Avatar: The Second Age

The official blog documenting the development and release of Avatar: The Second Age (ATSA, TSA, or The Second Age). This tabletop roleplaying game is a conversion of Fantasy Flight Games Genesys. I do not claim ownership over any of the content of this blog.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Version 3.2.0

This is a big one. Version 3.2.0 marks the most substantial revision of Avatar: The Second Age since I first began aligning it with official Genesys publication standards. Over the last 18 months, every chapter has seen careful rebalancing, rewrites, or restructuring to bring the book closer to the tone, clarity, and functionality of official Genesys products.

The Introduction now reads like a proper setting primer, setting mood and theme before diving into rules. Character creation got a total pass—archetypes and careers were revised to reflect the world more faithfully. The Nomad, Prodigy, and Scholar got major overhauls, while redundant options like The Survivor were cut to keep choices sharp and meaningful.

The Bending Arts received the same treatment The form system now treats every element with parity while retaining unique flavor and advanced forms. Many overcomplicated or redundant effects were cut to emphasize clarity and consistency. It’s faster, tighter, and far easier to run at the table.

Skills and Talents were streamlined across the board. I removed unnecessary overlap, expanded guidance for companions and duels, and rewrote or removed some talents. Bending-related talents are now more intuitive and thematically resonant.

Adversaries has been rebuilt from the ground up, and for the GM I have improved the framework for the Spirit-Touched rules.

At this point, The Second Age is about as polished as a one-person project gets. From here, it’s fine-tuning and maintenance, maybe some art when the artists I've contacted give me permission. This version finally feels like the book I set out to write: faithful to Avatar, true to Genesys, and ready for play.

For the full details of these changes and more, be sure to check out the latest changelog! You can download the latest copy from the Dropbox.

[avatar-the-second-age]

is this blog still active??

Active, no. But still alive! The project is complete for now. I may use this blog to reblog Avatar- or Genesys-related content in the future but there's no more development to follow or post about!

[vidityavoleti]

In today's Level Design class I'm talking about Difficulty and I'm very excited to talk about my favorite spell casting system in ttrpgs: The Fantasy Flight Genesys Spell Crafting Tables

I love these things. Is it a little clunky? Sure! But I love a spell casting system that says "sure you CAN try to cast a really power spell you fuckin novice see how that goes" and then after a few levels in you it becomes completely doable and rewarding!

I want to use this as a specific type of Difficulty Scaling outside of just video games, I hope my students like it!

Also fun fact, a long time ago I reformated these into better, printable spell book type pages for my own convenience. If anyone plays Genesys and wants them here you go

[wildjayblue]

i'll go to bat for Genesys, it's a great system if you want something like DnD but more flexible. it's setting agnostic, has a bunch of setting/genre books, and super easy to modify. the dice system encourages really fun decisions and lens itself to a cinematic story. the combat is fun too! less rules focused, moves quickly, and even failures tend to be interesting.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Genesys magic RAW was the basis for which bending came to life! It provided the perfect approach to the ad-hoc nature of bending as we see it in the series.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Book Three, Chapter Twenty-nine: Epilogue

In this final chapter of Avatar: The Second Age, we jump forward to one week later in aftermath of the destructive and one-sided fight against Rowan and Suijin. The party members reunite with old friends and mentors, and each lay the foundations for adventures to come. With Avatar Korra in the public eye again, trouble brews in the Earth Kingdom...

[avatar-the-second-age]

Version 2.3.2

This is technically not new, but I realize I have not posted about it.

Version 2.3 is finally here! For the latter half of 2022, I spent time making small revisions through the entire book. This includes, as always, fixing typos and grammar issues, but it also means cleaning up old or untidy sections and - in some cases - removing entire sections (or entire chapters!). As a result, you'll notice the page count is smaller (by about 40 pages), and that certain tables have been regrouped.

As far as rules are concerned, only a few minor tweaks with respect to character creation options, and some balance changes to additional bending effects. Read all about it in the changelog.

If you haven't taken a look yet, I'd love your feedback! I am quite satisfied with how this setting book has evolved over the years. Though I intend for this to be, perhaps, the last iteration, there will always be the possibility I revisit this project due to substantial feedback or pressing mechanical issues.

As always, feel free to hop over in the Discord with any questions :)

[avatar-the-second-age]

How would you do boss fights and fighting multiple enemies in this game

See my previous response on action economy. The number one determining factor as to what side is going to win an encounter is which side gets more activations. It isn't the only factor, but it's a big one. The side that gets more activations, the side that goes first... these are key to setting and controlling the stage.

Remember: Genesys is not a tactical combat simulator. Its structured encounters are grandiose fights happening on an equally-grand stage. Consider the environment the fight is taking place in and be sure to add elevation, obstacles, and other things to interact with. Be mindful that your players may not all be spec'd for combat, so give them something to do, too!

[avatar-the-second-age]

Hey, so I am planning an avatr campiagn with this RPG, I was orginal going to use avatar legends, but it doesn't create the rpg I want. This one might but I have a few questions before I buy the corebook for genesys, How similar is this game to dnd? Can you make characters died? Can the GM create stats for NPCs so that NPcs can fight with the players? How should I make Azula the main villain?

It's great to hear you're interested in trying Genesys! It's a great system to play games that are narrative-driven, as its unique dice provide inspiring and creative prompts any time they are rolled.

That being said, rolling dice and playing as a character with six primary attributes is where the biggest similarities end between Genesys and Fifth Edition D&D. They're both tabletop RPGs, so naturally they have some common DNA. But the playstyle and storytelling facilitated by the two systems couldn't be more dramatically different.

You can make characters that die in Genesys; all characters go down pretty easily, unless it is specifically your character's "thing" that they're tough. Being incapacitated because you've taken on too many wounds, or too much strain doesn't mean death. A character dies if a player wants their character to die, or if they sustain multiple critical injuries such that they roll 140+ on a d100 (with a +40 modifier from said critical injuries) and get the 'death' or 'dying out' result. NPCs can break some of these rules but are, in general, just as much of a glass cannon as PCs. The game is designed to emulate cinematic fights and pulp adventure action. This is not a game where every character creation option has "combat viability" because combat is not a primary pillar of gameplay in Genesys. It is one of several, including structured social encounters, and general puzzles and the like.

Creating NPCs is super easy, they can fight with players but you have to be mindful of action economy in structured encounters (whether that is combat, social, or something else). If your players outnumber the NPC(s), even if the NPC is "powerful," the players are probably going to win because they get more actions. Keep this in mind.

As for making Azula? I'd recommend taking a look at the rules first before trying to design an NPC. The core rulebook provides a LOT of good guidance on creating an adversary worthy of attention.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Book Three, Chapter Fifteen

After a private conversation with her uncle, Hana's father Rumi asks how long she intends to stay. As the party settles down for their first comfortable sleep in weeks, Maeryn wrestles with her new and unwanted airbending abilities. Laying their turtle ducks all in a row, Mariposa informs her friends about Lakana and her time being questioned by the capricious woman.

Avatar: The Second Age is an actual-play podcast using a setting conversion of the Genesys roleplaying system owned by EDGE Studios.

Listen: Anchor|Google|Spotify

Discord: discord.gg/sykrgmG

Twitter: u/SecondAgePod

Support: Ko-fi.com/melonlord

[chasefoxart]

female avatars

[avatar-the-second-age]

Upcoming Update

I know I missed posting about 2.1 here, but it's out!

What is Changing? Basic bending actions will take on the Genesys magic spell format (with slight cosmetic name changes), and include a variety of effects unique to the Avatar setting! What you can accomplish with bending is limited only by your element and imagination, and there are fewer XP gates. Bender progression is tied largely to the Talent pyramid. However, several "master-level" forms will be retained using the formatting that already exists, with requirements of their own. They'll all be updated and tweaked, of course, to account for changes to and removal of the old forms. Naturally, this means updates to Talents, character creation options, and even Adversaries in the book. The latter will take some time to complete, so expect the release of this version before the end of June 2022.

As always, I strongly encourage you to play with the InDev version of the rulebook from the Dropbox and please provide your feedback in our Discord! This version always includes the latest changes to the rulebook and features a real-time changelog which previews what will come in the next version.

[avatar-the-second-age]

IT’S HERE!

A surprise addition here: Adventures in the Spirit World (some very brief guidance and considerations for running such encounters).

In addition, this version brings revisions to weapons, armor, and a complete overhaul of all Adversary stats and abilities.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Upcoming Update

I know I missed posting about 2.1 here, but it's out!

What is Changing? Basic bending actions will take on the Genesys magic spell format (with slight cosmetic name changes), and include a variety of effects unique to the Avatar setting! What you can accomplish with bending is limited only by your element and imagination, and there are fewer XP gates. Bender progression is tied largely to the Talent pyramid. However, several "master-level" forms will be retained using the formatting that already exists, with requirements of their own. They'll all be updated and tweaked, of course, to account for changes to and removal of the old forms. Naturally, this means updates to Talents, character creation options, and even Adversaries in the book. The latter will take some time to complete, so expect the release of this version before the end of June 2022.

As always, I strongly encourage you to play with the InDev version of the rulebook from the Dropbox and please provide your feedback in our Discord! This version always includes the latest changes to the rulebook and features a real-time changelog which previews what will come in the next version.

[graciegra]

LOK + Scenery [Purple]

[graciegra]

LOK + Scenery [White]

[theotheristhedoctor]

Ok minor detail but ...

So I noticed in A:TLA, and it’s carried over in LoK, that Airbenders always seem to have an advantage in a fight. And at first, it felt like plot armour, particularly in A:TLA.

But when Aang fought Bumi, he lost most of that advantage. And I realised that this wasn’t just plot armour. Someone had sat and worked it out: nobody has had to fight Airbenders for generations. 

None of the other nations have had to train to face them, or practised sparring with them, or anything. Apart from Bumi, no bender in the show has ever even met an airbender before Aang comes along. And in LoK, for the most part people still haven’t. We never see fights between those who have (for e.g. we never see Tenzin and Lin fight); when Korra and Tenzin use airbending, its a unique fighting style that people aren’t trained to manage.

It’s a really small detail, and it fundamentally works to give the heroes an advantage (and make up for Aang’s young age and lack of combat experience), but I love how it’s an advantage in combat for completely logical reasons.

The detail in these shows is amazing. 

[sindri42]

You can see the same principle in play whenever somebody fights somebody who uses a completely unfamiliar style. Combustion benders and lavabenders aren’t straight up more powerful, but they’re pretty much always something you haven’t dealt with which presents unique challenges. That red lotus lady with no arms is just a perfectly ordinary waterbender, but using forms and styles nobody else has seen before. Jet routinely smacks around benders and soldiers, but loses hard to the first person he met who had actually studied diverse styles of swordplay. When Toph invents metalbending, nobody can deal with that, but seventy years later the counters are pretty well known among people who might have to fight the cops.

And it’s why Azula, a genius prodigy who has thought long and hard about how to counter every kind of magic and martial arts out there, keeps getting messed up by a kid with a boomerang.

[ninjaotta]

it’s also a detail from the second ever episode

aang straight up says to the fire nation guards on zuko’s ship “you’ve probably never fought an airbender before”, because he in-universe figures out that, if what everyone around him is saying is true, and airbenders have been extinct for a century (or at least have gone to ground enough to make people think that) then he is a totally unknown figure in anyone’s calculations

this has been brought up before but it’s also one of the reasons why hama is so thrown in her fight with katara - waterbending is about energy exchange, keeping things flowing, throwing your opponent’s power back at them and we see katara and hama do this in their fight. however, when katara is faced with a powerful blast from hama, she stands her ground and blows it apart:

[image ID: a gif of katara in the puppetmaster. she is a teenage girl with dark skin and hair and blue eyes, wearing a red outfit. she turns and throws her hand out, stopping a blast of water and turning it into a huge shield. the background is a dark forest. end image ID]

why do i bring this up?

because it’s a move - and a mindset - influenced by earthbending, which hama has never faced (she went from the south pole, to prison, to the fire nation). it’s an indication not only of katara’s skill and power, but also how she’s learned from her travels, and from toph

[toughtink]

one of my favorite details of atla is how the main characters’ fighting styles adapt as they take on new enemies and make new friends with other bending styles. iroh straight up tells zuko about how he developed a technique for redirecting lightning by studying waterbenders, but if you watch closely especially in the last season, there’s a lot of this sort of thing happening unspoken with the gaang, using the bending forms of other elements like katara does above. it really shows the strength in differences and diversity coming up against a fascist regime that wants everyone to conform.

[biglawbear]

Look at Korra metal bending here

It’s completely different than anything we’ve seen from other metal benders, who bend metal with sharp movements like the derivative of earth bending that it is

But Korra is fluid. She is bending metal like it’s water. Because she is a water bender. And she is the first person in history to be able to bend both metal and water and so she is able to combine these styles into one and move seamlessly between them. This shows so beautifully how the Avatar is the embodiment of all bending

[ironbite4]

Every time I think this show has shown me all it can….it gives me more.

[avatar-the-second-age]

Announcement: New Update for 2022

Hey all, I don't keep active on this blog mostly because active discussion is happening over on Discord (if you haven't joined, what are you waiting for?) But I just wanted to post some progress notes.

Version 2.0 came out in the fall of 2021 and represented a huge shift to make The Second Age entirely compatible with GENESYS (as opposed to being a conversion that changed the names of certain characteristics, skills, and other features just because - it was confusing for the rest of the Genesys community). I had suspected I would be finished, for all intents and purposes, but development never stops it seems.

Look out on the Dropbox (click the Downloads tab at the top of this blog's home page) for any upcoming changes and - as always - check the In Dev version!! This one is always up-to-date with new functionality and features, and the running changelog is always visible to see what those changes are.

Some highlights include:

Removal of Honor (for now anyway; sorry, it just sucked)

More bending arts balance and streamlining (now with less crunch and more fun!)

New gear and equipment options

More fluff and art

And still more content!

[tadpole-art]

Drew Katara inspired by her concept art ❄

[avatar-the-second-age]

Big Announcement

For nearly all intents and purpose, the second edition of Avatar: The Second Age is nearly ready. You can see it now in its (mostly) complete form if you seek out the "[In Dev] Core Rulbeook" located on Dropbox.

Version 2.0 will bring The Second Age fully in-line with the Genesys roleplaying system. There will be few distinctions, which should allow for seamless integration with Genesys-supporting applications like RPG Session, FoundryVTT, GenesysRef, and the like. With this major overhaul, many skills, talents, characteristics, archetypes, careers, specializations, etc. all had to be reworked or tweaked in order to mesh with Genesys.

Though the official release is still a bit off (I have much proofreading to do), this is roughly the final form of the *rules* for the Avatar setting. After nearly 5 years and over 1000 hours, I'm getting ready to consider this project "done" and finalized. I'll still continue to update the book for errata or spelling & grammar, but I probably won't add anything substantial unless new official FFG supplements warrant inclusion. This has been such a tremendous journey, and the undertaking has been done by not just me but all of you who played and offered feedback. To you, I say thank you!