[D&D 3.5] Warforged and Armor

[The Rabbler]

Well, did you expect them to imbue a piece of steel and other random parts with intelligence using a regular hammer and anvil? That's a little tough.

let's be fair; the intelligence was an accident.

[Hague]

Are you telling me that you're unwilling to accept that even though you can make the warforged's armor burst into flames, reflect spells, and prevent critical hits but you are unwilling to allow it to increase in size, bulkiness and change material through the use of magic? I apologize sir if this offends you but that seems a little silly.

[Kelb_Panthera]

I agree with the guy that said that there's really no reason you can't just make barding for a warforged. It makes the composite plating redundant, but the rules say you can only gain the benefits of one item in that slot, they don't actually say that you can't wear two items in the same slot. The penalties, however, do stack. So if you put a half-plate barding on your warforged he gets a -7 acp and a -2 penalty from his composite plating for a total -9 to the usual skills and a -16 to swim, and he has to pay double for the privilege, since it's barding and not just a half-plate.

[Chrono22]

I see no problem wit h letting a player upgrade his composite plating- but it should cost 50% more than standard armor because of unusual construction. Furthermore, unless the PC is fishing out the cash for special materials, his composite plating won't have the qualities of adamantine or mithral (as the mithral/adamantine body feats do).

[Kelb_Panthera]

One material can be changed into another instantaneously by the wish spell. Steel to adamantine, steel to mithral, mithral to adamantine, whatever you like. Precedent lies in ELH's rules for the creation of adamantine and mithral golemns. Doesn't necessarily change the volume of the material altered though.

[Marnath]

I see no problem wit h letting a player upgrade his composite plating- but it should cost 50% more than standard armor because of unusual construction. Furthermore, unless the PC is fishing out the cash for special materials, his composite plating won't have the qualities of adamantine or mithral (as the mithral/adamantine body feats do).

Umm, no. Normal composite can be enchanted just fine by RAW. The discussion is whether you can transmute steel to adamantite. Which I guess you could use wish for, sure. But it shouldn't give you the benefit of Adamantite Body, since allowing simple spells to give you feats would break things.

[Chrono22]

Umm, no. Normal composite can be enchanted just fine by RAW. The discussion is whether you can transmute steel to adamantite. Which I guess you could use wish for, sure. But it shouldn't give you the benefit of Adamantite Body, since allowing simple spells to give you feats would break things.

1. I wasn't referring to enchanting it. I was referring to replacing the armor components so that it imparts the benefits of heavier or lighter armors.
2. That is NOT the top of discussion, this is:

Friend: Started looking up Warforged components. A lot of possibilities here, parts that add bonuses to picking locks, spot/listen, darkvision...
Me: Yeah, but what about armor?
Me: ._.
Friend: They're made of metal.
Me: Yeah, but that Composite plating only gives a +2 bonus to armor, equal to light leather armor, compared to a suit of full plate, which gives 8 armor bonus.
Friend: Can they wear armor?
Me: No
Friend: No one has ever made custom built armor that a warforged could wear?
Friend: Or, ya'know, attached armor plating to a warforged?
Friend: This is not rocket science.

... He has a point. Maybe I just haven't found anything about it yet, is there any way to have an armor bonus equivalent to Full Plate?

.. which is exactly the topic I addressed. Don't let that stop you from carrying on, though, the current discussion that's derailing the topic is still very interesting.

As an aside, it should be noted that enchanting exotic armor costs the same amount as enchanting ordinary armor- it's the actual construction of the armor that costs more.

[balistafreak]

But it shouldn't give you the benefit of Adamantite Body, since allowing simple spells to give you feats would break things.

I feel like (Greater?) Heroism is a "simple spell" with a significantly long duration that allows one essentially have a Fighter bonus feat.

There is this psionic power that is actually called "Feat Leech" or something. Although I think it only does psionic feats in particular.

To say nothing of spells that completely obsolete (admittedly bad) feats in practical usage barring the classic counterexample of "you are naked".

... this is not helping the case.

[Marnath]

I've been looking up warforged a lot recently, but the whole armor thing just confounds me. Been disusing Warforged with a friend of mine who was relatively new to DnD.

Friend: Started looking up Warforged components. A lot of possibilities here, parts that add bonuses to picking locks, spot/listen, darkvision...
Me: Yeah, but what about armor?
Me: ._.
Friend: They're made of metal.
Me: Yeah, but that Composite plating only gives a +2 bonus to armor, equal to light leather armor, compared to a suit of full plate, which gives 8 armor bonus.
Friend: Can they wear armor?
Me: No
Friend: No one has ever made custom built armor that a warforged could wear?
Friend: Or, ya'know, attached armor plating to a warforged?
Friend: This is not rocket science.

... He has a point. Maybe I just haven't found anything about it yet, is there any way to have an armor bonus equivalent to Full Plate?

If this is the question, then the answer is even simpler. Yes, they have made custom armor plating for Warforged. It's called Adamantite Plating and is available as a feat.

[Chrono22]

Houseruling that warforged can have their composite plating upgraded for the cost of an exotic armor is also a perfectly reasonable option.
So, if you wanted your composite plating to have an armor bonus of +8, a check penalty of -5, and a spell failure chance of 35%, it would cost you 2475 gp, 50% more than the cost of a normal suit of masterwork full plate armor.
Obviously it would not confer all the benefits of adamantine armor or the adamantine body feat. Unless, of course, the PC is willing to pay alot extra.