Any suggestions for a Wizard School Campaign? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 aqueus May 04, 2009 22:57:58	I've read Harry Potter and I have an idea as to what goes on in a wizard school, but I can't think of many ways of making it... fun. In short I want to do a campaign that takes the PCs through the paces of being students at the White Lotus Academy. The premise of the campaign is folded several times and is an interweaving web of several plot kernals: 1. a faculty member is upset about not being the headmaster and is plotting to overthrow him by making things dangerous at the school. 2. a secret society seeks to perform a ritual, but it requires a lot of preparation, including one blood sacrifice. 3-5. several little things are planned like impromptu combats which act as the teacher's pop quizzes, scavenger hunts (any suggestions on what items to include are welcome). It sounds like I have everything together, but I have a simple problem: What do I do between these events unfolding? These characters ARE students, how should I handle classes and the schedules inherent therein? In order to ameliorate some of the hassle I declared that they are all, regardless of class, part of the 'initiate class' and thus they are all lumped together and they have classes together. I'm also curious about skill challenges. I'd really like to throw exactly 1 or 2 challenges into the campaign, but I can't think of a way of working it in. Any suggestions? Summary: Setting: White Lotus Academy Problem: I have lots of ideas on what is going on around the players, but I can't come up with any fun ideas on how to handle classes. Problem: Any suggestions on an arcane scavenger hunt? I was thinking that this could be a skill challenge, depending on how the players went through it. Something like diplomacy check: I ask the master of the arboretum if he could point a student over to some Kingsblood, etc. Any other potential pitfalls you guys think I might come across?
#2 darkbane235 May 05, 2009 0:20:45	I would consider taking those larger story lines and sort of extending them into broader adventures. Lets look at Harry Potter as an example. In the first book, there was a lot of back story. Figuring out he was a wizard, why he was so well known, etc. He got his magical items, went to classes, met friends, and learned some wizardry. But the overarching plotline was that Lord Voldemort was attempting to get access to a secret guarded room for the philosophers stone within the school. The puzzles and encounters at the end of that alone would make a great adventure (some sort of secret guarded area that has magical defenses). A campaign like this seems rather open ended. I think the key would be to surround the school with other interesting "off campus" items of interest. Is the school in a city? In a remote location? Even Hogwarts had the Forest and the Lake that allowed for some leg room in terms of creatures and encounters. Perhaps combat encounters could be made out of defense class. Magically generated monsters that the students learn to practice their magic on. The key is not to make it overly repetitive. Come up with clever scenarios and environments and chalk it up to magic as the reason for it existing. For example, a magically generated fire/lava area where they must face a magically generated dragon. If death gets you down, then the lessons have a failsafe that prevents death. But when you want death to matter, take the students out of the lessons and place them in real danger. It might help if you draw out a map of the White Lotus Academy. I know there is one given in the article, but try to look outside of the Academy, and even underneath it. Add a secret catacomb and passageway that has been locked away for years. Expand the setting to a broader scope. Are there other schools that visit? Perhaps you go to visit them in unique locals. Skill challenges will work wonders in this setting. You should aim to allow every skill to help. Thievery and stealth you sneak into one of the professor's quarters to access their secret stash of a rare herb. Athletics you swim into the lake to procure a rock from the bottom, quite a feat for a lake so deap. Stuff like that (for a scavenger hunt). Really you have almost no limits because you can just chalk it up to magic. Good luck with the campaign. I hope i've helped a little.
#3 gregt_314 May 05, 2009 1:26:38	The problem with the wizard school game, at least from the perspective of doing it Harry Potter-style, is the problem of the passive nature of film and literature versus the active nature of roleplaying. Harry Potter works because Harry and his friends are essentially passive children. They sit there and they do their normal thing and they wait for all the big bad guys to come looking for them. They make no serious attempt to go looking for reliable records of Voldemort's last attack, they never make a serious attempt to quiz Dumbledore or Snape on the issue, they don't do any independent magical research, and they don't seem to spend any of their spare time actively hunting down Deatheaters or other such villains. Try that crap with players and see how far it gets. Your players will be breaking into Dumbledore's study on Day One and will be perfectly happy to get expelled from Hogwart's "if that's what it takes". They'll be duelling Snape to the death before you can say "excruciatis" and recruiting Haggrid to train the other students into a spell-throwing griffon-riding aerial cavalry by the end of your first session. You'll have to fundamentally structure your campaign to rely on this kind of pro-active adventuring, rather than fearing it, or you'll have players bucking your story every step of the way.
#4 Fireclave May 05, 2009 3:49:36	First, everything GregT_314 said. Second, this idea reminds of the PS2 game Mana Khemia (it's an overall meh CRPG, but might be worth checking out for ideas). The major premise of the game was that the protagonists are students of a three year (or four, can't remember) alchemy (read: magic) school. While it's always alluded that the characters take part in all of the mundanities of campus life, including daily classes, tests, homework, and the like, most of that is handwaved. The bulk of the player-oriented action occurs during bigger events, such as hands-on final assignments or campus events. A bit more detail Assignments basically broke down as thus: Field work. Many of the lessons were to teach students where and how to collect ingredients. The island on which the campus resides host a variety of environments, many of which are dangerous and restricted only to advanced students. Create a specific item (a big part of the game), which would require students to obtain the necessary ingredient from all over the island that includes the campus. Slay monsters or master combat skills. In addition to learning alchemy, alchemists are taught how to fight to both prepare combat monsters in the often dangerous places then must venture to collect ingredients as well as for self-defense against those who would seek to misuse their gifts. There were also story-related events that served to advance the plot, as well as character specific side-quests that help explore each character's personality. Summer break and school festivals included such dramas as your friends getting kidnapped, battle tournaments, and independent research that takes the players to a dragon's graveyard (complete with a dragon fight, of course)
#5 aqueus May 05, 2009 15:42:38	Everything mentioned so far has helped a great deal. Thank you all. I think I will approach the game in that way. It makes for a bit of dramatic deflation, but I think I'll gloss over the boring parts of the day, and reorient the players in the later parts of the evening, during 'final exams', 'field classes', etc. And thanks for mentioning those ideas! I probably would have been ambushed by stuff like that if you hadn't clued me in. I'll have to pare down the players options (originally I had planned a great deal), in order to keep them operating within some semblance of forward motion. Any other tips on handling a murder/mystery-style campaign? I realize that I'm going to need to keep a tight leash on the players, otherwise they might start dueling Snape on their first day. Maybe some healthy fear would keep them in check... (I doubt it) Likewise, I'm looking for any minor things that might add to the campaign. I had already prepared to include a couple of 'secret societies' in order to provoke the players into investigating other ways to make their characters grow. Thanks again for everything you guys have mentioned.
#6 gregt_314 May 05, 2009 18:16:16	Any other tips on handling a murder/mystery-style campaign? If it's 4E, restrict acccess to rituals! Anything that allows you to see the past, talk to the dead, detect alignment, discern truth, or scry is absolute poison to a mystery game. If it's 3.5 you're in worse luck still as these are all spells; you may have to excise them from the game in some way. Also, Harry Potter to the contrary, don't let your players turn invisible in this kind of game. Harry is a bit of a dunce and never really uses this power to its fullest; your players are smarter and will break every last bit of your plotline with it.
#7 Fireclave May 07, 2009 0:33:33	Something else you might also want to think about is to what end are your players enrolling in this magic school. By default (in both 3e and 4e), 1st level PCs are already Awesome(tm). While they may not be the best in their fields or anywhere near the pinnacle of their powers, they are fully trained professionals. The very fact that they have PC class levels puts them leaps and bounds ahead of commoners and rabble. So the question to ask is, why are the PC enrolled in the White Lotus Academy? What do they hope to gain or accomplish? This end-goal(s?) is something that you can possibly weave into the overarching story. A few possible ideas: 1) Higher Learning. There are wizards. And then there are WLA Wizards. Training from the WLA has the potential to put a caster far ahead of their peers, and the school houses the brightest, and most ambitious scientific minds of any other recognized educational institution, and their libraries house many unique, complex, and powerful rituals, spells and theories. Nice if the prospect of extra shiny custom rituals and the like appeal to your players. 2) Commercial Guild Membership. Practicing spellcasters are required, by either law, custom, or economic monopoly, to be licensed and approved by the WLA. There's some good roleplaying material if your players like the idea of an business-based campaign. 3) Military Membership. The country's military requires their spellcasters to be especially well trained in both academics and combat as they often hold high positions as military leaders, advisers, and make head special investigative branches (think Full Metal Alchemist). Entry into the spellcasting branch of the military requires approval by the WLA. This is a good option if you're considering an military or mercenary campaign after the school campaign is over. 4) Cabal Membership. WLA is the gateway to prestigious (and some not so prestigious) spellcasting organizations and the secrets and techniques unique to them. This is a good option for introducing prestige classes/paragon paths, guilds, or organizations. Another thing to ask yourself is, what kind of people besides PCs and other NPCs of similar power attend this school. Is the WTA a school that casters only to PC-classed characters? Does the WTA also serve as an public education institution that teaches the mundane topics? Does the WTA distinguish between dabblers (read: magewrghts) and professional casters. Does the school cater to a specific social, economic, or racial caste? These things might not affect the PCs directly, but they can add to the overall feel of the setting.

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

aqueus

May 04, 2009 22:57:58

I've read Harry Potter and I have an idea as to what goes on in a wizard school, but I can't think of many ways of making it... fun.

In short I want to do a campaign that takes the PCs through the paces of being students at the White Lotus Academy.

The premise of the campaign is folded several times and is an interweaving web of several plot kernals: 1. a faculty member is upset about not being the headmaster and is plotting to overthrow him by making things dangerous at the school. 2. a secret society seeks to perform a ritual, but it requires a *lot* of preparation, including one blood sacrifice. 3-5. several little things are planned like impromptu combats which act as the teacher's pop quizzes, scavenger hunts (any suggestions on what items to include are welcome).

It *sounds* like I have everything together, but I have a simple problem: What do I do *between* these events unfolding? These characters ARE students, how should I handle classes and the schedules inherent therein?

In order to ameliorate some of the hassle I declared that they are all, regardless of class, part of the 'initiate class' and thus they are all lumped together and they have classes together.

I'm also curious about skill challenges. I'd *really* like to throw exactly 1 or 2 challenges into the campaign, but I can't think of a way of working it in. Any suggestions?

Summary:

Setting: White Lotus Academy
Problem: I have lots of ideas on what is going on around the players, but I can't come up with any fun ideas on how to handle classes.
Problem: Any suggestions on an arcane scavenger hunt? I was thinking that this could be a skill challenge, depending on how the players went through it. Something like *diplomacy check:* I ask the master of the arboretum if he could point a student over to some Kingsblood, etc.

Any other potential pitfalls you guys think I might come across?

darkbane235

May 05, 2009 0:20:45

I would consider taking those larger story lines and sort of extending them into broader adventures. Lets look at Harry Potter as an example.

In the first book, there was a lot of back story. Figuring out he was a wizard, why he was so well known, etc. He got his magical items, went to classes, met friends, and learned some wizardry. But the overarching plotline was that Lord Voldemort was attempting to get access to a secret guarded room for the philosophers stone within the school. The puzzles and encounters at the end of that alone would make a great adventure (some sort of secret guarded area that has magical defenses).

A campaign like this seems rather open ended. I think the key would be to surround the school with other interesting "off campus" items of interest. Is the school in a city? In a remote location? Even Hogwarts had the Forest and the Lake that allowed for some leg room in terms of creatures and encounters.

Perhaps combat encounters could be made out of defense class. Magically generated monsters that the students learn to practice their magic on. The key is not to make it overly repetitive. Come up with clever scenarios and environments and chalk it up to magic as the reason for it existing. For example, a magically generated fire/lava area where they must face a magically generated dragon. If death gets you down, then the lessons have a failsafe that prevents death. But when you want death to matter, take the students out of the lessons and place them in real danger.

It might help if you draw out a map of the White Lotus Academy. I know there is one given in the article, but try to look outside of the Academy, and even underneath it. Add a secret catacomb and passageway that has been locked away for years. Expand the setting to a broader scope. Are there other schools that visit? Perhaps you go to visit them in unique locals.

Skill challenges will work wonders in this setting. You should aim to allow every skill to help. Thievery and stealth you sneak into one of the professor's quarters to access their secret stash of a rare herb. Athletics you swim into the lake to procure a rock from the bottom, quite a feat for a lake so deap. Stuff like that (for a scavenger hunt). Really you have almost no limits because you can just chalk it up to magic.

Good luck with the campaign. I hope i've helped a little.

gregt_314

May 05, 2009 1:26:38

The problem with the wizard school game, at least from the perspective of doing it Harry Potter-style, is the problem of the passive nature of film and literature versus the active nature of roleplaying.

Harry Potter works because Harry and his friends are essentially passive children. They sit there and they do their normal thing and they wait for all the big bad guys to come looking for them. They make no serious attempt to go looking for reliable records of Voldemort's last attack, they never make a serious attempt to quiz Dumbledore or Snape on the issue, they don't do any independent magical research, and they don't seem to spend any of their spare time actively hunting down Deatheaters or other such villains.

Try that crap with players and see how far it gets. Your players will be breaking into Dumbledore's study on Day One and will be perfectly happy to get expelled from Hogwart's "if that's what it takes". They'll be duelling Snape to the death before you can say "excruciatis" and recruiting Haggrid to train the other students into a spell-throwing griffon-riding aerial cavalry by the end of your first session.

You'll have to fundamentally structure your campaign to rely on this kind of pro-active adventuring, rather than fearing it, or you'll have players bucking your story every step of the way.

Fireclave

May 05, 2009 3:49:36

First, everything GregT_314 said.

Second, this idea reminds of the PS2 game Mana Khemia (it's an overall meh CRPG, but might be worth checking out for ideas). The major premise of the game was that the protagonists are students of a three year (or four, can't remember) alchemy (read: magic) school. While it's always alluded that the characters take part in all of the mundanities of campus life, including daily classes, tests, homework, and the like, most of that is handwaved. The bulk of the player-oriented action occurs during bigger events, such as hands-on final assignments or campus events.

A bit more detail

Assignments basically broke down as thus:

Field work. Many of the lessons were to teach students where and how to collect ingredients. The island on which the campus resides host a variety of environments, many of which are dangerous and restricted only to advanced students.

Create a specific item (a big part of the game), which would require students to obtain the necessary ingredient from all over the island that includes the campus.

Slay monsters or master combat skills. In addition to learning alchemy, alchemists are taught how to fight to both prepare combat monsters in the often dangerous places then must venture to collect ingredients as well as for self-defense against those who would seek to misuse their gifts.

There were also story-related events that served to advance the plot, as well as character specific side-quests that help explore each character's personality. Summer break and school festivals included such dramas as your friends getting kidnapped, battle tournaments, and independent research that takes the players to a dragon's graveyard (complete with a dragon fight, of course)

aqueus

May 05, 2009 15:42:38

Everything mentioned so far has helped a great deal. Thank you all. I think I will approach the game in that way.

It makes for a bit of dramatic deflation, but I think I'll gloss over the boring parts of the day, and reorient the players in the later parts of the evening, during 'final exams', 'field classes', etc.

And thanks for mentioning those ideas! I probably would have been ambushed by stuff like that if you hadn't clued me in. I'll have to pare down the players options (originally I had planned a great deal), in order to keep them operating within some semblance of forward motion.

Any other tips on handling a murder/mystery-style campaign? I realize that I'm going to need to keep a tight leash on the players, otherwise they might start dueling Snape on their first day. Maybe some healthy fear would keep them in check... (I doubt it)

Likewise, I'm looking for any minor things that might add to the campaign. I had already prepared to include a couple of 'secret societies' in order to provoke the players into investigating other ways to make their characters grow.

Thanks again for everything you guys have mentioned.

gregt_314

May 05, 2009 18:16:16

Any other tips on handling a murder/mystery-style campaign?

If it's 4E, restrict acccess to rituals! Anything that allows you to see the past, talk to the dead, detect alignment, discern truth, or scry is absolute poison to a mystery game. If it's 3.5 you're in worse luck still as these are all spells; you may have to excise them from the game in some way.

Also, Harry Potter to the contrary, don't let your players turn invisible in this kind of game. Harry is a bit of a dunce and never really uses this power to its fullest; your players are smarter and will break every last bit of your plotline with it.

Fireclave

May 07, 2009 0:33:33

Something else you might also want to think about is to what end are your players enrolling in this magic school. By default (in both 3e and 4e), 1st level PCs are already Awesome(tm). While they may not be the best in their fields or anywhere near the pinnacle of their powers, they are fully trained professionals. The very fact that they have PC class levels puts them leaps and bounds ahead of commoners and rabble.

So the question to ask is, why are the PC enrolled in the White Lotus Academy? What do they hope to gain or accomplish? This end-goal(s?) is something that you can possibly weave into the overarching story.

A few possible ideas:

1) Higher Learning. There are wizards. And then there are WLA Wizards. Training from the WLA has the potential to put a caster far ahead of their peers, and the school houses the brightest, and most ambitious scientific minds of any other recognized educational institution, and their libraries house many unique, complex, and powerful rituals, spells and theories. Nice if the prospect of extra shiny custom rituals and the like appeal to your players.

2) Commercial Guild Membership. Practicing spellcasters are required, by either law, custom, or economic monopoly, to be licensed and approved by the WLA. There's some good roleplaying material if your players like the idea of an business-based campaign.

3) Military Membership. The country's military requires their spellcasters to be especially well trained in both academics and combat as they often hold high positions as military leaders, advisers, and make head special investigative branches (think Full Metal Alchemist). Entry into the spellcasting branch of the military requires approval by the WLA. This is a good option if you're considering an military or mercenary campaign after the school campaign is over.

4) Cabal Membership. WLA is the gateway to prestigious (and some not so prestigious) spellcasting organizations and the secrets and techniques unique to them. This is a good option for introducing prestige classes/paragon paths, guilds, or organizations.

Another thing to ask yourself is, what kind of people besides PCs and other NPCs of similar power attend this school. Is the WTA a school that casters only to PC-classed characters? Does the WTA also serve as an public education institution that teaches the mundane topics? Does the WTA distinguish between dabblers (read: magewrghts) and professional casters. Does the school cater to a specific social, economic, or racial caste?

These things might not affect the PCs directly, but they can add to the overall feel of the setting.