Frost Dwarf
PHB
Frost Dwarf
Born of stout granite and punishing cold, Frost Dwarves match their homeland and namesake in boldness, temperence, and tenacity. These dwarves are like the salty waves that crash upon Skalda's stone, the wolves that endure the sprawling tundra, and the burning fires that warm their halls. They shun frivolities and cherish simple treasures. To a Frost Dwarf a stout ale and a companion are the purest gold.
Just like their human neighbors, Skaldik dwarves are warriors at heart. Where other dwarves seek pride in craft and industry, these find it in battle and bloodshed. Whether it be fisticuffs or warfare, win or lose, there is no greater glory than a well fought fight.
"Frost Dwarves may be cold blooded barbarians, but match them in spirit and you'll find a fire in their hearts as warm as a hearth."
ability score increase:
Increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1.
age:
Dwarves mature at the same rate as Humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.
Size:
Medium
speed:
Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing Heavy Armor.
Languages:
Common and either Dwarvish or Skaldik (or a different language of your choice based on your character's backstory)
race features:
Darkvision. Accustomed to life Underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim Conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in Darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Skaldik Born: You have advantage on Saving Throws against the cold, and you have Resistance against cold damage.
Dwarven Combat Training. You have Proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light Hammer, and warhammer. You also have proficiency with light and medium armor.
Tool Proficiency. You gain Proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools.
Stonecunning. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) or Intelligence (Investigation) check related to stonework, you are considered proficient in the skill and add double your Proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal Proficiency bonus.
In Cantara
These dwarves hail from the frigid south where they make up roughly half of the Skaldik Kingdoms. Their realms spread from deep halls in the Giant's Ridge mountains out into the rocky countryside where they butt against their human cousins. Even in the non-dwarven ruled Kingdoms, you can usually find a decently sized population of frost dwarves. From Furlo's Point to Baedre, the southern fishing towns to the central villages of shepherds, frost dwarves toil at their crafts, fill drinking halls, and raise up axes against their foes.Religion: Dwarves of Cantara follow their ancient god Brightrock and their disciples, who's example they strive to live up to. They believe that like any creation, they are born as raw material and through the forge of life formed into a finished piece. It's only through your accomplishments and tribulations that you become who you are.
The fire of Brightrock may burn strong, but many dwarves also have a deep spiritual side. Most notably they tend to associate with spirits of creation like Thal and Illyo, spirits of the earth like Dyalla, or spirits of trade, order, and community like Orin.
Appearance
Frost dwarves have pale, rosy complexions often spotted with freckles, with eyes of green, blue, or gold. They tend to have two-toned hair, a streaking pair of red, blonde, or brown. Male dwarves almost without exception wear long, robust beards. These beards have great cultural signifigance to dwarves and are a prized part of their identity. While they are capable of growing them, female dwarves tend not to keep beards. Instead, their head hair grows just as fiercely and is traditionally kept long and treated similarily to men's beards. Despite these traditions though, there is a broad spectrum of self-expression that is embraced by dwarves. Dwarves of any gender are hairy creatures, and how they choose to express themselves with that hair is a deeply personal matter.Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds.
Names
The names of Frost Dwarves are a marriage of two cultures that grew together: they stubbornly maintain the tradition of dwarven clan names in the same style of their kin across the isles (Coppershield, Sterntoe, Deephammer), while their given names have become steadily more Skaldik over the generations. Thus while a northern and southern dwarf may share a clan name that has survived an ancient divide, you can often still tell where a dwarf hails from by what they call themselves.Clan names are inspired by their culture, environment, deeds, and attributes. The name of a dwarven clan may come from an ancient Matriarch's legendary deeds, such as Tunnelwarden. It could be from a unique quirk of their appearance that runs in the family, like Boulderchin, or a traditional way they present themselves, like the Twinbeard clan. The names from many clans come from their homeland, family occupations, and what the clan values. For Frost Dwarves, this means you'll find clans with names like Proudwolf, Brightfjord, or Kingmaker.
Dwarven clans are great sprawling trees, many of which are older than memory and as wide as the sea. Having your character come from an existing clan rather than coming up with your own can be a great way to tighten your character's bond with the world, particularily if the clan is featured in your campaign setting. If you choose, work with your DM to pick a suitable clan for your character, or to integrate the clan you come up with into the setting.
Influence: Skaldik names are based in Nordic languages - primarily Danish, Norweigian, and Swedish - with room for some German as well. For dwarves it is often effective to lean on classic Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons dwarven naming conventions and layer on Scandinavian sensibilities, taking rigid and direct names and rounding them out in the right places. Icelandic is a particularily fruitful realm to explore if you're looking for rich names, but remember that "Olaf" is just as fitting for a Frost Dwarf names as "Sigurmundir".
Given Names: Alvilda, Anja, Birgit, Bjark, Britt, Dorinn, Eyiborg, Frida, Fritz, Gerdi, Gurin, Hakon, Holger, Hildegunnr, Hjalmar, Ingiard, Jostein, Kjeld, Krister, Magnar, Margit, Nils, Nioborg, Pia, Ragnhild, Rikke, Sigurd, Sirra, Thora, Tor, Tove, Uffe, Vilgear, Yannik, Yngvar
Clan Names: Blueblade, Broadshoulder, Copperforged, Duskmaul, Giantbane, Icebreaker, Mountainborn, Redshepherd, Silverbraid, Snowbeard, Trollhorn
Name Generators
