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           V  

Documentation Area

Document Path: /doc/monsters/dwarf

Name:
	Dwarf  (Demihuman)

Stats:
	No. Appearing  : 40-400
	Climate/Terrain: Subarctic to subtropical rocky hills
	Frequency      : Common
	Organization   : Clans
	Activity Cycle : Any
	Diet           : Omnivore

Description:
	Dwarves are a noble race of demihumans who dwell under the earth, for-
	ging great cities and waging massive wars against the forces of chaos
	and evil. Dwarves also have much in common with the rocks and gems they
	love to work, for they are both hard and unyielding. It's often been
	said that it's easier to make a stone weep than to change a dwarf's
	mind.

	Standing from four to 4 1/2 feet in height, and weighing 130 to 170
	pounds, dwarves tend to be stocky and muscular. They have ruddy cheeks
	and bright eyes. Their skin is typically deep tan or light brown. Their
	hair is usually black, grey or brown, and worn long, though not long
	enough to impair vision in any way. They favour long beards and mus-
	taches too. Dwarves value their beards highly and tend to groom them
	very carefully. Dwarves do not favor ornate stylings or wrappings for
	their hair or their beards.

	Dwarven clothing tends to be simple and functional. They often wear
	earth tones, and their cloth is considered rough by many of other ra-
	ces, especially men and elves. Dwarves usually wear one or more pieces
	of jewelry, though these items are usually not of any great value or
	very ostentatous. Though dwarves value gems and precious metals, they
	consider it in bad taste to flaunt wealth.

	Dwarves usually live from 350 to 450 years. Dwarves have found it use-
	ful to learn the language of many of their allies and enemies. In ad-
	dition to their own language, dwarves often speak the languages of
	gnomes, goblins, kobolds, orcs and the common tongue, which is fre-
	quently used in trade negotiations with other races.

Combat:
	Dwarves are courageous, tenacious fighters who are ill-disposed toward
	magic. They never use magical spells or train as wizards, though they
	can become priests and use the spells of this group. Because of their
	nonmagical nature, in fact, they get a special bonus to all savings
	throws against magical wands, staves, rods, and spells.

	A dwarf's nonmagical nature can also cause problems when he tries to
	use a magical item that is not specifically created for his class,
	there is a 20% chance the item malfunctions. For example, if a dwarven
	fighter uses a bag of holding - which can be used by any class, not
	just fighters - there is a 20% chance each time the dwarf uses it that
	the bag does not work properly. This chance of malfunction applies to
	rods, staves, wands, rings, amulets, potions, horns, jewels, and mis-
	cellaneous magic. However, dwarves have learned to master certain types
	of magical items - because of an item's military nature. These objects
	- specifically weapons, shields, armour, gauntlets, and girdles - are
	not subject to magical malfunction when used by a dwarf of any class.
	As with magical attacks, dwarves are unusually resistant to toxic sub-
	stances, because of their exceptionally strong constitution.

	In the thousands of years that dwarves have lived in the earth, they
	have developed a number of skills and special abilities that help them
	to survive. All dwarves have infravision that enables them to see up to
	60 feet in the dark. When underground, dwarves can tell quite a bit
	about their location by looking carefully at their surroundings. When
	within 10 feet of what they are looking for, dwarves can detect the
	grade and slope of a passage (80%), new tunnel construction (80%),
	sliding/shifting walls or rooms (60%), and stonework traps, pits and
	deadfalls (50%). Dwarves can also determine their approximate depth
	underground (50%) at any time.

	During their time under the earth, dwraves have also developed an in-
	tense hatred of many of the evil creatures they commonly encounter.
	Thus, in melee, dwarves always add 1 to their attack rolls to hit orcs,
	half-orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins. The small size of dwarves is an
	advantage against ogres, trolls, ogre magi, giants, and titans; these
	monsters always subtract 4 from their attack rolls against dwarves be-
	cause of that size difference and the dwarves' training in fighting
	such large foes.

	Dwarven armies are well-organized and extremely well-disciplined.
	Dwarven troops usually wear chain mail and carry shields in battle.
	They wield a varie- ty of weapons. The composition of a typical dwarven
	army by weaponry is axe and hammer (25%), sword and spear (20%), sword
	and light crossbow (15%), sword and polearm (15), axe and heavy cross-
	bow (10%), axe and mace (10%), or hammer and pick (10%).

	For every 40 dwarves encountered, there is a 2nd- to 6th-level fighter
	who leads the group. If there are 160 or more dwarves encountered,
	there are, in addition to the leaders of the smaller groups, one 6th-
	level fighter (a chief) and a 4th-level fighter (lieutenant) commanding
	the troops. If 200 or more  dwarves are encountered, there is a figh-
	ter/priest of 3rd- to 6th-level fighting ability and 4th- to 7th-level
	priest ability. If a dwarven army has 320 or more troops in it, the
	following high-level leaders are in command of the group: an 8th-level
	fighter, a 7th-level fighter, a 6th-level fighter/7th-level priest,
	and two 4th-level fighter/priests.
	The commanders of the dwarven troops wear plate armour and carry
	shields. In addition, the fighters and fighter/priests leading the
	dwarven troops have a 10% chance per level of fighting ability of ha-
	ving magical armour and/or weapons. The fighter/priests who lead the
	troops also have a 10% chance per level of priest ability of having a
	magical item specific to priests (and thus not subject to malfunction).

	If encountered in its home, a dwarven army has, in addition to the lea-
	ders noted above, 2-12 fighters of from 2nd- to 5th-level, 2-8 fighter/
	priests of from 2nd- to 4th-level (in each class), females equal to 50%
	of the adult males, and children equal to 25% of the adult males. Dwar-
	ven women are skilled in combat and fight as males if their homes are
	attacked.

Habitat/Society:
	Usually constructed around profitable mines, dwarven cities are vast,
	beautiful complexes carved into solid stone. Dwarven cities take hun-
	dreds of years to complete, but once finished they stand for millennia
	without needing any type of repair. Since dwarves do not leave their
	homes often and always return to them, they create their cities with
	permanence in mind. Troop guard dwarven cities at all times, and some-
	times (60% chance) dwarves also use animals as guards - either 2-8
	brown bears (75% chance) or 5-20 wolves (25% chance).

	Dwarven society is organized into clans. A dwarven clan not already
	attached to a city or mine travels until it finds an outpost where it
	can begin to ply a trade. Clans often settle close together since they
	usually need the same raw materials for their crafts. Clans are compe-
	titive, but usually do not war against one another. Dwarven cities are
	founded when enough clans move to a partcular location.

	Each dwarven clan usually specializes in a particular craft or skill,
	young dwarves are apprenticed at an early age to a master in their clan
	(or, occasionally, in another clan) to learn a trade. Since dwarves
	live so long, apprenticeships last for many years. Dwarves also con-
	sider political and military service a skilled trade, so soldiers and
	politicians are usually subjected to a long period of apprenticeship
	before they are considered professionals.

	To folk from other races, life within these cities might seem as rigid
	and unchanging as the stone that the dwarven houses are wrought from.
	In fact, it is. Above all, dwarves value law and order. This love of
	stability probably comes from the dwarves' long life spans, for dwarves
	can watch things made of wood and other mutable materials decay within
	a single lifetime. If shouldn't be surprising, then, that they value
	things that are unchanging and toil clearlessly to make their crafts
	beautiful and long-lived. For a dwarf, the earth is something to be
	loved because of its stability and the sea is a thing to be despised -
	and feared - because it is a symbol of change.

	Dwarves also prize wealth, as it is something that can be developed
	over a long period of time. All types of precious metal, but particu-
	larly gold, are highly prized by dwarves, as are diamonds and other
	gems. They do not value pearls, however, as they are reminders of the
	sea and all it stands for. Dwarves believe, however, that it is in poor
	taste to advertise wealth. Metals and gems are best counted in secret,
	so that neighbours are not offended or tempted.

	Most other races see dwarves as a greedy, dour, grumpy folk who prefer
	the dampest of a cave to the brightness of an open glade. This is par-
	tially true. Dwarves have little patience for men and other short-lived
	races (since man's concerns seem so pretty when seen from dwarven
	eyes). Dwarves also mistrust elves because they are not as serious-
	minded as dwarves and waste their long lives on pastimes the dwarves
	see as frivolous. However, dwarves have been known to band together
	with both men and elves in times of crisis, and long-term trade agree-
	ments and alliances are common.

	Dwarves have no mixed feelings about the evil races that dwell below
	ground, however. They have an intense hatred of orcs, goblins, evil
	giants, and drow. These dire creatures often fear dwarves, too, for the
	short, stout folk are tireless enemies of evil and chaos. It is a goal
	of the dwarves to wage constant and bitter war against their enemies
	under the earth until they or their foes are destroyed.

Ecology:
	Since much of their culture is focused on creating things from the
	earth, dwarves produce a large amount of useful, valuable trade mate-
	rial. Dwarves are skilled miners. Though they rarely sell the precious
	metals and rough gems they uncover, dwarven miners have been known to
	sell surpluses to local human communities. Dwarves are also skilled
	engineers and master builders - though they work almost exclusively
	with stone - and some dwarven architects work for humans quite fre-
	quently.

	Dwarves most often trade in finished goods. Many clans are dedicated
	to work as blacksmiths, sliversmiths, goldsmiths, armourers, weapon
	makers, and gem cutters. Dwarven products are highly valued for their
	workmanship. In human communities, these goods often demand prices up
	to 20% higher than locally forged items. Many people are still willing
	to pay a high price for a suit of dwarven mail or a dwarven sword.
	Humans know that the dwarf who forged the item made it to last a dwar-
	ven lifetime, so they'll never need to worry about it wearing out in
	theirs.