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Sorry, all my dwarves are Scottish. And most of my humans... Some elves too... I'm Scottish.

The dwarves in my homebrew setting speak with an Australian accent. Ya see, they live down under...

I have Dwarven character who stepped on a trap in a hag’s lair. The DM rolled on a random table for the effect...landed on instantly growing to 6’2. He still considers himself to be a dwarf though.

"Dwarfish courtship is an incredibly tactful affair, primarily concerned with finding out which gender the other dwarf is" - Terry Pratchett

The perfect explanation for the axe dwarf is from Sir Terry Pratchet. The dwarven axe is combination weapon and mining tool, a pickaxe. The pick side is for prospecting, the axe side is in case someone tries to stop you.

Maybe she's born with it...maybe it's Moradin.

Huh, you guys didn't mention the all important dwarven book of grudges. Well sirs you two have now been added to the book of grudges because you forgot to mention the book of grudges. This will be remembered.

I had a dwarf transmuter once in 3rd Ed. He died within 2 sessions. Murdered by the town blacksmith.

Rarely in my games do I have Dwarves be rowdy or bullish. I always kind of see them as steeped in honor and tradition, very ritualistic in a martial sort of way. They have very strict social protocol and etiquette. Until it's time to fight, that is. Dwarves are essentially my knights in the underworld, the order that stands against the chaos of the Drow and all the other horrible stuff that lives below.

I made a dwarf and my DM was like “Oh no I don’t want another classic dwarf” and then I a told him my backstory, I couldn’t stand the mines so I left to live off the land, I am a ranger, I am not talker but I am smart, a tracker and never a close quarter fighter I’m a ranger, my wolf attacks close and I shoot from a-far

Ex-CUSE me! Insinuating that the 'average' Dwarf would EVER let their beard be anything but PERFECTLY GROOMED at all times is PREPOSTEROUS! And leaving blood on an axe is the fastest way to get a rusty axe, as any good Dwarf will know. Rusty axes don't cleave orc skulls as well! Dwarf sorcerers are actually really fun and interesting- focusing specifically on terrain manipulation can make for a very fun character- still useful, but not the traditional combat class. I'm wondering if Jim played a lot of Elder Scrolls- that might explain why he likes his Mesopotamian designs (as I do). I've posited that Dwarven music would actually have a lot of stacatto, a lot of percussion, backed up by drones. Really talented Dwarven musicians could actually use the echoes of those snaps and clacks and snares to create a complex interplay of rhythms.

"Dwarves have a strong elemental affinity", so Earth, Wind and Fire?

In the last campaign I ran, there are 3 main sort of Dwarf society’s, 1 the standard mountain/miner. 2 desert dwelling, architects. 3 island hopping Sailors/best fleet and ship builders.

I finished most of Terry Pratchett Watch Novels. He really liked Dwarves, like a non-drinker alchemist called Chirry Littlebutton who is the CSI of the citywatch. Also my favorite Captain Carot, an "adopted" dwarf.

blunt the knives, bend the forks, smash the bottles and burn the corks, chip the glasses and crack the plates! That what the Web DM's hate!

I like the idea of a heavily armoured dwarven wizard, one of the sub races gets medium armour prof, so can easily pick up heavy armour prof feat for a full plate wizard.

I love that Dwarfs from Total Warhammer have Yorkshire accents, reminds me of Uni where I lived with 3 Yorkshire men.

You want to know how excited I am? I didn't have a beard before this episode started. Now I do.

One of the reason I love warhammer fantasy, it's huge pool of "classes" spans so many social classes and work spectrums it's easy to mix up a distinct dwarf. Anything from a stereotypical shield and heavy armor wearing shieldbearer to...a rat catcher.

In my setting dwarves have german accents because I use real-world languages as stand ins for my fantasy languages (I don't have time for making a language), and Norwiegan was already taken by giants, so I went with german.

I one played an Elf Ranger that was raised by Dwarves so I had all the physical stats of an elf but the bonuses like Stonecunning from dwarves, it was very fun.

One of the greatest posts I've ever seen on a D&D facebook page only asked "What is your favourite race, and why is it dwarf?" I think that says it all.

Hey guys, you mention mountain dwarves using horns to communicate valley to valley. What about them using a Whistled Language like Sfyria (Greece) or Silbo Gomero ( Canary Islands)? There are some other types, but those are the ones I remember right now.

Dwarf Bards are great, one of the players at my table plays one, and his thing was that he was a battle drummer, who gave the beat for soldiers to keep time with. It also works because it was a rhythm to shape metal to.

So I have run a few campaigns where I let my characters pick everything but there class. Then at the end of the the second session, I give them a few option to that make them in directly choose their classes, then I tell them what class they are. Had a dwarf steal a forbidden book “about” an old god. But when given the option to choose armor, he chose plate. When choosing a skill, he chose smithing. He basically became a forge warlock. With some homebrew flavor, it became an awesome character. Almost exclusively fire magic. A bound weapon, one handed forge hammer. Heavy armor and all.

I just ran a scenario in my head where I move to wherever Jim Davis lives, stage an encounter, befriend him whilst pretending not to know about dnd. Then Let him convince me to play a campaign he’s starting, choose a dwarf and then of course RP with a Scottish accent. 😎 Love you Jim!

I've always liked the idea of a Bard who fights using slam poetry, and a Dwarf seems perfect for that.

Though this video was a bit SHORT

In one of my campaign settings, the dwarfs are desert dwellers renowned for their skill at astrology and divination.

Finally, someone else saw the Dwarves and axes problem. I feel better now.

Elf tells the dwarf Druid, " Those Orcs are wielding those legendary Rhesk hammers!!! " and the dwarf druid looks at the Elf and winks, " True but I wield Whamsical Whammers, let them try to fight me....hahahaha!!! "

I always have dwarves be very soft spoken due to living underground and knowing that their voices carry and echoe down the tunnels.

So. Much. Beard.

I play a Dwarven Cleric of Ilmater, named Shorn Brightspyre, who is very soft-spoken and caring but still has the trademark Dwarven sternness/stubbornness. That being said, he's still often in the front lines where Dwarves are usually found. He's my first D&D character and I'm enjoying him a lot

Huh. You've made me want to do two things I'd never thought I'd want to do before. One, play a dwarf. Two, play a wizard. I wanna play a Dwarven Wizard. He's not a fighter of any sort. Not particularly interested in the gods, or even really much of a clansman. Avoids beer except on special occasions. But by damn is he drawn in by the forge. He sees Dwarven crafts and thinks, this is art, but we've a long way to go until perfection. He doesn't want to have to bother Moradin to imbue his works with the magic that will improve them. So instead he seeks to learn how to make grander magical works on his own. Strikes out, joins an academy at, let's say, thirty five. A wee lad to a Dwarf, but schooling is best started young. Spends at least fifteen years there. I'd say transmutation. He'd be super excited whenever he sees some new structure or item, and start theorizing on how it could be improved, or what he could learn from it.

A notable exception to the Scottish Dwarves trope: the classic Rankin-Bass "Hobbit" cartoon, us Gen X kids grew up on. 😀 Perhaps it pre-dates the trope...?

I love the dwarves, every time I make a new character I have to stop myself from going straight to the dwarves.

I’m rewatching this for some inspiration for an upcoming character. Hill Dwarf Noble Wizard. Trained since birth in combat and the Arcane. Highly intelligent, Speaks multiple languages to be an anthesis of the dwarfs in my current campaign. I am super hyped he is going to be awesome.

Good point on the shortsword: A shield wall of a 5 men could seal of a small tunnel better than 10 men wielding greataxes. In that sense, a Roman legionaire like battle configuration would make quite a bit of sense.

Thanks for the upload guys. You two are the only reason why Wednesdays are worth existing for. So, y'know. No pressure. Edit - Sorry, you Three. Didn't mean to leave you out Travis!

" i like how it makes some people uncomfortable...with their wispy side hair..." i do NOT want to see Jim's browser history

I play a dwarven bard! She was training to be a priest so she sings mostly hymns and recites historical poems. Her dream is to be the medieval equivalent of wikileaks :)

I think my favorite dwarf (from a book) was definitely Pikel Bouldershoulder the dwarven druid. My favorite dwarf I played with was Liverwurst Doom (Protip:don't let your friends name your character). My favorite NPC I made was a dwarf named snow who had been sent on an impossible quest to find a lost relic to reclaim his honor, seven of his kin went with him. Tragically they were trapped in a cave by an angry earth elemental (who kept them there) and ... skipping over some parts Snow became a wight and his 7 dwarves became ghouls.

In 3.5, I once played a Hill Dwarf Bard named Rimuldar Torunn IV (yes, his first name came from a certain town name of a certain video game), whose inspirations included Indiana Jones and the teamster Polk from the novelization of White Plume Mountain by Paul Kidd. For those of you who never read those books, Polk was sort of the storyteller (and comic relief) of the party who had this preconception of what true heroes - and true adventurers - were supposed to be like. As such, he was an idealist, having been "that guy" that purchased every miscellaneous item in the Player's Handbook "because they were proper adventuring gear," right down to the 10 ft. pole, pitons, and various other things. He even had this romanticized idea that heroes had to fight villains in an particularly epic way with blades clashing and many many one-liners and such, not with the brutal and grim way that the main character did things. I didn't take Rimuldar anywhere near THAT far as I knew the party would have quartered him by session's end, but I played him as a bit of a naive fop who went out on his first adventure. He had a pack mule (I forget what he had named the mule, but I remember I had decided in-session that he tended to vocalize his inner monologues to that mule since he was used to traveling alone), and his gear did, in fact, include much of the miscellaneous gear that he thought all adventurers used. And yes, he came from a rich family. :) My personal favorite dwarf that I ever played was Winterbeard, a Mountain Dwarf Druid (also in 3.5) who couldn't speak Common and was trained by an elf druid from the brutal arctic lands in the north of the campaign. Winterbeard was the evolution of the very first dwarf character I ever played - a dwarf Cleric, also ignorant in the Common language - from AD&D 2E. At first, I created Winterbeard as a tank/support character after realizing that Druids can use tower shields (as they are mostly wooden). However, he turned out to be more than that, becoming the morale compass of the group (most of which was Neutral-ish), the shieldbearer, the combat medic, and - one time only - a bit of a jerk when he tied a harpoon's rope around himself, threw the harpoon into an enemy archer on a low rooftop, shapechanged into a bear, and pulled him close and off the roof for a hug (obviously, it took a couple of rounds, but the reaction from the DM was priceless when I shapechanged). Granted, that was because the archer's group was responsible for the injury and deaths of innocent civilians, but still... not a fun way to go, but also pretty awesome. :) Strangely, I don't think either of these dwarves drank ale. Rimuldar didn't like the taste of it, and Winterbeard was too focused on his duties.

This brought two things to mind. First, I love the idea of a dwarf druid who's focused on underground life. Steve Jackson Games released a new boxed set for their Dungeon Fantasy line and a GM screen that comes with a bunch of pre-generated characters that includes ... a dwarf druid who's focused on the subterranean world (much of nature is underground, after all.) So someone beat ya to the punch; but in a great minds think alike way. Second, if we really conceptualize dwarves as living in an alpine environment, then maybe doubling down on the Swiss stereotypes/archetypes would be in order. Yes to alpine horns, a fierce desire for independence (individual and collective), neutrality in the affairs of others, steadfast mercenaries, dire goats with big bells around their necks, and yodeling bards!

"For the last time, they're Swedish!" thanks Blizz

Axes are probably for above ground for when you need lumber so they picked tools for weapons so I am still waiting for them to carry pickaxes as a weapon or a giant ice pick.

Dwarves are the MASTER RACE!

Quick tip: in a shield wall, weapons with a "head" (axes, hammers, etc) can be used to hook down enemy shields or hook aside enemy weapons ;) plus, they are way cheaper and quicker to build and maintain and they can double as tools if necessary way better than a sword can.

"dwarfven bard" I am a dwarf and I diggy a hole *diggy, diggy hole* *diggy, diggy hole*

7:40 - Similar to the Mesopotamian style mentioned; in my homebrew, lots of societies consider Dwarves rude since they rarely introduce themselves. This is because in my homeworld, the Dwarves have rings and plates woven into their beards; but not just decorative, they serve a function in the Dwarven society by having their clan, craft and ranking on one side, their name and family name on the other. Since Dwarves know who they are dealing with before even being in conversation range, they just go right to business. "Time is money; who has time for introductions?" It also shows all the other dwarves, 'this is me, who i am, and what you get from me.' A caste system with a foundation in honesty. Beardless Dwarves wear the rings and plates draped from their shoulders. Obviously anyone not familiar with Dwarves in my homebrew, or who can't read Dwarven, would just see these rings and plates as just decorations. I like the idea that my Dwarves, akin to the Japanese, like to master a skill/talent/craft. A Dwarven bard might specialize in storytelling, might not be so hot on the lute or juggling. A Dwarven jeweler might specialize in necklaces and amulets, but be capable of making rings, they just might not be as intricate as one who specializes in rings. But I agree there have to be Dwarves of every class and skill, 'cause how else you gonna run a city under a mountain? :P Personally I feel that every race and species has to have people of every class and skill, I don't see them thriving otherwise.

"The Whisperer Under the Mountain" is just about the coolest damn thing I've heard recently. TO THE HOMEBREW MACHINE!

I agree wholeheartedly on the whole 'not every dwarf has to sound Scottish' thing. In fact I'm playing a dwarf fighter right now, and he's essentially a dwarf Vegeta (including my best impression of Lanipator's Vegeta voice).

I would like something about monstrous races like Bugbears.

7:35 Basically Chaos Dwarves.

I always hated the misconception that dwarves are uber short. They're not THAT much shorter than a hooman

Thanks as always for your videos. I always share them with my online D&D group and try to get RL groups to watch when they get the time.

While on the subject of breaking the cliché of dwarves, I once made a dwarven monk who kept a clean shave and only sipped upon fine wine.

In my homebrew setting Dwarves are based on the Mongol horde/huns. Still stocky with the beards and mustaches but they are horse riding, archer/strikers. In an earlier setting that a stayed more "true to form" they did the whole mine thing but they were the penultimate mathematicians and thus were very powerful wizards and alchemists (you need lots of math to make the kinds of mines, jewel cuts, and above-and-beyond materials they are known for).

I love the stereotypical dwarf, as they remind me of myself, and a good portion of my family. Short, quick to fight, heavy.....very heavy drinkers, bearded. We're mostly Irish and Polish. Also, a solid weapon for a dwarf would be the combi stick-a collapsible double pointed spear that is relatively small when its not being used, but grants a decent reach when extended. The gladius would be the ideal short sword side-arm for a dwarf. A solid slashing weapon, but really shines as a thrusting weapon. Dwarves, having shorter arms and being quite strong, could get a lot of kinetic force behind a thrust with a gladius, (less distance to travel, therefore more energy reserved for impact) potentially penning lighter armor clean through.

Ive been into D&D for years and I haven’t heard of these guys, their great! They not only give an in depth explanation of the topic, but then they give real life experiences from their games.

One of my favorites is the Hill Dwarf Tempest Cleric! I have yet to play one in 5e so I am looking forward to that.

I've given a group of dwarves in my world a southern aristocrat accent, along with a love for mint juleps over ale and a series of underground canals traversed by steamboats. The primary NPC is even named Hark Dwain and he wears a immaculate white suit with a well groomed beard.

Dwarven elemental magic. Singing. There's an earth, wind and fire joke here somewhere.

Great video guys allways look forward to these. Moridans blessing!!

that Dwarven Druid suggestion suprised me, coz it's the same idea i had when i looked at the druid class, i wanted to make one but not go for the usual elf or human. My approach to his background is kinda weird too, I imagined him to be like a Nature Consultant , teaching villages how to make nature preserves based on what animals they had and how to regularly trim the forest for proper maintenance.

Hey guys, love the show and all your insight. Would love an episode about Sigil and the Lady of Pain.

Great video! I’d love to see you guys cover more races like Halflings or Elves

Great episode, as always!

Jim, I'm glad you mentioned shortsword weilding dwarves! My favorite dwarf character that I've made was punished for favoring the sword over hammers, axes, etc... He forged a longsword that he poured his heart and soul into, but when his family found out, they broke the sword. He recovered the remains of his weapon (now counting as a shortsword) and fled, becoming an outcast from dwarven society. I love playing against type as well! You guys are awesome. Thanks for making roleplay more accessible 😊

Dwarves in my world are like Maori pacific islanders.

I blast through quite a lot of youtube videos a day half-watching them while working. Whenever Web DM comes out though I make sure I get in my comfy chair with some Tea so i can really savor it. Keep up the great work guys! PS. Dwarves are the most fun race to play imo. Being Irish might bias me towards grumpy, sarcastic assholes with hearts of gold though :P

Great video, love what you guys do. Would you consider reviewing the races in the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide? And their applications and themes behind them?

Great upload guys, one thing I want to see is you guys talking about the underdark

I, like many many others who like: Star Trek and Matt Coleville have made most dwarves in my game little klingons. They dont get an accent, just a sort of style of speaking. They get to the point in as few words as possible.

An idea I've always liked for a slightly off type dwarf is a druid. A dwarven druid of the mountain or the underdark, using their connection to stone and fire to forge items, and summon elementals. It offers a really fun alternative to the "hippy druid" stereotype, and the drunken rough and tumble dwarf steryotype.

I would absolutely love a video all about your homebrew campaign Jim!

I ran a Dwarf Wizard in Pathfinder, wore silks, well groomed, and drank only wine. Spell book made of Adamantine with copper foil pages. Focused on Conjuration with summoning and teleportation, aim was to start a mail service over the whole kingdom.

In a game Im running right now I made a Dwarf town that was only just recently created, the Ideals of the dwarves of this new city was that they accept all people as denizens. A lot of Dwarves are Isolationist and I wanted to play against that and play with what it would look or feel like when those giant dwarf cities are being built.

I have in my campaign a dwarven mountain city run by a council of elite Transmutation Wizards that control all of the mining and smithing, and are very stoic and Vulcan-esque.

I always picture dwarves as noble types, they are all rich from their various mining companies and hold the monopoly in weapon and armor forging. Yes elves craft arguably finer things, but I see dwarves as able to pump them out in huge forge factories in mass.

I had a home-brew setting that featured a society of sea-fairing hill dwarves that lived in what was basically the Aegean Sea, trading and using the rocky coasts and islands to practice their stone-work.

the timing is perfect, i just finished watching the Razel-Sinn series!

Had a player in 3.5 play a dwarf wizard who found himself acting up the stereotypes (axe, accent, etc.) around his family and other dwarves just so he wouldn't shame his father, but was otherwise as far removed from "dwarf" as a dwarf could be with his comrades. Loved that PC.

I love merle in the adventure zone he is a massive peacekeeper and very calm and forgiving and also he grew up on the beach

Dwarves in my world can be described in 3 ways: always working, glory seekers and traditionalists. They always work because their god must forge more dwarves all the time so they also work all the time. They are glory seekers because they all cursed to return to whatever material they were made form and so must have as great a life as possible- preferably dying in battle. I haven’t figured out why dwarves are traditionalists yet - perhaps some connection to the physical world and how it never seems to change to them or how their age stops them from experiencing real change like we do - but I like the idea that there have been a bunch of dwarves empires which are all called the same name

This is one of my favorites

Regarding the end-cap on this one: I cannot get enough of Jim talking with Pruitt about OD&D and retro-clones.

Thanks for that video. Somehow I never had a chance to play DnD (I know it's weird, but everyone around me played other RPGs) and now I'm catching up with lore.

A friend of mine had immense fun playing a Dwarven ranger, the black sheep of his family

Drawing on Warhammer again - should check out the Yorkshire accents the dwarves have there. I fell in love with those.

This hilarious just how much of a "type" dwarves tend to be despite Moradin, their creator disliking their aspect of it. If anything, he wants his favorite creation to evolve and keep up with times and resist being "the type"

You guys are fantastic, love this channel!

Axes are dwarven for de-foresting the mountainside and fueling their forges. While tactically i 110% agree with you they are something that is practical when leaving their tunnels and serves a 2nd purpose.

My go-to clan is "Clan Gleemtub". They are a clan of Chemists and apothecaries whose claim to fame is their "Dwarven Cosmetics". Hair and Beard oils, Skin creams for chapped hands, and makeup made with bioluminescent Fungus. They are surprisingly popular in the Dwarven Community. "Maybe they're born with it.... Maybe it's Gleemtub."

One of the more amusing things I've done with a dwarf is make Teflon Thornforg, the rogue. As far as backstory was concerned, he was a once honorable dwarven leader, outcast from his tribe, living as a criminal hoping one day to regain some honor. Mechanically, he just shoved people over to get sneak attack.

I played a Wild Mage Hill Dwarf Sorcerer. He was from a caravan and used Bradd Pitt's accent from Snatch.

Hill dwarfs make great monks. Can you imagine a dwarven monestary on top of a mountain.

I find that instead of creating a rich diverse world, to play against type tends to create a lot more noise