No, they are not equivalent. Draconic Heritage gives the Dragonblood subtype (see below), but that is not all it does. Feats that require it as a feat could have just been written to require the subtype, but Wizards quite explicitly instead references the feat. You must therefore have it to take those feats.
Just a note on the feat. There are three different printings of Draconic Heritage, from Complete Arcane, Dragon Magic, and Races of the Dragon. The ones from Dragon Magic and Races of the Dragon are equivalent, and both give the Dragonblood subtype. The one from Complete Arcane does not, but it was printed before that subtype existed, and is otherwise identical so you should simply use the Dragon Magic or Races of the Dragon version if either is in play (since those are the books that use the subtype).
Anyway, personally I think this is pretty dumb: Draconic Heritage is a weak feat, and the Draconic feats that require it are also fairly weak, so I don’t see much reason to have to jump through all these hoops. Were I DM I’d just OK it. Probably wouldn’t even get hung up on the Dragonblood subtype either.
Quicksand is a serious threat to a lone warforged who can't make Swim checks.
However, qucksand (DMG 88) initially isn't much of a threat to anyone:
Patches of quicksand present a deceptively solid appearance (appearing as undergrowth or open land) that may trap careless characters. A character approaching a patch of quicksand at a normal pace is entitled to a DC 8 Survival check to spot the danger before stepping in, but charging or running characters don’t have a chance to detect a hidden bog before blundering in. A typical patch of quicksand is 20 feet in diameter; the momentum of a charging or running character carries him or her 1d2×5 feet into the quicksand. [n.b. There is no mention of the typical depth of a quicksand patch.]
So if the warforged is traveling at a normal pace and has at least a half decent Wisdom score, he'll know the quicksand is present and go around it.1 But it's possible, for example, he charges the Valenar horseman who killed his adopted child and plops right in the middle of a big ol' patch of quicksand. That makes things... challenging.
Characters in quicksand must make a DC 10 Swim check every round to simply tread water in place, or a DC 15 Swim check to move 5 feet in whatever direction is desired. If a trapped character fails this check by 5 or more, he sinks below the surface and begins to drown whenever he can no longer hold his breath (see the Swim skill description).
Characters below the surface of a bog may swim back to the surface with a successful Swim check (DC 15, +1 per consecutive round of being under the surface).
Once in quicksand, a creature must make Swim skill checks to move. And, once a creature sinks, before the creature can move, the creature must make Swim skill checks to reach the surface. There's simply no option to walk across the bottom. Everyone--undead, oozes, constructs--must make Swim skill checks in quicksand. The DM can house rule this away, of course, but, technically, that potentially brutal Swim skill check (DC 15 +1 per round below the surface) can make it impossible for the warforged who sinks to escape the quicksand without outside assistance. (A most amusing "death" for the Lord of Blades.)
Pulling out a character trapped in quicksand can be difficult. A rescuer needs a branch, spear haft, rope, or similar tool that enables him to reach the victim with one end of it. Then he must make a DC 15 Strength check to successfully pull the victim, and the victim must make a DC 10 Strength check to hold onto the branch, pole, or rope. If the victim fails to hold on, he must make a DC 15 Swim check immediately to stay above the surface. If both checks succeed, the victim is pulled 5 feet closer to safety. [n.b. This totally ignores the victim's and rescuer's weights, but whatever.]
Obviously, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 has fantasy quicksand not the real thing.
- If using the Rules Compendium detecting quicksand requires a Survival skill check (DC 15) instead of the DMG's listed Survival skill check (DC 8). The Rules Compendium presents this information without commentary.
Best Answer
Dragonborn of Bahamut
The traditional (cheesy) approach is to use the dragonborn template from Races of the Dragon. Dragonborn is an LA +0 acquired template, not inherited, and can apply to warforged. It replaces most racial traits with those of dragonborn. Dragonborn are Humanoid (dragonblood).
The fact that dragonborn is an acquired template is what’s important here: a creature becomes dragonborn by undergoing the Rite of Rebirth, described in Races of the Dragon, a special ritual in which the creature dedicates him- or herself to Bahamut and is “reborn” as a dragonborn. Thus, no draconic ancestry is expected or desired for becoming a dragonborn. As a living creature, albeit odd ones, warforged would appear to be acceptable for this (and it definitely works RAW).
Warforged souls?
This does, however, touch on one of the great “mysteries” of Eberron, things the developers explicitly did not answer, leaving it for the DM to decide for him- or herself, and for the players to discover over the course of play. Specifically, the question of whether or not warforged have souls: Eberron Campaign Setting will not answer that question for you. Since becoming dragonborn is a very religious, spiritual exercise, lacking a soul would arguably prevent warforged from completing it. So if, in your DM’s game, warforged lack souls, the dragonborn template may be unavailable. (Even if they do have souls, there could still be an incompatibility, of course.)
Personally, I tend to rule that warforged do have souls, but if I were already planning a campaign where they do not, I would probably not tell the warforged, or tell him he can’t attempt the Rite of Rebirth: I would probably have the Rite fail, and that be an interesting dilemma for the warforged in question (was he not good enough? or can warforged simply not do it?).
Balance concerns
It should also be mentioned that there is a balance concern with dragonborn warforged; I labeled it cheesy for a reason. It’s cheesy because one of the things dragonborn doesn’t replace is subtypes; this means a dragonborn elf is Humanoid (dragonblood, elf), and a dragonborn warforged is Humanoid (dragonblood, living construct). The living construct subtype is the source of almost-all of a warforged’s benefits, making the dragonborn warforged race extremely strong.
It’s not necessarily the best race always and forever, so it’s not necessarily “broken” or “overpowered,” but it is definitely and distinctly superior to 99% of races; dragonborn and warforged were already some of the better options, and the combination puts in the company of things like dragonwrought kobolds, lesser aasimar, and strongheart halflings.
If you are interested in becoming dragonborn because the concept of a dragonborn warforged sounds cool to you, and the way it hints at one of the great mysteries of Eberron interests you, your DM may wish to tone down what living construct does for a dragonborn warforged (eliminating it entirely, on the other hand, basically makes you no longer warforged at all, and defeats the purpose of the exercise).
Other options
Aside from dragonborn, the cheapest option is the Dragontouched feat from Dragon Magic. Its only requirement is 11 Charisma, and grants the dragonblood subtype along with a smattering of other tiny bonuses. It explicitly can reflect a spiritual connection to dragons, rather than an issue of heredity.
Most other options are hereditary, and, well, bad—they involve level adjustment, and that’s just categorically not worth it. One exception, ish, springs to mind though: dragon disciple grants the half-dragon template to someone who wasn’t born with it. Dragon disciple isn’t a great class, but it would work here, and it’s arguably a better option than taking half-dragon’s (or draconic’s) level adjustment. There are a lot of homebrew improvements to dragon disciple out there, too.