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Dungeons & Dragons: Redhurst Academy of Magic

Redhurst Academy of Magic Student Handbook

Redhurst is a major school of wizardry - perhaps not the first but certainly one of the largest ones I've seen in print - which is presented in thorough and splendid detail in the form of the Student Handbook, issued to all new students on arrival to help them get oriented and settled in.

While the intention of the book is to set the scene for this institution, it's a little unclear how it ought to be used. Certainly, a game could be run in which the characters are all students at the Academy, revolving around their life on campus (and there's certainly plenty to occupy yourself in such a campaign), or wizards amongst your party could be former students, thus giving them tremendous background for their characters. Maybe a higher level wizard teaches there, has been invited to deliver a guest lecture, or wants to undertake some research. Perhaps it is just a major establishment that exists somewhere in your campaign world - or visits it. A major and odd feature of the Academy is its mobile campus, which teleports around several published campaign worlds as well as other unspecified stops, allowing you to include your own creation or favourite setting as well.

The book, which comes in an awkward landscape format that so far hasn't found a home on my shelves conveniently, has beautiful maps of the campus in the end papers - showing it at 4 different levels from the ground up to the rooftops. This is supplemented with detailed maps of every building within. Nobody ought to get lost while there! Overall, it is beautifully presented, with all the illustrations attributed to various craftsmen and illusionists

This delightful consistency of style, the maintenance of the illusion that you are actually holding the Redhurst Student Handbook, continues through nearly all of it. Even Margaret Weis's foreword is written 'in character' with a charming portrait of the good lady to go along with it. The book proper begins with the administrative details - and, as a teacher in a REAL college (although not, alas, of magic!) it's all very familiar: it reads pretty much like the mix of administrivia and PR hype that most colleges put out. Here you find out about becoming a student, paying your fees, applying for a position on the faculty, doing research or purchasing consultancy...

Chapter 2 addresses Campus Life. Due to the mobility of the institution, all students are required to live in, as do their teachers. Most, but not all, students choose to specialise in one of the eight schools of magic - each of which is represented as a separate department - sometime during the first few years of their studies. This will determine the courses taken after the first year, which is common to all. You need to study for a minimum of five years to graduate, although apparently there is an elf student who has continued to study for 27 years! Each year, a student must pass all his exams to continue, with a summer session for 'catch up' work if you fail. Once 5th-year exams are passed, a student may apply to graduate. It's not all work, though. Sports feature large, with races and spellflag and even duelling. Trips are organised to places of interest in all the locations visited, and there is even what appears to be a 'Live Action Role Playing' club for students wanting to play at being adventurers, plus the more sedentary games of cards, dice, etc. A thriving drama society puts on lavish productions, with illusionists providing special effects. Details of internship programmes, part-time jobs, graduate study and the school schedule also appear here.

The third chapter introduces the faculty, including some of the Academy's history, and full NPC stats for key individuals. This includes an overview of the eight schools of magic, and the way in which they are taught at Redhurst.

The next chapter is a detailed view of the Campus itself, with general information on security and the campus guards, cross-campus communication and the all-important rules whereby everyone is expected to live. This is followed by a building-by-building description of everything on the campus, complete with detailed maps. No matter where your game takes you, you will not be flummoxed for a description or layout.

This chapter ends with notes on some of the places to which the campus travels on a regular basis. These are Arcanis, Battle City, Dungeon World, Freeport, Genavue, Nyambe, Loerem (the Sovereign Stone settimg), and Hollowfaust in the Scarred Lands. Several others are mentioned in less detail, and plenty of scope is there for the DM to schedule in visits to any other settings of his design or choice.

Chapter 5 looks in detail at the courses followed by student wizards, and the eight schools of magic. As well as providing sufficient detail to actually play characters taking these classes or to give an unparalleled depth to the background of those who graduated before play began, there are also a few original spells dotted around.

That's about it as far as the Student Handbook is concerned. There are some legends about the place, game-related details for the DM - such as explaining that a graduate is a 3rd-level wizard and even how to translate scholastic accomplishment into XP if you want to run a campaign based on students. There are a few magic items (a glass of Redhurst ale, anyone?), a couple of Academy-related feats, monsters and two Prestige Classes. Oh, and a student record sheet (which you may download as a PDF from the Human Head Studios website).

One odd thing: this copy of the Student Handbook has been defaced. Someone, someone who does not wish the Academy well, has been spying on the place and has annotated the book with comments ranging from the perceptive to the scurrilous. The nature or objectives of that spy are not revealed, but this could complicate using the Handbook as a handout unless you do want to involve this individual's machinations in your game.

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