So I play as a Warforged but there is not an official write up on playing as them so I have to use home brewed rules or use the older rules on them. So I am putting this out there to see how many other players or GMs use Warforged so we can pool our knowledge to help others that might not know about this race or don't know where to find infi to roll one.
There's warforged in the Unearthed Arcana. Until it's considered officially published material it's the closest you're going to get to an official build. ;)
Unearthed Arcana Warforged: Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution Size: Medium Speed: 30 feet Composite Plating: +1 Armor Class Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so), need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping
versus
Keith Baker's Warforged: Ability Score Modifier: +2 Constituton Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so). Unsleeping Sentinel: need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping Warforged Resilience: Resistance to Poison damage, advantage on saving throws vs. poison Integrated Armor: Base AC is 12+Dex modifier, can use a short rest to integrate a suit of armor into your body to make it impossible to remove without spending another short rest doing so Self-Stabilizing: Advantage of death saving throws Subrace: Choose between Warforged Scout or Warforged Soldier
Keep in mind that Keith Baker's warforged was created in 2014 for an extra life campaign whilst the UA warforged was made by WotC staff in 2015. Neither of them are officially adopted as a canon race as one is playtest and the other is a badass race for an inspirational cause.
Keep in mind that Keith Baker's warforged was created in 2014 for an extra life campaign whilst the UA warforged was made by WotC staff in 2015.
One should also keep in mind that the UA warforged was the first UA by the team, and if the differences in Artificer over two years are anything to go by, that article needs a serious refresh.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
⬐If you thought I added value to the conversation, please let me know!
My friends and I always joked that someone should play a war forged bard who can only talk/sing in song lyrics. Similar to bumble bee from transformers.
My friends and I always joked that someone should play a war forged bard who can only talk/sing in song lyrics. Similar to bumble bee from transformers.
If you listen to the Tome Show's Behind the DM's Screen, Jeff Griner (I think I misspelled that) has a character that, while not warforged, is close, does bardic music through a speaker that plays David Bowie Songs.
I hope we will see an update to the Eberron UA soon. They have an Artificer class, (which needs some tweaking) and a psionic Mystic (which I really like) both of which are touchstones of Eberron. So, this has me hopeful for a new UA with updated races, including Kalashtar, dragonmarks and maybe a few items like the eternal wands.
Unearthed Arcana Warforged: Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution Size: Medium Speed: 30 feet Composite Plating: +1 Armor Class Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so), need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping
versus
Keith Baker's Warforged: Ability Score Modifier: +2 Constituton Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so). Unsleeping Sentinel: need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping Warforged Resilience: Resistance to Poison damage, advantage on saving throws vs. poison Integrated Armor: Base AC is 12+Dex modifier, can use a short rest to integrate a suit of armor into your body to make it impossible to remove without spending another short rest doing so Self-Stabilizing: Advantage of death saving throws Subrace: Choose between Warforged Scout or Warforged Soldier
I personally like the simplicity of the Wizards version. It grabs all the essences of the Baker version if you think about it.
Composite plating is essentially Integrated armor. +1 AC means a WoTC warforged essentially has 11+Dex for AC, which is negligible difference from Baker version. Integrated Armor I would chalk up to houserule/flavor text. Instead of having a robot wearing armor (seems silly to me) I would allow a Warforged to integrate it into their body as described. Mechanically the same as wearing it but sounds and looks cooler.
Living Construct: I would add Immune to Poison. It's not a living body so poison and disease would not affect it. Other things, corrosion, magical poisons etc would come into play for that.
I like how it feels. I'm planing on surprising my players with Warforged as a newly discovered race in the ruins of a metropolis. They will be like the Replicants from Blade Runner. Former slaves with a built in lifespan newly awakened now without their masters.
I hope we will see an update to the Eberron UA soon. They have an Artificer class, (which needs some tweaking) and a psionic Mystic (which I really like) both of which are touchstones of Eberron. So, this has me hopeful for a new UA with updated races, including Kalashtar, dragonmarks and maybe a few items like the eternal wands.
The only way UA will have updates is if a class needs to be redesigned. If it is at the stage where balance is an issue, then it is just going to be tested internally. If everything goes well, the results of UA + internal playtesting will result in something that is going to be published in a future book.
here is a good thread that tries to iron out the details. Warforged is an awesome race :)
Baker's version of warforged strike me as an elf, but way better. The +2 to AC is a bit much. Every other option that has a bonus to AC is pretty much just +1 so I think Warforged should be the same.It really should be resistance to poison or advantage to saving throws, but not both. Other than that, you basically have the WotC version.
Stat number wise they aren't all that different than some races. With Keith Baker's version the effective+2 to AC isn't really huge. Since it's not actually a +2 to AC. It is an AC calculation which means that any other armor over rides it. Leather and Studded Leather are meaningless. Getting a +2 to a stat is part for the core races.
As for the poison resistance and advantage on saving throws, Dwarves have exactly that. So again not that in balanced. The advantage on Death Saves is pretty big though.
I don't think the Baker version is that overpowered. Well anymore than Warforged are.
Stat number wise they aren't all that different than some races. With Keith Baker's version the effective+2 to AC isn't really huge. Since it's not actually a +2 to AC. It is an AC calculation which means that any other armor over rides it. Leather and Studded Leather are meaningless. Getting a +2 to a stat is part for the core races.
As for the poison resistance and advantage on saving throws, Dwarves have exactly that. So again not that in balanced. The advantage on Death Saves is pretty big though.
I don't think the Baker version is that overpowered. Well anymore than Warforged are.
Fair enough about the dwarves having both. Since it said Base AC, that comes across as a +2 to me, not a replacement for armor.
Both version seem to lack anything unique though. Its like a warforged is a half elf half dwarf with almost nothing unique to itself.
Stat number wise they aren't all that different than some races. With Keith Baker's version the effective+2 to AC isn't really huge. Since it's not actually a +2 to AC. It is an AC calculation which means that any other armor over rides it. Leather and Studded Leather are meaningless. Getting a +2 to a stat is part for the core races.
As for the poison resistance and advantage on saving throws, Dwarves have exactly that. So again not that in balanced. The advantage on Death Saves is pretty big though.
I don't think the Baker version is that overpowered. Well anymore than Warforged are.
Fair enough about the dwarves having both. Since it said Base AC, that comes across as a +2 to me, not a replacement for armor.
Both version seem to lack anything unique though. Its like a warforged is a half elf half dwarf with almost nothing unique to itself.
No other race gets a base AC calculation, or the ability to forgo eating, etc.
and just it be super clear, the AC calculation is strictly less powerful than a flat +1 to AC. +1 applies no matter what, while the base AC calculation only counts if the character isn't wearing armor.
I'd ditch it and the resistance to damage, and give them 1 of 3 AC calculations, as part of three subraces, and a lethal unarmed attack (ie, a natural weapon that does 1d4 damage). They can't wear armor, their AC is set by their model type, and they can have armor enchantments put into docents that they install, granting them that armor enchantment.
That way, it's a trade off, often a pain, and leaves room for the old option of warforged only modules they can install on themselves.
I'd be willing to give them +1/+1 stat boost, to have the above.
Oh, I like Keith's Warforged. He makes sense for everything we know about the Warforged. I need a Kalashtar write up as well. I'm working on one myself but haven't found one yet. :( This is a good topic, you should bring this discussion over to the Eberron thread :) Manifest Zone (the podcast with Kristian Serrano and Keith Baker...oh and Scott and Wayne :) ) is going to be doing some shows on races in the future and I know they browse the forums here, it would be interesting to hear their take on this.
"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
No other race gets a base AC calculation, or the ability to forgo eating, etc.
Lizardfolk have a Base AC calculation. Which works fine I think. Beasthide Shifters, in that first UA Eberron writer up also had +1 AC while shifting. I'm using my own version of shifters in my homebrew including the +1 AC while shifting and it changes the dynamic enough to make it worthwhile but not overpowering.
Aetherborn in the Kaladesh MtG setting are noted as having no need to eat or sleep. This isn't identified as a racial feature, however, so I feel it's meant more for RP purposes and DMs will likely use the Warforged recharging rule to explain healing during rests.
Aetherborn and Gender: Aetherborn are a strange living by-product of the process of aether refinement, cast in humanoid form but lacking any of the biological qualities of other races. They don’t eat or sleep, and they don’t reproduce—nor do they have any physical sexual characteristics. Language that categorizes people into male or female categories thus breaks down when it comes to aetherborn. Most aetherborn prefer that others use the pronoun “they” to refer to them, since it doesn’t attribute a gender that they don’t possess. Only a relative few prefer “he” or “she,” having chosen to adopt a gender.
So I play as a Warforged but there is not an official write up on playing as them so I have to use home brewed rules or use the older rules on them. So I am putting this out there to see how many other players or GMs use Warforged so we can pool our knowledge to help others that might not know about this race or don't know where to find infi to roll one.
There's warforged in the Unearthed Arcana. Until it's considered officially published material it's the closest you're going to get to an official build. ;)
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/unearthed-arcana-eberron
Site Rules & Guidelines --- Focused Feedback Mega Threads --- Staff Quotes --- Homebrew Tutorial --- Pricing FAQ
Please feel free to message either Sorce or another moderator if you have any concerns.
Unearthed Arcana Warforged:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Composite Plating: +1 Armor Class
Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so), need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping
versus
Keith Baker's Warforged:
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Constituton
Living Construct: Immune to disease, do not need to eat or breathe (but can do so).
Unsleeping Sentinel: need only 4 hours of sleep instead of 8 hours, remain totally aware of surroundings whilst sleeping
Warforged Resilience: Resistance to Poison damage, advantage on saving throws vs. poison
Integrated Armor: Base AC is 12+Dex modifier, can use a short rest to integrate a suit of armor into your body to make it impossible to remove without spending another short rest doing so
Self-Stabilizing: Advantage of death saving throws
Subrace: Choose between Warforged Scout or Warforged Soldier
Warforged Scout
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Dexterity
Size: Small
Speed: 35 feet
Warforged Soldier
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
I'd recommend players asking their Dungeon Masters if they can use the Baker version, and DM's allowing players to do so.
⬐ If you thought I added value to the conversation, please let me know!
Keep in mind that Keith Baker's warforged was created in 2014 for an extra life campaign whilst the UA warforged was made by WotC staff in 2015. Neither of them are officially adopted as a canon race as one is playtest and the other is a badass race for an inspirational cause.
Site Rules & Guidelines --- Focused Feedback Mega Threads --- Staff Quotes --- Homebrew Tutorial --- Pricing FAQ
Please feel free to message either Sorce or another moderator if you have any concerns.
Hello NightLastHero,
here is a good thread that tries to iron out the details. Warforged is an awesome race :)
One should also keep in mind that the UA warforged was the first UA by the team, and if the differences in Artificer over two years are anything to go by, that article needs a serious refresh.
⬐ If you thought I added value to the conversation, please let me know!
My friends and I always joked that someone should play a war forged bard who can only talk/sing in song lyrics. Similar to bumble bee from transformers.
~I am a Halfling Warrior at Heart~
~Tempus Fugit~
1st version seems just a little over powered, the second massively overpowered, if you forgive the pun.
I hope we will see an update to the Eberron UA soon. They have an Artificer class, (which needs some tweaking) and a psionic Mystic (which I really like) both of which are touchstones of Eberron. So, this has me hopeful for a new UA with updated races, including Kalashtar, dragonmarks and maybe a few items like the eternal wands.
Stat number wise they aren't all that different than some races. With Keith Baker's version the effective+2 to AC isn't really huge. Since it's not actually a +2 to AC. It is an AC calculation which means that any other armor over rides it. Leather and Studded Leather are meaningless. Getting a +2 to a stat is part for the core races.
As for the poison resistance and advantage on saving throws, Dwarves have exactly that. So again not that in balanced. The advantage on Death Saves is pretty big though.
I don't think the Baker version is that overpowered. Well anymore than Warforged are.
We do bones, motherf***ker!
Oh, I like Keith's Warforged. He makes sense for everything we know about the Warforged. I need a Kalashtar write up as well. I'm working on one myself but haven't found one yet. :( This is a good topic, you should bring this discussion over to the Eberron thread :) Manifest Zone (the podcast with Kristian Serrano and Keith Baker...oh and Scott and Wayne :) ) is going to be doing some shows on races in the future and I know they browse the forums here, it would be interesting to hear their take on this.
http://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/story-lore/1633-eberron-the-world-that-we-wont-forget?page=6#c115
"...Debts must always be paid, sometimes in more than blood and gold. But this is Ordo Ursa," Ren places his hand on Erakas's chest, right where the Dragonborn's heart is. "Right here. And it always has been and always will be. Don't ever forget that. Because I won't."
Serandis Mendaen (Aereni Elven Rogue/maybe one day Wizard)- Project Point Playtest
Aetherborn in the Kaladesh MtG setting are noted as having no need to eat or sleep. This isn't identified as a racial feature, however, so I feel it's meant more for RP purposes and DMs will likely use the Warforged recharging rule to explain healing during rests.
Site Rules & Guidelines --- Focused Feedback Mega Threads --- Staff Quotes --- Homebrew Tutorial --- Pricing FAQ
Please feel free to message either Sorce or another moderator if you have any concerns.