All of the Harry Potter Universe homebrew games are complete shit. Let's start from scratch.
What RPG would make a good foundation?
Systems we need:
>Spell Attack (Most spells take full effect if they hit, in the Harry Potter Universe)
>Spell Deflection (Deflecting spells with your wand, etc)
>Spell Dodging (Reflexes, agility)
>Spell Resistance (Toughness; Sometimes people needed to cast Stupify like 5 times to actually render a large, strong person unconscious)
>Attribute System
>Spell learning system
>Melee combat system
>Potion making system
>Magical item making system
>>46040624
Stalker, the scifi rpg.
>>46040624
GURPS
Risus
Apocalypse World
adabakedabra is a save against death ray or die
Ars Magica literally ticks every box. It's a game specifically about having wizards and learning spells.
>>46040759
This.
You're going to make a pretty sweet game if you do this.
>>46040881
I don't think Avada Kedavra has a save. It's hit or die in all cases in the history of forever (Except when a loved one sacrifices themself to save you, as the case in Voldemort vs Harry at like age 1)
>>46040624
>Let's start from scratch.
>What RPG would make a good foundation?
Um...
That said, go classless and use skill points instead at the very least.
>>46040989
It's something weird with the caster making a will save or some shit.
>>46040759
When you cast a spell, roll+magic.
On a 10+, the spell is successfully cast
On a 7-9, the spell is cast, but choose one:
-need ideas
>>46041019
No. No it's not. You get hit, you die. In Harry's case, his mother tried to protect him and died trying, but her love acted like a shield. So really, love has strange magical properties. Avada Kadavra is always going to be 1 hit = 1 kill though
>>46041064
-Snape takes 10 points from griffindor
-Malfoy insults you
-Hermoiny tells you you've got the pronunciation wrong
>>46041133
>Implying Snape won't take points from Gryffindor anyways
>>46041064
Bag of potion components (5 uses)
When creating a potion, roll+(magic lol)
On a 10+, the potion is successfully created
On a 7-9, the potion is created but choose one:
-you get diarrhea
-you transform into a fat fuck
-you die
>>46040624
Why not just make your own whimsical magical academy setting instead of trying to cram a system into one that was never intended to be played. HP has more holes in it than swiss cheese, and it will drive you crazy trying to fill them.
>>46040881
Avada Kedabra -Unforgivable Curse
To cast this spell you need to have a bond of hate with the target, if the target is hit it drops dead painlessly
>>46041099
He said caster, so I'm assuming he meant the whole deal with having to really want to use the unforgivables or something
>>46040624
I think something like Monsterhearts would be the best system, with HP-related refluffing and add-ons. Focus less on trying to simulate the spellcasting in the HP books and focus on the relationships of the students and the story's progression throughout the Hogwarts school year. Everyone else who tries to tackle HP tries to stuff Rowling style magic into an existing combat system that wasn't made for it, which is awkward at best and downright terrible at worst, but the better option is to shift the focus away from the things that weren't very thought out in the books and focus on the things they actually did well - coming of age stories, shifting relationships, and yearlong mysteries that are resolved by deus ex machina.
>>46041746
Yeah, this person has the right idea of it. If we were to create a magic system for the HP universe we would need to actually figure out the way the magic in the HP universe actually works which is certainly not one of Rowlings strong suits.
>>46040624
If you're dead set on squeezing HP into a balanced combat system, I wouldn't try to simulate the spells directly the way most games do them. Instead, I would try to represent spellcasting the way the last few movies do, as a hybrid swashbuckling / shooting test of skill between the two combatants. Wizards would attack and parry, dodge and take cover, and if you score a hit with the generic "attack" spell it opens your opponent up for a more specific curse.
Similar to how some games simply let the winner of combat decide whether they kill their opponents or not instead of trying to simulate how hard they were hitting each other, winners in HP combat would decide from their list of spells how they end the duel (disarming with expelliarmus, paralyzing with petrificus totalus, killing with avada kedavra, etc).
Get a high enough level and your saves and parry ability will be sufficient that you can't be hit with the generic attack at all, requiring your opponent to first weaken you with environmental effects before moving in for the kill (pic related). In this system, surprise attacks would be especially deadly, since your opponent could simply hit you with the "execution" spell without dueling you first.
>>46041099
Eh? Harry countered it with expeliarmus (or whatever this shit is called) more than one time iirc. Maybe it was just side-effect of paired wands, though.
>>46040624
>All of the Harry Potter Universe homebrew games are complete shit. Let's start from scratch.
Pic related
>>46041401
>>46041099
>>46040989
One thing that might help balance Avada Kadavra is have some kind of dark/light magic system. You need a certain amount of dark magic affinity to cast unforgivable curses, but gaining that affinity locks out other spells like Patronuses.
More importantly, affinity is earned by DM discretion through roleplay. Take morally questionable acts and you may find you can cast spells with dubious morality more easily and trying to learn other spells is much harder.
Just something my brain what out while making a sandwich.
>>46042078
He didn't get hit then. He deflected it. You have to block it physically with cover, dodge or parry. The one thing you can't use is magical defenses. That's why wizards are terrified of it.
>>46042051
That sounds like the best possible combat system fo something like this
>>46042051
This guy has it figured out.
>>46042123
Didn't Harry cast Avada Kadavra once, but it didn't work because he didn't mean it/feel it or whatever?
I thought whoever he was trying to kill laughed it off
>>46041746
This is the exact reason why all Harry Potter homebrew games are always shit. HP magic wasn't meant to be statted. Just use Monsterhearts/AW.
>>46042278
I thought it was crucio? In any case yeah, that'd be the result of trying without enough dark affinity in theory. You're lucky if you even get a shit spell, and the big AK is all or nothing.
>>46042160
What do you mean by "didn't hit"? Voldemort casted avada kedavra, Harry casted expeliarmus, beams collided, weird shit happened.
>>46042900
Oh yeah no that's totally shared wand cores.
So again, Harry never got hit by the spell. His spell got hit by the spell.
You can't do anything with it, because the setting is shit
>>46042805
Yes, it was crucio. It hurted a bit but he couldn't sustain effect.
>>46042930
Damn that is weird, I always interpreted it as something unique to the Expeliarmus spell. Reading the books when other spells collide they burst into showers of sparks against each other, it was just the Espeliarmus that caused the two spells to go flying off in different directions. At least that's how 11 year old me thought of it.
Different spell systems for different school system magics. I kind of like the idea of American schools teaching folk magic, but most of Rowling's additions to her own setting are garbage.
>>46042930
he did get hit though at the end of book seven. that time he died. he just came back when he could have gone on and accepted his death.
>>46042986
expelliarmus if it hits disarms you. that is all it does.
>>46040624
There isn't a solid system for it because Harry Potter runs on literal plot magic. There is no system behind it, it does what the plot says it does.
You'd be better off with a generic wizard RPG adapted around a school setting. Try Ars Magicka or something.
>>46042986
This is my headcanon too. I though it was unknown simply because nobody tried to disarm opponent in real fight instead of just throwing bunch of offensive spells.
>>46040624
Ghosts of Albion covers most of that. Potions and item creation can be built as spells. It is the best system I have used for Harry Potter style games. Here is a quickstart version of the game.
>>46042123
"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." - Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, describing the use of Avada Kedavra.
I'd say the ability to use Avada Kedavra should be towards the end of whatever progression the game includes.
>>46043342
Forgot the citation. Book 4, page 217
>>46041172
>Be Ravenclaw
>Get into a fight with a Hufflepuff
>Get caught by snape
>"Ten points from Gryffindor"
>>46043508
>>46041004
>classless
Your class is your school house
so what stats?(if making an apocalypse world hack)
-Magic
-Non-Magic?
-Teen Angst?
>>46041099
>>46040881
>if you hit.
There is not 'saving throw', but it's does have an attack roll, you can just duck or take cover from it,
It's not a instant hit but.
>>46043034
As someone who grew up with the books I'm curious now.
>>46044387
Long story short? A lot of shit, and she even removed some of the magic of the universe.
>>46044387
This is but one example. Ignore the filename, it was for a different thread.
>>46044852
What
The Actual
Fuck
>>46044852
>Hufflepuff circle jerk is canon
the fuck
>>46040989
Reflex saves.
Which is the same thing as a touch attack, except for who's holding the dice. Because D&D is kind of silly.
>>46044852
Is this real?
>>46040624
The most HP-like combat I can think of:
Attack rolls are opposed, your dueling skill vs their dodge. If you hit, the effects are entirely contained in the spell (HP, ironically enough, does not need HP). If they have a shielding spell, it's against their magic instead of their dodge, and a successful hit just knocks the shield out. Many spells have specific interactions with shields - Avada Kedavra just ignores them, Expeliarmus still sends people flying even though it doesn't knock their wand out of their hand.
Which implies that people have these stats:
> Dueling skill
> List of known spells
> Dodging skill
> Some magic stat that determines shield effectiveness
Any of these can and almost certainly should do double-duty with other stats.
The other major thing I'd note about HP is that skill check DCs should be rather low. In Harry Potter, most things work most of the time, and magic almost never fails except for bad students and moving targets.
>>46044852
...are they co-ed?
>>46044852
Confirmed for fake.
http://www.inquisitr.com/2769722/j-k-rowling-no-i-never-said-theres-no-sex-ed-at-hogwarts/
>>46045613
What about this one?
Like holy fuck
>>46042986
No, good sir.
The weird effect happened because both their wands were similar, and then the ghosts of his dead parents were able to extend the phenomenon.
Anyway, nothing to do with expelliarmus or his patronus.
>>46045779
That has got to be fake.
>>46045779
HAHA!
>>46045779
Get fucking real senpai that is so fake
>>46045882
Monster
Shits
>>46042123
Why do you need to balance Avadra Kadavra? If your players are throwing around the killing curse willy nilly then the world consequences of that should become quite apparent very quickly. For one, it's supposed to break apart your soul or something each time you use it. For two, the baddest dude in the history of the setting is so bad and evil that he killed what, seven people? Eight? You are going to have The Party Which Must Not Be Named in about ten minutes.
>>46042051
I like the way you think.
>>46042051
Well this needs to be made.
>>46046083
I guess it can be done simply... Or complicatedly...
Here's my idea:
You can cast "finisher spells" at any time, obviously, BUT here's the thing: If your opponent has full HP he has his full resistance/dodge to avoid it.
If he has 3/4th HP, he gets a -1
If he has 1/2 HP, he gets a -2
If he has 1/4th HP, he gets a -4
If he has 0 HP (Not dead or unconcious, just unable to defend) he has a -8 to resisting a finisher spell.
Making it easier to finish your opponent who is wounded.
Also we can say, instead of having to wear down your opponent first, if you surprise them, they automatically get a -8 to defending the "finisher" spell, be it AK, or Petrificus Totalis, or whatever you want it to be.
>>46046192
So now it becomes strategic.
Do you want to
>Make a generic magic attack, and reduce HP
or
>Fling a finisher and hope you caught your enemy by surprise, or hope they just fail to dodge it
>>46040624
Hmn...
>>46040674
I'm a Gurpsfag. But No. Though we should certainly borrow the skill system for technical knowledge classes
>>46040709
Fuck no
>>46040922
Hell fucking no. It don't mesh well
>>46040759
Could work. Not so familiar with it though.
>>46043283
Hrmmm...
I have some ideas but it's near midnight here. I'll sleep on it
>>46046280
I ran my game originally using gurps and the ceremonial/ spirit magic system. Ghosts ended up being easier, and more fun to run.
>>46046192
>>46046218
I like this.
>>46046540
Same. Harry Potter isn't about dungeon crawls so there is no need to make the player count how many 'spell bullets' they've fired. Everyone so all ready a wizard is there is no point trying
>>46041383
This. I've actually been working on a slightly tongue in cheek setting that's basically Hogwarts with D20 spell casters. Do something similar. Realistically, if you actually managed to model HP's magic well with a system it could be abused so horribly that your game would be ruined.
If you do want to do pure HP, then grab a narrative system like Risus or PDQ and have them buy the different areas of magic separately. This allows various area of competence among different characters while preventing omni-competence.
>>46046069
Pretty sure he killed more than that back in the day.
>>46040624
FATE will do all of that. It is also built around making up stupid bullshit as you go, so it's perfect for Harry Pooter.
>>46040922
>Ars Magica literally ticks every box. It's a game specifically about having wizards and learning spells.
It's also almost as painful to play as FATAL, so that's a bonus.
>>46044950
>>46045005
>>46045096
I wish I could be this easily fooled by things I saw on the Internet
>>46046069
Did you read the books?
Yes, using the killing curse fractures the human soul. However, unless the human doing the killing specifically removes those pieces to put into horcruxes, it's probably just Rowling hamfisting the idea that killing is bad and the more you do it the worse you are.
As for your second bit, you're completely off. Voldemort killed hundreds. However, he only removed pieces of his own soul to make horcruxes a 7 times,8 if you count Harry.
All of that said, the killing curse is easily balanced by several canon factors. First, it's not exactly sneaky. You've got a giant glowing bolt of green, it's pretty obvious what that shit is. Second, depending on who you ask, it can be blocked by physical objects. Third, every time an unforgivable curse is cast, particularly by students, the Ministry is generally aware of it.
>>46042051
Sounds like high level play in this game would rapidly turn into stealthy rocket-tag.
>>46051631
>it's probably just Rowling hamfisting the idea that killing is bad and the more you do it the worse you are.
I'd say not. Killing OTHER ways doesn't do that. It's more tied to the fact that you are channeling the power of raw and pure death. It's not good for either end (Though a lot worse for them)
>>46045779
Oh lord how I laughed.
>>46051799
Good point. Though if that's the case, Ron's mom is in some serious shit.
>>46051799
And yet Snape's custom made lacerate you to fuck and back curse isn't channeling pure death.
In the HP universe a quick clean and painless death is morally worse than eviscerating a dude.
Panty Explosion
I'm not even kidding
>High-School
>Some magic, some normal
>Teenage Angst
>Godlike Powers that have no balance other than what the GM applies
>Neckbeard Teenage paedophile fetish thingy
>>46051878
Metaphysically, one is swinging a knife and the other is closing an electrical circuit using your soul.
>>46040624
NO spell resistance. that shit's for magical creatures. if you do implement it don't give ordinary wizards more than 1 or muggles more than 0. fully resistant things like dragons should fully negate any spell cast directly on them. you're "spell resistance" as a non-werewolf student is spell deflection and proactivity. this is a one-hit-win game, though unless you kill them or fuck their memories up (good luck with that if you're below 6th year) they're going to have the opportunity to get back up and fuck your shit all over again because this is a story based game with subterfuge, deceit, plotting, and intrigue.
Also, cut down on minmaxing by basing each task on a number of basic skills.
ex.
the "Potions" skill is a sum of their intelligence (practical, studied, systemic) and physical awareness of substances stats plus any training they've had
the "Transiguration" skill is the sum of their wisdom (cannonically super theoretical) and physical awareness substances plus yada-yada
>>46053755
Base points can be put in whatever stats you want but each stat influencing multiple skills makes minmaxing impossible (make sure there's at least a 1 in everything)
Background can offer boosts to certain skills but expect the expertise an 11 year old has to be marginal, maybe role for your family tree
Want core and wood and maybe even length and flexibility each come with stat bonuses, either at a base stat level or to individual spell classes, kinda like your class, with minimum stat restrictions possibly since "the wand chooses the wizard" (maybe even roll for it)
Your house is determined by summing your stats (ex. Ravenclaw Score: Int+Wis+Lead'NLying ; Griffindore Score: Spirit+Situ+Lead'NLying)
Y'all get an animal. It's at this point you have to decide if you attend retro Hogwarts with the Toad, Cat, and Owl rule or whether you go on that train we saw at the end of the series with Ferrets and Bats and shit. (also we all know Toads were probably brought back into style by the hipster students)
>>46052240
Here you go.
http://skazgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25
also
http://stregac.github.io/trainers_image_library/
>>46052293
That hardly makes it a less evil option.
It still boils down to
"I have to kill a dude. I have 2 options"
>1. Cut him up and let him bleed out his last moments in agony.
>2. Give him a quick and painless death at cost to my self.
The Killing Curse seems like the more gentlemanly way to make war, if war must be made.
>>46050893
It's almost like this is a homebrew where we can pare down the bullshit to make it appropriate.
>>46042120
I hate Xkcd so much.
>>46040624
If you actually want to start from scratch then you need to look at it in a conceptual level before you even begin to consider mechanics in play.
What is the nature of the game? Is it set up for wizard vs. wizard combat or wizard vs. Monster combat?
Would the game primary be about trying to investigate some bullshit year long quest like in the books or would it be more relaxed, chill out with your school friends who happen to be wizards?
Before you know what the system needs to have mechanisms for, you can't really sort out actual rules.
On top of that, in-universe how do you explain constant wizard vs wizard fighting? if it's at hogwarts the teachers will crack down on it, if it's in the larger world the ministry probably would.
>>46055982
This.
It also appears to me that teachers allow magic bitchfighting to an extent, like either because students getting hexed makes the book series more fun or because the teachers actually low-key want to encourage real-life application of magic and "how not to get hexed savvy", like that students naturally either learn to watch their backs or get good at counter curses or whatever. Getting back at that know-it-all with a tooth-growing jinx, slipping X potion into so-and-so's porridge, making that bitch kid eat slugs, or starting a proper duel off school grounds is a cannon and fun social-drama-imbued combat system. Additionally, if the story allows, I'm sure battles to the dead with forest monsters and nazi gangs are technically cannon as well. Finding ways of getting away with it can become an immersive and useful part of the game with the right mechanics or DM.
Preferably the game would have some flexibility to it, allow different kinds of playthroughs and allow the DM to mix different story styles to fit their group, (HP's fanbase genre wise) but obviously a system like that is going to need compromise somewhere and having a game plan of what compromises to make and why would be an essential thing.
... I also think establishing mostly flavorful stats can be useful for character establishment. Maybe optionally? Like the Pottermore list of wand woods and associated traits can be useful tools for character building. Is there a non-overly complex way of making modular rule books? This rulebook for the core, plus this optional expansion pack for character writing fags (divided into two sections, one half for people with needs for unusually specific character profiles and character fags and another half for the things only character fags need), plus this optional ~edgy~ expansion pack for fucking brutal OP combat and... guns and shit.
>>46040624
as someone who ran 20 something quests of HP with the /tg created system I must say it is not very good...I would like something new
>>46054029
There are some implications of possibility of afterlife.
No one obviously can know about afterlife existing but souls definitely do exist, as proven by dementors.
It's all conjecture but the soul might be destroyed by the result of the killing curse, denying afterlife or reincarnation or whatever.
Whether it really happens or not doesn't actually matter if it is a common firm belief that the sould indeed is destroyed. That makes using it inherently more amoral and vile since the meaning is in there when casting.
As for specters of dead people showing themselves to Harry via the resurrection stone I think it was fairly obvious all the stone does is conjure up an image based on the users memories and mental images of the persons.
>>46058629
if by obvious you mean intentionally vague...
>>46042123
Snape could use unforgiveables, and he had a patronus form
Unforgiveables must have intent behind it. When you use Avada Kedavra, you must want to kill them, no mercy, no forgiveness. When using Crucio, you want to hurt someone. Not stop them, not immobilise. you want to hear them scream. You need some proper sadism there.
Mind you, proper dark wizards can't cast one. the one canon example I know of had the caster spawn maggots instead of a patronus. these maggots then ate him alive.
>>46059175
Where the hell is maggot thing in the canon?
>>46059332
This. The only point in the whole series where a patronus infodump is given anyway is from Lupin when he instructs Harry and I'm 100% certain such is not said.
If it's some flavour the movies, or even games, decided to use then it's not canon.
>>46059332
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Raczidian
Hey guys how about killing curses 1 require sadism 2 are scary af and 3 are very hard to get away with and very illegal
like ok so if you can play sailor moon without killing people left right and center you can do it in harry potter
>>46059533
>Wonderbook of Spells
>video game/augmented reality book created by Sony and J.K. Rowling...provides new content from J.K. Rowling, such as backstory on the book's various spells and new info on creatures.
Canon it is then, I guess.
>>46040624
>Systems we need:
>>Spell Attack (Most spells take full effect if they hit, in the Harry Potter Universe)
>>Spell Deflection (Deflecting spells with your wand, etc)
>>Spell Dodging (Reflexes, agility)
>>Spell Resistance (Toughness; Sometimes people needed to cast Stupify like 5 times to actually render a large, strong person unconscious)
I'm not saying Harry Potter was nonviolent by any stretch of the imagination, but are the core systems you really need in something to emulate Harry Potter really all combat-centric? Most of the series was magic school shenanigans, not WIZARD BATTLE DEATH MURDER.
>>46059844
Well it's a question of exactly what you want out of the books.
As you point out, it was mostly school shenanigans which wouldn't require a very complex system. On the other hand, you could have a law enforcement style set up with the wizard police, whatever they were called I can't remember, and that could be expanded into small group combat at a pinch.
I do think the two are not compatible in one system though. I guess 1 could transition to the other but that would be somewhat complex.
>>46059175
Harry used Crucio on Belly, it didn't hurt her much, but he was able to use it. If it was the case that non-dark wizards couldn't use them, then they would have nailed Moody as an imposter almost immediately in Goblet
>>46043740
>>46051878
I don't recall snape's lacerate curse being explicitly made to murder people.
Malfoy gets hit by it and is hospitalized sure but he doesn't die on the spot nor is the spell unblockable.
Another thing, I feel like medical magic in the books is pretty weak as a field. So even a big ass gouging wound wouldn't be that hard to fix, assuming you knew the right spell
>>46040624
Magicians.
>>46051878
It's less that, more that using Sectum Sempra doesn't necessarily mean you want somebody to die. Harry didn't know what he was doing when he used it on Draco. It's just a spell designed to harm somebody. Maybe it's not somebody you hate, just somebody you need dead for whatever reason.
To use Avada Kedavra or Crucio on somebody, you have to have absolutely no mercy in your heart. No doubt about the fact that this person is inferior to you and they deserve to die/go mad from horribly painful torture. Nothing but hate. It's not that using it regularly on people makes you a genocidal maniac, more that you have to be one to do so.
>>46059844
Here's the thing with that... 4th edition dnd has essentially no rules for roleplaying (aside from skill challenges using charisma based skills... I guess?)
Does that mean that you can't roleplay while playing 4th edition d&d? Nah, but the system won't help give you a backbone to work with so it's all on you.
I don't think there's necessarily anythign wrong with this approach to game design for this either, I mean... do you really need rules for everyhting when most non-combat stuff with the posibility of failure can simply be put into a skill system of some kind?
It'd be easy enough to implement, if you used the standard 6 abilities from dnd you could draw a number of HP themed skills as well as some general ones from those and they would serve your purposes.
>Magical history
>Muggle Knowledge
>Snape Suspicion
>Forbidden lore
etc...
>>46061338
>Sectum Sempra doesn't necessarily mean you want somebody to die.
It doesn't have a stun setting.
>>46054029
It just so happens to be a very efficient curse that people vilify greatly, and it just so happens to do it in a way that involves messing with the metaphysical force of death in a way that provably damages the soul of the caster.
I don't agree that the killing curse is necessarily supposed to be particularly cruel. That expectation comes from you, but I don't see any reason for it.
>>46061406
It does skill checks just the same as every other D&D dipshit.
>>46061522
Getting slashed up isn't the same as dying.
Losing an ear, for example, is not the same as dying.
>>46062417
Giving you a bit of a nick or removing an ear is not what that spell does.
That spell gives you severed arteries.
>>46062560
That is literally an example of what sectumsempra does at one point in HP7 mate.
>gives you severed arteries.
Lolwut
>>46062570
If you cut some one deep enough in the right places it cuts their blood tubes.
That spell causes big deep slashes.
Why does this need to be explained?
if the players are thinking of the characters and their deaths in the same sense they'd think of real deaths, then killing is its own penalty.
also, i personally have the opinion: they're 15 what the fuck? but that's just me.
>>46062626
So it slashes you up. You're saying it cuts you.
We had already established that we were both aware of this.
This was literally just a gambit where you tried to get me to think you knew something about the spell I didn't?
Has anyone ever told you that you're a fucking prick?
Okay let's resume the conversation from the points we were arguing;
* Sectum Sempra is used in harry potter 7 to blast a person's ear off. That person didn't die.
* Generally speaking, getting slashed to all fuck doesn't necessarily kill you. This happens to multiple people in harry potter 6 and 7, most of whom survive, famously including Draco Malfoy.
>>46062999
You can have a battle system where the most common end state is being disarmed, knocked out, petrified or otherwise nonlethally incapacitated.
Which is what the majority of fighting in harry potter is really about anyway.
>>46063040
i'm one of those pussies who wants a school-life game with sitting on a hill by the lake in various weather with robe of varying thickness and challenges that need to be completed to pass classes and living in this weirdly "your an adult now" independent state yet contrarily bowing down to any authority figure like we've done since we were children. any maybe some pottermore wand analysis and Myers-Briggs bullshit.
but if snape weren't there when draco got hit, so familiar with that particular spell and so good with counter curses, and realistically he probably wouldn't have been if Rowling didn't want him to not die so bad, the D in his name would now stand for dead. isn't there a tidbit somewhere that when someone is ~magically~ wounded you need the exact counter-curse to heal the wound up and using the wrong counter-curse could be disastrous? like isn't that a thing?
>>46063630
If it's a lasting magical effect, presumably so.
But it's not. What the spell does is slash you up.
The spell is cast; you are now slashed up. Spell over.
Ingest potion to not be slashed up.
Or have we forgotten how werdly powerful wizard medicine is in harry potter?
I'm not saying you can't use Sectum Sempra to kill a person, but using it doesn't necessarily mean you want someone to die; it is in fact used by snape specifically so he can look like he's trying to kill people while not actually doing so, thus staying in cover behind enemy lines.
>>46063740
>how werdly powerful wizard medicine is in harry potter?
magically inflicted wounds are different
JK gave every eleven year old in her book the power to heal the fatally injured and turn back time and siad... "oh shit". then she upped the stakes by inventing that magically inflicted, not magically active, wounds couldn't be magically cured. healing spells won't do much, potions won't work, even spells to stop the bleeding won't hold.
thus why harry could regrow the bones in one arm in a fornight but one ginger is still missing an ear
>>46058629
>>46059025
Yes, of course there is an afterlife in Harry Potter. There are plenty of ghosts in Hogwarts. Some of them roam around like Nearly Headless Nick, and some reside to portraits. Even the original headmasters of Hogwarts are roaming around the halls.
Haven't you guys watched the movies? At one point Harry died and went to limbo and chilled with Dumbledore for a little while.
Harry's parents were killed with Avada Kedavra and their ghosts are still around. They appeared when Harry's wand was connected to Voldemorts, and their spirits distracted V so HP could get away.
Hell, they even have the Resurrection Stone, which allows you to talk to spirits.
AK obviously doesn't destroy souls.
AK is forbidden because it has no other purpose than to kill, and you HAVE to be a real terrible person to be able to cast it at all.
>>46063630
Snape healed Dboy by spamming Lay on Hands for 1HP each time. It's said he just knew the most basic healing charm, but had the will and the stamina to keep spamming faster than bloodloss could drain him.
>>46064544
Hold up though. The ones in the paintings are more like copies or backups than ghosts, aren't they? Sort of like the animated photos in newspapers. It's more of an imprint than a lingering spirit.
>>46064721
No, I believe it's the actual spirit. They can leave the paintings if they want.
>>46064721
Oh, my mistake, you're sort of correct. They aren't the actual person.
"A portrait knows little if anything of its subject's life, and therefore could not hold a very interesting conversation about its subject.[2] The exception to this is of the portraits of Hogwarts headmasters, which are kept in a cupboard from the time of their painting, which is usually very old,[1] until the subject dies.[2] The headmaster can therefore teach their portrait to act and speak like them so that they can teach their successors.[2]" Source: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Portrait
>>46064802
Not quite. As far as I remember it, they could only move to other paintings.
>>46064847
Ah, thought so. Call me a fag, but for some reason I get pretty deep into Potter lore.
So I'm going to get started on an Apocalypse World version of Harry Potter.
One of the big parts I'm stuck on is the classes.
What should the classes be? I was thinking that there should be a class for each field of study in Harry Potter. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology.
The classes would be
>DADA Student
>Herbology Student
>Potions Student
etc... Obviously every student takes every class, but this is to pick the one class that the character really excels at.
This way, the moves can reflect the subject... DADA might get moves to improve dueling, the potion student might get moves to make potions, etc...
Or do you guys have any other ideas? We could also just go with personality archetypes like
>The Bookworm
>The Quidditch Jock
>The Weasle
etc
>>46063630
>>46063740
You guys forget, Snape created that spell. People who are familiar with certain spells can alter their effects, or even depending on your emotional state. Some people were wierded out when Harry's expeliarmus spell launched people into the air rather then disarming them
>>46063740
Pretty sure you're wrong about how that spell works though. Snape invented that spell and he made a counter curse specifically for it. The entire point of the spell is physical wounds that cannot be healed through any means but its own counter curse. Unless I'm remembering wrong this is all but directly stated.
If you recall, George got his ear cut off by that spell, and despite their best efforts, they could not reattach the ear and basically just had to bandage him up until the wound closed naturally.
>>46040624
None. You don't need most of this shit.
>Attributes (strength, dexterity, intelligence, toughness, heart. Derive saves from these)
>Skills (most mundane, some magic, trained vs untrained only)
>Magic (What spells do you know?)
You don't actually need Hitpoints. The books work on status effects. No one has saves to make if they're hit in Harry Potter. They either dodge, counter, or get rekt. If you tag someone with a spell, they get effected, no exceptionsbesides GM Fiat.
It's so narrative you're better off just grabbing a diceless system and running with it.
>>46065294
Right, that's why we're going with Apocalypse World engine. The problem is really with making classes, stats, and moves.
Reaction is one that is modified by character stats and spell, so one can have draws.
>>46064721
yes
>>46064544
AS ARE THE GHOSTS
they're not "ghosts" they're fully body hologram "paintings" a wizard left behind. like cummon guys IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS AND READ UP ON THE POTTERMORE PLEASE DO NOT INJECT YOUR IGNORANCE INTO OUR DISCUSSION THANK YOU just lurk and maybe ask questions if you're curious instead. JK probably meant for them to be real ghosts in the first few books before deciding on the nobody-can-conquer-death theme and backpedaled hardcore.
>>46065889
No, the ghosts are ghosts. Painting are not ghosts, but the ghosts like Nearly Headless Nick are ghosts
>>46065889
Except ghosts didn't conquer death, and such a thing was never implied. There was a lot of focus on just how depressing and miserable their existences were because they were afraid to move on.
Though you are right. Ghosts are effectively powerful magical imprints bound to locations left by those who "weren't ready to go" so to speak. What this implies as to the end destination of the spirit is not as important as the fact that the imprint is still a sentient being, living a cursed existence. Nothing death conquer-y about them.
>>46064979
How about
>Background
>Wand Core+Wood
>House
>extra curricular activity or enthused interest (painting, quidditch, studying for fun, lounging and procrastinating, pranks, etc.)
Each gives certain stats or whatever, and combining all of them would decide how far up what subject's skill trees they can reach
>>46064152
thought he kept the ear off for some personal reason
>>46040624
thats because harry potter is a shit setting (for gaming)
>>46064979
Why not have a character type which contributes a couple of moves, and a favorite class, which contributes more moves.
You shouldn't focus on combat.
You shouldn't do character classes.
>>46065889
>like cummon guys IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS AND READ UP ON THE POTTERMORE PLEASE DO NOT INJECT YOUR IGNORANCE INTO OUR DISCUSSION THANK YOU just lurk and maybe ask questions if you're curious instead.
>>46070447
The closest thing to classes they should even consider is something like affinity, solely because different characters and wands really do have affinities for certain spells over others. So really you'd likely choose your character's affinity, and their wand's affinity would be based on the materials used to make it, but would be decided by the GM.
And combat definitely should not be the focus. Especially considering the vast majority of wizard combat in Harry Potter is a oneshot game. Two if you're lucky. That, however, is the exact reason the game should focus on the creative use of spells and other tools to get through certain situations while avoiding combat.
Shadowrun does magic really well for inspiration
What we need to do is look at what characters in the Potterverse actually spend most of their time doing outside of lessons and duels. Mostly, at least for Harry and Co, it seems to consist of fucking over your fellow students, fucking over teachers, solving whatever magical mystery connected to the rise of Voldemort is going on this year or some combination of the above.
>>46070042
what about bill's scar or lupin's lupus?
>>46072402
Affinities are only going to be useful if growing lush and happy plants, trans "theoretical physic" figurations, potion brewing, and wizard combat skills are all approximately as useful. If it's a combat game everyone needs to be good at combat, the only question is "are you better at jinxes or curses and are you defensive or offensive? patronus?"
>Hey guys, let's make an RPG based on a series of novels
>we're going to need
>CLASSES
>ATTRIBUTES
>SKILLS
>HIT POINTS
>LONG LISTS OF SPELLS WITH EXACTING RULE DESCRIPTIONS
>what do you mean this is just an untested ripoff of D&D
Every time!
>>46078137
But why would a Harry Potter game be combat focused? You can determine whether a character is defensive or offensive through stats. But there's more to Harry Potter than just combat. Potion-making, herbology, arithmancy, and shit like that are huge fucking deals. Arithmancy is the reason Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't get killed by Death Eaters as soon as they set out.
If all you care about is combat when trying to run a Harry Potter game, you've irrevocably fucked up.
>>46063740
>I'm not saying you can't use Sectum Sempra to kill a person, but using it doesn't necessarily mean you want someone to die
>I'm going to stab a dude in the gut and chest a few times as a warning.
Totally not a murder attempt.
>>46078902
Harry cast it on Malfoy assuming it would be something like Levicorpus. All he knew was that the spell was labeled "for enemies" from a book that had up until that point been entirely benign pranks presumably meant for enemies.
He didn't want to hurt or kill Malfoy, and the only other time he ever used that spell again was against Snape in a fit of rage after Snape killed Dumbledore.
>>46078976
>Hey a spell I have no idea what it does
>Better use that and not one of the dozens of other spells I know and would be perfect for this
Was Potter retarded?
>>46079074
Yes. Harry was a fucking idiot. That was kind of the point of that entire bit.
>>46078534
Okay, so here's a better idea.
Attributes, I'm thinking, could work as a Monsters And Other Childish Things-type system. Effectively, your attributes are both dice and HP pools. To make rolls successfully, you add together your attribute and whatever relevant skills you need and roll that many d6s. If at least two match, you've got a success. The higher the number on the dice, the better you do it. The more matching dice, the faster you do it in a situation where speed is required. This is written as XxY, in which X is the number on the dice and Y is how many matching dice there are.
>Example: A young wizard named Shitface Bumblefuck is in a practise duel with another student, Nutsack Pimpledick. Both roll to cast their spells on the other. Nutsack rolls 4x5 (read: 4 matching dice with the number 5), while Shitface rolls 6x1. While Shitface's spell was crap compared to Nutsack's, he cast first. Therefore, he could potentially disarm Nutsack so that his spell is rendered useless.
When you take damage to an attribute, this could be as the result of physical or mental harm, and is either Bruising or Scarring. Bruising damage heals fairly quickly, and may have even gone in the next scene. Scarring damage heals much more slowly, and can prove fatal. Damage can only be physical or mental.
>Example: Shitface has had a jinx cast on him by a fellow student as a prank that leaves his face covered in boils. He takes physical bruising damage to his Charisma stat. The next day, in a DatDA lesson, he fails to properly confront a Boggart. The fear he experiences is temporary damage to his Intelligence pool, as he can't get it out of his head for a few minutes until he's calmed down. It would've been much worse if he'd been hit with a Sectum Sempra curse for scarring physical damage or witnessed a close friend murdered with the Killing Curse for scarring mental damage.
>>46079798
Attributes/hit locations and skills are:
>Head (Called Intelligence in the last post, I'm making this up as I go along okay): Your brains and mental capacity, used for Logic (Working out the answers to a riddle), Spellcraft (Remembering how to brew a potion or pronounce a spell) and Perception
>Wits: Your silver tongue and force of will, used for Willpower (Resisting the effects of a Charm, forcing your wand to perform a Dark spell if its Core resists, or using a Counter-Spell), Fast Talking (Used for insults, persuading a teacher to let you use a book with a spell you need in it or coming up with a reason for not having your homework that Snape will believe) and Charm (Used to make friends and ask out that cute witch from Ravenclaw)
>Arms: Your physical strength, used for Brawl (For smacking a bitch up when you can't be assed to whip out the wand), Force (For when something is in the way and you need it not to be) and Throwing (When you need to make that perfect shot in Quidditch)
>Fingers: Your manual dexterity, used for Aim (Making sure your spell hits who you want it to hit), Sleight of Hand (Unlocking a locked door or cupboard, pickpocketing) and
>Legs: Used for Riding (For broomsticks, hippogriffs and whatever other flying vehicles or mounts your GM can pull out of his ass), Nimbleness (Always useful in duels for dodging, or late at night for sneaking around) and Running (Because sometimes you don't have a broom)
>Guts: Used for Resistance (Not getting sick or poisoned, dealing with certain spells' effects), Courage (Staring down a Boggart, maybe conjuring a Patronus) and Blocking (Taking a hit you can't dodge)
Skill bonuses are constant and unchanged unless affected by magic or raised through levels, but attributes will decrease whenever damage is taken to one of the listed areas. A d6 is rolled for hit location.
>>46078534
classes are currently being dabated, the line between attributes and skills is being contested, "hit points" are gonna work dramatically differently in this game, and, like, if you think every tbt with spells is D&D i got NEWS FOR YOU
---
In other news, I'd like to throw unusual, naturally discovered talent into the discussion ring. Ginny has that bat boogie hex she's really good at, Pottermore says Draco's wand would make him generally good at curses but he would've been amazing at healing spells. They're based on wand or personality or whatever, so they make sense for the character, but they're not made known to the character until they're naturally discovered. Doit.
>>46053755
>>46080979
It needs some work but this is what I have so far. It's DECENTLY balanced.
How much what stat could contribute to what skill (before training and studying are added, though having high stats in the required skills will make practice a lot easier), something like "[(Stat1*#+Stat2*#+skill modifiers) / (arbitrary number to make these numbers more manageable) rounded to the nearest 1] + skill modifiers" = base skill in a thing. Turning the stats into base skill values would only need to be calculated once every level up as the results could simply be written separately and referenced directly (it could also be done automatically in excel or whatever).
Basing each skill off of multiple values is 1 more realistic 2 more fun 3 makes minmaxing impossible (as the stat points they spend will automatically be distributed among various skills) and 4 represents the skillsets and "types of intelligence" JK presented in her book.
>>46080979
the sorting hat thing at the bottom makes perfect sense book-wise and when i checked is perfectly balanced game wise, assuming random skill point spending no house will be more common than another
>>46040624
AD&D
>Spell learning system
>Potion making system
>Magical item making system
Actually has rules for researching spells, brewing alchemical potions, and making magical items in the wizard book, but in an HP setting you would simply forgo materials costs because lab and library are included in-school.
Research could take place under a merit system, replacing gold, and materials might be harder to come by, which necessitates the spending of gold to acquire them, or ventures into forbidden and off-limits territory to acquire them with the associated penalties should you inevitably get caught.
>>46044158
I like this idea, but I'd say each house has a few choices in starting packages rather than classes, and they don't restrict your choices as much. More like (to use a shitty example) choosing a race in Skyrim for some bonuses and maybe a good direction, or purely for flavor since those bonuses can be circumvented or otherwise forgotten about as you progress.
>>46080274
The next biggest thing for your character is their
Personal Goals. These can be short-term or long-term. Short term goals may include "Win a Quidditch match" or "Do well in this test". Long-term goals are generally more difficult, and could include "Win the House Cup for Gryffindor" or "Unlock the Chamber of Secrets". After this comes your House. Each House has a number of House Values. These are defining attributes of the house that each student in the house must show or have the potential to show. When a player RPs their character as possessing their House's qualities, they get some kind of reward. Not sure what yet.
>Gryffindor: Bravery, fairness, self-sacrifice - Players are rewarded when their characters contribute to their own short or long-term goals or the short or long-term goals of another PC while putting themselves at risk or at a disadvantage
>Hufflepuff: Kindness, dedication, loyalty - Players are rewarded when their character contributes to another character's short or long-term goals, PC or NPC, instead of their own
>Ravenclaw: Intelligence, knowledge, wit - Players are rewarded when their characters solve problems using particularly clever or creative methods that advance the short-term goals of any PC(s)
>Slytherin: Intelligence, cunning, resourcefulness - Players are rewarded for contributing to their own short or long-term goals over those of NPCs (This is largely to prevent the Slytherin players from dicking over the rest of the party)
Mechanical benefits may also be attached to the house, but I'm not sure. It's also possible to RP your character without showing any of these traits - Peter Pettigrew is a coward and Crabb and Goyle are idiots - but this is generally a bad move for PCs, especially since your house will likely judge you for it.
>>46081503
>benefits may also be attached to the house
Cannonically Slytherin had the most access to Snape and were ALWAYS best at potions, Hufflepuff Herbology for whatever reason, and Ravenclaw probably everything (had the best study buddies and were surrounded by social encouragement to study). Gryffindore prolly had something too.
As the characters age they begin to more and more resemble their house. Perhaps all being put together to encourage the traits they had in common with each other made them like that via rubbing off on each other. Maybe, when they level up at the end of the year, their house could influence what stats/whatever they can improve.
mmmmm
>Peter Pettigrew
was loyal to the wrong person and just wanted what all Gryffindore's want, to be esteemed by others. he couldn't get that with the Order because he was such a fucking joke and they humored him and (knowing James and Serious) probably teased him quite a bit even as adults. so he found another "family" to bravely defend in unquestioning loyalty where he finally had information and connections others needed and uses (he though) they would respect.
>Crabb and Goyle
wanted power and knew they needed to rub elbows with the right person to get it. Draco's brains in exchange for their brawn. that's prudent, resourceful, and ambitious.
>>46054029
>That hardly makes it a less evil option.
>It still boils down to
>"I have to kill a dude. I have 2 options"
>1. Cut him up and let him bleed out his last moments in agony.
>2. Give him a quick and painless death at cost to my self.
>The Killing Curse seems like the more gentlemanly way to make war, if war must be made.
Stoping trying to apply rational utilitarian ethics to Harry Potter. Using the Killing Cursing is seen in and of it self as evil beyond the simple act of intentionally taking a life.
It's just like alignments in d&d, yes it does not make sense but that's just how things work in the fictional world. Good and Evil aren't debatable abstact concepts.
>>46080979
You DO know what it means when the software underlines your character strings in red, right?
>>46065889
>reading pottermore
my god
>>46086390
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS AND READ UP ON THE POTTERMORE PLEASE DO NOT INJECT YOUR IGNORANCE INTO OUR DISCUSSION THANK YOU just lurk and maybe ask questions if you're curious instead.
>>46055696
I hate how hard he tries to go over everyone's heads but it can be pretty funny at times when you get past the douchey style.
>>46054029
The reaon the killing curse is an unforgivable curse is that there is no chance for the enemy to survive it. The slashing spell can - obviously - be fixed if you get to the poor bastard in time. It's not an instant death spell; it's not one that destroys your own soul to use it.
>>46065889
But Nearly-Headless Nick said he went out of his way to become a ghost because he feared the afterlife. I mean sure it could just be an imprint of his consciousness that THINKS it's still on Earth but then why the fuck wouldn't he just make a painting?
>>46043067
>>46042986
On of the othe things people don't take into account is that Expelliarmus really was Harry's signature spell. He got REALLY GOOD at it - good enough that he could use it to full effect against more powerful wizards.
In that universe, personal magic is really a thing.
Don't forget to enrich Hermione.
But seriously though the biggest reason why HP games don't work is because there aren't enough established rules about how magic works.
>>46089905
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS AND READ UP ON THE POTTERMORE PLEASE DO NOT INJECT YOUR IGNORANCE INTO OUR DISCUSSION THANK YOU just lurk and maybe ask questions if you're curious instead.
>>46090222
I did ask a question you average fandom member.
>>46051772
also known as skyrim
>>46062343
Its important to remember WHY the unforgiveable curses are 'unforgiveable' in Harry Potter.
Those curses are fueled by hate, sure. But thats not what makes the wizarding world hate them so much.
Its that they always work.
There is no counter against them, no protection that a wizard can cast upon themself for safety.
A wizard, even a prepared wizard, is as vulnerable to this magic as any muggle would be.
And THAT is what makes their use unforgiveable. Its a petty and wizard-centric viewpoint, but its the truth.
