D&D General Where did the Belt of Dwarvenkind come from?

[J-H]

We have a Belt of Dwarvenkind, and boots and cloaks of Elvenkind.

What edition did they originate in, and why don't we have, I don't know, Vests of Halflingkind, Dragonborn pendants, a shark-tooth Necklace of Orcishness, etc.?

 

[MerricB]

The Elven Cloak and Boots saw their first appearance in Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974 release, the original set!) They're very inspired by Tolkien. (See the cloaks that Sam and Frodo use).

The Belt of Dwarvenkind saw its first appearance in AD&D's Unearthed Arcana (1985), as the "Girdle of Dwarvenkind". I'm not aware of any particular inspiration for it.

Cheers,
Merric

 

[EzekielRaiden]

From what stuff I'm seeing, the Belt of Dwarvenkind sounds like it might have been among those semi-joke cursed items that alter the character without the player's permission.

 

[pukunui]

From what stuff I'm seeing, the Belt of Dwarvenkind sounds like it might have been among those semi-joke cursed items that alter the character without the player's permission.

Yeah. There was the girdle of forced gender-swapping and this was the girdle of forced beard-growing. At least in 5e, they added the rider that the beard only grows if your character is capable of growing one. (So no bearded ladies!)

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

From what stuff I'm seeing, the Belt of Dwarvenkind sounds like it might have been among those semi-joke cursed items that alter the character without the player's permission.

It really wasn't. The Belt/Girdle of Dwarvenkind is never called out as cursed and its effects are almost entirely beneficial. At worst you spend five minutes with a straight razor each morning and occasionally offend non-Dwarves you wouldn't have otherwise. Nothing stopping you from taking it off whenever you want either, so you don't even have to shave or be more boorish if you don't wear it at dawn or to the royal court or other important social event.

The Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity (what a mouthful) in the DMG was definitely called cursed, but it was less intended as a very questionable joke than as a "trap item" for players who just couldn't wait to see which variety of Girdle of Giant Strength they'd just found. Those and the "sex change" one were the only girdles in the DMG, and the giant strength ones were stupidly OP. Problematic as the thing is today, at first it was mostly a rather mean-spirited anti-metagaming thing, very much in the mold of Gygax's fondness for "gotcha" moments. He really wanted you to spend the ~16 hours and 100gp for an Identify spell before trying on any belts for some reason, and even then it might fail.

Also rarely gets mentioned, but all the original DMG girdles could only be used by clerics, thieves or fighters. A magic-user could wear them but the magic wouldn't work for them. They can't even set off the cursed one and de-magic it in the process. So if you run into someone whose M-U got their sex changed by one of those things, their GM was playing fast and loose with the holy writ.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

We have a Belt of Dwarvenkind, and boots and cloaks of Elvenkind.

What edition did they originate in, and why don't we have, I don't know, Vests of Halflingkind, Dragonborn pendants, a shark-tooth Necklace of Orcishness, etc.?

And a codpiece of humanness.

No reason not to create any of these items.

 

[Yaarel]

And a codpiece of humanness.

No reason not to create any of these items.

Do female Humans wear a codpiece?

In any case, magic items that grant traits of a species, seems doable.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Do female Humans wear a codpiece?

Generally no, but hypothetically there's nothing stopping them from doing so. Nonetheless, a less gender-linked article of clothing might be a better choice. Perhaps gloves, which everyone uses and emphasizes those opposable thumbs we find so useful for not being an animal.

In any case, magic items that grant traits of a species, seems doable.

No idea what a "human item" would do. Maybe grant an extra feat or something?

Pretty sure there's already an item that grants a dragonborn breath weapon in at least one edition, although I don't think it was called out as a "species item" explicitly.

 

[Yaarel]

Generally no, but hypothetically there's nothing stopping them from doing so. Nonetheless, a less gender-linked article of clothing might be a better choice. Perhaps gloves, which everyone uses and emphasizes those opposable thumbs we find so useful for not being an animal.

Maybe every Human culture that wears clothing has some kind of belt? Or it could be a kind of tool, like a knife or stone blade?

No idea what a "human item" would do. Maybe grant an extra feat or something?

A Human item could start the day with an extra Insight (that grants an Advantage at the time of the players choosing). Or an extra skill.

Pretty sure there's already an item that grants a dragonborn breath weapon in at least one edition, although I don't think it was called out as a "species item" explicitly.

Good call. The Dragonborn breathweapon item can easily be one of the species magic items.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Girdle of Femininity/Masculinity (what a mouthful) in the DMG was definitely called cursed, but it was less intended as a very questionable joke than as a "trap item" for players who just couldn't wait to see which variety of Girdle of Giant Strength they'd just found. Those and the "sex change" one were the only girdles in the DMG, and the giant strength ones were stupidly OP. Problematic as the thing is today, at first it was mostly a rather mean-spirited anti-metagaming thing, very much in the mold of Gygax's fondness for "gotcha" moments. He really wanted you to spend the ~16 hours and 100gp for an Identify spell before trying on any belts for some reason, and even then it might fail.

This is exactly what happens at the start of Baldur's Gate 1, when one of the first "real" foes you fight is an ogre between the starting area of Candlekeep and the first quest destination of the Friendly Arm Inn. The ogre drops two belts, and since the game automatically detects all magic items, but since you're also very unlikely to have identify by this point, of course you're going to put both on without knowing what they are - and one is the girdle of masculinity/femininity as a gotcha. Thankfully, as a video game, you can always re-load (or learn the lesson that saving often is a good idea in this sort of game); or, just keep your new gender-swapped character if you want.