# Dean Hector Estrada

> DM-facing NPC writeup. The kids love him; you know better.

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## Role

- **Title:** Dean of Student Life & Activities  
- **Age:** late 30s to early 40s  
- **Public Image:** The fun one. Organizes pep rallies, oversees clubs and Mageball, gives big “Welcome, Adventurers!” speeches on day one.  
- **Real Job:** Pressure valve between students and admin, and the guy who has to sell Larkvale’s restrictions in a way kids will actually swallow.

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## What Students Know

- He’s everywhere:
  - On the Mageball field,
  - At club fairs,
  - On the stage hyping up events.
- He:
  - Knows names,
  - Remembers siblings,
  - Shows up to performances and games.
- He’s quick with a joke and a “You got this, kid,” even when he’s exhausted.

- Rumors:
  - He used to adventure before “settling down in education.”
  - He and another staff member had a messy thing years ago.
  - He once nearly punched an Oversight projection off the wall.

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## What He Wants

### Surface Goals

- A campus that **feels alive**:
  - Strong sports teams, good shows, active clubs.
- Students who **bond with the school** instead of just surviving it.
- Enough win-stories to:
  - Keep donors happy,
  - Justify his budgets,
  - Balance out Larkvale’s constant doom-and-gloom.

### Deeper Goals

- To protect “his kids” from:
  - Admin overreach,
  - Oversight paranoia,
  - Their own worst impulses.
- To prove (to himself and others) that:
  - He’s more than a glorified cheerleader.
  - He can keep a community together under serious magical strain.

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## Methods & Tactics

- **Charm first:**
  - “Hey, champ, how about we redirect that energy into something less expulsion-y?”
- **Deals second:**
  - “You want the Mageball field? I need you passing Arcane Theory.”
  - “You want club funds? You’re volunteering at the safety seminar.”
- **Selective blindness:**
  - Looks the other way on minor stuff if it keeps the bigger picture stable.
  - Cracks down hard when someone endangers others or the school’s future.

- In staff meetings:
  - Translates Larkvale/D’serris-speak into “student language.”
  - Fights for leniency where he can, picks his battles where he can’t.

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## Relationship to Oversight & Admin

- **Larkvale:**
  - Old colleague, frequent adversary.
  - Resents Larkvale’s tone and priorities, but knows he needs him to keep the lights on.
- **D’serris:**
  - Thinks he’s a necessary evil at best, sociopath at worst.
  - Loathes being told to sacrifice student experience “for the graph.”
- Frequently stuck between:
  - “Keep kids safe and happy”  
  - “Keep the node stable and the board off our backs.”

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## Relationship to the PCs

- **Initial view:**
  - They’re a mess, but they’re his kind of mess:
    - Big personalities,
    - Taking risks,
    - Clearly going to shape the campus whether he likes it or not.
- He likes them but won’t say so directly in front of staff.

### How He Might Use Them

- As **spark plugs**:
  - Putting them on committees, giving them “student voice” roles.
  - Knowing damn well they’ll cause drama but hoping it’s the right kind.
- As **canaries in the coal mine**:
  - If they start complaining about “weird vibes,” he pays attention.
- As **poster kids**:
  - If/when they do something heroic, he will absolutely slap their faces on every flyer and fundraiser.

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## Secrets & Pressure Points (DM Only)

- He’s hiding how scared he is of another Korrin situation:
  - He’s read enough Oversight briefings to know the stakes.
  - He’s clinging to “normal school vibes” harder than is healthy.
- He has real dirt:
  - Past relationship with another staff member that would look bad if dragged into the Oversight spotlight.
  - A minor but technically illegal stunt from his own adventuring youth that Oversight could use against him.

- He will break rules to protect:
  - Students he thinks have been failed by the system,
  - Staff he believes in.

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## How to Play Estrada

- **Voice:** Warm, a little tired, lots of “kid,” “champ,” “bud,” but sharper and more articulate when admin is present.
- **Body language:** Hands-on shoulders, animated when talking about sports/clubs, rubs his face when dealing with Oversight.
- **Key Lines:**
  - “You screwed up. We’re going to fix it. Together. And you’re going to hate me for how boring that process is.”
  - “Larkvale wants your head. I want your homework turned in and nobody dead. Help me out here.”
  - “If you’re going to blow something up, at least have the decency to win a championship first.”
- **Pivot:** When pushed, the dad voice comes out:
  - No jokes, no soft edges, “I need you to listen to me, because this is not a drill.”

