Avatar: The Last Airbenderand its sequel seriesThe Legend of Korraare some of the most influential shows to come out of Nickelodeon.Avatar: The Last AirbenderandKorraearned all kinds of praise in their time for telling intricate stories for all ages, developing heartwarming and inspiring characters, and creating a brand-new fantasy world. It’s no surprise that it’s generated tons of side content, from video games to graphic novels. Many fans have always liked the idea of immersing themselves in the world as directly as possible, and that’ll be much easier thanks toAvatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game,a tabletop RPG in development at Magpie Games.
Avatar Legendsgot some attentionwhen it was first announced in early 2021. In July, Magpie Games released a quickstart guide toAvatar Legendsthat provided a ton of insight into the game. The quickstart guide shows thatAvatar Legendsis aPowered by the Apocalypse-style game that enables adventures in many different eras of theAvataruniverse and opens the doors to bender and non-bender characters. Magpie Games has done well designing an RPG that’s built around the character-focused storytelling that madeAvatar: The Last AirbenderandThe Legend of Korraso successful.
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Avatar Legends' Mechanics Help Build Character
There’s tons of interesting ways in whichAvatar Legendshelps player characters star in a story like the show. For instance, unlikethe class-focusedDungeons and Dragonsand similar classic TTRPGs,AvatarLegendsdoesn’t use job-like classes. Instead, players choose a set of skills and traits called a playbook. Playbooks provide some unique abilities similar to a class, but they’re just as much a manifestation of the character’s backstory and relationships. In other words, they’re mechanical versions of character archetypes similar to the kinds of characters that star inKorraandThe Last Airbender.
Avatar Legendsalso introduces a unique perspective on morality.Dungeons and Dragons' alignment systemis a famous example of how a character’s goals and ideals manifest in a certain type of morality that sometimes has mechanical implications.Avatar Legendseschews the concept of alignment in favor of the Balance track. Each playbook gives a player character a certain Balance track, which represents the character’s struggle to maintain balance between two contrasting ideals they believe in.Avatar LegendsGMs are encouraged to introduce NPCs that test each player’s balance track and explore their ideals, shifting players' balance tracks around to create mechanical impacts for moral struggles.
These mechanics, on top of a simple set of player actions called Moves and a dynamic combat system that’s easy to drop in and out of, showAvatar Legendsis heavily designed to play just like the shows. InThe Last AirbenderandKorra,the bonds between characters and their personal journeys are often more important than the overarching plot. In the same way,Avatar Legendsis designed to encourage interactions between NPCs and PCs that explore each character’s beliefs and backgrounds, while encouraging them to learn about themselves. Playing a session ofAvatar Legendsis bound to feel similar to watchingan episode of anAvatarshow.
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Avatar Legends is a Refreshing Look at TTRPGs
Character-centric design inAvatar Legendsisn’t just significant forAvatarfans, though. It could also mean a lot for the tabletop RPG industry in general.Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder,and other classic RPGsare designed much more with combat in mind than character building.D&Doffers plenty of tools for cutting down monsters, but character arcs are up to the DM and the players.Avatar Legendsis designed to appeal to players for whom individual character development is more important than constant action and titanic monsters. Magpie Games is well on its way to creating a compelling relationship-focused TTRPG.
Naturally, a lot might change aboutAvatar Legendsover the next few months. The game is set to release in March 2022, so there’s plenty of development time left. Even so, many ofAvatar Legends' central concepts will surely remain in place. Magpie Games' Kickstarter for the game show that there’s more playbooks in development than those that appear in theAvatar Legendsquickstart guide, and other elements like the Balance track are set deep into the gameplay. It’s great to see such a new look at TTRPGs, especially one thatencouragesAvatarfans to explore the worldthey love.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Gamereleases on June 22, 2025.
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