UA:Aquatic Dwarves

This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.

Aquatic Dwarves

Beneath the waves, dwarves remain the masters of stone. They build massive, elaborate fortresses near the mineral-rich waters that surround undersea thermal vents.

Racial Traits: Aquatic dwarves have the following racial traits.

• Humanoid (Aquatic, Dwarf): An aquatic dwarf has the aquatic subtype. An aquatic dwarf can breathe underwater. He cannot also breathe air unless he also has the amphibious special quality. He can hold his breath outside the water for 2 rounds per point of Constitution. After that, he begins to suffocate.
• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, −4 Dexterity, −2 Charisma. Aquatic dwarves are tough enough to survive the brutal environment of the sea floor, but rely on strength and heavy armor rather than agility.
• Medium: As Medium creatures, aquatic dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Aquatic dwarf base land speed is 20 feet. However, aquatic dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• An aquatic dwarf has a swim speed of 20 feet. He can move through water at his swim speed without making Swim checks. He has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some action or avoid a hazard. He can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. He can use the run action while swimming, provided he swims in a straight line.
• Darkvision: Aquatic dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and aquatic dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
• Stonecunning: This ability grants an aquatic dwarf a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. An aquatic dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and an aquatic dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. An aquatic dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Weapon Familiarity: Aquatic dwarves may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
• Stability: An aquatic dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs and goblinoids.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon.
• Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass aquatic dwarf’s fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
• Level Adjustment: +0*.

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