I am currently running ID: RotF and there my players have encountered the dwarfs of the Battlehammer clan (e.g. in the "Foaming Mugs" Quest in Bryn Shander). They also saw the "dwarven valley" on the map and I assume that they want to head there in one of the upcomig session. However the book provides me with nearly 0 input on who the Battlehammers are. What do they do? Who is their chief? What is their agenda? How many of them are there? And so on and so on.
Can anybody provide me with more intel about them or point me to a source that does so? I want/need to create homebrew content for them, but while doing so, I do not want to strife to far from the "official" version of the clan.
They come up in Sword Coast Adventurers Guide in Chapter 2, Dwarfholds of the North: Mithral Hall
But for within Icewind Dale, I'd suggest making up some names etc as it's not covered by the book. I believe agenda-wise they're just there for the ore, mainly staying out of the politics/troubles of Ten Towns as a whole. Alternatively, they're secretly looking for a lost Dwarven City?
Personally, I've taken it as a mining colony setup by the Battlehammers, I'd say no larger population than Termalaine (600). And I'm steering away from adding more intrigue and factions in the region there's enough already imo.
You can get a free pdf of 2e AD&D Dwarf Accessory Book (I use for lore and attitude) called "Dwarves Deep".
They have a fair bit of lore in the R.A Salvatore novels (books 4 to 6), as gruff but otherwise friendly miners and craftspeople. They originally hailed from a mine called Mithril Hall, but were displaced hundreds of years ago and resettled in Icewind Dale.
Unless your players are hardcore fans of the Drizzt books, you don’t need to know any special lore about them, and can just rip off any typical fantasy dwarf clan for how you run them.
But if you do want to do some light diving, search for Clan Battlehammer. You'll get the overview of what happens in the RA Salvatore novels surrounding Mithril Hall. There's some weird shenanigans, but mostly this would have all happened in the past as the timeline of the novels and Bruenor happens about 100 years before the beginning of the timeline of 5e. There are several different Halls far underground in the area of Silverymoon so if you wanted to shift to one that no one can look up, feel free to go your own road. All it takes is one player getting curious, finding the novels and reading about what has previously happened. if you do proceed with Clan Battlehammer, at least know your dates involved, gloss over details, and if pressed on one, you can always have your NPC say, "Well... that's what mah Pappy told me... I dunno know... I wasna there!"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I am currently running ID: RotF and there my players have encountered the dwarfs of the Battlehammer clan (e.g. in the "Foaming Mugs" Quest in Bryn Shander). They also saw the "dwarven valley" on the map and I assume that they want to head there in one of the upcomig session. However the book provides me with nearly 0 input on who the Battlehammers are. What do they do? Who is their chief? What is their agenda? How many of them are there? And so on and so on.
Can anybody provide me with more intel about them or point me to a source that does so? I want/need to create homebrew content for them, but while doing so, I do not want to strife to far from the "official" version of the clan.
Thank you
They come up in Sword Coast Adventurers Guide in Chapter 2, Dwarfholds of the North: Mithral Hall
But for within Icewind Dale, I'd suggest making up some names etc as it's not covered by the book. I believe agenda-wise they're just there for the ore, mainly staying out of the politics/troubles of Ten Towns as a whole. Alternatively, they're secretly looking for a lost Dwarven City?
Personally, I've taken it as a mining colony setup by the Battlehammers, I'd say no larger population than Termalaine (600). And I'm steering away from adding more intrigue and factions in the region there's enough already imo.
You can get a free pdf of 2e AD&D Dwarf Accessory Book (I use for lore and attitude) called "Dwarves Deep".
They have a fair bit of lore in the R.A Salvatore novels (books 4 to 6), as gruff but otherwise friendly miners and craftspeople. They originally hailed from a mine called Mithril Hall, but were displaced hundreds of years ago and resettled in Icewind Dale.
Unless your players are hardcore fans of the Drizzt books, you don’t need to know any special lore about them, and can just rip off any typical fantasy dwarf clan for how you run them.
But if you do want to do some light diving, search for Clan Battlehammer. You'll get the overview of what happens in the RA Salvatore novels surrounding Mithril Hall. There's some weird shenanigans, but mostly this would have all happened in the past as the timeline of the novels and Bruenor happens about 100 years before the beginning of the timeline of 5e. There are several different Halls far underground in the area of Silverymoon so if you wanted to shift to one that no one can look up, feel free to go your own road. All it takes is one player getting curious, finding the novels and reading about what has previously happened. if you do proceed with Clan Battlehammer, at least know your dates involved, gloss over details, and if pressed on one, you can always have your NPC say, "Well... that's what mah Pappy told me... I dunno know... I wasna there!"