Warforged

Built as mindless machines to fight in the Last War, the warforged developed sentience as a side effect of the arcane experiments that sought to make them the ultimate weapons of destruction. With each successive model that emerged from the creation forges of House Cannith, the warforged evolved until they became a new kind of creature—living constructs.
Warforged are renowned for their combat prowess, their size, and their single-minded focus. They make steadfast allies and fearsome enemies. Earlier warforged models are true constructs; some of these remnants of the Last War appear in monstrous varieties, such as the warforged titan.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The warforged are made of stone, metal and wood fibres. The core of a warforged is a skeletal frame made of metal and stone with wood fibres acting as a muscular system. Covering the warforged is an outer shell of metal and stone plates. An internal network of tubes run through the warforged's body, these tubes are filled with a blood like fluid that is designed to lubricate and nourish their systems. Their hands have only two thick fingers and a thumb whilst their feet only have two broad toes.

The warforged's face loosely resembles their human creators though they have a toothless jaw, heavy brow line and are lacking noses and hair. Each warforged has a ghulra engraved upon their foreheads. Each of these runes are unique to the warforged giving them a sense of individuality.
The warforged have a sexless form, however some choose to express a gender identity. The warforged are able to be repaired and modified by artificers or even themselves giving them an endless possibility to their appearances.

Genetics and Reproduction

Completely incapable of reproduction, new warforged must be created in a Creation Forge. The Treaty of Thronehold had forced all existing Creation Forges to be indefinitely closed.

Growth Rate & Stages

Newborn warforged come fully formed from Creation Forges at birth, with rudimentary language and instinctual knowledge of movement. Over the first few months they are extremely adaptable and able to learn new skills, just like children of other races. It is during this period that the majority of warforged were trained by House Cannith in the art of warfare. Warforged are born with clean slates for minds and are at the mercy of their creator's tutoring as they have no concept of morality or good and evil. In their infant years they will believe all that is told to them by their creator and will treat what is taught to them as the only truth until proved otherwise.

Biological Cycle

Being living constructs the warforged theoretically can live for eternity as long as they receive maintenance and repairs. Being created in 965 YK the oldest a warforged can be is 33 and the youngest 2. It is unknown yet how time will affect the physical and mental states.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Even though they are created from wood and stone, they do possess visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory capacities equal to those of a human.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Warforged often take up the nicknames given to them by their friends, colleagues and superiors though they also name themselves after their rank, job title or something that describes an aspect of themselves. It is not rare for a warforged to change his name when they feel their old one no longer suits them. Others could take names from other races, such as humans.
Example Names: Azm, Book, Bulwark, Cart, Charger, Cutter, Falchion, Graven, Hammer, Mark, Morg, Nameless, Pierce, Pious, Relic, Rune, Steeple, Sword, Three, Titan, Unsung, Victor, Watcher, Zealot.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The Treaty of Thronehold declared warforged to be free creatures just two years ago, and the living constructs have had little time to create a society or culture beyond the limited soldier culture they possessed during the Last War. What society exists among warforged is largely a remnant of the command structures of the armies of the Last War.
Squads of warforged remain together, bound to one another by their sense of camaraderie. These small groups tackle the challenges of life after war as a unit, often taking similar jobs and living together. Sometimes a squad commander leads these warforged, serving to help the squad find its place in the new world they all live in.
Even those without comrades upon whom they can associate are rarely alone for long, though. Due to their common abilities, warforged without squads often find themselves in similar lines of work. Warforged who work together often elect a leader (independent of the desires of their employer) and become an impromptu squad.
Warforged who are truly alone often seek camaraderie with other groups of creatures. They might be able to find solace among those of other races with whom they work, but many warforged find that other laborers are jealous of their tirelessness and distrustful of their warlike natures.
The strongest bonds formed by warforged are typically with those who judge them by their actions and abilities rather than their past, so it shouldn’t be surprising that many warforged take to a life of adventure or a mercenary existence. In battle against a common foe, the prejudice that warforged typically face fades away, and allies rely on them as they would any friend. Yet even among adventurers, some think of warforged as tools rather than thinking and living creatures; warforged who manage to find true acceptance and respect among other creatures remain steadfastly loyal to them.
Warforged share a common culture mainly because of their outlook. They all seek a place in the world after the Last War. They are all natural warriors, with little that they fear. Extremes of emotion are uncommon, and they are industrious workers. Yet from this common ground, warforged diverge to a myriad of behaviors leaving little that can be called culture or society.
Many warforged adopt the culture of the area they live in. A warforged might even dress in the clothes common to folk in the area and emulate the speech patterns and customs of his neighbors. Some warforged take such efforts to great extremes, exploring their living nature by engaging in eating, and “sleeping” by remaining inactive during the night.
Other warforged deny their living nature and instead revel in their differences from humanoids. These warforged never wear clothes or partake in the celebrations or rituals of the societies in which they live. They remain active constantly, taking pride in their tireless strength. Such warforged often take up professions where their construct nature gives them a great advantage, such as mining and underwater salvaging.

History

Thirty-three years ago, Aarren d’Cannith created the first sentient warforged. Other creatures similar to warforged had been created before, but the warforged that emerged from the creation forge on that day marked the successful end to a long series of experiments with the goal of creating living, thinking constructs.
House Cannith had been creating constructs built for labor, exploration, and defense for some time before King Jarot, growing ever more paranoid about threats to Galifar, urged Merrix d’Cannith, Aarren’s father, to build constructs designed for war. For armies of constructs to march on the fields of battle, the constructs needed to be able to think for themselves, and up to that point, even the most intelligent constructs to emerge from the creation forges required minders to give them commands and control their actions. The new intelligent constructs also needed to be inexpensive to build; although an army of intelligent golems would be unstoppable, Merrix d’Cannith realized the kingdom of Galifar lacked the resources to pay his house to build such an army.
After the kingdom split, Merrix devoted all his energy to the concept of sentient construct soldiers, but his son made the first breakthrough, using documents dating back to Kedran d’Cannith that some say originated in ancient Xen’drik. When the secret of warforged creation was shared, the creation forges of House Cannith began selling warforged to whomever could afford them. Breland, Cyre, and Thrane had the largest forces of warforged, but most of the various factions in the war boasted at least a small contingent of the soldier constructs.
Warforged participated in all the important battles of the Last War, on the side of at least one of the various parties in the conflict. Warforged distinguished themselves in the Last War due to their speed traveling long distances, their tirelessness, and their fearlessness in the face of overwhelming foes. They also surprised many with their rather mutable loyalty. Although warforged were unquestionably loyal to their owners, it was found that a captured warforged’s concept of who owned it was often easy to change. Many battles during the Last War were fought for the sole purpose of capturing an enemy’s warforged. Such battles imperiled the capturing force, since the need to use nonlethal tactics against constructs that were under no such constraints made combat doubly deadly.
As the war progressed, new types of warforged emerged from the creation forges. Most were made by request in limited production runs, but some were experiments driven by House Cannith. Of these, the warforged scouts and warforged chargers were the most successful products, but they still paled in comparison to the success and the numbers of normal warforged that were built to fight the Last War.
Early in their employment in the Last War, certain warforged distinguished themselves greatly in battle after battle, and their growing skill in the tactics and strategies of warfare couldn’t be ignored. Aundair was the first nation to promote a warforged to a true command position. Previously, warforged had been given only temporary field commands, usually only until a human commander could reach the battlefield. (Human commanders often lagged behind warforged forces due to their need for rest.)
The decision to put warforged in permanent command roles was made by General Argus after the human commander, Lord Major Derge ir’Lain, sent to marshal the warforged battalions consistently managed battles more incompetently than the warforged that had been given temporary command. The ousted lord major complained to Queen Aurala, and both General Argus and the warforged, named Chase, were demoted. A year later, Argus had the opportunity to appeal to the queen, showing as his evidence the performance record of the lord major compared to the record of every warforged given temporary command of the same forces. Lord Derge ir’Lain left the army in disgrace, and both Argus and Chase were restored to their former command positions.
Soon other warforged were given permanent command positions. Without the need for human commanders, Aundair’s armies seemed to race across Khorvaire. Other nations saw the benefit of warforged commanders, and in a few months every army had promoted warforged to permanent command roles. Of course, due to the protests of the other soldiers, warforged were given command only of other warforged.
During the Last War, some warforged acted as bodyguards and personal attendants to captains and higher-ranking members of the various armies involved in the conflict. In Breland, warforged particularly suited to such roles were often given by their owners as gifts to superior officers. One such warforged, named Bulwark, distinguished himself so well that he was eventually gifted to King Boranel. Although few but those in the king’s inner circle know the exact reasons, it’s generally accepted knowledge that King Boranel campaigned for the freedom of warforged at Thronehold due to the influence of Bulwark.
The freedom of warforged and the destruction of the creation forges were major sticking points in the negations at Thronehold, with Thrane offering the most resistance. After two weeks of argument and bargaining, it was agreed that warforged should be free.
When the announcement was made, Bulwark left the king’s service. King Boranel would have ordered him to remain, not as property but as a subject of his kingdom; however, after arguing for warforged freedom for so long, he felt he could not keep Bulwark in service to him if the warforged wanted to leave. Bulwark vanished from history at this point, although the events that led to his freedom happened but two years ago. The construct largely responsible for warforged freedom left Thronehold on foot, walking east, and has not been seen since.

Historical Figures

Bulwark

Bulwark, personal servant to King Boranel of Breland and liberator of the warforged, hasn’t been seen or heard from since the Treaty of Thronehold. Many warforged view Bulwark as their liberator and a great hero, heaping upon him a measure of honor and respect most people reserve for gods. Some rumors claim he took a new name and personality to gain complete freedom from his old life, while others darkly hint that he might have traveled into the Mournland to become the Lord of Blades, but no one knows for certain.

The Lord of Blades

Some warforged honor the Lord of Blades as a savior of their people, while others revile him as an abomination, but all warforged have heard of him and his call to overthrow the other races. It’s unclear just when the Lord of Blades started his campaign for the domination of other races or where he came from. It is said in some tales that he was the last warforged created, and in others that he was the first. Others say he was the leader of Cyre’s army when that nation was destroyed, and other stories suggest he and Bulwark are one and the same.

Common Myths and Legends

Terrible rumors abound that a group of warforged in the Mournland worships the Lord of Blades and somehow receives power from those beliefs. Also, a story circulating among disbelieving warforged has it that a whole battalion deserted from Karrnath and now seeks to build a deity somewhere in the Mournland. Such stories are dismissed by most folk as fantasies.

The Godforged

The godforged, as they’ve come to be called in stories told by warforged when other races are resting, are a group of warforged who heard the call of a deity—a construct deity. According to tales, they have traveled to the Mournland to build a body for this deity so that he can walk the earth and lead the warforged.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Warforged find it difficult to relate to other races. A warforged’s face is capable of few expressions, and his voice is often hollow and monotonal. These facts alone would make many people dislike dealing with them, but warforged are also stymied by the habits and emotions of other races, and they sometimes find it hard to express themselves properly due to a vocabulary based on aspects of war. To top it all off, their bodies and the very name of their race are constant reminders of the Last War and its atrocities.
Despite the prejudice they face, most warforged do try to get along with other races. Warforged rarely form opinions about creatures they meet on the basis of race. Instead, they consider a creature’s nation to be more significant. A warforged who meets a citizen of a state that he considers an enemy might think poorly of that person. Similarly, warforged are often taken advantage of by those from their own country, who know they can rely on the warforged seeing them as allies.
Warforged who have too much difficulty relating to other creatures often seek solitary professions or the company of their own kind, but warforged who find they get along well enough with other races often take great pains to keep the relationships strong.

Lokumites

Warforged tend to be wary of lokumites. Their employment as spies and assassins in the Last War ingrained a feeling in warforged that all lokumites are deceptive and treacherous. At the same time, warforged understand that the war is over, and some feel a sort of sympathy for lokumites, seeing them as creatures similarly defined by their past.

Dwarves

Warforged most easily enjoy the company of dwarves. Warforged rarely covet the dwarves’ fortunes, and the typically gruff and dour nature of dwarves seems fine company to the often emotionally cold warforged.

Elves

Warforged respect elves as fierce warriors and intelligent tacticians, but see their airy ways and flighty passions as mystifying. The Aerenal relationship with death fascinates some warforged. Without knowledge of their own fates after death, some warforged become obsessed with Aerenal elves—much to the elves’ displeasure.

Gnomes

A gnome’s insatiable curiosity mirrors a warforged’s search to learn more about the world he lives in, but gnomes tend to be annoyed by how little warforged know about subjects gnomes consider to be basic or elementary knowledge.

Half-Elves

Warforged often find it difficult to distinguish half-elves from humans or elves, a flaw that some half-elves relish and others despise.

Half-Orcs

Warforged admire the strength of half-orcs, but they otherwise don’t distinguish them from humans.

Halflings

Warforged admire the halflings’ adaptability and skill at blending into the societies of others. On a personal level, most warforged find the glib-tongued halflings to be confusing.

Humans

Warforged know that humans were their creators, and it’s difficult for them to forget that. How a warforged handles that association depends on the individual, but most warforged at least respect humanity’s potential and drive.

Kalashtar

Warforged do not dream, and it’s hard for them to come to grips with the idea that the rare kalashtar is anything more than a strange-looking human.

Skinwalkers

In general, warforged harbor no bad feelings for shifters, nor do they find them frightening, but the shifters’ animallike habits and emotional shifts are even more alien to warforged than those of other races.

Composed of stone, metal and wood; physically powerful; come in multiple sizes and designs; inscriptions on forehead (called a ghulra)

Random Starting Ages

Adult	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
0	+1d12	+1d6	+1d4

Average Height

6'0" - 6'6"

Average Weight

270 - 300 lbs.

Related Organizations

• The Blades
• The Sacred Spark

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Base Weight	Modifier	Weight Multiplier
5'10"	270 lbs	+2d6	x4

• Humanoid (Living Construct)
• +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha: Warforged are quite resilient, as they were intended to be. They have also been imbued with the ability to make informed decisions based on retained knowledge without the emotional issues other humanoids tend to be stricken with. They are, not surprisingly, poor at social interaction, primarily because of their stiff, perhaps wooden approach to life.

• Medium-size

  Warforged are medium size, and receive no bonus or penalty related to size.

• Composite plating

  The composite materials used in typical Warforged creation grant a +3 bonus to natural armor. Standard Warforged can wear armor as any other humanoids could.

• Unbending Frame

  Due to the semi-artificial nature of the Warforged body, an average Warforged can only wear armor which has been custom made, adding 25% to the price of non-masterwork armor.

• Iron Knuckles

  Fists are a natural weapon which deals 1d4 slam damage. Should the Warforged gain levels in a class which improves unarmed damage, treat the slam attack as an unarmed attack.

• Languages

  Warforged begin play knowing Common. They can also learn Draconic, Dwarven, Gnome and Halfling

Alternate Race Traits

• Adamantine Body

  Some Warforged were created with heavy adamantine plates forged to their frames. Such a Warforged is treated as wearing Masterwork Adamantine Full Plate but are thereafter unable to wear other armor. Replaces Composite Plating, Unbending Frame and reduce Base Speed to 20ft.

• Darkwood Body

  Occasionally, a rare Warforged is created with large amounts of darkwood plates replacing the usual metal components. This allows such a Warforged to qualify for classes and abilities that restrict the use of Metal, such as Druid. You are treated as wearing a Masterwork Darkwood Chain Shirt but are thereafter unable to wear other armor. Also, you are affected by Conjuration (healing) spells as any other humanoid and can only be repaired with Woodworking checks. Replaces Composite Plating, Unbending Frame and alters the Living Construct subtype.

• Integrated Weapon

  One of the warforged's hands is replaced by a weapon, which cannot be disarmed or sundered. He is automatically proficient with this weapon; if he was already proficient then he gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat for weapons of this type, but only gains its benefits while wielding that specific weapon. If the integrated weapon is a two-handed weapon, he must still use his second hand to help wield it. If it is a throwing weapon then he may detach and reattach the limb freely, and it can be sundered while separate. If it is a double weapon then both of the warforged's hands are replaced. Unlike his plating, the warforged must purchase this weapon normally at 1st level. This ability replaces Iron Knuckles.

• Mithral Body

  A few specialized Warforged had been made with Mithral as a substitute for steel. Such a Warforged is treated as wearing a Masterwork Mithral Breastplate but are thereafter unable to wear other armor. Replaces Composite Plating and Unbending Frame.

• Psyforged

  Rarely, a Warforged would be inset with psionically resonant crystals. These protruding crystals make wearing Heavy Armor impossible, yet they become psychically attuned. Gain Psychic Sensitivity as a bonus feat. Alters Composite Plating and Unbending frame

• Scout Model

  The warforged's size is reduced to Small, and he gains +2 Dex and -2 Str. In addition he gains a +2 bonus to one of Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception or Swim. Slam attack damage is reduced to 1d3. Modifies Attributes and Iron Knuckles