Dwarven Glory

You are a Dwarf.

Not the proud and stubborn warrior found in so many fantasy novels and RPGs, however; but a crafty, elusive trickster with an affinity for magic. In Norse sagas and legends, the greatest magicians are often dwarves. They are associated with rocks, the earth, luck, craft, metal work, wisdom, and greed.

You live within an isolated dwarven enclave of Asgård. Your people were spared much of the hardship that fell upon other races during Ragnarök. However, there were still many smaller dwarf-holds and colonies that were lost to earthquakes, goblin hordes, fell monsters, or other disasters.

It is your mission to determine what has become of these settlements…

Additional Runes

The following list of twelve runes are less common than those presented in the Runecasting supplement and are not available to starting characters:

Additional Runes Table

d12 Roll	Rune Name		d12 Roll	Rune Name
1	Bane-Rune		7	Light-Rune
2	Charm-Rune		8	Stun-Rune
3	Darkvision-Rune		9	Track-Rune
4	Detect-Magic-Rune		10	Treasure-Rune
5	Fire-Rune		11	Water-Breathing
6	Frost-Rune		12	Waystone-Rune

Collected Class Options

(I’m collecting here the various class options which I previously posted and revising them to reflect recent changes to the Core Rules.)

Variant class options and sub-classes are a time-honoured tradition in fantasy role-playing games. Collected here is a selection of variant classes for potential use as PCs and NPCs: Berzerkers, Scouts, Skalds, and Staves.

The rules presented here supersede the previous posts. As with all house rules, use of these class options are subject to referee approval.

Alt Rules Update

I’ve decided to adopt the Alternate Core Rules which were proposed earlier. I’ve already updated the files on Google Docs.

Now I’m going through the various posts and revising any rules which are affected. After I’m done, there will still be a few places (like the Boneyard) which will reference the old, superseded rules.

Major changes include the following:

• Adventuring Skills have been revamped; characters now receive a +3 bonus to their class skill.
• The three save categories have been condensed into a single Saving Throw value. Saves are still typically divided into fortitude, reflex, or willpower categories, but these are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
  Each class has its own modifier to saving throws, but loses the bonus to one specific save type. In most cases, it’s easier to make a saving throw now.

Also, I’ve given dwarves what used to be the ‘Goblin Foe’ quirk by default. The revised combat modifiers are as follows:

• Gargun are the racial enemies of dwarves. Dwarves gain a +1 on attack rolls vs. goblins.
• Due to their small size, dwarves gain defensive bonuses against trolls and giants. Trolls have a -1 penalty on attack rolls vs. dwarves, and giants have a -2 penalty.

The old ‘Goblin Foe’ quirk is now replaced by ‘Giant Foe’; dwarves with this quirk get +1 Atk vs. trolls and giants instead of vs. goblins.

Dwarf Size Comparison

Here’s a picture from p. 18 of the AD&D Player’s Handbook (click to embiggen):

It gives a good idea of the relative sizes of dwarves and men.

(They’re called dwarves for a reason.)

Class Option – Scout

(UPDATE 24-Jan-12: I’ve collected all these class options into a single post and revised several of them.)

Scouts are fast-moving, lightly-armoured skirmishers. The scout is a hunter and a ranger who lives by his wits, and his abilities make him particularly good at tracking, woodcraft, infiltration, and spying.

Unless stated below, a scout is identical to a thief in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 6th level as scouts, elves to 8th level, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Increased Movement: Scouts add +3” MV if wearing light or no armour.
  This replaces the thief’s backstab ability (but is available at 1st level instead of 2nd).
• Foraging: Starting at 2nd level, scouts gain an improved chance to forage. Foraging reduces movement to ⅔ normal, and the scout provides a 3-in-6 chance of finding sustenance (instead of the regular 2-in-6 chance).
• Tracking: It is possible for scouts to track both outdoors and underground in dungeons and like settings – even under conditions that would prevent most characters from following a trail.
  This replaces the thief’s ability to open locks, remove traps, and disable mechanical devices.