Assuming you have a DM who allows it, how would you explain a warforged character existing in the Forgotten Realms? The only non-hombrewed ways I could think to explain it involve travel via Spelljammer or somehow stumbling into Planescape's Sigil and then stumbling back out in the Forgotten Realms' Toril. If you have ideas, whether they would make sense with existing dnd lore or not, I'd be interested to hear them.
I believe with the Forgotten Realms' history of incorporating things from other settings through estranged magical events, like the spellplague, Warforged would have to have been created in Eberron and somehow traversed over to the Realms. In a similar way characters from Greyhawk have visited the realms, and vice versa.
The Realms does not have its own version of the Warforged "race", however. (notice the sources on the FRwiki are all Eberron or Setting-agnostic)
4e's Dragon #371 ("Origin Stories: Incorporating Races", pages 40-42) discussed the idea of Warforged in Faerûn, mentioning the following five possibilities:
a one-off wizard experiment
a product of a (non-Thayan) Red Wizard Enclave
coming from Eberron by way of Sigil
travelling from the Returned Abeir nation of Gontal (possibly from a primordial's ancient shattered metallic fortress) or
Oh! There was that one spell... Dream of the Blue Veil? That would technically work, right? Of course, finding the spell component of a magic item or creature from the destination world would be difficult to justify, not to mention someone to cast the spell.
Failed illithid experiment. They have 18 int average.so a peak one could have 28, (much like how a peak human has 20) you at that point get a lot of leeway in the stuff you can get away with.
Failed illithid experiment. They have 18 int average.so a peak one could have 28, (much like how a peak human has 20) you at that point get a lot of leeway in the stuff you can get away with.
They are< usually more into mutations and such then into cybertech though.
If I absolutely had to, I'd go with 'clerics of Gond made one just to prove they could'.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
4e's Dragon #371 ("Origin Stories: Incorporating Races", pages 40-42) discussed the idea of Warforged in Faerûn, mentioning the following five possibilities:
a one-off wizard experiment
a product of a (non-Thayan) Red Wizard Enclave
coming from Eberron by way of Sigil
travelling from the Returned Abeir nation of Gontal (possibly from a primordial's ancient shattered metallic fortress) or
awakening after a century of slumber near Lantan
Also discussed here and here. Option #5 is my favorite:
Prior to Lantan sinking during Faerûn's (4e) Spellplague, it was a technologically advanced island, much like the legendary Atlantis, that developed highly advanced clockwork mechanisms and worshipped Gond. Indeed, techsmiths of Gond could construct a mechanical Gondsman as a loyal mechanical warrior, assistant, bodyguard, and friend - confusingly, priests of Gond were sometimes called Gondsmen as well. Lantan has resurfaced in 5e, so it might be an excellent time for a Gondsman or similar construct to appear.
I played a warforged bard named 808 (like the drum machine, but pronounced “Bob”) who had their memory erased, kind of like B.E.N. from Treasure Planet, and came online on a desert island. The setting and story centered around a massive maelstrom, so all the characters started shipwrecked with no memory of where they came from. It worked really well for us, got the story moving fast, and gave everyone clear motivations right from the start. This also gave us freedom to invent and discover more as we played, though I’m sad to say the campaign ended early and never reached a satisfying answer to all the questions. Still, I thought it was a really compelling premise.
I'm currently developing stories in the Forgotten Realms. I take into account the history of each city and nearby locations, and the players decide where to go.
Now I have them arriving in Luskan after a hard battle in Neverwinter and Mount Hotenow by a cult called the Cult of Ash.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Miembro de "La Comunidad de los Perica" conocido como Kuldahar Sunfire ahora Dungeon Master
I'm currently developing stories in the Forgotten Realms. I take into account the history of each city and nearby locations, and the players decide where to go.
Now I have them arriving in Luskan after a hard battle in Neverwinter and Mount Hotenow by a cult called the Cult of Ash.
I apologize if this sounds rude. I don't mean it to be. How does that relate to warforged? Do you have a warforged PC or some tidbit of lore you came up with or know about for shoehorning one into the Forgotten Realms? Is Luskan a good location for introducing one for some reason?
Assuming you have a DM who allows it, how would you explain a warforged character existing in the Forgotten Realms? The only non-hombrewed ways I could think to explain it involve travel via Spelljammer or somehow stumbling into Planescape's Sigil and then stumbling back out in the Forgotten Realms' Toril. If you have ideas, whether they would make sense with existing dnd lore or not, I'd be interested to hear them.
Putting on my DM hat... how warforged do you want your warforged to be?
Mechanically, 'warforged' can be used for just about any sort of construct PC, from magitech cyborg to a Pinocchio-esque living wooden doll to something more like Frankenstein's monster
If you want to play an actual Eberron-branded Warforged™, then yeah, you're going to need some sort of plane-hopping shenanigans to explain what they're doing in Faerun
If you just want to play a 'fantasy robot', then no plane-hopping is necessary. You just need to figure out who and what in your campaign world would be capable of creating such a thing, and go from there. Someone above mentioned a devotee of Gond, for instance. Knowing what class you want to play can help here too -- a paladin construct would likely have a very different origin than a sorcerer construct or a warlock construct, for instance. Unlike a "normal" PC species, a warforged is more likely to be built to purpose rather than choosing what they want to be
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Assuming you have a DM who allows it, how would you explain a warforged character existing in the Forgotten Realms? The only non-hombrewed ways I could think to explain it involve travel via Spelljammer or somehow stumbling into Planescape's Sigil and then stumbling back out in the Forgotten Realms' Toril. If you have ideas, whether they would make sense with existing dnd lore or not, I'd be interested to hear them.
My gut instinct is to connect them to the lost magics of Myth Drannor.
Perhaps the character is the only one and was "awakened" after all this time?
Ask the DM. As the one in charge of the world, they're the ones who have to fit warforged in.
But, given the Forgotten Realms' have just about everything else, I wouldn't expect it's that hard to add them in.
I would say look up Lantan. Its closest in feel as far as technology goes.
I believe with the Forgotten Realms' history of incorporating things from other settings through estranged magical events, like the spellplague, Warforged would have to have been created in Eberron and somehow traversed over to the Realms. In a similar way characters from Greyhawk have visited the realms, and vice versa.
The Realms does not have its own version of the Warforged "race", however. (notice the sources on the FRwiki are all Eberron or Setting-agnostic)
4e's Dragon #371 ("Origin Stories: Incorporating Races", pages 40-42) discussed the idea of Warforged in Faerûn, mentioning the following five possibilities:
Oh! There was that one spell... Dream of the Blue Veil? That would technically work, right? Of course, finding the spell component of a magic item or creature from the destination world would be difficult to justify, not to mention someone to cast the spell.
Failed illithid experiment. They have 18 int average.so a peak one could have 28, (much like how a peak human has 20) you at that point get a lot of leeway in the stuff you can get away with.
They are< usually more into mutations and such then into cybertech though.
If I absolutely had to, I'd go with 'clerics of Gond made one just to prove they could'.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Also discussed here and here. Option #5 is my favorite:
Prior to Lantan sinking during Faerûn's (4e) Spellplague, it was a technologically advanced island, much like the legendary Atlantis, that developed highly advanced clockwork mechanisms and worshipped Gond. Indeed, techsmiths of Gond could construct a mechanical Gondsman as a loyal mechanical warrior, assistant, bodyguard, and friend - confusingly, priests of Gond were sometimes called Gondsmen as well. Lantan has resurfaced in 5e, so it might be an excellent time for a Gondsman or similar construct to appear.
I played a warforged bard named 808 (like the drum machine, but pronounced “Bob”) who had their memory erased, kind of like B.E.N. from Treasure Planet, and came online on a desert island. The setting and story centered around a massive maelstrom, so all the characters started shipwrecked with no memory of where they came from. It worked really well for us, got the story moving fast, and gave everyone clear motivations right from the start. This also gave us freedom to invent and discover more as we played, though I’m sad to say the campaign ended early and never reached a satisfying answer to all the questions. Still, I thought it was a really compelling premise.
-Drew
drewdisario
@drewdisario
I'm currently developing stories in the Forgotten Realms. I take into account the history of each city and nearby locations, and the players decide where to go.
Now I have them arriving in Luskan after a hard battle in Neverwinter and Mount Hotenow by a cult called the Cult of Ash.
Miembro de "La Comunidad de los Perica" conocido como Kuldahar Sunfire ahora Dungeon MasterI apologize if this sounds rude. I don't mean it to be. How does that relate to warforged? Do you have a warforged PC or some tidbit of lore you came up with or know about for shoehorning one into the Forgotten Realms? Is Luskan a good location for introducing one for some reason?
Putting on my DM hat... how warforged do you want your warforged to be?
Mechanically, 'warforged' can be used for just about any sort of construct PC, from magitech cyborg to a Pinocchio-esque living wooden doll to something more like Frankenstein's monster
If you want to play an actual Eberron-branded Warforged™, then yeah, you're going to need some sort of plane-hopping shenanigans to explain what they're doing in Faerun
If you just want to play a 'fantasy robot', then no plane-hopping is necessary. You just need to figure out who and what in your campaign world would be capable of creating such a thing, and go from there. Someone above mentioned a devotee of Gond, for instance. Knowing what class you want to play can help here too -- a paladin construct would likely have a very different origin than a sorcerer construct or a warlock construct, for instance. Unlike a "normal" PC species, a warforged is more likely to be built to purpose rather than choosing what they want to be
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)