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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9667511" data-attributes="member: 58172">Svartalfar is an ironic nickname for a Dvergar.Generally, the Alfar are known for good fortunes, success, and blessings, but Dvergar are known for bad fortunes, failure, and curses.However, ironically, cursing ones enemies can be a kind of 'good luck'. So certain individual Dvergar (not all of them) who have been helpful toward a Human, are sometimes nicknamed a Svartalfr, something like a 'bleak-hearted guardian'.Because the Dvergar are quintessentially magical, it sometimes did make sense in D&D to use Gnome stats or Drow stats to represent the Dvergar. But now the 5.24 Dwarf stats work great, and the Stonecunning trait is sufficiently magical and appropriately earthy.For Dvergar culture, emphasize Norse magical traditions, and for Dvergar specifically the Druid class is fantastic, because of both the Elemental magic and the Wildshaping into Beasts. A Dvergr mage tends to have a favorite Beast form.Even hiding under blankets works fine to shield from direct sunlight, when in open sky.The term 'niflungar', the mist-youths, seems to imply the normal use of magic to create mist and fog for the purpose of, heh, sunscreen protection.They can be in daylight in the open air, but not exposed to direct sunlight. So they would need to coverup, one way or an other.</blockquote>