Purpose

Dwarves comprise about 5% of the total population, though a thousand years ago there were many, many more of them. Dwarves were created by Vulcana, Paragon, and Alfey to essentially provide logistical support during the war. They are physically built to be tougher, capable of enduring more, and they are meant to be able to stand up to the worst that can be thrown at them in any environment or condition.

Dwarves are stout, hardy, tenacious, tough, enduring, and easily a match for any of the larger folk in the world around them. They have a strong dislike of Kobolds, and many a dwarven family will tell tales of an ancestor who fought and endured while completing a task against constant onslaught and attack by hordes of Kobolds.

Family

The world for Dwarves is very tightly knitted around family.  Dwarves prize children above many things, and every dwarf holds a desire to have children of their own. But the world is harsh out there for Dwarves. Their history tends to make people think of them as the cleaners and the makers, and uses the need for money as if it is some kind of character defining trait among all dwarves, portraying them as greedy and miserly. One thing all can agree on, though, is that no one has a work ethic like Dwarves – it is a point of pride for them that when they take on a task, they will complete it, no matter what.

There were only members from 25 Dwarven families who survived the Gods War, and so those 25 family names are protected and guarded as if they were clans, though intermarriage became quite common following.

Dwarves tend to stick to themselves, but there are some who strive to make the lot of dwarves better, including some who have married humans.  For some reason, Elves and Dwarves can fall in love, but nothing ever comes from such, and the dwarven drive for family tends to discourage it as a result.

Half dwarves who embrace their Clan heritage are welcomed, those who do not, are shunned, and this is fairly total.

Racial Traits

Ability Score increase

Your constitution increases by 2

Lifespan

Dwarves mature about half the speed of humans, considered to be youthful until around 30 years old (roughly equal to a human 15 year old). Dwarves live to be about 250 years old.

Size

Dwarves stand between three and a half and five feet tall, and average slightly more than humans in weight, with most between 140 and 170 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Inherents

Darkvision: your people were created to be able to work mines, build facilities at night, and thread their way through unlit warrens of goblins. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkens as if it were dim light. In the dark, though, you cannot discern color, only shades of grey.

Dwarven Resilience: You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have a resistance against poison damage. You also have advantage on saving throws against paralysis. Dwarves don’t go down.

Dwarven Combat Training: You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and war hammer.

Tool Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice:

Smiths, Brewers, Masons

Craftcunning: Whenever you make an Intelligence (history) check related to the origin of something built, you are considered proficient in the history skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus. Dwarves built much of the old world, and many of the core foundations of the present one. The knowledge of this is passed down among the dwarven families.

Sub-races:

Wylde

Wylde Dwarves are not city-bred. They tend to be thinner, and more attuned to the natural world around them. Wylde dwarves gain an increase of 1 to their dexterity, an increase of 1 to their wisdom, but lose a point of constitution.

Noble

Noble Dwarves are direct, full blooded descendants of the original 25 families. They think of themselves as the rightful rulers of all dwarves, and can be haughty as a result. They gain an additional 1 point to their charisma and Constitution, to a maximum of 20.