The rivalry between dwarves and elves is one of the oldest tropes in traditional fantasy. However, when inspected closely, it never seems like dwarves get the fair end of the deal. One of the best examples is The Lord of the Rings, which is arguably responsible for spawning the elf-dwarf tension. While its predecessor, The Hobbit, gives dwarves lots of attention, the much larger and more involves Lord of the Rings gives dwarves very little presence aside from Gimli while the changing society of elves dominates as a subplot. Dwarves are a fun, classic fantasy race that unfortunately don't get enough media dedicated to them.
Thankfully, that seems to be changing a little bit. For one thing, Deep Rock Galactic has redefined the representation of dwarves in video games, potentially creating a lot of new interest in them. Now it looks like dwarves have a new champion in board games. The Siege of Runedar is an upcoming cooperative board game being developed with the help of notable board game designed Reiner Knizia. The Siege of Runedar has dwarves at its heart above all, tasking players with defending a dwarven treasure at all costs. The traditional dwarven love of the earth's treasures sets The Siege of Runedar up for a simple but compelling premise that'll be a boon to dwarves and their popularity.
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It's appropriate that Reiner Knizia is developing The Siege of Runedar, considering his previous work on an official Lord of the Rings board game. Knizia's focus is on dwarves instead of hobbits this time, but his experience with Lord of the Rings might still shine through in this new work. The conceit of The Siege of Runedar is that a group of dwarves are defending the titular fortress of Runedar from orcs, goblins, and trolls that want to take their treasure, not unlike LotR fare. Players will work together to battle these attackers and buy as much time as possible for an escape tunnel that's under construction. Once the tunnel is complete, the players escape, and they win.
Gameplay details on The Siege of Runedar are a little scarce for now, but some of the basics are known. It's a deck building game, meaning players will probably get the opportunity to customize their dwarf's skillset as they go. Changes to the deck represent upgrades to weapons and other equipment, too, so over the course of an hour or so of play, a player's character in The Siege of Runedar will probably get a lot stronger. By the end, the players might feel like an accomplished Dungeons and Dragons party with an all-dwarf twist.
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It's really too bad that there isn't a major amount of dwarf-focused media in fantasy games so far. They're often relegated to inferior roles in video games as well as other fantasy texts. The Elder Scrolls famously keeps dwarves out of the picture. The Dwemer channel all kinds of traditional dwarf imagery; they live underground, manage mines, and come up with bold mechanical inventions. However, they're intentionally elf-like in a lot of ways, and they're generally extinct as a race throughout The Elder Scrolls games.
That's why it's nice to see things like Deep Rock Galactic and The Siege of Runedar give dwarves their time in the sun. Plenty of previous media has put thought into the dwarven counterpart in elves already, so it's about time that the scale tipped in the other direction. It'll be interesting to see what impact The Siege of Runedar has on fantasy board games after its release, and potentially video games as well. If it's a big enough hit, developers might reevaluate the usage of dwarves in fantasy and come up with something a little more like Knizia's vision.
The Siege of Runedar releases in October 2021.
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