No Harry Potter RPG?

[Zander]

Hmm, I believe you have something to say, SKR.

Maybe SKR would like to say, but can´t, that if you look up plagiarist in the dictionary, it says "see J. K. Rowling" and it would therefore be hypocritical of her not to want someone else to define `her´ world in any way.

 

[Whisper72]

Hmmm..... about three years ago I approached JK Rowling's publisher about the rights to a HP based RPG, but they weren't interested... On the one hand, game related and merchandising rights were already sold to other parties and they were not really interested in RPG type stuff at the time, besides they were themselves busy with the HP 'monster manual' type booklet...

 

[Flyspeck23]

Kids are ready for more than you give them credit for. Children's stories used to be a lot more bloody and violent before adults started getting so overprotective.

Maybe that's because the Age of Fairy Tales is also known as the Dark Age?

But you're right, of course. After watching the first movie my girlfried said that there were some pretty dark, frightening images in it - but the kids seem to like it nonetheless.

Maybe SKR would like to say, but can´t, that if you look up plagiarist in the dictionary, it says "see J. K. Rowling" and it would therefore be hypocritical of her not to want someone else to define `her´ world in any way.

Or he would like to say that licensed games are always a hassle due to the copyright holder's influence. Who knows?

 

[arscott]

I don't think it's a problem at all. REDHURST is d20, unless you have something negative to say about it.

No, I don't have something negative to say about redhurst. But while the inspiration is clear, I think it's a disservice to both Redhurst and Harry Potter to say that they're the same thing.

Redhurst was designed to fit within the Pre-existing D&D rules. It uses the eight specialist schools where HP uses the four houses. It teaches a class in Magic Missile.

In order to make Harry Potter d20, you'd either have to do disservice to the setting, cutting and rearranging so that it can squeeze in where Redhurst fits naturally, or you'd have to do a lot of cutting, rearranging and addition of the d20 rules themselves.

Of those two options, I think the first is a horrible Idea, and I doubt I'm the only one. Of the second, I just don't see wizards pulling it off.

Discussion about the D&D Basic game and other attempts to get new customers have made it fairly clear that WotC isn't very good at making a rule-lite, kid-friendly version of their game even when they don't have to completely rewrite the rules to fit a licenced universe.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying it would be very very hard, and that I don't trust wizards to do it.

 

[EdL]

All I know about HP is what I've seen in the first two movies. Saw the first one when it came out, and the second one last night on the tube. From my hazy recollections of the first one, and what I saw last night, I do not want to see a HP RPG.

As far as I can tell, JKR wants to teach kids three things:

1) Never tell any adult anything important.
2) Especially never tell any adult in a position of authority anything about any crime you might know anything about.
3) Make absolutely sure that if you have a clue to a murderer's whereabout, that no adult, especially any in positions of authority, can do anything about it. Instead, go and confront him yourself!

As far as I'm concerned, she's a menace to society and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children.

 

[Kristivas]

All I know about HP is what I've seen in the first two movies. Saw the first one when it came out, and the second one last night on the tube. From my hazy recollections of the first one, and what I saw last night, I do not want to see a HP RPG.

As far as I can tell, JKR wants to teach kids three things:

1) Never tell any adult anything important.
2) Especially never tell any adult in a position of authority anything about any crime you might know anything about.
3) Make absolutely sure that if you have a clue to a murderer's whereabout, that no adult, especially any in positions of authority, can do anything about it. Instead, go and confront him yourself!

As far as I'm concerned, she's a menace to society and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children.

I think you're taking it a bit far with that. I'm pretty darned concerned with my kids' safety, but I don't see HP as a danger. It's FICTION. Like the old Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels and stuff like that. Kids were detectives and got into dangerous situations and whatnot.

Plus, there's movies like the Goonies, ect. Kid's Hero tales involve never telling the adults and taking care of it yourself. It would be a pretty dull story if Dumbledor came to the rescue at the end of every book and saved the day. The book would be called "Albus Dumbledor and his lackey Harry Potter and the Sorcerous Stone!"

In real life, you should teach your kids the difference between right and wrong, between fiction and non-fiction. Reading as I did growing up, I still never tried to undertake any 'dangerous missions' on my own. Mind you, this was in the 80s when they had shows like G.I. Joe and you could buy real-looking toy machine guns at K-Mart. My Mom made sure I knew that books and tv weren't real, and that you could only pull off such things in your imagination.

In all honesty, I believe censoring HP from kids would be a huge mistake.


....damnation, what a derail. I apologize.

 

[Alzrius]

In order to make Harry Potter d20, you'd either have to do disservice to the setting, cutting and rearranging so that it can squeeze in where Redhurst fits naturally, or you'd have to do a lot of cutting, rearranging and addition of the d20 rules themselves.

Of those two options, I think the first is a horrible Idea, and I doubt I'm the only one. Of the second, I just don't see wizards pulling it off.

Why not? This is the same company that gave us Wheel of Time d20, Call of Cthulhu d20, and Unearthed Arcana, all of which are products that change the d20 system to suit the needs of the game in question. I really don't think they'd have a problem altering it for a Harry Potter RPG.

Harry Potter's magic system is basically the only thing that'd need any sort of overhaul; even then, it doesn't seem that difficult. Spells have verbal and somatic components (you also need a wand, almost always). Power does seem to increase incrementally in a step- (or level-) based system. Some spells can be cast silently (Silent Spell), potions can be made (Brew Potion), and magic items created.

I honestly don't see the difficulty with WotC making a Harry Potter RPG that's true to the books.

 

[arscott]

I haven't read the Wheel of Time books, and I've never read or played the game. But almost every WoT:RPG Reveiw I've read said that the magic system, based on the d&d system with several tweaks, does a poor job of emulating magic in the books. I worked in a game store for two years and never saw anyone buy the book. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning that they were playing a WoT game, in person or on these boards. Only two products were ever produced for the line. And all of this despite the incredible popularity of the WoT books. Using it as an example isn't convincing me that Wizards can pull off HP.

Unearthed Arcana doesn't do a lot to convince me either. In fact, it does the opposite. I own the product, and I think it's a good one, but It really symbolises how inflexible WotC really is. Their bold innovations and optional rules start off with environmental subraces and don't get more revolutionary for two and a half chapters. Many of the best rules in the book are poached from Arcana Unearthed, Mutants and Masterminds, or are reprinted from other wizards products.

Call of Cthulhu is supposed to be good, but Monte Cook hasn't been working for WotC for three or four years.

I'm not usually someone to bash wizards. I think that d20 modern is the single best d20 product in existence, and an excellent example of how adaptable the d20 system can be. I just don't think they're capable of rules-lite at all, let alone rules-lite enough for a system aimed at 12 year olds.

 

[Templetroll]

You guys do realize that the seventh book has been done for over two years now ..they are released on a time table set by the publisher.

No, its not (discounting an intentional coverup). As of a few months ago, reports came in that she had started it.

My understanding is that she has it plotted out, but not completely written.

The Sunday Times estimated the writer's personal wealth was £280m, making her richer than the Queen, but Rowling denied that was the amount.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Harry Potter's magic system is basically the only thing that'd need any sort of overhaul; even then, it doesn't seem that difficult. Spells have verbal and somatic components (you also need a wand, almost always). Power does seem to increase incrementally in a step- (or level-) based system. Some spells can be cast silently (Silent Spell), potions can be made (Brew Potion), and magic items created.

Perhaps a Wand of Legacy might be more fitting for a harry Potter type mage. Of course, without the Wand. the HP type of mage might be usless.


Scott