Publisher: Wizards of the CoastDwarves have a reputation that is both good and bad. On the good side, they are known as loyal, hard-working, dependable, and fierce defenders of their homes. On the other side, they are condsidered...well, a little dull.
No longer. The Dwarves of Rockhome, the latest Gazetteer for the DUNGEONS and amp; DRAGONS games system, gives you a complete, in-depth look at a vibrant, living, anything-but-dull society. Included is information on the history, government, economy, and geography of Rockhome, as well as entries on the major cities and towns, and biographies on dozens of important figures. For the first time, learn the truth about dwarven magic-users, clerics, and religions! And like the other Gazetteers, the Dwarves of Rockhome not only includes complete adventures, but background information for home-hewn plots. And of course, there are the high-quality, detailed four-color maps you've come to expect. The Dwarves of Rockhome is the sixth in this popular series, providing a rich tapestry of background material for player and DM alike.
Product History
GAZ6: and quot;The Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; (1988), by Aaron Allston, is the sixth book in the and quot;GAZ and quot; series of Gazetteers for the Known World. It was published in April 1988.
Continuing the and quot;GAZ and quot; Sourcebooks. Two months after the publication of GAZ5: and quot;The Elves of Alfheim and quot;, and quot;The Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; appeared, offering a nice complement as a second racial/geography book for the Known World. Like its predecessor, it mixes together player info, gazetteer info, and adventures. In fact the player information has actually grown from the 8-page pullout in and quot;Alfheim and quot; to become an integral part of the book that's almost 40 pages long! This foreshadowed GAZ7: and quot;The Northern Reaches and quot; (1988), when the Gazetteer would be entirely split into player and DM books.
Expanding D and amp;D. As with a few of the other early Gazetteers, and quot;Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; offers a variant class: the dwarf-cleric. It also continues the focus on skills for Basic D and amp;D.
A History of Dwarves. Dwarves stand shoulder to shoulder with elves as one of the major fantasy races, but they've never gotten as much love. Oh, sure they debuted in OD and amp;D (1974) as one of just three non-human races, but after that Dragonlance (1984-1986) was the only setting to give them much attention. But, it was a lot of attention! DL4: and quot;Dragons of Desolation and quot; (1984) detailed no less than seven(!) types of Krynnish dwarves; that probably influenced the similar categorization of hill, mountain, and gray dwarves in Unearthed Arcana (1985).
That was it for TSR in the '80s, but a few other publishers were making dwarven inroads. To start with, early adventures like Wee Warrior's and quot;The Dwarven Glory and quot; (1977), Judges Guild's and quot;Glory Hole Dwarven Mine and quot; (1981), and Integrated Games' and quot;The Halls of the Dwarven Kings and quot; (1984) were set in dwarven ruins. Meanwhile a few sourcebooks appeared including Dwarves (1982) for Mayfair's Roleaids line, Moria: The Dwarven City (1984) for ICE's MERP, and Dwarven Halls (1985) for Sustare and amp; Henricks' short-lived Swordbearer (1982, 1985) RPG. These more expansive books still described ruins, but they gave some attention to dwarven society too.
Following the publication of and quot;The Dwarves of Rockhome and quot;, there would be a little explosion of dwarf sourcebooks for D and amp;D, including FR11: Dwarves Deep (1990) for the Realms, PHBR6: The Complete Book of Dwarves (1991), Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn (1993), and finally Player's Secrets of Baruk-Azhik (1996) for Birthright and hellip; but after that it would fall to other publishers to carry the dwarven torch (especially in the d20 days).
Expanding the Known World. and quot;Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; continues the exploration of the Known World by detailing the dwarven homeland, which had otherwise received little attention. As with many of the Gazetteers, and quot;Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; doesn't present a monolithic society, but instead divides it into clans. There are seven total: a clerical clan, an aristocratic clan, an isolationist clan, a technology clan, a mining and trade clan, a warrior clan, and a farmer clan.
The technological clan (the Syrklist) deserves some additional commentary because they're related to a short discussion of and quot;dwarven science and quot;. and quot;Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; suggests that dwarven mechanical devices can be use for comedic effect and mdash; essentially giving the Syrklist the role of Tinker Gnomes in Dragonlance. It was probably natural to have dwarves fill the tinker gnome niche in the Known World, as gnomes barely had any presence there until he advent of the skygnomes in PC2: and quot;Top Ballista and quot; (1989).
and quot;Dwarves of Rockhome and quot; also details Dengar, the capital of Rockhome, and gives some attention to several other sites, most notably the city of Stahl.
About the Creators. Allston was perhaps Basic D and amp;D's most notable writer in the late '80s and early '90s, from GAZ1: and quot;The Grand Duchy of Karameikos and quot; (1987) to Dungeons and amp; Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991) and Wrath of the Immortals (1992).
About the Product Historian
The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of and nbsp;Designers and amp; Dragons and nbsp;- a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.