Back in 4e, when we were playing Living Forgotten Realms, a friend of mine was annoyed at the idea that you could play any race from any of the settings published in Faerun.
"What," he asked, "are Warforged doing in the Forgotten Realms? It makes no sense."
To which I responded with the following.
"So you recall that there was this Spellplague, that caused mutations and magical chaos throughout the land? For many years, outside a temple of Sune Firehair, the beloved goddess of beauty, there was a statue. It had been carved by a master artisan, who had once caught the merest glimpse of Sune herself. He made it from the highest quality stone, but over time, small cracks had begun to appear in it. It stood alone in it's courtyard, a place often visited by young lovers and Sune's faithful. Then the Spellplague happened, and temple was abandoned for many years.
A few months ago, a group of adventurers came upon the old temple, and as they explored, they came upon the statue. A beautiful nude visage of the goddess herself, seven feet tall, with tiny cracks marring her marble flesh. And the cracks were glowing with blue-white fire, as if it was barely containing some unimaginable energy.
As one of the explorers moved close to examine the statue, it turned it's head to regard him. It's lips moved, and a beautiful female voice could be heard. "Well met! I'd tell you my name, but I don't seem to have one. Perhaps you could help me?"
"This creature, you see, uses the same rules as a Warforged, but is a statue of a goddess animated by raw magical energy."
And my friend agreed, he suddenly had no problem with this character idea.
