Dwarves

Dwarves, or dwarva, as they refer to themselves, are a proud and tradition-bound race, renowned across Thedas for their remarkable craftsmanship and their unbroken connection to the Stone - a spiritual concept that portrays the earth and rock beneath their feet as both ancestral foundation and guiding presence. They once commanded an expansive underground empire in the Deep Roads, but centuries of conflict, particularly with the darkspawn, have reduced their numbers and territory. Still, dwarves retain a fiercely independent spirit, upholding ancient customs, strict caste systems, and a reverence for ancestors enshrined in countless stone-carved records.

Biological Traits

Dwarves are typically short, stocky, and powerfully built, favoring dense musculature over tall stature. They exhibit the following general characteristics:

Height & Build: Most stand between 130 - 140cm tall, though some clans produce taller individuals, and have broad shoulders.
Skin & Hair: Complexions range from fair to various warm tans and brown shades, reflecting both underground and surface exposure. Hair color tends toward browns, blacks, or dark reds; men often grow impressive beards as a point of pride, while women may style their hair in elaborate braids.
Longevity: Dwarves reach adulthood in their mid-twenties and can live well past 100 years, though the perils of mining, darkspawn incursions, and clan feuds often shorten lifespans.
No Fade Connection: Dwarves are famously “earth-bound,” generally unable to sense or enter the Fade in dreams, which makes them highly resistant to most forms of magic, but also incapable of becoming mages themselves.

Below are a few subgroups or major communities where these traits can vary slightly due to environment, lifestyle, and culture:

Orzammar: The largest surviving dwarven city. Orzammar dwarves often have lighter or medium-toned skin (depending on caste and how deep they dwell). Sturdy builds are universal, with elaborate hair braiding that signifies rank or house affiliation.
Kal-Sharok: A kingdom with many of its roads cut off from Orzammar after the First Blight began. Kal-Sharok dwarves tend to be grim and pale, shaped by deeper tunnels and a long history of isolation. Rumors persist that their traditions diverge markedly from Orzammar’s over the last two centuries.
Surface Dwarves: Those who have chosen (or been forced) to live above ground, often adopting local human customs. Their skin may be tanned from sunlight, and beards or braids might be trimmed more casually. Many surface dwarves operate as merchants, smiths, or scouts.

Racial Traits

Lifespan: Roughly a century

Height: 110 - 140cm

Languages: Common, Dwarvish

Physique: Small Humanoid

Movement Rate: 5 Tiles

Features

Standard Skills +5: Brawn, Endurance
Available Cultures: Anderfels, Antiva, Dwarven Thaig, Free Marches, Orlais, Nevarra, Rivain
Dwarvish Resistance: Starts with +2 resistance to all magical damage types and -4 Encumbrance

Work Focused: +1 Energy available, for 3 total per Rest.

Cultures

Dwarves share a distinct sense of identity anchored in ancestry and the Stone, yet their communities can differ drastically in governance, trade relationships, and day-to-day customs. The following Cultures are available to Dwarves and can be explored further on the Cultures page.

HISTORY

The earliest dwarven records are carved in stone within ancient thaigs—vast underground city-states linked by an extensive network of Deep Roads. While much of Thedas’s surface history focuses on elven empires and human conquests, dwarven scholars claim their civilization predates recorded time, anchored in centuries of tradition and the unchanging memory of the Stone.

For ages, dwarven thaigs thrived beneath the mountains, sustaining themselves through mining, craftsmanship, and trade. At their height, dwarves traded lyrium and precious metals with emerging human powers such as the Tevinter Imperium, remaining somewhat aloof from surface politics. Although they mistrusted magic, dwarves recognized the value of commercial ties with the mage-ruled empire.

In -395 Ancient, Tevinter magisters attempted to breach the Golden City of the Maker—an act that backfired disastrously, unleashing the darkspawn. These twisted creatures poured into the Deep Roads, assaulting the dwarven strongholds from below. Entire thaigs fell, forcing dwarven kings and nobles to seal off large sections of their empire to stem the tide.

By 1:05 Divine, the scars of the Blight still remain, even with Archdemon Dumat slain two centuries ago. Dwarven civilization remains besieged. Once-proud thaigs lie in ruin or isolation, connected only by perilous stretches of Deep Roads. Orzammar, though still strong, is strained by refugees and losses, while Kal-Sharok has survived in isolation, its fate and ways are largely unknown to Orzammar’s ruling assembly. Surface dwarves struggle to maintain trade routes crucial for supplies, but many are cut off by darkspawn-infested tunnels or war-torn human lands.

Despite these hardships, dwarves refuse to abandon their proud heritage. Artisans continue to craft magnificent works of stone and metal, warriors form dedicated patrols in the Deep Roads, and scholars labor to preserve the story of their people. Some have been forced to the surface, a disgraceful act, but one necessary as the Darkspawn continue to threaten to collapse everything built over the millennia.

Dwarves were there at the creation of the Grey Wardens and send those capable, regardless of caste, to enact the duty of a warden with resolve. Only those dwarves who have joined the Grey Wardens are considered to not have abandoned the stone by taking to the surface world.