smootrk
First Post
Here is a new race I am developing for my campaign... The Scaleforged. Please spare any Warforged/Eberron bashing, but otherwise feel free critique the race or otherwise comment on the concept. I understand that warforged are a very strong +0 LA race, and this race is +1LA as is, but I am wondering if the additions that I made do not warrant raising it to +2.
Forged, Scaleforged
Use this as a template to create PCs and NPCs.
Scaleforged are the Yuan-ti (or sometimes Draconic) alternative to the Forged. The scaleforged are built as warriors or hunters for the reptile-folk, and they are considered as valuable slaves or servants. Rarely individual Scaleforged perform so well that they are granted independant function or even more rarely - actual freedom and relative equality amongst the Yuan-ti.
Scalerforged are renowned for their combat prowess, their size, and their single-minded focus. They make steadfast allies and fearsome enemies. Their immunity to many of the scaled-ones abilities makes them well suited for internal power struggles amongst the Yuan-ti.
Personality: Scaleforged have typical forged personalities, albeit tempered by their snake masters. They are often even more cold-blooded calculating than the the snake men who crafted them. They often kill without remorse, or even a second thought, although over time many scaleforged mold personalities that somtimes include moral or ethical implications.
Physical Description: Warforged appear as massive humanoids molded from a composite of materials - obsidian, iron, stone, darkwood, silver, and organic material - though they move with a surprising grace and flexibility. Flexible plates connected by fibrous bundles make up the body of a warforged, topped by a mostly featureless head.
----
Scaleforged are likewise created, although they have a reptillian stylizing applied to them. All have larger heads with a metal-toothed maw, often resembling crocodiles or even draconic styles. Scaleforged also have tails built into their structure that grants them some aid while swimming and balancing (+2 racial bonus to balance and +4 racial bonus to swim). Their fortifications often resemble scales or other reptile hide, but otherwise is identicle to the standard warforge light fortification. Scaleforged, otherwise, are typical of standard forged characters. Sometimes smaller designs - like the standard scout design, are used with similar stylizing.
----
Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same warforged in different ways. The warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience.
Unique among constructs, warforged have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than those their creator originally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one warforged from another.
Relations: Scaleforged have limited relations with races other than the scaled-ones and their allies. Typically a meeting with other races ends with the death of the individual met or the destruction of the scaleforged. Even amongst the Yuan-ti, the scaleforged are often utilized for the various in-fighting that occurs.
Most scaleforged take their role as warriors for the yuan-ti very seriously, sometimes earning their near equality amongst them. Every now and then, a scaleforged escapes or is freed somehow, and establishes ties with new races. Usually they find a place with other reptillian beings like Troglodytes, Lizardfolk, and the like. More rarely they move to human and demi-human regions, but their appearance and mannerisms often make this transition even more difficult than standard Forged races.
Other than their predisposed reptillian mindset, they are similar to standard warforged types.
Alignment: Warforged are generally neutral or lawful-neutral, but scaleforged are typically neutral-evil. The Yuan-ti have engineered them to have a vicious streak but the snake-men do not like them to be quite as chaotic or independent thinking as they are. However, they are perfectly capable of independent thought and moral speculation, most choose not to wrestle with ethical ideas otherwise.
Religion: Scaleforged worship the gods of their crafters, the Yuan-ti. Some independant or otherwise freed scaleforged sometimes change their deities to suit them.
Language: Scaleforged speak Common and Yuan-ti. They have access to bonus languages of Abyssal and Draconic, just as their Yuan-ti masters.
Names: Scaleforged are typically named by their Yuan-ti masters using names typical of that race. Independent scaleforged may sometimes take on new or alternate names just as standard warforged do.
ScaleForged Racial Traits
Scaleforged have all the typical warforged traits (listed) and some extra traits. They have Darkvision, a natural Bite attack, additional language choices, a balance and swim skill bonus (from tail) and interestingly access to any Yuan-ti feats that seem appropriate to their design (although some creative explanation may be necessary). They are always NPC's despite having PC style write-ups here.
Living Construct Subtype (Ex): Warforged are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Warforged are living constructs that combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.
Features: As a living construct, a warforged has the following features.
-A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
Traits: A warforged possesses the following traits.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged has a Constitution score.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged does not have low-light vision or darkvision, but a scaleforged does, in fact, have darkvision by yuan-ti design.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
-Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
-A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
-Unlike other constructs, warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
-As living constructs, warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a warforged can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light wounds spell, for example, and a warforged is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a warforged.
-The unusual physical construction of warforged make them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if he were wearing metal armor. Likewise, a warforged is affected by repel metal or stone as if he were wearing metal armor. A warforged is repelled by repel wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting grasp. The creature takes 2d6 points of damage from the spell (Reflex half; save DC14 + caster's ability modifier). A warforged takes the same damage from a standard rust monster's touch (Reflex DC 17 half). Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a warforged.
-A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A warforged with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than -10, a warforged is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert warforged does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
-As a living construct, a warforged can be raised or resurrected.
-A warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as heroes' feast and potions.
-Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
+2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Warforged are resilient and powerful, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile.
Medium: As medium constructs, warforged have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base land speed: 30 feet, and Scaleforged have a racial bonus of +4 to swim skill checks.
Composite Plating: The plating used to build a warforged provides it a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged can be enchanted just as armor can be. The character must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant him.
Composite plating also provides a warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to the penalty for wearing light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the arcane spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well.
Light Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a warforged, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
Bite Attack: A scaleforged has a natural weapon in the form of a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. Feats may enhance this attack to include venom or other modifications.
Slam Attack: A warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. For Scaleforged, it may be described as either a slam with fists or as a tail-slap.
Automatic Languages: Common, Yuan-ti. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Draconic.
Favored Class: Ranger or Fighter (choice).
Level Adjustment: +1 (darkvision, bite attack, access to additional feats, additional language choices).
Original Source: Eberron Campaign Setting, altered
Forged, Scaleforged
Use this as a template to create PCs and NPCs.
Scaleforged are the Yuan-ti (or sometimes Draconic) alternative to the Forged. The scaleforged are built as warriors or hunters for the reptile-folk, and they are considered as valuable slaves or servants. Rarely individual Scaleforged perform so well that they are granted independant function or even more rarely - actual freedom and relative equality amongst the Yuan-ti.
Scalerforged are renowned for their combat prowess, their size, and their single-minded focus. They make steadfast allies and fearsome enemies. Their immunity to many of the scaled-ones abilities makes them well suited for internal power struggles amongst the Yuan-ti.
Personality: Scaleforged have typical forged personalities, albeit tempered by their snake masters. They are often even more cold-blooded calculating than the the snake men who crafted them. They often kill without remorse, or even a second thought, although over time many scaleforged mold personalities that somtimes include moral or ethical implications.
Physical Description: Warforged appear as massive humanoids molded from a composite of materials - obsidian, iron, stone, darkwood, silver, and organic material - though they move with a surprising grace and flexibility. Flexible plates connected by fibrous bundles make up the body of a warforged, topped by a mostly featureless head.
----
Scaleforged are likewise created, although they have a reptillian stylizing applied to them. All have larger heads with a metal-toothed maw, often resembling crocodiles or even draconic styles. Scaleforged also have tails built into their structure that grants them some aid while swimming and balancing (+2 racial bonus to balance and +4 racial bonus to swim). Their fortifications often resemble scales or other reptile hide, but otherwise is identicle to the standard warforge light fortification. Scaleforged, otherwise, are typical of standard forged characters. Sometimes smaller designs - like the standard scout design, are used with similar stylizing.
----
Warforged have no physical distinction of gender; all of them have a basically muscular, sexless body shape. In personality, some warforged seem more masculine or feminine, but different people might judge the same warforged in different ways. The warforged themselves seem unconcerned with matters of gender. They do not age naturally, though their bodies do decay slowly even as their minds improve through learning and experience.
Unique among constructs, warforged have learned to modify their bodies through magic and training. Many warforged are adorned with heavier metal plates than those their creator originally endowed them with. This customized armor, built-in weaponry, and other enhancements to their physical form help to differentiate one warforged from another.
Relations: Scaleforged have limited relations with races other than the scaled-ones and their allies. Typically a meeting with other races ends with the death of the individual met or the destruction of the scaleforged. Even amongst the Yuan-ti, the scaleforged are often utilized for the various in-fighting that occurs.
Most scaleforged take their role as warriors for the yuan-ti very seriously, sometimes earning their near equality amongst them. Every now and then, a scaleforged escapes or is freed somehow, and establishes ties with new races. Usually they find a place with other reptillian beings like Troglodytes, Lizardfolk, and the like. More rarely they move to human and demi-human regions, but their appearance and mannerisms often make this transition even more difficult than standard Forged races.
Other than their predisposed reptillian mindset, they are similar to standard warforged types.
Alignment: Warforged are generally neutral or lawful-neutral, but scaleforged are typically neutral-evil. The Yuan-ti have engineered them to have a vicious streak but the snake-men do not like them to be quite as chaotic or independent thinking as they are. However, they are perfectly capable of independent thought and moral speculation, most choose not to wrestle with ethical ideas otherwise.
Religion: Scaleforged worship the gods of their crafters, the Yuan-ti. Some independant or otherwise freed scaleforged sometimes change their deities to suit them.
Language: Scaleforged speak Common and Yuan-ti. They have access to bonus languages of Abyssal and Draconic, just as their Yuan-ti masters.
Names: Scaleforged are typically named by their Yuan-ti masters using names typical of that race. Independent scaleforged may sometimes take on new or alternate names just as standard warforged do.
ScaleForged Racial Traits
Scaleforged have all the typical warforged traits (listed) and some extra traits. They have Darkvision, a natural Bite attack, additional language choices, a balance and swim skill bonus (from tail) and interestingly access to any Yuan-ti feats that seem appropriate to their design (although some creative explanation may be necessary). They are always NPC's despite having PC style write-ups here.
Living Construct Subtype (Ex): Warforged are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Warforged are living constructs that combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.
Features: As a living construct, a warforged has the following features.
-A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
Traits: A warforged possesses the following traits.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged has a Constitution score.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged does not have low-light vision or darkvision, but a scaleforged does, in fact, have darkvision by yuan-ti design.
-Unlike other constructs, a warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.
-Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.
-A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.
-Unlike other constructs, warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
-As living constructs, warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a warforged can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light wounds spell, for example, and a warforged is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a warforged.
-The unusual physical construction of warforged make them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from heat metal and chill metal as if he were wearing metal armor. Likewise, a warforged is affected by repel metal or stone as if he were wearing metal armor. A warforged is repelled by repel wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting grasp. The creature takes 2d6 points of damage from the spell (Reflex half; save DC14 + caster's ability modifier). A warforged takes the same damage from a standard rust monster's touch (Reflex DC 17 half). Spells such as stone to flesh, stone shape, warp wood, and wood shape affect objects only, and thus cannot be used on the stone and wood parts of a warforged.
-A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A warforged with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than -10, a warforged is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert warforged does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
-As a living construct, a warforged can be raised or resurrected.
-A warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as heroes' feast and potions.
-Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
+2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Warforged are resilient and powerful, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile.
Medium: As medium constructs, warforged have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base land speed: 30 feet, and Scaleforged have a racial bonus of +4 to swim skill checks.
Composite Plating: The plating used to build a warforged provides it a +2 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus (other than natural armor). This composite plating occupies the same space on the body as a suit of armor or a robe, and thus a warforged cannot wear armor or magic robes. Warforged can be enchanted just as armor can be. The character must be present for the entire time it takes to enchant him.
Composite plating also provides a warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, similar to the penalty for wearing light armor. Any class ability that allows a warforged to ignore the arcane spell failure chance for light armor lets him ignore this penalty as well.
Light Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a warforged, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
Bite Attack: A scaleforged has a natural weapon in the form of a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. Feats may enhance this attack to include venom or other modifications.
Slam Attack: A warforged has a natural weapon in the form of a slam attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. For Scaleforged, it may be described as either a slam with fists or as a tail-slap.
Automatic Languages: Common, Yuan-ti. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Draconic.
Favored Class: Ranger or Fighter (choice).
Level Adjustment: +1 (darkvision, bite attack, access to additional feats, additional language choices).
Original Source: Eberron Campaign Setting, altered
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