[VariousRen]

Is still a short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.

I'm running a low tech fantasy game, with the main two races that dominate the continent being humans (standard), and elves (think Tolkien-Simeralian style elves). I specifically used elves because I wanted the players to have an idea of what they would be like, even without meeting one. They're strong, fast, good shots with bows, and live to be very old. All very standard LotR and D&D stuff.

*Anyone playing in Brekhan, or watching on youtube, spoilers ahead!*

Now I'm running into a problem later in the game while trying to design a different race. The race in question is, from a design point, a dwarf. Lives underground, does a lot of mining, makes huge fortresses with elaborate traps, grand dinning rooms, the whole nine yards. If it were a relaxed style of game, I would call them dwarves and be done with it, but the game is built pretty strongly learning things about the world first hand. I want to avoid all of the D&D and LotR lore baggage that comes with calling something a dwarf, so that I have space to design interesting quirks as the players learn more.

My question is how different should I make these subterranean dwellers so the players don't just say "Oh, so it's a dwarf" and then jump to conclusions like "So they must hate elves!" or "They must all be greedy, and have bonuses against giants!".