Good race to lead a Steampunk empire.

[frogglesmash]

I'm looking for opinions on what would be a good race/species to be the ruling class of a steampunk empire, all sources are welcome.

The empire in question is highly militaristic, aggressively expansionist, in the midst of an industrial revolution, and rife with social inequality.

In addition to steampowered technology, they've also made large advances in the field of alchemy, leading to the development of cartridge based firearms, though this is a recent development, and flintlock/percussionlock weapons are still very common.

They also have access to arcane magic, though practitioners relatively rare, and as a result it is primarily used to enhance their other forms of technology. True masters of the arcane arts are exceedingly rare, and are experience large amounts of upward social mobility as a result. Divine magic is essentially non existent, forcing the empire to instead rely on their alchemists for medicine.

It's also worth noting that the empire has been pioneering most these technologies.

[emulord]

Gnome is a classic choice for this, except instead of "quirky" steam tech, its dangerous and overpowering

[Segev]

To flip it a bit on its usual head, you could go with Warforged. Normally, they'd be a slave caste of created worker/warriors, but you could make the advances of this society be because great minds amongst their kind accelerated their creators' work, and now they're in charge. Warforged-made goods are considered the best. Warforged are considered stronger and smarter than biological beings. Warforged have gone from being built to serve to being built to oversee. Whenever new businesses, villages, ventures, or projects are started, it's considered unofficial and amateurish if there isn't a Warforged in charge (or at least first-among-equals on the board of directors). If there aren't any warforged with free time to take it up, and the fleshy folks in it can afford to make a petition, then a new one is forged to take the lead.

Warforged grunts exist, of course. They occupy lower levels of society as well as the top. But they are still considered "down on their luck" or "not living up to their potential" and to generally be better than riff-raff of their social class that aren't warforged. And the higher you go, the denser the warforged concentration gets. And why wouldn't that be? After all, they're almost all part of one of the big Guilds that run everything because they built and designed everything that makes the steampunk society the most advanced in the world!

[The Kool]

If you'd like something a bit more monstrous, Formians are interesting. If you want something more classic, I second the Gnome. Dwarf would also fit, and you can't go wrong with Humans (though I get the idea you were asking for alternatives to Humans). Gotta put my voice behind the Warforged though, that's a lovely twist.

[Raxxius]

I'm looking for opinions on what would be a good race/species to be the ruling class of a steampunk empire, all sources are welcome.

The empire in question is highly militaristic, aggressively expansionist, in the midst of an industrial revolution, and rife with social inequality.

In addition to steampowered technology, they've also made large advances in the field of alchemy, leading to the development of cartridge based firearms, though this is a recent development, and flintlock/percussionlock weapons are still very common.

They also have access to arcane magic, though practitioners relatively rare, and as a result it is primarily used to enhance their other forms of technology. True masters of the arcane arts are exceedingly rare, and are experience large amounts of upward social mobility as a result. Divine magic is essentially non existent, forcing the empire to instead rely on their alchemists for medicine.

It's also worth noting that the empire has been pioneering most these technologies.

Hobgoblins

fin

[wilphe]

To elaborate further on as I have been swordsaged.

Blood and Iron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Iron_(speech)) era Prussian Hobgoblins in Pickelhaube (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickelhaube)

[liquidformat]

I am going with goblins, especially if you are willing to add a bit of home brew to upgrade them since as written they are under powered.

[frogglesmash]

Gnomes: Not a fan personally. I don't find them menacing enough to be the heads of a conquering empire. They would work great as an oppressed working class, though.

Warforged: Definitely a good choice. Their presence could easily explain the advances in steamtech, and the inhumane practices of the empire. They could also introduce some interesting power structures, as the society could be primarily meritocratic, while still ruled by a "racially" exclusive upper class.

Fomorians: I don't like them. I don't know why, I just don't.

Dwarves: They fit, but I feel there are better options.

Humans: They fit, but they fit everywhere, so that's not surprising.

Hobgoblins: They lend themselves very well to a military empire, and the introductions of hobgoblins naturally leads to using other goblinoids in various for a variety of other social roles. Making them Prussian just makes everything better.

Goblins: Goblins as written don't really lend themselves to being the ruling class if the rest of the empire isn't also populated by goblins. As for making them stronger, at that point I might as well just use one of the more powerful goblinoid races. They would, however, work very well as an industrious working class.

[liquidformat]

Hobgoblins: They lend themselves very well to a military empire, and the introductions of hobgoblins naturally leads to using other goblinoids in various for a variety of other social roles. Making them Prussian just makes everything better.

Goblins: Goblins as written don't really lend themselves to being the ruling class if the rest of the empire isn't also populated by goblins. As for making them stronger, at that point I might as well just use one of the more powerful goblinoid races. They would, however, work very well as an industrious working class.

Check out the Eberron Goblins, even though they don't have any mechanical advantages they would fit the build. On a side note in a lot of my games I make goblinoids monstrous humanoids and pull ogres into goblin blooded instead of giants, makes for an interesting Re:Monster twist to them.

[frogglesmash]

Check out the Eberron Goblins, even though they don't have any mechanical advantages they would fit the build. On a side note in a lot of my games I make goblinoids monstrous humanoids and pull ogres into goblin blooded instead of giants, makes for an interesting Re:Monster twist to them.

It seems, and correct me if I'm wrong, that while there is a goblinoid empire in Eberron, the goblins themselves aren't typically in charge, instead bugbears and hobgoblins tend to hold positions of power. This makes sense to me as goblins are both less intelligent, and physically weaker than most other goblinoids. I do like the idea of making ogres goblinoids, and tend to do that in my own games as well.

[Segev]

Gnomes: Not a fan personally. I don't find them menacing enough to be the heads of a conquering empire. They would work great as an oppressed working class, though.

What if the gnomes are academics and upper-management/middle-class types? Maybe they built the Warforged, at first, as a defensive measure for a war they were having with something else, but they didn't like doing the high-end administration. So they built warforged administrative staff. Who were very good at it. So they let the warforged be in charge.

Because there's no drive to take power back, and the gnomes are happy enough to follow instructions as long as they feed into the gnomes' interests (which the warforged, knowing their creators, were able to best assign them to do, having served as secretaries before being given authority to manage things on a broader scale), there's no real strife. Gnomes don't feel looked down upon; it's just good sense to let the warforged run the tedium of empire. The warforged don't feel abused; they're in charge, after all.

Maybe mix in goblins as an early conquered race, perhaps cousins to the gnomes in terms of inventiveness, but not as advanced. Maybe the warforged were even built initially to handle that war, because the goblins' orc allies were too adept at war. Warforged and gnome versus orc and goblin. Except that the goblins who were beaten and conquered thrived under warforged rule, since the warforged recognized the inventive spark and demeanor of the goblins where the orcs never appreciated it. Goblins do form more of an underclass than gnomes do, but they still like it alright. They're the mechanical engineers to the artificers of the gnomes. And, of course, there's still fierce rivalry, but it takes on a more professional tone...most of the time. Every now and again, a goblin takes revenge on some sleight from a gnome with a massive machine, meant to "show them all." Of course, the gnomes will also tend to be show-offs to try to one-up the goblins. And then the warforged play peacemaker, punish any who caused undue damage, and everybody packs up and grumbles back to their labs.

[noob]

I am going with goblins, especially if you are willing to add a bit of home brew to upgrade them since as written they are under powered.

Goblins are not underpowered unless you are trying to make a strength based character or a face with them.
Goblin casters are quickly silly as are goblins with tech based classes or in fact truly any goblin that does not use direct physical or social might for overcoming odds.

look at the traits:

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
A goblin’s base land speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
+4 racial bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks.
Automatic Languages: Common, Goblin. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Orc.
Favored Class: Rogue.

So you lose 2 points in two dump stats and get in exchange a +2 to dex which is a quite good stat so overall the trade is not negative.
Then you get the full normal speed while having small size which is again a quite good benefit.
you also get darkvision putting you in line with the other non human races.
and finally you get a huge racial bonus to move silently checks meaning goblins are very stealthy(bonuses to move silently And hide thanks to small size).



It seems, and correct me if I'm wrong, that while there is a goblinoid empire in Eberron, the goblins themselves aren't typically in charge, instead bugbears and hobgoblins tend to hold positions of power. This makes sense to me as goblins are both less intelligent, and physically weaker than most other goblinoids. I do like the idea of making ogres goblinoids, and tend to do that in my own games as well.

that is false goblins are as intelligent as the other goblinoids but they get to be at the bottom of the hierarchies often because they are in societies where the only forms of readily available power are physical might and face power

[BowStreetRunner]

I'm going to suggest something a little more out there, but I think it's intriguing enough as an option to warrant mention. Use the Lesser Planetouched template from the Player's Guide to Faerun and apply it to the Mechanatrix race from Fiend Folio. They are planetouched who trace their ancestry to clockwork beings from the plane of Mechanus and appear a bit like humanoid cyborgs. They actually get a +4 racial bonus to Knowledge (architecture and engineering) and heal from electrical attacks.

[noob]

I'm going to suggest something a little more out there, but I think it's intriguing enough as an option to warrant mention. Use the Lesser Planetouched template from the Player's Guide to Faerun and apply it to the Mechanatrix race from Fiend Folio. They are planetouched who trace their ancestry to clockwork beings from the plane of Mechanus and appear a bit like humanoid cyborgs. They actually get a +4 racial bonus to Knowledge (architecture and engineering) and heal from electrical attacks.

I like mechanatrixes but the thing is that it is more fitting for electrical tech (there is probably elecropunk somewhere) than steam tech.

[frogglesmash]

that is false goblins are as intelligent as the other goblinoids but they get to be at the bottom of the hierarchies often because they are in societies where the only forms of readily available power are physical might and face power

Whaddaya Know, their fluff text leads you believe that they're not very bright, so I guess I just assumed they had a -2 to int.


I'm going to suggest something a little more out there, but I think it's intriguing enough as an option to warrant mention. Use the Lesser Planetouched template from the Player's Guide to Faerun and apply it to the Mechanatrix race from Fiend Folio. They are planetouched who trace their ancestry to clockwork beings from the plane of Mechanus and appear a bit like humanoid cyborgs. They actually get a +4 racial bonus to Knowledge (architecture and engineering) and heal from electrical attacks.

I could definitely see a few of them being in positions of power, but the way planetouched tend tend to pop up at random in pre existing populations precludes them from forming the bulk of the ruling class imo.

[BowStreetRunner]

I like mechanatrixes but the thing is that it is more fitting for electrical tech (there is probably elecropunk somewhere) than steam tech.I have yet to encounter a Steampunk setting that didn't have light-bulbs. Steam-generated electricity feels quite at home in a steampunk setting to me.

[Draconi Redfir]

Yeah throw my vote in for Hogboblins. They don't seem like the type to rely on magic too often, so they'd probably turn to technology. Plus you can then have Goblins running around as a worker caste, made to fit into small holes and repair machinery, Goblins probably did / will invent gunpowder as well.

Could probably fit in Bugbears as a heavy-lifting caste too, load weaponry on their backs or use them to carry heavy objects and the like.

[Thurbane]

I was once working on a campaign where Karsites (ToM) ran a technology/steampunk based empire, due to their inability to use spells.

[Falontani]

The Keeper from fiend folio. These things are weird. But to me they scream steampunk... Idk why

[frogglesmash]

The Keeper from fiend folio. These things are weird. But to me they scream steampunk... Idk why

It's the goggles.

[martixy]

Gnome is a classic choice for this, except instead of "quirky" steam tech, its dangerous and overpowering

To flip it a bit on its usual head, you could go with Warforged.

To flip it around a couple more times. My steampunk empire is led by the gnomes, who created the warforged. Who then rebelled. One of the major events of my setting. Who says you can't do robot uprising in a fantasy setting?

[ezekielraiden]

You could always look around for a 3.5e/PF version of Guild Wars 2's charr. They literally did lead a militaristic industrial revolution. (They're implied to be relatively egalitarian though, as a result of overthrowing the previously-dominant, deceitful shamanic caste, primarily with the help of the secretly-trained female soldiers that said shamanic caste had been oppressing for centuries.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

1. HOBGOBLINS fit this absolutely perfectly, with their lawful and militaristic tendencies. Their skin could vary all over the primary colors, as a hereditary trait, and this would be a very strictly defining feature of the caste system. They would have brutish bugbear enforcers, lowly goblin manual laborers, and blues as some sort of psionic thought police.

2. DWARVES would work well due to their affinity for metal and crafts. Possibly a society of dwarven craftsman and gnome magicians combining their arts to create wondrous machines.

3. HUMANS who worship Zarus (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20041203a) and enslave other races who they view as 'lesser' creatures. This runs a serious risk of becoming cliche depending on what type of accent you give them.

[Telonius]

You might have to re-fluff them a bit, but Shadar Kai (from the Fiend Folio as well) could make an interesting steampunk-ish race. As written they have a lot of illusionists, but you could give them some reason to have given it up. (Maybe trying to escape from the Shadow Plane?) High-dex, creepy-fey, lots of weird items. Definitely more on the gritty side of steampunk.

[Hackulator]

If you want a special small upper class group running an inhumane empire with advanced technology, consider Illithids. They're incredibly intelligent and inhumane, but lawful so they could be running a messed up expansionist empire. They're also alien and terrifying.

[SangoProduction]

Yeah. Gnomes aren't menacing...until you equip them with a chain gun, and plop them on top of a steam giant.

[Aniikinis]

Throwing my vote in for hobgoblins and warforged. Also wanting to bring up the idea of kobolds and Pathfinder's Ratfolk to bear.

Kobolds for the obvious reasons of loads of materials on hand, live in warrens, and if they domesticate fire drakes and the like they have an abundant source of fire to power steam engines, to say nothing of magma pumps or worse.

Ratfolk on the other hand, well...
+2 Dexterity, [I]+2 Intelligence, and –2 Strength.
Type: Humanoid(ratfolk)
Size: Small
Speed: 20 ft.
Languages: Common. Additional: Aklo, Draconic, Dwarven, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, and Undercommon.

Additional Racial Traits:
Tinker: Ratfolk gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy), Perception, and Use Magic Device checks.
Rodent Empathy: Ratfolk gain a +4 racial bonus on Handle Animal checks made to influence rodents.
Swarming: Ratfolk are used to living and fighting communally, and are adept at swarming foes for their own gain and their foes’ detriment. Up to two ratfolk can share the same square at the same time. If two ratfolk in the same square attack the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe as if they were in two opposite squares. (This is the big one)
Darkvision: Ratfolk can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.

Alternate Traits:
Cornered Fury: Ratfolk can fight viciously when cut off from friends and allies. Whenever a ratfolk with this racial trait is reduced to half or fewer of his hit points, and has no conscious ally within 30 feet, he gains a +2 racial bonus on melee attack rolls and to Armor Class. This racial trait replaces swarming. (Street Rats(pun intended) and raiders)
Market Dweller: Some ratfolk are practiced at taking advantage of foes. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, and Sleight of Hand checks. This racial trait replaces tinker. (This makes for good Merchant Lords and Diplomats)
Scent: Some ratfolk have much more strongly developed senses of smell, instead of keen eyes and ears. These ratfolk have the scent ability, but take a –2 penalty on all Perception checks based primarily on sight or hearing. This racial trait replaces tinker. (Chefs, Specialized Police Officers, etc.)
Skulk: Some ratfolk can blend easily into their environments, and move with surprising grace. Ratfolk gain a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks, and take only a –5 penalty on Stealth checks made to hide from creatures they have distracted with a Bluff check (rather than the normal –10 penalty). This racial trait replaces tinker. (Spies)
Unnatural: Some ratfolk unnerve normal animals, and train to defend themselves against the inevitable attacks from such creatures. These ratfolk take a –4 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks to affect creatures of the animal type, and receive a +2 dodge bonus to AC against animals. An animal’s starting attitude toward ratfolk is one step worse than normal. This racial trait replaces rodent empathy.

None of this is counting the favored class bonuses either. Example: Alchemist: The alchemist gains +1/6 of a new discovery.

And the three racial feats are:
Sharpclaw: Gain two claw attacks. ("Why would I need a knife or scissors to cut the rubber? I've got these!")
Tunnel Rat(req: Swarming): Count as one size smaller when squeezing. ("Agiz! Get under there and check the line, I think we've got a blockage or some pest might've gotten into the pipe.")
Burrowing Teeth(req: both above): Gain a burrow speed equal to 1/2 your base speed that lets you burrow through sand, dirt, clay, gravel, or similar materials, but not solid stone. You do not leave a hole behind, nor is your passage marked on the surface. ("Alright, I scoped it out. I made small holes at the bottom corners of where the foundation should be and put markers in them. Dig until you breach them, but no deeper. They're marked where the flags are.") (Literally a million other possible things I could have put.)

Also, Skaven, but that's well, slightly off topic.

[Efrate]

Iron kindoms setting for 3.5 (maybe 3.0?) is full steampunk and gobbers (goblins) are the go to tech/tinker race. Maybe take a look at them. The warforged gnome goblin empire does sound fun.

[Kyrell1978]

I did this with the Warforged in Ebberon. Their answer to the crazy high magic all around them was to replicate the effects with a certain amount of steampunk tech. It worked pretty well.

[liquidformat]

Goblins are not underpowered unless you are trying to make a strength based character or a face with them.
Goblin casters are quickly silly as are goblins with tech based classes or in fact truly any goblin that does not use direct physical or social might for overcoming odds.


I understand how to build classes to focus on the bonuses and take advantage of their weaknesses. However, compare them to halflings, dwarves, gnomes, elves, heck even kobold; they are worse you are taking an extra hit to ability scores with absolutely nothing to compensate for it. Kolbold before races of dragon was the worst base race you could take followed shortly after by golbins; however, that book turned them into one of the best. Goblins are underpowered and there is no getting around that.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by frogglesmash
The empire in question is highly militaristic, aggressively expansionist, in the midst of an industrial revolution, and rife with social inequality.

In addition to steampowered technology, they've also made large advances in the field of alchemy, leading to the development of cartridge based firearms, though this is a recent development, and flintlock/percussionlock weapons are still very common.

They also have access to arcane magic, though practitioners relatively rare, and as a result it is primarily used to enhance their other forms of technology.


Originally Posted by Biffoniacus_Furiou
DWARVES

To me this all screams “dwarves.” I can see this empire being the result of an aggressive, technically inventive clan of dwarves who pursued steam power as a natural outgrowth of their skill and experience at smithying.

The alchemy also seems like a logical fit, as well as the relative rarity of arcane magic. As for the lack of divine magic, I could easily see this as a result of cultural arrogance, with this particular set of dwarves believing they can craft their own fate rather than begging higher powers for assistance.

[noob]

To me this all screams “dwarves.” I can see this empire being the result of an aggressive, technically inventive clan of dwarves who pursued steam power as a natural outgrowth of their skill and experience at smithying.

The alchemy also seems like a logical fit, as well as the relative rarity of arcane magic. As for the lack of divine magic, I could easily see this as a result of cultural arrogance, with this particular set of dwarves believing they can craft their own fate rather than begging higher powers for assistance.
or they have clerics too: many gms decide that only a small proportion of the population can actually become clerics and with this assumption it does not reduce the tinkering part of the population significantly.

[Manyasone]

Yeah. Gnomes aren't menacing...until you equip them with a chain gun, and plop them on top of a steam giant.

Anything and everything is terrifying when used in this way...even Tibbits, and they are adorable

[Psyren]

Depends on whether you want the empire to be benevolent or oppressive. If the latter, I would definitely go with Hobgoblins for this. They're smart (or at least not dumb), numerous/militaristic/aggressive enough to make empire realistic, and you can also bring in enslaved Goblins to be the greasemonkey lower class. Heavily stratified social classes are a hallmark of the punk genre, and hobgoblins let you explore that in spades.

If the former, Dwarves work well as you can do all of the above but make the society more honorbound and less bellicose. i.e. they have the knowledge of warfare to defend themselves in provoked, but they typically won't go starting fights.

[liquidformat]

Anything and everything is terrifying when used in this way...even Tibbits, and they are adorable

Ya a kender with a giant steam golem sounds pretty horrible...

[Thurbane]

Gnomes also become scarier if you think of them as Vin Diesel mini-me's with automatic crossbows! :smalltongue:

http://i65.tinypic.com/335ck91.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/xf18nl.jpg

[The Kool]

So... Verne Troyer?

[SangoProduction]

Anything and everything is terrifying when used in this way...even Tibbits, and they are adorable

Oh my god. OK. Next campaign set. Thank you so much for this, and this thread.

[wilphe]

If the former, Dwarves work well as you can do all of the above but make the society more honorbound and less bellicose. i.e. they have the knowledge of warfare to defend themselves in provoked, but they typically won't go starting fights.

Or use Duergar if you want them to be more evil...

[DMVerdandi]

Another vote in for Warforged.

It is just a beautiful idea once you think about it. I had a game idea about an all war forged party here a few years ago, but instead, Let us build a state. Highly militaristic and aggressively expansionistic. K. So. Lets say that they classify themselves based on the plating that they have, or rather, plating is rewarded through merit/education.

Iron plating is the sign of the commoner. All of them have the magewright class. They help assist in workshops and are tinkers.

Mithril plating is the sign of the Conscript class. They often take up Artificer, Cleric [worship of the machine god. The clerical arm are called machinists], Crusader, or other base classes based on the needs of the army.The army is a techno-theocratic collective.

Adamantium plating is the plating of the elite class. They are the generals, the directors, the prime movers.
The Executive arm are Warblades, and the Judicial Arm are Psionic Artificers

The platings of the war forged are modeled/Crafted in the likeness of Human statues, with the mithril Caste Shining as a reflection of the best qualities, and the adamantine caste having a dark bronze with gold hue, Both covering all parts of the war forged at such a degree of masterwork to resemble an animate sculpture
http://etc.ancient.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/802.jpg

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by SangoProduction
Oh my god. OK. Next campaign set.

Are you thinking something along these lines (https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2254/2210407661_628ccca7d3.jpg)?

:smalltongue:

[SangoProduction]

Are you thinking something along these lines (https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2254/2210407661_628ccca7d3.jpg)?

:smalltongue:

More like this
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/battle-cats/images/e/ea/Bun.png/revision/latest?cb=20180921133132

[Rixitichil]

No one suggesting the Giff?

[Epic Legand]

I am going to suggest Teiflings, as found in Pathfinder. Refluff them to just be a space race, and not decedents of demons. Add in a feature that all teiflings have, say Red skin or always have horns. This gives them a social "marker" Always identifiable, they can be on top...or have a might fall. I will also back the idea of useing Warforged, perhaps as top end shock troopers. Add in cyberpunk/steampunk flavor by having all soldiers who get injured have replacement warforged grafts. Eyes, arms, legs. The Warforged might feel more then a bit upset at being "Parts" .... and feed the unstable political backdrop.

Maybe some corprete houses to give a context to the different political factions. One is renowned as a ship builder, the other is about to break open a gate tech...which would drasticly lower the value of the ship builders. Good luck ether way

[liquidformat]

Another vote in for Warforged.

It is just a beautiful idea once you think about it. I had a game idea about an all war forged party here a few years ago, but instead, Let us build a state. Highly militaristic and aggressively expansionistic. K. So. Lets say that they classify themselves based on the plating that they have, or rather, plating is rewarded through merit/education.

Iron plating is the sign of the commoner. All of them have the magewright class. They help assist in workshops and are tinkers.

Mithril plating is the sign of the Conscript class. They often take up Artificer, Cleric [worship of the machine god. The clerical arm are called machinists], Crusader, or other base classes based on the needs of the army.The army is a techno-theocratic collective.

Adamantium plating is the plating of the elite class. They are the generals, the directors, the prime movers.
The Executive arm are Warblades, and the Judicial Arm are Psionic Artificers

The platings of the war forged are modeled/Crafted in the likeness of Human statues, with the mithril Caste Shining as a reflection of the best qualities, and the adamantine caste having a dark bronze with gold hue, Both covering all parts of the war forged at such a degree of masterwork to resemble an animate sculpture
http://etc.ancient.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/802.jpg

What about ironwood and naked warforged??

[DMVerdandi]

What about ironwood and naked warforged??

Agriculture/herbology [for alchemy I suppose] and Naked can be the pariah cast. Due to some non-warforged sentiment, they are striped of their plating and left naked and unsupported by the rest of the nation

[DrMotives]

No one suggesting the Giff?

Oooh, those guys are a good choice. They're even already a steampunk flavoured race by the books. The only problem is they have an intelligence penalty, even though they like guns & tech. Maybe they're supposed to be savants, I dunno.

[noob]

Oooh, those guys are a good choice. They're even already a steampunk flavoured race by the books. The only problem is they have an intelligence penalty, even though they like guns & tech. Maybe they're supposed to be savants, I dunno.

If you have high level people and/or magical items you can compensate the penalty.

[Segev]

Oooh, those guys are a good choice. They're even already a steampunk flavoured race by the books. The only problem is they have an intelligence penalty, even though they like guns & tech. Maybe they're supposed to be savants, I dunno.

These are the hippo-people? They can be used for steampunk, but their actual portrayal is merely a contemorary cultural aesthetic of the Big Game Hunter. Less steam punk and more safari/Indo-African Colonist. Bringing British Civilization to Backwards, Resource-Rich Realms.

[Thurbane]

These are the hippo-people? They can be used for steampunk, but their actual portrayal is merely a contemorary cultural aesthetic of the Big Game Hunter. Less steam punk and more safari/Indo-African Colonist. Bringing British Civilization to Backwards, Resource-Rich Realms.

http://i65.tinypic.com/e9c5c3.jpg