I've got a world called Narrowlands that I'm developing into a full-blown campaign sourcebook with sky in the pie dreams of getting it published. It's a low magic high fantasy world that is designed for experianced gamers who don't mind a world where they don't get do-overs after stupid mistakes. As such the power level for non-magic classes/races tends to be a bit higher than standard d20.
My primary inspiration has been Byzantine history and the Simarillion.
One final key point is that every character in the Narrowlands starts with 1d4 fate points that are non-replenishable and allow for a variety of "heroic" actions or benefits.
So with that said here is a variant dwarf racial description with three racial levels to support it. Stats are virtually identical as D20 PHB but it's a new take on who dwarves are rather than what abilities they have.
Dwarf:
Dwarves are unique in the world for they are born from the world itself. Every Dwarf is carved from the mountain and is given life by the earth. They live long lives and are resistant to change and as immutable as the earth itself. The greatest kingdoms of the dwarves are high in the mountains who’s deepest halls are secrets the Dwarves reveal to no others.
Personality: Dwarves are slow to show any emotions be it friendship or hatred though they are in general untrusting of the other races. They value skill in working stone, metal, and above all else gems. They are loath to lie and see honor as more important than life. When crossed they are implacable foes and if the insult or crime against them is great enough will not stop until their foe is dead.
Physical Description: Dwarves tend to grow only to about four feet tall; though the dwarves of Belegost grow almost half a foot taller. Their weight however is normally half again as much as a human. Dwarves are fond of long and intricately braided beards they often adorn with gold and gems. Their hair can range from silver and gold to browns and red however the most common color is gray. Dwarves, along with petty-dwarves, are unique in that they are genderless. Dwarves live on average 400-500 years of age.
Relations: Dwarves are untrusting of all the other races though they truly hate only Orcs and Petty Dwarves. Long in the past Dwarves have warred with men and elves over the lust felt by those races for the dwarves handiwork. Though the humans have forgotten and the elves for the most part forgiven to the dwarves these wars are still strong reasons to distrust the other races. Of all the other races Dwarves are most likely to get along with the, Rean Elves, Western Humans, and Yaun-Ti. Both the Rean Elves and the High Humans share the dwarves love for crafts and the making of fine items. Dwarves have both taught and learned a great deal from those races though their “friendships” tend to be very cool.
It is with the Yaun-Ti that the dwarves greatest allies can be found. The common threat of Orcs to both races has necessitated alliance after alliance between them. The Dwarves also find much merit in the Yaun-Ti’s honor and sense of clan. Yaun-Ti and dwarvish realms often overlap but there is normally little conflict as the Yaun-Ti’s burrows and warrens tend to be much shallower than those of the Dwarves.
Alignment: Dwarves tend strongly to both law and neutrality. It is rare to find a dwarf who has strayed more from their alignment than one step toward either chaos, good, or evil.
Dwarven Lands: The dwarves bones are carved of stone as are their homes. Deep under the mountains of the world are found the Halls of the dwarves. These halls are mysteries to the other races for all but the very topmost chambers are off limits to those not of dwarvish blood. Most trade between dwarven lands occurs at the borders where dwarves have setup small trading posts.
Names: Dwarves are born fully grown from the stone with the knowledge of how to speak and of their own names. Dwarvish names tend to be 2-3 syllables in length and contain the letters K, M, N, or a hard C.
Additional Info:
Dwarves are not born in the traditional sense. Dwarves are in fact mined from the earth. Special gems known as Dwarves hearts are occasionally found in veins of precious metals deep in the heart of mountains. When placed in carved dwarvish body they slowly (150ish years) awaken and rise as new dwarves.
Dwarves do not "die" in the traditional sense. When slain or brought low by old age or disease a dwarf turns to stone. After several hundred years these stone dwarves re-awaken with minimal memories of there former lives.
Ageing:
Dwarves: Every 100 years dwarves suffer -2 to their dexterity and gain +1 natural armor. When a Dwarf’s dexterity reaches 0 it turns to stone.
Dwarven Levels:
Dwarves can take up to three levels in “Dwarf” at any time. Not all Dwarves take racial levels.
Hit Dice: d12
Skill Points at 1st Character Level: (2+intl mod) x4
Skill Points at Higher Levels: 2+ Intl Mod
Class Skills: Craft, Appraise, Balance, Jump, Know (Arch), Know (Geo), Survival
Weapon/Armor Proficiencies: Dwarves are proficient with all Simple weapons, and all simple and martial hammers and axes. Dwarves are proficient with all light, medium, and heavy armors as well as all shields.
Level BaB Fort Ref Will Special
1 1 2 0 0 Skin of Stone
2 2 3 0 0 +1 Wis; Sense of Stone
3 3 3 1 1 +1 Con; Body of Stone, Heroic Strike
Skin of Stone: Once per day you can gain damage reduction x/- for a number of rounds equal to your constitution modifier and where x is equal to your con modifier.
Sense of Stone: You gain tremor sense 10’. Once per day you can extend this out to 120’ for 1 minute/5 levels.
Body of Stone: For up to a number of rounds equal to your constitution modifier a day you are considered to have moderate fortification this means you have a 50% of ignoring critical hits and 50% of sneak attacks fail and are treated as normal attacks.
Heroic Strike: See feat description.
Heroic Strike [General]
Fate guides your hand making your attacks land with the most devastating effect.
Benefit: You may spend a fate point to have every attack until your next initiative be a critical if you hit. These must be rolled and do not automatically inflict max damage.
Special: You must be a dwarf to take this. This dose not includes petty-dwarves.
And finally a special material near and dear to Dwarves.
Dwarves Heart: This exceptionally rare metal is found only in small quantities in the hearts of dwarves. To wield it is to declare your self utterly against the dwarves and all who stand with them. In order to harvest the metal you must remove the heart of a dwarf and within only a few minutes of death bath it in a reagent made from dwarven blood and the purest alcohol. After the heart has been submerged in the mixture it must be lit on fire. When the blood and alcohol has burned away a small lump of metal will remain that is in roughly the shape of a dwarf’s heart. This process yields roughly one tenth of a pound of metal. Oddly this process fails utterly when attempted using a petty-dwarfs heart. A pound of Dwarves Heart costs 15,000gps. Items created from Dwarves Heart weigh half again as much as normal. Weapons crafted from Dwarves Heart grant a +3 bonus to hit and damage. Shields and armor forged from Dwarves Heart grants +3 AC as well as fire and cold resistance of 5. In addition armor, not including shields, made of Dwarves heart grant an additional 3/- damage reduction. Dwarves Heart has a hardness of 30 and 60 hit points per inch of thickness.
If anyone is looking for a new campaign world to run and would be willing to give me feedback about problems you find or see I'd be happy to share the PHB, MM, and world I've developed so far.
I'd appreciate any comments
My primary inspiration has been Byzantine history and the Simarillion.
One final key point is that every character in the Narrowlands starts with 1d4 fate points that are non-replenishable and allow for a variety of "heroic" actions or benefits.
So with that said here is a variant dwarf racial description with three racial levels to support it. Stats are virtually identical as D20 PHB but it's a new take on who dwarves are rather than what abilities they have.
Dwarf:
Dwarves are unique in the world for they are born from the world itself. Every Dwarf is carved from the mountain and is given life by the earth. They live long lives and are resistant to change and as immutable as the earth itself. The greatest kingdoms of the dwarves are high in the mountains who’s deepest halls are secrets the Dwarves reveal to no others.
Personality: Dwarves are slow to show any emotions be it friendship or hatred though they are in general untrusting of the other races. They value skill in working stone, metal, and above all else gems. They are loath to lie and see honor as more important than life. When crossed they are implacable foes and if the insult or crime against them is great enough will not stop until their foe is dead.
Physical Description: Dwarves tend to grow only to about four feet tall; though the dwarves of Belegost grow almost half a foot taller. Their weight however is normally half again as much as a human. Dwarves are fond of long and intricately braided beards they often adorn with gold and gems. Their hair can range from silver and gold to browns and red however the most common color is gray. Dwarves, along with petty-dwarves, are unique in that they are genderless. Dwarves live on average 400-500 years of age.
Relations: Dwarves are untrusting of all the other races though they truly hate only Orcs and Petty Dwarves. Long in the past Dwarves have warred with men and elves over the lust felt by those races for the dwarves handiwork. Though the humans have forgotten and the elves for the most part forgiven to the dwarves these wars are still strong reasons to distrust the other races. Of all the other races Dwarves are most likely to get along with the, Rean Elves, Western Humans, and Yaun-Ti. Both the Rean Elves and the High Humans share the dwarves love for crafts and the making of fine items. Dwarves have both taught and learned a great deal from those races though their “friendships” tend to be very cool.
It is with the Yaun-Ti that the dwarves greatest allies can be found. The common threat of Orcs to both races has necessitated alliance after alliance between them. The Dwarves also find much merit in the Yaun-Ti’s honor and sense of clan. Yaun-Ti and dwarvish realms often overlap but there is normally little conflict as the Yaun-Ti’s burrows and warrens tend to be much shallower than those of the Dwarves.
Alignment: Dwarves tend strongly to both law and neutrality. It is rare to find a dwarf who has strayed more from their alignment than one step toward either chaos, good, or evil.
Dwarven Lands: The dwarves bones are carved of stone as are their homes. Deep under the mountains of the world are found the Halls of the dwarves. These halls are mysteries to the other races for all but the very topmost chambers are off limits to those not of dwarvish blood. Most trade between dwarven lands occurs at the borders where dwarves have setup small trading posts.
Names: Dwarves are born fully grown from the stone with the knowledge of how to speak and of their own names. Dwarvish names tend to be 2-3 syllables in length and contain the letters K, M, N, or a hard C.
Additional Info:
Dwarves are not born in the traditional sense. Dwarves are in fact mined from the earth. Special gems known as Dwarves hearts are occasionally found in veins of precious metals deep in the heart of mountains. When placed in carved dwarvish body they slowly (150ish years) awaken and rise as new dwarves.
Dwarves do not "die" in the traditional sense. When slain or brought low by old age or disease a dwarf turns to stone. After several hundred years these stone dwarves re-awaken with minimal memories of there former lives.
Ageing:
Dwarves: Every 100 years dwarves suffer -2 to their dexterity and gain +1 natural armor. When a Dwarf’s dexterity reaches 0 it turns to stone.
Dwarven Levels:
Dwarves can take up to three levels in “Dwarf” at any time. Not all Dwarves take racial levels.
Hit Dice: d12
Skill Points at 1st Character Level: (2+intl mod) x4
Skill Points at Higher Levels: 2+ Intl Mod
Class Skills: Craft, Appraise, Balance, Jump, Know (Arch), Know (Geo), Survival
Weapon/Armor Proficiencies: Dwarves are proficient with all Simple weapons, and all simple and martial hammers and axes. Dwarves are proficient with all light, medium, and heavy armors as well as all shields.
Level BaB Fort Ref Will Special
1 1 2 0 0 Skin of Stone
2 2 3 0 0 +1 Wis; Sense of Stone
3 3 3 1 1 +1 Con; Body of Stone, Heroic Strike
Skin of Stone: Once per day you can gain damage reduction x/- for a number of rounds equal to your constitution modifier and where x is equal to your con modifier.
Sense of Stone: You gain tremor sense 10’. Once per day you can extend this out to 120’ for 1 minute/5 levels.
Body of Stone: For up to a number of rounds equal to your constitution modifier a day you are considered to have moderate fortification this means you have a 50% of ignoring critical hits and 50% of sneak attacks fail and are treated as normal attacks.
Heroic Strike: See feat description.
Heroic Strike [General]
Fate guides your hand making your attacks land with the most devastating effect.
Benefit: You may spend a fate point to have every attack until your next initiative be a critical if you hit. These must be rolled and do not automatically inflict max damage.
Special: You must be a dwarf to take this. This dose not includes petty-dwarves.
And finally a special material near and dear to Dwarves.
Dwarves Heart: This exceptionally rare metal is found only in small quantities in the hearts of dwarves. To wield it is to declare your self utterly against the dwarves and all who stand with them. In order to harvest the metal you must remove the heart of a dwarf and within only a few minutes of death bath it in a reagent made from dwarven blood and the purest alcohol. After the heart has been submerged in the mixture it must be lit on fire. When the blood and alcohol has burned away a small lump of metal will remain that is in roughly the shape of a dwarf’s heart. This process yields roughly one tenth of a pound of metal. Oddly this process fails utterly when attempted using a petty-dwarfs heart. A pound of Dwarves Heart costs 15,000gps. Items created from Dwarves Heart weigh half again as much as normal. Weapons crafted from Dwarves Heart grant a +3 bonus to hit and damage. Shields and armor forged from Dwarves Heart grants +3 AC as well as fire and cold resistance of 5. In addition armor, not including shields, made of Dwarves heart grant an additional 3/- damage reduction. Dwarves Heart has a hardness of 30 and 60 hit points per inch of thickness.
If anyone is looking for a new campaign world to run and would be willing to give me feedback about problems you find or see I'd be happy to share the PHB, MM, and world I've developed so far.
I'd appreciate any comments
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