''The Complete Book of Dwarves'' is a supplemental rulebook for the 2nd edition of the ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, published in 1991 by

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...

PHBR6: The Complete Book of Dwarves
at RPGnet. Retrieved on December 2, 2008.
(1st printing) at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Archive. Retrieved on December 2, 2008. It contains a variety of information useful to playing

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

characters in the game, including information on strongholds, dwarven subraces, character "kits", role-playing, mining, and more. The book was later reprinted in November 1993, Bambra, Jim. ''The Complete Book of Dwarves'' (

, 1993). .The Complete Book of Dwarves
(2nd printing) at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Archive. Retrieved on December 2, 2008. with a slightly different cover.

''The Complete Book of Dwarves'' contains an introduction, 11 chapters, and a number of character sheets designed for use by players with dwarf

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

s. It is split into the following chapters: # "The Creation of Dwarves: The book's first chapter discusses the

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

of dwarves in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' world and dwarven myths regarding the creation of the world, as well as information on the dwarven

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

. # "The Dwarf Subraces": This chapter describes the six main subraces of dwarves: hill dwarves, mountain dwarves, deep dwarves, sundered dwarves,

duergar The Simonside Dwarfs, also known as Brownmen, Bogles and Duergar, are in English folklore a race of dwarfs, particularly associated with the Simonside Hills of Northumberland, in northern England. Their leader was said to be known as ''Heslop'' ...

(also known as gray dwarves), and gully dwarves. This chapter does not contain information on the statistics for the various subraces, focusing instead on the thematic differences between the subraces. # "Your Life as a Dwarf": The third chapter of the book examines dwarven culture and lifestyle, including information on their clans, view of the world, emotions, diet, marriage, and life cycle. # "Character Creation": This chapter contains information on how to create dwarf characters, including statistics for the various subraces and rules regarding maximum levels, ability score modifiers, movement, and age. # "Proficiencies": The fifth chapter has rules on new and expanded proficiencies, with an eye towards their use by dwarves. # "Dwarf Kits": The longest chapter in the book, this section describes 24 "character kits" designed for dwarf characters, allowing players to further customize their characters. # "Role Playing and Personalities": The seventh chapter describes various "personalities" which can help players roleplay dwarf characters. Personalities include The Grumbler, The Optimist, and The

Phobic A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...

. # "Mining": Chapter eight contains rules on

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, including how to survey the land, what products can be mined, and how much

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

can be earned by mining. # "Equipment": This chapter includes new equipment, such as

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including Silver mining#Ore processing, silver, iron-making, iron, copper extracti ...

battleaxe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-ha ...

s, and war machines. # "Dwarf Strongholds": The book's tenth chapter discusses dwarven

strongholds A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, including the various types of strongholds, their

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...

they have access to, and relationships with other races. # "Designing Dwarf Campaigns": The final chapter is for Dungeon Masters creating a dwarf-based campaign. It contains guidelines on what dwarf subraces to use, dwarven mythology, campaign environments, and rules on how to create new character kits. ''The Complete Book of Dwarves'' also contains "design sheets," for use designing new dwarf strongholds and kits, and "

character sheet A character sheet is a record of a player character in a role-playing game, including whatever details, notes, game statistics, and background information a player would need during a play session. Character sheets can be found in use in both tr ...

s," designed for dwarves of each class.

Publication history

Design was by

Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd is a Briti ...

, and Doug Stewart was the editor. The book featured interior art by Brom,

Clyde Caldwell Clyde Caldwell (born February 20, 1948) is an American artist. Self-described as a fantasy illustrator, he is best known for his portrayals of strong, sexy female characters. With his work at TSR in the 1980s, he is considered one of the artis ...

Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...

Keith Parkinson Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as ''EverQuest'', ''Guardians'', ''Magic: The Gathering'', and '' Vanguard: Saga of Heroes ...

, and

Karl Waller Karl Waller is an American artist whose work has appeared in comic books and roleplaying game, roleplaying and collectible card games. Early life and education He graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Pennsylvania School of Ar ...

Reception

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Complete Book of Dwarves, The Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Dwarves in popular culture Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1991

Contents

Publication history

Reception

See also

References