"Long ago, the Great Beings created us, we-the-Matoran, and set the Great Spirit Mata Nui to watch over us. We were separate and without purpose, so the Great Spirit blessed us with the three virtues: Unity. Duty. And Destiny. We-the-Matoran prospered, and gave thanks to Mata Nui for his kindness.
"But Mata Nui's brother, The Makuta, grew jealous of our love for his sibling. One day he struck his brother down, into a deep sleep. As the Great Spirit slumbered, The Makuta spread his darkness over the our island of Mata Nui, named to honor the Great Spirit. His fell clouds withered our crops and our spirits. But we did not give in. He sent his Rahi beasts to tear at our villages. But we did not give in. He sent his kraata to poison our masks and our hearts! But we did not give in.
"For we knew that hope was not lost. Legend tells us that six great heroes, the mighty Toa, will come to our island of Mata Nui, and we-the-Matoran know that all legends are based in fact. Gali, Toa of Water. Lewa, Toa of Air. Kopaka, Toa of Ice. Tahu, Toa of Fire. Pohatu, Toa of Stone. And Onua, Toa of Earth. These heroes, with the power of the elements themselves, would awaken Mata Nui and defeat The Makuta once and for all!
"We can't afford to wait for them any longer. The Makuta's minions destroy more with each passing day. Each crop failure puts us a little closer to the long, slow death. Matoran have started disappearing; not often, thank the Great Spirit.
"The Turaga have led us well in these hard times, but I can tell they're starting to worry. A year ago, they sent my best friend Takua to seek the Toa. He hasn't returned. This isn't anything so official, but we can't afford to sit around and wait for our destinies any longer. I'm asking you to go out there and find the Toa, if you can, or something, anything else that could give us an edge. I'd go myself, but Ta-Koro can't afford to lose its Captain of the Guard and its Chronicler in the same year. I can't see the future in the stars like Turaga Nuju, but I know that we can't continue on like this. I believe that you are Mata Nui's last hope."
-Jaller, Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard
This will be an RP based on the classic Legend of Bionicle. Players will start out as matoran villagers of whatever type they want on the Island of Mata Nui, though in Bionicle form and species aren't always set in stone. The only major change I'll be making from Bionicle canon is that the matoran types are not gender-locked, because there really isn't much reason for them to be. Anyways, I'm looking for players, and sign ups are open! The player limit is moderately high, but characters will only be accepted if they fit the setting and scenario. This is a game about people rising from common beginnings to find their destiny and change the world for the better. Angsting over your tragic backstory or brooding or whatever will get you exactly zero sympathy, because
everybody has a tragic backstory. Most of it's the same tragic backstory, even. Life sucks for the matoran right now. Nobody will be impressed. At least try to rise above your fears and doubts, or why the heck did you accept Jaller's offer?
The World:
The Island of Mata Nui is a large and variable land mass in a vast ocean. If there are other islands in the ocean, they are so far off that no matoran has ever seen them. The island is inhabited by matoran, biomechanical humanoid beings with minor elemental powers. The matoran are divided into villages by their elemental affiliation, though mixing does happen. Most Ga-matoran live in the village of Ga-Koro, built on rafts just off the coast of the vast Naho Bay. Most Le-matoran live in Le-Koro, hidden deep in the dense jungles of the island's southern half. Most Ko-matoran live in Ko-Koro, high on the icy slopes of Mount Ihu, sheltered between two vast glaciers. Most Ta-matoran live in Ta-Koro, a fortress-city located inside the Mangai volcano, surrounded by a moat of lava and widely considered the safest place on the island. Most Po-matoran live in Po-Koro, a city located in a stony badland, surrounded by carved walls and statues. Most Onu-matoran live in Onu-Koro, a vast underground village carved into the walls of caverns deep below the surface. Each Koro village is located in a region called a Wahi, which shares its prefix, ie Ga-Wahi, Ko-Wahi. These regions are generally considered part of the village's territory, though borders are never closed to travelling matoran.
Each village is led by a Turaga, an ancient and wise being who is slightly larger than any matoran, far older and wiser, and possesses access to a mask of power, which they can actually use. Turaga Nokama leads Ga-Koro, Turaga Matau leads Le-Koro, Turaga Nuju leads Ko-Koro, Turaga Vakama leads not only Ta-Koro but also the other Turaga when circumstances require it, Turaga Onewa leads Po-Koro and the other Turaga should Vakama be incapacitated or otherwise occupied, and Turaga Whenua leads Onu-Koro. The Turaga remain in command through a combination of tradition, personal power, and being genuinely competent leaders who care for and are popular among the villagers.
However, things aren't all sunshine and roses for the matoran. In fact, they haven't seen the sun in quite some time. Dark clouds and shadows spread across the land, and atypically aggressive Rahi beasts wearing rusty, corroded masks worry at the edges of their civilization, increasingly bottling the villagers up inside their strongholds. Legend says that this is the work of The Makuta, the master of the shadows and brother to Mata Nui, the god of light and life, and the enigmatic, uncaring Great Beings who created everything that is. Most matoran believe the ancient tale of Makuta's treachery, and wait patiently for the Toa to come and save them. But your characters, for whatever reason, are inclined to be more proactive.
The System:
Legends of Mata Nui works off of a simple d6 system. Role playing and creativity are far more important to success than high stats and optimization will ever be. Each character has six statistics: Strength, Agility, Willpower, Toughness, Intelligence, and Presence. When your character makes a check or attempts a task, you look at the relevant stat's value, and roll that many d6s. Each task has a progress value and a completion value. If your d6 roll beats the progress value, it is a success. If your number of successes equals or surpasses the completion value, you beat the check and complete the task. This means that tasks and checks can have partial successes, and that you only completely fail if you get no successful rolls at all. Each character also has a profession and a matoran type, which will add stat bonuses in certain situations. There may be more introduced to the system later, but as simple matoran you won't have to worry about that just yet... Levelling up is as simple as gaining and assigning a bonus die to your character.
Should your matoran be placed in mortal danger, their checks will determine their survival. But sometimes matoran fail combat or otherwise perilous checks, get hurt, and receive a wound. Physical wounds temporarily reduce your toughness stat by 1, until they are treated. Mental wounds do the same, but to willpower If you run out of toughness because of wounds, you are dead. Matoran are a resilient sort, but they are not invincible. If you run out of willpower because of wounds, you will not necessarily die. You will, however, go catatonic, or possibly do something quite drastically out of character due to your lack of mental stability. Thus, it is recommended that everybody put at least one of their dice into toughness and willpower each.
Character Sheets
Name: What your character's name is. Names in the matoran language usually end in a vowel, and have a vaguely Polynesian sound to them.
Matoran Type: There are six matoran types on the Island of Mata Nui. Ga-matoran are associated with the element of water, and have blue skin and armor. They get a bonus willpower die, and can hold their breath for five minutes before they start experiencing ill effects. Le-matoran are associated with the element of air, and have green skin and armor. They get a bonus agility die, and never suffer from altitude sickness, motion sickness, or vertigo. Ko-matoran are associated with the element of ice, and have white, pale blue, or grey skin and armor. They get a bonus intelligence die, and have some resistance to freezing temperatures. Ta-matoran are associated with the element of fire, and have red and orange skin and armor. They get a bonus presence die, and have some resistance to extreme heat. Po-matoran are associated with the element of stone, and have skin and armor in shades of brown and dark grey. The get a bonus strength die, and become fatigued much more slowly than other matoran. Onu-matoran are associated with the element of earth, and have purple, grey, or black skin and armor. They get a bonus toughness die, and can see perfectly in dim lighting that would render other matoran nearly blind.
Mask: All matoran must wear a mask of power, or they will slowly sicken and die. However, matoran masks have no powers beyond keeping the wearer alive, and even if they did matoran cannot activate masks of power. So this section is just cosmetic for now.
Stats: Each matoran starts with 12 dice plus their bonus matoran type die. They cannot, however, start with more than six dice in any one stat, not counting their racial bonus.
Profession: A matoran's profession grants them special abilities or bonuses as follows: Guards are trained militia. They get 2 bonus dice on checks to attack or defend themselves in combat. Artisans are the professional builders, makers, and artists of the villages, and each have a specialty, like pottery or weaving. They get a bonus die on checks to create or repair objects, or 3 bonus dice if the task is within their specialty. Hunters specialize in dealing with dangerous Rahi beasts and other more natural threats and challenges. They get 2 bonus dice when tracking things, setting traps, or otherwise dealing with wilderness survival. Chroniclers are trained scribes and historians. They get 2 bonus dice when dealing with figures, items, or places of myth, legend, and/or historical significance, and are the only matoran who can read. Healers can treat wounds of the body with intelligence checks, and wounds of the mind with willpower checks, allowing them to keep their allies on their feet in tough situations by healing damage during rest periods. Removing a wound has a progress of 4 and the number of successes had are the number of wounds removed. Only one healing check can be made per wounded matoran per day.
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Topic: The Legends of Mata Nui: Classic Bionicle RP Interest Check/OOC (Read 746 times)