Lore You Should Know - Duergar

[@Griffolion0]

"Duergar are unhappy, they revel in their unhappiness, they cannot experience joy." TIL I'm basically a tall Duergar.

[@DurdleDers]

same

[@TheSpani27]

Same

[@VengefulJarl]

I've been saying this for years. But I've been shrinking a inch a decade since 8th grade, so by the time I'm 50 or 60 I should be just right

[@AS-qy1zl]

Good summary of them really tbh

[@Necrodancer1312]

I've always pronounced it "d-where-gar" because that's how it was pronounced in the Legend of Drizzt audiobooks I owned as a teenager.

[@lorddreemurr]

Mr. Perkins you are an inspiration for me, and I honestly believe I've become a better DM after watching your videos.

[@Boxvoko]

If you haven't checked out his old blog series called the DM experience I highly recommend it! Even if it's about 4th edition, it's a hoard of knowledge.

[@CaptainRoBear]

I did not know about the reverence to their god's as more of a respect structure than traditional worship. Always love learning something new! Thanks for still cranking out these during our crazy times.

[@b0nehead]

Would have liked to hear mention of the Derro, the insane not-quite-dwarves-anymore that the Duergar betrayed/abandoned/used as bait when they finally broke free.

[@ih7729]

Seems like you've heard of it, champ.

[@chrisrector3881]

Could we get an episode on ghostwise halflings?

[@SamShowOnline]

I know it will never happen but one of my biggest dreams is to play a game of Dnd hosted by Chris Perkins. He's been such an inspiration to me. Best DM I've ever seen. I hope to work with him one day.

[@rooseveltcooper]

I'm running an adventure tonight featuring Duergar so this was very helpful! Thank you!

[@brandonblackfyre5783]

I am playing through *Baldurs Gate 3* for the first time as it was just released fully... so I am doing a deep dive of all the different races and subraces of the beings in *Baldurs Gate* and the *DnD* world. Glad I found your channel as I do not know anything about *DnD* lore and world building besides the most common things you learn from *Baldurs Gate* ... I've only played *DnD* once for about 30 mins with a couple homies and *Baldurs Gate 3* is my first *DnD* lore game I have ever played. This is a amazing world and it blows my mind how deep it can be, no pun intended 😂 ... I have a lot to learn about the world of *DnD* and everything I am learning is just making my playthrough of *Baldurs Gate 3* even better and more enriched... thanks for all the videos you have made.

[@drtoothmonkey]

Thank you so much for this section! I am actually running a campaign right now that includes two dwarven brothers, one who is a paladin of Moradin, and one who is a warlock of Asmodeus. And they are about to head into the Underdark. This gives me some wonderful ideas.

[@whiskeyhound]

Might roll the Laduegar being trapped in the Nine Hells into a Rise of Tiamat plot I'm working on, could be an interesting addition to the chaos if the Duergar get involved.

[@Boxvoko]

The second pronounciation sounds very much like the Swedish(germanic root) word dvärgar, which literally means dwarves!

[@lucaturilli777]

Quick note, the Duregar options and stat blocks aren't in Volo's Guide, but rather Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

[@LockSteady]

Mordenkainen's Tome page 188. Very interesting, because there was no picture I never actually understood that they were in robot golem bodies. The blurb didn't leave much of an impression on my mind, but sure enough they do describe it that way.

[@Gorvar100]

I currently play a Duergar Death Cleric, he sends souls to Laduguer in exchange for the death magicks. He also worships Deep Duarra to be on the safe side for she is the goddess of conquest. I'm playing him like Darth Vader, using Chill touch to force choke people and have a private group of bodyguards consisting of Skeleton warriors. Dude also grows big and smacks people around with his Warhammer. Gotta say, the vampires terrorizing Moonshae didn't expect seeing that coming.

[@12oshinko]

I think my favorite part of the Duergar is the description of their magic as accessing another dimension.

[@Nickle_King]

This was really awesome. One day, could I request a Yuan Ti video? Got a Yuan Ti in a game right now, and knowing more about their culture would be nice.

[@whiskeyhound]

Do you have Volo's, there's 10 pages worth of general info about their culture, obviously it varies somewhat depending on the setting.

[@Splinton]

"Dew-er-gar" was actually how I pronunced it when I read it on paper and had never heard the word before. And then I listened to a podcast where they started calling them "dwer-gers" (like burgers), realised I'd never heard it before and assumed I must be wrong, so I started saying that. Then I find this video and realise I was right the first time! Damnit!

[@mugogrog]

I'd definitely go with the Dvergar pronunciation. The word itself is taken from the scandinavian word for Dwarf: Dvärg, Dverg or Dvaerg, the 'ar' at the end is just how you make it plural, so Dvärgar simply means dwarves.

[@thebreadbringer]

Ah yes, no wonder that pronunciation always intuitively seemed right to me. Dutch also has the word "Dwerg", pronounced similarly.

[@bulwyf2572]

I love Duergar. Always love the "bad" dwarves in any fantasy setting like Chaos Dwarfs in Warhammer and Duergar in FR. I have played a Duergar character in a campaign and loved it. Hope we see more duergar focused novels and supplements!

[@adrenalineunlimited]

I had no idea about the Asmodeus bit. My first and favourite character is a Duergar with an extensive backstory that involves him making a deal that repels an incursion from the hells onto his people and gets him exiled as a result. Sometimes things work too perfectly

[@Ragdefender]

I just recently used the Duergar Screamer and Hammerer in my campaign. Love them! Especially the Screamer, which is a great equalizer.

[@xelacremant7396]

lol, now I want to play a duergar paladin trying to figure out whether they're following their true god or Asmodeus...

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Could a being without passion, inspiration or joy even be a paladin?

[@tiredjediknight3110]

I play a Duergar oath of vengeance paladin in a game set in Exandria and his main thing is he discovered the Duergar gods were all fictions created by Asmodeus. A sinister deception that led to their separation from dwarven society, enslavement by the mindflayers etc. He now views their religion, society, behaviour etc to be nothing more than a carefully planned way to covertly enslave and control their race. After being branded a heretic and a criminal and then being cast out my character eventually met and hired the party bard as a tutor (session zero) and then they both joined the party proper. Now he’s found faith with Sarenrae and is working towards both his own grand goals for the Duergar people and his goals with his friends.

[@mrsalmon3791]

I'm doing something just like that lmao

[@xelacremant7396]

@@mrsalmon3791 Let me know how it goes :D

[@felixdanger4886]

I like the idea of a duergar who found Ilmater through interaction with the surface world slaves. Here’s a god that seeks to ease suffering but also persevere through suffering. What a perfect way to redeem a Duergar.

[@draxthemsklonst]

Pull out the SPF100 Muroosa Balm, it's time for sad dwarves.

[@GuybrushThreepwood07]

Thanks Chris! I was going to say DWAIR-gar in Chat but I should just always have faith in you!!

[@SuperstitiousScientist]

Don't mind me just gonna start rolling a Duergar board on a mission to return the inspiration of creativity to his lost people!

[@kevinluckham]

After watching this I am convinced I am a Duergar.

[@vizerandevir6422]

They are like the working class under late-stage capitalism. All of their production has become streamlined and although they are very industrious, nothing they produce brings them joy.

[@brandonblackfyre5783]

Great Anaolgy. They also make a analogy in this video about the *Drugar* being like *Soviet Culture*

[@ZarHakkar]

​@@brandonblackfyre5783Any system that does not ultimately prioritize maintaining a baseline quality of life for its participants will fall into this.

[@stefanjentoft8107]

I'm about to start a campaign as a duergar that got called by Sylvanus to take a stand against the depredations his clan was inflicting on the underdark and so has become a Circle of Land: Underdark druid. So excited to see how it goes.

[@williamjanak2013]

If they have been making deals with Devils I could see some of them would be to experience joy. Of course that would be from enslaving and torturing others. What would you be willing to do to truly enjoy life? What deals would you be willing to make? Great video, thank you for sharing.

[@Qickscoper123]

Regarding 'Deep': Maybe in the underdark, heroes of those races do not rise to the heavens, but instead go down to the depths. The place beings fall to and are never seen again. Perspective.

[@ericsmith1508]

It is really interesting that Greg Tito mentions how the Duergar evoke a Cold War Russia sort of feeling, because without EVER having given that any conscious thought, I have (almost) always given Duergar NPCs Russian accents!

[@briankendrick5480]

Once upon a time in 4E, I played a Duergar Invoker to Tharizdun. Good times...

[@DirefulPot]

Yass, King. My party is in the Underdark right now and heading for Duergar territory.

[@christopherbacon1077]

I came up with a duergar who is in exile because he belonged to a trading clan and encountered and became converted to a god of the original dwarven pantheon, Vergadain, the god of commerce and trickery of whom he's a cleric.

[@gavinlangston603]

I wanna play a Duergar Echo Knight now.

[@Italiangentleman2394]

Came up with a duergar black Smith fighter character can't wait to use him

[@kiruppert]

20:05 Huh. Funny that. I am currently running Out of the Abyss, and they are about to get to Gracklesturgh for the first time…

[@madaxe606]

Perkins was very polite, but D-WHERE-gar is definitely the proper pronunciation, given that it’s derived from the Norse dvergar.

[@clarkside4493]

Given her title is Deep Duera and she has psionic power, it might mean deep as in thoughtful or wise.

[@FoereaperGaming]

Or she likes it deep.

[@BrianBrown-vd1vv]

And now I want to play a duerger bard.

[@89warden]

Wasn't Deep Duerra who gave psionics to the Duergar?

[@buckunderbrush]

I miss DCA

[@lorddreemurr]

I'm right there with ya

[@Zionswasd]

@@lorddreemurr ye

[@yellowbeard1]

Does anyone know when that new TORCH show is going to happen? I know they had a first episode at one of the PAX conferences but I don’t know when they are going to make more episodes.

[@lorddreemurr]

@@yellowbeard1 from what I understand they are going to start sometime in the fall. But I could be wrong

[@lorddreemurr]

@@Zionswasd ye right there.😉

[@adrenalineunlimited]

Favorite character race

[@Lurklen]

You want a cool take on how to operate the joyless Duergar, see if you can get a copy of "Veins of the Earth". It's very nearly a game unto itself, but is more a setting guide to a more disturbing version of the underdark. It's duergar are very much broken things that seek to continue their purpose, like machines that have broken free of enslavement but never changed their behavior.

[@LockSteady]

I prefer the Matt Coleville pronunciation.

[@ootfan5]

Chris Perkins is a nerd culture icon.

[@CameronNicholls1917]

Devaluation of art of the soviet union? The soviet union had some of the most talented artists in the world. They produced amazing operas, paintings, plays. Large amounts of public money was spent on the arts and free education available to adults included art. All you have to do is look at the metro to see the beauty of soviet art.

[@Croc1513]

Oh, I'd been pronouncing it de rigueur and I assumed it was because there were very formal.

[@galvaton10000]

Greg Tito, are you ever going to run another campaign? I really liked your DMing of Out of the Abyss

[@jurriaanb3879]

Can we get more info on Baernaloths? I want to get them in my campaign but so little is known about them.

[@cameronpearce5943]

Asmo stole Laduergar's phone

[@PrimordialAnnihilator]

Can someone explain were the Derro come from who are they? Would be much appreciated.

[@TheDungeonTomb]

why can i not find those 2 option about duegar. te pain machine. and the spy. in volos guide . neather in the book or on D&D beyond ?

[@Vespuchian]

Concerning Sunlight Sensitivity: does it affect the eyes or the whole body? If it's just an issue with sunlight being painfully bright I can see a good trade in sunglasses.

[@BigBunky]

Direct quote from a CP tweet concerning sunlight sensitivity “Even sunglasses or tinted goggles won't alleviate that sick feeling drow get in sunlight. #WOTCstaff”

[@whiskeyhound]

There's a magic eyepatch that removes sunlight sensitivity so it doesn't affect the creature's body, just their ability to see.

[@Vespuchian]

@@BigBunky And yet shade works just fine (as referenced in Waterdeep: DH). Clearly the solution is magic sunglasses!

[@tiredjediknight3110]

Sounds like the solution is a big hat! Take the shade with you

[@MultiKillerjoe]

Do you think a Duergar could become good or ever be born just good?

[@Zionswasd]

Just gonna steal that Underdark Chernobyl idea ty.

[@AgentWebs]

I definitely prefer the latter two syllable pronunciation

[@ih7729]

Came here for the Honorable Mr Perkins, left early because of Greg Tito, who can make anything sound insincere and plasticine. Can we have anyone else?

[@mattheweagle3580]

I’ve been saying Asmodeus wrong the whole time🤕

[@PrimordialAnnihilator]

Treasure junkies looking for that fix that will never happen

[@cameronpearce5943]

Duergar and Githyanki would get along well I think, unless they had a "you're too similar to me" thing going on

[@whiskeyhound]

Would probably be pretty awkward, given that the Duergar are allied to Asmodeus while the Githyanki are allied to Tiamat who's a prisoner of Asmodeus. Also the part where Githyanki are planar pirates who steal whatever they want and kill anyone in their way, and Duergar want to own everything, probably wouldn't take long for weapons to get drawn.

[@cameronpearce5943]

@@whiskeyhound While a prisoner, Tiamat is a formal ally of his and in the interest of furthering the agenda of the Nine Hells I could see Devils acting as mediators. Also being in an environment where they can't unleash their full armada the Gith might be forced to negotiate, and in the interest of profit and hatred of the Mind Flayers they might start supplying the Gith with armament. Though speaking of Tiamat, i'm curious what her agenda is now that she's one of only a few contenders for rulership of Avernus now that Zarial is out of the picture?

[@whiskeyhound]

​@@cameronpearce5943 Is Zariel officially out of the picture? it's hard to say with Tiamat as she wasn't particularly interested in the blood war and as a goddess, I can't see much reason for her to want to replace Zariel as the guardian of the hells.

[@cameronpearce5943]

@@whiskeyhound Which is exactly why I imagine Asmodious would land her with the job

[@whiskeyhound]

@@cameronpearce5943 I could see him giving the job back to Bel, since everything I've read says that Bel isn't particularly well liked by most devils, which would suit Asmodeus's goal of keeping every devil busy working against each other and would allow for a return to a less risky style of defence for avernus.

[@VengefulJarl]

Wasn't the Female deity the daughter of the main god?

[@scottking5555]

I always thought it was dur AHH gur (spoken fast).... I thi k i like yours better

[@scottking5555]

What I'm hearing here Is dur Oh GAR

[@Bogrin]

Would love to see an episode on Myconids as well as Zuggtmoy!

[@titusp9488]

11:35 nerd’s perception of Russian culture.....ignorance is amazing....have they been to Russia?! Hmm...no ...see pictures...hmmm...no....the real dusergars :)

[@CameronNicholls1917]

I saw some images recently of some buildings in moscow with really beautiful engravings on the sides. During the Khrushchevite era they were covered in some ugly cladding but when the cladding was removed it revealed this art that would put any building in the west to shame. Soviet art and architecture is almost unparalleled in the world.

[@thenikko8292]

do lore about gith

[@86mrnelson]

we are in gracklestugh now in my game and i described it to my players as soviet russia with grey skinned dwarves

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

How do the Duergar gods survive it they're not worshipped when last I checked when gods are worshiped they die and their bodies end up in the astral sea where goofy atheists from sigil dance on their corpses.

[@whiskeyhound]

Technically they are worshipped, it's just not something formalised into a religion with rituals and priests.

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

@@whiskeyhound Then how do they stay gods the act of worship and faith is what keeps gods powerful without it they wither and die/are killed

[@whiskeyhound]

@@Ghastly_Grinner Gods don't require an act of worship like specific prayers to stay alive, merely being revered by enough mortals is enough to sustain them, otherwise half the gods in the game would've starved as they're not actively worshipped outside of very specific circumstances. Specifically here's what Mordenkainen's tome of foes says about Laduguer's worship. Duergar don't worship Laduguer in any traditional way; their communities include no temples or formal services. They honor their deity by acquiring more power and wealth through any means possible. Priests of Laduguer maintain the internal functions of duergar society but have no role that is expressly religious. As for Deep Duerra, the same book suggests that attacking Dwarf and Illithid civilisations is their main form of worship for her.

[@A.Elbereth.Gilthoniel]

Thanks for your politically correct, tolerant analogies and your brave fight with ignorance and inequality in 2020.

[@braingrid111]

Dwarves who went bad in the underdark sounds like they spoiled lol

[@spiritchannels]

I thought the same thing when he said it.

[@chuckallerston9997]

I have a character bard that knows the song of the dwarves but is totally culture fucked and trying to be normal

[@yuranashi]

Duregar is just a short Shadarkai

[@grizzerotwofour7858]

Funny they mentioned USSR, cuz i always picture dreuger as soulless capitalists. Evil scrooges, basically

[@Afrancis1968]

I love the analogy of the Soviet Union. I made that apply to all dwarfs, but Duergar have the most radical form of communism. I also have Duergar be the og dwarves and mountain dwarves and hill dwarves are the evolved versions of Duergar who have lived above ground for centuries.

[@john-lenin]

Duergar: Even less interesting than regular dwarves.

[@GM_Flynx]

TL; DR: Duergar are a-holes.

[@remiremster4690]

Found the Dwarf