Editing Dwarf

[[Image:Tordek.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Fig. 1.1: A dwarf. Note the prominent beard, the ornate axe, and the helmet covering everything above the ears.]]
A '''Dwarf''' (or more properly, Dorf) is a short guy who is made of muscle and beard and alcohol and awesome. No member of dwarf society can function without alcohol. Even their infants are made to chug a whole keg of ale down before Mommy ever lets the baby near her nipples (although, given the liquor intake of the average dwarven mother, she probably lactates eggnog). They like to live in [[Dwarf Fortress|fortresses]]. Dwarf characters should have one or a combination of the words "beer", "beard", "bronze", "stone", "Urist", "Mc/Mac", "iron", "hammer", or "axe" in their names. A good example would be Hammer McShieldbearded. They are one of the most iconic non-human races in fantasy media, alongside their eternal rivals, the [[elf|elves]]. Popularized by the works of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] and [[Gary Gygax]], dwarves are fundamental to most fantasy games and have earned themselves a place of eternal love on [[/tg/]].

==Dwarven Physiology==
Let's start with the obvious; dwarves are most readily distinguished from humans by their stature, being notably shorter than the human average. Over the editions, this has fluctated somewhat, but in general dwarves have a height range between 4 and 5 feet - which still makes them taller than [[gnomes]] and [[halflings]], who average closer to the 3ft-4ft mark. Combined with their strong builds and stocky frames, dwarves are technically considered Medium creatures rather than Small ones, although usually they're slower than "full-sized" Medium races.

Dwarves are noted for their rugged natures; their [[Constitution]] is higher than average and even beyond that, they're inherently resistant to poisons. This, incidentally, may play a part in their famous love of alcohol. In earlier editions, dwarves are also strongly resistant to magical energy, due to a combination of physical and mental fortitude; this aspect has died away over the editions as it was mostly used to justify dwarves not being able to play [[wizard]]s or [[bard]]s.

One of the most famous aspects of dwarven physiology is the beard. Dwarven men are prone to male pattern baldness, but compensate for it with the ability to readily grow thick, luscious, bushy beards and/or moustaches. Why? Well... because dwarves are just associated with beards. You can have cleanshaven dwarves - in fact, the dwarves of [[Dark Sun]] are naturally hairless - but the image is quite subversive.

Dwarves are often depicted as having difficulties reproducing - they may not be formally considered a "dying" race, but they often have either a slow population growth rate, or a dearth of females, if not both. In the [[Forgotten Realms]], traditional lore states that not only do dwarf men outnumber the women (only 3 in 10 dwarves are female), but also that 55% of the total population has fertility issues so bad tht they might as well be sterile when interbreeding with each other.

Mind you, Forgotten Realms actually gives a reason for this in the "Spawn Wars"; an ancient dwarven civil war where the dwarves used aberrations called Deepspawn to produce huge armies of clone soldiers. When the war ended, they were left with not only a surplus of males, but interbreeding with these clones (and clones of clones of clones) damaged their genetic stock, leaving the dwarves with their current damaged fertility.

Until 3rd edition basically retconned all the damage away, at least.

As part of this, dwarves usually aren't depicted as being capable of crossbreeding with other races, as elaborated on the [[half-dwarf]] page.

===The Bearded Females Debate===
If you bring up dwarves anywhere, chances are, you'll hear somebody mocking them for the idea that their womenfolk have beards. This stems from Tolkein, whose works established that dwarven women visually resemble dwarven men to the extent that human eyes can't tell them apart at a casual glance.

To be fair, in the earliest days of D&D, dwarf women ''did'' grow beards. But it wasn't long before [[TSR]] realized that, really, this was a silly idea. It was hastily retconned that in both [[Greyhawk]] and [[Forgotten Realms]] that some (or even all) dwarf women ''could'' grow beards, but they usually preferred to shave. In [[Dragonlance]], it was established that female dwarves don't grow beards proper, but instead merely have very bushy sideburns.

When WoTC took over, they did their best to sweep this under the rug. When [[Eberron]] was released, it was eplicitly stated that the native dwarves do '''not''' have bearded women. When 4th edition was rolled out, female dwarf beards were officially striken from the canon of D&D - they even devoted a section of "Wizards Presents: Races & Classes" to it - and this seems to be one 4e change that has since been preserved by 5e.

As an aside, 4th edition actually made its female dwarves surprisingly attractive, which, given that [[mul]]s also lost their [[grimderp]] "sterile and usually kill the mother in birth" lore, should have made human/dwarf relationships a lot more common...

==Dwarven Psychology==
Dwarves are generally described as a naturally Lawful race, if you put stock in [[alignment]]. Specifically, dwarves tend to be focused, discplined, organized, and naturally driven. When they start something, they devote their whole attention to it, and they hate to either leave something unfinished or give it anything less than their best. Furthermore, dwarves tend to be deeply conservative; they don't like change very much and are deep believers in the importance of tradition.

In contrast to the elves, dwarves are usually described as being a very stoic and emotionally closed off sort of race. Which is rather weird given how cheerful and friendly the dwarves are in Tolkien's original "The Hobbit" - most sources try to rectify the discrepancy by claiming that dwarves are naturally suspicious and so only let their hair down around people they feel they can truly trust. All of these factors combine to form the stereotype of the dwarf as a grumpy, surly, hard-working yet unpleasant little bugger. Two main failings are known to plague dwarves; the first is avarice, with dwarves readily succumbing to the siren call of greed, and the second is arrogance.

==Dwarven Culture==
Dwarf culture is usually described as fairly monolithic, although settings do play around with the basics - [[Dragonlance]] in particularly gives dwarves a very fleshed out history and culture.

Typically, dwarven culture is clannish, where extended family groupings form the foundation of greater dwarf society. Clans may be independent nation-states in their own right, or they may be used to form specific divisions of skill in dwarf society as a whole; for example, one clan may actually mine the ore, a second smiths it, a third trades with other races, and a fourth clan produces livestock.

Dwarven leadership is usually a form of parlimentarian monarchy, with clan-chiefs forming councils that advise but ultimately answer to a single reigning dwarf king. Dwarven culture may also have some aspects of a gerontocracy, although being a full-fledged case of "rulership by the eldest" is actually rarely seen.

Because dwarves don't like change much, dwarven society is usually depicted as being at best conservative and at worst stubbornly hidebound. Whether this is admirable, a surmountable issue or a fatal flaw tends to depend on what the setting designer thinks of dwarven conservatism.

Mining and smithing are usually portrayed as hugely important to dwarven culture, which is mythologically true. Of course, in the hands of some authors, this can be taken to silly extents - in [[Mystara]], originally, the Dwarves of Rockholm valued mining and smithing so much that the single clan responsible for herding livestock and farming was considered second-class and literally treated as a bunch of near-criminals. This was ultimately retconned via a case of reality ensuing, when the farmer-clan barricaded the smiths in their underground tunnels and told them "Okay you shits, let's see you ''eat'' that fucking gold!" As the smiths learned they couldn't actually eat gold, coal or iron, and so they were forced to admit that the farmers actually were an important part of the dwarven society.

In general, dwarf culture usually borrows a lot of themes and concepts from [[Viking|Nordic cultures]], seeing as how the fantasy dwarf is most closely derived from the Nordic dwarf. Depending on a DM's taste, they may supplement or replace this influence with Germanic, Scottish or Welsh attributes.

==Dwarven Flaws==
Many people, particularly on /tg/, have no problem whining about elves being gay, nature-loving, Mary Sues, but they forget Dwarves have problems too. In nearly every depiction of them, dwarves are greedy, unforgiving, racist hypocrites (Not an argument you pathetic Pansy Elf lovers) who lie about their history (they omit mistakes and people they're ashamed of from it) and fear innovation (Dwarves in [[Warhammer Fantasy|some fictional universes]] practically consider "progress" and "change" to be dirty words). They're also emotionally weak; if a human or an elf fails at something, they usually get back up and try again. If a Dwarf fails at something, they get [[Butthurt|depressed]] and never try again and get drunk. Worse, they may get obsessed and turn deathseeker over it, inevitably dragging countless others into a long, tragic saga over a relatively trivial matter.

Finally, Dwarves also have an annoying tendency to brag about being an "Elder Race" and demanding respect for it, yet Dwarves show no respect to races older and more long-lived than they are, such as Elves (Which is strange, since they always complain about these traits in other races, such as the [[Eldar]]).

==Dwarven Diplomacy==
Dwarves are said to lean mostly toward the Lawful Good alignment. In practice, this essentially means that they prefer to swindle other good-aligned creatures, spit on neutral creatures for being pansies, and kill anything that annoys them enough to be labeled "evil," but only after swindling and/or spitting on them. As of this writing, all sentient beings and most species of tree have been classified by the Dwarven Diplomacy Board as members of the last category (except humans; usually because most humans are sufficiently awed by Dwarfish technology to respect them, other humans are usually smart enough not to provoke Dwarves, and those that aren't are quickly killed off by the Dwarves).

Basically dwarves let their axes (and Celtic accents) talk for them. Fuckin' hardcore sons of bitches, they are.

==Dwarven Religion==
Dwarven religion usually centers around implicit or explicit ancestor worship. Dwarf gods tend to exemplify what dwarves consider both the proper way to behave and the iconic virtues of their race. In D&D lore, the traditional leader of the dwarf gods is [[Moradin]] (or [[Reorx]], on Krynn); a gruff, no-nonsense creator-deity obsessed with making stuff and ensuring the multiverse is filled with creation.

Other deities tend to be subordinate to Moradin and usually a lot more forgettable, being just "dwarfy" takes on standard archetypes like the War God or the Love Goddess.

==Dwarves vs. Gnomes==
Casuals who stumble across [[Dungeons & Dragons]] may find themselves wondering why there are ''two'' races of mechanically adept, artist, short hairy men in the game; the dwarves and the [[gnomes]]. Well, the answer is fairly simply.

See, in mythology, "dwarves" and dwarf-like beings cover a wide spectrum of critters. They're usually considered a kind of faerie, and thusly in many cultures, dwarves are depicted not as the stern, grim, magical craftsmen of [[Viking]] lore, but as surprisingly down-to-earth people, but possessed of many magical abilities. There are many stories of dwarves in European cultures weaving illusions and changing shapes and otherwise performing all manner of mystical feats. Now, [[Gygax]] and his buddies were big mythology buffs, and they knew these stories. But, at the same time, they were also huge [[Tolkien]] fans, and their vision for the prototype of D&D was to use the Tolkienian model for dwarves. So, in the end, they said "fuck it", and just brought the magical yet down to earth dwarves of Europe into D&D as gnomes, whilst dwarves in the Tolkien model were allowed to retain their name. And it has continued ever since out of tradition.

The highlight of this has to be found in [[Mystara]], the very first campaign setting of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. In this setting, originally, the dwarves were a people known as the Kogolor, who dwelled in cities they established on the mountains. Physically and mentally, they were more like the gnomes of the present day; outgoing, cheerful, talkative and gregarious. They had no particular resistance to magic or toxin, nor any great focus on craftsmanship, although they were (and remain) great brewers of liquor. During the Great Rain of Colorless Fire, their numbers began to drop rapidly, as the poisons released by the [[Blackmoor]] disaster devastated their number. An Immortal named [[Kagyar]] decided that he could use the dwarves to create a race to his design; one shaped to survive against future disasters of this scale. He took the hardiest of the Kogolor and made them tougher still, granting them resistance to magic and toxin. He filled their minds with an obsession to craft lasting works in stone and metal - things would survive the passage of time - and made them feel an instinctive yearning for the shelter of deep caves, that they would naturally gravitate towards homes that doubled as fallout shelters. He made them stubborn, conservative, and xenophobic, inclined to shun others and to cling to tradition above all else, that they would not stray from this mold. Satisfied with his work, he dubbed them "dwarves" and returned them to claim the mountains of Mystara, whilst the Kogolor he absent-mindedly swept away and discarded in the Hollow World. This did not sit particularly well with one of Kagyar's students, Garal Glitterlode - the prototype for [[Garl Glittergold]], himself an ascended Kogolor. Since his former people were gone, he recreated them, this time shaping them to be smaller and more flexible, to seek out shelter in forests as well as mountains, and thus were born the first gnomes, as a more "true to the original" descendant of the original Kogolor.

==Variant Dwarfs==
Though the above is pretty much the standard template for dwarves, some settings have shown some deviance from them... usually in the form of sub-races or offshoot clans.

*[[Duergar]] are the most famous, having originated in the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting. Essentially the dwarf equivalent to [[Drow]], they have been typically characterized as joyless ''pricks'' who hate sunlight, ornamentation, all other races, and pretty much anything other than working themselves to death, to the point their racial patron doubles as a god of slavery and toil (appropriate given their frequent use as slave labor by the drow). Except in 4e, where they were diabolists who interbred with devils and gave themselves big sharp poisoned quills in their beards.
*The other big name in alternate dwarves are the [[Derro]], who are basically completely bug-fuck insane dwarves who dwell in the [[Underdark]].
*Innugaakalikurit, or "Arctic Dwarves" are white-haired, live on the surface in the Arctic tundra, wield harpoons and bows instead of axes and picks, are immune to the cold and love to suntan themselves until their skin turns red.
*Wild Dwarves live like feral headhunting pygmies in the jungle and use poisoned weapons.
*Desert Dwarves are native to [[Maztica]], they use stone tools instead of iron.
*[[Dragonlance]] divided its dwarves up into Mountain and Hill clans, with the addition of "Dark" clans who lived alongside the Mountain Dwarves and were really weird - the Daewar, for example, were all sorcerers. This setting also introduced the abomination of the [[Gully dwarf]] species; filthy, stupid, ugly, smelly, disgusting abominations that are the bastard offspring of dwarves and [[gnomes]].
*Kogolor Dwarves are technically the oldest dwarves in all of D&D; native to [[Mystara]], these dwarves are literally the ancestor species of the modern dwarf, and are much more like gnomes in behavior. Most notably, they lack the dwarven knack for craftsmanship - save in brewing beer, ale and wine - and are cheerful, outgoing, friendly and welcoming. Also, absurdly Swedish, to the point of dressing in lederhosen and having a special proficiency in yodelling. Because of the Rain of Colorless Fire and the intervention of Kagyar the Artisan, they only survive in the [[Hollow World]], having been abandoned there after being replaced with "conventional" dwarves.

===Elemental Dwarves===
Since the dawn of the game, the [[Element]]al Plane of Fire has been home to [[Azer]]s, who look like bronze-skinned dwarves with great flaming beards & hair. For most editions, they have been officially classified as "not dwarves", with Pathfinder describing them as a race of elemental constructs who just happen to look like dwarves (a step 5e basically stole). 4e, however, went and said "yes, they're dwarves; at the dawn of time, dwarves were slaves to giants (who're elementals) - the ones who didn't get away in time eventually became elementals themselves".

There's also the oft-forgotten Earth elemental the galeb duhr, who became a rock-elemental dwarf in 4e, the never-made-it-out-of-2e Urdunnir/Sonsannan (a gem-eating grey dwarf with innate earth walk, shape stone and shape metal at-will spell-like abilities) and the 4e-exclusive Eisk Jaat (ice dwarf).

[[Dragon Magazine]] #383 contains the rules for Forgeborn Dwarves, a dwarfin variant representing clans who didn't ''quite'' get away from the Giants in time. They basically took a racial feat that gave them resistance to Acid, Cold, Fire and Lightning damage and let them deal bonus elemental damage whenever they hit someone once per encounter.

==Unique Dwarven Strains==
For obvious reasons, this page has mostly talked about dwarves as depicted in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], which is the most widespread of /tg/ games and thus the most iconic depiction of dwarves. But, there are other games on /tg/ that have more unique depictions of dwarves...

The dwarves of [[Warhammer Fantasy]] [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|have their own page]], but in a nutshell can be described as taking the D&D dwarf stereotype and cranking the knobs up a couple of notches. They are Grudge-obsessed, culturally unchanging, and absolutely racist fucks who only barely tolerate humans and hate every single other thing, especially each other when they have a reason, to varying degrees. They almost wiped themselves out just out of their inability to resolve conflicts such as those caused by an insult given by accident ten generations ago while a third invading force was on the march causing a three-way fight where the Dwarfs could only lose. But out of sheer tenacity and refusal to admit weakness or being wrong, they managed to make it to the [[End Times|death of the setting]] as a powerful force.

Their cousins, the evil [[Chaos Dwarfs]], force magic into their own bodies unnaturally (as Warhammer Dwarf bodies and minds resist and nullify magic) which slowly turns them to stone. They have an intense hatred of all other races, to the point of being like their kin with an even bigger Grudge. They are based on Mesopotamians, and the size and type of their hat is more important to them than a beard.

In [[Shadowrun]], the dwarven fondness for crafting and artisianship has led to them mostly abandoning old-fashioning smithing and turning to cybernetics and digital engineering - the iconic dwarf is a cybered-up hacker, not a warrior or a smith. Also, beards are basically unimportant to dwarves, but the males usualy wear beards in order to stop humans from mistaking them for children.

In [[Castle Falkenstein]], dwarves are an all-male race of [[artificer]]s, who do the mining and smithing thing mostly to support their love of being mad scientist engineers. In fact, they used to be magical fairies, but they gave up their magic and their immortality (although they still like a long time) to be able to work with iron. They couldn't give two shits about their beards, are immune to fire and magic, are superhumanly strong, have goose-like feet (which they're very embarrassed about, so '''don't mention them'''), and reproduce by interbreeding with female fairies; sons are dwarves, daughters are fairies. Incidentally, this is why they tend to be so obsessed with making their mark on the world; this is the only way they can change their name to what they want, instead of being stuck with a typical fairy name like "Morningblossom" or "Buttercup". Also, rather than an axe, an angry dwarf will usually try and club you to death with a fuck-off-huge wrench.

==Dwarf PCs Throughout History==
{{dnd-stub}}

===Basic D&D (todo)===

===Advanced D&D (todo)===
The dwarf PC first appeared in the AD&D [[Player's Handbook]], specifically with the classic subraces of Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf. Rules would later be expanded upon with their own dedicated sourcebook, the Complete Book of Dwarves, which provided not only a collection of dwarfin cultural notes, but also dedicated dwarf [[kits]] and complete ability score writeups for the six extant dwarven subraces of the time; Mountain Dwarf, Hill Dwarf, Deep Dwarf (a non-evil [[Underdark]]-dwelling dwarf, which would be phased out in subsequent editions), Sundered Dwarf (surface-dwelling culturally shattered dwarves), Gully Dwarf (degenerate and stupid dwarf-kin originating from [[Dragonlance]]), and [[Duergar]].

::Dwarven Hardiness: All Dwarves receive a bonus to their saving throws against poison and magical attacks determined by their Constitution modifier; +1 for Con 4-6, +2 for Con 7-10, +3 for Con 11-13, +4 for Con 14-17, and +5 for Constitution 18-19.
::Racial Enmity: [[Ogre]]s, [[troll]s, [[oni]], [[giant]]s and [[titan]]s suffer a -4 penalty on attack rolls against dwarves. Dwarves receive a +1 bonus to attack rolls made against [[orc]]s, [[half-orc]]s, [[goblin]]s and [[hobgoblin]]s.
::Magical Interference: When a dwarf attempts to use a magic item that is ''not'' either specifically intended for the dwarf's class or else a weapon, shield, armor, gauntlet or girdle, there is a 20% chance that it will instead dramatically fail. A check is made each time the dwarf attempts to use an item; if it fails one time, it may work the next, and vice-versa.
::Stonecunning: Dwarves are naturally adept at surviving underground, and can attempt to identify specific aspects of their environment by rolling a d6. A dwarf can detect the gradient or slope of a passage on a 1-5, detect new tunnels or other construction on a 1-5, identify sliding/shifting walls and rooms on a 1-4, locate stonework traps/pits/deadfalls on a 1-3, and estimate just how deep underground they are on a 1-3.
::Dwarves have a base movement rate of 6, and encumbrance affects their movement rate as follows: Light (None), Moderate (-1/3rd), Heavy (-1/2) and Severe (-2/3rds).

'''Hill Dwarf:'''
::Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Minimums/Maximums: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/18, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/17
::Infravision: 60 feet
::Class/Level Limits: Warrior 15, Priest 10, Thief 12
::Thief Skill Adjustments: +10% Open Locks, +15% Find/Remove Traps, -10% Climb Walls, -5% Read Languages

'''Mountain Dwarf:'''
::Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Minimums/Maximums: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/19, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/16
::Infravision: 60 feet
::Class/Level Limits: Warrior 16, Priest 10, Thief 12
::Thief Skill Adjustments: +10% Open Locks, +15% Find/Remove Traps, -10% Climb Walls, -5% Read Languages

'''Deep Dwarf:'''
::Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
::Ability Score Minimums/Maximums: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/16, Constitution 13/19, Intelligence 3/18, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/15
::Infravision: 90 feet
::Special Advantage: +1 to the dwarven saving throw bonus against poison and magical attacks.
::Special Disadvantage: -1 penalty on attack rolls when within Sunlight or Continual Light spells.
::Class/Level Limits: Warrior 14, Priest 12, Thief 10
::Thief Skill Adjustments: +5% Pick Pockets, +10% Find/Remove Traps, +5% Hide In Shadows, -10% Climb Walls, -15% Read Languages

'''Sundered Dwarf:'''
::Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma
::Ability Score Minimums/Maximums: Strength 8/18, Dexterity 3/17, Constitution 11/18, Intelligence 3/16, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/16
::Infravision: 30 feet
::Special Disadvantage: Sundered Dwarves are Claustrophobic; they must successfully save vs. death in order to overcome their fear before they can enter any underground locale, be it a dungeon, cave or tomb. Furthermore, when underground, a sundered dwarf suffers a -2 penalty to its attack rolls. Each day they remain underground, they must make another save vs. death to master their claustrophobia; if they fail, then their attack penalty increases by -1 for each additional day spent underground. Once a sundered dwarf has panicked like this, the saving throw vs. death to try and master its claustrophobia takes a penalty equal to the attack roll penalty.
::Class/Level Limits: Warrior 14, Priest 10, Thief 15
::Thief Skill Adjustments: +5% Open Locks, +10% Find/Remove Traps, +5% Move Silently, +5% Hide in Shadows, -10% Read Languages

'''Gully Dwarf:'''
::Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, -2 Charisma
::Ability Score Minimums/Maximums: Strength 6/18, Dexterity 6/18, Constitution 8/16, Intelligence 3/12, Wisdom 3/14, Charisma 3/12
::Infravision: 60 feet
::Special Advantage: Gully dwarves excel at the art of groveling, and can attempt to avoid being attacked by mock-fainting or putting on a pitiful display of pleading. All hostile creatures must succeed on a save vs. spells, with a penalty depending on the gully dwarf's level (-2 at level 5-8, -3 at level 9-12, -5 at level 13+) or be incapable of actually harming the gully dwarf, though they can still capture or otherwise restrain it.
::Special Disadvantage: Gully dwarves are legendarily stupid, and even if a gully dwarf PC is uncommonly smart for its kind, it should still be portrayed as a dimwitted simpleton. Additionally, gully dwarves are so wretched that magic items have a 40% chance of failing to work for them, rather than the normal 20% chance.
::Class/Level Limits: Warrior 8, Priest 8, Thief 16
::Thief Skill Adjustments: +10% Pick Pockets, -5% Open Locks, +5% Find/Remove Traps, -5% Hide In Shadows, -5% Climb Walls, -25% Read Languages

===3rd Edition===
====3.0 (todo)====

====3.5 (todo)====

===Pathfinder (todo)===

===4th Edition===
Iconic, well-defined, and readily adapted, the dwarf took pride of place in the very first Player's Handbook, where they were the second PC race option only because [[Dragonborn]] alphabetically precedes them. This version of the dwarf didn't have the flashy racial powers that most other races of the edition had, but emphasized its traditional strengths with lots of racial traits, which made them one of the hardiest races in the game, and yet also surprisingly good at being [[Cleric]]s, [[Shaman]]s and [[Druid]]s.

::Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom (or +2 Strength, post Essentials Update)
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 5 squares (25 feet)
::Vision: Low-Light
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Dungeoneering, +2 Endurance
::Cast-Iron Stomach: +5 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
::Dwarven Resilience: Triggering 2nd Wind only costs you a minor action.
::Dwarven Weapon Proficiency: You have proficiency with the throwing hammer and the warhammer.
::Encumbered Speed: You ignore the normal movement penalties caused by armor or carrying a heavy load.
::Stand Your Ground: You can choose to reduce the effects of all forced movements (pull, push, slide) by -1 square; this can negate an effect that would normally only move you 1 square. Additionally, you can immediately make saving throws against attacks that would knock you prone.

4e also introduced the concept of subraces in two different ways.

[[Dragon Magazine]] #383 introduced the ''Forgeborn'' subrace for dwarves, representing dwarves whose ancestors hadn't been freed from their slavery to the [[Archomental|Primordials]] before elemental energy had contaminated them, turning them into essentially the dwarven equivalent of [[genasi]]. This version of a subrace took advantage of the plethora of feats that 4e characters received. A forgeborn dwarf was defined by taking a normal dwarf and then taking the Forgeborn Heritage feat; this gave them the Elemental Legacy racial power (1/encounter, when you hit an enemy with an attack, inflict +3/tier Acid, Cold, Fire or Lighting damage - your choice of which element) as well as minor resistance to Acid, Cold, Fire and Lightning damage simultaneously. Not much - 2 points of damage resistance, increasing to DR 3 at 11th level and to DR 5 at 21st level.

Of course, the racial feat Iron Hide Resilience boosted this damage resistance to 5 points per character tier; still inferior to the fire resistance of [[tiefling]]s or the cold resistance of winterki [[eladrin]], but hey, you're getting '''four''' types of damage resistance for the price of two feats; don't get greedy!

Other forgeborn feats include Ancestral Wrath (+1 speed when bloodied), Keen Hatred (using Elemental Legacy grants a +2 bonus to your next attack roll), Wrathful Legacy (Elemental Legacy recharges the first time you are bloodied), Improved Legacy (boosted damage with Elemental Legacy) and Wrathful Resurgence (gain temporary hitpoints when you use 2nd Wind).

The forgeborn also have a racial [[Paragon Path]] in the ''Fireforged Champion'', which is very focused on withstanding and dishing out fire damage - very reminiscent of the [[azer]]s.

The [[Neverwinter]] campaign setting was much simpler, instead presenting alternate racial traits that a dwarf could simply "swap in". Gold Dwarves could replace Cast-Iron Stomach with Cast-Iron Mind (+5 racial bonus to saves against ongoing psychic damage) and could change their dwarven racial proficiency from hammers to the war pick and the maul. Shield Dwarves were even simpler; they could trade their racial proficency with hammers to proficiency with ''either'' handaxes & battleaxes or light shields.

===5th Edition===
Your trusty dwarf, of course, once again appeared in the [[Player's Handbook]], with the Mountain Dwarf and Hill Dwarf subraces. The [[Forgotten Realms|Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide]] added the [[Duergar]] subrace as well.

* Ability Score: +2 Constitution
* Typical Alignment: Favor Lawful Good.
* Size: Medium. Listed as being between 4 and 5 feet tall, and average 150 pounds.
* Speed: 25 feet
* Darkvision
* Dwarven Resilience: Advantage on saving throws against poison, and resistance against poison damage.
* Dwarven Combat Training: Proficiency with Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer, and, of course, Warhammer.
* Free tool proficiency with choice of smith's, brewer's or mason's tools.
* Stonecunning: Double Proficiency bonus when making history checks on the origin of stonework.
* Languages: Common and Dwarvish.

Of course, subraces get their own bonuses.

'''Hill Dwarf'''
* Ability Score: +1 Wisdom
* Dwarven Toughness: Free +1 max hp every level.

'''Mountain Dwarf'''
* Ability Score: +2 Strength (only subrace which allows you to start with two +2 bonuses)
* Dwarven Armor Training: Free Proficiency with Light and Medium Armor.

The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide also gave info on the Duregar subrace, the dour, evil cousins of the dwarves that inhabit the Underdark.

'''Duregar'''
* Ability Score: +1 Strength
* Superior Darkvision (120 feet max instead of plain Darkvision's 60 feet)
* Duregar Resilience: Advantage on saves against illusions and being charmed or paralyzed.
* Duregar Magic: Free Enlarge/Reduce at 3rd level, and free Invisibility at 5th level, but has an interesting limitation: they cannot be cast when you are in direct sunlight. The spells still work while you're in sunlight if you cast them somewhere else, but while you're in the sun, nada. Both spells recharge on a long rest, and use Intelligence as their spellcasting Modifier.
* Sunlight Sensitivity: Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you're trying to perceive, is in direct sunlight.

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{D&D5e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

==Dwarf Fortress==
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This is how Dwarves appear in [[Dwarf Fortress]].
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===Dwarven Physiology===
Dwarves typically consist of seventeen main organs: The beard (yes, female dwarves have these too), the boozehole, the gratuitous Celtic accent, 13 livers and an axe. Many outsiders erroneously dismiss a dwarf's axe as an implement of the most common trade, but recent experiments probing into dwarven society (and consuming dwarven booze) have revealed that it is in fact a rare biological example of a fully detachable organ.

The beard is used primarily for attracting mates, and probably something to do with converting argon gas into vitamin C. I mean, these guys live on mead and rocks, so they gotta get antioxidants somehow, right? We'll just go with that. The only notable thing to remember about dwarf beards is that when a pansy human and a dwarf argue over whether or not shaved chicks are better, they're probably not on the same page. The thirteen livers do the same thing as a human liver, just thirteen times better (equaling 169 times the alcohol). Maybe other shit, too, but dwarves don't have time for boring biology crap. Moving on. Boozeholes are for booze. There's other shit you can throw in there too, but those things mostly just act like a sponge, hampering the booze-absorption process. If a particularly whiny dwarf feels the need to "not starve to death," he can fill his empty boozehole with some nice non-porous rocks, or maybe a stack of five wine and rendered fat biscuits if he's really desperate. The accent is used for interrace relations, since dorfs typically spice up their sentences with foul swears and oaths the incomprehensibility of the accent is the only reason a dorf-notdorf alliance was ever made.

===Dwarven Mating Practices===
The dwarven male touches the female and promptly impregnate them. She then immediately falls in love with the dwarf male (love was originally something created for record keeping but has evolved into the ability to share one's room) and has a baby nine months later. Then the baby dies on a goblin's -copper spear-

Dwarfs do not [[half-dwarf|interbreed]] with the other races. Dwarf sperm is too corrosive to fertilize any woman that doesn't have +4 save vs. poison, and dwarven wombs don't even acknowledge the weak spoor of even the most fecund of human gigolos. The only [[half-dwarf]] is a bisected dwarf, likely from an unfortunate axeident.

===Dwarven Society===
Dwarven cities, called "fortresses", are underground. Now, we're not talking nice little hillside retreats full of plenty of free cake and fat, chain-smoking midgets. I'm looking at you, "Ring Bearer." No, dwarves live in mountains they carve out themselves with their bare fucking hands. I kid you not. Those *copper picks* are purely status symbols.

Your average dwarf spends his free time wishing he had more to do or, ideally, has no free time. If a dwarf ain't busy building something huge, epically awesome and dwarfy, he ain't happy. Idleness in dwarves has been medically proven to result in depression, erectile dysfunction, chronic sobriety, facial pattern baldness and [[elves|pointy ears]].

Other honorable pursuits among dwarves include digging, metalworking, stoneworking, brewing booze, killing goblins, killing kobolds, thinking of new ways to kill giants, tragically neglecting safety protocol when visited by elven liaisons, swindling gullible elves and humans, and drinking contests.

Dwarven politics are a funny thing, even if they are obviously superior to all that sissy tall people "let's talk about our problems" bullshit. Upon visiting a [[Dwarf Fortress|dwarven stronghold]], you will notice a perhaps disproportionate number of dwarves running around draped in purple velvet and pimpin' bling. Absolutely fucking useless.

No, if you want to find the guy in charge, whip out your measuring stick, 'cause the largest beard you come across is likely attached to the boozehole giving the orders. The owners of these beautiful, shaggy neck blankets often go for bonus points by decking out their beards with thick braids and two-ton cast iron phallic symbols and whatever else their presumably dwarfy square jaws can support. If you need a question answered, these are the guys who'll tell you "no, fuck you, we're doing it my way."

===Dwarven Religion===
[[File:Ironbeard_dwarfbreath.JPG|300px|thumb|right|Dwarves will build elaborate floodgates and use them as weapons, even as their clothes rot from their bodies.]]
In a time before time, the god of blood ([[Khorne|no, not that one... at least probably not]]) created the universe on a colossal anvil, and then molded the first dwarves with earth, blood, and magma. He also molded the other races out of mud and dust, but he was less than pleased with them. Then He sat back, and as the universe grew older and more peaceful, He grew bored.

He called his children around Him, and said. "Dwarves. This universe grows boring. I will remake it on the forge of creation, unless it becomes less boring"

The dwarves were obviously terrified. And then Urist, the firstborn and the bravest of them, had an idea. He asked His god how could they possibly make the universe less boring for Him.

So He gave His chosen people, the dwarves, their holy mission: to make this world a world of everlasting conflict, so He may escape divine boredom. He gave them their tools of war : the axe, the hammer, the floodgate and the lever, so they may shed blood and magma in His name.

Dwarves worship the stone and earth that surrounds them. Each strike of the pick is a psalm, and each tunnel is a sacrament, and the miner is the dwarves's priest.

Dwarves worship the fiery magma that they were made of. Magma is a purifying force and therefore they pour it on [[elf|elves]], kobolds, goblins and other less worthy creatures.

Dwarves also worship blood, as one of the elements of life, and shed the blood of lesser creatures because it pleases Him, else the universe will be set upon the anvil of creation to be reforged.

Everything a dwarf does is to please their god of blood.

The song of the pick and of the battle axe is music to His ears. The magma-charred corpse of an elf is food to His hunger. The spilled lifeblood of goblins is drink for His insatiable thirst.

PRAISE ARMOK! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!
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==Historical Comparison==
On the whole Dwarves across fiction tend to have the following tendencies...

* Are typically employed in metal related artisanry rather than as agricultural workers
** Additionally in fantasy settings with technology on higher level (warhammer fantasy is a good example) Dwarves are typically the ones with the most advanced. If any one has gun powder, they do. 
* Tend to live in tightly-knit relatively insular communities and have interconnected extended families.
* Despite that, these communities work in conjunction and are dependent on other peoples (ale is made from barley, which - like all plants - tends not to grow well at the bottom of a mine without sunlight) which generally outnumber them, trading their metalworks and other products in exchange for food.
* While they can speak the languages of others that surround them quite well, they usually use their own language amongst themselves
* Are conservative (in that their society is the way that they like it, thank you very much, and seldom change it, if ever)
* Tend to put a great amount of emphasis on the written word
* Often have their communities come under assault by [[Orc|stupid brutish morons]]
* Grow long beards (depending on the universe, women included)
* Generally are a declining race having suffered some disaster at their golden age and are slowly dying off.

As such, if one thinks in terms of historical analogues, Dwarves come across as early Germanics, Australians and, in a more [[Tolkien]]-influenced work, Jews. Tolkien said that his "dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic." The comparison was largely a stylistic choice - semitic languages are quite different in structure from Indo-European languages (being a linguist, he put a lot of thought into his made-up languages), while thematically, the loss of Erebor and the exile of Thorin's people resembled the plight of the post-Roman Jewish diaspora. Of course, some people suggest that the real reason for the comparison was racist in nature - both dwarves and the stereotype of Jews are that they're greedy. Tolkien however made it a point that his characters, while just as fallible as any other human being, were ultimately heroic and honorable.

On the other hand, much of Dwarven culture, like most aspects of Tolkien's major races, derives from early Germanic culture - Tolkien's Dwarves are even named after Dwarves from Norse mythology; nearly all dwarven names come directly from the Norse Eddas. In many fantasy universes, they tend to ape Scandinavian culture much more directly, which is fitting, considering the mythology they come from. [[Warhammer Fantasy|Even if there are already]] [[Warriors of Chaos|Scandinavian]] [[Warhammer Fantasy|people in the setting]].

Another common historical analogue are Celts, in particular Scots, living in clans, in the mountains, full of berserker rage when angered, hospitable when not, gruff, wear horned helmets, are drunkards, short, grippy with money, brew the strongest ales, skilled artificers and usually starters of anything remotely resembling industrialization, are fond of Celtic knotwork and of course speak in Scottish accents like many depictions of dwarves.

Of note is is the spelling: Dwarves VS Dwarfs. when in doubt, look for how it's used in the setting involved. Nearly everyone uses the first spelling when regarding the fantasy creature. The Dwarfs variation is mainly used in astronomy, biology (dwarfism), the Snow White animation movie, and the [[Warhammer_Fantasy_Battle|WFB]] race. The latter is actually the original, more common version. Tolkien viewed 'dwarfs' rather unsightly, and coined 'dwarves' (paralleling elf-> elves, and wolf -> wolves. Related: milf -> milves). Usually, Dwarf is the singular, Dwarves is the plural.

The most common name for a dwarf on /tg/, however, is Dorf (plural: Dorfz), which results from psudophonetics, as do many /tg/ related words and [[meme]]s.

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}
Whether or not dwarves can be [[monstergirls]] is an issue of.. some debate on /tg/. See, whereas the [[elf]] races have always been portrayed as full of beautiful women, and female elves are the archetype for elfin characters, dwarves are considered an incredibly masculine race; can you name a dwarf character who ''wasn't'' male? Add to it the ancient lore of dwarven women being bearded, and female dwarves have generally been in the sad position of being considered ''less'' inherently fuggable than female [[goblin]]s and [[orc]]s.

But this is /tg/, and fantasy has moved on. As editions have gone past, D&D dwarves have gotten hotter and sexier, their bearded past consigned to [[Discworld|one particular comic relief section of fantasy]] and the desks of the most hardcore [[grognard]]s, and /tg/ has slowly begun to open to the idea that dwarf women can be hot.

The monstergirl dwarf typically fills what is called the [[shortstack]] niche; small yet truly curvaceous women (which was actually the canon direction D&D 4e took for them) who let their stature work ''for'' them in terms of being sexy. The modern iteration of the dwarf monstergirl often incorporates aspects of either the musclegirl (a strong yet sexy woman), the ladette (a hot woman who nonetheless acts like one of the guys), or both; the end result is a hard-playing hot woman who will sit on the couch with you, nestled neatly into your lap as she cheers on the wrestling or the monster trucks of whatever, eating spicy wings and chugging beer by the gallon, and who'll then drag you into bed and fuck you until the bed breaks afterwards, all whilst being the perfect height you can pick her up and carry her around. Or she can give you a blowjob without even needing to bend down. A third option is the dirndl-clad traditional lady, often carrying several large tankards of ale for the thirsty men. This plays more to their German roots and caters to an entirely different kind of taste. Incidentally, male dwarves wearing the ''tracht'' that form the counterparts of said dresses (think something like lederhosen) is rather uncommon.

Or there's the Japanese take on the idea, where your female dwarf is a spunky, super-strong [[loli]] with an elaborately oversized hairdo, as seen in hentai like [[Queen's Blade]].

==See Also==
* [[Unified_Setting/Dwarf]]
* [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)]]
* [[Dwarf Fortress]]
* [[Squat]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWz0qVvBZ0 Diggy Diggy Hole], a song based on a one-note joke in a Yogscast video on [[Minecraft]], but manages to summarize the true dwarven way of life perfectly.

==Gallery==
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Image:4e_Dwarves_1.jpg
Image:4e_Dwarves_2.jpg
Image:4e_Dwarves_3.jpg
Image:4e_Female_Dwarf_Rogue_Concept.jpg
Image:4e Female_Dwarf_Cleric_Concept.jpg
Image:4e_Female_Dwarf_Rampaging_Brute.jpg
Image:4e_Female_Dwarf_Wizard.jpg
Image:Eva_Widermann_4e_Female_Dwarves.jpg
Image:KHALID_OAKDICK.jpg|KHALID OAKDICK, BEARDKING OF THE KINGBEARD CLAN!
Image:-Neanderthal-Comparison-2.jpg|Scientists say that the Homo Neanderthals were the forefathers of the concept of the Dwarves, and they rightfully look like one too... God bless our extinct stone-age brethren.
</gallery>
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[[Category:Dwarves]][[Category:Dwarf Fortress]]