The warforged were a rare race of humanoid constructs created through powerful rituals. Warforged averaged 6′‒6′6″ (1.8‒2 m) and were made up of bulky (albeit resilient) metallic or stone bodies that weighed roughly 270‒300 lb (120‒140 kg). Extremely powerful and durable, warforged were able fighters. Unlike most constructs, warforged were fully self-aware and maintained mental faculties on par with elves, humans, or similar races. More information can be found here.
Characters with the warforged heritage share a variety of traits in common with one another.
Age. From the moment a warforged first awakens, it is a fully functional “adult” with a great deal of built-in knowledge (but no experience to go with it). They don’t age, but their parts do wear out after a while. The Warforged have no known limit to their lifespan, but those that don’t take care of their parts and replace them as necessary can expect to simply wear out after just a few decades of existence.
Size. Most, but not all, warforged are the same size as their Maker. You may choose to be either Small or Medium. Your weight depends on the material from which you are made. Reduce your weight by half if you are Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Shutdown Susceptibility. If you start your turn in an antimagic field or are targeted by a dispel magic, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or be slowed for 1 minute. If you critically fail, you are incapacitated for the duration instead. You may make a new save at the start of each of your turns, ending the effect on yourself on a success.
Ties to the Maker. You receive an additional contact, either your Maker or one of the other beings you met immediately after awakening. This person can be of any heritage and culture you decide, with Narrator approval.
Warforged Biology. You are a construct, not a humanoid. Because of this, you have certain special traits:
You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage. You are also immune to nonmagical disease.
Self-Repairable. If you spend 1 minute consuming a pound of mate consuming a pound of material of the type from which you are constructed, you can immediately roll a number of Hit Dice equal to half your proficiency modifier or fewer and regain that number of hit points. Additionally, when you take a short rest, another creature that is proficient in Engineering can use their short rest repairing you, then if you expend Hit Dice, you regain an additional number of Hit Points equal to twice that creature’s proficiency bonus.
Constructed Body. You are constructed of nonliving materials. While you are made of a variety of materials, the bulk of your body is made from a single type: clay, clockwork, crystal, flesh, metal, or wood— although some warforged are made from a collage of cast-off junk instead. Choose one of the following options:
Clay: You are made of clay, mud, porcelain, or even brick or cobblestones held together with mortar. You weigh around 225 pounds (102 kg). You can consume earth, stone, brick, or pottery to Self-Repair. You have resistance to your choice of acid or fire damage. You can also secrete thick, sticky clay, giving you an expertise die on Sleight of Hand checks, and when you use the Grapple or Grab on maneuvers, your target has disadvantage on their saving throw.
Clockwork: You are made of cogs and gears, all ticking along inside a shell of metal or glass. You weigh about 100 pounds (45 kg). You can consume metal to Self Repair. You have resistance to your choice of force or lightning damage. You are also proficient in shuriken, and can use a bonus action to create up to three shuriken out of your own gears. At 5th level, these shuriken count as magical for the purpose over overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Crystal: You were carved from quartz, salt crystal, or a giant gemstone, grown in a chemical bath like bismuth, or molded out of thick, leaded glass; in any case, you are translucent and shimmer brightly in the light. You weigh about 200 pounds (91 kg). You can consume crystal, glass, or salt to Self-Repair. You are resistant to your choice of radiant or psychic damage. You can also grow crystalline claws from your fingertips (no action required). The claws are natural weapons in which you are proficient, and inflict slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier.
Flesh: You are made of body parts taken from humanoids and stitched together. Unlike other warforged, your eyes aren’t crystals, but your Heart is. You weigh as much as other humanoids of your size do. You can consume raw or cooked meat to Self-Repair. You have resistance to your choice of acid or lightning damage. Additionally, your veins are filled with volatile chemicals instead of blood. When you are Bloodied, if you take damage from a weapon attack, you can use your reaction to cause a creature within 5 feet of you to make a Dexterity saving throw, using your maneuver DC, or take 1d10 damage plus your proficiency bonus (of the type to which you are resistant) on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Once you use this ability, you can’t do so again until you complete a short or long rest.
Junk: You were made of many different materials, held together with glue, string, a touch of magical energy, and hope. Bits fall off you all the time. You weigh about 180 pounds (82 kg). You can consume metal, glass, or wood to Self-Repair. You are resistant to your choice of cold or force damage. You can also use an action to rummage through the junk inside you and pull out a nonmagical, non-consumable object that weighs 5 pounds or fewer and costs less than 2 gp. You can do this a number of times each day equal to your proficiency modifier.
Metal: You were made from plates of metal joined together with pistons and ball and-socket joints, built from a suit of armor, or made of metal cast in a mold. You weigh anywhere from 75 pounds (24 kg) to 300 pounds (136 kg). You can consume any type of metal to Self-Repair. You are resistant to your choice of cold or fire damage. As long as you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier, and you can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Wood: You were carved or magically sculpted out of living wood, and may look like a wooden statue, a mannikin, or even a mobile tree and have leaves. You can consume any plant matter to Self-Repair. You are resistant to your choice of necrotic or thunder damage. As you are filled with the might of trees, you gain an expertise die on Strength ability checks and saving throws.
Among the warforged, the reason why they were built goes a long way to determining their physical makeup. In addition to the traits found in your warforged heritage, select one of the following gifts to determine your purpose.
You were created to break things. Ostensibly, this meant certain types of heavy labor, such as working as a miner, stonecutter, or logger, but many breakers are good at turning their talents towards combat. There’s not much difference between breaking a rock and breaking a person, after all.
Integrated Tool. One of your hands can be turned into your choice of a pickaxe (for mining), a hand ax (for logging), or a shovel (for digging), chosen when you take this gift. You are proficient in using this tool as a weapon, and it is considered to have the hand-mounted trait. You can use a bonus action to extend or retract the tool. When you hit with the tool, you inflict bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier in bludgeoning (shovel), piercing (pickaxe), or slashing (logging) damage.
Muscles of Iron, Nerves of Steel. You have advantage on Athletics checks and on saving throws against being frightened.
You were created to take care of people or objects of value. You gain the following traits:
Friend. Choose one of the following skills: Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, Persuasion, Performance, or Religion. You are proficient in that skill.
Healer. You know one of the following cantrips: guidance, friends, or mending. You can also cast cure wounds once per long rest, and when you cast this spell, or any spell with healing tag, you can also affect constructs and undead with it. When you reach 3rd level, you cast cure wounds as a 2nd-level spell, and when you reach 5th level, you can cast it as a 3rd-level spell.
You were created for purposes of speed and stealth, often as scouts, trackers, or assassin.
Agile Hunter. Your walking speed increases by 5 feet, and you gain an expertise die in your choice of Acrobatics or Survival.
Integrated Weapon. You have a built-in hand crossbow, in which you are proficient. This weapon has the hand-mounted trait. You can use a bonus action to extend or retract the crossbow. You were created to perform grunt work: cleaning, basic maintenance, or picking heavy stuff up, moving it, and putting it down again. It’s not a great Purpose, and people are prone to turning up their noses at you, but you get by and know that your job is more important than people realize. You gain the following traits: Fade Into the Background. Nobody really notices you, or if they do, you can easily explain away your presence. You gain an expertise die in your choice of Stealth or Deception. Make Do. You are quite talented at defending yourself with whatever you have on hand. You are proficient with improvised weapons. In addition, you can take one hour to build an improvised tool set using whatever materials are around. You can do this during a long or short rest and still gain the benefits of that rest. If you roll a 1 using the improvised tools, they break.
You were created as an artist or crafter, or to function as an assistant to one. You gain the following traits:
Helping Hands. You can use the Help action as a bonus action, and when you do so, the range at which you can help an ally increases to 15 feet. Additionally, once per long rest, you can use a bonus action to give an expertise die to a creature you see within 30 feet of you that is making a skill check.
Integrated Tool. You are proficient in one tool, gaming set, or musical instrument of your choice. This tool is integrated into your body and can’t be removed while you are conscious unless you are willing, and you can use your action to eject it from your body. While this tool is integrated into your body, you gain an expertise die while using it.
You were created as a solider, guard, or gladiator. You gain the following traits:
Tools of War. You can spend 1 hour incorporating a suit of armor in which you are proficient into your body, or 1 minute incorporating a weapon into your arm, as long as the weapon doesn’t have the Two Handed or Heavy property. It takes the same length of time to remove the armor or weapon. While you live, the armor or weapon can’t be removed from your body against your will. You can rest while integrating or removing the armor or weapon.
Warrior Instincts. You may choose one 1st-degree maneuver to learn from the Adamant Mountain, Mirror’s Glint, Rapid Current, Razor’s Edge, or Tempered Iron traditions. This doesn’t count against the number of maneuvers you already know. If you are a member of a class that can learn maneuvers, you gain one additional exertion point. If you are a member of a class that doesn’t learn maneuvers, you gain a number of exertion points equal to your proficiency modifier.
When you reach 10th level, you gain one of the following paragon gifts:
Pockets. You have developed the ability to create “pockets” on your body, small spaces in which you can hide objects no more than 6 inches on a side and that weigh 5 pounds or fewer. You can have a number of pockets equal to your Constitution modifier + 1 (minimum 1 pocket). An object placed in the pocket can’t be detected on the outside, except by magic, and can’t be removed unless you are willing. The object also can’t be damaged as long as you are above 0 hit points.
Immutable Form. You become immune to any spell or effect that would alter your form or physical move you, and you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, or on having your mind read or altered in any way. In addition, you have advantage on your choice of Constitution or Wisdom saving throws.
Unbreakable. Whenever you finish a short rest and spend Hit Dice to regain hit points, you may regain additional hit points equal to half your level plus your Constitution bonus. In addition, after a long rest, you regain all expended Hit Dice, not just half of them.
Not just everyone can create a warforged; those who can are called Makers. With the Narrator’s approval, anyone can be a Maker, including any player character. Creating a warforged is a time-consuming and very expensive process (a Heart made by a PC Maker should be made of materials costing at least 1,000 gold, and the Narrator is free to say it costs more). As a result, there are almost no communities comprised mostly or entirely by the warforged. Instead, they are almost invariably part of their Maker’s community.
Since a warforged can be made by anyone, they can be found in any culture. However, people in some cultures are perhaps more likely to create the warforged than those in other cultures. They are linked closely with these heritages: collegiate, steamforged, tinker gnome, warhordeling.
With the Narrator’s permission, you may gain the following trait:
Built-In. You have special slots on your arms to allow for easy customization. You can spend 1 hour to use a set of tinker’s tools (or other appropriate tool set, as determined by the Narrator) to give any object the Hand-Mounted trait, as long as the object requires only one hand to use. You can only have one object built in using this trait at a time.
As a construct, you have a distinct purpose—but you can be repurposed. With the Narrator’s permission, you can change your gift for another one. You can do this no more than once per level. To do so, you must employ a Maker, either your own or any other one, to do the work. The repurposing generally costs a minimum of 1,000 gold and requires at least four weeks of work, not all of which you will need to be present for. The final cost and time required is up to the Narrator.