The Slayer’s Guide to Duergar
A d20 sourcebook
From: Mongoose Publishing
Reviewed by: Marc Shayed
The Slayer’s Guide to Duergar is the latest in the line of d20 racial sourcebooks from Mongoose Publishing in the “Slayer’s Guide” series. Detailing the existence and life of the stoneworkers of the underdark. They are a dark and callous offshoot of the dwarvin race that untold generations in the foul darkness have left them twisted and filled with hatred for their kin of the hills and mountains. The duergar are those who toil, struggle and flourish in the deepest part of world in conditions that even their sturdy cousins would wither and die.
From the back of the book:
“The duergar, often called grey dwarves, live well-hidden in the darkness of the cold ground, reveling in mischief and evil deeds of all sorts and despising their cousins still living on the surface world now forbidden to them. Once a mysterious people, more has been discovered about their way of life, and sages hope that with the information provided by their texts one will be able to understand the intrinsic nature of these creatures and be aware of the dangers they represent.”
From beginning to end, this book covers the life cycle, tactics, habits, physiology and religion of the grey dwarves. The first topic addressed in depth is the unique physiology of the duergar. They have adapted to the scarce food, strange radiations and total darkness of the deep places in the world. From the ability to move silently, to invisibility these dark miners are the absolute masters of their territory, and woe be to those that stumble into their traps.
This race has several interesting developments that make them both attractive as adversaries for GMs to use, and the ‘nifty-stuff’ that makes them desirable for players. The first is their immunity to any form of paralysis (including Hold Person and the effects of undead), phantasms, and all poisons that are not natural. Their highly developed stealth is one of their primary weapons, incluinding their innate invisibility ability. They have also developed several other “magical” abilities that can be quite astounding. Overall, and at the very least, they will make an interesting interactions.
Other topic that is covered quite extensively is the culture and religion. The duergar worship an evil and greedy god called “The Lord of Toil”. They believe that suffering and never-ending toil is this only way to live and serve their god. Because of this, they have developed a strong clan based society that the clerics hold very strong sway. This is demonstrated by their ceremony “The Hand of Toil”. In this ceremony (that is performed every ten years, EVERY adult duergar makes an offering and supplicates himself before their god. If the Lord of Toil is pleased with the offering… then it is taken. If, however, the offering is smashed and rejected, the grey dwarf is put to the test. Only if the Lord of Toil deems them to have potential will the dwarf survive. All things in this society are hardship and toil. They pride themselves on their seeming unshakable constitution.
Further on the development of this “evil” race is their weapons for, and style of warfare. They favor short weapons that are useable in the tight places in their tunnels. They also have a few “special” feats to use some of the weapons that are unique to the duergar (such as the ‘bladed crossbow’). With all of the emphasis on stealth, it comes as no surprise that the duergar favor assassinations and ambushes over a straight-out attack. It is so ingrained into them that even the Lord of Toil tells them that these are the two paths to take in any battle. In other words, anyone facing a war with the duergar is actually facing an army of assassins ready to cut throats in the night, and an army of rouges, who know how and when to lay an ambush, and make it lethal. Even when pressed into a stand-up fight, the duergar’s abilities to “Enlarge” themselves, turn invisible, and even summon earthquakes makes them terrifying opponents.
There are a few pieces to this book that can be used to enhance the other dwarven races. Being “Stone-Touched” is one such feat. This basically means that the dwarf has such a connection with the earth and rock, that is has partially transformed part of the dwarf into rock. Such as stone scales where his eyebrows should be, or a stone stalagmite where his goatee should be. This feat can be take up to five times, and each level grants the dwarf a deeper understanding of rock, and greater abilities that may be the source of many of the great dwarven legends. This is also a prerequisite for two of the duergar prestige classes (that other dwarves may take with GM permission) The Stone Caller and Black Rock Magi. These are both spell casting classes with different twists to them. Where as the Stone Caller seems to much more of a “druid of stone”, the Black Rock Magi use a form of “magic stone” that is only found in the deepest places, and the Magi use this to help power their dark arcane powers.
From the back of the book:
“Duergar are masters of treachery and deceit and are engaged in an everlasting struggle with the other rages of the underdark in their search for dominance over those realms. Drow are their fierce competitors in this domain, but duergar have surrounded themselves with such ingenuity that even dark elves have learned to respect them as capable adversaries. Duergar retain much of the dwarven race’s traits even if their metabolism has changed somewhat to adapt to their environment, and their communities have evolved into a well-oiled fighting power to be reckoned with. Duergar are not to be taken lightly. They are cunning and intelligent and, most of all, can be very unpredictable.”
From ‘how’ to play them, ‘how’ to use them, and all of the details on how to fit them into a campaign, this book really does succeed in delivering on it’s promises. As with most of the Slayer’s Guides, it is well written and fairly well illustrated, the book does offer a new set of options for GMs and players alike.
So… what does Marc really think?
Well… I liked it, my players liked it, and it was a source for some good material. I had several experienced players adventuring in some caves get lost and stumbled into duergar territory. The ambushes and the fights left 2 out of 5 players dead, 1 captured (now is a slave), and 2 got away (but not unscathed). This is a good race to use as an adversary, or for plot hooks. They are fairly versatile and they have a lot of cool abilities that will make your players think twice before chasing a grey dwarf into a cave.
There however is 1 problem… the race is pretty powerful, and with being “stone-touched” this lends to interesting, but potentially very powerful PCs. A GM should take a little care and use caution when allowing a player to play a duergar… if for nothing else to help keep the party balance.
Other than that… this is a good book for those that like to play dwarves.
Above all, I suggest you judge for yourselves. Check out Mongoose Publishing and their new d20 sourcebook The Slayer’s Guide to Duergar at their website http://www.mongoosepublishing.com …and of course at all of your local game stores!
The Slayer’s Guide to Duergar
From: Mongoose Publishing
Type of Game: d20 racial sourcebook
Written by: Sandrine Thirache and August Hahn
Cover Art by: Anne Stokes
Additional Art by: David Griffith & Chris Quiliams
Number of Pages: 32
Retail Price: $ 9.95 (US)
Item Number: MGP0014
IBSN: 1-903980-56-9
Expansions: Slayer’s Guide series
Email: info@ mongoosepublishing.com
Website: www.mongoosepublishing.com
Reviewed by: Marc Shayed
Review Editor
http://www.GamingReport.com
