James Maliszewski

DDE: Dwarves & Gnomes

Added 2025-12-30 05:00:08 +0000 UTC

Following last week's Christmas post and yesterday's Substack post, I have decided to offer up some posts over the next few weeks that give some idea of the kind of thing that I had in mind for the Dwimmermount Designer's Edition, had I ever produced. Consider these drafts or rough cuts of stuff I hoped to include.

Today, I'm sharing a lengthy excerpt of the section describing Dwarves and Gnomes, some of which originally appeared on Grognardia and, later, the 2014 published version of the megadungeon. What follows is a mix of rules and background information. My commentary on them will follow in my next post, since this one is already pretty long as it is. Plus, I have a lot to say about my conception of Dwarves and Gnomes and feel like my thoughts deserve a post of their own.

Artwork by Jason Sholtis

Dwarves

Ability Minimum: CON 9
Ability Modifiers: –1 CHA, +1 CON
Languages: Alignment, Common, Dwarvish, Gnomish

Available Classes and Maximum Levels

Assassin: 9th
Fighter: 10th
Thief: 9th

Dwarves are stout, broad-shouldered, bearded folk — Man-like in outline but unmistakably their own — standing about four feet tall and weighing roughly 150 pounds. They are children of stone and metal, drawn irresistibly to precious ores and gems, and they dwell far beneath the earth in immense cavern-cities. Legends claim these halls once held millions; today, only thousands remain, haunting vaults built for a far greater age. Their skin, hair, and eyes bear the hues of the deep earth: granite gray, iron black, rust red, and the muted browns of soil and stone.

The Dwarven Frame

Their short stature limits their reach and leverage. Dwarves cannot wield two-handed weapons or longbows. In battle, however, they are famously resilient, gaining bonuses to saving throws versus poison, wands, spells, rods, and staves based on their Constitution.

CON Bonus

3—6 None

7–10 +2

11—14 +3

15—17 +4

18 +5

Life underground has sharpened their senses. Dwarves can see in darkness with infravision out to 60 feet. When actively searching, they have a 2 in 6 chance to detect non-magical traps, false walls, hidden construction, or sloping passages. These abilities require deliberate attention and do not function passively.

Sons of Stone

Artwork by Steve Zieser

Unlike most peoples, Dwarves have only one sex: male. Though they may live up to a thousand years, longevity alone would not preserve their kind. Dwarves do not reproduce as other beings do. Instead, they make their sons.

A Dwarf carves a son from living rock, shaping it with painstaking care and adorning it with precious metals and gems. Through sustained devotion — outsiders whisper obsession — a strange and ancient magic takes hold. Stone softens. Eyes open. A new Dwarf draws breath.

Each Dwarf may attempt this act once per level. The player rolls 1d20 and adds the character’s level; a result of 20 or higher brings the carving to life.

Each attempt requires a minimum investment of 10,000 gp. For every additional 10,000 gp invested, the roll gains a +1 bonus. These bonuses carry forward between levels. Thus, a Dwarf who invests an extra 10,000 gp at 5th level and another 20,000 gp at 6th level gains a +3 investment bonus on his next attempt, in addition to the +6 bonus for being 6th level.

Failure and Its Consequences

If the carving roll is a natural 1, the attempt catastrophically fails, regardless of bonuses. Instead of a son, something else emerges:

d6 Result

1–2 Gnome

3–4 Inert

5–6 Kobold

Gnome: A living offshoot born of error rather than intent (see below).
Inert: The carving never awakens. It is stillborn stone, forever lifeless, and cannot be animated by any known means. Such sons are never destroyed or reused, but entombed with honor in subterranean cemeteries alongside once-living Dwarves who have returned to stone.
Kobold: A corruption, an obsession made flesh. Kobolds are Dwarves twisted by greed, retreating ever deeper into darkness to feed their hunger for gold. Cruel, selfish, and trap-loving, they delight in tormenting others, especially Dwarves. Otherwise, kobolds are as described in Old School Essentials.

Dwarves cannot deliberately create Gnomes or Kobolds, nor can they influence which result occurs. A Dwarf cannot carve a female "son;" such a thing would be a contradiction. The process yields male Dwarves alone, except when it fails.

The Taboo of Many Sons

Although a Dwarf is physically capable of carving more than one son, Dwarven society regards this with deep suspicion. Multiple sons are seen as marks of arrogance and dangerous ambition. This stigma applies even to Dwarves whose earlier sons were inert, which is why stillborn carvings are treated with reverence.

The origin of this taboo is lost, but elder Dwarves trace it to a half-forgotten age called the Tumult, when rebels defied the Fathers (see below) and sought to found dynasties by carving many sons. The rebellion failed and the practice was forever after stained by hubris.

Death and Debt

A slain Dwarf cannot be restored to life by raise dead. Only the 6th-level magic-user spell stone to flesh can return him to life. Clerical healing, however, magic functions normally, as do potions of healing and similar items.

A newly awakened Dwarf begins at 1st level in his chosen class and initially has the same ability scores as his father. Each score has a 10% chance to differ; for any deviation, roll 1d6 (even: +1, odd: –1).

The son owes his father a debt equal to the gold spent on his carving. Each month, there is a 50% chance a player character father receives 1d12×100 gp in repayment from his son. This income grants no experience, though gold spent carving a son does.

All Dwarf player characters begin play already indebted to their own fathers, owing 1d10×10,000 gp. Repayment is not legally enforced, but Dwarves who shirk this duty are ostracized. Any gold paid earns experience normally. For every 50% of the debt repaid, a Dwarf may advance one level beyond the normal class limit (11th for Assassins and Thieves; 12th for Fighters).

A Dying People

The Dwarves are a dwindling race. Their vast cities speak of a time when millions walked the deeps; now, even a few thousand is cause for pride. Many strongholds lie abandoned, legendary underworlds of gold, lost magic, and lurking horrors.

Most Dwarves accept this fate with grim stoicism, believing it to be the will of the Fathers. A stubborn few still hope the Fathers may one day relent and restore their people to greatness.

The Fathers

Only Men worship gods or raise clerics. Dwarves do neither. Instead, they revere ancient beings they call the Fathers.

Dwarven tradition holds that the Fathers begot them at the dawn of time and set them to their purpose: to delve deep beneath Telluria and claim stone and metal as their birthright. Once, the Fathers spoke openly, guiding law and craft alike. That age is long past. No Dwarf knows when — or why — their voices fell silent, though most believe it followed the Tumult.

Reverence for the Fathers is not worship. There are no temples, priesthoods, or miracles. The Fathers are invoked instead as final authority, the last answer to custom and fate alike: “Because the Fathers made it so.”

Outsiders scoff at this. Some Dwarves do as well, fearing that blind obedience hastens extinction. Yet most endure, trusting that one day the Fathers will speak again — or at least reveal a path out of the long twilight closing in around their race.

Gnomes

Artwork by Steve Zieser

Ability Minimum: CON 9, INT 9
Ability Modifiers: None
Languages: Alignment, Common, Dwarvish, Gnomish

Available Classes and Maximum Levels

Assassin: 6th
Fighter: 6th
Magic-User: 7th
Thief: 8th

Gnomes are a rare offshoot of the Dwarven race. Fewer than five in a hundred Dwarves are actually Gnomes. Each is the unintended result of a carving gone awry. At a glance, a Gnome resembles his father: short, bearded, and shaped by chisel and stone. Look closer and the differences are plain. Gnomes are slighter, narrower, and more delicate, with faintly pointed features. Their coloring is brighter, their eyes especially so, gleaming with an almost unearthly light.

Like Dwarves, Gnomes are exclusively male. Unlike Dwarves, they cannot carve sons of their own. Why this is so remains unknown. Some suspect their innate magic disrupts the creative force of carving, though proof is lacking. Still, hope persists. Many Gnomes search for a means to propagate their kind, encouraged by tales of distant southern enclaves said to have unlocked the secret.

What is certain is their mastery of magic. Where Dwarves wield none, Gnomes command it instinctively. They must be either a magic-user or a multi-class that includes magic-user (e.g. fighter/magic-user, magic-user/thief, etc.), using the optional rules for multiple classes found in the Old School Essentials Player's Book. Whatever their choice, the Gnome chooses his spells from a unique spell list (see below). Because of their rarity and value, Dwarves protect them closely, limiting their exposure to danger. Gnomes cannot use scrolls or magic items that duplicate spells unavailable to them. They possess the same bonuses to saving throws as Dwarves.

Gnomes possess infravision out to 60 feet and, when actively searching, have a 2 in 6 chance to detect traps, hidden construction, or sloping passages. They speak Alignment, Common, Dwarvish, and a specialized Gnomish cant understood by most Dwarves (see above).

In Dwarven society, Gnomes are both shame and salvation. A Dwarven line that produces a Gnome inevitably ends, yet without Gnomes the enchanted works sustaining Dwarven civilization could not exist. As a result, Gnomes are kept hidden deep within strongholds. Outsiders rarely hear of them and Gnomish adventurers are almost unknown.

Like Dwarves, Gnomes begin play owing 1d10×10,000 gp. For every 50% of this debt repaid, they may advance one additional level beyond their normal maximum. Gnomes, too, cannot be restored to life by raise dead; only stone to flesh can return them from death.

Gnomish Spells

As noted above, Gnomes have their own selection of spells. Many of these spells are identical to those available to magic-users of other races, but a few, noted by italics in the list below, come instead from the illusionist list.