D&D: ‘Strixhaven’ Preview Reveals New Monsters And Magical Math
Two new monsters and the secrets of the College of Quandrix are at the heart of a new batch of Strixhaven previews.
Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos is coming out next week, and the previews are out in force. Today we’re taking a look at two new monsters, previewed by Gizmodo. We’ll also take a look at the mathemagical College of Quandrix, courtesy of Mashable.
Strixhaven Previews: Quandrix College Gets Mathemagical
There’s a rich inner world in these Strixhaven previews, which highlights he hybrid nature of the book. Because at its heart it’s trying to be two things: a new setting, and an adventure. Let’s take a look at Quandrix College.
Quandrix is the college for all you mathletes out there. Do you believe that numbers are as close as we get to the handwriting of God? Well, if anyone out there was going to know if something was numberwang or not, it’s a Quandrix student.
Their fractal magic makes them powerful. We’ll also see they have a lot of NPCs who take a wide interest in the campus activities.
We also got a look at the Background associated with Quandrix. It’s fittingly called Quandrix Student.
Quandrix Spells
And we know that alongside this, you’ll also get the Strixhaven Initiate feat associated with Quandrix. This gives you access to a list of bonus spells. Including a new spell just for Quandrix College.
Vortex Warp is a phenomenal spell. It’s got usefulness in and out of combat. It’s a 90 foot teleport spell that you can use on either your allies or your enemies.
You magically twist space around another creature you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (the target can choose to fail), or the target is teleported into an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within range. The chosen space must be on a surface or in a liquid that can support the target without the target having to squeeze.
As a bonus, you can increase the range of the spell by 30 feet for every spell slot level higher than 2nd. So you can teleport someone out of reach, and Gishes can bring them closer to hit a target. It takes your action, so you’ll have to plan around that.
You can also teleport your target into a liquid. That’s right, you can just bamf someone into lava. Well, as long as there’s lava nearby.
Strixhaven Monsters
The Strixhaven previews give us that and there’s still two new monsters to look at! Here’s a look at the Groff.
These plant-based bayou bears are technically vegan. But they will absolutely chow down on some Witherbloom Pests. Or students. Or anyone else that happens to be made of meat.
They’ve got abilities to make them perfect ambush bears. Groffs are natural camouflaged, and they have a multi-attack that is pretty devastating. They can also engulf targets until they die.
Fun stuff– exactly what you’d expect from an inexplicably dangerous forest. Good thing untrained first-years can just wander into it!
Strixhaven Previews: Oriq
Then there’s the villainous organization. It turns out, they’re responsible for the creation of the Mage Hunters we saw in earlier previews.
Then there’s the Oriq, a shadowy organization that’s adept at hunting mages. And it turns out, they’re recruiting…
They step up to students who aren’t quite hacking it. Maybe you’re underperforming, or you’re one of the many students who falls through institutional cracks, struggling to figure out their way forward. Enter the Oriq.
These recruiters seem to be using prionics, but they’re technically Warlocks. It’s very interesting. Take a look at their stat blocks.
All of this, and more, awaits you in the Strixhaven previews. Go check them out!
Happy Adventuring!
