Dwarven Pirate Challenge

[Cardboard Carnage]

I have been given a challenge by members of my gaming group (I am DM) to introduce Dwarven Pirates into the campaign.

I have some good ideas but thought I'd post the question here for some fresh ideas people maybe could give me.

My initial thought was to develop an island off the coast, maybe 50 miles off coast, that has a lot of really high mountains, and the dwarves have found some rare ore there they are mining, thus the need to have ships and travel back and forth, etc.

Any cool thoughts might help me develop a better scenario, etc.

Thanks in advance.
D.

 

[Bumbles]

Ever read Salvatore's Demon books?

They feature a race of blood-thirsty dwarves (or powries) who wear red-caps and peddle barrel-boats like bicycles.

Pretty savage folks.

 

[Merlin's Shadow]

Well, if you're trying to make the pirate dwarves still somewhat resemble the typical D&D dwarf, what about...

A clan of dwarves fought a war with an alliance of men and elves. They lost and were driven from their mountain home. They retreated to a small group of sparsely populated islands. Now, in an effort to fight back, they have resorted to piracy, hit and run raids against human and elven ships. If the dwarves are skilled engineers, perhaps they have even created the first submersible vessel.

 

[Squizzle]

My second instinct is "viking pirates". My first instinct is to ask if duergar would fulfill the terms of the challenge, because spike-launching, broad-shouldered beard-satams seems like a great concept for a pirate crew. Maybe include some sort of imp as a parrot stand-in.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yeah I had a Viking sorta dwarf lot (Sea Dwarf) in a campaign.The dwarves all came from a massive mountain range with Mnt Dwarves living deep in, Hill Dwarves living on the landward side (and used t dealing with other races) and on the massive cliffs/fjords (think uboat pens in WW2 with dwarven vikings in the caves) on the seaward side of mountains the Sea Dwarves.
They were very isolated and were very similar to other dwarves. However their isolation led them to thing of everything not dwarvish as dangerous and evil there fore fair game in raids and piracy

 

[Savage Wombat]

Dwarves go where the gems are. If gold and jewels are only available by seafaring, then dwarves will be at sea.

I had dwarven pearl-divers (reef dwarves) in more than one campaign setting for that very reason.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I could see dwarven shipbuilders being the first to invent ironclads, or at least ironclad ship rams. Ditto Paddlewheels. And submersibles- mines, after all, frequently have flooding, so Dwarves know how to pump water and air.

 

[Klaus]

If I had to play a dwarf pirate, it'd be the one I did for Pozas Art Pack: Pirates:

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"Nobody touches the monkey!"

 

[bmadden]

The dwarves in my campaign live on an

"island off the coast, maybe 50 miles off coast, that has a lot of really high mountains, and the dwarves have found some rare ore there they are mining"

and their shipments to the mainland have been robbed by pirates over and over again.

A contingent has just left the island to chase the pirates.
They're using a PumiceBoat, crafted from the pumice that covers the shore of the island where ancient lava flows solidified.

 

[I'm A Banana]

My initial thought was to develop an island off the coast, maybe 50 miles off coast, that has a lot of really high mountains, and the dwarves have found some rare ore there they are mining, thus the need to have ships and travel back and forth, etc.

Not bad. Here's some more thoughts.

Oil Rig: Dwarves are industrial. They conquer the natural world with raw metal and power. They have made off-shore castles that suspend themselves over the bottom of the sea so that they can drill into the heart of the earth and take her precious innards. Entire clans live their lives without ever seeing solid land, fishing and mining and sending off barrels to cousins on the shore. The dwarven pirates are go-betweens who bring the oil back and bring necessities to their brethren at sea. Most long to get back...

Whalers: Ever read Moby Dick? Ahab is a brilliant archetype for a dwarf: one big obsession that he just can't get past. Most characters work pretty well that way, actually. Dwarves that sail the seas, ships covered in carnage from previous hunts, hunting the largest beasts in the world. HARPOONS AWAY, BOYS!

Volcanoes: Polynesian dwarven pirates in canoes and outriggers with an elaborate trade network, who use obsidian and wood, and who can get very close to the Fire of the Earth without getting burned themselves...sulfur-smelling dwarves covered in burn-scars.

Vikings: Rape and pillage all the way down the coast, retreat away before anyone can martial naval backup. Fast, rutheless, and grim.

False limbs should be fun to do with a dwarf-like level of industrial technology. Personally, I'm a huge fan of the whalers idea. Dwarven whalers! Yay!