Dwarven Ax as racial weapon

[Paxsmickey]

It's been overstated that Dwarven Axe proficiency is "downgraded" to martial, so anyone with martial proficiency gains proficiency with them.

Nuff said, so I'll present a slightly different idea.

Why not grant dwarves with proficiency with Great axes, Battle axes, Hand axes, and Throwing axes?

Ok, I know where this is going "Great axes would make dwarves op" or something like that. Fine. But why not Hand axes and Throwing axes? Who uses those weapons normally?

Maybe I'm just trying to rig the game to let me make a dwarf wizard dual wielding spell power boosting hand axes. But that's beside the point. Maybe Hand axes would get more use this way. Probably not, but it can't be too hard to change. More importantly I'd love for dwarven clerics to swap to a throwing axe to kill that hobgoblin on the tower and save the little sp they have.

Already I see a few flaws in my idea, one being that elves gain enhancements for falchions, but they don't get proficiency, so why should dwarves, and I'll agree, Elves don't need another proficiency to justify this idea. Compromise? Fine, don't give the dwarves great axes (though that would have been awesome) and just give them hand axes, and throwing axes.

I'd love for Dwarf clerics to use a Great axe without having to multiclass, but I suppose we can work around it. I love the idea of more religious paths, and this too would satisfy my idea.

Follower of Moradin: Race required: Dwarf.
Racial Weapon: Moradin's Hammer (War Hammer)
Lv.6 Faith spell: Something to boost Damage reduction maybe? (I dunno, help me out)
FVS cap stone spell: Divine Favor or Shield of Faith

Not axes, but What do you expect from the dwarven god that wields a hammer?

Just a thought,
-PaxsMickey

[danzig138]

Who uses those weapons normally?

No one, and it would be dumb to give them to dwarves. If dwarves are going to get any weapon prof for free, frankly, it should be light and heavy picks.

[CaptainSpacePony]

If dwarves are going to get any weapon prof for free, frankly, it should be light and heavy picks.

I agree that dwarves being masters of axes is illogical. The great mining dwarves might know more about picks than axes. However Tolkien made the dwarf Gimli an axe weilder and DnD had the race follow along. In DnD there is a dwarven axe, but not a dwarven pick. Other games have noticed this oddity. The 1st I remember was Metagame's The Fantasy Trip (more specifically Melee) by Steve Jackson in which dwarves did etra damage with hafted weapons--axes, hammers, and picks. (I personally love this approach.)

At some point in time, DnD dwarves decided picks were fine for digging, but the martial classes took to axes.