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I'd like to use pathfinder for my next Eberron game. However, while I can give changelings and kalashar a pass, I really like warforged and want to keep them as an option for my players. How can I upgrade warforged to be on par with the other pathfinder races?

My current approach to this would be to use gearforged rules, from Kobold Quarterly (Issue 16, Winter 2011, Ecology of the Gearforged, pg 13), with warforged flavour text, but they have some oddities like no constitution score. Additionally they seem kind of underpowered, as they trade only getting minimum damage on healing spells for a list of immunities, and get no ability score bonuses, whereas other races get +2 net. Also, it seems like they would make bad fighters with no constitution score and thus no bonus HP, which is what Warforged are supposed to be about, thus probably making them a bad fit.

The only major change between most of the pathfinder races and the 3.5 handbook ones is the stat effects, would changing the warforged from net -2 to net 0 be good enough to adapt the Warforged from the Eberron core book to Pathfinder? Or should I got with +2 to any one ability, like they did with Half-Orcs? Or should I stick with the KQ Gearforged? Should I give THEM a stat bonus?

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2 Answers 2

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Honestly, Don't Change Much

Warforged are widely considered the second or first strongest LA 0 race in 3.5, fighting with Humans (valiantly) for the top spot. If Humans didn't get much of a boost, 'Forged don't need to either. At most, I'd say to alter them for a net 0 if and only if humans got an ability score bonus. However, you may need to alter the text on the Living Construct subtype to make it compliant with any alterations in terminology that Pathfinder made - changes that are subtle enough to be difficult to reference off of the top of my head.

The only other thing to keep in mind is the idea of Favored Class bonuses, but I think that might be a little outside the scope of this question.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Humans got a +2 to any one ability score. Other races get +2/+2 to two ability scores. I'll change them to net +0 I guess by removing the Wisdom penalty. \$\endgroup\$
    – Canageek
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 2:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Canageek: Removing the Wis penalty is my recommendation, yes. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 14:31
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The Advanced Race Guide has some excellent rules for just this kind of conversion. Paizo has the OGL version of those rules available in their PRD. It gives point values for the different advantages (and disadvantages) that each race receives. A standard race is 1-10 points. Dwarves come in at 11 and humans at 9 for example.

I'm pretty sure that Warforged aren't open game licensed so Paizo can't create the race stats for you and it's probably a copyright violation for anyone else to make something like that public and call it Warforged.

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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 for bringing up the legal problems and the fact that Paizo published their own guide. Caveat, though: Paizo is horrifically bad at balance, so take it with a grain of salt. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lord_Gareth
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 5:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ That guide is worthless if they honestly think humans are substandard. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 14:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ The reasons Humans are so much better is due to flexibility and general applicability--attributes you can't actually quantify. Other races can have quantitatively more advantages but those tend to be geared toward a theme or role but with at least some attributes that don't apply to that theme or role. That makes them less optimized, so people concerned with optimal build-outs will tend to prefer humans. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jacob Proffitt
    Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 18:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ @JacobProffitt: 3.x is drowning in feat prerequisites. Most if not all characters are looking for a combination of several feats – some of which probably require the previous ones – and you only get a very few feats (7 in 3.5, 10 in Pathfinder, if you're level 20 which you're probably not). Getting your schtick together 2-3 levels sooner? That's priceless. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 4:11
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    \$\begingroup\$ @JacobProffitt: The thing is that the value of a bonus feat is intensely variable. If that bonus feat is the difference between qualifying for a prestige class at level 5 and level 7 (i.e. it requires four feats), then it can be close to non-negotiable. If, on the other hand, you don't have a lot of need for feats, bonuses to ability scores or other things you can't get with feats can be more valuable. You'll never be able to consistently valuate it. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Commented Jan 28, 2013 at 18:01

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