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Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:06 PM
Avatar: the Last Airbender d20 – Bending and Base Classes


Avatar d20 Project Website (http://avatar.d20.googlepages.com)
Avatar: the Last Airbender d20 Project Hub (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67493)
Bending and Base Classes Thread #1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54063)

This bending system prioritizes creativity and versitility over ease of use. It requires additional dice rolls to adjudicate, but allows benders to combine bending seeds to create a wider range of options. This thread is intended for discussion of the bending base classes, bending prestige classes, bending seeds, feats, and other content related to the bending system.


Current Topics of Discussion/Unresolved Topics
Strength DC’s for breaking out of immobilization forms
Lavabending
Communal Bending
Influence of the Sun and Moon
Bending Study Feats
Redirect Lightening
Quickening Bending
Bending and Two-Weapon Fighting, Flurry of Blows, Rapid Shot, and other ways of increasing number of attacks
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:07 PM
Bending Overview

Benders learn bending seeds at the rate shown on their respective class table and may choose them from any seeds on their bending list.

Creating Forms: The bending arts are based around fully understanding the possibilities and applications of their respective elements . As such, creative use of the element is important to the application of the art. Using a single seed to make a form is often very useful or powerful in its own right, and can continue to be so at later level by advancing the seed’s effects. However, in situations when two of the bender’s known seeds are compatible with each other, they can be executed simultaneously or in conjunction with the bender’s other abilities. Doing so uses the bending time of the longest seed and uses the seeds’ combined Bending DCs +4. For example, a waterbender could combine her blast with some thrown Ice Shards, dealing her blast damage+2d4 (or more, if the Waterbending check allows for additional shards) as a standard action. The Waterbending DC for this would be 19 (5 for Blast, +10 for the Ice Shards, and +4 for combining them). Other combinations are possible, so be creative!

The Bending Skill: Almost all of a bender’s special abilities are determined by her modifier in the respective bending skill. This is a skill exclusive to each of the bending classes and its dependent skill is Wisdom. Having at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (Bending) grants a +2 synergy bonus to the bending skill, and vice versa. Note that due to the complicated motions dealing with bending an element, armor check penalties apply to the skill.

Bending Range: The distance from which a bender can draw or extend any of her forms is 40 ft + 5 ft/level. Going further is possible, but every 5 feet beyond this range adds a +1 to the Bending DC of the seed. A form that begins within this ‘safe’ range but extends beyond it can fall short, and any element being used simply falls from the bender’s control, acting naturally (water being absorbed into the ground, earth rolling downhill, etc.). If the form’s DC reaches the bender’s roll without completely finishing its course, it dissipates at that point and acts naturally.

Using Forms: Executing a form provokes attacks of opportunity unless noted otherwise, and if the bender is damaged while executing a form, she must make a Concentration check against the damage done or lose the form. Bending forms cannot be used while pinned, but a bender can attempt to use a form while grappling by adding +10 to the Bending DC, and must make DC 20 Concentration check in order to successfully use the spell. For more uses of the Concentration skill in Bending, look here. A bender's hands must be free in order to use any bending form, unless noted otherwise; though weapons and items made from materials a bender can manipulate can be spontaneously converted to use in forms.

Template Forms: Template forms can be applied to other bending forms (hereafter referred to as the "base form"), altering their characteristics and increasing a bender's versatility. Template forms increase the Bending DC of the base form

Taking 10: Benders may choose to take 10 on any bending check, unless rushed or threatened. For the purposes of this, combat does not count as being rushed, though an opponent threatening a bender in combat does prevent her from taking 10 on bending checks.

Contested Bending: If two benders are vying for control of a single mass of their element, they make opposed opposed bending checks as a move action. In order to gain control of the element, a bender must beat her opponent's bending check by 5 or more, though winning by 4 or less adds a +2 circumstance bonus to the next opposed check, until one gains uncontested control of the element. If a bender wishes to take control of an element already controlled by another bender (such as a waterbender's Water Whip seed or an earthbender's Armor seed) she takes -5 to the bending check.

Bending on the Defensive: Bending while on the defensive does not provoke an attack of opportunity. It does, however, require a Concentration check (DC 15 + 2 for every 5 of the bending DC) to pull off. Failure means that you still successfully complete the form (provided you are able to make the Bendig DC), but provoke an attack of opportunity for doing so.

Motion: Unless stated otherwise, all bending seeds have somatic components and are difficult to use with restricted mobility. A bender takes -10 to the bending check to do a form while prone.

Saves: Any saves in response to a bending form has a DC 10 + half the bender’s class level + the bender’s Wisdom modifier.

Bending Blasts and Iterative Attacks: All benders have the ability to project bending Blasts as a basic ranged attack. Descriptions of the various Blast abilities can be found in the individual class write-ups. In general, a bender can make a number of Blast attacks per round equal to the number of iterative attacks she can make, as determined by her Bast Attack Bonus. As a general rule, benders cannot increase the number of Blast attacks they can make by taking feats or gaining class abilities. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule. A Firebender's Firestorm ability allows him to make a single additional Fire Blast attack as part of a full round attack. Additionally, a bender can take the Rapid Shot feat, increasing the number of Blast attacks she can make in a full round attack. A Firebender with both Firestorm and Rapid Shot can make two extra Fire Blast attacks in a full round attack.

Fatigue: A fatigued bender takes a -4 to all bending checks, in addition to the other effects of fatigue, and an exhausted bender takes an addition -4 to all checks, for a total of -8.

Overbending: Upon failing a bending check, a bender has a choice to go ahead and do the action for which she rolled anyway. This is known as overbending and can range from strenuous to lethal, depending on the scope of what the bender is trying to do, as shown on the table below. All effects stack, except for the various levels of Constitution damage, though the Constitution drain does apply at the same time


{table=head]Failed By|
Effect
1-5|Fatigue
6-9|1d4 Con damage
10-14|2d4 Con damage
15-19|3d4 Con damage, Exhaustion
20-24|4d4 Con damage
25-29|Unconsciousness1, 1 point Con drain
>30|Death[/table]
1 A bender rendered unconscious in this manner makes a DC 20 Will save to wake up after four hours, and every hour thereafter, with the save DC decreasing by -2 at each attempt. After eight hours, the bender automatically wakes up, but is still Exhausted. It takes additional rest to remove this condition.

Quickened Bending: Powerful benders learn techniques intended to improve their economy of motion and allow them to bend more quickly. By increasing the Bending skill DC of a seed by +10, a bender can perform a seed that normally requires a full-round action as a standard action. By increasing the Bending skill DC of a seed by +20, a bender can perform a seed that normally requires a standard action as a move action. Unless otherwise stated in the seed's description, no seed can be performed as a swift, free, or immediate action. If you attempt to quicken a bending seed but fail to meet the necessary DC, you fail to execute the seed as normal, though you can attempt to execute the seed a second time with any remaining actions.

Finally, to facilitate discussion and access to information, here's a table that lists typical bending skill modifiers for benders at different levels.


{table=head]Level|MBM1, 14 Wis|Roll, 14 Wis||MBM, 16 Wis|Roll, 16 Wis||MBM, 18 Wis|Roll, 18 Wis
1|+9 (4+SF+Wis)|19||+10|20||+11|21
2|+12 (Synergy)|22||+13|23||+14|24
3|+13|23||+14|24||+15|25
4|+14|24||+15|25||+16|26
5|+15|25||+16|26||+17|27
6|+16|26||+17|27||+18|28
7|+17|27||+18|28||+19|29
8|+19 (16 Wis)|29||+20|30||+21|31
9|+20|30||+21|31||+22|32
10|+21|31||+22|32||+23|33
11|+22|32||+23|33||+24|34
12|+23|33||+24|34||+25|35
13|+24|34||+25|35||+26|36
14|+25|35||+26|36||+27|37
15|+26|36||+27|37||+28|38
16|+28 (18 Wis)|38||+29|39||+30|40
17|+29|39||+30|40||+31|41
18|+30|40||+31|41||+32|42
19|+31|41||+32|42||+33|43
20|+32|42||+33|43||+34|44
[/table]

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:11 PM
Airbender
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/Mephibosheth85/Airbender.gif

The speed and agility of the wind, the power of a tornado, and the subtlety of a cloud are all accessible to an airbender, a member of a small group of individuals blessed with the ability to manipulate the air through sheer force of will. Airbenders can hurl blasts of wind at their foes, create shields of swirling air, and even slice objects to pieces with compressed air blasts.
Adventures – Craving freedom above all else, many airbenders are simply itinerant monks, whose traveling lifestyle invites adventure. Others adventure on behalf of their communities, to visit and assist friends living far away, or to help those in need.
Characteristics – Airbenders are able to manipulate the air in many ways. Some chose to focus on mobility and can become the most agile of fighters. Others learn to capture their foes in swirling tornadoes, incapacitating their enemies. Still others seek to destroy the machinery of destruction, using compressed air to slice through metal, stone, and wood. All airbenders, however, are agile fighters who can knock their enemies away and soar through the skies on wooden gliders.
Alignment – While an airbender can be of any alignment, airbenders' emphasis of ahimsa (nonviolence) tends to attract more good than evil. However, the airbender’s philosophical quest is one for ultimate liberation, and anyone who completes the training, whether good or evil, chaotic or lawful, can become an airbender.
Religion – Airbenders have a decidedly philosophical focus. They seek liberation from the bonds of the world, and their discipline and dedication to this goal are shown in their simple lifestyles. Few airbenders worship any of the spirits, though nothing prevents them from doing so.
Background – Airbenders are trained at monasteries under the tutelage of senior monks. When they achieve the status of Airbending Master, they receive arrow tattoos on their heads, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Often, an Airbending Master will take a young student under his wing and help the student on an individual level.
Races – All airbenders (with the exception of the Avatar, who is able to master all four elements) are members of the group known as the Air Nomads.
Other Classes – Airbenders are masters of defense and evasion. They work well with almost all other classes, though they find the confrontational style of Earthbenders difficult to understand and deal with. Airbenders’ emphasis on non-violence and defense can sometimes be frustrating for more offensively-minded individuals (especially firebenders and members of the martial classes) but they work well with members of these classes as often as not.

Abilities – A high Wisdom score is essential to an airbender as it determines the save DC’s for many of his best forms and abilities. A high Dexterity is also important, as it affects many of an airbender’s best skills and provides additional AC.
Alignment – Any (though tending towards good)
Hit Die – d6

Class Skills – Airbending (Wis), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (History)(Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex)
Skill Points at 1st Level – (4 + Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level – 4 + Int Modifier

{table=head]
Level|
Base Attack Bonus|
Fort Save|
Ref Save|
Will Save|Special|
Dodge|
Forms Known|
Defense Bonus

1st|+0|+0|+2|+2|Air Blast, Wind Shaping, Body of Air|+0|1|+4

2nd|+1|+0|+3|+3|Deflect Attack|+0|2|+4

3rd|+2|+1|+3|+3|Evasion, Improved Unarmed Strike|+0|2|+5

4th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Fly (30 ft/poor)|+1|3|+5

5th|+3|+1|+4|+4||+1|3|+5

6th|+4|+2|+5|+5||+1|4|+6

7th|+5|+2|+5|+5||+1|4|+6

8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Fly (40 ft/poor)|+2|5|+6

9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+6||+2|5|+7

10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+7|Improved Evasion|+2|6|+7

11th|+8/+3|+3|+7|+7||+2|6|+7

12th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Fly (50 ft/average)|+3|7|+8

13th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8||+3|7|+8

14th|+10/+5|+4|+9|+9||+3|8|+8

15th|+11/+6|+5|+9|+9||+3|8|+9

16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Fly (60 ft/average)|+4|9|+9

17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10||+4|9|+9

18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11||+4|10|+10

19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11||+4|10|+10

20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+12|Fly (70 ft/good)|+5|11|+10[/table]


Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency – An airbender is proficient with all simple weapons and warfans. Airbenders are not proficient with any armor or shields.

Air Blast
Base DC: 5
The first offensive ability an airbender learns is to focus air currents around himself into a quick stream, forcefully pushing objects in its path. An Air Blast is a ranged touch attack that originates in the airbender's square, and an airbender can use as many Air Blasts in a full-round attack as his base attack bonus allows.

If a creature is struck by an Air Blast, it resolves as a bull rush attempt, with the airbender’s Airbending check opposed by the target’s Strength or Dexterity check (whichever is greater). Additionally, creatures successfully blasted by an Air Blast must make a Reflex save or be knocked prone at the end of the blast. Creatures blasted into a solid object (a wall, large rock, cliff face, or similar massive object) take 1d6 points of nonlethal bludgeoning damage for every 5 class levels the airbender has.

An airbender can also affect objects weighing 5 pounds per level with his Air Blasts (this weight limit does not affect the ability of an airbender to bull rush a creature with his Air Blasts). An airbender can hurl an object with a maximum range of 50 ft plus 5 feet per level. Weapons hurled by an Air Blast deal their standard damage and do not benefit from bonuses to damage from a high Strength score or weapon-based feats. Hard, dense objects hurled by an Air Blast deal 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage for every 25 pounds of weight (minimum 1d6, even for objects weighing less than 25 lbs). Less dangerous objects deal 1 point of bludgeoning damage for every 25 pounds of weight. The airbender must succeed on a ranged attack roll to hit a creature with a projectile in this manner.

Body of Air - As an airbender begins to subconsciously manipulate the air around himself, his motions become far quicker and easier for him to control, baffling others around him. Alternatively, an airbender can cause small air currents to support his body as if he were far lighter than he actually is. An airbender gains a bending bonus towards any Climb, Tumble, and Jump checks equal to half his airbender level. Additionally, the maximum height an airbender can jump is not limited by his height.

Wind Shaping
Base DC: 5
With minor effort an airbender may bend the air around him to create simple, pragmatic effects.
• Body Burst: The airbender may force the air around his body to rush away from him and push small things away. Be they circling insects, dirt and mud on his clothes, or annoying lemurs, the airbender may make an Airbending check to move things away from him in a 5 foot radius, pushing them 5ft. Creatures of size Tiny or larger may resist with a Strength check opposed by the airbender's Wisdom check, provided they weigh more than one pound.
• Hand of Air: A technique of convenience, the airbender learns to move objects by manipulating the air pressure and wind currents around an object. So long as an object that weighs less than 5lbs is within his bending range, an airbender may move it anywhere within his bending range. For every 5 by which his Airbending check exceeds the DC, the maximum weight an airbender can manipulate with this ability increases by 5 lbs. Objects shaped so as to catch air (such as an airtight bag) may grant bonuses to this check, and objects specifically designed to be transported in this way halve the DC of Airbending checks used to move them. This object does not travel fast enough to cause damage. This may also be used to simply blow small amounts of air over and around objects, such as to perform minor acts of mischief or to cool hot food.

Deflect Attack
Base DC: 5
Early in their training, airbenders learn to block or deflect attacks directed at them and their companions. Once per round, an airbender can attempt to negate a ranged attack (either conventional or bending) targeted within 10 feet +5 ft/3 class levels. Negating this attack requires that the airbender succeed in an opposed attack roll. If the airbender’s attack roll is less than his opponent’s, the attack is unaffected by the deflection attempt and is resolved as normal. Using this initial Deflect Bending attempt counts as an immediate action.

Additionally, an airbender has the option of reserving iterative attacks in order to gain more Deflect Attack attempts. Whenever he makes a full-round attack, an airbender may choose to forgo a number of iterative attacks, gaining a number of additional Deflect Attack attempts equal to the number of attacks the airbender reserved. Regardless of how many attacks an airbender forgoes, he cannot use more Deflect Attack attempts than he has iterative attacks due to high Base Attack Bonus. These subsequent Deflect Bending attempts do not count as actions, and can be used any time during the round, even when it is not the airbender's turn.

If an airbender is caught flat-footed, he can make a Reflex Save (DC 10 + ½ the attacker’s BAB + the attacker’s Dexterity modifier) to still make a Deflect Attack attempt. A flat-footed airbender can never make more than a single Deflect Attack attempt.

For example, a 15th level airbender’s Base Attack Bonus allows him to make 3 iterative attacks. If he decides to make a full-round attack, he can reserve as many as 2 of these attacks in order to gain 2 additional Deflect Attack attempts (bringing his total to 3 for that round).

Evasion – An airbender can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the airbender is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless airbender does not gain the benefit of evasion. Beginning at 10th level, an airbender gains the Improved Evasion ability. This ability works like evasion, except that while the airbender still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save.

Improved Unarmed Strike – Airbenders gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat at 3rd level.

Flight – Beginning at 4th level, an airbender learns to manipulate the air currents around his glider, allowing him to fly. The airbender’s flight speed and maneuverability are shown on the above table. An airbender can fly for a number of rounds at a time equal to his class level before setting down (though he can resume flying again at any time). Beginning at 10th level, an airbender can fly indefinitely before setting down. An airbender must use a glider (such as his staff) in order to fly.

Dodge – Beginning at 1st level, an airbender adds his Wisdom modifier to his AC, as the monk ability. Additionally, beginning at 4th level, an airbender gains a dodge bonus to AC as a result of his emphasis on defensive motion and combat. He loses this bonus when he wears armor or is carrying more than a light load.


Airbending Seeds

Particles
Base DC: 10
By kicking up small particles of dust and sand into the air, an airbender can obscure vision and blind opponents.
• Dust cloud: An airbender may make a hemisphere of dust anywhere within his bending range with a radius of 10 ft. The cloud obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target). A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the cloud in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the cloud in 1 round. Increasing the radius of the cloud adds +5 to the Airbending DC per 5-foot increase. This seed does not work unless there’s a generous supply of sand or similar material in the affected area, and does not work underwater.
• Blind: By aiming a spray of sand or dust at an opponent’s eyes, an airbender can try to temporarily blind the creature. The airbender makes a ranged touch attack against a target’s AC, taking -5 on the attack roll because of the small area targeted. If the attack is successful, the target creature is rendered blind until the end of its next round.
Run as the Wind
Base DC: 10
Among the most frustrating of airbender qualities is the near-impossibility to pin them down.
• Burst of Speed: By creating air currents in front of and around him, an airbender can reduce his wind resistance and accelerate his running. An airbender can use this seed as a swift action to increase his base land speed by 5 feet, plus an additional 5 feet for every four points by which the Airbending check exceeds the DC. Note that the actual movement involved still takes a move action to use.
• On the Walls: By manipulating small currents of air around him, an airbender can support his own weight even against the force of gravity. On any turn in which an airbender moves at least 60 feet, he may run on a vertical surface, such as a wall or pillar, at no penalty; even straight up. An airbender must remain moving as he does this, and stopping for any reason causes the airbender to fall to the ground as normal. Use of the Spring Attack feat to move before and after an attack could allow an airbender to attack while moving on a vertical surface, with other exceptions subject to DM approval.
Palm Bow
Base DC: 15
By moving his hands in a rapid spiraling motion, an airbender brings in existence a tunnel of rushing winds between his palms. This wind tunnel is able to propel small projectiles with heightened force and accuracy.
• Applications: An airbender using this seed may launch a number of small projectiles (arrows, bolts, shurikens, stones, etc) equal to 1/2 his class level. The projectiles must be within a 5 ft radius of the airbender to be used in this seed, though other characters can supply the airbender with ammunition while he is maintaining the seed. Inititating this seed is a standard action, and an airbender can maintain the tunnel by taking a full-round action each round for a maximum number of rounds equal to his class level (requiring an Airbending skill check each round to maintain the tunnel). The projectiles are launched in a line, the length of which is equal to the airbender's bending range. Creatures caught in the line take 1d6 points of damage for each projectile launched, and are allowed a Reflex save for half damage. If the line deals enough damage to a barrier to break through it, it continues on past the barrier if the range permits; otherwise, it stops at the barrier. An airbender must only make one Airbending check each round for all projectiles thrown.
Air Burst (Template)
Base DC: +10
By adding an additional +10 to the bending check, the airbender may apply this template to any seed that targets one or more creatures. The seed will now be applied to all targets (friend or foe) within five feet of the airbender’s location. The airbender may bend this airflow around targets caught in the burst radius by increasing the DC by a further +5 per target ignored by the airburst and may increase the radius of the form by 5 ft for every 5 points by which the bending check exceeds the DC.
Air Thrust
Base DC: 10
You create an outline of his body composed of compressed air and send it charging toward your target.
• Applications: The airbender sends a blast of air similar to that of the Air Blast towards a target within a line 50 feet. The target takes 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage and is knocked back as if hit by an Air Blast and may take additional damage if applicable. The airbender may increase the concussive force of this blast to do more damage by increasing the DC of the check by +5 per die of damage to a maximum of 1d4 per class level.
Sustained Gusts (Template)
Base DC: +10
This template can be applied to an airbender’s Air Blast, transforming the normally-instantaneous burst of air into a sustained gust. This sustained gust takes the form of a line with a length equal to the airbender’s bending range. It no longer requires a ranged touch attack to hit the target, but the target is allowed a Reflex save to negate the effect of the Air Blast. Targets that fail their Reflex save are affected as normal by the airbender’s Air Blast, take a -4 penalty to opposed ability checks to resist bull rush, trip, and overrun attempts, and are considered checked. Targets that fail their Reflex save but successfully resist the effects of the Air Blast can make a DC 15 Strength check to move out of the area of the gust.

Using an Air Blast in conjunction with this template requires a full-round action to initiate and maintain. An airbender can maintain a Sustained Gust for a number of rounds equal to his class level. An airbender can increase the maximum duration of a Sustained Gust by increasing the DC of the seed by +5 for every extra round.
Airbender's Leap
Base DC:15
There are many throughout the four nations that celebrate the airbenders' practice of ahisma, as should they ever wage war, no wall would stand in their way.
• By making a jump as a full-round action, an airbender gains a bonus to his Jump check equal to his Airbending check. Also, as normal for airbenders, this jump is not limited by height.
Air Scooter
Base DC: 15
By compressing air into a whirling ball, an airbender can make a quick (and entertaining) ride or a useful deterrent to opponents.
• By balancing on his ball of air before it disperses, an airbender can attain great speed and maneuverability. When using this seed, the airbender’s base land speed becomes 60 ft, and he can ride the air scooter on any surface that would normally require a climb check, including vertical surfaces, though he must move at least 30 ft per round to avoid falling to the ground on such a surface. An air scooter can be maintained for a number of minutes equal to half the airbender’s class levels. The Air Scooter can also traverse normally impossible surfaces, such as water, lava, or thin ice at no penalty, but cannot rise more than a few inches off the ground while the airbender is riding it.
Sound Waves
Base DC: 15
By manipulating air currents and ‘thickening’ or ‘thinning’ the air, the airbender may muffle the sounds he makes to move as quietly as a gentle breeze or as loudly as an avalanche.
• Stillness: By speeding the air up and forcing it away from himself, the airbender can slow or even cancel sound waves through the air around herself as he moves, granting him a bonus on Move Silently checks equal to his airbender level. He can extend this to a friendly creature within a 5ft radius by adding +10 to the DC per person. This seed requires concentration, so the airbender may only make a move action each round while using it.
• Resonating Sound: By thickening the air and compressing it, the airbender increases the potential for resonating sound energy. The airbender solidifies the air into a line and makes a noise like a crack of thunder through the line of thickened air, causing 1d4 points of sonic damage and forcing those affect to make a Fortitude save or be deafened for a number of rounds equal to the airbender's wisdom modifier, minimum 1. The airbender may increase the damage by 1d4 by increasing the DC by +5 per die to a maximum of the airbender’s class level.
Flowing Air Strike
Base DC: 15
By manipulating the air currents around his limbs, an airbender can cause his strikes to come harder and more quickly.
• When attacking in melee combat with unarmed strikes or a light weapon with which he is proficient, an airbender gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attack and damage rolls, plus 1 more for every 5 points by which the Airbending check exceeds the DC. This seed can be maintained as a swift action every round.
Levitate
Base DC 20
• Hover (Base DC 20): As a move action, an airbender can create rushing winds around his entire body, slowly lifting him into the air. This allows the airbender to move up to 10 ft through the air as a move action. This seed lasts as long as the bender can concentrate (a swift action, up to a maximum number of rounds equal to his class level), and the bender can move up or down as he desires. The bender’s maximum speed increases by 5 ft for every 5 by which the Airbending check exceeds DC.
• Twinkletoes (Base DC 10): By pushing the air currents around him enough to make lighten his weight, an airbender can make himself exceptionally light on his feet. The airbender gains partial concealment against any creature sensing him through tremorsense, and gains a +5 bonus to Move Silently checks as long as he maintains this seed. This seed can also be used to walk across surfaces that would usually not support an airbender’s weight; such as thin ice, weak branches, floating leaves or similar surfaces. Executing and maintaining this seed are both swift actions, and the Airbending DC for maintaining this seed increases by a cumulative +2 every round.
Air Scythe
Base DC 20
One of the few truly damaging weapons in an airbender's arsenal, the air scythe is feared among those that would provoke an airbender to action.
• Buffet: By compressing and suddenly releasing a violent wave of air, and airbender can pound their opponents from afar. As an attack action, an airbender can launch a ranged touch attack dealing 1d6 +1/2 airbender levels bludgeoning damage; plus another 1d6 damage for every 5 points by which the Airbending check exceeds the DC. All damage done with this seed is non-lethal, though an airbender wielding his airbender's staff can choose to deal lethal damage with this seed. An airbender wielding his airbender's staff can use this seed at the rate of his quarterstaff attacks.
Deep Breath (Template)
Base DC: +15
By adding +15 to an Airbending skill check DC, an airbender can do any form without using somatic components (though using the form still provokes attack of opportunity, as normal), as long as the bender’s mouth or nose is free and not gagged or otherwise hindered from opening. The form is performed as a cone of air from the bender’s mouth, a burst of wind from the bender’s nose that makes him fly high into the air, or any other appropriate description.
The Four Winds (Template)
Base DC: +20
This template can be applied to any targeted airbending seed or any area of effect seed that takes the shape of a line.
• Point of Origin: Using this application, an airbender can cause the selected airbending form to originate at any point within his bending range and proceed in any straight line he chooses, including vertical lines.
• Twists and Turns: Using this application, an airbender can cause the path of an airbending form to turn and twist. The path of the form may include a number of turns equal to half the airbender’s class level, with each turn having a maximum of 45 degrees. An airbender can increase the number of possible turns by increasing the DC of the form by +5 for every additional turn.
Stormwinds
Base DC: 20
A highly advanced technique in airbending, this allows an airbender to conjure up moderate winds to incredibly powerful winds of hurricane-strength ferocity. Rarely used as airbenders are notoriously hard to anger, this form possesses devastating potential to all within its path.
• Gale Force: Stormwinds forms a cone of air which extends to the end of the airbender's bending range which he may maintain by making an Airbending check each round at half of the initial DC. Using this technique is a full round action, and the wind blows until the airbender’s next turn. This wind begins at a DC of 20 to begin at a wind category of Severe. The seed can be maintained up to a number of rounds equal to the bender's airbender level. By adding +10 to the Airbending DC, the airbender may increase the force of this wind one stage per increase of the DC.
• Cyclone: The airbender may also funnel the wind around himself in a 20ft radius that reaches 40ft high at an additional +10 DC to the bending check when using Gale Force.
Air Shield
Base DC 25
The most powerful defense in the airbender’s arsenal, the air shield can protect against numerous attacks and other conditions. An air shield forms as a dome or sphere starting immediately around the airbender and pushes outward to a radius of 5ft, any creatures or objects no more than one size larger than the airbender are pushed to the edge of the air shield, unless a successful strength check with a DC equal to the Airbending check is succeeded. The air shield acts as the Wind Wall spell, preventing any and all projectiles up to the size of the airbender from penetrating the air shield, and creatures attempting to push through the air shield must succeed a strength check with a DC of the original Airbending check result. The shield also protects the airbender from any gases or liquids immediately around him. An airbender can increase the radius of the air shield by 5ft by increasing the DC by +5, up to a maximum of 30ft. Additionally, the airbender may choose to form the air shield around the maximum radius rather then starting around himself.
• Protect Allies: This application does not push any objects or creatures out of area like normal and increases the DC by +5. An airbender must concentrate using a standard action to keep the air shield, an airbender may also move with the airshield, but only at half speed, any actions besides movement and concentration results in the lose of the air shield.
• Flight: A highly skilled airbender has learned how to manipulate the air currents and the swirling air of the shield to allow limited flight while the air shield is active. Whenever an air shield is active, the airbender can make an Airbending check with a DC of the original DC to form the air shield +10, this allows the airbender to move with the shield with a fly speed of 20ft (good). The airbender must make this check each round to continue flying with a colmunalitive +2 to the DC. If the airbender fails the check while airborne, the air shield disappears and the airbender falls, but takes damage as if he fell 20ft plus the radius of the air shield less than the actual distance.
Tornado
Base DC: 30
• Disperse: By manipulating air currents into a tight spiral, the Airbender can severely impede the movement of his/her foes. This form creates a tornado anywhere within 30 feet of the Airbender, which can be moved 40 feet per round as a move action, has a 5 foot radius, and may be up to 40 feet tall. Upon contact with a creature, the tornado stops moving, even if it has movement remaining that turn.

Creatures inside the tornado need to make a Reflex Save or be stunned for one round and flung 5 ft per level in a horizontal direction of the airbender’s choosing. Even if the creature passes the Reflex Save, he/she still moves at half speed until out of the tornado. Creatures that are larger than the tornado gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their reflex save. Objects inside the tornado are flung 5 ft per class level of the airbender in a direction of the airbender’s choosing.

The tornado lasts as long as the Airbender concentrates to maintain it (a standard action), up to a maximum number of turns equal to the Airbender’s class level. For every 10 the Airbending check exceeds the DC the height and width (at both top and bottom) of the tornado increases by 5ft.

• Capture: By manipulating air currents into a tight spiral, the Airbender can create a massive vortex of wind that forms as a tornado. This seed takes a full-round action to create a tornado around the airbender with a base 5ft wide and 15ft wide at the top and 30ft high. An airbender must remain within the radius of this tornado, and can move with the tornado at a rate equal to the airbender’s base land speed.

Whenever a creature of up to huge size or smaller occupies the same space as the tornado, that creature must succeed in a Reflex save. If the creature fails the Reflex save they are carried into the air along with the tornado, otherwise they take 2d6 damage. The creature is carried 5ft up on the first round and another 5ft every other round until it reaches the top. Each round the creature may make a Reflex save to exit the tornado at any square adjacent to the creature’s current location in the tornado. If the creature remains in tornado that creature takes 2d6 damage per round. Creatures in the tornado are considered prone and have total concealment. Additionally, the tornado protects all the occupants from projectile attacks as a Wind Wall spell.

The airbender may locate himself any where inside the 5ft wide section of the tornado and may change position as a swift action. The tornado takes a certain amount of concentration that takes a full-round action on the part of the airbender. If the airbender is hit by an attack, she must make an Airbending check to keep the tornado, otherwise the tornado disappears and the airbender is falls prone on the ground. For every 10 the Airbending check exceeds the DC the height and width (at both top and bottom) of the tornado increases by 5ft.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:16 PM
Earthbender
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/Mephibosheth85/Earthbender.gif

Strong and steady, earthbenders are a highly disciplined group with the ability to manipulate stone, soil, crystal, and other earth-based substances. They can attack aggressively with hurled boulders, or they can be bastions of [defense behind walls of stone and giant fissures.
Adventures - Many earthbenders are attached to earth Kingdom military units and adventure at the command of their superior officers. Others wander for personal reasons including acquisition of wealth and power, to fight in earthbending tournaments, and to find an earthbending Master to help them improve their skills.
Characteristics - Of all the bending arts, earthbending is perhaps the most balanced, strong in both offense and defense. On the offense, earthbenders can hurl large boulders at their enemies, trap their enemies in cages of stone and soil, immerse their enemies in earth, or throw them off balance with localized earthquakes. On the defensive, they can raise stone walls out of the ground, encase their bodies in earthen armor, and hurl their enemies away with quickly-rising columns of stone.
Alignment - An earthbender's training and lifestyle is one of rigidity and endurance. As such, they tend to be lawful. However, unlike other bending disciplines, earthbending lacks any dominant moral imperative and earthbenders fall all over the good-evil axis.
Religion - Earthbenders are incredibly self-sufficient and, as a group, show little predilection for religion. Some revere the earth King as a minor deity, but many do not.
Background - Many earthbenders have a military background, employing their formidable powers for the benefit of the earth Kingdom. Others learn in earthbending schools as children. Still others have private tutors.
Races - All earthbenders (with the exception of the Avatar, who is able to master all four elements) are members of the group known as the earth Kingdom.
Other Classes - Earthbenders find the evasive style of Airbenders difficult to deal with, and prefer to stand their ground and fight than dodge attacks. They work well with almost all kinds of Benders, where their balance of offense and defense allows them to fill many roles. They also work well with the martial classes for the same reason.

Abilities - A high Wisdom score is essential to an earthbender as it determines the save DC's of many of her best abilities. High Constitution and Strength are also helpful if the earthbender chooses to take advantage of her weapon and armor skills and engage in melee combat.
Alignment – Any
Hit Die – d8

Class Skills – Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Earthbending (Wis) Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level – (4 + Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level – 4 + Int Modifier

{table=head]
Level|
Base Attack Bonus|
Fort Save|
Ref Save|
Will Save|Special|
Forms Known|
Defense Bonus

1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Earth Blast 1d6, Move a Rock|1|+3

2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Deflect Attack|2|+3

3rd|+2|+3|+1|+3|Improved Unarmed Strike|2|+4

4th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Climb 20 ft|3|+4

5th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Earth Blast 2d6|3|+4

6th|+4|+5|+2|+5|Climb 30 ft|4|+5

7th|+5|+5|+2|+5|Head-On Defense|4|+5

8th|+6/+1|+6|+2|+6|Climb 40 ft|5|+5

9th|+6/+1|+6|+3|+6||5|+6

10th|+7/+2|+7|+3|+7|Earth Blast 3d6|6|+6

11th|+8/+3|+7|+3|+7||6|+6

12th|+9/+4|+8|+4|+8|Climb 50 ft|7|+7

13th|+9/+4|+8|+4|+8||7|+7

14th|+10/+5|+9|+4|+9||8|+7

15th|+11/+6/+1|+9|+5|+9|Earth Blast 4d6|8|+8

16th|+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+10||9|+8

17th|+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+10||9|+8

18th|+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+11||10|+9

19th|+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|Climb 60 ft|10|+9

20th|+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Earth Blast 5d6|11|+9[/table]


Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency - An earthbender is proficient with all simple weapons, throwing hammers, warhammers, light and heavy picks, greatswords, and light armor.

Earth Blast
Base DC: 5
The first offensive ability an earthbender learns is to levitate the earth beneath her and punch or kick it at great speeds towards her opponents. A blast deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage at 1st level and increases in power as the earthbender gains levels, as shown above. A blast is a ranged attack, and an earthbender can use a number of blasts in one round equal to the number of iterative attacks she can make (as determined by her BAB). A earthbender can only use blasts when there is a source of open earth within her bending range. A earthbender does not requires a line of sight to the target of the blast, and as such can maneuver the blast around a corner or other cover by adding +10 to the earthbending DC, but still suffers penalties for concealment, as appropriate. Because of the strength required to move a stubborn element like earth, an earthbender may apply his Strength modifier instead of his Dexterity modifier to an Earth Blast's attack roll, if she wishes; and she also adds her Strength modifier to damage.

Deflect Attack
Base DC: 5
Early in their training, earthbenders learn to block or deflect attacks directed at them and their companions. Once per round, an earthbender can attempt to negate a ranged attack (either conventional or bending) targeted within 10 feet +5 ft per 3 class levels. Negating this attack requires the earthbender succeed in an opposed attack roll. If the earthbender’s attack roll is less than her opponent’s, the attack is unaffected by the deflection attempt and is resolved as normal. Using this initial Deflect Bending attempt counts as an immediate action.

Additionally, an earthbender has the option of reserving iterative attacks in order to gain more Deflect Attack attempts. Whenever she makes a full-round attack, an earthbender may choose to forgo a number of iterative attacks, gaining a number of additional Deflect Attack attempts equal to the number of attacks the earthbender reserved. Regardless of how many attacks an earthbender forgoes, she cannot use more Deflect Attack attempts than she has iterative attacks due to high Base Attack Bonus. These subsequent Deflect Bending attempts do not count as actions, and can be used any time during the round, even when it is not the earthbender's turn.

If an earthbender is caught flat-footed, she can make a Reflex Save (DC 10 + ½ the attacker’s BAB + the attacker’s Dexterity modifier) to still make a Deflect Attack attempt. A flat-footed earthbender can never make more than a single Deflect Attack attempt.

For example, a 15th level earthbender’s Base Attack Bonus allows her to make 3 iterative attacks. If she decides to make a full-round attack, she can reserve as many as 2 of these attacks in order to gain 2 additional Deflect Attack attempts (bringing her total to 3 for that round).

Move a Rock
Base DC: 5
The most basic of the earthbending seeds, manipulation involves simple movement or shaping of earth or stone.
Movement: The base DC is for moving a 5-foot cube of earth up to 5 ft per round in any direction. Adding another 5-foot cube of earth to a seed increases the Earthbending DC by +4 per cube, and moving the earth an additional 5 feet adds +2 to the DC. This use of the seed is a move action.
Shaping: This seed can also be used to manipulate the basic shape of earth or stone, though it does not allow intricate detail. For example, creating a sculpture of a humanoid is possible, but making one of a specific person is not, and the sculpture comes out rough and bumpy; creating a sculpture of a specific race is also difficult, but telltale features (like an elf’s ears) could give it away. The base DC is for manipulating the shape of a Diminutive mass of earth stone; the Earthbending DC increases by +5 for every size category larger than Diminutive the sculpture is, and this changes to +10 for every size category larger than Large it is. This use of the seed takes one full-round action, plus two more for every size category larger than Diminutive the sculpture is. Shaping stone is essentially cutting away chunks from a block of stone, while shaping earth is actually altering its shape.

Improved Unarmed Strike - An earthbender gains Improved Unarmed Strike as bonus feat at third level.

Climb – By bending hand and footholds into a stone or earthen surface, an earthbender can climb even sheer surfaces easily. When attempting to scale any bendable surface, an earthbender gains a climb speed as indicated on the above table, as well as a +8 Competence bonus on Climb checks. This ability only works on substances the earthbender could usually bend.
Head-On Defense – Beginning at 7th level, an earthbender adds her Constitution modifier to her Reflex saves instead of her Dexterity modifier.

Earthbending Forms - Most earthbending seeds require a significant amount of earth. Earth is defined as soil, stone, crystal or any other naturally occurring mineral (metal ores works, too; but worked metal requires special training); though earthbenders have very limited control over sand and it may not be used in earthbending forms. The amount of soil used in bending forms is usually not enough to change the landscape, though using stone does leave noticeable gaps from where it was drawn. Using stone from a stone floor turns the square from where the stone was drawn into rough terrain.


Earthbending Seeds

Note: Certain earthbending seeds (or forms created by combining earthbending seeds) are intended to immobilize their target by encasing it in earth or stone. In these circumstances, the target is rendered completely immobile, but not helpless. Additionally, a creature encased in earth or stone can break out using a Strength or Escape Artist check. The DC for this check is 10 + half the earthbender's class level + the earthbender's Wisdom modifier. Additionally, an earthbender can render an opponent helpless with an earthbending seedby increasing the seed's Earthbending skill DC by 20.

Dust
Base DC: 10
By using limited control over small particles of earth, an earthbender obscures vision and blinds her foes.
• Dust cloud: An earthbender may make a hemisphere of dust anywhere within her bending range with a radius of 10 ft. The dust obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target). A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the dust in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the dust in 1 round. This seed even functions underwater. Increasing the radius of the cloud adds +5 to the Earthbending DC per 5-foot increase.
• Blind: By aiming a spray of sand or dust at an opponent’s eyes, an earthbender can try to temporarily blind the creature. The earthbender makes a ranged touch attack against a target’s AC. If the attack is successful, the target creature is rendered blind until the end of its next round. The target creature can make a Reflex save to negate this effect. For every 5 points by which the earthbender's Earthbending check exceeds the DC, the Reflex save DC to negate the blindness increases by +1.
Earth Wall
Base DC: 10
A signature ability of many earthbenders for when Move a Rock just doesn’t cut it, a wall of earth is often the best weapon in an earthbender’s arsenal.
• Earth Wall: The earthbender causes a small wall of earth to shoot out of any earthen surface within her bending range as a standard action. The wall is 1 inch thick, plus one more inch per every 2 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. The wall’s area is one five-foot square, but the earthbender can add another such square by increasing the Earthbending DC by +4. Each 5-foot square of the wall has hardness 2 and 10 hit points per inch of thickness. Breaking through with a single attack requires a Strength check of 10 +2 per inch of thickness. An earth wall cannot be used as a bridge and must be made anchored in existing earth.
• Stone Wall: As above, except that this seed can only be done on a stone surface, and the wall has hardness 8 and 15 hit points per inch of thickness.
• Push: An earthbender can push an existing wall of earth or stone to knock opponents back as a move action. The earthbender pushes the wall back 20 ft in a straight line, plus another 5 ft for every 4 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. Any opponent caught behind the wall must make a Reflex save or be carried with the wall. The DC for this save increases by +5 for every 5 feet away from the nearest gap to the wall. A successful Reflex save means the creature is able to avoid the wall and jump to the nearest unoccupied square, provoking attacks of opportunity while doing so.
Column
Base DC: 10
Through the use of this seed, an earthbender causes a column of earth, stone, or crystal to thrust out of an earthen surface.
• Crush: An earthbender thrusts a column of earth from the ceiling above, the ground below or a wall beside a creature. The creature must make a Reflex save to avoid the column, moving to the nearest square adjacent to it of its choice. The column has a maximum diameter of 5 ft., but can be widened by another 5 ft by increasing the Earthbending DC by +5. The column’s maximum height is 10 ft, plus another 5 ft for every 4 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. If the column slams a creature against a solid surface, the target takes 4d6 crushing damage and is pinned between the solid surface and the column, but can escape with a DC 30 strength check or Escape Artist check.
Tilt
Base DC: 10
A useful and powerful seed to know within the confines of a city of worked stone, it is difficult to make use of this among natural earth.
• Unbalance: By shifting the angle of a level surface, an earthbender can throw enemies off balance and make them easy targets or simply make an area difficult to enter as a standard action. Those caught on the slab must make a Reflex save or fall to the base of the slab, and movement on the slab requires a Balance check with the same DC as the Reflex save to move at half speed. Failing the Balance check by 5 or more indicates that the creature falls to the base of the slab. An earthbender can affect one 5 ft square of worked stone about 1 foot thick, plus one more 5-foot square for every 2 points by which the Earthbending check beats the DC. The earthbender can choose to continue focusing on the slab with a standard action every turn to keep the slab in place, but it will fall naturally into place once released. Using this form with earth or unworked stone first requires that the area affected be separated from the surrounding earth through the use of Move a Rock.
• Twist: By twisting a section of stone a full 90 degrees, an earthbender can effectively make an unstable wall of stone to block an opponent’s path. This works on an area of worked stone as above, but the wall can balances on its own and can be pushed over with a DC 15 Strength check or by using Move a Rock, dealing damage according to its height as falling damage. The squares being tilted need not be touching each other.
Armor
Base DC: 15
The element of earth is known for substance and its powers of protection, and can be used as a solid barrier against harm.
• Earthen Armor: By covering her entire body in a thick layer of liquid earth, an earthbender gains DR 5/piercing, and +2 bonus to AC (including touch AC) as a move action. For every 4 points by which the earthbender exceeds the base DC, the damage reduction increases by 1. Maintaining the earthen armor for more than two rounds gives a -4 penalty to all Earthbending checks until the earthbender ends the seed, increasing by -1 every two turns. If this penalty actually makes the difference that causes an earthbender to fail a Earthbending check, she may choose to end the seed and remove the penalty at that time. An earthbender can concentrate on maintaining this seed as a Swift action.
• Stone Armor: The earthbender may also choose to fashion actual solid armor from stone molded around her body as a full-round action. The earthbender may fashion any type of armor she is familiar with, and it has all the properties of that armor type, except those based on the armor’s material. Adding spikes to the armor increases the Earthbending DC by +4.
Tremorsense
Base DC: Varies
There are few earthbenders that have ever discovered this profound application of their art: the ability to sense that which the solid earth sees.
• Tremorsense (DC 15): An earthbender using this form can take a move action to listen and feel the minute movements of the ground. She automatically pinpoints the location of anything within a 10 ft radius that is in contact with the ground, including underground, plus 5 feet for 2 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. The range of this tremorsense is halved when the Earthbender is standing on sand or similarly loose soil. An earthbender cannot use this ability when not in contact with the ground in some way (i.e. while flying, swimming, standing on ice on a lake, etc.). The earthbender can use this form as a swift action, but doing so increases the Earthbending DC by +10, or she can choose to continue focusing on this form as a full-round action for as many turns as she wishes, sensing anything new that comes into the area.
• Lie Detector (DC 30): By concentrating on the minute vibrations a person’s body sends through the earth, an Earthbender can tell if a person’s words are true or false. The Earthbender must be within 10 feet of the target and the two must be connected by a contiguous area of earth or stone. The target of this seed can make a Will save to lie undetected, gaining a +1 bonus to this save for every 5 ranks the target has invested in the Bluff skill. For every 5 by which the Earthbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC, the distance at which she can detect lies increases by 5 feet.
Steady Stance
Base DC: 15
By encasing her feet in earth or stone, an earthbender can better resist attempts to move her, or trap opponents in place.
• Defensive: Stabilizing herself with feet solidly connected to the ground, a earthbender gains a +2 to saves or checks to stay in place, +1 for every point by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. The earthbender may also encase the feet of allies within her bending range in this way by adding +4 to the DC per ally. Those affected by this seed can move from their square if they want, but doing so ends the seed.
• Offensive: By surrounding an enemy’s feet in earth and solidifying it suddenly, an earthbender may prevent an enemy from advancing. The target of this seed makes a Reflex save to avoid it altogether, or remain trapped in place. Those who failed the Reflex save can make a Strength check equal to three fourths (.75) of the Earthbending check to break free, or may spend a full-round action chipping the stone away with a light weapon. The earthbender may use this seed against multiple opponents, but doing so adds +4 to the Earthbending DC per additional opponent.
Create Rubble
Base DC: 15
By cracking and tumbling stone beneath opponents, an earthbender can seek to hamper their movement and make them easier to hit.
• Difficult terrain: By using this seed, an earthbender turns an earthen surface into difficult terrain in an area with a radius of 5 feet. Anyone caught in the radius during this seed takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage if they fail a Reflex save as the ground turns and buckles beneath them. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square with dense rubble. The Balance and Tumble checks on dense rubble take a -5 penalty, and Move Silently checks take -2. The radius of the rubble increases by 5 ft for every 5 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC.
• Misstep: True to the teachings of neutral jing, an earthbender can wait and prepare an action (a readied action) to use this seed against a particular opponent. The earthbender focuses on her opponent’s movement, following its footsteps, ready to act. If the opponent moves more than 5 ft along the grand, the earthbender may wrench the ground violently beneath her, dealing 2d6 points of damage and immediately stopping the opponent’s movement on a failed Reflex save. If the save is failed by 5 or more points, the opponent is also knocked prone. By adding +10 to the Earthbending DC, the earthbender can also attempt to twist her opponent’s ankle with this seed; doing so requires the opponent to make a Fortitude save if it fails its Reflex save. Failing the fortitude save imposes a -2 penalty to Dexterity and -10 feet to base land speed. This seed makes the affected square difficult terrain, as above.
Compact
Base DC: 15
Unusually loose or soft earth or sand poses a serious problem for earthbenders, since it hinders their ability to use the earth around them.
• A place to stand: An earthbender may use this form to fuse any loose soil or sand into a much sturdier surface. An earthbender may create one 5-foot square, plus another for every 2 points by which the Earthbending check beats the DC. These squares must all be touching at least one other square and at least one must touch the Earthbender. This negates the penalties for standing on loose dirt and the movement penalties for rough ground, as well as those for using the Tremorsense seed.
• Soften earth: Earth’s abilities to hamper opponents are often just as valuable as those to directly attack or defend. By using this seed, wet earth becomes thick mud and dry earth becomes loose sand or dirt. The earthbender affects a 5-foot square within her bending range, plus another for every 2 points by which the Earthbending check beats the DC to a depth of 1 to 4 feet, depending on the toughness or resilience of the ground at that spot. Earth or stone creatures are not affected. A creature in mud must succeed on a Reflex save or be caught for 1d2 rounds and unable to move, attack, or cast spells. A creature that succeeds on its save can move through the mud at half speed, and it can’t run or charge. Loose dirt is not as troublesome as mud, but all creatures in the area can move at only half their normal speed and can’t run or charge over the surface.
• Soften Landing: Similar to Soften Earth, this use of the seed allows a falling earthbender to soften the ground below her before she lands as an immediate action once per round, taking damage as if she had fallen half the actual distance.
Golem
Base DC: 15
By molding a large chunk of rock into a vaguely human-shaped structure, an earthbender can create a powerful proxy to fight in her place.
• Creation and control: As a full round action, an earthbender can create a golem that she can direct in combat. The golem is a Medium animated object composed of stone and compacted earth. The earthbender must direct its actions in combat by making an Earthbending check equal to the original Earthbending DC as a full-round action, with the golem essentially mimicking the actions taken by the earthbender. If the earthbender does not concentrate on maintaining and directing the golem or fails the Earthbending check to control it, the golem collapses. The golem's attack rolls use the earthbender’s base attack bonus and are modified by the earthbender's Wisdom modifier instead of the golem's Strength modifier. An earthbender can control a golem she can't see, but the golem is considered blind. Additionally, the earthbender cannot see through the golem, and thus is limited to the vision range of her current location.
• Attacks: Because the golem is essentially a reflection of its bender’s actions, it can use its slam attack at the same rate as the bender’s unarmed strikes, along with whatever extra modifiers gained therein (Weapon Focus, etc.).
• Size: The earthbender can increase the size of the golem by adding 5 to the DC for every size increase desired, creating an animated object of the appropriate size. For example, increasing the DC to 35 allows the earthbender to create a Gargantuan golem.
• Hardness: An earthbender with the Compact seed can increase the hardness of her golem by adding +2 to the Earthbending DC for every 1 point of hardness she wishes to add.
• Enhancement: An earthbender can increase the golem’s physical ability scores by adding 2 to the DC for every +1 to a single score. The earthbender cannot increase the golem’s ability scores by an amount greater than her Wisdom modifier. An earthbender with a Wisdom modifier of +5 could increase the golem’s Strength or Dexterity (or both with a high enough Earthbending check) scores by a maximum of 5, increasing the Earthbending DC by 10 in the process.
Earthen Stride
Base DC: 20
Your ability to manipulate the earth gives you impressive maneuverability and speed. You can use the earth to enhance your ability to run at great speeds or for long distances, and you can even move through solid earth.
• Running Snail: By shaping crude hemisphere of soil or mud around her feet and moving these swirly ''stilts'' like snails, the earthbender may now move for extended periods of time at an accelerated rate. Forming these “stilts” is a full-round action. The earthbender may now run for 1 minute per earthbender level. Additionally, the earthbender’s running speed is increased as if she had the Run feat. The earthbender may improve her base speed by +10ft by increasing the DC of the form by +10. While moving in this manner, the earthbender is also considered a Large creature for the purposes of Overrun actions. When utilizing this power to make a forced march, the earthbender receives a circumstance bonus equal to the character's earthbender level to Constitution checks to continue the forced march.
• Earth Jump: Using this seed, an Earthbender can transport herself through the earth to any point within 25 feet. The Earthbender’s starting and ending points must be connected by a contiguous area of earth or stone at least 5 feet thick at all points. For every 5 by which the Earthbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC, the distance she can travel increases by 5 feet. Additionally, by increasing the base DC by 20, an Earthbender can use this seed as a Move action.
Catapult
Base DC: 20
Earthbendering is often the least mobile of the bending disciplines, with earthbenders often preferring a solid stance to a quick dodge. This, however, is not always the case.
• Transport: By using this seed, an earthbender thrusts a small column of earth and stone powerfully up from below her at any angle she wishes as a move action, launching herself or another creature or object 20 ft in any direction (including straight up). This distance can be increased by 5 ft for every 2 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC, and affecting an additional target adds +4 to the DC per target. The height of the creature’s trajectory at its peak is half the horizontal distance (unless, of course, there is no horizontal distance covered), and the height can be doubled by halving the distance.
• Knockback: An earthbender can also use this seed as a way to launch opponents away or into other obstacles. The form works just as above, except that it is a standard action, the target receives a Reflex save to avoid it, and if this seed throws an opponent into a solid obstacle (a cliff wall, a tree, etc.) the target takes 1d6 damage for every 5 points of the Earthbending check.
Excavate
Base DC: 20
Oftentimes, the ability to Move a Rock simply isn’t enough to make a proper tunnel or trench. Using this seed pushes earth aside, as opposed to taking it and dumping it elsewhere.
• Hole: This seed can make a hole approximately the shape of a 5-foot cube as a standard action, plus another such cube for every 4 points by which the Earthbending check beats the DC. The earth used in this seed is piled around the edges of the excavation, adding a loose wall of earth three feet high around the sides. Making a hole in solid stone doubles the Earthbending DC.
• Tunnel: By digging directly into the earth, in which case she begins by making a hole (as above) and then making it deeper, or making it horizontal beneath the ground. The earth moved aside by this seed is compacted around the sides of the excavation, making a noticeable bulge in the ground if the tunnel is within 5 ft of the surface. Tunneling through stone doubles the Earthbending DC, and an earthbender can choose to collapse the tunnel through the use of Move a Rock.
Earthquake
Base DC: Varies
An earthbender can send a jarring shockwave of earth along the ground, knocking opponents to the floor.
• Tremor (Base DC 20): By creating a quick, local tremor to violently shake the ground below, an earthbender can knocks opponents to the ground and hampers their movement. An earthbender creates an earthquake in a five-foot radius. All creatures within the area of effect must succeed on Balance check opposed by the bender’s Earthbending check -5 or fall prone. The radius increases by 5 feet for every 5 points by which the Earthbending check beats the DC. Using this seed also dislodges loose soul and rocks on slopes, possibly causing avalanches in appropriate areas. Creatures climbing within a quake must make a Climb equal to the Climb DC of the surface they’re on + half the bender’s Earthbending check.
• Quake (Base DC 20): By using a full-round action when using a tremor, as above, an earthbender can create a quake that lasts as long as she focuses on it. Doing this forces anyone in the affected area to make a Balance check (as above) in order to enter or move within the affected radius or fall prone. Furthermore, each square of movement through the affected area counts as 2 squares.
• Ripple (Base DC 30): By creating a sort of wave along the ground before her, an earthbender can cause opponents to lose their balance and be launched into the air. The wave takes effect in a cone up to the earthbender’s bending range. Opponents within the cone must succeed on a Reflex save or be knocked 5 feet into the air or 5 being shoved 5 feet backwards (bender’s choice) for every 10 points of the Earthbending check, taking falling damage if appropriate.
Immobilize
Base DC: 30
Stomping the ground aggressively, the Earthbender causes packed clay or stone to burst upwards, trapping the target creature.
• Applications: Sheets of crystal, stone, or packed clay burst from the ground and wrap around a single medium-sized or smaller target within the earthbender’s bending range. The target must make a Reflex save or be immobilized. An immobilized target may not move, attack, bend, or take any action that requires movement, but is not considered helpless. Those who fail the Reflex save can make a Strength check or Escape Artist check as a full-round action to break free. They can also be dug out by dealing 50 points of damage to the earth. Increasing the Earthbending DC by +5 for each size category above medium allows an Earthbender can capture larger creatures. An Earthbender may capture 1 additional creature for every 10 by which her Earthbending check exceeds the DC.
Metalbending (template)
Base DC: Varies
Everything on the planet is an extension of the four elements, including smelted metals. A fundamental secret of the elements, powerful earthbenders have control over even purified steel.
• Applying (Base DC 35): An earthbender may use Move a Rock with metal rather than earth by adding +35 to the Earthbending DC. However, the earthbender must be in physical contact with the metal at all times. For example, an earthbender can pick up a 5-foot cube of iron with one hand as a standard action, and move with it as far as she could use Move a Rock to with a move action.
• Warp (Base DC 35): An earthbender can cause metal to bend and warp with a touch, permanently destroying its straightness, form, and strength. A warped door springs open (or becomes stuck, requiring a Strength check to open, at the bender’s option). A boat or ship springs a leak. Warped ranged weapons are useless. Warping a worn or wielded item requires an attack roll, as if making a sunder attempt. A warped melee weapon causes a -4 penalty on attack rolls. The earthbender may warp one Small or smaller object, with each size category increasing the Bending DC by +5. Alternatively, the earthbender can unwarp metal (effectively warping it back to normal) with this seed, straightening metal that has been warped by this seed or by other means.
• Crush (Base DC 45): An earthbender can constrict the armor of an opponent with a mere touch, crushing him like a grape inside. An earthbender makes a touch attack against an opponent to hit his armor. If the attack is successful, the bender makes an earthbending check. A successful Earthbending check crumples metal armor like paper, dealing 5d6 piercing and 5d6 bludgeoning damage to the wearer. Armor crushed in this way lowers its armor bonus by -4, incurs double its usual armor check penalty (minimum -4), halves the maximum Dexterity bonus (rounded down) and reduces the maximum speed by 5 feet.
Rift
Base DC: 35
By opening a fissure directly beneath an opponent’s feet and snapping it suddenly shut around his chest, an earthbender can disable powerful opponents before they become a threat.
• Engulf: An earthbender opens a large crack directly beneath her opponent’s feet, causing him to fall in, then snaps the crevice shut around him. The target receives a Reflex save to avoid falling into the fissure up to his neck. A target of this form is considered helpless while engulfed, though he may take any actions not requiring somatic components and can escape with a DC 25 Strength or a DC 40 Escape Artist check, or he may be dug out of his predicament. If this seed is done on a stone surface, the target also takes 4d6 crushing damage on a failed save.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:31 PM
Firebender
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/Mephibosheth85/Firebender.gif

Quick, chaotic, and destructive, Firebending is a difficult art that only the most dedicated are able to master. Firebenders are always of the offensive, overwhelming their foes with barrage after barrage of fiery kicks, jabs, and sweeps.
Adventures – Often, Firebenders serve as part of military detachments and adventure under the orders of their superior officers or on their own initiative, seeking to advance the interests of the Fire Nation. Alternatively, they may travel on more personal quests, seeking to regain lost honor or improve their standing within the Fire Nation political hierarchy. Still others adventure to prove and increase their power and command of their destructive art.
Characteristics – Firebenders are fast, powerful, and aggressive. Lacking the potent defensive moves of the other bending disciplines, Firebenders seek to strike quick and hard, defeating their opponent before defense is necessary. They use a variety of attacks to project their fire, with quick hand jabs and punches resulting in short bursts of fire while sweeping kicks create arcs of flame. Some of the most powerful Firebenders are able to create walls of fire, or generate blue fire or electricity, the most powerful forms of the Firebending art.
Alignment – Master Firebenders, like all other benders, show a high degree of discipline and self control, though like their unpredictable medium, they can lose control of their emotions. They can be of any alignment, and can undergo alignment shifts as their beliefs change.
Religion – While the extent of Firebender spirituality is unknown, it is commonly thought that Firebenders revere the sun as the source of their powers. It is also thought that some Firebenders revere past Avatars from the Fire Nation. Many Firebenders are stubbornly individualistic and do not profess any strong religious beliefs.
Background – Many Firebenders receive their training through the military, becoming soldiers in the Fire Nation army. Others seek out individual masters or train at temples dedicated to the art.
Races – All Firebenders (with the exception of the Avatar, who is able to master all four elements) are members of the group known as the Fire Nation.
Other Classes – Of all the other bending disciplines, Firebenders are the most individualistic and the least likely to work well with other benders. That said, they can benefit from working with Airbenders or Waterbenders, who can provide some defensive capabilities to augment the Firebenders’ offensive bent. They also work well with the martial classes, often serving amongst them in the Fire Nation army.

Abilities – Wisdom is the most important ability for Firebenders, as it governs the save DC’s for some of their best abilities. Dexterity is also important as it provides a boost to Armor Class and increases their ability to hit with their Fire Blasts, as is Constitution, which provides needed hit points for a class that often enters combat.
Hit Dice – d6

Class Skills – Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Firebending (Wis) Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (History) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level – (4 + Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level – 4 + Int Modifier

{table=head]
Level|
Base Attack Bonus|
Fort Save|
Ref Save|
Will Save|Special|
Forms Known|
Defense Bonus

1st|+0|+0|+2|+2|Fire Blast 1d6, Play with Fire, Child of the Sun|1|+3

2nd|+1|+0|+3|+3|Deflect Attack|2|+3

3rd|+2|+1|+3|+3|Improved Unarmed Strike|2|+4

4th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Fire Blast 2d6|3|+4

5th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Endure Elements|3|+4

6th|+4|+2|+5|+5|Firestorm|4|+5

7th|+5|+2|+5|+5||4|+5

8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Fire Blast 3d6|5|+5

9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+6||5|+6

10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+7|Fire Resistance 5|6|+6

11th|+8/+3|+3|+7|+7||6|+6

12th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Fire Blast 4d6|7|+7

13th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8||7|+7

14th|+10/+5|+4|+9|+9||8|+7

15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+9|Cold Resistance 5|8|+8

16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Fire Blast 5d6|9|+8

17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10||9|+8

18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11||10|+9

19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11||10|+9

20th|+15/+10/+5|+1|+12|+12|Fire Blast 6d6, Cold and Fire Resistance 10|11|+9[/table]


Class Abilities

Weapon and Armor Proficiency – A firebender is proficient with all simple weapons, short swords, longswords, glaives and padded, leather, and studded leather armor.

Improved Unarmed Strike – A firebender gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat at third level.

Child of the Sun - Firebenders draw much of their power from the sun, the ultimate source of fire. During the day, firebenders gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Firebending checks due to the influence of the sun. Additionally, during the passage of a comet near the planet, Firebenders gain an additional +5 circumstance bonus to Firebending checks. However, the close link between the sun and firebending has its drawbacks. During a solar eclipse, firebenders are unable to use any firebending abilities.

Fire Blast
Base DC: 5
The first ability a firebender learns is Fire Blast. The firebender generates fire using the heat inside his body and propels it at great speeds toward his foe using a quick jab with his fist. A blast deals 1d6 damage at 1st level (dealing half damage to non-flammable objects) and increases in power as the firebender gains levels, as shown above. A blast is a ranged attack, and a firebender can use a number of blasts in one round equal to the number of iterative attacks he can make (as determined by his BAB).
In addition to using his Fire Blasts to attack from range, a firebender can channel his blasts through his unarmed strike, dealing Fire Blast damage in addition to unarmed strike damage for each blow. A firebender must make a successful melee attack in order to channel his Fire Blast.

Deflect Attack
Base DC: 5
Early in their training, firebenders learn to block or deflect attacks directed at them and their companions. Once per round, a firebender can attempt to negate a ranged attack (either conventional or bending) targeted within 10 feet +5 ft/3 class levels. Negating this attack requires the firebender succeed in an opposed attack roll. If the firebender’s attack roll is less than hisopponent’s, the attack is unaffected by the deflection attempt and is resolved as normal. Using this initial Deflect Bending attempt counts as an immediate action. Because of fire's insubstantial nature and offensive outlook, firebenders take a -4 penalty on this opposed attack roll.

Additionally, a firebender has the option of reserving iterative attacks in order to gain more Deflect Attack attempts. Whenever he makes a full-round attack, a firebender may choose to forgo a number of iterative attacks, gaining a number of additional Deflect Attack attempts equal to the number of attacks the firebender reserved. Regardless of how many attacks a firebender forgoes, he cannot use more Deflect Attack attempts than he has iterative attacks due to high Base Attack Bonus. These subsequent Deflect Attack attempts do not count as actions, and can be used any time during the round, even when it is not the firebender's turn.

If a firebender is caught flat-footed, he can make a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ the attacker’s BAB + the attacker’s Dexterity modifier) to still make a Deflect Attack attempt. A flat-footed firebender can never make more than a single Deflect Attack attempt.

For example, a 15th level firebender’s Base Attack Bonus allows himto make 3 iterative attacks. If he decides to make a full-round attack, he can reserve as many as 2 of these attacks in order to gain 2 additional Deflect Attack attempts (bringing her total to 3 for that round).

Play with Fire
Base DC: 5
A firebender learns to finely manipulate fire. He gains the ability to draw fire from any source (including the Firebender’s own body heat) within his bending range, alter its basic shape, move it around at a rate of 5 feet/round, and hold it in his hands. Firebenders can warm their tea, create balls of fire to act as torches, or start campfires using this ability. Moving the fire an additional 5 feet adds +2 to the Firebending DC. Fire moved using this seed deals damage per round depending on its source; for example, natural fire deals 1d6 damage, and fire produced by the firebender’s body deals damage equal to his Fire Blast.

Endure Elements - Beginning at 5th level, a firebender learns to harness his internal heat as protection from extreme temperatures. A firebender gains a +4 bonus on saves to resist the effects of cold weather, but not fire or cold damage from any other source.

Firestorm – Of all the bending disciplines, firebending is the most offensive, truly embodying the belief that the best defense is a good offense. Beginning at 6th level, whenever a firebender spends a full round attacking, he may make an extra attack at his highest base attack bonus. The extra attack may not be used in a Deflect Bending attempt, and the firebender must make at least two Fire Blasts in a turn in order to use this ability. When using a Firestorm, the firebender takes a -2 penalty to all attacks made that round.
Energy Resistance - At level 10, a firebender gains Fire Resistance 5. At level 15, a firebender gains Cold Resistance 5. At level 20, a firebender's Fire Resistance increases to Fire Resistance 10.


Firebending Seeds

Fire Kick (Template)
Base DC: +10
By using quick and powerful kicks to propel his firebending, a firebender can greatly increase the range and power of his abilities.
• Applications: Applying this template to a firebending seed doubles the firebender's effective bending range for the purpose of that firebending seed. This range increase takes effect after determining the firebender’s bending range based on a high Firebending skill check. The seed also allows the firebender to use his firebending abilities while his hands are full or immobilized. Note that this template cannot be applied to any form that cannot be performed with the feet (such as by applying another template involving a body part or when stuck in a waterbender’s Steady Stance). Finally, the damage dealt by the seed increases by +1d6 when Fire Kick is applied. This bonus to damage increases by +1d6 for every 15 by which a firebender’s skill check exceeds the base DC.
Fire Whip
Base DC: 10
• Whip: A firebender may, as a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, form a long, narrow tongue of fire, coiling around like a rope. This whip has all the statistics of a normal whip with the exception that it deals 1d6 damage (half fire, half slashing damage) and counts as a light weapon for the purposes of two-weapon fighting. Additionally, a firebender may treat it as a normal whip for purposes of weapon-based feats. The fire in this whip can be used to use Deflect Bending without needing to be remade and the whip can also be extended an additional 5 feet by increasing the Firebending DC by +10. A firebender can increase damage done by the whip by one step (from 1d6 to 1d8, etc.), increasing the Firebending DC by +4 per step. Firebenders are considered proficient with their fire whips, even if they are not proficient with normal whips.

Explosion (Template)
Base DC: +10
Rather than simply burning her opponents to a crisp, firebenders often seek to earn a strategic advantage in positioning.
• Repel: The firebender makes a sudden explosion at the end of his hands, pushing opponents back with the force of the attack. Through this application, a firebender may initiate a bull rush through his Fire Blast, with the bender’s Wisdom score acting as the blast’s Strength score. For every 4 points by which the Firebending check beats the DC, the bender gains a +1 on the bull rush attempt. If the blast moves the opponent back more than ten feet, the opponent must make a Reflex save or be knocked prone.

Additionally, by turning her fire into a forceful explosion, a firebender can deal full damage to even non-flammable objects when firebending, and deals double damage to flammable objects. Applying this template adds +10 to the Firebending DC.

Blades of Fire
Base DC: 10
The Fire Nation is notorious for its soldiers and their capabilities with both martial weapons and the martial use of fire. Their combinations of both are often devastating to the enemy.
• Channel: A firebender is able to channel his internal heat into any melee weapon he wields as a move action. The firebender may attack with a melee weapon and have that attack deal Fire Blast damage in addition to the weapon damage. A firebender can choose to maintain the flames around his weapon by spending a swift action every turn to continue dealing Fire Blast damage with the weapon. A firebender can apply this seed with two weapons at a time by adding +15 to the Firebending DC.
• Create: Alternatively, a firebender can use this seed to create a weapon completely out of fire. This weapon deals no damage of its own, but rather deals the firebender’s Fire Blast damage, but also allows the firebender to apply weapon-based feats.
Intensity (Template)
Base DC: +10
• Intensify: Oftentimes, from a firebender’s point of view, a fire is simply not hot enough. By focusing on an already existing source of fire as a standard action, a firebender can increase the damage it deals by 1d6, plus an additional 1d6 for every 4 points by which the Firebending check exceeds the DC, up to the firebender’s Blast damage.
• Quench: A little-used form among most firebenders, a firebender can prepare an action to negate a single Fire Blast passing within 10 feet of him. Quenching blasts further away than 10 feet is possible, but the Firebending DC increases by +2 for every 5 feet further away the blast is.

Burning Rush
Base DC: 10
The speed and tenacity of the element of a true firebender are seldom seen, simply because such power is the last thing most opponents see.
• Speed Burst: By expelling flames from the soles of his feet, a firebender thrusts himself forward recklessly. The bender increases his base land speed by 5 feet, plus another 5 feet for every 5 points by which the bending check exceeds the DC. This use of the seed is a swift action to execute and a free action to maintain, though the bender can only safely maintain it for a number of rounds equal to his firebender level, and the Firebending DC increases by 5 for every round thereafter.
• Firebender's Leap: A sudden jet of flames erupts from the bender's legs, allowing him to reach incredible heights. By taking a full-round action to make a jump, a firebender gains a bonus on his Jump equal to his Firebending check, and the jump is not limited by the firebender's height. A move action can be taken as part of this seed, but only in order to gain a running start for the jump.

Fire Sweep
Base DC: 15
When using this seed, a firebender uses a high, aggressive spinning kick to create a 15-foot cone of fire, affecting all creatures and objects therein with his Fire Blast damage. Creatures within this area take half damage on a successful Reflex save. The range of the cone is increased by 5 feet for every 5 points by which the Firebending check exceeds the DC.

Fire in the Stomach
Base DC: 15
Firebending is all about breath control; applying this properly allows a firebender incredible resilience to harsh outer cold.
• As a full-round action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity, a firebender can take a deep breath and hold it for a number of rounds equal to 5 times his Constitution score. While holding his breath this way, a firebender maintains his body temperature at normal levels and is immune to nonlethal damage by exposure to cold environments. After letting out his breath, a firebender cannot use this seed for at least five minutes. For every point by which the Firebending check exceeds the DC, the firebender holds his breath one additional round.

Incandescence
Base DC: Varies
• Heat Metal (Base DC Varies): By focusing upon a piece of metal every round on a piece of metal within his bending range, a firebender can cause damage upon contact. On the first round this seed is used, the metal becomes warm and uncomfortable to touch but deals no damage. During the second round, intense heat causes 1d4 damage and in subsequent rounds, the metal is searing hot, dealing 2d4 damage. Any cold intense enough to damage the creature negates fire damage from this seed (and vice versa) on a point-for-point basis. Using this seed on unattended metal or one’s own equipment has a base Firebending DC of 15 and requires a swift action every round, and affecting another’s equipment has a base Firebending DC of 30 and requires a move action every turn. This form can also be used to deal damage to ice, in which case the damage dice increase to d6's.
• Melt Stone (Base DC 35): Often used by canny Fire Nation soldiers in the mountains to discourage enemy forces, a firebender can heat up stone to the point of melting into liquid lava. A firebender can affect one 5-foot cube of stone as the Heat Metal use of this seed, above. Once the stone cube has taken 20 damage from the use of this seed (ignoring hardness), it begins to melt, dealing damage as lava. A firebender can affect one additional 5-foot cube of stone for every 5 points by which the Firebending check exceeds the DC.

Breath of the Dragon (Template)
Base DC: +25
• Applications: By adding +25 to a Firebending DC, a firebender can do any form without using somatic components and without provoking attacks of opportunity, as long as the bender’s mouth or nose is free and not gagged or otherwise hindered from opening. The form is performed as a stream of fire from the bender’s mouth, a burst of steam from the bender’s nose that makes metal red-hot, or any other appropriate description.

Fire Burst
Base DC: 25
By, quite simply, lighting himself up like a torch, a firebender can ignite everything around him in a conflagrant display.
• Whirlwind: Using this seed, a firebender creates a whirlwind of fire surrounding him, extending a 5-foot radius around him. All creatures and objects in the area are affected by the firebender’s Fire Blast damage. Creatures within the area take half damage on a successful Reflex save. A firebender can increase the radius of this seed by increasing the base DC by 5 for every 5-foot increase in the radius. A firebender can choose to maintain this seed by taking a full-round action every turn, dealing the appropriate damage within the area each turn. Maintaining the form for more than two turns inflicts a cumulative -2 penalty to the original Firebending check every turn, slowly shrinking the size of the form until it stops working.

Wall of Fire
Base DC: 25
A firebender learns to make an immobile, blazing curtain of shimmering fire springs into existence, discouraging others from passing through an area.
• Plane: The wall sends forth waves of heat, dealing 2d4 points of fire damage to creatures within 10 feet and 1d4 points of fire damage to those past 10 feet but within 20 feet. The wall deals this damage when it appears and on the bender’s turn each round to all creatures in the area. In addition, the wall deals 2d6 points of fire to any creature passing through it. The wall is a 10-foot square, but a firebender can choose to make the wall wider by increasing the DC by 4 points for every 5 foot increase, and the height can be doubled by halving the width. If the wall is made so that it appears where creatures are, each creature takes damage as if passing through the wall. If any 5-foot length of wall takes 20 points of cold damage or more in 1 round, that length goes out (Note: Do not divide cold damage by 4, as normal for objects). A Wall of Fire can be maintained with a Concentration check each round equal to the Firebending check -5.
• Ring: Essentially the same as above, except that the wall is made in the form of a 20-foot-tall ring of fire with a radius of 10 feet, plus another 5 feet for every 4 points by which Firebending check exceeds the DC.

Blue Fire (Template)
Base DC: +20
Instead of the normal reds, yellows, and oranges associated with conventional firebending, the fire produced by this seed glows blue and is exceptionally hot.
• Applications: Damage dice for firebending forms using this seed increase by one step (for example, from d6 to d8, or d4 to d6). Additionally, blue fire deals full damage to objects and the firebender's penalty on Deflect Attack attempts is reduced to -2.

Flamethrower
Base DC: 35
Truly, the paragon of the stereotypical firebender, this seed channels the internal heat of a bender through the palm of his hands to create a huge outpouring of flames.
• Using this seed, a firebender affects all creatures or objects in a line with his Fire Blast damage. Creatures caught within the line take half damage on a successful Reflex save.

Lightning
Base DC: 45
As all masters of the bending disciplines must understand, all things are made up of the four elements, and the power of the mighty lightning bolt can be harnessed by a firebender with sufficient inner balance.
• Cold fire: Creating a bolt of lightning involves separating the positive and negative energies of the element of fire, releasing a huge amount of power as they join suddenly together again. When using this seed requires a full-round action as the firebender performs a complicated series of motions to separate the two energies, provoking attacks of opportunity as normal. At the end of this full-round action (but still during the same turn), the firebender releases the contained energy in the form of a lightning bolt dealing 1d6 electricity damage per firebender level to a single target. Additionally, lightning generated by this seed is empowered, dealing half again (1.5 times) the amount of damage presented by the dice. This seed deals normal damage to objects.

Note
All firebending abilities set fire to combustibles and damage objects they affect. Natural fire deals 1d6 points of fire damage per round. A creature who catches on fire can make a DC 15 Reflex save each round to extinguish the fire. Dousing the fire with water or smothering it automatically extinguishes the fire.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:35 PM
Waterbender
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/Mephibosheth85/Waterbender.gif

Adventures - Waterbenders adventure most frequently to aid the tribe, be it to defend against an enemy, gain access to a crucial resource, or provide aid to an ally of the tribe. Also, Waterbenders in small communities may adventure to seek out a master to instruct them in their art.
Characteristics - Waterbenders are able to manipulate water, giving it shape, moving it with great speed and power, or changing its phase from water to ice or vapor (and vice versa). They focus on the defense, turning their opponent's blows against them, blocking them with gushing watery shields, or immobilizing their opponents in ice. Select waterbenders can also heal wounds, using water as a medium through which to align the chi and promote healing.
Alignment - Waterbenders emphasize the defense and try to avoid injuring even their foes. Thus, waterbenders tend toward good. Also, most waterbenders are concerned with their community above all else, eschewing both the wandering lifestyle and the disciplined life of an ascetic or monk. They tend to be neutral instead of lawful or chaotic.
Religion - Waterbenders draw their power from the Moon and venerate the Moon Spirit above all others. Their power waxes in the moonlight and wanes during the day. Also, many members of the Water Tribe revere the Ocean Spirit as the source of life for their people.
Background - Most waterbenders train under a master. In the Northern Water Tribe, there are large group lessons under the tutelage of a single master. In the Southern and Foggy Swamp Water Tribes where waterbenders are fewer in number, waterbenders tend to learn one-on-one from a single master.
Races - All waterbenders (with the exception of the Avatar, who is able to master all four elements) are members of the group known as the Water Tribe, located at the north and south poles and in the Foggy Swamp.
Other Classes - Waterbenders share their defensive focus and high agility with the airbenders. However, they are less at odds with the more solid and unmoving style of the earthbenders, though they prefer to redirect their opponents' attacks instead of overwhelming them. They dislike the unceasing aggression of the firebenders, but can work with them if the need presents itself. They are also capable of working with the more martial classes, using their defensive skills to assist the warriors in battle.
Abilities - Wisdom is important to waterbenders, as it determines the Save DC's and durations of some of their waterbending Seeds. Waterbenders' emphasis on reflexes means that they also benefit from high Dexterity, which helps them turn their enemies' attacks and provides a boost to AC.
Alignment – Any (tending towards good and neutrality)
Hit Die – d6

Class Skills – Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (History)(Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Rope (Dex), Waterbending (Wis)
Skill Points at 1st Level – (4 + Int Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level – 4 + Int Modifier

{table=head]
Level|
Base Attack Bonus|
Fort Save|
Ref Save|
Will Save|Special|
Forms Known|
Defense Bonus

1st|+0|+0|+2|+2|Water Blast 1d6, Manipulate, Child of the Moon|1|+3

2nd|+1|+0|+3|+3|Deflect Attack, Freeze/Melt|2|+3

3rd|+2|+1|+3|+3|Improved Unarmed Strike|2|+4

4th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Ski (20 ft)|3|+4

5th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Water Blast 2d6|3|+4

6th|+4|+2|+5|+5|Ski (30 ft)|4|+5

7th|+5|+2|+5|+5||4|+5

8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Ski (40 ft)|5|+5

9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+6||5|+6

10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+7|Water Blast 3d6, Circular Attack|6|+6

11th|+8/+3|+3|+7|+7||6|+6

12th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8||7|+7

13th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Ski (50 ft)|7|+7

14th|+10/+5|+4|+9|+9||8|+7

15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+9|Water Blast 4d6|8|+8

16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10||9|+8

17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10||9|+8

18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11||10|+9

19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11|Ski (60 ft)|10|+9

20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+12|Water Blast 5d6|11|+9[/table]


Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency – A waterbender is proficient with all simple weapons, and padded and leather armor.

Child of the Moon - Waterbenders draw much of their power from the moon. During the night, waterbenders gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Waterbending checks due to the influence of the moon. Additionally, during a full moon, Waterbenders gain an additional +5 circumstance bonus to Waterbending checks. However, the close link between the moon and Waterbending has its drawbacks. During a lunar eclipse, waterbenders are unable to use any waterbending abilities.
Water Blast
Base DC: 5
The first offensive ability a waterbender learns is to concentrate water into a large bubble in her hands and blast it at great speeds towards her foe. A blast deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage at 1st level (half damage to objects) and increases in power as the waterbender gains levels, as shown above. A blast is a ranged attack, and a waterbender can use a number of blasts in one round equal to the number of iterative attacks she can make (as determined by her BAB). A waterbender can only use blasts when there is a source of open water within her bending range. A waterbender does not requires a line of sight to the target of the blast, and as such can maneuver the blast around a corner or other cover by adding +10 to the Waterbending DC, but still suffers penalties for concealment, as appropriate. A Water Blast is considered a weapon for the purposes of feat selection. Using a Water Blast takes at least one pint of water (one eighth that contained within the average waterskin).

Deflect Attack
Base DC: 5
Early in their training, waterbenders learn to block or deflect attacks directed at them and their companions. Once per round, a waterbender can attempt to negate a ranged attack (either conventional or bending) targeted within 10 feet +5 ft per 3 class levels. Negating this attack requires the waterbender succeed in an opposed attack roll. If the waterbender’s attack roll is less than her opponent’s, the attack is unaffected by the deflection attempt and is resolved as normal. Using this initial Deflect Attack attempt counts as an immediate action.

Additionally, a waterbender has the option of reserving iterative attacks in order to gain more Deflect Attack attempts. Whenever she makes a full-round attack, a waterbender may choose to forgo a number of iterative attacks, gaining a number of additional Deflect Attack attempts equal to the number of attacks the waterbender reserved. Regardless of how many attacks a waterbender forgoes, she cannot use more Deflect Attack attempts than she has iterative attacks due to high Base Attack Bonus. These subsequent Deflect Attack attempts do not count as actions, and can be used any time during the round, even when it is not the waterbender's turn.

If a waterbender is caught flat-footed, she can make a Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ the attacker’s BAB + the attacker’s Dexterity modifier) to still make a Deflect Attack attempt. A flat-footed waterbender can never make more than a single Deflect Attack attempt.

For example, a 15th level waterbender’s Base Attack Bonus allows her to make 3 iterative attacks. If she decides to make a full-round attack, she can reserve as many as 2 of these attacks in order to gain 2 additional Deflect Attack attempts (bringing her total to 3 for that round).

Manipulate
Base DC: 5
The most basic of the waterbending seeds, manipulation involves simple movement or shaping of the three seeds of water (liquid, ice, mist).
Movement: The base DC is for moving a 5-foot cube of water up to 5 ft per round in any direction. Adding another 5-foot cube of water to a seed increases the Waterbending DC by +4 per cube, and moving the water an additional 5 feet adds +2 to the DC. This use of the seed is a move action. A waterbender can manipulate water she can't see but knows is there by adding +10 to the Waterbending DC.
Shaping:[/color This seed can also be used to manipulate the basic shape of water or ice (not mist), though it does not allow intricate detail. For example, creating an sculpture of a humanoid is possible, but making one of a specific person is not, and the sculpture comes out rough and bumpy; creating a sculpture of a specific race is also difficult, but telltale features (like an elf’s ears) could give it away. The base DC is for manipulating the shape of a Diminutive mass of water or ice; the save DC increases by +5 for every size category larger than Diminutive the sculpture is, and this changes to +10 for every size category larger than Large it is. This use of the seed takes one full-round action, plus two more for every size category larger than Diminutive the sculpture is. Shaping ice is essentially cutting away chunks from a block of ice, while shaping water is actually altering its shape.

Melt/Freeze
Base DC: 5
Another basic seed, this includes the ability to change the temperature and state of water.
Chill: A waterbender may lower the temperature of one 5-foot cube of liquid water to make it icy cold as a standard action. By doing this to the source, water used in any other seed can deal an additional 1d4 cold. This seed can even be used to make ice so cold it burns. Each additional five-foot cube adds +4 to the Waterbending DC, changing water already of an extreme temperature (a volcanic spring, for example) adds +5 to the DC, and decreasing the bending time to a move action increases the DC by +15. Further increasing the bending time to a swift action increases the base DC by +25.
Change Phase: A waterbender can also freeze or melt a 5-foot cube of water as a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Each additional 5-foot cube adds +4 to the Waterbending DC and going straight from ice to vapor adds +10 to the DC, decreasing the bending time to a move action increases the DC by +5, and decreasing the bending time to a swift action adds +15 to the DC. For ease of reference, ice has hardness of 0 and 3 hit points per inch of thickness.

Improved Unarmed Strike - A waterbender gains Improved Unarmed Strike as bonus feat at third level.

Ski – Through development of her abilities, a waterbender can move over the surface of water as naturally as if on land, or even more so. A waterbender can move on the surface of water, ice, or snow at the speed indicated on the class table. The waterbender can use the run action while skiing, provided that she skis in a straight line.

Circular Attack: Beginning at 10th level, a waterbender can redirect her enemies’ attacks, using the enemy’s own energy to retaliate against her. Once per round, when the waterbender successfully deflects a bending or ranged attack she may make a Reflex save opposed to the opponent’s attack roll. If the Waterbender matches or exceeds the opponent’s attack roll, she is able to bring the deflecting water round in a circle, absorbing the enemy’s energy and immediately making an additional Water Blast attack at that enemy at her full base attack bonus. The waterbender cannot choose to forgo this attack in order to gain an additional Deflect Bending attempt.

Waterbending Forms: Most waterbending seeds require a significant amount of water (i.e., more than is contained in the average water skin). As such, many seeds can only be done near a source of water or in an extremely humid environment, such as a rainforest. Small quantities of water can also be drawn damp earth or other such surfaces using the Manipulate special ability. Note that, in cases where a large source of water is needed, the water must be wherever the form is actually taking place, and not at the bender herself. If there is no source of water within 5 feet of the waterbender, a bending form must combine the form with the Manipulate seed to get it there. When using Manipulate in this way, a bender need not add the usual +4 to the Waterbending DC for combining seeds.
Maintaining Water: Oftentimes, it can be vital for a waterbender to gauge the amount of water she uses, as she has a limited amount. In order to maintain control of water used in a technique and not allow it to fall to the ground and require a use of Manipulate to recover, a waterbender must make a Concentration check equal to the form's total Waterbending DC – 10.


[color=navy]Waterbending Seeds

Note: Certain Waterbending seeds (or forms created by combining Waterbending seeds) are intended to immobilize their target by encasing it in ice. In these circumstances, the target is rendered completely immobile, but not helpless. Additionally, a creature encased in ice can break out using a Strength or Escape Artist check. The DC for this check is 10 + half the waterbender's class level + the Waterbender's Wisdom modifier.

Mist
Base DC: 10
By breaking a small amount of water into tiny droplets and spreading them through the air, a waterbender learns to make thick fog that obscures vision.
• Fog Cloud: A waterbender may make a hemisphere of fog anywhere within her bending range with a radius of 10 ft. The fog obscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. A creature within 5 feet has concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance). Creatures farther away have total concealment (50% miss chance, and the attacker can’t use sight to locate the target). A moderate wind (11+ mph) disperses the fog in 4 rounds; a strong wind (21+ mph) disperses the fog in 1 round. This seed does not function underwater. Increasing the radius of the cloud requires an addition of +5 to the Waterbending DC per 5-foot increase.
• Figment: This seed creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force by shaping a cloud of fog into the hazy seeds expected to be seen within it, as visualized by the waterbender. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature. A waterbender may manipulate fog in this way in the same area as she can make a fog cloud, and anyone within the cloud can make a Will save to disbelieve the figments.
• Applications: A waterbender with this seed can also make use of mist or vapor with the Manipulate or Freeze/Melt abilities. In the latter case, a waterbender can condense mist into water at the rate of one pint of water per 5-foot square; but because of the cooling nature of water, a waterbender cannot boil or evaporate water in this way.

Water Whip
Base DC: 10
Arguably the signature weapon of waterbenders everywhere, the whip demonstrates the fundamentals of flexibility that waterbending is based upon.
• Whip:A waterbender may, as a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, shape a small quantity of water (approximately the amount in a water skin) into a functional whip. This whip has all the statistics of a normal whip with the exception that it can be used to deal lethal damage even to armored opponents and counts as a light weapon for purposes of two-weapon fighting. Additionally, a waterbender may treat it as a normal whip for purposes of weapon-based feats. A bender gains an additional bonus of +2 per 5 levels towards trip and disarm attempts when making use of a water whip. A waterbender can increase damage done by the whip by one step (from 1d4 to 1d6, etc.), increasing the Waterbending DC by +4 per step. The whip can also be extended an additional 5 feet by increasing the Waterbending DC by +10. Waterbenders are considered proficient with their water whips, even if they are not proficient with normal whips. Unlike normal whips, water whips threaten squares and can be used to make attacks of opportunity and using a water whip in a threatened square does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
• Capture (Base DC 45): On a turn in which a waterbender successfully hits with her Water Whip she may, as a swift action, try to engulf the target of the attack in a sphere of water by forcing water through the whip and around the target. The target receives a Reflex save to escape the whip before this can happen, failure meaning that the target is stuck in a sphere of water at the bender’s disposal and is considered flat-footed, though not helpless.

Tentacle
Base DC: Varies
This seed involves making, as is implied, a thin tentacle of water to serve various purposes. This is one of the signature weapons and defenses of beginning waterbenders.
• Tentacle (Base DC 10): A waterbender can create a 5-foot-long tentacle from water anywhere within her bending range as a standard action. This tentacle can make a single slam attack dealing 1d8+X damage to any opponent in its range, and can also make trip attempts, with the waterbender’s Wisdom score acting as its Strength score and using the waterbender’s base attack bonus. If the waterbender has the Improved Trip feat, she may apply the benefits of the feat to her tentacles as well. Creating more than one tentacle at a time increases the Waterbending DC by +4 per tentacle, and no two tentacles can be more than 50 ft. apart. Also, creating a tentacle as Large size (changing reach to 10 ft., adding size bonus to Trip attempts, increasing slam damage to 1d10 and granting a +4 Strength bonus) adds +4 to the DC per tentacle. Maintaining and controlling the tentacles requires a full-round action.
• Octopus (Base DC 15): A waterbender may create three tentacles around herself (in her own square) to serve a defensive purpose. Aside from the statistics of a normal tentacle, the bender may choose to forgo the attacks of those from an octopus seed in order to attempt to negate a melee or ranged attack on the waterbender (spells requiring ranged touch attacks are counted as ranged attacks for this purpose). Each tentacle can make an opposed attack roll and negates the attack if it exceeds the opponent’s roll. Doing this seed with additional tentacles adds +3 to the DC per tentacle, and maintaining the seed for more than three rounds requires a Waterbending check every round, with the DC increasing by +1 per round.

Ice Shards
Base DC: 10
• Weapon: By molding a relatively small quantity of water into her hands, a waterbender may craft any ordinarily wooden or metal melee weapon or ammunition she is familiar with (not necessarily proficient with) out of ice as a full-round action. Any weapon made with this seed deals normal damage for its weapon type, plus 1d4 cold damage; and one use of this seed creates 10 pieces of ammunition at a time. The base DC is for a light weapon; making a one-handed weapon increases the Waterbending DC by +2, and a two-handed weapon increases the DC by +4. If the Waterbending check exceeds the DC by 5 or more, the weapon is also of masterwork quality. If the weapon ever leaves the waterbender’s possession, it begins to melt as normal. Thrown weapons and ammunition can be used as normal.
• Ranged: By freezing water into a number of small, smooth, thin shards, a waterbender can strike at long range. This seed deals 1d6 damage to a single creature as a ranged attack with with a maximum range equal to the Waterbender's bending range. Half of this damage is piercing and half is cold. Increasing the damage dealt by this seed adds +4 to the Waterbending DC for each additional +1d6, to a maximum of 1d6/level.
• Spikes: Ice is a powerful weapon for a waterbender, and anyone standing on an icy surface stands on the waterbender’s turf. The bender may fill one five-foot square with protruding spikes as a standard action, dealing 1d4 piercing and 1d4 cold damage per round to anyone standing or passing through the square, counting as rough terrain. Furthermore, anyone that falls prone in a spiked square takes an additional 1d6 piercing damage. Having this form affect an additional five-foot square adds +4 to the Waterbending DC per square.
• Entraping Shards (DC 30): By maneuvering shards of ice with pinpoint accuracy, powerful waterbenders can pin an opponent to a hard surface. If she succeeds in a ranged attack using the Ice Shards seed, a waterbender can initiate a grapple attempt instead of dealing damage. The target must be within 5 feet of a wall, tree, or other surface in which a thrown weapon or projectile can be stuck and must be wearing some sort of clothing, armor, or other accoutrement. To break free, the victim must make a DC 15 Strength check or a DC 15 Escape Artist check as a standard action. By increasing the DC of the form by 10, a waterbender can cause the ice shards to originate high in the air, allowing her to pin opponents to the ground instead of to a vertical surface.
Healing Water
Base DC: Varies
This seed actually only encompasses the very basics of an ancient and extensive art of healing through the power of water and the body’s own energy. Because of the draining process of healing, applying any of the uses of this seed an amount of times per day equal to more than half the bender’s class level adds +4 to the Waterbending DC per use. Water used in this form may not be maintained.
• Wounds (Base DC 20): The most basic, and often most necessary, use of healing water; the waterbender may seal the internal and external wounds of the injured by coursing cleansing water through their body. A waterbender may, as a full-round action, touch a living creature to feel the energy of its body and pinpoint the location of its wounds, and then bend the properties of liquid water to replenish that energy. This seed heals 1d6 points of damage +1/2 waterbender levels, plus another 1d6 for every 5 points by which the Waterbending check beats the DC. Focusing for a full round while keeping contact with the target creature before executing the seed grants a +5 circumstance bonus to the Waterbending check.
• Poisons/Diseases (Base DC Varies): By locating the alien energy within a creature’s body, a waterbender can help to flush the affliction from its body. This use of healing water requires that the waterbender look over an afflicted creature until the effects of the affliction take place (ability damage, secondary effects, etc.). Whenever a creature makes a saving throw against a poison or disease, a waterbender may also make a Waterbending check opposed to the affliction’s DC to negate the effects remove it from the victim’s body. Conversely, a bender may make a Waterbending check to flush a poison from a creature’s body before the secondary damage takes place, removing the primary damage altogether and stopping the need for a second saving throw. Removing the effects of a poison or disease that has already done secondary damage increases the Waterbending DC by +5.

Water Shield
Base DC: 10
• Plane: By bending a five-foot square of water to hover vertically before her, the waterbender gains a +4 shield bonus to AC from ranged attacks from one direction (use a line of effect to determine this), as well as concealment (attacks have a 20% miss chance) against opponents more than 5 feet away in that direction. For every 4 points by which the Waterbending check exceeds the DC, the AC bonus increases by 1; and increasing the width of the square by 5 ft. adds +5 to the DC. The waterbender may rotate the shield around her as a swift action.
• Hemisphere: Conversely, the waterbender can make a complete 360 degrees of water anywhere within her bending range, granting whoever is inside concealment from outside the hemisphere, and vice-versa. Ranged attacks going in or out suffer the deflection bonus noted above, but any creature my simply walk into or out of the dome. The base DC is for a sphere with a 5-foot radius, though this can be increased by adding +5 for every additional 5-foot increase in radius.

Steady Stance
Base DC: 10
By encasing her feet in solid ice, a bender can better resist attempts to move her, or freeze opponents in place.
• Defensive: Stabilizing herself with feet solidly connected to the ground, a waterbender gains a +2 to saves or checks to stay in place, +1 for every point by which the Waterbending check exceeds the DC. The waterbender may also encase the feet of allies within her bending range in this way by adding +2 to the DC per ally. Those affected by this seed can move from their square if they want, but doing so ends the seed.
• Offensive: By surrounding an enemy’s feet in water and freezing it suddenly to the ground, a waterbender may prevent an enemy from advancing. The target of this seed makes a Reflex save to avoid it altogether, or remain frozen in place. Those who failed the Reflex save can make a Strength check to break free, or may spend a full-round action chipping the ice away with a light weapon. The waterbender may use this seed against multiple opponents, but this adds +4 to the Waterbending DC per additional opponent.

Rise with the Tides
Base DC: Varies
• Water Spout (Base DC 10): As a move action you lift water in a swirling, spiraling pattern with yourself at the top. This allows you to move straight up or down at a rate of up to 20 ft per round. A Water Spout lasts as long as you concentrate (a swift action, up to a maximum number of rounds equal to your class level), and you can move up or down as you desire. Your maximum speed increase by 5 ft for every 5 by which your Waterbending check exceeds the base DC.
• Column (Base DC 20): As a standard action you create a column of ice underneath a single medium creature or object, causing it to rise quickly into the air. The column has a maximum height of 20 ft, plus 5 ft for every 5 by which the waterbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC. A waterbender can lift larger creatures by increasing the DC by 10 for every size category of the increase. A waterbender can also lift multiple smaller creatures if they would fit within the space of the largest creature the waterbender can lift. A creature can make a Reflex save to avoid being lifted, and must make a DC 10 Balance check to remain standing. Creatures and objects take 4d6 damage if they are caught between the column and a hard ceiling, and must make a DC 20 Strength or Escape Artist check in order to move.

Pressure (template)
Base DC: 10
Using massive water pressure, a waterbender pushes an opponent back away from her.
• Repel: This template is compatible with any targeted waterbending seed. Through this application a waterbender may initiate a bull rush through her seed in place of damage, with the bender’s Wisdom score acting as the seed's Strength score. Also, for every 2 points by which the Waterbending check beats the DC, the bender gains a +1 on the bull rush attempt. If the blast moves the opponent back more than ten feet, the opponent is also knocked prone.
• Slice: By altering the surface tension of the water she wields, a waterbender can deal full damage to objects when using Water Blast, and her blast deals slicing damage instead.

Water Walk
Base DC: Varies
Not a few waterbenders have found the irony in the fact that the very element that the benders claim to control so leaves them completely vulnerable when immersed within. Fewer waterbenders have developed a solution.
• Walk (Base DC 15): A waterbender learns to push up with the water beneath her feet, using its pressure and surface tension to maintain her weight without sinking. By focusing as a move action every round, a waterbender can stand on water as solidly as on land; but should she be knocked prone, she immediately falls into the water and sinks or floats as normal. By increasing the Waterbending DC to 25, the bender can focus as a swift action, and by increasing it to 40, she can focus as a free action each turn. Usage of this seed requires a Waterbending check each turn the bender wishes to use it.
• Surf (Base DC 10): By creating a disk of ice beneath and frozen to her legs as a move action, a waterbender can move quickly across surfaces of water. A waterbender uses her bending abilities to propel this board and gains a speed of 30 feet per round while surfing (essentially, the bender makes a Waterbending check as a move action to propel the board). A bender can take the run action while doing this, so long as she moves in a straight line. The bender’s speed increases by 5 ft for every 5 points by which the Waterbending check exceeds the DC. Because this seed does allow the bender to remain standing and stable, she may use other Waterbending forms at a -10 penalty while moving in this fashion.

Propel
Base DC: Varies
You push and pull the water under your boat, gaining a level of control over the craft that is impossible with more mundane methods of propulsion.
• Launch (Base DC 10): Instead of pushing a boat into the water, you bring the water to the boat, pulling waves up underneath the craft and causing the waves to draw the craft into the water. Launching a boat in this manner takes 30 seconds (5 full round actions). For every 2 by which your Waterbending check exceeds the base DC, the time required to launch the boat decreases by 1 round (minimum 1 round).
• Navigate (Base DC 10): Instead of using sails or a motor, you bend the water underneath the boat to propel it forward, slow it down, and change directions. As a full-round action, you can move a Huge or smaller boat 10 ft/round with average maneuverability (DMG p. 20 – for the purposes of this form, disregard any movement characteristics that have to do with movement in 3 dimensions, including minimum speed and the ability to hover). You can increase the speed and/or maneuverability of the craft by adding 5 to the DC for every 10 feet of speed or to increase the maneuverability to good. You can also propel a larger craft by increasing the DC by 5 per size increase. You can also slow and stop a boat using this seed. Each full-round action spent slowing a boat reduces its speed by an amount equal to ¼ of its original speed. Increasing the DC by 5 allows you to reduce speed by an amount equal to ½ of the original speed.
• Slide (Base DC 15): As a standard action you create a wave that pushes a craft sideways by 10 ft. For every 5 by which your Waterbending check exceeds the DC the craft moves an additional 5 feet sideways.

Armor
Base DC: 15
The element of water has ever changing and resilient, and if used properly can provide considerable protection.
• Liquid Armor: By covering her entire body in a thick layer of liquid water, a waterbender gains DR 3/piercing, and +2 to AC (including touch AC). For every 3 points by which the waterbender exceeds the base DC, the damage reduction increases by 1. Maintaining the liquid armor for more than two rounds gives a -4 penalty to all Waterbending checks until the waterbender ends the seed, increasing by -1 every two turns. If this penalty actually makes the difference that causes a waterbender to fail a Waterbending check, she may choose to end the seed and remove the penalty at that time. The bonus to AC increases by +1 for every four buy which you Waterbending check exceeds the base DC.
• Ice Armor: The waterbender may also choose to fashion actual solid armor from water molded around her body and frozen into place as a full-round action. The waterbender may fashion any type of armor she is familiar with, and it has all the properties of that armor type, except those based on the armor’s material, and normally metallic armors weigh half as much as usual. Adding spikes to the armor increases the Waterbending DC by +4. You can also make the armor function as masterwork armor by increasing the base DC by +10. The armor melts to the point of becoming useless in five minutes unless the ambient temperature is below freezing.

Wave
Base DC: 15
By accentuating the normal fluctuations in water levels, a waterbender can make standing water or ice accelerate forward in a wave, crashing into all in its path.
• Breaker: The wave created by this seed travels in a straight line from a large source of water (such as a river, the ocean, or standing on a glacier) within the waterbender’s bending range as a standard action, and can move 10 ft per level of the waterbender. The wave initiates a bull rush against any creatures in its path, counting as a Large creature (with a 10-foot face) with a Strength score equal to the bender’s Wisdom score+2 for the purposes of resolving bull rush attempts. The waterbender may increase the wave’s size to Huge (Giving an additional +4 size bonus and a 15-foot face) by adding +10 to the DC. A waterbender may try to turn the wave 45 degrees two times during its motion, but because of the great mass of water used; each requires another Waterbending check at the same DC as the one to make the wave turn. Any creature pushed back more than 10 feet by the wave is also knocked prone. The waterbender may move with the wave at its crest, ending her movement wherever the wave moves. Water used in this way may not be maintained.
• Transport: Rather than make a destructive force against her opponent, a waterbender may make a smaller wave to carry her quickly from one place to another as a standard action. This wave moves at 10 ft per waterbender level and can make four 45 degree turns during its motion, without requiring additional Waterbending checks.

Golem
Base DC: 15
By molding a large mass of water, snow, or ice into a vaguely human-shaped structure, a waterbender can create a powerful proxy to fight in her place.
• Creation and control: As a full round action, a waterbender can create a golem that she can direct in combat. The golem is a Medium animated object composed of water, snow, or ice. The waterbender must direct its actions in combat by making a Waterbending check equal to the original Waterbending DC as a full-round action, with the golem essentially mimicking the actions taken by the waterbender. If the waterbender does not concentrate on maintaining and directing the golem or fails the Waterbending check to control it, the golem collapses. The golem's attack rolls use the waterbender’s base attack bonus and are modified by the waterbender's Wisdom modifier instead of the golem's Strength modifier. Also, a golem made of primarily of water or snow has no hardness, but has double the usual hit points for an animated object of the same size. A waterbender can control a golem she can't see, but the golem is considered blind. Additionally, the waterbender cannot see through the golem, and thus is limited to the vision range of her current location.
• Attacks: Because the golem is essentially a reflection of its bender’s actions, it can use its slam attack at the same rate as the bender’s unarmed strikes, along with whatever extra modifiers gained therein (Weapon Focus, etc.).
• Size: The waterbender can increase the size of the golem by adding 5 to the DC for every size increase desired, creating an animated object of the appropriate size. For example, increasing the DC to 35 allows the waterbender to create a Gargantuan golem.
• Reach: A waterbender with the Water Whip seed can increase the reach of her golem by adding +4 to the Waterbending DC for every 5 ft of reach she wishes to add.
• Enhancement: A waterbender can increase the golem’s physical ability scores by adding 2 to the DC for every +1 to a single score. The waterbender cannot increase a single ability score by an amount greater than her Wisdom modifier. A waterbender with a Wisdom modifier of +5 could increase the golem’s Strength or Dexterity (or both with a high enough Waterbending check) scores by a maximum of 5, increasing the Waterbending DC by 10 in the process.

Feel the Flow
Base DC: 20
The element of water is fluid and continuous, and those in tune with the element can learn to sense objects obstructing its flow.
• River Sense: If a waterbender is in contact with moving water, she may begin focusing on feeling the water’s flow and anything not in sync with it as a move action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. The waterbender senses (automatically pinpoints) anything within the river not moving along at its same pace in a 30-foot radius of herself. For example, a waterbender could sense a rock jutting beneath the surface of the water, fish swimming against a river’s current, or an assailant hidden behind a bend in a stream; but not a floating log or fish swimming downstream, since they flow with the river. A waterbender may use this seed as a swift action, but doing so adds +10 to the Waterbending DC, and she can choose to continue sensing the water’s flow in this way by focusing as a standard action each round to feel how things move within her perception.
• Lake Sense:\ Even still bodies of water have a specific flow to them, though it is fundamentally different to that of moving water. A waterbender sensing a still body of water does so as above, only that she senses anything that has moved within the water in the past round, and by continuously focusing, anything that moves within it.

Bend Plants
Base DC: Varies
Because of the high percentage of water in plants, a waterbender can theoretically exert complete control over them, as with water. However, few waterbenders ever learn more than the basics of this as the use of plants extends to an art within itself.
• Entangle (Base DC 10): A waterbender takes basic control of plants in 20 ft radius within her bending range. Grasses, weeds, bushes, and even trees wrap, twist, and entwine about creatures in the area or those that enter the area, holding them fast and causing them to become entangled. The creature can break free and move half its normal speed by using a full-round action to make a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check. A creature that succeeds on a Reflex save is not entangled but can still move at only half speed through the area. For every 5 points by which the Waterbending check exceeds the DC, the radius of this seed increases by 5 feet.
• Entwine (Base DC 25): By taking control of larger or larger quantities of plants, a waterbender can actually crush opponents within the writhing flora she controls. This seed bends vines and similar plants and seemingly brings them to life. They grasp and entwine around creatures that enter the area, holding them fast and crushing them with great strength. Every creature within the seed’s radius must make a grapple check, opposed by the grapple check of the vines. Treat the vines attacking a particular target as a Large creature with a base attack bonus equal to the waterbender’s class level and a Strength score equal to her Wisdom score. Thus, its grapple check modifier is equal to the bender’s class level + Wisdom bonus + 4. Plants animated using this seed have hardness 2 and 10 hit points.

Blizzard
Base DC: Varies
By rapidly cooling the moisture in the air above him, the waterbender may alter the weather to a small, localized degree, provided there is enough water in the air.
• Snow (Base DC 25): The waterbender takes control of the ambient moisture in the air or a nearby water source and forms into a blanket of heavy white snow. The waterbender may bring down a curtain of snow which grants all within the waterbender's bending range decreased movement and visibility. The first four rounds of this seed's use creates the weather condition of snow (-4 on Spot and Search checks, -4 to ranged attacks, requires 2 squares of movement to enter a snow covered square) in the bending radius, while subsequent rounds of use increase this to heavy snow (same as snow, requires 4 squares of movement to enter a heavy snow square, restricts visibility further as per fog). The bender may add +5 to the DC of this technique to increase the range half again for every +5 added. This seed can only be used in exceptionally humid areas or if some form of precipitation is already falling.
• Ice Storm (Base DC 35): A favored offensive move by powerful waterbenders in the poles, this technique is similar to snow-making, the waterbender violently swirls the snow and ice around her. In a space within her bending range, the waterbender may creat an ice storm with a radius of 20 ft. Everything within this radius takes 5d6 points of cold damage from the intense cold, slivers of ice, and freezing rain that composes this storm. The bender may move this cloud at a rate of 20ft per round upon a successful DC 30 check. Damage may be increased by increments of +1d6 by increasing the DC of the Waterbending check by +2 per increase. The waterbender must have at least a 20ft range of existing snow, roughly a foot deep, in the surrounding area to use this technique. If she doesn't, then she may use the Snow technique to create it first.

Bloodbending
Base DC: 50
The bodies of all living creatures, humans especially, are composed primarily of water. Possibly the most powerful waterbending seed ever designed, the puppet seed allows a waterbender to make use of this, bending the water in a creatures body to the extent of controlling its actions.
• Puppet: As a full-round action, a waterbender may attempt to control the movements of one creature within her bending range. The target must make a Fortitude save or have his body move unwillingly at the waterbender's control. Creatures gain a +4 bonus to their saving throws for each size category larger than Medium when targeted by this seed. The waterbender may make the target move, attack or any any other action he is capable of using the target’s modifiers, but may not access the target's feats, knowledge or force him to use any sort of bending. In terms of movement, targets of this form may be moved using their own base land speeds or through the use of the Manipulate seed, as far as the waterbender may control the targets with a move action during a turn (this does not actually take any action other than the standard full round for this seed). This seed takes the bender's full turn and she may not perform any other physical action on her turn except controlling her opponent, though she may take purely mental actions. A controlled opponent may make a new saving throw on its own turn. A waterbender may control additional opponents by adding +5 to the Waterbending DC per target.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-04, 03:37 PM
Prestige Classes

Disciple of the Healing Waters

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h197/Mephibosheth85/Healer-1.gif

Among the water tribes, some exceptional waterbenders have been known to manifest the cooling power of water in a profound and benevolent application of the element. Waterbenders that develop this talent find that the lifeblood of living creatures is in actuality a system of thousands upon thousands of flowing rivers and streams, all interconnected with the body’s streams of chi, so that proper understanding of both can apply the body’s energy to heal itself with the flowing of healing waters throughout both systems.
Disciples of Healing Waters are generally kind-hearted and fairly powerful waterbenders that have had training in the human body to understand its flow of energy as well as blood. While disciples continue to practice several aspects of the general waterbending art, they are prone to eschewing combat in favor of healing; and try their hardest not to harm opponents past what is absolutely necessary.
Hit Die - d6

Disciple of Healing Waters
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Seeds Known

1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+2|Sense the lifestream, Greater Healing Waters|
0

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+3|Direct the flow|
1

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+3|
+3|Innate Understanding|
2

4th|
+2|
+1|
+4|
+4|Revitalizing Pool|
3

5th|
+2|
+2|
+4|
+4|Reutrn to the Lifestream|
4[/table]


Requirements
To qualify to become a disciple of healing waters, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Skills: Waterbending 11 ranks, Heal 8 ranks.
Seeds: Must know the Healing Waters waterbending seed.

Class Skills
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha) Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Rope (Dex) Waterbending (Wis)
Skill points at each level – 4 + Int Modifier

Class features
All of the following are class features of the Disciple of Healing Waters prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency - Disciples of healing waters gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Greater Healing Waters – The first concept that a disciple of healing waters learns is the greater application of the healing arts’ foundations. She learns to a much greater extent the body’s natural flow and how better to apply her bending to repair damage done to it without exhausting herself. Disciples of healing water can use the Healing Waters seed a number of times per day equal to her waterbender level plus her disciple level before Waterbending DCs begin to increase in each attempt. The disciple also gains a bonus equal to her waterbender levels plus her disciple levels in each application of the seed, rather than half her class levels, as normal.

Sense the Lifestream – By touching a willing or helpless living creature and sensing how the body devotes chi and nutrients to certain areas of the body, a disciple of healing waters can assess the physical and spiritual health of the creature. The disciple must focus on feeling the creature’s lifestream for a full round to feel its pathways before learning what ails it. After this first round of focus, the disciple learns of any minor wounds and conditions the creature possesses (Current and total possible hit points, states of fatigue and exhaustion). After the second round of focusing on this creature, the disciple learns of the number and severity of a creature’s more serious wounds (Current wound points as well as total possible). On subsequent rounds, the disciple of healing waters can decide to search the body’s systems for any one of the following ailments, each requiring a full-round action of concentration to assess.
• Pathogens (disease, viruses, infection, etc.)
• Toxic substances (poisons, if still active)
• Damage to specific body parts (caltrop wounds, broken bones, burned skin, damaged organs)
• Physical debilitation (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution damage)
• Mental enfeeblement (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage)
• Permanent damage (Ability drain)
• Spiritual infirmity (Strong negative emotion, absence of the creature’s spirit, possession)
• Altered states of mind (hypnosis, barbarian rage, extreme confusion, etc.)

Direct the flow — Disciples of healing waters quickly learn that the basics of healing learned by general waterbenders is child’s play compared to the full potential of water’s restoring touch. Disciples learn that they can use their own flow of chi to help lead a creature’s body to the proper way to heal itself by infusing a small stream of water with her own spiritual energy. A disciple of healing waters can restore a number of hit points in this way equal to her Wisdom modifier multiplied by her combined Waterbender and Disciple of Healing Waters levels each day. The disciple rolls a Waterbending check, and she can heal a number of hit points per round equal to the result of the check. A disciple of healing waters requires eight hours of uninterrupted rest to recover her ‘pool’ of healing.

Innate Understanding -- The disciple of healing waters has gained a thorough enough understanding of the body systems of living creatures that she no longer needs to take a full-round to focus on the target of her seeds and class abilities, but may take the time anyway to gn a +5 to her Waterbending check for the purposes of using them.

Revitalizing pool -- By spending one use of her Healing Waters seed, the disciple may imbue the water around her with her healing touch. She must first be in contact with a body of water, and then she may create a five-foot radius through which her power is released. The disciple may use any appropriate seeds or class abilities (Greater Healing Waters and Direct the Flow, for example) on anyone within this radius without having to be directly in contact with them, as long as they are touching the same body of water as the disciple. This radius lasts for one round for every five points of the Waterbending check per use, and it may be increased by 5 feet for every 5 points by which the Waterbending check beats the DC.

Return to the Lifestream
Base DC: 35
The disciple of healing waters has learned to heal even those that have shuffled off the mortal coil. In order to do so, she must take a full-round action to heal whatever wounds or afflictions killed the target of this ability, jump-start his vitals, and restore his flow of chi. If the Waterbending check is successful, the target is brought back to life at -1 hit points and stable, and if the target was killed by massive damage, he will always bear the wound that slew him. The DC for this ability increases by +2 for every round after the target's death that the healing is attempted.


Disciple of the Healing Waters Seeds

Somatic Recuperation
Base DC: Varies
While dangerous wounds do not disappear immediately; with proper care they can be taken care of overnight.
• Ability Damage (Base DC 20): If a disciple of healing waters is providing long-term care of a patient, she can use the healing power of her element to aid the recovery process. Upon a successful Heal check to provide long-term care to patients, a disciple can double the rate at which hit points and physical ability damage are recovered (remember that a doubled double is a triple; so 3 points of ability damage recovered for 8 hours of rest, or 6 for a full 24 hours). For every patient over the first that the disciple wishes to treat this way, the Waterbending check increases by +5.
• Ability Drain (Base DC 35): Even the deepest of wounds can recover if treated by an experienced healer for a proper amount of time. In order to heal otherwise permanent damage to a creature, a disciple must make the bending check in order to apply her skill to its wound once a day for one full cycle of the moon (one month, or approximately 30 days) for each point of ability drain she wishes to heal. Any day missed in this period does not ruin the healing, but each day missed adds another two days of application to the process before the damage is healed, and a disciple cannot use this function of the seed more than once per day on any one creature.

Mental Recuperation
Base DC: Varies
The soothing coolness of water can even repair the anxiety and injuries of the mind.
Ability Damage (Base DC 20): If a disciple of healing waters is providing long-term care of a patient, she can use the healing power of her element to aid the recovery process. Upon a successful Heal check to provide long-term care to patients, a disciple can double the rate at mental ability damage is recovered (remember that a doubled double is a triple; so 3 points of ability damage recovered for 8 hours of rest, or 6 for a full 24 hours). For every patient over the first that the disciple wishes to treat this way, the Waterbending check increases by +5.
Ability Drain (Base DC 35): A disciple of healing waters can heal the mental scars and loss of memory by constant application of a her element's power to the creature's head. In order to heal otherwise permanent damage to a creature, a disciple must make the Waterbending check in order to apply her skill to wound for one full cycle of the moon (one month, or approximately 30 days) while the target is resting. In order for a creature to heal the damage through this, it must get a full 8 hours' rest every day for this month. Any day in which any of these conditions is not filled adds an additional two days to the time necessary before the damage is healed.
Special (Base DC Varies): A waterbender also gains the ability to heal mental afflictions and states of mind not directly related to damage, such as amnesia and specific mental disorders. These situations are very case-specific, and thus can't be generalized upon here.

Panacea
Base DC: Varies
The cleansing power of water can be used to flush away even the most dangerous of diseases.
• Cure (Base DC varies): By expending one of her daily uses of Healing Waters, a disciple may attempt to cure a disease within an afflicted creature that is willing to be healed. In order to do so, she must first have identified the disease afflicting the person through Sense the Lifestream or through another method (being told by a doctor beforehand, for example). She then makes a Waterbending check as a full-round action (throughout which the disciple must be in constant contact with the patient) opposed by double the disease's Fortitude save DC to cure it. If the check is successful, the target of this seed must take at least a full 8 hours of uninterrupted rest while the body finished disposing of the infection; and at the end of this period the disease is cured.
• Bolster (Base DC 5): By expending one of her daily uses of Healing Waters, a disciple may reinforce a person's immune system against disease. By focusing for a full round on a creature's body systems while maintaining contact, the disciple of healing waters can prepare the immune system for future assaults against it. Any creature targeted by this form gets a bonus to any Fortitude saves against disease equal to half the disciple's Waterbending check (rounded down). This bonus lasts for one day for every 5 points of the Waterbending check.

Major Wounds
Base DC: 40
• A difficult technique that few but true healers ever learn to do properly, the healing power of water can extend far beyond those of the body alone. By creating an icy mold of a creature’s lost limb attached to where the body part should be and filling it with water, a waterbender stimulates the body to grow the detached limb again. This process takes a week, at which point the ice cracks to reveal a new and functional limb proportional to the rest of the body. This seed only functions on external body parts and cannot be used to grow internal organs or limbs the creature never had.


The Dai Li Agent

http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/214/145.jpg

The Dai Li are the cultural enforcers of Ba Sing Se. They are under the direct command of Long Feng, the culture minister, and function as a sort of secret police; arresting and re-educating anyone who breaks regulations concerning mention of the war. In addition to distinct uniforms, they are notable for sporting stone gloves and shoes, which can be used to great effect as weapons through Earthbending.

Though they serve the Earth King, they are loyal only to Long Feng. However, after the events of the coup d'état led against the Earth Kingdom capitol, they have pledged loyalty to Azula. It is the Dai Li who are responsible for tearing down Ba Sing Se's walls to allow the entrance of the Fire Nation army invasion force and the eventual firm occupation of the capital city.

The Dai Li was actually created several centuries ago by Avatar Kyoshi to preserve the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, in response to a peasant uprising against the government and forty sixth Earth King. She currently regrets having created the Dai Li, as she had no idea how corrupt they would become at the time.
Hit Die: d6

Dai Li Agent
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Seeds

1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+2|Earthbender, Grasp of the Dai Li, Sneak Attack +1d6|
0

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+3|Trapfinding, Evasion |
1

3rd|
+2|
+1|
+3|
+3|Dai Li Authority, Obscure Passage|
1

4th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4|Break Away +4, Sneak Attack +2d6, |
2

5th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4|Teamwork Infiltration +2|
2

6th|
+4|
+2|
+5|
+5|Defensive Roll 1/day|
3

7th|
+5|
+2|
+5|
+5|Sneak Attack +3d6|
3

8th|
+6|
+2|
+6|
+6|Teamwork Infiltration +4|
3

9th|
+6|
+3|
+6|
+6|Defensive Roll 2/day|
4

10th|
+7|
+3|
+7|
+7|Improved Evasion, Sneak Attack +4d6|
4[/table]


Requirements
To qualify to become a Dai Li Agent, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Skills: Earthbending 10 ranks, Hide 2 Ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks, Move Silently 2 ranks.
Seeds: Must know the Immobilize earthbending seed.

Class Skills – Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Earthbending (Wis), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Bending) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Int), Slight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Additional Level – 6 + Int Modifier

Class features
All of the following are class features of the Dai Li Agent prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency - Dai Li Agents gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Earthbender: The earthbender class feature for Climbing increases with the Dai Li Agent's class level as if they were earthbender levels. The Dai Li Agent selects his seeds from traditional earthbending seeds or from the list of special Dai Li earthbending seeds presented below.

Grasp of the Dai Li:This technique of earthbending is a secret one dating back to the formation of the Dai Li by Avatar Kyoshi.
Earthen Gauntlets: By coating their fists, forearms, and feet with a thin layer of stone to use their earthbending, they minimize property damage and always have stone at hand, literally. A Dai Li agent may create these stone gloves and shoes with a standard action by making a DC 10 Earthbending check, a move action with a DC 20 check or a swift action with a DC 30 Earthbending check. The Earthen Gauntlets are counted as either a pair of gauntlets or unarmed strikes in terms of weapon-based feats, at the agent's choice, and deal damage as such. Note that the Dai Li may only launch two hand and two foot techniques (through the Flying Fist ability or specific seeds) using this ability before new gloves and shoes must be created.
Flying Fists: By hardening the earth on his hands, the Dai Li may use his Earthen Gauntlets to make an Earth Blast attack, causing grievous amounts of harm using the minimum amount of material. The precision of this attack is almost surgical, allowing the Dai Li to add precision-based damage to this ability as well as deal non-lethal damage if the agent so chooses. Using Flying Fist increases the Earthbending check on the use of Earth Blast by +10.

Sneak Attack: The Dai Li Agent gains the Sneak Attack class feature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/rogue.htm#sneakAttack) as a rogue of the same level. If the Dai Li Agent possesses another class that grants the Sneak Attack class feature, then those levels stack with his levels in Dai Li Agent.

Evasion (Ex:) At 2nd level and higher, a Dai Li can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the Dai Li is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Dai Li Agent does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Trapfinding: A Dai Li Agent can use the Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 20, or higher if it is well hidden. A Dai Li who beats a trap’s DC by 10 or more with a Disable Device check can study a trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (with his party) without disarming it.

Dai Li Authority: As the secret police of the Earth Kingdom, they are known of only through rumor and myth. The Dai Li have the cultural authority to arrest, question, detain, or capture any member of the Earth Kingdom. They also have the right to set warrants and bounties pending approval from their higher ranking officers, should their quarry escape them.

Obscure Passage(Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, a Dai Li Agent is extraordinarily hard to be tracked along surfaces of earthly material (stone, sand, dirt, etc; any material that the Dai Li Agent can bend). The Dai Li Agent adds twice his Dai Li Agent level to the difficulty of the tracking roll.

Break Away (Ex): As skilled as he is, a Dai Li Agent knows the sensibility of falling back from an unwinnable fight. Starting at 4th level, he gains a +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class in any round during which he makes a withdrawal from combat action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#withdraw).

Teamwork Infiltration (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a Dai Li Agent can study a small area (typically up to 10 square feet, such as a doorway or guard post) in order to prepare for infiltrating that area. If the Dai Li Agent spends 1 hour studying the area from a distance of no more than 60 feet, he gains a +2 competence bonus on Balance, Climb, Disable Device, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, and Tumble checks attempted in that area for the next 24 hours. All allies within 30 feet of the Dai Li Agent gain the same bonus in that area (The allies need not be present while the Dai Li Agent studies the area.) At 8th level, this bonus improves to +4.

Defensive Roll (Ex): At 6th level, the Dai Li Agent can roll with a potentially lethal blow to take less damage from it than she otherwise would. Once per encounter, the Dai Li Agent can attempt to roll with the damage from a weapon strike or other blow. To use this ability, the Dai Li Agent must attempt a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt). If the save succeeds, she takes only half damage from the blow; if it fails, she takes full damage. She must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute her defensive roll—if she is denied her Dexterity bonus to AC, she can’t use this ability. Since this effect would not normally allow a character to make a Reflex save for half damage, the Dai Li Agent’s evasion ability does not apply to the defensive roll. The Dai Li Agent gains another use of this ability at 9th level.

Improved Evasion (Ex): This ability works like evasion, except that while the Dai Li still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless Dai Li does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-04, 09:08 PM
I don't mean to be presumptuous, but there are a lot of awkward sentences and word choice errors throughout this thing. Also, I know most people in these forums don't need it, but the kind of rule specification they have in the RAW would be useful. For instance, it's probably assumed, but does the Airbender's Leap seed's jump bonus stack with that of the Body of Air ability?

I understand that it's a bitch to just get all this written and posted; So, as an aspiring Lit. major, I could proof-read the Bending rules and classes, if you'd like. Also, I can provide proof of my writing abilities if need be.

Oh, also, I was wondering if there should be a kind of Bending prestidigitation for Airbenders, like the Move a Rock for Earthbenders. I assume there is, but it isn't listed on this thread.

Pirate_King
2008-01-05, 06:17 PM
Most forms and seeds have this covered, but there is a handful that don't have a bending time listed.

also, I repost my suggested armour penalties here:

Armour that normally incurs a spell failure chance now incurs a possible extra penalty to bending seeds with complex somatic components. After making a bending check with the normal armour check penalty, roll a percentile as you would for spell failure. If that roll fails, then add the armour check penalty to the DC a second time. If a bending check is failed in this way, it cannot be completed as per rules for over bending, because the bender simply can't complete the necessary motions for that seed or form.

this rule, among others, also requires certain seeds to verify the extent of the somatic component. the lightning seed is pretty specific, but I don't see much info on the movements required for other seeds. Perhaps the complexity of motion could be inherent in a certain DC level, and the armour penalty could incur a maximum DC limit, and benders wearing certain armour simply couldn't exceed that limit, even when overbending?

ErrantX
2008-01-05, 06:44 PM
Personally, I think you're making bending failure a little complicated. If you want to make it very simple and straight forward so benders don't wear armor without taking appropriate feats, just say the armor's ACP is doubled and applied to the actual bending check (ala Swim checks in Full Plate). Simple, straightforward, and easy to understand, and create a chain of feats that a bender could snap up and use to improve armored bending.

Like, Armored Bender (light), then Improved Armored Bender (medium), and assuming you wanna go that far Greater Armored Bender (heavy). Those feats eliminate bending failure in that grade of armor.

-X

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-05, 06:51 PM
Personally, I think you're making bending failure a little complicated. If you want to make it very simple and straight forward so benders don't wear armor without taking appropriate feats, just say the armor's ACP is doubled and applied to the actual bending check (ala Swim checks in Full Plate). Simple, straightforward, and easy to understand, and create a chain of feats that a bender could snap up and use to improve armored bending.

Like, Armored Bender (light), then Improved Armored Bender (medium), and assuming you wanna go that far Greater Armored Bender (heavy). Those feats eliminate bending failure in that grade of armor.

I agree. This is no spellcasting we have here. It is martial arts.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-05, 06:54 PM
Personally, I think you're making bending failure a little complicated. If you want to make it very simple and straight forward so benders don't wear armor without taking appropriate feats, just say the armor's ACP is doubled and applied to the actual bending check (ala Swim checks in Full Plate). Simple, straightforward, and easy to understand, and create a chain of feats that a bender could snap up and use to improve armored bending.

Like, Armored Bender (light), then Improved Armored Bender (medium), and assuming you wanna go that far Greater Armored Bender (heavy). Those feats eliminate bending failure in that grade of armor.

I agree. This is no spellcasting we have here. It is martial arts.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-05, 06:56 PM
Personally, I think you're making bending failure a little complicated. If you want to make it very simple and straight forward so benders don't wear armor without taking appropriate feats, just say the armor's ACP is doubled and applied to the actual bending check (ala Swim checks in Full Plate). Simple, straightforward, and easy to understand, and create a chain of feats that a bender could snap up and use to improve armored bending.

Like, Armored Bender (light), then Improved Armored Bender (medium), and assuming you wanna go that far Greater Armored Bender (heavy). Those feats eliminate bending failure in that grade of armor.

I agree. This is no spellcasting we have here. It is martial arts.

Pirate_King
2008-01-05, 06:58 PM
That sounds good, but I still think armour should prevent someone from finishing a form anyway through overbending. Maybe make overbending impossible in armour in which a bender is not proficient?
also,

TRIPLE POST OF DOOM:smallsmile:

input for immobilization:

water's easy enough, I don't know if anyone's pointed out the DC 22 strength check against the Freeze spell from the Spell Compendium

As for earth, there are a handful of spells that could provide guidelines for that sort of DC. Earth lock has a 25 strength check to break open a tunnel that has been constricted with the spell. Or, the the Strength check could be equal to the base DC of the form, instead of the earthbending check itself, perhaps with the ever popular + X per every X points that the earthbender beat the DC, though I think the base DC is enough to keep those forms useful without making them overpowered. In the mean time, I'll keep looking for spells with similar effects

FlyMolo
2008-01-05, 09:24 PM
The immobilization DC could be the Save DC. I don't remember if that's the current system or not, but it could work. It would max out at 20-plus wis mod. (from experience, that makes about 27, without exotic races or epic levels.)

Assuming a +4 wis mod, an average strength caster(read, 10) would be able to slowly work their way out until bender level 12, roughly. This might not work against big strong critters, though. Stuff with a strength of 30 or more would be able to bust out of confinement in a round or two.

I think matching save progressions against ability checks is a little more sensible than matching it against skill checks. A level 20 character can just barely make a DC 27 ability check, if they're built cleverly. But you need a cleverly built bender to get that DC, so it's all good. If we use the old system, nobody is going to be able to make a DC 40+ ability check, and benders can get 30+ modifiers to bending without even really trying.

On the subject of the new thread, well done Meph. Rules are cleared up, everything is easy to access, and it's a triumph of orderly arrangement, all told. My one beef is that the earthbending color is a rust-brown instead of a dirt brown or green. And we all know how important that is.:smallwink:

Pirate_King
2008-01-05, 09:32 PM
So, uh, anyone seen the latest episode? I kinda feel like it could imply an alignment based source of bending ability, but I'm not sure how it would work, because it isn't alignment alone. Firebending master (and any other episode) can be viewed here (http://www.avatarchapter.net/) (for research, of course :smallsmile: )

ErrantX
2008-01-06, 03:36 PM
So, uh, anyone seen the latest episode? I kinda feel like it could imply an alignment based source of bending ability, but I'm not sure how it would work, because it isn't alignment alone. Firebending master (and any other episode) can be viewed here (http://www.avatarchapter.net/) (for research, of course :smallsmile: )

Well damn. Yeah... but at the same time, like so much of our happy little system, I think it comes down to the creativity of the players, the imagination and interpretation of the rules by the DM, and simple role-playing to be able to make things like the Firebending Masters work.

I've spoilered my opinions and thoughts below.
If rage and destructive influences are what power firebenders, then it stands to reason there must be many different schools of thought for each bending discipline. Look at the Foggy Swamp Style versus Northern Style or Southern Style Waterbending for examples. Fire Nation style is a more destructive, angry style while Sun Warrior style is a more pure and balanced form, learned from the dragons themselves. If Zuko were a PC, then he lost his firebending due to his change of focus, his loss of the principles of his style and going to the Sun Warriors showed him a new way to focus his style and to teach Aang that firebending isn't evil. I think good role-playing comes more into play here then game mechanics, but it may be something that should be written up as a side bar or something.

-X

Elathron
2008-01-06, 06:39 PM
Hey I found your project most promising I actually try to the same thing with BESM D20 but I didn't like I have a fewquestion if you dot mind:
*How does the Base Deflection bonus work does it stack with Armour?
*What about Regional Traits (Check Monte' Cooks Iron Heroes to have an Idea)
*What about no-Bending classes?

Thanx in advance :smallsmile:

Pirate_King
2008-01-06, 10:37 PM
I was worried that this might happen with a new thread.

Start here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67493)

defense bonus can be found in the SRD

Ceiling009
2008-01-06, 11:06 PM
There haven't been any real regional traits proposed, though you could also look through some of the Faerun sourcebooks for some regional traits also, like the Jotunbrud...

Non-bending classes are a real conundrum, as the Benders take the place of spellcasting classes, but are more parallel to Jedi in Star Wars D20, capable fighters who are also mystically enhanced. Monks and fighters are seriously left in the dust, as benders already take the place of monks more or less, and fighters are much more... there are some replacements, as in Lord Tartarus set, and Eighth Seraph's set.

FlyMolo
2008-01-07, 11:33 AM
Slight bit of overpower I've found through practice. Waterbenders can deal 7d4 damage at first level, half of which is not subject to DR. A first level fairly optimized waterbender can get a bending check of 21 reliably. 10+4(mod)+(3 skill focus)+4(ranks). Using the ice shards seed, that's 10+10(extra shards)=20. Easy, for 5 extra shards. total, 7. Thrown in a 30-foot cone, reflex half. At second level, you can deal 18d4. Half cold. Best of all, you can split it up however you like among the targets in your cone.

The main problem here is the ice shards seed itself. While made of awesome(masterwork weapons? MADE OF ICE! I rest my case.) , I recommend 3 points of check/shard instead of two.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 01:57 PM
Hmm. Interesting issues.

Editing and Grammar:
Inevitably when a project has this many contributors, problems with word choice and grammar will arise. I welcome any editing assistance you can give. Post edits in the PDF editing thread (maybe note at the top of your post that you’re editing content from the bending thread, not the PDF). The PDF editing thread should be in the main hub. Thanks a lot for the help.

Prestidigitation for Airbenders:
There is supposed to be one. Maybe it didn’t get transferred well. I’ll look into it and make the change. Good catch.

Bending Time:
Unless specifically stated in the form, all bending forms are Standard actions. The Bending Overview goes into this issue.

Base Deflection Bonus:
This project recommends using the Defense Points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/defenseBonus.htm) variant from the SRD. The defense bonuses listed on the tables in the PDF and the Avatar d20 website are the values from that variant. I hope that clarifies.

Non-Bending Classes:
One goal of the project is to craft bending classes that are balanced with core classes (rogue, fighter, barbarian, etc). At it’s most basic, the setting uses these already-existing classes to represent non-benders. As Ceiling009 said, there are a few sets of variant non-bending classes that you can find through the main hub thread (see link in the first post of this thread). Also, check out the Avatar d20 website (http://avatar.d20.googlepages.com) or the iconic character builds thread (again, through the main hub) for examples of how core base classes can be used to represent major characters from the show.

Armor Proficiency and ACP:
I think we need to remember that bending is not spellcasting, no matter how similar many of their effects may be. Bending doesn’t require fine manipulation and precise hand gestures; rather it uses motions similar to unarmed combat. I don’t see any reason why armor needs to hinder bending more than it does any other skill. However, if the consensus is that armor should hinder bending, I support ErrantX’s compromise wherein the ACP is doubled for Bending checks and feats can be used to reduce or eliminate this penalty.

I also support leaving armor proficiencies as they are. We can argue back and forth about what kind of armor different characters in the show wear, but ultimately, being allowed to wear medium isn’t that overpowering, especially since the use of the Defense Bonus variant discourages wearing armor anyway. It’s true that the crafting system eliminates the disincentive to wear armor somewhat, but the system still deemphasizes armor use. I wouldn’t necessarily oppose eliminating medium armor for Earthbenders and Firebenders if that’s the consensus, but it’s clear that benders wear armor.

I also don’t quite get why armor should prevent overbending. Can you post an example from the show where this is the case?

Immobilization:
I support the “10 plus half class level plus wisdom modifier” solution presented both here and in the first bending thread. It allows for more reasonable (but still difficult) DC’s and scaling, and seems to have a broad base of support among contributors.

Ice Shards:
The Ice Shards seed has been a bone of contention before, and apparently all issues aren’t resolved. What about something like this:

Ice Shards
Base DC: 10
• Weapon: By molding a relatively small quantity of water into her hands, a waterbender may craft any ordinarily wooden or metal melee weapon or ammunition she is familiar with (not necessarily proficient with) out of ice as a full-round action. Any weapon made with this seed deals normal damage for its weapon type, plus 1d4 cold damage; and one use of this seed creates 10 pieces of ammunition at a time. The base DC is for a light weapon; making a one-handed weapon increases the Waterbending DC by +2, and a two-handed weapon increases the DC by +4. If the Waterbending check exceeds the DC by 5 or more, the weapon is also of masterwork quality. If the weapon ever leaves the waterbender’s possession, it begins to melt as normal. Thrown weapons and ammunition can be used as normal.
• Ranged: By freezing water into a number of small, smooth, thin shards, a waterbender can strike at long range. This seed creates 2 shards, each of which deals 1d6 damage that affect all creatures in a line (distance equal to the waterbender’s bending range). Half of this damage is piercing and half is cold. Creatures within the area of this effect can make a Reflex save for half damage. Launching additional shards adds +4 to the Waterbending DC per shard.
• Spikes: Ice is a powerful weapon for a waterbender, and anyone standing on an icy surface stands on the waterbender’s turf. The bender may fill one five-foot square with protruding spikes as a standard action, dealing 1d4 piercing and 1d4 cold damage per round to anyone standing or passing through the square, counting as rough terrain. Furthermore, anyone that falls prone in a spiked square takes an additional 1d6 piercing damage. Having this form affect an additional five-foot square adds +4 to the Waterbending DC per square.

Finally, I haven’t seen the newest episode yet. I’ll try to watch it this evening and post more comments later.

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-07, 02:14 PM
As far as the bending failure thing, I dunno... I do and don't like the idea of it. I like it because when you're doing precise martial arts maneuvers, well, anyone who's ever done martial arts to a moderate degree will tell you that you need to be unencumbered or you're not going to be doing it well. Maybe all benders (save Airbenders) can wear light armor without penalty, but then they incur normal ACP when bending in heavier armors. Then they could take the Armored Bender feats I proposed to wear the heavier armors (provided they're proficient in them).

I also support the Immobilization rules.

I like the new Ice Spikes, getting a cool imagine of a Waterbender who fights with a frozen greatsword, wearing ice armor, and generally causing havoc in battle. Also helps the unbalancing angle of the 7d4 ice blast at level 1. Good good.

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-07, 02:43 PM
I really like the new Ice Shards. It's a D6 now, and it's much harder to pull off that... 7d4, well it's with a 18 wis, and 4 ranks, taking a 10, it's 18 total, making a 4d6 line of piercing cold. Thats pretty decent, but not terribly... well horrible sounding. It doesn't sound like a insta-kill for a lot of the non-con based classes and monsters, while it gives a hefty reason not to mess with a waterbender.

ErrantX
2008-01-07, 02:52 PM
For simplicity's sake I'm reposting the Bending Study feats that I made, so we can discuss this again and try to get the ball moving.

Waterbending Study
By studying the arts of the ebb and flow of the tides like a waterbender, a bender may use those principles in bending their own element.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Earth- The earthbender learns that water may carve canyons and may apply this technique to his earthbending. The earthbender may add his Wisdom modifier to rolls to overcome another bender's Deflect Bending attempts.
Air- By studying the effects of pressure on water, an airbender may learn to better focus his energies with pressurized air. The airbender may now make an air blast attack as if he were a waterbender of equal level. The damage from this attack is non-lethal. If the airbender possesses the Air Scythe seed, he may now do lethal damage with that attack, regardless of whether or not he has a staff.
Fire- Redirect Lightning (Base DC 35): A technique adopted from the waterbenders’ philosophy and art of using an enemy’s power against him, this seed is generally used to defend against one of the firebenders’ most deadly abilities. A firebender can use a Deflect Bending action to redirect any lightning bolts (natural or otherwise) passing within 5 feet of the firebender. Because the bender is essentially letting the lightning hit him, this seed does not require an attack roll, as opposed to Deflect Bending.
The firebender must make a DC 15 Concentration check to ensure that the lightning doesn’t pass through his heart as he channels it to his other hand. Failure indicates that the firebender takes the appropriate damage for the lightning, and he fails to redirect it. On a successful check, the firebender channels the lightning to the other side of his body, redirecting it as he desires.

Airbending Study
The flows of the wind may influence all elements, and an astute bender may learn power by understanding this.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Earth- Air flows around all obstacles, and the earthbender who learns this understands a new way to mold his stubborn element. By breaking down his earth blast into dozens of pebbles, he may negate a foe's cover. Reduce a foe's cover bonus by one step (full to partial, partial to none), but reduce the earth blast by 1d6 due to the loss of solid mass.
Water- Air currents mass and swell around an airbender, aiding their movements. The insightful waterbender learns that while air exists around the body, water exists inside of it. With this understanding, the waterbender may use his water to aid his equilibrium, gaining his Wisdom modifier as a circumstance bonus to Balance and Tumble checks.
Fire- With similiarly insubstantial elements, the firebender learns ways to manipulate his flame to increase it's defensive capabilities, as befits an airbender. By learning to channel his flame's currents through the air around him, he makes a better defense for himself. The firebender's penalty to Deflect Bending is reduced to +0.

Firebending Study
The breath of the dragon is the power of the firebender, and by learning this principle a bender may find that the breath can bring strength to his own element.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Air- Breath is the airbender's territory, for it is the element itself that they bend. By manipulating air currents, the bender may reduce some of the sting of a firebender's breath. So long as the airbender is aware of the incoming fire and he is taking a defensive action (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#fightingDefensivelyasaStandard Action), he gains a Fire Resistance equal to his Wisdom modifier.
Water- The natural antithesis of fire, the waterbender learns that strength of fire lies in its intensity. With this knowledge, the waterbender may increase the force of his water blast by adding his Wisdom modifier to the damage.
Earth- For the earthbender, the ways of fire may teach a lesson of haste and passion. The earthbender may increase the speed of his earth blasts by reducing the size and power of the blast. When making a full attack action, the earthbender receives an extra attack at his highest attack bonus. The damage of the blasts are reduced by 1d6 and all attacks receive a -2 penalty.

Earthbending Study
Hard and unyielding, the earthbender's element is as resilient as he is. A truly perceptive bender glean an epiphany with his own element by understanding this.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Air- The resolute and unyielding earth defies the changing winds, and the airbender that learns this, learns that his element too may be unyielding it's strength. The airbender may now oppose bull rush attempts by utilizing his airbending, using an airbending skill check instead of the normal bull rush resistance roll.
Water- Water may carve canyons into the earth, but the hardest earth directs where this water flows. By learning how to form harder ice, the waterbender learns to be unyielding. The waterbender may add his Wisdom modifier to the hardness of his ice and twice his Wisdom modifier to the ice's hit points, and he may increase the break DC on immobilizing ice constructs by +2.
Fire- To a student of fire who studies and masters the ways of earth, no wall is too high. By burning and melting handholds into surfaces, a firebender may climb swiftly. The firebender gains a climb speed of 10 plus five for every five firebender levels he possesses. The surface that the firebender is climbing must be of a substance he can either combust (such as wood) or melt (such as metal or stone).

Well, here they again. As we have some new blood these days posting too, I'd love to see what they have to say or add to this. PEACH!

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 03:40 PM
In general, I really like the way these feats work. I like that each bending discipline gets a different benefit, and I support the idea of keeping the benefits tied closely to the two bending disciplines involved. In general, good work. I think these are the best of the different incarnations of the “Bending Knowledge” feats. That said, I’ve been thinking about these feats for a while, and have a few comments:

1. I think that the prerequisite skill ranks should increase to at least 9. The presentation of these types of abilities in the show indicates (at least to me) a high degree of proficiency with bending and substantial study of the bending disciplines. 3rd level seems a bit to low to me.
2. I like the Air and Fire abilities granted by the Waterbending Study feat, but I can’t think of an example from the show wherein the Earth ability has been used. The only example I can think of is this earthbender ( http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/206/210.jpg) (shown here in the act of tunneling), but this seems like a refinement of the Excavate seed rather than a new ability and there’s no evidence linking him to any significant knowledge of waterbending. However, I’ve been wracking my brain to think of an alternative ability, and I can’t think of any. But nevertheless, I think we should try to find an alternative ability. I’m also uncomfortable with the waterbender’s swim speed ability, but that’s a different debate.
3. I like Airbending Study. No significant issues here.
4. Firebending Study seems like the hardest to characterize, mainly because we’ve never seen any non-firebenders learn anything about firebending. That may change with the next few episodes. I do have a few comments though. First, we should clarify what a “partial defensive action” is for the Air ability. Does that mean making at least one Deflect Attack or is it something else? Second, I’d say that the Water ability should make half of the blast’s damage fire damage (steam anyone?) instead of actually adding damage. Automatically adding the bender’s Wisdom modifier to all blast damage rolls seems a bit much for the defensively-focused waterbender. I like the Earth ability, though. It seems very much in keeping with hasty earthbenders like Shin Fu.
5. I like the Earthbending Study feat, especially the Air ability (which you can see when Aang fights the Sabre-Toothed Moose-Lion in Bitter Work) and the Water ability (which is just downright useful). However, I can’t think of any examples of the Fire ability in the show. Again, I don’t really have any replacement suggestions off the top of my head, but nevertheless…

So, those are my suggestions. Overall, I like the feats. Good work.

Now, to address some related issues that I arose in this post.

First, I still can’t find any examples from the show that support giving waterbenders a swim speed. I hereby recommend removing the Water Walk seed and the waterbender’s swim speed and giving waterbenders a Ski/Water Walk ability as part of their class, increasing the speed as usual. However, if someone can post a screenshot or point me to an episode wherein a waterbender swims with the ease that a swim speed implies, I’ll definitely reconsider.

Second, to address the issue of tunneling Earthbenders I raised above, I suggest we add the following to the Excavate seed:

Burrow: By bending earth into a small tunnel, an earthbender can burrow through stone and soil. As a move action, an earthbender can move up to his base speed through any substance he could bend. This form does not give the bender any ability to see through the earth or sense what is occurring outside his tunnel, though other seeds could be used for this purpose. Earth displaced using this form is moved to the periphery of the tunnel, making a bulge if the tunnel moves within 5 feet of the surface. The tunnel created using this form collapses after the earthbender passes through, and creatures without burrow speeds cannot use the tunnels. For every 5 by which an earthbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC, the earthbender’s burrow speed increases by 5 feet.

Or something like that. What do you think?

Mephibosheth

Pirate_King
2008-01-07, 04:13 PM
First, I still can’t find any examples from the show that support giving waterbenders a swim speed. I hereby recommend removing the Water Walk seed and the waterbender’s swim speed and giving waterbenders a Ski/Water Walk ability as part of their class, increasing the speed as usual. However, if someone can post a screenshot or point me to an episode wherein a waterbender swims with the ease that a swim speed implies, I’ll definitely reconsider.


The first episode in Fire, The Awakening. When Aang goes off on his own in a rather aangsty fashion, he bypasses a fire navy blockade by swimming, and I'm pretty sure he'd have to use waterbending to go the speed he did. I can't find a screen shot, but the episode is here (http://www.avatarchapter.net/3/)

Also, Bumi definitely moves through earth like it's water after his fight with Aang.

Also also, a feat that was probably forgotten on the first thread:

BREATH MASTERY
prerequisites:Con 12, 4 ranks in knowledge (bending), Firebender 1st level
benefit
Your breath control allows you to add your constitution modifier to damage rolls for any damage dealing fire seed.

Too much for a first level feat? I think it would be balanced out by the choice between increasing constitution for more damage or increasing wisdom for better bending checks, and would be good for Zuko-like multiclassing. He's clearly got a punch behind his fire, but doesn't know quite so many seeds and forms as a more optimized firebender like his uncle or sister.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 04:39 PM
The first episode in Fire, The Awakening. When Aang goes off on his own in a rather aangsty fashion, he bypasses a fire navy blockade by swimming, and I'm pretty sure he'd have to use waterbending to go the speed he did. I can't find a screen shot, but the episode is here (http://www.avatarchapter.net/3/)

I don't know if I'd equate that with the waterbender's Swim ability. To me, it seems like he used the momentum he built up while flying combined with (perhaps) the use of the Propel seed. While I'll grant that he definitely moved faster through the water than a normal person could, I don't think it justifies a class ability. Again, if the consensus is to keep the Swim ability, I'll gladly go along with the group, but I just don't see the show justifying it.


Also, Bumi definitely moves through earth like it's water after his fight with Aang.

We already have a seed that mimics that ability. It's a part of the Earthen Stride earthbending seed.


Also also, a feat that was probably forgotten on the first thread:

BREATH MASTERY
prerequisites:Con 12, 4 ranks in knowledge (bending), Firebender 1st level
benefit
Your breath control allows you to add your constitution modifier to damage rolls for any damage dealing fire seed.

Too much for a first level feat? I think it would be balanced out by the choice between increasing constitution for more damage or increasing wisdom for better bending checks, and would be good for Zuko-like multiclassing. He's clearly got a punch behind his fire, but doesn't know quite so many seeds and forms as a more optimized firebender like his uncle or sister.

Hmm. I don't know how I feel about this one. On the one hand, ties between firebending and the breath are explicitly mentioned in the show (The Deserter, Bitter Work, etc), and this could be a good way of representing that. It could also give firebenders a boost to damage that's useful but not out of hand. One the other, this specific ability is not, and I'm not sure whether we really need to represent this aspect mechanically. Breath control could just be a part of being a firebender. I guess my jury's still out on this one, though I'm leaning in favor at the moment. I'll wait and see what others think.

Justifying this feat by its ability to power up multiclass firebenders is interesting, but I think I'd support a Practiced Bending feat that increased bending level like Practiced Spellcaster (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Practiced_Spellcaster,all) instead of this sort of solution. Again, I'd like to see what others think.

Mephibosheth

Pirate_King
2008-01-07, 05:22 PM
After a bit more research, I can see a reason to get rid of the swim speed, since waterbending was learned by watching the moon and tides, rather than fish:


The people of the Water Tribe first learned Waterbending by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean. They then learned how to do it themselves.[1]. According to the episode "The Waterbending Scroll", the word waterbending is written in Chinese as 截水神功, which is best translated as "The Divine Ability to Halt Water".
(???? = characters that my computer can't see. anyone know where I can get a plug-in to read Chinese characters?)
Still, I think the ski/water walk thing should remain a seed. It still seems like something that would need to be learned. Not sure why, just kind of a gut thing after watching entirely too much of the show for the past couple days.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 05:33 PM
...I think the ski/water walk thing should remain a seed. It still seems like something that would need to be learned. Not sure why, just kind of a gut thing after watching entirely too much of the show for the past couple days.

True, but waterbenders don't get that ability until 4th level, indicating a decent level of proficiency. Plus, it allows better movement on ice and snow too (a major benefit when one lives at the pole), allowing maneuvers like this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/118/804.jpg). Finally (and I feel slightly silly saying this), it fits the pattern of the classes. Waterbenders need some sort of movement ability, and a ski ability seems to fit best with the evidence provided by the show. However, I'm open to alternatives.

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-07, 06:28 PM
Ski or swim, doesn't matter to me either way. It does mess up my earthswim thing, but meh, I'll cope and re-write some of it. I do appreciate your critique though Meph! *puffs with pride*

Moving on, the same things you were mystified about were really the same things I was stumped on, and I made due by looking at the other benders and making decisions based on where they could flow with each other.

Now that we're on the subject of things, Firebenders and fire resistance: Agni Kai becomes substantially harder. I understand on some level for them to have fire resist, but at the same time, I dunno, I can't think of something better but it leaves me feeling like they're only good at infighting :P

-X

Elathron
2008-01-07, 06:42 PM
First I have two question:
What is a precision-based damage and how does it work?
What about extra racial traits for each nation and/or region.

Second dealing with Sun and Moon influence, simple they give bonuses and penalties to the bending skill checks to aproapiate to the bender.
Example Fire benders get +2 bonus to firebending at day and -2 at night
Waterbenders is a bit more complicated they should get a special bonus when theres a Full Moon and a penalty when theres a new moon and at day.

The redirect lightning should be an opposed Firebending Skill Check, if succeded the lighting is redirected keeping its origianl statistic to a new target of the characters choice. If failed he must make a save Fort 18 or die because the lightning has struck the heart if this save succeeds the character recives regular lightning damage.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 06:50 PM
Ski or swim, doesn't matter to me either way. It does mess up my earthswim thing, but meh, I'll cope and re-write some of it. I do appreciate your critique though Meph! *puffs with pride*

Glad to have helped. To be frank though, the earthswim thing was the ability I have the most issues with. But, like I said, I can't think of anything else with which to replace it.


Now that we're on the subject of things, Firebenders and fire resistance: Agni Kai becomes substantially harder. I understand on some level for them to have fire resist, but at the same time, I dunno, I can't think of something better but it leaves me feeling like they're only good at infighting :P

My impression was that Agni Kai wasn't usually a duel to the death, but rather a duel till first singe (teehee) or until dominance is clear. I recall when Zuko and Zhao fought. Zuko didn't kill Zhao, but the winner of that Agni Kai was still clear.

How 'bout a compromise. What if we gave Firebenders and Endure Elements effect at 5th level, Fire Resistance 5 at 10th level, Cold Resistance 5 at 15th level, and Cold and Fire Resistance 10 at 20th level. That way, Firebenders could still hurt each other with their fire blasts, but the ability of Firebenders to endure averse environmental conditions (as when Zuko avoided a firey death when his ship was destroyed by pirates with blasting gelly and when he avoided a frosty death while swimming the waters of the north pole).

Thoughts?

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-07, 07:26 PM
First I have two question:
What is a precision-based damage and how does it work?
What about extra racial traits for each nation and/or region.

I'm neither for nor against it. I'd like to see what you might come up with, or if you have some ideas that need fleshing out/statting up, everyone here'll help you do so. As far as precision based damage, it's damage like Sneak Attack, Skirmish, Critical Hits, and Sudden Strike.


Second dealing with Sun and Moon influence, simple they give bonuses and penalties to the bending skill checks to aproapiate to the bender.
Example Fire benders get +2 bonus to firebending at day and -2 at night
Waterbenders is a bit more complicated they should get a special bonus when theres a Full Moon and a penalty when theres a new moon and at day.

I'd rather leave that to a feat myself. Child of the Sun / Moon. Get a +2 or +4 bending check bonus during your time of day, or +2 BL, and at off times get the opposing. Something along those lines. Someone I believe actually did put something together for that, so if that person is lurking, you should repost them, perhaps?


The redirect lightning should be an opposed Firebending Skill Check, if succeded the lighting is redirected keeping its origianl statistic to a new target of the characters choice. If failed he must make a save Fort 18 or die because the lightning has struck the heart if this save succeeds the character recives regular lightning damage.

Redirect Lightning is actually something I'm trying to get removed from the Lightning Seed (the more I think about it, the more I think it shouldn't have anything to do with the lightning seed as Zuko can't make lightning but he can redirect it). And then it comes down to a firebending check to retarget the strike.


How 'bout a compromise. What if we gave Firebenders and Endure Elements effect at 5th level, Fire Resistance 5 at 10th level, Cold Resistance 5 at 15th level, and Cold and Fire Resistance 10 at 20th level. That way, Firebenders could still hurt each other with their fire blasts, but the ability of Firebenders to endure averse environmental conditions (as when Zuko avoided a firey death when his ship was destroyed by pirates with blasting gelly and when he avoided a frosty death while swimming the waters of the north pole).

I like this idea better, the resistances and such. Firebenders are a hardly lot in that regard and it makes sense. Zuko's undersea adventure definitely included uses of Fire in the Stomach as well, but his ability to survive in the cold wastes as he dragged Aang too would count for his cold resistance. Also, he did take some minor scorching from the burning ship.

-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-07, 07:43 PM
About the Bending study feats, I think I might have found a replacement for the Earthswim ability. How about something like this?

Soften Earth

Concentration: Standard Action
When this power is used, it causes up to 5 Cubic feet/per level of natural, undressed earth or stone within 30 feet of the Earth Bender to be softened. Wet earth becomes thick mud, dry earth becomes loose sand or dirt, and stone becomes soft clay that is easily molded or chopped. You affect a 5-foot square area to a depth of 1 to 4 feet, depending on the Earth Benders desire at that time. Dressed, or worked stone cannot be affected. A creature in mud must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 12+ Wisdom modifier) or be caught for 1d2 rounds and unable to move or attack. A creature that succeeds on its save can move through the mud at half speed, and it can’t run or charge.

Loose dirt is not as troublesome as mud, but all creatures in the area can move at only half their normal speed and can’t run or charge over the surface.

Stone softened into clay does not hinder movement, but it does allow characters to cut, shape, or excavate areas they
may not have been able to affect before. While soften earth and stone does not affect dressed or worked stone, cavern ceilings or vertical surfaces such as cliff faces can be affected. Usually, this causes a moderate collapse or landslide as the loosened material peels away from the
face of the wall or roof and falls. A moderate amount of structural damage can be dealt to a manufactured structure by softening the ground beneath it, causing it to settle. However, most well-built structures will only be damaged by this ability, not destroyed. Once the Earth Bender ceases concentration on this ability, the earth reverts back to its normal state within 1d6 rounds.

OR an ability that basically uses the spell Rock to Mud/Mud to Rock. There are instances of this occurring in the show, like when that one Earth General buries Katara up to her neck he doesn't use the Rift seed, it looks more like he turned the earth into quicksand.

Speaking of which, if I'm not mistaken the subject of Sandbending has been almost completely neglected. Maybe there should be a feat for it or something?

What do you think?

Elathron
2008-01-07, 07:53 PM
Yeah I know it has nothing to do with lightning but you should keep in mind that Iroh states its very degenrous to redirect lightning even deadly if it touches your heart.

ErrantX
2008-01-07, 07:57 PM
Yeah I know it has nothing to do with lightning but you should keep in mind that Iroh states its very degenrous to redirect lightning even deadly if it touches your heart.

Well, if you fail, you get hit by lightning. I'd say it's dangerous, yeah ;)

-X

FlyMolo
2008-01-07, 08:51 PM
I like the idea of watebending study giving earthbenders a Transmute mud to stone and vice versa ability. That would be handy. And flavorful.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-07, 09:16 PM
[/nonexistence]

I thought of the Agni Kai when I gave Firebenders fire resistance. Take a closer look at the description of fire resistance: firebenders can overcome fire resistance of other benders to the same degree as their own resistance...Or at least they could when I wrote it. There doesn't seem to be anything about it in this new draft. Just letting you know; feel free to scrap the idea if it still seems to be inappropriate.

[nonexistence]

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-07, 10:19 PM
The more thought I give to the idea of the Bending study feat, the more it seems like it's just a vehicle for new seeds.

I think the feat really need only be taken to study the element that is opposite to the Benders own. You see, the two elements adjacent to the Bender's own are obviously similar and are associated with a few similar ideas or technique. Because those elements are so similar, most things that say an Airbender would learn from Waterbenders, or a Firebender from an Airbender, are already accounted for in that Bender's normal seeds.

The feat really only seems to be necessary when a Bender wants to learn a technique that is opposite to the general tendencies of their own element. For example, an Earthbender could learn from an Airbender the intangibility of air and mimic the idea with their Earthbending, via the mastery of something like sandbending, a combination of the hard aspects of Earth with the light, drifting, aspects of Air.

That said, I think the benefits gained from the Bending Study feat by studying the opposite element are perfect; except for the Waterbender one. It seems like the power of Fire lies not in it's intensity, ( that's Earthbending and sometimes Waterbending) but in it's all consuming nature, it's sheer number of attacks. So, maybe it would be good to give the Waterbender a Water version of the Firestorm ability when they study Fire.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-07, 10:21 PM
The more thought I give to the idea of the Bending study feat, the more it seems like it's just a vehicle for new seeds.

I think the feat really need only be taken to study the element that is opposite to the Benders own. You see, the two elements adjacent to the Bender's own are obviously associated with similar ideas and techniques. Because those elements are so similar, most things that say an Airbender would learn from Waterbenders, or a Firebender from an Airbender, are already accounted for in that Bender's normal seeds; those things are only minor variations from the main precepts of a particular element.

The feat really only seems to be necessary when a Bender wants to learn a technique that is opposite to the general tendencies of their own element. For example, the Waterbender's subtle technique of redirection is usually foreign to the all-aggressive Firebender's mindset. A good deal of contemplation and study, the equivalent of a feat, is necessary for a Firebender to understand redirection and the philosophy behind it. From there, a Firbender could develop a technique like the Redirection of Lightning.

That said, I think the benefits gained from the Bending Study feat by studying the opposite element are perfect; except for the Waterbender one. It seems like the power of Fire lies not in it's intensity, ( that's Earthbending and sometimes Waterbending) but in it's all consuming nature, it's sheer number of attacks. So, maybe it would be good to give the Waterbender a Water version of the Firestorm ability when they study Fire.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-07, 11:20 PM
Elathron:

Welcome to the project! I think your conception of the day/night variation for firebenders and waterbenders is what most of us have in mind. We just haven’t written anything down yet. I’d say something small like +/-1 would be appropriate, with waterbenders gaining +5 during a full moon and firebenders gaining a +5 during a comet. Or something like that.

To be honest, I like basing Redirect Lightening on Concentration rather than Firebending. Concentration needs some love, in my opinion. Plus, the show never establishes that more powerful benders can shoot lightening that’s harder to redirect. Zuko seems to redirect Ozai’s lightening well enough, and Ozai’s supposed to be the baddest man on the planet. Maybe scale the Concentration DC a little bit (DC 15+1 per 4 levels of the bender shooting the lightening).

Eighth_Seraph:

How did I not notice that? It must have been eliminated from the PDF draft. I like the idea a lot. How ‘bout opposed Firebending checks instead of automatically overcoming the resistance. Make Agni Kai a bit more combative, eh? What do you think of my proposed resistance package? Better or worse?

General Redirect Lightening:

I support the idea of removing it from the Lightning seed and having it solely a function of the Waterbending Study feat. Unless there’s significant objection soon, I’ll make the change. I also support changing the wording so that a firebender can use Redirect Lighting whenever he/she has a Deflect Attack attempt available instead of requiring a special readied action. What says the community?

Bending Study:

Hmm, I like the idea of softening the earth, but earthbenders already have seeds that allow them to do that. What if we gave them a Circular Attack attempt, but only usable when attacked by earthbending. Kind of like Toph does here (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/206/665.jpg)?

I also think we should still keep the Bending Study feats available for all element combinations, rather than limiting them to opposed elements. Some of those abilities are just too cool to pass up.

Edit: I don't support giving waterbenders a version of Firestorm. Waterbending seeds are slower and more fluid than firebending seeds, and I don't think we should speed that up. Perhaps the best illustration of what I mean is when we see Roku testing out his Avatar abilities and bending all four elements simultaneously in The Avatar and the Fire Lord. His waterbending is substantially slower than his other bending forms.

Mephibosheth

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-08, 12:35 AM
Bending Study:
There's no evidence of the study of adjacent elements in the show, nor evidence of the abilities that kind of study confers according to the feat. If we really are sticking to the show here, than we should drop those unsupported abilities. If not, then I say we just add those cool abilities either as new seeds or feats, but it's going to be a free-for-all...

Waterbender:
This is unsupported extrapolation, as we haven't seen what a water bender can do because of studying firebenders, but remember when Katara was Waterbending the Octopus form in "The Crossroads" episode? Or when Master Paku and her were fighting? She was moving damn fast. Have you seen a Tai Chi (waterbending) master perform a 28 set form at full speed? It's like watching a fountain of water incarnate, but it also is very similar to the quick movements of Northern Shaolin (firebending), though not as extended. Look at this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=GueFdd4x6M0) and this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=GmqgmtUCYtY&feature=related) and this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VLRM8vW3NcY&feature=related).

At very high levels, as necessary for the Bending Study feat, a Waterbender could learn to move quickly and basically gain a water version of the Firestorm ability. That's the whole point of the feat after all, learning ways of doing things that defy the stereotype of a particular element.

Earthbender:
I like giving Earthbenders the option of a Circular Attack, but as a feat separate from the Bending Study Feat, as it's not so different from other Earthbending maneuvers. Now giving the Earthbenders Evasion based seeds, that would be a Bending Study feat.
What seeds allow an Earthbender to use Soften Earth or Mud to Rock?

Redirect Lightning:
Also, I totally agree with the changes to Redirect Lightning. It makes a lot of sense considering that neither Zuko nor Iroh appear to have been watching specifically for a Lightning attack - readying an action - before they used the Redirect ability.

Sandbending:
Where is teh Sandbenders? They were so cool, and they had a big part in the show, but we don't have them here...:smallfrown: Anyone have any ideas about how to incorporate it? Feats? Seeds? PrC's?

Ceiling009
2008-01-08, 02:54 AM
Actually, I think i posted the feat for the different times, and the power up that is associated, Child of the Midnight Ocean/Noonday Sky, It was a really long name.

The thing about that feat though is that I don't think it should have any real drawbacks, a +2 to your bending check, at your proper time should be fine, without you receiving a -2 at your off time. If it were a +4 or +5, then I see a foreseeable drop in bending ability at your off time, cause remember, you can get feats that add +2 to two skills all the time, without any requirements or drawbacks (alertness anyone?).

In fact, here's my (new) draft:

Child of the Sun/Moon
You are quite in tune with your bending art's true source, either the sun or the moon, thus when in the proper time of day, your art is that much stronger.
Prequisites: Firebender level 1 or Waterbender level 1, Wisdom 13
Benefit:
Waterbender - At night you add +2 bonus to all your bending checks. In the case of a full moon, you add a +5? bonus to your bending checks.
Firebender - In the day, you receive a +2 bonus to all your bending checks. In the case of a comet, you +5 bonus to your bending checks.

I think about when bending will fail, like during eclipses should be outlined in the mechanics and description of bending, as it's more a ubiquitous thing with water and fire benders. It's almost better as a free feat added into the class abilities for fire or waterbenders, as theoretically, all firebenders and waterbenders get an edge during thier respective times. The only foreseeable problem is that Air and Earth benders have nothing to my recollection in the show, as to times or areas or anything of the like that would give them a theoretical edge. Maybe during storms, Airbenders may get an edge, as the already flowing winds empower them? Maybe, as with Toph, if an Earthbender willfully closes their eyes and takes all penalties for fighting blind, their earthbending might get stronger (after all molebadgers are blind too)?

On Fire Resistance
I like the endure elements idea more, as with two firebenders, the extra rolling would be I think too much of a... hassle. It means that if you hit, you have to roll a firebending check to see if you actually do any damage. It's not Firebenders are really immune or reallly resistant to fire more than what I think endure elements would be, and capping out at 10... That extra rolling just seems to much to represent that in firebenders. I mean every bender, but fire gets a movement type increase, and oddly enough, watching Zuko and Azula, they seem to get a run speed more than flying, climbing or water walking. They are really really mobile, compared to let's say waterbenders, and most earthbenders (minus the dai lee) almost on par with Aang.

Also, I'm quite in favor of scrapping the Waterwalk seed and make it a standard class ability, as so far, no one but Katara (which since season 1, is really the only waterbender in the show) really seems be able to walk on water, and she seems to do it without much concentration. In fact all through out the painted lady episode, she basically treated that river like another extension of land.

Edit: Is it just me, or do benders, minus the firebenders, move faster through their special movement, than their actual movement? Looking that Iconic's Thread, it seems that Katara can swim 60 ft, while her normal movement is still 30... I think all benders should probably get a few incremental movement bonuses, and a few less special movement increments. Firebenders should also get some movement bonuses period.

Pirate_King
2008-01-08, 10:21 AM
Waterbender:
This is unsupported extrapolation, as we haven't seen what a water bender can do because of studying firebenders, but remember when Katara was Waterbending the Octopus form in "The Crossroads" episode, against like 50 firebenders? She was moving damn fast. Have you seen a Tai Chi (waterbending) master perform a 28 set form at full speed? It's like watching a fountain of water incarnate, but it also is very similar to the quick movements of Northern Shaolin (firebending), though not as extended. Look at this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=GueFdd4x6M0) and this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=GmqgmtUCYtY&feature=related) and this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VLRM8vW3NcY&feature=related).

At very high levels, as necessary for the Bending Study feat, a Waterbender could learn to move quickly and basically gain a water version of the Firestorm ability. That's the whole point of the feat after all, learning ways of doing things that defy the stereotype of a particular element.


To be fair, there were only two fire benders at the end of cross roads, Zuko and Azula. The rest were Dai Li, and when they all showed up, Katara hadn't actually begun an attack, she created the octopus for defense, and everyone was just sort of standing around. Though, she had earlier managed to match Zuko blow for blow, in terms of speed...

I've also worked out some variation on weather effects, sort of simpler, sort of not, but more universal rather than feat based:

the following environmental conditions add a +2 circumstance bonus to a firebender's bending checks (these stack with the DM's approval):
within an hour of mid-day(the sun is the greatest source of fire)
close proximity to Volcano, fault-line, or other great source of
heat(DM's call)
Summer solstice or equvilent(earth is closest to the sun [or vise-versa,
in the case of irregularly shaped worlds])

the following environmental conditions add a -2 circumstance penalty to a firebender's bending checks (these stack with the DM's wrath):
within an hour of midnight ("You with the moon. I rise with the sun")
cold rain or snow
Winter solstice or equivilent (see above, only furthest)

Then just reverse everything for waterbenders.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-08, 12:13 PM
Oh... good point, Pirate. That was stupid of me. Fixed.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-08, 12:29 PM
So, the question on bending study feats now becomes, "Should we extrapolate the idea of cross-discipline learning into combinations not demonstrated in the show, or should we limit the idea to a Waterbending Learning feat that grants the Redirect Lightning ability to firebenders?"

We should answer this question before we proceed. I can't remember if we've had this discussion before, so unless anyone can remember, we should resolve this issue now.

On the Child of the Sun and Moon issue, I think the show indicates that the night/day sensitivity is a class feature rather than a feat. None of the firebenders and waterbenders in the Siege of the North episodes remain unaffected by the rising and setting of the moon and sun. I think that, ultimately, it should be a class feature but the penalties/bonuses should be small (+/- 2 at most) with the exception of full moons, comets, and eclipses (during which firebending and waterbending are impossible). However, I'm willing to go with the consensus on this. I do think, however, that +/- 5 is too much.

Pirate_King's list of environmental conditions is interesting, but I can't really think of any examples of these factors substantially affecting bending in the show, other than night/day, full moons, comets, and eclipses. If we can find concrete examples, then I'm fine with it, but until then...

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-08, 02:08 PM
Well, my take is that I like the Bending Study feats (obviously, as I wrote them up!) and I think that if we learned anything from the Guru when he was teaching Aang to unlock his chakras, was that the elements are not so different separate. One could then pull from that while only one can be the Avatar, there's nothing saying that you couldn't learn a thing or three from the other elements. So I vote "yay" on Bending Study feats, plainly, we need more bending feats.

The Sun/Moon thing, I could see that being okay as a class feature with a +/- 2 thing depending on time of day (as well as plot relevant stuff, i.e. eclipses). I think it could be good. So "yay" on this as well.

-X

P.S. I did a little revising on the bending study feats last night, if anyone wants to check back at them.

Darkbane
2008-01-08, 04:09 PM
Bending Study: I vote yes for multi-element effects.
Sun/Moon: I vote yes for small bonuses applying to everyone.

Sandbending was being dealt with a while ago, but it got pushed to the back burner. Unfortunately, that has happened several times: in the midst of discussion a new idea gets brought up, and everybody focuses on that. It just seems to be one of those things that happens with a project as broad as this one.

ErrantX
2008-01-08, 05:52 PM
The trouble with Sandbenders and Sandbending in general is simply we don't know enough about it to really do anything with it. It looks like some fusion of Airbending and Earthbending, but primarily looks (to me anyway) more like Airbending then Earth. I'd suggest a 1-3 (tops 1-5) PrC for Sandbending with low reqs and specific seeds for them to chose from. Otherwise... I dunno what to do with them. They're weird :P

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-08, 08:10 PM
I don't quite see the point of implementing a penalty for the off times, as if this was a feat, or ever a class feature, it would be just... well odd, as lots of the +2 skill feats barely have any prerequisites, and if anything are always "on". Having a temporal restriction on feat or ability, that is normally looked over as mostly useless, in this case, it's actually useful, and then having it have a penalty, I think is way too much. I doubt, the waterbenders are actually weaker in the daytime, or that it is the same with firebenders at night. At best, I'm sure that they get better at their respective halves of the day instead. I mean they say "I rise with the moon/sun" but they never say they "fall" when switching times. I think I'll edit my draft of the feat to put it more in line with that...

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-08, 08:55 PM
Ok... well, my idea for the Bending Study feat was to allow Earthbenders to learn something about Air, Airbenders something about Earth, Waterbenders something about Fire, and Firebenders something about Water. Not just limiting it to Firebenders getting the Redirect Lightning ability.

Then the other abilities that are listed in the Feat right now could just be added as seeds instead of as Feats. See, the other abilities don't sound like they would require a lot of study of other elements; They're more just creative, non-canon applications of Bending abilities... So, that was my proposition.

About Sandbending, I like the idea of a Sandbender PrC that would give access to sand specific seeds, like Dustdevils and Sandstorms. There could also be an Earthbender feat that allows Earthbenders to bend sand just like any other earth, like a Sandbending template or something? It could be a prerequisite for the PrC or just a useful ability for an Earthbender to have.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-08, 10:13 PM
How did I not notice that? It must have been eliminated from the PDF draft. I like the idea a lot. How ‘bout opposed Firebending checks instead of automatically overcoming the resistance. Make Agni Kai a bit more combative, eh? What do you think of my proposed resistance package? Better or worse?

Eh, what package is that? If you just mean the same resistances, but with a firebending check to overcome them, I think it's a possibility and a hassle, which is the general theme of this project over the original in the first place. In this case, though, I think that overcoming fire resistance will get very tiresome in most situations. We could make it into a specific system for Agni Kai, much like the rules for dueling that were proposed in another thread sometime last year. It makes sense to me to have opposed bending checks instead of Deflect Bending when two benders of the same element are involved, but it would be an incredible pain to not only make the rules, but carry them out. It would be fine in duel situations, but I think that in general, straight resistance with an easily calculated way to get around it is the best way to go.

Bending Study
Also, I REALLY like the new bending studies feats, even if one or two of the effects are a bit on the weak side (eliminating a -2 penalty to Deflect Bending hardly seems feat worthy for benders with little or no bonus feats). Also, even though the show doesn't explicitly say that elements aside from your opposite can be learned from, I think that the Guru's words and common sense can be used to extrapolate this. That and it's really cool, and there's no reason not to do it.

Also, I like the idea of the Avatar getting the benefit of these feats for every element he learns as a bender of every discipline he knows. Therefore, Aang would have Airbending Study, Waterbending Study and Earthbending Study, gaining the benefits of each as an airbender, waterbender and earthbender. Maybe he'd get the benefits as a firebender since the encounter with the Sun Warriors, but that's doubtful right now.

The sun/moon
There doesn't need to be a feat to gain these bonuses. That's very clearly shown in the show, unless every waterbender at the north pole and Hama and Katara took the feat for a once-a-month power boost. When the full moon's up, all waterbenders gain a significant boost. Just how significant is the question. +5, I think, is not too much, judging from the show. Unbalancing? Maybe. But true to the show nonetheless. I'm leaning more towards a +10 for all waterbenders during the full moon (did you see Master Paku tearing up those tanks like construction paper? Or that one waterbender hold off four firebender soldiers on a tornado of a water spout?). Yes, it's a large boost, but thematically appropriate. For normal nights, a straight +2 seems fine, since it's not going to be overlooked, but not too unbalancing considering the extremely few modifiers going into Bending checks.

As for firebenders and the sun, a solid +2 whenever the sun shines brightly in the sky seems fine by me. I would actually prefer for firebenders to gain the bonus near noontime, but the show doesn't support that. Zuko made his decisive statement "You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" at sunrise, and demonstrated the difference it made shortly afterwards.

Whatever numbers we actually fit in here, they should go either as class features or in the Bending Overview. Definitely not feats, definitely not seeds.

Ceiling009
2008-01-08, 10:55 PM
I agree that it's a class feature more than anything else, and make a note if source of the bending, the sun, the moon, earth, and I guess wind, that the respective benders should lose their bending abilities, in the bending overview? Or rather, since it's not shown in the show, all earthbenders and airbenders really can't be taken away from their element (even when surrounded by metal, bumi... and well toph can still bend).

Hmmm, it's a good trade, or almost poetic balance that fire and water can lose their ability to bend, but gain a palatable edge during certain times, while the earth and air never really lose their ability to bend, but gain no extra edge.

As for that +10 to bending checks during full moons... I think it should be +5. I'm still up for the feat to make it that would represent someone even more in tune with the moon... where if you take it, you can possibly add let's say you bending levels to your check?

Pirate_King
2008-01-09, 12:18 AM
It has been stated earlier that so few DM's pay attention to the time of day. As that is the case, I think sun/moon and weather effects should be limited to those, without the addition of full moon feats. The only time most DM's would pay attention to the phases of the moon are when they use lycanthropes or, in the case of an Avatar setting, plot points. Rather than working with a game mechanic, players of waterbenders would have to constantly remind the DM of this awesome feat they've got so he'd make it a full moon sometime. I could just be rambling, but I feel that adding a feat to this sort of feature is just too much hassle.

Sandbending! I've sort of got an idea for this. Perhaps when an earthbender reaches a certain level, say, third, they can choose to access a different set of sandbending seeds and no longer be able to take the normal earth ones. From what we see of sandbenders, they seem to be limited in their special ability. This, however, requires that we make a new set of seeds, or at least determine a new way for the old ones to work with sand only. Can anyone remember a sandbender that worked with earth that wasn't sand?

ErrantX
2008-01-09, 12:27 AM
Hmm, I like the idea of softening the earth, but earthbenders already have seeds that allow them to do that. What if we gave them a Circular Attack attempt, but only usable when attacked by earthbending. Kind of like Toph does here?

Well, my problem with that is exactly what redirect lightning is, but slightly broader. When I was writing the bending study feats, I looked at what each bender could do and thought of a way to weaken it and then apply it to the other bender's elements. Fire gained Water's circular attack by the canon of the show, so I ventured that the earthbenders could get earthswim. Bumi used it, other Earthbenders have done it, just seemed natural. I understand that you'd prefer to make it part of a seed, but if you look at what I did with most of the other bending study feats, they all learn something that the others already know. If you all want me to change it to a circular attack variant, I will, but I figured I should present my reasoning behind the earthswim ability.

-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-09, 01:27 AM
Ok, cool, consensus seems to be keeping the Bending Study feat as is.

The one thing that bugs me about the feat, is the ability a Firebender gains by studying Earthbending. It just seems like it doesn't really show the Firbender learning a philosophical concept from Earth, just how to climb well. Maybe, instead, they could be given the ability to use Steady Stance like this.

Stabilizing herself with two explosive stomps, a Firebender may blast holes into the ground to lock himself in place. Feet solidly connected to the ground, the Firebender gains a +2 to saves or checks to stay in place, +1 for every point by which the Firebending check exceeds the DC.

ErrantX: Really, Redirect Lightning isn't a Circular Attack. It just Redirects, keeping the lightning from doing damage, not using it as a recycled weapon.

Sandbending
I think you've got a good idea there Pirate. The only problem is we didn't get to see much of what Sandbenders are capable of in the show. But, I imagine that, since they live in the desert, they rarely ever need to bend normal earth, and thus don't practice it.

How about this, we give them the ability to pull small particles away from nearby stone to create a certain quantity of sand. This way, Sandbenders will be plausible outside of a desert setting as well.

Or they could just go the way of Gaara from Naruto and carry around a big jug of sand everywhere...

As for seeds, how about these?

Sand Shield
Base DC: 15
As a move aciton, this technique creates several thin bands of sand that swirl and twist around the Earthbender, helping to deflect incoming attacks. The sand does not make it harder to see the Earthbender, but it grants her a +4 deflection bonus to her AC. Maintaining the Sand Shield for more than two rounds gives a -4 penalty to all Earthbending checks until the Earthbender ends the seed, increasing by -1 every two turns. If this penalty actually causes an Earthbender to fail a Earthbending check, she may choose to end the seed and remove the penalty at that time. An Earthbender can concentrate on maintaining this seed as a Swift action. The Earthbender must be within 10ft of a handful of sand.

Dust Devil
Base DC: 30
By manipulating the sand the Earthbender creates a whirlwind made entirely of sand and loose dirt. The Dust Devil is 5 feet in radius and may be up to 20 feet in height. Anytime a Dust Devil enters a creatures square, that creature takes 3d8 damage, Reflex save half. The movement of the swirl sand is equal to the Earthbender's base movement. The Swirl Sand’s base must always be touching the ground. Creatures within the Swirl Sand have concealment, while those on the other side have total concealment.

Sand Benders also use this ability to move their sand skids, it creates a slight breeze (max of 10mph) that pushes
on the sails of their sand skids.

ErrantX
2008-01-09, 02:29 AM
ErrantX: Really, Redirect Lightning isn't a Circular Attack. It just Redirects, keeping the lightning from doing damage, not using it as a recycled weapon.

I dunno, I disagree with this. Zuko obviously used it as a recycled weapon. When Ozai fired it he absorbed it and then returned fire with the same bolt of lightning. Zuko can't make lightning, so... where'd it come from otherwise? Circular Attack per se is deflecting a blast with a quantity of swirling water which washes around goes back at the attacker as a water blast. But at the end of the day, they're both counter attacks. That's what I meant. A defensive action that turns into an offensive action.

-X

Elathron
2008-01-09, 09:49 AM
Hey I now its of topic but I am been reading the non bending classes and thought it might be a good idea to use Iron Heroes martial classes intead and system. Due mainly that it's a non magical system.
Basically characters gain 2 feats at first lvl and every 2 lvls instead of three.
Skills are divided into groups and there for can be raised as groups and skills maybe used to do stunts in combat.
Also as it a human only setting you choose to starting traits from a list such "Desert Born".
Basically all the system was build in order for characters not to have Magic Items what so ever and orientated to combat.

By the way whats a "swift action"

Mephibosheth
2008-01-09, 11:21 AM
Bending Study:

Alright, looks like the consensus is to keep them largely as they are. And the more I think about it, the more I’m ok with the earthswim ability for Waterbending Study (though I still support replacing the waterbender’s swim speed with a ski ability). I also like Dolphin Safe’s steady stance suggestion for the Earthbending Study fire ability. How ‘bout something like:

Fire: Inspired by earthbending’s stability and strong root, a firebender learns to use his bending abilities to improve his ability to stand strong. As a move action, a firebender can melt the earth under his feet, creating small footholds or depressions in the earth. This grants him a bonus against bull rush, overrun, and trip attempts and any other effect that would cause him to involuntarily leave his space equal to his Wisdom modifier. This bonus ends if the firebender leaves his square for any reason. A firebender can only use this ability while standing on an earthen surface, and cannot use it while prone or flatfooted.

Sun/Moon Affinity:

Yay consensus! I’ll add a class feature to both firebenders and waterbenders that gives them a +2 bonus during the relevant times of day, a +5 bonus during the relevant celestial events (full moons and comets, respectively), and removes bending abilities during eclipses.

Sandbending:

ErrantX expresses my feelings on sandbending pretty well when he says that we just don’t know enough to justify a PrC. At most, we know of three bending seeds (steady stance, whirlwind, and some sort of geyser seed), and not much else. Until we learn more, I support keeping this on the back burner, as cool as it is.

Dolphin Safe, I like your Dust Devil seed, but I think it should focus more on providing propulsion for sand sailors and less on damage in combat. Not to say that a dust devil shouldn’t be able to do damage, but rather that you should flesh out how it can be used to propel a sand sailor in greater detail. What speed does it grant? What degree of maneuverability?

Non-Bending Classes:

People have suggested the Iron Kingdoms classes a few times, but I’m hesitant to deviate from the core merely because we don’t want to infringe on any copyright or require people to purchase any supplements to use our setting. Plus, Lord Tartaraus and Eighth_Seraph have both done some amazing work on non-bending classes. The project hub ( http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67493) has links to both sets of classes. We’ve also been able to use core base classes to represent iconic characters from the show. Here again, the project hub has a link to the discussion thread. Finally, we’ve been trying to make these classes balanced against the core base classes, but only playtesting will show whether we’ve succeeded. Either way, I don’t really support the use of the Iron Kingdoms classes because of the availability issue.

Elathron:

A swift action is essentially a free action, but you can only take one swift action per round (as opposed to free actions which can be used with impunity). Check out the SRD page ( http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm) on combat actions for more information.

Quickened Bending:

This brings up an issue that was raised a while ago and never really resolved; the possibility of reducing bending time by increasing the bending skill DC. I just want to go on record in opposition to this idea, merely because of the potential it has to completely unbalance benders. We’ve seen in playtesting the effectiveness of seeds like Wave and Immobilize, and seeds like Lightning could easily become overpowered when you reduce the bending time. The ability to quicken is one of the things that make spellcasters overpowered, and I don’t think it’s something we want to bring into our system.

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-09, 11:30 AM
Swift Actions
A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. You can perform one swift action per turn without affecting your ability to perform other actions. In that regard, a swift action is like a free action. However, you can perform only a single swift action per turn, regardless of what other actions you take. You can take a swift action any time you would normally be allowed to take a free action. Swift actions usually involve spellcasting or the activation of magic items; many characters (especially those who don't cast spells) never have an opportunity to take a swift action.

Casting a quickened spell is a swift action. In addition, casting any spell with a casting time of 1 swift action is a swift action.

Casting a spell with a casting time of 1 swift action does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

As far as Iron Heroes goes, it may be a good plan, but it's not something we can use under the Open Game License. All we can use from published materials, is what's in the d20srd. With that in mind, it makes more sense to homebrew our ideas up so we can have our own, unique working system. Obviously, you should feel free to run an Avatar D20 game anyway you see fit, but we're trying to build from the ground up. My suggestion, as you've mentioned regional feats a few times, is to sit down and write up a couple of ideas for Water Tribe, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomad specific feats, and maybe even include some feats for the Foggy Swamp Tribe and the Sun Warriors.

Peace,
-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-09, 07:33 PM
ErrantX: Sorry about that, to my shame I have yet to see that episode...

Copyright: At what point does something become copyright infringement? Since we already have a kind of unique system here would it be OK to draw on the ideas of things outside of the SRD? And just adapt them to our system?

Sandbending: Well, since I have Sandstorm, a great starting place for Sandbending seeds, I'll work on building some for this system and post them when they're done.

Since we're not sure yet as to whether or not there's going to be a Sandbender PrC, or just a feat that allows Sandbending, or something else, here are the seeds I've got.

Sand Shield
Base DC: 15
As a move aciton, this technique creates several thin bands of sand that swirl and twist around the Earthbender, helping to deflect incoming attacks. The sand does not make it harder to see the Earthbender, but it grants her a +4 deflection bonus to her AC. Maintaining the Sand Shield for more than two rounds gives a -4 penalty to all Earthbending checks until the Earthbender ends the seed, increasing by -1 every two turns. If this penalty actually causes an Earthbender to fail a Earthbending check, she may choose to end the seed and remove the penalty at that time. An Earthbender can concentrate on maintaining this seed as a Swift action. Their must be at least a handful of sand within the Earthbender's bending range for this technique to be accomplished.

Dust Devil
Base DC: 20
By manipulating the sand the Earthbender creates a whirlwind made entirely of sand and loose dirt. The Dust Devil is 5 feet in radius and 5 feet in height. 5 feet may be added to the height or width by adding +4 to the DC. Anytime a Dust Devil enters a creatures square, that creature takes 2d6 damage, Reflex save half.

The movement of the swirl sand is equal to the Earthbender's base movement with good maneuverability and may move it as a swift action. The Swirl Sand’s base must always be touching the ground. The Sandbender must concentrate on a Dust Devil to keep it active. The Sandbender must make a Concentration check (DC 10+damage taken) whenever he takes damage from an attack. If the Sandbender is unable to maintain Concentration for any reason the Dust Devil collapses into normal sand. Creatures within the Swirl Sand have concealment, while those on the other side have total concealment.

The Dust Devil is also used to power the Sand Skids sailed by Sandbenders (see below).

Wall of Sand
Base DC: 15

The Sandbender causes a small wall of churning sand to shoot out of any large amount of sand within her bending range as a standard action. The wall is 1 inch thick, plus one more inch per every 2 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. The wall’s area is one five-foot square, but the Earthbender can add another such square by increasing the Earthbending DC by +4. Or, you may double the walls area by halving its thickness. The wall may be moved with another Earthbending check at the base DC. The Earthbender pushes the wall back 20 ft in a straight line, plus another 5 ft for every 4 points by which the Earthbending check exceeds the DC. The Sandbender must maintain Concentration to keep the churning wall of sand active. The Sandbender must make a Concentration check (DC 10+damage taken) whenever he takes damage from an attack. If the Sandbender is unable to maintain Concentration for any reason the Wall of Sand collapses into normal sand.

The wall cannot be made so that it occupies the same space as a creature. No form of attack can be made to harm a Wall of Sand directly, but each 5ft section has 2 hit points per inch of thickness for determining whether an attack passes through it. It essentially absorbs damage, so attacks must deal more damage than the wall has hit points to have any effect on a target on the other side of the wall.
Breaches in the wall close immediately after the attack that passes through. The sand blocks line of effect, and creatures on opposite sides have total concealment from one another. Moving through the wall requires a strength check (DC 10+ creators Earthbender levels). Those who fail must stop in the space from which they attempted to enter the wall. Any creature that attempts to pass through a Wall of Sand must also make a Reflex save (DC 15) or be blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. A creature passing through the roiling wall does not leave a usable breach for others. All flames are extinguished if carried through the wall.

Control Sand
Base DC: 10
Area: Dust or sand in a volume of 10
ft./level wide by 10 ft./level long
by 2 ft./level deep
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None; see text

Depending on the version you choose, control sand raises or lowers fine particles of material, such as dust or sand. For either version, the Sandbender can reduce one horizontal dimension by half and double the other horizontal dimension.
Lower Sand: This effect causes sand to reduce its depth by as much as 2 feet per caster level, to a minimum depth of 1 inch. The dust and sand is lowered within a square-shaped depression whose sides are up to 10 feet long per caster level. In extremely large and deep sand piles, such as a sand dune, the spell creates a pit that sweeps creatures downward (without dealing damage), putting them at risk and rendering them unable to leave by normal movement for the duration of the spell.
Raise Sand: This effect causes dust and sand to rise in height, just as the lower sand version causes it to lower. Creatures and objects on top of the dust or sand are raised along with the top level of sand.

Sand Blast
Base DC: 25?
The Earth Bender can cause a fistful of sand to spray with enough force to strip flesh from bone and scour surfaces in a 20ft cone shaped burst. Any one within the area takes 1d8 points of damage per 2 Earthbender levels (Maximum 10d8) with a Reflex save for Half damage (DC 16+ Wisdom Modifier). Do not divide damage from sand scour by four when applying it to objects.

Sand Skid: Large vehicle; Sea(Sand)worthiness +4;
Shiphandling +3; Speed 60 ft. (good); Overall AC
–3; Hull sections 40 (sink 10 sections); Section hp 30
(hardness 5), Section AC 3; Ram 4d6; Space 90 ft. by
30 ft.; Height 30 ft. (draft 0 ft.); Complement
5; Cargo 7 tons; Cost 36,000 gp.

Edit: Fixed damage and maneuverability issues.

Pirate_King
2008-01-09, 10:29 PM
2 D8 still seems like a lot. whats wrong with d6? It shouldn't be able to do more damage than the average small elemental, the DC's only 20. You should probably add stuff about how a sandbender maintains and moves a dust devil, and how difficult that would be.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-10, 12:02 AM
To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the sandbending seeds. In and of themselves they look pretty good. However, all of them with the exception of Dust Devil are completely unprecedented. Again, the only seeds we see sandbenders use in the show are Dust Devil (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/210/162.jpg), Steady Stance (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/210/617.jpg), and some sort of sand geyser (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/211/598.jpg). That's all we've got. I still support waiting to see if we learn anything else before moving ahead with a sandbender class.

I also caution against using the Arms & Equipment or Stormwrack stat block for the Sand Sailors, mainly because those books aren't in the Open Game License, and are therefore only available to those who purchase them. When we do get around to dealing with ships, we'll have to come up with our own stats.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-10, 12:29 AM
Well, ok, but a lot of the abilities in the Bending Study feat were unprecedented as well, and there was no problem with them...

Actually, I was wondering about a few of the normal seeds and where they came from: Sound Waves, Golem, Immobilize: Arrest, Metalbending: Crush, Mist: Figment, Ice Shards: Melee, Armor, and Blizzard: Ice Storm.

If these were all shown in the show and I just can't remember or missed them, just say so. If not, I'm wondering how they came to be...?

Ceiling009
2008-01-10, 05:35 AM
A lot of those forms... well actually don't have a real precedent in the show, but are some extrapolations from I guess pretty strong sources and forms. To me, some are just more for utility, I guess... really interesting, and almost too specific to actually be a form and had to be a seed. Seriously, though, Golem has never been shown, but it's something doable, but is so unwieldy as a form, that it's a seed instead.

There's a few more seeds I wish that existed, mostly things that have to deal with bloodbending, and not the whole puppet thing. Personally, I think that Bloodbender could soon easily become a whole prestige class, as there is a healing waters prestige class... sort of, not sure if it was ever finished. But.. that's been sort of shot down. Here's an idea of seeds for what I think would fall under bloodbender:

Body of Water
DC Varies
A Bloodbender may effect the flow of blood and other bodily fluids that they may pose a serious impediment to the target. The target must make a Fort Save (10 + half levels of waterbender and bloodbender + Wisdom mod) or suffer the effect; on a successful save, the effect is negated. For every 5 that the base DC is surpassed, it adds a +1 to the Save DC.
Sickened DC 20: The target is sickened for 1d4 rounds
Nauseated DC 25: Target is nauseated for 1d4 rounds
Stunned DC 15: Target is stunned for 1 round

Muddled Mind
DC Varies
The Bloodbender can also move the fluids of the nervous system to incur sensory deprivations and muddle thoughts. The target must make a Fort Save (10 + half levels of waterbender and bloodbender + Wisdom mod) or suffer the effect; on a successful save, the effect is negated. For every 5 that the base DC is surpassed, it adds a +1 to the Save DC.
Blind or Deaf DC 25: Causes subject to be blind or deaf for 2d4 rounds
Dazed DC 10: Target is Dazed for 1 round

Midnight Falls
DC Varies
The Bloodbender may also as a final act cause the subjects body to shutdown, rendering it tired, or useless. The target must make a Fort Save (10 + half levels of waterbender and bloodbender + Wisdom mod) or suffer the effect; on a successful save, the effect is negated. For every 5 that the base DC is surpassed, it adds a +1 to the Save DC.
Fatigue DC 30: The subject becomes fatigued
Exhaustion DC 35: The Subject becomes exhausted
Unconscious DC 40: The Target is unconsious

But these are besides the point.

Oh yeah, reading through the PDF, there are some either redundancies about the Healing Water Seeds and some of the seeds of the Disciple of Healing Waters, such Major Wounds, and the main use of Panacea. I figured it should be brought up here since, it's more about bending practices and the seeds themselves.

I also don't quite like the way Bloodbending is done, as in the Ep. "Puppetmaster", Hama is easily controlling multiple mice. For Hama to control one mouse it seems, she would have to make a 50 bending check... to control the 5 mice she was controlling... she would have to make a 70 check. I doubt even with the full moon she was capable of a 70 check... but either way, a 70 check to control 5 mice? That seems a bit out of line there.

Bending Study
They all work out really well I think, except for the one that reduces the penalty to deflect attacking for firebenders. Why not just take the penalty away completely? I mean, they do have to use a feat to do so, and in RP terms are enlightened to that aspect of how the elements work. If you got rid of the penalty completely, then I think that the feat would have more value, as it is, the Water Study feat is probably the juiciest for a lot of benders, especially that neglected firebender.

Elathron
2008-01-10, 09:01 AM
As far as Iron Heroes goes, it may be a good plan, but it's not something we can use under the Open Game License. All we can use from published materials, is what's in the d20srd. With that in mind, it makes more sense to homebrew our ideas up so we can have our own, unique working system. Obviously, you should feel free to run an Avatar D20 game anyway you see fit, but we're trying to build from the ground up. My suggestion, as you've mentioned regional feats a few times, is to sit down and write up a couple of ideas for Water Tribe, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomad specific feats, and maybe even include some feats for the Foggy Swamp Tribe and the Sun Warriors.

Peace,
-X

I'll get right on it, but I think I'll do Racial traits instead of feats I think it will work better most reginal feats tend to suck except one or two

Mephibosheth
2008-01-10, 09:44 AM
Well, ok, but a lot of the abilities in the Bending Study feat were unprecedented as well, and there was no problem with them...

True, and I won't deny being a little bit uncomfortable with the inconsitancy. However, the consensus of the group is to include them, and, where reasonable, consensus comes before strict accuracy. Since the beginning, accurately representing the show has been one of my priorities, but I also realize that this is a group project.

In regards to the sandbender's specifically, I apologize if I sounded harsh. Such was not my intention. I do like the seeds. They're good adaptations of some of the Sandstorm content (one of my favorite books, by the way) and they do fit with what sandbenders could do. When I think about it, I'm more worried about lack of general information about sandbending than I am about the specific seeds. We don't really know if sandbenders can bend normal earth, or to what extent. Should we represent them as rogue-ish benders or stick with the monk/fighter-like feel of the earthbender? What earthbending seeds are they capable of using? Can they use any airbending seeds? What's the difference between their ability to bend sand and that of a normal earthbender? We really only see Toph and the sandbenders bending sand, and Toph's inability to bend effectively could easily be explained by the limits of her tremorsense rather than any innate inability to bend sand.

Those are my most pressing concerns about sandbending and the main reasons I support keeping it on the back burner until it's clear we need to extrapolate or we have more information.


Actually, I was wondering about a few of the normal seeds and where they came from: Sound Waves, Golem, Immobilize: Arrest, Metalbending: Crush, Mist: Figment, Ice Shards: Melee, Armor, and Blizzard: Ice Storm.

If these were all shown in the show and I just can't remember or missed them, just say so. If not, I'm wondering how they came to be...?

I'll grant that not all of these seeds are directly depicted. Here are some screenshots, though:
Immobilize (arrest) (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/107/239.jpg) - from The Winter Solstice, Part I - We might need get rid of this form now that the Strength DC's scale with class level. This was mostly to provide an immobilization option for lower-level earthbenders.
Golem (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/120/834.jpg) - from The Siege of the North, Part II - at least, provided inspiration for Golem
Mist (figment) (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/114/753.jpg) - from The Fortuneteller
Ice Shards (Weapon) (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/202/042.jpg) - from The Cave of Two Lovers - this reminds me, I have to update Ice Shards on the website
Armor (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/220/650.jpg) - from The Crossroads of Destiny
I can't find anything for Sound Waves, Metalbending (crush),and Blizzard (ice storm). I know that Aang has demonstrated some control over sound on multiple occasions (even if it's only yelling really loud), and that Metalbending (crush) was something of a concession to make Metalbending a more attractive seed. Perhaps that moment in The Day of Black Sun when Toph traps the Dai Lee agent in a girder... Finally, the gaang is seen making snow in Sokka's Master, though not an ice storm. Again, I think this is a creative interpretation.

I hope that helps. Again, I'm sorry for the apparent inconsistancies and for sounding harsh.

ErrantX
2008-01-10, 11:33 AM
I made some changes to Waterbending Study and to Airbending Study. With water I changed the Earth ability to Circular Attack but only with Earth. For air I reduced the Firebender's deflect penalty to +0.

-X

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 12:46 PM
I don't think we need any bloodbending seeds beyond puppets, mostly because that's all we see in the show, and she could only do it at the full moon. And, since Katara managed to do it when she'd never done it before, the DC should have a lower base, say 30, + x per y HD the creature has. I think to make it doable yet safeguard against it being overpowered, the DC can be lowered if the seed explicitly states that it can only be performed under a full moon.

And whats wrong with giving earth a normal circular attack with the waterbending study? if anything, it would be easier to maintain a chunk of earth in a circular attack than it would be water, just swinging the thing around like a sling shot. It makes sense, as an earth bender studying water would learn about tides and gravity and such, it would work like an orbit around the bender.

ErrantX
2008-01-10, 01:35 PM
And whats wrong with giving earth a normal circular attack with the waterbending study? if anything, it would be easier to maintain a chunk of earth in a circular attack than it would be water, just swinging the thing around like a sling shot. It makes sense, as an earth bender studying water would learn about tides and gravity and such, it would work like an orbit around the bender.

That's because they're not waterbenders, they're earthbenders. They've simply learned a trick from the waterbender, hence why they're not as good at it. Otherwise it would be more unbalancing.

-X

ErrantX
2008-01-10, 01:44 PM
Now that I've sat down and statted out two of the main characters of the show on the iconic character thread (both Aang and Toph, considering Zuko or Azula next), it occurs to me that Earthbenders (and probably to some extent Firebenders) are not getting enough seeds. I had to buy 4 extra seeds to just get all the seeds that Toph has demonstrated proficiency with on the show. While this may be alright, I'd propose to increase the seeds to be 1 plus 1 seed per 2 levels, or 1 + half your level, and make that equal across the board for all benders. As it stands, we have Waterbenders with 11, Earthbenders with 9, Firebenders with 8, and Airbenders with 11. So I'd at least give all of them 11. Whatcha think?

-X

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 01:47 PM
you could balance it in other ways, maybe by giving them a penalty to the reflex save, or make them unable to make as many deflect bending attempts. Given the way a circular attack works, the physics of it only working against earth attacks doesn't really make sense. When a water bender does a circular attack, it's just bringing the water around them to deflect the attack, then using that same water for a waterblast after it orbits the bender using the momentum from the deflection. To do the same thing with earth, perhaps take a penalty to the attack roll since earth is heavier or something, but to make it work only against earth attacks? That doesn't make sense. That's more like a contested bending on the rocks thrown by an opposing earthbenders blast

note: it's not the same as redirect lighting, because that's a redirection of someone else's attack, not a re-use of the substance used in a deflection.

ErrantX
2008-01-10, 01:58 PM
note: it's not the same as redirect lighting, because that's a redirection of someone else's attack, not a re-use of the substance used in a deflection.

I disagree entirely. Someone fires an earthblast at, say, Toph. We'll say for argument's sake she has the Waterbending Study feat. So, say, the Boulder fires an earthblast at her and she uses the earthbender circular attack, the earthblast comes at her and she takes control of it with her circular attack and then fires it right back. Redirect lightning is the same way, Ozai fires at Zuko, Zuko directs the lightning through his body (away from his heart) and then channels the exact same lightning bolt back out the other side and redirects it towards a new target/away from himself. Zuko cannot make lightning, this is abundantly clear, so in that situation, it had to be Ozai's lightning.

I am personally against the earthbender circular attack existing in the first place, as that's what firebenders technically have (more or less). I prefer the earthswim ability. Waterbenders use the material that they blocked with for the blast, earthbenders deflecting earthbending could simply just try to take control of the material directly to block it or (as we've seen) use their hands and feet to deflect it. Why couldn't they just go the step farther and use the exact same material from an enemy earthblast to make their counter attack?

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-10, 02:26 PM
I don't think earthbenders should have circular attack, at best, that earth swim ability is one of the better ideas. I'm trying to rack up ideas that would be water, but done with earth... Hmm, but instead of earth swim exactly, you can double your speed with the tunnel seed, and extend the distance of the earth teleport seed? It somehow gives the earthbender greater maneuverability, and really makes the feat valuable; while not infringing on anything else.

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 02:28 PM
Waterbenders use the material that they blocked with for the blast, earthbenders deflecting earthbending could simply just try to take control of the material directly to block it or (as we've seen) use their hands and feet to deflect it. Why couldn't they just go the step farther and use the exact same material from an enemy earthblast to make their counter attack?

-X

With the rules for contested bending and move a rock, it's almost as if they could do that anyway. Why make it a feat? The swim thing wouldn't make sense anyway, if we get rid of the waterbender's swim speed, as we probably should.

I feel as though an earth bender who studied water bending could do this, with a penalty since earth is heavier and not as pliable as water
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/martenthegreat/circularattack.jpg

A fire bender couldn't do that, because their element couldn't work that way. Still, they can use water bending concepts of motion to do this:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/martenthegreat/redirectlighting.jpg

Mephibosheth
2008-01-10, 02:29 PM
I'm with X on the earthbending circular attack debate. First, giving earthbenders circular attack that's usable in any circumstance, even with penalties, is more powerful and more versatile than other abilities that these feats grant. Second, there's a precedent (albeit a tenuous one) for this specific type of circular attack, whereas there isn't for any other uses. Third, using the same techniques with earth that waterbenders use with water doesn't make sense to me. Earthbending is rooted and (in almost all cases) directly connected to the earth, whereas waterbending is much more fluid. Fourth (and most important) is the philosophical argument. The bending disciplines are rooted in a martial philosophy that governs the moves that they are able to use. Earthbending's philosophy is one of stability and rootedness. Even with the increased fluidity that waterbending study brings, it can't overcome the inherent rootedness of earthbending on a philosophical level enough to allow circular attacks with impunity.

Also, even though it was originally my idea, I'm not sold on circular attack for earthbenders. The more I think about it, the more ambivalent I feel about the whole issue of circular attack versus earthswim (though I'm not a huge fan of the name "earthswim," which conjures up images of someone doing the front crawl through a stone floor). Only the Redirect Lightening ability is precedented, so the rest of it is just extrapolation. Gaaah! I hate this flip-flopping, but I really don't know which I support anymore.

On the issue of seeds known, I really can't say why Eighth_Seraph decided to alter the number when he started work on the version 2.0 benders. The original version had all benders knowing the same number of forms. I'm fine with either, though (if he's still around, and not in any intending to bring him out of semi-retirement) I'd like to hear Eighth_Seraph's explanation.

My (only semi-coherent) thoughts.

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 02:39 PM
What exactly would earth swim do that can't already be done with earth jump or tunneling seeds? And isn't the whole point of the bending study to do something that isn't normal for the bender? And I can sort of see how a circular attack would work for only earth, now that I've been crudely illustrating things; it'd be just like redirect lighting, only rather than pass through the person, the opponent's earthblast would swing around her. It still just seems like contested bending, though contested bending requires a move action, so... it couldn't be done on someone elses turn? how does contested bending actually work, anyway?

ErrantX
2008-01-10, 02:43 PM
How about we say it gives them the ability to "swim through the earth", i.e. the burrow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#burrow)special ability. Waterbending Study teaches earthbenders to Burrow at the listed speed. How's that sound?

As far as stepping on the toes of Tunnel and Earth Jump, let's talk it out.

• Earth Jump: Using this seed, an Earthbender can transport herself through the earth to any point within 25 feet. The Earthbender’s starting and ending points must be connected by a contiguous area of earth or stone at least 5 feet thick at all points. For every 5 by which the Earthbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC, the distance she can travel increases by 5 feet. Additionally, by increasing the base DC by 20, an Earthbender can use this seed as a Move action.
That's just a single dimension door like effect in which the earthbender goes into the ground in one place and comes up in another, short distance. Burrowing would allow you to travel for multiple rounds with speed underground. Tremorsense would be very helpful here.


• Tunnel: By digging directly into the earth, in which case she begins by making a hole (as above) and then making it deeper, or making it horizontal beneath the ground. The earth moved aside by this seed is compacted around the sides of the excavation, making a noticeable bulge in the ground if the tunnel is within 5 ft of the surface. Tunneling through stone doubles the Earthbending DC, and an earthbender can choose to collapse the tunnel through the use of Move a Rock.
This allows an earthbender to travel for distance and time AND bring other people. Burrowing doesn't allow someone to follow you with ease.

-X

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 02:48 PM
That does make sense in terms of difference with the seeds, but it doesn't make sense to give them that ability if we take away a waterbender's swim speed. They should learn something from the fluidity of a waterbender's movements.

perhaps, in addition to taking a penalty to the reflex save involved in circular attack, the damage is also reduced to a d4, to reflect the earth having a chunk of it flung loose by the attack that it just deflected? not that an earth bender's reflex save is all that great, anyway.

on a side note, I came up with a way to create a practiced bending feat as was suggested earlier.

Practiced Bending[bending]
Prerequisite: Knowledge(bending) 4 ranks, member of any bending class
Benefit: You continue to gain bending seeds even when multi-classing for up to 4 levels.
example: A human firebender 4/ martial artist 3 normally only knows 2 firebending seeds. Using this feat, the character would gain the seeds of a 7th level firebender, granting him 3 seeds. Should he take another level in martial artist, he would gain a fourth seed as though he attained 8th level in firebender.

Sort of a draft, I didn't think a bender should gain any other benefits, as that would defeat the disadvantage of multiclassing.

Ceiling009
2008-01-10, 03:09 PM
I second the loss of the swim ability of Waterbenders and let them have Water Walk as a class ability; without the trappings of a seed. I mean, it seems all earthbenders can stick to stone walls pretty easily, Airbenders can easily fly, but if Water Walk were to turn into a class ability, please don't make it seed or have the same trappings as thus.

Since that, "earth swim" would kinda be moot. I mean, I think it's the better of the two options so far presented. But, instead of circular attack, how about something like "Splitting the Flow". Earth, being the rooted immovable rock it is, learns that sooner or later, you can split anything, just like the flow of water. Possibly as a mechanical advantage, it ups the Head-on Defense Ability. Or something to the nature.

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 03:13 PM
I like the sound of that, the only problem is, an earth bender doesn't get head-on defense until 7th level. Still, this concept is probably more likely to reap some less controversial mechanics. I'll think on ways to use it.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-10, 03:20 PM
What about something that builds off the ability of earthbenders to do this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/218/084.jpg) (it's kinda hard to see, but this is immediately after Aang splits a "surface to air rock" in half with his staff)? Perhaps, in the process of splitting the earthbending attack, they can redirect it in a limited way, making it hit enemies behind them and slightly to the side, dealing the same damage as the original attack would have. It's a relatively circumstantial ability that could be quite useful and fits with both the earthbending philosophy and the waterbending philosophy.

Edit: I'm not too worried about the feat only being available late. Redirect Lightning is pretty useless until you're high enough level where your enemies can shoot lightning.

Just an idea. What do you think?

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 03:27 PM
it's kinda cool, but incredibly consequential, especially if it only works against earth attacks. perhaps broaden it, the effect of bending an angled earth that does a deflect bending and has a chance of redirecting and kind of attack? it might be a bit complicated, though:

Whenever an Earthbender with the waterbending study feat makes a deflect bending attack, she may take a reflex save to shape the earth she uses to make the deflection. If her reflex save beats her opposed attack roll (the roll she made for the deflect bending, not the opponents initial attack), she may redirect the attack towards any creature in an arc( insert how to describe the angles illustrated below. I'm not so good at that.), dealing the damage that would have been dealt to the bender, reflex negates. The range of this redirection is the remainder of its original range after it reaches the earthbender.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/martenthegreat/changeflow.jpg
The little curvy brown line is shaped earth that the bender pulled up from the ground. I suppose this is more flow changing than flow splitting, but an attack would have to have a certain intensity to be split and still do damage.

Who's lovin' my illustrations? Are they not awesome and clarifying at the same time?

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-10, 09:17 PM
I think the big problem we may be running into with the Bending Study feat is that we all have good ideas of what the elements look like individually, but not when two are used together. For instance, what comes to mind when you think of an Earthbender who has lived among Waterbenders?

Perhaps, knowledge of the movements and philosophy behind these combinations will help us determine what kinds of mechanics to utilize. So, I've taken the liberty of finding some video's of Kung Fu styles I think might be a good representation of particular combinations.

Earthbending+Waterbending: Paochui (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85HqfdCU74&NR=1), a style (http://youtube.com/watch?v=4v1ai-6J--M) that emphasizes rootedness and strength, but also fluidity and flexibility. A style that is one moment supple and flowing and the next hard and unyeilding.

Earthbending+Firebending: Tiger (http://youtube.com/watch?v=BCzryVnecM8) Crane (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VQW55fdJxA) Style (http://youtube.com/watch?v=QcNclS-ad0Y&feature=related): A style that has strong, steady stances, but also intricate, ferocious strikes and jumps, imitating the ferocity and hardness of a tiger and the grace and speed of a crane. It also places special importance in breathing techniques and mental focus.

If these are useful, I can post more later. And hey, even if they aren't, its KUNG FU!

Pirate_King
2008-01-10, 09:35 PM
tiger crane is part of the hung gar kung fu that earth bending is already based on. where's the added fire? cool videos, though

Ceiling009
2008-01-10, 10:48 PM
Maybe a simple fix, would be that maybe to focus on Earth's neutral jing, and give the feat more or less a bonus to deflect attempts... or! Since earth to me actually is more defensive than water or air, give them an extra deflect attempt, at a -2 penalty (penalty can be larger), almost like an anti-flurry attempt.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-11, 01:33 AM
Tiger Crane is part of Hung Gar, but it is never really demonstrated in the show. The movements in the show are mostly based on the Taming the Tiger form or Iron Wire Fist, but you rarely ever see the Crane side of Hung Gar in the show, the part that jumps around and has graceful, expansive movements. They deemphasize the ferocity of the Tiger forms too.

Anyways, the extra deflect attempt sounds good, but I think the Circular Attack would actually be a good idea. The concept of being rooted would actually help perform a Circular Attack, because your body serves as a base for the rotation of the attack. Like what Pirate was saying about the earth blast orbiting the Benders body and swinging back around.

I imagine a Bender with the lower body in a solid Horse Stance (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Mabu_posture.gif) and their upper body pivoting at the hips to bend the Earthblast around them. Seems both Earthbender in nature with a dash of Waterbender thrown in from the Feat.

Ceiling009
2008-01-11, 06:25 AM
The thing is that, I'm with Errant and Meph on how I don't like Circular Attack to be given to the Earthbender. It's both a philosophy aspect to the Art, and what I think is devaluing the 10th level ability of the Waterbender. The thing about Earthbending, I think, is that it's more like the mountain; mountains don't attack back, but they do a darn good job staying in one place. With Waterbending ideals and the Philosophy of Earthbending, an extra deflect attack makes more sense to me rather than Circular Attack ability, as the "no matter how much the river pushes, the mountain always pushes it aside"; type enlightenment seems more... well Earthy.

Pirate_King
2008-01-11, 09:37 AM
so how about my beautifully illustrated change flow?

Lord Tataraus
2008-01-11, 02:49 PM
Just to cut in real quick from out of the blue. I've been following this discussion for awhile and I think it would be best if everyone steps back a bit and looks at what we are trying to accomplish. My answer is this: we are trying to give the earthbender a minor, but useful ability based off what he/she would learn from a waterbender. To do this, we need a spectrum of philosophy to work with. We need to narrow down the general philosophies of both the waterbender and earthbender to where they overlap. To do this lets look at their opposites.

Air: quick, fluid, agile, evasive, very little offense
Fire: quick, accented, evasive, highly offensive

Water is more offensive than air, but not as much as earth or fire, but keeps the fluidity.
Earth is more rooted defensive than fire, but keeps most of the high offense but does not have any of the evasiveness or quickness.

Thus the common ground of earth and water is an offensive focus or possibly an active defense.

Also, if you look at some of the stances Katara assumes, they seem to be very solid, but have room for fluidity. Maybe an earthbender realizes that rocks can be fluid when they are many and small but still solid and strong? Just to through out ideas.

Pirate_King
2008-01-11, 03:00 PM
then perhaps waterbending study would be a prerequisite feat for taking sandbending seeds?

Ceiling009
2008-01-11, 03:49 PM
Actually, If you take the Airbending effect from the study feats, that's more or less what you get from what Lord is saying. Fluid Earth. It quite possible that instead of focusing one changing it to something new, re arrange some effects and find a new idea to fill the miss Airbending study effect.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-11, 07:14 PM
Well, perhaps we could use the Bending Study feat for access to a minor Sandbending technique, which really is a "fluid earth", and keep the idea of flying rubble for the Airbender.

Ceiling009
2008-01-11, 09:33 PM
Hmm, thinking about it, I think giving them an extra deflect attempt is a bit too strong, I'd rather give them a boost to their deflect attempt, either a +1 or +2 kinda like weapon focus except for deflect attempts only.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-12, 02:08 PM
Just wanted to let everyone know that I've updated the website to reflect the agreed-upon changes to the firebender (http://avatar.d20.googlepages.com/firebender2.0) and waterbender (http://avatar.d20.googlepages.com/waterbender2.0) classes. I added the Child of the Sun/Moon abilities, replaced the Swim ability with Ski, and altered the firebender's energy resistance. Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments

FlyMolo
2008-01-12, 04:21 PM
I'm going to non-sequitur into quickened bending here. Agreed, high level benders can do crazy stuff with quickened forms. Fire at the enemy, freeze a river solid, then transport yourself 200 feet, in a single round. However, in the Sokka's Master vs Waterbender 20 battle, the waterbender almost lost. Tactical errors were made on both sides, but if Sokka's Master had rolled a little better on damage, the waterbender would have lost. I therefore make the case that it's not that overpowered.

And most importantly, it's a lot of fun to play with. Trust me, I know.


Edit: V What consensus?

Ceiling009
2008-01-12, 11:20 PM
I do wanna know the consensus on what do with some of the bending study feats... especially that Water Study effect on earthbenders...

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-13, 12:26 PM
Before we go into quickened bending, I think we need to finish the discussion on the bending study feats while we still have ideas flowing. I agree with whoever says that circular attack is not the way to go for earthbenders with Waterbending Study. The best idea so far seems to be Pirate King's "Change Flow" ability, since it uses both the rootedness and defensive nature of earth (the bender stays in place and deflects an attack before it reaches him) and an aspect of water in the changing of the blast's flow. It's powerful, yes, but we can put some restrictions on it.

Waterbending Study
Prerequisites: 9 ranks in any Bending skill (or however many it was)
Benefit: The benefits of this feat depend on which bending skill(s) you fulfill the prerequisite ranks with.
Earthbending: Once per turn when you make a Deflect Bending attempt against an enemy bender's blast (this does not work against other ranged attacks), you may shape the wall of earth you create in order to change the flow of the opponent's blast, diverting the attack from yourself to an opponent instead. To do so, you must make a Reflex save opposed by half your opponent's attack roll for the blast. If you succeed, you may angle the blast to hit any opponent within a cone extending from your opponent to yourself and ten feet beyond you. The opponent must make a Reflex save half damage (against your save DC) or take damage according to the original blast damage.

A bit complicated, I must admit. Thoughts?

Ceiling009
2008-01-13, 01:17 PM
yeah, it's a bit complicated. So complicated, that I could see a lot of players just not bother with it, or GM's just hand waving it to something else. I still don't like it granting anything like circular attack, because that's so something un-earthbender, and even if they're enlightened to the ideas of water, it's just something I don't see. I'd rather maybe see, something like "Water Carves Canyons", where they gain a bonus to attack rolls when being deflected. Or something.

ErrantX
2008-01-13, 03:47 PM
Hmm... ya know what Ceiling009, I think you may be on to something. Water Carves Canyons, say, it allows the Earthbender to add his Wisdom modifier to attempts to overcome Deflect Bending attempts (does aid in actually hitting one's target). It's useful, but not world breaking.

Thoughts for that?

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-13, 04:15 PM
Hmmm, Yeah, that works, though, I'd probably say more like Constitution Modifier... As to why, it's more like the strength of earth, though wisdom works just as well.

Lord Tataraus
2008-01-13, 11:22 PM
Hmmm, Yeah, that works, though, I'd probably say more like Constitution Modifier... As to why, it's more like the strength of earth, though wisdom works just as well.

I'm with X on this one, that's a great idea. It really seems to fit, its slightly offensive but not too much (I'd say it only applies as a penatly to any deflect attempt). Also, wisdom is used for anything related to bending so, constitution doesn't make much sense.

ErrantX
2008-01-14, 03:37 AM
Consider the Waterbending Study feat updated then. Are we ready to close the books on it?

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-14, 07:49 AM
I give it my thumbs up.

Pirate_King
2008-01-14, 08:52 AM
looks shiny to me

Mephibosheth
2008-01-14, 11:32 AM
Just to be clear, here are the Bending Study feats as updated. Note that I included the alteration to the Earthbending Study "fire" ability, replacing the climbing ability with a bonus to checks to resist being involuntarily moved (as suggested on page 2). Here they are:

Waterbending Study
By studying the arts of the ebb and flow of the tides like a waterbender, a bender may use those principles in bending their own element.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Earth - The earthbender learns that water may carve canyons and may apply this technique to his earthbending. The earthbender may add his Wisdom modifier to rolls to overcome another bender's Deflect Bending attempts.
Air - By studying the effects of pressure on water, an airbender may learn to better focus his energies with pressurized air. The airbender may now make an air blast attack as if he were a waterbender of equal level. The damage from this attack is non-lethal. If the airbender possesses the Air Scythe seed, he may now do lethal damage with that attack, regardless of whether or not he has a staff.
Fire - Redirect Lightning (Base DC 35): A technique adopted from the waterbenders’ philosophy and art of using an enemy’s power against him, this seed is generally used to defend against one of the firebenders’ most deadly abilities. A firebender can use a Deflect Bending action to redirect any lightning bolts (natural or otherwise) passing within 5 feet of the firebender. Because the bender is essentially letting the lightning hit him, this seed does not require an attack roll, as opposed to Deflect Bending.
The firebender must make a DC 15 Concentration check to ensure that the lightning doesn’t pass through his heart as he channels it to his other hand. Failure indicates that the firebender takes the appropriate damage for the lightning, and he fails to redirect it. On a successful check, the firebender channels the lightning to the other side of his body, redirecting it as he desires.

Airbending Study
The flows of the wind may influence all elements, and an astute bender may learn power by understanding this.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Earth - Air flows around all obstacles, and the earthbender who learns this understands a new way to mold his stubborn element. By breaking down his earth blast into dozens of pebbles, he may negate a foe's cover. Reduce a foe's cover bonus by one step (full to partial, partial to none), but reduce the earth blast by 1d6 due to the loss of solid mass.
Water - Air currents mass and swell around an airbender, aiding their movements. The insightful waterbender learns that while air exists around the body, water exists inside of it. With this understanding, the waterbender may use his water to aid his equilibrium, gaining his Wisdom modifier as a circumstance bonus to Balance and Tumble checks.
Fire - With similiarly insubstantial elements, the firebender learns ways to manipulate his flame to increase it's defensive capabilities, as befits an airbender. By learning to channel his flame's currents through the air around him, he makes a better defense for himself. The firebender's penalty to Deflect Bending is reduced to +0.

Firebending Study
The breath of the dragon is the power of the firebender, and by learning this principle a bender may find that the breath can bring strength to his own element.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Air - Breath is the airbender's territory, for it is the element itself that they bend. By manipulating air currents, the bender may reduce some of the sting of a firebender's breath. So long as the airbender is aware of the incoming fire and he is taking a defensive action, he gains a Fire Resistance equal to his Wisdom modifier.
Water - The natural antithesis of fire, the waterbender learns that strength of fire lies in its intensity. With this knowledge, the waterbender may increase the force of his water blast by adding his Wisdom modifier to the damage.
Earth - For the earthbender, the ways of fire may teach a lesson of haste and passion. The earthbender may increase the speed of his earth blasts by reducing the size and power of the blast. When making a full attack action, the earthbender receives an extra attack at his highest attack bonus. The damage of the blasts are reduced by 1d6 and all attacks receive a -2 penalty.

Earthbending Study
Hard and unyielding, the earthbender's element is as resilient as he is. A truly perceptive bender glean an epiphany with his own element by understanding this.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Bending) 9 ranks.
Benefit: Depending on one's bending class, this feat grants the following:
Air - The resolute and unyielding earth defies the changing winds, and the airbender that learns this, learns that his element too may be unyielding it's strength. The airbender may now oppose bull rush attempts by utilizing his airbending, using an airbending skill check instead of the normal bull rush resistance roll.
Water - Water may carve canyons into the earth, but the hardest earth directs where this water flows. By learning how to form harder ice, the waterbender learns to be unyielding. The waterbender may add his Wisdom modifier to the hardness of his ice and twice his Wisdom modifier to the ice's hit points, and he may increase the break DC on immobilizing ice constructs by +2.
Fire - Inspired by earthbending’s stability and strong root, a firebender learns to use his bending to improve his ability to stand strong. As a move action, a firebender can melt the earth under his feet, creating small footholds or depressions in the earth. This grants him a bonus against bull rush, overrun, and trip attempts and any other effect that would cause him to involuntarily leave his space equal to his Wisdom modifier. This bonus ends if the firebender leaves his square for any reason. A firebender can only use this ability while standing on an earthen surface, and cannot use it while prone or flatfooted.

If these are the versions people support, they get my "ok" as well.

ErrantX
2008-01-14, 08:29 PM
Negative from me on the alteration to Earthbending Study: Fire. It's essentially the same ability for Air, just a bonus to the normal mechanic as opposed to using a skill check to oppose bull rushes. It's still a bonus to oppose bull rushes. I think that each element should learn something different. I dunno, I vote negative on that.

-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-14, 09:07 PM
...is there a reason why each element should learn something different? I guess each element might learn different things from another, but does it have to be that way?

ErrantX
2008-01-14, 09:09 PM
...is there a reason why each element should learn something different? I guess each element might learn different things from another, but does it have to be that way?

Every single other ability is a variation on a class effect or principle of another bender. Yes, I do think it's important and I do think that's how it should be.

-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-14, 09:13 PM
Why? It seems perfectly logical. Or is it just a matter of conformity?

Ceiling009
2008-01-14, 10:02 PM
maybe a speed increase? It's hard to say exactly what melting rock does for anything, climbing speed is kinda silly, while the bonuses against bull rush works... it is a lot like the airbender one... I mean what does it err boil down to?

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-14, 10:41 PM
Well, if it's such a sticking point, how about we give Firebenders a variation of the Head-on-Defense ability? Basically they get to add their Con mod to their Reflex save as well as their Dex mod.

The Firebender discovers that breath mastery can be applied to stability and strength as well as Firebending, enhancing their ability to circumvent dangerous situations.

Sound good?

ErrantX
2008-01-15, 10:58 AM
Well, if it's such a sticking point, how about we give Firebenders a variation of the Head-on-Defense ability? Basically they get to add their Con mod to their Reflex save as well as their Dex mod.

The Firebender discovers that breath mastery can be applied to stability and strength as well as Firebending, enhancing their ability to circumvent dangerous situations.

Sound good?

Change that to Fort saves and you've got me. "The stubborn and tenacious nature of earth aids the firebender in learning to stand tough against any onslaught."

How's that?

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-01-15, 11:00 AM
So, firebenders would add their Con mod twice to their Fortitude saves?

ErrantX
2008-01-15, 11:22 AM
So, firebenders would add their Con mod twice to their Fortitude saves?

We're always adding Wisdom to things, meh.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-01-15, 11:24 AM
True. I'll sign off on that.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-15, 06:32 PM
I think this'll work. Though to maybe change the awkwardness of adding Con mod twice, they could add Dex mod? It would be using a strong point of Firebenders for a save that is very Earthbender.

Ceiling009
2008-01-15, 07:27 PM
I'm okay with Dex being added to Fort Saves, as a mechanical thing, since I think Benders need a little MAD. But, general Dex isn't associated with standing fast... but I guess it would be more a dodging while not moving.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-15, 09:04 PM
I know... but neither should Con mod's be applied to Reflex saves as per the Head-on-Defense ability.

The reasoning for this would be something along the lines of using fast-twitch muscles and coordination to help hold strong.

Lord Tataraus
2008-01-15, 11:42 PM
I'll give a thumbs up to the Wis to Fort saves for Earthbending Study (Fire)

ErrantX
2008-01-15, 11:52 PM
@ Dolphin Safe & Ceiling009:

We're debating adding Wisdom to Fort saves, not Dex or doubled Con. We've consistently been adding Wisdom mods to all sorts of things, no reason to change now :D

-X

Ceiling009
2008-01-16, 12:11 AM
I'm perfectly okay with adding wisdom as a bonus. It's more consistent, but I always like a bit of MAD with classes so that you can't just pump two stats and be done with it... I'm thumbs upping adding the wisdom as a bonus.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-16, 01:44 AM
Oh:smallredface: . I guess that makes some kind of sense.

katarl
2008-01-16, 06:18 AM
Looking forward to the earthbenders completion.

Ceiling009
2008-01-16, 01:04 PM
What would people think of a non-canon thread? For possible prestige Classes, that aren't canon, or have not been developed very well in the show? I know it's not very much, but a few things could go in there?

ErrantX
2008-01-16, 01:51 PM
I'd so go for it if you want to moderate it. I'm sure Meph would link it in the hub thread and then it can be the place where people can feel free to mix and match stuff. Maybe make yourself up an Avatar PrC, not unlike the Master of Nine PrC from the Tome of Battle. Sky's the limit. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who'd be able to contribute to such a project. I say go for it Ceiling009.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-01-16, 02:45 PM
Ask, and you shall receive! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69732)

Ceiling009
2008-01-16, 03:14 PM
Woot, thanks.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-16, 07:39 PM
Then, if the Bending Study Feat Controversy is settled, I think it's time to address the issue of: COMMUNAL BENDING!

It happens a lot in the show and is apparently able to accomplish some amazing things. The problem I see is it being overpowered and basically having a four person team that can accomplish everything the Avatar could, and more.

Anybody got anything?

ErrantX
2008-01-16, 07:45 PM
As far as Communal Bending goes, I'd rule this:

For every participant in the bending after the first, each makes an aid another action (using whatever bending skill relevant to the element they're attempting to aid in). You add your Wisdom modifier (or +2, whichever is best) to the bending attempt. The primary bender in this (i.e. the one who's making the skill check) can be aided by no more benders in the attempt than his Wisdom score's modifier. This allows some incredible bending to occur, but also stops the entire Northern Water Tribe from making the crazy giant water-fish-man-monster that Aang made again.

-X

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-16, 08:04 PM
... I like it!

Although, for the sake of MAD, maybe we could somehow throw charisma into the mix. Kind of like a Leadership[bending] kind of thing? Maybe?

FlyMolo
2008-01-16, 10:42 PM
As far as Communal Bending goes, I'd rule this:

For every participant in the bending after the first, each makes an aid another action (using whatever bending skill relevant to the element they're attempting to aid in). You add your Wisdom modifier (or +2, whichever is best) to the bending attempt. The primary bender in this (i.e. the one who's making the skill check) can be aided by no more benders in the attempt than his Wisdom score's modifier. This allows some incredible bending to occur, but also stops the entire Northern Water Tribe from making the crazy giant water-fish-man-monster that Aang made again.

-X
I actually don't really like this. (understandable, I wrote the first set of rules...) but my beef is that it's hard to get spectacular results with this. Assume your benders have 18 wis. Maybe unlikely, but for the sake of argument. You get a maximum of +16 to your check, but while this is pretty substantial, it's not nearly as good as you can get with 5 benders working separately.

That's as good as you can get without magic items or lots of levels. Magic items AND lots of levels are scarce in the avatar universe. Most people are mooks, and magic items are nonexistent.

It's a good concept, but the math doesn't quite work out. The trouble is making rules that allow a lot of benders to do what one bender could do, but much bigger, without allowing a lot of benders to do what one bender couldn't even conceive of. We want more size, not more complexity.

Perhaps benders can only contribute if they make the DC of the form? I included more lowly benders being able to contribute a little bit if they were close, if only by basically holding the water up where it's easily accessible. Like an assistant holding a wrench for the mechanic. He's not doing anything really helpful, but he's making the mechanic's life easier.

The giant water fish man monster Aang made is a golem ,which requires a hefty check right there. The N. Water Tribe, canon, are allowed to make rather large amounts of water go away pretty fast, if they work together.

Dolphin Safe
2008-01-16, 11:04 PM
Do you think you could post the original rules here? Just to make things easier for those who missed out on the first threads.

Ceiling009
2008-01-16, 11:05 PM
You could work on it something like HD + wis mod. You would want a high level bender to be the lead focus of the massive form you're trying to do. I mean, let's say you take Bloodbending, you have a level 5 bender, with like a lot of level 1 benders trying to help, no can actually pull that DC of 50, except for a level 20 bender... (During a full moon, they only have to take a 10 actually with a 20 Wis)... maybe you can take the total DC of the form being done, divide by the possible number of bender present, then that would be the make or break DC for helping, while the main focus bender would have to make the bulk of the check?

Pirate_King
2008-01-20, 12:06 PM
Maybe we're coming from the wrong direction. In the show, communal bending does some cool stuff, but to make a universal aid other kind of thing wouldn't really fit, since there are some bending techniques that wouldn't really work with more than one bender. Perhaps we need to go through our seeds and figure out what actually could be done with multiple benders, and maybe come up with some things that could only be done with two or more, like the water benders that crushed those fire nation ships, or opening the wall at ba sing se

Darkbane
2008-01-20, 01:24 PM
From what I remember (which probably isn't that accurate), communal bending just seems to increase the scale of the simple Manipulation bending: several benders opening Ba Sing Se's wall (Move a Rock) or lifting a Fire nation ship on a pillar of ice (Freeze/Melt and Manipulate).

Pirate_King
2008-01-20, 01:49 PM
It's also been done with tunneling, I think, and Aang and Katara both used pressure to cut the inner struts inside the drill... in "The Drill."
It's also been stated before that various manipulation seeds were prestidigitation equivalents, hence the check-free DC. Still not quite sure if we've worked out the DC to use the manipulation seeds on larger masses of whatever element.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-20, 02:57 PM
I haven't been able to post in a while and what do I see? Firebenders do not need three things you wrote;

Endure Elements: Read Fire in the Stomach, it is pretty much what it should be.
Resistance to Cold: Read #1, or prepare an action to use Fire Burst and reduce damage (By inspiring oneself with the Wall of Fire description.
This about Fire/Waterbenders: Children of the Sun/Moon should be in a sidebar, as side-rule. It is not significant enough to be a class feature.


Seriously, it's just not right, but it is my petty opinion.

EDIT: Oh, and check/rate my Azula-ish prestige class on the Non-Canon forum!

Yuki Akuma
2008-01-20, 04:24 PM
This about Fire/Waterbenders: Children of the Sun/Moon should be in a sidebar, as side-rule. It is not significant enough to be a class feature.

Not being able to bend at all while there's an eclipse doesn't seem significant to you?

Lord Tataraus
2008-01-20, 10:17 PM
Not being able to bend at all while there's an eclipse doesn't seem significant to you?

Considering that that is a setting-specific feature, I would prefer that the Water/Fire bending relationship to the time of day, etc. be moved into "Setting Rules" or some such, not integrated into the class. That's like saying wizards that because the wizards in Dragonlance get a CL bonus when their Moon is full, it should be put in as a class feature in the Players Handbook. Sure, a number of groups play in the Dragonlance world so that feature helps them out since they don't have to look at the setting rules, but everyone else has to remove that feature and then the players what something to replace it to "keep the balance". I don't want that mess.

As for the cold resistance and endure elements...I think I'd prefer the original fire resistance, but I'm not as against that as I am the setting specific stuff.

Yuki Akuma
2008-01-20, 10:57 PM
These are not core classes in the Player's Handbook. These are special classes designed for a specific setting.

You'll find that classes in setting books tend to have much more setting-specific abilities than the ones in the Player's Handbook.

Ceiling009
2008-01-21, 01:02 AM
I don't know if it merits a class feature or not, but in the canon, all waterbenders and firebenders both suffer from lack of bending during eclipses, and gain an edge during their proper times. Most settings, outside the canon, really don't lack a sun or moon, or a plausible eclipse of both, most don't lack a day or night, so, I think its reasonable to leave as a class feature.

Pirate_King
2008-01-21, 09:19 AM
Meanwhile, this somewhat pointless argument over something that was pretty much settled some time ago is keeping us from getting through the topic at hand. Can we move on? it's a simple enough mechanic that it shouldn't make that big a deal which version of the rule you use. Back to communal bending?

aside from the waterbending, we haven't seen a lot of communal bending for the purpose of combat, so I think a more defined version of manipulate is in order, with some new seeds that can only be done with multiple benders, because clearly some can only be done with one. Try to imagine golem done with more than one bender; it would be terribly confusing. same with a lot of the fire seeds we've got, there isn't a way to "aid" them, so I think we need some seeds that are purely communal.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-21, 11:09 AM
Hrm. I have to disagree with you there, PK. Aang and Toph definitely used Catapult in a communal bending effort in Lake Loagai against the Dai Li hanging from the canon wall. If you had asked me what seeds could be done communally, I would not have thought of putting Catapult into the list in a thousand years.

I think the best method was already mentioned, though I can't seem to find where. Communal bending could add a set amount to a bending check for everyone that can make the Base DC of the form and knows the necessary seeds. This will ensure that most instances of communal bending will be low-DC forms done by low-level mooks.

In order to make that work, there would need to be a primary bender (whoever has the highest modifier) and each contributor would add modifiers to the primary bender's Bending check by a set amount. If it can scale, so much the better. A DC10 check could add a +1 to the primary bending check, DC 20 +2, DC25 +3; continuing in increments of 5. Communal bending would be either a readied action OR everyone taking their turns at the same time.

EXAMPLE
Using the builds from the Iconic Characters thread, we'll make a water wave. Katara has a +34 to Waterbending and Aang has a +24 (let's just arbitrarily take these as correct for the example's sake, 'kay?)

Katara and Aang are practicing near the ocean when a Fire Nation Naval Forces ship comes into view. Katara tells Aang to get ready to make a Waveto push it back into some stink 'n' sink mines that Sokka had placed earlier. Aang prepares an action, and Katara takes 10 on her Waterbending check to try and make a Colossal-sized Wave (base DC 15, total DC 45) and easily makes the base DC with a check of 44, but cannot make the full DC alone. Aang also takes 10, getting a check of 34 (fulfilling the base DC), which adds a +4 to the communal check, which is now 48; enough to make a Colossal-sized wave with an effective Strength score of 24 Katara's Wisdom +2) and a total modifier of +23 with Colossal size.

The Fire Nation ships is hit viciously and is pushed back several yards and hits seven or so mines throughout its hull and the crew faints from the smell, so the ship sinks with nobody to man it.

How does that sound? Should there be a clause for level-dependent effects? In the example, this would mean the Wave's range.

Yuki Akuma
2008-01-21, 01:07 PM
...Surely it would be easier to simply use the 'Aid Another' mechanics?

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-21, 02:31 PM
Meanwhile, this somewhat pointless argument over something that was pretty much settled some time ago is keeping us from getting through the topic at hand. Can we move on? it's a simple enough mechanic that it shouldn't make that big a deal which version of the rule you use. Back to communal bending?
I mean there is always room for improvements. We shouldn't stop thinking about better ways to make it work.(I'm not acting any badly, I just wanted to tell my opinion.)

Not being able to bend at all while there's an eclipse doesn't seem significant to you?
It is just a plot device, nothing significant.

...Surely it would be easier to simply use the 'Aid Another' mechanics?
Agreed.

Pirate_King
2008-01-21, 06:26 PM
I can't remember exactly why we decided that didn't work before, but my take is that aid another just makes something easier, while communal bending would actually make it bigger. We don't want something thats merely the equivalent of making two benders capable of doing something that one strong bender could do, but something that allows multiple benders do something that is completely impossible for one. Under our current bending system, aid another doesn't really do that.

Yuki Akuma
2008-01-21, 06:58 PM
Consider, for a moment, what a single really powerful bender (say, the Avatar) can do. Does that really seem too little to you? Benders can get incredibly powerful.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-21, 09:32 PM
The reason I don't think that the aid another is sufficient for the situation is that it doesn't scale. That, and that Aid Another doesn't have any boundaries that we can apply here. If two powerful benders work together, it should be worth it (at least curcimstantially), as opposed to simply doing the same attack individually. Between those two things, I'd say that it's worth making a new ability.

If there's a worry about breaking benders (again), then remember that even when we took a powerful bender (like the avatar), he only contributed a +4 to the whole check. When we're talking about hordes of mooks (as in the Water Tribes), then I'm okay with massive effects. Remember that Hama showed us in a flashback that her tribe tipped over and froze in place a Fire Nation naval vessel from at least 200 feet. That's powerful. What I've proposed can do that, but, in essence, it's just an expansion of Aid Another.

Pirate_King
2008-01-22, 11:52 AM
Consider, for a moment, what a single really powerful bender (say, the Avatar) can do. Does that really seem too little to you? Benders can get incredibly powerful.

That kind of goes without saying, because it's supposed to be impossible to match the Avatar in the Avatar state; his only real advantage when he isn't is that he's three elements up on any other bending master.

I still think we need seeds that only work with multiple benders (which, in essence, is basically what the avatar state does, since it's all the avatars in the cycle channeling through a single body)

Mephibosheth
2008-01-22, 01:14 PM
Endure Elements: Read Fire in the Stomach, it is pretty much what it should be.

I disagree. I think the two abilities can easily work in tandem with each other. Fire in the Stomach allows a firebender to hold his breath longer than normal, something that the normal Endure Elements class ability cannot do. On the other hand, the Endure Elements class ability only functions between 0 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit while the Fire in the Stomach seed functions at any temperature. I would be open to narrowing the range of functioning for Endure Elements, but I think it’s a good ability. Plus, it helps resolve some of the fire resistance concerns people had about high-level Agni Kai’s.


Resistance to Cold: Read #1, or prepare an action to use Fire Burst and reduce damage (By inspiring oneself with the Wall of Fire description.)

Again, I think that the show supports this ability (at least to an extent) and Fire in the Stomach does not reduce cold damage, only damage as a result of exposure to cold environments. I’m not sure how using Fire Burst or Wall of Fire to reduce cold damage would work. Isn’t that what Deflect Attack is for?

We changed the firebender’s Fire Resistance class ability because of concerns about the efficacy of Agni Kai in a system where firebenders can ignore most fire damage anyway. Other methods of overcoming this fire resistance were suggested, but ultimately discarded as unwieldy. I’m open to suggestions for resolving these difficulties, though. Is it the cold resistance that people dislike, or the reduction in fire resistance?


This about Fire/Waterbenders: Children of the Sun/Moon should be in a sidebar, as side-rule. It is not significant enough to be a class feature.

I think the Siege of the North, The Puppetmaster, and The Day of Black Sun episodes prove this feature to be significant enough to merit inclusion. If anything, it’s an interesting bit of flavor from the show that isn’t too difficult to incorporate into the game and won’t really slow anything down. I don’t really see a reason not to include it.

I also agree with Yuki that Firebenders and Waterbenders are setting-specific classes and that setting-specific class abilities are completely appropriate for inclusion.

Revised Seed:

Rise with the Tides
Base DC: Varies
Water Spout (Base DC 10): As a move action you lift water in a swirling, spiraling pattern with yourself at the top. This allows you to move straight up or down at a rate of up to 20 ft. A Water Spout lasts as long as you concentrate (a swift action, up to a maximum number of rounds equal to your class level), and you can move up or down as you desire. Your maximum speed increase by 5 ft for every 5 by which your Waterbending check exceeds the base DC.
Column (Base DC 20): As a standard action you create a column of ice underneath a single medium creature or object, causing it to rise quickly into the air. The column has a maximum height of 20 ft, plus 5 ft for every 5 by which the waterbender’s skill check exceeds the base DC. A waterbender can lift larger creatures by increasing the DC by 10 for every size category of the increase. A waterbender can also lift multiple smaller creatures if they would fit within the space of the largest creature the waterbender can lift. A creature can make a Reflex save to avoid being lifted, and must make a DC 10 Balance check to remain standing. Creatures and objects take 4d6 damage if they are caught between the column and a hard ceiling, and must make a DC 20 Strength or Escape Artist check in order to move.

Cooperative Bending:

This is a difficult issue to deal with. I agree that there should be a list of seeds that can be used with cooperative bending, but I do not necessarily support “cooperative bending only” seeds. They would have very limited utility, especially for PC’s, and it would be hard to make the worthwhile investments for limited seeds known.

In general, here’s what I propose:

In certain circumstances, multiple benders can work together to accomplish larger and more powerful feats of bending.

Organization and Action: In any cooperative bending attempt, one bender (usually the highest-level bender, but any bender can be selected) acts as the primary bender for the attempt. The primary bender must know the bending form being used. A number of additional benders equal to half the lead bender’s class level can assist in the cooperative bending attempt. Secondary benders do not need to know the bending form being attempted, but must be able to meet or exceed the base DC of the form.

In order to participate in a cooperative bending attempt, all secondary benders must be within the primary bender’s bending range and must ready an action to assist the primary bender. On the primary bender’s turn, the team may execute the cooperative bending attempt. A cooperative bending attempt counts as a full-round action for the primary bender.

Benders of multiple disciplines can bend cooperatively together, but only if the substance to be manipulated contains bendable material for all participants. For example, a waterbender and an earthbender can work together to bend mud (containing both water and earth).

Check and Benefit: All secondary benders must succeed on a Bending skill check against the base DC of the form being used. All benders who meet or exceed this DC grant the primary bender a bonus to her Bending skill check equal to the secondary bender’s Wisdom modifier. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 class levels of a given secondary bender. Each secondary bender whose Bending skill check meets or exceeds the seed’s base DC also grants the primary bender a +1 bonus to her class level for the purposes of any level-dependant aspects of the bending seed.

In order to successfully execute a cooperative bending attempt, the primary bender must succeed on a Bending skill check against the DC of the desired form (including all desired augmentations).

Cooperative Bending Seeds:
Airbender – Air Blast (Push), Air Blast (Gust), Stormwinds, Air Shield (Note: none of these have actually been used in the show cooperatively. This list should be seen as speculative and temporary)
Earthbendet – Move a Rock, Earth Wall, Tilt, Golem, Catapult, Excavate
Firebender – Fire Sweep, Wall of Fire, Flamethrower
Waterbender – Manipulate, Freeze/Melt, Water Shield, Pressure, Propel, Wave, Golem, Rise with the Tides
Example: The North Pole is under attack by the Fire Navy! Pakku the waterbending master (15th level waterbender, Waterbending modifier +27 [18 ranks, +4 wisdom, +3 skill focus, +2 synergy) and five of his students have maneuvered their skiffs out to within range of a Fire navy vessel, and want to encase it in a column of ice. Pakku knows the Rise with the Tides form, but cannot meet the DC 60 check to affect the ship (a Colossal object). His students (5th level Waterbenders with skill modifiers of +13) ready actions to assist him in trapping the ship. On Pakku’s turn, as a full round action, he and all of his students take 10 on their Waterbending checks, resulting in 23 Waterbending checks for all of Pakku’s students (beating the DC 20 base DC for Rise with the Tides (Column)), granting him a +5 bonus to Waterbending checks for each secondary bender(base bonus +4, +1 for 5th level benders). Pakku, with the assistance of his students, is able to make a 62 Waterbending check (37 + 25 (+5/student)) and successfully lift the ship.

Those are my thoughts. I hope everything’s clear. I’ve tried to synthesize a bit from previous suggestions, but I don’t know if I’ve been successful or not. What say you?

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-01-23, 11:10 PM
I like the communal bending ideas Meph, it covers the necessary bases and improves vastly on my overly simplified idea. I like.

As far as other topics, one other thing I'd like to add to said topic list is giving the benders an equal amount of seeds, or at least understand why they don't have an equal number.

-X

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-24, 07:21 PM
Mephisobeth debates my comments and crush them:smallwink:, accompanied with some super communal bending rules please!

I understand now your point, but I'll keep some modification on my Firebender sheet.:smallcool:

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-24, 09:45 PM
As far as other topics, one other thing I'd like to add to said topic list is giving the benders an equal amount of seeds, or at least understand why they don't have an equal number.
I'm pretty sure I remember the question thrown out there of why I changed it. The thing is, I can't recall ever having changed the seed progression in the first place. That being said, if there's a consensus that the progression should be uniform, there's no need to worry about me having a specific reason to make earthbenders slower learners.

On a side-note...
The Savage Tides campaign with my (now 3rd level) waterbender is active again and producing some interesting results. Unfortunately, this may lead to revision of existing seeds; something I'm sure none of us want to go back to. For example, I could have dealt 5d6 damage as a standard action using Ice Shards alone, in a 40-foot line, as a level 2 character with no magic items. The fact that this can be done from a single seed, without any room for interpretation, is a problem. A similar problem occurs with the Tentacle seed, which can be used, at 3rd level, to make five tentacles, each of which deals 1d8+Wis damage on a successful attack. I'm outdamaging the Power Attacking scythe fighter in both cases (as long as the meat shields are making sure I'm not threatened), and that's a problem.
It's definitely not all bad, though. The party appreciates that I can stand watch as a glass cannon without needing to rest for spells, and this combined with my Tentacle/Improved Trip build already saved all of our butts from hungry undead once. Except for the ranger, but he decided to solo some crazy zombie with cleric levels. Nothing I could do about that.
Bottom Line: The basic design of the class fills a role in the party and needs minimal modification. Seeds need to be revised to make sure they're balanced at low levels. I also found that during the fight with the zombie cleric and his horde, I could have done some 8d6 damage in a line with some simple overbending, which would have been fine since this was definitely the last fight of the day. I would like to suggest a clause in the bending overview stating that a bender can only overbend by an amount up to his bending modifier. Should this be in another thread, Meph? I've lost track of all of them.

Ceiling009
2008-01-24, 11:27 PM
I don't think the seeds need any real revising, at low levels, you are pretty powerful... with water. You gotta wonder though, what about if you were in an area that didn't have bodies of water? It just that the DMs need to be wary about the real weaknesses of the Classes, anytime they are removed from element, barring air and fire (though those can be done too), the bender is utterly useless. You're still basically a caster, who peaks really early, and basically stays there.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-25, 04:03 PM
I'm glad everyone likes my take on cooperative bending. Shall I add it to the official write-up?

I'm not opposed to a uniform "seeds known" progression. Again, is there substantial opposition to this change, or should I add it to the official write-up?

In terms of revising and improving seeds, I have a few comments:
I'm not at all opposed to going back and looking at the seeds in detail. I want this setting to be as balanced and complete as possible, and these seem like pretty glaring errors.

I'm still not totally pleased with the ranged form of Ice Shards. What if we changed it to the following:

Ranged: By freezing water into a number of small, smooth, thin shards, a waterbender can strike at long range. This seed deals 1d6 damage to all creatures in a line (distance equal to the Waterbender's bending range). Half of this damage is piercing and half is cold. Creatures within the area of this effect can make a Reflex save for half damage. Increasing the damage dealt by this seed adds +4 to the Waterbending DC for each additional +1d6, to a maximum of 1d6/level.
In regards to the Tentacle seed, what if we simply bumped the base DC's up by 5 and made each additional tentacle require a +10 increase in the base DC? This would allow 1 tentacle at 1st level (DC 15) by taking 10, and an extra tentacle by taking 10 at 5th, 9th, 14th, and 18th levels. Seems more reasonable, eh?
I also support limiting overbending, as proposed by Eighth_Seraph. Any objections?
I'm starting to think another round of playtesting is in order. I have some ideas about how to go about it. What says the playground?
How to deal with the lack of water as a balancing factor is tricky. It seems that it's a drawback that's entirely dependent upon the DM, even though carrying waterskins, conserving water, and various proposed (but never really agreed-upon) feats can mitigate this drawback. I'm reluctant to include this as a major balancing consideration, simply because of how circumstantial is can be. I am, however, open to debate.

Finally, what do people think about my re-write of Water Spout (called Rise with the Tides above)?

Mephibosheth

Pirate_King
2008-01-25, 04:58 PM
I'd rather make over bending more severe and impossible in non-proficient armour. Or maybe even make it a feat to be able to overbend at all?

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-25, 06:21 PM
No, I definitely think that overbending is a universal thing for benders, and in reality represents something that pretty much everyone can do to some extent. As a martial artist, I've learned to push myself beyond what my body can realistically cope with, allowing me to chain some solid kicks together do some serious damage...for about ten seconds. Then I have to kneel down and catch my breath, or else pass out. It just so happens that our bending system makes this easy to represent, and that we have some apparent precedent from the show to work off of.

Cooperative bending seems very nicely represented, and gives bonuses substantial enough to make it worthwhile for two or three benders. However, I would make it so that everyone cooperating in the attempt needs to know the seeds being used, though. That encourages the use of simple and common seeds in these, like Wave; plus it makes sense. As for the cooperative-able seeds, add a "others can be added, at DM discretion," clause and you're golden.

I like the balancing factor you put into Ice Shards, Meph; it should work well to limit damage. I, however, have a problem with it dealing the damage in a line, for a few reasons. During the zombie fight, my DM didn't let me deal the damage in a line because he ruled that the shards don't penetrate through a creature or fill a square completely like fire does, so I could only deal the damage to a single opponent. Personally, I agree with him. I would say that the way we see Katara using the shards in the show (against Aang and Jet) merits attack rolls more than Reflex saves, as well as accounting for individual shards. Each d6 of damage can represent a shard, and the target area can either be a single opponent or a cone in which the shards can be allocated (my original idea).

As for Tentacle, bumping the DC up is an important start (it stems the level 1 uber-power), but +10 per extra tentacle is too much. +5 would be better, I think. Make it the same for Octopus Form, though I would keep the 'bonus' tentacle you get for using them on the defensive. The seed is also vague as to what kind of action controlling the tentacles is, as well as whether they can be created and used on the same turn. My DM decided that it was a standard action to make them, and a standard action to use and maintain them all.

When it comes to Rise with the Tides, I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to represent. I see that it's an icy version of the earthbender's seed; but it would require some very deep ice, and I think that the flavor of the old Spout/Freeze is more appropriate. I much prefer the new name, though, and that, at least, should be kept regardless of whether the seed changes.

Pirate_King
2008-01-25, 06:32 PM
Perhaps overbending can be limited so it only goes to failed by 20 instead of 30, with the progression at 2's or 3's instead of 5? Pulling something of for which you failed the DC by more than you could conceivably roll anyway seems a little drastic, at low levels anyway.
Or maybe overbending could be a class feature gained by all benders at a certain level, say 3 or 4. Even as a martial artist, you have to admit you weren't capable of pushing yourself past healthy physical limits until you knew your limits in the first place.

edit: and perhaps add a feat that allows benders to overbend for the purposes of strengthening a seed that has greater effect when they beat the DC by a certain amount.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-26, 01:22 AM
...actually, I learned to push myself too hard on accident well before I had any idea what I was doing. I just remember doing a whole bunch of double roundhouse kicks on some weighted targets, followed up with jump kicks on paddles. After forty minutes of similar drills, my instructor took me aside and forced me to sit down before I worked myself to death, since apparently I was working a lot harder than I usually did. I rested for ten minutes then got back into class. I collapsed from exhaustion at the end of class for no apparent reason after all of that.

Anywho, I like the current system of overbending; and I do think that the current system has enough checks to keep things balanced; if the most recent factor is added. A fatigued bender can't take 10 and takes a -4 to all bending. After that, Con damage kicks in. This would be a good thing to playtest, though. In a party. In an adventure-esque situation. Let's wake up the ol' playtesting thread, eh?

Mephibosheth
2008-01-26, 01:28 AM
When it comes to Rise with the Tides, I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to represent. I see that it's an icy version of the earthbender's seed; but it would require some very deep ice, and I think that the flavor of the old Spout/Freeze is more appropriate. I much prefer the new name, though, and that, at least, should be kept regardless of whether the seed changes.

I was trying to make a seed that could represent represent this waterbending seed (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/120/564.jpg) and be used cooperatively to do this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/119/402.jpg). Originally I thought that you could combine Water Spout with something to get it, but I think having an official offensive version (much like Steady Stance) makes better sense. Plus, Water Spout just isn't cool/powerful enough to lift ships, even when used cooperatively. It also doesn't consider different sizes the way the new seed does.

I'll respond to the other issues later.

Mephibosheth

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-26, 10:05 AM
...huh. I originally figured that that was just a well placed Manipulate/Freeze by the entire Southern Water Tribe's waterbending force. I see what you're getting at here, and I agree. The addition of a Column clause to Rise with the Tides gets my thumb-up. Sorry if I'm being difficult.

Darkbane
2008-01-26, 10:34 AM
I'll give a thumbs up to limiting overbending and bumping Tentacle's DC. I don't have any problems with changing Water Spout or Ice Shards, and I wholeheartedly support another round of playtesting.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-27, 01:51 PM
Alright, let's worth with the problems, discrepancies, and suggestion I've found or have been brought up in relation to Tentacle and Ice Shards so we can make 'em nice and shiny, without any broken parts.

Tentacle

-Too many tentacles at low levels
-How much water does one tentacle require to make? Specifically, is a waterskin enough?
-Can a waterbender create a tentacle and use it in the same turn?
-Can a tentacle be attacked? If so, how do we handle it?
-Do tentacles threaten?
-Can a tentacle take the same square as an ally? An enemy?

Ice Shards (Ranged)

-Too much damage at low levels
-Do damage dice represent individual shards or the magnitude of the whole shower of shards?
-Reflex save or attack roll?
-Line, cone, or single target?

Surprise guest:
Blue Fire

-A DC increase of +30 for a one step improvement of damage dice? That seems like WAY too much; I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. I say we drop it to +10, which makes Azula feasible.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-27, 02:23 PM
-How much water does one tentacle require to make? Specifically, is a waterskin enough?
-Can a waterbender create a tentacle and use it in the same turn?
-Can a tentacle be attacked? If so, how do we handle it?
-Do tentacles threaten?
-Can a tentacle take the same square as an ally? An enemy?


Answers
How many waterskins is an arm?
How did we handle the water golem?
Yup!
Depends on the size.



-Do damage dice represent individual shards or the magnitude of the whole shower of shards?
-Reflex save or attack roll?
-Line, cone, or single target?


Answers
Depends on the player, but for the purpose of Deflect Arrows, you could always use the thumb rule that one attack roll means they are all part of it, so you deflect the whole attack.
Attack rolls.
Individual targets within the cone.



Surprise guest:
Blue Fire
-A DC increase of +30 for a one step improvement of damage dice? That seems like WAY too much; I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. I say we drop it to +10, which makes Azula feasible.


Dont! You'll screw my prestige class!:smallwink: Or rather make it a thousand time more effective but everyone will call it munchkin!

hacim
2008-01-27, 05:18 PM
a level 20 air bender can launch an opponent less then 200 pounds 400 feet, dealing 40d6, maybe I got some rules wrong or misread, but if not, thats even stronger than coldfire, which can kill any bender in one shot 50% of the time

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-27, 05:34 PM
Well, there are some limiting factors to that.
Most adult humans (read: NPCs) will fall between 150 and 250 pounds, plus equipment, which will put the majority of them over that limit. Doesn't really do much against your point, but it's something to consider.
Maximum falling damage possible is 20d6 at 200 feet and higher, unless you're landing on something pointy. What seed are you doing this with, Hacim? We need to know that before we can work on it.

Also, Guyr, when you gave me the 'answers' to my concerns about the Tentacle and Ice Shards, were you answering them officially or casting your vote in that direction? Because Ice Shards no longer uses a cone system as written, though I suggested that it be returned to the old targeting method.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-01-28, 09:03 AM
Also, Guyr, when you gave me the 'answers' to my concerns about the Tentacle and Ice Shards, were you answering them officially or casting your vote in that direction? Because Ice Shards no longer uses a cone system as written, though I suggested that it be returned to the old targeting method.
I was merely giving my humble opinion.

Pirate_King
2008-01-28, 09:24 AM
Surprise guest:
Blue Fire

-A DC increase of +30 for a one step improvement of damage dice? That seems like WAY too much; I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. I say we drop it to +10, which makes Azula feasible.

I'd say drop it to +20 and have it also deal damage to non-flammable objects(as blue fire seems to blast stone apart, though this could just add the explosion template), and require 6 or 8 ranks in knowledge (bending). We want to make Azula feasible, but not easy. She's all prodigious and stuff.

sorry I don't have much input for the water bending stuff, I've only been playtesting a fire bender, and in a faerun setting at that. It's had some interesting effects, like allowing him to make a firebending check opposed to a spellcaster's normal casting DC to use quench on a fireball.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-28, 09:57 AM
Here are my thoughts on Eighth_Seraph's questions:


Tentacle

-Too many tentacles at low levels
-How much water does one tentacle require to make? Specifically, is a waterskin enough?
-Can a waterbender create a tentacle and use it in the same turn?
-Can a tentacle be attacked? If so, how do we handle it?
-Do tentacles threaten?
-Can a tentacle take the same square as an ally? An enemy?
1. To be frank, this issue should probably be resolved for all of the waterbending seeds. I think that we should use 5 ft cubes instead of any other measure of volume for seeds requiring more than a waterskin, simply because it makes things easier for DM's to map and measure. That said, I think that a single tentacle should require one 5 ft cube of water.
2. I would argue that yes, they can. A waterbender could probably form the tentacle and attack with it in the same action.
3. I think that tentacles can be attacked, and that they have an AC equal to 10+bender's Wisdom modifier+size modifiers, no hardness, and low HP (5-10 per tentacle). Waterbenders can easily form another one (the water used to make the tentacle is still there) anyway. Each tentacle should be attacked individually.
4. Yes.
5. I'd say they can't be in the same square as a creature.


Ice Shards (Ranged)

-Too much damage at low levels
-Do damage dice represent individual shards or the magnitude of the whole shower of shards?
-Reflex save or attack roll?
-Line, cone, or single target?
1. I support having damage represent a multitude of smaller shards. This differentiates it from the [I]Weapon/I] form of the seed and more accurately represents uses like this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/217/167.jpg).
2. What about both? What if the default version of the seed was a ranged attack, but benders could enhance the DC by +10 or +20 to make it a line?
3. See above, though I don't really support a cone, or the old targeting method (attack rolls for multiple shards on characters within a cone). I can't remember ever seeing a cone in the show, and if we're going to go with attack rolls, I don't see a reason to limit them to within a cone. Without facing rules, it doesn't really make sense, imho.


Surprise guest:
Blue Fire

-A DC increase of +30 for a one step improvement of damage dice? That seems like WAY too much; I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. I say we drop it to +10, which makes Azula feasible.
I could support a DC of +25, but +10 seems too easy. That would allow a firebender to shoot Blue Fire Fire Blasts at DC 15 (i.e. automatically successful at level 1). Blue Fire is supposed to be a pretty intense ability, so I don't want to bring the DC down too far. Honestly, a firebender with a 14 Wisdom can make DC 35 (Fire Blast DC 5, Blue Fire DC +30) by taking 10 at level 14, so it doesn't seem too ridiculous as is.

ErrantX
2008-01-28, 11:25 AM
Tentacle

-Too many tentacles at low levels
-How much water does one tentacle require to make? Specifically, is a waterskin enough?
-Can a waterbender create a tentacle and use it in the same turn?
-Can a tentacle be attacked? If so, how do we handle it?
-Do tentacles threaten?
-Can a tentacle take the same square as an ally? An enemy?

-I support the 5ft cube measurement system.
-Sure, why not?
-I'd say no, due to their not having any minds of their own.
-I don't see why not, it's limited to bending range.


Ice Shards (Ranged)

-Too much damage at low levels
-Do damage dice represent individual shards or the magnitude of the whole shower of shards?
-Reflex save or attack roll?
-Line, cone, or single target?

-Several shards per dice is my vote. They're small enough that it would require 3-6 to do a d6 damage.
-Attack roll, definitely.
-I like the idea that you can shape it with higher DC rolls into a line or possibly a cone, but under normal circumstances I think it should be a single target.


Surprise guest:
Blue Fire

-A DC increase of +30 for a one step improvement of damage dice? That seems like WAY too much; I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. I say we drop it to +10, which makes Azula feasible.

Blue fire is supposed to be frightening, I'd say no lower than +20, which I'm in favor off. It's low enough to make it worth it, but high enough to be discouraging right off. To do it reliably you'd have been level 9 or 10, so it's entirely reasonable.

As a side note @ Meph: Any change we could get the bender class posts updated on the board, or are we just having everything updated on the website? Also, are there plans to equalize the number of seeds for each class or are we set on leaving them unequal?

-X

Pirate_King
2008-01-28, 11:31 AM
-Several shards per dice is my vote. They're small enough that it would require 3-6 to do a d6 damage.
-Attack roll, definitely.
-I like the idea that you can shape it with higher DC rolls into a line or possibly a cone, but under normal circumstances I think it should be a single target.


I'm with X on the shards; they're essentially a bunch of darts, and a dart(that isn't made from ice) is D3. The magnitude makes it a D6

Mephibosheth
2008-01-28, 11:47 AM
As a side note @ Meph: Any change we could get the bender class posts updated on the board, or are we just having everything updated on the website? Also, are there plans to equalize the number of seeds for each class or are we set on leaving them unequal?

Sorry, I've gotten a little behind on updating the forum versions. I'll try to get around to that as soon as I can.

As to the equalizations, I'm in favor, and I haven't seen any major disagreement. Again, I'll try to get around to updating soon.

Sorry for falling behind.

Edit: The classes on the front page should be updated. I added Rise with the Tides, changed Ice Shards, and equalized the seeds known. Is there anything I've missed?

Mephibosheth

Darkbane
2008-01-28, 04:06 PM
I think the problem Eighth_Seraph was pointing out with Blue Fire is that it doesn't really do very much. Sure, it makes the DC really high, but the only real boost it provides is upping the die size by one and making deflection a bit easier--not a benefit that's really worth the DC bump. So what can we add to Blue Fire to make it more worthwhile?

ErrantX
2008-01-28, 05:44 PM
So what can we add to Blue Fire to make it more worthwhile?

Bypass fire resistance/damage reduction? Save or catch on fire as well? Increase the damage die size by tacking on additional + DC's?

Throwing it out there.

-X

hacim
2008-01-28, 06:45 PM
With regard to the air bender air blast, starting at tenth level they can do 20 dice worth of damage to creatures weighing less than 100 pounds, against any small light creature. This would mean, they could do massive amounts of damage with a basic attack, without upping the DC, making it so at mid-levels, if they combine it with other seeds, they can insta-kill any light creature. By 20th level they can use this on any creature less than or equal to 200 pounds. Considering that most characters in the avatar world focus on Dex, defense bonuses and feats, as opposed to physical armor they generally would be lighter than standard D&D characters. This would give air-benders an extraordinarily powerful weapon for nearly nothing. Besides that, it reduces, or even removes a DM's option of adding in a halfling-like race, because it would give the defensively minded air-bender, an attack to rival a fire-bender.

With blue fire you could add a damage die

By the way, I love the Avatar d20 system

Vadin
2008-01-28, 06:50 PM
On Blue Fire: Are you looking for something to make it worth the giant +30, or are you looking to make the +10 worthwhile?

On the Air Blast: Why do it by weight, really? How many players actually know how much their character and its gear weighs altogether? Why not just change so it works on objects by weight, but only affects character by size (making weight irrelevant, and making things like powerful build a bit better than currently)?

Ceiling009
2008-01-28, 07:42 PM
For Airblast, make it have a reflex save to be affected, same save DC as everything affiliated to bending.

Goats_o_Mjolnir
2008-01-28, 08:00 PM
I think the fluff on the firebender entry needs to be altered slightly, watch episode 53 The Firebending Masters, and you'll see that true firebending is about life and positive energy through emotional control, not emotional outbursts, also I think the Sun Warrior should be a PrC

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-28, 08:04 PM
The reason I called for such a drastic DC decrease to Blue Fire rather than increasing the benefits is because it's a template meant to be added to firebending forms in general. At the end of The Chase, Azula does what appears to be a Blue Fire Burst right after taking out Iroh. That's a DC 55 as written, or 50 with Template Mastery. A template with a high modifier like that also eliminates the possibility of using bending forms to greater extents, like increasing the radius of Fire Burst, the range of a Fire Sweep, and makes Flamethrower outright impossible at pre-epic levels.

The DC needs to be lowered substantially at any rate, though an increase of benefits wouldn't hurt, either. +10 is the very lowest we can reasonably set it at, and +20 is the maximum I would set, with substantial increase in benefits for applying the template being in order.

As for the Sun Warriors: they're an entire culture. From the very little we've seen, they appear to have their own firebenders, bards, and warriors. I see no reason for there to be PrCs for any of these; they would just be colorfully fluffy characters. On the other hand...they're probably different enough from the Fire Nation at large to merit a precedent for a Regional Trait system...

Pirate_King
2008-01-28, 09:19 PM
I'd just let it deal damage to non-flammable objects, or count half the damage as bludgeoning or something. It's definitely canonical, azula pulverizes rock with blue fire.

Lord Tataraus
2008-01-29, 06:57 PM
I'd just let it deal damage to non-flammable objects, or count half the damage as bludgeoning or something. It's definitely canonical, azula pulverizes rock with blue fire.

I like the dealing full damage to objects idea, it is supported by the show.

Vadin
2008-01-29, 09:20 PM
It could bump the damage up a die type and make the blast ignore hardness and DR, making it very effective against Golems and Golem Armor, but not too much else, really.

Darkbane
2008-01-29, 09:22 PM
Fire damage (all energy damage, in fact) already ignores DR. Full object damage and hardness ignoring sound good, though.

Vadin
2008-01-29, 09:29 PM
Energy damage ignores a Barbarian's DR X/-?

Ceiling009
2008-01-29, 10:05 PM
As far as I know, all non-physical damage bypasses DR...
I'd probably cap at +15 and make it up the die size in damage, and make it able to full damage objects and shouldn't it already catch flammable objects on fire anyway? I don't think ignoring hardness is too important, though that whole blowing up rocks though...

mdusty
2008-01-30, 02:24 PM
Where is the description of the Windshaping ability given to a 2nd level airbender?

Mephibosheth
2008-01-30, 03:31 PM
Where is the description of the Windshaping ability given to a 2nd level airbender?

Thanks for the catch, mdusty. That's an oversight on my part. I've added the text of the ability to the front page and the website.

Blue Fire Debate:

So, is the consensus on Blue Fire something like this:

Blue Fire (Template
Base DC: 20
Instead of the normal reds, yellows, and oranges associated with conventional firebending, the fire produced by this seed glows blue and is exceptionally hot.
• Applications: Damage dice for firebending forms using this seed increase by one step (for example, from d6 to d8, or d4 to d6). Additionally, blue fire deals full damage to objects. Finally, blue fire is more effective at deflecting attacks and the attack roll penalty for Deflect Bending is reduced to -2.

I think I could get behind a form like this. It sticks to canon, is relatively powerful, gives the firebender a little bit of ability to manipulate the environment (by blasting holes in it), and is relatively powerful.

Thoughts?

Ceiling009
2008-01-30, 04:09 PM
If added with the Feat... ummm one of the Bender Study feats, would it give a +2 to deflection, or would it just reduce any penalty, Minimum 0?

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-30, 04:34 PM
The new template write up seems good to me, though I'd drop the DC to 15...I'll accept the 20 if everyone else is okay with it.

Now, I have a question on the airbender: do we have any way for the airbender to do this (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/208/072.jpg)? Hand of Air only works on objects 5 pounds or less, and we might have to make it scale by level in order to represent this...

Mephibosheth
2008-01-30, 04:39 PM
If added with the Feat... ummm one of the Bender Study feats, would it give a +2 to deflection, or would it just reduce any penalty, Minimum 0?
I would say no. Both the seed and the feat (Airbending Study) reduce the penalty, with the feat explicitly reducing it to 0. In the same way that armor check penalties can never become bonuses (MW padded armor doesn't give a bonus to skill checks), firebender's can't gain a bonus to Deflect Attack attempts by taking the Airbending Study feat and using Blue Fire.


The new template write up seems good to me, though I'd drop the DC to 15...I'll accept the 20 if everyone else is okay with it.
My only worry if we reduce the DC to 15 is low-level benders being able to use it. In the show, Azula is the only one who can use blue fire, and she’s supposed to be one of the most powerful firebenders on the planet. With a 15 DC, a 2nd level firebender with a 14 Wisdom can successfully create a blue fire blast every time by taking 10. Why wouldn’t every bender take the seed? Even with a 20 DC, it can be done by taking 10 at 5th level. I realize that a higher DC makes combining Blue Fire with more complex seeds more difficult, but I’d rather make higher-level benders actually roll than make Blue Fire a legitimate seed choice for a low level firebender. I’d support 20 or even 25.


Now, I have a question on the airbender: do we have any way for the airbender to do this? Hand of Air only works on objects 5 pounds or less, and we might have to make it scale by level in order to represent this...
Apparently not. Perhaps we should make the weight it can handle scale with DC the way Manipulate does.

Pirate_King
2008-01-30, 11:58 PM
Perhaps we should make the weight it can handle scale with DC the way Manipulate does.

I don't know if we can realistically have a progression like that, because air doesn't work the same way as telekinesis; it has to have a certain kind of shape. for example, strong wind will knock down a tree branch, but won't do a thing to blow papers off a picnic table if my stein(which probably doesn't weigh more than half a pound) is holding them down. How finely can Aang manipulate air? Appa's saddle is shaped in such a way that would make such manipulation easier than, say, flinging a crate full of junk at someone.

and I'd make the deflect bending from blue fire a +1 instead of +2, just so the other feat isn't pointless. Maybe even get rid of the deflection advantage all together; it might be canon, but we can and have sacrificed the canonical for the purpose of the playable.

Mephibosheth
2008-01-31, 09:48 AM
I don't know if we can realistically have a progression like that, because air doesn't work the same way as telekinesis; it has to have a certain kind of shape. for example, strong wind will knock down a tree branch, but won't do a thing to blow papers off a picnic table if my stein(which probably doesn't weigh more than half a pound) is holding them down. How finely can Aang manipulate air? Appa's saddle is shaped in such a way that would make such manipulation easier than, say, flinging a crate full of junk at someone.

Sure, a strong wind won't blow your stein off the table, but a strong wind can't do this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/104/033.jpg) or this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/110/774.jpg) or this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/117/127.jpg) either. Bent air doesn't behave like normal air. If you have an alterative to a weight-based system by all means suggest it, but I can't think of any.


and I'd make the deflect bending from blue fire a +1 instead of +2, just so the other feat isn't pointless. Maybe even get rid of the deflection advantage all together; it might be canon, but we can and have sacrificed the canonical for the purpose of the playable.

First (and I only bring this up because of Ceiling009's comments earlier), Blue Fire doesn't give a bonus to deflect attack attempts. Rather it reduces the penalty imposed by normal firebending. Second, I'm fine with removing the penalty reduction, if that's what the group says. I personally don't think that Blue Fire makes Airbending Study redundant, if only because Airbending Study provides an option for improving a firebender's ability to deflect that doesn't require Blue Fire.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-01-31, 08:39 PM
Since we have decidedly few things to discuss until a new episode is finally released, I'd like to bring forth another seed for review. Specifically, the Waterbender's Propel seed. Its mechanics seem sound overall, but it makes no mention of what kind of vessels it can affect, and if larger vessels change the way the seed behaves. As written, I could munchkin the seed in my Savage Tides campaign to propel a galleon all by my lonesome. Make the DC scale with craft size, and make it a communal bending-able seed and I think we're good to go. I'll look for more potential breaks in the system as I try to overpower my waterbender for a magic-based world in the near future.

EDIT: Just a minor error in the Golem seed. Change 'hardness' to 'reach' in the Reach subsection. Just a carryover from the earthbender's version. Also, all of the airbender sub-seeds have their HTML codes for color with a "/" at the beginning, so that the color doesn't show.

Meph, it may be a good idea to update all of these changes we agree on sooner rather than later, because I tended to forget about them after putting it off for a week or so.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-01, 12:03 AM
Since we have decidedly few things to discuss until a new episode is finally released, I'd like to bring forth another seed for review. Specifically, the Waterbender's Propel seed. Its mechanics seem sound overall, but it makes no mention of what kind of vessels it can affect, and if larger vessels change the way the seed behaves. As written, I could munchkin the seed in my Savage Tides campaign to propel a galleon all by my lonesome. Make the DC scale with craft size, and make it a communal bending-able seed and I think we're good to go. I'll look for more potential breaks in the system as I try to overpower my waterbender for a magic-based world in the near future.

Actually, the Propel mechanic already takes this into account by limiting the size category of craft you can navigate. The base DC allows you to navigate a Huge or smaller craft (pretty much the smallest craft available), while larger craft can be propelled by increasing the DC by 10 for each size increment.


EDIT: Just a minor error in the Golem seed. Change 'hardness' to 'reach' in the Reach subsection. Just a carryover from the earthbender's version. Also, all of the airbender sub-seeds have their HTML codes for color with a "/" at the beginning, so that the color doesn't show.

I made the change. Good catch.


Meph, it may be a good idea to update all of these changes we agree on sooner rather than later, because I tended to forget about them after putting it off for a week or so.

True. Are we agreed on the above changes to Blue Fire (including the 20 DC)? I think that's the only update that needs to be made, at least at the moment.

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-02-01, 01:54 AM
I say change it, make it worth getting earlier and much more worth having later.

Also, good job on updating all of the class tables and such. Much better :)

-X

Pirate_King
2008-02-01, 09:41 AM
First (and I only bring this up because of Ceiling009's comments earlier), Blue Fire doesn't give a bonus to deflect attack attempts. Rather it reduces the penalty imposed by normal firebending. Second, I'm fine with removing the penalty reduction, if that's what the group says. I personally don't think that Blue Fire doesn't make Airbending Study redundant, if only because Airbending Study provides an option for improving a firebender's ability to deflect that doesn't require Blue Fire.

I understood that, I just thought that if it reduced the penalty at all, it would have to reduce it by less, a reduction by 1 instead of 2. I'd still leave out the reduction, though. The increased damage and the damage to non-flammable objects seems enough for a DC 20 or 25

hacim
2008-02-03, 11:12 AM
I'm sorry to repost this, but i feel like the issue was sort of glossed over. The air bender's air blast, starting at tenth level they can do 20 dice worth of damage to creatures weighing less than 100 pounds. Against any small light creature (remember most of the show's main characters are not finished growing yet, and light) they could do massive amounts of damage with a basic attack. It would only be DC 5 to use, making it so that at mid-levels, if they combine it with other seeds, they can insta-kill any light creature. By 20th level they can use this on any creature less than or equal to 200 pounds. Considering that most characters in the avatar world focus on Dex, defense bonuses and feats, as opposed to physical armor they generally would be lighter than standard D&D characters. This would give air-benders an extraordinarily powerful weapon for nearly nothing. Besides that, it reduces, or even removes a DM's option of adding in a halfling-like race, because it would give the defensively minded air-bender, an attack to rival a fire-bender. Sorry if this is just redundant.

also just a minor thing, on the site where the actual one is posted http://avatar.d20.googlepages.com/bending-version2.0 it says that the benders learn forms not seeds

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-03, 01:34 PM
Huh. I checked it out, and you, good sir, are quite correct. you might've wanted to specify what use of Air Blast, though. Anyway, Air Blast (Fling) can indeed do all of that, and more. If a waterbender spends a few rounds using Ice Shards (Weapon) to make massive amounts of arrows, an airbender could easily be doing 60d8 damage with a DC 5 Air Blast at level 1.

Now the question becomes: What do we do about it? Before we can answer that, I'd like to know if there is a precedent for "launching large quantities of inert objects" use of the Air Blast. If there isn't, then we can just cut the Fling function altogether. If there is, then it'll be time for a revision. I, for one, get uncomfortable when low-DC forms use class levels to determine power, rather than using Bending DCs. For the Blasts, however, I'd like to keep it that way to reflect that they're the basic offensive application of the bending arts. Before we go on that vein, though, does anyone have a precedent for this use of the blast?

Also, I think it would be a good idea to amp up Air Blast (Push) (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/113/092.jpg), allowing it to be used as iterative attacks and placing a clause allowing for knockdowns (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/113/094.jpg) after a certain distance of being pushed, like the Pressure and Explosion seeds, as well as dealing damage for hitting walls. In fact, we might even be able to replace the Fling function if we did that. Thoughts?

ErrantX
2008-02-03, 01:53 PM
Agreed. I'd say drop fling because I can't think of a precedent where fling was used as such. Hand of Air could be used for some of it, or a combo of Hand of Air and Air Blast (push) to do the object fling. I don't like grabbing people and flinging them with low DC forms either.

I also second Eighth Seraph's suggestion of putting in a knockdown clause into Air Blast, say, if they get pushed more than 20ft?

-X

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-03, 06:28 PM
Agreed. I'd say drop fling because I can't think of a precedent where fling was used as such. Hand of Air could be used for some of it, or a combo of Hand of Air and Air Blast (push) to do the object fling. I don't like grabbing people and flinging them with low DC forms either.Make it Air Blast (Throw) instead of (Push) and I think we're in business.

I also have a request for the Hand of Air fix for weight scaling: make it based on DC, not level. This allows for overbending applications, and the image of a boulder tumbling wantonly towards a peasant woman at the base of a mountain, and airbender readying an action to create a cushion of air beneath it, and then passing out from the strain of holding the weight long enough for the woman to run just seems right to me.

FlyMolo
2008-02-03, 09:24 PM
Hey everyone. Sorry I've been gone for a while, but real life and running my own campaign intervened.

Glad to see that ice shards craziness was fixed. It was fun, but seriously borked.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-04, 02:42 PM
Air Blast:

Airbending forms and Air Blast have always been the trickiest abilities to craft, in my opinion. We want it to be an ability that (similar to the other bending blasts or the Warlock’s Eldritch Blast) can form the backbone of the airbender’s combat strategy and serve as a simple, reliable weapon. At the same time, it’s clear that an Air Blast doesn’t deal direct damage and that its utility comes from throwing opponents into solid barriers, forcing them prone or into untenable situations (over the edges of cliffs or into water), or throwing stuff at opponents. With this in mind, I suggest we start over on the Air Blast and build from the ground up, using the show and the previous versions of the ability as guides.

Because I’m a creature of habit, here’s a list of things for which the show depicts an Air Blast (or similar ability) being used:
Hurling opponents backwards (screenshot (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/115/817.jpg))
Accelerating projectiles (screenshot (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/105/432.jpg))
Hurling single objects (screenshot (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/206/352.jpg))
With this in mind, I propose that Air Blast function as follows:

Air Blast
Base DC: 5
The first offensive ability an airbender learns is to focus air currents around himself into a quick stream, forcefully pushing objects in its path. An Air Blast is a ranged touch attack, and an airbender can use as many Air Blasts in a full-round attack as her base attack bonus allows.

If a creature is struck by an Air Blast, it resolves as a bull rush attempt, with the airbender’s Airbending check opposed by the target’s Strength or Dexterity check (whichever is greater). Additionally, creatures successfully blasted by an Air Blast must make a Reflex save or be knocked prone at the end of the blast. Creatures blasted into a solid object (a wall, large rock, cliff face, or similar massive object) take 1d6 points of nonlethal bludgeoning damage for every 5 class levels the airbender has.

An airbender can affect creatures or objects weighing 10 lbs/2 levels with her Air Blasts. Weapons hurled by an Air Blast deal their standard damage and do not benefit from bonuses to damage from a high Strength score or weapon-based feats. Hard, dense objects hurled by an Air Blast deal 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage for every 25 pounds of weight. Less dangerous objects deal 1 point of bludgeoning damage for every 25 pounds of weight. The Airbender must succeed on a ranged attack roll to hit a creature with a projectile in this manner.

Now, having submitted this version of Air Blast, allow my to explain my reasoning. First, having an Air Blast resolve as a ranged touch attack accomplishes three things. It prevents the kind of cheese that being able to hurl three quivers of arrows at 1st level brings (given that an airbender needs to target the object, and thus can only hurl a single projectile), facilitates the use of Deflect Attack, and it makes room for other seeds to expand the uses of the Air Blast (giving seeds like Palm Bow and Engulfing Winds more clearly defined roles). Second, I included the knock-down clause requested. It makes sense and is clearly supported by the show. Third, I allowed creatures to use either Dex or Strength to oppose the bull rush, which I feel more appropriately represents strategies like this (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/110/739.jpg), where the target uses his limbs to cause the air to slip around him instead of knocking him backwards. I also based the bull rush on an Airbending check. This means that an airbender will win the opposed check more often than not (especially at higher levels) and allows for benders to throw creatures and objects longer distances. Thus, the blast can be a reliable weapon, but it isn’t overwhelming. Additional balancing factors include the limitation to nonlethal damage, the fact that it can only target a single object or creature, and the slow damage progression (maxing out at 4d6 for either thrown projectiles or blasting creatures into walls).

If I’ve missed anything, please let me know.

Wind Shaping:

How ‘bout this for new text (relevant change in bold):

Wind Shaping
Base DC: 5
With minor effort an Airbender may bend the air around him to create minor effects.
• Body Burst: The Airbender may force the air around his body to rush away from him and push small things away. Be they circling insects, dirt and mud on his clothes, or annoying lemurs, the Airbender may make an Airbending check to move things away from him in a 5 foot radius, pushing them 5ft. Creatures of size Tiny or larger may resist with a Strength check opposed by the Airbender's Wisdom check, provided they weigh more than one pound.
• Hand of Air: A technique of convenience, the Airbender learns to move objects by manipulating the air pressure and wind currents around an object. So long as an object that weighs less than 5lbs is within his bending range, an Airbender may move it anywhere within his bending range. For every 5 by which his Airbending check exceeds the DC, the maximum weight an airbender can manipulate with this ability increases by 5 lbs. This object does not travel fast enough to cause damage. This may also be used to simply blow small amounts of air over and around objects, such as to perform minor acts of mischief or to cool hot food.

I hope these changes address the issues under discussion. Any thoughts?

ErrantX
2008-02-04, 03:47 PM
I don't have a problem with the change so long as we can get the other Airbender seeds that exist as templates to function again, because changing Air Blast has rendered them unusable.

The seeds that are affected by this are: Palm Bow, Air Burst, Air Thrust, and Engulfing Winds.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-04, 05:04 PM
I don't have a problem with the change so long as we can get the other Airbender seeds that exist as templates to function again, because changing Air Blast has rendered them unusable.

The seeds that are affected by this are: Palm Bow, Air Burst, Air Thrust, and Engulfing Winds.

How about the following changes:

Palm Bow (Template)
Base DC: +10
By moving your hands in a rapid spiraling motion, you bring in existence a tunnel of rushing winds between your palms. This wind tunnel is able to propel small projectiles with heightened force and accuracy.
• Applications: By adding +10 to the Airbending DC of an Air Blast, an airbender may launch a number of small projectiles (Arrows, bolts, shurikens, stones, etc) equal to 1/2 his class level. The projectiles must be within a 5 ft radius of the airbender to be used in ths seed, though other characters can supply the airbender with ammunition while he is maintaining the seed. Inititating this seed is a standard action, and an airbender can maintain the tunnel by taking a full-round action each round for a maximum number of rounds equal to his class level (requiring an Airbending skill check each round to maintain the tunnel). The projectiles are launched in a line, the length of which is equal to the airbender's bending range. Creatures caught in the line take 1d6 points of damage for each projectile launched, and are allowed a Reflex save for half damage. If the line deals enough damage to a barrier to break through it, it continues on past the barrier if the range permits; otherwise, it stops at the barrier. An airbender must only make one Airbending check for all projectiles thrown.

Air Burst (Template)
Base DC: +10
By adding an additional +10 to the bending check, the airbender may apply this template to his Air Blast. The Air Blast will now be applied to all targets (friend or foe) within five feet of the airbender’s location, hurling them in a straight line away from the airbender. The airbender may bend this airflow around targets caught in the burst radius by increasing the DC by a further +5 per target ignored by the airburst and may increase the radius of the form by 5 ft for every 5 points by which the bending check exceeds the DC.

Air Thrust (Template)
Base DC: +10
You create an outline of his body composed of compressed air and send it charging toward your target.
• Applications: The airbender sends a blast of air similar to that of the Air Blast towards a target within a line 50 feet. The target takes 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage and is knocked back as if hit by an Air Blast (taking additional damage if applicable). The seed deals an additional 1d4 damage for every 5 by which the airbender's skill check exceeds the DC of the form (to a maximum of 1d4/level).

Engulfing Winds
Base DC: 30
An airbender learns to manipulate the air currents to create a fast moving channel of turbulence, impeding movement. The current of air is 5ft wide and starts directly in front of the airbender, following a path the airbender specifies that continues away from her but may make any turns up to a 45 degree angle at any point along the path. The total length of the path cannot exceed 10ft per airbender level. The use of this seed takes a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity and requires a full-round action to concentrate each round or the effect is lost. Creatures within the area of the current are allowed a Reflex save to avoid being caught.
• Push: All objects and creatures in the area of the path are effected as if by the Air Blast. Creatures and objects caught in the current are pushed along the path of the current until they reach the end. If the end is reached and the creature or object would be moved further, they are pushed out of the current in a line. Additionally, any creature attempting to move against the path of the wind must succeed in a strength check DC10 + the airbender's wisdom modifier to move at quarter speed. To move at half speed increases the strength check DC by +10 and another +10 to move at full speed. Creatures that are more stable such as dwarves or creatures with more than two legs or are of large size gain a +4 bonus to their strength check. Creatures of huge size gain a +10 bonus and creatures greater than huge are unaffected by the seed. Moving with the flow of the current is just as difficult, requiring a strength check as if moving against the current at quarter speed. Success means the creature may move at half speed, failure means the creature is affected by the Air Blast effect even if they normally would not be affected.
• Containment: Just as creatures cannot easily move against the currents, a creature cannot exit the current easily once caught. A creature can exit the current only by taking a move action to make a DC 15 strength check, resulting in the creature standing adjacent to the path.
• Updraft: An airbender is not limited to making the path flow parallel to the ground, but may also have the path flow upwards at any point along the path. The path may bend upwards at a 90 degree angle, costing one 5ft of the length. Any creature in an upward bend gains a bonus to their jump check equal to twice the airbender's level and are considered to have a running start. The updraft can hold 20lb per airbender level in place along the updraft and slow downward movement to 5ft per round for objects of up to 40lb per airbender level or 10ft per round for objects up to 80lb per level.
• Downdraft: A downdraft works just like an updraft except the 90 degree bend is downward, forcing creatures down. Creatures in this area take a penalty to jump checks equal to the bonus given for updraft and fall twice as fast, so a 10ft fall would deal damage as a 20ft fall.
• Quick Draft: An airbender may take a standard action to create a temporary updraft that sends objects and creatures into the air along a straight upward path. The path follows the rules as normal, but can only have one 90 degree upward or downward bend and no other turns.

ErrantX
2008-02-04, 05:23 PM
Well then consider me appeased. Great job, as usual!

As an aside, what of the topics on the OP have we resolved, like, have we resolved the communal bending stuffs? Or lavabending? I'd love to see that stuff get scratched off that OP :)

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-04, 05:27 PM
Well then consider me appeased. Great job, as usual!

As an aside, what of the topics on the OP have we resolved, like, have we resolved the communal bending stuffs? Or lavabending? I'd love to see that stuff get scratched off that OP :)

-X

:smallredface: Aw, shucks.

Thanks for reminding me to update the OP. I've scratched communal bending off the list. Still to be resolved are lavabending, quickening bending, bending and extra attacks (TWF, FoB, Rapid Shot, etc.), and weapon and armor proficiencies.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-04, 08:17 PM
It all looks good to me, even if the fix does make Engulfing Winds a much better seed. I do have three things to suggest, as a touch of flavor and practicality. First, that Air Blast have a clause similar to Fire Blast, allowing airbenders to channel the blast through an unarmed strike. The second is an idea I've been tossing around for a while.

• Hand of Air: A technique of convenience, the Airbender learns to move objects by manipulating the air pressure and wind currents around an object. So long as an object that weighs less than 5lbs is within his bending range, an Airbender may move it anywhere within his bending range. For every 5 by which his Airbending check exceeds the DC, the maximum weight an airbender can manipulate with this ability increases by 5 lbs. Objects shaped so as to catch air (such as an airtight bag) may grant bonuses to this check, and objects specifically designed to be transported in this way halve the DC of Airbending checks used to move them.This object does not travel fast enough to cause damage. This may also be used to simply blow small amounts of air over and around objects, such as to perform minor acts of mischief or to cool hot food.
I worded it awkwardly, and you're welcome to rewrite it; but I think that Appa's saddle weighs too much for a simple application of this ability as written; it's made of wood or leather and weighs at least 200 pounds, yet Aang used airbending to remove it in The Chase. Maybe it was actually creative use of Updraft... Thoughts?

The third suggestion is that opponents only need to make a Reflex save to avoid a knockdown from Air Blast after being pushed back at least ten or twenty feet. The reason for this is to avoid situations where an opponent actually wins the opposed Bull Rush, but is knocked down anyway.

Pirate_King
2008-02-04, 09:33 PM
First, that Air Blast have a clause similar to Fire Blast, allowing airbenders to channel the blast through an unarmed strike.

I'm not sure that makes much sense, either practically or in canon. We've seen fire blasts with a single strike, shooting from a fist, where as whenever Aang does any airbending, there seems, for the most part, to be a lot more complex motions. Even with Aang's simpler stuff, it still comes from outside (with the exception of exhaling powerfully). With that exception, Firebending is unique in that the element comes directly from the bender.

levi
2008-02-05, 12:58 AM
Wow, a lot's been going on since I last checked out this project. It's nice to have a new thread with all the writeups at the front. So far, all the proposed changes and additions seem pretty good.

I like the new air blast rules. The old ones where so long and complicated that I never really bothered to compleatly understand how they functioned. All the other blasts and basic seeds/forms where easy to understand, but air blast simply went on for paragraphs and I only ever skimmed it.

The other seed rebalancings seem to properly adress the issues that have been brought up. Speaking of which, I'm all in favor of another round of playtesting. (I missed out on the last one.)

The communal bending rules seem pretty solid. They provide a nice ruleset for allowing benders to cooporate. They provide enough of a power increase to make it worthwile, while not being overpowered.

I've only skimmed over the Bending Study feats, but they seem to off to a good start. While it is true that most of their abilities are extrapolations, rather than strictly based on the show, the existance of lighting redirection through Waterbending Study seems to imply that the others should exist, even if there isn't enough background on such things to make them one hundread percent accurate.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-05, 01:59 PM
Welcome back, Levi. Thanks for the comments. I’m glad people (at least, those who’ve posted so far) approve of the new Air Blast rules.

Another issue I’d like to bring up for discussion is the ability of waterbenders to draw water from the air and from plants/animals (seen here (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/308/140.jpg)). I propose the following feat to represent this ability:

Where there is life, there is water

One of waterbending’s greatest weaknesses is its dependence on an external supply of water. However, powerful waterbenders know that water can be found in many places, if only you know where to look.
Prerequisites: Waterbending 12 ranks, Manipulate
Benefit: With a successful DC 20 Waterbending check, you can use the Manipulate ability as a move action to draw water from the air. Enough water can be drawn from the air to use the Water Blast, Water Whip, Ice Shards, or Healing Water seeds.

Alternatively, you can use the Manipulate ability as a move action to draw water from a single plant or creature within your bending range. Creatures affected by this ability take 2d6 points of Constitution damage. Creatures can make a Fortitude Save (DC 10 + half your class level + your Wisdom modifier) to negate this damage and cause the drawing of water to fail. A waterbender can only use this ability on a single creature or plant at a time, and each Medium-sized creature or plant produces the equivalent of one 5 ft cube of water.

Finally, by increasing the Waterbending DC of a seed by +15, you can use this feat as part of using the seed.
Normal: A Waterbender must have some source of water, snow, or ice nearby to perform her bending.
Special: When in dry are such as a desert, the Waterbender must make a DC 30 Waterbending check to collect water from the air. Additionally drawing out water in such an area while executing any form increases the DC by +35. In an area of high moisture such as a swamp or seacoast, drawing out water in such an area while executing any form increases the DC by +5.
To be honest, the amount of water produced by this feat is pretty arbitrary. I’m pleased with the limits of drawing water from the air (Hama (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/308/126.jpg) only draws a very little bit of water in this manner), but was unsure how to work drawing water from life. This application can clearly supply larger quantities of water, but I wasn’t sure how much. At this point, unless anyone has major objections, I’d say stick with the 5 ft cube measurement.

On that note, here’s my idea for the minimum amount of water each seed should require:
Waterblast –one water skin (or equivalent)
Deflect Attack –one water skin (or equivalent)
Mist – one 5 ft cube – true, the area of the is substantially larger, but the water is also finely dispersed.
Water Whip - one water skin (or equivalent)
Tentacle – one 5 ft cube for Tentacle, two 5 ft cubes for Octopus
Ice Shards - one water skin (or equivalent)
Healing Water - one water skin (or equivalent)
Water Shield – one 5 ft cube for Plane, two 5 ft cubes for Hemisphere
Steady Stance - one water skin (or equivalent)
Rise with the Tides – two 5 ft cubes
Pressure - one water skin (or equivalent)
Water Walk – NA
Propel – NA
Armor – one 5 ft cube
Wave – one 10 ft cube
Golem – one 5 ft cube for Medium, +2 additional 5 ft cubes for each additional size category
Feel the Flow – NA
Plantbending – NA
Blizzard – NA (uses ambient moisture)
Bloodbendint – NA
Just a few things that have been on my mind of late...

Mephibosheth

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-05, 02:11 PM
Where there is life, there is water
Your version is better. I just couldn't understand why only animals could be affected by Water from Life, it just didn't made sense.


Oh, and the new Air Blast is great.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-05, 02:31 PM
Thanks for Guyr. I think I'm going to add the new Air Blast and the revised seeds to the front page and the website sometime within the next day or so, unless someone posts major objections between now and then. I'd still kinda like to hear from hacim on this issue...

In other news, you asked for it, and I'm going to try to deliver. I just initiated two new playesting efforts, so run over to "Finding Players" and check them out.

The first is a simple playtesting arena, much like Lord Tataraus' effort earlier. There are a few differences, however. First, of our new content, I'll only be playtesting the bending classes (at least initially). Second, there will be a combination of battles against parties, not just pairs or individual benders. We'll use a combination of NPC's (both bending and non-bending) and already-existing monsters to playtest, hopefully giving us a grounding in already-existing and tested content. Check it out! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71539)

The second is an actual campaign, set against the defeat of Chin the Great (see the Avatar Day episode for background info) and the disintegration of his empire. Everyone who wants to roleplay in the Avatar world, here's your chance. Check it out! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71540)

Mephibosheth

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-05, 03:32 PM
This is gonna be fun...

ErrantX
2008-02-05, 03:48 PM
I like the feat Meph. Good work.

As far as some topics we have on the burner:

Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: I have no problems with the current weapon/armor profs for the benders as they stand.

Extra attacks: I say no to extra blasts per round, because that would lead to most combat oriented benders being of a two-weapon fighting build. Negative on the cheesing extra attacks. Blasts should be limited to normal iterative attacks based on one's base attack bonus -only-.

Quickening Bending: I'd say tentatively, this is okay provided that the DC jump is high enough to discourage all but the most potent benders from doing it, and only on low DC seeds and forms.

Lavabending: I didn't see a problem with the seed in the first place the way it all was, but here's a crazy idea: Why not allow both Firebenders and Earthbenders to take it? It's a natural fusion of both of their elements. Otherwise, if that's not feasible, I say it has to go with Earthbenders. It's molten -rock-. A firebender could play with it's heat, but once it's out of the volcano, it's earthbending time. A firebender could cause an eruption, but not control it.

-X

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-05, 04:28 PM
Lavabending: Earthbender playground.

Quickening Bending: The table Eight Seraph made was great.

Bending and Two-Weapon Fighting, Flurry of Blows, Rapid Shot, and other ways of increasing number of attacks: No way, except for Rapid Shot.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Simple weapons and armor.

ErrantX
2008-02-05, 05:07 PM
Quickening Bending: The table Eight Seraph made was great.

Bending and Two-Weapon Fighting, Flurry of Blows, Rapid Shot, and other ways of increasing number of attacks: No way, except for Rapid Shot.

8thSeraph's table was pretty good, actually. It must be found so we can use it!

As far as Rapid Shot goes, would that stack with Firebender's Firestorm? So a Firebender could pop off an extra 2 attacks at -4? I don't have a strict problem with that, I guess. Rapid Shot oddly doesn't offend me either.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-05, 05:12 PM
Lavabending: I'm completely on the fence about lavabending. The only example of lavabending in the show is a firebender (shown here (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/201/906.jpg)). On the other hand, lava is earth, and could make sense as an Earthbender ability. If I had my way, we'd simply scrap the seed until we get some more evidence, but I'm happy to go with the general consensus on this one.

Quickened Bending: I'm with X on this one, especially when I say my support is tentative. I'm only ok with it if the DC increases are large enough to limit it to high level benders. Eighth_Seraph's chart is the right idea, but I think the penalties need to be steeper. I also don't support bending as a Swift action. It just smacks too much of caster cheese to me. How 'bout something like this:

{table=head]Original Action|New Action|DC Change

Full-Round|Standard|+10

Standard|Move|+20[/table]

Edit: FYI, Eighth_Seraph's table (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3569230&postcount=695)

Extra Attacks: I agree. No extra attacks for FoB, TWF, even Rapid Shot.

Weapon Proficiencies: I support the current proficiencies. Bending is grounded in martial arts, and I don't see a reason that needs to be unarmed combat. I also don't see any evidence that soldier NPC's are multiclass bender/fighters. Allowing them to use armor and weapons doesn't really increase their power levels, but it does give them some more options.

Vadin
2008-02-05, 05:33 PM
This is going to sound weird, but...
what happens when mommy was an Earthbender and daddy moved water?

I'm going to working under the assumption that the benders of the different nations are cross-fertile, of course, but beyond that potential...what happens? Can the kids bend both elements? Probably not, or there would be more Avatars running around. Not at all for one? Seems too boring? Better yet, maybe mostly one and a little bit of the other through traces manifested via the first one. For example...Earth+Fire = Ability to lavabend, Earth+Air = Ability to sandbend, Earth+Water = Some water seeds usable with mud, etc.

Some heritage feats would probably do this nicely (were this implemented).

Ceiling009
2008-02-05, 05:33 PM
Actually, I'd allow Rapid Shot to allow an extra attack with blasts, as it is a ranged attack. I mean, they do have medium BAB, so a -2 to get another attack, is a decent minus. I think it's okay, on the other hand, FoB and TWF shouldn't allow extra attacks with blasts, but with unarmed attacks, if for some reason they have it should allow it.

About Hybrid Benders, the show doesn't have any cannon supporting it, but I figure it's more one or the other really, if the child has the ability bend at all, what they could bend would be based on their spirituality, IE, if they're deeply rooted to earth, they're an earthbender, if they're deeply attuned to freedom and air, airbender, so forth and so on. You could always put in heritage feats in the non-canon stuff...

ErrantX
2008-02-05, 05:41 PM
I like that Quickened Bending chart of yours Meph, because it allows someone to put out two bends at once if they need to at substantial difficulty (one as a standard, one as a move). I'd consider a Quickened Bending feat as well that allows you to do that in the first place, perhaps.

Another topic of discussion: Armored benders? Did we end up deciding anything on that? I'm going to go back and check myself, but was that something we decided on?

-X

P.S. Also, Meph, in the OP under Motion, it specifies Waterbending check when prone, and it should be any bending check.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-05, 06:01 PM
New quickened bending table
:smallfrown: Ouch, that hurt!

Well, you're the boss.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-05, 06:39 PM
Well, you're the boss.

No, I'm not. This project has progressed far beyond the point where the "leader" (for lack of a better term) has absolute authority. I have definite opinions on how things should be, and I will support them, but I'm more than open to discussion and will go with the consensus. If there is no consensus, or the issue is being ignored, I'll make judgment calls, but I'm not the boss.

On this issue, my problem with Eighth_Seraph's table was that the DC's are low enough to allow low- and moderate-level benders to quicken their bending with a reasonable expectation of success. My fear is the same one I've always had; that benders will replace casters in completely overpowering more conventional characters. I think we've done a great job of preventing that so far, and more playtesting will only make things better, but we need to be careful with things like this.

So, in summary, let's discuss this and arrive at a consensus.

Mephibosheth

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-05, 08:28 PM
Interestingly enough, I'm with Meph on severely limiting the benders' ability to quicken their forms. During my playtest of Sokka's Master against a level 20 waterbender, my "make be patient and make sure he doesn't get near the water" strategy was foiled by a swift Wave (Transport). The lesson learned here is that quickened bending allows for some huge cheese when using forms that scale based on class level.

As for the increased amount of blasts per round, I would actually prefer to keep those out of the picture altogether. Regardless of the way this is decided, we still need to make a decision with the firebender. Say, for example, that we have a firebender/monk with Flurry of Blows and a +11/+6/+1 BaB. Firebenders can channel their Fire Blasts through unarmed strikes. I think we can all agree that FoB attack rates for the blasts is too much, but can a firebender in melee make the first three as blasts channeled through his unarmed strikes, then use the attacks left over as normal attacks? I'm actually not opposed to the idea, as it would mean a major loss of damage die for a firebender to go that deeply into the monk class.

ErrantX
2008-02-05, 09:53 PM
I would simply state in Firestorm that it does not combine with any other method of gaining additional attacks (i.e. two-weapon fighting and flurry of blows). That way we can effectively eliminate loopholes.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-05, 10:07 PM
The problem I have with that solution is that an overwhelming barrage of quick attacks is the firebender niche. If you allow Rapid Shot and don't allow it to stack with Firestorm, you allow other benders to be just as good at that as firebenders. That's one of the reasons I support not allowing any methods of increasing the number of blasts. It's a simple solution that preserves the roles of the various classes.

My 2 cp on that issue.

Mephibosheth

Pirate_King
2008-02-06, 01:31 AM
I've stated before that firebenders are unique in that they create their own element. Using a fire blast from each fist would be no different than firing two hand crossbows. With the penalties, what is so terrible about allowing fire blasts as two weapons? Same with fury of blows, and all the penalties would stack. Maybe we could even get rid of the firestorm ability to allow firebenders to use two weapon fighting feats, to showcase that unique quality of firebending, that it comes directly from the bender rather than needing to manipulate outside sources of the element.

exceptions here being sweat bending, (which requires quite a bit of strenuous activity and isn't so much a reliable source) and aang's "breath-ups" on avatar day and fire bending masters (I see his breath as more of a focus for all that air, anyway, rather than the source, there's something to be said about lung capacity)

ErrantX
2008-02-06, 10:54 AM
The problem I have with that solution is that an overwhelming barrage of quick attacks is the firebender niche. If you allow Rapid Shot and don't allow it to stack with Firestorm, you allow other benders to be just as good at that as firebenders. That's one of the reasons I support not allowing any methods of increasing the number of blasts. It's a simple solution that preserves the roles of the various classes.

That's what I was saying. While Rapid Shot doesn't necessarily offend me, the TWF and FoB methods do, because any combat focused bender is going to take TWF feats regardless of their element. That's not what we're trying to accomplish. To discourage all Benders from taking Rapid Shot as well (because if a feat becomes so good that everyone takes it, and in this case almost everyone would as it's only one feat to gain that extra blast, it's too good IMHO), we should state that the only way for a bender to gain additional blasts is to be a level 6 Firebender. Everyone else can stare with envy.

-X

Pirate_King
2008-02-06, 11:34 AM
To discourage all Benders from taking Rapid Shot as well (because if a feat becomes so good that everyone takes it, and in this case almost everyone would as it's only one feat to gain that extra blast, it's too good IMHO), we should state that the only way for a bender to gain additional blasts is to be a level 6 Firebender. Everyone else can stare with envy.

-X

So what about eliminating firestorm and only allowing firebenders to apply TWF rules? It certainly fits with their abilities with regard to how their element works, and Firestorm does basically imitate using two light weapons with the feat in question. Letting them attack with both hands to start with would be no different, the penalty would balance it.

ErrantX
2008-02-06, 12:00 PM
Eliminating Firestorm would be bad because that would give the Firebender the potential of having 6 attacks if they built TWF, 3 main hand and 3 off hand attacks when they Greater TWF. Firestorm builds in one additional attack using Rapid Shot-style rules. One extra attack as a class ability is enough of an extra edge, allowing Firebenders to pull off 3 extra attacks would just be too much. That becomes quite a lot of damage by level 9 (when you'd qualify for improved TWF, 4 attacks of 3d6), and deadly by 15 (with greater two-weapon fighting, 6 attacks at 4d6).

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-06, 12:43 PM
I'm with X on the TWF debate. It only really makes sense for firebenders to TWF, and I agree that the feat chain would make firebenders too powerful.

On the Rapid Shot debate, I'm not quite sure what you're saying, X. Are you supporting limiting Rapid Shot to ranged weapons (i.e. not bending blasts) or are you supporting a tweaked rapid shot that works for ranged weapons and Fire Blasts? Or am I missing the point entirely?

ErrantX
2008-02-06, 12:47 PM
What I'm trying to say is, is that I'm okay with Rapid Shot working with Blasts so long as that's the only feat that does (and would stack with Firestorm), but no two-weapon fighting or FoB. But I'm fine to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to extra attack feats. If it's an all or nothing situation, then I say nothing. But I'd be fine allowing Rapid Shot, provided everyone gets it.

-X

Ceiling009
2008-02-06, 02:36 PM
If you stack the minuses for firestorm and rapid shot, it's a -4 or all the shots... maybe a -2 if you manage to crawl up that entire chain (manyshot is a waste of a feat anyway (for bending... and well even archery...) Personally, I think rapid shot is a viable feat, but you have so little feats to play with as a bender in the first place, so things that you guarantee get are the skill focus feats, a few of the bending specific feats, so rapid shot becoming a hard choice for a feat is a good thing.

Lord Tataraus
2008-02-06, 05:48 PM
Just to throw my vote out there, ditto X. No TWF or FoB for bending, but Rapid Shot stacking with firestorm to get an extra attack. I think 3/4 BAB and a -2 on all attacks is enough of a penalty to not be something everyone takes. Some benders do better without blasts and going straight battlefield control.

FlyMolo
2008-02-06, 09:44 PM
In fact, previous playtesting shows that above a certain level, only idiot waterbenders use water blasts. The damage is totally irrelevant. As a 20th level WBender, I used waterblasts to channel Pressure, but otherwise ignored them. Wave and tentacle deal way more damage. Wave+freeze is a win button, and tentacle is also a win button, because of the ambiguity of the rules. There's nothing stopping someone from just making a bunch of them. I don't know if that's been fixed yet, but I hope so. Spamming tentacle+manipulate=An entire arena filled with tentacles. Each grappling, striking, and tripping every round.

@V Well said, Eighth. It clears up one more bit of cheese. RAW, it's broken, RAI, it's cool. Basically, rules about controlling previous created forms need to be clearly written out.

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-06, 09:55 PM
I'm completely on the fence here. I'm worried by the possibility for abuse with Rapid Shot, but I know that it'll be cleared up in playtesting, I'm sure.

Again, a question about the firebender arises. If a firebender has more unarmed strikes than he does Fire Blasts due to Flurry of Blows, can the firebender do his full Unarmed Strike flurry full attack while using a Fire Blast for the attacks normally allowed solely by BAB?

ExampleLytso the firebender 5/monk 11 has a base attack bonus of +11/+6/+1, and gets two extra attacks at full BAB using flurry of blows. The Fire Blast rules state that Lytso can use his blast as he executes an unarmed strike, but can only do a number of Fire Blasts determined by his BAB alone.

Does this mean that his attack progression using a melee full attack would look like this:
+11/+11/+11/+6/+1[/COLOR]
OR THIS:
+11/+11/+11/+6/+1?

I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'd like to make sure.

I also have a proposal that we start moving deep into flavor-based mechanics for the classes now that we're just applying the spit 'n' polish to the crunch. The first thing I'd like to propose is a Concentration check for firebenders to stop Fire Blasts that miss their target. If the check fails, then the blast continues to the end of the bender's "safe" bending range. There is a precedent (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/116/102.jpg)*, and I think it's a good way to put the philosophy of fire as a "living" element into the class. The blast would be considered unguided and suffers a 50% miss chance on targets through any squares it passes through, as if the bender were blind. Thoughts?

Molo: That strategy shouldn't be possible. A waterbender must actively control the tentacles she creates, and I meant to write the seed in a way that made implicit that a waterbender can only control as many tentacles as she makes. We'll want to make that explicit, then.

*Many thanks to avatarspiritmedia.net for the dozens of screenshots that Meph and, recently, I have used to illustrate our points for all this time.

Zeal
2008-02-07, 01:35 AM
I also have a proposal that we start moving deep into flavor-based mechanics for the classes now that we're just applying the spit 'n' polish to the crunch. The first thing I'd like to propose is a Concentration check for firebenders to stop Fire Blasts that miss their target. If the check fails, then the blast continues to the end of the bender's "safe" bending range. There is a precedent (http://screenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/116/102.jpg)*, and I think it's a good way to put the philosophy of fire as a "living" element into the class. The blast would be considered unguided and suffers a 50% miss chance on targets through any squares it passes through, as if the bender were blind. Thoughts?


I've been following this project for a while now and I'd like to give all of you kudos for your work on the project so far, I've used the classes here for several NPCs and a character and they've worked out well, about on par with ToM classes.

Anyways, to the point I was originally going to make. The missed fire blasts continuing past their intended targets seemed only to apply to Zhou (sp?). If I remember correctly, he was known for a lack of control. This implies overbending to me. The rules you suggested seem to be a good way of handling it.

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-07, 09:20 AM
The rules about Firebenders channeling Fire Blasts in their unarmed attacks is not in their descriptions.


EDIT!, great OP!:smalltongue:

Pirate_King
2008-02-07, 10:41 AM
I think a firebender should only be able to "take back" missed shots if he's got the Intensity seed, to use quench. Zhao's lack of control was not paying attention to where he was aiming and the power he applied. Part of a balanced RP character would be knowing when it is safe to use his bending.

ErrantX
2008-02-07, 11:19 AM
My opinion on Eighth Seraph's ideas and such:

As far as flurry goes, I think we should explicitly state in either the Blast abilities (preferably) and/or Firestorm that Blast is utterly incompatible with Flurry of Blows. When you use FoB you are not making a simple Unarmed Attack action, you are using the Flurry of Blows special ability. With that in mind, Firebender/monks cannot use both.

And as far as the Admiral "I can't control my firebending and hate magic fish because I'm a total #@$@%" Zhao's uncontrollable firebending? That's specific to him and his inability to not overbend when angry as Zeal stated. Either that, or he just was reckless as hell. Either way.

-X

Mephibosheth
2008-02-07, 11:30 AM
First, I cleared up the language on Fire Blast, allowing benders to channel their blasts through unarmed strikes. Check out the OP text and make sure everything's ok.

Next, are we (more or less) agreed on the following text for Blue Fire?

Blue Fire (Template
Base DC: 20
Instead of the normal reds, yellows, and oranges associated with conventional firebending, the fire produced by this seed glows blue and is exceptionally hot.
• Applications: Damage dice for firebending forms using this seed increase by one step (for example, from d6 to d8, or d4 to d6). Additionally, blue fire deals full damage to objects.

Note that I eliminated the reduction in the Deflect Attack penalty to clear up confusion with the Airbending Study feat. If people want to add that back in, I'm happy to do so. I'd like to get this cleared up so we can have a definitive DC for the "Fall of Chin the Great" campaign.

I'm convinced that allowing Rapid Shot to apply to bending blasts wouldn't be too bad. At least, convinced enough to allow it for playtesting. I'll add it as a note in the "Bending Overview."

The idea of uncontrolled blasts is an interesting one, but I'm worried it could easily bog things down. Not only would it require more dice rolls, but it could lead to all sorts of problems with missed Fire Blasts. What if another creature or character is standing behind the target of the missed blast? Is that creature hit? Is there a save involved or would there still be an attack roll? How do you treat non-targeted seeds? Note, I'm not necessarily opposed, just urging caution.

Another possibility would be to represent it as a trait (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm) or a flaw (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm). If I remember correctly, Zhao's lack of control is presented as somewhat abnormal. Maybe something like this:

Undisciplined (Flaw)
You lack the discipline to maintain perfect control of the fire you create
Effect: Whenever you miss with a targeted ranged firebending attack, you must make a Concentration check (DC equal to 10 + the Firebending DC of the form) to extinguish the fire. If you fail this check, the attack continues on its current trajectory, extinguishing at the end of your bending range. You must make an additional attack roll against any creature in the trajectory of the attack, though you suffer a 50% miss chance on these attacks. If you successfully hit a creature, the attack ends. You cannot make additional Concentration checks to control the fire if you miss on any of these additional attacks.
So that's my suggestion, if we decide to include this ability. I'll also add a note about how firebending sets flammable materials on fire, adding an element of risk to AoE firebending seeds. Maybe using AoE seeds on wooden boats is Zhao's problem...

Finally, how 'bout adding the following to the Tentacle seed:

"The waterbender must actively control the tentacles she creates, taking a full-round action each round to direct them."

Mephibosheth

Pirate_King
2008-02-07, 01:35 PM
I like the look of blue fire

I don't think the effects of uncontrolled fire really need to be explicitly stated, DM's sort of handle those things on their own, and there are already rules for things that get set on fire. generally its a D4 fire damage per round, I think. It's probably enough to say that firebending can ignite flammable objects and leave the rest to the DM.

"Undisciplined" seems like a very specialized flaw. Also, Zhao's lack of discipline is very character based, and to create a game mechanic rather than just letting people play a character seems to be carrying the meta-game too far. I'll let the srd make the rest of my point:


Flaws with primarily roleplaying or story effects have unpredictable effects on game balance.


A flaw must have a meaningful effect regardless of character class or role.

ErrantX
2008-02-07, 02:53 PM
I second Pirate King on both of his points.

-X

Eighth_Seraph
2008-02-07, 04:43 PM
If we make the flaw apply to all benders, I think it'll be general enough, since pretty much every bender will be using some sort of ranged bending, even if not their Blasts. If that's not considered general enough, just make it apply to all ranged attacks and I think we're set.

Also, I think that controlling the Tentacle seed should be a standard action per turn, rather than a full-round action, with a clause stating that no other bending can be done while the form is active. This is because a full-round action means no movement, except five-foot steps, and this makes a waterbender a sitting duck in any situation, since a 40-foot safe bending range is not really large enough to make it worth the damage to stay still. Eventually someone will bullrush or trip your meat shield, and then you'll get charged at. Rather than this being an effective balancing factor, it might make the seed not worth using.

Mephibosheth
2008-02-08, 10:13 AM
I think that controlling the Tentacle seed should be a standard action per turn, rather than a full-round action, with a clause stating that no other bending can be done while the form is active. This is because a full-round action means no movement, except five-foot steps, and this makes a waterbender a sitting duck in any situation, since a 40-foot safe bending range is not really large enough to make it worth the damage to stay still. Eventually someone will bullrush or trip your meat shield, and then you'll get charged at. Rather than this being an effective balancing factor, it might make the seed not worth using.

I debated between a standard and full-round action for a while. The reason I went with full-round action is that we never see Aang or Katara move while using the Octopus Form. They seem to remain pretty immobile while using it, sacrificing mobility for considerable defensive capabilities (and it is an essentially defensive form). That said, I'm not opposed to changing it to a standard action with the qualifier that no other bending can be done while the form is active.

Another waterbender-related issue I just thought of pertains to Ice Shards. Specifically, we see the seed used multiple (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/217/192.jpg) times (http://dvdscreenshots.avatarspiritmedia.net/118/818.jpg) to pin an opponent to a wall, floor, or other structure. However, I looked at the Ranged Pin (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Ranged_Pin,all) feat, and it has some pretty hefty prerequisites. I could easily see waterbenders benefit from taking all of these feats, but they're pretty feat-starved, and Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and Ranged Pin, not to mention other feats to enhance grapple modifiers, are substantial investments when you only get 8 feats over 20 levels. I know Ice Shards is a powerful seed, but do you think it would be unreasonable to add a high DC application that allows for ranged pins without the feat? I'm envisioning something like:

Entraping Shards (DC 25): By maneuvering shards of ice with pinpoint accuracy, powerful waterbenders can pin an opponent to a hard surface. If she succeeds in a ranged attack using the Ice Shards seed, a waterbender can initiate a grapple attempt instead of dealing damage. The target must be within 5 feet of a wall, tree, or other surface in which a thrown weapon or projectile can be stuck and must be wearing some sort of clothing, armor, or other accoutrement. To break free, the victim must make a DC 15 Strength check or a DC 15 Escape Artist check as a standard action. By increasing the DC of the form by 10, a waterbender can cause the ice shards to originate high in the air, allowing her to pin opponents to the ground instead of to a vertical surface.

What do you think?

Mephibosheth
2008-02-08, 10:43 AM
Sorry for the double post. I want to make sure people see this.

I'm still accepting submissions for both playtesting campaigns. The Fall of Chin the Great is accepting submission until February 11, and the playtesting arena is always accepting submissions. There are only a few people who have expressed interest in the arena, and none who have submitted character sheets. If this isn't something that people are interested in, I'll happily abandon the arena, but I want to make sure people know that it's there.

If you're interested in either of these campaigns, hop on over to the "Finding Players" forum and sign up. Both threads have an [Avatar d20] tag in the title.

Mephibosheth

ErrantX
2008-02-08, 01:16 PM
Adding entrapping shards to Ice Shards does already make an awesome seed better, but at the same time, it's such an essential seed for waterbenders who at all think they might get into a fight or three. I don't have a problem with it because we obviously have precedent, but it does make me think that we may be overloading the seed.

But what the hell, add it anyway! :) If it's broken we can fix it after.

-X

Guyr Adamantine
2008-02-08, 01:27 PM
I got an idea! We make Ice Shard the new Water Blast, and Water Blast becomes a seed. :smallwink:
It might sound stupid, but since any Waterbender would take it, perhaps it is its real place.

Ceiling009
2008-02-08, 01:43 PM
Make it a template? I mean, as a mechanic, it works if you add it to any form, thus removing possible problems with thing like Freeze + Wave. If it's added to ice shards, it works too; as i envision the ranged pin feat something you can do with any weapon that's ranged, while this use is more based on the fact that the better you can control water, the better your aim.