I am gearing up to run a Rise of the Runelords game, and my players have expresed interest in playing an all Dwarve group. Flavor wise it would be very cool, but there is some hesitation for balancing the group without out either taking a hit to a needed stat, or at least not getting a bonus to it.
I have been trying to hunt down if there exist any alternative starting stat bonuses for Dwarves. What I am basically looking for is something simialar to what Blood of Angels has for the Aasimar of differnt angel blood. I.E. A dwarf that gets +2 Con, +2 INT, -2 STR for being some sort of lore dwarf?
Any help would be appriciated.
I have been trying to hunt down if there exist any alternative starting stat bonuses for Dwarves. What I am basically looking for is something simialar to what Blood of Angels has for the Aasimar of differnt angel blood. I.E. A dwarf that gets +2 Con, +2 INT, -2 STR for being some sort of lore dwarf?
Any help would be appriciated.
You probably need to look at 3pp material. Player's Options: Dwarves from 4 Winds Fantasy has two variant dwarf races, one of which is the Half-Dwarf that gains +2 to any attribute.
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If there is a Dwarven thread you bet I'll be there.
You could make your own varient-dwarf races but it would be completely home-brew sort of thing. If you have the Advanced Race Guide they have rules for creating your own races and the templates for the core races too I believe. You could work of that. In Golarion their are the sky citadel's which are mostly lost to the Dwarves except for the one in the Five King Mountains as the capitol.
You could have the Sky-born Dwarves
+2 dex +2 Cha, -2 strength
Then maybe get a bonus on suffocation checks or not take penalties for high altitude. Replace Dark vision with low-light and give them something else.
Can't forget the deep miners of the Earth's heart, in some opinions the true dwarves that carve out massive cities in underground caverns. Constantly at war with the Drow and Duerger that dwell that deep.
Deep Earth Dwarves:
+2 strength, +2 wisdom, -2 int
Do something like replace their Giant hatred with drow hatred or elf hatred.
Several of the Sky Citadel's have fallen into Orc hands or been lost to the ages. The ancient bloodlines that ruled those in the longs ages of myth still continue today such as the nature of Dwarves. However the long descendants constantly search in place of a home and never quite settling in any one area. They feel the constant tug to return home and reclaim what was lost.
Exiled Dwarves:
+2 dex +2 int, -2 str
Instead of +2 to appraise give them a +2 to survival to know the direction or read the weather.
Idk these are just some thoughts, I love dwarves so I loved being able to talk about it a bit. Use these or don't I don't really care. I hope they give a good basis for whatever you do attempt and that you have a kick ass time playing RotRL because its a blast.
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Honestly, RotRL is designed for 15 PB characters that aren't optimized heavily. A party of:
- Dwarf Ranger (skills + tank + combat ability)
- Dwarf Cleric (heals + buffs + some combat ability)
- Dwarf Inquisitor with the Conversion Inquisition (skills + face + combat ability)
- Dwarf Empyreal Blooded Sorcerer (buffs + battlefield control + some blasting)
would likely tear the AP to shreds.
Honestly, RotRL is designed for 15 PB characters that aren't optimized heavily. A party of:
- Dwarf Ranger (skills + tank + combat ability)
- Dwarf Cleric (heals + buffs + some combat ability)
- Dwarf Inquisitor with the Conversion Inquisition (skills + face + combat ability)
- Dwarf Empyreal Blooded Sorcerer (buffs + battlefield control + some blasting)
would likely tear the AP to shreds.
I don't know much about ROTRL but this party would be solid no matter what you are up against.
There was the 3.5 Races of Stone, which had things like Dream Dwarves. A quick search online only reveals illegally hosted versions, not buyable ones, so you'd have to hit up LFGS for a hard copy.
Alternatively, you can always just use the Advanced Race Guide racebuilding rules and rebuild the dwarves to taste.
I second the ARG. But, even without any tweeks, Dwarves are my favorite race to play. Damn solid and they make great Inquisitors and Rangers first and foremost.
Make sure you have a party of seven and must protect a girl from an evil queen.....that stuff will just write itself.
An all dwarf party sounds interesting, but I have to veto the buff/heal cleric.
Dwarf clerics are meant to get in there. Skip the channeling and go full battle cleric. An all dwarf party with their high con shouldn't even be concerned with combat healing anyways, use the heal sticks after combat is over if anybody is needing heals. Since most of the party can use said sticks, all should be using their own wands.
My first PFS character was a dwarven battle cleric. 1 Channel per day was all he had or needed. Many an evil doer expired on the end of his trusty heavy pick (the x4 crit was too much for many BBEGs). His AC and HP meant that he could keep going against enemies above his weight.
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An all dwarf party sounds interesting, but I have to veto the buff/heal cleric.
Dwarf clerics are meant to get in there. Skip the channeling and go full battle cleric. An all dwarf party with their high con shouldn't even be concerned with combat healing anyways, use the heal sticks after combat is over if anybody is needing heals. Since most of the party can use said sticks, all should be using their own wands.
My first PFS character was a dwarven battle cleric. 1 Channel per day was all he had or needed. Many an evil doer expired on the end of his trusty heavy pick (the x4 crit was too much for many BBEGs). His AC and HP meant that he could keep going against enemies above his weight.
So, with this race/class combo, there is absolutely only one way to build it and play it, and nope, never any variation what so ever, because dammit that's it.
No other build or playstyle exist for this race/class combo.
You just cannot do it, or imagine it.
Part of me misses the simplicity of yore, when the official stats were more universal.
Dwarf +1 Con -1 Cha
Elf +1 Dex -1 Con
Halfling +1 Dex -1 Str
etc
etc
No one fretted over min/maxing whether to play an elf cleric or a dwarf cleric, because neither got a plus to Wisdom. Nowadays its almost unfathomable to play a wizard from a race that didn't get a +2 Int.
I say, if they all want to play dwarves, let them take dwarves as is and optimized stats bonuses be damned.
Having played in a few all-Dwarf parties back in the day, expect them to do a number on RotRL.
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I played a dwarven wizard for a Kingmaker campaign, and he did just fine (never did finish it, though, a real pity). I had more HP than some of the melee characters because I just focused on Con and Int. I also carried a battle axe, heavy pick, and warhammer just for fun (and used it a few times, can't recall if I ever hit, lol).
Point is, Dwarves rock :)
An all dwarf party sounds interesting, but I have to veto the buff/heal cleric.
Dwarf clerics are meant to get in there. Skip the channeling and go full battle cleric. An all dwarf party with their high con shouldn't even be concerned with combat healing anyways, use the heal sticks after combat is over if anybody is needing heals. Since most of the party can use said sticks, all should be using their own wands.
My first PFS character was a dwarven battle cleric. 1 Channel per day was all he had or needed. Many an evil doer expired on the end of his trusty heavy pick (the x4 crit was too much for many BBEGs). His AC and HP meant that he could keep going against enemies above his weight.
So, with this race/class combo, there is absolutely only one way to build it and play it, and nope, never any variation what so ever, because dammit that's it.
No other build or playstyle exist for this race/class combo.
You just cannot do it, or imagine it.
Sure you can play against type if you like, just don't expect to actually be good at one of the roles that you are building towards. Dwarves have a -2 to CHA, so down 1 channel per day compared to average dork with no mod. Compared to guy with a bonus you are down 2 channels. Any cleric can convert their spells to normal cures so channels are what I am looking at for the build focus. Since dwarves have a Con bonus, and no other physical penalty, they make for effective combatants. They can do this without sacrificing any spell casting ability . If they focus on high DCs, they might have to, but considering cleric spell list is better at buffing than SoD/SoS... lets not work against strengths here.
All in all, a Dwarf has a stat bonus to a combat ability score, and a penalty to their healing ability. Their spell casting is solid, but their spell list is geared towards buffing. The more members getting a buff the better the spell. The cleric is a party member, so if they are built for being effective in combat the spells are more effective.
The post I was responding to also had "some" in reference to the clerics combat ability. Yet no caveat in regards to the inquisitor. A battle cleric has similar combat ability to the battle inquisitor. The build suggested for the cleric was one that works against strengths of the race/class combination and instead tries to work towards the strengths possessed by a different race/class combination. Why work harder to achieve less? Why not work with were your strengths are and achieve more?
Then you get into the whole "is a dedicated healer even needed in an effective party?". Before opening that can of worms it is worth noting that CLW is on 3/4 of the spell lists of the suggested part members, and the sorcerer can use his ray of heaven to heal too.
Prairie dwarves came to the surface many generations ago and have lived here ever since. Most live in human cities or spend their lives as traveling merchants. Commerce is a central part of their culture, but they are as devoted to tradition, craftsmanship, and honor as any other dwarven culture. Prairie dwarf wine is as exquisite as anything from the elves, but is characterized by its rich, earthy undertones.
Type Humanoid (dwarf) 0 RP
Size Medium 0 RP
Base Speed Slow –1 RP
Ability Score Modifiers Standard (+2 Con, +2 Wis, –2 Dex) 0 RP
Linguist 1 RP
Hardy 3 RP
Stability 1 RP
Skill Bonus Appraise 2 RP
Skill Bonus Diplomacy 2 RP
Skill Bonus one craft or profession 2 RP
Low-Light Vision 1 RP
Total 11 RP
I did the same thing for my character in RotR! I told my DM "All I know is that I want to play a dwarf"... and we went from there!
Dwarves are already the ideal race for RotR. (I think they are the best for everything, but I'm biased.) They have +4 AC against giants, bonuses against goblins, and a built-in reason to absolutely hate both. I play a giant-slaying Ranger in my RotR game, and it's the most fun thing ever!
You fight a lot of dangerous giants in this campaign, and the dwarf bonus + Giant Slayer campaign trait is a powerful combination.
The only drawback I can see is trying to have a party face without any particularly charismatic PCs. This doesn't seem like a huge loss to me, though.
I would suggest looking at the Stonelord paladin, and the Skyseeker Prestige Class. They rock. Also, the PDF of "Dwarves of Golarion" is pretty cheap, and has a lot of interesting and cool history/spells/items for those of us who appreciate dwarves as the best race.
P.S.
My dwarf ranger/skyseeker in RotR dual-wields giant-bane dorn-dergars with FE:Giant and has the Twin Thunders feats to act as the party's giant destroyer. It's very effective, and incredibly fun!