HOGWARTS

A fanfic RPG system hastily penned and not at all to be taken seriously.
If you want to use this, feel free. It is not in any way affiliated or associated either with Warner
Brothers or the Harry Potter brand. Names, characters and place names are used for information
purposes only. Hogwarts is intended for players age 6 to 14 but can, of course, be played by anyone.
The game uses the same piece-meal sections as the books/films to break down the initial
scenarios and character generation. This begins with Diagon Alley (buying stuff for school), moves
onto Platform 93/4 then the Hogwarts Express and finally the school itself. Once at school the game is
broken down into terms, with adventures taking place either at the school or during break.
The game can be played as a straight forward point and character building exercise, but having a
villain and the probability of using magic in a practical fashion will probably enhance the game. Fluff
is not provided here, so some imagination on the GMs part will be required!
Whatever fluff you use, this game is set two generations after the books/films, so Harry and
Hermione are old and grey and their son James now works at the Ministry of Magic. This removes
the necessity to use known lore from the books/films but allows, if you wish, for the introduction of
familiar names as descendants of character favourites.

SET UP
You'll need a bunch of d8, some d6 and some d20. You'll also need pencils, erasers and the
character sheet overleaf (one per player). Print and hand out one character sheet for each player at
the start of your first game. There's no pre-game character generation.
Players should start by coming up with a name for their character. All characters begin as 11 year
old first year students, though at this stage nobody has been to school and all PCs should be
considered novices with a wand, broomstick and magic generally.

ROLLING UP SKILLS
Players should then roll their Skills. This is 1d6 per Skill. If the roll is 1 or 2 the player can roll
again, but if they roll 1 or 2 the second time they're stuck with that value.
Wand Skills: use of a wand. Determines how powerful a spell is when cast.
Broomstick: for flying.
Speed: pertains to using wands (beating enemies in duels, for example) and reflexes on a broom.
Potions: ability to mix potions
Learning: used when improving Skills.
Cleverness: used for remembering information, help with puzzles, GM prompts and so on.
Luck: used as a catch-all for last ditch rolls. Use luck to save oneself before stumbling into a pit, or
being missed by a falling rock etc. Luck is connected to divination skill, so isn't entirely convoluted
but has some basis in the HP universe.
Note: a starting value of 6 in, say, Wand Skills, doesn't necessarily indicate a super skilled duellist.
Starting values are for 11yr old pre-first year students who are, as yet, not versed in the use of
wands, so even though the value is good for one 11yr old compared to another, it is a hopeless value
compared with, say, a 20 year old fully trained auror.
Skills can be improved by going to school!
Testing Skills
When making a Skill roll the player rolls 1d8 + Skill score + Character Level, aiming to roll the
target value or higher. Target value changes depending on their level. Players begin the game at
Level 1/10 (where 1 is the Character Level and 10 is the target value). Target value always represents
the character's ability in comparison to their age and year at Hogwarts, so to begin with achieving
success will be difficult but will improve as the term progresses. The level determines the power of
spells, spell choice, potions and divination as well as acrobatic feats performed on the broom. The
target value increases with each level and the level increases by earning House Points. The number
of House Points must be earned by the players and not just NPCs in their house.

LEVELLING UP
Level 1 | 0 House Points | target value 10
Level 2 | 50 House Points | target value 11
Level 3 | 200 House Points | target value 14
Level 4 | 400 House Points | target value 18
Level 5 | 800 House Points | target value 26
Level 6 | 1600 House Points | target value 34
The values above are based on guesswork and other game systems that use a similar levelling
method, but may prove unsuitable. The GM should alter the values as they playtest the system to
suit their own players and their own game style.
Players level up at the end of each year at Hogwarts, regardless of House Points saved.

HEALTH
The PC's Health value is rolled as 1d20+20. A roll of 1 or 2 may be rolled again but the reroll must
be kept, regardless of the score. Health is lost if the PC is injured or sick.

CHOOSING LESSONS
Players may choose 3 of the following lessons, or, if they have a Cleverness score of 4 or more,
they can take 5 lessons. Taking 5 lessons requires they are given the Time Turner by their Head of
House when they get to Hogwarts. It should be made clear that using the Time Turner is heavily
monitored now. This isn't the time of Hermione Granger and the use of Time Turners across all years
has become common place.
The player should circle the lessons they choose to take. Once chosen the lessons cannot be
changed until the player has played through four school terms and starts a new year.
Charms: Charms allows improvement in Wand Skills.
Quidditch: allows improvement in Broomstick or Speed
Defence Against the Dark Arts: allows improvement in Speed
Potions: allows improvement in Potions
Muggle Studies or History of Magic: allows improvement in Learning
Herbology: allows improvement in Cleverness
Divination: allows improvement in Luck.
 Note: some classes are omitted. If you like, add them to your own game and apply them to one
or more of the Skills. You might want to do this especially after the first year at Hogwarts when more
options would naturally be available to students.

DIAGON ALLEY
Character generation is done at Diagon Alley. The PCs are taken through the muggle pub into the
Alley by their parents. There they are given a gold allowance to spend on books and other items they
might need. They are told to stay out of Knockturn Alley and to concentrate on getting the stuff they
need for school. They should not spend money on sweets until they have all their school kit!
If the group head straight for Knockturn Alley they will likely get into trouble. The GM may need
to wing it, but some suggested fates could include a pickpocket who takes some of the PC's gold or
maybe a meet-up with a creepy or sinister NPC who can crop up at a later time in the game as part
of an over-arching plot.
The GM should roll up the books and potions players will need to buy. This is a lesson in money
management, so when roleplaying parent NPCs the GM should be suitably stern on the subject of
spending wisely.
If any player is taking Potions, the GM rolls 1d12 for potion ingredient costs. The player must go
to the Potions shop and spend this amount of gold (minors are not allowed to purchase potions at
the potion shop, only ingredients. Anyone caught stealing will have their wand confiscated for the
first year at Hogwarts!)
If any player is taking Quidditch they will need a broom. Second hand brooms are 10gps. A new
broom is 20gps. A Nimble 100 Sparky is 100gp and will add 1 point plus the player's Level to the
Broomstick Skill. A Nimbus 3000 Firebolt is 1000gp and will add 3 points plus the player's Level to the
Broomstick Skill and 1 point to Speed when Speed is rolled when flying. To begin with no player can
afford anything more than a second hand or new broomstick.
If any player is taking Defence Against the Dark Arts they will need the Monster Book of
Monsters, Volume 12. The GM rolls 1d12 for the cost of this book.
If any player is taking Muggle Studies they will need the From the Abacus to the Zoom Lense, an
Encyclopedia of Crazy Gizmos and Contraptions. The GM rolls 1d12 for the cost of this book.
If any player is taking History of Magic they will need The Potter Years, A History of He Who Must
Not Be Named. The GM rolls 1d12 for the cost of this book.
If any player is taking Herbology they will need Roots and Wriggly Things. The GM rolls 1d12 for
the cost of this book.
If any player is taking Divination they will need My Adventures With the Divine (by Prof.
Trelawney - a photo on the back shows her as an old lady, holding up a sherry glass, her eyes
swimming behind her specs).
Once players have their books and potion ingredients they can, if they have any spare money,
buy a pet/familiar and may also visit the Weasley Joke Shop, though this is no longer run by the
Weasley twins.
Toads cost 2gp
Rats cost 5gp
Rabbits cost 10gp
Cats cost 20gp
Owls cost 40gp.
 If the GM wants to be lenient, all players may test their luck and if successful acquire a family owl
for purposes of sending/receiving mail.

Getting a Wand
PCs meet up with their parents and head to Olivander's Wand Shop, though this is now owned by
Ollivander's great grandson.
The wand chooses the wizard or witch, but the player chooses the wand that chooses his or her
PC. Player rolls 3d6 and may then apply the rolls to their wand's three stats as they wish. Wands cost
no gold. Players should place stats with care as they can't be changed later.
Power - the force of the wand. A wand with a Power of 1, when used to cast a combat spell,
would feel like a feeble slap, while a wand with Power 6 would feel like a Mike Tyson punch.
Charge - the amount of spells a wand can cast before it begins to lose power. Power reduces 1
point per spell cast beyond Charge but both Power and Charge replenish to their original values if
the wand is not used for 24 hours.
Speed - adds a speed bonus to the player's Speed Skill when using a wand. This is useful for duels
etc but a wand's speed may have less effect as the player levels up.
Strength - the health of the wand. Player rolls 1d20+20. If the wand is damaged or targeted it
loses Strength. Wands can be repaired at Ollivander's but if a wand's Strength drops to zero it is
destroyed and cannot be replaced.
Once a wand stats are placed, the GM can describe the wand using the following:
Wand wood types:
Oak (high Power), willow (high Speed), mahogany (high Strength), birch (high Charge).
Wand core types:
Unicorn tail hair (good Speed and Charge), Dragon heart string (high Power), Veela hair (low stats
generally), Phoenix feather (high stats generally), Thestral tail hair (high Speed), Troll whisker (high
Charge), coral (high Strength).

PLATFORM 93/4
The platform can be used as a place to introduce other NPC witches and wizards who will be in
the player group's year and is also a fun place to roleplay. Ask the youngest player how they are
going to get from Kings Cross Platform 10 to Platform 9 and three quarters. If they don't know, ask
other players until someone does! Players must run at the pillar and go through the magical portal to
the platform where the Hogwarts Express waits. The platform will be full of children waiting to be
taken to the school, the smell of engine smoke and the whistle of the guard for everyone to board.
Parent NPCs are left behind, waving and grinning happily.
On the train journey players can sit together in a compartment and watch the English countryside
slide by, obscured now and then by grey smoke coming from the engine. NPCs can be introduced at
this point - especially pesky Slytherin types - and the sweet trolley may provide some entertainment.
The train pulls into Hogwarts station in the early evening and all will be dark, the castle
silhouetted against the sky. The group will be met by a teacher who leads them up to the castle to
meet the headmaster and then into the Great Hall.
THE GREAT HALL
PCs sit where they like as they have not yet been sorted into houses. GM remember to describe
the Great Hall - the roof through which the stars can be seen, the flaming torches lit with a click of
the headmaster's fingers, the raised bench where teachers are sitting...
The Headmaster gives his opening speech and then students are treated to a feast of food which
appears magically in front of them.
After the feast the messy dishes vanish just as magically.
The GM should position each player (in the right alphabetical order based on their character
names, not their real names) in a chair so they face all other players. A hat of some kind (preferably
a Halloween style witch's hat) is placed on their head. The GM should then perform the voice of the
hat, muttering in the player's ear so only they can hear. The GM should use humour and pretends to
be indecisive. The chosen house should be the same for all players, and should be either Gryffindor
or Hufflepuff, but it may be fun to hesitate and wonder aloud (as the voice of the hat) if this player
or that might do well in Slytherin.
It may be prudent at this point to mention which houses NPCs are sent to, especially the
prominent characters of Slytherin and any allies players have already made who can either go to
Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.
At this point players can mark their house on their character sheet.
This ends the character generation process.
PCs will be led to their common room by a prefect and shown the secret way inside. GM should
provide a suitably inspiring description of the cosy common room and dorms with their four poster
beds and trunks for equipment. Through the dorm window the lake, woods and distant mountains
can be seen, illuminated by a full moon.

LESSONS
Lessons begin the next day. Players and GM should arrange lesson rolls so that each player who
has taken three lesson types makes two rolls per game week and each player who has taken five
lesson types makes three rolls per game week. Players can choose which lessons they roll for on
different weeks, but once a timetable has been established it should be kept for the next four terms.
There are four weeks per month in-game, and four months per term in-game, so a maximum 32
rolls for players taking 3 lessons and a maximum 48 rolls for players who have taken 5 lessons.
Players who take 5 lessons, however, may only go to Hogsmead two weekends out of every four as
they are required to do far more homework.
After Lesson rolls have been made it is the weekend in-game and players may go to Hogsmead.

Making Lesson Rolls

The player makes a Learning roll for each lesson except Quidditch (see below). The Learning roll is
1d8+ Learning score + Character Level. If the result is the same as or greater than the target value for
the player's Level, the character learns from the roll and may increase the relevant Skill by 1 point
and add 1d6 to his House Points.
When taking Quidditch the player makes a Broomstick roll (1d8+ Broomstick score + Character
Level, aiming to roll same as or more than the target value for the player's Level). If the player fails
this roll he crashes and suffers 1d6 Health loss. If the player's Health is reduced to 10 or less he must
spend a week in the infirmary receiving magical treatment and cannot take lessons (or make lesson
rolls). If the player succeeds his Quidditch roll he then makes a Learning roll in the same way as for
any other lesson.
 After four in-game weeks (one in-game month) each player must make a Set Backs roll. This is a
Luck roll (1d8 + Luck score + Character Level, aiming to roll the same as or more than the target
value for the Character Level). If the player fails the roll he has some set backs during the month
which might be struggling with too much homework, having difficulty learning a new potion,
stumbling over a new spell etc. The player must reduce their Skill scores by 1d6 points and their
House Points by 1d20. No Skill can be reduced less than 1 and players may not reduce Skills for
which they are not taking lessons. House Points can't go into negative but can be reduced to zero.
After four in-game months (one term) all Skills increase by 1 point. PCs go home for holidays.
After four in-game terms (one year) the year at Hogwarts ends and PCs go home for holidays. At
the end of each year players level up, regardless of their House Points.

HOGSMEAD
Players can go to Hogsmead at the weekend, after they have made their lesson rolls for the week.
Hogsmead provides a place where the GM can present players with plot-hooks, overheard
conversations at the Leaky Cauldron, NPC encounters and other events. It is also a place for players
to buy new equipment. After the first year players will be able to buy potions and after the third year
will be able to drink Butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron.

HOLIDAY BREAKS
Holiday breaks are the ideal time for PCs to meet up together and go on adventures, exploring
the muggle world, visiting Knockturn Alley, travelling on the night bus and so on. It's also a good time
for the GM to drive his over-arching game story forward.
Read the books and watch the films for ideas!

ROLEPLAYING IN HOGWARTS
Don't restrict Hogwarts term time to lesson rolls and weekend visits to Hogsmead. Remember to
include things like the Room of Requirements, the paintings, ghosts (including the troublesome
poltergeist Peeves), secrey tunnels, night-time sneaking around, a suitably grumpy caretaker of the
Snitch variety, sinister goings on and adventures into unknown and hidden parts of the castle. Invent
new things to tempt your players. Give them new magical artefacts they can use and play with and
introduce villainous professors and teachers who will prove to be allies.
Player characters are not only students at Hogwarts but the heroes of your game and your story.
They should be given ample opportunity to perform heroics, putting the skills they've learned at
school into practical use against enemies, monsters and other perils. Stories and plot twists need not
be as intricate as that of the Harry Potter books, but they should be necessary to some degree in
order to add interest to the levelling system and points acquisition of the non roleplaying aspects.

SPELLS
Spells are not included in this version of this game but should instead be created by players and
GM based on the spells in the books and films. The GM should restrict the use of certain spells until
players have achieved a certain level, based on the understanding that students won't learn certain
spells until a certain point in their time at the school. Expeliarmus is a spell students should learn at
Level 1, for example, but Excruciatus should be a strictly Level 5 or 6 spell to avoid arbitrary use at an
early point in the player character's life span.
Duelling spells should be based on Speed and Wand Skills plus the wand's own Speed value.
Combatants should make both a Wand Skill and Speed Skill roll then add the two results together
and add the wand Speed. The higher result wins the duel.
 Health Damage should be based on the wand's Power stat. A successful damaging spell, for
example, will cause damage equal to Power. A spell like Expeliarmus will instead send the enemy's
wand flying a greater distance where Power is higher.
Some spells are likely to target a person, others are likely to target the enemy's wand. Spells that
attack a wand can backfire, however, if the wand has a higher Power stat.
Some spells, like the unforgivable curses, will drain a wand's Charge fully, while other less potent
spells will cost one point of Charge per spell. When Charge is fully drained, the wand will lose Power
by 1 point per spell. If the wand's Power drops to zero it cannot be used to cast magic.
Power and Charge replenish in full if the wand is not used for 24 hours.

Unforgiveable Curses
Players who use these curses will be hunted by the Ministry of Magic and incarcerated at
Azkaban though they won't be overseen by Dementors (which are no longer used there). The use of
an unforgivable curse requires at least Level 5.

Apparation
Player characters should be allowed to apparate once they achieve Level 6.

Potions
As with spells, specific potions are not listed in this version of this game and should instead be
created by the player group and GM based on the books/films or their own ideas. The effect of
potions should not be fatal, but should be useful. Potion effects will require ingredients which must
either be found, or which may be readily available using a Luck roll. The GM may insist the
ingredients are available but must be stolen from the potion master's room.

About this game (aka Please Don't Sue Us, We Mean No Harm)
Hogwarts (this game) was written in 30 minutes based on bits and bobs stolen from other game
systems written by the author. It is not supposed to be a perfect or infallible system and, if you
choose to use it to run a game, you will almost certainly need to adapt it here and there to suit your
own player group.
The game is provided as a work of fan fiction only and is not distributed for profit or for publicity.
The author's name is omitted, as is the RPG company the author works for. The system is for fun and
frolics only and designed to give youngsters who love the Harry Potter universe an outlet to explore
their favourite setting in the absence of an official Harry Potter RPG.
To reiterate, the author is in no way affiliated or associated with Warner Brothers, J K Rowling or
the Harry Potter brand name. Names of characters and places from the books and films are used
with the intention of informing the reader only as to how the game might be played, not as a
deliberate attempt to infringe on copyright or intellectual property. No claim of rights or ownership
over these names and brands is intended or insinuated.
If you redistribute this game, make sure you do so for NON PROFIT ONLY.
This game was originally uploaded and offered for free to the crowd at www.reddit.com/r/rpg
Thanks for reading!