Dwarves in Legacy

[larsdangly]

I love gunpowder specialists, with grenades, blunderbusses, arquebusses, petards and some molotails and gas bombs for good measure. Incredibly fun additions to a standard fantasy party. But they do go through a lot of cash...

[hcobb]

ITL 70: "Dwarves, many orcs, and lots of other creatures live underground, but they light their caverns"
So dwarves require light and vitamin D, right?
Same page: "An alternative is phosphorescent moss growing in caves."

Shiitake provides vitamin D and grows on decaying logs. This gives an interesting model for a dwarf colony: the leafcutter ants. Of course if dwarves are adapted for low-light environments then they'd wear sunglasses when out in daylight and have big eyes. (This also provides eye protection against sparks when forging metal items.)

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The next dwarf I make shall smoke cigars.
Mostly to be obnoxious, but also to light grenades and molotails with.

I like the way that you think. LOL!

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by hcobb

ITL 70: "Dwarves, many orcs, and lots of other creatures live underground, but they light their caverns"
So dwarves require light and vitamin D, right?
Same page: "An alternative is phosphorescent moss growing in caves."

Shiitake provides vitamin D and grows on decaying logs. This gives an interesting model for a dwarf colony: the leafcutter ants. Of course if dwarves are adapted for low-light environments then they'd wear sunglasses when out in daylight and have big eyes. (This also provides eye protection against sparks when forging metal items.)

Perhaps, they go outside often and didn't develop the big eyes and need sunglasses and Vitamin D supplements. Where do they grow their food and raise their livestock?

My wife is Persian. She has big, beautiful, brown eyes. Persians are in the Middle East where sunlight is no stranger. I guess that there are always exceptions.

[hcobb]

If only dwarves weren't crippled WRT ST then they could build, light, water, and feed their underground cities through magecraft. (c.f. Goblins) Given a notable scarcity of these magical dwarves I'm attempting to piece together an economy for them based on hard manual labor.
Given the difficulties of maintaining an underground railroad without steam engines (or much magic), I'm working from an anthill analogy where they gather materials (and do trade) in the surface areas surrounding their anthill villages.

[phiwum]

Seems to me a low DX, high ST and high IQ wizard would do fine in non-combat roles. If it's a utility wizard you want, the dwarves are not a poor choice.

Unless, of course, you're wedded to the idea that there's only one way to make a wizard.

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by phiwum

Seems to me a low DX, high ST and high IQ wizard would do fine in non-combat roles. If it's a utility wizard you want, the dwarves are not a poor choice.

Unless, of course, you're wedded to the idea that there's only one way to make a wizard.

Outside of combated related use, I concur.

For combat related use, the wizard needs more strength. This is also true for one that goes on adventures. For me, a beginning wizard needs to be able to have enough strength to fight with a staff for when their magical strength is lower.

In recent arena combat scenarios with my son where he had control of two beginning fighters and I had a beginning wizard, the wizard was in more of a hang back and aid the fighters role until his strength was low enough that it required him to fight with his staff. It worked but beginning combat wizards are limited and usually need to accompany fighters.

So, for the dwarves, yes, they are more limited as a beginning wizard than humans which is fairly limited wrt combat anyway. However, in a non-combat role, I could see where they could be quite useful.

[phiwum]

A high ST and reasonable DX makes for a good combat wizard, even if his IQ limits the kinds and numbers of spells he can take. However, Henry thinks a low ST, medium DX and high IQ wizard is the way to go, so he regards the high ST of dwarven wizards as a liability.

He's right that high IQ gives one great options, and with the ability to later store mana in a staff for a fixed cost of 200XP, a low ST wizard can become powerful -- if he lives long enough and doesn't lose his staff in the middle of a fight. I haven't had a player go that route yet.

[hcobb]

Dwarven apprentices are at no disadvantage in Aiding your real casters, but only in a single combat sesson.
ST 10, DX 13, IQ 9 gives an average of 7.54 Aided ST (without falling over at ST zero).
vs ST 9, DX 14, IQ 9 which would only provide 7.26 points

The advantage of dumping ST comes when you have rest. Even the four points of rested fatigue recovery during Death Test 2 tips the scales towards maximum ST dumping.


Currently working on how to have an underground forge without smoking themselves out.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

I love gunpowder specialists, with grenades, blunderbusses, arquebusses, petards and some molotails and gas bombs for good measure. Incredibly fun additions to a standard fantasy party. But they do go through a lot of cash...

Indeed. I have a major dwarf NPC ally in DRAGON HUNT (my TFT solo from Gaming Ballistic), a dragon hunter, who is that sort of gunpowder-using dwarf.

There's also another dwarf NPC in DARK LORD'S DOOM who is a siege engineer who the players can meet.

Most of my Cidri dwarves that have appeared in published adventures have Norse-themed names and tend to be the sort who never forget a favor or insult.

Ardonirane has a few dwarf business owners as minor NPCs, as well as a paragraph or so describing the Onyx Halls, a small dwarf mountain kingdom.