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Character Creation

From Hayashi Park Potterverse for 5th ed. Dungeons and Dragons (5e)

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Creating a character is the first step towards playing in a Potterverse-themed D&D campaign.

Do you want a hot-headed brute who solves his problems by fighting, a studied scholar who spends his time learning more and more magic, a protector who never lets anyone hurts his friends?

Choose Player Character Race

Races: Total 33 [1]

Aarakocra (pdf)

Aasimar (Dungeon Master's Guide p.286) not to be confused with

Aasimar (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.104)

  • Protector
  • Scourge
  • Fallen

Bugbear (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.119)

Centaur (pdf)

Changeling (pdf)

Dragonborn (Player's Handbook p32)

Dwarf (Player's Handbook p18)

  • Hill Dwarf
  • Mountain Dwarf
  • Gray Dwarf (Duergar) (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide p104, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p81)

Elf (Player's Handbook p21)

  • High Elf
  • Wood Elf
  • Dark Elf (Drow)
  • Eladrin (Dungeon Master's Guide p286) not to be confused with

Firbolg (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.106)

Genasi (pdf)

  • Air Genasi
  • Earth Genasi
  • Fire Genasi
  • Water Genasi

Gith (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p96) ([https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/UA-Eladrin-Gith.pdf Outdated UA pdf))

  • Githyanki
  • Githzerai

Gnome (Player's Handbook p35)

  • Forest Gnome
  • Rock Gnome
  • Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide p115, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p113)

Goblin (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.119)

Goliath (pdf, Volo's Guide to Monsters p.108)

Grung (One Grung Above)

Half-Elf (Player's Handbook p38)

  • Variant (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide p116)

Half-Orc (Player's Handbook p40)

Halfling (Player's Handbook p26)

  • Lightfoot Halfling
  • Stout Halfling
  • Ghostwise Halfling (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide p110)

Hobgoblin (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.119)

Human (Player's Handbook p29)

  • Variant Human

Kenku (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.109)

Kobold (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.119)

Lizardfolk (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.111)

Minotaur (Unearthed Arcana: Centaurs and Minotaurs pdf, Waterborne Adventures pdf)

Orc (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.120)

Shifter (pdf)

  • Beasthide Shifter
  • Cliffwalk Shifter
  • Longstride Shifter
  • Longtooth Shifter
  • Razorclaw Shifter
  • Wildhunt Shifter

Tabaxi (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.113)

Tiefling (Player's Handbook p42)

  • Variant Tieflings (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide p118)
  • Asmodeus (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p21) pdf) (This is the Player's Handbook Tiefling)
  • Baalzebul (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p21) pdf)
  • Dispater (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p21) pdf)
  • Fierna (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p21) pdf)
  • Glasya (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p22) pdf)
  • Levistus (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p22) pdf)
  • Mammon (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p22) pdf)
  • Mephistopheles (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p23) pdf)
  • Zariel (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p23) pdf)
  • Infernal Tiefling pdf) (This is also the Player's Handbook Tiefling)
  • Abyssal Tiefling pdf)

Tortle (The Tortle Package)

Triton (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.115)

Warforged (pdf)

Yuan-ti Pureblood (Volo's Guide to Monsters p.120)

Note: the Revenant subrace (pdf) can be applied to any race that has a subrace, and replaces that race's existing subrace options. Alternatively, it can also be applied to Humans and Dragonborn, following the modifications provided in the article.

D&D Race Harry Potter Beings
Dwarf Goblin (Language: Gobbledegook) The Goblin Problem: HP-universe goblins are very similar to D&D dwarves, so a simple rename is easy. But, how to explain all the evil, dumb D&D goblinoids running around? My lore is: Some goblin societies collapse, losing their intelligence, becoming evil and aggressive. Their skin turns green and their eyes red. Whether it’s a curse or an illness, (or they dug too greedily and too deep), nobody knows, but it’s incurable. They’re called “Green Goblins” or “Groblins” for short.
Elf Veela
Gnome Half-Goblin (or Pukwudgie)
Half-Elf Half-Veela
Goliath Half-Giant (like Hagrid, Madame Maxine)
Half-Orc Half-Giant
Halfling Elf (a free house elf)

[2]

Goblin Names [3] Urgrat Rodguss Guggrat Karrod Garguff Larkit Raglok Largus Lagragg Bankras Filrod Brunlig Nurgus Ranluk Kurlast Algok Gugrig Farguss Kurgus Filgrat Fradraff Algras Luggor Lurnok Grinnuk Brunkar Ugnar Boglig Brunnott Arlok

Once you have decided this, you can move onto choosing your ability scores for your attributes. Attributes are your character’s general abilities divided up into the broadest of categories.

Roll or Point Buy Player Character's Attributes

Explanation of attributes.jpg

[4]

Set Player Character's Background Info

‘It was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year.’--Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

‘“They’re dead”, he told himself sternly. “They’re dead, and listening to echoes of them won’t bring them back.”’--Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

Background: Haunted One

Updated Haunted One PDF:

CoS Character Options.pdf

[5]

History

Pureblood Family Names/Houses Generator

‘“Quidditch!” said Hermione angrily. “Is that all boys care about?”’ Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

Set Player Character's Family History

‘“Harry, swear to me you won’t go looking for Black.”’--Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

Set Plot Hooks in PC Backstory

Curse of Strahd is an amazingly rich module, but I've unfortunately found it to be a bit too open-ended, with my players occasionally feeling lost, confused, and/or obligated to "follow the plot" instead of feeling any individual investment in continuing. Some of the hooks (Werewolves in the Mist and The Burgomaster's Letter) can do a decent job of keeping the party moving for a time, but none do a particularly good job of tying the PCs' goals into the overarching story of the module in my opinion.reddit

To address this deficiency, I decided to draw up a short table of individual character motivations for finding, entering, and exploring Barovia.

d8 Theme Motivation 1 Vengeance When you were young, a pack of feral werewolves emerged from a mysterious fog and laid waste to your village. You seek justice for the beasts that destroyed your home. (reddit)

2 Family As a child, your elder sibling was entranced by a caravan of travelling Vistani, and ran away with them to a faraway land. You seek to find your sibling and bring them back home. (reddit)

3 Inheritance A heroic ancestor of yours journeyed to the land of Barovia to combat a great evil, and vanished. You want to retrieve the family heirloom that they carried, and to discover your ancestor's fate. (reddit)

4 Help Your homeland is tormented by a dark and terrible lord of vampires. You seek the aid of the great vampire hunter, Rudolph van Richten, who it is rumored was last seen seeking the hidden land of Barovia. (reddit)

5 Magic Books and scrolls tell of a great temple of amber atop a mountain in the land of Barovia that holds secrets of magic long since lost. You seek this temple to uncover the arcane power within. (reddit)

6 History Long ago, a holy order of silver knights vanished from the land. You have tracked their history to the lost land of Barovia, and seek to uncover their ancient relics to study the rich lore they must hold. (reddit)

7 Wealth You have heard stories of a fearsome lord of legend, a conqueror of the lost land of Barovia whose castle vaults groan with the wealth of vanquished enemies. Surely only the greatest thief in the land could steal from such a man and walk away to a life of untold riches. (reddit)

8 Heritage Centuries ago, your family fled as refugees from the land of Barovia, running from the grasp of a cruel conquering warlord. You see it as your duty to return to the land of your ancestors and free it from the control of that warlord's dark dynasty. (reddit)

Each of these should be fairly easy to tie into the Mysterious Visitors campaign hook. To avoid giving too much away, I'd ask each player to choose from a Theme first, and then provide them (and them alone) with a private copy of their personal hook. They may share it if they choose, or they may keep it to themselves; it's their choice. (reddit)

List Player Character's Known Languages

Parseltongue = Draconic

‘“It’s because I understand Parseltongue . . .”’ --Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling

Identify a Few Bonds Important to Player Character

‘Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.’--Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

Enemies

‘“Oh, I will,” said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. “They don’t know we’re not allowed to use magic at home. I’m going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer . . . ”’--Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling

Player Character Morality

Remember that one of the main goals of CoS is to corrupt your characters. No matter how happy and pure they may be entering Barovia, the horrors that characters face and the double-edged choices they’ll be forced to make is meant to change them for the worse. Remember that. (reddit)

Don’t be Afraid to Laugh

That being said, this is game. Yes, it’s a horror game. But even if a situation is really friggin effed up, you and your players are allowed to joke and laugh. Even though the characters are suffering doesn’t mean your players should be. (reddit)

Select Player Character's Class

‘It was odd really, seeing that it had been a Death Eater in disguise who had first told Harry he would make a good Auror, but somehow the idea had taken hold of him.’ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling

Are you a magic user or not?

  • Yes: are you an innate caster or did you acquire magic through study and hard work, or does your magic derive from faith, or is your magic from nature or is your magic in relationship/communication?
    • Innate caster: sorcerer
    • Study and hard work: Wizard
    • Faith: primarily caster or primarily physical training?
      • Primarily caster: cleric
      • Primarily physical training: armored or unarmored?
        • Armored: paladin
        • Unarmored: monk
    • Nature: nature/world is sacred or mechanistic?
      • Sacred: animagus/Druid
      • Mechanistic: Auror/ranger
    • Relationship/communication: bard
  • Not a magic user: martially trained, sneaky, or berserker?
    • Martially trained: fighter
    • Sneaky: rogue
    • Berserker: barbarian

Druid --> “Animagus”

Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Rogue These classes do not have magic abilities, so they would be Muggles or Squibs If a player wants to be a Metamorphmagus (like Tonks), you could use a Doppelganger homebrew for their race at DM discretion

Deities and Pantheon

The Harry Potter universe has no deities or pantheon. Magic is something you’re born with; it doesn’t come from another entity. Clerics and paladins use their power of belief to focus their magic, like wizards use a wand. Powerful magic happens when they believe truly, and failure happens when they doubt their beliefs. See the 5e DMG pg. 13 “Forces and Philosophies”.

This is totally optional, but I rewrote the Cleric and Paladin classes to remove references to divinity. For example, instead of a “holy symbol” they have a “devotional symbol”. Instead of Clerics picking a deity that has a certain divine domain, they would simply pick a “philosophy” (Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, or War). PCs and NPCs can worship Tymora, Allah, piece of toast, or be an atheist and this would work. Here’s a quick guide to rewriting descriptions to fit the HP universe:

Remove words Change to Divine Holy Gods, Deity Prayers Righteous, Moral Righteous, Devotional Philosophy, Belief System, Ideals Mantra, Devotion, Conviction

Basically, removed the Morninglord.

Set Proficiencies for the Player Character

Establish Player Character's Stake in Barovia

One of the biggest problems I’ve had with this campaign is getting the characters to actually care about saving Barovia. My players, mind you, are having a blast. But their characters more often than not simply stumble from one disaster to the next. (reddit)

To preemptively strike this, try to give your player’s characters’ some hold to Barovia. For instance, two of my characters were unknowingly born in Barovia. This is actually their home and they’ll come to realize this. Also, make sure to make some NPCs relevant and likeable. If the characters care about the Barovian natives, they’ll care more about helping Barovia as a whole. (reddit)

Why Trapped in Barovia?

Most likely, your players are going to want to know why they’re trapped in Barovia. What in the world happened and how could such a place exist? If you have even a slightly inquisitive group, someone is going to want answers somewhere along the line and as the DM, you need to be ready for that. So here’s what going down! (reddit)

A Player Character as Ismark

This is going to be very repetitive of Ireena's section. I would advice that you have either one or the other. One PC as either Ismark or Ireena, not two PCs as both. Unless the two players are willing to work together quite a bit, this could get messy.[6]

If at all possible, make Ismark a Player Character. Now, this doesn't mean you have to force Ismark's personality down one of your player's throats. Instead, focus on the function of Ismark's character.[7]

Ismark is worried about his sister, who's become the main target of a vampire lord. He's a side character meant to care for the main heroine. That is literally his only function in the narrative of this campaign.[8]

If you've got a player that wants to play a human male, give him this function. It may not even be his sister he's worried about. Maybe the PC wants to play an older man, so Ireena is his daughter. Or maybe she's his best friend. The function is the same, so the details don't really matter.[9]

A Player Character as Ireena

This is going to be very repetitive of Ismark's section. I would advice that you have either one or the other. One PC as either Ismark or Ireena, not two PCs as both. Unless the two players are willing to work together quite a bit, this could get messy.[10]

If at all possible, make Ireena a Player Character. Now, this doesn't mean you have to force Ireena's personality down one of your player's throats. Instead, focus on the function of Ireena's character.[11]

Ireena is the object of Strahd's desires; a reincarnation of his lost love that he can never obtain. That is literally Ireena's only function in the narrative of this campaign. Everything else about her is just fluff and character development.[12]

If you've got a player that wants to play a human female, give her this function. Here's how to adapt her for the role:[13]

Her Name: I'm hoping this is common sense, but I'll say it anyway. Don't force your player to be named Ireena. Their character is quite literally replacing Ireena, so the name doesn't matter.[14]

Her Appearance: It doesn't matter how the player wants their character to look. Don't force her character to look like Ireena. Instead, Tatyana and all her other incarnations look like the PC.[15]

Her Personality: Ireena's personality as an NPC is already up for interpretation. So however your PC wants to portray her should be fine.[16]

Her Backstory

If the PC grew up somewhere other than Barovia, maybe a Vistana smuggled her out of Barovia as a baby and she has no idea. Maybe her birth name is in fact Ireena, but she just doesn't know it.[17]

If she comes with a pretty homey backstory, try to work with your player so that her character is a bit of a shut in. She's stayed pretty locked up in her house in the Village of Barovia and so doesn't know very much about the rest of the dimension. Beyond the simple names of towns, she's quite ignorant. When the evil king Strahd came to her doorstep, she fled into the Svalich woods.[18]

If she's from Barovia, she gets lost in the woods and stumbles on the rest of the party as the mist draws them in. They then go to Death House together.[19]

Overall, having a PC take the role of Ireena in the campaign will put a lot more shock value on the narrative. Strahd's pursuit won't just be for a random NPC, but for another player. And players are way more important in dnd and automatically built a faster relationships with the other players.[20]

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