Context: The following quest/mission was designed for a fictional game that could reasonably exist within the established lore of the Harry Potter universe.
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POTIONS IN MOTION
Harry Potter: The Future of Hogwarts (Action/RPG)
Overview
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It is time for Mid-Autumn Exams for the students of Hogwarts, and one of the most notoriously intense exams is for Professor Vale’s Potions class.
For this mission, players will be required to research and memorize spells, collect components across the Hogwarts campus, and craft as many potions as accurately as possible within 30 minutes. After 30 minutes has passed, the player must present their potions to their professor and will be given a grade based off of the amount of potions made, how correctly they were made, and the complexity of the potions made. Players can team up with up to four other players to split up the work that needs to be done, however teams of students will be graded more critically.
The player will be able to select the potions they can craft from a pre-set list, which range from simple to complex. Ingredients for the potions can be found in a variety of places – within the classroom, in various storage rooms, from other NPCs, and on the actual campus itself and its surrounding areas. After gathering components players return to their cauldron and begin brewing. If working with others, players can strategize and split up the work between their teammates.
Whether working alone or with others, the player would receive a grade based off of the quantity and quality of their completed potions after the 30 minute time limit has ended. The grade would be applied to the player’s status at Hogwarts, and would also be counted towards their House’s overall standing. Along with receiving individual prizes, the highest performing House at the end of the Mid-Autumn Examination period for the Potions class would receive extra prizes and a higher standing within the school.
Player Action/Mission Beats
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Player enters the Potions classroom and interacts with a brewing cauldron to reserve it
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Player speaks to Professor Vale within the classroom to begin the mission/30 minute timer
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Player can select from a wide variety of potions, ranging in difficulty and complexity, from the bookshelves in the classroom
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Player can choose to write down potion components, brewing steps, both, or neither
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Player can explore Hogwarts to collect components
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Player returns to classroom and interacts with the cauldron to begin brewing
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Player must follow the correct steps and use the correct components in order to successfully brew a potion
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Player will have the completed potion added to their inventory if they correctly follow all the necessary steps
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Player will also receive incorrect potions if they missed a step, messed up a step, or used the incorrect ingredients
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Player will be able to repeat the process of selecting a potion to make, gathering ingredients, and brewing potions until 30 minutes have passed
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Player gives their completed potions to Professor Vale to be graded at the end of the 30 minute period (they will also have the option to submit any incorrect potions as well)
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Player will be graded on their performance, the quality of their potions and the quantity
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Player will receive prizes upon completion of the mission and their grade/performance will be factored into their House’s overall standing
Gameplay Beats
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Gameplay for this mission, once started, is split into three main sections: selecting a potion to make, gathering components for the potion, and brewing the potion. The player(s) will be able to work in nearly any order they want to, and are welcome to split up their 30 minutes however they see fit. There will be a variety of options per each gameplay beat to encourage flexibility, freedom, and choice, but the concept of each beat will generally revolve around a specific set of mechanics.
Potion Selection
The player will be able to select from a wide variety of recipes by interacting with different labeled books and bookshelves around the Potions classroom. There should be multiple books/bookcases for each potion in the room to prevent overcrowding by players around the bookcases. All players should have access to the same potion recipes, but the library of available recipes could change every few weeks or so. The potion recipes available will vary in difficulty, and after selecting a potion to read the player will be prompted to either write down the ingredients or steps for the recipe if they want to, and will be allowed to decline the offer if they just want to go off of memory alone. Players will be able to return to the potion recipes as often as they need to, throughout the entire mission.
Component Collecting
Components for the potions can be located in a variety of places, which includes the Potions classroom in designated cabinets and shelves; component storage rooms within the academic buildings; outside on the campus of Hogwarts; in the areas surrounding Hogwarts that aren’t quite on the campus itself; and from specific NPCs. Ingredients found within the world will have an activator the player must interact with in order to add it to their inventory. Depending on how rare the component is, there may be multiple sources for the same component or maybe just one or two. Some of the more common components may be in greater supply, meaning that any amount of players can continuously take from a source without depleting it. But other components may have a limit to how much can be taken from a source before a short cool down is triggered. If an NPC has a component that the players can request from them, it will be possible for them to run out after enough players speak to them. Once the player starts the 30 minute mission timer, they can actually leave the classroom immediately to go gather components before deciding on which potion to make. When the mission is not activated, the player will be unable to collect components unless they are needed for a different mission.
Potion Brewing
Players will need access to one of the many cauldrons within the Potions classroom in order to complete the mission, so they will need to interact with a cauldron that is not being used by other players to ‘reserve’ it, in which players will have one minute to speak with Professor Vale to begin the mission. If they do not start the mission within one minute the cauldron will become unreserved and available to other players. To prevent griefing, reserving and not starting the mission three times in a row will cause the player (and their teammates, if they have any) to wait 10 minutes to reserve another cauldron. Cauldrons that are in use will glow blue, and cauldrons that have been reserved will glow orange. Unreserved cauldrons will have no glowing effect to them. If there are no available cauldrons, the player will have to wait for one to free up.
There will be a variety of possible steps for each potion, with the more difficult potions requiring multiple steps. Each step must be completed in the order indicated in the recipe. Examples of possible steps may include taking fractions of components; mixing multiple components before adding them to the cauldron; stirring/waiting a certain amount of time between adding components; speaking specific incantations while adding ingredients; and changing the temperature of the cauldron. Each cauldron will have a table behind it, which can be used to mix and measure components. After 30 minutes the contents of the cauldron and workstation will be cleared and become available for another player, so the player must plan accordingly to make sure their potion is finished and removed from the cauldron before then.
Desired Player Experience
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In an open-world action/RPG game setting players crave immersion and freedom. The main draw of the universe of Harry Potter is the idea of being a student at Hogwarts to learn and practice magic. This mission is designed to place the player directly into the action of learning and brewing potions. It’s meant to encourage freedom and creativity, allow the player to work at a comfortable pace for themselves, offer the option of working with others or working alone to tailor their own experience, and give them several ways to complete the mission so that they will return to play the mission many times. The ultimate hope would be for the player to find the mission enjoyable, memorable, and worth practicing to get better at potion making as it functions within the game’s world.
The mission capitalizes on the fact that the player is a student at Hogwarts by encouraging the player to not just read the ingredients and steps for each potion to try to complete them, but to actually learn and memorize the components and steps. For example, players can choose to write down the ingredients and steps needed to complete their potions (which would then display on the player HUD) but they will receive a better final grade if they choose to memorize the potions instead. As a result, if the player takes the time to memorize the spells, they will be able to spend less time looking up recipes and more time crafting, which will lead to them having a more immersive experience. This could hopefully lead them to one day having a moment where they know exactly which potions they want to create, how to create them, and where to get their components from without looking at a recipe, as if they weren’t actually playing a game and instead truly had an understanding of potion crafting.
This mission will also encourage a sense of community, which would be something that a player who is meant to be a student at Hogwarts would come to expect and could lead to some memorable experiences with their friends. Players would be free to figure out everything for themselves, but they could trade secrets and knowledge about how to find what they need for their potions and which NPCs to talk to. They could also strategize with their friends, teammates, or other House members to best benefit their own House standing.