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Atlas  Artifacts  Bestiary  Calendar  Classes  Factions/Groups  Faiths/Religion  History  Languages  Mythology  The Games  PBeM  Psionics  Spells  Credits  Links	Bestiary Sand Dwarf CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Red Desert FREQUENCY: Uncommon ORGANIZATION: Clans ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any DIET: Omnivore INTELLIGENCE: Very (11-12) TREASURE: M (x5) (G, Qx20, R in lair) ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good NO. APPEARING: 2 - 200 ARMOR CLASS: 5 (10) MOVEMENT: 6 HIT DICE: 1+2 THAC0: 19 NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8 (by weapon) SPECIAL ATTACKS: +1 to hit vs. Yak-Men and Lamias SPECIAL DEFENSES: save as 4 levels higher, +4 AC vs. giant class opponents immune to heat exhaustion or stroke MAGIC RESISTANCE: standard SIZE: M (4' and taller) MORALE: Elite (13-14) XP VALUE: 330 Appearance: Sand dwarves are kin to the mountain and hill dwarves. Long ago, the mountain dwarves were forced from their range of mountians by the powers of humans. While most went on to find new ranges of mountains to build cities in, one small group stayed close to their original home by moveing into the desert, and forming cities in the rock under the sand. They adapted to their lives under the sun after a time. Their skin grew darker than normal, their hair lighter brown and sandy blonde. They still stood but 4 feet tall and retained their stocky build. Sand dwarves benefit greatly from their high constitution, gaining +1 to intitial die rolls. In addition to dwarven, dwarves often speak the tongues of their enemies: Lamia, Yak-Man, and Ogre. Combat: Dwarves are courageous, tenacious fighters who are ill-disposed toward magic. They never use magical spells or train as wizards, though they can become priests and use the spells of this group. Because of their nonmagical nature, in fact, they get a special bonus to all saving throws against magical wands, staves, rods, and spells. Dwarves receive a +1 bonus to saving throws against these magical attacks for every 3½ points of Constitution score they have. A dwarf's nonmagical nature can also cause problems when he tries to use a magical item. In fact, if a dwarf uses a magical item that is not specifically created for his class, there is a 20% chance the item malfunctions. For example, if a dwarven fighter uses a bag of holding -- which can be used by any class, not just fighters -- there is a 20% chance each time the dwarf uses it that the bag does not work properly. This chance of malfunction applies to rods, staves, wands, rings, amulets, potions, horns, jewels, and miscellaneous magic. However, dwarves have learned to master certain types of magical items -- because of an item's military nature. These objects -- specifically weapons, shields, armor, gauntlets, and girdles -- are not subject to magical malfunction when used by a dwarf of any class. As with magical attacks, dwarves are unusually resistant to toxic substances. Because of their exceptionally strong Constitution, all dwarves roll saving throws against poisons with the same bonus (+1 for every 3½ points of Constitution score) that applies to saves vs. magical attacks. In the thousands of years that dwarves have lived in the heat, they have developed a number of skills and special abilities that help them to survive. All dwarves have infravision that enables them to see up to 60 feet in the dark. When underground, dwarves can tell quite a bit about their location by looking carefully at their surroundings. When within 10 feet of what they are looking for, dwarves can detect the grade and slope of a passage (1-5 on 1d6), new tunnel construction (1-5 on 1d6), sliding/shifting walls or rooms (1-4 on 1d6), and stonework traps, pits, and deadfalls (1-3 on 1d6). Dwarves can also determine their approximate depth underground (1-3 on 1d6) at any time. Sand dwarves also are immune to heat stroke or heat exhaustion and can march for days in the desert with little a water. Sand dwarves have hostile feelings towards humans in general, having been forced from their homes by man. Some small groups have traded in small doses with humans on a brief basis. Sand dwarves have fought to keep their homes in the sand from several groups and so always add one to their attack rolls to hit Lamias and Yak-Men. The small size of dwarves is an advantage against ogres, trolls, ogre magi, giants, and titans; these monsters always subtract 4 from their attack rolls against dwarves because of that size difference and the dwarves' training in fighting such large foes. Dwarven armies are well-organized and extremely well-disciplined. Dwarven troops usually wear chain mail and carry shields in battle. They wield a variety of weapons. The composition of a typical dwarven army by weaponry is axe and hammer (30%), sword and spear (35%), sword and light crossbow (15%), sword and pole arm (10%), and axe and mace (10%). For every 40 dwarves encountered, there is a 3nd- to 8th-level fighter who leads the group. (Roll 1d6 and add two to determine level.) If there are 160 or more dwarves encountered, there are, in addition to the leaders of the smaller groups, one 9th-level fighter (a chief) and a 6th-level fighter (lieutenant) commanding the troops. If 200 or more dwarves are encountered, there is a fighter/priest of 5rd- to 7th-level fighting ability and 6th-to 8th-level priest ability. If a dwarven army has 320 or more troops in it, the following high-level leaders are in command of the group: an 10th-level fighter, a 9th-level fighter, a 8th-level fighter/9th-level priest, and two 7th-level fighter/priests. The commanders of the dwarven troops wear plate armor and carry shields. In addition, the fighters and fighter/priests leading the dwarven troops have a 10% chance per level of fighting ability of having magical armor and/or weapons. The fighter/priests who lead the troops also have a 10% chance per level of priest ability of having a magical item specific to priests (and thus not subject to malfunction). If encountered in its home, a dwarven army has, in addition to the leaders noted above, 2d6 fighters of from 4nd- to 7th-level (1d4+3 for level), 2d4 fighter/priests of from 4nd- to 6th-level (in each class), females equal to 50% of the adult males, and children equal to 25% of the adult males. Dwarven women are skilled in combat and fight as males if their homes are attacked. Habitat/Society: The underground strongholds of the dwarves are well crafted and sturdy. Dwarven cities take hundreds of years to complete, but once finished they stand for millennia without needing any type of repair. Since dwarves do not leave their homes often and always return to them, they create their cities with permanence in mind. Troops guard dwarven cities at all times. Dwarven society is organized into clans. A dwarven clan not already attached to a city or mine travels until it finds an outpost where it can begin to ply a trade. Clans often settle close together since they usually need the same raw materials for their crafts. Clans are competitive, but usually do not war against one another. Dwarven cities are founded when enough clans move to a particular location. Each dwarven clan usually specializes in a particular craft or skill; young dwarves are apprenticed at an early age to a master in their clan (or, occasionally, in another clan) to learn a trade. Since dwarves live so long, apprenticeships last for many years. Dwarves also consider political and military service a skilled trade, so soldiers and politicians are usually subjected to a long period of apprenticeship before they are considered professionals. Sand dwarves have great access to precious metals, one reason for their trade with humans. They spend much time feeding themselves through fisheries kept underground, and mining of fine metals. Ecology: Sand dwarves produce silver and gold jewelry, ornamentation and artwork. Thusly they have some of the finest silversmiths in the world. As of note are their blacksniths and armorers. Dwarven attention to craftmanship pushes the price of their wares up by 20%. Many people are still willing to pay a high price for a suit of dwarven mail or a dwarven sword. Humans know that the dwarf who forged the item made it to last a dwarven lifetime, so they'll never need to worry about it wearing out in theirs. TSR®, Inc. grants permission to copy this form for personal use. 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