You start with the following items, in addition to anything provided by your background:

• (a) a quarterstaff, (b) a chakram, or (c) any simple weapon

• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

• Leather armour and 10 shuriken

If you forgo this starting equipment, as well as the items offered by your background, you start with 5d4 x 10 gp to buy your equipment.

1st-Level Bender Feature

As a bender of elements, you use the motions of your corporeal form to coax the Weave into manipulating the primordial forces.

Bender spell lists are on page 164 of Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms.

Cantrips

You know two cantrips of your choice from your bender spell list (see Elemental Affinity). At higher levels, you learn additional cantrips of your choice, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Bender table. Your Elemental Affinity feature also allows you to learn more cantrips at higher levels.

Preparing and Casting Spells

The Bender table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your bender spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. Y

ou prepare the repertoire of bender spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from your bender spell list (see Elemental Affinity). When you do so, choose a number of these spells equal to your bender spellcasting ability modifier + half your bender level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

For example, if you are a 5th-level bender, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a spellcasting ability of 14, your repertoire of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell thunderwave, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your repertoire of prepared spells.

You can change your repertoire of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new repertoire of bender spells requires time spent practising their movements and gestures: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell in your repertoire.

Spellcasting Ability

When you gain your first level in this class, you choose which spellcasting ability you use for your bender spells from Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. You use this ability whenever a bender spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use this ability’s modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bender spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

• Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier
• Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast a bender spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You can use your free hand as a spellcasting focus for your bender spells. This free hand can be used for both the somatic and material components for a spell, provided the material component has no cost and isn’t consumed by the casting.

Flavouring Bender Spells

Benders induce magical effects through movement. These movements are a precise sequence—similar to the katas practised in karate—and a specific sequence will always result in a specific spell or magical effect. You might describe preparing a spell at the end of a long rest as practising a martial form, or convey a spell not taking effect as its bender slipping on a rock during the sequence. A ritual spell might involve the same sequence being performed repeatedly, each iteration coaxing the elements into the desired effect.

When a spell takes effect, it is always linked to the elements in some way. A shield spell cast by a bender with air affinity might appear like tumultuous gusts of wind, while that of an earth bender could condense dust into a rocky plate, or cause a pillar of earth to deflect an incoming blow. A hold person spell could be flavoured as a water bender controlling the water within a person, while a fire bender’s major image could be described as a heat-induced shimmering of the air.

Elemental Affinity

1st-Level Bender Feature

You find attunement with one of the four elements. Choose one of the following: air, earth, fire, or water. The spells associated with that element (see Bender Spell List on page 164) are added to your bender spell list.

Each element is associated with one or two damage types:

• Air: Thunder.

• Earth: Acid & bludgeoning.

• Fire: Fire & lightning.

• Water: Cold.

At Higher Levels. At 6th, 10th, and 14th levels, you choose one of the four elements to gain affinity with, either a new element or one you’ve chosen before. This has some immediate effects and interacts with some subclass features (see below).

• New Elemental Affinity. If you choose a new element with which to gain affinity, you add its spells to your bender spell list, and you learn one cantrip of your choice from the new element’s list. This cantrip doesn’t count against the number of cantrips you know.

• Repeated Elemental Affinity. If you choose an element for which you already had affinity, spells that you cast from that spell list are cast one level higher than the level of spell slot you expend. This effect stacks; if you choose to gain affinity with the same element four times, your spells from that element’s list are cast three levels higher than the spell slot you expend.

Elemental Strikes

1st-Level Bender Feature

You have learnt to unite magic with movement, giving you a unique and deadly combat style. When you take the Attack action, you can make melee or ranged spell attacks called elemental strikes as one or more of your attacks. The strike deals damage of a type with which you have affinity (your choice when you make the attack).

• Melee. A melee elemental strike is an unarmed strike that has a reach of 10 feet and deals damage equal to 1d6 plus your bender spellcasting ability modifier on a hit.

• Ranged. A ranged elemental strike has a range of 60 feet and deals damage equal to 1d4 plus your bender spellcasting ability modifier on a hit.

This damage does not increase with level. However, any magic items that confer a bonus to the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes confer the same bonus to your elemental strikes.

The superior strikes for these attacks are Flurry (for melee attacks) and Battery Strike (for ranged attacks), both unlocked by the tier 2 Pugilist advanced technique. See the Advanced Weapon Masteries chapter on page 83 for more details on superior strikes and advanced techniques.

Elemental Combo

2nd-Level Bender Feature

Your strikes manifest elemental energy, which you can unleash at the peak of your combination. On your turn, after you make a weapon attack or elemental strike, or after you cast a levelled spell from your bender spell list, you can release a jet of elemental energy as a bonus action. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within 10 feet of you or a ranged spell attack against a creature within 60 feet of you. On a hit, it deals 1d4 damage of a type with which you have affinity. If the target of this attack is within 10 feet of you, you can add your spellcasting ability modifier to the damage.

At Higher Levels. This attack's damage increases by 1d4 when you reach 6th level (2d4), 10th level (3d4) and 14th level (4d4) in this class.

Bender Discipline

3rd-Level Bender Feature

You choose an aspect of how nature manifests, which you embody in your manipulation of the elements. Your discipline choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level.

Ability Score Improvement

4th-Level Bender Feature

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.

Extra Attack

5th-Level Bender Feature
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Improved Extra Attack

Optional 7th-Level Bender Feature

This feature replaces the Extra Attack feature and works with features that interact with Extra Attack.

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

When you reach 7th level in this class, your movements allow you to imbue magic in the elements you bend. When you take the Attack action, you can cast one cantrip in the bender spell list that you know in place of one of your attacks. This cantrip must have a casting time of one action, and it is cast at its lowest level.

For example, if you are an 11th-level bender and use this feature to replace an attack with a casting of fire bolt, the cantrip deals 1d10 damage (instead of 3d10).

Primordial Form

11th-Level Bender Feature

As a bonus action, you embody aspects of a chosen element. Choose one of the elements with which you have affinity. For 1 minute, or until you fall unconscious, you can cast 1st-level spells associated with that element (see Bender Spell List, page 164) even if you do not have them prepared and without expending a spell slot. Note: as spells cast using this feature don’t expend spell slots, they are not automatically upcast to higher levels if you have repeated elemental affinities. In addition, you gain a benefit based on that element:

• Air: Untouchable. You have resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage.

• Fire: Alight. At the end of each of your turns for the duration, creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you take fire damage equal to your bender spellcasting ability modifier (minimum 1).

• Earth: Solid. You gain a +2 bonus to AC.

• Water: Fluid. You gain a pool of vitality equal to five times your bender level. At the end of each of your turns for the duration, you can cause up to three creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you to regain 5 hit points (no action required), expending an equal amount of vitality from your pool to do so.

After you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

Starting at 17th level, while in your primordial form, you can cast spells of 2nd level or lower without expending a spell slot.

Primordial Avatar

18th-Level Bender Feature

As an action, you become a primordial incarnation of your mortal form. You gain 50 temporary hit points as well as benefits based on your Elemental Affinities, which last for 10 minutes, or until you fall unconscious. After you enter this state using this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You gain one benefit for each elemental affinity you have (new or repeated).

Primordial Avatar: Air Benefits

Primordial Avatar: Earth Benefits

Primordial Avatar: Fire Benefits

Primordial Avatar: Water Benefits

Primordial Avatar Example

A bender with two affinities in water, one in earth, and one in fire would gain four benefits in total. They would gain the first and second benefits from the Water Benefits table (a swimming speed and immunity to cold damage), and the first benefit from each of the Earth Benefits and Fire Benefits tables (a new way to calculate their AC, and extra fire or lightning damage on their attacks).