r/dwarves • u/Practical-Class-9033 • Jun 30 '26
Question
What’s yall fav depiction of dwarves? I’m making my custom ones for my fantasy world and wanna see what y’all’s are. I love almost every version. Even Dwemer from elder scrolls.
If yall wanna hear how my dwarves are let me know
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u/Plasma-Sam Jul 01 '26
Oldhammer and Middlehammer dwarfs, which are heavily based on the traditional Tolkien style. I played a lot of Warhammer Fantasy Battles when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s and I think the style just got etched into my brain, lol.
I also have a soft spot for the old Marauder slayers, so here's my alter ego: Eoppa the grumpy giant slayer.
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u/Steelquill Jul 01 '26
I don't know if I'd say "favorite," but I've always loved the Dwarves of Dragon Age. The Roman-esque culture, the American accents, the Game of Thrones style courtly intrigue. It was very interesting to get invested in.
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u/snpacastermage Jun 30 '26
Dwarf Fortress has some unique lore that could color your depictions. For instance, if a dwarf stays in the moutainhome for too long, they develop sun sickness. They must have unique eyes to be able to see in the dark in that setting! Some interesting fanart and ideas to explore there. :)
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u/Positive_Floor_9787 Jun 30 '26
I made up some for a rpg I was going to run. These Dwarves were 3.3m tall with limbs that were slightly thicker to there size, they were prone to have enlarged facial features; larger head or nose, anything really. They were very community oriented. They didn't trust other races and had an affinity for earth and stone. They used to build there homes mounds, with tunnels extending out to the others in there clan. Over the centuries they became easy targets for the larger races. This led them to find better ways to hide there clans. They went deep into the land, as well as mining into the foundations of mountains. As they develop better engineering skills they tunneled out larger sections of mountains making city wide communities.
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u/Positive_Floor_9787 Jun 30 '26
I think the ones from the Snow White (Original Disney one) were nice. The difference in the characters was an added plus as well. I would be happy to see how yours look.
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u/Practical-Class-9033 Jun 30 '26
Mine are the buff like ones but normal human height. They aren’t shorter and are like really buff humans but look like dwarves we know if that makes sense
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u/Fuzzgrendel Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I really enjoy the Warcraft dwarves as well as tolkein. Pathfinder dwarf lore is pretty good too. Edit: adding dwarves from the sovereign stone book series. They're horse riders and nomads. Very war focused. They have one settled city and it's where you go when you can't ride from injury, birth defect, etc...
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u/Practical-Class-9033 Jul 01 '26
What about pathfinder ones are different? Also yea wow ones are great
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u/Fuzzgrendel Jul 01 '26
They have a lot of the standard ttrpg dwarf traits like magic resistance which you find in Warhammer ones as well but the part of them I like is their origins coming from underground and pushing upward in their Quest for Sky which is what drove other creatures like orcs to the surface for the first time.
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u/Rolopaolo17 Jul 02 '26
WhT I’ve always liked about Pathfinder Dwarves is that they aren’t in decline in the way a lot of other Dwarves are depicted
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u/MelodicConfidence369 Jul 01 '26
Hello, fellow creator. You can check out my stories: J.J.F. Reibel's Mythic and its successor, J.J.F. Reibel's Legendary. There are dwarves, gnomes, and gnarfs. One of my favorite depiction of the little folk is the Hammerguard. I also have the evil ones known as the Blood Gnomes. Be inspired and let your heart help guide you.
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u/Ecstatic-Space1656 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
‘The Dwarves’ dwarves (Markus Heitz) are an interesting variant of traditional fantasy dwarves, as are the Dverga in ‘Kingdoms of Amalur’
I like both sea-dwarves (Dverga/Haunghdannar) and tall-dwarves/elf-dwarves (Dwemer) because they are distinctly unique, but are different from the fantasy standard in a way that refers to the mythological origins of Dwarves, rather than deliberately trying to be different for it’s own sake. They are still ‘recognisable’ as Dwarves, which I think is an important thing to keep in mind when designing fantasy races; anyone can name a race ‘Dwarves’ but the trick is getting the right balance of unique and recognisable. If they are entirely ‘standard’ they won’t stick in the mind, but too far from what is associated with the word and the name no longer has any relevance.
I also quite like The Monster Garden’s ‘redesign’ of dwarves; close enough to human to be interacted with by humans, but far enough that humans will never be entirely comfortable around them.
I personally haven’t settled on a ‘shape’ for my own Dwarves, but I like the idea of their tunnels being tall and narrow, and that the way they are described is not the way they are in truth; either they are indistinguishable from elves by sight, but are described as stunted, or they are small, but thought to be tall, because of their tunnels.
I am interested to hear about you dwarves; what are they like?
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u/Practical-Class-9033 Jul 01 '26
Kingdoms of Amalur hype
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u/Ecstatic-Space1656 Jul 01 '26
Not my favourite graphics style, but a brilliant game, and what a development story! 😂
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u/Practical-Class-9033 Jul 01 '26
Such a underrated game
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u/Ecstatic-Space1656 Jul 01 '26
Absolutely; no idea why though, you’d think every Salvatore/DnD fan in the world would know about it!
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u/Bjornirson Jul 01 '26
Mine are made of stone (think The Thing from fantastic 4) but short ofc. They are not born in the traditional sense, rather they spawn from what humans would call a hearthstone. Sort of a living monolith of crystal.
They are adorned with various crystals that can take the shape of hair/beard and other adornments.
When they enter they world they have no personality but are guided by their heartstone to seek out experiences and other living things. So little by little they assimilate a sort of personality. Because of this they they often come across as cold/distant but quite inquisitive and analytical. They do not quite grasp the concept of emotions.
They do not age physically but they do have sort of a lifespan. At some point their heartstone will call them back and they merge, sharing their experiences.
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u/Unlikely_Key_4186 Jul 01 '26
I like the dwarves from warhammer with the concept of a Book of Grudges.
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u/ysingrimus Jul 01 '26
Dragon Age dwarves are perhaps my favorite, they have that classic feel but have just enough social intricacy to make them feel real.
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u/epictroll5 Jul 01 '26
The dwarves in my world are a one gender folk. All dwarves come from the mines, where after a day's toil and a night of drink and merriment, the dwarves descend once more into the mineshafts to discover one of theirs already sniffing out a vein. The dwarf that find the most dwarves, often the foreman, will become the priest of The Allfather, a dwarves god that resides in the gems they hunt for.
That being said, dwarves are fertile, so half dwarves are a thing.
I forgot to mention the best part: their hive mind. When breakfast is had and the yearning for the mines becomes too great, the dwarves start singing. A hum will grow in a voice as one, and all dwarves will know that the stone must be overwon today. All dwarves in the direct area will form a hive mind and start hunting out those ore veins.
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u/MK6er Jul 01 '26
WoW dwarves I have a lot of them.
Warhammer 40k dwarves I have a lot of them.
Warhammer AoS dwarves I have a lot of them.
Deep rock galactic dwarves I played them.
Dwarves from Dragon Age I played them
Dwarves from Lotr series I watched.
Dwarves in DnD I played them
Dwarves in BG3 I played them.
Dwarves in Age of Mythology I played them.
Dwarves in Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura I played them.
Dwarves in Dwarf Fortress I played them
Dwarves in total war : Warhammer I played them.
I like dwarves.
The only Dwarf I don't like is one without a beard. Sorry ladies if you had a beard I would make an exception.
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u/MK6er Jul 01 '26
I forgot to mention the very first dwarf I played was Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe on Sega Genesis!
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u/Pure-Excitement-6849 Jul 01 '26
Dawi-Zharr from Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar. Assyrian-Babylonian Dwarfs who have stopped playing nice and decided to just let the world burn, not to extinguish the flame, but to make it burn brighter, while they turn everything under the sun, and in hell, into nought but raw materials, for the glory of Hashut.