Years at Hogwarts (Inactive)

Game Master Timeskeeper

So! I have come across a system some one made for playing at Hogwarts! And like every child who grew up with the Harry Potter books I wished for my owl and acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Alas it never came! XD

But it is a system I don't know much about, so there will be a time to adjust for all. It is also free!

Now here is where I will lose people, to make things interesting and share a bit of the burden I would like each player to GM a year at Hogwarts. I would of course take the first year to give people a chance to get into the flow. But I think it would give everyone a chance to learn the system inside and out.

With all that said, who wants to go to Hogwarts?

Question someone might have: "When is this set?" Nothing is set in stone, but I was thinking after the Dark Lord died but long before Harry was at school. So that we don't mess with much ya know? But I am open to suggestions.

Sounds interesting, as it's free I'd be happy to look through it and since you're doing the first year if I do decide to play I'll also run a year.

Where can you get it?

Here!

It is actually not that bad!

Looks interesting, I'd give it a try!

Hey! With my friend that gets us up to four! We're over half way there!

Yes, yes, yes and more yes please!!!

Sounds interesting. I’ll give it a look over, but count me interested.

I'll chime in with my interest, as well. I'm looking over the PDF, and it looks pretty straightforward so far.

Would you like use to post characters here or will there be another thread?

If you've got characters planned go for it! Talking about characters might help others get idea.

In fact I'd love feed back on this idea I had for my character.

The idea is a child, which would be considered purebloods, loses both magical parents before the age of three. As there are no family members the child goes to the orphanage. A bit of mix up happens and before a wizard or witch could come to fetch the child, a muggle couple adopts them. So they're raise as a muggle till 11 yet would be considered a pureblood if their past is ever known.

Oh and because of magic they're in Slytherin. Poor child.

Also if you're wondering how people know if they're muggleborn vs pureblood.The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance keeps up with all of that!

That's a neat idea for a character, Timeskeeper. I assume you would go with the Muggle-Born background, since they were raised outside of the magical world?

That actually brings up a question I just thought of. Would we want our characters to all be in the same House, or just have everyone choose whichever they prefer? Given some of the House rivalries, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin, that could result in some rather tense moments overall.

The idea I was thinking of is for a half-blood character whose mother was a Muggle-born witch. Since she grew up in the Muggle world, his mother and father decided that it was better for them to grow up with knowledge of standard Muggle things, while not hiding from the child the existence or knowledge of the magical world. Personality-wise, they'd have a bit of the class clown to them, while also having a certain amount of curiosity that can sometimes get them into trouble.

Hadn't quite decided on a House yet.

Yes naturally. In all regards most believe her to be muggleborn. Dumbledore likely knows, because it is Dumbledore, though I am unsure if the child would know they're adopted so... she likely thinks she is muggleborn as well till everything about her being adopted it out.

I welcome all houses! While yes leaning to one or two would make things smoother, I think the rivalry between houses could be a good chance for character growth. I mean Lily and Shape where best friends till he called her a mudblood. Even then after he apologized she didn't hate him for saying it but for not seeing how wrong his viewpoint was. It's a perfect example of will you let your ideals cost you friends?

Well, if you want to lean more towards the child not knowing they're adopted, I would suggest going younger in age - less likely to maybe have memories of their parents. Or, if you want to play with that idea, go closer to 3 years old, and wrestle with faint memories of your previous parents that you can't quite remember until you discover the truth.

Of course, the child's adoptive parents could just tell them once they receive their acceptance letter, but where's the tension and drama in that?

Do note that I said before the age of three. That would mean that they would be from a few months old to two year and 11 months but not three. Really we don't start making lasting memories till about the age of five anyways.

There is no way that the adoptive parents would have know if either of the child's parents where magical or not. After all if the running theory on how muggleborn students are told about all of this anyways is true, not saying it is but I really like this theory, a teacher would have come and spoken to the family and told them everything and explained that some times this just happens.

Apologies, I misspoke. I meant that the child's adoptive parents could tell them they were adopted, not knowing anything about whether or not they were magical. It would depend on whether or not you wanted to have the character know they were adopted.

That is what I was referring to when I said, they could tell the child once they received their acceptance letter.

Ok, count me interested. I mean, I did get sorted into Hufflepuff on Pottermore, and we're always happy to join in. :)

So where/when would you like this to start? are we meeting each other? on the train, before the train, pre-sorting, post-sorting, first day of class?

The idea I have is: only child of a Durmstrang Institute standout father and a Koldovstoretz witch mother, all of whom were surprised when Dragoslav got a letter from Hogwarts, despite currently living in Ireland the family assumed that he would attend Durmstrang like his father.

Oooh, I'm interested. Though the wand table doesn't have nearly enough woods.

@Phntm888: Ah! I understand what you are saying now.

@ElbowtotheFace: I was thinking we could start on the train, as it would give a chance for friendship to start before they are assigned to houses. Also do you have an idea on where Dragoslav will be? I figure Slytherin but I never like to assume.

@Philo Pharynx: I agree! If you have a want wood that is not on the list, for example my wand from pottermore is the one I wanted to use and it was Sycamore wood which is not on there, we can work something out. I actually e-mailed the creature of this about using the Sycamore wood and what it may have though he has not gotten back to me yet.

I'm thinking a Gurkha-British kid, both parents are wizards (I think), military brat from Scotland who plays a few different types of bagpipes. Because bagpipes are AWESOME. :D

I'll resolve this further...no clue about house yet. Ravenpuff.

Well you can just get a feel for the character first then put them in a house. I mainly know which one my character is going in because story! XP

Yes i was thinking Slytherin. I plan for him to be a bit of a jerk, but where other Slytherin would be mean to a muggleborn he views them kind of like stray dogs, there is no point kicking it as it is no threat to you and if you give it food it might be of use.

Oh, I'm thinking of a Liverpudlian Metamorph.

I have to think about which house the character should end up in, too. He can make a case for all of them, I think.

Wand Roll: 3d10 ⇒ (6, 5, 9) = 20

Here’s his crunch, though.

Maybe I should just roll a die when the time comes for the Sorting :).

I'm thinking of making her Welsh!

Also @Phntm888 5 is Veela Hair. Or you can just roll with Augurey Feather if you really want it. Just thought I should tell you as you roll to begin with! XD

I absolutely failed at following the line straight across on the table.

I’ll stick with the feather anyway. Veela Hair really doesn’t fit the concept.

I put I've Been Everywhere so he can speak his folks' language(s). (probably Gurung and Nepali--I don't think it's game-breaking to know both, eh? :D)

Wand Roll: 3d10 ⇒ (9, 4, 5) = 18

that's a Hazel (Jinx) Augurey Feather core wand of 10.5"?

Oh, and H.B. is in HUFFLEPUFF. Oh yeah.

Hello, friendo here that Timeskeeper mentioned earlier.

I'll be running basically my Pottermore specs (If others are ok with non rolled wands.) So I'll making up a Slytherin with a Holly, Dragonheart String, 12 fairly flexible (I'm assuming that's what the FF means beside the wand lengths.)

Apart from that, I've not looked everything over heavily but most likely 3 Int, 2 Power is my goto idea and of course a Pureblood.

Ah, my muse has spoken to me, and surprisingly not in the middle of my sleep.

Isabella Orpington-Pratt has spent part of her time being dragged across Britain by her mother, who is well-known in wizarding theater. The rest of the time, she has been dragged over the rest of the world by her father, who is well-known for his muggle acting.

Because of this, she's quite versatile with accents. She inherited her mother's metamorphic ability and her dad's native charm. She knows that she is destined to perform and that is her focus.

Edit: I would prefer a post-Harry game myself.

You know, that makes a lot of sense for ff. I was trying to figure out what it stood for, and just went with half inch, but that makes more sense.

I've also fleshed out his background a bit more.

Guys! Guys! And girls of course!
The creature answered me! Sycamore wood gives a bonus to tranfiguration spells, though if it gets bored will burst into flames itself or set other things on fire. Think Seamus half of his schooling! XD

Also I like what I'm seeing so far!

Lol! I just got to reread my post and noticed that creator got turned into creature! Stupid phone auti-correct.

Oh well. I wanted to ask what time frame people want most. I know that Philo has stated interest in a post-Harry Potter game and I was thinking more of a pre-Harry Potter game.

So will others, if you have a preference, let me know around when they would like to play?

I'm ok with a post-Harry game. I think that around 1970-1980 was Voldemort's big bad reign, so that would be an interesting time as well. Post-Harry, uncertain who the big bads are, but it would be fun to figure that out!

Yay for replies from the powers that be, Timeskeeper!

Looks like we have an interesting bunch of students. Do we need to be concerned at all about "party balance"?

I think I'd prefer pre-Harry Potter. It fits better with the character's background, which I don't want to include his mom having to go into hiding for being Muggle-born when the Death Eaters take control of the Ministry of Magic. It's not a deal breaker, though.

EDIT: Axolotl, considering the Harry Potter world in the books and movies, and the way the system is set up, I think the system enforces party balance organically. Everyone can learn the same spells and potions, and does learn the same Automatic Spells assuming they pass their classes. Passing classes is really easy, too - everyone starts with a base score that guarantees them an E (Exceeds Expectations) so long as they don't miss classes, then adds to it. Based on how skills are handled with each year's level ups, everyone should have roughly the same amount of credits in the base skills. Most of the variance will come during gameplay, based on how people spend their blocks of free time.

I suppose if we go pre-Potter, I'd be Isabella Orpington-Russell.

I'm intrigued and have a character coming together, but I'm a little concerned too.
It sounds like you're planning on playing a character and GMing the first year? I've had issues with GMs doing that, especially when they were excited about the character, as you seem to be.

I had assumed that everyone's character would be NPC/fade into the background for the year that we GM.

Also, are there 7 years at Hogwarts? That's a six person party size, right? That's large but manageable. I suppose we should determine what comprises a year, in terms of encounters and what not.

Btw, if we are pre-Potter, we will have some established things, like who is Potions Teacher, Charms, Transfigurations, Divinations, as they are known book quantities (well, not Trelawney unless it's post-1980, I think). Oh, and there's the running gag that the DADA Teacher doesn't last a year. Kind of silly, if you ask me. They should have had a construct teach the class, or a ghost, or something.

Okay so I ask him another question about the ff on the wand sizes and he said that it was suppose to be 1/2 but when he saved it all to a PDF it messed up.

As for party balance, well that depends as Phntm888 said upon how the students themselves spend their time. Also what people have starting out will help them move faster in other areas but it isn't a must. A muggleborn does not have to take muggle studies even though they would move twice as fast through it.

Okay! So I'm going to do a run down of who we have so far and if I miss someone, please please please don't hesitate to speak up! I am human after all!

Students-
Dragoslav Dobrescu -ElbowtotheFace
Kenneth Williamson - Phntm888
H.B. Gurung - Axolotl
Isabella Orpington-Russell - Philo Pharynx
Yet to be named Jing's character - Jing the Bandit
Anora Evans - Timeskeeper (ME!)

So far we have six character set upon to docket! We need one more to meet the 7 years. I'm going to let it all go until Friday for people to show interest, then start the discussion up on Saturday. That sound good to people?

Been reading through the system, and it seems pretty awesome! Pulling a character together, should be finished soon.

I'm intrigued and have a character coming together, but I'm a little concerned too.

It sounds like you're planning on playing a character and GMing the first year? I've had issues with GMs doing that, especially when they were excited about the character, as you seem to be.

I've had a GMPC in many of my games in RL, either to balance out a small party or fill a must have that no one else wanted to play at the time.

And as Axolotl said the character fades more into the back ground. For example if Anora's parents get found out in the first year, which is likely they might is players ask the right questions, most of her time might end up with her in the hospital wing.

As for teachers
Snape started in 1981
McGonagall started in 1956
Flitwick started around the early 1970s
And of course Trelawney started between late 1979 and early 1980

The hard one is indeed the Defense against the Dark Arts. As after Galatea Merrythought retired in 1945 there is no record of who filled that post till 1991 when Quirinus Quirrell took over. So we'd have to make someone up.... or change every year to keep the joke going... or start it.... You know what I mean!

I can't remember where I read it but I am pretty sure, that there was confirmation that the DatDA's position was indeed cursed, supposedly by Voldermort himself when he was denied the position. From that year on, no professor could hold the position longer than a year.

Dumbledore said it in Half Blood Prince

Yes, it was indeed cursed--you can look it up in various wikis. Why Hogwarts didn't do some end-runs around that, I'm not sure. It could have been independent study? :D

Well, considering Lockhart was hired into the position, it looks like Dumbledore kept the class for his amusement.

Anyhow, this is my character, Greg Douglas-Fir, a muggle-born ready to get into Hogwarts!

Finesse: 1 Intellect: 2 Power: 1 Spirit: 3

Background: Muggleborn

Wand: Hawthorn, Fwooper Feather, 12 1/2''

Masteries: Herbology Expert, Ward Expert

Perks: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Free Tutoring, Hack Job, Well Connected

Muggle Studies 3
Potions 1

Greg Douglas-Fir was a simple muggle for most of his life, unaware of his magical potential. His parents, with a keen eye, knew their son was different but felt little need to explore such matters further. But when the letter from Hogwarts came, it became clear to them that the world of wizadry was the only path to allowing Greg his full potential.

Greg, upon hearing of the oppurtunity, became estatic, ready to explore the wonderful world of magic. But his parents, as they did, told him to be careful, write home often, and come home over the breaks. They even talked him into bringing a first aid kit, which Greg thought redundant considering Hogwarts would be a bastion of magic.

And so Greg made his way into the wizarding world, still unaware of most of magic. But with his trusty Beginners Guide to Potions by his side, and his natural ability to make friends, he knew Hogwarts would be an amazing experience.

We should probably figure out what year each of us is taking.

year: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

hmm... I guess I get the big climax.

I was going to wait and do that in discussion after we're sure of who we had. After all if we have more than 7 people apply with characters then I'll have to pick and choose.

Edit: Also if you want to keep that roll Philo, that's cool!

Got room for an old face trying to find a new game?

By the way, I don't think we finished the vote of pre-or-post Potter. I don't like having the future pre-decided because it puts some big limits on what we can do.

Got room for an old face trying to find a new game?

Of course!!! Darkest! My friend it is so good to see you back in action!

Now as to the Pre vs Post, no. Not everyone has weighed in on which they want as it stands right now looking at characters who have been submitted we have:

Kenneth Williamson - Phntm888 who has said he would like a pre-Harry game

H.B. Gurung - Axolotl who has show interest in both and I think leans more towards a post-Harry game? But I'm not sure honestly.

Isabella Orpington-Russell - Philo Pharynx who has expressed interests in a post-Harry game.

Anora Evans - Timeskeeper (ME!) who has expressed interest in a pre-Harry game.

So putting them all together we have 2 for Pre-game, and 1 for Post-game, and 1 for either or. If Axolotl can clarify which he wants then I will change this, as well as when other people pitch their vote in.

Of course playing in either setting us going to have advantages and disadvantages. For example in Pre-Harry we know who most of the teachers are, how they act, and so forth which makes them easier to role-play from GM to GM. It gives us old faces that would no be in a post-Harry game. Yes there maybe some problem with how much the future restricts us but I don't really see how that would be a problem at the school. After all everything in the books, save the chamber of secrets, happened because of Harry and thus wasn't there in the year before. So one couldn't really mess with anything he messed with.

As for a Post-Harry game, we need to figure out which teachers are still there and make up new ones to fill the holes. Then we do have to come up with a new big bad as they put it. This means little familiar faces, but does give a chance to fordge an open story.

The main problem I have with a Post-Harry game actually is set in the fact there will be changing GMs. A pre-Harry game offers some stability in the world that is already build so that all they need to focus upon is the story at Hogwarts with the characters. Also the future Post-Harry is also determined with The Cursed Child. The story with his children. (No I haven't read it all, I had to give my friend back her book. I will finish it but not at this point.) So unless we're playing well after that then... that is waaay more work to do.