HP d20M

[wallshot]

so how many of you out there have made rules for Harry Potter d20M? my associate seems to think it would be a great idea, and tho im not denying it would be, i just dont know if d20M is the right choice...

kinda think it would require its on special rules. there is definately no one type of wizard in there world and the schools of magic are totally different. you have the whole wand thing to include, the brooms and the potions...

what are yor thoughts, cause im pretty sure my associate will go ahead with this, with or without my consent, so some healthy advice will be appreciated.

thanx in advance

 

[Crothian]

You'd need a wizard base class, the kids are obviously not at least third level before learning magic.

All the spells would need a wand focus and verbal component and there is no memorizing of certain spells.

 

[nsruf]

Actually, as being a wizard is inborn, magical ability as such should come from a race (human subrace), template or feat (available at first level only). I think template is best, because they are otherwise human, and you probably want to let them pick two starting feats. You could then make magical skills and powers available to the normal basic classes, provided the character is also a wizard.

 

[digitaldark]

That was my plan....have magic ability be a feat...and allowing anyone with the feat access to magic..

If you have the feat you're Magical.
If you do not have the feat you're a muggle.

 

[Benedict]

I know this is a D20 forum, so the following might seem heretical, but I wouldn't use the D20 system for something like a Harry Potter game.

I would either go freewheel with some simple house-built rules or purchase a meta-game setting like Gurps, Mero System, or FUDGE.

I thought about running a HP game with the White Wolf WoD system. Exchange the usual array of Disciplines/Spheres/Powers with the names of the classes the kids attend... like Potions, Transformations, etc. Besides with all the factional bickering in HP it sorta lends itself to the style of WW games.

Just an idea.

Benedict

 

[nsruf]

I would either go freewheel with some simple house-built rules or purchase a meta-game setting like Gurps, Mero System, or FUDGE.

Sure, you could do that, but IMO d20 Modern is already a meta-game setting - and it is definitely easier to use than GURPS

 

[nsruf]

If you have the feat you're Magical.
If you do not have the feat you're a muggle.

I see one problem with that approach (and that's why I suggested a wizard template instead): wizards and muggles don't mix well, i.e. you will likely end up with an all-wizards campaign. So all you do is reduce the number of starting feats by one, which is less fun. If you accept that wizards are more powerful anyway, the template makes more sense, IMO.

 

[Lizard]

I think you can do an HP D20 game. The one thing you'd need to radically change is the magic system.

Harry Potter magic is purely skill based. In Book IV, Moody tells the class the magic words they'll need to cast a death curse, in full confidence that they won't be able to do anything because they don't have the overall skill. It's not enough to say "lumos" and wave the wand; you have to have some additional knowledge and mental focus.

So I'd say that Casting would be a skill, possibly several skills, since different wizards have different areas of magic that they're good at. (McGonnigle -- transformation, for example). Using the D&D magic categories would be a good start. (Abjuration, Conjuration, etc)

So a first year student might have Conjuration +3, Transmutation +2.

All magic skills should be int based, as there's a definite bias in the books towards high intelligence=high magic skill.

Spells would all have a DC associated with them. Lumos might be Conjuration, DC 10. Arva Kadava (or whatever the death curse is) might be Evocation 35.

There doesn't seem to be a real limit on 'spells per day', or any exhaustion associated with magic in the books. Literary license is the sole control. If you have mature players, this is enough, but if you have players who will abuse the setting, you might want to impose penalties for spell failure (Ron and Neville have both suffered from miscast spells). There's also the various magical regulations, which appear to be created as needed for the plot. You should do the same. ("Dumbledore informs you that you've broken the Lumos Limitation Statute of 1597, and you are forbidden to use the spell for one week, or you'll be expelled.")

 

[Tyrant]

I think a skills-based system does seem to be a good idea to limiting the spells a wizard in the system could cast. That way progression could be specific yet controlled. Of course, the DM could always limit what spells the wizards ever get access to. If you dont want wizards throwing fireballs around, dont leave them anyone to teach it to them.

 

[digitaldark]

My plan is to actually have each spell be a skill and each level characters would get spell points to add ranks to their spells...I may implement something similar to Call Of Cthulhu (the brp version) where the more you use the skill, the better you get at it (by allowing improvement checks for each time it was used...but only allowing it to improve by a max set amount each level..perhaps this cap could be based on Int..)

and While I see the point about the template as opposed to a feat....I still feel the feat would work...mainly because it is just the one ability that makes wizards different from muggles..(cultures aside of course)...so I feel that feat (which is also a single ability a character gains) works rather well...and as far as it taking away an extra feat...I don't really see the problem because HP is a lot less hack n slash than DnD...it is more skill based...so their would be less feats and less use for feats anywayz... IMHO at least