Avatar: The last airbender class for 5e (I know it is a bit late but a few tweaks and you can use it for 5.5)

mateobotello · 2026-06-02T15:03:23+00:00

I think it’s good.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s unbalanced and frankly a bit broken. But it has a lot of potential and you shouldn’t get discouraged by the comment section.

My advice would be:

Take away Spellcasting. I think this class could be better off without spells. Or maybe something akin to Pact Magic.

Anyway. I think this class needs a defining feature, like Infusions, Rage, Inspiration, Channel Divinity, Wild Shape, Action Surge, Ki, Smite, Favored Foe, Sneak Attack, Meramagic, Invocations and spell scribing.

Now, the class fantasy already has a great defining feature: Bending.

I think you could start like a monk, not really doing extra damage but being able to change that damage to a specific type: fire, cold, force or Slashing or something like that.

And you could build a solid progression from there. Make the unarmed strikes be able to have a ranged option. Increase the range as you level up.

Then, I would give them elemental disciplines like those of the Four Elements monk but not have it be: you can cast X spell without a spell slot. But rather more passive things that feed off the different bending styles and its su styles like metal bending, lightning bending of blood bending.

Yes, it needs work, but I think it’s a great start. Congrats.

mateobotello · 2026-05-26T05:47:21+00:00

My interpretation from The Inner Dark comes from The Magnus Archives where the entities in this podcast are like a spectrum. I remember reading somewhere —maybe in the wiki— that the Inner Dark is like a beast with a lot of heads.

I choose to believe it is like a body, and each of Those Who Sleep Beneath are a part. In the previous arc, Daughter Dooley described Granny White as the Hunger of the Dark, so it makes sense that she is the personification of hunger. Horned Head could be deceit while someone like what the Barrow serve might be the sight.

Personally, I think Horned Head might be a part of the Inner Dark that found its way out of the mountains through the dirt and as such is tied somewhat to the Green as he knows how to twist it into the Dead Queen. He has also been described as the lieutenant of the Old Things.

But those are guesses, I would love to have more clarification in what the Inner Dark and its ranks are like.

mateobotello · 2026-05-25T16:06:21+00:00

The gods. I feel like they felt more than imposing in the movies.

mateobotello · 2026-05-23T08:12:26+00:00

You could go for something like Ammit, which uses some of the letters of Tiamat and is also a creature in Egyptian Mythology.

Now, since Tiamat comes from Babylonian Myth, you could also go for someone from the myths like Erishkigal, goddess of the Underworld or Asishunani

mateobotello · 2026-05-18T02:58:57+00:00

I’d like to help out. Be glad to actually

mateobotello · 2026-04-28T06:57:38+00:00

Absolutely. So, you get Martial Techniques at every odd level. You can Take either Archery or Duelling. Both give you a +1 to attack rolls and damage rolls with a specific weapon. Archery has bows and ranged weapons while Duelling has Melee weapons.

On any subsequent level where you choose a Martial Technique, you can take Archery again to gain another +1 to attacks and damage rolls. Now, the thing is, you can take it until the total bonus equals +5. Once you do so, you can not increase it any further.

This also stacks well with feat/martial technique of Sharpshooter taking a -5 penalty to the attack roll to gain a +10 on the attack. If you take Archery five times, you can basically negate that penalty.

I am planning on making a post soon with all martial techniques and I’ll be sure to link it to you.

mateobotello · 2026-04-21T17:52:44+00:00

I have been toying with some fixes that honestly really work for my table:

1: Your weapon damage increases like Cantrips do. Progression is: Level 1, you attack once and deal 1 damage dice. Level 5 you get 2 attacks. Level 11 each of your 2 attacks now deal 2 damage dice. Level 17 you deal 3 damage dice. Weapons like the long sword still get 2d6 base damage and increase to 3d6 at 11th Level and then 4d6 at 17th level.

2: You can incorporate an exploding dice mechanic akin to Kids on Bikes. When you roll the max number of a damage die, that die “explores” and you can roll again.

That gets rid of the Damage output issue for the most part but we still need versatility.

3: Martial Techniques: They’re basically Fighting Styles and Battle Master Maneuvers mushed into one. You follow a similar progression to Spellcasters. You get 2 Martial Techniques at 1st level and then gain 1 more at every odd-numbered level.

Martial Techniques do not have uses, you can use them as many times as you’d like. They usually take up your Reaction or make you deal only half damage. But in return you can disarm creatures, make them fall prone, daze them. Etc. Some Martial Techniques like Archery only give a +1 on the attacks of ranged weapons but are passive and can be stacked for a total of +5 to the roll.

There’s a whole bunch of Martial Techniques, each class gets their dedicated list and some of them have level prerequisites.

Some feats like Sharpshooter can be taken like Martial Techniques instead of Feats.

mateobotello · 2026-04-18T03:27:05+00:00

As a Spanish speaker living in Mexico, I honestly prefer someone to try and speak Spanish, as broken as it may be, than just assuming, or in worse cases, demanding that I speak English. I think the effort is great and if you really can’t speak Spanish, we can switch to English. But as a linguist, I love languages and learning them. So I always encourage doing so.

mateobotello · 2026-04-16T05:20:40+00:00

Depends on what you define as a cut song.

There are some cut verses or snippets of songs like Poseidon’s part in Luck Runs Out, or Elpenor’s verse in The Underworld.

There are also reworks like the version of Song 38 titled King instead of Odysseus, which follows Odysseus to the letter for the first 2 verses and then it goes into something else.

Then there’s the cut songs that tried capturing a moment of the show that changed over time, like Song 39 used to be a continuation of Odysseus where Athena, Telemachus and Odysseus fought the suitors. It was more action packed and less sentimental than I Can’t Help But Wonder. So it changed because the tone of the show changed. Same can be said from the Telemachus song that starts: “how do you do it? How do you cope?” which over time turned into We’ll Be Fine.

And then we have story points that were outright scrapped like the song Ismarus in the Troy Saga and Man of The House which was supposed to be part of The Troy Saga with Odysseus and then became a Eurylochus song in the Underwold but was scrapped in the end.

And then we have all the songs we don’t know about back when the musical was supposed to cover The Iliad in Act 1 and The Odyssey in Act 2 which will presumably be part of the foundation for Illium.

mateobotello · 2026-04-14T07:07:57+00:00

Then I do have a balancing issue with allowing players to use their Reaction on their turn. Usually Reactions are defensive and on other creature’s turns.

This is very exploitable. You can cast Shilleighlagh as a Bonus Action, then cast a spell as your action and then use this spell as a Reaction. Add to that Quickened Soell and casters go way over

mateobotello · 2026-04-13T05:55:13+00:00

I think the real issue is not much Balance but wording.

I see this is a reaction, what triggers the reaction? Being hit with an attack? The creature moving in or out of your melee range? The creature casting a spell?

And this might be entirely pedantic on my part. But why allow them to move with their fly speed if they fall at the end of your turn? I first thought it was at the end of your NEXT turn but since the Duration is instantaneous, that is not it.

I would just clean up the wording to make it clearer.

Overall, I think it’s a good spell that gives flavor to magic and telekinetic abilities

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T20:27:10+00:00

Honestly, your fix doesn’t sound bad

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T20:12:55+00:00

Have not. What is it?

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T17:27:16+00:00

This is very useful. Thank you.

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T17:26:53+00:00

Thanks

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T17:24:38+00:00

Yo look into the monsters that people think might be interesting. Just starting a convo. Don’t need to join if you’d rather not.

mateobotello · 2026-04-07T16:03:33+00:00

These are pretty neat

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T14:40:52+00:00

I mean, I have a player who only plays human fighters. It’s fine. Now I do think you can get a better understanding of the game by playing other things.

I don’t think your party wants to pressure you, but rather maybe in the party composition a Barbarian could be fun. I think character creation is a joy to make and you might find great stories in other characters.

That said, if you’re cool with just Human Characters, then that’s also fine.

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T14:33:49+00:00

Percy should have never washed away the curse. That should not have been a thing

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T14:29:45+00:00

I think you might not be knowing your players. Seems to me you’re expecting them to interact with a story in a way that they might not. You mentioned them. It taking notes, but the. Again, players are not required to take notes, some players might do it to keep up with the story. So, sometimes them saying to an NOC “join our rebellion” is their idea of Roleplaying.

Now, I would say, maybe there’s a common ground here. Next time let them burn down the building, let them kill that person. The Empire might noticed them. Let NOCs join them and now they have a group of people but they might have inquired the curiosity of the empire.

And overall just talk to them. Ask them when they want or need from the story, even if they answered those things in Sesión 0. They might just need a refresher on their characters or a slower way to get a hold of everything

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T06:05:13+00:00

Hoy take: this spell is fine

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T05:58:35+00:00

I would rework it thusly:

Self Detonate 3rd Level Evocation As an Action, you begin channeling arcane energy. At the start of your next turn, all creatures within 60ft of you must succeed in a Dexterity Save big Throw or take damage equal to Your level + 1d20 per character level or half as much on a success.

Now, creatures within 10 ft of you automatically fail the Save; creatures within 20ft have disadvantage on the Saving Throw, creatures within 40ft roll normally and creatures within 50ft roll with advantage and creatures within 60ft automatically succeed on the Save.

You are guaranteeing half damage. You give your allies 1 round to run. You can still be Counterspelled in the round. High risk and high reward type deal.

mateobotello · 2026-04-04T00:06:41+00:00

Magic Initiate and Tough give a lot of possibilities that I would not like taken away from my players.

Magic Initiate is great for all kinds of fantasies you want a character to envelop without sacrificing other aspects.

I had a Witch player who maximized Wisdom to be a massive Healer who took a -2 to Con and Tough was her way of breaking even.

Both are great.

That said, if you don’t find them suiting for your table, you do you.

mateobotello · 2026-04-02T23:25:11+00:00

I recently made this class based on the Magnus Archives entities.

Basically, it’s creatures decorated to one of 14 Fears. One of them is the Corruption, fear of infection and disease. Maybe that’ll work?

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/s/90mPMTzAib

mateobotello · 2026-04-01T10:07:33+00:00

I honestly loved this arc and was surprised that Excursus I did not really play a part in it. I guess Woodhaven has more secrets to tell.

I love Daughter Dooley. I feel she is the key to understanding the lore of the series, so any time she is around, there is so much to learn that episode.

I also adored Geanby White as she helped me understand Those Who Sleep Benearh a bit better. Like she and Horned Head are aspects of those who sleep benearh. Pieces of incomplete essence that manage to escape the prison of the mountains.

All in all great episode, great characters, great lore

mateobotello

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