The Warforged are a player race in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions of Dungeons & Dragons. They are an exclusive race to the Eberron campaign setting being first featured in the Eberron Campaign settings in 2004. The Warforged were built and designed to fight in the Last War. However, beyond the war, they have made themselves useful by finding a new purpose.
Inasmuch as they are made from wood and metal, they can feel pain and emotion. The first Warforged were robots not until House Cannith devoted vast resources to improving these wooden and steel soldiers. An unexpected breakthrough produced fully sentient soldiers, blending organic and inorganic materials. Just like the Robots we all know, Warforged are focused on the task at hand, can be a steadfast ally, a brutal killing machine, or a visionary in search of purpose and meaning.
Despite the Warforged’s peaceful nature, many citizens of the Five Nations see them as reminders of a dark past. Some still see them as implements of destruction, killing machines and equipment made in the form of a man, and see them as a danger that must either be destroyed or annihilated from society.
Warforged Features
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age: The maximum lifespan of the Warforged remains a mystery. So far, Warforged has shown no signs of deterioration due to age. However, a typical warforged is between two and thirty years old. You are immune to magical ageing effects.
Alignment: Most warforged take comfort in order and discipline, tending toward law and neutrality.
Size: Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier. Size modifier = 2d6, Height = 5 feet + 10 inches + your size modifier in inches, Weight in pounds = 270 + (4 x your size modifier)
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Constructed Resilience: You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits;
1. You have an advantage in saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
2. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
3. You are immune to disease.
4. You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Sentry’s Rest: When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear dormant, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
Integrated Protection: Your body has built-in defensive layers, which can be enhanced with armour. You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
You can don only armour with which you have proficiency: To don armour, you must incorporate it into your body over the course of 1 hour, during which you must remain in contact with the armour. To doff armour, you must spend 1 hour removing it. You can rest while donning or doffing armour in this way. While you live, your armour can’t be removed from your body against your will.
Specialized Design: You gain one skill proficiency and one tool proficiency of your choice.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Warforged Names
Warforged have no gender, so the concept of gendered names is still kind of odd to them. Warforged were assigned numerical designations for use in military service. Many of them adopted nicknames, often given to them by their friends.
A friend of mine in New York was given the name Junior by his parents who are now divorced. He came up to me a certain day and said; Well, I think it is time I changed my name because am no more little to bear that name. I am sure that I am not the only one that has experienced this sort of thing.
It is commonplace for warforged also to change their name because they feel it no longer suits them. As free individuals, some have chosen new names as a way to express their path in life. A few take on human names, often the name of a fallen friend or mentor or their new state of achievement.
Warforged Names: Azm, Book, Bastion, Blade, Blue, Bow, Church, Crunch, Crystal, Dagger, Dent, Five, Glaive, Hammer, Iron, Lucky, Mace, Pants, Pierce, Red, Rusty, Steeple, Steel, Shield, Slash, Smith, Spike, Stone, Temple, Vault, Wall, Wood.
Religion
A Warforged prays to the Sovereign Host. Warforged are not religious in nature. We have established that they are specially built for combat and executing orders. For the most part of their life, they are in the field training. Therefore, During their years as soldiers, warforged were rarely educated in religion so that they could be sold to anyone regardless of the buyer’s religious beliefs.
In recent years, the warforged have learned of religion, but few embrace it. Many see worshipping a deity to be identical to working for a master who never gives a command. Still, a few warforged seek out the meaning of their existence and turn to religion for answers.
Warforged Culture
I have read many articles online that reads “Warforged don’t really have a culture” and I personally think it is not true. What do we know as Culture? If I am right, Culture is the way of life of a particular people or race. How they interact with each other, how they dress, what they do etc.
Warforged are soldiers, they speak, read, and write Common, they have their war suits, they have affected and interacted with other races either positively or negatively, directly or indirectly and other attributes that define them. I believe those are enough to define their culture.
Warforged appearance
Warforged are humanoid in appearance and are made from a mixture of organic and inorganic elements. Oftentimes, you have wooden muscles which form most of your core and metal plating designed to give a beautifully finished skin.
Your “organics” can be something simple like oak or pine, or they could be interwoven thorny vines or the roots of flowering plants that bloom around your neck like a collar. Your “inorganics” can be made of metal, or dark wood, or stone. So, you can have shining chrome metal plating, or rusted iron parts carved up with battle damage.
Warforged 5e
Warforged Builds
Warforged doesn’t lean super-strongly towards any class or any particular build and are some of the most versatile 5e races. You can create anything you’d like with your character and you shouldn’t feel typecast into a playstyle. But if you’d like to make the best of your abilities, the following build ideas make great starting points for your next adventurer.
Master of Machines
A warforged character selecting +1 Intelligence makes for an excellent artificer. This new race goes great with the new class and I particularly like the battle smith archetype as it takes advantage of your beefy Constitution. In general, though, warforged work for most casters. I just love the idea of you, a robot, with their robot homunculus pal, and your steel defender dog-bot making up your own little robotic party.
Robobarian
Choose Strength for your +1 and you’re ready to go. Warforged’s many immunities erase some of the difficulties that barbarians stumble over and the +1 AC and Constitution bonus make you one of the toughest barbarians around. Extremely easy combination to play and I highly recommend it to new players.
Maximal / Predicon
Druids can have a hard time gaining AC, especially in a wild shape. Warforged’s +1 to AC is flat and applies even if you transform into some critter. Also, you’re now a beast wars transformer and that’s just amazing. Pick +1 Wisdom and one of the more combat-oriented druid circles like a circle of the moon or circle of spores and you’re golden.
Subrace
As a warforged, your body was designed for a specific purpose which is War. Choose one of these subraces: Envoy, Juggernaut, or Skirmisher.
Envoy
As an envoy, you were designed with a certain specialized function in mind. You might be an assassin, a healer, or an entertainer, to name a few possibilities. Envoys are the rarest of the warforged subraces, and yours could be a unique design. Here are the features of Envoy.
Ability Score Increase: Two different ability scores of your choice each increase by 1.
Specialized Design: You gain one skill proficiency of your choice, one tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Integrated Tool: Choose one tool you’re proficient with. This tool is integrated into your body, and you double your proficiency bonus for any ability checks you make with it. You must have your hands free to use this integrated tool.
Juggernaut
You’re an imposing war machine built for close combat and raw might. You tower over your comrades: juggernaut warforged stand between 6 and 7 feet in height and can weigh up to 450 pounds. Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 2.
Iron Fists: When you hit with an unarmed strike, you can deal 1d4 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage, instead of the normal damage for an unarmed strike.
Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Skirmisher
You were built to scout the edges of battle and outmaneuver your enemies. You are lean and designed for speed.
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Swiftness: Your walking speed increases by 5 feet.
Light Step: When you are travelling alone for an extended period of time (one hour or more), you can move stealthily at a normal pace.