Warforged

“Pierce was built by design, while you were built by accident,” Lakashtai said. “The soul is what matters, not the shape of the vessel.” “What makes you think he has a soul?” Gerrion said. “What makes you think you do?”

—Keith Baker, The Shattered Land

The warforged were built to fight in the Last War. The first warforged were mindless automatons, but House Cannith devoted vast resources to improving these steel soldiers. An unexpected breakthrough produced fully sentient soldiers, blending organic and inorganic materials. Warforged may be made from wood and metal, but they can feel pain and emotion. Built as weapons, they must now find a purpose beyond the war. A warforged can be a steadfast ally, a cold-hearted killing machine, or a visionary in search of purpose and meaning.

Living Steel and Stone
Warforged are formed from a blend of organic and inorganic materials. Root-like cords infused with alchemical fluids serve as their muscles, wrapped around a framework of steel, darkwood, or stone. Armored plates form a protective outer shell and reinforce joints. All warforged share a common facial design, with a hinged jaw and crystal eyes embedded beneath a reinforced brow ridge. A sigil is engraved into the center of the forehead; this is unique to each warforged. Beyond these common elements of warforged design, the precise materials and build of a warforged vary based on the purpose for which it was designed. A juggernaut warrior is a massive brute sheathed in heavy steel plates, while a skirmisher can be crafted from wood and light mithral to grant it lithe and elegant movement. While they are formed from stone and steel, warforged are humanoids. Resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill all provide the same benefits to warforged that they do to other humanoids. A warforged can focus its mind on its body as it rests, adjusting its shape and form to assume one of a few defensive postures. A warforged who expects heavy combat might focus on durability, while during a time of peace they might be content to adopt a lighter, less aggressive form.

Warforged Personality
The warforged were built to serve and to fight. For most of their existence, warforged had a clearly defined function and were encouraged to focus purely on that role. The Treaty of Thronehold gave them freedom, but many warforged struggle both to find a place in the post-war world and to relate to the creatures that created them. The typical warforged shows little emotion. Many warforged embrace a concrete purpose— protecting allies, completing a contract, or other pursuits—and devote themselves to this task as they once did to war. However, there are warforged who delight in exploring their feelings and their freedom. Most warforged have no interest in religion, but some embrace faith and mysticism, seeking higher purpose and deeper meaning. The typical warforged has a muscular, sexless body shape. Some warforged ignore the concept of gender entirely, while others adopt a gender identity in emulation of the creatures around them.

Quirks
Whether due to some flaw in their creation or ignorance of how other creatures operate, warforged often acquire an odd personality trait or two. A warforged player has to roll to obtain a trait from the Warforged Quirks table below.