The White Lotus (inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender)

I'm going to be running this at JiffyCon at the end of the month.


There once was a world of crumbling glory; a place of peace and harmony that had been burned away. The glossy scars of war are still fresh upon the world's surface and its people. Some, the Tamers of the elements, are blamed whole cloth for the atrocities committed in the name of conquering— or preserving— the world. Those without the ability to tame Fire, Air, Earth, or Water are left to pick up the ashes of their lives.

Occasionally, they must ask the Tamers for help. That is when they resent the Tamers most of all.

You and your friends are a group of people trying to make the world a better place. Maybe you're Fire Tamers, looking to atone for what your people have done to the world you love. Maybe you're all from different nations, some of you Tamers, some of you not— just looking to bring peace back to the world. Maybe one of you is the legendary All-Tamer, the one destined to bring peace back to the world— and reviled most of all for the ability to tame all four elements, when even the most feared Tamers can only tame one.

***

Unlike A:TLA, this setting is more straightforwardly and diversely brown— the Air nation is alive and well and inspired by India, the Water nations are Korea-in-winter with fur-trimmed hanboks, the allied nations of Earth cover southeast Asia and the Fire nation is China, of course. The game is called "The White Lotus" as a nod to the Paisho tile/secret society, and also because the map of the world is sort of shaped like a lotus and is called.. well, you get the idea.

Basic changes so far:

Fire = Hard
Earth = Sharp
Air = Cool
Water = Hot

There's no Weird. Instead, there's Taming, which is a yes/no switch. If you can Tame an element, you can use that element to do tasks which would normally require a different element, but you get a different result.

There is something about you which isolates you from your friends; a burden that you alone carry. Choose one; no one else may choose the same burden.

- I am REVILED:  hated by many.
- I am ALONE: the last of my kind.
- I am ORDINARY: without preternatural power.
- I am CONFLICTED: torn between worlds.
- I  am ORPHANED: gutted by the loss of something I love.

While the starting appearance and name lists are governed by nation, the rest of the character splat options are covered by these isolating burdens.


There is also something about you which connects you to your friends; a burden that you share with someone else that connects you in an intimate way. Choose; one other person must choose the same burden. In the case of an odd number of players, three people can choose the same connector. Otherwise, each connecting burden should have two people.

- I am an outcast from my family.
- I have a terrible responsibility I do not want.
- I am discounted based on my appearance.
- I love someone who is destined to choose another.

These connecting burdens help establish initial history.

Cool! We talk about "playing an Avatar game" around here like it's some kind of white whale. Maybe this will do it.

Hey, what's up?

OK so I am like being put in charge of the writing for this hax0r. We did some playtesting, changed some moves around, little stuff.

Let's talk chargen.

You choose your nation first and then your burden and obstacle (because connecting vs. isolating burden was too wordy for me). Burden and obstacle proscribe your next choice.

You choose your circumstance as burden/obstacle allow - for instance, a reviled character can't choose Nobility as his circumstances. Choose look per nation and circumstance.

You choose stats and taming. Get +2 in your nation and distribute +1 in the other three; taming counts as +1, and you can lower stats to -1 at most.

You get a move from burden and taming-or-not; if it's not taming then you get to make custom moves. You get a Shout move from burden. Choose another move from circumstance or obstacle.

Circumstance determines your access to gear, companions, barter.

Obstacle determines your Hx.

I think that about covers it?

More thoughts on circumstance:

Let's say that mechanically there are three: Rich, poor, getting by comfortably.

You pick whatever you want, and detail it so it makes sense in your fiction. Each nation/circumstance combo has its own gear lists and stuff.

There might be some ideas in them to detail:

Rich, choose the source of your wealth:
Nobility / Landowning / Protege / Genius / Business

Comfortable, choose your mode of business:
Artisan / Performer / Farmer / Trader / Mercenary

Poor, where did your money go?:
Taxes / Famine / Crime / Illness / Persecution

And so on...