I’ve always thought the school aspect of Hogwarts was WAY more interesting than the child endangerment aspects lol. I think teaching many of those spells to the players via class would be really fun.
Mage explains magic and handles almost everything you can think of. I play years and years of it and there are many things that you could never do in dnd or even imagine, that you can do
Did you play oWoD mage or nWoD mage? Because one of my friends did a nWoD mage setting, and in my opinion it was terrible. I personally only play oWoD vampire games so far, but no experience with mage in that setting.
@@Emperor_Atlantis I respect that opinion I started with nwod and when I saw mage I was like this is just bad than I saw owod mage and was way more into it. I defiantly prefer nwod flexibility with vampire for the GM.
I think that with the Wizarding World, it would be important to not put magic all into a 'magic' or 'intelligence' skill. Magic is very nuanced and all over the place in the wizarding world, so I think it would be better to break it down. Have a Charms skill, for example, so that in a situation, a character would roll when either trying to perform or confront a charm. Because maybe wizard can ride a broomstick like the wind and mix the best potions this side of the Atlantic, but they can't Alohomora a door to save their life. Other skills could be transfiguration, dark magic, herbalism and so forth. Just break it down into the component. That could be a good foundation.
That makes sense, you treat schools of magic and such a lot like disciplines in vtm. Having a lot of skill at one thing doesn't mean you're great at everything. Maybe also Throw in a willpower for spell strength, dex for dodge and con for taking hits and you have a working baseline
i actually did this in my own Harry Potter TTRPG that i'm making, with three stats (Subject scores) being used for spells (Charms, Dark Arts, and Transfiguration) and making it so that if a spell is tagged with multiple Subject scores (i.e. Dark Arts and Transfiguration), the player goes with the highest of them.
My little brother hustled my halloween candy with the Quidditch video game. He mastered the initial boost given to the underdog with low performance bar. When he confessed, he then played for real and kicked my trash. Cherished memory. That game rules.
Put the magic in a success system. You can cast anything but there’s a larger chance if it’s a difficult spell or potion and you’re not knowledgeable about it you’re gonna fail and it’s gonna blow up in your face.
Exactly my thoughts, and also add a book spell with all the spell of the franchise, you can use those or come with you own, making the manual, flavor an a reference for the difficulty of the spells.
And instead of having regular stats, use proficiency with the different magical subjects as stats. Someone might be better at options while another character is better at transfiguration. Make different spells harder or easier to succeed at (this is after all supported by the books) and basically take spell difficulty (including situational modifyers) - subject skill = number to beat with your dice. What dice rolling system is a different issue. I prefer getting a number of successes/hits, but some people prefer a d20 or percentile system.
I think a system based on emotion and personality type and grinding to learn the spell might be a solution. So for example since the cruciatus curse requires a desire to inflict pain maybe what determines if a character can do it are 'cruelty' or 'viciousness' stats and their personal relation ship with the target are modifier, and some spells might have a complicated incantation so require a high intelligence stat. There should also be a mechanic where successfully casting the spell makes it easier to cast it in the future and after a certain number of successful casts you get it for free, with such a mechanic you could get different starting classes.
Maybe you could have different kinds of intelligence. Intelligence (Hermione) Strategy (Ron) Wisdom (Professor Lupin with the patronus) Heart (Harry being able to fight Voldy with expelliarmus) You would pretty much end up with the wizard, wizard. The rogue, wizard. The druid/cleric, wizard. The fighter, wizard. And you could even put these different stats and align them with talent at a type of spell. For example, wisdom with charms because the Patronus is a charm. Intelligence with potions and detailed spellcraft like knowing advanced wand movements, or even encantations. I am not exactly sure, but you could probably make this work.
Idk the kids on brooms system works really really good for this kind of game play. Yes you can cast any spell but the dm gets to choose the difficulty level for it. So some things can just be impossibly hard
Bro, I just found a dope rule set for basically D&D 5e but Harry Potter called Wands and Wizards. Basically everyone is a Sorcerer, your sorcerers origin is custom to the rules and your subclass is the school of magic you learn. Even backgrounds are taken care of by selecting your wand (genius btw)… it worked really well.
Thats what I'm running in a few days. I'm making it simple one where all PC's are adults getting hired at hogwarts and each year have to uncover a weird situation along with other side quests and combat quests for earning money and items. I'm hoping it runs well imnhoping to make it a balanced combat/roleplay/exploration & puzzles campaign.
I saw a group do a Dnd/Type Moon Homebrew. I didn't get too far into it (I was watching a few other TTRPG series and got severe burnout) but it seemed interesting. The series was called Fate/Solar Shadow by Let Them Play Games- Nat 19. Despite the name a Holy Grail War doesn't start until a decent way into the series. Until then it's Type Moon.
Adding to Dice's comment Logan (the DM of the Type Moon Homebrew) released a Holy Grail War Handbook (name is changed to avoid copyright). www.drivethrurpg.com/product/320694/Nat19s-Trial-of-Heroes-Handbook-5th-Edition?manufacturers_id=16531 If you want to the show, there is an recap of the season 1 that you can watch and know all context to jump straight into the Holy Grail War.
Oh that would be rad. Like, imagine playing as a member of the Mage’s Association, having to deal supernatural threats or navigating the political viper’s nest of the Clock Tower. Maybe even get involved in a Holy Grail War.
I really enjoyed Misfits and Magic on Dimension 20. Granted, in terms of lore it's literally a satire of Harry Potter's worldbuilding and how it makes no sense on a logistical or political level, And in terms of systems it takes the kids on bikes system, which doesn't use spells or skills. It uses things like 'Fight', 'Flight', 'Grit' and 'Charm' , which you can do with or without magic. This allows character diversity to shine through as dispositions that inform the character as much as their power. Yeah everyone can cast a teleportation spell but your flight die will determine how accurate or powerful you are with it. It's not entirely lore-friendly of course, but I really like the miniseries. The cast is very good and so is the GM.
Hey! So you might have learned by now that Kids on Brooms is actually an official thing. Like kids on bikes it encourages world building up front, so it's just a D20 special that they made a parody of Hogwarts. The magic system in it is pretty good and taps into that "every one around here is magic" thing. Basiclly you get a magic stat bonus based on the classes you take and the wand you have. Then when we you roll for a spell you roll a D4. The more you go to class (which happens off screen) the more you level up your spells and can do more difficult magic.
The funny thing about the Harry Potter Universe is the actual going to school part is probably the hardest place in the universe to create an adventure in lol
Probably the ideal for a Harry Potter/Wizarding World ttrpg would: A. Have a loose magic system where there is no set spell list, only restrictions (namely the effects of the big 3 (no puppeteering another living thing, no (direct) torture, no (direct) killing) along with things deemed too impossible or improbable (can't bring Dumbledore and Harry's parents back to life)). Probably using the GM as a way to judge how difficult the spell is likely to be ("You want to teleport the tank and it's occupants to the middle of the Pacific Ocean...I'll allow it, but we are talking a Near-Impossible Charms test! Are you sure?") B. Probably be focused on the World beyond the Schools (likely only having a somewhat flexible "student" class for people really wanting to relive the joy of having to do 10 hours of homework in the 5 hours you have between the last class and bedtime...), Probably playing like a less-lethal Call of Cthulhu...and Probably replacing the Sanity mechanic with a muggle notoriety system (if you draw too much attention to the fact you can cast magic, the ministry WILL come for you!) C. Have classes (if there are classes) focus on what you do non-magically or semi-magically (and Auror (Wizard police or detectives) will find it easier to investigate a crime scene or brew potions than a Ministry Bureaucrat, who will be better at finding important documents and organization than the Auror)
The real problem is working the Harry Potter lore into a rule set. PCs playing as muggles in opposition to wizards, or squibs could be very usable. Otherwise just play world of mist.
I think it can easily be a rule-set, if you ground categories of magic into player attributes and use the lore itself to inform dice-roll success I mean, just base it on the characters. Hermione clearly lacks the attribute that would make quidditch a viability. Neville's skill set effectively excludes everything but herbology. There is definitely a degree of skill, intellect, training, etc in the HP world that could develop a skill set. The memers just think a TTRPG would devolve into spamming avada kadavra for no reason lmao
how to make a FUN Harry Potter Homebrew from every system in 3 easy steps 1. add to every backstory the sentence "issa wizzard" 2. your PC knows a spell thats called "Solve Problem". use it to solve a problem instantly. no cost. 3. your PC knows a second spell thats called "Go Place". use it to instantly visit a place. no cost.
YES! Quidditch World Cup was the best! Unlocking the special for Bulgaria was super difficult though, at least for 10 year old me, maybe it's actually super easy if I'd try it again. Also the fact that the game started with the most epic song ever composed helped: Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem (took me years to figure out that that was the song).
I think a modular magic system would be best. Each modular segment of a spell has certain requirements and effects on the spell, and certain modular segments are incompatible with each other. Modifiers like elements, fire spread, effect area, etc. You could make the spells in the universe that have names with the modular system, and have those as premade spells you can choose from. Spells that have incredibly high damage like the instant-death spell, or other massive effects could have very high costs to make and cast.
Well, iirc, adter a student takes their OWLs on the fifth year, they can more or less select their classes to focus on some areas (and in Prisioner of Azkaban Hermione has elective classes that Harry and Ron aren't enrolled), so i don't believe everyone knows every single spell in the world. More proof of that is that Harry has to teach DADA for the Dumbledore's Army, and even some "basic" spells like expelliarmus and stupefy...
Okay, let's see some of the limitations you mentioned and how they might already be partially resolved with an older system. 1. Attributes determine power. Solution-pair individual attributes and limit some spellcasting power to the lower of the paired attributes, like in the older editions of Legend of the 5 rings. This would create a need for balancing attributes while also providing some bonus for specific higher attributes. 2. All the spells exist - a partial solution is to break up spells into class affinity/weakness with 2 neutral classes. This allows for a variety of spellcasting choices from players, and with a strong enough selection and variety for each school you can get different vibes for PCs and NPCs based on spells. 3. Anyone can cast all the spells - okay, what's the cost? You create a power pool and allow anyone to be able to cast a spell, but you scale spells to power, and then claw back costs by allowing for true familiarization, and another reduction for affinity. That's the best I can do over the course of about 20 minutes.
Why do players need to know all spells? The characters in the books don’t. The rulebook should have a list of "core" spells that most wizards would know, and let the players choose some amount of those that they know well enough to cast without effort. Also, in the books they need to practice spells, so it would be logical that characters could attempt any spell in the book but only have a low chance of success if they haven’t learned it through practice. Custom, on-the-spot spells should of course be very hard to cast, but could be mastered afterwards. How do you limit spellcasting and players discovering new spells? Having to make a check to cast a spell you haven’t learned is one solution, but the other one is a major part of the books: wizards are not known to wider society. Wizards (especially if they’re students) should be extremely careful when casting in open spaces with lots of people around. And skills: you could easily categorize spells similarly to D&D etc., and have skills respond to the type of spells you’re better at casting. I haven’t played any HP RPGs, so I’ve got no clue if these are actual solutions those games have implemented, but they seem the most logical ones if you’ve only read the books/watched the movies.
I guess that Magic Proficiency checks would be a combination of a Wizard's Experience Level, a Memorization Stat and a Power level. Hermione was great because she could memorize spells and she had a fairly good magic level while harry was so so at memorizing spells but had a high magic power level. Maybe you can break down spells by categories and just have each wizard class to specialize in that category rather than collecting spells and just have the player pick from a list of spells what they like to use once they decide to specialize in that category.
What about having spell points and each spell has an spell point cost. What about spell slots for spells during combat? What if not all spells need intelligence, some spells might need finesse and thus a dexterity check. Other might be based on intimidation and so on.
I personally didn't get the vibe that Wizards know all spells while reading the books. Thank you for this video, great inspiration for my magic school RPG campaign!
About too many spells. You are in a magic school have your PCs take some classes where they learn some lore friendly spells and get to use some checks and stuff. About attributes. Split intelligence into multiple stats. Like "memory" for remembering existing spells. "Creativity" for being able to create new spells on the spot and so on. Group physical stats together to have strength and endurance and HP be one stat. About creating new spells. Should be dependent on attributes and skills. It's a TTRPG have your players roll some dice.
I would try to homebrew Mage: the Awakening into a Harry Potter world. Mage: the Ascension could work, but their styles of casting spells are wildly different. Nowhere in Harry Potter do we see wizards casting spells via drugs, apps, sex or Kung fu. Awakening has a more solid framework for what can be cast, and how those spells are cast - but still allow for a lot of flexibility.
Dresden Files is such a good setting. Spoiler warning. No seriously Dresden can't keep a woman for more than three books. Here's hoping Lara lasts. Also wholly hell that last book was pretty cool.
Most times when I see people on r/rpg looking for a TTRPG that resembles some pop culture IP, is important to ask what aspect of that IP is the peson looking for. Because most times that IP is actually as "unplayable" as Harry Potter. It's not impossible without some tweaks or restrictions, but it's rather counter productive. When I'm facing such eagerness to play a TTRPG based on an IP, I try to ask myself wich game, event though it's in another universe, has the same flavour as that IP. Thigs like: If you want to play a Firefly RPG, try Coriolis, or if you want a Berserk RPG try Warhammer Fantasy, and so on. It doens't have to be the same world, the same rules and constraints, but it has to at least have the same flavour.
Why not make a middle-ground system? Have magic be possible to free-cast, but make the effects unpredictable and uncontrollable(Like how harry using magic to make his aunt "go away" ended up turning her into a human balloon). On the other end have spells, things with a set effect that are predictable and repeatable. You can also solve the Stats issue by splitting making stats from more mundane stats like strength, intelligence, etc. Use mundane stats for skill tests like puzzle solving, athletics, and other mundane tasks, while magics stats are used for simulating Talent in various schools of magic. Heck I'd have mundane stats be point-buy/XP raised while all magic stats rolled randomly/left static, with becoming a powerful wizard being dependent of the number of spells you collect and how many different ways you can mess with magic outside of straight spell-craft not how much XP you put in "Fire-ball". With all this, you could leave magic as a mysterious, unpredictable force that lets people do anything from the word go While also letting people have a sense of progression.
Idea: On the character side, hyperfocus on the magical. You can have aesthetic things and backstory but the characters skills will be completely magic based. Maybe with like a general "strength" and/or "agility" in there also that can be handy sometimes. I'm not the biggest fan of stats but for stats you can have stuff like Creativity, Wisedom, Education, Attunement. Creativity lets you come up with stuff on the fly more, wiseness lets you pull like archain stuff and quiz the DM for history, education allows you to like have a book and look to a certain page for spells, attunement is how receptive to magic you are as an individual, but does not say what spells you can use. Hold the idea of a spellbook in your mind for a second. Also I like the idea that for Harry Potter flavour you can have grades in each of these. Creativity - C, Wisedom - A, Education D, Attunement A. A character with that sort of sheet would be shit at traditional spells but mildy creative, while also being in touch with like spirits and any spells they do know they can cast/use POWERFULLY. Also they have a pretty good knowledge of history and what magical stuff is what and potential consequences. Spells - Spells can be somewhat freeform if you need them to be or specified. When you come up with a spell you can also write it down for later use. The more powerful a spell the more attunement necessary. If written down you would know the level of attunement needed, if the spell is creative then the DM sets a level and the spell caster and DM can haggle the spell's power down to a reasonable level for their level of attunement. Likewise spells can have specific requirements and consequences which either the spellbook or DM creates when a player creates/looks up a spell. Spellbook - Each player has a spellbook, which has different teirs in it. They can read everything up to their teir and no further. This spellbook represents their knowledge. Each spell has an attunement level, and grade, as well as tips and tricks. A DM can make up a new part (requirement/result) of a spell on the fly, which a person with high wisdom can ask for/be told about. For HP this would be easy-iiish as it would basically be catalogueing and categorising the 300 spells already known. This doesn't make a robust system in terms of how physicality works but perhaps that shouldn't be the point. Maybe you have a stat for health (and like i said before; strength and agility) as well as physical items that can do specific things/abilities as described by said item like (sword, slash; roll 1D4 and do that much damage) and (ability, dodge; roll 1D3 and minus that from the damage of an incoming attack) and (shield, block; block all damage for one turn, cannot do only one other action on your turn). But these would not be the main focus of the game and can also be made up on the fly by the GM, and maybe players if they find a forge. Likewise magical equiptment that work a bit like spells but as equiptment would be cool.
You seem to really care about this so I'll paste my comment about a proposed magic system in here. "I think a modular magic system would be best. Each modular segment of a spell has certain requirements and effects on the spell, and certain modular segments are incompatible with each other. Modifiers like elements, fire spread, effect area, etc. You could make the spells in the universe that have names with the modular system, and have those as premade spells you can choose from. Spells that have incredibly high damage like the instant-death spell, or other massive effects could have very high costs to make and cast."
I feel like a Harry Potter magic system should probably work by starting you as 1st years, and you learning some basic spells and wizarding skills along the way and having to put personal efforts towards any more advanced skills or obscure spells or even towards perfecting their mastery of things they already know. For the same reason I would never start a first time player of D&D or Pathfinder as a mid-to-high level Wizard or Cleric due to the sheer homework required to know your options without having absorbed them through leveling up or observing them used by fellow PCs or NPCs, starting a new player as a magic-savvy adult of the Harry Potter world would indeed suck balls. Basically, all your characters should (progressively) learn the basic school curriculum, and on top of that invest in specialties or skills that represent their electives and activities outside of class. Maybe each character could even get a few "sub-classes" which are said activities - have your character be, say, an expert Quidditch Player and Potion Maker, an amateur Botanist, and a standard student everywhere else - and give them options for the non-core skills that way. Maybe the innate fact anyone can cast anything should simply be represented by progressively worse maluses depending on how little grasp your character has on what he's trying to do; maybe you really, REALLY need that serpent gone and can either try to recall that spell you've heard of once or come up with something from scratch on the spot, but it's a difficult feat and one that can easily blow up in your face. When it comes to the base stats of a character, I guess I'd imagine it being more-or-less how talented you are in any particular aspect that could be useful to a wizard, such as Memory, Patience, Wit, Athleticism, Perception or Courage, to name a few possibilities, rather that the standard "I am really strong" or "I am quite wise and agile"
@@tonyaxis3063 Well, it's just the most obvious way to play a complete novice, which is pretty much what I think you should do. I guess you could play some sort of former Muggle otherwise? Idk. Or hey, maybe School Bumblefuck gets students at 18 years old!
You could probably have stats for different spell types that affect your chance or power of casting a spell. Other traits like intelligence could be selected by house selection
The original deadlands classic huckster system could work decently, just reskin the joker draw as botching the spell instead of being possessed by a demon. Each spell is an individual skill tied to one of 5 different attributes based on what sort of spell it is. Maybe mod it so you can attempt to cast a spell you've seen used with lower card draw, more cards acting like jokers , or something along those lines(maybe just add more jokers to the deck?)
I know I'm commenting on a year old video so likely no one will see this, but I would highly reccomend checking out Misfits and Magic from Dimension 20 for a pretty good look at a HP themed game. The system they use, Kids on Brooms, seems to capture the feeling relatively well. Also, as a big bonus, the plot is very openly a direct satire of Harry Potter's nonsense worldbuilding, and regularly criticizes Rowling's general garbage-person behavior/beliefs and the philosophy baked into the books (including those that go beyond just her disgusting transphobia).
I think as long you have some sort of system governing the chance of something succeeding or failing you have a game. I would probably go with a highly narrative system such as Powered by the Apocalypse, wherein the results of the dice just tell you quintessentially 3 things; you succeed, you succeed at a cost or you fail. Heck, I could even see a Blades in the Dark modification that simulates the different Houses of Hogwarts.
Well, I have a similar issue for my own game I am working on, where all the magic is basically songs, and thus all one needs to do is know the songs to cast magic. But I have a view solutions for that which I think could work for Harry Potter too.
@@tonyaxis3063 Sure, but you have basically the same issue with pronouncing the spells in Harry Potter. Anyway, I account for this, so don't worry, as someone who sings horrible I know it is not that easy! ;)
I am thinking in the Nen System from Hunter X Hunter. You can give players a number of points of magic. Simple spells with like reality/phisics altering properties use like on point, and you go up from there till like conjuring a patronus uses 20. Then you take all the existing spells categorize them an assign points to every one. The players can check the spellbook for reference and come up with their own spells and the dm can assign how many points that would cost. You can have characters sheets with points for stuff like improvisation, memory, pronunciation and the like to actually make they fail. As you say, there are a lot of spells and wizard miss a lot in the movies. Also the kind of spells you use can be harder or easier to "do well", depending on the categories, that include potions, manipulation, defense against the dark arts, dark arts. People have preferences and inclinations. You can do everything, but some kinda of magic will drain you or fail or both because you are kind of bad at it or your memory is not so good.
How about it's a text adventure game and you have to type backwards, in Latin, or both to cast spells. Maybe we put bonuses to certain spells based on the house's specialties. What if it's competitive rather than cooperative, and you're all trying to think of the best solution for unique problems. Perhaps studying Scribblenauts might help because it's a similar near omnipotent gameplay.
I've made my own homebrew Wizarding World ttrpg and it is awesome:). The framework is the Call of Cthulhu ttrpg and it has over 300 spells. How? Interessting restrictions . I lowered the high-magic system just enough that it stays high-magic (wizarding world like) but enough to make it playable with solide rules. I made 5 special classes and wizarding paths. The classes use; ancient magic, room of requirements, chronomancy, spirit medium/necromancy or dark arts and the wizard paths are like in CoC based on your job within the wizard world. It plays in 1904. The players are adults, already adapt at wizarding and can use 4 combat spells and 6 utility spells. They have a repertoire where they can have/learn other spells but this takes time. So yea, it is possible and now my favorite ttrpg. Is it lore based? Yeas. Is the magic system the same then Harry Potter? No, and that's all right:)
It would be pretty damn cool if somebody re-wrote Harry Potter lore and spellcasting to make even a lick of sense. Before that happens, i just can't see it working lol.
It might sound random- but I think it could be a good exprience to give a read to the magic system of Roleplaying Is Magic Se4. (Fan made roleplayinf system for my little pony, and it has a very clever magic system which allow a lot of creativity with spells and has a "library" of cannon spells. I think it could work with HP.
I am not anything like you. I only began to dabble in Harry Potter this year, only because of lack of better things to interest myself in while I was briefly homeless and had lost all my possessions. As long as I had ASOIF, D&D, MTG, L5R, FF5, FF6, Arkham Horror, the Green Lantern Corps, Diablo 2, Tetris Attack, Front Mission Gun Hazard, Link's Awakening, Metroid Fusion, Must, Mortal Kombat, American Mcgee's Alice, and about ten times this many more entertainment franchises to obsess over, the lack of Harry Potter troubled me not in the slightest.
HP wasn't a series about spells and magic, that's just the dressing on the body of the series, which is _problem and puzzle solving._ Even the fights are just them countering each other over and over, with the exception of the Killing Curse. Very little of the books and movies had anything as satisfying as shooting fireballs to blow shit up like a D&D game has. Most of the _fun_ was watching the characters solve problems while the reader _imagines themselves being in on the solutions._ A true ttRPG trying to make a "Magic School" themed game just needs to give players enough narrative control to create and counter the various problems the GM throws their way, so I'd recommend a Powered By The Apocalypse system, which is rules-light; dice-light; and highly narrative. "Classes" is PbtA are really just specific problem-solving themes, so you could be a Wizard/Witch, Muggleborn, Squib, Muggle, or even Slave-race/half-breed (like Hagrid, Dobby, or a Goblin); and all of them are on equal footing in terms of power level, they just vary in terms of how they approach situations. The problem with PbtA is that 'leveling up' isn't really a thing past a certain point, you mostly just open up more narrative solutions for yourself, within your character's theme, until you've bought them all and switch to a different theme and restart at square 1.
TL;DR HP's a good concept for an rpg, but it can't be done mechanically. Unlike D&D, CoC, etc there isn't a way to limit the power of player wizards so that there are other strategies than "i am god and I spam the kill spell in combat"
I think it can be done mechanically. It depends how much artistic license and liberties you're willing to take. The HP lore suggests certain criteria for successful magic. The right wand. The right training. The right pronunciation. Even the right mindset, for certain spells like Patronus and the three curses I think the variables give enough scope to have a mechanical dice-roll system for success If your character is more bookish like Hermione, you'll really struggle to command a broom or perform more athletic/physical feats If your character decides to go off-script and invent a spell, it'll most likely fail (like Seamus Finnigan) unless you match the cunning and intelligence of someone like Snape who did invent/discover useful spells If you half-ass the training and pronounce spells badly like Ron, it probably won't work And everyone seems to think the RPG concept would fail because players can spam Avada Kadavra. There are so many hurdles to performing that level of dark magic, I'm pretty comfortable in saying a good system will reserve that for exclusively high level dark wizards meeting certain other attribute criteria
Why would everyone have to know all of them, or perform them with proficiency? That's why there is a school to teach spells and potions in the first place. GURPS works well for this.
so, my solution would be as follows. the players are at school to learn to magic good, which ideally means being able to improvise and throw out high powered creative spells, or create interesting and powerful enchantments and potions, using their knowledge of magic and the world. Now, a school isn't going to drop high level magical theory on an 8 year old, it would go in one ear and out the other, its largely useless. Instead, they are taught basic magic spells that everyone knows and needs for daily life, as well as some weird esoteric ones, because, these spells are foundational. These foundational spells contain magical words and gestures that produce specific simple effects, and teaching them to the students is more about getting the student to learn and know these words and gestures as second nature before they move on to actual spell craft. basically, as you attend magic school, you get taught basic spells. each of these spells have a basic use, but come with a descriptive effect that you as a wizard can then later use in combination with other effects from other spells, to on the fly create new magical effects. Each time you link an effect from a spell together to create a new spell, you raise the difficulty of the rng mechanic. so, say i know the 'light the candles' spell, which has a fire element, and wingardium leviosa, which has a telekinesis element. I can then combine the two to create a 2 difficulty spell which would let me control near by fires. The wrote, established spells would then have 2 major purposes, one, you can just throw them out easily because there is little to no difficulty associated with casting them. two, knowing more spells give you more base words and gestures that you can then use to string together new more powerful effects, perhaps with some spells being better to use because they have multiple words built into them which provide short cuts in your spell crafting arsenal. ... this is kind of like epic spell wars, duel at Mt. Scullzfyre now that i think about it....
I've been trying to find a group that wants to play it as a TTRPG. I can't even get takers for Dragon Age. That said, when I read the books, I was young. I grew up with it. Literally the same age as Daniel Radcliffe. I never read into it more than it was an interesting story. I never identified anything relating to jewish people or heteronormality etc. It was just a story. Not everything needs to be picked apart and studied and related back to a real world thing. Sometimes it's just fantasy.
Oh, and I'm the only 27 grown man within my friend group that secretly writes fanfiction on the side (a guilty pleasure), because I'm a voracious nerd. I can't help it. Was addicted since I discovered it. I don't write the really shitty f*cked up fanfictions. Those people can go kill themselves. But yeah, like all things, not all is that bad. I'm really good at hiding the hobby. Slytherin here. As to why I like writing about it? I'd say because I had a shitty school-hood, and it's a good escape. But that's sad and somewhat pathetic. What I really say is that I find it cool to create new systems and grow the universe a bit farther than the movies or books ever went. Especially when you find ways to change the HP series into a horror story. But even I'm not idiotic enough to learn several hundred spell/plant names.
HP is at its core a mystery series with lots of teen melodrama and twee whimsy, and just a sprinkle of danger. That doesn't translate into TTRPG at all. LARP, sure, that's just vibes fantasy riffing with super-extra theater kids. But Rowling doesn't even have a coherent magic system, let alone internal consistency with her fantasy elements.
My idea for a Harry Potter RPG (I'll try to keep this short) is a game that takes place many years before or after the events of the books, and generally avoids using any pre-established characters. At the start of the game you'll be given a personality quiz (similar to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, but more lengthy and in-depth) to determine which house you'll get, but you'll be given the option to choose another house you like if you're unhappy with what you got. Once you've been assigned your house, I the game following a structure somewhat similar to Mass Effect, in which each house will have 5-6 different party members where some of them represent the good and bad aspects of that house. So I imagine Gryffindor for example will have one party member who cares a lot about making the world a better place, and another member which will just be an obnoxiously arrogant douchebag who thinks they're morally superior to everyone else. You can do sidequests to increase your bond with each party member, and some of them will be romanceable. You and the party members will start out as kids in the first year, and the story will take place over your seven-year stay at Hogwarts, and based on your interactions with the party members, they might change their views as the years go by and they grow closer to you. I think each house should have an ally, rival, and neutral house, so for example Slytherin is friendly with Ravenclaw, rivals with Gryffindor, and neutral towards Hufflepuff. This changes your interactions with the characters from the other houses, so a character who would have been a party member if your house was Gryffindor, will be a recurring enemy if your house is Slytherin, and vice-versa. For gameplay, I suggest just ignoring a lot of the established rules made by Rowling, since as you pointed out, they really don't make for a good combat system (nor do they make much sense). The gameplay will be similar to Dragon Age II's action RPG combat, but you'll learn and improve skills and spells through classes and other such events. There will be vastly different builds for each character, and I imagine every party member aside from the protagonist will only be able to learn certain skills and spells, limiting their roles in the party. Minigames such as Quidditch will also grant you useful rewards for doing them, but they should optional. The story I think should have a narrative that spans over the seven-year long stay at the school, but shouldn't have too high stakes. I don't think it should be about saving the world or anything like that, and more just about the relationships you've built with your friends, and what kind of character you've decided to play as. Honestly, I think this game could be amazing if someone actually bothered to make it, but let's be real; it's never gonna happen. The only studio who I think would do it right is Bioware in their glory days. As they are now though it seems they can't even remaster an already amazing game without being fucking idiots about it. Anyways, this is a concept I've thought about for a while now, and it was really fun to put it into words, though I doubt anyone's gonna bother reading it.
Well, if I understand you correctly, you're comparing the Harry Potter Lore and 5e-ish systems... amd yes those don't function immediately, because the one is a loose magic system and the other one a hard one. But there are systems, that handle spells pretty loose, and thus would/or already do handle Harry Potter Magic pretty good... Sooo just don't go with 5e I guess? I think kids on brooms or something like that should suffice. And those systems also tend to focus more on the narrative, which could be another pro.
I’ve always felt a Harry Potter RPG would never work because the magic system of the series is boring. Like, every spell is just flick a wand, say an incantation and that’s it. There’s no cost, drawback or limit to the amount of times you can do this. Hell, even the Unforgivable Curses don’t have any drawbacks aside from moral ramifications (which doesn’t really make sense since you could just replicate their effects with non-Unforgivable spells). Even the politics of the Wizarding World are not that interesting. Like, the Ministry of Magic has a lot of potential to be written as an inherently corrupt and overbearing institution, but the series takes every chance it get to write off the Ministry’s very obviously flaws as just “the wrong people running it”.
I am sorry but regardless of how much I enjoy listening to you and how often I generally agree with you on many topics, this here seems like looking for problems where there're none :-P No need for including ALL the spells. You may prepare the basic classes concentrated on specific spells with specific stats, bonuses etc., in which those classes EXTREMELY excel at. There's no problem in going against the Harry Potter lore either - all the limits introduced for the sake of mechanics make sense so it would be ridiculous to not force limits for different spells - not hard limits, obviously - it could be just that theoretically you can cast a water or a fire spell etc. - whatever and whenever you want - but it's gonna suck and only with a proper training, you'll achieve a worthwhile spell. Those may be massive bonuses - not even limits. Characters could have a measurable magical power so someone's "force push" would have like 1d20+10, someone elses 1d12+4 depending on your class (let's call it the spell proficiency - I don't know the numbers yet, this requires a bit of math) and depending on your level, feats, skills. There may be also a classical Mana System with some specific regeneration requiring you to plan your casts in turns - not cast mindlessly all the time - or a simple Stamina representing a strain on your body by continuous spell-casting. Also - the basic spells may be available for everyone but classified in groups of spells - not as a loooooooooooong list of specific spells you excel at - rather magic schools. Something like: a) telekinesis - all the telekinesis spells you want to cast (including potential battle magic that is not elemental, flying etc.); b) elemental magic - water, fire, lightning, wind, earth, ice etc.; c) defensive magic - force shields and other defensive spells; d) utility magic - open, repair etc.; e) transmutation - transforming stuff; f) mind tricks - mind reading, manipulation; g) teleportation & time manipulation; h) world class spells (creating horcruxes, curses, amazing spells like a tornado etc. - they may be unique and picked up like feats): i) buffs/debuffs (self-explanatory). --> all of those could provide different bonuses, different dice rolls, modifiers, if you casted an elemental defense you would add bonuses from both defensive and elemental assuming those were your specialisations etc. It may be quick, elegant and simple or more complex like 2-3 ingredients for a single roll. Details up for discussion. Also - I imagine a very physical or dexterity based gameplay possible as well. You may just evade spells and suck at this becasue you're unfit or be proficient by just evading - physically. You do not need to invest in swimming specifically but maybe a high dexterity adds up to chances of hitting with a spell, of opening the door lock better while high strength allows you opposing the telekinetic push with your body mass and athletics? Maybe with a high dexterity/constitution you could prevent disarming (hold to your magical wand better?). I don't know either yet but there're so many options.
So now - after years - we know it has been done exactly this way because Hogwards Legacy did it in C-RPG world. I also personally ran a TTRPG campaign with friends using my own, private system for universal settings - which went pretty well. STR became both a physical attribute for things as well as magical POWER. DEX became a generalized agility as well as magical FINESSE (something like fencing with wands). Intelligence just determines how many spells you are allowed to have "prepared" at once from all you want to learn/know - to show your instincts in thinking, utilizing and using spells while having personal preferences and strength in given magic schools from supplementing skills - so characters use skills such as dueling spells, utlity spells, being particularly good in one or two subjects, magical history, muggles knowledge etc. Basic spells such as Alohomora, Lumos, Nox, Revelio etc. are universal so you've always got them at your disposal. In dueling - you go with power - block (STR=POWER BASED ROLLS) or with fencing skills - evade/deflect (DEX=FINESSE BASED ROLLS). If we used Intelligence to determine the power of spells in a fully magical system - that would be simply crazy and pointless - like you said. This way however, you are able to make a power, forceful magic build (based on power of spells) or a finesse-based one (based on finesse) while also binding it logically with physical prowess to utilize in out-of magic situations. It makes sense for someone eating well, training and being fit to also have magical power in magic, I don't buy that completely disconnected system of INT-MANA-SPELL & always physically weak wizards. Both STR & DEX duelists are equally good with proper builds in my system - regardless if they go with DEX or STR but they base on different gameplay style - because both roll for instance: 5d6+STR/DEX. on attacks based on raw power/finesse, on blocks & evades/deflects of spells. One casts straight in your face, another goes with angles and fencing skills from the movies/game - like curving a bass in baseball. If you're good in both, you are good in both but at the cost of a maximum number of spells you have at your disposal due to the lower INT while still a basic bonk-bonk-bonk approach without combo/stronger spells exists (general hit mechanics from Hogwarts Legacy). Social Skills for anything Social, Perception for perception & insight. It works for me in all the settings I play because this system is a quick, universal tool I made for using in both cyberpunk, sci-fi, fantasy and horrors/criminals. I am also aware of the quite a fun Hogwarts Legacy based system using PBtA mechanics but I'd count myself as a fan of the more action & strategy oriented approach like you - so kicking ass outside of the Hogwarts walls with more advanced mechanics, attending classes and doing things there with simple rolls. That other system by someone is also fun, it solves the problems mentioned by you quite nicely and in an elegant way. That's how it looks in my mechanics: drive.google.com/file/d/1jIbnwxltmyB9GKVAnY5LITKlqlLf8mTq/view?usp=sharing drive.google.com/file/d/1OZ2N0Idm0RS2I1vJpFYkZ31JrUJjDVxb/view?usp=sharing drive.google.com/file/d/19rjOTtFojC-1LZVjBLdifpT_QnHUo4hG/view?usp=sharing
you can build a somewhat robust "harry potter"-like experience in GURPS by adding the spells as advantages and homebrew the shit out of it. that works for around 10-20 Spells. but 300+ Spells? Fuck off no.
Well its not like every character in harry potter knows every spell innately. That's why there's a school. Nor do they cast them perfectly purely by instinct. There's proper somatic and verbal components that can be flubbed. (leviosaaaa) So at least in a school setting, everyone would get whatever spells they had been taught by the teachers up to that point in Gen Eds, then practise at whatever Electives they chose, and what they've been doing in their free time. So, Hermione, General Studies stuff (though flunking divination), snowflake timeturner user but those all got broken by the end of the series so a future equivalent would have to choose, lets say Arithmancy and Advanced Potions the two she liked most because they were learnable by rote, and then spends her spare time Studying (a real minmax player here), seems to be a different thing each semester, not sure the best way to represent that. Harry, General studies (failing potions, snape's book notwithstanding), electives were Magical Creature Studies and Advanced Defense against Dark because he had a natural talent for them, and quidditch as freetime, so he's an athlete and especially good on a broom. For adult characters, you just give them everything their schooling would give them by the end, plus Career knowledge. Heck you could even give the kids Future Career, harry's a decent detective even as a child. So, the only thing left is to decide do you leave everything as specific spells and abilities you pick up at certain events/xp levels/we, or make individual disciplines have a score you roll a check against to know and properly perform the needed action, some checks categorically locked out unless you have a higher tier in said discipline (even you find the ingredients, gen ed level potions is not going to have taught you Felix Felicis) Honestly, it's got a lot of the same issues as like a Naruto ttrpg would have, except ninjas have a mana bar and specialize much earlier and harder.
I’ve always thought the school aspect of Hogwarts was WAY more interesting than the child endangerment aspects lol. I think teaching many of those spells to the players via class would be really fun.
This is why i am angry that the video games never went much into that aspect either.
ever since I discovered the magic system for the Mage WoD titles I've always loved using that system for more loose magic systems
Mage explains magic and handles almost everything you can think of. I play years and years of it and there are many things that you could never do in dnd or even imagine, that you can do
Did you play oWoD mage or nWoD mage? Because one of my friends did a nWoD mage setting, and in my opinion it was terrible. I personally only play oWoD vampire games so far, but no experience with mage in that setting.
@@Emperor_Atlantis NWOD I prefer for most things.... Except mage lol
@@dicorockhimself yea I am waaay to invested in the oWoD lore to jump into new. And nWoD mage being terrible didnt help to change that view for me 😂
@@Emperor_Atlantis I respect that opinion I started with nwod and when I saw mage I was like this is just bad than I saw owod mage and was way more into it. I defiantly prefer nwod flexibility with vampire for the GM.
Cummus-Shottus made me laugh far more than it had any right to.
"Shadowrun....a rules light system" best joke I've heard all year
I think that with the Wizarding World, it would be important to not put magic all into a 'magic' or 'intelligence' skill. Magic is very nuanced and all over the place in the wizarding world, so I think it would be better to break it down. Have a Charms skill, for example, so that in a situation, a character would roll when either trying to perform or confront a charm. Because maybe wizard can ride a broomstick like the wind and mix the best potions this side of the Atlantic, but they can't Alohomora a door to save their life. Other skills could be transfiguration, dark magic, herbalism and so forth. Just break it down into the component. That could be a good foundation.
That makes sense, you treat schools of magic and such a lot like disciplines in vtm. Having a lot of skill at one thing doesn't mean you're great at everything.
Maybe also Throw in a willpower for spell strength, dex for dodge and con for taking hits and you have a working baseline
i actually did this in my own Harry Potter TTRPG that i'm making, with three stats (Subject scores) being used for spells (Charms, Dark Arts, and Transfiguration) and making it so that if a spell is tagged with multiple Subject scores (i.e. Dark Arts and Transfiguration), the player goes with the highest of them.
My little brother hustled my halloween candy with the Quidditch video game. He mastered the initial boost given to the underdog with low performance bar. When he confessed, he then played for real and kicked my trash.
Cherished memory. That game rules.
Put the magic in a success system. You can cast anything but there’s a larger chance if it’s a difficult spell or potion and you’re not knowledgeable about it you’re gonna fail and it’s gonna blow up in your face.
Exactly my thoughts, and also add a book spell with all the spell of the franchise, you can use those or come with you own, making the manual, flavor an a reference for the difficulty of the spells.
And instead of having regular stats, use proficiency with the different magical subjects as stats. Someone might be better at options while another character is better at transfiguration. Make different spells harder or easier to succeed at (this is after all supported by the books) and basically take spell difficulty (including situational modifyers) - subject skill = number to beat with your dice. What dice rolling system is a different issue. I prefer getting a number of successes/hits, but some people prefer a d20 or percentile system.
@@laitherunya For a system like this, a success system would work best in my opinion as well.
I think a system based on emotion and personality type and grinding to learn the spell might be a solution.
So for example since the cruciatus curse requires a desire to inflict pain maybe what determines if a character can do it are 'cruelty' or 'viciousness' stats and their personal relation ship with the target are modifier, and some spells might have a complicated incantation so require a high intelligence stat. There should also be a mechanic where successfully casting the spell makes it easier to cast it in the future and after a certain number of successful casts you get it for free, with such a mechanic you could get different starting classes.
Give this guy a cookie. But seriously, a cruelty focused class? That just sounds like an asshole with extra steps. :D
Maybe you could have different kinds of intelligence. Intelligence (Hermione) Strategy (Ron) Wisdom (Professor Lupin with the patronus) Heart (Harry being able to fight Voldy with expelliarmus)
You would pretty much end up with the wizard, wizard. The rogue, wizard. The druid/cleric, wizard. The fighter, wizard.
And you could even put these different stats and align them with talent at a type of spell. For example, wisdom with charms because the Patronus is a charm. Intelligence with potions and detailed spellcraft like knowing advanced wand movements, or even encantations.
I am not exactly sure, but you could probably make this work.
Idk the kids on brooms system works really really good for this kind of game play. Yes you can cast any spell but the dm gets to choose the difficulty level for it. So some things can just be impossibly hard
Bro, I just found a dope rule set for basically D&D 5e but Harry Potter called Wands and Wizards. Basically everyone is a Sorcerer, your sorcerers origin is custom to the rules and your subclass is the school of magic you learn. Even backgrounds are taken care of by selecting your wand (genius btw)… it worked really well.
Thats what I'm running in a few days. I'm making it simple one where all PC's are adults getting hired at hogwarts and each year have to uncover a weird situation along with other side quests and combat quests for earning money and items. I'm hoping it runs well imnhoping to make it a balanced combat/roleplay/exploration & puzzles campaign.
Still waiting for a Type-Moon TTRPG
Awwwwww yyyyyyyeeeeeaaahhhhhh! That would be lit.
I saw a group do a Dnd/Type Moon Homebrew. I didn't get too far into it (I was watching a few other TTRPG series and got severe burnout) but it seemed interesting. The series was called Fate/Solar Shadow by Let Them Play Games- Nat 19. Despite the name a Holy Grail War doesn't start until a decent way into the series. Until then it's Type Moon.
Adding to Dice's comment Logan (the DM of the Type Moon Homebrew) released a Holy Grail War Handbook (name is changed to avoid copyright). www.drivethrurpg.com/product/320694/Nat19s-Trial-of-Heroes-Handbook-5th-Edition?manufacturers_id=16531
If you want to the show, there is an recap of the season 1 that you can watch and know all context to jump straight into the Holy Grail War.
Oh that would be rad. Like, imagine playing as a member of the Mage’s Association, having to deal supernatural threats or navigating the political viper’s nest of the Clock Tower. Maybe even get involved in a Holy Grail War.
I really enjoyed Misfits and Magic on Dimension 20. Granted, in terms of lore it's literally a satire of Harry Potter's worldbuilding and how it makes no sense on a logistical or political level, And in terms of systems it takes the kids on bikes system, which doesn't use spells or skills. It uses things like 'Fight', 'Flight', 'Grit' and 'Charm' , which you can do with or without magic. This allows character diversity to shine through as dispositions that inform the character as much as their power. Yeah everyone can cast a teleportation spell but your flight die will determine how accurate or powerful you are with it. It's not entirely lore-friendly of course, but I really like the miniseries. The cast is very good and so is the GM.
Hey! So you might have learned by now that Kids on Brooms is actually an official thing.
Like kids on bikes it encourages world building up front, so it's just a D20 special that they made a parody of Hogwarts.
The magic system in it is pretty good and taps into that "every one around here is magic" thing.
Basiclly you get a magic stat bonus based on the classes you take and the wand you have. Then when we you roll for a spell you roll a D4. The more you go to class (which happens off screen) the more you level up your spells and can do more difficult magic.
It's because none of them are based off My Immortal.
The funny thing about the Harry Potter Universe is the actual going to school part is probably the hardest place in the universe to create an adventure in lol
That extended period of begging for a sequel or rework of the Quidditch game is just me every two weeks
look at quidditch-champions
Wands & Wizards is probably a decent one. I’ve taken over DMing a campaign I was really enjoying set using this rulebook as a guide.
Have you ever played a powered by the apocalypse game? Because they address your mechanical problems. Look at MASKS.
Probably the ideal for a Harry Potter/Wizarding World ttrpg would:
A. Have a loose magic system where there is no set spell list, only restrictions (namely the effects of the big 3 (no puppeteering another living thing, no (direct) torture, no (direct) killing) along with things deemed too impossible or improbable (can't bring Dumbledore and Harry's parents back to life)). Probably using the GM as a way to judge how difficult the spell is likely to be ("You want to teleport the tank and it's occupants to the middle of the Pacific Ocean...I'll allow it, but we are talking a Near-Impossible Charms test! Are you sure?")
B. Probably be focused on the World beyond the Schools (likely only having a somewhat flexible "student" class for people really wanting to relive the joy of having to do 10 hours of homework in the 5 hours you have between the last class and bedtime...), Probably playing like a less-lethal Call of Cthulhu...and Probably replacing the Sanity mechanic with a muggle notoriety system (if you draw too much attention to the fact you can cast magic, the ministry WILL come for you!)
C. Have classes (if there are classes) focus on what you do non-magically or semi-magically (and Auror (Wizard police or detectives) will find it easier to investigate a crime scene or brew potions than a Ministry Bureaucrat, who will be better at finding important documents and organization than the Auror)
Just here to say Dumbledore was introduced with big high heeled purple boots. Tell me thats not a fabulous man.
The real problem is working the Harry Potter lore into a rule set. PCs playing as muggles in opposition to wizards, or squibs could be very usable.
Otherwise just play world of mist.
I think it can easily be a rule-set, if you ground categories of magic into player attributes and use the lore itself to inform dice-roll success
I mean, just base it on the characters. Hermione clearly lacks the attribute that would make quidditch a viability. Neville's skill set effectively excludes everything but herbology.
There is definitely a degree of skill, intellect, training, etc in the HP world that could develop a skill set.
The memers just think a TTRPG would devolve into spamming avada kadavra for no reason lmao
how to make a FUN Harry Potter Homebrew from every system in 3 easy steps
1. add to every backstory the sentence "issa wizzard"
2. your PC knows a spell thats called "Solve Problem". use it to solve a problem instantly. no cost.
3. your PC knows a second spell thats called "Go Place". use it to instantly visit a place. no cost.
So god power and apparation.
*At the **3:36** mark, it was Crabbe that summoned the Fiend Fire that destroyed the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw..., not Potter...*
A level 17 bard in 5e has access wish and can therefore cast any level 8 spell in the entire book for free without any studying necessary
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of quidditch world cup even still after all these years.... "Always"
Kids on Brooms. A modified Kids on Bikes.
YES! Quidditch World Cup was the best! Unlocking the special for Bulgaria was super difficult though, at least for 10 year old me, maybe it's actually super easy if I'd try it again. Also the fact that the game started with the most epic song ever composed helped: Dies Irae from Verdi's Requiem (took me years to figure out that that was the song).
I remember there was one RPG in the past, it was fan created, it has to do with the CODA system. Does anyone of you know how wasa it? was it good?
I think a modular magic system would be best. Each modular segment of a spell has certain requirements and effects on the spell, and certain modular segments are incompatible with each other. Modifiers like elements, fire spread, effect area, etc.
You could make the spells in the universe that have names with the modular system, and have those as premade spells you can choose from. Spells that have incredibly high damage like the instant-death spell, or other massive effects could have very high costs to make and cast.
Can confirm, you're one of the easy examples of a Ravenclaw.
I'm more of a Slytherin myself.
There are some fedposty things I'd do in the muggle world if I had magic so I guess I am too
Well, iirc, adter a student takes their OWLs on the fifth year, they can more or less select their classes to focus on some areas (and in Prisioner of Azkaban Hermione has elective classes that Harry and Ron aren't enrolled), so i don't believe everyone knows every single spell in the world. More proof of that is that Harry has to teach DADA for the Dumbledore's Army, and even some "basic" spells like expelliarmus and stupefy...
Harry Potter alternate universe so you can mess with the lore.
XDM's one stat method and magic system work pretty well
Still waiting for that HP Quidditch World Cup Sequel, EA!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, let's see some of the limitations you mentioned and how they might already be partially resolved with an older system.
1. Attributes determine power. Solution-pair individual attributes and limit some spellcasting power to the lower of the paired attributes, like in the older editions of Legend of the 5 rings. This would create a need for balancing attributes while also providing some bonus for specific higher attributes.
2. All the spells exist - a partial solution is to break up spells into class affinity/weakness with 2 neutral classes. This allows for a variety of spellcasting choices from players, and with a strong enough selection and variety for each school you can get different vibes for PCs and NPCs based on spells.
3. Anyone can cast all the spells - okay, what's the cost? You create a power pool and allow anyone to be able to cast a spell, but you scale spells to power, and then claw back costs by allowing for true familiarization, and another reduction for affinity.
That's the best I can do over the course of about 20 minutes.
Why do players need to know all spells? The characters in the books don’t. The rulebook should have a list of "core" spells that most wizards would know, and let the players choose some amount of those that they know well enough to cast without effort. Also, in the books they need to practice spells, so it would be logical that characters could attempt any spell in the book but only have a low chance of success if they haven’t learned it through practice. Custom, on-the-spot spells should of course be very hard to cast, but could be mastered afterwards.
How do you limit spellcasting and players discovering new spells? Having to make a check to cast a spell you haven’t learned is one solution, but the other one is a major part of the books: wizards are not known to wider society. Wizards (especially if they’re students) should be extremely careful when casting in open spaces with lots of people around.
And skills: you could easily categorize spells similarly to D&D etc., and have skills respond to the type of spells you’re better at casting.
I haven’t played any HP RPGs, so I’ve got no clue if these are actual solutions those games have implemented, but they seem the most logical ones if you’ve only read the books/watched the movies.
I guess that Magic Proficiency checks would be a combination of a Wizard's Experience Level, a Memorization Stat and a Power level. Hermione was great because she could memorize spells and she had a fairly good magic level while harry was so so at memorizing spells but had a high magic power level.
Maybe you can break down spells by categories and just have each wizard class to specialize in that category rather than collecting spells and just have the player pick from a list of spells what they like to use once they decide to specialize in that category.
Honestly I love the Kids on Brooms system. But much like Kids on Bikes it doenst allow for real tactical game play.
I actually had a conversation about this just yesterday, I think it has a cool approach but personally I just really do not wanna play in a school
Wait most people don’t read Harry Potter as a story about returning to monkey, I thought it was obvious
What about having spell points and each spell has an spell point cost. What about spell slots for spells during combat? What if not all spells need intelligence, some spells might need finesse and thus a dexterity check. Other might be based on intimidation and so on.
Mage the accession or Arz Magicka would be the best system. You can cast anything so long as you know the needed crap.
I personally didn't get the vibe that Wizards know all spells while reading the books. Thank you for this video, great inspiration for my magic school RPG campaign!
omg that quidditch game was so much fun.
Take a look at kids on broomsticks. Its Harry Potter, but splits magic among multiple stats
I could probably come up with some ideas for how to craft a system like this.
About too many spells. You are in a magic school have your PCs take some classes where they learn some lore friendly spells and get to use some checks and stuff.
About attributes. Split intelligence into multiple stats. Like "memory" for remembering existing spells. "Creativity" for being able to create new spells on the spot and so on. Group physical stats together to have strength and endurance and HP be one stat.
About creating new spells. Should be dependent on attributes and skills. It's a TTRPG have your players roll some dice.
Dude, I forgot about that game but now that I remember it, it was so fucking good. Fuck I need to play it again
I now want to play Mage
Kids on brooms ain't bad.
Also, it was crabbe that made the fiendfyre, which proves your point more honestly.
he was magically challenged. Like Enchantment guy from DragonAge. Unfortunately, unlike Sandal, Crabbe was a dumbass.
I would try to homebrew Mage: the Awakening into a Harry Potter world. Mage: the Ascension could work, but their styles of casting spells are wildly different. Nowhere in Harry Potter do we see wizards casting spells via drugs, apps, sex or Kung fu.
Awakening has a more solid framework for what can be cast, and how those spells are cast - but still allow for a lot of flexibility.
Dresden Files has a fucking great RPG, though
Dresden Files is such a good setting. Spoiler warning.
No seriously
Dresden can't keep a woman for more than three books. Here's hoping Lara lasts. Also wholly hell that last book was pretty cool.
I find that HP's loosey goosey magic system makes it rather unsuitable for a lot of things. (Including itself)
Most times when I see people on r/rpg looking for a TTRPG that resembles some pop culture IP, is important to ask what aspect of that IP is the peson looking for. Because most times that IP is actually as "unplayable" as Harry Potter. It's not impossible without some tweaks or restrictions, but it's rather counter productive. When I'm facing such eagerness to play a TTRPG based on an IP, I try to ask myself wich game, event though it's in another universe, has the same flavour as that IP. Thigs like: If you want to play a Firefly RPG, try Coriolis, or if you want a Berserk RPG try Warhammer Fantasy, and so on. It doens't have to be the same world, the same rules and constraints, but it has to at least have the same flavour.
Why not make a middle-ground system? Have magic be possible to free-cast, but make the effects unpredictable and uncontrollable(Like how harry using magic to make his aunt "go away" ended up turning her into a human balloon). On the other end have spells, things with a set effect that are predictable and repeatable.
You can also solve the Stats issue by splitting making stats from more mundane stats like strength, intelligence, etc. Use mundane stats for skill tests like puzzle solving, athletics, and other mundane tasks, while magics stats are used for simulating Talent in various schools of magic. Heck I'd have mundane stats be point-buy/XP raised while all magic stats rolled randomly/left static, with becoming a powerful wizard being dependent of the number of spells you collect and how many different ways you can mess with magic outside of straight spell-craft not how much XP you put in "Fire-ball".
With all this, you could leave magic as a mysterious, unpredictable force that lets people do anything from the word go While also letting people have a sense of progression.
Can Slippi be used to play Quiddich online? It just occured to me because it was a gamecube game
I'm pretty sure Slippi is just for Melee sadly.
Idea:
On the character side, hyperfocus on the magical. You can have aesthetic things and backstory but the characters skills will be completely magic based. Maybe with like a general "strength" and/or "agility" in there also that can be handy sometimes.
I'm not the biggest fan of stats but for stats you can have stuff like Creativity, Wisedom, Education, Attunement. Creativity lets you come up with stuff on the fly more, wiseness lets you pull like archain stuff and quiz the DM for history, education allows you to like have a book and look to a certain page for spells, attunement is how receptive to magic you are as an individual, but does not say what spells you can use. Hold the idea of a spellbook in your mind for a second. Also I like the idea that for Harry Potter flavour you can have grades in each of these. Creativity - C, Wisedom - A, Education D, Attunement A. A character with that sort of sheet would be shit at traditional spells but mildy creative, while also being in touch with like spirits and any spells they do know they can cast/use POWERFULLY. Also they have a pretty good knowledge of history and what magical stuff is what and potential consequences.
Spells - Spells can be somewhat freeform if you need them to be or specified. When you come up with a spell you can also write it down for later use. The more powerful a spell the more attunement necessary. If written down you would know the level of attunement needed, if the spell is creative then the DM sets a level and the spell caster and DM can haggle the spell's power down to a reasonable level for their level of attunement. Likewise spells can have specific requirements and consequences which either the spellbook or DM creates when a player creates/looks up a spell.
Spellbook - Each player has a spellbook, which has different teirs in it. They can read everything up to their teir and no further. This spellbook represents their knowledge. Each spell has an attunement level, and grade, as well as tips and tricks. A DM can make up a new part (requirement/result) of a spell on the fly, which a person with high wisdom can ask for/be told about. For HP this would be easy-iiish as it would basically be catalogueing and categorising the 300 spells already known.
This doesn't make a robust system in terms of how physicality works but perhaps that shouldn't be the point. Maybe you have a stat for health (and like i said before; strength and agility) as well as physical items that can do specific things/abilities as described by said item like (sword, slash; roll 1D4 and do that much damage) and (ability, dodge; roll 1D3 and minus that from the damage of an incoming attack) and (shield, block; block all damage for one turn, cannot do only one other action on your turn). But these would not be the main focus of the game and can also be made up on the fly by the GM, and maybe players if they find a forge. Likewise magical equiptment that work a bit like spells but as equiptment would be cool.
You seem to really care about this so I'll paste my comment about a proposed magic system in here.
"I think a modular magic system would be best. Each modular segment of a spell has certain requirements and effects on the spell, and certain modular segments are incompatible with each other. Modifiers like elements, fire spread, effect area, etc.
You could make the spells in the universe that have names with the modular system, and have those as premade spells you can choose from. Spells that have incredibly high damage like the instant-death spell, or other massive effects could have very high costs to make and cast."
@@taoboyce6412 I tthink we are on a similar wavelength!
I feel like a Harry Potter magic system should probably work by starting you as 1st years, and you learning some basic spells and wizarding skills along the way and having to put personal efforts towards any more advanced skills or obscure spells or even towards perfecting their mastery of things they already know.
For the same reason I would never start a first time player of D&D or Pathfinder as a mid-to-high level Wizard or Cleric due to the sheer homework required to know your options without having absorbed them through leveling up or observing them used by fellow PCs or NPCs, starting a new player as a magic-savvy adult of the Harry Potter world would indeed suck balls.
Basically, all your characters should (progressively) learn the basic school curriculum, and on top of that invest in specialties or skills that represent their electives and activities outside of class.
Maybe each character could even get a few "sub-classes" which are said activities - have your character be, say, an expert Quidditch Player and Potion Maker, an amateur Botanist, and a standard student everywhere else - and give them options for the non-core skills that way.
Maybe the innate fact anyone can cast anything should simply be represented by progressively worse maluses depending on how little grasp your character has on what he's trying to do; maybe you really, REALLY need that serpent gone and can either try to recall that spell you've heard of once or come up with something from scratch on the spot, but it's a difficult feat and one that can easily blow up in your face.
When it comes to the base stats of a character, I guess I'd imagine it being more-or-less how talented you are in any particular aspect that could be useful to a wizard, such as Memory, Patience, Wit, Athleticism, Perception or Courage, to name a few possibilities, rather that the standard "I am really strong" or "I am quite wise and agile"
I really don't wanna play a 10 year old lol.
@@tonyaxis3063 Well, it's just the most obvious way to play a complete novice, which is pretty much what I think you should do.
I guess you could play some sort of former Muggle otherwise? Idk. Or hey, maybe School Bumblefuck gets students at 18 years old!
Oh so i wasn't the only one who played that quidditch video game.
I played the shit out of the 2002 HP game. And the quidditch game.
You could probably have stats for different spell types that affect your chance or power of casting a spell. Other traits like intelligence could be selected by house selection
I know this video was made quite a while ago, but...what about Strixhaven?
The original deadlands classic huckster system could work decently, just reskin the joker draw as botching the spell instead of being possessed by a demon. Each spell is an individual skill tied to one of 5 different attributes based on what sort of spell it is. Maybe mod it so you can attempt to cast a spell you've seen used with lower card draw, more cards acting like jokers , or something along those lines(maybe just add more jokers to the deck?)
This guy is the new, far more charismatic and likable Noah Antwiler. Vast knowledge on RPG’s and a ton of fun to listen to.
I know I'm commenting on a year old video so likely no one will see this, but I would highly reccomend checking out Misfits and Magic from Dimension 20 for a pretty good look at a HP themed game. The system they use, Kids on Brooms, seems to capture the feeling relatively well.
Also, as a big bonus, the plot is very openly a direct satire of Harry Potter's nonsense worldbuilding, and regularly criticizes Rowling's general garbage-person behavior/beliefs and the philosophy baked into the books (including those that go beyond just her disgusting transphobia).
Fate Core, I will use Fate Core for the basis for my own HPTTRPG
Wait...you were ten years old? What the heck?
I think as long you have some sort of system governing the chance of something succeeding or failing you have a game. I would probably go with a highly narrative system such as Powered by the Apocalypse, wherein the results of the dice just tell you quintessentially 3 things; you succeed, you succeed at a cost or you fail. Heck, I could even see a Blades in the Dark modification that simulates the different Houses of Hogwarts.
Well, I have a similar issue for my own game I am working on, where all the magic is basically songs, and thus all one needs to do is know the songs to cast magic. But I have a view solutions for that which I think could work for Harry Potter too.
Have you ever sang? It's hard to learn and there are several ways to do it.
@@tonyaxis3063 Sure, but you have basically the same issue with pronouncing the spells in Harry Potter. Anyway, I account for this, so don't worry, as someone who sings horrible I know it is not that easy! ;)
Found a third use for that lone sock?
"I am a Ravenclaw."
You cry during movies. You're an EDGY Hufflepuff.
A bit late to the party but I think the magic system of the Dresden Files might be a good fit for a Harry Potter game 😁
I have a solid HP ttrpg homebrew system. I am too lazy to share it 🤣
Harry Potter and the Quidditch world Cup was one of the best f****** games
I am thinking in the Nen System from Hunter X Hunter.
You can give players a number of points of magic.
Simple spells with like reality/phisics altering properties use like on point, and you go up from there till like conjuring a patronus uses 20.
Then you take all the existing spells categorize them an assign points to every one. The players can check the spellbook for reference and come up with their own spells and the dm can assign how many points that would cost.
You can have characters sheets with points for stuff like improvisation, memory, pronunciation and the like to actually make they fail. As you say, there are a lot of spells and wizard miss a lot in the movies. Also the kind of spells you use can be harder or easier to "do well", depending on the categories, that include potions, manipulation, defense against the dark arts, dark arts. People have preferences and inclinations.
You can do everything, but some kinda of magic will drain you or fail or both because you are kind of bad at it or your memory is not so good.
How about it's a text adventure game and you have to type backwards, in Latin, or both to cast spells.
Maybe we put bonuses to certain spells based on the house's specialties.
What if it's competitive rather than cooperative, and you're all trying to think of the best solution for unique problems.
Perhaps studying Scribblenauts might help because it's a similar near omnipotent gameplay.
Each of those ideas are better than the last.
@@i8dacookies890 Thanks, I just thought of them in the moment.
I've made my own homebrew Wizarding World ttrpg and it is awesome:). The framework is the Call of Cthulhu ttrpg and it has over 300 spells. How? Interessting restrictions . I lowered the high-magic system just enough that it stays high-magic (wizarding world like) but enough to make it playable with solide rules. I made 5 special classes and wizarding paths. The classes use; ancient magic, room of requirements, chronomancy, spirit medium/necromancy or dark arts and the wizard paths are like in CoC based on your job within the wizard world. It plays in 1904. The players are adults, already adapt at wizarding and can use 4 combat spells and 6 utility spells. They have a repertoire where they can have/learn other spells but this takes time.
So yea, it is possible and now my favorite ttrpg. Is it lore based? Yeas. Is the magic system the same then Harry Potter? No, and that's all right:)
Where can I find?
@@jacobbyrd7775 Find what? Sentence building?
It would be pretty damn cool if somebody re-wrote Harry Potter lore and spellcasting to make even a lick of sense. Before that happens, i just can't see it working lol.
Where all the Slytherin at?
here
Look into the RPG "A Dirty World" and Potter up the rules.
It might sound random- but I think it could be a good exprience to give a read to the magic system of Roleplaying Is Magic Se4. (Fan made roleplayinf system for my little pony, and it has a very clever magic system which allow a lot of creativity with spells and has a "library" of cannon spells.
I think it could work with HP.
I am not anything like you. I only began to dabble in Harry Potter this year, only because of lack of better things to interest myself in while I was briefly homeless and had lost all my possessions. As long as I had ASOIF, D&D, MTG, L5R, FF5, FF6, Arkham Horror, the Green Lantern Corps, Diablo 2, Tetris Attack, Front Mission Gun Hazard, Link's Awakening, Metroid Fusion, Must, Mortal Kombat, American Mcgee's Alice, and about ten times this many more entertainment franchises to obsess over, the lack of Harry Potter troubled me not in the slightest.
Have you tried Fate Accelerated?
HP wasn't a series about spells and magic, that's just the dressing on the body of the series, which is _problem and puzzle solving._ Even the fights are just them countering each other over and over, with the exception of the Killing Curse. Very little of the books and movies had anything as satisfying as shooting fireballs to blow shit up like a D&D game has. Most of the _fun_ was watching the characters solve problems while the reader _imagines themselves being in on the solutions._
A true ttRPG trying to make a "Magic School" themed game just needs to give players enough narrative control to create and counter the various problems the GM throws their way, so I'd recommend a Powered By The Apocalypse system, which is rules-light; dice-light; and highly narrative. "Classes" is PbtA are really just specific problem-solving themes, so you could be a Wizard/Witch, Muggleborn, Squib, Muggle, or even Slave-race/half-breed (like Hagrid, Dobby, or a Goblin); and all of them are on equal footing in terms of power level, they just vary in terms of how they approach situations.
The problem with PbtA is that 'leveling up' isn't really a thing past a certain point, you mostly just open up more narrative solutions for yourself, within your character's theme, until you've bought them all and switch to a different theme and restart at square 1.
TL;DR HP's a good concept for an rpg, but it can't be done mechanically. Unlike D&D, CoC, etc there isn't a way to limit the power of player wizards so that there are other strategies than "i am god and I spam the kill spell in combat"
Also, the author isn't the work. saying things like "granitefling natsoc" or "jkrowling terf = bad" contribute nothing and are just annoying.
I think it can be done mechanically. It depends how much artistic license and liberties you're willing to take.
The HP lore suggests certain criteria for successful magic. The right wand. The right training. The right pronunciation. Even the right mindset, for certain spells like Patronus and the three curses
I think the variables give enough scope to have a mechanical dice-roll system for success
If your character is more bookish like Hermione, you'll really struggle to command a broom or perform more athletic/physical feats
If your character decides to go off-script and invent a spell, it'll most likely fail (like Seamus Finnigan) unless you match the cunning and intelligence of someone like Snape who did invent/discover useful spells
If you half-ass the training and pronounce spells badly like Ron, it probably won't work
And everyone seems to think the RPG concept would fail because players can spam Avada Kadavra. There are so many hurdles to performing that level of dark magic, I'm pretty comfortable in saying a good system will reserve that for exclusively high level dark wizards meeting certain other attribute criteria
Why would everyone have to know all of them, or perform them with proficiency?
That's why there is a school to teach spells and potions in the first place.
GURPS works well for this.
so, my solution would be as follows. the players are at school to learn to magic good, which ideally means being able to improvise and throw out high powered creative spells, or create interesting and powerful enchantments and potions, using their knowledge of magic and the world. Now, a school isn't going to drop high level magical theory on an 8 year old, it would go in one ear and out the other, its largely useless. Instead, they are taught basic magic spells that everyone knows and needs for daily life, as well as some weird esoteric ones, because, these spells are foundational. These foundational spells contain magical words and gestures that produce specific simple effects, and teaching them to the students is more about getting the student to learn and know these words and gestures as second nature before they move on to actual spell craft.
basically, as you attend magic school, you get taught basic spells. each of these spells have a basic use, but come with a descriptive effect that you as a wizard can then later use in combination with other effects from other spells, to on the fly create new magical effects. Each time you link an effect from a spell together to create a new spell, you raise the difficulty of the rng mechanic. so, say i know the 'light the candles' spell, which has a fire element, and wingardium leviosa, which has a telekinesis element. I can then combine the two to create a 2 difficulty spell which would let me control near by fires. The wrote, established spells would then have 2 major purposes, one, you can just throw them out easily because there is little to no difficulty associated with casting them. two, knowing more spells give you more base words and gestures that you can then use to string together new more powerful effects, perhaps with some spells being better to use because they have multiple words built into them which provide short cuts in your spell crafting arsenal.
... this is kind of like epic spell wars, duel at Mt. Scullzfyre now that i think about it....
The real question I have to ask myself is do I have Ravenclaw Autism or Hufflepuff Autism. I am still yet to find the answer
As a usual D&D player, the only useful spell is the killing curse.
thank youu😷😷😻😻😻
I've been trying to find a group that wants to play it as a TTRPG. I can't even get takers for Dragon Age.
That said, when I read the books, I was young. I grew up with it. Literally the same age as Daniel Radcliffe. I never read into it more than it was an interesting story. I never identified anything relating to jewish people or heteronormality etc. It was just a story. Not everything needs to be picked apart and studied and related back to a real world thing. Sometimes it's just fantasy.
Using this as inspo for my Homebrew D&D Harry Potter mechanics
Oh, and I'm the only 27 grown man within my friend group that secretly writes fanfiction on the side (a guilty pleasure), because I'm a voracious nerd. I can't help it. Was addicted since I discovered it. I don't write the really shitty f*cked up fanfictions. Those people can go kill themselves. But yeah, like all things, not all is that bad.
I'm really good at hiding the hobby. Slytherin here. As to why I like writing about it? I'd say because I had a shitty school-hood, and it's a good escape. But that's sad and somewhat pathetic. What I really say is that I find it cool to create new systems and grow the universe a bit farther than the movies or books ever went. Especially when you find ways to change the HP series into a horror story.
But even I'm not idiotic enough to learn several hundred spell/plant names.
JK Rowling not being able to figure not every wizard for all countries would even be able to correctly pronounce there Latin/Italian sounding spells.
HP is at its core a mystery series with lots of teen melodrama and twee whimsy, and just a sprinkle of danger. That doesn't translate into TTRPG at all. LARP, sure, that's just vibes fantasy riffing with super-extra theater kids. But Rowling doesn't even have a coherent magic system, let alone internal consistency with her fantasy elements.
My idea for a Harry Potter RPG (I'll try to keep this short) is a game that takes place many years before or after the events of the books, and generally avoids using any pre-established characters. At the start of the game you'll be given a personality quiz (similar to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, but more lengthy and in-depth) to determine which house you'll get, but you'll be given the option to choose another house you like if you're unhappy with what you got.
Once you've been assigned your house, I the game following a structure somewhat similar to Mass Effect, in which each house will have 5-6 different party members where some of them represent the good and bad aspects of that house. So I imagine Gryffindor for example will have one party member who cares a lot about making the world a better place, and another member which will just be an obnoxiously arrogant douchebag who thinks they're morally superior to everyone else. You can do sidequests to increase your bond with each party member, and some of them will be romanceable. You and the party members will start out as kids in the first year, and the story will take place over your seven-year stay at Hogwarts, and based on your interactions with the party members, they might change their views as the years go by and they grow closer to you.
I think each house should have an ally, rival, and neutral house, so for example Slytherin is friendly with Ravenclaw, rivals with Gryffindor, and neutral towards Hufflepuff. This changes your interactions with the characters from the other houses, so a character who would have been a party member if your house was Gryffindor, will be a recurring enemy if your house is Slytherin, and vice-versa.
For gameplay, I suggest just ignoring a lot of the established rules made by Rowling, since as you pointed out, they really don't make for a good combat system (nor do they make much sense). The gameplay will be similar to Dragon Age II's action RPG combat, but you'll learn and improve skills and spells through classes and other such events. There will be vastly different builds for each character, and I imagine every party member aside from the protagonist will only be able to learn certain skills and spells, limiting their roles in the party. Minigames such as Quidditch will also grant you useful rewards for doing them, but they should optional.
The story I think should have a narrative that spans over the seven-year long stay at the school, but shouldn't have too high stakes. I don't think it should be about saving the world or anything like that, and more just about the relationships you've built with your friends, and what kind of character you've decided to play as.
Honestly, I think this game could be amazing if someone actually bothered to make it, but let's be real; it's never gonna happen. The only studio who I think would do it right is Bioware in their glory days. As they are now though it seems they can't even remaster an already amazing game without being fucking idiots about it. Anyways, this is a concept I've thought about for a while now, and it was really fun to put it into words, though I doubt anyone's gonna bother reading it.
the hogwarts legacy way to learning spells is the way i imagined a harry potter rpg. you have to learn the spells to use them.
Well, if I understand you correctly, you're comparing the Harry Potter Lore and 5e-ish systems... amd yes those don't function immediately, because the one is a loose magic system and the other one a hard one.
But there are systems, that handle spells pretty loose, and thus would/or already do handle Harry Potter Magic pretty good...
Sooo just don't go with 5e I guess? I think kids on brooms or something like that should suffice. And those systems also tend to focus more on the narrative, which could be another pro.
I’ve always felt a Harry Potter RPG would never work because the magic system of the series is boring. Like, every spell is just flick a wand, say an incantation and that’s it. There’s no cost, drawback or limit to the amount of times you can do this. Hell, even the Unforgivable Curses don’t have any drawbacks aside from moral ramifications (which doesn’t really make sense since you could just replicate their effects with non-Unforgivable spells).
Even the politics of the Wizarding World are not that interesting. Like, the Ministry of Magic has a lot of potential to be written as an inherently corrupt and overbearing institution, but the series takes every chance it get to write off the Ministry’s very obviously flaws as just “the wrong people running it”.
I am sorry but regardless of how much I enjoy listening to you and how often I generally agree with you on many topics, this here seems like looking for problems where there're none :-P No need for including ALL the spells. You may prepare the basic classes concentrated on specific spells with specific stats, bonuses etc., in which those classes EXTREMELY excel at. There's no problem in going against the Harry Potter lore either - all the limits introduced for the sake of mechanics make sense so it would be ridiculous to not force limits for different spells - not hard limits, obviously - it could be just that theoretically you can cast a water or a fire spell etc. - whatever and whenever you want - but it's gonna suck and only with a proper training, you'll achieve a worthwhile spell. Those may be massive bonuses - not even limits. Characters could have a measurable magical power so someone's "force push" would have like 1d20+10, someone elses 1d12+4 depending on your class (let's call it the spell proficiency - I don't know the numbers yet, this requires a bit of math) and depending on your level, feats, skills. There may be also a classical Mana System with some specific regeneration requiring you to plan your casts in turns - not cast mindlessly all the time - or a simple Stamina representing a strain on your body by continuous spell-casting.
Also - the basic spells may be available for everyone but classified in groups of spells - not as a loooooooooooong list of specific spells you excel at - rather magic schools. Something like:
a) telekinesis - all the telekinesis spells you want to cast (including potential battle magic that is not elemental, flying etc.);
b) elemental magic - water, fire, lightning, wind, earth, ice etc.;
c) defensive magic - force shields and other defensive spells;
d) utility magic - open, repair etc.;
e) transmutation - transforming stuff;
f) mind tricks - mind reading, manipulation;
g) teleportation & time manipulation;
h) world class spells (creating horcruxes, curses, amazing spells like a tornado etc. - they may be unique and picked up like feats):
i) buffs/debuffs (self-explanatory).
--> all of those could provide different bonuses, different dice rolls, modifiers, if you casted an elemental defense you would add bonuses from both defensive and elemental assuming those were your specialisations etc. It may be quick, elegant and simple or more complex like 2-3 ingredients for a single roll. Details up for discussion.
Also - I imagine a very physical or dexterity based gameplay possible as well. You may just evade spells and suck at this becasue you're unfit or be proficient by just evading - physically. You do not need to invest in swimming specifically but maybe a high dexterity adds up to chances of hitting with a spell, of opening the door lock better while high strength allows you opposing the telekinetic push with your body mass and athletics? Maybe with a high dexterity/constitution you could prevent disarming (hold to your magical wand better?). I don't know either yet but there're so many options.
So now - after years - we know it has been done exactly this way because Hogwards Legacy did it in C-RPG world. I also personally ran a TTRPG campaign with friends using my own, private system for universal settings - which went pretty well. STR became both a physical attribute for things as well as magical POWER. DEX became a generalized agility as well as magical FINESSE (something like fencing with wands). Intelligence just determines how many spells you are allowed to have "prepared" at once from all you want to learn/know - to show your instincts in thinking, utilizing and using spells while having personal preferences and strength in given magic schools from supplementing skills - so characters use skills such as dueling spells, utlity spells, being particularly good in one or two subjects, magical history, muggles knowledge etc.
Basic spells such as Alohomora, Lumos, Nox, Revelio etc. are universal so you've always got them at your disposal.
In dueling - you go with power - block (STR=POWER BASED ROLLS) or with fencing skills - evade/deflect (DEX=FINESSE BASED ROLLS). If we used Intelligence to determine the power of spells in a fully magical system - that would be simply crazy and pointless - like you said. This way however, you are able to make a power, forceful magic build (based on power of spells) or a finesse-based one (based on finesse) while also binding it logically with physical prowess to utilize in out-of magic situations. It makes sense for someone eating well, training and being fit to also have magical power in magic, I don't buy that completely disconnected system of INT-MANA-SPELL & always physically weak wizards. Both STR & DEX duelists are equally good with proper builds in my system - regardless if they go with DEX or STR but they base on different gameplay style - because both roll for instance: 5d6+STR/DEX. on attacks based on raw power/finesse, on blocks & evades/deflects of spells. One casts straight in your face, another goes with angles and fencing skills from the movies/game - like curving a bass in baseball. If you're good in both, you are good in both but at the cost of a maximum number of spells you have at your disposal due to the lower INT while still a basic bonk-bonk-bonk approach without combo/stronger spells exists (general hit mechanics from Hogwarts Legacy). Social Skills for anything Social, Perception for perception & insight. It works for me in all the settings I play because this system is a quick, universal tool I made for using in both cyberpunk, sci-fi, fantasy and horrors/criminals.
I am also aware of the quite a fun Hogwarts Legacy based system using PBtA mechanics but I'd count myself as a fan of the more action & strategy oriented approach like you - so kicking ass outside of the Hogwarts walls with more advanced mechanics, attending classes and doing things there with simple rolls. That other system by someone is also fun, it solves the problems mentioned by you quite nicely and in an elegant way.
That's how it looks in my mechanics:
drive.google.com/file/d/1jIbnwxltmyB9GKVAnY5LITKlqlLf8mTq/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/1OZ2N0Idm0RS2I1vJpFYkZ31JrUJjDVxb/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/19rjOTtFojC-1LZVjBLdifpT_QnHUo4hG/view?usp=sharing
you can build a somewhat robust "harry potter"-like experience in GURPS by adding the spells as advantages and homebrew the shit out of it. that works for around 10-20 Spells.
but 300+ Spells? Fuck off no.
Well its not like every character in harry potter knows every spell innately. That's why there's a school.
Nor do they cast them perfectly purely by instinct. There's proper somatic and verbal components that can be flubbed. (leviosaaaa)
So at least in a school setting, everyone would get whatever spells they had been taught by the teachers up to that point in Gen Eds, then practise at whatever Electives they chose, and what they've been doing in their free time.
So, Hermione, General Studies stuff (though flunking divination), snowflake timeturner user but those all got broken by the end of the series so a future equivalent would have to choose, lets say Arithmancy and Advanced Potions the two she liked most because they were learnable by rote, and then spends her spare time Studying (a real minmax player here), seems to be a different thing each semester, not sure the best way to represent that.
Harry, General studies (failing potions, snape's book notwithstanding), electives were Magical Creature Studies and Advanced Defense against Dark because he had a natural talent for them, and quidditch as freetime, so he's an athlete and especially good on a broom.
For adult characters, you just give them everything their schooling would give them by the end, plus Career knowledge. Heck you could even give the kids Future Career, harry's a decent detective even as a child.
So, the only thing left is to decide do you leave everything as specific spells and abilities you pick up at certain events/xp levels/we, or make individual disciplines have a score you roll a check against to know and properly perform the needed action, some checks categorically locked out unless you have a higher tier in said discipline (even you find the ingredients, gen ed level potions is not going to have taught you Felix Felicis)
Honestly, it's got a lot of the same issues as like a Naruto ttrpg would have, except ninjas have a mana bar and specialize much earlier and harder.
You seem to be saying the players are the problem not the systems.