Hammer of the Dwarven Lords is a sourcebook about dwarves, with a particular focus on alternate dwarven cultures. The first part of the book describes three such cultures, based loosely on Celtic, Viking, and Mongol themes, respectively. They are described in a fair amount of detail, with a lot of thought into the various features that really bring a culture alive. For example, there are sections on the various stages of life for each culture, as well as information on clothing, food, music, and so on, in addition to more obvious features such as warfare and government.

The fourth chapter covers a range of dwarven gods. Each is described in general terms, with a number of variant options, allowing them to be easily tailored to any campaign, and, as with the cultures, imbuing dwarven society with a real variety, rather than forcing it into a single mould.

The chapter on equipment describes some new weapons and armour specific to the cultures described earlier. It also includes eleven alchemical items and twenty two magic items. All of these, obviously, have a dwarven theme, but many would be more generally useful in a campaign and there is a good range of powers and effects here. Especially interesting in this chapter is a section on magically strong alcoholic beverages. These are effectively potions, but each has a nasty alcohol-related side-effect triggered if the imbiber fails a Fortitude save. It's an interesting and original idea for d20, reminiscent, perhaps, of the drinks in the old RQ Trollpak.

Chapter six deals with magic, and includes nearly fifty new spells, running the gamut from first to ninth level, including many that would be useful in any campaign. In addition, there are two new cleric domains for the gods described in chapter four, and a section on creating magic tattoos.

Chapter seven provides a number of feats for use in wrestling matches, bringing something of a WWF feel to the game (and, again, not just useful for dwarves). The final chapter provides two NPC classes and six prestige classes, all of which seem well thought out and that cover a good variety of different themes. All have a clear dwarven flavour, bringing different aspects to the fore.

The book is well laid out, with mediocre to good artwork. Aside from the cover, it's all line artwork, and easy to print. I didn't spot any problems with proof-reading or editing. All in all, its an excellent book, and, for 86 pages, a bargain at $4. If your campaign has dwarves in it (or even if it doesn't - a lot here is more broadly applicable) and you're looking to give them some more detail, flavour, or magic, I highly recommend this book.

In the days of D&D dwarves have always been a rather well depicted and well defined race. Racial books in d20 were one of the first areas covered. Green Ronin had a very good on in Hammer and Helm, Bad Axe Games had their highly respected Heroes of High Favor: Dwarves, and Mongoose had the under appreciated Quintessential Dwarf. Yet, even with three solid books to reference there is always room for more especially one of quality. Hammer Dwarven Lords is another good book on Dwarves that will serve well as a stand alone or in conjunction with the other books.

Hammer Dwarven Lords is a new PDF by Dark Quest Games. They have put out some very good books like Dweomercraft: Familiars, Moon Elves, Death: Guardian at the Gate, and In the Saddle. They have a good handle on PDF publishers and are one of the unsung companies that constantly do good work. Hammer Dwarven Lords is eighty-six pages long. It is well laid out with excellent art. The book has good production values and is fully book marked.

The one thing that Hammer Dwarven Lords really excels at is the details. It has a few really well defined dwarven cultures, dwarven gods, and dwarven society. It describes the life of the dwarf from birth to death. The level of detail really makes this book stand out.

The first three chapters covers three different dwarven clans. Each is fully detailed as to what the dwarves do from birth on. The culture, art, fashion, government, religion, and foods are all discussed. These dwarves seem alive with the detail giving some great ideas for both players and game masters. This is a very strong set of chapters and really covers a lot of information.

There is a small chapter on gods making them easy to use, but not taking up too much space for people that are wanting to use their own deities. There are a few new domains and almost fifty new spells. There is plenty of new equipment but the highlight is the wide assortment of new alcoholic beverages. The details are again great in these sections.

The book finishes with feats for dwarven wrestling and some new classes. The classes are thought out and well balanced. I like how they are in the back of the book as the clear emphasis is on the details of the clans and their people.

The Hammer Dwarven Lords is a very well written book that covers lots of areas. It has a good amount of rules and detailed text, but the writing and the details are clearly the emphasis of the book. Once again Dark Quest Games has done a very good job of detailing a race and subject matter in great way.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I really liked this book and have gotten good use of it in my current campaign. It's a great book for those of us looking for more in-depth information about alternative dwarven cultures and not more of the same old stereotypes. It's a great book to purchase in order to breathe new life into an ongoing campaign.

And there is a chapter on dwarven wrestling. What more could a dungeon master want?<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I like that the book focuses more on dwarven culture than on new rules and feats. The writing is evocative and the artwork is top-notch. There is a lot of material in this book, espescially considering the price paid.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing really...<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

If you like Dwarves, this is the book for you. Or, if you're like me, a DM without much care for them, this book is still for you. For that reason alone, this is a fantastic product.

If you love Dwarves, this product offers a variety of options and concepts to play with. If you're a DM without much care for Dwarves, this product will help you design more appealing, involved Dwarf NPCs.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I was looking for something to build and expand on dwarves, to give a new perspective to surprise experienced players. I definately got it in this product. The dwarven subraces were new, unique and interesting, with plenty of cultural information. The prestige classes and spells worked well into the cultures, and I laughed when I saw the chapter on Dwarven Wrestling. Everything in it was high quality, and perfectly usable in most campaigns.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I like dwarves, so this one was pretty much a no-brainer buy. The material inside is very good, albeit a little "campaign specific" for my tastes (specifics of a given cultures, names of gods, etc.). On the other hand this means that you can plop a fully developed race into a game with little work. The fact that you get not one, but three different cultures (Clachduin Painted Dwarves, Hallvring Reaving Dwarves, and Khura Steppe Dwarves) will also be an attraction.

Besides the cultures, you get information on dwarven equipment (including heady beverages), dwarven magic (based heavily on tattooing), wrestling, and prestige classes.

Overall a good bargain, but you may have to excise some of the material simply because it really doesn't fit your setting.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Lots of material and different ways of thinking about dwarves.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Bit too "campaign specific"<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Very good as a DM's resource, not so good for players. A lot of the content is setting information, which is of limited usefulness to most people. To make full use of the product, I would want to use it as a basis for a dwarven focused campaign setting rather than an independent sourcebook.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Good detail. A lot of work went into this book.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Too much focus on setting to be greatly useful for any other purpose.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>