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Adventuring Academy

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
AdmiralRanger
Aug 03, 2011 2:18:47 Recently I was rereading the Harry Potter books and came up with the idea of a adventuring academy based loosely on Hogwarts and (possibily) much more loosely on the CHERUB campus. I am looking for any ideas, critisisms and similar. Paticularly I am working on the curiculum, staff and grounds. What I have got so far is below.

Core Subgects (those that you automatically take)
Sword fighting
Archery
Unarmed combat
Riding (horses)
Swimming
Monster studies
Dungeoneering
Trap studies
Survival
Knot work
First aid (up to three ranks heal)

Optional Subjects
Advanced Unarmed combat (monk type abilities)
Inflitration (rouge abilities)
Divinity
Wizardry
Druidic studies (for those who are already invested as druids.)
Bardic Music
Poetry
History
Geography
Cooking (basic cooking is covered in survival)
Medicine (as many ranks heal as you wish)

The only decision I have made regarding the grounds is that the dungeons are far more extensive than in Harry Potter.
#2
DeathByDonut
Aug 15, 2011 16:56:34 To what end?
#3
donatocamino
Aug 15, 2011 17:53:16 Sounds a good idea, but it has to be done with the right group.

Personaly I would love to do it just because I'm a Harry Potter fan, but most of player don't see it like a fun stuff, even to childish to do.

I would be boring in the end, one of the things that make Harr Potter books exciting is the story behind Voldemort, the past of Harry and his family and oviously Snape, and all the stuff behind being in a magic school, so to be honest, it would be fun the first couple nights, but lacking of a compleing story, even a simple "catch the bad guy" would be boring, and, you could have bad guys and stuff, and strange creatures atacking the school, but I don't think I would be a great D&D experience.

One other thing you could try is a magic academy for a setting, that work well and you can have the player characters leaving the safe envirorment of the school for the hostil and frightening world.

Good luck nevertheless.
#4
DeathByDonut
Aug 15, 2011 22:24:00 I agree. Without a proper story structure behind the Academy there really doesn't seem a point to it all. While I am a big fan of sandbox D&D games, it just doesn't seem like a drive to it all, and Harry Potter was written very much as an overview or summary to the what was happening in the story.

Personally I don't believe many players would enjoy going to class every session with their characters (especially if they are in school in real life) to learn the basics of adventuring. It reminds me much of the original Fable story line. You are in the Hero Guild learning how to adventure to become a famous hero, and the real reason you keep doing it was because there was a motivating story compelling you onwards.

I can see the allure as a DM of wanting a ready made setting like that you can have always ready for whatever reason as background material and hooks to pull from, one with a rich history and cast of characters you can use all the time. However to use that as a permanent story location and expect the players to react to the setting the way you've reacted as a DM to the idea are quite different.

It's what I like to call the DM attraction. The basic tenants of DM attraction is a fantastic idea full of flavor and intrigue that an idea that seems amazing in your head and something you just have to put into your campaign, but it doesn't come across the players the same way whatsoever.

[sblock DM attraction example] I remember in my last game that I played in, my DM put in a magical demiplane that randomly appeared in different places. We would notice arcane symbols on the ground, if we would follow the runes on the ground it would lead us out about a half an hour in the middle of no where away from any road straight to what is best described as a fetid shack in the middle of a field (or sand dunes, or arctic tundra, whatever locale we happen to be in.) the shack itself other than being pretty raggedy it was otherwise unassuming. When we walked into the shack we were assaulted by many nauseating smells and an creepy but eager devil salesman. Back story on the devil was that he was banished to the demiplane for betraying his superior, which hints have revealed to be Asmodeus himself, normally betrayal is expected to some degree from a devil, but it seemed like it was really really bad.

Inside the shack which is much bigger than the shack looked from the outside, were body parts hanging all over from hooks, others in jars from many different species. Yet the devil was friendly. He was a merchant through and through. He was invulnerable in the demiplane and couldn't leave, but he has some control over the plane itself and it blended seamlessly with whatever plane he was luring people from, he could also block people from leaving people could walk outward from the shack and regardless how long we walked, whenever we'd look back towards the shack we would be only a 100 feet or so away. The arcane runes we followed into the plane we realized spelled "Make deal to leave, all sales final."

The devil inside the shack was an amazing magical item crafter who traded magical items (the DM said he had or could make any magic item available from any source aside from artifacts) he crafted for souls, body parts and materials. My DM was in love with the idea and thought it was the most clever thing he ever devised, but it had nothing to do with anything else other than a fun little point of interest to distract us from our quests. First time we came across the shack we tried to kill the devil which ended with one party member dead, and we bribed the devil (since we didn't know the rules, we didn't think to read the runes on the way in) with all the gold the dead player had just to leave.

Next time was a couple weeks later we came across the same glowing symbols and the DM was kind enough to point out that our wizard could read them. So we followed them back in hoping none of us would die this time. That visit ended with our rogue trading our fighter's soul (who was a fervent worshiper of Kord) to be collected at a later date to the devil for an overpowered magical weapon and armor combo. The wizard tried to trade one of his arms for a high level ritual scroll, but the Warlock talked him out of it, and the Fighter tried to trade the Warlock for a whole set of amazing equipment, but the party threatened to kill the Fighter if he went through with the deal, then we left disheartened, spirits broken and our team dynamic severely damaged with only a couple magical trinkets. It's amazing what some people will trade for the option of any magic item available to them for the right price. [/sblock]

That is just my recent example of DM attraction. A really cool idea (a demiplane with a trapped devil that trades any magic items for souls, people, and parts.) but overall it almost destroyed the party twice. Not that all DM attraction ends that way, other times it may just be a subtle idea that you throw in there, and either no one notices or no one cares.

Most of the time if it doesn't directly involve the characters in or around a story, it's not worth putting in unless you have a specific purpose for it or just like having that flavor as backup for later adventures.

Best of luck and happy DMing.
#5
jetshield
Aug 16, 2011 11:09:33 This actually sounds like a fun way to create characters, and give the players an overview of the world from the viewpoint of it's inhabitants. Start the characters as youngsters and have their stats, skills, and personalities evolve through the story. They get to face some danger, solve puzzles, interact with people both in and out of the academy, and maybe discover a few secrets they're not really supposed to know over the course of a couple sessions (how long depends on how much your players are enjoying the setting). When they're done, they're full-fledged adventurers ready to go forth and ... do what adventurers do best.

I like the idea. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to steal it from you. In the case of my group, the players won't know what class or skills they'll end up with going into it. That'll be dependent on how well each specific character does in each class. Of course, I'll leave the option to retake specific classes open in case they really have their heart set on a particular skill.
#6
AdmiralRanger
Aug 25, 2011 11:19:49 In responce to your concernes I have written a plot.
Their is a side plot of rivalary between the four houses, one associated with physical combat, one with magic, one with healing and one with stealth. Filler will be provided from Dungeonering lessons in the dungeons, hedge maze and forests, other lessons may provide some lesser filler.
The main plot revolves around the former use of the school. For centuries the school was a castle used as a fortress by a sucession of tyrants, mad sorcerers and beholders. The place accumulated too much taint (see heroes of horror if interested) for the King and his armies to keep it free from monsters for long until a band of adventurers defeated the most recent mad sorcerer to hold the castle. The King granted them control of the castle in gratitude as it was pretty valuless anyway. Much to the king's suprise they found a way to remove the taint and used it to set up a school for adventurers. The sorcerer's fabled armour was stolen by a band of goblins who fled into the dungeons where they were ambushed by a band of Drow and over time the armour was lost and scattered. Now the dungeonering teacher is getting his pupils to reassemble the armour as a challenge. What few realise is that the armour is not just magical but the key to the ritual to resurect the sorcerer.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 AdmiralRanger Aug 03, 2011 2:18:47	Recently I was rereading the Harry Potter books and came up with the idea of a adventuring academy based loosely on Hogwarts and (possibily) much more loosely on the CHERUB campus. I am looking for any ideas, critisisms and similar. Paticularly I am working on the curiculum, staff and grounds. What I have got so far is below. Core Subgects (those that you automatically take) Sword fighting Archery Unarmed combat Riding (horses) Swimming Monster studies Dungeoneering Trap studies Survival Knot work First aid (up to three ranks heal) Optional Subjects Advanced Unarmed combat (monk type abilities) Inflitration (rouge abilities) Divinity Wizardry Druidic studies (for those who are already invested as druids.) Bardic Music Poetry History Geography Cooking (basic cooking is covered in survival) Medicine (as many ranks heal as you wish) The only decision I have made regarding the grounds is that the dungeons are far more extensive than in Harry Potter.
#2 DeathByDonut Aug 15, 2011 16:56:34	To what end?
#3 donatocamino Aug 15, 2011 17:53:16	Sounds a good idea, but it has to be done with the right group. Personaly I would love to do it just because I'm a Harry Potter fan, but most of player don't see it like a fun stuff, even to childish to do. I would be boring in the end, one of the things that make Harr Potter books exciting is the story behind Voldemort, the past of Harry and his family and oviously Snape, and all the stuff behind being in a magic school, so to be honest, it would be fun the first couple nights, but lacking of a compleing story, even a simple "catch the bad guy" would be boring, and, you could have bad guys and stuff, and strange creatures atacking the school, but I don't think I would be a great D&D experience. One other thing you could try is a magic academy for a setting, that work well and you can have the player characters leaving the safe envirorment of the school for the hostil and frightening world. Good luck nevertheless.
#4 DeathByDonut Aug 15, 2011 22:24:00	I agree. Without a proper story structure behind the Academy there really doesn't seem a point to it all. While I am a big fan of sandbox D&D games, it just doesn't seem like a drive to it all, and Harry Potter was written very much as an overview or summary to the what was happening in the story. Personally I don't believe many players would enjoy going to class every session with their characters (especially if they are in school in real life) to learn the basics of adventuring. It reminds me much of the original Fable story line. You are in the Hero Guild learning how to adventure to become a famous hero, and the real reason you keep doing it was because there was a motivating story compelling you onwards. I can see the allure as a DM of wanting a ready made setting like that you can have always ready for whatever reason as background material and hooks to pull from, one with a rich history and cast of characters you can use all the time. However to use that as a permanent story location and expect the players to react to the setting the way you've reacted as a DM to the idea are quite different. It's what I like to call the DM attraction. The basic tenants of DM attraction is a fantastic idea full of flavor and intrigue that an idea that seems amazing in your head and something you just have to put into your campaign, but it doesn't come across the players the same way whatsoever. [sblock DM attraction example] I remember in my last game that I played in, my DM put in a magical demiplane that randomly appeared in different places. We would notice arcane symbols on the ground, if we would follow the runes on the ground it would lead us out about a half an hour in the middle of no where away from any road straight to what is best described as a fetid shack in the middle of a field (or sand dunes, or arctic tundra, whatever locale we happen to be in.) the shack itself other than being pretty raggedy it was otherwise unassuming. When we walked into the shack we were assaulted by many nauseating smells and an creepy but eager devil salesman. Back story on the devil was that he was banished to the demiplane for betraying his superior, which hints have revealed to be Asmodeus himself, normally betrayal is expected to some degree from a devil, but it seemed like it was really really bad. Inside the shack which is much bigger than the shack looked from the outside, were body parts hanging all over from hooks, others in jars from many different species. Yet the devil was friendly. He was a merchant through and through. He was invulnerable in the demiplane and couldn't leave, but he has some control over the plane itself and it blended seamlessly with whatever plane he was luring people from, he could also block people from leaving people could walk outward from the shack and regardless how long we walked, whenever we'd look back towards the shack we would be only a 100 feet or so away. The arcane runes we followed into the plane we realized spelled "Make deal to leave, all sales final." The devil inside the shack was an amazing magical item crafter who traded magical items (the DM said he had or could make any magic item available from any source aside from artifacts) he crafted for souls, body parts and materials. My DM was in love with the idea and thought it was the most clever thing he ever devised, but it had nothing to do with anything else other than a fun little point of interest to distract us from our quests. First time we came across the shack we tried to kill the devil which ended with one party member dead, and we bribed the devil (since we didn't know the rules, we didn't think to read the runes on the way in) with all the gold the dead player had just to leave. Next time was a couple weeks later we came across the same glowing symbols and the DM was kind enough to point out that our wizard could read them. So we followed them back in hoping none of us would die this time. That visit ended with our rogue trading our fighter's soul (who was a fervent worshiper of Kord) to be collected at a later date to the devil for an overpowered magical weapon and armor combo. The wizard tried to trade one of his arms for a high level ritual scroll, but the Warlock talked him out of it, and the Fighter tried to trade the Warlock for a whole set of amazing equipment, but the party threatened to kill the Fighter if he went through with the deal, then we left disheartened, spirits broken and our team dynamic severely damaged with only a couple magical trinkets. It's amazing what some people will trade for the option of any magic item available to them for the right price. [/sblock] That is just my recent example of DM attraction. A really cool idea (a demiplane with a trapped devil that trades any magic items for souls, people, and parts.) but overall it almost destroyed the party twice. Not that all DM attraction ends that way, other times it may just be a subtle idea that you throw in there, and either no one notices or no one cares. Most of the time if it doesn't directly involve the characters in or around a story, it's not worth putting in unless you have a specific purpose for it or just like having that flavor as backup for later adventures. Best of luck and happy DMing.
#5 jetshield Aug 16, 2011 11:09:33	This actually sounds like a fun way to create characters, and give the players an overview of the world from the viewpoint of it's inhabitants. Start the characters as youngsters and have their stats, skills, and personalities evolve through the story. They get to face some danger, solve puzzles, interact with people both in and out of the academy, and maybe discover a few secrets they're not really supposed to know over the course of a couple sessions (how long depends on how much your players are enjoying the setting). When they're done, they're full-fledged adventurers ready to go forth and ... do what adventurers do best. I like the idea. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to steal it from you. In the case of my group, the players won't know what class or skills they'll end up with going into it. That'll be dependent on how well each specific character does in each class. Of course, I'll leave the option to retake specific classes open in case they really have their heart set on a particular skill.
#6 AdmiralRanger Aug 25, 2011 11:19:49	In responce to your concernes I have written a plot. Their is a side plot of rivalary between the four houses, one associated with physical combat, one with magic, one with healing and one with stealth. Filler will be provided from Dungeonering lessons in the dungeons, hedge maze and forests, other lessons may provide some lesser filler. The main plot revolves around the former use of the school. For centuries the school was a castle used as a fortress by a sucession of tyrants, mad sorcerers and beholders. The place accumulated too much taint (see heroes of horror if interested) for the King and his armies to keep it free from monsters for long until a band of adventurers defeated the most recent mad sorcerer to hold the castle. The King granted them control of the castle in gratitude as it was pretty valuless anyway. Much to the king's suprise they found a way to remove the taint and used it to set up a school for adventurers. The sorcerer's fabled armour was stolen by a band of goblins who fled into the dungeons where they were ambushed by a band of Drow and over time the armour was lost and scattered. Now the dungeonering teacher is getting his pupils to reassemble the armour as a challenge. What few realise is that the armour is not just magical but the key to the ritual to resurect the sorcerer.