Gully Dwarves
Grothak [Lesser Folk] (groth-AK)
Gully dwarves are stupid, cowardly, and filthy. They are master scavengers and have raised groveling to an art form. They do not fight very effectively even when forced to. They prefer to grovel to escape their enemies. The other dwarf races look down upon them and do not consider them to be true dwarves.
Gully dwarves are the most degenerate of all the dwarf races. Lacking any racial pride, they make virtues of cowardice, filth, witlessness, and dirty tricks. They live in abandoned strongholds, human villages, or in old mines and caves, in sewers, refuse dumps, or the slums of larger towns and cities. Elves will not tolerate their depravity.
Gully dwarves are native to the world if Krynn in the Dragonlance® setting. There are rare stories from around the Flanaess of these degenerate dwarves having been spotted in city sewers, but how they arrived on Oerth is unknown.
Players should bear the following restrictions in mind when considering playing a gully dwarf character.
Gully Dwarf Ability Scores
| Ability | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 6 | 18 |
| Dexterity | 6 | 18 |
| Constitution | 8 | 16 |
| Intelligence | 3 | 12 |
| Wisdom | 3 | 14 |
| Charisma | 3 | 12 |
Ability Score Adjustments
The initial ability scores are modified by a -2 penalty to Charisma, a -5 penalty to Intelligence (to a minimum of 3), and +1 bonuses to Strength and Dexterity. Gully dwarves do not receive bonuses to Constitution. The minimum and maximum ability scores are as shown.
Eligible Classes
Single Class Options
Fighter, Cleric/Priest, Thief
Multiclass Options
Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief
Specialty priests may not multiclass.
Recommended Languages
Gullytalk, common, gnome, orc, goblin.
Gully dwarves have their own unique dialect called gullytalk. The language is ugly and convoluted. Gullytalk is constantly changing by them creating new words and adding words from other nearby languages. The language's grammar rules also rapidly change. This makes it impossible for gullytalk to have a written language if they were already capable of writing. When two Gully Dwarves of different groups meet, their dialects merge after a few days.
Gullytalk does not have a word for numbers greater than "two." The word for "one" stands for one of something, while the word for "two" stands two or more of things.
Using the above as a guide, a player can have fun with this by creating their own words, and changing words once in a while.
While gully dwarves may find it useful to learn other languages, they generally don't. They are easily distracted and don't learn new languages easily. If a gully dwarf chooses to learn a new language, it costs twice the number of proficiency slots to learn the language.
Gully dwarves know their native tongue by default. This does not cost the character any nonweapon proficiency slots. Since gully dwarves do not have a written language, they do not receive the ability to read or write their native language.
Gully Dwarf Aging Effects
* -1 Str/Con; +1 Int/Wis
** -2 Str/Dex; -1 Con; +1 Wis
*** -1 Str/Dex/Con; +1 Int/Wis
| Starting Age | Middle Age* | Old Age** | Venerable Age*** | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30+2d12 | 100 | 134 | 200 | +5d20 |
Groveling Table
| Level | Saving Throw Modifier |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | 0 |
| 5-8 | -2 |
| 9-12 | -3 |
| 13+ | -5 |
Life Expectancy
250 years. Life expectancy is around the maximum age the character can expect to live, assuming nothing untoward happens to them.
Infravision
60 feet.
Special Advantages
A gully dwarf may attempt to grovel. Any time he is in a dangerous situation and is not immediately engaged in melee, he may throw himself on the mercy of his attacker, or faint in the hope that he will be ignored in the ensuing melee. This causes his opponents to make a saving throw vs. spell. If they are successful they may attack the gully dwarf. If they fail they may not attack him for 1d6 rounds, but they may restrain him or tie him up. The saving throw is modified by the gully dwarf's level as shown on the Groveling Table.
Ogres, trolls, ogre magi, giants, and titans suffer a -4 penalty to attack gully dwarves.
Special Disadvantages
Gully dwarves are usually stupid. Average intelligence is rare. A player character gully dwarf may be an exception to the rule, being superior to others of his kind by virtue of his ability to think.
The chance of a magical item failing in the hands of a gully dwarf is increased from 20% (2 in 10) to 40% (4 in 10).
Gully dwarves do not receive any of the saving throw bonuses that dwarves normally receive for high Constitution scores.
Racial Enmities
Gully dwarves have no racial enemies, but just about every race hates the gully dwarves.
Gully Dwarf Level Limits
| Fighter | Priest | Thief |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 8 | 16 |
Bonus Levels
| Prime Requisite | Bonus Levels |
|---|---|
| 14, 15 | +1 |
| 16, 17 | +2 |
| 18 | +3 |
| 19 | +4 |
Gully Dwarf Average Height & Weight
Male/Female
| Height (in.) | Weight (lbs.) |
|---|---|
| 40/38 (+2d6) | 80/65 (+4d10) |
Additional Experience Cost
Gully dwarves require 30% additional experience points to advance in level.
Gully Dwarf Level Limits
Racial level limits are not enforced in this campaign and are included here for completeness. The DM reserves the right to enforce these limits at any time in the future.
Gully dwarves are limited in level to 8th level as fighters, 8th level as clerics/priests, and 16th level as thieves.
These level limits apply no matter if the character is single classed or multiclassed.
Exceeding Level Limits (Optional)
A character may exceed maximum level limits if he has extremely high ability scores in his prime requisites. For example, a gully dwarf warrior is limited to 8th level. With a Strength of 18, he may be allowed three bonus levels and advance to 11th level.
A multiclassed dwarf that meets all ability score requirements can advance higher in both classes.
Appearance
An average gully dwarf is 4 feet tall and weighs only 100 pounds. He is more slender than hill or mountain dwarves and has thin fingers. It is a status symbol for a gully dwarf to have a large pot belly for it displays his skill as a scavenger.
Skin ranges in color from olive brown to light yellow, reminiscent of old parchment. It is often hard to determine a gully dwarf's skin color, however, because of the thick layers of dirt, scar tissue, boils, and scabs covering his skin.
Their beards and hair range from a dirty blond to a dull, indeterminate color. Female gully dwarves have hairy cheeks, but no beards. The eyes of both sexes are dull and lifeless, varying in color from watery blue through green to hazel.
Gully dwarves scavenge their clothes, weapons, armor and just about everything else they have. Often, they will be wearing oversized, ill-fitting clothes and armor, causing them to trip if they try to run, or their oversized helmets to slip over their eyes at any moment.
Gully Dwarf Thieving Skill Adjustments
| Skill | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Pick Pockets | +10% |
| Open Locks | -5% |
| Find/Remove Traps | +5% |
| Move Silently | --- |
| Hide in Shadows | -5% |
| Detect Noise | --- |
| Climb Walls | -5% |
| Read Languages | -25% |
Thieving Abilities
Gully dwarves are professional scavengers. They scavenge everything, clothing, food, armor, and weapons. They even collect a few "treasures" that they find in garbage heaps.
Because they are great scavengers, they also have a greater ability to pick pockets (+10%) and have learned how to better find and remove traps (+5%). They do not, however, have the same mechanical skills that their cousins have and have a harder time opening locks (-5%).
Gully dwarves are also not very skilled at hiding in shadows or climbing walls, receiving a -5% penalty to each.
It should be no surprise that gully dwarves receive a -25% penalty to reading languages, since most of them can't read.
General Life
Gullys are renowned for being stupid and obnoxious. In spite of this they have high opinions of themselves and take themselves very seriously. They consider other dwarves to be "uppity" and "stuck up
Because gully dwarves live in places that even orcs consider unattractive, they have few racial enemies. Scavenging most of their equipment from the junk heaps of other races, their "wealth" does not tempt others. Carrion crawlers have been known to turn up their tentacles rather than eat a gully dwarf.
Where did they come from? Other dwarves claim they are a cruel jest played by the gods on a mischievous stronghold of dwarves. There are rumors that they are outcasts from a stronghold who later bred and infested the world. Perhaps they are the result of cross-breeding between dwarves and gnomes, or dwarves and goblins. They may even have been the result of a vile experiment by an evil wizard. No one knows for sure, least of all the gullys themselves.
They are always treated with contempt, although they may be employed to perform menial tasks. Enclaves of gully dwarves could exist in most strongholds where they would be little better than slaves.
General Alignment
Gully dwarves are often of chaotic neutral alignment, but this diverse people may be of any alignment.
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