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Avatar Legendsis the official Avatar: The Last Airbender tabletop roleplaying game that allows you to step into the world of Avatar and play in all four nations, as you try to bring the world back into balance. Much like other TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, Avatar Legends has a unique ruleset, which grants players and Game Masters an astonishing suite of abilities.
But if you’ve never played a TTRPG or don’t know much about Avatar: The Last Airbender, you might be wondering where to start. That’s why we’ve created this guide, which has everything you need to get started in Avatar Legends.
What Is Avatar Legends?
Avatar Legends is a tabletop roleplaying gamethat is specifically set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
For those unfamiliar with Avatar: The Last Airbender, the seriestakes place in a world where humans live in four elemental nations: the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads. Select individuals in each of these nations, known as ‘benders’,can manipulate the elements, namely, earth, fire, water, and air.
One individual, known as the Avatar, can manipulate all four,and is tasked with bringing all four nations together to live in harmony.
Though the Avatar is essential to the world you’re playing in,players themselves cannot play as the Avatar. This ensures that the narrative spotlight is evenly distributed among all players.
Avatar Legends drops players into one of five different eras,in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, allowing them to take on the role of either benders or non-benders and travel together as a group to restore justice to a deeply troubled world.
Avatar Legends was created and produced by Magpie Gamesand uses characters and settings from the animated series to bring the world to life.Its rule system is most similar to Powered by the Apocalypse, for those familiar with that TTRPG.
How To Play Avatar Legends
What You Need To Play
To play Avatar Legends, you need a group of at least three people, with at least one person taking on the role of Game Master.
Tabletop roleplaying games are storytelling gamesthat can be played in person or online, in whicha Game Master leads a group of players through a story,interweaving the players and the world together into an epic journey.
Players are asked to take on the roles of benders or non-benders, capable fighters who must exert their influence on the world, and seekto accomplish a specific set of narrative-driven goals, inhabiting their characters through abilities and roleplay.
Overall,here’s what you needbefore you get started:
From there,your group needs to understand the rulesof not only roleplaying games in general, but specifically, Avatar Legends.
How To Play A Roleplaying Game
To play a roleplaying game, you need tounderstand two basic principles:
Details
You Are The Character
When playing a roleplaying game as a player, it’s important to understand thatyou are your character.
Part of a roleplaying game is inhabiting a character. So, when a character does something in the game,you say ‘I do this,’ rather than ‘They do this.’
To Do Something, Do It
In order to take actions, make moves, or do anything in a roleplaying game,you must actually do it.
This might sound obvious, but the point is,there is no backtracking or reloading a save in a TTRPG. If you want to do something, you must commit to that action and deal with the consequences.
Beyond these two basic principles,players should understand the mechanics of their character and their abilities, as well as some basics about the game overall. However, ultimately,the Game Master runs the gameand leads the players through the adventure.
While players can have a looser understanding of the general rules of the game, whoever takes on the role of Game Mastermust have a complete understanding of game mechanicsto run successful sessions.
How To Create A Character
If you are not the Game Master,you will need to create a character to play Avatar Legends. Your character is unique to you, and has three basic elements:
For more informationabout character creation, take a look at ourAvatar Legends Character Creation Guide.
Playbooks
As mentioned,playbooks operate like ‘classes’ do in most other TTRPGslike Dungeons & Dragons. Playbooks arecharacter archetypesthat players must inhabit.
There are ten core playbooksavailable in the Avatar Legends Core Rulebook, but there are also expansion materials that add more playbooks to the game.
Only one playbook can be used by each player, andno playbook may be repeatedwithin the party. Because of this, it’s best to do character creation together as a group.
Here’s a list of the ten core playbooksin Avatar Legends. For more information, check outour list of every playbook availablein Avatar Legends.
The Rules Of Avatar Legends
Avatar Legends has a set of rulesthat are in place to help guide the fiction and keep combat, roleplaying, and more balanced and fair between players and GMs.
Framing Scenes
In guiding players,the Game Master is expected to ‘frame scenes.’
This means thatthe GM will explain to the players what’s going on, where they are, and what other characters, or NPCs, are near them.
From there,players can tell the GM what they would like to doin the scene.
Moves & Dice
Players and GMs alike have access toa set of ‘moves.’
Some moves can only be used by the GM, but the core principle of moves is the same:moves are skills, abilities, or actions that players and GMs can take, progressing the story forward.
When players make a move,they roll two six-sided diceto determine the outcome of their move and whether they are successful or not.
Fatigue & Conditions
As players make moves and come into conflict with enemies or other NPCs,they may incur fatigue or conditions.
Fatigue is the equivalent of ‘Hit Points’in Avatar Legends, and determines whether player-characters can continue taking actions.
Balance
Every player-character hastwo balance principles, conflicting ideals that they are torn between.
These balance principles help inform roleplayfor characters, but also can grant players special abilities.
Combat Exchanges
Players canengage in combatwith enemies and other NPCs in Avatar Legends.
When this happens,the GM will guide players through a ‘combat exchange,‘which has a specific set of rules that players and GMs must adhere to.
The above gameplay mechanics comprisethe main tenets of gameplayin Avatar Legends. While there are more specifics to know about each (which we’ll go into detail about below),once you understand these gameplay mechanics, you’ll be ready to play!
Framing scenes in Avatar Legends isthe most freeform element of gameplay.
Ultimately, all that matters is thatthe GM takes time to set the stageand make it clear to players what’s happening around them.
Many GMs like to use music or ambient soundsto help frame scenes. This isn’t always necessary, but it can prove helpful for creating a compelling atmosphere.
Because all TTRPGs rely on what’s called’theater of the mind,‘it’s important tomake sure that players can see in their mind’s eye what’s going on, so that they can make informed decisions about what to do next.
Moves And Dice
Once players understand what’s going on in a given scene, it’s up to them todecide what to do next and take various movesto progress the fiction.
When you use these moves, you will roll two d6sand add a given modifier fromone of four core statseach character has:
Assess A Situation
When you assess a situation, you roll with Creativity,potentially gaining information on the scene around you.
Plead
When you plead, you roll with Harmony, you canpotentially convince someone to take a specific course of action.
Help
When you take the help move, you canadd buffs to a companion’s rollwhile marking fatigue for yourself.
Rely On Skills & Training
When you rely on skills and training, you mayovercome an obstacle or challenge by using your abilities, rolling with Focus.
Push Your Luck
When you push your luck, you roll with Passion,potentially getting yourself out of a sticky situation.
Intimidate
When you intimidate, you roll with Passion,potentially manipulating an NPC or enemy into a particular course of action.
Guide & Comfort
When you guide and comfort, you roll with Harmony,potentially helping out a companionand adjusting their balance or clearing fatigue or conditions.
Trick
When you trick someone, you roll with Creativity,potentially manipulating them in a devious way.
Ultimately,you’re not limited to these moves. Every player-character’s playbook will also have access to character-specific moves, and can learn new moves as well.
Plus,anything you want to try to do within the bounds of the fiction can be done at the GM’s discretion, in which case they will tell you what stat to roll with.
When you roll the dice,you roll two d6s, adding the two numbers together, following the below results:
Hit Or Miss
10+
Strong Hit
A strong hit meansyou get what you want out of the movewith no repercussions, downsides, or caveats.
7-9
Weak Hit
A weak hit meansyou get something you wantedout of your course of action,but there may be consequences.
6 or Less
Miss
A miss meansyou do not get what you want out of the situation, often with some kind of negative effect occurring instead.
After the roll is complete,the GM will explain what happens next in the fiction.
From there, the scene is reframed, and then players are asked what they would like to do again.This process repeats over and over again, resulting in a complete story by the end of the session.
Fatigue And Conditions
Fatigue and conditions are gameplay elements that canhinder your character.
Avatar Legends doesn’t have mechanics for player death, Hit Points, or other similar elements found in other TTRPGs. Instead,fatigue and conditions represent character health.
Every playbook has a fatigue trackwith five boxes on it. Whenever a move, action, or other consequence forces you to mark fatigue, you fill in one box in pencil.
This represents your player character becoming physically or mentally exhausted.If your fatigue track is full, you are on the brink of collapse,and must clear fatigue to continue playing safely.
Clearing fatigue can be done in many different ways, and there are no hard-and-fast rules for precisely how to do this.
For more information,check out Chapter Three: The Fundamentals of Playin the Avatar Legends Core Rulebook.
Conditions are emotional statesthat players may incur after taking various moves, interacting with NPCs or enemies, or engaging in combat.
Similarly to fatigue,if you have five negative conditions marked, you are taken out of play.
Overall,there are five conditionsto be aware of in Avatar Legends:
Each playbook lists the bane your character takes on when they have any of these conditions marked, as well as the rules for how to clear each one.
Balance is a highly unique featureof Avatar Legends. As mentioned,every playbook has a balance trackeron it, wherein two balance principles are listed.
These principles are conflicting idealsthat players must struggle with. Here are some examples of various balance principles:
As you play through a campaign of Avatar Legends,your balance will shift between these two poles,as will your center of balance.
When your balance shifts, you’ll notice thatyou gain certain positive or negative modifiers. This means that, when you take action in accordance with one of these principles,you will either have to add a positive or negative modifier to your roll.
Additionally, players and GMs have access toa set of balance moves:
Live Up To Your Principle
When you take an action in accordance with one of your principles,you may add the modifier for the corresponding principle to your roll.
Call Someone Out
When someone you know is acting out of accordance with the principles, you can call them out, shift your balance away from center, andencourage them to live up to their principles.
Deny A Callout
When you are called out, you can deny said callout,potentially marking fatigue.
Resist Shifting Your Balance
NPCs may try to shift your balance, which you can reject,potentially clearing conditions or shifting your balance.
Lose Your Balance
If your balance shifts off the track, then you lose your balance, andyou may lose control of your emotions or abilities.
For more information on how each of these moves work,refer to Appendix C in the Avatar Legends Core Rulebook.
Sometimes,combat will break outin a game of Avatar Legends. When this happens, the GM leads players through what’s known as a combat exchange.
In a combat exchange,players and GMs take turns choosing between three basic approaches,subsequently resolving them by rolling with specific stats as seen below:
Depending on the result of your roll,you can use various techniques.
Techniques are gained at character creation and as you level upin Avatar Legends, which will be dictated by your GM.
Techniques are combat and player-specific abilities with various proficiencies, and each has its own ruleset.
Depending on various technique rules and what’s happening in the fiction,the GM may tell you that you have incurred a certain positive or negative status.
These statuses can be marked on your playbook and have various effects,detailed in Appendix C.
Combat has seven basic steps, detailed below:
Combat continues in this way until a final outcome is reached, meaning either NPCs or PCs are all taken out, or the conflict is resolved in a non-violent manner.
The Role Of The Game Master
While the above rules are important for both players and GMs to understand, the GM must also take on a special rolewhen it comes to running games in Avatar Legends.
When running a session of Avatar Legends,GMs must do the following:
All of these are essential functions of any GM in any TTRPG. That’s whyit’s important for GMs to have a comprehensive understanding of all rulesin the game.
GMs have a special set of movesthey can use in addition to the basic moves detailed above. For a full list of these moves,consult Chapter Eight.
Utlimately, these moves are more nebulous, and don’t often involve rolls or hard-and-fast rules, but can help guide the fiction in new and interesting directions.
For GMs who want a quickstart intro to some basic aspects of gameplay and adventure mechanic ideas,here are some handy links to various resources:
Now that you understand the basic rules of Avatar Legends, have all the play materials in hand, and have three to six players,you’re ready to dive into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbenderand play amazing games of Avatar Legends!
