Need help creating desert dwarves

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I'm having some problems coming up with original and cool abilities for the dwarves in my campaign setting. This is what I've got so far (I'll add more flavour-text later):

Known as desert people and sand stalkers, dwarves roam the rock - and sand deserts of Mardukia. A nomadic people, they rarely stay in one place for a long time, prefering travelling from oasis to oasis, ocassionaly visiting cities of other races to trade and swap news and information. Like many other races in Mardukia, dwarves are not native to that region. They were brought to Mardukia as slaves by the yuan-ti and broke free of slavery during the War of Snakes. Since then the dwarves have come to dominate much of inner Mardukia, since the humans, haflings, and elves always do their outmost to avoid those parched lands. Dwarves do not worship a deity, but instead turn to their druids for spiritual guidance. They resemble elves in that they cannot grow facial or body hair. Dwarves fight tribes of braxat and scorpion folk for complete and utter rule of the desert. In recent years more and more undead have surfaced from ruined cities and temples half-buried in the sand, prompting concern as many clans of dwarves have been slain by the walking dead.

* +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: Dwarves are tough, as the way of the desert is cruel and unforgiving. Their hardships have also made dwarves surly and grim
* Medium-size: As Medium-size creatures, dwarves have no
special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Dwarven base speed is 20 feet.
* Low-light vision: Dwarves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
* Desert metabolism: dwarves can go for one week on the same amount of water it takes to sustain a human for one day. Thus, dwarves only roll for dehydration once per week without water. Hundreds of years wandering under the burning sun gradually caused an adaption much envied by other desert-creatures.
* +4 racial bonus on saves against poison. Dwarves are highly resistant against poison due to their tradition in dealing with vermins of the desert, such as snakes and scorpion.
* +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against monstrous humanoids: Dwarves are trained in combat techniques against many denizens of the desert including braxat, scorpionfolk, and yuan-ti

Any suggestions? The list of abilities is not complete, it wouldn't be a problem to remove an ability and replace it with another.

 

[Nifft]

- Large, tough feet -- adapted for sand. They don't wear boots.
- Favored Class: Ranger.
- Nocturnal.
- Not a lot of hair -- especially no beards!
- They still burrow, still make cities under ground -- they have to, that's where the cool and the water are.

-- Nifft

 

[CCamfield]

I am going to have desert dwarves in my campaign too, although I haven't worked out all the details. One thing I thought of was a sand and weather sense, to replace stonesense. It would allow one to tell when a sand or rainstorm was coming, as well as detect sand surfaces that might collapse underfoot and that sort of thing. I very much like your idea of desert metabolism.

However, I my dwarves were going to have hair - only black, curly, and possibly worn in dreadlocks.

And they'll ride elephants.

 

[Malin Genie]

Very nice idea!

I would agree with favoured class: Ranger

I think that the Desert Metabolism ability is a little *too* good in a desert environment - perhaps half the amount of water and double the time (2 days + 2x Con hrs) without water?

+2 racial bonus to Spot checks and Intuit Direction checks (to find their way around the trackless sands) - sort of a replacement for Stonecunning?

 

[Nifft]

Hmmmm... what about a "Smell Water" ability? They would get a +4 to detect traps involving water, and Intuit Direction checks for locating a river, oasis or whatnot.

-- Nifft

 

[drdevoid]

This may be gauche considering we are talking about dwarves, but what about speak with burrowing animals 1/day like the gnomes? I'm not sure I've seen a weathersense ability before. This could come close and have other interesting applications.

Endurance as a free feat instead of +1 to hit against orcs and goblins?

Or how about tremorsense instead of stonecunning?

And, please don't stone me now, what about Favored Class: Druid? Dwarves like their religion, after all, and these are most likely nomadic peoples.