Nostalgic 'Avatar Legends' trailer teases a tabletop RPG that wants to capture the spirit of the shows

The fans who love Avatar: The Last Airbender really love it, and now they're showing their love by giving the show a tabletop RPG. When developer Magpie Games launched a Kickstarter for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game on Aug. 3, it only took 16 minutes for the game to surpass its initial $50,000 goal –– at the time of this writing, it's been pledged over $3.2 million. 

Magpie's staff has spent the last year creating the game, which they hope will successfully translate the Nickelodeon series and its sequel, Legend of Korra, to the tabletop space. "It's a game for people of all ages," reads the Kickstarter, "who want to look at the world beyond the scope of the existing stories." Following suit from the franchise, Magpie promises that "balance" will be at the heart of the game, whether it's about the player's goals they set for themselves, or the balance of the world.

It even extends to the game's antagonists, who they say "are never simply monsters, never mere antagonists who must be struck down by blasts of fire; they are instead people with their own desires, personal struggles, and goals, no matter how misguided." The developers really want it to feel authentic, to the point their official trailer is narrated by Uncle Iroh himself, Greg Baldwin. 

Check out the official trailer for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game below:

In capturing the spirit of Avatar and Korra, players can opt to be either a Bender from one of the Four Nations or Republic City, a Swordsman from the Southern Water Tribe, or a Republic City technologist. Using the Powered by the Apocalypse system that's used in other games such as Masks and Monster of the Week, the hope is that events can be resolved through moves and lead to organic storytelling. Think of it as improv, in a way, only instead of "yes, and," it's "when you X, Y happens." 

Avatar Legends comes at a time when the RPG space has been blowing up, in part thanks to the pandemic. It also arrives amidst Nickelodeon's renewed interest in the franchise. With the formation of Avatar Studios still being fairly recent, and the universe not able to cover everything fans would like, the RPG can help fans feel more connected to the world than ever before, and make their own stories just as exciting as Aang's and Korra's. 

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is expected to launch in February 2022. Its Kickstarter will conclude Sept. 2.