Warforged as a template

[Vhaidara]

How balanced does the Playground think it would be to treat Warforged as a template-race, like Dragonborn?

Stats would be either +2 Con, -2 Wis (more in line with normal stat mods) or +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha (balances stats around)
Gives the full bevy of other WF racial traits

Applicable to all living corporeal creatures with a skeletal structure (as much as warforged gelly cube would be funny)

[Red Fel]

What's the LA on your template? Kind of hard to tell how balanced it is without one.

The stat boni aside, Warforged are incredibly powerful. As a 0 LA race, they have a massive host of immunities. (Frankly, I happen to think there are balance issues with regard to the race itself, but I still love 'em.)

Given the sheer magnitude of immunities involved, I would have to impose more restrictions on the template than simply "stat bumps, stat drops, and Warforged Living Construct traits."

First: It would have an LA. At least +1, possibly +2. Those immunities are huge, and when stacked on top of other features, including the availability of Warforged feats, they can become seriously substantial.

Second: Like Dragonborn, it would require you to lose certain racial features. Like I said, Warforged immunities are major; putting them on top of SLAs, (Sp) or (Su) abilities, or bonus feats would make them exceedingly imposing.

[Vhaidara]

Sorry, I must not have been clear enough. When I said "Like Dragonborn", I was including the replacement of most of the base creature's traits. I knw that just getting all of that for free would be way too strong, but I want to try and keep them at 0 LA.

[Chronos]

Yeah, this is in every way better than current warforged, which are already a pretty strong LA 0 race. The fact that their stats have more minuses than plusses isn't an accident; it's one of the balancing factors they put in. And then get another race worth of special abilities? That's just way too much.


Quoth Red Fel:

Second: Like Dragonborn, it would require you to lose certain racial features. Like I said, Warforged immunities are major; putting them on top of SLAs, (Sp) or (Su) abilities, or bonus feats would make them exceedingly imposing.
I don't think this worked very well for Dragonborn, and I don't think it'll work well here. The problem is that different races have different sorts of benefits, some of which are lost and some aren't. Warforged themselves, for instance, lose almost nothing by becoming dragonborn, while humans lose all of their racial features. The only fair way to do loss of racial features is to lose everything, and at that point, why bother making it a template? Alternately, you can give the template disadvantages that apply to everything to make up for its benefits (LA, if nothing else).

EDIT:

Sorry, I must not have been clear enough. When I said "Like Dragonborn", I was including the replacement of most of the base creature's traits. I knw that just getting all of that for free would be way too strong, but I want to try and keep them at 0 LA.
It's still too strong. Even if you get nothing from the base race, you've still got better ability scores than a standard warforged. If you bring in anything at all else from the base race, even just size and ability score adjustments, it gets even stronger. Consider a halflingforged wizard, for instance: You've got +2 Int, Dex, and Con, -2 Str, Wis, and Cha, and small size, all of which are great for a wizard, plus the warforged immunities.

[Red Fel]

Let me offer a comparison.

The Necropolitan template conveys its own list of special abilities. Specifically, it makes the subject creature an Undead (Augmented). The laundry-list of Undead traits (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#undeadType) includes (but is not limited to): Darkvision out to 60 feet. Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects). Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures. The fast healing special quality works regardless of the creature’s Intelligence score. Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless). Uses its Charisma modifier for Concentration checks. Not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hit points or less, it is immediately destroyed. Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
Necropolitans get this, plus turn resistance and Control Undead resistance, plus the healing rate of a living creature.

And they still have to give up a level to undergo the Ritual of Crucimigration. Necropolitan may be LA +0, but it isn't free. And that's considering all of the stuff explicitly designed to destroy or control undead. Yes, they have turn resistance, but they can still be turned.

Constructs don't have nearly as many problems as Undead do. There are a few tricks, explicitly called out in the Warforged description (e.g. Heat Metal, Chill Metal, Repel Wood) but they're not as pervasive and well known. If a Necropolitan is able to take on the Undead type only after taking all of the penalties associated with being Undead, and still has to lose a level on top of that, I can't think of any way (short of imposing severe penalties) that a Warforged can be an LA +0 template.