Warforged and Ironborn - Room for Both?

[BlackMoria]

I think there is leeway for having both in a campaign. One can be the result of a 'accidental' discovery - for example, trying to come up with a better construct and accidentally imbuing them with sentience as an unexpected side effect of the process.

The other could be the result of a more deliberate, more methodical approach to create life...ie: Dr. Frankenstein.

With your River of Worlds setting (which implies a multi-planar campaign), the possible of two separate sentient construct-like people is certainly possible. Different worlds, different approaches resulting in two 'similar, yet different' type of constructs.

 

[BlackMoria]

Having two versions of mechanical men walking around in great numbers just seems like the Sorcerer's Apprentice gone awry.

Yet many campaigns have two or more versions of elves or dwarves or whatever. There is more than two versions of dragons. There is more than two versions of golem. We accept that .... so why not two versions of sentient constructs? And they are 'living' constructs, not mechanical men. There is a difference.

It is not a stretch to have both, IMO.

 

[Nightfall]

Psion,

Having read both, I guess why I favor Ironborn over Warforged is a relatively simple matter. Iron born are FAR more flexible at being more than one class. Even though most races seem to be set for a particular class, Warforged seem more and more suited to being ONLY fighter types. They never struck me as being...oh say wizards, paladins or even rangers/rogues. Too damn bulky for the most part and they don't appear very religious oriented. The Ironborn, conversely seem more likely to be a kind of Coreanic construct pre-cursor and/or Drendali type if I were to use them in Scarred Lands. The Warforged seem way too high maintaince, even in a low but advancing magic setting such as Eberron.

Now if you're asking me "Would it be feasible and sensible in your "River of Worlds setting to have them be on the same plane?" I'd say yes. The Warforged COULD be the "advanced" version of Iron born, at least for those not wanting to be fighters. Indeed, you could make it so the Ironborn created the Warforged to be their "elite" fighters while theyz focused more on divine/clerical/arcane/wizardly/sorcerous stuff. Thus being created imperfectly by imperfect machines, some Warforged might feel they should run the show.

That's my view anyway.

 

[dren]

Unfair question. The Book of Iron Might has only been out a short time. Many people, especially those who don't use pdfs (not me) may not be too familiar with them. The iron born is certainly intriguing, and after more perusuals I might allow my players to use them.

As for the warforged...the mini we have is really neat! Trying to find something else "good" to say about them...nothing else coming to mind.

I use a scaled down version of the maug as a +3 ECL, but none of my players have wanted to use it yet.

 

[Boojum]

I haven't seen the ironborn yet, but in my campaign I allow the automaton, type of steam-powered construct I wrote up for Steam-trains & Sorcery. They are closer to a true construct than the warforged, and have an LA of +2. They are also exceedingly rare, made only by the most powerful gadgeteers, so there are only a couple dozen in the entire world.

 

[nopantsyet]

Ooooh. Warforged are so cool, but the Ironborn were just done right. I think it's one of the most exciting mechanics I've seen in a while. I would use it in Eberron as well as non-Eberron. Though I'd probably allow the Warforged as well if it were Eberron. Given the variety that would exist, and the rarity of them in general, most every 'Warforged' would be a unique physical creation. Neat.

 

[GreyShadow]

Warforged (Wizards)
Ironborn (Malhavoc)
Mechanus (Studio Ronin)
COGS (Mongoose)

Perhaps the Shaan (sp?) from Dragon.

Throw in Doom Striders (Bastion), mix them all together. Throw out the normal races and use it as a mechanical world that you could visit.

 

[beeber]

another vote for neither. they don't fit into my campaign world. maybe as a unique gnomish device, but never a race. especially a "core" type race.

 

[LoneWolf23]

Ok, I don't have the Book of Iron Might, so I don't know much about the Ironborn, rule-wise. I do have Eberron, however.

That being said, I'd like to stress the point that the Warforged are not meant to be portrayed as robots, but more as living Golem/Constructs, entities of raw magic in a solid corporeal form. Much of it's nature, including that of the Components one can use to modify it, are magical in nature.

I don't know much about how the Ironborn works, however..

 

[Psion]

another vote for neither. they don't fit into my campaign world. maybe as a unique gnomish device, but never a race. especially a "core" type race.