Gully Dwarves (Aghar)
Gully Dwarves (Aghar)
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APPEARANCE
Gully dwarves are short,
squat demi-humans,
averaging four feet in height; they
have an average weight of 100 lbs., give
or
take about 10 lbs. Females tend to be
slightly
smaller than males. Aghar are physically
much like other dwarves, except that they
are
often covered with scars, boils, sores,
and filth
due to their living conditions.
Gully dwarves have skin
tones ranging from
olive brown to a light parchment color.
Mottled
and splotched skin is not uncommon,
and a few have a dirty gray-brown skin
tone.
Male gully dwarves wear long, scruffy
beards;
females have cheek hair but no beards.
Hair
color is usually dirty blond, brown, rust,
gray,
or dull black. Eye color can be watery
blue,
dull green, brown, or hazel.
Gully dwarves don't
appear to be as heavy
and stocky as other sorts of dwarves.
They also
have narrower fingers and limbs. Pot bellies
are very common among both sexes, and
gully
dwarves develop wrinkles quickly after
age 25.
HISTORY
Gully dwarves have
an extensive oral tradition
of their origins and history. Unfortunately,
no two gully dwarf clans agree on any
relevant details. The stories are very
colorful
and entertaining to others, though gully
dwarves take them very seriously.
For our purposes, we
turn to other sources.
The tale of the
Greystone of Gargath tells of
how the dwarves and kender came into being.
In the years that followed, a few intermarriages
between gnomes and dwarves occurred
in isolated communities across Ansalon.
Surprisingly,
the children of such marriages
proved to be of an entirely new race,
with their
own particular characteristics. The members
of this new race lacked all the better
qualities
of their parents.
Further intermarriages
were banned by
dwarven && gnomish societies.
Members of
this new race were driven out of their
own
clans, particularly by the dwarves, who
regarded
them as a blight. This new dwarven race
became known as the Aghar ("the anguished").
Humans later christened them gully dwarves,
noting the race's low status and
poor living conditions.
The Cataclysm was at
once the curse of the
world and the salvation of the gully dwarves.
The destruction of civilization in Ansalon
opened up dozens of deserted, ruined cities
to
habitation by wandering gully dwarf tribes.
Soon once-mighty towns like Xak Tsaroth
became havens for the Aghar. Undisturbed
by
the REST of the world, the gully dwarves
were
free to est. their own cultures--such
as
they were.
PHILOSOPHIES
The most important
facets of a gully dwarf's
personality are generally agreed to be
survival
instinct, pride, endurance, and stupidity.
Though derided by other intelligent races
of
Ansalon, gully dwarves continue to thrive
under conditions that would have broken
many others.
Gully dwarves are born
to survive; they
skillfully avoid exposing themselves to
harm
and regard cowardice as a virtue. Groveling
has been raised to the level of an art
form in
their society.
The stupidity of gully
dwarves is lejendary.
They can grasp the concept of a single
item
and of a group of items, but they cannot
distinguish
between large groups and small
groups. Most Aghar don't recognize numbers
greater than one, which may derive from
the
fact that they do not recognize the needs
of
anyone other than themselves. Any #
greater than one is called "two," which
simply
means "more than one."
Although considered
foolish by all other
races, gully dwarves are a proud folk
and act
with great seriousness. They ten to have
inflated ideas of their own places in
the grand
scheme of things; puncturing their egos
is an
almost impossible task.
SOCIETY
Gully
dwarf communities are usu. quite
small. Aghar prefer
to live in extended family
units, called clans, which have 2-20 members.
Some very large clans can
have up to 60 members.
Most live in villages abandoned by previous
owners or in the wilderness in old mines
and caves. Small clans
may live in the slums
and refuse dumps of large
cities; several major
cities in Ansalon have gully dwarves living
in
their sewer systems. The leader of clan
is
responsible for keeping the family together
and is the sole voice of authority (although
his
authority is frequently questioned).
Occasionally, several
clans live together,
usu. in a ruined or abandoned city. Major
Aghar communities hold between 40 and
400
adult dwarves and a similar amount of
children.
At least two clans are present and sometimes
as many as five.
Each clan has a chieftain
and the strongest,
cleverest, and most charismatic of these
chieftans
becomes the local king. Kings are served
by bodyguards and by a completely chaotic
hierarchy or lesser functionaries with
no clearly
defined roles or duties.
Because of the gully
dwarves' egotism and
inability to count, it is not unusual
to find a
sucession of kings with the same name,
each
calling himself "the First."
GULLY DWARVES
GAME STATISTICS
Generating Abilities:
The initial ability rolls are generated using special
dice rolls, to reflect their
unique nature. The
following table shows max.
&& min.
ability scores as well as
the dice to roll: <as>
Gully Dwarf Ability Scores
| Ability | Minimum | Maximum |
| Strength (4d4 + 2) | 6 | 18 |
| Intelligence (2d4 + 1) | 3 | 9 |
| Wisdom (2d4 + 1) | 3 | 9 |
| Dexterity (4d4 + 2) | 6 | 18 |
| Constitution (3d4) | 3 | 12 |
| Charisma (2d4 + 1) | 3 | 9 |
| Comeliness <> | - | - |
Gully Dwarf Class Limits
| Class | Maximum Level |
| Cavalier | N/E * |
| Paladin | N/E * |
| Knight of the Crown | N/E * |
| Knight of the Sword | N/E * |
| Knight of the Rose | N/E * |
| Fighter | 6 |
| Barbarian | 7 < ** > |
| Ranger | N/E * |
| Magic-User (Renegade) | N/E * |
| Illusionist | N/E * |
| Wizard of High Sorcery | N/E * |
| Thief | 8 |
| Thief/Acrobat | 8 |
| Cleric (Heathen) | N/E * |
| Druid (Heathen) | N/E * |
| Holy Orders of the Stars | 5 |
* N/E means not eligible
for the class
< ** technically, gully dwarves can't even enter the Barbarian class,
with a max. CON of 12! >
A
FREQUENCY:
NO. APPEARING: 1-
ARMOR CLASS:
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE:
% IN LAIR: Nil%
TREASURE TYPE: []
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: <(Dull)
(Scheming among Kings)>
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral
<(CN, CE, CG, N : D102.15)>
SIZE:
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense
Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:
<
S 12, I 6, W 6, D 12, C
8, C 6, Com 3
>
<
ODOR: "I smell Gully
Dwarf!" - Flint (DLC1.GN.50)
>
<
POSSESSIONS: Scant (guess)
APPEARANCE: Dirty || Unkempt
|| Ragged (DL3, ea.)
SOCIABILITY: Egoist
DISPOSITION: Proud || Cheerful
HONESTY: Deceitful (guess)
MORALE: 1 HD = 35, 2 HD
= 40, 3 HD = 45, 4 HD = 50 (Craven)
PIETY: Reverent (guess)
PROFICIENCIES: Endurance, Mountaineering
Source: 103.12, unless noted
>
<
DMG.80: bonus (+) on saves
vs. forget
>