Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Avatar World: The Earthbender's Fiddly Bits


So over the past three days I've watched all of Sword Art Online and then it's technically-unrelated cousin .hack//SIGN. This is from .hack. I loved them both, though I think I preferred a lot of the modern sensibility and style of SAO.  However, the soundtrack is one area where .hack//Sign completely owned SAO - Yuki Kajiura created something amazing here.

Welp, might as well toss around some Earthbender fiddly bits!

Flavor Text:
Hardy and centered, earthbenders are the backbone of many villages. They are the plow that shatters their foes, and the wall that stands between an earthbender and his friends.
Stat (Pick One Array):
* Natural +0, Hot +1, Solid +2, Keen +1, Fluid -1.
* Natural +1, Hot -1, Solid +2, Keen +0, Fluid +1.
* Natural +1, Hot +1, Solid +2, Keen +0, Fluid -1.
* Natural -1, Hot +1, Solid +2, Keen +1, Fluid +0.
* Natural +1, Hot +0, Solid +2, Keen -1, Fluid +1.
Look (Pick One From Each Set):
* Peasant's clothes, high quality robes, muscles exposed, worn and dirty clothes.
* Stony eyes, scheming eyes, unflinching eyes, rough eyes.
Gear:
A weapon, heavy and blunt, worth 2-harm, 
OR
Padded and reinforced clothes, worth 1-armor.
Oaths:
* You vowed to keep a fellow PC safe - who?
* You left a debt behind in a recent town. Who do you owe, and why did you flee from it?
Chi:
* Stable and cautious,
* Slow-to-anger but vengeful,
* Dependable and hard-working,
* Dedicated and stubborn,
* _______ (write your own).
Special:
Once you've trained with a master earthbender, whenever you pass up an opportunity for action or resist opposition without reaction, you get a point of Stored Energy. Spend a point of Stored Energy to add 1 to any roll, but you must spend before rolling.
Hey, uh, I think I cracked Bumi's neutral jing. I probably should make this a full-on move, but I like this idea of keeping it under the special section for some reason. Also, this is one of the very rare instances of the unconditional +1 in this game, but the context justifies it to me.
I have two remaining concerns: the first is that this is fiction-informs-mechanics, but the mechanic doesn't inform the fiction in return. The second is that I'm kinda encouraging inaction here. Thematic for the earthbender, but kinda dangerous in an RPG. It's up to the MC to put them in situations where they are conflicted about whether they should act or stay put.
Improvement:
When you have 5 XP, you can gain no more. Reduce your XP from 5 to 0 at any point to take an advancement:
__ You have +1 Natural (max +3)
__ You have +1 Hot (max +3)
__ You have +1 Keen (max +3)
__ You have +1 Fluid (max +3)
__ gain a new "Chi Key" from the list, or write your own.
__ gain a new Earthbender move
__ gain a new Earthbender move
__ gain a new Earthbender move
__ gain a move from another playbook
__ gain a move from another playbook
///////////////////////// (these improvements can only be taken once you've taken 5 of the above improvements)
__ You have +1 to any stat (max +3)
__ Retire your character to safety
__ create a second character to play side-by-side with this one
__ change your character to a new type

5 down, 3 to go. Almost there. Hell, at this rate I might actually finish by PAX.

End Recording,
Ego.

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