Debate: Mating between a Dwarf and a Duergar

[Clangeddin]

Earlier today I asked a DM if it would be possible for a dwarf and a duergar to mate and have a child (I suppose it would be.. a half duergar? =/), and he told me he think it's not possible, even though he stated that he didn't read any definite answer about that from any official source.

Anyway, I thought I may ask as well here on the forums reformulating the questions better:

1) Would it be possible for a dwarf and a duergar to be attracted by each other and mate?

2) If mating is possible, could a child be born from it?

3) If the child is born, would it be sterile? and what traits would it gain more, the duergar's or the dwarf's?

[Poltergeist]

1 & 2) I'm sure anything is possible, and I think half-duergar are in a sourcebook somewhere

3) I'm unsure, and while this is a fun exercise, please don't expect any sort of IG mechanical benefits to playing such a character.

If you want to play a half-duergar, I would suggest making a dwarf and putting cues in your description, and just roleplaying it with other dwarves. Could be fun.

[Clangeddin]

3) I'm unsure, and while this is a fun exercise, please don't expect any sort of IG mechanical benefits to playing such a character.

.

I'm talking about the visual traits. Would it stand out as clearly different than normal dwarves with a lot darker skin ecc, or could it be mistaken like a normal dwarf by everyone who doesn't know those individuals very well?

[Nyssis]

The only half-duergar that I know of that was clarified in Forgotten Realms source is the durzagon, who are fiend blooded much like tieflings and fey'ri, but I'd imagine that they wouldn't be incompatible with other dwarf subspecies. Even they show distinct duergar physical traits despite outsider blood, so I assume their DNA is dominant in crossbreeds.

You can roleplay a half-duergar looking however you'd like, of course, but I would make them look more duergar for one of my own creation. It's farfetched to me that a crossbreed would be able to blend in so easily with their surface cousins, though a human would probably turn a blind eye to the difference.

[YourMoveHolyMan]

dwrfgwyer

[Dispater]

I was the DM in question, and I made that assumption based on the fact that from all I've read on them they are hardly Dwarves anymore. They are magically screwed with, and their blood has demonic taint. I'd never heard of one, so I just figured it was one of those things that just didn't happen. Otherwise, I have no issue with the idea.

Though as he said, I couldn't give him a definite answer as I've never read about a half Duergar!

[Dispater]

I'm talking about the visual traits. Would it stand out as clearly different than normal dwarves with a lot darker skin ecc, or could it be mistaken like a normal dwarf by everyone who doesn't know those individuals very well?

As for this. Duergar are generally bald. When they aren't they don't just have grey hair, it is usually filled with spikes and quills.

[Talleyman99]

See Dwarves dont mate like your thinking. A female Dwarf is simply a dwarf who shaved off it's beard Thus making it a female, Then when it's beard hit the Ground it became a new male dwarf.

[Intrepid42]

My. And I thought that dwelves were an obscure topic.

Cross-breeds exist, and add interest to the world. But at the same time there must be reasons why they are uncommon, least the world be overrun with illithid-beholder-dragon-gnome cross-breeds, which isn't most folks idea of an ideal magical fantasy world.

Although there are always exceptions, it would seem. My search for answers to your question has taken me through corners of the internet I would usually actively avoid. So many fan-fiction hits... *shudders*

Half human/half-dwarves are well described in lore. But children of Duergar-Dwarf couples aren't cross-breeds in the standard sense, as both parents have the same base race.


Most Duergar are fertile, and can have children with themselves, and at least fiends/demons as well, the Durzagon of 4E. I couldn't locate a sourcebook reference for "half-duergar".



The most common answer in Faerun for couples of the same base race and different subrace can be found in a number of sources. The most authoritative is probably Races of Faerun (p4)

In game terms, a subrace is, for all intents and purposes, a race of its own, but all the subraces of a particular race share many of the same qualities and are related. When parents of different subraces have a child, the child almost always “takes after” one parent or the other.


There are competing sources, however, which imply that half-drow/half-elves can exist. Nothing for mixed-subrace dwarves I could find. Elves will sleep with anything that moves, apparently.


This is probably to reduce the amount of mixed-race-ness, which could cause all sorts of complications with working out racial abilities and stats. Probably for similar reasons, half-breeds often breed "true" with full-breeds. The offspring of a half-dwarf and full dwarf is a dwarf.


However, you may note the "almost always" opt-out in the text. DM's can rule however they wish in their own worlds. For example, there is a half wood elf/half drow NPC in the "FR: Demon Stone" game.


In Short:


Standard-flavour Faerun: probably either a Duergar or a Dwarf, not both


Sundren-flavour Faerun: whatever the DM wishes

[Mermillion]

See Dwarves dont mate like your thinking. A female Dwarf is simply a dwarf who shaved off it's beard Thus making it a female, Then when it's beard hit the Ground it became a new male dwarf.

I'm willing to accept this as canon.