D&D General what is a hill dwarf?

[Mind of tempest]

Plenty of elves have fairly minimal differences.

High elf - love magic; like nature; very haughty; somewhat isolationist

Wood elf - love nature; like magic; very isolationist; somewhat haughty

fair point but my fury for elves is like next week or so.

They really are which is a shame.

any ideas on where to take dwarves that still feels dwarven?

 

[Fanaelialae]

Something I did for one campaign was that I had dwarves literally be born of stone. They were effectively asexual, reproducing by shaping new (adult) dwarves from stone in magical forges. When they died, they would actually return to stone. They had mausoleums that could be mistaken for underground statue gardens, and one of the greatest punishments for a dwarf was to be denied a place among their ancestors in death).

Over time, some of the forges were lost or destroyed in wars and other disasters. Those clans were forced to either join other clans, if they would have them, or resort to biological measures to avoid dying out.

The mountain dwarves are the OG dwarves born from stone. Whereas hill dwarves are the biological children of such dwarves, who remain flesh and blood upon death. As such, hill dwarves are looked down upon by mountain dwarves, but most people find hill dwarves more personable.

 

[Delazar]

how did he do it?

Dwarves of the Iron HILLs vs dwarves of the Lonely MOUNTAINs

I remember Dragonlance really picked up on this also in the lore, where the hill dwarves were those dwarves that were sent away from the mountain kingdom, and were forced to live in the hills around the mountain.

 

[Delazar]

any ideas on where to take dwarves that still feels dwarven?

I like the way Birthright did it... no subraces, there's just Dwarves (who are literally as hard as stone), and Elves (who are a lot more fey).

 

[Mannahnin]

Something I did for one campaign was that I had dwarves literally be born of stone. They were effectively asexual, reproducing by shaping new (adult) dwarves from stone in magical forges. When they died, they would actually return to stone. They had mausoleums that could be mistaken for underground statue gardens, and one of the greatest punishments for a dwarf was to be denied a place among their ancestors in death).

Over time, some of the forges were lost or destroyed in wars and other disasters. Those clans were forced to either join other clans, if they would have them, or resort to biological measures to avoid dying out.

The mountain dwarves are the OG dwarves born from stone. Whereas hill dwarves are the biological children of such dwarves, who remain flesh and blood upon death. As such, hill dwarves are looked down upon by mountain dwarves, but most people find hill dwarves more personable.

I remember James Mal of Grognardia did similar with the dwarves in his Dwimmermount campaign. Again, asexual and of only one gender, they reproduced by crafting a "son" of stone using fine metals and jewels for decoration, and there was a magical process to bring them to life.

The more money you spent on the materials, the better the chances of successfully bringing them to life. So this was also mechanically a money sink for PC dwarves in old school xp for treasure D&D. There was also a chance of it going wrong, resulting in a terrible quasi-undead creature. So a cool plot hook for a unique dwarven monster, and a particular horror in their culture.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Something I did for one campaign was that I had dwarves literally be born of stone. They were effectively asexual, reproducing by shaping new (adult) dwarves from stone in magical forges. When they died, they would actually return to stone. They had mausoleums that could be mistaken for underground statue gardens, and one of the greatest punishments for a dwarf was to be denied a place among their ancestors in death).

Over time, some of the forges were lost or destroyed in wars and other disasters. Those clans were forced to either join other clans, if they would have them, or resort to biological measures to avoid dying out.

The mountain dwarves are the OG dwarves born from stone. Whereas hill dwarves are the biological children of such dwarves, who remain flesh and blood upon death. As such, hill dwarves are looked down upon by mountain dwarves, but most people find hill dwarves more personable.

nice biological difference but explain the bonus to wisdom as that is random?

Dwarves of the Iron HILLs vs dwarves of the Lonely MOUNTAINs

I remember Dragonlance really picked up on this also in the lore, where the hill dwarves were those dwarves that were sent away from the mountain kingdom, and were forced to live in the hills around the mountain.

a) was there much cultural difference between the iron hill and lonely mountain dwarfs?
b) I still am failing to see how the dragonlance dwarves have a different culture or any notable differences biologically? they are just exiles which are fairly common.

I remember James Mal of Grognardia did similar with the dwarves in his Dwimmermount campaign. Again, asexual and of only one gender, they reproduced by crafting a "son" of stone using fine metals and jewels for decoration, and there was a magical process to bring them to life.

The more money you spent on the materials, the better the chances of successfully bringing them to life. So this was also mechanically a money sink for PC dwarves in old school xp for treasure D&D. There was also a chance of it going wrong, resulting in a terrible quasi-undead creature. So a cool plot hook for a unique dwarven monster, and a particular horror in their culture.

what if it went super well? do you get a super dwarf? can you industrialise dwarf manufacture?

 

[Umbran]

That's one possibility, sure. You could also consider it from the perspective of Order of the Stick dwarves, where they see "killing trees" as their sacred duty, so making a ship out of wood is the ultimate "we killed all these trees and now use their corpses as MOVING FORTRESSES on the ocean."

"Ironclads" are wooden, then with armor plate.

 

[WarDriveWorley]

any ideas on where to take dwarves that still feels dwarven?

For unique Dwarves? Sure. In the past (across multiple editions so I would have to update them for 5E) I've used the following:

• Forest Dwarves: Not quite as nature oriented as the Jungle/Wild Dwarves of the Realms. I had them written up as being descendants of Dwarves that had decided to mine a rich surface vein of gold in a vast unclaimed forest. Over the centuries they developed magic and smithing techniques that allowed them to meld wood and metal into a stronger composite material.
• Grovstorvyk: A small tribe of Deep Dwarves whose tunnels flooded after a mining disaster to create a small underground sea. To survive the Dwarves made a pact to worship a lesser known goddess of the ocean's fury. The Grovstorvyk now sail the underdark oceans in ships of stone as pirates and raiders and can control water and aquatic creatures. It's a sign of pride in their community to be infected by a wereshark's curse.
• The Aiituak: A nomadic tribe of Dwarves loosely based on the Mongols. Aiituak warriors are known for their skill at riding trained war boars across the steppes along with expertise with bow and lance. While not adverse to raiding the Aiituak lived primarily by speed mining salt deposits found along their migration routes.
• Herald Dwarves: These were actually a group of Hill Dwarves that had settled in a region bordering multiple kingdoms. The Heralds started acting as mediators and diplomats. Taking as much pride in the treaties they forged as a Mountain Dwarf would take when crafting a blade.

I know there were others I had used, but those are the 4 that came to mind right away.

 

[Davies]

nice biological difference but explain the bonus to wisdom as that is random?

Wisdom describes perception and insight.

Insight: Many Mountain Dwarves rarely interact with other groups except though the lens of defending their citadels; Hill Dwarves have had to learn to understand their neighbors better.
Perception: Also, living in a world where darkvision is not constantly used has made them more aware of subtle distinctions in the world around them.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I always thought of it as a derogatory term old established clans had for those who weren't so.