Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Seidaku 01-29-08, 03:32 PM	I know I read somewhere that Warforged speak entirely without inflection. Does anyone know what source I might have picked that up from? In any event; I was wondering how others have interpreted the idea of speaking with 'no inflection.' Monotone? Perhaps something like the Elcor, from Mass Effect? (Here's a link to an example: Elcor speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5USn_CT_DpY)) I've tended to interpret 'no inflection' as the kind of speech we think of as 'robotic,' such as Soundwave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWb43IB3W-c), from the Transformers. As I was thinking about this, I made the realization that a better example might be GLaDOS (http://youtube.com/watch?v=j0PDGp1hL4w&feature=related), from Portal. Thoughts?
nights_the_necromancer 01-29-08, 03:44 PM	well it would have to be monotisical unless the warforged wished it to be different and then it would be weired. becuase the warforged have no vocal cords to pass wind through so they have to have some way of reverberating the air to make sound and a voice box is exactly what they should have
LoneStranger 01-30-08, 06:37 PM	It could be something that someone thought made sense using the "Warforged are robots" argument.* Really you could have a Warforged talk like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood if you wanted to. Of course if someone does have their Warforged character talk like GLaDOS that begs the question: Would you accept any cake that character offers?** *For the record I'm not trying to start that argument here, I'm just pointing to that as a possible source. **I suppose if the Warforged had enough ranks in Profession (cook) it wouldn't be too bad, just as long as the icing isn't laced with Mithril for flavor though.
Edymnion 01-30-08, 07:29 PM	I don't go for the inflection-less bit myself. They have expressionless faces, due to the fact they're a solid sheet of metal or a solid block of stone, so the voice would need to be able to express emotions (there are no penalties trying to Sense Motive to tell if a WF is lying, after all). The thing thats hardest to wrap your head around is that WF are often described (at least in Keith's novels) as having voices that sound like things you don't normally think of as being able to speak. Grinding stone, rushing water, rustling leaves, rasping steel... Large WF having deep voices with a bit of natural echo/reverb that sounds like someone with a deep voice speaking inside of a cave, mithril warforged tending to have faster speech that flows from one thing to the next like water that rises to the sound of a thundering waterfall when they are angry, ironwood WF having very windy, breathy voices that sound like the wind blowing through the trees... like Treebeard from LotR. Which I realize is of absolutely no help when trying to come up with a voice to use while playing one in a face to face game (but it might help with descriptions for a PbP game).
TheKeyofE 01-31-08, 01:03 AM	Which I realize is of absolutely no help when trying to come up with a voice to use while playing one in a face to face game (but it might help with descriptions for a PbP game). In my last game, I tried speaking into a metal funnel (the kind used for motor oil). It did give my voice a metallic and distant sound, but we got sick of it really quickly. I should also mention that I've always thought of warforged voices as similar to Star Wars droids. Metallic and less emotional than other sentients, but not entirely without inflection. Just as the speech of some droids is more inflected than others (C-3PO vs. the overseer droid in Jabba's palace), some warforged would have more human-like speech if they happen to be more integrated into Khorvarian culture.
Ashlock 01-31-08, 08:47 AM	I know I read somewhere that Warforged speak entirely without inflection. Somewhere official? I'm thinking probably not? :) The Eberron designers/editors definitely want to push away any robotic comparison for the warforged. Of course, superficially, the idea of an artificial humanoid draws that comparison. But even though the sound of their voices doesn't have to seem human or even living, I definitely don't see that this means they don't have a range of inflections, emotions, timbres, etc.
Edymnion 01-31-08, 02:57 PM	The Eberron designers/editors definitely want to push away any robotic comparison for the warforged.Heh, unless its Races of Eberron, then they enjoy doing mindless, repetitive tasks. ;)
Ashlock 01-31-08, 03:01 PM	Hmmm, I didn't think so. I know that warforged chapter specifically says that warforged need to keep their minds active. They might be able to carry out a task for a good long while, but they need to change and do something else at some point. That's very non-robotic to me. Anyway, that's certainly the way I've portrayed them.
Edymnion 01-31-08, 03:12 PM	Hmmm, I didn't think so. I know that warforged chapter specifically says that warforged need to keep their minds active.Yeah, but then they went and said that they do things like count the blades of grass around them, or whittle on pieces of wood, or just sharpen everybody's swords. You know, god forbid they read a book, or do any of the things any other races would do. No, they do repetitive tasks all night long.
Shiftkitty 01-31-08, 03:28 PM	War Story, the WF in my Eberron chapters, speaks in monotone. We decided that it's due to a damaged voice box. He stays active doing whatever. He was appreciated at the tavern he found a post at because he never took breaks. (Anybody who's ever worked in a restaurant on a major thoroughfare can tell you, there's no such thing as down-time!) Since winding up in Xen'drik, his skill in Weaponsmithing has made him verrrrry popular with the drow tribe that's adopted him. They have no shortage of sharp, pointy things to stick into outlanders, or flying slashy things to throw at them.
GuyrtheadamantineOne 02-01-08, 09:02 AM	I always thought of warforged as Al's voice in FMA. A simple, human voice heard through a tomato sauce can. Yeah, but then they went and said that they do things like count the blades of grass around them, or whittle on pieces of wood, or just sharpen everybody's swords. You know, god forbid they read a book, or do any of the things any other races would do. No, they do repetitive tasks all night long. I didn't shot this part of Races of Eberron through the window myself, and tried to look at this part in regard to the youngest warforged. What do you expect a child to do when bored? Read a book? Get bent! I wanna play with twigs!:D I just think that when there's nothing to do, then they start playing weird games; -''One grass blade, two grass blades, three grass bla...'' -''What are you doing, Hammerhead?'' -''Four grass blades, five grass blades, six grass blades...'' -:twitch: :bored: :surrender
Shiftkitty 02-01-08, 02:01 PM	While Hammerhead is counting grass blades, War Story might come up and, in his droning monotone voice, say "I made a lawnmower. Wanna see?" He's been slowly developing into a tinkerer. On the subject of counting grass blades, has anyone here ever worked the graveshift as a security guard at a place that closes at night, but not all the way? You know. There are people in the building, so you can't just screw around. You have to stay at your post. I was guarding a place that was developing control panels for fighter jets, so it was a pretty serious spot. BUUUUUUT... The graveshift meant that only work-junkies were there. I couldn't leave the post. I had to sit and stare at a monitor and push the button that opened the gate for anyone with a badge. On Sunday night, that meant nobody. But there were still people putting in hellacious overtime, so there I sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. (ad nauseum) I had finished my book earlier in the night and had five hours to go. "Great," I thought. "Now it's just me and the dust." Then it hit me. Dust had different shapes tha affected its falling characteristics, and apparently different content that attracted it to different materials. So I proceeded my greatest scientific work to date, a fifteen page study on desk dust, complete with diagrams, charts, etc. showing the various things that have an effect on how dust settles. Somehow, when it was done after a few Sunday shifts, good old me goes off and leaves it. It wound up in the hands of one of the R&D eggheads who actually found it fascinating. He meant to run off a copy for me (he wanted the original, probably to claim the credit for anti-dust attracting materials), but we never crossed paths again. I sympathize with the warforged when they're counting grass blades...
Edymnion 02-01-08, 07:51 PM	I had finished my book earlier in the night and had five hours to go. "Great," I thought. "Now it's just me and the dust." Then it hit me. Dust had different shapes tha affected its falling characteristics, and apparently different content that attracted it to different materials. So I proceeded my greatest scientific work to date, a fifteen page study on desk dust, complete with diagrams, charts, etc. showing the various things that have an effect on how dust settles.Yes, but you took a book to begin with, and I bet you didn't sit around and count dust mites the next night, you brought something else to entertain yourself with. I highly doubt you went in, night after night, knowing you had to sit there, and just counted the dots on the ceiling panels every night.
Shiftkitty 02-02-08, 01:18 PM	Well, I only had Sunday nights to do the dust study* (not dust-mites, which are different). The point is that when you have nothing else to occupy your time, the most tedious, mind-numbing thing otherwise can become suddenly the most fascinating thing in your life. It's pathetic, I know, but it was a paycheck, so I couldn't complain. (Well, actually, I could and did, but nobody cared. Not even the dust.) *Yes, I brought another book, but not immediately. Money was tight and I had already read through my entire library by this point. I wasn't able to afford a new book until toward the end of the report, and nothing in the local library caught my attention.