Forums: Forums -> Dwarves

• +2 Constitution, –2 Charisma.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Dwarf base land speed is 20 feet. However, dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
• Stonecunning: This ability grants a dwarf a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and a dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
• Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves begin with Weapon Group (Dwarven Weapons)
  Weapon Group (Dwarven Weapons)
  You can make attack rolls with the Dwarven Waraxe, Spear-Axe, and Hooked Hammer normally.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven.

The oldest surviving nation in the world is kingdom of the Dwarves, built deep beneath the hills and mountains that divide the northern continent. For all its age and apparent stability, the truth is that the dwarf kingdom is on the decline. And many dwarves are begining to lose confidence in it.

History
Dwarf legends and history are almost interchangable. The dwarf written language is a complex series of runes whose very layout caries special meaning, and is virtually incomprehensible to all but a small collection scholars. Hence most stories are passed down orally. This tradition holds that during the time of the giants contact between the clans was limited, as travel outside the clanholds was hazardous at best, even with well armed warriors. Only the Great Council, a meeting of all the clan heads met with any regularity. When humans began their war against the giants the Great Council decided to arm them, and teach the humans the basics of ironworking, to hurt the giants further. During this time dwarven warriors began to venture out of the clan holds, no longer just defending the entrances of their holds; but hunting down and killing the few giant parties that camped in the rocky regions where dwarves make their homes. When the giants had disappeared from their regions the clans could afford greater trade and communication, both with each other and their neighbors. As they traded more with each other the Great Council, which controlled relations between the clans, and effectively ruled Dwarfdom became more important than ever. And Urgrosh Drokel, the first Low King came to rule the Council. Urgrosh had been the leader of Drokel Clan's warriors during the end of the giant wars. Legends say he invented the now favored dwarven spear-axe when, in a giant attack on the clanhold, both his spear and battleaxe had been broken in half. With traditional dwarven ingenuity he bound the remaining pieces together and weilded the combined weapon effectively from then on. Urgrosh's reputation for wisdom and daring made him leader first of his Clan, then of the Council, and finally of the new Kingdom of the Dwarves. The Kingdom was to rule the dwarf lands formally as the clans had ruled themselves during the time of the giants. And so it did for centuries, while the humans and elves bickered and fought amongst themselves. The dwarves stood solid while the Empire conquered its neighbors and while the elves lost their nation to the Orc warlords. So the dwarven legends say.
The legends only mention the constant infighting between the clans in passing. Carefully avoid mentioning that many of the Low Kings decidedly favored their own clan in that fighting while the Great Council allowed itself to be divided between the opposing sides of various squabbles. And never say what many felt, that the best thing the King and Council did for the dwarves was nothing. After Urgrosh died the Kingdom stagnated. Individual clans managed to grow, develop new techniques, open new tunnels; but the nation as a whole got nowhere. Warfare remained the perview of the clans, trade was controlled by clan leaders, and often one clan would keep new discoveries secret from the others, seeking some advantage in the constant clan feuds.
That ended with the coming of the dragon. The first thing the dragon attacked was the hold of the Clan Urgrosh (both the largest and richest) where the Great Council and Low King sat. From there he fanned out, killing indescriminately, and wiped out several clans and an uncounted number of dwarves. Finally he stopped, whether because he had satisfied his bloodlust or because he had a region he was content with is unknown. One legend claims that a dwarf hero managed to injure the dragon, forcing him to return to his layer and recuperate, but most agree that this is unlikely. The remaining clans formed a new Council and chose a new king, putting aside the feuds that now seemed so petty and agreed to follow the new government, even pledging their warriors to follow the King, rather than their own leaders. It seemed that the dwarves were finally united, but it did them little good in reclaiming their lost kingdom. Most of their warriors had been lost when the dragon first attacked, and even their new unified army could not hope to approach the dragon's lair before being decimated.
During the centuries the dragon reigned, allowing his pets the Kobolds to grow in his lands, the dwarves grew in the remaining part of their kingdom. Clan differences were forgotten with the new feud against the dragon and his followers which simmered in the hearts of the dwarves, who knew they could never reach the dragon's lair. And the weakened army constantly faced the superiour numbers of the kobolds on its border, always trying to expand their control a little further into dwarf territory.
Then, with the slaying of the dragon, everything changed. The downfall of the theocratic kobold government has caused chaos in their lands, they can no longer hold the lands they stole from the dwarves. The weakened dwarven army has been able to force its way back into some of their old lands. But as the kobolds pull out not only dwarves move in, humans also are looking for new lands. And with their mighty legions, what the Empire wants the Empire takes and what the Empire takes the Empire keeps. Worse, old feuds are coming back to memory as the unifying threat of the dragon vanishes from thought and feelings of helplessness spread through many dwarves with so much of their ancient land intractably held by the kobolds or the legions.

Government
The dwarf government is a confusing maze of clan and kingdom affiliations and relationships. The short version is that the leader of each clan is chosen by the Elders of the clan, the clan leaders then make up the Great Council, which in turn chooses the Low King. This summary leaves out the trials the Low King must go through before being considered by the Council, the position of Families in the Clan structure, the duties of the Elder Councils, and countless other bodies and connections that make up dwarven relations. Most dwarves don't even understand everything that happens in matters beyond the Clan, and simply expect the Elders to. The order of responsibility for various matters is as follows: Elder, Elder Council, Clan Leader, Great Council, Low King; with each being responsible in similar manner for matters of larger concern. Disputes, for example, between individuals go to the Elder, between families to the Clan Leader, and between clans to the Low King. Assuming, of course, the dispute doesn't develop into a feud or vendetta.

Religion and Myths
According to dwarven myth the world was forged by the god Kithon as a sphere of rock and metal, to which he graciously allowed other gods to add decoration. When the others began to create people like themselves to populate the world Kithon decided to do the same. So he created holes in the ground, moving the displaced rock to create mountains and from these deep holes he pulled up the first dwarves, who created the first clans.
Dwarves don't really worship any of the gods, a fact that sometimes confuses other races. Dwarves praise the gods, as one praises any craftsman, for the quality of their work and skill. But there are no priests beyond the Elders who pass down the stories, no sacrifices, no prayers, no following; just a simple acknowledgement of a job very well done.

Gender
It is important to note that dwarven men and women are nearly indistinguishable. Both have thick beards, the same stocky build, and dress in the same thick clothing. Indeed, dwarven has no female pronoun (let alone seperate names) as in daily life there is no way for dwarves themselves to tell. Most dwarven courtship centers around trying to politely determine the gender of the other dwarf.

Names
Dwarves are given a name by their Elder when they are born. This and their clan name is typically sufficient, however some dwarves who accomplish something unusual or fantastic take a third name, which follows their given name, and describes their accomplishment. Conversely, dwarves who disgrace their clan are stripped of their clan name and banished from the clan. A banished dwarf is disgraced throughout the dwarf kingdom, lacking even a place to call home.

Culture
Dwarf culture centers on responsibilties to various groups, family, clan, kingdom; most importantly the clan. The greatest dwarf heroes are those who served their clan in some spectacular way. The clan is the center of dwarf life, the government they typically hail to (King and Council being too far removed) and which they are most loyal to. A dwarf's first duty is to his clan, then his family, then the rest of dwarfdom, then to himself. To serve oneself at the expense of the clan is the greatest offense any dwarf can give.
Any insult to the clan demands retribution, which in turn requires retribution, which is the source of so many of the blood feuds that racked dwarfdom in the days before the dragon and which are threatening to return now that he's gone. Vendettas can be ended by intervention of the Low King and the Great Council, but so often they are divided by the feud as well.

Relations With Other Races
Dwarves are generally friendly towards other races. They are suspicious of the Empire for its land grabbing, and of the orcs for their treatment of the elves, but to individuals they are hospitable until given a reason not to be. The obvious exception is Kobolds, with whom they have been at war for centuries. There is a saying along the imperial border that the only thing dwarves hate more than other dwarves is kobolds.