by Max Ego HervieuxA hack of ApocalypseWorld, a game by D. Vincent Baker, about fast-paced

supernatural kung-fu meant to evoke the the feel and action of the Nickolodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender and its successor show, The Legend of Korra, in

addition to the general genre of martial arts and wuxia films.

Alpha Draft v1.3http://the-logbook-project.blogspot.com

What is Avatar World?Avatar World is a roleplaying game, meaning that its a game where you, and a small group of other interested people, sit down for a few hours and pretend to be characters in a fictional world, and over the course of those hours, youll tell the story of those characters. This text provides a set of rules, structures, and tools that allow you and your friends to tell stories of a particular type.

Avatar World is a game about playing high-energy action of the sort found in such media as Nickolodean shows Avatar: The Last Airbend-er and The Legend of Korra, as well as other martial arts and wuxia films and stories. It is high-fantsy, with heavy use of elemental magic and ideas inspired by Asian mythology and stories, though it is in no way representative of those cultures.

In order to play Avatar World, you need a few things. * This text, and the printed out Playbooks.* A group of 3 to 4 friends.* One person from the group must be willing to play the role of MC, who plays the world and the opposition to the characters.* Two six-sided dice.* Some pencils and pens, some index cards or paper.

If youre already familiar with the roleplaying game Apocalypse World, by Vincent Baker, much of this will look familiar to you. If not, howev-er, dont worry - this text is meant to fully explain the game from top of bottom, no prior experience necessary.

Additionally, no knowledge of the Avatar canon is necessary to play - this text is inspired by the show, but does not require it, and everything is explained without reference to the show.

How To Play Avatar WorldAvatar World is a conversation between the players, who control the player characters (PCs), and the Master of Ceremonies (MC), who controls the world and non-player characters (NPCs). Avatar World is driven first by the players, who describe what their characters are doing and pursue their goals, with the MC reacting, threatening the characters in order to make their struggles meaningful, and providing the players with the opportunities to pursue their goals in a dramatic way.

Play starts with character creation. Each player will select a playbook, each of which is a self-contained archetype for the genre. Players will select a playbook and then follow the prompts on it to customize the archetype into their own unique character.

After creating characters, the conversation begins, with players narrating their characters actions and the MC responding. During certain moments of uncertainty, the dice will enter play in the form of Moves. By advocating for their characters goals, with the Moves managing risk and uncertainty, and the MC giving the characters real obstacles against which to struggle, you create the story of Avatar World.

To the Players:Your job is to play your characters as if they were people. Dramatic people, people who deal with important things, people who you would see in a cartoon or a movie, but people nonetheless.

To the MC:Your job is a little more complex, and is described in greater detail later.

The StatsCharacters in Avatar World have five Stats that act as a measure of their personality and aptitudes. Each stat is associated with a number from -1 to +3, with a higher number indicating a stronger presence of that aspect in the characters personality. Higher values also make a character more capable when that element of their personality is used to solve the problems the character faces.The five stats are Natural, Hot, Solid, Keen, and Fluid.

Natural:

Hot:

Solid:

Keen:

Fluid:

Natural characters are well-connected; they are just as in-touch with people as they are with the world. The Natural person is well-versed in conversation, wise about the ways of the world, and disciplined in their self-control.

Hot characters are powerful and excitable. They are volatile and quick to act on their emotions, and while it is often channeled into violence, just as often it manifests as passion and enthusiasm.

Solid characters are reliable and strong. They are difficult to rile up, and rarely lose control over themselves. Their dependability isnt restricted to any particular field; the Solid person can adapt to any situation.

Keen characters are the sharpest people around. Theyre intelligent and perceptive above all others. Its hard to catch them off guard, and theyre alert even at rest.

Fluid characters are mobile and graceful, in complete control of their motions. They have no trouble changing to meet new challenges, and are quick to react.

Note: If youve played Apocalypse World or Monsterhearts, those also have a Hot stat. Dont confuse them, however, as those games use Hot for attractiveness, while Avatar World uses Hot to relate to violence and pasion.

MovesMoves are the main way that the games rules interact with the conver-sation of the game. There are two important types of moves. One is the passive move, which simply makes something true in the game. Some passive moves might give you a bonus to a stat, or cause you to use a dif-ferent stat for a move, or some other effect. The other type of move is a roll, and all of these moves have a similar format. That format is: when [something happens in the fiction], roll+[a stat]. On a 1 0+, [a complete success]. On a 7-9, [a partial success or success with complications].

The trigger at the beginning is absolute; whenever that trigger occurs, the move is made and you should follow the rest of the instructions. Additionally, if a player ever wants to trigger a certain move, they have to meet the trigger in the fiction in order to do so.The roll, unless otherwise specified, is always 2 six-sided dice, with their results added together, plus the stat that the move specifies.If the result is 1 0 or more, the move is a success, and the move will tell you what that means. If the result is 7, 8, or 9, the move is partially successful, and the move will tell you what that means.If you rolled a 6 or less, the MC gets to make one of their moves. MCs never roll dice - the MCs moves just make things happen, and they are almost exclusively problematic for the characters, but serve to increase the tension and create drama even on a poor roll.

There are two categories of player moves. The first is the Basic Moves. Basic Moves are available to everyone, and form the basis of the game. The other category is Playbook Moves, which are moves only available to members of specific playbooks who have selected that move. All Basic Moves are rolls, while Playbook Moves are a combination of rolls and passive moves.

There are eight Basic Moves, detailed on the following pages.

The Basic MovesSpeak HonorablyWhen you speak honorably to persuade, convince, or manipulate an NPC, roll + Natural. Tell the GM what you want. On a 10+, you get what you want, as long as you promise the NPC something theyll get in return. On a 7-9, you get what you want, but there are immediate and troublesome strings attached.When used against another PC, roll +nothing. If you have Honor with them, add +2. On a hit, pick from the following list. On a 1 0+, choose both. On a 7-9, just one.* If they do what you want, they gain a point of Chi.* They must Stand Fast to deny you.

MeditateWhen you spend time in uninterrupted contemplation, name what youre thinking about and roll + Natural. On a hit, you learn a detailrelevant to the subject of your thoughts. On a 10+, declare what that detail is. On a 7-9, the MC will declare what the detail is.

Act DishonorablyWhen you act dishonorably to get what you want, roll + Hot. On a 10+, they need to choose whether to give in or face your wrath. On a 7-9, you might not get what you want, but youve pushed them to (MC chooses 1 ):* Flee in cowardice,* Provide what you think you want,* Calmly and politely deny you,* Come back with a counter-offer.

Commit Open ViolenceWhen you strike out violently with intent to kill or incapacitate, roll + Hot. On a 10+, you hit the target and put a Tag on the them as the fiction would dictate. On a 7-9, you still strike them, but choose one from the list below:* You inflict little harm,* Youre left in a disadvantageous position.* Youre left open to their counterattack.

Stand FastWhen you act in reaction or under pressure, roll + Solid. On a 10+, you do it, no problem. On a 7-9, the GM will offer you a tough choice, hard bargain, or dangerous outcome.

Observe CarefullyWhen you observe something carefully, whether it be a person or a situation, roll + Keen. On a hit, ask questions from the list below. On a 10+, ask 3. On a 7-9, ask 1 . After you ask, you can add a Tag or an Environment Tag describing the situation.*What should I be watching for?*Whos in control here?*Whats about to happen?*What do I need to do to be at an advantage here?*What here is not as it appears to be?

Move With IntentionWhen you move deliberately to gain a position of strength, roll + Fluid. On a 10+, pick 2. On a 7-9, pick 1.* Take +1 Forward on your next roll.* Youre safe from imminent attack.* Place a Tag on the target you have a position on.* Add an Environment Tag to the scene.

If used against another PC, add the following option to the list:* The target you have a position on needs to Stand Fast to act against you.

The Basic Moves

Help / HinderWhen you help or hinder another PCs move, roll + nothing. If youre helping and have Honor with them, add 2 to the roll. If youre hindering and dont have Honor with them, add 2 to the roll. On a 10+, add +2 (if helping) or -1 (if hindering) to their roll. On a 7-9, same thing, but you get yourself in trouble in the process.

The playbooks

PlaybooksPlaybooks are the types of characters you play in AvatarWorld. Each playbook is a single page folded in half, and acts as a character sheet that contains all the information needed to play that character. They are structured somewhat like a bunch ofmultiple-choice questions, hav-ing you choose elements from lists that guide your character concept. Each represents some archetypical character from the genre.

Over the next several pages is a breakdown of each section of the play-book.

The playbooks of Avatar World are:

The Airbender.

The Aristocrat.

The Earthbender.

The Firebender.

The Monk.

The Scholar.

The Warrior.

The Waterbender.

Explaining the PlaybooksThe Front Page

The front of the playbook has several sections. The first page is dedi-cated to creating the characters narrative situation; their Name, their Look, their Gear, and their Chakra (which guide personality).

NameThis version of Avatar World does not have name lists. In the future, there will be a small list of thematically appropriate sample names, along with some guidelines for writing your own name that fits the playbooks theme. For example,Waterbender names involve a lot of ks and double ks. For this version though youll need to come up with a name without that support.

LookLooks are a set of lists, usually two, made up of around four options each. The player should select one option from each of the list to be true about their characters appearance. Its often a good idea to use the Look as a springboard for a more detailed description of the appear-ance. Unlike with names, the Look list is comprehensive; players must select from the lists and may not write their own.

GearGear is a description of the objects you start with. You may have other things, but the playbook calls out anything particularly special. Unless the playbook specifically says to make a choice, you get all the gear described. Some gear have parenthetical notes attached, which are descriptive of the traits of the gear.

Explaining the PlaybooksChakras and Chi

Chakra are pairs of personality adjectives. Each playbook has four possible Chakras, as well as a single option to write your own pair, and each character begins the game by choosing two Chakras. Whenever one of your Chakras brings you into conflict with another player char-acter, when your Chakras get you into trouble, or when you fail a roll, you get a point of Chi.

Chi is a type of point that characters accrue over time and has two main uses. After any roll, you can spend a point of Chi to increase your result from a 6- to a 7-9 or from a 7-9 to a 10+, as long as the narration involves taking advantage of a Tag or Environment Tag affecting the target. This can only be done once per roll. At any time when you have 5 or more Chi, you can discard 5 Chi in order to select an option off of the Improvement list.

Specific playbook moves may add new uses or sources for Chi.

With three to four players and at least two Chakras each, there are a lot of adjectives for the MC to keep track of. To ease the task, its best for players to keep track of when they trigger their Chakras, and simply inform the MC that theyre taking a point of Chi for it (with the MC able to veto it if the privelege is being abused, of course).

Your Chakras are tracked on the front of the playbook, and there is a circle on the inside of the playbook in which to track your current balance of Chi.

Explaining the PlaybooksThe Inner Pages

The inside of the playbook contains your characters stats, their Harm, their Moves, and a place to track their Chi, Honor, and Oaths.

StatsThere are a set of four different arrays of stats, from which the player should pick one and fill it into the large stat boxes. There is a small sum-mary of each stat on the playbook as well.

HarmThere are six bubbles on the sheet indicating your Harm. This is a measure of how able your character is right now; damage done to you by obstacles and foes will require you to fill in these bubbles. When all six are filled in, youre not capable of acting any more. Maybe youre unconscious, maybe youve lost your mind, whatever. You might even be dead, though thats not as likely in Avatar World as in other games.

MovesOn their own page are your Playbook Moves. These are unique to this playbook, and the playbook will tell you if you automatically get any of the moves and how many you are allowed to choose.

ChiDescribed on the previous page, there is a circle for keeping track of your current balance of Chi here, along with a brief explanation of what Chi is and how it is used.

ArmorYour armor value, determined initially by your playbooks Gear, is a simple modifier to the amount of Harm you take. When the MC says you take a certain amount of Harm, reduce that amount by your armor value.

Explaining the PlaybooksOaths

Promises have power in Avatar World. On the bottom of the page is a secton left mostly blank: this is for you to fill in with the oaths you make to the other characters in the game. There are three procedures to follow regarding Oaths:

When you make an oath, write it down under Oaths.

When you fulfill an Oath, gain Honor with the person the Oath was to and gain 1 Chi.

When you break an Oath, roll + nothing. If you have Honor with the person the Oath was with, add 2 to the roll, but you no longer have Honor with them. On a 10+, your loss of Honor is all that happens, though youll need to deal with the personal consequences of going back on your word. On a 7-9, choose 1:* they immediately and intuitively know you broke the Oath, regardless of where they are, and immediately act on that knowledge.* you must make a new Oath to them to try and redeem your failure.* you also lose Honor with someone else who knows you broke your promise.

HonorHonor is something you have with another character, PC or NPC. It indicates a certain degree of trust in you, or at leasr faith that you are good to your word.

Whenever a circumstance (such as a move) says that you gain Honor with that person, they write your Name under the Honor section of their playbook.

Its a good idea to keep track of it on your own sheet as well.

Explaining the PlaybooksThe Back Page

The back of the playbook has your characters Special move, their im-provement track, and your Starting Oaths.

Special MoveEvery playbook has a special move with the trigger of When you train with a master, or Once youve trained with a master. These are permanent changes to the character. Its up to the MC just what it takes for it to qualify as training with a master, but it should be a goal to strive for. If the character manages to find and train with a second master, the Special move doesnt trigger again, the MC should come up with something else to happen.

ImprovementAt any point, you may spend 5 Chi to select one of the options off of the improvement list. The change indicated by the option is permanent. Each option on the list can only be taken once.

A separate, smaller list of Improvement options lies underneath the normal list. These can only be selected from once you have taken 5 or more of the above improvements.

BackstoryAfter the group has introduced characters, go around the table and fill out your Backstory, one character at a time. The prompts come in a number of forms unique to each playbook, and serve to establish initials Oaths and Honor.

the master of ceremonies

The Master of CeremoniesThe MC is the player without a player character, instead responsible for managing the world and playing all the villains and supporting characters the players interact with. They never roll dice, and instead operate on a series of principles and special MC moves. Basically, you keep the conversation moving and the action happening. You have rules too though; an Agenda, things to Always Say, Principles to follow, and a list of Moves you can do. These are rules, not just guidelines.

Always Say

*What the Principles demand.The Principles will require you to act a certain way, and you should stick to those rules.

*What the rules demand.Never skimp when the rules should be invoked; they are built to swing the fiction in new and unexpected ways. Better to let the story build than to just invent it without the rules.

*What honesty demands.Dont lie. And dont obscure the truth - just tell the players whats up.

Agenda

* Explore a mystical world.The world of the game is a place to explore as a group. Go fantastical places, meet larger-than-life world, and defeat incredible danger.

* Make the characters lives interesting.Complicate their lives, but dont kick them when theyre down. Youre not here to beat them up or defeat them.

* Play to find out what happens.You are not the one telling a story. The whole group is creating a story, together with the rules. Dont cheat and come up with a story ahead of time to walk them through, and remember that as much as you do with your moves, theyre the ones in charge of their actions and the path their characters will follow. Dont talk about what will happen - play to find out.

The Master of CeremoniesPrinciples

* Build a mystical world but ground it in the mundane.* Address yourself to the characters, not the players.* Be a fan of the players characters.* Treat everyone equally - without kid gloves, like people.* Give everyone a motive. Fights are never started for violences sake.* Be melodramatic.* Ask provocative questions and build on the answers.* Think ahead, and offscreen too.* Sometimes, disclaim decision making.

Build a mystical world but ground it in the mundane.Probably the most important part of the MCs job in Avatar World is fill up the spaces in the world that the players leave open with the incredible things like what theyve seen in Avatar and Korra and all the other stuff that this game can model. A great trick to do that is to take the magical and strange and bind it to the everyday lives of people. Animals arent just animals, theyre hybrids of two real-world animals, and thats normal. People can bend fire and stone and sea to their will, and thats just a part of their everyday lives making a living and being a part of their community. Sometimes the magical is especially weird, even to denizens of Avatar World, such as the great spirits often are, but the key to making the world feel mystical is to infuse the supernatural into the everyday animals, people, and landscapes and to treat it as just normal.

Address yourself to the characters, not the players.When you call someone by their real name, it moves them out of the fiction and brings them back to the table theyre sitting at. Calling people by their characters names even when addressing questions or if people are talking in the third person about their characters actions helps to hold everyone in that space where they connect with and respond naturally with their characters.

The Master of CeremoniesBe a fan of the players characters.

The MC is there to introduce complication into characters lives, and to make their moves when prompted to do so. However, your agenda is to make their lives interesting, and that means that the best move is often not the worst thing the MC can do right then. You want them to win, and your real job is to put things in the way so that those successes feel real.

Treat everyone equally - without kid gloves, like people.Your NPCs arent your precious creations to be protected and pre-served, theyre the tools you use to make characters lives interesting, and that often means standing by as the players overcome them. Let go of them easily, but dont just throw them away for nothing.

Give everyone a motive. Fights are never started for violences sake.

Not everyone needs a name, sometimes the henchmen are just that unimportant. But even those henchmen need a reason to oppose the players, and that makes their actions more real. Even if the reasons are simple, without them they cease to be characters and just become obstacles in the players paths.

No one fights just because. Violence is always about something more than just violence. Of course, once combat has started its usually just the will to stay alive, but starting fights is always more complicated than that.

Be melodramatic.Dont just go halfway on this. Be real when you must, but whenever possible, be theatrical. Gesture, overact, and ham it up a bit. And in narration too, nut just dialogue.

The Master of CeremoniesAsk provactive questions and build on the answers.

That should be self-explanatory, but ask questions all the time about relationships, about methods, about histories, and reincorporate what the players say later on. Ask an especially large number of questions when introducing characters at the first session. And whenver you ask questions, try as best you can to use the answers they give, or slightly altered forms of those answers.

Think ahead, and offscreen too.Whenever things are happening, always try to keep in mind how that can be used again in the future. Like building on the answers, but but in a more long-term sense. Be careful not to predetermine anything though, youre playing to find out what happens, so dont get attached to any of the ideas youve got. But you should always be thinking up ideas for how things can go wrong or get interesting.

Just because the characters are off at the mountain investigating the air temple doesnt mean the revolutionaries at the city stop fighting. Your MC Plots will remind you how things are marching along elsewhere, but its a good idea to keep track of whats happening outside of the PCs immediate line of sight. And knowing what else has been mov-ing around lets you drop clues and build up to events, rather than just springing them suddenly.

Sometimes, disclaim decision-making.The players are the largest resource of ideas you have available to you, so sometimes tap into that well of enthusiasm and have them answer the questions that come up. What IS that statue a figure of? Where WOULD a tiger-bear be found? What IS needed to appease the ghost of the overthrown king? If you dont have any ideas at hand, check if anyone else has any; it deepens their investment in the world and lets them add elements they want to see if the story. Of course, dont do it all the time, youre here to keep their lives interesting and theres little less interesting than determining all the objectives and solutions them-selves, but as an occasional tool it is an excellent one.

The Master of CeremoniesMaking Moves

There are four rules to follow when making moves.First, regarding the nature of moves, it should follow first from the fic-tion rather than from some mechanical abstraction, just like the players moves do. In order for the MC move to happen, it has to happen just as much in the narrative of the story.

Second, you also have triggers for your moves, but its not unique to each move. You get to make a move whenever the players fail a roll, or when they look at you with expectation in their eyes. And when triggered, you HAVE to make a move - even if its not all that bad, push things forward in the story. Its just as big a deal as if the players moves were triggered and they didnt roll anything.

Third, you dont want it to seem like youre using moves! Dont say the name of the moves youre using, and dont call out that youre making a move, just keep acting as if the result was the of-course perfectly-nat-ural next step in the story. Everyone will know youre making moves when they fail, of course, but it breaks everyones focus a bit when you jump out and make it obvious that youre using your mechanics.

Last, but perhaps most important, make your move as hard as you like, which doesnt always mean as hard as you can. Youre a fan of the PCs, youre not bent on ending the game for them, and youre there to make their lives interesting. If youre regularly too hard, it can discourage them from even wanting to make moves at all, and thats certainly no fun for anyone. Especially if they didnt fail their roll, its okay to go a bit soft on them. When the time comes though, remember: youre treating everyone equal, without kid gloves. That includes the PCs, so give em hell.

The Master of CeremoniesMoves

* Challenge their oaths.* Put someone in a spot.* Expose the bigger picture.* Make them promise.* Offer an opportunity, with or without a cost.* Inflict harm, as established.* Bring the world itself down on them.

And after every move, ask them: What do you do?

Challenge their oaths.Drive hard to stick a wedge between a character and the other PCs, the NPCs, or even their own goals. Make abandoning goals seem lucrative in the short term, and present conflicts of interest associated with their goals.

Put someone in a spot.The most versatile move available to you, use it to put them where they dont want to be. Pull them away from friends, pair them up with someone theyd rather not be with, leave them somewhere vulnerable, or anything else that involves getting them into a troublesome situation. Dont just have the bad stuff come immediately though, at least most of the time. Give them a chance to react and interact and prepare for the upcoming awfulness.

Expose the bigger picture.Reveal whats happening off-screen somewhere, or whats been set in motion that will come down in the future, or whos really in control of a situation. This is among the softest moves in your control, and is great for those times when the players look to you to set things in motion.

The Master of CeremoniesMake them promise.

A lot of folks are willing to do a lot of things if they feel assured that they can get something out of it. Remember that all their promises go down as Oaths on the players sheets.

Offer an opportunity, with or without a cost.Sometimes its nice to show the players just what they want, and maybe even give it to them! More often, show them what they want, and then tell them what theyll need to do or give to reach it.

Inflict harm, as established.The simplest move in your arsenal, jsut deal harm to them. As es-tablished means that things deal their appropriate amounts of harm, rather than you just declaring an arbitrary amount of harm. Beware frequent use of this - while its a good way to make their fights into a struggle, they cant take too much Harm, so it can be easy to be too hard on them.Additionally, even when youre dealing a set amount of harm, even if it would fill in their last Harm bubble, try not to kill them but to incapacitate them otherwise. Protagonist death is rare in the genre, and the tone is much better suited to close calls than final goodbyes.

Bring the world itself down on them.The world is scary. Its big, and uncaring, and for all of its wonder, its ultimately a dangerous place out there in the wild. Angry spirits man-ifest in the forgotten places, wild beasts roam just off the beaten path, and Fate moves the environment whichever way on a whim. When at rest you make the players marvel at how amazing and strange every-thing is - but when things start to go bad, show just what the world is capable of.

And after every move, ask them:What Do you do?

The Master of CeremoniesThe MC and Chi

MCs gain Chi when a player spend Chi to automatically succeed a roll as a 7-9. MCs then use this Chi to advance their Plots, which are a framework of the ongoing threats to the characters and the world.If you are familiar with ApocalypseWorld, they are analogous to Fronts. Plots havent been finished yet though, so for now use MC Chi to sim-ply advance the future threats to the characters.

The Fronts system is nearing completion, and will be the focus of Version 1.3. Thank you for your continued patience.

What are Tags?

Tags are (exclusively negative) small descriptive phrases that are ap-plied to NPCs, and Environment Tags are phrases describing the state of a location. Many moves apply them, and using Chi relies upon them. But what do they do on their own?

In one sense, they do nothing. Just attached to a given object, they have no mechanical weight. They dont change the numbers game at all.

However, the mechanics of Avatar World all flow from the fiction, and Tags are fictionally binding. If a soldier has the Trapped in Ice Tag, just because the numbers havent changed doesnt mean youre free to describe them just breaking free and running. Theyre trapped! Youd need an opportunity to use one of the MC Moves to have that soldier break free.Similarly, with some moves it would make sense to apply lethal Tags. For example, if the Warrior swung his battleaxe and rolled a 10+ on his Commit Open Violence roll, it makes perfect sense that they could apply the Decapitated Tag. Thats how NPCs are taken out of the fight, not by any loss of a mechanical resource but when they fictionally arent fighting any more.

Oh, and PCs never take Tags. They have no mechanic for removing them, so just describe and do your Harm. You dont need Tags to put them in spots.

Plots and threatsWhat are Plots?

Plots are the MCs way of making things happen over the course of a game. Since the MC is mostly a reactive role in Avatar World, you cant always rely on players to always give you a chance to use your Hard Moves in any way to actually set up long-term events, save for repeated use of Exposing the Big Picture. Plots are also how you keep tabs on all of the persistent forces that get in the way of the players.Plots are one of the best ways for the MC to draw in elements theyre interested in seeing in play, and are one of the few ways for an MC to be aggressive.

Plots are made of three main components: the Concept, the Plot Track and the Threats.

The ConceptThe concept sounds a bit straightforward, and it is. It describes what the Plot is. Its pretty important to know what exactly is meant by Plot though - it does not refer to a Plot in the sense of a specific plan by someone (as in the lords mother was surely plotting something), though that could be an example of a plot.

Instead, think of Plots more like in a TV show sense. Plots might be like an episode plot (an angry spirit keeps tearing at a town), a season plot (a disgraced firebender chases the players to regain his honor), or even a huge series plot (a comets impending return threatens global war).Your concept is a brief description of the Plot.

The plot trackPlots and threats

The Plot Track is the tool with which you will track the progress of the Plot. A typical Plot track looks like this:

Each of those boxes is a stage in a Plot progressing from left to right. When you first establish the Plot, you write up the Plot in four stages, each one building on the last as if the Plot had continued successfully. These stages shouldnt be things the players do, but how the Plot would progress should the players not intervene.

Writing the stages can be difficult, but worthwhile. A good trick is to make them the highlight events of the Plot; in the comet example on the previous page, perhaps the third stage is a complete solar eclipse. The last stage should always be the climax of the Plot, during which the Plot will succeed if not directly confronted by the players.If the players do confront the Plot but do not stop it completely, rewrite the stages appropriately, again as if the players did not interfere from then on.

Advancing a Plot is simple. Recall that the MC also accumulates a pool of Chi, recieving one any time a player spends Chi to improve their dice roll. The MC can spend these Chi to advance a plot to the next stage. The number of Chi needed to advance to a stage is the number written in the box of that new stage. For example, in the above Plot Track, the first, second, and third stages require one Chi, while the last requires two.

It is likely that there will be multiple Plots running simultaneously. This is okay, good even, and gives the MC choices about what trouble is advancing during a given moment.

Messing around with tracksPlots and threats

The track included on the previous page is just one possible track! Here are some more possible ones.

Shorter Tracks are fine! So are longer ones. When drawing up a Plot Track, keep two things in mind: scale and desperation. The longer the track, regardless of the numbers, the larger the scale, because it indicates a larger number of major events. The comet exam-ple would probably be five stages long, while the angry spirit example might be only three.While it has a mechanical meaning, what the numbers on each stage boil down to is the number of times the players were desperate for success during the previous stage. Since players use the same Chi for improvement as for automatic success, they only use it to succeed when they feel it really important for that one roll to succeed. So the number on a stage is really the number of serious trials you want them to face before the next stage. For these reasons, the 1-1-1-2 Track is appropriate for most major Plots.

Experiment away with Track design!

threatsPlots and threats

If Plots are the overall course of an event or story, the Threats are the characters or obstacles that stand in the players path to thwarting it. While many elements might interact with a given Plot, even longer Tracks rarely need more than three, or perhaps four persistent Threats.

Every Threat has two or three components: Category and subcategory, MC Moves, and sometimes custom moves.

There are four Categories of Threats, and within each Category are four Subcategories. Every Threat will belong to one of these Subcategories. This is important beyond simply defining the Threat because each Subcategory has an associated Instinct, something that unless otherwise motivated the Threat will resort to.

Each Category has its own set of three unique MC Moves. When dealing with that Threat, treat them as if they were on the normal MC Moves list when making hard moves.

Some Threats will call for custom moves, written by the MC specifically to fit the Threat. Maybe something special happens when the shirshus tongue stings you, or when you enter Kos lair. There are an infinite variety of moves you could write, so use this as a chance to tune your game from a system for all games to your own story in particular.

Plots and threatsThreat types

Predators* Boar (instinct: to charge)* Panther (instinct: to hunt, to ambush)* Wolf (instinct: to overwhelm, with numbers or fear)* Rat (instinct: to backstab)MC Moves:* Appear suddenly* Ignore suffering* Take someone away

Silver tongues* Fox (instinct: to lure and entrap)* Tiger (instinct: to rule fiercely)* Eagle (instinct: to observe and report)* Monkey (instinct: to trick, to pilfer)MC Moves:* Make a costly offer* Escape cleanly* Distract their attention

landscapes* Mist (instinct: to confuse, to disorient)* River (instinct: to carry away, to separate)* Mountain (instinct: to forbid passage)* Darkness (instinct: to conceal danger)MC Moves:* Reveal something surprising* Unleash trouble* Make them lost

Plots and threatsThreat types

great Spirits* Unicorn (instinct: to tempt, to manipulate)* Dragon (instinct: to condescend, to covet)* Phoenix (instinct: to destroy indiscriminately)* Tortoise (instinct: to withhold secrets)MC Moves:* Be cryptic* Show off your power* Make demands

Of course, these categories and subcategories are named to be evoca-tive rather than descriptive. The chief of the earthbender secret police could be a tiger, but of course he neednt literally be a tiger, just metaphorically one. Similarly, there neednt literally be mist or a river for the Landscape Threats to be present, just metaphorical mist or rivers.

If you have a good idea for a Threat and none of the options here fits, go right ahead and write an instinct and go for it, but keep in mind that these were selected for their connection to the genre and should generally be all thats needed for the tone of the game.

Alpha Draft 1.3

Fonts Used: Edo SZ by Vic Fieger, Fanwood by Barry Schwartz

Special thanks to everyone on G+, on Story Games, and at Story Games Olympia whove been supportive and helpful through my experimentation and playtesting. I probably wouldve abandoned this if not for your enthusiasm.Additionally, thank you to everyone whos playtested the game, either with or without me! Ive been overwhelmed by the support and interest people have shown my game.

If youre interested in more stuff, I write a blog called The Logbook Project, which is where I release everything from. I talk about other games I work on, and since Avatar World was designed entirely in public there is in an extensive record of my design notes and process through Avatar Worlds history. Check it out at: http://the-logbook-project.blogspot.com

And of course, Id be remiss not to thank Vincent Baker for his brilliant Apocalypse World, without which this game wouldnt exist. Additional thanks to other hackers, especially Joe Mcdaldno for their Monsterhearts and Gregor Vuga for his Sagas of the Icelanders.

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