D&D General Wildly Diverse "Circus Troupe" Adventuring Parties

[Paul Farquhar]

Dwarves basically need some trick that can come up in most combats without the DM's choices or character class being a factor, OR they need a big suite of passives that are DM-dependent.

Sitting down and singing of gold is a popular dwarf move.

 

[ECMO3]

double post

 

[ECMO3]

Dwarves usually don't have a lot of actively useful features, and often come with drawbacks, so there's not much of a mechanical draw.

The 2024 PHB Dwarf is pretty darn powerful with the rewrite of Stonecunning and their darkvision.

They are probably the most powerful PHB species in the 2024 PHB and I have seen a huge uptick in them since the 2024 rules came out.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Dwarves usually don't have a lot of actively useful features, and often come with drawbacks, so there's not much of a mechanical draw.

4e gave them a pretty solid benefit, in that your second wind was a minor action rather than a standard. That opened up some significant options for both defensive and offensive combinations.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Dwarves basically need some trick that can come up in most combats without the DM's choices or character class being a factor, OR they need a big suite of passives that are DM-dependent.

honestly I would make them more enduring in combat. Enduring hardship has always been the dwarf way

 

[Remathilis]

I suspect that small species will be played more without the speed penalty.

Well, they removed them in 5.24, so we'll see if that helps.

 

[el-remmen]

Someone has played a dwarf in nearly every game I have run in every edition since B/X.

I also tend to play either humans or dwarves. I sometimes get the urge to play a tortle or something but then nearly no one else in the group chooses a human and I end being one instead because unless the theme or setting is specifically about there being no humans I kinda need there to be at least one.

 

[ECMO3]

honestly I would make them more enduring in combat. Enduring hardship has always been the dwarf way

Dwarves are pretty durable, getting resistance to poison damage (the best resistance of any race) plus an extra 1hp per level.

I would say they compete well with the Orc and Goliath as the most durable races in 2024.

 

[Hussar]

I quite often play dwarves because I identify with them: I’m short, bearded and grumpy. But they don’t seem particularly popular these days. Halflings are though.

Again, you are making very strong statements here that are not supported by any actual information. Halflngs, by every single piece of evidence we have, are the bottom choice in the PHB. And they always have been. It's not a mistake that every race in 2e got a full Complete Guide, except gnomes and halflings. Why would you claim that halflings are popular?

 

[ECMO3]

Again, you are making very strong statements here that are not supported by any actual information. Halflngs, by every single piece of evidence we have, are the bottom choice in the PHB. And they always have been. It's not a mistake that every race in 2e got a full Complete Guide, except gnomes and halflings. Why would you claim that halflings are popular?

Dwarves are far more popular than Halflings IME. In the past 10 years I have only seen 1 Halfling that was played by someone other than me.

Even before 2024 boosted Dwarves, they were still among the most popular choices for Wizards due to the Armor proficiency.