The Dwarven Personalities (CBD)

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The following personalities are provided as spurs to the imagination. They are intended as concepts to be used and developed by players with dwarf characters. Each personality provides a framework for the character's role playing personality, and can be amended, added to, or combined with other personalities.
Players are encouraged to alter and modify the personality types in any way they like. Characteristics can be combined to create new types.
A player may wish to change his character's personality. In the course of adventuring, he may have experiences that cause him to change and grow. Such changes should be rare, and should mark a major turning point in life. A personality should not be changed just for the sake of trying something new. The change should develop naturally out of the events of the campaign, perhaps as a result of a catastrophic event.
Each personality description includes the following information:
It starts with a general description of the character's attitudes, motivations, and outlook. It suggests how he is likely to function in a typical campaign. In some cases, recommendations are made as to what type of player may find a particular personality the most enjoyable to play.
Best Suited For: Some personality types are more appropriate for certain alignments than others, and some are more appropriate for certain kits. These are recommendations, not hard and fast rules. Novice players are advised to remain within the alignment and kit recommendations.
Combat Situations: Each personality type approaches combat situations differently. Some might charge straight ahead with weapons swinging, while others might hold back to size up the enemy before committing themselves.
Role Playing Situations: How is a character likely to react to NPCs? These suggestions should be used as guidelines when role-playing conversations, small talk, interrogations, and interviews. There are also ideas about how the character might interact with other PCs.
==The Decadent==
The Decadent is one who follows the ways of other races instead of dwarven ways. He may have been living in close proximity to other races, such as elves or humans, or he may have made a conscious decision that another culture had superior qualities to his own. Possibilities include a dwarf who was captured while young and raised by a tribe of orcs. His loyalties would be to orcs, rather than his own race. A character may have converted to the other race's religion, forswearing dwarven things.
Best Suited For: Decadent dwarves are suitable for all kits and alignments except the Battlerager. The Outcast kit is a good choice. A Decadent personality allows a player to role-play someone who is outwardly dwarven, but is far from dwarven inside. It also allows dwarf priests or warrior/priests to be members of another race's religion.
Combat Situations: There is no specific Decadent combat response.
Role Playing Situations: Decadent dwarves may act like humans, elves, or others in dwarf form, and will share the attitudes of their adopted race.
They are viewed with suspicion by other dwarves. They are never completely trusted. Dwarves will be circumspect with a Decadent dwarf.
They don't get on very well with other dwarves, seeing them as deficient in some way. Many other races have difficulty accepting a Decadent dwarf unless he grew up as part of their society. A dwarf who was raised by a tribe of orcs would be accepted by the orcs of that tribe, but he would still be a racial enemy to other orcs who don't know him.
==Glory Seeker==
The Glory Seeker hopes to become famous by performing heroic deeds. He dreams of becoming one of the heroes of legend whose deeds are still sung though the hero died a thousand years ago.
Best Suited For: Axe for Hire, Battlerager, Highborn, or any priest or warrior/priest kit. Lawful and good alignments are best for a Glory Seeker, but chaotics may also fill this role.
Combat Situations: He fights for glory, reveling in the action, and dreams of his portrayal by storytellers to generations yet unborn. His love of action causes him to take risks, but he will try to avoid endangering his companions. He will place himself in grave danger to protect others or to rescue them, or even just to see if he can survive it, if that action alone would be heroic.
Role-Playing Situations: He enjoys being the center of attention, but is not necessarily a skilled speaker. He may recognize his weaknesses and allow others to lead in negotiations. He wishes only to be acknowledged for the hero he is. When dealing with dwarves, particularly if he is the only dwarf in a party, he will take command of the situation, or at least make it clear that he is the leader of the party, even if he is not. He wishes others to see him as an epic figure.
==The Grumbler==
The Grumbler loves being unhappy. Nothing satisfies him. It's either too damp, too dark, too smelly, too cold, too hot, or simply wrong. There is never a right. He may grudgingly admit that things are not too bad, but they are bad enough. He is only happy when he has something to be unhappy about.
He is not always vocal about his unhappiness. A few well-placed moans may be the best protest, as long as everyone knows that he is not happy.
Best Suited For: Most kits, except the Diplomat, will work. To give him something to grumble about, see to the negative side of the kit. For instance, a Locksmith could be complaining that he's always the one to open locks and look for traps. The Vermin Slayer risks his neck exploring tunnels, with little thanks. The real key to playing a grumbler is remembering that he actually enjoys what he does, he just never admits it.
Combat Situations: The Grumbler may approach combat as just another chore to be done, or as an opportunity to take out his unhappiness on others. He may approach combat with disguised zeal, never admitting his enjoyment. Taken to extremes, the Grumbler will complain about the sloppy fighting methods of his opponents, or their treachery, which caused him injury.
Role-playing Situations: He fits the stereotype of the dour, taciturn dwarf. He only speaks to complain, and something as simple as ordering a room at an inn sounds like a complaint ("And don't stick me in a room infested with lice, I want a decent one—make sure it isn't over the common room or I won't get any sleep").
==The Hoarder==
This character is obsessed with acquiring, hoarding, and counting wealth. He never spends it if he can avoid it, and he is always the first one to search the pockets of vanquished opponents. In his spare time he counts his gold and polishes his gems. He takes the race's love of wealth to an avaricious extreme, and may become violent if someone even looks at his treasure. He doesn't like talking about it because talk arouses others' greed. He covets any treasure that isn't his, and is often spotted eyeing it enviously. Other party members can easily manipulate him by offering gems and other material rewards.
Best Suited For: Any alignment. A good character will be a private individual who doesn't want others prying into his affairs. He won't steal from other party members, but he is not averse to pocketing an odd gem or trinket found on an enemy or in a treasure haul (especially if no one else noticed it). He readily rationalizes why he should have things that aren't currently his. Neutral and evil characters are more likely to steal, but they are smart enough not to be obvious. Leave one of them alone with a treasure chest and he is guaranteed to rifle it, pocketing the choicest items. This is the wrong character to leave guarding the packs.
Any type of thief character makes an ideal Hoarder, as do most other character kits except Diplomat and Highborn.
Combat Situations: The Hoarder is often a determined fighter who realizes that the quickest way to get more loot is to take it from people or creatures who no longer need it (i.e., dead ones). His greed can lead him to be foolhardy, or to go off on his own in dangerous areas. The sight of a beautiful gem in the eye of a statue, across a chamber full of orcs, is likely to lead a Hoarder to fight his way to it, or leave his companions to fight while he sneaks around the edge in the hope of pocketing the gem in the confusion.
Role-playing Situations: The Hoarder is always looking for the best deal in any situation. Unlike the Statesman, he is frequently not very good at getting it; his greed is so apparent that others can easily manipulate him and strike hard bargains.
==The Optimist==
The optimist is an outgoing, cheerful character, always looking on the bright side, even when circumstances are dire. To the optimist, there is always a brighter and better tomorrow, and even the worst situation can be turned to advantage.
Best Suited For: Ideally suited to players who wish to play cheerful characters. Taken to its extreme, an Optimist can be as much an irritation as a Grumbler. Instead of finding fault, every situation has a redeeming quality.
The Optimist works best with good or neutral characters, evil isn't very optimistic (but may hide behind an optimistic facade).
Entertainer, Animal Master, and Sharpshooter work well with this personality, but it can be used interestingly with Ghetto Fighter.
In Combat Situations: The Optimist is no fool. In combat he is capable of weighing the opposition and acting to ensure the best possible result. He is not given to rushing into combat, but neither will he shirk his responsibilities. He may counsel a timely retreat or a rear-guard action, rather than a frontal assault, but when the chips are down, he'll meet his fate with a grin. He genuinely believes that any odds can be overcome with the right plan.
Role-playing Situations: The cheery good nature of the Optimist suits him well. He enjoys meeting people of other races and he often changes the opinions of those who think all dwarves are dour. 
==The Paragon==
The Paragon takes racial pride to the extreme. Dwarf achievements are the highest possible and no other race can hope to measure up to the standards dwarves have set. He finds fault with others, especially other races, but he can just as easily find fault with other subraces. He is always comparing the lifestyles and actions of others to his own way of life, and they rarely, if ever, match his standards.
To this character, elves are flighty and apathetic; orcs are wretched, brutal, and depraved; humans and halflings too easily distracted; and gnomes are obsessed with the wrong things.
Best Suited For: Any alignment will work well. Lawful good Paragons will be helpful and offer unwanted suggestions of how others can improve themselves and benefit from being lawful and good. Chaotics will simply be showoffs and fault finders. Evil and neutral characters can be vindictively opinionated and callous about others. A Paragon may be used with any kit.
Combat Situations: Paragons can always find reasons to be in combat. "Pah! They need a dwarf in there to show them how it's done; humans and elves got no idea." They can just as easily find reasons not to get involved; "Don't see why I have to fight 'em; it's a human problem, not mine!"
Role-playing Situations: A bad choice for a Diplomat. It is too easy for him to be obnoxious and rude to others. Given the will to remain silent, he's still likely to open his mouth and cut loose with barbed comments. In everyday situations, he is likely to make more enemies than friends. He creates friction among fellow party members, particularly if there are other races present, with his opinions.
==The Phobic==
He is scared. He may be unable to approach bodies of water, or has a morbid fear of heights, or a fear of open spaces, or of enclosed places, or of certain types of monsters: goblins or umber hulks, perhaps.
Whatever the phobic is afraid of, it prevents him from fully functioning when dealing with the object of his phobia. He may simply refuse to go anywhere near it. This may be represented in gaming terms by giving the character penalties to his attack and damage rolls; penalties of -2 to -5 are suitable. Or he may have to make a saving throw vs. paralyzation to approach the thing he fears.
Best Suited For: Players who enjoy flawed characters will find Phobics good fun to play, though they are more restricted than other character types.
Any alignment or character kit can be used with a Phobic. Sundered dwarves are always claustrophobic. A Phobic may easily be combined with another personality; a Glory Seeker with a fear of water, for example.
Combat Situations: The Phobic performs well until faced with the object of his phobia. Then he becomes reluctant to fight, and may even flee as if affected by a fear spell. A saving throw may be called for in such situations to see whether he continues to fight, or flees.
Role-playing Situations: In most situations the Phobic functions normally, acting as the player wants, but faced with his phobia, he changes dramatically. When he is combined with other personalities, there are intriguing possibilities. Imagine an orc-hating Battlerager who has a suicidal disregard for his own safety when fighting orcs, but turns and flees when faced with a single kobold.
==The Pragmatist==
In any given situation, the pragmatist knows what has to be done and does it, ruthlessly and efficiently. He takes only calculated risks, and is never foolhardy.
Best Suited For: Pragmatists are only suitable for neutral and evil characters. Good characters suffer from having to do the right thing; Pragmatists do the required thing. Suitable for Axe For Hire, Vermin Slayer, Sharpshooter, Trader, or Ghetto Fighter.
Combat Situations: He prefers to weigh the odds before committing to combat, considering weaknesses and opportunities that may be exploited to best advantage. Once engaged, he will fight to eliminate his opponents as quickly as possible, by any means, however ruthless or underhanded.
Role-playing Situations: A Pragmatist can be gruff and taciturn, or he may be more open, even happy and gregarious. In negotiation, he pushes for the best deal, but he also knows when he has achieved all he can.
==The Statesman==
The Statesman is concerned with getting the best deal for his clan, stronghold, and race, in that order. He exudes natural leadership, or at least likes to think that he does. This may be a result of his birth, his upbringing, or his own inflated opinion of himself. He takes charge of most situations, acting in a decisive and imposing manner.
Best Suited For: The Statesman is best suited for the Diplomat and Highborn kits. The Champion and Ghetto Fighter are also useful. Chaotic characters are usually too carefree or self-centered to make good Statesmen.
In Combat Situations: He does not see himself as a good combatant. He would rather engage in diplomacy, but if that fails he may try to take command of a party. His success depends on whether he is also a competent commander.
Role-playing Situations: In these situations, he is at his best. He loves to present his credentials and debate issues and try to obtain the best deal. He tends to become the mouthpiece for a party, negotiating for necessities.
Category:The Complete Book of Dwarves