Making the Warforged

[Arkusus]

So, I've got a player who just loves playing warforged.

For those who don't know, warforged is +2 Con, -2 Wis, -2 Cha, living construct subtype, and are born wearing light armor.


After thinking about being (and I kid you not with these choices) a cleric, a druid, a paladin, and a sorcerer, we've settled on a primarily martial build that will at level 6 touch on the Holy liberator Class (chaotic good paladin in essence, wisdom based spells, charisma based class features *sigh*)




But all this aside, it got me wondering... What kind of things can you do with a warforged that are special?

Currently the warforged has Mithril Body, since they're also a barbarian, and admamantite body would reduce their movement from 40ft to 20ft.

Aside from the "something"-body feats that let you switch out your base armor plating for other things, I don't really know what a warforged can do that's special.

Also, the living construct subtype seems honestly kind of terrible with only a few redeeming features: No sleep, no exhaustion, and not humanoid. This however comes at the price of half-effect from healing.






Does anyone have any suggestions for something a warforged can do that's unusual?

Also, we have a decent build now, but I was just curious what everyone's thoughts on the warforged were.

[NEO|Phyte]

Strictly speaking, warforged don't come with light armor, they come with an armor bonus to AC and inability to wear armor. There is a difference, and it is an important-ish one. Especially if you decide you want to be a monk. Free vector for gaining armor enchantments! Also on the monk subject, the Battlefist is fun. It's enchantable as a weapon and makes your monk Unarmed Strike count as a size larger.

Also, don't knock the living construct stuff, it gives you a pile of immunities: Poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, energy drain

[Psyren]

Does anyone have any suggestions for something a warforged can do that's unusual?

Warforged have several tricks unavailable to many other races. Here are a few:

1) Natural attacks from feats (Second Slam, Jaws of Death.) These go well with NA-focused builds.
2) Poison/Disease immunity - combine with the natural attacks above and with contact poisons to unleash hell on weaker foes.
3) Body Feats: You mentioned Mithral and Adamantine, there are also Ironwood, Unarmored and Psiforged for additional benefits. The last one qualifies you for psionic feats as well.
4) Components - these are basically Warforged-only magic items/grafts you can slot in for unique benefits. There are some very nice ones out there including psionic ones.
5) Negative Energy Immunity - this is (ab)used in a handful of specific builds, most notable Soul Eater.
6) Fatigue Immunity - Since you're going Barbarian you probably already figured out that one.

[Radar]

It gives you access to unusual polymorph and wildshape forms and those immunities are nothing to sneeze at. Warforged druids can be really funny if a bit unusual.

There is also one thing, that no other race can give you: the opportunity to play this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JJfvY7WVf0) during character creation. :smalltongue:

[Lightlawbliss]

It gives you access to unusual polymorph and wildshape forms and those immunities are nothing to sneeze at.

what can you polymorph into? isn't the warforged the only living construct? and how does being warforged affect wildshape?

I will agree the immunities are the main draw to the race.

[Nerd-o-rama]

what can you polymorph into? isn't the warforged the only living construct? and how does being warforged affect wildshape?

I will agree the immunities are the main draw to the race.

Living Construct is a subtype. Your Type is Construct. Alter Self into a minor golem or an animated chair or something.

[Arkusus]

Strictly speaking, warforged don't come with light armor, they come with an armor bonus to AC and inability to wear armor. There is a difference, and it is an important-ish one. Especially if you decide you want to be a monk. Free vector for gaining armor enchantments! Also on the monk subject, the Battlefist is fun. It's enchantable as a weapon and makes your monk Unarmed Strike count as a size larger.

Also, don't knock the living construct stuff, it gives you a pile of immunities: Poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, energy drain

There are a few first-level feats you can take to change out your armor for different varieties. Mithril is a +5 light armor, and Adamantine is a +8 heavy armor with DR 2. There are a variety of other 1st level armor variations including a version that allows you to be a druid, and some other stuff.

[Arkusus]

Living Construct is a subtype. Your Type is Construct. Alter Self into a minor golem or an animated chair or something.

... This is amazing.


I'm picturing a druid wandering through the jungle and suddenly changing into an animated chair to attack some enemies now...

[Nerd-o-rama]

... This is amazing.


I'm picturing a druid wandering through the jungle and suddenly changing into an animated chair to attack some enemies now...

It would have to be a wizard or the like, since Wild Shape specifies Animal (and various other) types, rather than the caster's own.

[Psyren]

Urban Druid can wild shape into objects IIRC.

[Alex12]

Urban Druid can wild shape into objects IIRC.

Yeah, Urban Druid Warforged are basically Autobots.

[Arkusus]

Yeah, Urban Druid Warforged are basically Autobots.

I swear... if I wasn't going for a more serious tone this campaign, I would totally push this class on them.

I think they would find it amusing enough to go along with it...

[Fouredged Sword]

I like using monk on a warforged. Beast strike stacks the slam and unarmed strike damage and the battlefist increases the damage of both. You end up stacking the benifits of enhancement bonus to damage as well. That is before you apply greater mighty wallop.

I have been playing around with a Monk 1 / Wizard 6 / abjurant champion 5 build that focuses on punching things with a 16d6 fist of justice for a double damage focused attack.

[Telonius]

Warlock can be interesting, if you're going for Fell Flight. (Flying robot shooting lasers, etc).

I've never tried to build one, but I'd love to see a Warforged Totemist or Incarnate. Next time somebody claims Warforged don't have souls, "Well, actually..."

[VariSami]

I've never tried to build one, but I'd love to see a Warforged Totemist or Incarnate. Next time somebody claims Warforged don't have souls, "Well, actually..."

I have one as an NPC helper in my current Eberron campaign. Female-personality Dragonborn (wings) Warforged Incarnate2; Cleric3; Sapphire Hierarch 3 with Mithral Body. Uses a bound Crystal Helm and melded Lifebond Vestments, Mantle of Flame and Incarnate Weapon.

Basically it is a silvery winged dragonbot covered in a mantle of sapphire flames and swinging around a force sword made of its own soulstuff.

But yeah, regarding the good sides of the Warforged: their immunities are a big plus and the need not to rest can be huge in some situations. They are also very adaptable since they do not need to breathe, eat or sleep. Underwater adventures, ahoy.

[Asheram]

Warforged totemist, feat up and get multiattack. *fond sigh* "You get how many attacks?! And at what bab?!"

Edit. I know this is for All totemists, but there's just something special with a big robot with lord knows how many arms and tentacles sprouting out of it

[Chronos]

Go Go Gadget Girallon Arms!

[Fyermind]

They are good candidates for regeneration as they have a PRC that makes them immune to nonlethal...

[ShurikVch]

Living Construct is a subtype. Your Type is Construct. Alter Self into a minor golem or an animated chair or something.
First:
Alter Self (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alterSelf.htm)

You cannot take the form of any creature with a template, even if that template doesn’t change the creature type or subtype.
Animated Object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm) is template.

Second: what is minor golem?

Decent choices for Alter Selfing constructs are: Electrum Horror (MM2), Gauntlet Guardian (CW), Hammerer (MM2) and Pulverizer (MM2).
Also Spark Guardian (CW), if you need tiny flying form.

[Chronos]

Animated Object is template.
Not according to that link, it's not.

[NEO|Phyte]

Animated Object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm) is template.

Are we looking at the same Animated Object? I'm not seeing any template, just a set of statblocks for the assorted sizes of animated object that can happen.

[ShurikVch]

It may be not a template by RAW, but still it is clearly a template by RAI.
Come on! Hardness, Improved Speed, Blind, Constrict, Trample... How is some AO have them, yet other of same size are not?

The fact "AO is not a template" origin from 3.0
Everyone remember all those similar "non-template" creatures? Tiny/Small/Medium/Large/Huge/Gargantuan/Colossal Skeletons, Zombies and so on...

Despite transition to 3.5 happened many years ago, such legacy things still exist. For example, creature, killed by Energy Drain still must arise as Wight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wight.htm).
(AFAIK, no one updated Wight template to 3.5, and it's sources - Savage Species and Dragon #300 are often banned)

[Nerd-o-rama]

It may be not a template by RAW, but still it is clearly a template by RAI.
Come on! Hardness, Improved Speed, Blind, Constrict, Trample... How is some AO have them, yet other of same size are not?

The fact "AO is not a template" origin from 3.0
Everyone remember all those similar "non-template" creatures? Tiny/Small/Medium/Large/Huge/Gargantuan/Colossal Skeletons, Zombies and so on...

Despite transition to 3.5 happened many years ago, such legacy things still exist. For example, creature, killed by Energy Drain still must arise as Wight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wight.htm).
(AFAIK, no one updated Wight template to 3.5, and it's sources - Savage Species and Dragon #300 are often banned)

I am just going to comment for the record that I have no idea what you're talking about.

[bekeleven]

I am just going to comment for the record that I have no idea what you're talking about.

His argument is that animated objects have damage reduction, whereas a chair does not, I think. The argument doesn't really hold water, because nonliving objects have hardness. The fluff block of animated objects discusses things like this.

He also talks about nobody updating the wight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wight.htm). He was referring to the wight template, so that not all wights are humanoid - this is mentioned in the dysfunctional rules threads every 5 or 6 pages. TLDR: Kill ancient red dragon from negative levels, comes back as a medium humanoid undead.

As for my take: I think warforged druid/Master of Many Forms is a fun as hell build (yes I'm the shifter guy). Races of Eberron mentions that warforged explicitly keep their armor bonus when shaped. My current GM ruled, fairly I might add, that I can choose to shift as an armored version of an animal (keeping AC bonus, ACP, and the appearance of armor) or to shift my armor away. So if you've ever wanted to look like a wood-plated animal but been too lazy to play the woodling monitor lizard, the answer is just an ironwood body away.

[nedz]

There's also Warforged Scout (MM3 p193)
+2 Dex, –2 Str, –2 Wis, –2 Cha
FC: Rogue <same>, Small size, 20’ movement

Which might work better for the Warlock idea; not so good for a Barbarian though.

[unseenmage]

Craft Construct is an Item Creation Feat. There are a couple places where creating constructs is explicitly stated to be exactly like making magic items.

With the right rules interpretation you can modify Constructs as though they were Magic Items up to and including the Custom Magic Item rules.

Using the Feats in Items sidebar from the old 3.0 Arms and Equipment Guide, the Wondrous Architecture rules from the old 3.0 Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and/or the custom Trap making rules from the good ol' 3.5 DMg are some of the best worst abuses of this idea.

Enjoy.


PS. Using the 'combining magic items' rules to combine the Warforged with Potions is hilarious.

[Chronos]

So, you can drink your robot...?

[VariSami]

So, you can drink your robot...?
Correct me if I am wrong but it seems like a Blood Magus Warforged would also qualify for this. Those things have no blood but there seems to exist no reason why they should not be able to have people drink something oozing out of them.

[nedz]

Correct me if I am wrong but it seems like a Blood Magus Warforged would also qualify for this. Those things have no blood but there seems to exist no reason why they should not be able to have people drink something oozing out of them.

Ah: a walking, talking, magical mini bar.

[Waker]

There is also one thing, that no other race can give you: the opportunity to play this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JJfvY7WVf0) during character creation. :smalltongue:
Pfft, why would you play that during character creation when you could be playing this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJygsSXcjw)?

And now for something I put in whenever people talk about playing a Shapeshifting Warforged.

I will tell you what to play.

Race: Warforged
Class: Wildshape Ranger 5/Master of Many Form 7
Feats: Adamantine body...
Items: Beasthide property on your composite plating...

Charge into battle and yell out "Dinobots, Transform!" Wildshape into a T-Rex.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/Omnikar/Grimlock.jpg

[bekeleven]

Ah: a walking, talking, magical mini bar.

I am literally playing this in my current game. I'm a warforged with an everfull mug and a survival pouch embedded in his chassis. Due to the slight custom flavor of the everfull mug, the party calls me Mr. Coffee.

Due to the survival pouch, I also have the ability to pull other things out of my chest, such as food, water, shortbows, mules, a campfire...

[unseenmage]

Pfft, why would you play that during character creation when you could be playing this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJygsSXcjw)?

And now for something I put in whenever people talk about playing a Shapeshifting Warforged.

Give him Leadership, make your new battlecry, 'Warforged Druids, transform and roll out!!'