Living Construct Prestige Classes

[Firkraag]

As a side question: What warforged prestiges classes, aside from official ones, do you know?

I've tried to search, but haven't found much. My pursuit was to find prestige class, that tried to capture concept of the living construct, without leaning to the any side. There's a Reforged, who drops construct traits for the wide spectre of emotions and natural healing. There's a Juggernaut, that does the opposite, trying to go full construct.

But why (roleplaying wise) not to celebrate their unique traits, being first living construct, something both alive and non-living. Like treir ability to rebuild themselves. Their basically magical wooden cyborgs. What can be more cool?

But if one (me or anyone else) would make living construct presige class, how to make it balanced? Because giving traits of both Reforged and Juggernaut would be broken (unless whole prestige class would have a lot of optional class features with intent to replace official ones) and inconsiderate towards those, who might want to take those.

For now, I have loosest concept in mind of what it can be, and I don't say, that I will immediately make one, but what do you think? Your ideas, how to make it balanced (maybe you know a good guide for creating prestige classes), what class features it may have, and so forth.

If you don't like the whole idea, well, we don't have much to discuss here. If I had forgot anything to add to narrow down my request, ask right away.

Only thing I have, it should be named Forgeborn Paragon or something, like that.

I hope, it will be fun chat.

[Flickerdart]

Living contruct-ness isn't a very good thing to base a class around because everything about the type is just "like a construct, except they don't get this, this, and this." The only positive unique things it gets are being affected by both Repair and Cure spells, no risk of falling unconscious at 0, and their weird plating thing.

Thus, I would just model this on the existing paragon classes (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm). Level 1: free Diehard feat and they don't lose HP for acting when in the negatives. Level 2: Full benefits from healing and repair spells. Level 3: Let them change their plating type with an hour of work. Sprinkle on full BAB, good Fort and Will save, and maybe some save bonuses vs the things they are not immune to.

[Firkraag]

Level 3: Let them change their plating type with an hour of work.Hour of work, I think is a bit too fast, IMHO, but I like your suggestions. Even just mere Craft check to repair one takes 8 hours and if you want to change from one set of plating (given you have setpieces on hand) to another, not just remove it, it should take even longer.

What about their modular nature? Theoretically, they can be remade to ridiculous dergee.

[Psyren]

Renegade Mastermaker is an existing PrC that makes a humanoid into a living construct - perhaps you could start there for inspiration?

I confess though that I'm not totally clear on what's being asked for here. Do you want a PrC that turns someone into a living construct, or a PrC that is designed primarily for living constructs? Or something else?

[Firkraag]

PrC that is designed primarily for living constructs?That. Prestige class that boosts stronger sides of the living construct (upgrades mechanical benefits and uplifts non-mechanical traits into mechanical benefits). What only living construct could benefit from?

And we already have living constructs as a playable race. How fun turning into one can be? Go figure.

[Psyren]

Okay - another Warforged-specific PrC is Landforged Walker from Secrets of Xen'drik, for Warforged Druids. The construct part is played up because various plants sprout out of your skin and provide a number of beneficial effects.

One of my favorites though is the Crystal Master. It's not Warforged-specific, but part of the fluff is that inserting the crystals into your body is extremely painful, and Psiforged are already used to having crystals poking out everywhere even if they were to feel anything from implanting more.

[Firkraag]

Crystal Master? I'll look at this one.

Actually, I'm not sure - do warforged feel pain? I read through Races of Eberron yesterday, but don't remember, if this was mentioned. Or maybe I just missed it.

[Psyren]

They do, but like their other senses (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050711a) it is dull/muted. The thing to keep in mind with Warforged is that they are designed to be the perfect soldiers - everything that doesn't serve that goal was considered a design flaw. Pain is useful because it helps you know whether and how much you're injured, but pain that gets in the way of more fighting (especially for a race that isn't in danger of bleeding out) is a sensation that interferes with their main purpose. Similarly, they have enough smell to pick up things like smoke and corpses, because that is helpful knowledge on a battlefield, but smelling a fresh spring rain or some daisies has little practical application to a killing machine.

[Firkraag]

Similarly, they have enough smell to pick up things like smoke and corpses, because that is helpful knowledge on a battlefield, but smelling a fresh spring rain or some daisies has little practical application to a killing machine.Where did you get that part about smell? From a component's description, that gives them scent ability I surmised, they doesn't have sense of smell at all.

By the way, that supersoldier design philosophy gives further food for thought? What else apart from being ultimate warrior these traits can be useful for?

[Psyren]

Where did you get that part about smell? From a component's description, that gives them scent ability I surmised, they doesn't have sense of smell at all.

The same link I posted (which was written by their creator, Keith Baker.) They have a sense of smell but it's geared only for the kinds of strong smells that might be relevant in a battle. Smoke, corpses, pools of acid etc.

The component that gives them a refined sense of smell (and the scent ability) is highly-sought after and lets them smell things in detail.



By the way, that supersoldier design philosophy gives further food for thought? What else apart from being ultimate warrior these traits can be useful for?

It gives them a pretty tragic backstory if you think about it. Everything about them is geared for battle- there's little to no room for aesthetics or leisure. PCs obviously can behave however they want, but PCs are already the rare exception rather than the rule.

[Flickerdart]

By the way, that supersoldier design philosophy gives further food for thought? What else apart from being ultimate warrior these traits can be useful for?
The traits of a warrior are useful in all kinds of extreme situations like firefighting (short-term stress) or mining (long-term stress).

Also, if warforged have insensitive senses, do they attempt to compensate with volume? Would a warforged fry up an entire herd to learn what a steak smells like, or dive headfirst into an orgy to experience a woman's touch? Are warforged actually not just disciples of Slaanesh?

[Firkraag]

The same link I posted (which was written by their creator, Keith Baker.) Oops. Missed that, sorry.


It gives them a pretty tragic backstory if you think about it. Everything about them is geared for battle- there's little to no room for aesthetics or leisure. PCs obviously can behave however they want, but PCs are already the rare exception rather than the rule.
They are relatively young, individually and as a race/culture. I guess it will dull out in few centuries. There will be much fewer of them, if last Forges will stop working and they would be a living history books on a matters of strategy, war and stupidity. Their patience will give them the sense of perspective other races, aside from elves, maybe, don't have. They could upgrade and remade themselves into whatever form suit them most. And after that, thousand years after, when the Last War will be all, but a legend only the undead, deathless and dragons will be their living peers... A handful of legendary warforged - merchants and warlords, inventors and artists, wizards and psions, druids and priests known everywhere and for anyone. Thousands of broken and rusted skull-plates. Hundreds of inactive "statues", waiting to be reawakened in the new world.

BTW, I was surprised, that there wasn't any, even recent, component that might give them superior face mimics to make conversations better. Do you remember, like they did it in "Bicentennial Man"? It feels, like sensible improvement.

[Psyren]

Also, if warforged have insensitive senses, do they attempt to compensate with volume? Would a warforged fry up an entire herd to learn what a steak smells like, or dive headfirst into an orgy to experience a woman's touch? Are warforged actually not just disciples of Slaanesh?

I think by and large this is one of those "can't miss what you don't have" situations. There might be a few warforged that keenly feel this lack - say, the ones that are likely to become Reforged, or those that have gotten to try on the Smell Mask thing - but I'd say the majority don't know or care that their senses are duller. If anything it helps them filter out a lot of the "sensory noise" that organic races have to process and sort through.



They are relatively young, individually and as a race/culture. I guess it will dull out in few centuries. There will be much fewer of them, if last Forges will stop working and they would be a living history books on a matters of strategy, war and stupidity. Their patience will give them the sense of perspective other races, aside from elves, maybe, don't have. They could upgrade and remade themselves into whatever form suit them most. And after that, thousand years after, when the Last War will be all, but a legend only the undead, deathless and dragons will be their living peers... A handful of legendary warforged - merchants and warlords, inventors and artists, wizards and psions, druids and priests known everywhere and for anyone. Thousands of broken and rusted skull-plates. Hundreds of inactive "statues", waiting to be reawakened in the new world.

I believe this is the Lord of Blades' goal, to upgrade them for unforeseen battles to come. (Some might say, to make those battles happen if things slow down too much.)