CHAPTER 1

WELCOME TO
THE GAME

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 CHAPTER 1
This chapter introduces you to Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game and gives you a general
overview of the setting and what you do in the game, along with an introduction to roleplaying
if you are new to roleplaying games! It also covers the materials you need to play and safety
tools to keep the game fun for everyone at the table.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is a heroic adventure game
set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend
of Korra. This world is a fantasy setting inspired by Asian and
North American Indigenous cultures, a land filled with breath-
taking landscapes, majestic hybrid beasts, and unique marvels of
technology and industry. Yet, it is also a world defined by strug-
gle in which there are no absolute villains or perfect heroes—
only people with complex motivations who come into conflict
with others while striving to forge a future they believe is best.
Avatar Legends
Originally, this setting was only a single show—Avatar: The Last
Airbender—that told the story of Avatar Aang’s journey to mas-
ter the four elements and save the world. But this world’s history
spans thousands of years, and over time, many more of its stories
across multiple eras of Avatars have been told—including com-
ics, novels, and of course, the epic series featuring Aang’s succes-
sor, The Legend of Korra. Together, these works make up Avatar
Legends, a broad term for all of the different stories that detail the
adventures of heroes of the Four Nations (and Republic City).
This vast universe of Avatar Legends is often referred to as the
Avatarverse—a universe that encompasses the entire human
and natural history of this unique world.
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game gives you and your
friends a chance to create your own Avatar Legends stories
within five distinct eras, including tools for creating your own
heroes and your own adventures in the Avatarverse. You and
your friends get to be the team of heroes at the center of your
own show, exploring the Four Nations, confronting threats, and
saving the day just like Team Avatar.
If you’ve never played a tabletop roleplaying game before,
welcome! Starting a new hobby can feel daunting, but everything
you need to learn how to play is included right here in this book,
including how to make your heroes and tell amazing stories in the
Avatarverse. Don’t be afraid to jump in and get started; the best
way to learn how to roleplay is to try it out for yourself!
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A World of Adventure
Many people in the Avatarverse are benders, possessing the
ability to manipulate one of the four elements—earth, fire, air,
or water. But whether they’re benders or non-benders, the peo-
ple of this world have faced centuries of trials and tribulations,
conflicts within and between nations, peoples, and even spirits!
For most of the world’s history, the Avatar—a human capable
of bending all four elements—has been responsible for maintaining
balance in the world and serving as a bridge between the spiritual
and physical planes of existence. Following a cycle through the
elements from earth to fire, fire to air, air to water, and water back
to earth, the Avatar reincarnates after each lifetime into a different
nation, carrying forward the Avatar Spirit and its great responsibility.
Many people look to the Avatar for guidance and justice, hoping to
see the most capable bender in the world solve their problems and
placing an enormous burden on this lone person to be a savior.
But the Avatar is not the only hero in this world. Many are
called to bring balance where there is disorder and seek jus-
tice where there is suffering. Some of these heroes are benders
themselves, but others use martial arts, weapon training, or
technology to triumph in their amazing adventures and build a
better world. These heroes might sometimes stand with the Ava-
tar in times of great trouble, but often they must join with other
heroes—without the Avatar’s guidance—to bring balance.
What is Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game?
In Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, you and your friends tell
a story about a group of young heroes who join together to fight
for what’s right in a complicated and nuanced world. One of
your friends acts as the gamemaster (GM), describing the prob-
lems the heroes face and the people they meet along the way;
the rest of you take on the roles of individual heroes, seeking to
make the Avatarverse a better place.
This game focuses on stories of adventure and the personal
journeys of heroes through the various trials in their lives. It’s a
game for people of all ages who want to look at the Avatarverse
beyond the scope of the existing shows, comics, and stories
and explore the meaningful actions heroes take for the good of
others. If you have ever wanted to throw yourself into the Ava-
tarverse and craft your own adventures alongside your closest
friends, then Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is for you!
 The Avatarverse
While all the rules and advice in this book are designed to
support stories in the Avatarverse, there are a few core ideas you
need to keep in mind while you play. Avatar Legends: The Roleplay-
ing Game tells stories of adventure and action against the back-
drop of the Avatarverse, a fantasy setting in which any individual
person can change the course of history…but no one can escape
the decisions of the past.
In other words, the potential for change is infinite—there
is always a new challenge to be met, a new future to be built,
a new legacy to be forged—but the Avatarverse is a place in
which people remember what came before, whether that be
the great deeds of Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, the terrible
destruction wrought by Fire Lord Sozin, or the innumerable
warlords and bandits that lived and died long before Avatar
Kyoshi first learned earthbending. The past matters, now more
than ever, and the consequences of your actions will echo long
after you are gone.
The stories you tell through this game are not stories of the
battle between good and evil. Instead, they are stories about
how people try to make a better future while dealing with the
problems of the past. They are stories about misguided figures
who take things too far and heroes who make sacrifices to find
compromises and new ways forward in equal measure.
Your characters in this story are always capable heroes with
the training and willpower necessary to make the world a better
place. They’re drawn together by events that called them to
undertake an important struggle—see Outline the Inciting
Incident, page 111—but that goal is too large for them to
accomplish overnight. Instead, they will have to work together to
make a meaningful difference. Sometimes that means they must
discover a hidden truth or deep learning; sometimes it means
they must win the trust of a worthy ally; and sometimes that
means they must defeat a dangerous and powerful foe.
Each of these goals is complicated by the characters’ own in-
ternal struggles, the way they are torn between their principles as
they deal with problems. For example, the heroes might finally
confront a murderous bandit who has been terrorizing the near-
by villages, only to discover the bandit is keeping a community
of people fed who would have otherwise starved. Will the heroes
set things right no matter the cost? Or do they seek redemption
for the bandit based on his good deeds?
Even though each episode’s story will likely be about a partic-
ular conflict or villain or problem, the decisions the companions
make echo throughout the setting. And when you play a full
campaign, you not only encounter the long-term effects of your
own actions, but you also see how your character is changed and
shaped by the decisions you make. Forging a better future also
means forging a new version of yourself!
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The Eras
Each game of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game begins with your
group picking an era as the backdrop for your game. The eras are
each tied to the span of an Avatar’s life—except for the Hundred
Year War era during which Avatar Aang was frozen—and focuses on
distinct themes which define the type of game you play. The full text
of Chapter 2 describes these eras more deeply, but here’s a quick list
that describes the rough focus and details of each era:
The Kyoshi Era covers the events right after The
Shadow of Kyoshi novel. Play in the Kyoshi Era
if you want to fight in battles against rogues and
bandits and deal with governmental corruption as
the nations establish their borders.
The Roku Era covers the time right after Sozin
became Fire Lord and before Roku married. Play
in the Roku Era if you want to deal with tensions
between different nations and the trials of main-
taining an uneasy peace.
The Hundred Year War Era focuses on the time
just before Avatar Aang’s awakening at the begin-
ning of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Play in the Hun-
dred Year War era if you want to rebel against unjust
rule, protect the weak, and stand up to tyranny.
The Aang Era is set immediately after the events
of the Imbalance comics trilogy, some time after
the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Play in the
Aang Era if you want to heal the world after trage-
dy and help push it into a brighter future.
The Korra Era covers a period that takes place
after the events of the Ruins of the Empire comic
trilogy, sometime after the end of The Legend of
Korra. Play in the Korra Era if you want to deal
with the repercussions of imperialism and play in a
modernized era.
The Four Nations
For centuries, the world has been split into four distinct nations
each with their own cultures and customs. While individuals
from these nations often form lifelong bonds of friendship and
love, the nations themselves are often in conflict. Your heroes
may travel from place to place or stay in one location, but they
must always contend with the politics and peoples of the places
they visit during their adventures.
You can read more about the full history of each of the Four
Nations—and locations that only exist in later eras, like Repub-
lic City—in Chapter 2. For now, here’s a short summary of each
of the Four Nations, their history, and some of the most import-
ant issues that are likely to arise if they appear in your game.
 The Earth Kingdom
The largest of the Four Nations, the Earth Kingdom has been
ruled by a monarchy for much of its history. It is known for its
sheer vastness and diversity of both geography and peoples. De-
spite the history of hardship in the rural areas neglected by the
government, the citizens of the Earth Kingdom are known for
their strength, resilience, and unyielding nature. When they are
knocked down, they rarely stay down for long. They draw their
strength from the immortal earth and immovable mountains.

The Fire Nation

The Fire Nation is located on a group of islands to the west of
the Earth Kingdom. It boasts an impressive military, and its navy
is a force to be reckoned with. This is in large part because travel
by water is a necessity on the islands. In addition to its military,
the Fire Nation is known for its robust economy and industrial
achievements. The Fire Nation is filled with people who value
innovation, technology, discipline, and strength of all kinds.

The Air Nomads

Determined to focus on a spiritual life separate from the rest of the
world, the Air Nomads roamed the world while maintaining four
distinct Air Temples in nearly inaccessible locations. Tragically, Fire
Lord Sozin ordered the Fire Nation military to kill all Air Nomads at
the start of the Hundred Year War (page 58); Avatar Aang was
the only survivor. Over a century later, a number of people gained
airbending abilities during the Harmonic Convergence, ushering in
a new Air Nation under the guidance of Aang’s son, Tenzin.

The Water Tribes

Divided into the Southern Water Tribe and the Northern Water
Tribe—alongside a smaller group based in the Foggy Swamp—
the people of the polar tribes are skilled at sailing and navigating
challenging terrain. However, there is a long history of tension
between the two tribes, and the Southern Water Tribe has often
struggled while their Northern counterpart thrived. Both are
known for their powerful loyalty and unrelenting perseverance,
like the waves of the ocean crashing onto the beaches’ shores.

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 The Trainings
People of the Four Nations have mastered many types of trainings, each requiring years
of practice. Ranging from elemental bending to weapons and technology, these trainings
both empower the heroes of these stories and define how they see the world.

Waterbending

Water is movement, change, and grace. The element cannot be broken and
even in its most rigid forms has the ability to melt and reform. It is a dynam-
ic element, subtle but powerful. Waterbending is inspired by the real-world
martial art Tai Chi. This style’s flowing motions allow a Waterbender to use
their element defensively to redirect an opponent’s attack, or offensively in
the form of water whips, ice attacks, or large waves. Certain Waterbenders
can also redirect energy paths in the body to heal injuries.

Earthbending

Earth is strong, stable, and constant. The element stands the test of time; it is a
steady element, bold and unyielding. Earthbending is inspired by the real-world
Hung Ga, known for solid stances and blunt punches, with fists formed into di-
verse shapes and toughened by striking exercises. Earthbenders can harness the
formative energy of the earth, powerfully punch boulders, and ride platforms of
stone to impossible heights.

Firebending

Fire is pure energy, destruction, and regeneration. The element can either con-
sume everything around it in a powerful blaze, or heat it with a brilliant inten-
sity that is impossible to ignore. It is an energetic element, bright and mighty.
Firebending is inspired by the real-world Northern Shaolin, associated with the
Shaolin Monastery. These fighters use fast, athletic movements including jumps,
spins, and extended linear stances, powered by breath. Firebenders can exhale
fire, wield flames like daggers, and grow a singular flame into a raging bonfire.

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 CHAPTER 2

THE WORLD OF
AVATAR

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 CHAPTER 2
This chapter contains setting information for the five eras in which you can set your game. The
start of the chapter includes a general introduction of the world and its various cultures along
with era-neutral locations, which exist in all five eras. Each era includes important themes,
historical events, important figures, and plot hooks to inspire your game.
The world of Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is expan-
sive and diverse, with figures immortalized in epic legacy and
conflicts that span generations. For thousands of years, people
have worked in tandem to build cities, wage wars, and expand
civilizations. Whether through social change, martial prowess,
technological brilliance, or bending, those changing the world
for the better tirelessly work to maintain balance.
The Avatarverse is complex, changing significantly throughout
its history. The setting is primarily inspired by different Asian and
Indigenous cultures, but no nation is a direct representation of a
specific real-life culture. It has its own unique stories, politics, ge-
ography, philosophies, and spiritualities, all tied to the four major
elements in the world: water, earth, fire, and air.
This chapter details setting information for the game and
includes different eras—familiar points in the timeline when
your story could be set. The Avatar has an important impact on
the world in any given era, but there are many stories to explore
outside their impressive adventures. Benders and non-benders
alike have the power to shape the world, whether they’re close
allies of the Avatar or people who never cross the Avatar’s path.
This section is a primer on setting information that players
and game masters should know before diving into a game.
• Exploring History looks at the setting’s history
before the eras featured in this book, exploring the
origins of bending and the Avatar.
• The Four Nations explores important locations you
can use in your game, with legacies so long they span
every era!
• A World of Balance provides information on
key spiritual and cultural concepts that affect the
Avatarverse.
• Navigating the Eras explains how each era is
presented in this book and what you can expect to
find in each section.
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Exploring History
Long before the world split into the Four Nations, humans and
spirits lived alongside one another. Bending was not a refined
art, but instead a gift bestowed upon humans to keep them safe
in the dangerous wilds. All of this changed when a man named
Wan meddled in the eternal conflict between peace and chaos,
unleashing a chain of events that sundered the human and spirit
worlds and caused him to become the first Avatar.
Before the Avatar
Long ago, humans and spirits inhabited separate realms. But
then two primordial spirits—Raava and Vaatu—pierced the bar-
rier separating them, allowing spirits to enter the physical world.
Fearing the spirits of the wilds, humans built cities on the backs
of giant lion-turtles to keep themselves safe. When the humans
ventured forth into the spirit wilds to hunt and gather food,
the lion-turtles, each with an affinity for an element, granted
them the gift of bending that element on the condition that the
humans return their gift upon coming home.
Two spirit portals, one in the South Pole and the other in
the North Pole, remained open at all times so spirits could pass
between the realms. Though most humans feared the spirits,
those living atop the air lion-turtle befriended them, establishing
a relationship that would lay the spiritual foundations for the Air
Nomads. Otherwise, the experience of most humans during this
period was confined to their lion-turtle, with begrudging respect
paid to the alien world outside.
Two primordial spirits engaged in an endless battle over the
balance of the world, a conflict that defined the world even as
humans remained largely unaware of this struggle. Raava, the
spirit of light and peace, had held Vaatu, the spirit of darkness
and chaos, at bay for ten thousand years since a planetary align-
ment called Harmonic Convergence—ensuring that light and
peace largely defined the world. But this balance did not last;
everything changed when a human named Wan stumbled upon
one of these battles and altered the course of history forever.
 Creation of the Avatar
Unlike most humans, Wan was intimately familiar with spirits
by the time he encountered Raava and Vaatu. His people had
banished him into the spirit wilds when he refused to return the
firebending gift after a hunting expedition. Though Wan first
struggled to live in the wilds, he soon grew close to many of the
spirits there. Unfortunately, all his experiences in the spirit wilds
did not prepare him for his encounter with Raava and Vaatu.
When Wan discovered the two spirits, he saw how their battle
destroyed the landscape and how Vaatu struggled to free himself
from Raava. Wan confronted the spirits to try and convince
them to stop the destruction, but Raava had no desire for human
assistance. So Vaatu took advantage of Wan’s desire to help, trick-
ing the human into attacking Raava so he could escape.
Furious, Raava explained Wan’s mistake to him—his interfer-
ence had unleashed this spirit of chaos to freely roam the world.
Vaatu would surely grow stronger and annihilate both the hu-
man and spirit worlds during the next Harmonic Convergence.
Wan had made a terrible first impression on one of his world’s
most powerful forces.
Wan managed to convince Raava that she only had a chance
at defeating the dark spirit if they worked together. Raava helped
Wan to master the bending of all four elements—a feat no
human had ever accomplished—and the two grew close as they
trained in preparation for Harmonic Convergence. Eventually,
Raava came to recognize Wan’s nobility and courage.
The two then confronted Vaatu during Harmonic Conver-
gence and—during their epic battle—Wan and Raava fused
together as the Avatar to defeat the chaos spirit. They sealed
Vaatu away into the Tree of Time, a large tree situated in the
Spirit World, and closed the spirit portals so that humans and
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spirits would once again live in separate worlds. From that
point forward, Wan decreed, the Avatar would act as the bridge
between the human and spirit worlds.
The fusion of Wan and Raava created the Avatar Spirit and
Wan became the first Avatar. From that moment, Avatar Wan
worked to bring peace to the world. However, universal har-
mony is not a job one can accomplish in a lifetime; after Wan’s
death, the Avatar Spirit transferred to a new Avatar, beginning an
Avatar Cycle in which the Avatar reincarnates each lifetime with
the goal of bringing balance to the world.
The Avatar’s Abilities
The Avatar is the only human capable of bending all four ele-
ments. Though the Avatars can often access memories from their
past lives and speak with their past incarnations through medi-
tation, each one is a unique individual and must relearn how to
master each element. The Avatar first learns to bend the element
native to their nation and then learns the rest of the elements in
the order of the Avatar Cycle: fire, air, water, and then earth, end-
lessly circling and recurring. Each nation has a unique method of
determining the Avatar’s identity as a young child and different
ways of training them.
The Avatar’s most powerful ability is to enter the Avatar State,
a defense mechanism in which they are able to perform incredible
acts of bending by channeling the energy of all their past lives at
once. Avatars enter this state as a response to mortal danger or
high stress, and can even manifest the appearance of a past self
during it. Unfortunately, if the Avatar were ever to die in the Avatar
State, the reincarnation cycle would be interrupted and the Avatar
would cease to exist.
Chapter 2: The World of Avatar 17
 20

19

31

28
3 2
30 22
17

26

7
18 5
11
9
14
10 23
15
27
21
4 12
8
32

13

16

24

29

25

1. Agna Qel’a 17. Lake Laogai Eras Color Code

Map Key

2. Ba Sing Se 18. Natsuo Island Era Neutral Location

3. Beifong Metalbending Academy 19. Northern Air Temple Kyoshi Era
4. Bhanti Island 20. Northern Spirit Portal Roku Era
5. Chameleon Bay 21. Omashu Hundred Year War
6. Chenbao 22. Republic City / Cranefish Town Aang Era
7. Crescent Island 23. Si Wong Desert Korra Era
8. Eastern Air Temple 24. Southern Air Temple
9. Ember Island 25. Southern Spirit Portal
10. Fire Fountain City 26. Sun Warriors’ Ancient City
11. Fire Island Prison 27. Water Tribe Sacred Island
12. Foggy Swamp 28. Western Air Temple
13. Gaoling 29. Wolf Cove
14. Hari Bulkan 30. Yu Dao
15. Kolau Mountain Range 31. Zigan Village
16. Kyoshi Island 32. Zaofu

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 The Four Nations
The Four Nations are the stage for constantly changing conflicts,
alliances, and adventures. Each era impacts the next, building on
foundations laid thousands of years ago. Though the nations un-
dergo many major shifts throughout history, there are locations
that remain largely consistent no matter what era you play in.
The lands of Avatar Legends are wondrous and diverse. They
range from scorching hot to bitterly cold and the people who live in
each land have adapted to their natural surroundings by either living
alongside nature or overcoming its obstacles. Each Nation is geo-
graphically unique and comes with its own set of natural wonders.
The Water Tribes primarily exist in the frigid North and
South poles. Both poles are frozen landscapes where snow, sleet,
and freezing temperatures are the norm. Little grows in either
pole and the tribespeople hunt, forage, and trade for sustenance.
Snowy mountains dot both the North and South and both
tribes use the sea as a primary mode of transportation between
different towns and villages. The Foggy Swamp tribespeople are
an exception to their waterbending cousins, inhabiting a damp,
warm swamp within the Earth Kingdom where strong spiritual
energy (and water) ties them to the impressive flora in the area.
The Earth Kingdom is the largest nation and has the most
varied landscape. From scorching deserts, to frozen mountains,
to rolling hills, to balmy beaches. How people in the Earth King-
dom contend with its nature is dependent on the region. Larger
Earth Kingdom cities are marvels of architecture and technology
no matter what era you visit them in. However, many areas suffer
from poor infrastructure; the Kingdom is too large—and the
leaders often too corrupt—for full oversight and development of
poorer regions.
The Fire Nation is a series of islands to the west of the Earth
Kingdom with numerous volcanoes. The climate ranges from
pleasantly warm to scorching hot with many beautiful tropical
beaches to visit on the various islands. Many of the Fire Nation
volcanoes between the mountainous regions of the islands are
active in every era. The warm weather suits the nation’s Fire-
benders just fine and over the years inventors have developed
many different ships for people to navigate between the islands.
The Air Nomads (or Air Nation in the Korra Era) are a
nomadic people, but have four temples located at the edges of
the map, each named after the four cardinal directions: north,
south, east, and west. Most Air Nomad temples are located in
high, rocky locations that are hard to reach for anyone except
Airbenders, sky bison, and other flying creatures. Though the
temples are built in mountainous areas, they are far from devoid
of life, with many pockets of beautiful greenery and ancient trees
welcoming any number of local species.

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