Haunted Hogwarts Matrix Game

Rules:

1. Start with a problem. 
2. Say what happens next. 
3. There is no order of play.
4. Anyone can add to what happens. 
5. Any player may challenge what another player says and SPIN THE WHEEL.
6. The host may veto what another player says, but this must be done before the wheel is spun. 
7. The game ends when the problem is resolved.

Problem: The battle against the dark lord ended in the mutual destruction of good and evil. The dilapidated school of witchcraft and wizardry is filled with lost treasures and valuables and monsters. A gang of non-magical nobodies search its halls for a priceless lost diadem.

Characters:

• Angel Niebla, muggle obsessive
• Borris Williams, old lumberjack squib
• Christopher Ivey, ex-student archaeologist
• Dakota Judge, treasure hunter
• The school (location description, atmosphere)
• The monsters (encounters, threats)
• The magic (logic of spells and artifacts)

Map:

A few things we did that we hadn’t done before:

Abstract characters. Besides the central cast of treasure hunters, we had “The school”, “The monsters”, and “The magic” to split up the historical GM hats. Divvied up the authority into relevant roles.

Lists/tables. We had a few flavor tables to assist in the encounters, items, spells, location design of the scenario. You could roll or just pick. I think it helped answer “what happens next?” by glancing at the options and selecting what strikes your fancy.

Sleepers. In the last matrix game, I had to leave for IRL concerns, but the game carried on. In this game, a player dropped right in the middle but we were still able to carry on without him. Poor guy was sleep-deprived and very apologetic later haha. But the game has integrity to it: it didn’t collapse without him.

Character portraits. I picked some up from DriveThruRPG just to give some visuals. Players didn’t latch on, oh well. Not everything needs to be used. But it struck me as a fun material to use at the table, print-outs or cards. Imagine the character name with some flavor text and traits on each one:

“Spectators”. We had someone join who was on the outside and didn’t champion a character initially. By the end they were offering suggestions for what happened and said a few lines in-character (RIP Wizzle the House Elf). It really highlighted the “anyone can add to what happens next.” Just by listening you’re within the magic circle!

All GMs. Just by coincidence (kinda?), everyone at the table had been a GM before. It made folks more comfortable to ask each other leading questions and add dramatic complications rather than only stating character actions. Aware players are great players.

Additional Tables

I wanted some content to keep the ball rolling. “What happens next?” It gives the option to look over and either roll dice or choose.

Encounters (d66)

11) Undead centaur 12) Tattered living book 13) Pixie hive 14) Chained bullman 15) Lonely ghost 16) Strange dog 21) Hungry plant 22) Misguided portrait 23) Rival school looters,  24) Werewolf squatters 25) Distressing shapeshifter 26) Rat broodmother 31) Living guard statues 32) Eyeless troll 33) Diligent house elf, 34) Luminous gargoyles 35) Massive spiders 36) Wounded hippogriff 41) Goblin burglars 42) Thieving mole 43) Gargantuan owl, 44) Spiked acid snails 45) Spectral jellyfish, 46) Animated gauntlet, 51) Jovial skeletons 52) Winged snakes 53) Bloated manticore, 54) Young pegasus, 55) Manipulative illusion,  56) Malevolent goat, 61) Multiplying frogs, 62) Suffocating cloak, 63) Obvious mimic, 64) Magic-hungry hog, 65) Grotesque salamander, 66) Neglected dragon

Activity (2d6)

2) Returning to lair after fight, 3) Fighting, 4) Returning to lair with treasure, 5) Returning to lair with prisoner, 6) Passing through, 7) Resting, 8) Searching, 9) Chasing, 10) Fleeing, 11) Building lair, 12) Sleeping

Items (d12)

 1) Questionable candy 2) Cauldron of unfinished potion 3) Broken wand 4) Potion recipe 5) Heavy-bolted crossbow 6) Sentient scarf 7) Mysterious horn 8) Abandoned jewelry 9) Noisy gizmo 10) Troublesome map 11) Loaner broom 12) Cracked crystal ball

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed this one! Very adventure game in its heavy reliance on archetypes/traits/tropes and goal-oriented approach (“get the treasure, get out!”).

The map was the star for me. I hadn’t looked at quite that close when selecting it, but once seeing it in play, it was obvious that some details were quite important. We scoured for good routes through the castle while avoiding potential dangers, reading through rooms names and plotting paths.

The most fun I had in prep was creating the encounter table which we barely scratched the surface of. Used maybe three entries total.

Hear me out: You play a role in role-playing games, Game Master or a character in the world. You play scenarios in… scenario games? There’s branding issue with “matrix games” and it’ll take a Dungeons and Dragons level smash-hit game to define this new genre.

I’ve been putting the cart before the horse by abstractly defining a genre/classification of games before making a game that defines it… And I might not be the guy to do it. Dominion came before the deck-building genre. DOTA came before the MOBA genre. Dungeons and Dragons came before the fantasy role-playing game genre (or whatever game you believe came first, you get my point).

Obviously it won’t be this game because it’s an IP. I’ve already gotten in trouble with Warner Bros before haha. So it’ll have to be an original game that makes the mark. With artwork and polish. Hm.

Sources

Originally found this in the Glatisant from The End of All Things and their idea for a Haunted Hogwarts game. That idea had its roots in this post from A Wizard’s Kiss.

Small thought while reviewing these source: note how much legwork it took for each element of the mechanics, exploration, experience, skills, character creation. A good amount. So much so that the project is still unfinished. I say that with sadness, I think a completed version would knock it out of the park.

This matrix game took my brother and I less than half of an afternoon to pipe-dream up. Sitting around a Google doc, nil formatting. That’s not a put-down on a full, mechanically-driven RPG. But we got the experience of a sliver of investment. If you’re about that, welcome aboard. Stick around, there’s more to come.