We finally have additional information regarding Magpie Games' development on the Avatar: The Last Airbender tabletop RPG, and about the Avatar RPG Kickstarter campaign.
According to their official press release, the project is now officially titled Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. While this production is part of a multi-year licensing agreement with ViacomCBS and Nickelodeon, Magpie Games did announce that the RPG would be seeking additional support through Kickstarter. The plan is to have the campaign go live on August 3rd through September 2, and finally to have the RPG published and distributed around March 2022. There also plans for two supplements to be released some time in August 2022 and February 2023 respectively.
"We're so honored and excited to announce the Kickstarter for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game,” says Mark Diaz Truman, CEO of Magpie Games. “We have spent the last ten years connecting with backers via Kickstarter, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to involve fans through crowdfunding. There's a whole world to explore in the Avatar Legends universe, and we can't wait to show you all that we have planned!"
In fact, Magpie Games have released a sneak peek to their RPG. By hitting the link here, you can access Avatar Legends' quickstart rules. This includes how to create characters, how to set up an overarching story and goal for your group, and even includes a starting adventure and pregenerated characters.
We did reach out to Truman for further questions about the quickstart rules and what it means for the full version. For example, the starting adventure is set during the Hundred Years War era, putting the party in a time before the awakening of Avatar Aang. The full version will include multiple adventures spanning from the time of Avatar Kiyoshi all the way up to the quasi-steampunk era of Avatar Korra. In addition, there will be an entire chapter dedicated to each of the five eras complete with never-before-seen material, all overseen and approved by the original creators at Avatar Studios. The rules and character creation assumes PCs will be older kids or teenagers, much like The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra series respectively, since half of the conflict of those series involves self-identity and uncertainty.
But arguably the biggest hurdle is helping those more familiar with certain famous RPG systems (*cough*Dungeons and Dragons*cough*} adjust to the rules-lite trappings of Powered by the Apocalypse. Truman said, "We'll be including a full chapter on how to play the game with the PbtA framework, but we really try to emphasize that folks can dig in and give it a shot. Characters are pretty easy to make with playbooks, and the moves trigger at natural moments of uncertainty, so we find the best way for people to learn how to play is to try it."
Thankfully, it'll cost you nothing to give it a chance. In the meantime, mark your calendars.
