Anyone homebrewed a d20 Harry Potter-style world?

[Whimsical]

I have played a GURPS Harry Potter game at the local Washington state gaming cons, run by a woman who is an SJ rep, possibly an SJ author. She had an excellent system where there was a spellcasting skill for each each class of magic. Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, etc. Each character had differing skill levels for each of these magic classes. When you wanted to cast a spell, you would describe what you what, the GM would assign a negative to the skill check based on the power level of the effect, and you would roll for it. It was simple and it worked really nicely. Of course, GURPS uses 3d6, where each -2 penalty halves your chance of success.

 

[exile]

I've not done anything Harry Potter-esque as far as gaming is concerned, but really like the idea of doing so. One element form the books that I think is very important is the division of children into Houses. As your setting is a different school, I'm guessing you don't want to use the Hogwarts Houses. Have you started planning any of your Houses yet? Will you let your players pick their houses (perhaps as part of the character creation process) or will they be assigned (a la the Sorting Hat)?

I personally like the idea of a house with a spider motif. They would make excellent plotters and schemers (and therefor enemies for your young PCs). I think I would play them as considerably more quiet and reserved than the Slytherins are portrayed.

Good luck with your setting. I would love to play myself.

 

[~Johnny~]

If you're setting the game where they live, it's worth mentioning that the HP world has a school in Massachusetts called the Salem Witches' Institute. That might be your local school's "rival."

I've considered a HP RPG in the past, and my ideas were based on keeping things simple. Standard d20 is heavily geared toward combat, and an HP RPG should not be. Strength and Constitution make sense as two separate things for d20 games, but in HP it's easier to lump them together. Spells have to be at the center of everything, though the system should ideally be flexible enough to account for characters (like Hagrid) who focus more on skills and attributes than spells. Whimsical's Harry Potter GURPS sounds similar to the line of thinking I've had.

If I ever ran an OGL Harry Potter game, it would look like this:

- Four attributes (Toughness, Speed, Intelligence, Willpower) replace abilities and saving throws
- Simplified skills (Diplomacy and Bluff become Persuade, Hide and Move Silently become Sneak, Spot and Listen become Notice, etc.)
- A few extra skills (Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Muggle Studies, History of Magic) replace Knowledge skills
- Five basic "classes" of magic: Dueling Charms, Practical Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, and Dark Arts (which also includes Defense Against the Dark Arts)
- Magic is essentially skill-based and free-form; characters can cast a spell listed in the books or make up one of their own within one of the five classes
- Characters can spend one hit point to add 1d6 to any spell roll
- Characters can pick a few "favored spells" each level
- Levels, but no classes; point-based character creation
- Experience points are gained for achieving objectives, acting in-character, and creative spell use
- Feats and Flaws add additional flavor
- Combat revolves around disabling, disarming, and avoiding enemie
- Adventures are mysteries; characters have to overcome obstacles to find Hints, which take the place of treasure

*For example, a character with Practical Charms +7 confronted with a locked door might cast Alohomora. The GM could rule that a standard locked door is DC 15 to open, giving the character a better than even chance.

Of course, those are just some ideas that I never quite threw together. But I can't imagine it would take long to turn them into a real game. Combined with a few of the other systems here, you should have something up and running pretty quickly.

 

[blargney the second]

One month ago, I started to DM a game built on the very same idea.

The trouble with the Harry Potter world is two-fold:
1) It's basically a stage set up such that Harry is the focus of everything that happens. (Quidditch is basically Harry vs the other team. He's sort of the only one who can take down the BBEG. Etc.)

2) What if your players don't want to play a spellcaster?

So the end result is a campaign initially set in a military college. For the first 4-5 levels they'll be students, then they'll head out into the world and have some sort of adventure.

It can accomodate any class or race; it's an environment ideal for teaching the various rules and combat options available; it's a nice, small place to start so they can get familiar with the setting.

Some of my initial notes can be found in my wizarding school thread.

Good luck!
-blarg

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I've been kicking around the same idea but I'd use White-Wolf's MAGE instead of d20. Then again the system is a whole lot more abstract and free flowing and is probably more suited to adult players. The PC's would be newly found orphans being schooled by the Order of Hermes and Hogwarts would be set in a Horizon Realm which would explain the Hogwarts Express as a transport to that realm through the near umbra. Platform 9 3/4 would be a permanent Spirit Effect which would allow easy crossing over into the near umbra to board the train and would explain why Muggles couldn't see it (though that could just be a high Arcane rating).

I'll apologize to the Non White Wolf crowd here at ENWorld. As a brief explanation of the Magic system in Mage you are given a description of what ou can do and you come up with your own spell effects within that description. You can mix and match spheres to come up with your own combinations so pretty much anything you can imagine is possible.

 

[Saeviomagy]

My take on HP:

Use D&D.

Use wizards.

Don't give out free spells each level.

Start at first level with no spells known.

Replace the expenditure of gold and the mechanic of copying spells into your spellbook with "going to classes and learning stuff".

Tweak the spell lists. Remove alter and change self as spells for instance (because it's clear that such abilities are not low level in HP).

Creating potions and the like are essentially plot points - they're entirely up to you to introduce to the game if you want your wizards to use a high level effect. Don't enforce spellcasting requirements, the ownership of the appropriate feat etc. Item creation feats are for the masters, those creating something new. (ie - the weasley twins would have developed potion crafting for all their treats, because they can make them without needing to get the recipes - everyone else except perhaps snape would be doing pre-designed book potions, needing no feats, XP or spell knowledge, but requiring the precise correct ingredients).

Run the game at a time when harry potter is NOT at hogwarts. Run it before, run it after, whatever, but you don't really want your players to constantly play second fiddle to Harry, or to have to follow the script of the books. Unfortunately this basically rules out Voldemort as an enemy - you can't use him because he's defeated by Harry every time, leaving your players without a lot to do. Of course you could always have Tom Riddle as the bad guy, and set it in the Hogwarts of yore...

Of course the above paragraph may not apply to age 7 and 10 year olds, who might be perfectly content to either be or play second fiddle to Harry.