In a modern fantasy world, teenagers attend a boarding school in the clouds—sneaking out of class to fly brooms, explore floating islands, and save their friends.

Designed by Rowan Hall, Mikey Hamm, Cass Rea, and Spenser Starke

Complexity Rating: •

THE PITCH Read this section to your players to introduce them to the campaign.

In a modern world of knights and cars, wands and flip phones, there’s no better place to study magic than the floating school known as Castle High. Drifting among the mysterious ruins of the ancient world and modern settlements that populate the clouds, this school and its surroundings hold secrets, danger, and something more sinister. A string of disappearances has recently plagued the school, and no one knows who or what is behind it—or who will disappear next.

In a Castle High campaign, you’ll play adventurous high schoolers who take magic classes, explore sky islands, and search for their missing classmates.

TONE & FEEL Adventurous, Dreamy, Full-Hearted, Melodramatic, Modern, Playful, Thrilling

THEMES Coming of Age, Curiosity & Rebellion, Friendship & Loyalty, Magical vs. Modern

TOUCHSTONES Kids on Brooms, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Little Witch Academia, Onward, The Owl House, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Slugblaste

OVERVIEW

If your group decides to play this campaign, give your players the following information before character creation.

Modern civilization has come a long way. Industry. Innovation. Plastic. The elders have seen horses give way to cars, science catch up with magic, sending spells all but abandoned for cell phones, and the gods replaced by pop stars. Much has been lost, but more has been gained, and most people live long, comfortable lives that involve little in the way of slaying monsters or protecting kingdoms. The future is bright, and the skies are mostly clear. Mostly.

But it wasn’t always this way. Long ago, in a time of great danger, large portions of the earth were torn from the surface and raised into the air by powerful crystals buried deep within the land—crystals that became known as skyshards. No one knows what caused the shards’ power to activate, but when they did, they took castles, forests, and entire towns into the clouds with them. Smaller skyshards could be attached to mundane objects and vehicles, and these skybound innovations allowed people to navigate the new world above.

The lands held aloft by skyshards became known as the sky islands (usually shortened to skylands). Each island is said to hold unique magical energy and host treacherous secrets. Some contain ancient ruins, remnants of long-dead civilizations visited by only the bravest adventurers and most dedicated scholars. Those who study these ancient citadels believe they were purposefully constructed around skyshards to harness their power.

Today, people live in many of the villages, fortresses, and homes that were raised into the sky so many centuries ago, their buildings and technologies evolving with their needs. Other skylands are only recently inhabited, with daring entrepreneurs building malls for magical goods, hotels for weary adventurers, and diners that drift through the clouds. Smaller skylands are claimed by recluses who construct small homesteads on portions of rock they can pilot through the skies. Still more are entirely uninhabited—inhospitable, filled with wild magic, and teeming with beasts too powerful to tame.

One sky island holds a massive castle. This ancient edifice is a prestigious high school where young people from all over enroll to study magic, train with swords, soar through the skies, and sit through algebra. Everyone calls it Castle High.

Sought after for its premier education and location, Castle High invites students from across the realm to learn from expert teachers. Here, the next generation of adventurers, magicians, fighters, and sky explorers train among the clouds.

Castle High is a boarding school—new students are grouped into small teams and assigned a shared dormitory within one of four unique towers. Though each student takes their own classes, Castle High also doles out “tower grades” based on a team’s ability to collaborate on extracurricular projects. Defined by the teaching style and preferences of their tower dean, each group at Castle High receives a unique education tailored to their “individual goals and styles of learning.” Or, at least, that’s what it says in the brochure.

In their tower dorms, students study together, live together, and fight over sink space. In their classes, they pass notes in homeroom, doodle hexes on their binders, and get sent to detention. And between it all, they sneak out to explore and to find answers to the sky’s biggest questions—maybe now more desperately than ever.

Over the past school year, eight kids have gone missing exploring the skylands—far more than have ever been lost before. It’s all the older students could talk about during orientation. The school has stayed silent on the matter, and no teacher will say anything about the disappearances, much less mention the kids by name.

Even so, the students have heard (and spread) rumors of something sinister happening out among the clouds, something they think the grown-ups might be trying to hide. Some kids are whispering that all the missing students were members of one tower, and their tower dean caused their disappearance. Others claim they were cult initiates or were snapped up by a ravenous dragon. Some—especially the younger kids—are saying that the mysterious “Night Snatcher” who roams the towers got them. One particularly prevalent rumor claims that the missing kids discovered something in the school, and Headmaster Fellowes (she/her) got rid of them to keep it a secret.

Adding fuel to this rumor, Headmaster Fellowes (who led the school for four decades) didn’t come back this semester. Instead, newly installed Headmaster Dove (they/them) took over. Formerly the head of the Arcana Department, they were known for their boisterous energy and creative approach to teaching. But now, Dove’s demeanor is different—they’re more serious and much stricter about the rules. Dove won’t talk about Fellowes’s apparent departure, and they sent a kid to detention during orientation for using an illusion spell to hang a banner commemorating their missing friend.

With a new headmaster and all the celebration that comes with orientation, most people were hoping to put the tragedies in the past. But on the fifth night of orientation week, right after the big dance, a student named Riley Averill disappeared. Some kids have said Riley was acting strangely the day before their disappearance, but nobody has come forward with any more information. Their broom is missing, but they left their backpack and private journal behind in their tower room.

No one knows what to do. Students are panicking, and the adults are pretending nothing is wrong. The school year is off to an unnerving start, and one thing is for sure: something strange is going on at Castle High.

COMMUNITIES

All communities are available in a Castle High campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players and choose one or more of the questions to ask them during your session zero.

All Communities

Castle High is a campus where students of all backgrounds study and live together miles away from their homes. And while the towers, majors, cliques, and hierarchies of Castle High might quickly feel more important than their upbringing, each student arrives with a history and culture that help shape their life in the castle.

• How does your community feel about Castle High? Did they help you go, make you go, or try to stop you?
• Who from your community do you miss most? What unique way have they promised to communicate with you while you’re away?
• What about living here feels very different from home? What feels familiar?

ANCESTRIES

All ancestries are available, but some have unique aspects in a Castle High campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players.

All Ancestries

This modern fantasy world includes all ancestries. You’ll find elves wearing jeans, fungril watching TV, and ribbets shopping in grocery stores. Regardless of their lifespan, all ancestries in a Castle High campaign go through a period of adolescence.

Faeries & Aetheris

Naturally winged, faerie and aetheris students zip around the campus with ease. A player choosing an ancestry with flight should consider how this informs their choice of skyshard artifact (see “The Skyshards” on page 125). They can still choose a skyshard if they’d like to have one for aesthetic reasons, but their flight isn’t dependent on it.

CLASSES

All classes are available, but some have unique aspects in a Castle High campaign. As needed, provide the following information to your players.

Beastbound Rangers

At Castle High, many Beastbound ranger students bond with an animal companion that can fly. If a player wants to use their animal companion as a flying mount, consider what happens if their companion is forced out of the scene and that PC no longer has a means to fly. A ranger can incorporate their skyshard into their companion’s saddle or use it as a trinket that allows them to communicate with and call their mount. During character creation, discuss how the ranger and their companion navigate the skies together.

Druids

The Beastform options available to a Tier 1 druid don’t include one with flight, so players who want to rely on their Beastform for flight won’t have access right away. A druid character can rely on their skyshard artifact until Tier 2, or the player can work with the GM to modify a Tier 1 Beastform option to have wings.

Syndicate Rogue

Though the Syndicate rogue’s “Contacts Everywhere” feature can certainly be used when visiting other skylands outside Castle High, players might also consider using this feature around campus, such as when visiting a rival tower or when another school comes to visit for a sports or academic competition.

Winged Sentinel

Seraphs The “Wings of Light” class feature grants flight. As Winged Sentinel seraphs already have a means to fly, players should consider how this informs their choice of skyshard artifact (see “The Skyshards” on page 125). They can still choose a skyshard if they’d like to have one for aesthetic reasons, but their flight isn’t dependent on it.Castle High

PLAYER PRINCIPLES

If your group decides to play this campaign, give your players the following information before character creation.

Cast Spells, Wear Sneakers

Play a modern teenager in a fantastical world, reinterpreting character details in a contemporary context. Does your character keep their spells in a three-ring binder? Do they decorate their shield with stickers? What’s the name of that katari rock band they’re obsessed with?

Do Your Homework

One day, your character will be a hero, but today they’re a student. Whether they’re a teacher’s pet, a rebel, or a would- be legend who just wants to save the world already, they have to deal with school. So take time to explore that side of the game. Who’s their favorite teacher? How are their grades? Yes, the world is in peril, and yes, their boyfriend just dumped them, but right now, the real problem is that their chemistry paper is due in four hours, and they haven’t even started.

Play in the Clouds

Students explore the skylands for many reasons, such as treasure, knowledge, or investigating their fellow students’ disappearances. But it’s also fun! Young people have a strong appetite for adventure, and Castle High campaigns are great for excited, proactive PCs who do things for the joy of it. Describe them flying, doing tricks, feeling the sunshine on their skin. Horse around. Hang out a bit. Poke things with sticks. Have them laugh after a dragon nearly eats them, then show off their gnarly bruises. Go make some memories.

Fly for Your Life

Castle High can have its fair share of battles, but teenage adventure stories often feature other kinds of action— especially chases. Your character won’t be able to fight every monster head-on. They’ll need to keep out of biting range, lead adversaries into traps, and make them eat dust. The sky is their battlefield, and flight is their most powerful weapon. So when they see that big monster, take off!

Feel like a Kid

No matter how fantastical your character is, they’re also just a normal kid going through the same things kids have gone through forever: growth, change, heartbreak, caring too much about a pair of jeans, and pretending to be adults until the moment they suddenly are. Your character might have grown from a spore or be able to breathe fire, but when you describe their feelings, they become grounded and relatable.

Search out Answers

With the adults working hard to keep the missing students hush-hush, ensure your character has a strong motivation to search for answers. Maybe one of the missing kids was their neighbor growing up, they developed a connection to Riley during orientation, or their best friend is obsessed with finding the missing students and your character’s doing their best to support them. Whatever works best for your character, tie them into the mystery in a meaningful way.

GM PRINCIPLES

Keep the following guidance in mind while you GM this campaign.

Synthesize the Modern and the Fantastical

Everyone at the table will modernize elements of Daggerheart throughout play, but they’ll look to you to set the tone and guardrails. Are you going for something general (“early 21st century, phones, jeans, and sneakers”) or specific (“2003, social media, Y2K fashion”)? Modernize certain things and leave others alone—maybe flashlights have replaced torches, but the students use swords because modern weapons don’t work on magical beasts.

Cut to the Chase

The setting and tools in Castle High are designed to support thrilling aerial escapes, but it’s up to you to tee things up. Create enemies who can fly, and challenge the PCs with foes too powerful to face head-on. And when it’s time for a chase, don’t wait for them to run. Just say this magic phrase: “It starts chasing you! Where are you heading?”

Keep It Emotionally Grounded

No matter how strange the world or how high the fantasy, if the people feel real, the story will, too. Let your NPCs behave realistically, feel normal emotions, and care about the things teenagers (or teachers) actually would. Emotional truth can ground even the most fantastical scenes.

Run a School in the Sky

Castle High is a living place—it exists to push and pull on the characters with rigid structure, dynamic characters, and high expectations. The teachers have relationships and goals. The students form factions and follow trends. The school has rules, and those rules are enforced. Every time the students meet a new NPC, write down their name, motive, and one small detail about how they look or talk. Within a few sessions, you’ll have a bustling campus.

Build an Aerial Playground

Design skylands that are fun for teenagers to explore. Describe architecture that’s fun to fly through, such as narrow gaps, ramps, or chunks of winding staircase. Place strange objects behind mysterious doors. Create levers for them to pull, figuratively and literally. Entice them with areas that are safe to mess around in and areas so dangerous they’re a puzzle just to navigate. Give them problems they can’t immediately solve and toys they can’t immediately see the purpose of, then look to the players to concoct clever solutions.

DISTINCTIONS

Use this information to prepare your campaign. You can also share it with your players as needed.

The School

Castle High has been around as long as anyone remembers. Students constantly debate its age, its history, the original purpose of each chamber, and whether Dean Lesher (he/him) was hired by the principal or simply freed from his coffin when the east wing of the castle was being renovated.

The castle is built of hewn granite on a mass of jagged bedrock, with a particularly large skyshard jutting out of its base. The island can be piloted to specific destinations, but it typically follows the trade winds in a yearlong circuit, anchoring at occasional port towns along the way to resupply.

Experts in their field aim to teach at Castle High because it funds and facilitates its faculty’s research. Many teachers have their own goals beyond classroom instruction. Some view teaching as a chore or an opportunity to push their projects forward, while others consider it a duty. A few even enjoy teaching for its own sake.

DOMAINS AS FIELDS OF STUDY

In Castle High, domains represent areas of study. Students are free to take any courses they want, but they must focus most of their studies on the two domains that make up their class. Around campus, a student studying to become a wizard might share their Codex course notes with a classmate looking to become a bard while a druid student scurries by them, late to a botany class for their studies in Sage. Meanwhile, a Blade domain fencing course might be intended for students hoping to become warriors and guardians, but that doesn’t stop students with a variety of acadmic interests from enrolling.

THE CAMPUS

The campus is full of locations where students study, socialize, and relax between it all.

Armory: This bustling place holds crowded workbenches, weapon racks, and bins of miscellaneous survival gear. It’s a common meeting place for Blade courses. They keep the good stuff locked in a sentient chest. Only a few teachers have a key.

Atrium: This campus garden has seen better days, but it still hosts an impressive variety of flora. It’s a common meeting place for Sage courses. The atrium is always accepting donations of wild flora, and the teachers won’t ask where students got them.

Catacombs: The catacombs are the deepest part of the school, accessible only by winding spiral staircases. Many Dread courses are located in these caverns. Strange, otherworldly sounds echo through the halls of the catacombs, but nobody seems to be able to locate their source.

Clerestory: In this sunlit chamber, students pray, carve their initials into pews, and take Splendor courses. The intricate stained glass contains three words in an unknown language.

Courtyard: The Castle High quad is the school’s social hub, where students eat lunch, gossip in study groups, and practice broom tricks. A statue of the school’s mysterious founder was vandalized last week with the word “liar.”

Forgotten Corridors: A place of shadows, the corridors are where kids go to play truth or dare, hold clandestine meetings, and take secret Midnight courses not on the official curriculum. Older students have a map they pass around, but it has never been finished.

Gymnasium: With weights, sparring rings, and storied locker rooms, the gym is the common meeting place for Bone courses, assemblies, and the occasional school dance. Every morning, the floor is covered in ashes, and no one knows why.

Landing: This large open-air platform is used for unloading skyships, stabling mounts, learning to fly, and playing broom sports. A pair of cranky old manticores sleep behind the stables.

Library: This archive houses books, maps, and a computer room possibly older than the castle itself—and at least one ghost. Codex courses are commonly held within its collections. They say the ghost will tell you a secret if you tell her one first.

Ramparts: Castle High’s main observation platform is also the common meeting place for Valor courses. A mounted telescope is used to monitor the nearby skylands, but it can be used to spy on campus.

Theater: The system that steers Castle High uses massive exhaust vents on the bottom of the skyland. The mists here are heavy with magic and make it a common meeting place for Arcana courses. I bet you can’t make it through the tunnels before they turn the air vents on!

CASTLE HIGH TOWERS

Students at Castle High are first sorted into four towers. Within each tower, they’re split into teams of 2–5 students known as tower groups. Students in a tower group share a dorm room, work on group projects together, and are expected to help each other. Each group is given a tower grade based on their class scores, participation in projects and extracurriculars, and general behavior.

While the characters typically have no choice where they go, the players should select their tower together, because their choice will influence the style of the campaign they’re playing. The remaining towers can be brought into the story as the homes of friendly classmates, bitter rivals, or crushes living across campus.

Zenith

The tallest tower in the castle is overseen by Dean Parsons (she/her), a peppy eccentric with pencils in her hair and no time for paperwork. She loves teaching but dislikes the classroom, preferring to give students assignments that get them out of the school and in over their heads.

Choose Zenith if you want a mission-based campaign where school assignments often require you to explore other skylands.

Are these strange missions part of some greater purpose? What does Parsons mean when she says you’ve “been chosen for a reason”?

If players choose Zenith tower, consider how someone or something on the surrounding skylands plays a prominent part in the mystery of the missing kids

Star

Castle High’s starboard tower (or simply Star) is overseen by Dean “Coach” Hallister (he/him), a gruff gym teacher who’s nearly as intense as his aftershave. Coach structures each school year as a multi-event tournament complete with jerseys, prizes, and every team’s grades on a giant scoreboard.

Choose Star if you want a structured campaign about competitive underdogs, tower rivalries, and learning to work as a team.

Why is Coach so hard on you? Does he see your potential or think you’re losers—or is this tournament rigged?

If players choose Star tower, consider how a competition or tournament at the school plays a prominent part in the mystery of the missing kids.

Bower

Bow Tower (called Bower by students) is nominally overseen by Dean Lin (they/them), a famously easygoing, chronically absent teacher usually sleeping one off. Most students use this freedom to slack off and party, but some use it as an opportunity to pursue their own adventuring goals unimpeded.

Choose Bower if you want a more player-driven campaign about independent young adventurers and opportunists.

Is Lin really as uninterested as they seem? Why are they tired all the time? Are their headaches a cover for something else?

If players choose Bow tower, consider how the failings of the adults in Castle High play a prominent part in the mystery of the missing kids.

Stern

Stern Tower is overseen by Dean Lesher (he/him), a strict teacher with an old-fashioned teaching style and zero tolerance for nonsense. The windows are barred, and curfew is early. Delinquents go in and honors students come out, rebuilt by drills, discipline, and rote memorization. Of course, some students just refuse to be taught.

Choose Stern if you want a more player-driven campaign about rebellious students sneaking out, getting into trouble, and learning things they shouldn’t.

What’s Lesher hiding? A scheme to take over the school? A shrine to the Demon Lord? A sensitive side and good intentions?

If players choose Stern tower, consider how the themes of freedom and control play a prominent part in the mystery of the missing kids.

Lock

The portside tower is sealed off. Everyone calls it Lock Tower, and students whisper about what’s inside, how to get in, and why a single window lights up every midnight.

GMs can use Lock Tower as an adventure hook or a space for the table to create their own tower.

Transferring Towers

Your table might want to try a few towers during the campaign. In this case, you could say that groups transfer to new towers each time Castle High completes its circuit, representing a single grade of high school.

Additionally, a midyear transfer might be required in the event of expulsion, faculty restructuring, or some other school scandal.

The Missing Kids

Something has been causing students to go missing. During your session zero, ask the players for rumors about what caused their disappearance and gather ideas from their character building and map creation to come up with the answer. Alternatively, you can choose an option from the list below. Then select a few additional rumors to create multiple potential threats, ensuring there are many avenues for players to explore before uncovering the answer.

• An ancient creature of dark magic has been unleashed on a nearby skyland.
• A teacher is trying to summon a powerful deity or monster from another realm of existence to harness their power, and they’ve been using students as bait.
• A band of sky pirates has been recruiting young members as crew.
• A huge dragonshark has been hunting in the clouds surrounding the school.
• A magical storm is teleporting kids to skylands on the other side of the world.
• A powerful and corrupt sorcerer is using the hidden basement within the deepest chambers of the school as a workshop for their nefarious experimentation on students.

RILEY AVERILL

There are nine missing students—including one who’s particularly close to the PCs named Riley Averill. Riley was a member of the PC’s tower group, and they bonded with everyone over the first five days of orientation. They were ready to spend the next year hanging out, studying, and living with the team. Now they’re gone, and the PCs should feel that loss.

The PCs should all have a connection to and care about Riley, so work with the players to build Riley together. Once you’ve agreed on Riley’s pronouns, have each player answer one or more of the questions below. Roll a d20 to select them randomly or have the players choose. You can also come up with your own questions.

Roll	Description
1	What did Riley look like? How did they like to dress?
2	What unique interest or hobby did you and Riley bond over?
3	Where did Riley say they came from? How did their family feel about Castle High?
4	Did Riley want to come to Castle High? Why or why not?
5	What nickname did you give Riley?
6	How did Riley decorate their portion of the dorm?
7	Which domains did Riley plan to study?
8	Which extracurriculars was Riley excited about?
9	What did Riley do during orientation that made you laugh?
10	What secret did Riley tell you?
11	What could you tell Riley was insecure about?
12	What surprising skill did Riley have?
13	What did you notice Riley always doodling on their papers?
14	What secret did Riley find in your tower?
15	What did Riley say they wanted to be when they grew up?
16	Which room in the school was Riley’s favorite? Why?
17	Riley got in a fight with another student during orientation. Who was it, what caused the fight, and how did it end?
18	Riley got along well with one of the older kids who helped new students during orientation. What was their name, and why did they bond with Riley?
19	One of the teachers threatened Riley with detention during orientation. Who was the teacher? What did the teacher accuse them of? Did Riley do it?
20	On the second night of orientation, you found Riley crying in the middle of the night. What did Riley confide in you?

Riley’s Journal

Riley left their journal behind when they disappeared, and you can use it to drop clues to your players about the mystery. Before your first session, handwrite a journal entry on a piece of lined paper from Riley’s point of view about orientation week. Make sure to include references to specific moments of orientation the players created during your session zero. Then, near the end, include some ominous message like:

“I still don’t know who to trust with what I know about the disappearances. For now, it all has to stay a secret until I can find out more.”

Lastly, decide where you want to send the players to gather clues about the students’ disappearances and add a final sentence to the journal entry that hints at that location. For example, if you want to send them to the stables, the journal might say, “I’m headed to go feed Willis. That calms me down.” Record the name “Willis” to drop later as one of the griffins who lives in the stables.

When players investigate Riley’s journal, describe it as having every page ripped out except for one near the back of the book, then give them your written page to read. Between every session (or so), prepare a new journal page for them to discover. Throughout the entries, include clues, red herrings, relationship drama, Riley’s thoughts about the PCs, and anything else that gives further insight into Riley and the mystery that led to their disappearance.

Mounts

Access to flying mounts is considered a special privilege or mark of achievement, and dedicated students might be granted access to the castle stables for difficult assignments. Castle High’s stables commonly include griffins, juvenile flickerflies, strixwolves, rocs, and even an old wyvern.

Beastbound rangers with a companion that can fly are exceptions to this rule. Because the companion is a part of their curriculum, they’re allowed to bring it through the halls and into class—as long as it’s well-behaved.

Roosts

These winged huts have been used by hermits and witches for ages, and they’ve become more popular as people have learned new ways to craft them with skyshards. Roosts are small buildings that are often, but not always, a single room with wings and legs. They (probably) come if called and like to receive scritches behind their chimneys. They’re favored by sky explorers in recent years due to their hardiness, versatility, and ability to anchor to nearly any structure with their talons.

At Castle High, roosts are primarily used to shuttle cargo and passengers safely and can be perched by windows and balconies to provide extra square footage to faculty. Additionally, older students have been known to fly them off campus for parties and other extracurricular adventures. Just as cars provide privacy and prestige to students on the surface, roosts provide them at Castle High.

Skylands

The sky islands that drift above the lithosphere are as varied as the formations of the earth below. Each landmass is different—some are massive, and some can barely hold a full- grown goblin—but they’re all held aloft by the magic of the skyshards buried in their soil. No one knows what caused the skyshards to activate all those centuries ago. Archaeologists, historians, and explorers can still be found among the ruins searching for an answer! But ever since the skylands rose, people have navigated the clouds like they sail through the seas, exploring distant islands and designing unique vessels to get them there.

Many choose to explore the abandoned structures of ancient ruins or the as-yet-uncharted fantastical landscapes of wild skylands. The less explored an island is, the more dangerous it tends to be. An overwhelming variety of plants, animals, monsters, and spirits shelter in these wilds, and only a fraction have been documented.

Others choose to study the way skylands move, how they can be used for new development, and how to attract those on the surface up to this world in the skies. Intrepid entrepreneurs have attempted to harness or build upon the ruins, creating skyways between islands or offering tourist destinations such as theme parks or historical centers.

Skylands drift with weather fronts, travel predictably along tradewinds, or rise from the clouds below on updrafts. Collisions aren’t unheard of, creating floating debris fields, cracking open fortresses, knocking buildings into jarring rotation, and nudging entire cities into new trajectories. Older ruins can even crumble apart and drop out of the skies entirely when their skyshards shatter.

For the students of Castle High, the skylands are both playground and mystery, often miles away from (or above) adult supervision. They venture out on brooms and mounts to relax, explore, or complete assignments that send them soaring through the clouds and researching specific lands. And with so many students missing, they might also go searching for who or what is responsible, hoping to bring their friends home safely.

EXAMPLE SKYLANDS

Akroepis: Toppled columns and cracked pillars. Broken aqueducts and neglected basilicas. Peacocks roost in cypress trees, waterfalls cascade endlessly, and moon ivy grows into the heavens. Mysterious sounds emanate from three- dimensional labyrinths. Built during the time of the Forgotten Gods, these ruins are in impeccable condition despite the years. Archaeologists frequent this skyland, though it’s so dangerous that many never leave.

Cloud Nine Diner: Silver mirror walls covered in vintage posters. A jukebox that plays classics and reads people’s futures. The best pancakes in the sky served by a no-nonsense waitress. Sky shippers at the countertop with stories to tell. Open 24/7, this diner feels like it exists outside space and time. Alma (she/her), the head waitress, is said to be a powerful warlock.

The Corner Store: Narrow aisles brimming with snacks and the smell of too many slushie flavors mixed together. Potions alongside sodas in standing coolers. Weapons and magical items stocked behind the counter. Run by a very, very small ribbet named Dabble (she/her), this minuscule skyland is just big enough to hold the shop. She always says, “If you need it, I got it. And if I don’t got it, you don’t need it that bad.”

Happyland Coaster Park: Rusting rollercoasters and carnival games. Slides that lead off the island’s edge. A Ferris wheel that stares with an unblinking eye. The scents of cotton candy and funnel cake with no apparent source. Randall “Happy” Callahan (he/him) tried to create a theme park in the sky decades ago, but the operation was shady and the location was soon left abandoned. Kids love to come here for secret meetings, and everyone says it’s haunted.

Krawl: Moss unfurls over derelict keeps. Wrens scatter and ruins invert with the sporadic ringing of a leaning bell tower. Dungeons roamed by the undead host untold secrets. Once the home of a violent king, the stone seems to know when people come within its grasp, and the walls shift to trap explorers alongside the remains of fallen armies.

Landren: Crumbling brick and rusted iron. Ceaseless coal fires and decrepit smokestacks. Owls pluck rats from alleys, and corroded machines carry out their inscrutable programming endlessly. Students say whoever runs this skyland is manufacturing something dangerous. The island only appears at night.

Saelor’s Stadium: Rings of seats filled with thundering crowds. Hot dogs and popcorn stuffed into mouths or thrown into the air. Bands in bold uniforms playing loud music. The stadium is used for a variety of sports, duels, and other competitions.

Tirnish: Overgrown skyscrapers and tarnished chrome. Empty offices and rusted monorails. Pigeons nest in satellite dishes, buckwheat grows from the asphalt, and a dozen drive-ins’ worth of pastel automobiles sit in the roads, empty. No one knows the official story about what happened here, but the radioactive elementals and smiling zombies might provide some clues.

OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST

There are books, lessons, and maps filled with seemingly infinite lands to explore among the skies. Older students describe strange places only they have seen. Radio broadcasts describe floating palaces, jungles, and snow-covered peaks separated from their mountains. Passed notes illustrate cursed cities of unblinking people that appear only during specific weather patterns. If you want to create your own skylands, think about what makes each place fantastical and worth exploring. Use the following questions as a jumping-off point as needed:

• What’s unique about this skyland? What does it look like?
• How big is it? Where is the skyshard that keeps it aloft?
• Who or what lives here, if anyone?
• What can PCs discover on or around this skyland?
• What, if anything, makes this skyland dangerous or challenging to navigate?
• How does this skyland relate to the campaign, characters, or story beats you’re exploring?

The Skyshards

Skyshards were once believed to be completely mundane, useful for currency, jewelry, or decoration. But centuries ago, all the skyshards activated at once, causing the people, objects, and lands bearing them to lift into the sky and drift forever among the clouds, skybound. Many speculate that these crystals were once portions of shooting stars, magical slag created from the essence of the gods, or even the very soul of the Mortal Realm itself. While no one knows for sure, in the time since “the Rise,” skyshards have led to advancements in architecture and travel the likes of which the realm has never seen.

These crystals are now highly sought-after for their ability to provide the power of flight. They can be mined from skylands or fished from the air, where they drift indefinitely. By incorporating them into specially crafted objects designed to enhance and focus their potential, these crystals become skyshard artifacts, which have unlocked the skies like never before. Large chunks can lift entire vehicles, buildings, or land masses, while small shards allow users to take to the air on their own.

SKYSHARD ARTIFACTS

Once placed into an object and given time to attune, a skyshard grants that object controllable flight. An entire industry has been created to make artifacts that rise at the user’s command and allow anyone to pilot them. From mages famous for their custom skyshard cloaks to companies that make winged sneakers to unique harnesses built for mounts and familiars, the origin, form, and function of each artifact vary greatly.

Though skyshards are magical, and only experts can craft an artifact that responds to the user, people don’t need magical ability to use a skyshard artifact.

Each student at Castle High has been given a skyshard artifact. Use the following list as inspiration to help each player create their character’s skyshard artifact:

• A broom (the most common option)
• A vacuum, carpet, or other mundane household item
• A medallion, necklace, small trinket, or other keepsake
• A cane, leg braces, wheelchair, or other mobility aid
• A fine cloak, winged sneakers, team jersey, or other apparel
• A breastplate, chainmail, shield, or other means of protection
• A sword, mace, axe, or other physical weapon
• A wand, staff, scepter, or other magical weapon

You can also ask the following questions as needed to help a player create their artifact’s lore:

• How did you acquire your artifact? Was it inherited, discovered, crafted, grown, or something else?
• Describe your artifact’s appearance. Is it ancient, covered in stickers, always humming, or something else?

FLYING WITH STYLE

While brooms are certainly the most common means of flying around Castle High, not everyone uses them the same way—especially since some skyshard artifacts come with personality. Some brooms are stubborn and unruly and, while fast, require additional negotiation. But speed and stunts are everything at Castle High. Choice broom mods or new racing records are common topics in the hallways. The first kid to ride their staff switch-footed through the entire atrium without getting caught instantly gained indisputable legend status.

There are less common, yet equally fun ways students choose to fly. For example, a stylish flying technique known as blade riding has emerged in recent years: Students speed by atop enchanted swords, axes, and other bladed weapons, often borrowing techniques developed generations ago by skaters and surfers. Though it has parents and teachers in a panic, blade riding is reluctantly allowed.

==For more information, see the “Flight” section on page 127.==

THE INCITING INCIDENT

You can use the prompt below to start your campaign, or create your own.

It’s the last night of orientation week. It’s been intense. Everyone has blisters on their sword hands, splinters from their broomsticks, and scents of spells clinging to their hair. Students are buzzing with conversation out in the courtyard, sharing stories from their first week at Castle High. Amid the excitement, a shape appears in the clouds, coming closer and closer until…

A boy wearing a Castle High sweater and clinging to his broomstick crash-lands in the courtyard, unconscious and very hurt. As Mrs. Wickett (she/her), the headmaster’s assistant, runs to him and calls for everyone to back away, the student’s eyelids flit open for just a moment. He locks eyes with the nearest student, a tall infernis cheerleader, and whispers, “They’re going to get—!” But the boy’s words catch in his throat, and he loses consciousness again before he can speak the rest.

As everyone is cleared out of the courtyard and shuffled to their respective towers, one of the older students says the boy’s name is Oliver Fleming (he/him)—one of the eight kids who went missing last school year while out exploring the ruins. After months with no word, Oliver is back.

A few bold students ask Mrs. Wickett what the school is going to do, and if the teachers will talk to Oliver and send people out to whichever skyland he came from. “What if he knows what happened to the other kids?” But Mrs. Wickett tells everyone to hush and head to their dormitories, refusing to say anything more about the disappearances until “after Mr. Fleming has recovered.”

Will the group sneak out of their tower to find Oliver to ask him questions? Will they gather stories about Oliver from fellow students to piece together where he’s been? Does Mrs. Wickett know more than she’s letting on?

CAMPAIGN MECHANICS

The following mechanics are unique to this campaign.

Flight

All attendees of Castle High are required to master flying, both for their safety and to explore the skylands. Each semester, the latest tricked-out brooms, stylized flight spells, and weapon-surfing techniques are showcased by a new generation of fliers seeking to define their experience in the skies.

During character creation, each player will create a skyshard artifact they’ll use to fly. While the PCs are flying, use the normal movement rules. They can fly within Close range as part of an action roll, but they must roll an appropriate trait to move beyond Close range or as their primary action. See the upcoming “Using Traits for Flight” section for more details. Let the players know that some threats—such as becoming Restrained or Vulnerable, losing their artifact, or taking Severe damage—may temporarily interrupt their ability to fly (at the GM’s discretion).

USING TRAITS FOR FLIGHT

While flying, PCs can take cues from extreme sports, mimic birds and other flying animals, or invent their own style. The following are some examples of how each trait can be used:

Agility: Unrivaled technique and an uncurbed appetite for momentum can make a PC a swift and acrobatic flier. Agility might be used to speed-boost off an adversary’s wake, maintain an aerodynamic posture, or angle past a winged threat.

Finesse: Sometimes focus and a subtle adjustment at the exact right moment are all it takes to thread the needle. Finesse helps with precision flying techniques, operating finely tuned controls, or deftly weaving between obstacles.

Strength: Never skip leg day, because no one’s sure what the skies might throw at them next. Fliers with great strength can blast through floating debris, hold fast in shifting weather, or slam into a racing rival.

Instinct: Some learn to fly by sheer intuition, navigating the untamable nature of the winds and sky. Instinct can be used to keenly spot a shortcut, follow a migratory current, or sense hidden danger in the clouds.

Presence: In the air, some fliers possess natural grace and effortless style that make flying look easy. Students with presence know how to command attention, cause a distraction, or create a spectacle when they take flight.

Knowledge: Some students study everything there is to know about magical flight—so they’ve totally got this… in theory. It takes knowledge of the skies to chart efficient flight plans, plot rotational momentum, or deduce the exact timing of a foe’s wingbeats.

A Less Lethal Campaign

For a more lighthearted campaign like Castle High, you might decide to narrate most or all damage as nonlethal. This allows students to duel each other, unleash magical hijinks on the school, or subdue a rival without resorting to true violence. Alternatively, you might decide that certain moments are dramatic enough to warrant escalation, giving the PCs the ability to control whether their damage is lethal or not.

If you’d like to keep death off the table for your campaign, any death moves that would normally lead to a character’s demise can instead lead to a character ending up in the infirmary for a few weeks or being sent home for the semester, making them unplayable for some time but not dead.

SESSION ZERO QUESTIONS

Ask your players any of these questions, or make your own.

• Why did you enroll at Castle High?
• Who is one friend you made during orientation? What have they told you about their connection to the missing students?
• Who is one teacher you made a positive impression on, and how did you do it? Who is one teacher you made a negative impression on, and what caused it?
• You’ve already begun some of the core classes in your track. Pick one feature from your subclass or domains. How did you learn it?
• What surprised you when you first entered your tower? Were you assigned to the tower you wanted? What aspect of your new home most excites you?
• A group in another tower has declared themselves your rivals. What tower are they in? What caused this rivalry to start? What have they said they’re going to do about it?
• How did Riley’s disappearance affect the last two days of your orientation week? What did the adults do about it? How has it changed the other students’ behavior?