Reflavouring Dwarves

[Milo v3]

How have people reflavoured the Dwarf race in 3.X? It's a race with so many stereotypical & culture specific things like weapon proficiency, their bonuses against orcs, and appraising crystals.

Personally, in one of my settings, I had dwarves be ant-centaurs like formians based on their bonuses against giants and their stability represented having extra legs.

[SirKazum]

In my sci-fi setting, I've completely re-done the flavor for all races and classes, including dwarves. They're the Eblians in the races post here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18000502&postcount=3). Though I guess that's not so much "reflavoring" as it is "a completely new race that just happens to have the exact same abilities".

[Coidzor]

Well, it's more of a tweak than a full on reflavoring, but one of my friends had his dwarves all basically look the same, with their sole identifying marks being a complex language of beard styling and decoration identifying everything from the dwarf's geneaology to profession and personal accomplishments with a secret key system to confirm the dwarf's identity to those closest to them. They were also responsible for human civilization, having taken them on as slaves and taught them just enough to do their jobs and feed and clothe themselves before almost killing one another off and letting humans go feral and start to develop their own civilization.

I believe in the next revision they ended up replacing the dwarfs with a race of magma-men.

[Yora]

After I was done with reflavoring dwarves (which happened over a span of several years), I ended up with something almost entirely different.

Since I don't like the racist alcoholic scottish viking-miners, the first thing I did was to make them look like gnomes and call them gnomes, since even the name "dwarf" makes everyone think of all the stereotypes I wanted to get rid of. And "gnome" doesn't really mean anything in generic fantasy, there is just so much difference between them in all the many settings. They range all the way from "same as dwarf" to "kender".
They still get the big mountain fortresses, but are a race of the surface world. They like fresh air, sunlight, trees, and animals, but their homes are almost entirely basements. They keep the mining, masonry, and smithing of dwarves, but also got alchemy. (They did not get the silly clockwork-punk and prankster-nonsense that gnomes usually come with, nor the illusion magic from D&D, so they are still pretty dwarvish at this point.)
In body stature, they are more like very sturdily build halflings. The Hobbit movie went a similar direction. In mentality, they are still reserved, but don't flipp out at everything and shove their traditional dwarven values down everyones throat at every opportunity. They may quietly despise some people, but they don't start frothing at the mouth with rage any time they meet outsiders. Socially, they are quite warm and open when among their kind and love lots of company, but that does not extend to outsiders and it takes quite a lot to become a trusted friend of the community.
Since they are short in size, but don't come with the impressive strength dwarves are usually shown with, their military style is all about efficiency. They always try to have every possible advantage on their side while never taking any unnecessary risks. They don't care if others call it cowardly, as long as they still win. Mostly this means as heavy armor as they can get (and being master miners and smiths it's quite a lot) and massive fortifications in very hard to reach locations. Bravery is for when all fortifications and traps have failed and falling back to regroup becomes impractical and then it is very highly honored. But why allow an enemy to get a hit at you if you can harm him without taking risk to yourself? That would just be foolish and wasteful.

In the end I also gave them a touch of fey and merged them with goblins, so now they don't look anything like dwarves at all. But I think their culture and behaviour can still work for dwarves as well.

[Eldan]

I was actually once thinking of taking the "All Dwarves are the same" to 11.

Dwarves are clones. There's some small variation in beard styles, etc., but they are otherwise almost identical. Not literal clones, of course, but they are magicall made from the same template. Dwarves don't reproduce sexually, they make finished adult workers from moulds.

[GungHo]

I was actually once thinking of taking the "All Dwarves are the same" to 11.

Dwarves are clones. There's some small variation in beard styles, etc., but they are otherwise almost identical. Not literal clones, of course, but they are magicall made from the same template. Dwarves don't reproduce sexually, they make finished adult workers from moulds.

I've done similar. They were essentially sentient earth golems. Elves got the same treatment and were sentient wood golems. The setting didn't last long and I tossed it all away.

[the_david]

Like Yora, I'm trying to fold all the small races into one race. This is mostly because of race bloat, but it's also because they are so similar. Look up the dwarf, gnome and stout halfling in the AD&D players handbook, or make a list of all the small races that live underground or in burrows and see for yourself. Now you can go from what they have in common and work out what seperates them from each other.

So I figured that they were somewhat magically inclined, especially when it comes to creating magic items and illusions. (With a bit of transmutation, if you're into mythology.) They're greedy, not evil and they're willing to do anything to survive, or to protect their kin. They can fill up more than one niche with more variety between 2 clans though there is still plenty of variety in one clan.
I've done similar. They were essentially sentient earth golems. Elves got the same treatment and were sentient wood golems. The setting didn't last long and I tossed it all away.Actually, according to the Eddas dwarves were once maggots that crawled out of the corpse of a giant. That's not that far off.

[Almarck]

I had Dwarves and elves being actually the same race to the point that intermarrige is nothing special. In fact, there's no half elf or half dwarves. And both are the only nation in the setting to not advance to the Renascence

[Yora]

Actually, according to the Eddas dwarves were once maggots that crawled out of the corpse of a giant. That's not that far off.

Well, the whole primordial giant thing was kind of disgusting. The dwarves are not the worst thing about it. :smallwink:

[Picasso007]

I've been working on a setting where most of the world is at a late Stone/Copper/very early Bronze Age level of technology, and I've been borrowing from various historic and modern tribal societies for inspiration. So there are nomads that follow migrating herds based on various Native American Plains and African tribes, a rather xenophobic jungle-dwelling tribe not entirely unlike various uncontacted or minimally-contacted tribes in South America and Southeast Asia, etc.

Anyway, with my dwarf-analogues, I'm drawing from Incan and Nepal/Tibet/China. They live in the mountains, but on the surface in stone buildings, rather than in caves/caverns. They're the most advanced race in terms of technology -- they use terrace farming for food, have the best bronze tools and are the only ones able to mine and smelt iron (though this is still limited and relatively poor quality, and steel production is still extremely limited and mainly due to luck), and also have fairly developed textiles (wool from sheep or llamas (haven't decided), plus limited access to silk). They can't move stone on a Pyramids/Stonehenge/Moai level, but that's less due to technology/knowledge and more due to lack of need/inspiration/desire -- they don't really do giant monuments.

In terms of personality, they're a fairly serious, sedate people, generally very community-oriented and industrious. Sort of Confucian in inspiration, (although I only have a layman's familiarity with Confucianism myself). They'll certainly enjoy fermented beverages when available (no one has the tech for distillation yet), but mostly in moderation, and public drunkenness would be frowned upon. They're insular, but not outright xenophobic; they trade with other nearby tribes for goods they lack, but they hold the secret of iron smelting dearly and don't share it with outsiders. They might, might trade finished iron or bronze goods to you if they really like you and you offer a lot in return (They're happy to trade fabrics, though).

Appearance-wise, I haven't entirely settled yet. They won't be swarthy bearded types, though, and may actually wind up beardless. ( :smalleek: ) Drawing from their inspiring peoples, I'm picturing them with the same sort of long, straight black hair that is typical in Eastern Asians and Native Americans. All of the other races are a bit "primal" in nature (one race has somewhat dryad-like "leafy" hair and somewhat bark-like skin, the nomads I mentioned have very light fur, etc.), so I'll need to figure out something for them that makes sense. Rough, pebbly skin would be easy and obvious, so I might just go with that, but I'll think about it.

[Milo v3]

Actually, according to the Eddas dwarves were once maggots that crawled out of the corpse of a giant. That's not that far off.
I once had dwarves as anthropomorphised maggots in one setting because of that. My players did not feel exactly comfortable around them after the physical description, didn't help that after they "die of old age", they actually mature into a swarm of eldritch flies with the statistics of a hellwasp swarm.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

I saw this one thread where Dwarves were changed to a race called Stonekin and were actually constructs made from clay, with an outer layer of mouldable stone that they carve into a variety of patterns (they're extremely artistic, unlike your gruff, no-nonsense Dwarf) and an inside of basically primordial, constantly changing clay. They had no internal organs and were created by a bunch of Stonekin in a clan giving up some of their clay and moulding a baby Stonekin out of it. Over time, they slowly dried and turned to stone, with their thought processes slowing down to Ent-speed, and they eventually turned into near-immortal statues venerated as ancestors and stored in the heart of underground Stonekin mines. They would theoretically live forever unless external forces acted to destroy their statues, but their thought processes were so slow they were impossible to interact with.

It was awesome :smallbiggrin:

[Almarck]

That reminds me of world of warcraft's interpretation of gnomes and dwarves. Essentially they were all robots and golem respectively with crazy immunities super strong capabilities and we're bigger than the average man. But then one day a disease or curse caused them to turn into weakened fleshy life forms... ie modern gnomes and dwarves.and well stereotypical...

All races except I think giants had the same explanation

[arkham618]

Dwarves in one of my settings are quasi-eusocial primates with a sex ratio skewed heavily male. Reproductive females are kept cloistered in underground creches, along with their juvenile offspring, where they are guarded and tended by eunuchs. (Non-reproductive -- i.e., barren or menopausal -- females are ordinated as priestesses of the Stone Mother and are permitted to travel abroad in the guise of men. They serve as councilors and arbiters to the clans.) Adolescent males are ejected from the creche at puberty and inducted into one of the many aboveground fraternities, where they undergo vocational and military training before setting out into the world. Readmission to a creche is only permitted to males who either a) voluntarily undergo ritual castration and join the eunuch caste (a sacrifice that secures lifelong employment and a comfortable dotage), or b) amass a sufficient bride price to procure a wife. (Marriage contracts are approved by the clan matriarch after a series of interviews with and chaperoned visitations by the prospective grooms.) Competition for wives is intense, and many dwarf males die in reckless pursuit of the main chance. Those who succeed in marrying and siring offspring win the honor of joining the ranks of the hallowed ancestors.

[Balyano]

I see a few here that are similar to what I do. And I know I've skimmed some ideas from various forums. Mostly though I daydream, haven't got to use all of these yet.


Anyway, with my dwarf-analogues, I'm drawing from Incan and Nepal/Tibet/China. They live in the mountains, but on the surface in stone buildings, rather than in caves/caverns. They're the most advanced race in terms of technology -- they use terrace farming for food, have the best bronze tools and are the only ones able to mine and smelt iron (though this is still limited and relatively poor quality, and steel production is still extremely limited and mainly due to luck), and also have fairly developed textiles (wool from sheep or llamas (haven't decided), plus limited access to silk). They can't move stone on a Pyramids/Stonehenge/Moai level, but that's less due to technology/knowledge and more due to lack of need/inspiration/desire -- they don't really do giant monuments.

In terms of personality, they're a fairly serious, sedate people, generally very community-oriented and industrious. Sort of Confucian in inspiration, (although I only have a layman's familiarity with Confucianism myself). They'll certainly enjoy fermented beverages when available (no one has the tech for distillation yet), but mostly in moderation, and public drunkenness would be frowned upon. They're insular, but not outright xenophobic; they trade with other nearby tribes for goods they lack, but they hold the secret of iron smelting dearly and don't share it with outsiders. They might, might trade finished iron or bronze goods to you if they really like you and you offer a lot in return (They're happy to trade fabrics, though).


I have a shared dwarven culture with a friend that is very much like this, the tibetan and incan influences, the terrace farming, llamas, yaks, mostly above ground building, all of it. Some things taken from tibet, some from the andes, some from elsewhere, some made up all together.

Since most of the points about yours apply I'll skip those parts.

My dwarves have a class of ascetics, that give up all property, all claim to inheritance, do not clean their hair and allow it to naturally dread into locks, eat very little, often only what is gifted to them, and never take payment for their services. They are often called upon for advice and to be impartial judges in certain types of disputes, and to act as witnesses during contracts and diplomatic agreements.

They have a variety of philosophical ideas, often related to some sort of industry such as smithing (purification of self and development of skills to become better and more useful), brewing (taking from the surplus of today to have in the future), ect.

For example their stone work does not follow the bricky, rectangular block designs. Instead they use the puzzle piece looking stone work that you see in nazca works. This ties into their philosophy of each person having their own part to play in society.

Each stone has its own unique size and shape. A stonemason looks for the potential in that stone, chips some from the edges, refining it, and then fits the stones together so tightly that a razor cannot fit between them, forming a structure that even earthquakes leave it standing. A dwarf is like those stones, each is a little different, has their own purpose and destiny, each must be shaped and refined to reach that potential, and fit into the community just as the stones fit into their wall. A dwarf fits so tight with the others that no quarrel can come between them, in a community that continues standing strong after every disaster.

This of course fits with the traditional idea of dwarves being loyal and clan oriented, focused on stonework and metallurgy, and alcohol. Like traditional dwarves they live in the mountains, and are known for their superior stone masonry. And of course for dwarven kung fu, because a dwarf in orange robes leaping across the room to deliver the hurt is just too cool not to exist.

Of course only some of this ties in to their 3.5 stats. After all my dwarves traditionally have very little contact with those seafaring maori/scandinavian pirates known as orcs. So that bonus goes away.



And since dwarves being maggots has been mentioned, about a year ago i made a version of dwarves that involves them being exactly that, larvae.

A dwarven baby is left by its mother near the entrance to the warren of her birth. The dwarves, smell the baby, if it's a relative they take it in, if not they discard it. The baby is then raised by a variety of cousins and siblings, any of which can lactate, they learn a variety of life skills while working for the betterment of the clan. The warren is very resource hungry, and the dwarves are always eager to acquire more, not for their own greed, but for the family.

All dwarves have beards, regardless of age or sex. The length of the beard shows an individuals age, and therefor their authority. The biggest beard gets their way.

After a dwarf grows to the proper size they become very lethargic and withdraw from their work and contact with others, soon they enter a coma. After a couple weeks the dwarf splits open and a full grown elf emerges, ready to travel the world and find potential mates, of course in their adult elven form they have little to no parental instinct and must return their young to the warren to be raised. Or steal a human baby and make the switch.

Currently using this one on a non-dnd setting based after ragnarok



And a third one I've toyed with involves not really redefining the dwarf, but really is just about how they interact.

Dwarven families are essentially small-scale communism. Everybody shares what they got, in fact they don't really get the idea of private ownership, foolish humans, things belong to clans, not people.

Dwarven nations are more capitalistic in their dealings within the nation. When interacting with each other clans operate like companies, they buy, sell, and trade, but only with mutually agreed upon prices.

Dwarven nations tend toward imperialism when dealing with outsiders though. They figure the best way to do business with outsiders is to get as much leverage as you can get and make them sell you their goods for rock bottom prices and buy your goods at ridiculous mark up. What you don't like the arrangement? Your refuse? Let's ask the army what they think about that.

[The Glyphstone]

I saw this one thread where Dwarves were changed to a race called Stonekin and were actually constructs made from clay, with an outer layer of mouldable stone that they carve into a variety of patterns (they're extremely artistic, unlike your gruff, no-nonsense Dwarf) and an inside of basically primordial, constantly changing clay. They had no internal organs and were created by a bunch of Stonekin in a clan giving up some of their clay and moulding a baby Stonekin out of it. Over time, they slowly dried and turned to stone, with their thought processes slowing down to Ent-speed, and they eventually turned into near-immortal statues venerated as ancestors and stored in the heart of underground Stonekin mines. They would theoretically live forever unless external forces acted to destroy their statues, but their thought processes were so slow they were impossible to interact with.

It was awesome :smallbiggrin:

That would be mine, in fact. I was coming here to post about them, but you've done a fine job of pitching them for me. Glad someone liked the stoneborn enough to remember them.:smallbiggrin:

[White Blade]

Long ago, I had one setting where the dwarves were basically Egyptian, building massive stone tombs for their ancestors, and effectively imperial masters of the world, who worshipped the Mountain and the River (the God of Death and Stone/The Goddess of Life and Water)

When I started out with my monster rewrites, I ended up forming two major dwarf cultures - One of which, The Black Banners, had been driven from their homelands by vampire dominated orcs. They had a Roman-aesthetic, forming legions to protect their clans, laying the roads and minting the coins that gave birth to the western civilizations. They were a traditionally druidic culture (they had no patron deity), but they were slowly gaining a paladin movement. The paladins wanted to meddle with the Children (non-dwarves/giants), but the druids wanted to simply observe and support, continue to care for the world and try to return to the homelands.

The Daggerhold Dwarves were trying to hold out against goblin encroachment on their ancient territories. I never really developed their aesthetic, I couldn't find a strong enough analogue in the real world though I liked both ancient pueblo cliff dwellings and macchu pichu as inspiration for their cavern homes. Fatalism was one of their major philosophical inclinations. They were more ambiguous morally than the Black Banners, willing to try anything to defend their homelands from goblin encroachment. Some member clans had drawn secret alliances up with giants, former dwarves deemed anathema due to participating in the death of the Maker.

They both turned out pretty unique while still resembling the source materials. I was proud of them. Also, there wasn't anything in their stat block that was unjustifiable.

[ReturnOfTheKing]

That would be mine, in fact. I was coming here to post about them, but you've done a fine job of pitching them for me. Glad someone liked the stoneborn enough to remember them.:smallbiggrin:

Heh, thanks! :smallbiggrin:

Shame I got the name wrong, though :smallredface:

[The Glyphstone]

Heh, thanks! :smallbiggrin:

Shame I got the name wrong, though :smallredface:

Close enough. They would have been called stonekin, except I already have scalekin.

[RFLS]

In the setting I'm working on, dwarves aren't the standard mining-vikings. Instead, they're a cunning, insular race with a predilection for science and industry, specifically bioengineering, meaning that a lot of their stuff is actually alive. They also have a thing for ancestor worship, which plays well with their tendency to raise the dead.

I'm going to have to retool them stats-wise, given that they get bonuses against giants, who live on another planet.

[Alent]

They're not major changes, but I'm doing a few things different for Exile's dwarves:

As with all races in the Exile setting, the Dwarves live in giant walking clockwork cities. The Dwarven cities all look like mountains on platforms with legs, some of them are actually built from mountains, others are just conventional beam and post box construction decorated to look like mountains from the outside.

The classic Dwarf "dark vision" is replaced with literal cat eyes that function as cat eyes, desaturated colors, blurry distance vision, etc. Many dwarves wear glasses or goggles to improve their distance vision.

Exile's dwarves aren't Xenophobic, nor are they in a sworn war of hatred with the orcs. In fact, Exile's dwarves are split by two groups: Dwarves, and legal Dwarves. In honor of the last and forgotten king, members of any race may become legal dwarves so long as they swear an oath to the Dwarven Confederation and petitions to be adopted by one of its clans, which is a fairly easy process provided you aren't a wizard. This creates interesting and comical- for players- scenarios where gnomes, humans, elves, and orcs can state "I am an oathsworn Dwarf!" in full seriousness and are treated seriously and as equals by the dwarves.

The Dwarves have issues with the setting's forest elves due to political reasons, but the Dwarves are good allies with the other elven tribe, who are basically desert elves.

The political reasons aren't that complicated: both the Walking Forest and the Dwarven Confederation have their own druid orders each with different ideas of how to preserve nature, which by relative, friend and associate resonate through both factions. The Dwarves also are philosophically opposed to the way the forest elves defer to the prophecies of the walking forest's elven oracle, believing the future to be an ever-changing thing made by their deeds.