The New DnD Dwarf (2024 Species Guide)
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As strong and sturdy as mountain stone, Dwarves have become almost synonymous with Dungeons & Dragons, with the race appearing in the earliest editions of the game. Over the decades, they’ve also evolved considerably in DnD, giving birth to new subraces like the Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, Duergar and Mark of Warding dwarves of Eberron.
More recently, dwarves have been reforged in the pages of the new 2024 Player’s Handbook, earning a top spot as one of ten playable starting DnD species. The rules, however, have also introduced a number of changes to the dwarf species as a whole, including a new special ability, improved speed, increased Darkvision range, and few other surprises.
So is the new dwarf as well-crafted as ever? Below, we delve deep into DnD 2024 to find out.
What are Dwarves in DnD 2024?
In the new 2024 Core Books, Dwarves were raised from the earth in the elder days by a deity of the forge. Called by various names on different worlds—Moradin, Reorx, and others—that god gave dwarves an affinity for stone and metal and for living underground. The god also made them resilient like the mountains, with a life span of about 350 years.
Squat and often bearded, the original dwarves carved cities and strongholds into mountainsides and under the earth. Their oldest legends tell of conflicts with the monsters of mountaintops and the Underdark, whether those monsters were towering giants or subterranean horrors. Inspired by those tales, dwarves of any culture often sing of valorous deeds—especially of the little overcoming the mighty.
On some worlds in the multiverse, the first settlements of dwarves were built in hills or mountains, and the families who trace their ancestry to those settlements call themselves hill dwarves or mountain dwarves, respectively. The Greyhawk and Dragonlance settings have such communities.
What’s changed with the new 2024 DnD Dwarf?
While dwarves have been a mainstay of Dungeons & Dragons since the earliest editions of the game, the 2024 Player’s Handbook does introduce a number of changes from the previous legacy dwarf race that appeared in the 2014 Player’s Handbook. Below are all their species traits and the changes that have been made.
| Dwarf Species Trait | Level | Changed from 2014 Player’s Handbook? | Changes to the 2024 Dwarf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ability Score Improvements | 1 | Yes | Races/species no longer provide ability score improvements. Instead, character nows receive these bonuses from the new DnD backgrounds. |
| Darkvision | 1 | Yes | The 2024 dwarf now has 120 feet of Darkvision (in the 2014 rules, a dwarf’s Darkvision range was just 60 feet) |
| Base Speed | 1 | Yes | The 2024 dwarf has a 30 feet base walking speed (in the 2014 rules, a Dwarf’s base walking speed was just 25 feet). |
| Dwarven Resilience | 1 | No | N/A |
| Dwarven Combat Training | 1 | Yes | This feature has been removed from the 2024 dwarf. (In the 2014 rules it granted dwarves proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer and warhammer.) |
| Tool Proficiency | 1 | Yes | This feature has been removed from the 2024 dwarf. (In the 2014 rules it granted dwarves proficiency with the choice of smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies or mason’s tools.) |
| Dwarven Toughness | 1 | Yes | This is a new feature in the 2024 rules that increases your Hit Point maximum by 1 when you start out first level. It also increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level. Notably in the 2014 rules only the Hill Dwarf subrace had access to this feature. |
| Stonecunning | 1 | Yes | This is a new 2024 dwarf feature that grants a new ability known as “Tremorsense” which lets you detect the location of a creature through vibrations in nearby stone. (In the 2014 rules, Stonecunning granted dwarves proficiency on History checks when determining the origin of stonework). |
| Dwarven Subraces | 1 | Yes | There are no Dwarven subraces/subspecies in the 2024 rules. (In the 2014 version you could chose specific elven “Subraces” that granted additional ability score modifiers. This included the Hill Dwarf, Stone Dwarf and Duergar). |
What are the new Dwarf species traits in DnD 2024?
Below are the full list of all the Elf traits using the new 2024 core rules.
- Creature Type: Humanoid
- Size: Medium (about 4–5 feet tall)
- Speed: 30 feet
As an Elf, you have the following special abilities:
- Darkvision: As a dwarf you have Darkvision with a range of 120 feet.
- Dwarven Resilience: You have Resistance to Poison damage. You also have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Poisoned condition.
- Dwarven Toughness: Your Hit Point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level.
- Stonecunning: As a Bonus Action, you gain Tremorsense (see below) with a range of 60 feet for 10 minutes. You must be on a stone surface or touching a stone surface to use this Tremorsense. The stone can be natural or worked. You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
- Tremorsense: You can pinpoint the location of creatures and moving objects within a specific range, provided that the creature with Tremorsense and anything it is detecting are both in contact with the same surface (such as the ground, a wall, or a ceiling). Tremorsense can’t detect creatures or objects in the air, and it doesn’t count as a form of sight.
How have Dwarf subraces changed in DnD 2024?
In the 2014 there were four: Grey Dwarf (or Duergar), Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf and Mark of Warding Dwarf (the latter of which was exclusive to the Eberron setting). There are no longer dwarf subraces in the DnD 2024 rules (although given that the game is backwards compatible, you still could potentially play them).
Below, are the legacy subraces from the 2014 along with their available features (note that we have not included racial ability score modifiers as these are no longer part of the 2024 DnD 5e rules, with characters instead getting their ability score modifiers from their background).
| 2014 Dwarf Subrace | 2014 Subrace Features |
|---|---|
| Gray Dwarf (Duergar) | – Superior Darkvision: Your Darkvision has a radius of 120 feet (NOTE: In DnD 2024, all dwarves now have a 120 feet range for Darkvision) – Duergar Resilience: You have advantage on saving throws against illusions and against being Charmed or Paralyzed -.Duergar Magic: At 3rd level, you can cast the Enlarge/Reduce spell on yourself. At 5th level, you can cast the invisibility spell on yourself – Sunlight Sensitivity: You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight. |
| Hill Dwarf | – Dwarven Toughness: Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level. (NOTE: In DnD 2024, this feature is now provided to all dwarves). |
| Mark of Warding Dwarf | –Warder’s Intuition: When you make an IInvestigation check or an ability check using thieves’ tools, you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check. – Wards and Seals: You can cast the Alarm and Mage Armor spells. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast the Arcane Lock spell. – Spells of the Mark: If you have the Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature, you gain access to additional spells. |
| Mountain Dwarf | Dwarven Armor Training: You have proficiency with light and medium armor. |
Is the new DnD Dwarf worth playing?
The changes to the 2024 dwarf are significant, and it does seem like a missed opportunity, however, that the Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf have been removed along with other subspecies (particularly given that the new 2024 DnD Elf has three subspecies to choose from). It makes dwarves feel a little more generic than before and limits some of the choice and flexibility of the 2014 race.
That being said, the inclusion of the new Tremorsense ability and across the board improvements to the class in terms of speed, Darkvision and Toughness do work well. In short (no pun intended), if you’re a fan of dwarves there’s still plenty of potential in the new rules and these sturdy and stony folk are as reliable as ever.
You can find the complete rules for the new DnD dwarf in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massechustes, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
