Metalborn (4e Race)

Metalborn

By Shawn Davis

When the world was young and all was still in making, Moradin forged that which was to be flawless in his mountain hold, the precursors to the dwarves, the flawless mechanisms of his might.

Racial Traits

Average Height: 6'3" - 8'5"

Average Weight: 450- 950 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Dwarven

Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 History

Living Construct: You are a living construct. As a living construct, you can attach and embed warforged components. You do not eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. You never make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation, thirst, or suffocation. All other conditions and effects affect your normally. You do not sleep and instead enter a state of inactivity for 4 hours to gain the benefits of an extended rest. While in this state, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal. On death saving throws, you may take the better result of your die roll or 10.

Mechanism: You gain one bonus metalborn feat at 1st level.

Armor Lockup	Metalborn Racial Power
Your metal carapace absorbs an incoming blow.
Encounter
Immediate Interrupt	Personal
Trigger: You are hit by an attack.
Effect: You gain resistance to all damage equal to 5 plus half your level. You are also slowed. The effects last until the end of your next turn.

Skinswap	Metalborn Racial Power
Your Knowledge of your construction allows you to meld armor to your frame as if its your skin.
At-Will
Free Action	Personal
Trigger: Whenever you gain armor
Effect: You may choose to connect armor to your frame and remove the movement penalty from your armor.

At the beginning of time, as the war between the primordials and the newborn gods raged on, many of the gods began to ponder the possibility of life forging for the purpose of war. Moradin, in his mountain holds, forged a mighty army of unforgiving automatons to fight against the primordials and their allies. When these steel soldiers were no longer needed, however, they were cast aside, left to wander mortal realms for the rest of their unnatural lives. These were the first metalborn, built for war, and left to wander a world which was not just black and white.

Play a Metalborn if you want...

• to be ancient, adaptable, and one of a kind.
• to play an ancient being with vast knowledge of ancient arts.
• to be able to play the barbarian, fighter, and warden classes.

Physical Qualities

Many metalborn were stripped of useful components before they were cast aside, so many metalborn who were just recently reanimated share a skeletal, almost undead appearance. However, their knowledge of their construction has not been denied them, and those with the materials have reapplied at least one of their original mechanisms to better conduct their purpose. From metalborn to metalborn, skin tone and eye color are the same: swirling steel with designs sometimes carved into their plates. However, some metalborn have discovered the way to replace their plating, so as to look different and for other, more practical, reasons. Metalborns had lived thousands of years, but usually their personality changes every few hundred years and become an all new person.

Playing a Metalborn

Having lived their entire previous lives in a state of constant war, metalborn are geared toward that destiny. Their ability to wage war is considerable, whether at the forefront of battle or in a strategic role further back. But the main characteristic that defines them stems from their abandonment at the hands of their god, Moradin. If any other implement could speak, it might have the same desire that now drives most metalborn to the edges of the world and the realms surrounding it: the desire to be useful.

Metalborn Characteristics: Many metalborn are quiet, only speaking when absolutely necessary to coordinate tactics or negotiate for basic action to be taken. This silence extends to every aspect of their personage, but it is not without emotion. Their silence is mournful, almost like that of a disobedient dog at its masters feet, as though they blame themselves for some reason for their creators disfavor, never seeing that it might just be the fickle whims of the gods that cast them aside.

Names: Steelskull, Bladebones, Gearglade, Splinterbolt, Firebrass, Joltshear, Glasswall, Phazerend

Metalborn Adventurers

Three sample metalborn adventurers are described below.

Glasstand is a metalborn fighter that has found use in competition among gladiators in a bustling city. He channels his warlike tendencies into his fights and has made a reputation for himself.

Duransand is a metalborn warden who was left behind as a result of war in a forest. As a nearby village flourishes, Duransand feels the need to help their settlement protect from threats of invasion. They call him the guardian of the forest.

Firestaff is a metalborn barbarian who believes war has yet to end, and never will. He wanders the world looking for battles, willing to incite them if possible. All this he does so he can feel that thrill of being useful in combat once more.

Racial Options

Heroic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description
Bladeshock Mechanism	Two small blades of a custom shape fly through the air from your chest, spinning through the air and implanting themselves deep in your foes.
Onyxeye Mechanim	Your eyes burst into a dull lavender light, and suddenly darkness is a foreign concept to you
Pneumatic Mechanism	With a sudden enormous leap and an artful arial dodge, you land on another side of the enemy, freeing up space for your allies.
Springbok Mechanism	Seeing a foe pass just out of reach, you prime the springs that are attached to your arms.
Wheeler Mechanism	Wheels and rubber pads attached to your feet make your strides longer and the strides that you do take count for more.

Paragon Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

Epic Tier Racial Feats

Name	Description

---

Back to Main Page → 4e Homebrew → Races