In a couple months I’ll be putting together a third adventure for my partners kids, 8 and 10 years old. They are both elves, one is a wizard and one a sorcerer. Last campaign was focused on being in their characters home town.
now, they are playing characters that are basically there actual ages. They are also both fans of Harry Potter. So naturally their characters go to school where they learn magic.
They are thoughtful enough to understand that it’s difficult and a ton of work for me to build an entire school in perfect detail and control 30 or so classmates and a teacher and make lesson plans and all that, thankfully 😅, but they are interested in playing out what there classes are like, possibly having friends, along with standard kid mischief.
though it’s not where I thought things would go I totally get it and am seeing this as an opportunity to grow. But it is feeling like a lot. I’ve seen the Harry Potter movies, and liked them at the time, but never read the books and honestly not interested in going through the movies again, more of a LOTR kinda person.
ANYWAY, wondering if anyone has built a school or classroom before and have any tips or resources on how to get started. What’s important, what’s not. really appreciate it!
I would really recommend skimming the Harry Potter books, mainly book 1 (That's where Harry actually goes to class for the first time.) Or heading to the Wizarding World (https://www.wizardingworld.com/) and finding articles with facts about the classes! It would be worth it just skimming the first book (It gives the most detail on the beginning of school!)
You could hit one of the HP fan pages. They may have the layout of Hogwarts. Or think of a real school. Lunchroom is need but generally not thought. Or if you remember, sketch out the floorplan of your Highschool.
I find that it is easier for me to adapt existing material or resources. With that in mind, you might want to consider The Redhurst Academy of Magic which was written for the d20 system under the open gaming license. It contains everything you are likely to need from maps and descriptions of the school through classes, sports, and faculty. There is even a school store. When my husband ran this (It was for a group whose youngest player was 8 at the time) the most popular aspects were choosing/having familiars and competing in various contests. There is even an official 'Student Record Sheet' you can use to track their progress. A free pdf minus the d20rules and the Dungeon Masters secrets is available here: https://www.forbeck.com/downloads/RAMPG.pdf
I'm +1 to the HP review. Not my thing either, but especially at that age they'll likely take to the game faster or more delight if they're "reliving" elements of the films. I mean, you could have their books blown into Hagrid's forest (it's his, sort of, right?) and they just have to spend their wits contending with the various denizens.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
In a couple months I’ll be putting together a third adventure for my partners kids, 8 and 10 years old. They are both elves, one is a wizard and one a sorcerer. Last campaign was focused on being in their characters home town.
now, they are playing characters that are basically there actual ages. They are also both fans of Harry Potter. So naturally their characters go to school where they learn magic.
They are thoughtful enough to understand that it’s difficult and a ton of work for me to build an entire school in perfect detail and control 30 or so classmates and a teacher and make lesson plans and all that, thankfully 😅, but they are interested in playing out what there classes are like, possibly having friends, along with standard kid mischief.
though it’s not where I thought things would go I totally get it and am seeing this as an opportunity to grow. But it is feeling like a lot. I’ve seen the Harry Potter movies, and liked them at the time, but never read the books and honestly not interested in going through the movies again, more of a LOTR kinda person.
ANYWAY, wondering if anyone has built a school or classroom before and have any tips or resources on how to get started. What’s important, what’s not. really appreciate it!
I would really recommend skimming the Harry Potter books, mainly book 1 (That's where Harry actually goes to class for the first time.) Or heading to the Wizarding World (https://www.wizardingworld.com/) and finding articles with facts about the classes! It would be worth it just skimming the first book (It gives the most detail on the beginning of school!)
Have fun with that Campaign!
You could hit one of the HP fan pages. They may have the layout of Hogwarts. Or think of a real school. Lunchroom is need but generally not thought. Or if you remember, sketch out the floorplan of your Highschool.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I find that it is easier for me to adapt existing material or resources.
With that in mind, you might want to consider The Redhurst Academy of Magic which was written for the d20 system under the open gaming license. It contains everything you are likely to need from maps and descriptions of the school through classes, sports, and faculty. There is even a school store. When my husband ran this (It was for a group whose youngest player was 8 at the time) the most popular aspects were choosing/having familiars and competing in various contests. There is even an official 'Student Record Sheet' you can use to track their progress.
A free pdf minus the d20rules and the Dungeon Masters secrets is available here: https://www.forbeck.com/downloads/RAMPG.pdf
Thank you very much!
I'm +1 to the HP review. Not my thing either, but especially at that age they'll likely take to the game faster or more delight if they're "reliving" elements of the films. I mean, you could have their books blown into Hagrid's forest (it's his, sort of, right?) and they just have to spend their wits contending with the various denizens.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Thank you very much!!