Running school settings in RPGs

[Drakeburn]

I'm curious about how DMs/GMs run schools in role playing games, like wizard schools, superhero schools, and so on. How do you come up with the layout for the school? What can you do to make school more interesting for the PCs?

And one question I've been thinking about for quite some time is "How can you make the school secure?"

On one hand, a safe and secure learning environment would be preferable by everyone (except for the villains who want to attack it).
On the other hand though, having a school with airtight security would kind of defeat the purpose of the campaign if the school was impregnable to attack. And let's face it, nothing is entirely fool-proof.

So, and thoughts or ideas for the topic?

[Mutazoia]

High School based RPGs?

[BWR]

PS238 is an awesome comic about superhero kids in a school specifically designed for it and it has its own RPG. "The Principalities of Glantri" has notes for how to run adventures in the Great School of Magic.

Common to both of these is the idea that invading enemies is less common than finding weird stuff going on in school and trying to fend off your peers is more of a problem than full-blown villains.

[Mordaedil]

I would usually just run it like X-COM, but replace radars and barracks with gyms and classrooms.

[Drakeburn]

High School based RPGs?

There doesn't seem to be anything about schools. And it doesn't really answer any of the questions I had.

PS238 is an awesome comic about superhero kids in a school specifically designed for it and it has its own RPG. "The Principalities of Glantri" has notes for how to run adventures in the Great School of Magic.

Common to both of these is the idea that invading enemies is less common than finding weird stuff going on in school and trying to fend off your peers is more of a problem than full-blown villains.

So that is PS238? I've heard about it, but I didn't know it was a webcomic. For a long time I thought it was some comic book or graphic novel series that you had to buy. Well, looks like I have a lot of "research" to do.

Thanks for the link btw.

I would usually just run it like X-COM, but replace radars and barracks with gyms and classrooms.

An interesting method. Though what about the kinds of schools that have separate buildings?

[Stan]

Common to both of these is the idea that invading enemies is less common than finding weird stuff going on in school and trying to fend off your peers is more of a problem than full-blown villains.

This.

Middle/High School experiences vary tremendously. But I remember the problems were always from some of the students and some of teachers, not outside forces.

How do you handle the biased teacher who thinks X is the only real way and everything else is just cheats? (e.g. Wizard who despises sorcerers or vice versa.) Bullies with invisibility/illusions/mind control. One of your so-called friends is cursing you. And the book missing from the special collections section of the library had a spell to open a portal to hell.

It's very far on the goofy side but gurps IOU is about Illuminati University. Every teacher and school organization has their own conspiracy going on. Might be good for inspiration.

[Loxagn]

A Mutants & Masterminds game I played in once had a pretty novel premise, I felt. The universe was that of the modern world, but with the 'Veil' cast away; mythical creatures existed, magic was not quite commonplace, but usual enough that 'Wizard' was as valid a career choice as 'Doctor'. Of course, this meant that there were supernatural threats all over, and a need for them to be dealt with.
The solution was, of course, to have supernatural beings to deal with them. The campaign surrounded a fictional university which, to be fair, offered quite a lot for entirely mundane students. It was an accredited university, and had a tuition rate that was, justifiably, comparable with Ivy League schools. The main draw, however, was the 'Shining Armor' grant: a no-strings-attached financial aid program that offered a full four-year ride (with options on postgraduate study) for any student willing to apply for it. The caveat being that a Shining Armor recipient would be legally obligated to assist with the neutralization of supernatural threats whenever they were called on. Students were broken into teams with their own dorm complexes and assigned a staff 'handler' to smooth out any issues that might arise, and that formed our party. Four full-time students, one RA, and one immortal kept on an explosive leash and allowed relative freedom in exchange for helping.
The school itself had plenty of attractions. Rowdy fraternities, accidents and mysterious happenings in the Inadvisably Applied Magic building, a portal to a wild, dangerous, and illogical landscape buried in the foundations. One time we had to track down a shoggoth that got itself stuck in the plumbing!

[Calmer]

Hi! I run a 3.5 campaign set in a boarding school for prospective adventurers. Since it's basically a loving send-up of 90s high school sitcoms like Saved By the Bell, I basically require the players to be either Good or Neutral.

The way I make it secure is making the teachers relatively high-level, since many of them are retired adventurers, and having an Evil detector at all the entrances to the school (basically just a automatic casting of Detect Evil on anyone entering school buildings. Think security at airports.) Of course, it can't be too secure, because then it wouldn't be a very interesting campaign, would it?

[Stan]

Today, I just happened to see a supplement for Fate Accelerated based on the super hero school comic On the Wall.

I haven't read the comic or the supplement, but at least it's pay what you want.

[Mutazoia]

This.

Middle/High School experiences vary tremendously. But I remember the problems were always from some of the students and some of teachers, not outside forces.

How do you handle the biased teacher who thinks X is the only real way and everything else is just cheats? (e.g. Wizard who despises sorcerers or vice versa.) Bullies with invisibility/illusions/mind control. One of your so-called friends is cursing you. And the book missing from the special collections section of the library had a spell to open a portal to hell.

It's very far on the goofy side but gurps IOU is about Illuminati University. Every teacher and school organization has their own conspiracy going on. Might be good for inspiration.

Games such as Teenager's from Outer Space, run with this model in mind. (Although TFOS was more closely modeled after the old cartoon "Galaxy High") The game even has several adventure ideas in the back, that are described in the format of an old TV Guide listing...

[Mordaedil]

An interesting method. Though what about the kinds of schools that have separate buildings?

In XCOM, you need to have empty slots to prevent alien invasions, they serve as a good representative for open ground, with the elevator being a good spot for a connection between the halls.