You are a wizard, Harry. And I'm in big trouble, here.

[Dezea]

Hey Playgrounds,

A friends of mine asked me a big favor. She basically wanted to try roleplaying game for a long time...Mostly because she's a huge potterhead, and she's utterly full of joy at the idea of playing something in Hogwarts.

Now, I've, like most people my age, read Harry Potter...15 years ago. It was a good read, and I remember clearly enjoying it, but It's a long time ago and I'm absolutely lost about what would someone really into it want to play ?

At first, I was about to go for some easy way out of it : Playing somethings with wizard, sure, but clearly not in something so charged with history and reference as Hogwart. But then, another friends told me how dissapointed he would be, if he was to play some Harry Potter...Without any trip to Hogwart.

Also, I come from some clearly combat-focused game, but I'm pretty sure it would be quite absurd to turn a Harry Potter game into a full SpellSlinging combat festival. That being said, the idea of spending even 15minutes roleplaying some classroom activity is almost enough to get me screaming of boredom.

So, here comes the questions :

- What would you clearly expect / enjoy doing if you were to play into a harry potter RPG ?
- Any Idea of plot hook ?

Also, the game is some French-Fanmade RPG, with half the rules missing, wich only adds to my worries, to be honest.

Thanks for the help,
Dezea

[JeenLeen]

Your group wants Hogwarts, but are they wanting to necessarily be students?
One idea could be that something bad is happening at Hogwarts, and aurors are being sent to investigate. The PCs are a group of aurors and perhaps others recruited for the job due to their specialties. The game could start out at Hogwarts, hit that nearby town (Hogsmead? maybe check out the surviving brother's tricks store), and then head to other locations. A dramatic show-down back at Hogwarts, where a professor is determined to be evil, could be a nice ending.
If you want to go for some sorta-funny reference to the original books, you could have the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher be the big bad. ('Big Bad' here being relative. I reckon a wizard trying to do dark necromancy or soulcrafting, not an Evil Lord trying to conquer the world or do muggle genocide.) Or--this might be more plot-coherent--he focuses on memory magic and mind control, so he's using a mix of students and former students as pawns for some ritual (or just some heist for gold & magic artifacts). I guess instead of a wizard using dark arts you could just do an evil wizard trying to retire early. Depending on your group, they might appreciate that trope inversion.

If your group is okay with the canonical cast mostly being absent, I recommend setting the game somewhere after the books but before Harry's kids would start attending. Maybe 5 years into the future? Some of the same teachers are there, sure, but you don't have to worry about misrepresenting Random Kid #5 or including Harry in the action. Let's assume Harry & friends are off busy at some other job.

Also, the game is some French-Fanmade RPG, with half the rules missing, wich only adds to my worries, to be honest.

That sounds rather... worrisome, yes.
I was going to recommend a rules-light system like FATE or FATE Accelerated.

[LibraryOgre]

While a lot depends on system, I do have an option you might go with:

The Battle of Hogwarts.

They are a group of 5th year students (young enough that Harry and company mostly don't know them, but competent enough that they can do some wiz-bang), from their house of choice. They are friends, with some classes in common... and then the battle of Hogwarts arises.

You might come up with something like a Lifepath character creation system... Wizarding Family, Half-Blood, or Muggle Born? What House are they from? What magics did they study?

TBH, I would go with a system you're comfortable with, rather than a half-complete system, especially if you don't have enough French to work with it fluently.

[JeenLeen]

Assuming the game rules don't handle this sufficiently:

you might want to ask your players to discuss with you what spells their characters know and which ones they specialize at. For example, Harry was great at disarming, but potentially worse skilled with other types of magic.
I say this in part because your players likely know the spells better than you, and you don't want any curveballs.

On the other hand, the HP magic system seems very loose and fluid, so it's reasonable for a wizard to cast a spell they've heard of, or at least try to. If I were designing an HP game as homebrew, I'd probably try something like:
--name 1 spell type you are an expert at (or at least, an expert compared to those of your same grade. A professional auror is likely still better than you at dueling, for example)
--name X spells you are good at and well practiced at
The above can be successfully cast (no chance of spell misfiring or failing). You still have to roll accuracy for 'aimed' things like some curses and offensive spells.
--name 1 spell type (potions, illusions, disabling curses, etc.) that you stink at. Attempting one of these has a high likelihood of misfire or failing. For example, Harry was rather bad at Potions, right?
--you can cast other spells, but there is a decent chance of it not working properly (aim terribly off, not full power, etc.) and a small chance of misfire (you somehow curse yourself instead of the target). (Depending on what the players consider fun, maybe no chance at misfire for these.)

Thus, they gain access to the fluidity of the system, but there's a risk of casting outside their 'comfort zone'.

After this thread, I'm contemplating running a short RP game, either something like the scenario I posted or playing kids in an alt reality where Voltimort won, or maybe he lost but some Death Eaters still ruined everything, to create a somewhat dystopic world.

[Incorrect]

Ask, Do they want early books shenanigans? or late books war?

I also suggest using another school than hogwarts, as they will expect some very specific things that you might not remember. Or at least dictate that its 10 years before or after the books.

If youre making a system up, I would love to see players (not characters) waving wands and saying the magic words just right.

[hamishspence]

This thread was an attempt at homebrewing-up the Harry Potter universe using D20 rules:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...p-Needed-PEACH

[neonchameleon]

I've actually made my own Powered By the Apocalypse RPG based on the Harry Potter series - Houses and Wands. It is very much in the Powered By the Apocalypse Style; there are four stats (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw), all the rolls are made on 2d6, and the players roll all the dice. Also to cast a spell wave a pencil and then speak fake latin - and describe what you are trying to do.

As for where to start, I went with the following advice:

The First Session

Print yourself a copy of each of the handouts. Give any players who want one a copy of the player handout (there is no need for any of the players to know what the moves do - when they try to take the action you tell them what to roll then offer them the outcomes)

Houses and Wands is meant to play fast and concentrate on the most exciting parts of the Potterverse. To open the first session, after everyone has created their character (something that should take minutes at most) and establishing who is the current Head start in the middle of the scene. Tell them something like “It’s an hour after Lights Out and after discovering something interesting you are trying to get back to your dorm on the far side of the castle without anyone noticing you. You hear footsteps walking towards you along the corridor you were just about to take; a teacher’s from the sound of it. What do you do?” And ask them what they do each time you describe something new. The story is about them. (As a rule of thumb, give them one teacher, one group of students they don’t like much, and one physical shifting staircase/missing corridor to see what they do. Test them even if the consequences aren’t grave).

What information did they find? Did you have something in mind? If not ask them when they’ve made it back. There’s no shame in asking your players anything you like - and build on it. They only picked up a clue if it’s something big and relating to magical artifacts - if it’s something relating to pranks give it to them. The implementation comes later. And above all setting them somewhere they shouldn’t be gives them the personalities of people who are going to make trouble, and gives them a chance to show you how they approach things. Setting the scene for the rest of the game.

And whatever you do don’t over prepare. The PCs are the stars of the show. Let the world respond to them and them create much of the plots. Don’t have an intended outcome.

[Amdy_vill]

hogworts has a lot of hidden places you could build one and a boss and do a bacilice like murder mystery

[Dezea]

Hey !

Since I got some nice advice here, I wanted to give you a Feedback of how things went.

I settled for a heavy intrigue game, where the player must uncover a - not so subtle - conspiracy inside Hogwart.

Basicaly, we are 3 years after the Hogwart Battle, and pretty much everyone in Hogwart look at the Slytherin with disdain for having been the house of most of the treacherous students. This is largely unjustified as of now, since the students who decide to stay at hogwart are definitely not the bad guys, but prejudice is something not so easily overcome.

Gryffindor are basicaly acting like gigantic bullies, with a small party of them actually harrassing the slytherin, while being themselves pretty sure they are the White Knight, preventing Voldemort from coming back a third time. Self Righteous Bullies are always the worst, indeed. Sadly, this is getting quite a problem, since a new teacher - Defense agains the dark arts, obviously - just arrived. He is a retired Auror - Not out of old age, but, since he completely dismissed the return of Voldemort as fantasy, and keep things "Business as usual" while the ministry of magic was completely overtaken, he was looked at pretty poorly after the events, and had to face some serious question about his utter lack of foreseeing. He was deemed innocent of any treachery, but, totally ashamed, he resigned.

Well, now he's in Gryffondor, absolutely revered by most of the studient who look at him as a war hero - He didn't really come clean on what he did and did not do during the war - and he started building his own private army of bullies.

He is actually not "Totally" evil. He feel totally furious about the accusations he had to face, and he is dead set on finding some Slytherin plotting in Hogwart, to get his reputation back. Sadly for him ,they are none, so he decide to take things into his hands, and, finding a young student who parents died in the war (Having sided with Voldemort) he enchant him to get him to use a death spell on McGonnagall. The spell fails, but the school is indeed in absolute turmoils...and there comes the PC, having to untie all the knots of this little affair.

So here we are, and I'm curious to see how they will manage to uncover the truth. I'm also totelly open to try and convince them that the Gryffindor are indeed doing some evil for the greater good, and having them join the Auror.