The best dwarf race? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Emperor Tippy

2013-05-17, 08:11 PM

among all the dwarven racial types, what do you think is the best of em all?

At what? Midgard Dwarves (Frostburn) are the best at item crafting while Duergar are the best at psionics. This is just one such example. There are like a dozen separate dwarven races and which one is best depends on what you mean by best.

Zaq

2013-05-17, 08:29 PM

Mountain dwarves (MM 93) are totally OP. My group bans them.

BowStreetRunner

2013-05-17, 08:30 PM

Personally, I think Hill/Mountain Dwarves are pretty good just as they are. In some cases Fireblood Dwarves (Dragon Magic) are nice for the Fire Resistance and Dragonblood subtype. Deep Dwarves (Monster Manual) are better if you are running an Underdark campaign. Dream Dwarves (Races of Stone) are awesome if you need Charisma for your build.

Mithril Leaf

2013-05-17, 08:35 PM

At what? Midgard Dwarves (Frostburn) are the best at item crafting while Duergar are the best at psionics. This is just one such example. There are like a dozen separate dwarven races and which one is best depends on what you mean by best.

Aleithian Dwarves (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psb/20030926a) would like to have a word with you over that psionic comment.

Gavinfoxx

2013-05-17, 08:45 PM

Lesser Azerblood, for LA+0.

Emperor Tippy

2013-05-17, 08:47 PM

Aleithian Dwarves (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psb/20030926a) would like to have a word with you over that psionic comment.

You might be right, I don't have the stats of all dwarves WotC has published memorized.

The point is that there are so many sub races of Dwarves that saying which one is "best" isn't really possible.

HunterOfJello

2013-05-17, 08:48 PM

Whisper Gnome.

angry_bear

2013-05-17, 08:58 PM

Duergar look like they'd be the most fun to play... Kind of wish I remembered what I did with my copy of Races of Stone since there's a decent selection of variants on the race in there... Off the top of my head, I'll go with Duergar though.

Gavinfoxx

2013-05-17, 08:59 PM

For an actual game, you want to stick with 0hd/0la or 0hd/+1 LA variants, generally.

eggynack

2013-05-17, 09:01 PM

Mountain dwarves (MM 93) are totally OP. My group bans them.
Woah. I never even knew that there was a race that broken right there in core. They simultaneously get the advantages of living deep underground, like the deep dwarves, but they also get the advantages of living closer to the surface, like hill dwarves. If I were DM'ing, I'd make my players choose whether they wanted to live deeper or closer to the surface. Getting the best of both worlds is just too crazy.

Zaq

2013-05-17, 10:04 PM

Aleithian Dwarves (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psb/20030926a) would like to have a word with you over that psionic comment.

That looks, um, pretty darn 3.0. Specifically, 3.0 psionics. Were they ever updated? Not that we NEED an LA 0 race with a bonus to both INT and CON, but hey.

Setra

2013-05-17, 10:11 PM

Woah. I never even knew that there was a race that broken right there in core. They simultaneously get the advantages of living deep underground, like the deep dwarves, but they also get the advantages of living closer to the surface, like hill dwarves. If I were DM'ing, I'd make my players choose whether they wanted to live deeper or closer to the surface. Getting the best of both worlds is just too crazy.
I don't get it, where does it say they get the advantages of both?

Under subraces it says they differ as noted, and under Mountain Dwarves it only lists superficial differences, wouldn't that mean they're exactly the same as hill dwarves statistically?

Unless I'm misreading something...

CyberThread

2013-05-17, 10:13 PM

blue = sarcasm

Setra

2013-05-17, 10:14 PM

blue = sarcasm
Ah, alright then.

eggynack

2013-05-17, 10:14 PM

I don't get it, where does it say they get the advantages of both?

Under subraces it says they differ as noted, and under Mountain Dwarves it only lists superficial differences, wouldn't that mean they're exactly the same as hill dwarves statistically?

Unless I'm misreading something...
You're missing the big picture here. Statistics are a fool's game for a dwarf who can move between two worlds. Seriously though, blue text is used to denote sarcasm. Mountain dwarves are basically identical to hill dwarves and deep dwarves, except they live in middling depths compared to the other two.

Edit: And once again, the cruel hand of fate has left me swordsage'd. Had I only been as the mountain dwarf, who has has moderation in all things, I could have held the answering post.

CyberThread

2013-05-17, 10:20 PM

not only that , but your 20 movment speed, let him respond back.

Akal Saris

2013-05-17, 10:20 PM

Somebody beat me to Aleithan dwarves I see!

I'm a fan of Jungle Dwarves from Player's Guide to Faerun - they're small-sized and have poison use as a class ability :)

I once played one of the Dragon Magic variant dwarves that gains fire resistance 5 - the campaign ended up with fire elementals as our main foes, so it was basically the best subrace ever, out of sheer coincidence :P

eggynack

2013-05-17, 10:26 PM

not only that , but your 20 movment speed, let him respond back.
No, for had I been as the dwarf, unburdened by even the weightiest of words, I could have acted with speed. As a sidenote, there needs to be a color to indicate drama. Maybe purple? Let's try it. Oh woe is me, for truly my nature, so different from that of the noble mountain dwarf, has lead me to my downfall. Truly it is the cruelest trap that is constructed of our own hubris. Yeah, that looks pretty good, I think.

Hand_of_Vecna

2013-05-17, 10:30 PM

The Gold Dwarf Dweamersmith feat gives a +1 caster level to spells that create or enhance weapons and removes the caps from their effects so that at high levels with a karma bead that could be multiple steps, multiplied by the number of weapon enhancing buffs you use. This potentially makes Gold Dwarf the best DMM: Persist Clericzilla.

Metahuman1

2013-05-17, 11:11 PM

That looks, um, pretty darn 3.0. Specifically, 3.0 psionics. Were they ever updated? Not that we NEED an LA 0 race with a bonus to both INT and CON, but hey.

Actually, I'd kinda like to do that. What all would I need to do, just make the Psioncis Psi-like ability's?

Yes, I realize he'll be horribly over-powered for just about any Int based caster or melee/skill character, but still.

CyberThread

2013-05-18, 12:33 AM

wizards harry, wizzard.

Yogibear41

2013-05-18, 01:14 AM

not only that , but your 20 movment speed, let him respond back.

My quick trait on my dwarf laughs at your 20 movement speed as he goes scooting by with his cool 30.

Sylthia

2013-05-18, 01:55 AM

I think the 100 meter dash is the best dwarf race. As Gimli says, dwarves are natural sprinters.

Darrin

2013-05-18, 08:02 AM

Earth Dwarf (Unearthed Arcana). They're twice as dwarfy as normal dwarves.

I like Jungle Dwarf (Unearthed Arcana) for Swift Hunters TWFing Dwarven Waraxes.

Mithril Leaf

2013-05-18, 09:30 AM

I'd like to say that the best dwarf race is the one that drops their children in nightmarish pits with angry dogs after burning off their skin with lava. You know, Dorfs (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/DwarfFortress?from=Main.DwarfFortress).

Vaz

2013-05-18, 09:43 AM

Gully Dwarves I find are notable as being a Small Dwarf, with Dexterity and Constitution Boosts, for an effective +2 AC. For a Diplomancer, they are oddly quite good, thanks to begging someone not to kill them (Net +2), small bonuses to Stealthing (Hide, Move Silently, and Survival).

For a Wizard or Psion/StP Erudite whose casting Stat is based off Int with no penalty, they are surprising adept; thanks to the +1 Initiative, higher Con, etc. Considering that their Spells or Powers outweigh those minor weaknesses of the class, they're fairly decent as a Player Character.

Hardly something that I'd Alter Self into Summon like the Midguard Dwarf or the Ancestor, however.

Otomodachi

2013-05-18, 10:19 AM

Derro (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/derro.htm) are supreme!

Flickerdart

2013-05-18, 12:34 PM

What all would I need to do, just make the Psioncis Psi-like ability's?
No. All that stuff doesn't exist in 3.5 psionics - Finger of Fire and Ectoplasmic Repair are gone, and Ego Whip and Empty Mind both do completely different things than they did when they were attack/defense modes.