How would YOU make a magic school to force a setting away from 'low-magic-variety'?

[Gavinfoxx]

So. I would like to crowdsource an idea I have for a bit of a campaign I'm setting up. So... I've noticed a few things, and I've made some interesting extrapolations. NOTE: I AM ATTEMPTING TO FOCUS ON DOING THIS WITHIN AN EXISTING, PRE-ESTABLISHED, CANON-COMPLIANT SETTING.

Greyhawk, despite being the 'default' 3.5e setting, isn't reaaallllyyy the best fit, if one goes by the established Greyhawk lore. This would be for a 'mostly canonical Greyhawk' campaign, FYI.

It's, well... it has a low level of cosmopolitanism, a relatively low population, the settlements are relatively poor, it's quite post-apocalyptic, the styles of magic are very conservative (you pretty much JUST find Wizards and JUST Clerics of established gods; the Druids are all 'good and evil must stay in balance!' types, etc. etc.), and the like.

In fact, it's a 1e/2e gritty (though not as gritty as Athas) points of light in darkness setting.

And to this, one is supposed to add the massive amount of gonzo variety that is... pretty much all of 3.5e spellcasting?? Psionics? Incarnum? Shadow Magic? Soul Binding? Auras? Blade Magic? Infusions? Invocations? All the magical crafting techniques? The various types of shamanic magic and nature paths that aren't Druids? Any of the Pathfinder stuff that fits in a roughly 3.5e world? The idea of various sorts of divine classes which does NOT involve or require a god's intervention? Or even the variety of 4e or 5e options, like psionic monks and rogues? Where would it all fit? How would it even develop? How could you even have a school of <insert odd style of supernatural puissance here>?

As near as I can tell... the only people who are actually on the forefront of magical technology and science and engineering in the setting.... is the massive variety and quantity of hideously evil wizards, clerics, and sorcerers that are making and inhabiting dungeons as adventurer fodder.

So, here's my setup:

A young Bard (Bardic Sage ACF; one that's reasonably plausible to show up on Greyhawk; the idea is that this sort of character has sufficient variety of skill, intelligence, leadership, knowledge, lore, and magical ability [especially of the enchantment and defending against enchantment] to pull this off) has found the ONE floating island with a castle on it in the setting, the one with an absentee landlord, and has managed to get the stupid thing mobile and refurbished it as a floating magical school. His goal: to make a magic school for all paths of nontraditional magic, with the express purpose of advancing and disseminating the knowledge and practice of these across the continent of Oerik, which allows all types of sapient entities to attend as faculty or students, provided they keep the peace within the school's grounds and airspace and adjacent planar presence.

So... the question is... in order to make this work and get started with all the different types of magic that may be just starting to be (re?)developed in the setting, who and what do you pick up? What powerful magical creatures do you bribe, what with your ability to make a killing with the only reliable heavy air freight on the entire continent, to become faculty and staff? What do you pick up, based on legends of possibly existing somewhere? What about some of those few existing practitioners of magic which might be less antisocial uncollaborative jerks than their peers?

[Telonius]

Are you familiar with Girl Genius? Because it sounds like you've got the same idea as Baron Wulfenbach - get all the madboys in one place and working for you, so the trouble they cause is more manageable and localized, and you also get the best of the researchers. I'd reach out to the local political leaders. If they have any malcontents (who think the current magical setup is just holding them back), offer to take them off their hands. (Less trouble for them, gain for you).

[tiercel]

And to this, one is supposed to add the massive amount of gonzo variety that is... pretty much all of 3.5e spellcasting?? Psionics? Incarnum? Shadow Magic? Soul Binding? Auras? Blade Magic? Infusions? Invocations? All the magical crafting techniques? The various types of shamanic magic and nature paths that aren't Druids? Any of the Pathfinder stuff that fits in a roughly 3.5e world? The idea of various sorts of divine classes which does NOT involve or require a god's intervention? Or even the variety of 4e or 5e options, like psionic monks and rogues? Where would it all fit? How would it even develop? How could you even have a school of <insert odd style of supernatural puissance here>?

I can’t help but think that that this list of questions is exactly the kind of thing either known, investigated by, or possibly even held in confidence by the church of Boccob ….depending on how widespread magic is or has been, and whether you interpret Boccobite tradition in your campaign world as potentially open to helping more interested people learn, understand, and add to magic, or whether it takes more a “only the select few may know/understand/be entrusted withe the power and mysteries of magic.”

Which might imply that a “let’s change the default level of magic” sorta campaign would have, as a major element, working with/for, and/or possibly against, Boccob’s followers.

—Also cf. entities like the Circle of Eight, either as evidence that reasonably high-powered magic types do or even should exert significant world influence (Illuminati-style or even more overtly like Thay), or as a warning as to the corruptive influence of potent magical power.

[Maat Mons]

If you’re trying to push a setting away from low magic, one question you have to answer is “Who is capable of learning magic?” Obviously, you need a minimum of 10 + spell level in the corresponding ability score to can spells. To what extent are ability scores nature, and to what extent are they nurture? If you create a good public education system in the setting, will you tend to get higher Int scores among the populace? Or are you always stuck with everyone having completely random scores? How hard is it to muster strong enough faith to be a cleric? How rare is the innate gift for magic required to be a Sorcerer?

In a low-magic setting, I’d be less concerned with making sure every flavor of magic is represented, and more concerned with getting the total number of magic users up. The easiest way to get more magic users out there is to find the minimum set of magical traditions that can be made accessible to the maximum number of students. Assuming you can’t do much to change the starting ability scores of the population, you’ll have to just make the best use of what you can get. So three training programs, one requiring Int, one requiring Wis, and one requiring Cha would let you take in anyone who had any potential to become a caster.

Finding a suitable Int-based casting tradition is easy. Archivist, Wizard, and Wu Jen spring to mind.

It’s harder to find Wis-based casters that don’t lock you into specific philosophical outlooks. You don’t want to have to turn away potential students because they don’t have strong feelings about anything. Shaman and Spirit Shaman are possibilities, I guess. Maybe a strong desire to learn magic is sufficient to be a Cleric of a magic deity or a Cleric of the abstract concept of magic?

Finding Cha-based classes whose lore states that their abilities are the result of training is also hard. I can find Dread Necromancer, Sha’ir, Shugenja, and Sublime Chord. I guess Archivist with the Dynamic Priest feat could work too.

[Gavinfoxx]

If you’re trying to push a setting away from low magic, one question you have to answer is “Who is capable of learning magic?” Obviously, you need a minimum of 10 + spell level in the corresponding ability score to can spells. To what extent are ability scores nature, and to what extent are they nurture? If you create a good public education system in the setting, will you tend to get higher Int scores among the populace? Or are you always stuck with everyone having completely random scores? How hard is it to muster strong enough faith to be a cleric? How rare is the innate gift for magic required to be a Sorcerer?

In a low-magic setting, I’d be less concerned with making sure every flavor of magic is represented, and more concerned with getting the total number of magic users up. The easiest way to get more magic users out there is to find the minimum set of magical traditions that can be made accessible to the maximum number of students. Assuming you can’t do much to change the starting ability scores of the population, you’ll have to just make the best use of what you can get. So three training programs, one requiring Int, one requiring Wis, and one requiring Cha would let you take in anyone who had any potential to become a caster.

Finding a suitable Int-based casting tradition is easy. Archivist, Wizard, and Wu Jen spring to mind.

It’s harder to find Wis-based casters that don’t lock you into specific philosophical outlooks. You don’t want to have to turn away potential students because they don’t have strong feelings about anything. Shaman and Spirit Shaman are possibilities, I guess. Maybe a strong desire to learn magic is sufficient to be a Cleric of a magic deity or a Cleric of the abstract concept of magic?

Finding Cha-based classes whose lore states that their abilities are the result of training is also hard. I can find Dread Necromancer, Sha’ir, Shugenja, and Sublime Chord. I guess Archivist with the Dynamic Priest feat could work too.

It's more, 'given the setup of Greyhawk, based mostly on 1e/2e lore, with a few of the implications from various 3.5e books mixed in, how does a dedicated, wealthy, knowledgeable individual go about helping the setting make the transition from the way it exists in mostly the 2e lore, to one where 'having all the 3.5e things that it supposedly has' is even remotely plausible? Like, in which cities does one look for what type of caster? Which mountain ranges or forests does one look for what type of dragon or giant or coatl or whatever? And so on.

For crying out loud, per the older setting lore, divine casters that do NOT have a patron deity do not exist in Greyhawk. Someone would need to invent the techniques to access the appropriate planar energies without the intervention of a deity!

[daremetoidareyo]

Why a bard?

[Gavinfoxx]

Why a bard?

Cause the setting has, canonically, mostly a bunch of jerk druids, a bunch of jerk clerics, a bunch of jerk wizards... and bards. A Bard of the right sort seems to be the person most situated to be a free thinker and a leader and a trader and magic enough to not get mind zonked the first time they try to peacefully interact with some mentally powerful monster, AND they would have enough access to weird lore to, yaknow, look for odd creatures and legends to help their search. Wizards in Greyhawk, while powerful... follow certain antisocial archetypes closely.

Like, if you want to negotiate with a bunch of young Wizards who chafe at the local guilds stifling their research, headstrong sorcerers, clerics of minor magic gods who feel extremely envious of the resources and following that larger faiths have, dragons of a few varieties, sphinxes, naga, fey of various sort, etc. etc., wouldn't YOU want to have both magic and mundane means at your disposal?

[pabelfly]

I'd just steal the Pathfinder 2e adventure path "Strength of Thousands" and change the stat blocks to 3.5 stats but keep the lore and encounters

[Kazyan]

Delete the Sor/Wiz list and CoDzilla, and also probably Wu Jen, and other species of magic will be able to thrive in a world where "an equivalent Wizard can do that better" isn't a universally true statement.

[Gavinfoxx]

I'd just steal the Pathfinder 2e adventure path "Strength of Thousands" and change the stat blocks to 3.5 stats but keep the lore and encounters

Delete the Sor/Wiz list and CoDzilla, and also probably Wu Jen, and other species of magic will be able to thrive in a world where "an equivalent Wizard can do that better" isn't a universally true statement.

Can't, pre-existing setting and canon. Hence the descriptions about working within existing setting canon and naming the existing setting canon.

[Dimers]

Finding and recruiting hidden talent takes three steps. First, you need to know the opportunity exists. Second, you need to locate it, probably in person. Third, you have to convince it to work with you.

Step three is relatively easy for bards. They know how to talk to people and can use potentially use spells and class features to boost their chances.

For step two, I'd recommend researching a custom spell. It'd be like a cross between circle dance and find the path with a touch of legend lore thrown in -- all of which are bard spells. Bard spells are also good for analyzing or scrutinizing targets, and a few also deal with fortune or fate, so it's not unreasonable to design a spell with the effect of showing the way to a fateful/"lucky"/important creature. If you can't make a custom spell, you're stuck relying on local guides or a probably unsustainable amount of legwork per target.

The hardest part is the first step. What you really need is an effect like divination or commune, a "tell me what path to explore next" effect, who to try to find or where to start looking. There's nothing like that in bard spells. Bardic knowledge and Gather Information skill help a bit, maybe Knowledge (local) in a game where "local" isn't specific to one location. Focusing on one region at a time, you learn where the weirdos and hermit mystics might be found, through mundane knowledge. It's weak but it's better than nothing. Once you get a decently powerful diviner (e.g. favored soul or psion) on your team, they might be able to help out with determining good regions to investigate.

[Gavinfoxx]

Finding and recruiting hidden talent takes three steps. First, you need to know the opportunity exists. Second, you need to locate it, probably in person. Third, you have to convince it to work with you.

Step three is relatively easy for bards. They know how to talk to people and can use potentially use spells and class features to boost their chances.

For step two, I'd recommend researching a custom spell. It'd be like a cross between circle dance and find the path with a touch of legend lore thrown in -- all of which are bard spells. Bard spells are also good for analyzing or scrutinizing targets, and a few also deal with fortune or fate, so it's not unreasonable to design a spell with the effect of showing the way to a fateful/"lucky"/important creature. If you can't make a custom spell, you're stuck relying on local guides or a probably unsustainable amount of legwork per target.

The hardest part is the first step. What you really need is an effect like divination or commune, a "tell me what path to explore next" effect, who to try to find or where to start looking. There's nothing like that in bard spells. Bardic knowledge and Gather Information skill help a bit, maybe Knowledge (local) in a game where "local" isn't specific to one location. Focusing on one region at a time, you learn where the weirdos and hermit mystics might be found, through mundane knowledge. It's weak but it's better than nothing. Once you get a decently powerful diviner (e.g. favored soul or psion) on your team, they might be able to help out with determining good regions to investigate.

Bardic Sage includes Contact Other Plane, would that be helpful?

[Dimers]

I don't touch that spell. As a player, I'd rather fall back on nonmagical means than use magic with a minimum 10% chance of actively misleading answers. And there's a fair likelihood you get no answer at all and instead become broken for a few weeks. The risk to reward ratio is too high for me.

[Gnaeus]

I would start with the assumption that more people are inherently capable of learning in a reasonably short time the NPC classes. Adept, Gleaner and Magewright. All 3 have inherent societal benefits for a first or second level caster, or several low level casters. I would train a ton of those and spread them in your target area, build up a magic using base. Find a church to work with you so the adepts get a domain.

[Gavinfoxx]

Are there any canonical Greyhawk institutions or individuals which might be especially on board with providing support on the ground, as it were? Also isn't there a psionic npc class somewhere?

Which deities or churches would most support this sort of thing? I can't imagine the church of Boccob would be too happy, they often tend towards 'magic only for the worthy' sort of views, don't they?

Is there any specific member if the Circle of Eight that would be best to approach?

A specific Greyhawk Dragon?

[Southern Cross]

I have an idea.
Suppose the owner of the floating castle died while planar travelling? His companions decide to travel to Geyhawk, find the bard in possession of the castle, and agree to found a school of magic named after their fallen friend.

[Gavinfoxx]

Here's what I've been able to find about the keep...

https://greyhawk-26.obsidianportal.c...spinning-cloud
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_sites.html

Apparently, it's a floating mage tower (containing many traps and Air Elementals and Invisible Stalkers) called Spinning Cloud, built by an air elemental-focused wizard named Jummenen (who may have died during a visit to the Elemental Plane of Air), of the house of Garasteth, and it's located just south of the Nordan Villages, near Rinloru.

[Jay R]

So... the question is... in order to make this work and get started with all the different types of magic that may be just starting to be (re?)developed in the setting, who and what do you pick up? What powerful magical creatures do you bribe, what with your ability to make a killing with the only reliable heavy air freight on the entire continent, to become faculty and staff? What do you pick up, based on legends of possibly existing somewhere? What about some of those few existing practitioners of magic which might be less antisocial uncollaborative jerks than their peers?

The first, necessary observation is that this will take decades, maybe generations, to have a major effect on the society at large.

Therefore you don't need to find the "right' abilities or classes. To start, you need the people who are willing to try. Any non-traditional magic of any sort will eventually be part of your school, so it doesn't matter which you start with. Just find the people who want to teach (and research) the magic they know.

And don't forget that universities are research institutes first, and teaching institutes second.

I had a math teacher once who taught a lot of proofs in an applied math course. When asked about it, he said, "One cannot apply that math that one does not know." Similarly, one cannot teach that magic that has not yet been developed.

[tiercel]

Are there any canonical Greyhawk institutions or individuals which might be especially on board with providing support on the ground, as it were? Also isn't there a psionic npc class somewhere?

Which deities or churches would most support this sort of thing? I can't imagine the church of Boccob would be too happy, they often tend towards 'magic only for the worthy' sort of views, don't they?

Is there any specific member if the Circle of Eight that would be best to approach?

A specific Greyhawk Dragon?

By default, if you follow, say, the description of Boccob’s followers (“The Eternal Library”) in Complete Champion

The church never takes sides in political conflicts, and its members care only about who stands between them and another magical discovery. The Eternal Library often employs adventurers to acquire new or rare magic items and spells, or to retrieve the long-lost magical knowledge of some ancient culture. If the desired item or information is already in someone else’s possession, the church does not hesitate to lie or cheat to acquire it, or even steal it outright.

Plus a character looking to improve his affiliation score with the Eternal Library can gain points for
* “Recovers an ancient, previously lost piece of knowledge (such as a new spell)”
* “Discovers a new source of magical power”
* “Creates a new spell or magic item”
* “Founds a school of magic”

So… this kind of project sounds right up Boccob’s church’s alley.

Having said that…

If the bard in question is working with, or directly for, the church of Boccob then he will probably get strong support (with the possibility that some old guard within the church might look askance if he looks to teach magic to just *anyone*, perhaps).

But if this bard is freelancing without involving Boccob, then Boccobites might infiltrate the new school to learn/spy/steal what they see as rightfully theirs.

In terms of Circle of Eight folk, quite possibly Otto

Ultimately, Otto's studies have remained close to the roots he followed before the Greyhawk Wars. He is obsessed with the structure of magic on Oerth, but, unlike Mordenkainen, he takes the unorthodox opinion that the form of magic and the form of music have some telling similarities…. One of the younger members at age 53, Otto is also one of the most colorful. Otto often poses as a rich, cheerful merchant, but he is easily picked out in a crowd because of his huge girth and his ruffled and beribboned clothing. He is a gourmet constantly in search of new, exotic dishes to sample, and is a patron of the arts. He has a natural talent for music and adds musical elements to his spells, which include singing fjreballs and yodeling ice storms.

https://davidleonard-greyhawkmusings...7/on-otto.html

[Gavinfoxx]

In terms of Circle of Eight folk, quite possibly Otto

I actually heard, from one of the authors of Greyhawk lore, that it was Tenser who is one of the most reasonable of the Circle of Eight.

[sreservoir]

I don't touch that spell. As a player, I'd rather fall back on nonmagical means than use magic with a minimum 10% chance of actively misleading answers. And there's a fair likelihood you get no answer at all and instead become broken for a few weeks. The risk to reward ratio is too high for me.

I mean, that's an excuse to be the crazy headmaster, I guess.

[tiercel]

I actually heard, from one of the authors of Greyhawk lore, that it was Tenser who is one of the most reasonable of the Circle of Eight.

Probably in a “ Greetings, Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-dan Armada.” save-the-world kinda way; he is arguably the most active Good-aligned member/ex-member (depending on the placement in canon timeline), even shows up in Age of Worms AP as Manzorian.

I just thought that the “change/expand magic” quest is not necessarily heroic *per se*, but a more free-wheeling, edging on Chaotic bon vivant who’s into “alternative magic” with music in, and also a Boccobite to boot, might match up well.

[Jack_Simth]

You'll want something like a sorting hat, that reads stats, to ID where to place students.

Int high? Train as a Wizard or Archivist. High expense classes, but solid rewards. Beguiler for those without gobs of cash for books.
Wis high? Train as a Cleric (with Druid options). You'll also want alignment checking here.
Cha high? Train as a Sorcerer.
Con high? Train as Incarnate, Totemist, or Dragonfire Adept.
No good score? Warlock. Artificer can also get away with it.

Can also do it via placement testing, of course. Logic tests for Int, perception tests for Wis, breath holding tests for Con... not sure how one would test Cha. Lots of repeating tests would be required for placement, as the d20 will absolutely overwhelm the modifier for the kids. But on a straight 3d6, the odds that they don't have at least one OK score in those four are quite low.

[Bohandas]

As near as I can tell... the only people who are actually on the forefront of magical technology and science and engineering in the setting.... is the massive variety and quantity of hideously evil wizards, clerics, and sorcerers that are making and inhabiting dungeons as adventurer fodder.

There's also the Circle of Eight and the Company of Seven. And magical technology is a main area of interest for the followers of the demigod Murlynd

I would start with the assumption that more people are inherently capable of learning in a reasonably short time the NPC classes. Adept, Gleaner and Magewright.

Gleaner? I'm not familiar with that one. Where's it from?

[Quertus]

This is an interesting question, but it's kinda like asking, "How would one start with the Forgotten Realms, and end up with modern Japan?". And, IMO, it's easier and more believable if you have an agent from the outside, familiar with the intended end state, intentionally attempting to create that state. Happily, Greyhawk at least used to be pretty canonically well connected (after all, almost every world has Melf's Acid Arrow, Evard's Black Tentacles, Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer, Mordenkainen's Disjunction, etc.

1e had maybe Fighter, Mage, Cleric, and Thief. (OK, it had more). 2e added Psion(icist), Paladin, Ranger, Druid, Specialist Wizards, and Bard (no "Bardic Sage ACF"). But it also had Spelldancer and many more... through kits. And "build your own" through the Skills and Powers line.

Greyhawk? That's home to the Council of 8, right? Some of whom are presumably mortal humans, right? They existed in 1e/2e, and if you're having them be alive in this 3e Greyhawk, then you've got decades at most to work with. So no "ancient traditions", no "I am an Arcane Archer like my father before me".

So... what happened? Reality suddenly changed, for reasons? Now the "Ninja" and "Sorcerer" and "Ur-Priest" and "Illithid Savant" and "Eunich Monk" classes magically became available (while certain other kits suddenly... were hit by Balefire, or gobbled up by their deity, like Assassins during the Time of Troubles?)? And this Bard, discovering the "Bardic Sage ACF", is collecting people to help research these changes and discover and proliferate new classes?

Or was Greyhawk hit by the power of mighty Retcon, and all these things have always been here, nobody needs to research anything? And this Bard is just working on the "Proliferation" that Mighty Retcon *didn't* enforce?

Or... what? Where are we in the world, and how did we get there?

How you set up the transition plays a very large part in answering how one might realistically (versamilitudinally?) go about, well, roleplaying even thinking about such a school.

Also, the one and only source of a monopoly on nearly-free money? You'll probably need a good answer why someone doesn't murder this young bard, or at least give him an offer he can't refuse, before he can get this school off the ground (heh).

-----

As to how *I* would mage a magic school to force a setting away from low magic? Hmmm... fast time plane, lots of breeding, Exterminatus of previous low-magic planet, build a replacement planet, populate it with descendants of original students, profit? That seems like one of the most efficient ways, IMO.

[Kazyan]

Can't, pre-existing setting and canon. Hence the descriptions about working within existing setting canon and naming the existing setting canon.

Fair! To be more helpful instead of an anti-Wizard curmudgeon, the splatbooks kinda tend to assume Greyhawk or a Greyhawk-like setting, and thus you can take advantage of the special locations that they contain. Bring together the locations and organizations that contain these diverse types of magic, so that you make it easier to learn diverse magic than to learn traditional magic. Bolded because that's the key principle. If you do that, people will take care of the rest for you and develop into an ecosystem of diverse magic naturally.

Magic of Incarnum has a whole cache of this kind of thing, since they seemed to think that a book's worth of content for a whole incarnum campaign would help sell people on it. The Bastion of Souls, the Sapphire Eidolon, the whole deal with the Rilkans and Skarns...

Even if you can't import locations and organizations, though, the principle applies. Warlocks get their powers from dark patrons, so organize something with an entity to hand out deals all over the place in one location of your choice. In another, pass out books on Binding and normalize the summoning of vestiges; the knowledge of vestige seals and aversion to getting witch-hunted is the main obstacle to becoming a Binder. Have Truespeech as an elective in local schools and have Amulets of the Silver Tongue out on loan to anyone who expresses any degree of interest in it. Corral some friendly spirits that will guide the attention-deficient bookish types towards becoming a Wu Jen instead of difficult wizardry.

[Gavinfoxx]

Or... what? Where are we in the world, and how did we get there?

How you set up the transition plays a very large part in answering how one might realistically (versamilitudinally?) go about, well, roleplaying even thinking about such a school.

Also, the one and only source of a monopoly on nearly-free money? You'll probably need a good answer why someone doesn't murder this young bard, or at least give him an offer he can't refuse, before he can get this school off the ground (heh).

My interpretation is that the rules NEVER fully describe the setting or the capabilities of the people in the setting -- at best, the rules of a given edition approximate how things work. Since most greyhawk lore is 2e, and describes a setting with relatively few varieties of magic and that is relatively gritty, my premise here is, '3.5e magic paths have been possible for a while, but mostly, no one is discovering them since there's only a few established traditions that would encourage transition into the more diverse 3.5e styles of learning.' IE, showing the transition from a more limited 2e style setting to a more diverse, possibly even zany and over the top, 3.5e style setting, even if both versions would function under 3.5e rules. The Bardic Sage acf was one of the things that's plausible to be discovered 'early', due to existing institutions focusing on Bardic magic and lore and varieties of Arcane magic. Make sense?

[noob]

So. I would like to crowdsource an idea I have for a bit of a campaign I'm setting up. So... I've noticed a few things, and I've made some interesting extrapolations. NOTE: I AM ATTEMPTING TO FOCUS ON DOING THIS WITHIN AN EXISTING, PRE-ESTABLISHED, CANON-COMPLIANT SETTING.

Greyhawk, despite being the 'default' 3.5e setting, isn't reaaallllyyy the best fit, if one goes by the established Greyhawk lore. This would be for a 'mostly canonical Greyhawk' campaign, FYI.

It's, well... it has a low level of cosmopolitanism, a relatively low population, the settlements are relatively poor, it's quite post-apocalyptic, the styles of magic are very conservative (you pretty much JUST find Wizards and JUST Clerics of established gods; the Druids are all 'good and evil must stay in balance!' types, etc. etc.), and the like.

In fact, it's a 1e/2e gritty (though not as gritty as Athas) points of light in darkness setting.

And to this, one is supposed to add the massive amount of gonzo variety that is... pretty much all of 3.5e spellcasting?? Psionics? Incarnum? Shadow Magic? Soul Binding? Auras? Blade Magic? Infusions? Invocations? All the magical crafting techniques? The various types of shamanic magic and nature paths that aren't Druids? Any of the Pathfinder stuff that fits in a roughly 3.5e world? The idea of various sorts of divine classes which does NOT involve or require a god's intervention? Or even the variety of 4e or 5e options, like psionic monks and rogues? Where would it all fit? How would it even develop? How could you even have a school of <insert odd style of supernatural puissance here>?

As near as I can tell... the only people who are actually on the forefront of magical technology and science and engineering in the setting.... is the massive variety and quantity of hideously evil wizards, clerics, and sorcerers that are making and inhabiting dungeons as adventurer fodder.

So, here's my setup:

A young Bard (Bardic Sage ACF; one that's reasonably plausible to show up on Greyhawk; the idea is that this sort of character has sufficient variety of skill, intelligence, leadership, knowledge, lore, and magical ability [especially of the enchantment and defending against enchantment] to pull this off) has found the ONE floating island with a castle on it in the setting, the one with an absentee landlord, and has managed to get the stupid thing mobile and refurbished it as a floating magical school. His goal: to make a magic school for all paths of nontraditional magic, with the express purpose of advancing and disseminating the knowledge and practice of these across the continent of Oerik, which allows all types of sapient entities to attend as faculty or students, provided they keep the peace within the school's grounds and airspace and adjacent planar presence.

So... the question is... in order to make this work and get started with all the different types of magic that may be just starting to be (re?)developed in the setting, who and what do you pick up? What powerful magical creatures do you bribe, what with your ability to make a killing with the only reliable heavy air freight on the entire continent, to become faculty and staff? What do you pick up, based on legends of possibly existing somewhere? What about some of those few existing practitioners of magic which might be less antisocial uncollaborative jerks than their peers?

Recruit some teachers that aligns with your goals and get them to indoctrinate people toward the same goals as you (ideally in an isolated school so that you can control the opinions of the people within, which you already got).
Also insist on magic item creation: magic items goes a long way toward making riches that serves people for multiple generations, eventually over thousands of years there will be a lot of magical item because there is very few people who actually wants to destroy precious loot.
That or just get that item that spams hypnosis at will and use the island as a "redeemery" but oriented toward making people in servitors of your cause. (and pick up only evil people that you convert in good guys so that you have to fight only half of the people in the setting)

[Gavinfoxx]

That or just get that item that spams hypnosis at will and use the island as a "redeemery" but oriented toward making people in servitors of your cause. (and pick up only evil people that you convert in good guys so that you have to fight only half of the people in the setting)

Isn't that a bit extreme? Also, I don't know that item.

[Southern Cross]

Yes it is extreme. And is a terrible idea besides. You want willing staff, not brainwashed slaves. And if anybody found out, that could lead to a massive assault on the school. To say nothing of what would happen if somebody broke free of the hypnotism.
But more to the point, if you don't know what item the person is talking about, then your characters won't know about it either.