RACE: DORFS!

In the same vein as my last post, here's one of the races we play. We do race-and-class instead of race-as-class like Dungeon Crawl Classics and old school D&D. I'm cool with either style but my players like race-and-class more so there you go.

 

DWARF

 

(art by Bob Kehl)

Dwarves get +2 to CON. (1)

Dwarves get +1 to Fortitude and Willpower saves. (2)

Dwarves have a +1 bonus to attack rolls made with axes and hammers. (3)

Dwarves get +2 additional hit points at every level. (4)

Dwarves can smell gold and gems within 100 feet. (5)

Dwarves can see in the dark as if it were daylight if they’re underground or in a dungeon. (6)

Dwarves have double the usual number of inventory slots. (7)

Dwarves can reroll failed rolls to resist diseases and poisons. (8)

Dwarves can choose an individual or a type of creature they've faced when they gain a level. They hold an eternal dwarven grudge against them. They get +1 to attack rolls against that type of creature or +2 to attack rolls and double damage against that individual. (9)

 

 

1. This is a boost to their base Constitution. I use the regular STR DEX INT WIS CON CHA abilities even though I do like the Dungeon Crawl Classics abilities too. (I have an optional rule that includes Luck like DCC but I haven't actually used it in-game yet.) Ability score modifiers to rolls are:

3: -3

4-5: -2

6-8: -1

9-12: 0

13-15: +1

16-17: +2

18: +3

2. This is using the "common sense" saves of Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower. Usual base save modifier is: the highest modifier of STR or CON for Fort; highest mod of DEX or INT for Ref; and highest mod of WIS or CHA for Will. Then you add any race or class bonuses on top of that. So like a Dwarf Fighter (from previous post) with a Strength of 15 and a Constitution of 17 would have a Fortitude save modifier of +4. Math!

3.  This feels nice and dwarfy.

4.  Dorfs is tough! Also we don't do hit dice + CON modifier hit points at every level, just hit dice. Because we crave death.

5.  Pretty sure I stole this from DCC. I like the LotFP silver coin standard but my players expect to REAP GOLD AND GLORY not silver and glory so we use gold coins in game.

6. This is how I do infravision for dwarfs.

7. Oh encumbrance, you complicated bitch. So PCs have a number of inventory "slots" equal to their Strength score (STR 12 = 12 slots), but a dwarf with STR 12 would have 24. Items take up as many slots as I say they do, but generally it's each item is 1 slot. You can "stack" consumables into 1 slot so like every ration or torch doesn't take up its own slot; I don't have hard numbers for these kinds of things and I just wing it. Also 100 gold coins is 1 slot. Armor takes up slots equal to the protection it provides, so leather armor is +1 AC and 1 slot, chainmail is +2 AC and 2 slots, and like that. (I'll put our working equipment list another time.) If you run out of slots then you're over-encumbered and you get roll penalties. So say you have STR 12 (and you're not a dwarf) and you are carrying 13 slots worth of stuff, you're 1 over and get a -1 modifier to every roll; if you're lugging 16 slots worth of stuff then it's -4 to every roll. YES EVERY ROLL YOU MAKE EVEN DAMAGE ROLLS YOU MUST SUFFER FOR YOUR INSOLENCE

8. Also dwarfy. Such a roll is almost always a Fortitude roll but in the cases where it's not then dwarfs are still at an advantage. 

9. This is a feature in beta, it's a springboard into this Warhammer Fantasy-style Dwarven Slayer subclass I'm working on. (By "working on" I mean I have a half-baked idea in mind for it and for other subclasses.) There's no limit to the number of grudges a dwarf can have. Also see that having a grudge against just one person is less broad but more potent.