D&D Race Guide: How to Play a Warforged
Extra tough, a bonus ability score point to put anywhere, and keeping watch at rest, there are tons of reasons to make your next character a Warforged.
They may have originated as Steel Defender companions of Artificer characters, but Warforged have become a pretty darn popular race to choose from among 5E players. With the addition of Eberron: Rising From the Last War, we can now add some fantastical metal men to our party. And between the boosts, boons, and cool factor involved in describing your Warforged, there are plenty of reasons for their recent popularity.
“The warforged were built to fight in the Last War. The first warforged were mindless automatons, but House Cannith devoted vast resources to improving these steel soldiers. An unexpected breakthrough produced fully sentient soldiers, blending organic and inorganic materials. Warforged are made from wood and metal, but they can feel pain and emotion. Built as weapons, they must now find a purpose beyond the war. A warforged can be a steadfast ally, a cold-hearted killing machine, or a visionary in search of purpose and meaning.”
Traits
Originally made as mindless automatons to fight in the Last War, Warforged are the product of years of House Cannith improving on the steel soldiers’ design until they created something intelligent and self-aware. They’re humanoid creatures made from a blend of organic and inorganic materials such as metal, but they can feel pain and have as wide of a variety of personality types as any human.
If you chose a Warforged character you will be gifted with a +2 to Constitution and a +1 to any other ability score of your choice. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against poison, don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep (and can’t be put to sleep magically), and are immune to disease. Warforged characters are also a little more hearty than some others with a natural +1 bonus to their armor class, and any armor you spend the time to have installed can’t be removed against your will.
Best Classes
With a naturally high constitution, an easy choice for your character would be to make them the party’s tank and go Barbarian. But when it comes to the Warforged, there almost isn’t a bad choice for class. Add that bonus +1 wherever it will serve you best and profit. Artificer, Paladin, or Ranger would all give you an extra Barbarian 5e
durable character. Or, if you’d like to make a spellcaster, the additional Constitution will help make a traditionally squishy character more sturdy.
Variants
There are many different kinds of robots to build, so there are a bunch of variants of Warforged to choose from. The Juggernaut is “an imposing war machine built for close combat and raw might.” This would be the subclass to choose if you’re making a tank with their +2 to Strength and an additional 1d4+STE for an unarmed strike.
Next up is the Skirmisher, “built to scout the edges of battle and outmaneuver your enemies.” This variant will give you a +2 Dexterity increase, a walking speed increase of +5 feet, and the ability to move quickly and stealthily.
Finally, the Envoy is “designed with a certain specialized function in mind.” Again, you can sort of do whatever you want with your Warforged character, and this variant will give you two different +1 increases to two ability scores of your choice. You also get a skill proficiency, one tool proficiency, and one fluency, all of your choice! AND your proficient tool can become integrated with your body for double proficiency.
These variants don’t show up in Eberron Rising From The Last War, but can be found in Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron.
Tips & Tricks
Warforged are some of the most uniquely flexible species to pick as your next D&D character. It makes them easy to power game but also makes them a great choice for just about any class. It also makes Warforged a good option for new players because they can build just about whatever they want with relatively little of the crunchiness associated with character creation.
My biggest suggestion when it comes to playing a Warforged is to read up on their history and background. This can be a very interesting race to bring to the table with an especially unique voice and take on the world around them. D&D has thousands of pages worth of lore to pull from. And when it comes to Warforged, this may be the biggest boon for bringing a dynamic character to the party.
Is there a Warforged character in your current adventuring party? Have you played one yourself? What class did you choose? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
