Hill dwarves live in areas of rolling hills. Their strongholds are primarily located underground, though they frequently have outposts on the surface.
A typical hill dwarf stands 4 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He is stocky and muscular. His skin is a deep tan or light brown in color and he has ruddy cheeks and bright eyes. His hair could be black, gray, or brown. He favors dark, somber, earth-toned clothes, and wears little jewelry.
Hill dwarves are the most common dwarves. They have adapted well to life above and below ground. They claim that they have always lived in the hills, but they may have migrated there either by traveling above ground, or via underground passages. If by surface travel, they are probably descended from mountain dwarves.
The alignment of the hill dwarves is usually lawful good, but there is no reason they cannot be of another alignment. So long as the majority of remain lawful good, strongholds of chaotic, neutral, or evil dwarves will not unbalance a campaign and will give it more flavor and variety.
These dwarves live beneath the mountains. Their strongholds are usually isolated and they have little contact with other races. Mountain dwarves tend to like their privacy and actively discourage visitors to their strongholds.
A typical mountain dwarf is, on average, 4'2" tall and weighs about 170 pounds. His hair is a lighter shade than his hill cousin's, and his skin is slightly more red in color.
Mountain dwarves claim that they are the first dwarves and all other dwarves are descended from them. They are wary of hill dwarves because of their closer dealings with humans, elves, and other races. They are clannish and keep to themselves. The majority are of lawful good alignment.
Deep dwarves live far beneath the surface of the earth. They may always have lived there, or they may have gone deep underground to escape a dreadful cataclysm, marauding monsters, or perhaps were driven downward by mountain or hill dwarves.
Deep dwarves average 4 feet to 4'2" tall and weigh about 120 pounds. They are large boned, but leaner than other dwarves. Their skin varies from pale brown to light tan, and often carries a reddish tinge. Their eyes are large, but without the sheen of their surface cousins; in color, a washed-out blue. Hair color ranges from flame red to straw blond. The females wear their beards long, unlike other dwarf women (who are typically clean-shaven).
Deep dwarves have little or no contact with the surface. It is too far for them to travel to the world above. They may be on friendly terms with hill and mountain dwarves, or they may harbor a grudge against them. They may avoid them because they consider them tainted by the influence of other races.
Frequently neutral in alignment, deep dwarves may also be lawful good or lawful neutral. They are just as conservative as hill or mountain dwarves, and consider themselves to be the sole repositories of dwarven culture.
Duergar, or gray dwarves, live deep underground, sometimes below the deep dwarves. They rarely venture above ground, finding it painful, except during heavily overcast days or at night. The light does not cause them damage, but it does affect their ability to see clearly.
A typical duergar is 4 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. Emaciated, they possess pasty skins and white or dull gray beards. Men and women may be bald, and those who are not usually shave their heads.
Most duergar are lawful evil with neutral tendencies. Other dwarves find their ways repulsive. Duergar war on other dwarf races, and sometimes even join forces with orcs and other evil races to raid dwarf strongholds.
They frequently compete with deep dwarves for living space and minerals. Usually the duergar are bested in such struggles. Consequently, numerous duergar strongholds are exceptionally poor, having been driven into areas rejected by others. In some cases, however, this may have been to their advantage and may have led them to the discovery of hidden subterranean wealth that they could secretly acquire.
Duergar may at one time have lived with other dwarves before they were driven into the deep for their worship of evil gods. They may have been created by the evil gods to balance the races of lawful good dwarves. If that is the case, they will have a divine mission to eradicate or enslave all dwarves of good alignment.
Even though their society is evil, they still retain many of the social structures of hill and mountain dwarves. They are clan based, but their crafts are usually inferior to those of other dwarves.
