@LordVreeg, I play the same as you. if you want to crossbreed anything at anytime to form your own race, go right ahead. I love seeing the spectacular and sometimes weird half-races my players dream up. My current favourite is the Tiefling-Dragonborn or Tieborn.

@Taellosse, Sounds like a really interesting and unique take on Dwarves, Something that i’m going to have to check out

Etc.
Almost all races can crossbreed in our setting. It makes for some interesting cultural ideals. Racial cultures went away a long time ago.
.-= LordVreeg´s last blog ..edited FrontPage =-.

Depending on how this article goes i plan on following it up with Dworcs, Dwelves, Orlves and maybe even Dwomes!

@Shilling, In my world of fanatsy, i believe there is enough of a physiolgical difference to warrant a Half-Dwarf, i’m willing to go into depth with you about this but not yet as once i start i will ramble on for a thousand words or so about the small details… i do that far too much.

I have always found the creatures of British folklore to be terrifying for some odd reason. I’m very interested in the origins of fantasy creatures, but i would tend to use the traits of the Dwarves you described above for a sinister and trickster sub-species of Dwarf, but that is my personal preference. Personally, i believe the AT (After Tolkien) Dwarves are more heroic in nature and therefore more adaptable as PC’s.

Your one hundred percent right about Pratchett, he is a spectacular author and ‘Thud’ was an amazing insight into one persons exceptionally crafted vision of dwarves.

You make some very valid points that will have me thinking for days, don’t be to surprised if you see an evil faerie dwarf pop up around here in the future!

Thanks

In faerie tales of the British isles, Dwarfs have other distinguishing features besides their height: they always have a ‘flaw’, such as feet that point backwards or joints that go the wrong way. They often try to hide these flaws. They sometimes turn to stone in sunlight and have minor shapeshifting magic to help avoid this (like turning into a toad during the day). They are also almost always solitary, rather than living in underground communes and are much more magical and wise than strong and tough (although they are that too).

These traits have been lost in sub-Tolkien fantasy (although I have decided to bring them back in my own campaign world) with the result that Dwarfs are a bit too human to start off with, let alone after crossbreeding. I can see it being a nice unique “secret” for a PC though – imagine if the tough human Warlord discovers, after much adventure, that his father was a dwarf! Would the Dwarfs he has been fighting for welcome him, or shun him as a taboo?

An alternate route might be to emphasise the culture – Pratchett does this more and more as he goes, with ‘Thudd’ being an excellent exploration of what it really is to be a Dwarf.

The other possible crossbreeds is a nice point SevenB. They would require careful design in terms of mechanics, aesthetics and flavour, but there is lots of potential.