No Harry Potter RPG?

[Hairfoot]

I had a squiz through Google and couldn't see anything like an "official" (or professionally-designed) Potter RPG. Is this the case?

I'm not a fan of the books, but the gaming industry will never have a better opportunity to introduce a generation of kids to the calcium-rich goodness of roleplaying games.

Why has no-one taken up the challenge? Fear of religious backlash - witchcraft AND roleplaying? Or just a corporate/marketing oversight?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I think the rumor is actually that J.K. Rowling thinks RPGs are bad for kids and refuses to support it.

More likely, she wants too much to license it.

--fje

 

[Meloncov]

Doesn't Hasbro already own the HP game rights?

 

[DonTadow]

I think its a money thing. There's no way she's writing what she's writing and saying rpg's are bad, when her books are all about pretending you're a young mage dealing with evil.

 

[Ron]

I heard that she dislikes the idea of somebody else placing words in her characters' mouth. Personally, I find easier to believe the rumor that she doesn't like rpgs at all.

 

[DonTadow]

That sounds kind of silly of her considering that the Harry Potter world would be borrowed more than likely.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't know if Hasbro or anyone else has the game rights to Rowling's work, but it has to be one of the most potentially valuable tie-in licenses out there- which means that there are only a handfull of RPG companies that could even afford to think about getting that license...and most of them are already tied up doing other commercially licensed products. After all, there are/were LotR, Buffy, Bab5, Star Wars, Star Trek, Serenity and a few others already on the shelves in the past 3 years...

but it probably WILL be made into one within the next 2 years.

 

[reveal]

buzz ran an HP game at the Chicago Gameday. He did the conversions himself. It was a lot of fun and he did a great job.

You can read more about it in the Chicago Gameday thread.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Hasbro is the owner of the toy and game rights to the Harry Potter line.

I find it difficult to believe that JK Rowling has issue with RPGs. She has wanted to get kids reading, using their imaginations etc. What better way than through a role-playing game? She allows Harry Potter computer/console games, and everyone knows those either rot your brain or make you an anti-social homicidal maniac

My personal guess is that JK Rowling is hesitant to let someone else write something about the world she created, and she doesn't want to take time to oversee an RPG while still writing the series.

I bet once the last book is published, and her story and her developments of the world are complete, she will allow a RPG to be written so that the world of Hogwarts will live on.

 

[GMSkarka]

From what I understand, the RPGs were a go, until Ms. Rowling found out that tabletop RPGs are, essentially, books.

She doesn't want anyone other than herself writing Harry Potter books.

So, on one hand, I can understand that attitude from an author...it makes sense. On the other, it has, at its core, a misunderstanding of the nature of RPGs...although I'm sure she's not interested in the nuances.