Andy Collins' "Personable Dwarves" Variant Rules from Dragon #308

[Felon]

If they simply let dwarves move at 30 (like almost every single medium sized creature in the rest of the DnD world) you'd see a lot more dwarves.

Well, as I just posted in another thread, it looks like 3.5e dwarves will move at the same speed of 20ft even in medium and heavy armor.

So let's sum it up: 3.5e dwarves receive an offensive boost in the form of Weapon Familiarity, a defensive boost in the form of Stability, and now a movement boost (and impeded movement was supposedly the justification for the dwarf's excessive array of racial features to begin with).

 

[DWARF]

Maybe EVERYONE is getting a boost, so it'll be that mystical "balanced".

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

So let's sum it up: 3.5e dwarves receive an offensive boost in the form of Weapon Familiarity, a defensive boost in the form of Stability, and now a movement boost (and impeded movement was supposedly the justification for the dwarf's excessive array of racial features to begin with).

Let's be clear, here ... you've based this on an extrapolation from Urban Arcana; it has not (yet, anyway) been confirmed as a change in the 3.5 revision (right? Not that it's a terribly unreasonable assumption).

Anyone want to post over on Andy Collins' boards and ask? He might let something drop.

EDIT: Apparently the stability things showed up in one of the Dungeon 3.5 adventures, so Felon's guess probably isn't too far off ...

 

[Urbannen]

I think -2 Dex makes sense. Frankly, I don't like -2 Cha to most races, simply because it doesn't make sense. Dwarves are social creatures. Social animals need good social skills (Charisma) to function well. Just because they aren't necessarily friendly to those outside their group doesn't make them withdrawn or mean their personalities are weaker.

Also, it would make them the statistical complement to elves.

 

[Felon]

Let's be clear, here ... you've based this on an extrapolation from Urban Arcana; it has not (yet, anyway) been confirmed as a change in the 3.5 revision (right? Not that it's a terribly unreasonable assumption). Anyone want to post over on Andy Collins' boards and ask? He might let something drop. EDIT: Apparently the stability things showed up in one of the Dungeon 3.5 adventures, so Felon's guess probably isn't too far off ...

Well, you know, nothing's absolute until we see it in print. But all of this is a very good bet.

Originally posted by Dwarf
Maybe EVERYONE is getting a boost, so it'll be that mystical "balanced".

Maybe, but to all appearances it's just the dwarf (and the gnome getting hook-hammer WF, for whatever that's worth). As for balance, it's fairly quantifiable. You can weigh the benefits of one race against the other.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Also, it would make them the statistical complement to elves.

LOL. Since they're already the stereotypical anti-elf, might as well go all the way!