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View Full Version : Why do you play a: Dwarf



Hurlbut
2010-07-15, 01:41 PM
What is it about the dwarf that made you want to play them for at least some of your characters?

For me, it was the traits they epitome; Stoic, Stubborn, Industrious, Endurance, Hard Working, Tough, Orderly, Traditional. They like to work with their hands. Regardless of their short stature, they represent a kind of manliness that appeals to me.

My friends think I would be a dwarf cleric based on my personality. :smalltongue:

Prodan
2010-07-15, 01:44 PM
This would not work out as well on a human. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7814.msg257943#msg257943)

LibraryOgre
2010-07-15, 01:49 PM
Because I want to be the living distillation of awesome.

Optimystik
2010-07-15, 01:55 PM
I like being short, and still Medium.

Also, you have the perfect excuse to be perpetually surly - Cha penalty!

JonestheSpy
2010-07-15, 01:57 PM
Because I love Gimli so much (pre-frickin movie).

arguskos
2010-07-15, 01:58 PM
Because I want to be the living distillation of awesome.
We have a winner.

Or, in my private setting, because I want to be a part of a cave-dwelling hive mind that doesn't suck. :smalltongue:

Blazen
2010-07-15, 02:04 PM
From a Char op. side of things in 4e. Dwarves are one of the best races in the game. They get bonuses to 2 essential stats that are almost never dumped, and have posssibly the best racial abilities in the game, bar Humans.

Morph Bark
2010-07-15, 02:08 PM
Because I want to act like my beard is the most awesome feature of my entire body and actually contains my soul.

Ravens_cry
2010-07-15, 02:12 PM
This would not work out as well on a human. (http://http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7814.msg257943#msg257943)

That link worked like magic. That is to say, it didn't.
That link worked like a perfectly functional, perfectly mundane, hyperlink.
That is to say, it did.
Thanks.

Prodan
2010-07-15, 02:14 PM
I fixed it.

Feel free to change your post to reflect that.

taltamir
2010-07-15, 02:18 PM
That link worked like magic. That is to say, it didn't.

You know... I never thought about it before, but the saying "worked like magic" for some reason implies something works perfectly. This is rather odd...

Obviously they mean "it works so good that it seems to be supernatural". But ...

gbprime
2010-07-15, 02:35 PM
You play a dwarf because you either want to play to the stereotype or you want to break it. Runesmiths are awesome. Assuming you have the stats to handle it, you're wearing plate armor, slinging around a warhammer, and hosing the enemy down with Slow, Confusion, and the odd Scorching Ray. Brilliant, and still gruff as nails. :smallcool:

Vizzerdrix
2010-07-15, 02:36 PM
This has been discussed. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNrLMob39qI)

Optimystik
2010-07-15, 02:37 PM
Or be a Dream Dwarf with the sorcerer substitution levels in RoS - now that's shattering a stereotype.

(They make good Earth Shugenja too.)

Coidzor
2010-07-15, 02:56 PM
Because I want to act like my beard is the most awesome feature of my entire body and actually contains my soul.

Act? :smallconfused:

Sarquion
2010-07-15, 02:58 PM
Because I love Gimli so much (pre-frickin movie).

Thats why I would choose a dwarf if I were to choose a class that'll suit a dwarf. Gimli is awsem. I just realised that we effectively have Aragon (human ranger with close combat tree), Legolas (elven ranger with ranged tree) and Gimli (dwarf fighter (in this case fighter barbarian)) in the campaign i am currently in.

Hurlbut
2010-07-15, 02:59 PM
Fighter/Barbarian, heh, the good ol' Battle Rager.

Ravens_cry
2010-07-15, 03:14 PM
You play a dwarf because you either want to play to the stereotype or you want to break it.
I agree there. Glorying in a stereotype can be as much fun as taking a stereotype over your knee and snapping it in twain.

Caphi
2010-07-15, 03:19 PM
I just realised that we effectively have Aragon (human ranger with close combat tree)

Actually he just uses the one +X holy longsword. He's a fighter with Leadership and Power of Plot.

arrowhen
2010-07-15, 03:20 PM
Because I'm a stout, hairy, grumpy drunk in real life, too.

Scarey Nerd
2010-07-15, 03:20 PM
My friends think I would be a dwarf cleric based on my personality. :smalltongue:

I don't know if you have already, but take this test (http://easydamus.com/character.html), and see if you are a Dwarf Cleric :smallsmile:.

Fax Celestis
2010-07-15, 03:30 PM
Or be a Dream Dwarf with the sorcerer substitution levels in RoS - now that's shattering a stereotype.

(They make good Earth Shugenja too.)

I'm playing an Earth Dwarf Druid (Earth domain)/Stonespeaker Guardian, with aim on High Elemental Binder (Earth) after this.

I am pretty much an earth elemental with a beard.

How is this not awesome?

Ormagoden
2010-07-15, 03:38 PM
Because you get to sing of course!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzYof5GjhQ8)

Keld Denar
2010-07-15, 03:40 PM
That depends, Master Celestis, do you often strike people with said beard? Because the dwarfiest dwarf smites his enemies with the beardiness of his beard.

Grumman
2010-07-15, 03:42 PM
What is it about the dwarf that made you want to play them for at least some of your characters?
The Runesmith PrC, and the option to swap Urgosh proficiency for Warpike proficiency, for the One ManDwarf Pike Regiment character concept.

But I really prefer to use the dwarf rules as a counts-as human.

arguskos
2010-07-15, 03:43 PM
That depends, Master Celestis, do you often strike people with said beard? Because the dwarfiest dwarf smites his enemies with the beardiness of his beard.
Dwarf Monk/Wizard who uses silverbeard, greater mighty wallop and unarmed strikes?

"I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY SILVERY BEARD YOU EVIL BASTARDS!" :smallfurious:

nedz
2010-07-15, 03:45 PM
In the current game I'm running (which I do get to play in, occasionally, when someone else DMs a mission) every PC is a Dwarf.
Thats because the party are not adventurers; they are a Dwarven Recon unit. Very Cross of Iron, though the Army is more like Sgt Bilko.
Seems to work very well.

dgnslyr
2010-07-15, 03:46 PM
Dwarves can throw vomit with lethal force. Vomit. Lethal force. Think about it.

Secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quintiary(?) livers are a plus.

Hurlbut
2010-07-15, 03:51 PM
I don't know if you have already, but take this test (http://easydamus.com/character.html), and see if you are a Dwarf Cleric :smallsmile:.I am a...LG Human Paladin/Cleric. Human was only three points over Dwarf ;P

Volthawk
2010-07-15, 03:57 PM
When I play Artificers, I look to Dwarves as my first choice. Earth Dwarves specifically, who cares about the Cha penalty! It just fits.

chiasaur11
2010-07-15, 04:01 PM
Ale.

In mass quantities.

Fax Celestis
2010-07-15, 04:05 PM
That depends, Master Celestis, do you often strike people with said beard? Because the dwarfiest dwarf smites his enemies with the beardiness of his beard.

I heal my allies with it, because my beard has been replaced with a plant graft fungus that has uses per day of cure light wounds. Also elves are poncey and full of goo.

subject42
2010-07-15, 04:08 PM
I generally tend to play dwarves because I've built up an entire in-game cultural and biological backstory for the race, mostly to bemuse my DM.

In our setting, dwarves:


Were launched onto the earth's surface from space by way of drop pods.
Have a "secret" religion that doesn't match the commonly held beliefs.
Have supersensitive beards that grant them darkvision.
All of their spellcasters are master teleportation specialists.
They run all of the best banks in the world.
Some of them might have gizzards. It's still a matter of contention.

Coidzor
2010-07-15, 04:37 PM
Dwarf Monk/Wizard who uses silverbeard, greater mighty wallop and unarmed strikes?

"I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY SILVERY BEARD YOU EVIL BASTARDS!" :smallfurious:

THIS BEARD OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER!!!! Its Silvery Grip tells me to defeat you!


But I really prefer to use the dwarf rules as a counts-as human.

What's a counts as human for our purposes here?

Fax Celestis
2010-07-15, 04:59 PM
THIS BEARD OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER!!!! Its Silvery Grip tells me to defeat you!

THIS BEARD OF MINE IS SHINING SILVER!

Grumman
2010-07-15, 05:14 PM
What's a counts as human for our purposes here?
A human character represented by the rules for a dwarf.

Coidzor
2010-07-15, 05:44 PM
A human character represented by the rules for a dwarf.

Ahhh, Squats.

Zaq
2010-07-15, 08:02 PM
Because you cannot convince me that playing a Spirit Shaman from Boatmurdered whose unwanted spirit guide is an elephant who is searching for his husband's body (he killed himself so his spirit could meet me at an appointed rendezvous date, don'cha know) while leaving a trail intricately engraved walls/pillars/etc. in his wake is anything less than friggin' awesome. And yes, I'm currently building a dwarf who does exactly this.

Dwarf Fortress plus Edo period literature with a sprinkling of EarthBound? Yeah, I'm in.

Soranar
2010-07-15, 08:29 PM
Roleplay wise :

-easy to imagine no matter which alignment you have (very close to human, just usually manlier) and it's easy for other people to imagine them too (being so widely represented)

-they're quirks are fun to play with
-They're common in most DnD settings so justifying their presence isn't hard



optimization wise:

-decent substitution levels
-great PrC access
-versatile (CHA is useless most most classes and Con is useful for everything but an undead)
-good bonus skills, proficiencies and abilities (although a human is just as good and gets to customize a Dwarf's abilities can still help most of the time)
-fighter is a great favored class to have since it's a common dip

Mushroom Ninja
2010-07-15, 11:04 PM
Because there are some days you really feel the need to be a short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.

BobVosh
2010-07-15, 11:43 PM
Dwarf Monk/Wizard who uses silverbeard, greater mighty wallop and unarmed strikes?

"I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY SILVERY BEARD YOU EVIL BASTARDS!" :smallfurious:
Fistbeard Beardfist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6404306&postcount=47)

THIS BEARD OF MINE IS SHINING SILVER!
This little beard of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine


Ahhh, Squats.

I don't think we are allowed to talk about the squats anymore. Not since about 3rd edition.

Superglucose
2010-07-15, 11:49 PM
What is it about the dwarf that made you want to play them for at least some of your characters?

For me, it was the traits they epitome; Stoic, Stubborn, Industrious, Endurance, Hard Working, Tough, Orderly, Traditional. They like to work with their hands. Regardless of their short stature, they represent a kind of manliness that appeals to me.

My friends think I would be a dwarf cleric based on my personality. :smalltongue:
Lord Kagrenac and the Dwemer of Elder Scrolls.

They no longer exist because they started making a god, and then disappeared.

Malificus
2010-07-15, 11:54 PM
Because I like watching the universe implode when my character is a female druid.