I ran a group of 4 players through the RPG Quickstart. I think what I was hoping for was a more rules lite introduction to the system. It was a bit intimidating for my players who were not familiar with Powered By the Apocalypse. It took some more re-reading and fumbling through than I was expecting but we got the hang of it eventually. Because the introduction is a short adventure I think there was a good amount of the rules in the booklet that could have actually been cut because they don't really come up in a short adventure that would help improve the way you try it out.

Pretty good introduction to the soon to be released 2nd. Edition.

good info, worldbuilding, mechanics and adventures but I wish they'd update the pdf's (and errata'd the printed books) to fix all they typos and printing errors. Same goes for some of the older avatar legends books. Or get a new proofreader for the next one.

MOST errors are easy to context out so its a good book altogether but the errors that hinder the mechanics (miswritten, same named techniques or wrong stats on a playbook or wrong techniques on an npc legend) are...annoying.

Fantastic Powered by the Apocalypse take on drama with the whole system made to encourage stories about extraordinary characters doing extraordinary things. More fun than chopping off yet another goblin's head.

I've been running a campaign using this system for a few weeks now, and it's been pretty great so far! It has a lot of mechanics (like influence and shifting labels) that are very fun to play around with as GM and my players are having a great time too. I will say that combat can sometimes feel kind of stale; PBtA just isn't great for super action-packed combat-heavy adventures most of the time in my opinion, and this game doesn't even have a mechanic for player death so the stakes feel low under the default rules. Personally, I house-rule'd in a possibility for player death so combat felt a little more exciting and my players appreciated that. But if you're looking for a more social/roleplay heavy game, and appreciate the teen superhero genre it's based off of, you'll definitely have a good time with Masks.

Greetings, i read you have finished the pdf of the core rule book and send it out to the backers? When can non-backers hope to buy "Urban Shadows 2" here in Drivethrurpg as PDF?

Root is an incredibly charming game, and is a great way to share the love of TTRPGs with friends who might never have played a tabletop game before. Based on the PbtA engine, it's instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with those types of games. It's quite quick to pick up, even for newcomers. I've found the setting does a good job of hooking you in with the right balance of cute, cuddly animals and tumultious social conflict. You can shift the mood of play rather easily from light-hearded to serious depending on the table. I think the emphasis on factions, which is drawn from the boardgame, adds an additional layer that differentiates it from other Pbta based games. It's definitly worth trying a few quick adventures with friends, and you might find yourself wanting more.

I love the concept of a world run by dragons, but this roleplaying book takes harmony and friendship to an extreme virtues angle and divine intervention. <p>The game revolves around the concept of "Darkness" as a corrupting shadow that once threatened Dragonia and has now returned. This is not a physical entity but rather a manifestation of negative traits like selfishness, greed, and pride. It is tasked by elder dragons to newborns to investigate without public knowledge.</p> The game encourages players to work together and emphasizes the value of friendship as players protect Dragonia and help its inhabitants from this ‘Darkness’ that has resurfaced again. Like a clash between classical dragons of old stories and this new age of culture and though. In the game lore, dragons do not have sex or gender, and they use gender-neutral pronouns (e.g., "dre"). There is no natural family structure. Instead, dragons are families by bond of affinity. Dragons must form an ‘affinity clutch’, which is a group of dragons sponsored by elder dragons. This group is dedicated to caring for one another, and upon approval, they are granted the privilege of yielding eggs from a magical Hatchery and looked after by Guardian plants. These plants then sort dragons into Great Houses. Each institutional house has charged with caring for the land and maintaining strongholds built in honor of older, influential dragonkin, protecting and serving Dragonia in their own way. Magic is granted by 5 moons, which dragons must give gems to each other to use powers, not grant them yourself. The moons are derived from virtue and wellbeing to chaos and destruction. There is this odd reward system that emphasizes Virtues among friends. Each player holds 10 gems of a colour. Players give each other gems based on their virtuous actions. If a game move requires you to roll +Friendship Gems, you count the number of gems you have from a specific clutchmate and add that number to your roll. You return Gems when performing a moon magic move. Players who are more active or vocal might receive more gems, leading to a disparity in the power to influence the game’s outcomes. The system relies heavily on subjective judgment. What one player considers a virtuous action worthy of a gem, another might not. This subjectivity could lead to inconsistencies in how gems are awarded, potentially causing friction among players. There is not much to the world itself. There is history, grand houses, and a central capital on a large continental landmass. The map is blank and uncharted, so it up to the GM and Players to make up the world itself. All actions are described as Moves and Triggers. Players gain experience points through failed rolls. Main story goals are known as ‘Agendas’. Dragons can be wounded physically or emotionally, which contributes to Darkness. There seems to be a forceful negative interaction among players when your own darkness reaches curtain thresholds. Maximum Shadow turns players into Shadowself, and you can no longer receive gems. However, you can now use Shadow Magic and can accomplish significant feats, without help. You can return from your Shadowself when a player convinces you to humble yourself and acknowledge what you have become. Each dragon architype has its own way of returning to normal. At the end of game sessions there is a moral of the story questions and answer round about all your actions and what you learned, like a ‘My little Pony’ end of an episode.

Huge fan of the Avatar setting and Magpie did an exceptional job at adapting it. I'm happy that they went with PBTA as the engine, rather than something like d20, because it really lets you focus on telling fun stories. The combat system can be a little tricky, but I've grown to like it and think it does a good job at adapting the types of fights we see in the show for a tabletop narrative. The combat cards are super useful, I hope they release a PNP version sometime (I bought the cards).

As soon as I learned this game was on Kickstarter, I backed it. I've watched ATLA & LOK since they were on, and I've watched it... I've lost count how many times since their original runs. I also love PBTA games, and this is a fine example of how far that system has come.

I've ran this game for many, many sessions at this point. I think that the combat rules don't read well, but in play, they are elegant and absolutely capture the vibes of the show. My play group has become so disillusioned with the flat probabilities of d20+ rolls in D&D, Shadow of the Demon Lord, etc that we appreciate combat that is over in a round or two. But, let's be very clear, combat is not the focus of the shows! It's really cool watching bending fights, but that's not the moments that hit hardest. Katara finding her mom's killer, Aang discovering Gyatso's body, Korra's struggle with the PTSD she experienced at the hands of Zaheer... God, Zuko turning his back on Ozai during the Black Sun! These aren't combat, but these are what we remember most from the source material!

That being said and it bears repeating: the combat is elegant and flows way better than it reads, but keep in mind that a good chunk of the core book is examples, not necessarily rules. We've had zero issues with combat, and have had some really epic fights that went beyond just a few simple rolls. The combats have GRAVITY in a way that I have rarely experienced in my 30+ years of TTRPGs

I love that internal conflicts are a central theme of this game, since that IS the theme of the source material! Aang's pacfisist airbender beliefs versus his destiny as the Avatar is LITERALLY the central driving force behind the show. Zuko's redemption arc is him finding his harmony between his two conflicting ideas of honor. It wouldn't be Avatar without these internal character struggles, and this game does an amazing job capturing that!

Bottom line: if you're looking for a crunchy build-your-own cafeteria-style menu of a thousand different bending techniques, you're not going to find it here. If you're looking for animated Wushu, this isn't it. But, if you're looking for a tabletop version of one of the greatest animated franchises ever, with all the character growth & drama on display, THIS is the one! I could keep gushing, but just... If you're into the Avatarverse, get this game without hesitation! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. If I have to say something bad... My one player who wasn't familiar with the source material seemed a little bored, but I'm not sure that's a reflection on the game itself.

More like troubled teenager RPG. Avatar setting and bending are basically coincidental to the vast majority of the rules and play. All characters are required to have strong internal conflicts, so if you don't want that specifically you're going to have a bad time with this rule set

My players and I love the world built in the Aang and Korra stories, but the rule system used for this game felt painfully misapplied. I'm not the type that needs big numbers and lots of dice to be happy, and I enjoy a good narrative focus, but a lot of the fun in the setting was the action and bending and creativity therein. This game just didn't feel like it captured that to me. The book itself had some great setting ideas and good information on the nations and world itself, but in the end I just adapted it to a better rule system.

Love the material, worldbuilding and adventures! Though I've noticed there's possibly a printing error on the pdf page 35 (Toph's Legendary NPC stats) where Rapid Tunneling's effect is different than the one listed on the glossary and identical to Suki's move "Unstoppable Path"

This wasn't the right choice of system for this franchise. The system is a slog, play books are clunky and restrictive. Wish they had done better.

This game does an excellent job capturing the spirit of the TV show and the emotional weight and drama you see in episodes. The system also does an excellent job capturing the fast paced, constant motion you see in tv show, so you never feel like you're bogged down with moves that feel like you're slowly chopping down a tree.

However, combat encounters include 3 different forms of damage and knowing which moves to use to do the right kind of damage makes this a more complicated learning curve than what you normally see in other games. I originally purchased this game with the intent to run it with my kids (ages 8+), but I feel I'll need a few more years before the youngest is ready.

Other than that, the book is beautiful, the lore is well laid out, and many of the systems feel very unique and well fitting for the setting.