[Free RPG Day 2026] Ash & Steel

Now in its nineteenth year, Free RPG Day for 2026 took place on Saturday, June 27th. 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. Unfortunately, due to vagaries of International Customs, Free RPG Day in the UK did not take place until Saturday, 22nd August.

This review is possible due to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham.

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For Free RPG Day 2026, Magpie Games published not one book, but six—Adventure Booklet 1: Earth & Root, Adventure Booklet 2: Fire & Brimstone, Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel, Adventure Booklet 4: Air & Wind, and Adventure Booklet 5: Water & Mist as well as the Expanded Rules supplement. These are all for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns for any roleplaying game. 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.

As with the other four Adventure Booklets, Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel originally appeared in Wan Shi Tong’s Adventure Guide, which explores and presents adventures in the different eras of the Avatarverse, including the Kyoshi, Roku, the Hundred Year War, Aang, and Korra periods. Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel presents a Hundred Year War Adventure whose action will take the Player Characters from the borders of the Fire Nation to a Ba Sing Se outpost as they accompany, Onomu, a defecting Fire Nation general who is seeking asylum and carrying stolen Fire Nation war plans as leverage to their master, Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of the Earth Nation. Of course, not everyone wants Onomu to reach Ba Sing Se. There are Earth Kingdom rebels who want their own revenge on the defecting general and of course, Fire Lord Ozai of the Fire Nation wants the general stopped and the plans returned. However, that is not everyone who stands in the way of General Onomu and the Player Characters.

The scenario presented in Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel is a chase scenario. It begins in West Heiatu, a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom and will end when the Player Characters reach the outpost of Ba Sing Se. The scenario details five locations that the Player Characters will visit on the way along with various NPCs that they may also meet at each. Previous scenarios in the ‘Adventure Booklet’ series for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game for Free RPG Day have detailed escalations, events that can be used by the Game Master to increase the tension and sense of danger over the course of an adventure. Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel breaks its escalations down into one per location turning each into an individual mini-adventure. For example, the So Bai Oasis is a quiet stop along the route, far from the ongoing war between the Fire and Earth Nations, that gives the Player Characters a chance to rest after a confrontation between Fire Nation soldiers and the Rough Rhinos, Earth Nation rebels. However, the escalation for the location suggests that the Rough Rhinos catch up with the Player Characters and General Onomu and tear the town apart in an attempt to find them!

What this means is that there is plenty of opportunity for confrontation and conflict, but there is chance too for roleplaying—especially with General Onomu. Initially, she is rude and entitled, still a general of the Fire Nation at heart, and will probably remain so unless the Player Characters intervene and perhaps help soften her attitudes towards those around her. This gives the Game Master a potentially interesting story arc for the general to portray.

Another difference between Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel and the other entries in ‘Adventure Booklet’ series is that it is less open in its plotting and more directed. The Player Characters are not as free in their actions in this scenario than they are in the others in that they have a mission to perform and do have to travel from ‘A’ to ‘E’ via ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’. Yet like those other entries in the ‘Adventure Booklet’ series, its ending is open-ended and determined by the actions and decisions of the Player Characters. These possibilities are discussed and there is solid advice for the Game Master along with detailed descriptions of all of the NPCs, groups, and important locations. In addition, there is advice too for the Game Master on who to set up the scenario if the players are using their own characters rather than the pre-generated quintet which is included in Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel. The five pre-generated Player Characters for the adventure are all 

Air Nomads attending the conference on behalf of the Elders of the Southern Air Temple to help keep the peace and report back on ideas presented at the event. They all resistance fighters from different nations who met in fighting the Fire Nation. They include Xinyi the Adamant, an Earthbender who suffered at the hands of the Fire Nation; Nalu the Hammer, a Northern Water Tribe warrior who fled south to fight the Fire Nation; Lana the Icon, a Southern Water Tribe spiritual healer who wants to help others; Zimo the Pillar, a Firebender who wants to stop her nation from enacting its plan to conquer every nation; and Xiao the Prodigy, a martial arts master trained by monks who is unsure of using his abilities to fight.

Also included are details of the Basic Moves and Balance Moves in Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game—in addition the Moves for all of the Player Characters—and the techniques that are not in the core book, plus the combat exchanges, statuses, and basic techniques. Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of the Earth Nation is also fully described and there is advice too on how to use Legendary NPCs like Long Feng. Notably, he remains off camera for much of the scenario and there is the possibility that the Player Characters never get to meet him at all! He is a very different NPC compared to the Legendary NPCs in the ‘Adventure Booklet’ series.

Physically, Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel is well presented, sturdy booklet.

Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel is more of a traditional scenario than the previous two entries in the series, being more plot driven and slightly less Player Character-driven. This makes it easier to run than those other entries, an exciting mix of chase and combat, interaction and intrigue in a solidly done scenario with some interesting consequences to explore. Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra will enjoy the background too and overall, Adventure Booklet 3: Ash & Steel is great support for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game.