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  • The Rules Of Pro-Bending
    • How To Win A Pro-Bending Match
  • How Benders Work
  • How Arena, Highlight, And Faceoff Moves Work
    • Arena Moves
    • Highlight Moves
    • Faceoff Moves
  • Tournaments And Long-Term Arcs In Pro-Bending

First introduced in The Legend of Korra series, pro-bending is an amazing and fun supplement you can add to your campaign in Avatar Legends. Pro-bending is a sport in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe that pits two teams of three benders each against one another in a giant stadium, winner-take-all.

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If your Avatar Legends campaign is set in Republic City, you can use the Welcome To Republic City campaign setting book to run compelling pro-bending matches for your players. But, you might be wondering how these matches work in a TTRPG setting. Here's everything you need to know about pro-bending.

The Rules Of Pro-Bending

Korra in Republic City via Magpie Games & Viacom

Pro-bending is a competitive, team-based sport in which two three-player teams (one waterbender, one earthbender, and one firebender) fight to remain standing on an elevated platform above a pool of water.

Pro-bending primarily takes place in Republic City, but there's no hard and fast rule saying you can't bring the sport out into other parts of the world.

However, the sport was invented in the Korra era and should be used then.

The platform is shaped like a hexagon and divided in half, and each half is divided into three zones, which players move forward or backward on.

Each zone moves players closer to the open back edge of the hexagon above the water, which players will want to avoid at all costs.

How To Win A Pro-Bending Match

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To win a pro-bending match, each team must compete in three one-minute rounds, and whichever team wins the most rounds, wins the match.

In some ways, pro-bending is like a game of tug-of-war.

To win a round, players must push their opponents back on the platform into the subsequent zone, thus claiming their opponent's territory for themselves.

In the event that no team has claimed territory, the team with the most players remaining on the platform wins, or the match proceeds to a face-off.

Additionally, if all three opponents are knocked off the hexagon, then the other team earns a knockout, thus winning the match automatically.

When opponents or players are pushed off the hexagon, they are out for that round, but return the following round.

How Benders Work

Varrick and Zhu Li via Magpie Games & Viacom

As mentioned, pro-bending involves two teams of three benders each, one waterbender, one firebender, and one earthbender.

Airbending is, technically, not allowed in pro-bending. However, there is an NPC in the Republic City sourcebook who is advocating for a variant form of pro-bending that includes airbending.

Water and earthbenders have access to a supply of their chosen element on the hexagon, while firebenders are expected to generate their own element.

Players are not allowed to use any forbidden techniques in pro-bending, such as bloodbending. A list of forbidden techniques can be found in the Avatar Legends Core Rulebook.

How Arena, Highlight, And Faceoff Moves Work

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Pro-bending rules in Avatar Legends use a system of moves to shape the fiction of a pro-bending match.

For a full list of these moves, consult Chapter Three of the Republic City module.

There are three types of moves players can use in a pro-bending match:

  1. Arena Moves - These moves represent 'out-of-match' actions that players can take to influence the match, even if they're not playing on the team.
  2. Highlight Moves - These moves represent actions players take during the match, mimicking the fiction of a 'highlight reel,' that you might see in other sports.
  3. Faceoff Moves - The Faceoff Move is only used when players enter a faceoff or a tiebreaker.

While all Highlight Moves can be made by any bender, they can only be used once per season of pro-bending. Before the move can be used again, the pro-bending team must have used at least nine of the ten Highlight Moves or entered a new season.

Each move has its own unique benefits, rules, and possible downsides. Consult each individual rule's description for more information.

Arena Moves

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Arena Moves allow non-bending characters, or bending characters who don't want to participate in the actual match, to impact the outcome of a pro-bending match.

While some Arena Moves can take place before a match, many of them can also take place during a match, allowing non-bending PCs to join the action.

For example, some arena moves, like Scouting Report, allow players to scout out the other team and analyze strengths or weaknesses, potentially buffing their team.

Highlight Moves

Toph via Magpie Games & Viacom

Highlight Moves allow bending characters participating in the match to use their bending to help sway the match in their favor.

If your player-character has a condition that might affect a roll, that condition is still considered in effect during a pro-bending match.

Like Arena Moves, these moves ask players to roll with a certain skill, and on a hit, progress their team's victory, or potentially earn a knockout altogether.

Faceoff Moves

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In the event of a tie, in which players must proceed to a faceoff, The Faceoff Move allows players to mark off any amount of fatigue they have available, and roll with the amount of fatigue you marked, subtracting the number of conditions they have.

On a hit, you win the faceoff; on a miss, you lose the faceoff.

Tournaments And Long-Term Arcs In Pro-Bending

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While, as a GM, you can always use pro-bending as a one-off, adventure, you can also use pro-bending as a campaign arc if it feels important to your players.

There are three main ways to use pro-bending long-term in your campaign.

Long-Term Pro-Bending

Details

Tournament

You can run season-long tournaments for your players in one of two different formats.

One, either a round-robin style tournament in which every team plays every team, or, in a single-elimination 16-team bracket format.

Rank & Renown

Champion pro-benders are practically like celebrities in Republic City. This can provide several boons to your players in their campaigns.

Every time your players win a match, they can increase their rank and renown in Republic City and beyond. A full list of ranks can be found in Chapter Three of the Republic City module.

Campaign Hooks

You can also use pro-bending as the catalyst for a campaign arc.

For example, perhaps an NPC the party is trying to align themselves with will only help the party out in their greater mission if they lend their gifts to show up the NPC's rival in the pro-bending arena.

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