Ok, first off, I keep getting confused: according to DND Beyond, the upcoming Stirxhaven: Curriculum of Chaos is a campaign-setting book rather than a published adventure (and given that one of the features is "Story Hooks" that seems likely to not be some misinterpretation).
Second, an Unearthed Arcana dropped today with "Mages of Strixhaven," a group of five subclasses based on the five houses of the school (or five schools of the university... you get the idea). The radical new idea here - and we'll see if it makes it to print - is that each of these five subclasses is available to 2-3 different classes.
For those unfamiliar with the very recent MtG set that debuted Strixhaven as a setting, the central concept to it is that there are these five schools within the university of magic that is Strixhaven (unlike many other card sets, the set is not named after the plane it's set on, but just a specific location therein - though Arcavios is a plane we've never been to before). Like on Ravnica, the schools are based on pairs of colors, though in this case it's only "enemy" color pairs. Lorehold is the white/red school, and is focused on history and archaeology. Prismari is the red/blue school, focused on performing arts and magic as expression. Quandrix is the blue/green school, and is focused on the fundamental mathematics underlying nature and reality. Witherblossom is the green/black school, focused on biology and the natural cycles of life and death. And finally, Silverquill, the black/white school, is focused on rhetoric and debate.
So, how do these subclasses work?
As you might have guessed, there's a subclass for each school. Each of these subclasses is available as a choice for a selection of classes.
Each of the subclass features is listed with a minimum level. I think every subclass gives you all the 1+ features up front, but every time your class would normally gain a subclass feature, you pick one from your subclass that you don't have and for which you are of an appropriate level and get that.
Of course, the oddity to this is that some classes get more subclass features than others. Bards, for example, only get features at three points, meaning that two Bards with the same Strixhaven subclass might not actually have the same features once they reach a high enough level.
You only get to pick any of these subclasses once - even if you were to, say, multiclass as a Bard/Sorcerer, you can only choose a subclass available to both of those classes for one of them.
Lorehold is available to Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards.
When you first get this subclass, you get a few extra spells (Wizards simply add them to their spellbooks, while Bards and Warlocks instantly learn them without counting against their "spells known.") You also get the ability to summon an Ancient Companion - infusing a spirit of the past into a nearby statue, which animates and becomes a pet similar to a Battle Smith's Steel Defender. These come in three varieties and get different benefits based on your choice. Many of the subsequent subclass features boost the companion's abilities.
Prismari is available to Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards.
The general focus of this subclass is on granting abilities that align with one of three damage types - cold, fire, or lightning, or that enhance spells that do that sort of damage. There's also something of an emphasis on mobility, eventually granting proficiency in dexterity saving throws and other similar bonuses.
Quandrix is available to Sorcerers and Wizards.
Like with Lorehold, you gain some extra spells through this subclass. When you first take the subclass, you also gain the ability to inflict a slight penalty against enemies you hit with spells or a benefit to allies you cast spells on. There's a lot of disabling or other battlefield manipulation with this subclass, including the ability to forcibly teleport foes with a reaction within in a limited range.
Silverquill is available to Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards.
In addition to some bonus skills and cantrips, the first thing you get with this subclass is Silvered Barbs, which lets you force foes to reroll attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. If this causes them to fail, you get to then give a nearby ally the ability to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw within the next minute. You get to keep using this feature until it successfully causes someone to fail one of these rolls. There's a theme of darkness and light here.
Witherbloom is available to Druids and Warlocks.
Again, you gain some extra spells with this subclass. The other entry-level feature is Essence Tap, which allows you to, as a bonus action, gain one of two buffs - one that lets you change any damage you do to necrotic damage that ignores resistance, and one that lets you expend hit dice to heal as a bonus action on each turn. At higher levels you can create "brews" in a cauldron with an herbalism kit that have various benefits, and there's a general theme of using necrotic damage and healing.
So, this is a very ambitious and unconventional concept for character subclasses. I like the idea of trying to extend these options to as many players as possible, though I'm also somewhat skeptical as to how it will work out. The classes represented in total are Bards, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Bards get 3 subclass features in total. Druids get 4. Sorcerers get 4. Warlocks get 4. And Wizards get 4.
So, really just Bards are the weird ones. Actually, almost every class gets 4 subclass features, while Clerics and Fighters actually get 5 (or rather, get features at five different levels.) (In fact, a lot of them get features specifically at levels 6, 10, and 14, though sometimes with a different first feature level.)
I think one thing that feels a bit off here is the way that these subclasses don't have the kind of specific flavor of certain spell classes. Granted, in most cases, it's just a tradition you're trained in, which makes a school perfect - this works for Bards, Druids, and Wizards. But Sorcerers and Warlocks have some very specific flavor to why they have one subclass or another. If you're a Warlock of Lorehold, what does that really mean? Did you make a pact with... one of your professors? To teach you some magic? For tuition money?
Ultimately I think this is built more around mechanics and theming things around the schools. And UA is the place to try out-there ideas that might not make it to print. I wouldn't be shocked if they originally wanted to make these just one more conventional subclass per school, and I'd also be unsurprised if that's what we wind up getting. Purely on flavor, I could see Prismari as Bards, Witherbloom as Druids, Silverquill as Warlocks, Lorehold as Wizards, and Quandrix as Sorcerers. Mechanically, those probably don't fit as well (at least not all of them). Maybe swap around Prismari, Lorehold, and Quandrix so that Prismari are Sorcerers, Quandrix are Wizards, and Lorehold are Bards.
But hey, if people playtest this and it works well, maybe we'll see this very odd concept work out!
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