Dwarf Expert Class for Shadowdark

Dwarf Expert

Clever craftsmen, wily merchants, and veteran delvers with a lifetime of experience living underground.

Weapons. Club, crossbow, dagger, hand axe, light hammer, mace, shortbow, shortsword, spear.

Armor. Leather, chainmail, shields.

Hit Points. 1d8 per level.

Languages. You speak Common and Dwarfish.

Built For Lifting. You have three extra Gear Slots.

Magic Resistance. You make saving throws vs. magic with Advantage. Conversely, you use all magic with Disadvantage, even magic items.

Poison Resistance. You make saving throws vs. poison with Advantage.

Profession. Choose one Profession at first level:

• Crafter. You add +1 to DEX checks involving manual dexterity, such as repairing things, disarming traps, and picking locks.

• Delver. You add +1 on WIS checks to detect gradual inclines, depth underground, unusual architectural features, and triggers for traps.

• Leader. You add +1 on CHA checks to gain others’ goodwill, including on Reaction Checks (Shadowdark p. 113).

• Merchant. You add +1 on CHA checks to get the best deal on merchandise, and on WIS checks to appraise the true value of goods.

At higher levels you add half your level (rounded down) to bonuses acquired from your profession.

Short Legs. In combat you can only move near once on your action.

Unusual Build. You need clothing and armor tailored for your body shape. Add 5% to the cost of clothing and armor bought in human lands.

Dwarf Expert Talents

Weapons

Thrown (Th). You may throw this weapon to make a ranged attack with it using STR or DEX.

Weapon types. Melee weapons (M) strike at arm’s reach, and ranged weapons (R) strike at a distance.

Range. You can use a weapon at close (C), near (N), or far (F) range (see Distances, Shadowdark pg. 85).

Dwarf Defender Titles

Dwarf titles are independent of alignment, although most Dwarfs are either Lawful or Neutral. Chaotic Dwarfs do not last long in the close quarters of Dwarf halls.

Crafter

The Dwarfs have numerous craft guilds. Like human guilds, Dwarf craftspeople go through three main stages: Apprentice, Journeyman, ann Master.

Delver

Delvers explore the natural caverns and non-Dwarfish ruins that lie outside Dwarfish halls. The more experienced among them learn to spot traps, unstable caves, and pockets of “bad air”, and use their keen Dwarfish senses to estimate their depth underground. That, and a perfect memory for the path they took, allow them to navigate undetfround as easily as a human navigates a town or an Elf navigates the woods.

Leader

Dwarfs generally lack hereditary nobility. Instead, oligarchs – guild masters, clan leaders, and wealthy merchant princes – choose their public leaders (called “jarls” in human languages), who in turn choose their “kings”. To reach that lofty position many oligarchs (or their parents) started as Foremen of work groups who became Managers of larger teams. The next step is to become an Advocate under Dwarf law, a position similar to a barrister in human law. Counselors trade their commoner clientele for the rich and powerful. From there it’s a short step to become a Powerbroker themselves … or, if they want to put themselves forward, a Jarl or King.

Merchant

Dwarfs who aren’t crafters of some kind are usually merchants, tasked with transporting the many products of Dwarfish industry to human lands in exchange for the food, drinking water, and luxuries Dwarfs cannot produce themselves. All merchants, even those from important clans, start as lowly Shopkeepers running a single store. Gradually they expand the volume and breadth of their goods as Traders, then pursue new money-making opportunities as an Entrepreneur.

The most successful leave the exchange of goods to subcontractors and simply shift money around as a Financier. The most successful financiers become Magnates, either cornering the market for specific goods or diversifying their empire to sell anything to anyone for a reasonable price.

Other Professions

Dwarfs pursue other professions: as clerks or “reeves” handling the inevitable bureaucracy of Dwarfish society, low-level guards who have a spear and minimal training, and near the bottom day-laborers, miners, and haulers. At the very bottom are indentured servants who sell themselves to pay debts, and government slaves who are paying their debt to society.

In contrast, those who pursue the noble calling of Defenders gain honor and renown by protecting the halls of the Dwarfs or specific persons, not necessarily Dwarfs, at the risk of their lives. Some go on to join the constabulary or city guard (often translated as “thanes”) or even seek office as a “jarl” or “king”.

Dwarfs respect the gods but lack priests. Instead they follow a mix of ancestor worship and a philosophy of order and propriety that makes life bearable in stone halls deep underground. The keepers and arbiters of these ways often practice other trades to earn a living, but also serve as legal experts and judges for modest remuneration.

Save for Defenders, these other professions make for better NPCs than player characters.