Republic City Dispatch

Hey! We used a D20 System for an Avatar Campaign earlier this year! http://dndsnd.pbworks.com/f/Avatar+The+Last+AirBender+d20+v2.03.pdf Here is one I found…though not the one we used.

— naviex

Innnnnnteresting.

Last episode, we asked if there was a Table Top/RPG Avatar Mod floating around out there, and it’s time to see what we found. If you’re not into roleplaying or haven’t tried a table top/dice game, a lot of this might seem confusing.

The above is a d20 system, like D&D…gonna say 3.5 by scanning this PDF? It’s pretty interesting except for the Chi Points system. If you’re going to go d20 and use Benders as Classes it seems weird to limit the amount of bending said class can do.

Searching around that concern, I happened across this d20 system that uses a bending check instead of Chi points. I’ve only started scanning the various parts, but I like the idea that even if you fail a Bending Check you can “OverBend” to the detriment of your character’s health.

ANNNNNYWAY – We’re going to keep looking into this and please help us by sending us a link to anything you find.

It’s also just dawning on me that someone is going to have to GM this thing and write some sort of campaign when we do find a system.

-Da7e-

There’s a lot of doubling going on. Siblings who have opposite approaches to the same problem or who are virtually identical (except one is dating Bolin).

The Water Tribe was always the next step in Spiritual from the Air Nomads (Air, Water, Earth, Fire – rough ordering) and was home to the moon spirit in ATLA. But that was just the Northern Tribe while the Southern Tribe had been robbed of it’s benders, leaving them without a grand city and living an inuit-like lifestyle. After the 100 Year War, they haven’t seemed to embrace the Spirits like their Northern counter-parts (possibly because they didn’t have the Spirit Portal Stargate and it was quite a journey across-world) since. 

If the Spirits originally gave humanity the power to bend the elements and a non-bender is now President in Republic City thanks to Amon’s actions, the world might be out of balance. When the Council ruled Republic City so one nation couldn’t infringe on the interests of another, the Southern and Northern Water Tribes were represented separately. Now there’s a single man representing those interests and we don’t know if he’s aware of the Unalaq situation.  

We’re seeing a lot of imbalance in a story that’s trying to examine both sides of a complicated series themes. I expect to see those imbalances addressed. 

-Da7e-

History! Or History of this Story World, for sure. 

Completely unrelated, because I think your comment stands well on it’s own, I’ve been re-reading what happened to the Southern Water Tribe during the 100 Year War, Southern Raiders, Bender-Clensing and all, to get a feel for the history between the Northern and Southern Tribes which – I assume – had to have been connected by this Spirit Portal Stargate to have developed such similar cultures.

Gotta spend a few hours every week on the Wiki. C’est la vie.

-Da7e-

Not good. 

But that’s not necessarily horrible, either. 

It’s a new time-slot where Korra lost the night to WWE, so…it’s obviously playing a different game than it was last season in the mornings. 

People who are into Korra need to watch it. Some speculate that Korra just wasn’t well-promoted enough to the audience that should have come back for it. Only time will tell. 

BUT – As I’ve mentioned before, there are two more Books coming that Nickelodeon is already spending money on, so we shouldn’t be deathly concerned, just healthily concerned.

-Da7e-

Distinct Possibility!

Wan is speaking directly to camera in-trailer and we see Jinora and Korra meditating into the Spirit World. HOWEVER – we also see Korra meeting other avatars in some dark, glowy Avatar-state-looking connection, and everything Wan has the distinct Japanese Illustration title which is not glowy.

If Jinora does end up being a connection to Wan, I wonder if this signals the beginning of Jinora’s transition from the “AirKids” to “Team Avatar Generation 2?”

-Da7e-

Good Question, Mazznet!

My “handling” is the understanding that even those that seem to have negative reactions to an episode, character or moment are – in the end – reacting, and that’s fandom. Sometimes the nature of whatever connects you emotionally to a show allows for more trolling.

Shows like Lost were mystery shows, so the fandom was in crazy theory land most of the time. The reason we go so deep with speculation on Korra is that the creative team has proven they’re putting enough thought into the world-building that we can speculate based on dramatic action and “rules” of the universe (plus a healthy dose of pop-culture comparisons like last seasons many parallels to different Batman stories).

Because I’m a an of many things and I’m a geek (or nerd) in the sense that I have a completist, obsessive approach to shows, movies, music and comics that I’m into, I used to fall on the negative side of fandom. I was even part of a fan-fiction writing circle around the short-lived Heath Ledger period series ROAR that went on long after the show was cancelled.

My point is that judging fandom only hurts that fandom. People can have pretty visceral reactions to things, especially when they’ve been attaching their own emotions and experiences to it for over a year (Good ‘Ship Makkora), and who am I to tell them to care less? I’m doing the same thing they are when you come down to it, which is bridging the gap between episodes by keeping my connection to the series alive.

Tomorrow (TUES Sept 17th), Matt Patches and I will be talking about this on the third segment of our pop culture podcast OPERATION KINO (OpKino.com). It’s a 17-minute segment where we discuss the positives and negatives of TV Criticism and the fandom that surrounds it. Lots of talk of Mad Men and Breaking Bad abound.

But I think what we come down to is no matter how annoying or seemingly disrespectful fans are, they are still fans. If you actually dislike a show – like myself with Two and a Half Men – you only watch 2 or 3 episodes ever. Coming back to Korra every week and having strong opinions about Korra is fan engagement, and I try my best to treat it like a sect of fandom I can disagree with, but should never discount.

I hope that answered your question.

Thanks for listening!

-Da7e-

Yes.

-Da7e-

Possible? Yes.

I think this has something to do with the “spiritual” nature of Air Benders overall. AND this all took place on the Winter Solstice when the Spirits are “closer” to our world.

That being said, it was really jarring for Jinora to suddenly be having visions in the Hall of the Avatars, and the trailers show her meditating into the Spirit World and in The Library, so….

We’re still kind of shakey on what genetics pass down to you in this world (AND I’M NOT COMPLAINING – NO MIDICHLORIANS), so I’m not sure if Aang’s spirituality could go to Jinora. It might have nothing to do with Aang, she might just have opened all her Chakras from – you know – being the eldest Air Kid.

Looking forward to more Jinora either way!

-Da7e-