2.2 - Dwarf

Dwarves are dense-boned, stonewise people whose communities include deep delvers, volcanic holds, river forges, and surface nations. Political identities such as Ossurian Old Guard or New Guard are Heritages, not inherited bodies.

Hiraeth Context

Many dwarven holds use sun towers, mirrors, gypsum windows, windcatchers, aquifers, and geothermal or coal-fired hypocausts to make deep settlements livable; Dwarves do not simply see through those depths. Their bodies instead read connected stone and earth through pressure and vibration. Clan, mine, trade, public works, Matrix, and the Magnum Opus festival belong to learned Heritages and histories rather than instincts shared by every Dwarf.

Lifecycle and Physical Profile

Field	Typical Range
Maturity	About 30 years
Lifespan	Usually 100 to 120 years
Height	Usually 4 ft 2 in to 5 ft 2 in (127 to 157 cm)
Typical Weight	Usually 150 to 260 lb (68 to 118 kg)
Size	Medium

Dwarves are compact and dense-boned. Hair, beard, adornment, and stone or metal ornament can signal family, craft, mourning, office, or nothing beyond personal taste.

These are setting averages, not restrictions. Within the selected size category, choose the height, build, coloration, sex characteristics, mobility aids, scars, and other features that fit the character.

Ancestry Chassis

Field	Rule
Creature Type	Humanoid
Size	Medium
Speed	25 feet; wearing heavy armor does not reduce this Speed
Typical Lifespan	Usually 100 to 120 years

Chassis trait	Rule
Stonepulse	As a bonus action while touching natural or worked stone or earth, awaken your vibration sense for 1 minute. During it, you have Tremorsense out to 15 feet through the same connected surface. Once you use Stonepulse, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Stout Vitality	You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned condition.
Stonecunning	When you examine worked stone, you can identify its approximate age, intended function, and obvious structural instability without a check. A check may reveal hidden or supernatural details.

Ancestral Details

Choose one Ancestral Detail at character creation. Details preserve the small sensory and physical choices present in earlier HAG systems without adding another power currency. A Detail supplies reliable narrow information or expression; it does not grant blanket advantage unless it explicitly says so. Your lineage recommends one in its Quick Package, but you may choose any Detail on this page.

Detail	Inherited expression
Pressure Ear	When underground or inside a stone structure, you notice an abrupt natural change in air pressure or ventilation before it becomes painful.
Grounded Stance	You can tell whether the surface supporting you is level, slowly tilting, or carrying an unusual vibration while you remain in contact with it.
Dense Frame	You always know whether a mundane seat, ladder, floor panel, or similar support is obviously too slight for your own weight.
Heat Sense	By holding a hand near stone or metal, you can tell whether its temperature is rising, falling, or stable without touching it.
Stone Echo	By tapping exposed stone, you can tell whether the space immediately behind it is solid or hollow to a depth of 5 feet. Reinforcement, magic, and layered construction can obscure the answer.

Lineages

Choose one lineage, or replace this choice with a versatile lineage. A lineage is a physical, inherited, environmental, or supernatural sub-race package; it is not your nationality or profession.

Mountain Dwarf

Your body is adapted to steep stone, altitude, and the uneven approaches of high or deep holds.

Lineage gift: You are acclimated to high altitude and ignore nonmagical movement penalties from steep natural stone.

Quick package: choose Pressure Ear as your Ancestral Detail and Dwarven Armament as your level-1 Ancestral Trait. This is a ready-to-play recommendation, not a restriction; you may replace either choice normally.

Hill Dwarf

You carry a deep reserve associated in old accounts with terrace-farming and surface-hold lineages.

Lineage gift: Your Hit Point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 whenever you gain a level.

Quick package: choose Grounded Stance as your Ancestral Detail and Maker's Eye as your level-1 Ancestral Trait. This is a ready-to-play recommendation, not a restriction; you may replace either choice normally.

Cave Dwarf

Loose earth and enclosed ground feel legible to you; your build is suited to deliberate excavation.

Lineage gift: You have a burrow Speed of 5 feet through loose earth. You cannot use it through solid stone and leave a usable tunnel behind.

Quick package: choose Stone Echo as your Ancestral Detail and Rooted Stance as your level-1 Ancestral Trait. This is a ready-to-play recommendation, not a restriction; you may replace either choice normally.

Magma Dwarf

Heat and volcanic stone have left a visible or internal mark on your lineage.

Lineage gift: You ignore nonmagical extreme heat. Once per long rest when you take fire damage, reduce it by an amount equal to twice your proficiency bonus.

Quick package: choose Heat Sense as your Ancestral Detail and Maker's Eye as your level-1 Ancestral Trait. This is a ready-to-play recommendation, not a restriction; you may replace either choice normally.

Riverforged Dwarf

Your lineage developed around underground rivers, flooded works, or surface waterways.

Lineage gift: You have a swim Speed of 20 feet and can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes.

Quick package: choose Stone Echo as your Ancestral Detail and Maker's Eye as your level-1 Ancestral Trait. This is a ready-to-play recommendation, not a restriction; you may replace either choice normally.

Ancestry Talents

Choose one Ancestral Trait at level 1 and another ancestry talent at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. You may also choose an eligible universal option.

When a later Talent appears, decide how it was discovered: training, crisis, inherited memory, prophecy, supernatural change, or another explanation that belongs to this character.

Level 1 Ancestral Traits

Trait	Rule
Dwarven Armament	Gain proficiency with light and medium armor or with three martial weapons of your choice.
Maker's Eye	Gain proficiency with one artisan's tool. Add double your proficiency bonus to checks made to appraise or repair objects created with that tool.
Rooted Stance	Once per long rest when you would be knocked prone or moved against your will, use your reaction to prevent that movement or condition.

Level 5 Talents

Talent	Rule
Dwarven Resilience	You gain resistance to poison damage.
Stonebound Guard	Once per long rest when you take damage, use your reaction to reduce it by your proficiency bonus plus your Constitution modifier.

Level 10 Talents

Talent	Rule
Deep March	You and companions traveling with you ignore the first level of Exhaustion caused by forced marching or underground travel. This does not remove existing Exhaustion.
Runic Warning	At the end of a long rest, ward one worn object. The first time its wearer fails a saving throw before your next long rest, the wearer adds 1d4 to the roll.

Level 15 Talents

Talent	Rule
Living Bulwark	Allies directly behind you can treat you as half cover when your size and position could reasonably block the threat.
Master Smith	Choose one artisan's tool you have. Gain expertise with it, and mundane crafting with it takes half the normal time.

Level 20 Talents

Talent	Rule
Adamant Soul	Once per long rest when you fail a Constitution or Wisdom saving throw, treat the roll as a success instead.
Unbroken Hold	Once per long rest, as a bonus action, gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the start of your next turn.

Suggested Ancestry-Associated Flaws

These optional prompts recover the ancestry-associated pressures of earlier systems without awarding extra power. Choose one, adapt one, or use a Universal Flaw.

• Oath Debt: An inherited promise, craft obligation, clan judgment, or public work can demand service at a terrible time.
• Stonebound Pride: Public criticism of work you built, repaired, or swore to protect is difficult to leave unanswered.
• Hold Habit: Open, temporary, or poorly engineered shelter leaves you uneasy and prone to overpreparing.

Roleplaying This Ancestry

• Which work, oath, clan, or public structure do you feel responsible for?
• How do you relate to Matrix, Magnum Opus, or a different religious tradition?
• What part of hold culture did you embrace, reject, or never encounter?

Quick Builds

For a traditional defender, choose Hill Dwarf and Rooted Stance. For a volcanic explorer, choose Magma Dwarf and Maker's Eye.