The Dwarven Point of View by Roger Moore (no, not that one)

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Salasker
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The Dwarven Point of View by Roger Moore (no, not that one)

Post by Salasker » Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:51 am

DISCLAIMER: This article was written, as the author states, from AD&D sources, so some things in it just do not apply to later editions of D&D (it was published in 1982, after all). However, I still think it provides some pretty interesting views on dwarves and conjecture on their society, so I present it to you, verbatim, here. (Grab a drink, it's a long one...)

The Dwarven Point of View

As AD&D™ players know, the dwarves are a human-like race, standing about 4 feet high but weighing as much as 150 pounds or so due to their broad build and musculature. Most people also know that dwarves prefer living underground in caverns and mines, they value gold highly, and they have beards (female dwarves are also said to be bearded). Their use of axes and hammers as weapons and their hatred of ores and giants is also familiar. However, this limited amount of information is the extent of most people’s awareness and knowledge of dwarves.

Scattered throughout the AD&D books and a number of other sources are other bits of information regarding this poorly understood race - information that may mean little in itself, but when put together presents in some detail an interesting portrait of a distinctly different race, one that does not share our human values and feelings on the topics of life and living. Much of the difficulty in getting to understand dwarves is due directly to their habit of separation from the affairs of other races. The dwarves are very much a race apart.

One of the most striking features of dwarven society is the inequality in numbers of males vs. females. Two out of three dwarves are male at birth, and this ratio continues to hold true as dwarves get older. The effect this has upon them reaches into nearly every aspect of their lives. Most male dwarves do not marry, but instead devote their lives to careers as craftsmen, miners, adventurers, and so forth. Dwarves who do enter into marriage become exceedingly jealous and possessive of their partners, restricting the freedom each has in exchange for a life of devotion to each other and their children.

Yet, though roughly half of all male dwarves are destined to go through life as bachelors, they do not appear overly sad or frustrated. Their careers fill their daily lives as completely as would the presence of a wife, and appear to give them much the same satisfaction (particularly in the metal-working and jeweler crafts, for reasons to be given later).

How would a human society cope with an excess of males such as this? History reveals that at times such as this, human societies turn to warfare or extreme violence in order to bring the sexual imbalance back to normal. For dwarvenkind, however, a male-to-female ratio of 20 to 1 is normal.

Some dwarves, male and female alike, would not marry even if they had the chance, so immersed are they in their work. The greatest heroes and heroines of dwarvenkind have almost always been single, as marriage means the end of any outside occupations, especially adventuring. For a married dwarf to adventure or otherwise spend a lot of time out of the home is seen as a shirking of responsibilities and a disgraceful insult to the other partner of the lowest order, in effect saying that the partner (be it he or she) is not worthy of the other’s affections. Much of this feeling is caused and reinforced by the basically lawful good nature of the dwarven fold.

By and large, dwarves are seen as possessive, single-minded, perhaps having a narrow range of interests, yet throwing all their energies into the seeking of their goals. Dwarves are clannish, more so than most other races, and few make a habit of spending a lot of time among the company of non-dwarves for long periods of time.

A strong streak of materialism is present in the dwarven character and they are sometimes notoriously jealous of what they own. Dwarves tend to hoard their wealth, spending money only to make more money, and are very watchful of thieves, real and suspected. In dwarven society, there is but one penalty for pickpockets and burglars, and that is death - unless, of course, the thief is working for the dwarves against someone else.

Many dwarves are rather vengeful, and remember slights or insults long after they have ceased to matter to anyone else. They may well take opportunities to redress the situation when their enemies have been lulled into complacency. Little wonder that other races sometimes distrust dwarves more than they do goblins. Who knows, they ask, what a dwarf is really thinking of you?

To other intelligent races, dwarves are humorless, “dour and taciturn” (as the DMG puts it), and loveless except for a lust for more and more gold. Such is not true; there is much joy in a dwarf’s life in such things as the birth of a child, the crafting of a beautiful jewel, or the forging and finishing of a great suit of armor or a matchless weapon.

Yet, it is true that for the most part, the life of a typical dwarf is fraught with ceaseless toil and labor; the dwarves’ work ethic makes
the human conception of the same concept appear lackadaisical. They pay a price for this drive, in terms of the many lines that fill their faces as they age. This price, however, is seen as a badge of honor among dwarves, and adds in some sense to their satisfaction with themselves.

Other races don’t always see it this way (especially the elves, who would be sorely distressed to have to live such serious and hardworking lives). Those few who do admire the dwarves and uphold their achievements publicly will come to win their cautious gratitude, and in time may be counted in some manner as an “honorary dwarf” if they continue to actively support and champion dwarven causes.

Interestingly enough, there is some element of humor in the dwarven character, of a nature particular to themselves. Whenever dwarves have been responsible for the rescuing of persons of other races, there is inevitably some jesting and joshing to the effect that the victims wouldn’t have had to be rescued if they’d been dwarves, or that the dwarves fail to understand what was so awful about the situation (regardless of how bad it was). Though two demons, a dragon, and an entire tribe of orcs be slain in the conquest, and the dwarves be immensely proud among themselves, they may put on a casual front to other races, and would appear to treat the whole episode as a light romp in the afternoon sun.

With all this in mind, one understands how dwarves on the whole have such low charismas when interacting with other races. Yet, on the positive side, dwarves possess a powerful tenacity, driving on when others have given up and left the race. Legends and tales abound of dwarves who dared the greatest obstacles and dangers in reaching for their goals, either to emerge victorious or end up utterly destroyed. A thing is either done or it is not, and there is no halfway about it. Dedication like this can often make the difference between success and failure for adventuring parties. Such an attitude can prove to be a great morale boost for groups of adventurers, particularly lawful good ones. How could one avoid winning, with a dwarf on one’s side?

The natural tendency to suspiciousess in the dwarven nature has saved enterprises from disaster, much more often than it has led to the missing of a good opportunity. Dwarves take a great interest in seeing that the party and its valuables are secure from loss — a greater interest than most other peoples can willingly muster.

Dwarves abhor slavery and all forms of involuntary servitude; they never practice it among their own kind or against other races. Foes are either made to leave the area, coexist peacefully if they elect to stay, or else are slain. Those who make a practice of enslaving dwarves run the gravest risks; other dwarves who find this out will lay aside all differences to unite and destroy them, in a fairly short time, if at all possible.

Dwarves are one of the toughest of races, perhaps the most so. Poisonous substances don’t affect them as much as they do other races. Dwarves do not use any magical spells, but this has proved to be a saving grace at times — such as when cursed rings fail to function when worn, giving them a chance of recognizing the cursed enchantments. Magical spells and magical effects of other sorts may be more strongly resisted by dwarves because of their non-magical natures. Their strength is also considerable and in battle serves to offset their short height. Though dwarves are not as agile as other races, this doesn’t appear to affect them greatly in any way.

Earlier it was said that dwarves are a race apart. Indeed, they were created that way. The god Moradin, the Father of the Dwarves, is said to have fashioned them secretly of iron and mithral, in a forge in the fires at the heart of the world. No other god suspected what was happening, it is told, and when dwarves appeared upon the world the event was cause for great surprise among the other deities. Being a solitary god himself, it may be guessed that Moradin preferred it this way.

Moradin was able, through his skills, to give souls to the dwarves when he breathed upon them at their creation (also cooling them as they were taken from the furnace). This sets the dwarves in a group with only humans, gnomes, and halflings for company, of beings with souls instead of spirits (see the DEITIES & DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia for clarification of these terms). Because they are built from the substance of the earth itself, dwarves feel a strong affinity for the lands that lie under the ground, and they base their lives on working with the earth’s resources.

One is struck, in the study of dwarven theology, by the relationship between procreation and metalcraft; perhaps more than one dwarven smith has looked upon a finished piece of work and felt as if he’d breathed life into the metal and given it a soul of sorts, as Moradin did so long ago. Some of the most popular dwarven-told tales concern an ancient smith who was able to do exactly that, somehow investing his creations with a life of their own. The story ends similarly to the Greek tale of Pygmalion and Galatea, with the smith fashioning a female dwarf from the most precious of metals and having her come to life. Thereafter, of course, they were married and he ceased to bother with his crafts, being now content.

Moradin is a proud and possessive god, who owns a hammer and armor that cannot be stolen or used by any other deity in the universe. It is clear that a part of him lives on in all dwarves. The emphasis on materialism is difficult for dwarves to rid themselves of. They feel that if they want a thing they must have it before them, be it a person, object, or experience. Fond memories do not suffice, and sometimes only serve to psychologically torture the dwarf, because he or she may be physically unable to obtain the thing again. Either a dwarf has something or he/she does not.

Lust for treasure motivates dwarven thieves more so than it does thieves of other races; little do dwarves care what was done to get the item. Because of the unequivocal penalties for stealing from other dwarves, dwarven thieves base most of their livelihood on stealing from other races (thereby worsening already touchy relationships). The knowledge that dwarves go through life only once (souls cannot be “recycled” as spirits can be) may also fuel the desire to get all one can out of life before one goes. (Or, as an infamous dwarven thief once put it, “Ya gotta reach for all the gusto ya can.”)

When a dwarf dies, it is considered a dishonor for the body to go unburied. Dwarven communities bury their dead in great stone vaults after ceremonial cremation, symbolically returning the body to the Forge of Moradin and then to the earth, while the soul is freed to make its journey to the outer planes. The burial of weapons, armor, and magical items with the ashes, as well as gold and jewelry, is not common and is done only for dwarves of great importance.

The long-standing rivalry between dwarves and orcs, goblins, and giants, reflected in the combat skills dwarves have against these types and races of creatures, doubtless points to older rivalries between Moradin and the gods of those non-human creatures. An investigation of theology reveals that hill giants are probably the greatest traditional dwarven enemies. For use against these huge folk, the clerics of Moradin may manufacture +3 Dwarven Thrower war hammers, something no other race can make.

In the DMG (p. 16) there is a comment to the effect that dwarves are more “forward” in their behavior toward females without beards, since dwarven women tend to be bearded too. This author would like to suggest that this statement be disregarded. It was not clear whether dwarven females or females of other races are being referred to, and in any case dwarves are not at all prone to mate with others outside their race. Those persons who have had the audacity to ask dwarves whether they like bearded or unbearded women best have usually been given stony stares — or, if the pollster is persistent and obnoxious enough, a firsthand demonstration of the high quality of the dwarven-made battleaxe and the skill with which one can be wielded. Such information was not meant to be spread about indiscriminately. It may be conjectured that such matters are left to the personal preferences of each dwarf.

Two discrepancies appear in the various AD&D volumes concerning dwarves. Though dwarves may become psionic, Moradin is not; this may be accepted as Moradin’s way of keeping his thoughts to himself, however. There is also the question of whether dwarven clerics (who must be fighters as well) can reach 7th or 8th level; this author strongly favors the idea that truly exceptional dwarven clerics may reach the 8th level if they have an 18 wisdom. Otherwise they can only become 7th-level clerics.

Information for this article was taken from the Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, the Dungeon Masters Guide, and the DEITIES & DEMIGODS Cyclopedia. Paul H. Kocher’s book, Master of Middle-Earth (Ballantine Books, paperback), was also helpful, though it concerns J.R.R. Tolkien's version of dwarves and not the conception of them given in the AD&D rules.

Dungeon Masters may use this article to standardize the roles and personalities of dwarven NPC’s in his or her campaign, and players may use this information in role-playing their characters if they like. This article is a set of guidelines for playing dwarven characters, and not a set of rules.

(Whew! That took a while... Obviously, the rules about dwarves and magic, level and class restrictions are completely out of date, but I think there's some great information here. I'll post the next one once my fingers recover.)
Last edited by Salasker on Sun Jun 06, 2021 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Flower Power
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Re: The Dwarven Point of View by Roger Moore (no, not that one)

Post by Flower Power » Sun Jun 06, 2021 3:48 pm

Worth mentioning, since it discusses dwarven gender-relations, that in the FR setting dwarves are incredibly strict patriarchs in general due to the historically low fertility rate of dwarven females - dwarves view women, especially fertile women, as things to be protected and preserved (and often cloistered,) and that their primary role in society is the propagation of the species.

The Thunder Blessing making each rare dwarven pregnancy pop out more children on average has given women a little more bargaining power, and has relieved some of that social pressure to help ensure dwarves don't go extinct, so dwarven women can now canonically be something other than housekeeper/mother without it being acanonical and weird - but that's a very recent phenomenon in FR history, and it doesn't extend to the clergy yet.

The Morndinsamman don't even allow dwarves who aren't of the same gender as their deity to be priests of said deity, Abbathor (who is a greedy SoB) and Haela (who is the rebel of the pantheon) are the only two deities that canonically allow both females and men into their clergy - there's a single entry in the wiki that suggests this was relaxed post-ToT, but it lacks a source and directly contradicts other statements (with sources) that state that it HASN'T been.

So, tl;dr - it's views on dwarven marriage and love don't really mesh with this setting specifically, because FR dwarves are aggressively and divinely ordainedly patriarchical in culture, but other than that it's a decent read.
what would fred rogers do?

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Red Ropes
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Re: The Dwarven Point of View by Roger Moore (no, not that one)

Post by Red Ropes » Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:45 pm

The Morndinsamman /did/ restrict priests and their gender and its in the early 2e manuals for racial deities - basically each one says "now males and or females can join whatever cult" post ToT.
Due to long-standing tradition, most dwarven priests of dwarven deities before the Time of Troubles had to be of the same gender as their deity. Since the Time of Troubles, this stricture is not longer the absolute that is was, and all dwarven faiths now accept priests of either gender - reluctantly. Priests of the gender opposite their deity are likely to be treated gingerly or with slight resentment by their same-gender fellows and to be called upon to prove their commitment to their vocation often. Dwarven culture is very slow to adopt new customs.

The terms for those priests still uses the gendered words (a priest or priestess of the female gods still use the female oriented word regardless) and old dwarves kind of sneer at the change for the most part. This is on Page 48 of Demihuman Deities(AD&D resource) on that pantheon's entry.
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Flower Power
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Re: The Dwarven Point of View by Roger Moore (no, not that one)

Post by Flower Power » Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:13 pm

Neat-o, good to see a source finally tagged to that line.

But yeah, I imagine (restrictions loosened or not) that there are still plenty of staunch traditionalists who scoff at the concept; especially considering the ToT happened less than a quarter/tenth (depending on how long you view the dwarven 'generation' to be) of a dwarven generation ago.
what would fred rogers do?

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