Despite the usual connotations, Dwarves are the largest race in the Hammerlands. They spend their days beneath the mountains crafting art and magic items, striving to find the perfect expression of their skill.
Dark and Fair
A common appellation for a Dwarf is ‘Dark Elf’. This is due to their dark, blue/purple skin, white hair and beards, and fair features. They are tall, stocky people which makes them an imposing people to talk to. Dwarves grow to a height of between 7 and 8 feet and can weigh up to 350 pounds.
Dwarves pour all their talent for beauty into their creations, often neglecting to put much effort into themselves. Because of this, they tend to use long-lasting styles such as braids and knots in their hair and beards.
Unrivalled Craftsmen
A Dwarf’s purpose in life is to craft something so unachievably perfect that they can finally feel satisfied by their talent. A Dwarf’s preference for this can range from children’s toys, artwork, and potions to legendary-tier magic weapons or armour.
Very few Dwarves have ever been truly satisfied in their crafts. This desire to create perfection has led to several Dwarves leaving their mountain home and going out into the realms in search of adventure, and more importantly, inspiration.
To the right, you can find a chart on which you can roll for your character’s crafting preference. Alternatively, you can pick the one that suits your character’s goals and personality.
| D10 | Crafting Preference |
|---|---|
| 1 | Art – Paintings |
| 2 | Art – Statues |
| 3 | Art – Music |
| 4 | Children’s Toys |
| 5 | Food & Drink |
| 6 | Clothing |
| 7 | Tools & Equipment |
| 8 | Potions & Consumables |
| 9 | Magic Weapons & Armour |
| 10 | Magic Equipment |
Dwarf Names
Dwarven names typically follow the pattern of having two syllables, both of which start with a hard consonant. Their surnames usually reference their crafts and preference of style. You may choose a name from the following list or come up with your own.
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| Bamur | Dalir |
| Hokul | Duvon |
| Glorgan | Whuzzod |
| Drandan | Firguc |
| Gigan | Dumon |
| Malvur | Darerun |
| Thondin | Karun |
| Radur | Magflair |
Dwarf Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. Dwarves mature at the age of 80 and naturally live to the age of 900, although through their magic they can extend this lifespan.
Alignment. Dwarves prioritise their crafts and magical advancements above all else. Because of this, they lean towards neutral alignments.
Size. Dwarves grow to a height of between 7 and 8 feet. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Dwarven, and Old Norse.
Rune Empowerment. During a long rest, you can spend an hour imbuing a dwarven rune into a weapon of your choice to give it a +1 to attack rolls and damage. Only one item can have this rune at a time.
Sword and Spell. After landing a successful melee attack you can use your bonus action to cast a spell that would normally take an action to do. You can do this once per long rest.
Dwarven Magic. You know the Cantrips Mind Sliver, Magic Stone, and Sword Burst. You also gain Darkvision up to 60ft.
Poison Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Designing the Dwarf Race
When designing the Dwarf race I knew I wanted to both subvert and reference the usual expectations associated with them. I also needed to reference the Nordic mythology upon which they are based. This resulted in a towering race of large, subterranean crafters with an affinity for the creation of magical items. Mechanically, they are a mixture of the official D&D 5e Dwarf and the lore-focused Dwarves of the Hammerlands.
The ability score increase for the Dwarf is a mix of constitution and intelligence. This isn’t a typical combination of ability scores, however, this combination felt most authentic to the lore, as well as allowing them to facilitate a ‘healthier’ intelligence-based class. Their age, alignment, size, speed, and languages are all determined based on the lore, so there isn’t much to talk about mechanically there.
The first ‘active’ feature the Dwarf gets is Rune Empowerment. This allows them to provide a small buff to either themselves or others. I considered making this scale with levels to provide a larger buff, however, it’s likely the player will receive magic weapons that will already have a significant bonus and I don’t want to stack them to ridiculous heights.
Sword & Spell allows the player to make a melee attack and then use their bonus action to cast a spell that would normally require an action. Due to the required melee attack, this feature works well with spells that either buff or require a DC check, so as not to suffer the disadvantage caused by making ranged attacks while in melee combat. This feature synergises really well with Paladins, Rangers, Eldritch Knights, and Arcane Tricksters, to name a few.
The passives of this race serve the purpose of filling out the remaining ‘standards’ of Dwarven fantasy. This includes Darkvision to allow for subterranean life, 3 enchantment cantrips to support the feeling of being master craftsmen, and poison resistance because Dwarves are hardy, resistant folk.
Thanks for reading! I hope you like my take on the Dwarf! It’s a step away from the typical tropes, yet still honours them. If you have any further questions about this race or want clarification on any of the features, please leave a comment below and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as I’m able. Have a great day, and may your next session be filled with glory!
You can join the community on Discord, where I’ll be running some community Oneshots soon. You can also find me on Twitch where we build a lot of these homebrews with the help of chat!
Have a great day and a may your next session be filled with glory!
Veneon Reforged 
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