I got my kickstarter version of the Avatar the Last Airbender RPG.  My kids were super excited since they grew up with the IP.  After a read through of the rules I'm not sure they will enjoy this game.  It looks like the designers were trying to emulate the TV show, but where we were hoping for butt kicking bending powers and fights with the fire nation the majority of the game play is based on non-combat character interactions. 

Characters have a stat that is a balance between two traits that needs to be maintained or bad stuff happens.  The players help each other stay balanced with chats around the camp fire or meaningful speeches.  All of these require dice rolling.  Bending and combat not so much.  It may well be the anti-TTRPG: A 2 minute battle is over in 10 seconds and a night in camp takes hours to roll through.

It feels like the game forces role play between characters with these mechanics rather than letting the relationships between PC develop organically (or not at all.)  Unless the table is really invested in talking through characters issues this is going to turn into some pretty monotonous dice rolling.  "Hey that last fight almost knocked you out of balance, so I'm going roll on my 'Holding you to your principles roll' so you dont' wig out on the next mission, *roll* there you go"

This looks like a not-so-great game at this point.

I'm not sure if this will hit the table any time soon, but if I do play through a session I'll update my opinion.   

Sounds like it wasn't playtested.

Fortunately, there's plenty of RPGs where you could easily emulate the TV series. I wouldn't be surprised if a Totally-Not-Last-Airbender RPG exists that's basically what your looking for with the serial numbers slightly rubbed off.

Let us know how it goes in actual play.

As huge fans of the 7th Sea 2e mechanics we would probably just slap Airbender IP into the dice pools rolled to make raises to change the narrative of scene style of play.  Most of my kids are skilled GMs and they all enjoy games like Fiasco, Once Upon a Time, and Before There Were Stars.

For a more traditional style of RPG I'd go Savage Worlds.  It would be simple to map bending and martial arts into SW.

The playtest will be a while in coming.  The middle kiddo just PCSed to Hawaii so once she gets settled we'll find a night/day to try it out

I was just going to suggest Savage Worlds.  It's too bad you need to do that, but that seems to be the way to go.  The two reasons I never back RPG kickstarters are 1. not knowing what the writing is going to be like, and 2. not knowing, in some cases, what the system is going to be like.

I heard this from a friend who owns the game: it's a Powered By the Apocalypse styled game, with all the good and bad that entails. (Narrative focused and not a detailed simulation, no particular turn order, characters encouraged to fit into a specific mold so that if you're playing a Firebender, you're probably playing someone a lot like Zuko.) The owner felt like it added needless complexity to the basic PbtA formula, similar to "Masks: a New Generation" in which you're angsty teenage superheroes whose stats are about self-perception: "Mundane, Superior, Freak" and so on. Also noteworthy is that you do not play as the Avatar, probably a good idea.

Free RPG Day is coming up in late June, so I might get to try this game then.

Quote from: KrisSnow on May 28, 2023, 01:45:58 AM
I heard this from a friend who owns the game: it's a Powered By the Apocalypse styled game, with all the good and bad that entails. (Narrative focused and not a detailed simulation, no particular turn order, characters encouraged to fit into a specific mold so that if you're playing a Firebender, you're probably playing someone a lot like Zuko.) The owner felt like it added needless complexity to the basic PbtA formula, similar to "Masks: a New Generation" in which you're angsty teenage superheroes whose stats are about self-perception: "Mundane, Superior, Freak" and so on. Also noteworthy is that you do not play as the Avatar, probably a good idea.

Free RPG Day is coming up in late June, so I might get to try this game then.

I think I just vomited in my mouth.

Quote from: Greg Bruni on February 17, 2023, 05:11:59 PM
I was just going to suggest Savage Worlds.  It's too bad you need to do that, but that seems to be the way to go.  The two reasons I never back RPG kickstarters are 1. not knowing what the writing is going to be like, and 2. not knowing, in some cases, what the system is going to be like.

I am a sucker for an IP cash grab.  Avatar and Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail got me.

I bought the "quick start" set at Target to play with my son as an introduction to TTRPGs and because he loves the setting--specifically all the martial arts. I've seen some other PbtA builds and thought that this might be an easy enough introduction but, alas, it is not. My son would have been more interested in the fighting, but that's glossed over for an arty "inner meaning" journey that just didn't grab his attention.

Solid miss for this game. I've been putting off trying out Chinese Elemental Powers from GURPS, but it might be a solid alternative that allows us to focus on the areas that we want rather than what the game designers for Avatar the Last Airbender wanted us to want.

If anyone knows of something else that could get close to this, please let me know.

Edit: Typo.

True20, GURPS, Savage Worlds, and Hero System will all do this pretty well, out of the gate. BRP, Open D6, Mythic D6, and Street Fighter could probably be easy hacks. I don't see any reason something freeform like OVA couldn't handle it.

PbtA seems like an odd choice for a franchise that features martial arts so heavily.  It's not something that PbtA does particularly well.

I was considering getting it myself since I grew up watching the show, but I've heard way too many reviews like yours. It's a real shame too because it could've been such a good game too. If there ever were a game to have a solid combat system, it would've been something like Avatar since the number of moves/powers you could present would've been awesome.