A downloadable game


Perhaps you were born a Muggle, and the Wizarding World is new to you. Or perhaps you've always known an owl would arrive with your letter. But now, as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, you'll need all your bravery, cunning, intellect, loyalty, & magical skill.

Face the forces of darkness, uncover secrets, outwit the other houses – and maybe even attend a class or two.




Hogwarts: An RPG is a free tabletop roleplaying game for creating collaborative stories at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

Simple rules, based on the Powered by the Apocalypse system, get right to the fun of being a magical student. Cast spells & brew potions, sneak out after curfew, play Quidditch, support friends & confound rivals, and unravel mysteries in Hogwarts Castle.

Learning the rules & creating a character are quick & easy, but your story can continue for many game sessions. Everything you need is in one 16-page PDF.




In other languages:

Deutsch (translation by Neuromancer/Michael, layout by Red/Theresia)

Español (translation & layout by Lucas Navarro Muñoz & Luis Gimeno Romero)

Français (translation by BHeng, Mori Dragon, & DeReel; layout by Magimax, & Marc)

Italiana (translation & layout by Kioki)

Italiana v2 (translation & layout by Mathujoke)

Polski (translation & layout by AryaWeronika)

українська (translation by Serhii Urazmatov, Maria Slyusar, & Anastasia Ovsiy; editing by Iryna Svitla; layout by Serhii Urazmatov)

українська v2 (download below, translation & layout by  Oleksandr "Emperf" Frankovsky & Mykyta "leftaltcaps" Gumerov)

Português do Brasil (download below, translation & layout by Wesley Ramos)




Disclaimer: The transformative work featured on this page is NOT FOR SALE. Neither it nor this page is in any way authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic Press, or Warner Brothers Entertainment. All copyrights and trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.



Download

Download
Hogwarts RPG – Full Game 3 MB
Download
Hogwarts RPG – Player Kit 744 kB
Download
Hogwarts RPG – Fillable Character Sheets 3 MB
Download
Hogwarts RPG – Game Sheets (Brazilian Portuguese) 1 MB
Download
Hogwarts RPG –Full Game (Ukrainian) 2 MB

Development log

Comments

Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.

Viewing most recent comments 2 to 41 of 63 · Next page · Last page
(+1)

Hi David,
I love Hogwarts RPG and would like to write a setting for another school in the wizarding world based on it / making use of the rules. Would it be ok with you, if I adapt your rules accordingly or maybe I can even treat it as a Hogwarts RPG hack of sorts? Let me know, what you think. Thanks!

Hey there, glad you like the game! All of the original (non-Harry Potter) content in the game is released under a CC Sharealike license. That means you're free to hack, modify, or reuse the game text & rules as you'd like, as long as you provide credit and release under the same license. No permission needed

In short, go for it. Excited to see what you make!

Awesome, thanks! I'll make sure to give credit where it is due. 

(+1)

Hi David. I really like this game. I would like to translate it into Czech. It is possible to get the source files somewhere? I would really appreciate it as I am not a graphic designer.

Hi, I think it's possible to edit David's PDF files directly. With the right software. I can help you with that. I'm a bit of a graphic designer. I accidentally discovered this site a few days ago and a Czech translation would also be appreciated. 

Anyway, feel free to write me if David doesn't send you the source files. 

Jsem z Čech mimochodem. :-)

Hi, I would appreciate any help with this. Please, write to me  karel.kosnar@gmail.com thanks

Hi there! Thanks so much – it would be very cool to have a Czech translation

Please email me at david at davidbrunellbrutman.com and I'll send you the source files

what’s the best way to solo this? Any recommendation for oracles or systems?

I haven't playtested it solo myself, but I know folks have done it successfully

Hogwarts is Powered by the Apocalypse, so anything that adapts PbtA games for solo-play should work. (The game is most heavily based on Monster of the Week, Masks, and Dungeon World, so look for tools for playing those solo)

Here's one I found from a quick Reddit search that looks interesting:  https://www.reddit.com/r/PBtA/comments/ka3n1u/the_tattva_oracle_a_simple_way_to_play_pbta_solo/

Hope that helps some!

(1 edit) (+1)

Hello there!
We translated this Hogwarts RPG system into Ukrainian.
Could you also share it on the game's page? We would greatly appreciate that! 
Looking forward to your reply :) 

Hi! could u possibly send the translation to me? I really wanna play it with some friends :) snakedinara@gmail.com

Sure thing, please, enjoy the game! 
The link was sent to your email :)

Hello, can I also have one of your translations? Unfortunately it's unknown when author adds your link here. Would be great to play it with my team members on weekends)

ivan.bereziy@icloud.com

(+2)

Hi, I have this system Hogwart RPG translated into Polish, could you share it?

dałabys radę podrzucić tłumaczenie na maila? sarsanteris@gmail.com będę bardzo wdzięczny

Poszło

też mógłbym się uśmiechnąć akurat dziś mam sesje z córką :)

braxios@wp.pl

Poszło też

(+1)

Mam Piękne dzięki:D

Deleted 226 days ago
(1 edit)

Hej! Chętnie bym pograł z Twoją wersją, można prosić o wysłanie :)

Hej. Jest to na moim profilu tutaj, ale bez problemu tez podeślę

Dziękuję, doszło!

Też mógłbym prosić o to tłumaczenie? 

Jeśli to niebyłby problem to tu jest mój mail: fionkalittle@gmail.com 

pewnie, poszło

Super

Bardzo dziękuję

Mogę poprosić na maila?

mikaruk@gmail.com

Tak, poszło

(+1)

Thanks for working on that! Please send me the doc or a link at david@davidbrunellbrutman.com and I'll add it to the game page

Sent it! Thanks for the answer.

Deleted 225 days ago
Deleted 225 days ago
(1 edit)

 Are you going to add things published or released in recent times, such as Hogwarts Legacy, in future updates of the role-playing game? The concept of Ancient magic, for example, I think is very interesting for a role-playing game.

(+3)

I don't have any plans to update the game with material outside the original books & films, but the game is flexible enough for anyone to create their own add-ons!

The next (and likely final) addition to Hogwarts will be the Monster of the Week hack, to allow for games set outside the school with characters who aren't students

(+1)

 I hope the option to play in the wizarding world will be available soon, especially after watching the Fantastic Beasts movies. It would be an interesting option for players to continue their adventures after finishing school or fight as adults against the wizards of Grindelwald or Voldemort.

That’s exactly the idea, yes!

(+1)(-1)

A good adaptation of the Wizarding World into a PbtA game.

(+1)(-1)

I just downloaded this and gave it a read through, and felt that maybe there should be some tangible bonus (Like advantages/disadvantages from other systems) for having low/high Traits. This would explain how one could play a character like Hermione Granger who could cast Reparo (A 2nd year spell in this system) on the train before she took any classes.

IE: For each + in the Magic Trait you can learn/cast spells of a higher year then your current. Or something like that. Or for Intellect get a +1 on rolls on your "Topic of Expertise", gain 1 topic of expertise for each positive number in the Intellect Trait.

Just a thought, other then that amazing work. Thank you so much. I'll be hopefully playtesting this system with some friends from a Play-by-Post HP Universe RPG I play in.

Thanks! Glad you liked the game

The main bonus of a higher trait is being better at associated moves. Things are deliberately minimal/abstract to not overload players. (So, for example, Hermione casting a higher year spell would fall under the more abstracted Luck mechanic)

Of course, you're more than welcome to hack the game & add more complex mechanics. I'd love to hear how it goes! My only recommendation is to see how it plays as-written, so you can get a sense of what actually works & doesn't work for your group

That sounds like a good plan Sir, and was what I was already planning to do. I just know my players, and we are kinda fond of more complex systems but also Love the Harry Potter Universe. Which is why this change came to mind. But I understand the minimalist approach. Thanks for all your hard work on this and your other RPGs.

(+2)(-1)

I'm sorry I discovered too late here on itch.io there was already an Italian version of this great work! My bad Kioki! And thanks David &Co!

I've done an alternative low-profile Italian version, you can find here:

https://mathujoke.itch.io/hogwarts-gdr

Very cool! I'll add it above as well

(2 edits) (+2)

Hey,


we have made a full-on german translation with the layout beeing done by us! 😊

https://pen-and-paper.info/systeme/hogwarts-rpg/

Translation has been done by me Neuromancer | Michael & Layout by Red | Theresia.


Also we've done a podcast episode on that matter at our "Quickstart" format: 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6DUDIMMRXphUs6yROghWQs?si=R-sxvmmzQ2e03jQJbLWQm...

Also we had a live actual play campaign with the system too:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8KE53eqC0Kqhh9bHoeTIt2jlTSkqu-4G

Would be awesome and glad if you would add us to the translationslist. 😊

Thank you for doing such a great work with the Hogwarts RPG!

Best o' wishes,

Neuromancer & the pnp.info-Team 👋

(+1)

Fantastic! Thanks so much for working on this. Awesome that you did the podcast & actual-play, too! I'll add a link

(+1)

Hi there! I can’t seem to to find the narrator sheet.

(+1)

Hi George – the Narrator Reference and Notes sheets are pages 7-8 in the full game PDF

(+1)

Hi there, may I please translate this into German? I have already started to do so for my players and am roughly halfway through, but I thought it might be of interest for others as well.

(+1)

Hi! Yes, you're more than welcome to translate, no permission needed. However, note that there are a few German translations in progress – you may want to wait on those to finish before starting your own

Thanks a lot! Oh what a pity, I have already translated 9 out of 16 pages - do you know who's translating it currently? Maybe we could team up.

(4 edits)

Hi, ich spreche jetzt stellvertretend für die zwei anderen aus dem Team der 3W6 Podcast Community.

Wir sind mit der Übersetzung (inkl. Lektorat) fertig, der gesamte Text ist genderneutral (die Gründe sind offensichtlich), wir haben die Regeln an ein-zwei Stellen verständlicher formuliert, haben einen Beitrag zu Safety Tools (direkt zur Nutzung am Tisch oder Online) verfasst und einen Charakter Keeper, es fehlt nur noch das Layout.

Hi unique_uu

Danke für deine Antwort! Es freut mich sehr, dass ihr die Übersetzung bereits abgeschlossen habt - gibt es das Rollenspiel schon irgendwo als Fliesstext zum Download? Leider kenne ich mich mit Layouts nur mässig aus, weswegen ich euch dort wohl nicht unterstützen kann, tut mir leid.


Nochmals, vielen herzlichen Dank!

Hi, ich klinke mich hier mal mit dem Angebot ein, das Layout zu übernehmen, falls ihr noch niemanden dafür habt. Kontaktiert mich einfach, wenn ihr Unterstützung gebrauchen könnt :)

There's also an already existing translation on pen-and-paper.info/systeme/hogwarts-rpg (kind of a second iteration by now, if I"m not mistaken)

(+2)

Hi! I love this game so much! Could I translate it into Polish? (And maybe also include some scenarios that I wrote for one-shots?) I already translated some things for my players, to make playing easier for them. 

Thanks! Go for it, and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or need any resources

(+2)

Thank you! <3

(+1)

Cześć, czy zrobiłeś już tłumaczenie ? chciałbym skorzystać z córką :D 

Wystarczy mi karta postaci cała :D z systemem sobie poradzę :D 

Też jestem ciekaw czy udało się skończyć tłumaczenie. Szukam settingu dla grupy 9-11 latków i polecono mi właśnie Hogwart. Daj znać tutaj albo na maila :)

Pozdrawiam

Hej :) Mam już tłumaczenia karty postaci -- kompletuje teraz zaklęcia i resztę tekstu. Myślę jeszcze nad tym jaki layout pdfu zrobić, żeby to wszystko wyglądało ładnie i zgrabnie :D Myślę, że można spodziewać się tłumaczenia i karty postaci do wypełnienia w PDF w połowie marca <3 

Hej, jak tam sytuacja z polski tłumaczeniem? Bo widzę, ze to wiadomość sprzed 100 dni:)

Pozdrawiam.

Stavo curiosando riguardo qualche gdr di harry potter, solo per sapere se ne esistesse uno, poi ho trovato voi.

Avete fatto qualcosa di davvero troppo bello e molto professionale a livello grafico, parlo per la traduzione in Italiano, bellissimo, spero di giocarlo presto.

Se avete un lino dove poter supportare vi chiedo di scrivermelo perché sarei contento di farlo.

Grazie ancora

(+1)

This is just the PbtA game I was looking for to introduce my daughter and her friends to TTRPGs. Thanks for making it. Totally free? Do you have a BuyMeACoffee account? I'm happy to support.

(+1)

Not only totally free, but deliberately impossible to pay for! I hope your daughter & her friends have a wonderful time :)

(+1)

They loved it! cheers!

(1 edit) (+1)

Hi David,

I'm glad to announce you that we have a french version of your game !

Here's a link to the itch page, I hope you like it and that it's okay for you to publish it: https://mori-drak.itch.io/hogwarts-le-jdr

The pdfs are quite "heavy" because it is the high quality export. But we will be able to publish light versions soon, probably after the holidays. :)

Thank you so much for your trust.

Thank you Mori! You and the rest of the French translation team did a fantastic job on this and the final version looks lovely. I've added a link to the game info above

(+1)

Thank you David, we're glad you like it! :)

everyone is super excited to be able to play it as soon as possible!

I'll probably try and play an online session very soon on Discord.^_^

(+2)

You can easily recognise this a very good game just looking at the influences. We just finished playing our first session.

This is a crazy good game for both fans and non fans. Very well designed, the game flows like only good PbtA games do.

Thanks a lot for bringing this to the ttrpg community :)

Kind regards

Edoardo

Thanks so much for the kind words! I couldn't have done it without looking at a lot of other, excellent games. Glad to hear your 1st session went so well :)

How to deal with players tending to fix any curse/spell effect with Finite Intantatem counterspell?

(+1)

Either make them roll for it, or explain why it wouldn't work at all

The general rule is roll when the outcome is in doubt. This means players don't need to roll when there's no chance a spell would fail, but it also means they can't roll if there's no chance it would succeed. No regular student is fast or powerful enough to cast a counterspell against Voldemort, for example. There's simply no scenario where that could succeed

If you can't think of any reason the spell would fail (which would trigger a roll) or simply not work, you should let the players cast it successfully

Other things to think about: What are the results of using the counterspell? What new problems does it create? What new mysteries does it uncover? How does it spark the next step in the adventure? And, when saying something won't work & players can't roll for it, always make sure you offer an alternative. Players can't counterspell Voldemort, but maybe they could evade or trick him instead

(+1)

Thank you! What confuses me is that the Spells & Conditions block says:

A healing spell can clear the Injured, Hexed, or Unconscious Conditions, if the spell’s effect would heal the cause of the Condition.

Does that mean, that you don't need to pick or buy for xp points any healing spell, since even if you do, it has requirements to work, while 1st year Finite spell can fix any of the 7 years spells without these requirements?

Hm. I'm not sure I understand your question – Finite Incantatem is a Defence spell, not a Healing spell. And Healing spells are not required to clear Conditions, they just have the ability to do so, if successfully cast

Finite Incantatem would only be able to clear a Condition caused by another spell, while Healing spells can clear Conditions caused in other ways (cuts, broken bones, etc)

Does that help at all?

(+1)

I take your answers as ruling to refer to, so it definitely helps. 

The problem with the spell, I think, is the tendency to use it as "Dispel Magic", to end any spells' effect at any time : )

(+1)

I would follow how its depicted in the books & movies – sometimes the spell you're trying to end is too powerful, sometimes the caster isn't skilled enough, sometimes a more specific counter-spell is called for: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/General_Counter-Spell

(+1)

My two sons and their friend (and his dad) are really enjoying playing this game! Thank you so much for it. 

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I’m curious about the tool you used for laying it out. Would you recommend Affinity Publisher for a zine or a PbtA hack like this?

I laid this out in Illustrator, which I absolutely do not recommend. I've switched to InDesign for subsequent games. I haven't used Affinity, so I can't speak to that as a layout tool, but I believe it's somewhat similar to InDesign

Glad you and your sons are enjoying the game!

(+1)

Thank you!
And we’re enjoying it immensely. Thanks again for all the hard work. :)

Hi! I have a question about Conditions: a few times across the rules, there's mentions of Comforting or Supporting to remove Conditions. I thought it would be a move (like in Masks: A New Generation), but there's no mention of it like that. Should it just be like, comforting or supporting in fiction?

(+1)

Technically comforting & supporting is a move, yes. However, I opted not to list it with the other moves because you never roll for it. (Unlike the Masks version, there’s no uncertainty about the outcome.)

So “comforting & supporting someone” is the fictional trigger, and the outcome is always that they clear a Condition.

(+1)

Thank you so much for your answer! Makes a lot of sense.

Hi I'm new to PBTA and this game, could you help me, please?
How I make damage if some monster, or thug attack player characters, or how I should resolve if player character wish to attack some best? knife or other weapon damage, and so on?

Hi there! This game doesn’t have damage, as fights aren’t the focus of gameplay.

If a monster attacks the characters, they’ll most likely make the move Stand in the Face of Danger. If they attack a monster, they’ll probably do it with magic rather than a knife, so they’ll roll the move Cast a Spell.

If the roll goes poorly for the character, they’ll take a Condition (like becoming Scared or Injured) or other Serious Consequence. If it goes well, the GM determines if the monster is hurt, scared off, affected by a spell, calls for help, or comes around for another attack.

Think about what would happen in the situation, not about damage or hit points.

I would like to test this game with my daughter and her friends. It will be their first time with RPGs, and a girls-only party!

However, they are HP experts, while I only watched the movies. I do not have the time or knowledge to create a scenario. It would be low-quality and a delusion for them. Is there any ready-made adventure available, in any language?

(+1)

I know this isn't what you asked: but I hope this helps. I ran this with 4 Potter experts, I am not. Here's what I did. 

The beauty of PbtA games is the agency it gives the players. Before you start, ask each one of them what three things they'd like to see in the game from the HP world. Start on the train to school and just have them encounter one of those things. They will take the story from there. You'll be there to pepper in the other wishes & help guide their mess of ideas. :)

Yes, this is not what I asked, but thank you anyway. Your suggestion is brilliant because the girls are Potter experts, but RPG newbies. If any of them finds this 'trick' a little bit obvious, I will explain that this is thought as an introduction for them. Just play along with it. 
Besides, if you can share your adventure, in any format and level of detail, that will help me.  :-)

(+1)

I wish I could. I started on the train, as one player wanted to do. I asked one of them something along the lines of "as you walk to the back of the train which teacher do you go out of the way to avoid, and why?' this had that player talk about their potions professor whose class they failed. they hide from them, no big deal. 

I introduced some house-elves acting sneaky and up to something. they were working for, yup, that potions professor from earlier. 

none of it was planned and I've forgotten most of it.

Maybe dig around for some Potter fan-fiction?

(+1)

Yes, I will. I understand that this type of RPGs does not rely on old-school pre-made scenarios. I need ideas to set the session up in my mind, and you have provided one. Thank you!

(1 edit)

Hi there! As others have mentioned, PbtA games give players a lot of agency to co-create the scenario with the GM. Note the game instructions about asking the players when you don't know something. The GM is not the ultimate font of all knowledge in this style of game.

My favorite trick is to start the game by asking each player about one rumor they've heard at Hogwarts this year. Then, use one or more of the rumors to introduce your initial unexpected event. As the players investigate what's going on, they'll start seeing mysteries to solve. And as you introduce more events based on their rumors, you'll all start to see interesting connections between them – that's the scenario.

If you're still stumped, email me at david@davidbrunellbrutman.com. I don't have any public-facing pre-written scenarios, but I can share my personal notes for the scenarios I run at conventions.

Thank you David. I really appreciate the level of collaborative support that I am receiving on this page. I plan to hold the session in October, as a present for my daughter's birthday. My birthday gift wil be her first RPG experience, with her best friends, in their beloved HP world. That's my plan. 

I was an avid RPG player and master, back in old-school times. So my GM skills are rock solid - if we play the old school! But I realize that I must introduce them to RPGs in the way that they are played today. So I must re-start from scratch, and learn such a different gameplay (PBTA). Hope I find time in the coming weeks. I appreciate your availability and will contact you if needed. 

Even if I don't contact you, I will take the time to 'report' about the session, if I manage to do it.  :-)

Sounds great! I hope the girls have a fun time, and I’d love to hear how it goes :)

If you’re looking for more guidance on GMing this style of game, I’d also recommend reading the DM guidance in Dungeon World.  It helped me a lot in moving from D&D to PbtA games.

(1 edit) (+1)

I will take a look, thank you! In the last weeks I've listened to GM podcasts and to some recorded live sessions. I've cleared my mind up a lot. Mastering PBTA games looks easier than I thought. So, now I have a second reason to organize the Hogwarts RPG session: as a birthday present for my daughter, and to satisfy my curiosity about mastering a PBTA.  :-)

Hey david do you maybe have a site or links to possible sites that may have your or fan made premade maps, character concept art and wands? Due to me living by myself and I have been wanting to solo play this and or if possible write a cyoa interactive fanfic on my phone using this as a guide (cuz I don't have a pc atm lol ) 

I haven't made any Hogwarts maps or character art, but the Italian translation of the game has a bunch of extra art, including maps & wands. Hope that helps!

(1 edit) (+1)

Hello,

ran few mini campaigns of Hogwarts RPG and had a blast. And here with a couple of new questions, to make it even better : )

1. If a player chooses another player's character as a friend, does that mean another player can only choose him as a friend as well? (Same with rivals)
2. Do you have any tips on how the game works best: is it better to always keep the players as one group? Because when I let them do their own stuff separately, which is common for most PbtA games, it doesn't work well : /
3. As mentioned by the author, the game is meant to be played for students only. But why the "Create Your Wizard" step 1 says "Your witch/wizard may be a 1st-7th Year student, or a graduate like a teacher or staff member."?

Thank  you!

Hey Marrsho! Glad the mini-campaigns went well. Answers:

  1. Nope, friends & rivals are asymmetrical – you might consider someone a friend or a rival who doesn't feel strongly about you at all. When a player chooses another player's character as a friend, only the player doing the choosing writes down a name.
  2. As the Narrator, you have 2 General Moves covering "splitting the party" – Split Them Up & Put Them Together. When characters are together, think about ways you could split them apart for drama & to spotlight players. When they're apart, think of ways to bring them back to the same place or get them to join forces. If you're having difficulty, I'd keep them together by giving them a shared goal, or at least asking where they're planning to meet up after completing separate tasks. If you're really struggling to motivate them, remind them that mechanics like getting help (+1 to rolls) or clearing Conditions rely on being with other characters.
  3. Good point! The game is heavily geared towards playing as a student. I should probably remove that phrase.

Hope that helps!

(+1)

Thank you so much! Now can't wait to test that all : ))

Hey Marrsho, do you have your mini-campaigns written down, in any format and level of detail? If yes, I would love to read them. Looking to set up a test session with my daughter and her friends.

(+1)

Hey frain! No, I don't, for that's the specifics of that kind of system – the adventure is created collaboratively in the process. You all are authors, unlike "classic" games, like D&D, where you have the pre-written scenario and basically you are the only narrator. You just have to try it once and trust your players, in fact, RPG newbies play that kinds of systems the best because they don't have thinking cliches from other RPGs, and just let their imagination out :) But you have to know the basics of HP Universe (movies are enough in fact) and if you need ideas about villains and their plots, you can read https://harrypotter.fandom.com/ 

Also, listen to the podcast above, the last 30 minutes or so is the mini actual play from David. It really helped me. 

Here's a 4 session long actual play aswell. Wish you the great game! I'm sure you will have a lot of fun! :)

Thank you for the explanation and resources! Knowing that movies are enough to master this game, from someone who already mastered campaigns, is reassuring. I understand that I must spend some more time reading & watching  about the HP world, before the first session. It will be a pleasure to do and increase the probabilities of a successful test session.

(+1)

Hello. I wanted to say thank you for creating such a lovely and marvelous game that brought the world of Hogwarts to life. I tested the game with some friends today as a pre birthday celebration for my 30th and it was a fun journey. I tweaked the mystery and luck function thinking my friends would only do the oneshot and turns out they want play again. But I would like to really complement you to how easy and how the system flowed as you got into it. I loved the serious conditions and how I was able to create the magnificent world of Bogwarts Hogwarts in the 1920s.  So thank you and I loved every second of this game.

You're welcome! Glad you had a good time playing the game and happy birthday!

(+1)

Hi there :D

I'm about to start playing with a group of friends and I was wondering if you have a suggestion on how to handle a quidditch game. Should it have a set number of rounds in order to give the team that didn't got the golden snitch a chance to win? 

For example: if a match lasts twenty rounds and Gryffindor manages to score 16 goals for 160 points and Hufflepuff scores 0 goals but catches the golden snitch, Gryffindor still wins. 

Is a set number of rounds the way to go or should it just be whoever catches the golden snitch first?

I haven't been a GM before, so I'm not really sure if I should worry about details like this. I guess you play a couple of rounds, you introduce the golden snitch and whoever catches it first, that's it? 

What do you think? 


PS I'm very excited to play this. We're currently playing a much more complicated system and it's kind of awesome to have a chance to play a simpler one, especially one set in this world. Thank you for that. I must also note that I really appreciate the beautifully designed PDFs. Have a great day! 

(+1)

Thanks! My goal is to make game systems that are simpler to use and make people's ttrpg experiences more fun.

As to your questions: The Quidditch rules are about narrating an exciting game of Quidditch at the table, not about playing a fair match between teams. (The game as written in the books is inherently nonsensical & unfair, right? A goal scores 10 points but the team that catches the one ball at the end gets 150 points? Ridiculous!) So keep that in mind.

Having a set number of rounds before you announce the Snitch is what I usually do. I'd suggest 2-3 rounds (where every player at the table has gotten a chance to roll during the match). But pay attention to your players! If they're having a blast describing all the cool plays & broom tricks they're doing, go for more rounds. If they're struggling to come up with new ways to describe getting the ball into the goal, introduce the Snitch earlier so you can move on to a more engaging part of the game.

Also note: Getting the Snitch requires a 10+, so it's statistically less likely to happen on the 1st try, which gives the opposing team a chance to steal. And the rules are written to allow player characters to be on opposing teams, for a player character team & a narrator-controlled team to face off, or even for all player characters to be observers who aren't on either participating team.

Hope that helps!

(4 edits)

Hello again! Maybe it's my English level's fault, but can you please clarify,

1. What's the difference between two 10+ options of Face Danger:
"You stand firm and nobody gets hurt.
You aren’t hurt, and you hurt the threat right back." 
What's the point of choosing the first one, it seems that it just doesn't change the situation at all.
2. "Learning spells" says they can be learned from a book and you don't even need a roll for it. Does it mean, a student can just have the textbook with him all the time and learn whatever spell he needs? What's the point of gaining experience and spending it to learn a new spell? Or spending luck point to try to cast it?
3. Help or Hinder Someone – "Offer them 1 Experience to stop what they're doing." That sounds like the option for players. How to narrate that as the option for characters?

Thank you in advance!

Good questions!

  1. Stand in the face of danger is about choosing whether to attack or defend against a threat. So if you pick the 1st 10+ option ("Stand firm and nobody gets hurt"), you can defend yourself and others, but you won't necessarily lash out against the threat. This is useful if you want to take a nonviolent course of action, or if you need to protect someone else. If you choose the 2nd 10+ option ("You aren't hurt, and you hurt the threat right back"), you're deciding to respond to a threat with aggression, and you may not be able to protect others (even if you're okay).
  2. Learning a spell is supposed to be fairly easy, but it still requires a character to find the information in-game. You need to locate the correct book, seek out an instructor, etc. The advancement option handwaves this process and allows you to know the spell immediately. The luck point option allows you to, in an emergency, attempt a spell you haven't learned at all. Of course, if you want to play a character who hauls around forty textbooks around at all times and stops the action to spend 15-30 minutes reading a book to learn a new spell, there's nothing in the game rules that says you can't.
  3. Yes, "Offer them 1 Experience to stop what they're doing" is just between player characters. So it's a negotiation between players, and they're free to work out what that looks like narratively between themselves.

Hope that helps!

(+1)

Great! I'm still thinking about the role of the Face Danger in combat, but I think I just need to research and practice combat in PbtA more, since Hogwarts is my first PbtA game to run. Your answers always improve my games a lot, thank you so much! : )

Happy to help! Hogwarts isn't a fighting game (though obviously fights will occur, just like in the books & movies). If you're interested in how PbtA deals with fights, I'd recommend looking at Dungeon World or Monster of the Week

(+1)

Thank you very much. I'm pretty successful with my research, and definitely will check out these two. For now I understand, that I need to get rid of that "action economy" thinking and take turns as a spotlight. 

I wish there was a Hogwarts map suitable for tabletop gaming.

(1 edit)

The Italian translation of the game includes a map on page 20, if that helps:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XKl6onM0J4Hp_tK1_lXE26PHtThbk6e0/view?usp=shari...

(1 edit)

Amazing, i was looking for that very map really hard, thanks!

Has anyone put the character sheets up on Roll20?

I don't think there's anything on the marketplace, but a player was kind enough to put together this DYI guide for creating your own Hogwarts Roll20 character sheets: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IWsppK9_BP12qZP0pcDB_5VxKOy2siYx/view?usp=shari...

Hi David,

We are working on the french translation of Hogwarts RPG, and I have some questions about some parts of the rules. So I sent you an email if you don't mind. Thanks in advance for your help !

And thank you for creating this amazing game !

Would be cool if someone did a virtual tabletop for mobile android with this game for offline 1 player that be epic if there is something like that can someone let me know as well as send a link to it to download thank

(1 edit)

Maybe that Google Sheets version will help. Just copy it into your GDrive to edit.

Hogwarts RPG Charcter sheet:
 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DnzVkHTl2zcYwfzOXK2GvQhTN2m4gBZu

Dice Roller (you can copypaste it into your charsheet):
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CYAKe2ezNj56KQoBpntR0rwvvWiQ7v3iZ8Bu-_x9...

(+1)

Hello, this game looks great! 
Unfortunately, this game is not very well-known in Russia. But many Russian players love the world of Harry Potter.
     Therefore, I ask for permission to execute and publish on Russian tabletop games forum a free fan localization of  "Hogwarts RPG – Full Game", "Hogwarts RPG – Player Kit", "Hogwarts RPG – Fillable Character Sheets".

This is a completely non-commercial project aimed to show as many players in Russia as possible advantages of this game.

     Hope you will grant your permission

Best regards,

Alexander Mikhailov

(+1)

Hey there, just in case – there is a Russian fanmade translation already. A couple of mistakes here and there, but it's complete. https://vk.com/wall-176339701_69

Hi Alexander! Thanks for your interest. This game is released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA License, so you're welcome to create any derivative projects you'd like (translations, hacks, etc), no permission necessary. The only requirements are attribution and that your project also be 100% non-commercial.

Looks like there's already a Russian translation (thanks, Marrsho!) but you're free to create your own!

(+1)

Hello, There is a discussion on the french discord CestpasduJdR about translating the game in french. It's still a dream, but so you know : it's in the air.

Hey ! Yep, and it's no longer a dream, now it's reality. :)

hi, would this be suitable for solo play? Or does it really need to have a group to play? Thanks!

Hm, I've never playtested it as a solo game (and to be honest I don't know enough about solo-play RPG design to say whether it would work or not, or if it needs additional rules & systems). But you're certainly welcome to attempt it, or attempt to modify it! I imagine best practices for Powered by the Apocalypse solo play will apply (whatever those may be). I know for sure you can successfully play this game with two players – 1 Narrator (GM) & 1 Student (PC). Hope that helps!

(+1)

thanks David - appreciate the quick response! Will have a look and let you know 

So far, I love the look and feel of the character set up ❤️

(1 edit) (+1)

Hi, Just found this about 20 mins ago and have 3, maybe 4 if they can make it, people up for running this with myself as the narrator. I think its fantastic! Its incredibly easy to pick up (my group was incredibly thankful for that as they already have about 4 game systems memorized).

Hello and thank you for such a nice and pretty game. Can you tell me please what happens, when a character takes four Experience during the game, does he has to stop adding it after each failed roll since he can only advance at the end of a session? 

Hi there & thanks! Advances can be taken at any time during play, as soon as a player fills their 4th Experience slot. No need to wait for the end of the session to clear Experience, take an advance, and start marking Experience again.

(1 edit) (+1)

Thank you! That makes things much appealing :D 

How do I add it to roll20? I can't manage to add the character sheet to the game. Can someone help me?

Try using https://miro.com/ You can drag and drop any materials and customize them there live.

I don't think it'll work. Just tried and I couldn't edit the sheet.. There must be a way to add the character sheet to roll20

Miro allows you to draw on the sheet, just like in real life (see video on editing hogwarts sheet here: https://imgur.com/sjqZVxL)

PbtA games don't require complicated automatization, since the character sheet editing is literally about marking and underlining a few dots and words :) For a character sheet to be available in Roll20 it needs to be created and exported there, since it's not available in options (you can check it by "create a game" and "choose character sheet" options in roll20) it's not been exported there. And, frankly, one does not need it :) 

So, I searched for another table for my RPG and discovered a Brazillian table called Firecast, you can use any sheet and it is very complete

Thanks

Deleted 2 years ago

Any chance to have fillable italian sheet too? goodjob anyway, this game is amazing! the only thing I've noticed is that it's pretty hard to leave the scene or die

(+1)

Hey there! Stellar game! I was curious, but is there perhaps a physical version that has ever been made? If so, I'd be overjoyed to buy it

Glad you like the game! This is a free fan project, so it only exists as a PDF download. The game will never be available for sale (digital, physical, or otherwise). But thanks for your interest & enthusiasm!

Viewing most recent comments 2 to 41 of 63 · Next page · Last page