| Warforged | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Eberron Campaign Setting (2004) |
| In-universe information | |
| Created by | Giants of Xen'drik, quori of Dal Quor (original warforged) House Cannith (modern warforged) |
| Creation date | -60,000 YK or earlier (original warforged) 959 YK (warforged titans) 965 YK (modern "living construct" warforged) |
| Type | Construct (living construct) |
| Alignment | Any |
Thewarforged are one of the playable fictionalraces of creatures in theEberroncampaign setting of theDungeons & Dragons fantasyrole-playing game.
The warforged first appeared in third edition for theEberron setting as aplayer characterrace in theEberron Campaign Setting (2004), which also introduced thewarforged titan.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The warforged appeared again as a player character race inMonster Manual III (2004), which introduced thewarforged charger and thewarforged scout.[7] The warforged appeared once more as a player character race for the Eberron setting inRaces of Eberron (2005).[8] Thepsiforged appeared inMagic of Eberron (2005). Thewarforged scorpion and thequorcraft wargorgedtemplate appeared inSecrets of Xen'drik (2006).[9] Thewarforged raptor appeared inForge of War (2007).
The warforged are a race of living, sentientconstructs, superficially similar togolems. Warforged are composed of a blend of materials: predominantly stone, wood, and some type of metal. In Eberron, they were created byHouse Cannith in magical 'creation forges' to fight in theLast War, based on technology recovered fromXen'drik. When the Last War ended, they were given their freedom at the Treaty of Thronehold.
While they have nosex, warforged may adopt agender role as part of their individual personality, particularly among recently constructed models who have spent more of their life mingling with other races. They do not age as the other races do, and with the first true warforged being created only 33 years ago it is not yet known what effects time will have on them; it is stipulated that, like all living creatures, their bodies must experience degradation over time. Like other races, warforged may take levels in anycharacter class, but their starting age is uniquely lower for "complex" classes than for "simple" ones, as warforged with such skillsets were only developed recently.[10][2][11]
Racial qualities and adjustments of the warforged were published in theEberron Campaign Setting and later reprinted inMonster Manual III. Warforged are produced with their own armor and have various immunities, including to poison and disease. Healing spells have reduced effect on warforged, but a series ofrepair spells work fully on them. Besides the roughly human-sized and -shaped standard model, other published forms of warforged include:
Besides these base models, individual warforged may have unique features such as upgrading their standard armor plating tomithral oradamantine, building cognizance crystals (capacitors for psionic power) directly into their bodies, or adding extra attack forms such as spikes or fangs.
Warforged are also capable of modifying their bodies to some extent after construction, represented byprestige classes such as thewarforged juggernaut[10] (an aloof warrior who becomes more like a golem), thereforged[8] (a socialite who becomes more like a living creature) and thelandforged walker[9] (a druid who coaxes the growth of their wooden components).
The origins of the warforged on Eberron are not clear. According to a "docent" (ancient and sentient memory-containing magic item) found inSecrets of Xen'drik, the very first warforged were created as "host bodies" for a group ofQuori (which were very different from Quori of 998 YK). The giants ofXen'drik created their own versions for their wars against the Quori, because the warforged are immune to many Quori tactics. However, according toTales of the Last War, the giants invented the warforged, after which the Quori stole the secrets of their creation from the dreams of giants and created their own.
Either way, the secrets of warforged creation seem to have originated on the continent of Xen'drik. The ability of ancient Xen'drik docents to meld with modern-day warforged supports this theory. The existence of Xulo, a huge and powerful warforged found in Xen'drik, also supports this theory.
Prior to the Last War, the last king of Galifar commissioned the DragonmarkedHouse Cannith to construct human-sized "mechanical soldiers" similar in appearance to modern warforged. While these soldiers would prove largely ineffective due to their lack of intelligence and high cost, House Cannith continued researching the concept hoping for a more viable product.
Near the halfway point of the Last War, Merrix d'Cannith was commissioned to build a great army of golems to serve as untiring warriors. Not satisfied with the lifeless, unintelligent hulks his forges produced, nor with the prohibitively expensive process of creating golems one-by-one, Merrix began experimenting with magic to instill some spark of life in them that would enable them, like living things, to direct their own actions and to be grown by a self-sustaining process. In 965 YK, after many unsuccessful attempts, Merrix's son Aarren d'Cannith finally invented the process used in modern creation forges.
The warforged that Aarren's creation forges created were fully sentient, with the ability to have emotions, relationships, even to experience death; each new generation increased in sophistication and intelligence, ranging from the barely-sentient titans to the youngest versions of warforged who were fully capable of achieving advanced education and ability inmagic. However, Aarren and Merrix had a disagreement over their use. Aarren felt that House Cannith had created life, and refused to see his creations used as tools. Merrix ignored him, and Aarren, feeling powerless, left. Powerful divination magics used to this day have only been able to confirm that he is still alive, not where he is.
In 994 YK (four years before the present day), an unexplained disaster destroyed the entire nation of Cyre, leaving behind the nightmarish mist-shrouded realm of theMournland. Among the many impacts of this event (including the declaration of a global ceasefire), this resulted in House Cannith losing contact with multiple creation forges and their organisation's at-the-time main headquarters.
In 996 YK, the Last War was officially brought to a close by the Treaty of Thronehold, which included two important rulings regarding the warforged:
Despite the rulings, many warforged are still regarded as outsiders, and many are still employed as indentured servants.
There are also rumours that Merrix d'Cannith, (the grandson of the original Merrix) still produces illegal warforged in a lost creation forge. Even more disturbing are the rumors that theLord of Blades, a rogue warforged, has stumbled onto an undestroyed creation forge in the Mournland and has begun creating an army.
Recently a new group of warforged calling themselves the "Psiforged" have begun appearing across Eberron. Able to use very powerful psionic abilities, their origins are as much as mystery as their motives. Some are said to originate from Mournland, while others appear from deep beneath the depth of Sharn. House Cannith denies any connection to the new design and has stated that they never pursued a psionically enhanced warforged model.
Though warforged havefree will, whether they have a soul is not known with certainty; they can be resurrected by spells designed to restore human souls to life, but, unlike humans, never remember anything of theafterlife realm of Dolurrh after such an event. Likewise, warforged are incapable of becomingundead.
While some warforged follow existing religions, this and other differences between themselves and the flesh races have led them to rapidly develop a number of unique faiths and philosophies.
The most prominent figure in warforged spirituality is a near-messianic figure called the Lord of Blades, who took advantage of the Day of Mourning to establish an independent warforged outpost within the Mournland. Operating from a philosophy that the existence of organic life will always pose a threat that his people will be returned to servitude, he wages a guerrilla war with the eventual goal the elimination of human dominance inKhorvaire; his agents thus serve as reliable antagonists for many Eberron campaigns. One of the biggest mysteries in the setting is the nature of the Lord of Blades' identity and to what extent he actually exists or has been mythologized.
Another figure of veneration to the warforged is Bulwark, the liberator of their people. Once a favored servant of King Boranel of Breland, Bulwark is widely held as the driving force behind the inclusion of warforged personhood in the Treaty of Thronehold. Bulwark disappeared into the east after achieving his freedom; some warforged believe that he will return to unite their race, others have set out on their own journeys to find him, and a small group even claim that he and the Lord of Blades are the same person.
The Godforged are groups of wandering monks who believe that the souls of modern warforged are fragments of a being called "The Becoming God", and seek to construct a giant warforged body for it to inhabit. Many Godforged believe that the Lord of Blades has some special connection to the Becoming God, but should not be directly worshipped. The Godforged have also attracted a small number of non-warforged cultists, who follow the religion's philosophy of "making the body into a shrine" byreplacing parts of their flesh with golem or warforged components.
The warforged are very similar, in appearance, concept and history, to the War Golems of the comicBattle Chasers. The War Golems were also built to fight in a war and were also social outcasts after the conflict. Similarly, warforged bear many coincidental nuances in common with Nimblewrights, first mentioned in theMonster Manual II (MM2). Nimblewrights however, seem to not only possess self-awareness but also a larger majority of their initial construct designs, including many of immunities.
As of the release of the 4th EditionDungeons and DragonsMonster Manual in June 2008, Warforged became an official part of the corePoints of Light Campaign Setting, and by extension an encouraged part of all campaign settings (such asGreyhawk, the previous core campaign setting, and TheForgotten Realms).
Mark Silcox and Jonathan Cox highlighted the roleplaying potential of warforged player characters in the bookDungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom. They wrote, "this new playable race turns many of the accepted tropes of traditional high fantasy storytelling on their heads, and presents the player with several possibilities for investigating interesting philosophical experiments. [...] Now these large bipedal meta-humans made of metal, leather, and fibrous joints have their own thoughts and (somewhat naive) emotions, but have no defined purpose within a world without an obvious war to fight".[12]
Geek & Sundry wrote "Winner of Wizards of the Coast’s Fantasy Setting Search contest in 2002,Eberron marries magic with steampunk’s technology, offering a world of elemental-powered airships, industrial nobility, and arcane tinkerers. [...] I dig the playable Warforged race, which puts you in the mind of a soldier drone seeking purpose (although their explicit maleness serves a pedantic point). If you want to sling spells in a tailored coat, check outEberron".[13]