Warforged and heavy armor

[Anthiondel]

Given how they are presented in Rising from the Last War, would you say Warforged can wear heavy armor w/o the 15 STR requiremen? It makes sense to me, but I can't find an actual ruling on the subject (I have it on DnDB, not a physical copy of it)

[nickl_2000]

RAW is that you must meet the strength requirement to wear these armor without issues. Full stop.

If your table thinks fluff overrides this, then go for it, but that isn’t the intent.

[EggKookoo]

Why would they be exempt from the Str restrictions?

[Zhorn]

Anyone can wear heavy armor without meeting the strength requirement, they'll just face the penalty for doing so;


Heavy Armor.
... If the Armor table shows “Str 13” or “Str 15” in the Strength column for an arm or type, the armor reduces the wearer’s speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.

the -10 to movement isn't too bad (still not great though), but it's the lack of proficiency that's the real kicker;

Armor Proficiency.
... If you wear armor that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells.

This second point won't be an issue for Warforged only because they cannot get into a situation in which it applies;

Integrated Protection.
... You can don only armor with which you have proficiency. ...

[Anthiondel]

Why would they be exempt from the Str restrictions?

They were in WGtE

[JackPhoenix]

They were in WGtE

They weren't, they couldn't wear any armor at all.

[Zhorn]

They weren't, they couldn't wear any armor at all.
tee hee, rare moment :smalltongue:


They were in WGtE

Key difference between versions is;

Integrated Protection.
...You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you apply its bonus as normal...
There was no point in having any restrictions or penalties because the armor was entirely cosmetic and did not infer any mechanical benefits.

[EggKookoo]

There was no point in having any restrictions or penalties because the armor was entirely cosmetic and did not infer any mechanical benefits.

I would argue that despite armor being cosmetic, a WGtE warforged still suffered under any penalties of wearing such unless proficient. "Gain no benefit" does not imply "suffer no penalties."

However, I have never run nor played an Eberron game using WGtE so maybe I'm missing a rules tidbit somewhere...

Edit: Well, I guess we're talking about Str rather than proficiency, but I think the point remains the same.

[Zhorn]

I'll agree to that, I can't see anything in the WGtE text saying they would be exempt from any of the penalties, nor any of the proficiency/Strength requirements in the first place, but even passing those hurdles, the armor is still cosmetic at best, a hindrance at worst.

I don't own any books on dndbeyond, so i don't know what types of filters it has for owned content, or how it would apply restrictions and penalties for the warforged. I'm a pen'n'paper player/DM. Any misapplied rulings are going to be my own fault, not the result of some program set up by someone else who may have forgotten to code in the correct interaction on a niche situation.

[JumboWheat01]

If it doesn't specifically say they can ignore the Strength "requirement" of heavy armor, then they can't. Dwarves have that specific exemption written into their Speed block, for example, which is why they can wear full plate with less than 15 Strength and still move around just fine.

[Damon_Tor]

Given how they are presented in Rising from the Last War, would you say Warforged can wear heavy armor w/o the 15 STR requiremen? It makes sense to me, but I can't find an actual ruling on the subject (I have it on DnDB, not a physical copy of it)

They're already way too close to dwarves mechanically. Giving them another of the dwarf racial features would exacerbate this problem. I'd like to see more "ribbons" for them as a race: fists as natural weapons that can be used for unarmed attacks that deal 1d4+str damage and the ability to integrate weapons and other objects (without reliance on magic items) into their bodies would go a long way toward making them more interesting as a race without actually giving them any significant amount of added power.

[MaxWilson]

This second point won't be an issue for Warforged only because they cannot get into a situation in which it applies;

I think they can, via Magic Jar.


If it doesn't specifically say they can ignore the Strength "requirement" of heavy armor, then they can't. Dwarves have that specific exemption written into their Speed block, for example, which is why they can wear full plate with less than 15 Strength and still move around just fine.

For values of "just fine" which include being almost as slow as a weak human wearing plate armor. Dwarves aren't especially slow when heavily armored--they're just slow ALL THE TIME!

I don't understand why people who think movement speed is important EVER go for dwarves. I'd sooner go for a halfling so at least I could ride a Medium-sized donkey around.

Fun fact: a Str 8 halfling in plate armor moves at only 15' speed, but a second Str 8 halfling *carrying* the first armored halfling moves at his usual 25' speed. (70 lb. of plate armor + 40 lb. of halfling = 110 lb., which is within Str 8's 120 lb. carrying capacity.)

[Finback]

Think of it this way - a heavy vehicle is going to need appropriate structural integrity to carry the weight. You can't whack a set of bicycle wheels on a Panzer tank and expect it to work properly. Same with warforged. If you want to bung 100lbs of steel on it, those legs are gonna need to be toughened up to carry it, so the Str requirement applies.

[Joe the Rat]

On a side note, does stealth Disadvantage still apply once integrated?

[Zhorn]

On a side note, does stealth Disadvantage still apply once integrated?
Unless the feature is telling you it overrides such a penalty, that penalty is still applied. The integration make the armor functionally a part of them, but it is still a but of extra clunking and clinking metal.

I think they can, via Magic Jar.
Don't quite follow you on this one, mind explaining how Magic Jar will allow a Warforged to don armor they are not proficient with?

[JackPhoenix]

Don't quite follow you on this one, mind explaining how Magic Jar will allow a Warforged to don armor they are not proficient with?

Use MJ to possess creature wearing an armor you aren't proficient in.

[ThePolarBear]

I think they can, via Magic Jar.


Don't quite follow you on this one, mind explaining how Magic Jar will allow a Warforged to don armor they are not proficient with?


Use MJ to possess creature wearing an armor you aren't proficient in.

But Integrated Protection is not a class feature, so it would not carry over to begin with.

[JackPhoenix]

But Integrated Protection is not a class feature, so it would not carry over to begin with.

That's the point. Magic Jar is used to *circumvent* Integrated Protection to get the WF to suffer penalties everyone gets for wearing armor they're not proficient with. (for the discussion's sake, not for any practical reasons).

[MaxWilson]

Don't quite follow you on this one, mind explaining how Magic Jar will allow a Warforged to don armor they are not proficient with?

Get possessed by somebody with armor proficiencies you lack. They don the extra armor and then leave. You're now wearing armor you aren't proficient in.

[Zhorn]

Huh, interesting work around. Not the most practical strategy, but by the books it works :smallconfused:

[EggKookoo]

Fun fact: a Str 8 halfling in plate armor moves at only 15' speed, but a second Str 8 halfling *carrying* the first armored halfling moves at his usual 25' speed. (70 lb. of plate armor + 40 lb. of halfling = 110 lb., which is within Str 8's 120 lb. carrying capacity.)

Of course this is ripe territory for a DM ruling, but you can rationalize it by saying the movement speed for heavy armor isn't due to its weight, but more to how its structure restricts movement. A set of full plate weighs 65lbs, well within the carrying capacity of a creature with a 15 Strength. Hell, it's within the carrying capacity of a Strength of 5!

[ThePolarBear]

That's the point. Magic Jar is used to *circumvent* Integrated Protection to get the WF to suffer penalties everyone gets for wearing armor they're not proficient with. (for the discussion's sake, not for any practical reasons).

Yes, and it applied even to the previous iteration. It was building on what you were saying, not against, explaining "why" it would work, which was really missing from your "explanation". And it would even have worked in the case of the previous incarnation of the warforged and the most ample reading of that Integrated Protection.

[MaxWilson]

Huh, interesting work around. Not the most practical strategy, but by the books it works :smallconfused:

I think it just leaves you crippled, unable to cast spells and with disadvantage on lots of things.

[Wildarm]

Given how they are presented in Rising from the Last War, would you say Warforged can wear heavy armor w/o the 15 STR requiremen? It makes sense to me, but I can't find an actual ruling on the subject (I have it on DnDB, not a physical copy of it)

Yes, if you are proficient in it you're fine. Just a 10' movement penalty. I recently upgraded my low strength warforged to the new rules and the solution was to trade an under utilized uncommon magic item for Mithril Plate. Gives pretty much identical function to the old integrated heavy plating for Tier 2. Actually slightly better as you no longer hand disadvantage on stealth with heavy armor.