They were the first I connected with when I got into fantasy. My first Warhammer Fantasy army? Dwarves. My very first AD&D character? A Dwarf Wizard (yes, that was a mistake). I played a Dwarf Cleric in EverQuest, and when my friends begged me to go Alliance in World of Warcraft, I rolled a Paladin, basically a glorified priest back in Vanilla (iykyk). And of course, I always pick dwarves in Dragon Age when the option is there and pretty much any fantasy game or setting if they are in.
I love all the flavors: Hill Dwarves, Mountain Dwarves, Gold Dwarves, Redcaps, Duergar. And of course, the archetype that sets the standard for all: Tolkien’s dwarves. Stubborn, strong, mountain-dwelling, grudge-keeping, tradition-bound miners. The blueprint. Most fantasy settings barely deviate from it.
Which, to be fair, isn’t necessarily a problem. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But it does raise a question: why do dwarves get so little variation compared to, say, elves? Elves come in dozens of forms: wood, high, dark, sun, sea, wild, etc. Each with distinct cultures and aesthetics. Dwarves? Usually just two: Hill (trader, surface-friendly) or Mountain (classic underground stoic types).
This is a broader issue in fantasy: monocultures. Especially with races-as-cultures in older RPGs, and even newer attempts to reframe them as “ancestries” often fall back into the same limited frameworks.
So, I'm working on changing that in one of my own settings and the first campaign frame for Daggerheart I'm working on.
The Lawbearers
Without going into too much detail, the world I’m building is inspired by Metro 2033. The surface is wrecked. Civilization lives underground and all the subterranean factions, cultures and species are all that's left. But make it fantasy. Also we are getting rid of all the numerous problematic things typically tied to the underdark species and cultures. These peoples are all irredeemably evil and xenophobic but understand that to coexist in the post cataclysm world a level of cooperation is needed. Not to say there are no wars and grudges but everyone isn't at each other's throats and uncompromising.
In this world, dwarves are more than just hold-dwellers. They're a dominant underground civilization stable, lawful, and thriving. They’re the judges, the patrols, the builders of infrastructure across the subterranean realms (including a railway system). Not some forgotten kingdom in decline, but a living, orderly society that believes order brings prosperity. They scout new expansion sites, mine fresh veins, and maintain law on the deep highways between settlements.
I wanted to flip the usual trope: instead of dwarves barely surviving after some calamity or their empire and kingdoms are in decline, I wondered what a prominent dwarven empire would look like; they're the backbone of stability in a chaotic underground world. This is very close to WoW dwarves, very industrious and intelligent and more scholarly and curious. Again not all dwarves as there can be variance from kingdom to kingdom and hold to hold.
Devil Dwarves?
Now, I love Duergar. They're the edgy, dark dwarves—madness, psionics, shadow magic. But honestly? That’s a little played out. “Dark = crazy” isn’t as compelling to me anymore and I've tweaked the Dark Elves in this setting as well to escape the tropes of the well known D&D Drow. Maybe I'll talk about that in another post.
Instead, I started thinking: what’s the lawful evil version of dwarves? If dwarves are about order, what happens when that order turns oppressive?
Imagine dwarves who believe in order through tyranny, not tradition. Where greed isn’t a flaw—it’s a virtue. Wealth is power, and power is control. Devil-worshipping dwarves who made pacts with the Hells not out of desperation, but cold ambition. They wield hellfire and devil magic. They run societies based on contracts, loopholes, and iron laws. They’re not chaotic, but their order is terrifying.
I call them “Devil Dwarves”.
They don’t quite fit in this Metro-inspired setting—they’re a bit too extreme. But they’d be perfect for a more chaotic post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. Think: Mad Max with infernal dwarves in hell machines roaring across the wastelands.
However, that brings us back to the Duragar in the setting and the initial inspiration behind this post.
The Grey Dwarves
My thinking for the grey dwarves is they are still the biological cousins of the dwarves. The origins of the lie in betrayal and madness. Long ago, ancient beings from the Realm Beyond whispered into the dreams of dwarven kings and queens. They spoke of a coming cataclysm of the surface and promised salvation, power, and dominion over all rivals if only the dwarves would dig deeper and embrace their greed. Dig deep into the earth, and into forbidden forgotten places sealed since time immemorial.
Those who heeded these whispers led their clans and kingdoms into the deep dark and broke these ancient seals, unleashing the very entities they sought to bargain with. In return, their minds were shattered, their wills enslaved. They abandoned the traditional dwarven ways and became thralls. Twisted by eldritch power, they were reshaped in body and mind. Over generations, they became the grey dwarves: gray-skinned and cold-hearted. Their life as thralls was one of complete servitude and endless toil. They built cities and strongholds in the deep dark and made up the bulk of the forces waging endless wars for their masters.
This is very similar to the current iteration of the duragar in 5e. I’m thinking that they eventually win their freedom through unification not because of some entity giving them the power to do so. Through their own means they were freed and the culture as a whole became united through their emancipation. Duragar are more united than their cousins and are more utilitarian and pragmatic. They exist for a purpose and things are made for a purpose not for the love of the craft or the artistic expression. Their cities and strongholds are built in the same uniform way for max efficiency there is no room for individual expression all exist for the betterment and advancement of the whole. Perhaps a rigid caste system. Miners mine, masons build, fighters fight and their offspring do the same.
I liken this version of duergar to the Cardassians of Star Trek (again ditching the xenophobia). The ideal duragar life is complete loyalty and servitude to the State and to one's family. Everything and every person has a right and proper place. To deviate from that is to weaken the collective whole and yourself.
Gonna think on this some more but wanted to share my thoughts!
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