[Eberron] Revisiting Warforged

[Plane Sailing]

I'm interested in other opinions. How have the warforged been in your games? Are they really ECL +0 or are they closer to +1?

With the proviso that I make warforged as vulnerable to energy drain as the next creature (since they have CON like a living creature and not - like a construct), I found that the warforged PC in my campaign worked fine. He died at 3rd level, but was neither too overpowering or too weak.

 

[IanB]

The built-in armor is only an advantage for the first few levels and quickly becomes a disadvantage after that.

The main reason is time. Fighter A, a dwarf, can commission a new set of armor and go off and do other things in the meantime. Fighter B, a warforged, has to sit there for the full amount of time it takes to enchant him. When you get to the mid levels and higher this is extremely onerous, especially in a campaign with a plot that actually advances with time.

In some of the games I've played, the WF needing to sit around for, say, 9 days (+3 armor) would have been a HUGE problem, because the world (or at least the neighborhood) would be getting blown up in the meantime.

Even in games where the DM allows time for crafting, there are often long periods of time broken up by occasional breaks; in those long adventuring periods, the WF can't upgrade his defenses; dwarf fighter A at least has the chance to find a nicer suit of armor in a treasure hoard.

On top of all that, the WF has to spend a precious feat on his starting armor, where dwarf fighter A just has to spend a renewable resource, gold, and will often have enough to get his own set of full plate (leaving only the DR as the difference) sometime during level 2-3.

This means, for example, that a WF fighter can't get cleave at level 1 if he wants to have a decent AC. He can't get both EWP (bastard sword) and power attack. Losing your second feat at level 1 to get a one level jump on armor ownership isn't a really great trade in my opinion.

 

[Klaus]

I think the main disadvantage is the lack of a combat feat (slightly offset if the WF is a fighter) than the time. I have never, ever see a game where at least a week or so passed between adventures (often as much as six months), as the PCs winded down and looked after their needs. Even enchanting the WF into a +1 armor takes only 2 days.

 

[ARandomGod]

Not strictly true.

Originally Posted by SRD, Wilderness, Weather, and Environment
4 Creatures flailing about in the water (usually because they failed their Swim checks) have a hard time fighting effectively. An off-balance creature loses its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and opponents gain a +2 bonus on attacks against it.

You'd think they'd list that under the swim check definition.
Then again, personally, I think that in general a creature swimming, made check or not would likely get this penalty. Swimming in water (for land-based humanoids) IS flailing about, after a fashion. It's just a more effective flailing if they're making their checks.

 

[StormCrow42]

Rules for fighting underwater are on page 92 of the DMG, including a chart of the various penalties involved. Normally if you can't make your swim check (assuming of course that you don;t have a swim speed, or FoM) you're "off balance" which causes you to lose your dex bonus to AC (and gives your opponents another +2 to hit). But if you're walking on the bottom you have "firm footing" which also allows you to fight semi-normally without making a swim check.