Strixhaven thoughts/concerns

[animorte]

We recently got Strixhaven (D&D's format for MtG's version of Hogwarts). Not much additional class related content but it's been such an enjoyable read.*

1. I am planning to send out some very familiar invitations, if you know what I mean, to get the campaign started. This will include the school's mission statement within the book and other various information, the different colleges and names/history attached to them. Do you folks have any ideas concerning the possible creative nature here?

2. The group looks like it may be a bit smaller than usual and I was thinking about offering up the Sidekicks rule that each of my PCs can apply to their different Mascots. Does anybody else have much experience with Sidekicks? I love them, personally.

*For those of you that only buy content for class add-ons, you're really missing out. Still has plenty of monsters stat-blocks and excellent concepts for homebrew ideas, which is primarily how our table runs.

[animorte]

Ok, so I've done a bit of research and discovered that this particular addition hasn't received much love. Something about many expecting a source book only to discover that the few additions it does have don't necessarily balance very well outside of this campaign. A few places noted that the ideas are just recycled and reformatted (show me something that isn't inspired by other works).

IMHO, they put a lot of work into it and it directly addresses a different issue I've noticed popping up through different threads, one of roleplay. Some PCs struggle to build rapport with NPCs and develop relationships. There's is quite an effective format within. While certainly not perfect, it provides a fairly solid foundation of the concept for those who wish to go further in depth.

[meandean]

Agreed that a school is a good way to organize a campaign. Big questions such as "how do our characters know each other?", "what are they trying to do?", and "who are the important NPCs?" become pretty easy to answer. There's an inherent structure that everyone easily understands. But the structure doesn't have to be suffocating, since the school can gradually be transitioned from the sole setting into more of a homebase, and there will presumably also be long-term storylines that are happening "behind the scenes" at the school.

It just, of course, is simply the case that not everyone wants to RP being a student. People also may be under the incorrect impression that the setting requires every character to be a spellcaster. (Whether it's less fun if you're not a caster, I don't know.)

[animorte]

It just, of course, is simply the case that not everyone wants to RP being a student. People also may be under the incorrect impression that the setting requires every character to be a spellcaster. (Whether it's less fun if you're not a caster, I don't know.)

That's a good point. Not everybody likes the idea of going to school. Perhaps it's just a more focused ideal that caters to a specific group of fans, which is ok.

Based on the accessibility of extracurricular activities and the jobs, there are a lot of ways to keep people busy. This also sparked a lot of ideas for different kinds of PCs to play and different NPCs to add.

My wife and I have already started running a couple of small practice sessions for some of our pre-existing characters (a couple with backstories and a couple with a later interest). To be completely honest, the most fun ideas we've run so far were a Monk and an Echo Knight, neither of which is a caster. I do understand that misconception though. Thanks a lot for some additional perception on the matter!

[Sigreid]

For me, I gave it a pass because I really am not interested in the school setting, especially after reading accounts of RPing working at a Starbucks; and I've just generally been unsatisfied with the last few adventure paths I've bought and so I've become a hard sell for those at this point.

Probably also doesn't help that I don't long for my school days to the point I haven't gone to any of my reunions or kept in touch with anyone from my school days that I'm not related to.