Duergar

Duergar Traits

Duergar characters possess the following traits.

• +2 Constitution, −2 Dexterity.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, duergar have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Duergar base land speed is 20 feet. However, duergar can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• Darkvision: Duergar can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and duergar can function just fine with no light at all.
• Heat Endurance: Duergar have a +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves to resist the effects of hot weather.
• Weapon Familiarity: Duergar are familiar with the use of traditional dwarven weapons and may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
• Stability: A duergar gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against humanoids of the reptilian subtype (including kobolds and lizardfolk) and dragons (including half-dragons). Duergar have traditional combat techniques due to a long history with these foes.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against dragons. Dragons were once a common threat in the desert climes duergar hail from, and they have adapted to meet this challenge.
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items.
• +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Knowledge (dungeoneering), and Profession (miner) checks. Duergar have learned a great deal from exploring ancient ruins and working expansive mines.

Experimental

Channeling: Duergar spellcasters gain bonus spells as if the governing ability score were 3 points higher. This benefit does not grant them the ability to cast spells unless they gain that ability through levels in a spellcaster class.

Psionic Abilities (Sp): 1/day—expansion, invisibility. These abilities affect only the duergar and whatever he carries. Effective level is equal to Hit Dice (minimum 3rd).

Expansion (Sp): This power causes instant growth, doubling your height, length, and width and multiplying your weight by 8. This increase changes your size category to the next larger one. You gain a +2 size bonus to Strength, a –2 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum effective Dexterity score of 1), a –1 size penalty on attack rolls, and a –1 size penalty to Armor Class due to your increased size.

If your new size is Large or larger, you have a space of at least 10 feet and a natural reach of at least 10 feet. This power doesn’t change your speed. If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, you attain the maximum possible size and can make a Strength check (using your increased Strength score) to burst any enclosures in the process. If you fail, you are constrained without harm by the materials enclosing you—you cannot crush yourself to death by increasing your size.

All your equipment, worn or carried, is similarly expanded by this power. Melee and projectile weapons deal more damage.

Other psionic or magical properties are not affected by this power. Any affected item that leaves your possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them). Multiple effects that increase size do not stack, which means (among other things) that you can’t use a second manifestation of this power to further expand yourself.

Invisibility (Sp):

References

This background is based on the desert dwarves variant and the psionic duergar.