Post/Author/DateTime	Post
FriendlyFrog 01-12-07, 11:24 AM	In the newest Ask Wizards (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ask/20070112a) article, the old question of whether a Warforged could become a Dragonborn was finally addressed. The Sage agrees that a Dragonborn doesn't have to be a humanoid, making the template open for almost any race. Q: Dear Sage, I desperately need your help! I need to know two things: whether a warforged can become a dragonborn of Bahamut (Races of the Dragon), and if so what are the racial traits I keep from the warforged list? --Matt A: Matt, the Sage is here to help. Despite the misleading entry in the dragonborn racial traits that suggests that all dragonborn are humanoids, the only prerequisites for being reborn in this manner are a non-evil alignment and an Intelligence of 3 or better. Thus, there’s nothing stopping a warforged from undergoing this ritual and dedicating himself to the service of Bahamut. A warforged who becomes a dragonborn would be a construct with the living construct and dragonblood subtypes. He’d retain his warforged ability score modifiers and favored class. He’d also retain all traits derived from the living construct subtype, including immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, and energy drain; inability to heal damage naturally; vulnerability to certain metal- or wood-affecting spells; and half effect from healing spells. He’d still become inert at –1 to –9 hp, and he still wouldn’t need to eat, sleep, or breathe. However, he would lose his composite plating, light fortification, and slam attack. The next logical question, of course, is whether the dragonborn warforged can select feats that would improve his now-absent composite plating. Technically, these feats don’t list composite plating as a prerequisite, so it appears the answer would be yes. The Unarmored Body feat (Races of Eberron pg. 120) supports this ruling, as it indicates that other feats that adjust the character’s armor bonus could be selected later, even though he technically doesn’t have the composite plating’s armor bonus any more. I'd say he also did an excellent job this time, interpreting the rules instead of trying to figure out the designer's intentions or balance the game by adding rules that do not exist in the text. Now, this finally opens up the Dragonborn Warforged, but also almost any other race/monster. What other uses can you think of?
DaveTheMagicWeasel 01-12-07, 11:31 AM	I think Favored Soul-zilla just became Mechagodzilla! More generally, getting to keep all the cool construct traits surely makes Warforged the best Dragonborn base possible.
FriendlyFrog 01-12-07, 11:43 AM	I think Favored Soul-zilla just became Mechagodzilla! More generally, getting to keep all the cool construct traits surely makes Warforged the best Dragonborn base possible. Yeah, you don't lose pretty much anything when compared to most races. You lose relatively minor abilities, and still keep all the best ones. Composite plating is pretty useless, either you want to get rid of it or replace it with a feat. Light fortification is also pretty minor, and you can still get a better one with a feat if you want to. The slam attack isn't that bad, though, but it's not that strong either.
DaveTheMagicWeasel 01-12-07, 11:53 AM	Yeah, you don't lose pretty much anything when compared to most races. You lose relatively minor abilities, and still keep all the best ones. Composite plating is pretty useless, either you want to get rid of it or replace it with a feat. Light fortification is also pretty minor, and you can still get a better one with a feat if you want to. The slam attack isn't that bad, though, but it's not that strong either. Light Fortitude is nice at low levels, but later on you want to buy a better version for your armour a lot of the time anyway, so it feels kinda wasted. I might just go through the ritual at about level 6 or so, which is when the Dragonborn abilities are starting to get good (Heart and Mind are both just getting to be a good range, and Wings have just become a proper fly speed). that way you can enjoy Light Fortification for the first few levels. Plus, Wings (low level) and Breath are both based on Con, and you'll be getting +4 as a Warforged Dragonborn.
Dither 01-12-07, 12:19 PM	Just posted Dragonforged Fighter (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=770927) it's only 2 levels, which is what I wanted; pretty much the same thought as presented here.
jameswilliamogle 01-12-07, 01:38 PM	Dragonborn Warforged Artificer... whoa... Any Dragonborn Warforged Arcane caster... Dragonborn Warforged Dragonfire Adept, even...
AZNsupermarket 01-12-07, 04:31 PM	I think Favored Soul-zilla just became Mechagodzilla! More generally, getting to keep all the cool construct traits surely makes Warforged the best Dragonborn base possible. I disagree strongly. There are a lot of really nice bases out there for dragonborn of bahamut. Elven Sub-races: Fire Elf: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Con -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), unearthed arcana pg.17 Gray Elf: -2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con +2 Int, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), monster manual pg.104 Snow Elf: +2 Dex -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), frostburn pg.34 Star Elf: +2 Cha -2 Con, medium, 30 ft., otherworldly touch (su), extraplanar (su), bard, humanoid (elf), unapproachable east pg.10 Sun Elf: +2 Int -2 Con, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), forgotten realms pg.15 Wood Elf: +2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con -2 Int, meduim, 30 ft., ranger, humanoid (elf), monster manual pg.104 Races with Insanely large bonuses to Wisdom: Anthropomorphic Bat: -4 Str +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft. (fly 20 ft. average), blindsense (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Lizard: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Monkey: -4 Str +2 Dex +4Wis -2 Cha, small, 30 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Rat: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 15 ft., rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Raven: -6 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 10 ft. (fly 30ft. poor), rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Toad: -4 Str -2 Dex +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft., cleric, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Weasel: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., attach (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Jermlaine: -6 Str +6 Dex -2 Con -2 Int +6 Wis -6 Cha, tiny, 40 ft., rogue, fey, monster manual 2 pg.131 Races that lose negative features when becoming a dragonborn: Neanderthal: +2 Str -2 Dex +2 Con -2 Int, medium, 30 ft., barbarian, humanoid (human), frostburn pg.36 Buomman: +2 Wis -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., monk, humanoid (buomman, extraplanar), planar handbook pg.08 Sea Kin: none, medium, 30 ft. (swim 30 ft.), druid, humanoid (human), races of destiny pg.100 Spellscale: Spellscale: +2 Cha -2 Con, medium, 30 ft., sorcerer and same as base creature, humanoid (dragonblood), races of the dragon pg.21 Lesser Planetouched: Lesser Aasimar +2 Wis +2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., light (sp), paladin, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Lesser Air Genasi +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Wis -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., levitate (sp), fighter, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Lesser Earth Genasi +2 Str +2 Con -2 Wis -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., pass without trace (sp), fighter, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Lesser Fire Genasi +2 Int -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., control flames (sp), fighter, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Lesser Water Genasi +2 Con -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., create water (sp), fighter, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Lesser Tiefling +2 Int +2 Dex -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., darkness (sp), rogue, humanoid (planetouched), player’s guide to faerun pg.191 Races with alternate movement speeds: Raptoran: none, medium, 30 ft. (fly 40 ft. average), cleric, humanoid (raptoran), races of the wild pg.66 Sea Kin: none, medium, 30 ft. (swim 30 ft.), druid, humanoid (human), races of destiny pg.100 Races with Large con bonuses already: Mongrelfolk: +4 Con -2 Int -4 Cha, medium, 30 ft., rogue, humanoid (human), races of destiny pg.98