"Relax, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants!"
Introductions: Hello, my name is Hicks, and I really like Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also really like role playing games, so I have done my best to merge two of my favorite things into this document. Chances are you are reading this because you too like Avatar and/or RPGs, and if not you might be kind of perplexed about what a kids show has to do with games involving role-play.
Avatar: There was this cartoon shown on Nickelodeon called Avatar: The Last Airbender which chronicles the fictional story of a reincarnated child scion of elemental power and a bunch of other kids as they fight an evil empire and save the entire world from being scoured by fire at the hands of an evil king who possesses both tremendous fire based powers and a bad attitude. Seriously. It is one wonderful story, but that story is over. However, the world of Avatar is amazing and fantastic, large and detailed, and more importantly capable of having many more stories; which brings me to your next question.
Will this involve a bedroom? No. This is based on a kid's show. Try again.
Seriously? Absolutely. A RPG is like a story that you tell with others, like a play; each actor (player of the game) takes on a singular "Character" that they act out. However, there is no script, and everything is spontaneous. It's just like playing Cops and Robbers when you were a kid, but to keep the game from devolving into…
- "I shoot you with my gun! You are dead!"
"Nuh-uh! I have an armored bullet-proof vest! I live!"
"Well, my bullets are armor piercing. You are dead!"
"Nuh-uh! I have a force field generator on my belt that blocks bullets! I live!"
"Well, my bullets are immune to force fields. You are dead!"
"Nuh-uh! I am immune to bullets! I live!"
"Well, my bullets are tipped with anti-immunity venom. You are dead!"
"Nuh-uh! I swallowed an anti-anti-immunity serum! I live!"
Who the Action is: In an RPG You control the Actions of a single, specific Character. This Character is not merely a jumble of numbers and words on a piece of paper, but an instrument through which You are allowed to interact with a fantastic world of imagination, communally with other people who, like You, control the actions of their own special character. You and they are Players, and the Character each of you control is part of the same Team, a collection of 3 to 7 people who have been coupled together by fate. Your Team interacts with other characters, monsters, and the environment through the lens of an Arbiter, whom you describe your Actions to and who tells you how everything in the shared imaginary universe except your Character and your Team reacts to said Actions. To be honest, your shared imaginary world could be anything, from cave dwelling barbarians who wield the secret of fire to a pan galactic empire torn asunder by civil war, but since the name of this game is AVATAR: THE LAST RPG, chances are it's going to be based on the Avatar: The Last Air Bender cartoon. To play this game, you need at least 3 friends, pencils, paper, and 20 or more six-sided dice (abbreviated hereafter as a d6), and a whole bunch of imagination.
- Objects and Creatures: There are two overall types of things, Objects and Creatures. Creatures are living, sometimes breathing, organisms that are alive, and objects aren't. Your character is a creature, a Human to be more specific, although all Animals and Spirits are creatures too; everything else that is not a Human, Animal, or Spirit, count as an Object (including plants). The following is a overall description of all creatures you can interact with in the game.
- Humans: Chances are that you, personally, are a Human, and therefore know what a human looks like. In case you forgot and lack a mirror (or this document has survived to a time after humans), a Human has a powerful need to breathe air, a single skin tone from very pale to a nearly black brown, hair of a color that is a variation of blond, red, gray, and black, is one of 2 genders (male and female), and Human Adults generally stand between 4'10" and 5'11". Humans have at least 4 ability scores: Fortitude, Reflex, Wisdom, and Charisma; they also have Skills.
Humans belong to one of the four Great Nations (the Air Temples, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, or Fire Nation) and possess a Role, which tells you what they do; acceptable roles are Soldier, Merchant, Thief, Sailor, Teacher, Peasant, Mystic, Refugee, Entertainer, or any way to generally describe what they do. Knowing the Nation and Role of a Human is important for using the Lore Skill.
Animals: These creatures have at least 4 ability scores: Fortitude, Reflex, Wisdom, and Charisma; they also have Skills. Animals are classified by their movement (walking, swimming, flying, or burrowing)
Spirits: These are supernatural beings who come from the Spirit World. Like Humans and Animals, Spirits have Skills and, say it with me now, at least 4 ability scores: Fortitude, Reflex, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Spirits are classified as Earth, Air, Water, or Fire spirits; the more powerful spirits control more powerful forces within their classification, e.g. the Moon (air) and Sea (water) spirits are super powerful, while Hei bei is an earth spirit in charge of a single forest.
- Humans: Chances are that you, personally, are a Human, and therefore know what a human looks like. In case you forgot and lack a mirror (or this document has survived to a time after humans), a Human has a powerful need to breathe air, a single skin tone from very pale to a nearly black brown, hair of a color that is a variation of blond, red, gray, and black, is one of 2 genders (male and female), and Human Adults generally stand between 4'10" and 5'11". Humans have at least 4 ability scores: Fortitude, Reflex, Wisdom, and Charisma; they also have Skills.
What the Action is: On each turn on your initiative, you may take 2 Simple Actions, during which you can use a single skill and may move up to 5 hexes (If you like to play without a hex grid, you can replace all instances of "hexes" with "inches", happy birthday), and 1 Free Action.
- This is a Test: Doing something awesome or badass in this game requires a Test, where you roll an Attribute in d6 + a Skill in d6 + or - modifiers in d6. After a Test is rolled, you count up the number of dice that come up 5 or 6, these are called Hits. The more Hits a Test generates means that what is done is more awesome, as depicted in the following table:
Number of Hits Level of Awesomeness 0 Mundane 1 Hard 2 Hardcore 3 Badass 4 Awesome 5 Awesomesauce 6+ Achievement Unlocked: Total Awesomeness
- For Example... Zuko is trying to slip into a fortress to free the Avatar, unnoticed, and there is a Guard patrolling a corridor he must pass. Zuko rolls an Opposed Sneak Test (with a dicepool of [Reflex] + [Stealth] + [Sneak Specialization]) opposed by the Guard's Notice ([Wisdom] + [Observation] + [Notice Specialization Test] ) Test. Zuko's dicepool is 8, and manages to get 3 hits; The Guard (Being a faceless goon) reacts with a dicepool of 5, getting 2 hits. Zuko slips past the Guard without incident, and the Guard is none the wiser.
Flawed Successes and Critical Failures: If half or more of your dicepool rolls are 1s, but you still achieve a number of hits to succeed, you are considered to have a Flawed Success; you manage to jump the gorge with your Athletics skill, but trip and fall prone when you land, or you successfully hit a target with your bow, but run out of arrows.
If half or more of your dicepool rolls 1s, and fail to achieve the number of hits to succeed, you are considered to have a Critically Failed; A Critically Failed Athletics (Jump) Test causes you take falling damage once you finish plummeting down that gorge, or an Critically Failed Archery (Bow) Test means that you missed with your bow with the last arrow in your quiver.
Pulling Punches: You may always pull punches by claiming less hits than you actually made on a test. Normally you won't do this, but is is comforting to know that just because you got 4 hits on your Athletics (Jump) test does not mean that you have to fly 60' through the air.
- This is a Test: Doing something awesome or badass in this game requires a Test, where you roll an Attribute in d6 + a Skill in d6 + or - modifiers in d6. After a Test is rolled, you count up the number of dice that come up 5 or 6, these are called Hits. The more Hits a Test generates means that what is done is more awesome, as depicted in the following table:
Conditions: Sometimes a creature is under the affect of something that would change the way that creature could interact with the rest of the game, this is called a Condition. Although all the conditions are provided below, most are also presented in various other portions of the game to show them in context.
- Knocked Out: You are Unconscious and Prone in your hex, and will stay there until either somebody gives you first aid or you heal naturally and sleep it off. While Knocked Out you cannot move, talk, or take Standard or Free Actions, nor add your [equipment] dice to soak damage, negate any attack by using Martial Arts (Block) or Acrobatics (Dodge), you cannot make opposed tests, and any wound you receive becomes a Deathblow. Healing naturally is S-L-O-W (and described under the Medicine (Long Term Care) skill). It is worth noting that an average human dies after 3 days without water, so waiting to heal naturally under nobody's care out in the wilderness is a spectacularly bad idea.
Terminal: You are Unconscious and Prone in your hex, and will stay there until either somebody uses Medicine (First Aid) on you or 5 minutes pass, after which your condition worsens to Dead.
Dead: You are dead. Your soul departs to the Spirit World, and your body (if not already prone) falls limp to the ground and starts to decay. A lot of gross things start to happen that I won't go into detail about, because this game is based on a kid's show. You might want to bury your body before it becomes too disgusting, but you can't because you're dead.
On Fire: sometimes, possibly through no fault of your own, you just catch fire. Being On Fire is generally viewed as a bad thing by everybody who is not crazy. When you are On Fire, you must Soak 1 Fire Damage at the end of your turn, and the Fire Damage you must Soak is increased by +1 at the end of every turn you remain On Fire.
There are several methods of making you not be On Fire.
- Full Immersion: In water, preferably . To do this you must move into a body of water at least waist deep and drop prone for 1 full round (or dive into deep water, the point is full immersion). This always works and immediately makes you not On Fire.
Smothering: This is more difficult. You or someone else has to smother you with a heavy blanket or curtain or rug or something. This takes at least 1 full round, and the Smother-er has to roll a dicepool of [Reflex] + [Acrobatics] or [Wisdom] + [Lore] test and reduces the next round's fire damage by the number of hits, Should this reduce the Fire Damage to 0 the you are no longer On Fire. For the purposes of this test, the Fire Damage is considered 1 less if you are Prone while they beat you with rugs.
A creature's Poison Penalty is reduced by 1 each hour after the initial poisoning. Should a Creature's Poison Penalty be 0, that creature is no longer poisoned.
Persuaded: You are compelled to do an action. Being Persuaded comes with a Rating, which is how strongly you believe in the Persuasion. If, at the beginning of your turn, you really don't want to do what you were Persuaded to do, as a Free Action you may roll a Command (Willpower) test and reduce your Persuasion's Rating by 1 for every hit. If others want you to come to your senses, they may roll a Command (Rally) test, each hit is added as a bonus die to the Command (Willpower) test you make on your turn.
Paralyzed:Being Paralyzed comes with a Rating, which acts as a dice pool penalty. If the Rating equals or exceeds your Fortitude score, you drop prone and may neither move nor take Simple or Free Actions; paralyzed creatures also have a very difficult time speaking above a clenched whisper. Unless stated otherwise, each hour that passes after the penalty was inflicted reduces the penalty by one. A Medicine (First Aid) test reduces the Paralyzed Rating by 1 for every hit.
Prone: Unless you are Standing, you are Prone. Prone creatures can become Standing creatures by expending a Standard Action. Prone creatures cannot dodge Melee or Ranged Attacks, but any Range Threshold is increased by 1 when attacking a prone creature.
Standing: Unless you are Prone, you are Standing. Standing creatures can drop Prone as a non action as long as it is their turn.
Engaged: Whenever you are in a hex adjacent to a hex containing an enemy, you are "Engaged" with that enemy. You may be (and probably will be) engaged with more that one enemy at a time.
- The Rule of Disengagement: If you ever exit a hex while you are Engaged you provoke a free attack from that enemy unless your Reflex score is higher than theirs.
- Full Immersion: In water, preferably . To do this you must move into a body of water at least waist deep and drop prone for 1 full round (or dive into deep water, the point is full immersion). This always works and immediately makes you not On Fire.
- EZ Character Creation
1. Select up to 7 stars of perks and an an equal number of stars of flaws. No perk or flaw may be selected twice.
2. Select from the following array of numbers (5, 4, 3, 2) to place one into Fortitude, Reflex, Wisdom and Charisma.
3. Your Destiny is 1
4. Select one skill that has 6 ranks, and its specialization.
5. Select four skills that each have 4 ranks, and their specialization.
6. Select four skills that each has 1 rank.
7. Select a total of 6 Feats or Bending Techniques.
8. You now have 1 shiny character point left. Play the game and complete some adventures to be awarded more!
Every character in Avatar: The Last RPG can do special things, and every character in Avatar: The Last RPG has some motivation that fate forced upon them to form a Team with the other characters. These virtues and vices act as a tool to advance the plot, steal the limelight, and provide unique abilities that can help them in their adventures. No Perk or Flaw may be selected twice.
- Perk List
"Well, normally its only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official. . . . I guess it's worth four tickets."
Perks always benefit a character possessing them in some direct and tangible way. Each character should possess no more than seven (7) stars of perks.
- One Star Perks:
*Forgettable: People find you hard to remember, and harder to point out in police line-ups.
*Rich: It might as well grow on trees for you.
*Beautiful: People want your body, and you know it.
*Contacts: You are a guy who knows a guy who knows what you need.
*Homestead: You own land.
Two Star Perks:
**Noble: You are part of the ruling class. People fawn over you for your favor, and you have an officer's commission in the army.
**Special Training: You were trained by a very selective organization, where you honed your mad skillz.
**Prophet: You receive unsolicited visions of the future. Whether or not you can influence the outcome is your problem.
**Artificer: Other may build, but you can build better. You may make Master Work items.
**Magistrate: You are an arbiter of the Law, and consequently have it on your side.
Three Star Perks:
***Bender: You may specialize in Martial Arts (Bending), and may obtain Bending Techniques.
***Lucky: Once per day, your Destiny attribute is automatically refreshed when you have used up your last point for the day.
***Writ of Immunity: You possess a license to legally do whatever you want whenever you want, in the name of your nation's ruler.
"Bad skin?! Normal teenagers worry about bad skin, I don't have that luxury. My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson...ON MY FACE!
Foremost and firstly, having a flaw is not necessarily bad. Flaws exist as a way to flesh out your character, to make them more real, nuanced, and interesting. Honestly, what story would you rather hear: the recounting of how the perfect Mary Sue is perfect in every way, or the tale of the facially scarred Zuko, the banished prince, and his hard fought road to redemption as he suffers horrible nightmares of past trauma? The real deal is that flawed characters get more screen time, because their flaws segue straight into adventures concerning those flaws either consuming or overcomed by the character, and adventures is what RPGs are all about. It is for this reason that every character is expected to have as many stars of Flaws as they have stars of Perks.
- One Star Flaws:
*Coward: The only reason you are running toward a fight is because you are running away from the last one.
*Poor: You break even, but just barely; money always seems to slip through your fingers.
*Peasant: You have a day job working someone else's land.
*Lazy: You are an expert in energy conservation; mainly your own.
*Ugly: Your physical frame is unpleasing to the senses; you couldn't find love if it beat you with your own ugly stick.
*Pervert: You like to do what others don't. Try to keep your shameful pleasures behind closed doors.
*Illiterate:[/i] Tragically, you cannot read what this flaw does.
*Clumsy: What you are lacking in grace you make up for in destruction. People won't let you touch their fine china.
*Marked: Because of your distinctive features (like a huge facial scar or something) people always remember you.
Two Star Flaws:
**Sickly: You spend a lot of time being sick and coughing blood. People tend to keep their distance from you.
**Branded Criminal: You have a mark burnt into your forehead, cheek, or hand that means you are marked with dishonor. Cover it up or be shunned.
**Hot blooded: In a past life, you were a shit stirrer. You can't resist escalating a conflict.
**Unlikable: Though (possibly) no fault of your own, people just hate you.
**Escaped Slave: You used to be another's property, and they most likely want you back.
**Horrible Secret: Nobody knows the terrible thing you did, and you'd prefer to keep it that way.
**Nightmares: Whenever you rest, you have terrible dreams of a past trauma.
Three Star Flaws:
***Enslaved: You are currently someone else's problem.
***Exiled: You have completely pissed off one of the four great nations. If you ever go back they'll stick your head on a pig pole.
***Lame: You are missing what some would consider a useful part of your body. What your penalty is depends on what you lack.
Cause Effect Blind or Deaf You are opposed and your opposition is increased on all Observation tests by 3 hits. Dismembered You are opposed and your opposition is increased on all Athletics tests by 3 hits. Mute You are opposed and your opposition is increased on all Persuasion tests by 3 hits.
- One Star Perks:
Each Attribute begins at 1, and may be increased by 1 for 10 character points. No Attribute can be higher than 5 during character creation, but there are no limits once play has started. Every character may spend at most 120 character points on all attributes, excluding Destiny, during character creation.
- Fortitude: is a very important Attribute. You may ignore any Wound penalty to your Dice Pool equal to or less than your Fortitude score. Also, you may only wear armors and shields that provide a combined bonus (excluding the bonus for Master Worked items) that is less than your Fortitude score.
Armor type Soak Bonus Example No armor 0 Robes, Parka Light armor 1 Leather, Wicker, Cord Medium armor 2 Chain Heavy armor 3 Plate No Shield 0 Bangle, Bracelets Shield 1 Round, Kite Master Craft +1 Silk Cord (light armor +2)
Fortitude Score Light Load before penalties 0 10 lbs. 1 25 lbs 2 50 lbs. 3 100 lbs. 4 250 lbs. 5 500 lbs. 6 1,000 lbs. 7 2,500 lbs. 8 5,000 lbs. 9 10,000 lbs. 10 25,000 lbs. 11+ See a pattern here?
Reflex: is a very important Attribute. At the beginning of every round of combat the person with the highest [Reflex] + [Destiny] goes takes the first Turn, followed by the next highest, and so on. If two or more participants have the same amount of [Reflex] + [Destiny], the one with the highest Reflex goes first; If their reflex scores are equal, those participants roll an opposed test with a dicepool of [Reflex] + [Destiny] again and again until one scores more Hits than the other(s). Also, any opponent you are Engaged with and who has a lower reflex score than you do may not invoke The Rule of Disengagement. Reflex is the Base attribute of the Acrobatics, Archery, Pilot, and Stealth skills.
Wisdom: is a very important Attribute. Wisdom is the Base attribute of the Artisan, Lore, Medicine, and Observation skills.
Charisma: is a very important Attribute. Charisma is the Base attribute of the Command, Expression, Intimidate, and Persuade skills.
Destiny: is a very important Attribute, but is only Player Characters and NPCs with a name actually have it. NPCs like the swarms of Dai-Lee Agents, a random Platypus Bear, and the literally faceless soldiers in the Fire Nation Army do not have an Destiny Attribute, not because they don't have a family and history, but because the story is not about them, and in the context of the story are basically window dressing. Should a NPC stand out enough get a real name, they get a Destiny Attribute.
As said above, your Destiny attribute is added to your Reflex attribute to determine who goes before who each round of combat. A number of times per day equal to your Destiny Attribute, you may Invoke your Destiny, allowing you to reroll any misses you got on a test (greatly improving your chance of succeeding a test), force anyone else to reroll their hits on a single test (greatly improving their chance of failing a test), or be used to escape certain death; this last ability is less a "Get Out of Jail Free" card and more "last possible resort with consequences", and how a character actually escapes certain doom in negotiated between the Player and the Arbiter.
- For Example... a Player Character might be pinned under rubble in a burning building and knocked unconscious, and with no hope of rescue; this is a death sentence. The player has an unspent use of Destiny and says, "I invoke my Destiny to not die in this fire." The Arbiter and Player might then decide together that a structural support gives way and the Player's character falls into a basement and is spared the full wrath of the fire, but an exposed arm is badly burned and the character carries an identifying scar for the rest of their life.
"And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No, it certainly wasn't your skills."
Each Skill begins at 0 Ranks, and may be increased by 1 Rank for 4 character points. You may have a maximum of 6 Ranks in any one skill or 2 skills at 5 Ranks, the rest must have 4 Ranks or less; there are no limits once play has started. You may also purchase a specialization in a skill, which increases the skill by +2 whenever you are doing something pertinent to the specialization. Specializing in a skill costs 3 character points. You may specialize in a skill more than once, but you may not have a specialization that adds to something already specialized. e.g. you can have [attribute A] + [skill B] + [specialization X] and [attribute A] + [skill B] + [specialization Y], but you can't have a dice pool that is [attribute A] + [skill B] + [specialization X] + [specialization Y], naughty-naughty!
Teamwork: By doubling the number of people who have at least 1 die in a skill required to do a task, you may add a single additional Teamwork Bonus Dice to a single participant's Dice Pool, as per the following table:
Number of Total Participants Teamwork Bonus Dice 2 +1 4 +2 8 +3 16 +4 32 +5 64 +6 128 +7 256 +8 512 +9 1024 +10 And so on... ...See a pattern?
Fortitude Skills
"The first thing you must learn is that your weapon it is an extension of yourself. You must think of it is another part of your own body."
"Like a second head?
"Well... More like an extra-long, really sharp arm."
- Athletics: This is the skill that moves you. Allowing you Run, swim, jump, climb , or stagger under a heavy load depending on the number of hits you get on an Athletics test ([Fortitude] + [Athletics] + [Specialization]). For your convenience, a table is provided below showing how many hexes how many hits takes you.
Hits Stagger Run* Swim/Jump/Climb** 0 0 +0 0 1 1 +1 1 2 2 +3 3 3 3 +6 6 4 4 +10 10 5 5 +15 15 6 6 +21 21 7 7 +28 28 8 8 +36 36 9 9 +45 45 10 10 +55 55
**Swim, Jump, and Climb must be tested before they are attempted. Failing the test means that you do not move from your hex. Critically failing means that (Swim) you start the flounder and drown, (Jump) you misjudge the jump and undershoot it, and (climb) your grip slips and you fall
- Difficult Terrain: Any terrain that would be considered hard to move through (e.g. quicksand, mud, undertow, underbrush, churning water, surfaces with few handholds, etc.) costs 2 hexes of movement to exit. Its easy to get into trouble, but hard to get out.
Falling: Purposefully leaping off (or accidentally falling from) any great height will never deal any damage whatsoever. The same cannot be said for the sudden stop at the end. Everything accelerates toward the ground at 5 hexes per second (hitting terminal velocity after 5 seconds going 25 h/s^2). In the first round of falling, a creature or object covers 100 hexes, and another 150 hexes each additional round. Slamming into the ground at 102 mph seriously hurts, as the following table will tell.
Distance Fallen is... Damage ...less than 1 hex 0 ...less than 3 hexes 1 ...less than 6 hexes 2 ...less than 10 hexes 3 ...less than 15 hexes 4 ...less than 26 hexes* 5
*A character reaches Terminal Velocity at 25 hexes, so a fall can never deal more than 5 damage
It is worth noting that jumping is just like falling in reverse. An Athletics (Jump) negates falling damage by subtracting Velocity from your terminal Velocity at impact, based on how high you can jump. A creature that can get 6 hits on an Athletics (Jump) test takes no falling damage, regardless of the distance fallen.
- Bending Elements: Bending Earth, Sea, Sky, or Fire to your will is taxing to your mortal frame. Each bending Technique has a drain code that determines the amount of Exhaustion you must resist whenever you attempt it. Although Endurance is normally a Fortitude Skill, only Earth benders use their Fortitude Attribute when resisting Exhaustion caused by Bending; Air Benders resist Bending Exhaustion with Reflex, Fire Benders resist Bending Exhaustion with Charisma, and Water Benders resist Bending Exhaustion with Wisdom.
Hard Work: Using the Athletics skill for any great length of time is exhausting. After a time increment of a number of minutes equal to 5 times your Athletics score, you must make an Endurance test to resist 1 Exhaustion, +1 for each previous time increment.
Sleep Deprivation: Generally speaking, you can go 16 hours before you need to sleep for eight. Thereafter, you must make an Endurance test to resist 1 Exhaustion, +1 for each time increment of a number of hours equal to your Fortitude score beyond the 16 hours.
Holding Your Breath: Different Creatures breathe different things; humans breathe air while fish breathe water. All Creatures have a powerful, innate need to breathe at regular intervals, whether they are humans or spiderflys breathing air or elephant koi breathing water. Not breathing forces a creature to resist 1 Exhaustion Damage the first minute they decide (or are forced to) hold their breath, and on the second and subsequent minutes they add a cumulative +1 to the Exhaustion Damage they must soak that round, so that after 5 minutes a creature must soak 5 Exhaustion. A creature is not normally Knocked Out from Exhaustion if their Exhaustion was caused by holding their breath, instead the creature is simply forced to breathe involuntarily, and any Exhaustion caused by not breathing automatically goes away when they resume breathing normally, but a problem exists when a creature is forced to breathe but still cannot (as in the case of an air breather underwater or somebody choking the shit out of another) as then the creature gains the Terminal condition (explained under the Toughness Skill) until either first aid is applied to remove the Terminal condition or the creature dies.
Resisting Exhaustion: All creatures resist Exhaustion with a dicepool of [Fortitude] + [Endurance] + [Exhaustion Specialization], each net hit Soaks (negates) 1 point of Exhaustion damage, to a minimum of 0. Unsoaked Exhaustion damage provides the following conditions:
Unsoaked Exhaustion Exhaustion Condition Effective Wounds 0 Fine 0 1 Fatigued 1 2 Winded 3 3 Exhausted 6 4+ Knocked Out* 10
* Knocked Out is described in the Toughness skill
- Melee Attack: Against any enemy you have Engaged (i.e. are in an adjacent hex to) You make a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Attack Specialization] + [Weapon Reach] test and compare the number of hits to your opponent's opposed Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test, their choice. If the number of your hits equal or exceed the number of their hits, you deal damage based on the weapon you wield, +1 damage per net hit; otherwise you miss. A Flawed Success or Critical Failure knocks you off balance, and you cannot attack with that weapon again until your next initiative.
Weapon Class Damage Reach Example Unarmed 0 0 Kick or punch Light 1 1 Dagger One Handed 2 2 Longsword, Short Spear, Axe Two Handed 3 3 Greatsword, Long Spear -- -- -- -- Master Craft +1 +0 Sokka's Space Sword
[Element] Bending: Bending is a mystical martial art that shapes the elements to your will, and can only be purchased if you have the three star "Bender" perk. Every bender on the planet can only bend one element, and that element is either Water, Earth, Fire, or Air; the exception of course being the Avatar, and unless you character is Aang or one of his past lives, you are not the Avatar. Once you select an [Element] Bending specialization, you cannot select another element to specialize in, or even learn any bending technique that is not one available to the element you specialized in, ever.
To [Element] Bend, you must possess an appropriate [Element] bending Technique (helpfully located under Techniques), and determine how powerful you want the Technique to be. Power is a numerical assignation of how badass you perform your [Element] Bending Technique. First you "call" the Power of the Technique (which must be a minimum of 1), and then you roll a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Element Bending Specialization] test and compare the number of hits to the "called" Power. If the number hits on your Bending (Element) test is greater than or equal to your "called" Power, the Technique Succeeds and is of the "called" Power, regardless of net hits. If the number hits on your Bending (Element) test is less then your "Called" Power, the Technique fails.
Regardless of the Technique's success or failure, you suffer Exhaustion which must be soaked with your Endurance ([Element] bending). The severity of the inflicted Exhaustion is dependent on the Power of the Technique; i.e, more Powerful Techniques are more Exhausting. The amount of Exhaustion a Technique causes can be determined by that Technique's Drain Code.
Block: Using your Martial Arts skill, you may choose to block melee and ranged attacks. To negate an attack, you must choose to roll one, and only one, of the following: Martial Arts (Block) or Acrobatics (Dodge). Choosing to block somebody's melee attack against you means that you make a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Block Specialization] + [Reach Bonus] test and count up the hits; if you have 1 or more net hits against your attacker, their attack misses, otherwise it hits and there is a Toughness test in your immediate future. Blocking a ranged attack is resolved the same way, except that you do not receive a [Reach Bonus] to your dice pool.
Grab: To use this maneuver, you must Close the melee range with your opponent (which provokes a Free Attack from him). Choosing to Grab onto somebody means that you make a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Grab Specialization] test and count up the hits to your opponent's opposed Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test; with at least one net hit you have either successfully grabbed onto your opponent and move with them, counting your weight against their maximum Load, or alternatively you can add their weight to your maximum Load and they move with you.
If you want to inflict a Melee Attack on your grabbed on opponent, you may add your net hits from this maneuver to your Melee Attack Dice Pool.
The subject of your Grab can escape into an adjacent hex, ending the grab, with a net hit on an Acrobatics (Escape Artist) or straight Martial Arts test vs. your Martial Arts (Grab) test.
Grab can also be used to grab objects. Simple stuff (like a rock on the ground) can be grabbed easily and without an opposed test because there is no one to oppose the test. Grabbing stuff and not having other people notice that you grabbed it is not actually grabbing, but stealing (read about it later). If you don't care that an old lady notices you ripping her purse out of her hands, at least 1 net hit on an opposed [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Grab Specialization] test opposed by your opponent's Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test lets you rip away any one thing they hold; and yes, that one thing you grab can contain other things (like if you grab a purse full of money or a dresser full of clothes). If they are holding it with 2 hands, you need at least 2 net hits, and if it is securely strapped to their body (such as a suit of armor or a hiking back pack), you have to destroy (deal at least 10 wounds to) the straps before you can rip it off them. Pants, jewelry, and other items that are supposed to be slipped on and off only require at least 2 net hits.
Pin: To use this maneuver, you must Close the melee range with your opponent (which provokes a Free Attack from him). Choosing to Pin your opponent means that you make a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Pin Specialization] test and count up the hits to your opponent's opposed Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test; with at least one net hit you have successfully Pined your opponent to the ground, forcing them prone and to be held immobile (may neither Martial Arts (Block), Acrobatics (Dodge), nor exit any hex). The subject of your Pin can escape into an adjacent hex with a net hit on either an Acrobatics (Escape Artist) or straight Martial Arts vs. your Martial Arts (Pin) test.
Push: To use this maneuver, you must Close the melee range with your opponent (which provokes a Free Attack from him). Choosing to Push your opponent means that you make a [Fortitude] + [Martial Arts] + [Push Specialization] test and count up the hits to your opponent's opposed Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test; with at least one Net Hit, you may move your opponent away from you up to a number of hexes equal to your net hits, and they fall prone in the last hex of movement unless they obtain a number of Hits on an Acrobatics (Balance) test equal to the number of hexes they were pushed. Pushed opponents provoke The Rule of Disengagement as they move.
Free Attacks: If you do something that would leave you exposed to attack, even momentarily, you provoke a Free Attack, which means whoever you provoked it from gets to use their Martial Arts skill on you once before you can do what provoked the Free Attack. If they do something that provokes a Free Attack in making a Free Attack, the new free attack is resolved before they get to make their Free Attack against you, and so on. If the resolution of the Free Attack causes you to be unable to perform the action that provoked the Free Attack, tough luck, you are unable to perform that action. And before you ask, and though I applaud your sense of power gaming, you cannot Specialize in "Free Attacks".
Unsoaked Damage Wound Level Wounds 0 No wound 0 1 Light Wound 1 2 Moderate Wound 3 3 Severe Wound 6 4 Knocked Out 10 and you are Knocked Out 5 Terminal 10 and you are Terminal 6+ Deathblow 10 and you are Dead
Should you ever possess 10 or more wounds, you receive one of the following conditions, based on your unsoaked damage:
- Knocked Out: You are Unconscious and Prone in your hex, and will stay there until either somebody gives you first aid or you heal naturally and sleep it off. While Unconscious you cannot move nor add your [equipment] dice to soak damage, negate any attack by using Martial Arts (Block) or Acrobatics (Dodge), and any wound you receive becomes a Deathblow. Healing naturally is S-L-O-W (and described under the Medicine (Long Term Care) skill). It is worth noting that an average human dies after 3 days without water, so waiting to heal naturally under nobody's care out in the wilderness is a spectacularly bad idea.
Terminal: You are Unconscious and Prone in your hex, and will stay there until either somebody uses Medicine (First Aid) on you or 5 minutes pass, after which your condition worsens to Dead.
Dead: You are dead. Your soul departs to the Spirit World, and your body (if not already prone) falls limp to the ground and starts to decay. A lot of gross things start to happen that I won't go into detail about, because this game is based on a kid's show. You might want to bury your body before it becomes too disgusting, but you can't because you're dead.
- Damage: Damage Comes in 4 flavors, all of which can be specializations of the Toughness skill.
Damage Type Example Crushing Hammers, boulders, and pressure Fire Acid, flames, frostbite, and lightning Piercing Arrows, spears, spikes, and swords Poison ...poison
There are several methods of making you not be On Fire.
- Full Immersion: In water, preferably . To do this you must move into a body of water at least waist deep and drop prone for 1 full round (or dive into deep water, the point is full immersion). This always works and immediately makes you not On Fire.
Smothering: This is more difficult. You or someone else has to smother you with a heavy blanket or curtain or rug or something. This takes at least 1 full round, and the Smother-er has to roll a dicepool of [Reflex] + [Acrobatics] or [Wisdom] + [Lore] test and reduces the next round's fire damage by the number of hits, Should this reduce the Fire Damage to 0 the you are no longer On Fire. For the purposes of this test, the Fire Damage is considered 1 less if you are Prone while they beat you with rugs.
"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday.
"They snuck up on me!"
"Right. And then they kicked your butt."
- Acrobatics:
- Balance: Picking up this specialization does exactly what you think it does. A [Reflex] + [Acrobatics] + [Balance Specialization] test against the ridiculousness of whatever you are trying to balance on, as per the following table:
Hits Ridiculousness Example[/b] 0 Mundane not tripping when you walk, opening a door the right way 1 Tricky Balancing on a ledge 2 Hard Walking a tight rope... 3 Improbable ...covered in ice. 4 Impossible Balancing on an arrow in flight 5 Legendary Walking on water 6+ Epic Sitting on a cloud
Escape Artist
[/td][td]Range[/td][td]Distance in Hexes[/td][td]Range Threshold Increase [/td][/tr] Adjacent 1 +0 Near 10 +1 Far 100 +2 Distant 1,000 +3 Extreme 1,000+ +4
- Aim: As a Simple Action, you may reduce the range threshold for your next ranged attack by 1, to a minimum of 0; if your next Simple Action is another Aim action, the reduction is cumulative to a maximum of your Reflex score. Doing anything that would break your concentrating to aim ( such as taking damage, dodging or blocking an attack, attacking, or moving), causes the range threshold to return to normal after that action is resolved. Incidentally, you can't Specialize in Aim, because there is no dice pool involved.
Ranged Attack: Declaring a Ranged Attack provokes a Free Attack from anyone Engaged with you. Against any enemy within the weapon's maximum range, you make a [Reflex] + [Archery] + [Weapon Specialization] test and compare the number of hits to your opponent's opposed Acrobatics (Dodge) or Martial Arts (Block) test, their choice, PLUS your range threshold. If the number of your hits equal or exceed the number of their hits + your range threshold, you deal damage based on the weapon you wield, +1 damage per net hit; otherwise you miss. A Flawed Success or Critical Failure lets you find that you have no more ammunition to shoot.
Weapon Class Damage Maximum Range Reload Action* Weapon Size Improvised Thrown Weapon +(**) 10 hexes 1 Standard Action Anything lighter than your light load Throwing Weapon +1 25 hexes 1 Standard Action One hand Sling +2 50 hexes 1 Standard Action One hand Crossbow +3 100 hexes 1 Standard Action Two hands to load, one to shoot Bow +4 250 hexes 1 Standard Action Two hands Ballistae +5 500 5 Standard Actions Emplacement 1 hex across Catapult +6 1,000 hexes 10 Standard Actions Emplacement 3 hexes across -- -- -- -- -- Master Craft +1 +0 *** --
- Some ranged weapons (like the Catapult) take a ridiculous number of standard actions to load, so you probably think that you'd have to stand there for 5 turns before you could fire it, and you would be wrong. Just like you could have a guy that just loads Crossbows and hands the weapon to you to fire, you can have a "crew" of people spend Simple Actions to load a ranged weapon faster.
**: Improvised throwing weapons deal damage based on how high a Fortitude score you would need to pick it up as a light load, rounded down. So a 1 pound stone requires a fortitude of 0 to lift, and deals +0 damage on a successful Ranged Attack, and a 5 ton boulder which can be hefted deals +9 damage.
***: Master Craft weapons are faster on the draw. A Master Craft Weapon can be reloaded with both Standard and Free actions.
- Maneuver
- Hide: Hide is used to hide things; anytime you want to make a coin "disappear" behind you hand, camouflage a trap, or pull off that "test of faith" trick move out of that Indiana Jones movie, you roll a [Reflex]+[Stealth]+[Hide Specialization] test. You always know where whatever you hid is hidden, but if someone else wants to find it, they have to get as many or more of hits on a Observation (Search) check as you did on your Stealth (Hide) check to find it. You can't fail a Stealth (Hide) check, but if you Critically Fail the check the object of your obfuscation is automatically found.
Sneak: Sneak is used to not be noticed; indeed, someone (competently) sneaking around is nigh silent and invisible, as well as untargetable by melee and ranged attacks that can only affect a single target; area of effect attacks can affect a sneaking creature in the effect's area. At the beginning of your turn, you may make a [Reflex]+[Stealth]+[Sneak Specialization] test; you are unnoticed to anyone who has less hits on their Observation (Notice) than your Stealth (Sneak), and do your thing without them knowing about it.
- Sneak Attack: Should you decide to attack someone who doesn't notice you, they are in for a world of hurt. A creature receiving an attack from an unnoticed source cannot dodge or block that attack. should the attacked creature survive the sneak attack, the unnoticed attacker must obtain at least 1 net hit on a Stealth (Sneak) test vs. their target's and anyone who noticed the target being attacked's Observation (Notice) test for the attacker to remain unnoticed.
Sneak Attacking a creature with a Destiny attribute is harder, as the opposed test is rolled immediately after the attack roll. An observant possessor of Destiny could notice your attack and immediately respond by dodging or blocking.
Although cathartic, shouting “SNEAK ATTACK!” at the top of your lungs during a Sneak Attack is a surefire way to get noticed.
Thing to be stolen Number of net hits required Something you could palm in your hand 1+
Something you could hide on your person 2+
Something larger than you are 3+
Something nailed down or on fire 4+
Something nailed down and on fire 5+
----
Item is being worn or held by the person
who could notice you stealing+1*
*This is added to the number of net hits required, so an object which is both nailed down and on fire which is held by a person requires 6+ net hits to take without them noticing its absence.
- Sneak Attack: Should you decide to attack someone who doesn't notice you, they are in for a world of hurt. A creature receiving an attack from an unnoticed source cannot dodge or block that attack. should the attacked creature survive the sneak attack, the unnoticed attacker must obtain at least 1 net hit on a Stealth (Sneak) test vs. their target's and anyone who noticed the target being attacked's Observation (Notice) test for the attacker to remain unnoticed.
"Look! Can your fortune telling explain that?"
"Can your science explain why it rains?"
"Yes! Yes it can!"
- Artisan: This skill turns something into something else, and needs an appropriate input to create a functional output (e.g. you can't build a brick house when all you have is wood). That said, this skill makes Stuff. The more hits you get on your [Wisdom] + [Artisan] + [Stuff Specialization] test, the more awesome the Stuff you create is. But first lets talk about materials.
Everything (Plants, Animals, You, Ghosts and the Planet) in both this and the spirit world has 10 wounds. Objects and materials specifically have no Attributes and only possess the Toughness Skill; they also have the Combat Focus Feat that is used on their Toughness to give what is know as their "Effective Hardness", which subtracts directly from damage. Different Objects have more or less base Toughness, depending on the Material they are made of, based on the following chart.
Material Base Toughness Effective Hardness Glass or Ice 0 0 Cloth* 4 1 Leather* or Earth 8 2 Bone or Plants 12 3 Stone 16 4 Iron 20 5
*Cloth and Leather are both really light (compared to other materials) and do not suffer from Falling Damage
- Alchemy: This specialization allows you to create Poisons and Potions. It takes an solid hour of work to use Alchemy and the test is made after the hour is over; should you leave during the middle of the process your work is not spoiled and you can pick up where you left off. The number of Hits on your [Wisdom] + [Artisan] + [Alchemy Specialization] determines the Rating of the poison or potion. Poisons have options in creation that reduce their Rating; should a poison's rating be reduced to 0 or less, no poison is made.
Using Artisan (Alchemy) only creates a single dose of poison or potion. You can double the number of doses you create with any single use of Artisan (Alchemy) by reducing the created poison's or potion's Rating by 1; this can be done more than once (e.g. someone could make one dose of a Rating 6 Poison, two doses of a rating 5 Poison, or thirty two doses of a Rating 1 Poison).
A creature can only be affected by one dose of poison or potion at a time, multiple doses do not stack (unless a creature is affected by multiple poisons that each affect different Ability Scores), and only the highest Rating poison or potion apply at any time (to any affected Ability Score). Smearing a door knob with 2 doses of Fortitude Contact Poison does not affect somebody twice, but once the first dose is expended the the next dose awaits for somebody else to touch it, but a knob with 1 dose each of Fortitude Contact Poison and Charisma Contact Poison affects each ability score independent of the other poison.
Poisons and potions affect targets they are used on in different ways.
- Poisons: All Poisons have 4 Components: their Rating, Vector, Ability, and Lethality. To even affect a creature, a poison must be used according to it's Vector (which is selected when the poison is made); a Vector can be Ingestion, Injection, Inhalation, or Contact.
- Ingestion poisons aren’t hard to make, brodifacoum (Rat Poison) is an ingested poison; ingestion is considered the default poison Vector. Ingestion poisons are hard to work with though as your target has to eat it to get poisoned. Nothing but eating an ingested poison will poison the target.
Injection poisons are hard to make, heparin is an injected poison; the Rating of any created injection poison is reduced by 1. Injection poisons can either be ingested or "injected" into the blood stream, mostly by being smeared on a weapon that deals Piercing Damage; simply touching an injected poison carries no risk, unless you rub your eyes or suck your fingers.
Inhalation poisons are super hard to make, cyanide is an inhaled poison; the Rating of any created inhalation poison is reduced by 2. Inhalation poisons simply need to be breathed to do their dirty work, and if sufficiently concentrated can be injected or ingested. Simply being in a cloud of poison won't poison you, that happens when you breathe the toxic vapors, so holding your breath is a pretty good idea when a cloud roils in, heavy and green.
Contact poisons are insanely hard to make, hydrofluoric acid is a contact poison; the Rating of any created contact poison is reduced by 3. Simply touching a contact poison with bare skin is enough to poison you, and clothing does nothing to protect you unless it is also waterproof. The fact that a contact poison can be injected or ingested is redundant, as soon as it touches skin the poison goes to work. The only 100% protection against contact poison is abstinence; don't touch it, get a promise ring or something to remind you.
The Lethality of a poison simply means if the poison is Lethal or not. Lethal poisons are harder to make; the Rating of any created Lethal poison is reduced by 1 (this is cumulative with other Rating reductions).
When a creature is affected by poison, they take Poison Damage equal to the poison's Rating, which can be soaked with Toughness (Poison). Poison damage doesn't inflict wounds like normal damage. Instead, the affected creature gains the Poisoned condition.
- Poisoned: the creature receives a Poison Penalty equal to the Poison Damage the creature failed to save against to the Ability the poison affects. Should this Poison Penalty equal or exceed the creature's Ability Score, that creature is Knocked Out; should the poison be a Lethal Poison, that creature is instead Terminal.
A creature's Poison Penalty is reduced by 1 each hour after the initial poisoning. Should a Creature's Poison Penalty be 0, that creature is no longer poisoned.
- Ingestion poisons aren’t hard to make, brodifacoum (Rat Poison) is an ingested poison; ingestion is considered the default poison Vector. Ingestion poisons are hard to work with though as your target has to eat it to get poisoned. Nothing but eating an ingested poison will poison the target.
The reach of a melee weapon must be stated during its construction; all melee weapons have a reach equal to or less than its damage, even if it's 0.
- Ranged Weapons: have a maximum range dependent on their damage, as shown in the following table.
Weapon Damage Maximum Range 0* 10 1 25 2 50 3 100 4 250 5 500 6 1000 And so on... ...And so forth.
Size Modifier Reload One Hand +0 1 Standard Action Two Hands -1 1 Standard Action Emplacement 1 hex across (1 hex constructed) -2 5 Standard actions Emplacement 3 hexes across (28 hexes constructed) -3 10 Standard Actions
Explosives: To make a unit of explosives, you must declare what Rating of explosive you are trying to make and spend a full hour working with dangerous combustibles; should you leave during the middle of the process your work is not spoiled and you can pick up where you left off. At the end of the hour you can roll a [Wisdom] + [Artisan] + [Explosives Specialization] test at get at least as many hits as your explosive's Rating. If successful, you create 1 unit of Explosives with a Rating equal to the number of hits you achieved on your Artisan (Explosives) test; if unsuccessful you suffer a mishap as your unstable explosive explodes in your hex as an explosive with a Rating equal to your number of hits. You can double the number of units you create with any single use of Artisan (Explosives) by reducing the created Explosive's Rating by 1; this can be done more than once (e.g. someone could make one unit of a Rating 6 Explosive, two units of a rating 5 Explosive, or thirty two doses of a Rating 1 explosive). Note that how cool and pretty an explosion will be is a function of the Expression (Explosives) skill.
An explosive's Damage and Radius is equal to its Rating. The Radius of the explosion determines how many hexes it affects, starting in the hex it is placed in (so an Rating 2 explosive would do 2 damage to everything within a sphere 3 hexes across). The Damage of an explosive is considered to be both Fire Damage and concussive force; and any explosive within an exploding explosive's radius explodes (explosively). A creature can only be affected by one explosion at a time, multiple explosions do not stack, and only the highest damage Explosion applies at any time.
Explosives must also have a fuse (which is set and ignited when the explosive is used), and all explosives explode if subjected to fire damage or shock damage, or both (selected when the explosive is made). Setting and lighting a fuse takes a Simple Action; you can set a fuse to last any number of rounds, and an explosive always explodes after everybody's turn has ended for the round. - Poisons: All Poisons have 4 Components: their Rating, Vector, Ability, and Lethality. To even affect a creature, a poison must be used according to it's Vector (which is selected when the poison is made); a Vector can be Ingestion, Injection, Inhalation, or Contact.
- [Specific] Knowledge: Having this specialization allows you to recall events, places, times, people, styles, cultures, or any other fact like a living Wikipedia, however the knowledge only concerns your [Specific] field. The more hits you get on a [Wisdom] + [Lore] + [Specific Specialization], the more hidden and secret truths you can call to mind. For example...
Hits Your Spirit Knowledge allows you to recall... 0 ...That dead people go to the Spirit World. 1 ...that living people can cross into the Spirit World and return. 2 ...the names of the Moon and Sea spirit. 3 ...how to get into the Spirit World. 4 ...that Koh will steal you face, should it ever see emotion. 5 ...how to get out of the Spirit World. 6 ...each name of every face Koh has ever stolen
You can also direct any ally that can both see and hear you in the best course of action concerning all [Creature Type], although saying what needs to be done is a lot slower than just doing it yourself, and the more people you direct means more gets lost in the din of battle. You may roll a Lore ([Creature Type] Tactics) test against a variable threshold you select; this threshold determines how may allies you can affect with this skill, as per the following table.
Threshold Allies Affected 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 8 5 16 6 32 And so on... ...and so forth.
Medicine:
- Detoxify: Roll [Wisdom] + [Medicine] + [Detoxify Specialization] and reduce Poison Penalty by Hits.
First Aid: You can reduce the severity of a wound by rolling [Wisdom] + [Medicine] + [First Aid Specialization] and comparing your hits to the following table. Wounds cannot be reduced more than once and First Aid can only be attempted on a wound within 1 hour of it being inflicted. The Knocked Out and Terminal Conditions only exist if your patient has 10+ wounds, should they have less than 10 wounds they lose those conditions.
Hits Wound Reduced 1 All Light Wounds are removed 2 The Terminal Condition is reduced to Knocked Out 3 All Moderate Wounds become Light Wounds 6 All Serious Wounds become Moderate Wounds
Hits Exhaustion Alleviated 0 Knocked Out* becomes Exhausted 1 The Fatigued Condition is Removed 3 The Winded Condition is removed 6 The Exhausted Condition is removed
*If your patient is Knocked Out with 10+ wounds, they won't wake up, no matter how hard you slap them.
Long Term Care Different Wound heal at different rates, based on how nasty the wound is. Wounds have a Time Frame, which is how long it takes for them to be reduced by 1 step (e.g all Severe Wounds become Moderate Wounds, and all Light Wounds become No Wounds and vanish). You can reduced the Time Frame a patient needs to heal their wounds by rolling a [Wisdom] + [Medicine] + [Long Term Care Specialization] test and comparing your hits to the following chart. You must care for you patient for at least 8 consecutive hours or the reduced Time Frame (whichever is less) every day for the duration of the reduced time frame, or they will have a complication and immediately begin their Wound's Time Frame anew.
Wound Time Frame Hits to Reduce Reduced Time Frame Light 24 Hours 1 hit 1 Hour Moderate 1 Week 3 hits 24 Hours Severe or worse 1 Month 6 or more hits 1 Week
- Notice
Search
"And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying."
"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar. I am a 400 foot tall purple platypus-bear with pink horns and silver wings."
"...Okay, you're good, I admit it."
- Animal Ken: This skill is used to get animals to do what you want. There are many ways to do so, such as establishing Dominance, Whispering, or Spurring with sharp objects, but whatever you do the specialization only applies to a single type of animal (ostrich horse, moose lion, platypus bear, spiderfly, etc...). To get an animal to do what you want, you need at least 1 net hit on a [Charisma] + [Animal Ken] + [Animal Specialization] vs. their Command (Willpower) Test; should you succeed, your target receives the Persuaded condition with a Rating equal to your net hits.
Command: This skill is not ordering other people around (that's what Persuasion is for), but about being in command of yourself and the situation around you.
- Willpower: You draw upon inner reserves of Charisma to end any Persuaded condition you are under as long as you get at least as many Hits as your Persuasions Rating to your Dice Pool on a [Charisma] + [Command] + [Willpower Specialization] test.
Rally: You imbue an Target with confidence, an your target immediately rerolls against Persuasion’s Rating with your hits as bonus dice to their dice pool.
Persuade: This skill is used to change another's mind about basically anything through civil discourse. There are many ways to do so, such as arguing Logically, using Rhetoric, Fast Talking, Intimidating, or just out and out Lying. To change another's mind, you need at least 1 net hit on a [Charisma] + [Persuade] + [Argument Specialization] vs. Command (Willpower) opposed test; should you succeed, your target receives the Persuaded condition with a Rating equal to your net hits. - Willpower: You draw upon inner reserves of Charisma to end any Persuaded condition you are under as long as you get at least as many Hits as your Persuasions Rating to your Dice Pool on a [Charisma] + [Command] + [Willpower Specialization] test.
- Balance: Picking up this specialization does exactly what you think it does. A [Reflex] + [Acrobatics] + [Balance Specialization] test against the ridiculousness of whatever you are trying to balance on, as per the following table:
Feats are physical abilities that you possess and others don't, special one off abilities that alter the rules in your favor. Generally speaking, they are less cool than a bending Technique, but the effect of many feats "stack", not only with other feats but with some bending Technique's too, making their combined effect greater than their individual utility. You may have as many Feats as you want, but you must pay 5 character point for each one. No Feat may be purchased more than once.
- Awesome Blow: Whenever you successfully hit an opponent with your Martial Arts skill, you may choose to Push that opponent without provoking a Free Attack
Bigger is Better: Whenever you wield a melee weapon that must be held with two hands, it's Damage is increased by 1.
Blindsight: Penalties to sight do not affect your Observation rolls.
Chi Blocking: While unarmed, you may make a special Melee Attack that cannot be Soaked with Toughness but deals no damage on a hit;. Instead your target is Paralyzed, with a Rating equal to the damage you would have done.
Cleave: If your Melee Attack on an opponent brings that opponent to 10 or more Wounds, you may make a Free Attack against any other single opponent you have Engaged.
Combat Focus: You may buy automatic hits at a rate of 1 hit for every 4d6 you would have rolled during any stressful situation (such as combat).
Deft Step: You may ignore movement penalties caused by difficult terrain.
Far Shot: Your Range Threshold is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0.
Great Fortitude: Any Wound Level you take is reduced by one step, to a minimum of No Wound.
Haste: The number of hits you get on an Athletics roll is increased by 1.
Hunter: You may make a Melee or Ranged Attack as a Free Action with your Primary Hand.
Insightful Strike:You may base your Martial Arts skill off your Wisdom instead of your Fortitude.
Iron Will: The hits of a person trying to affect you with a Charisma skill are reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0.
Orator: YOUR VOICE IS HUGE! You may speak so that anyone who can hear you can be affected by your Charisma skills, but you apply a range threshold to your skill roll.
Piercing Pin: You can substitute a Martial Arts (Pin) dicepool with your Archery (Weapon) dicepool to Pin a target with a ranged weapon that does piercing damage.
Point Blank Shot: Whenever you Attack with a skill that has a range threshold of 0, the wound level of any opponent struck is increased by 1 step.
Two Weapon Fighting: Whenever you are allowed to attack with a weapon in your primary hand, you may attack with another weapon in your secondary hand. You suffer no penalties for doing this.
Uncanny Dodge: You may ignore any Wound caused by an Attack or Technique which does not normally allow you to Dodge it if you get a number of hits on your Athletics (Doge) skill check equal to the Damage of the Attack or Force of the Technique.
Weapon Finesse:You may base your Martial Arts skill off your Reflex instead of your Fortitude.
Whirlwind: As a Simple Action you may make a Melee Attack against every target you have Engaged with your primary hand.
Will to Power: You may base your Martial Arts skill off your Charisma instead of your Fortitude.
Zen Archery:You may base your Archery skill off your Wisdom instead of your Reflex.
"I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying and magic!"
Environment
Elements of a Technique
- Range
- Touch
Line of Sight
Line of Sight (Area)
- Instant: these techniques are over and done with in the standard action they were used.
Sustained: these techniques require a Standard Action to activate the power, and are considered active for as long as the bender wishes. While active, a Sustained power inflicts a -1 penalty on all dicepools rolled by the bender; this penalty is cumulative, and multiple sustained techniques inflict larger penalties. A bender can end a technique they sustain as a non-action, even if it is not their turn to act.
Permanent:Permanent techniques are exactly like sustained techniques, except that if a bender sustains a permanent technique for 10 turns, the effect of the technique continues whether or not the technique is sustained.
Effect- Inherent
- Touch
- Air Bending
"You just sneezed, and flew ten feet in the air..."
"Really? It felt higher then that."Air Bending… Technique Power Adjustment …outdoors +1 …indoors +0 …in a cramped space -1 …in a vacuum No Bending Possible
- Gust
LOS (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2)
Wind Walk
Self, Sustained , D: (P / 2)
Sound Bending
LOS (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2) – 2
Expert Air Bending Techniques- Cyclone
LOS (Area), Sustained D: (P / 2) + 1
Air Blade
LOS, Instant D: (P / 2) + 1
Aerial Agility
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
Master Air Bending Techniques- Concussive Blast
LOS (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2) + 2
No Distance
Deep Breath
Inherent
By breathing deep, you hold more air than is reasonable inside your lungs. Cramped conditions no longer imposes -1 a Power penalty. Additionally, you can Air Bend when completely Paralyzed, and can hold your breath indefinitely.
Void
LOS (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 2
Power^2 radius in hexes, removes all air, inflicting a Power penalty to Fortitude. Should this penalty reduce Fortitude to 0, affected creatures are afflicted on their turn with exhaustion 1 + 1 for each previous round spent in the void. Creatures who fall unconscious in the void die in 10 rounds.
Earth Bending
"So, what move are you gonna teach me first? Rock-a-lanche? The Trembler? Oh, maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool outta land...!
Let's start with, "move a rock"."
Earth Bending… Technique Power Adjustment …when touching rocks +1 …when touching dirt or mud +0 …when touching sand -1 …when not touching any of the above No Bending Possible
- Terraform
LOS (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2)
Shape and Move Power^2 Hexes of Earth a maximum of Power^2 Hexes from its starting position. The base of each affected hex must touch the ground.
Imprison
LOS, Sustained, D: (P/ 2)
Ranged Attack; if successful imposes a -1 penalty to Reflex for each net hit inflicted. Anyone reduced to 0 Reflex is Paralyzed.
Terra Toss
LOS (area), Instant, D: (P / 2)
up to one hex of earth is ripped from your feet and streaks at a target you can see; however, your Power dicepool receives a Range Threshold based on how far away the target is. If the technique is successful, the target receives bludgeoning damage and is Pushed a number of hexes equal to this technique's Power.
- Seismic Sense (Eye of the Badgermole)
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
Can sense the position of anything touching a solid surface you are touching to a distance in hexes of Power^2 , and gain a Power dicepool bonus on Observation (Notice) tests vs. Persuasion (Lies).
Sand Bending
LOS (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
No -1 power for Sandy Terrain. You create and control a sandstorm with a radius of Power^2 Hexes. Creatures in a sandstorm receive a dicepool penalty and they and any objects in the area of effect are Pushed a number of hexes in any direction you choose equal to the Technique’s Power.
Earth Armor
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
This technique adds its Power as a dicepool modifier to your Fortitude for as long as it is sustained; this bonus does not apply to any Athletics test you make.
- Metal Bending
Inherent
Any Earth bending technique can now work on metal. Master worked metal imposes a -1 Power penalty to affect with earth bending due to its superior refinement
Stone’s Throw
Inherent
You can Earth Bend without touching earth. Additionally, you can Earth Bend when completely Paralyzed; when touching solid earth you cannot be pushed.
Crush
LOS (Area), Permanent, D: (P / 2) + 2
You can crush a sphere sand, earth, or stone with a radius equal to the Technique’s Power into a single hex of Basalt. Basalt provides its Power as a positive dicepool modifier to Earth Bending when used. Compact overlaps itself if used on Basalt multiple times, only the highest Power application of Compact applies.
Fire Bending
"You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun."
Fire Bending… Technique Power Adjustment …under the sun +1 …in a hot environment +1 …during a cometary proximity +1 …during the night +0 …in a cold environment -1 …during solar eclipse No Bending Possible …while holding your breath No Bending Possible
- Fire Shot
LOS, Instant, D: (P / 2)
A sphere of fire flies from your hand or foot to any single target you choose, but your Power dicepool receives a Range Threshold based on how far away the target is. If this technique is successful the target must soak fire damage equal to the technique's Power +1 and is set On Fire.
Fiery Weapon
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2)
This technique creates a melee weapon out of pure flame that lasts as long as this power is sustained. This weapon has a Reach bonus equal to the Technique’s Power and deals fire damage equal to the technique's Power +1 out to a distance in hexes equal to this technique’s Power; any target struck with the weapon is set On Fire.
Expert Fire Bending Techniques- Jet of Flame
Touch (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
A roiling jet of flame erupts from your outstretched hand or foot, 1 hex wide per Power and Power^2 hexes long. Anything in the affected area takes fire damage equal to the technique's Power +2, is Pushed a number of hexes equal to this technique’s Power, and is set On Fire. The Jet of Flame can also be used to propel yourself through the air, allowing you to fly through a number of hexes equal to this technique’s Power as long as it is sustained, although you must direct the Jet of Flame in the opposite direction you wish to fly.
Heat Control
LOS, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
If used on you, adds a dicepool modifier of Power when Fire Bending. This technique can be used to heat or cool an object. If used to heat an Object, as long as this technique is sustained the object will radiate heat that inflicts fire damage equal to this technique’s Power to anyone except you who touches it; if used to cool the object will cool to lukewarm temperature. When the technique is no longer sustained, a heated object will slowly cool, its fire damage reduced by 1/round until it deals no damage (becoming room temperature); objects cooled to lukewarm heat up to room temperature.
Wall of Fire
LOS (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
You call forth a roiling curtain of flame. You may designate a number of hexes equal to this technique's Power +2 within line of sight to erupt in flame a number of hexes in height equal to the technique's Power x 2. Anyone or anything that enters or beginning their turn in an affected hex takes fire damage equal to your Ranks in Martial Arts and is set On Fire.
Master Fire Bending Techniques- Combustion
LOS (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2) + 2
This technique affects a radius of hexes equal to its Power^2 out to your Line of Sight, and does not receive a Range threshold. Everything in the affected area receives fire damage equal to the technique's Power +3, and anything that survives that is pushed the technique’s Power x 2 in hexes away from the center hex.
Dragon’s Breath
Inherent
You can control your own body temperature at will. Cold no longer imposes -1 a Power penalty as you draw from your inner fire. Additionally, you can Fire Bend when completely Paralyzed, out of your mouth, and never suffer from frostbite, hypothermia, or heat stroke.
Lightning – Redirection
Touch (Area), Instant, D: (P / 2) + 2
You summon a bolt of lightning, which erupts from your fingertips in a line beginning in an adjacent hex that is a number of hexes wide equal to the technique's power; the line extends out to your line of sight. Any creature within the line's area is both Paralyzed for this technique's Power in turns and takes fire damage equal to the technique's Power +3. If this technique's Power is greater than or equal to any affected creature's Fortitude, that creature dies.
Upon learning this technique, instead of shooting lightning you may choose to redirect it as your free action. You are neither Paralyzed nor take damage from this technique when used against you. Instead, you absorb the entire bolt (its area ends at your hex), and you can redirect it in any direction you wish, just as if you had used this technique yourself but using the power and damage of the original bender. If you already spent your free action this turn, you still absorb the bolt, but you suffer it's fire damage and the bolt is redirected into the sky.
Water Bending
"Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?"
Water Bending… Technique Power Adjustment …under the moon +1 …during a full moon +1 …during the day +0 …under a new moon -1 …in a dry environment -1
- Push and Pull
LOS (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2)
You can move a volume of water equal to this technique’s Power^2 in hexes from any source of water within line of sight into any shape that does not exceed the area of this technique; at least one hex of this water must touch a solid or liquid surface. Any creature within the affected area must hold their breath or risk drowning. You may also induce a swift current within the water that will push anything within it a number of hexes equal to this technique’s Power minus their fortitude score in a direction of your choosing.
Freeze
LOS (Area), Permanent, D: (P / 2)
You can freeze a volume of water equal to this technique’s Power^2 in hexes from any source of water within line of sight. Should a creature be inside the ice while this technique is sustained, they receive a penalty to their Reflex equal to this technique’s Power; if their Reflex is reduced to 0 they are Paralyzed by being fully encased in ice. Any creature Paralyzed is also put into suspended animation, and need not eat, sleep, drink, or breathe as long as they remain in the ice. Additionally, you can move on ice without an Acrobatics (Balance) test.
Healing
Touch, Permanent, D: (Power)
This technique removes a single wound that dealt a number of wound boxes up to the Power of this technique. Even condition not directly relating to damage can be cured by this technique (such as disease or any mental affliction) as long as its rating is no greater than this technique’s Power. The effect of this technique takes place when this technique becomes permanent.
- Water’s Edge
Inherent
By utilizing water’s incompressible nature, any water volume of water can be made into a razor sharp and nigh unbreakable blade. Any Water Bending technique involving liquid water that affects a creature may do its Power in damage to that creature.
Water Whip
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
As long as you sustain this technique, you may make a Grab, Pin, or Push with a single Simple Action out to a distance in hexes equal to this technique’s Power. This technique’s Power is also added to any Martial Arts (Block) test you make.
Plant Bending
LOS (Area), Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 1
All plants within a radius of this technique’s Power^2 come under your control for as long as you sustain this technique. The writhing mass of vegetation entangles anything within this area, imposing a penalty to their Reflex equal to the Power of this technique; you may choose exclude anyone and anything from the entanglement. Should a creature’s reflex be reduced to 0, they are Paralyzed.
- Octopus Form
Self, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 2
As long as you sustain this technique, you may make a 8 Grabs, Pins, or Pushes (or any combination thereof) with a single Simple Action out to a distance in hexes equal to this technique’s Power. This technique’s Power is also added to any Martial Arts (Block) and Toughness test you make.
Wring
Inherent
Your mastery of Water bending allows you to pull water from unlikely sources. A dry environment no longer imposes -1 a Power penalty. Additionally, you can pull enough water out of your environment to accomplish any Water Bending technique (although doing so is seldom pretty), and you no longer need to drink.
Blood Bending*
LOS, Sustained, D: (P / 2) + 2
This technique only affects a single living creatures within line of sight with a Fortitude less than or equal to this technique’s Power for long as you sustain this power. On your turn, you may make use a single simple action to control a living creature by manipulating the water in their blood. The control is not perfect, and can only force them to commit an action based on the Athletics, Martial Arts, Acrobatics, Archery, Pilot, and Stealth skills, substituting your Marital Arts (Water Bending) skill for the associated dicepool. The only skill that your hapless target can use on their turn is Martial Arts (Water Bending), and even then only if they are also possess the Blood Bending technique.