Suggestions for Reasons To Send Harry Potter on an Adventure

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Do you have the Redhurst: Academy of Magic supplement that was published for 3E? It's chock full of characters and ideas perfect for this sort of campaign.

Rivals in rival houses as recurring foes to undermine are a big help. Just the sort of high-school hijinks you could pull from a typical John Hughes movie could keep you going for sessions, too.

 

[Krensky]

If you have access to it, GURPS IOU is a good resource. You WILL need to tone it down, but it should have some ideas to steal for a lighter one-shot.

 

[Dandu]

Here's a reason to send him on a deadly adventure: because Harry's a whiny, angsty emo berk and no one likes him.

 

[WayneLigon]

Fund-raising - the kids are out drumming up cash for new uniforms by selling candy. Unfortunate, the candy is the leftover product from someone's spell research, and is wrecking havoc in the community.

High School Musical - the class is picked to do this year's play, and it's a musical based on Midsummer Night's Dream. Only this time, someone's found out how to reproduce that love potion, and every rehearsal brings more couples together. Someone has to put things right!

Career Day -- Who knew the Necromancer's Union was recruiting?

Standardized testing -- This is it, the Big Test. The test that determines your future. The test that if you take it, turns you into a perfect little robot like something from a 50's sitcom.

The New Lunch Lady -- Hey! The food in the cafeteria is actually GOOD, now! That new lunch lady from Leng (wherever that is) is just great. Too bad about those missing kids. Wonder what happens to people like that. Oh, well, time for seconds.

Lucky's Been Stolen! The school mascot, a black goat, has been kidnapped by a rival school's sports team. Without her anchoring presence, all the luck charms on the stadium will fail and they'll lose the Big Game.

 

[Eccles]

Similar to the above, but at my school we did work experience - could place the whole 'party' in the same big industry / magical potion factory / broom testing workshop / dark-hunting inquisition for a week or two.

School inspection; changes the behaviour of the teachers to be strict and follow the rules. Unpleasant inspector pokes around the school, but is she who she says she is?

As trusted pupils, the party is sent out to try and locate a couple of truant pupils. (Are they mucking about, are they actually working for the mob, or is it as simple as they have to work because their parents are ill? Is having a mutant brain slug an actual illness anyway?

One of them bangs their head and has a weird dream (and you were there, Toto, and you and you...)

As part of coursework, they get super-miniaturised, but fall off the 'safe' desk, and have to fight to the teacher's lounge past massive ants and gigantic armoured woodlice, then attract attention and get re-embiggened.

 

[Mistwell]

Fund-raising - the kids are out drumming up cash for new uniforms by selling candy. Unfortunate, the candy is the leftover product from someone's spell research, and is wrecking havoc in the community.

High School Musical - the class is picked to do this year's play, and it's a musical based on Midsummer Night's Dream. Only this time, someone's found out how to reproduce that love potion, and every rehearsal brings more couples together. Someone has to put things right!

Career Day -- Who knew the Necromancer's Union was recruiting?

Standardized testing -- This is it, the Big Test. The test that determines your future. The test that if you take it, turns you into a perfect little robot like something from a 50's sitcom.

The New Lunch Lady -- Hey! The food in the cafeteria is actually GOOD, now! That new lunch lady from Leng (wherever that is) is just great. Too bad about those missing kids. Wonder what happens to people like that. Oh, well, time for seconds.

Lucky's Been Stolen! The school mascot, a black goat, has been kidnapped by a rival school's sports team. Without her anchoring presence, all the luck charms on the stadium will fail and they'll lose the Big Game.

These made me laugh. Nice ones!

 

[Herobizkit]

A popular female Irish singer agrees to perform for the school. During the show, all the guys fall madly in love with the performer, and next morning... the singer is gone.

And so's half the student population.

Damn banshee.

(Happily stolen from 'The Real Ghostbusters', more or less)

 

[roguerouge]

One of them bangs their head and has a weird dream (and you were there, Toto, and you and you...)

I LOVE using that one for character deaths. It's a great way to avoid derailing a campaign, while still following the raise dead mechanic. (Plus, you have the other players play their dream selves.)

 

[Mistwell]

I LOVE using that one for character deaths. It's a great way to avoid derailing a campaign, while still following the raise dead mechanic. (Plus, you have the other players play their dream selves.)

Hmm that IS an interesting approach to character death.

 

[roguerouge]

I've used this module for it: Dungeon Crawl Classics

It worked great for my campaign, where the Seelie and Unseelie courts already played a role and thus served as a perfect explanation for the alternate death mechanic.

Alternatively, you can create something based on Life on Mars (the UK version).