Bending for Troika!

 

I have recently endeavored to watch the legend of Korra series with a friend. At age 11 I decided to stop watching after season 1 because I considered it to be unbearably conservative. Watching season one again and now at age 26 I am finding it not much better, but whatever. I will keep watching it with friends as long as I get to complain with someone next to me on the couch.

I however still find the setting compelling as the show got it’s hooks in me young and it’s cool to see someone move a big rock.

I will probably slowly create my own version of the republic city to use in my home games. It would be an Alternative universe set idk like 5 years before the show or something.

My go to for this sort of thing would firstly be CAPERS because the 1920s and super powers thing and the elemental control powers found in the supplements so most of the mechanical groundwork has been laid already.

However, Troika! often calls to me, the metropolitan flavor of it also seems suited for it.

Bending

Bending functions similarly to spellcasting but with a few differences. Bending has both a rank and a difficulty. A rank represents how good someone is at bending, difficulty represents the excursion (and therefore stamina required) to complete a task. If one attempts to complete an action above their rank in that bending skill they exert double the stamina. 

If one Fumbles at bending, they must Test their Luck (or Skill for enemies) to avoid damaging an important object. If this doesn’t make sense, friendly fire occurs. If that doesn’t make sense, double the Stamina loss.

Subtechniques

Subtechniques of bending such as lightning bending, metal bending, blood bending require rank 4 in the original bending style.

Examples

Merely examples, the powers will be used in strange ways, write down rulings for special techniques players devise.

The difficulty of a technique can be changed by various factors including but not limited to

  • Astrological events

  • Range of effect

  • Quantity of material, very little

  • Quantity of material, lots affected

Difficulty (Earth)

  1. Buffeting an opponent with stones (damage as Sling)

  2. Erecting a human sized wall in an instant.

  3. Creating an elevator.

  4. Burrowing 15 meters through the earth.

  5. Forcefully sinking another creature into the ground.

  6. Opening a 10 meter gap in a city wall.

Difficulty 0 tasks do exist, these are small effects such as lighting a single candle, or blowing away leaves. Difficulty 0 tasks probably don’t require a roll, even if they are narratively important.

Existing Spells

If an existing spell is relevant to the element, use it’s stamina cost to determine difficulty.

Other Techniques

Elementally infused unarmed attacks

Kicks wreathed in fire, or fists encased in ice, and similar techniques inflict damage as unarmed, however, the bender’s rank is added to the damage inflicted (not the damage roll).

Elemental Spikes

Icicles, or other piercing cones do damage as Spear.

Fire

Damage as Firebolt for lower difficulty attacks, as Dragonfire for high difficulty.

Flying

Powering an air glider drains 1 stamina per hour of flight.

Healing

Waterbending healing counts as a subtechnique of Waterbending with a difficulty of 2, a water bender may attempt to negate the need for a ration to provide healing once per day. A failed check means the target gains 1d6 stamina but the healer loses the same amount on top of the two already spent to heal.

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