SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
Well, I was relaxing a bit after a long day, and lit up a good cigar, and as I puffed on it casually, I started to think of the earlier conversations we were having about elves. Some asked me to think about dwarves, so I considered them as I smoked my cigar.
Now, when considering dwarves, by the RAW, as well as through mythical and literary tradition, some key elements and traits stand out. It should be noted, of course, that dwarves can be played *individually* any way a player wants. And, of course, DM's are entirely free to make unusual societies or kingdoms of dwarves in any way they deem appropriate to their campaigns.
However, as a foundation to discussion, we have some standard and traditional elements to consider, in a general manner, as a base-line.
Philosophically, I suppose, dwarves do not seem quite as saddled with the "gloom and doom" attitudes often prevailing amongst elves, of whatever campaign or world. While tradition also generally makes dwarves to be a besieged and declining race--not terribly different than the elves' predicament--dwarves none the less come across as somehow different.
Game tradition as well presupposes that dwarves also have a low birthrate, like elves, and a common condition is that the dwarves are beleagured and vastly outnumbered, by humans, but more often by the seemingly limitless hordes of orcs and goblins--not to mention the disastrous ravages by invading dragons or giants.
Still, dwarves soldier on, and endure through it all. Again, like with the elves, dwarves have much lower birthrates than other races--but they also have much longer lifespans. Thus, we have a similar condition. Like with the elves, I tend to think that the dwarves long lifespans actually means something, and *should* translate into some very real game and campaign benefits--as well as logic, for if the dwarves are not immensely powerful in many ways--then their small numbers, logically, would spell their doom and eventual extermination, sooner rather than later. This seems logical especially in the game campaign, where dwarves are surrounded by so many violent and expnasionistic races and enemies.
I tend to think that the average dwarf warrior or character of whatever type, is generally in the 6th-12th level range, by virtue of their long lives, and severe environment. Warriors and others involved in combat would actually have the higher level ranges, perhaps higher, as they would no doubt be getting quite a frequent work-out, and not always necesarily with hordes of lower-level goblins. Even hordes of goblins, however, provides experience and training, meaning that higher level warriors are always gaining some little experience, while younger warriors and characters are always immersed in an initial and steady environment of warfare and experience of hardship.
The dwarves are universally considered a race of creatures at home in the natural world of the deeps and the subterranean realms. Dwarves are at home with fire, steel, smoke, earth and stone, as well as cold, and lower degrees of oxygen, as well as accustomed to the lightless caverns of the underworld. The dwarves are rugged, strong, and enduring, like the mountains that they live in.
For any invader, the dwarves would have a superior knowledge of their home caverns and the entire region that makes up their domain. The dwarves would know where the best stone is, where the lava caverns are, and where the best sources of water would be located. The dwarves would also be intimately familiar with all of the local hazards, and dangerous areas. Where the soil is weak, and likely to give way due to pressure, stress, and so on. Where the pockets of gas is, that is lethal to breathe. Where the steam fissures are, and so on, as well as where various monsters are, and where the mushrooms are safe to eat, and what mushrooms or mosses are poisonous to eat. All of this kind of information would be similar in many ways to that which the elves enjoy in their forest environments, and the secret and for them--common knowledge--of the environment--that invaders simply do not have the *time* to know--because they have not lived in the lightless caverns of the dwarves' home for a century or more, like the dwarves have been doing.
That's just an initial assessment. Already, the dwarves have some distinct and powerful environmental and inherent racial advantages that make them a formidable race to deal with--and any decent sized dwarf kingdom would be a daunting and no doubt very bloody and costly kingdom to invade and conquer by any outside enemy.
Think about all of the animal and elemental allies that the dwarves of any dwarven kingdom would have trained and domesticated, or as friends and allies. Then imagine the natural dwarven talents for working metal, and the earth. Their engineering skills. Then, add in the immense wealth that any dwarven kingdom could reasonably be expected to have over three, or four, or fifteen centuries or more, of working, and trading. The dwarves could turn every stairway, every hallway, every majestic hall and gallery into a deathtrap for any invader. Cunning mechanical and chemical traps, blasting spikes, fire, or poisonous gas into the unwary enemy. Not to mention the staggering engineering and physics pretzels dwarves would throw into any enemy, by destroying bridges over vast chasms, unlocking subterranean locks and hatches to flood entire halls or levels with icy, subterranean waters; Traps opening to drop enemies into lava pools, and so on. Using hard angles as well as fortifications and engineered access-points to control movement and mobility, the dwarves also gain the advantage of channeling attackers into areas where the enemies are at the *greatest* disadvantage, with the dwarves enjoying every advantage for the battle. The dwarves can also use their knowledge, as well as any specifically designed and engineered access-points to launch secret assaults against enemy encampments, established in halls or areas that the dwarves already know they are in, and all the while maintaining the element of surprise, as well as the ability to withdraw, and any pursuing enemy is at an almost immediate and potentially severe *disadvantage* This kind of strategic and tactical mobility--like the elves--also provides the dwarves with the strategic and tactical initiative over almost any invader. This freedom of initiative also allows the dwarves to concentrate their own troops, at precise points of attack or planned defense--at their choosing--allowing them to greatly use their otherwise smaller numbers to gain a local advantage in numbers over an enemy.
The columns of heavily armoured dwarven warriors, shoulder to shoulder, rank upon rank, bristling with glittering pikes and axes, marching against their enemies would be difficult to resist or defeat, without the considerable aid of powerful magic. Now, when one considers that the dwarves, too, can have wizards, as well as numerous types of weapons and troops that make an enemy wizard's life a precarious thing, the dwarves also back up their ranks of ferocious warriors with clerics, healing them, and protecting them, as they endure the enemy fire, and charge deeper into the ranks of the enemy, bringing slaughter and terror, as the dwarves sing their ancient hymns of their fathers, crushing the enemy under their boots.
What massive piles of dead enemy troops have already been consumed by the endless hallways full of traps? How many casualties have been racked up by hordes of the dwarves' animal and elemental allies? As the invading enemy is brought deeper into the dwarven strongholds, fighting hallway by hallway, room by room, with fanatical dwarven warriors--then think about the dwarves deployment of their own special forces, moving far out, and encircling or flanking the enemy positions, and bringing attacks over and over again from sabotage to assassination, as well as guerilla warfare, poisoning the enemy's limited supplies, cutting off their limited access to water, as well as adding posions and gases to the air in the enemy encampments, making it harder for them to breathe, let alone fight well. Then the dwarves use attacks at odd hours, since dwarves can see in the dark quite well. The dwarves can continue to make flanking and encircling attacks, striking the enemy at thei weak points of supply, water, oxygen, as well as areas that the enemy has set up for their wounded. The dwarves can constantly strike these areas as well, playing the psychological card that the enemy must always feel ever vigilant, and never safe, at any hour, no matter how secure they theink the area may be--because the dwarves can pretty easily make sure that no area is ever *really* secure. From all of these advantages and factors, the dwarves would make any invasion of their homes become a huge, bloody, and savage campaign, with the dwarves exacting a dreadful toll in blood and life every step of the way. Every step that the enemy advanced deeper into the dwarven stronghold, would be painted generously with the blood of the fallen invaders...
The dwarves would have every confidence that their weapons are the best; that their courage is unflinching; that their determination is absolute, like the mountains that they live in; the dwarves would have secret, hidden areas where they could heal their wounded, while the enemy has no such comfort; day after day, the halls and stairways clog themselves with the slaughtered enemy, the sounds of the dying, and the wails of despair in the dark hallways, as the dwarves continue to fight on, day and night, night and day, all the while, the dwarves seem to get stronger, while the enemy warriors begin to wonder, will the endless hallways, and endless stairs going up, down, and all around ever end? From every quarter, the dwarves attack, and fade away into the blackness, or the blurring sameness of hall after hall. When the dwarves *do* choose to stand and fight--it is always on the dwarves' terms, where they enjoy every advantage, and the enemy, no matter how numerous, always feel like they are the ones that are somehow--again--blundering blindly into yet another bloody ambush. The morale of any invader would surely be sorely put to the test. Through all of these tribulations, and blood-soaked days deep in the lightless hallways of the dwarves, the dwarves can be confident that they will break their enemies upon the stones of their homes, or slaughter the enemies with the blades of their axes, or crush them under their hammers, where the blood and bones of the fallen can be made into mortar for the new bridges and walls and fortifications. Like all the other invaders before, the enemies will be crushed, and slaughtered, and cast down in defeat.
The dwarves will emerge victorious. The dwarves can be confident that they have the strength, the fortitude, and the knowledge to defeat their enemies, no matter who comes knocking.
I think the dwarves are a very strong race, and despite having a low birthrate, and being somewhat tied to a particular natural environment of earth, mountains, and subterranean caverns, that the dwarves are an excellent choice for players to play a character. Beyond that, dwarves have a strong value or potential to greatly contribute to any campaign.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Well, I was relaxing a bit after a long day, and lit up a good cigar, and as I puffed on it casually, I started to think of the earlier conversations we were having about elves. Some asked me to think about dwarves, so I considered them as I smoked my cigar.
Now, when considering dwarves, by the RAW, as well as through mythical and literary tradition, some key elements and traits stand out. It should be noted, of course, that dwarves can be played *individually* any way a player wants. And, of course, DM's are entirely free to make unusual societies or kingdoms of dwarves in any way they deem appropriate to their campaigns.
However, as a foundation to discussion, we have some standard and traditional elements to consider, in a general manner, as a base-line.
Philosophically, I suppose, dwarves do not seem quite as saddled with the "gloom and doom" attitudes often prevailing amongst elves, of whatever campaign or world. While tradition also generally makes dwarves to be a besieged and declining race--not terribly different than the elves' predicament--dwarves none the less come across as somehow different.
Game tradition as well presupposes that dwarves also have a low birthrate, like elves, and a common condition is that the dwarves are beleagured and vastly outnumbered, by humans, but more often by the seemingly limitless hordes of orcs and goblins--not to mention the disastrous ravages by invading dragons or giants.
Still, dwarves soldier on, and endure through it all. Again, like with the elves, dwarves have much lower birthrates than other races--but they also have much longer lifespans. Thus, we have a similar condition. Like with the elves, I tend to think that the dwarves long lifespans actually means something, and *should* translate into some very real game and campaign benefits--as well as logic, for if the dwarves are not immensely powerful in many ways--then their small numbers, logically, would spell their doom and eventual extermination, sooner rather than later. This seems logical especially in the game campaign, where dwarves are surrounded by so many violent and expnasionistic races and enemies.
I tend to think that the average dwarf warrior or character of whatever type, is generally in the 6th-12th level range, by virtue of their long lives, and severe environment. Warriors and others involved in combat would actually have the higher level ranges, perhaps higher, as they would no doubt be getting quite a frequent work-out, and not always necesarily with hordes of lower-level goblins. Even hordes of goblins, however, provides experience and training, meaning that higher level warriors are always gaining some little experience, while younger warriors and characters are always immersed in an initial and steady environment of warfare and experience of hardship.
The dwarves are universally considered a race of creatures at home in the natural world of the deeps and the subterranean realms. Dwarves are at home with fire, steel, smoke, earth and stone, as well as cold, and lower degrees of oxygen, as well as accustomed to the lightless caverns of the underworld. The dwarves are rugged, strong, and enduring, like the mountains that they live in.
For any invader, the dwarves would have a superior knowledge of their home caverns and the entire region that makes up their domain. The dwarves would know where the best stone is, where the lava caverns are, and where the best sources of water would be located. The dwarves would also be intimately familiar with all of the local hazards, and dangerous areas. Where the soil is weak, and likely to give way due to pressure, stress, and so on. Where the pockets of gas is, that is lethal to breathe. Where the steam fissures are, and so on, as well as where various monsters are, and where the mushrooms are safe to eat, and what mushrooms or mosses are poisonous to eat. All of this kind of information would be similar in many ways to that which the elves enjoy in their forest environments, and the secret and for them--common knowledge--of the environment--that invaders simply do not have the *time* to know--because they have not lived in the lightless caverns of the dwarves' home for a century or more, like the dwarves have been doing.
That's just an initial assessment. Already, the dwarves have some distinct and powerful environmental and inherent racial advantages that make them a formidable race to deal with--and any decent sized dwarf kingdom would be a daunting and no doubt very bloody and costly kingdom to invade and conquer by any outside enemy.
Think about all of the animal and elemental allies that the dwarves of any dwarven kingdom would have trained and domesticated, or as friends and allies. Then imagine the natural dwarven talents for working metal, and the earth. Their engineering skills. Then, add in the immense wealth that any dwarven kingdom could reasonably be expected to have over three, or four, or fifteen centuries or more, of working, and trading. The dwarves could turn every stairway, every hallway, every majestic hall and gallery into a deathtrap for any invader. Cunning mechanical and chemical traps, blasting spikes, fire, or poisonous gas into the unwary enemy. Not to mention the staggering engineering and physics pretzels dwarves would throw into any enemy, by destroying bridges over vast chasms, unlocking subterranean locks and hatches to flood entire halls or levels with icy, subterranean waters; Traps opening to drop enemies into lava pools, and so on. Using hard angles as well as fortifications and engineered access-points to control movement and mobility, the dwarves also gain the advantage of channeling attackers into areas where the enemies are at the *greatest* disadvantage, with the dwarves enjoying every advantage for the battle. The dwarves can also use their knowledge, as well as any specifically designed and engineered access-points to launch secret assaults against enemy encampments, established in halls or areas that the dwarves already know they are in, and all the while maintaining the element of surprise, as well as the ability to withdraw, and any pursuing enemy is at an almost immediate and potentially severe *disadvantage* This kind of strategic and tactical mobility--like the elves--also provides the dwarves with the strategic and tactical initiative over almost any invader. This freedom of initiative also allows the dwarves to concentrate their own troops, at precise points of attack or planned defense--at their choosing--allowing them to greatly use their otherwise smaller numbers to gain a local advantage in numbers over an enemy.
The columns of heavily armoured dwarven warriors, shoulder to shoulder, rank upon rank, bristling with glittering pikes and axes, marching against their enemies would be difficult to resist or defeat, without the considerable aid of powerful magic. Now, when one considers that the dwarves, too, can have wizards, as well as numerous types of weapons and troops that make an enemy wizard's life a precarious thing, the dwarves also back up their ranks of ferocious warriors with clerics, healing them, and protecting them, as they endure the enemy fire, and charge deeper into the ranks of the enemy, bringing slaughter and terror, as the dwarves sing their ancient hymns of their fathers, crushing the enemy under their boots.
What massive piles of dead enemy troops have already been consumed by the endless hallways full of traps? How many casualties have been racked up by hordes of the dwarves' animal and elemental allies? As the invading enemy is brought deeper into the dwarven strongholds, fighting hallway by hallway, room by room, with fanatical dwarven warriors--then think about the dwarves deployment of their own special forces, moving far out, and encircling or flanking the enemy positions, and bringing attacks over and over again from sabotage to assassination, as well as guerilla warfare, poisoning the enemy's limited supplies, cutting off their limited access to water, as well as adding posions and gases to the air in the enemy encampments, making it harder for them to breathe, let alone fight well. Then the dwarves use attacks at odd hours, since dwarves can see in the dark quite well. The dwarves can continue to make flanking and encircling attacks, striking the enemy at thei weak points of supply, water, oxygen, as well as areas that the enemy has set up for their wounded. The dwarves can constantly strike these areas as well, playing the psychological card that the enemy must always feel ever vigilant, and never safe, at any hour, no matter how secure they theink the area may be--because the dwarves can pretty easily make sure that no area is ever *really* secure. From all of these advantages and factors, the dwarves would make any invasion of their homes become a huge, bloody, and savage campaign, with the dwarves exacting a dreadful toll in blood and life every step of the way. Every step that the enemy advanced deeper into the dwarven stronghold, would be painted generously with the blood of the fallen invaders...
The dwarves would have every confidence that their weapons are the best; that their courage is unflinching; that their determination is absolute, like the mountains that they live in; the dwarves would have secret, hidden areas where they could heal their wounded, while the enemy has no such comfort; day after day, the halls and stairways clog themselves with the slaughtered enemy, the sounds of the dying, and the wails of despair in the dark hallways, as the dwarves continue to fight on, day and night, night and day, all the while, the dwarves seem to get stronger, while the enemy warriors begin to wonder, will the endless hallways, and endless stairs going up, down, and all around ever end? From every quarter, the dwarves attack, and fade away into the blackness, or the blurring sameness of hall after hall. When the dwarves *do* choose to stand and fight--it is always on the dwarves' terms, where they enjoy every advantage, and the enemy, no matter how numerous, always feel like they are the ones that are somehow--again--blundering blindly into yet another bloody ambush. The morale of any invader would surely be sorely put to the test. Through all of these tribulations, and blood-soaked days deep in the lightless hallways of the dwarves, the dwarves can be confident that they will break their enemies upon the stones of their homes, or slaughter the enemies with the blades of their axes, or crush them under their hammers, where the blood and bones of the fallen can be made into mortar for the new bridges and walls and fortifications. Like all the other invaders before, the enemies will be crushed, and slaughtered, and cast down in defeat.
The dwarves will emerge victorious. The dwarves can be confident that they have the strength, the fortitude, and the knowledge to defeat their enemies, no matter who comes knocking.
I think the dwarves are a very strong race, and despite having a low birthrate, and being somewhat tied to a particular natural environment of earth, mountains, and subterranean caverns, that the dwarves are an excellent choice for players to play a character. Beyond that, dwarves have a strong value or potential to greatly contribute to any campaign.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
