Step One: Assign your student’s ability scores.

In the Hogwarts RPG(as most other RPG’s), characters have two sets of stats that determine how well they perform at a given task. We use 4 stats: Physical, Intellect, Will, and Social that range from 1 to 9. You decide how to rank these scores by rolling 4 six sided die, adding the result of each roll, and assigning points to each stat until you reach zero. A normal human average is considered a 3 in each stat, with anything six or above seeming bizarrely high to others(Such as Hermione’s intellect, which is a 6 in game terms). Be careful in how you assign these scores, because they are very difficult to change for the better, and can oftentimes be changed for the worse. Such is the danger of High School.

Physical: A student’s physical stat determines the students physical ability to perform tasks without any kind of magical assistance. Cleaning house without magic, swimming in the lake, shoving a wand up a troll’s nose, whatever, this stat handles physical strength, stamina, and speed. Characters with high physical stats include Oliver Wood, Crabbe and Goyle, and of course, Hagrid.

Intellect: The student’s intellect reflects his ability to learn and reason, including the ability to learn spells. Solving the potions riddle guarding the mirror of Erised was a feat of intellect, as was brewing a Polyjuice Potion. Examples of characters with high intellect scores are Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Lord Voldemort, and Albus Dumbledore.

Will: Will is the measure of a students strength of character, and how difficult it is to make him deviate from that path. Determination would also be a good way to describe this stat. Please take into account that this does not mean that the character’s will will be good, remember Lord Voldemort was willing to cut his soul into pieces in order to become immortal. Characters with high will scores would be personified by Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

Social: The students social stat is his innate degree of social standing, based on physical attractiveness, social acceptableness, and known history. Characters from the books with high social stats would be Cho Chang, Cedric Diggory, or Draco Malfoy.

Man, I just need to keep reading Vulcan Stev’s back posts. All kinds of good stuff there.

So, in my junior year of high school I wrote a game that formed the basis of all the other games on this site, in one way or another. It was an RPG focused on the Harry Potter Universe and designed to be played almost entirely upon the grounds of Hogwarts without being limited by relatively small material expanse. It never managed to get played, and is mostly lost to the endless crap I do to my computer, but I have found a few handwritten pages that survived and remember enough(and have a much more thorough grounding in system design) so I’m remaking it to serialize here, and eventually release as a PDF. On a less happy note, I’d like to remind the Intellectual Property Nazis that I am not using this fan created work for commercial purposes and it was created purely out of love for the novels. Please make your decisions about this game as such and do not sue the crap out of me. Please.

Dedication:

To Allison Moore, for convincing me to read them in the first place, and to J.K. Rowling for making it one of my better decisions at that point in my life.

1. Welcome to Hogwarts!

2. Characters: Students, Houses, Teams and Classes

3. The Grounds: The Chamber of Secrets and other Dangerous Places

4. The Drama: Professors, Politics and Prominent Players

5. Spells and Potions: From Levitation to Veritaserum

6. Magical Artifacts: Erised Stra Ehru Oyt Ube Cafru Oyt On Wohsi

7. Playing the Game

Chapter One: Welcome to Hogwarts

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

Teach us something PLEASE,

Whether we be old and bald or young with scabby knees

Who, after reading the Harry Potter series, didn’t want to live a life of adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? The thought of learning to make potions or cast spells made Algebra a little less bearable, to be sure, but did you ever aspire to be a Professor of Potions or vanquish terrifying villains like Lord Voldemort with your magical abilities? Did you ever think of what you would do if embroiled in conspiracy at the ministry of magic? If you did, I think this is the game for you.

Every roleplaying book begins by asking the question “What is Roleplaying?” Roleplaying is a compound word consisting of the noun(abs) role and the verb playing. What that means is that you will be taking on the role of a character in the Harry Potter universe. This book serves the purpose of defining loose rules for how the game will handle your involvement, but in the end, the experience of Hogwarts is up to you. This game is set up to provide you with some basic ways to account for your interaction with the Harry Potter setting and encourage you to play the part of a student or adult resident of Hogwarts School.

If you have ever played popular RPG’s like Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons or White Wolf’s World of Darkness, you might be surprised or pleased by what you see here. This game is rules-lite, with simple math and a fast pace, and very customizable, but designed specifically to play at Hogwarts and it feels like a faithful Harry Potter RPG should. It uses only d6(standard six sided die, to the gaming laypeople in the audience) and there are no complicated and messy tables to figure out. Levels are defined in terms of semesters and years as a student. Your house, what classes you take, what friends you make, what campus organizations you belong to, all have a profound effect on your character and how he or shee makes his way in the wizarding world. I hope you will find joy in playing this game.

Once again, Thanks to Vulcan Steve. I had to roll back my wordpress install, so I’m reposting. I had an alignment shift!

I Am A: Chaotic Good Human Wizard (3rd Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-15
Dexterity-15
Constitution-17
Intelligence-18
Wisdom-17
Charisma-16

Alignment:
Chaotic Good A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he’s kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. Chaotic good is the best alignment you can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit. However, chaotic good can be a dangerous alignment because it disrupts the order of society and punishes those who do well for themselves.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard’s strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)