Duergar
The Duergar are a race
of dwarves that dwell in Renosia. The term "Duergar" is dwarven
for "Grey Man." Often they populate the Pride Mountains or dwell
underground. Because the Pride Mountains and subterranean touches all
sectors, Duergar can be found in any sector and do not consider any one to be
their 'home.'
They find the sunlight to be painful, and so when they are forced to leave their
protected homes for travel or trade, they often wear thick cloaks with hoods to
protect themselves from the harsh light of day.
A typical Duergar is four feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. Emaciated, they
possess pasty skins and white or dull grey beards. Men and women may be
bald, and those who are not usually shave their heads.
Most Duergar are Lawful Evil. The Higar find their ways repulsive.
Duergar hate all other races of Dwarf. Their hatred of the Higar is
especially strong, as the Higar were the ones who threw them out of their
mountain homes in Cryzza and forced them to migrate to Renosia, due to their
greed and worship of the evil dwarven god, Ratak. Although they have no
blood feud with the Fangar, they are 'close enough' to the Higar as far as the
Duergar are concerned.
Like their cousins, Duergar are clan-based and often enjoy warfare and
battle. However, the idea of a sneaking, deceptive, back-stabbing Duergar
is not unheard of--and in fact, they can make good thieves.
Overall, the Duergar consider themselves fairly independent and ignore the Civil
War and local politics of the sectors. They do not involve themselves in
factions or take sides, unless it's necessary to protect themselves. Otherwise, they would just lock themselves in their mountains and caves, leaving
Renosia with a sudden lack of weapon and armor producers.
Greed: Duergar are one of the most notorious greedy races in all of
Amtar. It's often said that the Duergar hoard more gold pieces than
dragons, even. This is due to the Duergar belief that a person's fortune
determines their position in the afterlife. A very wealthy person can
bribe their way into a nicer afterlife than a poor person could.
Therefore, as far as they believe, the afterlife has nothing to do with
alignment or behavior, but wealth. A Duergar who is bankrupt is a fate
worse than death. Since there is no set amount that is believed to be
sufficient, even the wealthiest Duergar will strive to make more.
Rarely do they hoard their wealth, though. The smarter ones will invest
their fortunes into businesses in hopes of generating even more income.
This is, of course, a risky endeavor. As a result, Duergar tend to know a
great deal about business contracts, deals, trade unions, and economics.
Clans: Many Duergar recognize that it is often easier to make money
in groups than as individuals, and so form guilds and clans. Because they
take their business endeavors so seriously, if two or more clans are operating
in the same area on the same business, it is not unheard of for them to go to
war with each other. The victor, of course, inherits the wealth and
benefits of the defeated clan.
The most powerful clans even begin to operate as crime families, not unlike the
mafia. They will form protection rackets, 'rub out' the competition, and
hold blood feuds with rival families. In fact, the leader of a Duergar
clan is often given the title of 'godfather.'
Attitudes: The Duergar tend to view the other races as either naive
customers to be swindled or potential business partners (the Duergar word for
'business partner' is the closest thing in their vocabulary to 'friend').
They are often surprised by how little the other races seem to understand
business and thus feel no problem in lightening their pockets (the foolish do
not deserve such riches). If a Duergar meets a person of another race who
is particularly business savvy, they will show them more respect.
The Duergar will outright avoid the Drow when they can. The two races
often compete for mithril and other precious metals, and the Duergar learned
early on that the wise do not mess with the Drow if they wish to live
long enough to accumulate a good fortune.
They often compete with orcs, ogres, and goblins (as well as other subterranean
races) for land and resources. They have a great distaste for cultures
that are too primitive to even have a stable system of economics.
Marriage/Family: Duergar marry for the same reason they do anything
else--for money. All marriages are arranged, usually as a way to seal a
business agreement. Thus a Duergar with many daughters, particularly
pretty ones, is considered quite lucky.
Duergar are monogamous and cannot take on more than one wife. This is
because there tend not to be just enough females in any given Duergar society to
pair up with one man each. It's also fairly common for males to have
mistresses, but only children produced by their legal wives can be counted as
heirs. If a single Duergar female becomes pregnant, the child is
considered hers and hers only, regardless of who the father is.
Divorce is possible, but usually too expensive to even consider. This is
because the Duergar are the only race on Amtar who have developed anything
resembling a pre-nuptial agreement. When a couple marries, they sign a
contract that generally stipulates that if the male files for divorce, the
female gets most of his fortune.
Children are produced to make their lives easier. Daughters can be used as
leverage in a business deal and sons are viewed essentially as a source of free
labor.
Food/Drink: Like most dwarves, Duergar have a love of ale and beer,
particularly their own brand of Dwarf Spirits. A typical Duergar meal
would generally consists of mushrooms or moss, along side a slab of rothé (a
form of cattle that dwells underground). Some Duergar have a tendency to
eat charcoal. This is often considered a nasty habit.
Stats
Height - 41/40 inches + 2d6
Weight - 95/75 pounds + 5d10
(The first number is for male, the second for female, since females tend to be
shorter and lighter than males.)
Infravision - 120 feet
Aging:
Childhood = 1-39
Adolescence = 40-79
Adulthood = 80-149
Middle Age = 150-199
Old Age = 200-299
Venerable Age = 300+
Maximum Age = 300 + 2d100
Starting Age:
40 + 4d6
Ability Score Adjustments:
-2 to Charisma, +1 to Constitution
Ability Scores:
STR 8-18
DEX 3-17
CON 11-18
INT 3-16
WIS 3-18
CHA 3-15
Classes Allowed:
Fighter
Priest
Thief
Fighter/Thief
Special Abilities:
1.) Duergar are stealthy. Parties or individuals at least 90 feet
ahead of non-Duergar gain a surprise bonus. This causes a -2 penalty to
the opponent's surprise rolls. If a door or other screen is opened, the
bonus is lost. Duergar receive a +2 bonus on their own surprise rolls.
2.) In addition to the standard dwarven saving throw bonuses against
magical attacks, Duergar are unaffected by paralysis, illusion,
and phantasm spells. They are immune to all magical and alchemical
poisons. Against natural poisons they gain the standard dwarf saving
throw.
3.) Duergar possess the innate magical abilities of Enlarge and Invisibility.
They can use each of these powers once per day. A Duergar uses the Enlarge
ability as though he were a wizard twice his own level. At 2nd level, a
Duergar uses Enlarge as though he were a 4th level wizard. He may
use it only to affect himself and whatever he is wearing or carrying.
4.) Duergar are adversely affected by bright light such as sunlight or a Continual
Light spell. They are not affected by the light of torches, lanterns,
magic weapons, Light or Faerie Fire. Affected by bright
light, a Duergar's ability to gain surprise is negated. Dexterity is
reduced by -2 and hit rolls are made at a -2 penalty. In situations where
a Duergar is in darkness but his opponents are in bright light, his Dexterity
and surprise advantages are unaffected, but he suffers a -1 penalty to his
attack rolls.
5.) Ogres, trolls, and giants suffer a -4 penalty to hit Duergar.
6.) Duergar require 20% additional experience points to level up.