Collegian

The Arcane Collegium sees hundreds of students and professors walk through its hallowed halls each day.

The diligent students walk with leather packs filled with textbooks and arcane tomes and scrolls in hopes of mastering the basics of wizardry. A rare few students enter the halls of higher education in hopes of gaining mastery in the ways of swordplay or bardic performance, for some of the lands’ premiere swordsmen and bards settle down in the city and become teachers once their age prevents them from adventuring.

The collegian background represents a student at an institute of higher learning, including the Arcane Collegium but also the many smaller academies that dot the Collegium District. A professor of such an institution would be of the sage background, though a new and untested professor could be a collegian.

Skill Proficiencies: Two of your choice from Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion.

Languages: Two of your choice.

Equipment: A bottle of black ink and an ink pen, a leatherbound journal, a pair of reading glasses, a liquor flask, a set of fine clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp.

d8	Personality Traits
1	That thing you just mentioned? I know all about it. Yes, even that. Oh, definitely that. Listen, you can be quiet now, I can take it from here.
2	Don’t wake me at this hour! Don’t make such a racket this early in the morning! Oh, it’s lunchtime?
3	Please don’t bother me. I’m trying to meditate. I read about this special technique from the jungles of Kush in the Southlands. It should open my third eye—whatever that is.
4	I’m always hungry. I can never stop thinking about the next mess hall visit.
5	Psst, new gossip! Did you hear Lady Marack’s granddaughter is seeing the fellow we met at the pub yesterday?
6	Let’s go sneaking around the professor’s hall tonight! We’ll find all sorts of cool stuff there.
7	I hate doing anything the same way twice. I need to try new things!
8	The students in Ridgecroft Hall next door are so loud! How am I expected to study with the racket they make partying every night?

d6	Ideal
1	Power. Knowledge is power, and I aim to be the most powerful person in the world! (Any)
2	Discipline. I can never reach my full potential if I lollygag or relax. My personal code of discipline is all that matters! (Lawful)
3	Spontaneity. Let’s just do something tonight! I hate getting stuck in a rut. (Chaos)
4	Tranquility. Just… go with the flow. Whatever happens will happen. (Neutral)
5	Misinformation. I need to know the truth, so I can spread lies. (Evil)
6	Accountability. I never make excuses for sloppy work! I own up to errors, no matter the consequences! (Good)

d6	Bond
1	My test partner passed away in his third year. Everything I do is to honor their memory!
2	My parents sold everything they owned to help pay my tuition. I must make them proud.
3	I heard a fragmented secret of the stars in a dream. The professor of divination and astronomy has to help me make sense of this riddle!
4	Learning is the only thing that makes me happy. I need as much knowledge as I can handle!
5	My family has an ancient secret. I need to learn the history of my great-grandfather’s death, and the academy is the only place with records old enough.
6	I have a favorite professor, and I attend office hours as frequently as possible. I need expert advice before I make a major decision!

d6	Flaw
1	I know I’m paying a load of gold to go here, but I can’t go a night without partying or hitting the pub.
2	My studies have revealed things to me man was not meant to see.
3	My classes have overworked me to the brink. I’m a nervous wreck!
4	I must stay busy all the time. I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts.
5	I hate how I just don’t understand things as quickly as my friends.
6	I cheat on everything. Tests. Fights. Partners. I can’t help it!

Feature: Knowledge of The Ages

As a current student or alumnus of your university, you have free access to its expansive library. While in this library, you can spend 1 hour of research to make an Intelligence (Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion) check with advantage. At your GM’s discretion, if this knowledge is present within the library, you can spend 8 hours of research to learn it.

If this knowledge is beyond your university’s knowledge, you can request a research grant to discover the information you seek. The university supplies your travel and lifestyle expenses (up to a modest lifestyle) for up to 2 months while researching. You cannot request a grant more than once per year.

Suggested Characteristics

Collegians are sages-in-training. Because young collegians have a greater lust for life than their older counterparts, they have yet to partake in the long, sleepless nights and years of rigorous study that sages have endured in order to obtain vast knowledge.