Matryoshka

“As soon as he reached home, Geppetto took his tools and began to cut and shape the wood into a Marionette.” ⎯ Carlo Collodi, Le Avventure di Pinocchio

Ever a joy to children, matryoshka resemble living playthings made of wood, cloth, or porcelain. Though easily mistaken for puppets, matryoshka are not manipulated by a just-out-of-sight puppeteer; they are animated, sentient, and independent.

Diverse Oddities

As a race, the matryoshka are an oddity. While they are sparse, the lot of them are numerous enough and share enough similarities with each other that they may be counted as an actual race of people, and not just freak mishaps of magic. While it may be that there are dedicated creators of matryoshka, as there were with the warforged, a significant number of them have come to life on their own.
Physically, matryoshka are quite small, often slightly shorter than halflings. Their physical features vary greatly from type to type, but they are almost always humanoid in shape. For simplicity, matryoshka are classified by the materials by which they are composed: bisque are porcelain, gepettin are wood, and raggedy are made of fabric.
Despite being made of somewhat flimsy materials, sentience seems grant them an odd heartiness. As well, due to their non-living nature, they never hunger, rarely tire, and are very adept at being innocuous. Most find some form of work or profession in entertainment, but many find fantastic success as spies and assassins.

Charming, Yet Uncanny

Though they bring delight to children, matryoshka instill a cold fear in many adults, the type of fear that accompanies the uncanny realization that something inanimate is, in fact, alive. A person’s first reactions to a matryoshka can be most telling, and usually fall into two camps: some people find the moving matryoshka delightful, perhaps recalling some cherished childhood memory brought to life, while others are taken by an unnerving phobia, feeling a sudden chill upon seeing a doll move of its own impetus.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Like other constructs, matryoshka rarely name themselves. Typically, a construct has no conception that living creatures obsessively name everything, and have a name bestowed upon them – in this case, matryoshka are normally named by children, or are given terms of endearment by adults.
Names. Birdie, Cuddles, Desmond, Dusty, Hobbs, Fluffie, Frowny, Lizzie, Patches, Princess, Pup-pup, Red Jacket, Teddy

Matryoshka

Ability Score Increase +2 Con

Size Small

Speed 25 ft

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Age. As constructs, matryoshka do not age, and are mature as soon as they become sentient.
Alignment. Matryoshka, as varied as they are, run the gamut of alignments: Raggedies are generally good, bisques tend towards evil, and gepettins are usually in between.
Size. Matryoshka are small creatures, rarely breaking 3 feet in height.
Darkvision. Matryoshka have superior vision in dim light and darkness. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it was bright light, and darkness as if it was dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Construct Anatomy. Even though you were constructed, you are a living creature. You are immune to nonmagical diseases. You do not need to eat or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish.
Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state; you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal. You can still be placed into a torpor by sleep-inducing magic.
Innocuous. Matryoshka are generally indistinguishable from non-living dolls of the same type. Because of that, they have learned to be very stealthy when required. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks you make to appear as a mundane toy. Languages. Matryoshka can read and write common as well as one other language based on their creator's race (your choice).

Bisque

Bisque matryoshka are a form of porcelain doll, crafted with exacting specification and often luxurious clothing materials. Though they are designed to look as realistic as possible, they are often thought to be the most terrifying of matryoshka, due to their lifeless visage. Though their faces are often very fragile, their construction is generally much hardier than their brethren
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Terrifying. Your lifeless eyes and face tend to instill fear in people, often without even trying. You gain proficiency in Intimidation, and gain advantage on any such rolls where you are attempting to scare someone that was not initially aware you are alive.
China Doll. Any Wisdom (Insight) check made to discern your true emotions has disadvantage.
Child's Play. Bisque know that their small size and natural stealth lead to being very efficient stalkers. You deal an additional 1d6 damage when attacking a creature who you have advantage against using a light or finesse weapon. You not need advantage if neither you nor the target has an ally adjacent to it.

Gepettin

Gepettin are physically similar to marionettes, made mostly out of wood, with painted faces and carved clothing. Due to their construction, their limbs are quite flexible, and they are known to be fantastic dancers.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Clipped Strings. You gain the ability to manipulate your old strings, allowing you to use them to climb, attack, and restrain. You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
Additionally, while wielding a light melee weapon, you can add 5 feet to your reach with that weapon. Lastly, you can use your strings to grapple creatures up to two sizes larger than you.

Raggedy

Raggedy matryoshka are usually a larger form of stuffy doll. Also commonly referred to as Plushies, raggedy are any form of stuffed or soft doll. Though they often look humanoid, they may also look like animals, monsters, or any other form of anthropomorphic creature.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Adorable. Raggedy, before coming to life, were designed to be appealing to children. As such, you gain proficiency in Persuasion, and have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) rolls you make against children or other humanoids that are fond of cute things.
Stuffed with Fluff. Raggedy are filled with a lightweight, soft material. As such, you have resistance to non-magical bludgeoning damage and take no damage from falling less than 30 feet. Unfortunately, whenever you take fire damage, you also take an additional 1d8 fire damage at the start of your next turn.

Languages. Matryoshka can read and write common as well as one other language based on their creator's race (your choice).