Homebrew Dwarf (Adyrn) Species Details

Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and giants—these common threads once united all dwarves. But after the cataclysmic Third Age of Ruin, the dwarves have either been stranded on the surface or have sealed themselves away deep beneath the Kor Mountains.

Short and Stout

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. The style in which they braid their beards often signifies their family and title. Female dwarves adhere to the same tradition with how they braid their hair. In fact, knots and braids are the keystone of the dwarven language as they have no written script. Their records are kept instead by an intricate language system of tying knots and braids into lengths of string called Khipu.

Long Memory, Long Grudges

Dwarves can live to be more than 400 years old, so the oldest living dwarves often remember a very different world. For example, some of the oldest dwarves living in Urmanthrand can recall the day, more than three centuries ago, when the Dagoskan Empire conquered the fortress and drove them into an exile that lasted over 250 years. This longevity grants them a perspective on the world that shorter-lived races such as humans and halflings lack.

Dwarves are solid and enduring like the mountains they love, weathering the passage of centuries with stoic endurance and little change. They respect the traditions of their clans, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of their most ancient strongholds in the youth of the world, and don’t abandon those traditions lightly. Part of those traditions is devotion to the gods favored dwarves, who uphold the dwarven ideals of industrious labor, skill in battle, and devotion to the forge.

Individual dwarves are determined and loyal, true to their word and decisive in action, sometimes to the point of stubbornness. Many dwarves have a strong sense of justice, and they are slow to forget wrongs they have suffered. A wrong done to one dwarf is a wrong done to the dwarf’s entire clan, so what begins as one dwarf’s hunt for vengeance can become a full-blown clan feud.

Clans and Kingdoms

The last dwarven kingdoms stretch deep beneath the Kor Mountains where the dwarves mine gems and precious metals and forge items of wonder. They love the beauty and artistry of precious metals and fine jewelry, and in some dwarves this love festers into avarice. Whatever wealth they can’t find in their mountains, they gain through trade with other denizens of the Underdeep. They dislike boats, so enterprising humans and halflings frequently handle trade in dwarven goods along water routes. Trustworthy members of other races are welcome in dwarf settlements among the Davish Foothills and Sunder Mountains, but access to the dwarven kingdoms that dwell in the Underdeep is strictly off limits.

The chief unit of dwarven society is the clan, and dwarves highly value social standing. Even dwarves who live far from their own steadholdts cherish their clan identities and affiliations, recognize related dwarves, and invoke their ancestors’ names in oaths and curses. To be clanless is the worst fate that can befall a dwarf.

Dwarves in other lands are typically artisans, especially weaponsmiths, armorers, and jewelers. Some become mercenaries or bodyguards, highly sought after for their courage and loyalty. The Davish dwarves may tend more towards the druidic arts due to their proximity and relationship with the elves of Dhoine Tir.

Dwarven Lands

Shortly after the Third Age of Ruin, the many dwarves who once ruled the Kor Mountains receded deep within their mountain kingdoms and sealed the entrances barring any from gaining access to the Underdeep. Many of their brethren were abandoned on the surface and forced to establish new settlements. Most began colonizing the nearby Davish Foothills, north of the human kingdoms of Midderland and east of the Faethin Wood where the elves reside. Once proud warriors and master craftsmen, the Davish dwarves have turned to farming and sheep herders. They no longer live in vast stone halls and golden palaces but have instead small familial communities called steadholdts. Each steadholdt is lead by a Steadholder who establishes their own laws and has absolute authority in their land. Kings no longer lead them and each steadholdt mostly governs themselves unless something threatens the safety of them all in which case the various Steadholders will convene and discuss the best course of action and will work together to eliminate said threat. The largest and most prosperous of these communities include Bernardholdt, Aricholdt, and Vondalholdt.

Not all dwarves were content with living among the rolling hills and forests of the surface world and began migrating south. Many of these eventually strayed from their kin to live among the human kingdoms, but those that managed to travel all the way south to Dagoska began to establish a new kingdom in the Sunder Mountains. Deep in the mountains they built Urmanthrand, the new dwarven capital of Adyrn. They dug deep into the mountains and discovered thick veins of silver and gold, pure iron ore, and cavernous chambers full of precious gemstones and diamonds and this quickly drew the attention of the neighboring human Empire. Driven by greed and avarice, the Empress Merneith the Covetous waged war on the Sunder dwarves and her vast armies soon overwhelmed the new capital, seizing their mines and driving the dwarves into the craggy peaks of the Sunder Mountains.  The hostile wild mountains shaped the Sunder dwarves into the barbaric clans they are known for today. For centuries they lived among the savage human and orc tribes fighting for territory and resources until Empress Basteti sought recompense and returned Urmanthrand and the surrounding lands back into the hands of the dwarves. Since then the Empire has maintained a prosperous trade relationship with the dwarves of the Sunder Mountains.

The dwarves of the Kor Mountains, until very recently, have not been seen in over a thousand years. There have always been rumors and legends about what happened to the ancient kingdom. Some say that they all turned into the very stone they carved, others believe they were likely hunted down and killed by Ku'Taydan's demonic legion or some other horrible fate. But a little over a decade ago the dwarves of the Kor Mountains began spilling out onto the surface, fleeing from some terrible evil. That evil was Surtr, king of the fire giants, who had struck an pact with Akheilos, the demon god of greed and oppression. Together with his new demon army as well as hordes of goblin mercenaries, King Surtr seized the ancient dwarven halls of the Underdeep and the vast hordes of treasure they held. And the Korish dwarves were forced to break the seals that kept the above world at bay and seek refuge on the surface.

Gods, Gold, and Clan

Dwarves who take up the adventuring life might be motivated by a desire for treasure—for its own sake, for a specific purpose, or even out of an altruistic desire to help others. Other dwarves are driven by the command or inspiration of a deity, a direct calling or simply a desire to bring glory to one of the gods they worship. Clan and ancestry are also important motivators. A dwarf might seek to restore a clan’s lost honor, avenge an ancient wrong the clan suffered, or earn a new place within the clan after having been exiled. Or a dwarf might search for the axe wielded by a mighty ancestor, lost on the field of battle centuries ago. Dwarves tend to be highly religious. The mountain dwarves revere most the gods of law, order, and the forge such as Domhan, Tauros, Untan, and Andrana. The hill dwarves, however, often worship the gods of nature and agriculture, such as Andrana, Yen, Pakhet, and Vymm. Andrana is held in high regard by both cultures for she taught the ways of masonry, carpentry, smithing, farming, and irrigation.

Dwarf Names

A dwarf’s name is granted by a clan elder, in accordance with tradition. Every proper dwarven name has been used and reused down through the generations. A dwarf’s name belongs to the clan, not to the individual. A dwarf who misuses or brings shame to a clan name is stripped of the name and forbidden by law to use any dwarven name in its place.

Male Names: Adrik, Alberich, Baern, Barendd, Brottor, Bruenor, Dain, Darrak, Delg, Eberk, Einkil, Fargrim, Flint, Gardain, Harbek, Kildrak, Morgran, Orsik, Oskar, Rangrim, Rurik, Taklinn, Thoradin, Thorin, Tordek, Traubon, Travok, Ulfgar, Veit, Vondal

Female Names: Amber, Artin, Audhild, Bardryn, Dagnal, Diesa, Eldeth, Falkrunn, Finellen, Gunnloda, Gurdis, Helja, Hlin, Kathra, Kristryd, Ilde, Liftrasa, Mardred, Riswynn, Sannl, Torbera, Torgga, Vistra

Clan Names: Balderk, Battlehammer, Brawnanvil, Dankil, Fireforge, Frostbeard, Gorunn, Holderhek, Ironfist, Loderr, Lutgehr, Rumnaheim, Strakeln, Toru 

Dwarf (Adyrn) Traits

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

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

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.

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.

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 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

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 (explained in the “Combat” section).

Dwarven Combat Training

You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

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