In Strixhaven : A Curriculum of Chaos, we are introduced to backgrounds that go far beyond that .
today we ’ ll be talking about all five “ scholar ” backgrounds offered to newcomers of the charming university .
We ’ ll be discussing the similarities and differences between the five colleges of Strixhaven, what the background entails, and just how mighty it actually is.
What Are the Strixhaven Backgrounds?
The five backgrounds from Strixhaven are Lorehold, Prismari, Quandrix, Silverquill, and Witherbloom Student.
Each background represents a young character who has spent most of their life training to enroll in the most prestigious university for mages across the multiverse.
The standard background in D & D 5e offers up skill proficiencies, lyric or joyride proficiencies, equipment, characteristics, and a feature that tends to be focused on some aspect of survival .
In most background features, you ’ ll be awarded with the ability to make an income, find food or protection, or something like .
On rare occasions you might get a truly impressive feature that lets you pick up languages or starts you off with a few hire hands .
Strixhaven in truth shakes this up by offering you an entire feat as contribution of your feature with some supernumerary attention deficit disorder ons to boot .
The feat in interrogate is the Strixhaven Initiate, which gives you access to two cantrips and a 1st-level spell .
The cantrips are immediately tied to the college you choose, but you ’ ll have the choice of two stallion class spell lists to choose your 1st-level spell from .
In summation to an amaze feat, you besides get a college spell list added on to your own spell list if you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature of speech as a part of your class .
The spell tilt gives 10 spells in sum, two spells each for 1st through 5th-level spells. That’s 13 spells all together for the low price of one background!
In the rest of this article, we ’ ll top each individual student background and the spells they offer .
I have thrown a table below precisely to give you a taste of what to come. This covers the spells offered by equitable the Strixhaven Initiate feat .
Strixhaven Spells
| College | Cantrips | 1st-Level Spell |
| Lorehold | Choose two from light, sacred flame, and thaumaturgy. | Choose one 1st-level cleric or wizard spell. |
| PrismariChoose two from fire bolt, presditigitation, and ray of frost. Choose one 1st-level bard or sorcerer spell. | ||
| Quandrix | Choose two from druidcraft, guidance, and mage hand. | Choose one 1st-level druid or wizard spell. |
| SilverquillChoose two from sacred flame, thaumaturgy, and vicious mockery. Choose one 1st-level cleric or bard spell. | ||
| Witherbloom | Choose two from chill touch, druidcraft, and spare the dying. | Choose one 1st-level druid or wizard spell. |
No Strixhaven Subclasses?
Anyone that ’ s an avid reader of the Unearthed Arcana that WotC publishes to playtest new material might be shocked to find that there aren ’ thymine any subclasses within the new Strixhaven book .
June 2021 releases a nibble of UA that featured subclasses for each college, and these weren ’ t merely your average subclasses either .
The Mages of Strixhaven subclasses each had the ability to be grafted on to a numeral of unlike spellcasting classes .
This would have been the first clock 5e made subclasses choose their class and not the other means around .
For a number of reasons, these experimental options didn ’ t make the cut. however, a lot of the lapp relish, and even spell lists, made it into the backgrounds we ’ ra discussing today .
These backgrounds are identical tied to the Strixhaven fix and offer players in a Strixhaven campaign the ability to feel connected to the worldly concern around them .
Lorehold Student
© Wizards of the Coast Lorehold Student Background
Skill Proficiencies: History, Religion
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink pen, a hammer, a hood lantern, a tinderbox, a tome of history, a educate uniform, and a bulge containing 15 general practitioner
Feature: Lorehold Initiate: You gain the Strixhaven Initiate feat, in which you must choose Lorehold. You besides gain a list of spells that you may add to any spell lists you have from the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature .
Lorehold Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | Comprehend Languages, Identify |
| 2nd | Borrowed Knowledge, Locate Object |
| 3rd | Speak with Dead, Spirit Guardian |
| 4th | Arcane Eye, Stone Shape |
| 5th | Flame Strike, Legend Lore |
Roleplaying Lorehold
If your version of a relax Saturday good afternoon is exploring an ancient grave in search of lost artifacts, Lorehold just might be the school for you .
This is the college for history buffs, military strategy fanatics, archeologists to- e, and anyone who is keen on learning from the past to make a better future .
Anyone taking the Lorehold Student setting will probable have spent most of their lives reading up on any history books they could get their hands on before even making it to Strixhaven .
The hint traits below give some insight to the wide stove of personality types that might be drawn to the college of Archaeomancy .
Lorehold Personality Traits
| d6 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | I thrive on esoteric lore. The more obscure the historical references I can include in everyday conversation, the better. |
| 2 | By searching for these lost artifacts, I hope to find who I really am along the way. |
| 3 | I can barely go a minute without talking about my research. I have so much knowledge in my head, and it needs to be let out somewhere. |
| 4 | The spirits of the dead are so much more interesting to talk with than living classmates. |
| 5 | I can speak eloquently about the historical ramifications of an ancient war. But ask me to add two-digit numbers together, and I’m a mess. |
| 6 | In the end it’s all just entropy. Everything falls apart someday. |
Lorehold Characters
The spells offered up by the Lorehold Initiate feature construct for excellent utility casters .
Spells like Comprehend Languages, Speak with Dead, and Legend Lore all support the dungeon-diving original that the college places so much value in .
In fact, there are in truth only two damage dealing spells : flame Strike and Spirit Guardian .
This means that in building your spellcaster, you ’ ll have a distribute of room in your normal go list for any price dealing spells you want to carry .
Of course you besides have the ability to lean in other directions, like defend and bring around or even further into the utility area .
Clerics make the most sense for this, particularly Knowledge and Light domains, but Divination, Scribe, and even War Magic wizards make great fits. Any classify that can justify a love of cognition fits in well .
Prismari Student
© Wizards of the Coast Prismari Student Background
Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics, performance
Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument or craftsman ’ mho tools
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink pen, a hardening of craftsman ’ s tools or a musical legal document ( one of your choice ), a school undifferentiated, and a pouch containing 15 general practitioner
Feature: Prismari Initiate: You gain the Strixhaven Initiate feat, in which you must choose Prismari. You besides gain a list of spells that you may add to any spell lists you have from the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature .
Prismari Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | Chromatic Orb, Thunderwave |
| 2nd | Flaming Sphere, Kinetic Jaunt |
| 3rd | Haste, Water Walk |
| 4th | Freedom of Movement, Wall of Fire |
| 5th | Cone of Cold, Conjure Elemental |
Roleplaying Prismari
Curtains up ! It ’ mho time to step on phase and bring your creativity to life, literally. Prismari students tend to be merely ampere dramatic as their art, which manifests in all forms .
Each scholar of this college is singular, but they all agree on one thing : you can always express yourself with elements .
Below are equitable a few of the personality types that might fit your Prismari student. Roll on this table or use it as a springboard to bring your own personality to life .
Prismari Personality Traits
| d6 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | I’m the life of the party, and I expect everyone’s attention when I walk into a room. |
| 2 | Two weeks ago, I was enthralled with my latest project. Now, I think it’s garbage and deserves to be destroyed. |
| 3 | I believe everyone has the ability to express their truest selves through art, and I’m happy to quietly push them in the right direction. |
| 4 | Everyone’s a critic, and I work to win them all over. |
| 5 | I’m beset with such an overwhelming sense of ennui regarding my art. Nothing quite captures my attention anymore. |
| 6 | Instead of comforting my negative emotions, I channel them into explosive artistic displays. |
Prismari Characters
The spells offered up by this class represent the elemental nature of this college. In MTG, Prismari characters are red-and-blue creatures that deal a lot of damage with potent spells .
That translates pretty squarely into 5e with a leaning towards fire and water, and we besides get some impressive spells like thunderwave or cone of cold, which represent a wide range of elementary manipulation .
Another character of spell here are motion spells, representing the exemption of motion that these creative characters hold indeed dearly .
These spells fit great in many unlike builds, but sorcerers, wizards, and even bards represent the ideals best .
They besides have the ability to echo these go lists wonderfully. It ’ s a knowing mind to take the Elemental Adept feat somewhere down the course if you take this setting .
Quandrix Student
© Wizards of the Coast Quandrix Student Background
Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, nature
Tool Proficiencies: One type craftsman ’ randomness tools
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink pen, an abacus, a ledger of arcane hypothesis, a school undifferentiated, and a pouch containing 15 general practitioner
Feature: Quandrix Initiate: You gain the Strixhaven Initiate feat, in which you must choose Quandrix. You besides gain a list of spells that you may add to any spell lists you have from the Spellcasting or Pact Magic sport .
Quandrix Spells
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| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | Entangle, Guiding Bolt |
| 2nd | Enlarge/Reduce, Vortex Warp |
| 3rd | Aura of Vitality, Haste |
| 4th | Control Water, Freedom of Movement |
| 5th | Circle of Power, Passwall |
Roleplaying Quandrix
here at Quandrix, mathematics is magic. If any house embodies a love for numbers and equations, it ’ south Quandrix. Students enrolled here are fascinated by natural patterns like fractals and the golden proportion .
There are batch of unlike routes this path of study can take, some lean into the natural world ; some lean far into metaphysics and the alike, no matter how these students choose to study mathematics .
The personality traits below put up up some ways to play a character that use numeromancy .
Quandrix Personality Traits
| d6 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | When I find a subject I’m interested in, I won’t stop studying until I know everything about it. It keeps me up at night. |
| 2 | I hope this all makes sense to me one day. Until then, I’m going to keep faking it. |
| 3 | Equations and patterns come naturally to my mind. I wish friendship came just as easily. |
| 4 | I believe I’m always the smartest person in the room. And I’ll prove it, even if no one asks me to. |
| 5 | If these classes have taught me anything, it’s that reality is a lie, and nothing matters. So why bother? |
| 6 | Before I graduate, I want to achieve something mathematically impossible. I must have a legacy. |
Quandrix Characters
Quandrix spells are very concentrate on manipulating world. From haste to passwall, the spell list offered in this background allows these characters to exert a set of restraint both on and off the battlefield .
The fresh enchantment whirlpool warp is a quandrix-specific spell that allows you to teleport your enemies to certain locations .
This acute concentrate on see allows you to set up a bunch of go traps, meaning that spells along the lines of wall of fire, antimagic field, and forcecage will complement this tilt extremely well .
Silverquill Student
© Wizards of the Coast Silverquill Student Background
Skill Proficiencies: Intimidation, Persuasion
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A bottle of black ink, an ink playpen, a ledger of poetry, a tome of history, a educate consistent, and a pouch containing 15 general practitioner
Feature: Silverquill Initiate: You gain the Strixhaven Initiate feat, in which you must choose Silverquill. You besides gain a list of spells that you may add to any go lists you have from the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature .
Silverquill Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | Dissonant Whispers, Silvery Barbs |
| 2nd | Calm Emotions, Darkness |
| 3rd | Beacon of Hope, Daylight |
| 4th | Compulsion, Confusion |
| 5th | Dominate Person, Rary’s Telepathic Bond |
Roleplaying Silverquill
never have the power of words been more on display than in the college of eloquence, Silverquill .
That ’ s right, there ’ s no disguising the fact that bards run Silverquill. Poets, writers, drama students, and more, fill the halls of this college .
Anyone with a sexual love for talk or written words is a arrant meet. Of course, the extremely literate sometimes tends to be a morsel bigheaded, a characteristic that might deoxyadenosine monophosphate well be a 101 naturally at Silverquill .
Below are precisely a few of the character types that might find themselves walking these halls .
Silverquill Personality Traits
| d6 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | I’ll say whatever I need to in order to maintain my high social status. |
| 2 | I prefer saying the blunt truth over a pretty lie, and I don’t particularly care whose feelings I hurt. |
| 3 | I believe that uplifting my peers is the best way to succeed. |
| 4 | I’ve mastered the art of using humor as a defense, and I always have a charming joke ready. |
| 5 | I always wait before speaking, analyzing the situation for whichever angle is most advantageous to my goals. |
| 6 | No one knows about the all-nighters I’ve pulled to keep my magic looking effortless, and I’m going to keep it that way. |
Silverquill Characters
From Tasha ’ s hideous laughter to Rary ’ s telepathic adhere, the spells offered up by Silverquill focus on manipulating people. If a while manipulates people through the function of words, you can bet it ’ s a good estimate for Silverquill characters .
In this direction, this college is focused on control vitamin a much as Quandrix might be, albeit in a different way .
Bards are the obvious choice for Silverquill students, but any character with a passion for words and spells to cast can support it .
realistically, this background allows early caster classes to experience some of the same abilities a bard might .
Witherbloom Student
© Wizards of the Coast Witherbloom Student Background
Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism Kit
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A bottle of blacken ink, an ink penitentiary, a koran about plant designation, an iron pot, an herbalism kit, a school uniform, and a pouch containing 15 general practitioner
Feature: Witherbloom Initiate: You gain the Strixhaven Initiate feat, in which you must choose Witherbloom. You besides gain a list of spells that you may add to any while lists you have from the Spellcasting or Pact Magic have .
Witherbloom Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | Cure Wounds, Inflict Wounds |
| 2nd | Lesser Restoration, Wither and Bloom |
| 3rd | Revivify, Vampiric Touch |
| 4th | Blight, Death Ward |
| 5th | Antilife Shell, Greater Restoration |
Roleplaying Witherbloom
If Tim Burton movies existed in the worlds of D & D, they would be constantly playing at movie night in the Witherbloom dorms .
Students enrolled here are enticed by death and liveliness, the harmonious nature between them, and the natural processes involved .
This is the flow of department of energy where their magic trick comes from and more than likely the hobby/interest that makes up a majority of their personality .
Below are some of the personality traits you might find at Witherbloom, or in a Hot Topic .
Witherbloom Personality Traits
| d6 | Personality Trait |
| 1 | I love brewing up a new recipe, even if some might be repulsed by my choice of ingredients. Or the final product. Or both. |
| 2 | My fashion sense is like my garden: withered, black, and weird. |
| 3 | I’m going to befriend every single monster in the swamp if it’s the last thing I do. |
| 4 | Everything in this world dies eventually. The question is, what will you do with the time you have left? |
| 5 | I know we just met, but when you die, may I have your bones? For research. |
| 6 | Don’t interrupt me; I’m brooding. |
Witherbloom Characters
none of the Strixhaven backgrounds represent such a stark duality as the Witherbloom Student. The broach spells at each spell level provide one life-based enchantment and one death-based spell .
Looking at 3rd-level spells for an example, we see animate right future to Vampiric Touch. Never have I seen such a dichotomy represented in a character original .
The balance between these is very beautiful and gives you a big platform to play any caster as supportive price dealer .
Warlocks seem like the most natural choice, but sorcerers, druids, and evening wizards can all get behind this .
possibly the flower class/background jazz band hera is a Witherbloom Circle of Spores druid, wholly represented by the harmonious nature of the bicycle between life and death .
Playing a Strixhaven Background in Other Campaigns
These backgrounds are insanely mighty on purpose .
There is a clear intention set by WotC that these backgrounds have a direct tie to the Strixhaven campaign setting, which means that they will feel very balanced in this setting .
If you want to play this fictional character on Eberron or in the Forgotten Realms, you might see a snatch of a power break between you and your allies .
still, you should be able to play any backdrop if the climate hits you, so how do you do this ? lecture to your DM, as always .
If you want to see this on a different plane, you need some sort of charming school to justify this. low charming settings probably can ’ thyroxine patronize this kind of attempt, but a high magic campaign will eat it up .
From a DM ’ s point of view, it ’ randomness hard to justify letting these backgrounds into your campaign .
To look at precisely one situation, a sorcerer at 9th level normally knows 10 spells. A sorcerer with one of these backgrounds would know 23 spells all in concert, 8 more than what they even know at 20th level .
distinctly, this is unbalanced. fortunately, knowing more spells doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate give the players access to spell slots, so their choices are actually the ones that can become a bite more difficult .
still, it ’ s a decent idea to have some solutions ready to go if your players are looking for a Strixhaven background. here are a copulate that I see as being incredibly useful .
Limit the Spells Available Through the Background
In a set that is anywhere below the level of high magic Strixhaven brings to the board, reducing the come of spells available to players is a great way to nerf these backgrounds .
You can reduce this toss off to just the Strixhaven Initiate feat, or you can let players pick entirely one spell for each flat. This will reduce the amount of extra spells by one or two thirds and substantially level out the libra .
Give Other Party Members Similar Feats
If one of your casters wants to pick up a background that automatically comes with a feat, tack a feat on to everyone ’ sulfur background .
Letting each character receive a power boost in the build up stage means that everyone will be much closer in power levels .
This solution does require you to balance your combats, increasing the CR of encounters a sting, but after one or two combats you should have a good baseline for precisely how a lot this affects the game .
Let It Rock
This is obviously less of a solution, and more of a choice. If you realistically look at what the feat is offering, it ’ mho equitable a bunch of options for spells, which is big .
Most classes distillery need to prepare their daily spells anyhow ; this just gives them a wide sphere to explore and a little bit of reaching outside their class for spells, which is by and large harmless .
Were this background/feat to offer more spell slots, then we ’ d have a real concern .
I hope that you get to enjoy an stimulate Strixhaven campaign erstwhile soon. If not, I hope you enjoy whatever campaign you ’ re gearing up for, and consider this as a substantial ( incredibly potent ) option .
As always, happy adventuring.
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As a kid, I was much told to get my head out of the clouds and to stop living in a fantasy worldly concern. That never very jived with me, so I decided to make a living out of games, stories, and all sorts of antic works. nowadays, as an pornographic, I aspire to remind people that sometimes a little moment of fantasy is all you need when life gets to be besides much .
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