Hat (3.5e Race)

Hat
Summary::"Be wary of the desert, young one, for it is inhabited by hats."

Thought to be first born of a union of Raith (an elemental goddess of fire) and Gund (an elemental god of earth), hats have taken to their connection not to elemental planes they are composed from, but to the Material Plane itself, much like the deities that spawned them.

Personality
Hats are a diverse bunch with a wide range of personalities. Older hats tend to be curmudgeonly and distant, as their long years distance themselves from others and the changing of times. Younger hats are typically more open and personable, having not yet been set in their ways, acting on the impulses of their fiery side. Being eternally long-lived, most populations of hats lean toward the elderly side.

In a cruel twist of fate, as hats are residents of the Material Plane, occasionally the souls of humanoids and other mortal creatures find their way into being bound to elemental essences and reincarnated into elemental form. How this happens, as elementals cannot be reincarnated, is unclear. Some suspect that the elementally infused lands interact harshly with the natural magic of the Material Plane. These souls often lament their new station of existence, finding their forms alien to them as they are unable to feel how they used to feel with skin of stone and heart of fire.

Hats, unlike other elementals, sleep at night. They must also eat, feeding mostly upon the base elements they are composed of, fire and earth. However, they are known to eat flammable materials such as wood, oil and alcohol as well as purely mineral foods like gems, sands, stones, clays and metals. Tastes vary, but the more pure foods are often the most prized choices. They never need water, finding it disagreeable to ingest.

Physical Description
Appearing much like serpents of stone with somewhat humanoid chests and arms, hats are greatly varied in form. Their tails may appear serpentine, especially as they slither along the ground as they move, or perhaps covered in rough bits of jagged stoney spurs. These spurs appear most commonly along their sides, becoming progressively smaller near the tail. Often, their tails end bluntly. Some have smooth tails, and others even appear to be studded with small gems and bits of sparkling glass that shine with their inner fires. Even with the variety in their lower-halves, it is their upper-halves that hold the most variation in form. Some hats, usually the eldest of hats, appear monstrous, with blocky features, jagged jaws, blunted horns, many eyes and bestial visages. These hats are often likened to fiends. Some appear like roughly carven and worn statues from their ages of living. Younger hats, perhaps due to their increasing involvement with humanoid races, often appear sleek and humanoid in form. Some even have hair-like flames that dance on their heads. Male hats are slightly larger than their female counterparts, and only among the more humanoid-looking is it roughly apparent which is which among other folk. Hats themselves have no difficulty in telling their genders.

Some scholars suspect that hats have become increasingly humanoid because the souls of such mortal folk have begun working their way into the hat lineages.

The appearance of their stone varies as well. Most are of a reddish-brown brick clay hue, though charcoal gray, obsidian black, sandstone tan, slate blue and marble ivory are not uncommon colors. Most have cracks or fiery veins on their surface that reveal their fiery nature underneath. Some hats constantly bubble jets of flame and others merely glow with heat as vapors escape their luminous molten eyes and mouths.

Their fires are generally an orangish hue. Some do vary however, producing scarlet red, violet, light blue, yellow and white flames.

As hats are made from living elemental stone and fire, they are rather heavy for their given size, weighing around 280 pounds. When their tails are coiled, they stand just under five feet tall, though their length is slightly greater, being about 1-and-a-half times their standing height.

Hats generally grow into their appearances as they age, and may change their features slowly over time. Gemstones may emerge on their surface. Facial features may warp and change. Despite not being flesh and blood, they do feel the effects of aging, and this slow change reflects that.

As hats are constantly hot (though maybe not always burning), they do not wear or carry flammable materials. Typically, they adorn themselves in either fine chainmails decorated to be fashionable as everyday wear, typically studded with glass beads, or use gossamer, a flame-resistant cloth commonly manufactured by their craftsmen.

Relations
In ages past, hats were feared by other folk, being hunted from the lands of others and exiled. Many superstitious folk believed them to be the spawns of fiends. In a modern era, relations with other races is shaky but established, as trade routes through hat lands as well as a stable merchant economy.

Hat merchants are known to drive hard bargains and dislike the idea of haggling. However, since merchants often purchase goods from hats that come from no other viable sources, they are willing to pay (and increase the price to ensure their own profits).

Hats are great exporters of refined metals, gemstones, glass and gossamer. They often import clays, mineral pigments, oils and alcohols.

Among the reactions of singular folk, their opinions of hats typically vary from "just keep your distance" to "get away". On a cold night, the presence of a hat is often welcome, and starting a fire is rarely ever a problem.

Alignment
As the offspring race of two neutrally aligned elemental deities, hats themselves are typically neutral in elemental fashion, and bend toward it, though they may be of any alignment. The extreme ends of the alignment spectrum are rather uncommon however, as hats are usually neutral on at least one axis of either good-evil or law-chaos. It is most commonly those hats that spend time abroad or among other folk that develop less-than-neutral alignments.

Lands
"I wanna hear your fire burning loud, and I wanna see you stand up proud, as we go were the sunlight is gold and warm..."

Hats have long established themselves a stronghold of civilization in the desert where they make their homes. Among the endless grains of sand and the scorching heat of the sun, hats build great cities of towering glass that shimmer in the rays of golden sunlight. Among the multi-hued towers of glass, hats bustle about below in the sandy streets, going about their lives and conducting business. Near the edges of their cities, they build great walls of stone, held together by molten glass. Well-to-do cities might even pump liquid lava through the wall as it is built to ensure a solid barrier down to the bedrock below the desert floor.

Hats are experts at controlling the flow of lava. Their mines nearly rely on it. Hat miners burrow down in great columns until they reach the fiery earth below, which channels up, bringing valuable gemstones and molten metals for collecting. These venting vertical mine-shafts can be seen for miles as they occasionally belch ash into the air, much like miniature volcanoes. Hats often tunnel out side chambers of lava to outposts beneath the sands as a form of defensive barrier to be unleashed in emergencies. It also makes attacking a hat city from underground an even more dangerous prospect, as going down a wrong tunnel might unleash a drowning flow of molten rock.

It is even said that hats are so in-tune with their homelands, that they have begun to tune their homelands to themselves. Whatever the case may be, their homes are elementally-aligned to them. The very nature of the magic in the area is just slightly different.

As hats are hardly human-like, the matters at hand in their cities are carried out with a few differences. Their libraries contain scrolls and records written upon gossamer scrolls. Their city murals are painted with finely powdered pigmented minerals mixed with molten glass and glazed onto walls. Hat smiths often use their bodies for smelting furnaces and forges. It would not be uncommon for a hat to drop a large ingot of glass, steel, silver, gold or lead into his mouth to heat it or melt it before working with it. Though, they must resist the temptation to eat such things if they are to turn a profit for their business. Hat farmers tend to firebrats, a sort of elemental insect-like creature that spins one of the silks necessary in crafting gossamer. Firebrats come in a variety of sizes, and the smallest are often kept as pets (or even familiars).

Hat cities are ruled by an Aldmin, a sort of elder king who is chosen by the previous Aldmin from among his High Council (typically a group of 13-37 individuals). The Aldmin, being unendingly ageless, may rule for centuries before he is either killed, retires (possibly returning to the High Council) and passes on his title, or is ousted by the council itself, which then must unanimously pick a successor. Additionally, there is a Low Council that consists of many more members (depending on the population of the city) and is responsible for hearing the voice of the city folk and relaying that to the business of the High Council. Some Low Council members may also function as judges and barristers. Since hats don't really need money unless they desire to own property and possessions, there isn't a ruling class of nobles, and all hats are considered equal class. They consider council positions as "just another job to perform". The Aldmin, though equal, is well known and thus often respected above his peers (if he does a good job).

The Aldmin is responsible for establishing laws and the systems for which they are to be upheld by. His High Council plead their views and may overrule the Aldmin on a unanimous vote. Rarely, an Aldmin may choose to name a successor not of the High Council, though he may not name any non-hat to his position, nor may any non-hat hold any council position as other folk are never considered citizens, despite any residency or service to the city. Hats recognize other folk, but due to their differences, never think of them as equals (at least in terms of civil rights granted by the city).

Cities favor large numbers of hats to safely raise their young and fend off those who once hunted them (that they now trade with). Perhaps it is their long lives and an inability to forgive (and never forget the past), that has caused them to be wary of other folk in modern times.

As for their young, female hats of a child-bearing age mate and and quickly lay stone-like eggs that hatch shortly after birth, within a day or two. The hatching egg immolates, becoming molten and reforming into a young hat. This process is often done near or in pools of lava. If lava is unavailable, a kiln or strong fire suffices. Young born in such away tend to bear smother features, as their bodies readily form before settling into a shape. This is a practice taken in modern times as it assures a more pleasing appearance, which is helpful for interacting with other races who may still fear them in other lands.

While hats are comfortable in arid lands where the sun shines down a warming radiation, hats are uncomfortable in cold lands and of course, most hats avoid water. While water doesn't hurt them, hats in general find it too chilling and off-putting as it is an element foreign to their composition. Their stoney exterior protects their fiery core from being smothered in water.

Religion
They often choose to worship one or both of their patron deities (Raith and Gund). This worship is mostly done as respect and a petition for favor to their race, rather than as requests for individuals, approaching religion in a context of "worship is good for the team". With neutrally aligned deities, this typically means that while they receive no special treatment, they aren't ignored and the balance is kept, and often, assuring that the playing field is level is good enough.

Language
Hats are fluent in Ignan and Terran. They are also capable speakers of Common, as their need for it as a trade languages is fairly universal. Some regions prefer speaking Ignan over Terran, though typically, it is the topic at hand that determines the language used. Dealings of work, family, duty and earth (mining, building, crafting) use Terran while dealings of emotion (raucous singing, hate, passion), weather and colloquial greetings use Ignan.

Names
Hats have had many ages to develop racially preferred names from among those used by fire and earth elementals, often blending the two to create new meanings, or multiple meanings and context. Hats typically reserve only a single name, though, he may also take a title that affirms his connection to a place, deed or individual.

"Male Names:'' Aurukneis, Ecloroch, Etchelgar, Gasugho, Gilfguld, Haukneis, Kacuell, Narhalguld, Parloch, Tecgho, Zulmegar

"Female Names:'' Aregost, Chorin, Elcilil, Idnid, Nagra, Qualgra, Quianin, Ramlil, Rhathin, Thangua, Tinophinid, Zaindin

Racial Traits
Racial Ability Adjustments::None
 * : Hats have a strong connection to the Material Plane, as it is their home plane, and can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be. Unlike most elementals, hats need to eat and sleep, though they do not breathe. Hats have immunity to fire and vulnerability to cold, which means he takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from cold, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or failure.
 * Hat base land speed is 30 feet: A hat is also capable of burrowing, though, he does so slowly. As a move action, a hat may burrow 5 feet, but not leave behind a usable tunnel. He must spend a full-round action to move 5 feet and leave a tunnel behind. A hat burrows through lava as readily as swimming, gaining a swim speed equal to his base land speed when moving through lava.
 * Darkvision out to 60 feet.
 * Proficient with all simple weapons.
 * Immunity to poison. While living beings, they have no blood or flesh, only fire and stone.
 * Hats may be subject to paralysis, sleep effects and stunning effects, but they gain a +2 bonus on their saves. Regardless of saving throws, when affected, these effects have their durations halved (minimum of 1 round).
 * Turn Resistance (Ex): A hat is less easily affected by clerics or paladins who seek control over elementals. When resolving a turn, rebuke, command, or bolster attempt, add 4 to the hat’s Hit Dice total.
 * Fortified (Ex): Perhaps due to their connection with the material plane, hats are more vulnerable than is typical for most elementals. They are subject to critical hits but gain a +4 bonus to their armor class against confirmation rolls. Hats are also subject to flanking, though their attackers gain no special bonus to attack them.
 * A Stone in Water: A hat suffers a great disability in swimming, suffering a -8 penalty on Swim checks through water.
 * Monstrous Form: Hats pay the nonhumanoid cost for armor. Their magic item body slots remain the same, save that boots and footwear are replaced with tail bands and tail cuffs.
 * Elemental Energy (Ex): A hat's elemental body grants him a replenishing reservoir of energy. At 1 HD, he starts with 1 point and two abilities known, chosen from the Early ability list. He may spend Elemental Energy points to activate these abilities. These points recharge at a rate of 1 point per minute of full rest. He gains an additional Elemental Energy point at 5 HD as well as another ability known, chosen from the Moderate or Early ability lists. At 10 HD, he gains an additional Elemental Energy point and another ability known, chosen from the Peak, Moderate or Early ability lists. At 15 HD and 20 HD, he gains another point and ability known, chosen from any of the lists. All abilities are a standard action unless noted otherwise.
 * Automatic Languages: Common, Ignan and Terran.
 * Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skill.
 * Favored Class: Favored Class::Any
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1

Elemental Energy Abilities


Harden Minerals: Cost: 1 point. Your touch imbues mineral materials (stone, metal, crystal, bone) with additional temporary hardness and HP. At 1 HD you may imbue a single object made of mineral materials (weighing up to 5 lbs.) with +1 hardness and +10 HP. At 5 HD, this increases to +2 hardness and +20 HP. At 10, 15 and 20, it increases by an additional point of hardness and 10 HP each. This hardened state lasts for 1 hour per your HD.

Gleaming Eyes: Cost: 1 point. Your vision emanates light like a bullseye lantern. In addition, as a supernatural effect, your vision reveals the presence of magic much like detect magic (first round only, up to 60 feet) in the form of mildly shifting auras of colors within the vision's field. Lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1d6+ your HD with no need to concentrate.

Spit Glass: Cost: 1 point. You hock up a molten blob of liquid glass as a ranged attack. This attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity when used in melee and has a range of 10 feet. The molten glass deals 1d6 fire damage and sticks to the target. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of fire damage as the molten glass continues to burn. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to remove the molten blob before taking this additional damage. Removing the blob requires a DC 10 Dexterity check to do so without incurring additional damage. Leaping into a lake to quench the heat or magically chilling the glass causes it to shatter off.



Forge Body: Cost: 1 point. Your burning core heals the cracks and scars of battle on your body. You heal a number of HP equal to 1d8 + your HD.

Temper Body: Cost: 1 point. Focusing your might, your body seals up any crack or weakness. You gain Damage Reduction 1/Adamantine. Additionally, you gain an armor bonus of 4 to your armor class. This armor bonus overlaps with existing armor. This damage reduction increases to 2 at 3 HD, 3 at 5 HD, 4 at 7 HD and so on up to 10 at 19 HD. Lasts a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your HD.

Burning Touch: Cost: 1 point. Your melee weapons and your natural attacks or unarmed strikes channel your fiery heat. You deal a number of additional fire damage on these attacks equal to 1d6 + 1/2 your HD. Lasts a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your HD.



Final Burning Embers: Cost: 2 points. As an immediate action when you die via HP loss (typically by reaching -10 HP or below) you may spend 2 points to activate this ability. Beyond healing or saving you are nothing much more than an animated object living on borrowed time. Spells or effects that would restore HP have no effect on you. Your negative maximum HP becomes as equivalent to your positive maximum HP (example: if your maximum HP were 48, you may persist up to -48 HP). You may continue to act, though with limitations. You cannot use any Charisma-based, Dexterity-based, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration. You cannot cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. You cannot use Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. Each round, your HP drops by 1d6 until you reach your negative maximum HP, then you erupt in a small, localized explosion, spraying flaming magma and shards of stone, dealing 1d6 damage per your HD to adjacent targets (damage is half fire, half bludgeoning). Targets are allowed a Reflex save for half damage (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Constitution modifier).

Magma Armor: Cost: 3 points. You envelop yourself in a casing of fiery, molten stone that slowly chills and flakes off. Any creature striking you with its body or a handheld weapon takes 1d6 points of fire damage + 1 point per 2 of your HD. Creatures wielding weapons with exceptional reach are not subject to this damage if they attack you. Your vulnerability to cold-based attacks is negated during this ability. The magma armor absorbs some damage from blows, cuts, stabs, and slashes. The subject gains Damage Reduction 5/—. Once the spell has prevented a total of 5 points of damage per your HD (example: 50 HP at 10 HD), it crumbles and breaks off. This magma armor loses 1 HP per round. If this ability is used again while you still have magma armor, the earlier armor is absorbed into the creation of the new armor. This ability does not stack or overlap with itself.

Phlogistonate: Cost: 3 points. You radiate an aura that resonates similarly to the planar effects of the elemental planes of earth and fire. This aura extends out 30 feet around you. Lasts for 1 round per 2 of your HD, though, any fire or earth spell cast in the radius decreases the aura's duration by 1 round. Any air or water spell cast in the radius, being inhibited, instead decreases the duration of the aura by 2 rounds.
 * Enhanced Fire Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor are cast with +2 caster level.
 * Enhanced Earth Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use, manipulate, or create earth or stone (including those of the Earth domain) are cast with +2 caster level.
 * Inhibited Water Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create water (including spells of the Water domain and spells that summon water elementals or outsiders with the water subtype) are inhibited, cast with a -4 caster level.
 * Inhibited Air Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities that use or create air (including spells of the Air domain and spells that summon air elementals or outsiders with the air subtype) are inhibited, cast with a -4 caster level.