A Guide to Roleplaying a Dwarf (Both in Game and Elsewhere)

Par Monday Dernière mise à jour : 22/05/2016 Patch : 4.2.2

OverviewRace

Bronzebeard: WoW playable, they live in the mountain of Ironforge and worship the Holy Light. They interact with the Alliance more often than their cousins, and have a special interest in archaeology, mining, blakcsmithing and engineering.

Wildhammer: Cousins to the Bronzebeards, they originally lived in Grim Batol, which was tainted in the War of 3 Hammers, and then moved further north, establishing Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands. They get along with High Elves more than the rest of the Dwarves, and also have a special relationship with the Gyphons of the area. A large portion also reside in the Twilight Highlands, and are at war with the Dargonmaw orcs.

The Dark Irons: They are the “black sheep” of the family. They have been at unofficial war with the other two clans for several hundred years. They summoned Ragnaros into Azeroth, and live in the burning remains. They practice Sorcery, and their armor and weapons are generally made of the ore that their name comes from, Dark Iron. As of the Cataclysm, a large portion have broken off under the command of Moira and have returned to the traditional dwarven lands.

NamePersonalityFaith

Bronzebeards generally worship the Holy Light, however there are Shaman, and those who follow darker paths, such as Warlocks.

Wildhammers are Shamanistic, and it is possible that there are druids as well. They seem to take the role of the Night Elves and Tauren in the Eastern Kingdoms, bringing nature worship.

The Dark Irons have, until recently, and perhaps still, worshiped the Elemental Being Ragnaros as a god. Now that he has been banished, it remains to be seen what they worship.

A Few Things to Consider For Your Character

Your character will most likely be a Bronzebeard or a Wildhammer. I can imagine a Dark Iron mercenary, but I doubt any redeemed Dark Iron warrior turned shaman will work.

Keep in mind that while dwarves love their brew, it is generally not a crippling weakness (note: there are quite a few exceptions to this).

Your dwarf does not have to be a miner/blacksmith/explorer. While these are the largest professions, if your character does something else it won’t matter too much.

Dwarves aren’t known for tact. Get over it.

Dwarves are generally physically stronger than almost all Alliance races, and can be on par with Orcs for pure muscle, (size is another matter).

Your dwarf will most likely have an innate understanding of machinery to the point where s/he can drive most vehicles after a little training (although you can’t just make some random device out of nowhere).

Dwarf women aren’t known for their beauty. This does not mean there are no beautiful dwarf women.

There is a split between dwarves who travel and those who don’t. Generally, they like to stay in Khaz Modan, especially Dun Morogh. However, there are many dwarves who travel outside as Explorers. While a priest is unlikely to be an explorer (although traveling priest I guess…) your hunter probably will. It all depends on what you feel like.

Quick Class Breakdowns

Guerrier: All dwarves have warriors. What they fight with varies, but most often what they wear involves plate for Bronzebeard, Leather for Wildhammers and chain for Dark Iron (this is purely personal experience from WoW).

Paladin: There are dwarven Paladins, all Bronzebeard. Because of their believing in the Holy Light, but also their views on martial prowess, Paladin becomes a perfect choice for many dwarves. For in-game: I see most as Retribution, using holy magic to smite and enemy, along with their weapons. However, Protection Paladins are almost as common.

Chasseur: Bronzebeards are the Marksmen spec generally, as the sharpshooters from W3 were Bronzebeard, and the Wildhammers will most likely be Beast Master because of their ties with nature. I have seen no accounts of Dark Iron hunters. (Note, the specs listed are WoW only, in RP I just base them off of that spec without actually saying what they are.)

Voleur: This is interesting. No accounts of Wildhammer rogues have been given, but there is a plethora of Dark Iron rogues. Bronzebeard rogues are seen less, but still seen. All in all, it isn’t a bad thing to pick, but it isn’t exactly popular. They could be played as a fighter who likes the maneuverability of leather armor and one handed weapons, or a thief, both have been seen.

Prêtre: Priests have become much more prevalent in dwarven culture. They are faithful to the Light and appear to be much less zealous than the humans. There are known Dark Iron priests, who use the powers of the traditional priests of the Holy Light, but who or what they worship is a mystery. As for the Wildhammer, there appears to be no Wildhammer priests of any sort, but there could be some living under the radar.

Chevalier de la mort: Death Knights appear to be in the same boat as Warlocks (see below), having just come from the service of the Lich King and wielding dark magic. While dwarves are generally pretty accepting, there may be opposition to a user of dark magic.

Chaman: Once, only Wildhammer clan dwarves could walk the path of Shamanism. However, As of Cataclysm, Bronzebeard dwarves can now train to be shaman, most likely from the increased association with the Wildhammer clan.

Mage: There are both Bronzebeard and Dark Iron mages. Most Dark Iron mages are known as Sorcerers and practice generally only Arcane magic. Cryomancers/Pyromancers are rare. With the Cataclysm, Bronzebeard dwarves can now train to be mages. This appears to be from an influx of Dark Iron refugees.

Démoniste: With the Cataclysm, dwarves can now train to be Warlocks. This is most likely because of the Dark Iron dwarves living with them now, although I imagine that it is still taboo to be a Warlock, perhaps even more so than among the humans.

Druide: Not enough information on this. There appear to be no dwarven druids. While it seems there may be Wildhammer druids, no evidence has been shown so far of such druids in game.

Notes

Your dwarf does in fact need a Scottish accent, even if you are bad, effort goes a long way. Taking the "g" from the end of a word like "running" and replacing it with an apostrophe (runnin'), replacing "I" with "Ah", "to" with "ta(e)" and the like are a few quick ways to make a dwarven accent.

Beards are an important part of dwarven society, as there are no male dwarves without beards. Some crop them short, but it is really only the military, which is an honor enough for them to shave their beards to a manageable level.

They love their alcohol, and celebrate a holiday centered around it.

Dwarves have a lust to know about their past, especially in connection with the Titans. A lot of this has paid off in the War Against the Lich King, where they discovered Ulduar and the other Earthen and Iron dwarf colonies. The Reliquary is a distinct rival, and do not be afraid to show conflict between a dwarf and blood elf archaeologist if the opportunity arises.

Regular dwarves do not appear to have the ability to turn their skin to stone, unlike in-game. This seems to be a Thane ability only.

There will be tension among the clans, especially between the Dark Irons and the rest. With the Wildhammer essentially joining the Alliance, it appears that they and the Bronzebeard will get along well.

Commentaires

Commentaire de Adamsm

It's a good guide Funden, but in regards to the faith, the Dark Irons didn't exactly worship Ragnaros; they were slaves to the forces of Core and forced to work for him. In all honesty, their own faith would be similar to the other Dwarves at this point, since Elemental worshipers would probably be off to join up with the Twilight Hammer cult.

A Guide to Roleplaying a Dwarf (Both in Game and Elsewhere)

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