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LibraryOgre
2010-03-04, 12:56 AM
So, I was playing through some DDO today, and some of the flavor text caused me to question... Do Warforged have a sense of smell? I know they don't have to breathe, but can they actually smell anything?

Hunter Noventa
2010-03-04, 01:07 AM
No they don't. There's a special Warforged component in either the Eberron Campaign Setting or Races of Eberron that gives them the ability to smell, and the scent ability, if i recall.

Proven_Paradox
2010-03-04, 01:11 AM
I personally would be more inclined to say that they do simply to keep them vulnerable to spells that target the sense of smell (such as Stinking Cloud). RAW though, I have no idea, and if there's an item specifically to give them a sense of smell as Noventa says, they probably don't.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 01:12 AM
They don't have noses or nostrils - it seems pretty straightforward to me...

Starscream
2010-03-04, 01:52 AM
No no no. You're supposed to title the thread "How do Warforged smell?" Then see how many people get ninja'd in the race to say "Terrible."

The laws of bad comedy demand nothing less.

Asbestos
2010-03-04, 01:57 AM
No no no. You're supposed to title the thread "How do Warforged smell?" Then see how many people get ninja'd in the race to say "Terrible."

The laws of bad comedy demand nothing less.
What? When did you stop having Deadpool as your avatar? I am saddened.

Mystic Muse
2010-03-04, 01:58 AM
What? When did you stop having Deadpool as your avatar? I am saddened.

As am I. I liked Chimichanga deadpool.:smallfrown:

Devils_Advocate
2010-03-04, 02:01 AM
No they don't.
Keith Baker disagrees. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050711a)

Thajocoth
2010-03-04, 02:08 AM
No no no. You're supposed to title the thread "How do Warforged smell?" Then see how many people get ninja'd in the race to say "Terrible."

The laws of bad comedy demand nothing less.

Darn, beat me to it!

In 4e they can smell. Not needing food, water or air doesn't allow them immunity to anything, so you can still choke a Warforged.

Hurlbut
2010-03-04, 02:15 AM
Darn, beat me to it!

In 4e they can smell. Not needing food, water or air doesn't allow them immunity to anything, so you can still choke a Warforged.Um isn't the point of choking cutting of air to your target? So go ahead and get a warforged in a chokehold, he'll turn the tables on you :smallyuk:

Telok
2010-03-04, 02:30 AM
In 4th ed warforged can get food poisoning, rashes from poison ivy, STDs, and take damage from poisonous gases.

The only things being a construct actually protects you from is starvation, drowning/suffocation, and bleeding to death (you can take 10 on death saves).

Starscream
2010-03-04, 02:46 AM
What? When did you stop having Deadpool as your avatar? I am saddened.


As am I. I liked Chimichanga deadpool.:smallfrown:

There's no pleasing you people.:smallwink:

I actually stopped using that one about a month or so ago. I made the Deadpool avatar shortly after joining this forum, after my brief experimentations with the Riddler and Groucho Marx proved disappointing. I kept being told that my Deadpool avatar looked like a hot dog. Seriously, like four different people who don't know each other told me that.

But the only other OOTS style artwork I had at the time was the silly picture of Konata. I used that for maybe a week or two, and kept getting responses like "I can't take you seriously because I picture a Japanese schoolgirl doing the talking".

And to be honest, it was just supposed to be a placeholder anyway. I just had it lying around my hard drive, and used it until I could make a better one. My plan was to do an avatar of Lupin III, but I couldn't make one that I liked. He has rather a long and thin head, and attempting to translate it to the OOTS-Style (where the closest you can get is "slightly oval") didn't work.

So I made Kyon instead. And because I have now changed my avatar so many times that people can no longer remember who I am (Maybe I should just make one that actually looks like Starscream), I put all my old ones down in my signature, a gallery of examples that The Giant's job is a lot harder than it looks.

And now you know far more than any sane people would want to about my avatars.

Ashiel
2010-03-04, 06:17 AM
In 4th ed warforged can get food poisoning, rashes from poison ivy, STDs, and take damage from poisonous gases.

The only things being a construct actually protects you from is starvation, drowning/suffocation, and bleeding to death (you can take 10 on death saves).

This hurts me so much. :smalltongue:

Zeta Kai
2010-03-04, 06:23 AM
Keith Baker disagrees. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050711a)

Ah, what does he know? :smalltongue: I still say that they don't.

Asbestos
2010-03-04, 07:37 AM
In 4th ed warforged can get food poisoning, rashes from poison ivy, STDs, and take damage from poisonous gases.

The only things being a construct actually protects you from is starvation, drowning/suffocation, and bleeding to death (you can take 10 on death saves).
That is certainly one way to look at it...



In my games, I have Warforged immune to mundane diseases (sorry food poisoning) as all of the examples from the DMG are magical/supernatural in nature. If it can get anything from plant monster to spider to human sick, I have no problem with a wood and mysterious organic fluid creature getting sick. Likewise, poison ivy is right out (and ticks and leeches and mosquitoes too, common things that adventurers might run into, and I might include as flavor text, but I wouldn't subject the Warforged or any other living construct to them). STDs... again, mundane diseases, but I'm not even sure how a Warforged would acquire such a disease anyway, what with the lack of 'parts'. Perhaps one had some aftermarket 'upgrades'.

Poisonous Gases, sure, why not? Some poisonous gas is actually pretty corrosive, and as I pointed out in the above, at least some part of the Warforged consists of living material.


Annd... I can see the point of Keith Baker giving them a sense of smell but having it dulled. This way they can still warn people that there's a fire, but they can't notice the more subtle aromas that others may take for granted. The Tracker's Mask actually lends them smell++ since it also gives them the Scent ability, which is something I've always equated to the keen nose of a dog. I imagine that going from a sub-human sense of smell (already crappy compared to many animals) to a superhuman sense of smell might be a bit jarring.


The seldom used dinosaur people (saurials (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20040717a)) might be interesting to include in a campaign with Warforged because of the importance of subtle scents in their communication. I'm not sure if anyone has bothered to houserule them into 4e, but it probably isn't that hard (for the non-flying ones at least).

Coplantor
2010-03-04, 08:55 AM
You know? This thread title actually mademe ask myself, Do Warforged Dream of Half Construct Sheep?

Reaper_Monkey
2010-03-04, 09:07 AM
You know? This thread title actually mademe ask myself, Do Warforged Dream of Half Construct Sheep?

:biggrin:

Although... do they even dream at all? They don't need sleep, but can they sleep (and dream) if they choose to?

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 09:24 AM
:biggrin:

Although... do they even dream at all? They don't need sleep, but can they sleep (and dream) if they choose to?

They can remain inactive all night, but typically grow antsy when they do so. They like to keep their minds active, even with mundane or repetitive activities.
They can count sheep - or anything else - all night long.

Tiki Snakes
2010-03-04, 09:30 AM
They can remain inactive all night, but typically grow antsy when they do so. They like to keep their minds active, even with mundane or repetitive activities.
They can count sheep - or anything else - all night long.

Perhaps, as constructs and conciously aware of it, with a tenuous hold on the implications of their existence... they don't like to sleep, because they might dream.

Hmm.

I'd say that given Warforged can see, they can have any other mundane sense the DM thinks appropriate, though I reccommend at least adding hearing too, smell is a logical extra.

Coplantor
2010-03-04, 09:33 AM
Some designs seem to have nostrils, so I guess smelling can be added to the warforged senses. Now, would this make the vulnerable to things like the nauseating stench of the troglodyte?

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 09:38 AM
Some designs seem to have nostrils, so I guess smelling can be added to the warforged senses. Now, would this make the vulnerable to things like the nauseating stench of the troglodyte?

No, because they're immune to poison.

I'd say they can detect smells, but lack fine detail. A warforged can identify smoke, for instance, but not be able to tell whether a pork loin is well done or starting to burn.

Coplantor
2010-03-04, 09:40 AM
Did'nt knew it was poison, whoops!
Also, now I'm thinking about a warforged chef dealing with it's lack of fine smell while trying to make it to the top in the competitive world of the culinary arts.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 09:47 AM
Did'nt knew it was poison, whoops!
Also, now I'm thinking about a warforged chef dealing with it's lack of fine smell while trying to make it to the top in the competitive world of the culinary arts.

Futurama (http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/The_30%25_Iron_Chef) did exactly that :smalltongue:

(Though it was more taste, but the two senses are tied anyway)

Coplantor
2010-03-04, 09:52 AM
Futurama (http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/The_30%25_Iron_Chef) did exactly that :smalltongue:

(Though it was more taste, but the two senses are tied anyway)

NOW I WANT TO PLAY BENDER!
Warforgeds are growing from "I hate that race" to "ZOMG they rock" lately. Specially since I'm using onw to try to play optimus in a DnD campaign :smalltongue:
I'll let you know how that goes.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 11:07 AM
NOW I WANT TO PLAY BENDER!
Warforgeds are growing from "I hate that race" to "ZOMG they rock" lately. Specially since I'm using onw to try to play optimus in a DnD campaign :smalltongue:
I'll let you know how that goes.

A mildly CE Warforged that constantly tells the party to "Cheese it!"?

Sign me up :smallsmile:

arguskos
2010-03-04, 11:21 AM
Futurama (http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/The_30%25_Iron_Chef) did exactly that :smalltongue:

(Though it was more taste, but the two senses are tied anyway)
"I'd give up any of my other senses, even smission, just to be able to taste. :smallfrown:"

Oh Bender, you so funny.

No, I have nothing useful to add, I just wanted to make that quote. >_> Warforged, he's a pretty cool guy, has a sense of taste and doesn't afraid of anything? :P

Eric Tolle
2010-03-04, 11:25 AM
They don't have noses or nostrils - it seems pretty straightforward to me...

It's worth pointing out that one doesn't need noses or nostrils to have a sense of smell- insects for example use antenna. Since a sense of smell is simply a case of chemoreceptors, it makes sense that Warforged be able to detect chemicals in their environment. What they probably lack though is context and emotional connotations. "Based on the volatiles given off, I would say the 20 gp wine has a high acid-vinegar content. Why are you angry?"

DragoonWraith
2010-03-04, 11:51 AM
It's worth pointing out that one doesn't need noses or nostrils to have a sense of smell- insects for example use antenna. Since a sense of smell is simply a case of chemoreceptors, it makes sense that Warforged be able to detect chemicals in their environment. What they probably lack though is context and emotional connotations. "Based on the volatiles given off, I would say the 20 gp wine has a high acid-vinegar content. Why are you angry?"
Except that Warforged do have some emotions, I think? Still, I agree - one would expect that they receive information about things like smells as bland numbers, not the emotional information that we receive. A Warforged probably could smell, say, fumes, and recognize them as dangerous to his non-forged peers if he was aware that those gases are bad for lungs, but it wouldn't smell bad the way they do for us. We avoid bad smells (usually) because they are bad for us, but this would have to be linked for a Warforged.

Basically, our brains skip a step. When our nostrils detect dangerous gases, the brain does not tell the mind that such-and-such gases are present. It sends the message that "BAD!" and we try to avoid it because it smells bad, and in theory it smells bad because it is dangerous. There are exceptions, however.

Winthur
2010-03-04, 11:53 AM
No no no. You're supposed to title the thread "How do Warforged smell?" Then see how many people get ninja'd in the race to say "Terrible."

The laws of bad comedy demand nothing less.

My Warforged has no nose!

How does he smell?

Awful!

aivanther
2010-03-04, 12:04 PM
From races of eberron, page 176


Tracker Mask (attached component): Crafted to
fit above the mouth of a warforged, this thin mask is
a peaked band of silvery metal with ventlike structures
that fall under the eyes when worn. Originally
created for use by warforged reconnaissance troops,
the tracker mask grants its wearer the scent ability
(see page 314 of the Monster Manual). However, many
warforged covet this item because it gives them the
ability to smell all scents, not merely those of a creature
being tracked.
The mask occupies space on the body as goggles and
fuses with the wearer’s face when donned, forming a
nose ridge with the slatted vents on either side.
Faint divination; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, owl’s
wisdom; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

Implicit in the description is that they do not have a sense of smell, and need this component to smell anything.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 12:10 PM
Implicit in the description is that they do not have a sense of smell, and need this component to smell anything.

It could also mean that they don't have a detailed sense of smell, as per Keith Baker's article, and the mask enlivens their sense of smell as well as heightening it.

I'd probably have them smell on a more chemical level, like Eric supposed. They can detect smoke, but not what kind... they can notice a dead body nearby, but not be able to tell whether it was dead for 2 days or 2 weeks... that sort of thing.

Sliver
2010-03-04, 12:20 PM
I loved warforged since the moment I heard about them! Sure that post talked about warlock warforged with lazors, cloaking and jet packs for flight..

DragoonWraith
2010-03-04, 12:24 PM
I'd probably have them smell on a more chemical level, like Eric supposed. They can detect smoke, but not what kind... they can notice a dead body nearby, but not be able to tell whether it was dead for 2 days or 2 weeks... that sort of thing.
See, I don't think this would make a lot of sense; their olfactory senses shouldn't lack detail (hell, it's probably more detailed, really, since they're presumably getting reasonably accurate readings of the concentrations of each individual chemical in the air). It's more an issue of making sense of the information in ways that the human brain does automatically. A human doesn't need to be taught to avoid fumes because they smell bad and they'll avoid them even without knowing that they are harmful. A warforged wouldn't get that information free, he'd have to know it.

So a warforged who knows something about bodies can tell you, probably with amazing accuracy, how long one has been dead. But if they smelled something without some other indication of the source of the smell, or previous knowledge of the smell, they'd know nothing about it. "Hmm, there is an unusually high amount of sulphur in the air" when everyone else is covering their nose and mouth and trying not to breathe too heavily. That kind of thing. For the body, "There is x methane being released by the body" only means something if the warforged has knowledge of how much is released by the body at various stages of decay.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 12:29 PM
See, I don't think this would make a lot of sense; their olfactory senses shouldn't lack detail (hell, it's probably more detailed, really, since they're presumably getting reasonably accurate readings of the concentrations of each individual chemical in the air). It's more an issue of making sense of the information in ways that the human brain does automatically. A human doesn't need to be taught to avoid fumes because they smell bad and they'll avoid them even without knowing that they are harmful. A warforged wouldn't get that information free, he'd have to know it.

So a warforged who knows something about bodies can tell you, probably with amazing accuracy, how long one has been dead. But if they smelled something without some other indication of the source of the smell, or previous knowledge of the smell, they'd know nothing about it. "Hmm, there is an unusually high amount of sulphur in the air" when everyone else is covering their nose and mouth and trying not to breathe too heavily. That kind of thing. For the body, "There is x methane being released by the body" only means something if the warforged has knowledge of how much is released by the body at various stages of decay.

The problem I have with this theory is that even the densest Warforged would eventually be able to make that correlation. Lots of methane in the air? It's probably been dead longer than a body with barely any.

But Warforged are supposed to lack that level of detail no matter how long they've been nosing around. If they do get the detail but just have trouble making the connections, there's only so many times they can see repeating phenomena without that logic coming into play.

Fiery Diamond
2010-03-04, 12:35 PM
Ever consider that warforged were just written badly and we should all just decide individually which interpretation we want to go with?

...

I apologize. *grins* I had to.

Reaper_Monkey
2010-03-04, 12:39 PM
Easy solution is that they can detect the presence of chemicals etc in the air, but have no way of detecting how much. Its a binary signal, and as such its crude and unable to grant any real qualitative data anaylsis. So still able to know if there is smoke in the air, but no way of knowing how long a body has been dead for.

Greenish
2010-03-04, 12:39 PM
I much doubt the whole "smell individual chemicals and their concentration in the air" idea. Even a manufactured system doesn't have to do that to provide data, and warforged got their sense of smell the magical mystical way. Theirs just happens to be duller than that of most creatures, but they'd know what they're smelling from experience.

Just think of it like this: warforged sense of smell to human sense is like human sense to that of, say, dogs. Much less detailed, and if the dogs were talking about something they smell, you'd be pretty out of the conversation.

[Edit]: So, in my opinion, the difference between warforged and other races, when it comes to sense of smell, is quantitative, not qualitative.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 12:48 PM
Easy solution is that they can detect the presence of chemicals etc in the air, but have no way of detecting how much. Its a binary signal, and as such its crude and unable to grant any real qualitative data anaylsis. So still able to know if there is smoke in the air, but no way of knowing how long a body has been dead for.

Right, this is absolutely what I was proposing.


Ever consider that warforged were just written badly and we should all just decide individually which interpretation we want to go with?

But collectively is more fun! :smallbiggrin:

Volkov
2010-03-04, 12:49 PM
In 4th ed warforged can get food poisoning, rashes from poison ivy, STDs, and take damage from poisonous gases.

The only things being a construct actually protects you from is starvation, drowning/suffocation, and bleeding to death (you can take 10 on death saves).

One more reason to never convert to 4e.

DragoonWraith
2010-03-04, 01:25 PM
But Warforged are supposed to lack that level of detail no matter how long they've been nosing around. If they do get the detail but just have trouble making the connections, there's only so many times they can see repeating phenomena without that logic coming into play.
What says that they are? I must have missed that.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 01:30 PM
What says that they are? I must have missed that.

See the quote of the Tracker Mask above.

Vizzerdrix
2010-03-04, 01:41 PM
I'm of the belief that the tracker mask was written poorly and by someone who didn't have more than a passing idea what warforged are.

Honestly, if the warforged entry doesn't say they can't smell things, then they can. The loss of one of the five senses is big enough that it would have been mentioned in the creature entry.

2xMachina
2010-03-04, 01:47 PM
I always like to think warforged as cyborgs. They don't smell so much as they can tell the wine is emitting ethanol fumes at 5ppm and so forth.

And tracer's mask is just a souped up detector. Now smelling out good wine from 30 feet away.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 01:49 PM
I'm of the belief that the tracker mask was written poorly and by someone who didn't have more than a passing idea what warforged are.

Honestly, if the warforged entry doesn't say they can't smell things, then they can. The loss of one of the five senses is big enough that it would have been mentioned in the creature entry.

They can smell things - Keith Baker says this pretty explicitly in the article linked above - the mask just helps them smell things better.

Greenish
2010-03-04, 01:51 PM
They can smell things - Keith Baker says this pretty explicitly in the article linked above - the mask just helps them smell things better.Vizzerdrix is agreeing with you in that they can. :smallbiggrin:

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 01:53 PM
Vizzerdrix is agreeing with you in that they can. :smallbiggrin:

I know, but he is claiming - wrongfully, by my estimation - that the Tracker Mask description states that they can't. I interpret that line to mean that their sense of smell is dull without it, rather than non-existent - and Keith Baker's line supports my assertion.

DragoonWraith
2010-03-04, 01:56 PM
I agree - they can smell things better - as in the Scent quality. Which is notably beyond the ability of the human nose, or the noses of even, say, gnomes (who do have much better noses than humans). To say that without the mask, warforged are noticeably weaker in this department than humans, seems to me to be besides the point.

The other thing that I think the mask grants is a bit of a living thing's appreciation for the emotional quality of smells. In other words, the mask doesn't merely improve their ability to smell, but also provides them with emotional feedback on what they are smelling - allowing them to enjoy fine smells.

Vizzerdrix
2010-03-04, 01:59 PM
I know, but he is claiming - wrongfully, by my estimation - that the Tracker Mask description states that they can't. I interpret that line to mean that their sense of smell is dull without it, rather than non-existent - and Keith Baker's line supports my assertion.

I am in full agreement with you. I stated my last post in the way I did as that is the most common argument in support that they can't smell at all.

Optimator
2010-03-04, 02:27 PM
Well, Warforged get a Wisdom penalty so dulled senses are already built in the Warforged package.

Asbestos
2010-03-04, 03:06 PM
Well, Warforged get a Wisdom penalty so dulled senses are already built in the Warforged package.

Except that smell and touch are explicitly duller than sight or hearing.

Apparently they have a sense of taste too, though this was never planned by the people that made them. Some sort of magical accident that happens in the making of Warforged.

Also, they do have emotions. Races of Eberron says they are capable of Hate, Jealousy, Fear, Camaraderie, a need for approval, basically anything but 'Love' is well within their emotional range (not sure what capital L love is. Is it Romantic, Platonic, Sexual?) It is mentioned that they aren't particularly emotional, but that doesn't make them emotionless robots or Robocop-type cyborgs. To me it means that a warforged isn't going to go around saying "oh I love this" or "I hate that" it'd be more like "I prefer that" or "I'm not a fan of this". The warforged emotional state of 11 would be a human's 6.

hiryuu
2010-03-04, 04:21 PM
Also, they do have emotions. Races of Eberron says they are capable of Hate, Jealousy, Fear, Camaraderie, a need for approval, basically anything but 'Love' is well within their emotional range (not sure what capital L love is. Is it Romantic, Platonic, Sexual?) It is mentioned that they aren't particularly emotional, but that doesn't make them emotionless robots or Robocop-type cyborgs. To me it means that a warforged isn't going to go around saying "oh I love this" or "I hate that" it'd be more like "I prefer that" or "I'm not a fan of this". The warforged emotional state of 11 would be a human's 6.

I always interpreted it as the fact that they don't understand them very much. I mean, look at it this way: you've got a creature that feels emotions just as strongly as a human, but it literally has no culture and it's two years old. Six at the most. It's not going to know how to express what it's feeling at all. Out of the gate, they can only know common, and I bet their grasp of that is tenuous at best, so I think that articulating emotions, smells, and other sensations is probably quite outside of their scope. Not only that, but they're hard-wired (what would we call that when we're dealing with multiple spell effects? Hard-runed?) with a lot of information already, so it would be very hard to snap themselves out of it and deal with mundane life for a good long while. So, what you got is an autistic adult who doesn't know his native language that well or how to express his emotions or sensory experiences, who feels them just as strongly as anyone else, and whose only tools for dealing with frustration have always been to just go thwomp the enemy, and who's damn near invincible as far as the local town guard is concerned.

They also get a -2 to Wisdom and Charisma. The average warforged is about as perceptive, deep, and philosophical as a drunk illiterate, with the interest and articulation of the same (much like how the average elf has the Constitution of an anemic 19th-century British shut-in).

Yeah, I can see why common people in Eberron are leery of them.

In settings where they've been around much longer, I think they'd probably think and act like whatever culture lives locally.

Optimystik
2010-03-04, 04:29 PM
In settings where they've been around much longer, I think they'd probably think and act like whatever culture lives locally.

Well... yes and no. You're right that they have to grow up very quickly... but they are quite capable of doing so.


The warforged is born a blank slate, but it possesses a voracious appetite for knowledge. Just as the mind of a human child is more flexible than that of an adult, in its first few months a warforged possesses an astonishing ability to learn and adapt. A warforged may begin with no knowledge of the battlefield. But many Cannith instructors claim that the knowledge seems to be hidden beneath the surface, just waiting to be unlocked -- that within a few months of training, a warforged soldier may outstrip the skills of his teacher. The warforged must be shown the path to walk, but after taking its first steps, a warforged often picks up speed, learning skills in mere months that a human might take years to master.

As for their grasp of Common - they speak it perfectly, but their problem is in applying it. Because they think of everything in military terms, they can sometimes have trouble getting themselves across to others. RoE - They might pass a pack of children on the other side of the street, and when describing what they've seen to a companion, call them "a platoon of cadets."

absolmorph
2010-03-04, 04:49 PM
As for their grasp of Common - they speak it perfectly, but their problem is in applying it. Because they think of everything in military terms, they can sometimes have trouble getting themselves across to others. RoE - They might pass a pack of children on the other side of the street, and when describing what they've seen to a companion, call them "a platoon of cadets."
HehehehehahahahahaHAHAHAHA....
I want to play a warforged now.

Ravens_cry
2010-03-04, 04:54 PM
Wait, wait, there are different masks that allow different warforged to do different things?
Who got their Lego mixed up with my magecraft robots?

AslanCross
2010-03-04, 04:59 PM
It's worth pointing out that one doesn't need noses or nostrils to have a sense of smell- insects for example use antenna. Since a sense of smell is simply a case of chemoreceptors, it makes sense that Warforged be able to detect chemicals in their environment. What they probably lack though is context and emotional connotations. "Based on the volatiles given off, I would say the 20 gp wine has a high acid-vinegar content. Why are you angry?"

I like this interpretation, but I wouldn't say so much as emotional connotations as aesthetic connotations.

Starscream
2010-03-04, 05:03 PM
HehehehehahahahahaHAHAHAHA....
I want to play a warforged now.

That sounds like it could lead to some interesting scenarios similar to Durkon's "Turn Undead!" reflex.

"Oh, look, a platoon of cadets."
"Where?! I cast Confusion!...Oops."
"No, don't worry, they were beating that kid up already, I think."

hiryuu
2010-03-04, 05:12 PM
As for their grasp of Common - they speak it perfectly, but their problem is in applying it. Because they think of everything in military terms, they can sometimes have trouble getting themselves across to others. RoE - They might pass a pack of children on the other side of the street, and when describing what they've seen to a companion, call them "a platoon of cadets."

You know that being a "poor speaker" and "not able to apply the language properly" are the same thing, right?

I don't like the Races of Eberron entry. In fact, I don't like most of what Races of Eberron says much on warforged at all. They basically spend a third of a book saying "all warforged are measured in degrees of Sousuke Sagara," blatantly ignoring and contradicting what Kieth Baker and other writers have said before, and that is not any way to describe a cultural attitude, not mention a few of the obviously flat-out wrong implications as to armored body and druids/monks. The way the fluff reads it seems that the idea that warforged are robots was the measuring stick and they never bothered to actually bother with anything resembling a psychology at all. That bit about the Cannith trainers "unlocking hidden knowledge" is an obvious metagame cop-out for players who don't want to deal with the psychology of the matter at all.

AslanCross
2010-03-04, 05:13 PM
Well... yes and no. You're right that they have to grow up very quickly... but they are quite capable of doing so.



As for their grasp of Common - they speak it perfectly, but their problem is in applying it. Because they think of everything in military terms, they can sometimes have trouble getting themselves across to others. RoE - They might pass a pack of children on the other side of the street, and when describing what they've seen to a companion, call them "a platoon of cadets."

More specifically, a group of children playing on a street corner would be seen as "that platoon of cadets training at the crossroads."

The Shadowmind
2010-03-04, 05:27 PM
More specifically, a group of children playing on a street corner would be seen as "that platoon of cadets training at the crossroads."

Wouldn't that be a platoon of gnome cadets training at the crossroads, since Warforged likely have little knowledge of reproduction or aging? Making children likely mistaken for gnomes, halflings, and beardless dwarves?

absolmorph
2010-03-04, 05:33 PM
That sounds like it could lead to some interesting scenarios similar to Durkon's "Turn Undead!" reflex.

"Oh, look, a platoon of cadets."
"Where?! I cast Confusion!...Oops."
"No, don't worry, they were beating that kid up already, I think."
A LICH IS BINDING SOULS?! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0016.html)

Asbestos
2010-03-04, 10:48 PM
Not only that, but they're hard-wired (what would we call that when we're dealing with multiple spell effects? Hard-runed?) with a lot of information already, .

Um, what? They aren't hardwired for much it seems beyond motor control.

I would describe warforged as having a blunted affect (look it up! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect) rather than as autistic children.

hiryuu
2010-03-04, 11:06 PM
Um, what? They aren't hardwired for much it seems beyond motor control.

I would describe warforged as having a blunted affect (look it up! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect) rather than as autistic children.

Perhaps.

I say this because most warforged in the setting are two years old, but in the setting, I remember Hellcow mentioning that the average soldier is a level 2 warrior and the average warforged is a level 2 fighter. This means that warforged either learns stupid fast or else it comes with a lot of the training already.

I mean, I could be wrong. I just don't like the idea of "blunted affect," since they don't even understand trauma (also because it's a symptom as opposed to a spectrum disorder), and there's nothing in their stats that say morale effects have less of an effect on them. It's more likely that they feel emotions just as strongly as anyone else but can't express them (that, and I remember Hellcow saying something to that effect as well, he was very active on the Eberron board for months after its release, but I could be misremembering).

Asbestos
2010-03-04, 11:27 PM
This means that warforged either learns stupid fast or else it comes with a lot of the training already.

Races of Eberron would seem to imply that they do, in fact, learn stupid fast.

Also, the same implies that they do NOT feel emotions as strongly as everyone else. Where's that Keith Baker guy when you need him? It isn't like he's never been involved with this site before *eyes the link to the 'Gleaner' class*

Optimystik
2010-03-05, 08:29 AM
This means that warforged either learns stupid fast or else it comes with a lot of the training already.

They do learn extremely quickly - read the passage I quoted earlier:

"[Early in life,] a warforged can learn in months what it takes a human years to master."

Tiki Snakes
2010-03-05, 08:31 AM
I find the concept of them resembling people with autism more interesting than them merely being slightly less emotional. *shrug*

taltamir
2010-03-05, 08:35 AM
anyone here watch the transformers movie? they can smell (and have noses with visible air flow)

AslanCross
2010-03-05, 09:29 AM
Wouldn't that be a platoon of gnome cadets training at the crossroads, since Warforged likely have little knowledge of reproduction or aging? Making children likely mistaken for gnomes, halflings, and beardless dwarves?

They can't identify with humanoid biological processes, but I think they have enough intellect to interpret biological development as a kind of vocational development. But that's material for another thread, methinks.