Warforged Creativity Block

[big teej]

this occured to me during the OOC thread for a play by post, copy-pasted below for easy summation.



hm...

I seem to have trouble assigning personalities and backgrounds to warforged characters.

thoughts/suggestions?

I can't bring my creativity away from the archetype of the lliving war-machine.

it is a being created to fight, and only fight. sure, there are numerous variations upon that - professional soldier, elite special ops, bodyguard, etc.

but I can never bring myself away from the idea of having an immediete superior. and I feel it cheapens the race to play them "just as anything else, just robotic"

so I'm kinda stuck there.

now, that said, I have no problem playing the loyal mechanical pet type character.

I'm more concerned with the fact I can't get past that.

... I blame the fact I've only got the MM III to work with for warforged.




so...

thoughts?
suggestions?
ideas?

I need advice/help on how to break out of this rather constricting view of 'Forged.

thanks in advance.

[Tvtyrant]

Medi-Forged: Designed to go onto the frontline and heal injured soldiers where a medic could not normally go.
Fire-Forged: A Warforged designed for going into burning buildings to save people, and also up tall ladders to save kittens.
Slave-Forged: The Warforged in your country of origin created thousands to work in mines and build roads without pay, food, or sleep.
Nanny-Forged: Built for rich families, the Nanny-forged are designed to love and nurture children while the parents make billions on the sock market.

[big teej]

Nanny-Forged: Built for rich families, the Nanny-forged are designed to love and nurture children while the parents make billions on the sock market.

is the industry of sheathing peoples feet in cotton tubes truely so profitable? :smallconfused:

on topic: those are great suggestions, and do help, but dont' quite break out of that "serivitude bit" if that makes sense.

there's a lovely picture of a warforged pimp out there somewhere.

I can't for the life of me figure out how I would play a warforged in such a manner. (that is, independent, with human like behavior and goals)

[Thrice Dead Cat]

'Forged: Beings made through arcane artifice to do... stuff.:smallwink:

[Tvtyrant]

is the industry of sheathing peoples feet in cotton tubes truly so profitable? :smallconfused:


You cannot begin to imagine :smallcool:

If you want none-servant origins make them not made by people; Warforged are made of wood, they could just as easily be created by the trees to defend themselves.

Or from just the point of a PC you could be created by a wizard as an experiment in artificial life. Other then your existence the Wizard didn't care, and dismissed you as too weak to be what it was looking for.

Or you could steal the Ithiliads line and have Warforged from the future put Warforged in the past to make sure there are Warforged in the future.

[big teej]

You cannot begin to imagine :smallcool:

If you want none-servant origins make them not made by people; Warforged are made of wood, they could just as easily be created by the trees to defend themselves.

Or from just the point of a PC you could be created by a wizard as an experiment in artificial life. Other then your existence the Wizard didn't care, and dismissed you as too weak to be what it was looking for.

Or you could steal the Ithiliads line and have Warforged from the future put Warforged in the past to make sure there are Warforged in the future.

ooooh....

now those work, well except the trees, I'm not ready for a leafy warforged just yet. haha.

but the terminator and experiment ideas.
I like ^_^

[Malimar]

My campaign setting has warforged originally designed for mining operations deep beneath the ocean, what with not needing to breathe and all. The idea of warforged being used only for war has always struck me as silly: a sapient being is so much more versatile than that. Put the "war" part of the name from your mind, and think of them as robots like any other robots.

Basically, this: think of a thing that's too dangerous or too low-oxygen or gross or tedious for feeble normal fleshy people to do; somebody made a line of warforged to do that thing.

Specific ideas to play with:
- undersea exploration/work
- space exploration/work
- exploration/work on hostile planes
- mining of any sort
- sewage treatment and sewer line maintenance
- household chores
- guinea pig (specifically thinking "test pilot", however you might go about incorporating that concept into D&D)
- research ("Librarian-bot, find me all the information you can on avocados...")
- law enforcement (or traffic enforcement (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids))
- worshipping a deity to free up the rest of the community for more useful activities (along the lines of prayer wheels, the Tibetan devices which do your praying for you)
- worshipping a deity because the deity in question is such a distasteful one that you're trying to power it up with prayer but wouldn't be able to find very many human worshippers to do it

(Side note: most of those are pretty good if I do say so myself, but holy awesome those last two are an amazing idea and I must immediately incorporate them into my campaign setting.)

---

On another side of the d20 altogether, for an individual character rather than an entire line of them: the notion of a warforged who broke free of his creators and is now his own guy is probably Drizz't-level cliche at this point, but there are still drastic variations on that which aren't common in D&D.

I'm thinking specifically this: (re)read I, Robot and the rest of Isaac Asimov's robot oeuvre, most of which take the form of logic puzzles or detailed explorations of a concept, where the concept is almost always a variation on "Robot X is Three Laws safe in every way, except for subtle defect Y" ("It can read minds"; "it's missing the 'or through inaction' part of the First Law"; "it's put into a situation where the laws conflict in exactly the wrong way"; "it has creativity" (I thought from the title that this post would be something like Bicentennial Man, with a warforged robot whose defect is that he possesses creativity)).

I mention Asimov only because he put out the highest volume of the purest distillations of this trope. You could also consider things like Data from Star Trek, Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide, or Kryten from Red Dwarf; basically any fiction that has a robot. There's such a wide variety of fiction to rip off choose from!

[JeminiZero]

Ask yourself: What if Wizards found a way to make them look human(oid)? Shouldn't be too difficult with a Hat of Disguise and some ranks in the disguise skill, or they might be crafted that way.

Perhaps an infertile couple might want a surrogate child. So they commission a wizard to construct a warforged scout (which is small sized) that looks like and acts like a 7 year old girl called Pino (also see: David from A.I, Big Guy and Rusty).

They also have immunity to disease, and never get tired. All you need is some enterprising wizard to figure out a way to retrofit the appropriate anatomy and you wind up with: Whore-forged

Or perhaps the maker doesn't want to sell his creations in that manner. There IS the stereotype of the mad scientist wizard trying to make the perfect woman for himself.

[AslanCross]

Some thoughts on alternate backgrounds. These will especially work if you're in Eberron.

The House Cannith warforged production lines were a vast operation that spanned several cities. Most of the known Creation Forges were in Cyre, and all are presumed to have been destroyed in the Mourning.

Some might not have shut down.

Ideas:
1. You wake up. You are sentient and sapient. You can sense the world around you. You can feel strength in your body; you know you have the ability to inflict pain and injury. But nobody taught you anything about society. What are these weird beings made out of flesh? (Class: Warblade, Barbarian, etc)

2. You are a Legion of Blades sleeper agent. Something was implanted in you by the Lord of Blades that can instantly turn you into a lethal killing machine. However, you are not aware of it. (Class: Rogue, Swordsage, whatever)

3. The day you were born, the sky caught fire. Death and disaster explodes around you just as you emerge from the Creation Forge. The sheer surge of magical energy infuses you. Visions of terror and insanity fill your mind. You can't really control it, but you know it burns within you. (Class: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wilder)

[Coidzor]

Well, I think Data would be a good example of how some Warforged wrestle with no longer being slaves but actually having full personhood.

Discovering and exploring personhood seems to be part and parcel of the expected RP of warforged from the Keith Baker books I've read and the setting fluff.

[Starscream]

Play Robocop.:smalltongue:

Seriously. Warforged would make a great fantasy police archetype.

You were created not as a weapon of war, but as a upholder of peace. You are initially Lawful Neutral, understanding little save for the laws and the fact that you must uphold them. But as you interact with people, you begin to understand them as more than possible sources of disorder and crime, and start becoming LG (or even NG if you begin to accept that there are more important things than your duty).

If you want to take the Robocop thing even farther (and you aren't in a setting where Warforged other than you exist), then have your character start to question his origin. You've met other constructs, they were mindless things with no function other than to follow orders. Why is it that you can think and feel? What makes you different than them? And why do you occasionally have dreams and memories of a different life, one in which you yourself were a living creature, who was tragically killed...?

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

I personally enjoy the concept of religious Warforged. Trying to put the history of their people behind them to serve a greater purpose while also trying to fight the urges of the past. And if someone says something about a 'robot' finding god get in their face about it. Something along the lines of, "What? You think just because I am not made of flesh I can not find value in the belief of a divine being? Are my convictions not as strong as yours JUST because I do not have a 'soul'?" etc...

[Coidzor]

If you want to take the Robocop thing even farther (and you aren't in a setting where Warforged other than you exist), then have your character start to question his origin. You've met other constructs, they were mindless things with no function other than to follow orders. Why is it that you can think and feel? What makes you different than them? And why do you occasionally have dreams and memories of a different life, one in which you yourself were a living creature, who was tragically killed...?

I believe there's a song about it, actually. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yuaUCKFII)

[Bugbeartrap]

Pino

I see what you did there, and I thought I was the only one to watch Ergo Proxy.

My first thoughts regarding the 'forged personality regard recovering from The Last War, however it sounds like your game is not set in Eberron.

In this case, your personality would have a lot to do with the setting. Are warforged common, or are they rare and mysterious? Are they seen as equals, or treated with suspicion and contempt? If the warforged is no longer able to fulfill the purpose for which it was made, how do they fill that hole? They may try to cling to the comraderie they felt in their unit, meanwhile they are drawn apart by the differences between them and their fleshy companions.

[Vangor]

Warforged can still be relatively new but do not have the type of developmental stages humans do and other humanoids would experience. To this, make Warforged never until now released into the world, who has no experience with objects but knows them. They are drawn to objects (shiny things, say), are overt without filters (announce why they are wary of someone or do not understand), and try things (is a servant for a while, a soldier, tries to bake, etc..). Make the personality one of trying to locate a personality and comprehend the world.

[NecroRick]

Medi-Forged: Designed to go onto the frontline and heal injured soldiers where a medic could not normally go.
Fire-Forged: A Warforged designed for going into burning buildings to save people, and also up tall ladders to save kittens.
Slave-Forged: The Warforged in your country of origin created thousands to work in mines and build roads without pay, food, or sleep.
Nanny-Forged: Built for rich families, the Nanny-forged are designed to love and nurture children while the parents make billions on the sock market.

Toast-forged. Would you like some toast?

Are you sure you don't want any toast?
How about a crumpet?

[Greenish]

My campaign setting has warforged originally designed for mining operations deep beneath the ocean, what with not needing to breathe and all.I've wanted to do that one, with Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightentment (Blackwater Domain). Bam, immune to pressure damage.

Shame they don't come with darkvision like most other constructs.


- worshipping a deity to free up the rest of the community for more useful activities (along the lines of prayer wheels, the Tibetan devices which do your praying for you)Mechanical monk!

Some thoughts on alternate backgrounds. These will especially work if you're in Eberron.

The House Cannith warforged production lines were a vast operation that spanned several cities. Most of the known Creation Forges were in Cyre, and all are presumed to have been destroyed in the Mourning.

Some might not have shut down.Like Merrix d'Cannith's secret one in Sharn, or the defective one Lord of Blades is operating in Mournlands? :smalltongue:

At least the former is known to occasionally cause a very confused warforged with no memories of anything to pop up in the middle of Sharn, the continent's largest city. That might be disorienting.

[Salbazier]

Races of Eberron (one of my favorite book) has loads on Warforged. Let see...

-Always looking for a goal in life. Presumably this is in Eberron, I imagine they, originally created as warmachines, now free, will always trying to find a goal or something to pursue. Looking fo their place in the world so to speak.

-Strong association with war. Like assuming command structures in daily life or militaristic behavior.

-Hobbies. RoE tell us that warforged tend to have hobbies. Untiring, need no sleep, and not easily bored, but restless when have nothing to do, they always look for small activities to do in in spare time (like when everone else sleeping) from counting stones to making various art object. Whenever I make a warforged character I always assign some points to craft skill.

-Religion is also interesting angle. There is many angle here. Unbeliever simply because they cannot comprehend such thing. Practical. Religious zealot who found faith give theiir existence a purpose more than just being an 'artifice'. Worship some battle god because its its one aspect of life that is closer to them and they can understood better. ect

-Rejoicing in freedom and new experience.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Watch the original RoboCop. Not the sequels, just the original movie.

[Hazzardevil]

Or you could steal the Ithiliads line and have Warforged from the future put Warforged in the past to make sure there are Warforged in the future.

I swear I've heard that idea on TV before somewhere, where some aliens are running out of food, so they put their brains into Robots and send them back in time to fetch food or just start a new empire.
I think it was called Super Robot Monkey Team Force Something.

[Malimar]

I swear I've heard that idea on TV before somewhere, where some aliens are running out of food, so they put their brains into Robots and send them back in time to fetch food or just start a new empire.
I think it was called Super Robot Monkey Team Force Something.

Doctor Who did (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_%28Doctor_Who%29) that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Drums), too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_of_the_Time_Lords).

[Forged Fury]

At least the former is known to occasionally cause a very confused warforged with no memories of anything to pop up in the middle of Sharn, the continent's largest city. That might be disorienting.
That's essentially the background for the Warforged Factotum I built a little while ago. No memories, not sure what his purpose is, factotum lets him sort of do everything.

[Gullintanni]

...the defective one...

I've always liked this idea. There's a lot of room to work with here. I like playing robots whose defect is that they believe they are defective; despite being perfectly functional. Self-terminating should, of course, be the initial goal of such a robot :smalltongue:

[Greenish]

I've always liked this idea. There's a lot of room to work with here. I like playing robots whose defect is that they believe they are defective; despite being perfectly functional. Self-terminating should, of course, be the initial goal of such a robot :smalltongue:That's not me you're quoting. :smallamused:

[Warlawk]

That's not me you're quoting. :smallamused:

Yes it is, you were talking about Forges in Sharn or maybe 'the defective one' the Lord of Blades uses.


I personally enjoy the concept of religious Warforged. Trying to put the history of their people behind them to serve a greater purpose while also trying to fight the urges of the past. And if someone says something about a 'robot' finding god get in their face about it. Something along the lines of, "What? You think just because I am not made of flesh I can not find value in the belief of a divine being? Are my convictions not as strong as yours JUST because I do not have a 'soul'?" etc...

I actually have a concept written up for a warforged 4E battlecleric that I've never had the chance to play. His reason for philanthropy and killing people are practically the same. He found faith when his master was mortally wounded and died in his arms. Now he truly has faith and believes in the presence of the divine, however he only truly feels close to the divine and feels the touch of his Goddess at the moment of death. Since clearly, his own would be bad... he seeks the deaths of others. This is motivation for combat obviously and he is intelligent enough to seek enemies that can be killed without legal or societal backlash (hence hunting the bad guys). This is also motivation for philanthropy in the form of tending the sick and dying. The character worshiped the Raven Queen in 4e, so tending the sick was appropriate in that either they would get better if his Lady was not ready for them, or they would die and pass to her realm. He would be with them when they went, watching their eyes as they passed from the mortal realm into the arms of his Lady. He would watch for the spark of the divine at the moment of passing, seeking a glimpse of his Lady. Unsure if Warforged even have souls, he was sometimes a bit insecure in his religion in the sense that he had great difficulty explaining it to persons of other races and dealing with them in social situations that might touch on his faith. This insecurity is the root of his reasons to continually seek out the reassurance of contact with the divine spark in the moment of death.

Robot death machine that calls down the wrath of the gods? Check.
Motivation outside his initial programming? Check.
Characters flaws and fun RP potential? Check.

I doubt our group will ever have a 4E game I can play him in, but I might switch his mechanics up and play him in a 3E game sometime because I think it has the potential to be a very fun character.

EDIT: Just wanted to add something I had as a motivation in our first game of Eberron. I was DMing, and at this point we had the core Eberron Campaign book and nothing else, so when it came to a lot of things we were just sort of winging it. The game had a warforged player so of course their racial issues played a part in the story. With nothing else to go on, I had to figure out why the Lord of Blades was raising his own army and positioning himself for war.

The obvious reason is because he's a military robot and just doing what he was programmed to do and what he knows best... but that's kind of boring. His philosophy in a nutshell (Had a long section of notes that really developed this when the game was active) is that every race, both sentient and bestial can find it's place in the world only one way. Every race has found their place in the world through War. Either as the victim or aggressor war is the 'placement test' if you will for all intelligent races. They either make war and conquer others, securing their place in the world or they are defined by their ability or lack thereof to defend themselves against those who make war upon them. The world of beasts is much the same on a smaller scale. All things take their place in the world based on their ability to kill or prevent themselves from being killed. The only difference between races is simply the scale it happens on, in that humans do this on a much larger scale than squirrels.

So in my world the Lord of Blades was not necessarily a bad guy, he just wanted to find a place in the world for his people. He was doing this in a way that was familiar to him, but more so it was what he had learned of the world around him by studying history. The history of various races showed him clearly that war was the only way to find a place in the world for his race, so that is what he is doing. The party came into contact with some small skirmishing units loyal to the LoB and had a number of interesting conversations with them, the party warforged was actually sold on the idea and had 'signed' up for the LoB forces once his fleshy companions were dead. It was loyalty to the individuals in the party that kept him there rather than the fleshy society at large.

Was a fun game.

[ExemplarofAvg]

Doctor Who did (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_%28Doctor_Who%29) that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Drums), too (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_of_the_Time_Lords).

I <3 the Toclafane, and the Master.... Off to go listen to Voodoo Child, :P And make tiny sized warforged warlocks that float...

[Luckmann]

Combine the ideas of RoboCop, the Terminator and Time Trax (am I seriously the only one that remembers that show?).

"It began in the future. A wizard turning to evil; a time device called MGFN; criminals who vanish and a Lawforged with a mission. He has one weapon and a familiar named SELMA."

*Sordidly Encapsulated Limited Magical Archive
Together they fight crime.

From a Pathfinder point of view, roll it up as a Lawful Neutral Warforged Paladin; substitute divine spellcasting with arcane spellcasting and substitute Divine Bond with early access (1st level) to a (mechanical) familiar of your choice and a free feat (5th level). Substitute Smite Evil with Smite Chaos. Screw falling, but if you deviate from a Lawful alignment, you will be called into the office, told that you are a loose cannon and teamed up with a by-the-book partner.

:smalltongue:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I swear I've heard that idea on TV before somewhere, where some aliens are running out of food, so they put their brains into Robots and send them back in time to fetch food or just start a new empire.
I think it was called Super Robot Monkey Team Force Something.

So basically... Daleks?

[Solaris]

I'm rather fond of the notion that some of the 'forged created after the Last War were sleeper agents, disguised to look like humanoids and programmed with artificial memories.