Modeling Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I thought I'd do a post on modeling a character that may be familiar to many readers- Katara from Nickelodeon's Avatar : The Last Airbender.  It's a show I enjoyed watching with my son, and I imagine many readers have some fondness for it- it was very good. 

I hope that this constitutes fair use, as it's sort of a fan fiction. Of course, if I get any complaints, I'll take it right down. 

Throughout the process of designing the game, I've frequently thought of the various types of "Bending" from the two Avatar series when I thought about Element interactions. Different styles of Bending will use different Functions more or less prominently; for example, Earthbending uses a lot of BLOCKs,and BRACEs while Firebending uses a lot of VOIDs. 

I chose Katara for this example because she's the main Waterbender in the series. Waterbending is a very versatile form of Bending on the show, having features of each of the other 3 types. I didn't choose to write up Aang because of the sheer amount of work it would entail. As the Avatar,he does everything everyone else can do, better. If I get a good response, I might do other characters, but I really need to be working on the rules. 

Also, I didn't get into blood or plantbending, because I decided to write up an early version of Katara, around the time she met Toph. There may be continuity issues here or there, but I was working from memory and this site. Using the page on waterbending, I tried to model most of the techniques  I found there. The ones I didn't model were the ones that were either mechanically redundant or so minor that they didn't actually do anything useful (based on the reference page). 

Additionally, I didn't model the few minor FOCUSes, or the BONDs and DRIVEs listed inside the HOUSEs. What's listed there is good enough; a simple numerical rating covers the effects.  

The goal with Tribute is to only model what is immediately needed and interesting mechanically. 

Katara's Character Sheet

HOUSE	"Body"	"The World"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: +3	COUNTER: 0	FORCE: 0
Rank: 20	Effects:
CHANNEL: "Physical" CHANNEL: "Water" FOCUS: "Dancing" [3d] HOUSE: "Mind" [20] POOL: "Water Source"(sweat) [-20]

HOUSE	"Mind"	"Body"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: +3	COUNTER: +2	FORCE: +2
Rank: 20	Effects:
DRIVE: "Become a Better Waterbender." [+4] FOCUS: "Midwifery" [3d] HOUSE: "Soul" [20]

HOUSE	"Soul"	"Mind"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: +3	COUNTER: +3	FORCE: +4
Rank: 20	Effects:
"Waterbender" INFLUENCE (Soul): {}   CHANNEL: ("Spiritual") BOND: "Love of Kya (Deceased Mother)" [+5d] BOND: "Love of Hakoda (Father)" [+5d] BOND: "Love of Sokka (Brother)" [+5d] BOND: "Love for the Southern Water Tribe" [+4d] BOND: "Honor the Spirits" [+3d] BOND: "Affection for Aang" [+3d] BOND: "Friendship with Toph" [+2d] BOND: "Hatred of the Fire Nation" [+4d] BOND: "Hatred of Zuko" [+5d] CHANNEL: "Water" FOCUS: "Waterbending" [+5d] FOCUS: "Waterbending Mastery" [+2d] FOCUS: "Healing" [+3d]

.

Waterbending FOCUSes

These FOCUSes wouldn't need to be on the character sheet; they could be written up in the setting bible for reference.

I didn't model the CHANNEL "Water", as Naming it is enough to begin manipulating it in Tribute. The POOL "Water Source" is simply a POOL contains the CHANNEL "Water" (Its substance is the CHANNEL). Its logarithmic Rank represents the amount of Water in a bending source (Rank 0 represents a human sized portion of water).  Some techniques require a given minimum amount of water to be available. 

Even though the bending FOCUSes contain a large number of techniques- an approach which may seem overwhelming, it might help to think of them as you would "spells" in a typical fantasy setting. A wizard's spellbook would have dozens of such spells. 

Notice also that I broke waterbending in to "Waterbending" and "Waterbending Mastery". This is because the in-setting fiction reserves certain techniques for so-called Masters. I simply defined a "Waterbending Mastery" with prerequsite NEED of "Waterbending" +5d (5 dice).

I didn't plug any numbers into the Effects (Rank, for now, is represented by a "#" sign.), but hopefully there's enough information in the Expressions to get the point across. 

Note: A new aspect of the notation is to mark each Feature with a letter like so: A. ,  B. ,...etc. This shows the order in which the effects are applied if it matters in play. If two Features share the same letter, they are simultaneous. If one step is interrupted in some way, the subsequent steps fail. 

FOCUS	"Waterbending"	HOUSE of "Soul"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: -	COUNTER: -	FORCE: -
Rank: #d	Effects:
NEED: INFLUENCE ("Waterbender"). NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-20] . "Boil" INFLUENCE POOL ("Water Source"): {  A. EXCHANGE CHANNEL ("Water" or "Ice") for CHANNEL ("Steam") at [1:1]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Condense" INFLUENCE POOL ("Water Source"): {  A. EXCHANGE CHANNEL ("Steam") for CHANNEL ("Water"or "Ice") at [1:1]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Freeze/Breath of Ice" INFLUENCE POOL ("Water Source"): { A. EXCHANGE CHANNEL ("Water"or "Steam") for CHANNEL ("Ice") at [1:1]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Ice Claws" SHIELD "Ice Claws": { A. BLOCK ACCESS of "Mind" [#]. } ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A. VOID Target HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Ice") [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Thaw" INFLUENCE POOL ("Water Source"): { A. EXCHANGE CHANNEL ("Ice") for CHANNEL ("Water") at [1:1]. A. REACH [#].  } "Water Manipulation/Streaming the Water" INFLUENCE CHANNEL ("Water"): { A. HARNESS POOL ("Water Source")[#]. A. REACH [#].A. SPREAD [#]} NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-10]. "Grasp" ATTACK Target with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A. HARNESS Target via CHANNEL ("Water", "Ice")[#]. A. REACH [#]. } "Water Knife" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL (Physical): { A. SLICE Target via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. REACH [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-6]. "Water Bullet/Ice Spear/ Ice Disk" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL "Physical": { A. VOID Target HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Water", "Ice")[#].  A. REACH [#]. } "Water Whip" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL "Physical": { A. SLICE Target HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. REACH [#].} NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [0]. "Ice/ Water Shield" SHIELD HOUSE ("Body"): { A. BLOCK ATTACK with CHANNEL ("Physical") via CHANNEL ("Water", "Ice") [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Water Jet" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL "Physical": { A. RELAY Target backwards via CHANNEL ("Water")[#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Water Cloak" SHIELD HOUSE ("Body"):  { A. BLOCK (VOID, SLICE HOUSE ("Body")) via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. B. LINK "Water Whip", "Grasp" [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [+8]. "Surfing" MANEUVER HOUSE ("Body"): { A. RELAY HOUSE ("Body") via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. } "Wave" INFLUENCE "Water Source":{ A. RELAY POOL ("Water Source") [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Iceberg Spike" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL "Physical": { A.VOID Target HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Ice")[#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Ice Creeper" ATTACK HOUSE ("Body"): { A. LINK "Freeze" [#]. B. BLOCK RELAY HOUSE ("Body") via "Freeze" [#]. A. SPREAD [#].  A. REACH [#]. }

FOCUS	"Waterbending Mastery"	HOUSE of "Soul"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: -	COUNTER: -	FORCE: -
Rank: #d	Effects:
NEED: FOCUS: ("Waterbending") +5d. NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-20] . "Ice Dagger" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A.  LINK "Ice Claws" [#]. A. RELAY "Ice Claws" to Target [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-10] . "Water Boxing" ATTACK HOUSE ("Body"): { A. VOID FORCE of HOUSE ("Body") [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [-6] . "Water Drill" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"):  { A. VOID Target via CHANNEL ("Water")[#]. A. CYCLE [#]. A. REACH [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [0] . "Multiple Water Whips" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL "Physical": { A. SLICE Target HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. "Octopus Form" SHIELD HOUSE ("Body"): { A. LINK "Water Cloak" [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Ice Prison" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A. BLOCK RELAY HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Ice")[#]. A. BLOCK ACCESS Powe via CHANNEL ("Ice")r [#]. REACH [#].} "Razor Rings" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): {A. LINK "Ice Knife" [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [5] . "Water Pinwheel" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A. RELAY Target around Author via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. REACH [#].} "Ice Dome" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): {A. BLOCK RELAY HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Ice Floor" INFLUENCE HOUSE ("World"): { A. CHARGE RELAY HOUSE ("Body") [#]. ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"):  { A. BLOCK RELAY HOUSE via CHANNEL ("Ice") [#].  } A. SPREAD [#]. } "Mass Freeze" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): {A. LINK "Ice Prison" [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Ice Ramp" CONSTRUCT "Ice Ramp": { A. SPREAD [#]. REACH Target Position [#]. MANEUVER "Body": {A. RELAY HOUSE ("Body") up "Ice Ramp"via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. }  } NEED: POOL: ("Water Source") > [20] . "Bubble" INFLUENCE CHANNEL ("Water"): { A. RELAY CHANNEL ("Water") around CHANNEL ("Air") [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Waterspout" ATTACK Target HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): { A. RELAY {RELAY Target around center Position and upward via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. } [#]. A. VOID Target [#]. A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#]. } "Water Snake" MANEUVER HOUSE ("Body"): { A. LINK "Water Spout" [#]. A. RELAY HOUSE ("Body") upward and forward via "Water Spout" [#]. } "Ice Tunneling" Maneuver "Body": { A. RELAY HOUSE ("Body") via CHANNEL ("Ice") [#]. } "Maelstrom" ATTACK HOUSE with CHANNEL ("Physical"): {A. RELAY Target around Position and downward via CHANNEL ("Water") [#].  A. REACH [#]. A. SPREAD [#].}

FOCUS	"Healing"	HOUSE of "Soul"
Frame Type	Name	Container
ACCESS: -	COUNTER: -	FORCE: -
Rank: #d	Effects:
NEED: FOCUS: ("Waterbending") +1d. NEED: POOL: ("Water Source"). "Aid Healing" TRUST "Body": { A. CHARGE COUNTER via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. }   "Remove Ailments" TRUST "Body": { A. SLICE BLOCK via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. SLICE VOID via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. A. LINK Target SLICE via CHANNEL ("Water") [#]. }

 Let me know what you think, or if anything seems wrong or unclear. I'm not an expert on the show, so others might have modeled things differently. Thanks for reading.