Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra TTG

So it's me again. I saw a thread (archive: boards.Veeky Forums.org/tg/thread/51442721#p51442721) about Avatar the other day and saw that the interest on this board is significant enough that my efforts feel justified.

I've been overhauling/transcribing the Fantasy Flight Games mechanics for an Avatar setting and I think, so far, its going pretty well.

Primarily I am doing this to play with a group of IRL friends, but it seems like the interest for something like this exists elsewhere as well!

I would definitely be interested in sharing the Core Rulebook whenever I've finished it, especially because I will require much play testing to balance out bender and nonbender characters as well as fine tune bending mechanics.

Right now, I'm writing the setting to take place between the events of Season 3 and Season 4 of Korra because I think that's the best place to start; airbending is reintroduced so players have the option of creating new airbending characters; the Earth Queen's death leaves the entire Earth Kingdom in disarray which gives opportunists (like Kuvira) an opening to try stir conflict; the northern and southern water tribes are also still somewhat at odds and the Fire Nation is relatively peaceful, although many firebenders have turned to crime since the rest of the world views them as imperialist scum.

I think this setting works because the steampunky stuff can be mostly ignored (or specific to Republic City), while some of it can be used for nonbenders (like the shock gloves). The opportunity for biplanes and blimps also exists, but these can still be rare.

Anyway, I'll stick around for the day and answer any questions or concerns you guys might have.

Once I feel that the Core Rulebook is fleshed out, I'd be more than willing to share it with everyone! My only concern is...copyright issues. What would be the best way to get around this? My worry is that if I reach out to Nickelodeon and Fantasy Flight Games now, they'll tell me cease & desist.

One of my biggest concerns is that the setting would just be too overwhelming. With all of the new airbenders, the resurgent Spirit Wilds, and the rest of the Avatar world, I fear that my players will be all over the board in terms of their intended goals. It doesn't help that I've never really GM'd a game before (but I've played a lot).

If you were to play an Avatar setting, what sort of events, locations, and characters would you like to meet?

Keep in mind that the rules I'm writing preclude a Player Character from ever becoming the Avatar, so as to avoid the OP rules for an Avatar character altogether.

For my very first play test, I'm writing a brief adventure where my players are all going to be captured in a terrorist-style attack on a Ba Sing Se monorail. The game will open up with them on the train already when the attack happens. From there, they'll be taken prisoner by a bunch of disgruntled Earth Kingdom peasants (and some benders) who want to use the hostages as leverage to dismantle the Earth monarchy.

From there, they'll be encouraged to get free (whether they break out or negotiate is up to them) and further encouraged to find a vessel.

Where they go next, I'm not sure.

Which FFG system are you basing it off of?

Also i would personally prefer not using LoK at all for an Avatar game, it feels very removed from Atla as an adventure show, and the technology jump later in the show really seems out of place to me.

As for non-bender vs bender issues, i don't know how to make it work in game mechanic terms, but in Atla it didn't seem to be much of a problem, it was just a different skillset compared to bending.

Here, have some stuff based on the Legend of the Five Rings system. It is incomplete, but usable.

I'll agree with this user.

Legend of Korra is such a clusterfuck as it is (you said so yourself), that The Last Airbender would be so much more fun to play. Since you could have non-benders in the party with various medieval-esq skills. Along with just a really cool setting.

Firebenders in the party would be treated with suspicion, which would be pretty cool. But as for an actual airbender, that part could get tricky and some reason as to why there is an airbender has to be made up.

I'm sure there are good and valid reasons, I just can't think of one at the moment.

So I'm adapting the Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and Force & Destiny core rulebooks for the purposes of this game.

I am pretty set on the LoK setting only because it introduces some additional gameplay elements like airbending player characters and the Spirit World. Everything else about LoK can really be ignored by a GM if they want to. Plus I really like *some* of the worldbuilding (like the Equalists and the Earth Queen assassination creating a power vacuum).

Using the FFG systems, I think it will be easy to balance benders and nonbenders since they did very well balancing Force users and non-users.

I think it would be possible to use a setting set before the air nomad genocide, that way you'd have all the bending styles and nations. You can make any kind of conflict you want and would only have to justify the Avatar not interfering or being around.

I don't personally mind the LoK setting as such, but there's alot of things in LoK that i don't think fits very well with Avatar as a whole. For instance the mechs, especially in the fourth season, but also Origin of the Avatar and the handling of spirits in general. Though i realise you could ignore all that and just go with the 1920 feel.

>Not calling this "Avatar Thread: Book 2"

>I am pretty set on the LoK setting only because it introduces some additional gameplay elements like airbending player characters and the Spirit World.

If you're set on LoK times that's your prerogative but I should point out neither of those two things are exclusive to LoK and you can easily achieve that by setting the series any time before the Hundred Year War.

Unless you really like the idea of there being active portals to the Spirit World, because you like the idea of your players raiding it for treasure and XP. Which I have to admit sounds really unappealing. At least to me.

>Equalists

I never quite understood why people build these guys up as such great villains. Partly because we never once see anything to justify their grievances. And partly because as one user pointed out in the last thread every single one of their arguments is invalidated by what we see in AtLA.

Honestly with this game idea it's whatever floats your boat. But it's pretty clear we have two very different opinions about what we like in Avatar.

This is very, VERY helpful. Thank you.

Creating the bending talents in this system has been the most challenging part so far and seeing how other systems flesh these abilities out really provides a lot of insight.

LoK was really hit or miss for me. I liked the idea of the Spirit Portals being re-opened, I liked some of the tech advancements (like the shock gloves) and hated others (the giant mechs). I feel that LoK provides an additional breadth of content that can be utilized by a creative GM.

Which leads me into...

I totally see where you're coming from. While I personally like the setting overall, my friends and I debated setting the series prior to the Hundred Year War for the exact reasons you mention.

As you point out, part of the reason I went with LoK is for the active Spirit Portals. I don't want them to be going in and out all the time, but I think one adventure into the Spirit World could be a lot of fun (a narrative encounter with Koh could be intense if player's need to keep making skill checks to keep their cool). But yeah, I definitely don't want to saturate the game with Spirity Stuff.

Ultimately though, part of the reason I went with this FFG system is because its so flexible. So much so that even if you were interested in using it, you wouldn't be forced into using LoK content and you would very easily be able to adapt the core mechanics to work in whatever setting you wish!

>As you point out, part of the reason I went with LoK is for the active Spirit Portals

See that's part of what I really don't like about the LoK angle.

In AtLA, the Spirit World was a weird, mysterious place no one really understood. You couldn't get there through physical travel. It required a certain spiritual concentration. This doesn't mean it's solely in the realm of the Avatar. Remember Iroh visited the Spirit World himself at some point before AtLA.

When you add in those weird portals, it turns the Spirit World into basically a Plane from D&D. Which really cheapens it IMO.

> I definitely don't want to saturate the game with Spirity Stuff.

The Avatar world IS saturated with spirity stuff though. It's just typically very subtle.

Actually Sokka went there too when he got abducted by Hei Bai. So even in Atla it would be possible to get there without meditation, but without there being 2 (3) light spots that you walk through.

I agree though, the portal being there permanently feels weird and makes it into just another plane you can visit anytime. I also think it cheapens spirits as a whole, turning them into just another weird animal instead of somehow connected to nature.

Personally, I think a great plot hook is a village plagued by spirits so an elder offers to help guide the players into the Spirit World through a meditation ritual.

The Spirit World represents some unique challenges. Name the fact you can't bend there.

Oh yeah i like the idea of getting there and dealing with a problem. But i don't like the idea of there just being 2 open gates allowing free travel to and from the spirit world.

In Atla the Koi fish pond in the north pole was considered a spirit portal. It was just a place with strong spiritual energi making the transition easier, it wasn't an actual doorway to another realm.

I would also keep the spirits closer to the Atla version with more animal like spirits instead of weird blobs of neon colours with eyes and mouths, aswell as keeping them intrinsicly tied to the world.

Sonja's foray was a weird case. IIRC he actually had no memory of what happened. All he knew was he hadn't used the bathroom in nearly two days.

>Sonja
>tfw wasted double dubs on auto correct bullshit

I imagine he was lost in a bamboo forest the entire time, something like that fog in LoK that made people insane.

These are all things I am definitely taking into account. What I meant by "Spirity stuff" saturation is that while the Spirits should be a constant presence, I don't necessarily want every mission to revolve around overt spiritual presences.

I really like the idea of [overall] limited access to the Spirit World. Even with the Portals remaining open, I imagine a GM who wants to reserve the Spirit World for one-off uses in a LoK setting could simply state "uh, due to Unalaq's shenanigans, the Spirit Portals are heavily guarded and entrance is forbidden"

That way, even with the Portals there, players would still need to jump through narrative hoops to even gain access.

>the Spirit Portals are heavily guarded and entrance is forbidden
>That way, even with the Portals there, players would still need to jump through narrative hoops to even gain access.

I might not be giving your players much credit, but I imagine most players would sooner just cut a path or sneak in. If you tell players there are WoW-style portals into this crazy plane of spirit magic then they're most likely going to make a bee line straight for them.

I'm not gonna tell you how to run your game, just be aware despite your efforts there's a good chance players will fixate on these portals. And as I and several others said, the mere existence of these portals cheapens the setting's natural mysticism.

Totally understand! And I really do appreciate your input and insight because up until now I had not even given much thought to the portals.

Like I said though, ultimately the core mechanics for the game will still be usable for any other type of setting. So if the time comes for you to run a game and you don't want to use the portals or the LoK setting, all you'll need to do is say "this takes place before the HYW" and the rules, classes, skills, and talents will essentially remain the same :)

I want it that way specifically because some of my friends may want to play before the Hundred Year War and thus I wanted to make sure the game could be flexible enough to adapt to any setting.

Sorry guys. I hope I am not coming off as too resistant to your ideas and constructive feedback!

It is definitely noted that, so far anyway, the consensus seems to be that many of you do not really care for a Korra setting.

Fortunately, these rules are general enough that they can be applied to ANY setting in the Avatar universe.

Wish i could talk about the system, but all i know about it is from youtube videos, so i have no idea how it works or how it would relate to an Avatar themed game.

So how are you going to breakdown carriers and speciations? Are you going to make bending part of the standard mix or treat them like force sensitivity?

Two of the two named Water Tribe Avatars sucked at their job. What is with this people and pumping out half-baked heroes?

On they day of the rope the water slackers will be the first to go.

This has interesting schools for benders, but the way it reassigns Traits to rings is a poor hack of the L5r base that misunderstand how rings like Water and Earth are supposed affect movement and wounds to balance out having Traits that are used less often. Shuffling stuff around alters that dynamic a fair bit and makes certain Traits less worthwhile.

>Fortunately, these rules are general enough that they can be applied to ANY setting in the Avatar universe.

The FFG Special Snowflake Dice (tm) system indeed looks fitting for an Avatar game. Its wackiness and LULRANDUM story-driving could make up for a pretty funny adventure.

However, the stale and uninspiring combat system needs an overhaul. If I were you, I would focus on this first.

You should re-read the rules in the pdf then. Wounds are tied to the Toughness Trait (not the Earth Ring), and movement distance is defined by the Spirit Ring and not the Water Ring.

The L5R way of assigning Traits to Rings would be utter bullshit in the ATLA setting.

Exactly- doing that takes away value from traits like Willpower and Perception, which see a lot less use than traits in other rings and contributed to other mechanical effects to compensate before all of that stuff got shuffled around.

There are also some issues of the author assigning Traits to rings based on certain bending techniques from the series, rather than on the actual symbolism and philosophy of the elements, but that's a fluff complaint, not a crunch one-- like making Perception an Earth trait be a use Toph could see by feeling vibrations, when that kind of thing should be a Technique that lets you roll Investigate with your Earth ring instead of your perception trait.

>Sozin did nothing wrong
>We wuz monks and shiet
>Average Water Tribesman IQ
>Kya was good girl, dindu nuffin :^)
>impenetrable city
>Make the Fire Nation Great Again

I dunno but both Willpower and Perception are pretty darn important Traits on their own. Especially Perception (I guess you have limited in-game experience with ambushes and Scorpion Clan shenanigans).

And yeah, surprisingly, Earth in the Avatarverse is supposed to be the "sensing" element:
>The key to earthbending is utilizing neutral jing, which involves waiting and listening for the right moment to strike and, when that moment comes, acting decisively. In other words, earthbenders generally endure their enemies' attacks until the right opportunity to counterattack reveals itself.
Willpower obviously goes to Fire, so you are shot either way.

>Equalists all get free Blip rides
>Korra for prison
>The Avatar is a tool of the international Lotus conspiracy
>Liberty City's 'mixed society' is code for Fire Nation genocide

Did we get them all?

Probably could do with a Fire /pol/ alignment chart where Azula is chaotic good and the Southern Water Tribe is chaotic evil

Careers and specializations will be mapped in essentially the same way. They're called "classes" rather than careers just because.

The biggest difference is that the classes are divided into Bending and Non-bending classes.

The Bender class has four specializations, one for each element. Players are restricted from unlocking a bender specialization tree after character creation and, for obvious reasons, can only choose one during creation.

Each specialization has access to a variety of talents, still in a 4x5 spread of abilities configured in a tree.

Benders, specifically, gain access to "bending forms" which are essentially Force Talents from the Force & Destiny rulebook. So each major bending ability, such as the Water Whip, is itself a broken down into a tree so that the abilities can be upgraded and mastered independently of the class specialization.

Here's the tentative Waterbender class tree. This is absolutely tentative and isn't the intended end-game for Waterbenders. Ideally, each specialization will allow for players to unlock a 'Master' variation of that specialization.

I will post an example bending ability in the next post.

...

The combat system is where I've spent most of my focus.

It's difficult for me since I've never written a system (or even a mod) before, but I've definitely added a little more variety to at least make the combat feel more like an Avatar fight should.

For example, I've reformed the Defense Stance, added new stances (for the bending styles), added grappling and knockback mechanics, as well as the ability to perform Counters in combat.

Additionally, parrying and deflection play much more important roles and have had their mechanics tweaked a bit. Benders, specifically, will actually be able to redirect opponents who use their element against them and will be able to shirk off many projectiles at higher levels.

Do you have any further recommendations? it's refreshing to hear from someone else who has played an FFG system and shares the same reservations about the battles.

Kuruk failed on a personal level, but overall he didn't really do anything bad as an avatar.

He didn't really do *anything* as an Avatar, if his account suggests anything.

Granted the reason that he didn't do much of anything was, at least by his account, due to the fact that there wasn't much of anything to do. Avatar Yangchen, his predecessor, brought peace into the world and so Kuruk basically went around challenging people and spirits to fights just to get his rocks off.

He was also incredibly short-lived, he was around 33 when he died according to the Wiki.

So overall he should just be a mediocre avatar at worst. He didn't really do anything extraordinary, but he didn't do anything scandalous either. Like a peacetime ruler or general.

They probably did that retroactively so Kyoshi could be 200+ like they originally thought when they messed up the math adding up all the Avatars' ages.

That's a cool webm, thanks for sharing!