Atlas | Artifacts | Bestiary | Calendar | Classes | Factions | Faiths History | Language | Myths | The Games | PBeM | Psionics | Spells
Atlas  Artifacts  Bestiary  Calendar  Classes  Factions/Groups  Faiths/Religion  History  Languages  Mythology  The Games  PBeM  Psionics  Spells  Credits  Links	Bestiary Snow Dwarf CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Arctic/Subarctic (Ice Capped Uplands) FREQUENCY: Common ORGANIZATION: Clans ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Omnivore INTELLIGENCE: Very (11-12) TREASURE: M (x5) (G, Qx20, R) ALIGNMENT: Neutral (Lawful) NO. APPEARING: 4-400 ARMOR CLASS: 4 (10) MOVEMENT: 6 HIT DICE: 1+2 THAC0: 19 NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8 (weapon) SPECIAL ATTACKS: +1 to hit versus Ice Men SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to natural cold, save as 4 levels higher,+4 AC vs. Ice Trolls, Frost Giants MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil SIZE: M (4½' and taller) MORALE: Elite (13-14) XP VALUE: 330 Appearance: Snow dwarves are cousins to the strong and stoic Mountain Dwarves. These cold cousins live in great glaciers and frozen mountians. They are short and stocky, averaging 4 1/2 feet tall while nearly 170 pounds. Snow dwarf skin is typically much more pale than those from the warmer climates. Their hair as well is usually grey or white. They have violet or blue eyes. They wear their hair long, sometimes in braids, as well as their white beards. Snow Dwarf clothes range from furs to heavy cloth in shades of whites and blues, the tones of the cold earth. They typically wear ornate copper jewlery and sometimes gems. Snow dwarves also benefit from thier great constitution, gaining plus 2 to their initial Constitution scores. They also lose one point from their initial Charisma due to their lack of outside contact. They live at least 400 years and some up to 500! In addition to dwarven, they often speak the languages of their allies and enemies: Ice Troll, Frost Giant, Ice Man, Frost Man, and common. Combat: Dwarves are courageous, tenacious fighters who are ill-disposed toward magic. They never use magical spells or train as wizards, though they can become priests and use the spells of this group. Because of their nonmagical nature, in fact, they get a special bonus to all saving throws against magical wands, staves, rods, and spells. Dwarves receive a +1 bonus to saving throws against these magical attacks for every 3½ points of Constitution score they have. A dwarf's nonmagical nature can also cause problems when he tries to use a magical item. In fact, if a dwarf uses a magical item that is not specifically created for his class, there is a 20% chance the item malfunctions. For example, if a dwarven fighter uses a bag of holding -- which can be used by any class, not just fighters -- there is a 20% chance each time the dwarf uses it that the bag does not work properly. This chance of malfunction applies to rods, staves, wands, rings, amulets, potions, horns, jewels, and miscellaneous magic. However, dwarves have learned to master certain types of magical items -- because of an item's military nature. These objects -- specifically weapons, shields, armor, gauntlets, and girdles -- are not subject to magical malfunction when used by a dwarf of any class. As with magical attacks, dwarves are unusually resistant to toxic substances. Because of their exceptionally strong Constitution, all dwarves roll saving throws against poisons with the same bonus (+1 for every 3½ points of Constitution score) that applies to saves vs. magical attacks. In the thousands of years that dwarves have lived in the cold, they have developed a number of skills and special abilities that help them to survive. All dwarves have infravision that enables them to see up to 60 feet in the dark. When underground, dwarves can tell quite a bit about their location by looking carefully at their surroundings. When within 10 feet of what they are looking for, dwarves can detect the grade and slope of a passage (1-5 on 1d6), new tunnel construction (1-5 on 1d6), sliding/shifting walls or rooms (1-4 on 1d6), and stonework traps, pits, and deadfalls (1-3 on 1d6). Dwarves can also determine their approximate depth underground (1-3 on 1d6) at any time. Snow dwarves also are immune to all natural cold, though not cold-based spells or damage from things such as avalanches or ice cave ins. During their time on the glaciers, snow dwarves have also developed an intense hatred towards thier mortal enemies, Ice Men. Thus, in melee, dwarves always add 1 to their attack rolls to hit Ice Men. The small size of dwarves is an advantage against ogres, trolls, ogre magi, giants, and titans (including Ice Trolls and Frost Giants); these monsters always subtract 4 from their attack rolls against dwarves because of that size difference and the dwarves' training in fighting such large foes. Dwarven armies are well-organized and extremely well-disciplined. Dwarven troops usually wear chain mail and carry shields in battle. They wield a variety of weapons. The composition of a typical dwarven army by weaponry is axe and hammer (30%), sword and spear (35%), sword and light crossbow (15%), sword and pole arm (10%), and axe and mace (10%). For every 40 dwarves encountered, there is a 3nd- to 8th-level fighter who leads the group. (Roll 1d6 and add two to determine level.) If there are 160 or more dwarves encountered, there are, in addition to the leaders of the smaller groups, one 9th-level fighter (a chief) and a 6th-level fighter (lieutenant) commanding the troops. If 200 or more dwarves are encountered, there is a fighter/priest of 5rd- to 7th-level fighting ability and 6th-to 8th-level priest ability. If a dwarven army has 320 or more troops in it, the following high-level leaders are in command of the group: an 10th-level fighter, a 9th-level fighter, a 8th-level fighter/9th-level priest, and two 7th-level fighter/priests. The commanders of the dwarven troops wear plate armor and carry shields. In addition, the fighters and fighter/priests leading the dwarven troops have a 10% chance per level of fighting ability of having magical armor and/or weapons. The fighter/priests who lead the troops also have a 10% chance per level of priest ability of having a magical item specific to priests (and thus not subject to malfunction). If encountered in its home, a dwarven army has, in addition to the leaders noted above, 2d6 fighters of from 4nd- to 7th-level (1d4+3 for level), 2d4 fighter/priests of from 4nd- to 6th-level (in each class), females equal to 50% of the adult males, and children equal to 25% of the adult males. Dwarven women are skilled in combat and fight as males if their homes are attacked. Habitat/Society: Snow dwarven cities are vast, beautiful complexes carved into solid ice and frozen stone of glaciers. Dwarven cities take hundreds of years to complete, but once finished they stand for millennia without needing any type of repair. Since dwarves do not leave their homes often and always return to them, they create their cities with permanence in mind. Troops guard dwarven cities at all times, and sometimes (60% chance) dwarves also use animals as guards -- either 2d4 polar bears (75% chance) or 5d4 winter wolves (25% chance). Dwarven society is organized into clans. A dwarven clan not already attached to a city or mine travels until it finds an outpost where it can begin to ply a trade. Clans often settle close together since they usually need the same raw materials for their crafts. Clans are competitive, but usually do not war against one another. Dwarven cities are founded when enough clans move to a particular location. Each dwarven clan usually specializes in a particular craft or skill; young dwarves are apprenticed at an early age to a master in their clan (or, occasionally, in another clan) to learn a trade. Since dwarves live so long, apprenticeships last for many years. Dwarves also consider political and military service a skilled trade, so soldiers and politicians are usually subjected to a long period of apprenticeship before they are considered professionals. Unlike their mountain cousins, snow dwarves value war and battle above material wealth. Their endless war with the Ice Men has forged a state where mining has become secondary to the procurement of their god-given homeland. While the Ice Cap Upland is rich in copper, the dwarves mine it mostly for trade, in an effort to keep a stable war-time economy. Luckily with their long life spans, the snow dwarves have been able to grow to outnumber their mortal enemies nearly three to one, and thus their glacial cities haven't changed in centuries. Ecology: Snow dwarves produce mainly raw copper and copper goods, jewelry, ornamentation. etc. Thusly they have the finest coppersmiths in the world. As of note are their blacksniths, armorers, and gem cutters. Dwarven attention to craftmanship pushes the price of their wares up by 20%. Many people are still willing to pay a high price for a suit of dwarven mail or a dwarven sword. Humans know that the dwarf who forged the item made it to last a dwarven lifetime, so they'll never need to worry about it wearing out in theirs. TSR®, Inc. grants permission to copy this form for personal use. This creature derived from sources owned by TSR®, Inc. and is meant to be used only for personal use.