#bionicle bionicle dnd au

[crystaltoa]

DnD AU headcanon: Between the Toa Metru, they cover several languages. But even the experts with Nokama and Whenua struggle when they venture in the world outside of Metru Nui. Because their studies mostly covered trade languages and other official ones, not unofficial ones, various dialects, and just plain forbidden ones in Metru Nui.

The two of them start to stay way up into the night (and day) to study these new ones as best as they can. But without official teachers with the related cultural knowledge, it's often a struggle.

Nokama has at least one moment where she claims a message means this one specific thing, when she has too little knowledge to be certain between various potential meanings. This gets her, Matau, and Vakama into trouble.

Whenua, meanwhile, drifts between several ideas what a different message might mean and is taking too long to take action. He almost gets eaten before he takes a metaphorical leap.

i love this!

[bionicle-ramblings]

I don't know if I've talked about this or not, but this is something I've talked about with @chancetimespace and @crystaltoa

Basically a dnd/fantasy/dragon AU, but the Metru are working to find and take down Teridax, and also find Lhikan, who had a hand in helping the Metru to get where they are now

Most of them are looking for him because he saved their lives or because he steered them toward the truth of who Teridax was or some form of magic that could benefit them

Vakama, however, is looking for looking because Lhikan is his father

In this AU, dragons are either pure/full dragons, your typical dragon, or hybrids that actually transform from humans/humanoids into dragons and back again. The catch is that the transformation happens from either an overuse of magic or from the moon being at a certain position in the month(werewolf rules). The transformation is PAINFUL, foward and back

And Vakama, Lhikan, and Nuju happen to all be hybrids

Nuju is not related to Vakama, but the two did have a may fight as dragons, as a disoriented Vakama wandered to close to Nuju's village and Nuju leapt to protect his village and people

Back on track, Vakama has spent a majority of his years alone, having lost Lhikan when he was a child. During that time, he's learned to survive mostly on his own, but also keep a low profile in case he had to leave town. That changed as he began living with Matau and Nokama, as he was able to stay in one place

I think about this idea a very normal amount and most of the time I can explain it well

[afanofmanyhats]

Metru Nui DnD AU: Titan Builds

Inspired by @crystaltoa's burgeoning au, I made the Metru Nui Titan builds. With my own headcanons!

Lhikan is a Half-Elf, a veteran of wars past and the surviving member of a legendary band of adventurers that saved Metru Nui over a century ago. Most folks can hardly remember a time that he hasn't been serving them as the city's champion. He isn't a member of the Vahki City Guard, but the automatons that police the streets only answer to him and Turaga Dume. At least, they did before he disappeared. Mechanics wise he'd either be a Battle Master Fighter, or an Oath of Devotion Paladin. Not sure which. He likely has some fire spells through a feat too.

Turaga Dume is a Dwarf, and the city's mayor. He's been in charge for about as long as Lhikan's been protecting Metru Nui, and his policy in light of the frequent threats has been a harsh police state to keep mercenaries and the Dark Hunters at bay. Only approved adventurers can lodge in the city, which in practice means none at all outside of the Mangai. Mechanically I'm thinking a Forge Cleric, with Mata Nui as his patron deity.

Nidhiki was a Drow from the dangerous depths of the Underdark, but when he sold out the city to an invading guild of mercenaries, Lhikan sent him packing as a traitor. To ensure his loyalty, the Shadowed One contracted a Drow priestess of Lolth named Roodaka to curse Nidhiki, turning him into a Drider. Now a twisted monster, Nidhiki stalks the streets he used to protect in order to get his revenge on Lhikan. Drider get their own statblock as monsters, but prior to getting transformed Nidhiki likely would've been either a Rogue or a Ranger. Maybe a multiclass? I got the Drider design from MinerSigner60Neiner on Reddit.

Krekka is an ogre of some kind. He lost his eye and his arm in a fight with the warlord Gorast, but his new mechanical arm is just as dangerous as his flesh and blood. He is by no means stealthy or smart, but he is incredibly difficult to take down, and serves as a good distraction for Nidhiki. Pretty self-explanatory. I'm really happy with how all of these turned out. I've been playing DnD and working with HeroForge for years now, so being able to cross them over with my favorite arc in BIONICLE has been a joy.

[liminal-lesbian]

The trios rhotuka’s?(for the hordika au)

Oooh now here's a fun double answer! (If I get my rhotuka lore wrong I'm sorry I'm an Inika baby) but from what I remember the Toas' rhotuka were elemental but other rhotuka had specific effects? Either way ita a fun though experiment for the girlies.

If they're elemental:

Anne: I associate Anne with air if we're going with the classical elements, but if we're going with the Bionicle elements I could also see her being either plantlife or psionics!

Marcy: I've seen Marcy associated a lot with water and I really like that actually! It fits with the Newtopian vibes and also gives some sick Tuyet parallels with her going rogue.

Sasha: Fire. She's fire.

If the rhotuka are specific power based:

I think this would be a great way to express the whole Heart/Wit/Strength thing!

Anne: I can see Anne's rhotuka as having a similar effect to the Mask of Light. Like, she hits you with her rhotuka and it's just good vibes time. Or if we wanna be even spicier, it could have a similar effect to the dnd spell Charm Person!

Marcy: I think a confusion/disorientation rhotuka power would be really appropriate but also REALLY funny. Like. She's inflicting her own clumsiness on her target.

Sasha: I think Sasha's would be something like a strength sapping/transfer power, ie your physical strength becomes hers.

Anyway, 2005 has always been a bit of a blind spot for me lore wise (sorry) so if I got my rhotuka mechanics wrong whoops, but yeah! Girlies and their spinner powers!

[missgreenkitty]

Looking at my bookshelf and remembering all the books I loved at different points in my life.

In elementary school, I was big into the Young Jedi Knights series and the original DnD (not forgotten realms) novels. Dsd always read them first then would tell me which words not to saw and which parts to not think to hard about (sex scenes in particular, which like, I followed instructions and glossed over them then only realized what they were when I was in like middle school). Also really liked the Pip and Flinx story even if the concepts and world building were a bit too convoluted for my little mind to understand. Also a big fan of Aquamarine and Indigo.

I devoured just about every book given to me and wasn't known to hate any book until I had to read Bridge to Terebithia. I rage quit that book so hard I had an autistic meltdown. The backup book was The Giver and I discovered the second book I ever hated lol. Just not a fan of the author's style as I would later learn when reading her books. And that's okay.

In middle school, I tore through the Wheel of Time books (which easily get over 1k pages depending on edition). I was a big Horse Girl, and religiously kept up with some Horse Girl series (I no longer have them nor remember the names). I was also a Dolphin girl and there was a similar situation there as well

I was also in a lunch-hour bookclub at the school library where we would read some of the new releases in the publishing world. Some were good and I enjoyed them, but not enough to make me buy them or keep up with thenrest of the series if it was a stand alone (I didn't even know Rangers Apprentice was getting more books- i blinked and there were 20 of them). I *did* keep up with The 5 Ancestors because the plot had a choke hold on me and got me really interested in learning on my own about that time period in Chinese history.

Artemis Fowl was my big Beloved series. A delight to read. Lost Colony was/is my favorite in the series and its signed ❤. Also enjoyed a one off called Cryptic Hunters (at least I hoped it stayed a one off). The Frog Princess series was a favourite for its world building and concepts, but I kinda fell off when one day I saw it had expanded past the initial 3 books wherin the 3rd really wrapped everything up neatly. I was also really into X-Men comics at the time (House of M had just happened). New Excalibur was my favourite from then. Talia my beloved......

And of course, bionicle books my beloved..... I forget the exact circumstances, but at one point, I was reading in class (oops lol, my teacher at this point could trust me to learn and retain the material on my own time) and the characters happened to start talking about some property of electricity that was exactly what my teacher was teaching us about...... That was a weird moment.

Middle school was also the year I became brave enough to read Jurassic Park (and lost world) (don't look at me i was a weenie as a kid) and that remains, to this day, my favourite book ever.

High school was my manga era. My Naruto, Fruits Basket, FMA, and Bleach collections have sadly been lost to time, but most of my CLAMP books were from then since Tokyopop was still a mega prominent company in America. Among my other favourites, I still have the code geass manga (the show without mecha), Demon Diary (hear me out.....), Hetalia, and Descendants of Darkness.

Also got more into Marvel comics then, esp the first run of Young Avengers and Children's Crusade. I wouldn't get into DC until uhhhhhhhh 2013???? Roughly??? Maybe 2014.... Anyways, my favorite book-books from that era were either school assigned ones I loved (Great Gatsby....) or not so well written self published on Amazon dark gay supernatural books...

I discovered fanfiction in 8th grade via bionicle and that was that....... I read so much naruto, bleach, and Hetalia fanfiction specifically in high school. The fics i enjoyed then I would prolly not enjoy now lol (a lot of high school aus but I was also..... in high school.... and not in my 30s). There were some genres of fic i loved starting out, then hated for the longest time, now love again (OCs........ give me your OCs, your isekais, your dimension hopping......). The internal (and external) misogyny in myself was pretty bad in high school and early college. Letting go of that was the best thing I ever did. I am cringe but free.

Idk why i decided to suddenly drop a diary entry on here. As I typed, I would remember old things I had forgotten and added them in. Perhaps its because I have a memory disorder now, that I cherish knowing this more than ever. Dont mind me, I hope I find this again in a year or 2 or 3 and get to remember again :)

[crystaltoa]

From the Toa Metru fantasy/DND AU

[crystaltoa]

Ideas and brainstorming for DnD Toa Metru:

Deepening the conflict between Whenua and Matau.

On the one hand, they could clash more over Whenua's pessimism and caution and Matau's bragging and recklessness. Whenua saved the others several times; Matau needed to be saved because he wanted to perform heroic acts.

On the other hand:

Whenua's been so beaten down by losing people in canon that he left several onu-matoran to subdue a gukko on their own. Admittedly after one of them told they can't rely on his help and he should go on, so he respected what they wanted. He didn't believe that Nokama could be saved from the venom.

Matau, while he wants attention, also believes deeply in heroic values. He'd get involved when others don't want him to; sometimes when he shouldn't. He'd not look away when somebody needed help.

I can imagine that Matau would get furious at Whenua for acting as if Whenua is replacable. Especially if he chewed out Matau before for risking his own life through unnecessary stunts. They nearly come to blows because they can't agree whether or not they should get involved into a dangerous situation to help people.

Matau would stick with Whenua, refusing to let him stay in a seemingly inescapable situation. Or he'd rush to look for help. He'd help him pull out of moments where he's frozen because he doesn't know what to do.

Whenua would inspire Matau to stop more before he acts, to plan. He could learn from him how to act more subtly, how to hide both with and without his illusions. It saves Matau several times.

I love all of this!

I can see some issues being brought up regarding the relative durability and lifespans of each character’s species as well, and that maybe having an impact on how Whenua views friendships.

@bionicle-ramblings headcanoned Matau taking an instant liking to Vakama, humans being something of a novelty where he’s from. I can picture Whenua making some offhand comment to Matau telling him not to get too attached to humans as they don’t last very long. (Whenua is not old by dwarf standards, but he has outlived several human friends) and Matau being upset that he would even bring that up, why does he have to be so morbid all the time? (Nokama would also be very cross with him if she were within earshot. You just don’t say things like that, Whenua).

Also, I think Onu-Metru has a lot of gnomes so Whenua is fairly familiar with them and their culture. Or at least, he is familiar with Onu-Metru gnomes. Matau, being a vehicle enthusiast and techie, has met and enjoyed good relations with a lot of dwarven engineers. He’s kind of perplexed that Whenua’s not a craftsman and has little interest in gadgets, weapons and vehicles. (“What kind of dwarf ARE you?” “We’re not all the same, you know.”). Whenua, meanwhile, finds it equally bizarre that Matau does not care for life underground, enjoys heights, and has very little interest in nature or wild creatures. He’s never even seen a forest. They both have a bit of unlearning of stereotypes to do.

Matau’s also going to be the first to make a crack about Whenua being a gloomstalker. “Yeah, he’s darkgloomy alright!”

[bionicle-ramblings]

Writing a little something for @crystaltoa for their fantasy AU. It's also been on my head a lot😅

Matau was not the type to exactly go to other regions, as his own was perfectly fine. He only ever left it because something he needed for trading or work was there. Being outside of his region and traveling was also benefit he enjoyed.

What he did not particularly enjoy were the knights, both in and out of Le-Metru.

By all means, Matau could outrun a knight; they wore their heavy armor and sometimes ran slowly to stay in groups. He wore no armor, or at least armor that slowed him down, and he was a gnome. One of the smaller beings that existed in the land, but that only made him harder to catch.

He reasoned as such when he vaulted off a wall before a knight could grab him, leaping upward until he was racing across rooftop after rooftop.

"Ha!" He proclaimed. "Nice work-try, pesky knights!"

One of the knights growled. "Follow him! Don't let that thief get away!"

Matau climbed onto a chimney to catch his breath. "Thief? Sneak-thief? ME!?"

While it was true Matau had a precious stone in his satchel, he didn't think it was stolen.

How could I steal something if no one was around to claim it?

An arrow flew past him, barely grazing his ear.

As more knights reloaded their bows and crossbows, Matau sprang off the chimney and leapt from building to building, ducking and dodging arrows as they were fired at him.

Matau looked over his shoulder to see if any more knights were around him, if they were either behind him or rounding buildings to try cutting him off.

It cost him when his foot slipped off of the roof and sent him tumbling downward and into a large chimney.

Smoke and heat met him as he fell.

It was followed by a harsh landing on cold charcoals and a scream, and then the clattering of metal falling to the floor.

And the man who screamed, a blacksmith, remained where he stood, only picking up the tools he dropped even as Matau pushed himself up and cringed at the dust he was covered in.

"Ugh. Gross-nasty." Matau saw the human and cleared his throat. "Someone forgot to brush-clean that."

The man's brow furrowed, either from confusion or from finally processing what was happening in the moment.

The door to the shop was banged on, making both Matau and the human jump.

"Royal guards! We need to search your shop!"

"Stupid, pesky knights," Matau hissed under his breath.

The human looked around the shop and quickly scooped Matau off of the ground.

"Hey!"

"Stay quiet!" The human murmured before practically throwing Matau into a large vase that held bars and rods of metal. "Stay down."

Matau glanced at the door and nodded, shimmying to hide himself more.

The human quickly tidied up his shop and took a breath before opening the door.

The knights stood on the other side, along with the dwarf he had been the apprentice to.

"Sirs," he greeted with a nod. "Nuhrii."

"Good day," one of the knights greeted back. "So sorry to you and your mentor, but we need to check your shop."

Hopefully just for rats and not a gnome.

He gave the knights a confused, albeit cautious nod as he stepped out of the way and opened the door wider.

The knights filed in and began searching the shop, alarmingly careful in their search so nothing would be damaged.

Many simply pulled open any drawers that they could, opened cabinets, boxes, even looked up the chimney Matau had fallen down, taking note of the scattered coals and dust.

One of them stood by Nuhrii, examining one of the swords that needed a guard and hilt. "Impressive work," he noted. "Yours?"

"My apprentice's, actually," the dwarf said grudgingly.

One of the knights searched behind a shelf of tools and gear, close to the vase.

Nuhrii nudged him. "Show some manners. Introduce yourself."

One of the knights turned their attention to the vase.

"Vakama," the human said, trying to remain calm. "My name is Vakama."

The knight examined the blade closely, checking for any warping or damage- not that he would find any. "You've learned well from your mentor."

Vakama bit his tongue as he saw the knight dig through the vase, waiting for the moment they would find and drag out the gnome hiding inside, and then arrest Vakama with him for "harboring a criminal."

Instead, the knight stood straight. "Nothing," they reported.

Around the room, the other knights echoed, "Nothing."

The knight standing by Nuhrii huffed. "Damn."

Vakama hid a sigh.

"Thank you, both, for your time," the knight said as his group marched out of the shop. "If either of you see anything, be sure to report it to us."

"Yes, sir," Nuhrii replied.

"What were you looking for?" Vakama asked, feigning ignorance.

Nuhrii glared at him as the knight answered, "That's none of your concern. Just a thief we've been having trouble with."

"We'll keep an eye out," Nuhrii said before Vakama could think of responding.

"Much obliged. Good day, you two." With a nod, the knight turned and left the shop.

Nuhrii wheeled around to face Vakama. "Do you know anything of this thief?"

Vakama shook his head. "No, sir."

"Are you lying to me?" The dwarf asked sharply. "I'll know of you are, and having your apprenticeship stripped would be the least of your worries, boy!"

"Of course I'm not!" Vakama protested. "What reason would I have for lying to you or knights?"

Nuhrii glared at him for a long moment before sighing. "Fine. I'll take your word for it." He turned to the door of the shop. "Get back to work," he said, opening the door to let himself out, and then slamming it shut behind him.

Vakama took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "That went well."

"It went sure-fine."

The human jumped and quickly turned.

There was Matau, sitting on the mantle above the fireplace and examining a dagger.

Did he teleport there? Turn himself invisible?

Vakama only picked up the sword he'd been working on, now cooled from being out of the forge, and a hammer. "I wouldn't stay long, if I was in your place. They might come back."

The gnome gave him a doubtful look. "Might. I'll be far-gone by the time those stupid knights look here again."

"Let's hope you are, when that happens, Matau."

Matau blinked before standing, beaming with pride. "My reputation precedes me! Yes, I am Matau! Have you heard of me thanks to talk-stories from Le-Metru?"

"Not exactly," Vakama admitted. "You wouldn't believe me, if I told you."

"Try me." Matau vaulted off the mantle and landed in Vakama's shoulder. "I've been far and wide on ever-great adventures! I would believe anything you say."

"Even if I was lying?"

Matau froze, smile gone for a moment before he smirked, sitting down.

"I think I like you, human," he said, eyes narrow and on Vakama's face.

Vakama carefully moved Matau off of him. "What were they after you for anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Matau said with a shrug. "But they're not cheer-happy that I have this."

The gnome reached into the satchel he wore and pulled out a stone, one that glowed green from within and was translucent as if it was carved from glass or a gem.

Vakama crouched down to get a closer look, brow furrowed. "Where did you get this?"

"The street."

Vakama eyed him dubious.

"What? I did!" Matau barked. "Someone must've dropped it and they didn't come back for it!"

"And you didn't think to try and return it?"

"I didn't see who dropped it."

Vakama stood and walked to one of the drawer sets in the shop. "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Lhikan, would you?"

Matau screwed his face for a moment. "I know OF him, but I don't KNOW him. Why?"

Vakama turned back to him, holding something in his hand:

A stone, similar to the one Matau had in his possession, only it glowed red from within.

"He gave this to me and told me to keep it safe."

[crystaltoa]

I completely forgot the name of the animal until you reblogged a pic of it but now that i know it, Elf Nuju reminds me sort of a barn owl. Long face, kinda heart shaped w the hair... Round eyes... Long nose...

Heh, I was wondering if anyone would notice! He is a horrid little owl man in every universe to me.

[bionicle-ramblings]

Bionicle DnD. Bionicle Dnd. Bionicle Dnd. Bionicle DnD. Bionicle DnD. Bionicle DnD. Bionicle DnD

You cannot prove me wrong either

Because I couldn't stop thinking about this idea, have a silly fantasy AU! A certain elf is NOT enjoying his first time in the dungeon...

[crystaltoa]

Some Whenuas from various fan Human and human-adjacent AUs!

The first image features three versions of Whenua from @magicalgirlmascot's Kini Nui Public School AU, the second is my Toa Metru Fantasy AU /DnD AU and @bionicle-ramblings' fairy tale AU, third is Professor Whenua from my Pokemon AU idea.

Kind of an interesting exercise in bringing out different aspects of a character that relate to his canon self in different ways, a bit like refracting them through a prism. (Also an exercise in silly hair lore)

I've put a few notes in the images but as always, there are a lot of small character details so I'm curious to see what people pick up on.

Also, all of them together for size comparison:

[bionicle-ramblings]

LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!!!!

From the Toa Metru fantasy/DND AU

[bionicle-ramblings]

I was summoned

I can definitely see Whenua being jaded and saying, "Don't get too attached" because HE got too attached

Matau, however, hasn't seen humans much, so he's going to latch onto Vakama and be like, "Don't talk about that in front of me!"

And he's absolutely chilling on Vakama's shoulder and saying, "Dark-gloomy over here, huh?"

Ideas and brainstorming for DnD Toa Metru:

Deepening the conflict between Whenua and Matau.

On the one hand, they could clash more over Whenua's pessimism and caution and Matau's bragging and recklessness. Whenua saved the others several times; Matau needed to be saved because he wanted to perform heroic acts.

On the other hand:

Whenua's been so beaten down by losing people in canon that he left several onu-matoran to subdue a gukko on their own. Admittedly after one of them told they can't rely on his help and he should go on, so he respected what they wanted. He didn't believe that Nokama could be saved from the venom.

Matau, while he wants attention, also believes deeply in heroic values. He'd get involved when others don't want him to; sometimes when he shouldn't. He'd not look away when somebody needed help.

I can imagine that Matau would get furious at Whenua for acting as if Whenua is replacable. Especially if he chewed out Matau before for risking his own life through unnecessary stunts. They nearly come to blows because they can't agree whether or not they should get involved into a dangerous situation to help people.

Matau would stick with Whenua, refusing to let him stay in a seemingly inescapable situation. Or he'd rush to look for help. He'd help him pull out of moments where he's frozen because he doesn't know what to do.

Whenua would inspire Matau to stop more before he acts, to plan. He could learn from him how to act more subtly, how to hide both with and without his illusions. It saves Matau several times.

I love all of this!

I can see some issues being brought up regarding the relative durability and lifespans of each character’s species as well, and that maybe having an impact on how Whenua views friendships.

@bionicle-ramblings headcanoned Matau taking an instant liking to Vakama, humans being something of a novelty where he’s from. I can picture Whenua making some offhand comment to Matau telling him not to get too attached to humans as they don’t last very long. (Whenua is not old by dwarf standards, but he has outlived several human friends) and Matau being upset that he would even bring that up, why does he have to be so morbid all the time? (Nokama would also be very cross with him if she were within earshot. You just don’t say things like that, Whenua).

Also, I think Onu-Metru has a lot of gnomes so Whenua is fairly familiar with them and their culture. Or at least, he is familiar with Onu-Metru gnomes. Matau, being a vehicle enthusiast and techie, has met and enjoyed good relations with a lot of dwarven engineers. He’s kind of perplexed that Whenua’s not a craftsman and has little interest in gadgets, weapons and vehicles. (“What kind of dwarf ARE you?” “We’re not all the same, you know.”). Whenua, meanwhile, finds it equally bizarre that Matau does not care for life underground, enjoys heights, and has very little interest in nature or wild creatures. He’s never even seen a forest. They both have a bit of unlearning of stereotypes to do.

Matau’s also going to be the first to make a crack about Whenua being a gloomstalker. “Yeah, he’s darkgloomy alright!”