Soylentmatt
2018-06-27, 09:26 AM
“Yes, young man. All very ingenious and convincing, except for one obvious fallacy. The last Krell died 2,000 years ago, but as we know there is still a living monster at large.”
Adams stared at him in utter incredulity as Alta entered behind him, carrying a bundle. “I’m ready now darling, if you are.” She said, but Adams still stared at her father.
“So your mind is refusing to face this,” he said at last, turning his back on Mobius as he took Alta’s arm. “Well, maybe you’ll be happier that way…”
“Morbius!” Robbie started, calling out to his master, standing motionless in shadow, his antenne scanning steadily.
“Yes?”
“Something is approaching from the south-west. It is already quite close.”
They all stood still, looking into each other's bloodless faces. With a common impulse they moved to the main window, peering out over the dark garden fearfully.
“Could Robbie be wrong about it?” asked Adams.
Morbius shook his head flatly. “No.”
—Cyril Hume, Forbidden Planet
A thousand years ago, Warforged were the weapons used by the Zodastrian Empire to drive back the invading forces of extradimensional Yuan-Ti in what is now known as the Last War. They were built to be mindless machines of battle, originally super-advanced war-golems with an advanced capacity to learn and adapt. Over time, this adaptability started to present as a form of rudimentary sentience.
The warforged were deactivated when the Last War ended, and for centuries they lay dormant. The technology used to create them was lost with the fall of the Zodastrian Empire, and the husks of the Warforged were considered mere curiosities, artifacts of a bygone age.
Within the past hundred years, however, the Warforged have begun to reawaken. Their time spent in the deep slumber of non-existence that was their deactivation has permeated their virgining consciousness, and imbued these awakened Warforged with a soul of their own. Each warforged develops a completely unique consciousness and identity, and is on a unique journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
Living Constructs
Warforged appear as humanoids molded from a composite of materials, though they move with a surprising grace and flexibility. The core of a warforged is a skeletal frame made of metal and stone with wood and polymer fibres acting as a muscular system. Covering the warforged is an outer shell of metal and stone plates. An internal network of fibrous ducting runs through the warforged body, filled with a blood-like purple-silver fluid that lubricates and nourishes their systems. Their hands have only two thick fingers and a thumb whilst their feet only have two broad toes. Warforged faces loosely resembles their human creators though they have a toothless jaw, heavy brow line and are lacking noses and hair.
Warforged have no normalized physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same warforged in different ways. The warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience. There are three distinct models of warforged, and although warforged have a wide variety of customized chassis both from their original existence as weapons of war and in their current, singular existence, these three models are all distinct in their design and function.
Finding their Way
Warforged that awaken today have a rudimentary template of a personality based on their distant time lived as an unfeeling weapon of war, and of their long time spent without consciousness. For some this was a torturous void, for some it was an absence of time, and for others it was a long period of quiet meditation and introspection. All warforged are challenged to find a place in the world and a sense of themselves as individuals. The world at large knows them as walking weapons and they are routinely subject to all manner of prejudice, often treated as objects rather than individuals and regularly used as dangerous slave labor. In many places that do not permit weapons, warforged are refused entry. It is in this environment that awakened warforged look to find some sense of purpose or fulfillment. Some may settle into new roles as artisans or laborers, while others wander as adventurers or even continue pursuing the purpose for which they were built, as mindless weapons of war.
The number of warforged in the world is extremely limited. They cannot reproduce, as the science of constructing their complex learning matrix is long lost. Therefore their number can only increase if another abandoned warforged gains consciousness and reawakens. As the deactivated warforged have remained dormant for almost a thousand years they have been moved across the known world, and often a newly reawakened warforged can go many years without seeing another of its own kind.
While warforged have no innate need or interest in religion, their quest for belonging and purpose often brings them into the fold of a particular faith, where they become devout followers in their own particular way. Additionally, some warforged have begun to forge their own path, taking up the teaching of a messianic figure called the Lord of Blades, a powerful leader whose small but devoted following of disaffected warforged preach a ethos of pride in their status as a new form of life and who stand up to the oppression of the ‘meatbag” races.
Built for the Road
Adventuring is one way that warforged can fit into the world—at least as well as any adventurer ever fits in. They are all built to excel at a particular set of skills, all of which are widely applicable to the adventurer lifestyle. It is sometimes said that the profession of adventuring was built specifically for Warforged, who will often spend some time as an adventurer in their early life as part of their quest to know themselves.
Warforged Names
Warforged were originally built in sets and all received manufacturers designations to differentiate from each other from the battlefield. All newly awakened warforged are aware of their original designation and as their new life begins, this is the only name they truly own.
Over time, however, warforged will generally chose to take on a new name for themself. Many accept whatever names others see fit to give them, and warforged traveling with humans often are referred to by nicknames. Some warforged, however, have come to see having a name as a defining moment of their new existence, and thus search long and hard for the perfect name to attach to themselves. This can be a reference to the place where they awoke, an idea that is of particular import to the individual warforged, or even the name of a beloved mentor. They adapt naming traditions from a limitless variety of cultures and languages.
Warforged Designations: Alpha-411, EE-129, Q1-9000, Y1-0120
Adopted Warforged Names: Anvil, Archimedes, Bastion, Book, Bulwark, Calibretto, Cart, Charger, Cutter, Dog, Domo, Falchion, Graven, Hammer, Lonesome, Morg, Nameless, Pierce, Pious, Quiver, Relic, Robbie, Roscoe, Rune, Solus, Starlight, Steeple, Sword, Tommond, Ulfgar, Unsung, Victor, Watcher, Xalt, Zeke, Zealot.
Warforged Traits:
Your warforged character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of warforged nature.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age: while warforged were all constructed over a thousand years ago, modern warforged count their age from the day they reawakened. This can be decades or mere days ago. The maturity of a warforged depends entirely on how much of it’s emerging consciousness has evolved, and while this usually takes roughly five years to approximate what most would consider adulthood, even a newly awakened warforged retains enough of it’s core programming to function as an individual.
Alignment: Warforged were built as weapons of war, and are by default neutral, since a weapon does not have an opinion on how it is used. As modern warforged reawaken, however, they vary widely in how their emerging consciousness perceives the world. Some might have developed a taste for the violence of their previous existence, while others might reject it completely.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Recharging: While a warforged does not need to sleep, it’s power cells must spend a short period of time each day allowing their core to recharge. Instead of the usual long rest of 8 hours, a warforged must instead 'shut off' for 4 hours a day to recharge. During this time they are incapable of taking any action and cannot be woken by any means until their recharge is complete. They are considered Petrified.
Warforged Resilience: A warforged does not need to eat or breathe (although they can choose to do so), and is immune to both poison and disease.
Integrated Arm Cannon: A warforged is equipped with a ranged projectile weapon fitted into one of its arms. The arm cannon can have three configurations: core (1d4 bludgeoning damage), enhanced (1d6 piercing damage, requires simple weapon proficiency) or high-powered (1d8 slashing damage, requires martial weapon proficiency). The arm cannon has a range of 80/320, and uses ammunition in the form of bullets that are sold at a price of one gold for ten bullets. Up to 20 bullets are loaded into the arm as a standard action. The cannon is a self-contained weapon, and can be enchanted.
Integrated Equipment: While a warforged can wear and use any equipment used by other non-warforged races, they can also integrate any equipment into their bodies. By taking a long rest without recharging, a warforged can integrate any equipment into their body so that it can be deployed. This includes items that require attunement. Additionally, a warforged can attune to an additional item, for a total of four. All integrated equipments weight contributes to the warforged’s encumbrance.
Integrated Weapons: A Warforged can integrate up to three separate one-handed weapons into its body, and deploy them into usable position. This can be done in tandem with movement, similar to drawing a weapon. The useable position may or may not be in the warforged hand, but a warforged must have a free hand associated with the weapon. All integrated weapons weight contributes to the warforged’s encumbrance.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and one more language of your choosing.
Subrace: Three main subraces of warforged populate the worlds of D&D: assault, infiltration, and battlecaster. Choose one of these subraces.
Assault Warforged
Assault Model Warforged were the frontline troops in combat, bearing down on the enemy in a relentless wave of iron and wood. Built with the strongest frames and heaviest muscle fibres, they could wield powerful weapons and deliver devastating attacks.
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.
Size: Assault Warforged stand between 6 and 7 feet tall and average about 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Integrated Shield: Assault Warforged can deploy a heavy adamantine plate from their forearm that grants the warforged a +2 bonus to their armor class like a shield, even when the arm is being used otherwise. This plate is precision equipment and will cease to function if it is removed, enchanted, or altered.
Heavy Weapon Integration: Assault Warforged are large enough to Integrate 2-handed weapons into their body. These still require two hands to use, but they can be retracted in the same way as any other integrated weapon.
Infiltration Warforged
Infiltration Model Warforged are built for subterfuge, excelling at making their way inside of enemy encampments where they can conduct acts of sabotage and spycraft. Their near-living outer tissue can almost pass as the real thing, and their fine-tuned subversion tactics are near flawless.
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Size: Infiltration Warforged stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and average about 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Subversion Protocol: You have proficiency in deception.
Artificial Personhood: Designed to pass as a non-warforged, Infiltration units have an artificial outer skin that permanently mimics the appearance of a Human. A creature trying to spot the subversion must pass a Wisdom (Insight) Check vs your Deception Skill. You have advantage on this check.
Camouflage Matix: You have the ability to briefly blend into your surroundings. If you remain motionless for one round, on the next you have advantage on any Stealth checks.
Warcaster Warforged
Warcaster Model Warforged are by far the rarest model, smaller and more compact than their brethren. They are built as effective spellcasters and built to focus on dangerous battle magic. Their internal spell cylinders can hold magics long lost to the rest of the world recorded deep inside, inaccessible to anyone else
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Size: Warcaster Warforged stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Dedicated Warcaster: You gain the Warcaster feat.
Integrated Spell Focus: Warcaster Warforged have a spell focus integrated into their forearm chassy. By casting through this focus, they do not have to use components that do not have a gold value.
Integrated Spellbook: Warcaster Warforged have an internal spellbook recorded on a series of internal wax and polymer cylinders. These spellbooks are a core component of the Warforged body, have near limitless capacity to record new spells, and are guaranteed to survive for the Warforged entire lifetime. They cannot be read or copied by any other spellcasters.
~I've always liked warforged as a concept but they require a pretty heavily steampunk world to function in, and I actually like my table to feel a little more low-magic/feudal. Rewriting the history of the race so that they are ancient relics that are slowly and inexplicably coming to life actually allows them to be played int the sort of world I was imagining. As far as the mechanics go, I was careful not to equip them with any weapons beyond what a normal player character might have access to at level 1. There are plenty of homebrew Warforged out there that allow for subraces but they never quite feel like they have enough variety, so I tried to allow for a wider spectrum of character archetypes. Now you can use the same race to build bastion from overwatch, mega man, the terminator, robbie the robot, or anywhere in between. I have a player actually playing an assault warforged fighter right now, and it's working pretty well. I'd love to get any feedback you might have.
Adams stared at him in utter incredulity as Alta entered behind him, carrying a bundle. “I’m ready now darling, if you are.” She said, but Adams still stared at her father.
“So your mind is refusing to face this,” he said at last, turning his back on Mobius as he took Alta’s arm. “Well, maybe you’ll be happier that way…”
“Morbius!” Robbie started, calling out to his master, standing motionless in shadow, his antenne scanning steadily.
“Yes?”
“Something is approaching from the south-west. It is already quite close.”
They all stood still, looking into each other's bloodless faces. With a common impulse they moved to the main window, peering out over the dark garden fearfully.
“Could Robbie be wrong about it?” asked Adams.
Morbius shook his head flatly. “No.”
—Cyril Hume, Forbidden Planet
A thousand years ago, Warforged were the weapons used by the Zodastrian Empire to drive back the invading forces of extradimensional Yuan-Ti in what is now known as the Last War. They were built to be mindless machines of battle, originally super-advanced war-golems with an advanced capacity to learn and adapt. Over time, this adaptability started to present as a form of rudimentary sentience.
The warforged were deactivated when the Last War ended, and for centuries they lay dormant. The technology used to create them was lost with the fall of the Zodastrian Empire, and the husks of the Warforged were considered mere curiosities, artifacts of a bygone age.
Within the past hundred years, however, the Warforged have begun to reawaken. Their time spent in the deep slumber of non-existence that was their deactivation has permeated their virgining consciousness, and imbued these awakened Warforged with a soul of their own. Each warforged develops a completely unique consciousness and identity, and is on a unique journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
Living Constructs
Warforged appear as humanoids molded from a composite of materials, though they move with a surprising grace and flexibility. The core of a warforged is a skeletal frame made of metal and stone with wood and polymer fibres acting as a muscular system. Covering the warforged is an outer shell of metal and stone plates. An internal network of fibrous ducting runs through the warforged body, filled with a blood-like purple-silver fluid that lubricates and nourishes their systems. Their hands have only two thick fingers and a thumb whilst their feet only have two broad toes. Warforged faces loosely resembles their human creators though they have a toothless jaw, heavy brow line and are lacking noses and hair.
Warforged have no normalized physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same warforged in different ways. The warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience. There are three distinct models of warforged, and although warforged have a wide variety of customized chassis both from their original existence as weapons of war and in their current, singular existence, these three models are all distinct in their design and function.
Finding their Way
Warforged that awaken today have a rudimentary template of a personality based on their distant time lived as an unfeeling weapon of war, and of their long time spent without consciousness. For some this was a torturous void, for some it was an absence of time, and for others it was a long period of quiet meditation and introspection. All warforged are challenged to find a place in the world and a sense of themselves as individuals. The world at large knows them as walking weapons and they are routinely subject to all manner of prejudice, often treated as objects rather than individuals and regularly used as dangerous slave labor. In many places that do not permit weapons, warforged are refused entry. It is in this environment that awakened warforged look to find some sense of purpose or fulfillment. Some may settle into new roles as artisans or laborers, while others wander as adventurers or even continue pursuing the purpose for which they were built, as mindless weapons of war.
The number of warforged in the world is extremely limited. They cannot reproduce, as the science of constructing their complex learning matrix is long lost. Therefore their number can only increase if another abandoned warforged gains consciousness and reawakens. As the deactivated warforged have remained dormant for almost a thousand years they have been moved across the known world, and often a newly reawakened warforged can go many years without seeing another of its own kind.
While warforged have no innate need or interest in religion, their quest for belonging and purpose often brings them into the fold of a particular faith, where they become devout followers in their own particular way. Additionally, some warforged have begun to forge their own path, taking up the teaching of a messianic figure called the Lord of Blades, a powerful leader whose small but devoted following of disaffected warforged preach a ethos of pride in their status as a new form of life and who stand up to the oppression of the ‘meatbag” races.
Built for the Road
Adventuring is one way that warforged can fit into the world—at least as well as any adventurer ever fits in. They are all built to excel at a particular set of skills, all of which are widely applicable to the adventurer lifestyle. It is sometimes said that the profession of adventuring was built specifically for Warforged, who will often spend some time as an adventurer in their early life as part of their quest to know themselves.
Warforged Names
Warforged were originally built in sets and all received manufacturers designations to differentiate from each other from the battlefield. All newly awakened warforged are aware of their original designation and as their new life begins, this is the only name they truly own.
Over time, however, warforged will generally chose to take on a new name for themself. Many accept whatever names others see fit to give them, and warforged traveling with humans often are referred to by nicknames. Some warforged, however, have come to see having a name as a defining moment of their new existence, and thus search long and hard for the perfect name to attach to themselves. This can be a reference to the place where they awoke, an idea that is of particular import to the individual warforged, or even the name of a beloved mentor. They adapt naming traditions from a limitless variety of cultures and languages.
Warforged Designations: Alpha-411, EE-129, Q1-9000, Y1-0120
Adopted Warforged Names: Anvil, Archimedes, Bastion, Book, Bulwark, Calibretto, Cart, Charger, Cutter, Dog, Domo, Falchion, Graven, Hammer, Lonesome, Morg, Nameless, Pierce, Pious, Quiver, Relic, Robbie, Roscoe, Rune, Solus, Starlight, Steeple, Sword, Tommond, Ulfgar, Unsung, Victor, Watcher, Xalt, Zeke, Zealot.
Warforged Traits:
Your warforged character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of warforged nature.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age: while warforged were all constructed over a thousand years ago, modern warforged count their age from the day they reawakened. This can be decades or mere days ago. The maturity of a warforged depends entirely on how much of it’s emerging consciousness has evolved, and while this usually takes roughly five years to approximate what most would consider adulthood, even a newly awakened warforged retains enough of it’s core programming to function as an individual.
Alignment: Warforged were built as weapons of war, and are by default neutral, since a weapon does not have an opinion on how it is used. As modern warforged reawaken, however, they vary widely in how their emerging consciousness perceives the world. Some might have developed a taste for the violence of their previous existence, while others might reject it completely.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Recharging: While a warforged does not need to sleep, it’s power cells must spend a short period of time each day allowing their core to recharge. Instead of the usual long rest of 8 hours, a warforged must instead 'shut off' for 4 hours a day to recharge. During this time they are incapable of taking any action and cannot be woken by any means until their recharge is complete. They are considered Petrified.
Warforged Resilience: A warforged does not need to eat or breathe (although they can choose to do so), and is immune to both poison and disease.
Integrated Arm Cannon: A warforged is equipped with a ranged projectile weapon fitted into one of its arms. The arm cannon can have three configurations: core (1d4 bludgeoning damage), enhanced (1d6 piercing damage, requires simple weapon proficiency) or high-powered (1d8 slashing damage, requires martial weapon proficiency). The arm cannon has a range of 80/320, and uses ammunition in the form of bullets that are sold at a price of one gold for ten bullets. Up to 20 bullets are loaded into the arm as a standard action. The cannon is a self-contained weapon, and can be enchanted.
Integrated Equipment: While a warforged can wear and use any equipment used by other non-warforged races, they can also integrate any equipment into their bodies. By taking a long rest without recharging, a warforged can integrate any equipment into their body so that it can be deployed. This includes items that require attunement. Additionally, a warforged can attune to an additional item, for a total of four. All integrated equipments weight contributes to the warforged’s encumbrance.
Integrated Weapons: A Warforged can integrate up to three separate one-handed weapons into its body, and deploy them into usable position. This can be done in tandem with movement, similar to drawing a weapon. The useable position may or may not be in the warforged hand, but a warforged must have a free hand associated with the weapon. All integrated weapons weight contributes to the warforged’s encumbrance.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and one more language of your choosing.
Subrace: Three main subraces of warforged populate the worlds of D&D: assault, infiltration, and battlecaster. Choose one of these subraces.
Assault Warforged
Assault Model Warforged were the frontline troops in combat, bearing down on the enemy in a relentless wave of iron and wood. Built with the strongest frames and heaviest muscle fibres, they could wield powerful weapons and deliver devastating attacks.
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.
Size: Assault Warforged stand between 6 and 7 feet tall and average about 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Integrated Shield: Assault Warforged can deploy a heavy adamantine plate from their forearm that grants the warforged a +2 bonus to their armor class like a shield, even when the arm is being used otherwise. This plate is precision equipment and will cease to function if it is removed, enchanted, or altered.
Heavy Weapon Integration: Assault Warforged are large enough to Integrate 2-handed weapons into their body. These still require two hands to use, but they can be retracted in the same way as any other integrated weapon.
Infiltration Warforged
Infiltration Model Warforged are built for subterfuge, excelling at making their way inside of enemy encampments where they can conduct acts of sabotage and spycraft. Their near-living outer tissue can almost pass as the real thing, and their fine-tuned subversion tactics are near flawless.
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Size: Infiltration Warforged stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and average about 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Subversion Protocol: You have proficiency in deception.
Artificial Personhood: Designed to pass as a non-warforged, Infiltration units have an artificial outer skin that permanently mimics the appearance of a Human. A creature trying to spot the subversion must pass a Wisdom (Insight) Check vs your Deception Skill. You have advantage on this check.
Camouflage Matix: You have the ability to briefly blend into your surroundings. If you remain motionless for one round, on the next you have advantage on any Stealth checks.
Warcaster Warforged
Warcaster Model Warforged are by far the rarest model, smaller and more compact than their brethren. They are built as effective spellcasters and built to focus on dangerous battle magic. Their internal spell cylinders can hold magics long lost to the rest of the world recorded deep inside, inaccessible to anyone else
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Size: Warcaster Warforged stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Dedicated Warcaster: You gain the Warcaster feat.
Integrated Spell Focus: Warcaster Warforged have a spell focus integrated into their forearm chassy. By casting through this focus, they do not have to use components that do not have a gold value.
Integrated Spellbook: Warcaster Warforged have an internal spellbook recorded on a series of internal wax and polymer cylinders. These spellbooks are a core component of the Warforged body, have near limitless capacity to record new spells, and are guaranteed to survive for the Warforged entire lifetime. They cannot be read or copied by any other spellcasters.
~I've always liked warforged as a concept but they require a pretty heavily steampunk world to function in, and I actually like my table to feel a little more low-magic/feudal. Rewriting the history of the race so that they are ancient relics that are slowly and inexplicably coming to life actually allows them to be played int the sort of world I was imagining. As far as the mechanics go, I was careful not to equip them with any weapons beyond what a normal player character might have access to at level 1. There are plenty of homebrew Warforged out there that allow for subraces but they never quite feel like they have enough variety, so I tried to allow for a wider spectrum of character archetypes. Now you can use the same race to build bastion from overwatch, mega man, the terminator, robbie the robot, or anywhere in between. I have a player actually playing an assault warforged fighter right now, and it's working pretty well. I'd love to get any feedback you might have.