D&D General Make Your Dwarves More Interesting

[Dannyalcatraz]

I know "Scottish Dwarves" is like, a huge thing in the fantasy genre in general, but my Dwarves have always been more of a mix of German and Russian. German for having a ton of compound words in their language, and Russian for the harsh consonants and lots of o's and u's in their language.

I haven’t encountered ANY dwarves with Russian flavoring.

If I did today, I’d probably chuckle a bit given how tall they seemed on average when I visited Moscow and St. Petersburg 15+ years ago. I’m 5’7”, but noticed certain architectural ergonomics there made me feel positively short(er).

 

[jgsugden]

I get that, but again the media, etc. seems to always have them with torches or lanterns... why if they have infravision/ darkvision???...

Why do you own a color television? Or why do you wear glasses if you do not have 20/20 vision?

Darkvision is limited. In 5E mechanics it gives you disadvantage on perception (including a 5 penalty to passive perception) and it is black and white, which means that those relying upon it may miss important details that rely upon color. Further, it has a range limit where illuminated areas can be of any size if you have enough illumination, allowing them to see much greater distances, potentially, if their areas are lit.

DMs that think about this level of detail will also remember that many threats in the ground suffer from sunlight sensitivity. So magical sunlight in the ground is valuable to a defensive position (even more so considering that some creatures can make darkness if there is no magical daylight.)

For most intelligent creatures, darkvision can be useful when they are stealthing, or when they can't get light... but the idea that they'd live their lives without light sources is .... short sighted.

 

[jgsugden]

I have a lot of Dwarves, but my most common Dwarves are right out of Tolkien. Same for my most common elves, halflings and orcs. I want these concepts to be accessible to new players from the second they sit down. There are a number of odd clans, variants, etc... of each heritage, but they're rare and many were introduced by the creative decisions of players in my games.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Darkvision is limited. In 5E mechanics it gives you disadvantage on perception (including a 5 penalty to passive perception) and it is black and white, which means that those relying upon it may miss important details that rely upon color. Further, it has a range limit where illuminated areas can be of any size if you have enough illumination, allowing them to see much greater distances, potentially, if their areas are lit.

Although limited, it is much too common IMO. And since dwarves in my game don't all spend their lives underground, there is no reason for them to have darkvision anyway. Elves don't get it either. Only half-orcs (limited to 30 ft), tieflings, and we gave it to dragonborn because they are light on racial traits.

DMs that think about this level of detail will also remember that many threats in the ground suffer from sunlight sensitivity. So magical sunlight in the ground is valuable to a defensive position (even more so considering that some creatures can make darkness if there is no magical daylight.)

Most monsters with darkvision don't have sunlight sensitivity, though.

For most intelligent creatures, darkvision can be useful when they are stealthing, or when they can't get light... but the idea that they'd live their lives without light sources is .... short sighted.

While I don't appreciate the implication of your closing remarks, I can appreciate the humour.

 

[Tonguez]

Although limited, it is much too common IMO. And since dwarves in my game don't all spend their lives underground, there is no reason for them to have darkvision anyway. Elves don't get it either. Only half-orcs (limited to 30 ft), tieflings, and we gave it to dragonborn because they are light on racial traits.

really breathing fire, damage resistance and wings wasnt enough racial traits for them?

and whats your game rationale for Half-orcs having it?

 

[DND_Reborn]

really breathing fire, damage resistance and wings wasnt enough racial traits for them?

What wings?

They can't fly so I don't know what Dragonborn you are playing with... they don't even have a racial feat option allowing you to make a dragonborn that flies!

Also, breathing fire once per short rest is hardly anything to write home about. Now, make it your bonus action and have it recharge (5-6) like a dragon, and then you might have something.

Finally, they are descendant from dragons, creatures with superior senses, including much greater ranged darkvision and blindsight.

and whats your game rationale for Half-orcs having it?

Orcs have it, so they get it from them, it is genetic; but because they are only half orc, it is 30 feet instead of 60.

Besides, half-orcs didn't really receive much love when it came to their design, so it makes them more tempting to play.

Now, would you like me to explain why we let Tieflings keep it or do you think you can figure that one out for yourself?

 

[Tonguez]

What wings?

View attachment 150247

They can't fly so I don't know what Dragonborn you are playing with... they don't even have a racial feat option allowing you to make a dragonborn that flies!

Also, breathing fire once per short rest is hardly anything to write home about. Now, make it your bonus action and have it recharge (5-6) like a dragon, and then you might have something.

Finally, they are descendant from dragons, creatures with superior senses, including much greater ranged darkvision and blindsight.


Orcs have it, so they get it from them, it is genetic; but because they are only half orc, it is 30 feet instead of 60.

Besides, half-orcs didn't really receive much love when it came to their design, so it makes them more tempting to play.

Now, would you like me to explain why we let Tieflings keep it or do you think you can figure that one out for yourself?

ah yeah good point, wings is from UA not core - my bad. I think breath weapon and DR is fine so heh.


Asto orcs I was thinking more an in game rationale for orcs having it, since the removal from dwarfs was due to in game reasons of dwarfs not being subterranean. But yeah I can agree core halforcs are a bit lacking.

and Tieflings are naff

 

[Audiomancer]

More possibilities for those who want non-Scottish dwarves:

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I haven’t encountered ANY dwarves with Russian flavoring.

My players felt the duergar in RotFM should be played with Russian accents.

There is also the Dvar faction in AoW: Planetfall - space dwarves with Russian accents and dress sense.