How do we fix dwarves, /tg/? What are some interesting itterations of dwarves you've seen? What changes have you made tj dwarves, if any? Do you like to try to expand on the traditional stereotypes or change them up? There are a lot of different variations of elves, but not so many on dwarves, so I'd like to hear what people think
>>47248444
Why would you need to fix something that's already perfect?
Don't use them.
Or else play a setting that does them different.
Gloranthan "Mostali" are my favourite Dwarves right now.
They're the debased "Clay Mostali" creations of their remote metallic and crystalline ancestors, but still live in worker castes named for the progenitor Mostali races, the rock, lead, quicksilver, copper, tin, brass, silver, gold, and iron castes.
Their ancestors actually invented iron, no, I don't mean they first learned how to smelt it, I mean they straight up invented a new element with advanced sorcery.
They live lives of near ceaseless toil underground, with precious little free time, some go rogue, but most are quite happy with this, as they are all manufactured by their own communities in vats to serve the repair of the World Machine, which was broken in ancient times, and most or all Mostali strive constantly to repair it - to what end none can tell, though it probably wouldn't be good for anyone besides the Mostali.
>>47248599
Well, I do like dwarves. It's just that most settings do them as a race of gimli caricatures, so I was looking for any different variations of them to draw from
The archetype is perfect and beloved, dont change it.
The only subversion I've ever used was the "dwarves are jews" which makes way more sense than it should and made them hasidic.
I am concerned with the state of dwarves in the fantasy world. I think their constitution and strength are not allowed to shine trough, mainly because op characters with great stats and shit.
I don't care for the detracting characteristics such as the stubbornness. Maybe a boost in their will to fight and stay alive, resist mind control etc.
Dwarves have always been my favorite race. As warriors I have always pictured them as small immovable objects that swing axes around, layered on with thick ass plates of steel. Maybe a small steel bump with a pike when fighting cavalry.
I like their aversion to magic. They should be tinkerers and engineers mechanically inclined with a great eye for architecture in a Soviet Russia kind of way.
The steam punk vibe is ok on them but I think they need something more.
Is there any good in sports out there?
>>47248670
No, its really not. It's the worst of all fantasy races, including halflings, who are entirely pointless
>>47248648
>most settings do them as a race of gimli caricatures
Well, don't do that.
>>47248816
Well obviously. I'm just looking at ways other people have done them. Dwarves seem to have both the most rigid archetype and the most rabid fans, so it's kind of hard to change them without making them un-dwarflike
>>47248444
>their diet is primarily fish and mushrooms
>new dwarves just appear naked in the upper tunnels of a dwarven mine, and instinctually follow the tunnels upwards
>dwarves love underground exploration
>contrary to popular stereotypes, many dwarves do not have long beards which would interefere with work and machinery
>dwarves don't keep any livestock
>dwarves usually wear five self-mined, self-made metal rings on each hand, of the five main naturally occuring metals: gold, silver, bronze, iron and copper.
>>47248599
>I mean they straight up invented a new element with advanced sorcery
>mostali inventing new things
Isn't it blasphemy in their culture?
>>47249236
Their ancestors seem to have operated under a different set of rules; being "more perfect" than the flawed creations that constitute today's Dwarves, and in any case, they invented it in the Godtime in order to help them kill Trolls (Uz) and Elves (Aldryami), who are their mosral enemies, as Elves create awful forests of trees where nature grows unchecked and out of control, overgrowing the World machine, and Trolls have invaded the Mostali tunnels to eat them and destroy their creations since before human history began.
>>47249337
Mortal enemies pardon.
>>47249108
>naturally occurring metals
>bronze
idiot
>>47249390
Funnily enough, in Glorantha, bronze can be mined straight out of the ground, as it's present as the bones of dead storm gods.
My Dorfs are what they'd be in modern America. Blue collar, mechanically inclined good ol' boys who also have highly resilient biology and a healing factor. Which their teens use for dumb things.
Of course that's not everyone, Dwarves are the fourth most common race on Earth and they are on corporate boards and shit like that but the stereotype is rednecks+Jackass
>>47249484
As for justifying WHY they'd be rednecks
> Alcoholism
Hicks are legendary alcoholics. ITT, it happened to be redneck Dwarves that invented moonshine. They can drink Jake without going blind, too.
> Beards
Duck Dynasty has tame examples of what real redneck beards embody.
> Xenophobia
I don't even need to get into this one.
> High Value of Family and Friendship
Rednecks do value this. If you get close enough to one to consider eachother a pal, you often have a good friend for life. Much like dorves.
> Hill Dwelling Miners
Dwarves settled Appalachia and the Rockies gleefully.
>>47248444
I've come up with several varieties of dwarves for my setting, none of them terribly original but when put together it feels more natural and I find it gives the race more life. I've still given them basic traits that makes them dwarves, like stubbornness, industry and resistance to the elements, but determining how these traits combined with the environment shape every culture is the fun part. Note that the dwarven cultures listed below isn't their actual names, just nicknames given to them by humans for convenience's sake.
>Mountain dwarves
Traditional fantasy dwarves living in mountain strongholds, but with significant differences between them. Some embrace technology and machinery while others stick to more traditional methods. Some are kingdoms while some are run by a council of foremen. One of them is even a hegemonic city state with several colonies and dependencies.
>Peak dwarves
Not an actual culture per say, peak dwarves are dwarves who live on the mountains instead of in them. They serve as herdsmen and frontiersmen for the dwarves living in the holds and tend have an open, less rigid stance.
>Furnace dwarves
An offshoot of the mountain dwarves, furnace dwarves live in active or dormant volcanoes, which they believe are forges of their smith god. Other dwarves regard them as insane zealots with a death wish, and while they do tend to die from eruptions a lot, trial an error has taught them to create chambers and magma channels to keep themselves safe and harness the magma directly.
cont.
>>47248444
>>47249736
>Deep dwarves
Another mountain dwarf offshoot. While most mountain dwarves keep to their holds they do maintain contact with the surface, trading with other races and relying on peak dwarves and neighboring villages for food. Deep dwarves shun all contact with the surface, believing underground is where a dwarf truly belongs. They delve deep into earth, eating fungus and domesticated moles, and are rarely seen, even by other dwarves.
>Hill dwarves
Dwarves living in the northern hills in a clannish society. Warriors cover themselves with religious tatoos and fight almost naked. Basically Gaelic dwarves.
>Frost dwarves
The northernmost dwarven culture, frost dwarves are renowned for being the only dwarves who would step onto a boat of his own will. Viking dwarves.
>Dune dwarves
Nomadic traders. Dune dwarves travel in large caravans with populations comparable to a moderate sized town. They make annual or biannual rounds in the deserts, traveling between cities and oases. Once they reach a stopping point they rapidly erect a temporary settlement, which to outsiders seems like a city of tents appeared overnight. Afterwards they will spend set amount of time trading with locals before packing up and moving on.
My take on them
The Dwarves are a race of gregarious, community minded masters of the land. Their indistriousness, ingenuity, cooperation, and affinity for both the land and things that grow in it have allowed them to prosper in even the most barren, inhospitable locations. Under their steady, caring hand, sheer rock mountainside becomes verdant terraced gardens, blasted heathes become rolling, village dotted fields, and the barren caverns of the underground bloom with life. The dwarves love nature, and have a strong bond with it. However, unlike traditional elves, the dwarves view wild nature as a corruption of original perfection, or at least as a resource waiting to be refined into beauty. The dwarf hates a forest, but loves a park. Hates a wolf, but loves a dog
I like Discworld Dwarves. Caricatured but funny.
They are ants.
I always liked them more as engineeres and craftsmen, builders and diggers. That some of them were axe-wielding vikings without the boats seemed always odd to me.
>>47248444
Make them Italian.
my dwarves live in a large chain of mountain more to the north. in the middle of the chain there is a gigantic mountain where the only entrance lies (without counting the secret ones in case shit goes down). the other mountains are often adorned with large chimneys spouting miasma of rotting corpse, or the ashes of burning fires.
Most dwarves live their entire life underground without ever going to the surface as they are completely self-sufficient underground. Some dwarves however stay in large towers spouting from the underground and watching for intruders.
Their largest dining room is connected to a large reinforced window wich shines light at the time where dwarves eat (around 1 PM) and is how they calculate time and prevent sunlight sensitivity.
Due to previous wars dwarves tend to never let humans near their territories but they do trade with the barbarian tribes (wich dont know the secrets of iron).
>>47248444
If you don't want dwarves, don't use em' between halflings, gnomes, and even fey like the leprechauns, there's a dozen "small races" to fill in their niche, and several which are "small races good at making stuff" and/or "small races which are greedy".
Besides, Dwarf Fortress is proof that an all-dwarf society is functional. Well, functional enough, that is.
Dwarves were like mindless maggoty things underground before being given sentience or finding sentience. Their disgusting habits are something that has persisted since their maggot days.
>>47248444
>dwarves
>needing fixing
>>47251568
They do, or at least expanded on. They can't all be Urist Gimliclonebeard
