Dragon Encounters

How to Use: D&D’s Grey Dwarves in their Underdark Outposts

The duergar (also known as the grey dwarves, which I use in game as a common nickname) work very well as mercenaries. They don’t have the stat blocks needed to be a major faction (unless you’re using Mordenkainen’s), but their abilities and demeanor make them a natural choice for a place to hold hostages or retreat to for an evil villain.

Combat Encounter 1: Delaying the Party, Duergra Style (difficulty 3)

The duergar’s most interesting feature is enlarge, and it is presumably one that you will want them to assume at the beginning of every battle. Its weakness is the action cost, making it so that they can’t attack on the turn they use it. We don’t want them to use it before the battle, as that doesn’t give you the chance to show it off. How can we negate the disadvantage?

• The devious solution: When meeting them, the duergar glance at one of the cupboards uneasily, prompting the players to open it. Instead of the treasure, or whatever else they hoped to find, a pile of rubble pours out and pins the PC down. While the rest try to free him, the duergar enlarge.
• The simple solution: The duergar use a distraction or decoy. This could be a cave bear that they sic on the PCs, a rolling boulder trap, or an elaborate crossbow that a duergar on the other side of the room wheels out and points at the PCs. While they deal with that threat, the duergar enlarge.
• The elaborate solution: The duergar take advantage of their size so that their growth will obstruct the players. This can be as simple as them standing on (or maybe under) a one-legged table, so that it flips into the way of the players. This could also be a lever that they’re standing on, a temporary bridge that flips up, or ceiling panels they can suddenly pull down.

Starting the fight with one of them pulling a lever to dump the PCs into a small pit, or release oil to grease the floor between themselves and the PCs also works, as does sending a suit of Animated Armor at the players.

Duergar Enlarge Tactics

Once they are large size, they can hit harder. Their larger size also allows them to obstruct the players in a few other ways. (Mentioned already, but let’s go into further detail.)

• The duergar tilt the table(s) on to their sides as a barricade. The duergar are now big enough to stand up and hit over it, then duck back down so the players can’t retaliate. (They might take an opportunity attack doing so, which means this only makes sense if two or more duergar target one PC).
• Some, possibly unenlarged, duergar move from tunnel entrance to tunnel entrance, or window to window, hitting the PCs with javelins. Other, enlarged duergar move to block the players from retaliating, either physically or by moving furniture. (This isn’t necessarily optimal for dealing damage, but to avoid casualties, or area-of-effect spells…)
• The larger size means that the duergar can reach higher up, either to open trapdoors and bring down panels, nets, or rockslides, or to knock torches or wall hangings down onto the floor.
• Logically, the enlarged size should make it easier for the duergar to push or grapple. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work with the 2024 rules. I wait to see if WotC will somehow fix it, but if you homebrew, I would suggest dragging the PC into water. The PC will be underwater, but the duergar will be tall enough for its head to stick out.

Many of these are also signs of the duergar’s size changing ability. For example, a duergar home might have doorhandles high up on the wall or on the ceiling, places that a dwarf shouldn’t be able to reach, or at least one massive chair, far too big for a normal dwarf, which the duergar keeps around for when he wants to project strength in a business deal.

Invisibility Tactics

Moving on to the duergar’s second power, how does he they use invisibility?

The obvious answer would be to flee if an encounter goes south. I dislike having villains flee, as it frustrates the players and often wastes a lot of time on what becomes a chase scene. A better use of it might be for sentries and scouting.

The duergar can only keep invisibility active for one hour every short rest. I suppose they could trade off, but a better idea might be a pair of doors that are slow to open, or a path that zigzags back and forth. As soon as the door starts opening, or when the sentry hears people approaching, he can signal the duergar inside to lock the inner door, then turn invisible and investigate exactly what the intruders have with them and what their capabilities appear to be. If he’s lucky, they’ll even let slip some of their intentions.

During a fight, the invisibility will only last until they attack once. This still allows them to grapple, or to disrupt a spellcaster’s concentration., or to strand in the way and mess up a player’s movements.

Tactical Options Without the Attack Action

More interestingly, there are several ways that an invisible being could affect the battle that aren’t technically attacking. This almost feels like a cheat, but an invisible duergar can –

• Stretch a thin wire across the battlefield, where it will trip up the players, or loop itself around their legs and restrict their movement.
• Spill grease, oil, or marbles on the floor, possibly causing PCs to trip, or at east slowing their movement.
• Release hanging objects or clouds of dust.
• Push heavy furniture into their way.
• Open up sections of the floor.

As these might conceivably count as an attack, you might want to have them happen on a delay, with the effects either happening one round later or not until the players move into them. Either that, or use multiple duergar, with a duergar doing one of the above and then turning visible and attacking normally.

Interesting fact: As written, enlarging themselves breaks invisibility, but not the reverse. As such, you can have an enlarged invisible duergar, they just have to decide on their size before they turn invisible. This allows for surprise grapples. (They already have advantage, but unexpected is also a value.)

Combat Encounter 2: Duergar on the Surface (difficulty 2)

Duergar don’t strike me as a race very likely to travel or raid, but if they do leave the underdark, they will travel by night and have caves mapped out where they can spend the days.

When facing PCs in such a location, a core piece of their strategy will be to first lure them into the cave’s depths. They’ll turn invisible, except perhaps for one or two who will remain visible to act as bait, and they’ll do what they can to prompt any explorers to descend deeper, whether by scattering coins or by creating ominous footsteps.

They’re also likely to rig a quick trap or two behind the visitors, to prevent any of them from slipping past after they spring their ambush. Rockfalls set to trigger when a rope is disturbed seem an obvious choice.

Once they reveal themselves, keep in mind that enlarge is also a disadvantage. They won’t be able to fit everywhere, and clever players can take advantage of that to get out of their reach and pelt them with spells and ranged weapons, or to outmanuver them so as to pick them off a few at a time.

Technically, the way their stat block is written, they could enlarge themselves in a confined space and still get the extra damage and STR grappling advantage without having to grow any bigger. That doesn’t sound any fun, though.

Summary: Six Ideas for Duergar Encounters

• Duergar’s best power is to enlarge. You want the players to see it, for drama, but you don’t want to waste a round. Try to trap the players in a rockfall or net before using.
• Once enlarged, the duergar can climb over obstacles the PCs wouldn’t be able to. Have them turn over some tables as barricades that they can shoot past as well as climb over if they need.
• Turning invisible doesn’t cause a duergar to lost their enlarged size. While the rest of the duergar are fighting the players, have one of them be moving about invisible and enlarged, shoving furniture into the players way.
• Take advantage of the duergar’s larger size when enlarged by grappling a PC and walking into an underground lake or well with them. The duergar’s head will be above water while the player is drowning. Killing the duergar will make is worse.
• Have the duergar take advantage of invisibility to sneak close and spy on the PCs. They might learn a fair bit about their abilities that they can use later. Or lure them into a room, slip out, and lock them in. Dwarf doors are strong.
• When fighting out of their area, any enlarged duergar will risk being messed up by their size. You can run a scenario where the duergar are too numerous for the party, but the party is able to move in narrower areas, hitting and running.