Warforged

Warforged
Distinctions	Composed of stone, metal and wood; physically powerful; come in multiple sizes and designs; inscriptions on forehead (called a ghulra)
Avg. Height	6'0" - 6'6"
Avg. Weight	270 - 300 lbs.
Lifespan	Infinite (theoretical)
Homeland(s)	Aundair; Breland; Karrnath; The Mournland; Thrane
Language(s)	Common
Creature Type	Construct (living construct)
Advancement	By character class
Size	Medium
Ability Modifiers	+2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Favored Class	Fighter
Source	Eberron Campaign Setting, pg. 20-24; Races of Eberron, pg. 7-9
Creature Type	Natural humanoid (living construct)
Size	Medium
Ability Modifiers	+2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence or +2 Strength
Skill Modifiers	+2 Endurance, +2 Intimidate
Source	Eberron Player's Guide, pg. 32-33

 The Warforged are a player race in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions of Dungeons & Dragons. They are an exclusive race to the Eberron campaign setting being first featured in the Eberron Campaign Setting in 2004. The warforged are a relatively new race being created by House Cannith during the Last War in 965 YK for the purposes of warfare. The Warforged are sentient constructs and have free will, which earned them the same rights as human citizens in each of their homelands in 996 YK under the Treaty of Thronehold.  

“

Built for a war that has ended, searching for purpose

”

Racial Abilities

3.5 Edition

• Living Construct Subtype (Ex): Warforged are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Warforged are living constructs that combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.
  • Features: As a living construct, a warforged has the following features.
    • A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
  • Traits: A warforged possesses the following traits.
    • Unlike other constructs, a warforged has a Constitution score.
    • Unlike other constructs, a warforged does not have low-light vision or darkvision.
    • Unlike other constructs, a warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
    • Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
    • A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
    • Unlike other constructs, warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
    • As living constructs, warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a warforged can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a warforged is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a warforged.
    • The unusual physical construction of warforged makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if he were wearing metal armor. Likewise, a warforged is affected by repel metal or stone as if he were wearing metal armor. A warforged is repelled by repel wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting grasp. The creature takes 2d6 points of damage from the spell (Reflex half; save DC 14 + caster's ability modifier). A warforged takes the same damage from a rust monster's touch (Reflex DC 17 half). Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a warforged.
    • A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A warforged with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than —10, a warforged is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert warforged does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
    • As a living construct, a warforged can be raised or resurrected.
    • A warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but he can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as hero's feast or potions.
    • Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
• Warforged base land speed is 30 feet.
• Composite Plating: The plating used to build a warforged provides a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged can be enchanted just as armor can be. The character must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant him. Composite plating also provides a warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to the penalty for wearing light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the arcane spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well.
• Light Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a warforged, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
• A warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage.
• Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: None

4th Edition

Living Construct: Warforged are living constructs and do not need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe.

Unsleeping Watcher: Warforged do not sleep and instead enter a sort of stand by mode where they are completely inactive but are fully aware of their surroundings and can notice events such as conversations and the movement of people. In this mode the warforged only need 4 hours until they are considered fully rested.

Warforged Resilience: Warforged receive a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage and can choose to take 10 on a death saving throw.

Warforged Mind: Warforged have a +1 bonus to their will defence.

Warforged Resolve: Is an encounter power where the warforged gains temporary hit points equal to 3+ one half its level and can make a saving throw against one effect that causes ongoing damage to the warforged. If bloodied the warforged also heals itself 3+ one half its level.

Personality

Warforged can have unique personality traits though, being constructs, they are restricted in some ways. They experience anger, pain, fear and hatred like their human creators; not all warforged are incredibly reserved and pensive, hiding an array of emotions behind their metallic face. Their faces were not designed to display facial expressions and so it can seem like they are distant to the conversation. Despite their lack of physical facial expressions they're not completely without them as their eyes tend to brighten when experiencing strong or specific emotions.

Some warforged are incredibly naive and lack introspection; however, many others are the opposite and question their existence, wonder if they have souls and ask what becomes of them in the after life. The more intelligent warforged create complex philosophies about what they perceive and learn. Though warforged can show loyalty to religions and organisations, typically they become loyal to a small group of comrades.

Warforged often have little life experience as they spent most of their time assigned to one specific duty, usually soldiering. If there is one interest all warforged share it is the love of working and many create endless lists of goals and chores. They take pride in their work and work incredibly hard which makes them dislike idleness and failure. Warforged can excel at most tasks having a single-minded efficiency, especially in combat related roles.

War and military conditioning create the foundation of warforged personalities, they understand duty, the chain of command and conflict. Due to their bodies more closely resembling males than females, most warforged prefer to be called "he" than "it". Some warforged adopt female names though most of their names are straightforward and are related to their job, abilities or rank. Many warforged simply accept the nicknames given to them by their comrades while others seek to earn more meaningful names that best describe them. 

Leisure

Warforged never tire and rarely allow themselves to become bored. Having no fear of ageing and no need for sleep or food warforged have an almost unending patience, yet a hard life as constant soldiers has accustomed them to endless toil and so long periods of inactivity can make them anxious. A warforged without orders or a task to complete will create one for themselves to keep active. Individual warforged choose different hobbies, yet these activities tend to always be repetitious or unending. Some warforged enjoy counting objects, what they count doesn't need to be interesting as warforged will count even mundane things such as counting each blade of grass in the area. Other warforged may carry strips of materials to braid into patterns then un-braid them to recreate a new pattern. For many warforged their routines inherited from the military are not so easily undone as some will repeatedly perform weapon and equipment maintenance and checks.

Warforged also tend to take an interest in crafting though they will endlessly perform their craft. A smith would hammer and weld all day and night and if the noise disturbs anyone during the nights they'd take up a more silent craft such as weaving or sewing before returning to smithing during the day. Many adventuring warforged take up crafts to keep themselves busy when their allies sleep such as carving wooden figures. Many warforged enjoy games of strategy such as chess or gambling. Few warforged actively pursue group activities though when requested to do so they participate with gusto.

Description

The warforged are made of stone, metal and wood fibres. The core of a warforged is a skeletal frame made of metal and stone with wood fibres acting as a muscular system. Covering the warforged is an outer shell of metal and stone plates. An internal network of tubes run through the warforged's body, these tubes are filled with a blood like fluid that is designed to lubricate and nourish their systems. Their hands have only two thick fingers and a thumb whilst their feet only have two broad toes.

The warforged's face loosely resembles their human creators though they have a toothless jaw, heavy brow line and are lacking noses and hair. Each warforged has a ghulra engraved upon their foreheads. Each of these runes are unique to the warforged giving them a sense of individuality.

The warforged have a sexless form and are considered to be mono-gender. The warforged are able to be repaired and modified by artificers or even themselves giving them an endless possibility to their appearances.

Lifespan

Being living constructs the warforged theoretically can live for eternity as long as they receive maintenance and repairs. Being created in 965 YK the oldest a warforged can be (providing the campaign starts in 998 YK) is 33 and the youngest 2.

Creation

Newborn warforged come fully formed from Creation Forges at birth, with rudimentary language and instinctual knowledge of movement. Over the first few months they are extremely adaptable and able to learn new skills, just like children of other races. It is during this period that the majority of warforged were trained by House Cannith in the art of warfare. Warforged are born with clean slates for minds and are at the mercy of their creator's tutoring as they have no concept of morality or good and evil. In their infant years they will believe all that is told to them by their creator and will treat what is taught to them as the only truth until proved otherwise.  

Warforged in Eberron

The warforged have taken up many roles in Eberron and though many in Karrnath and Thrane have become servants to masters again, others have become labourers in various roles whilst others have used their military experience to become guards, escorts and mercenaries. Not needing to eat or sleep the warforged only desire shelter and a purpose so working is still important to them and it is common for warforged to work twenty hour shifts in labouring roles. In Thrane and Karrnath the warforged are in some cases exploited for their ability to perform multiple tasks and are used to dominate the production of goods. This has caused tension between nations and houses and has also led to many workers despising the warforged. The warforged live as outsiders in all nations and live lives that are completely different to the rest of the populace. Surprisingly some warforged have become bards and have even written their own songs, whilst some also have become artists, usually by mistake, and now a warforged art market exists in Breland. There are warforged who have taken an interest in their neighbours culture and ways of life and have chosen to wear clothes and imitate their country men's accents and manners. 

Dragonmarks

Warforged do not manifest dragonmarks.

Warforged Names

Warforged often take up the nicknames given to them by their friends, colleagues and superiors though they also name themselves after their rank, job title or something that describes an aspect of themselves. It is not rare for a warforged to change his name when they feel their old one no longer suits them. Others could take names from other races, such as humans.

Example Names: Azm, Book, Bulwark, Cart, Charger, Cutter, Falchion, Graven, Hammer, Mark, Morg, Nameless, Pierce, Pious, Relic, Rune, Steeple, Sword, Three, Titan, Unsung, Victor, Watcher, Zealot.

An anti-warforged protest in Sharn.

Prejudice

Despite the warforged's peaceful nature, most citizens of the five nations see them as reminders of a dark past. Some still see them as implements of destruction, killing machines and equipment made in the form of a man, and see them as a danger that must either be destroyed or removed from society. Of the five nations it is Karrnath that has the least liberal social attitude towards warforged. Most Karrns see them only as machines rather than individuals, this is perhaps due to their relation with undead soldiers. Warforged prejudice isn't exclusive to Karrnath and there are those who make the common Karrn citizen seem fair in their views. Some citizens hold outright racist views towards the warforged, an example of such an individual would be Nolan Toronak, a member of the Sharn council. Nolan endorses anti-warforged organizations and advocates the banishment or the murder and melting down of warforged.

History

During the Last War House Cannith played a major role through arms dealing but it was in 965 YK that they would create their greatest weapon. The first batch of warforged were created in Cannith's secret forgehold at Whitehearth Cyre. The warforged were supplied to all five nations for each of the countries war efforts and brought great prosperity to the house for almost three decades. 

In 996 YK the warforged were set free and given equal rights. This was somewhat traumatic for the warforged who were accustomed to having a single purpose with orders and instructions, in Karrnath and Thrane the warforged became indentured servants instructed to repair the damage of war whilst in Aundair, Breland and other nations the warforged became idle after losing their only purpose in life. The idle warforged stood still in fields for days, hoping they'd receive orders but it wasn't until after a few weeks that they learned that the orders would never come so instead, warforged began to band together to seek out new purposes whilst others searched for leaders within their own race to give them meaning.  

Religion

File:Warforged praying.png

A warforged prays to the Sovereign Host.

During their years as soldiers conversations about religion were kept to a minimum so that they could be sold to anyone regardless of their religious beliefs. In recent years, the warforged have learned of religion though few embrace it, as many see worshiping a deity to be identical to working for a master who never gives a command. Still, a few warforged seek out the meaning of their existence and turn to religion for answers. Being the dominant religion in Khorvaire, many Warforged worship the Sovereign Host though many also turn to the Silver Flame and other religions. Warforged prove themselves to be useful to their religions and can take up the role of Paladin or Cleric.

Spoiler warning: The following collapsed text containsspoilers.

Warforged who were in Cyre on the Day of Mourning survived and many soon joined the cult of the Lord of Blades. Not all who have joined this cult are from the Day of Mourning, though, as many warforged who preferred their lives during the war have left their nation to seek out the Lord of Blades to join him.

Notable Warforged

• The Lord of Blades
• Fighter/Four
• Pierce
• Aegis
• Mace
• Xalt
• Domo
• Solus
• Three
• Bastion

Prestige Classes

• Reforged
• Spellcarved
• Warforged Juggernaut

Stats

3.5 Edition

• Sever Brave: Races of Eberron p.165
• Warforged Titan: Eberron Campaign Setting p.302

4th Edition

• Warforged Captain: Monster Manual p.261
• Warforged Soldier: Monster Manual p.261

See Also

• List of warforged components

References

• Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, & James Wyatt (2004). Eberron Campaign Setting. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.
• David Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb (2009). Eberron Player's Guide. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-5100-1.
• James Wyatt and Keith Baker (2009). Eberron Campaign Guide. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-5099-4.
• Jesse Decker, Matthew Sernett, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, & Keith Baker (2005). Races of Eberron. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3658-4.
• Keith Baker & James Wyatt (2004). Sharn: City of Towers. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3434-4.