Avatar:TLA Game

[vulcan_idic]

Hello all,

It's been a bit since I've been around - got a new job and moved - but I had a random fun thought today and could think of no better place for its discussion.

Has anyone ever done a game set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender? I have just discovered/rediscovered it on Amazon Prime and am really enjoying it and thought it would be fun. I was thinking that the magic system for The Wheel of Time D20 game could probably be pretty easily adapted to be the mechanical representation of bending... thoughts?

Josh

 

[Illithidbix]

Not a full conversion but Me and a friend has shamelessly stolen Zuko and Iroh as the basis for our characters for our current D&D 5E game. We've both playing Way of the Four Elements monks which. (And she has taken Magic Adept with Druid Fire spells)

Despite the negative assessment of the Elemental Monk's prowess, we're finding them alot of fun.

 

[Celebrim]

I thought about it for a while, but its actually a very difficult rules set to do well and faithfully. Essentially, you need a rules set that uses martial art forms and magic interchangeably. A system that handles Wuxia well would be a good starting place.

I'm not generally a fan, but the 4e approach - or something like it - is actually a reasonable approximation here. Alternatively, you could do something like Tome of Battle classes for a 3e approach. But a fully customized system would be better, as D20 has a grittiness and lethality that isn't ideal - especially outside of 4e. However, some of the M&M innovations to emulate the comic book genera might serve you well. Where Avatar differs from the Superhero genera though is the idea of progression. The kids definitely 'level up' as they learn new techniques.

 

[Orlax]

I'd personally go with a FATE basis for bending, it's mechanics and action economy lend itself very well to the elemental bending fluff.

Essentially bending needs to be done via some kind of skill based system (and don't even get me into the pressure points system). Altering the Dresden Files RPG magic system would be a really good place to start.

However if you are really looking to use some kind of d20 based system (if you got comfort zones in not going to knock em, I got em too) I'd suggest home brewing something. The wheel of time system is still essentially a slot based system that hardly works for emulating wheel of time casting let alone elemental bending. I'd say a skill check based system (different proficiencies for different types of bending with different associated ability scores) with a backing resource of some kind, and don't forget that there are times when certain bending is stronger and times when it is weaker.

I'm at work now, but if we keep the thread alive I'll pop back in and try to help hash something out for a sub-system and a class to use it in 5th ed D&D or 3.5 of your married to it (again not gunna harsh on your gaming comfort zones). Mainly because this sounds like a quick and fun project.