What would be a reasonable excuse or cause for a dwarf to go out of their clan and home and out to the world to adventure,barring exile or banishment? Would love you suggestions
Wanderlust, curiosity, romanticism (as in wanting to go on an adventure, not as in like romantic love), greed for treasure, ambition to rise above their station, revenge, seeking knowledge, duty, guilt, glory, boredom/dissatisfaction, a series of strange dreams that need interpretation, a demonic spirit seems to be following them, maybe their spouse (who supposedly died in battle on the other side of the country) might be alive after all and the dwarf wants to go look for them, maybe the mountain their clan lives in is a volcano about to erupt and they're leaving to seek a way to stop it.
You can go in any direction with it, but also the reason can be "just cuz" and you can fill it out later as you play.
There's always the "nunya" route (as in "nunya bizniss"). You and the DM can work out the motivation as you play.
There are plenty of hooks for people to leave their tight or insular communities. All of my Halflings came from tight and insular communities and all of those characters had reasonable reasons to leave. I think my favorite so far was a rowdy party of adventurers coming to the village and saying, "We need one of you to come with us," and the village saying, "Go with them," just to get rid of the adventurers - reluctantly taking one for the team as it were.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Once every few decades the Copperworkers' Guild sends an apprentice out into the wide world to survey the state of the art among those not fortunate enough to be dwarves. If any of them has hit upon a clever innovation, the apprentice brings it back to the community.
They could be exiled for some reason, or some kind of coming of age journey.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I made a post here in the Story & Lore which was basically the background tale of a Dwarf Ranger in the Borderlands Campaign I ran. In that tale the character comes away with a few motives for adventuring, first and foremost of which is revenge. There is also an element of the tale which speaks of her family being banished from the local Dwarven Hold for crimes committed by a relative a few generations prior. This adds the possible motive to learn more about that relation and attempt to reclaim the honor he lost or even maybe to strike back at the dwarves who banished him. It could go either way tbh.
I think there are lots of reasons for a dwarf to head out adventuring on their own and InquisitiveCoder gave a good list to launch from. The best advice I could give would be to sit down with your DM and see if there there is a scenario which fits best for both the character and the campaign setting.
Eldritch Horrors are living below the dwarven nation and the dwarves are in a stalemated war with the imprisoned aberrations below, unable to move any further down, but also managing to keep the horrors from moving any further up.
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Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
An artisan wants to get firsthand experience with the craftsmanship of other races or searches for new inspiration. An interest in seeing something besides the same old mountain tunnels day in and day out. A desire to have a beer that's made from something other than fermented mushrooms and dead rats.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
An artisan wants to get firsthand experience with the craftsmanship of other races or searches for new inspiration. An interest in seeing something besides the same old mountain tunnels day in and day out. A desire to have a beer that's made from something other than fermented mushrooms and dead rats.
IMC, Dwarven communities have tight-knit family ties and family businesses that can be stifling. Adventuring is either a way of gaining independence, or gaining the capital and contacts to move ahead in the queue, without cutting ties. Also, IMC, there are Dwarven religious orders outside the Clan structure. There are clerics and paladins especially who have been in the faith orders since they were young children, and these orders have their own missions and reasons. Also, IMC, Dwarven communities often border on food insecurity: they mine, craft and trade, they're cash-rich, but they are not fully self-sufficient. Their warcraft is driven not just by protecting their homes, but by the need to quickly resolve any dispute that closes the roads and passes or cuts their access to the neighbors, because they depend on the meat and produce their commerce buys to keep bellies full. Scouting and resolving trouble and guarding their trade often leads to adventuring.
Height obsessed dwarf excuse - "you see... there is this cleric over there that will give me another foot in height if I get to him... and pay him 6'000 gp and I have only 2 gp."
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What would be a reasonable excuse or cause for a dwarf to go out of their clan and home and out to the world to adventure,barring exile or banishment? Would love you suggestions
I can think of a few:
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Wanderlust, curiosity, romanticism (as in wanting to go on an adventure, not as in like romantic love), greed for treasure, ambition to rise above their station, revenge, seeking knowledge, duty, guilt, glory, boredom/dissatisfaction, a series of strange dreams that need interpretation, a demonic spirit seems to be following them, maybe their spouse (who supposedly died in battle on the other side of the country) might be alive after all and the dwarf wants to go look for them, maybe the mountain their clan lives in is a volcano about to erupt and they're leaving to seek a way to stop it.
You can go in any direction with it, but also the reason can be "just cuz" and you can fill it out later as you play.
There's always the "nunya" route (as in "nunya bizniss"). You and the DM can work out the motivation as you play.
There are plenty of hooks for people to leave their tight or insular communities. All of my Halflings came from tight and insular communities and all of those characters had reasonable reasons to leave. I think my favorite so far was a rowdy party of adventurers coming to the village and saying, "We need one of you to come with us," and the village saying, "Go with them," just to get rid of the adventurers - reluctantly taking one for the team as it were.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Once every few decades the Copperworkers' Guild sends an apprentice out into the wide world to survey the state of the art among those not fortunate enough to be dwarves. If any of them has hit upon a clever innovation, the apprentice brings it back to the community.
They could be exiled for some reason, or some kind of coming of age journey.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I made a post here in the Story & Lore which was basically the background tale of a Dwarf Ranger in the Borderlands Campaign I ran. In that tale the character comes away with a few motives for adventuring, first and foremost of which is revenge. There is also an element of the tale which speaks of her family being banished from the local Dwarven Hold for crimes committed by a relative a few generations prior. This adds the possible motive to learn more about that relation and attempt to reclaim the honor he lost or even maybe to strike back at the dwarves who banished him. It could go either way tbh.
I think there are lots of reasons for a dwarf to head out adventuring on their own and InquisitiveCoder gave a good list to launch from. The best advice I could give would be to sit down with your DM and see if there there is a scenario which fits best for both the character and the campaign setting.
In Dragon Age, any dwarf you see on the surface was either banished from their cities, or left willingly.
Increase his renown.
To experience the World to see if the Stories are true.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Eldritch Horrors are living below the dwarven nation and the dwarves are in a stalemated war with the imprisoned aberrations below, unable to move any further down, but also managing to keep the horrors from moving any further up.
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
An artisan wants to get firsthand experience with the craftsmanship of other races or searches for new inspiration. An interest in seeing something besides the same old mountain tunnels day in and day out. A desire to have a beer that's made from something other than fermented mushrooms and dead rats.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Totally lol (raises a glass of Sam Adams)
I never played a dwarf but my kender her BFF was a dwarven ranger who left Gauntlgrym because she wanted to explore the open wilderness.
IMC, Dwarven communities have tight-knit family ties and family businesses that can be stifling. Adventuring is either a way of gaining independence, or gaining the capital and contacts to move ahead in the queue, without cutting ties. Also, IMC, there are Dwarven religious orders outside the Clan structure. There are clerics and paladins especially who have been in the faith orders since they were young children, and these orders have their own missions and reasons. Also, IMC, Dwarven communities often border on food insecurity: they mine, craft and trade, they're cash-rich, but they are not fully self-sufficient. Their warcraft is driven not just by protecting their homes, but by the need to quickly resolve any dispute that closes the roads and passes or cuts their access to the neighbors, because they depend on the meat and produce their commerce buys to keep bellies full. Scouting and resolving trouble and guarding their trade often leads to adventuring.
Height obsessed dwarf excuse - "you see... there is this cleric over there that will give me another foot in height if I get to him... and pay him 6'000 gp and I have only 2 gp."