Doronai Nui/Kanohi

Kanohi are specialized masks worn by many inhabitants of the Matoran universe. This page is about how to use Kanohi in the Doronai Nui; for their role in the story, see Kanohi.

Kanohi Use

In game terms, a being’s ability to activate a mask power is rationalized as a Kanohi Charge (often abbreviated as KC). Each Kanohi Charge represents a being’s ability to focus on activating a Kanohi mask and controlling the ability therein. Certain masks may allow you to spend additional KC to increase the duration of their power; in most cases (unless noted otherwise), for each additional KC you spend, add the length of the original duration to the total duration. The number of Kanohi Charges available to any given being is determined by their total bonus in the Use Kanohi skill. Some Kanohi additionally require Action Points (AP) to activate.

In order to activate a Kanohi mask, your character’s Species must have the Kanohi Wielder ability (certain Species are only capable of using Noble Kanohi - see the Species Index for specific information), and you must spend one or more Kanohi Charges to activate your mask power. Depending on the mask, its powers may be instantaneous (e.g. the Kualsi, which allows its wearer to teleport to a location in their line of sight) or remain active at a low level until either a set amount of time has passed or they are deactivated by the user.

When activating a Kanohi, you may not spend more Kanohi Charges in a single activation than your Proficiency Bonus - this is your Expenditure Limit. Any Charges required to activate the Kanohi are included in this count, along with any extra Charges for increased duration or effect. Unless an increased or altered effect for spending additional Kanohi Charges is specified in the mask’s description, spending additional Kanohi Charges when activating a mask only increases the power’s duration.

Some Kanohi powers require Kanohi Attack rolls, which are made with your Wisdom modifier. If you are Proficient in the Use Kanohi skill, you may add your Proficiency Bonus to any attack rolls made with a Kanohi. Some mask powers (as well as many other abilities) also require the user to maintain Focus and Concentration, or the effect will end. In order to maintain Focus, the wearer must succeed on a Focus skill check to Concentrate, with a DC determined by the scenario (see the Focus skill and Concentration description in the Rules Guide under the Terminology section for additional information). Many types of distractions can interrupt or break Focus, including the use of another ability, a separate activation of a Kanohi, the removal of a Kanohi, failing a Focus check after taking damage or being distracted, being knocked unconscious, or dying. Whenever you take damage while maintaining an ongoing effect that requires Focus, you must make a Focus check (DC 5 + damage taken); on a failure, you lose control of the power, causing it to immediately end. Certain ongoing powers (such as the Kanohi Artamu) are not subject to Concentration checks - these exceptions are noted in the description of the mask power, and the GM may add exceptions at their discretion. Additionally, whenever you activate a power while maintaining concentration on another power, you must make a Focus check (DC 20 + situation modifiers); on a failure you lose control of the maintained power, causing it to immediately end.

Kanohi powers use a unified Save DC system equal to [8 + PROF + X + Attribute Modifier]. When a Kanohi power requires a saving throw, it is listed as Save Type (DC + X Attribute). The numeric modifier in brackets is added to your Kanohi Save DC as the X value, while the listed Attribute is the Attribute Modifier that is added to the Save DC; if the Kanohi does not list an Attribute Score, you add the highest of your INT, WIS, or CHA modifiers. For example, if a Toa activates their Makoh, the DC is equal to 8 + 2 (their PROF) + 2 (the Kanohi modifier) + 3 (their WIS, as specified by the mask power).

Elemental Kanohi

These special masks give the unique benefit of granting their user an elemental power, regardless of their Tribe (or if they were a member of a Tribe to begin with). When you use an Elemental Mask, you gain access to another element (referred to as your Auxiliary Element). If you have access to multiple Elemental Masks, you may have multiple Auxiliary Elements, which are all treated individually.

When you first don an Elemental Mask of a given type, you immediately unlock one free Elemental Talent that you qualify for. When using that Auxiliary Element, you may use any unlocked Elemental Talents from that element (and not others), as well as any Elemental Forms that you have unlocked with your Primary Element. You also gain additional SP to Invest in unlocking Forms or Passives for use with this mask exclusively. These additional SP cannot be used for any other means, and must be used immediately or be lost. This additional SP is equal to your Skill Point investment (not including any bonuses) in the Use Kanohi skill. While you have EE in the EE pool created by your Elemental Mask, you may spend those EE to activate any Elemental Talents unlocked in this way.

When you wear an Elemental Mask of your own Element, you do not gain additional SP, nor does it create a secondary EE pool — instead, when you spend KC to activate the Kanohi, you regain EE equal to the amount you would have otherwise gained. For example, a Toa of Ice spends 2 KC to activate their Great Akikoki, causing them to recover 30EE, up to the normal maximum of their EE Pool.

Kanohi Nuva

Although most rules for Kanohi usage are the same for Kanohi Nuva as they are for standard Kanohi, the abilities granted by Kanohi Nuva can also be applied to beings other than the wearer. When activating a Kanohi Nuva that normally affects only themself, the wearer may choose to extend this effect any number of additional beings within 30ft. For as long as the wearer maintains Concentration on their Kanohi, each chosen being is affected as if they had activated the Kanohi at the same KC expenditure. Each additional being targeted costs 1KC (this additional KC expense does not count towards the KC Expenditure Limit, nor towards the effects of Kanohi that scale their effects with additional KC spent). If the wearer chooses one or more unwilling beings in this way, each unwilling being must make a WILL save (DC +2); on a success, the Kanohi has no effect. Using a Kanohi Nuva on an unwilling being in order to harm them, to gain an advantage over them in combat or social interactions, or to otherwise manipulate them is considered immoral and breaks the Toa Code.

When activating a Kanohi Nuva that normally affects other beings or objects, the wearer may choose any number of additional beings within 30ft. Each chosen being determines a target for the Kanohi’s effect, and those targets are affected as if they were targeted by the Kanohi at the same KC Expenditure (though they use the chosen being’s Attribute Score Modifiers). Each additional being chosen costs 1KC (this additional KC expense does not count towards the KC Expenditure Limit, nor towards the effects of Kanohi that scale their effects with additional KC spent). If the wearer chooses one or more unwilling beings in this way, each unwilling being must make a WILL save (DC +2); on a success, they do not have to choose a target for the Kanohi. Using a Kanohi Nuva to force an unwilling being to harm another, to gain an advantage over another in combat or social interactions, or to otherwise manipulate another is considered immoral and breaks the Toa Code.

Mask Rarity

Kanohi masks, especially those of higher power levels, are extremely difficult to produce due to the skill, precision, and special materials required to do so, and are often rather expensive. Therefore, Mask Rarity is the primary influencer in overall Kanohi price and availability. This can also be affected by aspects such as the value of a specific mask power in a given environment - for example, a Kaukau is virtually useless in a desert - as well as sentimental or iconographic values, such as purchasing a mask designed in the likeness of a great Toa hero or a lost friend. By default, Mask Rarity does not come into effect during character creation, though GMs may decide otherwise for their campaign.

While Kanohi destined to be worn by a Nuva will always be transformed when exposed to Energized Protodermis in this way, not many are made, as Nuva are incredibly rare, and thus not many Kanohi are destined for this purpose. As such, standard mask rarity does not apply to Kanohi Nuva, and they are generally not available to purchase.

Reading a Kanohi Statblock

Every Kanohi has a statblock associated with it that defines many of its basic characteristics; this section explains how to read a Kanohi statblock.

• Name: The name of the Kanohi (in Matoric) and its translation.
• Category and Subcategory: The Category is repeated here, and the Subcategory listed here.
• Rarity: How hard the mask is to find in the world.
• Kanoka Combination: Refers to the specific Kanoka disks required to create a new instance of this Kanohi.
• Always Active: Defines whether the mask is active at all times while being worn.
• AP Cost: Defines how many Action Points (AP) the Kanohi costs to activate; if the Kanohi has multiple modes, it will direct the reader to the rules text.
• Power Duration: Some masks require the focused attention of a user to use their powers, and under combat conditions, these powers are a little harder to access. The time-per-charge-spent of these masks are measured in rounds (six seconds) of combat, and have different values of time-per-charge-spent outside of combat. Great and Noble masks will usually have slightly different values outside of combat, with Great masks lasting longer than Noble masks in most circumstances. In a mask’s data rubric, these values will be listed as:
• In-Combat Charge Duration (ICCD): - Note that if the ICCD value is followed by a (FO), this means that the mask power requires Focus to maintain.
• Great Out-of-Combat Charge Duration (GooCD): How long the Great version of this mask power lasts outside of combat.
• Noble Out-of-Combat Charge Duration (NooCD): How long the Noble version of this mask power lasts outside of combat.
• Great Power (GP): What a Great version of this mask will do.
• Noble Power (NP): What a Noble version of this mask will do.

Note: Some Kanohi descriptions use “you” while others use “the wearer”. Those that refer to “you” assume that the person reading the text is the wearer of the Kanohi; “you” is used for the sake of linguistic simplicity, as “the wearer” is preferred and used wherever possible.