D&D 4E Harry Potter 4E

[d2OKC]

I feel like artificers fit more easily than warlocks. pacts would almost definitely be frowned upon, but potions and magical constructs are awesome.

I mentioned this in the above post, but I kind of wanted to say something specific to this idea, so apologies for the double post, ENWorld!

So, the original party was:

Level 2 Wizard
Level 2 Sorcerer
Level 2 Swordmage
Level 2 Bard
Level 2 Warlock

I had the idea of making each of these characters completely. Like, name, background, everything, and just summarizing their seven years in school so the player would know what kind of character they're playing. These were my ideas:

Hazel Etchingham, Level 2 female human Wizard from Gryffindor. Pretty typical Gryffindor, except she just wasn't ever great at magic. Comes from a long line of witches and wizards and never quite lived up to her family's name. Barely got by with the marks to be an auror. During her fourth year (the same year as the Triwizard Tournament) she got lost in the Room of Requirement and since has a fear of disorientation and being lost. Her patronus is a wolf.

Melora Finn Level 2 female human Sorcerer from Ravenclaw. Melora is often boasted as one of the best keepers the Ravenclaw team ever had. She is a natural athelete, though she is also a muggle born. She coasted through most of her classes, and easily got a job with the Ministry. Wanted to be an auror to dedicate her life to the protection of muggles like her family. Her patronus is a dragon.

Skragg Level 2 male half-giant swordmage from Durmstrang. Skragg grew up in eastern Europe and was recruited to Durmstrang with the hopes that he would learn magic and could compete in the Triwizard Tournament. His physical gifts should have given him a large advantage, but his magic never really came around. Still, he learned the art of swordplay easily, and the aurors were in need of any kind of help they could get after the Second Wizarding War. His patronus is a bear.

Aurore Petit Level 2 female half-veela bard from Hufflepuff. Aurore started her schooling at Beauxbatons, but decided to stay at Hogwarts after spending a term there as an exchange student. She was placed in Hufflepuff, and never quite felt like she fit in at the school. Still, she was a natural leader among her house, and when she finished the aurors immediately offered her a job for her healing abilities alone. She also had a job offer from St. Mungos, which she seriously considered taking. Her patronus is a badger.

Dominic Diamond Level 2 male human warlock from Slytherin. Dominic, like a lot of his Slytherin mates, grew up with wealth. He also learned he had a natural inclination for the Dark Arts, and during school, he surreptitiously practiced them when he found some time to do so. However, shortly after the Second Wizarding War began, his parents, who were secretly Death Eaters, were killed by the Dark Lord in a moment of rage. This caused Dominic to reconsider his allegiances, and he decided to use his knowledge of the Dark Arts to help the Ministry track down their users and became an auror. His patronus is a scorpion.

Now, the last one I thought was particularly fun, and it was a good way to fit a warlock into the story.

What I'm thinking now, is that I'll still make the characters. And, instead of making five, I'll make six and let them choose, and one of those characters will just be left out. They should still be fine, combat-wise if they leave out any of the characters, and it gives just one more choice. So, here's kind of what I'm thinking:

Angus Atchley Level 2 male human Artificer from Ravenclaw. Angus is fascinated by muggle technology. He grew up in a wizarding house nearby a muggle school, and often longingly wished he could attend there instead of Hogwarts. When he learned of Melora Finn's background, he quickly made friends with her to absorb anything he could about her previous life with the muggles. He now constantly attempts to build contraptions and devices inspired by muggle technology, but never can quite seem to get it right without using a bit of magic as well. His patronus is a clockwork wasp.

I'd like to find more ways to connect the characters to each other from their time at school. I'll work on that.

Are these characters you all would want to play? Would it be better to just let them come up with their own, even though they've never tried to do it before?

Again, thanks. Can't say that enough.

*****

ALSO: Just thought about this. It wouldn't exactly fit, but a druid could work for an animagus. Or a shifter for a werewolf or something. Might have to consider those as I prepare.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Other possible classes: Druid animagus. Bladesinger. Healing-focussed laser-cleric. Invoker Seer (Deva racial stats). Near-mundane half-giant beserker ("I am the brute squad") to provide a second choice for a defender.

 

[was]

arrange an encounter in the woods with those huge, creepy spiders

 

[Breaks]

Yeah, with refluffing things anyway, most of the divine and primal "casters" would work fine, but in some cases the mechanical differences are already pretty small compared to the arcane classes.

Changelings and/or gnomes could be interesting race options as well. There are precedents for both (Tonks, Flitwick), and this would add some more variety, though yes, the bulk of the wizarding world is human (and both of these characters are, technically, though other races do a better job of portraying them in dnd).

Are you using themes at all? Fey Beast Tamer could be reflavored as a passion for the care of magical creatures. Seer could be a divination focus, alchemist a potions focus, etc.

 

[d2OKC]

Yeah. I think I'm pretty satisfied with the party, as is, after giving it some thought overnight. It's a well-rounded party, and I like that it is constructed of all arcane classes. Obviously, I wouldn't want an actual party made this way, but it fits with the setting pretty well. And, I like that they can all, aside from the swordmage, use wands as their primary weapon.

At this point, really, it is all about the nuts and bolts for me. Thanks for the help, everyone, and please don't hesitate with any more suggestions! You all have thought of a lot I hadn't, and that's exactly why I came here in the first place.

 

[Ryujin]

A quarterstaff might work well in the genre, for a good ol' "You shall not pass!" style Shielding Swordmage. Sure, everyone else would be using a wand, but that seems rather silly for a Goliath at Hogwarts.

 

[Breaks]

Or you could go full-hagrid with it and embed the swordmage's wand in an umbrella. Just refluff a long sword.

 

[Mengu]

Thinking of it more, if an umbrella can be used as a wand, so can a fire iron, a kebob skewer, a hand fan, a hair pick, or a plethora of items that can conceivably be used as a weapon and implement, which might be interesting for the bard, if she wishes for a mix of melee and implement attacks. I'd say give them a bit more freedom in character creation/background. With new players, I typically do a character creation session, to hold their hand through the process and feed them ideas and recommendations. This session usually also tells me a lot about what kind of player they are going to be, and what their expectations are for their characters.

I'd seriously want to redo the half-veela bard, give her a bit of far eastern flavor, and have her use a fan as implement/weapon (make it the equivalent of short sword, or rapier or something), and give her training in brewing potions and incense (reflected in crunch as Song of Rest).

Also just as a general principle, let the players name their characters. I feel it is the one step of character creation that establishes the strongest attachment to the character.

 

[Ryujin]

The Bard could wield a Lute, a la El Kabong, giving him both melee and ranged implement abilities

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmemBa1HAzU[/ame]

He'd have to be a Cunning Bard though, to get the extra slapstick points. It would even work for Hogwarts, where physical weapons would generally have to be improvised ones.

 

[jbear]

Sounds like it will be cool.

My suggestion would be this:

Don't underestimate your new players ability to pick up the idea and run with pretty quickly. So you don't have to be too worried about how simple or not it is.

Also, keep it loose rather than trying to stick too much to the rules as written. You don't have to worry too much about unbalancing things as long as they are having fun and feeling challenged. It's okay if the PCs are overpowered. It won't be a longstanding campaign so you don't have to worry.

I'd add an encounter power, something like "Arcanum!"; They can make an "attack" with an arcana check and basically pull off any magical trick that comes into their head. If it is direct against a monster then decide which defense it is depending on what it is they try and pull off. Use pg 42 to help you decide damage ratios appropriately and add in fun effects on the fly that match the situation.

I'd also be tempted to give them each the Wild Talent feat for free, just so each has a range of wee cantrip type skills they can play about with as well.

At lvl 2 they can have 3 magic items by the book. I'd follow the suggestion of hand crafting them a wand. Awarding Superior Implement as a free feat is a good call. But I'd give that on top of giving them a DM designed wand Harry Potter styles.

I wouldn't have events happen before or during the movie. After is definitely the way to go, so it can happen at Hogwarts, but maybe the adventure begins at/after Harry Potter's funeral. Like an child worth their salt, perhaps his children are rebellious and are in fact the villains of the adventure The Dark Woods at Hogwarts is a very D&D-esque place to set chunks of the action.

Anyway, good luck! Let us know how it went!