Playtest my Harry Potter-inspired "The Wizarding World" game

[smubee]

Hello! Thank you for clicking on this thread, as it means a lot to me. I'm in the process of developing a tabletop RPG system, loosely based on the Harry Potter series, however it has no actual references to the books/films (although some slight changes in a Homebrew could make it fit in with the canon of that series). It is still in development, but I think it's at a decent place to receive some feedback.

If anyone is interested, please comment below, and I'll be sure to send you a PDF of the rules.

[Punkrabbitt]

Yes please. We are a Harry Potter family.

[Finarvyn]

Can you elaborate a little on what makes it a "Harry Potter" style RPG if it has no actual references to Harry Potter? For example:
* Does it take place in a school for wizards?
* Do students take magic classes?
* Is the style of magic similar to that of the Potterverse?

There was a hardback d20/3E setting book that takes place in a school for wizards. It might be worth a peek for ideas, etc.

[monk]

I'd certainly be interested in seeing this...I run an RPG time "class" at the junior high school where I work and the kids tend to be big Potter fans.

[smubee]

Jul 12, 2015 15:22:57 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Can you elaborate a little on what makes it a "Harry Potter" style RPG if it has no actual references to Harry Potter? For example:
* Does it take place in a school for wizards?
* Do students take magic classes?
* Is the style of magic similar to that of the Potterverse?

There was a hardback d20/3E setting book that takes place in a school for wizards. It might be worth a peek for ideas, etc.

All 3 of those points are correct.

The game takes place at a school for wizards, but I didn't want to give it a name, as I want it to be up to the GM (or Headmaster as it's called in the game).

Instead of progressing through levels while gaining experience points, this game focuses on different House points (much like in Harry Potter), which is a system which the HM can give the players points if they believe that they are playing their character well, solving mysteries, doing well in their magic classes, etc.. Once a total of 2,500 points is received, the students (players) may progress to the second year.

The magic style is very similar to that of the Potterverse. They are divided up among three different classifications of spells : Charms, Defensive Spells, and Curses.

Some Charms are taught to the students in First Year, Defensive Spells are taught in second year (when Dueling as a subject is also taught). The Curses are taught in the final year, however are not given a physical demonstration in the classroom, and there are penalties to the character who casts a Curse.


Character creation process will seem very familiar to anyone who has played D&D, or most Roleplaying Games for that matter. 3d6 will be rolled to determine what I have classified as "Characteristics/Abilities", which are as follows :

Knowledge -
Charisma -
Power of Magic -
Dexterity -

And of course with each characteristic/ability, there are some advantages of having high numbers, and disadvantages of having low numbers. For example :

3 to 6 (Lazy) - Roll 1d4 for how many spells you remember
7 to 10 - Roll 1d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember
11 to 14 - Roll 2d4 for how many spells you remember
15 to 18 (Genius) - Roll 2d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember


Also noted is the character's Purity of Blood, which is decided by a d20 roll. The exact wording will have to be changed as it still has reference to Harry Potter, but the table is :

Muggleborn : Rare 1-5
Halfblood : Very Common 14 - 20
Pureblood : Very Rare 11 - 13
Halfbreed : Rare 6 - 10


If anyone is interested in reading the full rules (not 100% done, still looking for some feedback). Let me know!

[smubee]

Still looking for feedback! Is anyone interested?

[monk]

I am still interested!

[smubee]

Jul 16, 2015 9:40:43 GMT -6 monk said:

I am still interested!

I'm not 100% done the rules yet, they're still in a rough draft, but would you like to read them over and see if there's anything that you can give me some feedback on?

[monk]

Sure. I'm not at all concerned with professional polish in a product, so no worries. (have you seen my 'zine? haha)

[smubee]

Awesome! Want me to send as a PDF via e-mail, or do you want me to just copy and paste into a PM on here?

[cooper]

Without having read your game (so I don't know if this applies to you) I will say that the era of writing up a generic combat simulation with a veneer of words associated with the names of characters from the books is long past. Is the world of Harry Potter about casting spells? What are the novels about and that is what the game rules should deal with. For this one should look at modern narrative games for inspiration. Otherwise you just have a d&d dungeon crawling clone and a suite of rules to adjudicate combat with no rules for the players and the GM to help create a world of Harry Potter.

And of course with each characteristic/ability, there are some advantages of having high numbers, and disadvantages of having low numbers. For example :

3 to 6 (Lazy) - Roll 1d4 for how many spells you remember
7 to 10 - Roll 1d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember
11 to 14 - Roll 2d4 for how many spells you remember
15 to 18 (Genius) - Roll 2d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember

Where in the world of Harry Potter does it ever matter how many spells people can remember/memorize? So why is that a rule in your game? When I say "when does it ever matter" I mean where in the books does that matter? So if it doesn't matter in the books and people are trying to role-play a world like the books what kind of rules are you giving them? Is dexterity something important to J.K. Rowling? Is a charisma stat more important than the bonds of friendship? Or figuring out puzzles?

From what I read in the tiniest, most brief glimpse of your rules. You have a generic fantasy combat simulator and you use nouns from the potterverse. My guess is that you spend a lot of time in your document explain initiative and combat rules as well as telling us how many hit points a dementor has.

[Red Baron]

Jul 16, 2015 11:42:48 GMT -6 cooper said:

Without having read your game (so I don't know if this applies to you) I will say that the era of writing up a generic combat simulation with a veneer of words associated with the names of characters from the books is long past. Is the world of Harry Potter about casting spells? What are the novels about and that is what the game rules should deal with. For this one should look at modern narrative games for inspiration. Otherwise you just have a d&d dungeon crawling clone and a suite of rules to adjudicate combat with no rules for the players and the GM to help create a world of Harry Potter.

And of course with each characteristic/ability, there are some advantages of having high numbers, and disadvantages of having low numbers. For example :

3 to 6 (Lazy) - Roll 1d4 for how many spells you remember
7 to 10 - Roll 1d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember
11 to 14 - Roll 2d4 for how many spells you remember
15 to 18 (Genius) - Roll 2d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember

Where in the world of Harry Potter does it ever matter how many spells people can remember/memorize? So why is that a rule in your game? When I say "when does it ever matter" I mean where in the books does that matter? So if it doesn't matter in the books and people are trying to role-play a world like the books what kind of rules are you giving them? Is dexterity something important to J.K. Rowling? Is a charisma stat more important than the bonds of friendship? Or figuring out puzzles?

From what I read in the tiniest, most brief glimpse of your rules. You have a generic fantasy combat simulator and you use nouns from the potterverse. My guess is that you spend a lot of time in your document explain initiative and combat rules as well as telling us how many hit points a dementor has.

A Harry Potter themed compendium of additional spells, monsters, and especially miscellaneous magical items might be a more useful text.

[smubee]

Jul 16, 2015 11:42:48 GMT -6 cooper said:

Without having read your game (so I don't know if this applies to you) I will say that the era of writing up a generic combat simulation with a veneer of words associated with the names of characters from the books is long past. Is the world of Harry Potter about casting spells? What are the novels about and that is what the game rules should deal with. For this one should look at modern narrative games for inspiration. Otherwise you just have a d&d dungeon crawling clone and a suite of rules to adjudicate combat with no rules for the players and the GM to help create a world of Harry Potter.

And of course with each characteristic/ability, there are some advantages of having high numbers, and disadvantages of having low numbers. For example :

3 to 6 (Lazy) - Roll 1d4 for how many spells you remember
7 to 10 - Roll 1d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember
11 to 14 - Roll 2d4 for how many spells you remember
15 to 18 (Genius) - Roll 2d4 + 2 for how many spells you remember

Where in the world of Harry Potter does it ever matter how many spells people can remember/memorize? So why is that a rule in your game? When I say "when does it ever matter" I mean where in the books does that matter? So if it doesn't matter in the books and people are trying to role-play a world like the books what kind of rules are you giving them? Is dexterity something important to J.K. Rowling? Is a charisma stat more important than the bonds of friendship? Or figuring out puzzles?

From what I read in the tiniest, most brief glimpse of your rules. You have a generic fantasy combat simulator and you use nouns from the potterverse. My guess is that you spend a lot of time in your document explain initiative and combat rules as well as telling us how many hit points a dementor has.

Well, first of all. If you haven't read my rules,  so I'm not quite sure why you're jumping to so many conclusions.

It never necessarily matters how many spells are known, it's just a way to add some legitimacy to making it feel like you're playing students, and to help roleplaying. A student who is dumb, or "lazy" as I call it, won't remember as much information.. Just like in real life. A student who is a Genius, will have a far better chance at remembering all the spells that they were taught.

I draw inspiration from the scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, where Ron doesn't remember the Alohomora charm to unlock the door. Hermione (being a genius) does remember the spell, and uses it.

Dexterity was originally part of the rules connecting it to Harry Potter because when I first started, I had included Quidditch (which has since been changed to Dueling). There was a Minimum dexterity to play Quidditch, and a Minimum dexterity to be a Seeker on the Quidditch team. It is also used within my rules to determine how many projectile spells one can dodge.. So for example, if at the end of the Battle at Hogwarts if you're fighting Death Eaters, and they all turn to shoot at you, you roll to see how many projectiles you can dodge at once.

Not quite sure why you're perceiving that as a bad thing? Roleplaying games are GAMES and require some rules in order to make them a game. If I said "Hey we're going to sit around and talk about what we would do if we were in Harry Potter." that would be pretty boring.

I don't even get into the stats of enemies, because that's not important to me. I do provide a basic table to determine the Challenge Rating of a character, but that is entirely up to the GM. I don't understand why you're coming down on me telling me that my system is generic and questioning my reasoning for certain things, when you haven't even read my rules.

[monk]

PM sent.

[cooper]

Not quite sure why you're perceiving that as a bad thing? Roleplaying games are GAMES and require some rules in order to make them a game

I think you misunderstand my point. Modern role-playing games have developed rules that address the narrative nature of the fiction they are emulating, These are often called "storytelling" games. You appear still to be trying to write rules for how characters interact physically with the world, that is a "generic" system. I suggest you take a look at award winning "indy" games like "Dogs in the Vineyard" or "Sorcerer" if you really want emulate fiction. You are giving rules for physical actions, but you appear to provide no rules for emulating fiction, You're writing boolean code for how your avatars can interact, but you leave it entirely up to the players to write their own means of telling a story. if you are unclear about what that means, it means you are not ready to write a role-playing game. What storytelling rules do you have? What rules help a GM and group of players develop a reason for a quiddich match? Complex rules for how a quiddich game goes on, but no complex rules about how the players story involves a quiddich match. What rules are in place to encourage and help players tell a story in hogwarts? Note: Not what rules do you have to have their characters do hogwartian things, what rules help make a harry potter story?

What framework stops my players from inadvertently just going into a dungeon crawl and blast monsters and steal treasure? How do your rules help the players make a harry potter story as opposed to a conan-esque story? Nothing you've posted makes me think your game is anything other than d&d with some things moved around. By your own rules a genius can have 4 spells memorized and a lazy lout can also have 4 spells memorized so, as a storyteller, what about that rule in play makes the genius different from the lazy lout?

So you make a rule to account for Ron and Hermionie opening a locked door. What rules do you have for them to want to even be at that door? Why were Ron and Hermione there? Not your problem? Leave that to the dungeon master to spend hours trying to figure out?

[smubee]

I really don't think you understand what the whole point of this is.

I'm not trying to emulate fiction.. I'm simply setting a simple Table Top RPG within the world of Harry Potter.. similar to the West End Games Star Wars RPG.

There shouldn't be rules in place for telling stories. That's not fun in the slightest. The story comes from the combination of the GM/Players, as complex or as basic as THEY want it to be. Storytelling is not a game. I am designing a basic game, in a familiar world, to introduce younger players/families to table top RPGs.

It's essentially the same mentality as OD&D : "Here's how I'd do an HP RPG.. But you can change it to whatever you want. Here are some things that I've been messing around with."

I'm not trying to create an award winning indie game, or change the world.. I'm just saying "Hey! I wish that there was a Harry Potter RPG similar to early editions of D&D".

I'm not a professional game designer, nor have I ever claimed to be. I'm just seeing if anyone would like to test it out to see if it works?

[Fearghus]

Interested.

[cooper]

It's essentially the same mentality as OD&D

0d&d was developed out of a war-game. What in the harry potter universe would benefit from borrowing rules from a mass combat war-game? Anyway, I've given you specific feedback about the number of spells remembered. Due to the randomized nature of your rules, a genius is not guaranteed any more spells than a lazy dunce. You should probably fix that.

There shouldn't be rules in place for telling stories. That's not fun in the slightest.

That's your opinion, man. Lots of gamers will tell you otherwise. The "rules" you are denigrating are the means by which a DM doesn't have to spend 3 hours prepping an adventure or having to buy a module. Rules of a game are not like rules your parents have about eating your vegetables. Rules in a game are the means by which the author (you) incentivize certain play styles. If you want characters in your harry potter game to solve riddles and discover mysteries, but you just give them rules for blowing things up with spells, then guess what, the players are going to be incentivized to blow things up with spells. D&D gives you rules for exploring a dungeon, lots of rules about movement and encumbrance and time tracking and D&D gives you rules for combat. Guess what the majority of game play is then devoted to? Someone could make a fantasy game where adventurers spent most of their time in a tavern telling stories, but that takes rules, not just the DM saying, "Hey guys, our characters are just going to sit in the tavern and tell stories...go!"

People will do what you give them rules do to. It was acceptable in 1974 for the author to say "role-play the rest of it". But I don't find that acceptable now for someone who plans on trying to sell things to me. You want feedback. I'm giving it to you in droves. Maybe you're just a nice guy in need of some moral support and encouragement to finish up your project that you're doing 'cause it's what you want to do. You should be clear what you're looking for. encouragement to finish your project, or feedback?

[derv]

smubee, There's a segment of our hobby whose focus is on narrative. They call them "Story Games". Some would say there main spokesman is Ron Edwards from The Forge (forum). Well recognized games of this type would be The Burning Wheel and Dungeon World, if you're looking for actual examples.

My feeling is that people should play these sort of games if that's what interests them. The problem that I have with some Story Gamers, though, is an apparent need to denigrate old-school mechanics and play, to attempt to undermind the traditions of roleplaying by forcing their own prejudices on the games, in order to "sell" the idea behind their methods.

OD&D is all about making the game your own. So, here's my feedback. Don't be distracted from doing your thing. There's still gamers here doing just that

[smubee]

Jul 16, 2015 17:06:04 GMT -6 cooper said:

It's essentially the same mentality as OD&D

0d&d was developed out of a war-game. What in the harry potter universe would benefit from borrowing rules from a mass combat war-game? Anyway, I've given you specific feedback about the number of spells remembered. Due to the randomized nature of your rules, a genius is not guaranteed any more spells than a lazy dunce. You should probably fix that.

There shouldn't be rules in place for telling stories. That's not fun in the slightest.

That's your opinion, man. Lots of gamers will tell you otherwise. The "rules" you are denigrating are the means by which a DM doesn't have to spend 3 hours prepping an adventure or having to buy a module. Rules of a game are not like rules your parents have about eating your vegetables. Rules in a game are the means by which the author (you) incentivize certain play styles. If you want characters in your harry potter game to solve riddles and discover mysteries, but you just give them rules for blowing things up with spells, then guess what, the players are going to be incentivized to blow things up with spells. D&D gives you rules for exploring a dungeon, lots of rules about movement and encumbrance and time tracking and D&D gives you rules for combat. Guess what the majority of game play is then devoted to? Someone could make a fantasy game where adventurers spent most of their time in a tavern telling stories, but that takes rules, not just the DM saying, "Hey guys, our characters are just going to sit in the tavern and tell stories...go!"

People will do what you give them rules do to. It was acceptable in 1974 for the author to say "role-play the rest of it". But I don't find that acceptable now for someone who plans on trying to sell things to me. You want feedback. I'm giving it to you in droves. Maybe you're just a nice guy in need of some moral support and encouragement to finish up your project that you're doing 'cause it's what you want to do. You should be clear what you're looking for. encouragement to finish your project, or feedback?

Once again, I really don't think you understand what I'm trying to do.

I never once said that this was a Harry Potter RPG, even in the title I state that it was INSPIRED by Harry Potter, in the fact that it takes place at a Wizarding school.. And by OD&D, I meant that I was viewing it as more of a general rule, a "Here's how I would do it, but you can have fun with it and do whatever you want."

Plus no one has to pay for it.. I'm not making anyone buy it, or download it. It's just for fun.

One of the fun things about the Harry Potter series (for example) is that it is a combination of everything : Social events (Roleplaying), Treasure Hunting (dungeon exploring), and fighting monsters/solving crimes. But that's entirely up to whoever plays the game! I'm not giving them the rules and saying,"Here's how this NEEDS to be played, and here's how you'd make a character based on that." I think that it can be equally fun for someone to stay inside the wizarding school and not leave, when compared to someone who wants to go out in search of treasure. Why should I be the one who tells them what to do?

I'm asking for feedback for someone who has actually read what I've written, opposed to someone who has just read not even a paragraph of what I've done, and is suddenly an expert on it. That would be like if someone watched a 30 second teaser trailer, and said "THIS MOVIE IS STUPID." not even "THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE STUPID."

[Finarvyn]

My thoughts:

(1) Design the game you want to play. Have others look at it and give feedback, but make it what you want more than what they want.

(2) Have a thick skin. If someone doesn't like what you are doing, assume that it's simply not their thing and let it go. You don't need to convince anyone that you like what you have done, and you don't have to persuade them to like what you have done. When in doubt, refer to thought #1 above.

(3) Cooper has some valid points but, as he stated, he hasn't looked at your rules and so he doesn't know for certain what you are trying to accomplish. I'd say don't get into an argument with him (or anyone else on these boards) unless that person chooses to look at them and respond to specific things. Debates of philosophy rarely end well on these boards. When in doubt, refer to thought #1 above.

(4) I'll give it a look-over, as it sounds like a fun game to me and one that my kids might enjoy. Sending a PM.

[sepulchre]

Smubee wrote:

I'm just saying "Hey! I wish that there was a Harry Potter RPG similar to early editions of D&D".

This sounds more like a campaign setting, not so much another game. In that case, redact and/or expand spell casting and spells in OD&D, for example, to fit with the Potter milieu. Red Baron's Harry Potter-themed compendium of additional spells, monsters, and miscellaneous magical items fits with the approach. Moreover, if for the sake of setting, you need to rename the knock spell "bombarda", so be it. As others have recalled, the guidelines set down as OD&D are a framework (one that may contract or expand) for any campaign setting. Maybe I am putting a finer point on this and that is what you really mean to say... That said, a wizarding world simulating or merely reminiscent of Hogwarts and the world of Dagon Alley sounds like a fun evening.

[smubee]

Jul 17, 2015 9:08:08 GMT -6 sepulchre said:

Smubee wrote:

I'm just saying "Hey! I wish that there was a Harry Potter RPG similar to early editions of D&D".

This sounds more like a campaign setting, not so much another game. In that case, redact and/or expand spell casting and spells in OD&D, for example, to fit with the Potter milieu. Red Baron's Harry Potter-themed compendium of additional spells, monsters, and miscellaneous magical items fits with the approach. Moreover, if for the sake of setting, you need to rename the knock spell "bombarda", so be it. As others have recalled, the guidelines set down as OD&D are a framework (one that may contract or expand) for any campaign setting. Maybe I am putting a finer point on this and that is what you really mean to say... That said, a wizarding world simulating or merely reminiscent of Hogwarts and the world of Dagon Alley sounds like a fun evening of gaming.

The whole inspiration for this came from walking around a gaming store with my family when my sister asked,"I'm surprised that there hasn't been a Harry Potter Roleplaying Game" to which I agreed. I had seen other people asking about converting the 5E rules to resemble Harry Potter, so I just decided that I was going to try to make a very easy to use, basic system for people who are new to roleplaying games, but love Harry Potter. It's just for fun.. and not exactly taking the rules from OD&D or any form of D&D for that matter, but resembling it in a spiritual sense, with a DIY/Keep it Simple attitude.

My game doesn't take spells directly from D&D nor does it take spells directly from Harry Potter. They're just basic wizarding spells divided up between Charms, Defensive Spells, and Curses.

[sepulchre]

Smubee wrote:

The whole inspiration for this came from walking around a gaming store...

Ha! Yes, a good place to find inspiration, I have had much the same experience.

a very easy to use, basic system for people who are new to roleplaying games, but love Harry Potter.

Yeah, that's a great introduction to table top rpgs, and a welcome alternative to console gaming.

not exactly taking the rules from OD&D or any form of D&D for that matter, but resembling it in a spiritual sense, with a DIY/Keep it Simple attitude.

Fair enough, my sense of things is many on the board believe OD&D really ideal, if not the ideal, for DIY and simplicity rather than other formats. I imagine that is why there is some contention with your post. Cooper is quite justified in taking up the notion of tradition, as this is very much the place for it. On the other end of the spectrum from your post, I favor a low and ceremonial magic milieu, working with a 3d6 version of Chainmail MTM and some 2d6/1d6 options from the 3LBBs and Dungeon. That format turns out to be both equally spare and creative and avoids departing from the spirit and more often than not the letter of the OD&D tradition. I think many on the board, including myself, are concerned with keeping to a sense of the tradition in our games, and like you, look to engage a format that unfolds whatever we might attempt to simulate or merely imagine.

They're just basic wizarding spells divided up between Charms, Defensive Spells, and Curses.

Understood. I would be happy to look over a PDF of what your developing when you are able to share it.

[Finarvyn]

I looked at the rules and returned some feedback to smubee. I'm not going to say much about it yet, as I understand he is planning on some rewrites and so the next version may be somewhat changed.

For folks who are wondering, what we're looking at currently isn't a full RPG in any sense. He has a few more than a dozen pages of a streamlined set of ideas that seem to work together, but it's not like he's written a commercial product by any means. It has a very OD&D feel to it so far, but is not compatible because the base stats don't match and the magic system doesn't match OD&D.

There is a some potential here, but it's far from a finished product. On the other hand, smubee has never claimed that it's being done for sale or anything grandiose like that -- this is a project of love and it's a fun read.

[lige]

Sounds fascinating I'd love to see what you've come up with. After I read the books I thought a bit on how Harry potter style magic could be modeled in a game. I've always thought a Runequest Skills type system might work best to model the different combinations of scholarly diligence and genetic happenstance that define the witches and wizards of Harry Potter.

[smubee]

After some feedback, I have made a revised edition (cleared things up, added some more stuff, etc.) and it's feeling more complete now! If anyone who has already given me some pointers would like to read the changed version, let me know (and thanks again to everyone who has already given me feedback)

[Porphyre]

Hi!
Sorry to jump late in the discussion.

I remember a small quirk from the old version of the german RPG "the Dark Eye" , where most spells had some pseudo-latin names , and the player (sic) had to memorise and tell aloud the formula to have the spell cast.

"That" would be very potter-esque

[smubee]

Aug 27, 2015 3:50:42 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

Hi!
Sorry to jump late in the discussion.

I remember a small quirk from the old version of the german RPG "the Dark Eye" , where most spells had some pseudo-latin names , and the player (sic) had to memorise and tell aloud the formula to have the spell cast.

"That" would be very potter-esque

Hmm.. That's definitely interesting! I'll have to see about putting that in!