Choice of Subraces (CBD)

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As DM you have full control over which dwarf subraces to include in your campaign world, either as player or nonplayer characters. You may decide that some of these subraces do not exist in your campaign world at all. In Chapter 4, six different subraces are available for player characters. You do not have to use all of them. You may wish instead to restrict players to hill and mountain dwarves.
If dwarves are an underground race, with little surface contact, why are hill and mountain dwarves different? The distinctions may have arisen from an encounter with other races such as elves or humans, or because the mountains are also inhabited by evil monsters, and the hills are less prone to monster incursions.
Mountain dwarves have far less contact with humans and elves, who only expand into the mountains in search of mineral wealth or when population pressures or warring enemies force them into new areas.
If, in your campaign world, the gods created the different subraces of dwarves, then there is no reason to come up with any other rationale why there are several kinds of dwarves in the world. The creation myth explains the differences. If not, you need to include the separation of the subraces as part of your history of the dwarves.
If you have already worked up the mythic history of your world, using the suggestions in The Complete Priest's Handbook, all you need to decide is how dwarves fit into that history.
Alternatively, you may create your own myths for your world. There is no reason why dwarves and humans should agree how the world was created. They could share common beliefs, but with more emphasis being given to the gods of each race and their role in the mythic history of the world.
Category:The Complete Book of Dwarves