Warforged of the Forge clarification

[Darth_Versity]

So I'm really tempted to make a Forge Cleric, Warforged for an upcoming game, but I'm not sure what the RAW would be on how the race/class interact (though I feel fairly confident on the RAI)

So does the warforged armor countas armor for the forge clerics Blessing of the Forge and Soul of the Forge?

If no, does it count as armor for Bracers of Defense or similar effects that rely on being armored?

I'm reasonably confident that the intention is for each type to count as armor of its type, so it should work with Forge clerics, but if not, then what is probably the most thematically appropriate cleric for warforged, is one of the worst due to losing some of its best abilities.

Edit: So most people seem to say no to Blessing of the Forge as its part of the warforged body and not an object. But that's ok as it can still be used on a weapon or someone else.

What about Soul of the Forge and Saint of Forge and Fire? Because these are benefits that are just straight up lost if the do not apply to Integrated Protection

[Unoriginal]

Pretty sure the Forge Cleric thing only work for actual armor, not "natural" one. Might be wrong, though.


I don't see why Forge is the "most thematically appropriate cleric for warforged", there is no reason why deities of the Forge would pick Warforged in particular as their Chosen Ones, nor why deities with other Domains would refuse to choose Warforged.

Unless it's a different deal in Eberron, but in that case I don't think most Warforged Cleric would be interested in worshiping the forge.

[Kadesh]

It is explicitly not armour, and goes as far as to say you gain no benefit from armour. Things that affect armour have no affect on Integrated Protection, and even if you wore armour in its place, you would gain no benefit from it (i.e a Warforged in Resistant to Cold Full Plate wouldn't even get Resist Cold or AC18, but would still get reduced stealth)

[leogobsin]

So if you look at the Integrated Protection table Darkwood Core is labelled (unarmored) while Composite Plating and Heavy Plating are both labelled (armor). So Blessing of the Forge could be applied to a warforged in Composite or Heavy Plating configurations, and a warforged could only benefit from Bracers of Defense while in Darkwood Core configuration.
Soul of the Forge specifically requires heavy armor, and it doesn't specifically say that Heavy Plating counts as heavy armor, but that seems like a very reasonable ruling and I'd bet is gonna be changed before the Wayfarer's Guide is finalized.

[Darth_Versity]

Pretty sure the Forge Cleric thing only work for actual armor, not "natural" one. Might be wrong, though.

I thought natural armor always had (natural) next to it like in monster statistics.


I don't see why Forge is the "most thematically appropriate cleric for warforged", there is no reason why deities of the Forge would pick Warforged in particular as their Chosen Ones, nor why deities with other Domains would refuse to choose Warforged.

Not really the point I was making, but are you saying that you can't see how being a Forge Cleric is thematically appropriate for a WarForged? I'm not saying it's the only choice, but for thematics I can only see it being equalled by War.

[Theodoxus]

Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.

Hi! I'm a Lifegrave! What, you've never heard of a Lifegrave? It's like a human, only different. Anyway, my species only worships gods of life and grave domains. Isn't that cool?

[Tetrasodium]

So I'm really tempted to make a Forge Cleric, Warforged for an upcoming game, but I'm not sure what the RAW would be on how the race/class interact (though I feel fairly confident on the RAI)

So does the warforged armor countas armor for the forge clerics Blessing of the Forge and Soul of the Forge?

If no, does it count as armor for Bracers of Defense or similar effects that rely on being armored?

I'm reasonably confident that the intention is for each type to count as armor of its type, so it should work with Forge clerics, but if not, then what is probably the most thematically appropriate cleric for warforged, is one of the worst due to losing some of its best abilities.



At 1st level, you gain the ability to imbue magic intoa weapon or armor. At the end of a long rest, you can touch one nonmagical object that is a suit of armor or a simple or martial weapon. Until the end of your next long rest or until you die, the Object becomes a magicitem, granting a +1 bonus to AC if it’s armor or a +1 bonnus to attack and damage rolls if it’s a weapon.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

back in 3.5 warforged could have their body feat enchanted like armor, so I might allow it (leaning towards no but might be willing to experiment if a player asked), but the warforged body things that grant AC live in the same state of not being armor as the lizardfolk scales & tortle shell. In some ways this leads to interesting things like being able to benefit from rage/monk martial arts & similar. In other ways like this & defensive fighting style it leads to potential oddness.

My first thought was that I would probably allow it, but as I thought about it I decided that those oddities were more important to the flavor of warforged imo. Take a look at [/url]this[/url] image associated with warforged & published in more than one edition since 3.5. There are an awful lot of things warforged can do that other races simply can not even attempt & the same kinda holds true in reverse with things like this or eat food, smell a flower, procreate, etc. Back in 3.5 at least, there was a warforged component magic item called a tracker's mask that granted the warforge the scent ability, the vast majority of its writeup was devoted to how it was prized by warforged due to it being the only conceivable way they could simply experience smell. Those people in the picture are furious about warforged for the same reasons factory workers put out of work by a new machine are going to be furious about automation or immigration & I think preserving some of the obvious "they can do things we can't" is more important to warforged than making sure they can be like everyone else.

I would probably allow a lizardfolk or tortle to do it, but not a warforged & hope that ends up being the ruling from Keith Baker & WotC

[Unoriginal]

Not really the point I was making, but are you saying that you can't see how being a Forge Cleric is thematically appropriate for a WarForged? I'm not saying it's the only choice, but for thematics I can only see it being equalled by War.

Why? It's not because something gave birth to you that you're worshiping it. And Warforged don't have the best relationship with the idea of being forged for war only by creators who didn't account for their sapience, IRRC.

[EvilAnagram]

Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.

Hi! I'm a Lifegrave! What, you've never heard of a Lifegrave? It's like a human, only different. Anyway, my species only worships gods of life and grave domains. Isn't that cool?

I mean, they are also crafted creatures, so worshipping a deity of craft and venerating the act of creation makes sense.

[Darth_Versity]

Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.

Hi! I'm a Lifegrave! What, you've never heard of a Lifegrave? It's like a human, only different. Anyway, my species only worships gods of life and grave domains. Isn't that cool?

Well that's a sudden jump of logic. From "This seems to fit thematically" to "This is the ONLY option for this race"


Why? It's not because something gave birth to you that you're worshiping it. And Warforged don't have the best relationship with the idea of being forged for war only by creators who didn't account for their sapience, IRRC.

So this is getting off topic from the actual question now, so it'll be the last thing I say on it. Warforged are made as living weapons to fight. They are designed to enhance and augment their own bodies to become better at fighting (though many chose other occupations after the war). His body is both his weapon and his armor.

A Forge Cleric enhances and augments his weapons and armor to become better at fighting his gods enemies.

The two seem practically made for each other. Is it the only option? No. Does it match the theme of the race? Yes.

[Unoriginal]

I mean, they are also crafted creatures, so worshipping a deity of craft and venerating the act of creation makes sense.

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?



So this is getting off topic from the actual question now, so it'll be the last thing I say on it. Warforged are made as living weapons to fight. They are designed to enhance and augment their own bodies to become better at fighting (though many chose other occupations after the war). His body is both his weapon and his armor.

A Forge Cleric enhances and augments his weapons and armor to become better at fighting his gods enemies.

The two seem practically made for each other. Is it the only option? No. Does it match the theme of the race? Yes.

Again, I'm pretty sure the Warforged have major resentment toward being considered living weapons only there to fight.

I don't think that going further down that road match the theme of the race.

[Tetrasodium]

As to the "most thematically appropriate" thing, I'm going to disagree. It is certainly not an inappropriate choice, but the metal (anadmantine & mithral!) & stone in a warforged is actually part of a living creature. If you remove that metal from a warforged as a cheap way of mining valuable metal, the results will begin to corrode & break down (ie rot away). A warforged might feel a kinship to armor & weapons similar to how military people might name their weapon/vehicle/etc & talk to it as if it were alive; but warforged are not robots or mere constructs like the mtof clockworks/constructs because they are actually living creatures that inspire this kind of tricky philosophical question (http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3200/fc03151.htm) in a world where you can't just dial up your god & ask.

Now that I've taken a few shots at one side of the"thematically appropriate" coin, I want to take a few at another side that may not even be on the same coin. In my previous post up there I pointed at some of the reasons why people dislike warforged, a creature competing for jobs that does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, can effortlessly work under conditions that would range from very dangerous like a mine to unquestionably lethal like underwater with no support gear. If a mine collapses on a bunch of miners... the meat dies, the warforged you dig out eventually & repair*/heal & send it back to work. In factm when the warforged gets done scraping barnacles off the bottom of ships in port, they might travel to a mine or field to mine/farm. Couple that very understandable hatred towards warforged with their "childhood" & you have some interesting areas a warforged might want to explore. Warforged emerge from the creation forge fully formed with the ability to speak a language given to them by their creator & are immediately sent off to an absolutely brutal boot camp that makes our own versions look positively warm & fuzzy. Mock battle?... nahhh actual battle & losers we bury in a pit for a couple days before we repair you so we can teach you about death & scare the bezeezus out of you by learning the world will go on without you, fight harder in the next exercize if you don't want to be dead again.

You went off to war after finishing bootcamp & even the soldiers don't really like you much. Sure they might respect you for your abilities, but you literally have nothing in commonso nearly any type of social interaction and simple things like simply enjoying (or not) a meal beyond basic chain of command & duty stuff falls deep into this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RImwlpEfyoU&feature=youtu.be&t=21) mccoy/spock question. A warforged might dive into music like data in star trek or any number of other things. I linked to the freefall webcomic earlier because a strip from the other day was relevant, but it's also won awards for "exploring the legal status of created beings" (http://lfs.org/releases/2017SpecialAward.shtml) among other things & a lot of the same kinds of "not a human" things apply to warfoprged without the benefit of the childhood Florence had alongside a big helping of any kind of mental affliction that soldiers can be left with. Back in 3,5 there was a warforged PrC that actually took away the things that made you a warforged & gave you benefits like being able to eat/smell/remove the benefits of your first level body feat. Nobody even knows if you will die of old age or similar

Any of the domains are a good choice for a warforged, but one odd possibility is grave domain with the justification that you've walked both sides of the line & might find it natural to stand on the line as a grave cleric. Maybe one of your duties was to bury the bodies of fallen soldiers & someone taught you some basic funeral rights /prayers to say till you one day started developing powers. Eberron is not a world where divine power comes from faith in a god like several other settings, you can't even be certain that the gods even exist so that power could come from any number of places including your belief that you are doing something important even if you don't even understand why meat believes the care of their dead is so important (you might literally think of it like that even).

*repair damage used to be a spell alongside cure wounds

[ciarannihill]

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?



Again, I'm pretty sure the Warforged have major resentment toward being considered living weapons only there to fight.

I don't think that going further down that road match the theme of the race.

I agree with the main thrust of your point, but be careful of making DnD races a monolith of belief -- many great characters and campaigns are based on breaking or subverting the stereotypes associated with one's race in universe, and some of the most interesting NPCs do the same.

Having said that, my second character ever was a Warforged who hated the Elves and other fae-related races that had initially created him and his race for war before abandoning them to fight it alone. He was constantly removing and replacing the fancy filigreed and nature themed components they had made him out of with wrought iron and steel bits, turning him from a fancy tree-looking warforged into a classic looking one piece by piece. HE even used an axe instead of the polearm he was initially outfitted with because axes take down trees. Made for a fun character to play, especially because I butted heads with our Half-Elven Wizard a lot.

I do think a Forge Domain cleric could be an interesting push pull of one's intended purpose and one's found purpose being related but not the same. Depends on how you play it, though.

[Unoriginal]

I agree with the main thrust of your point, but be careful of making DnD races a monolith of belief -- many great characters and campaigns are based on breaking or subverting the stereotypes associated with one's race in universe, and some of the most interesting NPCs do the same.

Fair, but the same could be said about OP's "Forge & War Domains are the best thematically" point.



Having said that, my second character ever was a Warforged who hated the Elves and other fae-related races that had initially created him and his race for war before abandoning them to fight it alone. He was constantly removing and replacing the fancy filigreed and nature themed components they had made him out of with wrought iron and steel bits, turning him from a fancy tree-looking warforged into a classic looking one piece by piece. HE even used an axe instead of the polearm he was initially outfitted with because axes take down trees. Made for a fun character to play, especially because I butted heads with our Half-Elven Wizard a lot.

Sounds like a lot of fun.

[ciarannihill]

Fair, but the same could be said about OP's "Forge & War Domains are the best thematically" point.

Yup, which is precisely why I agree with your main point. There are "stereotypically" appropriate things (Human Fighter, Dragonborn Paladin, Tiefling Warlock, *insert generic/iconic race/class combo here* etc), but that doesn't make them thematically appropriate because what's thematically appropriate is entirely dependent on the specific character. At least from my point of view.

Might seem like semantics, but I think the distinction matters -- saying something is thematically appropriate to a race implies that other choices are somehow less valid, that a Life Domain Warforged is inherently less interesting than Forge Domain, which is categorically untrue.

[Quoxis]

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?.

I mean... every second ad you see on TV has something to do with it, and i know people who religiously watch „he slept with her, but she did it with another guy“ series...

[RedMage125]

Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.

Hi! I'm a Lifegrave! What, you've never heard of a Lifegrave? It's like a human, only different. Anyway, my species only worships gods of life and grave domains. Isn't that cool?


I mean, they are also crafted creatures, so worshipping a deity of craft and venerating the act of creation makes sense.

That, and there are TWO Warforged-centric belief systems in Eberron that would certainly be well represented by the Forge Domain.

There's the ones wandering the world (primarily the Mournland) in the belief that they are assembling their god. A god who-like them-is forged.

And the fanatics that follow the Lord of Blades. Clerics powered by their faith in his dogma would certainly view the primacy of "the forge" to be a superior modus operandi.

And I believe whichever Sovereign grants the Forge domain (Onatar?) also has a lot of warforged followers.

[Unoriginal]

I mean... every second ad you see on TV has something to do with it, and i know people who religiously watch „he slept with her, but she did it with another guy“ series...

Well, watching tv shows about the unfaithful does seem like something a religion would do...


More seriously, it's not because something is omnipresent in our life that it's worshiped. The Church of the Ground We Walk On has few adepts

[Temperjoke]

I don't think it should be able to be applied to AC received from a racial trait. Warforged, Tortle, and Lizardfolk natural armors are fully integrated into their bodies, it's not a separate part of them. The language used in the Forge cleric bonus treats the armor being boosted as a separate object, it literally says "you can touch one nonmagical object that is a suit of armor..." which natural armor is not.

[Bloodcloud]

I thought natural armor always had (natural) next to it like in monster statistics.



Not really the point I was making, but are you saying that you can't see how being a Forge Cleric is thematically appropriate for a WarForged? I'm not saying it's the only choice, but for thematics I can only see it being equalled by War.

I mean, there is that warforged cult in eberron trying to build a body for their god...

[Theodoxus]

Not really the point I was making, but are you saying that you can't see how being a Forge Cleric is thematically appropriate for a WarForged? I'm not saying it's the only choice, but for thematics I can only see it being equalled by War.

My reply (below) was predicated completely on the highlighted points.


Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.

Hi! I'm a Lifegrave! What, you've never heard of a Lifegrave? It's like a human, only different. Anyway, my species only worships gods of life and grave domains. Isn't that cool?


Well that's a sudden jump of logic. From "This seems to fit thematically" to "This is the ONLY option for this race"


Not as much of a jump as you'd think, looking at what jumped out at me in your post.

Had you said "I can only see it being equaled by Tempest", you'd have had a point (and I can, given Tempest's affinity for lightning, and warforged being at least inspired (if not whole cloth) by robots - and I guess I'll have to remark, Robots, using electricity (aka Lightning in 5E) to simulate life...

But stating that warforged have the greatest affinity to War and Forge domains screams "I like it, cuz it's in its name."

[Sception]

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?

Nearly all real world pantheonic religions have at least one major deity with a particularly popular cult dedicated to exactly this theme. Many monotheistic religions either have this theme as a major part of their singular deity or else have a secondary, not-technically-deity-but-still-basically-a-deity divine figure dedicated to this theme, again with a particularly popular cult, think the Cult-of-Mary that is particularly popular in many christian sects.

The idea that many warforged who "find religion" might come to revere the creation forge itself is not at all strange. Such reverential emotions might extend to House Cannith, or they might not. After all, my understanding is that Cannith magewrights didn't so much invent the creation forges so much as they discovered and/or reverse-engineered the technology from ruins found in Xen'Drik. It's not that much of a leap to see the creation forge/forges and/or the knowledge of their operation & creation as a holy object/understanding/deity/divine-mother-figure, and House Cannith as villainous usurpers that the Forge's children should oppose & overthrow in the process of liberating the forge from their tyranny.

[Darth_Versity]

So most people seem to say no to Blessing of the Forge as its part of the warforged body and not an object. But that's ok as it can still be used on a weapon or someone else.

What about Soul of the Forge and Saint of Forge and Fire? Because these are benefits that are just straight up lost if the do not apply to Integrated Protection

[EvilAnagram]

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?
Yes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fertility_deities)


Again, I'm pretty sure the Warforged have major resentment toward being considered living weapons only there to fight.
Some do. Others don't. The setting asks players to consider the question, and different warforged arrive at different conclusions.

[Temperjoke]

So most people seem to say no to Blessing of the Forge as its part of the warforged body and not an object. But that's ok as it can still be used on a weapon or someone else.

What about Soul of the Forge and Saint of Forge and Fire? Because these are benefits that are just straight up lost if the do not apply to Integrated Protection

I'm mixed on this part, but I'm inclined to say no. As written it requires "wearing heavy armor" which technically you are not, the armor is a part of you. I wouldn't be a hard no on it, however, as the class features doesn't call the armor a separate object. Plus warforged have to go through a distinct process to change their AC, and the heavy plating requires heavy armor proficiency. So I could see a RAI argument that those features would be allowed to affect a warforged character's AC. (I wouldn't let it work on other natural armors though)

[Darth_Versity]

I'm mixed on this part, but I'm inclined to say no. As written it requires "wearing heavy armor" which technically you are not, the armor is a part of you. I wouldn't be a hard no on it, however, as the class features doesn't call the armor a separate object. Plus warforged have to go through a distinct process to change their AC, and the heavy plating requires heavy armor proficiency. So I could see a RAI argument that those features would be allowed to affect a warforged character's AC. (I wouldn't let it work on other natural armors though)

See, if the answer was no, then I would argue that Bracers of Defense do work. Because you are either wearing armor, or you are not. There is no in between space of semi-wearing armor.

If the Bracers don't work, then you are wearing armor, and then it's just a question of which type as there are only 3 available (light, medium, heavy)

[Tetrasodium]

So most people seem to say no to Blessing of the Forge as its part of the warforged body and not an object. But that's ok as it can still be used on a weapon or someone else.

What about Soul of the Forge and Saint of Forge and Fire? Because these are benefits that are just straight up lost if the do not apply to Integrated Protection


Starting at 6th level, your mastery of the forge grantsyou special abilities:
- You gain resistance to fire damage.
- While wearing heavy armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
At 17th level, your blessed affinity with fire and metal becomes more powerful:
- You gain immunity to fire damage.
While wearing heavy armor, you have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks.

I would let them keep the fire resist/immune. I would also probably allow them to transfer the +1 and b/p/s resistance (possibly fire resist/immune too) by saying the way they were giving someone else their 1st level blessings of the forge was being given to someone by growing some of their own plating into that person's armor

[Temperjoke]

See, if the answer was no, then I would argue that Bracers of Defense do work. Because you are either wearing armor, or you are not. There is no in between space of semi-wearing armor.

If the Bracers don't work, then you are wearing armor, and then it's just a question of which type as there are only 3 available (light, medium, heavy)

Well, I haven't said anything regarding the Bracers of Defense, but I would be inclined to rule them as a item and not as an armor, which means that a warforged would be able to wear them. I think of them this way because they require attunement to receive their benefit, they have no benefit on their own, unlike magical armor which is an armor that provides a normal armor benefit in addition to their magical bonus if attuned.

We're also starting to get into nit-picky details which the only official answer will be "Ask your DM".

[ImproperJustice]

Thanks to this topic I now have inspiration for a religous faction who call themseves the “Reforged”.

Warforged that reject their original purpose and venerate the acts of construction and reconstruction/ repurposing.

[Temperjoke]

Thanks to this topic I now have inspiration for a religous faction who call themseves the “Reforged”.

Warforged that reject their original purpose and venerate the acts of construction and reconstruction/ repurposing.

Actually "Reforged" is already a thing in Eberron, it was a prestige class for Warforged characters, presented in the "Races of Eberron" book.

"If the warforged juggernaut is the ultimate expression
of the warforged as a warrior construct, the reforged
represent the realized ideal of the race’s living aspects.
Warforged take up this path to gain an identity as
something other than destructive machines and to
heighten their experiences of the world. With the
force of their personalities, reforged alter their forms,
embracing insight and emotion in order to celebrate
their living nature."

[Fnissalot]

Integrated Protection clearly states in the table that Darkwood core is unarmored and that the medium and heavy armour counts as armor. Bracers of defense would by RAW work with darkwood core then. I though would houserule it so that it counts as armor if you add your proficiency to it.

I don't think it is well written enough to say that our interpretations of Integrated plating in relation to Forge clerics would be RAW. One thing to note is that it is never called natural armor so I think that is an incorrect deduction.

If you are wearing heavy plating, i would grant Soul of the Forge and Saint of forge and fire to a warforged since it counts as armor and requires heavy armor proficiency.

I would not allow Blessing of the forge to affect it since it is not a non-magical suit of armor nor an object, it is part of you and it is not a separate object as you cannot remove it. Would you call another character class their skin as an object?

[Dr.Samurai]

Because their name is Warforged? That's kinda... lame.
No. Because they are forged and they were created for war. That's why the Forge and War domain might appeal in particular to warforged. Not that difficult to grasp.

Why? It's not because something gave birth to you that you're worshiping it.
Right. No other religion ever, real or fictional, has ever had a creator deity worshiped...

Just like most biological beings worship a deity of birth and venerate the act of procreation/childbirth?
Yes. Are you suggesting this doesn't happen????????????

Again, I'm pretty sure the Warforged have major resentment toward being considered living weapons only there to fight.
Some are trying to forge their own god. Others are tying to acquire working creation forges to create more of them. Forge domain seems perfectly appropriate.

[Master O'Laughs]

While I am not sure which side I would personally sway towards. I though I remember noticing the AC calculations for the natural armor being such that you eventually end up with +3 armor by level 20 since you add proficiency bonus as well.

[Tetrasodium]

Integrated Protection clearly states in the table that Darkwood core is unarmored and that the medium and heavy armour counts as armor. Bracers of defense would by RAW work with darkwood core then. I though would houserule it so that it counts as armor if you add your proficiency to it.

I don't think it is well written enough to say that our interpretations of Integrated plating in relation to Forge clerics would be RAW. One thing to note is that it is never called natural armor so I think that is an incorrect deduction.

If you are wearing heavy plating, i would grant Soul of the Forge and Saint of forge and fire to a warforged since it counts as armor and requires heavy armor proficiency.

I would not allow Blessing of the forge to affect it since it is not a non-magical suit of armor nor an object, it is part of you and it is not a separate object as you cannot remove it. Would you call another character class their skin as an object?
No. It says it requires proficiency in various types of armor

[Sception]

No. It says it requires proficiency in various types of armor

It also says under the "mode" column that darkwood core is "unarmored" and that both composite plating and heavy plating are "armor".

[Tetrasodium]

It also says under the "mode" column that darkwood core is "unarmored" and that both composite plating and heavy plating are "armor".


you are right. That's disappointing & normalizes them to a degree but might work out ok.

[ImproperJustice]

Actually "Reforged" is already a thing in Eberron, it was a prestige class for Warforged characters, presented in the "Races of Eberron" book.

"If the warforged juggernaut is the ultimate expression
of the warforged as a warrior construct, the reforged
represent the realized ideal of the race’s living aspects.
Warforged take up this path to gain an identity as
something other than destructive machines and to
heighten their experiences of the world. With the
force of their personalities, reforged alter their forms,
embracing insight and emotion in order to celebrate
their living nature."

Cool :)
Great minds think alike, sorta in this case :)

[Daithi]

Integrated Protection clearly states in the table that Darkwood core is unarmored and that the medium and heavy armour counts as armor. Bracers of defense would by RAW work with darkwood core then. I though would houserule it so that it counts as armor if you add your proficiency to it.

I don't think it is well written enough to say that our interpretations of Integrated plating in relation to Forge clerics would be RAW. One thing to note is that it is never called natural armor so I think that is an incorrect deduction.

If you are wearing heavy plating, i would grant Soul of the Forge and Saint of forge and fire to a warforged since it counts as armor and requires heavy armor proficiency.

I would not allow Blessing of the forge to affect it since it is not a non-magical suit of armor nor an object, it is part of you and it is not a separate object as you cannot remove it. Would you call another character class their skin as an object?

I pretty much agree with all of this.

I'd also think that if I were a warforged being that wanted to become a cleric then the domains of either war or the forge would probably be my most likely choices.