Duergar: I'm shocked - a flavour change I really like!

[delericho]

My part of the adventure features a duergar stronghold. We decided to do something a little more ambitious than making them “the drow of the dwarves,” so we took the half-fiend durzagon and made our 4e duergar more like that. Duergar are a race of corrupt, devil-tainted dwarves. Some can turn invisible, some can enlarge, and others command nasty infernal powers.

I really like this change. It's not the direction I would have taken Duergar had I been appointed Ruler of the Game... it's better.

Edit: I like it so much, I'm going to mis-spell Duergar twice, despite having it right there in front of me!

 

[Cadfan]

I like it as well. I never liked the whole "dwarves, except evil" that Duergar had going for them before. There's nothing that says that regular dwarves can't just be evil, and save you the trouble of an entire genetically distinct race. If you ARE going to have an entire, genetically distinct race, they ought to be really distinct.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I really like this change.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It kinda feels like a change for change sake, but I can see them not wanting to be drow dwarves. But its kinda cool.

It's not the direction I would have taken Duergar had I been appointed Ruler of the Game... it's better.

Yes, delericho. You should be appointed "Ruler of the Game." All Hail. *Chugs drink* Now I need to get these babies back to you before I die horribly.

 

[Rechan]

“the drow of the dwarves,” so we took the half-fiend durzagon and made our 4e duergar more like that. Duergar are a race of corrupt, devil-tainted dwarves.

So instead of making them Drow of the Dwarves, they made them tieflings of the dwarves.

I have no problem with the change, I just think the above line of thinking is a little flawed. Were I in charge? The duergar would become tied to the Shadowfell, and have death-relating powers.

This also makes me wonder, "Well, what the hell are derro?"

 

[Imban]

Probably not existing any more. I honestly forget whether they even got a 3e writeup.

I'm kind of amused by the idea of a race of dwarves with racial Enlarge Person though.

 

[DaveMage]

So instead of making them Drow of the Dwarves, they made them tieflings of the dwarves.

I have no problem with the change, I just think the above line of thinking is a little flawed. Were I in charge? The duergar would become tied to the Shadowfell, and have death-relating powers.

This also makes me wonder, "Well, what the hell are derro?"

They'll probably get a new angle as well I'd imagine.

 

[withak]

Or maybe Derro will simply go the way of the dinosaur flumph.

 

[Rechan]

They'll probably get a new angle as well I'd imagine.

I always liked Derro more, because they came off as unstable albinos rather than just "I am evil and gray".

 

[hazel monday]

Good change. Sounds like an improvement.

 

[mmu1]

I don't mind the change, but I honestly don't see how it makes any difference... or why someone would consider falling back on something as hoary as being demon or devil-tainted ambitious.

I don't really remember the last time I saw an original explanation for why some D&D race or nation was almost entirely evil - it's always the same stuff: Children of an evil god, corrupted by outsiders, exiled for their sins and forced to live someplace that made them twisted and vengeful, ruled by necromancers...

Not that there's anything wrong with the classics, I just don't like it when designers pretend they're doing something new and ambitious when they're just giving things a new coat of paint.