Dwarf Subspecies [Fantasy]

[Gumby Bush]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Do they have the ability (alchemical or magical) to create sandstone out of sand? I can imagine them building weirdly elegant, termite-mound-like towers in the middle of the desert.

Yeah, in the setting I designed them for, they have a tower of this sort in their only city. Probably alchemical, although the local magical style does have Earth to Stone... and a secret spell:

Raise Structure (VH) Regular
Prerequisites: Alter Terrain, Create Object, Rebuild, and Magery 4.
More complicated structures require an Architecture, Engineer (Combat), or Engineer (Civil) roll to design, or may be built wholesale based on Schematic.
Duration: Permanent if stable, otherwise lasts for 1 day.
Time to Cast: 1min x (1 + SM).
Cost: 5, modified for SM. Doubled for a mobile structure, in which case an Engineer roll for the type of structure is likely.

[jason taylor]

This isn't about any specific tribe but I get the impression that Dwarven magic leans toward endowing objects (usually metalic or crystaline) with powers rather than formulaic ritual magic, or sympathetic magic.

How would you write that up?

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

This isn't about any specific tribe but I get the impression that Dwarven magic leans toward endowing objects (usually metalic or crystaline) with powers rather than formulaic ritual magic, or sympathetic magic.

How would you write that up?

What if you allowed dwarven craftsmen to take a variety of different, specific Smith skills (analogous to the spells for enchantment), and treated work time at the forge / workshop with apprentices as equivalent to time spent at enchantment with assistants?

[AlexanderHowl]

You could also give them a specialized form of Magery, we could call it Magery (Empowerment), that would allow them to create magical gadgets if they have sufficiently high mundane craft skills. At Magery 0, skill-15 could allow them to empower 1 CP per five weeks of work (25 workdays at 8 hours a day with the equivalent of training) while skill-20 could allow them to empower 4 CP per five weeks of work (25 days at 16 hours a day with the equivalent of intensive training). Each additional level of Magery would allow for a 10% reduction in the time required for empowerment, meaning that a dwarf with Magery 8 (Empowerment) and skill-20 would empower up to 4 CP per week of work.

[Gumby Bush]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

This isn't about any specific tribe but I get the impression that Dwarven magic leans toward endowing objects (usually metalic or crystaline) with powers rather than formulaic ritual magic, or sympathetic magic.

How would you write that up?

The most straightforward would be Magery (Enchantment Only -30%) with (perhaps Material) Enchantment.

Thaumatology: Urban Magics has Lapidism and Sacred Architecture, which might be suitable, and P3/68 has Ars Metallica, too. P3/102 has Crafting Imbuements, which might work even better.

The various rules for high craft magic would be another possibility.

[jason taylor]

Starfinders:

These Dwarves are known for their fascination with astronomy. Regularly they come up from the caves to camp on the slopes and take sightings which they write down in their books. Unlike some Dwarves they are not reluctant to share their secrets and their magically endowed calcite crystals are eagerly sought by mariners who expect to sail in fog.

Similar to other Dwarves, add Astronomy.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Similar to other Dwarves, add Astronomy.

Wouldn't that be more of a sub-culture?

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Wouldn't that be more of a sub-culture?

Yes, I agree. A subspecies would likely need some physiological differences. For example, a subspecies devoted to living in the mountains might develop HT+2, DR (Crushing Only, -40%; Tough Skin, -40%) 2, Double Jointed, Pressure Tolerant Lungs (Low Pressure), Temperature Tolerance (Cold) 2, for a total of 40 CP.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Rockheads (aka: Tall Dwarves) [30]:

Attributes: ST +2 (Size -10%) [18]; HT +1 [10];

Secondaries: SM +1 [0]; Speed -0.25 [-5]; FP +3 [9];

Advantages: DR x1 (Tough Skin -40%) [3]; DR x4 (Skull Only -70%) [6]; Night Vision x4 [4];

Perks: Alcohol Tolerance [1]; Striking Surface (Skull Only) [1];

Disadvantages: Greed (12-) [-15];

Quirks: Broad-Minded [-1]; Mildly Stubborn [-1];

Notes: An uncommon but distinctive subspecies who physically warped due to strange magics they discovered from tunneling too deep and developed unusually thick skulls covered in a thick bony plate that remained after they expediently started seeking out and digging larger caverns where they wouldn't be knocking their heads all the time. They have the same proportions as regular Dwarves, but average about 5'10" tall, giving them an overall SM +1, and can't exchange armor with anybody. Living with the scorn of their stubbier cousins and later on their own has mellowed them out a little, making them somewhat easier to get along with than their shorter cousins, but deprived them of the cultural benefits of Pickaxe Penchant and Dwarven Gear. They have a signature martial art of their own, however, with a special focus on the Low-Fighting and Headbutt Techniques.