Difference between the Hill and Mountain Dwarfs

[D&DecentPeople]

I am not sure if there is a difference or not between the mountain and the hill dwarfs (dwarves?) so if there is a difference I would like to know. Thank you.

[Pex]

Personal bias/opinion, but I'm guessing mountain dwarves are supposed to represent the gruff hard core fantasy dwarves (Tolkien for example) while hill dwarves are the jovial light fantasy dwarves (Snow White for example).

[holywhippet]

It can depend on setting. In the Dragonlance setting I don't think there was much difference aside from where they lived. Then the cataclysm occurred and the mountain dwarves closed their doors since they barely had enough food for themselves. The two haven't liked each other since.

[Finback]

Mythoses (mythii? Mytheseses?) vary, but one common version is Mountain Dwarves are the more cloistered, removed race, who are slow to act in global events, and take an insular view of life. Hill Dwarves are the ones who had to make treaties with humans and elves, and have a more worldly take on things.

[Blacky the Blackball]

Mythoses (mythii? Mytheseses?) vary, but one common version is Mountain Dwarves are the more cloistered, removed race, who are slow to act in global events, and take an insular view of life. Hill Dwarves are the ones who had to make treaties with humans and elves, and have a more worldly take on things.

This is how I do dwarves in my campaign. the Mountain Dwarves are those that still live underground in their homelands, whereas Hill Dwarves are the dwarven diaspora that have settled in other lands with humans and the like and who live in surface cities.

(It's mythoi, by the way)

[StoicLeaf]

another take:

All dwarves were mountain dwarves once.
Then bad things happened, mainly their citadels were attacked over generations and many fell.
The consequences were:
a small minority of dwarves were taken as slaves and became the duergar.
a 50/50 split then occured; some dwarves believed that there were merely being tested and that, ultimately, they would retake what was lost. They remained mountain dwarves and clung to the old ways of life, which has lead to hazardous situations for some citadels.
the other dwarves, with a heavy heart, decided it was time to move forward. they left the mountains and settled in or near human settlements. Although they mourn the loss of their great dwarven halls, they don't pick at the scab like their cousins up north; as a result, they have a more positive outlook on life. they are referred to as hill dwarves.

[Zanthy1]

I have my mountain dwarves be the deep dwellers. miners, and such, oftentimes within mighty dwarven cities. The hill dwarves reside in villages or diverse cities, they still tend to craft and such, but don't often mine as much.

[Unoriginal]

I am not sure if there is a difference or not between the mountain and the hill dwarfs (dwarves?) so if there is a difference I would like to know. Thank you.

As the names indicate, Mountain Dwarves live in the mountains (often inside them), Hill Dwarves lives on hills (sometime inside them). Or at least, their families did, a long time ago. Nothing is stopping a dwarf for living on the ocean.




Personal bias/opinion, but I'm guessing mountain dwarves are supposed to represent the gruff hard core fantasy dwarves (Tolkien for example) while hill dwarves are the jovial light fantasy dwarves (Snow White for example).

Tolkien's dwarves weren't gruff hard core fantasy dwarves.

[Aett_Thorn]

In the Forgotten Realms, I believe that the difference between the two nowadays comes down to geography as much as anything else. Mountain Dwarves are the more northern Dwarves, who have for centuries been in a near-endless war with goblins and orcs over control of their mountain strongholds. This has given them a much more martial tradition.

However, in the south, the "Hill" Dwarves have had their kingdom in the Great Rift. And while their lives are generally more peaceful than their northern kin, they have had to deal with fighting aberrations and other underdark threats in their region.

[Blacky the Blackball]

Tolkien's dwarves weren't gruff hard core fantasy dwarves.

Too much singing, for a start!

[Tanarii]

Tolkien's dwarves weren't gruff hard core fantasy dwarves.
Having only painfully slogged through 1/2 the book trilogy once before giving up in disgust, care to expand?

I've only seen the same gruff fantasy-Scottish dwarf in the movies. You know, the same dwarves racial stereotype every DnD 'voice actor' player ever has brought to the game?

I'd be shocked and pleased if just once a 'voice actor' player instead brought a fantasy-Norse dwarf to the table. Or even just a flat out fantasy-Viking dwarf or something.

[DonaldT]

Mythoses (mythii? Mytheseses?)

The plural of "mythos" is "mythoi."

[Unoriginal]

Having only painfully slogged through 1/2 the book trilogy once before giving up in disgust, care to expand?

I've only seen the same gruff fantasy-Scottish dwarf in the movies. You know, the same dwarves racial stereotype every DnD 'voice actor' player ever has brought to the game?

I'd be shocked and pleased if just once a 'voice actor' player instead brought a fantasy-Norse dwarf to the table. Or even just a flat out fantasy-Viking dwarf or something.


Well, Tolkien's dwarves were polite if proud people who loved arts and music, and who were far from a warrior culture. In fact, they weren't that great at fighting in general, and while they could be brave they often were pretty fearful in spooky circumstances (and more than happy to have someone else do the job rather than risk their skin, in "the Hobbit"). They weren't really associated with using axes either, aside from Gimli.

In particular, Gimli left elves speechless on several instances with his verbal prowesses, and while he was a good combatant, one of this most notable moment at Helm's Deep was going behind orcs who were threatening Eomer by sneaking so well not even Aragorn noticed him, then killing said orcs by backstabbing them. He then noted that the hill men allied to Saruman were too big for him to handle, but not orcs.

[alchahest]

On that topic - Tolkien's Orcs were generally small and twisted, not six and a half foot footballers with straight backs and bulging muscles. Uruk Hai were more normal sized but their main trait was that they weren't sensitive to sunlight and tended to be purpose bred/trained to have more discipline.

Which is why Gimli didn't have as big a problem with Orcs - they were his size.

[Unoriginal]

On that topic - Tolkien's Orcs were generally small and twisted, not six and a half foot footballers with straight backs and bulging muscles. Uruk Hai were more normal sized but their main trait was that they weren't sensitive to sunlight and tended to be purpose bred/trained to have more discipline.

Which is why Gimli didn't have as big a problem with Orcs - they were his size.

Yeah, I know.

Uruk-hai was actually just a generic term for the bigger orc kind, which was still somewhat smaller than humans, and they weren't more disciplined than others. Saruman's Uruk-hai in particular were resistant to sunlight and they were disciplined by ways of their leaders handling the troublemakers harshly.

[GlenSmash!]

Yeah, I know.

Uruk-hai was actually just a generic term for the bigger orc kind, which was still somewhat smaller than humans, and they weren't more disciplined than others. Saruman's Uruk-hai in particular were resistant to sunlight and they were disciplined by ways of their leaders handling the troublemakers harshly.

I thought it was Uruk that was used for the Larger breed of orc while Uruk-Hai was specific to Saruman's less sunlight sensitive breed.

Edit: I was wrong. Uruk-hai literally means Orc-Folk and both Uruk-hai and Uruk (sometimes Black uruk) are used to refer to the largest breeds of Orc, whether from Mordor or Isengard.

[GlenSmash!]

I like to give Mountain Dwarves Welsh accents as a call back to their mining and singing traditions, but keep the Scottish accents for the Hill Dwarves, substituting said hills for highlands.

[Tanarii]

An interesting twist is in 5e Faerun, Gold Dwarves are the Hill Dwarves, and Shield Dwarves are the Mountain Dwarves.

I'm not that strong on FR lore, but the gist I've always picked up from campaign books is:

Shield Dwarves are definitely more combative and war-like and gruff/closed on a personal level. But they're also mostly dis-possessed, their empire fallen to Orcs, with wars of recovery attempted occasionally. So they have less a sense of identity. They're also less isolated and more commonly seen in neighboring cities and countries.

Gold Dwarves are more personally open and ostentatious and interested in crafting. But they're also isolationist, and have a long & consistent history of empire, until very recently. A strong sense of identity.

The lack of isolationism and identity for Sheild just screams 'Hill Dwarf' to me, and the reverse for Gold is clear 'Mountain Dwarf'.

Edit: also, I was of the impression that Gold (Hill) Dwarves are pretty rare, if your campaign is set in Northern Faerun.

[Finback]

The plural of "mythos" is "mythoi."

Thankyou! May your eldritch horrors never mgwanafh.

[Asmotherion]

I can't really cover every setting, so besides suggesting to (re-?)read what information there is in the PHB and Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (which I can't copy here as it is not Open Game Contenent), I'll give you how I have them in my personal setting:

Mountain dwarves; Focus less on the actual size, they might as well have been short to just a bit bit less than average height humans, but with very large shoulder width. Wile all male Dwarves take pride in their beards, Mountain Dwarves take extra pride in braiding it. They have the wisdom of the old in the form of rune magic, and their mages work with their blacksmiths to forge magical weapons for their bravest warriors, that need blood to activate. Their Wariors are fierse and very prideful, though they usually have a short temper. Usual Hair Colours are Black and Brown.

Hill dwarves; About a foot shorter than the shortest of the Mountain Dwarves, is the tallest Hill dwarf. As their name suggests, they live inside (not on) hills, which they dig, tunnel and mine for gold and other minerals that they then trade with other civilisations. They are a crafty lot, always finding a solution when a problem arises, patiently figuring out what could go right or wrong. Wile they are also guilty of the Dwarven pride, they will be more willing to put their pride aside in order to solve a problem than their Mountain cousins. Usual hair colours include Black, Red, Blond Brown and anything in between.



Tl;dr: My take is that Mountain Dwarves are almost as tall as humans, and the hardcore fighter Dwarf version, wile Hill Dwarves are the shorter and more crafty version who will make you laugh with a witty comment.

[KorvinStarmast]

I was under the impression that Hill Dwarfs were taller. Hmm.

[Tanarii]

I was under the impression that Hill Dwarfs were taller. Hmm.
Depends on the campaign world and edition. But in 5e default, and Forgotten Realms SCAG, mountain dwarves are taller and stouter.

Edit: I mean, it's not a major difference. 4' 5" and 165 lbs for mountain dwarves, 4' 1" and 150 lbs for Hill Dearves.

Or maybe that is major. 8% height and 10% weight would be like comparing a 5' 7" 165 lb human (average per PHB) to someone 6" 1' and 180 lbs. considerably beefier.

[Anonymouswizard]

You're all forgetting the key difference! Everybody knows Mountain Dwarves are made out of molehills, while nobody's yet managed to take apart a Hill Dwarf to check.

In all serious, it depends on the setting. Going by racial traits Hill Dwarves are insightful and tough, while Mountain Dwarves are strong and martial. So my first idea is that these aren't two cultures, they're two castes! Maybe dwarves have maintained different castes for so long that different traits have emerged, so all priest caste and wise and can survive the traditional Dwarven Combustion Ceremony*, while the warrior caste is strong and even those in support roles (like the army cooks, army wizards, and army mimes) perform exercises in full combat armour every Sunday until they reach the age of 333.

* Which is now totally a thing in my setting, adolescent Dwarves have their hair burnt off before healing magic is applied, so they can grow their adult hair.

[Slipperychicken]

Examples fom the book:

Hill dwarfs: "The gold dwarves of Faenln in their mighty southern kingdom are hill dwarves, as are the exiled Neidar and the debased Klar of Krynn in the Dragonlance
setting."
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Gold_dwarf
http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/13762.aspx (Neidar)
http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/13765.aspx (Klar)

Mountain dwarfs: "The shield dwarves of northern Faerun, as well as the ruling Hylar clan and the noble Daewar clan of Dragonlance, are mountain dwarves."
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Shield_dwarf
http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/13757.aspx (Hylar)
http://www.dlnexus.com/lexicon/13761.aspx (Daewar)


I am not sure if there is a difference or not between the mountain and the hill dwarfs (dwarves?)

Try reading the subrace lore text and look up the groups which are given as examples of each. I have given you links above.

[Sigreid]

Could be fun to have mountain dwarves be the xenophobic orthodox dwarves that won't deal with non dwarves. Hill dwarves are the decendents of disgraced families that were essentially exiled to "border towns" and only allowed to interact with proper dwarven culture as intermediaries to the other races.

[Nifft]

Mountain Dwarves forge adamantine weapons and work runic dweomers in the hearts of mountains, and grow long beards to show how skillful they are to work a forge and not get burnt.


Hill Dwarves play banjos, make illegal whiskey, and grow long beards to ensure nobody thinks they have a pretty mouth.

[Deleted]

I am not sure if there is a difference or not between the mountain and the hill dwarfs (dwarves?) so if there is a difference I would like to know. Thank you.

My Mountain Dwarves have been blessed by Thor while my Hill Dwarves have been blessed by Zues.

Well, so says them, deities don't exist, though there are some powerful outsiders out there that are both good and bad... But they leave the material plane alone for the most part (the material plane is the least useful, interesting, and sought after area in the cosmos, relatively speaking it's hickville). So it just comes down to genetics but the dwarves themselves don't see it that way.

One of my players is currently in a dwarven prison for atheism... Fun times. I can't wait till they realize they can curb stomp this how town...

[lunaticfringe]

Having only painfully slogged through 1/2 the book trilogy once before giving up in disgust, care to expand?

I've only seen the same gruff fantasy-Scottish dwarf in the movies. You know, the same dwarves racial stereotype every DnD 'voice actor' player ever has brought to the game?

I'd be shocked and pleased if just once a 'voice actor' player instead brought a fantasy-Norse dwarf to the table. Or even just a flat out fantasy-Viking dwarf or something.

Dwarves are dwarves in my campaign setting, there is no Hill or Mountain, that's just mechanics. The are most definitely Vikings. Old Man Crow is the head of the Patheon. Odin rip off, but ya know Dwarfy.

Yeah there is Raiding.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

I am not sure if there is a difference or not between the mountain and the hill dwarfs (dwarves?) so if there is a difference I would like to know. Thank you.

It's a little tricky, but the key answer, as most of the posters here have touched upon, is cultural. Mountain and Hill dwarves live in different areas (as their name suggests), with mountain dwarves tending to be the more isolationist, socially conservative and militarized dwarves, whilst hill dwarves are comparatively common, innovative, open-minded, and diplomatic.

If we go all the way back to The Complete Book of Dwarves, which is pretty much the generic bible for Dwarf lore in AD&D, which 5e itself desperately throws back to, here's waht it says:

Hill Dwarves:

Hill dwarves live in areas of rolling hills. Their strongholds are primarily located underground, though they frequently have outposts on the surface.

A typical hill dwarf stands 4 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He is stocky and muscular. His skin is a deep tan or light brown in color and he has ruddy cheeks and bright eyes, His hair could be black, gray, or brown. He favors dark, somber, earth-toned clothes, and wears little jewelry.

Hill dwarves are the most common dwarves. They have adapted well to life above and below ground. They claim that they have always lived in the hills, but they may have migrated there either by traveling above ground, or via underground passages. If by surface travel, they are probably descended from mountain dwarves.

The alignment of the hill dwarves is usually lawful good, but there is no reason they cannot be of another alignment. So long as the majority remain lawful good, strongholds of chaotic, neutral, or evil dwarves will not unbalance a campaign and will give it more flavor and variety.

Mountain Dwarves:

These dwarves live beneath the mountains. Their strongholds are usually isolated and they have little contact with other races. Mountain dwarves tend to like their privacy and actively discourage visitors to their strongholds.

A typical mountain dwarf is, on average, 4% feet tall and weighs about 170 pounds. His hair is a lighter shade than his hill cousin's, and his skin is slightly more red in color. Mountain dwarves claim that they are the first dwarves and all other dwarves are descended from them. They are wary of hill dwarves because of their closer dealings with humans, elves, and other races. They are clannish and keep to themselves. The majority are of lawful good alignment.