Avatar Legends (GM Found! players needed)

[josienoms]

With the upcoming release of the live action series on Netflix, I’m currently hyped for all things Avatar. I kickstarted the game back when it first came out, but I still haven’t gotten the chance to actually play it yet. I’ve decided to run something myself, set during the 100 year war.

Spoiler: Story pitch

Show

The Sun hangs high at midday, as the people of an Earth Kingdom village are gathered in the town square. Fire Nation soldiers stand around them, and the townsfolk cast nervous glances at the new arrivals. A commander, dressed in a crisp new uniform, paces back and forth before the assembled villagers. He pauses for a moment, a philosophical look on his face.

“What is it that makes the Fire Nation the greatest country in the world?” He muses aloud. “Some would argue that it’s our military. Others, our industry, or our prosperous economy. In truth, it’s none of those things, but the beating heart at the center of our people that makes them all possible. Our culture. Our sense of honor.”

The commander stops in his tracks, hands folded behind his back as he addresses the crowd. “The very same sense of honor that brings me here before you today. It is the will of Fire Lord Ozai that this village be demolished. Replaced with a factory that will help fuel our war effort here in the Earth Kingdom. But despite how this sounds, and what you may have heard, we of the Fire Nation are not monsters. I am giving you this warning, so that you can relocate.”

A murmur spreads through the crowd.

“In two weeks’ time, my men and I will burn this village to the ground. I advise you not to be here when we return. I don’t care where you go, but you cannot stay here. I don’t want to have to hurt any of you, but anyone who refuses to leave will die.”

The plan is to do a Seven Samurai style defense of the village, with a few weeks to prepare the defenses. Players can be locals who wish to fight, or hired heroes/mercenaries who take up the cause for other reasons.

Spoiler: Big 16

Show

1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)?

Avatar Legends, a PbtA game based on the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)?

The game is set in a small village in the Earth Kingdom, about five years before Aang’s return.

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?

Probably around 3-5

4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)?

Here on the OOTS forums!

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?

Base character generation

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?

N/A

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

Any of the official playbooks are fine!

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

Most of the trainings are also fine, Firebender included, so long as you can justify why you’d be fighting against your homeland.

The only exception: no Airbenders, due to the timeline

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?

Standard for starting characters

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?

The game doesn’t use alignment, but all player characters should be good people. You can be a little aloof or gruff or whatever, so long as you want to do what’s right.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?

No one can be the Avatar. 😂

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

Use the dice roller on the forum

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.

Since I’m still pretty new to the game, gonna try to stick to the rules as written

14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?

Yes, but it doesn’t have to be crazy long. Just enough to give me your character’s vibe

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?

Probably less puzzle solving that combat and roleplaying

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

Anything official is allowed!

[Beans]

Ya boi is 100% down for any era.

[josienoms]

Just giving this a bump now that the show is out!

[Feathersnow]

I lack the books and can't commit to running anything, but a firebender in any era or an Airbender in pre-Sozin or post-Korra eras both would be fun.

[josienoms]

Okay, I have edited both a story pitch and a big 16 into my initial post!

[Beans]

Thinking about an angry gal with a tetsubo, a Hammer/Weaponmaster, out for revenge against the Yu Yan archer who killed her brother; she's mostly involved in hopes of drawing out that guy.

[Feathersnow]

So Airbender is out.

Initial pitch:

Former Fire aristos whose Clan was on the wrong side of the nationalist reforms of the Late Kyoshi Era settled in the North Pole as they transitioned to Merchants instead of nobles. Eventually, they intermarried with the Water Tribe and forgot their roots. But, every few generations, the gene pool throws out a Firebender. If Oa had been born a boy, the Elders would have known just what to do with her. But waterbending girls don't fight, and firebenders can't heal. She stowed away on a warship in male clothes and the men pretended to think she was a bit because "sweet Polly Oliver" was so darn useful, especially in the Arctic. Eventually though, she found an even higher calling, one that allowed her to be openly female. A diplomatic courier between the Northern Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. No Fire patrols would ever suspect a female firebender of such a role!
It so happens she was travelling from Rendezvous to Rendezvous when she heard of this...

[josienoms]

Character concepts are looking cool so far!

However…

So Airbender is out.

…I can’t believe I missed that in the big 16. It’s now been edited to reflect this, no Airbenders on account of they’re all dead.

[Robodog]

A mate of mine pointed this one out to me, I've been trying to give the Avatar system a proper go for a while now. And also who doesn't love Seven Samurai stuff? Count me interested.

If the expanded playbooks from Wan Shi Tong are alright, I've got a bit of an idea for a The Elder. (if not that's cool too!)

Vague pitch outline for that :

She is a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, all traditional like. The years and timeline are a little hazy in the rule book, but some decades in the past still seems to be during the heyday of the Fire Nation raids to capture the waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe which is the main jumping off point for my character.

She was almost caught in one of these raids but her brothers rescue her in a daring high seas raid, and from then on she joins up with them as a medicine woman and healer while they try to harass and draw away Fire Nation ships that come to raid.

This is a success for a period of time, until it isn't. Big storm maybe, or just finally their luck runs out. But disaster strikes and all ships are wrecked. Everybody assumed lost at sea, with her waterbending keeping her safe enough to eventually wash up on land again alive. Probably somewhere south Earth Kingdom? For as much as it matters there.

Lost all contact with home and family now, nowhere can be home again, so she decides to continue the fight as a pirate. Tradition is out the window at this point, she waterbends to fight now too, and learns the punchy kinda fighting too and all that Elder technique learning and skills. Very successful, very feared, her new pirate identity name is whispered in hushed toned in every port. I'll have to work up a Dread Pirate Roberts style thing to it in all that.

However many years or decade/s pass to game time, rumours reach her totally incidentally that one of her brothers may still be alive out in this Earth Kingdom village. She sets out immediately to this village to see for herself.

Probably wouldn't really want to get involved in this Seven Samurai stuff at first blush, but if her brother is alive and there she would move heaven and earth for family. If not, seeing Fire Nation displace innocent people from their homes would set her off too. Not to mention, too much of a secret softie to let well meaning young folk shoulder such a fight on their own.

[Captain Cap]

I could be interested in playing a Prodigy (or Razor) bender (not sure which bending yet ). I'll see if I'll come up with a character this week.

Question: given the era, apart from no airbending, are there any restrictions on specialized bending forms? Toph would appear to be the first metalbender, bloodbending was allegedly discovered by Hama etc.

[stacatto]

I'd like to give this a try. Played lots of pbem and messageboard games over the years, and a few PbtA games before, but I'm new to Avatar Legends.

My pitch is for 'Lucky' Yao, Weapons Rogue. Born to a huge laboring family in Ba Sing Se, Yao as a dissatisfied youngster was enthralled by Tattered Cloak, a Robin-Hood style do-gooder and master of Gai Bang (Beggar's Gang martial arts). Tattered Cloak taught an erratic, confusing open hand style and especially the use of improvised weapons. Over time Yao became one of Tattered Cloak's prize disciples - until he was expelled for trying to give some of his stolen winnings to his family instead of the group.

Cast out and dispirited, Yao wandered, pickpocketing, running various cons, joining and leaving thief gangs, sometimes imprisoned. Eventually his self-centered life of crime became wearisome, and he found himself in a small village wanting to change, to once again be moved by a cause greater than himself.

Especially likes to fight with a bench, but uses anything that comes to hand.

Now with character sheet!

Spoiler: Sheet!

Show

THE ROGUE

NAME: Feng Yao, "Lucky Yao".
DEMEANOUR: Joking, cynical, showoff.
BACKGROUND: Urban/Outlaw HOME TOWN: Ba Sing Se
TRAINING: Weapon
FIGHTING STYLE: Beggar's Gang style (improvised weapons)

LOOKS: Dark-haired, lean, rat-faced man of indifferent height dressed in worn but colorful clothes, flashing a gold tooth in a lopsided grin. Often carrying an elaborately-carved bench on a knotted rope sling. Festooned with cheap jewelry and splashed with tattoos, including a series of rings inked on one forearm. 'One for each...' well, each whatever the ring tattoos are a mark for changes with the story he's telling.

STATS
Creativity +2
Focus +0
Harmony -1
Passion +1

BAD HABITS

• Casual thievery and pickpocketing
• Daredevil stunts
• Cons
• Gambling

MOVES

ROGUISH CHARM: When you plead with an NPC or guide and comfort someone by flattering them and empathizing with them, mark 1-fatigue to roll with Creativity instead of Harmony.

CASING THE JOINT When you assess a situation, add these questions to the list. You may always ask one extra question from these options, even on a miss.

• What here is most valuable or interesting to me?
• Who or what is most vulnerable to me?
• Who here is in control/wealthiest/has the most power?

FIGHTING TECHNIQUES

SWEEP THE LEG
(Advance & Attack, L [x], P[x], M[x])

You attack where an enemy is weakest or most off-balance; if your foe has a total of 3 or more fatigue and conditions marked, inflict 2-fatigue. If your foe has fewer than 3 total fatigue and conditions marked, inflict 2-fatigue, but you must 1-mark fatigue as well.

SWITCH IT UP
(Evade & Observe, L[x], P[], M[])
Switch up your style, footwork, weapon, or bearing, causing your foe to second-guess your next move. Mark 1-fatigue to become Prepared and force an engaged foe to reveal their choice of approach before you choose yours during the next exchange.

BALANCE

Friendship	+3	+2	+1	-0	-1	-2	-3
				•
	-3	-2	-1	+0	+1	+2	+3	Survival

HISTORY

How did you come to feel that the only way to survive was to break the rules?

• Seeing my laborer father ground down and broken by a lifetime of ill-rewarded toil.

Who kept trying to reach a kind hand out towards you, only to be rebuffed?

• My older sister, Shufen. But she would not defy my father, and I came to resent her.

Who was ready to do anything to break you of your bad habits?

• A Beggar's Gang master named Tattered Cloak. I was his disciple, but he cast me out when I broke a rule he would not compromise on.

What is your favorite possession that you stole, swiped, or otherwise acquired illegitimately?

• My bench, fitted with special compartments to allow adding weights to change its balance. I've spent countless hours practicing with it.

Why are you committed to this group or purpose?

• This time, this time I can help someone and maybe even be thanked for it. But even if not, I'm gonna do it for me.

[truemane]

I would love to get in on this! I love the game and the Seven Samurai set-up is a classic.

I would like to pitch The Icon.

The Avatar can't be everywhere. Since the days of Wan, certain individuals took it upon themselves to stand in for the Avatar where and when they could. Forsaking their families, names, and nations, these individuals walked the earth alone, doing what they could to keep the world in balance, to keep the spirits soothed, to restore justice and peace and order. Over time, they came to be called the Shards of Raava.

Yuuto was born to a noble family in the Fire Nation that was powerful enough (and rich enough) that, even though he was a Firebender, his gentleness and talents as a poet were encouraged and supported. He lived in a world of peace, calm, and plenty where he could spend all his time tending to intellectual and philosophical pursuits and practicing Firebending purely as an art.

But Yuuto found it harder and harder to look away from the Fire Nation's actions and dismiss it all as 'politics' that had nothing to do with him (the fact that his family's wealth and prestige came mostly from military manufacturing was just another bitter twist of the knife).

Having come across the Shards of Reeva in his studies, he left home to find them. Against all odds, he found a mentor and convinced her to train him. He forsook his family name and took the mantle Heiwa Zanshin ("Warrior for Peace") and served the Shards for 20 long years.

Recently, he received word that his mentor is dying and she is asking for him. He was rushing to her bedside, but then, he passed through this little village in the Earth Kingdom and one of the villagers, perhaps recognizing his badge of office, formally asked for his assistance.

And he cannot say no.

NOTES: I want him to be a swordsman as well as a Lightning Bender, if that's cool. I'd like his style to be a little "softer" than typical Firebending, more about taking energy in and using it than aggressively attacking. Also, I was thinking maybe he has a student with him? But that might be more trouble than it's worth.

Spoiler: Sheet!

Show

THE ICON

NAME: Heiwa Zenshin ("Heiwa"), Birth name is Yuuto, but he hasn't gone by that in decades.
DEMEANOUR: Calm, philosophical, compassionate, thoughtful.
BACKGROUND: Privileged/Monastic

STATS
Creativity 0
Focus +2
Harmony +1
Passion -1

BURDEN AND TRADITION

Responsibilities

• Protect humanity from natural disasters and dark spirits
• Overthrowing Tyrants
• Providing aid and succor to the downtrodden

Prohibitions

• Never refuse an earnest request for help
• Never deny someone knowledge or truth
• Never withhold forgiveness

MOVES

Use Their Momentum: engaged with a large or powerful foe, mark fatigue to advance and attack with Focus instead of Passion; become Prepared and may Retaliate as if it were an advance and attack technique.

YIP YIP! Have an Eel Hound named Nishi.

MANEUVERS

Wall of Perfection: create defensive wall around self and adjacent allies. Mark 1-fatigue to block a single attack against the wall, or repel enemy trying to

HISTORY

What tradition do you represent as its icon?

• "The Shards of Vaatu." Lone, nomadic warrior-monks committed the Avatar's mission of maintaining the world's balance.

Why can't you set down the role?

• Because the work is never done. And now there's no Avatar at all! So who else is there to look to?

Who was your chief mentor, teaching you the nature of your burden and its value?

• An elderly, respected Shard named Xixin. She actually met Avatar Rokku once, who told her what a great job she was doing. It took her a long time to come around on training such a soft-hearted rich boy, but eventually she (grudgingly) admitted he was a credit to the Order.

Who showed you that even with the weight of your burden, you could still find ways to play?

• My first student, Xiobao, an orphan from the Earth Kingdom. He somehow managed to take all the horror and hardship from his childhood, combined with the harsh Shard training, and approach everything with joy and wonder. Sometimes I think I learned more from him than he learned from me. I lost track of him about 15 years ago and haven't heard from his since. I hope he's okay.

What token of your burden and tradition do you always carry?

• All shards get a tattoo on their backs showing a dragon and a phoenix, both with stylized elements resembling Vaatu and Raava. As well, most Shards wear a Sakura Pai Sho tile as a necklace (there is no known Pai Sho variant that uses a Sakura tile - no one knows where this tradition came from).

Why are you committed to this group or purpose?

• My help as a Shard has been formally requested. I cannot turn away, no matter the cost to me, and still consider myself a Shard.

[josienoms]

Glad to see more character concepts and even a sheet! Everything is looking cool so far. Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be out of town for a couple days, so if anyone has any questions or anything, I’ll get to them as soon as I can!

[Captain Cap]

Rouch concept: His father was once a young Northern Water Tribe captain who at some point went rogue with his men to get back at the Fire Nation. They landed in a coastal region of the Earth Kingdom, to aid the locals and establish a resistance, and there the PC's parents met each other.
Since a young age he was trained to become a formidable waterbender and join the ranks of the resistance, which over the years became however more and more daring, until one day the Fire Nation heavily retaliated. While his father stayed back to fight, he found himself forced to flee with his mother, to finally settle at a later point in the starting village.

I envision him as a resourceful fighter who learned to make the best of whatever little water is available in whatever form, ice, vapor, moisture, sweat, and even the blood of the enemies in favorable circumstances. From a mechanical point of view, a Prodigy who mastered bloodbending, the idea (if feasible, of course) is that he would use Steady Stance to Empower himself somewhat reliably and then strike with Freeze Blood.

[Robodog]

Initial pitch:

Former Fire aristos whose Clan was on the wrong side of the nationalist reforms of the Late Kyoshi Era settled in the North Pole as they transitioned to Merchants instead of nobles. Eventually, they intermarried with the Water Tribe and forgot their roots. But, every few generations, the gene pool throws out a Firebender. If Oa had been born a boy, the Elders would have known just what to do with her. But waterbending girls don't fight, and firebenders can't heal. She stowed away on a warship in male clothes and the men pretended to think she was a bit because "sweet Polly Oliver" was so darn useful, especially in the Arctic. Eventually though, she found an even higher calling, one that allowed her to be openly female. A diplomatic courier between the Northern Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. No Fire patrols would ever suspect a female firebender of such a role!
It so happens she was travelling from Rendezvous to Rendezvous when she heard of this...

I know you posted earlier about lacking the books, but if you do pick them up maybe also grab the Wan Shi Tong Adventure Guide, because the pitch here is very The Foundling playbook from that! Their blurb from the book :

“They are the inheritor of two traditions, two cultures, two frameworks of training and philosophies. They are constantly trying to represent the best of both, and sometimes to combine them into something new. Their balance principles are Unity vs. Heritage.

Dualistic, torn, innovative, exploring. The Foundling is a child of two different heritages, each with their own traditions, their own practices, their own trainings. The Foundling might be an Earthbender raised by Air Nomads, or a sword-wielding Fire Nation orphan raised in the Southern Water Tribe. Both of their heritages have a place in the Foundling’s life and identity, and they struggle to find ways to belong to either heritage or to combine both.”

I would love to get in on this! I love the game and the Seven Samurai set-up is a classic.

I would like to pitch The Icon.

The Avatar can't be everywhere. Since the days of Wan, certain individuals took it upon themselves to stand in for the Avatar where and when they could. Forsaking their families, names, and nations, these individuals walked the earth alone, doing what they could to keep the world in balance, to keep the spirits soothed, to restore justice and peace and order. Over time, they came to be called the Shards of Raava.

Yuuto was born to a noble family in the Fire Nation that was powerful enough (and rich enough) that, even though he was a Firebender, his gentleness and talents as a poet were encouraged and supported. He lived in a world of peace, calm, and plenty where he could spend all his time tending to intellectual and philosophical pursuits and practicing Firebending purely as an art.

But Yuuto found it harder and harder to look away from the Fire Nation's actions and dismiss it all as 'politics' that had nothing to do with him (the fact that his family's wealth and prestige came mostly from military manufacturing was just another bitter twist of the knife).

Having come across the Shards of Reeva in his studies, he left home to find them. Against all odds, he found a mentor and convinced her to train him. He forsook his family name and took the mantle Heiwa Zanshin ("Warrior for Peace") and served the Shards for 20 long years.

Recently, he received word that his mentor is dying and she is asking for him. He was rushing to her bedside, but then, he passed through this little village in the Earth Kingdom and one of the villagers, perhaps recognizing his badge of office, formally asked for his assistance.

And he cannot say no.

NOTES: I want him to be a swordsman as well as a Lightning Bender, if that's cool. I'd like his style to be a little "softer" than typical Firebending, more about taking energy in and using it than aggressively attacking. Also, I was thinking maybe he has a student with him? But that might be more trouble than it's worth.

Just before I finish up my Elder sheet I want to know if I need to adjust anything background wise and that. How old would that initial pampered Fire Nation noble scholar life be, on top of the twenty plus years on the job? The Elder playbook is 'mid-30s or older' so probably doesn’t work too great not being the oldest of the team by a bit of a margin, is all!

[Robodog]

Sheet turned out Big so it is now in a spoiler to make it smaller on the thread!

Spoiler: Sheet

Show

Umibozu
Sooleawa of the Moon and Ocean, Silver Moon Reaver of the Mo Ce Sea
The Elder


Training : Waterbending | Background : Outlaw | Demeanour : Diligent, Level-headed, Solicitous

---

Stats

Creativity (+0) Focus (+1) Harmony (+2) Passion (-1)

---

Balance

Experience	+3	+2	+1	-0	-1	-2	-3
			•
	-3	-2	-1	+0	+1	+2	+3	Humility

---

Conditions

[ ] Frustrated [ ] Jaded [ ] Remorseful [ ] Shaken [ ] Worried

Fatigue: [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]

---

Wisdom of the Ages

Protégés : _____

---

Moves

As Long As I’m Breathing
When you try to intimidate someone in order to protect the vulnerable or weak, roll with Harmony instead of Passion.

Around Here Somewhere
When you go looking for help from an old friend in the area who you haven’t seen recently, name them and roll with Harmony. On a hit, you find them and they can assist you. On a 7-9, pick 1. On a 10+, both.
• they aren’t caught up in their own problems
• you don’t owe them a favour or apology
On a miss, your old enemies were looking for you too; the GM will tell you how you know they are near.

---

Fighting Techniques

Fighting Style: Polar Leopard iceberg spikes

Patience

(Evade and Observe, L [x], P[x], M[x])

You wait until the perfect moment to act. Mark 1-fatigue to gain Prepared and use an advance and attack technique, paying all its costs as normal. Mark another fatigue to allow a companion engaged with that same foe to also use an advance and attack technique against them as well, also paying all costs as appropriate.

Refresh

(Evade and Observe, L [x], P[x], M[x])

Apply water to reinvigorate and close wounds on a willing target. Mark fatigue to heal an ally in reach who is evading and observing. Clear an appropriate status from them, and clear 3-fatigue or two conditions.

Mystery Move 2

(Approach, L [x], P[x], M[x])

Mystery Move 3

(Approach, L [x], P[x], M[x])

Mystery Move 4

(Approach, L [x], P[x], M[x])

---

Moment of Balance

You will always be anchored to the past—unable to escape the painful lessons you have learned—but now you can hold the weight of that experience with the humility true wisdom brings. You look upon the current situation with unbiased eyes to see the truths roiling beneath the surface. Tell the GM how you wipe away whatever conceals the truth so
no one can see things as they once thought they were.

---

Hometown

A small Southern Water Tribe village rich in tiger seals and otter penguins, long since abandoned

---

Connections

• I care about _____ more than they know... even though they are probably my most frustrating student.
• _____ is not to be underestimated. In fact, they may have something to teach me!

---

Spoiler: History

Show

• What great legacy did you inherit decades ago and recently relinquish?

For centuries the name ‘Umibozu’ has been cursed up and down the Fire Islands. The wicked dark spirit, a looming humanoid figure, rises up from the depths without warning to strike down the mighty steel ships of the Fire Nation without mercy before disappearing back into darkness.

It also rescued Sooleawa from drowning after she and her brothers were caught in that terrible storm and their ship capsized. The ‘Umibozu’ being, at that time, a veteran earthbender corsair who had been plying his trade on the high seas for decades. Feeling indebted for saving her life, and with now nowhere else to go, Sooleawa stayed onboard his ship.

The next few years of her life saw Sooleawa tirelessly work her way up from peeling sweet potatoes to leading boarding parties, looking up to ‘Umibozu’ as a mentor and something of a father figure. And in Sooleawa he saw a successor, a fact he eventually revealed a scant few weeks before he was set to sail out to sea and leave this life behind.

She was too young. She was too inexperienced. There were a clear dozen sailors better suited for such a legacy. So why her? Well, because it was the inscrutable will of Umibozu Itself. When the old earthbender set sail for his last voyage as ‘Umibozu’ he took Sooleawa with her, just the two of them. Out in the middle of the Mo Ce Sea, under the full moon of the winter solstice, the great and terrible spirit rose high from the ocean to welcome the new ‘Umibozu’.

Living up to such a name, to everything that legend has meant to people for hundreds of years, took more than just the favour of a great spirit. Sooleawa now led her crew against the full might of Fire Nation, and they didn’t care what some pirate had to say about some made up fable. She got battered and bruised. She was forced to test the faith and trust her men had in her. She had to fight and fight hard, testing her will to continue and her conviction to the cause.

But Sooleawa has for decades dedicated herself to a campaign against the Fire Nation ships crossing the Mo Ce Sea. ‘Umibozu’ is more of a terror now than at any point since the war began. Both under the flag of the Silver Moon Reavers, a loose pirate flotilla she has long been the figurehead of, and striking out on her own daring midnight ambushes — guided by Tui’s moonlight.

• Who has never forgiven you for decisions you made years ago?

A mutineer by the name of ‘Scorching’ Xunlu. Years ago he was a prisoner sentenced to the Boiling Rock, only for his transport to be torn open prow to stern by Sooleawa. Eagerly he joined up with his liberators, and delighted in spiting his former captors.

But he cared little for the common cause of the Silver Moon Reavers, pushing the idea that they should be looking at easier targets than the Fire Nation. Like ransacking the port towns and trading villages up and down the Earth Kingdom coast.

After one bruising encounter that saw Sooleawa pulling the flotilla back to the Southern Archipelago, ‘Scorching’ Xunlu pressed his claim that now was time for new leadership. Hurting from the aggressive patrols of the Fire Navy, enough among her crews were tempted by promises of easy work and great plunder to seize command of multiple ships. The flotilla splintered, with ‘Scorching’ Xunlu’s mutineers sailing for the nearest port to attack. Kyoshi Island.

Sooleawa came down upon them like a thundering wave, but time was not on her side. The mutineers were already well into their attack, battling hard to hold off the local militia and weigh down their holds with loot. Hardly relishing the prospect of fighting her own men, ‘Umibozu’ drove jagged icebergs through their ships at anchor and made her call for their leader to face her. ’Scorching’ Xunlu accepted the challenge.

In full view of her loyal and mutinous crews, and the islanders, the firebender and waterbender would duel. ‘Scorching’ Xunlu, with no compunctions in pursuit of victory, tries every underhanded trick he knows. A strong jet of flame even manages to catch Sooleawa off-guard, badly burning her face.

But she emerges the winner, retaining command of the fleet. With the loser marooned on one of the many isolated craggy islands that littered the Southern Archipelago. A mercy for ’Scorching’ Xunlu, all told.

• Who is still your ally and confidante, despite the tense history you’ve shared?

A few years Sooleawa’s junior, Ayai the Kyoshi Warrior is fiercely protective of her people and their way of life. The Earth King can stay far away in Ba Sing Se, and everybody else can stay far away from Kyoshi Island. Many times an outsider arrives, and many times they bring problems with them.

One such time being because of Sooleawa. She felt great shame that she was responsible for such harm, but Ayai spoke for her people in wanting nothing to do with pirates like ‘Umibozu’. Perhaps not, but Sooleawa wasn’t so easily deterred from her convictions. And this was a wrong she needed to make right.

Month after month she would arrive, alone, with genuine contrition and reparations to give Kyoshi Island. And time and again she would be turned away. And always she accepted this decision, and refused to take her offered gifts back with her. Even suspicious, skeptical Ayai had to eventually acknowledge this pirate was showing real remorse. And this, perhaps, was deserving of some tolerance. After more than a year, her presence was permitted onshore.

Whaletail Island and Kyoshi Island are some of the few safe harbours Sooleawa can claim when she retreats to the South Sea. Even she needs time to herself every few seasons, be it for repairs or recuperation. Knowing that she cannot bring the war to the island, Sooleawa instead trades surplus supplies and spoils for lodgings. And with Ayai’s blessing, she offers her healing waterbending to any villagers who need it.

• What outfit or uniform do you wear to remind yourself of your former duties?

Back in the Southern Water Tribe one of the first proper hunts Sooleawa went on with all her brothers saw her playing a vital part in catching a whale walrus, waterbending a shoddy ice wall around the animal and healing several tusk wounds. One of those tusks, her oldest brother carved into a pendant and she has worn it as a necklace ever since.

• Why are you committed to this group or purpose?

Sooleawa is on the hunt for her younger brother, Thaki. Having assumed she lost her three brothers in the storm she barely survived, she had come to terms with being the last of her family and her tribe for a long time now.

But recently rumours reached her ear, as they tended to do after reaching a new port, of some Water Tribe being seen in the Earth Kingdom. Now, seeing Water Tribe outside of the poles? Common enough. Him being a Southern Water Tribesman? More unusual, her people had suffered greatly over the years. Him being an older warrior, perhaps around her age? And, after dispatching some trusted officers to search for as much information they could, him having the same name?

There was no way he could still be alive after all this time, she thought. But long settled feelings about losing her family and home had been unearth and drove Sooleawa to find out for sure, seeing her arrive in this Earth Kingdom village. She doesn't know if her brother is even here, perhaps he only passed through and is long gone. Or, if he did live here, moved on to spirits know where years ago. Maybe she'll just find his cairn.

Regardless of what this village means to her brother, she knows the pain of losing home and family and cannot stand by while it happens right in front of her to others.

[Beans]

Here's my sheet for Atsushi, the Hammer.

[josienoms]

Sheets are looking good at first glance!

Sorry for the delay, everyone. My few days out of town were followed by a string of some of the worst days I’ve ever had at work, so I’ve been a bit wiped out.

I’ll have some answers to specific questions probably later today, if not tomorrow.

[truemane]

Just before I finish up my Elder sheet I want to know if I need to adjust anything background wise and that. How old would that initial pampered Fire Nation noble scholar life be, on top of the twenty plus years on the job? The Elder playbook is 'mid-30s or older' so probably doesn’t work too great not being the oldest of the team by a bit of a margin, is all!

No, you're good! If we both get invited to play, however old you decide your character is, I'll make sure mine is younger (in terms of age and/or story). The concept will work just as well from a variety of directions.

Thanks for checking in, though!

[Robodog]

Killer! That works. As it stands I don't think I'll be aiming for that younger end, so there should be plenty of headroom.