Avatar: The Second Age

>>53354438
Aw damn, an error already. That title font should be Herculanum

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>Why use FFGSWRPG as a base?

I've played and enjoyed a lot of EotE, AoR, and F&D. I think that Fantasy Flight Game's narrative dice system lends itself very nicely to the Avatar universe due to the way the core mechanic tries to facilitate episodic, fast-paced adventures. FFG created the system to explore a vast universe which enables the same desire in players who want to explore the Avatar universe.

The core mechanic for Star Wars is the narrative dice which relies on a success/fail mechanic. You want to perform an action and you either succeed or you don't. The nuance is that sometimes you fail, either due to the environment or other narrative circumstances which can be quantified in negative modifier dice. Sometimes, even though you fail your action, you may still gain some sort of advantage and sometimes you succeed but with unintended negative consequences.

I think the combat system is what needed the most work to really emulate the fluid and often ad-hoc nature of the fights in the Avatar world. So when it comes to bending, entrenched techniques (like the water whip) are outlined as though they were Force techniques. This means you start with a basic technique but each technique can be upgraded along a tree to enhance the ability in ways to make it more powerful, potent, or to boost the form's utility (more on this in a later post).

So specific bending forms are handled by a Bending skill (itself reliant upon any of the character attributes depending on the nature of the ability) whereas generic one-off moves, like sliding across an ice path or using earthbending to enhance your ability to climb a steep cliff, are handled by a Bending Arts skill to represent the utilitarian nature of bending.

By separating certain techniques into outlined abilities (Bending) and free-form maneuvers (Bending Arts), I've provided players with definitive mechanics for combat as well as the narrative flexibility for improvisation.

Can this work for eras outside of the Second Age? In other words, if we pretend Korra never happened?

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>>53354804
Absolutely. Everything is modular enough that you can easily omit certain features of Korra and play whatever timeline you prefer.

Each chapter describes its mechanics in detail so any GM / party can say "what if we had these rules in this era instead"?

>>53355314
As you can see by the title, Avatar: The Second Age, the rules are written in the context of a Korra timeline. There are a number of reasons I went down this route, chief among them that my friends and I all want to play during this timeline, which is why I started the conversion in the first place.

The game itself, whenever the first adventure is completed, will take place immediately after Season 3 of Korra - after the assassination of the Earth Queen and after Korra received mercury poisoning and goes on a 3-year hiatus. With the Avatar on hiatus, it gives the characters an opportunity to explore the world with little-to-no interference by a God-like character.

Additionally, new and unique air bender characters make sense canonically and with Tenzin reorganizing the 'Air Nations' into nomads once again, air bender characters have a lot of inherent plot hooks.

Finally, it gives me, as narrator and GM, a chance to explore some cool concepts for a story that I feel Korra missed out on:
- more Equalists and politics
- more unique uses of old bending techniques
- canon to support the possibility of skills proliferating for players to become lightning, metal, or plantbenders

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>>53355348
That being said, the rules are definitely flexible enough that any GM or player interested in exploring a timeline before Korra and Aang absolutely can do so. All you have to do is cut out the fluff you don't like (such as Satomobiles or electric gloves).

Non-bender characters are intended to be viable. In part because not everyone wants to play a bender character, but also because the show itself clearly demonstrates that nonbenders frequently hold their own against benders.

One class, the Martial Artist, has the Chi Blocker specialization. A Chi Blocker has the unique talent, Chi Disruption, which works as follows:

>As an action, the character may perform an Average (2) Martial Arts check to deal strain rather than wounds in addition to blocking a bending opponent from using their forms and bender talents until the beginning of their next turn. This damage ignores soak.

As you gain more experience, Chi Disruption can be upgraded to 'Expert' and 'Master' variations:

Chi Disruption (Expert):
>Each rank in Chi Disruption (Expert) lowers the difficulty of the Chi Disruption skill check by one.

Chi Disruption (Master):
>Chi Disruption immobilizes the target until the end of their next turn.

You are doing great work, keep it up!

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>>53356201
Thank you!

>Does this conversion require only Edge of the Empire?

The conversion is essentially stand alone. I've synthesized elements from EotE, AoR, and F&D for a single, cohesive experience.

>Did you keep the Duty/Obligation/Morality systems intact, picked only one, or come up with some replacement for them?

I've synthesized the three systems into a new system called Honor.

Like Obligation, a character's Honor can have unintended consequences and create plot hooks if left unaddressed.

Like Duty, Honor can be accrued and used as a resource for additional insight or to meet characters; for example, a certain Earth Kingdom petty king may refuse to meet with the party unless they're 'honorable enough' to request an audience. Likewise, characters who are *too* honorable might not be able to convince a Triple Threat gang leader to work with them.

Like Morality, Honor should be a reflection of the characters' actions throughout the story. So if they do something particularly heinous or if they go against their own vows, they should realistically expect to lose some of their Honor.

>Will nonbending characters be viable?

Nonbending characters should absolutely be viable and I've modeled many of them after classes from the Star Wars games. The show itself clearly demonstrates that nonbenders frequently hold their own against benders.

Currently, there are six nonbender classes, each with three specializations. There is currently a single Bender class, but it has four specializations (one for each element).

Do you have a site or something where you're posting updates? I'm interested but don't browse /tg/ often enough to catch everything.

>>53358363
I'm posting updates and content here:

http://avatar-the-second-age.tumblr.com/