D&D General Should Bearded Female Dwarves be the Default?

[Slit518]

I say leave this option up to the setting. If you're playing in a setting where female Dwarves have beards, such as Tolkein LotR setting, then those females can have beards.

 

[Marandahir]

I think this really should be a setting specific thing.

The Hobbit movies portray them with beards, like the men (but often "prettier" beards or more tufty), going off the joke from The Two Towers extended edition film (Aragorn says, "its the beards" to Éowyn when Gímli is explaining why people think that there are now Dwarf Women and they just spring out of the ground!).

But I also liked 4e & the Nentir Vale's beardless Dwarf Women.

And I imagine in a hot setting like Dark Sun, all dwarves might go without facial hair, much like the Muls do. It's just too damn hot for that.

For Forgotten Realms, which is the default in 5e, I think bearded is fine. I think for my homebrew setting, beardless is preferred.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

And I imagine in a hot setting like Dark Sun, all dwarves might go without facial hair, much like the Muls do. It's just too damn hot for that.

Which is honestly funny, because in reality beards function as more of a shield against the sun than as a heater; it's why most men living in desert biomes don't shave.

 

[Marandahir]

Which is honestly funny, because in reality beards function as more of a shield against the sun than as a heater; it's why most men living in desert biomes don't shave.

Good point; I had forgotten the commonality of beards throughout the northern subtropical desert belt.

As a bearded man myself, I've usually cursed my beard whenever going to humid tropical climates like the Amazon. Shaved it off on more than one season in the field. But I haven't spent much time in deserts, so I haven't really noticed the lack of the heat problem with it in arid tropical climes. Makes sense that it would cause problems where it collects moist heat but less so when moisture is scarce.

 

[Fenris-77]

This information needs to codified and turned into a complex chart of beard modifiers by biome.

 

[Marandahir]

This information needs to codified and turned into a complex chart of beard modifiers by biome.

Which begs the question – what cultural penalties would Dwarves face for shaving off their beard to survive a hot and humid biome!?

NOT THE BEARD!

 

[Fenris-77]

Well, having just shaved mine off recently, we can start with no one recognizing you and move on to disadvantage against that cold wind from Canada. I think Dwarves would probably face a lot of sniggering behind their backs and possibly the odd juvenile prank in the lunchroom at the forge. You know, freezing their hammer into a block of ice, greasing the floor in front of the lunch buffet, that sort of thing. And they wouldn't get to sit at the table with the cool Dwarves.

 

[Winterthorn]

Oh just balance things out... Dwarven women can always grow beards if they want (lovely fine, soft, curly, braided, bejeweled ones), and elven men can never grow beards (not even one single folicle).

 

[Charlaquin]

And I imagine in a hot setting like Dark Sun, all dwarves might go without facial hair, much like the Muls do. It's just too damn hot for that.

Dark Sun aficionados feel free to correct me on this if I’m wrong, but I was pretty sure both Athasian dwarves and muls not only went without facial hair, but were in fact hairless.

 

[Marandahir]

Oh just balance things out... Dwarven women can always grow beards if they want (lovely fine, soft, curly, braided, bejeweled ones), and elven men can never grow beards (not even one single folicle).

What about Círdan the Ship-wright? Not to mention Nastajia's dad Oberon (of 'The Dreamland Chronicles' fame)?