Dwelling in great subterranean cities of the Underdark, the grey dwarves are deep-dwelling cousins of shield dwarves, known for their cruelty and bitterness. Like their surface-dwelling kin, grey dwarves are famed for their smithwork and craftsmanship, but unlike their brethren in the Realms Above, the duergar are grim and cheerless, living lives of endless toil. Like their gold and shield dwarf kin, the duergar have forged great empires, founding such realms as the Deepkingdom of Gracklstugh and the Steel Kingdom of Dunspeirrin in the endless darkness of the Realms Below.
Averaging 4 feet tall, grey dwarves weigh nearly as much as an adult human. While other dwarves tend to be round-bodied and stoutly muscled, duergar are wide of shoulder but wiry and lean, their limbs corded with tough muscle. The skin of a grey dwarf is light or dark grey, and his eyes are dull black. Both genders are usually bald, with males having long grey beards and mustaches.
Grey dwarves are consumed with bitterness, feeling their race has forever been denied what was rightfully theirs. The duergar expect and live lives of never-ending drudgery. While their work rivals that of shield and gold dwarves, they are relentless perfectionists who take no pleasure in their craftsmanship. Only cruel jokes and petty torments bring a moment’s smile to most grey dwarves, and they delight in tormenting the weak and the helpless.
History: Grey dwarves trace their history back to the establishment of Barakuir, one of the eight kingdoms of Shanatar. The Iron Kingdom was dominated by the shield dwarves of Clan Duergar, who venerated Laduguer as their kingdom’s patron. Although they swore allegiance to the Wyrmskull Throne, the rulers of Clan Duergar thought their king should have been selected to rule Shanatar at the conclusion of the Second Spider War. Consumed with bitterness, the dwarves of Barakuir largely turned away from the rest of the empire. The foolishness of this action was quickly proved when war broke out with the illithids of Oryndoll, a city that lies deep beneath the Shining Plains, around -8100 DR. Although Shanatar battled the illithids to a stalemate, the enemy’s armies managed to cut off Barakuir from outside reinforcement. By the time the Mindstalker Wars had ended, Barakuir had fallen to the illithids, and most of its inhabitants had been enslaved as thralls.
After millennia of enslavement and countless illithid breeding experiments, the descendants of Clan Duergar were transformed into a new dwarven sub-race: the grey dwarves. Roughly four thousand years before the start of Dalereckoning, the duergar rebelled against their illithid masters and eventually freed themselves of the mind flayers’ dominion. These newly liberated grey dwarves carved out their own holdings in the northern Underdark beneath the Orsraun Mountains and in isolated caverns deep beneath the Great Glacier.
In the North, grey dwarves founded Gracklstugh, City of Blades, in -3717 DR. As the first city of their kind in the North, its holdings grew without rival throughout the upper and middle Underdark. The Deepkingdom reached its peak around -2600 DR, but in -1803 DR, the kingdom fell into a slow decline after smashing the quaggoth nation of Ursadunthar which lay deep beneath the Spine of the World. For centuries thereafter, the overextended duergar battled barbaric quaggoths (who were incited by the drow), as the Deepbear Battles raged until -1350 DR.
In the heart of Faerûn, grey dwarves founded Dunspeirrin, City of Sunken Spires, beneath the Orsraun Mountains. In time, the holdings of Underspires, as the city was also known, grew to encompass the Underdark of Turmish and the Dragon Coast, and the grey dwarves grew strong. In -1850 DR, under the leadership of their greatest queen, Duerra, the grey dwarves launched a series of attacks against the drow of Undraeth, the illithids of Oryndoll (from whom Duerra is said to have wrested the secrets of the Invisible Art), and other Underdark races. Duerra’s armies turned their simmering hatred against the remnants of Deep Shanatar sometime around -1800 DR. The grey dwarves overran Ultoksamrin and Holorarar and conquered the caverns of Alatorin for themselves. Laduguer rewarded Duerra with divine ascension. Afterward, Dunspeirrin fell into a centuries-long decline, from which it has only recently begun to emerge. The return of Deep Duerra during the Time of Troubles has sparked a new age of empire-building, but the city’s Army of Steel now finds itself locked in a three-year-old conflict with the gold dwarf Army of Gold over control of the cavernsof ancient Shanatar.
Outlook: Grey dwarves view the world with bitterness, convinced family, clan, other dwarves and the rest of the world have cheated them of their birthright and their due. They see life as nothing more than endless backbreaking labour, a torment from birth through death. The duergar evince little mercy for the helpless or the weak and enjoy tormenting those they can prey upon. From a young age, grey dwarves are quickly schooled in the harshness of the world, taught that their lot in life is nothing more than never-ending labour accompanied by betrayal and then death.
Grey dwarves rarely adventure out of choice. Those who are exiled or flee imminent banishment often gravitate to the life of an adventure simply in hopes of surviving. Adventuresome duergar are usually focused on the acquisition of material wealth, caring little for the plight of others.
Characters: The ever-present dangers of the all-enveloping darkness are taught to grey dwarves from a young age. Most receive some training as fighters or rogues to better defend their homes against those who would steal their hard-earned wealth. Clerics are common as well, for those who serve the duergar gods claim positions of relative influence within their clan. Experts who combine traditional smithcraft with skill in the arcane arts are also much respected. Wizards are much more common than sorcerers among the grey dwarves. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/expert and fighter/rogue.
Favoured Class: A grey dwarf’s favoured class is fighter. The Underdark is a harsh and unforgiving environment, where only the strongest can survive. Grey dwarf fighters have formed the bedrock of duergar armies for generations, enabling them to hold off such varied threats as aboleth, drow, illithids, kuo-toa and svirfneblin.
Prestige Classes: Grey dwarves gravitate toward prestige classes such as assassin and blackguard. A few become dwarven defenders. As with their cousins, the shield dwarves, the grey dwarves have a tradition of rune magic, and so a number of clerics become runecasters.
Language: Like all dwarves, grey dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. Grey dwarves also speak Undercommon, the trade tongue of the Realms Below. The primary grey dwarven dialect, Duergan, is an offshoot of the shield dwarven dialect, heavily influenced by drow and illithid words and language constructs found in Undercommon.
Common secondary languages reflect those spoken by traditional foes, including Draconic, Elven (the drow dialect), Giant, Goblin and Orc. Those who have extensive dealings with creatures of elemental earth often learn Terran, while those who trade with inhabitants of the Realms Above often learn the trade tongue Common.
All grey dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.
Magıc: Grey dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve Laduguer or Deep Duerra as clerics, runecasters or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but wizards skilled in the crafting of magic items are much respected.
Spells and Spellcasting: Grey dwarves favour spells that aid their abilities in combat, assist in craftwork or mining, or facilitate stealthy movement.
Spellcasting Tradition: Some grey dwarves take the Duergar Mindshaper feat, part of the lore they stole from the mind flayers.
Magic Items: Grey dwarves favour magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, shield the mind or enable stealthy movement. Blades and axes are commonly crafted with bane, keen, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, stunning, unholy and wounding special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with bane, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, throwing and unholy special abilities. Armour is typically crafted with etherealness, shadow, slick, silent moves and spell resistance special abilities that facilitate stealthy movement.
Common Magic Items: Cloaks of arachnida, dust of tracelessness, rings of mind shielding and whetstones of keen edge. Duergar are notoriously suspicious of outsiders, but duergar merchants trade throughout the Underdark. These items are commonly available at a 10% discount in any duergar settlement of at least large town size.
Iconic Magic Items: Grey dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, such as absorbing shields, bolts of battering and stonereaver axes.
Religion: Laduguer, the Grey Protector, is the harsh taskmaster of the duergar and the patron of their sub-race. Although the duergar nominally venerate all the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman, in truth they venerate only Laduguer and his daughter, Deep Duerra. Before the rise of Shanatar, each of the shield dwarven subkingdoms had its own patron deity. The kingdom of Barakuir, dominated by the dwarves of Clan Duergar, honoured Laduguer and never accepted the ascension of Dumathoin as the patron deity of shield dwarves. The ancestors of the grey dwarves continued to honour Laduguer during their long enslavement by the illithids of Oryndoll. Unlike their shield dwarven brethren, the duergar did not evolve their religious practice toward the veneration of the pantheon as a whole.
Deep Duerra, the Daughter of Laduguer, is said to have been a great warrior queen who stole many secrets of the Invisible Art (psionics) from Ilsensine, god of mind flayers. Deep Duerra is venerated primarily by duergar who study the Invisible Art and by those militant grey dwarves who would rather crush their subterranean neighbours than trade with them. Her faith is particularly strong beneath the Osraun Mountains of Turmish, where her followers rule Dunspeirrin, the City of Sunken Spires.
Relations: Dour and suspicious of outsiders, grey dwarves have uniformly bad relations with all other races, including other dwarven sub-races. The duergar regard their shield dwarf cousins with particular bitterness, dating back to the shield dwarves’ failure to succor Clan Duergar during the Mindstalker Wars. The Kin Clashes forever cemented the mutual animosity between the two dwarven sub-races, a hatred that continues today. Grey dwarves regard their gold dwarf cousins as arrogant rivals and potential threats, but trade is possible between the two groups.
Grey dwarves view the surface-dwelling races — elves and half-elves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs and planetouched — with suspicion but willingly trade with those who are foolhardy enough to venture into the depths. The duergar harbour a longstanding hatred of their subterranean rivals, the drow and the svirfneblin. Nevertheless, they regularly trade with both groups, pitting them against one another whenever possible.
Equipment: Duergar carve and emboss scenes of bloodshed into many items they craft. Though they have a fierce appreciation for fine craftsmanship, they are pragmatic enough to shun ostentatious decoration (such as glittering gems) when it prevents them from creeping unseen through the Underdark. Duergar traders may be richly appointed or seem poorly equipped, depending on the sort of bargaining advantage they seek.
Common Items: Exotic military saddles, thunderstones and any poison.
Unique Items: Grey dwarves have perfected armour lubricant to assist armoured warriors in stealthy maneuvering.
Arms and Armour: Even more so than other dwarves, duergar favour weapons clearly derived from the craftsman’s tools. They favour hammers and picks of all sorts.
Common Items: Heavy pick, light crossbow, light pick, maul, warhammer, breastplate, chainmail.
Animals and Pets: Grey dwarves favour common bats, hairy spiders, osquips and spitting crawlers as pets and familiars. Deep rothé are the preferred type of livestock. They employ pack lizards as beasts of burden. Although grey dwarves are known for their use of steeders as mounts, some clans employ riding lizards as well.
Regions: Underdark (Darklands), Underdark (Northdark)
Source: Races of Faerûn (Page 14), Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Page 11), Player’s Guide to Faerûn (Page 190)
Your character can be either male or female.
Every player character starts as an adult. You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Starting Ages.
Alternatively, refer to Table: Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 years | +3d6 (43—58) years | +5d6 (45—70) years | +7d6 (47—82) years |
1 This category includes barbarians, rogues and sorcerers.
2 This category includes bards, fighters, paladins and rangers.
3 This category includes clerics, druids, monks and wizards.
With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.
| Middle Age1 | Old Age2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 years | 188 years | 250 years | +2d% years |
1 -1 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
2 -2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
3 -3 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
When a character reaches venerable age, the DM secretly rolls his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the DM.
The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections or violence before getting to venerable age.
Choose your character’s height and weight from the ranges mentioned in the appropriate race description or from the ranges found on Table: Height and Weight. Think about what your character’s abilities might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character may be thin. A strong and tough character may be tall or just heavy.
Alternatively, roll randomly for your character’s height and weight on Table: Height and Weight. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 3’ 9" | +2d4 (3’ 11"—4’ 5") | 110 lbs. | ×2d4 (114—174 lbs.) |
| Female | 3’ 7" | +2d4 (3’ 9"—4’ 3") | 80 lbs. | ×2d4 (84—144 lbs.) |
Source: Player’s Handbook (Page 109), Races of Faerûn (Page 14)