Get me some earth-benders....most likely Oreads or dwarves. Then we are talking.
Actually the ARG has several elemental races such as Ifrits and Slyphes and Undines with strong ties to the specific trait.
Druid/Monk with lots of air spells. Divine magic doesn't mean healing people, and the druidic spell list is what you'd be looking for (Well, ideally you'd be looking for a "Shaman" class that uses the druid spell list and casts spontaneously, but, out of all options, Druid or Oracle of the winds would work best, and Oracle just isn't as good for the concept)
Well, If you want to go for an Aang type character, you're better off with Druid than Sorcerer. If you have something against Divine magic, then you have to acknowledge that you'd rather have a character that's less like what you're looking for, just so you can avoid Divine magic.
Why is a druid more blasty than a WoP sorcerer?
It's not. But Aang isn't blasty. He has some "blasty" bending, but so does a Druid who preps the right spells.
I made a firebender style character in a game recently, I combined the Quingongg Monk archetype with the Monk of the 4 Winds archetype. Add in the efreeti style feats, and you have a pretty good version of it.
You could easily make nearly any of the 4 bending styles with those two archetypes, although you would need to talk to the GM to add some thematic spells to the Quingongg list.
The Avatar adds in a whole new level of challenge due to the variety of abilities though.
Agreed, I thought of Quingongg Monk of the 4 Winds too.
With Aang specifically, it might not be too difficult though. Remember, Aang struggled immensely with fire and earth, so focus on swapping Quingongg powers with water and wind themes, with maybe Scorching Ray to represent fire, and for earth, invest in feats or Quingongg-gained feats like Power Attack and Improved Bull Rush to show the greater stregth earth benders tend to be able to draw upon.
The other thing you could do is do Master of Many Styles with the different elemental styles. Then as you level, you basically become better at combining them until you can do them completely in sync. Unfortunately, unless your GM is generous you can't combine Four Winds and Master of Many Styles (which synergize well to create a complete Aang), as they both replace the capstone ability.
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This is actually pretty easy: Ang is a Ki Mystic/Four Winds/Qinggong monk. For Pathfinder, after meeting Toph, he acquires Additional Traits for Adopted:gnome (plus a second trait), thereby qualifying for the Earth Child Style feat chain.
Ang begins play as a 20th character with amnesia frozen in a block of ice (Four Winds/"Avatar" 20th level immortality) who must rediscover all of his powers. E.g., at the end of "Siege of the North", he rediscovers Aspect of the Carp (his fusion with the water spirit). He has Leadership for an "Air Bison" size=huge six-legged flying cohort (somebody else can work out its stats) with an exotic saddle; and also owns an exotic staff weapon/conveyance which permits him to fly (stat per flying broom, but requires both hands to operate) and which has a +5 enhancement bonus (because it's apparently impervious to sunder, and, despite its flimsy appearance, he uses it to smash things on occasion).
Feats: Merid, Earth Child and Efreeti Style Chains. ...The only Pathfinder thing which doesn't fit is the Djinni Style feat chain, which emphasizes electricity (as an element) rather than air. So, some home-rule modifications are in order:
Djinni Style: Cloak of Winds, one round duration unless move-action to maintain
* "Avatar state": Hurricane Blast
Djinni Spin: Fickle Winds, at will, self only, swift action to maintain
* "Avatar state": Hurricane Blast plus Sirocco
Djinni Spirit: Fickle Winds plus Winds of Vengeance
* "Avatar state": Hurricane Blast plus Sirocco plus Winds of Vengeance, and increase to 30' the reach of your Elemental Fist flurry attacks. You may perform more than one Elemental Fist attack per round, but no more than one of each type, and only if you have all three Style feats in the Elemental style (Marid/Djinni/Efreeti/Earch Child) you seek to additionally perform.
20th level "Avatar state": You temporarily acquire the Celestial template if you are not evil (and may Smite Evil accordingly if your alignment is good). All of your flurry unarmed strikes become Elemental Fist attacks with a 60' reach. There is no Ki cost for Elemental Fist attacks during the Avatar state. The Avatar state may be entered more than once per day at the cost of ten Ki points per additional instance.
*"Avatar state": These powers may be used only once per day for up to monk level rounds, plus one level per point of Ki spent. Immortality is suspended during "the Avatar state". At the end of the Avatar state, the monk is depleted of half monk level points of Ki (down to zero), and is Exhausted (no save).
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BTW, Ang is unquestionably the most powerful person in the whole world at the conclusion of the TV series, capable of thwarting the ambitions of entire nations full of magic users, and is already the equivalent of at least a 7th or 9th level character when discovered. Arguably, the "Avatar State" is an epic level power (one which he drastically under-utilizes initially).
Also, air bending is not meat to be blasts. It is more defensive, defelective, and sweeping then blast. Yes it has powerful techniques, any true master has capabilities in any of the bending arts, but it's not meat to be like fire bending wit it's powerful blast like attacks. It is similar to water bending, but with less substance. Also, since he is the avatar, and all the elemental bending is given by nature it seems to me to be more divine than arcane. It's not something you learn.
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I don't really think you can replicate Aang decently in Pathfinder. While a monk might fit thematically in some ways, the class is far to weak to represent the guy.
Through Book 1:Water, Aang was pretty crappy unless he was using elemental powers (which flummoxed mooks, but typically failed versus named NPCs) -- he's DEX 20, STR 8 with maxed acrobatics and no Amulet:Agile. He spends most of the series dodging and running away...or escaping after getting caught (which happens frequently). He's only formidable during the Avatar state (which happens only twice in B1:W, IIRC)
-- Can anyone recall if Aang ever actually decked anybody throughout the entire series without using an elemental attack, his flying stick, or Appa? (Does he even have FoB?)
Of the "party", Sokka racked up the biggest body-count of the show wiping out the Fire Nation zeppelin fleet.
In book 1:water he went into avatar state:
At the iceberg, remembering Guatso and his now perished nation, invoking roku at fire temple, and northern water temple. IIRC.
If you truly want to create a character that represents an element-bender, I would strongly encourage you to develop a home-brew class, prestige class or perhaps even a class archetype, depending on exactly how close you would like to come to an accurate representation of the character versus how much work you would like to put into making it work.
I think that LazarX is quite right in that you should check out the Elemental Monk thread, even if it's only the basis for your own rendition of an element-bender (Aang or otherwise).
If you try to represent Aang in PF/D20, then the Avatar State is more like a temporary, storyline-induced application of the Gestalt rules. He normally is a Monk with various Su and Sp abilities, but when he goes into Avatar State he gets the equivalent of a Wis-based Sorcerer (Empyreal, I believe you said?) equal to his level dropped alongside his regular class abilities. The Avatar state isn't just "More Powers", but the access to powers, abilities, and skills that are a collective sum total of his past lives.
Might be kind of hard to get a DM to allow that.
On the OTHER hand, if you can convince your DM to actually run a campaign where each player is the descendant of some Epic hero from an age long past and can temporarily 'channel' them in critical situations, then it could be a really awesome campaign setting.
I am a bit surprised that this hasn't been brought up, but Oracle with the wind Revelations might be a good Aang. Lots of wind themed powers, gets most of the cool Druid air spells. slightly better attack bonus then the sorcerer so he could get into some fights, maybe take weapon finesse and improved unarmed combat (or a level of monk) and then i think you might get a pretty decent low level Aang.
Just make a magus with the Improved Unarmed Strike Feat and take it from there. Magical Blasty Character that incorporates fighting styles into his spells, done and done.
No, that's far from a correct definition of the Avatar State. What it is... what it truly is... is GM Fiat Unfettered. It's a story element to make certain things happen. The real problem with making game rules on this story type is that the Avatar is the 800 lb elephant in the room. Fortunately you really don't need the Avatar to make a good story with this material. The avatar is a singular creature, and tons of good stories can be made by dispensing with it. That said, even with the thread I mentioned, I think that GURPS, HERO, or BESM, is a far better vehicle for this endeavour. But if you're that determined to force this round hole into a square peg, the EM thread mentioned above is the way to go, especially since the author and others did put a ton of fairly well thought out work into it.
That's even less accurate. Aang has control over himself in the Avatar state and isn't suddenly controlled by some outside force that he is slaved to and determines his actions for him, unless you possibly count the time the Sea Spirit merged with him at the end of Book One.
GURPS, HERO, or BESM might in some way be better for this (which I'd whole-heartedly disagree with, mind you, but see no point to argue it), but as these ARE the Pathfinder boards and we're trying to assist the original poster with what he wanted help with--bringing for Aang in PF.
I already presented a solution for the 'singular creature' problem if the DM was up for it. I actually intend to try this in the next game I DM, though I hope none of my players read this until I do. ;)
I know that the temptation is to make Aang, and the other benders, monks. But I don't think it's accurate because, with a few exceptions, most of the Benders never actually *fight* hand to hand. They bend the elements at their enemies. They use martial arts moves to do it, but that isn't the same thing as fighting.
I would suggest going pure sorcerer, focusing on air spells. I'd also suggest a Wind Oracle, but the OP said no divine casters. Use spells like mage armor to simulate air bending attacks away. Gust of wind is obvious. Use expeditious retreat to replicate Aang's fast running speed, and later use haste to spread the love to the rest of the party.