The bold and hardy dwarves of the Old World are known as skilled warriors, miners, and workers of stone and metal. Modeled by the All-Father after the reemergence almost every dwarf in the Old World originates from Harth, a village near the Everwoods (located west of the Old World). Harth itself still stands as the central heart of dwarven society, but in the last few hundred years they have welcomed the troverians into their home. Combining their crafts, the troverians and dwarves have made a dramatic impact on a hunter's quality of life. Mountain and hill dwarves alike can be found in the many cities and locales of the Old World, but typically in small numbers. Hill dwarves are known to make above ground settlements of their own. If drawn to more dangerous pursuits, many dwarves turn to mercenary work, working with the hunters guild and Wycademy in search of ancient civilization artifacts.


Mountain Dwarves

Whether or not the mountain dwarves claim that they'd been carved from the world's stone was true, dwarves shared many qualities considered similar to the stone they lived with. Strong, hardy, and dependable, dwarves are polite, particularly to elders, and possess a wisdom beyond that of many other races. Dwarves value their traditions and look for inspiration from the ancient civilization. Dwarves were also known for their stubborn nature and cynicism. A mountain dwarves friendship and trust is hard to earn, but was ironclad once won. For dwarves, loyalty is more than a word and they feel that it should be both valued and rewarded. Naturally suspicious, the mountain dwarves are slow to trust others and rightfully so. Many of their attempts at expanding their territory proved disastrous due to trusting other races. They do not forgive these past mistakes easily and the entire race has more or less declared war on goblins and orcs as a whole, wiping them out where they find them.


Hill Dwarves

Hill dwarves are stout, tough individuals like their mountain brethren but are less off-putting and gruff in nature. They are a deeply materialistic race who believe that the resources of the natural world exist only to serve the purpose of conscious beings. To a hill dwarf, there is no greater purpose than to fashion the minerals of the earth into things of beauty. Hill dwarves were once mountain dwarves that were exiled from their homes or had their home destroyed and moved above ground instead of deeper like their duergar cousins. As generations passed, these dwarves settled above ground, forsaking the old ways and in exchange found new friends, new business opportunities, spiritual enlightenment, and even arcane knowledge.


Duergar

The dwarves that stray away from their heritage and gave into the corruption in their heart became the first duergar. As generations passed, the duergar carved out an existence in the Underdark, near the volcanoes in the northern el de region. Their kinship to other dwarven subraces could be compared to that of the drow to surface elves. Duergar are a dark and cruel race, who show no mercy to their foes and who take great pleasure in inflicting pain on others. They are pessimistic of their future and deeply cynical regarding the motives of others. Because of their pessimism, duergar rarely adventured of their own free will and were instead most commonly exiles cast out of their society. These adventurers, most commonly concerned with personal gratification, were commonly outlanders, gladiators, criminals, or urchins.


Bold and hardy, dwarves are known as skilled warriors, miners, and workers of stone and metal. Though they stand well under 5 feet tall, dwarves are so broad and compact that they can weigh as much as a human standing nearly two feet taller. Their courage and endurance are also easily a match for any of the larger folk. Dwarven skin ranges from deep brown to a paler hue tinged with red, but the most common shades are light brown or deep tan, like certain tones of earth. Their hair, worn long but in simple styles, is usually black, gray, or brown, though paler dwarves often have red hair. Male dwarves value their beards highly and groom them carefully.

Most duergar (including females) are bald and have ashen gray skin. They wear drab clothing designed to blend in with stone, along with simple jewelry that reflects their severe and utilitarian demeanor.

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Dwarf - Traits (Hill | Mountain)

Alignment. Most dwarves are lawful, believing firmly in the benefits of a well-ordered society. They tend toward good as well, with a strong sense of fair play and a belief that everyone deserves to share in the benefits of a just order.

Age. Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but they're considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.

Size. Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 ft. and is not reduced by wearing heavy armour.

Darkvision. Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Dwarven Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Dwarven Combat Training. You have proficiency with the Hammer and Tonfas.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan's tools of your choice: Smith's tools, brewer's supplies, or mason's tools.

Stonecunning. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one language of your choice, likely Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.

Variant Feature (Choose 1)

Hill Dwarf Ancestry. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Mountain Dwarf Ancestry. You have proficiency with light and medium armour.