Duergar
· · CR Unknown
Duergar is a medium humanoid of lawful evil alignment, CR 1. Stat line: AC 16, 4 hit dice, 25-ft speed. Found in underground. Senses include darkvision 120 ft. Speaks dwarvish and undercommon. Notable trait: Duergar Resilience — The duergar has advantage on saving throws against poison, spells, and illusions, as well as to resist being charmed or paralyzed.. Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- Unknown
- Type
- —
- Size
- —
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Underground
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014)
Ecology
Duergar are the gray dwarves of the Underdark — descendants of dwarves who were captured by mind flayers in the deep past and shaped by generations of psionic enslavement before winning their freedom. They live in subterranean fortress-cities ruled by a council of clan elders, with an economy built on mining, slave-labor, and mercenary contracts. Most duergar work in the deep mines from childhood; military service is a rotation rather than a profession. Slaves — captured from raids or born into the status — make up a third or more of any city's population.
Behaviour
Duergar are dour, disciplined, and cynical. The cultural memory of enslavement produced a society that values self-control, distrust of outsiders, and absolute loyalty to clan above all. They do not joke easily, drink heavily but quietly, and view surface dwarves as soft cousins who lost the harder lessons. They follow contracts to the letter and expect the same in return; betrayal of contract triggers immediate, generational vendetta.
Origin
The duergar diverged from surface dwarves during the era of mind flayer dominance, when an entire dwarven kingdom was captured and held for generations. The eventual rebellion freed the duergar physically but left psionic markers in the bloodline that surface dwarves consider tainted and that duergar themselves consider hard-won inheritance. The two peoples have not reconciled in the millennia since.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Duergar
- Where does Duergar live?
- The bestiary places Duergar in Underground.