Duergar

[MedievalMan]

Look another thread by Medieval Man! This time I bring to you a classic monster, the duergar! The only thing I am not sure of is the bonus hit points for the higher level duergar. Other than that, these evil dwarves are pretty much done. Enjoy.

EDIT
Made some changes, nothing major though.

Duergar
Armor Class: 15 (11)
Hit Dice: 1+1
No. of Attacks: 1 weapon
Damage: 1d8 or by weapon
Movement: 20’ Unarmored 40'
No. Appearing: 2d4, Wild 3d6, Lair 10d10
Save As: Fighter 1 (with Dwarf bonuses)
Morale: 8
Treasure Type: Q, S, U each; G in lair
XP: 25

The duergar are slavers who dwell in volcanic regions as well as the underdark. They raid surrounding territories on a regular basis always seeking to replenish their workforce. They share the same height and build with their dwarven cousins but the physical resemblance ends there. Duergar have charcoal gray skin and hair that ranges in color from coal black, ghostly white, stone gray, and fiery orange. Duergar prefer to wear dark clothing to help blend in with their environment better. Their weaponry and armor is always of the highest quality.

The statistics given above are for a standard duergar in chainmail armor; they have a natural Movement rate of 40' and a natural armor class of 11.

Duergar are pragmatic fighters and always seek the path to victory that is the least dangerous for themselves. They employ slave warriors in large numbers, typically gnolls, goblins, or orcs. Duergar will work with bugbears and hobgoblins as equals. Duergar are naturally stealthy and will surprise their enemies on a roll on 1-3 on 1d6. They are typically well organized and equipped and under the proper strategist a small group of duergar could potentially devastate a much larger enemy force. Duergar have a simmering hatred for their kin and will attack dwarves first unless ordered otherwise.

One out of every eight duergar will be a sergeant of 3+3 hit dice (145 XP). Regular duergar gain a +1 bonus to their morale when they are led by a sergeant. In duergar lairs, one out of every twelve will be a captain of 5+5 hit dice (360 XP), with an armor class of 16 (11) having a +1 bonus to melee damage due to strength. In lairs of 30 or greater, there will be a duergar clan leader of 7+7 hit dice (670 XP), with an armor class of 17 (11) having a +2 bonus to melee damage. In the lair, duergar never fail morale as long as their clan leader lives. In addition, a lair has a chance equal to 1-2 on 1d6 of a forge priest being present (or 1-3 on 1d6 if a duergar clan leader is present), and a 1 on 1d6 chance of a sorcerer being present as well. A forge priest is equivalent to a duergar sergeant statistically, but has clerical abilities at level 1d6+1. A sorcerer is equivalent to regular duergar, but has magic-user abilities of level 1d6.

[SmootRK]

I routinely use variant races for Dwarves, Elves, and such. But usually the differences are more cultural than mechanics. I don't change the basics of the race, but they might have some different features (usually quite minor) interchanged with the typical race abilities. Of course, they generally have different appearances and/or gear.

Dwarves work rather well for variants or how I usually describe them as alternate Clans. The Term Clan is used for major racial groupings, but there are also smaller family clans... The Dwarf Language (I am assuming) have more specific terms for each, but that is roughly how the humans translate it.

I have used Clan Duergar before (not so innovative, I just like the name - deep dwarves/grey etc), but also:
Clan Glacier are Dwarves of the far north, living among the glaciers (duh) and other perpetually frozen regions
The Clan Alpine which is the group of what others call Mountain Dwarves.
The Clan Blackrock which some people call Coal Dwarves, generally considered low class miners living on edges of other clans like Alpine, Glacier, or even the Clan Duergar.
Clan-less Dwarves are essentially the Hill Dwarves, living in closer proximity to humans and other races.

Of the weirder Clans, is the Trefallen Clan which are dwarves of the high forests. They tend to be rugged mountaineers and foresters (of the outsides of mountains), and don't usually get along with the tree-hugging elves, as they are Lumberjacks and other wood-resource related professions (carpentry, charcoal-makers, millers (lumber), etc. They spend their days clear-cutting the great aspen forests trading their wood products among the other Dwarven Clans. In elf opinions, these are the dwarves that really causes the angst with the fey races.

These Trefallen Dwarves can be Rangers and Druids, but unlike the tree-hugging members of those classes, these guys tend to be the knowledgable of forestry and whatnot with the intent of getting the most out of the resources that nature has to offer. They live solitary but meet in some great mountain lodges as Clan Holds.

[MedievalMan]

I am dividing the dwarves in my setting into two groups. Gold Dwarves and Coal Dwarves.

Gold dwarves are pretty much stereotypical mountain fortress dwelling gold/mithril mining warriors.

Coal dwarves are gold dwarves who have lost their clan home at some point so are now forced to live in the outside world.

That was sort of the idea at least.

[Joe the Rat]

...and in the outside world, they do what they do best - dig. Hardscrabble dirty work. Such as coal mining,

Someone's been reading The Hobbit.

[MedievalMan]

Yepparino, its one of the inspirations I am using. Not to mention hobbits are actually in the setting. Though I have toyed with calling them something else.

The game is set in a region known as the 7 shires also. Blame Mystara for that one.

[SmootRK]

The Hobbit is a favorite of mine as well, and is a major influence in my games. And, I go ahead and call the little people, "Hobbits"...

Tolkein IP Police be damned.

[MedievalMan]

Yeah I am including both halflings and hobbits. Though their is a difference enough between them to not get them confused.

Hobbit: Short, pastoral, doesn't like adventures.

Halfling: Short, wanderers, likes to steal your gold.

[Joe the Rat]

The best of both - are they like Smoot's clan system, or more like cousin races?

[MedievalMan]

More like cousins. They might have been a single race at one point but diverged for some reason with Hobbits remaining more sedentary while halflings took up moving around a lot. No one really trusts halflings, and for good reason. Then again no one trusts humans and humans trust no one! Bunch of bleedin' magical creatures...

[Dimirag]

Last time I played we fought a group of Duergar's, two of them where "driving" a giant mechanized metal crab. In some games they are known for their mechanical works.
They have lots of HP (I believed due to the amount of damage that was needed to put them down), and where wearing auto-crossbows with poisoned bolts...
But this where Duergars form THAT game, make yours as your mind tells you or as your setting needs them .