[3.5] Dragonborn Warforged

[The Rabbler]

My question pertains to the composite plating warforged get. Does dragonborn eliminate the composite plating? Logically, I want to say no, but because it also eliminated level 1 feats, and feats affect the plating, so I can't be sure.

[Jarian]

Logically, no. Technically, yes.

[The Rabbler]

To the DM!

EDIT:

Logically, no. Technically, yes.

thanks

[HunterOfJello]

I wish the Dragonborn section provided more information about natural attacks, natural armor and other features that many races have.

However, becoming a Dragonborn Warforged would give you the equivalent of the Unarmored Body feat for free, which is a cool benefit for many warforged.

You should also retain all the benefits for possessing your original Living Construct subtype, which is a good long list of benefits.

~

I love the idea behind roleplaying a Dragonborn Warforged. A living construct that dared to use the magic of dragons to turn itself into a true organic being.

[dgnslyr]

I love the idea behind roleplaying a Dragonborn Warforged. A living construct that dared to use the magic of dragons to turn itself into a true organic being. MECHA-DRAGON-MAN

Fixed that for you

[The Rabbler]

I love the idea behind roleplaying a Dragonborn Warforged. A living construct that dared to use the magic of dragons to turn itself into a true organic being.

I'm playing mine a bit differently.

Backstory Spoiler

Spoiler

Show

A warforged, created by a devious green dragon who got ahold of a creation forge and started pumping out new warforged to be her unstoppable army. House... Cannith? (the one that made the creation forges) eventually hears about this and destroys the creation forge via sabotage. The green dragon is slightly miffed about this () and she decides to wage war on House Cannith. Hoping to avoid wartime resource use, House Cannith employs the help of a small but reputable band of heroes. They smash through the army and destroy the mighty wrym in a matter of minutes, with the help of a traitorous warforged. What few warforged remain are allowed their freedom.

My warforged, A184, hated the dragon. He was of the first batch and was therefore put on "personal care" duty. He was treated as garbage and slowly, his machine-based desire to serve wore out. He waited for his opportunity, but his mistress has always been careful and her senses had not dulled with age. His chance finally came as the party of adventurers burst into his mistress' battle room (heavily trapped of course), he deactivated the traps and distracted the evil dragon long enough for the adventurers to slay her. For his help, one of the adventurers rewarded A184 with training of a warblade. He was thankful, but it was not enough. Simply being a warblade would not be enough for him to put a stop to the tyranny that the chromatic dragons held over their secret domains. He begged for strength, crying out upon his (small) share of his former mistress' hoard, and the platinum dragon answered. He accepted her gift without question and he became more than he was. The warforged shed his old name, preferring instead "Scale" in recognition of his new form. He had grown stronger and was now ready to take on the dragons.

Scale made a name for himself by eliminating the more obtrusive dragons (be it alone or with others), but after being tasked with slaying one of the most powerful dragons in Xen'Drik, he was caught in a trap. Knowing that it was going to die, the Old Blue Dragon brought down the ceiling of it's cavern on top of itself and the mighty warforged. Scale, however, didn't die. Scale was trapped, unable to move for ages. He felt the time pass and he even felt the stone being moved around him. He hoped that eventually he would be uncovered, until one day, light shined itself upon his dusty eyes.

a small party (my current group) was adventuring down what has become the upper levels of the Underdark. Their guide shows the party the location of a famous (to dwarves) natural rock shaping which looks strangely like a half-dragon. After some inspection and some player curiosity, the stone is broken and out falls a draconic-looking humanoid and his weapon. Enter Scale, the warblade.

[Soren Hero]

I'm playing mine a bit differently.

Backstory Spoiler

Spoiler

Show

A warforged, created by a devious green dragon who got ahold of a creation forge and started pumping out new warforged to be her unstoppable army. House... Cannith? (the one that made the creation forges) eventually hears about this and destroys the creation forge via sabotage. The green dragon is slightly miffed about this () and she decides to wage war on House Cannith. Hoping to avoid wartime resource use, House Cannith employs the help of a small but reputable band of heroes. They smash through the army and destroy the mighty wrym in a matter of minutes, with the help of a traitorous warforged. What few warforged remain are allowed their freedom.

My warforged, A184, hated the dragon. He was of the first batch and was therefore put on "personal care" duty. He was treated as garbage and slowly, his machine-based desire to serve wore out. He waited for his opportunity, but his mistress has always been careful and her senses had not dulled with age. His chance finally came as the party of adventurers burst into his mistress' battle room (heavily trapped of course), he deactivated the traps and distracted the evil dragon long enough for the adventurers to slay her. For his help, one of the adventurers rewarded A184 with training of a warblade. He was thankful, but it was not enough. Simply being a warblade would not be enough for him to put a stop to the tyranny that the chromatic dragons held over their secret domains. He begged for strength, crying out upon his (small) share of his former mistress' hoard, and the platinum dragon answered. He accepted her gift without question and he became more than he was. The warforged shed his old name, preferring instead "Scale" in recognition of his new form. He had grown stronger and was now ready to take on the dragons.

Scale made a name for himself by eliminating the more obtrusive dragons (be it alone or with others), but after being tasked with slaying one of the most powerful dragons in Xen'Drik, he was caught in a trap. Knowing that it was going to die, the Old Blue Dragon brought down the ceiling of it's cavern on top of itself and the mighty warforged. Scale, however, didn't die. Scale was trapped, unable to move for ages. He felt the time pass and he even felt the stone being moved around him. He hoped that eventually he would be uncovered, until one day, light shined itself upon his dusty eyes.

a small party (my current group) was adventuring down what has become the upper levels of the Underdark. Their guide shows the party the location of a famous (to dwarves) natural rock shaping which looks strangely like a half-dragon. After some inspection and some player curiosity, the stone is broken and out falls a draconic-looking humanoid and his weapon. Enter Scale, the warblade.

now THAT's a backstory

[Coidzor]

I'm playing mine a bit differently.

Backstory Spoiler

Spoiler

Show

A warforged, created by a devious green dragon who got ahold of a creation forge and started pumping out new warforged to be her unstoppable army. House... Cannith? (the one that made the creation forges) eventually hears about this and destroys the creation forge via sabotage. The green dragon is slightly miffed about this () and she decides to wage war on House Cannith. Hoping to avoid wartime resource use, House Cannith employs the help of a small but reputable band of heroes. They smash through the army and destroy the mighty wrym in a matter of minutes, with the help of a traitorous warforged. What few warforged remain are allowed their freedom.

My warforged, A184, hated the dragon. He was of the first batch and was therefore put on "personal care" duty. He was treated as garbage and slowly, his machine-based desire to serve wore out. He waited for his opportunity, but his mistress has always been careful and her senses had not dulled with age. His chance finally came as the party of adventurers burst into his mistress' battle room (heavily trapped of course), he deactivated the traps and distracted the evil dragon long enough for the adventurers to slay her. For his help, one of the adventurers rewarded A184 with training of a warblade. He was thankful, but it was not enough. Simply being a warblade would not be enough for him to put a stop to the tyranny that the chromatic dragons held over their secret domains. He begged for strength, crying out upon his (small) share of his former mistress' hoard, and the platinum dragon answered. He accepted her gift without question and he became more than he was. The warforged shed his old name, preferring instead "Scale" in recognition of his new form. He had grown stronger and was now ready to take on the dragons.

Scale made a name for himself by eliminating the more obtrusive dragons (be it alone or with others), but after being tasked with slaying one of the most powerful dragons in Xen'Drik, he was caught in a trap. Knowing that it was going to die, the Old Blue Dragon brought down the ceiling of it's cavern on top of itself and the mighty warforged. Scale, however, didn't die. Scale was trapped, unable to move for ages. He felt the time pass and he even felt the stone being moved around him. He hoped that eventually he would be uncovered, until one day, light shined itself upon his dusty eyes.

a small party (my current group) was adventuring down what has become the upper levels of the Underdark. Their guide shows the party the location of a famous (to dwarves) natural rock shaping which looks strangely like a half-dragon. After some inspection and some player curiosity, the stone is broken and out falls a draconic-looking humanoid and his weapon. Enter Scale, the warblade.

That is a fun twist on the usual theme indeed.

[The Rabbler]

thanks for the compliments. I like to get a bit creative with my backstories and I've always wanted to somehow make a cross-setting character work out.

[Cog]

More specifically than some of the other answers: you'd lose the basic racial plating. However, you're still a warforged and therefore still qualify for any of the armor-related feats, and if you have one of those you do retain that.

[kestrel404]

More specifically than some of the other answers: you'd lose the basic racial plating. However, you're still a warforged and therefore still qualify for any of the armor-related feats, and if you have one of those you do retain that.

Yep. I was just about to note that. It really IS like getting the 'no plating' feat for free, except you don't get the option of keeping the basic plating.

[The Rabbler]

More specifically than some of the other answers: you'd lose the basic racial plating. However, you're still a warforged and therefore still qualify for any of the armor-related feats, and if you have one of those you do retain that.

That's really useful... If my character wasn't so feat-starved already, I'd be all over that.

[Thurbane]

Strangely enough, the "official" FAQ addresses this point directly:

Can a warforged become a dragonborn of Bahamut, and if so what are the racial traits it keeps from the warforged list?Despite the misleading entry in the dragonborn racial traits that suggests that all dragonborn are humanoids, the only prerequisites for being reborn in this manner are a non-evil alignment and an Intelligence of 3 or better. Thus, there’s nothing stopping a warforged from undergoing this ritual and dedicating himself to the service of Bahamut.
A warforged who becomes a dragonborn would be a construct with the living construct and dragonblood subtypes. He’d retain his warforged ability score modifiers and favored class.
He’d also retain all traits derived from the living construct subtype, including immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, and energy drain; inability to heal damage naturally; vulnerability to certain metal- or wood-affecting spells; and half effect from healing spells. He’d still become inert at –1 to –9 hp, and he still wouldn’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe.
However, he would lose his composite plating, light fortification, and slam attack.
The next logical question, of course, is whether the dragonborn warforged can select feats that would improve his now-absent composite plating. Technically, these feats don’t list composite plating as a prerequisite, so it appears the answer would be yes.
The Unarmored Body feat (RE 120) supports this ruling, as it indicates that other feats that adjust the character’s armor bonus could be selected later, even though he technically doesn’t have the composite plating’s armor bonus any more.

[stainboy]

Heh, technically the FAQ is wrong. Adamantine Body doesn't require Composite Plating. Adamantine Body requires Warforged. Which a dragonborn isn't, anymore. He/she is a Construct [Living Construct] (type and subtype) but not a Warforged (race).

But even if it contradicts other rules, if WotC says you can have Adamantine Body, you can have Adamantine Body and that's the end of it.

[Cog]

Heh, technically the FAQ is wrong. Adamantine Body doesn't require Composite Plating. Adamantine Body requires Warforged. Which a dragonborn isn't, anymore. He/she is a Construct [Living Construct] (type and subtype) but not a Warforged (race).

Type, Subtype, and Race: You retain your original type and subtypes, gaining the dragonblood subtype. You still count as a member of your original race for the purpose of any effect or prerequisite that depends on race.

A Dragonborn Warforged is indeed still a Warforged.

[stainboy]

Oh. Huh.

(FAQ still got the prerequisite on warforged armor feats wrong. )

[senrath]

Oh. Huh.

(FAQ still got the prerequisite on warforged armor feats wrong. )

Technically, these feats don’t list composite plating as a prerequisite, so it appears the answer would be yes.

How is that wrong?