academy's Reliquary. d6: 1 the founder's spellbook (bound in strange leather, still active for those who can read it); 2 the mummified hand of a great sage (rumored to move on the anniversary of his death); 3 an artifact from a defeated extraplanar being (planar theorists study it, sometimes it seems to study them back); 4 the crystallized breath of a legendary dragon (the alchemists guard it jealously); 5 an ancient tome of lost magic (partially decoded; each generation reads a little more); 6 an empty case (the relic was stolen, destroyed, or perhaps the founder never left one).
Locations¶
Academy. The academy's main building or walled compound. A working academy has:
- Grand hall: where lectures, ceremonies, and formal moots are held. Rows of benches, a raised dais, a lectern, banners of the disciplines around the walls.
- Library wing: stacks and reading tables for the Masters and senior Scholars. Rare books in locked chests or a barred reading room. The Librarian keeps the ledger.
- Laboratories: rooms where Masters conduct research. Alchemical benches, warded workspaces, notebooks. One per senior Master; sealed with a token or ward.
- Dormitories: shared sleeping quarters for younger Scholars and Apprentices. Rows of pallets, footlockers, a night lamp at each end.
- Studies: private rooms for senior Masters, opening off a common corridor. Books, writing desk, a locking chest.
- Headmaster's suite: the Headmaster's residence and private study, adjacent to the Grand Hall. Formal reception rooms, private quarters, treasury behind a strong lock.
- Refectory: dining hall for the household. Long tables, benches, kitchen adjacent.
- Chapel: small devotional space for the Academy's patron or founder. An altar, a devotional flame, a few offerings.
- Gatehouse: the walled entry. Guarded gates, porter's lodge, the Master of the Gate holds the schedule and keys.
- Hazards: magical protections (see the Wards feature); a lab in mid-experiment on a DC 12 Constitution save against a stray backlash; a warded book on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to bypass.
- Loot: books and manuscripts (5d100 gp town, 5d1000 gp city); ceremonial regalia (250 gp town, 500 gp city); laboratory equipment or writing kits (100 gp); the Headmaster's records; the Headmaster's treasury (5d100 gp town, 5d1000 gp city) behind a strong lock.
Great Academy. A great school of magic in a city: a walled compound of buildings around a central quadrangle. A great academy has:
- Grand hall: the ceremonial heart; hosts convocations drawing scholars from three kingdoms.
- Great library: thousands of volumes on multiple floors; a rare-book vault below; the Librarian and staff.
- Laboratory buildings: several separate buildings for different disciplines (alchemy, divination, planar theory, etc.). Each with its own senior Master and warded rooms.
- Cloistered gardens: contemplative walks around the quadrangle; herb and rare-plant gardens for the alchemists.
- Dormitories: several dormitory blocks for hundreds of Apprentices and junior Scholars.
- Refectory: dining hall for a household of hundreds. Kitchens, a reader's lectern, a bell for calling the school.
- Grand Headmaster's suite: the Grand Headmaster's residence adjacent to the Grand Hall. Formal reception rooms, private quarters, private study, treasury behind a masterwork lock.
- Reliquary: the room housing the school's central relic (see the Relic feature) and its wider collection of prized items: gifted spellbooks, historical instruments, curios of forgotten sages. Worth 500-5000 gp total including the central relic.
- Gatehouse: formal walled gatehouse; the Master of the Gate holds the schedule.
- Chapel: a devotional space for the founder or the school's patron; often houses a relic of the founder.
- Hazards: magical protections (see the Wards feature); the Reliquary is heavily warded; a Master in a lab may be dangerous to interrupt.
- Loot: the library (thousands of gp for a scholarly buyer); ceremonial regalia (500-2000 gp); the Reliquary contents (500-5000 gp); the Grand Headmaster's treasury (5d1000 gp) behind a masterwork lock.
Tower. The wizard's isolated tower. Multi-story stone, spiral staircase, laboratory at the top, library on the floor below, apprentices' quarters lower, kitchen and servants at ground level. Heavy door with a standard lock at the base plus at least one active ward from the Wards subtable. Loot: the wizard's spellbook (100-500 gp), laboratory equipment (100 gp), library (5d100 gp), the wizard's cashbox (5d20 gp behind a strong lock); wards may be neutralized or defeated for a further reward.