09-18-2017, 01:18 AM | #11 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Our dwarves are different
In the setting I am working on now the dwarf-role is being taken by the coblynau (a Welsh faerie that is one of the sources of the US tommyknocker), with the twist that the knocking sound is the low frequency end of their sonar echoes.
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09-18-2017, 03:25 AM | #12 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Our dwarves are different
Someone used dwarves as elementals and IIRC early versions of RuneQuest had dwarves as machines*.
There was also the idea presented on the SoogaGames blog whereby dwarves, gnomes and halflings were all one species. *I quite like the idea of going a bit Elder Scrolls with this - the dwarves, such as they were, backed themselves up onto a series of crystal matrices (perhaps to avoid a plague or something), some of which are installed in mechanical chasses so that they can perform routine maintenance of the mothballed dwarf holds. For whatever reason, the dwarves were unable to revert to "meat mode" and their species essentially no longer exists, leaving a series of "abandoned" dwarfholds for use as "dungeons" ... with some having mechanical guardians for PCs to fight. The crystal matrices, known as "dwarf power stones" are popular amongst the magic community who don't realise that they're consuming dwarven souls when they use them. I'd couple this with a SoogaGames take whereby you have another "little people" species made up of those dwarves who got locked out of the holds when the grand backup occurred ... following the plague and civilizational collapse they know no more about the original dwarves than humans do and are more like hobbitses than dwarves. |
09-18-2017, 11:22 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Our dwarves are different
Quote:
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09-18-2017, 11:39 AM | #14 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: Our dwarves are different
Quote:
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09-18-2017, 03:38 PM | #15 |
Join Date: May 2009
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Re: Our dwarves are different
Culture and religion based on Confucianism.
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09-18-2017, 04:27 PM | #16 |
Join Date: Aug 2017
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Re: Our dwarves are different
I once did a setting where dwarves and dark elves were the same race, short, pale-skinned, dark-haired (beard optional) and had a worm-like larval form. They could also be killed by sunlight, but the popular idea that they turned to stone was caused by confusion with trolls.
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09-19-2017, 07:38 AM | #17 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Our dwarves are different
I have a few minor variations, but nothing major.
Dwarves don't ever form complete communities. They always find some other species to be craftsmen and miners for, so they don't have to worry about food. They'll still have their own section of the community, but will always have farmers of other races nearby. There is only one dwarven mine, but its in a weird pocket dimension with entrances spread over the world. Dwarves have a slight resistance to being burned, and so can work with metals in ways others can't.
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09-19-2017, 03:16 PM | #18 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: Our dwarves are different
I tend to do this too. Dwarves have a very structured and orderly society, with acknowledged superiors/inferiors in every relationship. They're also very big into conformity and tend to suppress individualism.
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09-19-2017, 06:35 PM | #19 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Our dwarves are different
They are also very big on reciprocity which sounds a little more Zenish.
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09-20-2017, 03:57 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Our dwarves are different
Whereas the whole ancestor obsession thing ... Asian fusion seems to be the way to go for dwarves - a Confucian/Shinto/Taoist/Buddhist mix ... much like a lot of actual Chinese people (if you substitute out the Shinto for traditional Chinese animism).
I also like the idea of dwarves whose funeral rites are very similar to their child dedication rites (each essentially marks you moving to or from the spirit branch of the family). Quote:
Actually, speaking of Pratchett, how do we portray female dwarves? Rare or just all but indistinguishable from the males? (And recall there was variation even in his dwarves ... the Copperheaders had acknowledged gender within their community whereas that was a massive taboo for dwarves from Uberwald Last edited by The Colonel; 09-20-2017 at 06:36 AM. |
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