Roleplaying tips #2 – Dwarves

Image used under Creative Commons Attribution: https://www.deviantart.com/kimsuyeong81

“Since they were to come in the days of the power of Melkor, Aulë made the dwarves strong to endure. Therefore they are stone-hard, stubborn, fast in friendship and in enmity, and they suffer toil and hunger and hurt of body more hardily than all other speaking peoples; and they live long, far beyond the span of Men, yet not forever.” ― The Silmarillion, “Of Aulë and Yavanna”, JRR Tolkein

Foreward and fair warning.

The ideas presented below are my own opinions, shaped by forty years of gaming, running games, writing fiction and being an avid fantasy fan in all its wondrous shapes and guises. Your opinions may differ and that is wonderful. All I wish to do is present my own ideas and see if any of them strike a chord, or get you thinking in new ways about our amazing hobbies.

Introduction

I’ve been games master in one form or another for around forty years on and off, and over fifty percent of my experience as a GM has been running fantasy games. Runequest, MERP, Rolemaster, Ars Magica and more. There are certain races and classes that are pretty much the staple are of fantasy, and of those, the most commonly included races are probably Elves and dwarfs.

Dwarfs or Dwarves, make your mind up!
Grammatically, the correct plural has always been Dwarfs however, in the twentieth century, Tolkien deliberately changed it to Dwarves, preferring the softer ‘v’ sound. This was adopted in many fantasy games including DnD, now it is considered that both spellings are equally valid.

The origin of Dwarves

In my first article I discussed the nature of elves, their longevity and outlook with a few thoughts meant to inform your possible interpretations of portraying an elf. In this article let’s do a deep delve into the stony core of dwarven culture.

Dwarfs evolved from the mythos of Germanic and Scandinavian cultures and there are many differing views on the source of the word itself. Some scholars think the word Dwarf derives from terms for delving, deepness, darkness. With strong links to maintain spirits associated with stone and metal and smithing.  Some link the word to terms for mental damage, or dreams and firmly planting them as fey spirits more akin to elves in some ways, playing tricks, deceiving and plaguing humans with dark dreams.

In the Scandinavian folklore Dwarves seem to be strongly associated with the Svartalfar (Black Elves) and are, ironically the basis for the concept of ‘dark elves’ which in modern fantasy are seen more as a subset of the Elven races, and nothing to do with Dwarves, though in some games and literature we get races like the Duergar, a race of  ‘dark dwarves’ in much the same was as we have dark elves.

Scandinavian dwarfs are short and stocky mountain folk who craft magical weapons and armour and help or hinder heroes on quests. It’s interesting to note that in Scandinavian folklore females are rarely mentioned, but when they are mentioned they are considered beautiful enough to seduce warriors.  It was Tolkien that first stated that Dwarven females have beards and look much the same as males. This was mainly included to account for the fact that literature rarely mentions females and that, in many myths Dwarves grew out of the ground fully formed. Tolkien surmised that there must have been females, but they so closely resemble the males that outsides cannot tell the difference.

Tolkein drew on many of these sources and constructed a race of mountain dwelling folk, cunning in stone craft, metalwork and crafting. They are long lived, lives spanning hundreds of years. Crafty and clever, slow to trust but fierce in friendship. Fantasy games such as DnD adopted the race and, over time, the nature of Dwarfs has distilled into certain stereotypical behaviours. This makes dwarves very easy to role play as we can fall back on solid, easy to understand patterns of behaviour. The problem with such simple attributes is that it makes it challenging to differentiate between dwarven characters. They can all end up seeming very similar.

Long lives and patient craft

Let’s think about what we know, and what we can infer and build from there.

Dwarves are long lived beings. In DnD they live for 400 years or so, Tolkien merely says they do not live forever, but far longer than any man. This would imply centuries if not, potentially, millennia. Thus to paint dwarves as impatient and hasty folk something of a conundrum. When you have so long to live, you would have to develop patience. Your outlook would be slow, dealing with large increments of time over small.  Mining is not a hasty business. Care must be taken to make sure mineshafts are safe, escaping gases and rock faults make every new shaft a danger. Not to mention the perils of exploring deep caverns which may harbour ancient evils or monsters.

This would make us think that Dwarves might be inclined to be careful thinkers, who look at problems in the long as well as short term. Crafting weapons too is not a quick business. The great Japanese smiths took a year or more to craft a Katana.

Quick to anger, Long to forgive

Another norm of Dwarven cultural portrayal seems to be of a hearty folk, quick to laugh and quick to anger. But how does this tally with years of patient craft and hard work. One might suppose that in close confines and challenging environments arguments would break out, and possibly frequently. How would such conflicts be resolved? Maybe this would explain the quick to anger. It could be quite normal for Dwarves to express their feelings to each other to avoid conflict building up with disastrous results. Perhaps such conflicts are fought physically, a way to let off steam and develop martial prowess. It could explain why Dwarves love combat so much, if it’s seen as a natural and right thing to do to let loose all those negative energies.

And also, in such dangerous conditions trust would be necessary and essential. To break a promise, to let your attention wander, to slack off at your work would be to endanger others. Oathbreakers would be the worst people, a danger to all around them. Plain speaking and honesty would be the cornerstone of hard labour. No wonder they would distrust those with slippery tongues and dubious honesty.

Greed or a love of beauty?

Most dwarves are portrayed as covetous of riches and wealth. But why? On what would such aassed wealth be spent? Indeed why would dwarves have need of currency apart from being able to shop between themselves or to trade with others. But we are told that Dwarves are untrusting and reclusive. So who are they trading with? (see below)

Perhaps, instead, we could take the love of gold, mithril precious stones and the like as being linked to that careful craft and aspirations to perfection. Mithril is intrinsically superior to other metals for manufacturing weapons and armour, so it goes without saying that Dwarves would seek out this metal as being very useful. Gold is pretty useless for most practical uses, but it is a beautiful metal, regardless of its value. If gold were as common as iron, still we would make things from it to admire. So it’s not at all impossible that gold is seen by dwarves as something beautiful to create with.

Jewels are precious only because we deem them so lovely. With the exception of modern industrial diamonds etc. there is very little practical use for a gemstone. Their value is in their rarity and their beauty. But in many mythologies gemstones hold magical powers and benefits. Perhaps you as GM, could weave that into your Dwarven lore, perhaps gemstones become intrinsic in how Dwarves make magical items while seemingly having few mages. Imagine a culture where the finding of a rare sapphire is a cause for joy as now this can be used to make a circlet that, when worn, would cure diseases, or relieve the suffering of a dying soul allowing them to transition to the next life in painless peace. Imagine the anticipation of crafting a weapon imbued with the ability to deliver fire damage thanks to the fire opal embedded within.

Now we see that covetousness in a new light. Not the acquisition of wealth, but the ability to create something beautiful, or useful. The fact humans and others will accept gold in return for other things is a useful side effect.

Which brings us to something important.

Where the heck do Dwarves get all their food and ale from?

It’s well establish Dwarves eat well and drink a lot. But that requires substantial investment in land and personnel. Ale is made with grain, water and yeast. Fir beer you also need hops.  All those big feats need animals, and lots if them, and that requires land for cattle and farming as well as lands to hunt.

So who is doing all this farming? If all the Dwarves are underground, where does their food come from? In fact how did they even survive as a race underground at all? Come to that, if they live entirely underground, how did they develop martial ability with no one to fight but each other?

Option 1 – not all Dwarves live underground.

It makes much more sense that Dwarves must have a wider, more extensive culture. They can’t have relied on external sources for food and drink when they were a young race, so they must have had the ability to do all these things themselves. This completely upends the concept of a ‘city underground’ as a concept. Unless there are vast acres of underground tilled fields and cattle pastures, these things just exist above ground. So some Dwarves live above ground, and always have. There will be farmers, and herdsmen and hunters. It might be they only come out to do these things, and go back underground a lot. Or it could be that there are different classes of Dwarves, and and only some are the underground dwellers.

This gives is so many more options for character development when working on Dwarves. Rangers, scouts and more. Class divides and grudges between those below and those above. And remember, the larger the underground realm, the more land is needed above to supply food.

This option would mean more regular interaction with other races, and potential clashes over land and borders.

Option 2 – The mountains have everything we need.

Or it could be something entirely different. It could be that Dwarves subsist on a very different diet. Lace your caverns with creatures, deep lakes with eyeless fish. Vast caverns of fungi and strange creatures that have adapted to the dark. You would need complex ecosystems to have an entirely subterranean habitat. Perhaps dwarven ale is not ale at all, it’s more like fermented mushroom juice! Or perhaps there is some limited hunting above, with foraging for food as well. That plus trade would open up their diet.

This would mean Dwarves could be more reclusive, relying on themselves alone. But it could also mean that any disruption to the balance of the ecosystem would be disastrous. Growth in population would be very challenging without new chambers to explore and exploit. In times like that, they would have to be more tolerant of trade and relationships with others to get what they needed.

Perspective

So we now need to consider perspective. How do Dwarves see the world? And their place in it? It would seem that Dwarves would have a very unique perspective. On the one hand they take their time with craft and labour, doing a job right, doing it safely and with all angles considered. But once they choose to act, they work hard, diligently and with determination. Once they say they will do a thing it will be done. They will be quick to vent negative emotions to prevent  a= further conflict further down the line, Better to be angry now and be honest then spare feelings and risk a worse situation.

They will price fine craftsmanship and fine materials. Not for the money they can make, but for the beauty of a thing, or the potential in making things of beauty. For the joy of craft and well made things.

They will have culture, society, class and echelons of status. Some will be simple folk, farmers, hunters, crafters and crofters. But the high status folk are the ones who dwell below, who hew at stone, who refine the metals, cut and polish the jewels, harness the precious materials into things of beauty and power. They revere hard work and dedication to skill and craft.

So…. Scottish or Viking?

Scottish Dwarves seems to have come about by accident. The source material for Dwarves draws heavily on Norse mythology, naming structures, physical attributes, architecture and speech patterns would all indicate a more Viking theme than Scottish highlands.

That said, having your mighty dwarven fighter running around sounding like the Swedish chef might be challenging and a good Scandinavian accent isn’t easy to pull off for many people. But at the end of the day, Scottish accents can be easier to copy and can be a lot of fun to play with. But if so why not dive full into it, embrace it, and change your naming conventions to fit. Instead of Khazran and Edda, why not Hamish and Baltair, Connor and Domhnall? Bring plaid and clan colours into the mix.

OY of you want to really shake things up, take that love of perfection, patience and dedication to craft and think of other cultures that are similar. Imagine a race of quietly introspective Dwarves modelled on a form of Japanese culture, where dwarven warlords are like the Samurai, while Dwarven crafts seek perfection on all things as they spend years working on a single might war axe. As the great mystical and sage Bob Ross once said, “This is your world You’re the creator.”

Adventuring?

So you want to play a dwarf character, great! But here are some things to maybe think about:

Which aspect of dwarven society did your character hail from? Miners, crafters, leaders? Are they overland dwarves who hu9nted and farmed. How did this inform their upbringing?

What made them leave? Was it just that restless spirit, or do they have a goal? a job?, a task?, a desire?

How do they interact with other races? Like elves, for you the world beyond the mountains is fast paced, almost frantic. The short lived races have to cram so much into so little time. You took a long time to just be accepted as an adult. And you have many centuries to look forwards to.

How much do you know about the world? Are you recently joined to the rest of the world, what concepts are new and alien to you. Imagine the fun to be had playing with naivety, or sheer cluelessness over some concepts. How irksome would you find some race’s, their lack of discipline and lack of straight forward talking, thinking and acting. You respond with anger, as is your right and proper response but everyone seems shocked. Why are the town’s guard acting like you have done wrong?

Relationships

How do you get along with other races? Humans live and die so quickly. Only the elves live as long or longer than you, but they are so… indirect and slippery. Hard to trust and depend on. Humans share many of your likes and dislikes, but they are also undependable and hasty.

So if you are considering playing a dwarf, talk to your DM/GM and see what culture they have cooked up, how do they see dwarves fitting into their world, and start there.  If you are that DM/GM, think about your culture, how they live, where they live, what drives them, and feed that to your players to help inform their characters.

Other perspectives

7 Best Fantasy Books With Dwarves to Read Right Now

http://www.prysus.com/culture_dwarven.htm

https://nerdarchy.com/worldbuilding-customizing-the-dd-dwarf-and-dwarven-culture/