THE BROWN DWARVES

Also Known As "Sand Beards," "Desert Dwarves" or "Southern Dwarves"
40 points

ST +2 (20 points)
DX +2 (20 points)
IQ +2 (20 points)

Racial Advantages
Attractive appearance +1 (5 points)
DR +2 (6 points)
Extended Lifespan (5 points)
Extra Encumberance (5 points)
Extra Fatigue +2 (10 points)
Hard to Kill +2 (10 points)
Magic Resistance +4 (4 points)
Longevity (5 points)
Racial Reputation +2: as superb craftsmen (10 points)

Racial Disadvantages
Delusion Minor: That Red Dwarves can drink anyone under the table (-5 points)
Code of Honor, Racial Customs (-10 points)
Greed (-15 points)
Intolerance for Orcs (-5 points)
Jealousy (-10 points)
Miserliness (-20 points) Reduced Move -1 (-5 points)
Sadism (-15 points)
Stubborn (-10 points)

Racial Quirks:
Consider all other races to be inferior (-1 point)
Carry grudges forever (-1 point)
Dislikes Metal Armor (-1 point)
Enjoys fooling and tricking people (-1 point)
Prefers warm climes and dry places (-1 point)
Distrusts everyone (-1 point)
Prefers gorilla tactics and ambushes to stand up fights (-1 point)

Racial skill Bonus:
+4 with any craft skill not involving metal-working or Engineering (6 points)

Racially learned Skills:
Shortsword at DX (4 points)
Merchant at IQ (2 points)

A Brown Dwarf is 1 foot shorter than the human average for his strength, but weight is 50 lbs. more than average for a human of the same strength. Their appearance is a bit less blocky and perhaps not quite as muscular as their other Dwarven cousins, with more brown haired types than black haired through the general run is dark brown with hazel, brown or black eyes being most common with other eye colors being uncommonly rare. Whatever the hair color beards tend to be very short and neatly trimmed. Their skin color runs from olive to deeply tanned. Overall they are somewhat smoother complected and better looking then the other races of Dwarves. They tend to dress in very flamboyant and colorful garb (preferring silks and satins to rougher materials).

This branch of the prolific Dwarf family is everything the others generally are not: sneaky, cruel, untrustworthy, nasty and they hate caves, underground areas, mining, metalworking and all of the traditional Dwarven expertises. On the other hand they are extremely expert workers of wood, leather and cloth making some of the finesest creations out of these materials that the world has ever seen.

In addition to the "Gold Greed" amd "Miserliness" which the Dwarven race is noted for, the Brown Dwarves have an extreme jealousy of any and all who have even the slightest bit more of anything or who are better than they are in any way, shape or form.

Brown Dwarves are seldom just warriors, much prefering the "sneakier professions" at which they excel greatly. Most have some ability with the thief skills. For some reason Brown Dwarves almost never become mages, except for a few that make very fine illusionists (the tricky side of their nature once more). To fool or trick another is to make a Red Dwarf very pleased! Very pleased indeed!

Culturally speaking, the Brown Dwarves have a very complex and structed society of a feudal nature. They strongly believe in rank and all the "pomp and circumstance" (as well as the power) that goes along with it. They do not like to be alone or where there are few people and so tend to live in large towns or towns if they can. Brown Dwarves orgainze themselves into families and clans much the same as the other dwarves and some humans do and additionally they often join guilds, secret societies or other "underground" organizations.

Brown Dwarves dislike just about every other race but their own, even considering their non-Brown Dwarf cousins as inferior to them as well. They have a very strong hatred for all Orc kind that borders on the pathological. Brown Dwarves drink alot, getting drunk easily and rapidly on just about anything alchoholic, yet they simply cannot accept this is so. Thus they are always trying to drink others "under the table" and are consistently finding themselves there instead!

Brown Dwarves prefer to weild posioned throwing knives and short swords in a fight, and will wear only leather armor (if any at all) and only such as has been crafted by their own people. Metal armor they distain as "iron mogery for folks that ain't got the smarts to fight a proper fight," and to a Brown Dwarf a proper fight is to stab a foe in the back when he is not looking! They believe that "Stand up, toe-to-toe fighting is for fools soon dead."

Brown Dwarves never fully trust anyone not directly related to them and even then, only so far as they have too! Trust is not one of their virtures and it is usually not a good idea to trust them very far, and you should never, never turn your back on a Brown Dwarf with a grude against you (real or imagined).

They prefer warm climes and dry places such as deserts, savanahs or similiar locations. Humid, wet or jungle-like places they detest with a fervor and even cool, green forrests make them feel uneasy and disquieted. Ah, but a port city in the desert now...

A final note on Sadism, while many or most Brown Dwarves are physicial sadists, all are to some degree "mental" sadists. They enjoy cutting remarks and pointing out very painful observations and often their tortures are more mental than physical, please note that the females have as sharp tongues as the males and while their observations are often painfully true, that does take the sting out of the verbal barbs they strike with...

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