Official RPG for Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra announced

A new roleplaying game set in the animated world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra is to be produced by Magpie Games. The core rulebook is set for release in February 2022, with two supplements following over the next year.

New RPG Set in World of Avatar: TLA & TLoK | Magpie Games

www.magpiegames.com

 PRESS RELEASE

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Magpie Games has secured a multi-year licensing agreement with ViacomCBS Consumer Products to produce a tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.

“The stories of Avatar are so moving for us because they are joyous and heartbreaking,” says Mark Diaz Truman, CEO of Magpie Games. “We’re incredibly excited to bring the tales of brave benders and loyal friendships to tabletop roleplaying games; we know so many fans of both series have been waiting years for this moment! We’re also thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Asian designers like James Mendez Hodes to bring the world of Avatar Aang and Avatar Korra to life in a way that’s true to the authentic, diverse spirit of both shows.”

“We believe Magpie Games is the ideal partner to develop a roleplaying game based on Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra” says Pam Kaufman, President, Global Consumer Products, ViacomCBS. “Their commitment to supporting diverse content from diverse creators along with their exceptional game product made them the right choice to bring the world of Avatar to tabletop roleplaying games.”

This roleplaying game is a unique opportunity for fans of the show to return to a beloved setting—this time as the heroes of the story! Rising to meet their destiny, players will make characters using playbooks—templates that help players build and play compelling protagonists in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. Together they might protect local merchants from the Triple Threat Triad in Republic City, travel through a spirit portal to rescue a child taken into the Spirit World, negotiate peace between feuding communities within the Earth Kingdom, or pursue mysteries (and villains) that arise throughout their adventures!

The roleplaying game’s Core Book is slated for a February 2022 release with two supplements to follow in August 2022 and February 2023 titled Republic City and The Spirit World respectively.

 

[Tonguez]

It's hard to overstate just how well-designed Masks is, for what it's trying to accomplish. I wouldn't call it my favorite PbtA hack (like most hacks, it has a fairly narrow frame of storytelling and genre), but I wouldn't hesitate for a minute in calling it the best PbtA hack I've encountered

Wow, I took some time to look in to Masks and while I needed to get pass the initial jargon, I’m impressed in its style and happy that a similar approach could be used to run the characters in Avatar.
I still like the simplicity of Fates four actions, but PbtA 2d6 resolution is nice too

 

[Eilathen]

I'm glad Avatar finally sees the light of day as an rpg. That being said, I'm sad that it didn't go to Cortex Prime. I have nothing against PbtA (I like it quite a bit, actually), but count me in amongst those who question the fit of this style of rpg for Avatar.
I will take a look at it, for sure, but I am not holding my breath that it will do what i wanted an Avatar rpg to do.
I hope that it will have a big fat world-section with tons of lore, that way I will certainly get something out of it.

 

[IndigoTraveler]

So what are the issues with the PBTA system and how does it play?

 

[polyhedral man]

I'm also curious if the people here saying "PbtA isn't for me" are saying that because they've only played Dungeon World. I know that there are people who love it, but as a showcase for what PbtA games are all about and capable of, DW makes an immensely poor example.

What makes you say that, can you mention a couple of examples?

 

[lyle.spade]

Yeah, playbooks suggests PBTA... which I find to be disappointing. I will be skipping it (as I would if it had used Fate, Cypher, Genesys, or a D&D type class/level based system).

I have wondered about that, too: how to handle those powers, and how flexible they are, within the typical rules sets out there.

 

[Umbran]

I have wondered about that, too: how to handle those powers, and how flexible they are, within the typical rules sets out there.

Well, there's Masks, a PbtA superhero game, and it works fine with how flexible superpowers are.

I think many games these days are realizing that you can support many different narrations with one mechanical ability.

 

[Greg K]

I'm also curious if the people here saying "PbtA isn't for me" are saying that because they've only played Dungeon World. I know that there are people who love it, but as a showcase for what PbtA games are all about and capable of, DW makes an immensely poor example.

I own both Monster of the Week (1e and 2e) and the playtest for the now defunct Midsummer. Both were improvements over DW, but something with them still doesn't sit right with me (edit: with regards to PBTA leaving me with no urge to run a PBTA game). Also online discussions by fans of Monster of the Week and Monsterhearts (which I have seen) left me cold with the discussions of how PBTA games are focused and running a Buffy game required either choosing one or the other depending on the seasons of Buffy or having to switch between the two mid-campaign as the focus and tone of the campaign change.

 

[Fenris-77]

PbtA can do freewheeling combat just fine (wonderfully well actually). What it won't do is heavily mechanize freewheeling combat, which I'm perfectly fine with.

 

[Gradine]

What makes you say that, can you mention a couple of examples?

DW always felt to me like "OSR with playbooks and moves" and just in general is way too structured and crunchy for a "fiction-forward" game. It's a square peg in a round hole.

Masks, as mentioned is very freewheeling in how it handles superpowers, mainly because "superheroes fighting villains" isn't even half of what the game is trying to do, and is probably the least interesting aspect of it.

Other hacks I've enjoyed include The Veil, Monsterhearts, and Monster of the Week, though by the nature of how PbtA hacks are designed, those aren't going to be for everybody.

 

[Umbran]

Masks, as mentioned is very freewheeling in how it handles superpowers, mainly because "superheroes fighting villains" isn't even half of what the game is trying to do, and is probably the least interesting aspect of it.

And I think that's a really important point.

What should be the focus of the game - the nitty-gritty of powers, or the journey of a person who has powers?