Duergar (3.5e Race)

Duergar
Summary::An LA +0 duergar that basically shares most of the traits of a surface dwarf.

As with the drow, duergar have a crapload of generally insignificant abilities that no one really cares about. This variant seeks to correct that mistake, making duergar more like regular dwarves while still establishing that they're a bunch of cold-hearted bastards who live underground and feast on the flesh of young children (actually, the last part has yet to be confirmed but deep down you know it's true).

Personality
Duergar are dark dwarves, and their personalities tend to suit their name. They tend to make even the gruffest and surliest of regular dwarves look like a jolly Santa Claus. They are cruel and vicious almost without exception; there's a reason you've never heard of Drizzt the Duergar. The society in which they live is even more unforgiving than the rest of the Underdark, a merciless patriarchy in which only the fittest can survive since everything is predicated on martial drill and physical labor. It shows.

Physical Description
Duergar greatly resemble other dwarves in stature, with males averaging around 4 feet tall and females only a few inches shy. Like other dwarves, they are heavily built, with large males reaching upwards of 200 pounds and females also weighing about as much as adult humans. Their skin is coal black, while their hair is stark white. Duergar tend to have less facial hair than surface dwarves and both genders experience pattern baldness during adolescence, making distinguishing between genders rather difficult. Those few dark dwarves that can grow full-length beards take great pride in their achievement, which is often percieved as a sign of superiority and strength. These duergar usually become the heads of a fiercely competitive clan-based patriarchy in which representatives from each clan compete for military promotion and prestige. These battles are usually fought under nonlethal circumstances, but participants have been known to use these contests as opportunities for the assassination of a rival.

There is little colorful about the duergar, who dress in black or drab gray clothing. What little jewelry they possess is usually crafted from onyx, and enchanted to increase their protection from harm.

Relations
Incurably xenophobic, duergar seek to be a self-sufficient power in a world where all their key rivals make use of slave labor. As such, duergar appear more outwardly aggressive than, say, the drow, since they try to kill from the start instead of taking their victims alive. While they are generally hostile, they hold the worst of their ire for their surface cousins as well as the drow with whom they are in an endless conflict for supremacy.

Alignment
Most duergar are lawful evil; while vindictive and cruel, they are not so separated from their brethren that they forget the importance of the clan and the laws that keep it in power. As such, their legal systems are terribly strict, and failure to adhere to the rules often results in expulsion or execution.

Lands
As residents of the Underdark, the duergar compete with their neighbors for land just as they do for everything else. They typically live in massive caverns with high concentrations of resources, around which they construct highly mechanical and easily defensible cities. Duergar rarely venture far from these fortified settlements except in force, preferring to remain within their walls to stoke the fires of industry that allow them to craft weapons and armor that have no equals in the Underdark.

Religion
Duergar comprise the dark side of the dwarven pantheon. Their dieties embody the characteristics of their society; hard labor, dominance through might, and eternal longing for bloodshed.

Language
Duergar speak Dwarven, but their dialect is even gruffer than that of their surface brethren.

Names
Duergar names are reflective of their race: harsh and grating, with little in the way of elegance. Duergar names are often pronounced with an intonation similar to two stones being scraped together, made up of few syllables and gutteral, sharp sounds.

Racial Traits

 * , : While tough, duergar are not known for their looks or forceful personalities (receding hairlines across both genders don't help matters).
 * Type::Humanoid (Subtype::Dwarf)
 * Size::Medium: As Medium creatures, duergar gain no special bonuses or penalties related to size.
 * Duergar base land speed is 20 feet: Even though they are Medium size, duergar have only a pedestrian speed of 20 feet. They do not, however, incur penalties to movement speed for medium or heavy loads or the wearing of medium and heavy armor.
 * Light Sensitivity: Duergar are treated as dazzled so long as they remain in an area of bright light.
 * Stonecunning: This ability grants a duergar a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A duergar who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and a duergar can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A duergar can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
 * Stability: A duergar gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
 * In order to more effectively combat their Underdark rivals, duergar have conditioned themselves to be immune to poison.
 * +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
 * +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against other dwarves and elves.
 * +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type. Any time a duergar loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
 * Spell-Like Abilities : Duergar with a Charisma score of 10 or higher may cast enlarge person and invisibility as spell-like abilities once per encounter with a caster level equal to their character level. Each of these abilities requires a swift action to activate, but only last for one round instead of the normal duration.
 * Weapon Proficiencies: Duergar live a life of constant danger, and are automatically proficient with the dwarven waraxe and one exotic ranged weapon of their choice.
 * Automatic Languages: Dwarven.
 * Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Giant, Gnome, Kuo-Toa, Terran, Undercommon.
 * Favored Class:
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1