Or it was just Derros or something?
but go ahead - throw everything from one setting into another after all they are FANTASY role playing games and shock...horror you can go against canon :D
derro - 3.5 monster manual pg 49 ;)
But any way, yeah I dont see any reason why you just couldnt use Muls as normal half-Dwarves in other settings, I was thinking of doing that myself.
Thri-Kreen have long had a place in the Realms as well, so they too would fit right in.
Thay would be my main area of existing Muls, as they seem to fit right into their breeding programs and gladitoral arena practises.
Transmogrifying magics is another option for their existance in the Realms. In Fearuns past scores of mages have experimented with fusion and transplacing of sentient bodies to "create the ultimate warrior/guardian/whatever". Perhaps in Unther or Thay Muls are a logical choice for Eunuchlike guardians as combining a dwarfs endurance with a human physique seemingly would lead to very adaptable and durable sentries, and making them sterile ensures they won't cause unforseen problems with any breeding harems.
and don't forget some Underdark species may experiment with the 'mul/derro' experiment (that's really bad english, isn't it?)
Yeah, but it's a great name for a rock band. "Is that the Alan Parsons Project?" "No, it's the Mul/Derro Experiment."
I think it was covered in the original Realms box set, or maybe Im thinking of the Dwarves Deep sourcebook. Any way they werent really Muls, being that they could still breed. They were basically the same mechanically to Dwarves, it didnt matter if he/she was half human or elven or gnome or whatever, the resulting offspring was more or less considered a Dwarf, although they might have some characteristics of the other parent such as being taller, shorter, less facial hair, etc.
It was in Dwarves Deep. Dwarves were said to not breed properly with Humans before and DD did incorporate the notion that Half-Dwarves existed and were almost identical to either normal Humans or Dwarves, perhaps slightly taller or borader. And mechanically they were remaining similar.
So you could go with the same reasoning here mechanically and fluff it out for the proper origin, or as Silversword said, use the Mul statistics and the benefits it gets as a true crossbreeds if the DM let you work that out.
D'tarig in Anauroch
Who was that dude ? Or how was he like more exactly ?
Exceptions may exist for sure. Some Half-Dwarf NPC may have been written in the past i don't know. Hey back in the days, Dwarves were said to not be able to channel the magic and become Wizards, and in one 2E book i've seen a Dwarf Wizard one time. Anything is possible...
Enough fussing already.
The following is information on the D'tarig excerpted from FR13 Anauroch:
These diminutive folk (averaging just over four feet tall) may be descended from marriages between humans and dwarves in the Tethyamar area. They are the desert folk most commonly encountered by outlanders.
The D'tarig dwell on the eastern and southeastern fringes of Anauroch, where they herd goats and sheep in the foothills, and make rare trips to Tilverton to trade. (Since the Zhentarim started coming to them, these trips have grown even rarer. Why go to the trouble and expense of travel, when it is easier to let greedy buyers come to you?) D'tarig tend to be self-serving and rather cowardly. They will switch loyalties readily, to those who pay them most highly.
They like to travel in large groups, wellarmed with poisoned javelins and bolts for their crossbows. The sticky brown venom they have developed is a secret preparation, known only to a few elders of the people. It causes sleep in humans (save vs. poison to avoid), but tends to be fatal to orcs, goblins, and other related humanoids (save vs. poison at -2: success means 2d4 points of additional damage, failure means death in 1d4 rounds).
D'tarig have their own throaty language, and largely avoid contact with other humans. The exceptions to this are the most adventurous of the tribe, who tend to be younger. They are often hired by outsiders who want guides into the desert, for they typically claim to be experts who know every dune and oasis of great Anauroch. The unwary are warned of the Sembian merchant saying about D'tarig claims: "If you have an infant son, and the son dies when a D'tarig is in town, the D'tarig will show up claiming to be the son of your son, and try to take everything you own." In the desert, D'tarig wear white burnooses and turbans, with splay-footed sandwalking boots,. Only their dark eyes, puggish noses, and leathery brows are exposed.
Older, more greedy D'tarig who are braver than their fellows are known as "desert walkers", for they venture into the desert to trade metal (usually metal weapons, though pots and other vessels are also valued) to the Bedine in return for camel-loads of collected resin from cassia, myrrh, and frankincense trees. Some D'tarig can collect these resins for themselves, from trees growing on the verges of the Sword, on the banks of streams that come down rocky ravines from the Mountains of Tethyamar to meander among the dunes, and ultimately sink into the sand, and vanish). But it is easiest to let Bedine do all the messy, hot, long work of gathering-and the demand for the resin far outstrips the supply provided by the few trees that the D'tarig can reach. The D'tarig sell their jars of gathered resin to merchants sponsored by the Zhentarim. The friendly Black Robes then sell it to temples all over the Realms for the making of incense.
D'tarig have been known to keep slaves, but tend to regard them as too much trouble. Slaves have to be watched constantly, for the D'tarig are a suspicious people. They boast that "no one and nothing can beguile the D'tarig." D'tarig are selfish, brutish folk. They have none of the land-lore and stone-skill of dwarves; most do not even know that lodestones (and therefore, compasses) exist, and must find their way in the desert by learning the oasis-trails and the stars. They tend to keep to themselves out of fear for trouble. More than one D'tarig has said, "Only a fool strays from his path to search out another man's trouble". On the other hand, D'tarig are not humorless or wretchedly craven in their fear of danger.
DMs should portray D'tarig as suspicious, taciturn, even sullen folk who are too short towield long swords or longer and heavier weapons, and whose stature forces them into comical climbs into camel and horse saddles. Otherwise, they should be considered normal humans, save that a few (10%) seem to have inherited the uncanny sense of direction (even in dark, underground, or unfamiliar surroundings) possessed by many dwarves.
Oh, and one other thing - a D'tarig always has six or seven more tricks, double-crosses, escape routes, fallback plans, and poisoned weapons up his sleeves, down his boots, in his hair, or even up his nose. (Short-tempered barbarians of the Savage North have been known to cut down D'tarig on sight, just to avoid all the irritating, wearying intrigue and treachery they know will come.)
Most D'tarig that adventurers will meet with are fighters or thieves of 2nd to 5th (1d4 + 1)level. They tend to guide visitors to the trading villages of Tel Badir and Addas Babar. Most D'tarig have a house or place of business in one or both of these settlements, but keep their families safe in comfortably furnished cave homes higher in the mountains. Orc and goblin attacks have made regular patrols in the heights necessary; adventurers are warned that these patrols tend to employ ambushes, poisoned weapons, trip-wires, and boulder avalanches first, and ask questions of the survivors (if any) later.
These diminutive folk (averaging just over four feet tall) may be descended from marriages between humans and dwarves in the Tethyamar area. They are the desert folk most commonly encountered by outlanders.
Ha, well i must say that these people amay be rooted deep in the Dwarves/Humans ancestry. I didn't know the D'tarigs were related to the two.
Thanks for the info Silversword !
Unless there is something new and exciting I have yet to be privy to, D'tarig still don't fit the bill. In fact, they sound more like halflings than dwarves.
But any way, theres nothing official on this yet, so it really however you want to do it, Muls could be D'tarig in the Realms, or common half-Dwarves, or Suin had a pretty good idea with them being a Thayan breeding expierment, that could work, Those Thayans were always doin stuff like that!
And I HATE jumping into a thread like this when it is ultimately purposeless.
Well, where it is speculation, I'll tend to side with Suin_B more than most. Guess I'll just have to read this whole damn thread and see what is what.
And I HATE jumping into a thread like this when it is ultimately purposeless.
Well dont hurt yourself reading the WHOLE thread, all 2 pages of it!
Halfbloods Humans, gnomes, and halflings are cross-fertile with dwarves. Elminster says elves and dwarves can have issue as well. Common in Ardeep, Eaerlann, and Myth Drannor of old, this is unheard-of today. Mates who respect dwarven customs and traditions are honored for their courage (in entering a strange society), loyalty (to the customs of dwarves) and aid (in preserving the Folk). "Half-dwarves" are not a distinct race. Save for their height (a head taller than most dwarves) all offspring of unions between dwarves and other races look and act (and are treated in the rules) as pureblood dwarves. Dwarven halfbreeds always have the stocky build and hirsute appearance of purebloods. If halfbloods mate with pureblood dwarves, the offspring will be a pureblood. If halfbloods mate with another halfblood or a nondwarf, the offspring will be a halfblood.
If you're going to run a dwarven game I would highly suggest looking to see where you can pick up a copy. Check Ebay. It's very useful and was written by Ed Greenwood.
In the Realms I still think its a good idea to use them for Half-Dwarves, or the D'Tarig, or as Suin suggested, a Thayan breeding experiment.
That is from 2E, of course.
I was just fliiping through the last issue of Dragon, well its all digital now so I guess I was scrolling through it, but any way they did do an article on Muls out side of Darksun. They were apparently bred in the Underdark to be used as slaves by the Drow. Although I bellieve this is more of an explanation for Muls in PoL world, and not the Realms.
In the Realms I still think its a good idea to use them for Half-Dwarves, or the D'Tarig, or as Suin suggested, a Thayan breeding experiment.
I'd see anything pertaining "half-dwarf" being a PC description and not a race/sub-race onto it's self. Dwarves Deep dealt with the issue, nothing else has contradicted it. No matter how much someone would like to see another race fit the peg in the hole--it just doesn't happen.
This, of course, is canon. Include whatever you want into a homebrewed environment. Just don't justify it as if it should be canon.