Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game Kickstarter is live!

The Kickstarter for Magpie Games' Avatar: Legends RPG has launched and is hurtling towards $1M in its opening hours. Set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Legend of Korra, this tabletop roleplaying game includes a free quickstart which you can download today.

Update — it hit $1M in the first few hours, making it the fastest ever TTRPG Kickstarter to do so.

Update -- after less than two days, it has made over $2.3M, already making it the biggest TTRPG Kickstarter ever (with nearly a month yet to go!)

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

An officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

www.kickstarter.com

Avatar Legends: The RPG is a heroic fantasy game set in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra in which you and your friends take on the role of young heroes from across the Four Nations who have joined together to make the world a better place. It’s a game for people of all ages who want to look at the world beyond the scope of the existing stories and explore the meaningful actions heroes take for the good of others.

 

[Aldarc]

While I don't expect Avatar Legends to dethrone D&D, it's looking quite like a 500 lb. gorilla at the moment.

I don't think that anyone reasonably does. It's more about the space around that and the road ahead.

 

[Umbran]

While I don't expect Avatar Legends to dethrone D&D, it's looking quite like a 500 lb. gorilla at the moment.

Ultimately, how big a gorilla it is depends on how much material beyond the kickstarter they'll be creating.

 

[overgeeked]

Ultimately, how big a gorilla it is depends on how much material beyond the kickstarter they'll be creating.

I'm not sure what would reasonably be left with how huge the Kickstarter is. They've got all the bases covered. Core book, dice, dice bags, maps, action cards, themed journals, and modules. And it's a PBTA game, so there's not really all that much stuff you need. Other than expanding eras into stand-alone books, a dedicated GM book?, a GM's screen?, more modules, more legends, more monsters, and a few more maps...I don't see a lot of what else they could produce. Unless they want to go down the dedicated tchotchke angle. Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Keychain!! Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Breakfast Cereal!! Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Flamethrower!! The kids love this one!!

 

[TheAlkaizer]

While I don't expect Avatar Legends to dethrone D&D, it's looking quite like a 500 lb. gorilla at the moment.

It's a TTRPG that's tied to a preexisting franchise, characters and settings. In my head, there's zero chances that this becomes a major player in the future. TTRPGs are pricy; they pay for themselves with replayability and modularity. Or people buy them as object of art, something to read and enjoy without playing it. I suspect a large amount of the backers are more into the camp of avatar fans that want the latest Avatar product than being necessarily TTRPG fans.

 

[Sacrosanct]

While I don't expect Avatar Legends to dethrone D&D, it's looking quite like a 500 lb. gorilla at the moment.

Nah, it's just capitalizing on the Avatar fandom. I doubt WotC is remotely worried about this. Even if it hits a wild $10 million, how much did D&D generate in it's first month when 5e was released before costs?

 

[Umbran]

I'm not sure what would reasonably be left with how huge the Kickstarter is. They've got all the bases covered. Core book, dice, dice bags, maps, action cards, themed journals, and modules. And it's a PBTA game, so there's not really all that much stuff you need. Other than expanding eras into stand-alone books, a dedicated GM book?, a GM's screen?, more modules, more legends, more monsters, and a few more maps...I don't see a lot of what else they could produce.

Well, you listed.
Eras into stand alone books - which would be four or five books?
A dedicated GM Book.
More modules.
More monsters.
More legends (They haven't given us Bumi!)

That's potentially a lot of stuff. There's a question of how far they're allowed to go beyond canon.

 

[Morrus]

While I don't expect Avatar Legends to dethrone D&D, it's looking quite like a 500 lb. gorilla at the moment.

It’s got about 30K backers. D&D is in the tens of millions.

 

[overgeeked]

Well, you listed.
Eras into stand alone books - which would be four or five books?
A dedicated GM Book.
More modules.
More monsters.
More legends (They haven't given us Bumi!)

That's potentially a lot of stuff.

I want Bumi the mad genius!

That could be a lot of stuff. It could be zero books. We just don't know. The Kickstarter could be a spike in interest and once people get the game in hand they turn their nose up at it or lose interest. PBTA are generally not dedicated fighting games, so I'd guess a stand-alone monster book or books isn't going to happen. More likely folded into whatever module or sourcebook makes the most sense. So too with legends. My bet is era books (with legends, monsters, and modules) and maybe a GM book. Maybe nation books...but those depend a lot on era. Maybe bending books, or a bending book, or a technique book...but it's PBTA, so it's not likely there will ever be an exhaustive book of powers, etc.

That's potentially a lot of stuff. There's a question of how far they're allowed to go beyond canon.

Potentially, sure. But the canon question is really what matters. What they can and cannot do will determine what we get, if anything, beyond the Kickstarter itself. I'd hope we'd get more but there have been "one and done" licensed games before. Green Ronin's DC Adventures as an example. It was only the 3-4 books and that's it. No intention of making a continuing line of products.

 

[Aldarc]

I'm not sure what would reasonably be left with how huge the Kickstarter is. They've got all the bases covered. Core book, dice, dice bags, maps, action cards, themed journals, and modules. And it's a PBTA game, so there's not really all that much stuff you need. Other than expanding eras into stand-alone books, a dedicated GM book?, a GM's screen?, more modules, more legends, more monsters, and a few more maps...I don't see a lot of what else they could produce. Unless they want to go down the dedicated tchotchke angle. Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Keychain!! Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Breakfast Cereal!! Avatar Legends: The Role-Playing Game the Flamethrower!! The kids love this one!!

I’m not specifically talking about Avatar: Legends, but, rather, how this affects interest and activity in indie games.

 

[overgeeked]

I’m not specifically talking about Avatar: Legends, but, rather, how this affects interest and activity in indie games.

I'm not sure if Avatar Legends could be considered an indie game. It's not D&D, sure. But it's a licensed game based on a wildly popular franchise owned by an international media conglomerate and a Kickstarter that's a few hours away from doubling the next closest Kickstarter in RPGs. I think "indie" loses all meaning if it's applied to this game. Unless all "indie" means now is it's not D&D and/or not put out by WotC.