Dwarves

Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs—these common threads unite all Dwarves.

Appearance and Biology
Bold and hardy, Dwarves are known as skilled warriors, miners, and workers of stone and metal. Though they stand well under 5 feet tall, Dwarves are so broad and compact that they can weigh as much as a human standing nearly two feet taller. Their courage and endurance are also easily a match for any of the larger folk.

Dwarven skin ranges from deep brown to a paler hue tinged with red, but the most common shades are light brown or deep tan, like certain tones of earth. Hair is usually black, grey, or brown, though paler Dwarves often have red hair. Both male and female Dwarves grow beards. Traditionally, both head and beard hair is worn long and never cut - instead it is braided into intricate patterns unique to each Dwarf. Cutting your hair is considered shameful, and in the past Dwarves would only do it to atone for some great offence. Some Dwarves have done away with this tradition in modern times, embracing the choices of the individual over those of tradition.

Marriage is common in Dwarven society, though they're not overly fussy about which gender you partner with. Dwarves are eminently practical and baffled by the human predilection to assign roles based on gender rather than an individual’s preferences and ability. If a Dwarf is good at mining, fighting, keeping up the home, or wrangling the kids, their gender is impractical and irrelevant. The same goes for pairings- if they’re a good match then they’re a good match- can’t have a strong foundation by throwing out half the quality stone. Few Dwarves develop romantic feelings for their partners, at least not in the way that other races do. They view their partners as collaborators and co-creators, their elders as respected experts and their children as treasured creations. The emotion that underlies all those feelings might not be love as others would term it, but it is just as intense.

Dwarven gestation takes 10 months, during which time pregnant Dwarves are free of most of the more debilitating symptoms of pregnancy. It's not uncommon to see a heavily pregnant Dwarf still working the forge right up until the actual birth. Children are born with a thick coat of hair that falls out within the first few days.

Culture
Perhaps due to their long lives, Dwarves have traditionally been solid and enduring like the mountains they love, weathering the passage of centuries with stoic endurance and little change. They respected the traditions of their clans, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of their most ancient strongholds in the youth of the world, and didn't abandon those traditions lightly. In the deep places of the world where they have little interaction with the outside world, Dwarves remain this way. They worship the gods of their ancestors, organise themselves based on ancient clan lineage, and speak the ancient tongue of Khuzdul. These Dwarves do have contact with the rest of the world, but only through trade for goods they cannot get from their underground kingdoms. In the last 500 years however, a new movement has gained prominence in many of the more cosmopolitan Dwarf strongholds, based on the ancestral Dwarven love of gold. Calling themselves 'anarcho-capitalists', or Anarchs, these cities have abolished the monarchy or clan chief system in favour of a system where the free market controls everything. Instead of clans, powerful gangs and cartels run the city by making as much money as possible, both legitimately and otherwise. In practice, this works out fairly similar to the old system just with different Dwarves in charge. These cities are both much more welcoming of outsiders, because they bring money, and much more dangerous for outsiders, because they want to take your money. The only thing that Anarch Dwarves respect is the Contract, with a capital C - magically binding documents carved into stone tablets. If a Dwarf has put his mark to a Contract, you can be at least 98% sure they won't stab you in the back before the Contract is complete.

The two diverging schools of thought do still have many things in common. Both Anarch Dwarves and traditional Dwarves also make a habit of 'venture capitalism' - sending a surveying party to claim land for the Dwarves and stripping it of all useful resources. They don't tend to recognise any non-Dwarven claim to the land, usually arguing that if someone else owned it they should have defended it better. This commonly leads to arguments and even wars with non-Dwarves living near a large stronghold - but very few communities have the strength to stand against a united Dwarven fortress.

Both groups are also acutely aware of their mortality, seeing the many centuries afforded to them as too short a time to be wasting even a single day in indolence. They therefore take crafting very seriously, as it's a way to last for centuries and carry a legacy into the world long after the Dwarf is gone. Artisans regard their creations with the same love that they reserve for their children, and Dwarves guard their personal possessions with the vigilance and ferocity of a dragon protecting their treasure. A Dwarf who loses an item to thievery will pursue its recovery or seek vengeance against the thieves with the same fury parents reserve for those who kidnap their children. At the other extreme, a Dwarf's gift of a personal item to someone else is a deep expression of commitment, love, and trust, and the beneficiary is expected to provide the same careful stewardship that the Dwarf would have done.

History and Origins
According to the records of the oldest Dwarven settlements, the first Dwarves were forged by the god Moradin in his great workshop, causing them to spring to life from inert metal when he cooled the castings with his breath. He then gave the Dwarves everything below the ground, to give them infinite raw materials with which to build and achieve his perfection. This belief is at the core of Mordinsamman, the original Dwarven religion that guides life within a traditional stronghold. Dwarves are certainly one of the oldest races, and the great Khazdul libraries hold many stone tablets hinting at the way the world used to be - mentions of beautiful graceful Elves and an organised empire of Orcs. Their oldest strongholds give every sign of having existed for millennia, and Dwarven settlements and artefacts have been found all across creation.

At some point in Dwarven history, there was a schism of some kind that created the Duergar - dour, grey-skinned Dwarves with mild psychic powers who hate everything other than their own kind. Dwarves do not like to speak of it, as the Duergar have been bitter enemies for hundreds of years, and if the Duergar want to give their side of the story so far no-one has come forward.

Dwarves are also traditional enemies of orcs and goblins, owing to thousands of years of raids. This has shaped the Dwarven psyche to the extent that when building any new construction, defence is always the first point considered. The most radical Anarch Dwarves have begun to break down these hatreds and reach out to the Orcs in the wake of the dissolution of the Orc Empire, but it's still very early days.

Names
A Dwarf’s name is granted by a clan elder, in accordance with tradition. Every proper Dwarven name has been used and reused down through the generations. A Dwarf’s name belongs to the clan, not to the individual. A Dwarf who misuses or brings shame to a clan name is stripped of the name and forbidden by law to use any Dwarven name in its place.

Traditional Dwarven society also has a title for every thing in addition to the birth and clan name - even the most mundane position in Dwarven society has its own title and set of protocols that must be followed. Any Dwarf who is not a child or a criminal likely has a title of some kind, and they all exist in an intricate hierarchy that every Dwarf must know or risk upsetting someone they thought was their inferior but is actually their boss. Titles include ‘Master of Runes’, ‘Keeper of Histories’, ‘Secretary of Silverwork’ and many others. Traditional Dwarven names tend to be similar to our world’s Latin names, with male names like Tacitus, Kadir and Dante, and female names like Aurelia, Vada and Edda. Family names are very important to traditional Dwarves, and will always be used in introductions so that fellow Dwarves know where they stand in the hierarchy.

Anarch Dwarves on the other hand loathe titles, and will go to every length to avoid them. Even the cartel leaders are referred to as their names rather than ‘boss’. Anarch Dwarves are also more likely to go by a nickname usually related to either their work, a success, or a hilarious failure. Examples include Nugget, Boomer and Teacup. Family names are eschewed in favour of clan names, like Firebeard or Claimjumper.

Dwarves as Player Characters
Ability Score: Con +2

Speed: 25' walking

Size: Medium, from 4' to 5'

Weight: Average 150 pounds

Darkvision: Accustomed to life underground, Dwarves have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. They can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey

Dwarven Resilience: Dwarves have advantage on saving throws against poison, and have resistance against poison damage

Dwarven Combat Training: Dwarves have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer

Tool Proficiency: Dwarves gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of their choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools

Stonecunning: Whenever a dwarf makes an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, they are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of their normal proficiency bonus

Diet: Dwarves are omnivorous

Language: Sabrak or Khazdul, one other of choice

For subraces, see Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf and Duergar from official materials. In general, Anarch Dwarves tend to be Hill Dwarves and traditional Dwarves tend to be Mountain Dwarves. The Duergar live in their own separate communities.