Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 gadren Feb 01, 2009 14:00:52	So, as most of us have concluded, Warforged Dhampyr are RPGA legal. (For those who still don't accept this, so be it, but please don't derail this thread with your crunch arguments as this is a fluff thread.) This brings up the conundrum of how your Warforged became a Dhampyr RP-wise. Here are some of my ideas, feel free to contribute your own. Remember that LFR Warforged are not Eberron Warforged. They aren't assumed to come from Creation Forges - each one can have a different origin, such as being an experiment in golems with souls, etc. So this extends easily to Dhampyr Warforged creation stories. STORIES: 1. Your creator wasn't necessarily intending to make a construct with a soul, he was simply experimenting with building a golem out of material from the Shadowfell (Such as the "gravetrees" used to make Darkleaf Armor). Using such necroticly-infused materials is what gave you your semblance of life... and unlife. 2. You were an experiment in "living" constructs, but you were created by a necromancer, lich, etc. who felt that the best way for you to gain "life" was to drain it from others. 3. When the Archmage Merldalf lost his beloved wife to a disintegration accident, he was devastated when Raise Dead failed to bring her back. Driven slightly insane, he attempted to call her soul back to a host of his own creation - a construct. Her/your soul was gone too long, and came back... darker. You don't look like a typical "Warforged"; you are more feminine-shaped, and have a fairly creepy porcelain-doll-like covering. You weren't quite in control when you first came back, and your creator become your first victim. You guys got any other suggestions?
#2 Jay_Ibero_911 Feb 01, 2009 16:42:19	So, as most of us have concluded, Warforged Dhampyr are RPGA legal. (For those who still don't accept this, so be it, but please don't derail this thread with your crunch arguments as this is a fluff thread.) This brings up the conundrum of how your Warforged became a Dhampyr RP-wise. Here are some of my ideas, feel free to contribute your own. Remember that LFR Warforged are not Eberron Warforged. They aren't assumed to come from Creation Forges - each one can have a different origin, such as being an experiment in golems with souls, etc. So this extends easily to Dhampyr Warforged creation stories. STORIES: 1. Your creator wasn't necessarily intending to make a construct with a soul, he was simply experimenting with building a golem out of material from the Shadowfell (Such as the "gravetrees" used to make Darkleaf Armor). Using such necroticly-infused materials is what gave you your semblance of life... and unlife. 2. You were an experiment in "living" constructs, but you were created by a necromancer, lich, etc. who felt that the best way for you to gain "life" was to drain it from others. 3. When the Archmage Merldalf lost his beloved wife to a disintegration accident, he was devastated when Raise Dead failed to bring her back. Driven slightly insane, he attempted to call her soul back to a host of his own creation - a construct. Her/your soul was gone too long, and came back... darker. You don't look like a typical "Warforged"; you are more feminine-shaped, and have a fairly creepy porcelain-doll-like covering. You weren't quite in control when you first came back, and your creator become your first victim. You guys got any other suggestions? How about a warforged who among other materials was constructed using stakes used to slay a number of vampires, and as such had been soaked in vampire blood. Perhaps you were constructed for the express purpose of becoming a vampire slayer and with the hopes that you would gain some of they're abilities.
#3 warfteiner Feb 01, 2009 21:50:08	Something to definitely keep in mind here is that sometimes vampires can come from a variety of backgrounds and origin types - the black-and-white vampire in the Monster Manual is the most common example of the affliction, yes, but the world is a big big place with a lot of under-explored territory. In the case of vampiric or dhampyr warforged perhaps we can consider a variety of vampirism that has more perverted the essence of the character than the form of the character - an assailant, be it a "vanilla" vampire or a new, as-yet-unexplored "cousin" to the vampire, has attacked and mutilated the character on a very deep level. I like the idea of a dhampyr-touched warforged character but I think you should be ready to think outside the box and prepare your own backstory. Thay would be my first idea for a region of origin, although Netheril could arguably work just as effectively. If you - or anyone else - would care to chat in a more direct fashion on this, please let me know! I find it highly intriguing and would love to hear other input.
#4 telvin3d Feb 01, 2009 23:03:44	Well dear, sometime a Vampire and a random piece of farm machinery feel a very special way about each other. And when two things feel that way, they have very special ways of showing it...
#5 _Mithreinmaethor_ Feb 01, 2009 23:35:33	Doesnt matter we will find you an melt you into ingots and throw you into the 1st portal we can find to the elemental chaos :D
#6 eljeffex Feb 01, 2009 23:58:19	When a thread first popped up on this in the Optimization forum, someone asked what kind of story could support a warforged vampire and I threw together this little blurb as an example: Jelde Smithson was a paladin from humble beginnings. His family died at the hands of the minions of Toreth the dark-bringer and the young man vowed to rid the land of the foul taint of the undead. He found strength in Amaunator's light and for many years, he was an ever present foil to Toreth's plans. When he fell in battle, his friends could not bear to lose such a strong and noble ally. With the help of the eccentric wizard Hob, Jelde's lifeforce was transfered into a new golem of strange design, a golem of both living and inanimate parts. The vampire lord discovered these plans and sent his minions to stop them. During the battle, one of them poured the blood of his master into the ritual forge hoping to corrupt the golem. Toreth hoped by tainting the golem, he could turn it to his bidding and forever torture the soul of his enemy. His plan failed, however, as Jelde arose in his new body with the same purpose. With the strength of his new form, the paladin returned to his war. But, the body held a secret curse. The vampire's blood flowed within it, carrying a hunger that would haunt the noble warrior. Could he overcome it and defeat the ancient vampire, or would he fall to darkness and become nothing but a tortured thrall? Sure, a little melodramatic, but doable. I really like the above mentioned porcelain doll idea.
#7 _metz_ Feb 02, 2009 0:11:46	Why not simply a mechanical/human hybrid (or something else entirely more alien) that must feed on others for sustenance? Think the Martians from the original 'war of the worlds' by H.G. Wells, that fed on human blood as they had 'evolved' beyond simple consumption.
#8 gadren Feb 02, 2009 0:48:46	Why not simply a mechanical/human hybrid (or something else entirely more alien) that must feed on others for sustenance? Think the Martians from the original 'war of the worlds' by H.G. Wells, that fed on human blood as they had 'evolved' beyond simple consumption. Not much different from my suggestion #2 ;)
#9 _metz_ Feb 02, 2009 0:51:57	Actually it is quite different - No need to have necromancy involved, it's ickier when it's not magic based :P Plus original War of the Worlds was scary, at least when i read it (I was 10)
#10 WolfStar76 Feb 02, 2009 6:41:53	Another option is the simple inclusion of dark energies from the Shadowfell entering the Warforged at some point during its creation. This could be deliberate or accidental depending on the creator's wishes. Flavor-wise you'd have a "Shadow-touched" Warforged instead of a Dhampyr, specifically, but it could still make for an interesting play option. Special thanks to Chris Sims for this particular creation mythology
#11 pint_glass_crusader Feb 02, 2009 8:35:56	How about this... Show A scrap of paper found by adventurers in a ruined workshop in the Nelanther Isles... While many pursue the the path of Lichdom in order to extend their lives beyond death. For those arcane practitioners of artifice, alchemy and technomancy there is another... less well trodden path... The practioner may learn the alchemical rituals of preservation and tecnomatic animation required to craft for themselves a new body... one with skin of steel and flesh of clockwork and brass... The Technomancer must first construct their new form from the finest materials, following this there is the construction of the surgical automatons that will extract the Technomancers vital organs and place them in this new shell of living metal... a process which may take decades of unremitting toil... On the day of the final procedure, the Technomancer must ingest specially prepared alchemical compounds that will render them unconcious an unaware of the biting blades of their automatons... should all go to plan... the budding immortal will awaken in their new form able to ply their craft while all around them fades into history and is again reformed by the passage of endevour. But there are risks... if the body is not properly prepared... if the automatons are off by a fraction of an inch... if a thousand other variables are not accounted for... the procedure can be flawed. Madness, amnesia and weakness of the senses are common afflictions to befall the would-be immortal. In addition, the limited biological functions of this new form can be impaired... while metal is ridgid and unfailing... those parts used from the original form can be diseased, infected or require the periodic replenishment of vital fluids that this new, more prefect form, cannot supply... Such has been my burden... my craft was not as I had though... not as strong as my master. Who, in his gentle faith had entrusted to me the arcane schema and alchemical formulae required to make this difficult transition. I had hoped... in my ignorance... to honour his gift, by performing the ritual upopn myself, even though his guidance had always been, never to attempt this measure of the craft, so doomed was it to failure. Now I am cursed as others... no doubt before me. My appearance is strong and clad in plates of shining steel, I could be mistaken for a Paladin on the field... but my body is flawed and the nature of the fuel I require to maintain its operation sickens me, yet I do not have the courage to end the hunger... and to be frank I have been unable to harm this body of iron beyond a minor dent or scrape. I have decided that I will take to the roads. Perhaps in some far flung ruin of the Realms I might find a means to corerct my failure... and if not... perhaps some long forgotten beast might end this accursed life. The life that I am too craven to take myself. Ironcurse... once Durngan of...
#12 JohnLynch Feb 08, 2009 4:12:20	Here's one fior a Warforged Dhampyr of Kelemvor (divine class of your choice): A group of wealthy merchants and nobles got together to create an army to oppose the undead of Thay. They had an ancient ritual from Lantan altered by gnomish inventors to better fight undead by utilising some of their abilities. The new design required that vampires be burned within the machine which would collect the energy released from their deaths and embed it into the Warforged. Through great pains the nobles managed to aquire enough vampires. The night that they were about to start, some adventurers on behalf of the Church of Kelemvor broke into the factory and destroyed the few Warforged that were created. It was only until afterwards that they realised what the nobles and merchants had been attempting to do. Fortunately though one Warforged managed to escape. Since then it has been burning with a desire to destroy all undead. After a while it learnt of Kelemvor and has worshipped him since.