Ashes of Avatar 00: A New Campaign

My friends want to play DnD in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. With an existing timeline, we'll have to pick a year. There's some good stuff in there, including rebellions, a pirate armada, and the youth of all the crotchety old bastards in the show.

Let's set it in 20AG (absolutely wild that time in the ATLA universe is measured in "Before/After Genocide", but effective). This gives us a sense of how the world will end up, with it still being far enough away that we're free to overlook anything that can be fixed within 80yrs. Most characters to avoid aren't born yet, but I do have to keep track of Bumi and Sozin (he dies this year, that would probably make the news). I also like that it leaves open the Avatar questions: Will a new one be found, is the current one in hiding- There's even room for lies, like claiming that the Avatar has joined this or that group.

So that's a time, now let's get a map to crib from. S1E07 features Senlin, a village and forest that share a name. In 99AG the Fire Nation will anger the spirits by burning down the forest. What are the odds this is a regular occurrence- Humans annoy spirits, spirits damage structures?

As far as airbenders go, there was a genocide and Aang will eventually be the last- But that doesn't mean they're all already gone. What it really means is that there's not enough Air Nation culture to raise new air benders or even new people familiar with the culture. This is not hard to do to a nomadic people- It's the pilgrimages that make them Air Nation, not the genes or anything else.

This chapter is inspired by the Hollowmen in The Gorge (2025)

After rewatching the episode, I noticed a complication I'd forgotten: There's no bending in the spirit world. Gonna have to put a pin in that 🤔

Alright, let's rework the checklist to fit this campaign. A quest giver is sending us into a forest brimming with trouble. It has:

1. Something to Take

• Lots of food
• Remains of past adventurers
• Rare mushrooms
• Knowledge- Locations, Techniques, Blackmail, Recipes, Territory

2. Something to be Dealt With

Hollowmen from the spirit world are crafting Stirges and releasing them on the village. Satisfy or kill the Hollows. Destroyed stirges will just be remade tomorrow.

How do you satisfy- Or even communicate with- The Hollows in the spirit world?

3. Something to be Left Alone

ATLA is chock full of mashup beasts with quirky abilities. Dump a few in here.

4. Different Paths

• Wolf pine- You can get a clear look at the layout of the forest if you climb up
• Creek- Every forest has water.
• Burrows- This is the Earth Kingdom

5. Someone to Talk To

The locals are animals. Pure coincidence we have a druid, but hey as long as he's here we're good.

6. Something to Experiment With

The spirit world can be blamed for all manner of unexplainable things.

• A sundial that controls the sun.
• A boat golem that flees from loud noises.  You can direct it by standing at the back of it and shouting.

"Weird shit is important because they give the players an unsolved problem. Bonus points if its something that will probably hurt the players at first, but can be used to their advantage once they've figured out how it works."

7. Something Players Probably Won't Find

Part of me wants this to be the Hollowmen, more of me wants to avoid the inspiration not being featured in the session. But it makes sense that in session one, adventurers wouldn't have what it takes to reach the spirit world.

Alright, we're ready. Open the doors.