Harry Potter Harry Potter:

[mandalorianjedi]

Now... This is something I've been seriously thinking on doing since I read a Naruto fanfic called: Naruto: Game of the Year Edition by Majin Hentai X. Basically, at some point over the course of the seven books, Harry dies... For real.

Instead of going to where his parents (and anyone else who may be dead at the time) are in the afterlife, he finds himself standing near his lifeless body and everything seems to be greyed out and suddenly "Game Over" appears floating above him along with his score to date, achievements he's accomplished and any hidden easter eggs he's managed to unlock.

Since he hasn't saved at this point, he's forced to start a New Game and is sent to the Hall of Avatars. There he finds a bunch of silhouettes of statues, each with a placard that says "Locked". Not fully understanding what's going on, he finds some actual statues that are full colored and not featureless, and they all look like him and that by touching with their names and stats on it, he can choose to live the life of that particular avatar.

I have a few things in mind for this already, but I'm having trouble deciding a "starting point" for the fic, or, in other words, where Harry should die at before he begins his adventure as a video game character.

 

[mdamians]

I vote at the end of Second year. It would be fun to get extra points for finding Pettigrew early. You can have harry ask Ron why he is sleeping with an older man and say your are my friend and no matter what you do in private I will not judge you. You can also rip the ideal that the Hogwarts history book has an adult section in the back and that it's Hermione's favorite book. This will also help keep the Marauders Map out of play because it is too powerful a tool.

 

[Happy Person]

Want a real kicker? When Voldemort kills him at the end of book 7. Perhaps instead of AK Voldemort has a smart moment and just decapitates Harry. He was so close and now has to start all over again as a baby.

Do you plan on starting him at birth or at Voldemorts defeats? If you go at birth, one of the achievements could be keeping his parent's alive.

 

[lord geryon]

HP as a video game character...

How many deaths does it take him to figure out he can save?

How long after that until he discovers save-scumming?

 

[mandalorianjedi]

mdamians: If Harry were to die at the end of 2nd Year, he wouldn't even know of Pettigrew. However, that would be kind of funny for him to say, especially considering how Scabbers would react as he would realize Harry knows his secret.

Happy Person: One author who did an HP/Avatar X-Over used that type of death already as a reason how Harry ended up on Pandora.

While it would work, I'd almost say Voldemort should use something like Fiendfyre, however Voldemort is the type that would want proof as to demoralize his enemies.

I was thinking that Harry sees everything from birth to his eleventh birthday as flashes and perhaps stat allocation, not unlike how it's done in Fall Out 3, until his eleventh birthday.

I'm not fully decided yet.

And while I agree that with some incarnations of Harry, keeping his parents alive should be an achievement, but how would that work for "Basic Harry"?

 

[mandalorianjedi]

HP as a video game character...

How many deaths does it take him to figure out he can save?

How long after that until he discovers save-scumming?

He'll know immediately after the first "death" he can save. It might take a bit for him to figure out how, as it would be done through "save points" circa Final Fantasy. The hardest bit is actually finding them, however for the "Basic Harry" Avatar, he should have an idea on where/When to look.

save-scumming?

Also, keep in mind that different Avatars, while still Harry, are suited to different ends. Each have different stats, abilities and traits and personalities.

Some will even end up with different pairings- some people like a lot, like Hermione and Daphne, others people around here are less agreeable to, like Ginny. Others will either have a harem pairing, or no pairing at all.

Since it's canon, the "Basic Harry" Avatar storyline will be Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione.

 

[Deleted member 5249]

This reminds me of Harry Potter and the Power of Save/Load

 

[lord geryon]

Achievements:

Graded on the Curves: Slept with a teacher.

So Long Ferret: Got Malfoy expelled.

Chased the Chasers: Slept with the Gryffindor chasers(separately or together)

Tastier Than Snails: Slept with Fleur

Tastes Like Cherries: Deflowered 5 girls

Cherry Tapping: Deflowered 10 girls in one game

Two Is Better Than One: Threesome with Patil twins

Broken Plot: Your parents survived.

Taste The Rainbow: Slept with Tonks

My Size Matters Not: Slept with a 7th year as a 1st year(lol)

I Feel Dirty: Earned Snape's Respect

Lion's Pride: Sorted into Gryffindor

Guh, can't think of any more.

EDIT: Save-scumming is saving before something random or difficult, then reloading until you achieve the desired result.

 

[Happy Person]

Perhaps as an incentive for Harry to beat Voldemort and get a certain number of points, have "Start from Birth" Harry as an unlockable mode. Have Harry normally start the morning he wakes up on the Dursley's doorstep. This (unlike starting just before Hogwarts) allows for advance preparation and the like.

Perhaps have his original death be sometime in 6th year. Maybe make it something random, like he was out flying and got struck by lighting or something (just an utterly meaningless death).

The problem with starting early is that Harry looses out on a whole lot of kinda important development that happens in the later books (knowing that mind reading is possible so that he can take steps to prevent it, for example).

 

[lord geryon]

This is a stuck-in-a-loop story.

And mj, I recommend not limiting him to arbitrary paths.

 

[mandalorianjedi]

Man, I literally haven't read that in years, SeiyaxUsagi.

Well, it is and isn't a "stuck in loop" story.

Some Avatar Stories will be much different than your typical HP Story. There will be X-Over elements in some that you won't find in others and you'll see characters in some Avatar Storylines in roles they don't often play.

Harry will be light, dark, good, evil, a wimp, a badass, the manipulator, the manipulated, the celebrated and the scorned.

He'll be an Auror, Unspeakable, Demon Hunter, Soldier, etc, etc... Each Storyline has it's own specific achievements, though I do appreciate the suggestions lord geryon, and will definitely use some, if not most or all, of them.

Edit: He'll find the advantages of save scumming by accident, mostly. It might take a "death" or three before he realizes he really needs to save often, or as much as possible.

 

[shakeval]

well, MJ, do you need suggestions for scenarios or do you need anyone to bounce ideas off of, cause i'd really like to see this going full swing.

 

[mandalorianjedi]

Well, I'm not completely set on how/when Harry "dies" the very first time. Personally, I'm thinking somewhere in and around Books 6 or 7.

 

[c|auswitz]

Also, keep in mind that different Avatars, while still Harry, are suited to different ends. Each have different stats, abilities and traits and personalities.

Some will even end up with different pairings- some people like a lot, like Hermione and Daphne, others people around here are less agreeable to, like Ginny. Others will either have a harem pairing, or no pairing at all.

Since it's canon, the "Basic Harry" Avatar storyline will be Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione.

Why? yes obviously a Harry Potter with stats that make Merlin look like Goyle is going to have an easier time taking over the world by force then Basic Harry. But you seem to be implying that Basic Harry only has the ability to end up with Ginny which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Basic Harry should very easily be able to not save Ginny in time, or get sorted into Slytherin. If he can't even make modest changes like those whats those he pretty much shouldn't be able to make any changes at all which would put him in a permanent loop that had no variations at all.

In addition I personally think personality should be the one thing that almost never changes at all, or rather since personality is basically just how one acts it should change based on whatever Harry wants it to, the only exceptions being things like say a demon version of Harry who would have say an inability to forgive anything beyond the most minor offenses and a huge temper.

 

[mandalorianjedi]

He only can't deviate from the main story, however, the journey is what changes. The different deviations in some storylines will unlock different things.

HOWEVER, certain requirements have to be met in order for the story to progress. Certain criteria have to be followed. As with any RPG, the major events of a particular storyline are ALWAYS the same. They happen. Certain people always die, others are always saved, it depends on how important they are to the story.

You bring up and excellent point about the personalities, as the base Harry is going to always be the same. However, Demon Harry, Dark Lord Harry and others along those lines would have to have some personality tweaking as they don't follow the simple mold of the other Harrys.

 

[Lord of Bones]

I'd prefer to treat this as a Bioware plot system - there is one main plot, yes, but there are many variations that can be made until that point where you resolve the main plot, whereupon your ending is based on the choices you made.

In short? Romance optional. Defeat Voldemort not optional.

 

[mdamians]

In my post I stated it would be fun for Harry to find the RAT EARLY for bonus points. He might stumble on him in a number of ways from the RAT sneaking into the kitchens late at night or finding the map early. He would not necessarily know the importance of Peters name. Second year would have give him some grounding in the wizard world without giving away to much of the canon story line to his point of view.

 

[Scygnus Darkhawk]

If you want to force certain story events, just make it mission-based. Ginny dies in main story running on Central Plot. Mission Failed, Critical Personnel Lost, Game Over.

Then, of course, in others you can make that an optional mission.

This, so far, seems like the future of the Persona series in operation.

 

[mdamians]

Book 6 and 7 are way too late to restart because Harry has to much info about the horcrux and makes it too easy for him to hunt them down. Also Hermione would be a useful tool for finding information as she could be very easy to manipulate.

 

[Raye_Terse]

So... how many Avatars should Harry have? I think anything above 15 is a bit too much, considering that each will go through seven years at Hogwarts, not including the many times Harry will need to load a save. I, as a reader, would also like to see a lot of secrets, open to all Avatars or otherwise.

Well, anyways, here are my suggestions for Avatars:

Avatar name - How to unlock

Basic Harry

Marauder Harry - Get the Marauders Map

Dark Lord Harry - Use each of the unforgivables once

Metamorph Harry - Disguise yourself magically # times

Wandless magic Harry - Use wandless magic # times

Gryffindor Heir Harry - Get sorted into Gryffindor

Slytherin Heir Harry - Get sorted into Slytherin

Transfiguration Master Harry - Receive an Outstanding Grade on the Transfiguration NEWT

Charms Master Harry - Receive an Outstanding Grade on the Charms NEWT

Potion Master Harry - Receive an Outstanding Grade on the Potion NEWT

Duelist Harry - Receive training from a Dueling Master

Genius Harry - Receive Outstanding grades on # of your NEWTs


And that's all I've got. Some of the requirements may be a bit easy, but still. I hope my suggestions were of some use to you mandalorianjedi. ^_^

 

[mandalorianjedi]

mdamians: You have a point, esp. about Year 7... What Year would you recommend he die in? Now if that wasn't a morbid question...

I have an idea for both Year 2 and 4 for his initial death, but I'd like to hear anything you have in mind.

Harry would have to learn to manipulate people, which he's not very good at in the onset of the Videogame adventure.

Raye_Terse: Thanks. Yes, some of them may seem easy for Harry to unlock, but some Avatars will be easier than others. I remember in "Naruto: Game of the Year Edition" Naruto came across a "Rinnegan Naruto" which had pwning stats from the beginning. Naruto thought it was an awesome deal until he found out that he had to beat Akatsuki in order to unlock it.

Lord of Bones: So basically treat every Avatar's storyline something like Mass Effect or Knights of the Old Republic? That's workable... Actually, I like that suggestion alot... I'll have to think on this some more, but you've given me a lot to work with...

 

[tsukiyomi]

Well, if you want opportunities to kill him:

Year 1, there are plenty of ways to kill him at the end of the year when they go after the stone. He jumps last and Fluffy bites his head off as he jumps, the devil's snare wraps around his throat and breaks his neck before they realize what it is, Ron screws up the chess game and Harry ends up on the sacrificial piece, the troll is alive and without a club, the potion to get through the flames doesn't work (this always bothered me, why the hell did Snape leave the potion to get through down there, just make them all poisons or something, who cares what the riddle says), or hell, Quirrelmort gets a lucky shot in.

Personally, I'd go with year 2 and have the basilisk eat him, but that's just me. Or death by spider or tree. Plus, he might know Luna by now and Luna makes every story better.

Year 3, Pettrigrew freaks and kills him in his sleep after Sirius slashs the portrait entrance. Panicky people do some stupid shit. Or soul sucked by a dementor, 3 seperate chances for it to happen pretty easily, early one, midway, and at the end of the year.

Year 4 would probably be the other good year, death by dragon, not enough gillyweed to make the whole trip, when he tries to grab Gabby the mer-people poke him with their spears, the flaming lobster in the maze gets him, he heroically(stupidly) jumps in front of Cedric in the graveyard, or my personal favorite, the none-return-trip portkey on the trophy(I mean honestly, why the hell was it set to return).

Year 5, 6 kids againts 12ish fully grown, Hogwarts graduates(not that that says much), high-ranked death eaters(guessing here, been a while since I read it), they do not miraculously survive. Or my personal favorite for this year, the Room can give you whatever you want, some muggleborn who joins the DA learns this and while at one of the lessons thinks "hmm, I've always wanted to see what a tarrasque would look like in real life." I'm sure there were other ways to die in this year, but I can't remember them off-hand.

 

[c|auswitz]

He only can't deviate from the main story, however, the journey is what changes. The different deviations in some storylines will unlock different things.

HOWEVER, certain requirements have to be met in order for the story to progress. Certain criteria have to be followed. As with any RPG, the major events of a particular storyline are ALWAYS the same. They happen. Certain people always die, others are always saved, it depends on how important they are to the story.

You bring up and excellent point about the personalities, as the base Harry is going to always be the same. However, Demon Harry, Dark Lord Harry and others along those lines would have to have some personality tweaking as they don't follow the simple mold of the other Harrys.

Given that a) most rpg's have romance options and B) that linearity is a product of game development constraints rather then plotline constraints I think you should have pretty minimal limits on what can't happen. I think it would be better to have storyline options all be open (provided Harry has the stats to pull it off) and have all the unlocks just be stat changes for the most part. I don't know a single game that locks down so much story content behind unlocks. If you're going to argue that most RPG's are very linear that doesn't really explain why you'll have different endings as pretty much every RPG that is that linear does not allow multiple endings, especially multiple endings that are that radically different. In addition a very significant portion of RPG's allow you to have several romance options that you can pick and choose from so again I still really have a problem with locking romance options.

I think if you want to lock certain things in it would be best to make it just have consequences that Harry will generally not be able to overcome. For example if Voldemort gets the Philosophers Stone in year 1 Harry could have to fight him well before he would have any chance of winning without several playthroughs worth of bonuses. Though one thing you should consider is how you are going to handle learned magic. On the one hand since he remembers how to cast it he should be able to cast everything he's learned before, on the other if you really want to follow RPG standards you could make it so he could only use spells he's been taught on that playthrough (with the possible exception of previous spell knowledge being available on certain avatars).

Anyways I guess the basic thrust of what I'm saying is that this is a story, or at least it will be, and I think adding to many game elements just because they're game elements would make this a very boring story.

 

[mandalorianjedi]

He only can't deviate from the main story, however, the journey is what changes. The different deviations in some storylines will unlock different things.

HOWEVER, certain requirements have to be met in order for the story to progress. Certain criteria have to be followed. As with any RPG, the major events of a particular storyline are ALWAYS the same. They happen. Certain people always die, others are always saved, it depends on how important they are to the story.

You bring up and excellent point about the personalities, as the base Harry is going to always be the same. However, Demon Harry, Dark Lord Harry and others along those lines would have to have some personality tweaking as they don't follow the simple mold of the other Harrys.

Given that a) most rpg's have romance options and B) that linearity is a product of game development constraints rather then plotline constraints I think you should have pretty minimal limits on what can't happen. I think it would be better to have storyline options all be open (provided Harry has the stats to pull it off) and have all the unlocks just be stat changes for the most part. I don't know a single game that locks down so much story content behind unlocks. If you're going to argue that most RPG's are very linear that doesn't really explain why you'll have different endings as pretty much every RPG that is that linear does not allow multiple endings, especially multiple endings that are that radically different. In addition a very significant portion of RPG's allow you to have several romance options that you can pick and choose from so again I still really have a problem with locking romance options.

I think if you want to lock certain things in it would be best to make it just have consequences that Harry will generally not be able to overcome. For example if Voldemort gets the Philosophers Stone in year 1 Harry could have to fight him well before he would have any chance of winning without several playthroughs worth of bonuses. Though one thing you should consider is how you are going to handle learned magic. On the one hand since he remembers how to cast it he should be able to cast everything he's learned before, on the other if you really want to follow RPG standards you could make it so he could only use spells he's been taught on that playthrough (with the possible exception of previous spell knowledge being available on certain avatars).

Anyways I guess the basic thrust of what I'm saying is that this is a story, or at least it will be, and I think adding to many game elements just because they're game elements would make this a very boring story.[/quote]
Lord of Bones already pointed some of that out, and so I'm reworking some of my ideas now.

One of the things I've changed my stance on for Basic Harry is his romance sub-plot options. It's been retooled so that he may not always complete this quest, but if he does, he'll have options.

That isn't to say he won't have any number of trysts before the end, however he will eventually end up with one of a very select group of girls by the end of the story.

Basic Harry won't end up with Fleur at the end, but if he does manage to hook up with her (which would be rather difficult for Basic Harry to do), that COULD open up something like a Debonair Harry Avatar, whose storyline is basically a dating sim.

Really, though, about the only girls I could see Basic (or Default) Harry being with at the end of the game would be Ginny, Hermione or (maybe) Luna.

 

[Demjou]

Just a thought,but I'm wondering why all the avatars so far have single unlock reqs. I mean, most games have it so that in order to unlock most of the bonus stuff you need multiple reqs and/or alternate unlock reqs. for each unlock. So here are my contributions.

Marauder Harry-Defeat 10 or more duelists with prank spells, and/or drive Quirrel/Lockhart/Umbridge from Hogwarts singlehandedly, using only non lethal pranks.

For the and part of that one, he would only have to drive out one of the three, for the or, it has to be all three.

Dark Lord Harry-Must master at least two out of three Unforgiveables. Cannot be avoided. Must know at least 200 dark arts spells. Must have killed at least 10 people via torture/creative killing. Must duel and defeat Dumbledore and Tom Riddle at least twice each. Must have at least 30 followers. Must overthrow or takeover a government. Optional-Have a Dark Lord Name.

Only needs to do the first two, and two of his choice from the rest.

Metamorph Harry-Have Successfully Disguised yourself as someone else and portrayed them in public for more then three days. Muggle and Magical may be done seperately or in combination. Successfully go through at least 3 years of schooling at a magical school, without the populace finding out your disguise. Disguise yourself and fool Mad-Eye Moody for at least a month. Infiltrate a organization and exfiltrate without them knowing.

Anyone of those would do, but the more he pulls off in one run, the more natural control he has.

Wandless Mage Harry- Must have unlocked Avatars for Transfiguration, Charms, Dark Arts, Defense, and Dueling Masters. Must have unlocked all House Avatars.
Must have beaten Riddle and his Army with only Magic. Must have been declared Dumbledores heir/apprentice/equal/etc. Must have knowledge of at least 85% of each magical field.

No shortcuts to this powerhouse. Got to do all that and more.

Gryffindor Heir- Sorted into Gryffindor. Acquired Gryffindors Sword. Defeated/Killed Basilisk. Defeated at least 1 Dark Lord. Defeated at least 200 Dark Wizards/Malicious Dark Creatures. Destroyed at least 3 dozen powerful Dark artifacts. Defeated Syltherins Heir. Reached Age 17.

Yes, he has to have done all that in one run as well. More prestigious titles/avatars require more achivements.

S. Heir- must be sorted into Slytherin. Must be the defacto power inhouse by end of second year. Must have high ambitions. Must have defacto power of Hogwarts by end of fourth year. Reached Age 17

Can't really think up much for this one.

Ravenclaw Heir- Must be sorted into Ravenclaw. Must have a love of knowledge. Must not let said love of knowledge control them. Must have read at least 90% of the Hogwarts library by 6th years start. Reached Age 17.

Again, not getting much for this one.

Hufflepuff Heir- Must be sorted into Hufflepuff. Must know when loyalty has been earned and when it has been abused and lost. Must have firsthand knowledge of hard work and its virtues. Must have goodwill towards others. Reached Age 17
Shits and Giggles achivement- Conquer the world with a Hufflepuff army.

Same troubles as the last two.

*insert field here* Master Harry- Must have O in OWL and NEWT for chosen subject. Must receive a apprenticeship to a master of said field. Must make at least one breakthrough/discovery/creation. Must use chosen field in battle style.

Duelist Harry- Must receive dueling training. Must participate in at least 10 tournaments. Must win at least 2 mid level, and 2 high lvl tournaments.

Genius Harry- Top of the Class in each year. Top of the class for each class. Perfect NEWTs and OWLs. Photographic memory.

Diplomat Harry- Resolve major conflicts peacefully. Improve relations between foreign schools and Hogwarts. Know when you can't resolve peacefully and fight if need be.

Previous three can be cumulative unlocking.

Soldier Harry- Survive seven years of Hogwarts using magic only in class and exams. Defeat all obstructions using firearms, explosives, and the human body.

I'll try and think up some more original ones later today.