Friday, December 18, 2020

Revised Dwarf Race for Marth Ice World (Labyrinth Lord AEC)

I find myself tinkering on Labyrinth Lord Advanced Edition Companion races today for my homebrewed ice world of Marth. I also added in a few extra special abilities from AD&D. There are several sub-species of dwarves on Marth, and their descriptions are down below the main LL AEC details.

Setting Blurb: Marth is a dying world that has been locked in a perpetual ice age after the death of most of its gods due to their avarice and the powerful kingdom slaying rituals of mere mortals. There is a shread of hope though. Recently many have had recurring dreams of the last surviving goddess Fallosnimia waking up from her deep ages long slumber. Many believe the awakening of the nature deity means that there will be warmer days ahead.


REVISED LL AEC DWARF

Requirements: CON 9

Ability Modifiers: See the sub-races below.

Ability Min/Max: STR 8/17, DEX 3/17, CON 9/19, INT 3/18, WIS 3/18, CHA 3/16

Dwarves are a particularly hardy and stubborn people. They value high quality craftsmanship, precious metals and stones, and live deep underground. Although only 4 or so feet tall, they weigh no less than 150 pounds due to their stocky muscular build.

Dwarves typically band together in clans which are not mutually exclusive or hostile but they are highly competitive. They have a reputation for having surly attitudes, and are particularly gruff with elves. Rocky hills and mountains are the favorite abode of these sturdy creatures, and their clanholds far below the surface of the world are breathtaking to behold. If they survive their toils in the mountains and the bloodlust of battle they can live to roughly 350 to 400 years old.

Special Abilities:

*Due to their short height, dwarves cannot use most two-handed weapons or longbows. However, they can use any other weapons or armor allowed by their class. 

*No matter what class they choose dwarves are proficient with all hammers, and spears.

*Due to their great hatred of goblins, giants, ogres, orcs, and trolls, all dwarves gain a bonus of +1 on their attack dice rolls to hit these opponents.

*When dwarves are in melee with giants, ogres, trolls and yetis, these monsters must deduct 4 from their dice rolls to hit their dwarven opponents due to the size and skill of the latter in combatting these large creatures.

*From their experience underground, dwarves have a 2 in 6 (1-2 on 1d6) chance of detecting traps, false walls, hidden construction, or noticing if passages are sloped. Dwarves must be actively searching for these abilities to function. 

*In addition to languages known based on the character's intelligence, a dwarf character will also speak: the common tongue, dwarf, elven, goblin, neanderthal, orc, and uldra.

P.S. Note that dwarves and the other races do not have darkvision.


Dwarves receive the following saving throw bonuses:
• +2 save versus breath attacks
• +4 save versus poison
• +4 save versus petrify or paralyze
• +3 save versus wands
• +4 save versus spells or spell-like devices 

Dwarves are hardy beings, resistant to magic and poison, and as such they receive bonuses to defend against these effects. In addition, their small size grants them a bonus to finding cover and avoiding breath attacks.


DWARF CLASSES AVAILABLE & LEVEL LIMITS

Dwarves may select from the following classes, with the indicated level limits.

Assassin: 9 (Unlimited for Gray Dwarves)

Druid: 7 (Unlimited for Fire Dwarves)

Fighter: 10

Paladin (Knight): 8

Ranger: 9 (Level 12 for Fire Dwarves)

Thief: Unlimited

Note: the Druid replaces the Cleric in the setting of Marth.


DWARF THIEF SKILL ADJUSTMENTS

Dwarven thieves receive the following bonuses and penalties to thief abilities:

Pick Locks +7% 

Find and Remove Traps +10%

Climb Walls -10%


DWARF SUB-RACES

The following abilities are in addition to the information above, or modify the above abilities.

Fire Dwarf

Ability Modifiers: CON +1, WIS -1

*Firestarter: All melee attacks with metal weapons deal +1D6 extra fire damage. Wooden weapons will be destroyed by fire after one use by them. Their skin is also warm to the touch, and they can raise the temperature in confined sealed spaces as a small fire would.

*Soul Forge: Any spell that is cast by a fire dwarf that deals fire damage is treated as if it were cast by a magic-user one level higher.

Gray Dwarf

Ability Modifiers: CON +1, CHA -1

*Iron Bones: All their damage rolls deal +2 extra damage.

*One with the Stone Father: They can hide with a 90% chance if they stand completely motionless next to any type of rock or stone of roughly the same size as the character. This ability works even if they are in plain sight. They can also walk though a number of feet of stone equal to their character level. Example: a 6th level gray dwarf can walk though 6 feet of stone.


Sub-raceHeightWeightEyesHair Skin
Fire4'6"180Solid Black RedLight Brown
Gray4'0"150Solid Gray Black (Balding)Pale Gray


*The Ice Dwarves have completely died out. It is unknown what killed them, but other... beings have taken over their silent halls.

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Artist: Haidy Wittmann, THE DWARF.

Creative Commons Art.

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haidy_Wittmann_art_%22Dwarf%22.jpg

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