Forged are created for many reasons, but very few are made without some connection to death. There are three main ways to animate a Forged: Willing or unwilling soul transfer, temporary spirit binding, and Manastorm animation. Regardless of the method used, all Forged contain a Soul Gem, a special-cut large piece of Arcanium designed to anchor and contain the soul's energies while it inhabits the body.
Soul Transfer: Occasionally condemned criminals are offered the chance to inhabit a Forged body, working for the Empire until their sentence is considered served. Other times a wealthy noble seeks immortality. Either way, a soul is forced into a large piece of crystalline Arcanium cut specifically for the purpose and placed inside the Forged body. The soul then reaches out to fill the constructed body, animates it, and eventually adjusts to their new selves. Typically violent prisoners are executed, captured into a gem, and left idle for 1 year to degrade whatever personality or independent thought they had, then the now-mindless trapped souls are placed into a military-purpose body and programmed to follow all orders given by a superior officer, making them perfect shock troops for the Empire. Free, unowned Forged are free to make a life for themselves as any other race would. Due to the purpose-built nature of most Forged, it is rare to see a free one and is usually because a sympathetic master freed it, or a non-death sentenced criminal will serve their time, then pay off their new body in accordance with whatever contract they signed.
Temporary Binding: A mage or someone in the possession of a Control Rod tuned for a specific Forged body can choose to project their spirits into Forged Bodies temporarily. Typically the connection lasts until the original body is hurt, the Forged body is destroyed, or the possessor decides to end the connection. This is a complicated and difficult method to set up, but used commonly by wealthy officers on the field of battle.
Manastorm Animation: An appropriate body is constructed out of materials infused with a heavy mix of Arcanium dust and left in a Manastorm. If the Arcanium volume is sufficient and the body is recognizable, one of the many spirits swirling through the storm will enter the body, animate it, and commit itself to whoever first utters the command phrase inscribed somewhere on the body. These beings are expensive to create and have a significant risk of madness and violence upon habitation. Upon the occasion that a Forged becomes uncontrollable, the soul gem must be destroyed and a new one constructed to try again. An additional benefit has been observed: since the spirit has been weakened by an extended period of death it has weaker ideas of what its' body should look like, so liberties can occasionally be taken with the armor design. This is much less reliable than creating a humanoid, as the spirits fractured and unstable enough to enter these odd creations are often hyper-violent, braindead, or simply follow orders with no other independent thought.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age: A typical Forged is between 2 and 30 years of age, as that may be how long it took to pay off their contract or otherwise earn freedom. With regular maintenance, no maximum lifespan has been found.
Alignment: Most Forged have been created for a lawful task and tend towards that alignment, but some have absorbed the morality (or lack thereof) of those they served with in their past life.
Size: Your size is Medium. Most Forged are between 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 feet tall. Physical build is determined by subrace.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Artificial Body: Your body is entirely artificial and designed for maximum fortitude, represented by the following abilities:
You have advantage on all saves against being poisoned, and resistance to poison damage.
You are immune to disease.
You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe, though you do need to regularly consume an amount of maintenance equipment (spare parts, oils) equal in cost to the food other races require.
During a rest, you must perform maintenance on your gears, springs, and joints, following the normal rules governing rest and activity. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. If you go longer than 24 hours without performing maintenance (you don’t take a long rest), you gain one level of exhaustion as your components become covered in dirt and grime. All exhaustion gained this way disappears after your next long rest.
You can’t be stabilized when dying with a Wisdom (Medicine) check or Spare the Dying. Instead, a successful DC 10 Arcana (Intelligence) check or a Mending cantrip is needed.
Integrated Protection: Your body is made of a compound of some type of metal (typically steel or bronze) infused with Arcanium. Your Base Armor Class is 15 and cannot be lowered through normal means. You can adapt heavier armor or magic armors into your frame, which requires the skills of a Forged Smith and several hours, represented in gold pieces. The cost for this is equivalent to the cost of the item and 2 hours in a complete shutdown, where you are completely unconscious for the duration. This armor, once integrated, cannot be removed without the same amount of time spent on doing so. You gain normal benefits for shields.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common.
Subrace: As a Forged, your body was designed with a particular job in mind. Choose one of the following subraces.
As an envoy, you were designed with a specialized function in mind. You might be an assassin, a healer, or an entertainer, to name a few possibilities. Envoys are the least common Forged, and yours could be a unique design.
Ability Score Increase: Two different ability scores of your choice each increase by 1.
Specialized Design: You gain one skill and tool proficiency of your choice, and fluency in one language of your choice.
Integrated Tool: Choose one tool you're proficient with. This tool is integrated into your body, and you double your proficiency bonus for any ability checks you make with it. You must have your hands free to use this integrated tool.
You're an imposing war machine built for close combat and raw might.
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 2.
Iron Fists: When you hit with an unarmed strike, you can deal 1d4 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage, instead of the normal damage for an unarmed strike.
Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
You were built for speed, either as a messenger, scout, or for competitive sports.
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity Score increases by 2.
Swift: Your walking speed increases by to 35 feet.
Light Step: When you are traveling alone for one hour or more, you can move stealthily at a normal pace. (See chapter 8 of PHB for travel pace information.)