Some inspirational reading for this morning’s game design hackathon

A sketched out and rough first pass at creating Burning Wheel lifepaths for Eberron’s Warforged. At present, I envision that as a Warforged character you would take Born of the Forge, one un-Liberated lifepath, then a Liberated lifepath. What follows are rough notes, not quite fully fleshed out.

My goal is to get something on “paper” then proceed with feedback and maybe some play. I consider the Warforged Traits more important than the lifepaths.

Warforged Stock

Table 156: From the Forge Setting (Warforged Stock) Lifepath Time Resources Stat Leads Born of the Forge 𝜏 1 yrs 0 — — Skills: 2 pts: General Traits: Composite Plating, Living Construct, Made for Battle, Natural Weapon, Socially Awkward, Shaped from Magic, Tough plus 1 pts: — Cart 𝜏 2+ yrs 2 +1 P — Skills: 2 pts: Hauling, Crate-wise Traits: 2 pts: Back-Breaking Labor Arrow 𝜏 3+ yrs 5 +1 P — Skills: 4 pts: Bow, Fletchery, Brawling, Foraging Traits: 1 pts: — Watch 𝜏 4 yrs 6 +1 M — Skills: 5 pts: Stealthy, Foraging, Orienteering, Appropriate Weapons, Observation Traits: 1 pts: — Hammer 𝜏 4+ yrs 6 +1 P — Skills: 6 pts: Soldiering, Appropriate Weapons, Shield Training†, Brawling, Foraging, Firebuilding Traits: 1 pts: — Anvil 𝜏 5+ yrs 6 +1 P — Skills: 6 pts: Soldiering, Appropriate Weapons, Formation Fighting†, Shield Training†, Brawling, Foraging Traits: 1 pts: Heavy Plating Liberated 𝜏 2 yrs 6 — Any Mannish Setting Skills: 4 pts: General Traits: 1 pts: — Note: You may only take this after the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold. † - This is a training skill. It costs 2 pts to open and may not be advanced.

§ - Indicates that this is a magical stock skill and costs 2 points to open. ß - Burning Wheel Gold; ¢ - Burning Wheel Codex; 𝜏 - TakeOnRules.com

Mannish Stock

Table 157: Eberron Professional Soldier Subsetting (Mannish Stock) Lifepath Time Resources Stat Leads Mechanic 𝜏 7 yrs 8 +1 M Villager, City, Peasant, Outcast Skills: 5 pts: Repair Warforged, Mending, Scavenging, Junk-wise Traits: 2 pts: Grumbling Requires: Apprentice Field Surgeon 𝜏 6 yrs 15 +1 M City, Villager, Outcast, Religious, Court Skills: 6 pts: Surgery, Herbalism, Infection-wise, Field Dressing Traits: 1 pts: — Requires: Apprentice, Barber or Student † - This is a training skill. It costs 2 pts to open and may not be advanced.

§ - Indicates that this is a magical stock skill and costs 2 points to open. ß - Burning Wheel Gold; ¢ - Burning Wheel Codex; 𝜏 - TakeOnRules.com

Starting Points for Warforged by Age

All Warforged start with a Mental Pool of 8 and a Physical Pool of 16. This likely should vary over-time, but at this point I’m uncertain where to go. I believe a set Physical Pool makes sense.

Warforged Traits

Constructed for war, the Warforged are not naturally occurring creatures.

Table 158: Warforged Common Traits Trait Type Composite Plating Dt The warforged's body is made of a composite of living wood and metal. It provides 1D of armor to the limbs and head, 2D to the chest. Composite plating cannot "fail" and become damaged like armor. Restriction: Warforged common trait Living Construct Dt Crafted of magic, the warforged need not eat, sleep nor breathe. They are immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, disease, and nausea. Wounds they sustain do not bleed nor worsen. They neither require Treatment nor benefit from Recovery. Instead to recover from wounds, they must be Repaired. Restriction: Warforged common trait Made for Battle Dt Reduce hesitation for death, violence, and injury by 1. Restriction: Warforged common trait Natural Weapon Dt Made of living wood and metal, the warforged's body is dangerous weapon. Their unarmed strikes are Pow 1, Add 2, VA * — WS * : 3, Shortest. Restriction: Warforged common trait Socially Awkward Dt As a living construct forged and not raised in a social environment, the warforged have a +1 Ob penalty to all Social skills. Restriction: Warforged common trait Tough Dt Warforged are durable. Round up when determining their Wortal Wound. Restriction: Warforged common trait

Below are a list of additional Warforged traits available during character burning.

Table 159: Warforged Special Traits Trait Type Cost Heavy Plating Dt 4 pts The warforged's natural plating has been reinforced and strengthened. It provides 4D of armor to the limbs and head, 5D to the chest. Composite plating cannot "fail" and become damaged like armor. Treat this reinforcement as Heavy Mail and Light Helmet for purposes of determining Clumsy Weight ( BWG * p 478-479). Restriction: Warforged common trait

Repair

A warforged does not recover as normal. At the end of a scene, remove all superficial wounds from the warforged.

Table 160: Warforged Repair Wound Mending Repair Warforged § Time Light Ob 2 Ob 1 1 hour Midi Ob 3 Ob 2 1 day Severe Ob 5 Ob 3 1 week Traumatic Ob 7 Ob 4 1 month Mortal Ob 9 Ob 5 1 season § - A new skill, analogue to Surgeon but limited to repairing Warforged.

Notes

Eberron has long fascinated me. When I think of Eberron, the Warforged are the first things that pop into my mind. Built as soldiers for the Last War, they have since gained their freedom.