Rethinking Fantasy Races - Slaughtering Your Sacred Minotaurs
I don't think any fantasy race has inspired as many emotions in us as dwarves. Some people love them as badass warrior-smiths cleaving orc heads from orc bodies and shouting in ancient dwarven. Some people love them as gruff socially awkward short people. Some people hate them for little reason more than "Dwarves".
For the record, I like dwarves. Those of you who have read the Lord of the Rings, you probably recognized the first example up there as Gimli's performance at Helm's Deep. I first read LotR when I was seven and that scene is still my favorite scene in the book. There is no point where Gimli is anywhere near as badass. I was sorely disappointed when the Peter Jackson film eschewed that scene for one involving "dwarf tossing". It might have been funny had I not hung much of my opinion of dwarves on that one scene.
At any rate, dwarves are a thing that exists and will be what we focus on now.
Step 1: Concept
There's not a lot of wiggle room with dwarves, which is both frustrating and amusingly on theme. They're not too warm to outsiders, they have a well-deserved reputation for excellence in craftsmanship and warfare. They're tough little bastards. Fantasy has treated them pretty much the same in almost every property, probably as a result of being a "second tier" race; not as ethereally awesome as elves, not as widespread and relatable as humans, not as big and powerful as orcs. They've always sort of been an afterthought, or at least it seems that way to me.
That said, I like the stereotypical dwarf. I do hope to play around with them a bit though. I want to push them a bit closer to the surface. Duergar are going to make up the Darklands dwarves, so something closer to mountain dwarves seem appropriate here.
Step 2: Racial Qualities
TYPE - Humanoid (dwarf)
SIZE - Medium, barely. I know that Norse dvergr were supposed to be shorter, but the standard is Medium.
SPEED - Slow, but their speed is never reduced because of encumbrance. Which somehow doesn't cost us any race points? /shrug
ABILITIES - It's in doing this that I realize that dwarves will probably look more like their core iteration than any of the other races we're working on. The +2 Constitution is both classic and appropriate. I like the +2 Wisdom as well. I could make a case for a Dexterity penalty, but I still think the Charisma penalty is more fitting.
That leaves us with the basic +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma that dwarves have had for years.
LANGUAGES - Standard. Common and Dwarven, clearly.
Allies? Elves, Men, and Gnomes, so add in Elven and Gnome.
Enemies? Orcs, Goblins, Dark Folk, and (amusingly) Giants. I feel like Giants are going to hang out on mountains. Just feels right.
Extra stuff? Dwarves have that connection to earth, so let's toss in Terran. I'm sure Proto-Dwarven grew out of Terran anyway.
So, that gives us Common and Dwarven as starting languages with Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran as bonus languages.
Step 3: Racial Traits
So, core dwarves get the following:
Defensive Training, Lesser (1 RP) - Sure, this fits. I'd like something broader, though.
Hardy (3 RP) - Perfect.
Stability (1 RP) - Totally.
Greed (1 RP) - Honestly, I don't like that this only applies to precious metals and gemstones. A dwarf should be able to pinpoint a subtle flaw in a longsword or a particularly fantastic bit of stone architecture. I might just make this a flat +2 to Appraise. Dwarven standards are high across the board.
Stonecunning (1 RP) - I cannot begin to tell you how much I hate these "automatic perception check" traits. I'm super happy elves don't have the secret door sense anymore. This will get changed.
Darkvision (2 RP) - Yup.
Hatred (1 RP) - Sure, but again I'd prefer something broader.
Weapon Familiarity (2 RP) - Yup. Honestly, most races with an overarching culture are going to have this. Humans just have too many cultures for them to get it.
So there's some stuff I can drop. Let's look at cool alternate traits.
Craftsman (1 RP) - Way better than Greed.
Deep Warrior (1 RP) - Aberrations is a broader category, at least.
Healthy (2 RP) - This is just a cool ability.
Magic Resistant (2 RP) - I really like this thematically, but I think it'd be better to just give them lesser spell resistance.
Mountaineer (1 RP) - This dovetails nicely with what I want to do with their mountain homes.
Relentless (1 RP) - Man, dwarves are cool. ^_^
Rock Stepper (1 RP) - A neat ability. It only applies to 5-foot steps, but I like it.
Stubborn (2 RP) - They so are.
That's...that's a lot of traits. We're gonna have to cut a ton.
DWARF
Type - Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size - Medium 0 RP
Base Speed - Slow -1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers - Standard (+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma) 0 RP
Languages - Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
-Hardy 3 RP
-Healthy 2 RP
-Stability 1 RP
-Spell Resistance, Lesser 2 RP
-Stubborn 2 RP
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
-Skill Bonus (Appraise) 2 RP
-Craftsman 1 RP
Offense Racial Traits
-Relentless 1 RP
-Weapon familiarity 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits
-Mountaineer 1 RP
-Rock Stepper 1 RP
Senses Racial Traits
-Darkvision 60 ft. 2 RP
This brings us to 19 points, which is less than I anticipated. Still need to cut 4 points, though. I like the suite of defensive abilities, but it might just be easiest to keep Hardy as the base and have Healthy and Stubborn as alternates.
That brings us to our final form:
Dwarf Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Dwarves are both tough and wise, but also a bit gruff. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Size: Dwarves are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Dwarves are humanoids with the dwarf subtype.
Base Speed: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or encumbrance.
Languages: Dwarves begin play speaking Common and Dwarven. Dwarves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Dark Folk, Elven, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Terran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
Hardy: Dwarves gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Magic Resistant: Dwarves gain spell resistance equal to 6 + their character level.
Stability: Dwarves gain a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Feat and Skill Racial Traits
Craftsman: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Craft or Profession checks related to metal or stone.
Discerning: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on all Appraise checks.
Movement Racial Traits
Mountaineer: Dwarves are immune to altitude sickness and do not lose their Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb or Acrobatics checks to cross narrow or slippery surfaces.
Rock Stepper: Dwarves can skillfully negotiate rocky terrain. They can ignore difficult terrain created by rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when they take a 5-foot step.
Offense Racial Traits
Relentless: Dwarves receive a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks made to bull rush or overrun an opponent. This bonus only applies while both the dwarf and his opponent are standing on the ground.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Dwarves can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
Alternate Racial Traits
Healthy: Dwarves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saves against disease and poison, and they need one fewer consecutive successful save (minimum 1) to be cured of diseases and poisons. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Stubborn: Dwarves are renowned for their stubbornness. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) schools. In addition, if they fail such a save, they receive another save 1 round later to prematurely end the effect (assuming it has a duration greater than 1 round). This second save is made at the same DC as the first. If the dwarf has a similar ability from another source (such as a rogue’s slippery mind), he can only use one of these abilities per round, but he can try the other on the second round if the first reroll ability fails. This racial trait replaces hardy.
Well, they seem to have changed more than expected. Let me know what you think.
Until next time.
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