Ever since I read The Hobbit I've been fascinated by dwarves. I love the stunty little guys! As I mentioned in the last D&D podcast, I've been messing around with some dwarf sub-types. Here's one of them:
Iron Dwarves
Hailing from the deepest reaches of the mountain depths, iron dwarves are basically redneck dwarves. They seek out the furthest veins of precious minerals and even venture down into the Underdark in pursuit of precious metals. Few non-dwarves have even seen an iron dwarf, as these greedy, grasping creatures only show up in civilized realms (usually dwarf towns) long enough to sell their ores and invariably spend all their accumulated wealth on strong drink and similar diversions.
Iron dwarves rarely become adventurers. After all, life on the fringe of the Underdark is an adventure unto itself. Between dodging drow and mind flayers, surviving cave ins, and digging mine shafts that could suddenly open up to a cave filled with dire corbies or ochre jellies, iron dwarves have enough problems to deal with without seeking out trouble.
Iron dwarves that do become adventurers are invariably derided as soft and weak by their kin. Sure, charging into a dragon's lair might be dangerous, but real dwarves earn their fortunes the hard way: by ripping them out of the earth with pick and shovel.
Game Stuff
Iron dwarves use all the normal rules for dwarves, but with two exceptions:
+2 Strength instead of +2 Wisdom
When an iron dwarf uses his second wind, he can choose to forgo regaining hit points. Instead, he may regain the use of one his expended encounter attack powers.
Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference
20 hours ago
5 comments:
Is the second wind choice in addition to the ability to use the second wind as a minor action?
I've become a huge dwarf fan as well in the last several years. I suspect it has everything to do with my personal gaming experiences in those times. But regardless, there's something about dwarves and their culture that is an instant draw for me (odd since I was never really into them before).
But the combination of a Temple of Elemental Evil campaign I'm in with Salvatore and various other factors, I just find I can't get enough dwarven love...er, wait, that came out wrong.
Does that mean that other dwarves sit around telling "iron dwarf" jokes such as "You might be an iron dwarf if ..." :)
Ruffin - Yes, they can still use a second wind as a minor action.
I'm a great fan of dwarves. Just love the race. Maybe it's because I'm a short, fat, rude, hairy and often bearded fellow.
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