How to change the shape of a warforged?

[magicalmagicman]

I want to play a construct player character, but I don't like how warforged look. Is there a way to change their shape? i.e. make them skinnier, taller/shorter, change the face. I'm looking for a "real" way so no alter shape spell or wondrous item or the like.

[OldTrees1]

How different do you want them to look?
They are a race and they are not all identical.

[Prime32]

There are plenty of nonstandard warforged out there, even ones without eyes. They're just not as common, since they tend to be prototypes rather than mass production models. Dragon Magazine #352 has a whole set of random tables for it.
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111224010532/eberron/images/f/fb/Dragon_Magazine_352-68.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6jeYD0Vl.jpg
The most common variants are the ones with heavier armor plating (Mithral Body, Adamantine Body, Darkwood Body, Cold Iron Tracery)... or with lighter plating for that matter (Unarmored Body). There's also the Psiforged who have weird crystal growths (Psiforged Body), and the occasional 'forged who can unhinge their mouth into a set of giant teeth (Jaws of Death).

The Warforged Juggernaut PrC makes a warforged grow bigger and spikier, while the Reforged become more human-looking.

[magicalmagicman]

I want them to look as human as possible actually. Alternatively, I want them to look like some sort of full suit of armor. Something cool instead of the standard hulky um... I can't find the word I'm looking for.

There are some really cool futuristic humanoid robot designs out there and I want to use some of them.

[Karl Aegis]

So basically you want Human Effigy with the Incarnate Construct template.

[Deophaun]

I prefer a hammer and adamantine chisel myself.

I want them to look as human as possible actually. Alternatively, I want them to look like some sort of full suit of armor. Something cool instead of the standard hulky um... I can't find the word I'm looking for.

There are some really cool futuristic humanoid robot designs out there and I want to use some of them.
I'm trying to find a reason why you can't just say "this is what my warforged looks like," and I'm coming up empty. But, assuming some reason does exist, have you tried taking ranks in Disguise to make you look like Alphonse Elric?

[Shining Wrath]

Per the write-up, the Mithral Body Warforged are slimmer and only weigh about 190 pounds. They'd look a lot more like the T-1000 Terminator. Put some clothes on one of those (mine wore a pork pie hat) and they'll pass for human from behind.

[magicalmagicman]

I prefer a hammer and adamantine chisel myself.

I'm trying to find a reason why you can't just say "this is what my warforged looks like," and I'm coming up empty. But, assuming some reason does exist, have you tried taking ranks in Disguise to make you look like Alphonse Elric?

All created warforge are almost all identical and all hulky.Maybe there's a reason for that? If there is some fluff that allows you to change parts of your body then that would be ideal.

My one theory is that a guy with craft construct can "repair" you differently.

I really don't like the warforged face.

I guess I'm looking for some piece of RAW ruling that allows it.

[Vhaidara]

I guess I'm looking for some piece of RAW ruling that allows it.

I'm pretty sure there's a ruling that says "You decide what your character looks like". In fact, as per PH p110
You can detail your character to any degree you like.

[Invader]

All created warforge are almost all identical and all hulky.Maybe there's a reason for that? If there is some fluff that allows you to change parts of your body then that would be ideal.

My one theory is that a guy with craft construct can "repair" you differently.

I really don't like the warforged face.

I guess I'm looking for some piece of RAW ruling that allows it.

You don't need some sort of shenanigans to describe your character a certain way. All warforged aren't identical and nothing in the rules says they are or that they're all "hulky". You're creating a problem for yourself where there isn't one.

[Chronos]

Yeah, if you want four arms or something, that requires book-diving and funky templates and so on. If you just want your humanoid-oid construct to look like C3PO instead of like Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel, then you just say so.

[P.F.]

You don't need some sort of shenanigans to describe your character a certain way. All warforged aren't identical and nothing in the rules says they are or that they're all "hulky". You're creating a problem for yourself where there isn't one.

You could even make your warforged look like this

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/DataTNG.jpg

[Judge_Worm]

Craft construct feat.

Short of that, have you considered physically altering yourself? If I recall correctly warforged don't feel pain. So fully reconstructing yourself for a human shape, fully covering your body with clothes and a veil or mask should allow you to pass for human.

[magicalmagicman]

You don't need some sort of shenanigans to describe your character a certain way. All warforged aren't identical and nothing in the rules says they are or that they're all "hulky". You're creating a problem for yourself where there isn't one.

It's actually my DM.

"If you want to make your warforged look like this picture you showed me, you gotta show me some proof warforged can get plastic surgery"

In his Eberron world, all warforged look very similar.



Short of that, have you considered physically altering yourself? If I recall correctly warforged don't feel pain. So fully reconstructing yourself for a human shape, fully covering your body with clothes and a veil or mask should allow you to pass for human.

Do you have some source that you can do that? Grabbing craft construct feat is not a problem.

Looking like a human is not the goal. Humanoid futuristic robot of my design is, so no need to disguise myself or otherwise.

Though honestly, I do have a small urge to also create a warforged with 4 spider legs, with arms/hands that is one spike/blade whose tip can turn into fingers, but that's a different goal for another time.

[Milo v3]

It's actually my DM.

"If you want to make your warforged look like this picture you showed me, you gotta show me some proof warforged can get plastic surgery"

In his Eberron world, all warforged look very similar.


Earlier in the thread it had images of warforged that have different appearances to the standard, thus they can have different appearances from the standard.

[atemu1234]

Per the write-up, the Mithral Body Warforged are slimmer and only weigh about 190 pounds. They'd look a lot more like the T-1000 Terminator. Put some clothes on one of those (mine wore a pork pie hat) and they'll pass for human from behind.

Would Disguise Self work on them? And could it be applied as maybe an At-Will SLA? Maybe homebrew would work for this.

Metalloid Warforged

Humanoid (Living Construct, Shapechanger)
+2 Dex, -2 Wis
Disguise Self (Sp): As the spell, caster level equal to hit dice.
+2 Racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks.
Human Appearance (Ex): In its natural form, a Metalloid Warforged looks surprisingly human. Most would guess that they are human, eliminating penalties to disguise checks for trying to appear as human.

[Deophaun]

It's actually my DM.

"If you want to make your warforged look like this picture you showed me, you gotta show me some proof warforged can get plastic surgery"

In his Eberron world, all warforged look very similar.
Then I don't know what fluff could save you, as the DM has apparently overwritten all of it with his decree.

[Chronos]

Yeah, the only evidence that warforged all look the same is pictures of them, and if we're resorting to using pictures in the books for rule information, well, that's pretty pathetic. The only thing the actual rules state is that you can choose your character's appearance.

[Shining Wrath]

Would Disguise Self work on them? And could it be applied as maybe an At-Will SLA? Maybe homebrew would work for this.

Metalloid Warforged

Humanoid (Living Construct, Shapechanger)
+2 Dex, -2 Wis
Disguise Self (Sp): As the spell, caster level equal to hit dice.
+2 Racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks.
Human Appearance (Ex): In its natural form, a Metalloid Warforged looks surprisingly human. Most would guess that they are human, eliminating penalties to disguise checks for trying to appear as human.


No, they don't morph like the T-1000, they are just shiny and slender like that.

I forget which book it was in, but it clearly stated that the Mithral Body warforged were quite a bit slimmer while the Adamantine Body warforged were even more hulking and massive than standard.

Mithral Body requires a feat, BTW; but it's a GOOD feat. Base AC goes to +5, so you essentially get a +1 Mithral breastplate that has zero weight and cannot be removed for a feat.

[M Placeholder]

Earlier in the thread it had images of warforged that have different appearances to the standard, thus they can have different appearances from the standard.

And in reading the "Races of Eberron", there are a number of warforged (The Loveforged that hands out in Stormreach) that Identify as female, and they get mods that give them a more feminine appearance.

As for all Warforged looking the same, well, thats a pile of crap. When they first rolled off the production line, they probably all looked the same, but the warforged jugganaut, the LoBster, and plenty more are quite different.

Im starting a Planescape campaign, and players can play as a warforged. If a player wanted to change his appearance, I'd just point him to the nearest blacksmith shop. It should be no different for your campaign.

[Judge_Worm]

Do you have some source that you can do that? Grabbing craft construct feat is not a problem.
There's no actual book quote I can give you for altering your own appearance (as a construct). However, a DC 15 (High-Quality Item) Craft (Sculpting) check should be good enough to build a face and a better body.


Though honestly, I do have a small urge to also create a warforged with 4 spider legs, with arms/hands that is one spike/blade whose tip can turn into fingers, but that's a different goal for another time.
In that case I would advise you to grab Craft Construct feat anyway and take Craft (Construct) as a skill on top of it. You could even make it a character theme by putting a few ranks in appraise and taking Profession (Warforged Medic/Doctor) and a lesser Dragonmark of House Cannith. Your DM wants to know where the warforged plastic surgeon is, become the warforged plastic surgeon.

You might even want to see if your DM will let you use Craft Magical Arms and Armor to enchant your own body as a magic weapon. (+1 morphing unarmed strike sounds like fun)
(Morphing is on page 39 of the Magic Item Compendium)

[magicalmagicman]

Problem with becoming a warforged plastic surgeon is that you can't perform surgery on yourself.

His "fluff" is saying, despite the varying appearances among warforged, 100% of the pictures depicting them showed them as bulky, even if they can adopt a female personality.

He quotes the eberron campaign setting

"Warforged appear as massive humanoids"
"Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape."

The quote I am invoking is:
warforged have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than those their creator originally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one warforged from another"

I'm saying looking slender and human-like for stealth purposes is an "enhancement", even though my character is not stealthy.

He then said that those enhancements in the quote are additive, not subtractive. They add bulk, not take it away.

[Inevitability]

It is possible by RAW. Look at this:

1. Acquire Warforged.

(1.5. Damage Warforged until it has 100 HP or less)

2. Cast Power Word Petrify (Races of the Dragon) on Warforged.

3. Cast Stone Shape on Warforged to make it look like you want it to look.

4. Cast Ruby Ray of Reversal (Spell Compendium) on Warforged.

Happy to help. :smallsmile:

[OldTrees1]

Monster Manuel III

Halfling-sized and basically halfling-shaped, this creature is a construct built from a variety of materials. Strands of fibrous sinew pulse with life beneath flexible plates of harder materials. It moves with speed, agility, and purpose.
The smallest of the warforged, the halfling-sized scouts were built to serve as spies, light infantry, and reconnaissance troops. They are far less common than the larger varieties, since they offer little advantage over humanoid scouts in warfare.
A warforged scout stands about 3 feet tall and weighs 60 pounds. Warforged scouts speak the language of their creators, usually Common.

[Invader]

Problem with becoming a warforged plastic surgeon is that you can't perform surgery on yourself.

His "fluff" is saying, despite the varying appearances among warforged, 100% of the pictures depicting them showed them as bulky, even if they can adopt a female personality.

He quotes the eberron campaign setting

"Warforged appear as massive humanoids"
"Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape."

The quote I am invoking is:
warforged have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than those their creator originally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one warforged from another"

I'm saying looking slender and human-like for stealth purposes is an "enhancement", even though my character is not stealthy.

He then said that those enhancements in the quote are additive, not subtractive. They add bulk, not take it away.

In all seriousness your DM is an idiot. You as a player can choose the appearence of your character, it's not up to him to put restrictions on fluff. Does anyone else in your group have to use creation resources to explain blonde hair or being exceptionally tall because it's the same thing. If I had a dm that forced mechanics on me to explain my fluff appearence I'd tell him to kiss off.

Every picture of a red wizard of Thay is wearing a robe, does that mean I can't wear pants if I play one. It's such an inane argument.

[Zweisteine]

In all seriousness your DM is an idiot. You as a player can choose the appearence of your character, it's not up to him to put restrictions on fluff.
No. Yes. Yes.

His DM just has a clear image of his campaign, and doesn't want the players messing with it. If this extends to the plots, we can safely expect the magicalmagicman to be coming back to complain.

Here's what I recommend telling this DM:

"Dude, come on. Does it really matter that my warforged looks like this? It will have no effect on gameplay, and all it will do is make me happier. If you want, you can imagine my character as a "normal" warforged, but I can imagine him however I want."

Then tell the other players how you imagine your character, and tell them not to reveal how they imagine it.




And in reading the "Races of Eberron", there are a number of warforged (The Loveforged that hands out in Stormreach) that Identify as female, and they get mods that give them a more feminine appearance.
If you can find this, it will help your case, though.

[Ferronach]

In all seriousness your DM is an idiot. You as a player can choose the appearence of your character, it's not up to him to put restrictions on fluff. Does anyone else in your group have to use creation resources to explain blonde hair or being exceptionally tall because it's the same thing. If I had a dm that forced mechanics on me to explain my fluff appearence I'd tell him to kiss off.

Every picture of a red wizard of Thay is wearing a robe, does that mean I can't wear pants if I play one. It's such an inane argument.

Agreed!

My current group consists of a "little" dwarf (think of a dwarf with dwarfism), a fey-touched (or 1/2 fey I can never remember) whos wings can become tattoos on her back so that she is less noticeable, a Half-orc with an extra set of tusks (he is an ugly dude), a few other "normals" and myself, a 9'6" warforged who weighs close to 1000 lbs (essentially a 'goliath' wf).
The player of the dwarf wanted a small dwarf because he thought that it would look pretty funny while riding his pet rhino and I wanted to be a hulking warforged (the opposite of you). The DM and I agreed that I had been created that way as a prototype of a newer tougher warforged. You could always say that you are/were a prototype of a warforged created by the Lord of Blades to act as a spy in human lands. YOur DM seems to draw heavily on Eberron stuff so he cannot deny that the Lord of Blades exists and has access to a creation forge. Why would the Lord of Blades need a more humanesqu warforged? Well he wants to infiltrate some human order or some such nonsense. Up to you :) You could also say that in his free time some lonely house cannith dude made a more shapely "female" fem-bot warforged to keep him company...

[Invader]

No. Yes. Yes.

His DM just has a clear image of his campaign, and doesn't want the players messing with it. If this extends to the plots, we can safely expect the magicalmagicman to be coming back to complain.



That's not really true though because he's willing to allow him to look a certain way he's just requiring some kind of absurd proof or mechanical solution and apparently his only justification is because there's not an official picture of it in a book.

[Deophaun]

This is a ruling that is so silly that I'd just get together with the rest of the players to mess him. Every warforged now has a unique appearance for your characters. The first player to describe a warforged has the description become gospel to the party, regardless of NPC reactions.

Player 1: "Is that the one that looked like Joe Pesci or the one had that nose like Cyrano de Bergerac?"
DM: "They all look the same!"
Player 2: "Pesci. It was definitely Pesci."

[magicalmagicman]

Monster Manuel III

Thank you for that quote! Halfling warforged is proof you can have warforged of any shape and size. Thank you!



His DM just has a clear image of his campaign, and doesn't want the players messing with it..

No, he's one of those rules lawyers. No bending anything to make a player happy.