Warforged and Subdual Damage

[vulcan_idic]

As per the Eberron Campaign Setting:

(A) Warforged are susceptible to non-lethal (a.k.a. subdual damage)

(B) Warforged do not heal damage naturally

Can a subdued Warforged ever regain consciousness without outside aid? If so, nonlethal damage regers them effectively inert, so how is it different from lethal damage to a Warforged?

These questions came up in our session this last time - our three characters, including the warforged portrayed by myself, got accosted by poorly equipt ruffians armed primarily with saps. We saw that I was susceptible to nonlethal damage, and I was (eventually - it took a long time and a lot of effort due to my adamantium plate and DR increased to 3 by feat) rendered... unconcious or inert however it may wind up being. We were almost out of time anyway tonight so we just called the game because we weren't sure how these two rules interacted, so we're not sure how to play what happens when and if we awaken. We discussed the quandry for awhile, myself, the DM, and the other three players and we couldn't figure it out, though we thought of reasons it could be each way, so we called it and I volunteered to post it here in hopes of recieving enlightenment on this subject from all the people I know who are on this board who are a lot sharper on the rules than I am. Thank you all for your help!

 

[BluWolf]

Per the RAW I would say that if a Warforged is susceptible to subdual damage than the unwritten rule is that they can recover from subdual damage as per the standard rules for other races/creatures.

However, I would say this is mechanically ok but conceptually hosed. I would say that warforged (or construct typre creatures as a whole) are not susceptible to sub-dual damage.

I think ruling the other way that they ARE susceptible and CANNOT heal on their own as per lethal damage rules is just too penalizing on the players of those sorts of characters.

 

[Someone]

As per the Eberron Campaign Setting:

(A) Warforged are susceptible to non-lethal (a.k.a. subdual damage)

(B) Warforged do not heal damage naturally

Can a subdued Warforged ever regain consciousness without outside aid? If so, nonlethal damage regers them effectively inert, so how is it different from lethal damage to a Warforged?

Simple: you can´t destroy a warforged with subdual damage, no matter how much you batter him.

I´ve not read it, but apparently Races of Eberron (or the errata) says that waforged can heal non-lethal ability damage naturally, so it´s not so difficult to imagine -or house rule- they can heal subdual damage at the normal rate.

Actually, if you like twisted arguments, in the non-lethal damage section it says that you heal subdual damage at the rate of 1 per hour and character level. Nowhere explicitly says that it´s natural healing, for what´s worth it could be divine intervention.

 

[Staffan]

In Races of Eberron, the warforged's racial abilities include "A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally." (emphasis mine). Since it doesn't say anything about non-lethal damage, they recover that as normal.

 

[CronoDekar]

The ECS errata also addresses this issue in the same way as Races of Eberron:

—A warforged cannot heal damage naturally.
This racial trait should be clarified as follows:
—A warforged cannot heal lethal damage naturally.

 

[AuraSeer]

Can a subdued Warforged ever regain consciousness without outside aid? If so, nonlethal damage regers them effectively inert, so how is it different from lethal damage to a Warforged?

As the posters above me have pointed out, warforged have been erratted to heal nonlethal damage normally.

But if you come across some other race that does not naturally heal nonlethal damage, it's still different from lethal damage when it comes to magical healing. Anything that cures lethal damage simultaneously cures an equal amount of nonlethal damage. For instance, if a critter has taken 5 lethal and 5 nonlethal damage, and is then cured for 5 points, both types od damage get fixed and the critter is now undamaged. If it had instead taken all 10 as lethal damage, that same cure would have left it 5 points shy of full health.

In addition to that, there are a few minor differences where specific abilities and powers are concerned. The spell deathwatch looks at current hit points, and ignores subdual damage. Ditto for the granted power of the Death domain. There are other examples too, though none of them come up very often.