Historic Arcs

Godric Gryffindor and the Forge of Spells

Actual Harry Potter story:

“One (unsubstantiated) legend says that the founders discovered the Pensieve half-buried in the ground on the very spot where they decided to erect their school” - Pottermore

Gryffindor D&D Campaign:

There’s a time turner incident in the hallways of Hogwarts, and our heroes are thrown one-thousand years into the past. Hogwarts is still under construction, and is nothing but a simple schoolhouse for the local city of Hogsmeade. Godric Gryffindor finds them, and he’s an unremarkable dude in his 20s. He reveals that he’s discovered the location of a legendary artifact which can bend “space and time”. He thinks the artifact could help them get back to the future. (Alternative title Back to the Future: HP Edition)

Upon completion of the campaign, and finding the artifact, it turns out to be the Pensieve. Godric uses it (with the help of goblins) to craft the legendary Gryffindor Sword. It’s moved to Hogwarts, and gives the castle its amazing shape-shifting properties (bend space). It is used to craft the first time-turners (bend time). The Pensieve memory-vision is also a time-bend ability. Our heroes can return back to the future.

[They're] running this plot using the “Lost Mines of Phandelver” campaign in the D&D starter set, but it could be used with anything that involves retrieval of a magic artifact.

Source Google Doc

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Helga Hufflepuff and the Goblin Curse [[1]]

Actual Harry Potter story

“Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only bank of the wizarding world, and is owned and operated by goblins. It was created by a goblin called Gringott, in 1474.” - [Potter wiki]

D&D Campaign

In this universe, D&D Dwarves are Harry Potter goblins. But sometimes, civilized goblin societies collapse, losing their intelligence, becoming evil and aggressive. (They become typical D&D goblinoids). Their skin turns green and their eyes red. They’re called “Green Goblins” or “Groblins” for short.

The largest goblin society has collapsed, and it’s right under London. Groblins are attacking muggles, and muggles blame evil wizards for the attack. Wizards have always lived out in the open, allied with muggles against the forces of evil. But these and other recent events have instigated hatred and violence between muggles and wizards. The King of newly-unified England has executed all his magical staff (diviners, goblin treasurer, etc.) and is war is imminent.

Whether the goblins are cursed or sick, (or they dug too greedily and too deep), nobody knows. But Helga Hufflepuff wants the players to find the cause of the sickness, and to try to cure it.

The location becomes the future Gringotts Vaults. If they find a cure and save the goblins, the goblins swear to lend their magic to wizards for all time, and they craft the Hufflepuff Cup for Helga as a thank you. If they kill them all, the Cup is looted from the mine, and the rest of goblin-kind will use the Gringotts Bank to manipulate wizards out of money and power, secretly plotting to someday destroy or overthrow them.

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Salazar Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets[[2]]

Actual Harry Potter story

“Salazar Slytherin was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the former best friend of Godric Gryffindor, a fellow founder. Slytherin didn't trust Muggle-born students, and he expressed his opinion by proposing that they should not be accepted at Hogwarts. However, when the other Hogwarts founders didn't agree, Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets, concealing a basilisk inside. He left the school soon afterwards, never to return and died at some point in the Middle Ages.” - [Potter wiki]

D&D Campaign

Salazar is roleplayed as a sympathetic and likable character, whose family means everything to him. He keeps an image of his wife and child in a locket. He firmly believes that wizards need to go into hiding to protect themselves. (He’s on the “right side of history” on that issue.) He also believes that if any Muggle has knowledge of Hogwarts, the safety and secrecy of the wizarding world will be jeopardized. This is why he wants only purebloods to be admitted to Hogwarts. All of the sophisticated “monitoring technologies” (like the Trace) which allow the secret to be kept in plain sight in the modern world don’t exist yet, and are impossible for him to fathom. It’s like asking a person in the middle ages to envision the internet.

The muggle crackdown on magic and witch hunts has led to the first ever Obscurials, who are all muggle-born. Many wizards begin to hate and fear muggle-borns because of the immense devastation that an Obscurus leaves in its path. Helga wants the players try to save an Obscurus, and Helga starts a secretive underground support network for abused muggle-born kids at risk of developing one.

Godric and Rowena are desperately trying to maintain the unity between wizards and muggles. The players can ally with either side - Godric and Rowena (unity) or Salazar and Helga (secrecy). Insert political intrigue, muggle warrior horde-vs-mage battles, and an Obscurus boss battle.

Salazar is backed into a corner, his wife and child are in danger, and the wizarding world is on the brink of extinction. Desperate, he seeks the aid of a powerful creature who has also foreseen their own species’ inevitable downfall: the chromatic dragons. He makes a deal: He swears allegiance the chromatic dragons, and binds Draconic magic to himself and his bloodline for all time, thereby ensuring that both wizarding and draconic magic will exist in some form forever (Parseltongue is dragon language. The locket features in the ritual in some way.)

Salazar is overwhelmed by dark power, slaughtering innocent muggles in violent rage. (Hopefully, his turn to evil is a surprising or devastating twist for the players even though they probably expect it). His family is saved, but at a great cost - he is barely recognizable to them. At some point Salazar creates the Chamber of Secrets and there’s a big boss battle between him and the players.

The ritual is a monkey’s paw: Salazar’s bloodline continues, but is cursed with evil and madness forever (a line of dark Parselmouth wizards including Voldemort). The slaughter has guaranteed there can never be unity between muggles and wizards. The evil pact has angered and alarmed the metallic dragons, ensuring the very extinction the chromatic dragons were trying to avoid. The founders’ stances in the Salazar chapter Salazar and Helga are working together against Rowena and Godric.

Hogwarts should be pureblood-only Hogwarts should permit muggle-borns to attend Secrecy: the wizarding world should be separate and hidden from the muggle world. Salazar Slytherin Believes the only way the secret can be kept is by restricting Hogwarts to purebloods. Helga Hufflepuff The other founders see her view as idealistic and naive. In the end, Rowena and Godric agree with her and work together to create the modern wizarding world. Unity: wizards should live openly among muggles, together as a human race. Rowena Ravenclaw Believes unity is economically optimal for trade. Muggle-borns could be an Obscurus that kills all the other kids the first year. Godric Gryffindor Believes Hogwarts should be available to everyone. Sees that unity has worked so far and wants to maintain the status quo.

Hogwarts should be pureblood-only Hogwarts should permit muggle-borns to attend Secrecy: the wizarding world should be separate and hidden from the muggle world. Salazar Slytherin Believes the only way the secret can be kept is by restricting Hogwarts to purebloods. Helga Hufflepuff The other founders see her view as idealistic and naive. In the end, Rowena and Godric agree with her and work together to create the modern wizarding world. Unity: wizards should live openly among muggles, together as a human race. Rowena Ravenclaw Believes unity is economically optimal for trade. Muggle-borns could be an Obscurus that kills all the other kids the first year. Godric Gryffindor Believes Hogwarts should be available to everyone. Sees that unity has worked so far and wants to maintain the status quo.

Rowena Ravenclaw and the Statute of Secrecy

Actual Harry Potter Story

“The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy … was laid down by the International Confederation of Wizards to safeguard the wizarding community from Muggles and hide its presence from the world at large.” - [Potter wiki]

Ravenclaw D&D Campaign

Rowena originally agreed with Salazar that Hogwarts should be pureblood-only (see chart above). When she begins to research a captured Obscurus, she discovers that purebloods can develop one too. This changes her mind on the issue. With the hope of unity dashed, this finally puts the remaining three founders on the same page: they need to figure out how to maintain magical secrecy while allowing muggle-borns to attend Hogwarts. Rowena begins researching and has a breakthrough - she invents a primitive version of the Trace (http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Trace) by enchanting her diadem, Professor Xavier style. (Alternate title: Rowena invents the Internet)

There are two plot threads running here. One is a political plot, where the founders stage a coup to overthrow the current pro-unity Wizard’s Council, and institute a new pro-secrecy Ministry of Magic. (Technically the Ministry overthrew the Council 600 years after the founders era in the official HP lore, but I’m bending the timeline here)

Simultaneously, the metallic dragons are doing Something Epic, that results in the dragons you see in the modern-day wizarding world: beasts with no magic powers or language. One idea is the metallic dragons could sacrifice their own lives to nerf the chromatics. The players could come up with some other more interesting solution. Either way, it’s big, it’s epic, it’s insane, it involves Tiamat and Bahamut, it’s the final countdown.

[Doc Source]

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The Trouble With Muggles

For the adventure itself, my players had to investigate some use of magic witnessed by muggles. Turns out it was a young wizard prodigy who was trying to better understand the roots of magic by using high-tech equipment. But his shenanigans had attracted the attention of another powerful, dark wizard. This somewhat bad guy wanted to recruit the prodigy, promising more resources than the Ministry would ever give him. He also said under veritaserum that he was born a muggle and latter acquired magic abilities, but would say how only if the prodigy came with him (he was simply a warlock). It ended with the players fending off the bad guy's goons and bringing the magic-scientist to London.

Of course the bad guy escaped.

[reddit]

Tiyaree and the Ranger

The story starts with Tiyaree (TREE get it? I'm funny!) Leafsinger the wood elf druid living in her ancestral forest. She's communing with the forest's Dryad at the mother-tree (Heart Tree if you prefer) when the dryad shutters and gets concerned.[3]

"Tiyaree my sapling, I must ask a favor of you. It is quite dangerous but it is quite urgent. Please go to the nearby village of Lumberton and seek out the mage Alfrag. He is an old friend of mine and I will need his help.[4]

Tell him that He has returned and to bring with him the tear I shed upon our departure. Take this with you to keep you safe (hands her a leaf from her own tree) Move swiftly little one, I shall stall them as quickly as I can." With that the dryad steps into the heart tree and she feels the presence of the forest shift. Before it had been peaceful and serene, but now she feels eyes watching her, beasts growing agitated and feral.[5]

roll some checks to get out of the forest in the correct direction, probably a lumber-road leading to the outside of the forest.[6]

there she can head to the nearby town and seek out the mage (insert her wizard character here if used instead)[7]

The Elf comes to the wizard's home and finds that he has recently passed away. His apprentice, a forest gnome, is there cataloging his belonging and organizing his home. (He died in a horrible Fireball accident).[8]

assuming message relayed, the gnome can grab a pouch with a small teardrop crystal gem inside of it and travel back to the forest with the elf, or just hand it off. along the way she gets attacked by a pair of human bandits who were looking to steal from the wizard's home. they're both 1/8CR so should be short work for 1-2 level 1 adventurers.

They make their way to the forest but find that there is a fire near the center, at the heart tree. She knows if the heart tree dies, the dryad and the forest die.[9]

She can move on, but with the dryad in distress the animals are over-protective, even against her. furry friends of hers try to block her path (skill checks to get past them) and one tries to stop her * a giant wolf spider*.[10]

She can kill or KO the spider, CR 1/4, and get to the tree. There she finds the Dryad's tree is on fire and the enemy wizard is dead at her feet with some animals at her side, but she has no way to put out the flames on her own.[11]

Using the Tear of the Dryad she, or the dryad, can cause a local gentle rainfall, soaking the forest and putting out the flames.[12]

Who is the mage who tried to burn the forest you ask? a former admirer who was rebuffed years ago when walking through the forest. The dryad was more affectionate to his friend, the mage of Lumberton, so the fire-wizard killed his friend and set fire to the forest, trying to kill her with it.[13]

What is the leaf she gives her? It's a leaf of her life force. If she drops to 0, it will recover 1hit-dice of hp for her to keep going. It's not much, but its a way to soften bad rolling or such.[14]

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War Profiteering Wrecks Economies

Basic backstory; In 1981, Lord Voldemort had vanished into this air. This caused the collapse of the first iteration of the Death Eaters, an organization which forcefully tried to purge non-magical influences from the Wizarding World and attempted to enslave Muggles. Of course, in the chaos, there was some... how do we say it... war-profiteering.[15]

Some cheeky bastard comes up with a rather unique scheme. See, there's really only one or two banks in the wizarding world that deals with Muggle Money.[16]

So what does this guy do? Why, he exchanges a couple thousand sterling for Wizarding coins, uses an Imperiused goblin to smelt them down into ingots and then sells them on the Muggle Market at an inflated price. At the end of the day, he winds up absolutely loaded with a sizeable fortune in his own personal safe.[17]

Except he not only managed to bollocks up the actual economy by himself but also managed to downright destroy the US Wizarding currency the Dragot.[18]

But this ain't about him. Not since he got thrown into Azkaban and his fortune confiscated. No, this is about the goblin who fixed his little mess. Within five years a goblin managed to somehow save the Dragot, turn it into a premier currency again. But of course, how did he do it?[19]

Well, the answer is simple - he invested in the Muggle economy, adopted early investment into companies like Microsoft and Pixar. Nowadays, he is the single richest being in the Magical community.[20]

Fast forward a few years, he's got a bit of a problem. A couple hard drives he owns, which he uses to securely store digital banking information and encrypted transations, have been stolen and all manner of greedy fuckers are after them.[21]

First you've got the Aurors who want evidence that the goblin is doing far more than financial dealings with the Non-Magical.[22]

Then you've got the Snatchers, thugs who used to work for the Death Eaters during the Second War and who are trying to hide from the Aurors.[23]

Then there's the usual gangsters who can smell money like shit in a perfume shop. Whether it's in the US or UK, it doesn't really matter, they're basically Muggles who have no idea just what the fuck they're getting into.[24]

Then, you've got the most innocent, ignorant and downright worst-cut faction out of them all. Well, calling them a faction isn't necessarily right, as they've basically just been thrown into this Shadowrun bastard child of a mess.[25]

And that is how the players get involved in this story.[26]

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Triwizard Cup

I think it would be cool to have them be seventh year students from a school of their choice (each player picks a school), and then design a triwizard tournament. The last tournament before harry competed was over 100 years earlier, but it was so out of hand that it was cancelled thereafter. Design challenges and clues they have to work out. It's honestly pretty perfect for a dnd campaign.[27]

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Deathly Hallows/Horcrux Quest

That, or a hallows/horcrux quest[28]

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Amnesiac Waking in St. Mungo's

If it were me, it would be post war, waking up in St. Mungo's, where you meet your party. One witch shares that she's not crazy, there really is a (whatever quest item), and your party realizes you believe her. Step one, break out. Step two, suit up in Diagon Alley. Step three, adventure awaits![29]

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Snipe Hunter Hunting

I ran a Harry Potter themed game where all the players were beginner aurors. They all just passed basic training and their first job was to hunt down a magical creature poacher/smuggler. Think evil newt scamander/ hagrid.It let them explore some of the shadier places that aren't really fleshed out like nocturne alley and criminals in the wizarding world. It also forced them to try and contain magical mishaps when travelling through muggle populations. The game became over if subterfuge and mystery instead of being combat based. It's also a low key enough adventure where you can end it whenever you want by dropping a big hint and letting them catch the guy. Then you can hop into an arc with much bigger stakes.[30]

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Bad Eggs Going Rotten

First off, you assume the players will start as students but I think adult wizards like Aurors or even Cultists/Death-eater esque people might be better from a writing perspective, but I have ideas regardless.

Make the players sorta maybe evil

The players are all descendants of a minor dark wizard and are orphans ever since Aurors killed the dark wizard in a battle. They do not remember him but recieve an enigmatic message on the train saying "Seek out your father."

First to second year, the players discover and have to locate an artifact to bring back the dead or communicate with them..like the Resurrection Stone.

When they achieve this, the wizard (still not openly "evil" and he denies his cruelty as propoganda/corrupt Ministry infringing on wizard rights) asks them to help him take revenge on the Aurors who killed him, maybe through his/her Hogwarts going children. What pranks and schemes will they pull to take revenge on their fellow students' parents without leaving campus, charms, runes, even divination?

During their 5th to 7th years, their evil father might tell them that they are old enough to begin helping him come back to life. He was killed because he knew the Philosopher's Stone was not destroyed, but hidden, and want's you to track it down. The party can go anywhere in the world during off campus weekends now if they can find away to make a port key discreetly, or pay someone to do it.

This should be supplemented with typical school drama etc. if playing in Hogwarts[31]

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Department of Magical Law Enforcement Task Force

I think I'd personally avoid starting it out while they are still in school. While the Hogwarts setting is the most familiar to Harry Potter fans, I am skeptical that it would provide the right sort of framework and atmosphere for the campaign. Instead, maybe have them all be ministry employees.

You could tailor the Backgrounds of 5e to be different departments in the ministry that gives your players their jobs. There are tons of offices and departments to choose from, so you wouldn't feel like everyone has to be an Auror for example. Then, this would give you the the setup for the campaign. Instead of "group of adventurers meet in a tavern and receive a quest," you have an interdepartmental taskforce coming together to resolve some issue related to the BBEG.

So when are you planning on setting this? My advice would be pre-Grindelwald and Voldemort. Setting it after their defeats, or even while they are still alive poses some serious issues, and if your players are fans of HP, they are going to spot them. Why aren't the fighting G/V, where is Harry, what do they do about the muggle technology such as cars or computers (especially if you allow muggle born characters), etc. Setting it before these events allows you to work with a clean slate in an established world, while also setting it in a time period that is closer to the medieval setting of traditional D&D.

This was the problem the Cursed Child had, in my opinion. Because it took place after the 7th book, it had to deal with the continuity of the established story. I want spoil it, but I think it did a poor job of it, and I would advise against considering it Canon.

Finally, my suggestion for a BBEG is a wizard who has allied with Muggles and is attempting to take down the Wizarding World. He/she wants to rule over both, but instead of going the Grindelwald or Voldemort route, he/she has recruited Muggle military forces to the cause. Perhaps they have found a way to arm them with magic through some breakthrough in wand creation (thinking of the idea that is expressed in Book 7, I believe, where they think if a muggle steals a wand, they can use magic). This way your players aren't fighting all mon-magical opponents. The BBEG's ultimate goal is to infiltrate the world's high ranking government offices, convince them that wizards are dangerous, and then break the statute of secrecy to declare all out war between Wizards and Muggles. In the aftermath, the BBEG intends to reign supreme overall.

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A plotline before the events of Harry potter, that detail how the squid ended up in the lake.[32]

A plotline involving young hagrid.[33]

Adventures in paintings. A curse sends some students romping through the painting world.[34]

Evil Wizard attempting to break the balance that separated the planes in order create chaos and destruction. In order to do so, he needs souls to cast the spell that would cause this mayhem.[35]

This is my current Homebrew plot. Tons of different quests occur to help stop others who are committing genocide and murder to collect souls for this evil wizard.[36]

Your European party is being sent to Greece to extract an ancient magical artifact out from under the nose of the Greek Ministry. Officially, you're seeking repatriation of a lost celtic artifact. The Greeks may not agree. Unofficially, it may be the origin of the myth of Pandora.[37]