(Contains repeated material from earlier posts.)
Located down the promenade from Gallax Hall in
Wizard City Hexcrawl, the mighty Seal of the University lies at the heart of hallowed grounds intersecting the thoroughfares five great buildings: The Hand of the Archmages, the Bureau of Spatial and Temporal Matters, the Pyramid of Providence, The Graduate Library, and Gallax Hall.
A great brass pentagram lies embedded in the stone, depicting the five esoteric items that symbolize the university's commitment to sorcery and magic:
- The Lamp of Knowledge
- The Hourglass of Eons
- The Eye of Providence
- The Tome of Secrets
- The Word of Truth
Each item aligning respectively with each building above. Along the perimeter of the pentagram, are words in plain language for all to comprehend:
"UNIVERSITY OF CHRONULUS:
ALL THOSE WHO DEFACE THIS SEAL SHALL PERISH."
And indeed,
all those who deface or step upon the seal are instantly slain. Every few years or so a freshman is goaded into testing the seal's magic by cruel upperclassmen or measuring faculty, only to wither away to nothing but bones in a matter of moments before the eyes of the entire school. It is considered a test for foolhardy wizards who would dare to meddle in the affairs of the unknown or the rules of the university without proper respect.
|
There's an urban myth in my hometown that anybody who stepped on the M would fail their first bluebook exam. |
As a crossroads of sorts within the University, one can see and meet a variety of students and professors simply going about their business (and staying far away from the Seal).
Undergraduates
AC Unarmored HD 1-4 HP 1-16 Morale 6 Wizard 1-4
1d4 Knife
Spells: 1/2HD: Roll Once ; 3/4HD: Roll Twice
Undergraduates have 1HD per academic year attended.
Freshman = 1HD, Sophomore = 2HD, Junior = 3HD, Senior = 4HD.
Everyone despises them. Nobody respects them. The bottom of the academic food chain. Ranked according to their Year. For when a singularly important student is required, roll on the following table:
d20
|
Name
|
Spell
|
Appearance
|
Personality
|
1
|
Alstaff
|
Alarm
|
Puffy-eyed
|
Screaming Goblin
|
2
|
Bee
|
Burning Hands
|
Too short
|
Glitching Automaton
|
3
|
Chew
|
Charm Person
|
Anxiety-inducing
|
No Pet Only Throw
|
4
|
Dennis
|
Color Spray
|
Mutant
|
Secret Snake Person
|
5
|
Elvis
|
Comprehend Languages
|
2/10
|
Get A’s or Get Graves
|
6
|
Falgrave
|
Detect Magic
|
Vomit-skinned
|
Bubblemint Pretty Princess
|
7
|
Gemini
|
Disguise Self
|
Fit like a walrus
|
Gym Rat King
|
8
|
How
|
Feather Fall
|
Euthanized
|
Beavis
|
9
|
Ilidia
|
Find Familiar
|
Dungeons-under-eyes
|
Egg-Eater
|
10
|
June
|
Floating Disk
|
Ghost?
|
One Step Above Zombie
|
11
|
Karol
|
Fog Cloud
|
Bleeding
|
Professor’s Pet
|
12
|
Lep
|
Grease
|
Hairy-lipped
|
“My Parents Are Rich!”
|
13
|
Minnie
|
Hideous Laughter
|
Albino frog
|
“I’m From The West Coast”
|
14
|
Nupital
|
Identify
|
Dingle dangle
|
Dog in a Sausage Shop
|
15
|
Organ
|
Illusory Script
|
Too tall
|
Lazy Serial Arsonist
|
16
|
Philinx
|
Jump
|
Sailing ears
|
I Drink Bleach
|
17
|
Quop
|
Mage Armor
|
Father was clearly a snake
|
Psychology Major
|
18
|
Rins
|
Magic Missile
|
Tuberculosis, personified
|
Bum At Heart
|
19
|
Segg
|
Silent Image
|
Cancer beefsteak
|
Noodles and Doodles
|
20
|
Timet
|
Sleep
|
Like an actual human being
|
Scary Clown
|
Graduate Students
AC Leather HD 4-6 HP 4-24 Morale 9 Wizard 4-6
1d6 Long Knife
Spells: Roll twice on Spell Column
+3 from Undergraduate Spell List
Graduate Students have 4 + 1HD per two years graduate schooling.
Graduate Students are smart enough to never give their real names to anyone. Hence, whenever someone asks for their name, they’ll give something obviously fake. It won't even be the same fake name every time, just to throw you off.
Professors might actually tolerate them, as they’ve proven themselves useful. Only the most ruthless students survive the undergraduate program and decide to continue their studies.
d20
|
Fake Name
|
Spell
|
Appearance
|
First on the Hit List:
|
1
|
John Doe
|
Animate Dead
|
Evil gnome
|
Undergrads...
|
2
|
Jane McClane
|
Bestow Curse
|
Scary goth
|
Their Mentor...
|
3
|
Call Me Jack
|
Blink
|
More piercing than flesh
|
Their Partner...
|
4
|
Eye P. Freely
|
Clairvoyance
|
No face
|
Their Father...
|
5
|
None O. Yerbizz
|
Fear
|
Sumo!
|
Their Mother...
|
6
|
Bigby
|
Fireball
|
Literally on fire
|
Their Abjuration Instructor...
|
7
|
Salamander Hammerhead
|
Fly
|
Trench coat ate a person
|
Their Siblings...
|
8
|
Full Powers
|
Gaseous Form
|
Glitter central
|
Fellow Program Rivals...
|
9
|
Macaroni Rioux
|
Haste
|
Elder spawn
|
Custodians...
|
10
|
Milkshake Mike
|
Hypnotic Pattern
|
Secret skeleton
|
The Police...
|
11
|
Molly Prepper
|
Lightning Bolt
|
Librarian hobo
|
The Secret Police...
|
12
|
Shirly Temple
|
Major Image
|
Elf on a shelf
|
The Ultra-Secret Police...
|
13
|
Cassidy Dance
|
Nondetection
|
Knockoff Shrek
|
Everyone...
|
14
|
Mollux Prime
|
Phantom Steed
|
Bootleg preppy
|
The Dean...
|
15
|
Lisa
|
Prot. from Energy
|
A dirty, filthy gun
|
Ghosts...
|
16
|
Ludwig Von Blap
|
Remove Curse
|
Goldfish bowl supervillain
|
Geese...
|
17
|
Frank Yips
|
Sending
|
Spaceman hermit
|
Professor Sitch...
|
18
|
Wendy
|
Sleet Storm
|
TUBES
|
And That Little Dog, Too...
|
19
|
Esther Candlelime
|
Slow
|
Doc Ock with a Glock
|
All Their Imaginary Friends...
|
20
|
Contessa Q.
|
Stinking Cloud
|
Bionic coffee press
|
You!...
|
Professors
AC Leather + Shield HD 6-10 HP 6-40 Morale 10 Wizard 6-10
1d8 Longer Knife
Spells: According to Department
+2 on Graduate Spell List
+3 on Undergrad Spell List
Now THESE right here are proper Wizards. Professors form the backbone of the University. A Tenured Professor will be infamous for their exploits, their genius, and their utter lack of accountability. Most, except perhaps the most egotistical and powerful, will be referred to only by their first initial, because names carry power.
d20
|
Department of...
|
Pioneering Spell
|
Professor...
|
Minion(s)
|
1
|
Torture
|
Mass Pain
|
R
|
Four sycophants
|
2
|
Medicine
|
Summon Gout
|
P
|
Talking tumor
|
3
|
Familiars
|
Charm Familiar
|
N
|
Thirty cats
|
4
|
Tongues
|
Speak With Eyes
|
W
|
Magic mouths spontaneously erupting from every surface
|
5
|
Reality
|
Shade
|
4
|
1d6 Clones
|
6
|
Accounting
|
Locate Psychopath
|
$
|
2d4 Student Calculators
|
7
|
Circles
|
Protection from Students
|
M
|
Magic Circle that crawls along the floor around them
|
8
|
Venoms
|
Hands to Spiders, Arms to Snakes, Bones to Bees
|
L
|
Beeeeeeeeeees!
|
9
|
Thought
|
Bestow Thought
|
Q
|
Floating brain in jar
|
10
|
Space and Time
|
Omni-Adjacency
|
&
|
Themself from the past
|
11
|
Tailors
|
Hat of Faces
|
K
|
Living, Talking Robes
|
12
|
Grammar
|
Misspell Magic
|
Y
|
Walking, talking dictionary
|
13
|
Spying
|
Detect Crime
|
!
|
Definitely NOT the Secret Police...
|
14
|
Charms
|
Power Word: Ignominy
|
J
|
Floozies
|
15
|
Whales
|
Combust Fat
|
B
|
Ghost Whale Calf
|
16
|
Names
|
_____ 's Instant Summons
|
V
|
1d4 Foolish Student Thralls
|
17
|
Elements
|
Wall of Swords
|
T
|
Two tiny little oozes
|
18
|
Forms
|
Ethereal Flying Kick
|
Z
|
A very petty old philosopher
|
19
|
Elves
|
Memory Souffle
|
C
|
Contingent of Woodland Creatures
|
20
|
Crystals
|
Magic Jar
|
H
|
Sentient Rock
|
This is great. I love your Wizard City stuff - just ran into it recently.
ReplyDeleteAre postdocs super grad students or scary, hungry proto-professors? Does each one carry a clock embedded in their flesh counting down to their spectacular doom if they can't trick a department into offering them a teaching position?
As in all things, I imagine that it varies by Department.
DeleteDr. ! is my favorite
ReplyDelete