Osteon (3.5e Race)

Osteon
Summary::Vaguely reptilian creatures covered in bone plate, they are masters of bone and flesh and craft it as dwarves would craft stone. Slow and defensive, they often become medics, or necromancers, to work on their art.

Personality
The dwarven comparison is apt, for like the dwarves the osteon have a lawful mindset of stubborn behavior and slow action. While seemingly gruff, many osteons are well meaning. Their hard plated shells reduce their ability to express facial expressions, and dull their tactile sensations, a point of frustration among the osteon, though they do have feelers to compensate. It causes them to, on a whole, become oblivious to how frail others can be, and they can be seen as pushy.

Physical Description
An osteon is a humanoid creature which is seemingly covered in bone full plate, including a helmet, which grows naturally out of their bodies. On close inspection, weaker, scaled skin akin to a reptile is seen under the study bone shell, but the osteon are indeed warm blooded. Their bones are bleached white, but their underskin can be any variety of brown, yellow, or red, and eyes vary as much as human eye colors do. They have small snouts, and short, stubby tails. They lack a strong tactile sensation due to their skin being covered in bone, but have exposed feelers coming out of their heads where others would grow hair. Mobile, though too weak to pick anything up, they contain many of the sensory organs for touch and smell. Exposed as they are, they are the only part of the body which can regrow if severed, returning in 1d10 days.

Although osteons are warm blooded, after pregnancy occurs they will not give live birth, but instead lay hard calcium-coated eggs whose outer shell actually becomes the skull helmet that the osteons wear from birth to death. Growth takes 12 months hidden within dark caves with sufficient moisture, and as such many osteons can be found in either mountains or seaside caves.

Relations
Although their exoskeleton can be a might creepy, osteons do not have too many problems with the world, no more so than your typical dwarf. Loyal and patient, osteons are at least predictable, and this tends to put others at ease.

Alignment
Perhaps it was due to proximity to dwarven lands, their long lifespans, or simply the nature of how their society grew, but many osteons tend to lawful alignments.

Lands
Osteons live in the mountains and along the shores of saltwater seas, including a fair population within the borders of the nation of Ghremlond, where they serve as grafters for the living and dead.

Religion
Osteon religion was adopted from the religions of others. The osteons seem to have no creation story, and indeed appeared rather suddenly in history. Rumor has it, that it may be the osteons are a result of wizard's magical tampering of another race, but this has never been confirmed. In any case, many osteons are agnostic.

Language
Osteons speak common, and many learn Giant, Dwarven, or Terran.

Names
Osteon names tend to be formed from hard sounds and consonants, and rarely end in vowels.

Racial Traits

 * ,, , : Osteon bone armor slows them down and prevents them from expressing themselves well, but within their armor lies a strong vitality and a vigorous mind.
 * Type::Humanoid (Subtype::Reptilian): Osteons have much related to reptiles, although they are warm blooded.
 * Size::Medium: As Medium creatures, osteons have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Osteon base land speed is 30 feet. Osteons also have a burrow speed of 5 ft, using their boney claws.
 * Bone Armor (Ex): Osteons are covered in bone armor which keeps them safe, and grants them a +2 armor bonus to AC, no maximum dexterity bonus, no armor check penalty, a 5% arcane spell failure, 25% fortification, and does not count as armor for class features or pre-requisites.  This bone armor prevents the wearing of actual armor, but the bone armor may be enhanced as if it was masterwork armor.  In spite of being organic, osteons also qualify for the various warforged armor feats, representing a change in the mineral makeup of the bone armor.
 * Biological Knack (Ex): Osteons have a good handle over the growth and destruction of organic materials.  They may take any Graft feat without meeting the pre-requisites, and any effects which invoke positive or negative energy to do damage (such as cure or inflict spells) deal an additional +1 of healing or damage per die.
 * Bone Knuckle (Ex): Osteons have a slam attack as a natural weapon, which deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage for a medium creature. Like their armor, their natural attacks may be enhanced as if they were manufactured weapons, and they qualify for warforged feats which augment their natural attacks.
 * Osteons recieve a +2 racial bonus on Heal checks. In addition, Heal is always a class skill.
 * Osteons recieve a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks related to bone, leather, or flesh (such as taxidermy).
 * +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against corporeal undead with a skeletal structure (such as zombies and skeletons) as well as flesh golems.   Osteons are well versed in the corporeal body and can predict the movements of those animated by unnatural forces.  Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
 * Weapon Familiarity (Ex): Osteons may treat weapons normally composed of bone (such as the Tigerskull Club from Frostburn) as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons (or as simple weapons if they are normally exotic weapons).
 * Automatic Languages: Common.
 * Bonus Languages: Aquan, Draconic, Dwarven, Giant, Terran, Undercommon.
 * Favored Class: or ArchivistHoH.
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1