Matoran (3.5e Race)

Matoran

Personality

Matoran are typically a peaceful race, however they have been known to be susceptible to influence. Matoran are also quite intelligent, though not usually quite so wise. They mainly focus on serving the community around them and working to help out people they know

Physical Description

Stout individuals with mechanical shells that leave some biological components visible such as the skin on the joints between their arm or arms and legs. Matoran wear masks that cover the front of their head completely apart from their eyes and a few various other slits and holes that grant them some character.

Relations

Matoran are young-brained. Fortunately they have Turaga to guide them and Toa to look to for protection. Matoran are generally a very cooperative people, though they will weigh their priorities before participating in tasks that seem too big for them. They get along with humans and dwarves quite well due to their industrious nature, enjoy a stale relationship with elves due to their love of nature but they generally find gnomes and halflings to flighty for their tastes

Alignment

Inherently inclined toward being Good-Natured (Any Good Alignment), but are capable of succumbing to greed and desires for personal gain.

Lands

The Matoran homeland, Mata Nui, was named after the great being himself and whom the island formed atop’s face. It has been divided up into 6 regions across the many wars and segregational movements, but things have since calmed down.

Religion

Matoran religion has no name, as Matoran religion is just simply Matoran history. That said, most Matoran hail and follow the Great Spirit Mata Nui, and keep faith in his legends. They show their loyalty through their devotion to the Three Virtues (Unity, Duty, and Destiny) laid down by Mata Nui, as well as hosting distinctive events dedicated to the Great Spirit and the virtues, and through special chants.

Background

The original purpose of the Matoran was to construct Mata Nui, and by extension, their entire universe. After that, their purpose was to keep Mata Nui alive as the Great Spirit requires the life of the Matoran inside of himself for his well-being. In order to keep Mata Nui alive, Matoran practice a great many trades and professions. From Military, to invention, to competition, the relatively specialized labors of the Matoran were and are essential to the function of their universe. After the goal of their god was completed and he crashed to the material plane, the matoran spread out from their giant mechanical god, seeking to settle and build new lives for themselves, finding themselves strangers in a strange land

Adventurers

Matoran are the working class, able to perform specific skills expertly and usually without fail. Unfortunately, they are not all that great in combat and so have a tough time defending themselves against even some of the less intimidating rahi. They tend to favor skill based classes such as rogues, or rangers or classes that provide strong offense, defense or support such as wizards or clerics. They tend to find sorcerers quite unusual

Language

Matoran (The Common of the Matoran Universe), Common. Can choose any language as a bonus language except secret ones like druidic

Names

Jalla, Takua, Hewki, Hali, Nuju, Matau, Maku, Taipu, Vakama, Matoro, Kaj, Garan, Dosne, Nuparu, Photok, Whenua, Epena, Galva, Pouks, Piatra

Racial Traits

• Int +2: Matoran have a massive mental capacity due to their large mental processors and job-related existence.
• Str -1: Matoran are workers, but tend to rely on numbers rather than raw power to accomplish tasks.
• -4 Swim: Matoran are both heavy and have many gaps in their armored shell, making them less than perfect swimmers
• +1 Natural AC: Matoran have a hard shell to cover most of their biological components. However, this takes up the slot space that other armor normally would. Matoran can wear unusual armor, remove their natural armor to gain an extra feat, or pay 2,000 gp to slim their natural armor down in order to wear normal armor over it. Shields do not need to be modified to be worn.
• Living Construct: Matoran are bio-mechanical beings, and as such are subject to critical hits, take only 1/2 healing from spells of the healing sub-school, and heal at only 1/2 the normal rate naturally. Repair spells have full effect however.
• Size: Medium
• Matoran base land speed is 20 feet

• Elemental Affinity (Ex): Matoran are innately attuned to a certain element determined by their sub-race. The sub-race also determines a Matoran's colors, special abilities, and gender. ([[Matoran (Bionicle) (3.5e Race)#Table: Sub-Races|See Table: Sub-Races)
• Skill Focus (Ex): At 1st level and every 5th level thereafter (1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th), a Matoran gains the Skill Focus feat as a bonus feat. It provides the Matoran a +3 bonus on skill checks with a skill specified upon taking the feat. This bonus does not stack if the feat is taken again. Taking this feat again allows it to be applied to another skill.
• Occupation (Ex): At 1st level, Matoran may gain an Occupation from an appropriate Occupation table if someone trained in that occupation is present to teach them. If no occupations are available to be trained at the time a Matoran reaches one of these levels, they may gain an occupation at their next level instead. Matoran are built with a task in mind, and they tend to live long enough to go through multiple lines of work. (See Table: Occupations)
• Mask (Ex): When a Matoran is first built they receive a mask (Table: Starting Masks), but do not have the mental capacity to make use of masks' powers. Matoran masks are created grey and must be painted as Matoran do not have enough elemental energy flowing through themselves to change the mask’s color naturally.

If a Matoran’s mask is taken off, a Matoran's STR, CON, and DEX scores are halved, and they will fall into a coma after 1 day plus a number of hours equal to their Constitution modifier. The feat Diehard will double the Constitution modifier’s effect on time awake. Matoran must make a Constitution check every hour they are in this coma (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) and take 1d6 lethal damage if they fail. They will continue to take damage until after their remaining energy depletes and they die or a mask is put on their face.

• Automatic Languages: Matoran (May substitute Common), all Matoran are literate
• Bonus Languages: None
• Favored Class: Toa (work in progress)
• Level Adjustment: None

Vital Statistics

• Power Source: Matoran have a miniature power-plant of sorts in place of a heart located at the front of the base of their neck. This resource can be replenished by consuming energy from objects that bear it (see “Eating” below).

• Biological Components: Matoran, unlike most constructs, have certain organs, such as lungs and a digestive tract, allowing them to heal but also making them susceptible to suffocation, poison, and the like.
  • Breathing: Matoran are required to breath oxygen to sustain themselves.
  • Eating: Matoran do not in the traditional sense, in fact they find chewing food quite disgusting. They instead eat by absorbing energy from energy-bearing objects (fruit, berry, fish, ect…) through direct physical contact. The item left over after a Matoran drains its energy will not provide nutrients, and so will not count towards sustaining a character.
  • Drinking: Matoran must drink water to sustain themselves just as most other biological beings.
  • Fortitude: Because Matoran are not mainly biological, they do not have a very good immune system or natural healing capabilities.
  • Healing: Matoran heal only ½ their CON mod per hour. Eating a day's worth of food will speed up the process temporarily, granting full CON mod per hour for a number of hours equal to the character's Matoran level instead.

Matoran and Aging: Matoran do not age physically as long as long as they are maintained and so have potentially no age limit, however they also do not mature by any great amount mentally. Maintenance of oneself's body consists of being fully healed, eating properly, and staying active. If a Matoran fails to do any of these for 1/2 a year strait (x +1 each time the Matoran has already taken ageing penalties), they are considered to be the next age category in terms of physical capability.

Table: Matoran Random Starting Ages

"Adulthood"	Simple	Moderate	Complex
500	+1d4 × 100	+1d6 × 100	+1d8 × 100

Table: Matoran Ageing Effects Without Maintenance

Middle Age^1	Old^2	Venerable^3	Maximum Age
1/2 year	1 1/2 year	3 years	5 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con

Table: Matoran Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	4'5"	+2d4"	225 lb.	× (1.05) lb.
Female	4'5"	+2d4"	225 lb.	× (1.05) lb.

Racial Levels and Abilities

HD: d8
BSP: 8
Starting Gold: 4d4 x 10gp

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Matoran are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and have proficiency with light and medium armor and shields.

Table: Matoran

Lv.	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	CR	Special
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	1	Skill Focus, Occupation
2nd	+0	+0	+3	+3	1
3rd	+1	+1	+3	+3	1
4th	+1	+1	+4	+4	2
5th	+2	+1	+4	+4	2	Occupation
6th	+2	+2	+5	+5	3
7th	+3	+2	+5	+5	3
8th	+3	+2	+6	+6	3
9th	+4	+3	+6	+6	4
10th	+4	+3	+7	+7	4	Occupation
11th	+5	+3	+7	+7	5
12th	+5	+4	+8	+8	5
13th	+6	+4	+8	+8	5
14th	+6	+4	+9	+9	6
15th	+7	+5	+9	+9	6	Occupation
16th	+7	+5	+10	+10	7
17th	+8	+5	+10	+10	7
18th	+8	+6	+11	+11	8
19th	+9	+6	+11	+11	8
20th	+9	+6	+12	+12	9	Occupation
See Table: Occupations

Class Skills
Craft (Int), Knowledge (Int), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis). |}

Masks

A Matoran is built wearing a mask. However, they do not have the mental capacity to use mask powers.

Masks are all made of a material known as Protodermis, which is conductive, ferrous, and hard. Masks grant a +1 Armor bonus to AC, weigh 3 lbs, and take up the goggles and helmet slots on a character's body. In the case that the user is changed into a different creature, their mask should be counted as part of their face until such a time as they change back. Masks attach to their wearer's face with magnetic force they generate, and as such cannot be comfortably worn by many other races.

If a mask cracks or breaks, roll 1d4. On a roll of 1 or 2, a cracked mask will effect all creatures within an area equal to mask's power level x 2 for a number of weeks equal to the mask's power level, or a broken mask will effect all creatures within an area equal to mask's power level x 5 with it's mask power for the duration of it's power.

Table: Mask Modifications

Modification	Cost (gp)	Effect
Head Lamp	1,000gp	Cone of Light 30 ft.
Telescope	1,000gp	+4 Spot; distance penalty changes to -1 per 30 ft; -15 to spot anything within 15 ft. of character
Microscope	1,000gp	+4 Search; grants synergy bonus to appraise, craft, and analyzing materials with knowledge skills
Light Protection	12,500gp	+5 on saves against vision being effected by light-based effects; those who have trouble seeing in normal or bright light are able to see normally in such degrees of lighting; Those without low-light vision or darkvision are blind in dim and dark light
Heads Up Display (HUD)	37,500gp	Deathwatch, Darkvision 20 ft.
Up to 2 Mods may be added to a mask. If a mask changes form because its power level changed or the user was mutated, it keeps its mods. Mods can be turned on and off at will. Mods are not mask powers, and do not effect mask powers if properly installed.

Table: Starting Masks

Kanohi [Name]	Mask of [Title]	Power Lv.	Power(s)
Hau	Protection	1d8	Resilient Sphere (Personal)
Miru	Levatation	1d8	Levitate (Personal)
Kakama	Speed	1d8	Haste (Personal)
Pakari	Strength	1d8	Divine Might (Personal)
Kaukau	Water Breathing	1d8	Water Breathing (Personal)
Akaku	Far Seeing	1d8	See through objects at -2 per 10 ft. penalty in addition to normal penalties
Mahiki	Illusion	1d8	Disguise Self, Mirror Immage (Personal)
Hauna	Concealment	1d8	Invisibility (Personal)
Komau	Mind Control	1d8	Command Intelligent (As Command Person, but works on any intelligent, sentient creature)
Rau	Translation	1d8	Comprehend Languages, Toungs (Personal)
Ruru	Night Vision	1d8	Darkvision (Personal), See through objects at -5 per 10 ft. penalty in addition to normal penalties, 60 ft. cone of light in the direction the wearer is facing
Matatu	Telekinesis	1d8	Telekinesis
All Powerless Masks have a power level of 1 to 6. All Nobel Masks have a power level of 7. All Great Masks have a power level of 8. All Legendary Masks have a power level of 9 or above.

Table: Sub-Races

Prefix	Element	Colors	Special	Gender
Ta-	Fire	Red, Orange, Yellow, & Black	DR 2 Fire; Improved Initiative	Male
Ga-	Water	Various shades of Blue	Wis +2; Swim +4	Female
Po-	Stone	Brown, Tan, Orange, Yellow, & Black	Str +2; Climb +4; Swim -4	Male
Ko-	Ice	White, Gray, Sand Blue, Silver, Light Blue, & Black	Int +2; DR Cold 2; Cha -2	Male
Le-	Air	Lime-Green & Teal	Land Speed +5; Climb +2; Jump +2; Balance -4	Male
Onu-	Earth	Black, Dark Grey, Purple, Tan, & Orange	STR +2; Darkvision 120 ft.; Low-light vision; -8 Spot and Search in Bright light	Male
Av-	Light	Gold & White	Disguise Self; Searing Light^1	Either
Ce-	Psionics	Blue & Gold	INT +2; Immune to all mind affecting spells and abilities (Mind Control, Telepathy, Psionics, ect...)	Female
De-	Sonics	Grey & Black	Listen +8; Move Silently +8; Weakness Sonic*2	Male
Ba-	Gravity	Purple & Black	DR Force 2; Feather Fall 30 ft.	Male
Bo-	"The Green"	Green & Blue	Goodberry; Knowledge (Nature/Pharmacology) +4; Heal +4	Male
Fa-	Magnetism	Gunmetal Grey & Black	Know Direction	Male
Fe-	Iron	Metallic Grey & Burnt Orange	Con +2; +2 Natural AC	Male
Su-	Plasma	Orange & White	DR Fire 5; DR Light 2; Immune to Light effects that blind (Sunshades, Yea)	Male
Vo-	Lightning	Blue & White	DR Electricity 2; Improved initiative	Female
Kra-	Shadow	Black & As Previous	All descriptors of spells and abilities Shadow; Serve a Makuta (work in progress); Enervation; Weakness Light*2; Evil	As Previous
Only while in Karda Nui.

Occupations

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