Avatar: The Last Airbender d&d 3.5 classes

[LostDeviljho]

Hi there! myself and a friend are joining a campaign and we want to play characters who are Benders ala Avatar: The Last Airbender.
the DM has given his this if we can find or create workable classes that don't piss on the game balance to much, as the DM just doesn't have the time to do it himself.
the problem is we aren't very good at homebrew, and what we have found has been either horribly unbalanced, incomplete, or for 4e (we are playing 3.5).
that's why I came here, In the hopes you at the playground could come up with something.

in my own musing about what might work I keep coming back to the idea of martial Adept-like classes, or even just martial disciplines that are mutually exclusive and have a few unique prerequisites. martial adepts are a pretty good fit flavor wise, and are capable of still being relevant upon reaching higher levels. the progression of the maneuvers and stances in the martial disciplines also seems a good way to capture the diversity and flexibility of the Bending in the show without becoming an overcomplicated monster.

anyway, there's my humble opinion on what could be done, but I defer to you (I'm asking for you help after all).

the system is D&D 3.5, and the campaign is relatively high powered. the class must be useable for a level one character.

[Windrammer]

I've contemplated this myself... I think spellcaster would be a better approach. Bending isn't truly as maneuver based... They need the flexibility to bend as creatively as they want, rather than being limited to X amount of cone attacks with X damage.

I would say that they should get unarmed strikes and possibly weapon proficiencies because of the natural synergy between bending and regular fighting.

You could say that at different levels they can manipulate different amounts of their chosen element. At a higher level than one they can alter form, as in change water to ice, fire to lightning, air SHOULD have lightning but they screwed up on the show, and earth to sand.

Unlike spells, bending should be done with BAB. Modifiers, I figured, could be different for each. Air is Dexterity, Water is Wisdom, Earth is Strength or Constitution, Fire is Charisma. Save DC's should be reasonable at early levels, so that it's easier to avoid getting incinerated by a firebender than a wizard's burning hands.

Other progressions... Bending without provoking AOO, multiple attacks, mass bending, and possibly ability score enhancements.

As for the moves... You could correlate some of them to spells, but allow them to be loosely defined. Their limit should be justified by bending being more intensive than regular fighting, and they'll get fatigued if they go too far. Limits, as such, would be per encounter and not per day. They should have less maximum damage than Mages but more consistency and flexibility. As martial artists, they should be hardier, and have at least a D8 hit die. I would advocate a D10.

Ideas... A level 1 firebender can do 1D8+Cha worth of damage at range. They can heat anything at will.
A level 1 Airbender does nonlethal gusts of wind, but gets to have a miss chance on him. He can run as longstrider and gets a bonus on acrobatics that increases over time.
A level 1 Waterbender can do a D4 whip attack I guess. They can get Lay on Hands maybe. Later they can use Ice Spike attacks, like D6 for each level spikes. That would be fun.
A level 1 Earthbender can do D6+__ rock throws. They can have moves that scale off Balance like the Tome of Battle does with Concentration. They can do stone shape at will to minor effects.

Worst case scenario, just give 'em a mix of Cleric Elemental Domain and Mage spells. Wind Wall, Stone Shape, Burning Hands, and Cure Moderate. You'll have to make up some spells for water but just give them the damage of a corresponding spell that doesn't involve water. Ice Spikes can be Magic Missile. You know?

If I sound retarded it's because it's 3 in the morning and I'm an idiot. Hope I helped somewhat anyways.

[Ilinoris]

A quick jump onto the googles led me to this.
Only looked over it briefly, but there sure must be something in there for both players and DMs :smallsmile:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?68630-Avatar-d20-Project-Bending-System-and-Bending-Classes-Thread-II

Edit: Seems like the above post was the second in line, so heres the first one:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?67493-Avatar-d20-Project-Setting-Main-Hub

[LostDeviljho]

A quick jump onto the googles led me to this.
Only looked over it briefly, but there sure must be something in there for both players and DMs :smallsmile:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?68630-Avatar-d20-Project-Bending-System-and-Bending-Classes-Thread-II

Edit: Seems like the above post was the second in line, so heres the first one:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?67493-Avatar-d20-Project-Setting-Main-Hub

it seems useful but the thread is a few years old and there's stuff that needs clarification, and last I checked thread necromancy is against the rules.

[Regalus]

Might I suggest this project (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?board=93.0) here? It's simple, completed, and is one of my preferred takes on how to do benders for DnD 3.5

[Ilinoris]

and last I checked thread necromancy is against the rules.
Geesh, I just tried to be helpful.

[LostDeviljho]

Geesh, I just tried to be helpful.

no problem, thanks.