Homebrew Gully Dwarf Species Details

“The stupidity of gully dwarves is legendary. To a gully dwarf, any number greater than one is “two”, which simply means “more than one”. In spite of their dull minds, gully dwarves take themselves quite seriously. They tend to have inflated ideas of their own importance, and puncturing their egos is almost impossible.” – From the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monstrous Compendium

The Aghar ("Anguished"), or gully dwarves as most races call them, are a misbegotten race of tough survivors. Though gully dwarves themselves have an extensive oral tradition (they love telling stories), no two gully dwarf clans ever agree on the exact details of their origins or history. The commonly accepted tale of how gully dwarves came to be is found within the annals of Astinus's Iconochronos. According to the Iconochronos, gully dwarves are the result of breeding between gnomes and dwarves in the years following the transformation of the gnomes by the Graygem of Gargath. The gnome-dwarf half-breeds appeared to inherit the worst qualities of both races. The unfortunate half-breeds were driven out of their clans. Humans later christened them "gully dwarves," reflecting their lowly status and poor living conditions.

Personality: The following aspects to a gully dwarf's personality sum up the entire race: keen survival instinct, a strong (if baffling) pride in themselves, unflagging endurance, a pitiable aspect, a desperate will to live, and low cunning and lower intelligence. The cornerstone of gully dwarf existence is simple survival. Gully dwarves do whatever it takes to stay alive. When danger threatens, their first thought is to run if possible, and grovel and cry piteously if not. Gully dwarves are not completely helpless, however. If backed into a corner, gully dwarves fight viciously, with the desperate fury of the cornered rat. Gully dwarves resort to any tactics to survive: biting, gnawing, scratching, and pummeling. "Fighting dirty" is the only way a gully dwarf knows how to fight.

Gully dwarf stupidity is legendary throughout Ansalon. The gully dwarf numbering system includes the numerals "one," to indicate a single thing, and "two," indicating anything more than one.

Despite the image other races hold of them, gully dwarves are extremely proud and act with great seriousness. Survival isn't a joke, and no other race comes close to possessing the raw talent for survival possessed by the gully dwarves.

Physical Description: Gully dwarves are short and squat, averaging fewer than 4 feet in height and weighing around 100 pounds, with females slightly smaller than males. Gully dwarves are physically much like other dwarves, though they are often covered with scars, boils, warts, sores, and filth due to their living conditions. Skin tone ranges from olive brown to pale cream to dirty gray brown. Mottled and splotched skin is not uncommon. Males grow long, scruffy beards, while females have wispy tufts of hair gracing their cheekbones. Hair color is dirty blond or brown, rust, gray, or a dull-black, while eye colors range from a watery blue and dull green through brown or hazel. Less heavy and stocky than typical dwarves, gully dwarves have slender, narrow fingers and limbs. Pot-bellies are common to both sexes. Gully dwarves dress in whatever comes to hand, with no regard to whether or not the item was originally intended as such apparel.

Relations: Although gully dwarves can be found living throughout Ansalon, they are not particularly welcome anywhere. Once settled in an area, gully dwarves are extremely difficult to pry loose. The natives make the best of a bad situation by using the gully dwarves for menial labor, which they're only too happy to perform. Oddly enough, gully dwarves are among the best cooks in Ansalon.

Alignment: Survival knows no laws and neither do the gully dwarves. The concept of a codified set of "rules" is alien to them. Gully dwarves are strongly inclined toward chaotic behavior, and see little difference between the forces of good and those of evil - neither one cares about the gully dwarves, so the Aghar don't care about them.

Gully Dwarf Lands: The cataclysms and wars that are blights to the rest of the world are a blessing to the gully dwarves. As cataclysm and war destroy villages and cities alike, the gully dwarves move into the ruins left behind. Once-mighty towns such as Xak Tsaroth and the sewers of cities such as Palanthas are home to the gully dwarves. With no cultural homeland of their own, gully dwarves are more than willing to adopt the local customs of their chosen residence.

Religion: Gully dwarves believe they have been abandoned by Reorx, the patron deity of all dwarves and gnomes. To fill the void left by Reorx's abandonment, gully dwarves appeal to the spirits of departed ancestors to protect them from harm and ensure their survival. Aghar believe that inanimate objects can be imbued with power from the ancestral spirits, and the possession of such items is said to grant the spirits' power to the owner. A dead lizard, for example, may have wondrous healing properties (at least to the gully dwarves). Other races interpret this belief as more proof of Aghar stupidity. Aghar don't particularly care what others think. Their faith works for them.

Language: The Aghar language, known as Gullytalk, is harsh sounding, convoluted, and incomprehensible to any but gully dwarves. Not a true language per se, Aghar patois changes constantly, borrowing terms from others as needed. Gully dwarves show a remarkable inventiveness with their language. Aghar living near elves speak a language that sounds like broken Elven, while those living near dwarves speak a garbled Dwarven, and so on. Gullytalk evolves so rapidly that scholars are unable to study it. When two groups of gully dwarves meet, their dialects fuse together within a matter of days, creating an entirely new patois.

Names: Gully dwarves are named by their parents, by their "friends," by their masters, or by themselves. Gully dwarves change their names on a whim if they find a new one that they like. Total strangers may inadvertently contribute to the process. A human who once said to a gully dwarf, "Get out of my way, maggot!" gave the Aghar a name that was handed down for generations. Typically, a gully dwarf's name is a simple two-syllable combination that may have a meaning, or may simply sounds interesting at the time.

Male Names: Blip, Bron, Clout, Gandy, Glitch, Pook, Rounce, Scrib, Seston, Tunk.

Female Names: Bruze, Bupu, Fandy, Gata, Meany, Pert, Stura, Vilga, Zaka.

Clan Names: Brap, Bulp, Clang, Glug, Hurk, Migan, Pland, Slik, Tega, Zang.

Adventurers: Fighters and rogues are the most common "trades" taken up by intrepid gully dwarves, with a few rangers and barbarians dedicated to protecting the clan. While they are rarely capable of the focused mental effort required to wield arcane magic, gully dwarves do make surprisingly adept clerics and mystics. Although their faith is heavily driven by superstition, Aghar priests wholeheartedly embrace whatever deity happens to be willing to listen to them.

Gully Dwarf Traits

Your gully dwarf character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of racial nature.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Like most dwarves, gully 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

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

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

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.

Tough to Kill

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

Gully Dwarf Resilience

You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage (explained in the “Combat” section). You are also immune to disease.

Slippery Little Bugger

You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Grovel, Cower, and Beg

As a bonus action, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies have advantage on attack rolls against any of those enemies who could hear you. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Cowardly

You have disadvantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Languages

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