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A dwarf, in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game, is a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for player characters. The idea for the ''D&D'' dwarf comes from the dwarves of European mythologies and J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–1955), and has been used in ''D&D'' and its predecessor ''Chainmail'' since the early 1970s. Variations from the standard dwarf archetype of a short and stout demihuman are commonly called subraces, of which there are more than a dozen across many different rule sets and campaign settings.

History

The concept of the dwarf comes from Norse and Teutonic mythology. In particular, the dwarves in the Germanic story ''The Ring of the Nibelungen'' and the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin" have been called "ancestors" of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' dwarves. Along with giants, dwarves were one of the first types of non-humans to be introduced into the ''Chainmail'' game, the forebear of ''D&D'', when miniature figures of varying sizes were used together in the same wargame. The dwarf in ''D&D'' is based on Tolkien's version of the dwarf.

The dwarf first appears as a player character race in the original 1974 edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', with a design that is strongly influenced by the dwarves of Poul Anderson's 1961 novel ''Three Hearts and Three Lions''. This early version of the ''D&D'' dwarf is limited to playing a fighter, and can not progress beyond the sixth level. With the release of the first supplement, Greyhawk, in 1976, they were then allowed to play a thief with no level restriction. Beginning with the 1981 revision of the ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set,'' and continuing also in all subsequent revisions, demi-humans such as dwarves were treated as their own classes. Dwarves were only permitted a maximum level of 12 (compared to the Halfling's 8, the Elves' 10, and the human classes 36). With the arrival of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', the dwarf was returned to a player character race in the ''Player's Handbook'' (1978) and detailed as a monster in the original ''Monster Manual'' (1977). A number of dwarven subraces are presented as character races in the original ''Unearthed Arcana'' (1985).

In 1989, the hill dwarf, the most common dwarven subrace, appears as a character race in the second edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''Player's Handbook'' and as a monster in the ''Monstrous Compendium Volume Two''. Dwarves are detailed as a race for the Forgotten Realms setting in '' Dwarves Deep'' (1990). Several dwarven races are detailed as player character races in '' The Complete Book of Dwarves'' (1991). The dwarf appears as a character race in the third edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2000), the 3.5 revised ''Player's Handbook'' (2003), the fourth edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2008), and the fifth edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2014). The arctic dwarf, gray dwarf, gold dwarf, shield dwarf, urdunnir, and wild dwarf are all detailed in '' Races of Faerûn'' (2003). Dwarves are one of the races detailed in ''Races of Stone'' (2004). The dwarf, including the dwarf bolter and the dwarf hammerer, appears as a monster in the fourth edition ''Monster Manual'' (2008).

Description

Dwarves average four feet in height, with stout, broad bodies. Male dwarves grow thick facial hair. The female dwarves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' novels, which greatly inspired ''D&D'', were able to grow beards as well. Some authors, such as R. A. Salvatore, have followed suit in their writing. This was reflected in game mechanics as well, but the game rules' official position was rarely concrete or specific. and it varied by dwarven culture or ancestry. In '' The Complete Book of Dwarves'', women amongst the deep dwarves "wear their beards long, unlike other dwarf women (who are typically cleanshaven)." Additionally, in specific campaign settings the potential for female dwarven facial hair sees much variation: In the ''World of Greyhawk'', all dwarves—including females—grow and wear beards, but only a portion of females are known to shave,


in the ''Forgotten Realms'' they can grow full beards but also usually shave, and in ''Eberron'' they do not grow facial hair at all. The art of various editions (especially later editions), however, has frequently portrayed dwarven women as beardless. In the preview for the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons, '' Wizards Presents: Races and Classes'', artist William O'conner discussed how the design team gave him specific direction to change the way female dwarves were depicted. Rob Heinsoo also said in the same book that O'Conner's art "gifted us with a magnificent new look for dwarf women. Strong, sensual, earthy and feminine, with an exotic beauty that no one would think to splash a beard on." However, this was not reflected in fourth edition rules, only in art, and still varied depending on the campaign setting.

The book ''Three Hearts and Three Lions'' by Poul Anderson strongly influenced ''Dungeons & Dragons'', having a dwarf named Hugi with a Scottish accent. Most popular portrayals of dwarves feature such an accent. Dwarves tend to be more useful for combat-oriented players, as they gain a number of special abilities and bonuses in combat, mostly related to their hardiness and smaller stature compared to humans. Dwarves are also resistant to poison and magic, can see in the dark (a skill called ''infravision