Monster Ecology: Duergar
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2017
- The duergar are named after the dvergar of Norse mythology, who were the builders of Gleipnir.
The duergar first appeared in the first edition in the original Monster Manual II (1983). The duergar appeared as a player character race in the original Unearthed Arcana (1985).
There is an excellent Ecology article on the Duergar in Dragon #325.
As of 5th edition, and unknown to the Duergar, their god has been killed, and his role taken up, secretly, by Asmodeus.
As usual, all credit to the artists of work featured in the video, the full version of the music used is added to the channel's playlist, and if you enjoy the video, please consider making a contribution on Patreon at / themightyglue. . (where you can find the full script of this video)
Party bard: *inspire*
Duergar fighter: These people are mentally unstable.
Party member to PC Duergar "Wow. Bitter, much? So tell me, why did your people exile you?" PC Duergar "Because I am just way too nice and positive." Party member "Wait... they are meaner and more negative than YOU?" PC Duergar "Epicly. Now appreciate my good nature or die already."
That80sGuy1972 yep thats what my Duegar used to say lol. XD
R.I.P. Morgar... Vorse avenged you even if you really didn't want to be avenged by the Hairy Smelly Bull in Plate Armor.
That80sGuy1972 great viewpoint on pc grays,so true!
That80sGuy1972 lol love it
I played a Duergar named Moroth the Mangled, polearm fighter. Party loved him, and his belligerent "who are ye?!?" is still quoted at the table to this day!
loved the lore but also loved the new found "diggy diggy hole" opening.. also loved the "warrior song" open to hobgoblin.. great mood & context setting.. the start of any good story or adventure..
Came here to say this, didn't need to.
Tip: if the dm says that you SEE one duergar, that doesnt mean that there arent others hidding.
😂😂😂no kidding🤪🤪🤪
In Pathfinder, Duergar will outright execute any dwarf they catch.
So… they kill each other then
@@justnoob8141Nope, because they’ve separated themselves from Dwarves so much they don’t consider themselves dwarfes. They’re Duergar.
That's true in some DND settings as well. Greyhawk for one, used to be in FR but they've moved away from that.
In my 2nd edition campaign back in the 90's, I had them more like psionic-warriors with a monastic elite. Like a hoard of villains from a martial arts movie. That was before they came out with the mythology.
I had it that they were masters of deception without directly lying. In a society of lawful evil creatures where some are telepathic, lying becomes tricky. Punishments for deceiving superiors would be harsh. So they've learned amazing verbal misdirection
A video after my own heart.
Now get back to work.
in my homebrewed lore, Duergars used to be Dwarfs from the Miners Guild but they rose up against the other Dwarfs since they were not appreciated for their hard labor to take up the precious stones and it was the dwarfs in the Smithy and Foundery that got all Prais. they would later just dig down to live in isolation rather than to deal with the other dwarfs. the Dwarven God favors the Duergars for being "true Dwarfs".
Edit: after getting hearted i realised a few speling mistakes
I like Duergar, we don't see that much evil craftsman races.
I played a half-fiend duergar in an underdark campaign once, 3.5. Was a fun character to play.
I was not disappointed in your choice of opening music
I wish Duergar where more scientifically inclined, imagine if they had flesh armys of golems made with the lives of slaves.
Do it as a DM. Alter settings with your own twists.
No this is amazing. Rn they're the angry Amish of the deep
By the way, Underdark + Science + Flesh Golems = Skavens, of clan Skryre and clan Moulder. Except they're deeply chaotic evil.
they have mecha-like stuff
@@Scarletraven87 I 2nd this notion because it's epic.
I sorta liked WoW's Dark Iron taking Duergar and giving them at least SOME mirth and appreciation for shows of wealth.
Instant like for playing diggy diggy hole
How could I not?
I was skeptical about their greed, it's a topic with hidden depth.
Greed is fundamental in the myth of Fafnir (that originates evil dwarfs). It also an easy to imagine topic to everyone who watched The Hobbit.
*Greed is important to explain the entire duergar society:* because of greed they sell gear, because they sell gear they have to keep mining for more iron (and gold), because they have to keep mining they need working force.
It also explains any goal they might have beyond military expansion and honor. It makes them multi dimensional. *Doesn't matter if they're never going to spend it.*
On the other hand if the DM wanted to REALLY push for the "petty, worthless" aspect of greed, they would recycle the weapons forever instead of burying them with their dead.
But that would be too much even for a duergar I suppose, and such an act would cause inner tumoil. Too much pragmatism makes a chaotic beeing in D&D ... and for the same reason they don't animate their dead.
What matters is that they never get to wear jewelry. Even with hills of gold, they never should. It would make them comically wrong.
Have you ever considered making a video specifically on Laduergar? I was wondering more about the beliefs and the ideals his church demands.
First time watching your stuff and this was everything I needed to know about a character I'm making, this is the best source I've found
I was playing these in 2nd ed. My nephews cleric/fighter adopted one as a baby due to his Lawful Good alignment. When the child was old enough to adventure he turned out to be a VERY powerful PC for my nephew. I really liked how you reiterated they have no sense of humor and are a predominantly passionless race! and considering he was raised his entire life by a jolly powerful Dwarven noble,it stands to reason it's a genetic disposition as opposed to a nurture issue. He was never L.Good but chaotic good instead. This is a new favorite video man,thanks kiwi! Thumbs up from another old DM 😃 You can also have a pc Gray Dwarf become used to the sunlight after a decade or so. Creams and Ointments are recommended during the first 10 years as skin cancer is a VERY real danger,with surface dwelling Drow as well!
Michael Kelligan very nice
@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 thank you.
Just joined an _Out of the Abyss_ campaign late at level four. I am taking over the character of Hemeth the Duergar, so I'm looking forward to some good lore here.
Hey AJ, just became a patron because I wanted this script to add flavor to the Out of the Abyss campaign I'm running. The players are about to arrive at the city of blades and this video has a great amount of detail to really add diversity to the Duergar, in both appearance and personality. Going to have at least one half or fully blinded, get those tattoos in there, and the book didn't even talk about the Tholdur! thanks man :)
p.s would love a video on racism, not sure if that's too broad... but I enjoy creating bigoted characters in contrast to the generally more welcoming ones, really adds depth it think.
That's pretty cool how you put Diggy-diggy Hole from Windrose in a low pitch
my endless refreshing has finally paid off!
Toiling at the keyboard, Laduguer approves.
AHAHAHAHA I did not expect Diggy Diggy Hole to play.
Eh two encounters with the Duergar I've ever had that were memorable.
1st One is with Vorse Greyhorn. There was a PC Deurgar in the party and oddly we got along pretty well. Little words exchanged. High enough understanding. Get to the point in conversations. Rarely enjoyed parties. Had chips on our shoulders. Pity he died long before Vorse began to become a greater paladin than he ever was. I wonder how Morgar, the Duergar, would feel that Vorse took a warhammer Morgar made and applied it across the BBEGB's face while shouting.
"MORGAR SAYS HE HATES YOUR GUTS"
2nd Encounter was a more... petty and brutal one. Deurgar came to the surface and enslaved a village, caught our group in the middle of it. Well... we won but then went down to the Underdark and took unholy revenge on them. We didn't leave a soul alive in their workshop when we were done.
The 2nd encounter, sorry I have to ask. What about the women and the children ? Even the children too ?
In all earnest , the player groups I dealt with over the years, even the ones playing paladins would have "relocate" the remaining Deurgar to the surface for a few years as peasant labor for cultural social reconditioning .
Our game shop played Legacy campaigns. So the characters adventure till their early to mid 40's and pass their "best" equipment to their oldest children .given our campaign a structure time line.
Barons "beg" the Deugar and other types of dwarves to build manors and churches for them.
3:10 I was going to say, I'm stealing these quills for the Durzagon half-fiend dwarves.
“There are no two words more harmful than ‘good job’” -average responsible duergar parent
I might not catch every new video, but I will never cancel my subscription or donation. Thank you for always having what I need whenever I look for it AJ. Hope the holidays are treating our master of lore well! Cheers!
I appreciate that, blessings on you and your house!
I like the aesthetics of the underdark cities
Thanks for Doing this one, and the Gnome one before. Both are fantastic.
Thanks! Many more to come.
I'm about to jump into a campaign as a Circle of Land: Underdark duergar druid and am getting HYPED
Another song that I think fits the Duergar is "We All Lift Together", from the game Warframe. It's the song that plays when you enter Fortuna, a penal colony for generational debtors that have to mortgage their cybernetic limbs, and if they miss their interest payments their parts get repossessed.
And if that's too cheerful for you, consider the follow up song "For Narmer", where those same debt slaves have been conquered by having VR goggles strapped to their heads making them forget how awful their lives are. That could work for duergar who have been recaptured by mind flayers.
I had a dream that the script to this video was mixed with "butt machine" by That One Guy
Rangers are the meta-gaming class. Mine happened to be a Cleric multiclass and was packing enough magic in the dungeon to spare a Faerie Fire.
Meeting in a throne room with columns and a lone duergar queen in the back?
"HOLD UP- NOBODY MOVE!"
*reveals 12 duergar*
"Okay my charisma is 7 so you guys can continue talking."
As always, incredibly helpful and relevant.
I had an idea to make a character seeking out the axe of dwarven kings, his goal was to use the axe a a mean to challenge the leaders of the dwarves to combat, where if they won they would be given the axe, but if they lost their people would join him in bringing all the dwarves under one banner as they had been long ago.
He also wanted to take the axe once found and hide it behind puzzles that would test the characteristics he felt a king should have, as in his opinion dwarves have many warriors, they don't also need a warrior king.
I just had to be drinking when the words "diabolical taint" just had to be used, which was an AMAZING work-in btw.
I'm binging these things and they're great, informative and spiced with gems of humor. (That intro 4/1)
Duergar: "yeah, its dark"
Just created a duergar fighter who is a black Smith he had a smoldering piece of iron from his own forge jammed into his eye for being too dedicated to his smithing
Always cool to visit the Underdark 😉👍
playing an Elf when someone else is a Duergar is epic. They always act like a dwarf, but more aggressive, so you get the quips; "less hair and brains than a vanilla flavored dwarf", "what's the matter? why don't you build a machine, or a little device to help you? A vanilla dwarf could." "You know what would have drawn us less attention from these raiders while we were in town? Having a less creepy, vanilla dwarf instead of this mole rat dwarf."
Excellent work as usual, AJ. Have you considered looking at minotaur in the future?
Indeed I have, its bumped up on the list!
I want to play a Duergar now more than ever. Thanks
Facing some Duergar in a current campaign. They are just one of many previously unknown factors in our homebrew world.
Perfect music for the intro 🖒
I figure 'Misty Mountain" for when I make a video on the Dwarves, what do you think?
Definetly!
O, heck yeah... Another great choice😃
Well done AJ. You made the unapproachable, approachable. :)
Thanks Kurt!
I had to watch diggy diggy hole by wind rose because of that cool intro.
My favorite character by far is Duergar
In the grim, dark underdark, there is only Duergar.
I have a feeling that Perturabo needs to be sent to the underdark he has alot in common mentality wise with the duergar!
Watching in 2022
Such power in the opening.🤩
Another great informative video
Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼
Didn't another setting have the Duergar's god as an anti Illithid rebel with a whole family of his own?
You do good work AJ I enjoyed this episode because I have a PC that is Duergar he happens to be my 2nd favorite character right next to my Minotaur. Have you ever considered doing an episode on the Rakshasa?
There is an older video on them, sorry if the quality is poor.
Anyone made a good duergar colony
Salt and forged steel blades from the Grays are all highly prized by surface dwellers on the Sword Coast,my peasant wizard archmage and drow archmage took over the trademoot Skullport below the dumps of WaterDeep and now control all trade coming in from Mantol Dereth. And that's only 2 weeks travel to Menzoberranzan! $Ka-ching!$
We also raided an abandoned Duergar city whose Water table dried up and wound up fight a ton of ju-ju zombies and mummies left behind but wound up with an item called,"Anvil of the Duergar".......the thing weighed over a ton,I'm assuming that's why they abandoned it,and once we got it home....our Dwarven blacksmiths,armorors and weapon smiths had a field day!
Bee working on a "Murder Mystery/ Cult/ mass murder" storyline for my current players, Undead plague with cultists and lots of sacrifices in a hidden room complete with alter and pool of blood ravages a Dwarven city, the sewer linked up to a cave system that opens (eventually) into more tunnel into the Underdark, wanted to include Duergar but never thought of having a Duergar leader having some corrupt Tiefling whispering lies and deceit in his ear...
This mystery just got more... demonic.
Sounds good :)
If Duergar are involved, they might be working two cults against each other, the Devilish agent could be providing power to one or even both cult groups, and the animosity between the groups could spill out into open warfare, with the Duergar providing weapons that shoot alchemist fire all over the place... the resulting mayhem provides them the perfect cover to raid the surface for slaves and goods, assassinate merchants, leaders, clergy...
N.G.G.F. please tell me you did pull off this campaign. It sounds great.
What was the best high lights of the story ?
OK wow. That was cool. Doing a second run of 'Out of the Abyss'. Definitely going to use that theogony this time. Duergar supremacists rather than market-libertarians.
I had the AD&D2e guild book to the Under Dark. All societies are built around one main racial type at war/ trade with other races for limited resources.
So all under ground societies are racist supremacists. The drow are also Gender bias .
your videos deserve more likes and views
Thanks Chase, I appreciate that :)
So good! 👍🏻
This video is making me question if I should either carry my current character into the next campaign(reset his levels and class) or make a duerger fighter/barbarian
Nice to be reminded of the Yogscast after all these years
My favorite race.
Aaaahhh the lovable duergar :)
Dusty little scamps.
"The ultimate pessimists."
Totally imagined a Duergar PC acting like Eeyore all the time.
AJ Pickett scamps...lol
AJ Pickett lol
@@spikegilfer1997 Xan, BG1 EE
The audio at the beginning of this video is awesome!! What is it from?
have U made a vid on the Dark Gnomes? I think they're the one missing from the Dark Triad...
I have a weird second question; the Duergar tend to be more stealthy, and dexterous, than your typical solid Dwarf, and maybe this would help if they were just dedicated to being Assassins, and getting high body counts, but they feel like the Dwarves who might be the most likely to forgo the usual class choices, and embrace Rogue, but why would they? They don't like fancy, and don't expect comfort, so whyvwould they steal? What would be their motivation to pick locks, score loot, and the like? What benefits, as THEY would see them, would one have to be a thief, once they were out from their community, in the first place? I like a lot of their themes, and as a psionic race, I'm always going to be excited, but they almost feel overly restrained in their options, since they want little, hate everyone, and value things differently than most. I'd live to make an NPC soul knife Assassin, gutting people from stealth with his mind blades, but short of just wiping out lives for kicks, I'm struggling to figure out his motivation?
Greed, no matter what, Dwarves of all kind have a love of precious metals and gems that is like a hunger, a need, and they will build whatever loopholes in their morality and ethics to accomodate that.
Mostly knew about them from Critical Role, was not aware they were such an organised danger of a race, the monster manual only has one block of stats. I thought of them before as just fodder evil dwarves, largely being bland except their xenophobia, but I guess now I see their non-decorative appearance highlights an interesting honest workmanship, and hides a deceptive intelligence.
The book seems to imply that they are unaware they are following a devil, which is impersonating their god. Would infernal aspects be secret, or be pretty open? Would they summon or make deals with devils? For instance, would imps be common around them?
A kind of different question, but suppose there are evil Underdark market places with trades of slaves and goods, which race would be most likely to run it, like Duergar, Drow, Deep gnome, Ilithid, Kuo-toa, or is it so open that I might as well say something like a Beholder who actively holds a marketplace as a way to spy on its enemies?
Yes, they are sneaky, while the Drow are happy to call the Underdark their home and leave it at that, the Duergar have this idea that the whole world is theirs, and really would snuff out the sun if they could.
The Duergar are not aware their god is dead, and Laduguer commonly used agents of the Nine Hells anyway, so, they have not noticed any change. Imps would be uncommon.. they can be powerful monsters if used well. They might have one devil (and the devil would be disguised magically most of the time) who works with a clan, furthering it's interests. Without the oversight of Laduguer though, the Devils are seeking to make individual Duergar break their promises and religious laws, so that they can claim their souls when they die.
As for a market place, it depends where it is.. It might be run by a deep dragon, some minotaur. neogi, a coven of Grell, a rogue quadrone and some warforged scouts, a bunch of stone golems that are secretly directed by some duergar (Wizard of Oz style), a vampire and a small tribe of darklings... the possibilities are endless.
AJ Pickett Feel like totally stealing your Wizard of Oz idea. Have it as some major spy conspiracy by the Duergar, and in turn something devils have an eye on.
I was thinking this before, but the Duergar and the Drow hate each other, and the Duergar's god is a devil, while the Drow follow Lolth, a demon lord, where devils and demons are not exactly friends. A lucky coincidence, or a spillover of the war between the the two fiend factions? Is there an irony that Duergar would wish to destroy all other races, but it is demons that just want to destroy indiscriminately?
@@DuskyPredator How did your wizard of oz idea work out?
Pity that the only picture that seems to fit the description is the one at 6:11, the Duergar have always been the perfunctory race, eschewing all embellishments.
Yeah, it was really frustrating finding images for this video, that is why there are so many of the underdark locations. I agree that the image you indicated is probably the closest for the Duergar warrior in full battle gear, though there are some images where they wear hooded robes which is more like their day to day attire, when they wear shirts at all. The priests wear unpolished iron chest plates, and I imagine that, although they don't shine their metal, they keep it well maintained with oil and their alloy craft would be VERY good.
I can just picture a fighter on the surface asking about the plain but mean looking machete the weapon merchant keeps at her side all the time, and with some reluctance the merchant would hand it over, but refuse outright to sell it, because it is the toughest, most reliable non-magical weapon she has ever seen.
"Flexes like a Bedine belly dancer but cuts like the Neverwinter wind, I can chop firewood with this blade one day, and a horde of goblins the next day, and not even have to hone it on a wet stone in between. I don't know who made it, but i NEVER want to face them in combat, not if they actually wear steel like this!".
AJ Pickett What a great little story, you make that look easy!
Good video aj
where did you get the big map of the underdark? i want it postersized.
trenton maloney prints.mikeschley.com/p858006957/h565f3364#h565f3364 has official 5th edition map from out of the Abyss, only $2 for the pdf
hey AJ loved the video any chance you are planning a video on meenlocks I would love to hear your opinion on them.
C Johnston added to the list!
Cool thanks they're just one of my favourite low level monsters
How does the interaction between stone giants and duerger work out? Would they appreciate each other’s skill and devotion in craft or would they just end up fighting? I feel like they wouldn’t get along too well given that the duerger disapprove of decoration and artistry and the stone giants spend their lives making carvings of the past.
Thumbs up simply for the Yogscast song.
Can you do an isolated audio of diggy diggy hole sung by the duergar?
purchase the song, download audible for free, change the pitch of the song.. you're done.
Nevermind I just found it th-cam.com/video/FEt83ORIspM/w-d-xo.html
🎶🎶🎶 AJ the Duergar music 🎶🎶 🎶💯🔥🔥🔥✊🏾✊🏾
Please do the derro.
All duegar Paladin party
What was the song at the beginning??
Please where do i get the whole song in the intro cant stop listening to it.
th-cam.com/video/ytWz0qVvBZ0/w-d-xo.html
Oh boy going to listen to this driving home from work.
Duergar society is just Ideal Communism and Theocracy applied.
pretty much
Communism, how the lawful evil of the world enforces true tyranny on their subjects.
The endless pursuit of profit above all? You're literally describing capitalism.
Is there such a thing as a duergar going good such as some drow can do like Drizzt Do'urden?
Yes it happens, and those individuals have similar philosophies. They are also just as despised by their own kin.
They would be considered real freaks, probably from a young age, I'd say
From the 10-15 Salvatore/adjacent books I read, the Duergar were the one irredeemable/ultimately incompetent race. Not sure if a more interested author ever went a different direction with that.
Whats the intro music name
Diggy Diggy Hole? th-cam.com/video/ytWz0qVvBZ0/w-d-xo.html
Don't let the 4E art or AJ's disinterest discourage you from using the spines trait in your duergar. There absolutely is lore to explain what happened there and it's actually pretty extensive and interesting. It absolutely is an infernal trait and goes all the way to Asmodeus so there isn't a need to "pass it off" as such. I was hoping that AJ would get into that lore because of how neat it is to see the twist the devs gave the race to have them stand out just a bit from the other dwarves. But alas. The lore is at least searchable and I belive Mr Rhexx went into it in one of his videos.
Everything else AJ touched on was great. I just wish he wasn't so dismissive of this neat addition. I know it's jarring on the surface and the art in the Monster Manual from 4th didn't do them any favors, but check out the lore for yourself before totally dismissing the concept.
Sounds like the people I work with, especially all negative aspects🌫🌧🌫😑
Dwarves with chronic depression, melancholia, avarice and anger management issues.
With such traits how could you ever enslave a duregar settlement at all?
I think I might be duergar.
So they view their purpose in life as to toil for their god by… spreading? Building optimal tools or weapons or homes?
The perfects character to piss all the other players off. 🤣
"I AM A DWARF AND IM DIGGING A HOLE!"
next time i run an under dark campaign and i get the chance to use Duergar i'm making them german ^_^ and of course sing about digging
Rammstein Sonne
Guess they don't take pleasure or joy like the dwarves do from ale.
Cheerful lot aren't they.
diggy diggy hole good choice for song involving dwarfs or their kin
also if i started playing and ended up being a duergar probably exile due to, fuck that god im no slave or fool
Duergar foot loose?
I really like this lore. It almost sounds like someone looked at authoritarian governments and removed most of the defects in order to make them a threat.
There are several races the mindflayers affected,in what ways does this change a race?
Aggression, xenophobia and psionic powers.
@@AJPickett Duerro affected by mindflayers🤔
oh wow, these guys would make awesome Bards. lmao
Gracklstugh is pronounced "Grackle-stoo". It appears in the Sword Coast Legends game.
Thank you! That one stumbled me.
I did look up the correct way to say Duergar and Laduguer before I started the video though :)