"Strike the earth!"
The dwarves are a long lived people with a knack for stone and metal, and a love of history. Dwarven society is very concerned with clans and countries and the history thereof. The great Dwarven Ledgers are records carved into stone and passed down through the ages. Dwarves themselves have rather long lives as well. All of this gives the dwarves a strange view of the world. All dwarves grow up knowing that they'll inevitably end up at war with someone (probably orcs or goblins), and then a short 50 years later the kids of whoever they fought will have totally forgotten about it and will want to trade. And this cycle will happen several times in a single dwarf's lifetime. The dwarves tend to win these wars, because most other societies don't even know that they should be training for war so far ahead of time.
Dwarves tend to be about 4 ft tall, but very stocky compared to other humanoids of that height. Dwarves usually have bronze or brown skin, and brown or black hair. Most dwarves take exceptional care of their hair, and the men their beards, often with elaborate braiding patterns and jewelry. A dwarf is considered an adult within society at age 40, and dwarven elders regularly live to be 350 years or older.
- Size: Medium
- Type: Humanoid (Dwarf)
- Movement: 20ft
- Vision: Darkvision
- Ability Modifiers: +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma.
- Slow but Steady (Ex): A dwarf's movement speed is only 20ft, but it is not further reduced by armor or encumbrance.
- Master Miners (Ex): This ability grants a dwarf a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework. Something that isn't stone but that is disguised as stone will also be noticed as such. A dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and a dwarf can notice traps with a DC of 20 or more when dealing with stonework (without needing the Trapfinding ability). A dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground (within 10ft) as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
- Stability (Ex): A dwarf 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 already standing firmly on the ground).
- Weapon Familiarity (Ex): Dwarves treat any weapon with "dwarven" in the name as being martial weapons instead of exotic. Including, but not limited to, the dwarven waraxe and the dwarven urgosh.
- Sturdy Blood (Ex): +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poisons, spells, and spell-like effects
- Eternal Warriors (Ex): +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs and goblinoids. They also get a +4 to AC against Giant type creatures.
- Skill Bonuses, Why Not? (Ex): Dwarves get a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Craft checks related to stone or metal items. Knowledge (History) always counts as a class skill for a dwarf.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven
- Suggested Bonus Language: Draconic, Elvish, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon