Gold dwarves are stout, tough individuals like their Shield dwarf brethren but are less off-putting and gruff in nature. Conversely, gold dwarves are often less agile than other dwarves.   The average gold dwarf is about four feet tall (1.2 meters) and as heavy as a full-grown human, making them somewhat squatter than the more common shield dwarves. Gold dwarves are also distinguishable by their light brown or tanned skin, significantly darker than that of most dwarves, and their brown or hazel eyes.   Gold dwarves have black, gray, or brown hair, which fade to light gray over time. Gold dwarf males grow beards which are carefully groomed and grown to great lengths.

Omnivore.

Gold dwarves are a deeply materialistic race who believe that the resources of the natural world exist only to serve the purpose of conscious beings. To a gold dwarf, there is no greater purpose than to fashion the minerals of the earth into things of beauty.   Gold dwarf guilds take great care in their craftsmanship, often spending centuries to perfect their work and mark it distinctively as their own, a practice which is carried down to even the most simple tools, marking such items with detailed runes and carefully shaped flairs.   Gold dwarf warriors employ a large number of finely crafted weapons and armor, often enchanted with runes or prayers. Most commonly, dwarves employ weapons that can also be used as tools, such as axes, picks, or hammers, alongside more specialized weapons like urgroshes. Some unique items of note crafted by gold dwarves are mobile braces, rope climbers, or drogue wings used for riding hippogriffs.

Gold dwarves speak a distinctive dialect of Dwarven known as Tearspeak, which is an archaic tongue largely unchanged since the days of Thull Moznur.   However, gold dwarves, in spite of their cultural supremacism, often take the time to learn the languages of neighboring lands as well, such as Shaaran, Durpari, or Dambrathan.

Unlike most dwarven peoples, the gold dwarves are not particularly superstitious about magic and while still cautious in its use, are no more so than any wise human mage, and gold dwarves have even created a number of spells unique to them. In part, gold dwarves are open to magic because of their heavy used of enchanted arms and weaponry, but primarily this tolerance comes from the age of gold dwarven civilization, which through sheer longevity has given rise to several magical traditions.   Divine spellcasters remain more common among the gold dwarves, however, though gold dwarves are less fervent in their beliefs than the openly devout shield dwarves.   Gold dwarves are both materialistic and ritualistic, valuing themselves and others by what they possess and by the reputation of their family. Gold dwarves are deeply conservative, rooting their values and beliefs in traditions that have survived for millennia even as the world changed around them. From infancy, gold dwarves are taught that their life is determined by tradition, from what their profession shall be to who they shall marry. Gold dwarves who lack faith in the old ways or who go so far as to challenge cultural taboos are seen as dangerous deviants unworthy of friendship or trust by the majority of gold dwarves, creating an enormous social pressure to conform.

Humans who wander into the gold dwarven strongholds may be surprised to find a people far more confident and secure in their future than most dwarves.   Whereas the shield dwarves suffered serious setbacks during their history, the gold dwarves have stood firm against the challenges thrown against them and so have few doubts about their place in the world. As a result, gold dwarves can come off as haughty and almost eladrin-like in their pride, believing themselves culturally superior to all other races and lacking the fatalistic pessimism of their shield dwarven cousins.

The gold dwarves are a proud race confident in their race's future after millennia of stability and because of this they have earned a somewhat deserved reputation for xenophobia and supremacism. Gold dwarves believe dwarves to be the greatest of all races and themselves to be the greatest of all dwarves, placing themselves at the top of the cultural pyramid. Gold dwarves in particular look down upon Elves, whom they loathe in part due to their ancient enmity with the Drow.   Of the monstrous races, the gold dwarves' opinion is even lower. Among many key differences between gold dwarves and their more common kin is that the traditional enemies of the gold dwarf are not goblinoids but aberrations and other creatures of the Underdark, against whom many gold dwarves have some defensive training. But this does not mean gold dwarves enjoy the company of goblins or orcs, whom they lump half-orcs in with.   However, gold dwarves do not see all races besides themselves with enmity. For instance, gold dwarves have an atypically high value of humans and their planetouched kin for non-human races, valuing the often profitable trading arrangements they've had with human realms going back throughout history. Similarly, gold dwarves are, as a rule, rather fond of strongheart halflings, seeing them as kindred of spirit due to the subrace's propensity for industriousness and honor.