Warforged for Dungeon Fantasy
Eberron is pretty much my favorite published D&D setting, and Warforged are my favorite Eberron race. What would they look like in Dungeon Fantasy? Let’s find out!
In the racial template below I’ve tried to follow the same guidelines as the races in the DFRPG: they must alter the character enough for you to feel like you’re playing a member of that race, and they can’t cost more than about 40 points. This should allow characters following almost any professional template to be a Warforged if they so wish.
Warforged
Racial Cost: 30 points
Warforged are living constructs. In Eberron, they were created and mass-produced by a powerful enchanter house, which sold them as ready-made armies to some of that setting’s warring nations. Once the war was over, most were freed and given citizenship. In other settings, their origins are usually less industrial: a warforged delver might be an experiment by a lone wizard, a relic from a lost civilization who was only activated now, and so on.
Warforged are more or less human-sized and -shaped, but are obviously made of metal, wood, and stone rather than flesh. Most look nearly identical save for the mystic sigil in their foreheads, which is different for every individual. A few have taken the time to customize their bodies and individualize their appearance.
Warforged are a little stronger than humans, but their real advantage over human soldiers lies in ther immunity to most weaknesses of the flesh. They don’t need food, water or even air, and though they must spend some time at rest each day, they don’t really sleep either. Unlike a “proper” golem, a warforged has a fully sapient mind and soul, too.
They are still alive, though, and still subject to some of those fleshy weaknesses. They have and can spend Fatigue Points. They are not considered Unliving or Homogenous, and still vulnerable to poisons and such that enter their bodies via means other than breathing or ingestion. They can be affected by Mind Control spells and other similar magic. And no-mana areas are deadly to them, which is something most other delvers don’t need to worry about. On the good side, Healing magic works fine on Warforged.
Even a newly-created Warforged will have the skills of a veteran fighter and an adult-level intellect, but that individual will also lack most of the social graces you would expect from someone with an adult-level intellect. Even after they overcome this initial awkwardness, people still tend to look at then a bit oddly given their exotic appearance and origin.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 {10}; HT+1 {10}.
Advantages: Composite Plating 1 {5}; Doesn’t Breathe {20}; Doesn’t Eat or Drink {10}; Unsleeping Watcher {10}.
Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana) {-25}; Social Stigma (Minority Group) {-10}.
Features: Individuals look very similar to each other.
Special Warforged Traits
Composite Plating1
Your skin is made of metal and wooden plates. This works like one level of the Barbarian’s Tough Skin (DRRPG Adventurers, p. 16), but it’s not flesh! It does protect against attacks that require a scratch or skin contact but don’t manage to get past its DR. You can still wear armor normally.
At the GM’s option, a warforged character might be able to buy up to two more levels of this trait in play. It requires spending some time in a machine shop along with 5 points and $500 per level.
Dependency (Mana)
As the monster trait on DFRPG: Monsters, p. 13. You lose 1 HP per minute you spend in a no mana area.
Doesn’t Breathe/Doesn’t Eat or Drink
As the monster traits in DFRPG: Monsters, p. 10.
Unsleeping Watcher2
Instead of sleeping, you must enter a state of inactivity for at least 4 hours per day. While in this state, you remain conscious and aware of your surroundings, so you can keep watch while resting. If you can’t rest like this on a given day, treat it as a night of missed sleep.
Optional Traits
Warforged characters may add the following disadvantages to the list of optional traits for their professional template, if those aren’t already there: Chummy {-5}; Clueless {-10}; Gregarious {-10}; Gullibility {-10}; Code of Honor (Soldier’s) {-10}. These represent the social awkwardness or initial programming of a newly-created warforged. Since they are personal disadvantages, they do count toward your disadvantage limit.
Warforged Characters
While warforged were made to be members of the fightier professions, they can do equally well at any of them! That little bit of extra DR will come in handy to delvers who have to rely on lighter armor. Warforged are an excellent choice for players who don’t want to bother with buying rations and sleeping bags, or succumbing to poison gas traps. On the other hand, they have social difficulties in town, and their fleshbag buddies will always ask them to take the watch when setting up camp.
Warforged gender is mostly a matter of personal preference, perhaps accompanied by the use of the Armory skill. Warforged usually choose names from the culture in which they live, but some prefer simple one-word names that allude to their vocation or personality. A holy warrior who lives to protect the weak might name himself Shield, and there’s that one guy who called himself Awesome Bucket.