USC Schools as D&D Classes

By: Antonia Le ‘22

Even though we’re all in college now, studying our lives away and striving for a future where we’re all serious adults, we all wanted to be heroes as little kids. We wanted to go on adventures, slay dragons, and maybe wreak a little havoc on the world. 

If higher education hasn’t stomped the adventurer’s spirit out of you yet, you’ve probably heard of Dungeons and Dragons, a world-famous tabletop roleplaying game that’s spawned popular web series, podcasts, and memes (yes, I’m one hundred talking about the moral alignment charts on USC’s meme Facebook group). As a result, you probably know what alignment you are. But do you know what class you are? If you’ve ever wondered what kind of hero you’d be in another world, read on as I try to assign every school at USC a D&D class.

Introduction

First thing’s first, let’s clear up what a D&D class is. When you play D&D, you often create a character with a certain set of skills and personality traits. In D&D, there are various character archetypes associated with certain qualities. The archetypes include things such as the wizard or the barbarian, and they even include sub-fields depending on your specific interests. 

(For transparency’s sake, because Trojans 360 is often geared toward undergraduates and is staffed primarily by undergraduates, this following assignment only includes USC schools that offer some sort of undergraduate degree. Schools like USC Gould School of Law, which offers classes for undergraduates but not full-on majors, were not included).

USC Iovine and Young Academy

The creative, interdisciplinary nature of Iovine and Young cannot be defined in any small box, which makes them the perfect match for the unpredictable sorcerers. In D&D lore, sorcerers defy other magical categorizations; they don’t get their power from any god or studying, drawing raw magic from themselves instead. Like sorcerers, Iovine and Young students subvert the idea of what a traditional college education looks like in order to create something magical (pun one-hundred percent intended). 

Iovine and Young students might also see themself as Wizards specializing in Divination (the art of seeing and interpreting the future). According to its website, the Iovine and Young Academy was “conceived as an educational startup”. Startups often get created because people have an idea that they think can create a better future. This kind of forward-thinking ideology makes Iovine and Young’s trailblazers a perfect match for D&D’s divination wizards. 

USC School of Architecture

Architecture is often about building, and the D&D class that most matches this sentiment is the artificer class. While artificers construct objects and architecture students design structures, the core values of these two groups are the same. They make magic out of everyday materials. In D&D, this takes the form of enchanted items. In the real world, magic is found in every beautiful home, skyscraper, and USC building.

Of course, the act of building is not the end-all, be-all of architecture. Architecture is about the environment: knowing what you’re building on, understanding it, and editing your plans accordingly. As a result, architecture students might also see themselves in D&D’s Druid class. In D&D, Druids are the class most in tune with the natural world. Just like the best architecture properly reflects its environment, the best druids are the ones that do best by their environments. 

USC Roski School of Art and Design

Artists are guided by an independent spirit, a voice inside of them that tells them that they must do art despite everything else telling them not to. As a result, Roski students are a perfect student for D&D’s Rangers, a class of self-sufficient individuals who fight monsters on the fringes of civilization, often away from others. Just like how rangers are often known for being in-tune with their surroundings, the artist gathers inspiration from their worlds, creating powerful pieces as a result. 

Much of art is about taking one thing and transforming it into another: mixing together paints, taking mundane objects and using it to create a brand-new sculpture. As a result, creative Roski students might also see themselves as Wizards, specifically ones who specialize in Transmutation. Just like artists transform everyday things into art, transmutation wizards turn everyday things into the arcane and wonderful. 

USC Marshall School of Business (including Leventhal School of Accounting)

The Marshall experience is defined by networking and who you know. Thus, Marshall students need to have a lot of charisma. As a result, there is no better match in D&D for a Marshall student than a Warlock. Unlike wizards or sorcerers, a warlock’s power doesn’t come from what they study or their innate abilities. In D&D lore, Warlocks get magical powers by striking a deal with some sort of deity or otherworldly being, and these deals are made possible by their ability to charm a room. Making deals and charming people? That just sounds like a Marshall networking event. 

On the flip side, everyone’s heard of the “Marshall Snake” stereotype. As a result, whether a Marshall student identifies as Chaotic Good or Lawful Evil, they probably have some traits of the D&D’s Rogue. This isn’t a bad thing. Rogues are resourceful, cunning, and just a bit sneaky—all traits of the “Marshall Snake”. However, Rogues are often valuable and beloved allies. Just like the Rogue, you never want to cross a “Marshall Snake”, but you always want one on your side because you know they’ll figure out how to solve a problem in creative ways. 

USC School of Cinematic Arts

People go to film school to turn all the fantastical stories they find in their dreams into a reality, and that’s why no class embodies the SCA student more than the Druid, specifically the Circle of Dreams Druid subclass. According to the Dungeon and Dragons Player’s Handbook, these types of druids “seek to fill the world with dreamy wonder” and their magic “mends wounds and brings joy to downcast hearts”. If that doesn’t describe a good movie made by fantastic SCA alumni, I don’t know what does. 

On the other hand, if you’re the kind of SCA student who wants to make the next Star Wars, you might want to be a Ranger, specifically the Horizon Walker Ranger subclass. In D&D lore, these individuals live and fight evil on the borders of the multiverse. Creative SCA students who want to create new worlds for their audiences would likewise feel comfortable straddling the line between one world and another. 

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences

As the biggest and most diverse school at USC, Dornsife students are hard to categorize and sometimes looked down upon by other schools (see: 95% of the memes on Facebook). However, Dornsife students are not to be underestimated, which is why they embody the Fighter subclass. Though fighters usually don’t have any of the magical prowess of other classes, fighters can hold their own in a battle and are great allies to have. Likewise, anyone would be lucky to know a Dornsife student: they’re smart in their own way, and all of the time they spend defending their school to others means that they’ll have your back in a fight. 

However, maybe you’re a Dornsife student, and you don’t consider yourself much of a fighter. In that case, you might see yourself as a Sorcerer, specifically the Wild Magic Sorcerer subtype. With so many majors and intersections between majors in Dornsife alone, it’s really easy to change majors multiple times. This kind of wonderful chaos is embodied by the Wild Magic Sorcerer, whose powers might be unpredictable (and even volatile), but whose talents are always interesting to see. Likewise, no matter what a Dornsife student does, you know they’re gonna succeed. 

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Studying communication, journalism, or a related topic is all about learning as much as you can from and about the people around you. As a result, Annenberg students would easily find themselves reflected in D&D’s Warlocks. Warlocks in D&D are characterized as pursuing information through means other than books, and Annenberg students know better than anyone that the best knowledge comes from people and non-book sources. According to one guide to D&D, “Warlocks are finders and keepers of secrets”. Doesn’t that fit the description of a good journalist? 

However, if you’re a journalism student with a hunger for justice, you might also see yourself as a member of D&D’s Barbarian class. A good communicator can channel their emotions into their words and make a real difference. The only difference between a student from Annenberg and a barbarian from D&D is that barbarians use their weapons instead of words. However, the core values are still the same. 

USC Kaufman School of Dance

When you think of a dancer, you think of a fantastic, healthy body. As a result, there’s no D&D class that makes more sense for USC’s own Kaufman students than the Monk.  Monks are known for their physical prowess and their insane commitment to their training. If you know a dancer, you know that there’s nothing that screams “commitment” like all-night-long practices. 

Because of their intense practices, dancers are also wildly strong. Their strength can only be matched by that of the members of D&D’s Barbarians. In D&D, barbarians are known for their incomparable stamina and reflexes. Knowing how strong and athletic my dancer friends are, I have no doubt that any Kaufman student can save the world just as well as a classic D&D barbarian. 

USC School of Dramatic Arts

It would simply be wrong not to classify USC’s talented actors into the Bard class. Though Bards are typically associated with music, many are also actors. Bards know how to perform and wow a crowd, and if you’ve ever seen an SDA student on stage or in a student film, a part of you might wonder if they’re naturally that talented or if they’re as magically good at persuasion and inspiration as the bards of D&D.

On the other hand, the charismatic actors of SDA might also feel at home as one of D&D’s Rogues. Though rogues are not necessarily performers, they share an SDA student’s knack for charming a room and making everyone truly believe in a fantastical story. Creative and good at improvisation, D&D’s rogues and SDA’s students are one and the same. 

USC Viterbi School of Engineering

As members of the engineering school, Viterbi students are very familiar with the technology. Thus no D&D class is better suited for them than the Artificer. Artificers are the scientists of the lore of D&D; instead of directing casting spells, they use their own intelligence to tinker away and invent new objects. I don’t know you, that sounds like an engineering student to me!

On the other hand, Viterbi students could also seem themselves as Wizards specializing in Conjuration aka the art of creating things out of things air. Viterbi students are inventors and innovators. Some of the greatest technological innovations of the past few years were created by Viterbi alumni. As a result, what’s more inventive and Viterbi than a wizard able to conjure items with a snap of their fingers? 

USC Thornton School of Music

When people hear “Thornton”, they think of musicians, and that makes it absolutely inevitable that USC’s own music students would find kinship in the Bards of D&D lore. In D&D, bards are known for their musical talents, but they don’t just play instruments or sing. They also inspire the people around them, just like the hard work of Thornton students inspire all of their friends. 

Of course, even if music is your passion and you’re going to school for music, you might not want to be defined by that one skill/trait. If you’re that kind of Thornton spirit, you might also be able to see yourself as a Monk in D&D. Nobody manages to make it in Thornton without a heavy sense of discipline, and this trait defines the monks of D&D lore. Chances are, if you’re disciplined enough to practice for hours every day as a Thornton student, you have the discipline required to save the world as a monk. 

USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry / Keck School of Medicine / School of Pharmacy / Chan Division of Occupational Therapy

I know what you may be thinking: why did you group all of these schools together? I admit, all of these schools (and their students) are unique in their own ways, but these schools have very small undergraduate programs compared to schools like Annenberg or Viterbi, and they’re all related in some way to the health professions. Because of the small student body and large overlap, it only makes sense to lump them together.

Speaking of health professions, nobody goes to one of the above schools without wanting to help others with their physical or mental health in some way. As a result, the natural choice for any student of one of the above schools is a Cleric, specifically a Life Domain Cleric. In D&D, clerics are known as the best healers, and the best of the best are the clerics that specialize in the life domain subfield. 

Of course, maybe you just want to help people, and the healthcare part is less important to you. As a result, you might just be a Paladin. In D&D, paladins can be fine healers, but they’re more known for being steadfast champions of goodness and justice. They simply just take care of the people around them. As a result, a heroic paladin might fit in fine at Keck or any of the schools listed above.

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

To study the process of aging and its effects on individuals is to have an insight into humanity not held by anybody else. As a result, the Gerontology students could see themselves in the Monks of D&D. Monks are often very wise. They also have knowledge of both bodily and psychological processes, two topics covered deeply by the areas of study offered by the school of gerontology. 

Understanding the process of aging also means understanding death, and nobody understands death more than D&D’s Clerics, specifically clerics of the Death Domain. These clerics have a deep knowledge of the processes of life and death, a trait shared by many students of the school of gerontology.

USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

If you’re studying public policy in any form, it’s because you think that the world could be made better, and you think that it’s your job to take that burden. With your overwhelming sense of justice, you might just be a Paladin. Though every D&D class has its own heroic capabilities, only paladins swear a strict oath to do good. They swear to themselves, to their deity, and to their friends that they will make the world a better place. A degree from Price is just an oath that costs a lot of money.

If you’re not super religiously-minded, maybe a Paladin isn’t for you. Maybe, instead, you’re a Fighter. Fighters are stubborn, unwilling to accept death and defeat just like Price students are unwilling to accept the status quo. Though fighters fight for good with weapons and Price students fight with words, both groups share one important trait: bravery. 

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