[PF] Statting Harry Potter

[Bovine Colonel]

I'm gonna be running a solo campaign with my younger brother and he's expressed interest in playing a character that's pretty well a copy of Harry Potter. Since this is his first game I'll be building his character. How would I go about this?

Any level's fine. Standard WBL, average (rounded up) HP.

[Greenish]

I'd go with a Sorcerer. Level depends on which point of the canon he'd be. Arcane Bloodline would make sense fluff-wise, but not by the abilities.

[Edit]: Well, I guess apart from Identify, arcane bloodline would actually fit pretty well.

[Lord.Sorasen]

I'd go with a Sorcerer. Level depends on which point of the canon he'd be. Arcane Bloodline would make sense fluff-wise, but not by the abilities.

It might be a pretty weak bloodline, but perhaps destined?

If you did go with arcane, I could see an owl familiar as maybe being a thing.

[Tvtyrant]

Staff Magus? Then you can refill staffs, so you can spam staff spells without worrying.

[Wyntonian]

Eh, yeah, that magic system fits D&D/PF only slightly better than real-world physics. Sorceror is probably your best bet, and I'm sure PF has some neat archetypes. One idea, if he has spells that need a material component, is to let him substitute in a wand. Just a little flavor switch, he might like it.

[Greenish]

If you did go with arcane, I could see an owl familiar as maybe being a thing.I was thinking Bonded Object for a wand, given the spellcasting in the series.

That said, point-based system such as psionics might be closer to the style of magic in the potterverse, except for the lack of somatic/verbal component.

[Gavinfoxx]

Port in Warlock from 3.5e, and write a bunch of custom spells?

[Bhaakon]

Actually, I'd go bard with a ton of skill points in UMD.

[onemorelurker]

I recognize that this isn't necessarily the most helpful answer, but you might want to see if there's anything else your brother is interested in playing. As Wyntonian said, HP's magic system translates poorly to D&D/PF, and while I bet you could cobble something together if you tried, I don't think the result would be satisfying for your brother to play--both because he's expecting to play in a way that the system doesn't really support and because his character will probably end up with a reasonably complicated build, which can be intimidating for new players.

If he's set on playing Shmarry Shmotter, ask him which specific abilities he's most interested in his character having. Explain to him that D&D/PF magic works differently than HP magic and that there are something things that will definitely be different, but if he can list a handful of abilities that he's really interested in using, it will be easier to make a character he's happy with.

[Gavinfoxx]

Well, Harry Potter is basically skill based, at will magic system. You make a skill check, you succeed or fail at a particular spell, and eventually you get so good that you generally can't fail at a particular spell.. only one rule set by wotc attempted to do that, and they failed miserably: Truenaming. I would find someone who made a custom magic system for 3.5e that is based on using a skill, with the various spells written up from the books and movies and lore and stuff.

Just look for "Hogwarts D20" or "Harry Potter D20", there are a few systems out there. Some of them look quite nice!

[King Atticus]

I'd actually go Factotum. It gives him all the skills to be all super-sleuth and sneaky and since HP can't really do much magic without a wand you can pimp out UMD. Actual caster classes don't really fit...at all.

[Greenish]

I'd actually go Factotum. It gives him all the skills to be all super-sleuth and sneaky and since HP can't really do much magic without a wand you can pimp out UMD. Actual caster classes don't really fit...at all.I'd have suggested factotum were this for 3.5.

[Ernir]

I think it would be easier for you to learn/improvise a new system than it would be for your brother to see any similarities between magic as it works in Harry Potter and magic as it works in d20. =/

[King Atticus]

I'd have suggested factotum were this for 3.5.

Oh man...never mind me. Apparently I can't read:smallredface:

[Machinekng]

I'd actually make a whole new base class for the HP wizard.

Start with the 3.5 Warlock's chassis. Eldritch Blast is your standard combat hex/jinx/whatever. Essence invocations are other comat spells (like the stunning spell and AK) tha, while operating similar to the standard jinx, have different ablities. Then, look up a Harry Potter wiki, give every spell a spell level and divide them accordingly into the innvocation categories, then convert them accordingly. Replace the Warlock's class features with whatever you see fit (I'd reconmend more invocations.)

There, you have a pretty good approximation of the HP wizard.

[navar100]

I'm gonna be running a solo campaign with my younger brother and he's expressed interest in playing a character that's pretty well a copy of Harry Potter. Since this is his first game I'll be building his character. How would I go about this?

Any level's fine. Standard WBL, average (rounded up) HP.

The problem is the magic system is too different than the way it works in the books. Harry Potter does not prepare spells ahead of time like a wizard. He is not limited in the number of spells known like a sorcerer. Harry Potter does not have a fixed number of spells per day he can cast.

Seriously, how old is your brother? Would he understand the difference between the game rules and the books? Would he be happy just playing a spellcaster even though he can't cast whatever spell he wants whenever he wants?

To better simulate Harry Potter I recommend Ars Magica. You have specific, powerful spells you can learn, but you are also able to make up spell effects when you want. If you are skilled enough in the particular methods (Forms and Techniques), even for the specific powerful spells, you can cast them whenever you want over and over.

You don't need to follow the Ars Magica gameworld in total, though it would make for a good setting where your brother could play Godric Gryffindor as a child who grows up to one day found Hogwarts. Just using the game mechanics is fine and fluff the gameworld as you see fit, even playing modern times with Muggles.

[Gavinfoxx]

Hogwarts D20 / Harry Potter D20!

http://www.freewebs.com/cwnannwn/hogwartsrpg.htm

https://sites.google.com/site/harrypotterd20/

And lo! One of those originated on this very forum!

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161166

[Ancient Mage]

The only magic system in books I've read that translated well to D&D was...Dragonlance. Which was based on D&D anyway.
If you're dead set on a potter character, a new class might work better. Make it dependent on certain wands, and give it a ray spell at will. You can modify this ray spell as you gain higher levels (the cutting ray, the death ray, etc.). Then follow up with giving him a slow spell progression of normal spells that are primarily utility. Magic items should play a major role as well.

If you examine it though, a Potter or Gandalf or Neo or Mr. Spock or any other character from something besides D&D will lose something in the translation. The D&D rules are gritty, a weakling like Potter won't win by luck.

-Ancient Mage
(proud supporter of Gandalf, Raistlin Majere, and the old school wizards)

[Slipperychicken]

If you're not against porting a teensy bit, Wizard with Eidetic Spellcaster, Eschew Materials, Bonded Object(wand). I think Rowling's Wizards/Witches can use very limited magic without wands, so the Concentration DC is appropriate. I imagine him having Alacritous Cogitation/Uncanny Forethought when Recharge Magic variant (UA) is in effect, allowing for nearly at-will casting from his whole list. Money and time spent to learn new spells refluffed as learning it from books and school. Obtain Familiar gets your Owl back.


This allows for a Wizard who looks and behaves a lot like Rowling's Wizards.

[Tyrrell]

You might want to check this out
http://www.memento-mori.com/other/games/broomstix.html
It's an RPG set in the patter setting.

Of course you'll also want to check out ars magica not because it's what you're looking for for this game,but because it is an incredibly great game.

[Dr.Epic]

I'd go with a Sorcerer. Level depends on which point of the canon he'd be. Arcane Bloodline would make sense fluff-wise, but not by the abilities.

Agreed. Harry Potter wizards don't really show much of a high int/wis score.

[Little Brother]

I'd say Str 8/Dex 8-10/Con 10-12/Int 8/wis 8/Cha 12-14 expert with maxed UMD and a LOT of luck feats.

I mean, really. What victory has he had that wasn't totally luck? I'm having trouble finding any that weren't what Random Ally A had or what has covered in one of his classes a week before.