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Fixer
2007-12-03, 03:40 PM
Ok, seriously, how should one do this? I am going to be playing a dwarf rogue and I figure, for spits and giggles, to make him a her.

What should be some identifying characteristics of dwarven women? I couldn't find details about them even in Races of Stone (at least, not specifically about dwarven women, like if they also have beards and such).

Dhavaer
2007-12-03, 03:42 PM
D&D female dwarves don't have beards.

GimliFett
2007-12-03, 03:44 PM
I have played a couple of dwarven women, and I do NOT play them with beards (I've always felt that's just stupid). I tend to play them a little less pessimistic/dour than their male counterparts, if only to explain how dwarven existence can continue (if both yin and yang are so melancholy/dour, how's anything gonna get done?). I basically have done them as a little whimsical and affable, but still capable of digging their heels in when they know they're in the right (and sometimes otherwise).

My two copper. YMMV. :smallsmile:

JonathanC
2007-12-03, 03:44 PM
Female Dwarves in modern D&D do not have beards. The real question is "how are dwarves depicted in the game you're in?" Are they hard-drinking rough-housers with Scottish accents? Gruff yet caring curmudgeons with a soft spot for humans and a mild mad-on for elves? Greedy treasure-mad adventurers with a penchant for mining?

Drider
2007-12-03, 03:51 PM
BEARDY WOMAN FOR A BEARDY MAN!!!...it does'nt seem appealing.

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 03:54 PM
I NPC a level 2 Expert Female Dwarf who's a bit young. (40 is adult, she's 36.) I play her as:

- Innately cheerful, almost bubbly at times
- Eminently practical in how she acts in any sort of semi-serious situation
- A little slow socially due to her social naivete
- In contrast, extremely fast when it comes to mechanisms, tactics and crafting
- Slow to frustrate, quick to snark
- Incredibly persistent. Not the same as stubborn. She folds easily on the little stuff, but when it comes to actually making a decision, she makes it and she sticks by it.

Rachel Lorelei
2007-12-03, 04:02 PM
Dwarven women haven't had beards for a while now.

the thing to avoid with female dwarves, I think, is falling into the comedy trap: "OH LOOK I AM A DWARF THAT MEANS I AM A CUBE AND HAVE A BEARD. Ha ha, aren't female dwarves ugly."

Here's some inspiration, from the 4E preview art for a dwarven rogue:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/360_Gallery/dragon360_01.jpg

What dwarven women in general are like is going to depend on the culture of the particular place she's from in your group's game world. Try key words like "practical", and, because apparently all dwarves are, "Scottish".

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 04:03 PM
Is it so very wrong that I find female dwarves far more hot than female Elves and every other race they try to make pretty and elegant? Something about a no-nonsense, practical, well-built but still curvy girl. >_>

psychoticbarber
2007-12-03, 04:05 PM
Is it so very wrong that I find female dwarves far more hot than female Elves and every other race they try to make pretty and elegant? Something about a no-nonsense, practical, well-built but still curvy girl. >_>

Yes.


No no, I kid, I kid. :smallbiggrin:

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 04:09 PM
Yes.


No no, I kid, I kid. :smallbiggrin:

I mean, look at her. She's not baring unnecessary skin, she's not made of porcelain, she doesn't have an impractical hairdo and she looks like she's ready to rip the wrong jackass a new one - and not in some way that involves whips and latex.

Rawr.

Anyway, 'practical' is really the name of the game, but I do think it should be stressed that you can be practical and cheerful. It just seems to be a natural combination, really. The dwarves take joy in what they do.

Seffbasilisk
2007-12-03, 04:10 PM
Races of Stone has a good bit on Dwarven culture.

psychoticbarber
2007-12-03, 04:15 PM
I mean, look at her. She's not baring unnecessary skin, she's not made of porcelain, she doesn't have an impractical hairdo and she looks like she's ready to rip the wrong jackass a new one - and not in some way that involves whips and latex.

Rawr.

Anyway, 'practical' is really the name of the game, but I do think it should be stressed that you can be practical and cheerful. It just seems to be a natural combination, really. The dwarves take joy in what they do.

I agree with you on everything above except the bolded. Dwarves just don't quite do it for me in that way, but I agree that you can practical and attractive/cheerful, for sure.

And I really was kidding, you're more than welcome to be attracted to that picture.

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 04:17 PM
I agree with you on everything above except the bolded. Dwarves just don't quite do it for me in that way, but I agree that you can practical and attractive/cheerful, for sure.

And I really was kidding, you're more than welcome to be attracted to that picture.

I know, I just felt it necessary to elaborate.

Balkash
2007-12-03, 04:17 PM
Races of Stone has a good bit on Dwarven culture.

Except the OP said he couldnt find any info from Races of Stone

Rachel Lorelei
2007-12-03, 04:20 PM
...y'all are fetishising the Other for an Other that isn't even real.
Impressive.

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 04:22 PM
...y'all are fetishising the Other for an Other that isn't even real.
Impressive.

I'm mostly joking, I do have a fiancée. I can appreciate female dwarf visual attractiveness is all, and was making a point about looking at female dwarves from another perspective than the walking joke.

MrNexx
2007-12-03, 04:23 PM
Ignore these other people. Dwarven women, at least the attractive ones, have beards. The reason you see unbearded females is because they're the ones who go adventuring in shame.

I like big beards and I can not lie
You other dwarves can't deny
When a girl walks in with a big thick waist
And hair all over her face
You get sprung
Wanna pull up tough
Cuz you notice that face was scruffed
Deep in the helm she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh, baby I wanna get with ya
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But that beard you got
Make Me so horny
Ooh, ain't got smooth skin
You say you wanna get in my clan
Well use me use me cuz you aint that average groupie
I've seen them smithin'
The heck with romancin'
She sweats, wet, gots whiskers like my uncle Chet

I'm tired of elven queens
With their smooth little things
Take the average dwarf and ask him that
Her face has gotta scratch, so
fellas (yeah) fellas (yeah)
Has your dwarf-girl got the beard? (heck yeah!)
Don't let her shave it, shave it
Keep that healthy beard...

Baby got beard...

Hairy face makes for dwarven beauty...

Jerthanis
2007-12-03, 04:32 PM
I don't believe it's stated explicitly, but from the descriptions in Races of Stone I'd infer that you roleplay a female dwarf pretty much how you'd roleplay a male dwarf. In the book we're told that female dwarves share the same duties and positions of authority as their male counterparts, and seem to have the same racial concept of abiding to authority and the needs of the clan, with harsh stoicism and the enjoyment of fulfilling a duty.

Of course, one should always aspire to play an individual, and play them uniquely, rather than just playing their race as their personality.

AstralFire
2007-12-03, 04:47 PM
Ignore these other people. Dwarven women, at least the attractive ones, have beards. The reason you see unbearded females is because they're the ones who go adventuring in shame.

I like big beards and I can not lie
You other dwarves can't deny
When a girl walks in with a big thick waist
And hair all over her face
You get sprung
Wanna pull up tough
Cuz you notice that face was scruffed
Deep in the helm she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh, baby I wanna get with ya
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But that beard you got
Make Me so horny
Ooh, ain't got smooth skin
You say you wanna get in my clan
Well use me use me cuz you aint that average groupie
I've seen them smithin'
The heck with romancin'
She sweats, wet, gots whiskers like my uncle Chet

I'm tired of elven queens
With their smooth little things
Take the average dwarf and ask him that
Her face has gotta scratch, so
fellas (yeah) fellas (yeah)
Has your dwarf-girl got the beard? (heck yeah!)
Don't let her shave it, shave it
Keep that healthy beard...

Baby got beard...

Hairy face makes for dwarven beauty...

I disagree with you but would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

MrNexx
2007-12-03, 04:50 PM
I disagree with you but would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

First link in every post.

Chronos
2007-12-03, 05:15 PM
D&D female dwarves don't have beards.Where is that stated? So far as I can tell, none of the books say explicitly one way or the other. But in most fantasy literature which has dwarves (yes, even including Tolkien), it's canon that female dwarves have or at least can have beards (also in Discworld, and in both Order of the Stick and Goblins: Life through Their Eyes, though those probably don't carry the same weight).

Personally, I like the idea that dwarves can tell each other apart easily, but that nobody else can. For all you know, that big burly fighter in your party might be female.

SpiderKoopa
2007-12-03, 05:16 PM
Ignore these other people. Dwarven women, at least the attractive ones, have beards. The reason you see unbearded females is because they're the ones who go adventuring in shame.

I like big beards and I can not lie
You other dwarves can't deny
When a girl walks in with a big thick waist
And hair all over her face
You get sprung
Wanna pull up tough
Cuz you notice that face was scruffed
Deep in the helm she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh, baby I wanna get with ya
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But that beard you got
Make Me so horny
Ooh, ain't got smooth skin
You say you wanna get in my clan
Well use me use me cuz you aint that average groupie
I've seen them smithin'
The heck with romancin'
She sweats, wet, gots whiskers like my uncle Chet

I'm tired of elven queens
With their smooth little things
Take the average dwarf and ask him that
Her face has gotta scratch, so
fellas (yeah) fellas (yeah)
Has your dwarf-girl got the beard? (heck yeah!)
Don't let her shave it, shave it
Keep that healthy beard...

Baby got beard...

Hairy face makes for dwarven beauty...

You sir, win an internet.

However, back on topic, I would more than likely play a female dwarf much like a male dwarf, except maybe a little warmer to other people, and maybe drinks a little more. :smallwink:

prufock
2007-12-03, 05:41 PM
Here's some inspiration, from the 4E preview art for a dwarven rogue:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/360_Gallery/dragon360_01.jpg

I don't know who the artist is, but he made a female dwarf look sexy!

Toric
2007-12-03, 05:45 PM
If I were going to play a female dwarf, I'd try to make her a feminist to a degree. She'd be tomboyish while still taking pride in the status of her hair (which all dwarves male or female usually do), and wouldn't accept any special treatment for being a woman from anyone who wasn't a potential suitor, and would take such treatment as a sign of said suiting. That could make for some good roleplaying opportunities/awkward moments. Also, something I do with the male dwarf I play, try to establish some sense of what your character sees as physical beauty. My dwarf baffles the party Nymph with his talk of strong women with angelic sideburns.

AslanCross
2007-12-03, 05:57 PM
Some female Shield and Gold Dwarves in Faerun actually have beards, at least according to Races of Faerun. Of course, that may not be true for your campaign setting.

Spiryt
2007-12-03, 06:06 PM
I tend to play them a little less pessimistic/dour than their male counterparts, if only to explain how dwarven existence can continue (if both yin and yang are so melancholy/dour, how's anything gonna get done?)


Well I could be wrong, but I always though that stereotypicaly dwarves were straightforward and little "plain" (in about 2946 books/settings).
Not melancholical at all :smallconfused:

Reptilius
2007-12-03, 06:08 PM
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that female dwarves do not have beards, per se, but instead elongated sideburns that end half-way down their cheeks.

Mr.Moron
2007-12-03, 06:09 PM
I imagine it'd be much like playing a male dwarf, only instead of fussing over the hair on your face it'd be the hair on your head. (EDIT: Even this much, is apparently a point of debate.) Other than that, a person is a person. Focus should be on the individual, same as with any other character. Just take whatever gender issues arise as they come up. Just like with humans, a dwarf is a dwarf before she's a woman. It's really not something that needs to be focused on too sharply, unless every character she runs across is going to be all "OMGzZZZZZ A GiRl!!!!!!(One)!". That'd be just plain silly though, right?

AslanCross
2007-12-03, 06:17 PM
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that female dwarves do not have beards, per se, but instead elongated sideburns that end half-way down their cheeks.

Dragonlance's female dwarves fit that description.

Kodra
2007-12-03, 06:22 PM
I've never played a female dwarf but ever since her introduction as a character I've sorta pictured Pella from lfgcomic as my own little iconic Dwarf Female.

Singing love songs while cleaving through enemies.

Toliudar
2007-12-03, 06:32 PM
In terms of hair, I've played female dwarves with and without beards, with close-cropped scalp hair, shaved bald, or very hirsuit over their entire bodies. In a fantasy realm where people end up mating with dragons, devils, fae, and...well, let's face it, centaurs came from somewhere...the relative appeal of a certain amount of hair seems pretty darn minor to me. Go with what's consistent with your DM's setting, and right for the character.

With any character, I like to start with a couple characteristics - either mechanical or psychological, and see where it leads. In the past two years, I've had
A shy, devout dwarf who dressed up like a boy to join the all-male priesthood of Moradin.
An ultra-gaelic bloodthirsty Braveheart-style dwarf whose speech was all but incomprehensible to her companions.
A really short-tempered dwarven rogue who threatened to put a pick through the foot of anyone who made fun of her.
And now, thanks to Torger, a communist rabble-rouser in a Scarred Lands setting, determined to overthrow the tyrrany of Chardun - so that she can establish her own flavour of tyrrany in its place.
.

Shrug. "Dwarf" is just a set of preconceptions that you hang a character onto.

Vael Nir
2007-12-03, 08:34 PM
I don't know who the artist is, but he made a female dwarf look sexy!

This seems fitting.

http://www.blizzard.com/wow/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=143&Set=64

EvilElitest
2007-12-03, 08:45 PM
Female Dwarves in modern D&D do not have beards. The real question is "how are dwarves depicted in the game you're in?" Are they hard-drinking rough-housers with Scottish accents? Gruff yet caring curmudgeons with a soft spot for humans and a mild mad-on for elves? Greedy treasure-mad adventurers with a penchant for mining?

Ninjas and lawyers mostly
no body messes with them
from,
EE

Ganurath
2007-12-03, 08:45 PM
Cliche dwarf woman: Wise woman archetype, submissive to authority, respectful toward elders, gives gentle nudge to the warrior men to send them in the right direction. When I think female dwarf, I think Ollam.

Female dwarf rogue: Not so respectful of authority, potentially a femmenist. Think Hilgya from the early days of OotS as far as mindset.

horseboy
2007-12-03, 09:21 PM
I wish I remembered where now, but in some book or another they addressed it by saying that the "bearded female dwarf" in question that everybody references was actually a male dwarf in a kilt. The human had never seen a kilt and assumed it a skirt. And that was where the myth got started.

CabbageTheif
2007-12-03, 11:30 PM
really it comes down to campaign setting. in my campaign world, there are two major dwarf societies. one is issolated, and the other is in close relation to a large human civilisation. the women from the isolated culture have beards, but they are thinner and are kept nicer. the dwarf women who live in close contact with humans sometimes adopt their custom, and shave their face. incidentally, the human culture they are near are italians:smallwink: i kid.

Shadowdweller
2007-12-04, 02:16 AM
Cliche dwarf woman: Wise woman archetype, submissive to authority, respectful toward elders, gives gentle nudge to the warrior men to send them in the right direction. When I think female dwarf, I think Ollam.
Have to say, I think the term "dwarf" is utterly incompatible with "submissive," regardless of gender.

Ganurath
2007-12-04, 02:37 AM
Have to say, I think the term "dwarf" is utterly incompatible with "submissive," regardless of gender....To authority, and tradition which goes hand and hand with it when talking dwarves.

Shadowdweller
2007-12-04, 02:55 AM
...To authority, and tradition which goes hand and hand with it when talking dwarves.
Not really. Respect for, or a tendancy to follow tradition does not necessarily equate to submission. But I get where you're coming from.

Roderick_BR
2007-12-04, 10:19 AM
Personality wise, female dwarves are pretty much like male dwarves. You can add any female stereotype you want to a default dwarf, and that's it.
In the webcomicLooking for Group (http://www.lfgcomic.com/), they have a female dwarf that can impress even Richard (the undead warlock), while still keeping her "sexy dwarf" attitude.

As for beards, I read somewhere that it depends of the campaign setting. In some, female dwarves have no beards, in others they have, but shave, and in others, they have beards as long as males, and are damn proud of it.

Edit: Ignore the dwarves from Lineage 2. The whole game is in Gekiga (realistic version of anime) style, while the male dwarves are completely in an European realistic style, and the females have a real anime style...

kamikasei
2007-12-04, 02:52 PM
I could see male and female dwarves as almost two separate subcultures. Male dwarves are obsessive about their shinies and have a penchant for locking themselves away in a vault for a hundred years to create some really, really nice weapon or ring or jewel. Female dwarves are the more practical ones who occasionally stop to think "you know, we should probably grow and eat some food in between the mining and smithing". Almost a matriarchy with the dwarven babushkas holding all the real power, but the male dwarves' obsession producing the stuff the outside world will trade for. Of course, everyone has a roughly equal tendency to don heavy armor and smash things' heads with hammers, because invading orcs and goblins and rust monsters don't care who's a smith and who's a quartermistress.