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View Full Version : The last Airbender, RPG system?



Madeiner
2014-07-12, 04:53 AM
Sometimes i think i would love to play an RPG based on The Last Airbender.
We would like to go D&D 5ed for it, but it's not really appropriate.

Is there any RPG that portrays the world and mechanics nicely?
Bonus points if it's D&D/Pathfinder based, as that's what we mainly play

Grinner
2014-07-12, 05:45 AM
The problem with the d20 system and its variants is that they tend to view abilities in a very specific way. Each ability has prescribed limits, and trying to apply them outside those limits is difficult if not impossible.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, however, depicts a world where the various bending disciplines are quite flexible. At various points in the series, waterbending is used to kick ass, sabotage a siege engine, heal wounds, and propel boats. Apparently plantbending is also a thing, though I don't recall where that happened.

Elegantly summarizing its many uses in the context of the d20 system poses to be a challenging task. With that in mind, there was a Fate Core thread on rpg.net which focused on adapting the Avatar setting to the Fate system. That, I think, would be your best bet.



Couldn't find the thread, but I found something of the sort (http://evilhat.wikidot.com/community-fate-core-extensions) on wikidot.com.

LokiRagnarok
2014-07-12, 05:55 AM
Plantbending should be in Season 2 - I think that episode is called "The Swamp". It appears agaib in "The Day of the Black Sun", iirc.

endoperez
2014-07-12, 07:05 AM
There's a d20-based homebrew system that was developed in these forums.

https://sites.google.com/site/avatard20/home
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?67493-Avatar-d20-Project-Setting-Main-Hub


You could give that a try.

BWR
2014-07-12, 08:01 AM
With a little work Ars Magica could do quite nicely.

Tengu_temp
2014-07-12, 09:03 AM
Legend of the Wulin is a system heavily focused on martial arts, many of them elemental in nature, and narrative flexibility. Obviously it needs heavy refluffing for a new setting and adding several more styles to amount for all kinds of bending, but sounds to me like a better bet than anything DND-centric.

TandemChelipeds
2014-07-12, 09:54 AM
Mutants & Masterminds? It has a power for controlling substances(Just apply the Limited: x element Flaw), lets you create elemental damaging powers that factor in your strength, lets you create custom sense powers in case you want to make Toph, lets you create damaging powers and afflictions with AoE templates of your choice, lets you create movement powers, lets you improvise new applications of your powers with Hero Points, etc.
I can't think of a thing in Avatar that couldn't be modeled in that system.

The Glyphstone
2014-07-12, 11:37 AM
Mutants & Masterminds? It has a power for controlling substances(Just apply the Limited: x element Flaw), lets you create elemental damaging powers that factor in your strength, lets you create custom sense powers in case you want to make Toph, lets you create damaging powers and afflictions with AoE templates of your choice, lets you create movement powers, lets you improvise new applications of your powers with Hero Points, etc.
I can't think of a thing in Avatar that couldn't be modeled in that system.

This was exactly my thought. It's d20-based, so the mechanics won't be too unfamiliar, but between Arrays and Hero Power stunts, you'd have amazing amounts of improvisation to replicate pretty much anything the show has displayed.

Chronos Flame
2014-07-12, 01:37 PM
I was looking into this once and found that Exalted (Specifically Dragon Blooded) is a pretty nice fit. Dragon blooded basically come in five flavors Air Earth Fire Water and Wood.(you could in theory cut out wood and maybe reassign it's aligned abilities to the other 4.) It has martial arts, charms that very well emulate bender abilities and even a flavor that is very AtLA. I haven't been able to actually give it a try AS an Avatar game, but the system itself is pretty cool.

Note it is not a d20 system so it is quite different from DnD and Pathfinder.

Grod_The_Giant
2014-07-12, 02:16 PM
Mutants & Masterminds? It has a power for controlling substances(Just apply the Limited: x element Flaw), lets you create elemental damaging powers that factor in your strength, lets you create custom sense powers in case you want to make Toph, lets you create damaging powers and afflictions with AoE templates of your choice, lets you create movement powers, lets you improvise new applications of your powers with Hero Points, etc.
I can't think of a thing in Avatar that couldn't be modeled in that system.
M&M is an excellent choice for anything involving cinematic action and widely varied powers.

Tholomyes
2014-07-12, 02:23 PM
M&M could work (and were it not for the system I'm suggesting, it'd probably be the system I'd suggest), but to be honest, I think Feng Shui from Atlas games would make a better system for it. You'd need to do some house-ruling to give archetypes that more fit the setting, but I think it'd be good for that type of game.