Role-Playing a Dwarf| What Does Your Race Say About You

[@TheGentlemanDuelist]

"Don't half-ass two things; whole-ass one thing." -Old Dwarven saying/Ron Swanson

[@rayclawicefire2503]

I'm looking forward to playing a Dwarven Rogue Brewer and Weapons Smith with his famous Ironforged ale, made by dipping a freshly forged iron blade directly in to a fermenting barrel of ale. The process also creates a iron blade quenched in alcohol called The drunken slasher.

[@thefracturedbutwhole5475]

that sounds like a very unhygienic ale . . . possibly one only a dwarf could (or would even want to) drink . . . but an interesting idea none the less because you would need to forge a blade every time you wanted to brew it..."i am heading to the forge to pound out a blade . . . I'm thirsty that is why" LOL

[@jerelfontenot1]

Can't wait for the Tiefling entry of this series.

[@rayclawicefire2503]

He doesn't always have Dwarven ale but when he does he has The Blackiron clans special brew, Uthengar Blackiron the most interesting dwarf alive.

[@dakotacates6424]

I like this series, keep up the good work guys.

[@theraven5850]

I made a half-dwarf half-dwemer; the dwemer are an easy race to introduce into skyrim because in skyrim lore their entire species was teleported away using the heart of lorkhan, an overpowered artifact. My backstory which I attributed to them is that their entire species was transported from another dimension through space and time into the underdark near menzoberranzen. Once they reached the D&D universe the artifact expended all its power leaving them stranded as a species. My character is strong and smart, but doesn't get the constitution bonus of a typical dwarf.

[@arizona1882]

my dwarf is a stubborn, quick to fight, drinker, thats rather humble and kind to his allies. He was a Dwarvish prince and after taking the thrown he was overthrown by his younger brother. He swore bloody vengeance on him and took off to the south where he became a blacksmith and he is currently off adventuring after 50 years of smithing and my DM is seeming to be pushing us back to dwarf land so my character can finish his personal vendetta lol

[@Darkthoughts-z7r]

Anvil Lavigne a dwarf lass and the smithy’s daughter. She’s picked up a thing or two from her dad, not smithin- she’s awful at that, but she can hit shit pretty hard with a hammer.

[@gregoryfloriolli9031]

I was hoping you'd do a series on the races after your one on the classes. Certain races, like dwarves and gnomes, I have a good idea how to roleplay them. Other races, not so much. I play elves a lot because I like their stats and abilities but I don't have anywhere near as good an idea of how to roleplay them. So, this should be a helpful series for me for some of those other races. For dwarves, the only class I struggle seeing a dwarf become is Warlock because it's based around the character making a bad deal. I don't see dwarves doing that.

[@Matt-md5yt]

in the DragonAge series, the Dwarves can't be mages.

[@ZYR47]

I think it would be pretty easy for a dwarf to become a warlock. They may be sticklers for tradition but they can be greedy and stubborn thinking they know best. Their pride might get the better of them and they'd dig too deep (metaphorically speaking in the case of a warlock).

[@Matt-md5yt]

a Dwarf not being Dwarfish could be a Scavenger styled character. as in Dwarf that uses weapons and armor from dead bandits.

[@chevtothemax]

Can't wait for Gnomes

[@charlesburchett6752]

Said no one ever lol

[@davididiart5934]

I always like Dwarves, but I never end up playing them. Timing, I suppose. The Dwarves in my current 5e game are essentially Fallout survivors whose vaults have just opened and they're still trying to find a place in a world that left them behind.

[@MrTwyres]

Good.

[@Canadian_Zac]

I'm not sure why, but I struggle to make a character that is a race other than human. I don't know why. I think it might just be that 'A flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long', I struggle to think of reasons as to why the other races are adventuring, because they live long enough that they could do other things, but a human that wants to be famous, has to do things quickly. I just can't do halflings, again, not sure why. I can do half-elves/orcs/etc. but they do tend to be more human cantered. It's not even for the flexibility, I do tend to specialise a lot for my characters. I'm not restricted to classes, I do wizards or rouges as often as I do a fighter (I tend to let the rest of the party choose their character, then make my character what the party's missing). I honestly don't know why I always do humans, but I get about halfway through making another race, then just think, this isn't working, delete it, and go back to thinking.

[@mikegould6590]

I've played Dwarves before, but to be honest, they're not my favorite. I'm a Half-Orc at heart. I can almost spot a Dwarf player at a distance, because they have a look all their own. Dave has it in spades. Beard and all ;) Meanwhile, I'll show up for a game with my leathers over my Fighting Uru-Kai tee and my black/red dice. Get some today! ;)

[@rexcarter2585]

That's a grudgin

[@oliverwright548]

Hey Nerdarchy, could you guys do a video on DMing female characters.

[@mikegould6590]

Is that DMing female "characters" or "players", because I've done both. I've run mixed tables, as well as one all-girl-player table. It's the same as a male table. Some girls react to emotional triggers typical of what you'd expect, and some girls are hardcore to the point where barbarians as THEM for permission to pee. You see all kinds. I run a mixed table now, and my most risk taking hardcore combatant is the girl. Mind you, she's my daughter, so she comes by it fairly.

[@oliverwright548]

+Mike Gould thanks for your help, but I meant characters, like DMing female characters, NPCs and such

[@maelwaedd_6334]

A nice quick way I found to RP any character is to link it to an existing character from books or film which you know well with a quick note on major character traits you wish them to have. Labeling someone sly like Varys will be different to labeling someone sly like Littlefinger, these notes also help you if the PC's ever return and you need to quickly remember how it was you rp'ed that NPC. Stereotypes also work well, as it does when you break them. Tika from Dragonlance would never have been such a memorable character had she been the typical bar wench, but use such instances with caution or you will create much more work than you need for yourself. That is part of what playing in an existing campaign world does, it helps to set what the default stereotypes are, take Katherine Kerrs Deverry series, where dwarves come from a matriarchal society rather than the more traditional patriarchal one. Dwarves in that world would react very differently about questions regarding dwarven women than your more typical forgotten realms dwarves. That is one of the strengths of creating you own world and being able to setup your own stereotypes. The number of times when the players want to talk to some nobody NPC with no backstory for it to be turned into a major friend or foe does my head in sometimes but is also some of the most rewarding playing time for everyone

[@nickcarbaugh4301]

The dwarf that forges blades and drinks ale all day is so overplayed in my experience, adventurers are supposed to be special. Why not play one that has been sent to the surface to map the area around their mine or maybe one whos a hardcore lumberjack (Someone has to make the barrels

[@rexcarter2585]

To each their own. The true beauty of dnd

[@BeastGuyver]

How come there's no half-Dwarf? There's Half-Elves, Half-Orcs 3rd even had Half-Dragons but I've never seen rules for a half-dwarf, half Gnome or Half-Hobbit. and what about all those monster races, goblins, giants, trolls. just something I wonder about.

[@Matt-md5yt]

I know, in some Settings the Dwarves are only for themselves

[@Nerdarchy]

So there were half dwarf/half humans in the Dark Sun campaign setting, the mul. Like the animal the mule, mul's are born sterile and they're incredibly hardy and strong. We've never seen an official half dwarf in the other settings though. -Nerdarchist Ryan

[@chrisanderson6950]

In an adventure about 20 years we had a dwarf hook up with an elf producing a Dwelf...

[@andrewvela9839]

i believe in TitanGrave (i think its called) thats DM'd by Will Weaton there is a half dwarf/half elf female. I thought that to be unique

[@Mr420NinjAFTW]

because even half dwarfs get full dwarf benefits! the master race blood line too too strong!

[@thewookiepgh6135]

I definitely want to see orcs done next. only cause i playing a orc

[@mikegould6590]

Orcs Unite!

[@clericofchaos1]

I don't really care for the dwarf, but most of the people who try and rp them end up doing the fake Scottish accent, and they end up doing a lot of drinking....sounds like a dwarf to me at this point.

[@NarutoGeek411]

"For the last time... I'm SVEDISH!" - Torbjörn Lindholm, Overwatch.

[@chdmann]

I prefer to play them with Russian accent.

[@borisstremlin4577]

I see it's already come up, but my one pet peeve about dwarves is the Scottish accent. Well, not about dwarves as such, but about how they're often played now. It was cool when it started - it underlined the dwarves' in-your-face opinions, and their clannishness. Some people are really good at RPing that. But jeez, people, enough is enough. Just try something different for a change. For Tolkien, who really invented the dwarf archetype that then made its way to the game, dwarves were a cross between the Norse or Germanic svartalfar (treasure-seeing and a bit sinister) and Jews (argumentative, lost their homeland). The dwarvish language, Khuzdul, was constructed on the basis of Semitic languages, not Celtic or Germanic. So that's a good place to start when unpacking dwarf identity and starting to play it differently. Or play them more Russian - they're opinionated and materialistic, and like to drink, also. Or French - maybe they also really like to cook, and get in your face about not having good taste. Or play them more laconic - they work, they drink, they fight, but they only speak when absolutely necessary. Or underhanded slinkers - Tolkien made a point about most dwarves not being heroic (unlike Thorin & Co.), and had a subrace called petty dwarves (like the Wagnerian Mime). Or... well, you get my point - play around with them.

[@mikegould6590]

You can thank World of Warcraft and the LoTR series for that. The Dwarves in my world of Thöll spoke with a German accent, because meticulous craftsmanship has an accent in our era, and it isn't Scottish.

[@borisstremlin4577]

I know where it started. I just don't know why it became so universal (do all elves have an Orlando Bloom-style English accent)? The German accent makes infinitely more sense for dwarves, since the seminal dwarf legend on which the race is based dates back to the opening of new silver mines in Saxony in the 14th century.

[@mikegould6590]

Boris Stremlin Dwarves also appear in Scandinavian mythology...so anything in northern continental Europe would be fine. I think a Russian accent would also be very fitting. It seems that every Teifling I see played has that though. Not sure why.

[@borisstremlin4577]

The dwarves of Scandinavian mythology are more similar to D&D goblins in their behavior (petty, sneaky, underhanded). The Russian-accented Tiefling puzzles me a bit. Haven't played with tieflings. Thoguh there is a creature from folklore which is sort of half-tiefling, half dragonborn. I've designed it as a custom race, and my kid plays with. Without a Russian accent thus far (though she speaks Russian a bit).

[@Mr420NinjAFTW]

its funny you say that Mike, I too, have noticed most Teiflings RP with a Russian accent as well. Though my player who does this vacillates between german and russian... but the dude is young and he doesnt know the two accents very well

[@revenice1122]

i always find it odd to hear dwarves and elves and such refered to as races. to me race has a similar meaning to a sub-species or even closer subdivisions of the same species. but the orcs and dwarves are so different that i would call them different species. so are they all really more closely related than they look or is race just synonyms for species in this context. I know this is really nitpicky but word choices like this just ear at me some times.

[@brospros6327]

reven ice Races is easier to say and it sounds cooler.

[@necry9583]

Drinking.... Gold..... Hammers and axes. Done