Hill Dwarf Racial Traits

• Lowland dwarves are stout and tough, but tend to be gruff and reserved. +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma.

• Medium-sized: As medium-sized creature, hill dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

• Hill dwarf base speed is 20, and they can move at this speed even if they are wearing medium or heavy armor, or if they are carrying a medium or heavy load.

• Darkvision: Hill dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 ft. Darkvision is only black and white, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and hill dwarf can function just fine with no light at all.

• Stuncunning: Stonecunning grants hill dwarves a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction, unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that is not stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A hill dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching and a hill dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A hill dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as normally as a human can sense which way is up. Hill dwarves have a sixth sense about stonework, an innate ability that they get plenty of opportunity to practice and hone in their underground homes.

• Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.

• Stability: Dwarves are exceptionally stable on their feet. A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing firmly on the ground.

• Hill dwarves are hardy and resistant to toxins. +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.

• Hill Dwarves have an innate resistance to magic spells. +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.

• Hill dwarves are trained in special combat techniques that allow them to fight their traditional enemies more effectively. +1 racial bonus on attacking rolls when fighting orcs, and goblinoid.

• This bonus represents a special training that hill dwarves undergo, during which they learn tricks that previous generations developed in their battles with giants. Note that any time a character loses his positive Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, such as when he's caught flat-footed, he loses his loses his dodge bonus, too. +4 dodge bonus against giants.

+2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items, Hill dwarves are familiar with valuable items of all kinds.

+2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal, Hill dwarves are especially capable with stonework and metal.

• Automatic Languages: Dwarven and Merchant's Tongue. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran and Undercommon. Lowland dwarves are familiar with the languages of their enemies and of their subterranean allies.

• Favored Class Fighter. A multiclass dwarf's fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Dwarves culture extols the virtues of battle, and the vocation comes easily to dwarves.