Dwarves are among the oldest peoples of the world, renowned for their craftsmanship, resilience, clan loyalty, and stubborn determination. While outsiders often view dwarves as a single people, dwarven society is divided into several distinct subraces whose cultures have evolved along very different paths.

Dwarven Racial Traits Overview

Ash Dwarves

Ash dwarves are descendants of an ancient slave army that arrived in the world through a magical catastrophe. Over time they divided into three distinct cultures.

Ash (Subterranean)

These dwarves remain closest to their underground roots. They are miners, tunnelers, craftsmen, and defenders of subterranean settlements. Their skin remains pale and their features often resemble those of their ancestral kin.

Ash (Surface)

Surface Ash dwarves have embraced life beneath the open sky. Farmers, woodsmen, merchants, soldiers, and craftsmen are common among them. They maintain their own communities and rarely venture underground without good reason.

Ash (Urbanite)

Urbanites have fully embraced city life. Fashion, commerce, diplomacy, and culture are highly valued. Their appearance is carefully maintained, and many look down upon more traditional dwarven lifestyles.

Deep Dwarves

Deep dwarves possess granite-colored skin, dark hair, and a quiet, reserved demeanor. They spend most of their lives underground, mining, crafting, and defending their hidden cities from creatures of the depths. Seeing a deep dwarf on the surface is extremely rare.

Mountain Dwarves

Mountain dwarves are the hardiest and most martial of the dwarven peoples. Their societies emphasize combat readiness, military training, and survival. Young dwarves receive armor and weapons early in life and are trained continuously throughout adulthood.

Dwarven Relations

Humans

Dwarves trade readily with humans but often find them scatter-brained and lacking focus.

Elves

Relations are polite but distant. Dwarves and elves rarely settle in each other's lands except for trade or diplomacy.

Halflings

Halflings are viewed with suspicion and are closely watched within dwarven communities.

Half-Orcs

Dwarves distrust orcs and half-orcs. Visitors are tolerated but rarely welcomed.

Religion

Mountain and Deep dwarves primarily worship the Old Gods, especially Moradin, Berronar Truesilver, and Sharindlar. Ash dwarves more commonly adopt deities associated with their particular communities and lifestyles.

Benefits of Age

Dwarves gain benefits through decades of service to their clan. Unlike elves, these benefits represent practical skills developed through labor, craftsmanship, warfare, and clan loyalty.

History and Lore

Dwarven history is recorded differently than that of other races. Rather than measuring time by years, dwarves often track events through reigns, wars, mines, and clan achievements.

Deep dwarves are believed to be the oldest dwarven people, followed by the Mountain dwarves who arrived aboard spelljamming vessels seeking new lands. The Ash dwarves arrived later as part of a doomed military expedition and eventually forged their own cultures and identities.