Air Bender, Variant (5e Class)
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Air Bender
A wood elf senses the arrow flying towards him through the air. He calmly sidesteps it as it flies past, and with a rush of wind, he spins to face his opponent.
The halfling’s tattoos glow as he meditates, his spirit traveling into the Spirit World.
Air Benders, also known as Air Nomads, have the ability to bend the air to their will through intricate movements. They prefer peaceful or evasive measures over aggressive ones. They seek enlightenment and detachment from the earth, and to live peacefully with one another.
Freedom
Air Benders draw on their sense of freedom for their bending. Air flows in any way it chooses, and the Air Nomads attempt to imitate that freedom when they bend. Air Bending movements tend to take on circular motions and spins, much like how wind swirls around. They are also said to have a great sense of humor!
Raising and Training
The original Air Benders were the Sky Bison. The early Air Benders studied their ways and developed their techniques to what they are today.
Basically every Air Bender is raised and taught in one of the four Air Temples. There is one temple for each cardinal direction. The Northern and Southern Air Temples were made for males, and the Eastern and Western Air Temples for females.
Each Air Bending child has a mentor who was already an Air Bending master. They would teach them how to bend, as well as raise them like their own children. When they are considered to have mastered Air Bending, they receive their Air Bending tattoos, which are light blue arrows that flow through the chi paths of the body, and end at the hands, feet, and forehead.
Air Benders don't live only in these temples. They often go out to see the rest of the world and its people. They tend to enjoy traveling, especially on Sky Bison.
For an Air Bender to become an adventurer, there must be a reason for them to do so. They may have had a vision from the spirit world, or perhaps have heard of a great calamity somewhere in the world that they believe they can fix.
Creating an Air Bender
As you make your Air Nomad, think about how you were raised and taught in the Air Temple and what you think about the outside world. Were you slow to learn new Air Bending techniques, or the opposite? Do you often see creatures from the spirit world? Does the materialistic life of the physical world beckon you?
Consider why you left the Air Temple. Did you sense a great danger? Were you simply out traveling and these events started happening around you? Did you just leave the Temple, deciding to move out on your own?
Most Air Benders lean towards a Chaotic or Neutral Good alignment because of their love of freedom and teachings of the Air Bending masters. Some may be Lawful by sticking close to the rules and ways of the Air Nomads.
- Quick Build
You can make an Air Bender quickly by following these suggestions. First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score, followed by Intelligence. Second, choose the acolyte background.
Class Features
As a Air Bender you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per Air Bender level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Constitution modifier per Air Bender level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: Choose one set of artisan's tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, History, Insight, Nature, Religion, and Stealth
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) Nomad's Pack, which has a bedroll, 10 days rations, full waterskin, backpack, an extra set of Nomad clothing, and 3 basic health potions, or (b) Scholar's Pack
- (a) One set of artisan's tools or (b) One musical instrument
- A glider (acts as a quarterstaff in combat)
- A simple weapon
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Shove Distance | Chi Points | Extra Speed | Basic/Advanced | Tehnique Level | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | 10 ft. | - | 5 ft. | - | - | Gentle Defense, Elemental Arts |
| 2nd | +2 | 10 ft. | 4 | 5 ft. | - | - | Chi, Glider |
| 3rd | +2 | 10 ft. | 5 | 5 ft. | 1/3 | 2 | Aerial Senses, Air Bending Techniques |
| 4th | +2 | 10 ft. | 6 | 5 ft. | 1/4 | 2 | Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall |
| 5th | +3 | 15 ft. | 7 | 10 ft. | 1/5 | 3 | Extra Attack, Air Scooter |
| 6th | +3 | 15 ft. | 8 | 10 ft. | 2/6 | 3 | Billowing Blow |
| 7th | +3 | 15 ft. | 9 | 10 ft. | 2/7 | 4 | Aerial Senses Upgrade |
| 8th | +3 | 15 ft. | 10 | 10 ft. | 2/8 | 4 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th | +4 | 15 ft. | 11 | 10 ft. | 2/9 | 5 | Keen Ears |
| 10th | +4 | 15 ft. | 12 | 15 ft. | 2/10 | 5 | The Spirit World |
| 11th | +4 | 20 ft. | 13 | 15 ft. | 3/11 | 6 | — |
| 12th | +4 | 20 ft. | 14 | 15 ft. | 3/12 | 6 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th | +5 | 20 ft. | 15 | 15 ft. | 3/13 | 7 | Understanding |
| 14th | +5 | 20 ft. | 16 | 15 ft. | 3/14 | 7 | Elemental Weapon |
| 15th | +5 | 20 ft. | 17 | 20 ft. | 3/15 | 8 | Air Movement |
| 16th | +5 | 20 ft. | 18 | 20 ft. | 3/16 | 8 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th | +6 | 25 ft. | 19 | 20 ft. | 4/17 | 9 | — |
| 18th | +6 | 25 ft. | 20 | 20 ft. | 4/18 | 9 | Spirit Projection |
| 19th | +6 | 25 ft. | 21 | 20 ft. | 4/18 | 9 | Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th | +6 | 25 ft. | 22 | 25 ft. | 5/18 | 9 | Detachment |
Gentle Defense
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Intelligence modifier.
Elemental Arts
At 1st level, your practice of bending arts has earned you some special abilities.
You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls when making an attack your are proficient in.
- Shove
When you hit a creature with a melee attack or with an Air Bending Technique, you can take a bonus action to shove your target back 10 feet. The distance will increase as you level up, as seen under the Shove Distance column of the Air Bender table.
- Extra Speed
Your movement speed increases by 5 feet. This movement speed boost will increase as you level up, as seen under the Extra Speed column of the Air Bender table. If you use 1 chi point, you can also move up to half of your maximum movement on water and up any vertical surface. If you take the dash action and expend 2 chi points, all of the additional movement speed gained from this action can be used crossing water or going up vertical surfaces. You cannot end your turn on a vertical surface or over water without falling or sinking.
You know the cantrip gust.
Chi
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| Avatar Aang - Almost the last Air Bender ever. |
At 2nd level, you can start using more advanced Air Bending techniques. The amount of energy that you have to bend is measured by your number of chi points. Your Air Bender level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Chi Points column of the Air Bender table.
You can spend chi points to fuel various Air Bending features. You start knowing three such features: Step of the Wind, Patient Defense, and Move Like the Wind. You learn more Air Bending features as you level up.
When you spend a chi point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended chi back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your chi points.
Some of the Air Bending features require you to make a ranged spell attack to hit your target or your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effect. The bending attack bonus and save DC are calculated as follows:
- Bending Ability
Dexterity and Intelligence are your bending abilities for your Air Bender features and techniques. You must think beyond the thoughts of this world, and become one with the wind. You use Dexterity and Intelligence whenever an Air Bender feature or technique refers to your bending ability. In addition, you use your Dexterity and Intelligence modifiers when setting the saving throw DC and attack bonus for an Air Bender feature or technique that requires you to use them.
- Bending Modifier
Dexterity modifier divided by 2 (rounded up) + Intelligence modifier divided by 2 (rounded down)
- Bending Attack Bonus
Proficiency bonus + Dexterity modifier divided by 2 (rounded up) + Intelligence modifier divided by 2 (rounded down)
- Save DC
Proficiency bonus + Dexterity modifier divided by 2 (rounded up) + Intelligence modifier divided by 2 (rounded down) + 8
Here are your first three Air Bending features:
- Step of the Wind
You can spend 1 chi point to take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
- Patient Defense
You can spend 1 chi point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.
- Move like the Wind
You can spend 1 chi point to cast longstrider and jump on yourself as a bonus action.
Glider
Starting at the 2nd level, you can expend 1 chi point as a bonus action to open your glider and start flying. 5 feet of your movement has to be used as a running start. You can use what’s left of your normal movement speed plus 10 feet while in the air (the extra ten feet must be in the air). Then your movement for your turn is gone. To stay in the air at the end of your turn and to keep flying during your next turn, you must expend another chi point. You can also expend an extra chi point as you start flying to give yourself an extra 10 feet to be used only in the air.
Moving Target
Starting at the 3rd level, the dynamic style of air bender combat begins to show, when an enemy makes a ranged attack towards you, you can use one chi point and your reaction to give it disadvantage. This accounts for both magical and non-magical ranged attacks. If the attack lands, you can expend one additional chi point to make a Dexterity saving throw in the same reaction. If your roll is higher than your opponent's accuracy, the damage is halved. Otherwise, you take full damage. This doesn’t apply to critical hits or effects that require a saving throw like the spell fireball.
Air Bending Techniques
Starting at the 3rd level, you can have up to 2 Advanced Air Bending Techniques of level 2 or lower of your choosing, as well as 1 Basic Air Bending Technique. As you gain levels in this class, you will be able to learn higher level techniques, as seen in the Technique Level column of the Air Bender table, as well as have more techniques prepared, as seen in the Basic/Advanced column of the Air Bender table.
To do a technique, you must use a number of chi points equal to the technique's level. Basic techniques don't cost any chi points to do.
To do techniques at higher levels, you simply expend the chi cost to use it at that level. However, you cannot do techniques at a higher level than you are capable of doing based on the Technique Level column. For example, as a 3rd level Air Bender, you could increase a 1st level technique to a 2nd level, but you couldn't increase it to 3rd level technique.
Additionally, whenever you take a long rest, you can choose one of the Advanced or Basic Air Bending Techniques you know and replace it with another Advanced or Basic technique from the Air Technique list, which also must be of a level for which you are capable of.
Every technique has the "M" and "S" component. The only material required for any technique is as much air as the DM requires to complete the technique. In certain situations, you can replace the "S" component of the spell with a "V" component. The only time a "V" component could be used instead of an "S" component would be if it's reasonable for you to be able to do the technique with a powerful breath, like gust of wind or forceful breeze. Again, this is up to the DM.
Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Slow Fall
Beginning at 4th level, you can use your reaction when you fall to begin falling as if you were under the effects of the feather fall spell.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Air Scooter
When you reach 5th level, you can create a ball of air that you sit on (or circle of air that you stand inside of) and fly forward as a bonus action at the cost of 2 chi points. This feature acts as a concentration spell. This gives you an additional 30 feet of movement. While on the scooter, you can skim across water, up vertical surfaces, and even glide. When gliding, you cannot gain height. You can only maintain height or slowly lose height. After 1 minute passes or at the moment you get off of the scooter, it will disperse. You can only attack with a melee attack or with Basic Air Techniques while on the scooter. 1 extra chi point can either extend the duration by 30 seconds or cause the air scooter to last 1 turn without you being on it.
Billowing Blow
Starting at 6th level, you can use a simple, offensive Airbending technique for close-combat. You can attack by blasting a target that is within 5 ft. of you with compressed air, dealing 1d6 + Bending modifier points of force damage. You use your Bending Attack Bonus for the attack roll. This acts as a normal attack.
Moving Target Upgrade
Starting at 7th level, when you make your Dexterity saving throw to avoid a ranged attack, a success results in no damage and a failure results in half damage. You can now use this ability on natural 20 attacks. The damage you take from an effect that forces you to make a Dexterity saving throw like the spell fireball is now halved if you succeed the saving throw, and a success now results in no damage. Additionally, if you're on the ground, you can use your reaction and a chi point to try and push an ally away from an attack, to do this, roll a d20 and add your bending attack bonus, if the roll is higher than the roll of the attack against the ally, you push them five feet away from you, making the attack miss. This does not work on radius based spells like fireball or spells that automatically hit like magic missile.
Keen Senses
Starting at 9th level, after taking a long rest, you are hyper-sensitive to any sounds around you for 1 hour. During this hour, your passive perception increases by 10, and you have advantage on audio-based perception checks. Additionally, your shaved head is more sensitive to the wind, you cannot be surprised while this feature is in effect, unless the creature or object is moving no air, and making no sound whatsoever.
Air Bending Master
Starting at 10th level, you are considered an Air Bending Master by those who witness you, while the air nomads will give you your tattoos when you next meet with them, you gain the respect, power, and wisdom of a master in your craft. You gain a modified version of the Elemental Adept feature, meaning that any air bending attack you make ignores resistance to force damage. In addition, when you roll damage for an air bending attack, you can treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2. In addition, you've learned to use air bending to more effectively maneuver around poor ground by staying light on your feet, and making yourself more difficult to attack when moving around. • When you use the Dash action, difficult terrain doesn’t cost you extra movement on that turn. • When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn, whether you hit or not. Finally, you also become more knowledgeable about spirits, spirituality, and the meditative world, take proficiency in religion, arcana, and nature, if you already had proficiency in any of these, take expertise.
Understanding
Starting at 13th level, you gain a greater understanding of energy and how it flows through the body, as well as the invisible strings that tie everything together. You can attempt to gain chi points even when not in a rest. Getting into correct posture for meditation, you spend one minute meditating and gathering chi. Make a Religion check, subtract 10, and divide that by 2, then round it up if necessary. You gain that many chi points. When you subtract 10 from your roll, if you have a value that is greater than 0, you will gain a minimum of 1 chi point. If, after you gain these chi points, you end up having more than your maximum number of chi points, the extra chi points become temporary health, and your next attack or Air Technique has advantage. However, once you use that advantage, your temporary health goes away. If you lose your temporary health, your advantage will go away. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.
Elemental Weapon
Starting at 14th level, as a bonus action, you can expend 5 chi points to create a disk out of air. This disk has a range of 10 feet. You can land a critical hit with this weapon by rolling a natural 19 or a 20 on your attack roll. When attacking with this weapon, you can expend chi points to either increase accuracy rolls, damage rolls, or range. 1 chi point results in an increase of 1 to the roll or an increase of 5 feet to the range, to a maximum of 30 feet. The range increase is only for the one attack. The weapon does not permanently gain increased range. you can only add a maximum of 1 to increased rolls for damage and accuracy, increasing accuracy rolls to or above 19 does not cause a critical hit. This weapon lasts for 10 minutes or until you dispel it.
Air Movement
Starting at 15th level, you’ve mastered the art of using the air to aid your movement in tight situations. You can rise up from being prone without losing movement. You also gain advantage on avoiding and breaking out of being grappled or restrained, as well as advantage for all Dexterity saving throws.
Spirit Projection
Starting at 18th level, your years of meditation and spiritualism allow you an added gift, you have learned how to project your spirit out of your body and move about. You can cast the astral projection spell on yourself at the cost of all chi points. When you use this ability, roll a d100, if the number is at or lower than your bending ability modifier, it instead costs no chi points
Detachment
Starting at 20th level, you have detached yourself from the physical world. You gain flying movement speed of 60 feet. If you already have flying speed, you add 60 feet to that speed. You can end turns in the air and you can't fall unless unconscious or pulled down (which would require a contested roll of their Athletics vs. your Religion).
Air Technique List
Basic Techniques
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| You could also become a professional break-dancer with your Air bending skills. |
Airlift (require concentration to maintain levitation for more than 1 turn)
Summon Chair (concentration to maintain existence for more than 1 turn, can't be a living organism)
Elemental Blast (force damage only)
Elemental Blow (force damage only)
Elemental Edge (force damage only)
Advanced Techniques
- 1st Level
Abeloth’s Grasping Wind (concentration to maintain restraint)
- 2nd Level
- 3rd Level
Air Aid: As a reaction, you can wield the air to give yourself advantage in any Dex related event. This could be an Acrobatics check, Stealth, Dex saving throw, and so on. This can also be used on another creature or object within 10 feet of you. You can also cause a disadvantage instead of an advantage, if you so choose.
Abeloth’s Air Spring (does not create air. air is needed for this spell)
Whirlwind (the whirlwind can only be centered on you.)
- 4th Level
- 5th Level
- 6th Level
- 7th Level
- 8th Level
Tornado (no storm or sky necessary, just air)
These two techniques are different. Click on the links to see the difference.
Tornado (no storm or sky necessary, just air)
- 9th Level
Asphyxiate: You bend the air out of your target’s lungs and create an air bubble around their head so air cannot enter as an action. The target must make a constitution saving throw against your save DC with disadvantage even if they hold their breath unless they have some sort of advanced breathing ability. If they fail, their hit points drop to 0. If they are resuscitated, they have 3 levels of exhaustion. On a successful saving throw, they take 10d12 true damage and take on 3 levels of exhaustion. This spell does not work if the target does not need to breathe. If you spend 11 more ki points, you can target another creature with this spell in the same action.
Custom Techniques
The player can attempt to think of their own Air Bending technique if they so choose. It is up to the DM to determine (a) if the Air Bender is at a high enough level to accomplish this technique and (b) how many chi points it would cost, as well as casting time (action, bonus action, etc.) A suggestion to the DM for making this decisions would be to look at the Air Spells and abilities the Air Bender already has at this level and compare them to the technique the player wants to create. If you think the custom technique is stronger than what they are currently capable of, you reject the idea, or cause a nasty side effect to occur if they attempt this technique, if you think it's only a little bit outside of their skill level. You could also force them to roll a check or saving throw of some sort to see if they are successful at doing the technique or not. A custom technique takes up 1 spell in the player's Air Spell list.
Multiclassing
Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Air Bending class, you must meet these prerequisites: you cannot be a bender of any other element, and you have to either have some sort of Air Nomad ancestry, or Harmonic Convergence happens (Explanation of Harmonic Convergence) and you gain Air Bending. Talk to your DM to make it work.
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