Avatar: The Last Airbender A Guide For FATE Core Introduction
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a pretty easy ea sy fit for Fate Core. It requires some minimal hacking to fit the chassis onto the source material. As a pulpy series with loosely defined rules with a focus on interpersonal relationships and stylish action, most of the cha nges are minor mechanical moves: a few extras and swap over to approaches. Summary of Changes
-Adding in Bending Extras -Slight alteration to the Skill System -Stunt for Chi Blocking Bending
Bending will be handled as Extras. The main four styles – Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, Waterbending – are handled as Skills and cost refresh. This is done as a balancing mechanic: those with Bending powers are much stronger than their non-bending counterparts. co unterparts. The Bending Skills are: Skill
Overcome
Create An Attack Defend Advantage X X X X Airbending X X X X Earthbending X X X X Firebending X X X X Waterbending Restriction: Only one Bending Extra/Skill per character
Refresh Cost 1 1 1 1
Substyles
Subbending styles –like metalbending, sandbending, soundbending, lightning bending, etc. – are handled with stunts. The stunts following the following format: Because I am an [X-]bender who has trained in [subbending style], I can manipulate [material] with the [main bending style] skill. For example, Because I am an Earthbender who has trained in Metalbending, I can manipulate Metal with the Earthbending skill. Subbending styles can be handled with stunts for two reasons: you already paid the refresh cost to get into the main style and an d they are just a special trick of the main style.
Exceptions
Three subbending styles do not follow the above format: Flying with Airbending, Energybending and Bloodbending. The former is due to its unique nature, the later due to its power. For Flying, use this format: Enter The Void: Because I have [aspect in the vein of letting go of attachment], I can fly without any tools with the Airbending skill.
As for Bloodbending and Energybending, that is different. Bloodbending is handled as additional skills: Skill Bloodbending
Overcome
X
Create An Advantage X
Attack
Defend
X
X
Refresh Cost 1
In addition, Energybending is handled as the following stunt (cost: 1 Refresh): Bending The Energy Within: Because I can bend energy, once per session, when I inflict a severe consequence on an opponent, I may spend a Fate point and permanently remove someone’s bending skill(s), allowing them to replace them with any other skill. I may also allow someone who previously lost their bending skill to replace one of their skills with a bending skill. The Avatar
The Avatar is handled differently. First off, who gets to be the Avatar? There is a lot of protagonist power inherent in being the Avatar. Everyone will love or hate you based on it, its important in the setting and can open doors, and the spirit world will open its eyes and ears to you. In other words, a lot of spotlight. As such, there are two ways to assign this and keep everyone happy. The first way is to just have everyone agree on who gets to be it and have the player, the GM, and other players make sure the spotlight doesn’t shine on the avatar disproportionately. The second way is for the group to make the avatar’s character sheet while everyone makes their own. Rotating from session to session, each player (including the GM) gets control of the character. When they are not in control of the avatar, they control their own character. This system does a good job of allowing for the spotlight to be shared with no one feeling underserved. Everyone gets to experience life as the avatar and, when the GM is in control, the party even gets to work without them.
When a player is playing the avatar, their own character is either not there or just not getting involved. Basically, the GM doesn’t control them, b ut they also don’t factor in: best way to avoid complaints the GM is playing their own character wrong. Think of it like those episodes where one of the main cast either just wasn’t there, was only featured for a minute h ere or there, or was conveniently put in a position where they had no effect on the story. Not an issue with the Avatar as it isn’t anyone’s personal character and the GM doesn’t play the Avatar when they have the character. Spotlight is always on the GM, anyway. They don’t need the avatar. The GM getting the character is more so that everyone can play their own character at once in a session. When the GM has the avatar, they don’t factor into the story, even if they are there. They’re either locked in their own little world, off doing different things, or taken out. Of course, you can always just not have the Avatar in the game. Extra
Benefit
Aspect Cost
Stunt Cost
Avatar
Access to Airbending, Eartbending, Firebending, Waterbending skills; Avatar Spirit stunt*
High Concept aspect must reference status as the Avatar
1
Refresh Cost 2
Limit
Only one per game
*Avatar Spirit: Because you hold the spirit of the avatar, once per session, you may spend a fate point to invoke the avatar spirit. Until the end of the scene, you automatically succeed at any overcome action a normal bender can accomplish and can attempt epic levels of bending, like making islands fly, volcanos erupt, or other such godly feats. Skill Changes
Most of the skills are the same as standard Fate Core. However, to aid in the mechanical disparity between bending skills and the normal “combat skills”, Fight and Shoot have been consolidated into a singular skill: Combat. This combined skill works a s the two separate skills: it has all four actions associated with it, but it can only be used to defend against close-range attacks; ranged attacks require athletics to defend. Chi Blocking
Chi Blocking is a common feat and is handled with a relatively standard stunt: Chi Block: Gain a +2 bonus to Combat when you attempt to create a Blocked Chi advantage on someone. As For Everything Else
Everything else is handled as normal in Fate Core. No more special exceptions need to be made.
