Teapot Salty
2015-04-03, 10:38 PM
Hey guys. So a while back I had the idea of making an avatar (bending, not blue people, thank you very much :smalltongue:) system, but I wasn't sure how to execute it, but it's amazing what spending a total of 30 hours in a car over the course of a weekend will do for thinking. I came up with a system, and I'd like to share it with you guys.
The system will very loosely be based on 3.5, if I don't mention something, it's the same as 3.5. The system as a whole is based on feats, and has no levels, and you gain feats by training, more on that later.
The basic idea is simple, make a flexible system that gives plenty of room for creativity.
This is really quite simple, a player will state something that they'd like to do (for example: I raise a wall of earth, I ride on an airball) and the dm attaches a dc to it at their discretion.
Each core bending system has a feat chain attached to it, with several tiers, each tier adds a +5 to any roll to bend an element. For example, a character who can bend, but has no formal training, (such as Katara at the start of book 1) would simply have the bending feat without tiers, I.E Waterbending 0. Now a character with say, a month of formal training would receive Bending I, or whateverbending the first. This would give them a +5 bonus to bending their element. An example character with that level in bending would be your stock fire nation soldier. So a character with bending II would get +10 to bending checks, a character with bending III would receive +15, and so on. DM's should base the DC for bending on these feats, and try and think of characters from the show to use as reliable benchmarks for feats, so you can give the players an idea of what they can do at any given level. (My personal benchmarks for firebenders, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about are: I: stock soldier II: Zuko at the start of book 1 III: Zuko at the end of book 1 IV: Zuko at the end of book 2 V: Azula VI: Iroh)
Remember, bending DC's are static, for example, a firebender doing a breath of flames, which let's say is a DC 30, no matter what level their firebending feat. So someone with firebending I is going to find it nearly impossible, while people with firebending VI could do it always barring a natural 1.
Note: This system is also applied to other things, such as martial arts (I treat it as Non-bender bending)
Same stats as 3.5, using any array the DM sees fit.
Str: Physical strength and power/gross motor skills, example check: Picking up a large rock. A player also adds their strength score to any bending check involving using great force (picking up a massive rock, slamming a massive blast of fire into someone)
Dex: Agility/Fine motor skills, Example check: throwing a knife. A player uses their dex score for their reflex check (more on that in combat) and for any bending check requiring precision (hitting someone between the eyes with a rock)
Con: Endurance, never used for checks on it's own, instead is used for endure (more on that in combat) and is also used to determine health. (Health scores are equal to the constitution score of a player plus any ranks in the toughness feat, which adds one health per tier. The only way for a player to increase their maximum health is by taking more ranks in toughness)
Int: Smarts, intelligence, example check: Deciphering a code. Is sometimes used in strategy checks to get the dm to give up additional information (for example: Player: I roll strategy and I got a 18
DM: Ok, you can tell from the way they move that ones an airbender, and ones a firebender)
Wis: Street smarts, intuition, example check: Reading a lie. Also used for will (more on that, you guessed it, in combat)
Cha: Charm, force of personality, example check: Lying
This is pretty simple, you don't have skillpoints, but you can train in a skill to get a feat for said skill, each feat adds +3 to checks involving that skill. Same skill list as 3.5.
The biggest change, you have two "turns," an offensive turn, and a defensive turn, you take your offensive turn on your point in the initiative order, and your defensive turn can be taken as a reaction to something, each turn lasts 1 second, and a player may take actions during either turn that reasonably only last that long. A player may sacrifice a portion of a turn to add half of said portion to the other turn. For example, a player wants to sacrifice half of their defensive turn to add to their offensive turn, they would add a quarter of a second to their offensive turn. A player may also sacrifice a portion of a turn to receive half the time they sacrificed in a prepared action.
On a players defensive turn, and they want to react to something quickly, they roll reflex, which is a d20 roll plus dex, plus 3 for every tier they have in the reflex feat, against a dc of the dm's discretion.
On a players defensive turn, if they want to reduce the damage of a blow they took, they roll endure, which is a d20 roll, plus con, plus 3 for every tier they have in the endure feat, against a dc of the dm's discretion.
On a players defensive turn, if they want to fight something invading their mind or body (such as an angry spirit, or bloodbending) they roll will, which is a d20 roll, plus wis, plus 3 for every tier they have in the will feat.
An important note: Armor class no longer exists, armor now adds to endure checks, the bonus is at the dm's discretion.
Feel free to make up your own feats, but I have a few that they system is built off of, and remember the tier system for feats? That applies to almost everything, when I mention, receives +X per tier, it gives +X for each rank in the feat.
Fire/Air/Water/Earthbending: Gives capability to bend a certain element, with a +5 to any bending check for each tier of the feat.
Lightning/Combustion/Blood/Plant/Gravity(I made gravity up so air would have something, sue me)/Lava/Metalbending: Grants capability to bend advanced bending art, with a +5 bonus for each tier. Prerequisite: Base bending style IV
Chi reading/Healing/Seismic Sense/Spiritual projection: Grants capability to: Read someones chi paths with fire(if character is a firebender)/Heal(if waterbender)/"see" with earthbending/and project ones spirit(if airbender) +5 per tier. (Each tier of these feats is balanced to each other, and an benchmark would be Toph's seismic sense level would have been Seismic sense VI)
Martial arts: Gives +5 to any check involving unarmed combat
Chi blocking: Gives the ability to Chi block, with a +5 to chi blocking checks for each tier in the feat.
Whenever a player with the chi blocking feat makes a successful unarmed strike, they may choose to, instead of doing damage, chi block, they roll a chi blocking check (D20+dex+5 per tier in chi blocking) to see what they stop. If he roll hits 20 it stops bending from being possible in whatever area was struck, and causes a penalty to checks involving that area(if the torso is struck, it imposes a penalty , if the roll hits 25, it temporarily paralyses the struck are (or numbs the whole body if the torso is struck, and causes penalties to everything) and a roll of 30 or above to the torso causes full body paralyses.
[Any weapon training]: +5 to any check involving that weapon. (You guys can come up with advanced feats for certain weapons)
[Skill] Training: +3 to rolls per tier in mentioned feat.
[Maneuver] Familiarity: Gives the ability to take 10 on any D20 roll involving that maneuver in combat, but taking costs your full 1 second turn (for example, you could take: Basic Fireblast familiarity, and you would be able to take 10 on rolls for the basic fire blast.)
Endure/Reflex/Will: Gives +3 to endure reflex and will checks per tier.
Toughness: Adds +1 health per tier.
Feel free to add any other feats you may want.
I have play tested this system, I am confident in saying that it works, if you are confused about anything, be sure to ask. If you want to review, please do. Thanks, and as always, go nuts.
The system will very loosely be based on 3.5, if I don't mention something, it's the same as 3.5. The system as a whole is based on feats, and has no levels, and you gain feats by training, more on that later.
The basic idea is simple, make a flexible system that gives plenty of room for creativity.
This is really quite simple, a player will state something that they'd like to do (for example: I raise a wall of earth, I ride on an airball) and the dm attaches a dc to it at their discretion.
Each core bending system has a feat chain attached to it, with several tiers, each tier adds a +5 to any roll to bend an element. For example, a character who can bend, but has no formal training, (such as Katara at the start of book 1) would simply have the bending feat without tiers, I.E Waterbending 0. Now a character with say, a month of formal training would receive Bending I, or whateverbending the first. This would give them a +5 bonus to bending their element. An example character with that level in bending would be your stock fire nation soldier. So a character with bending II would get +10 to bending checks, a character with bending III would receive +15, and so on. DM's should base the DC for bending on these feats, and try and think of characters from the show to use as reliable benchmarks for feats, so you can give the players an idea of what they can do at any given level. (My personal benchmarks for firebenders, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about are: I: stock soldier II: Zuko at the start of book 1 III: Zuko at the end of book 1 IV: Zuko at the end of book 2 V: Azula VI: Iroh)
Remember, bending DC's are static, for example, a firebender doing a breath of flames, which let's say is a DC 30, no matter what level their firebending feat. So someone with firebending I is going to find it nearly impossible, while people with firebending VI could do it always barring a natural 1.
Note: This system is also applied to other things, such as martial arts (I treat it as Non-bender bending)
Same stats as 3.5, using any array the DM sees fit.
Str: Physical strength and power/gross motor skills, example check: Picking up a large rock. A player also adds their strength score to any bending check involving using great force (picking up a massive rock, slamming a massive blast of fire into someone)
Dex: Agility/Fine motor skills, Example check: throwing a knife. A player uses their dex score for their reflex check (more on that in combat) and for any bending check requiring precision (hitting someone between the eyes with a rock)
Con: Endurance, never used for checks on it's own, instead is used for endure (more on that in combat) and is also used to determine health. (Health scores are equal to the constitution score of a player plus any ranks in the toughness feat, which adds one health per tier. The only way for a player to increase their maximum health is by taking more ranks in toughness)
Int: Smarts, intelligence, example check: Deciphering a code. Is sometimes used in strategy checks to get the dm to give up additional information (for example: Player: I roll strategy and I got a 18
DM: Ok, you can tell from the way they move that ones an airbender, and ones a firebender)
Wis: Street smarts, intuition, example check: Reading a lie. Also used for will (more on that, you guessed it, in combat)
Cha: Charm, force of personality, example check: Lying
This is pretty simple, you don't have skillpoints, but you can train in a skill to get a feat for said skill, each feat adds +3 to checks involving that skill. Same skill list as 3.5.
The biggest change, you have two "turns," an offensive turn, and a defensive turn, you take your offensive turn on your point in the initiative order, and your defensive turn can be taken as a reaction to something, each turn lasts 1 second, and a player may take actions during either turn that reasonably only last that long. A player may sacrifice a portion of a turn to add half of said portion to the other turn. For example, a player wants to sacrifice half of their defensive turn to add to their offensive turn, they would add a quarter of a second to their offensive turn. A player may also sacrifice a portion of a turn to receive half the time they sacrificed in a prepared action.
On a players defensive turn, and they want to react to something quickly, they roll reflex, which is a d20 roll plus dex, plus 3 for every tier they have in the reflex feat, against a dc of the dm's discretion.
On a players defensive turn, if they want to reduce the damage of a blow they took, they roll endure, which is a d20 roll, plus con, plus 3 for every tier they have in the endure feat, against a dc of the dm's discretion.
On a players defensive turn, if they want to fight something invading their mind or body (such as an angry spirit, or bloodbending) they roll will, which is a d20 roll, plus wis, plus 3 for every tier they have in the will feat.
An important note: Armor class no longer exists, armor now adds to endure checks, the bonus is at the dm's discretion.
Feel free to make up your own feats, but I have a few that they system is built off of, and remember the tier system for feats? That applies to almost everything, when I mention, receives +X per tier, it gives +X for each rank in the feat.
Fire/Air/Water/Earthbending: Gives capability to bend a certain element, with a +5 to any bending check for each tier of the feat.
Lightning/Combustion/Blood/Plant/Gravity(I made gravity up so air would have something, sue me)/Lava/Metalbending: Grants capability to bend advanced bending art, with a +5 bonus for each tier. Prerequisite: Base bending style IV
Chi reading/Healing/Seismic Sense/Spiritual projection: Grants capability to: Read someones chi paths with fire(if character is a firebender)/Heal(if waterbender)/"see" with earthbending/and project ones spirit(if airbender) +5 per tier. (Each tier of these feats is balanced to each other, and an benchmark would be Toph's seismic sense level would have been Seismic sense VI)
Martial arts: Gives +5 to any check involving unarmed combat
Chi blocking: Gives the ability to Chi block, with a +5 to chi blocking checks for each tier in the feat.
Whenever a player with the chi blocking feat makes a successful unarmed strike, they may choose to, instead of doing damage, chi block, they roll a chi blocking check (D20+dex+5 per tier in chi blocking) to see what they stop. If he roll hits 20 it stops bending from being possible in whatever area was struck, and causes a penalty to checks involving that area(if the torso is struck, it imposes a penalty , if the roll hits 25, it temporarily paralyses the struck are (or numbs the whole body if the torso is struck, and causes penalties to everything) and a roll of 30 or above to the torso causes full body paralyses.
[Any weapon training]: +5 to any check involving that weapon. (You guys can come up with advanced feats for certain weapons)
[Skill] Training: +3 to rolls per tier in mentioned feat.
[Maneuver] Familiarity: Gives the ability to take 10 on any D20 roll involving that maneuver in combat, but taking costs your full 1 second turn (for example, you could take: Basic Fireblast familiarity, and you would be able to take 10 on rolls for the basic fire blast.)
Endure/Reflex/Will: Gives +3 to endure reflex and will checks per tier.
Toughness: Adds +1 health per tier.
Feel free to add any other feats you may want.
I have play tested this system, I am confident in saying that it works, if you are confused about anything, be sure to ask. If you want to review, please do. Thanks, and as always, go nuts.