Weekly Waffle # 451 – The Dwarf Who Swapped His Axe for Blood Magic
7 th October 2026
The Mojo
For this week’s weekly waffle it’s been something of a crazy time. I feel like I’ve been the victim of some blood magic because I’ve been full of a cold this week. It really does steal the mojo, but I have had a really nice mini to be working on.
I’m begining to see the beginning of the end on the current crazy phase at work so I’m hoping that may free up some time in the not to distant future. I’ve also got a bit of pre-Christmas planned for the beginning of December so I will be missing an update for that. But I’ll let you know more about it a bit closer to the time.
But all in all I’m quite happy with how this week has gone. So even though I’m feeling sorry for myself I have been plodding along and all seems to be good.
On The Work Bench
On the workbench this week we have Korgrin, or that’s the name I’ve got for him. I really liked the pose which was why I picked the mini up in the first place. But I had no idea how I was going to paint him. So I put the image into AIMiniature Painter and it came up with red and gold.
(Insert Picture here)
Having this as a guide made the painting process a lot easier. All that should I go this way or that were gone. I knew the basic idea and I just stuck with that red and gold theme. Although I didn’t want to go with metallic so this is more of a red and yellow paint scheme.
What I think really makes this work is the magic vortex thing. A nice vivid blue seems to fit the theme and feel of the mini. Very ethereal but striking. Or at least I think it’s striking.
I’ve really enjoyed painting this guy and it’s one of my favourite minis in a long time. But what do you guys think.
If you like this guy you can find more of my D&D inspired minis in the Gallery.
Tactical deep dive
After Asterix the twin-axe barbarian, I assumed my next D&D dwarf would also be hitting things with something sharp. Dwarves hit things. It’s more or less the job description.
Then along came Korgrin Bloodstone, a dwarf warlock sorcerer who’d rather set fire to the problem from a safe distance. He also insists on being called a magician, which we’ll get to.
So here’s the lot: who he is, why his own clan won’t have him in the house, and what he actually does at the table. Everything is built on the current 2024 rules on D&D Beyond.
The Lore Bit: Who Is Korgrin Bloodstone?
D&D’s dwarves were raised from the earth by a forge god, and their old songs love a story where the small overcome the mighty. Clan Bloodstone has a corker. In the elder days, so they sing, their ancestors cornered a great red dragon deep under the mountain of Dunmarrow and killed it with picks, stubbornness and an alarming number of casualties.
The dragon bled out into the rock. Over the centuries, that blood turned into a seam of red-veined stone, and the clan got very rich selling it. Nobody thought to add a verse about the side effects.
A Bad Day at the Forge
Korgrin was a mine surveyor’s lad, third son, nothing special. He spent his youth breathing bloodstone dust, as everyone did. Then, barely grown by the standards of a people who live around 350 years, he lost his temper in the forge and the forge lost its roof.
The scales came next, a crust of dull red along his forearms. Then came the sparks whenever anyone annoyed him, and dwarves annoy each other professionally.
Dwarves trust what they make, and nobody made this. It just happened to him, and that frightened the elders more than the fire did. They called him a sorcerer, which was the polite word, and sent him down to the worked-out shafts to live alone.
The Red Ledger
He spent years down there as a hermit, listening to the rock. Eventually, the rock answered.
The voice belonged to Mordrath, a devil who keeps something called the Red Ledger. The dragon had owed Mordrath its soul under some ancient bargain, and getting killed by dwarves hadn’t cancelled the debt. By Mordrath’s reckoning, anyone carrying that blood had inherited the balance.
He offered a deal: real control over the fire, in exchange for service and a settling of accounts. Korgrin, being a dwarf, read the small print and argued about it for nine days. Then he signed in his own blood.
He’s still convinced he got the better end of it. Everyone who has ever signed with a devil thinks that.
So Which Is He?
All three, depending on who you ask:
- Sorcerer is what’s in his blood.
- Warlock is what he signed.
- Magician is what he tells strangers, because nobody has ever thrown a rock at a magician.
He’s on the road now hunting two things: the bloodstone his clan sold across half the world, and a loophole. If you’re a DM, that’s your hook. Every piece of stone he finds might be another clause in the contract, and Mordrath is very good at sending invoices.
The Rules: What a Dwarf Warlock Sorcerer Gets
First, the small print of our own. “Magician” isn’t a D&D class, so that one’s purely Korgrin’s marketing. Mechanically, he’s a Sorcerer and Warlock multiclass, which needs Charisma 13 to get in. Treat exact numbers as a snapshot, and always double-check them against D&D Beyond before you build around them.
| Source | Feature | What it does for Korgrin |
|---|---|---|
| Dwarf | Darkvision | Sees 120 feet in the dark, double most folk |
| Dwarf | Dwarven Resilience | Poison resistance, plus Advantage on saves against the Poisoned condition |
| Dwarf | Stonecunning | Bonus Action for 60 feet of Tremorsense on stone, for 10 minutes |
| Dwarf | Dwarven Toughness | +1 hit point per level, which a d6 caster badly needs |
| Sorcerer | Innate Sorcery | +1 spell save DC and Advantage on Sorcerer spell attacks for a minute, twice per Long Rest |
| Sorcerer | Font of Magic | Sorcery Points, which can be turned into spell slots and back again |
| Sorcerer | Metamagic | Spend those points to bend spells; Quickened Spell is the headline ac |
| Draconic Sorcery | Draconic Resilience | Extra hit points, and unarmoured AC of 10 + Dexterity + Charisma |
| Warlock | Pact Magic | A small number of slots that all come back on a Short Rest |
| Warlock | Eldritch Invocations | Permanent upgrades, including Agonising Blast |
| Warlock | Magical Cunning | A 1-minute rite restores half your Pact slots, rounded up, once per Long Rest |
| Fiend Patron | Dark One’s Blessing | Temporary hit points when an enemy drops nearby |
Why the Two Classes Work Together
The trick is that Pact slots can be burned for Sorcery Points. Warlock slots recharge on a Short Rest, so every breather refills the tank for his Metamagic.
There are three catches, and they’re worth knowing before you get excited:
- Warlock levels don’t feed the multiclass spell table. Only his Sorcerer levels buy normal slots, so big spells arrive late.
- Sorcery Points are capped by Sorcerer level. You can’t stockpile beyond the table, which is why you can’t dip for a level or two and bank a fortune.
- Innate Sorcery only helps Sorcerer spells. Eldritch Blast isn’t one, so don’t expect Advantage on it.
The Build: Korgrin on D&D Beyond
The lore does half the work here. Hermit is the obvious background, and it conveniently offers Constitution, Wisdom and Charisma, plus the Healer feat. Draconic Sorcery covers the dragon blood, and the Fiend covers Mordrath.
Using the standard array, I’d go for Charisma 15, Constitution 14, Dexterity 13, Wisdom 12, Intelligence 10, Strength 8. Hermit’s +2 and +1 take that to Charisma 17 and Constitution 15. Strength 8 on a dwarf feels like heresy, but he’s not carrying the axe any more.
| Level | Class taken | What arrives |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sorcerer 1 | Constitution saves, Innate Sorcery, Shield, Sorcerous Burst |
| 2 | Warlock 1 | Eldritch Blast, first Pact slot, Armour of Shadows |
| 3 | Warlock 2 | Agonising Blast, Eldritch Mind, Magical Cunning |
| 4 | Warlock 3 | Fiend Patron, Pact slots jump to level 2 |
| 5 | Sorcerer 2 | Font of Magic, Quickened Spell, second Metamagic option |
| 6 | Sorcerer 3 | Draconic Sorcery: scales, hit points, Chromatic Orb and friends |
Start with Sorcerer because that’s where the Constitution save proficiency lives, and you can’t pick it up later. Warlock still hands over Light armour training when you multi class into it, which you won’t need for long.
At level 6, he has around 50 hit points, AC 14, a spell save DC of 14 and +6 to hit. Armour of Shadows and Draconic Resilience both land on AC 14, so swap the invocation at your next Warlock level. I’d suggest Repelling Blast.
The real cost is that this split gives you no Ability Score Improvement until level 7, when Warlock 4 finally delivers one. After that, head back to Sorcerer for the bigger spells, with a stop at Warlock 5 for level 3 Pact slots if your table rests often.
Tactics Corner: Korgrin’s Role at the Table
Korgrin is your party’s artillery. He sits at range and hurts one thing very badly, and he can take a stray hit better than your average wizard. Out of combat, he’s a surprisingly good face and an early warning system.
In a Fight
From level 5, Eldritch Blast fires two beams. Spend 2 Sorcery Points on Quickened Spell and he casts it again as a Bonus Action, for four beams at 1d10+3 each, or an average of 34 damage if they all land.
The rules stop you pairing Quickened Spell with a levelled spell on the same turn, but cantrips are fine, so double-blasting is entirely legal. When the points run out, burn a Pact slot for two more.
Hex is a good opener on a boss, adding 1d6 per beam, though casting it uses the Bonus Action you’d otherwise spend on Quickened Spell. Eldritch Mind and the Constitution save proficiency make it hard to shake off once it’s up.
Keep your reaction free for Shield too, as it takes him from AC 14 to 19 when it matters.
Out of a Fight
Charisma drives everything, so he can happily front the party in negotiations, which is funny for an exile with scales. Just pick up Persuasion or Intimidation when you choose your Sorcerer skills.
The dwarf traits earn their keep in dungeons. Stonecunning lets him feel footsteps through the walls before anyone springs an ambush, and 120 feet of Darkvision means he spots trouble first. Poison resistance also saves him from the sort of trap that ruins your day.
Where He Struggles
He’s hungry for rests, so a DM who runs long adventuring days will make him work for it. Try to talk the party into a Short Rest, and use Magical Cunning when they won’t listen.
He also lags behind a single-class caster on high-level spells, and he’s nobody’s front-liner. With Strength 8, he should never be anywhere near a grapple.
The Verdict
Korgrin takes a while to get going, and you’ll spend the early levels wondering why you split your classes at all. Then level 5 arrives, the four-beam turn comes online, and the whole daft idea starts to make sense.
He’s also just a great character to play: a dwarf who’s scared of his own blood, in contract dispute with a devil, telling everyone he does card tricks.
But what do you think? Would you stick with a dwarf caster, or is this a crime against the beard? Let me know in the comments.
The Wrap Up
That’s all I have for you this week. More of the crazy for the next couple of weeks so the offerings are going to be limited but have lots of things planned and will be back here next week with something new.
So I hope to see you all again, brew and dunking biscuit in hand at the same time to see what I’ve been up to. Until then keep safe and enjoy whatever you have planned for the week.
