Looks like Mike and Bryan decided to run with the idea of mixing bending styles with other elements, since Korra appears to be blending some tai chi into her firebending, and that old guy at the pro-bending gym seems to be using waterbending on the weight lifting equipment (that COULD be filled with water, but I doubt it).
If that's the case, I'm going to be giddy to see what other kinds of martial arts they introduce to keep the pro-bending scene fresh.
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Man I love that you are doing this. I have been trying to put a Elemental master together for along time with Pathfinder rules and I can't get them all to work I always come up three and have to multiclass sorcerer and mystic/cleric. I have a question about the air part if you are going with Air controller with the shows flavor why does the air do lethal damage would it do non-lethal instead. I am soooo stealing this right now.
Hey Lazar - yeah looks like they've taken down the video. Must have been a limited preview. =( I can't find it anymore either.
Hey Brent, Glad you like it. My group has been play testing it and so far its been pretty well balanced.
In regard to the airbending...all bending styles start by selecting the element feat..in this case Air Element Feat.
All element feats give the ability to do one attack or power with the element, all non lethal...in this case it grants the ability to make a small wind storm no damage to target at all, but imposes a -1 to the targets attacks, saves and skills while in the storm.
At later levels, you can select a specific power or (kata) like Air Blast or Air Burst -that does lethal damage as per kata description. But only kata's with "lethal" in description do lethal damage AND (most importantly) like any weapon in Pathfinder - you can CHOSE to use it with non-lethal damage, with a small penatly to your attack bonus.
In the elements of Water and Earth - they both have a kata (like Rock Spike for Earth) that allows you to MAKE any of your kata's lethal.
(That make any sense?)
question for caculations on element feats. is it (charka + Cha) X damage or is it (chakra X damage ) + Cha.
Also, looking over the elemental earth feat, it feels fairly overpowered without a save or damage. Particuarlly compared to the other feats.
Finally, do kata provoke attacks of opportunities. It feels like they should to keep them balanced.
the second option. (Chakra Level x Dam)+ Cha. Yes kata's are considered ranged attacks and so are subject to AoO.
The elemental earth feat, a 1d6 of non lethal damage. Not much more powerful than a crossbow at 1st level, except that it does only non lethal unless you take rock spike kata to make it lethal damage. The blind is subject to a save, but lets say that a player never takes rock spike nor any other kata or ability to do anything but the main earth feat (had a player just like this)...it can seem pretty powerful, for a one trick pony.
So at 10th level he was chucking a rock at people that did 9d6 points of damage. But it was non lethal, and that compared to a 10th level wizard and his fireball of 10d6 lethal damage...its not so different.
Again, this is rare due to the fact that most of the flavor from the class is doing more than just throwing a rock at someone, but rather doing earth quakes and rock armor, dirt clouds and stuff.
the second option. (Chakra Level x Dam)+ Cha. Yes kata's are considered ranged attacks and so are subject to AoO.
The elemental earth feat, a 1d6 of non lethal damage. Not much more powerful than a crossbow at 1st level, except that it does only non lethal unless you take rock spike kata to make it lethal damage. The blind is subject to a save, but lets say that a player never takes rock spike nor any other kata or ability to do anything but the main earth feat (had a player just like this)...it can seem pretty powerful, for a one trick pony.
So at 10th level he was chucking a rock at people that did 9d6 points of damage. But it was non lethal, and that compared to a 10th level wizard and his fireball of 10d6 lethal damage...its not so different.
Again, this is rare due to the fact that most of the flavor from the class is doing more than just throwing a rock at someone, but rather doing earth quakes and rock armor, dirt clouds and stuff.
My concern is that we're 6th level, and their doesn't seem to be a limit on it nor anywaya for the opponent to avoid it. So say a wizard can only cast at most 6 to 8 fireballs a day, he'd be casting fireballs on every turn. There's also no save or hit so it's an automatic fireball everytime. Reading this, it diminishes some of the other ranged abilities an options. Lethal and nonlethal damage react pretty much the same until they hit 0.
I'm a bit worried that this is overpowered still. The other 3 elemental feats all have saves or attacks and some provide less damage. I think this should be uniformed for all the elemental options.
I nerfed the feat a bit. What do u think of this option? I didn't want to mess with the damage or over-complicate it with an extra attack, i hate adding rolls. So i changed the fort roll to a reflex save and added that the damage could be halved by the save as well.
I also added the stipulation that kata's only can be activated if you have at least 1 ki.
I'm a bit worried that this is overpowered still. The other 3 elemental feats all have saves or attacks
It does have an attack roll? Not sure if thats clear in the description, but its a ranged attack roll, no touch attack or anything and they include their armor.
I still understand it seeming overpowered, but unless thats the ONLY kata they take it shouldnt be a prob. Let me know how it goes with the reflex save. I like the Ki requirment as well.
ah that makes more sense. It's not implied in description that there is an attack roll, and the wording includes that "no saving throw is needed" which seems to imply that the damage is automatic.
Adding an attack actually makes for a much better feat.
Love this, very good job. Will let you know how my group does with it and please put me down as wanting a nice packaged PDF once done as I bet the artwork is even better. Great work
Hi,
I'd like to test-drive this class - I'm a big fan of the Airbender/Korra series and have been working to incorporate a bit more of their feel into my Tian Xia/Asia analog. Is version 8 still the most up-to-date, or is there a newer one out there?
Also, has anyone tried out some of the other 'bender' builds floating around the internet? How do they compare?
Thanks!
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I can't really add anything more than schoolgirl-esque giddiness that this is being done. Great job!
Don DM: Thanks for the catch, just updated the text to include, "This is a ranged attack roll...."
If you find any other odd descriptions, please let me know.
Razven: pm me your email addie and I'll send pdf
Bengaijin: I love the old series the most, but the korra stuff is great as well...particularly the probending. =) I have a version 9 below.
FraterEAO: lol thanks.
Bengaijin: I love the old series the most, but the korra stuff is great as well...particularly the probending. =) I have a version 9 below.
Thanks for v9. I'm going to build up a character for the next one-off module my DM runs and I'll let you know how it goes!
No problem, I'm also making a Chi Blocking Feat that can be taken by monks. Similar to a stunning fist move, but it can surpress a element master's ability for a number of rounds: maybe 3+wis mod like a channel. And then Extra Chi Block Feat also.
I am also working on converting this into HeroLab as a monk archetype. Or maybe 4 different archetypes based on the element.
Holy hard batman. I might give up on converting to hero lab. I can't figure out how to properly make the archetype to have it give prereq to open up air vs earth groups of feats and stuff. ack.
So, I've been posting the build up on d20pfsrd.com and finding a lot of miscalculation and spelling errors. I'll be posting a v10 pdf here soon to reflect the corrections and I'll post a link to the srd as well.
As I was going through the material again a question came up that I haven't confronted with my game as of yet, but wanted to get some input...
What do you guys think should be the ruling on spell resistance vs. bending?
Similar in question as to psionics vs. spell resistance, but it also begs the question if 'bending' per monk is an supernatural ability or a spell-like.
Supernatural being magical, but not subject to resistance BUT do not work in magic dead zones. hmmmm.
I'm sorta inclined to say no resistance, but any other ideas?
While you're updating, can u verify that the class gets a ki pool? The description is included in the text, but it is not in the character progression chart. There are also some other issues with the progression chart in that wholeness of body is at 8, but the description says 7.
I think bending is a supernatural ability. As far as I can tell, the person can only manipulate the elements. I see it as a very focused form of psionics. If someone picks up and throws a rock, whether its with their mind or by hand, i don't think there should be a difference. I think abilities are tapered in that there is no way that they can ever get through DR, so getting through spell resistance balances that.
By the way , so far so good as far as a dm watching a player playtest the earth bending. The hardest part is getting him to realize he's not in the tv show. He keeps wanting to manipulate the earth outside of his powers and i keep saying that's not possible without the ability.
In any case , i think the most lery i felt was last night when he gained the fly spell and began doing earth attacks for a ton of damage. But, that's cause i wasn't prepared for the party to steel fly scrolls.
Y'know, I hate to be the one to point it out, but is it truly necessary for it to be monk-based at all? Given that most of the actual powers appear to rely on feats, do the bending powers have to be tied to the monk archetype? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the way you've done it, but based on the series (and Legend of Korra, especially), it seemed that there were plenty of benders who weren't really monk-like at all. None of the Fire Nation Army benders seemed to be 'monk-like'. And in Republic City, benders can be just about anybody. Personally, I'd argue for opening up your bending system to other classes. Perhaps a flat archetype that gives somebody a chakra level equal to or otherwise based on their class level? That way, you have bending fighters who can take bending feats, bending rangers who can specialize in a bending combat style, etc.
Please note that this is in no way a criticism of the work you've already done, merely a suggestion for expanding it and making it more flexible, with very little work in comparison to what you've already done.
I'd say no spell resistance. The bender is using existing stuff for the most part, not evoking it to use against a target. At most like the fire bender they may be seen as conjuring flame some of the time, but most conjuration spells, iirc, do not allow SR.
Thanks everyone for the quick replys. Again, keep em coming. Any corrections needed, clarifications, miscalculations or flavor text needed just let me know. =)
Don DM: Thanks also for the play testing info and yeah...the new update has:
1. ki included in the grid as well as text.
2. updated unarmed damage
3. updated fast movement
4. corrections to spelling/grammer errors/clarification to some text descriptions
Here is a newer version of what the grid will look like from d20pfsrd.com. This is still a 'work-in-progress' but has a more up to date grid.
Dread Pirate: Yeah, I started this pre-korra, but stil have had that thought as well. Might be my next project.
Kryzbyn: My thoughts as well, thanks for the response!
This looks pretty darned cool. Just popping in to keep track of it.
Thanks, had a chance to have a session last night. After a couple of sessions I am seeing that there's a definitive power spike in the 6th level elemental earth bender. I can only give my impression so far of this one. But I think that the class is a tad overpowered but not without balancing. The damage meter feels all over the map for some abilities, and there should be a uniform in it. So far the build has higher AC and deals 2x more damage than the fighter.
For the record, my earth elemental guy has boulder toss, the earth elemental feet, earth catapult and earth elemental.
1. I'd lover damages to 1d4 + condition. With a DC of 10+Kata for conditions.
2. I don't think Ki Pool is necessary. It feels like a hold over from the monk build and pushes the character into the overpowered range.
3. No ability should be usable with flurry of blows. As is my 6th level bender can, with ki strike, deal a maximum of 97 damage total by separation his flurry of blows into earth elemental feat attacks on different opponents. This does not add into account the elemental golem. At this point I think I"m done with the elemental earth feat. There are a ton of ranged earth feats, so, instead of a mandatory one. I am changing it to
4. Summoned creature's who expire should have a limit before they can be summoned again or have a lengthy summoning period (possibly of a minute to 10 minutes). Also it needs to be specified that only 1 can be summoned per turn. Also, gaining tremorsense is a Kata. However, Earth elements have tremorsense. So It becomes an ability of getting 2 feats for 1 instead of 1, which was not the intention.
For my own game, I'm installing the following fixes to see if I can bring the damage level down. It's starting to feel like superman and the wondertwins. He pretty much can cast a 3rd level fireball every turn. My goal is to not hardset the Elementalist from his abilities but to have a limit of Chakra that can be drained.
1. Just as a normal monk players receive a Ki Pool, however, at level 0 their Ki pool is 0. Their Ki pool is always equal to their Kata level. Players may use Kata so long as they have at least 1 Ki. Certain attacks labeled (KI/Kata Attacks) drain 1 Ki point when they miss their opponent. Rolling a natural 1 drains 2 Ki points. Rolling a natural 20 regains a Ki point. As your Ki point drains, so does your Chakra. Earth Attack, Earth Boulder are both Ki draining abilities.
2. Elemental Feat Earth Attack can not be used in Flurry of Blows. Earth Benders receive Child of Dirt: Earth Benders receive a +2 to Flurry of Blow attacks when outdoors. Earth Elementalist use the earth to curl around the feet and legs of their foes, allowing them to be struck easier.
3. When summoning an elemental Golem with Ki, it takes 1 minute. The Golem is not able to communicate, but can receive communications to do simple tasks.
Wow, great feed back Don!
1. I'd lower damages to 1d4 + condition. With a DC of 10+Kata for conditions.
(Do you think this should go across the boards or just with Earth Masters?)
2. I don't think Ki Pool is necessary. It feels like a hold over from the monk build and pushes the character into the overpowered range.
(Agreed - Nice fix below btw, can I steal it!?)
3. No ability should be usable with flurry of blows.
(Only element fist can really be used with the class, the rest can only be used with normal attack BAB. I see now where it states or with 'multiple attacks' but that was supposed to just meanwith BAB such as +6/+1 additional attacks, not flurry)
At this point I think I"m done with the elemental earth feat. There are a ton of ranged earth feats, so, instead of a mandatory one.
(The manadatory feat was actually just supposed to be a first seed to the tree of earth powers available. Kind of a first lesson all earth masters would get before selecting from more advanced katas)
4. Summoned creature's who expire should have a limit before they can be summoned again or have a lengthy summoning period (possibly of a minute to 10 minutes). Also it needs to be specified that only 1 can be summoned per turn.
(True - meant to have this equivalant to the summoners ability in terms of time length of 1 round per chakra level or something)
Also, gaining tremorsense is a Kata. However, Earth elements have tremorsense. So It becomes an ability of getting 2 feats for 1 instead of 1, which was not the intention.
(Did you mean that someone might gain earth elemental and try to use the tremorsense for themselves? The Element Master can't use the summoned monsters abilities - directly at least - not sure if I understand whatcha meant)
2. Elemental Feat Earth Attack can not be used in Flurry of Blows. Earth Benders receive Child of Dirt: Earth Benders receive a +2 to Flurry of Blow attacks when outdoors. Earth Elementalist use the earth to curl around the feet and legs of their foes, allowing them to be struck easier.
(So is this lowering their AC's by 2 also?)
3. When summoning an elemental Golem with Ki, it takes 1 minute. The Golem is not able to communicate, but can receive communications to do simple tasks.
(Perfect - can I steal this also? lol)
Don DM, I was thinking on this a lot. I wanted to try to keep it simple, but what do you think about just changing the Ki issue to:
Ki pool = Level + Wis bonus. If no Ki pool available PC may drain Chakra level for 1 point per level, reducing Chakra level by 1 level.
So a bigger pool, but Each kata used to attack which costs a point? That way a 3rd level PC with 16 Wis would get 6 Ki Pool and could make 6 earth boulder attacks.
Or go with it costs 1 point only if they miss?
Don DM, I was thinking on this a lot. I wanted to try to keep it simple, but what do you think about just changing the Ki issue to:
Ki pool = Level + Wis bonus. If no Ki pool available PC may drain Chakra level for 1 point per level, reducing Chakra level by 1 level.
So a bigger pool, but Each kata used to attack which costs a point? That way a 3rd level PC with 16 Wis would get 6 Ki Pool and could make 6 earth boulder attacks.
Or go with it costs 1 point only if they miss?
Sorry for the lack of feedback, had a really busy week.
Feel free to take whatever you wish.
On one end, I like the idea. Though i would rather just have 1/2 level + wisdom equal Ki. Just because having 15 to 20 of anything to track can be annoying at higher levels and could still cause embalance. Especially with the fact that some skills scale too.
An ultimate way would be a means to eliminate two things to track. After all, it would be the only melee class that has 2 things to track, each one meaning almost the same in this world.
If u're talking big change. I take it you wanted to give players a choice of having more Chakra or more abilities. What about this.
SUGGESTION
Players only have to track KI. Ki is level + Wis (or half level + Wis).
Chakra is equal to the current state of Ki. Some abilities drain KI. This would mean making sure each element has some useful, yet low level powers that don't use up KI. And the more powerful stuff uses KI.
Players may choose a kaja ability each level, as designed.
HOwever, alter the Kaja "chakra gaining" ability to state that instead, players may gain a permanent +1 to KI. This may be chosen multiple times.
So, now, we only have Ki to track, and Players will be able to seperate their abilities into those that use KI and those that do not use KI. This kind of suggestion means lowering a lot of DCs. Perhaps 10 + 1/2 Ki for a good many of them. Plus it opens up the class to all the other Ki related feats.
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Now as for campaign ideas, how about this one.
"The World is out of Balance. To restore Balance to the world, the Avatar must die."
I agree...the existence of the Avatar in the Air-bender setting has seen the rise of a religious caste who seem to be intent on controlling every aspect of the Avatar - including writing history. They seem devoted to wiping out the fact that all benders are descended from the Avatar.
They oppress technology - We saw this in the series - even the air benders - when they showed Aang some toys (one of which was a helicopter) - we realize that technology has waves of ascend-ency and descend-ency. There are periods when the Avatar and the Bending ruling caste accept technology and then there is when the factionalism and fighting and chaos results in its destruction.
So, I'm very much looking for a simple, clean way to limit the class now. As much as I'd hoped that my players would make versatile benders with lots of bending powers, instead they ALL have opted to take 1 or 2 powers and just go for the chakra levels (LAME!)
So now they all seem overpowered. lol So instead, I will now change it now to maybe give a Kata level every other level and make your power based off a chakra level given at opposite level. This way it forces peeps to take more Kata's (or substitute monk style feats) and then limits their chakra levels.
So, question, with THAT change do you think it would still be necessary to set a limit to how many times per day someone bends as we were discussing above?
Well, well...nice job there. Nice Job indeed!!
I only gave a quick glance through, even though I've been meaning to read it for awhile now. Some things concerned me, for instance: DCs. It seems, half the time the DCs you're using are created off the top of your head, with little methodology behind them.
Save DCs, for example, are calculated for a monster as 10 + Half Creatures HD + Ability Mod. You seem to pick totally random choices of DC 15 + Chakra level, DC 20 + Ability score and so on. I would advise that you change the DCs to either 10 + Half Elemental Master level + Ability Mod; 10 + Half level + Chakra level; or 10 + Chakra level + Ability mod. I think either of the 3 would reflect the growing power of the Elemental Master, but the two with Chakra levels as a factor would reflect the Elemental Master's skill with a particulard Kata.
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A similar choice is represented in the Concentration checks for the Katas. I notice a lot of them are set at DC 15 + Chakra level, I believe, and if struck in combat, it adds +10 to the DC. Basically, a low level Elemental Master has virtually no chance to succeed on his/her Concentration check until roughly 10th level. I say 10th, because the Elemental Master will likely be leveling up his Chakra levels, so at 10th level, the DC for a Kata would be anywhere from 16 to 23 I think.
By the way, a little nit-pick, as written, the Elemental Master has only his/her Charisma Modifier as a bonus on the Concentration check because, technically, the Elemental Master has no Caster level. You would need to add in a little bit that the Elemental Master levels count as caster levels. Like I said, nit-picky.
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Also, there is some really odd choices in some unique Katas. One that I noticed because I was most interested in how you chose to perform it, was the Lightning Kata for the Fire Elementals. The Concentration check is DC 20 + the targets will save. As written, that means the target makes a Will Save, then you add 20 to the rolled Will Save and that's your target DC. Against another Elemental Master, you're looking at a minimum concentration check of DC 29 just to use the Kata!
Also, no Reflex Save was given.
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You mentioned limiting Chakra levels. The easiest method is simple, really; you can only have a number of Chakra levels in a given Kata equal to your Charisma Score. Or to limit it further, use Wisdom Score.
This would put a real limit on the power of the Katas as I could see some Katas ending up with something like 19 Chakra levels, and so dealing something like 1d6 * 19 + Cha which is quite a lot, considering none of the abilities are listed as susceptible to SR, and are elemental in nature, so only a few will have resistance to them.
Also, the Air powers deal straight damage. Was it your intention to make the Air powers be neutralized by DR while others aren't? I would suggest toning down the damage dice of the energy elements, like Fire, to help offset the DR penalty for the physical damage dealt by the other elements. For example, instead of 1d6, use 1d4, while the others get 1d8.
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Like I said, I only glanced through things briefly, skimming for some of the powers I recognized, skipping over those I didn't want to apply imagery too until later.
You Elemental Master isn't really an Archetype, it'd be better to portray it as an Alternate Class like the Ninja and Samurai are for the Rogue and Cavalier respectively.
I also think your Elemental Monk needs a hard reading by a Rules Lawyer to find broken potentials. For instance, you mention fairly often, damage is something like 1d6 times Chakra level, so that means you roll 1d6, and multiply it by your Chakra level, not roll a number of d6s equal to your Chakra level, if that was your intention.
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No promises, but I may, at some later date, read over your full PDF, and copy things down and alter them to make them more closely fit into the Pathfinder rules. Don't be too hopeful though, I'm a fairly lazy person, but if I put my mind to something I really want to do, I can get things done really fast.
Thanks for the feedback Tels! I totally need a rules lawyer to read through it! And alot of this was made intermittantly over a long period of time, some only half heartly and some with good intention. So I;m sure there is a lot of inconsistancies and such.
So PLEASE, anything you see as not fitting Pathfinder as best it could, let me know =) Im off to make some changes.
Something else I would suggest could be implemented in a couple ways. To help diversify things, select a couple of abilities for each element that are considered 'core' to that element. Such as the Air Element Feat for the Air Master. At a certain level, the Air Master automatically gains access to the Air Element Feat, and his Chakra levels increase relevant to his Air Master levels, say... equal to half his Air Master levels.
The other option, is, ever few levels the Elemental Master gets to pick a Kata that will increase in Chakra levels as he gains levels in the Elemental Master. He could pick any Kata, and not have to worry about putting his few abilities into it to keep it relevant, so he'll always have something to fall back on.
In either case, the Kata's cannot be increased by putting his Kata bonus he gains each level into the 'free' Kata. This would force them to choose another Kata, and not focus exclusively on one. Combine that with limiting the Chakra levels of other abilities (bot not the 'free' ones) equal to their Charisma score, and you're looking at a well diversifies character.
I personally favor picking 'core' abilities that are useful, but not altogether game breaking or powerful. The Air Element Feat, for example, is an extremely useful battlefield control ability, but it takes time to grow more powerful, so it's not game-breaking or too powerful. I'd mention it should be a full-round action to start, but a move action to increase the size or penalty afterward.
So, I made a ton of changes to the class with all the feedback. I haven't updated the pdf yet, but will shortly. So far I just made changes to the d20pfsrd.com site. Again, the link here ----> Element Master Updated
Let me know if anyone playtests or spots something to correct or change =)
Specific changes were:
1. I reduced chakra levels to ONLY be given at odd levels (no more selecteing them in place of kata's)
2. Kata's are given only every other level (can still be subbed with style feats or kata powers)
3. I reworded katas to say :damage per chakra level (vs. damage times chakra)
4. Added in blurb about elemental masters class level being used as a caster level
5. changed saving throws from (DC15 + chakra level) to (DC 10 + chakra level + cha mod)
6. added in Earth master - children of the stone
7. Lowered DC for Mastery Kata's - but still think it should be based off the targets will save to reflect the targets ability to negatively influence the attacka s in the tv series. Since it was a to hit attack there wasn't a save included, but maybe I should change this altogether and make it more like a spell? Still wanted the hazard of using the mastery ability to give damage to the master if he messes it up. Would love any suggestions.
Anyone try out this newest version yet? I have a player that will start one next sundays session.
Here is the latest PDF====> Element Master v10.0
I was actually coming on the boards to post to see if anyone had suggestions for building an Air Bender using the PF rules. I haven't got to look this over in depth but I like what I've seen so far, I'll be trying to get my GM to let me test one in an upcoming game, but he's pretty reticent to allow non-Paizo material (though he's also a big Avatar: TLAB fan,) so who knows.
Hope it works out Ninja, let me know any feedback you might have on it.
Zerzix, you did a really nice work with the Avatar stuff! It will fulfill a certain empty class space in my Planescape campaign just nicely.
Although, I quite don't get how the katas and chakra works. I'll take a 10th level Element Master as example. He has Chakra Level 5 and 6 element katas. My questions:
1) Based on that, will every kata chosen be at 5th level?
2) Is there any restriction to use the katas like uses per day, ki point consuption, whatever? Or is it usable at will?
3) May I keep two or more katas active?
It's quite difficult for anyone who hasn't read the entire discussion to understand this mechanic.
I just made up a 1st level air bender.
What kind of stuff can he do without a kata?
I posted this in a discussion thread for a PBP game taking place in the A:TLAB 'verse:
I'm excited to play a bender in the AtLAB universe...
But now that I have my air bender written up...does anyone else find these guys a bit lacking? Options seem to be very limited, and what can I just do as an airbender without learning a kata? Some of the katas (like slow fall, gliding, body of air, especially) should be the stuff he can do, just because he's an air bender.
I think they should start knowing all katas (except the ones limited by actual class level), only limited by their chakra level. Lets get s'more options!
Thoughts?
Hey guys, thanks for the intrest in the element master ‘bender’
Blacksand:
So a ‘kata’ is just a name for feats without calling them feats. When I had initially made this my players became too confused with what feats could be taken vs. bending powers. For all intensive purpose a kata is a feat – but a feat that is a bending power or ability.
‘Chakra’ is also a feat, but that way it now works is it is what powers your kata’s. So unlike a spell caster that gets his power level from his class level, a element master gets his power level from his chakra.
So to get to your questions: At 10th level Element Master as example. He has Chakra Level 5 and 6 element katas.
1) Based on that, will every kata chosen be at 5th level? Yes
2) Is there any restriction to use the katas like uses per day, ki point consuption, whatever? Or is it usable at will? Usable at will, but this has been brought up as an area of discussion. I deemed it not to be restricted to simulate the TV flavor as close as possilbe with game mechanics, but since it has been compared to a wizard using a fireball, the wizard only can use so many per day…but the bender can use unlimited but is restricted to the power level by half his class level (his chakra level basically).
3) May I keep two or more katas active? Yes, as per spells and spell-like abilities, you can keep multiple kata’s running unless the descriptor says you need concentration checks and then you’d have to follow descriptor.
Kryzbyn: You just made up a 1st level air bender. What kind of stuff can he do without a kata? This is a two part answer,
1: even first level ‘benders’ get 1 kata (a bending power) and the element feat (earth, air, fire or water). This element feat has a descriptor of what it can do. You always have that attack. The first level kata you get might not be an attack, but may be a form of transportation or defense or other.
2: In addition to these you are also a monk at base and so you have unarmed attacks and any monk weapon you wish.
In response to the post I’ll break it up into his questions:
Does anyone find them a bit lacking? Probably. Its difficult to make everyone happy vs. making a new class over powered. I mainly play tested them vs. a fighter and then vs. a wizard then vs. a monk. I wanted them less powerful in melee against the fighter and monk, but more than the wizard. And vice versa in regard to ranged.
Options seem very limited? I disagree, there are many options – a number of kata or powers, or in place you can choose any monk style feat in place of a kata. You are a monk plus a ranged attacker plus get new and colorful ways to travel.
What can you do without a kata? See above answer.
Some of the katas like slow fall, gliding, body of air should be automatically included just being an airbender and start at first level. This would be great, but I think in the end having a first level character that can do everything and has nothing to level for but the power of said abilities might get boring and not have the reward system that Pathfinder is inherently. That’s like giving a wizard all spells, but at first level and he only improves his his caster level with every spell as he levels.
And even in the TV series the benders have to learn new kata’s based off of earlier beginner ones.
Lets get s’more options? I am totally up to any suggestions or options people might want and have been watching Legend of Korra for more inspiration. Even been working on an Archtype of the Chi Blockers based off a Ninja Archetype.
Hope this clears things a bit, feel free to let me know how play testing goes =)
Did a small update: minor changes to verbage and spleling errors. lol
PDF: Element Master 10.1
d20pfsrd site: Element Master 10.1
You know, I recently picked up a copy of Psionics Unleashed and I gotta say, a lot of Bending powers are mimiced by the abilities of Psionics and it would address your issue with at-will abilities by forcing them to spend power points as a resource.
With some tweaking of various powers, you could easily a character for each of the bending types, within reason. True, it won't match exactly, but if someone sat down and watched the character in play, they'd be able to recognize what your character was.
As an example, one for Blood Benders is mimicked in the Control Body power.
You psychokinetically control the actions of any humanoid (including undead or outsiders with a humanoid physiology) that is within range and to which you have line of sight. Control body doesn’t require mental contact with the subject, since you are actually forcing limb movements independent of the target’s mind. You can force the subject to stand up, sit down, walk, turn around, and so on, but operating the vocal cords is too difficult. You can also hold the subject immobile, rendering it helpless.
You cannot force the subject to manifest powers, cast spells, or use any special ability that is not a function of just its body movements. If you lose line of sight to the subject, the effect of this power ends.
If you force the subject to engage in combat, its attack bonus is equal to your base attack bonus + your Intelligence bonus, and its bonus on damage rolls is equal to your Intelligence bonus. A subject of this power cannot make attacks of opportunity. The subject gains no benefit to Armor Class from its Dexterity, but it does gain a bonus to its AC equal to your Intelligence bonus.
Although the subject’s body is under your control, the subject’s mind is not. Creatures capable of taking purely mental actions (such as manifesting powers) can do so. The subject may make an additional Fortitude save each round you maintain concentration.
The subject is treated as being staggered and may only perform a single move action or standard action under your direction each round.
You cannot be the target of your own control body power.
It's not an exact copy of blood bending, but it's very close. It has a minimum of a DC 16 Fortitude save to resist the effects, but by limiting it to only during Full Moons, you could easily assign something like a -4 penalty during the Full Moon and even a further penalty for being a non-water bender, maybe -4 for a total of -8 for a non-water bender during a Full Moon. This is reflected by the fact that most people can't resist Blood Bending, but that every once in awhile, someone is able to resist to some degree (like Mako did).
Another update:
Includes revamp of air masters particle cloud verbage and earth masters dirt cloud verbage. Also included is header which shows what version (v10.2 most up to date)
PDF: Element Master 10.2
d20pfsrd site: Element Master 10.2
What the GM for that game has decided to do is grant the use of all katas or parts there of that do not do damage or are not offensive in nature. Anything that does deal damage or offensive in nature you must have actually purchased the kata to use it in combat.
I like what you've done here, though; don't get me wrong.
Some honest critiques:
Using the monk as the base for this has made this class even more multi-ability dependant.
Not only do you need decent to good STR, DEX and WIS, now you also need CHA for your bending.
How can you make a decent character on a 15 or even 20 point buy?
Things to consider...
Making a monk archtype may not be the best route here. It seems trying to keep the things about the monk mechanicly that fit with the A:tLAB benders takes away too much from the actual bending to get a faithful feel to the show.
We'd pretty much need to build a new class from the ground up.
Some suggestions:
Have the bending stat based on the element.
Earth = CON or STR
Water = WIS or INT
Fire = CHA or STR
Air = WIS or DEX
Decide what simple or everyday things all benders of each element can do. Something along the lines of prestidigitation: things that are handy and useful, but not enough to warrant a sperate write up or that deals damage. An air bender shouldn't have to learn a kata to manipulate air currents to make his glider work. Sure, to lift himself without the glider, but not when he also has to have the glider. Summon a burst of air to dry himself out? NP. Summon one strong enough to knock people down or do damage, needs a kata or power. Most of the simple things they can do without learning the specific katas are evidenced in the show.
More to come, if you're interested. I'm gonna work up something, and possibly post it, but I don't wish to step on your toes since you've already put alot of effort into this.
Kryzbyn:
I've actually done this already. I have another version that is 4 different classes. Where the Air Masters based off of Dex, Earth with Con, Fire with Cha, Water with Wis. All the katas were the same, but each class has its own class powers of its own.
My players liked it as well, but seemed not to fit Pathfinder so much as just an Avatar game. Plus I got flamed for too much new stuff and too long of a pdf. So I revamped, trimmed down to the basics to try to fit the best of all into one class.
Also things such as giving a bender all the basics at first level is more along the lines of the TV show, but it introduces a class that may seem over powered to others in the party of nonbenders. Imagine you're a fighter and jo-shmo the airbender can fly around on his glider in every fight or across the rickty bridge or over the trap.