Replacing Racial Traits:  Dwarves     

In the past few posts, I've laid some groundwork for how I approach race in Pathfinder and D&D.  Let's look at how that approach can help break down the structure of racial traits.  I'll use dwarves as my example this time, since elves have already gotten a lot of love.

Here's what I am using for the basic dwarven heritage:

Dwarven Heritage Traits

• Languages:  Common and Dwarven
• Underground Dwellers:  low-light vision
• Builders:  +2 Craft, +2 Knowledge (engineering)
• Merchants:  +2 Appraise

For game balancing purposes, each heritage gets three +2 skill bonuses and one additional non-magical ability, which I classify as being slightly less powerful than a feat.  (More on feats in a later post!)

Dwarves have been portrayed in many different ways, and there has been a large amount of disagreement about what characteristics are essentially dwarven.  Everything from appearance (beards on all genders?) to some of their traditional habits (drinking and singing about gold?) to real-world cultural references (Nordic dwarves vs. Germanic dwarves vs. Scottish dwarves?) has been the subject of so much controversy that Terry Pratchett has written whole sub-plots of his books about it.

I've started from the assumption that dwarves live underground, that they build things (mines count as things), and that they seem to be interested in money and trade (you can't eat gold, after all).  I've given them low-light vision instead of darkvision for several reasons:  first, dwarven mines and cities in fantasy RPGs always appear to be fairly well-lit; second, darkvision is ridiculously over-used; and third, I prefer darkvision to be more useful for seeing in the kind of darkness that players most likely face as a real obstacle, namely magical darkness.  This means that darkvision should also be magical, which makes it a birthright.

My discussion, in previous posts, about issues of size and racial hatred explain the reasons that some of the other Pathfinder dwarven traits are missing.

But now dwarves are very bare-bones, without a lot of detail.  How can we add in the level of interest that the Pathfinder rules provide, without having a huge list of things for the player to read?  First, let's review some design goals and parameters.

Identity, Heritage, and Birthright Mechanics Parameters

• If a trait is something you are born with (nature), then it is an identity or a birthright.  If it is non-magical, it is an identity and does not alter the mechanics of the game.
• A magical trait you are born with is a birthright.  It can be represented either through a feat (or feat tree if it is very powerful, like being able to fly), or it can be part of a class feature (such as a sorcerer bloodline).
• If a trait is something you acquire through your upbringing (nurture), then it is part of your heritage.
• Heritage grants three +2 bonuses to skills and one special ability.
• Special abilities should be slightly less powerful than a feat.
• Changes to either skills or special abilities can be the result of a different heritage or the blending of two heritages.
• Whenever possible, as a design goal, special abilities and birthright feats should not grant bonuses that are only applicable in certain, very specific situations.  Too many of these clutter up a character sheet and are too many unnecessary things for a player to keep track of.
• Ideally, heritages and birthrights should be evocative, they should provide for good story opportunities, they should not hinder the story by limiting the agency of the character, and they should be easy to understand.

Dwarven Alternate Racial Traits in Pathfinder

Pathfinder includes over forty alternate racial traits for dwarves in its rules.  First, I want to eliminate the alternate traits that are substitute racial hatred traits.  I've talked about my reasons for doing this in the prior post.  There is one possible substitute for these traits, which is the favored enemy feat.  I'll talk more about that more when we get to rangers.  For now, suffice to say that favored enemy could go one of two ways:  a hunter of monsters or an enemy of a (generally evil) organization.  Here's how some of the racial traits for dwarves break down along those lines:

• Hunter:  The initial Defensive Training trait (giants), Barrow Scholar (undead), Barrow Warden (undead), Deep Warrior (aberrations), Giant Hunter (giants), Saltbeard (aquatic creatures), Sense Aberrations (aberrations), Wyrmscourged (dragons)
• Enemy:  The initial Hatred trait (orcs and goblins), Ancient Enmity (elves), Spell Smasher (spell casters), Xenophobic (some sort of enemy organization that uses mind control).

Note that these traits, as written, have bonuses that are all over the place.  Instead of having to keep track of which specific bonuses go with which Hunter or Enemy feat, it is much easier to use the favored enemy template, which in Pathfinder provides +2 Bluff, +2 Knowledge, +2 Perception, +2 Sense Motive, +2 Survival, +2  attack, and +2 damage.  Since all characters now gain the bonus feat that was previously reserved for humans, dwarves can take favored enemy as a feat to duplicate the effects of these racial traits.

Next, let's look at racial traits that add skill bonuses.  Some are already covered in the heritage as I've written it.  Some of these represent new heritages.  And some are abilities that should probably be feats (these are often the ones that would otherwise add RP to the race, under Pathfinder rules), and can be taken as a bonus feat at first level.

Already Covered

• Craftsman:  Technically, this also gives a +2 to Profession.  I'll talk about why I think Profession should be eliminated as a Skill in a later post.  But if you don't want to eliminate it, then this could be a new heritage instead.
• Low-light Vision:  Already a special ability of dwarves.
• Greed:  Covered by the +2 Appraise in the base heritage.

New Heritages

• Fey Magic:  This gives the favored terrain ability, which is probably best reworked as a special ability.  Dwarves with mystical fey connections to their homes sound unique, and they would probably gain different skill bonuses than the "standard" dwarf.  The spell-like abilities granted by this racial trait can be duplicated by taking the birthright feat: sorcerous blood.
• Fey Thoughts:  This could be combined into the heritage above, granting +2 bonuses on appropriate skills.
• Lorekeeper:  Dwarves who value books and study are distinct enough from dwarves who are builders and miners that it could warrant a new heritage.  It is possible that this represents a different class of dwarves, living in the same cities as the others, but with their own heritage and traditions.
• Mountaineer:  This could be simplified into favored terrain (mountains) and used for another heritage, dwarves who live outside on the mountains, rather than underground.
• Saltbeard:  Dwarves at sea!  A new idea that merits a new heritage.
• Sky Sentinel:  Dwarves in the air!  However, see the section on feats, below, as well.
• Stoic Negotiator:  These dwarves don't seem interested in mining and building, but are focused on being merchants.  Since our "standard" dwarves are already merchants, this might be a good candidate for a blended heritage to gain the +2 Bluff and Diplomacy.
• Surface Survivalist:  Dwarves that no longer live underground, but likely have favored terrain as their special ability instead of low-light vision.  This might be the same heritage as Mountaineer, above.

Bonus Feats

• Behind the Veil:  This gives two +2 skill bonuses, only under certain circumstances, for 1 RP.  As a feat, it should probably be somewhat more powerful, and associated with a feat tree themed around concealment and shadows.
• Darkvision:  A birthright feat, written up in a prior post.
• Dimdweller:  Another feat in the same tree as Behind the Veil.
• Dusksight:  Another feat in the same tree as Behind the Veil.  These are all skills for using dim light and concealment to gain combat advantages.
• (original trait) Hardy:  See Healthy and Magic Resistant below.
• Healthy:  Resistances to disease and poison (and needing fewer rolls to save against them) should be part of a feat tree with Great Fortitude.
• Lasting Grudge:  Should be rewritten as a feat.  This is a good example of a birthright feat that reads more like a curse, but nonetheless provides a benefit to an adventurer.
• Magic Resistant:  Unbalanced as written, this could be a part of a feat tree.  However, feats that scale with character level should be approached with extreme caution:  they are almost always better off as class abilities.
• Minesight:  A birthright feat that could be part of a feat tree with Darkvision.
• Poison Minion:  This 4 RP (!) trait is an interesting plot device, but if it is going to be used as a part of character creation then it should be a birthright feat (likely a tree of such feats).  Not for every campaign, but I could see an entire adventure based around this concept!
• Sky Sentinel:  Although I think this should totally be a new heritage, it could also probably be part of a feat tree based on combat with flying creatures.  However, because it is not particularly supernatural, it probably is not a good candidate for a birthright feat, and should instead be a combat feat.
• (original trait) Stability:  Part of a combat feat tree based around standing your ground.
• Stonecunning:  A birthright feat, written up in a prior post.
• Relentless:  Part of a combat feat tree.
• Rockstepper:  Part of a combat feat tree.
• Stubborn:  Resistances for particular uses of Will saves.  Should be part of a feat tree with Iron Will.
• Tightfisted:  Should be a feat, although it's kind of all over the place and needs to be rewritten a bit.
• Treasure Sense:  Definitely a birthright feat and a very interesting one!
• Unstoppable:  Essentially this is already a feat (Toughness), with an added +1 Fortitude save.  More on Toughness in my post on feats.
• Viscous Blood:  A really weird birthright feat, but certainly evokes a lot of potential story ideas!
• Voice in the Darkness:  See Behind the Veil above.

Note that birthright feats that are part of a feat tree could very well be taken after first level.  By taking the first feat, you have laid the groundwork that it is a magical or supernatural ability that your character has.  As the game progresses, and your character learns to control this magic, and they gain additional benefits from it.

Sorcerous Bloodline Abilities (or other Class Birthright Abilities)

There are a few dwarven Pathfinder traits, such as Shadowhunter, Shadowplay, and Stonesinger, that may work best as class abilities based on a birthright.  Stonesinger makes direct reference to the deep earth and elemental earth bloodlines.  Shadowhunter would appear to be a good match with the undead bloodline, while Shadowplay matches well with the shadow bloodline.  More on sorcerous bloodlines when we get to character classes!

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OGL Races as Heritages    

If you like the idea of using heritages in your game instead of race, here are some conversions of Open Game Content races.  These are my versions of the races, but they can be easily modified if you want to put a different spin on them, or focus on a different feature.  Note that there are no "half-races."  If a player wants to have a character of mixed heritage, they may combine any two heritages together.  If they want to play a character who has a magical or supernatural ability, please see some sample birthright rules below.  What about humans, they are not listed here?  I discuss this in more detail below, but essentially, these are heritages, not races.  If you want to play a city dweller, that is a heritage.  If you want to play a forest dweller, then Elven is a heritage available to you, if you live with people who call themselves elves.  Neither makes any judgment on your humanity, or lack thereof, as discussed in more detail below.

Dwarven Heritage Traits

• Languages:  Common and Dwarven
• Underground Dwellers:  low-light vision
• Builders:  +2 Craft, +2 Knowledge (engineering)
• Merchants:  +2 Appraise

Elven Heritage Traits

• Languages:  Common and Elven
• Nocturnal:  low-light vision
• Wilderness Dwellers:  +2 Perception, +2 Knowledge (nature)
• Arcane Magic Users:  +2 Spellcraft

Gnomish Heritage Traits

• Languages:  Common and Gnomish
• Familiar with Illusions:  +2 Will save
• Live in Hiding:  +2 Perception, +2 Stealth 
• Arcane Magic Users:  +2 Spellcraft

Halfling Heritage Traits (note that I still do not like the use of the word Halfling, but unfortunately most other commonly known synonyms are copyrighted).

• Language:  Common and Halfling
• Fearless Explorers:  +1 to all saves
• Mountain and Tree Climbers:  +2 Acrobatics, +2 Climb
• Travelers:  +2 Knowledge (geography)

Orcish Heritage Traits

• Languages:  Common and Orcish
• Wasteland Dwellers:  +2 Fortitude save
• Warriors:  +2 Intimidate
• Animal Tamers:  +2 Handle Animal, +2 Ride  (if inspired by Tolkien, these can refer to Orcs' use of dire wolves as mounts)

Humanity for Everyone (and some notes about size)

If you are using these heritages together with other Pathfinder rules, you may note that they seem under-powered.  This is because, without the use of race (as it is used in D&D), all characters share the essential things that make us human:  free will and agency, intelligence and feelings, adaptability and tradition.

As a result, all characters, regardless of their heritage, gain an additional +2 on any ability score of their choice, and an additional feat at first level.  They do not gain the +1 skill point per level that humans would normally get as a Pathfinder race.  This has the effect of making heritages compatible (roughly) with Pathfinder.  Although first-level characters built using these rules will be slightly more powerful, that advantage will diminish over time, until characters who are around tenth level and higher will be slightly less powerful.  However, at that level, the few skill points lost are unlikely to cause any problems with using Pathfinder adventure products.

The additional feat can, if the player wishes, be used to choose a birthright.  Birthright feats should generally be chosen at first level (unless there is a compelling reason not to).  As described earlier, birthrights are always magical or supernatural in nature.

I also want to add some notes concerning size of characters.  In D&D and in Pathfinder, player characters are generally Medium sized, sometimes Small sized (if playing Gnomes or Halflings, for example), and rarely Large sized.  Size is something that is an ableism problem in D&D.  The concept that little people (in the real world, meaning people born with dwarfism) are more akin to mythological creatures than human beings is a pernicious one.  Fantasy has a sordid history of fetishizing and dehumanizing disability.  How can we avoid that in this case?  Actually, it is not particularly hard.

In Pathfinder, Small size refers to creatures or people that are 2 feet tall to 4 feet tall, Medium refers to creatures or people that are 4 feet to 8 feet tall, and Large refers to creatures or people that are 8 feet to 16 feet tall.  These are fairly large ranges.  As a side note, Peter Dinklage, whose character Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones is one of the rare examples of a human little person in the fantasy genre, is 4 foot 5.  Medium size encompasses most of adult humanity, and there is no reason it cannot be extended to encompass all of it.  Thus, Medium size refers to adult, human sized creatures or people, in all their variation.  Small size or Large size refers to human children (who are Small sized), creatures that are significantly smaller or larger than humans, or humans who are magically or supernaturally smaller or larger due to a birthright.  Size due to a birthright extends, by definition, outside of the range of normal humanity.

Some may argue, "But this would result in halflings using greataxes!  How is that at all realistic?"  My response is: if you want to play a very short person, it is because that is how you want your character to look.  You aren't getting the bonuses for being a small size unless you choose it as a birthright (in which case the normal size penalties and restrictions for weapons apply.)  If your story goal is to play someone small and overlooked, who nonetheless rises to greatness (in the grand Tolkein tradition), you are unlikely to want to play someone swinging around a greataxe.  If, on the other hand, you want to play a character who looks relatively powerless but will, in the blink of an eye, pull out a greataxe and hack your ankles off (in the equally grand Pratchett tradition), and that fits the flavor of the campaign and the stories you want to tell, then by all means, go right ahead!

Sample Birthrights

Birthrights can take the form of feats or special class abilities (such as Bloodlines for sorcerers).  The birthrights listed below are feats.  Most birthright feats are supernatural abilities, unless specified otherwise.

Darkvision:  When in completely darkness only, you can see the area around you (in a 60 foot radius), as if it were fully lit.  This ability functions even in magical darkness.

Dragonspawn:  You are immune to any draconic Fearful Presence ability.

Elemental Resistance:  You gain resistance 5 to one of acid, cold, electricity, or fire.

Large Size:  You are Large size instead of Medium.

Small Size:  You are Small size instead of Medium.

Sorcerous Blood:  You can cast four cantrips or orisons, as if you were a sorcerer of your caster level.  This is a spell-like ability.

Speak with Animals:  You can communicate with a specific type of animal (e.g., bear or crow or frog), as per the spell, as a supernatural ability.

Stonecunning:  You can automatically notice unusual stonework, including secret doors in stone walls, if you are searching for them.  Even if you are not actively searching, merely passing next to such stonework will allow you a Perception check to notice it.

Wakefulness:  You are immune to magical forms of sleep.

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