Help me build a Bending world!

[Yaitanos]

Hi folks! Today we're gonna be combining the Avatar D20 system with the stand 3.x system. What fun we're gonna have!

Anyway, if there is already something like this I couldn't find it so feel free to point me there. Until then this is what I have.

For the most part it is simply integrating the bending abilities and forms into a standard (I like to use a mix of Faerun and Eberon settings myself) 3.x world. No major religious changes, though I'm sure some approve of certain elements over others, like Pelorians and fire. But it would be a big thing over which races are more prone to being certain types of benders. A simple method I've come up with is if the character has an elemental subtype (earth, fire, water, air) and they wish to go into bending then they have to use that element. Such as a fire genasi having to be a fire bender or a water orc being a water bender.

I also think that certain races would be more prone to be one kind of bender over others, and rarely another. Such as dwarves being mostly earth benders but rarely air benders. Or Elves being mostly earth or water but not so much fire.

Lemme hear some comments on this and we'll work from there.

[scarmiglionne4]

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Base_Classes

There are some bending classes here. They may be broken, but there they are for ya.

There are some Naruto stuff there too if that's your thing. Might be cool to throw all that in together.

[Yaitanos]

I have the bending classes already, what I'm trying to come up with is how the bending cultures would mix with the standard dnd culture with wizards, sorcerers, monks and Druids running around alongside thm.

[Pokonic]

I have the bending classes already, what I'm trying to come up with is how the bending cultures would mix with the standard dnd culture with wizards, sorcerers, monks and Druids running around alongside thm.

Welp, first off, do certent races have more benders of certent types than others? Are there stupidly powerful old-master type merfolk waterbenders that land-dwelling ones travel too to learn the trade? Instead of beasts being the original benders, why not the Genie's and all there kind be the original users of bending and there bloodlines eventualy infusing entire races?

[Yaitanos]

Welp, first off, do certent races have more benders of certent types than others? Are there stupidly powerful old-master type merfolk waterbenders that land-dwelling ones travel too to learn the trade? Instead of beasts being the original benders, why not the Genie's and all there kind be the original users of bending and there bloodlines eventualy infusing entire races?

That's what I made this thread for, to get opinions from people to work all that out. It would make sense that there would be races more prone to certain elements than others. Orcs strike me as mostly fire benders for some reason.

[Pokonic]

Well, Dwarves seem like solid earth benders, while Elves would probably be straight water benders with a preferance for the plant-manipulation "subclass". Air benders....Gnomes or Halflings would be great, small size and nimbleness and all that jazz. Orcs and Goblins are also prime fire benders. Lets say, for convinance, each race has two distinct affinites, and have there own "mastery" ability that lets them do a trick typicly found only among there benders (as a guideline, not sure if your system can do everything on the show. Worth a shot, however.)

Dwarves are known firebenders and earthbenders, with metalbending being known among there most powerful.

Elves are airbenders, waterbenders, and earthbenders, and are known plant-manipulaters. To be exact, high elves are airbenders, "woodsy" elves are actualy waterbenders, and the wild elves are earthbenders.

Halflings are known to be both waterbenders and earthbenders. If your letting Ebberan influence you, the Talanta are the local sandbenders.

Gnomes are airbenders and firebenders, and they are well known for mastering the ever lovely lightning-creation trick. So yeah, Ozia? A gnome.

Orcs are potent waterbenders and firebenders, and there greatest fighters can do a Combustian-Man like explosion of fire. Goblinoids have the same affinites, but instead have the ability of healing passed down from generation to generation.

Drow who live on the surface tend to be waterbenders and are known for there cruel Bloodbending, firebenders exist in small amounts in small island cults, and earthbenders exist in there underground cities and can often make a small fortune off there talents.


Giants would just have whatever is most fitting, realy. Might be fun to have only one giant race, and have each "race" of giant simply be a base for a Bending specimen. Hence, every fire giant would have levels in firebending, every cloud giant would be potent airbenders, ect. They might be a base for humanoid spirits.

Building on the idea in my last post, Genies were the original benders. Marid's taught the art of waterbending, Dou occasinaly went out and took on creatures who lived near there domaines as charges, ect. Most likely, the average Genie the party would come across would have more than a few levels in the sutable class if this is used. As a twist, Janni have the ability to take levels in more than one bending class, befiting there mixed nature.


And finaly, humans have the chance to have any of the bending skills, but have a far smaller chance at learning any "nitch" skills.

[Lyndworm]

I fully support this idea, and will be watching for updates. It seems like Pokonic has the basics down fairly well, but I'll post back with anything that occurs to me.

How would you plan for bending abilities to interact with more standard magics in the setting, specifically things like Evocation?

[Yaitanos]

I love the stuff up there, and will use it with only a few minor alterations. As I already said I plan on making all creatures with an elemental subtype stuck being only one kind of bender. So fire giants will have to be fire benders, earth genasi will have to be earth benders and so on and so forth. I kind of like the Janni being able to take all the classes though, could be this worlds version of the avatar, though much less powerful. They are not a very common race, and would probably be even less in this world as most of the races would hunt them down out of fear. For some reason the elves strike me as the most likely candidates to do that. Other than that the racial stuff seems good.

As for the interaction between magic and bending, I was gonna have a bit of rivalry on that part. Mages both admire and loathe benders, for many reasons. Most of it just being jealous of their unlimited use of the elements but eh. Benders see mages in different ways as well. Some could view it as a noble art form or advanced science, while other see it as a way of twisting nature in a way most vile.

[Imbasel]

I am very interested in this. I think this could definitely make for a great setting. I will be posting more later on ideas of race interactions.

[Yaitanos]

So to rekindle this thread, I bring up an issue with the bending skill.

All the bending classes in the version I'm using have to make bending checks. The result of this check determines whether or not the form succeeds, fails and how powerful it manifests. This I have no problem with. I like this system, it means the characters have to be a little more skill based than normal. What I forsee being a problem is skill enhancement items. Sure normally a bender would have to wait til level 15 to make a DC 40 bending check will any amount of regularity. But in a world where there is actual magic, and cloaks of elven kind are plentiful, a young bender would save all his copper for a +10 bending item for a measly 10,000gp. This could eventually make it so that low level benders who managed to find a decent horde able to use high level bending seeds. Especially if they have a party wiz/sorc or artificer.

My solution; Make it so the bending enhancement items cost more. But what would be a good price increase for such items?

[Pokonic]

Really, it isn't a matter of price: it should be scarcity. If a goverment solder could grab a nice spear that inhanced his firebending, then that's a issue unless there they add only a slight bonus to there abilites and the real powerful objects that inhances bending are far rarer.

[Yaitanos]

My group tends to like to make their own magic items rather than find or buy them. Thus the issue.

I was thinking maybe upping the cost from bonus squared x 100gp, to bonus squared x 500gp. Does this work out?

[Freddrick]

My group tends to like to make their own magic items rather than find or buy them. Thus the issue.

I was thinking maybe upping the cost from bonus squared x 100gp, to bonus squared x 500gp. Does this work out?

They will end up costing 5 times a much.
Using the formula you gave for a +2 item:
2^2*100=400 5^2*100=2500
2^2*500=2000 5^2*500=12500
Now, I don't think this is really the way to control it, it wont be that hard to come up with the extra gold if they Really wanted to make those items.

I am not familiar with the bending rules, but here are my thoughts, hope it helps.

If it is a skill check necessary then in order to do the form the player needs skill ranks equal to DC-15 in order to do the check. Ex. a DC40 check needs 25 ranks, not total bonuses, to be able to do it. If the -15 needs to be adjusted then do so.

If bending is a level check, akin to overcoming spell resistance, then you can do anything you want with that as there is no set formula for enhancing level checks. IF you chose to introduce items that do enhance bending you can call them minor artifacts, effectively making them un-replicatable.

If its a level check and you want the party to be able to make items, since bending is often combat driven consider making it cost the same as a weapon to enchant (bonus squared *2000).

-Freddrick

Edit: late night math error FTL.

[Yaitanos]

They will end up costing 5 times a much.
Using the formula you gave for a +2 item:
2^2*100=400 5^2*100=2500
2^2*500=2000 5^2*500=12500
Now, I don't think this is really the way to control it, it wont be that hard to come up with the extra gold if they Really wanted to make those items.

I am not familiar with the bending rules, but here are my thoughts, hope it helps.

If it is a skill check necessary then in order to do the form the player needs skill ranks equal to DC-15 in order to do the check. Ex. a DC40 check needs 25 ranks, not total bonuses, to be able to do it. If the -15 needs to be adjusted then do so.

If bending is a level check, akin to overcoming spell resistance, then you can do anything you want with that as there is no set formula for enhancing level checks. IF you chose to introduce items that do enhance bending you can call them minor artifacts, effectively making them un-replicatable.

If its a level check and you want the party to be able to make items, since bending is often combat driven consider making it cost the same as a weapon to enchant (bonus squared *2000).

-Freddrick

Edit: late night math error FTL.

Yes, I do realize that the items will end up being 5 times as much. I can do math. I just wanted to know if this was a suitable adjustment.

How bending works is that the different seeds and forms all have different DC's in with the players have to make a bending skill check to perform. This includes the ranks they put into the skill, their wisdom modifier, synergy bonus for having 5 ranks in knowledge(bending), and any flavor of skill focus feat they can get their hands on. (element) Bending is like any other skill check in that regards.

I am using the Avatar system that was made on this forum. I don't quite have the link right now, but if you pm me I can send you the file.

[Trickquestion]

Now, I've never been completely clear with how it works in the show, besides the ability to bend is genetic, but the fact that two brothers (Mako and Bolin) bend different elements suggest to me that which element one is able to bend is less genetic and more cultural. So, the majority of Orc benders would bend fire, but if an Orc baby was adopted into a waterbending culture, it could learn to water bend.

As for world building, benders and druids would probably get along, but I could see animosity coming up between bender and wizards, as well as bender and clerics, for the same reason cleric-wizard and wizard-sorcerer animosity comes up.

[Yaitanos]

Now, I've never been completely clear with how it works in the show, besides the ability to bend is genetic, but the fact that two brothers (Mako and Bolin) bend different elements suggest to me that which element one is able to bend is less genetic and more cultural. So, the majority of Orc benders would bend fire, but if an Orc baby was adopted into a waterbending culture, it could learn to water bend.

As for world building, benders and druids would probably get along, but I could see animosity coming up between bender and wizards, as well as bender and clerics, for the same reason cleric-wizard and wizard-sorcerer animosity comes up.

Mako and Bolin are one of the newer geneartion where benders from different nations have been getting together and having little bending children. Like Aang and Katara's children the elements they can bend, if they can bend at all, could be either of the elements the parents bend. So yes, bending is something passed down through bloodlines, though I doubt genetics is the case as it is more of a spiritual things.

All races, save for the elemental ones who bend themselves (not really but it's funny to say it that way), are not limited to which of the four elements they bend by race alone. Yes, which element they are more prone to would vary by race as that would be more of a cultural thing. The only race that I can see that wouldn't really have more of one over the others would be humans, dependent on world setting of course (the water tribes could have taken over the world and snuffed out all firebenders for example), as they are the most variable, adaptable and highest population of the races. Again, dependent on world setting.

I figure that benders and druids, and the interactions between all the other classes would vary on different cultures and sects rather than class alone. A druid could just as easily see benders as abominations as they could extensions of nature. A wizard could see them as powerful allies or arrogant rivals who flaunt their 'limitless' power and control over the elements the wizard spends years learning how to manipulate only a few times a day. Heck, the reserve feats could have been born of this rivalry/admiration.