Whats a dwarf to do?

[TheCrowing1432]

Being a huge fan of Dwarves I eagerly dived into races of Stone recently to find any interesting tidbits I could use to make him more interesting.

And lo and behold I found the exotic armors and weapons, all of them are interesting, but what particularly interests me is the mountain plate and interlocking plate.

Mountain plate reduces your speed, even if you are a dwarf and interlocking plate gets better as you stand still.

My first thought was this was made with dwarvern defender in mind, but that class blows and they made a better version of it later on with the tome of battle, more specifically the stone dragon school, which relies on standing still.

My question is, how do I use these things effectively?

[LTwerewolf]

You have to consider that dwarven defender works very well at doing the thing it's supposed to do: guarding dwarven tunnels. If you can replicate that, as in altering the battlefield so the best place to go is through you, then you can stand there and just be a giant sack of hit points.

[atemu1234]

You have to consider that dwarven defender works very well at doing the thing it's supposed to do: guarding dwarven tunnels. If you can replicate that, as in altering the battlefield so the best place to go is through you, then you can stand there and just be a giant sack of hit points.

... Wizard with Wall of Stone?

[Amphetryon]

Being a huge fan of Dwarves I eagerly dived into races of Stone recently to find any interesting tidbits I could use to make him more interesting.

And lo and behold I found the exotic armors and weapons, all of them are interesting, but what particularly interests me is the mountain plate and interlocking plate.

Mountain plate reduces your speed, even if you are a dwarf and interlocking plate gets better as you stand still.

My first thought was this was made with dwarvern defender in mind, but that class blows and they made a better version of it later on with the tome of battle, more specifically the stone dragon school, which relies on standing still.

My question is, how do I use these things effectively?
Do you have access to Magic of Incarnum? Ironsoul Forgemaster 5 gives you better defensive and overall abilities than Dwarven Defender - and meshes well with your interest in the exotic armors - while still making you quite the dwarfy Dwarf.

[AnonymousPepper]

Do you have access to Magic of Incarnum? Ironsoul Forgemaster 5 gives you better defensive and overall abilities than Dwarven Defender - and meshes well with your interest in the exotic armors - while still making you quite the dwarfy Dwarf.

I came in here to recommend Ironsoul Forgemaster and drop this guide by none other than Red Fel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?344798-Soul-and-Steel-A-Guide-to-the-Ironsoul-Forgemaster-(WIP-PEACH)).

He was so adorably enthusiastic back then. What in the name of Mystra happened? Besides him turning capital-E evil, of course.

Anyway. I highly, highly recommend it. The absolute only downside is that you have to learn how Incarnum works, but honestly, it's nowhere near as hard as people say it is, and you get major bragging rights. The PrC itself works extremely well and is amazingly well-written, and it's so flavorful, so dorfy, you'll change your IRL name to Urist and develop an obsession with elephants, magma channels, and imprisoning rich people in highly creative ways.

[BowStreetRunner]

Ultimately, if you want to take full advantage of mountain plate and interlocking plate you need to one of two things. Either you accept that your character is entirely niche and will only be effective when circumstances allow, or you build your character in such a way as to create the circumstances that give your character the advantage. The latter approach requires a bit of battlefield control - you need to be able to control the battlefield just enough to funnel the flow of battle into a zone where conditions favor your character. Whether you go with Ironsoul Forgemaster, Deepstone Sentinel, Runesmith, Dwarven Defender, or some other PrC that has good synergy with these exotic armors, if you can't force the battle to be fought where you choose then you will often find yourself fighting where your abilities are useless.

[Red Fel]

Do you have access to Magic of Incarnum? Ironsoul Forgemaster 5 gives you better defensive and overall abilities than Dwarven Defender - and meshes well with your interest in the exotic armors - while still making you quite the dwarfy Dwarf.

Funny story, I actually wro-


I came in here to recommend Ironsoul Forgemaster and drop this guide by none other than Red Fel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?344798-Soul-and-Steel-A-Guide-to-the-Ironsoul-Forgemaster-(WIP-PEACH)).

Oh, well, fine then. Steal my thunder, why don't you?


He was so adorably enthusiastic back then. What in the name of Mystra happened? Besides him turning capital-E evil, of course.

... "Turning" Evil?


Anyway. I highly, highly recommend it. The absolute only downside is that you have to learn how Incarnum works, but honestly, it's nowhere near as hard as people say it is, and you get major bragging rights. The PrC itself works extremely well and is amazingly well-written, and it's so flavorful, so dorfy, you'll change your IRL name to Urist and develop an obsession with elephants, magma channels, and imprisoning rich people in highly creative ways.

I obviously agree with this. The fact is, the Ironsoul Forgemaster class is loaded with Dwarf flavor, and lets you make your own equipment, and quite well at that. It also lets you empower it beautifully, and on the fly, gaining across-the-board energy resistance, stackable DR/--, and a weapon with a chance to daze on-hit. And that's all on top of the other benefits of Incarnum that you can switch in and out from one day to the next.

All that said, what everyone has said is pretty true. Classes like Dwarven Defender, and gear like Mountain Plate and Interlocking Plate, assume that your Dwarf will be able to stand still and force enemies to come to him. In a tunnel setting, that works. Outside of a tunnel, it's a lot trickier. You might consider mixing in a few levels of the Crusader class (Tome of Battle), because several of their stances and maneuvers impose no-save penalties on enemies who go after anyone but you, which is one of the closest things D&D has to an effective taunt mechanic.

Further, consider the fact that all you're getting from this armor is AC bonus. Now, the +10 AC of Mountain Plate is pretty nice, frankly. But at higher levels, that's not going to fully protect you. Further, the mobility limitation is pretty bad; if you're not in a tunnel blocking the way, you'll have a hard time getting into position to be a useful barricade. By the time you can reach the enemy, they'll be in the middle of gutting your friends. It's why, from an optimization standpoint, abilities like miss chance are so much more highly favored - you don't sacrifice mobility, but you get the chance to completely neutralize attacks even if they connect.

[AnonymousPepper]

Oh, well, fine then. Steal my thunder, why don't you?

glad to be of assistance bby <3

Anyway, I'd like to point something else out: Mountain Plate is strictly inferior in almost all respects to Mechanus Gear (Planar Handbook, pp.69-70); it weighs far less, it's significantly cheaper, it doesn't prevent you from running, it can be reduced to medium armor via mithral/glassteel/etc., it's not exotic armor, and does not have wording preventing the dwarven move speed from taking precedence in the table or flavor text, at the downside of having one more armor check pen and being somewhat less flavorful - unless you went lawful Incarnate to feed into Ironsoul Forgemaster in which case it fits perfectly.

[Aleolus]

What does a dwarf always do? Go to the local tavern and drink the place dry!

[TheCrowing1432]

Hmm, so theres no real way to be a dwarf juggernaut utilizing Interlocking or Mountain Plate?


Fair enough, being reduced to 10 feet of movement doesnt lend well to practicality outside of tunnels.

Deepstone Sentinel/Ironsoul Forgemaster are definitely worth a look though.

[Malroth]

Dwarf conjurer wizard with Abrupt Jaunt, Still Spell and Metamagic school Focus can Warp around the battlefield to his hearts content without being hindered overmuch by even Interlocking Plate. Levels in Runesmith highly reccomended if doing more than dipping wizard.

[Andezzar]

Further, consider the fact that all you're getting from this armor is AC bonus. Now, the +10 AC of Mountain Plate is pretty nice, frankly. But at higher levels, that's not going to fully protect you. Further, the mobility limitation is pretty bad;With a mithral full plate and DEX 16+ you get +11 AC with fewer movement restrictions. It is quite a bit more expensive though. On the other hand the dwarf can do acrobatics in that armour ;)

What's a dwarf juggernaut?

[Malroth]

What's a dwarf juggernaut?

Dwarf Artificer 5 Renagade Mastermaker 10 Warforged Juggernaut 5