[Skyhack] Dwarves (In My Wall)

My principal inspiration for Skyhack dwarves is the following Flork of Cows comic.

Veyl's Complete and Accurate Taxonomy classifies dwarves as a type of earth elemental. In Alacrity Sower's Earthen Menagerie, they are listed as distant cousins of humans. Udsoe and Udsoe's controversial Beings of the Deep Sky sorts them alongside moles and hedgehogs, with a few mealy-mouthed notes about a possible familial link to orcs. None of these classifications are correct in themselves, but the truth likely lurks somewhere between them.

Dwarves are stubborn, industrious, probably-sapient creatures, easily recognised by their stature, their stony, slightly iridescent complexions, and their huge wiry beards. Nothing makes a dwarf happier than transforming an untamed swathe of underground into a structurally sound, geometrically pleasing network of chambers, tunnels, and shafts. They would probably be confused if you asked them about the purpose of these structures, but this is immaterial, because you can't ask them - communicating with dwarves is notoriously difficult. They understand beings other than dwarves as confusing, dangerous moving parts of the landscape, which respond semi-predictably to shouting and/or violence, and not as discrete beings in their own right. Dwarves are not inherently violent, but they are very, very bad at de-escalation.

Dwarf

HD: 1+1
AC: as chain
Move: normal, burrow half normal
Morale: 9
Intelligence: like a very smart child who's just discovered coffee
Speech: Transrunic
Damage: by weapon
Special: ignores any instance of exactly 1 damage; telepathic feedback (see below)
# Enc.: solitary, gang of 2d3, or front of 2d4 gangs

Most dwarven weapons are repurposed mining equipment - simple pickaxes, hammers, and shovels. There's a 25% chance that a gang will have one member carrying a refraction drill, a gemstone-powered beam weapon. Firing a refraction drill takes two whole combat turns for both the operator and an adjacent assistant. The beam deals 2d8 damage to everything in a 30' line, doubled against inanimate objects. Save for half. Non-dwarves can't operate refraction drills, but the small gemstones that power them are worth 2d3gp apiece.

All dwarves wear hard hats. These hats are made from base metals, and serve as both protection and good-luck charms. Dwarven hard hats can be disarmed like weapons. A hatless dwarf has armour as leather and disadvantage on all d20 rolls.

Any creature that attempts telepathic contact with a dwarf, or otherwise attempts to affect its mind directly with magic or similar powers, fails in the endeavour and is stunned for 1 round, no Save.

Dwarves speak Transrunic, a dense atonal torrent of syllables with no resemblance to any other known language. Non-dwarves can't learn Transrunic, and many report a strong feeling of nameless discomfort upon hearing or reading it; prolonged exposure can cause headaches and panic attacks. Almost any being that knows a language can recognise the basic sentiments of many dwarf exclamations, which usually amount to "stay back" or "get out of our way".

What's He Building?

Dwarves build, and they build big, far bigger than they actually need. A gang of dwarves, left to their own devices, will readily hollow out whole islands and create sprawling city-scale networks of tunnels without ever moving their beds and possessions out of the first two or three chambers they dug.

Dwarven architecture is semi-functional. If you moved in enough dwarf-sized folk to occupy a whole dwarf network, it would fit their living needs (with the possible exception of food), but they would find it a confusing existence. Design decisions might seem arbitrary, pointless, or actively hostile.

My recommended process for mapping a dwarven tunnel network is to take a dungeon layout generator, analogue or digital, and use it as rigidly as possible. Do not sand off rough edges, do not tweak connections or room placements that don't make sense, and never reroll dice. If something doesn't fit, make it fit. For a little extra flavour, pepper the results with a few extra bits of weirdness (Google "architecture fails" for inspiration), and scale the whole thing down about 25% to match dwarven proportions.

Over time, a front of dwarves may develop its own distinctive architectural style. Roll 1d4+2 to determine a front's lucky number - they will incorporate this number and its multiples into their buildings as much as possible.

Dwarf Society

Dwarves are staunchly collectivist. They have no personal names, no discernible leaders or hierarchies, and it's unclear whether they even understand themselves as individuals or parts of a greater whole. The basic unit of dwarven society is the front, a collection of about twenty dwarves working towards a single architectural project. Fronts fluctuate in numbers as dwarves die and are born, but one that gets too large will often form a splinter group, a single gang of dwarves splitting off to build a ramshackle skyboat (which rarely survives its maiden landing) and strike the earth on a new isle.

Dwarf reproduction is poorly understood, but seems to be linked to the living mineral flakes that fall like dandruff from their beards. These flakes seem to clump together and grow into new adult dwarves, complete with basic understanding of masonry, the Transrunic language, and how to make a dwarven hard hat from whatever metals are available. A newly minted dwarf seeks out its peers, finds a hammer, fashions a hat, and gets to work without ever needing direct instruction.

Dwarves are not aggressive folk. They live to build, and violence is destructive, not to mention unpleasant and dangerous. However, their linguistic mores and penchant for digging and building under established settlements lead to a lot of misunderstandings, and they will not hesitate to remove a troublesome obstruction by force if shouting fails. (Concerted Transrunic shouting is surprisingly effective.)