Warforged

I quite like the idea of the Warforged, and the idea of them fits quite well into my Lemurian backstory. Like Eberron there was a war between the Giants and the Dragons - although I wrote that into my Lemurai background a little over 30 years ago.

So, here are rules for Warforged in Castles & Crusades along with a few rough notes fitting them into my Lemurian milieu.

The Warforged of Lemuria

Over a thousand years ago, a Great War fired up between the Chromatic Dragons and the Giants. The lesser races of Lemuria were caught in between, and those who chose not to take sides were regarded as enemies by both the Giants and the Dragons.

For over 100 years the Great War tore at the landscape of Lemuria, changing it forever. Then, the great council of Mages came upon a solution. Rather than fight these two unbeatable Armies with an almost certain chance of defeat; they would create a great Army of Magical machines to fight for them.

Using alchemical techniques all but forgotten in the modern age of Lemuria, lesser and self aware Golem that came to be called ‘Warforged’ because of their origins.

Thousands upon thousands of these ‘mechanical men’ were created, designed to fulfil almost every battlefield and mission necessity. Fighters, Wizards, Rogues, Assassins, even those with Clerical powers were created. Designed to fight not only the Dragons and the Giants; but the amassed minions in their many diabolical forms.

Another 100 years passed, and the Warforged did their job. With both the Dragon and Giant forces battered and depleted, with no will for either Army to fight on two fronts; they reached an uneasy peace. But that peace was not without its cost, certain parts of Lemuria were blasted and barren – and were no longer fit for habitation by Human or Demi-Human settlers. These great wastes (as they came to be known) became the homes for great underground repositories; which would be used for the now deactivated and unwanted Warforged.

Nearly 800 years passed the Warforged and the Great War between the Dragons and the Giants faded into the mists of Legend. A band of Adventurers, led by Baron Grath von Eltz encountered one of the great Warforged repositories. Through the ineptitude of Wizard Mannan, the Warforged there were awoken. Seeing the dawn of a new and more peaceful age, the Warforged there had to find a new purpose in life – for there was no great war to be a part of.

Over the last 10 years Warforged have become an infrequent but not uncommon sight across the Lemurian Realm; but these Warforged remain a constant reminder of that terrible time. To look upon one is to see an instrument of destruction, a heartless killing machine, a siege engine in the shape of a man. Despite the purposes for which the Mages of Lemuria built them, warforged can choose to be peaceful. When given thinking minds, Warforged were granted the ability to surpass the limited uses for which their creators had designed them.

Although tireless creations the newly awakened Warforged had become weary of war long before their forced hibernation – and many had wanted to amongst the other races. Unlike other wartime veterans, the Warforged have never known peace and have no homes to which to return. The Warforged thus live uneasily among the other races of the world, seeking to create a place for themselves in unwelcoming lands.

Warforged Rules

As a living construct, a Warforged has the following abilities.

A warforged derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, and saving throws as normal.

A Warforged Secondary Skills are worked out in the normal way, based on its age spent CONCIOUS not its age based on Hibernation period.

Traits

A warforged possesses the following traits –

Unlike other constructs, a Warforged has a Constitution score as well has Hit Dice.

A Warforged can see normally in all light conditions, its vision is impaired only in complete and utter darkness.

Because it is free-willed unlike other constructs, a Warforged is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.

A Warforged has the following immunities – to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.

A Warforged can heal Hit Point damage normally, either by rest, repair, or magical healing. It CANNOT heal Critical (CON) Damage naturally – only magical healing can restore a Warforged’s Constitution.

Warforged are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, death effects, and necromancy effects.

As living constructs, Warforged can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a Warforged can be healed by a Healing spell or Mending Spell for example

The unusual physical construction of warforged makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don’t affect living creatures. A warforged takes damage from magic that heats or cools metal as if he were wearing metal Armour. Likewise, a Warforged is affected by spells that would repel metal or stone as if he were wearing metal Armour. A warforged is affected by any magics that affect wood. The iron in the body of a warforged makes him vulnerable to rusting magic or attacks (from Rust Monsters); taking 2d6 points of damage (save to half). Spells such as stone to flesh, or those that change the shape of metal, stone or wood cannot be used on a Warforged character.

A warforged responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to half Constitution. A warforged reduced to half Con is disabled, but not unconscious as with any other living creature. He can take only a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his Constitution is reduced to Zero, a Warforged becomes inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and cannot perform any actions. An inert Warforged does not lose additional Con points unless more damage is dealt to him, as is the case with a living creature that has become stable.

As a living construct, a Warforged can be raised and resurrected.

A Warforged does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but he can still benefit from the effects of spells and magic items that provide sustenance.

Although living constructs do not need to sleep, a warforged wizard must still rest before preparing Spells.

Warforge ability scores

STR	+2
INT	–
WIS	-2
DEX	–
CON	+2
CHA	–2

Warforged are resilient and powerful, but their difficulty in relating to other creatures makes them seem aloof or even hostile. Unlike other non-humans Warforged have three prime attributes, two may be chosen freely – the third has to be taken as Strength.

As Medium constructs, warforged have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Warforged base land speed is 30 feet.

Composite Plating
The plating used to build a warforged provides a +2 AC bonus. This plating is the natural armour or ‘skin’ of the Warforged, and is in addition to AC provided from Armour.

The Composite plating also provides a Warforged with a 5% arcane spell failure chance, giving the target of a Warforged Wizards spells a +1 Bonus to any saves vs. them.

Automatic Languages
Common, no bonus languages.

All Warforged were designed to fulfill a specific battlefield role, so they are unlimited in advancement in their chosen class. However, unlike other non-humans Warforged may not Multi-Class, nor may they dual class like Humans

Allowable Classes
Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard, and Assassin.

The Drow

The Drow have always been a big part of my original Lemurian campaign, so it would be wrong of me not to include them in my C&C Lemurian games.

Where there are Drow, there are Players who want Drow characters. So here are the rules converted from those in Unearthed Arcana.

The Drow

These dark elves, also known as Drow, are the most divergent of the elven sub-races. Their form similar to that of other elves, but their skin colour is the inky black of a moonless night and their hair is normally pure white or silver. Classes open to Drow player characters are cleric, fighter, ranger, knight, wizard, rogue and assassin. Males and females of this sub-race differ in the maximum level attainable in the cleric, fighter, and wizard classes.
Drow are generally evil and chaotic in nature, though player characters are not required to be so.

A dark elf player character is considered an outcast from his or her homeland deep within the underdark, whether by matter of choice, alignment, or merely being on the losing side of some family-wide power struggle. As such, Drow characters do not have immediate access to the weaponry, armour, cloaks, and poisons that are normally found in the possession of non-player characters of this sub-race.

The magic resistance possessed by NPC dark elves is likewise not a property of player characters, who have abandoned their homeland; it is likely that this power is the result of extended dabbling in the dark arts as well as the effects of their environment. Once having made the decision to embark upon an adventuring career, a Drow player character can never regain this magic resistance short of the use of wish spells or similar magics, but can still rise in power and dominate fellow dark elves.

Enhanced Senses

Drow physiology is blessed with enhanced vision and hearing like their surface dwelling cousins. Drow can see farther than human in just about every circumstance, including seemingly total darkness, and can see clearly enough to read a road sign or spot a shield device up to two miles distant under such conditions. However, when in bright sunlight their vision becomes no better than a human; their eyes simply can't cope with sunlight after countless eons of adaption underground. They can also hear very well, and receive a +2 bonus to all checks involving listening.

Deepvision

Underground in the underdark, Drow have exceedingly good deepvision. They can distinguish colour and detail under these conditions for up to one mile when underground.

Move Silently (Dexterity)

This ability allows a Drow to move silently in underground areas. The Drow can move up to one-half normal speed at no penalty. At more than one-half, and up to the character’s full speed, the character suffers a -5 penalty to the check. It’s practically impossible (-20 penalty) to move silently while running or charging.

Spell Resistance

Drow are particularly resistant to spells and spell like abilities that charm or unnaturally cause sleep. When making saving throws against these types of spells, a Drow receives a +10 bonus.

Spot Hidden Doors (Wisdom)

Drow vision and keen senses allows them to spot secret, hidden and concealed doorways. A Drow merely passing within 5 feet of a secret, hidden or concealed doorway is entitled to a wisdom check to spot the door, as if the Drow were actively looking for it. When a Drow actively searches for such doorways, the bonus to the wisdom check is +2.

Drow do not gain the combat bonuses of the surface elves with regard to sword and bow, but may fight with two weapons without penalty, provided each weapon may be easily wielded in one hand. They cannot use a shield when performing this type of combat, but may use a spiked buckler as one of their two weapons.

Drow can speak the common tongue, the language of “undercommon” (a trade language of those who dwell beneath the earth), plus the elvish and gnomish languages, as well as other languages up to the limit prescribed by intelligence score.

In addition, all dark elves “speak” the silent tongue of subterranean dwellers, a language of complex hand signals and gestures, combined with facial expressions and body language. The range of communication in this silent tongue is only 30’, but it is as informative as any other language within that range. Only the Drow may fully master this tongue, though other races may be taught its basic signs and symbols.

All Drow have the innate ability to use the following magic spells each once per day: dancing lights, faerie fire, and darkness (but only to a 5 ft radius). Upon attaining 4th level in any class, Drow gain the ability to cast detect magic, detect chaos evil good or law, and levitate, also once per day. Female Drow of 4th level or higher can also use clairaudience/clairvoyance, discern lies, suggestion, and dispel magic, each once per day. Please Note - a Draw’s spell like abilities do not need components as spells do.

Base Movement

Male Drow - 30 ft, Female Drow - 35 ft.

Attribute Bonuses

Male Drow

STR	–
DEX	+1
CON	–1
INT	+1
WIS	–1
CHA	–

Female Drow

STR	–1
DEX	+1
CON	–1
INT	+1
WIS	–
CHA	+1

Male Drow Level Limits

Cleric – 10th
Knight – 10th
Fighter – 10th
Wizard – 15th
Rogue – U
Assassin – 15th
Ranger – 10th

Female Drow Level Limits

Cleric – U
Knight – 10th
Fighter – 15th
Wizard – 10th
Rogue – U
Assassin – 15th
Ranger – 10th

Keep Rollin' - Drew

The Whole Half-Ogre

These are ideas for playing a Half Ogre in Castles & Crusades, rather than come up with a new approach what is presented here is based upon the articles by Gary Gygax and Roger Moore published in Dragon Magazine issues 29 and 73 respectively.

The Whole Half-Ogre

Half-ogres may become Fighters, Clerics, or Rogues. Fighter/Clerics are the only Multi Class options available to Half Ogre player characters.

Half-ogres can advance to an unlimited level as Fighters or 5th level as Clerics or Rogues.

In addition to learning common, ogrish, orcish, and troll tongues if raised by their ogre parent, half-ogres may learn one additional language apart from common if raised by a non-ogre parent.

Half-ogres range from 7ft to 8ft in height (80 + 4d4 inches) and weigh between 315 and 425 pounds (305 + 10d12). Skin colour and hair colour is variable but tends to be brown, greyish, black, dull yellow (skin only) or one of the above with a slight grey-green hue. Most half-ogres have human-like eyes, though about 1 in 5 have the white pupil’s common to ogre kind.

The initial age of a half-ogre when his or her adventuring career begins is 15 + 1d4 years for fighters, 20 + 1d4 years for clerics, and 24 years for fighter/clerics. An aging table for half-ogres appears below -

Young Adult	12-18 Years
Maturity	19-40 Years
Middle Age	41-80 Years
Old Age	81-110 Years
Venerable	111-140 Years

Alignment for half ogre player characters is a touchy subject, as they 'lean' towards evil alignments - since most adventuring groups are full of paladins, rangers, knights and evil-hating neutrals - this can be a problem. Though half ogres aren’t generally of good alignments, half ogres may be of any alignment the player desires - however good alignments should be rare.

Like all beings except humans, half-ogres are immune to lycanthropy. On the negative side, half-ogres are never psionic. The alignment tendency toward evil makes the acquisition of henchmen and hirelings difficult. The cost of armour and clothing is high, perhaps two or three times the norm for any other humanoid. Half ogres once slain will stay dead unless raised by a wish or the use of a rod of resurrection (However, poisoning may be reversed using the appropriate spells, as with any other character).

They are too big to ride anything but a huge horse or an elephant, neither of which is readily available or of low cost.

Going deeper into things, there are even more factors working against the half-ogre. Numerous magical items that vary in effect with the user’s weight become less effective when used by a being that weighs an average of 370 pounds. Magical boots, brooms, armour, robes, cloaks, and magical walking or flying steeds either won’t fit, won’t work very well, or won’t work at all for a half ogre. Enterprising DMs may allow the existence of potions of half-ogre control and leave such lying about for discovery by enemies of a half-ogre pc. Certain items will affect a half-ogre as they would a full-blooded ogre.

Half-ogres, whether PC’s or NPC’s, are affected by the Dwarven Expertise ability.

Half-Ogre ability scores

STR	+2
INT	–1
WIS	–
DEX	–1
CON	+2
CHA	–2

In addition, Half Ogres get an extra Prime (this is due to their Human parentage).

Special Characteristics

• Deepvision up to a range of 60 ft.
• The languages of ogres, orcs, and trolls are learned only if the ogre parent is present.
• Two hit dice of the appropriate at 1st level – hit dice progression as normal from 2nd level.
• The base movement rate of a half ogre is 45ft.
• Conspicuous - Half-ogres, due to their larger size, suffer a 2 point penalty to all stealth and sleight of hands checks.