Short and powerful, dwarves stand between 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall. Their frames are massive and an average dwarf weighs in the vicinity of 200 pounds. Life in the Athasian wastes makes them rugged, tanned, and calloused. Dwarves are hairless and find the very idea of body hair repulsive

A dwarf's relation is often a function of his focus. Those who help him are respected, sensible companions. Those who hinder him are obstacles that must be removed. There is very little room for compromise in a dwarven mind.

Focus- Focus is the central point of your existence, and no simple job will suffice. Work with the DM to come up with a starting focus and a new one if completed. None should be easy to complete and should take at least one week or longer to finish in order to be worthwhile.

For example, Grelak, a protector of his village, makes the retrieval of a sacred book stolen by raiders his focus. After a week of gathering clues, he sets out to liberate the artifact from its current owner in a trading post weeks away. On the way there, he gains the benefit of his dwarven focus for anything that would slow him because he is trying to reach the book. Later, he stops in Nibenay to rest and gets in a brawl. He doesn't receive any bonuses because he isn't actively pursuing his focus.

Dwarves are close-knit, formed around clans and focused on family. Ties of blood are honored above all but the focus. Family honor or dishonor is passed down to generations. A community is led by the Urhnomous (over-leader). There are three main dwarven settlements in the Tablelands: Kled, near Tyr, and the twin villages of North and South Ledopolus on the southwestern edge. DwaRVEN ORAL TRADITION SHARES THAT THEY WERE ONCE A MIGHTY PEOPLE LIVING IN VAST CITIES, AND MANY OF THESE ANCIENT RUINS ARE STILL OUT THERE, BURIED AND FORGOTTEN.

Dwarves are nonmagical by nature and abhor arcane casters. They cannot take an arcane casting class. Their priests lean towards steady earth and avoid chaotic air, and they take to psionics with a vengeance. Dwarves leave villages at times to further a focus and to search for ancient dwarven ruins. They are highly prized as mercenaries because once contracted their loyalty will never change.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and you may choose to increase your strength or wisdom by 1.

Age. Dwarves mature around age 35 and live up to 250 years, though the dangers of Athas often claim them well before this time.

Alignment. Dwarves tend towards lawful and good to neutral. Their devotion to an established heirarchy in villages means they tend to follow rules even to the point of ridicule.

Size. A typical dwarf stands about 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You are not slowed by wearing heavy armor.

Darkvision. Despite living above ground, your heritage allows you to see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if in bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Dwarven Focus. When making an ability check or saving throw directly related to your Focus, you are considered proficient and double your proficiency bonus.

Dwarven Resilience. You have Advantage on poison saves and resistance to poison damage.

Tool proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan's tool of your choice: smith's tools, brewer's supplies, or mason's tools.

Dwarven Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Languages. You can speak Common and Dwarvish. Check with the DM if you can read any languages. Dwarves keep a long and proud oral history, and they have an old written language mostly used for writing history that they will never share to outsiders. Their native language is deep and throaty, full of guttural sounds and harsh exclamations that cause most non-dwarves to get raw throats if spoke for long.

Remember the intensity of your focus. Breaking it has social, philosophical, and spiritual repercussions. if you die before completion, your spirit will return as a banshee and you will have shamed your clan for generations to come. For someone to intentionally stand in the way of your focus is an assault on you. Your greatest satisfaction is completing the focus. Keep a serious attitude always. The only time you show your festive side (you have one) is when you have recently fulfilled a focus or between starting a new one. At this time, your full joy and humor show, but you are vulnerable in some ways because you are lost in purpose.