Wars and Conflicts

Unless dwarves in your world are a relatively recent race, they will have a long history of conflict behind them. These conflicts could have involved strongholds of dwarves fighting each other, or their traditional goblin, orc, hobgoblin, and giant enemies. Wars against humans or elves may also have occurred.

Dwarf Versus Dwarf

Conflicts between dwarves could have led to the original separation of the subraces. Unless you are running a deep earth campaign, it's best to allow hill or mountain dwarves to be the victors of such conflicts, so that they retain possession of the strongholds that are higher and better positioned.

Conflicts may take place between strongholds of hill dwarves. A real or imagined slight could cause them to turn on each other. Such a war could rage for hundreds or even thousands of years. It may even have gone on for so long that its original causes have been forgotten and all either side now knows is their vehement hatred for the enemy.

Civil wars are, alas, a possibility within in a stronghold. A major disagreement between clans may lead to a stronghold being split into factions, each controlled by separate clans more than prepared to make war upon the others.

Intradwarven wars may also be caused by competition over mineral rights, particularly where rich lodes of gold or mithral exist. Disputes may arise over possession of a powerful artifact, such as an anvil capable of creating magical weapons.

Wars may also be initiated by the intervention of evil deities, or by other races who succeed in fomenting trouble between rival strongholds. Duergar are invariably ready to attack other strongholds in order to capture slaves and loot, or merely to exercise their hatred of other dwarves.

Dwarves Against Evil

Dwarves have traditionally fought long and bitter wars against their evil enemies beneath the earth. This struggle has become one of "kill or be killed." As well as goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and giants, the war could involve drow, mind flayers, ogres, trolls, or any other intelligent race that inhabits the deep earth.

In some worlds these wars have raged constantly for centuries. In others they are sporadic affairs where evil races make small gains, or are pushed back each time they try to advance. Entire mountain ranges once filled with majestic dwarf strongholds may have fallen to hordes of goblins and orcs. These once exalted halls are now infested with evil monsters. The descendants of those who were driven from their ancestral halls now long to drive out the goblins and restore those halls to their former splendor.

Situations can exist where the dwarves are constantly under siege. They beat back the orcs, but orcs breed faster than dwarves do, so it is only a matter of time before the orcs' losses are replenished. (By extension, it can be seen that in order to prevail in a war against any of the fast-breeding goblinoid races, dwarves must inflict much heavier casualties than they suffer. In fact, dwarves must be very careful to avoid heavy losses in any but the most desperate engagements.) Dwarves have been known, grudgingly, to turn to humans and elves for assistance in times of need.

At War with Humans and Elves

Dwarven relationships with humans and elves are usually cautious. Dwarves may have fought elves or humans over mineral rights or other disputes. Elves are often haughty toward the dwellers underground and this attitude makes for tense interracial understandings.

Previous conflicts could have ended in stalemate with neither race gaining the upper hand. A tenuous peace may now exist between them. Alternatively, a war could have been fought that ended with few dwarves left alive. In self-defense, the survivors shut themselves in their strongholds and severed all ties with other races.

Another possibility is that, in a war between elves (or humans) and dwarves, the dwarves emerged victorious. The difficulty is that success took a very heavy toll upon dwarf lives and resources. The victors returned to their strongholds only to come under attack by goblins and orcs. Already weakened by the first war, they found themselves unable to defeat the monsters and were driven from their stronghold. During the years that followed, the elves (or humans), recovered from the war and prospered, while the dwarves struggled to survive. The dwarves would be very resentful toward the elves (or humans), even accusing them of inciting the goblin/orc attacks. (And at the same time, the elves and humans might seize the opportunity to work some revenge on the enemy that so recently humiliated them.)

These are broad historical scenarios, even the most cataclysmic of wars may have taken place so long ago that no one really remembers it. But dwarves and elves, especially, have long memories. The resultant racial animosity survives and trust between the races has vanished.

Relationships between humans, elves, and dwarves do not have to be antagonistic. They may simply fail to understand one another and find it difficult to adapt to the ways of the other. Rather than risk conflict, trade and other deals could be carried out diplomatically, in order to minimize the possibility of misunderstandings.

Dragon Wars

Dragons, with their love of treasure, have always looked with envy on the wealth of the dwarves. Dragons cannot mine gems and ores and dwarves can. Dragons look at dwarves as a race that has been created, not only to supply them with wealth, but with nourishment as well.

Dragons have taken over entire strongholds, killing or driving the inhabitants away. These strongholds may be held by a single dragon, families of them, or by one dragon with hordes of other evil allies.

The dwarves would then attempt to take back their homes and treasures. They may not react favorably when humans and other races drive out the dragons, only to keep dwarven ore and gems for themselves. When the dwarves demand their treasures and are told that they cannot have them, it is likely to lead to war.

Table of Contents