[Free RPG Day] Rebels & Refugees Adventure

Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.

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The Rebels & Refugees Adventure is a scenario released for Free RPG Day 2024 for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns for any roleplaying game. Published by Magpie Games, this is the roleplaying adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, animated series which are inspired by the indigenous cultures of North America and Asia, in particular, China, Chinese martial arts, and the ability to ‘bend’ or manipulate the four elements—water, earth, fire, and air. Only one person can bend all four elements, and he is known as the ‘Avatar’, and not only does he serve as the link between the physical world and the spirit world, but he is also responsible for maintaining harmony between the world’s four nations. In the roleplaying game, the players roleplay characters, or companions, who are capable of bending one of the elements as well as practising martial arts, all with the aim of protecting the world from harm and those unable to stand up to misuse of power. The Rebels & Refugees Adventure can be run using the Movers & Shakers Quick-Start Booklet rather than the full rules and there is advice for the Game Master to that end. It is designed for three to six players, one of whom will be the Game Master, and includes five pre-generated Player Characters, rules and advice for the Game Master, and a situation or scenario, the ‘Rebels & Refugees’ of the title.

The Rebels & Refugees Adventure and thus Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game is ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’, the mechanics based on the award-winning post-apocalyptic roleplaying game, Apocalypse World, published by Lumpley Games in 2010. It is set during the ‘100 Year War Era’ and opens with the Player Characters, or Benders, having joined a group of Earth Kingdom rebels and Earth Kingdom refugees fleeing the Fire Nation Army. They have taken refuge in the Western Air Temple, hoping to find respite from an enemy which has been behind them every step of the way. Unfortunately, the Western Air Temple is not as safe as they hoped that it would be. Long abandoned, the only inhabitant now is a spirit whose antics quickly escalate from throwing oranges at the new arrivals to collapsing columns and blocking passages. Faced with a threat from within as well as the Fire Nation Army closing in, tensions grow as it becomes clear that the Western Air Temple is not as safe as everyone thought it was. When neither the leader of the rebels or the leader of the refugees can agree on what the best course of is—stay in hiding from the Fire Nation Army, but at the mercy of a malicious spirit, or make a run for it and hope that the Fire Nation Army does not catch with them, both they and the refugees and the rebels turn to the Player Characters for help and advice.

The scenario opens with the Player Characters and the rebels and the refugees they are accompanying in the Western Air Temple having lowered themselves by ropes down cliffs to the entrance. Both the rebels and the refugees are spooked by the first of the strange events in the temple and already on edge. Beyond this set-up, the Rebels & Refugees Adventure provides all of the bits and pieces that the Game Master needs to run it and even possibly run a sequel. This includes a very good summary and description of the scenario, all of its NPCs, and its locations. Among the NPC descriptions are the leaders if the rebels and the refugees, the spirit lurking in the Western Air Temple, even General Uyanga, the commander of the Fire Nation Army, whom it is possible for the Player Characters to meet in the course of the adventure. There is a number of pre-plotted events, but much of what the Game Master will be doing is reacting to the actions of the Player Characters in order to construct a pursuit clock. This will ultimately measure the chase between the Player Characters and the many people with them as they try to escape from the Western Air Temple to a southern port where they can properly escape the Fire Nation Army. Numerous actions and options in terms of what the Player Characters might do, and ultimately, the outcome is very much player-driven and the Game Master will need to adapt as necessary.

In terms of Player Characters, the scenario comes with a varied selection. There is a headstrong inventor with a penchant for sabotage, an Earth-Bending farmer able to adjust the plans of others, an acrobat with a walrus-yak companion—although how the Player Characters got it down the cliff to the Western Air Temple is a whole other scenario of its own, a nun wants to heal the world of its war woes and fights defensively, and a Water Bender who is an astute judge of character. All five start play with a single mastered technique and other unique advancement options, so they are not equal to starting characters. There is advice given on how to adjust new characters to play the scenario if the players want to create their own.

Physically, the Rebels & Refugees Adventure is well presented, sturdy booklet. The booklet is well written with plenty of advice and help for the Game Master, including summaries of the Moves, Combat Exchanges, Fighting Techniques, and more at the back.

Rebels & Refugees Adventure is good scenario for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game and the worlds of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. It will also appeal to fans of anime and martial arts, but this is still a scenario for an experienced Game Master even if it can played with just the quick-start rules in Movers & Shakers Free RPG Day Booklet.